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Creating business cards can be an overwhelming task, even if you are creative! If you’re not, it can feel like an even more daunting task. I say this to say, it's okay if it seems like just another thing to learn or do, but that's why I wrote this post. In this post, I'm going to cover where you can design your cards (with templates!), how to design them, and how to make this process much simpler and fun. Let's dive in! Step 1: How to plan what info will go on your card Step 2: Which platform you want to design them on Step 3: How to get started in the designing process Step 4: How to download your files and order them! How to Make Business Cards in Canva Step 1: Planning the Business Card Design (aka Wireframes) Getting started can sometimes feel like the most overwhelming task. If you’re thinking, where do I start? You’re going to love this first step! We’re going to start with the basics. Grab a pencil and a piece of copy paper. I personally like a completely blank canvas, but if you’re less creative or very detail oriented, grab a piece of notebook paper to keep your lines straighter. *Avoid using a ruler, as this first step doesn’t need to be perfect. This is just to get your ideas out. Think about who you’re going to be handing these to and what information you want them to have when you hand them your card. Before you sketch the business card, list out all the information you want on your card. Business Name/Logo Email Phone Number Slogan *Bonus points for adding a picture of yourself! Business cards get thrown away, but I’ve found when a business card has a photo of the business owner I tend to remember that business much more! I won’t bore you with my obsession of psychology and why we remember faces more, but I know you get the point ;) Here’s an example of my business card sketch: Step 2: Choose a Platform to Design Them In So you’ve got your sketch, now it’s time to put that into action! *If you skipped step one and just want to use a business card template we’ll cover that as well. I personally use Canva to design my business cards. I’ve designed business cards with Illustrator, but I always go back to Canva because they have so many incredible templates and ideas to pull from. Plus, if you’re not in the design industry, Canva is a much better investment. Once you create your Canva account, click "Create a Design" then search "Business Cards". You'll get a few different options as to sizing, but for the sake of this blog post we're going to keep it simple and click "Business Card". Once you click, "Business Card" this is the screen that will come up: You can browse through their templates on the left if you want to avoid designing it yourself. If you click one, you'll see that template display on the right. I would highly suggest swapping out the colors for your brand colors, swapping fonts to match yours, and adding your unique logo. This will ensure that your business card is unique to you and your business. Canva Pro does come with a lot more font options. If you don't have Canva yet, but you want to test it out before you pay, click or tap on this link to get their Pro version for free for your first 30 days! Step 3: Start the Design Process Browse through the templates on the left until you find one that seems like it could be a good fit. Then simply click on the template you like. Some have a front and back option, if they do, it will open both options and you can choose which you want to use. I chose a template that seems close to the sketch I originally came up with. If you know you want a photo for the background, simply click the background space and click the "trash" icon. This will get rid of the background. Once you delete the background, click "Elements" and find the "Grid" options. Select the full square button: After you click the square grid, it will fill the template on the left so that you can add your own image. After you've placed the section to add a photo, you'll want to click "Uploads" then "Upload Media" to upload a photo from your computer. If you don't have an image and want to search for one, click the "Photos" option. This will allow you to search for a professional photo to use. Canva Pro gives you access to so many beautiful photos to use! Once you've chosen your image or uploaded your own, simply click the image that was uploaded and it will display over your template like this: Obviously, we want this photo to fill the background and not just float over the top. To do that, simple click the photo and drag it around the template. Once the image element and photo link up, it will automatically make it the background like this: I know for sure I'm not going to want the other elements that are included in this template, so I'll just click each item one and a time and delete them. The next step is changing the text to your business name and your branded font. I personally have my logo file saved to my computer, so instead of typing in the business name I'm simply going to upload my transparent png logo file to Canva. Once that's uploaded, I'll delete the text. IMPORTANT: Before you drag over your logo file over like you did with the background image, you'll want to click the background image first and select the "Lock" icon. If you skip this step, it's going to replace your background image with the logo file and will look super funky. Once you've locked the background in place, simply click the logo file you uploaded and place it where you want it on the business card. Once it's in place, you can unlock the background file. As you can see, the background and the photo are clashing just a bit. I love the photo, but I don't want the logo and the background photo to seem like they're competing against each other. To make the photo lighter, I used the opacity tool to make the image more transparent. This allows the white background we started with to show through more. That way the main focus is the logo! (Note: If you want the image to be darker, you'll need to change the background from white to another color or black. You can also change the sizing of the photo. I ended up making the background image a little bigger so that the flying birds don't seem to be running into my logo. See below.) Now we're making some progress! From my sketch, I know I want my slogan on the front in the bottom right corner. To add text, simply click the "Text" option, and select the "Add a little body of text". Swap out the wording, change the font to your branded font, change the size, and place it where it looks nice. Note: I made the text bold so it was easier to read. The text size is 6 on my end and came out legible once I had it printed. If you've made it this far, you've gotten a lot of great practice with Canva! Once you're ready to design the back of your business card you'll simply click the plus icon on the bottom so that you can start another file in the same template space: This will open another blank space. Either choose a background photo or simply click the white space and change the background color. I went with a cream background for the back of mine so that the text is really the only focus. Here's how it came out: Step 4: Download Your Files and Order The type of file you download really depends on where you're ordering them from. If you want to take it in to your local UPS store, they most likely will want a printable pdf. If you're ordering them on Vista Print, you'll want to download the files as PNG files. If you want to print with a local print company, they should be able to use a Printable PDF file as well. To download your files you're going to click the "Share" button on the top right. Then simply click the "Download" button. The default option is png, but if you need a different type of file, Click "PNG" and a list of other options, including the Print PDF version will come up. Once you've narrowed down the file type you need, simply click the purple "Download" button. BAM! Now you have business cards that you designed all by yourself. Not to mention that, if something changes and you want to tweak your business card, the file you worked on will always be stored in your Canva account! Here's how mine turned out after printing! Honestly, I can already tell I wish I would have made my website bold... also my perfectionist brain, wished there was more of a border on the left. BUT, it does not have to be perfect. It's okay to see places where improvement could be made. The important thing is to simply start, simply go for it, order a small amount and if you want to change it, know you always always can! Happy designing! -Abs :) Related Posts: How to Increase Brand Recognition How to Find Your Target Audience Creating a Peaceful Home Office Space Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

Branding dates back hundreds of years. It's what farmers used to mark their livestock as their own. Branding is, "The action of marking with a branding iron". The goal of branding today is very similar. 'Branding' your business into the minds of your target audience is what creating memorable marketing material is all about. The goal of branding is for your target audience to think of you when they need the solution that your business provides. A branding board simply provides a reference of the visual aspects of your business. This reference allows you or designers to keep their creations on brand. Keeping things 'on brand' is what increases the chance of people remember you. Keep reading to learn more about branding and to see some branding board examples too! It starts with a recognizable logo. The best way to build brand recognition is to find lots of creative places to use your logo and branding, consistently. A lot of designers, like myself will provide an entire branding package. A basic branding package includes the main logo, alternate logos, submarks, and a color palette. The alternate logos and submarks are smaller versions of the main logo, but still represent your brand overall. After a branding package is completed, you receive single files of each design created, usually this includes multiple files of the same element, but in different color variations, as well as a branding board to tie it all together. What is a Branding Board? A branding board gives you an at-a-glance look at your logos, alternate logos, submarks, color palette, and the fonts or typefaces that make up your brand's aesthetic and visual style. It's a great resource to keep near your workspace to use when you're creating content. Creating content can take many forms whether it's printed items like pamphlets, printed menus, ebooks or even online marketing like instagram stories, general graphics for social media, elements to use on your website or in email campaigns. Keeping all of your content 'on brand', means you're sticking to your specific color palette, fonts, and your logo elements consistently to build brand recognition. Obviously, the more consistent your marketing looks, the easier it is for people to remember you and your business. How does branding help people remember me? If you feel like people aren't remembering your brand or business, it could be because you're changing up the visual look too often. We see thousands of advertisements every single day, if your visual marketing doesn't have a consistent look and feel, it's very unlikely they will remember you. If you have the budget to hire a brand designer , I highly recommend it. If your business isn't making money yet, there's nothing wrong with starting with a placeholder logo and color palette. If you choose this route, choose to stay consistent in the color palette and fonts you choose as you start getting your first few customers. As you begin to grow your business, set some money aside to get a logo and branding for your business. If you're curious how to transition to the new branding, ask your designer. They will have some great ideas to make the transition smooth and effective. *Tip: If you work with a designer to create marketing material, make sure to send them your branding board if you already have one. This shows them exactly how to keep all your visual content on brand. What should be included in a Branding Board? Main logo, alternate logos and submarks are the basic elements that should be included in any branding project. Generally, the alternate logos and submarks represent the main logo, but are re-arranged a bit. You've probably seen these elements in other brands and not even realized it. The Chick-Fil-A logo is a great example. They have a few variations, one is typed out on one line with the first letter, C designed to look like a chicken. You'll also notice just the C by itself in other areas their entire logo may not fit. Having multiple elements like this allows them to showcase their brand in more versatile and creative ways. Why do you need a branding board? A branding board provides the visual guidelines needed to follow when creating unique content. This ensures anything you or someone else creates remains on brand so that it's memorable and recognizable. Branding isn't about having the prettiest logo, or the trendiest colors, it's about creating a consistent look that stands the test of time. If you're constantly using different fonts, colors, and images chances are, no one will remember or recognize your brand in the long run. When I first started my business, I was all over social media. I stayed consistent in the way I presented myself and even though some of my friends and family didn't need my services, they referred me to people that did. They remembered my business and what I offered, because what I posted had a consistent look, feel, and style. Brand recognition happens when you're using your branding consistently throughout social media, email marketing, business cards, flyers, emails, the list goes on! Branding Board Examples Here are a few branding projects I've had the pleasure of completing. A logo is simply one piece of the puzzle. As you can see in these branding board examples, the logo is the main element of the branding, the alternate logos, submarks, and color palette truly give the rest of the brand so much life. Alternate logos and submarks still visually represent your company; having multiple layouts just allows you to showcase them in a variety of places. The horizontal logos can look great on a business card or a website, but the vertical, stacked layout, or a circle can provide a better fit for profile photos, icons, or other small places. Having all of these options allows you to continue to build brand recognition in a more subtle way than always using the main logo everywhere. What are the numbers and letters underneath the colors? Those are the color codes or if you want to get really technical, they're called Web Safe RGB Color Codes. This means if you're creating marketing material that's going to go on the web you can type in that code to get your exact branding color. I encourage all my clients to use Canva ,  an amazing resource for creating marketing material. The codes underneath the photos work in Canva. Simply choose a template to work with, swap out the fonts for your branded fonts, swap out the colors for yours and BAM you've got a beautiful on brand image to use for your own marketing. Who do I hire for logo design and branding? Currently, Create & Collab. isn't offering branding services, but as of now we have an exclusive partner that we are referring all of our logo and branding projects too. Gloria, the owner of Glow Up Web Design, not only builds websites, but her and her team also offers logo design and branding services. Gloria, Owner of Glow Up and Abigail (me!) Meet Gloria MacGillis, the creative force behind the Glow Up Web Design Team. With an innate flair for crafting visually stunning websites and a commitment to delivering the best user experience, Gloria brings a unique touch to the digital landscape. Having personally coded her first website in 2017, she has since translated that expertise into crafting over 50 websites, earning glowing reviews and a reputation for timely deliveries. What sets Gloria apart is her ability to empathize with business owners, stepping into their shoes to understand their needs and unlock new possibilities for them. Her work is characterized by simplicity, beauty, professionalism, effectiveness, and user-friendliness. Every website she creates is a testament to her and her team's dedication to helping business owners harness their full potential. Gloria's passion extends beyond individual projects; it's a commitment to empowering business owners to not just exist but thrive in the digital realm. Backed by a caring and dedicated team, she goes the extra mile to ensure your dreams are not just visualized but exceeded. Together, Gloria and her team offer an array of top-notch services, including graphic design, web design, user experience design, code development, and marketing.

A lot of the business owners I talk to know that SEO is important, but they’re not sure what it looks like to actually implement. Since it’s such an important piece of any great marketing strategy and a complicated topic, there's a lot of scams to be on the lookout for. It can be hard to identify the scams as well as the actionable steps to implement a great SEO strategy. I spent a year and half learning and implementing an SEO strategy for one of my web design clients and totally fell in love with the results. Not just because I enjoyed the work, but because I saw it truly impacted her business for the better. In this blog post, I’m sharing a few of the fundamentals behind developing an SEO strategy, how to look out for the scammers, and I'll share actionable steps to implement on your own website. I’ll be covering: Developing an SEO Strategy for Beginners Keyword Research Outranking Your Competition Avoiding the Scammers Steps to Implement on Your Website If SEO hasn't been a priority in your marketing strategy and you're ready to try something new, keep reading. Or are you here to see what I actually do when it comes to SEO implementation? Cheers to doing the research before throwing money at marketing, I commend that! Developing an SEO Strategy for Beginners Understanding who your target audience is and what they are searching for to find a business like yours is the first step. Remember, Google doesn't rank websites, it ranks pages within a website. Of course everyone wants their home page to rank, but if you've just launched a new website it's going to be a bit of a challenge. Brand new websites will take some time to rank, since they haven't built up a solid domain rating yet. (We'll talk about domain rating or 'DR', in the Outranking Your Competition section.) For now, focus on understanding what content your target audience is searching for and start developing content that matches their search intent to the best of your ability. Think about the type of questions they would search on google to find a business like yours. This exercise will help generate some great content ideas. As you type something into Google, it will automatically show you what other people have searched related. If you really want a plethora of content ideas check out the book Contagious by Jonah Berger . It dives deep into why certain products and ideas actually become popular. If you're really into psychology like I am, it just might fascinate you enough to spend a whole afternoon reading it. Whenever I pick it up, I have to have paper and a pen handy because it inspires so many new ideas for my business and my client's businesses. Keyword Research Once you start typing different search queries into Google, you'll find some that you'd want your website to rank for. (When I say 'rank for' I mean when someone types in a specific phrase into a search bar and clicks enter, your website would 'rank' or show up within the search results page. Also known as the SERP.) The higher your website ranks on the page for a given keyword or search query, the higher the chance of someone clicking on it. When it comes to researching keywords, in the beginning just focus on finding terms that have high search volume and low difficulty. Check out Google Keywords Planner to find monthly search volumes, competition, as well as how those search terms have changed in the last 3 months and YoY. (Year over year.) I've put a few of the keywords that showed up in our Google search, into Google Keywords planner so you can see all the info it provides. (Using Google Keywords Planner does require an active Google Ads Campaign. If you don't have one active, keep reading for another tool you can utilize.) Another great tool to check out is ahrefs Free Keyword Generator . Here you can quickly search keywords to check out their search volume and difficulty levels. Keep in mind their tool is still just an estimation. For some of the lower searched keywords, ahrefs may not show any search volume at all, but Google Keywords Planner may. When working with keywords that aren't as popular it's always good to cross reference them within Google Keyword Planner. Ahrefs is also a great place to dive deeper if you're really wanting to learn more about SEO. I've thoroughly enjoyed ahref's academy and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to get better at SEO. Bonus Tip:  When looking for keywords, make sure to note whether they are commercial intention keywords or not. A commercial intention keyword means the searcher isn't just browsing the web, they're looking for a solution. Once you start looking for them, they become fairly obvious. If I typed in 'Web Designer Portfolio' I could be looking for inspiration from another web designer, but if I typed in 'Web Designer for Hire' that means I'm actively looking to find someone to work with. Getting your website to rank for high volume keywords that have commercial intention is the most ideal scenario, but this will of course take time. Look at the search query below, it's very obvious which ones are the highest commercial intention keywords: Keep in mind that website's also don't rank for just one keyword, they rank for hundreds, even thousands of keywords. Putting the same keyword all over your website will just make Google think your spam. Identify the main keyword you want to rank for then find other relevant content to continue adding, and this will make it a lot easier for Google to understand the type of content you want your website to be ranking for. Understanding Keyword Difficulty I'm referencing ahref's academy again because they do such a great job explaining such a complicated topic. If you type a keyword into the ahref's Free Keyword Generator it lists the difficulty level of each: easy, medium, hard, super hard. Below is their difficulty scale that gives you an estimate of how many backlinks or 'referring domains' that page will need to even have a chance of ranking up their with the other big websites! (KD stands for Keyword Difficulty) Keep reading to find out what a backlink/referring domain is. Outranking Your Competition - Backlinks We've talked a lot about sticking with lower competition keywords, but depending on your industry this can feel limiting for sure. To use those highly searched and highly difficult keywords, you'll need to get a large amount of quality backlinks to the pages on your site that you want to rank in the SERP. What's a backlink? It's when someone links a page on your site, within their website with a follow link back to you. Getting backlinks to your home page or product pages are usually more difficult than getting links to helpful content. Let's say you sell greenhouses. Getting a link to your product page within someone else's website mostly only benefits your business. However, if you start creating content that's helpful and interesting to others you may start getting backlinks without even asking for them. Content Ideas with Backlink Potential Pinterest is a great place to get content ideas! When I searched 'greenhouse' into Pinterest and hit enter so many ideas come up. Of course the sponsored shop links come up first, but if I'm not ready to seal the deal yet, I may just want to browse and 'window shop'. The first pin about boosting potential yields within a small greenhouse sounds really helpful. Not to mention the '30 Amazing Greenhouse Designs to Transform Your Backyard'. This is the type of content I would enjoy browsing through, then sending to my friends who also love plants. Unless I know someone looking to buy a greenhouse, I'm not sending the product links, I'm sending the helpful content because it's about more than just the sale! Domain Ranking - Building Authority Every new website's domain ranking starts at a score of 0 out of 100. There are a number of things that impact your domain's rating like: backlinks, user experience, content quality, technical SEO, domain age, and more. One of the biggest factors in terms of ranking above your competition in search results will be the number of backlinks your page has. This is why utilizing lower competition keywords in the beginning is a great way to start. If your website's domain ranking is at a 0 and you don't have any backlinks yet, you'll never rank above other website's that have a higher domain ranking, hundreds of backlinks, and many relevant keywords. Avoiding Scams Now that you know the importance of backlinks the scammers will be easier to recognize too. I call them scammers, but really they're just sending the same spam email to thousands of people asking to get a link back to their site. This approach rarely works because it's impersonal and always comes from someone you've never talked to before. I don't know about you, but when someone I've never met or even had a conversation with reaches out to me for a favor, I'm hesitant to say the least. Although, not everyone who reaches out to you asking for a link back to their website will be a spammer. Check out ahrefs Link Building Tactics No One is Talking About over on Youtube to hear great examples of appropriate ways to reach out for links. Even if you're not ready to start building backlinks to your site, watching this video will make it very clear what's an appropriate way to reach out and what isn't. Steps to Implement on Your Website Learning is great, but implementing what you learned is the only way to start seeing success. Start by identifying who your target audience is, then start researching some of the key phrases they're using to find a business like yours, find at least one main low competition keyword for each of the pages on your website you want to rank, and then start thinking about more relevant keywords that you can develop more content around. Add more content to your current pages or start coming up with new page ideas or blog posts ideas that would have the ability to rank and start generating backlinks. Step 1: Identify your ideal target audience/target customer Step 2: Research what your target audience is searching to find a business like yours Step 3: Identify one hero keyword that you'd love your home page to show up for when someone searches it on Google. (Make sure you put this keyword and other relevant keywords in your page title, header tags, meta description, alt text, and url slug.) Step 4: Research a few more topics that people are searching for that relate to what your business offers. Determine 3-5 more pages or blog posts you could create to generate website traffic, surrounding relevant content your target audience is already looking for. Tips for Implementation: For example: Let's say you own a bakery that specializes in selling cookies. I'm going to assume that 'Cookies for sale' is most likely, extremely competitive. If you're local, you could add 'cookies for sale in Nashville', but based on the size of Nashville, this could also be extremely competitive. Optimizing your home page to rank for 'cookies for sale in Nashville' is a great start, but creating additional content that focuses on less competitive keywords could give you the competitive edge you're looking for. What about writing a blog post on 'best gluten free cookie recipes'. This could be a less competitive option to start generating some traffic. Not only that, but you could even include a link to your home page within the post along with a link to your gluten free chocolate chip cookies, if they'd rather just order them from you. (*Keep in mind, each page needs it's own focus keyword. Don't use the same focus keyword for multiple pages. If you optimize multiple pages for the same keyword, they will compete against each other in the search results.) When to Outsource If you enjoy strategy, SEO may be something you also start to enjoy doing yourself for your business! If strategy isn't your thing or any of this seems overwhelming, it may be something you want to hire out. I've always loved at least attempting to DIY something before I hire it out. This satisfies my curiosity and shows me if continuing to DIY is going to be a smart use of my time or not. As an entrepreneur, it's vitally important to recognize the value of our time. I love the quote "You're not paid by the hour, you're paid by the value you bring to the hour". If you can learn something, implement it, and add value to your business by spending time on it, go for it! If you're spending hours, weeks, or even months trying to learn something that you could hire out, it may be time to increase the marketing budget and hire someone.

As a small business owner, staying organized and prioritizing can feel like a challenge. The never ending mountain of to do lists, can make anyone want to throw in the towel some days, but not for long! Even as a fairly organized person there are days I’ve worked the entire day, but by the end of it, I’m not even sure what I got done. Sound familiar? It wasn’t until I found my favorite planner and learned some strategies for prioritization, that things finally changed. (Plus, this planner has a paper version and an online version you can use with an iPad too.) In this blog post, I’ll be sharing the secrets I’ve learned to prioritize, stay on task, and use a planner consistently. Here's what I’ll be covering: How to map out your goals How to stay organized and prioritize tasks The psychology behind decision making How to create a plan that works for you If you’re sick and tired of starting and ending each day feeling overwhelmed, then you’re in the right place! How to Map Out Your Goals Are you running your business or is your business running you? When I first launched my business in 2019, it definitely felt like my business was running me. Instead of starting the day intentionally, I’d respond to any unopened texts or emails first thing, then move on to my tasks. Just a side note, starting with texts and email can have you on a never end rabbit trail all morning or longer! By afternoon, I'd still have my entire day's list of things to do and feel behind all day. I got so fed up and disappointed with myself that I started researching different planners I could buy. I found one that had a section to set goals, then break those goals down by month, and then by week. This peaked my interest because I knew I needed a little direction. (Even if you know where you're headed, a planner with spots to break down the bigger dreams and goals into actionable monthly and weekly layouts really helps make things happen.) Before I bought one of their planners, I decided to downloaded their Passion Roadmap. (It's pictured above and included in every one of their planners) I love the way it starts. It says, “Set a timer for five minutes. Imagine that whatever you write on this piece of paper will come true within the designated time frame. Think of it as a wishlist describing your ideal life. Ask yourself, “If I could be anything, do anything, or have anything, what would it be?” Write every single thing down that comes to mind and be as specific as possible. Lastly, do not feel the need to be realistic or justify our dreams. Just write.” The rest of the page is broken down into 4 quadrants: 3 months, 1 year, 3 years, and Lifetime. I want to challenge you to grab a sheet of paper and try this out! If you’re serious about accomplishing these goals and you want a planner that has sections to break it down, check out The Passion Planner . Use code ABIGAIL651 for 10% off your order. How to Stay Organized + Prioritize Tasks Prioritizing is much more important than staying organized. You could reorganize your office space everyday, but that’s not going to help your business grow. One of the biggest things I prioritize is IPA’s. IPA stands for: Income Producing Activities. Having a clean and organized space to do your work is important, but if your office is going to take a while to clean out, find somewhere else to get your IPAs done first. Here's the system I use to prioritize each and every day. It's called the Kanban Method and it consists of 4 columns: Column 1: Master To Do’s (Get everything out of your head) Column 2: In Process (3 things you’re currently working on) Column 3: Waiting (things that can’t get done until someone sends you more details/info) and last but not least, Column 4: Finished (for all the things you’ve gotten done today) The key to this strategy is to only be working on 3 things at a time. I get a lot of new ideas while I'm working, but I put those in the master to do's list. This ensures I stay focused on those top 3 things, before jumping to something else. I usually put this on a clipboard , but on days where the ideas are overflowing I use a giant magnetic whiteboard ! The Psychology Behind Decision Making Have you ever gotten to a point in your day where you feel like you can’t make any more decisions? When I get started on my day early, by about 3/4pm it feels like my brain can't take anything else. It's even worse if I've been on my phone a lot! This is called decision fatigue. The human brain can only make a certain number of decisions each day until decision fatigue starts to set in. This is why why we can tend to feel mentally drained after a long day. Everyone’s number of decisions they can make daily varies, but on average they say the human brain can only make up to 35,000 decisions in a day. This seems like a high number, but think about it. You’ve probably ignored notifications while reading this, or taken a sip of coffee, or even taken a quick phone call and came back to continue reading – each and every one of those decisions counts towards the total number. One of the things Steve Jobs is known for, is wearing the same outfit every single day. He did this in order to reduce wasting one decision on such a small thing. Setting goals can feel like a one big giant decision, but when we give ourselves permission to take the time to do it, it makes everything else easier to prioritize. Goals are great for a direction, but once you have a goal it's important to break it down into steps. No one gets on an airplane without knowing its destination. Set your goals to set your direction, break the goal down into actionable steps, and stay focused on the tasks that get you closer to your goal. Here's a preview of how easy the Passion Planner makes it to break down your goals! There's a monthly layout section that includes space for your top personal and work priorities for the month. The weekly layout also has a space for your work and personal priorities for each week too. This is my 4th year using this planner, before I had this one I never used planners consistently! How to Create a Plan that Works for You Setting your goals makes prioritizing tasks so much simpler. Goals are great for setting a direction, but the smaller tasks that you'll have to complete to hit your goal, are just as important. What I love about the Passion Planner , is that it gives you the ability to turn your goals into a plan. The best way to use the planner is to set your goals, then input your monthly tasks, and weekly tasks. Using the Kanban Method daily along with the planner, makes for a much more focused and productive day! If you’re ready to ditch the overwhelm and get back to what truly matters, this planner will change the game. If you’re not a pen and paper gal, they even have digital planners. You can download them straight to your iPad and write tasks in with an Apple Pencil ! Whether you plan on paper or digitally, this incredible resource that can take you from overwhelmed to empowered! Don’t forget to use code ABIGAIL651 for 10% off your order. If you want to checkout the planner layout or see how other people use the planner, check out Passion Planner on Instagram . My planner doesn't always look as pretty as theirs, but as long as it's affective, that's all that matters to me. Related Posts: Creating a Peaceful Home Office Space The List Strategy to Getting More Done (Kanban Method) How to Start Even When You Don't Know How Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I may receive a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links.

Have you been spending countless hours trying to get your social platforms to grow, but you're not seeing results? I know this can be so frustrating, but I want to remind you, growing a following on social media doesn't mean you're growing your business. If your marketing isn't increasing your website traffic and new customers – it's time to take moment to reassess. I'm not saying to stop posting entirely, but take a moment to see how much of a return on investment you're actually getting. Most small business owners are in one of two places, myself included! Either you have extra time to learn and do it yourself or you have the funds to invest in your business and outsource the task to someone else. Today we're going to dive into, how focusing on specific areas can make a HUGE difference in your business, instead of trying to do everything at once with little to no results. Here are the answers I'm sharing in this post: What is SEO How SEO Increases Website Traffic Overtime Website Traffic from Social Media vs Google How to Make Data Driven Decisions What is SEO? What the heck is SEO and why should I even care? SEO doesn't only relate to websites anymore. It's been introduced on social platforms as well! SEO means Search Engine Optimization –The ability to optimize your website or social platform in a way that makes you 'searchable'. Understanding what your customers are searching for on the Web, Facebook, and Instagram allows you to implement those key search terms aka keywords, in specific areas – increasing the likelihood of someone finding you. It's not just about the keywords though – there are many more factors that come into play. How SEO Can Increase Website Traffic Overtime In February of 2023, I approached a client of mine about working together for a 3 month period in a few specific areas of her business. Since I started my business in 2019, my focus has been on websites, logos/branding, and social media. Slowly but surely, web design became my favorite of the three. I approached this client specifically, because we have worked so well together in the past! Not to mention, I'd set up some of her social channels, designed her logo and branding, and redesigned a website that wasn't working well for her. Since I'd developed all of that already, I had a great understanding of her business, her goals, her dreams, and most importantly her heart. I approached her with the idea of me helping in more specific areas of her business, she was THRILLED to say the least. All that to say, I've learned a whole heck of a lot in the last 10 months. One of my biggest focuses for this client has been SEO and creating systems. In this post I'm diving into the SEO side to show you how impactful, strategic tweaks can make over time! November 2022 Here is my client's website traffic from the month of November 2022. In 22' they were generating around 1,400 website visits from Google (this is without any Google Ads). November 2023 And here is November 2023. They are now generating around 6,000 website visits from Google (still not using Google Ads)! (Plus, we're not even finished with this month yet!) Feb 21, 2024 Updated Data: *Keep in mind all SEO projects will generate different results. This traffic was a result of 18+ months of in depth on-page SEO optimization. As well as a deep dive into foundational keyword research strategy and implementation. Website Traffic From Social Media vs Google Sometimes seeing someone else's success, when you're in a hard season, can feel like a swift kick in the pants, but I want to challenge you to look at this differently. Take note of a couple things. Do you see how my client's Instagram and Facebook website visits haven't really grown much at all, but Google has? She's gained thousands of followers over the last few years, but her website traffic from Instagram and Facebook have not increased much. When I noticed her website traffic on Google started increasing as we continuously made tweaks, I started to shift my focus. We used to focus a lot on social media. It felt like constantly reinventing the wheel just to figure out what would stick. This helped us build relationships with people following her. Some of which ended up converting to customers, but it never matched the success we were having with Google. Keep in mind, the marketing channels you choose to use for your business are completely up to you. The only reason I'm bringing this up is to remind you to take a step back, list out all the platforms you're pouring your time into. Are they giving you a great ROI? If not, it may be time to shift your focus to another area. How to Look Out for Scammers When someone talks about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) do you feel like a deer in headlights? If so, you're not alone. It's a complicated topic... heck, it's a complicated industry! The amount of scam email's I've personally received claiming they can "get me on the first page of Google!" or better yet claims that my website was built incorrectly, but "they are here to fix it and help my business grow!" The saddest part of all of this, in my opinion, is that they're preying on the lack of knowledge on the topic. If someone doesn't have knowledge in the area of SEO, they may hire someone who claims to know what they're doing and end up losing a lot of money with little to no results to show for it. This makes my blood boil. Scamming someone out of money because of their lack of knowledge is so wrong... but that's not what this is about. The purpose of this blog post is to share some of the basics when it comes to marketing, so that you feel empowered to implement some of this yourself! How to Make Data Driven Decisions I do understand there are programs that can track this information for you. I personally enjoy taking down this information every week manually, not only is it a great discipline it also allows me to see exactly where our weekly efforts are paying off, or NOT paying off! What Should I Start Tracking? Here are the columns to write down or set up in an excel doc. (I conduct this report weekly, so each number I track represents what's came in, in the last 7 days) -Date (what is today's date? *Do this on the same day each week) -Time (what time did you enter this info?) -Total # of Website Visits in the last 7 days -Direct (Traffic that came in by either you sending a link or them going to the website on their own) -Google -Instagram -Facebook -Pinterest, Linked In, Bing - any other platforms you're wanting to grow -Instagram Followers -Facebook Page Followers -# of Email Subscribers -# of New Leads -# of New Sales Entering this information on the same day and same time, every single week will start to show you what's working and what's not! If there's a spike in traffic, it will be easier to go back and see what created that spike – this also gives you new ideas to recreated that growth, again, in a new way! Before you implement anything new, just start tracking these metrics. December can be a very busy month, but imagine if you tracked this once per week. By January, you would be able to see some areas that need improvement. So instead of guessing what your new year marketing goals should be, you'll be making decisions based on your own metrics. There's nothing that excites me more than data driven decisions. I would LOVE to hear how this goes for you if you decide to try it! Imagine you didn't have to worry about posting on social media anymore to get new customers? What if all your traffic came from Google and Word of Mouth referrals? What would that feel like? or on the flip side Imagine if you've been generating traffic on Google, but you've never taken the time to really set up your social media. What if your social media could become a way to build community around your brand? It's all so very possible, it just takes consistency, time, and tweaks along the way or investing in the right person.

Most days you can find me at home in my office working on client projects, painting, or writing. It hasn’t always been this way though. I’ve worked remotely for over 6 years, I remember in the beginning I would sneak away to local coffee shops, conveniently avoiding my mess at home. I knew I needed to make a change, but I had no idea where to start. It's taken a lot of tweaking over the years, but I'm excited to share a behind the scenes look into my office and what has made it work so well. In this blog post I'm sharing a variety of items, to make it easier to navigate I've separated everything into sections. Either read from start to finish or click a topic that sparks your interest: Gear for the Tech Entrepreneur - my favorite desk, office chair, and tech gear. Organization & Productivity - tips for staying on task, organizing the back end of your business, tracking write offs, and the cutest office shelf. Must Have Office Supplies - planner, pens, notebooks, and highlighters. Peaceful & Inspiring - setting the mood, dream board, and other fun additions. Gear for the Tech Entrepreneur Working at a desk for long periods of time can surprisingly take a tole on your body. A couple years ago, I started to get terrible cramps in my pinky, from using the trackpad on my laptop for too long. After a while it made just moving that finger very difficult. I also started having a lot of neck pain from staring down at my laptop. A wellness coach that also specialized in chiropractic care, recommended I get a stand for my laptop that would raise it up to my eye level. This finally relieved the neck pain. I also decided to get a bluetooth mouse and this has since reversed the cramps in my finger. If you set your computer on a stand or even a shoebox, make sure you have a bluetooth keyboard so you don't strain your shoulders. In the early stages of my business, I had a terrible habit of sleeping in late. I've always loved podcasts, so I decided to get a little radio alarm clock that would wake me up to my favorite morning talk show. This has made waking up in the morning a lot easier. To join the early riser's club, I knew I had to start going to bed earlier. Some nights it's hard to shut my brain off though. To make this process more doable I purchased plugs for my lights that would connect through bluetooth and shut off at designated times. When the lights shut off at 10:45pm it reminds me to start shifting into my night time routine. Before I go to bed I like to listen to a podcast, wash my face, and let the dog out. Giving yourself time to wind down at night makes falling asleep much easier. Setting specific work hours has really helped me avoid burn out and surprisingly, increased my income. It feels tacky to talk about money, but this seems worth sharing. After setting specific hours and working those hours consistently, I'm making more and I'm working less, but the difference is that the time I spend working now is much more intentional and focused work. White Office Chair (one of my favs!) Upgrading my office chair was probably the most exciting purchase! Not only was it more comfortable, it has helped relieve my back/neck pain and made me want to stay at my desk ten times longer. I remember the night I got it. I called my boyfriend and said, "You've gotta come over and try out my new chair!!" He laughed, but when he sat in it, he realized why I was so excited. Just in case you're wondering where I got the desk from, it came from Wayfair. I'll link that here. (It comes in white, black, or a wood finish.) Organization and Productivity When it comes to staying on task, I'm the queen of jumping from new idea to new idea. There's nothing worse than chasing the excitement of new idea after new idea and ending the day feeling like nothing got done. I've never been diagnosed with ADHD or ADD, but I can always relate to stories I hear from people who do have it. My business coach taught me a strategy that always keeps me on task, it's called The Kanban Method. It was developed by Taiichi Ohno an Industrial Engineer and Businessman for Toyota Automotive, in Japan. I won't go into too much detail here, but if you want to learn about it read: The List Strategy to Getting More Done (Kanban Method). I created the print out below using Canva, I use this daily to help me stay on task. *Note: If you run your business mostly from your phone, you can track tasks very easily through the notes app. *Caption located in this post. Organizing the Back End of Your Business with Folders Staying on task is easier, if you're good at prioritizing. When there's a lot of different tasks it can be hard to keep up with. One way I've learned to stay organized, is to separate my business into sections using the airplane method. I learned this in Donald Miller's book, Business Made Simple. Thinking about your business like an airplane, makes something that might seem complicated, much simpler. I won't get into the strategy, but I would highly recommend this book. Understanding the fives parts of a healthy business, allows you to never experience a crash. In terms of using this to organize, I decided to set up folders for each section of my business. Instead of instantly jumping on a new idea, I write it down, put it in the designated folder and come back to it when I've scheduled time to work on that section of the business. I've also developed a system for tracking write offs as well. I don't do this on paper, but it can be done with a very basic skill level in excel. Although, I'm not a certified CPA, I have had 2 different CPA's look over the process and they said it passed with flying colors! Office Storage Shelf I needed a little more storage for folders, books, business cards, a printer, and things to mail. I searched and searched for a shelving unit that would work well in my small space. It took about 3 or 4 months to find one that was the right size and style. I would look on Amazon at different pieces, measure, and sketch out how I would utilize it. This one in particular, is just the right fit. I'll link it for you here or there's this one that's the same thing but cheaper. I'm not sure how long this one will stay on Amazon though. It also looks beautiful in the morning sunlight! Lately, I've been a little obsessed with the beauty in shadows and light poking through. The artist in me couldn't resist taking this picture. Must Have Office Supplies My Favorite Planner I always get asked what planner I use or if there's one that I recommend. Lately, I've been using my iCloud calendar on my phone, but when I sit down with my paper calendar it definitely feels much more inspiring. My favorite paper planner is called The Passion Planner. (Use code ABIGAIL984 for 10% your order!) They even have an online version you can open with your iPad and use your Apple Pencil to write in it. Next year, I may go that route just to see if I like it better, but I'm mainly a pen and paper gal. Pens There's nothing I love more than the pen and paper isle! If I was known for getting excited after purchasing something, it would have to be office supplies. The feeling of a new notebook and new pens always inspires me. It reminds me, if you can visualize it, you can do it. My best friend got me hooked on these Sharpie 0.7 Gel Pens. They glide across the page like butter. If we've ever been in a meeting together, chances are I've made you try it and given you one of mine. Highlighters The Stabilo Highlighters I use in my Passion Planner, have much cuter colors than the normal neon highlighters. Extras Notebooks, sticky notes, and clipboards can all be found at the dollar tree for much less than it costs anywhere else. Spend smarter! Making it Peaceful and Inspiring Creating a space that's organized and peaceful can really maximize your productivity. There's so many Spotify playlists you can find or you can create your own playlists. I have playlists I've created depending on the mood I'm in. Some days peaceful lo-fi tunes are my go to, other days I have Metallica turned up all that way. I love so many different styles of music as well as different styles of podcasts. (Always open to new Podcast suggestions!) Figure out what helps you stay focused, motivated, or inspired and play it on a bluetooth speaker while you work. You'll be surprised at how big of a difference 'setting the mood' really makes. This Bose Bluetooth speaker was a birthday gift from my sweet Mama almost 5 years ago and it's still my favorite gift I've ever received. I even take it in the bathroom and play music while I take a shower. It's lasted forever and can be turned up very loud! (Sorry, neighbors! lol) Last, but certainly not least, plants and candles! My apartment is full of plants and I love candles and incense. These along with a string of white lights can really make the room feel more comfortable and peaceful. Another addition to a great office space is inspiration. Have you ever created a dream board? It's where you put pictures for inspiration of all the things you hope to do, buy, and/or accomplish. I created my dream board using Canva and also wrote out some questions that help me start my day right. I use a magnetic white board and magnetic clips to display this in my office space. You may have noticed that gorgeous car as my background photo in the laptop pictures at the top of this post. That car is one I've dreamt of owning for years. Use your desktop or phone wallpaper as a place to drum up extra motivation. That's all for now! If you decide to tweak your office space and want to share pictures, I'd love to see them. Send them to me on Instagram or use the hashtag 'createandcollab' in your post. Cheers to creating a work space you can enjoy! Related Posts: 4 Secrets to Staying on Task and Setting Goals The List Strategy to Getting More Done Creating a Peaceful Bedroom You Never Want to Leave Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

I sat down with Certified Business Coach Sue Mohr for a Q&A session on finding your target audience. The word 'Target Audience' is a big buzz word right now, but what does it mean? Understanding who your target audience is, simply allows you to know who you're marketing to and where those marketing efforts should be best spent. This women is a BRAIN. Sue has been my business coach for the last 2 years and has helped me grow, scale, and manage my business. Once you get laser focused on who your target audience is, you will enjoy yourself more. It's not about being everywhere, it's about being in the RIGHT places, so that you attract the RIGHT people. Why should I care who my target audience is? "When you understand who your target market is, you'll know where and how to market to them. It's all part of the discovery process. Without this in place, you can flounder, leaving you wondering why your marketing isn't bringing in the customers or clients you really want." How do I know who my target audience is? "The very first thing to start with is finding out who they really are and where they hang out. Ask yourself, "What's in their pockets?" The core of your target audience will generally land within a 20 year span. For example, if your target audience is 40 to 60 years old, 10% of your audience will be 2-39, 10% will be 61-99, and 80% will be in that 20 year span of 40 - 60 years old. You want to market to the 80%. Start by asking yourself, "What's in their pockets?" If they're 40-60 yrs old they're most likely going to have car keys, house keys, a credit card, a cell phone, and they may even have pictures of their grandchildren. They may have the phone number of their investment company. These people still believe a bit that it's wise to have a bit of cash on you, so they may have a couple 20s in their pockets. They may have a coffee receipt, a gift card to a restaurant, maybe they even have dog treats in their pocket. Once you think about this, you'll really be able to brainstorm where they hang out. If you don't know who they are and where they hang out, you won't know where to market to them so they find you! "When I ask someone, "Who's your target audience?" and they say, "Oh Sue! 2-92!" this is when I know I can help this client laser-focus for success!" -Sue Mohr *Note: Other terms used to describe target audience are ICA (Ideal Customer Avatar), Target Market, Target Audience. What's the difference in your Ideal Customer Avatar and Target Audience? "Your Ideal Customer Avatar is someone you wake up in the morning and you can't wait to work with them! You like everything about them, whether it's how driven they are, how much they love to read, how much they love their pet, or how much they love to spend time learning. Narrow down what type of person you genuinely love working with. Once you know your target audience, how do you go about marketing to them? "People want to be seen and heard - so I love putting out blind research. Ask questions like, "What do you need?", "What have been your biggest barriers getting a website up and going?", "What's your biggest struggle marketing on social media?". Ask them what they need, listen to their answers and they'll tell you where to find them." Why should I work with a business coach? "I don't believe we were created to create alone. There's many projects you can DIY. Let's say you made a table and you loved that table. It was a little crooked on the side, but you did it yourself. Sometimes when you're trying to have forward movement and you do it yourself, you can do yourself in. You might be eating at that table and it's okay for you to sit and eat breakfast at it or watch the birds, but if you brought someone else in to help you build the table, make it sturdy, make sure it will support a crowd, that table will be a great place to hang. So, if you want to have a business and have forward movement, there are always barriers you can't see beyond. I'm a coach that has a coach. I believe in what I do and it would be silly if I built my business without one. A coach helps to move away the barriers and save you time, money, and save you frustration as you're breaking through from the inside out." "There are things we love to do and things that we don't like to do. Wisdom is hiring someone for the things we don't like to do. Knowing what your strengths are and focusing on those while hiring out people who have strengths you don't, creates a stronger team for you and your business." -Sue Mohr Sue has been a client of mine as well as a mentor. It's been a blessing getting to brainstorm, share my ideas, and then listen to her advice as to where I need to focus my efforts. She's helped me grow personally as well as in my business! I couldn't do it without her! If you're looking for some guidance in your business, I would highly recommend her! Click on this link to visit her website.

After listening to the Business Made Simple podcast and hearing a listener call in and ask this question, it got me thinking. Bringing in new business is great, but managing cashflow to keep the business running is much more important. After listening to their advice I took notes on what they recommended and sent the notes to two accountants as well as my financial advisor. All of them said this information is genius and it checks out, so naturally I had to share it with you! PLEASE KNOW: I am not a licensed cpa, tax attorney, or certified to give tax advice. This is not legal accounting advice. First, create these 5 accounts Account 1: Operating Expenses Account 2: Tax Account Account 3: Profit Account Account 4: Salary for the Owner Account 5: Investment Holding Account 1: Operating Expenses Your operating expenses account should hold at least 2-3 months of operating expenses. If you don't know how much money you need to keep your business running each month, start by breaking that down. Then multiple that number by 3 and that's the number to keep in this account! This account will serve as an emergency fund for your business as well as the place that all payments are made and received. Bonus: It can also work as a profit and loss statement. The threshold for this account should be 2-3 months of expenses. By checking the balance of this account you'll know where your business is at financially. Account 2: Tax Account Whenever you receive payment, 50% of that payment should go straight to your tax account. 50% sounds like a lot, but by putting 50% in this account, once you pay taxes you'll end up with some left over to save or put towards something else! If you're just getting started and 50% seems like too much, check to see what tax bracket you're in and only transfer the tax bracket percentage you're in. You can check to see what bracket you're in by visiting the IRS website. Here are the current brackets for 2021! Account 3: Profit Account This should end up having the highest amount of money, taxes will come close to this number, but at some point the tax account will drain, after taxes are paid. To get started building this account, start by transferring 1% of what's coming in and put it in this account. If you can put more than that percentage, do it! If not, start with 1%. Account 4: Salary for the Owner This is the personal checking account for the owner of the business. This does require you to choose a salary, so no matter how much the company is making, you're still taking the same amount each year. This teaches the owner to live off a certain percentage and actually allows the business to grow and have money for investments. Account 5: Investment Holding Once your profit account goes over 6 months of your operating expenses, take the overage and put it in your Investment Holding Account. The money in this account is specifically to be used for investment opportunities. A great goal for this account is to fund a SEP IRA each year. Self employed individuals can put up to $54k each year into this account. A great plan for retirement. If time is on your side, start by funding a Roth IRA each year, these accounts grow tax free! If time isn't on your side, the SEP IRA allows you to fund a lot more. *Note: If you're comfortable with having only 2-3 months of expenses saved you can skip creating the profit account and move on directly to filling your Investment Holding account. This strategy is genius because it allows your businesses income to actually create you more income, without requiring you to work more! I'd love to hear any thoughts or questions you have! PLEASE KNOW: I am not a licensed cpa, tax attorney, or certified to give tax advice. This is not legal accounting advice. How to Grow Your Small Business A 6-Step Plan to Help Your Business Take Off This book (How to Grow Your Small Business) has been an absolute game changer when it comes to managing and scaling my business. The entire financial structure is laid out in it along with so many other helpful steps too! Updated 9/15/2022: Business Made Simple, posted these graphics on their Instagram account and I loved how simple they explained it! Enjoy!

As a business owner we juggle so many hats. It can be hard to draw the line between who we are and who the business is. When I first started my business in 2019, I used my personal Instagram as a way to share projects I was working on, as well as what my life looked like behind the scenes. This helped people get to know me better and I gained a lot of clients this way. This worked really well, until it didn’t. In this blog post, I’m sharing 5 benefits to having a separate Instagram for your business How it helped me create a better work life balance How to use your content to speak directly to your audience How to create posts that spark new connections How to turn followers into paying customers How to sell without making it feel icky What Happened When I Made The Shift After a year or so, I honestly got so sick and tired of constantly being present online. The pressure to post my projects and updates on my life started to get overwhelming. I knew I needed to shift and start an Instagram for my business so I could start to create some sort of balance. I went back and forth for months because I’d already started my business and starting a new Instagram from scratch felt like so much pressure. Thoughts like, “What if they don’t take me seriously because I don’t have a lot of followers?” then I would think, “Well, I don’t think that way when I connect with someone new on Instagram.” To be honest, no one is going to look at your Instagram and judge you for the lack of followers you have. I PROMISE. If they are, they don’t truly understand the right metrics to look at. There are plenty of ways to get fake followers, but all this does is make your account appear stronger, when in actuality, it’s not. I’ll spare you from my fake follower rant ;). A new account grows, one follower at a time. The only way to see real growth is by sharing content that relates to someone, adds value, or entertains them in some way. 1. How it helped me create a better work life balance When I started an Instagram for my business something shifted in my mind. Questions started to arise like, “Who am I outside of my work?” “What do I post on my personal Instagram, if I’m not trying to use it for business?” This whole process actually helped me create more work life balance. This shift created a clear line between me and the brand. It’s still somewhat of a fine line, but now I could actually see it! 2. How to use your content to speak directly to your audience Having a business account allows you to focus more heavily on the type of people you’re wanting to attract. Understanding who your target audience is really makes this come alive. Having a business account has given me so much more creative freedom that I didn’t have when I used my personal account. The majority of the people I work with share with me that they consider themselves not creative or not tech savvy, or both. Understanding who your target audience is allows you to create content specifically geared towards them. I’ve started integrating simple tech savvy tips that specifically relate to things I know my target audience is struggling with. Since adding these how to's, I've had clients and friends reach out sharing how helpful they've been! This is a great way to build trust and be a blessing in the process! 3. How to creating posts that spark new connections Understanding the struggles that your target audience is facing helps you create content that relates to them directly. Lately, I’ve gotten so many fun messages from people thanking me for sharing these tips! Those messages have been from new people I’ve never met as well as current and past clients. The purpose isn’t to convert every follower into a client or customer. The purpose is to add value no matter what. This is what begins to build your brand’s personality. When your brand is seen as a company that cares and wants to help people no matter if they’re a paying customer or not, helps people trust and appreciate your brand so much more. 4. How to turn followers into paying customers There’s a simple process all of us go through before we open our wallets. First we get curious. We see a product or service and think, “hmm this looks interesting”. Something about it sparks our curiosity. This is phase 1. Phase 2 is called the enlightenment phase. This is when our curiosity shifts and we realize how that product, service, or person could actually help our life or business become better! The majority of posts should speak to those first 2 phases. When someone moves into the enlightenment phase, it’s just a matter of time before they buy. Phase 3 is when they’re ready to commit. The timeframe it takes someone to go through all 3 really depends on them and the urgency they have to solve their problem. If they’ve been following you for a while, they know they can access your website in your bio. Once they click your website link, it needs to be very clear what the next step is. This means your call to action needs to be strong and visible before they start scrolling. Request a Quote, Buy Now, Call Now, Request an Estimate, these are all great examples of simple call to actions that convert. 5. The real reason sales feels icky I’m not going to lie, sales still feels icky to me. There’s a stigma behind it no matter if you’re on the selling end or the buying end. No one wants to be talked into something they don’t want to do. Have you ever walked into a mall and been approached by someone at a kiosk full of products? Just typing this, makes my skin crawl. It’s so cringy when someone tries to sell you something that you haven’t even shown an interest in. The cringy feeling happens because they’re wanting a commitment before you’ve even shown interest. This would be like going on a date with the perfect guy and he proposes to you on the first date. It doesn’t matter how perfect and wonderful he is, you’d say no because that’s crazy! Sales is just like relationships. If you ask for the sale too soon, they’ll run away! If you only post content that asks them to make the commitment, all you’ll hear is crickets. In conclusion, it's totally up to you if you want to use your personal account or create a seperate account. I don't truly think there's a right or wrong to this. The beauty of owning a business is you get to decide what's right for you! No matter which you choose, I pray this helps you make the right decision for YOU! Related Posts How to Create Content that Builds Brand Recognition Instagram Etiquette: How to Network Online How to Find Your Target Audience

Episode 11 - Small Business Podcast Setting goals is easy, keeping them can be difficult! Sue and I decided to record an entire episode dedicated to tips and tools for setting and keeping your goals! Join us in this episode as we help you start your new chapter, effectively! (2:20) Question from the Audience Today's question is, Help! I set goals but I can't keep them! What do I do? First, if you're feeling this, know that you're not alone. Sue and I dive right into how to break your goal down to make it easier to accomplish! (4:16) Hacks, Tips, Tricks, and Gadgets Today's tip will help you in the process of setting your goal! (6:28) How to Make Your Business Better The bulk of this episode is all about the cold hard reality about setting goals. The feelings of failure, the feelings of success, and how to really get serious, realistic, and simple about your goals! We can't wait to hear how this episode helps you ROCK your 2023! (31:37) Resource Today's resource is so special to us!!! Sue has been working on something for YEARS and it just now came out, take a listen to find out about this special resource! :)

Episode 10 - Small Business Podcast Marketing is essential, but it doesn’t all have to be online. Join Sue and Abigail as they guide you to some grass roots plans for your next marketing journey. Remember, helping your clients find you is vital to the growth of your business. (1:36) Question from the Audience Today's question is, What's the difference between marketing and sales? We dive into the details of this answer, but in short remember marketing brings leads in and sales closes the deal. (7:57) Hacks, Tips, Tricks, and Gadgets Our tip for the day is a strategy from our friend Mark Rozenboom. He is a realtor in our town and has a genius offline marketing idea that draws people in without him even saying a word! Tune in to hear his idea! (10:45) How to Make Your Business Better There is a lot of information out there about marketing online, but we realized there isn't as much information about offline marketing. In this episode we share lots of ways you can market yourself, without the need to be online. (25:27) Resource In every episode we love sharing a resource that’s helped us in our life or business. Today’s resource is a way to share your business card virtually, it’s called Blinq! You can share it via QR code, text message, air drop, and more! It does require you to be online to download the app, but once you’ve got it, you can share it without the need to be online!

Episode 9 - Small Business Podcast Starting a business has more to do than just producing a product or a service. There are questions that need to be answered before you even draw that logo. Join Sue, (the coach) and Abigail (the web designer) as they discuss 4 key elements to starting a business. Subscribe for answers and discoveries about all things business, all things web, and lots of things life. *episode produced by Keith Mohr (2:43) Question from the Audience Today's question is, How much does it cost to start a business? Sue shares what the start up cost looks like for different types of businesses according to The US Small Business Administration. (7:50) Hacks, Tips, Tricks, and Gadgets If you know you'll need contracts/agreements for your business, today's tip is Rocket Lawyer. This website offers different templates for agreements that you can use, as well as an on call attorney that you can reach out to for help! (10:15) How to Make Your Business Better So many people ask both of us how we started our business. We talk about our backgrounds and dive into some of the specific aspects to getting your business off the ground! (47:56) Featured on Today's Episode Charlene Jones owns Serendipity Studios. She makes window treatments for home owners and interior designers. You can reach her at 615-445-5230 or email at serendipity.sews@gmail.com (48:37) Resource Today's resource is my all time favorite book. It's called Contagious, Why Things Catch On. It's all about the psychology behind marketing and why certain ideas and businesses catch on. If you're looking for new ways to grow your business, I would highly recommend this book!