Expand Your Team Part 1: Is It Time To Hire A Designer?

With my recent business adjustments I’ve been doing a lot of explaining about exactly what it is I do for clients as a design assistant. It’s a position that people don’t always think about initially when it comes to outsourcing work, but it’s one that can free up an incredible amount of time in your schedule (seriously if a 50+ page workbook takes me 6+ hours, how long is it going to take you?!). If you’re not sure exactly when would be the right time to start expanding your team and passing off design projects, then this post is for you.

So, when is it time? Probably sooner than you think (ahem, now).

"Considering outsourcing tasks in your business? This post is for you!" [Tweet That!]

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YOU SPEND TOO MUCH TIME LEARNING PHOTOSHOP

If formatting your blog post is a hassle because creating the graphics and content upgrade sucks all the time away from your day, then it’s time to consider outsourcing that work.

Blog posts, in their best form, have multiple graphics and some sort of content upgrade. That content upgrade might be a worksheet, a workbook, a calendar, a list, and so on – but it’s an awesome way to get more people subscribed to your email list (which means more money in the long run, right?). If you’re skimping on content upgrades because you don’t have time or abilities to make them – then you’re missing out on growth and profit.

A large part of what I do for clients includes creating these weekly content upgrades – anything from a simple reminder checklist to a 15-page workbook that educates, entices, and builds rapport with their audience.

The other end of that is actually getting people to view your blog post – which usually ties into having a) an awesome title and b) an eye-catching graphic on Pinterest or Instagram or other social platforms. I know you can write some amazing information that will truly delight and benefit your audience IF you can get them read it – which is where a designer comes in. Creating blog post graphics for blog posts falls into my weekly tasks for literally every client I have – it’s important to show consistency across social media and to attract and entice viewers read (as well as share) your post!

Understanding all of that is one thing, but implementing it is another. Taking time to learn and master a new skill so that you can create these things – and actually have them look professional – is probably not the reason you got into business. Instead you want to be doing what you love – coaching, consulting, photographing, etc. NOT fumbling around cursing the Adobe gods.

"Writing useful content is one thing - getting people to READ it is another." [Tweet That!]

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YOU WANT TO LAUNCH COURSES, WORKBOOKS, ETC.

Chances are you’ve got big goals for your business that include a lot of awesome things like courses, retreats, eBooks, masterclasses, and more. Guess what all of those need? A LOT of design work! Guess what else all of those need? A LOT of your time to actually develop content, connect with your audience, and make sales. Wouldn’t you rather be focusing on the aspects you LOVE to do versus making a ton of workbooks, flyers, social graphics, etc.?

When you have a design assistant on your team they start to learn your brand and be able to better embody and showcase it across a ton of different avenues. So if you delve into a course or into a eBook, the designer will know how to take your existing look and feel and adapt it to those settings. Your audience will admire the consistency and trust you even more (even if this is super subconsciously) which will result in higher sales.

"Being consistent helps build trust with your audience." [Tweet That!]

This is an example you hear often with design, but think about going into Store A where they sell shoes and everything is sleek and clean and the chairs are comfortable and the attendant is well groomed and knowledgeable and not pushy and the shoes are displayed nicely and the boxes are all organized and stacked facing the same direction. Now think about Store B where the boxes are disheveled and some are on the floor and they only have those weird mirrored seats to sit on and no attendant to be found. There floor is kind of dirty and you honestly don’t really want to take off your shoes because, well, ew.

Now the thing is – these stores sell the same shoes. The same exact shoes. But where would you rather go and who do you hand your credit card over to willingly? I’m going to assume Store A. Store B probably gets a quick glance before you suddenly don’t really feel like shopping today and would rather go get a smoothie instead. Or Chipotle.

Sooo… that’s a metaphor for all the visual elements of your business – ESPECIALLY in the case of getting people to BUY things (i.e. courses, masterclasses, eBooks, etc.). You need to be able to support your worth with professional, compelling visuals. That will make you more authoritative and trustworthy, which in turn will result in higher sales.

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YOU'RE AN EXPERT IN YOUR INDUSTRY + WANT TO MAKE IT OBVIOUS

On that note – let’s take a second to talk about how GREAT you are. Whoever you are and whatever you do, you decided to go into business for a reason. You are following your passion, doing what you love, and helping people in whatever way that you do. That is important!

If you are the expert and you do have a message you want to share that will impact people then let’s DO that together. Being small isn’t an option. Start making strides in your business and stop wasting your time focusing on things that don’t matter.

The thing about successful business owners and entrepreneurs is that they know how to outsource the things they aren’t good at/don’t like doing and instead focus on their true skills and passions. Do you ever notice how when you’re really in your flow you can make wonderful leaps in your business but the second you have to do something you hate it seems impossible and the couch looks extra comfy? The trick is to just stay in your flow and stop doing the things you hate.

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6 Essential Elements To Add To Your Squarespace Blog

Blogs are a really huge part of online businesses. Continuing on the trend of discussing all things Squarespace this week, I wanted to talk about what a great platform Squarespace is for blogging for your business. Blogs help build SEO organically, showcase your expertise, educate potential clients or customers, and build trust with your audience. I can attest a large amount of my success to this blog and the content I post weekly.

Squarespace makes blogging extremely easy. One of my favorite parts about the blog post area is the ability to customize each post in the same way one might build a page (using that teardrop tool). You can add basically anything to a blog post to make it work best for you and your business. I have a routine of what I add to each of my posts and wanted to share some ideas with you about what you can add to yours.

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HIERARCHY

The first thing to focus on is hierarchy within the content of your blog post. Creating hierarchy simple means to use different tags like your <H1> (header 1), <H2> (header 2), and <H3> (header 3), quote block, bold, italics, etc. Squarespace makes it easy to highlight a portion of each post and label it as such. I follow a simple plan for using sub titles within my blog post to make it more easy navigable (H3), click to tweets (H1), and bolding other relevant parts.

Hierarchy is a word that designers throw around a lot, but you don’t have to be a designer to use and understand it. 

Hierarchy makes blog posts easier to read and boosts your SEO! [tweet that!]

Why is it important? The search engine robots that crawl through your website pay more attention to wording that is labeled as a Header, so putting keywords into those categories is super beneficial for your SEO.

Outside of the technical standpoint, it’s also an easier way to divide up text and make things more legible. Reading on a computer screen is difficult; the more breaks you give your reader, the better. You’ll notice online the average paragraph is a lot shorter than what you learned in school, and that’s because huge blocks of text are less appealing to readers.

If you outline your posts before writing (which I highly recommend) it’s also a lot easier to think in the way of “title” and “4-8 subtitles” first and then go ahead and write the content later. I cover more about that here.

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BLOG POST IMAGE

Another key thing to include in your blog posts are blog images, so that people can easily Pin your post (or share on other social media platforms). I add mine right at the top, like a title image, but you could add yours near the bottom if you prefer (I have other information at the bottom, and didn’t want it to feel too cramped).

In Squarespace you can use that teardrop tool to add an image block. Your file name for your image is important for SEO, so make sure you name it something relevant (not img5667_final_forreal.jpg). You can also add information into the filename area or the caption that will carry over into your Pinterest description (Squarespace will choose the caption first over the filename. I leave my caption blank and input all the Pinterest appropriate description in the filename area).

You can resize the image if you don’t want it to be so big, or add spacing blocks to either side. Spacing blocks are great for this sort of work, you add one the same as any other block, and then click and drag it to the left or right side of an image and can resize to whatever size you need.

For more information about creating great Pinterest-worthy graphics, click here.

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CALL TO ACTION/OPT IN

Every blog post should also contain some sort of call to action or subscriber opt-in. I usually choose one or the other, as not to overwhelm a reader. Opt-ins are great for growing your list, especially if you create a relevant lead magnet that also fits your overall brand vision (read more about that here).

However, I sometimes skip the opt-in and go straight for the call to action to get people to look into a product or service I am offering. This is only if the blog post feels relevant to that.

What you don’t want is a blog post that has no real purpose or gain for you and your business. I’ve been slowly going back through my older blog posts and making sure they have relevant opt-ins or CTAs. It’s a lengthy process (I wish I would’ve just started off on the right foot, but hey, live and learn… and teach others) but worth the increase in subscribers.

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AUTHOR BIO

If you have more than one writer on your blog this is SUPER important, but even as a solopreneur I still like doing it. It’s a fun way to introduce yourself to new readers, which is important because chances are new audience members are landing on a random blog post from Pinterest or something.

I recently started adding a little bio, my picture, and a consultation form to each blog post. I’ve seen an increase in client inquiries, which is amazing, but also an increase in shares on social media. I can’t say definitively, but I think having the picture helps build that trust and the “hey I’m a real person, really running a business” vibe is always a good one to put out there.

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SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Social media links are an important part of any blog post. I use SumoMe (you can create an account here and add the code into your “code injection” menu in Squarespace. Go to settings>advanced>code injection).  Squarespace also comes with their own share buttons that automatically appear at the bottom of each post.

Besides the sharing buttons I also include regular social media links so that anyone who is interested in following me can easily do so. I do this by using that teardrop tool to bring up the different blocks I can add and scroll all the way down and add social links (the information is pulled from when I initially connected my social media accounts).

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RELATED BLOG POSTS

I discussed this the other day when we covered the summary block, but the reasoning is this: you got a reader to go through your whole entire awesome blog post… now what? As far as user experience goes, you want to direct them to the next thing to read or do, so they stay on your website longer.

You can add a summary block and use the tag or category filter to make sure it’s relevant blog posts that show (for example, this blog post will show related ‘tutorial’ or ‘guide’ posts).

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