BEING A BUSINESS OWNER WHO MAKES SH*T HAPPEN
I HEAR THESE ALL THE TIME:
I'm waiting on the images
I'm waiting to be invited to be a part of a workshop
I'm waiting for the right time to add floral design to my business model
I'm waiting for this photographer to call me back
I'm waiting to get the type of wedding that is in my target market
I'm waiting to get more weddings before I design my website
I'm waiting to tackle Instagram and post a lot to my feed because I don't have the right images
I'm waiting, I'm waiting, I'm waiting, I'm waiting, I'm waiting
STOP WAITING!!!!!
I hate waiting. In fact, I hate waiting so much that I won't. If I want something to happen I start making the calls, sending the texts, drafting the emails ... making sh*t happen is fun and it makes me extremely happy!!! It's fuel to my soul. When I'm coaching my clients I hear a lot of 'holding back' when I ask them questions like:
Did you get this wedding featured?
Are you participating in local styled shoots?
Did you blog about this event yet?
Sometimes the reasons I hear for 'why they didn't' confuse me ...
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??????
Here are 5 things you can start doing today that can boost your business:
1. POSTING TO INSTAGRAM 5 TIMES
The excuses I hear for not using Instagram:
I don't have the right images
I don't have time
I don't know how
I don't know what to write
I don't have any followers
blah blah blah blah blah(!!!!!)
^^ BULLSH*T!!!!!!
First of all, the cool thing about Instagram is it's attached to a camera ... if you don't have images, then take some! Second of all, it takes less than 3 minutes to post to Instagram. Third, watch a YouTube video or ask a friend to teach you how to use it. Fourth, nobody is reading what you wrote - they are looking at the images, either liking it or not liking it - and moving onto the next one. Fifth, with that attitude you'll never get any. Sixth, exactly.
Here's the thing: You have to be on Instagram. That's where the action currently is. So here is my challenge to you: post to Instagram 5 times today. Once when you first wake up, once during or after coffee, once at lunch, once before dinner, and once before you go to bed. Try to comment and like at least 10 images << this literally takes ZERO time.
So, Heather, you're saying that people who are paid to manage social media accounts have a job that takes zero minutes??? NO. Those people work their asses off, but they are doing about 100+ times what I am suggesting. If you *really* want to boost your Instagram account you should definitely look into hiring a social media manager, because they make sh*t happen on a way higher level ... what I am trying to do here is create a habit for you to use Instagram. Once you start and find it's working you will probably do it more.
2. MAKING THE DECISION TO BUY A KICK ASS CAMERA
Waiting on images from a photographer or never getting the right ones needs to STOP being an excuse we, as creatives, make. I hear it ALL THE TIME and I can see both sides. On one side, if you are the one who isn't a photographer, if you create amazing work you want images to show it off - on the other side, if you are the photographer, they are your images and you may not have time to pass them around to everyone who asks. Either way, not having images SUCKS THE BIG ONE and photos are necessary to visually share what you do so well. So, I say:
STOP WAITING AND DO
Buy a f*cking camera. Save $1,000 - $5,000+ and buy a really great digital camera. Pay a photographer for an hour ish of their time and learn how to use the thing. Then, have it with you at events. This way you have a backup plan. Take the images you need of the details you created and then you know you have them if the photographer decides that all your emails, calls, and Instagram messages aren't worth replying to.
IMPORTANT(!!!!!): If you go down this road don't EVER photograph during the event! The photographer needs to be the ONLY one taking images with a professional camera and never ever EVER offer your images to the clients. These images should be for you and only you to add to your portfolio.
3. ORGANIZING A STYLED SHOOT
If you have been sitting around like a kid the night before Christmas waiting for that call to be a part of a styled shoot then I say stop it. Don't do that!!! You have a phone, you have an email account, you have the power.
MAKE THE CALLS YOURSELF
Starting the process to organize a styled shoot isn't that hard << sorry, not sorry. Come up with a concept, call the people, do the things. Heather, you sound pretty bitchy. Yep!! Look, you are a business owner because you decided that working for yourself was way better than having a dependable paycheck each month - obviously, you have a killer inside of you!! Take whatever force drove you to start your own business and produce a styled shoot. No time like the present ... in fact, create a styled shoot … here are some tips!
4. HAVING A STRONG WEBSITE PRESENCE
Ok, I'm not pitching myself here ... want proof?? I'm going to tell you to do this yourself. Look, your website is the face of your company. It can't suck. PERIOD. Your website should be the essence of your business! So, if you truly can't afford to hire someone to design it for you, then do it yourself. Honestly. I'm not saying that what I do for my clients doesn't take a lot of experience and know-how << because it does. But if you are suffering and you aren't getting hired and you know your website is 'the ugly' across the internet, then take action into your own hands! Find a template you love and take down the sh*tty website that is making potential clients cringe!! Typically the templates you can buy come with some sort of 'step by step' guide and they try to make it as painless as possible!
5. BLOGGING
I understand that blogging ain't for everyone. You don't like to write, you can't write, writing sucks ... etc(!!!) ... but potential clients like blogs. They feel like they are getting a peek into your latest craze ... if they can't find one there could be a little 'let down' on their end. Or, worse: if you do have a blog and it hasn't been updated in 2 years and the top post is a dated disaster ... well ... eek.
Blogging gives you SEO goodies, it makes you feel empowered, it increases your confidence, it can give you a boost of excitement about your business. If you were forced to sit down and blog about your favorite recent wedding or event I can guaran-f*cking-tee you that you'd start getting excited - the creative juices would start flowing.
350 CHARACTERS
Do you know how many characters is 350?? It's this:
blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh blahh
Do you think you could force yourself to write the 350 characters that Google likes to see for SEO? I'm thinking:
Name the venue and why you love it
Credit the photographer and why you love their work
List 3 things you did for the event or wedding
.... probably don't need this guy!!
It's not hard to write a blog post that Google will appreciate ... so .... try to do it!
I know I sound like a hard-ass ... but I'm not doing you any favors if I support your 'waiting excuses' ... my goal is that your business succeeds ... and taking the reigns and making sh*t happen is how you become successful.
XO~ Heather
