Wow, thank you all to everyone who came out to the training webinar last weekend! We had a great turn out and talked about how to sleuth for content in your site that could be ready to turn into an online course, eBook or other premium content.
Doing my first webinar was a great reminder of how knowing the difference between what's important and what's urgent in your business is crucial to your success.
So what's the difference between urgent and important?
It is hard to stay focused on the big picture when you're knee-deep in writing, putting out fires and helping your customers or clients. Usually these are in the urgent category.
Urgent work is loud, has firm deadlines, is hard to ignore, and flashes notifications on all of your devices. It hits your inbox, makes your heart beat a little faster and you can probably knock ten of them off your to do list every day. (Only cause you're so pro!)
But what's important for building your business, whether you're an Etsy artist or a brick and mortar store owner, generally looks very different. Important things are relationship building, product creation, leaning new skills and setting up systems to run your business.
Important things can wait, or fade into the background. Sometimes they look optional, or like they're a good idea that would add too much to your plate if you jumped in todau. Important things are harder and need more effort. They take up one line on your daily check list, but can take hours to make a dent in them.
One isn't better than the other but they both need your attention if you want to find customers or clients, create something they love and build an online presence that they love. For my business, the webinar was a big step in the right direction that I'd been putting off, and creating a public deadline was the perfect way to guarantee my follow through.
[Tweet “To make big things happen you've got to call on your daring & say goodbye to your comfort zone! http://wp.me/pxZWv-422”]
I think it's crucial to get comfortable making choices about what to focus on, taking chances and challenging yourself. And when I start moving away from that, this is what I remind myself:
I have to act like my business life depends on what I do today. Because what I do each day matters.
This isn't about how much you have in your bank account, or your followers. This is about good old fashioned numbers that sometimes we creative types are too upbeat and aspirational to talk about.
I've worked for myself and written online since 2008 and only a handful of the blogs, businesses and incredibly talented people I followed just five years ago are still doing their thing.
I'm sure that you have a similar experience as a reader, too. To be clear, pivoting or doing different things doesn't mean that someone has failed. Working for someone else isn't settling, and working for yourself isn't the answer to all problems. But if you want to start a business or work for yourself and stay that way, this is something you have to consider:
If you want to be a small business success story, you can. But first you have to start questioning the common knowledge about how to do business.
Most people work hard to look successful in the short term, but then ultimately fades out because it doesn't share the whole picture. This is why so much of the popular advice that's out there won't help you grow a business you can rely on. And I'm excited to have an amazing resource that's going to help you create that!
What you do matters. Focus on what moves the needle for you, instead of following what other people tell you want to do and you'll be ahead of the pack.
LAST UPDATED ON: August 18th, 2015
CATEGORY: All Business & Blogging Posts Content Marketing Strategy
Hi Kyla! Just stopping by to say thank you once again. You’re one of a kind and I really appreciate your authenticity.
Thanks for commenting, Julie! It was great to talk with you at the webinar, and I’m looking forward to seeing where you take your blog.
Love your point about how you’ve been doing this for years and people who can’t keep the focus and dedication up start fading away (reminds me of my WildARSChase days when I think I first got connected to you!). I’ve evolved several times as I kept narrowing down what I really wanted to say and I agree – when I got caught up in following a million bits of advice, things went nowhere.
Oh my gosh, that was you? I remember your old blog, thank you for connecting the dots for me! Figuring out what conversation you want to be in is a long term process, experimenting and figuring it out over time is the only way to go. I’m glad you’re still writing – especially in the craziest time of your life with the twins! I’m amazed that you find time to make it work. You’re totally inspiring and encouraging me.
Very curious about your webinar! Missed the last one unfortunately so I hope I can make it this time around! Whenever I do something that has no immediate urgency (like reading marketing books) it’s harder to stay focused and not run back to the computer and jam out some e-mails or twerk my website. I like the idea of labeling it ‘important work’, I’ll do that from now on :-)
Glad it’s helpful, Sieb! Sometimes when I’m focusing on this for myself I’ll make gmail tags for “It’s Important” and “It’s Urgent” and I process my inbox into those two sections before I start responding. Just that process is a really helpful reminder for me.
THis is such a great point, Kyla! Having a clear understanding of priorities and how they impact my business has been a huge help too! When faced with difficult or uncertain situations, I always come back to my values and what is absolutely necessary!
Love that this resonated with you, Lindsay. It’s crucial to remember the big picture and to keep working on the really important things that will take you where you want to go. And it’s always surprising how different that is than what’s in our inbox most days!