Written by: Carmel Murphy, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Nobody told me it would be so time-consuming.
When I left the corporate world behind, I’d been chasing freedom and flexibility. Yet here I was: Exhausted. Overworked. Uninspired. In my OWN business!?!?
Chasing my tail all day trying to not only serve clients but get MORE booked in on the calendar…
Needing more leads, more sales, more clients, the “more, more, more!” mantra dominating every waking minute.
I believed that to get more – you had to do more.
Marketing tasks dominated my ‘to-do’ list… leaving me little to no time to even think straight if what I was doing was actually working!
Vlog more
Post more on social media
Send more emails
Fill more workshops
Make a new course
Learn all the techy stuff
Keep up with all the admin tasks
Liaise with my V.A. and team
Set up marketing campaigns
Serve and support my clients and members
More and more networking!
I felt pressure to keep up, not to waste time… not to lose momentum…
Growing an online business is exhilarating – until it’s not.
Until the exhilaration turns to exhaustion.
Until the never-ending tasks take over your life – and the guilt of NOT doing them quickly enough follows you everywhere.
On the edge of burnout, my brain foggy, anxiety peaking, self-doubt surging, and no end to the madness in sight.
I decided to do the SCARIEST thing I’d ever done.
I went against all the marketing advice which says “consistency is key!”
And I stopped.
That’s right – I STOPPED!
I took a FULL week off…(eek!!!)
I gave my V.A. a week off too.
No posts, no vlogs, no networking, no client work.
I shut the office door. The ‘to-do list’ was left on the desk. Incomplete.
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” – Michael Altschuler
For the first few days, all I could think about was the business.
I stressed about how people would notice that I wasn’t on social media. That I had disappeared. Given up.
What would they say? What would they think of me? Would I lose the gains I’d already made and have to work twice as hard to get them back?
Despite the fear, I allowed myself to BE. I slept when I needed to sleep, and I walked when I felt like moving. I sat in the sauna, and I meditated.
It was terrific – eventually! I had left it so long to switch off that it took a few days to relax enough to enjoy it.
And guess what!? No one missed me!
Here I believed the world would end if I stopped – but it didn’t. 😉
The following week I tentatively opened the office door. I switched on the laptop and gathered my team.
Before we did anything more – it was time to regroup and reimagine our marketing strategy. Here’s the method we’re using:
Combat Burnout: The S.A.S. Method
So I’m BACK!
I am feeling refreshed and reinvigorated. With the hard lesson well and truly learned: You have to be FIRST in all areas, or you cannot show up for anyone else.
Like on a flight when they are going through the safety instructions… when the oxygen mask drops, ALWAYS put your mask on first… otherwise, you’re of no help to anyone else!
And when it comes to creating marketing content (minus the exhaustion!), here’s what our renewed focus is on:
1. Relevant content to your target market
2. Reusable content (splice, dice, reshare, repurpose!)
3. Searchable content (know your keywords and use them!)
4. Evergreen/long-life-span content (quit wasting time and energy and start creating legacy content that will drive traffic for YEARS!)
5. Valuable content (stop selling and start serving, solving and showing what’s possible!)
The best format for content that fits all five categories? VIDEO!
Why?
Because text/image social posts disappear from newsfeeds within minutes… never to be seen again. If they get seen at all.
But videos can SURVIVE! Videos are favoured by the algorithm ‘gods’ 😉.
As Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said: “Right now we’re focused on four key areas: Creators, Video, Shopping and Messaging.”
And, of course, the rise of Reels and TikTok is leaving those unable to pivot in the dust.
Don’t get left behind. And stop wasting your time and energy.
Focus on creating content with the BEST CHANCE of being viewed.
Keyword loads them and publishes them on video-sharing sites so they can be found for YEARS to come. So they show up in search engines. So people can find YOU!
Stop focusing on one-off content that disappears. And stop creating content for content’s sake.
Streamline your tasks. And focus on creating value-packed videos!
Need some video-creating inspiration?
Then promise me you’ll book your next long weekend in your calendar- you deserve it!
Carmel Murphy, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Carmel Murphy is known for being an out-of-the-box thinker and an expert in human behavior, marketing, and business strategies.
Carmel’s passion for people, curiosity, know-how, business acumen, and background have come together to develop unique programs around marketing, copywriting, and videos designed to create higher conversion and increase sales and profit in business.
Carmel coordinates, hosts, and delivers membership programs, workshops, and events to teach business owners how to build and market a sustainable online business.
