Amy C. Fitzjohn's Blog, page 15

Where Do I Write My Blog? (A to Z of Blogging)

 

 

Entrepreneurs dipping their toes into the murky waters of blogging for the first time often ask me, “Where do I write a blog?”.

Keeping up with the latest platforms and technology can be overwhelming and off-putting for those new to blogging to support their business.

Do I blog on Facebook?


What about on Linked In?


Should I write on a blogging platform, like Blogger.com?


What about WordPress, how does that work?


Should I have a blog page on my existing business website?


What about blogging on other people’s websites and for content sites?



It’s because of these questions that W is for ‘Where’ do I blog, on my A to Z of Blogging series.

 

The Options: Pros and Cons

 

Blogging on Social Media

All the Social Media platforms are really just forms of micro-blogging. But on someone else’s platform, using someone else’s tools and format and following someone else’s rules.

Millions of people use Social Media platforms every second of every day, therefore for immediate engagement and to get conversations going, they really are the place to hang out. But does that necessarily mean you should be blogging directly on these platforms too?

 

There are two good options here to write longer-form articles and content on established platforms:

Facebook Notes
Linked In Publishing

 

If you already have an engaged audience on either of these platforms, this is a great place to bolt on your blogging training wheels and have a go.

 

 

 

Facebook Notes

 

If you are a Facebook user, you will notice the occasional lengthy post.

Sometimes you might click on ‘read more’, but when faced with a long, unformatted, block of text you will think twice before venturing any further.

If you take the time and trouble to write a lengthy update on Facebook, surely you’ll want people to read it? Therefore, writing it as a normal update is not the way to do it. Most people won’t even click on ‘read more’, let alone scroll through the whole update.

 

The solution: write a ‘note’ instead.

‘Note’ is an option on your Facebook business page.

Select ‘Note’
Select ‘+Add Note’ option
Get writing

Rather than a tiny ‘letterbox’ for an update, you have a whole document.

It will look familiar, like most blog formats it appears like a Word Document on screen. You can format it, add subheadings, bullet points, images, etc.

It’s much easier to write and much easier to read when you are writing a lengthy update. It stays in its own section your business page. This means it hangs around longer than a standard update and therefore will potentially generate more engagement in the long term.

So, if you do find yourself getting carried away writing a long update, pause – then copy and paste it into the Note tool to give it the best possible chance of being read.

 

Linked In Publishing

As with Facebook, if your audience is on Linked In, you have a lot of connections and want to encourage more engagement with them, Linked In publishing is effectively a ‘Linked In eMagazine’.

When you publish an article on Linked In, you are not only posting it to the little piece of real estate you occupy on Linked In, you are also adding to the wider portfolio of Linked In world. This means, unlike Facebook, your articles have greater reach than your immediate connections and their connections.

If one of your business goals is to establish your expertise and be recognised by the wider business community for the knowledge you have, Linked In publishing is a good option.

It’s also simple.

When you go to your home feed, instead of posting a standard update, click on the ‘Write Article’ option instead and it will open up a document, again, it looks like a Word Document so is easy to navigate.

 

 

Pros of blogging on Social Media

Immediate engagement
Comments and interaction
If you already have an audience they are more likely to see your updates

 

Cons of blogging on Social Media

 

One word ‘algorithms’ (the code that decides what you do and don’t see in your feed).

Let’s take Facebook as an example.

In 2012, Facebook floated on the stock market.

That means it now needs to make money for its shareholders. Which in turn means they have to make money from the site.

They had pledged to keep business pages free (although, that could change), so the only way they can make money is by selling advertising. However, if people saw your business page for free, why would you, as a business, pay to advertise or ‘boost’ posts?

Therefore, they periodically change their algorithm so business posts are seen less.

Facebook is an increasingly  ‘pay to play’ platform for businesses.

Another grey area is ‘who owns your data’ when it’s on Facebook? Do they own it? Do you?

And what happens if you inadvertently (or deliberately) do something to upset Facebook, or someone reports you?

They will close your page. Think of it like being evicted by the landlord.

Facebook has also been subject to its fair share of controversy in recent years.

Watch this enlightening TED Talk by Investigative Journalist, Carol Cadwalladr, on Facebook’s threat to democracy:

 

Even if you take it with a pinch of salt, it still raises interesting questions about the power and influence large Social Media corporations have.

All it would take would be a legal case and the platforms such as Facebook may be forced to close down.

Or, perhaps less dramatic than that, people simply stop using it. It’s already lost a great deal of user trust following data breaches.

Already, if you ask anyone under 30 about Facebook they will tell you it’s for ‘old people’.

 

Do you remember My Space? Or before that, ‘Friends Reunited’?

 

Things fall out of fashion very quickly in the fickle world of big tech.

The biggest disadvantage of relying on Social Media alone for sharing content for your business is you have no control over it. You are always at the mercy of the platform and their rules.

 

The solution: Use it, but don’t rely on it.

 

Pro Tip: It’s much easier to write longer content, on any platform, with a keyboard and sensible sized screen!
Phone’s are not ideal for writitng a blog post. However, you can use them effectivley to dictate a blog post, then copy, paste and format it on your laptop or desktop later.

Blogging Platforms

There are two big pltaforms established espeically for blogging:

Blogger.com


WordPress.com

Blogger is a Google blogging platform. It’s free, all you need is a gmail address/Google login.

Blogger is a simple platform, with limited customizable layouts and templates, but it’s easy to write on. It’s effectively your own free website, dedicated to blogging.

If you are blogging for pleasure it’s a great option. Its functionality is a little limited but if all you want to do is blog, it’s ideal.

Pros

Simple
Free

Cons

Preset layout limitiations
It’s somone else’s platform. What happens if Google change it, stop it or start charging for it?
Who owns your data – you or Google?


WordPress

WordPress started as a blogging platform. It has since evolved into a website devolping tool.

Like Google, you can use a free version for your blog, but it has more functionality, options, plugins and is more customizable than Blogger.

 

Content Websites

There are a growing number of websites that are effectively like online magazines of contributed content.

These are sites you can submit your blogs to and if they are suitable and comply with the editor’s guidelines, your article may get published.

Sometimes called ‘content mills’ because they can churn out a lot of poor quality content. Be mindful of who you are writing for, do some due diligence to check the quality, tone and topics featured on the site before you submit.

When you write for a site it implies endorsement. If a site has a strong set of values, political or religious lmessaging, be sure it fits with your business and your values.

These are a good option if one of your goals is to grow your portfolio as a writer and want to dabble in the world of online journalism and article writing.

They have a wide readership which increases the reach of your words and there’s a certain ‘kudos’ with being ‘accepted’ and ‘published’ by someone else.

 

Pros

More publicity and a wider audience for your articles by ‘piggybacking’ on the success of established platforms
Scope to raise your profile as a writer and grow your portfolio
With a little luck, one of your articles will be successful and has the potential to reach far and wide.
If you are applying for paid writing gigs, being able to show a wide range of writing examples across several platforms demonstrates your commitment and can act like a ‘job reference’. If you really want to amp up your credentials as ‘a writer’ writing for other platforms is a good option.
When you operate in a very particular niche – with hobbyists or enthusiasts, for example – writing for the ‘go-to’ website for that sector can elevate your status.

Cons

Again, you are following someone else’s rules. Submission guidelines can be very specific and your writing may not be ‘newsworthy’ enough.
If can be a real set back to your confidence when you are ‘rejected’ or simply ‘ignored’ (don’t hear anything).
Some sites require you to write multiple and regular articles before they will publish your writing, so you have to be committed, and potentially prolific as a writer
You won’t get ‘paid’ by theses sites, they rely on free submissions, so you could potentially waste a lot of your valuable time writing and submitting to sites for very little return on that ‘investment’.

 

Blogging on your own webiste

 

Ultimately, if your goal is to grow your business with your blog, then you need to host your blog on your own website.

When you write a blog on your website it brings 97% more traffic, as Google likes fresh content and websites with lots of ‘keywords’.

Think of your website as your virtual shop on the digital high street. As shoppers, we have ceratin behavioural patterns. For example, if you walk into a shop, the longer you spend browsing the shelves, the more likely you are to buy something, or at the very least, remember the shop and go there in the future or recommend it to someone else. If the shelves are gathering dust, with nothing new to see, you are unlikely to hang out there. Effectively, by having a blog on your website you are populating the shelves of your online shop with new and interesting things for people to look at. A blog gives people a reason to come into your shop (website) and browse the shelves for a while.

 

A Place of Your Own

A blog is a separate page on your website. Its a page of articles you update regularly (I recommend minimum monthly), displayed in reverse chronological order, sot he most recent information and resources are at the top.

You can think of it as your own online magazine on your website. It’s the place most people will ‘land’  when they Google information you have featured on a blog post.

I liken having a blog on your own website as buying your own place for the first time. When you write oin someone else’s website, it’s like renting a place from a landlord. You have to abide by there rules and you can’t decorate. When your blog is on your own website, you make the rules!

 

Are you ready to get your own place?

 

Which option is the best for you and your business?

 

 

 

New to blogging and not sure where to start?

 

Book a FREE 30-minute Inspiration Call with me and pick my brain!

For instant updates when I publish a new blog post, Follow me on Bloglovin’
For extra goodies and exclusive new information, join my mailing list HERE.

The post Where Do I Write My Blog? (A to Z of Blogging) appeared first on Amy Morse.

How to Write Catchy Blog Titles Your Readers Can’t Resist

Coming up with creative and clickable titles for your blog articles can be tough.

They need to be catchy and informative, to appeal to both humans and also Google.

I’m hosting a contributor, with some ideas and top tips to help you:

 

How to Write Catchy Blog Titles Your Readers Can’t Resist

 

 

You may have the best content and an unrivalled SEO plan to match the content. Without a catchy blog title; however, your content may wallow in obscurity and attract the lowest click-through rate.

To ensure that your article bears the most results, you cannot spare any bit of creativity when creating the title. Given the essence of blog titles in making a first impression to the audience, there is no compromise on the quality of titles used.

As such, you may consider engaging paper writers with experience in blogs and the cues that whet the appetites of your readers. In a bid to create the ideal blog title; however, many writers end up compromising on other facets of an article, including but not limited to SEO.

This article discusses how to write catchy blog titles and various elements you can employ to design the ideal keyword for your blog content.

Include the key phrase in the title

Beside boosting SEO, the key phrase in the title gives users an idea of what they expect to find within an article. By providing users with a clue of what your content entails, you help users gauge the usefulness of content.

As a result of this move, you drive in users in search of your information, therefore, getting more conversions. While at it, ensure that you use the most relevant key phrases that best describe the content of your article.

Keep it short and unique

If you aim to beat your competition and get the larger market share, you have to stand out from your counterparts. An easy way to do this is addressing the title with few words that convey a message.

While at it, ward off using titles that have already been employed by your counterparts. To evoke more emotion, replace words with their more emotive counterparts, thus compelling the reader to click your link.

For instance, instead of “great tips for writing blogs” you can use “10 ideal blog writing tips 2019”. While it is okay to employ a few fancy words in the title, avoid going to the extremities at the expense of the meaning.

The game of numbers

If you have been active on the trends in writing blog post titles lately, you must have noticed the spike in the use of numbers within headings. Besides making the article more engaging, it shows the user the amount of info they will gain by selecting your material.

For this approach to bear fruit, however, ensure that you offer more content than users can find from other sites.

Creativity

The nucleus to any catchy blog title is the creativity invested into creating the title. For this, you should consider the trends within your field that your audience can relate to.

After getting potential titles, you may consider running them by an editor for approval. For instance, the article “Picture-perfect: steps to capturing the best images” is bound to get more attention than “how to capture good photos”.

Appealing to the audience’s craving for knowledge

The internet ranks with scores of users in pursuit of answers to their various questions. With this in mind, the best approach is to target the motivation that may push your audience to seek your article.

The most common title in this approach is the “how-to” based titles as they hold a promise for the user to find answers to various questions.

Conclusion

Like appearances, the blog title plays a focal role to users when forming their first impression. Owing to the plethora of sites in every niche, you need a catchy blog title for an increased click-through rate.

By following the tips mentioned above, you can get increased traffic without compromising SEO.

The post How to Write Catchy Blog Titles Your Readers Can’t Resist appeared first on Amy Morse.

Directing Your Energy – A Little Adventure in Kinetic Divination

“Where your attention goes, your energy flows”

I have a vague memory of a work away day. It was so many years ago, I’m not even sure where I was working!

One of the team-building exercises was to describe each of the members of our team as a food item.

A colleague called me a ‘Knickerbocker Glory’.

 

His reasoning was that I had many colourful layers, but wasn’t afraid to show it. I was a ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ sort of person!

I thought it was rather apt.

I’m a pretty down to earth, practical and no-nonsense person.

 

Being Open Minded and Giving Things A Go

However, as I’ve embarked on ‘Little Adventures’ this summer, I’ve been saying yes to offers of experiencing things I might never have considered.

I’d never heard of ‘Kinetic Divination’ before. I’m still not entirely sure I know what it is, but when I met Donna Marie, I was curious to find out.

She offered me a taster session for Kinetic Divination and Muscle testing.

 

What Is My Monthly Income Goal?

We started by establishing that we would use the technique to consider how much I want to earn every month. I liked that, a practical, tangible thing that made sense to me – money in the bank!

Donna asked me ahead of the meeting what my monthly income goal was.

My immediate response was to say £2,000 a month. This, to me, seemed ‘realistic’, ‘sensible’, ‘doable’, ‘achievable’ and all those other practical words ending in ‘able’!

However, through Donna’s coaching practice, I realised that putting those filters on a simple question like, “how much do I want to earn each month?” was already putting barriers up.

I went for it and said, “£3,000 a month”. That would be great. That would give me and my husband financial freedom.

 

Measuring Energy

We did the session over Zoom and Donna pulled out her various charts and measured my energy, subconscious and conscious responses.

It quickly became apparent that in my core, I lacked self-belief. I doubted my abilities, I doubted my worth and I carried baggage and ‘energy’ from people close to me and their attitudes to money and success.

Donna then used visualisation exercises and the concept of a whiteboard, with a scale from 0 to 100%.

She measured the three pillars ‘energy’, ‘subconscious’ and ‘conscious’ against her charts using a crystal and scored where I was. Through the process, we then raised my score in the three core areas.

I have to say, I did feel better, but I’m not sure I fully understand how or why!

Obviously, lacking self-belief, doubting my worth and carrying old baggage is not going to magically be fixed during one taster session over a Zoom call!

Donna offers a more comprehensive programme, following a process.

However, just having these barriers identified and acknowledged is a good place to direct my own self-development energy.

 

Taking Action

What I did like were the practical activities and tools I took from the session.

Developing a mantra and using the Thymus Thump technique to connect it to my physical body
Self development Journalling
Posing questions to my subconcious and letteing it sit with the answers

I shared my immediate rection to the experience as a live video on Facebook

Before the session, I had been feeling like some of those colourful layers in the knickerbocker glory had dulled over time. Afterwards, I felt brighter, lighter and curious to learn more.

 

To get in touch with Donna and learn more about how she works, connect with her online:

 

Holistic Body Mind Website

 

Facebook

 

Instagram

 

For instant updates when I publish a new blog post, Follow me on Bloglovin’
For extra goodies and exclusive new information, join my mailing list HERE.

The post Directing Your Energy – A Little Adventure in Kinetic Divination appeared first on Amy Morse.

Is Video The Future of The Web? (A to Z of Blogging)

About 5 minutes before I started writing this, I followed a link to a news article that caught my attention – happily chillin’ to some Rag N Bone Man, suddenly my music is interrupted as I’m bombarded with a video for the news report I wanted to READ.
Yes, READ!
I’m listening to music, I want to READ!
If I wanted to watch the news article, I’d put the TV on!

I would have liked to have had the choice to watch it, instead of being rudely interrupted as I’m singing along, “I’m only Human, after all...”

Imagine this, you’re snuggled up with a good book, then some A’hole suddenly blasts an advert at you from a megaphone. Interrupting your reverie with some inane twaddle about a product you don’t want.

This is the reason my phone is always on silent. When I scroll through Facebook to pass the time –  sat on a bus or in a waiting room – I’m trying to quietly read. I don’t want to be that person making the experience of waiting any suckier for everyone else by having to tolerate unecessry noise!

 

The Rise of Video

According to HubSpot, ‘80% of all internet traffic will be dedicated to video in 2019’

Let’s consider that for a moment…

 

Are you spending the majority of your time online watching videos?

 

Statistics like this suggest this is exactly what people are doing.

Perhaps I’m a weirdo (or ‘old’), but most of the content I consume online is written – easily 80% of my online time.  Reading tweets, reading Facebook updates, reading Linked In articles, reading emails, reading blogs… I only watch videos if that is what I’m their specifically to do, for example, watching TED talks.

 

Video is undoubtedly an important component of the content we consume online. Although, as a writer I will pick up a pen before I pick up my phone, I appreciate that ‘writing’ a blog is not easy for everyone (it’s not easy for me some of the time!).

 

However, I dispute the notion that video it is the Great Marketing Panacea it’s made out to be.

 

That’s why ‘V’ is for ‘Video’ in my A to Z of Blogging.

 

Video, The Marketing Panacea?

I’ll start by establishing that I’m NOT saying video is bad or you shouldn’t do it. I want to be clear on that. Just because I like to read and I’m a writer doesn’t mean I ‘don’t do video’.

Look, I even have a YouTube Channel (although it’s a bit out of date!).

If I’m honest – although I’m an author – my idea of a good Saturday night in is with a movie, not a book!

I’d choose a good TV Box-set Binge over a stack of books any time! So, I get it, I understand why people might say ‘video is better than reading’.

 

But is that always the case?

On a beach or by a pool, I’d rather read a book than have my phone out watching a video.
Eating my lunch at my desk I might watch a TED talk.

 

There’s no doubt that as technology improves, broadband speeds increase and mobile networks expand, that video makes up significantly more of the content we consume than it did a year ago.

Social Media platforms, such as Facebook, ‘push’ video content on users by playing videos automatically. They are building their algorithms to favour tools like Facebook Live.

(In fact, I wonder if HubSpot’s stats are skewed by the hours people spend watching Netflix? I which case, I might only spend an hour online in the day, but will happily binge watch several episodes of Stranger Things after dinner!)

 

Video Content

There are a growing number of ‘Video Blogs’ or ‘VLOGS’ out there. Experiment with it yourself (in fact, I encourage creative experimentation!).

However, whether you are creating VLOGS (Video Blogs), Facebook Lives or YouTube videos you still need to describe the content of your video so it can be found.

Video isn’t an excuse to not write anything!

Google feeds on ‘keywords’, without them, it has nothing to search for and your video won’t be seen.

But describing the content of your video is not just helpful for Google (because remember, Google is NOT your customer) – but it’s helpful for humans too.

You can’t expect someone to click on and watch your video if they have no idea what it’s about!

 

Video Has It’s Limitations


More than one video on my phone and I have to clear the memory card. More than a few videos in my Dropbox and I’m spammed with emails encouraging me to upgrade my storage. Videos are hardware-hungry (which can get expensive)!

 

I shared a video of a blogging skills webinar on a blog post. In the update, I wrote, “Read the top tips in under 10 minutes or watch the 20-minute video”. Writing that sentence was an eye-opener. There seems to be this belief that video saves time and therefore we all want to consume content that way.

 

Technology and editing. You need a good quality camera or suitable phone, maybe a microphone. You’ll need the tools and skills to edit a video. There are an increasing number of apps for this but it takes time to learn and master, so get help (none of these things are cheap!).



So, before you decide to ditch writing. (By the way, you still need to write about what’s on the video on the platform you share it on, i.e. YouTube, otherwise it’s not indexed so can’t be searched for). Ask yourself, “Am I relying on video because it’s easy for me, or better for my clients?”


Don’t get me wrong,  video is great – sometimes, for some things. But being interpreted by a video when I’m not online to waste time watching videos, that, I’m not cool with! I run a business, I’m online because I’m working – I don’t want to be distracted!



Pro Tip: Mix it up.

 

Use video, yes, but only where appropriate.
Video is just one of the tools available to you.
Facebook Live is a great way to host your own webinar with minimal technical fuss.
Some things are better seen and demonstrated than written about.

 

However, great content can also be written, it’s images, it’s audio, it’s graphics, it’s GIFs… get creative!

Don’t rely on videos because you’re too lazy to do something more appropriate for the subject matter you’re sharing!

I shudder at the idea of an internet where everything is video – If I wanted to watch TV, I’d have turned the TV on instead of my PC!


A final thought…
The reason I got the email from HubSpot was because I use their Client Relations Management database.

What really annoys me about HubSpot…
…all the help is video and doesn’t actually help answer the questions I have!


Sometimes, you just want to read a quick and straight answer to a question. Not waste time sitting through a video on the off chance it will answer the question… and then it doesn’t!


Ask yourself, could you be scaring away customers with too much video and not enough useful content?

Pro Tip: Whenever you create any content, think about the best format to present it in.

Better still, re-purpose it into multiple formats…

 

Need help getting to grips re-purposing your video and written content?

 

Book a FREE 30-minute Inspiration Call with me and pick my brain!

For instant updates when I publish a new blog post, Follow me on Bloglovin’
For extra goodies and exclusive new information, join my mailing list HERE.

The post Is Video The Future of The Web? (A to Z of Blogging) appeared first on Amy Morse.

A Little Adventure Into Shifting Perspectives

 

 

A convex mirror as a lens into the past.

 

 

The tiny yellow sports cars, speeding its passengers into the future.

A cow-hide rug, gentle beneath my toes, a spiral of grey twisting around a central eye – like the view of a hurricane from space. And I stand, instinctively, in the eye of that storm. The little yellow sports car, a manifestation of an unknown future, just beyond the event horizon of those turbulent clouds.

In the past, a chrome pedal bin closed and guarded by a morose little dog.

 

The bag of Sharpies, representing possibilities.

And a curled wooden cat palmed back and forth between my cupped hands. My life partner. He’s with me, I carry him, but first, we need to forge a tunnel through the blanket of clouds.

 

 

Perspectives in Three Dimensions

This was the three-dimensional metaphor Caroline Sharley, of Your Somerset Retreat, helped me to construct as I explored the question, “What’s my next adventure?”

In the heart of Somerset, a handsome house sits grandly on the high street in the pretty town of Castle Cary.

Greeted by two boisterous Schnauzers, Caroline welcomed me into a wood-panelled hallway. Rather like stepping into a compact National Trust treasure, and through to a courtyard, walled in custard yellow Mendip sandstone. The Lodge, where the one to one retreat happens, is a warm and welcoming space. Light and airy into the eaves, flagstoned floor, chunky wooden furniture, with a neat, modern country kitchen at one end and a wood burner and leather chesterfield sofa at the other. A large, modern and slick bathroom and generous bedroom.

There is a calmness about the space and warmth radiated by the host.

Why A Retreat?

Taking a step back from your everyday life forces different perspectives. Suddenly, you are on the outside, looking into your life and the choices you’ve made.

You allow yourself the time to reflect, to take stock, to rest and reset.

 

If you’ve ever asked yourself,

“This is not the life I wanted, what happened?”

 

Perhaps taking time out, stepping off the treadmill and to be cared for, for a few days, is just what you need?

 

Taking ‘day retreats’ with my business is something I try to do regularly, to work ‘on’ one part of my business, somewhere different where I’m not distracted by the minutia of my life.

This was the first time I experienced a retreat where I worked on ‘myself’, facilitated by someone else.

Caroline is someone I’ve met but we don’t know each other well. She had no preconceived ideas about who I was and what my life was like (but knew a lot about me by the end).

It was just a few hours, and Caroline made a delicious lunch of couscous with roasted veg and salad from the pretty little kitchen garden behind the lodge. Followed by a delicious homemade Eton Mess.

 

Peace, in the Heart of Somerset

Caroline personally hosts three different one to one retreats, each typically over three days; ‘Restore’, ‘Discover’ and ‘Transition’.

For those close to burn out. Who are aware that things need to change. She holds the space and facilitates so you can ask Big Questions. To take the time, to go on a journey with yourself.

The content is tailored based on what you want the retreat to be about. It could also include working with other health and wellbeing practitioners.

My taster has certainly given me new perspectives and opened up some avenues of myself I can confidently go and explore.

A renewing and recharging retreat experience I will hold with me and explore further.

 

A little adventure that revealed some little surprises.

 

Find out more about Caroline and these retreat experiences…

 

 

On the website: www.YourSomersetRetreat.com

 

Follow Caroline’s story and get involved on Social Media…

Like the Facebook page
Follow on Instagram

 

 

 

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A Little Adventure into Decluttering

 

By no means am I a hoarder, but as I write this, I’m looking around the piles of ‘stuff’ on the table.

I’m a relatively tidy person, and once a month I have a good tidy up for the cleaner! I pay someone to clean the house and want them to clean as much of it as possible, get my money’s worth and all that! Every month I find myself questioning why I have so much stuff:

Should I be decluttering?

Cleaning is exactly how Louise Walker started out on her entrepreneurial journey.

But what she really loves is helping people to get organised and claim their lives back from their clutter.

Louise runs a home decluttering service.

We met for a coffee and chat, so I could hear more of her story and recognise the ‘hot spots’ in my own home that could do with reorganising!

 

Let’s meet Louise…

A Passion Project Interview with Louise Walker

 

Why did you decide to do what you’re doing? Tell your ‘Origin Story’



I had always enjoyed organising my own home. As a mum of 4 children (at one stage I had 3 under 4.5yr old), I found it was a necessity for life to be a little less chaotic (need to be able to find clean clothes each morning, all the parts of toys for them to function, find keys etc.)

When I started my cleaning business in 2010, I was regularly asked to help organise a bedroom, kitchen, front room etc., and I also realised that some of my cleaning jobs would take less time, therefore cost customers less, if home was less cluttered. I decided to offer decluttering and organising as a service. That was in Feb 2018, and now decluttering/organising is about 70% of my business.

 

What would you do with your time if you didn’t have to work?



I would declutter for people who needed the help but couldn’t afford it.

Travel

Read more books.

 

What really makes you smile from the inside out?



Seeing the amazement expressed by people when they are starting to see the results of a couple of hours work. Suddenly people are saying “Wow,I feel so much lighter”, “I can’t remember the last time this room/house looked like this”, “I feel do much better mentally”. It makes me smile because I know that reaction will come, but clients are often so surprised when it does!




What is your proudest achievement?




Work-wise? Decluttered and organised a whole house in a single day (10 hours), nearly 12 months from the first time I was contacted to help with the job, to finally being contacted to say, “We feel ready for you now. Please help us. ” The  young couple were thrilled with the result.





Where do you want to be in 5 years’ time?




Working full-time decluttering/organising.






Who do you serve? Be specific, think of everyone you impact (not just customers)





Young families, couples downsizing, people moving house, people who have inherited houses of items belonging to loved ones, busy couples,  people moving house, divorcing, melding two households together. I find wider family are impacted, e.g. whole family less stressed when home is organised,  adult children are less worried knowing they won’t be left with so much to deal with when elderly parents  start to deal with their lifetime of belongings






How do you want the world to see your business?




Very professional, non judgemental, knowledgeable. I can talk to people to help them let go of items.






What one thing would you do to change the world?




Encourage governments to have longer term thinking.






If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

Slow down time. The days go too fast, my children (now age 10-17), are growing up too fast.

What advice would you give to your 16-year-old self?

Take chances, don’t worry about “What if it doesn’t work?” I wish I had worried less about “What if it doesn’t work?”, and “What will people think”

And finally, is there one thing you wish someone had told you before you went into business?

Always be prepared to step out of your comfort zone. I am learning to do this now (letting go of secure work, taking the chance decluttering work will be there for me, but wish I had done it sooner. Be prepared to try new things.

 

Thank you Louise

To connect with Louise and learn more about her work:

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Passion Projects #7: Being A Square Peg with Alison Muir

 

Do you ever feel like a square peg in a round hole?

Alison’s big smile and infectious enthusiasm make her a fabulous addition to my Passion Projects series. Living your values, even when you are a square peg in a round hole!

Let’s meet…

Alison Muir of Square Peg Coaching

 

A Passion Project Interview with Alison Muir

 

 

Why did you decide to do what you’re doing? Tell your ‘Origin Story’

I “fell into” a corporate career as I had no real idea about what I wanted to do.  The ideas I’d had at school, to be a teacher – I couldn’t think of a subject I wanted to teach, plus I was terrified of standing up and speaking to a group, or something in the travel industry – poorly paid, shift work, and the benefits of low-cost travel were limited to “standby” travel and didn’t suit my need to be organised, got me nowhere.

Corporate life gave me stability and the chance to develop and progress which suited my values of independence, understanding and peace (I’ve posted two blogs diving into this more).  Unfortunately, it was also stressful and unfulfilling.

In 1999 I became a single mum after my marriage broke down so I switched into “keeping going” mode and getting more and more stressed and frustrated as I went.

In 2009 I remarried and the opportunity for voluntary redundancy came up so I took it and trained to be a Body Control Pilates Instructor –

a) because Pilates had “saved” my back from my desk created issues, and my sanity by giving me 75 minutes a week focussing on nothing but my body

b) because I wanted to do something that would help other people live a full life and

c) to push me to stand up in front of a group of people and teach – to see if I could.

I taught for a couple of years but wasn’t really business savvy and couldn’t earn a sustainable income from it so I returned to corporate life, but luckily for me at Innocent Drinks.  Their way of working, enthusiasm, dedication, passion and clearly communicated (and lived) values took the edge off what felt like a failure.

 

The right fit for a square peg

Fast forward to 2015 and I had moved on from Innocent because it was on the other side of London to me, and had worked at a couple of more local firms (one of which demonstrated just how bad companies can be at valuing,  respecting, and developing their staff).  I ended up working for a firm which had some great ideas and invested in its people. But which also had a fairly defined idea of what an ideal employee would be like. I came in to manage a team which had a couple of “square pegs” in it.

I loved working with them and helping them progress and realised I was actually pretty good at helping people understand their strengths, behaviours, impact and choices.  This was the work I enjoyed doing but it felt too limiting to only focus on “work-life”.

At the start of 2016 we discovered that my cousin, who was 6 months older than me, had terminal brain cancer. He was given 14 months to live.  This diagnosis felt so unfair. He had a wife and three young girls and ran his parent’s business.  He was always ready with a joke or a helping hand for anyone.  Suddenly all my lack of fulfilment in my job and my complaints about the traffic made me realise that I was “wasting” my life.

What was happening to my cousin could just as easily have happened to me and I realised I had never (except for Pilates) done anything that really made a difference.

Suddenly I felt suffocated by my corporate career, the mortgage we had to pay, the money we had to earn just to escape and lie on a sunbed to recover from the stress of work.

It all seemed crazy and pointless.

So having chatted to my husband, we decided to move to Somerset. I trained as a Transformational Coach so I could expand what I had enjoyed at work (helping others move forward) to helping people create a life which they find meaningful and fulfilling – so they don’t end up where I did, feeling they’ve wasted a life.

One of my favourite things to keep me focussed is the number one regret of the dying (from the book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware) which is:

“I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”

And when I get scared (which I do on a regular basis) I think of my cousin Alan which puts my fear into perspective.

 

What would you do with your time if you didn’t have to work?

Read and learn more, travel the world, take courses on things that interest me, walk in nature, be present to every single moment.

 

What really makes you smile from the inside out?

When my clients believe in themselves again.

What is your proudest achievement?

Overcoming my fear and becoming a Pilates instructor.

Where do you want to be in 5 years’ time?

Settled in my business, offering coaching, meditation, and Pilates retreats, and travelling more.

Who do you serve? Be specific, think of everyone you impact (not just customers)

Anyone who feels life is passing them by, who doubts themselves and their worth. And anyone in contact with those people because guaranteed those frustrations will be taken out on the people closest to them – and they won’t be able to explain why.

How do you want the world to see your business?

Helping people to feel whole again so they can change the world.

What one thing would you do to change the world?

Create an education system that supports children to develop self-awareness, value individuality, and encourages them to focus on what’s best for the world and all its species, rather than financial gain and status.  More being present, less keeping busy.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

Teleportation so I could travel around the world easily and meet inspiring people.

What advice would you give to your 16-year-old self?

Go to university.

And finally, is there one thing you wish someone had told you before you went into business?

I wish I’d known how important it is to ask for help/collaborate with others before I launched my Pilates business and tried to do it all on my own.

 

My favourite answer: “Helping people to feel whole again so they can change the world.”

Thank you to Alison for sharing her story.

 

To connect with Alison and learn more about her work her website is:
Website: https://www.squarepegcoaching.co.uk/

 

Get to know her
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/squarepegcoachinguk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/square_peg_coaching/?hl=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/alison-muir-coach

 

 

 

 

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You Are Unique (A to Z of Blogging)

 

I’ve always had a problem with that business cliche, USP (Unique Selling Point). It creates this illusion that every business needs to have ‘a thing’, some sort of ‘novelty’ or ‘quirk’ that makes them ‘different’.

It’s one of the hardest questions to answer because what actually makes you unique is rarely ‘a thing’.

That’s why U is for Unique in my A to Z of Blogging.

When I hear people say things like, “well, I’m a female in a male-dominated sector,” or “I have X,Y and Z qualifiactions,”  my first thought is ‘so what’.

 

Why is that important?
Why would I care about that if I were your customer?
Does it actually matter, or make any difference?

 

Having something ‘different’ about your business, by definition, means it actually needs to make a difference, otherwise, what’s the point?

USP’s in this sense is meaningless. It doesn’t matter. All you’re doing is giving us some trite answer that doesn’t really tell the story. It doesn’t give anyone a picture of who YOU really are. You’re ticking the ‘USP’ box on a meaningless form!

It’s also a cliche to say, “what makes me different is ME” – while it’s true (most cliches are), again it doesn’t tell the full story.

Your uniqueness is also true of everyone, we can all say we are unique, that’s the nature of human existence.

What does Unique actually mean for your business?

We want to know why X business is different from Y business when on the face of it they seem to do the same thing. (Look out for X,Y & Z in the rest of this A to Z series)

The only thing you can absolutely, 100% guarantee, that’s unique about your business is YOU. And the thing that makes you YOU is your STORY.

No two people’s stories are ever the same. Even twins will remember different impacts on their lives, moments of joy and moments of despair. If you ever recount a childhood memory with a sibling, they will probably remember something different to you, because we all have different ways of perceiving things.

A truly compelling story will provoke an emotional reaction from us.

Whether the story makes us laugh, makes us cry, makes us empathise and feel as though the storyteller is speaking directly to our own hearts – if we react, we act.

A good story has a character, an action and a resolution. A great story has heroes and villains, it has conflict, it has us rooting for the hero, it has thrills and spills. It’s cheesy, but it has a happy ending, where our protagonist improves or grows themselves in some way (beat the bad guys, save the world).

The story of your business is not just a sequence of events that got you from idea to market. Customers want to know what’s at the heart of your business.

What compels you?

Did something send you down the path you find yourself on and where are you going from here?

Was there a single inciting incident somewhere in your past that motivated, inspired, scared or encouraged you?

That’s the story of your business. Told chapter by chapter on your blog.

Draw in the curious, start a conversation and build the relationship. Give them reasons to choose you and your unique approach, instead of an alternative service.

 

After all, people don’t just buy people, they buy stories.

 

 

 

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Listen To Others, But Think For Yourself

Do you have a big fluffy monster of a goal?

It’s so massive, it’s almost inconceivable, almost. Something fluffy, amorphous that might take you a lifetime to reach. The closer you get, the more massive it seems. Like a mountain on the horizon, it looks climbable, until you get up close and personal and can finally appreciate the sheer scale of the task ahead.

Can you hear that monster calling out to you? It’s time to stop and listen.

I’ve always believed that small businesses have the power to change the world, for the better.

We rarely start our businesses to get rich – many of us start our own because we have a passion. Something we deeply believe, something visceral, something we see is wrong in the world and we want to do our part to make a difference.

Most of us start our own business because we have a skill, a ‘gift’ if you like, to share with the world. Something you know you can do and you like doing it, so why not get paid for it?

Even if your work isn’t earth-shattering, you don’t have grand plans to change the world – just to change your world – that is still a purpose.

It can be in a small way, like helping people to find the courage, confidence and creativity to write, to tell our stories in our own words. To find freedom through enterprise.

Here’s the thing, even if your work only changes your little piece of the world, you can’t help but have in impact, to influence others around you.

This positive, productive, do-it-for-the-joy-of-it vibe will change the world if enough of us do it.

Listen to others, seek advice, get feedback but ultimately, this is your purpose. Your dream is not fulfilled by being a character in someone esle’s story, you get to decide when it’s your business and your life.

 

Your Own Path to Purpose

It was while reading this blog, ‘What Should I Do With My Life?’ that set me thinking more deeply about what my vision for the future is. What my true prupose is.

I like the overall sentiment of this piece, although towards the end it gets a little too capitalistic for my liking.

Writing on my just-for-fun blog, if you took money out of the equation, what would you do with your time?

How would you spend your life?

What would your purpose be?

It may seem fanciful, vain, perhaps, to consider a life where you are not thinking about money (in my blog, for a year at least). However, giving yourself the freedom to daydream the possibilities helps you to realise what is really important to you.

So often in our businesses, we are caught up in the minutia of servicing our customers day to day. Worrying about that next job. Working out how you can afford that new equipment. Considering how much you can realisitically do on your own and what do you outsource or employ someone to do?

Rarely do we stop to think, to take stock, to listen to our instincts.

We move along, step by step, small goal by small goal, forgetting what the big goal is. Feeding the small monsters at the expense of the big one!

 

Listen To Your Instincts

You can only control whether or not you will be successful to a certain point, the important thing is that you tried.

Success means different things to different people.

I reject the notion that success is measured in numbers on a bank statement.

When your purpose is to change lives, to change the world, to create a legacy, money is merely a lubricant to smooth the route ahead. It’s surprising how much you can achieve with very little capital.

A lack of funds forces you to be creative, to innovate and to dig deep within yourself to find new capacity, resilience and to learn new skills.

When your measures of success are your own personal growth and development, success comes along the journey, it’s no longer a financial destination.

 

 

 

 

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Stop Trying and Start Doing – Thoughts On Perfectionism

 

Being true to yourself is something you can’t do if you are preoccupied with the validation and approval of others.

 

The Lie Of Perfectionism

Perfectionism masquerades as a positive thing, the drive to create something faultless, something that is the best it can be. Those are positive traits, surely?

When you place all your faith in the validation of others, you’ll always lose – because you can’t control other people’s reaction to you.

There is a fine line between perfectionism and procrastination.

Sooner or later you need to take action because the worst thing you can do is nothing – then you fail by default.

 

In reality, perfection is a fallacy.

Nothing can ever be pefect, no matter how hard you try and how much you work on something.

Perfection is an ever-shifting standard, therefore, if you aim for perfection you’re setting yourself up to fail.

Whenever you produce anything there will always be elements you could do better.

When you allow yourself to get stuck in a negative spiral, worrying about what you could be doing differently, instead of enjoying your results, you’re devaluing your own achievements.

Perfectionism creeps up on us. We learn it over time as a response to the values of others, falling into the trap of what it ‘should’ be.

The fear of being judged for not getting it right cripples us into inaction.

Because it’s a habit we learn over time it takes time to overcome.

 

It’s more important to take pleasure in the process of discovery than it is to ‘get it right’.

 

To accept and embrace the journey, the opportunity, and the lessons you learn from simply getting stuff done!

 

The human desire to learn is not just about getting the ‘right answer’. It’s about having fun along the way, enjoying the experience of creating.

The first blog post you publish won’t be your best because you are still learning, and that’s OK.

Remind yourself that the chances are, hardly anyone will see your early attempts because you’ve not built up the momentum comes with long-term production of volumes of writing. You don’t yet have an audience, because it takes time to develop one.

Besides, at the end of the day, there is nothing to stop you from going back to your old blogs and updating them when you learn something new.

Forget being right or being the best, your blogs are a journey not a destination.

Have fun with them and find the joy in being able to express yourself in your own voice.

Brush off the doubts of perfectionism. Accept you are human, you are fallible, and you are always going to be learning new things.

Every day is a school day.

Every experience is an education.

Instead of focusing on the end result, focus on enjoying the process and learning new skills.

Be open to new opportunities and ideas.

As perfectly imperfect as you are!

Forget ‘perfect’ and embrace creative freedom.

As Master Yoda once said, “Do or do not do, there is no try!”

Stuck in a perfectionism rut with your blog?

Talk to me about how working with a mentor can help you make the most of your blogs and Social Media.

Book a FREE 30-minute ‘InspirationCall’

 

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