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What to Do Differently This Year in Your Business

If 2020 has taught us anything it’s that times are changing and what worked for you before, might not work for you now. Welcome to the world of entrepreneurship where everything is constantly changing! I’m taking a different approach to some things this year, trying new things, but also continuing some things have been working for me too. So here I’ll share what I’m doing different this year in my business.

Ditching a Perfect Instagram Field

This is something that I have found so freeing! I used to get caught up in wanting my feed to look perfectly aesthetic.. because that used to be important for growth. But honestly.. I just don’t care about that anymore, and seriously it’s so freeing!! I used to post filler posts so my feed would look good and caption in a random quote or emoji or what I did that day just to fill it in.. which just isn’t serving anybody. That’s not coming from a place of service which is really my intention.

A few years ago, it was so easy to grow on Instagram by just curating a beautiful feed. I feel like I was featured multiple times every single day and that was a time that I really grew on Instagram. But gone are those days! That is so not how it is anymore. I can’t even tell you the last time I was featured on a photographer account and I just don’t really care if my feed looks perfectly beautiful anymore. My focus has shifted to the content that I’m creating for you versus what it actually looks like.

Less Long-Form Captions

I know this is controversial and the complete opposite of what Instagram gurus would tell you, so I’m not telling you that you should do this too, it’s just what I’m doing.It takes too much time for me to create long-form captions every post and it’s been holding me back from just posting. So if I focus more on short-form captions I feel like I’ll be able to get more content out there, and if you know me, I like straight to the point content and education.

I know the Instagram gurus will tell you that the longer your caption is the better and that we should have longform captions to better connect with our audience and serve more purpose. I totally understand and see this, but I did a poll on my Instagram story recently and I asked people if they prefer long form captions or short form captions. A majority of people said short form and I have to say I agree personally when I see somebody have a long Instagram caption to be honest nine out of 10 times I don’t read it. 

Connecting on Instagram

I love to connect with people on Instagram. I think that’s the entire purpose of Instagram and social media is to connect with other people. But personally as a business owner and as a new mom, I don’t have time to sit and consume all day when I need to be creating. I want to continuously create content for you for this podcast, for my email list, for my students… And it’s so easy to get caught up and the next thing you know an hour goes by that you’ve spent on social media. Whether that be Instagram or Clubhouse! I know clubhouse is a really easy app to get completely lost in and soon you’ve waited an entire day just sitting and listening on Clubhouse… I say this because I have done this! I’ve been there and now I’m more aware of it. I just want to make sure I’m focusing more on creating than always just consuming.

So to wrap that section up, I’m throwing out the idea that I need to have a perfectly X aesthetic Instagram feed or come across all put together online. Because let’s be real, life is messy for everybody! Obviously we don’t showcase our mess as much because we all have our mess,  but I’m ditching the whole mentality that I have to have a perfectly aesthetic feed.

Experimenting

With literally everything in my business, I’m not shy to experiment with things like I used to be. 27 did something to me! I don’t let the fear of judgement from others hold me back, and I also am not scared of failing, because guess what… We ALL fail and fall short in life at times, but I’d rather say I tried than I was too scared. 

That saying “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.” That’s the mentality I have toward life + business.

If it’s on your heart to try it but you’re scared to do it, whatever that may be.. come talk to me. I’ll talk some sense into ya. Because I’ve been there where I was stuck in my own fear for way too long. So don’t let fear be the reason you don’t grow. 

Visibility

So when I say experiment, I mean with social media, with my email marketing, with the way i’m showing up, just everything really! You just don’t know what will work best for you if you don’t try.

And I’m at a point in my life and in my business where I’m not scared to fail publicly.

One of my words for this year is Visibility. Which to me, is a scary one! A lot of fear comes with stepping into that new level of playing bigger. Some fears that come to my mind are “If I play bigger, I will be more visible, and if I’m more visible, there will be more eyes on me to judge me.” That’s when imposter syndrome creeps in for me. “I’m not smart enough, I don’t have anything to offer, I’m not thin enough or knowledgeable enough..” The list goes on and on…

I think it’s normal that imposter syndrome creeps in, but it’s our job as entrepreneurs to break down those limiting beliefs that are holding us back. So by me setting myself up to be more visible, that is my way of breaking down that barrier that would be holding me back from stepping into my next level of greatness. 

With visibility being one of my words this year, it ties in perfectly with the next one, which is… 

Focusing on Video Marketing

Video is where it’s at, people! People want connection. They want to see your face and feel connected to who you are as a person. Easier said than done I KNOW.. It can be so hard to translate your true personality onto video, I get it. But the more practice you have the better. I’m still working on it myself! 

So some ways I’ll be showing up on video marketing are Reels, testimonials, Tiktok and more. I think this is the new way to feel even more connected to people and allow people into your life.

Also I think this year is going to be a very busy year for everyone. Because of all the rescheduled events from the past few years and we’re just starting to be able to be out a little bit more. Since we are going to have very busy schedules, I think it’s going to be very easy to get lost. Lost in keeping up with our businesses and our marketing strategies for the next year.

I really wanna make sure that I’m staying on top of my marketing strategies and plans. So when my time starts freeing up for 2022, I don’t feel like I wasted a year drowning in work. And not focusing on still moving my business forward. I’m really making sure that I take the time and effort to continue to invest in my business and grow my business at a higher rate.

Group Coaching Mastermind

Another new thing I’m doing this year is I’m offering 3 month long group coaching services! I LOVE all types of education, but this is different from a workshop or course. Workshops tend to be more surface level due to just not having enough time and being packed in 1-4 days. And courses are usually self-paced, and consumed on your own time. 

I’ve been wanting to create a program where I could dive deep with a small number of students. This way we could really look at their business and really help it grow.

The cool thing about a group coaching program is that unlike a workshop where the education kind of skims the surface, or a course that is mainly focused on one area of your business, a Group Coaching Mastermind allows us to look at your business in a one on one coaching way. You can dive deep and really grow your business from where it’s at to where you want it to go.

Now I love all forms of education and there is no one right way to consume it. Everybody consumes education differently. What I love about my Mastermind is really going deep and looking at people’s businesses one on one. Then helping them grow in all areas.

Learn more here!

Creating Valuable Content

This is one of the things I have been trying to do, but I’m honing in on it this year.

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again on here. I want my podcast to be for you and what topics you want to hear. So please message me and let me know what you want to hear, what you want me to cover, who you’d like to see as a guest.. I want this to be a collaborative conversation!

And also creating valuable content, not only just the podcast but the way I’m showing up online for you. If you didn’t know, I just had our baby girl in January. So my time is a lot more limited these days. Not only am I selective with what I’m doing, I’m trying to be more intentional with the way I’m showing up since my time is so limited. 

So whenever I am showing up, I am being intentional and straight to the point as much as I can! I have a “no-fluff” approach with everything as you can tell. Which is why I like to offer both short to the point podcast episodes. As well as longer more conversational interview style as well to give you a variety.

And this ties into the next one.. 

Content Repurposing

If you’re pulling your hair out to keep up with creating content and reinvent the wheel, this one’s for you. Don’t feel like you need to reinvent the wheel every single time you want to get content out there. Take one form of content that you have and re-purpose it in every possible way you can.

For example, if you write a blog post, take a section out of that to use as an Instagram caption, use it to outline a Reel for Instagram, turn it into an email for your email marketing to drive people back to that full box blog post, create a rich pin for Pinterest to also drive traffic back to that blog post, create that piece of content into video form to have on either your Instagram or YouTube or just to have that piece of content in video form.

And the list goes on and on! 

Why You Should Repurpose Content

It’s so important for your time and business to make sure that you are taking your content and repurposing it. Most people will only see it on one or maybe two platforms that you posted on just because of all the algorithms. But most people need to see some things several times for it to click. So it’s not a bad thing if people see it twice! 

Honestly it doesn’t matter and I don’t think anybody cares if they see it twice. I personally do not care if I see somebody posting the same content in multiple places… In fact I think it’s smart because I know that they are content repurposing and it’s the right business move.

It’s almost like wearing the same outfit twice. I don’t think people notice or care as much as you do yourself. I just say who cares just do it, stay in your own lane, worry about yourself and your business. Don’t be too concerned or scared if you think people are going to judge you for posting the same content in several areas. 

Chances are, they won’t realize it or they won’t care. Because they might like to retain the information in that format versus another. Everyone retains information differently and prefers certain methods over others. By offering the same content in several ways it is actually serving people better because it may reach more people… which is the ultimate goal, to just serve people.

Final Thoughts

So to sum it all up, this is what I’m going to be working on this year: ditching a perfect Instagram feed, focusing on video marketing, offering coaching services both 1:1 and a group coaching mastermind, creating valuable content, and content repurposing. I’m excited for not only how these will grow my business. But also how it will make a difference in my life this year.

Be sure to check out other podcast episodes here!

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