Things I did in my business that I didn't want to do
As I write this RMD is racing into her 4th year of trade and it has been nearly 2 years since I bit the bullet and quit my job to take on this journey full time. As you can imagine I’m in a pretty reflective mood. I’m boobs deep in another rebrand and this one hits differently. It’s the first time I am doing this without a mentor or a coach to guide me. And the first time I don't feel like I need one. This rebrand and repositioning of my business will be solely based on my own intuition, me leaning on the near 20 years of experience I have working in the digital realm and with small businesses and a culmination of the hard hitting lessons I have learned over the past 3 years. Now the lessons I have learned can be covered in another blog (which I will write if my spirit guides me to do so). This one is going to cover the biggest lesson.
Only doing the things I wholeheartedly want to do!
As business owners, we can often be distracted by all the shiny shiny things. And there is a deluge of experts all peddling the “best ways'' to do this and that. And when you first start out it’s so tempting to take a bite even if you’re not fully sure what’s being sold. I’ve lost count of the courses, masterclasses and templates I’ve bought that are still catching dust in my Google Drive. I have even followed through on advice that my whole heart didn't want to do. Some of it worked, most of it didn't. So I want to talk to you about all the things I did in my business that I didn't want to do and how learning to trust my gut helped me create a business that I now love deeply.
Created a facebook group
We all know that audience building is an essential part of building your business and in reality building out your email list is a must have especially if you are a B2B service. But everywhere I looked I was being told that I needed to have a Facebook group. That I should go in and nurture the audience in there with cheesy memes and the odd nugget that will help them to boost their business. So I did it. I created a lead generator with free Facebook group support. People joined and I didnt want to speak to them 🤣.
I hated the group! I loved the people, I just hated feeling like I had to show up all “peak me” every day. I hated feeling like I had to share memes and prompts for info I really wasn't that interested in. You know the type “insert crappy sentence then use the middle auto complete text“ 🤮
Now I'm not shitting on those of you that do this but I didn't want to. This isn't how I wanted to build my audience so I didn't put the effort required to have the group creating well oiled leads for me. My FB group was a fail so I let it die. I’m pretty sure it's still out there floating around all decomposing in the Metaverse. I really must get around to closing it down.
Going live on my socials
Yeeeeaaaaah! I kinda hate this. Again this was one of the “must haves” for audience building and at one point it was urged by a mentor I had that I should be doing this at least 3 times a week. I mean I’m a talker but WTF was I supposed to say? I did it and I hated it! It didn't work. I dont go live on my socials very often and if I do it’s because I feel I have summat to say that I think it's worth listening to. For me I need to feel the urge rather than feeling obligated. If I feel the urge the message is well received and I’m happy with the analytics and more importantly my audience engages with me. When I did the whole routine thing my energy was off, my messaging wasn’t clear and people didn’t join. FAIL!
I don't mind doing the odd live but if and when they are done it’s on my terms. I’m kinda feeling the urge brewing but who knows eh!
Posting on my social media daily!
This is some bullllshiiiit! And the messaging is everywhere. I’ll be honest, one of the reasons I steered clear of TikTok for so long was because the “gurus” were all shouting about posting 3 times a day to build your following. I was hearing the same shiz in insta. Post a reel every day and go on your stories and post a carousel. At what point am I supposed to actually run my business? I tried it and it nearly burned me out. As with going live my messaging was diluted and sketchy, my reach went up but my engagement didn’t. I’m not fussed about the whole going viral thing. I'd much rather people get value from my messaging and get used to my weird quirkiness than feel bombarded by stuff I didn't give a shit about. Now I post about the things I care about and the stuff my audience needs to know. I don't have a huge following but I have a lovely community of like minded followers who actually quite like what I have to say when I feel like saying it.
Niching down!
This one took me ages to get but the whole idea of niching when you’re a multi talented nerd did not sit right with me. One of the first things I did when I decided I was going to do this brand and web design lark was to join a mastermind for web designers. The first thing I was told was “you need to choose a platform to design in and stick to it. Your audience will be confused other wise”. So I followed the advice I stuck to Squarespace cus I love it. But I was also blocking the folk who had websites in WIx and Wordpress. I can design in pretty much anything, years of working with bespoke content management systems made sure of that. And I love it. I was blocking my own blessings by sticking to one lane, when my lane was being multi talented and multifaceted. The minute I decided to show my genius and make that my niche I settled into just being me. The freaky web genius who can just build the thing and strategise like a mofo. And that's what my clients come to me for. Mostly they don't care where I build their website, they just want to know it will do what they need it so do and with ease.
Giving away too much
I’m a giver, if someone asks me a question I’ll give them an answer. If they need some of my time and I have it to give they will get it. Why? Because I really want folk to win. I want people to have all the information they need for their business to succeed. So I do give away a lot of my knowledge for free. My lead generators are meaty AF and I’ve constantly been told I need to pare them back or charge for them. I don't wanna and I’m not gonna. I give details in my socials cuz I’m a nerd and I love talking about that shit… and folk need to know it. I tried the gatekeeping thing. It felt icky and folk didn't but because my energy was off. I didn’t want to sell, I wanted to give. And now I do, and when I have something to sell the right people buy it 😍
In the world we now live in we are surrounded by gurus and coaches and people selling the ultimate formula to hit the 7 figure target you’ve been dreaming of. In the main their formula isn’t going to work for you unless your whole heart is in every single step. Taking time out to trust my intuition and follow my spirit has helped me to craft a business I love that is hella profitable. On top of that I get to see my babies way more than I ever would have if I had grafted away at building something I have no passion for.
Is your website in need of a fresh new identity? This is kinda my superpower, so let me take the reins. Book a free connection call today and let's start building your magnetic business together!
