Nick (00:00): Are you an introvert? Do you find it difficult to put yourself out there in a social setting or even online. Then this is the episode for you this week. I'm chatting with Kim Beasley host of the Creative Introvert Podcast and author of the Creative Introverted Entrepreneur. Kim is here to talk with us about her experience of being an introvert and starting her own business and brand and how she's helping others to overcome that same fear of putting themselves out there. As you'll hear in Kim's story, she was faced with a lot of adversity and challenges in her own life that have had a major impact on her mindset of herself and what she's been trying to accomplish, but has since overcome those obstacles to empower others to as she so brilliantly puts step outside of their comfort zone and into their greatness. Now, before we dive into the interview, please hit that subscribe button.

Nick (00:47): So you don't miss any of the amazing guests that are coming on to share their experiences and entrepreneurship and business. And if you like what you hear in this episode, I would highly encourage you to go leave a review and a rating of the podcast. Your reviews, help others find the podcast and help them decide if it's a worthwhile, listen for them. So if it's helping you, I want to be able to help more people and your reviews can help us do that. So go leave a review and I would love you for it. With that said, let's get right into the interview with Kim Beasley.

Nick (01:17): This is the Nine-Five Podcast, and I'm your host, Nick Nalbach. Where we get into the minds of entrepreneurs and people just like you. So you can start, build and grow your own online business.

Nick (01:35): All right, welcome to the Nine-Five Podcast. This is the show where we bring on entrepreneurs and business owners to help you grow your business. And today on the Nine-Five Podcast I have with me, Kim Beasley, Kim, welcome to the Nine-Five Podcast.

Kim (01:52): Hi, and thanks for having me. I'm excited to share today.

Nick (01:55): Absolutely. I'm excited to have you here. Before we kick off and we get into our main topic today. Why don't you give the listeners a little bit of an idea of who you are and what it is you do in the online space?

Kim (02:06): I am Kim possible and basically that's what my clients, uh, think of me and I manage and train and, and consult all about WordPress. I literally grew up with WordPress. I've been working with WordPress since 2004 and social media back in the days of the mailing list, 2001. Networking was done the old fashioned way. Uh, and so, um, through the years, I've just cultivated myself and my business, according to the changing times. And right now what I do is I teach, uh, introvert entrepreneurs, how to grow their businesses online, using WordPress and social media.

Nick (02:55): That is very cool. And that is why I'm so excited about this episode, because feel like there are so many people out there that kind of fall into that introverted bubble and there's, they can do it too. I don't want, I don't want that to be a reason why someone doesn't get into online business or step into the space of entrepreneurship. So I'm really excited to pick your brain on all of that. But before we even do that, something that I like to do with all of my guests on the show is ask them what their superpower is. And for everybody listening, who might not know what I mean by superpower? I mean like, what does that one thing that you are just a rock star at? Like you are the go-to person. Maybe someone comes to you if they have this issue, or I don't know. It's just something you think that you rock at. What would you think your superpower be

Kim (03:44): Not? Do you come to me with a problem in your business? That's not in you up. I can untie it. I love troubleshooting. I am that one person. And it's so funny because my clients say, okay, wave your magic wand, whatever you need to do to fix this problem. Now they think I literally have a magic wand. And, uh, one of my clients actually sent me a Mrs. Potato head wonder woman, because that's what she, she sees me as a wonder woman when I can go in and fix her problems.

Nick (04:18): That is awesome. I'm going to have to keep your number on speed dial so that when I have these problems, I can just be like, Hey, I need you, Kim.

Kim (04:29): Do it.

Nick (04:29): That's funny. Now I'm interested. Why, where did the passion for entrepreneurship? And I noticed I was digging around on your website. Social media is a big part of that too. Where, where did that passion come from? Why the interest in that

Kim (04:44): It came from, um, my desire to help others, uh, over the years, I've done a lot of different things with social media. Yes. Even as an introvert, I have done a video. I have done, uh, even live newscasts that for about two and a half years, I work with the newscaster where I would write the script, give her her questions. So she asked me, I would ask her the questions. I would talk about technology and social media. And as an introvert, I still get butterflies in my stomach when I have to go on camera. I at first, you know, knee jerk reaction camera. Uh, but um, this, this thing about social media, it's not so much about pushing information out. It's about being seen and growing your business and helping people to learn what you're all about and what your business is about and how you can help them.

Nick (05:40): I really liked that. And I know all too well, exactly what you're talking about, stepping in front of that camera. That's actually the last couple episodes of this podcast have been specifically about that topic, getting on camera and how to improve that on-camera presence. So I know exactly what you're talking. Now. You did say you are an introvert yourself. You, yes, you are. Okay.

Nick (06:05): Talk to me about that a little bit.

Kim (06:07): Um, I know a lot of people do introverts as people who are shy and don't want to talk and who want to be hit. Um, I am more of an ambivert. I'm probably about an introvert, 80 to 90% of the time, 10 to 20% of the time when people actually see me, that's when that extrovert kind of thing comes out and they think, Oh, she's an extrovert. No, I'm not give me that book. Give me a corner, give me a, you know, a couch. I am reading a book. I am good to go. This whole thing, this like this whole year, I have not freaked out when they say, you know, you have to work from home. I was like, oh yeah! Because I'm an introvert and I don't have to be the center of attention I can be, but I don't have to be. And I don't thrive on that. So as an introvert, you can be quiet. You can be shy. And at the same time, you can have those moments where you can shine so that it can help you grow your business.

Nick (07:10): Super interesting. What did, what did you say that, what am I

Kim (07:14): Ambivert? Yes. A, B M a M B I V R T . Ambivert is a mixture between an introvert and extrovert.

Nick (07:24): So cool. I did not know that that was, that had a term that's kind of where I think I would kind of classify myself as, as well. Like I'm not going to go out of my way to create a bunch of interactions and bring attention to myself. But if it's something like we're both having this conversation right now on the podcast, like, I might seem like I'm a super extrovert with a lot of energy, like ready to go. But aside from this, I'm usually I stay away.

Kim (07:49): Oh yeah, that's me. I, you know, I, um, I, um, I'm cool with sitting, working at home that my friends that I'm close to on the internet, I'm good to go. Um, I don't have to get out and run around. I don't have to see people. I can grow my business online. And that's what I've been doing over the years, growing my business online so that I don't have to get out and, and do the networking and the face-to-face because I do that all online.

Nick (08:19): Yeah. And that's, I mean, I guess to your point about social media, that gives you the world is at your access at that point. So you can, you can get yourself out there without physically getting yourself out there.

Kim (08:32): Oh, yes. One of my biggest clients is a corporate, uh, corporation. And, um, they have dealers that sell their prop, the resell, their products. And so they have dealers all over the world, uh, and I have trained their dealers how to use WordPress. And in that in training, the dealers, I've trained dealers in France, Canada and

Nick (08:56): Dang. So do you speak multiple languages?

Kim (09:02): No. Someone on my team who, uh, who spoke and wrote Crant and she actually had to, I had to translate the website from English to French for them and build it out. Yeah. It was pretty cool working with that, uh, with that team. Yeah.

Nick (09:18): That is really neat.

Nick (09:20): So I'm curious with you starting out in the snail mail marketing, how difficult was it to kind of transition out of that, into what it is now? I mean, everything's changed so much since then.

Kim (09:37): Just seeing how social media has literally literally watching social media grow up was, was eye opening. Uh, when I said mailing lists, I was talking about the, uh, literal, uh, online mailing lists where you can sign up. And then the person who was actually, uh, cultivating, uh, the mailing list, what she would do is she would have questions and we would answer the questions via the mailing list, and that's how we network and grow our businesses together. And we will find partnerships. I went from that to another kind of weird social media website. They're still around. And this was around the early two thousands. And then LinkedIn came out, got on LinkedIn and then Facebook and Twitter came out. Uh, I think LinkedIn came out in 2005 and Facebook and Twitter became public in 2007. So I've kind of joined these networks as they became available and participated on them. Um, my favorite network, LinkedIn, um,

Nick (10:45): I've been hearing that a lot lately.

Kim (10:47): It's about business. Uh, I'll throw out there some people who get on it and try to treat it like it's Facebook, it's not, Facebook is LinkedIn.

Kim (10:57): It's not. About LinkedIn is the debate is finding people that can, uh, that you can partner with to help grow your business. And you can help them grow their views. I get bombarded every day by people who don't take the time to get to know me, to build a relationship, to even see if I am a good fit for their business. They just like I, you know, I got this product, I think he needed to buy it. Or I got this service. I think you need to hire me. Do you even know me? And to me, those people are people who are coming from places like Facebook and they're used to that. And they are, they haven't learned the LinkedIn culture, which is totally different. And, uh, to me, social media is not about trying to sell to my connections. It's about trying to partner with my connections to sell to their connections. That's what, that's what LinkedIn allows me to do.

Nick (11:55): It's about getting in front of their audiences

Kim (11:58): And that's, that's what I encourage introvert entrepreneurs to do on LinkedIn. I actually have a course, LinkedIn Marketing for Introverts that teaches you not to bombard and push your way into people's face, but use permission marketing in the sense that you ask them to connect with you, get to know them. And if they, if you find that they're a good fit, then you say, Hey, you know, maybe you might be interested or something like that, but get to know someone before you pitch them. That's, that's all I asked when people try to reach out to me on LinkedIn. And if someone pitches me without trying to get to know me, that's a quick way for me to remove their connection and, and delete their conversation.

Nick (12:44): That's exactly how I am. It seems like I'm usually pitched that way. The very first, like the connection request message comes out and it's like, Hey, we have this product. And like, well, I don't really want to connect it to you because I don't want to know what you're doing there. But we actually, on the podcast, we had someone that was talking about, they do cold outreach and they do cold email outreach and they do outreach on LinkedIn. And he was talking about exactly what you're talking about right now, when you make that outreach, you're not trying to pitch them on that initial outreach. You're trying to build that connection up front. And then once you have, like you said, the permission, then you kind of can chat with them and determine if they're going to be a right fit for whatever product or partnership or whatever you're trying to sell. So I like incredible timing. I think that podcast episode at the time of recording just went live today.

Kim (13:32): Oh, wow. I mean to talk about it. I think, uh, I think a lot of people felt the need this year to really push at getting people to buy from them. So their marketing tech tactics were very rudimentary and very harsh. And I tried it when someone pitched it just me without trying to get to know me without trying to build a relationship, I try to educate them. I thank them for connecting with me. And I just try to be nice and say, Hey, I get bombarded all the time. It probably would help. If you took the time to get to know someone, to see if you're, uh, if you, if there's a good fit between you and that person, before you try to pitch it.

Nick (14:17): What kind of responses you get?

Kim (14:19): Some people thank me. Some people ignore me. Uh, I've had some who even got angry at me. I'm like, I'm trying to help you.

Nick (14:28): Yeah. And they're the ones that are being kind of aggressive up front. Coming at you. The pitch unwarranted.

Kim (14:36): Yes. Yes. Totally interesting.

Nick (14:41): No, I was, I was, as I said, I was picking around on your site and the social media stuff really caught my attention. You have a lot of stuff on there about brand awareness and making stand out on social media. What do you think? Like what would be some big tips? I don't want to get too deep into this because I still want to cover introverted entrepreneurs and get breaking into that space. But what do you think some quick tips would be in terms of building that brand awareness when it comes to social media?

Kim (15:11): No of your marketing, to know who your target market is, understand how they think, how they buy, how they talk, how, uh, what they watch on TV. When you understand your target buyers, then you can make yourself stand out for what they need, understand their pain. And when you understand their pain or what they need, then you can make yourself know as the person who provides that. Um, I am an introvert entrepreneur. I have rebranded myself to be an introvert entrepreneur coach, and I speak to the pain, that introvert entrepreneurs experience. And then I give them a solution. So I would definitely say, figure out who your target buyers are, figure out what their pain is, figure out all these different things I've mentioned and then figure out how you can provide a solution to them. Uh, you can make yourself stand out mainly by being that go-to person for. Like, I call myself Kim possible. I was Kim possible before there was even a Kim possible cartoon.

Kim (16:19): It was so funny because one of my guy friends gave me that nickname. And, um, and there was like within a year that cartoon came out after serious. I was like, dude, did you sell my nickname?, Um, yeah, that's it. Um, so, uh, um, so I would say, become known for that one thing that your target buyers are looking for, that they need a solution for, and that can help you stand out. You don't have to have all the bells and whistles. You don't have to do all the crazy stuff online unless you want to, um, just become known for that one thing, that one solution that you're targeted buyers need.

Nick (17:07): I really liked that something that I've been told in the past, when you're trying to, I guess, get your content out there into the world, trying to attract more attention. If you've already got this somewhat of an audience built, or you're paying attention to what those pain points are, really pay attention to the words they're using to describe those problems. And then when you have that solution, when you decided what your solution is going to be, reuse, the same words that they're using to describe their problem in your solution. And when I heard that, I was like, Oh my God, that's so genius because now it's not me coming to you saying I have the solution. It's me understanding your problem and saying here's a to this exact problem that you have.

Kim (17:51): Oh, yes. That's, that's exactly what I teach my, my coaching clients. That there's not so much that you gotta have the flashing lights and, and all the bells and whistles. It's more about the message that you deliver. It's more about you being able to communicate in a way that your target buyers can hear it and receive it. Because as an introvert, I know what my pain is. I know what my issue is. And, and, and I can relate to other introverts. So I speak to the pain that I personally have experienced and how I overcome it. And as I mentioned, uh, before, before I do anything, I get butterflies before I record my own podcast. Before I go on video, before I even record a podcast where I'm interviewing someone, I get butterflies, I am nervous. It's all about how you choose to handle that situation. And, and I just get my stuff, the little soft, top the self-talk and go, okay, Kim, you know, you got to do it. This will help you grow your business. And then I pushed up, pushed myself out of my comfort zone. And that's a key thing right there. Push Yourself out of your comfort Zone and step into your greatness.

Kim (19:13): When you push yourself out of your comfort zone and step into your greatness, it will help you see, Oh, I can help this person. I can help that person because you're getting past your fears and you're becoming something more than what you expect it to become. And so recently I wrote a column for a magazine. One of, one of my friends has a magazine. I wrote a column about introvert entrepreneurs. And that wa it goes live in January. And that, by me writing that column, it let my friend know, Oh, she has this magazine that has like hundreds of thousands of people who are subscribers. I think she even says somewhere close to me. I can't remember. He told him. And so I was like, okay, I'm nervous about this. This was a big step that I can do it. Um, and she has this big name person going to be on the cover of her magazine in January. And I was like, I can do this. Okay. And I sit down and I write the article. Well, by me getting out of my comfort zone, right in this article for this big magazine, I ended up being asked to do a monthly column for introvert entrepreneurs. No way, seriously. Cool. And she's, uh, she's going to do what I call a power hour every quarter on my podcast. So,

Kim (20:38): So it, it it's, it's just really

Kim (20:40): Mind boggling how, when I got out of my comfort zone, what it lay it too. You never know what your efforts can lead to when you get out of your comfort zone, introverted entrepreneurs, get out of that comfort zone and step into your greatness.

Nick (20:57): I absolutely love that. First of all, congratulations. That is so cool. And second of all, that I'm so happy. You said that because that is something, all the listeners know I've been preaching that the last, I don't know how many episodes, like, if you're not going to step out of your comfort zone and you're going to just live in this little bubble, you're not going to grow. Pushing yourself to step outside and beyond that, that's where you're going to see that progress and where good things are going to happen. And case in point, right here, you did that. And great things are happening for you. That is so cool.

Kim (21:29): Oh yes. And the fun thing is, um, when I interviewed her recently, uh, her podcast had the most downloads at about 250. The last time I checked and, and I'm like, okay, I got to stick with her there, something about this. And so I think the big thing is identify one of the big things is identifying your opportunities. Also the opportunities that can kick you out of your comfort zone and help you step into your greatness. I think that is important to keep your eyes open for these opportunities, because if you let them pass you by and you're going to be going, man, I should have done that. What would have happened? You don't want to live your, what would have happened?

Nick (22:14): Is there anything I'm trying to think? Is there anything that when these opportunities present themselves, that there might be some like key indicators, like, okay, maybe this is something that I need to look deeper into or start focusing on. Like, maybe this is one of those opportunities. Is it, do you think there's any like telltale signs that something like that's happening?

Kim (22:32): Yeah. When you feel like you're being pushed out of your comfort zone, that's a great opportunity. Um, I love writing, you know, I have a, I have a pen name and she has written 10 books that are published on Amazon. And then I have two books under my real name. And, um, and I have other books that I've written, but I haven't published them yet because I'm a very, uh, I'm a very particular writer. And so what I encourage people to do is to when, when an opportunity is presented to you, uh, when you, the gifts, how it will affect you, not only you as a person, but you as your business, is it something that can help you grow? Or is it something that will hinder you? If it's something that will hinder you, if it's not a good fit, don't do it. You'll know if something's not a good fit for you.

Kim (23:29): I have been asked to do things, uh, in the past that I've had to say no to, because I didn't feel a good fit and you're knowing you're good. I, I weigh the options of how is this going to help me in my business grow. There are some basic questions you can ask yourself. If someone comes to me and say, Hey, I want to be interviewed by you. Like, for instance, when you approached me, I looked at your website. I listened to your podcast. And if I didn't feel it was a good fit, I wouldn't have come on. It's all about doing your due diligence of research and, and finding if the person who's presenting an ideal to you is a good fit or not. I've had to turn down interviews. I've had to turn down opportunities because they didn't fit. I remember, um, a potential client that I turned down because their mode of business didn't fit with the way I do business. So I was like, Hmm. And it would have been a really good deal, but I had to turn it down because it just did not fit. And I didn't feel in my gut. And I looked at, I did my research and I said, nah, I can't do that. And you have to do what's right for you and your business, but don't be afraid if something is a good fit, push yourself out of your comfort zone. If it is a good fit and you know, to help you grow your business.

Nick (24:51): Yes. I love that. Yeah. That, that's actually something that we haven't really talked about on the podcast. I preach to you to step out of the comfort zone and kind of like, go, go, go do it, do it, do it. But that is what you're saying right there. At the same time, you can't be afraid to tell someone, no. Like you don't have to take in everything, but I guess the moral of what I'm trying to preach is exactly what you're trying to preach. Don't let that nervousness and that feeling of, okay. I don't know about this prevent, you from stepping into something great, like exactly what you said, push yourself outside of your comfort zone and step into greatness. I think that is, that is such a cool phrase.

Kim (25:32): Yes. And I coined it, yes. Me

Nick (25:37): Easily. You heard it here first. So on the topic of introverted entrepreneurs, you have a book that just recently came out. I believe.

Kim (25:50): Well, it's been out for a little bit, but I actually have a course that ties with the book that came out recently.

Nick (25:58): Oh, cool. Okay.

Kim (25:59): And the book is the, um, the thing about the book is called creative introverted entrepreneur. And it's a roadmap to help you grow your business online. And it's a quick read. I like writing quick read books and it's packed full of information that helps introverts look at themselves, looks, look at their business and see how they can grow online. I actually share my story, part of my story in how I've grown my business as an introverted entrepreneur. And then in the deep dive, it's literally deep dive into Creative Introvert Entrepreneur book. Uh, it takes each chapter and it walks you through applying what you have read in the book.

Nick (26:42): That's awesome. And now the course is that, is that something that's online that kind of ties in with it or how, okay.

Kim (26:49): Yeah, that course is also online. And one thing I didn't include in the book and in the course yet, and I am in a process of trying to figure out how I can edit them and add the story is the story of why I'm on oxygen. When people see me for the first time, well, let me go back. So back in 2016, I moved into an apartment and before I moved in, I asked the manager, Hey, you know, I'm allergic to mold. Is there, is there are problems? Oh, no, it's not a mobile problem. I moved in September, October timeframe by January, I'm having to take allergy pills by March. I'm having to do steroid nose spray by June, July. I am put on oxygen. And basically, um, during this timeframe found that there was mold, highly infested in the HVAC system of my apartment.

Kim (27:47): Yeah. So I, my doctor gave me a letter and I moved out. Uh, but the damage had been done. I lived in that apartment for 10 months. Uh, the damage had been done. And, and so I was put on oxygen. I've been off since, since 2017. And so, uh, right about the time, because before then I was doing like the news segments, uh, the live news and I was doing video and I stopped because I didn't want people to see me with my oxygen. So I was talking to one of my coaches this year, she's an introvert. And she was like, uh, Kim, why aren't you doing video? I'm on oxygen. I would want people to see me with my thing in my nose. She said, no, you need to do video because you have something to say, you need to get out there and do more. And I was like, I don't want, I don't want to show people. I don't want to take pictures. It's like Kim, there is someone out there who needs to hear your story because it helps them move forward.

Kim (28:52): Yeah. And when she said that, I couldn't say no. And I immediately went and I took a picture of myself with the oxygen on, of course I viewed it up, took a picture. And I changed all my profile pictures to show me, uh, with the oxygen tube. And I put an explanation with that picture, why I was on oxygen, because I didn't want people thinking I had gotten COVID. And so I gave an explanation of, of my story and I ha I F every, since then, I've felt freer to tell my story and explain and share with people that regardless of your limitations, that you may have, you can do whatever you want to do. You just got to put your mind to it. You gotta do your, you gotta have a plan to move forward and get out of your comfort zone to grow your business online

Nick (29:48): Is such a powerful story and message. I, first of all, I'm sorry that that happened to you. That is not great, but you took that not great situation. And I love that you are now using that to, I guess, reach more people and impact more people that is so cool.

Kim (30:09): As an introvert. I didn't want to be on camera in the first place. And then I am on oxygen and I'm like, Oh, okay. I don't want to be on camera anymore. I, I can just do podcasting. And, um, and the thing I want to encourage introverts to do is for entrepreneurs, take a deep, look at yourself and take a deep, look at your thesis, figure out what's holding you back. Why are you not Mo why aren't you not, uh, doing things to be seeing more? Why are you not starting a podcast? Or are you not doing videos? And then take, like when you figure out that reason, look that reason in the eye and tell it, you're not going to stop me anymore. It's time for me to move past this. It's time for me to be seen online so I can sell to my target buyer.

Nick (31:03): I love it. I really love that. I would say, even take those ideas that you're just talking about and write them down, put them down on a piece of paper, put them down right in front of you. So you can quite literally look those problems in the face.

Kim (31:18): Yes, yes. Stare your problems down. Stare your pain down. Look, I mean, here I am. I'm on oxygen 24/7 every day, everywhere I go. Even when I leave my home, I have to carry in a portable oxygen machine. If I can push past that, having to be seen with a tube in my nose, if I can push past that to do video, I think that anybody can push past any, uh, any roadblock or barrier or fear that they may have to do video. If you don't want to be seen, do podcasting just as a, as another tool that allowed you to grow your business online, you can do this

Nick (32:02): As the listeners know as well. Video is something that I've been pushing myself to do, and it is something that it's an uncomfortable place for me, but I've been, I've been making steps. I actually have gone live a couple of different times on Twitter. And I think once on Instagram, but I just recorded. It should be live at this point. A whole YouTube series that by the time this ever this episode was out, it'll be live. But that was a huge step. And it wasn't, it wasn't pretty, I screwed up a lot. I did a lot of redo takes, but I got through it. And by the time I got done with it, I was listening to it, going through the editing and I'm like, okay, this doesn't sound as bad as I thought it is going to. I did not give myself nearly enough credit. And now it's kind of got me excited to keep putting out new video. My issue is balancing the podcast and doing video at the same time, but I know I can iron out the process, but I'm excited to do it now. I know it's only going to get better.

Kim (32:55): So

Nick (32:59): Yeah, but then, I mean, that just goes to show like what exactly what you're saying? Like anybody can do this. Yes, there's a lot. There's I see it. There's a people that are in a lot worse situations than you are that are doing it. You can definitely do it too.

Kim (33:17): I totally agree. I, um, on my podcast, I give a weekly challenge every week. Dad, I just recorded my last podcast for the year because I take the last two weeks off of the year and it goes live this week. And in the weekly challenge is for everyone to take a look at your business and see what worked, what didn't work and assess what you need to do to refine the things that did work assessed. If you need to even try the things that didn't work, try to enhance those things. If you don't, if they, if they will not help you cut them out of your business, because going into 2021, I feel that only those things that work for your business, you should continue. I have some things that I've really liked doing, but they just didn't work. And I, and so as I look back at the money I spent on advertising, uh, hiring people into my business on, uh, just all the different products and tools that I use in my business, what really worked, what didn't, if something didn't work, cut it out, push it out in a way it's, it's, it's holding you back.

Kim (34:26): But if something worked, enhance it and prepare to increase it in 2021,

Nick (34:32): I love that challenge. I'm going to, I'm going to put that. First of all, I want everyone to think about that after they get done listening to this episode, second of all, I'm going to put that in the show notes to this episode, put that challenge out there for everybody. I want you to do that. It's something that I've been kind of thinking about. I haven't thought about it in that same light, what worked and what didn't work. So I'm going to have to go back and kind of regather my notes and kind of throw that into the mix now as well. But I do challenge everyone listening to this episode, go try to figure out what worked and what didn't work and determine if this is something that you need to continue pursuing, or you need to focus on something else that actually is worth the time for you and your business.

Kim (35:11): I'm full of old sayings and one of the old sayings my mom taught me was don't pour your money into a bucket with holes, because if you have something that is draining, your business is not bringing any money in. It's taking money out. You need to think about whether that's good for your business, whether it's good for you, because you don't have money to play with during these times, every penny, you have to make sure it works to bring in more money. And if you're not podcasting, it's so easy to get into podcasting. It doesn't cost a lot of money. You can start off small and you can grow into where you have expensive microphones or, or you have, uh, you're using expensive tools, but you can start off using free tools and get your podcasting going. And one of my friends, she said, Kim, you're, you're doing so well with your podcast growing and all like that. Have you thought about coaching others to do this?

Kim (36:15): I was like, because the thought had crossed my mind to create a podcast coaching course, a group course. And, and I was like, eh, I just pushed it aside. And when she asked me about it, it's like, was she reading my mind or something? So in 2021, uh, I don't think it's going to be at the beginning of the year, but sometime in 2021, I'm actually going to take 10 people under my wing. She's still about podcasting, coach them hosts their podcast and just teach them the whole, the whole gamut of getting their podcasts out there and growing.

Nick (36:53): That is so cool. That is actually that YouTube series that I was telling you about. That is it's a three-part series on how to start a podcast.

Kim (37:03): Oh, Hey, is together

Nick (37:09): Several things we've mentioned throughout this episode that the timing is just way too perfect.

Kim (37:13): Oh yes. I think we need to, uh, put our heads together to see how we can partner or a few things, because we have similar thinking on a lot of things that we both talked about. Yeah,

Nick (37:24): No, for definitely. We will. Um, we'll, we'll talk. All right. We are kind of nearing the end of the episode here. I want to know before we get wrapped up, are there any exercises we talked about staring our fears in the face. Are there any other exercises we can do as introverted entrepreneurs to kind of ease that tension and break ourselves into the space of entrepreneurship and really grow our business?

Kim (37:57): Yeah, there is a second book that I wrote under my name, uh, is called your passionate, um, Your Passionate Business. It has a four, four step process for those who want to start a business who haven't really truly figured out what their business is. Where you start off with a list, you create a list of 20 things you like to do. And then you look at that list and you say, okay, I'm going to take half of this list and whittle it down to the top 10 things that I really, really, really love to do. And then you take that list and every step you're cutting off some things until you get down to the top, like five things you really like to do, and then you pair those things to create a business. For instance, if you're a lawyer and you love to write, maybe you might want to write legal books or mystery books, something along that line, or you may want to reach out and connect with the nonprofit organization and do pro bono work for them. You never know. Um, how do you want to start a business or what you want to do until you make a list? Start with the list. I am a list person. I always tell people start a full list and then Mark things off that don't fit and, and go from there until you get to a, a size of a list that is small enough to where you can move forward.

Nick (39:21): I love that. I'm a big list guy as well. And that's actually the very similar tactic to what I recommend people when they're just getting started, starting with that list and kind of breaking down from there. So I love that strategy and I love that tip. Okay. Is there anything else, any final words of wisdom, maybe some last minute motivation. This episode has been so motivational inspirational for me. So I know the listeners are going to get so much out of it, but any last words of advice for people who are on the fence, they're not quite sure if they want to take that leap into online business because they, I don't know. It's just a little too uncomfortable right now.

Kim (39:59): The biggest and best advice I could give you get out of your comfort zone and step into your greatness in every person, especially, uh, talking to my fellow introverts. In every person, there is a business. If you want to step into your step out of your comfort zone, into your greatness, that's up to you. I fully believe that anyone can become an entrepreneur is all about the will to do it, the want to do it. And the ability to get past the fear that holds that can hold you back and push into that, that greatness that's waiting on you to grow up, to create your business and grow it. So I would definitely say, get out of your comfort zone and step into your greatness.

Nick (40:44): Perfect. I love it. All right, Kim, where would you like people to go to get in touch with you? Whether that's social media or a website, where do you want people to reach out, to get in touch with you?

Kim (40:56): Two places? They can go there's my website can be kimbeasley.com or my training site or training hub. I call it a site or hub. My training hub is K B C, K as in kite, B as in boy, C as in Charlie KBCtraining.com. And I have live chat on both websites. If they want to reach out to me for your live chat,

Nick (41:18): I will put the links to both the website, Kimbeasley.com and the training, KBCtraining.com on the show notes to this website and something that I actually want to do. This is not anything that I've done yet on the podcast. I want to, first of all, get some people to take action that are listening to this podcast episode, and I'm going to, I want to incentivize them a little bit. So what I want people to do is I want them to go to the show notes page and comment on this post. What is, or what are your top three, one to three ideas of what you want to do as far as starting a business. So you're going to create this list, like what Kim is saying. We're going to kind of whittle it down. What are your one to three top ideas for starting a business? And I want you to comment on the post on the show notes to this episode, and I'm going to give one of the top results. Maybe I'll have Kim and myself go through the comments and find our favorite result. And I want to give this person that we select a copy of your book, Creative Introverted Entrepreneur,

Nick (42:25): Get a little bit of incentivized action here, get some people to step out of their comfort zone. I think, I think this will be a little bit of a fun activity for everyone to do.

Kim (42:34): I agree. I agree. Thank you. I look forward to get to reading the comments.

Nick (42:39): Absolutely. Well, all right, Kim, I want to thank you so much for coming on the show. I had a blast today and like I said, this was such an inspirational motivational episode. Like I'm my day is half over, but I'm ready to go kick some butt.

Kim (42:55): Well, I have enjoyed shared, and I have enjoyed talking with you.

Nick (42:59): Well, thank you very much. And we will be in touch.

Nick (43:03): So that was the interview with Kim Beasley. I really appreciate how vulnerable and how genuine Kim was in that entire interview. I think she is just an amazing person and such an amazing story. Now, as you just heard, like a lot of us, she has been faced with a lot of challenges in her life that have tried to knock her down and I'm fairly certain everyone listening can relate to that. Really. I just think it's so inspiring that she was able to step outside of that comfort zone, push beyond all of these barriers that were trying to prevent her from doing what she loves to do. And she just, as she always says, step outside of that comfort zone and into her greatness, she has a story to share. And so do you, so step outside of that comfort zone. Now, near the end of the episode, you heard me say that I wanted to give someone who comments on the show notes of this episode, a copy of Kim's book, the Creative Introverted Entrepreneur.

Nick (43:51): I'm actually going to raise the stakes a little bit and I'm not just going to be given away one copy. Instead, I'm going to be even away, five copies of Kim's book to our top five favorite comments. So to win a copy of Kim's book, all you have to do is go to the comments on the show notes page for this episode and list out what your top three ideas for a business that you would like to start. That could be a business that you want to start a few weeks from now a year from now, five years from now, whatever that is, just give me your top three business ideas of something you would like to start after you leave a comment. Kim and myself, we'll pick five winners to receive a copy of her book, the creative introverted entrepreneur, and to leave a comment, just go my website in the show notes for this page, which can be found at ninefivepodcast.com/episode29.

Nick (44:40): And that's all spelled out N I N E F I V E podcast.com forward slash episode 2 9. And that is the number two. And the number nine, if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page there, you'll see a section to leave a comment, leave a comment and let us know what your three business ideas are on that show notes page. You can also find the transcripts and links discussed in this episode, including links to get in touch with Kim. So there's a lot of value on that show notes page as well. So after you leave a comment, maybe just pick around on that page, see if there's anything interesting in there for you. So that

Nick (45:14): For this week, I hope you have a great rest of your week and stay safe and I will catch you guys in next week's episode.