I think I have made $80,000 in the 12 months from LinkedIn.

I’m not saying that like, “OMG look how rich I am!” because as you well know as business [comma] women, this is just the top-line I’m reporting. There are taxes, operating costs, et cetera.

I’m saying it to show you that be visible on a platform, consistently, over many years, pays off.

Put aside feeling like it’s cringe or embarrassing - this is real money that I attribute to being visible online.

I have countless stories, even from the last month, that support what I’m saying from other solos/entrepreneurs:

• One Angel Investor told me she gave a CPG founder a substantial part of his seed investment after finding him on LinkedIn and watching him build in public

• Another solo consultant told me she’d been trying to get in touch with a client for a year, and then that same client hired her for a project because “she kept popping up on her LinkedIn.”

• And finally, a small business owner told me that he gets more business from “lurkers” who follow his content without interacting with it once

Visibility works to get you clients because it’s not just that people won’t buy from someone they don’t know.

They won’t buy from someone they don’t remember exists.

There are a few myths to dispel when it comes to online visibility:

Myth: Consistency is all it takes

Truth: Strategic consistency is all it takes. If you’re posting consistently about your family, your POV on AI, and politics when your work has nothing to do with any of these things, you might see some impressions and likes, but you’re not going to get clients. You have to be consistent in talking about your work and your industry.

Myth: Successful entrepreneurs don’t have to promote their business like this, so posting makes it seems like your desperate

Truth: Successful entrepreneurs DO talk about their business publicly. Gary Vee is posting at least 60 pieces of content per day. Talking about your business and posting about it shows that you GAF and that you’re committed. In other words, it shows you are the type of person someone wants to hire.

Myth: You’ll see results right away

Truth: You won’t see results for months. Most people quit before they even give them the chance to see results, because anecdotally it takes at least six months for your first little burst, and then 18-24 for your work to really compound.

Are you with me so far? Even reluctantly? OK, let’s get it.

Your Personal Kick-In-The-Pants Plan to Get More Visible in 30 Days

Step 1: Choose How You’ll be Visible

There are many ways to help people remember you exist. This includes posting on LinkedIn and/or Substack, but it also can include:

1. Online engagement: Commenting on other people’s posts with something thoughtful, supporting someone else’s work by sharing/reposting what they do

2. People Stuff: Meeting up with people 1:1 to catch up, speaking at large/small events, showing up to networking events

3. Posting online: For this plan, your options are LinkedIn or Substack

You need a combination of these to maximize your surface area. Pick one from each bucket.

Step 2: Make Sure You’re Strategy Is There

Remember that part about strategic consistency? That’s where this comes in.

You must be able to know your positioning - or at least a working version of it. My refresher article on positioning is here, and for paid subscribers, I’m linking my positioning worksheet for you below.

Depending on your platform, you want to make sure the little things are setup to be tailwinds, too:

LinkedIn: Make sure your headline and your “About Me” section reflect whatever it is you want to talk about. Bonus points if your header image reflects your positioning, too. It also is a good idea to have your LinkedIn “blurb” at the ready so you can paste it at the bottom of your posts. Paid peeps- I wrote you an outline for a LinkedIn Blurb here.

Substack: Make sure your Publication Description, Headline, and Welcome Email all reflect your positioning and give your audience an understanding of why they’d follow you. Amy Suto has great resources on this!

Step 3: Go and Do it (And Here’s Your Template to Help You!)

HERE IS THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE ARTICLE. I buried the lede, as they say.

I have created a plan for you to be more visible on either LinkedIn or Substack over the next month:

• You pick your platform (Substack or LinkedIn)

• You pick how you want to be visible IRL (networking, events, 1:1s)

• You determine your content engagement windows

• You will get content prompts based on what has performed best for me and/or my clients. NO AI-CREATED PROMPTS.

And the entire plan can be uploaded to your calendar so that you can stay consistent.

I’m making this available to any subscriber, free or paid, below. I’m doing this until I’m sure the bugs are out and then - it’s for paid only. 😈

Sonia note: A few of you iCal folks told me you couldn’t upload your calendar there- I’ve updated it, and it should work! Thanks for telling me.

Whewww my goodness. We did it.

Just a reminder of all the ways you can work with me:

🎯 POSITION OR DIE 1:1: If you have trouble with your positioning and you want to make sure your 30 day sprint starts on solid foundation, get 90 minutes. with me and we’ll get this sorted. out. Keep in mind that Founding Subscribers to this Substack get a Position or Die Session that as part of their year-long subscription for a $50 discount. BOOK HERE.

👩‍💼 BECOME A PAID SUBSCRIBER: I give you all my resources and templates and once-a-month Office Hours for anyone who wants to come. Plus you get three ideas weekly for content that I think of- not AI- based on what I know works for clients.

Subscribe now

It’s a short week, but we’re still going to get after it. Your content ideas are below.

1. Your former resume and how much it prepared you for now

I tried this one on Substack already, and results were medium, but I think it’s gonna do well on LinkedIn.

List out some oddly specific jobs you’ve done. How much did they help you out to be good at your current job?

Here’s mine:

They’re fun to make, and they give your audience a sense of your former lives, while reminding them of what you do.

Hello there. You are reading this because you have likely spent years, maybe decades, in Corporate America, and you are wondering if it’s time to leave.

You’ve had enough of politics, return-to-office policies, and working with people you have to pretend to like. You think it would be great to work from a venue of your choosing, with people you like, making as much money as you can.

In other words, you’ve heard the siren song of entrepreneurship, and you’re wondering if it’s time to jump ship.

What the sirens sing about is mostly true. There will be days you can work from wherever you want, with people you like, and you can make money.

However. While your years of expertise are valuable on the market, you’re entering an entirely different world, with different customs and expectations. Before you make the jump, it is important to familiarize yourself with this world.

This guide aims to make your first year easier.

It is not designed to help you avoid falling flat on your face, experiencing failure, or pure existential/psychological panic. You are nearly guaranteed to do all three before your journey is over - but all will make good fodder for trauma bonding, cocktail party stories, and/or Substack posts.

1. You are now in sales

You need clients, and you’re the (only) one for the job. This probably the single biggest barrier to entry for solopreneurship - people realize that they have to get out there and sell. They have to put themselves out there and talk about their business in-person and online. Terrifying.

But not for you. You can do this.

You will need to get extremely specific on your positioning and practice communicating it over and over, in as many different ways/formats/stories as possible. The more you practice, the better you get at it. The better you get at it, the easier it becomes to get clients.

Pick one platform where you think your clients are and be visible there 2-3X a week, start building an email list, and tell at least one person about your work a week.

Maybe you’ve already started with one high-paying client (maybe your old company!) and you don’t feel the need to go out there and sell. Do it anyway. Talking about your business in public gives you a visibility and an optionality you will appreciate: especially if your main client goes in another direction.

2. You are now in operations

You now need to figure out how to scope, write contracts, invoice, file taxes, and manage client work.

This is often the first function that people outsource, and with good reason. At the very least, make sure you have a separate business bank account. Get a bookkeeper (yes, you need one, no they aren’t the same as an accountant). Start here if you don’t know any - this is who I use.

3. Jargon does not help you anymore

When you were in Corporate America, you said things like:

“We unleash our capabilities while sitting at the intersection of culture, community, and authentic discourse.”

People nodded then, but no one knows WTF you are talking about besides that small group of people who speaks your language.

You’re going to be out in the world, pitching your business and your work to real people who are time-strapped and may not speak corporate jargon. Clarity is your friend. Make it obvious what it is you do, how you help, and what you want.

It matters more than anything that you are clear. Not that you sound smart.

4. You do not have enemies

If you’re a shit talker, cut it out now. If for no other reason than these people may have connections to future clients. (Also, it’s mean, but whatever.)

Be kind, be generous, and if someone pisses you off, tell your friends over drinks. Don’t talk about it publicly (unless you’re anonymizing facts heavily, and even then, be careful. I once did this and accidentally anonymized the facts to fit a DIFFERENT person, and I got in trouble.)

Assume everyone knows someone who might hire you. Don’t give them a reason to refer your work to a competitor.

And by the way, speaking of your competitors - they’re not your enemies either. Be friendly with them. They have similar challenges, may refer business to you when they have overflow, and may share resources and contacts with you. When I was a brand agency owner, I had other agency owner friends. We swapped tips on invoicing software, shared graphic design recs, and referred each other business.

5. No one cares

People do not care about your burgeoning business as much as you do.

This is a blessing because you should feel less burdened by self-consciousness when you are out there talking and posting about your business.

This is a curse because no one cares enough to help you get clients out in the wild - if they mention they’re looking for a new Botox lady, an accountant, or a life coach, they may or may not think to bring you up.

There are ways around the curse (referral programs, specificity in what you do), but in the meantime, take comfort in the fact that people aren’t thinking about you.

6. Get a buddy (or several)

This is a lonely, lonely road. Your friends who haven’t tried this before will support you, of course, but they don’t really know what it’s like.

Find groups - either in the world or virtually - that consist of entrepreneurs and solopreneurs.

THIS IS NOT LAME. Seasoned, accomplished entrepreneurs already do this. In fact, some PAY to be in certain groups that do this.

Also, the power of your network is a real thing. Help other people in your network, be generous, and let it support you, too.

7. Help first, pitch later

You will get absolutely nowhere if you are just going around talking about yourself.

Be helpful to other people. Support their content and their businesses. Don’t give away work for free, but give some advice for free.

Invest in real relationships and friendships. The chance to talk about your work and your business WILL happen. You don’t have to force it into every single conversation.

8. Not all selling looks like pitching

You might post about your work, what’s happening in your industry, comment on people’s posts with your own thoughts, or even like someone’s status update. All of this counts as soft-selling and putting yourself out there.

You don’t need to be talking about your business and your offer every damn second. Shoot for a percentage of your content (maybe 40%) that looks like this. The rest of it should feel “soft” and just keeping you top of mind.

9. You’re gonna make a mistake that costs you money. It’s OK.

It will likely have to do with undercharging for a service, poorly estimating your costs, or something tax related. The last one is inevitable (unless you are an accountant) because the tax system is not meant to be understood by anyone. Even the people within it.

These mistakes will cost you money, it will suck, but you need to just call this “entrepreneurial tuition.” Learn from it, and try not to do it again. Mistakes that cost money happen to literally every entrepreneur. You are not stupid, and it doesn’t mean you’re not cut out for this life. (This is also why you need #6. People will be like, “I’ve been there!” and help you through it)

10. Be a kind boss to yourself

Nobody’s gonna celebrate you but you. No one’s gonna give you a day off but you. Don’t just brush past your accomplishments without acknowledgement or work without breaks.

11. You got this. You also don’t got it.

Both can be true in a day, and this is normal.

Either way, go do it. There’s value in executing when you feel like “I got this! (confidence building) and there’s value in executing when you feel like “I don’t got this” (resilience building).

I think that’s enough for now :)

Welcome back for another week!

Quick note: I’m going to keep giving one free idea a week to everyone, and the other two are going to be behind a paywall for paid subscribers.

1. Show me a win (literally)

If you’ve been with me for a bit, you know I recommend saving little screenshots of happy/funny/heartwarming interactions you have with your clients. Mostly because I think it helps when you have a bad day. But, they also make for great content!

I’m going to post this exchange with one of my clients to share that we’re working on something exciting in the entertainment world that was beyond our wildest dreams. And it made me giggle.

Look through your texts and screenshots. What’s a good one you can share? Explain a little of the context behind it and why it matters to you.

Mine is live here.

Here’s the links to the articles and resources we covered in the show:

Get Smarter:

The Strength of Weak Ties

Get Richer:

This template is the kind of thing that is only available to paid subscribers on Business [Comma] Woman, but we’re giving you a little sneak experience. Use this for your agreements!

Note: We are not lawyers, and this is not legal advice.

Referral Agreement Template

See ya next time!

Welcome baaack to what to post. Let’s get into it.

A quick note on performance, particularly on LinkedIn: I have heard people say their reach and engagement is down lately. Mine is, too!

Try not to read into this if it’s happening to you. I think LinkedIn is trying to figure out how to de-slop-ify its platform and it’s causing chaos. (And don’t use AI to write your posts!)

1. WWYD on Day 1?

You’re in charge on Day 1 for a client. What are the Top Three things you’d prioritize? Here’s an example of how I’ve done that on Substack:

2. Name the Tension

Speak to your people’s core problem and tension. The one that you’ve determined you resolve in your positioning exercise. (Haven’t done that yet? You should. I’m linking the article below)

For me, the tension my audience has is that they have to sell to grow their business, but they hate selling. Here are two posts that have done well for me in naming the tension:

3. Fake a Group Chat Leak

I was inspired by my friend and client over at who shared this campaign that Zarna Garg did for JCP.

If someone were to “leak” the group chat of your ideal client - or maybe even you - what would it say?

Go into the tension you solve with your positioning. What do these people talk about when it comes to their problem? How would they text about it?

I’m going to make a Group Chat after someone posts something about my business for the first time and and wants to die of anticipated embarrassment.

Actually, I get this text A LOT from new founders (“OMG I did it!” or “What have I donnneeeeee please like my post so I don’t feel lame”)

Good tool for this is Fake Text Message

Just don’t use it like Rulla’s husband likely did on Real Housewives of Rhode Island. (Like one of you will know that reference. Still worth it.)

Everyone, and I mean everyone who has run a business, has a hyper specific POV on how to get clients.

Don’t do email. Do email.

Don’t pay for leads. Pay for leads, but only from X.

Instagram doesn’t work. My entire business was grown on Instagram.

It’s confusing, isn’t it? And then of course, there’s the friend of mine who is wildly successful and told me they’ve never done a day of marketing in their life. (They post daily on Instagram.)

WHY CAN’T THE CLIENTS JUST FIND US?

I am screaming into the void, but of course, if you’ve got a POV, throw it my way. You’ll find an equal number of people who agree and disagree with you.

I can’t tell you exactly what to do, but I can tell you what worked (and didn’t work) for me, and what conditions I think have to be true for you to be successful.

If that’s worth something, which I hope it is, let’s go for it.

Part I: What did not work for me

1. Instagram

Did it work? No

Do I recommend? Yes, but with stipulations

Ahhh, Instagram. The platform I suspect most of you have fled from (in addition to LinkedIn) to come to Substack.

I went all-in on Instagram a couple years ago when I was running my brand agency. I signed up for a cohort to help me do this organically, which was $2500. I did not make a penny of it back - at least not in the way I expected. (Incidentally, I still recommend the cohort!)

Instagram will work for you if:

• You like creating video and visual content

• You have your offer shit together. I mean it. You have at least one very clear offer that you can reference via DMs, LinkTree, etc. as well as freebies and lower-cost services that ladder up to your main offer. If you need to start on an offer, start here:

• You will take time to understand how the algorithm works (trending audio, short videos/long captions, visual hooks) and incorporate this knowledge into content

• You are willing to post consistently or spend substantial money on ads

At the time, I was running a branding agency. My brand people didn’t want to actually create the content, which was the thing we were selling. My offer wasn’t clear. I also don’t love being on camera.

But I will say that the Instagram attempt forced me to sharpen my offers and put myself out there even more, which eventually got me more clients. So in that sense, it was a win.

2. Paid Leads

Did it work? No

Do I recommend? No

There are many agencies out there who claim to get you qualified leads for whatever service you do. I had a friend who got some work with one of these agencies, so I tried it.

In my case, I paid the agency every time I took a meeting. I think it was like $299 a pop.

What people don’t tell you about these setups is that the potential client is also being paid to be on the meeting. This could work one of two ways:

1. The client is motivated to find someone to help them with their problem, and being paid to find a good fit is an added bonus

2. The client is never going to hire anyone because they are spending all of their time on these prospect calls as opposed to running their business

I met with people who fit in #2. They weren’t gonna hire me - they wanted their $100 for showing up to a meeting and listening to a pitch.

I will say I think my cold pitching skills improved during this time. But this has diminishing returns if your audience isn’t actually interested and you are spending nearly $300 an hour.

Part II: What Kinda Worked For Me

3. Cold Email

Did it work? No, and then kind of

Do I recommend? Eh? I can’t decide.

Cold email requires a lot of technical setup. It’s not a barrier, but you need to know that upfront before you start sending thousands of cold emails and crash your domain/get tons of undelivered emails. I’m not here to write about this, but just put that in your back pocket. Happy to discuss it during Office Hours.

Now- I tried cold email first when I had no clear offer. It did not work. (Are you sensing a pattern here?)

Then I tried it for a client, we had insane open and click rates, but no actual closers- though we did get a meeting with Netflix out of it.

I’d give cold email a go if:

• You have a clear offer

• You can write a killer subject line that will get people to open it (DO NOT USE AI TO WRITE THESE. THEY ARE CONTRIVED.)

• You have links to your website/offer that you can track

• You have a very clear target

4. Catalant, MarketerHire, and Similar

Did it work? Not yet

Do I recommend? Eh? I don’t have enough information yet.

I think you should be on sites like this if you can be. Just because they haven’t worked for me doesn’t mean they won’t work for you. It’s a low barrier to entry, you get your name out in more places, and occasionally a job may match.

Part III: What Did Work for Me

You know this is the part that’s gonna be behind a paywall. I’ll make it so you can use you free one to preview it.

OK, new week. Let’s get it.

1. Throw it Back

I dug up this photo of me as a little baby doing Teach For America last week and used it to talk about work with one of my clients. Scroll through your phone: do you have a photo of an earlier time of you working that you could connect to now? People love a throwback.

2. Show me your phone

What’s a text exchange that perfectly sums up how you work? Or how you communicate with clients? Screen shot it and use it. Here’s mine - I’m going to use it to talk about how positioning work helps my clients crush their messaging.

And of course, bonus idea below for the paid peeps : )

3. Astrological Approaches

I’ve been seeing this on Instagram, and I am going to try it on LinkedIn this week (where I’ve never seen it). Take every astrological sign and tell me what kind of client they’d be, or how they’d approach your work.

Here’s what I’m thinking:

How every astrological sign pitches their business:

Aries: “I’m the best. I get it done. That’s it.”

Aquarius: Takes payment in the form of carbon credits to avoid participating in capitalism.

Scorpio: Says they totally understand if you go with another option, but will consider leaving a bad review on your business if you do

Gemini: Will communicate over phone, text, DM and email before sending you an agreement.

Sagittarius: Takes you out for drinks - if you end up at karaoke, you’re probably working together

Taurus: One price, everything easily found on website. Will wait you out.

Capricorn: Has already started working on your project before you pay the deposit.

Virgo: Submits a 14-page proposal with table of contents and a risk avoidance section no one asked for

Pisces: Loves a coffee chat. Will decline work based on vibes.

Libra: Gets all clients via networking because everyone loves them immediately.

Leo: The only sign for whom lead magnets + Instagram actually gets traction.

I hate the word “offer.” I feel like the word has been co-opted by the slew of influencers and creators who tell you how to grow on any given platform. It makes it seem like slop. It’s not.

What people are talking about when they talk about “creating an offer” is productization. In other words, making what you do into a product. Productization, or creating an offer, is beneficial for several reasons:

1. It forces you to package your services into a box that’s easily understood

2. It makes selling easier

3. It makes delivering your service more standardized

4. It makes pricing easier

5. It serves as a starting point for all of your future scopes and pitches

All of these things together are extremely powerful for business momentum because they give you two things: efficiency and visibility. Two things you need to be successful in this game.

I’m going to tell you a secret about offer creation. Sometimes, you’ll create a perfect offer and no one will ever buy that exact offer from you. Ever.

The second secret: even if this happens, it’s not a waste of time. People may buy a version of your offer. They may buy something else that you do instead. Either of these outcomes are good for your business.

We’re going to talk about the ingredients for a strong offer, and the key decisions you need to make to design one.

I’m also going to share offer examples from other service entrepreneurs (who do not coach you how to grow on Substack or Instagram) so you can get a feel for how people like us do it.

If you’ve been here for a minute, you already know what I’m going to say next: if you don’t have your positioning established, I strongly suggest you start there first. This will make everything easier. Go HERE and then come back!

OK, let’s get into it.

The Anatomy of a Strong Offer

Strong offers have a few things nailed down:

Transformation

They make it clear what your purchaser can expect to get out of your experience.

Delivery Method

Whether it’s a cohort, a 1:1 model, course, or some combination of all of these, it’s clear how they interact with you and when.

Timing

It’s clear how long it will take - for you, and for them. And it’s clear when they can start, especially if you’re offering a cohort model.

Pricing

You know how much it costs. And you’re confident in the number based on what people get from it/the work you put in.

Let’s get into all of these, one by one.

Transformation

People buy an offer because they want something to change. They want to undergo a transformation. I’ll give you some thought starters below - as you think about your own skillset and services, which of these could make sense for you?

There are probably a handful that could apply to your business.

If you’re stuck, take a look at your positioning work. What tension did you say you solved? That will help you hone in on the transformation area you want to focus on for an offer.

Keep in mind, my paid subscribers buy me a latte every month and they can come to my Office Hours monthly to ask me anything. We can workshop your offer live together during that time!

Delivery Method

You’ve got many options here.

You could deliver 1:1, as a cohort, completely asynchronously, or some combination of all of them. I’m going to lay out your options and the tradeoffs below.

Timing

How long will this take? A year, six weeks, a week?

Timing helps people understand how long the transformation takes and grounds them in the investment.

Pricing

Ahh, the part that makes everyone sweat. I would make the price a combination of:

1. What other people charge for something similar (aka, what the market looks like)

2. The cost of you delivering it (in terms of your time)

3. The cost of you delivering it (in terms of actual costs. Paying someone to help you, to do some on your behalf, etc.)

Take a look at these two articles on pricing for some help:

Put it Together:

When you’ve decided on transformation, delivery method, timing, and price, you have created a full offer. Congratulations! You know it works if you can put it in a sentence or two.

My offer [NAME] allows for [TRANSFORMATION] in [TIMING]. We do this by [DELIVERY METHOD].

Examples In the Wild:

Here are a couple examples of strong offers I’ve seen in the IRL:

The Workout Witch

This woman is crushing it on Instagram, and it’s because she knows how to package up an offer. See how much information you get in just a little snippet? She addresses tension, delivery method, price, and timing all in one swoop.

Rise Together

This is a client of mine who needed to productize their instructional coaching in schools. This program covers what transformation schools should expect, how long it takes, and what it costs.

Mushaboom Studios

Creative services are notoriously hard to productize, but these gals do a great job. Check out their Brand Audit offer- simple, straightforward, and I know what I’m getting.

What if No One Buys It?

Back to what I told you earlier; there is a chance you do this, and not a single person buys your offer/joins your cohort/whatever. What then?

I’m here to tell you something: some of my most effective offers have actually never really sold.

It was the act of operationalizing it and putting it out into the world that got me more clients: often clients who paid WAY more than what my original offer was charging in the first place.

And as an added bonus, operationalizing my services made it a lot easier for me to send proposals to future clients. I’d already thought about what I’d deliver, how long it would take me, and how much I’d charge - so when someone came in asking for a service, even if it wasn’t quite what my offer said, I had a starting point.

What’s that saying about shooting for the moon and landing amongst the stars…? I hate that saying almost as much as the term “offer creation.” But it’s exactly that.

Reference Links:

Getting Smarter:

brendstack

oh my god. we're in template slop?

sometimes on sundays when it’s nice out I sit with my boyfriend in tompkins (substack just tried to correct this word into tampon like five times) square park and we watch the skaters do their tricks. I can’t really tell left from right but am always impressed of watching people put in their 10.000 hours doing the same thing over and over and over again until they land one thing. what I do know is that the kids in the park can do what only pro skaters could do in the 90s…

Read more

a month ago · 1033 likes · 57 comments · brenda

Getting Money:

Circling Back, a Grey Areas Newsletter

You're Scared of Getting Laid Off and Scared to Be Visible Online. You Can't Afford to Be Both.

If you’re a high-achieving woman in 2026, there’s a good chance you’re holding two fears at the same time. The first is that your job isn’t as safe as it used to be, and you’re right about that…

Read more

3 months ago · 509 likes · 86 comments · Kelsey Donlon

Homework: Think about how your own positioning. Entrepreneurs and solos, think about these questions:

1. Who are you for?

2. What tensions do you resolve?

3. What’s your edge?

Comics and creatives:

1. Who is in your audience?

2. What tensions/topics do draw from?

3. What’s your edge?

Need help? Start here.

See ya next week!

I was gonna write about something else this week but I read brendstack’s post about Template Slop and I can’t stop thinking about it.

I now see template slop everywhere. You will, too, soon, if you don’t already. Next time you fire up Instagram (or any social) you’ll notice a lot of the posts you see look like this:

10 Reasons Why Your Funnel's Not Working (+ photo of a cute dog with cone)
3 Things to Do This Week to Get More Followers (+ photo of hot girl in crop top)
25 Things I'd Do If I Was Starting Over (+ photo of wistful stare out of window)

The problem with this approach, as Brenda points out, is that it works. Hooks work. Dogs and hot girls in crop tops work. Good design works.

We all have access to the same playbooks, and we’re all at the mercy of the same algorithm. So all of us are looking (and sounding) the same. We all sound good. And we all sound the same.

The hard part about this as a marketer is that I don’t think you should stop posting with hooks. I don’t think you should abandon offer creation. These things are effective, and that’s why people do them (and teach others to do them, too).

I also think you should be using these templates in the beginning. I don’t think you should be paying a brand agency for a brand when you have access to such good design. (I talk more about that here)

OK, so you’re marketing your services. You’re going to use hooks, avail yourself to publicly available design, and (hopefully?) look like a lot of others just like you.

What will help you stand out?

A Point of View

Y’all knew his was gonna be my first one. Your point of view, your sharp take on your industry, is now more valuable than ever. It takes your hooks from predictable to something people actually want to read.

If you don’t have a point of view yet, you need to start with positioning. Again, more important than ever. Get clear on who you’re talking to, what tension you resolve, and why you’re uniquely positioned to address it. If you need help, start here:

Being 1% Less Lazy

You mad at me for saying this? Don’t be.

A lot of people are taking a trend or a hook and just repurposing it without much thought.

I’m asking you to take 3 minutes on any hook or trend to think about how it might relate to your specific POV. How it might help your audience. How it might be more entertaining. How you might put your own spin on it.

Yes, this is annoying. Yes, it takes more effort. And no, you can’t make your Claude agent do it for you.

But I predict that quality content is going to be more of a premium than ever- and if you’re just posting to fit a calendar, you’re going to be penalized for it as audiences will recognize it more easily.

The secret to quality content is being just a little more effortful. Like 1%.

Expertise

Content that looks and sounds good has to be backed up by expertise and substance. I’m guessing you have this in spades. Make sure your that when you’re talking about your business that your expertise is at the forefront.

Personality

The ability to convey your personality digitally is a very, very underrated skill. People want to buy from someone they know- or feel like they know.

If you’re using design templates in your first year (again, I think this is a smart decision!) that means your copy - what you say and how you say it - is doing some heavy lifting.

My advice here: write, write, write, write.

Write about your process, your successes, things that make you mad, things that no one thinks about but you. A reminder that I send out ideas for what to write about every week to all my subscribers - including free ones!

The more you write about your work, the more your voice will emerge. The more you post, the more you get comfortable with your voice being out there. Trust me. (And remember- there is no getting around putting yourself out there. Just start.)

That’s it for now.

1. Rage Bait

I know something in your industry makes you a little mad. What is it?

Maybe it’s that people balk at price tags in your industry, even if they’re super reasonable, because they don’t understand the value you bring.

Maybe it’s that clients expect you to use AI for your deliverables when nothing would be worse for the outcome.

Maybe it’s posers spouting fake/bad advice to the masses that you want to correct.

The next two are shared with just paid subscribers. Buy me a cup of coffee every month and let me help you with ideas every week!

2. Kinda Chic

This one’s a trend I see mostly on Instagram, but it’s getting pickup on LinkedIn too. Just finish this sentence: “Kinda chic to…” with something related to A) How you do your business B) The transformation you promise as part of you positioning. If you haven’t done that yet, make this your next stop.

Here are a couple examples for my own clients:

Kinda chic to have your books perfectly balanced by the 30th of every month

Kinda chic to hire a real comedy writer for your content instead of Claude

Kinda chic to save 15% every year on your tax bill.

3. Imaginary Conversation

I just love this one every time I see it. Write an imaginary conversation between you an a client about the problem you solve. (It can be based on real ones - doesn’t have to be imaginary - just don’t embarrass anyone)

Saw this one last week that I found inspiring and convincing.

Remember- I upload thought starters and inspo posts HERE as I see them.

Have a good week!

I used to have the hardest time selling brand design work to small companies.

In part, they didn’t have cash to spend on a logo.

But also: I don’t think I really believed they needed brand work.

I didn’t think a logo was going to be the difference between them getting work and not.

I didn’t think a design system was going to make the difference in sales.

And now when I work with clients who are starting a new business or a new offering, I tell them the same thing:

You don’t need a brand right now.

As a former brand agency owner, I gotta hold my own hand while I say this: you can get by with existing Canva templates and a logotype for the first year. You do not need a bespoke logo, specific fonts, and a color palette.

You need clients.

To get them, you should focus on three things:

1. At least one offer

2. A very basic website

3. A very basic pitch deck

1. At least one offer

Creating an offer is going to be 6,000 times easier if you have positioned business properly. If you haven’t done that, or you don’t know what I’m talking about, head on over HERE first.

Creating an offer does not have to be complicated. You do not need a course or a multi-step program. It could literally just be hourly consulting.

The key here is to make sure you’ve answered these questions:

• What’s the offer?

• Who is it for?**

• What do people get as part of this offer?

• What’s the transformation from before they hire you, to after?**

• How much will you charge?

• Why should they do this with you?**

• If you could name this offer something, what would it be?

** These questions are already answered if you’ve done your positioning homework! This is why I think it’s important to start there. If you ignored me the first time, I understand. But go do it, FR.

I’m doing a live on Offer Creation in two weeks, August 20th from 12:30-1:30 ET, open to everyone - paid and free subscribers. You can register for that HERE.

For my paid peeps, I’m linking a template below to help you with offer creation. Feel free to drop it in the chat or bring it to Office Hours to discuss it with me.

2. A very basic website

Don’t panic. You can do this.

All you need is a basic, one-page website to start. Mine was horrible when I first began - it didn’t matter. What matters is that it has the following things:

• What you do

• Who you do it for

• Information about your initial offer

• Reviews (if you have them)

• Eminence stuff (e.g. logos of people you’ve worked with, where you’ve appeared, if you have these things)

• A way to get in contact with you

You’ll notice that if you’ve done your positioning and worked through an offer, your website almost writes itself.

“But without a brand, what does it look like?” For now, pick a template and go with it. Try and pick one that you think communicates your positioning in the best possible way, or come to Office Hours and I’ll help you narrow one down. You will change it eventually. That is OK.

If I were you, I would make your site a home page, a page about your core offer, and a contact page. There are many outlines and ways to structure each of these pages, but if you want to grab my tried-and-true formula for home pages and landing pages, it’s linked for my paid subscribers below.

3. A very basic pitch deck

This is a little sneaky, because my version of a pitch deck also includes a one-pager. These are important to have when someone asks you to send them an overview of your services, and it also works to have one in your back pocket for when you’re actually pitching.

Here’s the outline for your slides:

1. A TLDR one-pager of everything you do. DO NOT SKIP THIS. Most people won’t click through the whole deck.

2. About: write this with an eye to your edge/what makes you different

3. Services: write this with an eye to the tension you resolve

4. Core Offer

5. Results/Reviews

6. Contact Link (calendar)

Now, this has the same deal as your website. Pick a template that works for the pitch deck, plays well with your website, and call it a day. You will change it eventually. That is OK.

Remember: all of this is living.

What I mean by this is that your website and pitch deck are living documents.

I help my clients make a pitch deck we think is “final,” only to pitch it several times and revise it based on feedback.

Same for your website.

The point is to get it out there, not to have it perfect.

Business [Comma] Woman is for anyone building (or thinking about building) a business around their skills. Whatever you’re good at: accounting, tarot card reading, window washing, marketing, therapy -if it’s legal, I want you to make money at it. I focus on the stuff that gives most solopreneurs hives: getting clients, marketing themselves, pricing, etc. If this article resonated or was helpful, please share it!

Here are three ideas for what to post on LinkedIn/Substack this week:

1. The Odyssey Meme

Give me a single sentence of something that makes you want to scream about your industry. Now pair it with this image.

Read more

How do you get clients?

I think we all hope that we’ll get clients by osmosis. Like a single LinkedIn post will just yield us all the clients we need forever. We’ll never need to post about our business, ask for referrals, or put ourselves out there ever again, amen.

In the history of solopreneurship, I am sure this is how it went for at least one person. I haven’t met them yet, though.

No one wants to promote themselves because they’re worried about what people will think. And I’m gonna tell you quick story, because I think I know exactly what you’re worried about, and that thing you’re worried about has happened to me.

It was a few years ago and I was trying to drum up some business for my creative agency. I was giving Instagram a real try, and working very hard at it.

Someone who worked for me at the time told me that her friend had been looking at the content I was creating. That friend had feedback, and it was:

“Why is Sonia trying so hard?”

This felt embarrassing. It felt embarrassing that I was trying hard, that someone saw me trying hard, and then thought that was embarrassing.

It felt bad. I’m not gonna sugarcoat that part. If you’re worried that you’re gonna try hard, someone’s gonna see you try hard, they’re gonna think that’s lame, and it’s gonna hurt your feelings - you’re right. It’s gonna hurt your feelings.

I think everyone assumes after your feelings are hurt, you just get swallowed by the Earth/drop dead. At least, that’s how I saw it going.

That’s not what happens next, though.

What happens next is that you realize a few things:

1. Of course you’re trying hard? What else would you be doing?

2. You don’t actually care what that person thinks. I don’t mean it like, “f*ck them, who cares.” I mean it like, they have no idea what it’s like to create and promote a business. Anyone who does have an idea of what that’s like would never make a comment like that.

3. You’re gonna keep putting yourself out there with lighter shoulders because of your peace with 1 & 2.

There is no way around putting yourself out there. There is no way that you can escape climbing Cringe Mountain.

But on the other side are things like money, good clients, and flexibility. So I mean, up to you.

If you’re still with me for the money, good clients, and flexibility, let’s get into it:

How to Post About Your Business Without Feeling Like A Cringey, Used Car Saleswoman

Disclaimer this assumes that you’ve done your positioning homework - if you haven’t, I’d strongly suggest you start there. We’re going to talk about promoting your business using the three ingredients of positioning: your people, the tension you solve, and your edge.

Paid Subscribers: I’m linking our LinkedIn/Substack Thought Starter document here for you to help you start ideating against what we talk about below!

1. Give advice and help

“Why would I give free advice that people should be paying me for?”

Because no one knows you, no one trusts you, and giving little snippet of helpful advice is how you fix that problem.

Just because they get little helpful things from you here and there doesn’t mean they can do the whole thing themselves.

Giving helpful tips and tricks related to the problem you solve is an easy way to talk about what you do without making it feel forced -and gives your audience a reason to follow you for more.

You’ll notice I’m doing #1 right now. I’m giving you advice, I’m showing you how I think about posting, but I’m not giving everything away for free. Things like my LinkedIn and Substack Thought Starters Doc are just for subscribers.

2. Share your process

You don’t need to give away everything, but give some behind-the-scenes about how you approach solving your specific tension for your audience.

What are the three things you believe someone needs to know to solve their problem?

What do you do that no one else does that leads to success?

Why do you focus on X while your competitors are focused on Y? What happens as a result?

What does it look like inside your process? Give them a narrative of what you’re going through right now with one of your clients.

3. Share the transformation

People are coming to you because they want out of a certain tension. They want to get more time back, they want more clients, they want to feel at ease about their future, they want a clean house, whatever it is.

Write about how that happened for one of your clients. How did they feel? How did you feel?

4. Write about what makes you want to scream

Rage is good inspiration for any post. Think about the problem you solve :

What do your competitors do to address the problem you solve that’s infuriating/wrong/annoying?

What have you seen out in the wild related to your work that’s made you angry?

What do you believe that others in your field - or maybe your audience- may disagree with?

5. Remind people about your business in other places besides the post itself.

This one is more Linked-In specific, but remember that it’s common to post a little blurb about you and your business at the bottom of a post in LinkedIn culture.

Even if you’re just posting a silly meme about what it feels like to be living in the problem you solve, throw your business at the bottom.

What makes a good LinkedIn blurb?

1. Remind people of what you do

2. Include a little detail that makes you human and memorable

Paid Subscribers- steal my LinkedIn blurb outline below!

And there you have it. Five ways to talk about your business this month without giving yourself the ick.

If you’re climbing Cringe Mountain and just starting to post about your business, tag me. I’ll know what it’s for and I’ll know what to do (like and comment and cheer you on, obviously).

Business [Comma] Woman is for anyone building (or thinking about building) a business around their skills. Whatever you’re good at: accounting, tarot card reading, window washing, marketing, therapy -if it’s legal, I want you to make money at it. I focus on the stuff that gives most solopreneurs hives: getting clients, marketing themselves, pricing, etc. If this article resonated or was helpful, please share it!

And guess what? I could not position myself.

We’re a branding agency for small businesses.

No, venture-backed ones.

Actually, we’re about strategy.

Actually, we’re about sales.

And around and around I went, just like Will Ferrell in the Elf movie in that revolving door.

It turns out it’s really hard to position a branding agency, in part because I think that people pick brand agencies based on vibez, and in part because there are so many agencies out there and only so many points of differentiation. Eventually, we all sound the same.

I could not position my company consistently, and because of that, it was so hard to sell work.

The number one thing that drove sales was me and people who wanted to work with me.

It was specific, but it wasn’t sustainable. And because the business had no other blood source besides me, it started feeling like a parasite. (Is that too graphic sounding? I gotta unpack that one with my therapist later.)

You can’t create consistent messaging.

You can’t get referrals.

And you feel like you’re playing whackamole with a bunch of potential customers.

Now I’m selling to small businesses.

No, I’m selling to venture-backed ones.

Actually, I’m only selling to people who appreciate strategy.

Actually, I’m only selling to people who want to enable sales.

When your business IS positioned correctly, sales is a lot easier. You can see your process build on itself. People “get” it more easily. And they’re much more likely to add your services to cart.

So, what do you need to get positioned? Turns out, it’s the answer to just three questions. We’re going to go through all of them now.

1. Who are you for?

As the quote on every Millennial’s Pinterest Board goes, “You are not for everyone.”

Neither is your business.

This question sounds deceptively easy, and that’s why people miss on it.

I hear all the time answers that sound like this:

“I’m for women who want to live a better life.”

This sounds nice, means nothing. Get specific.

I’ll show you how I answer this question for Business [Comma] Woman:

Business [Comma] Woman is for solopreneurs (or solopreneur-curious folks) who want support specific to sales and marketing to start and grow their businesses.

Notice that I’m not for any kind of entrepreneur. I’m not for anyone who is looking to raise venture capital. And I’m not for anyone looking to get advice on tech, finance, legal, AI, or the like when it comes to growing your business.

If you’re a paid subscriber, I have a worksheet that will help you answer this question; plus, you can submit your answers in our chat or at Office Hours! I’m linking it below.

2. What tension you resolve for them?

You solve a problem. Maybe it’s one you created yourself (helloooo Gwenyth Paltrow’s jade egg) but regardless: you’re solving one.

Selling is easy when your problem you address is:

A) Specific

B) Emotional

And often, that means there’s some tension there.

I’ll show you how I answer this question for Business [Comma] Woman:

(TENSION) Solopreneurs are really good at something, but that something is often not marketing and sales - even though marketing and sales are necessary to sustaining a business, just thinking about ‘sales’ gives many solopreneurs hives.

(HOW I RESOLVE IT) I make sales and marketing accessible and easy for solopreneurs through articles, been-there advice, and templates.

If you’re wondering what your tension is, I’ve outlined a few common ones in the Positioning Worksheet linked below.

3. What is your edge?

Your “edge” is what a lot of people call your “unfair advantage” or your “differentiator.” It’s the thing that helps you stand out and beat out any other alternatives.

This one is often based on your expertise, but it also might be in how you deliver your services. I’ll show you how I think about Business [Comma] Woman:

My edge is my experience (MBA, years leading billion dollar brands, 6 years running my own agency) combined with my delivery method (once weekly articles, monthly Office Hours, and and chat support).

This makes me cheaper and more accessible to alternatives (hiring a coach, an FTE, another contractor, or doing it alone).

OK, now let’s sell it in the elevator.

Your answers to these three questions start to shape up into a pretty good elevator pitch. Let’s look at my answers.

Who I’m for: Business [Comma] Woman is for solopreneurs (or solopreneur-curious folks) who want support specific to sales and marketing to start and grow their businesses.

What tension do I resolve? Solopreneurs are really good at something, but that something is often not marketing and sales - even though marketing and sales are necessary to sustaining a business, just thinking about ‘sales’ gives many solopreneurs hives. I make sales and marketing accessible and easy for solopreneurs through articles, been-there advice, and templates.

My edge: My edge is my experience (MBA, years leading billion dollar brands, 6 years running my own agency) combined with my delivery method (once weekly articles, monthly Office Hours, and and chat support).

I like to start with the tension in an elevator pitch - it usually brings it home quicker.

Here’s mine:

Most solopreneurs start a business because they’re good at something, but that “something” is usually not marketing and sales - in fact the word “sales” gives a lot of solopreneurs hives. Business [Comma] Woman distills a decade of marketing + solopreneurship experience into bite-sized articles, in-person support, and templates to make it easy for a solopreneur to market and sell their business.

Hopefully, that’s a bit more specific, emotional, and compelling than “I write a blog that helps entrepreneurs learn about marketing and sales.”

And if it IS compelling to you - consider subscribing : )

Subscribe now

That’s all for this week. Remember Paid Subscribers have Office Hours and Chat access, so if you’re workshopping your answers, feel free to use those resources to hone in on your final pitch!

Business [Comma] Woman is for anyone building (or thinking about building) a business around their skills. Whatever you’re good at: accounting, tarot card reading, window washing, marketing, therapy -if it’s legal, I want you to make money at it. I focus on the stuff that gives most solopreneurs hives: getting clients, marketing themselves, pricing, etc. If this article resonated or was helpful, please share it!

And let me tell you something else: if you get anxiety-induced brain fog the moment you hear “LLC” or “EIN,” you are not alone. I often think of the Ron Swanson quote where he says, “Hey, I have some apples, would you like to buy them? Yes, thank you. That’s how hard it should be to start a business in this country!”

The fact is, you have to navigate these structures and processes to establish your business and get paid. There is no way around it. And there are plenty of predatory businesses hoping to squeeze a few hundred dollars out of you during this process, betting on the fact that you’ll be too overwhelmed to attempt it yourself.

I personally panicked when I saw the state registration form for my business, couldn’t make heads or tails of what an LLC vs. sole proprietorship was, and then paid LegalZoom to not explain it to me all that well.

They then filed paperwork that I could have done myself in 2 minutes. If you take nothing else from this article, let it be that you are smart enough to do this without LegalZoom, amen.

This overview assumes you want to start a business based on your skillset that won’t raise venture capital or incorporate other partners/investors. If you’re starting a business that’s looking to get investment and/or go public, this is not the article for you!

Whether you’re starting a consulting business, an interior design business, or a telephone psychic business, you have to create the business legally. It has to exist outside of your brain and your Gmail account.

The first thing you’ll have to decide:

1. What structure is your business?

What we’re assuming here is that you’re a solopreneur hanging a shingle around a skill you do well: finance, bookkeeping, home organizing, whatever. Maybe you’ve got some contractors, maybe 1-2 employees. For this scenario, the most common options are: LLC or Sole Proprietorship.

DO NOT GLAZE OVER. WE ARE GOING TO GET THROUGH THIS TOGETHER!

Sole Proprietorship:

This is the one I thought I was, because I was the only person in my business at the time. In fact, because I didn’t know what it meant, I think I may have checked this on some tax forms early on, even though I was never registered as a Sole Proprietorship. (Don’t at me IRS)

What you need to know about a Sole Proprietorship: it’s the easiest and cheapest to set up. It doesn’t require that you file separate business taxes and personal taxes. However, you open yourself up to the most risk with this structure. That means people can come after your house, your car, and your personal assets if they have a problem with your business.

To me, the ease is not worth the risk. But if you don’t want to deal with separate business taxes and you just want to get going for cheap, this is the option for you.

LLC

An LLC stands for Limited Liability Corporation. That is important because remember when I said people can come after your house and car with a Sole Proprietorship? They can’t do that with an LLC.

An LLC makes all of your business liabilities separate from your personal ones. There is immense benefit to keeping that separate: namely that people can’t go after your house over a business dispute.

The downsides to LLCs are:

1. You have to keep your LLC registered with the state

2. You have to file separate business taxes

This makes them slightly more expensive. A state filing fee (~$20 annually) and you have to pay separately to file your business taxes (Likely $600-1500 annually).

But, they have a lot of flexibility. You can change them into an S-Corp to save on taxes (more on that later.)

Are you with me? Good. Here’s what’s next.

2. If you picked an LLC, register with the state

Forget about your friend who registered their company with Delaware. (Unless you live in Delaware, in which case, register your business in Delaware!) Delaware registration as a non-Delaware resident makes sense if you are a corporation raising venture capital and/or planning to go public, but it doesn’t make sense otherwise.

LLC paperwork is super simple to complete and makes your business official in your state. Remember, if you went with a sole proprietorship, you don’t need to register your business.

3. Get an EIN number

Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) are like social security numbers for your business. You do not have to be an employer of full-time employees to have one - the name is a bit of a misnomer.

If anyone hires you as a contractor, they are going to ask for a W9 form, which asks for either your EIN or your social security number.

Would you rather an EIN number or a social security number be passed around all over the internet? I’m betting EIN number. Which is why even if you are a sole proprietorship, I recommend getting an EIN number, too.

To get an EIN, you go to this page on the IRS website. This is free. You do not need to pay anyone else to do it.

4. Open a business bank account and deposit all of the money you make there.

Once you have an EIN, you can use it to open a business bank account. This is important because your personal bank account and your business bank account should always be separate.

You should never be depositing money you make from the business directly into the personal bank account. Nor should you be paying expenses for the business from your personal bank account. Doing so will cost you thousands of dollars in book cleanup and tax issues.

TRUST ME.

It should be noted that you can often get a business bank account with your social security number, but if you ever expand to employees or become a multi-member LLC, EINs are required. Also a lot of banks still like you to have an EIN to keep your busines and personal accounts truly, cleanly separated.

And there you have it.

You have now elected a business structure, registered for an EIN, and established a business checking account to put all of the money you make in.

And, hopefully, you have paid exactly $0.00 to LegalZoom.

Business [Comma] Woman is for anyone building (or thinking about building) a business around her skills. Whatever you’re good at: accounting, tarot card reading, window washing, marketing, therapy - if it’s legal, we want you to make money at it. We focus on the stuff that gives entrepreneurs hives: getting clients, marketing services, selling services, pricing, etc. If this article resonated or was helpful, please share it!

I mentioned I knew a lady who does great nail art.

She said, “OK, you see how you just did that? I want people to be doing that for my business. Like, if they run into someone who needs help with their business’ financial structure, I want them to mention me.”

In other words, she wants referrals.

And if I were a betting woman, I’d say you wouldn’t mind a few referrals heading your way, either.

Referrals are wonderful. They are a warm lead, you have a person in common already, and existing trust makes selling that much easier. They’re a powerful source of business.

The hard part about referrals is that they’re unpredictable. It’s hard to say when someone’s gonna mention, say, nail art, and even tougher to predict if they’ll remember your name or the name of your studio when they mention it.

The good news is that there ARE things you can do to help increase your chances that you’ll get referrals from your network. And all of them are very easy to do. Let’s get into it.

There are three elements of a strong referral system. All of them are equally important.

1. Clarity on the problem you solve

2. Incentives

3. A formal agreement

Clarity on the problem you solve

If it’s not obvious what problem you solve, you are impossible to refer.

For Nail Art Lady, it’s easy. She solves ugly, boring nails. When I hear someone say, “I wish I could have less boring nails,” I immediately think of her, and I mention her name.

Anytime someone asks what your business does, they are a potential referral source.

How you answer that question determines how easy it is to refer you.

Here are some examples to show you what I mean:

If they say, “What does your company do?”

One thing that helps you nail the problem is establishing your company’s positioning. Founding Members get this as part of their subscription, along with monthly office hours and all of my resources and templates ($130 in savings)

Subscribe now

So, get clear on the the following three things:

1. What problem do I solve?

2. Who am I solving it for?

3. What does it feel like for my potential client inside of this problem, and how would they describe it to a friend?

And then practice using those three things in conversation with other people. That way, when someone asks about your business, you’re prepared to give them a strong answer - that also subtly primes them to recognize your people out there in the wild.

Incentives

This one is simple: if you give people money to refer you, they’re more likely to refer you.

You can decide how much you’re willing to part with based on your margins. I’ve seen some people do $500, 3% of the contract, 1% of the contract - even up to 10% of contracts.

How much is up to you. But incentives make it so referrals become strategic as opposed to wishful thinking.

A formal agreement

There’s something about a signed piece of paper. It makes things feel more official.

A lot of businesses have a clear problem, a referral incentive, and then wonder why no one takes advantage of it. My suspicion is that they haven’t formally invited anyone to be part of their referral circle.

Think how you’d feel if someone took the time to be part of their referral program, offered you money, and agreed to it in writing. Would you be more likely to do it? I think yes.

Bonus points if you arm them with a one pager and a sales deck link so they can share it with other people.

And there you have it, folks. Clarity on your problem, incentives, and a formal structure. Now go get people talking about you.

Business [Comma] Woman is for anyone building (or thinking about building) a business around their skills. Whatever you’re good at: accounting, tarot card reading, window washing, marketing, therapy - if it’s legal, we want you to make money at it. We focus on the stuff that gives entrepreneurs hives: getting clients, marketing services, selling services, pricing, etc. If this article resonated or was helpful, please share it!

Of course, the story doesn’t end there. That would not make for much of a post.

Things went left. Not right away, though.

First, we had some wonderful creative meetings. My team delivered on every level: I was beyond proud. The copy hit, the visuals were stunning, and our client (who comprised half of the founding team), was thrilled with all of our work.

Then it became time to pay us for our work. That’s when all of the problems began.

The other half of the founding team emerged. He presented as the business-side of the equation, and maintained he did not ever agree to spend this money with us. He did not want to pay us for any of the work we’d done, and tried to argue that the contract was invalid.

I had three contractors on this project and I wasn’t making much of a margin. I also had, like, two other clients and maybe $5,000 in my business bank account.

In short:

FAAAAAAACK.

To give you some more context, this guy kind of terrified me. He has an MBA from Harvard, and holds a very fancy CEO title. He seems like he means business, and I was only a few months into being a Business Comma Woman.

He also writes very aggressive emails, which I started getting every other day from him questioning the validity of the contract, the work we completed, and repeated unwillingness to pay us.

OK, so now for my first mistake, which you will never make now that you know this story.

Mistake #1: I did not demand any up-front payment

You need to take a deposit for any kind of work. This can look like a percentage of your fee, a month of work, whatever you think makes sense. Have a plan for how you’ll hang on to that money and refund it if the project stops a week in.

This not only protects you financially, but money leaving the bank account early signals that everyone is on the same page within the company. It’s a forcing mechanism for co-founders to be on the same page when they’re writing a check.

If you want language that you can use in your own contracts, I’m sharing that with subscribers below. Remember, I am not a lawyer! This is just a starting point.

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Mistake #2: I did not require payment throughout the project

If your project goes on for months, only being paid at the beginning and the end is tough from a cash-flow perspective.

Get paid by milestone, or each month for hours worked - depending on how you structure your agreement.

Mistake #3: I had zero consequences for late payments in my contract.

This one is an easy fix; say you can (and will) stop work if payments are late, and say you’ll add interest to late payments.

The interest you can charge on late payments varies by state, and you can’t go crazy and start charging 20% a year; the law looks at that as punitive and it won’t hold up in court.

Typically, 18% annually (1.5% a month) and allowing for a grace period of about a week is sufficient.

If you want language that you can use in your own contracts, I’m sharing that with subscribers below. Remember, I am not a lawyer! This is just a starting point.

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Mistake #4: I had no line in my contract about withholding deliverables until I received the final payment

I ended up doing this anyway, as a lawyer advised me that a signed contract, ongoing work and communication would hold up in court and they’d have to pay me. But it’s a good idea for you to have this explicitly stated in your contract if you are handing over any deliverables.

OK, so what happened?

After two really tense weeks (and a multi-thousand dollar hole sitting in my bank account), the client paid me.

The thing that saved me: not handing over assets until I got payment. I got bullied, cajoled, and threatened, but I didn’t hand that guy a pixel of our work until he paid me. And he finally did.

And then, in a delicious serving of schadenfreude, the business ended up going belly-up six months later due to a combination of founder disagreements, additional lawsuits, and a supply chain problem.

Whew.

So in conclusion, go update your contracts.

And remember- subscribers have access to suggested contract language as a starting point to protect you in situations like these (always run it by a lawyer!).

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Business [Comma] Woman is for anyone building (or thinking about building) a business around her skills. Whatever you’re good at: accounting, tarot card reading, window washing, marketing, therapy - if it’s legal, we want you to make money at it. We focus on the stuff that gives entrepreneurs hives: getting clients, marketing services, selling services, pricing, etc. If this article resonated or was helpful, please share it!