Nicole Holland Show Notes

Nicole Holland is the host of two hot podcasts; The Business Building Rockstars Show & Get Guest Ready, Nicole Holland helps subject matter experts increase their visibility exponentially through podcast guesting to create greater impact, influence, and income. We’re about to find out why industry super-stars consider her a genius at what she does!

Most passionate about

• I’m like all over the place…I started my business a few years ago and it’s been an amazingly incredible journey. Right now I’m working on the thing that really launched my business a couple of years ago and that’s called the Business Building Rockstar Summit. It’s an annual online event.
• In December 2014, I quit my job as a correction officer and I didn’t know what I was going to do, I just knew I’m not going to do that anymore. I didn’t work much with the internet. As a correction officer, I dealt with crises, removed children, and I was a foster-parent. I was living a life that did not blend well with social media or with being publicly exposed. But I knew I had to learn fast. I was looking for what would be right for me, and on November 1^st 2015, the Business Building Rockstar Summit began and that’s where I got on the map where people started listen to me. That’s where business stopped being so difficult and I got to attract people, rather than chase people.
• The kickoff party, which is a live Facebook Live event actually happens on October 31^st, 2 p.m. eastern. This year, the summit is running for 10 days, November 1^st to the 10^th. It’s four sessions a day and they are all being live streamed. In the last two, they were prerecorded. This year, it’s all happening live. Very, very exciting!
• Since I quit my job in December 2014, I  have not actually taken any personal time, so after the summit, I’m taking a couple of weeks off and I feel I’ve got to sit down and really clarify my plan because I’ve just been running on auto pilot and I think that’s something a lot of entrepreneurs do.
• In 2018, I’ll be continuing as a podcaster. The summit may become a live event in person, and I’m also looking for my first book to come out on this year.

The company

• At the time of the summit, I didn’t even know what a podcast was. I decided that I wanted to be the person that I was searching for when I quit my job, which was the trusted adviser who would just listen and point me in the right direction, and I couldn’t find that. Any one I turned to, I felt was kind of telling me “how to be them…”
• So I thought I would be that person that brings together all the resources for somebody who can come and check different options. So I went on a quest to find 30 experts on different strategies. The expert I was directed to regarding podcasting was John Lee Dumas, and I interviewed him on how to start a podcast, and after the interview he said, “you know, you’re pretty good at it, have you thought about podcasting….?”  So I took his advice and after the summit, I joined his program “Podcasters’ Paradise” and the rest is history. I’ve fallen in love with podcasting.
• And I found a huge different between interviewees. And I started to write a book about podcast guesting. And I started to work with people and helping them book podcasts.

Nicole’s best advice about approaching the customer

• I don’t think enough people talk about the right customers approach. When I started my business, I was attracting the wrong people because I wasn’t sure of my values then. I just asked people, how can I serve you? What can I do for you? I can do that and that, I can, I can, I can… and what I learned from that is that is I have to know what I enjoy first and foremost and to say “these are the things that I love to do and if you would love my support with this, I’ll go above and beyond for you, and these are my boundaries.”
• I learned to not take just anybody on. I love my clients and one of the tests for me today is do I really want to sit down and have dinner together, and if the answer is yes, you can be a client, and if the answer is no, we are not going to work together.
• So my advice is know what you want. I used to believe the customer is always right. Well, they are, but they may not be right for you… so you should know what’s important for you, because for me, success truly is joy.

Biggest failure with a customer

• I don’t feel like I already had such a big failure, it’s a lot of little ones. For example, taking on a client and saying yes to everything, or a client who hired me and was a really bad fit so finally, I had to let him know and I went above and beyond and refunded him more than I should have, and he contacted his credit card and said it was a false charge and they pull back the money and it took a few months until I got the money back after I sent them all the documentations and proof. But that taught me about contracts. So every single failure is really just a lesson and I welcome that, I celebrate that.

Biggest success due to the right customer approach or focus

• It is really every day. When I was in New York, my friend Dorie Clark had a book launch, she just put out her new book called Entrepreneurial You and she had a launch and was signing books, and I went there to support her. And I sent an email to my audience and told them about it, and it turned out that somebody in my audience, who was following me and listened to my podcasts, he actually came there. He got a ticket and came to meet me. And he was excited to meet me and it was so exciting to talk with him for a few minutes and learned about the impact and how his life has changed through my “just being me”… That’s huge!

Recommendation of tools for customer focus, marketing, or sales

• The tool that supports me in running my life the most called Acuity Scheduling. I’m a huge fan of this tool. It’s like my robot receptionist.

Recommendation of a person, service provider or a book that impacts you or your customers.

• There are so many amazing people, but if I have to narrow it to one, it’s actually a book called: The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. I literally listened to it every day for three months. When you’re ready for it, you are ready for it.

The one thing Nicole is most fired up about today

• It’s defiantly the summit. 100% the summit. This is going to be the most incredibly beneficial summit I’ve ever done. It’s for anyone who is thinking of a business or having a business, there is something for anyone, but the person who it’s really most beneficial for is the person that already has a viable business, that is already making a living from his business.

What is your one key success factor?

• Just determination, and looking at those failures as lessons. No matter what, I’m just going to keep going. There is no plan B, there is no second stream, I’m in it. This is my life, so no matter what happens, it’s another experience. Because that is life, experience after experience.
• My determination and just continuing on and enjoying the journey, enjoying the wins and celebrating every day.

The best way to contact Nicole

• Today, the best way to contact me is through the summit. Once you get involved with the free stream, you get all my details: BBRsummit.com/reachormiss

Resources Mentioned:

• The Business Building Rockstars Show
• Nicole’s Podcast

Recommended Tool:

• Acuity Scheduling – Online appointment scheduling software. Clients schedule appointments, pay, and complete intake forms online 24/7.

Recommended Book:

• The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

 

More resources for Entrepreneurs

1. Don’t Miss – Customer Focus Strategy & Execution: Market Analysis for Fundraising
2. Hayut Yogev’s Latest post: The three free, most practical steps to researching and locating your market
3. Former interview: With David Beebe – “Believe it or not consumer don’t care what you do. They want to know how it benefits them, what do they get out of that.” From Hollywood to Brands Marketing it’s the same rule today: Be customer centric