I've been in business for over a year now, and I remember when I first started my business. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work.
Like most new business owners, I made countless mistakes along the way (yikes!).
But, I'm not ashamed of any of these mistakes at all! In fact, as I'm writing this, I couldn't help but smile and feel proud of how far I've come. 🙏
This is going to be a fun blog! 😉
I'll share three mistakes that I made when starting my own business so you can learn from my experiences and avoid the same pitfalls!
HERE ARE THREE MISTAKES TO AVOID:
MISTAKE NUMBER ONE: I didn't know who my target audience was
For sure you've read or heard about this numerous times - and there's a reason for that!
If you're like me, who's working on being a people pleaser, you have this repetitive thought that you want to help anyone.
But, please spend time getting absolute clarity on WHO you want to help/serve.
Here's why:
👉 You know what their pain points are and how to address each one of them
👉 You know what tone and words to use to help them understand your message
I wanted to talk to everyone so I ended up getting no one's attention 🤷♀️
I thought that by doing this I can serve whoever needed my help. I was completely WRONG!
I didn't get the results that I wanted because I wasn't clear on who to help and how I can help.
MISTAKE NUMBER TWO: I was on every single social media platform
Now since I was not clear on WHO to help, my immediate action was that I should be on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter because who knows?
My ideal client might be there! 🤦♀️
I know, I know! Sounds silly, right?
Managing one social media account can already be time-consuming, let alone five and I did this all by myself!
I really reached the point where I asked myself:
👉 What's the point of all this?
👉 Why am I even doing this?
👉 Is this even worth my time? I feel like no one's paying attention!
This is a domino effect of my first mistake -- since I didn't know who I was talking to, my messaging was confusing and it definitely didn't reach the right people.
Once you're clear on who to serve, you'd know what social media platform they are on the most - start from there.
As for me, I started on Instagram as the people I wanted to help were in the health and wellness space particularly therapists, coaches, and founders.
MISTAKE NUMBER THREE: My process was literally a mess
Winging it, by all means, will never be an effective way to do a business let alone start one. It just won't cut it.
These were some of the thoughts that were endlessly running through my mind:
👉 Should design be first?
👉 Wait, I need to do some engagement and see how that should work!
👉 Uhm, but maybe I should focus more on content?
No clear process = what am I trying to do here again!? 😅
Thanks to my trial and e
rror and actual client experiences, I was able to set up a system and created a process that works not just for my business but also elevated my clients' experiences.
CLICKUP. This is a task and project management tool that I've exposed myself to and really learned the ins and outs of it, and it made me sleep better at night!
Here's what my Social Media Management process looks like:
1️⃣ Content Creation
2️⃣ Design
3️⃣ Review
4️⃣ For Posting
I've incorporated this process into ClickUp where my clients can review the caption + hashtags and designs in one go, and once they approve, they can do so in one click.
Whew, that's a lot of work for three little mistakes, huh?
I really appreciate you reading this blog and reaching this far.
Not ready to hire a Social Media Manager yet? That's fine!
Grab a copy of my Social Media Starter Kit and still avoid making the same mistakes that I did.
Cheering you on,
MJ 💕
