I’m sitting here doing the absolute opposite of everything I would normally do.
I’m working from home. (I have office space.)
Not only that, I’m working from the couch and I’m wearing pyjamas. (I have a staunch business-casual dress code for when I’m working, and when I did run my business from home, I had a dedicated room from whence to run it.)
I just finished broadcasting a pep talk to 27 of my client’s clients, in my role as her Community Wrangler, during which I declared today “Opposite Day.” Dressed in the aforementioned pyjamas and also wearing a tiara because, well, why not?
No, I haven’t lost my mind.
I’ve lost my creativity.
As someone who is usually in near-constant ideation mode, to lose my creativity feels a little like my soul is dying. I’ve experienced that soul-dying feeling twice before, and both times they resulted in nervous breakdowns that pulled the rug out from under me. I’m both blessed and relieved to now be able to recognize when I’m experiencing this feeling and, more importantly, how to turn the boat around when I’m hurtling towards the darkness that is depression.
I noticed that my creativity was beginning to die late last year, and so I declared that my personal theme for 2017 would be CREATIVITY & INNOVATION.
Tall order for someone who felt like she couldn’t creatively innovate her way out of a paper bag.
So the first thing I had to do was define what those words meant for me. It all boils down to these 2 things:
- Do everything differently.
- Go back to basics.
Neither of those things sound particularly creative nor innovative to me, but I’m also harshly critical of myself at the best of times, so I’ll let that slide for now.
Doing things differently.
While I may have declared today “Opposite Day” to my client’s clients, I’ve actually declared 2017 as “Opposite Year” to myself and my staff, and to some extent, my clients.
Whenever we plan something, I ask the question, Is this something we would have done in 2016?
If the answer is “yes,” (and there’s nothing wrong with that, per se) I issue the following challenge:
How can we do it differently?
Sometimes, we can’t. (And there’s nothing wrong with that, either.)
But most of the time, we can!!
It’s brought forth some amazing results – chiefly because we’re doing things no one expects (or what’s known as a pattern interrupt):
- One of my clients is offering a free webinar every 6 weeks or so. There’s not really anything creative or innovative about that, except it’s broadcast over Facebook Live and you don’t have to trade your email address in order to watch it! Now THAT’S refreshing.
- If you and I are connected personally on Facebook, you’re likely familiar with the #cherylandkatyshow, where my wife and I demonstrate that same-sex marriages are just like heterosexual marriages (only gayer). Up until recently, the “episodes” had been delivered strictly as text-only Facebook status updates, but we’re now including images in select posts and this past weekend we experimented with the first video episode.
- In 2016, I launched my first ever group program, Killer Social Media LIVE!. It was fantastic, and I blocked off time in my calendar to deliver it 4 more times in 2017. But upon further reflection, I realised it took me away from what I really love to do, which is working one-on-one with entrepreneurs. For the foreseeable future, Killer Social Media LIVE! is on the backburner so I can do what I enjoy most of all.
And so I issue the same question and challenge to you as you work on your business this year: Is this something you would have done in 2016? And if so, how can you do it differently?
Going back to basics.
My business coach reminds me regularly that there are periods of expansion and contraction in business. Any business.
One of the areas where I’m “contracting” in my business right now is in my service offerings; this is the area in which I’m choosing to go back to basics this quarter.
I mentioned above that I’ve nixed my group program for the time being. It will be back, but it’s not my focus right now.
Instead, I’m going back to what I love: working one-on-one.
This means there’s currently only 2 ways to work with me:
- A VIP social media strategy session, where we dive deep into your business goals, how social media can support them, which platforms you’ll target and with what content, and how to measure and analyse your results for continuous improvement. You leave with a documented strategy that you and/or your existing team can implement right away.
- A full-service management package that includes a VIP social media strategy session, where my team and I create, execute and manage your entire social media strategy, so you can stop tearing your hair out and focus on what you do best for your clients.
I must insist on having a strategy session when you wish to work with me long-term, otherwise we’ll both be miserable. Without a proper strategy in place, our marketing efforts will be fractured and will ultimately fall flat. I want to create real, meaningful results for you, and I simply cannot do that if we haven’t created that strategy together first!
My intention for sharing all this with you is to get you thinking about how you can get some fresh perspective in your business.
What can you do differently this year? Where you can you take a step back to see the bigger picture before taking a giant leap forward?