Melinda Emerson, “SmallBizLady” is America’s #1 Small Business Expert. She is an international expert on small business development and social media marketing. Melinda is also the president of the Quintessence Group, a marketing consulting firm based in Philadelphia, PA serving Fortune 500 clients who target small businesses. She has published over 5000 articles on small business on her blog www.succeedasyourownboss.com. Her advice is widely read, reaching more than 3 million entrepreneurs each week online. She is a former columnist for The New York Times and Entrepreneur. She is the bestselling author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months, 2nd Edition, and her latest book is Fix Your Business.
Here are a few key secrets we talked about in this episode:
- Michelle introduces Melinda Emerson.
- Melinda shares a brief introduction to who she is and what she does.
- The first crushing NO that Melinda experienced occurred while she was working for an NBC station in her hometown of Pittsburgh.
- “Your brand cannot be what’s on your business card. It also can’t be what’s in your pocket. Your brand has to be that you are a good person.” ~ Melinda Emerson
- It took Melinda a few years but she eventually created her own company. She realized that in order to grow her business she’d have to grow herself. She shared some of how she did that in this episode.
- The number one lesson that Melinda learned is that you need a kitchen cabinet full of 5 people who fully support you and what you want to do.
- In 2005, Melinda had successfully created a business that was thriving and her husband was even able to leave his full-time job.
- During that time Melinda was also pregnant, and it turned into a high-risk pregnancy where the doctor kept her home on bedrest.
- Melinda had built a business that couldn’t run without her and now she couldn’t run it, so her first business ended up failing.
- After having her baby and praying to God, Melinda had a vision of what she wanted to do with her business. When she told her husband, his reaction actually led to her most devastating NO. You’ll have to listen to this episode to hear what happened!
- Melinda followed her dreams and by 2010 she was America’s most sought-after business expert.
- We all suffer from negative self-talk. Melinda shares how she remembers who she is and what she is capable of.
- “At the end of the day, none of us sell anything that’s incredibly unique. The difference is our service. The difference is how much we care.” ~ Melinda Emerson
- Melinda shares that listening to her gut is the number one way that she knows whether she should work with a brand or not. There’s more that goes into the final decision, but if it doesn’t feel right in the gut, she and her team will turn people away.
- There are three things that Melinda recommends you look for when deciding if you should work with someone. She shares them in this episode.
- Melinda shares what she would tell her younger self.
Connect with Melinda Emerson:
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