New Content Collective has been the source of so much happiness in the past year and a half. It’s fueled me to learn constantly, travel all the time, meet new people… oh, and make an adequate living doing something I enjoy. It’s also been the cause of more all-nighters than I ever experienced in college, blurred weekdays, unhealthy levels of coffee consumption, an affinity for scotch, lost time, and lost money.
But I wouldn’t have it any other way. Honestly.
Shout Outs
Before I dive into my lessons learned, I wanted to give a shout out to my supportive fiancée, family, friends, and my very first clients: Hard Rock Energy, Firestone Live / Venue 578, and Forward Thinking Systems.
I also want to explain the reasons why I started New Content Collective in the first place. It might help you better understand the rest of this post.
Reasons Why I Started NCC (In Kind Of Particular Order)
- I wanted flexibility to work from anywhere
- I wanted the flexibility to travel when I want
- I wanted to keep learning
- I wanted to help small businesses have better marketing
- I wanted to make as much or more money than my previous jobs
For the record, these priorities haven’t changed. Also important to understand, I planned on NCC being 50% client-focused and 50% educational products. That hasn’t happened yet (we’ve been almost all client work), but the shift is happening, and it’s because I learned a few lessons (keep reading).
So here are the lessons I’ve learned since day 1 (in no particular order)…
You don’t have to say ‘yes’ to everything
Like most new businesses, I didn’t want to say ‘no’ to any opportunity. And I have no regrets. In fact, I would tell any new business owner to do the same. My problem was that I kept saying ‘yes’ too long, and it caused me to work on projects that were taking me farther away from my business goals.
How’d it happen? Priority #4 (money) sneaked its way up to the top the list– an unintended shift.
It’s tough to figure out the exact moment when you can start saying “no”, but having to pull all-nighters to get work done is a good sign that you’re there or close to that point.
In short: Say ‘no’ when it’s something that takes you farther away from your goals
Don’t forget to do something unique
There are an overwhelming amount of digital marketing companies in South Florida that all do the same things: SEO, content, social media, AdWords, email marketing, etc. Most of these companies know that if you stick to the basics and keep it safe, you can have a profitable marketing business.
When you only stick to the basics though (content, design, social media, etc), you stop innovating. You stop trying to create a unique solution that no one else is offering.
Our Content Distribution service is our one-of-a-kind solution that no other company is offering. Our Social Media Repository service is a unique spin on products like Post Planner or content curation tools. Our Instagram Marketing and Pinterest Marketing services aren’t brand new ideas, but they are niches in social media that many marketing companies are glossing over.
In short: Always try to come up with new solutions to common problems
Just do it
Sometimes the best way to get something done is to stop overanalyzing and just do it. If there’s a project or idea you really believe in, take small steps to make it happen. Once you get going, you’ll realize that things you thought were obstacles were really just mirages.
To be clear, it will always be better to have a plan in place before you embark on a project. That doesn’t always happen if your doubts are stopping you from even getting to the planning stage. So, if you have a plan– GREAT, get moving! If you don’t for whatever reason and absolutely love your idea– just start doing it.
Here’s an example from NCC:
I’ve been wanting to rapidly build up our YouTube channel for awhile, but I didn’t know how to do it. Scratch that. I had ideas on how to do it, but it seemed like it’d take a lot of time and I didn’t know if the strategy would work.
Eventually, I realized that producing zero videos wasn’t the way, and I decided to just start running with an idea I had for a Short Answers video series– 100 videos no more than 15 seconds in length, that gave quick answers to common marketing questions, and linked to a blog post on my site that had a longer answer. I’d release these videos with corresponding blog posts over the course of a month. Each video used a template, so I could produce them faster. The goal was to increase YouTube subscribers, increase YouTube referral traffic, and increase exposure for NCC through brand SEO.
Welp, the experiment failed pretty miserably. I produced only 25 videos with 25 blog posts because I saw very little progress towards any of my goals. It was time to end the experiment. You could argue that I should’ve had a better plan. I’d tell you that if I tried to write down a detailed plan for this particular project, it probably wouldn’t have happened. Now I know that the idea wasn’t a winner. Now I can stop wasting time thinking about it, and move onto a new idea.
In short: Don’t overthink
The Journey
I spent a significant portion of my 20s being a substitute teacher. No knock on substitute teachers (sometimes I actually miss the action), but it was supposed to be a stepping stone job for me– I was supposed to use that job to pay my bills, while I found what I really wanted to do. The plan kind of worked, except that it took way longer than expected. The point is, I can (and occasionally do) question why I “wasted” so much time being a substitute teacher.
I firmly believe that there would be no NCC without substitute teaching. While I was subbing, I co-founded a formerly popular Fort Lauderdale blog called FTL Collective which was a catalyst for my love for content marketing. I started DJing professionally at a local indie club which was a catalyst for my next job as the marketing director of that same club. I backpacked all of Central America and South East Asia which was a catalyst for my main motivation of maximum flexibility. I met my supportive future wife who encouraged me to create NCC.
Don’t get confused. I don’t believe in fate. I do believe in using past experiences to understand the things that you want in life.
In short: Your “regrets” may just be the very things that steer you to your success
Writing skills aren’t essential
Some of the best content marketers are terrible writers– at least by journalistic standards.
I use too many parentheses. I write really short paragraphs. I abuse headlines and double dashes. My grammar is average. My range of vocabulary could be better. I like to think that my blog posts are easy-to-read, entertaining, and useful.
Note: Bad grammar can kill your business’ credibility and look unprofessional. If you lack grammar skills, get someone who’s better than you at spelling and detecting run-on sentences to look over your content. I do.
Use this post as an example. The Hemmingway Editor, which is an awesome free tool for content creators, gave this blog post a reading level of 7th Grade. I know that my paragraphs are too short– some of them are 1 sentence long. I write this way partially on purpose (I think it makes the article easier to read) and partially not on purpose (this is the way I write).
In short: Just write
Get Help If You Need It
It’s hard to part with your money, but it’s important to remember time is valuable. When I got to a point where I was spending all my time with client work, and no time creating educational products, I knew it was time to pay someone to help me out.
It all boils down to your goals. If you have a diverse set of goals but you’re getting too busy with work, you’re going to need to hire someone to help you so that you can work towards achieving those goals.
In short: Hire help to avoid losing focus on your goals
Focus on Projects, One at a Time
I have a million ideas, but how do I stay focused on one at a time? The key is putting each of your good ideas into it’s own pile. Focus on completing a pile within a certain timeframe.
For example, my first course is my pile for March. By the end of March, I should have a finished course that you can sign up for. The February pile was developing our new niche services (Content Distribution, Instagram Marketing, Pinterest Marketing, and Social Media Repository). April might be our first e-book.
In short: Multi-tasking isn’t efficient when trying to complete multiple projects
Networking (Word Of Mouth)
Networking– I was told it’s important, but after a full year of business, I know it’s important. 75% of NCC’s business in our first year was generated from word-of-mouth. Most of that business came from people within my network and their referrals. For 6 months, I even halted the general ads that I was running because word-of-mouth clients filled my schedule.
The point is, when you’re looking for new business, don’t forget to look within your current network, and always try to expand your network.
In short: Human interaction isn’t dead Woo hoo!
We’re all free agents
Everyone should work like an unrestricted free agent, EVEN if you’re working for someone right now. Think of it this way: your current employer has hired you for a certain task, your fee is your salary, your benefits, work environment, vacation days, etc, are all ways to keep you happy and onboard. If you’re ever mistreated, you’re not under contract.
Don’t ever be unhappy at work because of your boss. Someone else will value you more somewhere else.
In short: Don’t settle for bad work situations
Build products, even if you’re a service business
Customized services for every customer is ideal, but not always possible. For one, a custom service is more time intensive. Because it requires more time and attention, it will also cost the client more money– money that might not exist in a smaller budget. Maybe we have even lost potential clients because the price was too high for a custom service. Also worth mentioning, services like SEO are difficult to quantify in the short term. Clients like to know exactly what they’re getting, and notice results.
In order to be able to help as many businesses as possible we needed to re-focus on building free/affordable resources and turning our products into services as an alternative solution to a more time-consuming custom option.
Productizing services for us means 2 things:
- creating a streamlined, automatic service that’s still effective (less time intensive, less expensive)
- creating a service with defined deliverables (imagine the client has a checklist)
Our Content Distribution service meets that criteria. So does our Social Media Repository service.
In addition to creating products out of services, you should be finding ways to develop tangible products. For NCC, that’s our courses, books, and merch (these don’t exist yet, but are in the works).
In short: Make products to reach different groups within your target market
Don’t ever stop building your brand
Spending all your time doing work for clients brings in the money, but it’s not future-proof. If all your clients suddenly left, you’ll be scrambling to revamp your brand and build your audience to drum up more business. That’s why you should always be building your brand. If you don’t have the time, get help.
For half of 2015, we spent little time building up NCC. The blog was neglected. Our social media channels were infrequent. The email list was stagnant. Our web traffic dwindled. Now that we’ve made the time to do all the things we were neglecting, our traffic is up, our social media channels are active, and our email list is growing.
In short: Dedicate time to build your brand, no matter how good things are going for your business
In Summary
There are no rules to being a business owner. There are no defined steps to take to reach your goals. The lessons I listed should be adapted to your own situation.
The most important thing is to try to be aware of what’s working for you and what’s not. Keep your goals in mind and ask yourself if each task at hand is helping or hurting these goals. And don’t be afraid to try new things. What you think might be a great idea that only ends up flopping may just lead you to that next golden nugget of a lesson.
What have you learned by running a business? Comment below.