George Kao's Blog, page 2

What is a "Hat Manual"?

16 years of running my business, and one simple tool has made the biggest difference in staying calm and productive — hat manuals.

These are basically checklists — step-by-step recipes for any task or project you do regularly.

Why is it called “hat manual”? You wear different hats in your business — when you put on your bookkeeping hat, you have a manual for that. When you put on your content creation hat, there’s a manual for that too.

Here’s the thing: a hat manual doesn’t need to b...

Client or Friend? Where do you draw the line?

I’ve worked with hundreds of clients since 2009, and naturally, I’ve had to reflect on this question:

How close is too close?

How intimate should we allow our clients to be with us? At what point is it wise to set boundaries?

As a soulpreneur, a heart-based service provider, you care deeply for your clients. Real connection is part of the magic. Yet we must also protect our own energy, and the integrity of our work.

I look forward to your thoughts about this. Here are some ways I’ve navigate...

Lots of (boring) routine in solopreneurship… how to make it interesting? 🤔

I’ve been creating content, usually several pieces per week, since 2014. I’ve also been a solopreneur running all aspects of my business since 2009. Naturally, I’ve had to deal with a lot of routine — tasks that must be done over and over…

A client asked me:

How do I handle the boredom of routine?

We know that consistency is key to progress. We have to keep showing up, day after day, to write the posts or make the videos, to serve the clients, to clear the inbox.

Yet, a part of us is restles...

Support is Everywhere

Are you pouring your heart into your authentic business, yet sometimes feel lonely, wondering where support will come from? Where are the kindred spirits, the allies who will understand and uplift your efforts?

You’re not alone in feeling this way. Trust that there is definitely a path forward — a way to uncover the connections and resources waiting for you.

It involves four key shifts:

1. Ask.

Remember that there is a subtle, often invisible, power that’s present in your life, right now. Al...

Reach More Clients via the “Offer Doorways” Strategy

Have you ever felt like you keep tweaking the same offer, wondering how to gently launch it again and again to reach more people?

How can you experiment with different ways of presenting the exact same service or product?

It’s useful to understand the concept of “Offer Doorways.”

Imagine your core offer — your coaching, your healing modality, your consulting framework — is like a magnificent castle, or a beautiful garden, transformative temple, or whatever image of an inviting refuge resonate...

Not doing the things you “should” do? How to dissolve procrastination…

Throughout most of my life, procrastination has been a debilitating condition. From childhood through school and into the early years of my business, I struggled a LOT with putting things off.

At times, it led to slight depression, as I realized that the only thing truly blocking me from success was — myself…

Gratefully, over the past decade, I gradually learned to dissolve procrastination. Not by forcing willpower, but by better understanding its roots, and applying specific, consistent strat...

Take Big (and Joyful) Action To Grow Your Business

We see successful solopreneurs and sometimes assume that it was “overnight” success, because they make their business look effortless. The reality is different. My own journey, and the journeys of most successful solopreneurs I know, have involved a lot more consistent effort than seems apparent.

There’s the necessity of taking a LOT more actions than most people realize.

Lasting success isn’t built on fleeting bursts of inspiration or frantic hustle. It’s built on consistent, purposeful actio...

The Client Awareness Journey - 5 Phases Towards Working With You

As coaches and consultants, we’re not just in the business of personal and professional transformation; we’re also guiding potential clients through what I call the “Awareness Journey.”

The model originated from Eugene Schwartz’s 1966 “Breakthrough Advertising” book, where he introduces the five stages of customer awareness. I’ve adapted it for the transformational process of coaching and consulting.

When you understand these 5 Awareness phases, you can tailor your message, connect with potent...

Reaching Affluent Consumers (ACs) on Social Media in 2025

This report was generated by Google Gemini Deep Research with prompting and adjustments by George Kao.

Introduction

The number of affluent consumers (ACs) is steadily increasing across the globe, making them a highly desirable target audience for a variety of businesses. Social media has become a critical tool for reaching this demographic, but with a wide array of platforms available, it can be challenging to determine the most effective channels for connecting with ACs in 2025. This report...

Artists - don't fear AI. Instead, be prolific. Build community.

“My daughter refuses to put anything into AI as she’s concerned that her creative work is then owned and shared by AI. I would love your thoughts on this! Are you concerned that if you enter all the information for a course, it can then be shared by AI?”

(For context — a big part of my business is selling my courses. When creating courses I often put the material into Ai for feedback and ideas.)

My response:

I’m very liberal with copyrights. In fact, all my content is uncopyrighted — see Ge...