How Running A Business Is Like Having a Newborn

It's been 6 months since I started my business, Follow Me Media. People ask me how it's all going and to be honest, it's going really well. I'm still surprised and humbled by how well the business has taken off, but like any business owner would understand its a lot of hard work. I remember seeing a quote that read, "Entrepreneurs are people who quit their 9-5 to work 24/7". There's always misconceptions about running your own business, such as having the flexibility to work your own hours - ha, if working 16 hours a day every day is working your own hours. Or not having a boss to report to - but it means you're doing the work of every employee of a business, from book keeping, marketing, sales, customer service, graphic designer to CEO.

Life Lately

I know the blog has been quiet lately. Of course it's mostly due to running a new business. It's been a month since I've gone live, but like any business owner knows the hard work happens after you actually launch.

My New Career

So I've been a little quiet on here lately and there's been a reason why ... I've been working on a project. Ok working on a little idea I've had for a little while. When I say a little while ... like 3 years ago, and finally I've taken the big jump of faith and went for it. 

I've started a service helping other businesses with their social media. This help comes in the form of creating a social media strategy so there's a reason or purpose to what they post online. I also offer managing business' social media presence, and a mentoring service, to help and answer question for those who want to understand, and be champions at running their own social media platforms. 

It's been an idea like I said I've had for a long time. I'm a firm believer that things happen for a reason, and to trust the timing of things. I've realised I wouldn't have been as committed as I am now if I started it back then. The motivation also comes from a better place, where as three years ago it was a reason to not go back to work. Since then I've had exposure and been able to refine my knowledge of this area, and this blog has been a stepping stone and learning block to the services I offer. Like I said things happen for a reason, and to trust the timing of things ... I've really let that belief radiate through this whole process and here I am. Launching my business this week, starting a a new job in a field that I've no formal "qualifications" in besides experience and skills I've mastered. 

This has been a humble idea and has taken a lot to get to where it is today. Of course it's mostly getting over fears, and  finding the confidence to pursue it. It's such a odd feeling when you find that thing that completely interests you, working your arse off doesn't feel like work. I feel like there's not enough time in the day to work on my business. 

I can't wait to build this little dream and see where it takes me. Even taking this first step, I already feel a sense of accomplishment and feel really proud of myself. 

So here are the business details .... 

Please check out my business site: www.followmemedia.com.au

You can also follow my business' Instagram and Twitter accounts on @followmemedia

My encouragement today is to trust in your timing ... it will come. If you've found your passion keep taking those small steps until you're ready to jump off. 

Linking up with Jess. 

5 Things I learned from The Digital Picnic Workshop

I recently attended a social media workshop ran by The Digital Picnic. TDP is ran by two amazing woman, Cat & Cherie, who are experts in the field of marketing and social media. 

TDP only started towards the end of last year and initially only ran in Melbourne, as the two owners live there. I personally wanted to attend just so I could meet Cherie. I have been following Cherie and her former blogs, A Baby Called Max and Raising Master Max pretty much since I had Eli. 

I loved reading her posts because they were so honest and her words were like as if you were having a conversation. It just seemed whatever she we going through at the time, I was experiencing something very similar, and I agreed with a lot of what she had to say on topics or experiences. Our first borns  are a few months apart, and so are our second borns, so again I could relate and empathise with her even more. Connecting virtually with someone through personal stories was something I found fascinating, something I enjoyed, and so I wanted to give back too. 

I started this blog to capture snippets of my life. At the time it focused a lot on my day to day parenting experiences. Which I'm glad I did, because when the boys have grown and raising babies are never going to happen again, I have some place to look back and read about that time in my life. I shared what it's like raising two boys with severe food allergies and other medical experiences. I discussed a little about things that interests me like finance and CrossFit, and now I share planning celebrations cause I like that stuff too.

As soon as I walked into the room I bee lined up to Cherie, put my arms out and gave her a big hug. I was just over the moon to finally meet her in person. I could put a voice to the words I've read over the years, and listening to her talk throughout the day, she talks just the way she writes - gentle, intelligent with humour mixed in. I also got to meet the lovely Cat, who has so much knowledge and able to share it in a way that was easy to understand. I found myself just nodding, with "Ah huh" moments to everything she was saying.

They top 5 things I learnt from the social media workshop are:

1. Renaming images for search engine optimisation (SEO)

I purposely share a lot of images on this blog, trying to include an image for every post I publish. However I never rename my images, keeping the file name the same as whatever name the camera has allocated it. To optimise my images I should rename them using SEO friendly keywords. For example IMG0003.jpg is not as useful as fresh-apples.jpg 

It make sense. I mean go to Google now and search for anything you want. Your results will display web results, but there is an image option right under the search box, and usually images are within the first couple of results anyways.  

2. Understanding the affect of Facebook likes vs engagement

This was an interesting topic. I remember seeing a meme my sister put up, it was something along the lines of "All I see on my news feed is people getting married and having babies, I'm just planning my next holiday." There's a reason why we see those popular announcements of friends and friends of friends, because the more it is liked the more it is shared. 

You have say 200 friends on Facies but its seems only 20 of them are actively over using it? Or why is it that your feed is full of things the same "over active" Facebook friends are liking? Again its because of how you may have interacted with that friend (via like, comment or share) on Facies that has allowed them to be coming up on your feed more frequently than others.

There's so much more to learn about the affects of likes and engagement, it's a separate workshop in its own. 

3. What tools & apps to use

Yes there are so many tools and apps out there today. Sure many are free and some do different things better than others, so one app a person uses may not be useful for another person. I am the type of person who tries or uses a product based on other people's recommendations. So if the owners of a small, but thriving social media business is recommending particular apps to use that have made their lives easier, I'm downloading those apps. 

4. Understanding analytics & measurement

At the start I would post things at an adhoc basis, and maybe in the past 8 months I got a bit more strategic about what and when I post things online. During the workshop we spent some time understanding the importance of reviewing your site, or social media engagement patterns. I also finally got to understand what some of the Google and Facies categories or headings mean, and what behaviours are desirable. 

5. Making a good impression

This is probably marketing or social media 101, but never neglect the importance of a clear and direct bio across all your social media platforms. It's the first page they hit and potentially the only one they'll look at, so ensure you impress your customer, reader, clients. Make sure it sells, they know what products you offer or what you're about - don't leave them guessing. 

The Digital Picnic runs workshops through out the year and if you want to learn more about social media as well as strategies to thrive in those areas, I can't recommend the workshop enough. They also offer other workshops targeting email content and photography too. 

This is not a sponsored post, I just love sharing my experiences. If you found this post interesting too, feel free to share. 

Have you attended a social media workshop before? What was the one key message / knowledge you took away from it? 

Linking up with Jess

Monday Motivation

Being at home, sometimes the routine of home life can drain me out of any motivation and inspiration to do anything else. 

I've discovered/realised a new interest that I want to pursue further and potentially turn into something more. I'm naturally an impulsive person and a lifetime ago any new ideas that came into my head or hobbies I wanted to try out, I would pursue with determined motivation. But now with the demands of young children and running a home, its harder to put time into personal things. I constantly toss up between whether I should stay up late into the night working on my personal projects or get some rest ready for another full demanding day with two little people? I'm a believer of looking after yourself so I always opt for the latter option. 

What I love about smart phones is the ability to be online without having to be in front of an actual computer. I can multitask while I'm away from my laptop or more recently, while I nurse. One of the things I usual do when I'm stuck in one of those scenarios is to either get on Pinterest, Instagram and/or Twitter and do what I call snoop surfing. I snoop to see what people are liking, check out pin boards of those who have liked what I pinned and read trending tweets. Although I would usually categorise this habit as a waste of time, at times I come out of a "snooping" session feeling motivated and inspired. 

Why? Because I've discovered a new recipe I want to try, saw something pretty that caught my attention or more appropriately read about some small start up business.       

I've always said I wanted to be my own boss, run my own business and for years I've toyed with various "ideas" and I think I've finally found my thing. I've found an idea that I think comes naturally to me and wouldn't seem like work if I did it full time. The idea actually came to me 10 months ago and I'm slowly taking baby steps to get it up and running, but sometimes I'm time pressed or lack motivation to do a little more each day.  

What kicks me in the motivation butt is seeing online, similar businesses or ideas come intuition. I've stopped comparing my idea or myself against others, its such a negative and limiting way to live life. I'm learning to ignore negative or insecure thoughts that may actually restrict me from my full potential and possibilities. Instead I celebrate all my successes, even the small ones and find other people's success as motivation to get moving and to keep going. 

There are so many motivational quotes out there but these quotes I've pinned onto my Pinterest board and occasionally look back to, when I need some motivatation: 

  

How do you keep motivated and inspired doing something for you? 

Brain Freeze

Tonight I'm writing up a Business Plan. When I first opened the document template 8 months ago and skimmed through the headings I thought 'oh looks very similar to a project plan ok' and closed the template.

As I start to complete the business plan and being away from that mindset and practice for over 10 months I'm actually struggling to put sentences together. I'm finding it hard to come up with answers and forgetting the typical "businessy fluff" that you always put in one of these documents.  

Your brain really is like a mussel.  You need to work it out regularly and work out different components. It needs more than Words with Friends or Four Pics One Word for stimulation. 

I'm realising you can't take for granted the "stuff" you did 38 hours a week because when you remove yourself from that repetitive work for several months (or for some, years) you actually start to forget or lose your knack.

Any suggestions to get this mummy brain back to prime shape?

Do you do any exercises or play any games / apps to challenge your brain?    

Social Media

I've decided to open a Pinterest and Twitter account.

I had avoided these other forms of social media mediums as I felt I had no need for them. Twitter, well I barely post "updates" on Facebook so I doubt I would be inclined to do so on another forum. Pinterest, I didn't really think the concept was ... interesting enough for me to sign up despite the craze it had created online and amongst friends.

Regardless, late one night last week I set up an account for both and I found the process very ...  intrusive. For both Pinterest and Twitter, post creating an account I had to link with someone. What if I just wanted to create an account with the intention of keeping it private? During the account creation process on Twitter you're asked to follow someone and forced to follow a minimum number of people before account creation is complete. They have suggested  celebrities for you based on your interest but again what if I don't want to see what Helen has to say and would rather just follow my real friends? 

On Pinterest they also suggest people to follow based on your interests then force you to pin stuff on your wall ... why? 

I actually thought I didn't successfully create either accounts because I was feeling so forced into actioning things, that I stopped. However I soon received emails that I had my own followers so I guess my accounts were created.

During the past few days when I have a few minutes, I have been surfing around on Pinterest. I've come to the conclusion that the tool fuels you're urge to spend money. As I created boards, liked and repined things that I liked all I wanted to do was buy that dress, desire to go on a holiday (something we shouldn't consider now), decorate the home with cute stuff when we don't even have key furniture pieces yet and shop for a whole winter wardrobe for Eli ... it's not inspiring me it's making me want to buy stuff that I may not necessarily need.

Yes there are other categories that may not stir the pockets like Architecture, Science and Humor but they're categories that I don't particularly like and looking through the things people I follow pin and like I guess they don't either.

Anyways that's my rant ... now I'm going to shop online for some A1 size photo frames to decorate in my home.

Feel free to follow me

Pinterest: campints

Twitter: campints

Trying to come up with usernames that haven't been already taken was another reason why the process was so tedious.

Happy Monday!

Do you have a Twitter or Pinterest account, let me know I'll follow you

Back to Work

I returned back to work on Tuesday (post labor long weekend) after 4 weeks off, to find as I expected little progress since I left. No surprise the project roll out didn't commence in my absence, but will next week. Although the reasons were due to hurdles the project had to overcome, a part of me feels like they were actually waiting for me to come back.

Again no surprise, heard my name was dragged in the mud, because I'm not there to defend myself, cause it's never the PM's fault for anything as she deflects any admittance to any mistakes.   

Anyways I'm not going to commit a post about her - well not this one.

So leading up to the first day back I felt a sense of dread that I've never felt towards a job before. I think it was because I knew the mess I had left and was not confident it would be fixed while I was away. I think also knowing I would be continuing to work closely with her added to my feeling of dread. 

Luckily I had an even shorter week only working 3/4 days. It helped the transition back to work a little bearable ... just a little bit.

Returning back to work just iterate how much I don't find joy in what I'm currently doing. I'm sure the project and the PM plays a factor but I don't know whether looking for a new role is what I need to do. I think finding my own business is where I want to head more towards so I can work my own hours and be with my family most of the day. I need to stop being complacent and really start the process of working for myself.

The Changing World of Business

I've come to realise the growing number of people I know who are starting businesses online either through the form of an online store or blogging with the view to market and get paid to say wonderful things about other companies products. 

Just this week a major media company announced it will be changing its manufacturing and distribution to reflect the changing landscape of how people want its product.

The internet has allowed people to start companies with little capital and with hard work and persistence grow their small idea into one of the major competitors in their field. 

All of this obviously gets me thinking about me and my "brilliant idea" ... or at least wonder when it will come intuition. 

I thought I wanted to start a dessert table company but everyone is doing it now. It has turned me off / scared me into pursuing it. I also realised it requires a fair amount of out lay initially which unless you have paying customers then it does hit the pocket considerably, something I can't afford now with a baby. I guess I feel a sense of envy and urgency to get my sh!t together and seriously start something ... anything!! 

Meetings & Motherhood

I'm writing this post whilst on the bus, via my iPhone (which is on 8% battery life) trying to make it on time to my 8am meeting. Firstly, I will never agree to an 8am meeting again. Why for a number of reasons 

1. I live roughly an hour away from the city now so the commute is longer then when I was living in Crowie. And when I say it takes an hour to get into town, this is assuming there is no traffic. 
2. Trying I get up early with a seven month old baby is physically challenging as I can't predict how well he did or didn't sleep the night before. 
3. I hardly get any sleep as it is. So when I woke up at 6.14am this morning realising I should have woken up an hour and 14mins ago I quickly put on what I could find, slapped I some make up and ran out the door. I briefly saw my reflection on the bus this morning and I look like I just woke up.  

In my books looking like I didn't "make an effort" is considered unacceptable. I recall meeting up with SD for lunch one day after she returned to work from her maternity leave. I remember she looked tired, frazzled and "mumsie". I thought to myself at that time 'when I have kids I wont look like that. I'm still going to care about how I look before I step out of the house'. I think it's not that she wasn't trying she just had a million and one things to do for everyone else and had no time for herself. 

Well that's how I feel. There were still a million and one things I could have done before I left the house this morning. Tasks ensuring the household is prepared for tomorrow's challenges. It's a juggling act, physically draining and at times unguided but I guess you just have to suck it up and do it. 

They say motherhood is one of the most challenging tasks in life. They weren't wrong. I believe the reason why woman (most) are natural multi taskers. It an inbuilt trait you're going to need when you start a family. 

It's 7.38am and we're crossing the bridge. Maybe I will make it on time to my 8am meeting after all. Two more work days until the weekend.

Last Few Days

I think its been about 7 days since my last entry and I've been a very busy bee filling my days with much excitement. 

Firstly Ian and I are finalising the details of our Europe holiday. After several months of complaining (mostly on my part) about never being to Europe we've bit the bullet and decided we're doing it .... this year. We have decided on a 4 week Europe trip comprising of London, Paris, Rome, Athens and Santorini. I can't wait until August which is when we're planning to leave. We've decided not to bring Eli and after his needy and cranky self last week I was content on that decision. I know I will change my mind over and over again before then, but Europe is what I want, so probably best not to bring Eli to minimise risk and maximise the fun and experience. 

I've got my first client for my business. This party was actually the party I wanted to launch my business off when I first thought of the idea and I'm surprised it's actually happening. I'll be preparing a dessert table for little miss TA's combined first birthday and dedication. Because I don't bake I approach Amor Creations to bake cupcakes, macaroons and cake pop's for me. I told her about my business plan and asked for a discount for future orders. She then told me she has had people inquiring about dessert tables recently and will forward my details going forward. She even offered to lend me her equipment if I like. I am so happy and thrilled! 

Yesterday we got some family shots taken. PS took some lovely shots of us at Bicentenial Park in Homebush. I can't wait to see all the images and blow some of them up to hang up in our home. Here's a sneak peek at some of my favourites.

 

Another event that took place this week was my meeting up with my boss to discuss my back to work arrangement. Looks like I will be going back to work 1 February. Fortunately I was able to go back four days a week. She couldn't give me three but was will to negotiate four days for the next six months. After six months we will discuss whether I still want to do four days or jump back to full time. 

I've got mixed emotions about returning to work. I want to go back for the financial reasons and the predicability., The difference with being a mother and working is with work there is an end and result - you know when it's done. Looking after children is totally different - it's unpredictable, all consuming and on going. 

However now that its almost time to go back to work, I feel like I'm getting the groove with motherhood now. It takes awhile to adjust and don't get me wrong I've had moments where I wished I wasn't here. But it's only now I sense my baby can communicate in their baby way that I understand what he wants, we're slowly getting into a routine, I'm able to juggle looking after him and house work and he's changing me into a better person. I'm less stressed and more loving because of him. I'm not looking forward to going back to work but I want to set up for a comfortable life and be an example to my child(ren).