In episode 632, Ansley Beutler teaches us how to navigate the complexities of IRS audits as small business owners and how to recognise key red flags that might trigger an audit.

Ansley launched her blog, The Fit Peach, in 2018, sharing simple, family-friendly recipes that prove healthy eating can be both delicious and approachable. Her passion for flavor-packed, wholesome meals quickly resonated with a growing community of home cooks and wellness-minded individuals. Building on her experience as a CPA and her firsthand knowledge of running a successful blog, Ansley founded Peach Perfect Financials—a boutique accounting firm dedicated to empowering creative entrepreneurs. Specializing in bloggers and content creators, her firm offers tailored financial services, including bookkeeping, tax planning, and retirement strategies. With a unique blend of professional expertise and industry insight, Ansley helps entrepreneurs navigate the financial challenges of self-employment, enabling them to focus on what they love: growing their business.

In this episode, you’ll learn the importance of accurate bookkeeping and clear documentation, how to deal with the audit process itself, and strategies for effectively managing the emotional and logistical challenges that can arise.

Key points discussed include:

- Understand your NAICS code: The NAICS code is crucial in determining industry-specific expense and profit margin expectations from the IRS. Make sure you have the right code (711510 for bloggers/influencers) to avoid red flags.

- Maintain a reasonable profit margin: The IRS looks for profit margins that are in line with industry standards. Consistently low or negative profit margins can raise questions.

- Pay yourself a reasonable salary: If you have an S-corp, be sure to pay yourself a salary that is proportionate to your business's profitability to avoid potential issues.

- Keep detailed bookkeeping records: Organized and well-documented financial records can make the audit process much smoother and demonstrate your commitment to compliance.

- Cooperate and communicate proactively: If audited, be responsive to the IRS's requests and communicate openly about your business practices. This can go a long way in resolving any concerns.

- Understand the emotional impact: Audits can be stressful and emotionally draining, so be prepared to manage your emotions and seek support if needed.

Avoid lumping expenses into broad categories: Provide clear breakdowns and explanations for specific expense categories, as the IRS may scrutinize these closely.

- Leverage your CPA's industry knowledge: Having a CPA who understands your business model and industry can help ensure proper expense reporting and minimize audit risks.

- Focus on your "why": During challenging times, such as an audit, remember the reasons why you started your business and let that drive you forward.

Connect with Ansley Beutler

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Merry Christmas!

In this episode, we are going to talk about five effective strategies for relieving stress and managing the pressure that can build up in our lives as entrepreneurs.

As an entrepreneur, I’ve learned that keeping stress in check and staying in a good headspace are game-changers—not just for my well-being, but for my business too. That’s why I’d like to share five strategies that have made a huge difference for me. Whether it’s getting better sleep, squeezing in some solid exercise, or practicing gratitude, these tips have helped me break the stress cycle, clear my mind, and tackle challenges with a more positive, resilient attitude.

Action Plan:

1 - Prioritize sleep: Getting enough quality sleep is crucial for managing stress and maintaining overall well-being.

2 - Engage in vigorous exercise: Challenging your body through intense workouts can help complete stress cycles and release built-up pressure.

3 - Speak up and vent: Addressing thoughts and concerns directly, rather than letting them stew, can alleviate mental clutter and stress.

4 - Surround yourself with supportive people: Spending time with loved ones who make you laugh and feel understood can be a healthy distraction from stress.

5 - Practice gratitude: Taking time to reflect on and appreciate the positive aspects of your life can interrupt negative thought patterns and promote a more peaceful mindset.

Get in touch with Megan

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In episode 630, Megan chats to Joanne Schweitzer about time management strategies to help us balance the demands of blogging with raising children and building a local brand.

Joanne Schweitzer is a successful Italian heritage recipes food blogger and has been blogging part time for 8 years. She has 10K Facebook followers with a local following too and 14K Pinterest followers with 3K in loyal newsletter openers. Joanne’s tomato sauce and cocktails do best. She does local cooking shows specifically for how to make pasta that have been successful.

In this episode, you’ll learn about outsourcing tasks, how to tap into your local network, why newsletters are so effective and how to build a successful blog while still having time for your family.

Key points discussed include:

- Focus on quality over quantity: Prioritize creating high-quality, authentic content rather than rushing to publish multiple posts per week.

- Leverage your newsletter: Invest time in crafting a thoughtful weekly newsletter to build a loyal audience and community.

- Tap into local networking: Seek out opportunities to host cooking demos and events in your local community to grow your brand.

- Embrace flexibility in your workflow: Allow for spontaneity and don't be afraid to adapt your schedule as needed.

- Outsource your weaknesses: Identify tasks you're not strong at and consider outsourcing them to free up time for your strengths.

- Batch recipes with the same ingredients: Make two or more recipes that use the same ingredients like roasted tomatoes or sautéed scallops to save time and money when doing your blog photography.

- Celebrate small wins: Recognize and appreciate the incremental progress you make, as these small victories can fuel your long-term success.

- Cultivate authenticity: Be genuine in your interactions with your audience, and let your personality shine through.

- Persist through imposter syndrome: Believe in your abilities and don't let self-doubt hold you back from achieving your goals.

Connect with Joanne Schweitzer

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In episode 629, Kimberly Espinel teaches us strategies that top food content creators use to build and monetize their audiences on Instagram.

Kimberly is an award winning photographer, best-selling author, creative business mentor and Instagram expert dedicated to empowering food bloggers, photographers and content creators to refine their skills, discover their unique style, and develop a social media strategy that works.

In this episode, you’ll learn what is meant by ‘being authentic’, why you should prioritize video, understanding your audience, and incorporating a personal touch.

Key points discussed include:

- Embrace authenticity and vulnerability: Audiences are drawn to creators who share their personal stories and give them a sense of connection.

- Prioritize video content: Focusing on reels, TikToks, and YouTube can help you reach and engage your audience more effectively.

- Deeply understand your audience: Knowing your target customer's pain points and preferences will allow you to create content that resonates.

- Incorporate a personal touch: Adding your own voice, music choices, or on-camera presence can make your content feel more human and relatable.

- Adapt to changing trends: Be willing to evolve your strategies as platforms and algorithms shift, rather than clinging to what worked in the past.

- Develop a pragmatic mindset: Approach your content creation with a business-minded perspective, and don't take setbacks too personally.

- Focus on strong hooks: Crafting an engaging opening sequence for your reels can make all the difference in capturing your audience's attention.

- Optimize your lighting: Ensuring proper lighting can elevate the production value of your video content and make it more visually appealing.

- Leverage engagement tools strategically: Tools like ManyChat can help you drive traffic and build relationships with your audience.

- Monetize through brand collaborations: Developing a strong video presence can make you an attractive partner for brands seeking influencer marketing opportunities.

You’ll love our Instagram Growth Supercut - a short 15-minute episode sharing tips from food content creators crushing it on Instagram - Download it here.

Order Kimberly's book - How to Make Your Food Famous

Connect with Kimberly Espinel

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In this episode, we're going to talk about 5 ways to optimize our week so that we can build our dream life.

I’m always striving to create my dream week—a vision I hold onto and know I’ll achieve someday, even though it’s not quite here yet. In the meantime, I regularly adjust my schedule to ensure I’m moving in the right direction. When I notice my work-life balance slipping, I make small tweaks to realign, like aiming to keep my workweek under 20 hours. The secret to building your ideal schedule lies in taking it one step at a time with consistent, intentional adjustments. Each week, ask yourself: What’s working? What’s not? Without this reflection, it’s easy to fall into a rut and lose excitement about your week. Here’s how I approach it.

Action Plan:

1 - Do a time audit: Tracking how you spend your time for 3-7 days can provide valuable insights to identify areas for improvement.

2 - Look for easy wins: Implement small, impactful changes like meal prepping or delegating tasks to optimize your week.

3 - Set boundaries: Define and commit to one or two boundaries, such as a hard cut-off time, to better separate work and personal life.

4 - Tackle important tasks first: "Eat your frog" by completing a high-priority task before moving on to other items on your to-do list.

5 - Reflect and reset weekly: Spend 10-15 minutes reviewing your week to celebrate wins and identify one small change for the next week.

Get in touch with Megan

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In episode 627, Megan chats to Katie Trant about how food bloggers can define, build, and maintain a strong brand identity to stand out in a crowded online space.

Katie Trant is a branding expert, a copywriter, and an OG food blogger. For more than a decade, she has worked at brand consultancies, helping huge global players define their brands. Recently, Katie has launched Foodie Brand Lab, a course and brand consultancy, especially for food bloggers who want to build a brand, refine their brand strategy, and take their business to the next level.

In this episode, you'll learn about the key differences between personal and traditional branding, and practical strategies you can use to develop a cohesive, memorable brand identity that resonates with your target audience.

Key points discussed include:

- Defining your brand is not a one-time task, but an ongoing process: Your brand should evolve over time as your business and audience grow, so be prepared to continuously revisit and refine it.

- Understand the difference between personal and traditional brands: Determine whether your brand should revolve around you as an individual or function more as a traditional business brand.

- Focus on developing a strong, consistent voice and tone: Your writing style and the way you communicate with your audience is a core part of your brand identity.

- Create brand guidelines to maintain consistency: Establish guidelines for visual elements, content style, and brand behavior across all your channels and touchpoints.

- Prioritize functionality and user experience over elaborate branding: Ensure your website is fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate before investing heavily in custom branding.

- Let your brand purpose and values guide your business decisions: Use your brand's core purpose and values to inform the content, products, and services you offer.

- Embrace the iterative nature of branding: Be willing to experiment and make adjustments to your brand as you learn more about your audience and evolving industry trends.

Seek outside perspectives to uncover hidden brand insights: An external branding expert can often identify strengths and opportunities you may have overlooked.

- Understand that your brand lives in the minds of your audience: Your brand is ultimately defined by the emotional perceptions and experiences of the people who interact with it.

$50 discount from the Foodie Brand Lab Course - this link will automatically take $50 off of the price, as will entering the discount code PODCAST.

Connect with Katie Trant

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In episode 626, Jillian Leslie teaches us how we can effectively monetize our businesses through the creation and sale of digital products.

Jillian Leslie is co-founder of the blog, Catch My Party, and software company, MiloTree, which empowers bloggers to sell digital products to their audiences. Jillian is also the host of The Blogger Genius Podcast, where for the past six years, she's been interviewing successful online entrepreneurs, content creators, and industry experts. Jillian's goal is to empower bloggers and creators to build successful online businesses so they can change their lives and have the freedom they crave.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to get started, selling simple digital products like ebooks or guides, how to leverage tools like ChatGPT for ideas, and MiloTree for easy setup.

Key points discussed include:

- Start simple with digital products: Begin with an ebook or guide that solves a specific problem for your audience, rather than trying to create an overly complex offering.

- Experiment and iterate: Don't be afraid to "do it ugly" and learn as you go. Treat your digital product launches as experiments to help you refine your offerings.

- Build relationships with your audience: Focus on becoming a trusted helper and problem-solver for your readers, rather than just a faceless content creator.

- Leverage free tools and resources: Use platforms like MiloTree to simplify the technical aspects of selling digital products, so you can focus on creating and marketing.

- Grow your email list: See each email subscriber as a valuable asset, and use lead magnets to steadily build your audience.

- Consider memberships for recurring revenue: Memberships can provide a steady stream of income, but start small and build a community around your expertise.

- Embrace imperfection and give yourself grace: Avoid getting bogged down in perfection; focus on providing value and improving over time.

- Prioritize simplicity: When it comes to both your digital products and your tech stack, aim for streamlined solutions that are easy for you and your audience to use.

- Seek feedback and input from your audience: Engage with your readers to better understand their needs and refine your offerings accordingly.

Connect with Jillian Leslie

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In this episode, we're going to talk about how to overcome the fear of taking risks in your business so that you can thrive as an entrepreneur.

Being an entrepreneur means embracing calculated risks, even when they feel intimidating. While I naturally lean towards high-risk opportunities, I always assess the risk-reward ratio before taking the leap. Risk-taking in entrepreneurship isn’t about being reckless—it’s about being strategic. Truthfully, there are moments when I’m absolutely terrified of the risks required to grow as an entrepreneur. I know how overwhelming it can feel to push beyond your comfort zone. So, how do I manage it? How can you determine if a risk is worth taking? And what steps should you take after overcoming those entrepreneurial fears? Let’s explore five practical strategies to help you confidently navigate risk-taking as an entrepreneur.

Action Plan:

1 - Evaluate the risk: Take the time to write down and analyze the potential risks in your business, whether financial, emotional or otherwise. This will help you gain clarity and reduce anxiety about taking the leap.

2 - Start small: Begin by taking on smaller, low-stakes risks to build your confidence. Completing these smaller challenges will show you that risks don't have to be as daunting as they may seem.

3 - Create a risk wish list: Make a list of the bigger risks you know you need to take, and revisit it regularly. This will keep your intentions clear and motivate you to follow through.

4 - Focus on the rewards: Visualize the potential benefits and opportunities that could arise from taking a particular risk. Let this positive outlook propel you forward through the initial fear.

5 - Reward your progress: Give yourself small treats and celebrations when you successfully take on a risk, no matter how big or small. This positive reinforcement will strengthen your risk-taking mindset.

Further Reading: 7 Reasons Why Risk-Taking Leads to Success (Huffington Post)

Get in touch with Megan if there is a specific mindset and self-care topic you'd like her to cover.

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