How to Pivot Your Business Without Losing Momentum

How to Pivot Your Business
Without Losing Momentum

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

If you prefer to watch a video version of this post, which is highly recommended, you can do so below.

Last week on the blog, I did a special post on Branding and Messaging Your Business During a Crisis, you can check it out here.

And so many community members asked about a very specific part of that post and video, which was all about pivoting your business.

It makes so much sense that this would be a concern right now as we navigate this Global Pandemic (also known as Coronavirus). It’s got so many businesses thinking, “How do we make money during this time?”

But, to be honest, this isn’t something we should just be prepared for as it applies to a pandemic like this, many business owners might need to pivot their offer, messaging or business due to life changes.

Maybe you’re wondering…
...if now is the right time to sell anything.
...how you should be supporting people.
...what to offer since what you typically do is not possible.
...if your offers or services need to change.
...what you should be charging.

And, that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg with questions running through your head.

I highly suggest writing these prompts and questions down to dive into on your own. Carve out 15 minutes a day to answering these questions to gain clarity on your next steps. 

PHASE ONE: DETERMINE WHAT STAGE YOU ARE IN

The first step is to figure out what stage you are in because every single business is going to be at a different stage, which is going to mean that your pivot is going to look different. 

Nobody's pivot is going to look the same.

Because of this, it can be really easy to get overwhelmed when pivoting because we’ll see other business owners doing something in our niche or similar and we think to ourselves, “I should be doing that! Or should I be doing something different?”

But, we don’t know their story - we might think we know where they are at in their business, but the reality is we probably have no clue.

It’s times like these we need to go inward, worry about our own business, our own progress and our own current stage.

STAGE ONE: YOUR BUSINESS HAS TAKEN A MAJOR HIT

If you’re in this stage, you’re most likely struggling a lot. If you’re a photographer during this particular season of the Coronavirus you’ve had to cancel a lot of your business.

A sign that you are in this stage could be that you’ve taken a major hit financially.

POSSIBILITIES: You can drive more online traffic. You’re going to want to put more time and energy into building an online presence and offering incentives. While you might not be able to physically do your job if you’re a photographer, you could offer gift certificates or coupons if they book now. Think of restaurants around the holidays when they sell a $50 gift card and give you $15 to use on your next visit - same principle.

You might also consider offering something new, I’ve got questions below to support you.

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STAGE TWO: YOUR BUSINESS IS CLOSED

If you’re in this stage, you might have a physical business that is now closed, so your options are to close or move online.

POSSIBILITIES: Move your business online so you can continue to sell. Think about what technology systems you need and how to manage the ins and outs. Every business needs an online presence and you have a chance to build that now. Think of ways to sell gift cards even if it’s not physical products right now. Incorporate incentives as I mentioned above. 

Also, this is a great time to build brand awareness and educate your audience on your product so they can purchase at a later date. Use different tools and resources to drive traffic to your new site like Search Engine Optimization and Pinterest.

This might also be a good time to consider a new offer, I’ve got questions below to support you.

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STAGE THREE: YOUR BUSINESS HAS BEEN FORCED TO SHIFT

This stage could look like a lot of different things. Maybe you’ve experienced a hit, but you have money in savings so you don’t have to actively sell right now. It might also mean that what you sell doesn’t feel good and you want to make some adjustments to your offer or how you message it.

The majority of online businesses typically find themselves in this stage.

POSSIBILITIES: If you’re in this stage it’s about heightening your brand awareness. If what you sell or offer is still valid it’s less about what you offer and how you’re offering it. A big shift during this stage might be a pivot or adjustment in your messaging, along with adjusting the price of your offer.

During this brand awareness phase, it’s also important to explore other avenues. For instance, during the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a drop in people spending their money on marketing. That means ad costs have gone down drastically, so if it’s available to you investing in this aspect now can really pay off in the long run.

SPEAKING OF LONG RUN

When pivoting, or navigating a time of great change, it’s so important to focus on the long game. I hate to be the one to say, but even if you're not making money right now, which is scary, you can set yourself up for massive growth later on.

How can you set yourself up so that you can sell later in the year or next year really, really strong? 

Those are the things that we need to consider because that is the reality. So how do we do that? Let's talk about some questions that I want you to think about around pivoting your offer. 

PHASE TWO: PIVOTING YOUR OFFER OR SERVICE

Let's say that you have an existing offer that's not working, or you have an existing offer that you want to modify. Here are some questions to consider.

What does your audience need right now?

I’m a big fan of market research because I know it changes the game of how we show up, run our businesses and ultimately make sales. If you show up and you ask your audience in this time where they're needing support, they will most likely tell you.

If you don't have an audience already look at other people's threads in your industry, look at what people are Googling, or look and see what people are asking in Facebook groups or threads.

What are people needing right now? 

Let me make this clear, I do not mean everyone. I specifically mean what does your target market need and what would support them in this season of life?

How can you show up and give that to them in a way that is an extension of your brand? 

Is this something existing? Or do you need to create something new? 

For many of you, you are going to have to create something new. You've probably had ideas for things that you can launch or build in the background, but maybe life was too busy so I'm going to challenge you to look back at those ideas that have maybe been sitting on the back burner, on a post-it note on your desk, and start to think, “Is that something that I could create now?”

FEELING STUCK? A NOTE ABOUT BRAND CONTAINERS

Brand Containers are a concept that I teach to all of my clients on the idea that what you sell cannot be your business and brand. If it is you are probably running into a problem right now. 

It’s not about having 75 different offers, it’s about having a brand and having variety, allowing for more flexibility, creation and community building.

When you create a business around a single offer and then want to pivot, it will feel like starting over, but when you create a brand first and foremost it’s much easier.

Imagine 5-7 brand containers of things you love talking about. For my business branding, business coaching and marketing are definitely the main ones, but I also love to talk about travel and could offer a blog or course on how to travel full time.

If you’re interested in learning more about Brand Containers and my branding process, check out youbrandedcourse.com.

The key here is you want to first look for a pivot that is of value to your audience and already connected to your brand as a whole, your Brand Containers can help with this. 

When it comes to pivoting the hardest thing you can do is burn it all down in the hopes to build something new. I encourage you to look more for opportunities or gaps in which you can make small adjustments.

Ask yourself: How can I show up, that's going to be a value to my audience and is already connected to my brand as a whole?

Then it will feel more of like a shift or extension than it does a complete starting over from scratch. 

Pricing Your Offer

If you don’t feel like you need to create something new, just adjust something existing, it’s time to think about how to shift it.

Is there a new pricing structure? 
How can you modify an existing offer to launch something smaller?
Can you take a bigger program or something that you've created and sell it separately as a lower-priced offer? 
How can you repurpose some of the things that you've talked about in the past? 

Think of how you can get creative with what you have. For instance, if you’re a photographer and can’t photograph clients, you don’t necessarily have to declare you’re no longer a photographer. You might be able to adjust your offer to something along the lines of selling a style guide on how to prepare for brand photoshoots or teaching other photographers how to edit their pics.

TO RECAP

What does your audience need?
What can you support them with?
Is there something that you can create that as an extension of your existing brand, think about your brand containers, rather than starting completely over? 
And if you have an existing offer that works, how can you modify it or change the pricing structure? 

PHASE THREE: AWARENESS AND EDUCATION

Phase three is what every single business should still remain focused on during a pivot or crisis. 

The brands and businesses that continue to persevere are the ones that continue to show up, build trust and community. These are the businesses that will experience sales later.  

Pivoting isn’t just about the offer it’s also in your messaging and how you show up.

How can you build brand awareness?
How can you create educational components for your audience?
What does this look like for you? 

Get ready for the questions because here they come. Some things to consider are:

Does your content need to shift during this transition? 
How is your overall brand messaging, is it in alignment with your new direction
Do you need to adjust the platform you are showing up on and reaching your target audience? Do you have SEO on your website? Are you using Pinterest to drive traffic? 
Can you start reaching your new target market with advertisements? 
Do you have a sales funnel set up for onboarding new community members and leading them to a sale on evergreen?

When you’re pivoting it can be really easy to not show up, to not build an audience because you feel like you don’t have it all figured out. Take some time to get clear on your pivot offer and audience and keep showing up. 

People are waiting for your message, even when you’re “figuring it out” keep showing up and building trust.

MISSION-DRIVEN BUSINESS GOALS

When you’re going through a pivot or transition it might feel like you need to create something RIGHT NOW. You might think, “I’m just going to put this out there!”

I'm going to encourage you to slow down just a minute to ask yourself this overarching brand question…

“What’s the purpose behind your business? Why are you doing this in the first place?”

Because the reality is if you run your business just for money, you will run into problems. It has to be more fulfilling. What do you do, when in one season of life you don’t have the money coming in? What continues to drive you?

Questions to consider.

What is your purpose behind your business? 
What is your mission? 
How can you create content and offers and all those things that are in alignment with that? 

And if you don't know this, it’s time to dive deep into your brand.

CONCLUSION + PLANNING

MAKING PLANS

With the info that you have collected from above, I want you to start mapping out and planning your next steps.

I know in times of uncertainty and change, there is power in knowing what direction you're going.

Think of where you are headed, there’s that purpose, mission and long-term thinking again, so you can start taking small steps every single day. Start mapping out what that looks like, but be open to adjusting.

Think about…
How does your content look with these new plans?
What offers are you going to put out there? 
What do you need to create?
How can you start rolling out these changes?

Having a plan is really powerful, even if it needs to change and adjust at least you know which direction you’re headed.

If after you dive into these questions you still feel lost and a little overwhelmed. I always encourage people to get a step-by-step plan. My course You! Branded gives you the pieces to finalize your purpose, mission and so much more to build a strong brand and business upon.

You can learn more about You! Branded and the work we do around niching down, ideal client, messaging, offers and emotional branding at youbrandedcourse.com

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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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.

Work From Home With Kids

Work From Home With Kids

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

**Author's note: I wrote this blog post home alone with a four-year-old. I moved my laptop once to the other room, took my headphones out three times and took a break twice to answer questions. Sure, it isn’t ideal, but it is possible.

I've spent the last four years building my online business with a baby right next to me. 

That’s right when the world is getting thrust into working from home, doing it with our kids and possibly homeschooling to top it all off, this has been my life for the past four years.

So let me tell you, the questions started pouring in...
...how do I structure my day?
...how do I keep the kids entertained and busy so I can work?
...how do I balance it all without losing my mind?

Let’s all take a collective deep breath really quickly.

**Pauses so you actually breathe**

Ok.

Now, I might not have all the answers for this unprecedented time, but I have some tricks up my sleeves that have served my family over the past four years and we’re getting into all of this inside this blog.

If you find this blog useful, there is also a video presentation which you can find below. Please share this blog out with your friends and family to support them during this time.

Before we dive into it all, I promise it’s coming, let me just remind you that no one is expecting you to have this all figured out on day one. How could you?

You’re learning a new way of working, parenting and moving through your day to day. Give yourself some grace as you navigate and I promise the journey will be much more enjoyable.

ROUTINES WHILE WORKING FROM HOME

I understand that your normal routine is completely flipped on its head and that is a lot to handle, however, this allows you to create a new one #silverlining.

One of the areas I highly suggest adjusting your routine is in the morning.

When you’re working from home it’s all on you boo and so you need to be super grounded and prepared as you take on the day. Skipping this time in the morning (which is now much more flexible if you were previously commuting) can lead to short fuses, anger and feeling all over the place throughout the day.

This might mean taking an extra hour in the morning or just 20 minutes to connect, but some of my favorite tips for this time are:

• Get dressed. Seriously, I know it sounds so stupid, but the days when I’m in sweats I’m way less productive. Just put on the pants with a button and a shirt and get this party started.

• Move your body. Sure, you’re used to sitting at a desk all day, but that isn’t going to work at home with kids. Get your energy going in the morning by working out or taking a walk, you’re going to need it.

• Get grounded. Whether you meditate or not is not important, although I’m a big advocate for 10 minutes of mindful thinking and deep breathing every morning, I just want you to chill. Take some time in the morning to feel connected to your body, your mind and mentally prepare yourself for the day ahead.
  

You might be thinking, “Hello! Michelle, I told you I’m doing this with kids?”

Oh, I know and that’s the joy. From an early age, I was including Cal in all my activities in the morning. To this day, we still workout, meditate and journal together. Include your kids in the activity to teach them an important life lesson along the way and to get a little space.

If your kids have never done this, be a little flexible. They might not do the full workout but might jump in and out to join you. If you have Bluetooth headphones try those while meditating and if you’re journaling you can give them crayons and paper to draw a picture.

As with everything presented to us during this time, it’s an opportunity to slow down from our normal rushed routine.

YOUR SCHEDULE WHILE WORKING FROM HOME

Let’s just address the elephant in the room...you’re not going to work uninterrupted for 8 hours, so you’ve got to adjust, but you do need a schedule.

The biggest tip I can give you when it comes to creating a new schedule at home is to pay attention to your kids' rhythms, I promise they have them!

Paying attention to these rhythms, you might not be as familiar with, will show you little pockets and opportunities for extended work periods.

If your kid takes naps throughout the day then utilize those times to dive into your work, eliminate distractions and hustle your way through nap time.

If your kid has certain times of the day when they play well by themselves or get pulled into a project, then plan to get work done during that time. Cal does well in the morning, so after my morning routine, I would dive right into working until about snack/ lunchtime.

PLAN YOUR DAY IN ADVANCE

If you have older kids I suggest having them create their schedule the night before. Take some time together to plan out what the next day might look like.

Do you have meetings? If so, when are they?
Do you have a deadline that needs to be met?
Is there a project your kid is working on with school?

Then fill in the rest. Give your kids the responsibility to map out their day, this will make them freaking excited, and then hold them to it the next day. Use tools like timers to keep track of everyone’s schedule.

You need to do the same. Identify your big priorities for the day, now is not the time to try and do everything on your list. If you go into your day with 3 main priorities and put your focus around that it will make it much easier to feel accomplished than if you’re not clear on the main goals.

Do this every single day, yes every single day! I like to use a free tool like Trello to organize my day to day activities and if you’re working with a team tools like Slack and Zoom are very helpful for team communication (seriously, can we stop emailing each other) and team meetings.

SET THEM UP FOR SUCCESS - WORK FROM HOME TRICK

I’ve read a lot of information online about working from home over the past four years and I swear no one is talking about this.

Either they know and they don’t want to spill the beans or it’s truly something not enough people are utilizing, but THIS right here is what saved me so many times.

If you have a meeting, a big project or an upcoming deadline set your kids up for success during those times.

I know you’re nervous about being interrupted, we all are, but your kids don’t know you have a meeting or even what that means if this is all new to them, so we’ve got to show some grace to both sides.

One way to combat the need for silence and focus it so set your kids up with a project and resources so they don’t need you unless there is an emergency.

So what does this look like?

“Setting Them Up” can be:

• Creating an activity bin that you pull out during meetings or times where focus is needed is exciting for kids and gives them a “this is a special toy” feeling.

• Moving your office outside. Sometimes I would take my calls outside where Cal could run around, play with the dog and explore. He was often entertained for quite some time because it was a new setting for him and I never complained about the fresh air.

• Give them a project. Depending on the age of your kids you’ll have to use your imagination, but some of my favorites were creating a tent and turning on a movie, building something, doing a puzzle, an activity book or reading.

• If all else fails it’s cartoon time! Look if you have a meeting you have a meeting. I’m in no way advocating for your kiddo to be on their tablet or in front of the tv all day, but once and a while momma...GIVE. YOURSELF. A. BREAK! Some of our favorites were Word Party and Beat Bugs on Netflix and the PBS Kids app.
  

In addition to the projects I highly recommend getting some snacks ready.

We try to have a bin in the fridge with cut-up fruit and other snacks so Cal can grab them without having to ask me. Of course, this only works for older kids, but if you’ve got kids under three you can have those snacks at your desk ready to go when they are hungry.

When you can combine a little preparedness with these activities you’ll handle your day so much better. There is a big difference in knowing you have a meeting at 2 pm, so you eat lunch by 1 pm and have the kids ready to go by 1:45 pm so you can get to your meeting VS. realizing at 1:50 you’ve got a meeting in 10 minutes.

Just sayin'.

TAG TEAM WITH YOUR PARTNER

If you have a partner at home it’s time to work as a team, seriously there is no reason to do this alone. Whether your partner is also working from home or gets home at the end of the day there is an opportunity to tag team this whole thing.

And, when this whole Coronavirus thing brings us back to some normalcy you can also lean on support from your community - think neighbors, best friends or hiring support.

I asked my husband Ben what he would recommend from this period when he was working retail and I was working from home with Cal building my business. He said the biggest thing he remembered was asking for chunks of time.

So let’s break down two scenarios.

IF BOTH PARENTS ARE WORKING FROM HOME
If you’re both working from home then together plan your schedule for the day. If someone has meetings all day virtually or projects to complete the other parent is on deck. Then you're able to flip the role when needed. 

IF ONE PARENT IS HOME ALL DAY
This one is much closer to my heart because this was our life for three years. At the beginning of the week, I would do my best to let Ben know when I’d need “uninterrupted time” for calls, writing or recording. But sometimes you just can’t prepare. Don’t be afraid to send that loving, yet kind of urgent text to your partner saying, “I need two hours tonight before dinner, you’re on call!”

BE FLEXIBLE

The rules no longer apply!

You’re not chained to a desk from 8 - 5 every day with the weekends as the only time to chill, and that’s the beauty of it all.

If you need to rearrange your schedule to work on a Saturday rather than a Tuesday then go for it, I promise your co-workers are doing it as well.

If you find an opportunity to wake up in the morning before the kids do or your partner leaves then explore taking this time to get some work done during this season.

It’s hard when your kids run the show, but I promise you can work in harmony with a little grace and planning (my favorite combo always).

FINAL THOUGHTS

My top tips for you are to...

• Take time in the morning to ground yourself, get dressed and move your body.

• Change your environment frequently throughout the day.

• Take time the night before to plan your schedule and activities for the day ahead.

• Set your kids up. You’ll save yourself time in the long run if you take 10 minutes to prep (just trust me on this one)!

• BABIES: Wear your baby in a baby carrier throughout the day. They love it and it’s super easy to work when you have both of your hands free.

• TODDLERS: Activities. Activities. Activities, oh and snacks!

• TEENAGERS AND OLDER: Now’s a great time to set some boundaries. It’s a life lesson we all need at a young age so don’t be afraid to sit them done and have them plan their schedule and openly communicate with them when you need uninterrupted time.
  

If you suddenly find yourself trying to play full-time employee, parent and teacher I’d love to pass along a bit of advice I received early on. Allow your kids to have experiences. Honestly, this kind of learning can teach them so much more than spending a day in school.

Encourage them to build something, play outside and garden, put on a play, etc… Sometimes the alternative learning opportunities can have the biggest impact.

I hope this post was helpful for you during this season of life. Please share it out on social media to support other parents going through the same thing.

If you want to follow along with daily tips and inspiration be sure to connect with me on Instagram @michelleknightco.

P.S. If you want to learn more about me and my online business Brandmerry.com, I’ve got some great resources for you below.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- 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.

3 Time Management Strategies No One is Teaching

3 Time Management Strategies No One is Teaching

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

Time Management is so important as an entrepreneur.

I’ve found throughout my journey that by not only planning better, scheduling my time, creating more time, but also changing my outlook around time, I’ve been able to do more.

Before I can give you all the strategies I’ve used, I want to talk about how your beliefs around time are actually limiting it.

The truth is it isn’t about the strategies, if it was the new planner every year, the new calendar and the use of a tool like Trello, would magically make your time management better, but that just isn’t the case.

If the strategies work for a little while, but then you fall off the wagon, it’s time to look deeper at the root cause.

If you feel like you’re running out of time…

If you feel like you never have enough time to start…

Or you feel you’re wasting time…

This is for you!

1. MAKING TIME A TOP PRIORITY

THE VALUE OF YOUR TIME

I firmly believe that time is our greatest value.

A very significant part of my story is that I lost my brother to childhood cancer at the age of 18. It didn’t happen right away, but over the months and the years I started to change my view around time.

I know we all recognize that life isn’t infinite, but is this knowledge translating into how you spend your time daily?

How are we spending our time on this earth and are we doing the things we truly want to do?

When we put more emphasis on time as our greatest asset, we enjoy life more and the other pieces, like money, success and strong relationships, fall into place.

The biggest mindset shift I want you to take with you today is how to make time your greatest priority.

Actionable Step: Answer this question

How do you value time? How are you spending 24 hours a day?

If it’s true that we can’t get our time back then why do we use it so poorly?

HOW WE SPEND OUR TIME

When I started my business, I had to figure out how to fit this whole business into my schedule.

I had to learn very quickly that how I was spending my time wasn’t conducive to the goals I had for myself.

And before you start to think you have to make sacrifices in to reach your goals and create more time, I encourage you to focus on the choices.

It is a choice.

Where do you want to be?
What are your dreams?
What are you working towards?

You’re not going to get there if you don’t make the choice and yes sometimes the choice requires making hard decisions.

Actionable Step: Complete a time analysis

Spend the next 72 hours to track your time and how you’re spending it. This will give you a great overview of where the “time sucks” are happening. When you have this information you’ll be able to see just how much time you’re actually wasting.

Imagine if you spent 10 minutes less (minimum) on social media that’s over an hour. What could you do in an hour that will get you closer to your dreams.

If you’re not making the choice of where you’re spending your time, none of the strategies will matter.

2. IDENTIFY YOUR PRIORITIES

When is the last time you sat down and thought about your top priorities?

It’s not something that comes up in typical conversation, but it’s so important.

Actionable Step: Answer this question

You have 24 hours tomorrow to do whatever you want to reach your goals and dreams, what do you do?

We need to be asking ourselves this question because it’s so easy to get sucked into priorities with our jobs, children, spouses and more.

When you answer this question those are your values and priorities.

Maybe for you it’s:

• Going outside

• Exercising

• Snuggling your babies

• Traveling more

It’s not just about moving up the corporate ladder or having a $50k launch it’s about the things that bring you the most joy. 

Identifying your values is just one step, the next part, and the part that’s up to you is how often are you living those values daily.

Please remember that you get to choose how you spend your time.

Yes, I know many of you work a 9 to 5.
Yes, many of you have children.

Of course, there are things that are required of you, but how are you spending the other hours in a day.

You will prioritize in your schedule what you prioritize in your life!

When you decide the techniques, tools and strategies will work.

3. CREATING MORE TIME DAILY

Use your calendar. We have calendars everywhere, yet so many people are not using their calendar correctly.

If you struggle with time management and aren’t scheduling EVERYTHING in your calendar, then it’s time to start.

I used to schedule date nights with my husband at the beginning of my business.
I used to schedule friend time (I still do)
I would schedule my content, coaching time and my time with my son.

By doing this, we can make the things of value to us a top priority. They are on the calendar and everything else can fit in where it can.

Get as detailed as possible to get yourself into a routine.

If you are a modern woman you are busy, there is no shame in using your calendar to prioritize your values. Put those in first and fill in the rest.

Create Boundaries. If you need to create more time you need to be clear with others and yourself about your priorities.

Find your people that you can trust and open up to about your dreams to ask for support and help. Creating boundaries with yourself allows you to ask for support from others.

This support can look like exchanging babysitting, asking for kid-free time from your husband (try for the same time every single week), it could be moving money around to invest in an assistant 2 hours a week to grow your business.

Not only is it important for you to understand that you can’t do it all, it’s also important to understand you don’t have to.

Creating boundaries with others frees up more time in your schedule to focus on the things that matter most.

You sometimes have to say no to things, to do things that get you closer to your goals and dreams.

Again, it’s not a sacrifice! 

If you’d rather be doing something else, maybe it’s time to see how invested you are in your dreams.

TIME-SAVING HACKS: TOOLS I USE TO MANAGE MY TIME

Trello and Asana. Any task management platform will work, but these are my favorite.

I use them every single day for my business, but I also use them for our travels as well. You can use it while working your 9 to 5, with your weekly schedule, for project management and more.

Prepare for your week. Do yourself a favor and spend 20 minutes every single Sunday to plan out your life. I spend 20 minutes to see what my priorities are, where I’m dedicating my time, any deadlines and how I’m going have fun. This allows me to head into Monday prepared and not flying by the seat of my pants, which we all know leads to procrastination.

Have batch days. You can bulk write your content on a specific day, or meal prep on Sundays. In addition, I suggest choosing specific days that you do backend things in your business and different days to work with clients. When you batch your tasks together you will actually save yourself time.

CONCLUSION

Time is our greatest asset and it’s important to remind yourself how valuable it truly is. If you’re struggling with time management it’s time to go deeper than any strategy, it’s time to shift you’re thinking.

I promise you do have enough time, it’s all in how you use it.

If you want more tips on time management, creating boundaries and productivity be sure to subscribe to my new podcast, The Beautiful Climb on iTunes, Spotify and Stitcher.

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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 create great content

PREFER TO WATCH, INSTEAD OF READ? I’VE GOT YOU BOO.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!

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I know how it feels to spend tons of effort and energy to come up with content for social media, write the post, choose a picture and then hear freaking crickets.

Content is such an integral part of the branding process, it's ultimately how you share your brand and message with the world.

As a result we want your content to not just be good, but GREAT!

Easier said than done, isn't it?! Yes, just like you've I've struggled with creating high-value content for my audience.

What I've found is that in the beginning we're all just creating content to create content. We know we need to post in order for people to find us online and to build brand awareness, but there's no strategy behind it. And this posting to post mentality isn't helping move your brand forward.

Now, I’m not sharing this to get you all nervous and terrified that your content isn’t good enough, what I want to do is challenge the way you create content for your brand.

So, again right now you’re probably just creating content because that’s what you’ve been told to do online. However, your content is not working with engagement, community building or differentiating you from others in your niche.

And the reason it’s not working is that it’s all over the dang place. Your content doesn’t have a clear model in place to work in your favor. Right now it’s just content when what we want is an evergreen brand awareness machine. We want all your content to showcase your brand in the best light. 

Your content should do two things:

1. showcase you and your brand

2. be highly relatable or valuable to your audience.

It’s time to start thinking of content as one of the most for brand expansion.

What you need to make this happen is a strategy! Building a brand isn't just about creating some visuals, taking some photos and posting. It's about strategic content and messaging.

3 Steps to Take:

1. Start With Brand Messages

Start with clear brand messaging (CBM taught to my students)  as a whole, not just an offer or product or something you decided to create today. It’s all about your big-picture brand and not just about the product or service. What does your brand stand for? What do you offer your community/ clients? Why is that important? How does it benefit them?

Clarity on this will allow you to create a unified, cohesive message for your brand that will show up in the content you create.

2. Create Brand Containers

Create content containers (brand containers) for ways to connect with your audience using story, experiences, client behavior and more. Organize your content to keep it fun and interesting. 

Your audience isn’t going to stick around if everything you’re talking about is pitchy or salesy, these are real people. There is a time to do all of the selling, but we want to build trust by sharing different parts of our brand (which is so much more than just your product or service). Your brand should already have values and core pillars, these can become your brand content containers.

3. Organize your content based on your brand and business goals.

It's ongoing you're always wanting to attract new people while keeping existing people engaged, so you need to think of the big picture. Stop throwing content out onto the Internet with no clear plan it isn't helping move your business forward. I recommend always mapping out content for at least 30 days so you can understand how each piece of content connects to or leads to the next.

Content can be one of the best tools to build your brand awareness and ultimately community. It’s about really taking the time to strategically understand content creation, and even deeper than that you need to understand your brand. If you don’t know the core of your brand, the values and essence of what you’re creating and how you want to attract then you’re going to have a hard time connecting the pieces.

My biggest tip for engagement online is paying attention to your brand. Making sure you’ve taken the steps to create a strong core for your brand so that things like social media content, emails, sales pages, etc work the way you want them too. I’m sharing my 3-step method in my free masterclass and you can join us now. 

Please share your biggest takeaways from this blog post and how you’re going to implement this information in your own business!

P.S. Planning and creating your content doesn't have to be a constant struggle. There is a better way to research, plan, and create your content as an entrepreneur and it's all inside the Content Planning Blueprint!

The Content Planning Blueprint is perfect for online business owners who know the power of content creation but are tired of spending all of their time coming up with ideas, organizing their content, and wondering what will attract their dream clients.

In just a few hours, you'll have 90 days of content planned, a repeatable workflow to save you hours on creating and distributing your content every week, and content topics that will keep performing for your brand for years to come! Get your blueprint now >>

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How to increase your engagement on social media

How to increase your engagement on social media

September 11, 2019

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SCROLL DOWN TO WATCH A QUICK VIDEO!

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I know how it feels to spend tons of effort and energy to come up with content for social media, write the post, choose a picture and then hear freaking crickets.

I’ve been there too and it’s not a great feeling.

Let’s just remove the stigma around this and make it clear, everyone experiences this! Even established entrepreneurs will have this happen from time to time, but over the years I’ve come to find some core pieces that improve not only my overall engagement, but also conversions.

After all, it’s not just about likes, it’s about sales if you’re running a brand and business, so before we dive into the three tips, let’s talk about engagement. 

Please know that we don’t care about vanity metrics here. Engagement isn’t just about likes and hearts, those are great, but it’s more about comments, direct messages and my personal favorite link clicks. 

All of which you can monitor and I encourage you to pay attention to. So even though your post might not have as many likes as Suzie, please don’t get discouraged, what we care about is true fans and conversions (plus, you can buy likes online so it’s a shady metric).

Tip #1 - Your Brand Messaging

Often times when we start posting content online we’re just “posting to post” and it’s totally not your fault. You’ve been taught that you need to post daily, sometimes multiple times a day, in order to stand out. As a result, we’re just whipping up content without a clear strategy in place - that’s where brand messaging comes in.

You want to create strong Brand Messaging for your brand and business as a whole, BEFORE you start creating content. This is going to allow you to create high-value content for your audience that connects to your brand as a whole. 

For instance, if you take time to create a list of all the things your brand provides your ideal client and how it benefits them (this is huge) then you’ll be able to create content containers and individual content that relates back to that.

For instance, if I know one of my brand messages (a consistent message across all my products and services) is around storytelling and how to use storytelling to standout on social media and create a profitable brand, then I can create storytelling as a container for my brand and create a bunch of ideas under that one thing.

This does so much more than just allows me to create content, it makes sure that everything I create connects to the overall purpose of my brand. Everything goes back to what I do, why I do it and how it benefits my audience.

Having a clear messaging strategy is key when it comes to increasing engagement and views online because it allows you to become known for very specific things, you’ll build a community around it and again it plays on the benefit, so you know that what you’re creating will benefit your audience and as a result they will be more likely to engage.

Tip #2 - Bring Your Story to Life

A fundamental piece of connecting with your audience, which will increase engagement is sharing parts of your story in a relatable way. 

Some of my most engaging content has been when I talk about how I live full time in a trailer, how I work with my son, things we’re doing behind the scenes as a family that travels full-time and that’s because your audience doesn’t just want to be bombarded with sales, pitches and tips and tricks. Sometimes they just want to be inspired or feel like they aren’t alone.

When you start sharing parts of your story it’s important to keep a few things in mind. 

1. Always ask yourself, “Is this valuable to my audience? Why?”

2. Pay attention to your metrics. See what people are responding too and create more content around that.

Tip #3 - Ask for Engagement

Seems so easy doesn’t it? But we often miss this step. If you want people to engage we must give them the opportunity to do so. I know you’re on social all the time, but your audience might not be and they might not instantly think to comment or click or DM. You can simply say things like, “Give me a heart if you agree” “Drop an emoji if you needed this today” “What would you do in this situation?” “What additional tips do you have?” 

Something so simple can make a big difference in inviting your audience to engage with your content.

My biggest tip for engagement online is paying attention to your brand. Making sure you’ve taken the steps to create a strong core for your brand so that things like social media content, emails, sales pages, etc work the way you want them too. I’m sharing my 3-step method in my free masterclass and you can join us now. 

Sign up for The Build a Better Brand Method at brandmerry.com/brandmasterclass

Please share your biggest takeaways from this blog post and how you’re going to implement this information in your own business!

P.S Don’t forget to join me for my free masterclass at brandmerry.com/brandmasterclass

P.S.S. Are we connected on Instagram? No? Well lady what’s happening here we’ve got to fix that. Come hang out with me on my favorite social media platform. Follow for inspiration and send me a DM to know we’re connected.

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