72. Hot Seat: How to make your email automations feel personal with Rachel Smith

73. The real reason you can't bring your ideas to life (and what to do about it)

If you've ever caught yourself adding yet another idea to your list and calling it progress, this episode is for you. So many small business owners are sitting on genuinely brilliant ideas that never make it out of the planning phase, and it's not because the ideas are bad. But deciding what to act on, and actually committing to it, is one of the hardest parts of running an online business. In this solo episode I'm digging into why the idea-to-execution gap exists, what keeps us stuck in the loop, and what it looks like to finally get out of it. What we cover: * Why saving ideas feels productive but isn't moving the needle * The decision-making loop that keeps brilliant ideas stuck on the list * Why trying to execute everything at once is one of the biggest traps * The difference between planning and progress (and how to tell which one you're doing) * The questions to ask yourself to work out which idea is worth acting on right now * Why an outside perspective changes everything when you're stuck inside your own business * A real client story: how a membership owner went from months of overthinking to a full restructure that reduced member churn and reignited her motivation View the episode transcript here [https://link.candocontent.com/73]. Where to from here? Join Retention Lab🧪, the community to help you build a signature customer experience that keeps people coming back, gets them talking and grows your business without you having to start from scratch every single month. Join here! [https://link.candocontent.com/community] Find out how you can get my strategic customer experience brain on your brand here [https://link.candocontent.com/website]. Check out my favourite CX tools and resources here [https://candocontent.com/mastering-cx-resources]. 😍 Love the show? Hit subscribe or follow so you never miss a new episode. Submit your question [https://candocontent.com/what-would-they-do-podcast] so I can answer it in an upcoming episode (or invite the perfect guest expert!). Leave a positive review to help the show get found by more small business owners just like you. To leave a review: 👉 Find What Would They Do? on Apple Podcasts 👉 Scroll to ‘Ratings & Reviews’ 👉 Tap on the stars to rate the show before writing a review Post a screenshot with your key takeaway on your IG story and tag me @candocontent and #WWTDpod so I can repost your content.

72. Hot Seat: How to make your email automations feel personal with Rachel Smith

What if your email automations could do the heavy lifting of personalisation... without you writing a separate email for every type of subscriber? That's exactly what we dig into in this hot seat episode with Rachel Smith, freelance journalist, copywriter, and the founder of Rachel's List, a thriving jobs board and membership community for writers of all kinds. Rachel is a Retention Lab member, and came to me with a real headache around her email marketing, and we worked through it together live on the show. What we cover: * Why personalisation isn't really about first names (and what to do instead) * How to use application form data to create conditional content that feels bespoke * Trigger links and what they can tell you about hot leads sitting in your sequence * The case for re-engagement flows at the three and six month mark * How to incentivise feedback so people actually complete your surveys * Milestone tagging inside your email platform and why it matters for retention * Activity scoring to spot disengaged members before they quietly cancel Connect with Rachel Smith: https://rachelslist.com.au/ [https://rachelslist.com.au/] https://rachelsmith.com.au/ [https://rachelsmith.com.au/] https://www.instagram.com/rachelslist/ [https://www.instagram.com/rachelslist/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelsmithsydney/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelsmithsydney/] https://rachelslist.com.au/portfolio/the-pay-rates-report/ [https://rachelslist.com.au/portfolio/the-pay-rates-report/]  View the episode transcript here [https://link.candocontent.com/72]. Where to from here? Join Retention Lab🧪, the community to help you build a signature customer experience that keeps people coming back, gets them talking and grows your business without you having to start from scratch every single month. Join here! [https://link.candocontent.com/community] Find out how you can get my strategic customer experience brain on your brand here [https://link.candocontent.com/website]. Check out my favourite CX tools and resources here [https://candocontent.com/mastering-cx-resources]. 😍 Love the show? Hit subscribe or follow so you never miss a new episode. Submit your question [https://candocontent.com/what-would-they-do-podcast] so I can answer it in an upcoming episode (or invite the perfect guest expert!). Leave a positive review to help the show get found by more small business owners just like you. To leave a review: 👉 Find What Would They Do? on Apple Podcasts 👉 Scroll to ‘Ratings & Reviews’ 👉 Tap on the stars to rate the show before writing a review Post a screenshot with your key takeaway on your IG story and tag me @candocontent and #WWTDpod so I can repost your content.

71. Set your intentions, and I'll remind you in 60 days

Most of us think about customer experience as something we do for other people. But the most intentional brand experiences start with how clear you are about your own direction as a business owner. In this short and actionable episode, I'm introducing my brand new Love Letter to Future Self concept, a two-minute exercise where you set your intentions today and I send them back to you when you least expect it but probably need it most. What we cover: * Why the customer experience you create for others starts with the one you create for yourself * The one reflection question to sit with today * How the Love Letter to Future Self works and what happens after you hit submit * The sneaky on-brand surprise waiting for you on the other side Write your love letter 💌 to your future self right here. [https://candocontent.com/love-letter] View the episode transcript here [https://link.candocontent.com/71]. Where to from here? Join Retention Lab🧪, the community to help you build a signature customer experience that keeps people coming back, gets them talking and grows your business without you having to start from scratch every single month. Join here! [https://link.candocontent.com/community] Find out how you can get my strategic customer experience brain on your brand here [https://link.candocontent.com/website]. Check out my favourite CX tools and resources here [https://candocontent.com/mastering-cx-resources]. 😍 Love the show? Hit subscribe or follow so you never miss a new episode. Submit your question [https://candocontent.com/what-would-they-do-podcast] so I can answer it in an upcoming episode (or invite the perfect guest expert!). Leave a positive review to help the show get found by more small business owners just like you. To leave a review: 👉 Find What Would They Do? on Apple Podcasts 👉 Scroll to ‘Ratings & Reviews’ 👉 Tap on the stars to rate the show before writing a review Post a screenshot with your key takeaway on your IG story and tag me @candocontent and #WWTDpod so I can repost your content.

70. The 2026 State of the Customer Survey is open

Last year's State of the Customer Survey [https://candocontent.com/state-of-the-customer-survey] fundamentally shifted how I think about what online business owners and their customers need in the online space. Right now, I'm running it again, because 2026 feels like a very different conversation. In this short episode, I'm telling you exactly what's in it for you when you take five minutes to add your perspective. Revisit the 2025 State of the Customer Report in Episode 29 right here [https://candocontent.com/blog/what-customers-want-2025/]. What we cover: * Why 2026 needs its own data set and what's shifted since last year * How the two-hat structure of this survey gives you perspective on your own business * Why a more diverse respondent group makes the findings more useful for everyone * What you get for completing the survey and leaving your details * How your answers shape the conversations happening in the online business space this year View the episode transcript here [https://link.candocontent.com/70]. Where to from here? Join Retention Lab🧪, the community to help you build a signature customer experience that keeps people coming back, gets them talking and grows your business without you having to start from scratch every single month. Join here! [https://link.candocontent.com/community] Find out how you can get my strategic customer experience brain on your brand here [https://link.candocontent.com/website]. Check out my favourite CX tools and resources here [https://candocontent.com/mastering-cx-resources]. 😍 Love the show? Hit subscribe or follow so you never miss a new episode. Submit your question [https://candocontent.com/what-would-they-do-podcast] so I can answer it in an upcoming episode (or invite the perfect guest expert!). Leave a positive review to help the show get found by more small business owners just like you. To leave a review: 👉 Find What Would They Do? on Apple Podcasts 👉 Scroll to ‘Ratings & Reviews’ 👉 Tap on the stars to rate the show before writing a review Post a screenshot with your key takeaway on your IG story and tag me @candocontent and #WWTDpod so I can repost your content.

69. Behind my first virtual event: the format, the results, the tech, and what I'd do differently

Running a virtual event that people actually engage with from start to finish is something a lot of small business owners dream about, and spend way too long sitting on. In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on the Retention Games, my first out-of-the-box virtual event that featured 19 speakers, a crowd voting format, and physical contestant cards. If you've been thinking about hosting your own standout event and want a real, honest look at what's involved, this one's for you. What we cover: * What made the Retention Games format so different from a standard virtual summit * The results, including reach, list growth, podcast impact, and a conversion rate I'm genuinely happy with * The tech stack I used (mostly tools I already owned) * Why and how Airtable basically ran the whole event on autopilot * What attendees and speakers loved and the honest feedback I'm taking on board * The popularity contest misconception the numbers totally debunk (full reveal in the Retention Lab [https://link.candocontent.com/community] debrief on 19 June!) * Whether I'd do it again (spoiler: absolutely) and what the 2027 edition might look like Tools I mentioned (some affiliate links): Showit [https://showit.com/r/tkm4d0j7] Thrivecart [https://candocontent--checkout.thrivecart.com/thrivecart-standard-account/] Airtable [https://airtable.com/invite/r/vcRjzYbN] Blockbuilder [https://app.myblockbuilder.com/?ref=769bc1fd] GoBrunch [https://appsumo.8odi.net/oNykQO] Convertbox [https://candocontent--sslcheckout.thrivecart.com/cb-lifetime/] Hotjar [https://www.hotjar.com/] View the episode transcript here [https://link.candocontent.com/69]. Where to from here? Join Retention Lab🧪, the community to help you build a signature customer experience that keeps people coming back, gets them talking and grows your business without you having to start from scratch every single month. Join here! [https://link.candocontent.com/community] Find out how you can get my strategic customer experience brain on your brand here [https://link.candocontent.com/website]. Check out my favourite CX tools and resources here [https://candocontent.com/mastering-cx-resources]. 😍 Love the show? Hit subscribe or follow so you never miss a new episode. Submit your question [https://candocontent.com/what-would-they-do-podcast] so I can answer it in an upcoming episode (or invite the perfect guest expert!). Leave a positive review to help the show get found by more small business owners just like you. To leave a review: 👉 Find What Would They Do? on Apple Podcasts 👉 Scroll to ‘Ratings & Reviews’ 👉 Tap on the stars to rate the show before writing a review Post a screenshot with your key takeaway on your IG story and tag me @candocontent and #WWTDpod so I can repost your content.