branding instagram productivity work-life balance squarespace all posts
I am so excited to launch my new social media planner for Instagram. I’ve been working on it for quite some time. I wanted a straightforward tool that would . . .
help with staying on track with Instagram goals
take the guesswork out of posting
make connections that help build a profitable account
grow an audience without frustration
create a clear step-by-step routine with daily actions
save hours and hours each week
Enter the planner!
Read MoreIf I could only give you one tip for growing your business, it would be to show up consistently. Throughout the years of entrepreneurship, I have been convinced more and more that one of the top keys to growth is to simply show up for your audience each day.
Consistency gives you a steady stream of value to share, it demonstrates your expertise, and it shows that you truly care about your followers, thus building a trustworthy brand.
It sounds simple enough, but it isn’t always easy to show up every day. In fact, it’s quite difficult at times. And with all of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into running an online business, it can be easy to prioritize the front-end of your brand—especially for those of us who are on the introverted side of things. (Can anyone else relate?)
However, the audiences have voted, and it’s confirmed that you can’t grow a business without showing up consistently.
So today, I’ve narrowed down 3 easy ways to revolutionize your consistency. These simple things will help you get rid of the road blocks and keep you ahead of the game so you can show up each day and build a loyal and engaged audience.
Read MoreDuring the hiatus I took this spring, I spent some time brainstorming new content ideas for the rest of the year.
And today, I’m excited to introduce the latest resource to Ponder Trail: videos!
I wanted to try switching up the format for how I give tips for creative business and brand strategy, and what better way to share it that with video?
I will be uploading to the blog and my YouTube channel twice a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays. Each time I upload a video, I will add it as a new blog post with all of the info mentioned in the video.
Since I love talking about productivity and working from home, I figured it would be the perfect video to start with. I hope you enjoy!
Read MoreThe ultimate goal of productivity is to get rid of busyness and replace it with efficiency, effectiveness, and progress.
As creative business owners, hustling often works its way into our lifestyle. We have so many ideas and things to do. But sometimes that mentality pulls in too many things that aren’t actually helpful or productive in the long run. On the outside, it can look like we’re getting lots done, while in reality, we’re running around in circles.
Don’t simply add to your hustle for the sake of feeling busy. Instead, you want to see progress from the time you put into your business, and you want your time to have a big impact. True productivity looks like speeding along the process of reaching your goals or helping you stay on track.
Here’s how:
Read MoreWhile many creative entrepreneurs have already been working from home, in recent months, people around the globe have faced strict social restrictions and isolation orders. This has taken away the much-needed work days at coffee shops that entrepreneurs often rely on to stay productive and to get out of the house throughout the week.
With productivity in jeopardy from being stuck at home for months on end, it's easy to slow down, get behind, or take days off unintentionally—simply because your drive to work has dwindled. But when starting, running, or scaling your own business, it's critical to keep working and getting things done.
So what is an entrepreneur to do when their livelihood is tottering at the top of a mountain along with their close-to-plummeting motivation?
You've got to push through and boost your productivity so you can get tasks done!
So here are 11 of my favorite work-from-home essentials to stay motivated and get back into the groove.
Read MoreWhen you run your own business, it’s easy to leave your day open and unstructured because you can, right? But it’s also easy for that openness to become filled with nothingness.
And that’s where a schedule comes in to save the day. Structure is a key part in a productive day, and I’m here to share one of my favorite methods of organizing my time as a creative business owner.
It’s called time blocking, and it is why I’m sitting here today writing this blog post to help you on your entrepreneurial journey. Because without this system, my productivity would have flatlined a long time ago.
If you’re hoping to schedule your workweek and start being productive, this post is for you! (Plus, I’ve included a copy of my free goal-planning workbook, complete with a few pages dedicated to helping you schedule your week.)
Read MoreImagine gaining back hours each month without delegating, cutting back, or automating your tasks. It’s like free time that’s yours for the taking.
This not-so-secret weapon is a strategy that all creative entrepreneurs have at their disposal, and it’s called batching.
It’s the king of task management, yet this effective trick is so simple you can master it in 3 easy steps. If you try it out, I guarantee you’ll benefit from this approach to getting things done.
Learn how in today’s post, and start saving time so you can focus on the projects you’ve been wanting to work on.
Read MoreWorking from home is a huge blessing that comes with having my own business. And while most of the time it’s amazing, it does pose its own challenges.
Common struggles among creative entrepreneurs living the work-from-home life often include managing time, limiting distractions, and avoiding the dreaded cooped up feeling.
Over the course of five years of working primarily from home, I’ve tried countless methods to overcome these hangups—and boy did they plague me when I was first starting out.
After all of the trial-and-error, I’ve honed in on the top strategies that made running an online business from home a magical experience.
So here are 11 simple practices I follow to help me stay productive each day.
Read MoreSetting and reaching a goal consists of 3 main stages:
the part that depends on your time, resources, and tools
the part that relies on your know-how and abilities
the part that counts on you doing the work
These areas each create their own hurdles around achieving goals. Over the years, I’ve struggled with all three of the hang-ups above, and today I’m sharing my best insights on how to overcome them.
With goals, we either tend to overaim with excitement or under-aim with overwhelm. Both often result in feeling stuck. But instead, we need to find the right balance to bust through roadblocks like these.
Good news is, goals are infinitely easier to set and achieve with you are equipped with the right tools in your pocket.
If you are struggling to start or grow your creative business, don’t extinguish your dreams before you have a good run! Give it your best shot with the tips in today’s blog post.
Read MoreAre you making headway on your goals? Are you staying on track? Or do you often find yourself missing the mark and rewriting the same goals at the top of next month’s planner pages . . . again?
In my last post, I talked about the simple missing link to reaching goals, and I explained why many goals always seem to get away from us or feel out of reach.
Today, I’m showing you how to apply that secret so you can finally break the cycle of pushing your goals into the future.
If you tend to rewrite the same to-do list week after week, these 4 simple steps will help you understand and overcome the common struggle that many creative entrepreneurs face: how to actually reach goals.
Read MoreGoals.
We set them. We plan them. We reach them, too.
Or at least, we hope we do.
Some goals propel our business forward and help us reach new grounds, while others are critical for simply keeping our business above the water.
There’s something thrilling about reaching a goal—especially after working hard for it day after day. The feeling you get when you finally check one off of your list creates a strong sense of accomplishment and a surge of motivation.
But it can be quite discouraging when you find yourself transferring the same unmet goal over to next month’s planner pages, time and time again, to no avail.
“Maybe next month will be different. Maybe I’ll finally check that one off,” we hope, once again.
But when we are stuck in a cycle and struggle to reach our goals, it’s time to try a different approach.
Last January, while thinking deeply on this subject, I had an epiphany. I figured out the secret to reaching goals—or at least the key I had been missing for years.
I realized there were actually two distinct types of goals, and I was completely missing the mindset behind one of them.
It completely transformed the way I think of goals, how I set them, and how I map them out as a creative entrepreneur.
This blog post sheds light on that secret, and I can’t wait to share it with you!
Read MoreWhile your logo is one of many brand elements that make up the visuals of your brand, it has the notable ability to give people the gist of your business.
With just one mark, you have the opportunity to showcase facets of your company that go deeper than just your business name. This is a very powerful assignment.
A compelling logo grabs your audience’s attention, draws them in, and makes it easier for people to remember your brand.
It’s your business’s signature. Your X on the dotted line. And a logo designed with great intention and strategy reflects the care you give to each of your customers and clients.
While this is an area of your brand that can be creative, there are a few helpful guidelines to follow when it comes to an effective and quintessential logo.
Read MoreWhat do you love most about a good workspace? For many creative entrepreneurs, it’s natural light, a clutter-free feel, a lack of distractions, and cozy, comfy vibes. These all work together to create an inspirational space that allows us to work productively on our businesses.
Whether you have an entire office at your disposal or a tiny corner in your living room, today I’m sharing 10 simple steps for creating an enjoyable workspace—no matter your setup.
If you want your work zone to feel like a productive retreat you get to return to each day, let this blog post be your guide.
Read MoreIn 2019 and beyond, every creative business can benefit from a website, and most already have one set up. However, there are many things that can make a site subpar.
You don’t want your website to be one of the many that fall prey to these rookie mistakes.
Even the smallest error can result in the largest loss—such as deterring potential clients or customers because of a site’s faux pas that’s easily fixed.
I’ve rounded up the most common website errors I’ve spotted in 2019 right here in this post. Give your business an advantage by avoiding these top 11 mishaps.
Read MoreYou’ve seen it before: an amazing brand design that is perfect in every way.
From the logo, to the color scheme, to how well the concept fits the business’s theme, a stunning brand like this can have you spending hours eyeing everything their shop has to offer.
This is much more powerful than a brand that lacks this alluring feel.
Why is this the case? A well-designed brand creates an entire experience around a business. So it’s no longer just a product or a service or a blog and is instead transformed into a captivating aura that draws people in.
Instantly, items in the shop become a little shinier and more special. Services become more desirable and engaging. Therefore, a well-designed brand increases the entire value of a business and makes its audience more eager to invest money into whatever the brand is offering.
This can be your business, too!
Many careful decisions go into developing successful branding; it’s the result of a design strategy and process that hits all the marks. Much brainstorming and planning is required to elevate your brand in this way, as well as techniques and know-how.
In short, with a brand like this, there’s more than meets the eye.
But I’m spilling some designer secrets today to help you make sure your brand creates an irresistible experience that draws in customers and clients.
Read MoreMy love for graphic design and creative entrepreneurship is what led me to venture out and start Ponder Trail. I wanted to offer branding for small businesses and be a valuable resource, too.
While I have a page dedicated to my design service, I haven't yet spelled out the process on my blog.
So today, I’m sharing the details of my brand and website design package.
There are several features that make it a little different, and this post walks you through the process and highlights some of the elements that make it unique.
I hope you enjoy this in-depth look at what it’s like to work with me to transform the visual brand identity of your business.
Read Morevideo + blog post
In my last Ponderstream Episode, I shared my step-by-step process for how I reach my goals. My process includes creating goals, breaking them down into daily actions, and monitoring your progress along the way.
Over the past year, I’ve focused on creating an effective and streamlined goal-planning system that saves time. Setting goals can be an easy place to get hung up on, so I wanted to outline a specific method that I could follow over and over again.
My goal was to be able to incorporate a step-by-step planning system into my routine to eliminate the pitfall of wondering where to start each day or what to work on next.
After over a year of experimenting and refining, I’ve ended up with a simple goal-planning process and created a workbook to go along with it. It’s made such a difference with reaching my goals, so I was excited to share it with you all last week in my livestream.
Essentially, my method for reaching goals is breaking them down all the way into simple to-do tasks that are assigned to each day. This creates a step-by-step plan for staying on track so you can monitor your progress and actually complete the tasks necessary to accomplish your goals.
There are 4 main sections: prepwork and laying the foundation, setting goals, planning them out, and following through. Join me as I walk you through the entire process in detail.
Missed joining this one live? Register for next week’s Ponderstream webinar here.
Read Morevideo + blog post
There’s so much noise online about what you need to do before you launch a business, but today I’m taking the stand and saying there’s a Top 2.
In fact, if I had known and followed them before I ventured out and launched my first business (a handmade knitwear company), these two strategies alone would have saved me from running around in time-wasting circles, and my business would have taken off much faster.
One of them is a fundamental, yet often unnoted step to ensuring your business doesn't dwindle away from you and fail due to a simple overlook.
The other is a new, growing need I’ve noticed in recent months and is a byproduct of the modern online business era. But I’m not sure how a business can survive in 2019 and onward without implementing this strategy.
While extremely effective, the are both simple methods to follow and only require a bit of creative brainstorming time with you, paper, and a pen.
So here’s what I would say if I could tell every creative entrepreneur only 2 things I wish I did when starting and growing a business . . .
Missed joining this one live? Register for next week’s Ponderstream webinar here.
Read More
