September 7, 2023 • 41 mins
Prepare to be inspired as we sit down with the dynamic Lindy Nowak, founder and CEO of Up in a Day, a game-changing turnkey website product. Lindy unravels her journey, highlighting the importance of leadership, team dynamics, and the power of maintaining a stress-free environment in the pursuit of high-quality results. It's a deep dive into how a leader can empower a creative team under pressure while keeping a firm eye on quality.
As we journey through the world of AI and SaaS products with Lindy, get ready to gain insights into the vital role of streamlining business processes. We candidly discuss the highs and lows of being an entrepreneur, shedding light on the reality of business growth. We'll get you thinking about how many products you use in your business, and whether there's room to streamline for greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Then, we shine a spotlight on the fundamental pillars of business growth and website optimization. Lindy shares precious nuggets on identifying profitable markets, setting clear objectives, and the common pitfalls business owners face with their websites. And, as a bonus, Lindy even offers some glimpses into the future of the website agency services industry, including the prospect of AI-built websites. So join us for this enlightening conversation, where we explore not just the importance of a professional website for businesses, but also how Up in a Day is helping small businesses and entrepreneurs establish the online presence they need to thrive.
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Catalytic Leadership, the podcast designed
to help leaders intentionallygrow and thrive.
Here is your host author andleadership and executive coach,
dr William Attaway.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hey, it's William and welcome to today's episode of
the Catalytic Leadership podcast.
Each week, we tackle a topicrelated to the field of
leadership.
My goal is to ensure that youhave actionable steps you can
take from each episode to growin your own leadership.
Growth doesn't just happen.
My goal is to help you becomeintentional about it.
(00:37):
Each week, we spotlight leadersfrom a variety of fields,
organizations and locations.
My goal is for you to see thatleaders can be catalytic, no
matter where they are or whatthey lead.
I draw inspiration from thestories and journeys of these
leaders, and I hear from many ofyou that you do too.
(00:57):
Let's jump in to today'sinterview.
It is such an honor today tohave Lindy Nowak on the podcast.
Lindy has spent over 15 yearsas a creative director in New
York City, working for multiplebrands, including LaRielle, bon
Appetit, entertainment Weeklyand Women's Health magazines.
Today, she's the founder andCEO of Up in a Day, a turnkey
(01:19):
website product that helps CPAs,mortgage brokers, restaurant
owners, therapists and techstartups get a great website up
and running quickly, on budgetand with very little effort from
them.
I can't wait to hear more aboutthis.
Lindy, thank you for being onthe show.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Lindy, I would love for you to share some of your
story with our listeners,particularly around your journey
and your development as aleader.
How did you get started?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Well, when I, I would say, graduated from corporate
and decided to go off on my ownas an entrepreneur, I started up
in a day with a well-roundedpast, if you will an experience
of being a manager, leader ofsmall teams, large teams, of
(02:10):
course that is on the brand sideand then extended into
publishing, which is where Ileft my career in corporate at
Women's Health Magazine.
When I started up in a day, oneof the values that I wrote down
was the management value,that's, the internal values for
(02:35):
our company.
That is, to always have fun andalways be open and
communicative.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Always have fun.
I love that.
That's not something that youoften hear in the
entrepreneurial space, maybeanecdotally, maybe
aspirationally, but is thatreally a core value for you?
Speaker 3 (02:58):
It is.
The reason why is because mystaff, my designers they're all
creatives.
We design all a lot of websites.
A lot of people come in thedoor and leave.
Therefore, there is a certainamount of pressure, if you will,
in order to turn these websitesaround in time, With the
(03:19):
processes and the systems thatwe have in place in order to do
that.
Part of that and part of thatmanagement style and leadership
style is really ensuring thatthe designers are stress-free,
that they're enjoying whatthey're doing, that they're
(03:41):
being well taken care of,because what happens with
creatives?
If they're stressed, if they'reupset, if they're not inspired,
then the execution is comingout through the websites.
That's what we're providing toour clients.
That suffers.
It's really important on thecore level to make sure that the
staff is very happy.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
I love that.
From your perspective, nowcoming out of corporate and now
being the leader of this team,how would you define leadership?
Speaker 3 (04:14):
I would define it as a value in which there is a
level of trust and communicationbetween the teams.
I like to be a very open book.
I like to be very open with myteam, whichever level, whichever
department that we're workingwith.
(04:34):
With that being said, I alsofeel like leadership is a place
of inspiration.
It's where, as a leader, as theowner of this company, I
probably don't want to be hereforever.
I want to keep my staff as longas possible and build the
(04:58):
relationships, build theirskills, help them to become
better at what they do so thatthey can move up and possibly
become my number two or maybe,in fact, become number one.
Hiring staff can be veryexpensive.
The time cost associated withthat is obviously extensive.
Hiring well is really important.
(05:22):
When you're hiring well, youalso have to be a very strong
leader, I believe.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Absolutely 100%.
I want to talk about up in aday.
Why did you start up in a day?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
That's a great question and thank you for
asking.
When I left corporate, Idecided to go off on my own.
As I mentioned earlier, when Istarted, I had this small
digital marketing agency calledLina Creative.
We did a lot of 360 branding,if you will a lot of digital
marketing, a lot of brandpresence, a lot of messaging.
(05:58):
I also come from an extensivemarketing background.
What was happening was we weregetting a ton of referrals of
small business ownerssolopreneurs, people pivoting in
their business, starting newbusinesses, seasoned business
owners, one to five person shopsthat were coming to us
(06:20):
desperate for help with theirwebsite.
They needed it yesterday.
Of course, small businesses,they're tech startups, so
they're on a budget, a tightbudget.
We just did not have it in ourprocesses and our margins to
help these people.
Along with that, I have alwaysdreamt of creating a
(06:43):
product-sized service, somethingthat's new to the market.
One day, I was watching awebinar and they were talking
about productizing your services.
I was listening.
I was like sat back and I'mlike, okay, the juices are
flowing, the gears are startingto warm up.
The host asked what is the onething you love doing, can you do
(07:07):
it well and can you make moneyfrom that I started thinking
well, we do a lot of very bigwebsites Shopify, score, space
very complex sites.
We can actually do them reallyfast and we do them really well.
We make a lot of businessesvery profitable and very happy.
Well, there it is.
(07:27):
We can actually do these in aday.
The simpler websites there itis, lo and behold, up in a day
was born Literally.
The name came at that same time.
We can build websites reallyquickly.
Actually, we can build websitesin a day.
Wait, up in a day.
That's how it started.
It was so exciting because allof a sudden I woke up the next
(07:50):
morning and I'm like, oh, wow,this is good, let's get going.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
I love that epiphany moment.
That's so brilliant.
When we talked earlier, yousaid one of the challenges that
you saw in the market was thatpeople were complaining that it
was taking months and months toget a website up and running.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yes, I saw a huge gap in the market for that, because
a lot of the people that werecoming to us then and 90% of the
clients that come to us todayhave gotten burned in the past
from one reason or another.
Their developer disappeared.
They paid $10,000 for athree-paid website that's not
showing up on Google or they're.
(08:31):
We hear this a lot.
I designed my own website, ormy son designed my website and
I'm stuck, or even if it's arelative designing your website
and the relationship that gets alittle hairy when you're trying
to give feedback and thenthey're dragging their feed and
then it doesn't get done.
The gap in the market was turnaround time, costs and
(08:58):
satisfaction.
Those three pillars are what Isolved with the up-in-a-day
model.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
You talk about the importance of developing
strategies that work withoutinvesting your time.
I would love to talk a littlebit about that, because I think
a lot of people are interestedin strategies that work.
Every business owner, everyentrepreneur, they're all about
that but so many of them arejust tondrains.
What do you mean by what you'redescribing?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
When I talk about strategy and in relation to time
, what I mean by that is whenyou have a good idea, the first
thing you think of is like, ohmy gosh, this is the best idea,
everybody's going to love it,they're all going to come
flooding in the door.
Of course, that didn't happen.
You always wish With thestrategy.
(09:48):
It's really realizing that whenyou start a company, it's
important to walk before you run.
I'm not saying I did thatbecause I learned the hard way.
The strategies I developed inorder to save my time were based
off of timeframes.
(10:10):
Within those by weeks.
Actually, let me trickle downyear, quarter, week.
What am I tackling that week?
What am I tackling that quarter?
Am I meeting those goals?
Then, of course, the year end.
Then you break that down further.
Then you're working on thebusiness model.
(10:30):
You're working on the systemsand processes a little bit each
day, hitting those little minipillars and spending the time
and figuring out is thisexecutional, can I actually get
this done today?
Can I actually get this donethis week?
And just going slow and reallythinking about your next steps
(10:51):
strategically.
I know I'm going backwards andsaying oh yeah, but there's not
much time.
You do end up, saving a lot oftime, even though it's taking
you time and you're walkingbefore you're running.
You are actually cutting downon hours and hours of stress,
hours of work, hours sittingbehind the computer emailing,
(11:14):
because you have everything inbullet points, your to-do list,
if you will, right in front ofyou, your goals to hit.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Linda, that's so good .
I think that's so intentional.
I think this is a piece that somany business owners, so many
agency owners and entrepreneursreally miss.
They start trying to run.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I did.
I had a really good businesscoach that taught me all of this
.
By the way, I'm happy to shareeverything that I did.
One of the texts that I had tofinish when I came up with the
idea of up in a day was how arewe going to get these done?
(11:55):
How do we scale the way I didthat?
I said, okay, what is my bighairy goal?
I believe that's from the bookTraction.
Right, I read it US Traction,all of the above.
I read them.
I was a little too small for alot of their principles, but I
still adopted them, ready to gofor the future.
(12:15):
Absolutely yeah.
The big hairy goal was an Xmillion by year five or year 10
or whatever their number was.
The number has since changedbecause your business evolves.
Then you work backwards fromthere and you start hitting
benchmarks.
How do you hit those benchmarks?
(12:37):
Well, you start creating thebusiness model.
How do you create the businessmodel?
You create processes.
What is the process to get allof these websites done?
What is the systems in place inorder to do that?
Do you automate?
Do you keep people behind thebusiness for behind all of the
systems and processes for alittle while, just to see if
it's working, Get the machinechurning.
(12:59):
Then, once that's in place,then you keep working forward.
I remember after I startedworking on the processes, I got
a little discombobulated aboutwait, what are we doing?
I had to take a step back and Iopened a notebook and I wrote
our values.
The values really are ourpillars still today.
(13:22):
This is actually pretty cool.
The business coach I wasworking with at the time had me
do.
I came to him with my threevalues.
He said well, who are thesevalues for?
I said well, I guess foreveryone.
That's how we operate.
He said well, I want you tothink about your true values.
(13:45):
What are your internal companyvalues?
What are those?
What are your values for yourcustomers?
Then, most importantly, whatare the values for operating,
which is personal values, tooperate the company and to make
sure it's going in the directionto that big, hairy goal,
(14:08):
without spinning out of control,without hiring too fast, with
just coming back thinking, okay,am I on track?
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, I love the fact that you put these systems in
place and the systems are tiedto your values.
I tell clients all the time youwill rise or you will fall to
the level of your systems.
I think Ed Deming was spot on.
You don't like the resultsyou're currently getting.
You can't keep doing whatyou're doing.
You have to do it differently,and systems are how you make
(14:37):
sure that you're doing itconsistently and repeatedly.
That's the key.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
That is definitely the key.
I mean, I feel like we workwith a lot of coaches and
consultants as well, and I feellike systems is such a keyword
right now.
It's very popular and a lot ofpeople feel overwhelmed when
they hear systems.
Well, what do you mean bysystems?
Systems could mean anything, sofor us, systems as a service
(15:06):
provider with a term, keyservice product, if you will
systems are mechanisms in whichallow us to provide really great
customer service and automateour onboarding process all the
(15:28):
way to execution anddeliverables to the customer and
how seamless that needs to be.
And that's another keyword thatI love right now is strategy
Strategies, too, systems andseamlessness.
For us, it's an efficiencies,and right now there are.
We're talking about AI.
(15:48):
I'm not gonna go down thatrabbit hole, but now we have AI
and we have all of these SaaSproducts, and I was talking to
my business coach today and wewere talking about that big,
hairy goal again and I said onething I'm starting to see is
that we're really need to honedown on all of these SaaS
(16:11):
products that we have, becauseour systems are getting out of
control right, if we want all ofour systems to talk to one
another and you wanna have aslittle as possible.
So let's say you have yoursauna, your Calendly, right, and
then whatever else, your CRM.
Do they talk to each other?
(16:31):
How much are you spending amonth on this stuff?
That's huge.
You start looking at yourbusiness credit card on a
monthly basis and you're like,oh my gosh, $30 here and $90
there and it's like, wow, all ofa sudden you're spending
$30,000 a month on all of theseSaaS products.
Let's take a step back and seecan we reduce this to be better,
(16:53):
to be more efficient and to bemore cost effective.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
So good, so practical , and something every
entrepreneur that I've talked todeals with.
Like you sign up for this, yousign up for this, you sign up
for this, and they all productsthat you use mostly, but do they
integrate?
Is it a simple system that issimple for your employees, for
your team?
Is it simple for your clientsto use?
(17:16):
Is it accomplishing the goal,your big, hairy, audacious goal?
There's your question, right?
I love that you're so honest andtransparent about the struggles
as well as the successes.
I think that's so helpful andfor people who are listening,
who are entrepreneurs or agencyowners or leaders who have
started something, it's so easyto just see the highlight reel
(17:38):
online.
It's so easy to just see thehighlight reel.
And yes, I climbed 14 mountainsin the last three days.
Okay, really, like, is thatpossible?
I just keep winning, all I dois win, and they don't see the
struggles.
And so far, you have been sohonest about your struggles.
I'm just curious is thereanything else that you would say
(17:58):
?
Hey, I've really struggled withthis, you know, particularly at
the beginning or as you werebeginning to grow?
Speaker 3 (18:06):
I would say one of the struggles I had and I said
this earlier was that when Istarted up in Indiana and I had
the first round of processes andsystems in place and the people
that I believed that what weoffered was so needed that
(18:28):
everybody was gonna starttalking about it and flood the
doors, and the first month thatdid happen by way of just
organic marketing, but then itreally just like trickled and
died off.
And then I wouldn't say I madeany mistakes, but I had to.
You know, I dabbled in NPR ads,I dabbled in some Google ads.
(18:52):
I can't believe.
I just said that yeah, and Icome from a digital marketing
background, so I should knowbetter.
But and then I really startedgetting the stress.
I wasn't sleeping at night.
I couldn't figure out how toget sales in the door.
I couldn't figure out.
(19:13):
Ours is like a huge brandawareness play right.
So how do we get out there?
And I had this vision like Iknow I can see us on billboards,
but we just weren't there yet.
You have to have your product,a ton of product, under your
belt service.
I mean, I'm not sure if you cansee it, but I'm not sure you
have to have your belt service,whatever it is, clients you have
(19:37):
to have, you have to haveexperience.
You have to prove that theproduct is working and the
product works.
If your system's working, thepeople are happy.
Also, is the price work.
It's the price right for themarket, your market, who is your
market?
Well, when you start a newservice and it could kind of go
(20:00):
to anybody then where do youchoose that?
My suggestion is and this iswhat we did and I'm very happy
we went this route is justchoose one or two niches that
sound great, that sound fun towork with, with deep pockets.
And so we did that.
We went after those two markets.
(20:22):
They brought us a lot of sales,a lot of websites under our
belt and the business startedevolving and it was so fun and
the process is starting evolving.
And Then we started justmarketing towards other types of
industries and it took a longtime.
(20:46):
So, going back to where Istruggled personally was that
running before I walked.
But it took a lot of businesscoaching therapy to get me to a
point where I was like, okay,just pillars.
That's when I started thoseweekly benchmarks.
That went into quarters and Ihad a piece of paper with three
(21:08):
column or four columns sorryquarter.
One, two, three, four, and thenit was broken down by week and
in each week I had the one ortwo pillars that I had goals I
had to meet.
And then it keeps your brainsane, or at least for me.
I'm a checklist kind of personand I like to write things down.
I feel funny.
We're on computers all day long, especially me, yeah right.
(21:30):
And I have papers galore.
All of my coaching papers arein a notebook, a three ring
binder.
That's awesome.
And the other thing I wanted toshare I just realized today is
when I started coaching.
(21:50):
I got a business coach when Ifirst started the business, so
that was, oh my goodness, threeand a half, four years ago.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
And two weeks ago, for some reason, I just felt
like I needed to go back to allof those coaching papers.
So when I go to my coachingsessions I write down what I
want to talk about and thenevery single thing that he is
helping me with and all thesolutions and ideas, and I
started going back to thosereally early on coaching session
(22:23):
pages and all of the thingsthat had forgotten that I would
be ready for three years later.
We're there, wow.
So now I'm getting all of thoseideas back and I'm like we can
do this now.
Now we're ready for growth.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I love that.
How intentional is that?
To go back and review and findoh, I tell clients all the time
there's no such thing as awasted experience.
You may not be ready for it yet, but it will help you, it will
benefit you or it will benefitpeople around you.
See every experience for whatit is something that's either
(23:04):
going to help you or somebodyelse.
I love that.
I love the intentionality ofthat.
What are some of the biggestproblems?
You talk to a lot of smallbusiness owners.
What are some of the mainproblems that you see small
business owners having today?
Speaker 3 (23:19):
The top three with their websites or just in their
business in general?
Sure, With their websites, OK.
Well, of course, we're talkingwebsites here, right?
The first one is that theyaren't getting any inbound
traffic.
That's number one.
Number two they have too muchor too little content on their
(23:42):
website.
Number three they're not quitesure if their messaging is
speaking to their targetaudience, their ideal client,
mostly because they're notgetting traffic to their website
.
And so what we do is we do adeep dive, we look into their
(24:02):
site and messaging and try tohelp them.
That way, when we're buildingour websites for these small
business owners, we take a stepback and we really get to know
their business inside and out.
Where they want to be in sixmonths, a year, five years?
Who do they work with now?
(24:22):
Is their business evolving?
Are they going to do they wantto work with other people?
Are their services going tochange in a year's time or even,
like two months time?
A lot of coaches we talk to willhave services that they're
working on at that time but justnot ready to launch, and then
we build the websitespecifically for that, so that
(24:43):
the website has longevity A lotof the other thing that we see
with business owners that I talkto is that they have old
websites and they don't know whoto talk to, where to turn to
get a redesign, because thereare millions of website agencies
(25:05):
out there and you already havelike cold feet so you're not
quite sure.
So you just kind of put it onthe back burner and go work on
something else right Businessowners.
They don't want to pay attentionto their website mostly, for
the most part, I should say theyknow it has issues and could
use improvement, but it's adaunting task to get in there
(25:29):
and try to figure out why, andmost of it we're so stuck in our
own heads with our business andthe day to day and what needs
to get done.
When we look at our own websiteit's just like we cannot even
comprehend what we're looking athere because we're just like so
in it.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Well, it's very difficult to see the whole
picture when you're in the frame.
Yes, that's where you needsomebody from the outside who
can look at it objectively andevaluate it and help you see
what you simply cannot see.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Yeah, that's right, that's exactly true.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
So what industries do you serve?
Websites in a day to.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
Tech, startups, consultants and coaches,
restaurants, finance, so CPAs,bookkeepers, people that need a
high impact online presence.
Website is confirmation right.
People are most likely comingto their website from a referral
(26:30):
source, whether it's a personor place, and they're checking
them out.
They're shopping online.
They're doing some comparisonshopping.
They're looking to see if yousolve their problems.
Where are you located, how muchdoes it cost, what's the
engagement look like, what isthe value that you provide?
And they're making a decisionfrom there.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
I like that.
It's a confirmation.
I like that thinking because ifI go to somebody's website from
checking, and I go to theirwebsite and it's so obviously
out of date, so obviouslynobody's touched it in a while,
that says something.
Or if I go to it and it doesn'thave a professional look to it,
(27:13):
that says something.
Better for worse or indifferentthey may be fantastic at what
they do, but it communicatessomething.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Exactly.
I mean, if you got on adentist's website and it was old
, old and clunky like super 1999, I mean, would you call them?
I wouldn't, I don't want themtouching my teeth.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
No, no, no, no, no.
Where do you see the websiteagency service industry going
from here?
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Hopefully where I'm going, fast, speedy quality.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Love that.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
I feel like now, in today's modern website building
world, you can build websitesthrough website platforms, and
there are a lot of them outthere.
We specifically use Squarespacebecause at the end of the
build-out it's like okay, now Ihave this great website, how do
I update it?
So that platform in general ispretty easy to make updates to
(28:16):
on one's own.
I feel like right now I don'thave a great answer for that
because AI is moving so fast andthere are a lot of products out
there that will promise youwhatever they do in automation,
(28:37):
but they're not quite there yet,but it is happening fast.
So I'm not saying websitebuilders and AI or anything or
maybe there are a couple tryingbut if that does happen and
products come out there thatpromise to build a website with
whatever you tell them to dowith a prompt, the truth of the
(29:01):
matter is you need somebody whounderstands your business to
really and marketing and designto execute your marketing tool
in which people convert on,which right now, ai can't do
that, and having the rightpeople behind the website, just
(29:22):
so that you're not turningaround and spending another
$10,000 in six months to getanother website, is really
important, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Particularly for small businesses and
entrepreneurs who arebootstrapping.
They can't just keep cyclingthrough again and again hoping
that well, eventually I'll findgold.
They have to thinkintentionally and be strategic
about this.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
I know and you don't know.
Until you know, you don't knowwhat you don't know.
A lot of people we talk to arecoming to us saying I've
redesigned this thing six timesand then I really, really want
to work with you.
How much does it cost?
We tell them, and they justdon't have it in their budget at
that point, yeah, we try to.
(30:09):
I don't know.
It's a struggle for sure, nodoubt.
That's why we're here andthat's why I started up in a day
to truly and that's what I'msaying as a brand awareness play
because we're truly here tohelp small businesses get really
great online presences thattheir businesses deserve,
(30:30):
because there's no reason whyyou have to wait months to get a
website anymore.
It's just the economy moves toofast, the markets move too fast
, business moves too fast and weare here to hopefully provide
their online solution.
It's not for everybody.
Of course, some people needcomplex websites, but there are
(30:54):
a lot of people that just neednice and simple websites too,
just to be there and present.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
What are some necessities that you think
people need to have on theirwebsites?
Think in entrepreneurs, thinkin small business owners.
What are things that absolutelyhave to have this?
Speaker 3 (31:10):
I think you have to have clear call to actions,
meaning the buttons on yourwebsite and in strategic places
and as high as possible, so thatif it is a referral and they're
coming to your website and theyread that headline and tagline
on your homepage and they'relike this looks good.
I mean, that's like me.
(31:31):
I want to.
Let's just book a call.
One call to action message.
So instead of let's talk andthen another button says book a
call and another button sayscontact, that's confusing and
people are going to bounce.
So just having that reallyclear, just like for
(31:55):
kindergartners, literallybecause people like to be told
what to do on websites.
I know that sounds a littlesilly, but next time you're on a
website and you're scrollingaround and you're looking for a
service, just tell me what youdo and how do I get it.
How do I get it?
Now?
We do a lot of website reviewsand one of the things I always
say is when I'm talking tomyself in the loom video is and
(32:17):
I'm scrolling through theclient's website, I'm like look,
I was like here's the thing inmodern day and age, the way
people scroll through websites.
They don't read them like books, they're skimming and they're
going fast.
They're on social media all day.
They're on LinkedIn and they'reon Instagram.
And what are they looking forwhen they're going so fast?
They're looking for thosekeywords, those key phrases and
(32:38):
those images that they relate to, that solve their problem, that
make them stop.
So what needs to be next tothat?
The call to action.
I need it now.
How do I get it?
Speaker 2 (32:49):
That's so good, Lenny , how did you stay on top of
your game?
How do you level up with newleadership skills?
Because obviously this is agoal for you and you're
constantly having to lead at adifferent level because things
are growing and you're findingnew levels that you need to lead
at.
How do you do that?
Speaker 3 (33:11):
I read a lot of books .
I skim a lot of books as well.
I read a lot of old sales andleadership books just to see
what used to be practice, andthen I move into what new
(33:32):
publications help you with as aleader.
I would say it's also built intoour systems.
It's something that I used todo also.
I have back when I was incorporate and I had, when I was
(33:53):
managing teams just being theirkind of friend the communication
, having once a week meetingswith them.
Even if I am so busy, I makesure that I'm speaking to
everybody on my team and whenI'm speaking to them, I'm very
(34:16):
clear that they can be verytransparent with me, because it
goes back to your staffsatisfaction.
Are they happy?
Are they enjoying this?
What can we do better?
Ask them their feedback.
That's huge for me.
What can we do to make yourlife easier, your work easier?
I don't have a huge team, but Idon't have a small team either,
(34:39):
so it's really easy for me tobe able to do that.
I'm sure it's very difficultfor people who have larger
businesses, of course, but ifthey have a number two that can
do that, I just started usingassembly and that records all of
my staff meetings so I can goback and look at the notes.
It's really cool.
(34:59):
It's a SaaS product.
But, it transcribes your Zoomcall.
Or whatever you're using andthen what it does is it will
basically using AI.
It outlines what you talkedabout in a clear, concise way
and then it bullet points tasksthat you need to do.
It is amazing and that reallyis so busy.
(35:23):
It just keeps me having to goback and listen to a whole
meeting, or it keeps me frommaking notes on my computer or
on a piece of paper.
It's all right there and then Ican go back and do whatever I
need to do for that designer orcopywriter.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
That is really good.
I was next for you, like wheredo you want to go from here?
Where do you want to see yourbusiness, your company, go from
here?
Speaker 3 (35:52):
We are going to start offering new services.
So there'll be services I'm notgoing to give it away.
There'll be services that tiein with the website for those
who need it.
So extending the offeringbeyond the website.
I do some consulting on theside and I help business owners
(36:15):
kind of get where they need tobe once they have their website
up.
Like, how do I, now that I havethis great website, how do I
now, what do I do?
How do I get in front of theright audience?
Well, how do I use this website?
So part of what I'm learningfrom those consulting sessions
is what they need.
They need more than the website.
So we're working on what thatlooks like for the next phase
(36:38):
probably Q1.
2024 of up in a day.
So it's very exciting.
And, yeah, just continue growth, keep reaching those benchmarks
and keep walking.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Love it If you could go back and talk to yourself
when you were 22,.
Knowing what you know now, whatwould you love to tell yourself
?
Speaker 3 (37:02):
When I was that age, I was a graphic designer and I
set a desk and I was told what Ineeded to design for that
company every single day.
And if I could go back and tellthat self, where I am now is
that you are going to be in aplace you're going to be okay,
(37:23):
You're going to be, you're goingto have freedom freedom with
money, time but most of all,you're going to make, you're
going to impact a lot ofpeople's lives in a really
positive way, doing what youlove.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
I love that you said you read a lot.
Is there a book that stands outthat you would recommend that
everybody listening put on thereto read list?
Speaker 3 (37:51):
The first book I read impacted my entire journey, and
that is EOS by Gina WickmanExcellent.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
And you think everybody should, everybody
would benefit from this.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
I think so.
He focuses on small businesses,number one, and teaches you how
to separate yourself from thebusiness and find methods over
time to work on the business asopposed to in the business.
How to find the right people,how to train them, how do you
(38:27):
get there?
How do you set yourself up forgrowth?
And one of the, I guess, ideasthat he kind of goes in and out
of is like setting your businessup for a franchise, and that's
the systems and processes thathe drilled in my head that I
needed to do, because when Istarted up in a day I said, well
, I'm not going to do this forthe rest of my life.
Eventually I want to sell thisthing, so how do you sell it?
(38:49):
So that was really impactfuland that helped to set the
benchmarks that I have in place.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
I'm not familiar with this book.
I'll have to check it out.
Speaker 3 (39:01):
That's very good.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Linnie, I know people are going to want to stay
connected with you and continueto learn from you.
What is the best way for themto do that?
Speaker 3 (39:10):
You can find me on LinkedIn it's LinkedIn,
obviously, and then the handleis lindi-nowak and you can also
follow up in a day.
And you can find us on ourwebsite, which is upinadayco,
got it.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Well, I'm looking forward to checking that out and
I know a lot of our listenersare going to as well To be.
Thank you for your time and theinsights that you've shared
today.
This has been so helpful, Iknow, not just for me, but for
everybody listening.
Speaker 3 (39:41):
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Thanks for joining me for this episode today.
As we wrap up, I'd love for youto do two things.
First, subscribe to thispodcast so you don't miss an
episode, and if you find valuehere, I'd love it if you would
rate it and review it.
That really does make adifference in helping other
people to discover this podcast.
Second, if you don't have acopy of my newest book,
(40:08):
catalytic Leadership, I'd loveto put a copy in your hands.
If you go tocatalyticleadershipbookcom, you
can get a copy for free.
Just pay the shipping so I canget it to you and we'll get one
right out.
My goal is to put this into thehands of as many leaders as
possible.
This book captures principlesthat I've learned in 20 plus
(40:29):
years of coaching leaders in theentrepreneurial space, in
business, government, nonprofits, education and the local church
.
You can also connect with me onLinkedIn to keep up with what
I'm currently learning andthinking about.
If you're ready to take a nextstep with a coach to help you
intentionally grow and thrive asa leader, I'd be honored to
(40:52):
help you.
Just go tocatalyticleadershipnet to book a
call with me.
Stay tuned for our next episodenext week.
Until then, as always, leaderschoose to be catalytic.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
Thanks for listening to Catalytic Leadership with Dr
William Attaway.
Be sure to subscribe whereveryou listen to podcasts so you
don't miss the next episode.
Want more?
Go to catalyticleadershipnet.
Welcome to Catalytic Leadership, the podcast designed
to help leaders intentionallygrow and thrive.
Here is your host author andleadership and executive coach,
dr William Attaway.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hey, it's William and welcome to today's episode of
the Catalytic Leadership podcast.
Each week, we tackle a topicrelated to the field of
leadership.
My goal is to ensure that youhave actionable steps you can
take from each episode to growin your own leadership.
Growth doesn't just happen.
My goal is to help you becomeintentional about it.
(00:37):
Each week, we spotlight leadersfrom a variety of fields,
organizations and locations.
My goal is for you to see thatleaders can be catalytic, no
matter where they are or whatthey lead.
I draw inspiration from thestories and journeys of these
leaders, and I hear from many ofyou that you do too.
(00:57):
Let's jump in to today'sinterview.
It is such an honor today tohave Lindy Nowak on the podcast.
Lindy has spent over 15 yearsas a creative director in New
York City, working for multiplebrands, including LaRielle, bon
Appetit, entertainment Weeklyand Women's Health magazines.
Today, she's the founder andCEO of Up in a Day, a turnkey
(01:19):
website product that helps CPAs,mortgage brokers, restaurant
owners, therapists and techstartups get a great website up
and running quickly, on budgetand with very little effort from
them.
I can't wait to hear more aboutthis.
Lindy, thank you for being onthe show.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Lindy, I would love for you to share some of your
story with our listeners,particularly around your journey
and your development as aleader.
How did you get started?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Well, when I, I would say, graduated from corporate
and decided to go off on my ownas an entrepreneur, I started up
in a day with a well-roundedpast, if you will an experience
of being a manager, leader ofsmall teams, large teams, of
(02:10):
course that is on the brand sideand then extended into
publishing, which is where Ileft my career in corporate at
Women's Health Magazine.
When I started up in a day, oneof the values that I wrote down
was the management value,that's, the internal values for
(02:35):
our company.
That is, to always have fun andalways be open and
communicative.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Always have fun.
I love that.
That's not something that youoften hear in the
entrepreneurial space, maybeanecdotally, maybe
aspirationally, but is thatreally a core value for you?
Speaker 3 (02:58):
It is.
The reason why is because mystaff, my designers they're all
creatives.
We design all a lot of websites.
A lot of people come in thedoor and leave.
Therefore, there is a certainamount of pressure, if you will,
in order to turn these websitesaround in time, With the
(03:19):
processes and the systems thatwe have in place in order to do
that.
Part of that and part of thatmanagement style and leadership
style is really ensuring thatthe designers are stress-free,
that they're enjoying whatthey're doing, that they're
(03:41):
being well taken care of,because what happens with
creatives?
If they're stressed, if they'reupset, if they're not inspired,
then the execution is comingout through the websites.
That's what we're providing toour clients.
That suffers.
It's really important on thecore level to make sure that the
staff is very happy.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
I love that.
From your perspective, nowcoming out of corporate and now
being the leader of this team,how would you define leadership?
Speaker 3 (04:14):
I would define it as a value in which there is a
level of trust and communicationbetween the teams.
I like to be a very open book.
I like to be very open with myteam, whichever level, whichever
department that we're workingwith.
(04:34):
With that being said, I alsofeel like leadership is a place
of inspiration.
It's where, as a leader, as theowner of this company, I
probably don't want to be hereforever.
I want to keep my staff as longas possible and build the
(04:58):
relationships, build theirskills, help them to become
better at what they do so thatthey can move up and possibly
become my number two or maybe,in fact, become number one.
Hiring staff can be veryexpensive.
The time cost associated withthat is obviously extensive.
Hiring well is really important.
(05:22):
When you're hiring well, youalso have to be a very strong
leader, I believe.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Absolutely 100%.
I want to talk about up in aday.
Why did you start up in a day?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
That's a great question and thank you for
asking.
When I left corporate, Idecided to go off on my own.
As I mentioned earlier, when Istarted, I had this small
digital marketing agency calledLina Creative.
We did a lot of 360 branding,if you will a lot of digital
marketing, a lot of brandpresence, a lot of messaging.
(05:58):
I also come from an extensivemarketing background.
What was happening was we weregetting a ton of referrals of
small business ownerssolopreneurs, people pivoting in
their business, starting newbusinesses, seasoned business
owners, one to five person shopsthat were coming to us
(06:20):
desperate for help with theirwebsite.
They needed it yesterday.
Of course, small businesses,they're tech startups, so
they're on a budget, a tightbudget.
We just did not have it in ourprocesses and our margins to
help these people.
Along with that, I have alwaysdreamt of creating a
(06:43):
product-sized service, somethingthat's new to the market.
One day, I was watching awebinar and they were talking
about productizing your services.
I was listening.
I was like sat back and I'mlike, okay, the juices are
flowing, the gears are startingto warm up.
The host asked what is the onething you love doing, can you do
(07:07):
it well and can you make moneyfrom that I started thinking
well, we do a lot of very bigwebsites Shopify, score, space
very complex sites.
We can actually do them reallyfast and we do them really well.
We make a lot of businessesvery profitable and very happy.
Well, there it is.
(07:27):
We can actually do these in aday.
The simpler websites there itis, lo and behold, up in a day
was born Literally.
The name came at that same time.
We can build websites reallyquickly.
Actually, we can build websitesin a day.
Wait, up in a day.
That's how it started.
It was so exciting because allof a sudden I woke up the next
(07:50):
morning and I'm like, oh, wow,this is good, let's get going.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
I love that epiphany moment.
That's so brilliant.
When we talked earlier, yousaid one of the challenges that
you saw in the market was thatpeople were complaining that it
was taking months and months toget a website up and running.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yes, I saw a huge gap in the market for that, because
a lot of the people that werecoming to us then and 90% of the
clients that come to us todayhave gotten burned in the past
from one reason or another.
Their developer disappeared.
They paid $10,000 for athree-paid website that's not
showing up on Google or they're.
(08:31):
We hear this a lot.
I designed my own website, ormy son designed my website and
I'm stuck, or even if it's arelative designing your website
and the relationship that gets alittle hairy when you're trying
to give feedback and thenthey're dragging their feed and
then it doesn't get done.
The gap in the market was turnaround time, costs and
(08:58):
satisfaction.
Those three pillars are what Isolved with the up-in-a-day
model.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
You talk about the importance of developing
strategies that work withoutinvesting your time.
I would love to talk a littlebit about that, because I think
a lot of people are interestedin strategies that work.
Every business owner, everyentrepreneur, they're all about
that but so many of them arejust tondrains.
What do you mean by what you'redescribing?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
When I talk about strategy and in relation to time
, what I mean by that is whenyou have a good idea, the first
thing you think of is like, ohmy gosh, this is the best idea,
everybody's going to love it,they're all going to come
flooding in the door.
Of course, that didn't happen.
You always wish With thestrategy.
(09:48):
It's really realizing that whenyou start a company, it's
important to walk before you run.
I'm not saying I did thatbecause I learned the hard way.
The strategies I developed inorder to save my time were based
off of timeframes.
(10:10):
Within those by weeks.
Actually, let me trickle downyear, quarter, week.
What am I tackling that week?
What am I tackling that quarter?
Am I meeting those goals?
Then, of course, the year end.
Then you break that down further.
Then you're working on thebusiness model.
(10:30):
You're working on the systemsand processes a little bit each
day, hitting those little minipillars and spending the time
and figuring out is thisexecutional, can I actually get
this done today?
Can I actually get this donethis week?
And just going slow and reallythinking about your next steps
(10:51):
strategically.
I know I'm going backwards andsaying oh yeah, but there's not
much time.
You do end up, saving a lot oftime, even though it's taking
you time and you're walkingbefore you're running.
You are actually cutting downon hours and hours of stress,
hours of work, hours sittingbehind the computer emailing,
(11:14):
because you have everything inbullet points, your to-do list,
if you will, right in front ofyou, your goals to hit.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Linda, that's so good .
I think that's so intentional.
I think this is a piece that somany business owners, so many
agency owners and entrepreneursreally miss.
They start trying to run.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I did.
I had a really good businesscoach that taught me all of this
.
By the way, I'm happy to shareeverything that I did.
One of the texts that I had tofinish when I came up with the
idea of up in a day was how arewe going to get these done?
(11:55):
How do we scale the way I didthat?
I said, okay, what is my bighairy goal?
I believe that's from the bookTraction.
Right, I read it US Traction,all of the above.
I read them.
I was a little too small for alot of their principles, but I
still adopted them, ready to gofor the future.
(12:15):
Absolutely yeah.
The big hairy goal was an Xmillion by year five or year 10
or whatever their number was.
The number has since changedbecause your business evolves.
Then you work backwards fromthere and you start hitting
benchmarks.
How do you hit those benchmarks?
(12:37):
Well, you start creating thebusiness model.
How do you create the businessmodel?
You create processes.
What is the process to get allof these websites done?
What is the systems in place inorder to do that?
Do you automate?
Do you keep people behind thebusiness for behind all of the
systems and processes for alittle while, just to see if
it's working, Get the machinechurning.
(12:59):
Then, once that's in place,then you keep working forward.
I remember after I startedworking on the processes, I got
a little discombobulated aboutwait, what are we doing?
I had to take a step back and Iopened a notebook and I wrote
our values.
The values really are ourpillars still today.
(13:22):
This is actually pretty cool.
The business coach I wasworking with at the time had me
do.
I came to him with my threevalues.
He said well, who are thesevalues for?
I said well, I guess foreveryone.
That's how we operate.
He said well, I want you tothink about your true values.
(13:45):
What are your internal companyvalues?
What are those?
What are your values for yourcustomers?
Then, most importantly, whatare the values for operating,
which is personal values, tooperate the company and to make
sure it's going in the directionto that big, hairy goal,
(14:08):
without spinning out of control,without hiring too fast, with
just coming back thinking, okay,am I on track?
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, I love the fact that you put these systems in
place and the systems are tiedto your values.
I tell clients all the time youwill rise or you will fall to
the level of your systems.
I think Ed Deming was spot on.
You don't like the resultsyou're currently getting.
You can't keep doing whatyou're doing.
You have to do it differently,and systems are how you make
(14:37):
sure that you're doing itconsistently and repeatedly.
That's the key.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
That is definitely the key.
I mean, I feel like we workwith a lot of coaches and
consultants as well, and I feellike systems is such a keyword
right now.
It's very popular and a lot ofpeople feel overwhelmed when
they hear systems.
Well, what do you mean bysystems?
Systems could mean anything, sofor us, systems as a service
(15:06):
provider with a term, keyservice product, if you will
systems are mechanisms in whichallow us to provide really great
customer service and automateour onboarding process all the
(15:28):
way to execution anddeliverables to the customer and
how seamless that needs to be.
And that's another keyword thatI love right now is strategy
Strategies, too, systems andseamlessness.
For us, it's an efficiencies,and right now there are.
We're talking about AI.
(15:48):
I'm not gonna go down thatrabbit hole, but now we have AI
and we have all of these SaaSproducts, and I was talking to
my business coach today and wewere talking about that big,
hairy goal again and I said onething I'm starting to see is
that we're really need to honedown on all of these SaaS
(16:11):
products that we have, becauseour systems are getting out of
control right, if we want all ofour systems to talk to one
another and you wanna have aslittle as possible.
So let's say you have yoursauna, your Calendly, right, and
then whatever else, your CRM.
Do they talk to each other?
(16:31):
How much are you spending amonth on this stuff?
That's huge.
You start looking at yourbusiness credit card on a
monthly basis and you're like,oh my gosh, $30 here and $90
there and it's like, wow, all ofa sudden you're spending
$30,000 a month on all of theseSaaS products.
Let's take a step back and seecan we reduce this to be better,
(16:53):
to be more efficient and to bemore cost effective.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
So good, so practical , and something every
entrepreneur that I've talked todeals with.
Like you sign up for this, yousign up for this, you sign up
for this, and they all productsthat you use mostly, but do they
integrate?
Is it a simple system that issimple for your employees, for
your team?
Is it simple for your clientsto use?
(17:16):
Is it accomplishing the goal,your big, hairy, audacious goal?
There's your question, right?
I love that you're so honest andtransparent about the struggles
as well as the successes.
I think that's so helpful andfor people who are listening,
who are entrepreneurs or agencyowners or leaders who have
started something, it's so easyto just see the highlight reel
(17:38):
online.
It's so easy to just see thehighlight reel.
And yes, I climbed 14 mountainsin the last three days.
Okay, really, like, is thatpossible?
I just keep winning, all I dois win, and they don't see the
struggles.
And so far, you have been sohonest about your struggles.
I'm just curious is thereanything else that you would say
(17:58):
?
Hey, I've really struggled withthis, you know, particularly at
the beginning or as you werebeginning to grow?
Speaker 3 (18:06):
I would say one of the struggles I had and I said
this earlier was that when Istarted up in Indiana and I had
the first round of processes andsystems in place and the people
that I believed that what weoffered was so needed that
(18:28):
everybody was gonna starttalking about it and flood the
doors, and the first month thatdid happen by way of just
organic marketing, but then itreally just like trickled and
died off.
And then I wouldn't say I madeany mistakes, but I had to.
You know, I dabbled in NPR ads,I dabbled in some Google ads.
(18:52):
I can't believe.
I just said that yeah, and Icome from a digital marketing
background, so I should knowbetter.
But and then I really startedgetting the stress.
I wasn't sleeping at night.
I couldn't figure out how toget sales in the door.
I couldn't figure out.
(19:13):
Ours is like a huge brandawareness play right.
So how do we get out there?
And I had this vision like Iknow I can see us on billboards,
but we just weren't there yet.
You have to have your product,a ton of product, under your
belt service.
I mean, I'm not sure if you cansee it, but I'm not sure you
have to have your belt service,whatever it is, clients you have
(19:37):
to have, you have to haveexperience.
You have to prove that theproduct is working and the
product works.
If your system's working, thepeople are happy.
Also, is the price work.
It's the price right for themarket, your market, who is your
market?
Well, when you start a newservice and it could kind of go
(20:00):
to anybody then where do youchoose that?
My suggestion is and this iswhat we did and I'm very happy
we went this route is justchoose one or two niches that
sound great, that sound fun towork with, with deep pockets.
And so we did that.
We went after those two markets.
(20:22):
They brought us a lot of sales,a lot of websites under our
belt and the business startedevolving and it was so fun and
the process is starting evolving.
And Then we started justmarketing towards other types of
industries and it took a longtime.
(20:46):
So, going back to where Istruggled personally was that
running before I walked.
But it took a lot of businesscoaching therapy to get me to a
point where I was like, okay,just pillars.
That's when I started thoseweekly benchmarks.
That went into quarters and Ihad a piece of paper with three
(21:08):
column or four columns sorryquarter.
One, two, three, four, and thenit was broken down by week and
in each week I had the one ortwo pillars that I had goals I
had to meet.
And then it keeps your brainsane, or at least for me.
I'm a checklist kind of personand I like to write things down.
I feel funny.
We're on computers all day long, especially me, yeah right.
(21:30):
And I have papers galore.
All of my coaching papers arein a notebook, a three ring
binder.
That's awesome.
And the other thing I wanted toshare I just realized today is
when I started coaching.
(21:50):
I got a business coach when Ifirst started the business, so
that was, oh my goodness, threeand a half, four years ago.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
And two weeks ago, for some reason, I just felt
like I needed to go back to allof those coaching papers.
So when I go to my coachingsessions I write down what I
want to talk about and thenevery single thing that he is
helping me with and all thesolutions and ideas, and I
started going back to thosereally early on coaching session
(22:23):
pages and all of the thingsthat had forgotten that I would
be ready for three years later.
We're there, wow.
So now I'm getting all of thoseideas back and I'm like we can
do this now.
Now we're ready for growth.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I love that.
How intentional is that?
To go back and review and findoh, I tell clients all the time
there's no such thing as awasted experience.
You may not be ready for it yet, but it will help you, it will
benefit you or it will benefitpeople around you.
See every experience for whatit is something that's either
(23:04):
going to help you or somebodyelse.
I love that.
I love the intentionality ofthat.
What are some of the biggestproblems?
You talk to a lot of smallbusiness owners.
What are some of the mainproblems that you see small
business owners having today?
Speaker 3 (23:19):
The top three with their websites or just in their
business in general?
Sure, With their websites, OK.
Well, of course, we're talkingwebsites here, right?
The first one is that theyaren't getting any inbound
traffic.
That's number one.
Number two they have too muchor too little content on their
(23:42):
website.
Number three they're not quitesure if their messaging is
speaking to their targetaudience, their ideal client,
mostly because they're notgetting traffic to their website
.
And so what we do is we do adeep dive, we look into their
(24:02):
site and messaging and try tohelp them.
That way, when we're buildingour websites for these small
business owners, we take a stepback and we really get to know
their business inside and out.
Where they want to be in sixmonths, a year, five years?
Who do they work with now?
(24:22):
Is their business evolving?
Are they going to do they wantto work with other people?
Are their services going tochange in a year's time or even,
like two months time?
A lot of coaches we talk to willhave services that they're
working on at that time but justnot ready to launch, and then
we build the websitespecifically for that, so that
(24:43):
the website has longevity A lotof the other thing that we see
with business owners that I talkto is that they have old
websites and they don't know whoto talk to, where to turn to
get a redesign, because thereare millions of website agencies
(25:05):
out there and you already havelike cold feet so you're not
quite sure.
So you just kind of put it onthe back burner and go work on
something else right Businessowners.
They don't want to pay attentionto their website mostly, for
the most part, I should say theyknow it has issues and could
use improvement, but it's adaunting task to get in there
(25:29):
and try to figure out why, andmost of it we're so stuck in our
own heads with our business andthe day to day and what needs
to get done.
When we look at our own websiteit's just like we cannot even
comprehend what we're looking athere because we're just like so
in it.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Well, it's very difficult to see the whole
picture when you're in the frame.
Yes, that's where you needsomebody from the outside who
can look at it objectively andevaluate it and help you see
what you simply cannot see.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Yeah, that's right, that's exactly true.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
So what industries do you serve?
Websites in a day to.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
Tech, startups, consultants and coaches,
restaurants, finance, so CPAs,bookkeepers, people that need a
high impact online presence.
Website is confirmation right.
People are most likely comingto their website from a referral
(26:30):
source, whether it's a personor place, and they're checking
them out.
They're shopping online.
They're doing some comparisonshopping.
They're looking to see if yousolve their problems.
Where are you located, how muchdoes it cost, what's the
engagement look like, what isthe value that you provide?
And they're making a decisionfrom there.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
I like that.
It's a confirmation.
I like that thinking because ifI go to somebody's website from
checking, and I go to theirwebsite and it's so obviously
out of date, so obviouslynobody's touched it in a while,
that says something.
Or if I go to it and it doesn'thave a professional look to it,
(27:13):
that says something.
Better for worse or indifferentthey may be fantastic at what
they do, but it communicatessomething.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Exactly.
I mean, if you got on adentist's website and it was old
, old and clunky like super 1999, I mean, would you call them?
I wouldn't, I don't want themtouching my teeth.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
No, no, no, no, no.
Where do you see the websiteagency service industry going
from here?
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Hopefully where I'm going, fast, speedy quality.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Love that.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
I feel like now, in today's modern website building
world, you can build websitesthrough website platforms, and
there are a lot of them outthere.
We specifically use Squarespacebecause at the end of the
build-out it's like okay, now Ihave this great website, how do
I update it?
So that platform in general ispretty easy to make updates to
(28:16):
on one's own.
I feel like right now I don'thave a great answer for that
because AI is moving so fast andthere are a lot of products out
there that will promise youwhatever they do in automation,
(28:37):
but they're not quite there yet,but it is happening fast.
So I'm not saying websitebuilders and AI or anything or
maybe there are a couple tryingbut if that does happen and
products come out there thatpromise to build a website with
whatever you tell them to dowith a prompt, the truth of the
(29:01):
matter is you need somebody whounderstands your business to
really and marketing and designto execute your marketing tool
in which people convert on,which right now, ai can't do
that, and having the rightpeople behind the website, just
(29:22):
so that you're not turningaround and spending another
$10,000 in six months to getanother website, is really
important, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Particularly for small businesses and
entrepreneurs who arebootstrapping.
They can't just keep cyclingthrough again and again hoping
that well, eventually I'll findgold.
They have to thinkintentionally and be strategic
about this.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
I know and you don't know.
Until you know, you don't knowwhat you don't know.
A lot of people we talk to arecoming to us saying I've
redesigned this thing six timesand then I really, really want
to work with you.
How much does it cost?
We tell them, and they justdon't have it in their budget at
that point, yeah, we try to.
(30:09):
I don't know.
It's a struggle for sure, nodoubt.
That's why we're here andthat's why I started up in a day
to truly and that's what I'msaying as a brand awareness play
because we're truly here tohelp small businesses get really
great online presences thattheir businesses deserve,
(30:30):
because there's no reason whyyou have to wait months to get a
website anymore.
It's just the economy moves toofast, the markets move too fast
, business moves too fast and weare here to hopefully provide
their online solution.
It's not for everybody.
Of course, some people needcomplex websites, but there are
(30:54):
a lot of people that just neednice and simple websites too,
just to be there and present.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
What are some necessities that you think
people need to have on theirwebsites?
Think in entrepreneurs, thinkin small business owners.
What are things that absolutelyhave to have this?
Speaker 3 (31:10):
I think you have to have clear call to actions,
meaning the buttons on yourwebsite and in strategic places
and as high as possible, so thatif it is a referral and they're
coming to your website and theyread that headline and tagline
on your homepage and they'relike this looks good.
I mean, that's like me.
(31:31):
I want to.
Let's just book a call.
One call to action message.
So instead of let's talk andthen another button says book a
call and another button sayscontact, that's confusing and
people are going to bounce.
So just having that reallyclear, just like for
(31:55):
kindergartners, literallybecause people like to be told
what to do on websites.
I know that sounds a littlesilly, but next time you're on a
website and you're scrollingaround and you're looking for a
service, just tell me what youdo and how do I get it.
How do I get it?
Now?
We do a lot of website reviewsand one of the things I always
say is when I'm talking tomyself in the loom video is and
(32:17):
I'm scrolling through theclient's website, I'm like look,
I was like here's the thing inmodern day and age, the way
people scroll through websites.
They don't read them like books, they're skimming and they're
going fast.
They're on social media all day.
They're on LinkedIn and they'reon Instagram.
And what are they looking forwhen they're going so fast?
They're looking for thosekeywords, those key phrases and
(32:38):
those images that they relate to, that solve their problem, that
make them stop.
So what needs to be next tothat?
The call to action.
I need it now.
How do I get it?
Speaker 2 (32:49):
That's so good, Lenny , how did you stay on top of
your game?
How do you level up with newleadership skills?
Because obviously this is agoal for you and you're
constantly having to lead at adifferent level because things
are growing and you're findingnew levels that you need to lead
at.
How do you do that?
Speaker 3 (33:11):
I read a lot of books .
I skim a lot of books as well.
I read a lot of old sales andleadership books just to see
what used to be practice, andthen I move into what new
(33:32):
publications help you with as aleader.
I would say it's also built intoour systems.
It's something that I used todo also.
I have back when I was incorporate and I had, when I was
(33:53):
managing teams just being theirkind of friend the communication
, having once a week meetingswith them.
Even if I am so busy, I makesure that I'm speaking to
everybody on my team and whenI'm speaking to them, I'm very
(34:16):
clear that they can be verytransparent with me, because it
goes back to your staffsatisfaction.
Are they happy?
Are they enjoying this?
What can we do better?
Ask them their feedback.
That's huge for me.
What can we do to make yourlife easier, your work easier?
I don't have a huge team, but Idon't have a small team either,
(34:39):
so it's really easy for me tobe able to do that.
I'm sure it's very difficultfor people who have larger
businesses, of course, but ifthey have a number two that can
do that, I just started usingassembly and that records all of
my staff meetings so I can goback and look at the notes.
It's really cool.
(34:59):
It's a SaaS product.
But, it transcribes your Zoomcall.
Or whatever you're using andthen what it does is it will
basically using AI.
It outlines what you talkedabout in a clear, concise way
and then it bullet points tasksthat you need to do.
It is amazing and that reallyis so busy.
(35:23):
It just keeps me having to goback and listen to a whole
meeting, or it keeps me frommaking notes on my computer or
on a piece of paper.
It's all right there and then Ican go back and do whatever I
need to do for that designer orcopywriter.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
That is really good.
I was next for you, like wheredo you want to go from here?
Where do you want to see yourbusiness, your company, go from
here?
Speaker 3 (35:52):
We are going to start offering new services.
So there'll be services I'm notgoing to give it away.
There'll be services that tiein with the website for those
who need it.
So extending the offeringbeyond the website.
I do some consulting on theside and I help business owners
(36:15):
kind of get where they need tobe once they have their website
up.
Like, how do I, now that I havethis great website, how do I
now, what do I do?
How do I get in front of theright audience?
Well, how do I use this website?
So part of what I'm learningfrom those consulting sessions
is what they need.
They need more than the website.
So we're working on what thatlooks like for the next phase
(36:38):
probably Q1.
2024 of up in a day.
So it's very exciting.
And, yeah, just continue growth, keep reaching those benchmarks
and keep walking.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Love it If you could go back and talk to yourself
when you were 22,.
Knowing what you know now, whatwould you love to tell yourself
?
Speaker 3 (37:02):
When I was that age, I was a graphic designer and I
set a desk and I was told what Ineeded to design for that
company every single day.
And if I could go back and tellthat self, where I am now is
that you are going to be in aplace you're going to be okay,
(37:23):
You're going to be, you're goingto have freedom freedom with
money, time but most of all,you're going to make, you're
going to impact a lot ofpeople's lives in a really
positive way, doing what youlove.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
I love that you said you read a lot.
Is there a book that stands outthat you would recommend that
everybody listening put on thereto read list?
Speaker 3 (37:51):
The first book I read impacted my entire journey, and
that is EOS by Gina WickmanExcellent.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
And you think everybody should, everybody
would benefit from this.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
I think so.
He focuses on small businesses,number one, and teaches you how
to separate yourself from thebusiness and find methods over
time to work on the business asopposed to in the business.
How to find the right people,how to train them, how do you
(38:27):
get there?
How do you set yourself up forgrowth?
And one of the, I guess, ideasthat he kind of goes in and out
of is like setting your businessup for a franchise, and that's
the systems and processes thathe drilled in my head that I
needed to do, because when Istarted up in a day I said, well
, I'm not going to do this forthe rest of my life.
Eventually I want to sell thisthing, so how do you sell it?
(38:49):
So that was really impactfuland that helped to set the
benchmarks that I have in place.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
I'm not familiar with this book.
I'll have to check it out.
Speaker 3 (39:01):
That's very good.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Linnie, I know people are going to want to stay
connected with you and continueto learn from you.
What is the best way for themto do that?
Speaker 3 (39:10):
You can find me on LinkedIn it's LinkedIn,
obviously, and then the handleis lindi-nowak and you can also
follow up in a day.
And you can find us on ourwebsite, which is upinadayco,
got it.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Well, I'm looking forward to checking that out and
I know a lot of our listenersare going to as well To be.
Thank you for your time and theinsights that you've shared
today.
This has been so helpful, Iknow, not just for me, but for
everybody listening.
Speaker 3 (39:41):
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Thanks for joining me for this episode today.
As we wrap up, I'd love for youto do two things.
First, subscribe to thispodcast so you don't miss an
episode, and if you find valuehere, I'd love it if you would
rate it and review it.
That really does make adifference in helping other
people to discover this podcast.
Second, if you don't have acopy of my newest book,
(40:08):
catalytic Leadership, I'd loveto put a copy in your hands.
If you go tocatalyticleadershipbookcom, you
can get a copy for free.
Just pay the shipping so I canget it to you and we'll get one
right out.
My goal is to put this into thehands of as many leaders as
possible.
This book captures principlesthat I've learned in 20 plus
(40:29):
years of coaching leaders in theentrepreneurial space, in
business, government, nonprofits, education and the local church
.
You can also connect with me onLinkedIn to keep up with what
I'm currently learning andthinking about.
If you're ready to take a nextstep with a coach to help you
intentionally grow and thrive asa leader, I'd be honored to
(40:52):
help you.
Just go tocatalyticleadershipnet to book a
call with me.
Stay tuned for our next episodenext week.
Until then, as always, leaderschoose to be catalytic.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
Thanks for listening to Catalytic Leadership with Dr
William Attaway.
Be sure to subscribe whereveryou listen to podcasts so you
don't miss the next episode.
Want more?
Go to catalyticleadershipnet.
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