The story of Tulpa is the story of my personal growth. I made all the mistakes of a person who grows with borrowed money. But in the end, it was thanks to Tulpa that I became interested in marketing and wanted to figure it out. For the first six months of WebSarafan’s life, I simply blogged and asked experts I was interested in about marketing. All this time I invested my money, created an audience, and then started trying to monetize it somehow. I tried doing webinars. I tried to organize an offline event, which was attended by 15 people. I went to a conference in America and interviewed marketers there, but it didn’t go well either. The only thing that was moderately successful was webinars. A lot of people began to gather there. They brought the first income: I decided to sell webinar recordings, and the audience was ready to pay for them.

Why did you end up choosing such an unusual format as podcasts for your experts? Not the most popular format in Russia.

Believe it or not, I just love podcasts. I listen to them quite a lot myself, they help me find the information I need, and it’s logical that I chose this particular format. It's impossible to do something that doesn't excite you. At some point you will quit anyway.

Also, before podcasts, we tried a lot of things: I blogged, we did webinars, we did videos, we promoted it all. But in real life, neither one nor the other took root. And I chose podcasts as a format that is understandable and convenient for me personally. I send the nanny and the children outside in the morning, I already have an appointment, I have questions ready. All I do is sit in front of the computer and write down what the person tells me. I just love it, and it’s convenient for me to do it while sitting in sweatpants in front of the computer.

And finally, what is especially nice: we have . The market is empty. There are 10 or 20 business podcasts, but given the potential size and market capacity, that doesn't count.

Listen, there are recognized stars in the field of marketing - Igor Mann, Alexander Levitas, Inna Alekseeva, Oleg Barmin... Why aren’t they on your podcasts or at events?

I interviewed Mann, but for the blog. But in general, I don’t really like talking to stars. I'm looking for new, interesting people who haven't yet acquired layers of fame and self-importance.

In addition, my audience is new and small companies. And I want people to associate themselves with the people I talk to. And so that it would be close to them. So that the guest’s experience can be transferred to your own experience, your business, and run inspired to do something further.

How do you choose podcast characters?

I take those people who are interesting to me personally. Speakers come to me, I like them, and I record podcasts. Dasha Manelova makes an Instagram account for us. Vitaly Pronin was our FB expert. I am curious, I am interested in communicating with them, and I want to tell others about them.

Who are you reading right now and who is useful in your daily work?

I haven't been reading much lately, I've been listening a lot more. I listen to Western podcasts. I select them for my specific tasks. Yesterday the team asked the question “how to keep participants on the platform.” I have this question itching, so I go to the Internet, look for someone who talks about this topic and find useful instructions about retention. That’s why I read almost nothing random or fictional. Just what I need to solve my problems.

How did Sarafan get its summits? As a separate product or to promote other products?

We started selling webinars, and it turned out that it worked. But here we came up against quality. The speaker has a bad light, he has a refrigerator in the background, or he himself is in a wrinkled shirt and sleepy. Should I sell this? Respond with your reputation?

And then I dragged the speakers “to me.” More precisely, I began to gather several speakers, rent a hall, equipment - and that’s how summits appeared. People are already trying to copy our format, but most of the conversion of such events into sales is only 3-4%, while ours is much higher. Simply because we have experience and a huge number of features that we have come up with. The project plan for the summit has a minimum of 150 points - things that we will definitely do.

I want specifics. Tell me any five things that need to be done for a successful event?

Every time it's something new. For example, we used to be shy, but now we started asking for phone numbers of those who subscribe to the summit. A reminder about the event was sent by phone an hour before the start. This allowed us to increase attendance by 30%! And it did not cause any rejection, which we were so afraid of.

Or we created a sales system via e-mail. It seems like everyone has been able to do this for a long time and knows that sales are made through mailings, but it didn’t work for me. I went to study with Pyotr Ponomarev. And he told me how to make sales chains of letters. Together we figured out names, logic, transitions. And our sales have increased. Instantly.

Plus the hosting of the event itself. My questions, inclusion, energy - this is our feature that others do not have. We're not having a conference, we're having a radio show. We read comments from the chat, engage, and play with the audience. All this makes us unique, this is our differentiation, if in a smart way (I’ve learned it now, I know a lot of marketing words!)

You have a lot of work. How did you manage to assemble a team around these ideas?

While working on my first project, I learned how to hire people. At first I hired people and didn’t understand what I expected from them. After all, in the large companies where I worked before, they hire them for you, and you command what you have. Only at the end of my work in Tulpa did I realize that my work format was unusual and not suitable for Russia. Therefore, the team often included people who did not fit into the company. And there were problems that no one solved. In general, it was hard.

I'm not a micromanager. I'm not saying what to do. I hire a person to do what I can’t do. Let him be cooler than me. But don’t let him turn to look at me after every step. As a result, I developed my own management style: I realized that I set goals, we discuss together how we will go towards them, and once a week we meet and discuss how we are going and where we have come. The employee must think for himself. And now I select people for myself who are satisfied with this.

My current team came to the project not just looking for work, but to come to me personally.

I would say that they came to me first, and to the project second.

Personal branding helped me. I write quite a lot on the Internet, and from my posts it is clear what kind of leader I am and what my values ​​are. There are people who understand that they will not work with me. And there are those who, on the contrary, fall in love, and they only want to work with me. Therefore, if I need a person, now I just write about it on Facebook, and in 2 days I receive from 50 to 100 resumes.

Quite a lot... How to stand out from the crowd? How to impress you?

I take people of my blood. When I was looking for an editor, I received a lot of resumes. At some point I got tired of reading them and only read teasers. I read a letter from a girl from MIF, who somewhere saw Fyodor Konyukhov’s rowing boat (on which he circumnavigated the world alone), was impressed, wrote to him, and together they wrote a book and published his diary. I immediately realized that I needed such a person. And we’ve been working with her for a year and a half now. There are some stories that help you get to know people and understand that you belong together and work together.

Do you think ideas that don’t give the inspirer anything financially have a right to life?

In my family, I mean my parents’ family, it was once believed that only such ideas had the right to life. That you should work for joy, not for money, and so on. My dad is a climber, he has been going to the mountains for many years, all this hiking romance of the 80s, I think, is understandable. what are his ideals... I thought the same for a long time. The main thing is to do what you like. And now I understand that money is the lifeblood of any project. Money gives you freedom, time and strength to experiment. Money gives life. They give you new contacts, new people, new stories. There will be no development for a project that has no money at all. Just as any organism will die without blood, so the best idea will die and wither if you don’t come up with a worthy monetization for it.

You implement the most daring ideas so brightly and in front of everyone, try different formats... Is there anything that scares you and makes you doubt yourself?

The scary thing is that summits are not a permanent income. That is, if we didn’t do the summit or did it unsuccessfully, then we simply won’t have anything to eat. It is necessary to create some kind of permanent platform that will cover basic costs. I want a constant, predictable income. We are working on it, and we have launched the first test group.

Own show in America. The goal you recently announced is very ambitious. Do you believe that “if I could do it here, I can do it there too?” Or are you taking a more careful approach somehow?

I just really want to do it. I believe that I can do this. Yes, our own show in America. Can. And I will do it. I don’t think “I could - I couldn’t”, I don’t compare. I once read from Jobs that you need to live every day as if this day were your last. And this is how I live. I choose what is important to me and do it. One American billionaire answered the question “What takes to make money?” said Courage. It takes courage to make money. I agree. It's so hard just doing something different from what you usually do.

I just allow myself to try. Well, it won't work. But I got so much out of my failed projects that I would never give them up! A mistake is still luck because it gives us experience and moves us to a new point. There we can try again.

You recently published almost nude photos of yourself on Facebook. Where is the acceptable limit of outrageousness for you?

Of course, there is a border, but it is inside me. I have become much bolder in terms of provocations and in terms of my openness to feedback than I was before Sarafan. But I'm still cautious. I wouldn't publish any nudity. But to excite and attract attention to myself, yes, I can tease.

Recently Olga Yurkovskaya was received very hostilely in the group. How did you feel, as the owner of the site, looking at what was happening?

Yes, there was a lot of negativity surrounding her post. I don't like negativity. And I don’t care who the author of the post is or why this negativity suddenly appeared on my blog. In general, I don’t like it when people talk nasty things about each other. I can be removed from the group for personal insults. I can delete offensive comments. But in this case, the advertiser (Olga) was happy with everything, and she believed that this was normal promotion - in this way she was filtering out her target audience. Therefore, the post remained.

You need to understand that from the moment the number of people in the group reached 10,000, the community gained influence. And of course, as in any society, in our group there is a struggle for attention, jealousy, and aggression. But I try to have as little negativity as possible and more constructiveness. But even my mentor confirmed to me that it is impossible to be completely without aggression in such a group.

Wow, you have a mentor! And who is it? How did you find him?

And this is such an American theme. Your income level is equal to the average level of the people you interact with. If you don’t like your income level, you need to change your environment. And of course, if you set yourself a difficult task, raise the bar high, then you need a mentor. I thought for a long time, who should I go to? And how is this even done? You need to come up and ask “will you be my mentor?” For what? I myself would not be ready to waste my time on someone, and I don’t understand why someone should waste theirs on me.

Therefore, I act like this: I have a specific problem and I have an understanding of who is well versed in this problem. I come to him and ask a practical question: “Listen, I have a problem here - tell me how to do it...”. And this is how communication begins.

At the same time, I try not to strain the person. I will arrive when it is convenient and where it is convenient, I will not bother you with conversations about the eternal or excessive attention. And I am very grateful to everyone who helps me in solving my problems.

Do you think Websarafan is possible without Kudashkina? Do you want to sell it someday?

Is business youth possible without its leaders? Obviously not. Same with WebSarafan. Although this is not a community named after Taya Kudashkina. I don’t consider or call it a personal project, and I think that at some point it will grow into independence.

For now it is impossible without me, but I believe that we will grow and develop, we will fine-tune operational processes, we will find responsible people for different directions and at this moment it will be possible to step aside. Then, of course, I'll sell it. I know for sure that I cannot work on one project for 15 years, like Zuckerberg. At some point I will definitely get bored. I love the beginning. When from scratch to a high goal.

How to find your calling: 5 mechanics from Taisiya Kudashkina

Taisiya Kudashkina A very interesting person! :)

For dessert, an exclusive interview with Taisiya Kudashkina: 3 tips for content marketing.

Frank conversation with yourself...

“It’s different for everyone. I’ve been searching for myself all last year!

And I will also study this one - I found the direction, but I did not allow myself to take the right image. She didn’t exactly give it. To myself.
My education is in applied mathematics, and all my life I have been engaged in some “near applied” professions. Starting from a database analyst, then product management, business analyst, then my own projects, which are not creative, but tech-oriented.

Natural sciences rule, mathematics puts brains in their place, engineers are always valuable, intellectuals will find a profession. An engineer can do everything, a humanist can do something within the scope of his profession. These are the attitudes of my family/childhood/life.
And I strictly follow family covenants. I've been following for 31 years. I forget about passion, I’m afraid to admit to myself, and especially to those around me, that my profession is not brains. That my profession is chatter, conversations, and I need to work with my face, tongue, hands, body, beautiful face. I’m great at networking, I feel people, emotions and am full of empathy. I know how to tell stories and inspire people to move. I know how to listen. I'm curious. And it's unique. And only I have it.

And it is true. And these are all the thoughts of the last 365 days. Exactly in that order.

I started with a sundress. But how?

I can’t start filming right away? Host a show? To interview? What if I can’t? What if they laugh? I just started with a blog.

It seems that in my crowd writing blogs is normal, it’s possible. Then I started making podcasts. Still, there is a backup - there is no filming, not a face, there is behind a computer screen, and everything is corrected, everything is then processed, you can run away and not show it. At times I put myself in cold water - like coming to a conference and starting interviewing everyone I could get my hands on. Then I started hosting summits and moderating conferences. It was the summits that gave me the impetus - I have to host events, talk shows, and review what is happening. These summits give me energy and fill me with happiness.

This is mine. Boltology of pure water!

Each new small step to the side gave a little more confidence and loosened the shackles of iron templates. I was treated cruelly as a child, why?

Etching is no longer an easy task.
And this year. This year, my main goal is to hold a huge business event in St. Petersburg (again, not because I want to be an event organizer, but because it will give me the opportunity to make 3-5 films/try myself as a director, host/moderate/chat huge event and save money) At NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY.

Take the children and leave, finally, to study what you have wanted for so long. Start doing your own talk show, doing your own interviews, and stop pretending that I’m an entrepreneur, or a geek, or that I like marketing, start-ups, SMM, or whatever else I picked up “seriously” along the way.

I like to talk, smile, show off, tell stories and evoke emotions. This is where I’ll put an end.

But about several mechanics that led me in that direction - in the article. But that doesn't matter anymore.

The important thing is that I told you all this and now I can’t get away with it.

We'll have to do/go/implement. Hold me by the scruff of the neck, comrades! "

Taisiya Kudashkina

The day started early, rainy and happy because winter time had not yet arrived and 8 am in Kyiv and St. Petersburg had the same hour measurement. The only thing that gave me peace was applied mathematics, which I discovered in Taisiya Kudashkina’s personal file. This is what I was going to ask first, having finally discovered the video call button on Skype.

About the choice of education, profession and vocation

“If we talk about conscious and unconscious, then mathematics is not particularly my situation,” Taisiya cheerfully and informatively answered this question of mine, “especially programming.” Of course, I could have waited a year and enrolled in international economics, as I had originally planned, but for some reason then it seemed to me that if I didn’t enroll now, then that would be it.

“Everything,” she repeated, and I realized that the word “everything” in her case would mean much more than three modest letters. Because Taisiya Kudashkina is a hurricane, an ideological leader, a motivator and a thinker in one beautiful face, which looked so pretty on the screen that I thought about a completely different field that would suit her perfectly. And it wasn't marketing.

Yes, I always wanted to become either an actress or a TV presenter,” Taisiya confirmed my thoughts and put on headphones, “now this dream is very much manifested and I understand that it was not in vain, this is really what I need to do. At all my podcasts, summits and everything else, when you enter the room and there are 100-150 people there, this energy of the crowd just comes back for me.

But you do something for the dream itself, right? – I couldn’t resist and took a closer look. “This year I started doing something, I already went somewhere to watch TV,” said Taisiya, without blinking even once, “but if I act directly in this direction, then I will have to be on the side of the beggar, and go through castings there.” And some kind of impostor syndrome arises. I mean, there are people who take part in all this, who can do a lot of things, but here you come, you don’t know anything and you can’t do anything. In order to participate in filming, you need to be chosen, well, that is, this whole story when you need to go over to the side of the person who is looking for work - this is no longer for me. But I signed up for a drama teacher, yeah, so that's something.

This is already a lot, I thought. Because impostor syndrome can only be treated with small steps, which, like a dotted line on a map... will lead you wherever you want. Even to another continent. In America.

About 5 years of life in America

“America began to interest me in my third year,” Taisiya recalls her time at university in mathematics, “at first it was the work & travel program, which few people knew about then.” – Just think, promo-girl, then work & travel – Taisiya, it seems, has been ahead of her circle since birth. And she confirms:

Despite the fact that I love Russia very much, I have always been very open, too naive, too emotional for this country,” she says. “Now I can say - this is who I am, but at school, for example, they bullied me. People didn’t seem to perceive me at all,” Taisiya says easily and simply, and obviously this is not her problem. Because - in America - everyone there is like that. Everyone is active, everyone gets up at 5-6 in the morning and works, well, at least in the Valley. I just started breathing there. I realized that it was not me who was different, but somehow a different place. And I decided that I would leave. And she left immediately after graduating from university.

It’s that simple - I decided and did it. “She is not only fast, progressive and open, she is also very brave,” I thought, and Taisiya continued:

I felt very cool there. I had a team, a salary that was unrealistic by the standards of a person without a special education who came to conquer Silicon Valley. “I came as a data analyst, but just imagine me at the computer,” she said, and this was another discovery, along with mathematics, that did not fit into any idea. “I came as an intern, but little by little I found myself on the business side,” this is not at all surprising, I thought, trying to keep up with Taisiya’s flow of words. “I felt great, I was paid good money, there were no children and no husband, I went wherever I wanted,” she says, and I can just see the sun, palm trees and blond hair that never stops at anything.

“Somewhere in the third year of such a life, I met my ex-husband,” says Taisiya, and this phrase does not want to fit into my head, because everyone usually meets their future husband and leaves for the ocean and summer all year round, rather than returning to the harsh Russian winters. - At that time, everything was developing in Russia and looked promising, and my husband suggested moving, but I agreed. In general, it all ended with him being there again, and I’m here with the children, trying to go back,” Taisiya says cheerfully, and I understand that the phrase “getting to know your ex-husband” didn’t come about that way for nothing. “Well, from time to time I throw in this whining of mine,” says Taisiya and it doesn’t look like whining at all, “Many people tell me why are you attached to this valley of yours, there are other places, Europe in the end, but I decided - no.” If I move, it will only be there.

And rightly so, I think, because there is no point in lowering your standards, especially if you find a place where you can breathe well, you know exactly where it is. But, is it possible to take a sundress there?

About your business

“I see websarafan as a big company,” Taisiya answers, “Two years ago, when I started the company, I saw its scale.” And definitely, I will develop this from every corner of the earth. - Taisiya once brought the idea of ​​tulp.ru from the USA, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this time she takes her brainchild there. It will be logical. And fair enough.

“Can you imagine yourself in a business that doesn’t have a social overtone,” I ask, calculating the usefulness of tulp and websarafan.ru – obviously, both companies are not about money. “It seems to me that no, and not because I’m there about saving the world and all that,” says Taisiya, “It seems to me that business brings money only when there is value behind it.” Even if I do another business, I won’t be able to start with an idea that I don’t like. Because an idea makes it possible to dream about something bigger; if there is no wow-thing in a business, then it will not take off. But I’m not interested in just working and that’s it.

It seems that this is the explanation for this unbridled motivation, which is transmitted even by a wireless connection, determined by glowing eyes, confident actions and thousands of words that do not need to be obtained through much thought. A motivation like Hachiko will never betray.

“I always wanted to have a dog more than a cat,” Taisiya answers my furry question. “If I have my own house, the first thing I will do is get a big dog,” she says, and I think about the book she should write in this house.

Yes, of course, it’s logical to write a book,” says Taisiya, “especially since you have so much experience.” But we need to collect everything, and there is no time for this.

Two children who have never seen kindergarten, a business that has never seen boundaries, a girl who has never seen obstacles - this is not an American film, and not a dream. This is a real reality, built with your own hands.

“I’m a person like everyone else, I’m not a super hero,” says Taisiya, “and, naturally, I also have periods of frustration, but in 90 percent of cases, sleep solves all problems. Because mothers generally tend to push themselves to the physical limit, and all this depression and lack of desire to do anything is a protective reaction of the body. That’s why I’m already asleep at 10,” she says, and it becomes clear why it’s 8:30 in the morning and she doesn’t sound at all sleepy. If this voice is sleepy at all. Or confused.

About marriage

“I don’t want to get married for the sake of being married,” Taisiya answers my unexpected question as quickly as all the previous ones, “I want to find a mature, interesting, cool partner with whom I will enjoy living and communicating,” she says easily, and it looks like there are no lists of compatibility, expected qualities and necessary requirements. Because compatibility is not on the list. And not in expectations. She is in herself, her own attitudes. “Yes, it seems to me that it was somehow easier to get a divorce,” says Taisiya, “but everything happened the way it was, and I worked out all my prejudices and unnecessary emotions with a psychologist, so now I’m quite open.”

And this word does not convey the whole essence of this girl. Because there is no word that describes drive, energy, free thinking, the right wave and understanding. Understanding that no one is born perfect. You don’t become progressive while lying on the couch. Wealth is not in the open sky. But success does not live on its own, outside of your participation. If you need something, do it; if you’re scared of something, or see a psychologist, if you don’t know something, coach is a wonderful word.

In general, “turn on your brain - and everything will be fine,” I remembered Taisiya’s quote and left Skype to go to websarafan. Because 9 am is the best time to find out how, where, what, why and why. And the morning is the best part of the day in order to start a new day.

Hello, friends!

Today is a significant day for us! Firstly, we are publishing the twentieth interview, and secondly, we decided to change the name of the project and the “Expert Answers” ​​section to a new one – “Your Way”.

In our opinion, this name is more suitable and reveals more the meaning of the project, as well as our heroes! Indeed, each of our 20 guests is either already walking along His own Path, or is actively seeking it, understanding the deep importance of this. And all areas of life, one way or another, are subordinated to this goal.

Taisiya is a very striking example of a seeker and experimenter. A person who explores life and its limitless possibilities from all sides. Her answers charge you with positivity, energy, and the desire to change your life and develop!

Let's get acquainted with our guest's answers. I am sure that in the process of reading, like me, you will think more than once, smile, note useful thoughts and draw important conclusions for yourself!

Tell us a little about yourself. What do you do. What achievements do you have? What projects are you involved in? What are your hobbies.

Hello! I, Taisiya!

I take care of myself, my projects and my children.

My interests: 5 years in corporate companies in America, tulp.ru is a startup with two million unique visitors per month and two million dollars in investments, websarafan.ru is a startup with a year and a half history and hundreds of thousands of subscribers and listeners.

I only participate in my own projects: two businesses and two children, four startups on hand, it’s not a bad task, I’ll tell you :)

My hobbies? Me myself and my children. That's all the hobbies. There is so much I don’t understand about myself, I don’t know, I can’t figure it out.

There are so many interesting things hidden in our unconscious. And children help me, highlight themselves, and theirs, and shortcomings, and treasures. Everything is real. They’ll pull everything out, and you’ll have to figure it out/pick around :)

1. THE WAY TO YOURSELF

What motivates and inspires you?

Three pillars: nature, children, new things. Curiosity is the main culprit of my adventures. Nature and children are always in motion, always changing, always flowing, always forward. They are always new.

And I myself am the same, always new and interesting - all the time I need something, I try something, I do something. I take on a lot and give up a lot. But I don’t regret it: if I quit, it means there’s no need, to hell with it. You have to open the world further and try everything you want before you die...

Do not laugh. We will all end up there. We will die, it’s not far off, and if we don’t do it now, we won’t have time later. We won’t have time to do anything, life will pass, fly by. The adrenaline will only remain from the new. From family and adventure. That's what motivates me. Near death motivates :)

What is your daily routine? What do you make sure you do every day?

I'm planning. I meditate. I am writing my morning pages. I communicate with children. I do sports. The list of required habits in my application, where I mark them, is more than 20. The most important habit is not to watch TV and not to hang out on social networks. Try it, a million hours and you will instantly free up the flow for creativity.

I'm unlucky, all my work is on social networks. Facebook is a working tool for me, I communicate there, find experts and clients. I solve any problems, even everyday ones, through him. And I hang out all the time, I can sit in it for 5-6 hours easily.

How am I saved? I force set the timer for 15-20 minutes. I log in using the timer and exit when it beeps, even if the task is not completed. I'm taking a break. I’m going to cook, do push-ups, and hug the kids. I think, I shake myself, I realize. Should I go further to the social network? Or are there other plans? So that it doesn't get sucked in, damn it.

Do you do any physical training? What does this give you?

I've been swimming all my life. I love this state. I clearly know that after 200 meters, my head begins to turn off and all that remains is the flapping of my arms. Raz, right. Rrraz, left. A meditative state, beautiful, and how he was reborn after a thousand strokes. Your head becomes empty, and you can fit in a lot of new things.

Now I adapt to the children - it doesn’t matter what I do, as long as I do something. Any sport is great as long as you do it regularly. For example, the kid is alpine skiing, I have an hour and a half training session. While they are skating, I can’t swim; there is no pool next to the slope. What can I do? Can run. Or ride parallel to their training, on the slope. Or just walk up/down the hill if it’s dirty and you don’t have money for the cable car. This is how I live, this is how I train.

What do you do to develop intelligence and memory?

Fortunately, or unfortunately, now I am in a period where I “grab” information, quickly stuff it into myself. Without drinking, without prolonging the pleasure. The need for knowledge is so great that there is no time for contemplation or reflection.

Just hungry, what contemplation? I listen to it a lot: in queues, in the car, while jogging. Anyhow, I put myself through practice for business problems and solutions that are interesting to me at the moment. 3-5 books a month and 3-5 podcasts - and then I run to implement them.

Sometimes it catches you, then I read the same thing over and over again. Recently there was a book on setting up automatic sales chains, which I read 100,500 times while I was moving this stone in my business. Read! This is a great gift to humanity! Read!

2. PATH TO SUCCESS

What does real (true) success mean in your understanding?

Be in your place. In harmony with yourself. Family. The surrounding world. Everyone has this harmony and different concepts about it. Well, this is where true success lies: to find your own recipe for happiness, not someone else’s, but your own.

Even if your success is living in a tiny village on the banks of the Volga. If it makes you happy, don't look around. Look deep. Inside yourself. There's the answer.

What, in your opinion, are the main secrets of success and a successful personality?

So what? If you like to knit socks and you give it to the world, then this is your path. And if you enjoy it, truly, without embellishment, and not in public, then you are successful. To the core. And happier than many “successful” people in public, in fact. You shouldn't be afraid of yourself.

What do you use to improve your personal effectiveness and productivity?

I plan a lot. The goals are big, ambitious, if you don’t concentrate hard, nothing will happen. You can philander if your goals are close, if you have a backup, if you are now in the “rest” season of life.

It’s spring season for me now, spring is everywhere: children need to be raised (small), businesses need to be nurtured (just started). This requires extreme concentration on the main thing.

How do I achieve it? Every week weekly review. Every evening - a plan for the next day. During the day, I emerge from the routine, look at the planner, what’s on the list? What's most important today? What's great and what just can't help but do? Does it match the goals? Am I going where I want?

And a million questions. Which I answer every day. Even if it’s difficult and painful, you still have to answer. The main thing is to learn to be honest with yourself.

Is time management present in your life? What are you doing to get more done? Do you plan your days, weeks, months, years? How detailed? What planning tips can you give?

This year I was finally able to plan. It took me a long time to achieve this, for years. I started with GDT by David Allen, but the book is not easy, and implementing all this in itself is quite a task. And then you still have to adhere to this system, every day, for years. Only then does it work!

It took me... Two/three years to clear my head and make plans? Now, having already read 100,500 books on this topic, I mix techniques and constantly try new mechanics.

By the way, we in Russia also have our own very cool specialists in time management and productivity.

One of them is Maxim Dorofeev, I recorded a podcast with them - he really helped me finish my system, finish it, fine tuning in English is called. By the way, the podcast is free and can be downloaded. There are tons of information, checklists, a whole mini-training on productivity.

Maxim explains about the phenomenon of productive hours, which he calls thought fuel. There are only 2 of them per day. Everything else is worse, concentration is not the same, the brain cannot handle complex tasks. This means that these first two productive hours should be loaded with the most important tasks.

Have you noticed? In the morning, for example, if you go on social networks, you can’t do anything else. Right? But because you wasted your most important and wonderful mental fuel on nonsense. And now you need to do normal tasks - write, think, squash important things.

And you already have everything, there is no thought fuel. And you sit there, picking your nose, and in this state you can sit on a task that takes half an hour for 4 hours. Because they gave everything. To the wonderful facebook or vk. Don't get caught, don't waste your mental fuel!

What do you need to do to achieve your goals? Your "signature recipe".

Nothing supernatural. All recipes are known. Who would do it? Global goals are being written. Then goals for five years. Then for a year. Then for a month. And then for a day. And so every day. You dream, you plan, you fool around - that’s the whole secret. No magic pills. Great people are nourished by work!

How do you feel about money? What advice can you give on managing personal finances?

Control. Especially when there is money. I was in this trap when there is a lot of money - it seems, why control? There still are, and there will be more. And then, rrrrr. And there are no more of them... The feeding trough is over, and you are at the trough...

And then you start to think, turn your head on. Where are they? Where are they going? How to invest? What to do when they are not there? Basic hygiene that 90% of people don’t do: control your income/finances and expenses. Start with this, you will already be cooler than everyone else. Cooler than I was a year ago, for sure!

How often do you study? How? Tell us about your most recent experience and what you learned there?

How do I personally train? I feel like I don’t understand something, or I’m stuck, or stuck, and books don’t help - I organize summits (that’s what we call our online conferences) and study together with another 3000-4000 thousand people who are just as interested as me. This is how I train.

But not everyone, of course, solves their queries this way. Look for books, courses, podcasts. Here, on websarafan.ru, you can listen to American podcasts, oh, so many interesting things, different, not like ours.

I'm usually looking for an answer to my specific problem. For example, I need to increase sales in my business. I go to Google and start searching for “how to raise your sales.” Or I don’t want anything in life, I’m stuck, I don’t understand what I want and where to go.

I am looking for specific materials, courses, a book on the topic of “searching for oneself.”

3. SOCIETY

What personality traits do you like and what do you dislike in people?

I love open people. I hate and don’t understand how to work and live with insincerity. I can’t keep anything to myself, and I expect the same from others. I want partnerships, living, real ones.

I don’t need puppeteers, I don’t hire them for the company. I want to develop together, grow together. Do you have ambitions? Are you ready to voice them? So, you should join my company. And maybe as friends. But a filter is required.

What is family to you? What does she give you?

She gives me everything. My family is small and a little broken. But on the other hand, my children manage, like water, to fill all the space that exists in my heart. Rugrats. I love you like an ordinary woman. Unquestioningly, with snot, with admiration.

Everything I do is for them. I drive, I educate, I show. I even want to do business for them. I will record audio courses and ask smart people. About life, about how to understand yourself. About how to be successful.

We don’t have such materials in the Russian-speaking space, but I want to let children listen, show examples, tell stories. So, I'll do it myself. Because I have to raise them and make “people” out of them.

Be in love. Love unconditionally. Not to love yourself in them, not to realize your ambitions, but to love them themselves, for what they are in themselves. Even if you want more. Even if they don’t get a grade in chess and don’t play hockey very well.

I see my three parental tasks as follows: health, values ​​and finding oneself. My task is to make sure they are healthy. That’s why we now go not to developmental activities, but to sports. My task is to transfer my values ​​to them. Don't take someone else's. Look around. Read. Don't be afraid of new things.

What are your values? First, you define yours, write them down, and then it will be easier for the children to convey them, because you know exactly what yours are.

My job is to help you find your purpose. Stand nearby, do not breathe down the back at the moment when they are groped. Try giving different things. Show them the world. Tell me what happens. Stir up curiosity. Give books, give experience. To find yourself, find an occupation, find a passion. Inspiration. That's all. Three tasks, everything else is secondary.

Do you have a clear most important goal or mission in life?

There are two goals - to raise children, to make people out of them, one. And find yourself. Your purpose. God brings us all here for a reason, He gives us all a piece of ourselves.

Our task is to find the divine within ourselves, pull it out and give it around. What are you doing? Why do you live? How do you change the world? All these are not idle questions, but the most pressing ones. What is your purpose on Earth?

It is not necessary to launch rockets into space, no. You can tell stories, teach children. But with passion, giving all of yourself. This is your purpose. Look for him here. That's the mission. I'm looking for.

I've only just started moving in that direction. This story doesn’t come easily to me; until I was 32, I wasn’t doing anything at all. Not divine, but economically profitable. And now I want to find mine, what I want, and not what my parents wanted.

5. YOUR OWN BUSINESS

What advice do you have for those who are just about to start entrepreneurship?

Find what makes you excited. The business you should do is not the one that is profitable, but the one you are interested in doing. Now is a phenomenal time - everything can be monetized.

No, really. The Earth is full of all sorts of freaks. Which cats are photographed. Or they make dresses from meat (which you-know-who-buys). Or they make crazy videos. Or they talk about Hollywood movie stars. We monetize any whim,

The Internet gives you this opportunity. Do you like swimming in ice holes? This means there are 100,500 more people in this world who also like it. So, go, swim, and bring others along with you. Then everything will happen - fame, respect, money, everything will come. The first is passion, then everything else. And the business comes from there.

6. PHILOSOPHY

What do you think an ideal life should be like?

Everyone has a different one. The ideal is only yours. Only invented by you and implemented only by you. Mine is a house in the mountains, with a veranda, a garden, and the Internet. With the ocean and my children around...

Yours - in its own way. Give someone the city. Someone wants silence. Some people need 6 children. Someone is a loner. Don't care about other people's opinions and make your own happiness.

Your wishes to the readers of the “Your Own Guru” project.

Find yourself and do only what you like! There can be no other advice, since this is the most important thing - to realize what the Lord sent you to Earth for!

Thank you, Taisiya, for the useful and interesting answers! Health, energy and good luck to you in your hectic and interesting life!

You can view Taisiya’s contacts on the “Your Own Guru” website.

Editor and project leader:

Participation is free.

In order for there to be content, it needs to be written. You won't learn to write

until you start writing

Taisiya Kudashkina. Who is she:

From the Author

The first time I heard the name Kudashkina was from our Yana Ruleva. Kudashkina this, Kudashkina that, but Kudashkina records podcasts, but Kudashkina does summits... Podcasts - what is this all of a sudden? Summits - are there enough of them around? Okay, let's listen and see. And now I'm already in Group . I joined, I read, I follow. Subscribed myself. I also read and follow. Tynts-tynts: a notification clicks in the upper corner at least twice a day - something new has been posted, there is movement, a discussion.

Then Yana invited Taisiya to speak at our online conference with the topic “Recognition cannot be created.” How to look for yourself and move forward, even if you are bursting at the seams. That was the first time I heard her live. How much fire there is in it! Some kind of otherworldly energy and certainly not St. Petersburg drive. Then I didn’t know yet: in fact, she is not a St. Petersburg, but a Californian young lady, at the age of 33 she was included in the Forbes list of the top 100 young entrepreneurs in Europe. But a blog and a community are not entertainment, it’s a business that should feed and provide a springboard for experiments.

Then our Yana appeared on her podcast. She told us about our experience of organizing a remote team and the rhythm of planning meetings according to Harnish Verne. The day after recording the podcast, Taisiya took and implemented the rules of planning meetings in her team. So I realized that she doesn’t just listen and communicate, she absorbs and implements.

In August 2016, we met live in St. Petersburg at the WebSarafan summit. Six months later they became neighbors: Taisiya moved to Sochi with her children and cat. Why put off life until later, when it’s a thrill to wake up with a view of the sea andadmiring roses in your own garden?Now we communicate more often. And, I’ll tell you, living Kudashkina is not fire. This is a whole Firebird.

They say about such people that thanks to them the earth turns. Children, project, moving, movement, summits, podcasts. From the outside it seems easy. From the conversation you understand - it’s not sweet. It’s just that, like Olympic champions, she works hard until the result is achieved. And then she stands on a pedestal, albeit with tears in her eyes, like that Irina Rodnina, who defended the honor of the great Soviet country, although the capitalists did not allow her to go abroad and cut off the music on the triple Axel. But she did become a champion. And she won everyone.

Kudashkina is also, in a sense, a champion in spite of herself. Now she defends the honor of a country open to small business, because she is read and listened to in Russian from all corners of the world. Her audience is self-taught entrepreneurs with a turnover of hundreds of thousands to a couple of million rubles. Same as her in spirit and values. Mostly online, 80% women. Through the mouth of its founder, WebSarafan conveys the idea that it is possible, it is possible! combine dream and business. You don't have to choose, you have to do it. Releasing the proverbial pig into the world. And then the world itself will answer whether it needs it or not.

How did you get there

For me personally, Facebook entrepreneurial is divided into two eras: BW and AW (before WebSarafan / after WebSarafan). Previously, we didn't have the opportunity to learn concrete and practical things about online marketing and content every day. Well, there were some publications, there were interest groups, we went to offline parties. But so that every day and from the most recent experience - this has not happened before. Chips, life hacks, useful things, all this came into our everyday life from the Sarafan dictionary. Consulting, sharing, trying, learning has become the new code of communication in our entrepreneurial field.

Blog WebSarafan

So what was BW? Before WebSarafan. In his interviews from 2010 to 2013. Taisiya is the same fiery blonde, but without the signature red lipstick and bright dresses. And most importantly, without experience of mistakes and failures. Then she, a recent corporate data analyst in Silicon Valley, decided to try herself in her own business. The idea is a copycat of the American review site yelp.com, which we happily use when traveling around America. She held a round of negotiations with an investor with two-month-old Klasha in her arms. She asked for a ten-minute biopause and went out into the corridor to feed. They gave money, Russian tulp.ru started working in 2010. We spent another year finalizing the platform and building communities in cities. A team of 25 people was formed, a famous marketer was invited for a salary of 250 thousand rubles. Everyone was transported to St. Petersburg as a place more convenient for PR and promotion than her native Omsk. She moved there with her children herself.

Everything is great, 700 thousand unique visitors per month, 50 cities covered, interviews for the media and a place in the ranking of the top 100 successful entrepreneurs of the European Forbes. Everyday life of a startuper on the rise of the 2010s. But then... then real life business began. Failure to fulfill obligations on the part of the investor, farewell to the team and complete zero of own funds.

“The history of Tulp.ru is the story of my personal growth. I made all the mistakes of a person who grows with borrowed money. But in the end, it was thanks to him that I became interested in marketing and wanted to figure out how it’s done.”

How to start life from scratch...

when you're 30, have two kids and debt? Do something first. WebSarafan started as a usefulness blog.First three articlesTaisiya composed and designed it herself. But somehow it immediately became clear: writing was not her format. Despite the fact that she writes well, fluently and inspiringly well. There was no desire to devote much time to texts, and there is no desire now. The solution was to hire an editor. This is how the first employee appeared, and the WebSarafan project was ordered to live in the literal sense of the word in order to somehow pay his salary. To gain primary traffic, we set a goal: post one new article every day.

Now the daily attendance is 3-5 thousand people, but then in 2015 the first six months passed without much response.It was necessary to look for ways of monetization as soon as possible, any way at that. As a startup, Taisiya followed the traditional lean approach: trying and tweaking as she goes. I held an offline event - 15 people came, went to a conference in America to interview marketers there - there were no more views.

The only thing that was moderately successful was webinars. They brought the first income. Taisiya decided to sell recordings of webinars, not only her own, but also those of invited speakers. She perked up: it seemed like there was light at the end of the tunnel. But right thereThe bottleneck was the quality - either bad light from the speaker and a curtain in the background, or a wrinkled collar and extraneous sounds. And she is responsible for the product with her reputation.

« I’m a classic self-taught entrepreneur who had to learn everything from scratch and do several things at once.”

Then Kudashkina made a feint and decided to gather speakers at her place. This is how the idea of ​​summits with 150-item checklists that regulate the level of delivery and presentation emerged. Now the three main products of Sarafan are summits (sales of records and participation itself), online courses and participation in a business club. Everything is available online, the cost of the product is from 2999 rubles for a monthly subscription to 7999 on the day of the summit.

Didn't get it on the radio - do it yourself

Why does she attract others? Because she herself combines her dream and business. I always dreamed of hosting my own show and performing on the radio. They didn't take it! I had to become a radio myself.

“I didn’t understand how I could develop my business in terms of promotion. There is a lot of information around, it is constantly changing, I did not have time to navigate it and did not know where to “throw” for the result. Where to go? On social networks? And which ones exactly? Internet advertising? Which one and where? How much money to spend on this? Is it possible to do this yourself or is it impossible to do without specialists?”

For advice, Kudashkina went to marketing experts, who seemed to her then like celestial beings. I came up with a spectacular move: record interviews with them in podcast format, and during the interview get to know each other, learn life hacks, and ask them directly how it turned out. I didn’t even really come up with it, I just spied it.

“The idea of ​​what to do came quite suddenly: it was suggested to me by the experience of creating a blog for entrepreneurs mixergy.com - Andrew Warner He created a marketing blog, started asking experts and learning with readers.

Well, I can handle creating a blog, I thought. And in three days, my developer and I created websarafan.ru. This blog is specifically for entrepreneurs, for self-taught people like me, who are confused and confused. For those who want to grow their business, want to find new clients, want to grow and want to learn. The concept was very simple: I’m not an expert, but I can ask real experts how to do it.”

Podcast. It sounds easy, but in reality there is a whole lot of preparatory work. Checklist for the speaker, checklist for yourself, studying your biography, preparing questions. All 82 episodes (as of June 2017) were recorded and conducted by Taisiya herself. With the exception of one, number five, which she gave to the invited journalist. The first podcast was an interview with Maxim Ilyakhov, which she said was “horrible” - very different from what she would do now. However, all releasesavailable now in audio format and text.

The content workshop inside Sarafan is structured like this: after the entry is made, it is processed by the editor. Sometimes you have to change parts of an interview so that the logic is not lost, cut out “ekaniya” and obvious fluff. During editing, a jingle is added - an introduction in Taisya’s cheerful voice and advertising inserts. Taisiya says that in America, podcasts are a saturated market, and the main monetization comes through corporate advertising. In our country, external advertising is still a long way off, but no one is stopping the author of a podcast from posting inserts of his paid products. This creates free incoming traffic.

The topics of the podcasts are extremely practical and formulated with the end result. This is what listeners like - now an average of 5 thousand people listen to WebSarafan podcasts.

1.Choose speakers that are not “washed up”.

The most popular podcast with Oleg Braginsky (17 thousand views), and her other star speakers were Radislav Gandapas, Mikhail Ivanov, Artyom Agabekov, Igor Mann.

Stars are rather an exception. Her approach is to pull out life hacks from practitioners, those who are less known in the public space, but no less effective in their field. This adds points: Gandapas and Mann, with all due respect to their work, are familiar faces, not online marketers and entrepreneurs known to the general public - those with whom Sarafan’s audience can associate themselves and therefore believe that they will succeed.

2. Design your podcast like a show to make it interesting to listen to.

Introductory jingle, sidebars, summary within the podcast, conclusions. Pull useful things out of the speaker so that the listener has something left to digest and think to himself. Each Sarafan podcast is accompanied by lead magnets - free materials such as a checklist, mindmap, video lesson or guide, which the listener can download and receive in addition to the main story. In exchange for an email, of course.

3. Pull out your emotions and charge yourself!

The listener will read bare facts in any interview, but real stories and real emotions are unique.Quality content is the best sales funnel.

Now Sarafan is developing along the path of niche media. A team of 5 people, including a production editor and a marketer, creates content for all stages of the funnel. External leads come from podcasts, blogs, and Taisiya’s own Facebook followers. Then they become participants in groups and summits, also for free, receive a lead magnet by leaving an email, and then begin to “warm up” with useful things from the newsletter.

This model is universal. At each stage of the funnel, a new tool may appear or be replaced by another, more effective one; one thing is important: compliance of all content with the spirit of the project and multichannel nature. Some people prefer to listen, others to read. Some will be delighted with Taisiya's new video show, others are waiting for the printed book.

Websarafan sales funnel

WebSarafan is not a classic infobiz, although Taisiya often calls her brainchild that way. This is a growing media company, and very technologically advanced from a marketing point of view. Kudashkina is about to launch her own show on YouTube about the everyday life of entrepreneurs.

This year he wants to finally start writing his own book - fortunately, the content has already accumulated for ten books. In a couple of months, they will start publishing on Sarafan and attracting external authors, and so it will already become a competitor to online portals like VC.ru, ROEM, firrma, etc.

For now, it is impossible to imagine that the project exists without her. This is both social capital and significant risks, because Kudashkina’s personal brand is inseparable from Sarafan. Of course, the ideal way out is to go out of business and sell it as a ready-made “media” with an established audience to a large media giant. But you have to grow up to this, and first of all, the audience.

We are at the beginning of a unique era of niche media, where anyone can become a media company on a topic they love. There are so many free opportunities for this: conduct webinars, record podcasts, blog, form a group, write on your Facebook page. Even if you don’t yet understand what all this will become in a year or five years, start doing at least something. And then, perhaps someday this will become your business dream.

The story of Taisiya Kudashkina shows that any dream has a place when there is action. In interviews, she always gives the same advice to beginners: do it! Do it, and something will happen. Do it, and you will be able to combine business with your dream. And ideally, make them one word.

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