How to Start Something New in Your Business: The Sweet Brand Show Episode 28
Want to know the top 4 things that helped me personally start and continue what I have going on today: Namely my blog and podcast?
That’s what I’m talking about on today’s show: Tap to listen, or keep reading for the show notes.
I figured this was timely to talk about because we’re nearing the end of the year, we’re about to have Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I don’t know that everyone is necessarily about to launch a new podcast or blog in the next like, 6 weeks – BUT, it might be on your mind and whatever is it you want to start, I’m sure it WILL be on your to-do list as soon as the New Year rings in.
We’re all going to be ready to start fresh with something new, so I wanted this to be top-of-mind and in your feed, ready to help you out if you needed it.
Don’t have a brand yet but want to get started somewhere? Tap here >> designwithclarissa.com/toolkit << to grab The B.Y.B. Toolkit. It will teach you basic brand processes, show you how a brand designer makes decisions (like choosing fonts and colors), and give you a plan for consistency.
How Did You DO That?!
People look at me like “how did you DO that?!” or “how do you KNOW how to do that? Did you take a class or have someone teach you?? And the answer is really a mix.
Believe me, I’ve started some things, wasted a lot of time, made a few mistakes, stopped some things… but really, overall, I’ve just TRIED. I’ve kept going.
I don’t really quit, I just pivot.
I start something to see if it works and if I like it, and then add or change or redirect as needed. Some things have been sustainable in certain seasons of life, and other times not so much.
#1. Think of anything new like a muscle that needs strengthened
Take this podcast for instance: You’ve probably noticed I’ve made some episodes recently, but they definitely haven’t been weekly. I’m in a “young family and working mom” stage of life, so I am doing what I can and what makes sense and also, what sounds FUN to do.
And the reason I keep coming back to this podcast is because it is FUN, and honestly, I’ve done it so much now that it comes pretty naturally.
It’s kind of like how you never play tennis, and then one day your husband gets you to play with him, and then you realize afterwards that you have muscles that could hurt in ways you never thought before.
So anything new that you try is kind of like that:
You’re exercising muscles you never knew or thought you had before, but you do.
And that’s what I’ve been doing the past couple years: Exercising my podcasting muscle, and the more I do it, the easier it comes and the more fun it gets.
So that’s my first tip to starting something new: Think of it like a muscle you’re trying to strengthen, and remember that mistakes and growing pains will just be part of it. It makes it a lot easier if you can keep this in mind!
#2. Set goals to keep you focused
In order to get anything done, you need to start with what matters most in your business first. If you want to start a blog or podcast, and launch new products or services, and host an event… all in the first quarter, you’re going to probably let something fall through the cracks. Getting focused on what matters most, FIRST, will help you decide what to tackle in Q1, Q2, and so on.
I’ll make my goals, break them down into tasks, check those off, and move on to the next ones.
I’m very scheduled and organized, not because it necessarily always came naturally to me from the get-go, but because I’ve HAD to LEARN how to be, in order to get things going, along with family and work and other life things.
Set goals, break them down into tasks, and make a plan on your calendar to get them done.
If you need a method to the madness, I highly recommend the goal planners from Cultivate What Matters – Get 10% off Cultivate What Matters Planners w/ Code: DESIGNWITHCLARISSA (if they aren’t running any other sales).
#3. Plan to learn from others
Why? Because learning from others that have done the thing you want to do, before you, will get some of your time back, some of your energy back, it’ll get you weeks and months ahead of where you’d be if you just tried to do it all from scratch yourself.
And this does NOT have to be anything you pay for, either.
There are so many freebies and resources out on the internet that you could take advantage of, if you just look for them. Search google, YouTube, Pinterest, and look for free videos, tutorials, downloads, webinars and classes.
Learn from others in whatever way makes the most sense, whether you’re just finding all the free things you can, or maybe you do have a little money to spend on a class or template to make your job easier.
I’ve been looking up tutorials and free classes and learning from the internet for quite some time.
And the first thing I paid for as far as an online course or template wasn’t that long ago- maybe 4 or 5 years ago. I had already started my website, blog, shopify store, and all kinds of things before then, because I just looked things up and figured it out.
There are PLENTY of people with more knowledge than me on the internet that have shared what they know, you just have to get scrappy and dig a little to find it- but it’s out there.
#4. Plan to do things yourself
To date, I’ve done everything in my business myself. I have never hired an employee or VA or contractor.
Has it always been the fastest way ever? No.
Would have been faster to pay someone for certain things, but I either didn’t have the option or just didn’t want to. Have I done things wrong and had to re-do them? Definitely yes, I was (and still am) learning as I go!
But I found that trying one thing enabled me feel like I could at least try something else – so I would go to the next thing and learn that, and then go to the next thing and learn that – it just made it easier for me to say like, “well I guess I’ll try and if it doesn’t work then I’ll try it a different way and just figure it out”.
I found good resources and people to learn from online for things that I didn’t know how to do, followed what they said, and got things up and running the best I could. PLAN to learn from others to get started and get ahead.
And honestly, once you learn how to do them yourself, you’ll understand whatever it is a lot better and know what it takes to do it, even if you do eventually hire someone to set up your website or manage your podcast or social media or whatever it may be.
Having a lot of tools in your toolbox that are geared towards where you want to go and your goals, is only going to help you as you branch out and start something new.
There’s No “Magic Formula”
There’s really no magic formula to starting something new other than putting one foot in front of the other. I hope these tips will help and shed some light on how people do things – they just start, they try, they fail, and they keep going. And I guess if there’s a formula, it’s that: start, try, fail, keep going.
Don’t forget you can listen to this episode on all major podcast platforms! Just search “The Sweet Brand Show” or click here!