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Kathi Burns  0:04  
Hi there, I'm board certified professional organizer Kathi Burns. I'm really glad you're here. This podcast is designed for busy entrepreneurs just like you who want to take better control of your business and move forward with less stress and more success. If this is your first time listening then thanks for coming. The Organized Energized podcast is produced for your enjoyment and show notes are found at ThePodcast@OrganizedandEnergized.com. Come back often and feel free to add this podcast to your favorite RSS feed or iTunes. You can also follow me on Twitter at organizing energy and Facebook. All links are in the show notes. Now let's get into the show. Hi everyone. This is Kathi I am with Lora Shipmen of Shipman media, Lora is passionate about increasing her clients visibility so they can serve their clients better. Whether it's having them as guests on her wildly popular Lora Shipman podcast, she's there to help them drive social and accelerate their business. She shares her knowledge about social media and digital marketing gladly and honestly and really helps her clients move forward and shift themselves into a better space. She lives in the Tampa Bay area where I used to live with her husband and her dog, her two dogs, Shih Tzus Max and Tatsu. Tatsu?  I love it. Anyhow, thanks for being on the show. Lora, I very much appreciate you being here and giving giving us your time and your expertise.

Lora Shipman  1:33  
Well, thank you for having me here. This is really exciting. And I love all things organization. So this is great.

Kathi Burns  1:40  
Yay. Cool. Cool. Okay, so before you started getting into media marketing, that kind of thing. What do you do before that?

Lora Shipman  1:48  
Before that I actually worked in the home offices of Sunglass Hut when it was based in Coral Gables, Florida. And that was just such a great job. I loved working there, it was a lot of fun. I did a lot of neat things. And that job actually really required me to be highly organized. So I learned a lot of things from organizing, like structuring a company through to just organizing the day to day crazy. And I did a lot of event planning when I was there, where I just had to manage a ton of moving parts. So a really great job I loved it was a lot of fun.

Kathi Burns  2:26  
That's fantastic. So is that where you kind of realized that you had a passion for social media and that type of thing were you dealing with that at Sun Glass Hut?

Lora Shipman  2:35  
No, actually, that was before social media even existed. And so what really drove me to social media is kind of a different story. I was I was actually very ill. And I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. And I was a single mom at the time. And it was just like a really hard time for me, I needed. And this was back in 2007, when we weren't working from home, we weren't remote people really frowned upon working outside of an office setting. People didn't trust people to work on their own and be really structured and disciplined and organized to get the job done. But I just didn't at that point have the energy to do that. So I went on a freelancing site. And I took my last $60 In invested that in myself, and I bet on myself, and I won. Thank you. And, um, there was this guy, his name is Mike Danish, kind of took me under his wing. He was an international speaker, and his platform was all about respect and consent when you're dating and things like that. And our target market was mostly high schools, colleges and military bases is where we spoke to people. And he that was just right when social media was beginning to emerge. And he was really into content marketing. And that's kind of how I got started was with him. And at that point, social media was emerging. And I just grew up with social media in that sense, and stayed with it ever since.

Kathi Burns  4:11  
So he was your first client?

Lora Shipman  4:13  
He was my first client. Yeah.

Kathi Burns  4:16  
How'd that feel when when he said, I hire you to help me work?

Lora Shipman  4:20  
Oh, my gosh, it was so exhilarating. And the thing is, is he believed in me, which was amazing. And I believed in him, and I totally supported what he was doing. And he made sure that I had the tools that I needed to succeed. And so whether that meant traveling with him, we he lived in Wisconsin, I lived in St. Petersburg at the time. And we would meet up in New York City. And he would have me go to all of these workshops and trainings with him and then he had, he would go on the speaker route, and I would go on the support route. And I just learned so much from him and he opened my eyes. So that first client was amazing. And it kind of gave give me the traction I needed and the motivation I needed and the confidence I needed that I could do this. And that, if I bet on myself every time I'm going to win, and it's going to be fine.

Kathi Burns  5:13  
I love that story. We're we have such similar backgrounds, because I was in St. Pete and blah, blah, blah, I started my company on $49, you started your company on $60, you know, it can be done. And that's the beautiful thing about being an entrepreneur. And I think being a women entrepreneur, a woman entrepreneur, we have even a foot up if you ask me, as far as you know, entrepreneurship and starting companies, so especially during COVID. There was so much more money out there for women owned and operated businesses. So women, the 60% out there who are looking to jump, it is right, and it is time for you to jump and do your own thing. Lora and I are both testimonies to that. Right, Lora?

Lora Shipman  5:54  
Absolutely. I mean, I often say I'm unemployable, because I've worked for myself for so long since 2007. I just, I would never have it any other way. I mean, to have your own business to structure it the way you want around your lifestyle, and at the pace you want. You can't do that anywhere else. I mean, it's hard to I can't say that you cannot do it. But it's harder to do it on somebody else's terms versus your own terms.

Kathi Burns  6:21  
Absolutely. Hey, that leads me into the next question, a perfect segue. What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs who want to create more freedom within their business, I know that oftentimes, our business will end up being our boss, I always say my boss is mean. So if you had to give a piece of advice to someone is feeling a little bit strangled by their business, what would you say to them?

Lora Shipman  6:44  
I would say, you know, take a step back, take a look at your business and really get analytical about how you're approaching it. Are you spending your time in the best places? What can you outsource? Who do you need to hire, and it make sure every activity that you're doing is pushing you to your next goal. And you might have this huge goal out there. Keep that goal in your horizon. But look at the many goals that you need to attain to get to that big goal in make sure every activity you're doing is pushing you there. Otherwise, you're wasting your time and you are being drowned by your business. You're being strangled by your business. Because maybe you have too many, I guess, flashy objects that are distracting you from keeping you where you need to be. Squirrel squirrel. Exactly. And and it's such a hard lesson to learn because you can easily fall victim to burnout if you don't watch it if you don't watch yourself.

Kathi Burns  7:38  
Yeah, yeah. So what's one lesson that your business has taught you over the years that that you would tell other people that are having been in business for a long time? Or are just starting out?

Lora Shipman  7:51  
First.Okay, I don't know, I say there's no rules. I mean, there are certain rules you need to follow, like tax rules and things like that. But as far as creating your business, and what you're looking to do, there are no rules. So do what you want to do for yourself. Follow that passion or that idea and ignore the people who tell you you can't, or that it's impossible or that you're going to fail. Because tell you that like tell yourself, don't listen to them. Because if they were going to be doing something like like you're doing, let me back up. They're not doing what you're doing right now. Right? They're probably working the nine to five working in that J.O.B, which by the way, my husband and I always joke stands for just over broke. So don't listen to those people. Really listen to your gut, listen to your instincts, listen to your passion, and just go for it.

Kathi Burns  8:42  
I love that. Absolutely. I love that job just over. If you're doing a job, that means doing it. Right.

Lora Shipman  8:49  
Right, right. That's absolutely right. And just the fun fact, both my husband and I are entrepreneurs. So we really, and we've been that way for a long, long time. And we just believe in it so much.

Kathi Burns  9:01  
Yeah, absolutely. And again, we're simpatico on that my husband's also an entrepreneur, We're like twins, he is on opposite sides of US. That's right. Tell me about a time when you discovered a really powerful organizational tool and what was it in and how did that impact you?

Lora Shipman  9:17  
Oh, okay. So for me, those tools are in the digital worlds because I do a lot of social media. So anytime that you can find a way to automate any task that you do, I highly recommend doing it. And it can be something as simple as automating your zoom to, like connect with your like if you set up meetings through Calendly, for example, automating that process and actually your process is amazing, because it keeps you in touch with the person every step of the way leading up to maybe 15 minutes before the call. I think that's really important is automation. Take advantage of that. I know when you're first starting out, it could seem really frivolous to invest in that kind of in that money if you maybe you don't have it right away. And I used to be like that a lot. But the minute, I kind of pulled that band aid off and said, Look, my hourly rate is so much better and well worth spent if I was actually working on my business instead of in these little admin tasks. So it can be really, really hard to come to that realization of I really don't have the money. But just imagine how much more income you could have coming in, if you had someone or something else doing these menial tasks for you.

Kathi Burns  10:36  
I think a lot of entrepreneurs don't understand their rate. They understand the rate that they charge their clients, but they don't pay themselves that rate. So oftentimes, I'm saying, you know, well, that's below your rate that's below what you should be making. And again, I agree Lora, are you on your business or in your business, so we have to be in our business up often, right, we have to set up the Calendly. So that it happens with Zoom. So it is automatic. By the way, Calendly is that the app that you that you really like?

Lora Shipman  11:07  
I do, I really like Calendly. And I love that it integrates with Zoom, and it just makes my life so much easier, I never have to think about it. So that's really important. The other thing that I would say too, is a lot of times we get so caught up in the day to day that we don't sit there and think about the future of our business and working on our business like those strategic moves, or those strategic tasks or projects that you need to do. And so this morning was a perfect example. I spent some time like really kind of thinking that through. And I think it's important that we do carve that time out, maybe not daily, but definitely weekly. So that in the beginning of the week is probably the best time and the end of the week, because you want that vision for what your weeks going to look like. And then you want to do kind of a retrospective come Friday, and look at how your business went and what you're going to do come the next week to make it different.

Kathi Burns  12:02  
Hey, have you been taking my training?  I love you, you say all the time, beginning of the weekend, the end of the world, you know, have a plan. And you know and go back and reflect on your plan on Friday and see and then tidy up and make sure that you're you know what you're doing on Monday, and then Monday you're gonna figure out again, what you should be doing. So I love it.

Lora Shipman  12:24  
So I've even come down to where I've got like a daily task thing. And like, yeah, what's that?

Kathi Burns  12:30  
I was gonna ask you that. Okay, talk to me about it. Yeah,

Lora Shipman  12:33  
Yeah, so it's one of these things that I developed just for myself, because I manage close to 20 clients by myself, which is a lot and I need to stay really organized and focused. And so I work it out where I only have a daily plan that I only focus on one or two clients a day. And that's it, I'm not going to go try and hit every client every day, because that's just impossible. And I'm not spending enough time really getting deep into their content, and creating everything that they need. So actually, in there, this might sound wasteful, and I'm so sorry if people get offended by this, but I have one for every day of the month that I'm working. And I just know that that's what I'm going to do, I'm going to stay on that track. And that's how I've become actually, there's a couple of things that helped me here is how I became really focused, and I stay focused in my day, and I'm not getting distracted. But it also helps me plan time for myself. Because a lot of times as an entrepreneur, what we do is we want to do everything and we wear so many different hats, that it's easy to get caught up in that workaholic kind of trend, right where you're that hamster on the hamster wheel just going, going going and you never stop until I developed like a daily plan for myself. I wasn't taking weekends off. I wasn't taking vacations. I wasn't doing I kind of lost myself to my business. And I I didn't It's funny because my friend and I were talking about this the other day is like what are our passions? And there's so many times where we get lost in our work that we forget about what makes you know me, Lora or you Kathi or you know what I mean? So if you don't do that, you're going to lose yourself. And that's kind of like the secret sauce to the magic of your business is not losing yourself because it's your personality, your creative activity, excuse me and your ideas that really are the driving force behind your business if you lose that your business is going to feel it too.

Kathi Burns  14:32  
That so succinct in that so true and that's why I think number one there's enough business out there for everybody because no one can do what you do the way you do it or the way you think. But I do agree it's I was at one point when I rebranded my company to organize it energize actually did that so that I could gain more energy in my business because I had lost myself with add space to your life was my original company I'd lost who you know what's my hobby? Gosh, I don't Now do you have any hobbies? He has like, okay, let's gonna read rebook revamp rebrand refigure out who's Kathy what she's doing? I love to talk in the podcast. You know, I love to meet other entrepreneurs, I love to pass on secrets of other entrepreneurs. And so here I am. And, yeah, I think if you if you get to the point in your business where you don't know what you'd like to do besides work, if more your identity.

Lora Shipman  15:29  
Yeah. And that's a good sign of burnout to like, or that burnout is coming soon, you know, if you if you lose yourself like that?

Kathi Burns  15:38  
Absolutely, absolutely. Okay, so what's the best piece of advice anyone's ever given you as an entrepreneur?

Lora Shipman  15:45  
Hmm, anybody? That one's I, you get a lot of advice, when you are an entrepreneur from people who've been down that path, and then the ones that haven't? Mine, I think the one that I've received is, don't be afraid to try it. Just try it. And because you're gonna, it doesn't matter if you win, lose or fail it. I mean, just try it. Because you will always learn from whatever it is that you've done. So don't hold back and just don't worry about trying it.

Kathi Burns  16:13  
Yeah. And there's nothing wrong with with not succeeding in anything. Because again, I agree, it's a way it's kind of a compass back, you just tack you check into one thing turned into another thing. And, you know, you might fall off and go back around again, and jive and come back into the wind and go a different way. It doesn't matter. But you know, you shouldn't be going that way. Yeah, no, yeah. Fabulous. Okay, so I know that you have a valuable free resource to give the listeners here. And I bet it might have something to do with some social media of some sort. What is it that you want to offer the listeners or viewers?

Lora Shipman  16:47  
so actually, it's like a whole library of stuff that is, so this link that I have given, you will just give you a bunch of resources to scheduling social media to templates to, you know, advice on how to do social media, how to save time, because chances are, if you're an entrepreneur, and maybe you're a one person show or two person show, you're probably doing a lot of your own social media and to be able to schedule that and come up with content and things like that is just, you know, really helpful to have somebody in your back pocket, who will help you do that. So definitely go check that out.

Kathi Burns  17:21  
I love that. That's fabulous. Um, do you I just have to ask you, have you ever used buffer? And do you have any of your clients use Buffer for scheduling?

Lora Shipman  17:31  
You know, I actually use the two tools I use, I use HootSuite and I use Facebook's Creator Studio. And those are my two go to they have a very well creator studio with Facebook is free. Hootsuite does have a paid option. But their free option is very robust. And I think for most people they can get away with just doing the free the free version of HootSuite.

Kathi Burns  17:53  
Well, that's fantastic. Yeah, I didn't know they had a free version. So last time I checked into them, I went to one of their little Facebook conference things was really fun. By the way, if you ever hear his tweets coming, and they're having a little party in your area go because it's really a blast, and you can learn a lot of stuff.  Yeah, the one I went to was fantastic. Anyhow, thank you for sharing those tools. Because, you know, there are a lot of free options out there. That's what I was saying buffer I use Buffer for years before I turned into another one. It served me well, for something that's just pre scheduling and also looking into the Facebook option. So there's a lot of options out there. The bottom line is gang and Calendly. As you said earlier, Lor Calendly is free to use, you don't have to buy a big version to get this stuff done. One thing I also just discovered, which makes me so happy I use Google Calendar, and I can save it as a Zoom meeting, boom, one click, and it saved the Zoom meeting. So there's so much out there. Just have fun. You can say something about that?

Lora Shipman  18:55  
No, I'm like, yeah, it was like trying to figure what you're talking about. Yes, that's right. It does do that. That's really awesome.

Kathi Burns  19:00  
I just discovered it like about two months ago. And um, yeah, make it a Zoom meeting. Heck, yeah. So good for podcasting, but it's good for just client meetings and whatnot. Now, they no longer have to figure out where they're gonna find me because it's in their calendar invitation. Thank God, hallelujah. No, that's a good thing. Well, I really appreciate your time. And is there anything that I should have asked you that I did not anything that you feel like we've missed the boat on with this?

Lora Shipman  19:29  
You know, just if you're thinking about starting your own business, but maybe you don't know what to start, just do what you love doing and the money will come? You know, just you're an expert at something. So just figure out what that is. Or you have a passion about something and turn that into a business. Let's like the best thing you could do to get out of the JOB.

Kathi Burns  19:49  
That's fantastic advice. And even if if it's your passion, even if you're not an expert, you will become an expert very quickly, because you'll know more about that topic. Anybody else after you've done in a while because you love it, and you're going to be absorbing all this information, and it doesn't, I think that's so perfect Lora, because it doesn't take a lot to be an expert. Now all it asks for it is, is something that knows a little bit more about the topic than somebody else. So if you are passionate, I actually guarantee that you're gonna know more than than the average bear about whatever it is that you want to pursue. So that's really good advice. So come on, ladies jump off that corporate bandwagon. Let's go. That's it.  Yeah, if you fail, it doesn't matter. Just try again and do something else who cares? Exactly. It's all about the journey. And you know, what would the journey never gets done anyhow?

Lora Shipman  20:39  
That's true.

Kathi Burns  20:42  
Well, I really appreciate your time everybody checked below, download all of those assets that Lora's offering for you. I guarantee it'll be something in there. That'll be a huge nugget that will pull you into whatever you're going to do next. So thanks for your time, Lora. I really appreciate it.

Lora Shipman  20:57  
Thank you for having me. This was great.

Kathi Burns  21:06  
Hey, thanks for listening to this podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode. And if you want to hear more, feel free to subscribe on the platform of your choice. Also, if you feel so inclined, I would truly appreciate a good rating from you, to me have a stellar day.