Each week I share things that have helped me achieve or kept me in the flow – it’s usually a bit of a behind-the-scenes of my world and mind :) Up this week…
#1 Pinning!
Yes, I’m pinning on Pinterest and I love it. It’s the perfect thing to do with one hand when the toddler’s having a random nap cuddled up to my side, or in the dark trying to be quiet, while I’m sitting with her while she goes to sleep (the latest requirement in the ups & downs of toddler sleeping habits!).
It may well be the latest darling of social media and sink into obscurity in a few months but I can see huge business potential for it, primarily because of its simplicity, its beauty and the fact that it’s fun and super simple to use. It meets a need that’s so far not been met by any other social network (unlike Google Plus).
I’ve been watching with interest and amusement at the plethora of Pinterest “how to” articles floating about online recently and, as usual, Copyblogger has one of the best with tips for beginners, intermediate and black-belt pinners.
And I will likely be jumping on the bandwagon and penning an article, but it’ll be for the zero2illo site and specifically focused for illustrators - Jonathan’s here, if you want some visual inspiration from an illustrator (they’re wildly different from my pins!).
Some may argue that the point of Pinterest is not business (Hey! Whatever happened to the “there are no rules on social media” mantra?!) but if, as an online entrepreneur, you’re going to spend a significant amount of time using any kind of tool – and believe me, Pinterest is that addictive – you may decide you’d like to (try to) justify the time spent there with some sort of business rationale behind it ;)
Note: That’s why there’s the addition of a visually interesting image to this post – if you feel like sharing it on Pinterest, please do :)
#2 Building Assets
At the moment, I spend most of my time teaching – at Startup Training School, odd classes like the Headway class I taught last week and more. I never thought I’d love something which requires me to be on the phone (I’m not a phone person) and talking to multiple people, but I do. Love it. I feel in the flow while I’m doing it and I feel the buzz afterwards.
But while the prospect of the live webinars never thrills me – even though the reality of running them does – a huge realisation that’s come from the Startup Training School project is the asset we’re building. We’ve put so much focus on running the live course, that we almost overlooked the fact that the material we’re creating is a massive asset in itself.
The asset? A library of 40+ video tutorials, teaching skills that range from using Adobe Illustrator to create your own logos, to using Adobe InDesign to create your own ebooks, to using WordPress & Headway to create your own websites and aweber/mailchimp to create your own email courses (and there’s more).
What assets are you currently building for your business?
#3 Planning
As a recovering perfectionist, there is nothing I like more than planning. If I haven’t planned (anything!) for a while, I get antsy. And while I’ve been learning to let go of plans and go with the flow, noticing and seizing opportunities that weren’t even in the plan, I still like to plan.
And I’m currently in planning heaven with the eCourse, Path Finding for Online Pioneers. I have most of it sketched out – the key lessons, the video scripts, the people I want to participate and talk with – and I’m now on to planning the extra part for people who join me for the first group course.
I’m going to be sharing my behind-the-scenes process to create and deliver an eCourse, this eCourse. This is slightly more tricky to plan…how much do I show? How much do people want to see? How much is too much?
If you were going to take part in this – for the course itself and the behind-the-scenes extras – how much would you want to see? All of it? The key parts in the process? The techy details?
I’d love to know…please do hit “reply” if you receive this by email and let me know. It’ll add an extra dimension to my planning that I’ve been previously very poor at – feedback!