Set your business up to work for you and not against you!

Design a Business that works while you sleep

Holy cow y’all, Last week was one for the books. Talk about growth and putting yourself out there. You can just guess how excited i was to be asked to be apart of the expert panelist and speak to a room filled of 88 Event and Wedding Professionals in Charleston,SC on the topic of Growth.

After i decided to take the crazy leap of faith after having my business for 4 and a half years while juggling multiple part time jobs to grow a team and go full time in business for myself. I managed to expand my solo bridal artist team to a team of 14 freelancers that is spread out through north and south Carolina within only 6 months.

I shared tips on what i had to learn how to do the hard way when it comes to hiring and how i still managed to have a ton of free time on my hands at the same time. First things first A tracked number grows. I wish i can take credit for this line but i heard my business coach say this time and time again and it made sense.

IF you have no idea where your business stands or whats working and whats not working how i the world are you going to know whats to focus on?

I gave a few tips on some of my favorite platforms that i love to use to track the growth of my business and of course i had to mention the number one platform that saved me from being burnt out and that’s HONEYBOOK

I’m always talking about HoneyBook and that’s because i use it every..single..day..in..my..business. I don’t speak about things that i don’t use because that’s just not me. But i mentioned how i love to track where my leads are coming from vs. Where the clients who actually book me are coming from.

Image If you spend all your time over on Facebook but then realize that all of your clients are coming from Instagram. You just wasted so much time. I believe in doubling down on whats working and leave the things along that are not working.

Now if you have a team like i do then i do like to spread my eggs in multiple baskets because we have the ability to do so. But for solo business owners focus on one or 2 platforms master that and when you do hire someone on to help manage it so you can learn how to use another platform that’s beneficial.

Ready to work smarter and not harder? Give the Platform i use to manage my Bridal,Coaching and Joint Business that my boyfriend and i own a try now for one week FREE

Want a deep dive into some of the tips that i shared at this event plus more? Check out the podcast for a quick re-cap of what advice i gave this room filled of professionals

Also don’t forget to follow Beauty and the Network on Instagram

5 apps you need as a busy entrepreneur

The top 5 apps you need as an entrepreneur to save you from burnout

As entrepreneurs we must try an save our sanity as much as we can. Now how do we do this you ask? But being smart. You need to set aside one day each week where you focus on planning for the week. If you are thinking to yourself right now that you don’t have the time do do this than you might have a bigger problem on your hands.

Time management and organization are not sexy topics i know, but the more you do these things you will come to realize that you can create a heck of a loot of free time to maybe focus on your busy more or even take up a new hobby that you kept telling yourself that you don’t have the time to do for the last 3 years.

Let dive in shall we?

1.Google Calendar

I believe all cell phone, laptops and tablets can access this app. You you are not currently time blocking set time aside today to map out the rest of this week. I love time blocking because it keeps me up on my game and on task. If you still currently work a 9-5 make sure you add those times in as well and work you day around it. When it comes to time blocking here are a few things that you can use as guidelines.

• Add in breaks, time to relax, learning or downtime

• Give yourself more than enough time to get your task completed ..be realistic and stick to staying focus on your work during that time block

• Put a slight buffer in between task so if you happen to run over your not cutting into another tasks time frame.

2.Asana

If you have no clue what asana is their are a ton of videos to view over on YouTube. I am not an affiliate of there program i just love it for its features. If you listen or watch me regularly on my Facebook lives than you know i always talk about writing out your goals and breaking them into smaller ones to achieve them faster. Asana has been my buddy when it comes to those goals. For example if i want to get a sponsorship as an Instagram influencer i could map out my game plan using asana. Id label the project as sponsorship and break it down of every single little task i would need to do in order to make that happen and work backwards

8. Land sponsorship

7.Company views my social media account

6.Pitch myself to company

5.Post and show up consistently only as influencer

4. Gather images for platform

3. Plan out topic content to post about

2 Update Instagram platform

1.Brand a personal brand

3.Planoly

If you liked how simple i just made that check list for a sponsorship and your saying im terrible with my consistency then boom i just solved you problem. Planoly is amazing i have used the paid version and the free version an i’m totally sticking with the free version for my team and i to utilize. Gather a few images for the week or for the month and upload them into your grid. Once you have you images loaded you can move them around and plan out how you want your Instagram grid to look with everything post for the month. Place your images now here comes the not so hard part. Creating your captions.

When creating caption you want to give someone a reason to come to you page. Now to my wedding friends stop saying “Another gorgeous bride” or to my hair and makeup girls “ Makeup by me on this stunning beauty” what does someone post to that? They might comment “Beautiful! or maybe drop some emojis. If your behind on the education of using Instagram for business vs. a business page these comments do nothing for you. Especially if you looking to land a brand deal…you need engaging comments. This is why you need to tell a story, connect with the reader, give them a tip or show your personality a bit. These are all things covered in my social media for creative course that comes out soon!

4.Every Dollar

Okay where are my Dave Ramsey fans at? If you didn’t know im all about being financially smart so this app is just that. You can get the app by itself or join the finical peace university like i did to get the modules and lesson to help you and your family plan for the future. i am not a sponsor however id love to be one lol

As small business owners the number one reason tat businesses fail is because of bad money habits. Lean to track you money daily, weekly and monthly. I’ve made this apart of my DAILY checklist. Knowing your numbers will do wonders for you and your bank account so start a personal and business budget. add up what your yearly expenses will be and get to it.

5. HoneyBook

Not gonna lie this one is my favorite. Ive been using honey book for over 18 months now and im mad that i have not started using it sooner. This baby is an all in one system that makes emailing your clients, sending invoices, contracts and collecting payment a freaking dream.

I can assign task within honey book to my team members and it even syncs up with quick books to make taxes at the end of the year a piece of cake. Now unlike the other apps i am now a new member of the honey book educators program and i do get a few special perks that i can share with you.

This platform is normally $40 bucks per month which is huge saving but the team is letting me offer any of my readers 50% off the entire year….yes the entire year! that’s only $20 bucks a month and its basically your own personal assistant once you set up automation. But i don’t just want you to take my word for it.

Honeybook is letting you try out the platform with a free week trial if you use my link below!

Start your FREE WEEK TRial!

2020 will be here in the blink of an eye and lets start the year off right! What do you want more of? More money, clients,free time? It all starts by planning for it. Don’t let you ego get in the way by making you think you don’t need to put the work in. We must stay relevant with today’s time as what methods use to work back in the day like handing out cards and word of mouth are slowly fading and we need to leap up or get left behind. I’m so proud of you for reading all the way through now lets stay connected!

How to create a productive work space at home

Yeah ladies i’m back again with a super helpful post. As some of you may know if you follow along with me on social media that i’ve recently moved upstate less than 2 months ago and the very first thing that i needed to do for myself was get my office space set up. Now since moving My boyfriend an i have down sized a good bit which is perfect because that eliminate the problem of unneeded clutter in my office area. I went with a medium size corner in our living room and its been working out perfectly!

Now i think of a work space a bit differently then just a desk that holds my stacks of paper and clutter. But i think of a work space that keeps all of my senses in-tuned. This maybe because i’m a cosmetologist and i’m use to spas, salons and zen like spaces so of course i needed those important factor in my home as well.

1. Office Location

   Choosing the location of where your wanting to set up your office is the most important task. You want to consider a few things when choosing your spot. Lighting, Space, Outlets, and comfort. I choose to go with an area that was close to my patio door to bring in a decent amount of natural light into the area. I’ve down sized the amount of notebooks and binders i use for work to keep a high amount of space open as well as choosing to keep amount of decor of off my desk top.

   Next make sure that your work from home office space is near an outlet to plug in you desk top or lab top while working. Lastly comfort should be your number focus aside from location. Make sure you can efficiently work in the space chosen and that the space is suitable for your needs. Which brings us to number 2!

2. Set your own working standards

   Meaning what is it that you need in a work space. For me i am easily distracted (squirrel brain) an minimal is better and a quite space is even better. The only things that i have on my desk at the month are flowers for a bit of color and greenery because i personally love them. Minimal motivation quote decor to push me through my day with my roll on essential oil that help with stressing, relaxation, and focusing because my mind likes to go a mile a minute. My work binder pens and a good book mostly.

I tend to need more space when i work because i like to spread things out. I use to have a tons of cute decor for my desk but when i actually worked it all got in the way and the functionality was not there at all!

3. Get Organized

I swear when it comes to being organized in work im beyond type A my binder as countless colored tabs and over 100+ clear pocket protectors filled in them. All of my files for my clients that live online in one space has been transfer into printable pdfs that i save an store in my binder. The platform i use makes is so easily and convenient to use without any needs of having a paper trail for contracts, invoices, client files, sending documents and collect payment for easy for me.

By using this platform it reduces the amount of documents i need to print out because they are are stored in a cloud and now backed up in paper form encase internet is not accessible. To check out the platform Honey Book and get 1 free week trial

FREE WEEK TRIAL

4. The Aroma

Now i worked at a space, Salon, Blow Dry Bars, Retail and they all have there special fragrance that you use in the air to promote whatever feeling them like all by smell. Its all about using your 5 senses here people. but were only focusing on sight,sound, and smell.

Did you know that certain smell can help you be more productive while working. I tested it out with a few of my favorite oils in my diffuser.

Hands down lavender was the one that made me feel like the energizer bunny. Lavender is known to help keep you focused as well as keep you calm and relaxed which is a crucial need for me. I love changing out some of the scents in my diffuser as each smell does something different for you. My second favorite is citrus. While working you want to make sure that your working efficiently as well and time blocking task out.

How to promote my business on social media for free

In today’s world social media for your business goes hand and hand and you should not skip over this step. If your not on social media you basically don’t have a business in your future clients eyes.

It can be a bit intimidating but here are a few tips to help you out if your new to the social media world!

Choose the platform you want to master!

If your new to social media start off slow. You don’t need to be on all the platforms and give half ass effort because your still learning how to use it. Learn the platform and give 100% behind everything you do and once you have it mastered move on to the next plat while consistently showing up on the first (automation is key)

Put it in your Calendar or Daily to do list!

If you dont plan for it, it wont happen! Trust me i’ve been there and done that. “Im going to post everyday” If i dont put it in my daily to-do list or automate it, it wont happen. Your future clients need to know that your going to show up when you say you will. I like to under promise and over deliver. Say you will post 2 times a week and show up 3. This way you dont commit to everything to soon. See what works best for YOU! Stop worrying about what everyone else is doing and worry about you.

Network and Engage on the Platform

You just dont make a post and log off. Its called social media for a reason…you need to be social. Find people who work in the same industry as you and network. Comment, engage on their post, reach out to collab but you need to start telling people who you are and what you do or know one will know you are a business. If you’re thinking “ i could never do that because i dont want to sound like a salesman” Then dont sound like a salesman sound like a human.

Connect with people and say hello just be friendly tell them your just saying hello.

Give value

This is how you stand out. Give someone a reason to come to your page over the next person that does the same thing you do. Think about it…People complain how the market is saturated but really they are just blending in. If you were you’re client how can you provide them with the education that makes you standout as the expert you are over your competition?

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