Working on Your Business: Behind the Scenes
Whew! What a week. It’s one of those weeks where to the outside world it doesn’t look like I’ve done a thing! But behind the scenes I was crazy productive! Working on your business is the only way you will grow your business.
Depending on how new your business is, every week you need to devote time to working on your business. In the beginning that could be 40 to 60 hours a week. Don’t worry — that number changes significantly as you start to work with clients. Working on your business includes things like:
- Setting up systems
- Refining email marketing
- Creating FREEBIES
- Building classes or programs
- Checking for consistent and branding
- Setting up integrations
- Auditing social media and other digital platforms
These are the non-sexy parts of owning a business but the oh-so-gratifying parts. Working on your business is what gives it shape. And when you recognize your business as a business — that’s the gratifying part. So, after spending a week working on my biz, I wanted to share what I did to give you ideas of how you can work on your business. Here’s a sneak peak of my life behind the scenes!
Task 1: Get my Freebie out to the World
I have been pulling and culling bits and pieces of how to create a FREEBIE to share with my clients for years. Well, this week I wanted to package the content to get it out to the world.
I work with badass women in business, and I wanted to give them something they could really use! If you’ve been reading my blogs or know me at all, you know I’m a huge believer in email marketing. But the question my clients always as is: “How do you get people to sign up?”
You need to give them something valuable that will help them make immediate positive changes either in their lives or businesses. Enter the FREEBIE.
My guide is about creating a freebie to give to potential clients that can be created in 4 hours or less. Let’s face it, you’re busy. Even though this is a *critical* step to growing your business you shouldn’t have to put in 80 hours to get it done. I’ve included step-by-step instructions to create four different types of freebies including checklists, templates, eBooks, and toolkits. I show you how to create your freebie using Canva with plenty of examples. I really hope you’ll get a lot of use out of this: Create a FREEBIE in 4 hours or less. (BTW – checklists and cheat sheets take less than an hour to create and provide a ton of value. Just saying, you might not even need 4 hours!)
Task 2: Set up Milkshake – a mini-website for Instagram
Shout out to Bre @heybresocial. Definitely check out her Instagram. Last week she posted a cool little nugget on how to get several links into your Instagram bio instead of just one. I ended up using Milkshake after reading through the comments on Bre’s post. This is a *must do* for your business Instagram account.
Here’s exactly what I did.
- I created a dedicated page for my freebie on my website. I did this because to use Milkshare, you need a URL. I chose to create a dedicated page instead of a landing page, but you could do either – you just need to have a URL.
- I connected Mailchimp and my website. I also set up the final welcome email in Mailchimp to deliver the freebie when new subscribers opt-in.
- I downloaded the Milkshake app to my cell phone.
- Milkshake is super intuitive, and I was easily able to design my “mini-site” and “links” page. This is what it looks like.
- Afterwards, I updated the bio on my Instagram. Now visitors to my Insta can link to my website and my freebie. I also set up links to my bio and blog pages.
Milkshake is a game changer for anyone that markets using Instagram. Follow me on Insta to read my mini guides, tidbits, and inspirations. Or if you just want to get to know me better.
Task 3: Complete Writing my Course
Roll out the red carpet and pop the cork. I’m really excited to introduce my course: Your Marketing Roadmap to “Fully Booked” (working title). The 5-week course walks you through a 3-step process to easily set up a super doable marketing plan to grow your business without all the frustration and overwhelm.
I’ve been working for myself since 2002. I’ve done absolutely everything the hard way. Everything! But what I learned through the school of hard knocks is that when a business fails it is because there was never a plan – especially a marketing plan. The adage “build it and they will come” is not true!
I love what I do. I love working with ambitious women to get their ideas off the ground to start making a real difference – in their lives, their client’s lives, and in their business. But if there is one thing I’ve learned from my clients, it’s that the word “marketing” is worse than any other word in the dictionary! Maybe it’s because we conjure up images of used car salesmen – but, hey, they’re salesmen. You’re a bad-ass boss babe!
So, I took all the information I’ve learned to build my own businesses and the information I’ve learned working with my clients and condensed it to the bare bones for any business to be successful. No one wants to do something that feels impossible. I don’t even want to do that and I’m always up for a challenge. My course hits the sweet spot of enough information to reach your goals without leaving you feeling overwhelmed or frustrated.
Learn and grow from working on your business
When you take a week to get hyper-focused working on your business, you learn and grow from the experience. You find gaps to fill as well as find superfluous information to delete. You learn what you need to do right now and what really can wait.
Working on your business is where the gold is. This week, I challenge you to spend one day working on your business. Identify where the pieces fit together and where they don’t. Pay attention to how it feels.
In this blog I shared just three things I did this past week. In addition, I mapped out an Instagram grid pattern, and set up my marketing calendar for the next four weeks, wrote four blogs, and planned a much needed girl’s weekend to Denver to visit one of my besties!
See what a dedicated week of working on your business will do for you.
You’ve got this!
