How do I stop procrastinating? The surprising secret sauce to increase your productivity

You know how it goes: you sit down at your desk, fired up for a new day, ready to conquer the world. One minute you’re perusing your calendar and/or to do list, the next minute your phone has slipped into your hand and you’re watching llamas singing to each other on YouTube. Welcome to procrastination station my friend: it’s a bitch! Having worked on my own tendency to procrastinate, and also supported my clients with theirs, I decided it was high time I wrote a blog on the subject. I started with some research. Tying this question into Google revealed lots of language like ‘Eat the frog’, ‘Mind hacking’, ‘Hyperfocus’ and ‘Fear of failure’. Instantly a tonne of tips were surfaced to help me overcome procrastination, to stop once and for all, to turn into some sort of lean mean productivity machine. I don’t know about you, but I instantly switched off!

So what is procrastination? Before we uncover the secret sauce to overcoming it, let’s be sure we know what we are talking about. According to https://solvingprocrastination.com/why-people-procrastinate/:

"Procrastination is the act of unnecessarily postponing decisions or actions.”

Basically, we tend to rely on our self-control and motivation to provide us with the necessary oomph to get something done. However, if we experience demotivating or hindering factors, they can interfere with this, delivering us swiftly to procrastination station.

The thing is, as I sat there researching procrastination, there was one glaring omission in all that scary content. It took me a while to find any reference to it, and even then the ensuring prompts weren’t awfully helpful. For me, the real secret is pausing to ask yourself ‘why?’ 

• Why am I procrastinating? 

• Why haven’t I started or completed this task? 

• Why do I feel unmotivated, or like I can’t get into this piece of work? 

We can try all the tricks in the world to ‘hack’ our brains into getting something done, but if we don’t know what is behind our need to procrastinate, how can we go about fixing the problem rather than just the symptom?

So I’m here for you with a trusty old reframe to help you out: what if we saw our urge to procrastinate as a message, rather than a reason to beat ourselves up? Now there’s a question worth asking! If you’d like to start treating the root cause of your procrastination sessions, here are three simple steps:

Step one: identify what factors lie behind your procrastination - are you feeling demotivated or is something getting in your way? The factor/s at work could be a mixture of external and internal. It could be just one thing, or several. Take the time to explore why you’re feeling the way you do about this work.

If it’s something to do with you, you may need one, some or all of the following: rest, food, a nap/more sleep, to move your body, create a more comfortable working environment, more background noise, or less (or music!), to limit your interruptions (e.g. putting your phone in another room)

If it’s something to do with the task, consider how you feel about: the type of task or work you’re doing, how much you’re being paid for it, how you feel about the stakeholders or clients you’re doing it for/with, how much or how little you enjoy the work, whether the allocated time for the task is fair or not, stories or beliefs you hold about this piece of work and your ability to complete it, and of course your sense of achievement/recognition for this task - is the reward too far away, or is there none at all?

Step two: the next step is to consider what do you do when you procrastinate and what could you do instead. The key here is to be kind to yourself. What can you do about it vs what is outside of your control? Give yourself permission to release what is outside of your control and focus on what is within your power to change. For example, can you push back on a timeline or the scope? Alternatively you could try some hacks or tricks (a Google search will reveal many such as the Pomodoro Technique!) For example set a timer to give yourself a fake ‘deadline’ to complete the task, take regular breaks to rest your brain or reward yourself for completing something, break large tasks up into small tasks to complete across a longer timeframe.

Step three: Assess what you could do differently overall and consider cultivating healthy time management and self-care habits to take into the future. If you’re constantly tripping up on the same task, is there a different approach you could take to it, such as delegating or outsourcing? If you’re constantly distracted by your phone could you set limits on your screen time or limit interacting with it to certain time of the day? Tracking your time for a couple of weeks with a tool like Toggl can be a real eye opener if you’re looking efficiencies, but you’ll have to be honest with yourself about where you spend your time!

To recap, the most important thing to remember is that procrastinating is in our nature, but if you reframe it as your body or mind trying to tell you something, you’ll be much better placed to make long-term moves towards feeling more productive and motivated. In parenting, ‘negative behaviours’ are much easier to understand when we view them as unmet needs. So it’s worth remembering that your procrastination could just be a sign of something!

It’s also important to remember that a certain amount of procrastination might actually be normal for you and that there’s an argument for accepting a little bit of it. Much like our need to acknowledge and honour our emotions, before we can move through them, perhaps allowing a bit of procrastination time at the beginning of each day is kinder to yourself than working to eradicate the behaviour altogether? After all, we are humans, not machines!

Are networking events worth it? How to choose the right group to help you grow your business

We’re not quite out of the woods yet

Let’s face it, things are probably slightly better for business owners than they were a year ago, but we’re by no means over the worst yet. We’re dealing with re-entry anxiety, bounce back loans to repay, not knowing quite when restrictions will lift for good, if ever. We’ve not even got into the covid hangover yet, it’s like we’ve woken up still drunk after a heavy night. But it’s not all doom and gloom, things are slowly returning to some version of normal. Lots of people are emerging from their shells and considering what to spend their money on, now that there’s some choice. And like it or not, the move to online has created an explosive shift in the working world. More people are starting businesses than ever before. Networking online is saving us a tonne of time. We’re going through an entrepreneurial revolution, as more and more people seek out a better work/life balance. In fact, it’s almost overwhelming the choice available to us, without geographical boundaries to hold us back. So how do you decide where to turn when you’re trying to grow your start-up or new-ish business?

Are networking events worth it?

Fundamentally it comes down to one thing: people buy from people. That’s how networking works. Attending networking events, engaging with people and building strategic connections with other businesses is what networking is all about. It will absolutely help you grow your business, if you approach it correctly. The thing to remember is that networking is not all about getting clients directly. It’s really about getting that word-of-mouth train going and helping other business owners understand when and why to refer business to you. It’s also about understanding what others do so you can refer business to them. You may attend a networking event with only 10 other people, but you never know who they might know, or who you could know! It can be nerve-wracking going networking when you don’t know anyone, or if you have social anxiety or you’re in introvert, but if you can find a welcoming supportive group, there are many, many wider benefits to your business.

What can networking do for my business?

There’s a great analogy to think of when you’re doing your introduction or pitch at a networking event: imagine you’re speaking to your marketing team. Get it right, be memorable and engaging, and you’ve got a bunch of people there who are going to do some of your marketing on your behalf. And who doesn’t want that? The most important thing is to get into the right mindset; you’re there to connect and get to know other business owners, rather than sell. Networking is so important for business owners to find that community and support. Because let’s face it: being an entrepreneur can be lonely! It’s why I always say “if it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a tribe to raise a business.” And trust me, my business would not be where it is today if I hadn’t found my tribe. They are my lifeline on a daily basis!

So how do you choose the right networking group?

1. First up, decide on your objective for attending. You may have a few objectives, but try to land on the top three. Is it to find a community of like-minded business owners, or reach new client audiences, or build relationships with local contacts? Is it to find someone to support you with an area of your business, or to collaborate with?

2. Think about your values as a person and as a business. What’s important to you? How do you operate? What’s your higher purpose?

3. Consider how much time you have available to attend networking groups and ensuing one-to-one meetings with new connections.

Once you’ve got your objectives, values and time estimation noted down, you can research networking groups you’d be interested in or ask your existing connections for recommendations. Whilst you’re doing your research, ask yourself the following questions and see how well they suit you and your schedule:

• Look at what kind of events they run - are they face to face, on or virtual events on Zoom, or a mixture?

• What times do the events take place and how long are they?

• Do they seem highly structured, semi-structured or a bit more relaxed?

• Do any groups offer a free trial or trial session before you have to join as a member?

• Is there anyone you know who can share an experience / or can you ask to speak to existing member?

• Look at testimonials / Google reviews and consider the kind of feedback they are getting - does it make you feel excited or nervous?

The next thing to do is draw up a short list, set some time aside in your calendar to attend any events you sign up for and go for it!

Want to know how to network like a pro?

Whether you’re new to networking, a seasoned pro or you hate networking altogether, check out my free download: Five Ways to Perfect Your Pitch. Inside I take you through 5 simple things you can do to ensure you get the most out of your networking events, so you can go from nervous networker to pitch perfect. Enjoy!

How to choose the right small business marketing tactics to align with your values

Tactics vs strategy: what do I need?

Let’s start by talking about the difference between marketing tactics and marketing strategies. A marketing strategy is an overall, high-level piece of work that seeks to answer the big what, who how and why questions.

• What do you offer?

• Who to? And why them?

• Why should they buy it?

• How are you going to attract and convert your ideal clients or customers?

When you’re talking tactics, you’re moving into the specifics: the where, when and which. 

• Where will you market your product or service?

• When will you promote it?

• Which channels will you use?

Think of it like this: when covid hit, your strategy represented the core fundamentals of your business, the bits that probably didn’t change too much, but your tactics were what you pivoted to respond during the panic of the pandemic. Strategy is what you’re saying, tactics are things like which marketing channels you use to say it.

Strategy sorted, what next?

So once you’ve nailed down the big questions and you’ve sorted your overall strategy (check out my handy blog post on this for inspiration), how do you easily figure out the marketing tactics that work for you?

This, my fantastic entrepreneurial friend, is where your values come in. Whether it’s tactics to increase brand awareness, increase sales or attract new clients or customers, the most important driver is your values. What do you stand for, and why? What drives you to solve an old problem in a new way? What do you really care about? Defining your core values will help you choose the most effective marketing tactics for you and understand which ones to avoid. As an entrepreneur, don’t forget you are your business and your business is you. Choosing marketing activities that align with you as a person will make them both more effective and more enjoyable. And who doesn’t want that!

How does it work?

Let’s take a live example: me! I recently wrote out my marketing manifesto, which you can read here. It not only sets out my core values, but also what they mean for you when you interact or work with me. One of my values is about choice AND boundaries. This is about showing you that I am here to provide you with choices: about who you work with, how you run your business, what marketing tactics you use. I want to help you see the possibilities you have available to run and promote a successful business you can be proud of. But alongside this freedom of choice, I want you to know that I have boundaries, and to encourage you to have them too. Just because you have the freedom to choose, it doesn’t mean you need to choose everything, all the time! So, returning to one of the tactical questions above about where I will market myself, this value helps me understand that whilst I need to have a mix of marketing platforms to meet the needs of my audience, I also need to set boundaries to ensure I’m not taking on too much. As for the ‘when’ question, I want to ensure I’m providing you with options around how or when you can work with me, but I need to ensure I set boundaries around when I’m available.

How can I do this for myself?

The best place to start is with your values. If you need some inspiration, just google ‘values’ and read up on some common values that individuals or organisations often have. Find words that resonate with you in some way and think about why that is. The next step is to think about why those values are important in your work and how you display them. This will give you the insight you need to match your marketing tactics appropriately. After all, the most powerful marketing is about showing your audience what you can do for them, rather than just telling them. For example, are you passionate about client service and going the extra mile to surprise and delight your clients? Then think about how to translate that into your marketing. Maybe it means that you always respond to comments and DMs, and Google reviews? Or maybe that you are happy to provide your audience with offers that you know will excite them? 

What next?

I’d love to invite you to read my values. Hopefully you will feel inspired to set out your own or get back in touch with them, so that you can use them to guide your business and marketing decisions. If you need help with this process and you’d like to understand how to better communicate your values to your audience, please do get in touch or find out more about how we can work together. Choose a button below to find out more. Thank you for reading!

Why niching down and client avatars are pony (and what to do instead to connect with your audience)

How niche is too niche?

Whether you call it a niche, an avatar, or a persona, the thinking is sound: any good marketer worth their salt will tell you that one of the first things to do in business is get really freakin clear on who it is you’re talking to. If you don’t know your audience, then whatever you do on your website, instagram, or anywhere online is unlikely to have a great impact, because if you’re talking to everyone, you’re talking to no one. The point of choosing a niche is to allow you to create marketing that connects with a specific slice of people who are experiencing a problem or challenge that your product or service can help them overcome.

To niche or not to niche?

Here’s the bit I think marketing gurus are getting wrong: the execution of this thinking. For me, it’s not your audience that should fit neatly in a box, it’s their problem. Ultimately, if you’re a small business then niching down to an exact age range, gender, lifestyle type or business size is probably not going to be viable for your business… and let’s face it, it’ll probably be quite boring! So if you’ve been listening to all this chat and scratching your head thinking 'but who are they?' or 'ever since I niched down I can't seem to find clients’, then fear not. You’ve just been given some doesn’t-work-for-small-biz-slightly-crappy advice. I got you, here’s a much better way to approach a niche that’s best for you.

Where to start?

1. Step one: think about your existing client pool and identify the people who are most profitable and enjoyable for you to work with. It's that simple: they are precisely the right clients for you, no matter how old they are, where they live, what size their business is or what they eat for lunch. They, for want of a better phrase, are your ideal or dream clients.

2. Step two: think about what challenges this group of your ideal clients are experiencing before they buy from you. What stuff is eating them up? Are they struggling to grow their own business or with their career? Are they frustrated that they can’t reach the next level? Is something holding them back from reaching their life’s potential? Top tip here: if you’re struggling with this, ASK THEM. Just pick up the phone and reach out to some past clients. You can nab a cheeky testimonial while you’re there.

3. Step three: think about what motivates your clients and what they secretly want to achieve with their life, or business/career, or both. What aspirations do they have? What would they like to change? What do they wish was possible? These might sound like lofty questions if your business provides cleaning services or you make hand-painted ornaments, but just trust me. Every single time a person or a business parts with cash in exchange for a service or product, there is a base human need and emotion underneath it all. Tap into those emotions and you will never struggle with your niche again!

Box in the problem, not the person

And that’s it, my friend! You’ve now drawn a box around your ideal client’s transformation when they work with you. You can tell a story in your marketing of how you take your happy clients  from point A (problem) to point B (solution). Even better, when you tap into those human emotions, you can even talk about how point B (solution) leads to point C (transformation!) Now that’s some powerful shit right there.

Need some help?

I get it, figuring out your client niche and your messaging can be hard. If you’re doing this on your own and struggling, it’s not because you’re bad at it, it’s because it’s hard to do alone. That’s where I come in: the magic happens when I ask you the right questions, you tell me the answers and we create amazing messaging that resonates with your ideal clients. Armed with a simple, eloquent way to communicate what you do or create, marketing will feel like a breeze and you’ll have those ideal clients banging down your door in no time. Hit the button below to find out how we can work together.

Who do I need by my side: a small business coach, consultant or mentor?

Let’s be real

Running your own business can be highly rewarding, but also bloody tough! We have to wear so many hats: accountant, social media manager, events manager, sales team, designer, marketing manager, business development manager, analyst… the list goes on. So, with all this hat juggling going on, is it any wonder that sometimes we feel overwhelmed, lost, confused and generally a bit bogged down in our own bullshit? Is it any wonder that we often think “I need some help!”

Give yourself permission

Taking a step back and getting a really honest view of your business is hard. We don’t have time or we don’t have the motivation or we’ll do it next month or we’re too busy… and quite frankly sometimes we just don’t WANT to lift the lid and see what might be lurking in there. So it’s important to take a beat when you’re struggling and acknowledge that asking for help is 100% a healthy, positive decision for your business. Give yourself permission to pull back the curtains, have a really good look and figure out what you need to do to move yourself and your business forward. Give yourself permission to ask another human being for help. Remember: in business, this is not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength!

OK I’m ready - where do I start?

STEP ONE: get really freakin clear on exactly what it is you want to change. There are lots of ways you can do this, for example:

• a good old-fashioned SWOT analysis (listing out your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)

• think about what you want your life to look like in a 2 or 5 years time and what you might need to change within yourself or your business to get there

• reconnect with your ‘why’ - you started your business because you had an idea and you worked your socks off to bring that idea to life, so it’s important to revisit this and check-in

• alternatively, make a list of everything you don’t want in your life, then flip it around to understand what you do want!

STEP TWO: establish what 'success' would actually look like to you. If you found the perfect person to work with and spent time and money with them, what outcome would you be looking for within yourself, as well as your business? What would you like to feel, do, achieve or speak about differently? Write down what that version of you and your business looks like, so you know exactly what change would look like for you.

STEP THREE: now you know what you want to achieve and why, it’s time to think about what sort of person is going to help you make that happen. What’s important to you when you work with someone? What qualities do you value? What sort of experience or qualifications really matter? How do you want that person to make you feel? Rather than focusing on what someone might call themselves, or the services they offer, try to imagine what sort of working relationship is going to serve you best. Is it someone super professional that takes everything off your hands, or someone collaborative that you can have a good laugh with? (I fit into the second camp, in case you’re wondering!).

STEP FOUR: go out and start looking for the right person to help you! Talk to people in your network, browse social media, type your problem into Google and see what comes up. Honestly the words coach, mentor, consultant, mogul, expert etc are used pretty interchangeably these days, rightly or wrongly! Try not to worry about what people are calling themselves and instead look for people who are talking about the exact problem you have and painting a picture that aligns with your vision of what ‘success’ would look like. Side note: avoid the like the plague anyone who promises anything that sounds unrealistic to you. It’s key to trust your gut at this point.

Time to flip the script

Now it’s time for the fun bit: interviewing your perfect partner in crime. Contact people that interest you and notice how you feel when you reach out them for a chat, or what happens when you ask them about their services, or book a call. Tune into your instincts and filter out people who give off bad vibes. When you find yourself on an actual sales call with someone you’re excited about, remember that this call is NOT about them selling to you, it’s about them LISTENING to you. Don’t forget it’s also your opportunity to put questions to them! I highly recommend behavioural questioning as it will give you an instant barometer of how honest they are and how good they are at what they do. These kinds of questions might look terrifying but any good “expert” worth their salt shouldn’t struggle to answer them! Try questions like:

• tell me about a time when you failed a client - what happened and what did you learn from it?

• tell me about a time someone gave you a tough piece of feedback - what was it and how did you react?

• tell me about a time you had to keep asking ‘why’ to understand a client’s real problem?

• tell me about a time you had to change your approach half way through a project or client engagement - why did you do it and what did you change?

And the golden rule? If you don’t feel seen, heard and understood, then bail out my friend. If you feel like you’ve found the person that ticks all your boxes, then go for it! If you’ve done your homework then I promise you won’t regret it.

Need some help?

Honestly, a lot of coaching, mentoring and consulting is going to provide you with similar information, support and value. The key thing is that you feel a connection to the person you decide to work with. That’s why I offer a free call if you’re thinking about working with me, so that we can have a natter, get to know each other and understand if we’re a good fit. And if we’re not that’s totally cool, I know a bunch of awesome coaching and mentoring types so I can mostly likely refer you on to someone who is totally your cup of tea. If you’d like to shoot the shit, have a laugh and chat all things marketing and strategy, just hit the button below to get in touch. I can’t wait to hear from you.

How do I get more leads? Why your messaging sucks (and what to do about it)!

Remember when in-person networking was a thing?

Imagine the scenario - you're at networking and you're asked to describe what you do in 60 seconds. Do you:

a) freeze up and blab the first thing that comes into your head

b) try to make a joke to make an impression and forget to tell people what you do

c) reel off a sentence so punchy that you see several people nod and whisper 'ooh' to themselves. You didn't even need the full 60 seconds.

Just imagine if it was c every time! The reality is, for most of us it's either a or b. “That's because messaging is hard” I hear my clients say all the time. Or is it?

You kick ass at what you do

I’ll bet a decent chunk of cash that you started your biz because you were passionate about helping the world solve a big chunky problem, and you probably came up with a pretty cool way of doing it. Although you and your business are fearlessly awesome, your problem is that you tend to bang on about it a bit too much and forget to bang on about... YOUR CLIENTS! Your job is to show your audience that you really understand who they are and what they want to change.

Real talk: your clients don’t listen

The reality is, with all the noise out there and the stress of modern-day living, your potential clients don't have the headspace to care about HOW you solve their problem, they only care about WHAT their life will look like when you’ve solved it. You know I got you, right? Here are some simple tricks to flip the script and make sure your messaging is hitting the right beats, every time.

1. Talk about your clients. All the time. At every opportunity. Talk about the A to B journey they went on when they discovered your product or service, bought it and used it. Anonymise the stories to protect your clients' privacy if you need to, but focus your marketing message on your clients, first and foremost. If in doubt, spend at least 60% of your time, words and content on this.

2. Talk about the real you. Let people see the face behind the business. Yeah you've got a degree and a masters and that's great, but what do you do in real life? What books do you read? What passions do you have? What gets you out of bed in the morning? Remember: people buy from people, so you need to show the world you're a real person! If in doubt, don't spend more than 25% of your time talking about this. And don’t forget, talking about the real you doesn’t have to mean talking about ALL of you. Imagine you’re a victoria sponge: so long as you’re sharing all the layers of a particular slice, you don’t have to share all the slices. You feel me?

3. Talk about how your products and services work and how you deliver them, but try to SHOW rather than TELL where you can. Let me guess, I bet this is what you spend most of your time on, am I right? Cut it down to 15%. Trust me on this!

TIME TO PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

So there you go, a simple messaging framework that you can put into practice today! Hey, if you're sitting there thinking 'hmmm, I don't really know how I transform my clients' lives' then you know what? In March 2021 I ran a challenge over on Instagram to to help you reveal the messaging you need to attract and convert the right clients for you, every time.

And of course, if you’d like to nail your message right now, we can do that too. Just hit the button below to learn more about how I can help you.