Back in May I stopped running for two weeks.
I visited my family and did a race at the beginning of my stay, but then it was hot and I was busy trying to juggle work and family time and rest time. I went to New York City (*heart eyes emoji*) and we walked 7-9 miles per day and I was in Brooklyn, which I don’t know as well, and blah and blah and bLaH and BLAH.
Point is, I let myself stop.
And THEN when I came home to Wilmington, in the beginning of June, when it’s so humid you can actually see the air, it was like starting over.
It’s REAL FUN to start running in June, let me tell you. (*eye roll emoji*)
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t run more than a few minutes without needing to walk. FORGET ABOUT PLANKS IN BETWEEN RUN LOOPS. I was trying to survive.
After my first ever nine-mile run (which I did in Florida in March 2017, also kind of a hot place), I posted a picture of my watch on Facebook with the words:
In order to cultivate endurance, you have to endure.
I’m a little proud of that. Also it’s true. The only way to get better at running is simply to run. The only way for me to be able to actually run is to run about three days a week, without fail, regardless of everything else that’s going on. I can tell myself nineteen reasons why I can’t run on a given day: it’s raining, if I could only stay and finish this ONE THING I’d be in good shape for tomorrow, I’m tired.
The only thing that does is put me further behind when I actually start running again.
The one thing I do every day
is work on getting leads for my business.
Listen, I don’t always get this done every day but it is on my schedule to do every day and I try my utmost best to do it. Whether it’s researching opportunities and identifying people to contact, adding names to my email list, networking in groups to drive people to my email list, contributing content to newsletters, or volunteering for my professional organization, every single day I need to and I try to do at least ONE THING that will contribute to business development.
My friend and colleague Monica wrote to me this week and asked, “When’s your next newsletter coming out? I always look forward to it. Love the way you boil things down to something pretty simple and straight-forward.” First of all, THANK YOU. I’m glad someone enjoys reading these!
Second, I wrote back and said, “I’ve started four drafts and I keep getting sucked away to other things.”
Today, I decided, TACKLE YOUR NEWSLETTER BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, KATIE. Because it is a primary business-development tool. If you have read these for a while you know I almost never sell anything at all. I just talk. But it helps you get to know me and my skills so that when you need those skills I’m in your mind to contact.
It’s so easy, BOY DO I KNOW IT is so easy to say, “I gotta write this blog post because I can invoice for it.” “I need to finish this marketing email for my client so I can invoice for it.”
We need to do billable things but if we slow down on business development, building our email list, growing our network, getting permission from people to share what we have to offer with them, eventually we won’t HAVE any billable work.
You take two or three weeks off from building your email list and you feel like you’re starting over.
You take three weeks off from your newsletter or your marketing activities and then everyone forgot that they looked forward to hearing from you and they mark you as spam or they don’t pay attention because they’ve already moved on.
It’s like running.
To be able to run, you have to run. To have a business, you have to buildyour business.
Do one concrete thing every day to help build your lead list. It’s what will help your business go the distance.
Bookmarks of the Week
Chicago Manual of Style Hyphenation Chart
If you use Chicago Style to edit, this is an amazing cheat sheet.
Four-Step Process To Avoid Overwhelm
A big reason we all have such a hard time working on business development is that we all feel overwhelmed. While I’m not fond of how “overwhelm” has turned into a noun, that horse has left the barn and this podcast offers some practical strategies for prioritizing your day to get the most out of your business. I really enjoyed it and am trying to use the tips!
What’s Next in Business to Consumer Sales
Right now secondary marketplace channels are hot (like Amazon), but will that always be the case? This snippet from MediaPost might offer a glimpse into the future.
Mobile to Desktop Conversion
Another good one from MediaPost. If you do email marketing, they’re a great source of info and research. This article talks about the transition from mobile to desktop in the purchase cycle. People will probably open your email on a mobile device but finish shopping on their desktop. How do you make the experience seamless for them?
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It’s a lot easier for me to keep working at 5:55 pm than it is to make the choice to get up, put on running clothes, and go to practice. If I keep working I know what will happen. If I go run, I might get hot, I might get hurt, and I might be tired and uncomfortable. But I know if I do it, I’ll grow and improve. Same thing with the business. It’s uncomfortable to do lead building sometimes, but it’s the only way to grow.
Have a great weekend everyone!
