It’s easy to get overwhelmed running your own business.
Not only do you manage outward-facing tasks like marketing, lead generation, client support, etc., but you also manage tasks behind the scenes. You create your product or service, keep everything organized, write emails, manage your website, and more.
If something needs to get done, you’re the person to do it.
So how do you keep a tight ship – staying organized, ahead of competition, and steered toward success?
We’ll show you.
In this blog post, we share our best recommendations for running a business efficiently. This will be especially helpful if you are a solopreneur or have a small team.
Let’s start with the machine of your business, and then we will discuss how to approach this machine practically each week.
Table of Contents
1. Build Your Email List
What is the bread ‘and butter of your business? Customers or clients. Many business owners often spend most of their time trying to find more clients.
Instead, prioritize setting up a process that brings consistent clientele to you. The sooner you do this, the sooner your business can run efficiently.
In technical terms, this is called Lead Generation. Our favorite way to generate leads is by capturing someone’s email address. You provide individuals with a benefit related to your product or service. This can be a discount code, a free resource, a worksheet, etc. In exchange for the benefit, they opt-in to receive your emails.
From here, you can cultivate a relationship through your email newsletter and prime the individuals on your email list for your product or service.
Have you noticed how often successful business owners emphasize email list building?
It’s not about the numbers. It’s about having a steady stream of potential clients who feel connected to you and excited about what you provide.
If you’d like to learn more about building an email list and lead generation, start here:
- The Super Simple Guide to Starting a Mailing List
- How to Get Your First 1,000 Email Subscribers
- How to Create and Deliver a Lead Magnet Freebie
We also created a free Lead Landing Page for you!
Download: Free Lead Landing Page
2. Multipurpose Your Content
Once you have your audience in play, it’s time to start generating content. Don’t worry, there are a few steps that will streamline this process.
First, define your audience. Who is your content for, and what do they need? What questions do they have? What are their hopes and dreams?
Before you create any content, take a few moments to answer the questions above.
Once you know who your audience is for, define your customer or client’s journey.
Ask yourself questions like:
“At what point do they seek a business with my solution?”
“What kind of problems do they face along the way?”
“What hesitations do they have?”
These questions will help you create content that funnels your audience into loyal customers and clients.
Content creation should always stem from listening.
The more you listen to the needs in your industry, the better you can address them.
Now that you know who your content is for, it’s time to create!
We recommend creating content for a blog post on a weekly basis. This gives people a reason to keep coming back to your website repeatedly and can drive traffic and sales to your website for years.
This next part is essential, so pay attention!
Once you have your blog post, you will repurpose this piece of content.
Think Blog → Email → Social Media.
Turn your blog post into a simple email newsletter that you can send to your email list.
Then, market the same blog post on your social media channels of choice: YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Facebook Groups, LinkedIn, etc.
When you’re just starting, we would choose one or two channels to focus on. Then, once you’re in the swing of content creation and you’ve figured out what your audience likes, feel free to venture into other channels.
The key is to multipurpose your content.
By taking a main piece of content and disseminating it across channels, you save yourself hours of work while still having an incredible impact.
3. Gather Social Proof
The third secret to running your business efficiently is to remove audience hesitation.
The more you streamline the process from stranger to loyal client or customer, the more time you will have to spend on other areas of your business.
This is where social proof comes in.
The easiest way to establish trust is to show how others trust you.
Weave social proof into your website and online presence to establish credibility and break down the barrier with your potential customer or client.
Here are some of our favorite ways to do this: 5 Ways to Incorporate Social Proof
Now that we’ve established a few key elements of your business process, let’s discuss how to approach your workflow.
4. Establish Work Flow Rhythms
With so many tasks to do, it can feel overwhelming to know where to start. That is why it is so important to establish rhythms and make your business feel more manageable.
Time Blocking
One way to keep everything in a routine is through Time Blocking. Time Blocking organizes your calendar to complete specific tasks on specific days or at specific times of the day.
For example, you could designate Tuesday as your design day, where you focus on an internal element of your business. And you could designate Wednesday as a meeting day, where you can focus on an external element of your business.
Another form of Time Blocking that we love is choosing a specific day for filming social content. We keep a folder in our Google Drive designated for B Roll. This way, we always have content for social media that is easily accessible, and doesn’t interrupt our workflow on non-content days.
Morning Routine
It is also important to establish a consistent morning routine. This doesn’t have to be elaborate or particularly long.
Simply choose a few tasks that you repeat every morning that queue your brain it’s time to work.
An example of a morning routine is:
- Check your email and clear your inbox
- Check your calendar
- Write out a To-Do List
- Prioritize three things for that day: one big project and two smaller ones.
- Make yourself a latte
Carve out Breaks
Remember to take breaks.
It’s easy to want to keep pushing all day. But this is actually negative for productivity. Instead, we’d recommend working in 45-minute sprints.
Break up your work hours with less focused tasks or, if you work from home, tasks like laundry. Sometimes, we take a few minutes to go on a walk outside.
Related: How to Tackle Your To-Do List
5. Streamline with Tools
If you try to cut a plank of wood with a plastic knife, you’ll get exhausted before you finish. The right tools can make life as a business owner so much easier.
Here are a few of our favorite tools and how we use them in our business.
Overall Organization
- ClickUp – ClickUp is wonderful for planning your content, knowing what is due, when it is due, and who needs to complete the associated tasks.
- TeuxDeux – This organizational app is clean, calming, and simple for daily tasks. It gives you the satisfaction of crossing items off each day, and if you don’t get to a task for the day, it shifts automatically to the next day.
Marketing Organization
- Enji – This tool helps you consolidate all marketing elements into one simple dashboard. You can create your marketing goals, and then Enji will develop a plan for you to follow.
- Kat Schmoyer – If you want to launch a digital product, our dear friend and neighbor, Kat Schmoyer provides the best strategy assistance.
- Google Drive – Google Drive folders provide an excellent place to organize your content, including client testimonials, social b-roll, launch graphics, and more.
- Manychat – Manychat makes it easy to send direct links to clients’ messages on Instagram and create more engagement.
- Later App – Think of Later as your syllabus for social media. On this app, you can schedule your content across every social media channel.
Lead Generation
- BDOW! – BDOW! makes it easy to create forms and pop-ups for your website to capture leads.
- Kit – Kit, formally known as ConvertKit, is an email marketing platform that performs wonderfully. It has excellent features, functionality, and ease of use.
- Flodesk – If you want to create emails that are visually appealing and easy to use, Flodesk is the perfect choice.
Related: The Best Content Marketing Tools
6. Utilize Resources
As a business owner, you will always have tasks that feel particularly overwhelming. We recommend utilizing resources that make challenging tasks feel more doable.
Email Templates
If you struggle to email your clients, a visual outline that is aesthetically pleasing and matches your brand, can help kickstart the writing flow. Look for templates that help you get over the hump and bring you excitement to complete the task. Take a look at some templates we have designed for your emails.
Writing Outline
Do you get stuck on tasks that involve writing? We put together a Free SEO Outline to help you focus during the content research process. This will make writing blog posts so much easier and can speed up your writing workflow.
Download: Our Free SEO Content Outline Template
Social Media Templates
One of the most challenging aspects of running a business can be organizing and managing the content. Having the right tools can streamline your content-sharing process, making it more organized, efficient, and impactful.
If you need help with marketing, we’ve put together a suite of Canva social graphics for you.
Customizable Canva Brand
Do you feel like your brand is inconsistent? Invest in a brand kit that is easy to customize and can make your online presence feel cohesive. Take a look at these beautiful Canva brands.
Customer Guides
If you spend a lot of time talking with your customers or clients and get sidetracked from your tasks, implement a customer guide. Depending on your industry and current process, you may want to explore the following:
- Album Sales Guide
- Client Communication Guide
- Pricing Guide
- Engagement Guide
- Wedding Guide
- Portrait Session Guide
Wrap Up
Keeping a tight ship is no easy task. But hopefully, these recommendations will help you stay organized, ahead of the competition, and steered toward success.
Remember not to compare your current progress with someone else’s. You’re doing great, exactly where you are.
And the more efficiently you run your business, the more you can enjoy this journey as an owner. It’s not all about success. It’s about growing and learning one step at a time.
Remember why you started your business in the first place. And then keep going!
If you have a question along the way, we’d love to help you. Send us a message or leave a note in the comments.
VIEW THE COMMENTS
Add A Comment