Blog - Page 2 of 8 - Corrie LoGiudice

Finance, Operations, The Corrie Lo Show

Disaster Preparedness Plan with Matt Newman

Posted on April 27, 2020April 27, 2020 by Corrie LoGiudice

27
Apr

If there’s one positive thing you can learn from a crisis once you’re through it, it’s how to prevent it from happening again.

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has left thousands of people in a financial crisis. Right now, it’s more important than ever to assess your situation and create a strategy. This will ensure you are safe and secure the next time another crisis rolls around.

Today on the Corrie Lo Show, I’m speaking to Matt Newmann about Financial Disaster Planning.

Matt, a financial services wholesaler, and father to three small children, was diagnosed with grade three astrocytoma (brain cancer) at 39 years old. His memoir, Starting At The Finish Line, chronicles the journey that he and his entire family took together which got him to a place of clarity, understanding, and appreciation.

After our conversation, you’ll have actionable strategies you can take now to ensure you are secure if another crisis comes around.

Disaster Preparedness Plans Highlights

Planning is not taught in the US Education System

Preparing for the worst financially is a subject not even broached within the US Education system but is so essential for our next generations success. Matt speaks to how if kids were taught at minimum how employee benefits work, what an impact it can have on keeping them protected.

The #1 action you can take today to be prepared

If you don’t have one yet, get a will. Make sure it also outlines your power of attorney. This can be done through a website like Legalzoom or you could speak to a local financial planner or estate lawyer to get it rolling.

The #1 value of planning in advance

By taking charge and preparing in advance, you alleviate regret and resentment from your loved ones for having to shoulder the burden for you. It also allows you to focus 100% of your energy to the fight at hand.

In Summary…

It’s never too late to be prepared for the worst, and it doesn’t need to take a lot of effort to be so. Having a disaster preparedness plan is one of the best decisions you can make for yourself and your family in times of crisis. Get started on your own today.

Connect with us!

🖥 Connect with Matt: www.matthewsnewman.com

📲 Instagram: @startingatthefinishline

📲 Facebook: @startingatthefinishline

📲 Twitter: @finishline_matt

📲 LinkedIn: @matthew-newmann

🖥 Connect with Corrie: www.corrielo.com

📲 Instagram: @iamcorrielo

📲 Facebook: @iamcorrielo

📲 Twitter: @iamcorrielo

📲 YouTube: @iamcorrielo

📲 LinkedIn: @iamcorrielo

Which of these actions will you be taking to increase your financial preparedness?

Books, Personal Development, The Corrie Lo Show

Business Books to Read (Q1 2020 Edition)

Posted on April 20, 2020April 20, 2020 by Corrie LoGiudice

20
Apr

Most CEO’s read on average 4-5 books a MONTH. The average American reads .11 hours a day. That’s less than 7 minutes folks!!

Let’s break it down. If a book takes on average 4 hours to finish, and CEO’s read 4 of them. That’s 16 hours a month. Meaning they’re out reading the average joe 13 hours minimum.

If you want to live an extraordinary life, it requires extraordinary action. CEO’s reading habits demonstrate this.

So if you want to get ahead, and do so quickly, adopting a reading habit is a great place to start.

I myself am an avid reader. I read 2-3 on a good month. Today I’m going to be sharing the books I read in January – March of 2020, and a quick review of them.

After, you’ll have a list of books you don’t want to miss out on so you can start your own reading habit today.

Business Books You Need to Read

Profit First

This book completely changed the way I do my business accounting. If you’ve found it difficult to post a profit regularly, this is a book you don’t want to miss.

Chasing the Bright Side

Chasing the Bright Side is an entertaining collection of stories from one of my speaking mentors, Jess Ekstrom. As the founder of Headbands of Hope, the stories shared are a nice mix of personal lessons and business lessons.

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

Essentialism is a great read if you find yourself overwhelmed and unsure of where to focus. It helps you determine what’s truly “essential” and eliminate the other clutter in your life so you become more productive.

Your Money, Your Life

This was one of the better personal finance books I’ve read due in large part to how it challenges readers to view their finances. It focuses a lot on minimalism and being very mindful on how you spend and how you work.

The Successful Speaker

I literally read this book in one evening!!

If you are interested in breaking into the world of professional public speaking, this is a must-read! Grant shares the entire business from top to bottom in this book. It’s become a reference manual in my library.

Deep Work

This book is all about how to get into a state of flow and focus that makes you a productivity machine.

I took a lot of really helpful strategies from it, including time blocking and looking at my peak energy throughout the day and using the information to schedule tasks accordingly.

TED Talks

As you may or may not know, I was selected to give a TEDx talk this past March. This book was assigned to me to read by the TED organization itself to help me prep for the event.

It doesn’t matter if you aspire to be a professional speaker, or just to impact people with your ideas, this book shares the most effective ways to utilize storytelling in a live setting.

In Summary

This sums up the 7 books I read between January and March of 2020.

If I had to pick only three business books to read that you absolutely, should not miss as a business owner, it would be Profit First, Essentialism and Deep Work. I’ll more than likely be suggesting these to my clients in the very near future.

Don’t have time to start a reading habit?

Tackle that excuse and gain an additional 5 hours each week by downloading my favorite 5 automation tools.

DOWNLOAD THE PDF CHEATSHEET

Brand, Entrepreneurship, The Corrie Lo Show

Tiger King : Lessons in Branding

Posted on April 14, 2020April 15, 2020 by Corrie LoGiudice

14
Apr

“Hey there cool cats and kittens”

If that phrase rings familiar to you, it can mean only one thing. That you too have binged on Netflix’s the Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness while locked down during quarantine!

The familiarity of Carole Baskin’s standard, but now famous Facebook Live greeting demonstrates something pretty incredible. The power of brand authenticity. Learn how to harness it yourself, and you too can be top of mind to your potential customers.

Over the past few weeks, my eyes have been glued to this train wreck of a reality show. I know I’m not the only one. Celia of Celia Werner Productions and I have been sending each other memes non-stop. Then we figured, why not go live and discuss the show?

In our discussion, you’ll learn that there are four key lessons in branding any small business owner can take from watching this show.

Lessons in Branding from Tiger King

Consistency is King

Both of the main cast members, Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin, are on social media. All the damn time.

Doesn’t matter if they’re doing a live stream, or pre-recording a scheduled show. If they’re not in a tiger cage, they’re always on a mobile device or in front of a camera.

They don’t always have a specific plan either. On the show, you’ll often witness that they go online just to share how they feel, or to provide updates on what’s going on in their worlds.

This my friends, is how you build an audience. Everyone wants to hear what happens next, and by remaining consistent you provide an opportunity for them to do so.

Equipment Doesn’t Matter

You’ll notice while watching the show that Joe Exotic has a fairly elaborate “studio” complete with green screens and mixing boards. Carole tends to do most of broadcasts from either a webcam or her smartphone while riding her bike.

Is the quality of Joe’s content necessarily better than Carole’s? No way. This goes to prove it’s more important just to show up and be authentic, than wait to have the perfect equipment to do so.

Same operations (kind of), different missions

At it’s core, both GW Exotic Animal Park (Joe Exotic’s establishment) and Big Cat Rescue (Carole Baskin’s establishment) both include the same thing: big cats in cages.

However, both Joe and Carole have extremely different missions. Joe’s in it for the fame and glitz exotic animals can provide and his right to own them. Carole is driven by getting exotic animals eventually out of captivity altogether.

Because each stands behind what they value, they’ve managed to amass a giant audience that each believes as strongly about the same things as they do.

When you have a strong mission and share it, it helps you attract the right audience for you.

Authenticity is Everything

The #1, most influential reason Tiger King became as popular as it was is the authenticity of it’s ENTIRE cast. Everyone featured on the show is 100% unapologetically who they are. And let’s be honest… they’re a bizarre, motley cru!

They make zero apologies and take action on what they believe is important, even gay polygamy. When you’re building a brand, honesty helps build trust.

It’s that imperfection that makes people human, and what sets apart small businesses from big brands.

In Summary…

During this pandemic, people have a lot of time to be sitting in front of screens, consuming content like Tiger King. Now’s a chance that they could be consuming YOUR content.

It’s up to you to get visible and get out there.
When you do, just remember to show up regularly, use what you have, share your mission, and remain authentic. This will allow you to build a brand worth talking about. Just like Tiger King.

Ready to make your business more visible?

Take my small business Marketing Personality quiz to find out where you should be focusing your advertising efforts. It takes your unique products and services and personality and recommends the best style of marketing for your small business.

TAKE THE MARKETING PERSONALITY QUIZ

Connect with Us

🖥 Connect with Celia: www.celiawernerproductions.com

📲 Instagram: @celiawernerproductions

📲 Facebook: @celiawernerproductions

📲 YouTube: Celia Werner Productions

🖥 Connect with Corrie: www.corrielo.com

📲 Instagram: @iamcorrielo

📲 Facebook: @iamcorrielo

📲 Twitter: @iamcorrielo

📲 YouTube: @iamcorrielo

Marketing, Social Media, The Corrie Lo Show

The Best Social Media Management Tools

Posted on April 8, 2020April 8, 2020 by Corrie LoGiudice

08
Apr

So many eyes currently indoors at home and online right now. It’s now more important than ever for small business owners to be visible on social media.

Participating in social media as a small business doesn’t have to be a complicated process.

Today I’m sharing what I feel are the best social media management tools that will make your social media look polished and professional. They also make the process of posting to multiple platforms easier and more manageable.

The 5 Best Social Media Management Tools

VSCO

Ever wonder how influencers have beautiful and cohesive looking photos on Instagram? They most likely use VSCO.

VSCO is an app that easily lets you edit your photos to look polished and professional. It has loads of pre-set filters that make editing your photos as simple as pushing a button and out-putting it.

Pro Tip: Choose one filter you feel best represents your brand and use it for any photo you post to social media. It’ll give you that cohesive, professional look everyone strives for.

Canva

Not having a graphic designer on staff is no reason not have eye-catching promotional posts. Canva is available both online as well as mobile apps, and allows you to create stunning images and graphics by utilizing pre-designed templates.

Use it to create everything you need on social media from logos, to platform banners, to even the posts themselves.

Pro Tip: If you upgrade to Canva’s paid plan, you can easily resize a design appropriate for a different platform with the click of a button.

Buffer

If you want to set and forget your posts, Buffer is the way to do it! I’ve tested multiple scheduling platforms and find Buffer to be the most user friendly for beginners.

Buffer is unique in comparison to other pre-schedulers in that you create a posting schedule and then fill a queue with content. It also allows you to post to multiple platforms with a single post.

Pro Tip: Check your post performance stats every week and add your highest performers back into your queue through the “re-buffer” feature.

Trello

While Buffer is great to actually queue your content for posting, a project management tool like Trello is perfect for creating a database of all your potential images and captions.

There’s many different ways to utilize Trello’s planning boards to do this, but my favorite is to create a list for the various categories of content I’m planning for. For example, my own includes lists for Photos, Quotes, Promotions, Email Opt-Ins, Tweet Ideas, and more.

Pro Tip: Utilizing a service like IFTT, you could link your Trello and Buffer together to further automate your posting. However, many of the social platforms discourage 3rd party tools like Buffer and you may notice a decrease in engagement as a result of using it. If you want to avoid this or avoid using Buffer altogether, just create a due date for your cards in Trello and set a reminder to post at the pre-scheduled time.

Kapwing

I’ve tried a lot of video editing apps. Kapwing would be my pick for beginners to create professional-looking videos specifically for social media.

This web tool allows you to make very simple edits to your video and overlay text and graphics. My favorite part is it’ll also auto-generate captions for you too.

Pro-Tip: Create your videos in Instagram Story format. Then keep the content in the center square of the screen. Then if you decide to post the video to Instagram or other platforms, it’ll still format correctly in the grid.

In Summary

That rounds up what I feel to be the best five social media marketing tools you can utilize to better manage your small business marketing strategy.

Don’t avoid social media altogether because of the perceived time you’d need to spend editing, creating and posting their content. If you do, you’re missing out on a tremendous visibility opportunity!

When you take the time to try various tools to make this easier, you’re eliminating that excuse.

Through regular posting, you also increase your visibility, and when that happens your sales come up as a direct result.

Ready to take the plunge and use social media but want to know for sure that it’s right for you and your business?

Take my small business Marketing Personality Quiz to find out. It takes your unique products and services and personality and recommends the best style of marketing for your small business.

TAKE THE MARKETING PERSONALITY QUIZ