I have a big, icky, business confession to make.
It’s been a long 17 weeks since my business has benefited from any real focus from me. 17 weeks ago, I had to pull my 2.5-year-old from daycare. We also found out we were expecting again!
Enter: First-trimester survival mode with toddler in tow
- 2PM Daily naps (check)
- 8PM bedtime (check)
- Eating every two hours to subside nausea (check)
- House guests for 4 weeks (check)
- 5-week mainland tour to CA, MN, WI, MI, FL & IL (check)
- Dr.’s appointments (check)
So, here I am, confessing my business transgressions:
I haven’t podcasted. I barely answered emails. I haven’t engaged with my FB group or posted on FB or twitter. Hell, my computer even broke and I had to turn down some client work (ugh!).
But you know what? I’m forgiving myself for it.
Thank goodness this online entrepreneurial lifestyle granted me the ability to step away when I didn’t have the headspace to deal.
It’s time to move on and move on up.
Here are the three simple steps I plan to use to get back into the swing of things:
Daily Habit of Producing Content
Word by word and minute by minute I need to get back in the habit of actually CREATING content for this business community that I love so much instead of just consuming content. The content each day may be small, like a 100 word Facebook post, but I’m committing to sharing more of my stories and expertise. My favorite people to follow online (like Nikki Elledge Brown, Ashley Ambirge, and Danielle LaPorte) are all prolific creators of original content that mix business with real life.
This habit will also contribute to the stockade of content I’ll need to surf through the newborn phase in the first quarter of 2016. I realized while I was laying in bed last night that I need at least 12 weeks of content before I deliver baby #2 in December to keep my business going while I spend time snuggling my newborn.
Build Relationships
I’ll be reinvigorating my 100 rejection letter project (a concept I first read from Tiffany Han) and reaching out to sites to guest blog on, podcasts to be interviewed on, to people I’d like to interview, entrepreneurs I’d like to “meet” on Skype, etc. It’s important to increase your outreach through relationships with other entrepreneurs and content creators. It’s win win for everyone involved!
Participate in the Business Community
I’m also going to be participating and supporting others where I can like listening in on people’s live Periscope broadcasts (like Stacey Harris and Alex Beadon), free challenges, and Facebook groups.
As soon as the little guy is back in daycare in August, I’m going to be attending more in-person events as well.
