2020 was hard.

If we are being honest, we still have a ways to go. And yet, I am determined to make this year different.

2021 isn’t going to just happen – that was 2020. There is much we can do today to change/control the trajectory of our business in this new year.

If you were like many business owners in 2020, you have a deep appreciation for the complete lack of the control we had over pretty much everything that happened last year.

And truthfully, there hasn’t been a shared experience like this pandemic in almost a century.

It is our shared experience that unites us. We may not be able to say we fully understand everything we’ve all experienced in 2020 but we can certainty say we weathered the same storm.

After a year quarantining, there is something about our shared experience, shared conviction that makes me believe 2021 will be nothing like what we’ve seen before.

Looking Ahead With Conviction

Regardless of how you responded to the challenges of the past year – survival, pivot, thrive – perhaps you are reading this today with a deep resolve to make 2021 different.

I know I am and it started with an awakening of sorts last month.

After the roller coaster of a ride that 2020 was, I was tired of chasing.

Tired of comparison.

Tired of feeling overwhelmed by all the things I thought I had to be doing. I couldn’t help but feel there had to be a simpler way. A simpler way to: 

• balance business with life. 
• have an impact.
• build a dream without getting lost in the dream.

And there is. It starts with clearing the clutter.

Timed with the start of the New Year, I am sharing three ways you can start to clear the clutter from your business. Let’s dive in. 

From Your Offers

As the cornerstone of your business, your offer(s) – whether you are service or product based (or both!) – need to be crystal clear.

Your potential customers need to quickly be able to evaluate how your offer can solve a problem they face and therefore understand almost immediately how it will help move them forward. 

Formatting your offer from a perspective of value isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but it can be one of the best things you can do for your business. Helping your customers understand how your offer aligns with their needs/wants/desires is the key to letting your offer start the sales process.

And my best advice is to keep this simple.

Today I want to encourage you to evaluate how you are sharing your offer with the world. Where do you currently introduce your offer with the world? 

• Website 
• Social media 
• PDF guides for inquiries 

Identify where these touch points are and read your offer. Have you formatted it from a value based standpoint? Meaning have you described how your offer provides a solution or benefit for your potential customer?

Or are you only describing its features?

Features don’t sell. Benefits and value do.

How do you get started on making this change today? Simple.

1. Make a list of every problem your service solves and every benefit it brings.
2. And then poll your current audience to see how they describe or think about the benefits you bring.

Equipped with these value based descriptions you can now reframe your offer and its impact.

From Your Operations 

This is a big one for clutter.

More often than not our systems get cluttered because when we start our business we spend much of those early years learning, growing, and just doing. Rarely do we then have the time to ensure we have simple systems that support the work we do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. And rightfully so – it’s hard to know what you need when you first get started.

Over time, we tend to complicate our approach and get busy. Leaving very little time to do anything but keep up with the demands instead of moving things forward.

But this year I want to encourage you to take some time to clear the clutter and reorganize your systems. I promise this will have a significant impact on your business in the new year allowing you to serve your customers well and grow your business well.

Here are your quick action steps to take today! 

• First take 10 minutes to write down – everything you need to do to run your business – both client and backend facing tasks. 
• Then take another 10 minutes to identify the system or tool you currently use to support those tasks
• Finally, do you notice a trend that makes certain aspects of your business easier than others? harder than others?

If you are missing things like:

• customer management systems
• step by step identification of items needed to complete a task or project
• automation of the tasks you do routinely

then your operations will feel cluttered.

Project management is a key component to efficiency. Efficiency is one of the best ways to feel like you are able to moving the needle forward and making an impact on your clients. If your business is missing the support of project management – the setting up of this system will absolutely have a huge impact reducing the overwhelm you may feel when trying to keep up with all the things.

I’ve put together a quick guide with how to get started with setting up your own project management system and my top recommendations for free services that you can use here. 

From Your Marketing

This was a big one for me – especially in our world today where most businesses are focused on likes. But a lightbulb went off in December when I realized much of my struggle was centered around three things: 

• How I was approaching my messaging
• How I was approaching preparing my marketing 
• What my marketing goal actually was

The first – my message – changed after reading The Business Boutique. She has an amazing chapter on marketing but shared that our marketing messages should seek to share value with our customers. I knew this but I struggled to make the connection of how to actually operationalize this.

Until last month.

I put a post together on Instagram that was a carousel about how to build a guest list and I saw the impact of sharing value versus fluff. The content was actionable. This was the difference – the only difference. My imagery was consistent but the content in the caption was actionable. It gave my audience and future audience something to do.

The second way to clear the clutter from your marketing is to get clear on your marketing goals. What are you trying to accomplish with each post you put into the world? In my free guide this month, I share my marketing goal for 2021 and the steps you can take to identify your goals as well.

A clear goal for your marketing will help take away distractions. You know those shiny objects that pull your efforts and attention in a million directions. Those are exactly what create clutter, confusion, and uncertainty for your audience.

Finally, the third way to clear clutter from your marketing is to come up with a clear plan to make it happen.

Consistency is hard – especially when you are a solopreneur or have a small team. You have to figure out how to do it all. The key to your success is to plan and then stick to the plan. I am sharing how to build this plan in my free guide this month.

So how can we clear the clutter from our marketing: 

• Focus our message on value based actionable content 
  • Teach, inspire, educate, empower, equip – fill your social media calendar with content that aligns with these things
• Identify the goal of your marketing efforts 
  • Mine this year is to build community 
• Create a marketing plan and stick to it. Keep working on it – even if one day a piece of content falls short. 

2021 does not have to be a repeat of 2020.

You can choose to make it different. And getting started today with clearing the clutter from your message, your systems, and your marketing is the perfect simple start.

These strategies are part of my desire to help businesses grow their impact this year – especially after arguably the hardest year. I want nothing more than to share what I am learning with you so that you can experience a prosperous year – both personally and professionally.

I’ve put together an action-packed guide that will help you dive deeper into these three areas today. Be sure to grab yours here.

Can’t wait to cheer you on this year!