Scaling Your Business as a Service Provider with Tara Counterman
Feb 01, 2021
In episode 6 of The Dreamer’s Lounge Podcast, I am thrilled to be joined by Tara Counterman! She is the CEO of Profitable Podcast Productions, which is THE agency for entrepreneurs who are ready to take their rightful place behind the microphone and leave the rest to the professionals, as did I. She developed the holistic podcast approach to help entrepreneurs take any podcasts from expensive hobby to money-making marketing tool. She is a great friend of mine and such a wealth of knowledge, and I’m so excited for you to hear her perspective.
But before we dive right in, let me introduce myself in case this is your first visit. You’ve now entered into The Dreamer’s Lounge! I’m Ariel Schiffer, and I have made it my mission to take out the digital trash one bad course at a time. I am the creator of The Course Alchemist, Industrial Organizational Psychologist, and Curriculum and course design expert.
This podcast is for entrepreneurs who are looking to elevate their digital product suite so their offers speak for themselves. Nothing is worse than being oversold into something that under delivers just like an overpriced bottle of wine. So, if you’re ready to develop high quality offers, bring in consistent revenue, and have a business with long-term results for you AND your clients, grab your drink and join us inside…
Tara and I are talking about the best ways to grow and scale your business as a service provider today. But no matter what type of business you’re in, there are definitely some gems in this episode for you. For all the details, be sure to listen to the entire episode on your favorite streaming platform.
Tara’s background and how she got into business.
Tara started in Network Marketing when she dropped out of college during her freshman year. Because of her family situation, she was pretty much out on her own and had to work extremely hard to provide for herself. Network Marketing was her first introduction to the entrepreneurial space. She eventually found a course on building your personal brand, and that’s when she got introduced to podcasting and completely fell in love with it. When she started her own podcast, she found that so many of the people she knew wanted one too and came to her with questions about it. She saw that there was a huge need in the space for help in figuring podcasting out because it is very technical. But she ignored this need at first because she felt she had to keep building her current business.
She eventually reached a breaking point. She realized she was pouring so much time into a business that wasn’t giving her anything back. When she stepped into podcasting, everything changed. She shed the belief that she had to stay in her former business and stepped into her true zone of genius.
What held Tara back initially was the fear of judgment. She thought people would judge her for switching up what she was doing again. And she was viewing her past experiences as failures. But she sees now that no one was really judging her, and all of those experiences brought her to where she is today. If you’re wanting to shift course in your business and are judging yourself, Tara and I can tell you that we have only been grateful for following our intuition. You’ll see that for yourself too.
Lessons Tara learned from starting her business.
When Tara first started her business, she was holding onto everything very tightly. She felt she had to do everything herself and was really afraid to let go and delegate to others. But she hit a point where the work she was doing just wasn’t sustainable. She was staying up late every single night, and it wasn’t healthy. When she hired a team, things got so much better in her life and in her business.
We have both realized that it’s not about passing your business to someone else. It’s about utilizing your time in the best way possible. And you are going to hit a threshold if you don’t outsource. If you want your business to grow, you need to trust people to take care of some aspects for you.
Comparisons have held both of us back. It only steals joy. It’s so easy to look at what other people are doing in the industry and think we have to do it the same way. There’s also a misconception that the only way to make money is as a coach. And it’s all bullshit. Both of us have grown the most when we’ve let go of the “shoulds” we’ve believed. Success gets to be defined by you. It doesn’t have to look a certain way.
How to make creative business decisions.
There’s a false perception that the only creative people are the ones doing something artistic. But creativity means innovation. And anyone who is an innovator is also creative. Tara would never have thought of herself as a creative, but her innovative business proves that she is. If you’re a business owner, and you’re thinking you’re not creative, that idea is holding you back.
When it comes to making decisions in her business, Tara does it all from a place of listening to client feedback. When they ask for something, she looks at their request from all angles and sees how it will be beneficial to them. And then she’s able to co-create with them. Profitable Podcast Productions focuses on podcasts, of course, but they’re also able to help their clients with other pieces of content. They just launched a YouTube service. They make sure that all of their clients’ content is working for them. When you serve your clients at such a high level, your path in business will unfold for you.
The importance of referrals in scaling your business.
Referrals are the least expensive and easiest way to grow your business! Both Tara and I have absolutely relied on the power of referrals in our business. This is why client experience is so important. People WILL talk about their experience with you, whether you know it or not. If they have a great experience, they’ll definitely talk about it. But the same is true if they have a bad experience. Shit gets out. So overdeliver for your clients. You owe it to them to provide them with a quality experience. And their great experiences will build your business for you.
Shifting course for the best results.
Both Tara and I have switched up what we’re doing in our business. Like… a lot. And that’s okay! You often need to go through ups and downs to get through things. Sometimes you need to try something to see it wasn’t the best fit for you. You need to take some chances and experiment if you want to see the best results.
You might be clinging to something in your business that’s not serving you because you’re afraid of judgment or afraid of trying something new. You might think you’re not being consistent if you change things. But as long as what you are being consistent in is serving your clients and being awesome at what you do, it’s totally okay to shift course. Sometimes it’s exactly what’s needed.
How I Grew My Business FAST Doing Things My Way: The Bottomline
One of the biggest pieces of advice Tara has for entrepreneurs is to work towards the goal of not doing everything yourself. You best serve your clients when you are operating in your own zone of genius and your energy isn’t wasted on a shit ton of small details. You will see your business take off when you’re not clinging to it so tightly.
For even more tips for growing your business, be sure to listen to all of episode 6!
Thanks so much for stopping by The Dreamer’s Lounge! I hope some of the ways I’ve built my business resonated with you. If you enjoyed the episode please take a second to rate & review. Each review helps me fulfill my mission of improving the quality of learning in the online business industry. Don’t forget to take a screenshot, share it in your Instagram stories and tag me @dreampro_. See you for more episodes soon!
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