One thing we all want as business owners?
More and better client testimonials.
And with good reason…
88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
68% of buyers read reviews as they’re building their short-list of purchase options.
71% of people agree that consumer reviews make them more comfortable that they’re buying the right product/service.
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I have this 10-minute rule.
As someone who feels chronically busy and someone who really likes a tidy house, I need to play mind games with myself to stay on track.
The rule’s simple: If a household chore will take me under ten minutes to complete, I just do it.
These micro-bursts of tidying make a huge difference to achieving my life goal of having a home that’s always surprise-visitor-ready.
As a big fan of the micro-burst of effort, I incorporate the same practice into my business.
Whenever I find myself with just a couple minutes to spare in between bigger tasks, the first place I go to fill that time is with small acts of client love.
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Setting boundaries in your business.
We know we could do it. We know we should do it. But it’s not an easy thing to do.
Especially when you’re a people pleaser or you just really like to make your clients and customers happy…and nothing makes someone happy like hearing a “yes”.
I heard a story the other day about Dr. Dre’s right-hand business brother Jimmy Iovine that made me see red, all because of business boundaries.
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One of the best parts of being an entrepreneur is the work.
Unlike your friends with a j-o-b, you get to decide which projects you take on, which challenges will stretch you creatively, and which tasks are the best match for your skill set.
One of the worst parts of being an entrepreneur? Finding that work.
When you dreamed of being your own boss, you didn’t fantasize about sweaty palms at networking events. Awkward sales conversations. Struggling over how the heck to install a Facebook tracking pixel.
And hey, networking events and social media can be great ways to find new clients. But there’s also a beauty in getting back to basics.
Finding clients doesn’t have to be complicated or anxiety-inducing. It can really be as easy as sending a few simple emails.
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Wanna know a secret?
I started my Instagram challenge a few months back totally by accident.
I work on my blog content about a month in advance. And I’d actually written the blog post declaring my start to the challenge weeks before and scheduled it when I was feeling bold.
So when I saw my weekly email in my inbox that fateful Friday morning saying, “daily Instagram posting starts today, y’all!” my heart sank a little.
I didn’t feel “ready”. But I had no choice at that point. It was GO TIME.
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Who doesn’t love a good life hack, right?
We could all use some easy shortcuts now and again.
You know who didn’t have the luxury of a shortcut, though? A very insightful dude you’ve probably never heard of called Kazimierz Dąbrowski.
A little background: Dąbrowski was a Polish psychologist who studied coping skills — specifically, how people recover after traumatic experiences by researching WWII survivors.
His subjects had watched cities crumble, survived bombings, lived through the Holocaust, witnessed torture, lost family members — in short: some of the worst things a human could possibly endure.
Yet Dąbrowski noticed something really interesting among the survivors: their suffering led them to be happier.
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Everybody loves a classic combo.
Macaroni + cheese.
Ripped jeans + a white tee.
Harry + Ron.
Fast food drive-thrus and…ATMs?
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I’ve always had a thing for anniversaries.
I remember a classmate in high school whose parents, according to the Bridgewater mom gossip network, were still crazy in love like teenagers. And, according to the moms, the couple also took a decadent, lavish trip — sans children — every year on their anniversary.
I stopped listening when the mom squad shared their opinions on how this puppy-dog-style love affected their kids. They lost me at the “lavish anniversary trip” part.
I LOVE the idea of honoring milestones, both big and small. Taking time to reflect and celebrate an anniversary is an awesome idea, in my book.
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I quit.
And I know they say that quitters never prosper. But I’m actually okay with it.
I just spent the past three hours writing and re-writing and re-writing some more, only to realize that the blog post I was working on was, to steal a phrase from my British boyfriend, utter shite.
At first, I thought it would be brill. It involved a great anecdote about runny egg yolks, leading into practical tips for capturing creative inspiration the moment it strikes.
But with every draft, it moved further from Brilliantsburg and closer to Shitetown.
…Until it eventually got cozy, dropped a 20% down payment on a condo, and opened its doors to the Shitetownian Welcoming Committee.
And you know what? That’s okay.
Throughout the work week, there are inevitably pockets of time where you don’t feel your best.
There’s no way to avoid those lethargic or uninspired moments. But you can recognize them and not let ‘em ruin your flow.
The system that works for me is to use Asana to track all my “low energy” tasks with a specific tag.
A low energy task is something that doesn’t require a ton of mental energy to complete. Aka the perfect tasks to make good use of my time when I’m not firing on all cylinders.
Like at 3:30pm after a day of client calls when my inner introvert is just ZONKED.
All I have to do is pull up my low energy task list in Asana and get to work. Keep Reading »
