Q & A with Abagail & Emylee
Episode 048: Show Notes
We are going to mix it up a little bit today on the podcast, by doing a Q&A session with yours truly. For this Q&A, it will be kind of like you are here because we are going to say some of your names, answer your questions, and give you our best tips and advice. Now, these questions do not necessarily make sense together, and they are in no particular order. We are simply taking them as they come, and knocking them out of the park for you guys.
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Some of the questions were submitted on Instagram, some of them are common questions we see over in the Facebook group, and some of them are just because we decided to throw them in because either someone has asked them at some point or because we just thought y’all needed all the answer to them. To add to that, maybe we will just make up some questions as we go along just to keep it super spicy. Tune in to find out. There is no rhyme or reason to today’s episode, so let’s just have fun with it!
Facebook and Small Business Owners
Our first question asks about why it is so much easier to get likes and shares on Facebook when you are using your personal account, compared to hearing crickets when you post the exact same thing on your business page. Well, the simple answer is that Facebook has gone into a pay to play scenario. Yes, you can get traffic on your general Facebook page just by posting, but on average you will only get 2–10% of the people who have liked your page at some point or another, to see a post that you put out there. Facebook is one of those tricky places where you can’t be guaranteed that you're going to get in front of anyone unless you're ready to sponsor a post or run an advertisement. That’s why you get more likes and shares if you post something on your personal, rather than business page, especially if you haven’t sponsored the post or advertised on Facebook.
Navigating Your Business Pricing Strategies
The next question asked about whether or not it would be appropriate to state your service prices on your website and social media platforms. If your pricing can allow your potential clients to get clarity on what your services actually cost, then stating your price is definitely the way to go. There are a few different ways that you can talk about your pricing on the different channels. On your website you can add your pricing to your “work with me” page, which is a great place to break down the packages and services you offer and really walk clients through what it is like to work with you. In addition to that, write a blog post that breaks down damaging assumptions about industry pricing and gives your potential clients further transparency.
Connecting With Your Email Subscribers
Next, we had a question asking how often we recommend emailing your subscribers. Ideally, if someone signs up for your email list, they should get some sort of email immediately that welcomes them to your newsletter, list, or tribe, whatever it may be. Now, how often should you be emailing after that? Honestly, it’s up to you. We are not going to tell you to shoot for weekly, or monthly, or quarterly; you know your audience better than we do. However, the one thing you absolutely must do while you are introducing yourself to them, is make your intentions clear. Tell them what they can expect, and how often you’ll be emailing them so that they are prepared when you pop into their inbox. The key thing is to understand the different needs of different subscribers, depending on the nature of the conversation and the relationship you have built.
Dealing with New Business Overwhelm
Being in business, you will quickly learn that weeks, months, and even years fly by faster than they ever did before because you have so many things to do. You have more on your plate than you ever had before because nobody else is telling you what to do and so you have all the ideas and you just want to do a million things all at the same time. The first step to just breathe and to really assess where you are trying to go and what your priorities should be to get there. The first few months of starting your own business can be totally exhausting, and that first year is just a giant juggling act. The best thing to do is to try and put as many systems and automations in place as you can to help take some of that workload off your shoulders and reduce your overall stress.
Outsourcing for Your Business At the Right Time
When it comes to understanding when and what to outsource in your business, you really need a two-step approach. Step one is to hack all your systems for as long as you possibly can until you know why you need to invest in something to make your life easier. Do not go out today and go buy all the things that you think would make your small business run better, because if you are not doing the dirty work now, you are not going to see how those systems can reward you later. The other part of this is that typically, we recommend that you invest in systems and software before you invest in people. It’s really about time; invest your time first and then invest in systems and then invest in people. To understand what to outsource first, assess what is taking up the majority of your time and what you are the worst at.
Strategies for Naming Your Blog or Business
We have seriously answered this question 45 million times and we will answer it yet again. The most important part is not to spend a million years on this! The first thing you are going to do is get out a piece of paper and write down words you like. It’s really simple; write down words that relate to your passion, the things you love, the things you ideally want to write about, and the things you ideally want to sell. Then, start pairing those up so they make some kind of sense. The key thing is to make sure that whatever name you choose is available by doing a URL search and looking up copyrights and trademarks.
Quote This
Don’t wait until you have piles of money coming in until you get your shit figured out. Get organized from day one.
Highlights
Understand the concept of Facebook’s “pay to play” scenario for business owners. [0:02:25.9]
Find out whether or not it is appropriate to state your service prices on your online platforms. [0:06:24.0]
Learn how often you should be contacting and engaging with your email subscribers. [0:11:03.3]
Discover the strategies of how to deal with new business overwhelm. [0:16:55.1]
Understand when and what to outsource first in your business. [0:23:51.9]
Hear our key super simple strategies for naming your business in a few easy steps. [0:31:41.1]
Find out what our thoughts are on the Dubsado system, and what to look out for. [0:35:05.6]
Learn our strategies and the importance of keeping track of your taxable income. [0:39:11.2]
Whether or not to switch from personal to business accounts on Instagram. [0:41:52.2]
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
We help overwhelmed and creative entrepreneurs break down their Oprah-sized dreams to create a functioning command center to tame the chaos of their business. Basically, we think you’re totally bomb diggity, we’re about to uplevel the shiz out of your business.
KEY TOPICS
Facebook’s “pay to play” concept, Openly stating your service prices, Engaging with your email list, Dealing with overwhelm in your business, Outsourcing, Tips for naming your business or blog, The Dubsado system, Strategies for keeping track of your taxes
