Welcome back to the Small Business Summary: We’ve got one full week before the real client vacation schedules kick in. We MUST make this week count because soon it will be weenies and fireworks for everyone you’re trying to reach. Let’s go…

In this week’s episode:

• Legal: 75% of small businesses aren’t properly protected - are you?

• Survey: Do you list your prices online?

• Tweet of the week: Customers want the transformation not the process

• SBOC Conference Update: The #SBOC25 Awards presented by Enji are NOW OPEN FOR NOMINATIONS

Creative Bravery Never Gets Easier…

After delaying it for six years, I finally got new headshots last Friday.

That might not sound like a big deal. Most people just book the session, show up, smile a few times, and walk out with a folder full of updated images. But for me, this was something I had been avoiding. I’ve needed new photos for years. My face is all over the internet, and I’ve been using the same shots since 2019. The process itself only takes twenty minutes. That wasn’t the issue.

The truth is, I didn’t want to do it because I didn’t like how I looked. And instead of facing that discomfort, I kept finding reasons to delay it. Even with my wife, who is an incredibly talented professional headshot photographer and literally in the next room, I still couldn’t bring myself to schedule it.

Something changed recently. I’ve lost 20 pounds. I’ve been doing the work, taking care of myself, and feeling a little more confident. For the first time in a long time, I thought maybe I could stand in front of the lens without feeling completely out of place.

When the day came, I thought I was ready. I had my shirts ironed. I even had a little confidence in my back pocket. But the moment the camera came out, everything changed. I felt like I had never driven my body before. I didn’t know how to stand. I couldn’t remember how to smile. I felt awkward and stiff, unsure of what version of myself I was supposed to present. And this was happening while my wife, the person who knows me better than anyone and who literally has the right to make medical decisions for me, was holding the camera.

It wasn’t about the photography. It was about being seen.

As we moved from one setup to the next, I couldn’t stop thinking about how closely this mirrors the feeling of creative work. Whether you’re writing something personal, launching a project, recording a podcast, or standing on stage, that feeling shows up. The tension between wanting to express yourself honestly and worrying that people will judge what they see or hear.

Hell, it’s happening right now. Should I share this story?
Or, should I be the business-guru that has all the answers and never gets flustered?

When I looked into the lens, I didn’t feel like it was capturing me. I felt like it was evaluating me. Measuring something. It’s the same tension many of us face when we’re creating something that feels close to the bone.

Being creative, being unique, being fully yourself, isn’t just a skill. It’s an act of bravery. Real creativity starts with the willingness to show up honestly, even when you don’t feel completely ready. Even when it’s scary.

I’ve said things in the past that sounded polished, professional, or like they belonged in a keynote. That’s easy. It’s much harder to say what’s real. To share something that hasn’t been workshopped into something safe. That kind of honesty always costs something. But when you get it right, it connects more deeply than anything else.

Let’s practice YOUR Creative Bravery: What are you dying to say? What would you say if you knew everyone would love it? I want to hear it. I want you to hit REPLY and share with me what you need the world to know. This exercise is for you especially if you’ve never said it out loud or it’s unpopular and different. It’s time that we get past the fear of saying what we believe and move past the judgment of online

I’m proud of those photos, not because they’re perfect, but because I stood there. I let myself be seen. And I walked through the discomfort instead of around it.

If you’ve been feeling the pull to share something that feels risky or personal or different, I just want you to know I get it. I understand how hard that is. And I hope you do it anyway.

Because even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time, that’s where the good stuff lives.

Here’s the final result…

Thank you to my wife, Abbie Miller of Stories Framed Photography for her outstanding work. If you need a headshot, take the bold step and contact her today - unbelievable stuff.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Behind the Scenes of #SBOC25:
SBOC Awards presented by Enji
Call for Nominations!

The second annual SBOC Awards are now open for nominations.

That means it’s your chance to nominate yourself or someone in your professional network for one of five categories, including Small Business Owner of the Year. All nominees will be invited to join us at the SBOC Conference on September 18 to see the results, and five winners will be announced live on stage.

Here’s the link to enter or nominate someone. It only takes a few minutes, and yes, nominating yourself is absolutely allowed.

Let’s talk about why we created the SBOC Awards in the first place.

Inside the Small Business Owners Community, we live by a simple belief: collaboration over competition. It’s baked into everything we do. This isn’t a group where you have to posture or outperform each other. In fact, it’s the opposite. We lift each other up. We celebrate every win. We even have direct competitors collaborating to help each other grow better businesses.

The awards were built to reflect that exact spirit. It’s not about naming one person “the best” or making someone feel like they won and someone else didn’t. It’s about catching you doing something right.

That’s the whole point.

The phrase that summarizes the SBOC is: “Running a small business is lonely and hard. Don’t Grow it Alone®.” If we’re serious about reducing that isolation, then we need to be a community that sees and celebrates people doing things well.

If you’ve built a terrific podcast, made a comeback this year, stepped into your role as a keynote speaker, or just had the best business year of your life you deserve to be recognized. And only other entrepreneurs can truly understand what it means to accomplish what you’ve accomplished.

That’s why this group of entrepreneurs came together to create this program. Because we know what it takes. We’ve lived it. And we want to cheer for the people in our community who are showing us what’s possible.

It’s completely free to enter. You don’t need to be a member of the SBOC. You can even nominate a friend with one click. But nominations close on July 18, so don’t put it off.

Take five minutes to put in your name or someone else’s. You never know, you might be walking across that stage, shaking hands, receiving a trophy, and finally getting the recognition you’ve earned.

Good luck. We’re cheering for you.

And, thank you to our Awards sponsor Enji! Enji is marketing software for small business that BUILDS your marketing plan and then consistently executes so you can stop worrying about leads. This AI powered software is dead simple - check it out now: https://www.enji.co

BUILD YOUR RECORD YEAR AT #SBOC25
Presented by Horicon Bank
September 16-19, 2025
Brookfield, WI

See the full lineup and get your ticket here: https://event.smallbusinesscommunity.com/25conference

A HUGE thank you to our major sponsors: Horicon Bank, Money Masters, Athena Legal Solutions, Magnolia Tax, and Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative

Thanks for checking out this week’s Small Business Summary newsletter.
Now…GO SELL SOMETHING!

-Pat