Feeling Productive Isn't Being Productive (with Kara Barnes)

Short and SweetAI makes it really easy to feel productive. You build a thing, tweak a thing, get the little zing of progress, and the goal you set for this quarter doesn't move. Busy and productive start to look identical.Kara Barnes is the founder of Backstage Ops, an operations firm that does strategic planning, systems work and fractional COO support for growing businesses. She walks through triggers and containers, the framework she uses to check whether a business's systems actually get the work done, and makes her case for the 90-day sprint after Austin admits he's mostly given up on it.Full Show NotesFeeling productive doesn't mean you're being productive. AI just made the difference a lot harder to see.Kara has spent ten years in the back end of hundreds of businesses. Her framework is simple. Triggers are whatever gets you to do the work: your task list, a notification, the standing call with your bookkeeper. Containers are where you go for what you need to do it: your Drive, your files, your CRM. Healthy systems have triggers you trust and containers clean enough that you and your team can actually find things. Most people she works with are overloaded on one and neglecting the other.Pick the thing, define done, and stop letting good ideas eat the week.What we get into:Why AI tinkering feels like progress, and how a small side task turns into the project that eats your dayFrom the SSI data: speakers put 31.5% of their marketing time into social media, which drives 2.3% of revenueThe roughly $70K gap between thought leaders who use AI to run the business and those who use it to make more contentWhy Kara still runs 90-day sprints after Austin and Taylorr dropped quarterly goals, and the client sales team that ran one-week sprints insteadWhy "make our CRM better" isn't a goal, and defining done before the quarter startsWhy creative, visionary founders need an operator to aim their best energy, and why going solo makes it harderThe best tool is the one you use, and why Kara thinks some people who invested in SpeakerFlow wasted time and money by not showing up to do the workAustin's definition of a system (people, tech, process), the three levels of tractor, and Kara's version: strategy, systems, software, staffTurning the SOPs you already have into AI skill files so you stop reinventing your process every timeIf you need a sounding board right now, Kara's offer is simple: send her a message on LinkedIn. You can find her team at backstageops.com.

Short and SweetMost speakers who've landed a few paid gigs can't say where the next one is coming from. It's referrals and luck. So they stay busy instead. A new website, a new one sheet, a new deck. Anything but the outreach.Dan Irvin is a full-time keynote speaker and the CEO of The Speaker Lab. Last year he spoke 42 paid gigs, and the work that booked them took about three hours a week. In this episode he walks through the booking engine behind it: five new prospects a day, a five-email cadence, and a discovery call he preps for like a keynote.Full Show NotesBusy feels safe. Nobody criticizes a full calendar. It just doesn't book you.Dan got laid off from a COO role in 2019, found SpeakerFlow, then joined The Speaker Lab as a student in March 2020. Today he runs it and still speaks full time. His booking engine takes 20 to 30 minutes a day, six days a week: five new prospects every morning, a five-week email cadence, and every positive reply pushed toward a discovery call.Build the foundation, show up every day, and let the math work.What we get into:Why "I'm busy" became a badge, and what Dan says now when people ask how he's doingThe 60-second listening exercise he runs in workshops, and the only thing partner B is allowed to sayUsing AI to do better work, not more work, and why speakers who use it to run the business out-earn those who use it to make content42 paid gigs last year on roughly three hours a week of booking work"What are you actually avoiding?" The question Dan asks when he catches himself redoing the website againFive a day, not fifty: the five-email, five-week cadence and why it tops out at 25 emails a dayWhy email three gets more replies than email one, and the discovery call it just landed himThe real numbers: 120 leads a month, a 5 to 8% response rate, and a lot of silenceFalse positives: the one-off $10K gig you can't repeat, and why talent isn't what separates you from the speaker on stageTake The Speaker Lab's Speaker Business Assessment to see where your booking process stands, and find Dan and his team at thespeakerlab.com. Dan's own speaking and his book live at danirvin.com.

Short and SweetMost thought leaders don't lose sleep over the stage. They lose it in the middle of the night, wondering if they followed up with that client or remembered one of the dozens of things that have to happen before every event.Dan Kerrigan is Chief of Staff and COO at the Trust Edge Leadership Institute, the team behind Hall of Fame speaker David Horsager. In this episode he walks through how they moved a lead-to-event process that ran on yellow sheets of paper into one CRM, and the task templates that now tell everyone what to do and when.Full Show Notes"A lack of trust is everyone's greatest expense." Turns out that includes trusting your own systems.Trust Edge was already winning. Big clients, big platform, a team that genuinely cares about people. But every inquiry went on a yellow sheet, sales stages lived in spreadsheets spread across SharePoint, Dropbox and Google Drive, and the old CRM had over 1,300 tags nobody could use. The work got done. The team just stopped sleeping.Dan's fix wasn't more hustle. It was one place for everything, and task templates that remember so people don't have to.What we get into:The yellow sheet: running a Hall of Fame speaker's sales and event logistics on paperWhy "systems equal better sleep" is the real return on a CRMRebuilding the plane while it's in the air, and how he got a nervous team on boardThe one click on a signed agreement that notifies accounting, logistics and David's EA, then books flights six weeks out, even for events 18 months awayHow a new logistics hire got up to speed faster than anyone before themThe milk truck test: could someone step into your role tomorrow?Why systems grow out of failures, and what to do right after a ball gets droppedThe lost-deal cadence, including a personal gift three months after a no (ask about the ferret mug)Reconnecting with old relationships, no ask attached, and the significant clients that followedLearn more about the Trust Edge Leadership Institute at trustedge.com and connect with Dan on LinkedIn.

Short and SweetMost thought leaders never designed their brand. They built it one talk, one website update and one coach's advice at a time. Now it's a Frankenstein, and the people booking stages can feel the disconnect.Tiffany Neuman spent fifteen years building brands in the corporate world before turning to speakers, authors, coaches and consultants. In this episode she walks through her Brand Operating System: how to find the overlap between who you are and who you serve, why picking one lane beats being everywhere, and how a clear brand let her take a laptop-free vacation.Full Show NotesFollowers aren't authority. A pretty new logo isn't either.Tiffany's Brand Operating System starts with a Venn diagram. On one side, who you actually are. On the other, the clients, audiences and stages you want. Your brand lives in the overlap. Once it's codified (vision, values, voice, story, IP), your team and your AI tools can show up for you without sounding like strangers.Clarity first. Then consistency. Then freedom.What we get into:Five days on a cruise with no laptop and no Wi-Fi, and the flood of new clients waiting when she got backThe Frankenstein brand: what happens when you build the plane while flying it, and your website still talks about who you used to beBuilding a brand for where you're headed in three, five or ten years instead of where you are today"You can't see the label from inside the bottle," and why experts struggle to describe their own workThe brand foundation that has to come before any new logo or websiteThe Venn diagram behind her Brand Operating System, and how a defined brand voice keeps AI and your VA sounding like youWhat SpeakerFlow learned by running years of sales calls through Claude, and the messaging shift that followedRevenue vs. profit, and why eight figures doesn't matter if most of it pays your teamWhy she quit Facebook, parked Instagram and went all in on LinkedInThe Authority Bio Agent, and the client who used it to land a speaking spot at the UNGrab Tiffany's free Authority Bio Agent, find her work at yourlegacybrand.com, and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Short and SweetAI can write your book, build your website, and put you in front of a crowd of 20,000 that never existed. Which means none of those things set you apart anymore. Your buyers already know it.David Newman runs Do It Marketing and wrote Market Eminence, a book about earning attention in a noisy, AI-fueled market. In this episode he makes the case that you can become a business celebrity on purpose, explains why the informational speaker is done, and hands you a three-question exercise you can turn into a post tomorrow.Full Show NotesWebsites. YouTube channels. Books. Every one of them used to make you different. Now they're table stakes.David's answer is a system he calls market eminence: get visible where your buyers actually are, earn marketplace respect by being radically different, radically generous and radically helpful, and you stop being the safest choice and start being the only choice. Then run it on repeat with automation and delegation, because nobody keeps that up by hand for the rest of their career.The hard part was never making the thing. It's getting it in front of people, consistently, and actually doing it.What we get into:Why websites, video and books stopped being differentiators, and why buyers can spot an AI-enhanced sizzle reelThe three tests every touchpoint should pass, from your newsletter to your out-of-office replyMarket eminence in three phases: visibility, marketplace respect, brand preferenceThe black marker test: cover your logo and name, and see if anyone still knows it's youWhy a magnetic brand is also "incredibly repulsive" to the wrong clients, with Larry Winget as the case studyThe end of the informational speaker, and the three things AI can't do for you: teach people how to think, shift what they believe, and help them see what's coming nextSimplify, automate, delegate, and why most social media fails the first testThe contrarian slant exercise: three questions to find the point of view you've been keeping behind closed doorsJoe Calloway's theory on why successful speakers give away every detail of their playbookGet the book at MarketEminence.com, where David also keeps a stack of free resources, downloads and tools. Find more of his work at doitmarketing.com.

Short and SweetEvery thought leader has a boardroom in their head. Six voices around a table, all trying to run the business. Most of us only listen to the loudest two or three, and the ones we ignore are the ones that bite us later.Theresa Rose has spent her career helping experts get clear on their brand and the business behind it. In this episode she starts with cocktail napkin clarity, her way of boiling your brilliance down to something you can draw on a napkin. Then she walks through the six seats of the Boardroom Within, why AI makes a lousy board member, and the two simple systems she uses to make sure every seat gets heard each week.Full Show NotesAsk most speakers who runs their business and they'll say "me." Theresa Rose would ask which part of you.Theresa is a Certified Speaking Professional and a strategic advisor to thought leaders, and her work comes down to two things: clarify the brand, then clarify the business that supports it. The brand side starts on a cocktail napkin. If you can draw it, you can sell it, and a napkin is the one piece of marketing tech that's always within reach. The business side is the Boardroom Within: an inner chairperson and six leaders, each with a name, a question, and a job.It's a system for making decisions, and it's honest about the seats most of us would rather skip.What we get into:Why a cocktail napkin beats a pitch deck, and why the napkin implies a conversation, not just a clever drawingTheresa's rules for a framework people remember: three to nine words, labels instead of sentences, and no acronymsDoodling live on sales calls and dropping the drawing straight into the CRM recordThe six seats: Victor (CEO, where are we going?), Rich (CFO, does the math work?), Sharon (CMO, does this connect?), Hunter (CRO, are we moving forward?), Link (CIO, is there an easier way?), and Flow (COO, can we keep this going?)What happens when the first four seats all say yes and your systems aren't ready for the business that shows upWhy AI makes a poor board member, and what she means by "mechanistic sycophants"The big client she nearly lost by skipping her COO seat for a weekHer two systems for keeping every seat heard: a weekly recurring task to sit in each seat for an hour, and a calendar color coded by seatFind Theresa at theresarose.com or on LinkedIn, and grab her free download, What's Missing in My Thinking?, on her homepage.

Short and SweetBefore anyone books you, they stalk you. They spend 10 to 30 seconds on your website or LinkedIn to see if you look legit, current, and worth a call. John DeMato used to be the guy who hated being in front of a camera. Now he helps experts make sure those 30 seconds work in their favor.In this episode, John walks through the whole system: the strategy call he runs before every shoot (and why he won't open your mood board), the three kinds of photos in a visual authority library, how to audit every place your images live, and the event photos almost every speaker forgets to get.Full Show NotesMost speakers treat photos like throw pillows. Nice to have, a little decorative, swapped out when they start looking tired.John DeMato treats them like the rebar in the foundation. John left the TV business (including a stint on Maury) to become a headshot photographer in New York City. For his first two years, his own face never showed up on social media once. He's now a personal brand photographer for speakers, coaches, and consultants, and he's spent a career learning why photos aren't a vanity project. They're about the person on the other side of the screen deciding whether to trust you.This isn't a "go get new headshots" episode. It's a system. Decide how you want to be seen, build a library that shows it, and audit every place those images live.What we get into:The quick scan every buyer does before they call, and what they're checking forWhy photos get you in the door, but your IP, testimonials, and sales conversations keep you in the houseThe pre-session call and the two questions that become the North Star for a shootThe three categories of a visual authority library: core assets, visual evidence, and the missing detailsWhy smartphone photos of the messy desk and the moment before a keynote matter as much as the polished onesHow to audit your images, starting with your website and social profiles, then moving to your one sheet, PDFs, and coursesHow to tell when it's time for a new branding session, no calendar requiredThe event photos speakers forget: before, during, and after the stageWhy a testimonial paired with a photo of you hugging that client is a money pieceFind John at johndemato.com or on LinkedIn, and take his free Visual Presence Audit for Experts.

Short and SweetJake White used to spam school principals because the program was worth it. Then he stopped outbound marketing cold turkey, started showing up at the two conferences where his buyers actually gather, and watched Vive18 triple three years running.In this episode, Jake walks through the whole system: how he found the right room (he asked his favorite client), why he pays to sponsor events he used to get paid to speak at, and the form-to-CRM follow-up that turns a 20-second elevator pitch into a qualified lead. Plus why he refuses to take business cards.Full Show NotesMost speakers treat sponsor booths like the candy aisle. Grab a pen, maybe enter a raffle, keep walking.Jake White, co-founder of Vive18, turned that aisle into his entire new-business engine. Vive18 helps young people have fun and feel good without drugs and alcohol, serving K-12 schools with speaking, trainings, events, and curriculum. A few years ago Jake dropped outbound marketing completely and put everything into conferences. Referrals and repeat clients aside, it's now the only marketing they do.This isn't a "just buy a booth" episode. It's a system. Find the room, earn your way in, and have follow-up ready before the first conversation happens.What we get intoUsing Claude and the CRM to reconnect with every past client, and why Jake stopped "checking in"The question that found his best conference: asking his favorite client where they hang outDeciding when to pay to be in the room, and doing the math on what a client is worthWhy he won't take business cards, and the vive18.com/intro form that replaces themTalking to the content team before the marketing team, and how that turned a booth into workshops and a keynoteLearning your buyer's boss's language so you understand their measurables better than they doLeading with curiosity instead of a pitch, and why that makes you a better speaker too

In this episode – the final episode of Season 3 – we're breaking down everything you need to know about us, including how we got here and, most importantly, where we're going from here.   This one's jam-packed with news and updates, so we'll keep it short and sweet, but don't skip it. This is an episode you won't want to miss!   Show Notes:   ✅ Want to learn more about SpeakerFlow, our system, and where we're headed next? Book a call with us: https://speakerflow.com/demo/   📷 Watch the video version of this episode and subscribe for updates on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYAr3nGy6lbXrhbezMxoHTSCS40liusyU   🎤 Thank you to our sponsor, Libsyn Studio (formerly Auxbus)! Want the best podcasting solution out there? Learn more here: https://www.libsynstudio.com/   🚀 And as always, don't forget about all the mind-blowing free resources at https://speakerflow.com/resources/

There's a lot of truth in the phrase "Hindsight's 20-20" – no doubt about that – but it rings especially true as a business owner.   In fact, ask any entrepreneur, thought leader, speaker, you name it, and they'll share a host of things they've learned along their journey as a business owner.   To share her own business experience with us, we're joined in this episode by speaker, author, and coach Cindy Tschosik.   Cited as the "Go-To Book Writing Resource" for authors who want to "Change, Save, and Celebrate Lives One Story at a Time," Cindy has spent almost three decades across a wide range of industries including legal, IT, corporate, non-profit, marketing, entrepreneurship, writing and speaking.   Here, she shares insights from her last ten years as a business owner and seven lessons she wishes she'd known in the beginning.   That way, if you're at the beginning of your business ownership journey, you can skip some of the learning curve.   Show Notes:   ✅ Learn more about Cindy and SoConnected: https://www.soconnectedllc.com/   📷 Watch the video version of this episode and subscribe for updates on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYAr3nGy6lbXrhbezMxoHTSCS40liusyU   🎤 Thank you to our sponsor, Libsyn Studio (formerly Auxbus)! Want the best podcasting solution out there? Learn more here: https://www.libsynstudio.com/   🚀 And as always, don't forget about all the mind-blowing free resources at https://speakerflow.com/resources/