Well, as with most things in life – getting back on track has been easier said than done. The truth of the matter is I’m a shiny ball business ideas person and when one drifts past, or sometimes dives into my head, I can’t help it; hot pursuit doesn’t begin to describe it.
The issue, and I’m sure most of you will have encountered similar, is most shiny, new and brilliant initiatives to better your business, never slip seamlessly into place. They invariably need a completely new app for which...
A portfolio business – sounds great, doesn’t it? And something to which we might all aspire. After all, if one section isn’t doing as well as anticipated, you can give it some TLC, or if that doesn’t work, a good kick up the bottom to get it performing as it should. And obviously, there’s no panic because, in the background, the other areas of your ‘portfolio’ are ticking away nicely.
So, we’re all good then? Well, only if you have all your ducks in a row. Personally, I noticed a few months...
So there I was, emotionally broken and left with a digital disaster.
Turns out that while support staff are extremely knowledgeable, they're not really a shoulder to cry on.
After a while (certainly no more than an hour, hour and a half tops) the person who'd been trying to sort me out (I felt we’d become close), said she'd done all she could, and I really had to stop sobbing now, because she had other people to deal with.
I so hope that as you read this, you’re uttering small tuts of sympathy...
We all know that on every computer, there is an Oh S*** Key. I pressed the one on mine a few months ago and wiped out my entire emailing list.
You ever done anything similar?
I used it to send out the occasional newsletter to those kind souls who’d signed up over the last few years to receive them. My list ran to well over three thousand, each entry dated, sourced and categorised.
To be honest, I did feel a little smug about it. So smug in fact that I thought I’d do a little tidying up here and...
I don’t think there’s ever a business book that takes you by the hand and leads you to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Sad but true. And that’s because the route each of us takes to success is as individual as we are; what works brilliantly for one person might well fall flat on its face for another. What I believe works far better is not a ‘HOW TO’ approach but a ‘WHY NOT LOOK AT IT THIS WAY?’ Which is why I wrote Common Sense Copywriting.
I’m oh so happy to tell others what to do, but practise what I preach? Not so much. Hypocrites don’t come any more hypocritical than me! Which is all well and good if you’re on top of everything, not so clever if it’s the other way around. Time to haul some semblance of order back into my own business.
First things first, I sat down to map out all the exciting things I’d set up, both incoming and outgoing - copywriting, editing, books to update, books to finish, gift range development, sales...
When organisational skills were handed out, I might not have been in the room (possibly not even in the building!), but that’s fine; I’ve always leaned towards the creative. However, a couple of months back, rocking gently, suppressing a strong urge to suck my thumb and sob over which task should be tackled next, it dawned on me all might not be well within my world.
Yes, I was busy - sticking my nose into other people’s businesses, naming, taglining and creating copy for happy clients. I’d...