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Beyond the Law: My Unlikely Path to Professional Photography

January 31, 2017 by Jen Dziuvenis Leave a Comment

Beyond the Law: My Unlikely Path to Professional Photography

 Ten years ago, I was finishing my last year of law school, preparing for the bar exam, and looking forward to a stressful career sitting behind a desk, navigating the American legal system. If you had told me that nearly a decade later I’d be getting paid to follow adventurous couples into the backcountry or jetting off to Iceland to photograph an elopement, I would have told you that you were nuts.

But that’s where I am and I wanted to share a bit about how I got here.

As with many of the best changes in life, my move into the world of professional photography was brought on by some pretty extreme discomfort. My “real” job had been making me miserable for way too long when one day I hit a breaking point. I realized that the small amount of money I was taking home after I paid for our son’s daycare wasn’t worth the anxiety I was experiencing at work … and that continuing to do what I was doing was the definition of insanity.

That night I had a heart-to-heart with my family, drank a couple glasses of wine, and mustered up a heaping dose of courage. There may have been some tears. Turning in my resignation the following day was equal parts scary and liberating. I didn’t know what was next but I was damn sure that I needed to be doing something different.

Beyond the Law: My Unlikely Path to Professional Photography

All images by Jen Dziuvenis.

At that time I had been doing photography as a hobby for several years, mostly taking pictures of pretty landscapes and crazy cyclists ripping up trails in the mountains. Friends had asked me to take their family photos or suggested that I shoot their weddings and I had flatly refused. “That’s not really what I do …” were the words that came out of my mouth.

“No freaking way!” is what I said in my head.

Being a wedding photographer couldn’t have been farther off my radar. I didn’t especially enjoy going to weddings. Why would I want to photograph them?

Then one day, through the magic of social media, I stumbled on photographers who were doing stuff that I loved — work that spoke to my sense of adventure and search for authentic connection. People like Ben Sasso and Jordan Voth completely changed my idea of what wedding and portrait photography could be. Stiff, awkward poses were replaced with real emotion, undeniable human connection, and some of the most incredible landscapes on earth. A fire had been lit.

Beyond the Law: My Unlikely Path to Professional Photography

I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try my hand at photographing humans. I begged my friends to model for me and answered Craigslist ads looking for photographers. I connected with an online community of local photographers and did some second shooting at weddings. I agree when a friend offered to pay me to shoot her own wedding day.

I was scared as hell and full of doubt. I did it anyway.


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In a span of a few months photography went from an expensive hobby to a baby business that was bringing in enough money to convince me that this could actually be a thing. I booked a few weddings, doubled my rates, and booked some more. I invested in training and equipment. I landed my first international destination wedding. I had photos go wildly viral. For a very new business, I was having far more success than I had ever imagined was possible.

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That’s not to say that it’s been easy or that I’ve been able to turn this into a fulltime gig overnight. Even with quick success, it’s slow going and a huge percentage of what I make goes straight back into the business. I’m working harder than I ever have — and doing it for less money.

And yanno what? I’m loving every damn minute of it.

I had a regularly occurring meeting at my last job that caused me considerable anxiety. Every few weeks it would pop up on my schedule and I’d curse and cringe. I left it on my calendar when I quit that job as a constant reminder of why I left. That message still pops up every two weeks but now it doesn’t cause me angst. Now it makes me feel proud. It’s a reminder that I left that world behind, took control of my life, and am hustling like hell to pursue my passions.

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Filed Under: Featured1, HUSTLE, INSPIRE, Jen Dziuvenis, LIFE, MOTIVATE, SHOOT, Starting Out, WORK IT

Why Nobody Is Booking You + A Photography SEO Experiment

July 1, 2015 by The FCA 15 Comments

Why Nobody Is Booking You + A Photography SEO Experiment

Hands up who wants more bookings?

What a ridiculous question, right?

Everyone wants more bookings.

Not necessarily MORE bookings but very definitely more bookings OR more bookings at the right price working with the right clients.

And you know what you need to do to get this! Or at least, you think you do.

You need to get people landing on your site. Actually, you know, SEEING your work.

Right? Right!

So you’re working your ass off on your SEO, on blogging your latest sessions so you always have fresh work for people to look at, you’re busy like a bee optimising your keywords, using long tail and short tail and any-other-tail keywords inbetween and OH MY GOSH SOMEBODY PLEASE KNOCK ME OVER THE HEAD because that would be infinitely more fun than trying to figure out something that doesn’t freaking matter anyway.

Seriously.

When is this obsession going to END?

Because you think that doing things ‘the right way’ is what brings you clients?

I tried a little experiment today.

I wanted to find one of my favourite film photographers online.

So I did a search for her.

I wanted to see if one of the world’s top photographers really gave a flying flip about SEO.

I thought she would be most likely to come up on the first page of Google search for her local area (south carolina).

No.

Not there.

not on page 2.

Not on page 3 either.

I didn’t go beyond that, because I couldn’t be bothered. (Your clients most likely won’t either).

Hmm.

So I tried again, searching for her by genre this time (fine art photographer). Nope. No results on the first 3 pages.

Then I tried fine art film wedding photographer followed by her area.

Then I tried female wedding photographer.

Then I tried about 7 other different searches including other combinations of the above.

SHE DIDN’T APPEAR IN ONE SINGLE SEARCH RESULT.

NOT ONE!!!!

First page of NOWHERE.

You see, this is weird because

For an absolute age

I was on the first page for my own photography business. I was TOP of page one too! (Nothing beats me. Not even Google. I’m a bit determined like that).

Getting on to page one isn’t difficult. Getting to the top is slightly harder, but not really if you blog consistently and USEFULLY and your posts get shared and read.

That’s not too hard to do, is it?

But this is the thing

Getting to the top of page one and even just getting on to page one

DIDN’T BRING ME CLIENTS.

It got me a ton of people landing on my site, and the main page they LEFT my site from was my pricing page.

(Find this out for yourself and your own site by using Google Analytics if you aren’t already).

What did this mean?

People leaving my site at my pricing page?

It meant that the MAJORITY of people who landed on my site simply didn’t want to pay what I was charging.

They had a smaller budget.

And I certainly did not have the time or inclination trying to persuade those clients who were not my dream target clients otherwise.

(I had people lining up for my services that WERE prepared to pay what I charge. And only ONE of them had found me via Google. ONE).

So I know – you want to know what this means for YOU- and it’s coming.

But first let’s just summarise that-

One of the world’s most incredible and highly-sought after photographers, whose work graces magazine covers left right and centre, who shoots everything from celebrities to the campaigns of high profile designers

Clearly doesn’t care about SEO.

And from my personal experience

being on top of page one of Google

Bought me lots of views but lots of people leaving my site at my pricing page

i.e – MY TARGET CLIENT AREN’T USING GOOGLE TO FIND ME

Quite clearly and obviously means the following

a)- it’s easy as pie to get to page one of google search for your area if you know what you’re doing (read the above)

but

b)- IT DOESN’T FREAKING MATTER!!!

UNLESS

*you want to compete with other photographers

*you want to aim for a low-end client (there is NOTHING wrong with this if this is the end you want to aim at, it just wasn’t for me because I’d rather shoot less and earn more and have a ton of time to do other things like be with my family, than shoot all the time at low end. I’ve done both low-end and high-end, and neither client base is problem free).

*you are happy to potentially be price shopped / compete on price

*you are more likely to be valued based on what you charge, rather than as an artist and creative. So your work is valued as a product, rather than a client buying you and valuing you as, I don’t know, say- a talented human being?

*you’re certain your clients aren’t going to find you any other way.

So if you tick any of those boxes- do spend the majority of your time that you allocate to growing your business dedicated to improving your SEO.

But if NONE of those resonate

There is a better way for you.

One not quite so mind-numbing or frustrating (Lord knows how long I spent banging my head against a brick wall in frustration that I WAS NOT ON PAGE ONE AND WHY ON EARTH NOT AND DEAR GODDDDDD COULD SOMEONE PLEEEEEEEASE HELP ME BEFORE I GO MAD BECAUSE IF I DON’T GET TO PAGE ONE MY BUSINESS WILL JUST DIE

Back to that photographer up there.

My heroine (one of many).

Has fifty two THOUSAND followers on Pinterest

One Hundred and Nineteen THOUSAND followers on Instagram

Fifteen thousand followers on facebook

and MORE than just social media

Do you know what this world-class photographer was doing back in 2012?

Writing articles for the Huffington Post.

Let me repeat that.

This TOP LEVEL LUXURY HIGH END NO DOUBT MILLIONAIRE PHOTOGRAPHER

WAS WRITING ARTICLES FOR THE FREAKING HUFF POST!!!!!

So here is what this photographer (Elizabeth Messina, in case you’re asking) knows that you don’t.

That there are far more powerful ways to share your work, your creativity, your inspiration, your entire heart and purpose- with the world

If you don’t want to be price-shopped

If you don’t want to compete

If you want to aim at a market that isn’t low budget / low-end

There are now far more powerful options available to you than SEO to reach your target clients, and get your work seen.

Elizabeth Messina has a huge social media following, has written I think 4 books at the last count, and has written for the Huffington Post. She has also done a ton of collaborations with high- end and big name industry professionals.

And this is where most of us think in reverse.

We think- we truly BELIEVE-  that we must be a big-name photographer before launching mentoring sessions, books, writing articles, or even writing our very own BLOG POSTS!! that we must have a trillion followers before we are truly worth listening to.

How screwy is that?

Because we somehow change what we are passionate about, good at, or love, ONCE WE HAVE ACQUIRED A TON OF FOLLOWERS???

Seriously.

Some of us will love fiddling about with SEO.

And that’s fine.

But it is NOT a magical wand for suddenly gaining new clients – (and if you think it is, you’re stuck in 1999. Which I won’t bore you talking about how since then there have been a ton of google updates named after various zoo animals that will basically prevent you from reaching that ever- elusive page one unless you spend time day in day out perfecting your SEO anyway, and even then you’ll struggle)

If you want a magical wand?

You need to take note of what somebody else in the industry has done before you. Because in business, if you want to do something well, it’s SO easy now! You simply take what has already worked gloriously well for someone else and THEN YOU FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO IT BETTER.

So you know why Elizabeth Messina sprang into stardom, other than the fact she creates beautiful work?

Don’t tell me you think it’s because she has a unique vision, because yes she does, NOW, but that vision will have been refined and developed over time, and it’s not actually that which has brought her fame and recognition at all, hence why she was still writing articles for the Huffington Post in 2012.

If photography success was all based on our unique style and vision well then we wouldn’t need to do very much at all would we? And we would all be mega-successful, because we ALL have our own unique vision and perspective (or are working on it).

5 things that can launch you and your success into the stratosphere?

1. Launch something. Books, courses, workshops, a blog, a newsletter, something that communicates to your target clients – I have knowledge in this area and am worth listening to – something that gets people talking about you. 

2. Build your audience via your newsletter. I can’t talk anymore about this for a while. I’m newslettered-out. If you’ve missed my emails or my youtube video or have questions about this, either join #shininglights where you can watch my massively long video on the subject which will teach you how to grow your list and what to do with your newsletter, or watch my youtube video here to start with. The reason this works is because you’re actually USING those people that land on your site and CAPTURING them, to be able to continue COMMUNICATING with them, and when they’re constantly reminded of your presence and fabulousness then who do you think they will be MOST LIKELY to book and recommend? Someone they have grown to know and trust or some random on Google?

3. Use somebody else’s audience. Why bother building your own via the super-slow process of SEO and very slowly moving up the page ranks to try to gain the odd visitor for your site, when there are WAY more effective uses for your time that can result in THOUSANDS of people seeing your site? There are a billion and one ways to do this from writing for somebody elses’s blog or site as a guest poster, speaking, even running a facebook ad. If your client ISN’T searching on Google then go and figure out where they ARE most likely to be, and GIVE something to them that brings them to your site!

4. Make friends. Colleagues in the industry are vital for support, encouragement, booking, and referrals. They are also likely to share your work and your latest blog posts / social updates.

5. Use social media. Though this is also arguably dying as all areas are flooded, and people are so bored of seeing promotional statuses and updates, done in the right way – to build relationships, to help encourage, inspire, and educate others- social media can be a valuable way to drive traffic to your site.

One more.

6. Create something that makes people give a damn. I tear my hair out at the same boring blog posts I’m reading lately. It’s why the tone of the FPA has completely changed since this started out. I got so bloody bored of even my own stuff!! Who cares about 5 of the top XYZ or my latest shoot?

BORING.

BORING

BORING

Stop being so bloody polite and inoffensive. Stop worrying about who you might offend or upset. Stop censoring yourself. Start sharing your message. Whatever that looks like. Just write every single day about whatever is on your mind and heart and your IDEAL clients will most likely be so aligned to your viewpoint and worldview they will most likely SHARE it anyway  and if they don’t well hey, all PR is good PR, right?

What matters is that you’re creating content that is USEFUL and ENGAGING and here is the kicker

When people LOVE what you write –

they will read and read and read

which means that lovely little magical signals are sent to Google which say ‘this person’s site is WORTHY OF ATTENTION and THIS PERSON IS CREDIBLE IN THEIR FIELD’

which means-

TA-DAAAAA!!!!

You rise up in the ranks of Google search.

And then

people share and share and share

and those social media wizards

also then send magical smoky signals to Google which says

THE EXACT SAME THING!!

‘THIS WEBSITE IS WORTHY OF ATTENTION’!!!!!!!

Which is why The FPA appears on page 2 of the search for ‘grow photography business’ and page three for ‘photography business marketing’ out of 58 million results and 97 million results, despite me putting ZERO effort into SEO!!

I barely EVER alt tag my images, I never input keywords consciously, I don’t really think about long tail or short tail keywords and I rarely ever use my built in site SEO checker!

So when are you going to GET IT???

You need to blog

You need to write

or speak

or do SOMETHING

SOMETHING NEW

Embrace the NEW ways of marketing

Of course, you don’t have to.

You can sit and moan about how everyone has a popup or optin nowadays (maybe because it WORKS?!?! like only a handful of people every had a BUSINESS CARD???

Or you can go back through this post, use the info in it, and start making a BLOODY DIFFERENCE IN YOUR BUSINESS!

Now!

Today!

What can you take action on TODAY, right now, when you leave this post?

Oh, and one other thing.

If you like this post-

Can you please Share it for me using the buttons below?

Because Google likes that 😉

Filed Under: ONLINE, WORK IT

Quickfire Interview; Louise Beukes, Stylist + Editor of B.LOVED

November 6, 2014 by The FCA Leave a Comment

Quickfire Interview; Louise Beukes, Stylist + Editor of B.LOVED

We interview top stylist + editor of lifestyle blog B.LOVED Louise Beukes, on how to successfully blog for business, ahead of our blog challenge starting next week.

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If you’re an FPA reader you’ll know by now that we are running our first ever FPA challenge next week – designed to transform your photography blog into a complete client magnet.  (You can join here).

Ahead of our challenge, we interviewed blogger + stylist Louise Beukes – read on to discover her tips for attracting returning visitors to your site, and Louise’s key recommendation to make any shoot look entirely professional and gorgeous…

Hi Louise! Can you please tell me a little about your blog B.LOVED?

The b.loved story started after my own wedding in March 2011, when still reading hundreds of wedding blogs daily, I realised my obsession with the details, design and styling of weddings wasn’t going anywhere!

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I was approached by a South African blogger, Gaby from SouthBound Bride, who wanted to feature my day.  This was the catalyst for founding B.LOVED, initially a blog to share contemporary inspiration in a world of vintage weddings!

Since then B.LOVED has grown from a passion (I initially thought I’d blog once or twice a week!) to a more-than-full-time job, I couldn’t be happier!

I get lots of enquiries from photographers who tell me that they want to blog more but don’t know where to start.  What advice can you give to those who want to blog more for their business?

So many people ask me how I find the time to blog! This has to be a priority – the same as answering emails, preparing quotes, you need to set aside time in your schedule and stick to it.

A blog post shouldn’t take more than an hour – and if it’s taking longer you need to invest in some software to make your life easier!!

The key to a successful business blog is blogging regularly – it doesn’t matter if it’s once a week or twice a day.

You’ve recently made the leap into being a full time blogger + stylist- How did you decide the time was right to make the leap? Do you have any advice for those who have yet to make the leap to running their business as their full-time job?

It got to the point I was working over 100 hours a week, spending all day working for someone else and coming home to spend half the night and all weekend working on my blog, shoots, admin and marketing.  I didn’t have any time for my husband, family or friends and I was constantly getting sick.

I also realised that I couldn’t grow my business in the way I wanted with the limited hours I had, so I knew something had to change! Of course it wasn’t an easy decision – in fact it’s terrifying not having that monthly salary – but there’s never a right time!

Don’t give up. Work hard. Be nice! There’s no magic formula, but the industry is very supportive – get lots of opinions and advice and listen to it.

What is the number one tip that you can share for increasing visitors to your site and building a loyal readership? 

Really understand your reader and target client.  Creating a target profile was the single most important thing I have done this year – it really focusses your mind on what is right & wrong for your business and makes decisions so much easier.

You are also a stylist.  Can you tell me about your styling- what you have been doing so far & your future plans for your styling? 

Pretty early on in my blogging I was asked to ‘style’ a shoot by Anneli Marinovich, so it’s all down to her!!

My background is in interior design, so she believed I had the skills to pull it off. It was such hard work, and looking at some of the images still makes me cringe, but it was the catalyst to launch the styling side of my business.

My passion really lies in Editorial Styling.  I have been extremely fortunate to have my work featured on some of the biggest & best magazines and blogs in the world, which is truly an honour and testament to the amazing talent I get to work with.

I love working with wedding businesses, creating strong editorial images to get their work noticed!

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 Where do you find your creative inspiration?

If I’m working with a business, their story is my biggest inspiration.  I love getting to know everything about them, their style and what they stand for – working out their ‘brand’.  From this I usually start to form my own ideas for aesthetics and styling, and then head online to start researching images to illustrate my ideas.

Pinterest is simply amazing, I am definitely an addict!!

My business inspirations come from my incredibly talented friends in the wedding industry.  They are all so talented, and watching them grow and develop makes me push harder!

What’s the number one thing that makes any occasion (or shoot) pretty? 

Flowers! You don’t have to spend a lot, but they are the one thing that really transforms any event or set – adding colour, texture and freshness.

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A big thank you to Louise Beukes for taking the time to answer our questions.

We hope you’ve found a few of these tips insightful – this is the briefest of introductions to the blog challenge next week –  sign up for our Superblog challenge now – it’s entirely free but registration closes this weekend!

Visit B.LOVED here, See Louise’s styling site here, and visit her beautiful wedding business training company Flourish & Prosper. 

Filed Under: INSPIRE, MOTIVATE, WORK IT

Get Your Work Published

October 29, 2014 by The FCA Leave a Comment

Get Your Work Published

Again, there she was on the screen in front of me. A bit prettier, a bit lighter, softer, than I had imagined, but still just as beautiful.

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Today my recent shoot – which went in my head by the name Come Undone – was published on the lovely lifestyle blog b.loved.

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Previously published inside Magnolia Rouge magazine, seeing it all again online was a lovely reminder of why, exactly, you need to get your work published.

{The shots that you see here are how I imagine the shots would work together in my head, and some of the images have not yet been published – it’s a wonderful thing seeing how three people have different perspectives on how to edit a story to achieve different looks + narratives}.

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In case you have ever wondered whether it is really essential for your business to get published, there is a simple answer. It is. It is if you want your business to succeed.

If you haven’t had work published yet, you need to be seriously considering it if you want to take your business to the next level.  In our next post we are going to look at exactly why it’s so important, and i’ll share my top tips on getting published  – as well as what not to do.

If you want top tips on how to create your own successful shoot, head to this post here.

I hope you like the shots!

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  • Photography: CKB Photography
  • Styling & Coordination: Louise Beukes Styling
  • Florist: Jay Archer Floral Design
  • Bridalwear: Churchgate Porter
  • Lingerie: Shell Belle Couture
  • Stationery: Gemma Milly
  • Hair: Kasia Fortuna
  • Makeup: Sabrina Lily
  • Catering: Social Pantry
  • Venue: The Roost
  • Venue Coordination: Coco Wedding Venues
  • Model: Hannah L at Alpha Agency
  • Ribbons & Lace: Jane Means
  • Tableware & Linen: Helene Millot
  • Tableware: Rowen & Wren
  • Tableware: Nordic House

 

 

Filed Under: INSPIRE, WORK IT Tagged With: be published, publication, shoot

A Beautiful Free Printable

October 26, 2014 by The FCA 2 Comments

A Beautiful Free Printable

We love all of those pretty printables that are around at the moment – so we made you one!

Do What You Love

Featuring pretty modern calligraphy and soft muted watercolour florals, ours is stuck up above our desk to brighten up a dull morning, and help us through the tougher moments of running our photography business.  We hope it provides you with a little happiness and inspiration too.

Just click the image to view the full-sized file, and save it to your desired location.

Happy Sunday! 

Make sure you come back  tomorrow – we are so excited to be launching our first #CaptureSuccess Challenge.  It’s going to be an intense, guided event that you can use to truly grow your business – and it’s free.

Find out more tomorrow, or join us here to make sure you don’t miss the announcement. 

Filed Under: INSPIRE, Uncategorized, WORK IT

25 More Ways To Juggle Your Business + Kids

October 24, 2014 by The FCA Leave a Comment

25 More Ways To Juggle Your Business + Kids

Our last post covered 25 ways to help you if you’re juggling your photography business whilst raising a family.  Find out 25 more ways to help get you from stressed to successful here.

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26. A few late nights – Personally, I am a night owl so I would rather squeeze in some late nights here and there when necessary, than force early mornings.  Do what works for you – just be prepared and happy to work the extra hours when you really need to.

27.Engage your family or friendship support team – vital when you’re trying to juggle everything.  A sympathetic and encouraging ear helps a lot!

28. Don’t be proud (ask others for practical help) – especially in terms of babysitting duties. Some of us are often way too proud to ask close family members or friends for help.  Get rid of pride!

29. Smart apps – more detail to follow in another post, but in particular Evernote has been a blessing to me! It helps me stay on track and with number 30 below-

30. Staying organised – time is at a premium when you work at home with children.  The less time you spend hunting for lipstick / laptop chargers / socks the better.  I use Pinterest for inspirational ways to organise everything.  I also use my own planners to ensure I stay on track with both my business admin + my personal goals.

31. A specific workspace.  Creating a proper workspace, no matter how small, is essential for productive working, even if it’s just the same place that you go to every time you work.  It helps to signify ‘ok brain, it’s work time’.

32. Positive quotes– Having beautiful quotes around the office and the house continually make me feel motivated and inspired. Keep an eye on the FPA this weekend.. we have something pretty coming for you!

33. Stay healthy – are you guilty of not looking after yourself enough? Of over-indulgence? I find my energy levels slump when I have bread, sugar, and not enough fruit and veggies.  Plus, I get a mental boost from knowing I have eaten well – as though I am doing well, am on track to success and want to continue in this way with my work too. Schedule in some green juice or smoothie recipes asap!

34. Caffeine! Ah, many of you will disagree with me on this tip; it’s hardly in line with the previous one! I should probably give it up- perhaps I will do after toddlerhood is over.  Again, you must do what works for you and caffeine does give me a boost when I need to work late – usually because I have had the day off playing with the girls.

34. Quit worrying about things you can’t change. (I have a massive shark phobia. Also a big cat phobia.  Pointless and ridiculous and a complete waste of time. Thankfully I no longer feel the need to sit and google ‘likeliness of being eaten by a shark’ for hours upon end, as I have learnt not to procrastinate.  But before this I would actually spend entire DAYS googling shark attacks).  So I am slightly crazy and probably borderline obsessive about some things right? I know!

But so many of us spend time worrying about our competition, and feeling like we are not good enough. Get off facebook and make sure you are using that time proactively instead. I highly advise a clearly defined schedule to help keep you on track – as well as the 3-task-trick mentioned previously.

35.  Get rid of pride. The amount of business owners I work with who are too proud to admit that they don’t know it all and need help!! I don’t know why so many of us think we don’t need to invest in education and training. We do!! Every time I make a sale I spend X amount on books, courses, mentoring, etc. There is always something new to learn and always new ways to improve. Swallow your pride and reach out.

36. Business allies.  Ahh I love my allies!  There is nothing better than having friends in business who you can reach out to and who you know will help support and boost one another.  Find friends who you connect with in the industry and build real friendships – not for networking or business purposes, but to be one another’s support teams.  You know how hard the eachother works. And yes, I think I have probably gone HELP! IT’S SO HARD RUNNING A BUSINESS WITH BABIES SOMETIMES! to all of them, and all of them have provided support and encouragement. Priceless.  I hope I do the same for them too.

37. Online groups. Like the above, but online 🙂 I am a member of a few brilliant and supportive facebook groups, one of which is a fully paid membership-only site.  I can’t even describe what this group does for me.  Everyone shares ideas, reviews, constructive criticism, ideas, support, encouragement.  We give each other discounts + recommendations.  We share information and a million and one other things.   They are all inspiring, informative and encouraging places to be- I highly recommend you find a supportive online group too.  { + If you want to join the FPA #CaptureSuccess support group, click here for more info}.

38. Knowing Your Target Client– helps you avoid wasting your time marketing to people who are not your client.  So many hours can be wasted designing marketing campaigns, attending wedding fairs etc, which simply don’t work- which could be avoided if you know exactly who you are marketing to.

39. Work smarter not harder.

40. Unplug. Keep some time as sacred family time, so you’re not ‘always’ working, and not doing either being Mummy or Business -Owner very effectively. Having sacred time and turning off all technology helps you to ditch the working parent guilt and enjoy being a parent without distraction.

41.  Use email templates to save time.  For example, I create email templates for my pricing enquiries, (I use gmail) though I will always add a few words in addition as I like to be personal.

42. Turn off notifications.  Every time you stop to chat on whatsapp or reply to an email or see who has commented on your photo, you aren’t being productive and focussing on the task at hand, and what you are actually trying to achieve becomes an ongoing task that drags on and on.  Turn them off and stay on track.

43. Ditch the guilt! I’m sure I’ve said this before but I can’t say it enough.  Stop feeling guilty! Easier said than done, I know, but it is such a negative and unproductive emotion.

44. Set up childcare swap sessions with friends

45.  Find a play facility close to you that has wi-fi so the babies can play, and you can work and enjoy a latte!

46. Become an early riser.  Getting up even half an hour before everyone else gives you chance to plan your day, ensuring you are proactive and organised rather than reactive.  Get up an hour earlier and you might even squeeze in a larger task or two as well!

47. Make habits.  Experts say it takes 21 days to form a habit, so getting up early etc, carving out set work times, etc, won’t be easy to begin with.  Set regular routines and habits and keep at it until they become second nature.  Then the juggling act becomes much easier!

48.  Remember that they are only young once.  Nothing is more important than that quality time together.  I’ve seen my girls take their first steps and say their first words.  I am there to hold them when they cry and pick them up when they fall.  I read them stories, we bake cakes and paint.  It’s hard running a business as a parent, but I would never ever change it.  Cherish your time and these precious moments together.

49. Create ‘busy bags‘ for babies and toddlers.  Look these up online if you have no clue what I am talking about- they are amazing and keep little ones occupied for ages, I made tons of these when Istria was a baby.

50. Celebrate and reward your success.  I always treat myself when I reach a major work goal.  We are often so busy working and taking care of everyone else we forget to gift ourselves.  Real gifts, something that we treasure, not just a quick squiz through a few shops online- buy something that feels like a real luxurious treat- something you’ll remember during the next difficult period. 

51.  I couldn’t not add this one- KEEP GOING.  Remember nothing worth having comes easily.

And one more – 52.  Use a goal planner to make sure that you are on track for getting your business to where you want it to go – whether that is financial freedom, a bigger house, being your own boss or being able to work from home- having it all clearly planned + mapped out in an organised structure will get you to where you want to go.  Use our free #CaptureSuccess worksheets to help you map yours.

Filed Under: BALANCE, LIFE, ORGANISE, Uncategorized, WORK IT Tagged With: organisation, parenting

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