I love the whole, New Year, New Start vibe, but it’s also cold. And dark. And rather busy catching up after the Christmas break.
So yes, I may feeeeel invigorated and excited for what the next twelve months has to bring, but do I really want to take action in the middle of winter?
Perhaps new year isn’t the best time to start something new, or get invigorated by your business. Just saying.
Maybe Winter should be for wintering and Spring should be the time to spring into action?
When Charlie and Lucie and I were divvying up Breakfast Clubs (or monthly networking events, we take turns to lead the chat), I was delighted that March landed with me.
I started to think about how we, as business owners, needed a spring clean. Three things came to mind.
- Spring Cleaning, in the literal sense, clearing the decks (or desks), getting your ducks in a row and getting the space around you more organised.
- Spring Cleaning one’s mental space. How do we recognise when our minds need a reset. How we identify what we need to focus on?
- Spring Cleaning your business’s marketing. Taking a look at what worked in the past, what’s not worked so well, and how (now that we have a little more light and invigoration in our days) we can start planning for the future.
I invited two lovely Hook Breakfast Club regulars to join me on the stage. To share their top five spring cleaning tips.
Laura, Curated Space, a specialist in Home Organising gave us some wonderful prompts to help us get our home/ offices in order which are so very useful.
1. Clear the clutter: this is a fast action process. Set a timer, use boxes to separate our things into categories.
2. Organise and digitise your documents: Laura asked us if we are a piler or a filer. How do we manage hard copy documents when they come into our world? Stick it in a pile (or a drawer of doom), or file it immediately. Building in a process for dealing with incoming comms, so its actioned, sent to shred, recycled, or filed in a place we can find it in future.
3. Streamline your processes: understanding where repetition is happening, and how to reduce it to make us small business owners much more efficient.
4. Evaluate and optimise your technology: Do we have tech in our world that we aren’t using effectively? There are so many tools out there (some we are already paying for), that can really help clear the clutter. Think Calendly for helping clients book appointments or google drive for sharing files.
5. Develop a maintenance plan: forming habits that will help maintain the clarity of our space and our processes. Label storage so it’s clear where something incoming will live. Or the ‘one in, one out’ rule when buying something new. One brilliant tip Laura gave us to ensure we don’t get swamped again!
Danni, Danni Fraylich Coaching then gave us an introduction into coaching and how it helped bring clarity, connection and purpose to her life.
Danni shared the ‘Wheel of Life’ and invited us to grade the different areas of our life from 1-10. Breaking down our lives in the categories of Personal Growth, Finance, Family, Career, Relaxation, Relationships, Spirituality and Health.
Danni then invited us to highlight what level we would like to see each category at in the future.
Having a visual representation of the current and desired levels gave such clarity to where we need to invest time and energy to improve the balance in our lives.
And my top tips for refreshing your marketing:
Write down your objectives: Understanding where you’d like your business to be is the first step in reaching your goals. Charlie’s goal setting workshops are a brilliant place to start if you’re unsure.
Be clear about your offer: what pain point does your offer solve? For example, Lucie doesn’t provide brand packages, she helps businesses professionally and consistently share their brand message. Charlie doesn’t provide head shot sessions, she gives her clients a wonderful gallery of assets for their business. I don’t offer email marketing set up, I help businesses back up their Instagram with an asset they own.
Think about who your ideal client is: This may be the people you are already serving in your business, it may not. Being really clear on who you work for is so important when we come to your messaging, so you know the pain points of your clients and how your business solves their problem.
What channels are you using? Are you matching the channels your dream clients are using, with those you are using? Of course different channels have different places in your comms funnel, but there is little point hanging out on LinkedIn if all your people are chatting in private Facebook groups. Or spending hours creating Instagram Reels if all of your clients are searching Pinterest.
Build a comms plan: Outlining your campaign messaging at the beginning of each month/ quarter is so powerful. If you are throwing messages out and hoping something will stick, I urge you to try grabbing a monthly planner and mark out key dates, stories you can share, bring your dream clients on a journey and tell them why they should care.
Hopefully these thoughts and tips will help you spring clean your business as we come into lighter and longer days.
B x
This is so helpful B!!! Both talks have invigorated me in ways I can’t explain, I’ve reshuffled my piles, sold my unused clothes and planned for a new space with Laura, and looked inward with Danni. Not only that you B brought these lovely ladies and their businesses to me and the many through The Hook with Charlie and Lucie too. Every month I learn more about business and far more about me than I ever would believe. You guys have done that with the hook community! Thank you