Spring Reset

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Check-in on your website

First and foremost, make sure your website is functioning. Ask yourself, is it clear, concise, and straight to the point? Does it list all your services and prices? Are there any spelling errors? How do the pictures look? Are they all the same size and look professional? Does everything flow, and is it enticing? These things are so important! I’d recommend having someone you trust look over everything and give you honest feedback. You really should have your website perfected before moving on to any part of your business.

I see too many women get caught up in the fluff of owning a business, and they haven’t first fine-tuned their website, AKA your main landing point for customers. While we’re talking about your online presence – how is your social media? I know you’re probably rolling your eyes right now, but to be fair, social media is the way of the world, and so you at least have to have some online presence beyond your website to show that you are staying current with the trends.

You have to be intentional when it comes to social media if you want it to make an impact. It doesn’t matter if you have five or 5k followers, but your business should be active on powerful platforms and be visible and cohesive. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but it needs to be done and in a way that is both consistent and visually appealing. Pinterest helps me for social inspo when I’m feeling bored or uninspired, so I highly recommend utilizing it! I’ve also shared so many free graphics on my website that you can use as well!

Declutter your products and any retail you sell

Are there things you’re holding onto that you don’t use or products that just aren’t selling? This is a great time to re-evaluate what your potential customers and your current clients want from you. Having this clarity is priceless because I know I’ve been guilty of selling something selfishly when it’s not a product my client needs, so I suggest getting to know your clients instead of blindly trying to sell them on things. This could mean offering them a survey via social or in person, or just straight up asking what they want from you during an appointment.

Get on a schedule

It’s important to set specific hours for yourself even when you aren’t taking clients. For example, I go to my office Monday, Tuesday and Thursday – those are my days to be productive. On Wednesdays, I stay home and work on my computer, and while my days are always different, I am now in a groove and know exactly what needs to be done and when.

What has helped me is creating a loosely based content calendar. I try to plan out two weeks to a month in advance to get a big picture of what’s to come. When we aren’t taking clients, we are twiddling our thumbs or don’t know what to do with our time. I set business hours that I work during and check my calendar to make sure I’m on schedule.

Honestly, one of the hardest parts about being a solo owner is being organized and knowing what to do in your spare time when there’s no one to tell you what to do. It requires self-discipline and a game plan, and a whole lot of purpose. Dig deep to find what drives you, make a list of the most important things, and prioritize it.

Have a place for everything

This has really helped my business develop. I’ll give you an example: All the vendors I work with, all the products I sell, any info regarding anything in my studio is all in my Google drive. Every photoshoot picture is in my Dropbox. All of my products are kept track of in Shopify. Meaning there is a purpose and place for everything so even when I’m feeling all over the place, my business is organized for anyone walking into it. This took me four years to focus on because, truthfully, my business got ahead of me before I was prepared.

Keep your personal life organized too

I know I talk a lot about business, but I believe your home life is just as important, so I’ve worked on keeping my home organized and my business over the last few years. I give myself a day during the week to really clean up shop at home. This allows me the weekends to enjoy my life a little bit more and not feel like I’m just cleaning all the time. I’m always picking up after myself, but my home never gets too out of control. Two things that have made all the difference for my life at home include having all my bills on autopay and any home products I constantly use on repeat are on subscription through Amazon, which means they show up at my door without me even having to think about it. This has been a lifesaver for my business and my home life.

Focus on one thing at a time

Doing one thing at a time has also been crucial for me. It’s easy as an entrepreneur to want to do everything, so what I do is have a running list on my Google tasks or in a notebook of all the things I really want to do, and slowly but surely, I check one off at a time. More doesn’t mean successful if none of it gets accomplished, so try and pick one big goal for the year and a few tiny ones to sprinkle throughout.

For example, my blog was something on my to-do list forever, and I just didn’t have the bandwidth to do it. Now, here I am five years later writing a blog, but I had to organize my business before putting on another hat. Sometimes you have to get everything else in order before you can do things like this. Do you want to launch a product, get into training, or something entirely new and exciting? Get the boring stuff done FIRST, which is everything I’ve listed above.

A quick tip: When you’re switching gears throughout the day, take 5 minutes to stretch, walk around and re-focus for the next project.

BONUS: A few tips from my very minimalistic, super numbers-driven fiancé, who is the MOST EFFICIENT man I’ve ever met:

• Write everything down. It doesn’t have to be fancy. I use the notes app and have one list.
• Organize emails and use a file system so when you’re done reading them, they don’t just sit in your inbox. This way, they have a place to go in case you need to find it later on.

I hope these tips help and motivate you to start 2021 off right!

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