Have you ever felt the tug between the joy of the holiday season and the demands of your entrepreneurial journey, pulling at the strings of your heart as you navigate the balance between personal joy and business growth?

The sparkle of twinkling lights, the sweet scent of homemade cookies filling the cozy corners of our homes, and the laughter that echoes through the chilly air as families gather… the holiday season has a magical way of sweeping us off our feet. 

Yet, in the whirlwind of this beautiful time, there’s a storm that brews for many of us entrepreneurs—the storm of sales, discounts, and the never-ending quest for the Black Friday bonanza. 

It’s a season where the clatter of keyboards preparing for the next sale often drowns the heartwarming family time with our loved ones. It’s a paradox, really. A time meant for togetherness often pulls us in a tug-of-war between business gains and heartstring moments.

Having worn the entrepreneur hat for over a decade, I too, was caught in this storm for years. 

Each year as the holiday season approached, no matter how much I tried to plan ahead, it brought along a flurry of to-dos. Prepping for sales, strategizing for the maximum reach, and tailoring the perfect pitch. The days leading to Thanksgiving all the way through the New Year became a marathon of managing business campaigns while trying to steal keepsake moments with my family. If you have a business, you know exactly how much time goes into your business this time of year.

As the holiday season rolls around, most of us think about a few special days scattered between October and December. But for small business owners, it’s a whole different experience. It’s not just about a few days; it’s about weeks, even months of prep work, sticking to timelines, and rolling out launches.

The holiday season practically morphs into a busy season.

Every day counts as we gear up for those key dates. It’s all about tapping into the holiday cheer to keep our business engines running smoothly, making the most of the holiday rush.

The allure of ringing cash registers (or should I say, the ‘ka-ching’ of the online cart) with each sale was exhilarating. Yet, amidst the chaos of sale signs and discount codes, my heart yearned for the simple joy of baking pies with my kids, crafting salt dough ornaments, and the laughter that filled the room as we’d all decorate the Christmas tree together without needing to also check my phone and make sure all the things for my business were running according to plan.

The businesswoman in me reveled in the success of thousand-dollar sale days, yet the mom in me craved the warmth of calm evenings spent as a family.

Over the years, the question that echoed through the silence of the night was;

“Is it truly worth it?”

The scale seemed to tip in favor of heartfelt moments over fleeting financial gains. And so, I decided to unwrap a different gift—the gift of presence.

My holidays have since taken a serene turn. The frenzy of sales has faded, making way for cherished moments that are priceless. Yes, the entrepreneur in me still nudges towards making a quaint offer or a modest discount, but without the clamor and clash of the big sale days. 

And guess what? 

This newfound calm has brought a clarity that resonated with my clientele too. 

Amidst the deafening noise of sales pitches that flood inboxes during the holidays, a gentle, heartfelt message stood out, creating a bond beyond just a seasonal sale.

As you gear up for the holiday hustle, maybe you’ve found yourself asking the same questions.

Perhaps you’re looking for a better way to spend the holidays. Reflecting on what the spirit of the season truly means to you. 

Ask yourself, does the temporary triumph of a sale outweigh the timeless treasure of togetherness?

Are the discounts you offer a true reflection of the value you provide?

Remember, your worth is not determined by a seasonal sale, and the relationships you build with your clients will outlast any fleeting discount.

Lastly, I’ll leave you with some ideas on better navigating this upcoming holiday season. To those who choose to slow down, and those getting ready to dive in the hustle of holiday sales, I hope you can do it in a way that allows you to enjoy both those simple moments in your personal life, and the exciting ones in your business.

Take Time to Reflect 

As you gear up for the holiday hustle, I invite you to pause and ponder. Reflect on what the spirit of the season truly means to you. Ask yourself, does the temporary triumph of a sale outweigh the timeless treasure of togetherness? 

Assess Your Value

Do the discounts you provide accurately represent the value you deliver? Keep in mind, a seasonal sale doesn’t define your worth, and the bonds you form with your clients are more enduring than any temporary discount. While big sale days are exhilarating, many business owners are on a quest for consistent, long-term growth.

Practice Mindfulness

In the midst of the hustle, take time each day for mindfulness. Whether it’s a quiet morning coffee before the day begins, a short walk, or a moment of gratitude— these small practices can help keep you grounded and remind you of the bigger picture beyond the sales and revenue.

Purposeful Planning

If you decide to partake in the sales season, ensure you plan ahead. Schedule all your posts, newsletters, and marketing materials well in advance. This foresight allows you to be truly present in cherished holiday moments without the worry of business tasks awaiting you. In the years when I hosted large (and very successful) sales, my preparation ahead of time was key. By pre-planning and pre-scheduling every detail, I could step into the holiday spirit wholeheartedly. It still requires a lot of time and dedication, but getting it done before the holidays did make it a little easier for me to enjoy family time without being pulled away. 

Delegate and Trust

You don’t have to carry the business burden alone. Delegate tasks to your team or consider outsourcing certain activities. Trusting others to handle aspects of your business not only eases your load but also empowers your team. It allows you to free up some time to enjoy the holiday season while ensuring your business continues to operate smoothly. 

The Wordsmith Membership comes with pre-written captions ready at your disposal, including hundreds of promotional and sales captions tailored for various holidays; a chunk of your marketing efforts is already sorted. The best part? You can use these captions for social media or use them in your email marketing. This not only alleviates the pressure but ensures that your business messaging stays sharp and engaging even amidst the holiday rush. My hope is that the content we create for you allows you to breathe a little easier and savor the holiday spirit while keeping the business wheels turning smoothly.

As I now soak in the joy of simply being — being a mom, a wife, a daughter, and a friend during the holidays, I leave you with this – How can you unwrap the gift of presence this holiday season in a way that honors both your personal happiness and your entrepreneurial goals?

As you think about this, remember the best gift you can give to your loved ones and to yourself is the essence of your undivided presence. And trust me, the magic that unfolds in those moments is the kind that no sale can ever match. 

Outsourcing is the process of contracting a third party to complete business processes and/or tasks that are traditionally completed by in-house staff. It’s a strategic move that can help your business focus on its core competencies, become more cost-effective, improve efficiency, and gain access to better technology and skilled resources. When done correctly, outsourcing can be a powerful tool to help businesses achieve long-term success. 

The benefits of outsourcing can be significant. When you outsource, you can: 

Free up internal resources

When you outsource, you can free up internal resources, including time and money. This allows you to redirect these resources to more strategic initiatives.

Focus on your core competencies

When you outsource, you can focus on your core competencies and leave the non-core tasks to the experts. This allows you to focus on what you do best and leave the rest to those who can do it better.

Improve efficiency and productivity

There are many benefits of outsourcing that can help to increase efficiency in your business. When you outsource, you are able to focus on your core competencies and leave the non-essential tasks to someone else. This can help to free up your time so that you can focus on the most important aspects of your business. 

Additionally, outsourcing can also help to improve quality and reduce costs. When you outsource to a company that specializes in a certain task, they are usually able to do it more efficiently and at a lower cost than if you were to do it in-house. 

Access to Skilled Resources

​Perhaps the most obvious benefit is that it can save your organization time and money. When you outsource access to skilled resources, you can avoid the costly process of recruiting, training, and managing your own staff. Additionally, outsourcing can provide your organization with access to a larger pool of skilled workers. This can be especially beneficial if you need access to skilled resources on a short-term or project-based basis. Finally, outsourcing can help to improve the quality of your organization’s work. When you outsource access to skilled resources, you can tap into a wealth of knowledge and experience that you may not have within your organization. This can help to improve the quality of your organization’s products or services. 

WHY SHOULD YOU OUTSOURCE AS A SOLOPRENEUR

There are a number of reasons why you should consider outsourcing as a solopreneur. First, it can help you save time and money. By outsourcing tasks that you don’t have time for or that you’re not good at, you can focus on the things that you’re good at and that you enjoy. Second, it can help you grow your business. By outsourcing tasks that are necessary but that you don’t have time for, you can free up time to focus on growing your business.

YOU are a leader…a decision-maker…and a planner. So the question is, can you really do everything alone, or is there a better way to grow your business faster with the help of outsourcing?

The answer is “YES”! You can do everything in your business alone. You can study, struggle, fail, figure it out on your own and keep spending every waking hour to make your company a success. But do you actually know how much quality of life you sacrifice when you don’t delegate?

THE PROS AND CONS OF OUTSOURCING

One study showed that small business owners work TWICE as much as employees. Delegating allows you to double down and focus on your “zone of genius” and reduces ‘decision fatigue, decreasing your mental clutter so you can grow more into your current role. And frees up your critical thinking for truly important decisions.

Remember that saying “yes” to doing everything means you’re saying “no” to something else. You’re always making a choice.

THE BENEFITS OF OUTSOURCING

Consider this: have you ever gotten stumped by something simple? Maybe you couldn’t decide which color the next cell on your spreadsheet should be: red or blue. Or perhaps you’ve opened the door of the refrigerator, knowing that you were hungry and not even seen what’s in the fridge.

That’s decision fatigue.

Your brain has reached its limit and can no longer make even the simplest decisions. And if you’re hitting that level multiple times a week, then it’s time to re-evaluate. After all, wasn’t the point of starting your own business to have freedom? Be your own boss? And work better hours?

That’s EXACTLY the kind of life that delegating can help you create.

Outsourcing time-consuming business tasks that take away time from the important aspects of your business is a huge benefit. 

If you currently have a business that offers a product or services and you typically run every aspect of your business by yourself, there’s a lot of benefit to finding the right person that can assist you in specific day-to-day tasks.

By outsourcing, you have the advantage of being able to focus on the critical parts of your business and allow someone else’s expertise to focus on the other pieces that might require a lot of time.

For Example:

If you’re a professional photographer, the most important part of your business would be taking portraits, customer support, and delivering your clients the best experience. However, taking photos is just one of the many jobs you have to do on a daily basis. 

Other jobs also include booking and scheduling, accounting, sales, post-processing, social media management, and a million other little jobs that require your time and attention. When you look at everything that needs to get done, you might find yourself feeling like you lack time being able to do it all. 

#1 REASONS FOR OUTSOURCING

I would say the number one reason for outsourcing is that if you find yourself not having enough time to do everything OR you feel like there are parts of your job that can be done better if you had someone who’s focus it was to just do that one job for your business. Then a better approach to running your business would be to outsource and get a little help with the tasks that can be handed off to someone who can do a better job with it.

Of course, the one thing that holds business owners back is the cost. So with that in mind, I’d like you to think about it in a new way.

One of the keys to successful outsourcing is to take a step back. After all, it may sound like a lot of money to hire an outside marketing firm for $2,000/month. Here’s a trick to put that into perspective.

Ask yourself how long it takes you to:

• Research your target market
• Build a marketing plan
• Write ONE ad with variations
• Find or create an image to go with the ad
• The process of learning new technology/tool/software 
• Run tests on your ads to maximize their conversion rate

And that’s just one of the jobs that a solopreneur has.

OUTSOURCING AND YOUR BOTTOM LINE

Not only does outsourcing save you precious time, but it also allows you to build a sustainable business model. Because you can’t scale effectively if you’re needed to run every day-to-day task or be of value to your team members.

That’s where we come in for so many of our Wordsmith clients. Creating original, engaging content for your audience every day can be exhausting. But using copywriter-approved, hand-crafted social media captions for your business saves you time and money. In the end, every single one of my clients is saving their precious time by outsourcing social media content creation and allowing me to handle the writing for them. 

COSTS BEHIND OUTSOURCING

There are many factors to consider when businesses outsource. One of the most important factors is cost. Businesses must carefully consider the costs of outsourcing before making a decision.

There’s a huge range in the cost of outsourcing, and much of the price has to do with the specific skill set or project you’re hiring for. It can range anywhere from $5.00 to $5000 depending on the project and the expertise the person you’re hiring has. 

OUTSOURCING COMPANY VS FREELANCER

There are a few key factors to consider when deciding whether to outsource to a company or hire a freelancer. The first is cost. Generally speaking, outsourcing to a company will be more expensive than hiring a freelancer. This is because companies have overhead costs such as office space, employee benefits, and marketing. They also need to make a profit, so their rates will be higher than a freelancer’s. 

The second factor to consider is expertise. If you need a large range of skill sets, it may be worth it to pay a bit more for a company that specializes in that area and can help you with a few different things. 

Hiring an individual/freelancer that is an expert in one specific thing has always been where I’ve gotten the best results. I’m able to work with one person directly and really build the scope of the project around my specific needs. 

The third factor is time. If you need the work done quickly, a freelancer may be your best bet. They are typically more flexible with their schedules and can often get the work done faster than a company. 

Also, keep in mind that most larger companies have long-term contracts in place. Whereas freelancers can be hired on a shorter basis for specific projects.

I’ve worked with both large companies and freelancers and have always enjoyed the process of working with freelancers far more. I’ve also had much better results this way. 

I believe it’s because I was able to find a dedicated, skilled professional who had superior experience on a specific topic. Compared to a large company that offers many different solutions for a large range of skills done at a lower level.

HIRING FREELANCERS VS EMPLOYEES 

The one thing I’ve loved about working with freelancers is that it opens the position to anyone that has the right skill set, regardless of where they are located. I typically narrow it down to working with those located in the United States but have heard good things about hiring abroad as well. 

At the moment, I have freelancers on my team that are from Colorado, Florida, and California. And although I’m located all the way in Hawaii, and we’re all in a different time zone, it works out great for all of us. I don’t have to depend on finding someone local to me for most of these jobs. So keeping it open to more than just one location allows me to find the best individual for the job. 

Here’s what to consider when deciding whether to outsource hiring to freelancers or to bring on employees. The most important factor is cost. It is typically cheaper to hire a freelancer than to take in a full-time employee. This is because you only have to pay the freelancer for the work they do, and you don’t have to provide them with benefits or other perks. Additionally, if you only need someone for a short-term project, it makes more sense to hire a freelancer than to bring on a new employee. 

Another key factor to consider is the quality of work. When you outsource hiring to a freelancer, you have the opportunity to interview multiple candidates and choose the one you think will do the best job. With an employee, you are usually stuck with whoever you hire. 

Finally, you need to consider the level of commitment you need from the person you hire. A freelancer can be hired for a one-time project and then let go. An employee is usually expected to commit to a longer-term position. 

Outsourcing hiring to freelancers can be a great way to save money and find high-quality candidates. 

STEPS TO OUTSOURCING SUCCESSFULLY

1. Make a list of all the jobs you currently have to do for your business. Really think about everything you do. 

2. For each job, ask yourself these questions: 

• Does this task need to be done? 
• Could someone else do it? 
• Would someone else do it better than me? 

3. Once you have a list of the tasks you want to outsource, research the cost of each one. This will help you make an informed decision about what you can afford to outsource. 

4. When you have found a provider you want to work with. Agree on a price and get a contract in place. This will protect both you and your provider. 

5. Finally, hand over the task, and don’t look back!

GREAT PLATFORMS TO FIND FREELANCERS

There are many costs associated with outsourcing great platforms to find freelancers. Here are a few I’ve found the most success with: 

UPWORK

One of the most popular platforms for finding freelancers to outsource work to is Upwork. Upwork is great for finding freelancers because it offers a wide variety of skills and services. It is easy to find freelancers who are willing to work for a reasonable price that can bring a lot of skills to the table. NOTE: It’s my favorite platform to use.

FIVVER

​Fiverr is a great platform to find freelancers because it offers a wide variety of service, and it is very easy to use and affordable.

FACEBOOK GROUPS

Another place you can look for is in Facebook Groups. There are typically specific groups for certain skill sets, and freelancers spend a lot of time there. You’ll also have the added benefit of also getting recommendations from others who will refer someone they have already had a good experience with. 

GOOGLE

Last but not least, google for what you’re looking for. As one of my services, I offer a monthly membership for professionally written social media captions. Many of my clients simply find that service through google. They might be looking for content creation or a copywriter that specializes in writing captions that will connect them to more ideal clients and customers. 

While there are several cons to outsourcing, there are far more pros. As a business owner myself who used to pride herself in doing absolutely everything without ever getting help. Learning to outsource has been one of the best decisions I’ve made for my business. It allows me to focus on my zone of genius and move my business forward faster. All by working with other skilled professionals that are excited to be on my team. 

OUTSOURCING SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT CREATION

With access to the information on Wordsmith, you get high-quality Instagram captions, content that you can customize to suit your business and save yourself a ton of time.

PLUS, we’re offering you a FREE trial, so you can make sure that we’re the right fit for you, with no risks. Are you ready to create more engagement with less effort? Then click below to start your FREE trial today.

Yes! I’m ready to Post Amazing Content in Less Time!

When I first started setting up my email marketing strategy, I spent some time looking at the different options and then eventually decided to go with Mailchimp. It was one of the most popular platforms (at the time). And being completely new to email marketing, I wanted something easy to use and affordable for my small business. Mailchimp was free to use up to 2,500 subscribers, which made it the perfect option. Or so I thought… In this article, I’ll cover Mailchimp vs. Flodesk, and why I made the decision to make the switch over to Flodesk.

Starting from ZERO, I knew I was able to use their platform for free for up to 2,500 subscribers. Not knowing anything about email marketing, I remember that number felt HUGE to me. 2500 on my list? That would be amazing. I figured that if that were to happen, I’d be totally ok with paying for their service and continuing to grow my list. (or so I thought…)

GROWING MY LIST (AND BILL)

Over the years, I continued to build my list. Eventually grew past the 2500 subscribers on the free plan and hopped onto a paid plan. I continued using Mailchimp for a long time. I grew my list to 5,000…then 10,000. 

It was long until I reached 20,000 and 30,000 subscribers. At this point, I realized that with every new subscriber, my bill was growing too. Each month I’d go through my list and clean it to make sure I was only growing my list with people that were actively opening my emails. (However, I didn’t want to pay more for those that didn’t open my emails as much). 

I spent more time minimizing my growing list to avoid the constantly rising cost than actually enjoying email marketing, as I had earlier. Then, I hit 70,000 subscribers, and my MONTHLY bill in Mailchimp was over $700. I spent every single month asking myself…is this worth it?! 

To be honest, I also wasn’t a big fan of Mailchimp. It always felt clunky and glitchy. And spent who knows how many hours frustrated with how complicated it was to create a simple opt-in and segment people into the right audience list and start workflows. Everything was a constant headache, and I had to pay the heavy price tag of $700 monthly for it. 

SWITCHING TO FLODESK

I stumbled across Flodesk and INSTANTLY signed up after seeing their famous tag line “Unlimited emails and subscribers, forever.” Followed by;

You’ll never be penalized for successfully growing your business again.

-FLODESK

You know when you find your dream product and feel like the company instantly get’s what you need? That’s 100% what Flodesk did. They understood what I really wanted and needed for my business and NAILED the execution. 

The simple fact that I could have an email marketing provider that would no longer penalize me for growing my list was huge. And that reason alone was enough for me to jump over from Mailchimp to Flodesk.

If you’re hoping to try Flodesk and need a 50% off link, you’re welcome to use my referral link, which will automatically give you the 50% off as well. Enjoy a 30-day FREE trial. No credit card is needed. CLICK HERE TO GET 50% OFF FLODESK

THE COST OF GROWING YOUR LIST

When you’re first getting started with growing your list. You might not think much about how much a list that’s 70,000 or 100,000+ subscribers is going to cost you per month. It’s easy to forget the big picture. But, the right email marketing platform should serve you in the most positive way, not just as you get started but as you scale your business and list. Mailchimp vs Flodesk (I’m willing to say that Flodesk will come out on top for you as well).

I’ll say it again when I started my list at ZERO, I didn’t even bother to check to see how much a 70,000 list would cost me. So if you’re getting started, take it from someone who’s been there. Make sure to look into the future and partner with a company that won’t penalize you for growing your list. That is the last thing you want. 

SETTING UP FLODESK 

I love using Flodesk so much and saw such great success with building my list that I launched a service to help other business owners to do the same.

Maybe building an email list and getting everything set up and automated has been on your to-do list forever. But you have no idea where to start. And what you really need is someone that can set it up for you the *right way* and actually start seeing your list grow with subscribers who are excited to see you land in their inbox. 

With the Email marketing service, you’ll get a fully set up Flodesk account. Including a strategy with opt-ins to grow your list and an automated welcome sequence to make your new subscribers excited about being on your list. 

EMAIL MARKETING SETUP SERVICE INCLUDES:

• Flodesk set up 
• Custom questionnaire 
• Subscriber segmentation
• Custom welcome sequence 
• Opt-in strategy to grow list

If that sounds like something you’d love to do, send me a message to get on the list! I only take a limited amount of new clients for this service and would love to chat more.

P.S. This service is also perfect for anyone that has read the Mailchimp vs Flodesk article and has decided they would like to switch but feel overwhelmed with the idea of migrating everything over.

Imagine this: you try to log in to your Instagram account, and you see this error message “INSTAGRAM: ACCOUNT NOT FOUND”. Instagram is NOT working. What do you do?

In 2021…that was the reality facing 70% of businesses that rely on social media to stay in touch with their customers. Millions of users logged into Instagram that morning only to see the message “page not found”. I’m sure you remember when Facebook crashed and took Instagram, Messenger, and Whatsapp down with it.

INSTAGRAM NOT WORKING

Between 11:40 AM and 6:30 PM, social media was simply…gone. No explanation, no way for us to access our own accounts.

In those 7 hours, Facebook lost tens of millions of dollars, but it was a huge wake-up call for us small business owners. Because it’s not a matter of “if” that will happen again. It’s when. And that’s why it’s crucial to the survival of your business in this “new internet age” that you move your customer list to a platform you 100% control, such as email.

WHY YOU NEED A BETTER PLAN

Social media is an amazing tool, but as small business owners, we need to protect ourselves so that we don’t go from having a thriving business to being closed overnight. Now, I know that may sound terrifying, and unfortunately, it is the reality when you build your business dependent on social media with no real way to get that audience on a list you own.

You probably already feel the hardship of using social media for your business when you find yourself struggling to reach your audience organically. The simple fact that you’re not 100% in control there should be reason enough for you to create a marketing strategy for your business that works with (or without) social media.

ALGORITHM-PROOF MARKETING STRATEGY

I’ve created a simple and completely FREE training so that you can easily get started today. The same strategy I’ve used to build a list of 70,000+ loyal subscribers.

Are you ready?

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR FREE

Give me 15 minutes, and I’ll give you a marketing strategy that works. I’m willing to bet that after you watch it, you’ll realize just how powerful it can be for your business too!

Most importantly you’ll learn how to create a marketing strategy that doesn’t only depend on using social media. You’ll never have to fear seeing that dreaded INSTAGRAM: ACCOUNT NOT FOUND message without a real plan in place to reach your audience.

You might be wondering how to use pre-written Instagram captions for your business and if it’s possible to really create captions that work for your business. One of the most common questions I get from customers is: “Exactly how easy is it for me to tailor your Instagram captions to my business?”. That’s what one of my clients, Elise wanted to know, too.

But look what she has to say about using Wordsmith now:

“So happy I saw this on Pinterest! This whole platform is phenomenal, and the Instagram captions that come with it are so well done. I thought it would end up being short captions, but these captions are so much more than that. Plus, they are super easy to customize. I just started using it and already have planned out a whole month of content. (something that would typically take me more than a week to complete!) If you’re thinking about signing up – do it! “

Reviews like this are why I love what I love offering this membership so much.

Let me show you how it works. You might get an Instagram caption like this one:

Pre-Written Instagram Caption Example:

“[Insert product or service/feature] is one of my very favorites. Why? Well, because [insert details of why you love helping clients with this product or service]!

As one recent [client/customer] said in a review, [insert some kind words from a review specific to this product.]

If you’re been interested in [Buying/hiring] then be sure to click the link in my bio to learn more!”

And here are three examples of how three very different companies could customize it to make it perfectly suit their business:

PHOTOGRAPHER:

Using Personal Tone/ Selling Service

Motherhood portrait sessions are one of my very favorites. Why? It allows me to document mothers with their little ones and create keepsake portraits they get to look back on for a lifetime.

As one recent client said in a review, “I will cherish these portraits forever. The way you captured us on film will forever be one of the greatest gifts. I’m not often in photos, and I love that I have so many beautiful photos together.”

If you’ve been interested in booking a session with me, then be sure to click the link in my bio to learn more!

SOLLY BABY WRAP

Using Business Tone/ Selling Product

Our original Baby Wrap is one of our very favorites. Why? Well, because it lets mothers enjoy hands-free babywearing in our buttery soft fabric while increasing connection and reducing infant crying.

As one recent customer said in a review, “I absolutely LOVE this wrap! So happy with the purchase. It’s so soft and holds my infant in place snug. I can get so much done around the house while comforting my little one.”

If you’ve been interested in buying one for you and your little one, then be sure to click the link in our bio to get 30% off your next order!

And one last caption for fun. As I’m sitting at my desk sipping on my Athletic Greens, why not use them as an example?

ATHLETIC GREENS

Business Tone + Selling Subscription

AG1 is our subscribers favorite. Why? Because with 75 vitamins, minerals, and whole-food sourced nutrients in one convenient daily serving. One scoop, 8 ounces of water. It’s all you really need!

As one recent customer said in a review, “I am thrilled with your product. I enjoy taking it every morning. Part of my new routine for my health and energy. So pleased that my physician recommended it.”

If you’ve been interested in buying AG1 then click the link in our bio to learn more and get your first scoop of Athletic Greens. Join the movement #LiveAG1

See just how simple this one Instagram caption was to customize? 

Best of all, each customized caption turned out to be unique. One of the biggest misconceptions about pre-written captions is that everyone will be posting the same captions. This is why I created captions that are easy to customize to who you are and what you have to offer. Therefore, no two people will end up posting the same caption. 

PRE-WRITTEN INSTAGRAM CAPTIONS

Each caption is here to help you talk about who you are and what you have to offer and is incredibly easy to customize. 

It’s important that I make this process as easy as possible for you because I want to help save you hours and improve your social media game without all of the frustration and anxiety you have writing posts alone.

Ready to learn a little more on how to customize these captions? 

I’ve written a short, 5-minute article outlining the step-by-step approach you can take to easily customize our captions to fit your business that goes into a little more detail on using the right tone.

But if you’re an action taker ready to jump right in and give the Wordsmith membership a try, sign up today to get your free trial started HERE. Or head on over to the Wordsmith page to learn more about what you can expect. 

You’ll get instant access to hundreds of professionally written Instagram captions you can use for your business + a social media marketing strategy built directly into the monthly content planner.

There’s no question that social media can be a big help to your business, whether you’re trying to reach current customers or target new ones. There are also many people who say that social media takes up too much of their time, and they don’t feel like they get enough out of the time they spend on it to make it worthwhile. Here are five tips for spending less time on social media without missing out on all the great benefits as a business. These are the same tips I follow when it comes to all my businesses; Modern Market, Wordsmith & The Essential Studio Manager.

THE IMPORTANCE OF USING SOCIAL MEDIA AS A BUSINESS

We live in a digital world. Most people use social media, so if you’re trying to grow your business, you have to be where your customers are: on social media. But there’s more to it than that. It’s no longer enough to just have a Facebook page and hope for people to like it and engage with it—you actually need content and strategies, or you risk losing valuable leads. Take some time out of your day and design a plan that will allow you to maximize your presence without wasting all of your time (or missing out on opportunities). 

WHY YOU NEED AN ONLINE PRESENCE 

There are plenty of reasons why businesses (and individuals) create social media accounts. It’s a way to share content with your audience and spread your business’s name, establish yourself as an expert in your field, network with other businesses or people in your niche, even find a new employee. However, if you’re struggling to keep up with social media while running a business (particularly if you work solo), then it might be time to evaluate how much time you spend on these platforms and how you can still get all the benefits of using social media, without having to spend so much time on social media.

CREATING CONTENT PILLARS

Content pillars are a core component of every successful social media strategy because they take the guesswork out of what to post, making it easy for you to stay on target and have fun with your content. Pillars are relevant topics and themes that keep your audience engaged. The content pillars I’ve always built my content around is: 

1. Personal 
2. Educational 
3. Promotional 
4. Engaging 
5. Passion

Depending on what kind of business you have, you could adjust these content pillars, or change them to something more specific that your audience enjoys.

CREATING CONTENT AHEAD OF TIME 

Write out a schedule for content creation and stick to it. Schedule your social media posts several days or weeks in advance. Utilize tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, or Later to plan content in advance and save yourself time. These apps allows you to create a queue of pre-written posts, which you can then schedule at different times over an extended period of time. This way you’re not having to do all the work on the go and can dedicate one day to plan and schedule all your content. 

TIP: Just because you automate your posts doesn’t mean you can get away with not showing up online. I try to schedule my posts but then push the notification to my phone so I can post it manually and engage during the best time. Which is typically shortly after posting.

SHOWING UP AND ENGAGING WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

Let’s not forget one of the most important ways to participate in social media is to simply show up. Engaging with your audience requires you to use social media as a place for interaction and presence, even if it doesn’t directly lead to sales or customers. Using it only for promotion means you’re missing out on half of its value. Let’s not forget what makes social media great. It’s a place you can connect. Although I’m all for planning ahead and scheduling my posts in advance, one thing I won’t ever miss (or outsource) is the opportunity to show up and connect with real people. 

 Promoting your business or brand on social media is important, but it’s just one use of a diverse and valuable tool. You’ll get more out of it by showing up and connecting with people in your industry on a regular basis. Even if you’re not being asked for advice or solutions, being there to support and encourage others can help build relationships that lead to collaboration later. Sometimes all you need to start is an introduction, so never be afraid to say hi!

EMAIL MARKETING VS SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

It’s obvious—email marketing is one of, if not THE, most effective ways to reach customers. If you’re hoping to spend less time on social media, then getting your email list started might also be a really great idea. I learned a valuable lesson after spending years building up my Facebook fan page (back when we could still reach our followers organically) and overnight losing that connection when Facebook pushed new changes on who saw our content. I promised myself I wouldn’t make the same mistake with Instagram or any other social media platform. Instead, I used social media but focused more on building my list. A direct connection to my customer and clients. Thanks to my list, I was also able to spend less time on social media, but still reach my audience directly anytime I sent an email. Email marketing is also just one piece of the marketing puzzle, but a piece that I truly enjoy utilizing. 

LIMITING TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS

Many entrepreneurs say that social media is addictive, and believe it’s holding them back from focusing on what really matters. By spending less time on Facebook and Instagram, you’ll be able to invest more time in other areas of your business—and get much more done in your day-to-day operations. Start by determining how much time you currently spend on social media each day, then figure out if that is the best way forward. Figure out how much time you really need to spend on social media, and then make that your goal. Often enough, when it comes to social media it’s easy to let those quick 5 minutes turn into two hours. By being more aware of how we spend our time on social media, we become more productive with how we spend our overall time. 

IT’S OK TO NOT ALWAYS WANT TO CREATE CONTENT 

Being on social media is important because it provides another way for people to engage with your brand and business. But just because social media plays a big role in how we market our business these days, doesn’t mean we should feel obligated to spend all our time on it. I’ve actually had more success with marketing by being less on social media because it’s allowed me to focus my time on other parts of my marketing strategy that so often got pushed to the side. Remember: Social media marketing is just one tiny piece of the marketing game. There are many other ways you can go about marketing your business. What’s most important is that you find a way to market your business in a way that you enjoy. If social media isn’t at the top of your list, then stop making it such a huge priority and instead focus on marketing you enjoy. 

Thankfully, I specialize in creating social media captions that can easily be customized to who you are and what you do. They are perfect for any kind of business owner ready to start showing up online consistently.

WORDSMITH SOCIAL MEDIA CAPTION EXAMPLES:

1) BIG WARM HELLO (PERSONAL)

I haven’t introduced myself on here for a while so I thought I’d do that again. A big warm hello to all of you  My name is [name] and I’m the [girl, woman, man driving force, dreamer] behind [your business name].

When I was [age or time in your time] I fell in love with [what you do] after [an experience that helped you find your passion] and in [year you started your business] I decided to go for it and [your business name] was born.

I spend most of my days [what you typically do for your job] and love every minute of it. For me, what I do is so much more than just a job, it’s something I picture myself doing for years to come because it allows me to [your favorite part of what you do], and I honestly couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

I’m also a [something else you are, parent, mom, occupation] and obsessed with [something you love to do, like spending time with your family, drawing, reading, etc.] in my free time.

I’d love to get to know you a little better, comment below and come say hello and tell me where you’re from, it’s always so much fun to see where everyone is!

2) THE PERFECT FIT  (EDUCATIONAL)

What’s the number one thing you look for when you’re searching for the perfect [enter your job title]? Is it [list a few things like price, style, location, personality, etc]? If you’ve been looking for a [your job title] you’ve probably realized that it can be a little overwhelming at times and I’m here to help you in your search with my 5 best tips on finding the perfect [your job title]! 

[offer tips to help them in their search. ex; if you’re a photographer you might mention that they should view their portfolio to see if they have the right style, or that cheaper prices can sometimes be a red flag]
1. [Tip number one]

2. [Tip number two]

3. [Tip number three]

4. [Tip number four]

5. [Tip number five]

I hope these little tips help you with your search. If you’d love to talk more about hiring me as your [job title] then shoot me a message! I have a few [available appointments, spots, sessions, etc] in the next [week, month, year] and would love to send you some more information to see if we’d be a great fit! 

3) WHERE ARE YOU FROM (ENGAGING)

I’d love to know; where are you from? There are so many new faces, and it’s always fun to see where everyone is located! Most of you probably know, but I live in [your current location] and have been calling this beautiful place home for [how many years you’ve lived there].

Near or far, comment and below and let me know where you’re from!

FREE INSTAGRAM CAPTIONS

You can get a whole month’s worth of social media captions when you sign up for the free trial for Wordsmith. A platform dedicated to helping business owners create great content. I publish new content for you to use every single month!

If you’re a business owner, spend less time on social media without missing out on any of its benefits and be more productive with how you use social media to grow your business.  This will in turn help build your brand and give you back valuable time.  Start by creating daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly goals for yourself on social media so that you can track your results over time. You don’t need to spend hours each day managing your social media pages. Sometimes it comes down to using these marketing tools more efficiently to get the most out of them. 

It’s no surprise that social media is one of the best tools to grow your business by connecting with more clients or customers. Although social media has changed a lot over the years, one thing stands true; People will seek to connect with people and brands that they love. In this post, I’ll share with you 5 secrets to growing your social media following quickly.

But as business owners, it’s easy to feel like we’re just not finding the right people online. Scaling a following is a lot of work, and often enough, it’s tied to not having a solid social media strategy. So in this article, I figured it would be fun to list five tips that have helped me the most when it comes to growing a social media following.

Social media continues to grow as the primary method of connecting with ideal clients and customers, so knowing how to use it effectively can be your key to success in business. Although it can be tricky to master, it’s also an essential marketing channel that you should absolutely be using if you haven’t already. While your friends and family members will always be your first fans, you can go beyond this by creating a social media following of people who are truly interested in your brand and what you have to offer them. Here are five steps to grow your social media following and connect with more ideal clients and customers through social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

#1 Be Authentic 

To connect with your ideal client and build a loyal following, you must be yourself. Social media is all about sharing information and connections; it’s not about contrived sales pitches. The more authentic you are on social media and across all your marketing efforts, the better clients will respond to you and your business. And if they don’t respond well? Then they probably aren’t your ideal client anyway—and you needn’t waste time trying to win them over.

#2 Create Content Pillars 

A content pillar is a structure or framework for your brand. Most successful brands have more than one: HubSpot has six, and Zappos has five. Content pillars are there to help you develop specific types of content. So start brainstorming what kind of pillars and strategies might work best for your own business. Remember: It’s not an exact science! If it were, we’d all be doing exactly what everyone else was doing (which would make us interchangeable with our competitors). Just make sure your pillars and strategies give you room to be creative and differentiate yourself from others in your industry over time. This tip alone should help you so much when it comes to growing your social media account.

After testing many different types of content pillars, I’ve found that the following five have done the best for small business owners. 

CONTENT PILLAR EXAMPLE

• Personal – Sharing things about who you are
• Engaging – Questions, polls, posts that people can easily engage with.
• Promotional – Sales, promotions, and other kinds of pitches.
• Passion – Why you do what you do. 
• Educational – Sharing helpful tips is a great way to help others and position yourself as an expert in your industry.

By covering these five content pillars, you’ll have enough range in the content you share. Instead of having a page that only posts sales pitches and promotional material, or one that only shares personal posts, you’ll have a perfect balance in the type of content you share and content your audience will be excited to see.

These are the same content pillars I use when I create captions for our Curated Captions members. This way, my clients have a whole month of content ready to go and have the perfect mix of captions.  

If you’d like to see what that looks like, sign up for free and get instant access to a whole month of social media captions that are ready for you to customize and post! 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FREE CAPTIONS

#3 Engage With Ideal Clients and Customers

If you have a business, chances are you spend a lot of time using social media in hopes of connecting with your ideal customer or client. The key with social media is realizing that not everyone will be part of your online community—focusing on ideal clients and customers will help your business grow more effectively. When building your following, find ways to connect with people who need what you offer. For example, if you own a personal training business, share tips for putting healthy habits in place or useful tips for eating clean and cutting out processed foods. You’ll not only engage new potential customers but also show off your expertise.

#4 Develop Stronger Relationships

This is a key component of any social media marketing strategy. You can create many connections without necessarily developing relationships (or scaling your business), but these connections will be few and far between. In order to grow your social media following, you need to build a strong connection with the right kind of people. Don’t just post content, and disappear but make sure to take time to engage with others, especially those who are taking the time to engage with your content. 

#5 Post Consistently 

Consistency is key in everything you do. It’s easy to get stuck in a routine, but if you want your social media following to grow, it’s essential that you post consistently. You never know where new clients might come from and showing up consistently will pay off quickly when it comes to anything you do in life and business. 

Although social media continues to grow and provide a wide range of ways for you to promote your brand, there are a few things you should always remember: make it personal, use images that represent your brand, build an audience over time, and don’t just push out content. Post with a purpose and make real connections with the right people. All of these will help ensure that your efforts pay off in a big way. I hope these 5 secrets to growing your social media following tips help you connect to more customers and clients online!

It’s up to you as an entrepreneur to decide what works best for your business—but following these five tips should be part of every strategy.

Don’t forget; Behind every brand, there’s a passion and a story.

Start sharing yours today. Grab that free month of captions to get started!

ACCESS FREE IG CAPTIONS

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.

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.

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?

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.

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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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.