When it comes to our work, who doesn’t l-o-v-e diving into the sexier side of things?
Writers adore writing.
Coaches are obsessed with coaching.
Designers dig their art.
Our work is the sexy stuff in business.
Doing the things that are aligned with our specific slice of genius feels fantastic and puts us in an awesome frame of mind about what we do.
While it’s easy and super fun to do what we’re good at, being in business also means we have to be business owners.
This means handling the less-than-glamorous stuff, too. Things like marketing, financial planning, bookkeeping, paying taxes, blogging, reaching out to audiences, strategic planning, list-building… (the list feels endless, doesn’t it?).
Tackling the unsexy side of business isn’t always a blast, which is why these critically important tasks are often overlooked or ignored (which is a terrible, horrible, very bad idea… if you want to be in business!).
But you can only do this for so long. Eventually, putting off those crucial little details catches up with you, and it can have seriously negative consequences regarding the long-term wellbeing of your business.
Ignoring your books? The IRS and your overdue taxes plus interest will catch up with you.
Wishing you didn’t have to actually market your business? You’ll quickly go broke.
Putting off list-building activities like guest posting? Your list won’t grow, and your business won’t, either.
Although I hear excuses from clients and other business owners all the time, it’s time to stop. If you want to create a business that lets you do the sexy things in business AND makes you money, you’re going to have to tackle the unsexy side — pronto!
And I’m going to help! (Of course!)
And I’m going to share the unsexy thing I avoided for too long, but how changing my attitude changed everything. (Don’t miss this!)
Time to Get Real
Take a moment to get honest with yourself.
What less-than-fun areas of your business have you pushed to the background, waiting until you absolutely have to handle them? Or what are you simply not doing in your business?
Here are some unsexy things I see business owners avoiding. Grab a pen and jot down what you’re avoiding.
- keeping bookkeeping up-to-date at least quarterly
- paying quarterly and yearly taxes
- separating business and personal finances
- setting a business budget or at least paying attention to what you’re spending
- engaging on social media
- blogging on a set schedule
- sending regular emails to your list
- list-building activities like guest posting
- getting better at copywriting
- setting up systems in your business
- learning the next thing you need to be successful in business
- working through your “stuff” so you can get out of your own way
- finding speaking gigs
Time to Go Pro
If you really want to make (more) money — getting paid to do the sexy things you love — commit to going pro in all areas of your business.
First, write down your top three priorities for the unsexy things you want to start getting on top of. Commit to changing them. I know you can do it!
Second, block out adequate time in your calendar to do each item. Some tasks will be weekly; others monthly. Be sure to block out time accordingly.
Third, choose a reward for getting on top of this unsexy beast. (Gosh, did I just type that! Unintentional but too funny to delete!) If you update your books quarterly, consider getting a massage when it’s done. Got that weekly blog post written? Set up a coffee date with a friend.
Finally, keep it up. Tackling the unsexy in your business will help you do more of the sexy things you love and get paid to do it! Tweet that!
The Unsexy Thing I Avoided for Too Long
One of the unsexy things I avoided for a long time was marketing. Okay, I did market, but only half-assed!
I had a blog, a newsletter, a social media profile, and business cards. I even went to regular networking events.
The problem was that I was doing it all without any focus or understanding of how marketing actually works!
The result: nothing.
That’s right. Nothing happened. I didn’t make money. I didn’t grow my business. And I didn’t get paid to do the sexy things I loved to do!
Then I made the game-changing decision to go pro in my marketing.
The first step I took was to learn about marketing, so my efforts wouldn’t be wasted on fruitless work, guessing and dart-throwing.
When I did this — made the decision to go pro with my marketing — everything changed and fast! Clients started showing up. My list started growing. And best of all, I started to get paid to do the sexy things I loved!
I’m sure you’ve heard me share with you the game-changing marketing program I invested in, the one that made everything turn around: Marie Forleo’s B-School.
As I’ve told you in countless posts before, there are many things that are necessary to make a business successful: mastery in your work, a belief in yourself and what you do, the ability to conquer fears as you try new things, determination, hard work, a few tears,… and of course, business and marketing skills!
The biggest piece of the business puzzle I was missing was that last one, and Marie’s program closed this oh-so-important gap for me. Since then, I have become a proud affiliate and love to share this game-changing program with women looking to start and grow online businesses.
Want to learn more about how B-School helped my business take off? Check out these posts:
- The Best Business Decision I Ever Made
- 6 Keys to Hitting 6 Figures
- 8 Weeks That Changed My Business Forever
If you’re interested in learning more about the program, you can also read my 100% honest review of B-School.
The Big Takeaway
As I pointed out earlier, ignoring the unsexy things in business can cause problems.
On the flip side, diving into the unsexy things, learning them, and taking action, can cause major shifts in your business, in the best way possible!
So, it’s time for you to go pro all-around. You can do it!
Now It’s Your Turn
I’d love to hear from you. Tell me…
Are there any unsexy aspects of your business you’ve been ignoring? Why?
What are you going to commit to working on right now that you’ve been ignoring so far?
What other things do you see business owners ignoring?
And lastly, what strategies do you put into play to conquer that “I don’t wanna!” resistance and get the unsexy things done in your business?
I can’t wait to hear your stories, experiences, and tips in the comments below!
I LOVE this post! You are so right that so many business owners (MOI) ignore these “unsexy” components. For me, it’s list-building, marketing and speaking gigs. This year, I decided to ramp up the speaking gigs and have spoken at 2 places already, which have done wonders to raising my confidence. I look forward to more!
This year, I also decided to master one area per month. So January was newsletters, February is guest posting, etc. It doesn’t mean that I don’t focus on those things during the other months, but I spend one day a week educating myself on that particular area, so that my skills just grow throughout the year. I do this on Fridays (my “off” day).
Thanks again for another great post!
First off, congrats on the speaking gigs! Way to declare what you’re going to do and then go make it happen!
I’ve heard other people talk about the monthly mastery plan. I’ve never tried it though. You’ll have to tell me how it goes!
OH! so true! When I started my business I was so excited that I’d be getting to do what I wanted to do but quickly found out there are a LOT of things I don’t want to do! I’ve been taking one thing at a time, like blogging and figuring out ways to make it easier and more fun (kind of important as a writer lol), and trying to share it with others through my blogs! I think all the things you listed above can be fun, if approached with the right attitude, at least sometimes. But your suggestion of blocking out time to do them is a great idea. I’m learning that too! The biggest thing I see other business owners not doing is blogging which I feel is so important. It can be dreaded or looked forward to, all depending on the plan! (If there’s no plan, well… ) Great post, I’m making a list now of those things I don’t want to do and getting them penciled into my planner 🙂
You’re totally right — the things listed above can be fun once we learn that. But it’s funny how we think they’re not fun 🙂 I even taught a client to love bookkeeping!
You’re also right that blogging is important. Getting into a routine and making it nonnegotiable to post each week can make us get it done.
Sounds like you’re on a great track with your business. That’s awesome!
Hi Jenny!
I love that you wrote this post! I agree that we all tend to ignore the “boring” details of our businesses and that it can bite you in the a*s later.
Funny, I launched my first product this week and it’s a free video course on this exact thing! Great minds… 🙂
Thanks!
Karen
Love it, Karen! We need more entrepreneurs doing these other things so they can get their great work out to more people!