My family and I have been “off-grid” for the last 3 weeks.
It wasn’t intentional. We didn’t mean to disconnect from the rest of the world. But after weeks of isolation, my children were becoming very agitated. Some nights, I would hold a child (or two) as they cried.
So when our governor extended the “Shelter In Place” order for 2 additional weeks, we left.
We headed up to a small farming community in the mountains. A place my children could play outside, all day, without violating any orders.
And it was amazing.
The only problem was…I didn’t have access to the internet. So, for 3 weeks, I abandoned my community and spent time focused 100% on my family.
Now, when you’re in a situation like that, you can’t help but reflect on your time away. And I wanted to share my insights about content creation with you.
Starting with:
- Daily Social Media Posts Matter
I’m not a huge fan of social media. My followers will tell you that.
I don’t understand it. And it’s not a place I, myself, actively seek out. But a year ago, after hiring a social media manager, I made a commitment to post on Facebook every day.
I know, I know, Facebook is not the only social media site. But “baby steps”…you know.
What I hadn’t realized is the impact regularly posting had on our lead generation. Our new prospect numbers have remained fairly consistent all year long. During the 3 weeks we were gone, new leads dropped to almost nothing.
What’s crazy about that, is the numbers didn’t seem to match. I posted and posted and posted and only got a handful of likes every time. So I didn’t realize my efforts were actually making a difference. But the only thing that changed for my business when we left was the social media consistency.
Not seeing the steady number of prospects coming through our door was disheartening. And I certainly won’t neglect social media again. In fact, I think it’s time to add LinkedIn, Instagram, and maybe another site to my daily efforts.
- Weekly Emails Are for Me As Much As My Contacts
Like social media, one of the commitments I’ve made to my community is a minimum of one email per week. Sometimes I send two. And when COVID-19 hit, I emailed my community every single day.
This whole time, I have believed that emailing my community was my responsibility to them. That it was for their benefit alone that I emailed.
Turns out, I was getting a lot more from my weekly emails than that.
During our trip, I enjoyed time with my family. But I didn’t like the feeling of not knowing what was going on in my community.
When I send emails, I usually get responses of some type. And those responses give me insights to my contacts. I find out what they’re struggling with. I find out how they’re responding to the things going on in the world. And I find out how I can pivot to meet their personal needs.
Without that information, I feel lost. I lose my focus on what I’m trying to accomplish with my business. And the people I’m trying to help.
- I Need to Streamline My Content a Little Bit Better
The decision to leave was last minute. If we were going to go, we had to go right away. Leaving no time to prepare for…anything.
My habit has been to wait until the last minute to create my content. Because I like it to be relevant. I want to be as accurate with the events going on as possible.
And while I still find value in that sentiment, what happens when you and your family choose to leave town for almost a month?
I need to make sure I have content ready and automated. Because I didn’t enjoy leaving my community without so much as a goodbye. (Remember, I didn’t know I wouldn’t have access to the internet.) And now I feel that having something is far more important than waiting and failing in your consistency with your community.
Ultimately, the one thing I learned is that I really enjoy doing this.
There are a LOT of days when I feel overwhelmed. There are a LOT of moments when I wonder why I’m working instead of helping my child learn how to ride a bike or reading with them. But I do it because I’m good at it. I do it, because I enjoy the connections I have with other business owners. And I do it because I believe in the product we’ve created.
Without those feelings, it’s definitely not worth the effort we have to put into running a business. And creating content.
To make content creation easier, you can always sign up for our monthly membership.
