business posts
You put a lot of time into creating social media content. But with the constant changes to Instagram and the chronic algorithm shifts, Instagram growth and engagement can be a rocky road.
And for small businesses who rely on Instagram to reach their audience and make money, it can be detrimental to your income.
There’s no telling what Instagram will toss our way next, so we need to be prepared for anything.
If you’re wondering what is the best way to ensure your business doesn’t get forgotten, it’s simple:
Prioritize growing and nurturing your email subscriber list alongside Instagram.
It can take as little as 30 minutes a week to implement this incredible business strategy, so you really have nothing to lose but everything to gain.
If you’re just starting out with your newsletter list, or if you already have a steady stream of subscribers, this blog post will show you exactly how to start gaining significant traction with your email marketing list today.
This way, you’ll always be able to reach your followers—whether Instagram decides to show your content or not.
Just like life, businesses go through different seasons. Some months are jam-packed. Some have a slower pace. Some are exciting. Some are a little less interesting.
But it’s often overlooked that we actually have so much control over this.
I’ve switched some things up inside my business over the last several months to keep it fresh and to help serve me and my clients better. Plus, these changes play into my long-term goals even more.
I thought it would be fun to share this inside look on the blog, so today I’m diving into 5 strategic areas I’m prioritizing in my business this season.
I hope these ideas offer you inspiration if you’re looking to give your small business a backstage spruce too.
A few key changes can really amp up your productivity and build more strategy into how you run things as an entrepreneur. Let me show you around…
Over the last several years, I’ve had clients come to me with business strategy questions despite them being enrolled a coaching program.
What tasks should I work on? Where should my focus be? What’s the fastest way to grow an audience? How do I create a marketing plan that works? How do I follow these ideas in a way that sets my brand apart? I have a limited amount of time each week, what strategies are most important for my goals? I’m posting consistently to my social media, but I’m still not getting any traction; what am I missing?
Clearly, something was missing in the instruction they were getting.
While they were getting standard business advice, creative entrepreneurs were often left wondering how to tie it into their own unique business and how to keep their brand consistent.
So I designed my coaching program to help small business owners take their businesses places without all the guesswork. Instead of vague business coaching, I decided to offer something vastly more helpful: one-on-one custom-tailored brand strategy coaching.
I created this service to help creative entrepreneurs work through the hurdles of running a business. There are so many ways to get stuck along the way, and it can feel like a lonely journey at times with new questions rising daily. Let’s take a look.
I find the most difficult part of being a creative entrepreneur is managing the constant flow of new ideas. Everyday, I think of more and more possibilities and directions to explore for my business, and it can be quite a task to manage, analyze, and sort through them all.
The largest stream of ideas is usually for my blog content. There are so many things I want to share on my blog, but it often seems impossible to check each one off my never-ending list. Which posts should I write first? Which ones will be most strategic for my business? Which posts will be most helpful for my audience?
With a huge number of tentative posts, topics, and tips to create, it can be a bit overwhelming to figure out which blogs to write—especially while juggling other areas of business, such as client work, social media marketing, newsletter content, product development, and so on.
It takes a lot of time and energy to think through every blog post possibility, decide which ones to write each month, and map out titles into an editorial calendar.
In a panic, it can be easy select and write posts on a whim because we know creating content is key to growing a successful business. Gotta stay consistent. Gotta show up. Gotta build that SEO.
But this frantic approach leads to “idea clutter,” and it can quickly cause your business to crash and burn. Your posts are all over the place. They’re hard to write. They don’t grow your readership. They feel like a complete and utter waste.
And yet, you keep on blogging because you’re still hoping to strike gold one day.
But take a deep breath because today I have a simple solution to make blogging easy again. In this post, I’m going to show you how to cut the clutter, get to the point, and create blog posts that convert.
It’s time to whip your blog into shape so it can become a powerhouse for your business—instead of a burden.
Let’s begin!
Going into the new year, I had a refreshed perspective about planning.
Because in 2020, I let some of my goals go without stressing about it. I took some time off to enjoy several other creative hobbies I hadn’t done in a while.
After a few months of making polymer clay earrings, doing home decor projects, and working on my fiber arts brand, I dove back into my Ponder Trail business tasks. But this time, with a different mindset.
It was still 2020, after all, so I decided to just take it day by day without planning or setting too many goals.
But what happened surprised me: I ended up checking off more things on my to-do and projects list than I had expected. My productivity somehow increased, and I achieved several goals earlier than I’d originally intended.
I launched my first few digital products for Ponder Trail, officially opening the entrepreneur resource shop that’s been on my list for a while now. I brought on new clients. Blogging became easier than ever. And all without following a rigid schedule or routine. It kind of blew my mind.
After some reflecting, I realized what had changed: I spent less time over-thinking, balancing all the things, and maintaining the status quo. And instead, I spent more time doing high-impact tasks, focusing on only 1-3 goals at once, and prioritizing project-creation.
I had much more clarity, and my productivity increased drastically once all of the extra things were off my plate and weren’t competing for my attention.
So going into January this year, I knew I wanted to restructure the way I tackle tasks, using my 2020 findings as a jumping-off point.
The main hang-ups that linger in the background of managing business to-do’s are typically (1) not feeling prepared enough (hence not taking action), and (2) feeling torn in too many directions (hence not being able to stay focused).
I knew plans and strategy were still they key to getting things done, but I wanted to simplify things and be more efficient.
I needed to find a way to still work towards my desired goals while also have less to manage at a time—and fast: I had no plan, and it was already one week into January, and my first launch for the year was fast approaching.
And then, I had an idea . . .
Last month, I published a post all about Squarespace’s new, long-awaited feature that allows you to create a built-in membership area on your website. It’s called Member Areas, and in my recent blog post, I mentioned how I was using it to build and house the latest addition to Ponder Trail: Treehouse: a brand strategy subscription.
I wanted to create a service that was chalk-full of content and value each month. I structured it to include written and video components to provide education and support, while also including downloads such as graphics, photos, and templates that creative entrepreneurs could use as helpful tools for their businesses.
Rather than being a simple library or gallery of downloads, my new membership area is made up of actionable weekly lessons, with an all-new topic each month. My goal was to create a format that feels part-course and part-service, all while having a self-paced approach for each 30-day span.
I also included a live webinar component so I can answer members’ questions directly and help them work through each step of our current topic.
If you’re looking to create a membership website using Squarespace, this is the post for you. Because today, I’m going to walk you through my exact step-by-step process for how I created my new members-only area on my site.
I’m unpacking my entire method, and I wanted to make it easy for you to work through, so I’ve decided to break it down into a 4-part series.
Today’s step is focused on the planning phase where I’m sharing my strategy and approach for how I came up with my subscription service idea.
In this post, I’m sharing how I created a plan for my signature membership, how I mapped out the details, and how I determined what it would include.
Here’s what I did:
When overwhelm starts to show it’s ugly head, it’s time to take action and stop it in its tracks.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, it might be a sign that something isn’t quite right.
Sometimes it can be out of our control, but often times, it’s tied to how we are approaching our business and managing things. If you’ve been spinning your wheels or find yourself stuck in a cycle of trying-and-failing, it’s time to take control.
Overwhelm can quickly lead to burnout if it hasn’t already.
But not to worry, I have your back with some tried-and-true strategies.
Try these tricks to put overwhelm at bay.
Over the past few years, I’ve discovered the value of adopting a laser-focused mindset. It creates clarity and an open runway to brainstorm and bring your ideas to life. It gives you space to think strategically, create a plan, and stay on track. It cultivates productivity, action, and progress like nothing else.
Once I switched my approach and dedicated my attention to one part of my strategy, I started saving time, seeing more progress, and finally getting in the groove. And I haven’t looked back since.
I started seeing the difference it made in my business first-hand, so I set out to help other creatives do the same. And after coaching brand strategy clients one-on-one for over a year, I wanted to find a way to help even more creatives.
So I landed on the perfect idea: a self-paced membership program. It’s a brand strategy subscription that’s part-course, part-service, and part-library, so it meets the best of all worlds for entrepreneurs who are looking to take action in their businesses.
I’m calling it the Brand Strategy Treehouse.
It’s my all-new signature membership, and it’s available to you today!
Squarespace is hands-down my favorite website provider for small businesses, bloggers, and content creators alike.
And it just got better.
If you’ve ever thought about creating a password protected area on your website or envisioned what a members-only area could do for your brand, then it’s the perfect time ever to take action. Why now?
Because Squarespace just rolled out its latest feature: Member Areas.
If 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.
When 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.)
Imagine 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.
Working 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.
Setting 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.
Are 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.
Goals.
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!
While 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.
In 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.
video + 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.
video + 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.
If you’ve spent time browsing my blog archives, you know I love talking about creative entrepreneurship, and I jump at every opportunity I get.
So I am excited to announce my newest resource: Ponderstream!
Each week, I am hosting a live webinar show filled with high-quality content to help you in your business endeavors. I wanted to create this new form of content to transparently share even more insights and strategies with you. I love how easy and enjoyable it is to learn with video, and I can’t wait for you to see what’s in store.
Think of Ponderstream as a video podcast series that you can return to each week for new content, all designed specifically for creative entrepreneurs.
And the best part is, it’s an interactive livestream!
Ponderstream features the in-person feel of live video and a chat feature. So you can take part in the episode, too, by asking questions you have about each week’s topic.
With time dedicated to Q+A towards the end of each livestream, you can come away with personalized tips and ideas for your business each week. (Almost like a mini coaching session.)
I hope to see you there!
By now, you’ve probably heard it: a brand is more than just a logo.
As a brand identity designer, I know this first-hand and talk about it often on the blog. A business’s branding is created from building color palettes, pairing fonts, and through compiling an entire style guide—just to mention a few of the visual elements.
However, branding goes even deeper than what the outside of a business looks like. And many of these other critical areas are often neglected and in much disarray.
Branding is more of an abstract concept—like developing a writing style; it’s something that takes quite a bit of unpacking to understand fully because there are so many components and the possibilities are endless.
So I’ve broken the essentials of creating a brand into 4 simple parts to make it easy to digest and implement in any creative business.
Learn the ins and outs of these 4 key elements of branding in today’s crash course.
A new quarter is the ideal time to check in with your business to maximize success. I always find quarterly segments to be perfect for finding clarity, setting goals, and staying on track throughout the year.
Their 90-day time span allow for progress to be made and give you ample time to effectively analyze the ins and outs of your business.
It’s all-too easy to drift from your course and lose sight of your brand’s focus, so in today’s blog post, I’m offering some help.
Ensure game-changing progress over the next three months with just four simple things to do at the start of each quarter.
I was featured on the Interact Blog today! Here is the free quiz-planning template that goes along with my post.
While it’s easy to come up with a great concept for a quiz, it’s often difficult to translate that into questions, answers, and results.
This is where implementing an effective planning method comes into play.
I created a Quiz-Planning Template to make it even easier.
You know the people on Instagram you love following along with? That’s Sydney of Elmsett Design. Sydney is an interior designer with a knack for balancing textures and neutrals, and I’m always looking forward to the glimpses she gives of her brand.
Today, she is sharing some insights into running a service-based business.
From some of her best tips on designing a productive workspace, to how she focuses on client interaction to grown her business, this post is an inspirational read for creative entrepreneurs in all fields of work.
She’s the perfect guest to kick-off this year’s Entrepreneur Highlight series, and I’m so glad to have Sydney join me on the Ponder Trail Blog today!
Planning Instagram content 30 days in advance has many benefits.
It allows you to create and prepare everything so you only need to spend a few minutes on Instagram each day.
It helps you to “show up” consistently without Instagram becoming your full-time job.
It saves so much time and lets you create an Instagram routine that works with your busy life.
And, you never again have to stress out about throwing a post together last-minute.
If you’re wishing for a better posting strategy, or if you’re just curious about this whole “planning” thing, you’ve come to the right place. Because today, I’m sharing my simple step-by-step process for intentionally planning 30 days of Instagram content.
Everyone loves a good quiz. They are interest-peaking, interactive, and often informative.
But quizzes don’t have to be “just for fun;” they can be a great tool for growing an online business, too.
A quiz can offer a solution to the first step of a problem. It can shed light on the value of your products and services. It can be a great opportunity to build trust with your audience and demonstrate your expertise. And a quiz is the perfect way to grow your email list.
I recently created my first quiz for Ponder Trail. I used Interact for the platform and was impressed with how easy it was to use.
I’m excited to show you my step-by-step process for creating a quiz: from brainstorming ideas and implementing strategy—all the way to building it in Interact and embedding it into your website. Here’s how:
It’s that time of year again—when everything feels fresh and new. Goals swirl around our minds with ever-growing excitement about what we hope to accomplish in the new year.
We dream big about our businesses and can’t wait to get started on our latest and greatest ideas.
But without a methodical way to set and reach goals, there isn’t much hope for success.
So today, I’m giving you my step-by-step process to effectively plan for a successful and productive year. This is an in-depth blog post you won’t want to miss.
I wanted to try something new going into January this year: get a head-start.
The first few weeks of January usually get away from me, and before I know it, I’m halfway through February.
So I brainstormed ways to set myself up for success this year, and I’m happy to announce it’s made a huge difference so far. They are strategies I plan to continue implementing for the rest of the year, and I recommend you try them out, too.
This is what I did:
Do you ever find yourself struggling to make progress? With countless distractions and ways to wander from the path, it’s easy to fall behind.
The ability to work in a productive capacity can make or break any business. In fact, much of your success likely rests in this skill.
I’ve been focusing on maintaining its momentum over the past several months, and in this mega-packed blog post, I’ve rounded up 17 ways I’m improving my productivity this quarter.
I guarantee you’ll want to start implementing some of these strategies today!
