Should entrepreneurs take a day off?

relax
Image by Juliana Dacoregiovia Flickr/Creative Commons

I used to pride myself on being a workaholic. Javacia “No Days Off” Bowser I called myself.

My work ethic is necessary if I’m going to do all the things I want to do: teach, write, and build a business.

But all work and no play makes Javacia a dull and crabby girl. So earlier this year I made the decision to take one day off each week. I decided that Saturday would be a day for having fun  with family and friends or just relaxing. Some weeks this isn’t possible. Today, for example, I have spent the past 10 hours grading papers. Seriously.

But I think it’s important for everyone, even folks who are trying to build their own business while still working a full-time job, to take one day off a week.

Firstly, it helps you avoid getting burned out. Whenever I don’t take a day off I pay for it. I usually feel stressed and overwhelmed the next week. I feel discouraged and start loosing sight of why I’m doing what I do in the first place.

Secondly, taking a day off is also good for your health. Before I started taking Saturdays off I would often get severe headaches — some even approaching migraine territory as I would feel nauseous and dizzy and have trouble seeing.

Lastly, your day off can be great motivation. You can’t take your day off unless you get a certain amount of work done the rest of week (hence the reason I’ve been grading papers all day). So use that day of fun and relaxation as motivation to tackle your to-do list without procrastination. Your day off can also motivate you to learn to say “No.” This month I have taken on entirely too much, which put me behind in grading papers, which led to this craptastic day. Let’s hope I learned my lesson.

And remember not to feel guilty for taking a break. Your day off is your reward for all the hard work you did the rest of the week. You deserve it!

 

Each day in November for #bloglikecrazy I’ll be publishing a blog post that answers your questions about blogging, social media, writing, wellness or women’s empowerment. Send your questions to javacia@seejanewritebham.com.

Do I need an elevator pitch for my blog?

elevator pitch
Image via Flickr/Creative Commons

Whether you’re attending a national blogging conference like BlogHer or just networking at an event in your hometown, you need to be able to quickly and concisely explain what your blog is all about. You need an elevator pitch. Here’s how to craft one:

Be brief. In your elevator speech you need to explain what you blog about and why in about 30 seconds.

Be clever. When working on your elevator pitch consider comparing your blog to something the folks in your niche would recognize. In the New Year I plan to relaunch my personal blog with a new look, a newsletter and a new focus. And after that relaunch I want people to say that I’m like a feminist Jeff Goins. But feel free to be funny or witty when finding a comparison for your blog. Maybe you’re Erika Napoletano without the f-bombs. Or maybe on your running blog you hit people with f-bombs and the hard truth on the regular and so you’re the Erika Napoletano of the fitness world. (Can you tell I really like Erika Napoletano?)

Be yourself. Mainly, you just need to be  sure your elevator pitch is authentic. Your blog’s tagline is not your elevator speech. While that tagline is great for your business cards, if you say it in actual conversation it will probably sound too contrived. For example, my personal blog The Writeous Babe Project is about “writing, wellness and women’s empowerment.” It’s about how I am “writing my way through life as a southern fried feminist.” But when I say either of those out loud I sound and feel like a jerk store. So instead of an overly rehearsed speech, consider just having bullet points that present the highlights of your site.

To craft a truly effective elevator pitch start with the mission statement for your blog. Focus on your Why. I blog to empower women, especially those who write and those yearning to live a life worth writing about. That should be at the core of my elevator pitch and at the core of all I do for my blog.

What tips do you have for crafting a good elevator pitch? 

Interested in learning more about the relaunch of The Writeous Babe Project? Click here to sign up for updates. 

Each day in November for #bloglikecrazy I’ll be publishing a blog post that answers your questions about blogging, social media, writing, wellness or women’s empowerment. Send your questions to javacia@seejanewritebham.com.

How do I find my ideal reader?

ideal reader
Image via Flickr/Creative Commons

When people ask me for blogging advice one tip almost always give is to identify your ideal reader and only write for her.  What are her passions, hobbies, and dreams? What are her problems and fears? What keeps her up at night? After you determine your ideal reader and what she wants and needs, only blog for her. This sounds scary. This sounds as if you’ll alienate other readers, but you won’t. An ideal reader is someone who not only reads your posts but also shares them with others. She’s not just loyal, she’s evangelistic. Writing for this reader will simply attract more like her.

Write out a detailed description of your ideal reader and keep it close, using it as you plan for future posts. You should even give your ideal reader a name. I call mine Quinn.

I am fortunate enough to have an actual person who is the basis of my ideal reader description. I have a reader who not only reads my blog posts but also attends and promotes nearly every See Jane Write event and talks about See Jane Write to other people more than I do.

But if you’re just starting your blog you probably haven’t found your Quinn. And that’s OK. When you’re starting out simply ask yourself what kind of reader you want to attract. Write a detailed description of that person and start there.

Or perhaps you can begin by just writing for yourself. Create the blog you want to read.

But if you want to find your Quinn, you need to go out and look for her. You need to network with people interested in the topic of your blog and with people who appreciate blogging. Get involved with local blogging groups (like Birmingham Bloggers and See Jane Write, of course). Attend conferences. Participate in Twitter chats and Facebook groups for bloggers and those related to your niche. Read and comment on other blogs. Guest blog for other sites.

Don’t assume your best friend will be your ideal reader. Chances are your best friend won’t even understand why you’re blogging in the first place. Let it go. Your blogging buddies (which you found from all that online and in real life networking) are the ones you should turn to for support in your online pursuits. Those blogging buddies are the ones who will encourage you to write on, sister!

Keep blogging and keep networking and soon you will discover your ideal reader. Trust me, she wants to find you just as badly as you want to find her.

 

Each day in November for #bloglikecrazy I’ll be publishing a blog post that answers your questions about blogging, social media, writing, wellness or women’s empowerment. Send your questions to javacia@seejanewritebham.com.

How can I build an authentic brand for my blog?

your brand
Your voice establishes your brand. (Image by Ricardo Bernardo via Flickr/Creative Commons)

Your blog is your brand.

We writers hear this a lot. But sometimes viewing our blog as a brand can feel limiting.

For example, let’s say you have a style blog that focuses on chic, work-appropriate fashion for young professionals. But you’re also inspired by creative, avant garde fashion shows. Because you’re trying to build a brand you may feel it’s not OK to write about both. But here’s why I think it is.

Establishing a brand for your blog isn’t solely about deciding the focus of your content. Building a brand is mostly about your voice and your values.

Whether you’re writing about runway looks or office party attire, your voice is the same. (Or at least it should be.) Your unique writing voice is much more important than what you’re writing about because it’s your voice that makes your blog stand out. Your readers aren’t just coming to your site because you’re giving suggestions on how to dress well for their 9 to 5. There are probably thousands of other blogs out there on this same topic. Your readers are coming to your blog because it’s your blog! They’re coming because they’re drawn to your voice and your style of blogging.

Your values also help build your blog’s brand. Why do you blog? What’s your mission statement? Yes, you blog to help young women feel both posh and professional, but why? Why do you think this is important? If your goal is to empower women and to help them feel more confident then simply make sure that everything you post — including a review of an avant garde fashion show — does exactly that.

For marketing purposes, it is smart to make sure that most of your posts center on your blog’s primary topic (unless you’re trying to shift the focus of your blog). Thus, consider creating a weekly or monthly feature that lets you go a bit off topic.  So Monday through Thursday you’re blogging about what to wear to work, but at the end of the week you have “High Fashion Friday” and on this day you showcase the looks you’d love to rock the runway in.

Remember the thing that makes your blog unique isn’t its topic. Your blog is special because the woman writing it is. 

 

Each day in November for #bloglikecrazy I’ll be publishing a blog post that answers your questions about blogging, social media, writing, wellness or women’s empowerment. Send your questions to javacia@seejanewritebham.com.

How can I get more done?

pizza
Pizza and Pomodoro — how I get things done

Even though I’m not a parent I get the question of “How do you do it all?” quite often, despite the fact that this question is usually reserved for mothers who work outside the home. But considering I work a full time teaching job, run See Jane Write, freelance for several publications and try to have a social life while doing all this, people are always asking me for my secret. In fact, I get this question so often that I’ll soon be launching an e-course on time management. (Stay tuned!)

But I’m going to give you one tip right now for free. If you want to be more productive, stop multitasking. I know this sounds counterintuitive. I know we women feel that the ability to multi-task is in our DNA. But it is not the key to success.

You will actually get more things done and in a shorter period of time if you have laser focus on individual tasks instead of dividing your attention and energy among several different tasks at once.

Allow me to give you two examples. On Halloween I was home alone because hubs was hosting a lock-in for his church youth group. Whenever I am home alone I order a pizza and watch movies. But I also needed to clean my apartment because it looked like a pigsty. Typically, it takes me about an hour and half for me to thoroughly clean my home. But that’s because while cleaning I’m usually also writing a blog post, grading papers or checking email. On Friday I challenged myself to finish cleaning before my pizza arrived. I called and placed my order. The person who took my call said my pie would arrive in about 40 minutes. As soon as I hung up the phone I got to work — dusting, sweeping, washing dishes, etc. When the pizza delivery guy knocked on my door I was all done with my cleaning. Actually, I finished five minutes before my dinner arrived. Why was I able to finish cleaning in half the time it normally take me? Focus.

Here’s another example: Yesterday evening I had a stack of papers that I needed to grade before I left home for my church small group meeting. I needed to finish the pile by 6 p.m. which I didn’t think would actually happen. But I finished at 5:25 p.m. Why? Focus!

I used the Pomodoro Technique to plow through those papers. The Pomodoro Technique, developed by Francesco Cirillo is simple, yet brilliant. You break down your work in 25-minute intervals, taking five-minute breaks after each one. After four work periods you take a longer 20-minute break. The technique is based on the idea that the frequent breaks will keep you sharp and focused work will keep you productive. I’ve been using the Pomodoro Technique for over a year now and it has worked wonders in my life.

So if you want to get more done, stop multitasking!

Each day in November for #bloglikecrazy I’ll be publishing a blog post that answers your questions about blogging, social media, writing, wellness or women’s empowerment. Send your questions to javacia@seejanewritebham.com.