Welcome back to the Small Business Summary: Summer is just getting started and you need to stay focused on your goals or they will melt away faster than you think. Let’s get dialed in for a great week…

In this week’s episode:

• Sales Room: Practice cold calling in a new and unique way

• Marketing: Have you heard of SXO to drive your website?

• Tweet of the week on how to achieve your goals

• SBOC Conference Update: I want to promote YOUR BUSINESS!

Two Weeks to Say a Two-Letter Word

I have a tendency to put off big decisions. But, not ALL big decisions. I’ll sign off on a conference or buy expensive equipment with just a few moments of consideration. That’s no big deal. The big decisions that I tend to put off are the ones that have to do with other people. 

Specifically, I put off telling people NO. 

I had an offer on the table from a long time partner that I didn’t feel like pursuing. This person and I have had a great relationship and their offer was enticing. It would deliver exactly what they promised and the price wasn’t bad either. But, I didn’t want to do it. It didn’t align with where my business was heading. The worst part was that I could’ve said yes with very little impact but dang it, I just needed to tell them no. 

Easy conversation, right? 

“I’m sorry longtime partner, you’re great but, no.” 

Nope. 

Telling this partner NO sat on my to-do list for no less than TWO WEEKS. 

And during that two weeks I waffled (mmmmm, waffles,) through a few a stages:

I’ll just do it: FINE. I’ll do the program and it will help a little. I’ll save the relationship and get to move on. 

NO! I need to make this decision: I’ll just zip them an email and say no - if they get mad, they get mad. 

And, that is where I got paralyzed. I started to daydream about how I didn’t want to upset my partner and have them think less of me and the business. So, I didn’t do anything and the task sat there waiting for me to act.

Here’s what I was really doing: 

• Choosing to pay money and ring up unnecessary expenses rather than say NO.

• Choosing to pursue wrong path for my business

• People pleasing my way into a bad decision

Yesterday, I summoned the courage and wrote an email to say no. Drafting the email took 45 minutes as I wrote and rewrote every word.

“Maybe I should say it this way…oh, they could misinterpret that…”
”Maybe it should be two lines”…
”Maybe it should be a call…”
“MAYBE I SHOULD JUST HIT SEND”…so I did.

And…

And…

AND………

A return email came back in less than an hour later with the kindest, no big deal, let’s get lunch kind of response. 

No drama - I was making it all up

No hard feelings - I was keeping myself stuck

No momentum lost - Let’s go get lunch

Every time I go through this, I promise myself that I won’t continue people pleasing my way into indecision. And, when I end up there I try to remember it’s NEVER as bad as I make it out to be. 

On your to-do list right now, you may have a big decision or challenging situation that you don’t want to deal with. It could be telling someone no, raising a client’s rate, ending a partnership that no longer works for you - whatever. 

I promise you the action that must be taken is faster, lighter, and easier than you think. 

If you need someone to hold you accountable then let’s imagine that I’m waiting for you to take care of it TODAY. In fact, why don’t you go handle it right now and then reply to this email with how it made you feel…and how it wasn’t a big deal. 

People Pleasing is a Disease…Action is the remedy. 

I await your email.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

BUILD YOUR RECORD YEAR AT #SBOC25
September 16-19, 2025
Brookfield, WI

NEW - I’ve got a weird idea and maybe you want to participate. I’m going to do a one-on-one interview with the next ten (10) people that purchase their conference ticket. We’ll do a short interview where you can share ONE THING every entrepreneur should know (in your area of expertise.) Then, I’ll ask you to share about your business and why someone should use you! Once it’s shot, I’ll share the video on my social media and I’ll share it in the Small Business Summary newsletter. I think this could be a cool way to feature the guests coming to the conference and it could give you visibility and exposure in the small business community, too.

To claim the offer - grab your ticket and we’ll schedule the interview right away!
https://event.smallbusinesscommunity.com/25conference

The 5th Annual Small Business Owners Community Conference presented by Horicon Bank is leaning into the moment by focusing on what matters: Revenue. This year, we’re addressing all of the inputs that make you money: mindset, rates, sales technique, time, meaning, business development and more. The economy is a little bumpy at the moment and below you’ll see one economist predicting a 90% chances of a recession.

If the economy went south, are you just going to roll over and take it?
Or, are you going to fight for your dream? I thought so.

With that theme in mind, check out our unbelievable faculty this year:

• Jesse Cole - Founder Savannah Bananas - Putting Your Customer First

• Carl Gould - Back by Popular Demand! - BizDev Done Right

• Sahil Bloom - NYT Bestselling Author - Meaning, Purpose and Money

• Pat Miller - (yeah, me!) - Quit Charging Too Little, a Workshop to Raise Rates

• Precious L. Williams - Returning to Host the 2nd Annual SBOC Awards

• And much more…

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

PODCAST ALERT - Raving Coaches Podcast

How do I build my conferences and events?
How do I select my speakers and build value for the members inside the Small Business Owners Community? Longtime SBOC member Laura Hulleman invited me on the “Raving Coaches Podcast,” and our episode drops today. In the episode, we talked through all of those questions and more. Click to enjoy the episode…thanks for having me on, Laura!

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

-Pat