Have you ever walked away from a restaurant or retail store and been so upset about the service you received (or more accurately didn’t receive)? Maybe you’ve been so frustrated with a business that you’ve vowed to never use their services again? It happens to all of us at one point or another in our lives, and it is really frickin’ frustrating! And if you’re anything like us you probably spend a good 2 or 3 minutes yelling – probably to yourself – about it in the car.

But, what if you’re the business that’s giving the poor customer service? Now, before you say, “no, no, no, that could never be me” or lose your mind on us about how unhelpful and unnecessary this post is going to be for you, just think about it….

I’m going to be brutally honest with you: Sometimes, we creatives can be a bit desperate.

When you work in a creative field, you often have to explain to non-creatives what it is that you do and why it’s a real job, and that you deserve to be compensated in real dollars for real work that has real value. It makes you want to barf. But hey, it comes with the territory.

Because of this, a lot of new creatives with new creative businesses immediately start freaking out about gathering clients as quickly as possible. They’re so worried about staying afloat that they take on any and all work that comes their way. I tenderly refer to this panic as “Business-Artist Desperation Syndrome.” It’s B.A.D.S.ville.

I’ve been here before, guys, and I can say with absolute surety that it is not a good look. I want to save you from some of the long-term effects of working with less than ideal people.

So you’ve created a stylish blog with a beautiful layout and creative content. You have all of your social media accounts linked and a brand new subscriber list ready to be filled to its capacity, and your feelings of accomplishment are out of this world! After being in a world of blogging bliss, few months or so go by and you realize with a quick look at your analytics that nothing is happening on your website.

Want to know the worst part? It’s actually true. Ain’t nobody reading your blog but your momma and maybe your best friend when she has the time. This is the painful reality for the majority of bloggers. It’s a vicious cycle that happens continuously and that I see all too often, even having been there myself. It's frustrating to think that you're actually an amazing blogger who has a powerful message to share and the only thing holding you back is an audience. In this day and age, it isn’t enough to put up a blog and post content.  You need a strategic marketing plan to get people to come to know who you are and read what you have to say. 

Your business is missing its marketing department: let’s talk social media for a minute. When was the last time you sat down and looked at your social media efforts with the eye of a business boss? Are you able to look at your posts on the various platforms you’re on and tell us the data? Do you have reasons as to why you posted that image or that caption on that day or time? Or is what you’re doing on social media similar to your mindset when you’re strolling through the Dollar Spot at Target?

Look, we’ve all been there. We create accounts for our business on all the platforms and post here and there thinking we’ll unlock the code. We keep half-assing our presence and wondering why we’re not A) growing, B) making sales, and C) enjoying it. We look at everyone else’s account and think that they’ve must have found the magic pill for social media success.