business insights
A funnel is not a website. It’s not a single email. It’s not an overpriced software platform someone tried to sell you in a webinar. It’s the journey someone takes from “Who are you?” → “This is interesting...” → “I need this in my life” → “Take my money.”
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100 Profitable Digital Product Ideas
Plus, a totally free challenge to kick you into action and get this baby launched.
Our Big Secret to an Organized and Balanced Workday in Our Small Business
Let me paint you a picture of our lives before Trello! Endless piles of paper, three journals working simultaneously (supposedly with different subject matter in each), scratched out to-do lists (and when they got too messy we would spend time rewriting them). I was in a constant state of panic, like I was going to forget a meeting or a deadline. I worried (even more than normal) that our whole business would fall apart over one missed task.
In the past we used Wunderlist as our project management system. It worked for a time but as our business grew and became more complicated, it ended up like the notepads, one hot mess.
We knew there had to be a better way!
Enter Trello - A free business tool that changed our lives and improved our business. But don't Google anything yet! Trello on its own is a little confusing, but don't worry - we've fixed it.
How to Know You're Ready to Launch Your Next Big Thing
If you're the kind that has lots of 'almost-ready-but-not-quite' products on your launching back burner, this get shit done post is for you. Here's what we know for sure: launched is better than perfect, and there are people out there who need what you have to offer. Here's how to know if it's time to get it off the shelf and into the hands of your dream customers.
Why You Need to Create a Business Plan for Your Small Business
Creating a business plan is one of the best fundamental things you can do to promote success in your business. A business plan will help you stick to, well, your plan for your business. It also helps you think about things you haven’t thought about before and things you should know for your business.
I’ve started several businesses and they’ve all failed because I didn’t have a business plan in place. Once I decided to take this latest business seriously, I filled out a free business plan sheet and it’s been one of the best fundamental things I could do for myself and my business.
It’ll help you hone in on your ideal client and get you thinking about the products, verbiage and places to market. Which, in turn, means more revenue in your pocket. It also helps you think about places you’ve never thought to market to before.
How to Find + Collaborate with Instagram Influencers to Grow Your Brand
Instagrammers. Influencers. Tastemakers. These are a lot of the buzzwords that have been circling the marketing realm in the past few years. It may seem super daunting and corporate but influencer marketing is something that can be scaled back to work for your small business. But how?
Getting your brand out of the shadows and reaching out to Instagram influencers can be terrifying. You’re putting yourself out there and you're getting visible. The idea of this makes a lot of us recoil and want to get back into bed. (Try to resist that temptation and hear me out. I know it’s hard!)
But, it can also bring invaluable results to your business. By creating meaningful collaborations with Instagrammers, you can increase your brand exposure, grow a community and build trust in your brand. Let’s get started!
How to be a Productive New Entrepreneur
Starting a new business means introducing a whole new set of tasks to your plate, and the crazy part is, you don’t even know what half of them are yet.
The first few days will be busy as you set things up, such as your domain and social media accounts. Maybe you’ll write a business plan. Then comes the hard part, as you settle into a routine.
Communicating Your Brand Messaging Through Your Packaging
When you set up a product-based business, you spend a lot of time thinking about the product itself. You’ll devote time to planning how to market and communicate it to potential customers. But often, packaging is last on the to-do list, because it’s seen as a practical way to protect and ship, and nothing more.
Working Less and Making More: A Practice in Patience, Systems and Trust
You’ve heard it a million times. “I want to work less and make more.” But do you actually know what it takes to make this happen? The entrepreneurs who are making bank are NOT lazy. They are strategic, methodical, and extremely patient.
Do you think Pat Flynn went from being laid off to earning over $100k per month revenue overnight?! Are you kidding?
Do you think Oprah went right from waitress to world-recognized thought leader?! Heck no.
Do you think Marie Forleo rolled out B-School her first year in business?! Absolutely not.
Their careers didn’t fall out of thin air. They spent years perfecting their craft, tweaking their processes and making shifts towards their big dreams.
We’re no different. We absolutely want world domination (for all female creative business owners). But we know the tide won’t shift overnight.
Organize Your Business and Your Life with Trello
Figuring out how to be productive as a small business owner is a job in and of itself. If you’re like us, then you’ve tried ALLL the systems! Some are free (like post-it notes, the notes app on your phone, notebooks and notepads) and some are paid (expensive software or paid apps that you think will do the trick). For some reason, they’ve all failed — and you may feel like you’ve failed all of them. Because for a lot of us (especially us creatives), our brains only work a certain way.
Seriously — for us to be productive, organized and put together we have to have the moon in a certain phase, standing on one foot, in a finger towards the north wind kind of pose. You feel us?
15 Productivity Tools We Use in Business (HINT: 8 of them are free!)
Owning and operating your own business generally means that you end up wearing lots of hats. You’re not only the director of pushing out and creating all the content, but the one who markets it, organizes getting paid, communicates with clients, and so much more. It can get really overwhelming, but if you put systems in place you can save time, earn more, and work less. Organization and systems will help you focus on what you love, and also let you take care of the necessities. We’ve gathered our top 15 productivity tools *(HINT: 8 of them are free!) and today we’re letting you in on how we use them and how they could be big influencers in your business too.
7 Uncomfortable Conversations You will have with Wholesale Buyers (plus bonus scripts!)
Raise your hand if selling to your favorite store tops your business bucket list? But as exciting as it is to see your products on the shelf of a store, there’s a whole new set of challenges that come with developing wholesale and retail partnerships. One of the not-so-sexy sides of developing a wholesale/retailer business? You have to get comfortable with having some awkward and, at times, unpleasant conversations.
10 Tips for Running Your Product Based Business as an Introvert
As a product-based business owner, you are the face of your business. You know your line better than anyone else and are ready to chat up buyers + retailers about your awesome assortment of products. As an introvert, though, chances are you will find needing to be so “on” all the time exhausting. Running a business as an introvert comes with its own set of challenges because our natural tendencies don’t always align with how our extroverted clients + customers think.
While it’s tempting to sit back and hope that people will find you and purchase your products, you know that your business and marketing strategy is what sets you apart from the competition. For many introverts, all the “look at me and my business” talk can leave us ready to run for the hills. If you have ever struggled with finding a balance between putting yourself out there (because you know you have to) and staying true to your introvert roots, then today’s post has your name written all over it.
7 Ways Getting Published Changed My Business and How You can get Published Too
I’ve heard that over 80% of Americans want to write a book, but less than 1% ever do. That’s too bad! I wish I could have a minute to talk with each and every one of them and share my experience. I think some of them would be persuaded to actually put in the effort. Because the truth is, writing and publishing my first book changed my business (and my life) more than any other single action ever has. It was the catalyst that catapulted my success to where it is now.
Becoming an author expanded my audience exponentially, made me a go-to authority in my niche, created an additional stream of passive income, and positively changed my life in so many ways.
Putting Personality into Your Branding
With the huge influx of new solo or small group entrepreneurs into the world, the realm of branding has shifted. Where “personal branding” used to refer to the act of dressing up your personality, packaging yourself as a commodity in order to climb the corporate ladder, it now means something very, very different. Now personal branding refers to bloggers, solo photographers, freelancers, and all kinds of entrepreneurs and how they market themselves and their products or services. Furthermore, as these talented and capable people begin to brand themselves, a trend of DIY personal branding has taken over the blogosphere and social media marketing genres.
There is nothing wrong with DIY branding, particularly in the creative sector. After all, branding is something many creatives learn by trade and doing it in-house can save a lot of upfront cash for a new or small business. However, there is an unfortunate downside to the the DIY approach, especially in today’s post Pinterest world. Too often creatives, bloggers, and infopreneurs build a brand from shallow trends in their niche. Driven by the time stresses of the #sidehustle, or the ever-present comparison game, they abandon the core concept of authenticity and originality in branding and clamor to make something, anything so that they can launch their endeavors and build their businesses.
Welcome to My Blog
Hey, I’m Abagail Pumphrey!
You know when you are so deeply passionate about something you can’t help but share it? That’s how this blog has felt for the last decade. I’ve written about my latest strategies, tech how-tos, experience with scaling and so much more. I hope you find just what you’re looking for. We’re here to help!
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