On Day 29 of 30 days of writing every day, I talked about your three most valuable resources. If you haven't read it, check it out here 👉 [ Mind Your Buckets: Three Most Valuable Business Resources ] In this bulletin, Day 30 of 30 days writing something every day, I'm talking more about those resource buckets. I NEED TO BE FRANK WITH YOU. If you refuse to acknowledge the reality of your situation, you'll never feel stable. Building a sustainable business means analyzing you

Growing a sustainable business requires constant analysis of how to best compensate for the changes in three of your most valuable resource buckets. Without adjusting for change, imbalance occurs. And everyone knows that you need a balanced ship to make it through rocky waters. We see this in a lot of industries. In photography, we call it the exposure triangle. When setting exposure, the photographer will manipulate three main settings to achieve balance. Changing the camera

I didn’t grow up a brand snob. In fact, until college I didn’t even use brand named “cotton swabs.” If you know me today you know how alarming that fact is - I wouldn’t be caught dead without Q-tip brand cotton swabs now. I’m serious. I would rather never clean my ears again than to use an off brand Q-tip. I am brand loyal because I trust Q-tip to distribute a product that I believe to be the best on the market. I buy brand name because I know the Q-tip brand will be sturdy e

May of 2022, I was clearly at my wits end with poor customer service. It’s what first gave me the idea to help women identify gaps in their businesses. At the time I just wasn’t sure it would look like Angela Hoppe Collaborative. On day 27 of 30 days writing something every day, I’m sharing this entry from my writing vault. Running a business is hard. Being a customer to a business who shows these two qualities is even harder. POOR COMMUNICATION When left on their own, peopl

Day 26 of 30 days of writing every day and I can’t help but publish another from my writing vault. 2023 was a very introspective year for me. Take time to think back to your favorite birthday party as a child. When you imagine that party in your head, what do you visualize? My bet is what you remember most is also represented in a photo you found in your mom’s tattered, falling apart album, collected during a school project. As we grow older and our brains become flooded with

On Day 25 of 30 days of writing something every day, I’m actually sharing something I wrote in May of 2023. Life sure looks different now but, damn, this book really changed the way I view conversation and connection. Enjoy this photo from around the same time. The girls beach vacation for women in my community! I recently finished the book “Share Your Stuff, I’ll Go First” by Laura Tremaine; a book of empowering questions to ponder, answer, and ask in order to strengthen rel

You don’t need to get your business in front of more people. You need to get it in front of more of the right people. Those are two very different missions. If you’re a wedding florist, 10,000 random people seeing your Instagram post isn’t nearly as useful as 100 recently engaged people knowing who you are. If you’re a dog trainer, 50 local dog owners who know you exist is much better than 5,000 people across the country who will never hire you. If you’re a photographer, the

Day 23 of 30 days writing something every day. You hit 500 followers on social media and now you’re feeling the urge to do a giveaway to celebrate and reach more people. But if your goal is to build visibility for your small business, more followers aren’t necessarily the answer. You do not need to give away free stuff in order to boost visibility. In fact, in most cases it ends up being counterproductive. Oftentimes you’ll end up with more followers, but less engagement, bec

You’ve met this really cool chick after a networking event and now it’s time to leave. The networking event is over. You got her business card, followed her on social media, and now you go home for a little Netflix and chill. AND THEN YOU’LL NEVER HEAR FROM THEM AGAIN. The next time you show up at the same event you’ll say things like, “We really need to get coffee soon!” “What have you been up to?” “The last event was so neat!” AND THEN YOU’LL BLAME NETWORKING. But what happ

You’re starting with a small network and you’re not really sure where to find anyone to help you grow. Here’s the good news 👉 Most people don’t. While some people do start with established padded assets, like a well connected network or fat ass inheritance, most people spend years building them from the ground up. Thats how’s investments work— you utilize resources to make investments that turn into assets. Your network is no different. It must be built. Poured into. Drawn f

How do you turn relationships into visibility without making networking feel transactional? You keep it authentic. You serve others first. And you stay be transparent with your needs. Day 20 of 30 days of writing something every day. AUTHENTICITY Don’t pursue relationships you have no actual interest in investing in, yourself. Inauthentic relationship building leaves you feeling drained and the other person feeling icky. Figure out what you can give before you decide what you

You’ve spent so much time creating great social media content but you’re still having trouble getting sales. That’s because the right people aren’t seeing it. Sometimes lack of visibility has nothing to do with the algorithm, nothing to do with your content, and everything to do with your ego. OUCH. The algorithm only does so much. At its core, social media is social. So if you aren’t an account that offers engagement OUT, you could be missing lots of little corners of the in

It’s easy to think visibility refers to your business being seen. It actually encompasses much more than that. Visibility is actually your business being seen by the right people at the right time. THAT’S WHY IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW MANY FOLLOWERS YOU HAVE ON INSTAGRAM. Having thousands of followers on social media means nothing if none of them are engaged and purchasing. Thousands of followers does not mean thousands of views and even then, thousands of views doesn’t mean thou

Day 17 of 30 days of writing every day. You have to do more than decorate your door, you have to leave it cracked with the music blasting so people know if they want to peek in. But when there's not a lot of people walking by or there's too much noise on the block, you have to do something to complete your mission. You can upgrade your equipment so the music is louder, you can develop other lanes of communication so it travels farther, and you can physically seek out the peop

You've decided that deepening your core network is something you want to focus on. Great! I'm a firm believer in growing deep, not just wide. That you get out what you put in. And as long as your expectations are sound and your boundaries are clear, then there's no reason to feel bad about a connection that just didn't make it to your core network. Some connections will do that. They don't weather the storms. And that's okay. Some connections strengthen until the only place f

Day 15 of 30 days of writing every day. And I'm here to address your rebuttle to networking. You hate networking? Or do you just hate the rigamarole? The one where you start panicking because you're wondering what you'll wear, what you'll say, and who will be there. You hate networking because the thought of small talk with people gives you the heebie jeebies. You hate networking because putting on a mask, no matter how literal, is work. You ready for the moment I kick you in

If you walked into a restaurant and never prioritized eating, would you still be fed? It depends on who is sitting at the table. That's what building a network offers -- an opportunity to feed others so when it's your turn, there are people who notice your hunger. Networking is not about selling. It's not about what you can get out of other people. It's about creating deep, strong roots that pay off during a drought. STOP BUILDING WIDE AND FOCUS DEEP. If you're unsure how to