As a business owner or entrepreneur during these uncertain and delicate times, you may have found yourself in a place where you need to begin making adjustments to the way you do business and your marketing.
So I wanted to offer up some help by sharing some of my favorite business and marketing resources. This list is a combination of free and paid resources. I've used them in different ways and at different times, but have found value in all of them.
I'll update this list as I remember more. What specific things would you like to know more about?
This is an amazing ministry for women to help them grow as disciples of Jesus, putting God first, as they navigate family, work, life, and faith. What I love about this group is that they provide very Biblically-based teaching and guidance, as well as super practical, super real-life tips and strategies. They even offer courses such as Productivity Academy and Network Marketing Nobility. You can follow them on social media for lots of free resources, encouragement, and wisdom, and you join the monthly membership group for even more!
I started using the Full Focus Planner in Q4 of last year, and it’s been super helpful with increasing my productivity. There are 2 great things about this planner: 1) It’s not just a “pretty” planner, a lot of work has gone into it to make it truly helpful for increasing focus and productivity, and 2) the Micheal Hyatt team offers a WHOLE lot more of resources (many free, some paid) such as podcast, courses, books, email tips, Facebook groups, etc. Lots of great wisdom and expertise for running a business.
This girl ROCKS. She focuses on helping creative entrepreneurs become better writers for their businesses, but honestly, even if you’re not in the creative business, you’ll benefit from her teachings and tips. Writing matters. Words matter. What you say - and how you say it - matters in your marketing, and in business in general. Take some time and watch a few of her many many YouTube videos.
This site is super helpful! They provide such great knowledge and information about all things social media, organic and advertising. They do blogs, podcasts, and other resources. Here are 2 blogs I’ve listened to recently that I would highly recommend:
Custom Branded Photography
One of the things I've seen work really well on social media (meaning it gets more engagement) is real photos of the people behind the business. I've seen this work well for my clients, as well as for myself. People want to know who you are, who the person with whom they'll be doing business. It might even be more important now than ever, that people want to connect with real people.
If you're in the Bucks and Montgomery County area, I would highly recommend Sarah Miller Photography. She's done a lot of work for me and my clients. So, once we're allowed to start interacting with each other again, give her a call!
Good free (yes, really free) stock photos
Yes, real photos work better in marketing. But it's not always possible to use custom branded photography all the time. So, in that case, you'll probably have to use some stock photos. When you do, chose wisely. Be discerning. Try to find ones that go along with your brand. These sites offer totally free, royalty-free, no-attribution needed stock photos:
Now that many of my friends and family are working from home, one of the things they say to me is, "How do you do this all the time? How do you stay motivated?"
Well, it is hard! But I've learned some strategies and have compiled a set of tools to help keep me on track. One of those tools is Toggl. I've been using this online time tracking tool for almost 4 years. I started when I worked in corporate, and continued using when I started Marketing to Mission. It's great for 2 primary reasons:
1) It helps keeps me on task because once I start timing a task, I want to continue working on that task (even if it's just because I don't want to edit the time entry later).
2) It helps me understand how long projects and tasks take so I can plan and price more effectively. This is critical for a freelancer and consultant. After a few months of working I was able to look back and understand it takes me, on average, 4 hours a month to do this activity for a client. Then I can price accordingly. It was slightly different when I worked in corporate, but the same idea was true. At one point I was able to tell my boss how much time I was spending on a certain product (I covered multiple products) and she was able to tell me that was too much time (given it's revenue), so I needed to adjust my time accordingly.
I use the free version of it, but they offer various plans, depending on your needs. Go check them out!