My second year in business – making it stick
Around this time last year, 12 months after starting Comma Sense, I attended a presentation by a local business coach. It was all about having a Plan B for your business. When you start out, having a business plan or strategy is essential, but what if that doesn’t work out? What else will you try? What other direction might you take?
We were all encouraged to set three objectives for 2017 before leaving the session and were told we wouldn’t be allowed to forget them. I left the meeting full of ideas and inspiration, feeling energised and excited about the year ahead. That afternoon I called the business coach and enlisted her services. I’d built a strong foundation in year one and wanted to make sure it stuck in year two.
Sure enough, 12 months on, I received an email from the event organiser containing the objectives I’d written in January 2017. I had achieved them all!
Here are some of my year two highlights…
Web copywriting
Writing digital content is one of my favourite jobs. Last year I developed new web content for:
a swim school
a marketing agency
a retail technology company
an international logistics firm
a recruitment agency
a hypnotherapist
an events venue
charities
public sector organisations
a data protection company
multiple business coaches.
I feel extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to learn and craft web copy on such a wide variety of subjects.
Blogs
Blogging is my other favourite pastime. In 2017 I wrote 79 blog posts – 19 of my own and 60 for clients. I’ve researched and written about:
financial planning
manufacturing
business development
leadership
first aid
Feng Shui
reflexology
massage therapy
and a revolutionary new type of make-up.
I wonder if I can raise this number to 100 in 2018? (Perhaps that should be one of my 2018 objectives).
I also delivered 3 blogging masterclasses and inspired a range of small business owners to start writing their own blog posts. I just love seeing posts land in my inbox or social media feeds from people I’ve trained. Please keep them coming!
Creative copywriting
Whilst I enjoy digital copywriting, I do love the creative challenge of helping clients to rebrand themselves and/or their organisation. Thanks to a great creative agency I work with, I’ve had the chance to come up with product and organisation names and straplines, and received fabulous feedback. Those close to me know I love an excuse to get some coloured pens and a flipchart out. If there are post-its involved too then even better.
Copywriting for print materials
Last year, I wrote brochure and leaflet copy about:
education
transport
recruitment
training
charities.
It’s a different style of copywriting to writing for the web, and it can often take longer as brochures tend to go into more detail. It’s great to be involved from the initial client briefing and there really is nothing more satisfying than seeing my copy printed in a glossy, colourful brochure that smells divine.
Building relationships
In February, the Chair of my ladies networking group 2020 Networking asked me to join the organising committee. I jumped at the chance to become more involved in the group and the open event we held in October was a clear highlight. I got to exercise my event management skills, met some talented new contacts, and took away some advice that really resonated with me…
Collaboration opportunities
One of the speakers at the open event spoke about growing your small business through collaboration. At a time when my husband, a graphic designer and all-round creative nut, had just joined me in the business, this advice hit home. I realised I didn’t need to employ people to grow my business I would collaborate instead. I already have a couple of new ventures in the pipeline, which I look forward to sharing in future posts.
As I enter year three, I‘m going to focus on doing more of the things I enjoy. I’ll be working hard to support my regular clients and help them to grow their businesses, as well as seeking out collaboration opportunities to develop Comma Sense. I’m planning to do more training sessions to share my knowledge with others – watch this space for my blogging masterclass, LinkedIn confidence building, and writing for business training.
In the world of business, they say if you’re still going strong after three years then you’ve made it. Come on 2018! Show me what you’ve got!