When You Need to Take a Break From Business

August 4, 2016

Today's blog is a lot different from the usual topics on business insights and practices that I typically share. Instead, I am going to be a bit vulnerable and share with you why I have not blogged for quite some time. With that being said, let's get into this week's blog topic on knowing when you need to take a break from your business and focus on self investment.

We've all heard the age-old ideology on never allowing your personal life affect your business, but let's be honest - that is almost impossible. In March, I went through a life changing event and the thought of blogging, posting to social media, creating beautiful brands and offering business advice seemed completely out of the question. While I wanted to persevere and throw myself into the day-to-day operations of my business, something always pulled me away.

What I soon realized was that the sensation of being pulled away from my business was a calling to focus inwardly and allow myself to self invest. I accepted that I could not wholeheartedly benefit my clients or create great work for my business during those moments. Taking a barre class, saying "no" to things that I did not truly want to do, finally listening to that podcast I've been dying to hear, and just enjoying my personal time are just a few ways that I self invested. This new found investment granted me the time and space I greatly needed to focus internally and re-establish a passion for my business. Sure, I was criticized for my lack of social media and blog posts - but I knew that I could not contribute creatively with my clients and taking a break from business was best.

“The magic is in the mess”

— Brene Brown

Taking this break from my business was not easy, and quite frankly it was scary. However, I knew that it was something that I had to do. I know I am now a much better business owner and consultant for it today! Setting such strict boundaries was the best practice I could have done. I can honestly say that after this brief hiatus from my business, I have become more inspired, motivated and driven than when I first launched Magnolia Media.

If you are not feeling inspired or had a life changing event happen and need a break, know that it is okay to step back. You will not help anyone, if you don't help yourself first. Self investment is not for every person and requires it a lot of strength to step away from day-to-day tasks of your business. If you are interested in taking a break from you business and would like to know more on my self investment journey, please contact me!

3 Ways to Know You're Oversharing on Social Media

May 19, 2016

I have always respected business owners who put some aspect of their personal lives on their professional social media accounts. Being able to post that photo of brunch with your best friends on Sunday or how proud you are of your son's big hit in baseball, represents a level of vulnerability. You are giving your past, present and potential clients a snapshot of your personal life. However, have you ever wondered if a certain post crosses the line for your audience? Or whether you are posting un-professional content too often?

If you take anything away from this week's blog, let it be that separation lies in a need to create a connection with your business audience but limit your personal posts on your professional social media accounts. (P.S. If you don't have separate accounts for your personal and business lives, we'll get to that soon!) Today on the blog, I am sharing three was to know when you're oversharing on your professional social media accounts, and the best tactics to avoid or overcome posting that is too personal.

1 | Lost Followers

This is one of the biggest ways to determine if you are oversharing on your professional social media accounts. Are your overly personal posts and captions creating a yellow-brick road straight to the unfollow button? While I am sure someone wants to see pictures of your adorable puppy, tasty homemade dinner and even maybe a sweaty post-gym selfie, this is not the best representation of your business - especially if you are seeking new clients. Using social media analytic tools (i.ie. Facebook Insights, Simply Measured) will help you gauge how certain posts can boost or drop your following.

NOTE: Sharing one or two personal posts every now and then should not affect your social media accounts. However, when you review your professional feed and see more posts that are personal than business related, it may be time to re-think your campaign.

2 | Engagement Suffers

A second way to tell you're oversharing on social media is a drop in engagement. Social media engagement includes likes, favorites, comments, etc. that a user makes on a post or page. If you average 50 likes on a post when it relates to your business and/or products and receive 15 likes any time you share a picture of your latest craft project, it's high time to make a change in the sake of not losing the complete interest of your followers.

Tip: Benchmarking your social media by posting during your audience's most active times online and mixing up media between images, videos, and text. Well-timed, consistent posts will also help keep your followers engaged.

3 | Diminishing Leads and Referrals

When the number of leads and referrals you receive from social media declines, you are oversharing on your professional social media. If you are taking the time out of our busy schedule to only post once a day, and that post relates to your personal life nine times out of ten, it will be perceived that your personal life trumps your professional life. While this may be true in reality, you never want to put that in lights for your current and potential clients. The other businesses that typical refer you will make note of this and may not show you as much love as they have in the past.

TIP: The best way to combat oversharing is to create separate professional and personal social media accounts. While your business accounts should have a personal touch, over sharing on those accounts can come back to haunt you later.

If you are ready to take your business to the next level through social media marketing, use the content form to chat today!

Finding Your Creative Community

May 5, 2016

With collaborations on the rise, finding your own creative community is more important than ever to build connections and referrals. What's a creative community? It is a network of like-mind business professionals that you would enjoy working with, becoming inspired by, and would learn from. This new-age style of working with other leading industry professionals is THE modern way to network, and to say that we are big fans doesn't cover how much we love this movement!

Now that you know what a creative community is, let's chat about how you can find fellow creatives that you (and your business!) would benefit from and how to benefit from those meetings!

1 | Reach Out

Find someone in the same or similar work profession as you. This fellow creative would be someone you admire, view as a mentor and would enjoy collaborating with! Before you two are able to meet over coffee or cocktail, make it your prerogative to determine how you can help that person. You can do this by means referring them to a potential lead or even sending them a new podcast - whatever comes up during the meeting, see how you can help them. The next time you plan to meet with them, each of you bring another person that would fit in the group. Before you know it your tribe will grow!

TIP: If your schedule does not allow of you to meet in-person as often as you'd like, find an online community! We love The Rising Tide Society and Meetup.com to help you get started.

2 | Bring Something to the Table

What is your creative genius? What makes your business stand out? How can you help other business owners benefit? These are all great questions to ask yourself prior to meeting with your creative community! Having something to bring to the table enhances the experience for everyone in attendance and will help you become a strong opinion leader for the group.

3 | Show Up!

While this goes without saying, showing up to meetings is the only way to be engaged with your creative community! Always remember that you are doing this to benefit yourself and your business, so it is ever-important to pencil in your weekly (or monthly!) meetings with your group and show up!

4 | Work Together

Once that you've cultivated a creative community, do something together outside of your standard meeting! From creating a styled shoot to taking a workshop, there are endless activities that you and your creative community can do to expand your collaborating to the field.

Want to chat more about how you can find a creative community in your area? Contact Alyson today to learn more!