Tag / Blog

by caitlyncallahan14

8-10 hours/day

I went to the eye doctor last week (for the first time in years) to talk about getting contacts because my vision is so bad. As we were going over my history and concerns, she asked me what I do for a living and how many hours a day I spend on the computer.

I told her 8-10 hours, average.

She laughed at first.

And then when she realized I was serious, she expressed concern about how bad that was for my eyes.

I told her that between my full time job and my business, it’s the truth. And yet, these last few weeks I’ve found that even that much time isn’t enough.

You may have noticed it’s been about a month since I posted a blog post. I also haven’t been regularly updating my social media, or posting industry articles. I’ll be the first to admit I’ve been slacking. My full time job has been so busy lately and it’s been exhausting. I’ve been working longer hours, and had no time during the day for a break (so many meetings!). On top of that, I’ve been very busy with my existing clients, and working on onboarding two more.

Therefore, I’m spending 8-10 hours a day, 5-6 days a week staring at my computer.

But, I’m still falling behind writing and publishing for my own business. Which without that new content, I’m not continuing to grow and establish. And while I know the importance of prioritizing my own business, I’m not. And sadly, it’s an active choice I’m making.

Because after 8 hours of meetings and 2-3 hours of writing for clients, I’m tired. And I want to watch an episode of my favorite show, or read some of my book, and then go to sleep. I know I should be writing a blog post, or scheduling out social media posts. And I can’t say I don’t have the time (because that would be a lie), but spending that time working means I’m sacrificing time doing other things I enjoy, or time with family or friends.

I’ve been doing this freelancing gig for about three years now and I’ve written before about finding the balance. Now more than ever it’s challenging to find that balance as I’m busier than ever with work and clients.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s the best feeling to have. I love what I’m doing with my clients and the work I’m publishing. I’m so proud of my success so far and how far I’ve come.

But to keep going, I need to continue to prioritize my business. I just honestly don’t know how.

So here’s a question to my fellow freelancers – how did you do it? How did you build a successful business, while also having and enjoying your life? Not missing those moments in life is so important to me, but I feel like too often I read about successful people having sacrificed everything to get to where they are, including family, friends, sleep and their own health.

I don’t want to be like that. I want to change the narrative. I want to prove to every kid out there dreaming of this life, having their own business and being successful writers, that you can have it all.

I’ll be sure to let you all know if I figure it out.

Until then, I’ll keep spending my 8-10 hours.

by caitlyncallahan14

it’s a digital world (part 2: content)

A couple weeks ago, I published part one of a three-part series sharing some of my favorite statistics supporting social media marketing and how it can change the way you market and share your business.

Today, I want to talk about a concept that’s challenging to understand, and sometimes even more challenging to implement: content marketing.

Perhaps you’ve:

  1. Never thought about content marketing.
  2. Have thought about it, but don’t know how it applies to your brand or how it can help generate sales.
  3. Attempted to implement it in your marketing strategy, but aren’t really sure how to execute, feel stuck, or simply don’t have time.

IMPORTANT NOTE: “Content marketing” doesn’t have to mean blogs, though that is the primary tool for most businesses. It can also mean social media posts, video, photos, memes, emails, whitepapers, ebooks, podcasts, and more. The options are endless, and chances are you can find a form of content that works for you and your business.

If you’ve never thought about it, or think I’m crazy to suggest content marketing can help improve customer retention and drive sales, here are a few stats that may convince you otherwise.

  • 77% of internet users read blogs. However, nearly 30% of users block advertising on their connected devices.
  • Content marketing gets 3x the leads per dollar spent when compared to paid search tactics. It also costs an average of 41% less.
  • It generates more than 3x as many leads and costs 62% less than other outbound marketing tactics.
  • Small businesses with blogs get 126% more lead growth than small businesses without.
  • 61% of online consumers make a purchase after reading recommendations on a blog.
  • Content marketing conversion rates are 6x higher than other traditional marketing methods.
  • Websites with blogs have 434% more search engine-indexed pages than those without blogs, meaning significantly more traffic to your website.
  • 70% of people would rather get information about or learn something from a company from an article or blog post rather than traditional advertising tactics.

I could get into stats about individual forms of content and how they can push your business to the next level, but I won’t here because that could be a 10,000 word whitepaper. The point is, content marketing is important, cheap, and can help boost your business and retain your customers.

Plus, the good news is you don’t have to be an “expert” to do content marketing. With today’s technology, building a website, editing a video, posting a photo, or even recording a podcast can be as simple as clicking a few buttons. And while you don’t want to put out bad content that could hurt your brand or business, attempting something can many times be better than nothing.

It can feel overwhelming to get started. But remember – no one knows your business, brand and products/services better than you. Think about what you can share with others regarding your brand. What’s your story? What are the questions your customers are asking? How can you be a solution? What do your customers like, and how can you engage and entertain them through different forms of content?

Check out some of these posts on how to develop a content strategy and get started.

If you want to talk further about how content marketing can help your business, need help getting started, or would like assistance with ongoing support, send me a message today.