 Life as a business owner is hard. Our days are long, we wear all the hats and we’re always being told all the things we *should* be doing to grow our businesses.
One thing that’s for sure, is that be present and consistent on social media is essential (sorry!). The good news is that there are five ways to help you make things a little easier on yourself:
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How's June been for you? In fact, how's the whole of 2020 so far gone for you and your business? This week marks the halfway point of 2020 and now's the time to grab a latte/cuppa/smoothie (insert your drink of choice here) and look back at what you've achieved, whether your goals and focus have changed and get intentional about what to focus on for the rest of the year.  Well...! Things sure have changed since we last spoke, haven't they? How are you holding up? I'm now a full week into the 'everybody at home' thing, and wanted to share with you what I've learned in the past week about how to keep the wheels of your business turning in what looks to be our New Normal.  How are your new year resolutions going?
Was one of them to be more organised this year? If you find yourself chasing your tail and never getting to the end of your to do list, here are some quick and easy wins for immediate impact...  So...you’ve got your head round Insta and then they go and change things, add new functions and totally throw you.
Sound familiar? If you don’t yet use Instagram, or perhaps have fallen out with it, you might not think it’s the right platform for you. OK... but what about if I tell you that Insta has 800 million monthly active users, and 500 million of those use it DAILY. Holy Moly - that’s a lot of potential clients just waiting to connect with you. Here’s a quick round-up of 5 trends we’re going to see on Instagram this year - and how you can use them to make your Insta super engaging and exciting for your trusty band of followers...  Happy New Year!
I'm guessing your new year goal includes something along the lines of 'be more productive', probably includes 'spend more time doing things I love' and most certainly there's a 'be more present at home' thrown in there. Here are the top ten apps/websites that I've used daily in 2019 that will help your day be more fun, help you work smarter and more productively and pretty much work towards nailing those goals...  Well it's all happening in Insta World at the moment, isn't it? Our fave app is rolling out so many changes for us all to get used to. Here's a little round up of some of the main updates to look out for... Likes Have you seen the news that the hidden likes has now been rolled out to the States and Australia? I haven't seen any word on when it will hit the UK, but we can probably expect to see this being trialled here in the next two years. Bored of using Canva? Three alternatives to create social graphics that will stop the scroll10/16/2019  Are you using Canva to create your social graphics and now feel a bit meh about it?
Do you see others using the templates you do and want something a little different? Well, keep reading my friend. I've done a round up of my fave Canva alternatives, so that you can find the right one for you to stand out from the crowd on Insta...  We all have one of those tasks every now and then. The one that you know you've got to get done but every time you think about it your heart sinks and you try and think of a trillion other things to do instead.
You start off feeling motivated and then lose momentum... a little while later you're no further on and you know that the procrastination has to stop. For me, it's filing my Tax Self Assessment. Urgh, the thought of it just gives me shivers. Whatever it is for you, there are ways you can shake off the lack of focus and get that job done. Here are my top tips to finish what you start:  The world health organisation has officially identified “burnout” as an occupational phenomenon, describing it as a “syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”
When running your own business, you may be putting your own needs at the bottom of your to-do list, as you are busy concentrating on building your brand. You need to be your number one priority, as at the end of the day, you’re your longest commitment and how you treat yourself, will eventually reflect in your business. There will be times when you feel powerless but the best thing you can do Is surrender to that feeling and take control of it. Be the cause not the effect. If you think you’re suffering from burnout, ask yourself the below;  The end of the school year is fast approaching... I'm not sure about you but I'm feeling a mixture of sadness, nostalgia, awe at how quickly another year has passed, and the burning question:
'But HOW am I going to entertain them for six weeks?' If you also have an overwhelming sense of dread and panic at how you're going to stop your business from skidding to a grinding halt, or even worse, disappointing clients or customers - fear not! I've pulled together a quick and easy read with some of my top tips to stop you from feeling as though you're being pulled in all directions and not actually achieving anything, and to help you stay productive but also be present:  If you’re reading this blog post, you’re 10 steps ahead of most business owners.
Most people don’t understand just how important words (aka copy) are for your business. But you know that even the most expensive websites won’t attract customers if your words aren’t working. And even the flashiest e-newsletters won’t get clicks if your copy isn’t catching your customers’ attention.  Can I start by saying: I bloody love working from home! I am a massive homebody and have loved the time working from home far more than when I was heading to an office every day.
We all know the positives: you work more efficiently as you're not distracted by your mate opposite asking if you watched Love Island last night, you can work around any commitments you may have, no more having to take a day's holiday while you wait for a delivery and the best bit - you get to work in PJ's and a face mask if you want! Of course, there are negative aspects too... it can be lonely, you need to make conscious trips out of the house so you don't become stir crazy, and for some it can be easy to become distracted. Being disciplined is the secret to making your business viable; and is also the key to making sure you don't end up working all hours. Some of the things I'm not good at are: draughts, making pancakes and poker. What I am good at is: poaching eggs perfectly, ten pin bowling and being a super efficient productivity ninja. So here are my tips to keep you effective, productive and in the zone when working from home...  Your business is growing (hooray!) but along with it, so is your To Do List. You've got so many ideas but not enough hours in the day to do them... sound familiar??
If you are just so swamped that you need some time to press pause on your mounting tasks and get back on track - just think how relieved you would feel knowing that you had an extra hour a day; the time to focus on projects that would really move your business forward?  Maintaining business social media profiles is hard work and pretty time consuming. Coming up with creative, diverse and relevant content and then creating a graphic sometimes feels very low on your list of priorities during a busy week.
But we also all know that social media is essential for your business to grow and thrive - being visible on social media is the number one marketing strategy that you must implement. As well as actually being there, you need to be consistent - educating and engaging your followers. Random and irregular posts don't give your potential clients the very best first impression of your fabulous business. So what happens during those weeks that you're on a deadline or working long hours? When posting to social media is the last thing that you want to do? I plan posting schedules for lots of different and diverse businesses and need a constant bank of inspiration. So I'm sharing with you some of my go to ideas for those times when you're having a bit of a creative block: |