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Do Not Quit. You Are Closer Than You Think
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Let’s talk about time management! Do you ever feel like your day is passing you by, and you haven’t really gotten anything that you had hoped to get done for the day accomplished? You’re sitting there working on…stuff…but nothing specific? Well, you’re not alone! In this article, I’ll go over some of my favorite things to do in order to stop wasting time.
Many of us deal with time management issues, especially those who work from home and have their own business.
Instead of working at a job that is 9-5, we have one that is 24/7. And it’s those 24 hours every day we have to look at, organize, and strategically set up to maximize our outcome for getting tasks accomplished for work and life.
IT ALL COMES BACK TO TIME-MANAGEMENT
Below I wrote out my favorite time management tips, and I’m hoping they help you plan and organize your workday, all while getting closer to your personal goals and helping you stop wasting time.
The biggest lesson I’ve had to learn as an entrepreneur is time management. And let me tell you – it was a hard one to learn. I look at it this way. You can run your business without time management skills and work against yourself for the rest of your career, OR you can learn how to be a time management genius.
Let’s be honest, running a successful business is one big net of getting things done to get you closer to your goal. The only way to do this is to know how to manage every little thing that relates to you running your business.
MAKING A PLAN
You need to have a structure, a plan, a schedule, deadlines, and you need to actually get it done. You need to be strict with work hours and not let your business run your life. I think this goes especially for those of you like me that work out of your home. Your office is right there, in your home, and it is easy for your job to start ‘ruling’ your life.
Sometimes it can feel like work is around you 24/7. You’re always checking your phone for notifications. You’re trying to squeeze in work in between making dinner and bath time. You go to bed only to be woken up by your phone binging and feeling like you need to get up to answer that one email which we know will lead to answering just another ten more. You’re stressed because you feel like you can’t be there for your kids 100% and be running your business 100% no matter what; you never have enough time in the day.
I hear you! That was my life before I learned how to manage my time. My new normal? I know what I need to do when I’m in my office. My phone does not run my sleep cycle and for the first time, I feel like I can be a happy, unstressed mom with my kids again. I hope that these little tips will help you too.
And please note, this is coming from a working mama (I have four kids between the ages of 9 months-13). I homeschool and have to balance both life, motherhood, homeschooling, and business. So this is coming directly from someone who has a full plate and a very wild house most days.
1. DESIGNATE A WORKPLACE
Hint: it should not be your kitchen counter, your bed, your sofa, your patio. Pick a room or a corner in your home that when you sit down at, you know it’s time to buckle down and get your work done. It’s not the time to catch up on Facebook or play on Pinterest. It’s time to knock off items from your to-do list.
Know what time you need to start working and should be done working. It might not be a solid amount of hours; it might be three large chunks of time throughout your day. You run your business; you get to pick your hours. When you’re at work, work. When you’re not, then enjoy your time away from work.
2. MY TO-DO LIST
I have ONE relevant folder sitting on my desk. It’s a to-do list. I have a million checklists, and it is never-ending. Anytime I have something I need to do (it could be answering a particular email, calling someone back, scheduling an appt) it gets added next in line. As I work, I check them off as I go. My bigger projects are added to the list, and they usually have separate to-do lists. You know how it goes. My checklists…have checklists… it’s a never-ending list, but it is the one big thing that keeps me moving forward. And quickly. When I get done with something, I don’t waste a minute thinking about what else needs to get done; I look at my list and choose my next item.
3. QUIT MULTITASKING (AKA, WASTING TIME)
If you’re working on something, work on that ONE thing. Not that one thing, plus three more. The only two things you should be doing is working on something AND drinking your favorite coffee drink. That’s as far as your multitasking should ever go. Know what’s important and put the focus there.
Manage your lists by working on the most important thing first and then move on to the next important thing on the list.
This goes hand in hand with knowing what’s on your list that holds the most value. You should be able to look at them and, within a few seconds, know what you need to be working on next. It’s a good idea to know which three items would qualify as your ‘three most important tasks’ when you get your workday started.
4. USE THE RIGHT PLANNER
After years of buying planners (and not using them), I finally decided to make my own. One designed for goal-driven business owners in mind. It comes with so many incredible printable pages to help you plan and stay on track to reaching your goals, including a pretty to-do list for each month. I’m telling ya…it’s a game-changer!
I made the planner FREE so you can download it, get it printed and get to work.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE BUSINESS PLANNER.
5. AVOID DISTRACTIONS
This is a hard one to do for some. But I know I am more productive when my phone isn’t in the same room. So I make it a point to keep it out of sight where I won’t be tempted to check notifications. If you find yourself constantly picking up your phone to see what’s going on, try putting it elsewhere, at least for the time being that you’re at your desk working.
6. BATCH WORK
This is probably one of my favorite ones to do. Instead of bouncing between my inbox, blog posts, customer support, and that new online class I’m working on. I bundle my tasks together, which saves me a ton of time.
Take social media posts, for example. I could take 10 minutes every day to find a picture, write a status, schedule that post before moving on to something new. OR I could work on a whole month worth of social posts in 30-40 minutes.
This is exactly what we do with our Social Media Captions Membership. Every month, our members get new captions for the entire month, and all they need to do is customize and schedule them for the month ahead. This batch work alone saves me hours every single week!
Time management is a hard one to master, but with the right system in place, it’s possible to have days where you’re getting tons of work done and getting closer to your goals. There are so many things we can learn to do that will help us not waste time. It just comes down to realizing when we’re doing something that’s not actually being productive and making a change in our daily routine.
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CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING WORKBOOK
Since launching our Social Media Membership, we’ve had numerous requests for a workbook, and I’m thrilled to finally release this pretty little thing. It’s a 29-page workbook covering our marketing strategy. We even made sure to include 10 ready-to-go captions so you can jump right in and put this strategy to use!
Social media marketing has proven to be an effective means of boosting traffic and brand awareness for businesses of all sizes, which means that more and more companies are looking to get in on the action. The only problem? Creating a social media marketing strategy can seem like a daunting task, especially if you’re not sure where to start. But by following these three steps and using the Social Media Marketing Workbook, you’ll be able to create a great social media marketing strategy that works for your business.
The best social media marketing strategy is all about connecting with people—specifically, it’s about identifying who you want to reach and then how you want to reach them. Defining your target audience will help inform what content you should share (and when), how you interact with your followers, and which networks are right for your business. So start by defining who exactly you’re trying to reach before getting started with this social media marketing workbook.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING WORKBOOK
DOWNLOAD INCLUDES:
29 Social Media Guide
Social Media Strategy
10 Curated Captions
Social Stats Page
Goal Plan Page
Here’s a quick look at some of the pages;
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD WORKBOOK
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The official Business Planner every business owner needs to have!
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD BUSINESS PLANNER
Our goal was to have a printable planner that is beautiful, functional, and inspirational for business owners. Every aspect of this planner has been created to help you organize your business and help you accomplish your biggest goals in 2021!
We’re sure many of you can relate to searching for the perfect planner to. Help you stay organized with all your business tasks. Only to be left finding planners that are beautiful…but lacked the functionality.
This planner is here to help you stay on task, organized, and, most importantly, set goals that you’ll be able to check off one at a time each month. Thousands of photographers and creatives ordered their Business Planner in the last years, and we’re so excited to launch a brand new updated version.
PLANNER INCLUDES Download with 148 Printable Pages for 2021
- Printable planner download
- Yearly Overview Page
- Yearly Events Page
- Monthly Cover Page
- Monthly Overview Page
- Monthly Income Page
- Social Media Growth Page
- SMART Goals Page
- Monthly Goals Page
- Business Tasks Page
- Monthly Do-Do List Page
- Week One Schedule Page
- Week Two Schedule Page
- Week Three Schedule Page
- Week Four Schedule Page
Ready to get your dream business planner?
It’s as easy as downloading your planner, and getting it printed!
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When it comes to the world of marketing and advertising, we’re lucky to live in a time where we don’t just have to depend on word of mouth. We can use modern tools like social media to reach thousands of people from around the world. All with just a click of a button.
If you run a business, you probably spend a great deal of time coming up with content to share and know the struggle of content creation. Sometimes it can be hard to know what to say to place yourself as an expert in your industry, so potential clients and customers are eager to hire and buy from you.
So let me let you in on a little secret…
When it comes to social media, it’s not about constantly selling and promoting what you have to offer.
Instead, it’s a place to build a connection.
A place where people get to know you more, learn from you, see what you do and what you have to offer. It’s so much more than a platform to sell. When you start using it as a tool to connect, you’ll see the sales and booking begin to come naturally.
You might wonder why that is…
When you can build a personal connection and create trust, you no longer have to “sell” yourself to potential clients and customers in order to grow your business. Instead, you can use tools like social media to connect with the right people. By having an open conversation, they will naturally learn more about what you do.
The best thing you can do for your business is offer value to those who need it the most. The truth is, I’ve never liked the idea of ‘selling’ to clients and customers. Instead, I love to see it as me educating them about a problem I can help solve and showing them how to do that.
Here’s a quick example.
Wordsmith is a membership of professionally written social media captions for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs can sign up for free and get the first month’s worth of captions for free to see if it’s the right fit. If they choose to stay, they automatically get new captions, delivered every single month.
THE PROBLEMS IT SOLVES:
- It helps entrepreneurs save time because they get professionally written captions every month and no longer need to write them.
- They instantly get a social media strategy built into the captions. Which will help them connect to more customers and clients.
- By using the captions, they can finally show up on social media the way they have always wanted to.
- They can quickly customize these captions to who they are and what their business is about.
Our software helps photographers and entrepreneurs with clients manage all aspects of their business. And our beautiful presets help others edit their photos. These presets help create their dream style with just a click of a button.
For me, it’s never about selling, it’s about offering a solution.
If you haven’t already, take time to think about the problems your business solves for others. How you can change the conversation from selling to having the perfect solution to someone’s problem. When it comes to getting more sales, more clients, or more customers, it comes down to building more connections with people. People who need exactly what you have to offer.
That leads to more traffic to your business.
Which is what we all want, right?
The #1 traffic referrer for my business is direct traffic. And there’s not a great deal someone can do to alter those numbers. The second leading referrer has always been social media. With over six figures made directly from clients and customers finding me via social media alone, it plays a vital role in my business marketing strategy. Lucky for us, the amount of traffic we get from social media IS something we can alter significantly with the right strategy.
Using social media to book more clients, get more customers, or sell more products is 100% possible. But you have to build your foundation on connection instead of selling. A great way to do exactly that is by using the 5-point strategy, which covers not just promoting your business but other important topics you can use to connect with ideal customers and clients. I’ve used this exact strategy for years, and it’s worked incredibly well.
Download some free captions to try
If you’re ready for more, I recently created a guide going over my entire Social Media Marketing Strategy. I even included some of the social media captions from our Curated Captions membership. You can jump right in and see for yourself how easy it is to use the power of social media to scale your business!
You can download the complete guide for free HERE.
It’s loaded with helpful tips and tricks, and absolutely perfect for anyone who’s ready to start using a social media strategy that will actually help them grow their business.
Ready for more? Join my newsletter and be the first to know about new articles published on the blog, business tips, and of course, all the best strategies and free resources. There’s a reason this list is 70,000 strong!
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Since the new website launch, I’ve had a few people ask why I decided to go with a Showit Website. Over any of the other options out there. Before I dive into why, I’ll start with what I was using prior, and the reason it was no longer the right fit for my business.
Since the very beginning, I’ve have used Shopify as my website platform. As an e-commerce shop, Shopify was always the best option. But over the years of growing my business, it became more difficult to build a space that really showcased everything I had to offer.
For years now, I’ve been making Shopify work, and for years I’ve felt held back as a creative. I’ve had to piece together apps in hopes of creating a space online I loved. Only to become frustrated with it a site that wasn’t a true reflection of my style and vision.
I KNEW IT WAS TIME FOR A CHANGE
Fast forward to this year. I knew it was time to make a big change. I knew I would still keep Shopify for the shop side of Modern Market, but wanted to find the right kind of platform that would make it easier for me to style and customize my site. After months of research and comparing different platforms I decided that Showit would be the best fit.
At the time, I was incredibly nervous about moving everything over. Especially since I had just invested over ten years into building my business on one platform. I knew that in order to grow with my business, I needed more. Now that the switch has been made to Showit Website. I couldn’t be happier.
The number one reason I was so drawn to Showit was the company TONIC, which creates the most incredible pre-made Showit Website Themes you’ll find online. After they launched their Paper Plane theme, I instantly knew it would be the perfect theme for me. It’s exactly what I had in mind for Modern Market. It’s literally like they knew what I wanted and needed and designed a site that was made just for me.
They have so many beautiful themes to choose from, which you can see HERE. If you see something you love, you can even use the code MODERNMARKET to get yourself 15% off!
Below I’ll share the top reasons I decided to go with Showit Website.
BEAUTIFUL DESIGN + FUNCTIONALITY
As I said above, the top reason I ended up going with Showit was because of the design company Tonic. Their website designs are so much more than just a pretty-looking site design. Now don’t get me wrong, of course, I wanted my site to look beautiful. BUT as a business, I needed something that helped me put my best foot forward. As a creative entrepreneur, I needed something to make it easy to showcase everything I have to offer. If you’re looking for incredibly beautiful + functional themes, look no further. I bet you’ll find your dream theme over at TONIC.
SHOPIFY INTEGRATION
Next on my list was that I needed something that would easily allow me to integrate within my Shopify store. This is where I host ALL my digital products, and it was an absolute MUST on my list. To my surprise, Showit makes this super easy. I love that I can have my main site. Which is finally 100% designed the way I want, while still selling through Shopify. I’ve been creating specially designed pages for each of my preset collections. This way I can really showcase the collections available. I’m so happy with how it all looks.
EXAMPLE:
My favorite part? I can finally show off those pretty before and afters!
EASY TO CUSTOMIZE
One of the main things I was concerned about was being able to actually customize the site and make it look the way I want. Have you ever bought something and then just get so frustrated with trying to use it? Yeah, you won’t feel this way using a TONIC Theme + Showit platform. Within two days of getting started with my theme, I was getting the hang of it. I have to say, the whole process was incredibly fun.
If you’re worried about making the switch over to Showit, and worried about not being techy enough to actually figure out how to do it, I highly recommend using a TONIC theme . Pretty much everything is ready to go and all you have to do is customize it to your liking. Showit support is also top-notch. The few times I couldn’t figure something out, they were super quick to jump in and help.
THE OPTION TO CREATE MORE PAGES
For those who have been following my business over the years, know Modern Market has A LOT to offer. Like a lot, a lot.
- We have beautiful presets.
- Launched over 700 digital products.
- Membership for social media captions.
- Software to help entrepreneurs manage their clients and business.
With offering so many different kinds of products and services, I needed something that would make it easy for me to design and create custom pages. This way, I could create an unlimited amount of special pages while still keeping everything on ONE site.
Before switching over to Showit, the second someone wanted to view our Social Media Captions Membership, they would get bounced off our main site onto another. That style-wise didn’t really match. And then if they wanted to learn more about our software. Again they would get bumped off our main site and to a new one.
Since moving to Showit, I can finally create pages specifically for different products and services. No matter where someone goes on our site, they will get the same style.
The biggest takeaway from making the switch over to Showit and using a Tonic theme is that I finally feel like the website I have, is a reflection of my style, dreams, and vision.
I couldn’t be more in love with this beautiful site we created with TONIC & Showit!
QUICK LINKS
Tonic Site Shop offers beautiful, customizable website designs for entrepreneurs & creatives.
Paper Plane is the theme designed by Tonic that I used for our website. (Mixed with a few Greyhound Elements)
Showit is a drag-and-drop website platform that provides total creative freedom over the layout and design of your website, all without a single line of code.
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An open community that’s built around your brand is the hub for ALL, and I hope that more business owners realize just how powerful communities can be. Maybe by the time you’re done reading this, you’ll be inspired to start your own community too. Here’s how to grow your community online.
If you have a business, you might be wondering how to start, and I’m excited to share some of my favorite tips on doing exactly that. This way, just like me, you’ll have amazing people who are delighted to be part of what you’re doing.
I’m talking about loyal people who value what you do, are excited about the things you are working on, and are the first in line to sign up or purchase your service or product. You are there for them, and they are there for you. I believe all business owners deserve to have that because let me tell you; it makes the world of working for yourself a whole lot more fun!
Ready? Let’s dive in!
DEFINING COMMUNITY
Let’s define community first; a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.
I have this sense of community woven into my business. On my website, social media, the newsletter, you can find it everywhere. Truth be told, I actually love the fact that I have a business that’s not all about ‘me’. It’s about the resources I share to help others. Creating a community feel around my business has always come very natural, because I personally want to include others in what I do. Over the years, I’ve used social media to connect to people, but quickly realized that the conversation can sometimes feel a little one sided.
The whole concept of speaking at people, rather than with people. If you have a business, with social media you probably know exactly what I’m talking about.
- Newsletter, YOUR sending an email to others.
- Instagram, YOU post your photo and captions.
- Facebook page, YOU post your status.
SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS VS COMMUNITY PAGES
Now, don’t get me wrong. ALL these are forms of communities and a chance to connect with people, and that’s what makes them great. They are platforms built for you to share what you are most passionate about.
BUT…if we’re all being honest, it often feels like we’re standing on a stage speaking AT people rather than WITH people.
When I think of the word community, I think of like-minded people being together. Chatting about the things we care about and sharing things we love. It’s a busy, welcoming place to be and feels like our favorite place to hang out with people who simply get it because we have things in common.
For the sake of keeping things focused, I want to teach you how to build a community. A place for your ideal customers/clients to hang out and spend time. Where you can share the things you’re passionate about with people who care and connect with them on a personal level. Where you can have open conversations with people rather than being the sole speaker.
The perfect place for this is in a Facebook Group.
Maybe you’ve thought about starting one. Perhaps you already have one but are struggling to get it to grow with the right people. If that’s the case, I’m excited you’re here because I’m about to tell you everything you need to know to build your very own Facebook group community.
You’re probably wondering; How the heck do you build an online community around what you do, and have it grow into a space for you, your business, and those who will become some of your loyalist supporters?
I’m here to tell you, and it’s actually a lot easier than you might think!
FIND YOUR FOCUS
The first thing you need to do is figure out the focus of your group. If you have a business or a passion, you probably already know what you’d like the focus on. Ideally, you want to create a space where you can connect with people who care about what you do, the service you offer, or the products you sell.
What kind of community do you envision?
If you had to choose three topics as the focus, what would they be?
How will the focus benefit those in the group? How will it benefit you and your business?
CREATE GUIDELINES
For a moment, I want you to imagine that you had 10,000 members in your group. What kind of guidelines would you want in place? This will be your group, and you’ll be in charge of making sure that this space is the kind of space people want to spend time. Think about the groups you’re currently in. What kind of posts do you enjoy, and which ones make you want to leave?
Some of my guidelines are (and you’re totally welcome to copy paste these for your own group guidelines!)
GUIDELINE EXAMPLES
- This group will be a positive space to learn, grow, and share. Please refrain from venting, bashing, complaining. All negative posts or comments will be removed immediately.
- Always be respectful and helpful. I will personally help educate, others are welcome to give tips and advice. Please be sure to remain encouraging to others so they, too, can learn and grow.
WHY GUIDELINES MATTER
You probably noticed, but it’s VERY important for me to build a community that is a welcoming space for everyone. I want people to be able to learn, grow, and share what they love. I’m proud to say I get raves about it being exactly that all the time, and I couldn’t be prouder.
When someone joins the group and is quick to judge, bash, or be negative towards other members, they quickly end up leaving because they learn that my group isn’t the space for that. Even with a group with over 16,000 members, this happens maybe once a year…if that. I’m telling ya…it’s a whole lot of sweet people in my group.
Think about guidelines/rules as a way to ensure that the people in your group will remain happy there in the long run. Focus on what guidelines you feel are most important, and you’ll see how over time, those core values of a group just become stronger and stronger.
CONTENT STRATEGY
You’re going to want to come up with a game plan for content because let me tell you, being a group, where no one is active is not very much fun. The more active your group is, the faster it will grow. People enjoy spending time with other like-minded creatives, and a community group is a perfect place for that.
The best advice I have for your group is to come up with your content posts ahead of time. Post them in the group, even when there aren’t a lot of people. It might feel funny at first with a smaller group, but I promise, if you continue posting, others will as well.
Make a list of 7 types of posts, then use this as your weekly guide.
This could look something like
EXAMPLE
- MONDAY – Weekly Goals: Share what you’re working on.
- TUESDAY – Introductions: Tell us about what you do.
- WEDNESDAY – Share: Post some of your work.
- THURSDAY – Help post: Post about something you need help with.
- FRIDAY – Follow Friday: Post your social media account. Fun way to connect with everyone in the group.
- SATURDAY – Helpful Tip: Give your group a helpful tip.
- SUNDAY – Promotion Sunday: Promote one of your products or services.
Of course, you can alter these to match your services and products and create an environment for your community to engage and connect with topics that align with what you and your business are all about.
INVITE MEMBERS
Once you’ve started a group, you’ll need to start telling people about it. You can post about your group and invite people using your current social accounts or newsletters. Since groups have a much higher organic reach, they work better than Facebook pages and Instagram pages so it’s not a bad idea to try and get your followers/customers/clients into your group.
ENGAGEMENT
Now, this is often the tricky part of groups. Getting the engagement up. The truth is this; you’re group MIGHT be slow to start, and that’s ok. Consider it more like a very private hang out for your favorite people. I promise if you stick with it, it will grow, and engagement will go up as well. In no time, you’ll have a group filled with people who love what you have to offer.
ADJUST YOUR FOCUS
Now, as time goes by, don’t be afraid to revisit your focus. It’s normal and perfectly ok for you, your business, your vision, and your group to adjust as time passes by. Take notice of what people are posting in the group. What are the hot topics, and how have you been able to help those in your community the most? Try to incorporate these into your focus moving forward.
GROW YOUR COMMUNITY
Continue to grow your group and make sure to invite those that find you elsewhere to join you there. When it comes to social media, I put the most effort into growing my Facebook group. Even though it has fewer people than my Instagram and Facebook, it outperforms organic reach by a long shot.
MAKE SURE TO GROW YOUR LIST
The backbone of my business marketing all comes down to my email list. Of course, I love my Facebook group, and social media pages, but since it’s not something I can control (Dear Mark could literally change the rules on all of us tomorrow), I always make sure to maximize the way I grow my email list. An easy way to do this is to include a freebie in the questions they have to answer so you can welcome your new members with a nice freebie, while at the same time growing your email list as your community grows!
BUILD YOUR COMMUNITY TODAY
So if you’re ready to start building your community with people who genuinely care about what you do, then start your community group today! You’ll be so happy that you did. Interested in learning more about Facebook group?
Then hop on over to my newsletter list and Facebook Group so you’ll be the first to get my upcoming tips on building and scaling your business!
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A personal letter to anyone thinking about quitting.
In the last week, I have had more people contact me who are thinking about quitting and throwing in the towel than ever before. People I have known for quite a while and some that were complete strangers. I’m not sure why in the last week, there have been so many people out there thinking about giving up, but it made me want to write a message for anyone who is currently thinking about quitting.
This is for you.
I want you to realize that you have not come this far, to only come this far. You have spent so much time, heart, and hard work creating something for yourself. Don’t you dare think about quitting. Realize one thing; you could be one day away from succeeding. That’s the thing with making your dreams a reality, you have no idea how close you are to it until you make it, and you could miss that entire opportunity by throwing in the towel and walking away forever.
We live in a world where people prepare a plan for failure rather than focusing more on making their dreams a reality. Stop spending time thinking about failing and how you can continue after not making it and start focusing on not quitting. Focus on making something work and push forward. Re-train your mind to focus on continuing to work even when it’s hard. When you get tired, learn to take a break instead of quitting.
I want you to realize is that making your dreams happen is supposed to be hard. It’s supposed to test you over and over again. When you pour your heart into something and don’t see it happen the way you want, it’s hard. That’s how it’s supposed to be. This is where grit comes in. You have to keep going even when you don’t see any change at all. You have to have a special kind of vision in your head to continue something that doesn’t work over and over again until one day, it works. Believe in your dream, your vision, and keep going.
Many people are scared of failure; the idea of not making it happen is often enough to get them to quit. The idea of putting so much time, energy, and effort into something they love and have it not be guaranteed can be paralyzing. But here’s the thing, if you learn to change your focus, you’ll realize that the only possible way to fail is by quitting, then the solution is pretty simple; Don’t Quit.
Learn to work for yourself. No one in this world will hand you your dreams. No one will put the hard work into making it happen for you. No one will stay up all night working on your dream. If you really want it, you have to work for yourself. If you believe in yourself, your work ethic, your drive, then nothing can stop you.
Never put a time limit on reaching your goals and dreams. You know how crazy it sounds to me when someone tells me they have been working on their business for three full years and are thinking about throwing in the towel? You are working on a dream that will be something you can enjoy the rest of your life. And you’re willing to set a time limit on making it happen and are disappointed in not yet achieving it in a few years? I wish I would have documented the days where no one knew who I was and the days I worked on something day in and day out while not one person noticed. Those days say more about who I am than today. Those days have built me into someone who does not quit, someone who can work for themselves and push forward until they make it and figure it out. And you can do the same, as long as you don’t quit.
If you are on the path of turning your dreams into a reality, then I’m willing to bet you have people in your life that don’t support what you do or don’t believe it’s even possible. It could be a complete stranger or your closest friend. It could be someone from the online world that’s never met you or family that’s known you your whole entire life. Regardless of who it is, it’s difficult to hear and feel. Put those people aside and focus on proving them wrong. I have something about me, I’ve had it my whole life, and that is this; I have always been able to pull the motivation from people telling me I can’t do something and show them that I can.
Tell me I can’t, and I will.
Learn to use the doubters as motivators and make your dream a reality.
Raise your standards and surround yourself with those who inspire you. The ones who know what it’s like to dedicate themselves to pursuing their dreams and thinking bigger than the rest. Stop feeling guilty for wanting more out of life than the typical person and pursue your dreams with everything you have.
Realize you have the same 24 hours in the day as everyone else, and it’s 100% up to you what you do with them. Every day it’s your choice to sit back and let those hours pass you by or get to work. Success never happens overnight. Success is determined by how you spend every single hour, day in and day out.
When you’re thinking about quitting, think about why you started and focus on envisioning the day you can look back to this day and realize that pushing past the hard day was the best decision ever. It will happen, but it can only happen if you’re not willing to quit. Anything is possible if you’re ready to put in the hard work and never quit.
Do not give up. You are closer than you think.
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The reason it’s so difficult to talk about because I take it so personal and have poured 10 years of hard work into my business.
To have something like this happen…has been so incredibly hard.
SOMEONE STOLE MY DIGITAL PRODUCTS
I had someone steal my products, upload them for the world to download for free, and had to deal with the fall-out behind the scenes because of it for months. To say it was hard would be an understatement. For a long time, I had no idea this had even happened. It wasn’t until I suddenly saw a drop in sales that made me wonder what had happened.
I had a solid business, great products, and a killer marketing strategy in place. I built my dream business. Months went by until I decided to take a closer look at what happened and discovered the problem.
My best selling products, stolen by a stranger, uploaded for free, for the world to download.
This wasn’t the first time someone had stolen my products. Sadly, I see it happen all the time. It was just the first time this had happened and really affected how my business was doing financially.
HOW IT FELT
First, I was angry, so angry. Angry at this person for taking what I had worked so hard to build. Then the sadness kicked in. Then doubt. Then some more anger. I questioned what the point was of building a business when someone could come in and just take what they wanted without any consequences.
THE TRUTH: THERE’S VERY LITTLE YOU CAN DO
There’s very little you can do when digital products are stolen, and the damage that occurs because of it happens so incredibly fast.
In the 10 years of being in business, it has been the HARDEST thing I’ve had to deal with, and I’ve never had something made me question what I was doing creatively as much as this.
After a lot of hard work and trying many different things, I managed to get my stolen products taken down. The sad part is that they were up for months without me being aware. Regardless, the damage from having this happened can’t be undone. The only thing I can do now is move forward.
The really sad part about it is that this site is still up, and this person if earning money by stealing other people’s products and letting the world download them for free.
As a creative business, it sickens me to know that there are people that think it’s OK to do this.
It also makes me sad knowing that there are photographers and other creative people that go to these sites to download products for free, knowing they are stolen instead of purchasing them from the actual creator who put so much time into making them.
THIS IS THEFT AND IT’S NOT OK
People might think it’s an innocent thing to do, that it’s just them doing it, but here’s the truth; I am a small business, and pour my heart into what I do because it’s what I love. My family of 5 depending on my business financially. This is not a side hobby, this is what we count on and I know so many other small businesses that are in the same boat. So when someone downloads something for free online…I hope they realize it will affect that creator in a negative way.
It’s not innocent.
It’s not OK.
And as someone who works in the photography industry as a photographer AND creator, I know how common it is for photographers to share digital products. To split costs and do a group buy. To trade preset packs and digital products. I’ve seen threads on Reddit from photographers, specifically asking for my preset collections and listing what all they would be willing to trade for.
I see it happen all the time and know that it’s not just happening to me and my business, but is a massive problem in the digital product world.
What bothers me most about it is because I know the people that are doing it, are photographers. Photographers who are also trying to make a living doing what they love. Photographers who want to be booked by clients who value them, their time, and hard work. I know how much it would hurt them to have clients who just took screenshots of the gallery instead of purchasing prints or digitals from them. They are no different than me. They want to be valued.
Sometimes I wonder how a photographer, in the same creative industry as me, would be OK with stealing from someone online.
THIS WASN’T THE FIRST TIME MY PRODUCTS STOLEN
The first time I found one of my digital items stolen and posted for free I remember reaching out to the other creators whose products were next to mine. I explained what had happened, how upsetting it was, I knew they would be just as upset as me and that if we all stood up together, we could make a change. maybe even put an end to it.
Sadly this is what she said;
“Don’t bother…There’s nothing you can do and talking about it will only make it worse so don’t bring it up anywhere”.
I left that conversation with my head hanging low because I knew they were right. There was so little I could do, and bringing it up could potentially make the problem even worse by drawing more attention to it.
But after having this happen, at such a large scale, I knew I was done being quiet about it because it’s a problem that affects so many small businesses, and I want people to realize it’s not ok.
I WANTED TO QUIT
I had days of wanting to quit because when you spend 10 years building something from the ground up and then have something like this happen, you feel so knocked down from it.
Then, after all the sadness and plenty of support from my husband, who I don’t know how many times had to lift me up over the last few months and remind me that I had it in me to do bigger and better things, I decided that he was right.
Just because something like this happened doesn’t mean that I couldn’t take what I had learned over the 10 years and apply it in a new way.
TIME FOR CHANGE
I took some time to take a look at my business and how I want to move forward and know in my heart that I want to make some changes. To focus not just on one aspect of what I am good at, but the many things I enjoy doing.
The truth is; there’s still plenty of sad days and a little anger towards this stranger, but more so, there’s a drive-in me to do something even more amazing. To use this to push me past my self made limits of what is possible and try something new.
Sometimes bad things in life happen, and they are out of our control. But deciding how to move forward will always be up to us.
CHOOSING TO SEE OPPORTUNITIES
We can choose to see the opportunities rather than feel defeated. We can see hard times as things that strengthen us in the long run.
I’ll continue working hard, just in a new way. I’m putting the days of sadness, anger, doubt behind.
CHANGE IS UNCOMFORTABLE BUT NECESSARY
Here’s what I know for sure; Change is uncomfortable but necessary.
My biggest wish is for you to be here for it all. I’m turning a new page, with a new dream and, most importantly, hope.
The last few months were incredibly hard, but I’m more than ever excited about what’s to come. To each of you who have shown support to me and my business; thank you for always being there. You have no idea how much that means.
This wasn’t easy to share, it wouldn’t have been easier to just keep it all to myself, but I felt it was important to share what happened so I can truly put it behind me and move forward.
I spent the last week re-vamping my homepage and re-organizing the blog and want to put more effort into adding new content here to help all of you.
HERE’S WHAT I’LL BE DOING NEXT
After 10 years of being in business, I’ve built a striving photography business, a million-dollar e-commerce site, and The Essential Studio Manager, which is a software used by thousands of photographers around the world to manage their photography business.
Simply put; I bring a lot of knowledge to the table when it comes to building businesses, managing, and scaling. I love taking ideas, making a plan, and making it happen. It’s what I love to do, and it ties perfectly into what I love to do. Helping other business owners build and scale their own business.
There are big things ahead, I can feel it.
I can’t wait to share everything I know with you, so you can use these same methods with making your dreams a reality too.
Here’s to bigger and better things.
And to the person who stole from me; You’ll never personally know me. You’ll never know the pain you put me through or the struggle I had to face because of your action. Stealing my digital products seemed so innocent to you. You probably had no idea that my family was financially dependent on my business and that your actions would push us to have to move from a home we loved and start over again.
As hard as this was for me, I also know that I have I am strong enough to push past this and continue doing great things with my life and business.
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People might wonder why I this is so important to me to help other creatives in building a striving business and I wanted to try and put it in words so others can understand why I as a photographer, entrepreneur also find it so important to push people towards pursuing the things they are passionate about.
There are certain events that happened in my life that gave me more drive to create something for myself. For me, it wasn’t just that I was incredibly in love with photography, or running a business, but it’s what I needed and valued personally to have the life I dreamt of having. My goal was living my life on my own terms.
When I first met my husband Jon, I was getting ready to start my first year in college, and he was in the Army with orders to deploy to Iraq for 12 months. He left four months after I met him, and I married him exactly two days after he returned home. Kind of crazy to marry someone after such a short time, but after being married to him for almost 10 years I know that out of all my life decisions, choosing to grow old with him was by far the best one yet.
They say things become easier as time goes on, but the truth is, the next 12-month deployment in 2010 was even harder. Not only did I have to say goodbye for 12 months again, but I had to see him say goodbye to our daughter, who was a little over one at the time.
He missed an entire year, and I know how hard that was for all of us. We both knew that being together, truly together as a family was important. We just didn’t know how to go about making that happen. The idea of being together after going 12 months apart for each deployment seemed like a dream that was never going to happen.
I got my first camera when he was on that deployment because pictures were the only way I was able to let him see into my world, and see his daughter grow up. I took pictures of everything and at the time had no idea the path it would take me on and the passion it had sparked deep inside my heart.
Fast forward a few years, his contract was up, and he got out of the Army. We were together, but things were hard. Living paycheck to paycheck was our current reality, and as a stay at home mom, I didn’t have much that I felt could contribute to our family financially.
Being a stay at home mom was important to me, and it’s something I’m so happy I have been able to do because my husband knew how important it was for me to be home with our kids. He worked nights at the time which was hard. Although he was home, he was often catching up on much-needed sleep, and due to our schedules being the complete opposite, it felt again as if we didn’t get to be together very much.
I kept taking pictures and eventually started my photography business, used what I had and put everything I had into making my business work. There were so many sleepless nights where I stayed up till 4 am because it was the only time I could really focus on getting things done while my daughter was asleep. At this point, there were no guarantees that this would be the way I could have my family be together but I also knew that not trying wasn’t going to be an option. Years passed and although my business wasn’t the most stable, we decided to go for it full force. My husband quit his job to be home with me and our kids and for the first time, we were truly together.
To us, that was our big dream, and I know there are others who want that as well. All too often we put the value on our job, and moving up some ladder and forget what’s most important in life, and that’s being together. Truly being there with the people you love the most.
The reason I offer business coaching is that I know it’s possible to have a career you love, while being with your husband every day, and be a stay at home mom.
People are told that they have to choose.
Choose to go back to work, or become a stay and home mom and I’m here to tell everyone that you don’t have to choose anymore. You can have both. You can be incredibly successful in a career and be the stay at home mom you want to be.
You can have a life where you have breakfast dates every morning with your husband because neither one of you has a job they have to run off to.
You can have dinner as a family without feeling like you just got home and had to tuck your kids into bed to get ready for the next day to start the entire process over again.
You can have a life where you’re not always running arms wide open to the things that you care most about in life because you’re forced to choose other things instead.
It won’t happen overnight, but I know that there’s more to life than working at something that doesn’t make you happy. Figure out what you love to do, and most importantly what you value in life. The only way to get there is to decide that you want that change. Be in control of choosing the path you want to be on and then go after it.
If it’s being home with your kids full-time, while also financially contributing to your family. It’s possible I promise. If I can do it, and my sister can do it, and hundreds of creates that I’ve seen turn their passions into a profitable business giving them personal freedom to prioritize what’s most important to them, you can do the same.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I'm Elena, your
new
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Multi-passionate, CEO of multiple companies, mama of four, obsessed with all things business and marketing, ready to help you attract your ideal client and customer. My goal is to give you the strategies and tools to grow your business so you can save time, get real results and focus on what matters most.
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