business tips

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#46 - Managing your social media while on vacation

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How do you manage your social media when you’re on vacation? Blogger and content curator, Rebecca Stanisic, joins me to discuss how you can create a viable social media plan to keep you covered while you are disconnected and away from the office.

rebecca stanisic

Many business owners intend to have a plan for their social media while they are away, but don’t follow through and instead let their social media channels go dark. This is not always ideal.

While vacations are important—disconnecting can be rejuvenating!—it does not have to be detrimental to your business. Think of a vacation as a chance to recharge your batteries, and when you plan ahead it can be stress-free.

So, how can you prevent your social channels from going dark while you're away?

Use a calendar

The first place to start is with a calendar. Have and use an editorial calendar of some sort—it does not have to be day-to-day, but you should still have a calendar you can refer to on a daily basis, even though it may be a calendar that breaks down your content schedule monthly.

Use this calendar to plan out what content you want to post and when you want to post it. When you use and consistently refer to this calendar you get a bigger picture and can see the blocks of time you have devoted to vacation. This will help you plan in advance and work with the goal of meeting deadlines way before your vacation as opposed to last minute. This will reduce stress and allow you to focus.

You need to plan and prepare yourself for the transitional time following a vacation as well—allow time to check email, prepare for meetings, etc. This should all be incorporated into your planning in the weeks (and months) leading up to a vacation.

What this means is that you should prepare and schedule your social media content for before, during and after your vacation to allow for some much needed buffer time.

Schedule Content

While some business owners do not schedule content and prefer to post live, if you know you are going to be unplugged while away then you need to create quality content and schedule it to publish while you are on vacation. 

This could be a timely evergreen piece that relates to the time of year, i.e. if it is over March break, do you have something that relates to this?  The same goes for Christmas and other holidays.

If you are planning on running a special event or sale sometime after you get back from vacation, then you need to think ahead about this as well; and create and schedule content that will build up to this so you are not frantically promoting last minute upon returning from vacation.

Plan your blog posts

If you have a small business blog then you might not need to publish a new blog post on your week away, however if you do need new content or if you owe someone a new post(s) then you need to plan ahead and make sure it is edited and ready to publish while you are away.

When it comes to all online content, the important thing is to be consistent—if your audience expects a blog post or newsletter while you are away then you need to stay consistent. Your content schedule depends on your business as well as your audience.

If you do not want to have your own material publish while you are away, then you can ask guest bloggers to guest post on your blog. Again you will need to plan this in advance and reach out and let them know your expectations, deadlines, etc. 

Let your clients know you will be away

If you regularly take appointments then you need to let your audience know that you will not be taking appointments the week you are away. The sooner you let our audience know, the better. You can do this via your email signature, out of office as well as Facebook messenger and on your website. You do not necessarily have to let your audience know that you are leaving town, just let them know you are unavailable, and if you will or will not be responding to emails.

Get help and set expectations

If you work with a social media manager or virtual assistant then you need to work with them and make sure they are aware of whether or not you are still responding to email or if you are completely off the grid while you are on vacation.

You should also let them know clear deadlines and have clear communication regarding expectations on them while you are away as well as leading up to your vacation.

You should always have someone available to put out your fires while you are away. For example, if you cannot get on your Facebook Page while away, then you should have someone who has the role of Page Admin to access your Page to answer queries, etc. The same applies to your website—have someone who can log in and address any malware issues or other problems.

Logging off and stepping away from your computer is healthy—allow yourself the time to enjoy it! With the proper amount of planning and preparation a week away is not only possible, it can easily become a regular part of your business planning.

How will you get ready for your next time away from your business? Leave a comment and let me know!

#37 - Is mindset affecting your business

Today I am talking to Certified Core Belief Engineering Practitioner, Megan O’Neill who works with entrepreneurs and small business owners about their mindset and their relationships with their spouse, clients and even money.

mindset

What is mindset?

Mindset is a system of beliefs. It is what you believe, and what you believe creates your reality. Think of it as the lenses through which you see the world. If you have clean, fresh glasses through which to see life then your overall view of things is going to be clearer and better.

How do beliefs impact us?

We all have different beliefs that impact us in different ways. With entrepreneurship, one area of beliefs that affects us has to do with visibility – whether that is public speaking, networking or putting something on Facebook for fear that they will be seen as a fraud.

Women entrepreneurs in particular suffer from a fear of looking foolish or as a failure and that is a block to success. It is these blocking beliefs that stop us from fulfilling our personal and business goals. 

Where do your beliefs come from?

Oftentimes this block comes from their childhood. We are born with innate beliefs that are pure and uninfluenced. Our beliefs then start to form through our contact with our parents, school, etc.

What are common blocking beliefs for entrepreneurs?

There are many blocking beliefs that can impact an entrepreneur, but here are some:

1) Charging your worth – a lot of women hesitate to charge their rate or hesitate to invoice their clients and end up doing a lot of work for too little money. They are afraid what their clients will think once they send that invoice.

2) Visibility - as mentioned above, entrepreneurs often hesitate to put themselves out there and promote themselves. For example, if your parents told you to be modest and not talk about yourself then as an adult you will be hesitant to talk about yourself – even though it is necessary to talk about yourself when marketing and promoting your business. This belief needs to be changed in order to be successful in business.

3) Fear of failure - This is commonly around the word “expert”. No one wants to use the word “expert” because they feel like a fraud.

A lot of entrepreneurs struggle with their beliefs around success. Success with women often seems to have a negative connotation associated with being ruthless, selfish and not have enough time for their children and spouse – even though this is not the case at all. 

So, even though a woman wants to make more money and bring their business to the next level, they fear doing so because of the negative connotations associated with success. These beliefs have no value and are often not real. Megan works with people to show people how these beliefs are affecting their life and business and that once you work through these beliefs you will be able to grow your business and make more money.

How do you recognize that you have blocking beliefs?

Often times an outside person points it out, such as a business coach or mastermind group who instruct someone to do something, but the person hesitates to do it or perhaps it comes to pay bills and see there is nothing in their bank account.

When we feel embarrassment or uncomfortable we consciously know we are feeling this and sometimes we begin to question why we are feeling this way.

If there are steps an entrepreneur is supposed to take, but can’t for some illogical reason then they have blocking beliefs. If the roadmap to success is right before them, but they delay doing it, then it has nothing to do with laziness or being too busy, and it more than likely has to do with a belief.

Are beliefs changeable?

Absolutely. We change our beliefs all the time, but the bigger beliefs are harder to change. A CBE practitioner gets clients to see where their beliefs are and become aware of their beliefs; their blindspots. This recognition is invaluable. Once you have this you can work with them, move forward and create new beliefs.

Those who have trouble changing these beliefs are the ones Megan works with. Megan digs deep, deep, deep into a person’s subconscious to see what is impacting your beliefs.

We all have different beliefs, but when these beliefs prevent you from achieving the business you have always wanted then it may be time to work through those beliefs.

#30 – The Value of Collaboration

Can you collaborate with another business owner who does the same thing as you do? Maranda Carvell, a registered nutritionist who has an online business that helps other nutritionists turn their passion into profit, believes there is a lot of value in in just that.

Why work with other business owners?

value of collaboration

Collaboration is a great opportunity for business owners to grow. As an entrepreneur or solopreneur you may find that you do everything yourself: marketing, content creation, etc. Everybody else in your industry is also doing it alone – all of you are basically doing the same thing. If you work together then you are not spending so much time trying to reinvent the wheel.

Why do people hesitate to collaborate?

Collaboration can be a scary thing, especially if you have never done it before; but as you start to decide what your focus and niche is, you will also see that everyone has their own style, personality and approach to doing things, so although there is overlap, everyone’s work is unique.

Not everyone will want to work with one nutritionist, etc. so by connecting with others who are in your line of work you are building your professional network and can refer people and vice versa.

What kind of projects can you collaborate on?

You can collaborate behind the scenes i.e., sharing of digital products, resources, etc. It does not have to be a face-to-face collaboration, you can share content and tools that are similar, but then are altered to reflect your business’ offerings, etc. For example, challenges – two separate businesses can run a similar challenge, but with two different offerings at the end.

Another way is to co-create programs. You can split the workload, share ideas and then both promote to your own mailing list and social media followings, etc. You can then each share an online community group where participants can join together to connect with a larger group.

How can you find the right person to collaborate with?

Most of the people Maranda collaborates with are people she has gotten to know online, or are specific to her professional network. As you engage with people in your industry you will get to know them better and see if their philosophy and values are in line with your own.

The scarcity mindset needs to go. There is so much benefit to working with others, but if someone is hesitant than maybe they aren’t the right person to collaborate with. There is more than enough business out there and an open-mind is needed.

There is always competition, but building relationships builds businesses and people want different things and are attracted to different styles, etc. so just be yourself and don’t worry about other people.

When you work alone it can be very lonely and isolating, collaborating creates connections and brings something fresh to your business.

Tips to work effectively with more than one person:

-       Be organized with your work and make sure the other person is too

-       If you don’t see the person face-to-face have online systems set up to ensure goals are being met

-       Have open communication, such as constantly connecting via a private Facebook Group or with weekly calls, etc.

-       Use a shared drive such as Google Drive to share documents

Other tips on collaboration

Many business owners share a passion with another business owner. The more of us who are successful and who are willing to collaborate then the more of your industry there will be to help others.

Don’t be afraid. Just focus on your specific niche and goals. The benefits of collaboration outweigh the risk – there is opportunity to be found in collaborating.

Resources & Links

Maranda Carvell's website

Maranda’s Nutrition Business Community Support Facebook Group

Maranda on Twitter  

Social Media Simplified on iTunes

Subscribe on Stitcher

#24 - Marketing Lessons From Disney

I just returned from a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. This trip has been on my bucket list and on my vision boards for a while – so to see it actually happen was incredible – for myself, my husband and my three kids!

From the moment I set foot at Disney I could not help but see and pull many business and marketing lessons from my experience there. I think being out of my everyday business opened my eyes to what others are doing, and this is what I learned:

The Importance of the Little Things

Because we stayed on the resort, each member of my family received something called a magic band. These bracelets contained everything we needed to eat, get into our rooms, etc. I did not need to carry a room key or wallet – it was great, but was even better was that each bracelet was personalized with our names.


This simple touch meant a lot and blew me away. It made me realize that something as simple as using someone’s first name or remembering their birthday can really help grow a relationship – and it doesn’t take much time to do or cost much money!

Small things can make a huge impact on clients!

When someone is into you – they can be really into you

Once someone believes in you, your work or your product they won’t care as much about the cost. At Disney, for example, lineups are not such a big deal because everyone there is so enamoured with the Disney experience that they don’t either care or notice that they are waiting two hours in a lineup to meet a character or a ride a rollercoaster.

This also falls true in your business, the clients who keep buying or investing in you need to be nurtured and recognized. Keep building those relationships and clients will increasingly trust you and your brand, and will invest more time and money into you or your product.

Make sure you give people opportunity to buy

While at Disney, I was given a plethora of opportunity to buy anything Disney – hats, balloons, stuffed animals, etc. No one was in my face asking me if I wanted to buy something, but the products were everywhere I looked. Walking down the streets, at the restaurants and even on the hundreds of super fans wearing the BB8 ears. There was Disney memorabilia everywhere I looked – and seeing BB8 ears everywhere made me HAVE to have a set of my own!

Never forget to give your clients the opportunity to buy from you. You don’t need to be in their face, but make sure what you sell is obvious on your social channels and on your website and give people many opportunities to buy. Given enough opportunity and people will buy from you.

Everyone does things differently

My Disney experience was different from a lot of other people’s experience. We weren’t up at the crack of dawn every morning to get in line for rides and we didn’t stay up to watch any of the firework shows at night, and we didn’t watch any of the parades… but we still had the time of our lives! We didn’t feel overwhelmed and although we were tired, it was a good tired. We found a balance and didn’t try to put every single Disney experience into our days.

We had the Disney experience that we wanted and needed to have and I think this falls true for business as well. For some business owners, working 80 hours a week every week makes them happy, but for others working a regular eight-hour day is enough to make them happy – and both are okay. We all have hopes, dreams and goals for our business, and they are all different – and that’s okay! You define your own success!

There you have it – four business lessons I learned at Disney! The next vacation on my vision board is a month in Italy with my family – imagine what lessons I will bring back from that trip! What marketing or business lessons have you seen from visiting places like Disney? I would love to hear them so leave a comment and let me know.