By Molly Krajewski
The podcast currently has 23 episodes available.
Today's episode is with Roberta West! Roberta loves everything branding and tech. She is on a mission to make your journey into the online
business world a lot less complicated and a lot more beautiful with her Marketing Kits and Funnels for creative brands.
SHOW NOTES:
“Everybody knows that you should be looking into your revenue and your sales, but most importantly, I think we should be looking at the profit.” 8:12
"At the end of the day it’s not how much money you’re making in sales, but how much money you’re actually keeping in the business, your profit.” 9:30
“If you have one person that buys from you, what is the life long revenue you’re getting from that client?” 10:56
"People need to start with small actionable numbers like your profit. Map out your real profit with all the costs and all the expenses for one of your offers." 19:00
“Your business is an experiment, right? Numbers are such a great indicator of how your experiment is going.” 23:50
LINKS:
INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE
FREE GIFT: Key Business Numbers Tracking Sheet
Today we’re going to talk about what to do during your off season because let’s be real, we all have “off seasons” or “slow seasons” whether we plan them or not. The point of this episode is to equip you with what you can do when you find yourself smack dab in the middle of a slow season, refreshing that inbox just waiting for biz. I want you to release that slow seasons can be an amazing opportunity for you and your business! So with that, let’s dive in!
SHOW NOTES
"I want you to start by shifting your mindset from viewing a slow season as bad- but instead viewing it as an opportunity- an opportunity to get to work, to make things happen, to refine your process, to automate new systems for a faster busy season."
"Remember, your portfolio speaks not to who you’ve already worked with but to who you want to work with."
"You need to understand that you have the ability to add value to another person or business so put yourself out there. So if you’re hearing crickets in your business, what can you do to put yourself out there, and create relationships to build true community?"
"Take that slow season energy and burn it on investing in yourself. Focus on studying your craft and what you can do to take it to the next level."
"Think about what your time suckers are during busy season and think about what you can do NOW to help with them."
LINKS
50% OFF HONEYBOOK | 50% OFF FLODESK
Today's episode is with Emily Grass. Emily is a yoga educator that specializes in helping Empaths. She uses the tools of yoga to help Empaths trust their intuition, protect their energy, and sharpen their superpower, and does this through movement, meditation, and mindfulness training.
SHOW NOTES:
"If we don't learn how to disconnect, sometimes it can be overwhelming and leave us drained and leave us not wanting to leave the house or do anything." (5:00)
"A lot of us assume that other people can feel what we feel so we assume that they'll read our body language or they'll feel our energy when other people aren't empaths and they can't do that. So we really have this responsibility to tell people what we need." (8:15)
"It can feel really uncomfortable to set boundaries for that reason, it can feel selfish or you feel guilty like you're taking something away from someone else." (10:13)
"If you can't find the time to take care of yourself then you really need to think about that, and sit with that, and figure out how you can prioritize yourself and see that you are important and that you can't pour from an empty cup." 12:35
LINKS:
Emily's Free Gift Guided Meditation
Emily's Website
@: @Emily_Grass_Yoga
Today we’re going to talk about miscarriage. October is pregnancy and Infant Loss awareness month. My hope in this episode is to share my story and thoughts so that you can better understand what it’s like. We'll also talk about some advice on how to console those who have experienced the unfortunate loss of their child too early.
SHOW NOTES
"Even though I have a beautiful baby girl already, seeing accounts online, new mamas or expecting mamas in person or out in the community just reminded me of what I lost."
"How could this have happened. How could my body have failed me like this- and not just failed me, but failed my baby."
"But the other half of me was terrified to get pregnant again because of the fear that I might have to suffer through something like this again. I almost feel like I’d just expect something to go wrong."
"But that’s just not true. We’re not alone and the more we talk about it, the less we’ll feel alone and the more people will understand and it won’t seem so taboo."
LINKS
50% OFF HONEYBOOK | 50% OFF FLODESK
Today we’re going to talk about your website. We want your clients to feel that you’re the perfect fit for them as soon as they land on your homepage. Today, we’re going to talk about the most common mistakes I see boss babes make on their websites, and how to fix them! Let’s make your website shine so that you attract the right clients who are ready to book.
Show Notes
"We want you to go from someone who’s just offering something, to someone who is more like a friend." (7:08)
"We need to shift our mindset so they we stop playing defense in our business and start playing offense." (9:33)
"When there is way too much written copy on your website, visitors get overwhelmed by information overload and they don’t want to read it." (12:24)
"Our websites are our store front and it is our job to control our ideal clients first impression." (16:44)
Links
50% OFF HONEYBOOK
50% OFF FLODESK
Today's episode is an interview with Melissa Badine.
Melissa's business originated as a brick and mortar business when she was 17. She is a Registered Massage Therapist but while taking continuing education classes, she was able to find her passion deepen with practices within a body, mind and soul connection.
She found through tapping into energy work that her intuition heightened as she began to listen and trust it. Which brought her a new found empowerment that she loves to share with other female entrepreneurs to help heighten them not only personally, but professionally.
SHOW NOTES
9:05 “Gives us permission for all of us to be like hey, I am not one person, one box and one check, I offer a variety of things that allow me to, you know, maybe dive deeper and help more”
12:03 “why do we feel like we have to have a specific certificate, or enough diplomas, or stars or checks behind us before we feel credible that our offer in valid?”
14:40 “ There’s gonna be somebody who’s not going to agree with you, and that’s ok. There’s going to be somebody who has an opposing viewpoint, and that’s ok. My job is not to make you agree with me.
18:03 “I am worthy.”
25:45 “We can hold on to that victimhood, or we can get empowered, do the work, figure it out, and get curious, and that’s where I really find the opportunity comes for all of us.
LINKS
Website | www.melissabadine.com
Twitter|Facebook|Instagram| @melissabadine
Podcast | Mom Bun Media
Today, I’m sharing how to set expectations with your clients so that you are consistently leaving clients happy and willing to share about you and your business. Most of the time when a business experiences an unhappy client, it’s because clear expectations were never set. Listen in for my 4 tips on how to set clear expectations with your clients.
SHOW NOTES“As business owners, it’s our job to educate our clients.” (2:45)
“If your work isn’t consistent across platforms, our clients will have no idea what kind of work to expect.” (4:06)
“Now, as I said there are so many things when it comes to communication for us to think about, but I want to focus on three things: Kindness, quickness, and thoroughness.” (6:01)
“So I want you to think about what details you can make sure your client needs to know so that they can be successful with you as well. How can you make them feel empowered? How can you make them feel confident in your and your business?” (11:25)
” A contract can just be an incredible way to lay out all the information in such a way that there aren’t any unanswered questions.” (15:11)
Links
The Legal Paige Contracts for Creatives
50% OFF FLODESK
50% OFF HONEYBOOK
Welcome to ProprietHER, this is episode 16! Today, we’re going to go over the 3 questions I get asked the most. As I said, the women who have asked these questions range from people JUST starting out, to women who have been in business for years, and who you wouldn’t think have any questions, so there’s something here for you!
The first question I get is kind of a two fold question:
Before I to dive into pricing I want to make one very serious PSA:
There is a difference between your economic worth (what your skills and experience merit in the marketplace) and your personal worth.
If someone won’t pay your price, or a certain price that you ask, you cannot take it personally. It can be easy to get offended, to feel knocked down, and to think “well, they just don’t think I’m worth anything.” But listen here sister, this is not the case at all. Your personal worth has NOTHING to do with your economic worth.
I’ve also heard people say “charge what you’re worth.” and while that is a powerful message, it’s muddling the line between your economic worth and personal worth, and that’s not a line meant to be muddled. Your personal worth, has nothing to do with how successful you are in business. So whether you charge $100 for a service and someone else charges $10,000 for a service, you have the same personal worth no matter who you are, what you do, what you charge, or what you wear.
Pricing your product or service is tough stuff whether you’re starting or you’ve been in business for years. So let me start off by saying, if pricing terrifies you, you are not alone. I know I say “you’re not alone” so much on this podcast but it’s really true! I really want you to understand that all those feelings, hesitations, questions, and concerns that you have- THEY’RE SO NORMAL IN BUSINESS. Especially when it comes to pricing. We’re going to talk about pricing in two ways. First, for those just starting out, and second for those who are already in business because maybe you’re looking to raise your prices and you don't know how or are terrified.
Let’s tackle the newbies first. Now if you’re just starting your business. Like. Have an idea, a name, all that fun stuff but no experience or clients yet, I feel it is 100% important for you to do some work for free. I know I know. You probably didn’t see that coming. But hear me out. Word of mouth, and proof of your work like photos, reviews, etc is going to so important for your business. If you have NO customers, you need to get some STAT and if that means doing 5 free sessions, or making your craft for 5 people- do it.
When I knew I wanted to start my photography business, I asked EVERYONE if I could photograph them and I said it would be free just so I could build my portfolio because I knew that the portfolio, and the experience a family or couple would have with me, would help me gain the momentum I needed to start my business and get paying customers.
I understood I needed to establish my authority as a photographer by having clients, and even though those families and couples didn’t pay me, I loved on them SO HARD and all I asked for in return were reviews. I understood that to start getting paying clients, I needed MOMENTUM and sometimes in business, as was in my case, I had to CREATE my own momentum. When I posted pictures from my free sessions, other people on social media or who stumbled on my website didn’t KNOW they were free sessions. They just saw my photos and a raving review. BOOM. Done. Plus, the people I worked with, told OTHERS about me. BOOM done again.
Now after I gained some momentum with my free sessions, did I jump immediately up to a $500 session? Absolutely not. As much as we know what others are charging, and as fast as we want to be there, you have to understand that experience does account for something. So I started small and with each session I upped my price a small amount. I did this once I entered the wedding business as well. After each wedding, I raised my price $300 dollars until I hit where I wanted to be. If you start to big, without the experience to back you up (and remember, experience is shown to your potential clients through your portfolio, and your reviews) you’re not going to see the business you want. You’re not going to buy a $100 handmade sign from someone who says they make them and only have 2 pieces of work and 2 reviews to show for it. You’re going to buy the $100 signs from someone who has a larger portfolio and more reviews, AKA more experience. So you’re job, is to get the experience. Get the momentum. Even if you have to create the momentum, get momentum and then increase slowly from there.
Now if you’ve been in business for sometime, and you’re feeling like it’s time to raise your prices, let’s talk it!
I know this is always a question in the back of everyone’s minds! Even when we are just starting right, we’re always wondering “when can I raise my prices!?” But there are a few things to consider when thinking about raising prices!
Often times we’re so caught up in wanting to raise our prices, we forgot to stop and remember that we all have our own unique goals! Is your goal to book 20 clients this year and you’ve booked 30? Then it’s probably time to raise your prices! Is your goal to book 20 clients and you’ve book 3? Then there might be something going on!
You need to be looking at what are your booking goals, or selling goals, and where are you currently with those goals.
A good rule of thumb is if you keep finding yourself feeling over worked, over booked, and just like you’re working ALL THE TIME, then you probably need to raise your prices.
Analyzing what your current demand is like. How many people are knocking on your door? And not just knocking, but saying YES I’m ready to book or buy? That answer is really going to help you decide if you need to raise your prices or not.
If you’re getting too many inquiries for a certain date, or for a limited amount of customers you can take, then you need to figure out how you can control the demand, because you cannot control the supply. For example, photographers who can only book one wedding a day, cannot clone themselves and shoot 7 sevens in one day, so they have to control the demand. Same if you take on clients, you can only give so much before you’d have to start cloning yourself to make sure everyone is getting the quality you want right? So how do you control the demand?
Is there any hesitation when they hear your prices or when you’re talking about your prices? I believe you’re priced well when your clients have to think about your pricing for a second. When they can say, “oh ok, that’s the pricing, but you know what, I see the value, I’m going to do it.”
If you can barely get through your sales pitch and they’re like “yes, we’ll take it all your biggest package!” You probably need to raise your prices.
If you’re constantly booking your biggest package- that can be a tell sign too.
So many people feel that “if I raise my prices, I can’t ever lower them again because people will know and that will be humiliating. People aren’t paying attention whether your price has gone up a hundred dollars or down a hundred dollars the way that YOU know it’s changed. People don’t care as much about our businesses as we do!
When you change your prices, as with anything in your business give it time. But if you start to notice that qualified clients are walking away, and people you would love to work with are walking away. Go back to remember your goals- do you want to be busy and working? Then maybe you’re priced to high and need to adjust. Just remember to balance your work life so it doesn’t lead to burnout.- Remember you cannot give from an empty cup. So if you’re exhausted and overworked and you’re ready to be DONE- it’s probably time to raise your prices.
2.) The second questions I get asked frequently is how to start shifting content to be more well rounded and not just about the service or products you’re selling.
Using social media to showcase ONLY your work is not enough. So if you’re just posting pictures of your jewelry, or pictures of only your sessions, or pictures of only your gift baskets- you need to start doing more.
Now, many people know this. Many people understand that potential customers want more than just seeing your product or service. People want to CONNECT. They want to get to know the human behind the business. For many, this is a scary concept. They know it’s true, but it terrifies them to put out anything that isn’t strictly business related.
I used to feel this way. Especially when the trend of #Fridayintroductions was really big. The idea of posting a photo of MYSELF and introducing myself on social media gave me honest to goodness anxiety. Like the kind where it takes an hour to even hit the SHARE button. But I knew that if I wanted to see the growth I was hoping for in my business, I had to share more than just photos of session. I knew I had to start talking about my life and myself because people WANT THAT.
Let’s use my business as an example, so I’m a bright and light photographer. There could be 3 others in my area out there with my same style, so what sets us apart? People could look at our instagram pages and see all similar style photos and then, it’s pretty much a coin toss on who they’re going to book right? Well, it doesn’t have to be! Not if I start sharing about me, my life, WHY I started my business, why I LOVE my business, etc.
Your personality is what sets you apart from the rest so let it shine. Plus, as scary as it is to start sharing your life in public on social media, once I started to do it, I saw a TON more engagement. I became so much more relatable to people instead of just another photographer who posts pretty pictures with the caption SWOON.
So first things first is understanding that shifting your content into more than just your product or service is going to be beneficial to your business.
Now once you make the decision that “yes! I’m going to start shifting my content and adding more about me in there!” The next question is how do you do it? That’s what a lot of people worry about right, how do I start posting different things? What will people think? Will they think I’m weird? They’re going to be wondering what the heck I’m doing!
Let me tell you right now- do not stress about pivoting your content! Especially since you’re still going to be posting your normal work and business stuff, you’re just looking to give clients and potential clients a more overall look into who you are as a person and brand- not just your business. When you look at it that way, it makes it a little easier.
So many people tell me they’re stressed about sharing more about themselves because they’re not interesting or outgoing or entertaining enough. You absolutely do not need to be a loud or entertaining person in order to put yourself out there on social media, but you will need to leave your comfort zone a little bit! I’m a MASSIVE introvert but you probably wouldn’t know that from my instagram! It’s awkward putting yourself out there on social media! Especially as business owners because its so easy for us to hide behind our work, but people don’t want to hire just a business, they want to hire a PERSON and feel connected to that person.
When it comes to pivoting your content, there really isn’t much to it. The first thing I would do is post a picture of yourself and in the caption, write about how you’re going to start sharing more about you so that people can get to know the girl behind the biz! Share why this is important to you, and just be transparent. Heck! Even share how nervous you are to do it! People love authenticity!
3.) Now my last common question goes off of the pervious one. People know they want to share MORE. More than just their business product or service. But here’s what really stumps people. What to actually post.
The next thing you’re going to do is think of your content categories. I’ll link to a PDF of this in the show notes.
You want to think of content topics to rotate through that aren’t business related so think of Personal things you can post. I love the JK5 (Jenna Kutcher 5 method) She says to think of 5 topics that make you, you, OUTSIDE of your business. So for you, maybe that’s being a mom, maybe it’s a love of reading.. think of it this way. If I were to ask your husband “What makes you, you? What does she love?” What would he say? Those are topics you can consistently share about. It’ll make your audience feel a little bit more a part of your life!
Now as much as I love the JK 5 method, there are other things you can share about too if you’re looking for more content ideas! I like to say there are 6 content categories.
DOWNLOAD MY FREEBIE ON CONTENT CATEGORIES HERE
When you share about other things that aren’t business related, just tell a story when you share about them. Bring people into your life a little bit. People want to feel like they “know you.” It’s weird, but they do. So just share your heart and don’t be afraid to do it!
My best advice is to not worry about it being perfect. Just take imperfect action because it’s better to have it done and out there, than to feel or be stuck in the mud! The only way to do it is to just START!
After you’ve started posting, give people some time to adjust to your new content push, but they will! Honestly in the grand scheme of things, people will hardly notice you’re shifting topics lol. Because we’re so in tune with it, we think others are too, but most likely they’ll just be like “Oh So and So shared this cool thing today.” whether it’s related to your business or not! So just take the leap friend!
To wrap it up let’s go over three action items we can do today to move the needle forward:
50% OFF HONEYBOOK | 50% OFF FLODESK
PRIMALLY PURE CODE: MOLLYK10
Why should boss babe learn to master Pinterest?
The amazing thing about Pinterest that I will say is that it is a search engine. It's not a social media platform. The way you want to look at Pinterest is more like Google rather than social media.
Here's the thing that people don't realize is that social media is designed for you to remain within that space. So Instagram does not like you leaving the platform so they will do everything that they can to keep you within the platform. The same goes with other social media platforms. Pinterest, on the other hand, is great because the whole reason if you think about it, every time you see a pin that you like, and you click on it, you're actually leaving the platform. It's driving traffic to the website that you're visiting. So you want to leverage Pinterest in that sense, and you want to use it to drive traffic to your website.
And that's, that's the other thing I want to say about Pinterest as well is that when you use Instagram, like, as a business owner, whenever you create content on all these platforms, your content doesn't even last more than what 24 hours. I mean, that's even me being generous, like typically, it's just a few hours and then you can see that the engagement on your posts starts to die down and that's it. Once it's gone. It's not showing up on people's feeds anymore. It's just kind of disappears. Pinterest, on the other hand, rewards content creators. Like right now I have blog posts that I've written over two years ago, and they're still generating traffic for my website.
Honestly, all you have to do is show up on the platform and you can create fresh content in a way without creating more content. I know that sounds like it's a little confusing, but the way you do that is through creating several pins for one blog post. And you can continue doing that as long as you're using like new images with your pins, and then that's considered new content.
So these are the reasons why I love it because it drives massive traffic to your website and gets people off these platforms, but you also can do it in a way that's, you know, that's automated and releases all your time.
How do Keywords work on Pinterest and where should be be putting them?
Going back to the point about Pinterest being a search engine, search engines like to crawl through text and words. With Pinterest, you want to include keywords because the algorithm will search for words. The way the platform works is that when people go on to Pinterest, and they type in something that they're looking for within the toolbar at the top, it's very similar to Google in the sense that whenever you start to type something, it has suggestions for you.
So what you want to do is you want to make sure that you're including keywords in your profile in your boards and in your pins, because as people search, that's when your content, your profile, or your boards are going to appear within people's searches.
What type of content should someone be creating for Pinterest? What gets the most views? What seems to be the best for that platform?
You have to go back to the type of audience that Pinterest has, and also remembering that it's completely different to social media. So for example, if you're using Instagram, the type of content that does really well are really sort of, posts that are very social, you know, sharing pictures of your family and your dogs and your cats, and, you know, every now and again, you can share some content that teaches and shows yourself as an expert in your field or maybe your products. But really, people are Instagram because they want to connect with people and they want to see that kind of content.
Pinterest, on the other hand is completely different. So when people are going on Pinterest, they're actually people who are planners, and people who are researching to buy. They're looking for a solution to a problem. So people use Pinterest more like they use Google than they use Instagram.
People on Pinterest don’t care about the social aspects. They don't really care about, you know, seeing personal pictures of you and your family and your cats and your pets and all that kind of stuff. They want a solution to their problem. They are looking for inspiration. So the best type of content that works on Pinterest are actually blog posts, because blog posts are our long form content that teaches people how to go from A to B, so anything that teaches people how to do something in five simple steps, or those kind of lists or breakdowns.
Another piece of content or type of content, rather that I've realized is does really well on Pinterest, are the before and afters. For example, they have a picture of maybe their bedroom before they renovated it and then after the renovation, basically that's how it works. So people love that kind of content, because they're looking for inspiration for a project that they're planning or they're working on.
So I'm taking that concept the before and after, and I want to copy and paste it across every niche. So if you're, say, a business owner, and you have clients who are maybe entrepreneurs or business owners, again, what you can do is maybe create content that shows your transformation. How can you show that is it through maybe your analytics and how, for example, in my case, maybe how much Traffic I had before I started Pinterest and how much I had after. I can show that in a visual way through the graphs that I have from my Pinterest analytics. Or maybe you can talk about the sales that you've made, or the results that you've gotten your clients, or your students.
So you can use the before and after transformation story. These are really, really powerful because it allows people to see themselves where they are now and it also paints a beautiful sort of future for them where they can see the possibility of the results that they want to have.
Can we repurpose content from other platform for Pinterest and have it be successful?
You absolutely can. And the what I will recommend though is that you don't want to just blanket post everything that you're posting on Facebook or Instagram to Pinterest because like I said the audience on Pinterest is very different to the audience on social media. So certain posts might not work.
You want to position yourself as an expert and show people and teach people and add value to them before you can have them on as clients. So all those kind of posts where you're teaching, where you're explaining, where you're positioning yourself as an expert, you can definitely put those out on Pinterest as well.
You can also like create blog posts where you position your product or your service as the solution to the problem that they're trying to solve. So if you have a product that you sell, you can create a blog post that teaches how people can use your product, for example, in five different ways or five simple steps and then you can include a link for them to purchase it from there. So rather than you just selling off the bat, you can add value first and then kind of make that pitch and sell
What Three Take aways can my listeners do TODAY to help move the needle forward in their business?:
1. The first thing you want to do is you want to make sure that You have a blog. A lot of people panic when they hear that because sometimes the platform, their platform of choice is not a blog yet. Sometimes people have a YouTube channel or they have a podcast like you, for example, Molly. So what I always say is that there's a very simple way to get around this. And it's simply through just transcribing all your audio and video content. And that's another way of stretching your content and repurposing it. Every video you create every podcast episode, if you can just send it to a transcribing service or an app or something like that. have it done for you. Do a quick proofread, and just put it up as a blog post and then pin it to Pinterest. That is one way you can do that. So the first thing I'd say is you definitely want to have a blog post or a website with a blog post. And if you're a product based business and you don't have that many You know, you you haven't considered maybe content creation, what I will say is you don't have to get on to the content creation wheel, you simply just want to create a few simple pieces of high quality content that showcases your product as the best and as a solution to this to the problems that people are trying to solve. And then that way, you can then start pinning them and just create different pins for the same blog post. So it really doesn't have to take that much time. So you can work with how much how much or how little time you have.
2. The second thing I'll say is make sure that you switch over to a business account and on Pinterest and that is beneficial for you because one, it just allows you to be seen as a legitimate sort of account on the profile. But also when you register as a business account. You also want to sign up and claim your website because that will enable you to have something called rich pins. Now that process has some, you know, you have to sort of copy the some coding that they provide you with. But don't panic because all you have to do is copy and paste it to your website. But you definitely can do that. And then what that allows you to do is that whenever you're pinning, or people pin from your viewer blog, the rich pin format then extracts all the information of your blog post. And it includes the pin description, the pin title, and all of that within the pin itself. So it creates less work for you. And also, it looks like a more legit sort of format on the Pinterest platform. So it makes you more desirable. So that's the second thing I'd say. Make sure that you register as a business account and claim your website so you can have rich pins because it makes all the difference.
3. And then thirdly, I'd say keywords keywords, keywords like we mentioned like you will not have success with Pinterest. If you do not use keywords. It is a search engine. And the most important thing is to use keywords. If out of this podcast episode, you don't get anything but you get the fact that you have to use keywords you would have done great. Like that's the main thing you want to focus on.
Grab her FREEBIE HERE! | WEBSITE | SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLE: @sahartwesigye
Welcome to ProprietHER, this is episode number 14 and today, we’re going to talk about work/life balance. Because it’s a thing that so many of us struggle with- more people than ever now with work from home orders, that I think we should talk about it.
I know the idea of working from home, or the idea of being your own boss sounds amazing. It’s the total freedom you’ve always dreamed of! But once you achieve it, or once your company says you have to start working from home, you discover it’s not as easy as you might’ve thought. Now, YOU and only you are responsible for what you do. You’re the one who has to make sure you stay focused and get everything done. That your e-mails are answered, your projects are completed, and everything is hunky dory. Add on top of that keeping the house in order which is going to be a tad harder now that you’re home. Solely because, now you’re home for lunch, and most likely with kids whereas before your house was empty that time of day. Which means, more dishes and messes to clean as the day is going on. Your bathroom is being used more, which means, it’s going to get dirty faster or require more frequent cleaning. Essentially, you being home more REQUIRES more.
So what can we do? What can we do to motivate ourselves? To stay productive? Or on other days, to take a break? And learn it’s ok to NOT work? Working from home blurs lines and it can be hard to know when to do what. And with that confusion- comes guilt.
Have you ever felt guilty because you feel like you’re working TOO much at home? Like maybe you’re answering your phone or e-mails later than you would’ve been if you were in an office or at your old job? Do you ever feel guilty when you’re with your friends or spouse or kids, because you feel like you SHOULD be working? It gets weird and messy. But have no fear friends, that are things that we can do to combat the stress, mess, and confusion.
So with that let’s talk about my first tip.
If you are your own boss, it’s time to create a routine. If you are working for a company- stick to the same routine you did when you were working. Did you wake up at 6:00am? Continue to do so. Shower, make coffee, and most importantly, get dressed. EVEN if you’re just changing into fresh comfy clothes. Change your outfit, shower or wash your face, have some coffee and create that routine that gets you ready for the day and signals to your body you’re up and ready to do whatever the day requires.
This is so important. Yes it’s nice to make your own rules, or maybe just have the freedom to sleep in a little later now that your company shifted to working from home- but if you get lazy with getting ready. If you stay in your jammies, don’t wash your face/shower, heck don’t brush your teeth, you’re not going to feel ready to accomplish anything. The lazy slumber will be creating a hazy lazy aura around you all day long. So do yourself a favor and start making a getting read routine a priority.
If you don’t think I’m right on this- you’re wrong. Sorry for the bluntness but that’s why I’m your “get a grip” gal pal. You know when you DO have plans for the day, and you get up and get ready. Think about how that makes you feel. Think about how getting ready unconsciously prepares you for the day ahead. Think about how showering or washing your face washes away the sleepies and makes you feel awake and ready. Mentally, you’re in work mode when you’re in your day clothes. It’s all about putting on a different persona when you’re in work mode/awake mode. It’s what tells your brain it’s time to be up and productive.
Not only that, but after a few hours pajamas get grungy. You start to feel uncomfortable and maybe even stinky. This all makes focusing on productive work and life a bit more difficult.
It seems simple but creating the morning routine will make a BIG difference.
Now, I know that not everyone has the luxury of creating a home office, but the point of this is to set some boundaries in your life. Imagine working from home all day on the couch, only for it to be the same couch you sit on at the end of the day to decompress, veg, and watch TV. It won’t take long until you’re SUPER sick of that couch and feeling stuck, bored, and quite honestly, trapped!
The point is, to be away from the area in the house where you spend the most time. This space should be where you keep all of your notes, equipment, or anything else you need for work. It should be place where your spouse and children know, if you’re in there, you don’t just come barging in because momma is working. Having this separate work space will help you mentally switch off at the end of the day and slip into that “home life” mentality.
One of the biggest secrets to achieving that work life balance you crave- is setting boundaries. Creating a separate work space, instead of working where you spend most of your “home life” time, will help do just that.
Now I know there are some of you out there who hate lists, but they really help to stay organized, especially in an environment where the lines have become blurred like working from home.
It’s great to have everything you need to accomplish listed out, not matter how long the list becomes, because if you want to rock the work from home life and find your balance, you need to know what you have to do.
Start by making a list and word vomiting all the things you have to do. Then, prioritize your list by what you want to accomplish and finish TODAY.
The first step to accomplishing anything, is knowing what’s on your plate. So make a list, and I even like to write down when they’re due, and then I chip away at my list accordingly.
Now, for me, my list is a running, ongoing list. As I take on a new project it gets added to my list, and as I finish one it gets taken off. Your list doesn’t have to be paper, if you’re like me, maybe it’s a note on your computer, I’ve also used Trello, there are other planning apps out there- but do what works best for you!
Write down what needs to be done, and then enjoy the satisfaction of crossing off your finished projects.
This one is crucial. You need to set hours because setting work hours is the same thing as setting boundaries. You need to set boundaries in order to find a successful balance between life and work. So set hours with what works for your lifestyle. If you’re single, maybe you can do the traditional 9 to 5 at home. If you’re a stay at home, boss babe like myself, my work hours are nap times and an hour after bed time. Know what your hours are and KEEP THEM. If you didn’t finish the project you wanted to by the end of your work day, STOP. It’ll be there for you tomorrow. Learn to quit and honor the boundaries you set for yourself. If you were back in an office, you’d be running out of there as soon as the clock struck 5 to get home so don’t cut yourself short just because you’re ALREADY home.
When you’re starting to work from home, especially for yourself, there is a learning curve. Things don’t have to be done as traditionally as when you worked for a company or someone else. Use this to your advantage. If you’re a night owl, would you assign yourself task in the early morning? Or would you wait until the evening when you’re more engergized and productive?
You will be the most success if you work on tasks during the times you’re most productive. Whether that’s morning, afternoon, or evening. Don’t make this work from home deal harder on yourself. Understand when you’re most productive and use that to your advantage.
The goal of understanding your highs and lows, is maximizing your productivity. Another common low for people? Distractions. It’s so easy to be working from home and to get distracted by house chores you might want to do, or heck! Even just picking up your cell phone and getting lost down the social media rabbit hole. So keep your phone on silent and away from you, unless you need it for work, and stay as focused as possible. I read a great tip once from a woman who said she keeps a personal notebook next to her when she’s working so when she thinks of something that distracts her like emptying the dishwasher, or vacuuming, she writes it down on her list to do later.
So think be aware of your highs and lows, or strengths and weaknesses. Know when you’re most productive, and know what typically distracts you so you can avoid those distractions.
With that being said, you need to fight the guilt. There is no shame in keeping strict office hours even when you’re working from home or even when you’re your own boss. Entrepreneurs have lives too that need balancing. We have spouses, children, parents, friends, AND businesses. So office hours are a MUST in order to balance all of it. Don’t let someone make you feel bad about shutting off the phone and not looking at e-mail past a certain time. Certainly don’t make yourself feel bad either!
The best part? You will ROCK your working from home lifestyle by actually having and living a life outside of work. Burnout is a real thing and it’s hard to recover from. So avoid it in the first place by setting boundaries and honoring them knowing you’re doing what’s best for you and those around you.
Lastly, remember why you’re doing all this in the first place. Most likely, it’s for financial freedom, so you can provide more for your family. Well there’s no better gift to your family than YOU. So make sure you ditch the guilt, set the boundaries, and focus on your personal life too.
Clearly defined boundaries will lead to a great personal life and a better work life! You’ll have finally found your balance and instead of giving all your energy and effort into one area of life, learn how to say “no” and set those boundaries without feeling guilty.
To wrap it up let’s go over three action items we can do today to move the needle forward:
50% OFF HONEYBOOK | 50% OFF FLODESK
The podcast currently has 23 episodes available.