Strategy with Sally

Hosted by Sally Sparks-Cousins

Business Education

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Episodes

611

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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About the show

Strategy with Sally (formerly Straight Talk with Sally) Strategy with Sally is the podcast for women in business who are ready to stop winging it and start building a business that actually works — with clear strategy, smart systems, and the confidence to take imperfect action. Hosted by Sally Sparks-Cousins, business strategist, automation nerd, and co-founder of OmniSAM, this show dives into business strategy, personal branding, marketing, social media, mindset, automation, and scalable systems — without the fluff or hustle-for-hustle's-sake. Sally is on a mission to help women build businesses around their zone of genius (aka inner sparkle), reclaim their time, trust their numbers, and create sustainable success while balancing business, family, lifestyle, and mindset. Each week, you'll find: ◉ Practical business strategy you can actually implement ◉ Real conversations about growth, confidence, and leadership ◉ Simple systems and automation insights for small business owners ◉ Thought-provoking lessons on what it really takes to be a business owner and thought leader If you're ready to build a business on your terms, back yourself, and get out of overthinking and into action — you're in the right place. It's time to get sh*t done — strategically. ✨

Listen to episodes

60 recent

October 28, 2026Episode 5885 min

#621: Quick Tip: Are you customers missing your messages?

In this quick tip episode, Sally explains that when customers miss important emails, the issue may be communication strategy rather than the offer, and suggests using SMS to get attention faster for time-sensitive messages like last-minute appointment openings, event reminders, or promotions ending soon. She emphasizes that email still matters, but texting can be a useful addition when timing is critical. She shares three guidelines for effective texts: keep messages short and direct, make them relevant and only send to people who have agreed to receive texts, and include a clear next step such as confirming or booking an appointment or clicking a link. Her GSD action challenge is to review current customer communications and identify one recurring email that would work better as a text, focusing on sending the right message to the right person at the right time. 00:00 Why Emails Get Missed 00:47 When SMS Works Better 01:16 Three SMS Best Practices 02:12 GSD Action Challenge 02:50 Quick Tip Wrap Up Join the Private OmniSAM Community: omnisam.com.au/gsdgroup Facebook Group: gsdfb.omnisam.com.au Follow on Facebook: facebook.com/sallysparkscousins Watch the Live Stream & Subscribe for More Updates: OmniSAM YouTube: youtube.com/@omnisamsoftware Sally Sparks-Cousins YouTube: youtube.com/@sallysparkscousins

October 28, 2026Episode 58747 min

#620: How to Design a Website in a Day

In this live "Strategy with Sally" session, Sally walks viewers through creating a simple, publishable website in a day using Studio AI inside OmniSAM by focusing on progress over perfection. Using a downloadable workbook (sparklewithsally.com/620) and timed "GSD" activities, she guides participants to define a primary and secondary website goal and CTA, clarify a specific audience, write a clear core message, choose essential pages (recommended: Home, About, Services, Contact/Book a Call), and outline a 7-section homepage structure (hero, problem, solution, offers, why choose you, social proof, final CTA). She shows how to compile these decisions into a detailed AI prompt, demonstrates generating a multi-page site in AI Studio with uploaded logo/headshot, and explains visual edits, testing across devices, and publishing/domain considerations. She closes with a commitment exercise and invites viewers to the "Fortunes in the Follow-Up" workshop at join.omnisam.com.au. 00:00 Build a Website in a Day 02:48 Progress Over Perfection 04:44 Define Your Website Goal 09:43 Primary and Secondary Actions 14:04 Get Clear on Your Audience 19:47 Craft Your Core Message 27:09 Homepage Headlines and Pages 33:59 Homepage Journey Prompt 34:54 Homepage Hero Section 35:26 Problem Solution Offer Flow 36:36 Social Proof Final CTA 37:54 GSD Writing Sprint 42:37 Build Your AI Prompt 49:03 Prompt Example Walkthrough 52:41 Generate Site In AI Studio 58:03 Review Pages Visual Edits 01:02:46 Refine Test Publish Plan 01:06:30 Workshop Invite Wrap Up Join the Private OmniSAM Community: omnisam.com.au/gsdgroup Facebook Group: gsdfb.omnisam.com.au Follow on Facebook: facebook.com/sallysparkscousins Watch the Live Stream & Subscribe for More Updates: OmniSAM YouTube: youtube.com/@omnisamsoftware Sally Sparks-Cousins YouTube: youtube.com/@sallysparkscousins

October 20, 2026Episode 5867 min

#619: Quick Tip: Sparkle Live in Five Challenge Episode 6

List Growth Made Easy Day 6: Why Your Email List Matters More Than Followers On day six of the List Growth Made Easy challenge, Telly Swartz-Cousins, founder of OmniSAM, introduces herself and explains that OmniSAM helps businesses save time by removing repetitive tasks so leads don't fall through the cracks. She shares why she runs the challenge: social followers and likes are "vanity metrics" that can disappear overnight, as she experienced when she lost her Facebook account for 18 months and her Instagram presence due to a name verification issue, impacting connections and revenue. She emphasizes that an email list is an owned asset that lets you serve and nurture people until they're ready to buy, and recounts stories showing that large followings don't guarantee sales while email lists reflect business health and recurring revenue. She ties the challenge to marketing after course creation, reminding viewers you can't sell a secret. 00:00 Day Six Kickoff 00:21 Meet Telly and OmniSAM 00:52 Why Email Lists Matter 02:26 Owning Your Audience 02:59 Vanity Metrics Stories 03:44 Email List Revenue Link 04:27 Challenge Highlights 04:42 From Course to Marketing Join the Private OmniSAM Community: omnisam.com.au/gsdgroup Facebook Group: gsdfb.omnisam.com.au Follow on Facebook: facebook.com/sallysparkscousins Watch the Live Stream & Subscribe for More Updates: OmniSAM YouTube: youtube.com/@omnisamsoftware Sally Sparks-Cousins YouTube: youtube.com/@sallysparkscousins

October 16, 2026Episode 5857 min

#618: Quick Tip: Sparkle Live in Five Challenge Episode 5

My Most Embarrassing Business Moment: Zoom Bombers During a Live Training Sally shares her most embarrassing business moment during a live Zoom training with 50–60 attendees while streaming to YouTube, Facebook, and other platforms, when repeated "Zoom bombers" joined and displayed nudity and pornographic screen shares that she and her team struggled to remove. After shutting down and restarting the room only to have the same problem continue, she ultimately ran the session without live streaming. She reflects that Zoom later introduced more security features like passwords, waiting rooms, and better blocking tools, and she learned not to share Zoom links publicly, instead disguising links with Pretty Links. She closes by mentioning she's in a late-night OmniSAM Academy Zoom room working on end-of-year celebration planning and shows an early preview of a Christmas party website with agenda details and fun graphics like fireworks and confetti. 00:00 Embarrassing Moment Prompt 00:14 Zoom Bombing Chaos 01:47 Shutting Down The Stream 02:41 Lessons And Security Tips 03:31 Late Night Academy Update 03:54 Building Christmas Party Site 04:59 Fireworks Confetti Preview 05:22 Wrap Up And Goodbye Join the Private OmniSAM Community: omnisam.com.au/gsdgroup Facebook Group: gsdfb.omnisam.com.au Follow on Facebook: facebook.com/sallysparkscousins Watch the Live Stream & Subscribe for More Updates: OmniSAM YouTube: youtube.com/@omnisamsoftware Sally Sparks-Cousins YouTube: youtube.com/@sallysparkscousins

October 14, 2026Episode 58418 min

#616: Quick Tip: Sparkle Live in Five Challenge Episode 4

On day four of the Sparkle Live in Five Challenge, Sally invites viewers to register at sparkleliveinfive.com (or sparklelivechallenge.com), go live daily all month, and tag her so she and her podcast manager can review videos, award prizes, and potentially invite participants onto the Strategy with Sally podcast; she also notes you can practice inside a private Facebook group. She shares the deeper reason she started her business: after losing her son Dylan in 2004 while working a secure government job, she realized life is too short not to do what she loves, leading her to start DJ Dedicated Photography in his honor, later expand into design, study graphic design and education, and teach. After major health setbacks, she built a successful network marketing team from bed, then invested in online courses, created her first course on going live, and eventually committed to entrepreneurship full time, continuing for her clients and her goal of inspiring 33 million people. 00:00 Challenge Welcome 00:13 How to Join 00:50 Podcast Visibility Perk 01:46 Today's Prompt 02:05 Side Hustle Roots 02:43 Loss and Purpose 04:19 Study and Teaching 06:10 Hospital Pivot 07:11 Network Marketing Breakthrough 09:30 Entrepreneur Realization 10:04 First Course Leap 12:34 Why I Keep Going 14:23 Shout Outs and Winners 15:32 Commit and Connect 15:52 Final Sign Off Join the Private OmniSAM Community: omnisam.com.au/gsdgroup Facebook Group: gsdfb.omnisam.com.au Follow on Facebook: facebook.com/sallysparkscousins Watch the Live Stream & Subscribe for More Updates: OmniSAM YouTube: youtube.com/@omnisamsoftware Sally Sparks-Cousins YouTube: youtube.com/@sallysparkscousins

October 12, 2026Episode 58310 min

#615: Quick Tip: Sparkle Live in Five Challenge Episode 3

Day three of the Sparkle Live in 5 Challenge prompts viewers to answer "What do you sell?" by sharing their offer confidently, simply, and without overexplaining, emphasizing that you "can't sell a secret." Sally encourages practicing on live video, listening back for clarity, and repurposing the content, and invites first-time viewers to comment "live" to join the daily-prompt challenge. She shares her own three-tier offer: OmniSAM software (a CRM plus websites, funnels, stores, bookings, and more), a done-with-you Academy that includes the software and training in sales, marketing, and automation with access to experts and open Zoom support, and a Studio done-for-you service for clients who want speed. She also promotes a free List Growth Made Easy training series in the GSD community. 00:00 Today's Prompt What You Sell 00:43 Explain It Simply 01:13 How Live in 5 Works 02:27 My Three Offers Overview 02:40 Offer One Software CRM 03:13 Offer Two Academy Done With You 03:53 Offer Three Studio Done For You 04:19 Who Each Offer Fits 04:49 Expert Support Inside Academy 05:34 How Clients Upgrade Downgrade 05:59 Tomorrow's Free List Growth Training 06:35 Wrap Up Keep Going Live Join the Private OmniSAM Community: omnisam.com.au/gsdgroup Facebook Group: gsdfb.omnisam.com.au Follow on Facebook: facebook.com/sallysparkscousins Watch the Live Stream & Subscribe for More Updates: OmniSAM YouTube: youtube.com/@omnisamsoftware Sally Sparks-Cousins YouTube: youtube.com/@sallysparkscousins

October 9, 2026Episode 58249 min

#614: How to Manage Proposals, Contracts, Invoices & Payments in One Place

Contracts, Proposals, and Invoices in One Place: Automate Payments in OmniSAM Sally Sparks-Cousins demonstrates how to manage proposals/estimates, invoices, and contracts end-to-end inside OmniSAM so accepted proposals or signed contracts can automatically generate invoices and take payment. She begins by having viewers map their customer journey (proposal/estimate, contract signing, invoicing, payment method, onboarding) to create visibility on who has viewed, accepted, or paid. Sally walks through OmniSAM's Payments area: branding and configuration in Settings (logo sizing, business details, custom values like ABN, terms text, labels), defaults (due dates, expiry, partial payments, late fees, tips), products, reminders, and customizing email templates and internal notifications. She then creates and sends an invoice and an estimate that converts to an invoice upon acceptance, and shows building contracts/documents with fillable fields, signing order, content library sections, product blocks that trigger invoices or auto-payments, attachments, templates, and shareable public documents. 00:00 All In One Billing Setup 04:10 Meet Sally Sparks 04:40 Map Customer Journey 07:29 OmniSAM Payments Tour 08:36 Branding Invoice Settings 10:21 Custom Fields Tax IDs 12:05 Terms Layout Preview 15:51 Payment Defaults Options 18:19 Reminders Email Templates 23:05 Tools Overview Templates 24:36 Create Send Invoice 28:38 Paying an Invoice 29:19 Estimates to Invoices 31:39 Contract Builder Basics 35:29 Products and Auto Payments 38:07 Signing Order and Templates 41:47 Send and Sign Workflow 46:19 Public Document Links 50:25 Wrap Up and Takeaways Join the Private OmniSAM Community: omnisam.com.au/gsdgroup Facebook Group: gsdfb.omnisam.com.au Follow on Facebook: facebook.com/sallysparkscousins Watch the Live Stream & Subscribe for More Updates: OmniSAM YouTube: youtube.com/@omnisamsoftware Sally Sparks-Cousins YouTube: youtube.com/@sallysparkscousins

October 7, 2026Episode 5819 min

#613: Quick Tip: Sparkle Live in Five Challenge Episode 2

Want a chance to win a $10,000 coaching package plus 12 months of OmniSAM for free? Then join the Sparkle Live in Five Challenge and show up, go live, and do the thing! Today's quick tip is all about your hook . When you hit the Go Live button, don't just start with "Hi, I'm…" — grab people's attention in the first few seconds. Ask a question like, "Are you struggling with…?" or "Have you ever thought about…?" or call out a pain point or something your audience wants. A good hook gives people a reason to stop scrolling and stay for your three to five minutes. So practise your hook, keep it simple, and get straight to what matters to your audience. And remember to save your live afterwards so you can repurpose that content later. Hit Go Live, practise your hook, and build your confidence — you might even walk away with a $10,000 coaching package and 12 months of OmniSAM! Join the Private OmniSAM Community: omnisam.com.au/gsdgroup Facebook Group: gsdfb.omnisam.com.au Follow on Facebook: facebook.com/sallysparkscousins Watch the Live Stream & Subscribe for More Updates: OmniSAM YouTube: youtube.com/@omnisamsoftware Sally Sparks-Cousins YouTube: youtube.com/@sallysparkscousins

October 5, 2026Episode 58012 min

#612: Quick Tip: Sparkle Live in Five Challenge Episode 1

You don't need to be perfect to go live — you don't even need to be ready. You can be sitting in your lounge room, no makeup, a little bit messy, with your laptop on your knee, and still hit that Go Live button. The more you go live, the more confident you become. You might make mistakes, forget what you wanted to say, or struggle to find the buttons, and that's okay. The goal is simply to get the reps in. Start with just three to five minutes, find the Live button on your social media platform, hit Go Live, and start talking. If you don't know what to talk about, use a simple prompt like, "What are you working towards this month?" You don't need a perfectly scripted presentation — you just need to start. And remember to save your lives because that content can be repurposed later into reels, stories, emails, podcasts and more. Stop waiting until you feel confident; go live, practise, and let the confidence come from doing. Never let anyone dull your sparkle! Join the Private OmniSAM Community: omnisam.com.au/gsdgroup Facebook Group: gsdfb.omnisam.com.au Follow on Facebook: facebook.com/sallysparkscousins Watch the Live Stream & Subscribe for More Updates: OmniSAM YouTube: youtube.com/@omnisamsoftware Sally Sparks-Cousins YouTube: youtube.com/@sallysparkscousins

September 17, 2026Episode 57934 min

#611: How to Write Blog Posts That Attract, Connect, Rank, and Convert — With Help from ChatGPT

*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id= "request-69d5b709-e004-8322-a9df-edf20e813ecc-9" data-turn-id-container= "request-69d5b709-e004-8322-a9df-edf20e813ecc-9" data-testid= "conversation-turn-84" data-turn="assistant"> Copywriting Framework: What to Say and When (Attention, Trust, Conversion) Sally leads an interactive copywriting session that provides a practical template and activities to fix content that isn't turning into clients by adding structure rather than simply trying to write "better copy." She explains that most marketing lacks a connected journey, causing audiences to watch and engage without taking the next step. She introduces a weekly three-part framework: Attention — stop the scroll with relevance and specific pain; Trust — build belief by explaining what's really happening, why it happens, and how your approach differs; and Conversion — use a clear, confident call to action that directs people to the next step. Participants review their last six posts, write attention hooks, create a trust post from one hook, then draft a conversion message tied to one offer, such as booking a call or downloading a lead magnet. Sally shares examples throughout the session, emphasizes that every post should have one clear job, and encourages participants to share their three drafts in the GSD group for feedback. 00:00 Welcome and Setup 00:34 Why Posts Don't Convert 02:23 The Three-Part Framework 04:26 Audit Your Last Six Posts 10:58 Attention Hooks That Work 16:43 Trust Content That Builds Belief 23:25 Conversion Posts and Clear CTAs 27:13 Map Your Three-Post Sequence 30:35 Template Walkthrough and Timing 35:23 Real Examples and Homework 44:34 Wrap Up and Next Steps FULL EPISODE VIDEO LINK: https://youtube.com/live/xJMaHdftJik?feature=share Join the Private OmniSAM Community: omnisam.com.au/gsdgroup Facebook Group: gsdfb.omnisam.com.au Follow on Facebook: facebook.com/sallysparkscousins Watch the Live Stream & Subscribe for More Updates: OmniSAM YouTube: youtube.com/@omnisamsoftware Sally Sparks-Cousins YouTube: youtube.com/@sallysparkscousins

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