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Do Not Quit. You Are Closer Than You Think
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If you’re ready to start moving in the right direction and become amazing at getting things accomplished then let me explain this concept to you. It might sound simple but take the time to actually think about it. Let it sink in. I believe this concept needs to be understood by every business person out there.
I often get asked how I managed to grow my business and Wordsmith Membership so quickly and I can say that it had to do with a lot of things. One of them is reading a lot. I’ve never been able to get lost in storybooks, but hand me a book on business and I can’t put it down. I soak it up like a sponge and then piece it together to make it fit my life, my business, and the way I run my business. Something about business fascinates me, and I love reading how things work, how ideas succeed, how they fail. I love reading stories about others that built a business empire out of a simple dream.
The 80/20 Principle
I remember reading about something called the 80/20 principle. It’s actually a really simple concept, but to me, it was absolutely mind-blowing. For the past few years, I have applied this 80/20 principle to running my own business and it has helped me in so many ways. It helps me make decisions quickly and always reminds me of the big picture.
Most people believe that when you put hard work in, you get the same return. If you put 50% of hard work, you’ll get 50% in results. The problem with that concept is that it usually doesn’t actually work out like that. People that have this mindset all too often spend time on the wrong things and move forward a lot slower than those who understand the concept of the 80/20 principle.
The 80-20 rule will teach you to focus on what’s really important in your life and your business. You can apply it to almost every aspect of your life and business and below I’ll list a few ways photographers can think about the concept.
The 80-20 rule states that 20% of inputs create 80% of the outputs and that 20% of the effort leads to 80% of the results.
Here are some examples in business when it comes to the 80/20 principle.
CLIENTS & BUSINESS
80% OF BUSINESS COMES FROM 20% OF YOUR CLIENTS/CUSTOMERS
Figure out who your top 20% clients/customers are!
80% OF YOUR NEW CLIENTS/CUSTOMERS ARE REFERRED OVER BY 20% OF YOUR CURRENT CLIENTS/CUSTOMERS
Who are your top 20%? They bring in over 80% of your NEW clientele/customers!
80% OF CLIENTS/CUSTOMERS COME FROM 20% OF THE BUSINESS REACH
What is your top 20% business outreach strategy? It is bringing you 80% of your clients/customers!
80% OF COMPLAINTS COMES FROM 20% OF YOUR CLIENTS/CUSTOMERS
Unhappy clients are hard situations to deal with but realize that it’s only 20%. (Although in the moment it might feel like 80%)
SALES & SESSIONS
80% OF SALES ARE GENERATED BY 20% OF YOUR CLIENTS/CUSTOMERS
This is KEY – Who are your most loyal clients/customers? They generate 80% of your sales!
80% OF PRODUCT SALES COME FROM 20% OF YOUR PRODUCTS
What are your BEST sellers? Those items account for 80% of product sales!
80% OF REVENUE COMES FROM 20% OF YOUR CLIENTS/CUSTOMERS
Again – Who are your BEST clients/customers? They account for 80% of your entire business revenue!
TIME MANAGEMENT & OFFICE WORK
80% OF BUSINESS IS DONE IN 20% OF THE TIME (YEAR, MONTH, WEEK OR DAY)
Know when your busy season is and make sure work extra hard during that time – it brings you 80% of your business!
80% OF RESULTS ARE ACHIEVED BECAUSE OF 20% OF THE TASKS
KNOW what your important tasks are – 80% of results come from those tasks alone! Don’t waste so much time on the little things.
80% OF EMAILS ASK 20% OF THE QUESTIONS
Do you get a lot of repeat emails from a lot of people? Save yourself time by creating email templates. 80% of ALL your emails are looking for the same information!
80% OF YOUR TABS OPEN IS 20% OF WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING
How many search browser tabs do you have open right now? 80% of them are unnecessary!
SOCIAL MEDIA & BLOGGING
80% OF YOUR INTERACTION COMES FROM 20% OF YOUR FOLLOWERS
Who are your most AWESOME fans? They make up 80% of all your interactions!
80% OF YOUR TRAFFIC COMES FROM 20% OF YOUR KEYWORDS
Know what your TOP keywords are – they bring in 80% of all your traffic!
80% OF SOCIAL SHARES COME FROM 20% OF THE SOCIAL UPDATES
What posts get the most shares and attention? They get you 80% of all shares!
MARKETING & ADVERTISING
80% OF SALES COME FROM 20% OF YOUR ADVERTISING
What advertising method works best for your business? It brings in 80% in sales!
80% OF BOOKINGS COME FROM 20% OF YOUR MARKETING
What marketing method works best? It brings in 80% of your bookings!
Hope you enjoyed this post! And always remember the most important rule of all:
80% OF SUCCESS IS SHOWING UP
If you’re ready to start focusing on the right things, it starts by figuring out what your 20% is first. Once you know what that is, you’ll be able to focus on the pieces that move your business (or life) in the right direction. The best thing about the 80/20 principle is that you can apply it to literally anything in life and business. Looking to learn a little more about this? There’s a ton of books on it, but I highly recommend reading The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch.
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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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A question I often get is about Facebook Advertising. Does it work? Is it worth it? It’s something people email me about, ask me on Facebook, discuss in my private Facebook group. After publishing my income reports and showing that I spent money on advertising, it has brought even more questions my way, and I’m so excited to answer them today.
Most of you who are reading this probably have tried to use Facebook advertising and either lost money or quickly booked some new clients. This article is here to tell you exactly what will make your Facebook ads work, what won’t.
I have spent plenty of money on Facebook advertising. Plenty of losses and gains. I’ve spent money on ads that brought me nothing but negativity and money on ads that have connected me with some passionate creatives and made it possible for me to scale my business. There are so many possibilities with advertising, and what I think is most important is understanding how they can work for you.
I have made over a million with my business promoting different products and services, including Lightroom Presets, Social Media Captions, and even CRMs. Much of that money was made before ever spending a penny on Facebook. Before spending money on advertising, I had many months making anywhere from $10,000 to $14,000 a month without spending a single dollar in any digital advertising. Facebook advertising wasn’t even an option for me when I started my business, and I surely didn’t have a large enough budget to ever consider investing in any type of advertising when I first got started. So with that being said, let’s dive into what works and how to avoid possible BIG financial mistakes.
WHAT MAKES FACEBOOK ADVERTISING WORK?
THE ONLY THING FACEBOOK ADVERTISING WILL DO IS AMPLIFY YOUR CURRENT BUSINESS STRUCTURE AND RESULTS
And that’s not always a good thing!
THIS MEANS THAT IF:
- your business is set up correctly
- you have a business plan and strategy to reach your goals
- your work is something you are absolutely proud of
- you stand 100% behind your passion and work
- your pricing is set up to bring in profits and create value-based 100% on your personal goals
- understand exactly who your dream client is
- have excellent customer communication skills
- know how to make clients value your service
- have a strategy in collecting potential leads
- know exactly how to close the booking deal
- have a loyal client base that trusts you
- have a brand that people recognize
- put a ton of time into your business
- you have a strong business workflow that keeps you on track
- have a style that is unique
- you have clients who rave about your service
- know that the clients you have will recommend your business to others and return to you over and over again
FACEBOOK ADVERTISING WILL WORK AMAZINGLY FOR YOU
It will literally take every aspect of your current business and quickly help you amplify the results. Facebook ads will ONLY work for you if your business is set up correctly. I can not stress this enough for those of you who are thinking of not just Facebook advertising but any business advertising that will require you to invest a large amount of money.
Now Facebook (or any advertising) will blow your money quicker than you can imagine if your business is currently not set up correctly. If you currently have a business where you feel frustrated with how it’s working, you are either not bringing in enough clients/customers, people don’t value what you do, and you don’t have an overall business strategy; advertising is not for you (YET).
This certainly does not mean that it won’t ever be for you, it just means that we have to get it set up correctly first, get everything lined up how it should, go over your goals, make sure that your pricing is where it should, make sure that your brand and website is the best version of your business, and put in a booking strategy that will quickly turn potential clients into loyal clients that are quickly referring more and more loyal customers your way.
THIS MEANS THAT IF:
- your business is not set up correctly
- you have no idea how to reach your business goals and don’t know how to make it happen.
- your work is something you are still perfecting
- stand 100% behind your passion but are still struggling to get it where your vision is
- your pricing is set up based on what you read online, or worse, 100% based on someone else’s pricing
- know you want clients to value you, but have no idea what that person looks like
- have a hard time staying on top of communicating with clients
- don’t know how to make clients value your service
- don’t have a strategy in collecting potential leads
- you don’t know exactly how to close the booking deal; right now it’s like a hit or miss. Sometimes they book you, and other times you never even hear back from them.
- don’t have a loyal client base
- have branding in your head but haven’t been able to really nail it down in real life
- feel like you don’t have a good workflow and your are constantly stressed about the amount of work you need to get done.
- you haven’t yet found your style, and are still jumping around a lot. You’re not yet creating consistent work.
- put a ton of time into your business but aren’t seeing the return
- you have clients who don’t seem to value the amount of effort you put into your work
- Your current clients aren’t really helping you grow your client base
Facebook (or any type of advertising) is not for you YET.
I’m not saying that if you read that list and said “yep” to every single one, I’m saying that even if 5 of those things lined up with how you feel about your business, it’s not yet time to spend any money in advertising. I also made sure to underline the yet part, because just because your business isn’t ready for it now, certainly doesn’t mean it won’t ever be ready for it!
THE TRUTH IS THAT ADVERTISING IS NOT GOING TO BUILD YOUR BUSINESS FOR YOU
Advertising is awesome; I love using it to grow my business. But take it from someone who had used it before being ready, and lost money, any type of advertising will not put in the hard work you have to do to create a successful business.
Put in the hard work, figure out what works and what doesn’t. If you’re someone who is currently not fully satisfied with their business and wants to learn the correct way to set up their business, how to find the right clients, pricing yourself correctly, and understand that running a successful business has a lot more to do with following the right strategies and plans that blindly trying different things then I would love to help.
My business class teaches you everything from start to finish and comes with access to a private online group where I can help you on a more personal level. I don’t want to talk too much about it in this blog post, but seriously, even if you have a tiny piece of you wonder if THIS class could help you, I’m telling you right now, it will!
Back to Facebook ads: Let’s say that you fall under the category of Facebook ads working great for you, then here are a few important things you need to do when setting up ads!
START SMALL AND BE CAREFUL
People I talk to about ads often come back with “omg, there’s no way I could spend that much in ads a day! That’s absolutely insane!” I can not stress this enough, and that’s why it’s on the top of the list, but start small! VERY small. $1 a day will end up being $30 a month. If you spend $5 a day, it will end up being $150 a month. The nice thing with social ads, you can start small.
CREATE A LANDING PAGE
Make sure that you link it to your website! Better yet, create a special page on your website that will give them a nice welcome, talk to them more about what you have to offer and most importantly, have a way for them to fill something out to reach you or get on your email list!
CUSTOMIZE THE TEXT
This one is simple but so important. A lot of people don’t even realize this is possible. When you add a link to Facebook, it will automatically put an image and text from that link. You’ll see the larger ‘header’ text and the smaller text. CLICK on them to edit them!
WHAT ARE YOU PROMOTING, AND HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
Always make sure to look at how much the service is you are selling and how much it took you to gain that new client/customer. Spending $100 is a lot, but when you keep adding those numbers up, the return is actually pretty good.
Let’s pretend like for every $100 you get a new $500 client.
- $100 in ad spend, you’ll make $500
- $200 in ad spend, you’ll make $1000
- $300 in ad spend, you’ll make $1500
- $400 in ad spend, you’ll make $2000
- $500 in ad spend, you’ll make $2500.
That’s a great return. If you could continue this structure long-term, it would be super easy for you to keep finding more clients using Facebook advertising.
EXPLORE WHAT WORKS
Facebook advertising has worked great with me, but it certainly is not the only way to utilize advertising. Business owners might also see great results using something like Instagram, and those who offer a physical product might benefit most from using Pinterest, a local flower shop might see best results in using Google ad words! As you can see, there’s a lot out there and what works for one person, might not for another. It’s important to try different things to see which one will be best for you and your business.
But remember, any form of advertising will only work if you have a business that is set up correctly. If you need help in building a successful business, then I would love to help you!
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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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Many business owners out there struggle with feeling guilty about charging what they’re worth. More than likely, you know the feeling of having to put a price on your service, art, and time, or skill. Wanting to charge what you’re worth but fear that others won’t see the value behind what you do.
The struggle between wanting to build a strong business with an income you can live on and deserve, doing what you love while at the same time wanting to give your clients everything they want for next to nothing because you love what you do.
Here’s what makes it hard: Most likely, you got started pursuing your passions not because of the money but because you love what you do. The truth is that many business owners out there are valuing their client’s feelings over their own business goals.
If you calculate how much you need to charge to reach your income goals, that number you might end up coming up with might very likely be out of someone’s budget. It might even be out of many people’s budget. That number might be higher than you feel comfortable with at the moment, and the idea of someone paying those higher prices for your services might be terrifying for you.
The goal of this post isn’t here to tell you that you need to raise your prices; raising prices is easy. It’s something I had to learn with my own business, and something I hope to pass on to others who might be struggling with charging what they are worth.
I WANT YOU TO REALIZE ONE THING;
YOU ARE WORTH
EVERY PENNY.
Stop being scared of charging what you are worth and calculate your numbers like a business. You put so much heart into your business so when you sit there calculating how much you need to charge, use your head and a calculator. Put your heart aside just for a little while, so the numbers behind getting your business to become sustainable long term are in your future.
Stop overthinking pricing and putting other people’s feelings above what you are worth.
I can promise you this; by Charging what you are worth you will;
COME ACROSS PEOPLE WHO CAN NOT AFFORD THOSE PRICES.
And that is ok! What someone else can afford doesn’t have anything to do with your worth. You might even find people who think you are worth every single penny, but you still won’t fall into their budget. Accept that not everyone will be able to book with you.
YOU WILL COME ACROSS PEOPLE WHO SAVE UP TO FINALLY INVEST IN YOUR BUSINESS
Because the investment is worth it to them. Working with people who believe you are worth it is one of the best feelings you’ll have as a small business owner.
YOU WILL FIND PEOPLE WHO THINK YOU ARE CRAZY FOR CHARGING THOSE PRICES.
You might even make a few jaws hit the ground. Be proud of your pricing!
YOU WILL FIND PEOPLE COMPARE YOU TO OTHERS BASED ON PRICES ALONE.
And you’ll have no problem wishing them good luck if they would rather work with someone else simply because they have lower prices because you know deep inside that there’s a reason they reached out to you. That they contacted you because they see the quality in what you offer.
YOU WILL START TO MANAGE YOUR TIME BETTER.
You’ll quickly see what things waste your time and the things that are worth pursuing. Knowing how to manage your time correctly will also help others not take advantage of that good heart you have. I get that when you pursue the thing you are most passionate about, it’s hard to make that a business. To separate wanting to do it all the time for free, for everyone. And finally, turn it into a business where you are spending valuable time doing something you love while also bringing an in income that you can depend on and deserve.
The beautiful thing about charging what you’re worth and shifting your mindset to realize that you are worth it is that you’ll instantly see your business transform and find those dream clients and customers more often.
When you work with people who don’t question your worth and genuinely understand the amount of work you put into your craft, it validates what you knew all along;
YOU ARE WORTH IT.
It’s time to stop feeling guilty about charging what you’re worth.
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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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We’re celebrating because the new Showit website site is officially LIVE!
The process of bringing this new vision to life has been so rewarding. It’s been amazing to see everything come together so beautifully.
It’s been years of piecing together different things to get it at least a little bit how I wanted, and it feels incredible to finally have a website that is the 100% what I’ve always dreamt of having. A place for all my ideas, dreams, and resources.
I spent months researching different platforms and decided to go with Showit Website. With Showit, I am using a theme from TONIC. I was completely blown away by how easy and enjoyable the whole process was. I’m working on a few articles and can’t wait to write more about the actual process of switching over and using a TONIC Theme for my new website for Modern Market. I’ll be sure to link those articles below when they are ready!
WHY YOUR WEBSITE MATTERS
Too often, we underestimate how important websites truly are. How they can completely change our outlook on what’s possible within the dreams, we pursue in life. It’s so much more than a website. It’s the place I get to share all the things I’m passionate in one place. While making an impact around the world.
So happy to finally share this new site with all of you. I’ll be writing a few articles on the process of switching over to a Showit.
This new launch has also allowed me to shift with my business. For those of you who have been with me from the very start know I got started as a portrait photographer who specialized in documenting motherhood. Later on, Modern Market was the place I shared the resources I used to grow my creative business. Over time it’s turned more and more into a community.
A community that I’m so honored to serve.
A NEW DIRECTION
Over the last year, I’ve done a lot of soul searching on the direction I wanted to go and knew I wanted to open the doors to more ways to serve. For years now I’ve found myself emerging in helping entrepreneurs with growing their business. I knew in my heart I wanted to continue building on to this community by including not just photographers, but all creative entrepreneurs.
My hope with this Modern Market is to continue to serve as best as I can, with the strategies and tools I’ve used to build my business from the ground up. A place I get to share my dreams, and goals while helping you with yours.
For a long time, I felt like the website platform I had was holding me back from growing my business. Now, with my new site, I truly feel like I’m no longer being held back. Instead, I feel more inspired to create than ever before.
SOMETIMES ALL WE NEED IS A FRESH START
This whole process served as a reminder that sometimes the things holding us back from building our dream business could be something as simple as our website. We put so much effort into so many aspects of our business. The marketing, the sales, social media, and all too often, our website is set up and left behind as we continue to grow throughout the years.
If your website isn’t currently living up to what you would consider your dream site, then maybe it’s time to make it happen and create a space that truly inspires you.
Today, I’m celebrating not just a new website design but celebrating all there is to come for all of us.
If you have questions about building a Showit website, just leave a comment below! I’d be happy to answer them.
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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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As I was completing my monthly income report, I’m calculating everything, and that’s when I see it. $1,007,325. There are a ton of milestones to hit as a small business owner, and reaching 1 million in overall income was incredibly special to me!
Not just because of the money, but because of my own belief that it was possible. I am the only person who knows the hard work, dedication, failures, triumphs, doubts, and setbacks that came with making this happen — believing in myself enough to lose all sense of limitations and realize that the possibilities are endless for me as long as I never quit.
A girl with a dream who decided to go for it. These last few years have been absolutely incredible, and it seems like every day I wake up, something exciting is happening.
I know we’re only two days into May, but I just hit my one MILLION mark, I am moving my entire business and life to Maui on the 29th. My family and I get to call Hawaii home, which means I get to explore a slice of heaven every day and finally live right by the beach. AND my 29th birthday is on the 26th. Whoever said you couldn’t have your cake and eat it too was dead wrong.
To celebrate this little moment of my life, I wanted to write out some lessons I’ve learned in the last few years. I know at the end of the day I am no different than anyone out there reading this. Everyone has it in them to chase their dreams; at the end of the day it’s a choice you have to make. You might wonder, is it all worth it? Is it hard? Does this bring happiness? I couldn’t imagine doing anything else with my life than living it to its full potential. I love chasing my dreams.
Here are 10 lessons I’ve learned. I’ll start at the beginning.
1. SUCCESS HAS HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
I will always consider this part of my life as a huge turning point in my life. I had to bike my daughter to school every single day because we only had one car, and my husband worked an hour away. Rain or shine, I had to bike to her school to drop her off and to pick her up. I’m sure most people thought it was because I loved biking. No. It was because that was my only means of transportation at the time.
I remember biking that trip countless amounts of times with the hot Florida sun beating down on me, thinking to myself; this is it. THIS is your start. This isn’t going to always be this way. If you put your mind to it, you can make big things happen. I thought about how amazing it would be if one day I could look back at that time of my life and think ‘remember when.’ Today is that day. I told myself never to forget that time in my life.
Those bike rides turned into a source of motivation for me. A way for me to think hard about my next move and focus on making the right changes to change my life. I learned to love the feeling of feeling defeated, that’s what gave me the drive to push harder in the right direction. I had to learn how to go into this as the underdog and build my way to the top.
The people who struggle, the ones starting at rock bottom have something others don’t. They have a fight deep inside to make things happen for themselves. Don’t ever underestimate that.
2. HELP AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE
I had someone tell me to throw in the towel shortly after starting my photography business. It was a group of other photographers, and I understand why they said it. I wasn’t good at the time. I didn’t understand the business, or pricing, or any of that. I just had a little dream to do something I loved. They weren’t able to see the person I would become.
I remember thinking to myself; No. I will not throw in the towel. I WILL make this happen, and when I do, I will help others do the same. I will use my strength to encourage those around me, not tear them down. Helping others pursue their dreams is at the core of who I am.
I love seeing people succeed in something they are passionate about. I have coached hundreds of entrepreneurs in turning their business into a profitable business and love pushing them in the right direction with the same strategies I used to build my own business.
I am incredibly proud of those people, for making the decision to put in the hard work and chase their dreams. One of the people I’m overly proud of is my sister. She is incredibly talented in what she does as a graphic designer. And my husband who for years has stood by my side and helped me build my business is now going after what he loves with is web development. I love seeing that spark in people’s eyes when they talk about something they are passionate about.
The amazing thing about it is this; everyone can pay it forward. The more people I can help succeed, the more they can inspire those around them to do the same. It’s a chain reaction, and I hope that my doing can help people all over this world go after their dreams.
3. IT’S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY; IT’S ABOUT FREEDOM
What’s more amazing than hitting one million? Being 100% in control of my life. Making decisions based on what I want to do, not on what society tells me to do.
I created my own business. I work for myself. I can work from anywhere in the world. I spend every day with my husband and children. I love what I do. My husband was able to quit his job and is now going after his own dreams. We are moving our family to Maui, Hawaii because we think it will be fun to live on an island in the middle of the Pacific.
I’m in control of my life, and that is priceless.
Having built a business that gives me full financial freedom is why I work so hard. It’s not about hitting one million; it’s about being in control of what I do with the life I have. The possibilities are endless when you can create a life you love and be in the driver’s seat. I could care less about fancy watches, or clothes. The expensive things most people dream about getting if they made the money. I care more about spending the life I have doing something I love, with the people who mean the most to me. At the end of my life, that’s what I want to look back on. I’m not in this for the money; I’m in it for the freedom.
4. I HAD TO DO IT ON MY OWN
Want to get there fast? Put in the hard work yourself. I know there’s all this talk about networking and mingling, and making the right connections with the right people that can connect you to other people who can help you get to where you want. Not for me. I know where I want to go and have done it by myself. I might be hardheaded with this, but I’ve learned that the fastest way to get somewhere is counting on yourself to get yourself there. Putting in the hard work and focusing on yourself. I can promise you that there is not another person in this world willing to work as hard as me on my business. Same goes for you and your business. Networking with others might be a great way to up our social life, but the truth is that you are the only person in this world who cares about the success of your own business. Learn to enjoy working by yourself, for yourself. Don’t expect others to be passionate about making your dreams a reality.
Become a lone wolf entrepreneur and do the work yourself.
5. YOU CAN’T FAIL IF YOU’RE NOT WILLING TO QUIT
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.
Realize 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.
6. THIS IS JUST THE START OF IT ALL
I’m excited to see what my feature holds. Proud to have found this sense of freedom so early on in life. I’ll continue putting the people who mean the most to me first. Without them, nothing would matter. I’ll keep working hard on the things I’m passionate about, wherever that ends up taking me. I’ll try to help as many people around me so they too can go after their dreams. Focusing on what matters most & living life to the fullest. I’m just getting started. Think about it this way. If you get to 85 years old, how much more time do you have left? What do you want to do with that time?
7. BET ON YOURSELF. EVERY TIME.
Bet on yourself. Every time. Most people think it’s a safer bet to bet on someone else. It’s safer to get that job at that big company. It’s safer to go to college and get a degree. It’s safer to follow a path that many have traveled. The safest bet you can make in life is on yourself. You are in full control of what you put in, and what you get out. People might consider working in another company as the safe bet, but you’re leaving your job and future in the hands of someone else. Someone who might not even really know you. When you work for yourself, you’re betting on yourself. You can hold yourself accountable. You deal with failures and celebrate the victories. At the end of the day, I’m willing to bet on myself every time because I know I have it in me.
8. TURN “I DON’T KNOW HOW” TO “I CAN LEARN HOW TO”
I can’t tell you how many times I hear the words. “I don’t know how to do this”. Everything you know how to do, you had to LEARN how to do. Just because you’re no longer sitting in a classroom with a textbook in front of you, doesn’t mean it’s time to stop learning. This is called life, and anything in life you don’t yet know how to do, you can learn. There’s nothing you can’t learn how to do. Think about ALL the things you know how to do…those skills didn’t just happen magically, you had to learn them, one by one. I didn’t know how to use a camera, I had to learn. I didn’t know how to do run a business, I had to learn. I didn’t know how to build a website, I had to learn. There are so many things I’ve had to teach myself how to do. The phrase “I don’t know how to do this” is going to get you nowhere. You have to change it to “I can learn how to do this” and you’ll quickly realize that you’re unstoppable.
9. YOU COULD BE ONE DAY AWAY FROM FIGURING EVERYTHING OUT
If someone would have predicted my future, I probably wouldn’t have believed them. Life is funny in the sense that you never really know what lies ahead. Business is the same way. I spent years putting in the hard work and didn’t see any of my hard work pay off. Nothing seemed to be working, but I kept going. I told myself that struggle was part of the process and knew I wanted it bad enough to keep going. Then one week, I tried something new, I changed up my strategies, and all of a sudden it was like the puzzle pieces finally fit together and things were happening how I wanted them to. I felt like I unlocked the right door and I finally understood how business works. I continued with the strategies that worked and changed the ones that didn’t until eventually, everything seemed to run exactly like I had wanted it to. Here’s the thing though, the few months before figuring out the right strategies, I wanted to quit. I was so close in tossing in the towel because I felt like things were never going to change. I was working so hard, but somehow I wasn’t attracting the right clients, which meant I wasn’t making enough money and felt ultimately defeated. I had no idea that I was so incredibly close to figuring it all out. I now know that you never have any idea how close you are to figuring things out and that you could be one day away from that happening. So if you feel like things are just not working out for you, and you’re thinking about quitting, remember this; you could be one day away from figuring it all out!
10. YOU ONLY HAVE ONE LIFE; IT’S TIME TO LIVE IT TO THE FULLEST
Everyone has the same 24 hours a day. And everyone only has one life to live. What matters is how you spend those hours, because that’s how you’ll end up spending your life. The thing is, you have no idea when your last day is, you wake up every day with time on your side until one day you wake up and you realize that you don’t have any more time left. You need to realize that every day you wake up, you wake up with a choice. A choice to live life on your terms, to go after things you want to do or continue letting your potential go to waste.
Think about getting to your last day, and standing around you are your life dreams, the ideas you had, your talents, and ambitions. And for whatever reason, you never went after those dreams, decided to not act on your ideas, and let it all go to waste. What was the point? You only have so much time left, and you never know when that last day arrives. The way I see it is that life is made up of dreams. The thing you see around you every day, are there because someone had the courage to go after their dreams and create them. Learn to live life and stop worrying so much about the little things, because those things won’t matter when you’re no longer here. What matters is how you lived your life.
DON’T LET YOUR DREAMS GO TO WASTE.
YOU HAVE IT IN YOU TO MAKE THEM HAPPEN.
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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
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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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