Leaky Pipes
Sometimes I feel like a plumber, where everyone else’s pipes are working great, but my own house is underwater! It’s a good problem to have and I’m definitely NOT complaining, but it is a challenge.
As I work to grow my writing services business, my creativity pot is boiling over for my clients! I want them to love what I’ve written and I must to deliver on time. The good news is that my clients are happy!
What I am finding is that putting out content (think social media posts, blog posts, website updates, etc) for my own business is slipping. So what’s the problem you might ask…as long as your clients are happy.
As with any small business owner, the proof is in the pudding (apologies for the cliche). If you want to hire someone to design your website, you first look at their website, right? So if you want me to write your Facebook content for you, where will you go first? Exactly! Straight over to my page.
This is the most basic form of marketing and applies to any business. We have to do it or hire someone else to do it for us.
Recently, I have taken a few classes and started working with Kim Ravida, a business coach, to learn some tricks and tools to keep me focussed and on track for both my clients and myself. I wanted to share a couple of my latest finds.
Time blocking is one of those “seems so obvious” techniques. Time blocking is method that divides your day into blocks of time. Each block is dedicated to working on a specific task. Honestly, this is not an easy one for me as my brain works differently–zipping between items on my to-do list–but I’m trying!
Social media scheduling – I got nearly 98 million search results for “social media schedulers.” They range anywhere from free to expensive and simple to complicated….ahhh, slightly overwhelming! Thankfully there are experts out there that either do this for you or can teach you how. A great resource for finding that person is the Women’s Business League.
Old School – the calendar & the spreadsheet – I use a combination of a paper planner and Google calendars. Sometimes I think it’s too many, but it works for me…for now! Whether you use Excel, Google Sheets, or some other, having a working document that grows and changes with your business can be a game changer.
Do not do what you are not good at! I’ve heard people say “focus on your strengths” or something similar. This is very different than handing over tasks that eat up too much of your time and/or that just isn’t your forte. For me, that’s bookkeeping! I can’t tell you the sense of relief I got when I hired a bookkeeper!
What I love is that nothing here requires me to be technically inclined. A small amount of effort, coupled with practice and an “I’m gonna make this work” mentality, and I’m already seeing the difference! Not perfect yet as I can still hear the dripping noises, but definitely getting my tool belt in order and my wrench at the ready!