Before I reached this point it was a vicious circle of hard work and confusion.Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re a hard worker. Why else would you click on a post that mentioned being burnt out?But have you ever felt like some days you just don’t feel like it? Or you’ve been discouraged and procrastinating more because your hard work returned little results?Here’s why:
[Tweet “Hard work alone will not get you results.”]
Hard work is like running 3 miles to lose weight but going home to eat a box of donuts because you’re not educated on nutrition.
Hard work is counterproductive when you don’t have smart work. It’s counterproductive when you simply DON’T know how to get the best results. It’s counterproductive because you don’t even know if you’re headed in the right direction.
That would leave anyone burnt out, discouraged and with minimal results.
[Tweet “Hard work is being busy, smart work is being productive. “]
Here are the 3 things you NEED as a business owner to avoid being broke and burnt out:
1. Processes
Your processes are your day to day. It eliminates the guess work. It eliminates the “I don’t know where to start with this email, what to post on my blog, or what to share on social media” thoughts. Every time you have to stop and think about what you’re supposed to be doing, you open a window for procrastination. Creating structure and having a clear process is what allows you to create consistency.
2. Strategies
Your strategies have to do with your end goal. Every move you make needs to be strategic and part of an overall purpose. If there is a “to-do” in your process that is not aligned with your end goal, it’s a waste of time. You might as well be procrastinating.
Your social media strategy will differ from your content marketing strategy and your email strategy. As Mattie likes to say, multiple streams of strategy lead to multiple streams of income. Understanding how each moving part works for your brand is what allows you to start seeing results.
[Tweet “Multiple streams of strategy lead to multiple streams of income. – @Mattieologie”]
3. Systems
Your system is what keeps your processes and your strategies running smoothly. What are the best tools and software for you to automate tasks that you don’t have to manually execute? What are the best tools that allow you to execute more quickly? Systems primarily help your business run when you’re not around so you can focus on what you enjoy doing while your audience and income grow on auto-pilot.
Read: 4 Key Systems To Run A Profitable Blog
Let’s eliminate the guess work, shall we? Let’s work together to create a content strategy that leads to your paid offerings.
Reread this and have so much more clarity. I can always count on you to bring it on home for me. Thanks, Maya. I think I owe you 3% of my income, whenever I begin making it from my brand. Whew!
I think that having a good strategy is the most important! And knowing that your social media strategy should be different from your content marketing strategy.
Thanks for these tips Maya! Have a great weekend!
Anja
Love this post Maya! I’ve been in business for a year and five months and I think the hardest part for me is delegating tasks! I don’t have a VA or assistant and thinking about getting one in the near future but I’m so type a that I want to do everything myself and I know as my biz continues to grow I have to ask for help. This post is perfect!
Congrats on your first year in business, Christina! Delegating is HARD when you don’t have systems in place. Here’s a post on how I streamline my content systems. https://www.mayaelious.com/streamline-content-creation-without-burning-smart-content-toolbox/
This blog is quite hard to read due to font used.
I agree with all this. Sorting out my processes freed up my time to focus on other things and cut down my to do list
This is great. Thank you.
Thanks so much, Jennifer!