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MICHELLE'S
​ MORSELS

Tips for Reflecting on 1 Year in Business

12/28/2021

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The end of the year is a great time to reflect on everything you’ve accomplished over the past year, and that’s especially true if you’re a business owner. At the same time, it’s important to remember that we don’t need to wait until January rolls around to stop and reflect on the past year. If your business is celebrating its first anniversary, that’s a great time to think about everything you’ve learned from 1 year in business.
When reflecting on our business, our default is often to think about the things that did not go so well, especially if we didn’t achieve the goals we set for ourselves. I like to put a stop to that by starting off with celebrating the things that went right in your last year in business.

Reflecting on the Highlights of 1 Year in Business

​Start by writing out a chart with one line for each month of the year. I want you to go through each month and think about the highlights for that month. What “wins” did you have that month (personal or professional)? What challenges did you overcome? Did anything new pop up? Any new relationships (or letting go of old relationships that were no longer serving you)? Did your existing relationships change?
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​I love starting with a look at the highlights of your last year in business because it’s a great way to boost your confidence and get you in a positive mindset before you start looking to the next year.
​If you start planning for the next year by thinking about the things you did not accomplish in the past year, you’ll be approaching the next year from a place of failure, rather than with a success mindset. Taking some time to remember your highlights from 1 year in business is a great way to flip your mindset and get you thinking about all the things you have accomplished in the past year so you can focus on the things you can accomplish over the next 12 months.

Reflecting on the People Impacted in 1 Year in Business

​Most of us started our business so we could have some sort of positive impact on people’s lives, so take some time now to think about the people you impacted over the course of 1 year in business.
Again, this is about getting you into a positive mindset. You might not have as many clients as you want, but focusing on the people who said “no” won’t get you anywhere. By contrast, focusing on the people who said “yes”, and all the ways you changed their lives for the better can help you remember why you started your business in the first place and provide confirmation that you are having an impact.
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Challenges Overcome in 1 Year in Business

​We’ve all overcome challenges in our business, and taking the time to stop and reflect on the things we’ve overcome can be incredibly empowering.
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​This is another way of avoiding the Spiral of Despair if you’re prone to thinking about the challenges that held you back because you were unable to overcome them. By remembering all the things you did not let stop you, you’ll be more likely to approach the coming year with a can-do attitude.

​Successes of 1 Year in Business

​Even if you didn’t achieve all the goals you set out for yourself in the past year, you must have had some successes. Whether it was signing a new client, launching a new product/service, or hosting a successful event, take some time to stop and take stock of all the success you had in just 1 year in business. Doing so will get you motivated to think about the success you want to have in your next year in business.

​New Relationships Developed in 1 Year in Business

​This one can be personal, professional, or both. Did you gain a new client? Did you become a client of someone else? Did you meet someone who helped you take your business to the next level?
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​You can also feel free to reflect on new friendships, or even new romantic relationships if applicable. As business owners, the line between our personal and professional lives can be blurry at best, so changes to your personal relationships can absolutely impact your business and vice versa.

​Ways I’ve Given Back in 1 Year in Business

​Giving back is a great way to give meaning to our lives, because even if we love our jobs, that’s not enough on its own for us to feel fulfilled. Giving back can make us feel needed and more connected to our communities. Whether you’ve been giving back as part of your business, or just in your free time, taking the time to take stock of the ways in which you’ve given back over the past year in business is another great way to boost your self-confidence.

​Get Help from a Coach for Your Next 1 Year in Business

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​Whether you struggled through the past year in business, or your business is growing and you need help strategizing so you can keep the momentum going, having a business coach on your team can be an incredibly valuable resource. If you’ve been thinking about coaching, you can schedule your FREE clarity call now to see if you’re moving in the right direction.
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Why You Should Take a Break from Your Business This Holiday Season

12/21/2021

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Entrepreneurs and small business owners are known for working long hours all week long, every week of the year. There’s nothing wrong with hard work, but when it becomes a badge of honor, it can prompt us to forego things we need, like sleep, or just time off to take a break and recharge.
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​Working 24/7 is not sustainable because it’s not healthy, and if you’re in business for the long haul, you need a system you can maintain for years, even decades to come. But you can only do that if you incorporate self-care into your routine. With that in mind, here are a few reasons you should take a break from your business, especially over the holiday season.

​You’ll Be More Focused If You Take a Break from Your Business

​Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night because you suddenly got a great idea, or remembered something you forgot? It’s because, while you were resting, your brain was able to sort through the events of your day and bring something to the forefront that you forgot, or never realized you needed.
​There’s a reason many people say that, if you’re stuck on a problem, the best thing you can do is to step away from it for a while. Sometimes we’re trying so hard to solve a problem, we can’t see the solution even if it’s right in front of us. In that case, the best thing is to step away from the problem and think about something totally unrelated (or nothing at all), because while you’re consciously thinking about something else, your brain will be working on your problem in the background, and that’s when inspiration will strike.
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​You’ll Be Happier If You Take a Break from Your Business

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​Many entrepreneurs work so hard on their business, they forget why they started it in the first place. Of course, we all want our businesses to be successful, and yes, that requires a lot of work, but many people also started their own business so they could have a better work/life balance. So they could spend more time with their kids or aging parents. Give yourself that flexibility during the holiday season to really enjoy the holidays. You might be surprised at how much more effective you can be when you get back to work after you take a break from your business.

​You Never Know Whom You’ll Meet When You Take a Break from Your Business

​Holidays tend to come with holiday parties, and while the original goal of most of these parties is not to network, that doesn’t mean you can’t network. Prospective clients can show up in the most unlikely places, and it’s important to remember that people work with those they know, like, and trust. What better place to get someone to know, like, and trust you than at a party where you’re more relaxed and yourself than you might be in a conference room?
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​So instead of ditching that party to stay home and craft your next social media post, grab that holiday sweater and get ready to meet some new people and get your name out there.

​Let Me Show You How to Take a Break without Sacrificing Income

One of the main reasons I started my business was so I could spend more quality time with my family without sacrificing my income. As a Strategy Rockstar, I love helping my clients do the same thing, so if you think owning your business means you have to be working every waking hour, it’s time to think again. Give me a call so I can help you rethink what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.
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How to Scale Your Business Without Working Longer Hours

12/14/2021

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Most small business owners want to grow their business, but if it feels like you’re already working as many hours as you can squeeze into a day, it can be hard to figure out how to scale your business to serve even more clients without foregoing sleep altogether.

Admittedly, sometimes it’s necessary to work long hours, especially in the beginning stages of scaling your business, but it is possible to grow your business and make more money without working longer hours, even if yours is a service-based business. In some cases, you might even end up working fewer hours, but there is a strategy behind it. Since I’m the Strategy Rockstar, let’s talk about how to scale your business without working longer hours.

​How to Scale Your Business Through Delegation

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​The first step to scaling your business without working longer hours is to delegate the tasks that you don’t like/need to do. I have an assistant who does everything from data entry to managing my calendar. I’ve also been working on building a marketing team to create and implement a marketing plan for my business so I don’t have to worry about those tasks. They do what they do best and help me build my business while I get to focus on serving my clients.
​Delegating in your business is important, but it’s also worth mentioning that you don’t have to restrict your delegating to just your business. As my business has grown, my assistant has taken over some personal assistant responsibilities as well as helping me in my business so I can continue growing my business without worrying about some of those domestic tasks falling through the cracks.

How to Scale Your Business by Getting the Right People on Your Team

Delegating can be scary for entrepreneurs and small business owners who often feel like they have to do everything themselves, and it’s true that things can go horribly wrong if you hire the wrong people. 

The key is to hire the right people so you don’t have to micromanage everything they do. I meet with my marketing team regularly to make sure we have a strategy in place, but once the meeting is over, I trust them to do what they need to do because they are experts in their respective fields. Meanwhile, I get to work with the clients that are coming in the door through their efforts, which makes everything run smoothly while building my business.
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How to Scale Your Business with Automation

If you’re not yet at the point where you can hire an assistant, the good news is there’s probably a software or piece of technology that can take care of some of the more mundane tasks for you. Consider tools that automatically send reminders (either to you or your clients and prospects), as well as tools that sync with other tools so you’re not wasting time updating an appointment in different systems when you could sync those systems and have everything update automatically.
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​How to Scale Your Business with Help from a Strategy Rockstar

​If you’re ready to take things to the next level, but you’re still not sure how to scale your business in a way that’s sustainable, it might be time to talk to a Strategy Rockstar. You can schedule your FREE clarity call now so we can talk about how I can help scale your business without losing sleep.
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How to Identify Your Target Audience for Your Nonprofit

12/7/2021

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​When people talk about how to identify your target audience or create a marketing persona, most of the time they’re talking about marketing strategies for for-profit businesses, but nonprofits have target audience’s, too. A lot of people don’t think of nonprofits as businesses, but just because they don’t take in a profit doesn’t mean they aren’t a business. And just because your customers are donors doesn’t mean you don’t have a target audience. Actually, your customers are technically the ones directly benefiting from the services you provide, but for marketing purposes, we’ll define your target audience as your donors.
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​Just like a for-profit business can’t survive without marketing to their ideal client, a nonprofit can’t survive without marketing to your ideal donor. So let’s talk about how to identify your target audience for your nonprofit so you can more effectively market to them.

​Identify Your Goals So You Can Identify Your Target Audience

​First and foremost, you need to identify the goals your nonprofit organization is trying to achieve. How much money do you need to raise to achieve those goals? Can you raise that much money with small donations, or do you need some heavy hitters on your list?
​Once you identify your goals and what it will take to get you there, you can start looking at the kinds of donations you’ll need, which will lead you to the people who are more likely to make those kinds of donations.

Identify the Problems You’re Solving So You Can Identify Your Target Audience

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The first piece of advice I like to offer to anyone starting to develop a marketing strategy is to take a good, hard look at the problem they’re solving for their clients. Once they’ve identified that pain point, they can focus their marketing around it to attract the people who are looking for solutions to that problem.
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The same is true when you’re developing marketing strategies for nonprofits. Nonprofits should still focus on the problem they’re solving, just in a slightly different way. Instead of focusing on the people who will directly benefit from the services you provide, think about the people who might indirectly benefit from your services and have the discretionary income to donate. It could be people who live in the same community, but are not hit as hard by whatever problem you’re looking to solve. Or it could be people in a neighboring community who would like to help out their neighbors, but aren’t sure how to do so.

Check Out the Political Organizations to Help You Identify Your Target Audience

​Most (but not all) nonprofit ventures have a political organization trying to change the world for the better in a particular way, regardless of whether the problem they’re trying to solve is a political one. If there’s a group of people who have organized to get politically active to help solve the same problem you’re trying to solve, take a look at the kinds of people who are active in those organizations to help you identify your target audience.

Think Outside the Box When Developing Marketing Strategies for Nonprofits

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​There are a lot of reasons people donate to charity, so don’t be afraid to play around with different marketing strategies for nonprofits to see what works and what doesn’t. In addition to wanting to help their immediate and surrounding communities, people also want to donate to charity to feel good about themselves. Others use it as a status symbol. Knowing all the different motivations that drive your target audience to donate will help you create and implement a nonprofit marketing strategy that gets results.

Get Help from a Strategy Rockstar to Help You Develop Your Nonprofit Marketing Strategies

​I have worked with a lot of nonprofits over the years, both as part of their staff and as a consultant, so I know the ins and outs of nonprofit marketing strategies like the back of my hand, and I’m happy to show you the way. You can start your journey towards more effective fundraising efforts by scheduling your FREE consultation today.
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    Why Morsels? 

    Business advice,
    like chocolate chips,
    is best digested
    a handful of morsels at a time.  I think we'd all agree that devouring a lot of either all at once can be too much for the average person to handle..

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  • Services
    • Consulting
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    • ECOURSE
    • Year End Specials
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    • Events >
      • Living Room Sessions
    • Merchandise >
      • Book
      • Success Binder
    • Client Resources >
      • Group Coaching Calls
      • It's Call Time!
  • About
    • Tools & Software I Use
    • Testimonials
    • Where's Michelle? >
      • Past Speaking Engagements
      • Past Community Events
      • SCORE- Boardroom Business Bootcamp for Businesswomen
    • Free Resources >
      • How To's
    • Become a Guest Expert
    • Why Z&B
    • signup
  • Blog
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