Roadmap to Success: Why Your Business and Podcast Need a Framework with Heather Crabtree
If you’re a business owner, you likely have a certain way you do things. Whether it’s a process or a checklist or an overall system, your framework is what helps you to serve your clients and communicate your message. If you haven’t written out and cemented your framework yet, this is your invitation to do just that. It’s such an important tool for your business and podcast and you can’t overlook this step.
In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Heather Crabtree, business coach and growth strategist at Your Savvy Business. I’ve known Heather for quite some time and I was thrilled to chat with her about the importance of having a business framework.
Heather shares what a framework is, why you need one, why you have to communicate it clearly to others, and how your framework can inform your podcast content. As Heather says, it’s time to name and claim your framework!
What’s in this episode…
[04:46] Heather explains what a framework is, why you need one for your business, and why you need to communicate it with others
[09:31] Heather walks us through an example of a framework
[17:20] How your framework can inform your content
Are you ready to build your podcast strategy, simplify your marketing, and finally make your podcast work for you? Join the Strategic Podcast Academy, my signature group program that’ll support you with monthly training, resources, and an amazing community!
About heather:
Heather Crabtree, Your Savvy Business™ Coach and Growth Strategist, helps service pros of 5+ years unlock their next level in business without compromising your goals, priorities and values or sacrificing your boundaries.
For the past 12 years, she has been able to help service pros grow a successful business that is truly aligned with the life they want and she wants to help you do the same.. Formerly an attorney and owner of a successful event planning company for 11 years, she is the founder of Heather Crabtree + Your Savvy Business™ and has been a coach for over 12 years.
Connect with heather:
Listen to Heather’s podcast: Your Savvy Business with Heather Crabtree
Get Heather’s Framework program here
LINKS:
Join the Strategic Podcast Academy!
Check out our services to Launch, Uplevel or Grow your Podcast
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Your Signature Framework: Why You Need One + How to Create or Refine One for Your Business (Your Savvy Business Podcast with Heather Crabtree)
The Transcript for Share, Strategize, & Shine:
Ep 137: Roadmap to Success: Why Your Business and Podcast Need a Framework with Heather Crabtree
[00:00:42] Caroline Hull Hi there and welcome to Share, Strategize and Shine. I'm your host, Caroline Hull, a podcast strategist and CEO of Wild Home Podcasting. I've built my entire career through podcasts by sharing my experience using strategic systems and shining a light on the power of podcasting. If you are looking to cultivate leads for your membership, group program or consulting services, I'm here to help you create a holistic and integrative podcast strategy that will let your business thrive. Let's dive in. Hello and welcome back to Share, Strategize and Shine. I'm so happy you're here and I'm so excited to share today's guest with you. Heather Crabtree is your savvy business coach and growth strategist. She helps service pros of five plus years unlock their next level in business without compromising their goals, priorities and values or sacrificing their boundaries. I have known Heather for a very long time. We have been in the same kind of online sphere for years. And no matter what phase of our businesses that I have known Heather, I have always learned so much from her. And I'm just so grateful that we've reconnected on the interwebs and have gotten to know each other a little bit better. But I really wanted to bring her on the podcast because she released an episode on her own podcast all about having a framework. And this was pretty eye opening for me as someone who's been in business for a long time. I realized that I was not communicating the framework that we have and how we help people very well at all. And her episode helped me so much. And what's neat about her approach to building your framework and designing your framework and how you share it with people is that it can do so much for your content as well. And so that's what we talk about in this episode, why a framework is so important and how it can help you create some pretty super aligned content. So I hope you enjoy. Hi Heather, Thank you so much for coming on the show.
[00:03:05] Heather Crabtree Thank you for having me.
[00:03:08] Caroline Hull Before we dive in, I would love for you to introduce yourself and tell everybody a little bit about what you do.
[00:03:15] Heather Crabtree Yeah, absolutely. I'm Heather Crabtree. I am your savvy business coach and a growth strategist, and I help online coaches and service pros who have been in business for 5 to 10 plus years help you unlock your next level in business while also not compromising your values and goals and or sacrificing your boundaries. Because that's super important to me and the people that I work with as well.
[00:03:41] Caroline Hull I love that. And just so everybody knows Heather, I think I've known you like all of you for like ten years.
[00:03:49] Heather Crabtree Oh, yeah.
[00:03:50] Caroline Hull It feels like we've been like Internet friends for I mean, it's got to be since, like, my stationery days, I think.
[00:03:56] Heather Crabtree Yeah, for sure. We've been in each other's orbit for a long time. And it's funny because. Because I work with people that have been in business for a long time. It's this circular thing that's happening right now. And so, like people that are joining the things that I have out, like went to my conferences a long time ago, or in my Facebook group, or they're like, Remember those days? Those were like the. Those were the great things. Can we get back to that? It's just so cool. I love that I get to work with people and see where they were and see where they've come and like have been on the journey with them. Even though that some people are like you or me or like other people don't realize that we're along the journey the whole way and we're like watching or like cheering each other on. But then we're like, I've never met you in person. I know, I know. It's funny.
[00:04:46] Caroline Hull It really is. Well, one thing that I have really connected with, because you recently relaunched your podcast and we've been talking a lot in my world about content and how important content is because the podcasting world has changed. It's not the same. There's not this. If you build it, they will come kind of thing. And so yeah, we've been talking a lot about content and keeping people engaged, and you released a podcast episode about your framework and what a framework was. And I had so many lightbulb moments after listening to your episode that I wanted to bring you on to talk about what a framework is, why it's important and how it can help your content. And so I want to start at the beginning and have you just explain exactly what a framework is and why you need one.
[00:05:42] Heather Crabtree Yeah, so a framework to me is anything, it can be a system, it can be a process, a method. It's your way of doing things in your business. You probably have a framework. It might not be packaged the way we are going to talk about and how you can use it. Once you do package it correctly, but I think you probably have it, especially even if you're newer in business, you probably have a way that you do things that you probably already have a framework without knowing it. It is just a system or a method that you use within your business, usually, you know, with your clients that you can repeat. But sometimes we just don't realize that we have one. So you probably already have. It is the good is the good news.
[00:06:26] Caroline Hull Yeah. And you know, that's so funny you say that because I have known that I've had a work like I've known I have a way of doing things. I have a framework. But I think what was so fascinating to me as someone who's been in business for so long, you know, you kind of get to this point where you're like, Oh, yeah, I know that. Oh yeah, I know that, Oh yeah, I know that. And when I was listening to your episode, what really struck me was, yeah, I had a framework, but I hadn't communicated to anybody that I had a framework. Like I knew my framework, my team knew the framework, but nobody outside of us knew what was going on. And I think that was such a big takeaway for me was that you have to actually like put pen to paper and like write down the framework, wouldn't you say?
[00:07:16] Heather Crabtree Yes. And we're not alone in this. Everyone that I work with, they may have somewhat of a framework, but we restructure it or we really package it up. I say name it and claim it. I've talked to you about before and you were like, Oh, I love that. Yeah, Really? Yes, the people have one, but they don't realize it and you're not utilizing and that way because there's so many things that you can do with it, it really works for you. The reason you need to have one is because it will work for you in multiple ways. So you know how we're always talking about how can we repurpose things and use things over again and again? This is going to be so useful to everything you do in your business.
[00:07:54] Caroline Hull Yeah, because I think it not only clarifies, you know, for other people what your system is or what your process is, but also like super clarified it for me and I was like, Oh yeah, now everything else I can kind of file into the framework that I'm doing and kind of figure out, you know, So we have I have something similar I talk a lot about like a customer journey, and this is something that we work on in podcast strategy a little bit, and it reminded me so much of that almost in a way, because my framework specifically just to give an example, is for like my podcast strategy. So how, you know, we have you go through the framework to figure out all the things about your podcast so it can work for your business. And it's so funny because I was looking at my customer journey and I was going, it's so similar because you have to almost go on a journey through the framework.
[00:08:52] Heather Crabtree Yeah, so it's your customer journey, it's your how you market. It's going to help you with content. It's really going to help in so many ways, but it is the foundation. So a lot of times, you know, we're looking at things in silos, we're looking at them in compartments and with a framework, it really allows you to see your whole business. And you can have multiple frameworks too, right? There's not just one, but the way I like to do them, the way I work with people in my business and my clients is we create one main framework and then everything comes from that.
[00:09:29] Caroline Hull Yeah, I love that. That's a really good idea too. So could you maybe give us an example of what a framework looks like, either using yours or. Yeah, one that you've seen recently. Because I think for me, like hearing you go through your framework was really helpful for me to understand how I could go through mine.
[00:09:49] Heather Crabtree Yeah. So for mine, it's your savvy business growth wheel and I've had different ones. So here's the cool thing about frameworks. They can evolve so you don't have to get it right the first time. If you're just starting and you need to think you're thinking through it, or if you've been in business for a long time and you're restructuring or you need to refine it, it's okay, we can do that. So mine has evolved over the years. Now it is a growth wheel, so it actually spells out the word growth. So we look at the first part, and I'm a growth strategist, so, you know, it all ties in. So the first part is gathering your business goals and desires, because I think until we decide what we want in our life, we can't decide what we want in our business and we can't decide what we want in our business without really seeing the bigger picture. What is the bigger vision? What do you want? So we start there. We start with the G, and then we move in to refine offers. Because usually when people are transitioning in their business or, you know, they're up leveling, we are trying to really align with the clientele. For me, my clients have grown up with me, so I needed to make sure I was allowing them to look at their offers and say, okay, where are what are my offers? We've talked about this because you've went through this transition of like, what are my offers? Yeah. And how does that align with and also what is like what is my podcast. So offers it can be a free offer, quote unquote. So it's going to be anything in your business if it's a training, if it's a podcast, if whatever it is, I want you, we were going to look at how to refine those. So that's the R, and then we go to O, which is optimizing systems and workflows, because again, when I'm working with advanced business owners, usually they've come to a point where their systems and workflows have worked, but as their have grown, they start to break, they start to not work anymore and we have to refine them. And I always like to simplify. I think as we get further along in business, we add so many bells and whistles and it's like, no, just shed. It's like peel back the onion, we need to buy it. Right? So then the W is welcoming in a growth mindset because I think as business owners we think we should have all of everything together and we don't run into any of these mindset things that come up. Imposter syndrome, you know, there's all the things and I think we know that's happening within us, but we don't think it's happening to other people. And what I want to normalize is that it happens with everyone at every level in your business. So I do that with my one on one clients, my members, anybody that I work with. We talk about mindset a lot. And then the key is tailoring your marketing and sales and then H is hiring great team members and that's because of the way that I came up with that was because those are all the things that I help people with and right me not knowing that those are the things that they need help with, especially experienced business owners, they come to me and think, I don't really need help with that. Like why do I need help with all that? I am always stuck helper And then I'm like, but do you?
[00:13:13] Caroline Hull I love that. I love your framework because it's not just knowing how you're going to work with somebody, but like also being able to see myself kind of going through that journey as I'm working with you and like knowing what I'm going to be working on. And I think that's so impactful as service providers to be able to basically give your clients a roadmap and be like, This is the path, this is the journey we're going to go on together. And I really love how yours does that so well.
[00:13:42] Heather Crabtree Thank you. I think the other thing you have to think about is like making sure that your value, your core values align with this. People leave this out sometimes. And so even the words I use like growth and align and refine right in my core values, I really value like versatility and adaptability and the evolution of your business. And so I really incorporate that all into this framework. Like it really is like the mothership of everything you do. Everything comes from that. But it embodies the values, the vision, the mission that you have as well. Those need to be incorporated when you're thinking about it.
[00:14:24] Caroline Hull I love that. Yeah. For me, figuring out the framework, it was something like I had mentioned that I was already doing, but I literally saw it like after every strategy session I do with a client, we create an action plan, and the action plan had like pieces of that, but it wasn't like a fully formed. And so it was so amazing. I just recently had my first strategy session using my new framework and the action plan, and can I say it made my job so much easier because I knew like we literally just went through each thing and I was able to take notes and we were, you know, and create the plan. So it was really it was really cool to see it in action after I had named it and claimed it, as you said.
[00:15:08] Heather Crabtree Wow, I don't need a cool thing like so you want it in. Corporate like really how you work with people. So if you work with them in a linear, a very chronological order, like you have to do this, then you do this, then you do this. Well, we're talking about like visualizing it. You're going to want to visualize it like that, right? But for me, people that I work with, they might be hiring people, they might be refining their offers. They might be really like, I'm stuck in the mindset part or I need to work on systems to mine as a wheel. That's why it's called the growth We all because we can go to the center and then the spokes are whatever you need and we can come in and help you with whatever you need. And that's going to shift like it can shift in a month, right? Like you might be hiring someone now, but then you're like, Oh, this offer isn't working, or I want to change. Your season of life changes, right? That has a big impact on all that. So the mine is a growth wheel because we can go to, like any one of those spokes of the wheel at any time.
[00:16:13] Caroline Hull I love that so much. Did you know that your podcast can be so much more than a hobby? It can be a way for you to attract your ideal client and establish yourself as an authority in your field. But you need a strategy. And that's why we've created the Strategic Podcast Academy, a monthly membership designed to help you build a strategy for your podcast so you can grow your business and get off the content creation hamster wheel. With support from myself and a community of like minded podcasters, you will create a strategic plan for your podcast and start implementing impactful changes. During our time in the monthly membership, we're going to cover topics such as customer path planning, content planning for sales, podcast SEO, creating connection with your listeners, email marketing for your podcast, and so much more. So if you are an online business owner, coach, consultant or service provider, and you're ready to have a podcast that supports your business, then this strategic podcast academy is for you. Head to wildhomepodcasting.com/membership to join today. Okay, So now I want to get to the part that I'm really excited about. So what was a huge realization for me after I had written down my framework was how much this was going to impact the content that I chose for my podcast. I mean everything. I mean, obviously if you've been listening to this podcast, you know that I all my content comes from my podcast. And so in fact today, as we're recording this in real time, I had a strategy meeting with my ops manager to plan out content, what we're doing for Q4, and we were planning content and it was so funny because we actually were using the framework so that was I would love if you would just talk to us a little bit about how the framework that you create for your business or an offer can then inform and help you decide what you're going to be sharing in the world.
[00:18:16] Heather Crabtree Yeah, I mean, I'll use mine as an example again, but for my everything that I create, content that I create is so whether it be my podcast, my trainings, anything, blog posts, whatever, it's coming from this growth wheel. So because this is the stuff that people need to hear, this is the stuff that people need help with. So of course I want to create content around it. So right, my podcast episodes come from the growth wheel. Everything comes from the guest that I have on come from the growth wheel. You know, it all connects my blog post mags. I have a business magazine called Business Minded. All of that is from the growth wheel. So it all for me, it informs every piece of content that I create. It kind of I guess you can think about it when you're creating content as content pillars. It is my content pillars.
[00:19:08] Caroline Hull Yeah, exactly. So, you know, I was thinking of two things as you were talking about that. One is, you know, we have so in the Strategic Podcast Academy, I had a member who she had created basically a framework but didn't even know that it was a framework for a program. And when we were taught, we were actually talking about customer journeys and you were talking about your work framework. Yeah. And she was like, Wait, I think I have a framework. She pulls it up and we were able to come up with so many episode ideas by just looking at her framework. Yeah, in fact, she ended up creating a series, like a mini series from it. And I just, I remember how impactful that was because, you know, she was sitting there thinking, I don't know what to talk about. I don't have a lot of content. And it was right there. Yeah, for framework. And then I think the other thing that's been really helpful for me, so I talk a lot about like needing to talk to your ideal client listener or where they are in their journey. And the way my framework works is that. You can pretty much customize each piece when you're talking about it to wherever somebody is in their journey, right? But what I didn't realize is that sometimes I tend to talk about one piece of my framework way more than any of the others. And so it's been helping me kind of vary, you know, and making sure I'm hitting the other points in pieces so that way my audience can understand, like, I don't just do this thing. I also do these other things that are in the framework. And so I think, you know, that was huge for me as well, was like because once you wrote it down and then you started kind of measuring things against it, it was like very eye opening.
[00:20:50] Heather Crabtree Yeah. And for me, when I'm thinking like for specifically for my podcast, I so what I'm working through now because I just relaunched, is working through like the main parts of the framework, right? So I'm like the bigger parts of the framework. But then the cool thing is you can then like kind of what you were saying, you can use those bigger parts and like, okay, but what do you do underneath that part of your framework? So, right, I'm thinking about refining offers. Okay, what are the sub parts of that? And those can all be podcast episodes as well, right? So there's so much and really it's an integral part of your marketing. So this isn't just a podcast thing. This is, this is like, this is everywhere. I'm here for your business. If you use it properly.
[00:21:38] Caroline Hull I love that so much. You know, it's funny because we spend so much time like creating content pillars and that's in a spreadsheet over here. And then we create our social media schedule and that's in a spreadsheet over here. And this theme that just keeps coming back, which, you know, I talk about all the time, is like using everything together. But I love how this is kind of almost like the glue, right? That is bringing it all together and tying it all together. So I just yeah, I got so excited when you when I listened to your podcast episode, which I've already.
[00:22:09] Heather Crabtree I thought I did because I was I geek out about it and everyone that I work with, we thought we'd work through their framework. But I think it's something that people like when I start talking about it, they're like, Oh my gosh, I just take it for granted because that's the way my brain works, that that's how everyone thinks about it. And I was like, Oh, when you said, Oh my gosh, this is so helpful, I was like, Oh, yay. Okay.
[00:22:33] Caroline Hull I know, I know. And now I'm like, I'm like, Oh, I need to put a framework here and I need to build a framework here. You know, I'm thinking about, well, you know, and well, inside scoop, it's been so interesting because I am in this like, transition in my business right now where we're kind of switching up our offerings and and really trying to hone our messaging to really explain what we do and how we help people. Not only, you know, was the framework huge for that. But this in doing the framework and working, I was also like, you know, I need to like really, really refine how I describe the people that I work with. And so it's I love like whenever you're working on podcast strategy or business strategy pieces like this, it's amazing to me how much it informs everything else you're doing and starts to make everything so clear. And yeah, so that's why I just I loved this idea of like, like you said, naming it and claiming it because it just made everything so clear.
[00:23:37] Heather Crabtree Yeah. And I think that you can use it, right? You're going to use it internally to with your clients or your members, Right. That's so you can create this visual, which you should be sharing, which will get to like that's the third part of it. So you're going to share it internally with your clients and members. You're also going to use it to guide your team, right? Because everyone that's on your team will understand the different parts of the framework and then what do we need in order to make sure we're touching on all those parts and that we're explaining them properly and all that kind of stuff. But then also, and this is the key part where people are not utilizing it properly. It is a marketing tool.
[00:24:22] Caroline Hull Right?
[00:24:22] Heather Crabtree Use it to show how you work with clients and members and what your process is. And if you have a great visual, then it's easier to show them how you do it. So I say, put it on your website. You want to talk about it on your podcast, You want to put it in a work like just share as much as you can. I think a good thing is to share if you're trying to get across to people how you work with people like in a either a blog post or let's say it's an Instagram post, right? Sharing that visual, I share that visual of my growth wheel a lot within like carousels, even if it's not exactly we're talking about like the main framework, but we're talking about pieces of it. And then I refer back to it and say in my framework when we talk about it. So again, it's it's kind of that thing where, you know, you have to see it so many times. It used to be seven. It's like 500 million now, but.
[00:25:18] Caroline Hull Right. Yeah, Yeah.
[00:25:21] Heather Crabtree But, you know, it allows people to recognize it as your way and that's where the name and claim it come in because it's really naming that because the naming of it matters because it informs people of like what it is quickly. They're, they're like, okay, this is what it is. And then this is how it works. However, that is in a line and this is where you can get creative with it, right? So like if you talk about ebb and flow, I can see like water visualizations, you know, like it's the winner. If it is something that's circular, you know, have a circle. If it is linear, have a line. Like people just need to they need all of these different things of your senses, right? And if you can talk about it in different, if you can actually, you know, like speak about it, if you can visualize it, if you can make people like feel it, think about the senses and how you can represent it in different ways. That is a marketing tool. And so use it in everything.
[00:26:19] Caroline Hull And I love that because not only like you said, is it showing people how you work, but it's also setting you apart from other people. And it's like giving you like this unique piece that only you have, you know, and that I feel like that would create some buy in for people because they know that you have a method and you have a system. And I want to do that. You know, I want that.
[00:26:43] Heather Crabtree Instead of being in a sea of podcast strategists or people that help with podcast management, you are now the and then what you know, obviously you're known for strategic podcasting, but but it also really sets you apart and whatever that is, whatever your framework is, because you're able to talk about what you do and actually show people what you do instead of just talking about it. And so that's the other thing. You can then take it even further and go, you know, when you're when you're getting testimonials, you can share testimonials to that specific part of your framework. It just it works for everything. It really does. If you come up with a great framework and you take the time to do it right, it will work for every aspect of your business.
[00:27:29] Caroline Hull Oh my gosh, I love it. I need to work on that. I'm still working on the naming thing, which, you know, I'm not going to spill all the beans on the podcast, but there are some names that may be changing. And so I'm kind of like, okay, I'm going to I'm going to rename that one as well. So I'm really excited to find that.
[00:27:46] Heather Crabtree Like I really name it. I really think you should do strategic podcast something because I think, right, that's what you're all about. Strategic podcasting. I think you might be, you might be broadening out. I'm not sure we have spoken about that. But if it's if that's different, it's different because not everyone is talking about podcasting in a strategic way. They're just talking about how you can podcast it, right, the volume of it, right. You're not about that. You are about strategic podcasting and specifically for your business.
[00:28:16] Caroline Hull So yeah, I love it. Oh my gosh. So Heather, now that everybody has listened to us talk about framework, they're definitely going to be wanting to follow you and hear more. I'm going to link to her podcast episode in the show notes, which I've already done for a couple of episodes that have a line. So yeah, but definitely go listen to it if you're like, okay, I want to learn more. You dive a lot deeper into your framework and how you chose each piece of it, which I really love, and it was super valuable. So definitely go listen to that. But if people want to work with you or follow you, where should they go?
[00:28:50] Heather Crabtree Yeah, it's easy. HeatherCrabtree.com. Everything you can find there. I'm actually coming out with an audio training and a workbook for this specific thing, how to create your framework so level amounts. And also you can find me on Instagram at heatherbusinesscoach.
[00:29:06] Caroline Hull We will make sure all those links are in the show notes for you to find and definitely go follow Heather and subscribe to her podcast.
[00:29:14] Heather Crabtree Thank you.
[00:29:15] Caroline Hull Thank you. Oh, wasn't that episode so great? I loved this conversation so much because this is such a subject that I am passionate about and I just know how much it's helped me. And so I'm just so grateful to Heather for coming on the show and sharing all of her knowledge. And if you're like, wondering if you have a framework or if you want to build out a framework, I highly recommend following Heather on Instagram and going and signing up for her training. I just think what she teaches around this is so, so valuable in so many ways. And so if it's something that you're even thinking about, please go talk to her. She's amazing. And I hope you have a wonderful week. A wonderful weekend. Thank you so much for listening to Share, Strategize and Shine. And I will be back soon with a new episode. Thank you so much for listening to Share, Strategize and Shine. To give your own podcast some shine, download my free podcast content by heading to the link in the show notes. Be sure to leave a review and connect with me on Instagram for more podcast strategy insights. Until next week.
