I regularly work with creatives and business owners on honing in on their marketing plans and strategy, and more often than not there is no shortage of ideas. There’s rarely a lack of inspiration or an empty to-do list. Instead, I’m generally shutting ideas down (in a loving way), streamlining processes, and encouraging entrepreneurs to be more realistic with what they focus on and commit to.

Because although their ideas might be new and fun and exciting, there is always a cost to pursuing them. And far too often I see business owners spinning their wheels – trying to do way more than they have the resources for, and bringing themselves to the point of burnout, because they don’t have a plan in place.

How to know when the expert you're hiring is the right choice

Many entrepreneurs have bigger business goals than what they’re able to achieve on their own. They crave bigger impact and expanded reach. They want to free up more of their time and energy. They desire greater revenue.

This transformative business growth can’t happen though, without the recognition that you don’t have all the answers, and that you can’t do everything on your own. These goals generally require hiring, delegating, automating, and outsourcing.

Here’s how to know you’re making the right choice when hiring.

Marketing, BusinessJasmine IrvenMay 3, 2023hire, hiring, business planning, business growth, MarketingComment

How to make more objective decisions about your products and services

Every now and then, I have people who want to share various different business ideas with me to see what I think about them. Inevitably, my strategist's brain starts whirring with questions. Most importantly: why and so what?

In my experience, business owners and leaders often have great affinity for their work. It's understandable when they've put so much effort and thought into building a business around an idea. And in many ways that confidence is great! The work is borne out of passion, beliefs, and values they hold dear.

The challenge comes when you become so attached or immersed in what you've created (or plan to create) that you can't see the flaws anymore.

Here’s how to make more objective decisions around the products and offers you release.

The importance of documenting business processes (even for small businesses and entrepreneurs)

By laying all of the steps you take to accomplish various tasks or complete recurring projects out in a document or program, you've created a basic standard operating procedure (SOP) that will help your business thrive.

Documenting processes and procedures, even as an entrepreneur or small business saves time, and can support productivity, business growth and hiring, consistency among outputs, and regular review and analysis to improve efficiency.

How to create effective calls to action (CTAs) in your content

Your call to action directs your audience as to what you want them to do in each piece of content. It provides consumers with clear next steps and direction, which can reduce friction for customers, prevent decision fatigue or overwhelm, and generate more conversions.

Unfortunately, these calls to action are also often misunderstood, which can make them frustrating.

Here are some examples of the common issues I see with CTAs and how to fix them.

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