Today, we’re going to dive into a topic that someone recently submitted when I asked for feedback about my podcast – How to keep your business running behind the scenes while focusing on your family. There’s going to be tools that I will talk about on other episodes that could easily apply to this topic, but I think it will be good to have this discussion all in one place! Whether you’re in your family life so much that your business is suffering, or you’re in your business so much that you’re not giving your all to your family, these tools will help you so much! No matter where you are in your journey of balancing work and family!
First, let’s talk about the following: Working IN your business and working ON your business.
Working IN your business is what you do. This is when you’re working with clients, doing sessions, coaching, etc. This is when you go, show up, and work. However, there’s also working ON your business. Working ON your business if just as important (and maybe even more important) because it’s giving you those clients and the system for future clients. You do this so when you’re done working, more clients are coming in. A lot of people work IN their business just fine, but they don’t work ON their business near enough. These things are often the things that fall off the grid when things are stressful, your family is busy, etc. That’s what people are referring to when they say things like, “How do you keep your business going when you’re focusing on family time…” It’s the extra things like scheduling social media, email blasts, etc.
We’re going to dive in to some of these things:
1 – Schedule Marketing and Social Media
This is a BIG one that can unfortunately disappear when people are busy. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I schedule all of my social media 2 weeks ahead of time. I do this with 4 different business accounts. If I can do it with 4, you can totally do it with 1! I promise you, at first it may feel like too much work, but it’s easier to schedule 2 weeks than it is to post a day at a time. You’re already in the groove, it helps your content be more consistent, it helps you flow, and there’s so many other reasons why. Most importantly, though, it makes room for life to happen!
For Example:
The last few months have been CRAZY for our family. I recently went to Palm Springs for a conference. When I came back, my husband had already left to Asia for 2 and a half weeks. While he was gone, I was feeling like “I can totally handle this solo parenting thing!” My kids got the stomach flu. It was a disaster, I was in fight or flight, and I was exhausted. When he came back, I was completely trashed. There was also a million inches of snow while he was gone so I had to add all the plowing, shoveling, and snow blower fixing to my plate as well! The next week, my family came into town. The next, I went to Taylor Swift – it was fun, but I’m not 15 anymore, so that wrecked me. The day after I recover from Taylor Swift, my husband is now in Chicago for a week. Through all of this, there’s no way I’d be posting on social media every day if I wasn’t planned out. I’ve still been able to book coaching sessions, brands, and even our content day off our scheduled reels. Even though I felt as though I was giving my all to survive, my business was thriving. I strategically schedule my content ahead of time, and it makes room for life to happen.
I also schedule my email marketing ahead of time. I always schedule a whole quarter in advance. So, when it was March 1, I got an alert on my phone to schedule for the next quarter. I do 1 to 2 emails per segment. I have my family email list, my Kylee Ann Commercial list, Becoming a Brand Photographer Course, my podcast list, etc. It’s A LOT. I dedicate one workday to schedule all of the emails, for all of my segments, a quarter at a time.
My Tip: Schedule your marketing! Do not do it in real time!
2 – How to Schedule and Use To-Do Lists
I think people are shocked when they find out that I am much different than they may perceive me to be. I am not a robot human. It’s funny. I don’t think rest is lazy, but I rest a lot. I lay around, read, watch shows, don’t get ready every day, etc. I’m on when I’m on, but I’m off a lot more of the time. I work a lot when my kids are in school, but the rest of the time I’m doing the regular stay-at-home mom stuff. Really, my life is not THAT crazy – it’s because I’m scheduled in my life as well.
I have a recurring to-do list where I set alarms on things I need to do every week, every month, and every quarter. I have a reel about this – check it out! My reminders pop up on my phone, but the key is, you have to be willing to stop and do these things when you’re reminded.
3 – Use a Schedule
For my “work IN” and “work ON” time, I have a schedule. I work IN my business on certain days – my coaching, recording, shoots, etc. I separate this by the day of the week. This is also another reason why some people think I’m much busier than I really am. I am really guarded with my time. I time block, and once that time is filled, I don’t give more to that block. Sometimes there’s exceptions, but I try to stick to my time and my schedule – I set boundaries. This allows me to be the mom I want to be outside of work. After my kids get home from school, it’s chaos. We’re running to activities, doing homework, getting dinner ready, etc. In addition to all of this, it’s important to turn off work during family time. I leave my computer put away.
4 – Daily Emails
I have a few tips for getting through those daily emails and that daily workload.
#1. Get a CRM
A CRM is something that keeps track of everything for your clients. I’ve shared it before, but I use HoneyBook. There’s some sort of CRM for your specific industry, and I highly recommend using one! I also have my templates in HoneyBook so working with our clients is streamlined and simplified. I have an affiliate link with HoneyBook – Click HERE to get HoneyBook for yourself!
#2. Hire an assistant
If you’re too busy to answer your emails, hire an assistant! Whether you’re busy or not, those emails need to be answered. If you’re too busy working in your business, that means you’re probably making great money. If you’re wanting to just focus on working with your clients, hire an assistant to help you. It’s so good when you get off a shoot and instead of having 30 emails to answer, you have 4 new booked sessions on your calendar for the next week. It makes a huge difference. Your assistant can also help you respond in a cheery, happy, and personal way instead of you feeling rushed in your responses.
My Tip: No matter what, go to bed with a clear inbox every night.
This is such an important topic to me. You do not need to, nor can you do everything alone while also focusing on family time. Please use these tips!
If you want more information on all of this, if you want help making your life run smoother, and if you need to get some systems set up, reach out to me! Let’s book an a la carte coaching session with me! I would love to talk to you further about all of this. Click HERE to sign up for a 1-on-1 coaching session with me!
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