Own It! For Entrepreneurs. Talking Digital Marketing, Small Business, Being Digital Nomads And Success Thinking

How do you go about New Year resolutions/intentions? What methods do you use? Judith shares two resources she’s discovered and Nicola’s whittled her plans down to just three...   In The Show Nicola describes her mammoth journey home to the UK for Christmas and tells Judith why she’s still here. Her Christmas was nice, her step-father joined the family for the day, she’s caught up with friends including Kim who she’s helping with Facebook Ads, and she and Phoebe have been for Reiki treatments. Judith enjoyed her family on Christmas Day too and then visits from friends on 27th and 28th December. She completed the 21 Day tapping challenge and she’s been thinking about how she wants to show up in her business and in her writing in 2019.   What's Fuelled Their Fire? Judith received lots of lovely unsolicited testimonials which she found very encouraging, including one about the podcast which she shared with Nicola during the show. Nicola’s been studying with Andre Chaperon, specifically his new course Lean Busines

What’s important when it comes to choosing friends? Nicola Cairncross and Judith Morgan discuss what causes clashes and what to look out for when people seek to befriend you in business.   In The Show Nicola talks about healing her fears of the dark and becoming generally braver, finding writing groups in Brighton she can meet up with during her UK Christmas trip and how two favourite actors are getting older. Judith talks about dinner with good friends on Saturday night, another funeral on Monday, and joining a 21 Day tapping challenge.   What's Fuelled Their Fire? Nicola’s enjoyed Frank Kern’s launch of Convert 2.0 and Judith’s happy it is the end of term tonight for her so that she can focus on tidying up the old and preparing for the new.   Focus Of The Week A regular listener to Own It! offers this week’s focus, a discussion on the nature of friendship. What’s important when it comes to choosing friends? Why do some stick with you and some go? How painful it can be when friends are “judgy” about your lif

Nicola’s thinking about buying a ready made business, online or off. Judith explains how she sold her accountancy business on the same basis.   In The Show Nicola’s infested with flies, Judith’s doing some shopping and they swap ideas for Christmas Day games.   What’s Fuelled Their Fire? Nicola’s having an entrepreneurial seizure about creating a business she’s seen which needs improvement. Judith’s excited to be working with a favourite client for another year and she’s paid already!   Focus Of The Week Nicola’s thinking about buying a readymade business, online or off. She did it with The Acacia in Worthing way back and Judith gets her to remember the shape of the deal she did and how she did it. Judith explains how she sold her accountancy business on the same basis. Nicola and Judith have studied with Rick Otton how to buy property on this options basis and the principles are the same. How to find a motivated seller, find out what they want and work out what you do, how to take on the best bits of his bus

Rhys Morgan (no relation) was once a vicar. He is also a recovering alcoholic who is five years sober. He talks about how and why he got going with his Social Good Podcast and how his next venture will be about helping others to get and stay sober.   In The Show Nicola’s frustrated by some changes with Gmail, and she describes a sense of restlessness which has got her talking about an IRL job (!) and reading Daltons Weekly with a view to buying and selling businesses. Judith’s also frustrated; her challenge is with CreateSpace in regard to her book published on Amazon.   What's Fuelled Their Fire? Judith’s handwriting challenge led within a week to her rediscovering a schoolgirl love of poetry which she is copying out instead of journaling her own thoughts, which was never the point of the exercise. Nicola’s daily one-minute videos are going great guns and achieving interesting results at LinkedIn and Twitter but confusing ones at Facebook, so far.   Focus of the Week Rhys Morgan (no relation) was once a vica

Robin Sharma says; “Show me your schedule and I’ll show you your values” and this got Judith and Nicola thinking about creating space for creative thought, creative thinking and creative output.   In The Show Temperatures are down in Stoupa and Nicola talks of winter tavernas, wood-burning stoves and the chimney sweep. Judith’s been to a funeral and received news of a second death. It’s not all death and dying, but there is a small trend in that direction it seems.   What's Fuelled Their Fire? Judith’s been shopping to buy a notebook and pen with which to begin some handwriting practice. She can see the opportunity for improving all the skills she’s lost through deliberately bringing them back into her life including walking, sleeping, singing and playing the piano. All require regular practice. Nicola is in her third week of creating daily videos and she’s encouraged by the results. She went to a Twitter lesson and could see her profile stats were 54% up on the previous week. Her Vzine is back on track and s

  Debating the pros and cons of the internet and social media, including friendships and the ability to create a living from anywhere in the world with WiFi. Judith Morgan and Nicola Cairncross ask - but at what cost?   In The Show Nicola’s been making the ladies at Write Club laugh when she transposed America and Paris, and reading aloud in her French accent reminded them of Glaswegian! Her week has been creative and quiet and she’s been out to dinner a lot. As Judith started to recover from the bug, she got going with sorting out her new home and two professional cleaners arrived to make it even more habitable. She got her Outlook fixed too so normal service is very nearly resumed.   What's Fuelled Their Fire? Just when Judith was beginning to despair, two fabulous results came in from her Baggy Trousers Low Carb group and on the day she too was ready to go back to that way of eating after the bug and in a pre-Xmas health kick. She doesn’t think those two are a coincidence. Nicola’s mentor has encouraged he

Are you creating wealth in your business, or simply exchanging time for money? Nicola Cairncross and Judith Morgan discuss how self-employed people can secure their own financial future.   In The Show Both Nicola and Judith have been struck down by evil bugs without knowing how they were infected. They’ve each been taken out of the game for between 24 and 72 hours, stricken and taken to their beds without energy to do anything. Consequently, Nicola is behind with NaNoWriMo and Judith’s abandoned it altogether. As if that wasn’t enough, Nicola has been suffering power cuts and Judith lost her emails for 24 hours last weekend. It has been quite a challenging week all round.   What's Fuelled Their Fire? Nicola’s been enjoying thinking around the issues experienced by her daughter and her niece and noticing how that inspires content for her returning vzine. Judith is finding her diary full of strangers and her inbox full of book sales and wonders if she was tempting fate when she started to talk about taking anot

Paula Gardner joins us to talk about Chaos Theory which is about how every tiny decision alters your course and how you come to realise you have no control over events, good or bad.   In The Show Nicola’s having a quiet week since sister Sarah returned to the UK. Dave’s Dining Club re-opens now that the offseason has returned to Stoupa. Judith’s moved house, said goodbye to everyone in the West Country, and met her new helpful neighbours. She’s broken out the thermals, is contemplating NaNoWriMo and has enjoyed another crystal consultation.   What’s Fuelled Their Fire? Nicola’s ahead of the game when it comes to NaNoWriMo, she’s attended a writing sprint day with her writing club which was at her house so she mainly spent the time zapping (writing-based) tolerations. Sarah left her with the farewell gift of a tidy and clean home which means Nicola has a lovely feeling of being on top of all her chores. Judith enjoyed a timely reminder when spending a most unusual 2.5 hours in the hairdresser this week; she re

Why are entrepreneurs so annoying? They buy systems and processes and then sabotage themselves by deviating from them!   In The Show Judith’s had a testing week with another fall, another house move, breakages and sleeplessness. Fortunately, there are lots of lovely family meetups too. Nicola has been woken in the night by an earthquake – wow! And she was persuaded to go and watch the local Am Dram.   What’s Fuelled Their Fire? Two of the ladies in Nicola’s Write Club have had some wonderful successes.  And sharing a computer with sister Sarah in 2-hour stints has caused them both to be more efficient and work differently. Both Nicola and Judith were inspired by the contributions from the listeners to episode 200 of Own It! And Judith’s enjoyed driving in the countryside, finding it uplifting; she’s especially enjoying singing M People’s Moving on Up and noticing the pretty English churches in Somerset and Dorset.   Focus of the Week Why do entrepreneurs buy systems and processes and proven formulae and then

25 listeners and contributors from all over the world used the Speakpipe app on Nicola's website to send in their thoughts and congratulations and are featured in this 200th episode of Own It! Are you one of them?   In the Show Nicola and Sarah have taken a day trip to the Apple repair shop in Kalamata to try to sort out Sarah’s broken laptop. Meanwhile, they are sharing – eek! She also updates Judith on the LitFest, the Arts and Crafts Fair and her continued wrangling with Booking.com. Judith’s found an easy and legal way to dispose of her printer, enjoyed a visit from Lotte and discovered a potential issue with new clients coming via her increasingly effective SEO. She’s flagging the differences between warm and cold traffic and simply observing for now. Two observations do not a disaster make.   What’s Fuelled Their Fire? Judith enjoys a session with a lady who dowses using a crystal, and Nicola discovers a new way to resuscitate her vzine.   Focus of the Week Twenty-five listeners and contributors from al

Judith shares her belief that the Law of Attraction can bring positive or negative experiences into your life. Nicola takes the discussion on from there... You can listen to Part 1 here >> On the Show Judith’s still in Trowbridge and this week she’s been challenged by the Aga. She’s had the car serviced in anticipation of more motorway driving during the autumn and winter, is planning to explore a nearby M&S food hall scouring for treats for a visiting client on Monday, and visiting chocolate-boxy Bradford on Avon which inspired a longish piece of writing on Facebook. Nicola is looking forward to the Mani LitFest (though much resistant to the so-called word LitFest) today and the local Arts and Crafts Fair in Pefko’s Garden tomorrow. She and Sarah have enjoyed a nice quiet week and, despite thunderstorms, they’ve even made it to the beach – twice. What’s Fuelled Their Fire? Judith’s attracted three new clients and noticed something strange but very interesting about visitor numbers to her Facebook Busines

A member of the Own It! Facebook Group has noticed similarities in ads on YouTube and wants to know; "Is the formula they all follow just a big scam?" This week saw Nicola’s birthday and brother Alex had planned a road trip to celebrate which they had to reschedule due to a “medicane”, the Greek equivalent of a hurricane. One of the hotel rooms was a bit dodgy, but otherwise a lovely time was had by all. Alex has now moved on to other parts of Europe after helping Sarah and Nicola discover how to make salt cod not only palatable but plump and delicious. Judith’s podcasting today from Trowbridge in Wiltshire on the first week of a fortnight’s housesitting gig. She’s getting on fine with the Aga and giving the cat her thyroid medicine hidden in cheese. She muses on a return trip to Bromley in Kent where she met a couple planning to winter in Argentina and who want her to look after their house while they are gone. What’s Fuelled Their Fire? Nicola is happy to have rediscovered her joy of audio and podcasts, rea

Richard Pettitt wanted to be a scriptwriter until he was reminded how much he loves to make people laugh and the value and fun of surprising your clients. Nicola’s been out and about with brother Alex, and musing on how clever she is having completed one of her current projects in just three weeks. Judith returned from Luton via Trowbridge and met a surprising couple for whom she’s housesitting in October, one half of which has had over half a million hits to his guitar playing on YouTube. What’s Fuelled Their Fire? Judith has been planning her future during a couple of sleepless nights and it was well worth it as her visions have gone from blurry to much clearer. Nicola is discovering the joys of the Hemingway App and she and J debate where to put a full stop! Focus Of The Week Richard Pettitt originally wanted to be a scriptwriter until Morning Pages reminded him how much he loves to make people laugh with his jokes, videos and cartoons/webcomics Oojo and Bink, Drizzle Cake and Think vs Say. He talks to Jud

When is the right time / right circumstances to grow your business, if ever? Why would anyone do that? Which is better, working alone or with other people? Nicola’s brother Alex has arrived from Sydney on a one-way ticket, thankfully he also has Berlin, Paris and the UK on his list of places to visit. Nicola has been busy editing this week. Some cricket videos firstly to help local friend Arthur Burgess who raises money for Mani firefighters by staging a cricket match on the beach. And Write Club podcasts have been recorded and edited all the way up to the end of October. Judith is housesitting in Luton today and has been offered a six-month opportunity in suburban South London from November to April. She’s thinking of getting a mobile kit together of what she considers life’s essentials so she always has everything she needs whether or not she can find it in someone else’s house. What’s Fuelled Their Fire? Judith has been reflecting on how some clients become forever friends, and also she is amazed to discov

With so many creative people struggling and failing to manage their own mental wellbeing, how can entrepreneurs avoid burnout, dark thoughts and worse? Nicola’s enjoying a brief moment between one lot of friends going and another house guest arriving, this time it is her brother from Australia. And who is the handsome young man on a motorbike who is trying to find her? Judith’s getting organised for the first in a series of house-sits beginning tomorrow. Haircut, tick. Pedicure, tick. Full tank of gas, tick. What’s Fuelled Their Fire? Judith was inspired and uplifted by the response to the return of the podcast last week. Nicola’s reviewing whether or not to get back into creating her weekly vzine. If not, how will she invite people into her marketing funnel? Focus of the Week With so many creative people struggling and failing to manage their own mental wellbeing, ourselves included at times, how can we as entrepreneurs look after ourselves to avoid burnout, dark thoughts and worse? Words of the Week Nicola

Should Judith segment her newsletter to cover the two distinct areas of interest – low carb and business coaching? Nicola shares her thoughts on the matter! Nicola has some lovely friends staying this week and has decided to go into a joint venture business with the Dad of the family, Peter, which will involve a trip in Spring 2019 to Las Vegas. Judith wasn’t in the mood at all to go back to work on Monday so busied herself instead with some frenzied “spring” cleaning, very much NOT her comfort zone. What’s Fuelled Their Fire? Judith’s got a new notebook for the new term and a new Club 100 client plus she woke from a dream feeling the nudge to start using EFT/tapping with her low carb clients to help them beat the sugar cravings. Nicola’s new major client, SecretArtOfHuna.com, filled her first two workshops which she put down to “low-hanging fruit”. They are working on their third. Focus of the Week Judith received some useful feedback from a newsletter reader that she should ask Nicola for some advice about

Alice Sheridan is a London artist who now mentors other artists. In this podcast, she asks you to think about the distinction between criticism and critique Nicola has been enjoying August on the beach, walking, diving, snorkelling, getting healthy and brown. She’s joined in with a series of writing sprints where you write 2500 words in a fast session. And she’s discovered YouWriteOn.com where you can drop in your writing and receive and give feedback to and from other writers. Judith’s been housesitting for her brother in Surrey and totally overdoing it, she spent the rest of the month resting and healing and getting over the exertion of seeing friends in London in an intense week. She’s enjoyed three woo-woo consultations with a medium, a psychic and a homeopath and as the month progressed she eased into doing little and less. What’s Fuelled Their Fire? Judith’s excited that the average donation for her Pay What You Want (PWYW) calls during August was £80, up from £60 at last reckoning. Nicola’s able to rev

Margaret Collins has published Beyond Imposter Syndrome and she talks to us about what it is and where it comes from, how it feels and what to do about it. Nicola has been zapping tolerations including her first visit to a Greek dentist. Today’s the day she will hear whether or not she’s been accepted onto the writing course, she’s unattached to the outcome but she says she is on a purple streak right now when it comes to manifesting, so fingers crossed. Judith’s been out to dinner to a posh restaurant with her cousins, had a very exciting Monday including 15 frantic minutes during the morning and she’s resolved a peculiar PayPal glitch with Eric her computer man who was, at the time, in Rwanda! What’s Fuelled Their Fire? Judith’s Low-Carb group now has 15 paying members and got off to a cracking start with the first of 13 weekly Zoom calls last week. Discoveries are being made, ankles and feet are no longer swollen even in these temperatures. The first few weeks are the hardest for some, easier than anticipa

"I'm a techy VA & hear people, including Nicola, talking about outsourcing to people overseas for $10 per/hour. How do I get across the value and compete?” Nicola’s 21 Day Challenge is all but over and 3 out of 10 active participants have joined her Clicks And Leads Academy. She has a houseguest, a dog called Wilfred Owen! In the end, after some frustration, Judith enjoyed Monday without access to internet either at home or via her mobile mini sim so apparently across all networks; sometimes you are obliged to take an unscheduled day off. What’s Fuelled Their Fire? Judith July 2018 Low-Carb Pilot is nearly a week old now and she’s done ten inductions in the last week, cajoling people into giving up their foodie addictions. Nicola’s very moved to have been hired by a long-term client as her marketing partner, something she considers to be perfect in many ways. Focus of the Week “I am a very techy VA and I keep hearing everyone (including Nicola on the podcast) talking about outsourcing to people overseas f

Chloe Constantine is in business with her twin sister Pippa operating Feet First baby feet castings. Fortunately, as she explains, they are NOT identical... In the Show The UK heatwave continues, the football match was a tad disappointing but not the England team, Wimbledon tennis more than made up for it; Nicola’s all alone as first her children and then Sarah have returned to the UK. What’s Fuelled Their Fire? Judith is contemplating de-niching or at least switching the central focus of her coaching business somewhat to the power of a conversation on any topic. Nicola is taking a couple of months off from creating her Vzine over the summer and instead she is looking at becoming the Marketing Department for one or two special clients. Focus of the Week Chloe and twin sister Pippa run real-world business Feet First in London and Surrey. They make castings of babies’ and children’s feet. Both mothers themselves, they help parents to make that lovely decision to mark an important time in their lives. Their fami