This is a friendly reminder to BACK. UP. EVERYTHING. Create a computer backup system now!

I bet you put off setting up systems and processes for your own business. I know I do. You say you’ll set up a process for backing up your files until you have some free time and it never gets done. Nobody thinks it will happen to them but, sooner or later, your computer WILL crash. So just do it now, stop what you are doing and initiate up a back up system.

A few months ago, I was working at my computer as I do on a daily basis and all of a sudden my screen went black. I brought it right into my local Apple store and told them what was going on. They did some tests and decided it could be repaired. They reassured me that the content would likely be untouched and that my computer would be returned with everything still set up and all files in their place.

When I received my computer back a week later, it was in perfect working order, but all of my files were gone! Client files, applications, business files, photographs, music, everything gone. I was pretty sure I had a backup, but I wasn’t sure how current it would be. The panic set in. I logged in to to my backup system prepared for the worse and as it turned out, thanks to a process I set up years ago, I didn’t loose a thing! Y’all, I was so proud of myself.

I am sooooo thankful for the systems I had in place, otherwise I’d be totally screwed. My lifesaver? It’s called Backblaze.

How To Prevent Major Losses and Create a Computer Backup System

In the past I used Time Machine, but it just didn’t feel like enough. An external hard drive needs to be connected for it to work, so if you forget, or are traveling, you are not going to have current files. Also, a drive that is in the same location as your computer is not protected against theft, fire or natural disasters.

As someone who creates something new every single day on my computer, that was not really an option. I’m not willing to lose personal photos and memories and I can NOT lose client files.

You have to set up a system and it has to be SIMPLE or it will never get done. So do this NOW. For me Backblaze is the answer. I set it up and don’t have to think about it again. It will automatically backup all your files including documents, photos, music and movies. Another perk is that it’s one affordable price for unlimited files! When needed, you can then download a few files at a time OR they can mail you a drive (which I opted for since I needed my entire computer restored).

What process do you use for backing up your files?

P.S. Use any link in this post to get a month of Backblaze for free. This post in not sponsored by Backblaze, I truly LOVE this company. If you sign up using my links, I will also receive a free month.

I don’t know about you, but I can hardly believe that it is June already! The year is certainly flying by, and it is easy to start to feel panic that the year is almost halfway done when thinking about the goals you have set for your business and all that you want to accomplish in 2015.

Rather than panic, use it as a chance to evaluate the goals you set in January and see if they are still relevant. Didn’t set any? Now is the perfect time to gain focus for the second half of your year. Here are some simple ways to set or refine your goals:

Which aspect of your business is most important to you this year?

You may have a monetary goal for the year, or perhaps you want to achieve a work/life balance that suits your lifestyle needs. Whatever your ultimate intention for your year is, keep that front of mind while evaluating and setting your goals!

Which goals have you already met?

Look back at the goals you set at the beginning of the year and see which ones you can cross off. Whether it was a single item, like finding a new office space, or simply something you are ahead of schedule on, such as booking 15 new clients, take a moment to celebrate, then see how you can either update that goal or expand it for the second half of the year.

Which goals are you not on track to meet?

If you have any quantitative goals, such as “photograph 10 weddings” or “book 20 branding clients,” you should be close to reaching half of that value at this point. If you’re not close, it might be time to step up your efforts to meet that goal! Or, you may wish to adjust that goal if it no longer feels right. If you have a certain time of year that is your busy season, be sure to take that into account when calculating anything quantitative.

What has changed since the beginning of the year?

You may have had a change in your personal life that affects how much you can work. Perhaps you examined your business and started offering additional or new services. Major changes like these will alter the goals you have for the remainder of your year, so take the time to see how the changes in your life or business are affecting your goals.

How can you streamline your work?

A goal for anyone should be to operate in a way that doesn’t waste your time – or your client’s time. Take a look at your systems and see what items could be refined or made more efficient, such as finally writing those canned email replies, updating your website’s contact form to ask better questions or actually hiring that VA. Make it a goal to accomplish those smaller items that have big impact.

While different businesses require different types of planning and goal setting, it is always crucial to have an objective and develop a plan to get there.

I joined Twitter in 2009 shortly after I started blogging and I’ve been tweeting away ever since! Back then features such as retweets and hashtags were created by the user base, not the developers and could be a bit confusing for a newbie to figure out. They have come a long way since then, lists and built-in retweets were introduced and they have made their features even easier to understand and use!

Twitter is a great way to promote your content whether it be the services you offer through your business or new blog content. It’s also a great way to share your expertise and connect with like-minded people. Here are a few easy Twitter tips from what I have learned over the years:

Fill Out Your Profile

First things first. Make sure you write a clear description in the section for your bio and don’t forget to include a link back to your blog! I can’t tell you how many super vague profiles I see on Twitter. This should be similar to your elevator pitch, let me know why I should stick around!

Be Yourself

Keep your tweets fun and interesting. People want to connect with a real person and your readers will love you for being yourself. When tweeting, use the same voice and tone that you use on your blog.

Tweet Regularly

Since content flows so quickly on Twitter, it’s okay to post multiple tweets about the same thing. Just make sure you are not posting the exact same tweet over and over. Switching up the intro to a link helps to keep your followers engaged and interested in your content.

Schedule

Tweeting regularly is time-consuming so using a service like HootSuite can help. I don’t recommend scheduling ALL of your tweets, but it can help push out some content while you are working on something else. There are also some WordPress plugins that will automatically tweet posts from your blog archives for you, I use Tweetily.

Explain Your Links

Be sure to give a short description that’s intriguing and will entice your readers to click on the link. Your followers should trust your twitter content, so give accurate information.

Interact

Interact with people instead of just following. I love being able to connect with all types of people all over the world! Trust me, most people out there would love to have a little twitter convo! Make sure you are asking your followers questions, and try to answer questions as well. This helps build your reputation and credibility, which can lead to more followers and retweets.

Share the Love

Don’t only promote yourself. In addition to tweeting your own blog posts, post articles from other sources with similar content. If you mention someone on Twitter or in a blog post, make sure to tag them so they know.

Create and Follow Lists

A list is a curated group of Twitter users. You can create your own lists or subscribe to lists created by others. This is a great way to keep up with your favorite users, or people who have content you may want to share in the future.

Pictures

Twitter is becoming more and more visual so take advantage of this! They recently added inline images to tweets which is a great opportunity to tease a photo of your new content.

Find Relevant Hashtag Streams OR Tweetups

Hashtags categorize tweets and automatically group keywords or topics and help to get your tweets out to a larger audience than just your followers. Hashtags are an excellent way to track conversations about a specific topic and to take part in those conversations. Look for active hashtag streams relevant to what you blog about. For example, I love to participate in the #altchat every Tuesday and occasionally check out the #design and #fonts hashtags.

 Have Fun

While I do use Twitter to promote my biz, I also use it for fun! Hashtags and Twitter in general can be quite entertaining! I love to follow along with TV shows that I’m addicted to and sporting events. I also use Twitter for advice, like if I’m looking for a place to eat or need a suggestion for a photographer etc.

Twitter has been very helpful to me in promoting my blog and I hope these tips help to make it work for you too! If you have any questions or tips feel free to comment here or tweet me!

With the new year comes a new set of goals you promise yourself you’re going to reach this year – you’re going to simplify, organize your life, grow your business and make time for what matters most.

But when you’re trying to expand your small business, you can get stuck in the everyday muck of catching up on emails, putting together proposals, planning your blogging calendar and putting the finishing touches on that blog post you wanted to have up yesterday. It’s hard to keep up with the everyday stuff and make time for the big things you want to accomplish too.

While blogging is an important aspect of growing your small business, blogging without passion just to have a post up on your site is the wrong way to go about growing. Lucky for us, there’s a trending idea in the blogging world: blogging with intention.

It’s writing posts that contain all original content, it’s researching the topic and coming to your own conclusion and it’s blogging only when you devote the time and passion it takes to write a great post, even if it’s only once a week or once a month.

Here are some ways to craft a quality, well thought out, intentional blog post: 

1. Do Your Research

When planning out your posts, draw up an outline and schedule in time to do some research behind the topic you’re writing about. The more you can share with your readers, the more they’ll feel like they got something out of your post.

For example, if you’re featuring a certain artist on your blog, do some research on their story – share how they got started, the idea behind their brand and what their design process is. If they use a particular technique with their work, research the technique and share that with your readers as well. Reach out to them to get the answers to those questions, or do your own research to find those answers.

Anyone can share an image of the artist’s work, but if you can get the story behind that particular piece, you’ll add more value to your post. Make sure you cite where you found your information and give credit wherever you can.

When you add research to your process, the quality of your posts will increase and you’ll be providing your readers with real information they’ll want to bookmark and share.

2. Only Write About Topics That Inspire You

If you’re not inspired by the posts you’re writing, it’s time to take a look at the type of content you’re blogging about. One way to fix this is to go back to the beginning of your business and ask yourself some questions. Why did you want to get started? What inspired you back then? Has that inspiration grown or changed at all?

If you go back to the root of why you started and what inspired you most back then, you might be able to come up with some great blog post ideas that won’t leave you procrastinating to get the post written. Focus on just writing about topics you like to talk about or are interested in exploring more, and go from there.

3. Use Your Own Photos

One way to really slow down and take your time with blogging is to create an entirely original post – sharing both your own ideas and your own photographs. While throwing together recap posts or inspiration boards with other people’s images or post content (while properly crediting them, of course) is still very popular, when you create an original post you’re putting something out on the web that hasn’t been seen before.

I’ve noticed that the posts I’ve provided original content for have been pinned and re-pinned more times than any of my themed inspiration boards or style posts – pinned DIY projects and design projects I’m working on bring more people to my website than just about any other source.

Coming up with all original content for your posts definitely takes more time, but your readers will be able to tell that you spent more time on the post and it will hopefully bring some additional traffic back to your website after it gets shared around the web.

When you’re blogging with purpose about topics you really want to talk about, you’ll add value to your brand, contribute some amazing new things to the internet and save yourself the stress from trying to throw together 5 posts a week.

The first few months of the new year are a great time for starting new habits, slowing down and focusing on what you really want to accomplish this year. If you’re blogging with intention you’ll have better chance of accomplishing your goals, and you’ll enjoy blogging even more.

What are your blogging goals for this year? How will you slow down and blog with more passion and intention? Share your ideas in the comments!

FREE Worksheet!

Use the worksheet to help you craft quality, well thought out, intentional blog posts.

Success! Now head to your email for the worksheet!

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

First Name

Email Address

We use this field to detect spam bots. If you fill this in, you will be marked as a spammer.

Check if you'd also like to receive a few emails about "Blogging with Intention"

Send it to me! Powered by ConvertKit

We’re all looking for better ways to connect with our readers in hopes that they come back and read your blog on a regular basis or buy something from you at some point, right? Lucky for us, there’s a trick to giving them exactly what they’re looking for. Here’s the two-step process:

1. What Problems Do Your Readers Have?

Knowing what your readers are struggling with is the key in figuring out exactly what they want. You have to figure out the types of problems they are having in your field of expertise so you can help solve those problems.

If you’re a web designer and blog about your work and inspiration, it’s possible that your readers are other designers or business owners who are starting their own website or are inspired by your work. They may be dealing with a variety of problems – from where their email sign-up forms should be on their website to what fonts are easiest to read on the web. Some may not know the questions to ask web designers when they start working with one, and others may not know all of the important information they’ll need to give their designer to get started. These are all things you can help them with (and problems you can solve) on your blog.

On the worksheet provided, make a list of all the different problems your readers might have that you could solve with your knowledge in your field. Think back to the basics – maybe some of the topics in classes you learned back in school or some lessons you’ve learned in the past. Remember – no problem is too big or small to write down.

2. How Can You Solve Their Problems?

Now comes the getting more followers/better customers part! Once you know the problems your readers have, you can instantly turn those problems around into solutions.

Starting on page 2 of the worksheet, write down each problem, and underneath it list out all the different ways you could solve this problem for your reader. You may be able to think of multiple ways to fix each problem – write every idea you have down.

Some of the problems you’ve written down may be perfect for new blog posts or series, and some of them would be great new offerings you can add to your list of services. Next to each solution, check mark which you think it’d be better for and start brainstorming ways to put each into action!

When you’re able to solve a problem for someone, they feel like you’ve given them insider tips & tricks and in turn form a stronger bond with you and your brand which makes them more likely to come back for more and buy from you. What are some ways you solve problems for your readers? Share in the comments!

FREE Worksheet!

On the worksheet, make a list of all the different problems your readers might have that you could solve with your knowledge in your field.

Success! Now head to your email for the worksheet!

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

First Name

Email Address

We use this field to detect spam bots. If you fill this in, you will be marked as a spammer.

Check if you'd also like to receive a few emails about "Blogging with Intention"

Send it to me! Powered by ConvertKit