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How To Cope With Time Management Hurdles As A Spoonie

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Time management as a work at home entrepreneur is a total bitch sometimes. Add in multiple chronic illnesses and you’ve got a perfect shit storm waiting to happen.

Time Management Presents Special Hurdles When Your A Spoonie

Before you look at me like I’ve lost my mind, spoonie is a term many people with chronic illness use to refer to themselves. You can read more about how the term came into practice. You’ll also learn a bit more about how we have to manage our energy much differently than those who are not coping with these illnesses.

It’s this needed to manage our energy coupled with the sometimes unpredictable needs or flair-ups that makes managing our time a little harder.

I’m not complaining. I’ve gotten past the “woe-is-me” stage for the most part. I’m actually here to offer some tips for my spoonie brethren who don’t believe they can successfully run a business. Or for those of us who are struggling to get shit done on a daily.

My Top Time Management Tips For Spoonies

These will also work for people who are “normal”. (Side note: I don’t believe in normal. I think it’s an illusion we sell ourselves to fit in. I also believe fitting in is boring.)

Tip One: Know Thy Self

'Time management presents special hurdles for us #spoonies. But that doesn't mean we can't be entrepreneurs. We just have to do it our way.' ~Jennifer WeinerClick To Tweet

You have to know yourself very well. Make sure you know when you struggle energetically. Schedule very little during this time. That seems like a no-brainer, but–if you’re anything like me–you want to do all the things. This will lead to overscheduling and frustration. I’d love to see you skip that.

You’ll also want to know when your creativity is highest, when you do better at more logic-based activity, and so on. Some of this will also be based on the type of business you want to do and will change as you become able to outsource things.

Tip Two: Document Your Processes As You Go

This one will help you when you are ready to outsource. There are many ways to pay for outsourcing. And you want to be ready for it when the time comes.

You can use resources like Trello*, Asana, and ClickUp to build your processes.

The side benefit for managing your time is you’ll also be able to move through things more quickly if you set up cards with checklists for your processes so you can copy them over every time. You won’t miss any steps and you get shit done more quickly if you actually build out a process for the things you do on a regular basis!

Tip Three: Use Time Blocking Or Some Version Of It

Until I started using my version of time blocking, I was almost literally getting nothing done most days. Now I block out every business and personal activity. It’s a rough schedule to keep me on track. I also leave plenty of room for downtime. I never know when a migraine or my IBS will hit.

I encourage you to try your system for a week at a time and make adjustments as you go. Time management is as unique as the person doing it. Don’t get discouraged! It’s taken me six months to get anywhere close to having a system that really GSD.

Tip Four: Try Coworking Sessions At Least Once A Week

'Time blocking, Co-working sessions, and Batch creating content have worked together to get me so much closer to success. I highly recommend these for your best time management ever.' ~Jennifer WeinerClick To Tweet

A coworking session is where you and at least one friend get together. You bring your own work and spend intervals getting shit done. Then you take a short break. Rinse and Repeat!

I do this weekly with a friend in Maryland via Zoom. We also are in a membership that does this together once a month.

I’ve found that I am getting more ahead in the detail work (think content planning and social media execution) than I ever thought possible! Plus I’ve made a new friend that is there for me every week to make sure we get this shit done!

You can also host these in real life! Go to a coffee shop, cafe, or any place with a nice atmosphere for working with a friend! Just remember to actually work!

These are a great time to do the next tip. You can also get to those little tasks that keep getting put off like email marketing, creating lead magnets, updating your accounting, checking various analytics, and so much more!

Tip 5: Batch Create Content

This is a game-changer! The first two weeks or so will suck ass. But once you get your flow going, it’s amazing to not have to worry about your content on a daily basis. Or whatever your schedule is.

You can batch create any type of content unless it’s in a particular place or time-dependent. This would be like at a wedding or other event. Or something like you are going on vacation. I think you get the idea.

This works for videos, blogs, podcasts and other audio, and social media posts. You can even create certain types of story posts in advance.

I would also say to schedule everything you can. Just be sure that you will be able to respond to comments and engage in other ways during the “recommended time frame” around when your posts will be going out each day.

Time management becomes so much easier when you don’t have to add much–if any–content creation in most of the week. Unless you do this for clients–and I would still batch create theirs as well!

Want Some Tips On Batch Creating Content?

Check out this post

Wrapping It All Up

No matter what you’re coping with as a spoonie, you do have skills that the world needs. You are very capable of running your own business. Do it scared.

If you want to do your soul’s work, stop putting it off and making excuses. Just do the damned thing.

It will be hard, but you have people who will support you. The spoonie community alone is super supportive. And so is every entrepreneur I’ve met to date.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on time management

I hope that at least one of these tips helps you or someone you love. I’d love to hear about it, or even just your thoughts on this article in general. Drop a comment, an email, or a direct message.

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Top 5 Time Management Tips For Spoonie Entrepreneurs

Time Management For Entrepreneurs With Chronic Illnesses

5 Ways To Manage Your Time As An Entrepreneur With Chronic Illnesses

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Working For Free Is The Fastest Way To Get Paying Jobs

Working For Free Is The Fastest Way To Get Paying Jobs

I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but doing some work for free is one of the best ways to get paying jobs when you’re just starting out as an entrepreneur.

I talked last week about building a portfolio with some mock work to increase your ability to get jobs. Another way to increase your paying jobs is by doing some small jobs for a testimonial or as a one-off freebie has worked well for me. Let me explain.

Networking in Facebook Groups

'I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but doing some work for free is one of the best ways to get paying jobs when you're just starting out as an entrepreneur.' Jennifer Weiner of Southern Hospitality ConsultingClick To Tweet

Networking is Facebook Groups has been my best source of jobs to date. My two favorite clients to date have come from doing this! The most recent of these is a copywriting client. I’m currently offering copywriting services at a super low discounted rate.

I noticed in a comment thread that a lady I adored was asking for copywriting help for products. So I commented that I offered this service, which she seemed surprised to hear. I offered to rewrite a product description that was already on her site and send it to her as a sample for free.

I suppose you can guess what happened next. She loved the rewritten description so we discussed pricing and all the details of working together. Contract was signed, and I’ve just about completed half of the descriptions. I’m so excited to see the rest of her new products!

Moral of that story: Use Facebook groups to your advantage while following the rules. Many business networking and support groups will have a once a week or once a month post where you can promote your paid products or services. Don’t be afraid to offer to do a small sample of your service or to send a small sample for free if you’re just starting out.

Hashtags Got You InstaSad?

Learn about Instagram Hashtags and a simple research and use strategy. Links to tools to help you research them too!
Click here to get your Hashtag Mini Guide and Be InstaHappy!

Offering A Small Sample Of Free Work

This is another way I’ve gotten some work. It’s also resulted in some glowing testimonials. You can advertise this in those same Facebook groups and on your own social media accounts.

Announce that you are doing a certain number of free whatever it is you do on a first-come, first-served basis. Have in mind a particular client you want for these free spots. Have a way to collect names and numbers for a discovery type call just like you would for a paid client. Always make sure your client and you are going to work well together!

Once you have those spots filled, be sure you announce that as well and get to work! Be sure you give the same quality of work and customer care to these clients that you would if they had paid full price. Also, have a system in place to collect timely feedback and testimonials for your website and social media.

How Do These Help You Actually Get Paying Jobs?

I’m glad you asked!

Offering to send a free sample helps by:
- Giving them a risk-free, personalized sample of your work
- Showing you take initiative, especially if you are able to grab and idea from their website in advance of the initial contact
- Showing your enthusiasm for the work you do without being overbearing
Doing work for free helps by:
- Helping you get testimonials faster
- Getting your portfolio real work to show
- Starting to build word of mouth sooner

I’m sure there are way more benefits that those. I just dropped a few off the top of my head to help you see the benefits of both methods.

Hashtags Got You InstaSad?

Learn about Instagram Hashtags and a simple research and use strategy. Links to tools to help you research them too!
Click here to get your Hashtag Mini Guide and Be InstaHappy!

What do you think? Could these strategies help you get paying clients?

Will you try either of these methods? Have you tried them before, and how successful were the for you if so? I’d love to hear you thoughts! Drop them in the comments and share to your favorite social site.

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Working For Free Is The Fastest Way To Get Paying Jobs

How To Build A Mock Work Portfolio To Land More Clients Now

Finding clients as a new business is tough. It’s even tougher when you don’t have a portfolio of your work to share. But how do you build a portfolio without clients? Even more fun is trying to build a portfolio when you do work that you sign a nondisclosure agreement on. Or when you know that disclosing the work you do will harm the other business.

Don’t worry, I have an idea to share with you on just how to get that rocking portfolio without violating your ethics or waiting forever to get enough client work!

Mock Work Is Your Answer

Sometimes it’s hard even to get people to let you work for free (we’ll talk about free work for reviews and more next time). So start doing some mock work when you’ve done you biz to-dos for the day.

What Exactly Is This Mock Work You Speak Of, Woman?

Come check out what mock work is and how building a portfolio of it can benefit your small biz!Click To Tweet

It’s not complicated, trust me. I don’t do complicated!

You simply make up a product, service, or business. Then you do some work for them. Once everything is up to par, you post that work on a portfolio page on your website. Easy peasy, right?

Now, some of the types of work that are good for making this type of venture may need real-life examples to work with. So grab a friend or family member for those areas.

Shall we look at some business types that this idea would be good for?

Business Types That Should Consider Making This Type Of Portfolio

In my opinion, if you do any of the following you should consider building mock examples of your work.

Copy Writing
Video Editing
Photography
Social Media Marketing or Management
Web Design
Blog and/or article writing

Is your business one that would benefit from doing mock work? Find out here!Click To Tweet

If your a photographer or work with video, you will obviously need real subjects to work with. Be sure to get signed consent to use their photos on your site, even if it’s a friend or family member!

As an SMM, you can work your own accounts as well as fictitious accounts to get some stats as to how well your strategies work. Just don’t spend too long getting those stats. Done is better than perfect. You can keep working those accounts to get longer-term stats while working with your clients.

Where’s My Mine?

It’s in the works. I just had this burst of inspiration a few days ago. I will come back and let you know how it does or does not help me. I’ll be doing mock work in WordPress sites, blog writing, and copywriting. So, it may take a hot minute!

I’d love to know if this is something you plan on doing for your biz! If you’ve already done something like this, please share your results. If you’re aren’t comfortable sharing in the comments, you can share with me privately by picking an option on my contact page or sending DM via social media.

Read A Second Way To Get Paying Clients

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Is your business one that could benefit from a portfolio of mock work

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Pinterest Mock Portofolio Image | Southern Hospitality Consultin

Unless You’ve Been Living Under A Digital Rock Or Are Very New To Online Marketing, This Strategy Is Not New To You.

I doubt there are many people who haven’t heard of Gary Vee. Most of Us have heard of his $1.80 Strategy for Engaging on Instagram (and now other platforms). But in case you haven’t, here’s the TL;DR for that:

Gary Vee's $1.80 Instagram Engagement Strategy

You Follow Top Hashtags In Your Industry
You Comment (or Drop Your Two Cents) On The Top 9 Posts in 10 Of Those Hashtags
Do This Daily

He breaks it all the way down in this post on his website.

Here’s a video if you want to watch him explain it:

Now that we got all that out of the way, let’s talk about why that strategy sucks balls for small biz

Too general
This Engagement Strategy is super general despite it sounding niche. It doesn’t take into account the size of the business, type of business, or any of hundreds of other factors. However, when you have a wide array of business, you think like a generalist.
Works best if you have a team or social media manager
When you’re digging through posts to leave a meaningful comment, checking the profile, and then leaving the
I can't say something meaningful to YOU the poster if you give me nothing to work with.Click To Tweet
comment.. yeah. Most small businesses just don’t have the brain equity for all that plus all the other content they need to handle, all the other engagement, all the other marketing… all the other hats we wear in one day both in business and personal arenas.
Must already have a comprehensive social media plan in place
The crux of this strategy is to use hashtags. Which makes absolute sense. But if your social media plan is “throw it at the wall to see what sticks” (guilty here!), then this strategy is not going to bring in ideal clients. You’re more likely to bots and other spam accounts.
Relies on other Instagrammers to have used good caption practices
I’m going to try not to rant here. So many users drop hashtag only captions. Or, even more fun, totally blank captions. Nothing there to engage with, even if it is a quote or other meme. I can’t say something meaningful to YOU the poster if you give me nothing to work with. Often, these are the same people who have bios that are vague as fuck. See the problems here?
Takes too much time
With all the issues above, if you even hit 10 hashtags in a day, you’re going to be sick of Instagram. You will likely have wasted most of a day. Especially if you hit a lot of those captions that are absolute shit. I don’t know a single small business owner who has time for all that. Maybe if they’ve grown enough to outsource. Maybe.

Want To Optimize Your Instagram Bio?

A fully optimized bio will get you more customers/clients and more targeted followers!

Click here to get your FREE Instagram Bio Optimization Notes and Checklist

Now, before we go fix this Buck Eighty mess, you can give a listen to how Gary is adapting this for LinkedIn. Not my jam. I didn’t listen to much of it, but maybe it will help someone.

Here’s Five Ways To Use This Instagram Engagement Strategy Better As A Small Business Owner

Make it time-based
Instead of focusing on the number of posts or hashtags, focus on the time you’re spending on this engagement strategy. With limited time in the day, you want to ensure you get your highest ROI tasks done as well. Engagement and social growth are important, but it doesn’t help if you don’t have offers or lead magnets for those ideal people you’re interacting with.
Comment on recent rather than the top
Search out your top industry/brand/niche ones and follow those babies. This gives you the opportunity to interact with new people in those communities while you’re actively engaging with your audience and those you follow.Click To Tweet
I recommend this (and so do some others) for the simple fact these are the accounts most likely to still be online to interact back. Having a conversation, especially nearly real time, is much more memorable than a simple comment. It also gets you into each other’s feed if you interact a good bit in a short time.
Update hashtag research at least once a month
Instagram is constantly updating what hashtags it likes and what ones it is “shadow banning”. I wouldn’t go any longer between double checking your hashtags. If you can find time to check every two weeks or more, that might be ideal. This is a personal theory, your mileage may vary.
Follow your most important hashtags in order to engage with posts in your feed
I hope you know you can also follow hashtags just like you do people. If not go search out your top industry/brand/niche ones and follow those babies. Don’t follow too many, I’d say maybe 5-10. You then start seeing top posts in those hashtags in your feed as you scroll. This gives you the opportunity to interact with new people in those communities while you’re actively engaging with your audience and those you follow. Talk about massive win-win!
Only engage with posts and accounts who are your ideal customer, of interest to your ideal customer, or someone you would want to collab with.
Well, mostly. Only is kind of strict. The reason is similar to why interacting with accounts you don’t follow can be beneficial. And with hashtags. You’re teaching Instagram what content you want to see. So you want to be careful about what you interact with. I’m saying you need to be douche and stop interacting with friends and family and random people who follow you to support you. I AM saying to interact with those more targeted types of accounts more.

Okay, Super Stars. Do you think Gary Vee had it on the money for small business with his $1.80 strategy or does it make more sense to modify it? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Want To Optimize Your Instagram Bio?

A fully optimized bio will get you more customers/clients and more targeted followers!

Click here to get your FREE Instagram Bio Optimization Notes and Checklist

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Content Creation can be a pain in the ass

However, creating fresh content on a regular basis is necessary as a business in today’s world. According to Bambu from Sprout Social, about 2/3 of the marketing funnel is navigated online, with at least 5 pieces of content being consumed before a decision is made. So, what does this mean for content creators and markers?

'About 2/3 of the marketing funnel is navigated online, with at least 5 pieces of content being consumed before a decision is made.' Click To Tweet

Regular Content Distribution Is Still Necessary

Yup, we’re stuck making content like crazy. But this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It doesn’t even have to be a struggle. How can we fix the struggle? I’m glad you asked. I actually have a quick fixes for you today. You’ll need both.

Pre-Fix Work

I see you rolling your eyes! Gimme a sec, okay! Every plan needs a good foundation. And you know this, maaaaan.

Key 1: Create A Schedule

The first key to any content creation strategy is to decide how often you will create content on each platform. Also, for the love of your sanity, don’t try to be everywhere! Pick 2 to 4 social media platforms and your blog. That’s it. Each piece of Facebook should be counted separately in my opinion as they have different strategies and need different content.

Now, decide how often you will post to each. I promise you don’t have to post every day to every platform. Want to see my post schedule? No problem!

Jennifer Weiner's General Content Marketing Post Schedule | Content Creation Tips — My General Content Marketing Posting Schedule

That’s just me….your post needs will vary based on your ideal customer, the platforms you choose, and your available time and energy.

Struggling With Your Ideal Customer Profile?

You’re not alone! Many of us struggle with this for way too long! My branding notes and worksheet will help you get this and more nailed down so you can present your brand with clarity and confidence to win more clients!

Click here to get your FREE Branding Notes and Worksheet

Key 2: Batching Content

This is tough at first. Right now, I’m using three days to batch content and I’m still struggling a little. But it’s much better than before! I’m actually putting out content! It just tires me out a lot more than I like, however, I expect that to change as I adjust to the process.

Here’s my process at the moment. Your mileage may vary!

Key 3- Scheduling

Posting on the fly all the time is a recipe for disaster. You’ll end up with an emergency or just plain forget if you get deep into your money making activities. Heck, if you’re like me, you might end up taking a siesta due to the heat or even a good meal!

Scheduling using an app can take a lot of stress and pressure off! It can also help with consistency so your fans know when to expect to see your next bit of wisdom and fun. Consistency is also how we build authority as well as know, like, and trust. We have to have all of that to sell or influence. Hang with me to the end and I’ll have a full list of my my favorite tools for every step of this!

'Consistency is also how we build authority as well as know, like, and trust.'Click To Tweet

Ready for the ninja tip to make the actual brainstorming and content making super easy? Drum roll, please!

Ninja Content Creation Hack: Theme Days

Don’t look at me in that tone of voice! I’m not talking about Taco Tuesday on your blog. Though you can totally do that on your Instagram or Facebook here and there. And we are going to plan out all your platforms. Let’s take a look at my schedule but put in my themes and hopefully this will connect for you!

Jennifer Weiner's Themed Posting Schedule | Content Creation Tips — My Posting Schedule by Themes

As you see, some of my themes are very broad. Some are laser focused. This what works for me. You’ll have to do some testing to see what works for you. Not sure what kinds of themes you can use? Let’s look at some ideas!

Theme Ideas

There are probably a million ways you can theme your content days. These are just a few off the top of my head.

Not Sure What Your Content Pillars Are?

Don’t worry. I can help. My branding notes and worksheet will help you get this and more nailed down so you can present your brand with clarity and confidence to win more clients!

Click here to get your FREE Branding Notes and Worksheet

Tools To Make The Whole Content Batching Process Easier

I’m not going to sugar coat any of this. Easier, faster, more simple. It still sucks sometimes. However, we both know that as business owners, online marketing is a must these days. People want to read reviews and more before they buy. Here’s a list of tools that I’ve tried and liked that will make content batching, creating, and all of it just a little less sucky.

'I'm not going to sugar coat any of this. Easier, faster, more simple. It still sucks sometimes. However, we both know that as business owners, online marketing is a must these days.'Click To Tweet

NOTE: Links in this section may be affiliate or referral links. If you sign up for a paid version, trial version, or even free version, I may receive compensation of some sort at no additional cost to you. If you prefer I don’t get the additional compensation, feel free to Google the service to find a plain link. No hard feelings. I’ve also listed any perks you may receive by signing up through my link!

Graphics

Canva– For all your graphics needs, this is a powerhouse. You’ll look like a pro but it’s great for even novices. I highly recommend going for the pro subscription. Resize is a dream, the extra free photos and graphics are the bomb, and being able to add new fonts and save your brand colors and fonts makes everything even faster!

Scheduling

Tailwind – I’m currently using this to schedule to Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. I took advantage of a $30 credit promo to get a month of paid features for Instagram and Pinterest and I must say I’m fairly impressed already. This link is a referral link that will get you a $15 credit for a free month of one of the platforms (it does require a debit or credit card) and into my content creators tribe for Pinterest. Tribes are unique to Tailwind and Help us promote each other on Pinterest without spamming Pinterest too fast (if that even matters?).
Later– This one isn’t just for Instagram anymore! I was shocked to see it also posts to Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. You get 30 posts to all but Twitter which gets 50 (on the free plan). For each referral you send (like the link I just shared with you) both people get 10 extra posts per month. Not sure if it’s per platform or what, but still a cool referral program. It says you can earn up to 150 per month, so it’s also pretty generous.
Planoly– I use this to schedule to Instagram as well. I haven’t used the paid plan as the free plan with 30 uploads a month works well for me.

Research

All-Hashtags– Hashtag Research.
Display Purposes – More hashtag Research
Flick – Paid Hashtag Research Tool That Sunny Lennerduzzi Recommends. This link will give you 10% off if you continue after the 7-day trial. It does require a credit/debit card or that you link a PayPal account for the trial.
Keywordtool.io – Not just hashtag research. Keyword, Youtube and more. Free with paid options.
Keywords Everywhere – Extension for Chrome and Firefox. Great for Keyword Research and totally free.

Organization and Communication

Trello – You create boards for projects, tracking, teams, whatever you can think of. Lists hold cards that have so many functions. You can get Trello Gold (up to 12 months at a time) by referring people like I’m doing you. You can pay for it. There are higher plans for business, but I don’t see most small businesses really needing all that. Trello Gold is just some extra perks, so read carefully before you pay for it.
Slack– This way to communicate is ah-maze-ing. It’s Facebook Messenger with integrations to make it way more effective for client and team communication. It’s free, works on desktop and mobile, and is way easier to navigate between conversations. Give it a try. You’ll be hooked. I’m doing awesome with the free version.
IFTTT– A way to make apps and software that don’t communicate with each other…well, communicate with each other.
Zapier– Basically, another way to makes apps communicate with each other when they normally don’t

Review

So, we covered three keys to content creation success. A ninja strategy to make it less sucky. I also listed 13 tools to help with your batching, research and other content strategy and creation needs. That was a lot! Thanks for hanging with me to the end! I’ve got a free PDF right here with links to all the tools and the TL;DR of the keys and ninja strategy with the pretty pics to help you remember some of the rest. Just click, not even an email required.

Over To You!

What did you find the most interesting or useful in this post? Drop me a comment, I’d love to hear from you!

<3 Jenn

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