Woah! What a way to start the year. January was a total whirlwind. In just a few short weeks we launched a new program, started a podcast and Emylee adopted Penelope! We definitely learned a lot, pivoted and restructured a whole bunch — so read on to see all the strategies we started to implement in January of 2017.

Why we do income reports?

In an effort to be as transparent as possible in our own business we have chosen to make 2017 the year we showcase the good, the bad and the ugly. That means we talk about money on months we bring home the bacon and on months we’d rather not discuss finances. We hope you learn a LOT from these reports. Replicate and tweak our strategies to use in your own business. Get inspired, learn from our mistakes and grow your own online business.

If you’re a product based business, chances are you’re already on Instagram (if you aren’t yet, you should be!). Being a predominantly visual platform, Instagram is a vital business tool for those of us who are makers and creatives.

So you’ve made some beautiful things and you’re ready to take the photos and share them with the world... But what do you actually SAY?

Ultimately you want people to buy your work, but you need to write something other than “I made a thing, go buy it” for every post.

I’m going to let you in on four super-secret golden rules of using Instagram as a maker.

Flashback 2 years. I was completely unhappy. I didn’t like what I was doing with my life. I didn’t enjoy work anymore. I was totally burnt out. I would fall asleep at 8 p.m. and I was still consistently (and constantly) exhausted. I knew I had to do something about it.

Since I could walk I have always been one to take action. If someone scraped their knee on the playground, I would run to get the nearest teacher. If someone was struggling in school, I would offer to help them through their problems. If friends are struggling with a dilemma, I listen and give advice. But the moment the tables are flipped and I am the one who needs help, I am typically floundering.

Owning a small business is challenging on so many levels, but taxes seem to be a big stressor on the minds of most creatives. While talking taxes is never glamorous, getting to know the basics of tax can save you time and money down the road. Here is a small list of the things you should consider when you’re thinking about your taxes.

YouTube is amazing. In just a few short minutes, you can learn how to do anything. Like how to create your own stand-out YouTube thumbnails in Canva!

Even better, you don’t need to have (or be) a YouTube Manager or a Graphic Designer to have a pro-looking channel. You’ll be happy to hear that Canva has already made it super easy for your channel to stand out and improve your click-through rate.

In today’s short training I’ll share how to create your very own YouTube thumbnails, so you can create your own unique style for every video and easily transform the overall look and feel of your channel.

So, this ain’t your first Trello rodeo.

You have Abagail and Emylee’s boards. Your business is insanely organized. You spend your days doing the things and moving the cards to the right, to the right.

Like Beyonce on opposite day.

Anyway, you spend most of your day in Trello and love it that way. But is that really a good thing?

I mean, I get it.

The app is a-mah-zing for planning and organizing, and that stuff is so important. But you need to focus on the doing, not just the planning and organizing, so maybe you need to find another way to get that stuff done.

Accounting for Small Businesses is oftentimes the biggest stressor for small business owners, especially creatives. Crunching the numbers can feel overwhelming. But without the proper preparation and tracking, not having the right cash flow clarity can be the difference between you being a thriving business and closing your doors.

Did you know that recent studies have shown that 50 percent of small businesses will fail within the first year? How about the fact that a staggering 95 percent will close their doors before they hit their fifth year of operation? That one seems a bit hard to believe, but in today’s economy it could be true. Here are some additional stats that may surprise you (source):

• 40% of small businesses are profitable.

• 30% break even.

• 30% are continually losing money.

Hiring new consultants, contractors, and team members is a big step in your business, but once you’re ready to take it your workload decreases and your business is able to improve in multiple ways, leaving you to work on your strengths and be the bad-ass lady boss you are (instead of the boss, chief bottle-washer and Jill-of-all-trades).

A blog editor may not have made the top of the list when you dreamed about bringing someone on to help you. But…

You only have twenty-six small letters and a handful of dots and dashes to wow, inspire, share, create, and convince. Surely you want to combine these in the best way possible?

YOU SHOULD BE IN FACEBOOK GROUPS IF YOU WANT TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS.

Yes, I totally just yelled that at you BUT only because I’m trying to make a point.

We have ALL heard this; if we want to grow our business, we need to be in Facebook groups and it’s true but you might be missing a key part to this process.

Here’s the thing y’all, being in Facebook groups means a lot more (or less?) than just running in and dropping your links then running away; it means being involved, being the expert and just being awesome - but that’s a discussion for another day.