Ep 231 - My Ultimate Office Essentials as a Life and Business Coach

 

Looking to create the perfect office setup that fuels your business success?

In this episode, we dive into why a well-organized and properly equipped workspace can make all the difference in how you show up in your business. I’ll walk you through the must-have tools and equipment that can help you present yourself in the best possible light—literally! From a quality microphone to ideal lighting and a high-resolution webcam, we’ll cover everything you need to know to build a setup that enhances your business presence. 

Plus, I’ll share some personal experiences and practical tips on how to minimize distractions, all while gradually investing in the right tech to get the most out of your space. Tune in to discover how to balance taking action with the right investments to boost your productivity and success!

Links to my recommendations: 

👉 Be a Founding Member of the Life Coach Business Building School TODAY http://lifecoachbusinessbuildingschool.com/

👉Join our LIVE FREE Open Coaching session every Monday at 1:30 pm Central Time, where we will answer any questions you may have in any areas of your business that are keeping you stuck. Save your seat at http://debbieshadid.com/opencoaching.

👉 Check out my FREE Canva Workshop and learn how to create stunning graphics for your coaching business! https://coaching.debbieshadid.com/canva

 
 

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Transcript

How are you guys today? We're going to talk about the technology and the tools that I use in my office that I'm loving right now. I want to tell you that I do think that your office set up really does matter. It doesn't just matter for you and how you feel when you show up in your business.

I don't know. I think it's empowering to have a space that is your own, even if it is just a corner in your bedroom. I think when you make it your own, it really does empower you to show up stronger and better in your business. Today, I want to talk to you though about the things that I use that I think you guys might be interested in.

I know a lot of our clients love it when I share what I'm using in my office. And oftentimes they go out and buy the same things to use in their office. So let me tell you guys about that. One of the things that I do want to dispel, I think the myth is, is that working from anywhere is glamorous and you can have your business from anywhere.

And you can do that. But I will say, I do believe that most of us want to be seen as a successful coach. And to do that, we don't want to be just, Sitting anywhere. We actually like to be sitting in a space, or I want to encourage you to sit in a space that is kind of planned and prepared for you. So some of the things that you might consider are what it is that somebody sees within the frame of your picture.

So basically what's around you, you know, you want to have a distraction free environment visually. Okay. So even the books that are on my shelf back there, I think about what those are, because I know that I've been guilty of looking at, you know, what is on somebody's bookshelf or trying to read a sign behind them to see what it says.

I don't know. Have you guys done that? So I like to be considerate about what's back there. I also don't want to have anything that's distracting to them, right? That they're going to focus on instead of focusing on me. So I do think what is in the background of your space, even if it's a small space, does matter.

So I think the quality of what you put out into the world speaks to the level of how professional, you know, what level of professionalism you show does matter. Right. You want to be seen as a professional. You want to be respected so that you can be paid more and can get hired sooner. So I do think the quality also of the equipment that you're using, your technology, I will tell you about that also matters now with that said, I'm going to share the things today that I love, but I understand.

That you're not going to be able to buy them all at once. I get that. So I don't want you to hold up making progress in your business because you're waiting to buy all of the right equipment. One of our clients that you're going to meet in an upcoming episode, her name is Debbie too. She just put herself out there and start doing a podcast.

And I loved it. You know, she didn't worry about what, did she have the right equipment? Did she have what she needed? She just went out and did it. And that's fantastic. Okay. There's going to be a time and place when you can buy everything, but get started on your business when you're ready to buy. These are the things that I recommend.

So again, make sure that you balance Buying the things with taking the action in your business. I also just want to mention that as a reminder, it takes money to make money. I know we sometimes think that it's an online business and we shouldn't have to invest in it and then we're just going to get it started.

But the things that I'm talking about today are like the equipment for your boutique. Again, if you think about the boutique that I always talk about,And there's racks for dresses or there's chairs in the dressing room. This is the kind of stuff I'm talking about for your business.

You have to invest in your business, whether it is in coaching or equipment or computer equipment. All of those things really do matter. So let me tell you about the three things that I think matter the most when it comes to you being on camera. Or on audio on video, whatever that might be. Number one, I'm going to talk about the sound, the quality of your microphone matters.

Now a lot of you guys are using potentially a microphone that's built into your computer. And what I want to say is your computer is great at the computer part, right? The technology built into it. the microphone is kind of an afterthought. So if you think about it that way, you're not buying a microphone in a computer.

You're buying the computer to be able to search the Internet to be able to write emails. The microphone is just an add on. So the quality of it isn't going to be as good. And it's interesting because now that I'm aware of it, I can tell when clients are talking to me from their computer, which again, it doesn't matter.

There's going to be a time and place for you to buy better equipment. I'm just trying to make you aware of it. A lot of you guys are using earbuds. And one of the biggest things about earbuds is that your hair rubs against the earbud. Also, your earring clanks against the earbud you when you are talking into it, you don't realize it, but as the person who is listening to that, I hear the hair front.

You long haired ladies that have beautiful hair. I hear rubbing against the microphone. That is distracting. You don't want to do anything to distract your person, a potential client, a listener to your podcast, a listener on your video, somebody that is engaged with you. You do not want to do anything to distract them.

You want them to pay attention to the message that you have to say. Also, when you have a quality microphone, it blocks out other noises around. I know sometimes when I'm talking to somebody who's on their computer. I'll hear the fan running on the computer and then I'm thinking, wait, what is that fan sound?

What is that noise? You guys have done that before. I'm sure you're focused in on something else. Other than the voice of the person you should be listening to. So I recommend the Yeti blue mic. Okay. I will leave all the links to this equipment in the show notes. This microphone is about a hundred dollars, but if you're going to record a podcast and if you're going to record video, I highly recommend that you go ahead and invest in a good microphone.

one of our team members that is very, she's so darling and she's so soft spoken and she's so gentle. And I had to say, let me buy you a microphone because we just can't hear you talking. I could see our clients. You know, leaning in when she started to talk and it was like, okay, a microphone really does matter.

So if you are somebody who has a softer voice is not as big and strong voiced as I am, then that's another reason to get a microphone to make sure. that people can hear you. For me, the dogs that I have, my two barking dachshunds, are a problem because they sometimes stand outside my office door, and my office is upstairs, and they look out this window, and they look down the street, and they're barking.

And I always think people can hear the dogs barking, and most of the time, to my surprise, You can't hear the dogs barking and that's because the microphone is tuned in on my voice And it is cutting out all the other background noise So if you are in a place where you have a spouse that is listening to the TV loud Downstairs some of us at this point in our life might have spouses who are listening to TVs on loud That's another thing that the microphone cuts out.

So highly recommend that again I use the the Blue Yeti microphone, and it is a hundred dollars. I'll leave the Amazon link. These are affiliate links that I'm going to share with you. but anyway, use them or look for something similar. All right. The next thing I want to talk to you about is lighting.

I know I've talked about this many times and I'm going to continue to talk about this lighting builds trust. If you want to be seen as a professional, if you want to be. I don't know, respect it. If you want to command attention, you have to have light. Now, I have light in my office that is bright white LED light bulbs.

That is one thing that you can do today to change your office that does not cost a bunch of money. But in our homes, we typically buy soft white light bulbs. Right. We want a soft environment in our house. And I will tell you that when we switched our light bulbs in my office to bright white led bulbs.

So we weren't using led before either. Both of those things switching to led and bright white. Wow. That changed my office dramatically. So right now to give you a point of view, I have four can lights over my head. So it's in, you know, in the corner of this room. And then I have A light over my head, which is just a basic ceiling light.

It has four bulbs in it. And those are all led lights. So there's eight light bulbs above me right now. Plus I have a window that is to the right of me. And the curtains are basically open. Now I do have a little cafe curtain because I'm distracted by the cars driving down the street. It's kind of a sheer cafe curtain, but if you do not have good lighting, um, What I recommend that you do is that you rotate your desk and you look out the window so that the light, the natural light is shining on you.

You want to have not the light behind you, but you want the light in front of you. Okay? When you have the light behind you, Your face is dark. Okay. Right. Sometimes it seems logical that you should have lights on too. And yes, I have that small lamp back there. If you guys are watching on YouTube, you're seeing all of what I'm pointing out to you, but you want to have light in front of you, right?

Lighting your face. Now I'm not a fan of ring lights. I have had two different ring lights. honestly, I broke both of them because I kept trying to adjust them and both of them eventually broke. at different times fell over and broke the bulbs broke. I just never could find a ring light that did not show up in my glasses.

And again, this is about distraction for me. If you guys have a ring light, do not go buy another light. You've already spent the money on the ring light. If you break your ring light, or if you need to buy a light, then start with what I'm recommending. Okay. I'll give you the details about that. But the deal is with the ring light, if you have glasses, You cannot turn your head any direction and not avoid those rings in your eyes.

And for me, when I'm talking to somebody on video, I'm literally looking at their face and I'm noticing the ring lights in their eyes. Even if you don't have glasses, which most of you guys do, most of you ladies are wearing glasses cause you're wearing readers or something. Even if you don't have that, you can see it right in the middle of your pupils.

So I'm not a fan of ring lights. The light that I have was actually recommended to me by, our coach Thais Glenn who works with us. And it is an incredible light that is on a stand. It comes with a remote where you're able to change the light from bright white to a soft light. Now we're going to want to use bright white.

Okay. Lots of light. And you can bump up the light higher or lower. And it basically has a round filter over it so it doesn't show up in my face. And that's probably 90 percent of the time it doesn't. I did have it one time this last week where it did show in my glasses, which was kind of a bummer because again, you see it on the video.

This particular light that I will link in the show notes. Again, it comes with a remote. It is on a stand. It's actually pretty. It's a brass stand. You can buy it in brass, silver, black, whatever it is that you want. And it is normally 68. I don't know when you're listening to this, but 68 today, when I looked and got the link for it, it's 55.

The next thing I want to tell you about is your web camera. Again, I know your computer has a camera on it, but if we use the same analogy as the microphone, the camera is an afterthought on your computer, right? You're not buying the computer because of the camera, you're buying it because of the computer.

So, highly recommend that you spend the money on a web camera. If I was to be able to show you guys right now on video, the difference between my computer camera and my web camera, you'd be blown away. And I always do this. demo for clients or for people that I'm having, you know, workshops with, I'll turn it off, turn off my web camera.

And it's like, Oh, wow, such a significant difference. The web camera that I recommend is the Logitech camera. It is priced right now at 94 there. The Logitech cameras are all pretty good. I will leave the link for this one too in the show notes. I do recommend that when you get the camera, At least the camera I have right now has the ability to be able to adjust the light even on the camera.

So I've adjusted the light so it's bright and it auto adjust bright. Okay. You can hear I'm all about bright light. So when you get that, You will be able to see a dramatic difference. You can be even as the sun is setting. So it's getting darker. Your camera, when you use it, it actually brings more light into the room.

So right now you are looking at me with an extra light with eight lights above me with a window and it's in the middle of the afternoon and a web camera. And all of that creates the level of light that I have right now. So I really want to encourage you to do that. I also have my zoom setting set to bring in more light.

Now I'm not recording this on zoom, but when you are on zoom, if you'll go into the video settings, you can adjust your zoom to bring in more light too. And I do recommend that you do that. So those are the three main things that if you have an opportunity to buy a microphone. A light for your office and a web camera.

Those are the first three things that I would buy. All right. The other things that kind of make my life and business really fantastic. Number one is a phone stand. I would add this to your to buy list for some day.

The one that I use for my phone most often is a tripod stand. So it's tall. One thing I want to mention to you guys, when you look for stands, if you don't use the links that I provide for you, you want to make sure that it goes horizontal and vertical. You are not going to be recording very often horizontal.

And most of the stands, they are horizontal for your cameras. When you're recording on your camera, you're most of the time doing it for like Instagram or a YouTube short or something. You actually want to record vertical. If you were going to record horizontal, you would be doing it in zoom. Okay. Or on your desktop computer.

So make sure that you can change it. to horizontal. Again, you want to be able to have one that's adjusting. The one that I'm recommending to you guys is, adjustable. It also has a little remote that comes with it. So you can turn on and off your camera. for video recording. So you're not pushing the button and you know, stepping away.

I don't actually use that. I just push the button and then I edited the video in my phone. So it's 29 and I know sometimes it goes on a flash sale to less than 29, but make sure that it can hold your phone. The one that I'm going to link here is compatible with my phone, which is one of the big iPhones.

All right. You can also buy for your phone, A desktop kind of stand. What I want to mention to you about that is that again, I recommend horizontal vertical, so it holds them both your phone, both directions, but also that it has a bendable arm. There are times when I'm doing something that I want to be able to bend the angle of the phone to record something different.

So how would you do this? You actually might record yourself doing a training On zoom and you also might record yourself on your phone doing the training and it would look like a promo video. So you could do that with that tripod sitting on your desk. So I'll link 1 here. It's not actually the 1 I have.

I can't find that 1, but it's a bendable tripod. Desktop phone stand and it's $15. So now let me talk to you about the equipment, your computer equipment. This is the big, big investment in your business, and I cannot stress enough how important this is. We often go try to buy the cheapest computer and look, your whole entire business is operated off of a computer, and I understand. Right. You got to have the money to be able to do it. But again, if you're thinking about building a business, just like you would your boutique, you have to invest money in getting yourself set up.

So if you were looking at my setup right now, I have two things that I love, which is two big screens. Both of my screens are actually Apple Mac screens and both of them are 27 inches. This makes your life so much better if you can go and you don't want to buy Apple products. Everything I have is Apple, but if you don't want to buy Apple products, you can buy.

An additional computer screen for not very much. I don't actually have a recommendation for one because I haven't anything I recommend to you guys I use. So I have not bought one that's not a Mac or an Apple product, but I know that you can buy those, you know, at SANS, at Office Depot, wherever you are, you can buy those, you know, a hundred, 200, something like that.

Amazon. Now, my, Desktop display, I'll call it is 27 inches and it is Apple and it is, you know, pretty pricey. It's well over 1, 000. You can buy refurbished ones for much less than that. And the refurbished ones come with, you know, warranties and you can still buy your Apple care on it. All right. The other thing that I have, my other 27 inch screen is actually my computer.

It's an iMac. So I always buy, again, the best computer that I can buy because. In my time in 25 years, I've literally only maybe had four computers because I buy the the most amount of storage and the fastest speed and all of that, and it lasts me a long time. when I buy a computer, I want to be able to have lots of storage on it, even with cloud storage, and I want to be able to have lots of memory that can run at one time.

Otherwise, you guys know what happens, you get that frustrating spinning wheel, you guys know where your computers like locked up because you have too much going on at one time. So I always buy a MacBook Pro. They will say when you go into the Apple store, well, do you do gaming? I'm like, no, but I do video and I have lots of things running all at the same time.

So if your computer is getting hung up, you probably don't have, the right kind of memory and storage and all that kind of stuff. So, I also have a 14 inch Mac book pro that I purchased this year. that's the second Mac book pro laptop that I had. I have my desktop iMac.

And then I also have a MacBook Pro that I take with me. So both of those again are amazing. I also use an Apple wireless trackpad and I use a wireless keyboard. So there you go. I'm all about the Apple stuff. I get Apple care. I think Apple support is amazing. I couldn't endorse them enough. Okay, a couple other things just to mention to you guys is to really Think about your future successful self.

And as I gave you this big list and some of these things are really expensive. I mean, computers are, you know, a couple thousand dollars, but when you think about your future successful self, create this list think in your mind and maybe create a mood board of what you want your office to look like.

What I'm sharing with you today are The pieces of equipment that I use in my business now. Okay. I've been in business a long time and I'm successful in my business. So I'm able to do that. But I will tell you from the beginning of my business, I always had good equipment and you know, I've always paid my own way in my business.

I didn't go get a business loan. I bootstrapped mine on credit cards. So I've done the same thing as you, but I always knew that having good computers and good equipment was going to help me from being stressed out and frustrated and overwhelmed. So I encourage you to think about your future successful self.

Imagine your office space as being, you know, beautiful space and work towards that. Okay. This is, this is the inspiration for you to continue to do the amazing work that you do to keep marketing, to keep growing your business so that you can have all of these things. To support you in your business. All right, you guys make sure you check the show notes for all of these things.

Again, these are affiliate links of my favorite things. Let me know what questions you have. Hope this has been helpful. Have an amazing week. We'll see you next time. Bye bye.

 
TechnologyDebbie Shadidtechnology, office recommendationsComment