by Kelli | Jun 27, 2017 | Business Strategy, Entrepreneurial Lifestyle
We have ALL had our Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunctions or our fair share of one too many wine coolers, i.e. mistakes in life, so what makes us believe we won’t ever have any in business? I thought I was immune from miscalculating. Nope! Shit happens. It’s how we recover from those mistakes that proves important in life or work.
I’ve negotiated millions (over $2 billion, actually) in business deals throughout my career. I know how to write specifications and qualify suppliers. Guess what, though?! When, I started my business, I made some false moves. I hired and partnered with people who later showed their true selves as disreputable and unreliable. Well, hindsight is always 20/20. Did I cry about it? Never! OK, well, maybe for a minute.
After I nursed my fair share of Ben & Jerry’s and went into hibernation mode, I was left with either remaining paralyzed with fear, or bounding forward. The ONLY viable option for your business having that momentum propel you forward, not into a downward spiral. You CANNOT let fear hold conquer your vision and mission.
When you’ve had a blunder, here are some steps you can do for rebounding ASAP:
1. Let it out. Before you can go full-on Elsa and let it go, acknowledge what you are feeling. Maybe, this means scheduling a weep-a-thon in the privacy of your own home, screaming “I did my best!!” Dane Cook style, or bringing out your Jean-Claude Van Damme side in Tae Bo class (is that still a thing?). Whatever works, just let it out and breathe again!
2. Learn the art of giving zero fucks. I know it’s hard at first, but when you stop letting others’ attitudes define you, then you are free to operate your business as you truly feel is best. Society is always trying tell women how you have to care for the feelings of everyone involved, even putting everyone else above yourself. But, put that notion and conditioning aside and act as if their opinions don’t matter because it’s your business. Believe it or not acting like it doesn’t bother you, will sink in. Eventually, you really will let cares of their opinions and regard go, and start doing you. Think of it as method acting your actual life, if you will.
via GIPHY
3. Put your game face back on. Alright, now you’ve dusted your hands off and are ready for getting back into a new plan of action. It’s time for getting into game plan mode. Write down all the steps you can take for setting a new course. Remember, the key is embracing your past mistakes in order to avoid repeating them.
4. Monday morning QB. Once you are feeling confident in your new plan, look back and distinguish what lessons you learned. What can you do differently next time to safeguard? Trust me, you will never make that mistake again because you already have a fail-proof strategy.
In closing, I truly believe everything happens for a reason, even if we can’t envision that reason until later. It’s all part of life’s plan. If my life and career hadn’t had the twists and turns it’s had, I wouldn’t be where I am today: grateful for ALL the experiences of my life!
Need some strategy and support in setting your new direction? Set up a FREE strategy sesh.
by Kelli | Jun 23, 2017 | Business Strategy, Entrepreneurial Lifestyle
It’s midsummer: a perfect 75 °F, the cumulus clouds drift above, and perfect time to dip your pedicured toes into the pool – but wait! How is business going? How are sales? Is it a slow month? Do you have a marketing funnel in place? There are a lot of things that are great about summer. Picnics on the beach, swimming in a refreshing pool and sweet summer nights are things we love during the hot summer months. But, unless you are the ice cream man, business can feel slow. Despite what you may think, Summer is great for marketing your brand. We strongly encourage our clients to do a summer review for turning up the heat on their summer marketing efforts! It is entirely possibly to luxuriate in the season, all while business moves along swiftly. Here are few tips:
The ‘Summer Slump’ Plan of Action
Forbes magazine notes that “more than two-thirds of small business owners [see] dips during the summer… Some 67 [percent] of the 2,000 firms surveyed [saw] mounting concerns about the ‘summer slump’ phenomenon.” In fact, much like schoolchildren, business owners and businesses suffer from slacking during the holidays. By the time the owners return to their computers, they amass stress from drops in productivity, growth, and the ROI. However, business strategists can help you mitigate this by having a clear strategy and action plan in place! This is an opportune time to create some fresh content, revisit your marketing strategy and attract new followers.
You will want to start with doing an inventory of the current content that you have. Can it be updated and repurposed to have more a summer focus? Which blogs and posts are most popular and create the most engagement? What promotional events can you plan some campaigns around? (4th of July, Father’s Day, Back To School)
You get the idea. Having a plan in place will help alleviate the stress and allow you to actually enjoy summer. Our Summer Guidebook takes you through the questions to ask yourself when preparing your plan.
How Only 6 Hours Makes A Difference
According to The Social Media Examiner, “By spending as little as six hours per week, 66% of marketers see lead generations with social media.” In other words, very little media maintenance is necessary to drum up some business. We suggest a behind-the-scenes video look at your business since it’s not peak season. There’s more time to focus upon ironing out that old website, or getting your Facebook Live broadcasting, as we point out in our summer guidebook. With only six hours of online marketing, you still have time to swing by that barbecue and the flamingo-themed pool party. Not sure what to post or what content to create? Join our Outlier Social group through the summer and get the accountability and real time feedback you need to create content that will attract those new followers.
Gain Some Competitive Advantage
The last hidden beauty of a summer slump is that the competition is likely off-duty. While you’re posting a summer promotion, they’re growing anxious about what sales will look like in August! You are gaining some competitive advantage while they are snoozing. Even if you are taking a break from the online space, you can still be moving the needle forward on your business. It’s a great time to brush up your skills. Could your content creation and social media skills use some polishing and tweaking? Want to set up a sales funnel that is ready to launch in Fall? Want to improve your storytelling ability? Need to learn some techy skills? Need to find more balance? Find a course or group that will improve your business and/or life. We meet with our clients twice a month over the summer to help them create lead magnets, blogs, social media posts, email campaigns and more. They also learn cool ninja tips and get real time training from experts such as copywriters, graphic designer and social media experts.
To create your summer marketing strategy, download our summer guidebook.
by Kelli | Jun 19, 2017 | Business Strategy
Content! (Insert scream here)! Yes, content. Barring the hope that everyone on the planet will suddenly stop using their many information-providing devices, your business needs, (sigh), content. Think of your content as the engine that drives your business. It is your WHY. It helps to build your audience and nurtures them from a lead to a customer. Having a clear strategy in place leads to increased revenue, improved business processes and loyal customers. Before you accidentally get distracted about it again, stop worrying and create a content strategy! Whether it’s blogging, lead magnets, email marketing or even podcasts, a strategy will help you get it under control. Here are some key pieces to a content strategy:
- Your Content Plan. Take some time (no longer than 15-20 minutes) and create a high level content marketing plan. Include the overall mission of your business, the measurable goals that you wish to achieve with content (grow your audience, attract your ideal client) and the steps/initiatives that you will implement to achieve those goals. You can use our Content Strategy Template.
- Map Your Content To Your Kickass Client Profile. It is key to have a deep understanding of who you want to purchase your products and/or services. Once you have that, you want to map your content according to what will influence them along the journey they take when making a purchase. You can use our Content Mapping Template.
- Tell A Story. All marketing is storytelling. A good story has a main character (your kickass client), a challenge (their pain), motivations (their why), a hero (you) and the journey (how you will help them). Practice story-telling in all of your content and you will naturally get better at it.
- Partnerships and Collaborations. You don’t have to create all content on your own. Whether it’s having a guest blogger on your site or teaming up with another business to offer shared services, collaborations are a great way to both give and receive content.
- Distribute Your Content – Time to plan how and where you will share your content. Which social media platforms work best for that content. For instance, video is best for Facebook and blogs are great for LinkedIn. If you are sharing on multiple platforms (which you most likely will), how can you differentiate how it’s shared while creating a cohesive brand story?
Content creation can be both a complete pain-in-the-butt and totally fun, often at the same time, (it is for me, at least). Its purpose is beyond basic marketing; it’s the part of your business where you get to connect to your customers and really share your enthusiasm and passion for what you do. In a frequently impersonal business world, that’s definitely something that everyone appreciates!
You get to solve their problems and provide them with tremendous value. In every sale the buyer is thinking to themselves, “What’s in it for me?” If your content can answer that question, “That’s gold, Jerry. Gold!”
Recent Comments