Jessica Williams's Blog, page 8

You are a writer. Keep writing.

I had the strangest epiphany in the last couple of weeks. It started when I was going through my Evernote and found a bunch of half-finished blog posts.

There was one in particular that I decided to finish and post on my Facebook page. But then it seemed a little too long for a status update so I decided to make it a note instead. And notes are so advanced now: you can add formatting and images. While looking for an image, I'm thinking to myself, “If I'm doing all of this work anyways, why not just put it on the blog?”

Cue stress.

I copied the text over to the blog and started to feel really anxious. I powered through it and then hit the publish button. Whew!

I sat with this for a minute and wondered why this was so hard and why I was so anxious. I mentioned it to a friend Jamie who said, “Because it makes you vulnerable.”

Which was surprising to me because I feel like I share more personal things in my #jesspicks newsletter every week and I’m able to do that without much stress. That awareness has opened my eyes because maybe this explains why I’ve been such an on-again-off-again blogger. Because it causes me anxiety. Because I want it to be good.

Because I want to write content that helps people.

I started re-reading Jeff Goins' book, You Are a Writer. In it, he talks about how the only way for you to be a writer is to write.

“Writing is mostly a mind game. It’s about tricking yourself into becoming who you are. If you do this long enough, you begin to believe it. And pretty soon, you start acting like it.”

Here are a couple of gems that helped me understand some of the anxiety and self-doubt I've been feeling:

“At some point in your journey, you find yourself writing for the approval of others, not for the pure love of the craft.”
“Everything is practice. Every word you write and action you take is a chance to get better.”
“Multitasking is a myth. You can either create or react. But you can’t do both. Choose wisely.”

Reading the book has helped me remember how much I used to love writing. It's about doing something I love and getting better and better at it rather than focusing so much on metrics and chasing results. It's also about trusting that the audience will come.

Jeff also covers practical tips like building a platform, why branding is so important for authors, tips for freelancing and getting published in magazines, the importance of blogging and social media and so much more.

“The more I love what I do, the more others do, too. This is the paradox: When you stop writing for readers’ affections, your work will affect more people.”

If this resonates with you, you are a writer. Your next step is to claim it, say “I am a writer” and start writing.

Then keep writing.

The post You are a writer. Keep writing. appeared first on Tech Biz Gurl.

Why You Shouldn’t Be a Morning Person

Most articles I read about productivity tell us to wake up early, have a morning ritual, get moving, and so on. Don't get me wrong. It's great to get up early in the morning before everyone wakes up and get things done.

But is that really the right time for you?

Getting up early every morning will do nothing for you if that isn’t the time when your energy is at its highest.

Some people just work better at 2 pm in the afternoon. Some people can't have a coherent thought until 10 am. Others can't get into a groove until after midnight.

It's about finding where your energy level is at its highest and optimizing your day so that you can do your best work during your best time.

For me, I actually am a morning person and know that I can do my best work between the hours of 7:30 am – noon. I can be productive all day but it's much harder for me to focus in the afternoons.

As a side hustler, this distinction is even more important since our time is so limited. So if you are a morning person, can you wake up a little earlier and spend an hour before your job working on your business? Can you dedicate your lunch break to your biz? Or sometime at night when everyone is asleep? Try to use some of your high energy time to work on your side gig as well.

Are you a morning person? When is your energy level at its highest?

The post Why You Shouldn’t Be a Morning Person appeared first on Tech Biz Gurl.

Thank you for 6 years…

This is a note to you…to say thank you.

Today marks the 6-year anniversary of the day I started this site and wrote my very first blog post.

I started this blog at a time when the concept of using social media for business was still new and building an online business was the thing to do. Blogging was a way to build your personal brand.

Not much of that has changed…

Over the years, I have been through many ups and downs and major changes as I’ve gotten older (and hopefully wiser) and so has this business. I've realized that while it didn’t start out that way, techbizgurl.com has changed my life in so many ways:

It’s helped me meet so many amazing people and build awesome friendships.
I’ve been able to get out of my comfort zone, a baby step at a time.
I’ve become more confident.
I’m starting to find my voice, in writing and speaking.
I’ve learned more about myself and how I like to show up in the world.

Most recently, I’ve realized that the Tech Biz Gurl brand has become as much a part of my identity as my name. It defines both who I am and what I stand for and that is a really awesome, unexpected surprise.

The past six years have been an adventure for sure and moving forward, I'm sure I'll learn and grow even more.

Thank you for being here, for the support, for signing up, for commenting, for cheering me on.

Thank you for being a part of my community.

xoxo

The post Thank you for 6 years… appeared first on Tech Biz Gurl.

6 Tricks to Be More Confident (Even If You Struggle With Impostor Syndrome Like Me)

Last week, I was invited to do a lightning talk at the Women in Tech Breakfast held by General Assembly. There were 5 speakers and each speaker received a question to guide their talk. Mine was:

You work with a lot of female founders and are yourself an incredibly successful entrepreneur, what is the most common challenge faced and what solutions do you recommend to combat those?

It took me a few days to really think this through as several things came to mind: not having access to resources, finding investors, choosing technology platforms, building relationships with mentors and the list could go on. But I couldn’t really pick one and I kept feeling that none of those were quite the answer that I wanted to tackle. So I went to one of my good friends for help and she asked, “Well what do you think the biggest challenge is?”

I told her, “I think a lot of it is mindset.” ← It’s easier sometimes to answer a direct question in Facebook messenger.

How to Make Extra Time for Your Side Hustle

Finding time to work on your side hustle is a common challenge for a lot of us. Whether you are just starting your side hustle or already running one, you will totally feel like there is never enough time in the day to get everything done.

The key is making the time. And it doesn’t have to be 4 hours a day. It’s not so much about those big pockets of time. It’s the 20-30 minutes every day or the 1 hour every other day on a consistent basis that makes all the difference.

Starting a side hustle while managing other commitments is not an easy thing to do. Just make sure that you are being honest with yourself and realistic about the amount of time you can spend on this. Take a look at your calendar and start blocking off your existing commitments: sleep time, work time, dinner time, exercise time.

Then see what pockets of time are left over and determine how much time you can spend on this business right now. Even if it’s 15 minutes a day. Or two hours every weekend. 30 minutes every evening. You want to commit to something that feels manageable.

Here are some other ways to make time for your side hustle.

Wake up earlier.

Or go to bed later. I know, I know. Sleep is precious. I need at least 7 hours every night to function with any degree of normalcy. But if you are able to wake up 30 minutes earlier every day or go to bed just 30 minutes later, this translates to about 3 extra hours you can spend on your side hustle every week.

Find your most productive time and protect it.

Get comfortable with your energy levels so that you know when you can focus the best. Most people are either early birds or night owls. Me? I’m definitely a morning person and I know that I can get my best work done in the morning before noon. Not that I can’t get any work done after that time, but I know it’ll be much harder to focus. So as much as I can, I schedule meetings and phone calls in the afternoon so I can use my morning time to get stuff done. Figure out your best energy times and see if you can carve out some of that time to work on your side hustle.

Use your lunch break.

You can pack your lunch and bring it from home. Or eat lunch while you’re working and then use your lunch hour to work on your side hustle. Most people get 30 to 60 minutes for lunch so you can use that time to draft your next blog post, return a client call, or schedule some social media posts into your Buffer queue.

Extend your workday.

Most of us get home from the office and find ourselves swept up into other things (like cooking, cleaning, or taking care of kids). Or we feel completely brain-dead when we walk through the door (#truestory) and just want to veg out in front of the tv. Because home = non-work activities. To combat this, you can try extending your workday – stay an extra hour later at your office or head to a coffee shop right after work and work on your business. This way, once you get home, your “work day” is done.

This also works in reverse especially if you’re an early bird like me. If you start work at 9 am, head to the office or a nearby workspace around 8 am and use that hour to focus on your business.

Plan for bonus time.

Bonus time, you say? Yes! Bonus time is commute time or wait time. Those sometimes expected and unexpected minutes you find in your day. You most likely have some version of commute time in your Monday through Friday life – whether you’re driving or riding the bus or train. And think of those doctor appointments that never start on time. Like ever. This is bonus time that you can use to do things. It’s great to have a list of things you can knock off when you are presented with an extra 5-10 minutes of free time. You can listen to a podcast, read some blog posts. Jot down some blog ideas in your Evernote. Or return phone calls.

Take a day off.

From your day job that is. I sometimes use my vacation days in order to work on my side hustle. I take a day off every other month or so and use at least half of the day to write blog posts, work on new courses, or plan for the quarter. And if you have paid vacation days, you’re essentially getting paid to work on your side hustle. Win-win.

Over to you: What are some ways you’ve been able to find time to work on your side hustle?

The post How to Make Extra Time for Your Side Hustle appeared first on Tech Biz Gurl.

Project Jessica: An Update

This year has been a whirlwind. As I try to remember everything that happened, it’s really just a blur. There has been a lot of hard times, a lot of stretching and growing, and a lot of fun and big moments. As I reflect back on the year and plan for 2017, I wanted to share my insights:

When I started 2016, I did not want to do the resolution thing, because those are really meant to be broken as soon as February hits. So instead, I decided to do projects. Let’s review those, shall we:

#read24 project

Goal: 24 books

How far I got: 19 books

I set a goal of reading 24 books this year for the Goodreads Reading Challenge. I still have 14ish days left in the year, so I may be able to knock another one off the list. Maybe? Even though I didn’t meet my goal, I feel very good about the books that I have read this year – a mix of suspense, fairytale series, business and personal development. Here are three that I think you’ll also enjoy:

Ego is the Enemy

[image error]This book was recommended to me by my friend Shenee, and is in a word: life-changing.  I have to refer back to it from time to time to remind myself of some lessons. It’s really about how we often get so caught up in our own egos that we forget what’s really important. What we are working for. And it makes us be more aware of times where our egos might be doing us more harm than good.

One of my fave quotes:

“But you’re not able to change the system until after you’ve made it. In the meantime, you’ll have to find some way to make it suit your purposes—even if those purposes are just extra time to develop properly, to learn from others on their dime, to build your base and establish yourself.”

Year of Yes

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So I heart Shonda Rhimes and I love her shows, (helloooo TGIT), so to finally read her book was amazing. It was like chatting with her over coffee. The book is based on a time in her life when she decided to say yes to everything, especially things that scared her.

One of my fave quotes:

“It is time to stop standing at the edges of rooms. Hugging the walls. Living in my head. Wishing I had something to say. If there’s one thing I have learned from all of Chris’s Sisyphean pushing and all of this saying Yes it’s that if I don’t poke my head out of my shell and show people who I am, all anyone will ever think I am is my shell. It is time to take my place on the list.”

The Cinder Series

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So I included this 4-book series because it was awesome. The first book was a little hard to get into, but if you love fairytales and you can stick with it, you will love these retellings of Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel.

One of my fave quotes (from Cress):

“Maybe there isn’t such a thing as fate. Maybe it’s just the opportunities we’re given, and what we do with them.”

If you want to see what else I read this year, come and join me on Goodreads.

#blog24 project

Goal: 24 blog posts

How far I got: 5ish (this makes 6!)

Similar to my reading goal, I planned to write two blog posts a month for a total of 24 for the year. I started off strong in January and February and then…life happened. I fell behind and wasn’t able to get back on track. Which made me feel really bad, but sometimes when you get off track, it’s hard to start again.

BUT something cool happened along the way. I received an email for this lifetime deal on this service called Revue, a newsletter that makes it super easy to curate content.  Which was something I had thought about trying for awhile.  I saw this deal as a sign to move forward and figured it was something that I could keep up with on a weekly basis.  I created #jesspicks, a curated newsletter with top posts I’ve read around productivity, tech, business and side hustling (along with life and biz updates) that I produce every Saturday. I started doing this in July and I haven’t missed a Saturday yet. 21 issues so far!

So what does this mean for 2017?
More #jesspicks!

The newsletter is doing great. And it’s so much fun to put together so it’s definitely here to stay for 2017. Want to join in on the #jesspicks fun?  Get on the list. It’s awesome!

Get Comfy with the Monkey 2.0

I love my Mailchimp course and had fun putting it together as an optin gift. My plan for 2017 is to take it down, re-do it, go bigger and sell it as a digital course.

Passive income

Because I’m side hustling, I have to get super duper honest with myself about ways to make money for the business, that I can realistically do with my day job. So next year, my goal is to really dive deep into passive income: creating digital products and signing up for affiliate marketing opportunities for products I use and love.

#womenintech for the win!

With my participation in CompTIA’s #MakeTechHerStory campaign to inspire girls to pursue careers in technology, I was featured as one of four role models to watch for girls interested in tech.  And also I was featured on Black Enterprise!   Being able to be highlighted as a role model especially as a black woman in tech means a lot to me and I hope to be able to represent this even more in 2017!

More speaking / More video

I set a silent goal of 10 speaking gigs for 2016 and I met my goal!! I hope to be able to do that again in 2017 by speaking on topics like list-building, side hustles, and my experience of being a woman in tech. Along with that, I also want to do more video. Not sure what that looks like yet, but definitely in the plans.

Better self-care

Not sure if it has been turning 35 this year or what, but I’ve been sick more than ever before (lots of sore throats, lots of coughing), so for 2017, I really want to make self-care a priority. This is what that looks like:

Hard boiled eggs for breakfast before my coffee
Multivitamins
More fruit and veggies
Drinking more water and tea (less soda)
Some version of consistent exercise
More coloring
More reading (#Read24 the sequel will happen.

Up Your LinkedIn Game: A Recap

Two weeks ago, I attended a Mastering LinkedIn for Women workshop at Blue1647. Great workshop that was very practical and I loved how it was geared towards women – both business owners and employees.

Tajuana Ross, aka ‘The LinkedIn Professor’, led the workshop and shared 5 mistakes we often make with LinkedIn. She was incredible and the level that she understands LinkedIn and how it works together with Google algorithms is nothing short of amazing. I mean, just take some time to check out her LinkedIn profile.

Here’s a recap of the lessons shared:

Mistake #5 – Ignoring LinkedIn.

Tajuana says, “If LinkedIn is not part of your overall social media strategy, you have a branding problem.” LinkedIn is all about establishing your professional brand. It’s the only place where people come specifically to network and do business. This means that you should make time for it. No excuses.

Mistake #4 – No photo. Bad photo. Wrong photo.

First impressions are powerful, right? On LinkedIn, the first thing that most people see – aside from your name – is your profile photo. “When people see your picture online, within a nanosecond, they have judged you, your trustworthiness and your competence.” The only kind of acceptable photo on LinkedIn is a professional headshot. Nothing else works. Not even bathroom selfies.

6 Ways to Get More Out of Your Commute

Most of us travel 20 minutes or more to get to and from work every day.  If you add that up, that’s a minimum of 40 minutes of your day that is probably not fun.  People hate their commutes – it can take a lot of time, it can be stressful and it can really impact what you’re able to get done.  Not. Fun.

It’s time to reclaim your commute time.  Start thinking of it as bonus time: the extra time you can use to get more done.  Every extra minute or five that you can get is priceless, especially if you’re side hustlin’ like me.  So let’s find some ways to use it!

Read (with your eyes & your ears).

Commute time is a great time for getting caught up on your reading.  You can pull out your Kindle or open the iBooks app on your iPhone and read the latest bestseller. Or if you’re driving, you can grab an audiobook from Audible and listen to your favorite author’s latest novel.  You can also check out web articles you’ve saved to read later in your Pocket or catch up on your blogs using a service like Feedly.

Listen to a podcast.

There are some great podcasts in the world right now covering every topic. Here are some of my favorites right now related to business and getting things done: Do the Thing, The Portfolio Life, and Breaking Down Your Business.  The possibilities are endless, so find something you want to hear about – you could learn a new food recipe, listen to the latest grammar tip or just follow along with the latest pop culture news.

Learn another language.

Is learning Spanish on your bucket list?  You need Duolingo.  It’s a free, fun way to learn a new language.  You can do one Spanish lesson in about 5 or 10 minutes – which works really well for a short commute. The app sends you reminders to stay up to date on your lessons and helps you learn in a variety of ways – speaking, reading and writing.  You get graded as you go through the lessons.

Discover new (and old) music.

“Music makes the people come together” like Madonna says.  I heart Spotify’s music collection and I can make tons of personalized playlists for the music that I love. But I also love using it to discover music.Two of my favorite playlists that get updated weekly are the Discover Weekly playlist which is super customized to you and your musical style. And the #ThrowbackThursday playlist which is updated every Thursday with some wonderful oldie but goodie tunes.

Do a little work.

You have some time to kill so why not respond to some emails and clear your inbox?  Or jot down some ideas for your next blog post in Evernote? You can check your social media notifications and post some of your favorite quotes.  If you are in a quiet spot like your car, you can even record your next audio MP3 for your community or knock out some phone calls.

Plan your day.

On your commute to work in the morning, it’s a great chance to review your calendar and write down the top 3 things you need to get done today. On your way home you can start a list of things you need to work on tomorrow.

I asked my community what sorts of things they do on their commute:

I listen to podcasts on my way to work… I have about a 30 minute so it’s not a lot I can accomplish… But I like to listen to business related podcasts.. especially on branding, blogging, and marketing.
Brandi Mishonna, Pretty Girl Smarter Woman

I do long distance driving when I am training creative business owners. I use the time to listen to audio books to have some ‘switch off’ time & relax on the drive. I also find this time helps me come up with ideas for my podcasts. So I get a story read to me & ideas at the same time. I keep post it notes & a pen in my car so I can grab it & write my ideas down when I’m stuck in traffic.
Philiy Grace Page, Creative Women International

How is that for productive?  And most of the tips here can be done from your smartphone.

But don’t feel that you always have to get stuff done during your commute. Sometimes it’s enough to just sit and people watch, close your eyes for a few minutes, or relax.  We can’t (and shouldn’t) work all the time.  But for those times where you want to knock something off your to-do list or make some progress on a project, schedule it for that drive to work or the bus ride home.

What other tips can you share that help you make the most of your commute time?

The post 6 Ways to Get More Out of Your Commute appeared first on Tech Biz Gurl.

How to Build Your Business Around Your Day Job

Have you been dreaming of starting a business? Is it one of the things on your bucket list? Are you worried that you can’t do it with your current day job?

You can.  Start it as a side hustle.

I first learned about the concept of a side hustle from Pam Slim, author of Escape From Cubicle Nation and all around amazing person.  Side hustles are a super low risk way to get started on your idea, test it and grow it to a full time business. Pam says, “it can also be part of your backup plan in case you lose your job.”

You can also just use it as a method to have some extra income every month to help pay off student loans, buy your favorite books, or add to your savings.

techbizgurl.com is my side hustle. My full time job is pretty much a 9-5 Monday through Friday type gig. Based on that, I work on my business before and after work, on weekends – and sometimes during lunch.

If this sounds like something you want to start, there will never be a better time than today. Even with the day job. Even with your other commitments.

Here are 7 tips on building your side business:

1. Get clear on the amount of time you have to spend on your business.

Time is probably the biggest struggle when you have a day job because you don’t have a full 12 hours to spend on building your business. It’s important to figure out how much time you have to spend. And be realistic. If it’s only 30 minutes a day, that’s OK. If it’s only an hour a week or on a weekend, that’s OK. Just figure out what time is business time and stick to it.  And if it’s business time, you want to be working on things that’ll help you move forward with your business.

2. Figure out what you can offer right now.

Just one thing. What’s the simplest thing you can offer right now? A 30 minute coaching call? An ebook? A class taught at a coffee shop?  Figure out one thing you can offer that’s super easy and super fun for you.  You could even offer the first 10 calls or products free and get feedback on those before you feel ready to start charging for things.  Or you can focus on blogging. Get into a consistent routine with writing and start building your audience and figuring out what they need.  You just want to focus on one thing to offer right now to get you started.

3. Keep it small. Keep it simple.

When you’re starting out, the key is to have a good foundation but not to spend a ton of money. Money spent on hosting and a WordPress theme is a good place to start. But this is not the time to spend $3K to $5K on a designer. I say this because, this is your first site, your first attempt at this. Bootstrap as much as you can. As you start out, you want something super cute (of course) but also super simple because most likely your business, your focus and even your target audience will change. (For example, I really thought that techbizgurl.com would be a social media management company when I first started).

4. Start building your tech toolbox.

Yep I’m a big fan of the tech toolbox. These are tools and resources you can use to help you save time and automate things as you build your business. If you want to know what’s in my toolbox, click here.   If you need a website, you can grab a hosting plan from Bluehost for less than $100/year. You can set up a Mailchimp account for free.  You can even use a tool like Calendly to allow folks to schedule time on your calendar for a meeting.  You have options here.  The goal is to be aware of ways that technology can help you save time and allow you to get things done while you’re at work.

5. Get connected.

Use the social media channels that you’re already active on to promote your business.  Share your latest blog post on Facebook.  Start following potential clients on Twitter.  Get out in your local community and let people know what you are doing. Add people to your mailing list so they can stay updated on the things you’re working on.

Meet people. Make connections. You never know where your next opportunity may come from.
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6. Use your day job’s powers for good.

Once you start doing this side hustle thing, you might start resenting the day job or thinking it’s the enemy. First of all, this is normal because you can often feel like the job is standing in the way of you doing what you want to do. The day job is a good thing. It helps you take care of your rent and your basic needs while you build this business on the side. This gives you the flexibility to experiment and try and fail as much as you want without worrying that you’ll lose everything and be living in a van down by the river.

Aside from the money thing, think of your day job as a training ground for your business. If you want to try something new, volunteer for it at your day job. Use the resources and connections to learn as much as you can. You’ll be a better employee and you’ll rock at your business.

7. Don’t kill yourself doing this.

Sucky days are gonna happen. You’ll constantly feel this tug of war between your job and your business. This is why Tip #1 is so important. Figure out the time you have to spend on your business and stick to that. But also be realistic with yourself. Take the time to do other things that are fun and have nothing to do with your job or your business. This way you won’t burn yourself out.

There may be days where you are ready to tear down the website and throw the business out the window (trust me, I’ve been there.). That is a sign that you need to take a pause on your business and maybe your day job and have a blanket fort day. Or a day in nature. Or go color. Because there will also be days when you are ready to cry and your heart is so full because a client left you an amazing testimonial. Or a client was ready to give up until reading your blog post. These are the moments that will make everything worth it.

Building a business can be the most rewarding and exhausting thing that you do but the point is that you CAN do it. Even with a day job.

Do you have a business and a day job?  Any tips for juggling both?  Tell us about it below!

The post How to Build Your Business Around Your Day Job appeared first on Tech Biz Gurl.

How to Start Your Blog this Weekend

Tech Biz Gurl was launched a week before my 30th birthday in about an hour. My goal was to start something – I felt the need to create a safe, approachable practical space for women to pursue their dreams without technology holding them back. I wanted women to feel that they COULD do it. That it wasn’t just a man’s world.

And I wanted it to be fun and reflect who I was: a technologist, a businessperson, and a woman. Tech. Biz. Gurl.

So I took the blogging plunge and this was the beginning of a time of transformation for me. It has changed my life, connected me to some amazing people and has really set the stage for my most recent career move. But most of all, this process has made me a better writer.

How about you? Is blogging one of the things on your bucket list? Something you want to do?

You can start one right now. In fact, go ahead and click here to get started, then come back to this post for next steps!

Step 1: Purchase a domain name

The domain name of my site is TechBizGurl.com. This is where people go to find me on the web. Your domain can either be your name or your company name.

The hosting company I will recommend in the next step gives you the ability to add a free domain name as part of the hosting plan. This way you can get everything in one shot and in one place.

Note on domain names: Choosing a good domain name can be tough but don’t get stuck overthinking it. It can be changed in the future if you want. But go with whatever feels right. For me, I didn’t want to use my name because how many “Jessica Williams” are out there in the world? A LOT. So I wanted to call my site something unique and memorable. As I often say, there are many “Jessica Williams” but only ONE “Tech Biz Gurl”.