entrepreneur

  • Marketing, Business

    Consistent Brand Messaging: The secret to never running out of things to say

    • Comments Off on Consistent Brand Messaging: The secret to never running out of things to say
    • by
    Consistent brand messaging

    Every Friday morning, I rock up to an upstairs room in a local pub, wearing a red and white badge with my name on it. I pop a smile on my face, a security blanket cup of coffee in my hand, and meet with 40 other local business owners.

    Yes, I have joined a cult.

    But I promise, I’m fine (I don’t need a “Blink twice if you need rescuing” intervention).

    In fact, I’ve brought in a considerable amount of revenue since I joined back in June.

    The challenge of consistent brand messaging in networking

    My local BNI Chapter is full of inspiring, ambitious people. They’re funny, kind, generous, and driven. And every week we all get 30 seconds to tell the room about our businesses and let them know what we need – who we’re looking to be introduced to, what offers we currently have, which clients we’d like to work with.

    The first time I had to do this – I was terrified.

    And terrible.

    The second time? I was a little more prepared (although I still forgot to breathe).

    As I got into the swing of things it became less nervewracking. And, you know, I’m good with words (duh), so I had an advantage.

    When consistent brand messaging feels like a struggle

    But, as the weeks went on, I started to get a little stuck.

    I’d educated the room on what copywriting actually was and wasn’t. I’d explained to them the value a conversion-focused copywriter can bring to their business – in added traffic and revenue. I’d laid out how my approach was maybe a little different with its focus on empathy and research.

    But one morning, sitting down to work out what I was going to say in my 30 seconds, I began to panic. 50 weeks a year. How on earth was I going to explain my business each week without boring everyone?

    Surely there are only so many ways to describe what I do and why it’s awesome?

    The foundation of consistent brand messaging

    But, it turns out I didn’t need to be worried.

    Why?

    Because of the invaluable information I have at my disposal, information that makes it easy to be creative while sticking to the point:

    • I know my brand
    • I know my voice
    • I know my ideal client
    • I know the unique value I provide
    • I know what services I want to offer
    • I know my key brand messages
    • And I know which messages work at which stage of the buyer journey.

    These slabs of concrete are the foundation my brand is built on – the things that keep me steady in the face of nerves, tiredness, and people who don’t really know what copywriting is.

    They are the key to consistent brand messaging (something even Forbes thinks should be integral to your business strategy).

    Leveraging your brand knowledge for consistent messaging

    With all this information, I can create endless 30 second snippets that consistently reinforce who I am, what I do, and why they should care in the people sitting in that room.

    That’s also how I create relevant and on-message social content. Content that brings me impressions, engagement, connections, and qualified leads in my inbox. It’s how I keep a consistent brand message without being so generic and repetitive that it turns into background noise.

    The Brand Messaging Guide: your tool for consistency

    This is also how my clients use their Brand Messaging Guides. Once they’ve got the foundations of their brand in place, they have the tools they need to communicate consistent brand messaging:

    • Brand Voice
    • Brand Story
    • Brand Archetype
    • Customer Avatars with pain points and dreams
    • Potential objections and how to overcome them
    • Key Messages
    • Competitive analysis and positioning
    • Unique value propositions and elevator pitches

    They can create (or have their team create) blog content, social content, pitch decks, sales pages, email newsletters, and BNI presentations based on the Guide. Safe in the knowledge that they’re being consistent and on message at all times. Building that know, like, and trust factor.

    Embracing consistent brand messaging

    So, I didn’t need to worry as I wandered into that networking meeting for the first time – I’ll find another 52 ways to tell people about my business, no problem.

    How about you?

    Feeling a little stuck with your brand messaging? Not sure how to keep it consistent across all your platforms and interactions? It might be time for a Brand Messaging Guide of your own.

    Book a free strategy call, and let’s talk about how we can make your brand messaging as consistent and compelling as a Netflix binge-watch. (You know, the kind where you suddenly look up, and it’s 3am, and you’re surrounded by empty snack wrappers. But in a good way.)

    I’m want it to be easier to talk about my business

    Carry on reading

  • Marketing

    Putting some substance behind authentic marketing – how your unique story should inform your brand

    • Comments Off on Putting some substance behind authentic marketing – how your unique story should inform your brand
    • by

    Every now and again, the argument about authentic marketing reappears online. How can you be “authentic”? Should you be trying to be “authentic”? Is authentic marketing a completely redundant phrase because all effective marketing is authentic?

    My take? Yes, all marketing should be authentic. But not all marketing is. And I want to help you make your marketing more authentic. So you can feel better about doing it, and your audience can feel better about responding to it.

    And one of the most important keystones of this is story.

    The myth of the ‘7 stories’

    There’s this theory – there are only 7 stories in the whole world. (here’s a YouTube video explaining them all, if you’re curious.)

    Across thousands of years, millions of films, billions of books, songs, and poems – there are (apparently) only 7 different stories. And everything humans have ever created is a variation of one of them.

    I call bullshit.

    Sure, you can categorise anything you want. My 4 year old quite likes sorting her annoying little Bratz dolls into groups. Long hair, short hair, shoes, no shoes, well behaved, looked at her funny…

    (You think I’m joking, but there is currently a tiny doll with too much eye-makeup sitting in a box in our understairs cupboard because “she didn’t say please in the right way)

    The categories are arbitrary. And within those categories, there’s so much variation that the category becomes objectively worthless. One doll has long pink hair with sparkles (I know), and the other has a black afro. But it helps her sort things. Make order in the chaos (and man, can I relate to that).

    If some bloke wants to do a deep dive into all the stories he can find and neatly sort them so he can breathe a sigh of relief at the organised piles before heading off for nap time, then fine.

    But that doesn’t mean he’s right. Or that his opinion has any bearing on reality.

    Because stories are infinite, and it’s the variations that make them so magical. That can turn our world on its head when we hear them. That can uncover a deeper meaning we had never imagined. Or that can help us through whatever it is we’re going through that we thought no one else had experienced.

    Because, if we decide that there are only 7 stories. Then we’re resigned to believing that there are only 7 types of people. That we’re not really unique at all.

    And you really are. Completely unique.

    Scratch the surface, get deeper than “how was your day”, “how are the kids”, or “what do you think about Beyonce going country?”, and that’s what you discover.

    Nail authentic marketing by using your truly unique story

    Everyone has had a specific journey that makes their perspective or experience astonishingly unique.

    I sat in a seminar earlier this year on how to market without the traditional “sales funnel”. And this seminar was full of inpsiring business owner, with unique stories. But it turned out none of them were talking about that story in their marketing.

    • They studied international relations at university and then ended up coaching a gymnastics team. But their daughter has a rare disease so they’ve spent a lot of time in the healthcare system.
    • They worked in logistics for a decade before writing a book about surfing. But they also have to care for their elderly father on the weekends.
    • They spent years in hospitality and corporate, before making a hard left into coaching. And it turns out they’ve got ADHD.
    • They grew up wanting to be Prime Minister but instead they worked as a youth worker for 15 years before burning out and taking a hard left into marketing (oh wait, that’s me…)

    This seminar was filled with gloriously talented and creative individuals running businesses that make the lives of their clients better in many different ways. But they weren’t fans of selling, because they didn’t want to feel pushy, or big-headed. And, surely everyone knew what they knew, so why would anyone pay for it? Their story wasn’t unique.

    Except it was. And it was the missing piece in their marketing. 

    They just needed to see it how others saw it. 

    How your unique personal experiences inform your brand message

    So there are two things I think about this. And, because you’ve clicked on this link, you get to hear them.

    There is only one you

    The first thing I do with new clients is work on their USP. We look at the things that they are uniquely positioned to provide that nobody else can. Why they are different.

    Why do I do this? Because you are the only person who is that unique combination of the expertise that you have, the training that you’ve done, the knowledge that you’ve acquired, the life experiences that you have chalked up, and the personality that you are born with/been nurtured into.

    And that “you-ness” is what your future customers connect with – why they want to work with you and, yes, hand over their money. This is why authentic marketing works – because your audience can feel the you-ness behind what you put out there. (I talk more about making that emotional connection here.)

    But, because we’ve already acquired this expertise, training, and knowledge, we think it’s no big deal. Anyone could do it, so it’s not really worth that much. But that’s crap. 

    • Your insights are worthwhile. 
    • Your hard work has value. 
    • From a purely capitalistic standpoint – your creativity commands a price.

    But, even if you’re not down with full-throated capitalism, you still shouldn’t shy away from selling to your audience.

    Why? Because, when you sell to people in an email, in a Facebook ad, or on a webpage, you are not trying to trick them out of parting with their hard-earned cash. You are not trying to encourage them to spend more than they can on something that is frivolous, that won’t help them, or that they could find out for free. You are helping people.

    You are recognising that your audience has specific problems. Things that on a smaller or larger scale are making their lives worse, or stopping their business from being as good, as effective, as aligned, as easy, as profitable as it could be.

    Because of your unique story, you have a solution to offer your audience.

    Whether it’s your incredible service, or a fabulous product, you are providing them with a way of making their lives or their business better. And you’re the only one who can do it in the way that you do it.

    So you are not trying to trick them into buying something. You are not trying to tell an engaging story and then segue seamlessly into a sales pitch so that they don’t even notice that they’ve taken out their credit card and punched in the numbers and suddenly sent you £3000 for nothing. Newsflash – that’s not authentic marketing. You are doing something that helps them.

    Your emails and your web pages and your adverts and your social media captions are not manipulative tricks. They are ways to communicate effectively. Ways to let your ideal audience know that the problem that has been keeping them awake at night or making them miserable over breakfast – you can help them with it. And it doesn’t have to be there anymore.

    How your unique story builds connection

    I will still be saying this when I’m an old woman, rocking in the chair on my porch in the house I’m going to retire to in the Canadian countryside (#goals):

    “People buy people”

    There are a million places that people can get business advice. Thousands of different apps they can download to help them with productivity. Hundreds of courses on how to get the best out of Canva. One way they make that choice is through price, sure. But a huge part of the decsion-making process is done through vibes. 

    No matter how logical and rational we think we are – we’re buying the person doing the selling. Would we sit down inn a pub garden with them and chat about our day? Do we feel like they really understand us? Are they “our kind of people”?

    And how do they gather the information to make those decisions? By consuming our content  – including our story. And if they like what they hear, then they’re much more likely to buy from us – and benefit from the help that we can offer them. 

    And, believe me, they don’t want a cookie-cutter, generic rags to riches, or hero conquers all story. They can get that in a cheap airport novel. They want your real, unique story. 

    So, if you’re sitting staring at your social media scheduling software thinking, “Everything I have to say has been said a million times before”…

    Say it anyway – say it your way.

    Because there are more than 7 stories.

    And yours is worth telling.

    If you’d like some help with that, book a free strategy call here.

    Carry on reading

  • Business, Email, Marketing

    5 Lead Nurturing Email Sequence Examples to Wow Subscribers

    • Comments Off on 5 Lead Nurturing Email Sequence Examples to Wow Subscribers
    • by

    Get your nurture sequence to do all the work for you, while you sip on your latte.

    Find out about lead nurturing email sequence examples. A white blonde woman in a dark green jacket and white t-shirt holds an orange cup, looking down smiling. She is standing in front of a coloruful mural

    Let’s talk about first impressions…

    I sign up to a lot of email lists.

    Partly because I’m nosy.
    I like to know what people are saying, and I like to see different lead nurturing email sequence examples.

    But it’s also because I like to know a brand if I’m going to spend my money with them.
    And what better way to do that than to sign up for their list, and devour the 4-5 emails they send me introducing their brand, their ethos, their origin story, their funny little foibles, and what their dog did in the office that one time…

    Except that often doesn’t happen.

    Why you need an email nurture sequence

    When I discover a new brand and sign up to their email list, I’m not just after the discount/freebie/special offer. I’m motivated (excited even) to find out more. I’m ready to get to know them, to dive into the story, to become part of their tribe.

    Which means I’m waiting to spend money with them (and tell my friends about this great new business I’ve found).

    When there’s nothing…except for maybe a 2 line templated email saying: “Here’s your discount code”…then I’m left deflated. I want my email nurture sequence. I want more!

    This was their opportunity to make the perfect first impression.
    To pick me up in my excitement and plonk me in front of all they had to offer.
    So that I’d jump in and become their newest customer.

    Without it…if I’m honest…they end up in the graveyard that is my Promotions tab, only to be noticed if they send a particularly interesting subject line in a month’s time.

    Which is why I’m so passionate about getting all the businesses I work with to create (and continuously one) their welcome sequence – those 4-5 emails that get sent out to new subscribers.

    It’s your one chance at a first impression. An opportunity to develop the initial excitement of a new visitor and turn them into one of your tribe.

    Increased sales, increased customer LTV, increased organic referrals, you name it: your welcome sequence can hand it to you.

    How to write a good email sequence

    You’re sat, staring at the blinking cursor, your discount code already entered into your Shopify backend.

    How do you sum up years of mulling over your idea in your head, the late nights struggling with stock levels, or tying down your USP, the bookkeeping, hiring your first team member, the way your product or service has made people’s lives better, what you want every one of your customers to feel like when they hear from you…

    What can you write that will make them feel like they know you, and want to be a part of your story?

    Well, that’s it really – you need to give them a story to be part of.

    What is the story of your brand?

    Human beings love stories, and we share the good ones. We used to share them around campfires at the mouths of caves, then we traded them in return for food and shelter as we travelled to new towns and lands. We wrote them in books and wove them into songs and turned them into multi-movie franchises.

    Now we click tiny arrows as we scroll through our phones, sharing the best stories with our friends and followers. And our reach is endless.

    Story nurtures connection – and that is how you get customers that buy from you, stick around, tell their friends (and Insta followers), and take your brand off into the stratosphere.

    What’s your story?

    How an email nurture sequence is your dinner party opener

    Sipping your warm glass of pinot grigio, you glance nervously around the room.
    Couples and small groups are scattered across the space. Some are staring at the comfort of their phones, some checking their watches, some trying to work out the best place to sit.

    School performances, college reunions, company parties…
    Life is full of situations where we have to make artificial connections with people we just happen to be thrown together with.

    And what is the first thing everyone asks?
    “So, what do you do?”

    Your stomach seems to have made its way towards your knees.
    As an entrepreneur, you often don’t have the luxury of an easily explainable job title or field.
    “I’m a doctor!” is easy. Everyone fills in the rest.
    “Oh, I refurbish antique furniture and sell it to rich women at craft fairs” is understood.

    “Well, I own a business that helps female entrepreneurs find their joy” is likely to elicit a confused furrow of the brows and a nervous sip of wine.

    • What do you say to people who ask what you do?
    • What are the important things you want people to know about your business?
    • What do you wish you had written down when you were trying to work out the best place to put your name tag?

    Those things are what your welcome sequence of emails should be made up of.

    A primer for your business, how it helps people, and why they should care

    How do you make a connection?

    You can’t make a connection if you don’t know who you’re trying to connect with.

    Imagine walking up to someone at a party, and launching into a heartfelt story about how Airfix models have been the thread that pulls your life together.
    And expecting that to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship/romance/lifetime filled with the smell of glue and balsa wood.

    I mean, there is a chance that they delight in opening a new model aeroplane too. But you’re taking a pretty big gamble. Surely a safer way would be to start a general conversation, and maybe ask if they had ever heard of Airfix models? Before you commit yourself to going all in!

    Emails are the same.
    When you’re getting ready to build that connection with your subscribers – the one that will bring you sales, greater customer LTV, and free advertising from all your loyal fans – you need to know who you’re writing to. Who is the “lead” for this lead nurturing email sequence? Yes, I know using the term “lead” is a little dehumanising. But you all knew what I meant!

    Who is your audience?

    Were they die-hard Friends devotees who’ll spot a Ross reference a mile off? PIVOT!!!
    Did they burst into tears at the news that BTS are taking a hiatus?
    Are they spending their weekends trying to work out how to stop the pigeons eating their tomato plants?
    Or are they balancing caring for their aging mum who refuses to have outside carers, whilst supporting their teenagers through exams?

    This is why so much of my job when I start work with a new client is research.
    There are many ways to say who you are and what you do.

    But it takes finding out about your audience to pick the one way that will resonate with them the most.

    So, before you even start with your “Hi! I’m just popping into your inbox to say thank you for signing up! email…

    Take some time to investigate who you’re talking to.
    You might even get to talk about Airfix models.

    The importance of providing value

    For me, marketing will always be about the long game.

    Your welcome emails, your nurture sequence – they’re what draw new people in. You give them a taste of who you are, and a story to dive into – be part of.

    But then you need to get them to stay. And that’s where your ongoing emails come in.
    I’ve been on too many email lists that shift from an endearing welcome email, straight to “BUY MY STUFF!” with a shedload of high res images and lots of “SALE!” banners.

    Now, I know that I am a customer. A way of making money.
    But I’m also a person. And I want to know that a company has thought about how they can serve me, as well as sell to me.
    I want them to play the long game.

    Keep your customers on board by sending them value. Articles you think they’ll find interesting, stories you think will make them laugh, tips from your industry that will make their day easier.

    This works for other sequences too. If you’re trying to work out how to write a good email sequence for a product you’re launching, or a membership you’re advertising. In any of these cases, you need to mix your more salesy content with serving your subscribers.

    Because, when you do this, they feel less like a cash cow, and more like a valued part of your business.

    And then they’ll give you more cash.

    Getting this off your plate

    If you think this all sounds great, but you don’t have the time or the inclination to do it yourself…

    Then it’s time to bring in the big guns…

    Me…

    Head over to my email services page to find out about my packages. Or fill in my contact form and we’ll have a chat about the best way to introduce you to your people.

    And, if you’d like more ideas on how to play the relationship marketing long game, then you probably want to sign up to my newsletter. It comes out on Friday mornings, and it’s packed full of value, funny stories, and things I think you’ll find interesting (see what I did there?).

    You can sign up here

    Carry on reading

  • Uncategorized

    How to show up authentically online without oversharing!

    • Comments Off on How to show up authentically online without oversharing!
    • by
    show up authentically online - woman hiding behind yellow balloon
    This is my preferred selfie!

    Authenticity is the big buzzword in the world of small businesses right now. Especially how do you show up authentically online?

    You need to be showing up as your “authentic self” on your social media channels (cue “hilarious” reels of me pointing at invisible words on the screen trying to game the algorithm. Not really, I’m never doing that.).

    Maybe it’s because of my naturally cynical British brain (yeah, it’s probably that).

    Don’t get me wrong,  I’m glad that we’re slowly moving away (at least in some corners of the internet) from the performative posts online where we show off the tidy side of our perfectly arranged “home office” whilst ignoring the bit behind us where we’ve hidden all of the kid’s drawings, empty water bottles, crayons, and crumbs that are usually on the table.

    But I’m always wary of just swinging the pendulum from one side to the other, where I feel a little like I’m letting down the sisterhood when I post a picture of my kitchen in the rare moments it’s actually clean. Or when I find an image of my kids in which they’re not trying to sit on each other’s heads. 

    And the thing is, buzzwords usually start off as great ideas with logic and analysis behind them. As a business owner or entrepreneur (pick the title that feels more “authentically you”!) being authentic online is good for engagement. Your potential customers see themselves in you, they relate. And this makes them more likely to buy from you and work with you. 

    As well as that, the drive for more authenticity was meant to make it easier for people to show up in the online space. You didn’t have to fit into a certain box, follow a certain formula, speak in a certain way, or build your website with a certain tool. You could be yourself.

    But it turns out being yourself authentically online is still bloody hard. 

    Which “self” are you going to be? 

    How much of your life/principles/ethos/beliefs/personal vocabulary/mad earrings are you going to put out into the public domain for your potential customers to see?

    When you’ve put yourself out there – the honest, real-life you – how do you cope when some people don’t like it? Now they’re not just rejecting your product, it feels a lot more personal.

    And then, along with that, comes a whole heap of self-image issues that we like to think we’ve parked because we’ve “done the work” (read: liked the Instagram posts). Do I have to be in my photos? I can’t possibly do a reel right now because I didn’t wash my hair this morning. What if my kid walks into the background of my Story and pulls a funny face?

    authentically me - Peta is covered in mud standing next to Ethan
    As messy as it gets!

    Ways to show up authentically without making everyone within 5 feet roll their eyes:

    If all that is running around your head then grab a cup of tea, and keep reading. Because it’s going to be ok…really.

    Think about your audience: this can be pretty basic customer research, or you can geek out over it. But coming up with a customer avatar (ok, sorry, marketing speak: an image in your head of your ideal customer…excellent, the rash has gone now) can help you think about the sort of photos, captions, emails, and adverts that they would relate to.

    Think about your style: If you’re a put-together person then a full face of makeup might make sense for your photos and videos, but if you can bring yourself to be a little less coiffed then you can own that and make it work.

     If you’re pretty straight-laced (hey, no judgement, if everyone was punk we’d run out of safety pins) then coming out all guns blazing in your emails and marketing material is going to feel a bit weird, and be pretty hard to sustain.

    Your authentic voice needs to contain some of you.

    But don’t feel like you have to include it all: You might be really into Japanese anime or building bug hotels in your spare time. You might run a business making hand-pressed floral soaps but listen to thrash metal while you do it.

    If you’re comfortable showing that side of you to your customers then that’s great! But if you’d rather not then that’s fine too. Your online “authentic self” doesn’t mean handing all elements of your life and personality over to the Facebook police. Pick what you want to share, and stick with that.

    Look for the trends: Nope, not what everyone is dancing to on TikTok. Start noticing the patterns in how you speak when you’re comfortable and “in your flow”. That’s your brand/business voice. So if you can write and talk in that way, then your message will be that much more relatable.

    People love consistency. They want to know what they’re going to get when they scroll your feed, or visit your website. No one likes surprises when it comes to their digital diet.

    Get some help: writing about yourself is hard. You’re not being rubbish – it’s psychologically proven to be difficult for us to get our brains around. Our brains find it harder to recall things we’ve done well and much easier to flood us with all the things we’ve sucked at.

    As well as this, when you sit down to write about your brand or business you’re doing it from the perspective of the expert and it’s difficult to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. So you end up with a whole page of text that makes sense to you. But your audience has no idea why they should care.

    Finding a copywriter and strategist who can give you that sense of perspective, help you relate to your audience, and pick out all the things that are actually awesome about you and your brand, is golden (I know, I would say that, but my clients say it too, so I have actual proof!).

    So, if you’d like some help to work out what your “authentic” brand voice is (or you know a fellow entrepreneur who’s struggling), then I can help you with that!

    Let’s chat.

    Carry on reading

  • Uncategorized

    Cancel the Time Management Gurus!

    • Comments Off on Cancel the Time Management Gurus!
    • by

    I started my business when Erica was 8 months old, and 8-year-old Ethan was homeschooling because of the pandemic.

    As it often does for mothers I’ve discovered, my copywriting journey began by starting my own blog about the trials and tribulations of motherhood. In my case, I started the blog (http://www.secondtimearound.blog it’s pretty good, you should totally check it out) to talk about the weirdness of my situation: widowed with a 2-year-old son at 31, now remarried and expecting another child. A friend reached out and asked if I’d like to write some blogs for her sustainable fitness brand about keeping fit and being a mum. She paid me £40 and I was pretty chuffed that someone else wanted to read what I’d written. 

    How I found copywriting

    Before Erica was born I was balancing 10 hours a week of bookkeeping from home (that I was terrible at) with the part-time position of Chief Exam Invigilator at a local secondary school (which I was awesome at, but wasn’t exactly inspiring). Neither of these were going to work once Erica was born, especially when Covid hit and finding childcare was an impossibility. I was going to have to think of something else.

    Nick was listening to a business podcast and heard about this thing called Upwork, where freelancers could find paid writing opportunities. It suddenly dawned on me that I could actually get paid to write things. 

    This is a pretty familiar story on the copywriting podcasts. People who have always found writing easy, through school, college, and work. People who get asked by their friends all the time to “just take a look over my CV”, or “what do you think of the wording in this essay paragraph”, don’t necessarily think this is a skill that others will pay for. Surely everyone finds writing fairly easy? 

    It seems not. It seems that I had a marketable skill just sitting there, only pulled out for heartfelt messages in birthday cards and wedding speeches. So in I jumped, going from zero in September 2020 to July 2021 and my first $2k month. I’m incredibly proud of my progress so far, but I’m not going to pretend it’s been easy.

    Why time management tips don’t work for parents

    I’m an all-or-nothing kind of girl. When I decide to do something new I want to find out everything I can about it. I’ll read all the books and scour all the websites until I know all there is to know. These days it’s all about the podcasts. Partly because they’re so very in right now, and partly because I haven’t had the time to crack a book since January 2020 (can’t think why).

    There are about a million (at a conservative estimate) podcasts about running a business, and a million more about copywriting and digital marketing. I’ve been binging them all on the school run and in my earbuds while I feed the baby to sleep, clean the kitchen, make dinner and sort the washing. 

    As you’d expect, among the common topics of conversation, time management features quite heavily. For a lot of freelancers, or solopreneurs, their business starts of as a “side hustle” that they fit in to their evenings and weekends, once they’ve got home from their regular jobs. So time is a factor. 

    But not all busyness is fixable.

    I was listening to one particular podcast the other day, where a time management guru asked the listeners whether they valued entertainment or learning more. And challenged them to look at whether the way they spent their time reflected this. Basically, if you say you value learning, but you spend 3 hours every evening watching Netflix instead of working through the digital marketing course you bought or starting your novel, then you’re kidding yourself. 

    As I drove along the road from school I realized why this particular podcast episode was making me cross. It was because I’d consistently heard from business guru after business guru that we all have time to do the things we want to do (workout, learn a skill, start a business); we’re just not looking hard enough. 

    Trust me. I’m looking pretty hard. And, unless you want me to stage my client calls at 3 in the morning while I’m breastfeeding a baby, I’m a little confused as to where all these magic pockets of time in my day are. Because I do actually value learning. But the last time i sat down to look through the digital marketing course I bought I realized that there were two loads of washing to put away, one to put in the machine, and the breakfast things still hadn’t made it to the dishwasher. 

    2 weeks ago I downloaded a 14 day bootcamp from a very well-known copywriting business that rhymes with snottypackers. Now I appreciate a no-nonsense tone as much as the next impatient person. But Day 1 focused on setting up your workspace, and argued that unless you had a specific area that was just for you to work in, with a door you could close, and scheduled times that you coud go and do that work with no distractions, then basically you were playing at this whole business thing and no-one would take you seriously.

    Life doesn’t work like that if you have kids, especially small ones. 

    Copywriting and kids – the reality

    This blog post for example. I was meant to write it after Erica went down for her afternoon nap. But she didn’t. After I’d spent 45 minutes trying to get her to drift off. So it was written in 3 minute blasts between getting her food, getting her to eat the food and not throw it all over the dining room, changing her nappy, explaining to her that eating chalk was not sensible, and finally giving in and finishing it off later in the evening.

    But I am a freelance copywriter. I have regular clients who pay me for work and give me glowing testimonials. My earnings pay bills. And I’m serious about growing my business. So where does that leave me in this story?

    Maybe there are a whole bunch of people sat on their bottoms watching Schitt’s Creek who just need to be told to get up and work towards their goal. But I reckon that (especially during the pandemic) there are even more people who are trying to follow their dream of a small business or a freelance career whilst teaching their daughter long division, battling zoom parents evenings, and bouncing toddlers who suddenly decide sleep is for losers at 18 months old.

    I want time management and business tips from people who are making it work while balancing a baby on one hip. I want to hear their top tips for how to deal with a pile of client work when they were up every hour the night before. 

    I really don’t want to hear fresh-faced and groomed women on Instagram lives talking about how getting up an hour before their children has been the best thing they could ever do for their business, as now they can get their workout/meditation/journalling/scheduling of social posts done before they embrace their cherubs over breakfast.

    I want to hear from the parents typing blogs one-handed (not that I’m doing that right now, obviously….) whilst holding a poorly preschooler, hoping little hands don’t lean over and delete the last paragraph. I want to hear from the business owners who arrive at school 15 minutes early for pick up so they can answer emails while the baby is contained in the car seat.

    And most of all, I want to hear from them because I’ve spent the last year struggling with my brand voice and communications. I didn’t want to post about the realities of running a business as a Stay at Home Mum, because I was worried clients (and potential clients) would think I wasn’t a professional. I didn’t want them to think I was half-assing my work. 

    But, if anything, I work harder because of my limitations. Just because a blog post might be concepted while I cook spaghetti bolognese doesn’t mean it’s any less of an effective marketing tool. Just because I might be answering their email at 2am while I’m feeding Erica doesn’t mean I’m “phoning it in”. Just because I’m not at my desk (or in a hipster coffee shop) from 10 till 4 doesn’t mean I’m not a credible business woman. I’m just slightly more covered in humus than business women tend to be. 

    So, podcast hosts: bring on the mess and the honesty, and lead me to the women (and men) who I know are knocking it out of the park while literally holding the baby!

    And if you need a copywriter with great time management and multitasking skills (who may or may not be covered in humus) to give your website a polish, your emails the relatable touch, or to inject new blood into your blogs, then give me a call!

    EDIT: You can now find my 8 Tips for Entrepreneur Parenting here. And listen to me talking about all this with the Filthy Rich Writer team on their podcast here.

    Carry on reading