EP 322 How to Sustain Profitability in Uncertain Times with Paul Zelizer

How do you sustain profitability given the uncertain times that we're going through? One of the things I love about what I do is I get to talk to a lot of people like you. Folks are really dedicated to a better world and are really working hard to sync up what you do for work and in your business with bringing about that better world. And recently, I've been talking to some people, you know, in more private settings and Client sessions and talking with colleagues and the correspondence I get, and people are talking to me about the uncertainty, the ups and downs. So I wanted to do this episode on how to sustain profitability in uncertain times and give you both a sense of, like, hey. You're not the only one, and also give you some suggestions that can really help. Hi. My name is Paul Zoellizer, and welcome to the Awarepreneurs podcast. On this show, we dive deep into wisdom from some of the world's leading social entrepreneurs.

Our goal is to help you increase your positive impact, your profitability, and your Quality alert. Before we get into today's topic, I have 1 request. If you could hit subscribe and do a review on your favorite podcast app, It helps more people learn how to have a positive impact through a values based business. Thanks so much. Today, I'm your guest and your host. It's time for our monthly solo episode, and our topic is how to sustain profitability in uncertain times. And just I wasn't only running things around in my big bald head. I put this out on social media and in my newsletter, and I got some Fabulous, you know, feedback and some input.

For instance, somebody on Instagram said, I know one thing I'm actively working on doing is rolling out new offers that are lower ticket to increase cash flow. We'll talk about that multiple streams of revenue strategy today. Somebody emailed in when I wrote a newsletter on this topic asking for people's experiences about how this person was feeling pushed to do high ticket coaching, you know, upwards of 50,000, $100,000 or more and how that was what some of their colleagues were doing, and they felt pushed to do it, but that it didn't feel aligned with them. They were struggling with how to create that sustainable profitability, and We're looking at some of these issues themselves, and somebody else reached out real vulnerably on LinkedIn and said, I'm actually Thinking of getting a job, it's been a rough couple years, and I'm going through things like, am I hireable, and what can I expect in terms of salary, and How would people think about me after, you know, quite a few years of a path of entrepreneurship and being in my own business? Some I just wanted to give you some real world data. Not everybody is experiencing challenges when it comes to profitability, but a number of people are. And if you've seen some ups and downs, or you've seen a decrease. I just wanted to let you know there are other people who are experiencing this, And let's dive into some suggestions about what you can do to be more steadily Profitable without those big ups and downs that can be such emotional challenge. You know? I know for me, When there's bigs up and down, that's really hard as opposed to more steady as an entrepreneur.

That's what I want for you. First, I wanted to start on a mindset level, like, what are you bringing to the conversation? And For many years, I did this work with entrepreneurs from a mindset and spiritual practice Perspective, and it's still very important to me. Even when I talk about it less, it's still personally very important, and it's something I bring up with clients, lead with that a little bit less but I do wanna start today's episode with a teaching that I've worked with for many years, and I like to call it steady loving presence in the marketplace. So if you think about things feeling uncertain and people being hesitant, whether we're talking climate or the political polarization that we're And there's lots of uncertainty and things to be nervous about. But if we bring hesitancy and nervousness and a lot of ups and downs in our own internal energy with our own business and how we're showing up with our clients or in our marketing or in our networking. That's not helpful. So finding ways to work with our own internal it's not that you don't Have feelings. It's not that some days you don't feel great, and other days as an entrepreneur, you're like, I don't know.

It's Absolutely okay to have those feelings, but to have a practice in thinking about your business is something you do steadily. A very simple example of this is, today, this episode of The Awarepreneurs podcast is episode 322. I've been steadily publishing 48 weeks a year on average for over 6 years, and that Kind of like knowing that this is something I'm gonna do. Some days when I hit record, I feel better than other days, but I'm gonna do it with the best of my ability in that moment on an ongoing basis and not, you know, keep moving the goalpost So, oh, maybe I'll do a podcast this week or this month, and next month I'll write a blog post in the following month. I'll do nothing, and the month after that I'll do a YouTube video. Really dedicated myself to trying to be good at the craft of podcasting and to doing it regularly. The other thing, remember that I'm inviting you to create a business that feels like it has a really significant positive impact to you. I know I feel that way about My business, about this podcast is such a gift to do work that has that grounding in my values.

And Sometimes when I am wondering, like, does it even make a difference, or is there some other thing I could be doing given all the challenges our world is facing, I remember that I've done very careful assessment of my values and have worked really hard to build a business that reflects them. Thus, this work that I'm doing, I really try to bring a dedicated heart, mind, and soul to this work. It really is a form of spiritual practice and spiritual activism. And as much as you can, I encourage both you and I to Create that in your work and to let that be enough? Do I have some grand illusion that this podcast or my work is Gonna make all the world's problems better? I don't. Is it making it a little better? I actually think it does, and that's what I'm told from clients and listeners. So create a business that really is landed on your values, that is moving the needle in a way that you feel good about, and then work to let that be enough. So that's enough about the inside. If you have thoughts or you wanna continue the dialogue, feel free to reach out.

But let's get into some really specific strategies. I have 5 of them for you. In no way do I think that all 5 of these are right for everybody. I do think that if you were to pick, you know, 1 or 2 or 3, I am doing Most or all of these, not equally, robustly, but they're all baked into my business. But I don't encourage you to start there. Take a listen and see if these can help spark some ideas for you and maybe something you can try, lean into, and see if you can move the needle in one of these strategies, and then see if that starts to go well. Maybe there's another one that you can pick, and go a little deeper with rather than trying to do all 5 of them at once. And at the end, if you are somebody who's like, maybe it's time to get a job, maybe I'm, You know, having a rough time with the ups and downs, I have some suggestions for you at the end as well.

So let me tell you what the 5 Strategies are and then we'll dig into each one, couple of tips, a couple of pointers. So strategy number 1 is strategic partnerships, creating partnerships with people that have bigger platforms, bigger email list than maybe better known or just, you know, very significant players that have an audience that you can lean into and do something together with, and you bring something to that as well. I'll give you an example. It's called strategic partnerships. The second 1 is SEO optimization. I have a meeting with a client tomorrow who found me on Google, a brand new client. Not somebody I heard of, didn't come from a word-of-mouth, came from Google. That's something that I am doing more of, and I wanna talk to you about that if that's not something you've paid attention to too much in the past.

Number 3 is LinkedIn. If you've listened to this podcast for any length of time, you know I love LinkedIn. But there's some specific things on LinkedIn that I wanna Purge you to think about if you did wanna lean into it as a strategy for more sustainable profitability in these uncertain times. Number 4 is organizational clients. That is, you know, businesses, potentially nonprofits that have, you know, been around for a while that you can provide value to, and that's different than some of the folks that I'm working with who have been working with One on 1 kind of a b to c, a business to customer. I'm talking like b to b larger organizations that have been around for a while that you could provide value to. And number 5 is diversification of revenue streams. So let's get into each one a couple of tips, and we're gonna start with strategic partnerships.

Let me give you an example of this one. So this afternoon, I have a meeting with a wonderful impact leader who has grown a mid 5 figure email list in the process of creating an impact organization. This person doesn't, by their own admission, doesn't have a, a significant history of running a business, and created an incredible idea. The impact that is needed of this organization is very much, it's really resonating with people, which is part of why that they've grown to such a Robust, email list and a marketing platform. And what they're offering is great, and they've been growing steadily, but it's been in a very, like, one unique way and doing things in the realm of reaching out to people with an email list and on social media following that they've built. That hasn't been something they know a lot about. It is not something that they've done. So We Talked.

This is somebody who I know from LinkedIn and has a sense of my podcast. Right? What you're doing here is you're finding potential partners that have values alignments. Please make sure you share common values and then there's a sense of agreement of the kind of impact you'd like to have. And you look to develop mutually beneficial, you know, offerings, and start small. That that meeting that I told you about with this person, tomorrow, we're talking about a very small trial of something that if it goes well, I have ideas of where we could grow, but it's a very easy thing. It doesn't cost anything for either of us other than some Time to give it a try. So how can you like, if you are interested in strategic partnerships, How might you connect with people that already have something that's up and running that's got traction that you might be able to help them build on and help them help more people. And in this case, we were gonna share the revenue of this prototype that we're launching.

So If it goes well, there's an opportunity for recurring revenue that I see for this person. And, basically, I just said, hey. Let's do a prototype. I've worked with other people to develop these kind of offers before. I like what you're doing, and let's do a revenue share for a Simple prototype, and if the appetite is there for this, here's what it could build into, and I've helped clients build those kind of things before. Super excited. The meeting is tomorrow. Whether that happens or not, I'm not sure, but I'm just trying to give you an example.

I have done those kinds of things quite a few times in the past 2 years, and some of them have turned into wonderful strategic partnerships, ongoing sources of revenue for me, and I have some know how and experience to build something like this recurring revenue offer that this person doesn't have. This person has a very significant email list and social media presence much larger than mine, and you can see there's an opportunity there. How might there be similar opportunities in your world? Again, that's called strategic partnerships. Strategy number 2 is SEO optimization. SEO stands for search engine optimization. And, Again, I'm starting with somebody tomorrow, and and I'm increasingly getting, searches. Mostly as a business coach here in New Mexico, it's something I started leaning into about 18 months ago, but really started doing more work about 9 months ago. And now it's one of the larger sources of my 1 on 1 clients.

So it doesn't take a super long time to move the needle. If you have Some idea of how you can position yourself. The beautiful thing about when somebody goes on Google and does a search, They're looking for a business coach, Janelle. They are already kinda made the decision, and they're likely to want some help. You're not trying to convince somebody to make a purchase of services or products that they don't want. You're helping them know you're a good choice for somebody who provides something that they do want. So that's a beautiful thing about search engine optimization. The 2 main strategies that people spend a lot of time on this, and it goes beyond our Podcasts to go too deeply into it, but the 2 things I would suggest is to, number 1, really create High quality SEO optimized content.

And that's one of the things that the podcast really does for me, but it doesn't have to be through a podcast. You can do this on YouTube. You can do this on a blog, but to get smart about creating content that people are already looking for. So for instance, the keyword for this episode is Sustained profitability. Right? That's a pretty decent keyword, very low competition. Not massive numbers, but It just fit for the things I was seeing, and it also is likely to bring in new people who become aware of me and my coaching because I'm using that keyword. Right? So get used to doing some keyword searches. Two great tools Our word tracker, which is free, and UberSuggest a little more sophisticated, Kaden, so there's more learning curve, but I love Ubersuggest.

They're both freemium models. You can do a couple searches a day on either one and get basic information, or you can pay and get more robust results. But that's the basic of creating high quality SEO optimized content. The other suggestion I have is to create a Google business profile. Again, that's free. And to use it regularly. So every episode of the Awarepreneurs podcast, I go in, and I do what's called create an update. So you fill out your Google's business profile, and then you just add it.

Like, I use the episode graphic. But, again, it could be a YouTube video or I have a new blog post out, but somebody who's regularly getting reviews, somebody who's posting updates, and has the keywords for your business baked into a Google business profile is likely to get Very good SEO results after not very much time because even many SEO experts aren't using them in a regular way. So those 2 things, the good content, Baking the keywords into your website, I didn't talk too much about that, and to optimize your Google business profile. So those are a few strategies. If you want some help, please feel free to reach out. I'm not a super expert on this, but it has increasingly become one of the top referral sources in my business. And like I said, I'm doing some things that not everybody's doing. Happy to share them.

Feel free to reach out, and also have some great referrals if you need some help with that. So strategy number 3, LinkedIn. You've been around for a while. You know that I love LinkedIn, and it's increasingly becoming a source of both great referrals as well as, like I said earlier, this person that I'm gonna be talking about a potential strategic partnership that's coming from LinkedIn. And, basically, my first suggestion with LinkedIn is that people on LinkedIn, They tend to make more money, not just a little bit more, but quite a bit more. And they're also in higher decision making roles. So if somebody's spending time on social media And 1 person is spending more time on Facebook or Instagram, and another person is spending more time on LinkedIn. If you knew nothing else about them, What the data tells us is that the person who spends time on LinkedIn makes more money and has more of a decision making role.

And I've noticed that as I've But most of my social media energy into LinkedIn, it's a good fit for the type of person I wanna work with. It's not a great fit for everybody. Again, I'm happy to be a thought partner if LinkedIn makes sense for you or not, but if there's any way that it does fit for who you're trying to connect with or you could slightly tweak. Several of my clients, I've been just gently nudging them to, like, Consider the possibility they could work with leaders in the space that they're working in, whatever that space may be, rather than, at least some of their business. And as they started to bring that awareness to LinkedIn, they too saw that they were able to get larger contracts working with more established organizations and or with leaders in certain fields that just had more access to resources. So that's why I love LinkedIn. And the basic Strategy there is make sure you have a strong profile, really think about who you're, gonna connect with and who It's gonna help move the needle on your goals and share content regularly. Again, the podcast feeds everything in my Businesses isn't to plug podcasting, but it is to, you know, help you understand the importance of that Steady, loving presence, really having something that feeds your marketing so you're not having to create everything from scratch.

So creating valuable content, I also use AI to help me translate things like a section of the podcast into a LinkedIn article, for instance, that'd be an example. But but having valuable content, posting things that are updates and important news in your Space. And, lastly, really actively engage with your network. So it's not just about hosting, but liking, or commenting, or reaching out. There was a great article I saw on creating really authentically honest, cultures at work as a leader. And I shared it with several people in my network. I thought it was a great article. People really liking that article, and it just gave me an opportunity to reach out.

I did that privately. Several folks who I value, these are folks who, again, have a significant leadership presence, and are in great decision making roles. I'm not trying to spam them with things they don't want, but when I come across a good resource Or if there is a funding opportunity, I was recently posting 10 grants for women entrepreneurs, or you see an opportunity to connect people. Somebody reached out on LinkedIn today. They were looking for an HR consultant, as they're growing their organization. So just trying to be a resource in that way, whether it's an article or being, resource with somebody who can make a referral and have a resource for them, that's the kind of energy I try to breathe in LinkedIn, and it's just been an incredible asset to my goals and to my business. So let's do this. Let's take a quick break.

In moment, I'm gonna come back with the last 2 strategies, and also let's talk about, hey. If it's time to think about getting a job, what do you do? Before we do that, A quick word from our sponsor. It's no secret that I'm a big fan of LinkedIn. In fact, I've recently been sharing some of the experiences I've had out of getting business consulting contracts from my LinkedIn connections. But let me give you a few data points that'll help you understand why I'm so excited. LinkedIn has users in over 200 countries, and 53% of LinkedIn users have a high monthly income. Only about 1% of LinkedIn users actually post on the platform regularly. Compare that to Instagram where it's over 69%, so it's much harder to get your content seen.

And lastly, marketers see 2 x higher conversion on LinkedIn than any other social media platform. Maybe you've heard about LinkedIn and you've thought about using it, but you're not really sure what to do. How do you attract higher level opportunities through LinkedIn? I've been doing a lot of sessions with people on this exact topic, LinkedIn for social entrepreneurs. If you wanted to, we could use my strategy session format to do a LinkedIn profile review where we'll do things like look at your headshot, your timeline, photo, your bio, your about section, your experience, and tailor them all to your ideal client. And in addition, we'll do a simple LinkedIn marketing plan for your business based on your goals to help you leverage this powerful platform. If you'd like to find out more, you can click on the link below, then just let me know. You'd really like to up level your game on LinkedIn, and get more results. Okay.

Welcome back, everybody. Lots of things to say about sustaining profitability in uncertain times. We are halfway through our list, and we are gonna go to strategy number 4, organizational clients. You've already gotten a couple of, you know, hints in the earlier tips, Been a big fan of this and whether that is a contract with the SBA here in New Mexico for National accelerator called the SBA Thrive program. That is something that I did in 2023, and, that was awesome. And it really helped me establish more credibility working with larger businesses. The SBA is the largest economic development, organization in the world. And certainly having that on my resume and having that experience has helped me have more credibility and also feel more confident about working with larger businesses.

I learned a lot. It's a fabulous experience, and it's something that now I can talk to in a very robust way when working with organizations that are fur it's called being in the growth stage. Right? They know they're gonna survive, or at least they've been around for a while. I'm thinking of somebody I was emailing yesterday who's had a business that's been around for 36 years. They're They've kinda got over certain humps, and now they have a different set of problems than a start up. Right? So that SBA Accelerators help me feel more confident, and I'm doing more of that work with businesses that have larger teams that are burning around longer. You can do that word too. It's how can you lean into being helpful to more of those growth stage organizations with growth stage Challenges doesn't mean that they don't have challenges, a leader or somebody who is, you know, A high performer in an organization like that or is the, you know, a middle level manager in that, can you think about how you might serve people in those kinds of organizations.

Doesn't mean they don't ever hit hard times. We've seen big tech companies with names that are all over the Wall Street Journal and, you know, Fortune Magazine layoff significant numbers of people, but But overall, those growth stage organizations and people who work in them are likely to have access to resources in a more consistent way than people who are solo or an early stage start up. So can you provide value and think of ways to grow the ability to provide value to those organizations that have more larger budgets, more just established relationships and platforms. Right? Think about which organizations Have a solid foundation and access to resources that are fairly steady through the years. And how do you position your products services. Even if you need to do a little bit of a brand refresh, or think about the content that you're sharing on social, or what kinds of resources are available on your site? Or if you're doing a YouTube channel, what are you sharing there that might, at least, some of the times, you don't have to, like, completely pull up your roots and put it down in a whole new brand and a whole new iteration. But can you gently start to move into some of that work so that you're providing value to leaders and organizations. Can you just keep moving the needle so that You're consistently providing folks providing value to folks who have more established networks and more access to resources.

So can you develop the relationships where you're a resource person that people think of you around certain issues and challenges, And then when they're ready to hire somebody, your name naturally is on a very short list or potentially the only person on that list, which would be great. Again, if you need some help, feel free to reach out. Let's move on to strategy number 5, diversify your revenue streams. And, by the way, these are in no particular order, just kind of the order I jotted them down. Again, it's a menu. Don't Try to do them all, especially if you haven't done a lot of work in any of them. Pick 1, maybe 2, and see how you can move the needle and see if you can grow without completely running away from everything you've been doing. That's a, you know, that's a big choice and a huge pivot.

Make sure you're getting some help. If you're gonna do it yourself, Think about, you know, doing this in a more incremental kind of a way. So like the person that I started the story with this person who has a service business in Europe. Many of their consulting friends who are pushing very large contracts, mid 5 figure or 6 figure only, and, you know, those kinda contracts are awesome. I think it's helpful to see if you can bring some of those larger contracts in, but also have something more affordable. So I'm thinking of, For instance, recently, I was working with somebody, and it would have been great for them to sign up for a 6 month coaching package 1 on 1. We could've really moved the needle, but they were in a tough spot. They had seen a decline in their profitability.

And what they really were wanting to do, and I agreed with them, is they needed to more consistently do marketing and do it in a way that had depth and intentionality behind it. They were, you know, well known in a small circle, and that small circle wasn't really enough to provide them with a steady and livable revenue stream, and they needed to expand beyond who already knew them, and they hadn't really kinda broken out of that. And so what we decided on is that this person was able to join our Impact podcast Accelerator for Awarepreneurs, that was a $50 a month commitment, and this person felt comfortable with that level of commitment. And then they can drop in. You know, we'd stay in touch. I'd be available, very late touch, by email, plus they could really learn about getting, a podcast up and running. And that was one of the things that they had really struggled with, is a more visible way to you know, that steady, loving presence in the marketplace. They were gonna do that with a podcast, get that started in an affordable way, and not have to, You know, right now, lean into a $5,000 coaching contract with me and 6 months of meetings and, you know, lots of accountability.

That just wasn't the right fit. But a $50 a month podcast accelerator, that felt like a good fit to them. So that's the kind of thing I'm just giving you some numbers. Right? It's technically 4770 to do 6 6 months of coaching with me in a 1 on 1 contract, it's 7.95 a month versus $50 a month. And and some people are gonna really be ready for and able to commit to a 1 on 1 coaching contract. And I also know people who charge a lot more than I do for that kind of coaching or consulting. And some people are gonna be like, thank god you have something much more affordable. That's where I am right now.

So, again, It's not the specifics, but it's that range, the diversity of revenue streams, a group, You know, accelerator with, you know, co working calls, and we do a master class once a month, and there's a q and a call. That's a lighter touch. Not a lot of commitment. If you want to have it be a really robust experience, you can make that happen as a member, but it's designed to be a lighter touch affordable offer versus deep dive consulting, Hour and a, you know, 90 minute sessions twice a month and contact between hands and, you know, action plans and KPIs, That's gonna be another type of much more intensive and more costly type of offer, and that's service based business, but you can bring the same mindset to a product based business as well. How can you have a number of different revenue streams that are working together? All of what I offer has the goal to help social entrepreneurs, to help you, people who are interested in having more impact and sustaining and growing profitability. That's everything I offer has that intent, But the, you know, nuances, one's more focused on podcasting and podcast guesting. And in, 1 on 1 coaching, it's, you know, a wider range and looking very holistically and very deeply, right, at the full range of what you're doing in your business. But it's all focused on people who wanna have positive impact through a lens of social entrepreneurship.

So that's, a couple of examples of diversify revenue streams. So take a look at what you're offering, and, you know, are you over concentrated in either the high Ticket items, and maybe it could help if you had a lower ticket so people could stay engaged with you and flow back and forth as the revenue, as their income, and their situation warrants. Were you, like, offering a lot of low ticket items, which is great from affordability perspective, but that puts a lot of pressure to sell a lot of them just to make a livable income every month, or like this person that emailed in, are you, like, really overemphasized in the very high ticket things, and it's, You know, there's just a lot more friction to sell something that costs $100,000 than to sell something that costs $50. So those are our key strategies. Again, I'm going to just a couple thoughts. If it's Time to get a job. You're just feeling really burnt out or just need that kind of steadiness right now. A quick reminder of our 5 strategies Before we do that, strategic partnerships, SEO optimization, LinkedIn, organizational clients, and diversifying your revenue streams.

So for the last Topic to cover, I wanted to just say a few words. Somebody reached out on LinkedIn, and I actually helped a Client navigated situation where there was pretty significant burnout in their entrepreneurial journey, and they did apply. You know? They were they were on the fence. You know? Should I stay or should I go now? Right? Should I or should go now. Right? Oh god. Paul's weird today. So they didn't know whether they should stay in the entrepreneur, you know, seat or get a job. They've gone back and forth over the past number of years, and that was, leading to a lot of burnout.

But what we ultimately landed on is this person did apply for a job, they were excited about it, and then There was a negotiation that happened, and this person negotiated, 50% FTE, full time equivalent. So in other words, a half time job included, some nice benefits, and that helped them kind of steady out the income. They knew they were gonna have a part time, but, you know, not terrible, steady check and benefits. And then they they were quite confident they could do a half time, You know? They they could contribute half of what they needed to live in a comfortable way through their business, and that just gave them a lot of space and a lot of grace. Right? So the first thing is well, actually, the very first thing, I wish I had said this right at the front, is to be kind with yourself. These are really challenging times, and It's a challenging economy. It's kind of complicated. Even economists are like, we think there might be a recession.

Nope. Only kidding. Actually, things look pretty good, but then housing is crazy, and people can't find a place to live, and, You know, wages aren't keeping up with inflation. It it's it's wild. It is a wild economy, so Just be kind with yourself. In that kind of uncertainty, it's oftentimes, you know, slower sales cycles and more friction, particularly for lower ticket items because people are spending more on just, you know, food and a roof over their head and gas in the car or transportation. Right? So just be kind. And, also, just like the story I shared with this client, it might not be an on off switch.

This client was able to find a, half time job. Other folks, it might be like a Contract. Maybe they hadn't thought of that before. And if you decide that, hey. I just need a full time job with benefits. Pays me well. I know it's coming in every month. That's where my head's up.

Wholeheartedly support you. If you are in that last situation if you're in that, Maybe I could. You know, from the way that those contracts work, a lot of them are word-of-mouth and or something like a half time job. Sometimes it's a matter of applying for something that feels like there's some values alignment and that you would be good at and just putting that out there even if it wasn't on the radar. Like with this client that I told you, The job listing didn't say this could be either full time or half time, but this person had a lot just Was an incredible candidate, and they told her this. This was not my assessment. They said, look. In many ways, you're overqualified for this job.

You would be an incredible Asset to this team. The skills you have are things we actually wanna grow into, which is part of why we want you on the team now. But we want yeah. We very much want to explore the halftime thing, if that would help you say yes, because we understand, You know, per hour, you can make more money in your own business, but once this grows in a, you know, couple years, you would know Everybody on the team, you'd be familiar with what we're doing here, and could just just gracefully either stay on as a half time person or potentially come on full time. So A real world story to just say, you know, sometimes you might apply, and and maybe that is an option in some, scenarios. I'm not implying that every job and every employer is necessarily gonna do less than full time, but it might be an option, so don't rule it out. If you do if you've been an entrepreneur for a while and you're saying, look. I just need to, like, have that steady support, and take the load off of the uncertainty.

The big suggestion I have for you is to really meet with somebody who can help you articulate your experience in a holistic and attractive way, somebody who understands the impact space and who would, you know, be resonant with your values, and can help you articulate what you've been doing in a way that an employer would understand. 2 people in my network who I trust and would refer to, one happens to be my brother, Craig Zellizer. But even if he wasn't my brother, Craig would still be just an incredible asset. You know, he's got, like, 55,000 connections Personally, on LinkedIn and his company called PCDN, the Peace and Collaborative Development Network, has, like, another 20 or 22,000 connections. So, anyway, you know, 75,000 people in the Impact space think Craig is an awesome asset. I just happen to be his brother and one of them. I'll put a link to his website. And the second one is somebody awesome here in Albuquerque named Marissa Nordstrom, a career coach who also uses an impact and social justice lens and can help you, like, again, articulate your Experience and your values in a way and help you find how can you find a position that can help you get a livable wage and the kinds of conditions and and something that's matched with your values, but also is more in the employment realm, not in the growing your own business realm.

So I'll put Craig and Marissa's website in the show notes. So that's what I've got in terms of how to sustain profitability in uncertain times. I wanna thank you so much for listening, and Please remember, we love listener suggested topics and guests. So if you have an idea for an episode, this one absolutely came from some of those private conversations, again, with clients, with colleagues, on social media, people responding to my newsletter. This came from you, and people were like, I don't know what to say or how to approach this, but I would love to hear an episode on this. So, I'm not just saying the words. I really mean it. I want this podcast to serve you.

And if you have an idea of a topic or a guest, Please go to the Awarepreneurs website and go to our contact page. We have 3 simple guidelines. If you wanna be a guest, what we're looking for, you're just looking for a topic, just send it on in. Lastly, I wanna say thank you so much for listening. Please take really good care in these intense times, and thank you for all the positive impact that you're working for in our