It all started with a simple question, can I earn money on Fiverr as a photographer? Keen to get into doing more product photography, I was looking for a way to find clients and generate more work for myself. A YouTube video about a freelance copywriter on CNBC’s Millennial Money convinced me to turn to Fiverr. And after the first month, I received my first order.
After the first six months on the platform, I was on a roll that didn’t stop. Soon I was a Level One (I wrote about that), then Level Two Seller. I don’t plan to break things down as precisely as I did in that second post (about becoming a Level One Seller, but later I’ll talk about the amounts and the impact it had on the photography arm of my business as a whole. Scroll down if you’re just here for the dollars… I get it.
What’s been happening since my last post?
Around April, things got hectic around here as my workload more than doubled. Not only was I continuing to maintain my roles in my business, but I was doing all the photography and processing myself. It was chaos, let me tell you. I started getting a little more help here and there with general admin like my emails or managing the enquiries. I looked to add new people for the website and social media curation side of things over at Chalkboard Digital.
But still, with everything happening and a holiday looming, I had to take stock of my situation. Make a plan! Luckily, I love a good plan, so with some time off marked out for July, I put my Fiverr on ‘Away’ and stopped taking orders for a few weeks. I worried that it would mean a drop-off in enquiry when I returned or, worse, dropping off the search results altogether. But I knew I needed to find some people to help me if things were to continue to get bigger! What can I say? I’m team go big AND go home.
Getting a little help
So, during my holiday, I started to think about what I wanted to do and what I could outsource from the work we did. There was a lot I still feel I want to keep my eyes on personally (Facebook Marketing and Direct Emails especially), and that would take longer to hand over confidently. But there were other things I could step back from or check in with quite easily; if I was willing to loosen the reins a bit. So I did. I took some of those things and found specific people that could help. I trained some myself and outsourced (often on Fiverr) others.
When I returned from break, I marked myself as available, and it was all smooth sailing from there. Well, as long as you don’t count getting the plague and a dead SD drive that corrupted five shoots in one hit. Ugh. Yup that all happened, which made the remainder of July and all of August a lot despite all my hard work and changes. But now, at the end of September, I feel like I finally got through the worst of that. With the team in place and a few price increases, I feel like I can manage the enquiry that is coming in.
Plus, I’m well on my way to becoming a Top Seller!
Which is excellent and something I’ve had in my sights the entire time. I’d love to add that badge to my profile; only thousands of dollars in sales to go. (see my dashboard view below) Haha. Something else I want to look into before the end of the year is the ProSeller program to check out the benefits to me as a seller and the requirements to apply for the program. I’ve seen some accounts with less than ten reviews marked as a ProSeller, so I’m not sure what the deal is. If you know, let me know in the comments. Until then, I’ve made sure to have both a Fiverr and a Fiverr Business profile up and running (screenshots below) to grab as much attention as possible.
Fiverr Profile
Fiverr Business Profile
What did this new stream of income from Fiverr mean for my business?
Well! This is the part that I didn’t expect, especially after one year. A 2000% increase in Photography sales through my business direct happened in the past year. No, that’s not a typo—two THOUSAND per cent increase. When you see the figures below of the amount I’ve earned, it will just cover the income earned directly from Fiverr. I think that’s the only way to be respectful of our clients. But the short version it’s a lot more than I expected and is more than the Fiverr figure by a lot.
Before working on Fiverr as a photographer, I didn’t call myself one. I was a blogger. But I did the odd photo job here and there for clients but had never really gone all in. However, enquiry picked up as soon as we started posting photo content from the Fiverr Gigs to our feeds (mine and the business account). And up and up and up.
This was another reason it no longer worked for me to have my finger in every pie of my business. With boxes arriving almost every day with new items to be photographed, I desperately needed some help. And a price increase. Which we did at the start of the new financial year and will do again at the end of this calendar year. I’m okay with saying that right now, especially on Fiverr; I’m way too cheap. But that’s building experience and a roster of regular clients right? These things take time, and I am thrilled with our progress.
Get to it already. How much did I earn from Fiverr in my first year?
This is it, what you’ve all been waiting for, right? I’ve included some screencaps below my Dashboard to back up what I’m saying. Someone always wants proof of this stuff, and I’m happy to provide it. All amounts are listed in USD and, when exported, are converted into AUD. I’ll give you the figure at the very end for the direct from Fiverr (via Payoneer) to my bank account Australian Dollar figure. Full disclosure here, I’m not hiding anything from the tax man.
The breakdown below shows each calendar year (and summary at the top of the page, spoiler alert, haha) and the ebb and flow of it all. There are months where I’m taking on more work than completing it (it only counts as earned when a Gig is Delivered) and others where I’m delivering a lot of work, booked the month prior. I find it all evens out in the end, and with holidays in December and July, I’m happy with the consistency of it all.
2021 Calendar Year (started August 2021)
2022 Calendar Year (to date)
According to my accounting software, I received $15,521.04 (AUD) into my business account in my first year on Fiverr.
This is net and is less various charges, deductions of my advertising, Seller Plus program fees and any purchases of services on Fiverr I deducted from my account. I mean, not too shabby, right? Especially when you consider that this whole thing started as a whim, and I didn’t expect much. Add to that the other work I’m doing, the referrals to my business and the general growth that has been part of the upward movement. I’m a happy girl.
So, if you ask me if you should investigate if a platform like Fiverr would work for you, I’m a big fat yes. I use it often as a Buyer and a Seller, which says a lot since I opened my account in November 2015 for a transaction as a Buyer that was eventually cancelled and didn’t open again until 2021. It might be worth another look if it’s been a while since you checked it out. It certainly was for me.
And before I go, here are my current gigs
My current Gig strategy is to focus on the primary photography Gigs consistently performing well. I’m using the Seller Plus program to gain access to additional Key Word information and Gig performance stats to enable me to choose the right keywords for all the right places. Do I think it’s necessary to do this to earn good money on Fiverr? No. But if you’re someone like me who loves to analyse a bit of data and hunt down the best keywords possible, I’d recommend it. Plus, your money is released in 7 days; I can’t argue with that when I’m on a 14-day withdrawal program for my cash flow purposes.
I’ve added a couple more to my profile since I started, but as you’ll see, they are very similar to when I began. This is what I’m running with right now (featuring the listing slides because who doesn’t love to sticky beak on how others are setting up their profile). And if you’d like to work with me, I’d love to have you. Head over to my Fiverr profile, and let’s get started.
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Recently I was watching Sex and the City and as a thirty-something trying to do her best to run a business, live life and prepare for the future I found myself adding up the outfit changes and designer pieces, the apartment and meals, not to mention the taxis.
Sure, I don’t know much about living in NYC, but I know what everyone knows. Something doesn’t add up here, financially. With all this money was being spent on clothes, what happens next? With her money right where she likes it, in her closet, I couldn’t help but wonder, was Big Carrie’s retirement plan all along?
Was marrying money her only plan to take care of herself in her retirement years? And, after years of working for myself, with very little super to show for it, am I relying on the same plan? Though I’m very happy with the husband I have, so maybe the marry rich ship has sailed. Haha. But I’m talking about the STRIKE IT RICH retirement plan. The one where it doesn’t matter what I do and spend now, one day I’ll be rich (through marriage, inheritance or luck) and it will all be fine. It doesn’t exactly sound like a safe bet, does it?
Women and Superannuation in Australia, let’s talk about that.
It makes you think, right? Especially given that stats say 44% of women rely on their partner’s income as the main source of funds for retirement. (the study does not distinguish the sex of the partner). Half of all women aged 45 to 59 have $8,000 or less in their superannuation funds, compared to $31,000 for men (source articles linked below). Let’s break that down a bit.
This shortfall is due to a number of factors including providing care for children, being paid less for work they do and increased levels of working part-time and therefore being below contribution minimums. An estimated 220,000 women miss out on $125 million of superannuation contributions as they do not meet the requirement to earn $450 per month (before tax) from one employer (as many women work more than one part-time job).
I’m not an expert, by any means.
Living in the regional area that I do, with a mother who sold real estate, buying a house was one of the first things I ever did with my money. Chalk that one up to privilege in so many ways. And during my relationship with Kel, there have been times that we were able to own multiple properties at once.
Ultimately, retirement for me right now looks like paying off my house then trying to save as much as possible when I’m done. That’s not advice, but the way, I’m not in any way a professional or in a position to offer advice to you. It’s the reality of my current position. And I’m one of the lucky ones in the sense that I have a home and I’m in a position where I have the means to pay off that home.
For now anyway. What if the worst happens?
Something that women in my position, myself included, need to consider is what we would do if we lost our partner through death or divorce. Especially if that partner happens to be an income-earning male. What happens then? All the articles I read recommended getting quality advice from an accredited professional that you can trust (my brother is a financial advisor, talk about the best of both worlds).
Next is to start saving super early especially if you are able to co-contribute or increase the standard rate. This is where good advice comes in so handy, take your payslips or latest tax return and get advice on how and where you can increase your superannuation savings. Recent statistics show that the gender pay gap is currently at 17.2%, which means females only earn 83 cents for every dollar earned by males so we need to make what we have stretch longer.
And keep in mind, those statistics are based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Cat. No. 6302.0, Average Weekly Earnings – Trend data, February 2011 (released 19.05.11); there are plenty of women, including black women, women of colour and trans women who these figures are even worse for. Whenever and wherever you can safely ask for that raise, support your fellow workers to do the same and call out these inequalities when you see them.
Lastly, it’s important you choose the right fund for you, your income type and how you plan to contribute to your super. I can give you the right answer here, but again, that’s where good advice can come in. It’s also important to consider the type of places your money will be invested and whether that fits with your principles.
My final thoughts
Phew, that was a big one. This post was rolling around in my head for a while and I needed to share it. Mostly because I know that a lot of you are in the same position as me where you are working for yourself, part-time or are in the position where you are caring for others or yourself and not earning an income outside of the home. We are often overlooked in the conversations around retirement and saving money. I didn’t want this blog to be another place that happened.
So, team, I hope this gives you some food for thought and a kick in the bum if, like me, you need it. So, I’ll end this post there, but remember what my mum used to always say if you marry for money and you’ll earn every cent. We need to be standing on our own feet when it comes to the financial aspects of our lives as much, if not more, than in other areas. Financial security is the ultimate freedom, in my opinion, so let’s work together and develop that muscle together.
Some links to read about women and superannuation in Australia
You want it, sure, but do you need it? You want it, sure, but do you need it? Are you looking to purchase a new iPad and comparing the iPad Pro to other versions of the iPad? Me too. One of the first comparisons I made when I purchased my iPad Pro last year was the iPad Pro* vs. Standard iPad. Especially when it came to the uses with the Apple Pencil. I was looking to replace my 2009 Macbook Pro for on-the-go type adventures. My Macbook Pro takes up over half the allowable weight for most checked luggage and therefore wasn’t going to work for any work travel-related goodness. I wanted a light, easy to manage and packed with features alternative, and the iPad was where I set my sights.
Part of me thinks that I should have got the new Macbook, but that is a different post.
I knew that I wanted to use the Apple Pencil, for that I blame numerous artist YouTube channels I watch. Despite not having any drawing talent and the worse handwriting known to humankind, I wanted to write. It felt old school, and I thought my love of lists would convert better to digital if I wrote them down. More on that later. So, my search started with iPads that could pair with the Apple Pencil. Easy, using it with the pencil narrowed down my choices to the regular iPad* and the Pro. (You can now access the pencil with the iPad Mini* too, more choices! I’m glad it’s not me).
From there, I dove into the rabbit hole of YouTube reviews, comparisons and unboxings. And that is when I believe the crazy kicked in. Not only did I see the reviews that said that the IOS still lacked in the whole use it as a computer thing, but I was unswayed. I learned the price of setting the whole thing up, and I made up my mind anyway. I was doing it. I got the iPad Pro* in the 12.9-inch screen size (From A$1,329) because go big or go home, I guess. Plus a keyboard case and the Apple pencil, of course. I was looking to replace a computer here.
And close to $3,000 later, the iPad pro was mine. Ouch.
As someone who spent the better part of four years working up to affording and justifying the iMac, that’s why I say that I feel like my senses left me. Did I need the 12.9-inch screen? No. Had I had an iPad before and found the lack of access to some websites I use for work limiting. Yup! But there I was going all-in when now I know that something a little more modest would have been fine. Better than fine, actually. This is usually my suggestion to anyone trying to decide between the two.
Even now, as I do more of my planning and note-taking on my iPad, a regular iPad (from A$499) would have been preferable, especially something a little smaller. The iPad Pro with the 12.9-inch screen is a two-hand job most of the time, so if you’re not so great at balancing or perching an item while you write, read or browse, go with a smaller option. While the larger screen is great when it’s attached to the keyboard case and masquerading as a laptop, I find it really hard to handle in that case to use the pencil. So, I have two cases, and when I’m doing pencil based tasks, I use the slimline flip case, and when I need the keyboard, I switch to the Logitec Keyboard.
Which yes, is just another expense and inconvenience.
But it’s not all bad news, not at all. There are soooo many functions of the iPad Pro that I don’t use. The impressive camera and the visually stunning display. There are new keyboards and trackpads available, and the software is being updated all the time. For me, it’s certainly an investment into what it can do rather than what I use it for now. At the moment, I’m ashamed to say it’s nothing more than a glorified planner. Would I repurchase it? No. But should you? Probably also no, unless you have bigger uses for it.
Yes, it’s easy to get caught up with the biggest and shiniest. But let’s get real, there is a huge price difference here. I’m not your Mum; I’m not going to tell you what to do with your money. But step away from the internet for a moment and really think about how and when you’ll use it. Think of the situation (including the fact the Pro will almost always need a surface) and what you need. Trust me, the comparables between the Pro and the standard version are pretty similar. Seriously, get what you can afford and don’t look back. There’s no wrong answer here.
That’s about it from me. I’m going to throw the iPad on charge and see what else I could be using it for. What do you think? Do you own an iPad or similar? Which version did you go with and why?
Skillshare, I love it. What can I say? I could happily spend the day with Skillshare courses playing in the background of whatever I’m doing. And as someone who couldn’t say no to whatever new online course was being offered by the influencer of the moment, this is a win for me. And a money-saver too, but we can talk about that towards the end because I have a referral link, obviously. Haha. But let’s talk about today’s post and why most of you are actually here, shall we?
Lately, I’ve been working on reinvigorating this blog and opening some new doors over at Chalkboard Digital (my actual business). Skillshare was the first place I looked for ways to get excited again, reset my focus and learn some new skills. I thought maybe some of you are looking for a way to do the same. Whether it is a blog, business or personal brand, these courses have something for everyone; there’s even one on TikTok.
The easiest way to find what you need is to click through the links that speak to you and go from there. The Skillshare course gods will recommend other courses by the presenters or in that category. I’ve loved exploring ways to capture more of our life on camera (whether it’s for Instagram or not) as well as personal writing with one of the great, Ms Roxane Gay (legend). But the thing that got me excited and reinvigorated to blog again was the offerings from blogger Kate Arends at Wit & Delight. A fellow lifestyle blogger, I found a lot of middle ground with her thoughtful, peacefully delivered classes. Seriously, I could listen to her voice all day!
Enough rambling from me. You get it. It’s time; get over there and explore.
I’ve had Skillshare Premium now for a couple of years and constantly find something that I’m interested in. What about you? Have you checked it out in the past? I feel like I’ve raved about those Kate Arends classes before on the blog. I’d love to hear about your favourite courses. And as someone who hasn’t taken part in a Workshop yet, have you participated in one? So far I’m all watching, no participating, maybe we could take on a workshop or two together. Let me know!
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Get 14 free days of Skillshare Premium when you sign up using my link.
Recently, I closed my MailChimp account. An account I had since 2011! 2011, team, do you remember the good old days? And if you receive the Suger News, you would know I switched to a new kid on the block, FloDesk. I’m going to talk a little more about it later, but first I wanted to let you know why I went looking for a replacement in the first place.
Now, to be fair, I’ve been with MailChimp for nine years. There was a lot to like about the platform, including a lot of the analytics and integrations. But after the integration with Shopify was ended and there have been issues with accurate tracking and sign-up form options. There wasn’t one specific reason that I decided to keep my eyes open for an alternative. A lot of little things; things that should work but don’t.
And the cost, which is always a problem when the bigger you get, the more expensive it is to keep your list. Plus, there are very few additional features or bonuses with your upgrades. When I spoke with my clients who use MailChimp about what they are paying and whether they believe it was worth the money, most had similar feelings to me. It seemed to work, and we hadn’t found better. Then I saw a tweet about FloDesk.
A little more about FloDesk
The tweet came from a fellow blogger who sells their book via their website. I knew immediately that it would work for me. That said, I haven’t done a lot recently with eBooks or Online Courses, but they are on my list for 2020. After a brief look around, I went about setting up the Suger News as a test. A couple of hours of work and I had three fully functioning lists with sign up forms and welcome series emails. I decided that night to shut down my MailChimp and bring my account over.
But that wasn’t all.
Soon I discovered how much easier it was to deliver PDF content directly through emails and found my way around the templates and analytics. Bit by bit, I wondered if my product-based business clients would benefit from how slick and easy to use it all was. So, I reached out and asked one of them if I could try the program for them. They were paying over USD 200 per month for their MailChimp subscription; we excited to try out something that might cost them only slightly more than that a year.
(with a sign-up code, see below, wink wink)
I warned them that I didn’t feel that we would get the same level of sales analytics. However, since we were tracking it through Google Analytics and the Shopify Dashboard that it was worth a look. They agreed and later that week we set them up and officially put their MailChimp account on pause. It only took two weeks of the new emails going out for them to decide to switch. We didn’t miss the analytics, and their brand fonts were already available as standard in the program (along with heaps others) making it simple to design everything from more straightforward sales emails to lengthy updates.
They too were sold on FloDesk.
And then, the final; example I have is from a friend who desperately messaged late one night saying she was at the end of her rope with MailChimp. She had written, designed and set up a free download around working from home that people were signing up for but it wasn’t delivering to them. Getting people to sign up and then not providing the content they signed up for is always a bad look. So, I jumped into her MailChimp to see if I could locate the issue. After some digging, a few tests and coming at the problem from every angle I knew to come at it from (she had probably tried them all herself too) I was stumped. It’s just one of those things that MailChimp sometimes does, I told her.
But if you want something fast, do I have the program for you!
And after some quick consideration, a play in the software, that night she set up her free download, sent an email to all those that hadn’t received it, and was back up and running. It was about that time that I thought I should sit down and write this post. After all, there are a lot of you that write a blog or have your own business. Maybe you’re battling it out with some out of date program that is too complicated for what you need or want also. So, here we are. For me, for the people I’ve talked about and a handful more, this has been a great solution. Maybe it will be for you too. Below the screenshots (provided in FloDesk as part of their Affiliate program, open to anyone with an account) I’ve put my link if you want to try it out.
If you want to sign up to FloDesk, I have an affiliate link. You will receive 50% off your subscription. Which makes it just $19USD per month no matter how big or small your list is. Want to see how it works? Create your account with that link to lock in the savings, and use the two-week trial. Check it out, let me know what you think. And if you read the Suger News, don’t you agree that we’ve been looking pretty flashy recently?
Maybe these things are universal, or perhaps they are just me. But I thought, maybe it would be fun to talk about the things you should know about working for yourself. I’m a veteran now, basically. I’ve been back full-time working for myself for a year. And in some way or another, I’ve been doing my own thing since I was 21 years old.
Though, at 21, I SUCKED at it, just quietly.
But now, let’s have some fun. I’m here to shed some light on what it looks like to work for yourself. Hopefully, you should know about working for yourself that will make the transition or life as you know it easier. Working for myself includes working at home. And even though I have a designated and slightly separate from my house office, it comes with its own distractions. Lord help me, if I were working inside my house or in the lounge where I sued to work, it would be free for all. This brings me to ‘thing’ number one;
You should know that you’ll get really into doing the dishes.
If you work from home, like me, all of a sudden, every dish to be washed and every pile of laundry to be folded will suddenly become irresistible. Your home will become the procrastination station, and this includes those tasks or chores you haven’t done in five years but are now suddenly essential! By the way, did you see my new outdoor area and recycling sorting bins? (see, exactly). While it can be easy to resist these things and call them out for what they are, I find now that it’s easier to do them. Want to do the dishes and put on a load of washing? Go ahead. In the end, it might cost you 10 minutes or so, but resisting will cost you longer. But make sure you call a spade a spade; what you’re doing here is procrastinating. Maybe ask yourself why THAT is. You know, while you’re loading those dishes…
You should know that motivation is a flighty bitch.
Let me tell you, you can’t wait on motivation to show up when you work for yourself. Know that motivation won’t show up when needed but instead will visit at THE most inopportune times. Think middle of the night, in the coffee line or just as that Netflix series you’ve been waiting all week to sit down and watch gets good. To some degree, you have to go with it. But on the other hand, you have to set boundaries around your work time and have ways to bottle that motivation for you to use later. The most important thing is not to be too hard on yourself. It’s hard to work on command when you’re the only one giving orders. It’ll take time; give yourself space.
You should know that you’ll never really feel like you’ve got it all together.
My business is pretty impressive when you look at it on paper. We work with some big companies and have great success with the regular clients we work with (life update blogged here). I still love the work, and the small team of people I have around me (not literally, digitally) are so fun and easy to work with. But even then, I have a hard time feeling like I’ve got it all together. Maybe that’s one of those goals that you never officially realise (or should stop chasing), but it’s true. Good as it gets, and as impressively smoothly it operates from the outside looking in, expect to feel (at times) that you have no idea what you’re doing or how it even works. But just get dressed and show up; no one has it all together, so you’re in good company.
You should know that not everyone will pay on time.
I hate to be Debbie Downer on this one, but you should allow for the people who pay late when you’re estimating your income. Make some allowance for those who won’t pay you at all. I’ve had this happen before – when I could least afford it too. It happens, and we do what we can to prepare for it. Sound practices are a start; don’t be afraid to ask people to pay when they said they would, get deposits for larger projects or have service agreements drawn up and signed (a leg to stand on if you have to sue them). But also, save a little more than you need to as a buffer. Be prepared for less income than expected to account for longer payment terms or to have to shake the tree. While people will pay you on time in a perfect world, it just doesn’t work that way. Be prepared; no one wants to come up short and cannot pay those who do work or supply to you.
You should get good advice and know enough to take it!
When I started my first business, the best thing I did was go to an accountant that specialised in small businesses. The stupidest thing I ever did was ignore his advice (on and off) for over a decade. I mean, young and dumb doesn’t cover that. I thought he didn’t understand MY business or what MY goals were, but really, I was a brat. Business is business and when you find someone who has proven themselves with experiences to be worthy of listening to, do yourself a favour a try to do it. I should have been saving 20%-30% of my income for taxes etc. But did I? Of course not. Did I keep my business and personal expenses separate? Pfffft, who has time for that. Not doing these small things (in the past, I learned THAT lesson) led to a whole heap of problems that could have been avoided if I just listened to the expert I was paying to advise me. Find good people and ask for their advice, and then, take it! Trusting your gut will only take you so far, and usually to places you’ve already been before.
You should know that you are not alone, even when it feels like you are.
Oh man, some days when I look at my computer screen, steaming coffee in hand and emails piled up, I feel like I haven’t spoken to anyone in days. And sometimes, that literally happens. But you should know that you aren’t alone. Others are doing what you do, and the internet is an amazing place to meet them. I feel like some one-on-one interaction (I call it using up my word count!) take a fitness class, do a workshop or head to a cafe to work and say hi to strangers. Ask a friend for coffee or lunch, call a family member or do whatever it takes to feel connected again. Do the things in my how to lift your mood post, whatever it takes. Working for yourself, especially at home, can be like living in a bubble. So, get out more.
You should know that the perfect schedule doesn’t exist.
Trust me; I’ve tried to find it. Haha. I’ve got a pretty good daily routine at the moment, but if I’ve learnt one thing in the past year, it’s that best-laid plans ALWAYS go to shit. Haha. This means that I never leave things until the last minute (because Murphy’s Law says that when things will go wrong), and I always leave space in my schedule for other things to pop up. I love working for myself. After all, it means I can be available to my family when they need me and take naps in the afternoon because it makes me feel good. Don’t get too focused on having ‘the perfect day that you forget why you do this in the first place. Maybe your perfect schedule is a five-point to-do list that you get done when you feel like it? Sound okay? Good news, you get to decide.
And most of all, you should know that your best is good enough.
If you’ve made a mistake or tried and failed, I want you to know that your best WAS good enough. I come across this concern so often working with businesses and on my own business. You can’t always get it right, and worrying about getting it wrong has stopped many people from doing anything at all. Done is better than perfect. And in my books, saying you’re sorry, you made a mistake, or you’ll do better next time is more effective than never having tried. The right people will support you in developing and growing yourself and will never ask for more than your best effort. This doesn’t mean you should be slacking off and doing things half-assed – I would never give you permission to do that. But as the old saying goes, when you know better, you can do better, and I work to that all the time. Always improving and getting better, but learning (after all this time!) that part of that is not knowing or sometimes falling short. If you tried, and especially if you gave it your best, that’s enough. (FOR NOW, haha).
And that’s my list!
Allow me to finish by saying, you, my friend, are fantastic. If you’ve made this leap or are planning it, you’re already a rock star in my books. I know the freedom and joy that doing your own thing can bring. I’m so proud of you for giving it a shot. But, the flipside of that is that we adventurous types can be hard to please. We tend to beat ourselves up or expect way more than someone else would ever expect from us. Try not to do that, okay? Yes, there are plenty of serious things you should know or do, like taxes or metrics or reporting, but in the end, the most important thing is how you’re doing. Check-in with yourself, and I guarantee the rest will fall into place.
Images by Renee Shae Photography for her Big & Boss brand – Renee is a Brisbane based photographer specialising in branding photography and headshots.
Having a work from home daily routine isn’t something I planned on. I was pretty casual about such things. But I’ve been working for myself for a while now, so it was time, right? I left my job almost a year ago, and I’ve been working for myself full-time ever since. It’s been the best! Seriously, I’m glad I leapt when I did. And if I were someone who wondered what if, I’d wish I did it sooner. The first few months involved many afternoons spent in the spa, soaking up the sunshine or napping. Then it was summer, and we ALL know how I am during summer; sunshine, naps and cocktails (see the theme here).
I call this the recovery period.
That said, I think it would be crazy to talk about my current routine without acknowledging that I gave myself plenty of time to settle into it. I’d been working hard; some rest was required. If you’re new to working for yourself or working from home, give yourself a grace period. Time to recover from whatever came before is important.
From there, I’ve settled into a routine that works for me – productivity-wise, as well as being in communication with and available for my client’s and their digital marketing schedules. Of course, there is some variation, but I’m a creature of habit. I like to know what I’m doing and preferably when, so a daily routine works for me. I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself if it’s not your thing; all of us are different. You do you, boo.
Let’s get into my work from home daily routine, shall we?
Mornings
I’ve learnt that I work better in the morning. It’s too easy to be distracted by ALL THE THINGS in the afternoon, so I focus on getting my work done first thing. The essential stuff or items with deadlines, anyway. This sees me in my office around 7 am with a coffee in hand and breakfast in my belly. After taking it into the house the night before, I’m usually returning my pencil case, a few notebooks, and a refilled water bottle to my desk.
As part of what works for me, I run an A4 page to-do list that I continue to add to or cross things off until I either use up the page or bugs me. The first thing I do is check my emails for news from my team or clients and add any new notes or work to the list. Nothing makes me happier than seeing those things get crossed out at the end of a productive stretch of work.
Around mid-morning, when the sun starts to hit me in the face, I take a break. There’s usually more coffee or a fresh bottle of water. Around this time, I might post to my Instagram story, queue up my shows on YouTube or reply to comments on the socials. After that, I usually eat something and reply to text messages or emails that have come in during the few hours I’ve been working. Then I get back to work on the stuff on my list.
Lunch
After my mid-morning break, I find that it’s usually after 1 pm before I get hungry again and the kitchen starts to call. Within the hour, I’m in the house making lunch and tidying the kitchen as I go. It can be easy to get distracted by the state of your house when you work from home, but I find that I can ignore almost anything if the kitchen is clean and tidy, the dishes are stacked in the dishwasher, and I know what is happening for dinner.
Moving forward, I would like to incorporate a walk or a swim either before or after lunch. Exercise is something that has been pushed aside a bit in the last year or so. And as someone who thrives on activity and moving my body, this doesn’t work for me. But I have space here to do it, so hold me to it, okay? Ask me about my walk or swim next time we’re chatting. I can’t keep spending 12 hours a day slumped over a screen. Must improve.
Afternoons
I have a thing for afternoon naps. Give me 45 minutes to rest and recharge, and I’ll take it. Some days that is exactly what I’ll do. Other days I sleep for hours, and some I don’t sleep at all. I’m learning to go with it and do what I need to do. Getting back into the office in the afternoon refreshed, that’s my go-to plan; lunch, nap, crush all the things.
We work with a lot of businesses that are heavily involved in email marketing, most with bi-weekly marketing emails (EDMs) as a minimum. That means afternoons are usually spent checking EDMs, checking sales figures and tweaking content plans and advertising as required. Some days this alone can take all afternoon and into the evening. Other days, it leaves time in my work from home daily routine to either get back to my list or deep dive into my emails or reporting.
That said, I tend not to work on the creative or ideas side of things in the afternoon. It’s not that I’m not capable, but I certainly have to force things a little more in the afternoons. Sometimes I book client appointments or meetings in the afternoons, but it’s usually a good time for the grunt work of my business. The invoicing, connecting with the team, book-keeping and all that essential, but certainly not flashy, stuff. By 5 or 6 pm, I’m looking to be out of my office and back in the house preparing for dinner or watching classes, courses or more youtube.
Evenings
Dinner in our house is a bit of a hit and miss type affair. Often Kel works late or drops in on friends and clients later in the afternoon or evening. So it would be unusual to see him at home before 6 pm. Sometimes this means that I’ve eaten and have settled in for a movie or scroll through the socials when Kel gets here. A bonus of not having kids is that our nighttime routine, our entire afternoon really, is way more casual around here than it would be for parents.
Part of my new work from home daily routine is that I prefer to log off when I leave my office. Sometimes I’ll post an image to Instagram or share something fun with Facebook. But there’s no work after I leave the office, and mostly I stick to it. Kel uses evenings to do quotes for his business, so it used to be pretty standard for us to be working. But doing things this way makes me wake up fresher and ready to get started if I don’t work into the night.
And then, this.
I like to work on weekends when my inbox is quieter. For better or for worse, it works for me. Kel is heading out to do the same most of the time, so it doesn’t feel strange to spend a few hours in the office. I use this time to wrap up the week or plan for the next one. You’ll usually find me starting a new page for my list on the weekend while admiring what a productive human I am.
But there’s no ‘admin stuff’ on the weekends if I can avoid it. I like to get creative and work on my blog or content for the most part. And yes, I know you’re wondering where that content has been, but I did say for the most part. Haha. Lately, we have onboarded three new clients; my weekends have been used to get them sorted.
But NORMALLY…
On a Saturday morning, I like to write my Suger News email. It is a review of my week and what I’ve been dealing with or learning. Sunday mornings, I have some fun with my photo or video editing for my youTube channel, content planning or writing. Then, I play music, courses or classes in the background, pump up the volume on some great tunes and get into the groove of making stuff. It’s the best.
When I think about it, I should probably get out more, but to be honest, this is what I’m into right now. It’s where I want to be and what I want to be doing; until that changes, I’m okay with my business also being my hobby. Right now, it’s fun, I feel good, and while I do need to do some work on the systems in my business being more streamlined, I’m good. I can’t argue with that!
There you go, team! If you have any questions about my work from home daily routine, leave them below. Want to know more about one aspect or another? Ask away. And with all that said, I’d love to hear about YOUR daily routine. What’s working for you?
Just last week I gave notice at my day job to go back working for myself full-time. Even though it’s been pretty casual over the past year, this will give me the ultimate freedom to work in and on my business. I’m excited and nervous because you never can tell when you’re ready to work for yourself, right?
I don’t know about that. I feel pretty ready this time. I have a good team in place, some great systems for managing payments, invoices and tax (gross). It’s ONE HUNDRED per cent time I moved on. I’m ready to work for myself
For the past few years, I’ve worked part-time with an organisation as part of my ‘I need structure to run my business’ story properly. But it’s just that, a story. One I told myself because left to my own devices I tend to get distracted and procrastinate. Not something that works particularly well for someone, like me, working for myself.
Time to face my fears of screwing everything up, and go for it. Again.
I’ve been here before. Maybe that’s why it’s taken me so long to get on with it this time. The first time I was 21-years-old and bravado took the place of any anxiety. I just leapt and planned on figuring it out as I went. Which, I 100% had to do when during that stint of business ownership Kel lost his job, and I was hustling for both of us.
Then I did it again when I was in my late twenties when it was more of a necessity than a choice. I left a job that was sucking my soul via a method that was hard to determine if they fired me or I quit. Either way, it was precisely the shove I needed, and soon I was doing it! Until I got an offer I couldn’t refuse and here we are.
Those situations it got me thinking about when and how to KNOW if you’re ready to make the leap and work for yourself. Full time. And maybe it won’t be forever, but I genuinely feel this time it will be. Everything I’ve done leading up to this point has prepared me. The mistakes and missteps especially.
How I knew it was time to start working for myself;
Ready or not, here I come.
I mentioned this already, but I feel ready for this. This has been a great indicator for me that it’s time to go. And sure, not everyone is going to feel that way because of nerves or whatever kind of apprehension. If you feel ready, I think trust that, then it’s time to start putting those wheels in motion to step down from your current role. Just rip that band-aid off, commit and book a date. Having a date on the horizon will get you there; ready or not.
This is the time to put your self-guided time management skills to the test. Which, let me tell you, are something that it took me a while to develop. During this notice period start to make sure you have everything in place to start. Do you have somewhere to work? Do you have an idea of what hours you’ll be working? Is there anything you need to finalise the set-up of your office or workspace? Now is the time. Homestretch.
Money matters.
I know, I know, it’s not all about money. It’s about following your passion and doing something you love. BUT the reality is that as an adult you need money to pay for the essentials, so you need a plan. Make sure at very least you have a bit of a cushion. At worst, have an idea of the current income you’re making from your side-hustle.
As far as money goes, maybe you’ll have to streamline your bills to make this work. Before you make a move, pay down as much debt as you can and make sure you’re on the best deal for your cost of living basics (mortgage/rent, phone, internet, electricity etc.). Can’t see a reduction? Maybe you need to do what my friend Blaise did and move home for a while to make it work during the startup phase. A great option if you have it.
My final point on money is to work for yourself you’re going to need to know how to manage your money. To make it work through famine and feast. To make sure you’re saving enough money for tax time and not getting yourself in a hole. Been there, done that. Get advice early from a small business accountant and get set up correctly from day one. Less than day one, day zero point something.
Have a plan, Stan.
Seriously without a plan what the heck are you doing? This is somewhere I see small businesses and freelancers fall downtime and time again. They have no idea where they’re going, how they’re going to get there and what it’s going to take. Not just related to money either, that’s why we’re in a new section. I’m talking about planning everything.
Start with a budget. What do you NEED to earn to live and be a functioning (tax-paying, sorry to harp on it, flashbacks) human? Break that down into monthly then weekly chunks. I can’t give you this figure; you need to take a genuine look at what it costs for you to live and work, and find your number. Then figure out how many services/products you need sell to get there.
Then the fun starts.
Now you know that you need to sell five website packages a month to make ends meet, you get to figure out how to do that. Taking into account the sales and decision making process time frames. That’s the foundation of your plan. Where will your leads come from, how will you generate them? What will it COST to get them to the point where they buy? Do you see how the plan starts to come together after that?
Get serious about a business budget and plan. I have this free downloadif you need a bit of guide of the questions you’re asking yourself. Sure it says new year business planning, but it’s still good in September. Easy. If you’re going to go for it, you have to take the time to do this first; long before you leap. Maybe you’re not there yet. Maybe when you’ve done the planning, you need to spend some time generating more business on the side. That’s okay too. That’s part of this whole process.
Which brings us to, maybe you’re not ready to work for yourself.
Maybe you started this post, and you were ready, you felt ready, and now you’re like, hmmm. That’s okay. For some of you that ‘notice period’ will be all that you need to get you ready. If you’re close, maybe this is nerves and let me tell you, that won’t change. I’m nervous. I think that’s half the fun. I’m a crazy person. Haha. For some, maybe now isn’t the time. Maybe you’re not ready to work for yourself. Genuinely. Not nerves, not taking the leap, and not a tiny bit of planning and shuffling. For some of you, maybe there’s more to be done. Awesome! We like a challenge, and the best part about not ‘having’ to do this now is that you’ve got time.
Chill, my friend.
If you’re not generating the income and you’d just hoped it would come. Trust me, don’t do that to yourself. Have regular earnings/clients happening; it’ll save you a world of pressure when you go full-time working for yourself. I’ve seen many people who are new to this work for yourself life burn themselves out (quickly!) because they thought more time would immediately equal more money. That’s not always the case. Spend some time either building up your clients or your cash cushion before you leap.
That’s my advice. Take it or leave it. If your problem is that you don’t have all the information you need or you’re starting from scratch, seek out a mentor or business coach. Invest some of the money you have into working out a plan to count down to your business. Boxes to tick and ducks to get in a row. Having someone else support you and cheer you on in this process will mean you’re not right where you started in a year or two.
There we go team, phew. If you made it this far ten points for you! I hope that in some way this post has helped you make a decision (or provide some clarity) about if you are ready to work for yourself. I know you can do it. You can make this work. If I can clarify anything, let me know in the comments, via email or whatever. Taking this step with some of you guys along for the ride seems a little less daunting. Don’t you think?
I’m probably the last person you should be listening to on the topic of building a healthy email list right now. My newsletters have been infrequent and uninteresting, to say the least. But, take this as a do what I say, not as I do kind of thing, okay? If you’ve got that firmly in mind, let’s move on.
You see, I’ve managed lists from a few hundred subscribers all the way up to ten thousand, and the secret is? They’re all the same. Big lists or small, established or brand new. You grow them the same way. You maintain them the same way. And in the end, if you don’t take care of it, people unsubscribe the same way.
Let’s get started, shall we? Email list building 101.
When building an email list, you have to offer people a decent reason for them to be there. Your offer must have genuine value to the subscriber. And no, as fun as it seems to you, subscribing to buy stuff from you one day is not a good enough reason.
That said, side note, make sure you are collecting email addresses, with consent, from people who ARE buying from you. At least you know those people already like you. Right? Do this by asking existing customers and clients to join the list, give them the opportunity at every stage of the transaction and more often than not, they’ll take it. Now back to a decent offer thing.
A decent offer to subscribe is the reason you see so many offerings of content upgrades and freebies on websites. Things such as how-to guides, sample product (especially popular with stock photos), checklists, webinars or eBooks. The subscriber is offered the ‘thing’ for free in exchange for your email address. These are great. I highly recommend having an offering or five because they work. People love a bargain and something that’s free, well even better.
BUT.
And that’s a BIG BUT.
Make sure what you offer for an incentive is actually worth the trouble of subscribing, confirming and waiting for that download to appear. Because if it’s a page or two made in Word and half of it is your bio, then you’re not offering actual value there. I once subscribed to receive a checklist for creating a YouTube video. The document I received was very schmick and professionally done, but the content was a single page long. I mean, hardly worth the effort and I was immediately a little put off the list.
Then you have to consider if it’s something your audience really wants. I offered a Suger Drinks cocktail ebook once, not a great lure at all. People just weren’t that into it and so they didn’t see the point of signing up to get it. No problem, moving on to the next idea. Start by testing it with your existing audience. If they’re not that into it, back to the drawing board for you. This item, this discount or free download or offering, MUST be worth the effort.
Bring the value, not the sales pitch.
Think creatively, this part of the journey isn’t about making a sale. Put that out of your head. You’re not selling your wares right now. You’re selling value. This offering has one purpose. And that is to be of value enough to the person who sees it that they subscribe immediately.
When you have an offer (or five) that are performing reasonably well when promoted to your existing customers, clients or audience, you can move on. That last part, it can take a while and an investment in developing something great. But rest assured, when you get something that works, it will keep working for a long time afterwards.
Widen the net.
Next, you need to widen your net to promote your list. If your offer is performing well enough with your existing audience, they’ve signed up already. But how do we reach more people, right? Short version, with ads. Facebook and Instagram ads.
Stop. Don’t eye roll at me that Facebook and Instagram are over. That’s not even close. What is even close to being over is the free ride we’ve been enjoying up until now. Chalk the freebies up to good luck and implement a genuine Ad strategy to grow your list.
Not sure what you’re doing? There’s SO much free information online. Google it my friend. Spend smaller amounts to test the performance of your ads. Find something that works, then and only then, put more money behind it. Have a look at brands like Showpo and Wish, they out pretty much 100% of their marketing budgets into content creation and Facebook ads. You can’t argue with that kind of growth!
And finally, make it idiot proof.
If you want people to subscribe, you need to mention it, make it easy and generally talk about your list whenever the opportunity arises. For the first year of my newsletter, I posted the link to Twitter and Facebook every single week. I’d talk about what great content was coming and the freebies for subscribers. It was a whole thing. People felt part of it and being on the list was worth it.
This section is called make it idiot proof for a reason. Mentioning it, telling people to subscribe is one thing, but making it easy is the real key. Have multiple subscribe buttons and options, even word the ‘subscribe now’ differently to make sure it’s clear. Include a link to your sign up form whenever you can. Add it to your website’s menu bar for goodness sake.
The last thing you want to do is have someone land on your business page or website, and NOT be able to figure out how to subscribe. Make their life easier and your list fatter. Make it EASY. Not sure if you’ve made it obvious enough, ask a friend to head to your site and subscribe. If they can’t find it, no one will. Move it!
And that, my friends, is my post about making your email list MORE subscribe-able.
This was a question sent to me by Carly, who is looking to grow her audience for an upcoming book release. Hopefully, that helped, Carly. But the tips will work for anyone. Keep it simple, offer people value, and really consider what’s in it for THEM when they subscribe. We’re all clear what’s in it for us. Before you take the first step, know what’s in it for them. No arguments.
Have a question for me about blogs, business or branding? Let me know, I’m happy to help.
Last week, when we talked about life, Danielle wanted to know what happened with the pancake shop about being more open with my story. Did you know I had a pancake shop? Haha. I wonder if you did.
Its name was Whispers, and it was a pancake and crepe cafe. I purchased the existing business and settled on it weeks after my twenty-first birthday, refurbished and updated equipment, and went for it. That cafe was where I first cut my teeth on what it was like to work for myself.
It was hard – short version.
But not for the reasons you might think. Cafes have notorious schedules, and you have to be there the majority of the time. And that’s just opening hours. There is also cooking, ordering, marketing, catering, book work and staffing. Plenty to do to keep you busy. I flipped more pancakes in those years than most people will in ten lifetimes. Haha.
I loved it. The coming and going of people. The new ideas and changing the scenery of a cafe. There was never a day that looked the same as the one before. And I love coffee… I pretty much drank enough coffee for a small country in those few years.
It was the best.
The Saturday morning’s when the cafe felt like having many people over for breakfast was my favourite. Kel and I would often handle these morning’s ourselves, him madly flipping and filling pancakes while I took orders and made coffee. Writing this now makes me smile at the hustle-bustle memory of that.
At night we would do private events and parties. Dusting off the banquet type servery and offering a private and fun space for people to come and celebrate. That cafe was my first experience of creating community in business, a lesson I’ve taken with me always.
So, where did it go wrong?
In a lot of ways, it didn’t. It did OKAY in the most average of ways. It supported Kel and me when we needed it to. We managed to keep our heads above water, the staff paid and pay most of our bills (me and the tax department, that’s a story for another day).
When I sold the business, I knew that it would support the new owner and that there was enough in the sale to settle any outstanding bills. That said, I didn’t recoup the money I spent in the beginning. I was okay with that; it felt like the money I paid for my education in business. Worth every penny, even if today I would do things a little differently.
I’d had a crash course and survived. I was proud of that.
When I went into it, however, fine wasn’t what I was looking for. I was going to make it THE BEST. I had ideas about how to market the business, build up the catering side and make it a unique offering in the town. I did some of that. But I also did a lot of not that.
Being responsible for yourself and your output is difficult to master. Or, it has been for me anyway. I found that sometimes I just couldn’t be bothered or didn’t want to, and when that mood struck, it was impossible to motivate me. It’s hard to learn that about yourself, trust me.
I also learned that I was a know-it-all. Try not to be surprised. Haha. I’d watched my parents in their businesses and done a few semesters of a marketing degree. I thought I knew everything. My family would try to have their input (based on tested industry experience), and I thought I knew better.
Easily the biggest downfall as a young business owner.
It’s a lesson I only really learned in the decade that followed. Knowing when to trust my gut and listening to others was hard for me. I had it all tied up in being independent and standing on my own two feet. I’ve always been called spoiled or entitled because of my parent’s success, and this was a reaction to that.
But it doesn’t work. Sure, I had to follow my instincts about some things, but some fundamentals, had I not been so stubborn about doing it myself, wouldn’t have been the hard-fought lessons they were. I could have been better, done better, had I just been patient and spent a little more time listening than speaking.
Heck, 35-year-old me still needs that advice sometimes.
So, there you go. That was my first ever experience as a business owner. I loved it. Business has always fascinated me, and I knew with absolute certainty that working for myself was my ‘thing’ since forever. Do you have a business or blog? Was it like that for you too?
Planning a creative business photo shoot? Great! This is probably one of my favourite topics to talk about in business and easily my favourite thing to do. Making sure I have a collection of images I can tap into that are personal and filled with brand personality. That resource of creative business images is essential to managing my social media presence day in and day out.
Planning a creative business photo shoot will ensure your brand, blog or business has everything it needs to make waves on social media. All tied in a neatly branded bow. But planning it, executing it and getting to the stage where you have the images to use can be problematic. That’s where this video comes in.
In this video, I’m sharing my tips for planning your next photo shoot including;
Choosing the colours, brand story, location
Hiring a choosing a photographer, developing a relationship, doing the deal and knowing the terms
How to get comfortable in front of the camera
How to make image selections at the end
Why a business photo shoot?
I’ve used creative business photo shoots for a number of years now (see above). I love the evergreen content it creates for my businesses. I have at my disposal an archive of great images I can pull out when I need to inject a little more personality into the blog or social media. Despite numerous hair colour changes along the way (whoops), I have been able to use them year after year.
Having an archive of images improves your brand, blog or business’s overall branding. Go back to the images above and you can see the ‘brand story’ run through the photos. The black, white, blue, grey theme is there. Sometimes subtly and sometimes through obvious clothing and location choices. Consider that as you plan your clothing, prop and location choices.
Consider how much easier it would be to make your website look awesome or roll out content on your social media with these images in your pocket? That part of what you want to plan before your business photo shoot, what EXACTLY are you looking for? Are they all action shots, or are there some posed? Will you use flat lays and product shoots? Use that Pinterest board and plan out the types of images you want beforehand.
What others say.
Nikki from Styling You says in her post 13 tips for professional business photos (another good one, if you’re looking for tips). This post was the reason I started booking this kind of business photo shoot. For a long time, Kel and I had taken all my photos and they were never quite what I was looking for. With Nikki’s tips in hand, I decided to plan my own shoot. I’ve never looked back.
“Having a set of current photos available at the ready to distribute to media, event organisers and for use on your own social media networks helps you to present an image of your business that is true to you and what you represent. Basically, having headshots and creative photos of you ‘doing business’ makes you look more professional.”
Deb from Debbish used a recent milestone birthday as an excuse to have a personal photo shoot. The images from this shoot could easily be used as part of her professional portfolio as a book writer and reviewer, should she need them. She used a local photographer looking to develop her portfolio and the results are amazing.
“I’d previously contacted a local photographer, Jessica Gunn Photographer as I’d initially planned to get some new headshots done for the blog (and Linked In etc) before the Romance Writers’ Conference in August… but it just didn’t happen. Jess was recommended by a friend and I’d looked at her work and thought we’d be a good fit.”
If you have questions, make sure you leave them in the comments here or on YouTube. It loves that kind of thing. Now, on to the good stuff. Below is the PDF download of the important things to plan/book when putting together your creative business photo shoot. No sign up required, go nuts.
Your WordPress questions answered!? Yaaas. Who’s ready for this? It can’t just be me. Gayel here from Made Neat; if there is one topic I love chatting about, it’s WordPress. I can and will take an afternoon out with friends, sipping margaritas, to a conversation about their Google Analytics and websites.
It’s one heck of a party trick.
To suggest I can be a geek at times is a mild statement but it is all for the greater good. And hey, I work for a pretty cool digital agency these days. That makes it all ok. Probably.
What I find interesting about many people who own websites, is that they don’t realise how many elements go into establishing and maintaining a great home on the internet. They overlook tasks and practices that could be implemented to achieve great performance, SEO, traffic and conversions. Things they could be doing themselves, but usually aren’t.
Things that the professionals just do by default.
With that in mind, I thought for my very first post on the new look Suger Coat It, I would touch on these topics. It’s my WordPress Questions Answered, big fat 2018 tip of the day all in one. And maybe down the track, Suger will let me back to expand on them if you have questions. So make sure you leave them in the comments and we’ll go from there.
Your WordPress questions answered.
Using Themes … because they always look pretty straight out of the box.
For many people, choosing to run a theme over a bespoke WordPress website comes back to the budget. There are so many themes on the market it is easy to grab the first one-off the shelf and request your website designer customise it. Careful with this route. It can prove problematic.
Careful consideration needs to be given to using themes, the big one is page speed. Often many plugins are required for the theme to run on your sire which inevitably slows down your page speed. Poor customisation of these themes can also mean that the site lacks branding and a unique look each website deserves.
Work with your designer to find a theme or follow their recommendation for one that they know works. If you’re installing yourself, make sure you read reviews {scroll past the five stars and look for three or four stars to get the real version}. Sometimes it’s best to stick with a theme developer recommended by a friend.
What do you mean page speed? My website loads … eventually.
The speed in which your page loads isn’t just something that provides for great user experience. That said, nobody likes to wait for anything to load these days, keep that in mind. Page speed will impact your Google ranking and score for usability. If your selling products or services via your website, it’s pretty much a death sentence.
There are a few factors that come into play with a websites page speed, the big ones are :
As previously mentioned in page speed, running too many plugins on your site will slow it down and risk problems with incompatibilities. Suger, I’m looking at you and your love of all things plugins here. Keep things really simple for yourself and only run the bare minimum of plugins.
The essential plugins we recommend as a digital agency include :
YOAST SEO
Gravity Forms
WP Fastest Cache
The trick is to only use what you need and delete any that could be running or are redundant. And I mean everything. If you’re not actively using it. Disable it, test it didn’t break anything important by refreshing your webpage and remove it. You can always reinstall it later if you change your mind.
We know that running only necessary plugins on a themed site can be difficult. Often developers will use plugins to deliver items that someone building a Bespoke website will code in. It’s finding that middle ground between what your budget allows, how you want your site to look and the page speed. Walk that line, you’ll find your happy place.
Google Analytics … you mean stalking my site visitors to see where they live right?
Having Google Analytics running on your website is essential. Especially for anyone that needs to maintain excellent Google ranking. Keeping an eye on your Google Analytics ensures your website is running as best as it can be and growth can be tracked. That doesn’t only mean looking at your site demographics, other important indicators include your site’s bounce rate, acquisition and site speed {that guy again}.
Google Analytics tracking code can be easily added by yourself or preferred developer if you don’t already have it on your site. See how you go with this tutorial from Google as a starting point to install on your website. If you pay close attention to what it’s asking you should get through it in no time.
HTTPS … Do I really need a security certificate?
If ranking in Google is important to you, then ensuring that you have an SSL certificate running is essential. I’ve said that before, but there are a few key things Google views as important and this is one of them. Google now gives preference to sites that are https {secure} over those that aren’t. It’s about the user experience, they want to make sure the users they are sending to your site are safe there. Contact your host for an SSL Certificate. They should also be able to assist you in getting it up and running on your website.
Gutenberg … Excuse me, say what now?
Over the coming months, WordPress will release its own version of a page builder called Gutenberg. In the WordPress development community, we are waiting with excitement to find out exactly how this will change the environment we work in. For the everyday WordPress user, this means no longer needing to use a page builder plugin that can be tricky and heavy on page speeds.
Suger uses Divi on her blog {editor: plug} and it uses a thing called Page Builder. But this WordPress native development meant that you can get that ease of use without having to be on a certain theme from a certain developer for it to work efficiently. Watch this space, this is exciting news for those who DIY their website.
Gutenberg, or a Page Builder, will mean having more control over how your website pages look. This could be a great thing for you or it could just be one more section of WordPress that makes no sense. It all depends on how good you are at design and user experience. Which in the end, as experts, is why people will always need Developers like us. Job security, phew.
And lastly… my top tip for 2018 – A Great Digital Content Strategy
I’m hoping that this post has helped get your burning WordPress questions answered. It can be daunting to someone new to get started. I hope I’ve helped! But the final tip I wanted to share is about creating a great digital content strategy. Sure, you can pay to get to the top of Google, but that isn’t necessary. When you have a great digital content strategy you can place your business website there in an authentic and organic way.
Utilising content as an SEO strategy is by far my top tip for 2018. Honestly, it is one of the easiest ones to deploy on a WordPress site. Create great content by being helpful, solving problems with evergreen content. Make a list now of the questions your customers or clients always ask and start answering them.
Alongside that incorporate updates in your industry, the clients you are working with through profiles and/or links and happenings in your business. This style of content {the personal, getting to know you stuff} will always win you results. People like you to be a person on the internet. Especially on social media. And personally, I think is a far better way, way more fun, easy to generate week after week way to outrank your competitors than coughing up the dollars.
{editors note: Want to hear more about this? I have a BUMPER post coming talking about creating a digital content or social media plan for your business. Watch this space}.
And that’s it! Phew. Your WordPress questions answered over and out. Got more? Leave them in the comments and between Suger and I and we’ll get back to you. After all interactions like that are good for your linked website and this one. Did you know that?
