You’re taking too long (how long all your blog posts should take)
I have a client whom we'll call Kai. During our pre assessment, I asked Kai what was the average time it takes to write a blog post? Kai said it took her 8 hours write one blog post.
That's an incredible amount of time wasted. Her content was phenomenal, but her process was unremarkable. 8 hours for a single blog post is unproductive.
Brain surgery is completed in less time.
Babies are delivered in less time.
You can fly from New York to Milan on a non stop flight in eight hours.
The other night I asked on Facebook: What's the average time it takes to write a blog post?
The answers varied significantly but with each answer I saw who had control of their business and whose business had control over them. Majority of the Facebook responses were similar to Kai. 28 to be precise.
Stop wasting your time...if you’re part of this 8 hours [plus] crew.
Blog posts should not take 8 hours!
You're taking too long to write your blog posts. Let's streamline the process.
Chic Systems Blog Process
Research & Brainstorm
Only have two tabs (preferably one) open on the computer
Disable notifications on phone & computer
Start with the introduction for the post.
Write freestyle- just write. Don't edit misspelled words or incorrect grammar. Just write. Forget the backspace button. Just write.
*go do something else*
If something new comes to you- write it down and add to post when editing.
*Editing time- Welcome back!*
Correct the misspelled words and incorrect grammar. Hello DELETE button.
Organize the content.
Pick/create images and(or) gifs
Create related tags (SEO baby) - you do want people to read the post that you previously took 8+ hours to write.
Create a CTA (call to action) at the end of the post- Tell your reader what you want them to do.
Pick 2-3 catchy titles (1 is for the site and the others are to sprinkle on social media).
and POST!
Here's what you need to construct a remarkable post:
Editorial calendar or a content idea storage bank
Evernote & Evernote Web Clipper
Toggl if you're fancy
Time required: Two hours MAX
Here's how the process looks streamlined:
20 minutes to research & or brainstorm
30 minutes to write article
15 minutes to edit & organize content
15 minutes for images
10 minutes to create 3 catchy titles
10 minutes to create tags
20 minutes to post and distribute to newsletter
The secret to streamlining this process is when you see articles that are relevant to a topic you know you plan to write about, clip it to an Evernote folder titled Research and tag the article with “blog post idea” and a relevant tag to the topic that you will recall.
Create a folder in google drive to save images that you like and think you may want to share on your website. I have a folder for images and one for gifs.
Next time you get ready to write your blog post use Toggl and track how long it takes you. No worries toggl tracks projects spread over time if you need to write and resume in a day or so. Theres so many things you can do with the 6 hours you just saved.
Click here to get more done in 4 days than you do now in 5.
The Cat in the Hat can teach you a thing or two
Every night (okay let me be real only Sunday through Thursday) I read a story to my 3 years old. For the past two weeks he has only wanted to read The Cat in the Hat. So last night I ask him does he want to read another book. Of course he says no.
WHY?? I ask.
“Because I like the characters, they use funny timing [rhyming] words,” he replies.
Kids are simple.
He didn't care that he has an entire library of other books- to include many Dr. Seuss books. The Cat in the Hat makes him laugh and he appreciates that.
Simple.
It made me think how sometimes in business [& life] we complicate things.
Overthinking and just being the expert can definitely complicate things from time to time.
Creating systems from scratch can be beastly and overwhelming. They aren't sexy. You are, but your systems, not so much.
Keep it Simple.
When creating your systems keep them simple.
Systems are a bunch of moving parts. Systems aren't your business unless you're in the systems business.
You're in business to make money, systems simply support those efforts.
If you're a checklist person use checklists & asana or evernote.
If you're a visual person use post-it's, white boards and paper & pen. Check out Trello too.
We have a baby night time routine system based on my son's behaviors. (Refusal to go to bed because he's "hungry " aka he's learned that kids aren't sent to bed hungry or he hasn't finished a puzzle or he needs to call his mama or papa.)
Here's how it would look:
- Baby eats dinner
- Baby picks out book
- Baby gathers toys he wants in bath if different from the night before
- Baby says goodnight to everyone in house
- Ask baby does he want to call grandparents...
- If yes call grandparents
- Remind Baby that he is not allowed downstairs after he gets in bath.
- Baby has bath
- Baby gets in Pajamas
- Mommy reads to baby
- Mommy & Baby says prayers
- Mommy reminds baby that he is not allowed downstairs
- Mommy kisses baby & tells him God will protect him he's already said his prayers
- 15 minutes mommy or daddy checks to see if baby is sleep
3 Chic Tips to Mastery:
1. Vow to keep life & business simple.
2. Assess where you can add The Cat & The Hat tactics: simple, fun, & helpful.
3. Laugh more. Worry less. Laugh lines are acceptable, stress wrinkles aren't as cute.
Systems reduce the worry about money and day to day practices.
What are systems?
Systems are the rules you create for your business. You're the boss, you're the mama, your rules!
You just have to make sure your rules are for the greater good of your business.
Systems are documented practices that you do in your business over and over and over.
However many solopreneurs don't have systems or they don't follow the rules. Things get done here and there. Solopreneur success does not come with here and there shooting from the hip.
Systems have checks and balances.
Systems ensure that things get done.
Systems allow for you to get sick and your business' immune system goes untouched.
Systems automate your business.
Systems eliminate overwhelm because you already have plans in place for this or that.
They allow for you to hire and outsource tasks.
Systems allow for you to have more free time to do whatever makes your heart smile.
So many people talk about the hustle and bustle in business. Rest and FUN are just as important.
Systems allow for you to make more money.
So that's more time, more money, more fun.
What systems do you have in place?
Action Jackson
Evaluate your daily systems.
What do you do over and over in your business?
Write out one system in your business structure.
Virtual Board of Advisors
The past two weeks I've been doing a lot of work with my non-profit board. The brillance that my board brings overwhelms me. Initially I was apprehensive to having a board of directors. However, a non profit organization requires boards for multiple reasons which I now understand.
“If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.”
I decided I needed a virtual Board of Advisors. Here's my board:
Oprah
Beyonce
Myleik Teele founder of CurlBox
Maya Angelou
Steve Jobs
Barack Obama
Michelle Obama
Serena Williams
Kelly Cutrone
Darren Hardy
Iyanla Vanzant
Just as with my Board for Divasinc. I learn and apply from these amazing individuals and apply the lessons to my life and businesses. I read their books, I pay attention to what they do as well as what they say. If they recommend a book or another amazing mind, I check that person or resource out.
I know some people idolize celebrities and this isn't what any of this is about. Although I do love me some Beyonce. This is about taking inspiration from their success. When Beyonce released Beyonce without any marketing and informed the world via instagram at midnight *picks life off the floor* I immediately purchased it. Then was in awe at her tactic. She created New Rules. And those rules are there aren't any rules. You want "it," go get "it." Everyone talked about the release.
That's one thing about all of my advisors. They all are game changers and have made their own way.
I try to take what they say and represent then filter it to work for me.
Live. Love. Action
1. Who is on your virtual Board of Advisors?
2. Who inspires you?
3. Take it a step further. What gems do they give that you can apply to your life and business?
Stop drinking the DAMN Kool-Aid
Online business and marketing can resemble a high school lunch room some days. Full of cliques. [Close to cults]
No worries this isn't a “oh woe is me” post.
I've noticed the cliques for some time, but never thought too much of it.
In high school I was the pretty girl obsessed with fashion, my friends, and track. My boyfriend was über popular and very charismatic. I hung out with everyone.
The cool kids. The athletes. The dramatic kids. The rebels. The nerds.
Everyone.
My bestie and I were reminiscing a few months back and she said I was always one of the cool kids.
I never did cliques. [I don't like being boxed in] <<notice that was in a box #oxymorons
I like who I like and who likes what I like. And remember I'm multi passionate so cliques were out of the question. I just had a lot of friends and associates.
One thing I'm good at is minding my business. Get it...minding my biz.
I'm in several Facebook groups. Why?
I love connecting with people.
In these groups you can always spot someone from a clique and you know exactly who their leader is. They do everything the leader does but change their name to theirs with a subsequent number behind it.
Stop drinking the damn Kool aid.
If you want to be successful, there's no secrets.
There's a lot of work. A lot of days and nights of wanting to give up.
There's a lot of failures.
A lot of uncertainties.
Mindset shifts will be needed frequently.
And self doubt.
And all of that is normal no matter where you are in your business.
You have to hold tight to your WHY.
You know the reason you went into business in the first place. And its not money. Even if you say it's money, it's not.
Money just allows us the opportunity to flow and live better lives, travel, spend more time with our families and friends, etc. those are your reasons not just money.
But being a carbon copy isn't serving you or your why any justice.
You have to find your spin and spin baby spin.
I challenge you to be different. I challenge you to own your greatness. I challenge you to pick through the BS [business stuff] and use only what works for your business. So and so has been in business so much longer and her way works for her. It may not work for you. That doesn’t make you a loser or a failure. It makes you a sexy savvy solopreneur engineering your path.
Live. Love. Action
1. Infuse your personality and quirks into your business
3. Stop drinking the damn Kool Aid
Flash Back Friday: [Solopreneur Edition] Six & Savvy
Flashback Fridays: taking a walk back in my entrepreneurial past.
You know how they say some people are born to be entrepreneurs. I never thought that about myself. Looking back though there are many factors that connect the dots & create a picture of the entrepreneurial dream.
Technically I was the only child. My sister and I are 13 years apart. I'm the youngest.
I had a lot of free time to myself.
My mamar had a nice perfume collection. I would spray and spray the various smells until I couldn't breathe. My mama would fuss, but I didn't mind, I was busy creating.
I would pretend that I was a superstar and I was going to an event and everyone couldn't keep their eyes off of me and were lured to me by my perfume.
I started spraying the mixes into old crayola water color paint containers. I would take them to school and sell them. One day my mama locked me out of her room. She said she was tired of me stealing her things and blah blah blah.
She locked me out of my warehouse.
Mama killed production with that.
By this point I was selling to other classrooms [remember elementary students don’t interact with other classes often].
THIS WAS BIG.
I had even had customers at my after school care program. Different aged kids at different schools too. .
I wasn't ready to close shop. The internet wasn't around yet, so I couldn’t go to google for answers.
I found everything in my house that smelt good by the slightest. Mixing and mixing and the matches just weren't right.
I was nearing a dead end, and then it came to me: buy your own supplies.
I went to the craft store and got mini bottles. I purchased alcohol, essential oils, and baby powder. We’re not even going to talk about the powder.
I was back in business. I was selling the paint pots at school and aftercare during the week. On Saturdays I would set up shop up the neighborhood and sell the bigger bottles.
I was six and a savvy solopreneur !
What is a solopreneur?
What is a solopreneur?
As I was thinking of a witty response. This video came to mind.
A soloprenur is an entrepreneur that works alone. Many entrepreneurs are solopreneurs, especially during the first three years of business.
A solopreneur runs every part of their business. So from marketing to accounting to customer service to every little detail that you would never ever imagine that businesses encounter.
See why Diva came to mind.
Solopreneurs are HUSTLERS! And I work only with fabulous women. Plus I love Beyonce.
Biz Bestie
A biz bestie is your business' best friend. A friend that's also in business. Maybe you two are in the same field or maybe not. That's not required. Whatever works for the two of you.
Do you have a business bestie?!?
A biz bestie is your business' best friend. A friend that's also in business. Maybe you two are in the same field or maybe not. That's not required. Whatever works for the two of you.
You have each other's backs.
You share resources.
Listen and encourage each other often.
This person is your sense of reason, the one you bounce ideas off of, your business’ ride or die.
She has you and your biz’ best interest in mind. She wants to see you win just as bad as she wants to win.
Being a solopreneur is not as sexy as most of us portray.
She knows some of the hardships that you may be going through and if she doesn't know exactly because you may be in different industries, she can definitely empathize because she knows business.
You may already have a biz bestie amongst your friends.
My biz bestie is actually my bestie. We aren't much of accountability partners. That just means we need accountable partners. She actually has one that turned in to her biz bestie.
If you don't know have a biz bestie yet, you must be thinking this sounds like a GOD send. And baby, she is! Wait until you find yours.
Just as with your ordinary bestie, you want the relationship to grow naturally.
If you're in need of a biz bestie: go to local networking events and become a networking ninja!
Make genuine connections with people. Are you gravitating to a certain person and not for the purpose of what can they do for me? Operate from the space of: this lady is awesome, I'd like to know more about her.
Network online.
Join Facebook groups of like minded people. Is there someone you resonate with?
Befriend them on Facebook, check their stuff out. Talk to them. Cultivate a relationship through simple communication.
Hell, just ask!
I'm quick to say, hey! I love what you're doing, let's connect! Do I turn them into biz besties no, but if another were to materialize, I would be okay with it.
I always make note of people who I think are pretty awesome.
Then I note are they really awesome or is it an act?
If there were a market for finding frauds I would be top on that list on who to call and find out about someone.
If I still want to get to know the person then I do. Developing relationships will always be one of the best things for your business. And not just for the customers you want to attract.
If you're the smartest person in the room, you're definitely in the wrong room.
Live. Love. Action
1. Join a biz Facebook group today. If you're already in one add someone to your personal Facebook, you know the person that you talk to already and want to build on that relationship.
2. Be a good friend to them. No strings attached. See something that would interest them: maybe an article related to their biz or something they posted about. Send it to them.
3. Smile. You're beautiful! The world needs more people like you.
What's your worth
What's your worth? You give people your projected value and they decide wether to pay or request a discount. It's up to you
What's your worth?!?
Priceless?
Or some amount no one could ever afford?
Society has implanted those responses into many of us. However, our actions deduct and deduct from this imaginary number that we hold ourselves to.
Sometimes we accept things we truly don't deserve because we don't want others to be hurt (upset) *insert any rationalization that works*
When I started doing online coaching my rates were low. Reasonable but low. These rates weren't tied to my self-esteem self-love or self-worth. Nope. They were just prices.
I didn't think people would pay any more than that. Want to know why I thought that?!?
Because I wouldn't pay any more than that. At that time anyway. Plus others charged similar.
“The rules in life and business aren’t applicable to all. One does not fit all”
My time and my knowledge were extremely discounted.
The clients I attracted were okay. Some were awesome and others I dreaded the day and the times of our appointments.
Cheap prices attract cheap people.
People who weren't willing to do the work.
Of course they didn't outright say it, but week after week it was another excuse.
For the record: I don't do well with excuses. Let's just be honest. I rather you tell me, "I thought it was dumb and I didn't do it." We can work through that. But excuses...nope..I don't have time.
Have you ever lowered your expectations for someone or something?!? How was the experience?!? Did you regret it?
We have all settled. Don't even fix your pretty face to shake your head "not me," we all have.
I used to date this guy. Let's call him Ray. We met through mutual friends. Initially, I ignored him and played on my phone or talked to everyone but him. I wasn’t interested. I knew his type: charismatic, funny, but always had a new piece of eye candy (beautiful breathtaking women) on his arm. Women loved Ray and his charisma. He got along really well with everyone. Ray was okay, he was cute, but not fine. Everyone loved Ray.
You know the checklist women have of all the things they want a man to have?
Ray may have had 0.002 qualities on my list.
He was charming, funny, and nice.
Some where along the line I settled and gave him my number. I continually told him we couldn't date. I don't remember how long I kept telling him this because we clearly were dating. We were always spending time together.
He was nice & fun.
This man drove me crazy. He was clingy and annoying. When I couldn’t deal anymore I broke things off.
It was bad, like stalkerish always looking over my shoulder police protective order bad.
But Ray was nice and fun...he just didn’t respect my values. And somewhere along the line, I gave him the silent authority by settling.
I settled and had to deal with unnecessary drama.
Moving forward.
Earlier this year I worked with a branding coach and I paid her $250 for 30 minutes. Let me type that again...$250 for 30 minutes. I know you're thinking girl it wouldn't be me. I was thinking that too.
When I tell you those 30 minutes made a dynamic shift in my business, that $250 was nothing. Now I do 15 minute free sessions and I know many women receive extreme value from them, but it's free so any value will be received.
I had anxiety before meeting with this coach. And when I say anxiety, I mean I wanted to email her and cancel every day until my appointment that was scheduled two weeks out because she only did her laser sessions on Mondays.
Our session came and in 30 minutes as expected she rocked my world.
I was already in the process of rebranding (from general life coaching to biz coaching & lifestyle design). So her process and insight were icing on the cake.
Even with all that, I still paid $250 for 30 minutes.
Not even an hour.
I thought who did she think she was?!?
Then I realized..she knows exactly who she is. She knows how long she wants to work with a client, she knows how much her time and value are worth, and she knows she can deliver on the value.
I started offering 15 min free sessions. (Remember I didn't want to work with just anyone that hit that paypal link anymore).
I'm not for everyone. And Neither are you. So don't take things so personal some times. You know the times when you feel rejected. Be thankful in advance.
“Rejection is God’s protection.”
Those 15 minute sessions changed everything. No more emails asking about my services (& all the info was already on the work with me page). People had me on the phone and the chemistry was there or it wasn't. Those sessions leveraged who I worked with and how I worked.
Every month I set how many free sessions I would offer and had people to complete an application to be considered. 15 minutes we talked and we worked through whatever they wanted based upon the application. No strings attached. I didn't even pitch.
Wanna know why?!?
I knew my worth and then they did too. I gave them my all in 15 minutes.
Those free sessions turned into client after client.
I completely changed my monthly program. Where I used to work with people for 3 months to where they wanted to be. Now it's an Action Jackson packed month of WORK! I increased my monthly rate. If anyone tried to haggle me and they took advantage of the 15 minute call I'd take $100 off.
Magic happened.
I filled every spot that I had one month. Cool. Then another month. And then I had an overflow.
It actually scared me. Like what the?!?
Mindset is something else.
I am booked through September (registration for October will be up mid September) for my unadvertised monthly program and at the new monthly rate. Less time, more money, and more fun. Magical.
Pricing is something that will always be something personal, just as our worth. I can see you being mistreated and I can KNOW you deserve more and better. It means nothing, if you don’t agree & act on it.
I stopped just accepting crumbs because I wanted to help everyone. I can't help everyone even though I always try.
So as I've been doing the werk weds series. I've seen so many women that I want to win! I'm silently screaming BOO you got this!!! I got your back! Yet I see flaws in their branding, strategies, websites, and pricing. I want to email them and say hey boo fix XYZ and watch the transition. But I can't.
So what I did decide to do is:
Offer a scholarship to work with me for $5 in August for one person. And that $5 will be donated to Divas, Inc. #payingitforward. The scholarship will be live August 5th and will continue each month until 2014 expires.
Live. Love. Action
1. Regardless if you’re in biz or just wanting the best life…where are you giving discounts to others?
2. How do you feel afterwards?
3. Do something this week for yourself to make a deposit into you.
Werk Wednesday Series: Fiverr
Fiverr is an amazing gem for business. Fiverr is a site where freelancers start their projects at five dollars.
Fiverr is an amazing gem. Fiverr is a site where freelancers start their projects at five dollars.
Now depending on the freelancer the price can go up. I've never paid more than $20 for a project.
I've had logos, flyers, business cards, photoshop work on pictures, video editing, and an Ebook cover created.
Tips to have an awesome experience with Fiverr:
1. Use high rated sellers, not just recommended sellers.
2. Check their reviews
3. Does their sample work look like your desired end product?!?
4. Read everything that's printed prior to hitting purchase.
The starting price is $5, so some sellers will have limited revisions. Be very clear with giving the directions for your project.
5. Pay it forward- if someone did an excellent job, don't forget to rate them. That helps them and the rest of us knowing who to choose. I always rate and leave a nice review.
One last thing look to see how long it will take to compete task and how many jobs in queue. You might not want to wait 11 days.
Please note: you pay through paypal and if your paypal is connected to a credit/debit card, your bank will charge you a fee for using an international merchant. However, if your paypal account is linked to a bank account, there will be no additional fee. At least this is what Bank of America does.