3 Milestone Achievements + Chat w/Marketing Maestro Nick Borelli

RETIREPRENEUR with Donna Kastner

Show Notes for Podcast Episode #20:

We kicked off this episode by opening up our playbook and sharing three Retirepreneur milestone achievements. Yes, I’m living this journey out loud, sharing both the wins and the challenges to help others navigate this transition from job to freelance gig with grace and speed.

Milestone #1: Hired an Outstanding Business Coach

Some quick context for those new to this podcast – I’m a full-time consultant with a thriving practice serving the events industry, but I’m bootstrapping Retirepreneur for the future. So far, Retirepreneur has received “side hustle” effort, but I’m now scaling up Retirepreneur, as I trim back consulting assignments.

To master this leap, I needed a coach – and trust me, I’ve interviewed quite a few. Even engaged in a couple of pilots, but struggled to find one who was that perfect match. Then one day, Eureka – I found my dream coach! Someone who fully grasps my business plan and can help me advance faster. In August, we hunkered down for a day of collaboration to improve my business plan and map out growth steps for the next 12 months.

Takeaway for Retirepreneurs: Find a coach with expertise that aligns with where you’re heading and schedule regular check-in calls to review progress (or lack thereof) and adjust your plan accordingly. This creates urgency, as you strive to advance what you promised to do on the last call.

Milestone #2: Hired an Outstanding Marketing Specialist

Meet Bernadette Gibson – she’s a marketing genius who’s helping me with the day-to-day steps to grow our brand and our community. In just two short months of working together, I’m amazed at the progress we’ve made – our audience has now grown to nearly 1,000 people. She’s also sparking more activity on our Facebook page (like us there for a daily dose of inspiration). While Bernadette and I share similar strengths, she brings new skills and valuable insights to Retirepreneur, often closing up a few of my blind spots. Now, with Bernadette on board, we’re charging ahead in pursuit of our next big goal: Build a thriving, high-sharing community of 10,000+ Retirepreneurs. Look out world – we’re championing an encore career movement!

Takeaway for Retirepreneurs: You can’t be an expert at everything and your weaknesses will never be your strengths. Find others with complementary strengths who can shore up weaknesses and help you run faster. One more tip: Quality is important, but get more comfortable with “good enough.” Otherwise, you’ll get stuck in the perfecting zone and you’ll stagnate.

Milestone #3: Tapped Events as a Growth Catalyst

So here I am helping event organizers with their experience design strategy and I’m finally flipping that super power to apply it to my own business. Retirepreneur is now partnering with colleges and universities to host Retirepreneur workshops for their alumni. Our mission for these workshops: Help like-minded alumni connect with one another + meet local experts who can help them address a myriad of needs. On October 13th, we’re thrilled to host our very first workshop at the University of Dayton – Retirement Reinvented: Striking a Perfect Mix of Purpose & Play. Stay tuned – more will be announced.

Takeaway for Retirepreneurs: Events can be a powerful growth catalyst for your business. Start slow – go attend a few business networking/education events in your backyard and engage in conversations with local thought leaders. In time, you might choose to take this a notch higher and host your own event. PS: We’ll keep sharing the wins & lessons learned here to help you improve your own strategy.

Joining us at the Retirepreneur Watercooler…

Meet Nick Borelli, President and chief event growth strategist at Borelli Strategies.

Nick’s consulting firm offers event organizers the marketing know-how and expertise they need to boost attendance, increase audience engagement, and achieve the goals they’ve set for these events. As one of Special Event Magazine’s Young Professionals to Watch, Nick’s gaining momentum, largely through industry leadership and service. Other awards for Nick include CBC Magazine’s Networking Star of the Year, Smart Business Magazine’s Social Media Impact Award, and ILEA Ohio WOW Award for best marketing campaign ($75K & higher). Yep, he’s younger than most of us, but he’s a rockstar business results driver.

My chat with Nick moves quickly and this was one of the rare occasions when I could have an expert join me in the studio. Here’s a quick glimpse at a few big ideas we discussed:

• Nick’s experiences coaching his Retirepreneur Dad
• The roller coaster (yet fun) ride of consultancy
• Pick Your Lane: The importance of knowing who you are… and who you aren’t
• Leveraging digital channels to become a regional authority
• Mashing up two things you’re passionate about to create a new specialty
• Blue Ocean vs Red Ocean (and why you gotta “swim” in the blue)

Want more insights from Nick? Follow his Facebook page, because he’s dispensing a wealth of tips regularly on that channel, too.

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