Brandmerry Blog Archives
About Me Page Template and Example for Entrepreneurs
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
We are going to talk about one of my favorite pages of your website as an entrepreneur. That's right. I'm going to teach you my secret formula for an About Me page that converts.
Truth be told, I have been talking about the power of an About Me page since 2016. The reason for that is I started to realize that my About Me page was getting a ton of traffic. Primarily, people who were visiting my website were also checking out my story page.
Then as I started to pay a little bit more attention testing some different links and so on and so forth, I noticed that people were also opting in from my About Me page, meaning they were grabbing my freebie.
My About Me page was getting people to sign up for my email list. Then, I knew I hit the sweet spot when I had multiple new clients tell me that it was my About Me page that helped them decide to work with me over someone else.
Since then, I have been raving about the power of an About Me page. To be honest, your About Me page, not just in my case but in general, is the second most read page on your website. The first one, of course, being your homepage. I actually have an entire video that teaches you how to format your homepage. You can check that out right here.
Not only is your About Me page the second most visited page on your website, but it's where you get to really harness the power of storytelling. Something else I talk about a lot on this channel, multiple videos for you on that.
WHY STORYTELLING IS IMPORTANT
It provides a more memorable experience for your audience. Studies show that storytelling can actually increase how memorable your content is by 22 times. That means by adding a story into your content, no matter where you're posting it, you're becoming more memorable.
Now, we're talking about an entire page dedicated to storytelling. Just imagine what you can do. We also know that storytelling can increase the connection between a brand and a consumer. In fact, purchase decisions are made from the emotional side of our brain, not the logistics side. That's where we justify it. The emotional side is where most of our purchase decisions are being made.
Storytelling is a great way to build that connection with the consumer. Truth be told, there are multiple brands, multiple businesses doing the exact same thing as you. I'm sorry if that makes me sound like a Debbie Downer, but it's actually an opportunity. An opportunity for you to stand out and connect with your ideal customer on a deeper level.
If someone is exploring their options of a particular product or service to buy, and seeing what kind of brand speaks to them, your About Me page is where you can ultimately seal the deal.
I have used this exact strategy to sign numerous clients in my business, sometimes without a single form of communication before the purchase and them telling me after the fact that they decided because of my story.
HOW TO STRUCTURE YOUR ABOUT ME PAGE
What do we do with this information? We create an About Me page that is rocking and rolling and touches on some key points.
Now, I'm going to share with you my signature way to structure an About Me page. This works really well for coaches and consultants, anyone in the service-based industry, but I have had my product-based businesses follow a very similar structure as well.
ABOUT ME PAGE STEP ONE: IDENTIFY THREE TRANSITIONS
Essentially, the idea is to share your brand story broken up into three transitions.
Now, three is just a magic number that I have chosen. If you have four or five, that's okay too, but I recommend that you do your very best to point out three specific points of your story.
How do you do this? You want to think about three specific transitions or turning points in your story. Because you're a service-based business owner, you're creating more of a personal brand, meaning that your story is most likely the reason why you are choosing to run the business that you have today.
The first thing that I want you to do is free write. Don't think specifically about the service that you're offering. Don't even think specifically about your brand messaging, if you've figured that out. Just free write and think about your life story and the different moments where you were presented with an opportunity. An opportunity to change direction, whether it was a good opportunity or a not so great opportunity. Where you, yourself looked at that situation and said, "Look, I'm going to choose something different." That's what I mean by a transition.
Let me give you an example of my three transitions that I use on my About Me page, which you can always check out on my website brandmerry.com..
The first transition is when I decided not to go to a university and instead move to California to pursue my passion of theater. I was only 17 at the time. I had basically a full ride scholarship to school and I graduated near the top of my class. This was a big deal that I decided not to go to school.
The second transition in my life is the unfortunate passing of my brother to cancer. My brother passed away in 2009. As you can imagine, that was a pivotal moment in my story and a huge transition because what I chose to do next really impacted the rest of my life.
The third transition, and ultimately the start of my business, was the birth of my son in 2015.
Now, obviously a lot has happened in between those three transitions. We're going back to 2005. We've got 2009 and then 2015 as it relates to my story.
I'm not focused on all the nitty gritty little details in between. Those are great micro stories that we could share on social media, but for our purposes, I'm focused on these three main transitions.
ABOUT ME PAGE STEP TWO: HOW WERE YOU CHANGED
Now, when you think of your three transitions, the next step I want you to do is identify how you grew from each of those or how you were changed. Not so much what happened, but what did you do in that situation?
In my case, the very first one, I made a decision to go against what was expected of me and move to California. In the second transition, I was met with an incredible loss and incredible grief. In that moment, I decided to start living my life more in alignment with who I wanted to be than who others were expecting me to be. I realized in that moment that I didn't have a lot of time. That time was very limited and I was going to use it to its greatest potential. My third transition, the birth of my son and going through my postpartum experience, just further gave me the drive that I needed to create the beautiful life that I now have today. Ultimately, creating my business, Brandmerry.
ABOUT ME PAGE STEP THREE: LOOK FOR THE CONNECTOR
Now that you've identified the three transitions and you have identified what has happened in each of those three transitions, I want you to look for the connector.
How are these pieces connected?
What does this tell you about the work that you're doing?
Does this relate to your mission?
Is this closely related to your ideal customer?
What is coming up for you around these connectors?
For me, it was all about this life of freedom, something I talk about a lot. Having the time, financial, and location freedom, and building something that was really in alignment with who I was at my core and not what was expected of me by other people.
ABOUT ME PAGE STEP FOUR: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
This ultimately led to all of the messaging that you see today with Brandmerry and is the core staple of my brand story. When you're structuring your About Me page, you literally get to plug and play.
You'll start at the beginning with leading into the first transition. Sharing what happened, what you learned, and then going into the second transition. Sharing what happened and what you learned. Going into the third transition sharing what happened, sharing what you learned, ultimately leading to where you are today.
Today is your business. So when you're positioning this part of the About Me page, you've been telling an amazing story. Your ideal customer is getting to know you. They're getting to know your values. They're getting to know what's happened in your past. They're starting to build that connection with you, understanding why you have the business that you have today.
At the bottom of the page, we're giving them the opportunity to continue, to now say, "I want that or I want your support," and we're positioning our offer at the very end. You are taking your reader on a journey. You're inviting them into your story, which in turn, makes them look at their story and what they ultimately want to create.
A few key things I want you to keep in mind: Number one, this is an evolution. Just like any great story, you're going to have a beginning, a middle and an end. But in our case, our end isn't permanent. It's always changing. It's always growing because our business is always changing, and is always growing.
Rather than ending the story and putting a period on it, you're instead offering your audience to come and invite them into your story, invite them into your work.
Rather than thinking of the beginning, middle, and end, this is the very end of the story, its beginning, middle and an invitation to move forward. This is incredibly helpful because I find that a lot of people when doing their story page or they're About Me page, actually miss the opportunity to invite their audience to take the next step.
Instead, they're just telling their story and not focusing on who is actually receiving that information, which brings me to a very important part. Yes, you're going to be sharing your story and yes, I stand on the side that says your About Me page should be about you, the brand.
If I see something that says about me, and I'm going to that page to learn more about that person and they're not telling me anything, I'm going to peace out. It has been About Me pages and My Story pages that have gotten me to take action on specific brands.
I shop around. I love research, and if I can't decide between three different brands who have a very similar product, I will always go to the story page so I can learn more about the mission, about the values, and about the story behind that business. Whichever one registers best with me is the brand that I go with.
Studies show that this is true for consumers. One of the ways that you can invite your audience into your story, a little secret for you, is to ask questions throughout your About Me page.
You can go read my full About Me page over at brandmerry.com, but an example of this might be when I share the story of my son being born and me deciding to start my business, I ask questions like, "Have you had a moment where you realized that you wanted something greater? Do you remember that moment when you decided you wanted to start your business?"
I'm telling my story, but I'm constantly checking in with my ideal customer to let them know that I get them. I also know where they're coming from and I'm giving them these questions so that rather than just reading about me, they're also reflecting about themselves.
At the end of the day, an About Me page and storytelling in general is incredibly powerful because it allows you to create and provide empathy and authority. You're able to connect with your ideal customer as well as position yourself as the solution to the problem. This is incredibly powerful and why storytelling is one of my favorite things to teach at Brandmerry.
CONCLUSION
There you have it. There is the signature structure for an About Me page, something I have been teaching for years, and I have literally only updated my About Me page one time in my entire business. I haven't even changed the three transitions. I think I just went in and added some photos here and there and updated the layout. The story has remained the same.
Time and time again, we see that my About page is leading to email subscribers and sales. I know that it can do the same for you. I can't wait to see what you create with your About Me page.
P.S. Ready to get your brand seen and paid without the pressure of social media? I'm teaching my top strategies inside of my new free class, "How to Build a Brand That Gets Seen and Paid!" You're invited to tune in and learn my signature 3-part framework for a sustainable 6-figure brand. Sign up to watch for free at Brandmerry.com/class
- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -
DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES
LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS
MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR
- READ THE LATEST POSTS -
MEET MICHELLE
Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.
I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.
I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.
This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.
The Importance of a Growth Mindset When Building a Sustainable 6-Figure Brand and Business
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
As a Brand Strategist, I can tell you all day the nuts and bolts of how to build a business. More specifically, I can give you the strategies and how-to's to do it sustainably.
But, understanding the how of building a business is only part of the challenge. The other part is your mindset.
Over the years, and hundreds of clients later, I've recognized that building a truly sustainable business comes down to sustainable revenue, time management, and alignment/joy. It's something I shared inside part one of the Sustainable Business Series here on The Brandmerry Podcast.
And today's episode is all about that last piece - alignment/joy. In order to build a sustainable business, you've got to have the mindset to back it up.
In order to implement the strategies, you've got to have the confidence to do so.
In order to master your visibility plan, you've got to have the courage to show up.
In order to continue to grow and expand as a business owner, you've got to know how to check in and challenge your way of thinking.
In order to take the steps to reach that next income level, you've got to have the belief that you can!
So much of our success in building a sustainable business comes down to our growth mindset as entrepreneurs.
In Episode 43, of the Brandmerry Podcast, I'm interviewing Brandmery Academy Mindset Mentor Tani Morgan.
Tani is the founder of tanimorgan.com where she helps new entrepreneurs struggling to achieve their biz goals to confidently sell their offers, raise their prices and exceed their income goals.
Tani is not only my very first client and dear friend, but also who I trust to support clients inside of Brandmerry Academy. Tani leads monthly mindset calls for our members and supports them inside of our community.
Tune in now to hear:
Why mindset is so important as an entrepreneur and crucial when building a sustainable 6-figure business.
The major signs that an entrepreneur is avoiding the mindset work and ultimately stalling their over business growth and revenue generation.
The top actionable steps Tani recommends entrepreneurs take to improve their growth mindset and excel at visibility, sales and serving their clients.
Tune in now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to hear the full episode and all the tips.
P.S. Ready to get your brand seen and paid without the pressure of social media? I'm teaching my top strategies inside of my new free class, "How to Build a Brand That Gets Seen and Paid!" You're invited to tune in and learn my signature 3-part framework for a sustainable 6-figure brand. Sign up to watch for free at Brandmerry.com/class
- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -
DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES
LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS
MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR
- READ THE LATEST POSTS -
MEET MICHELLE
Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.
I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.
I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.
This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.
What is Sustainability in Business
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
In 2019, my family and I made a big life decision and decided to sell our home and move into an RV.
The goal was to travel the United States for a few years, something we'd been putting on the back burner for quite some time but felt the need to take action on after a year of tremendous loss and grief.
And because of that decision in 2019, my entire outlook on building a business changed.
I had always been a hustler! And truth be told, it 100% got me to 6-figures in revenue during my first full year in business. But, the way in which I was hustling was nonstop and the way in which I was marketing my business just wasn't sustainable.
As we began to travel the US we not only experienced much more freedom as a family, but also limited access to WIFI. The combination of these two pieces had me rethink just how I was showing up in my business, marketing my business and more importantly spending my time.
I didn't know it at the time, but my business went from a 6-figure business to a sustainable 6-figure business. Suddenly, I was not only focused on generating revenue, but doing it in the most sustainable way.
This focus on building a sustainable business model is the reason I created my program Brandmerry Academy in 2020.
But, over the years, I've found that the idea of what sustainability really means can be confusing to some.
Today, on the Brandmerry Podcast, I'm kicking off the "Sustainable Business Series." A series where we will dive into sustainable business practices, habit building, finance, systems, mindset and so much more.
At Brandmerry we believe that every entrepreneur deserves a business that gives them the time and space to truly live and it starts here!
Tune in now to hear:
What sustainability means to us at Brandmerry and why it's such an important aspiration for so many entrepreneurs.
The 3 pillars of a sustainable business and how each pillar is equally important - miss one and you'll miss the mark.
The biggest misconception about building a sustainable business!
Tune in now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to hear the full episode and all the tips.
P.S. Ready to get your brand seen and paid without the pressure of social media? I'm teaching my top strategies inside of my new free class, "How to Build a Brand That Gets Seen and Paid!" You're invited to tune in and learn my signature 3-part framework for a sustainable 6-figure brand. Sign up to watch for free at Brandmerry.com/class
- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -
DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES
LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS
MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR
- READ THE LATEST POSTS -
MEET MICHELLE
Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.
I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.
I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.
This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.
Quarterly Planning Tips for Entrepreneurs
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
Last year, I released a video all about planning six months in business. If you haven't seen it, watch it here. But I understand that sometimes planning for six months can be a little overwhelming.
So today I want to talk about quarterly planning.
How can you plan 90 days at a time in your business so you're not only more productive and focused, but you actually enjoy your life?
Look, the reality is that you've got to have a plan in place or you're flying by the seat of your pants. When you're constantly flying by the seat of your pants, you're constantly feeling overwhelmed and we don't want that. And guess what? We don't need it.
So if you've always wanted to have a master plan, but you're not exactly sure how to do it, I am going to walk you through my quarterly planning process. I've been using this for years in my business. I teach my clients how to do it inside of my program Brandmerry Academy, as well as my high level clients.
I'm obsessed with planning and the reason that I love having a solid plan is it allows me to focus. I know what I'm working on. I know how to get to my end goal. Let's stop with the wishful thinking. Let's stop with the “I hope I get paid this month” and let's create a plan.
One of the reasons I love focusing on quarterly planning, 90 day planning, is that as a business owner, I am thinking about the quarters in my business.
Quarterly Planning Step 1: Break Down Your Yearly Goal into Each Quarter
So one of the first steps that I have for you is to take your year goal and break it down into each quarter. What I love about this process is it creates mile markers for me to my end goal.
So let's say that you want to create a six figure business this year. You would break that down either equally 25, 25, 25 and 25,000 every single quarter. Or if you know that your kids are going to be home during the summer and you're going to be a little less active, maybe you put a little bit more energy into the front end and the back end.
However you want to break up your end of the year goal, that's going to be the very first step in this process because as business owners our decisions that we make in our branding, in our marketing, and what we're promoting are ultimately leading to our revenue goal.
So reverse engineering is a fantastic way to make sure that you're constantly getting closer and hitting that end of the year goal in business.
Quarterly Planning Step 2: Put Important Dates on the Calendar
Now that you've taken the first step, you know what you want to create for the year in terms of revenue, and you've broken that down into each quarter, now we're going to focus on putting important dates on the calendar for the next 90 days.
So I get it. We were talking about the big picture before. You're focusing on the whole year and I promised you that we were going to talk about 90 days. Now we're talking about 90 days.
So whatever quarter you are currently in right now, we are getting ready to enter into Q2 of 2022, we're going to follow this process. So if you're getting ready to go through April, May and June for Q2, great, but this applies to no matter where you're at in your process or how you're going to be separating the quarters in your business.
The first thing that I love to do is write down major dates for the next 90 days. Now this includes any holidays, any breaks, any prior commitments that you already have and vacations. Yes, when we are planning your quarterly plan, I want you to choose one week every single quarter where you are going to step away from work. No creating, no working with clients, none of it and you're just going to play, rest and rejuvenate yourself because you need it.
So we've scheduled holidays. We've scheduled breaks. We've put our one week vacation in there.
Now, if there are any specific launches that you know you're going to do over the next 90 days, put those in your calendar as well. This could be a new book launch that you're going to be doing, a new course or a new product that you're going to be launching. It could be your signature product that you know you're going to launch in May. Whatever it is, get it on the calendar now.
Yes, as we're going through this process, I want you to specifically put this stuff in a calendar. Don't just write it down in a notebook and then forget the notebook later on. Put it in your calendar and bonus points if you can put it in your digital calendar, like your Google Calendar as well, so that when you are looking and someone's asking you, "Oh, are you free this day?" You can be like, "No, I'm not. I'm on my quarterly week of rest."
So now you have your specific quarterly goal in terms of revenue, you have your very specific dates that are pretty much non-negotiable. The launches that you want to honor, your week of rest. Don't forget. It's important. You've got your breaks. You've got your holidays.
Quarterly Planning Step 3: Quarterly Focus
Now what we're going to do is look at that and say, “okay, what is my quarterly focus? What am I going to be focused on this quarter? Is it going to be a specific product or a service that I'm going to be launching? Am I going to be creating something? Am I focused on really growing my email list because I want to launch later in the year?” What is your focus going to be? Are you going to roll out a YouTube channel and you want to get those subscribers up?
Whatever that looks like for you, what are you going to focus on this quarter? Now I really like to do a quarterly focus because we're going to talk about in the next step how we break that down. But this is giving you a full 90 days to focus your energy on one core part of your business.
Now obviously there are ongoing things that you need to do. Take care of your clients, talk about your products and your services. You're going to be marketing, all of that but what are you focusing your other energy on in your business? Is there something you've been wanting to start, release? Something like that? What is that going to be?
So think about the full quarter focus. What are you going to be focused on for the next 90 days?
The next step is to then break that down monthly. So I'll give you an example.
Let's say that for the next quarter I am focused on my program Brandmerry Academy. So I know that I'm going to have a launch in January, which we did. Then in February, we're going to be focused on onboarding, releasing our new membership site, testing all of the things. Then in March, I'm going to be focused on elevating some of the programs. So adjusting some of the programs, adding some new content in there. But my focus is really on the Academy. Each month I've got a really clear task that I want to achieve by the end of the month.
What that allows me to do is consistently move forward to my goals. No matter what's happening with the day to day things, the admin, the finance, the clients, the fires that you have to put out, the social media marketing, all of those different things, I know that I'm on track to hit my one monthly focus, which is then going to allow me to hit my quarterly focus. Which is then going to allow me to hit my quarterly revenue goal.
Quarterly Planning Step 4: Get Specific About Monthly Dates
The next thing that you want to do is get really specific with your monthly dates. So we've done the week of rest. We focused on the holidays, breaks, and any big launches. Is there anything else that's going to be coming up for you in regards to those specific focuses?
Let's say you are planning on launching at the end of January. Are you going to do a free class? Are you going to do any sort of promotion? You're going to want to put those in your calendar now so that you can prepare and they're not just coming at you at the last minute. This is going to allow you to take those small steps to get to your goal rather than feeling overwhelmed at the last minute because it totally snuck up on you.
So now that you have your monthly focus, what I recommend doing is putting in any other micro dates that you have to actually achieve that focus that you've put out there intentionally.
Quarterly Planning Step 5: Start Writing Your To-Do List
There are a lot of monthly focuses. There are a lot of dates. There's a lot going on, but I swear, we're almost done. Now you're going to get really, really micro with it and start mapping out your to-do list.
This is not something that you have to do for the entire quarter. I personally like to do that, but you want to at least focus on the next 30 days. So we're using this example of launching. If I'm going to be launching my program Brandmerry Academy, these are the very specific dates that I'm going to honor. I'm going to be doing a masterclass. I'm going to be doing a wait list. I'm going to be releasing some YouTube videos, whatever it is, what are the steps that I need to take to get there?
I love a good brain dump. I have this theory. I tell all my friends, I tell my family, but when we keep everything in our head, we can feel really overwhelmed. We find that we never actually have breathing space outside of our business. We're constantly thinking about all the things that we need to do.
What I love to do is any time I'm in that head space, I will write down everything that's in my head. Every single thing that I can think of that is happening and clear the space. This allows me to enjoy, and play and step away, which ultimately will help me in my business.
So what I love to do when I've got a big goal is sit down. I sit down with my notebook and I write down every little thing that I can think of that's going to help me achieve that goal. It's going to create more space. It's going to reduce the overwhelm and guess what? It's going to actually allow you to get those things done because oftentimes when they're living up here and then other things from life are being thrown at you, we forget them. Then the launch is over and you're like, “oh, I totally meant to do that.” Write it down, make a massive to-do list. It doesn't have to be fancy, but get it out of here.
Quarterly Planning Step 6: Plan Out Your Content
The last thing that I do is I plan out my content. Yes, I love planning 90 days of content. I created an entire video teaching you my process, exactly how I do that. I highly recommend it for all entrepreneurs, but this is kind of the final step.
The reason for that is that we're now crystal clear on our goal. We know what we're focusing on for the quarter. We know what we're focusing on monthly. We've got our important dates in there. Not just launching, but also taking time and breaks to play and create balance.
Because content creation is such a vital part of getting your brand seen and paid, it's something that you want to map out in advance. Because if you're flying by the seat of your pants and saying, “oh my gosh, I’ve got to create a video this week. Oh my gosh, I have to show up and create a podcast.” It's going to create a lot of stress.
The more that you can plan out your topics and know what you're going to be talking about each week, coincide those content topics with launches and important dates that you now see right in front of you, it's going to streamline this process.
So make sure you watch that video Planning Out 90 Days of Content where I break down my step by step process. But this is the final part in your quarterly business plan.
At this point, you will have a 90 day calendar with your vacation days. I'm just going to keep saying it over and over again. Your vacation days, your breaks, important things that are happening in your personal life, as well as your business. Any major launches that you have. Any courses that you're going to be putting out there, any events that you're going to be doing, it’s all on your calendar. You're going to have a massive to-do list, at least for the next 30 days, of things that you're going to be doing to achieve those goals, and you're going to have your content mapped out.
Getting It Scheduled
I'm going to really quickly just show you my 90 days. As I mentioned, we're entering the end of Q1 heading into Q2 and so this has got a lot of crosses in it. But do you see, this is what I'm talking about. I've got this very big plan here. We've got post-its for every YouTube video that I'm doing. We've got launches up there. We've got vacations on there. We've got the whole shebang. So do you see what I mean? You want to visually be able to see that.
I also have all that important stuff inside of my Google Calendar, because then if I'm out and about, and I'm talking to someone and they're like, "Are you available on this day?" I can make sure that I actually have the capacity to take that on. I'm not overbooking myself. I'm not stretching myself too thin.
I also really wanted to share with you a little acronym to help you remember how to best plan your quarter and how to best improve your productivity and improve your focus. These are kind of the five pieces that I really, really try to honor, no matter what I'm planning in my life. Whether it's quarterly, six months, or an entire year.
Quarterly Planning with STARS
It's the STARS acronym, because I want you to be a freaking star at planning and executing your plans. So I'm going to share that with you as a little reminder for us to close out this video.
The S stands for schedule it. I've said this a lot inside of this video and in all of my productivity and planning videos. But if it's not on the schedule, it's a lot easier to bump it down in your priority list. I'm a big fan of really honoring my priorities. That's why we follow the process that I just shared with you and saying, “what are the things I want to work on? What are the things I want to do? What is my vacation time?” Getting that on your schedule.
Then know that it's not really negotiable. If someone comes at you and says, "Hey, could you do this? Could you fit this in?" You can look at your schedule and you can say, "You know what? I don't have the capacity to take that on at this time. I have other priorities that I'm working towards."
The T is for take time out. You need to take breaks and as I mentioned inside of this video, I recommend that you schedule those breaks. At the bare minimum, please schedule one week off every single quarter where you can step away from your work as an entrepreneur. I also recommend that if you're feeling a little bit overwhelmed, maybe there's a little bit of weight on your shoulders and you're just noticing that it's time to hit the pause button, schedule yourself a Friday off.
As you begin to go full-time in your business, if you are working part-time or as you begin to have more control over your entire schedule, you can start to work in those weekly days off. I typically don’t do calls on Friday. I don’t schedule any appointments. So if I do feel inspired to work, I can, but I'm typically taking that day for self care.
The A is for adjust. You need to be flexible. I hear this a lot when entrepreneurs are like, "Well, I don't want to have a plan because then I'm afraid that if I get an idea, I won't honor it. Or if I have a plan and it'll be so rigid that I won't feel inspired."
I've actually found the opposite to be true. In fact, when I have a plan, I have more mental clarity and more space for inspiration. That's where this adjust comes in. If something comes up for you and you're feeling really called to experiment with it, if something's not working in your business and you've given it that full 30 days and you want to make some small adjustments, please do. This is all about creating that balance, that adaptability, and you need to be open to moving things around.
This is one of the reasons that I love to plan a full 90 days in my business, because for marketing specifically, you want to give it enough time, enough consistency to work well. But then as you start to move into that 90 day, you notice this is not working, you can adjust your game plan. Especially if you are doing this quarterly plan early in the year, you can make those adjustments as you then plan out the next quarter and the next quarter, which will ultimately help you reach your end goal, your revenue stream in business, in a way that feels really good to you.
The R is for reflect. Now you absolutely need to take time to pause at the end of every quarter, bare minimum, to reflect on what happened. One of the things that I love to do is actually reflect on how I'm feeling about the previous quarter.
So this isn't so much a planning part of the process, but it's going to help you plan for the next 90 days. Last week, I released a podcast episode on the Brandmerry podcast, where I shared how I audit my business every 90 days. While I am looking at things regarding data like email list growth, website traffic, sales, revenue, all of that, I'm also taking a large portion of my time to reflect on how I'm feeling. What has brought me joy in my business? What felt like a challenge or a struggle that I didn't really enjoy? What did I want to do and I didn't make time for? How am I feeling going into the next quarter?
This is how we built sustainable businesses because we're checking in with ourselves and we're making these aligned decisions.
Finally, we end with our final S, stay focused. Stay on track. This is why I love a good solid plan because it gives me a clear direction on what I'm working towards. One of the things that I have really started to master in my business specifically is putting on my blinders and staying focused on what I ultimately want to achieve.
Sometimes this looks like unfollowing people on social media because they're giving me a lot of messages, or not opting into freebies, or master classes, or searching for outside support out of what I'm currently focused on.
A great example of this is when I am working on maybe evergreening a program, meaning I have my program Brandmerry Academy and I want to create a passive way for individuals to join my email list, to hear about the program, and ultimately join.
If I have a plan in place for how I want to execute that and I've thought about that and I've mapped it all out, there's a lot of information online of all the different ways that I could do that. But what I want to do first is honor my instincts, honor my intuition and kind of block out the noise. So I want to give myself those 90 days to focus on getting that up and running, then of course, analyze and reflect, and if I need additional support, I can seek it. But that's a great example of really staying focused. You've mapped out what you want, put your blinders on and stay really focused and try to block out all of the excess noise.
There you have it, quarterly planning. I hope that this was really helpful in breaking down the step-by-step, and giving you some bonus tips for actually sticking to it and achieving it. Again, I have an entire video on six months planning if you want to check that out as well. If you're an entrepreneur or content creator, I also have an amazing video on planning 90 days worth of content. I know we touched on that a little bit in the planning process, but I show you a full behind the scenes in this video.
P.S. Ready to get your brand seen and paid without the pressure of social media? I'm teaching my top strategies inside of my new free class, "How to Build a Brand That Gets Seen and Paid!" You're invited to tune in and learn my signature 3-part framework for a sustainable 6-figure brand. Sign up to watch for free at Brandmerry.com/class
- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -
DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES
LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS
MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR
- READ THE LATEST POSTS -
MEET MICHELLE
Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.
I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.
I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.
This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.
How to Conduct a Quarterly Small Business Audit
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
At Brandmerry, we are big fans of planning.
Planning for the year.
Planning for 6 months.
Planning for each quarter.
But, we also know that planning is only half of the battle.
Having plans and never checking in on their progress can easily lead to a lack of progress.
Things can shift so quickly in online business that if you’re not consistently checking in on your progress, what’s working, and what’s not, you might get caught off guard a little too late.
And that’s just in reference to your data. Now let’s talk about your personal life - how often are you checking in on how your business goals are fitting into your personal lifestyle?
This is something I do regularly as a business owner and every quarter (i.e. 90 days) I’m checking in on my goals, the data behind them, and most importantly, how I feel about the work I’m doing.
For me, this is key to building a sustainable business and something I encourage my clients to do as well.
Today on the podcast, I’m sharing my top questions and tips to Conduct a Quarterly Small Business Audit.
Listen in to the episode for the full rundown of each question below and additional tips for evaluation and then come back and copy these questions for your personal audit.
I recommend completing this audit at the end of every quarter.
Then take the information you have in front of you and make adjustments to your goals.
This is a fantastic way to stay on track and make sure you’re making aligned decisions in life and business.
QUARTERLY SMALL BUSINESS AUDIT QUESTIONS:
Part One: Reflection
What did you love about your work this quarter?
What didn't you find joy in?
What felt draining or not in alignment?
Looking back, what would you have changed about this quarter?
Were there actions you knew you should have done, that you didn't get to?
Looking back, what did you accomplish? Let's celebrate that!
What do you want to bring into the next quarter?
Part Two: Data Audit
What is your current email list size?
What is your current website traffic for each month of the quarter?
What activities generated the subscribers? (base this off of your marketing efforts - examples include: Youtube, Instagram, Website Traffic, Pinterest, Podcasting, Reels)
If multiple offers, which offer brought in the most money?
How much did you spend on that offer in advertising?
What offer had the biggest ROI (return on investment)?
What was your cash income for each month in the quarter?
Your best income month? Why?
Your lowest income month? Why?
What was your cash income for the quarter as a whole?
What is your goal for the next quarter? Think revenue, launches, hires, marketing, etc...
Tune in now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to hear the full episode and all the tips.
P.S. Ready to get your brand seen and paid without the pressure of social media? I'm teaching my top strategies inside of my new free class, "How to Build a Brand That Gets Seen and Paid!" You're invited to tune in and learn my signature 3-part framework for a sustainable 6-figure brand. Sign up to watch for free at Brandmerry.com/class
- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -
DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES
LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS
MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR
- READ THE LATEST POSTS -
MEET MICHELLE
Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.
I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.
I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.
This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.