As part of my own content strategy and lover of being organised I planned out the title of this article back in May. I must have known then that it was going to be a year of new beginnings, changes and most importantly learnings.
Probably one of the best decisions I made in 2020 was to hire a mentor and business coach. Working alongside Kathryn Moorhouse has been a phenomenal experience which I’m looking forward to continuing in 2021. Having someone else on your side when you’re pretty much the everything of your company (CEO, Finance Director, Marketing Director, Administrator!) really helps to focus your efforts. With Kathryn’s help she has made me look at organisational strategy, financial goals and mindset plus is always there for business advice and support. She’s taught me how to think like a CEO and offers an impartial view to any business decisions you need to make.
I’ve learnt a lot over the past year via my own CPD:
· Pinterest Gameplan 2020 training and group coaching – hugely beneficial to help get my head around the recent Pinterest algorithm change
· LinkedIn Training- to get the best out of the platform
· Reading Myths of Marketing and Watertight Marketing to continually learn from some of the best in the business
And also as part of working for some fabulous clients where every day and every piece of work you do helps build and develop on your existing knowledge. Some examples include:
· Utilising FB groups for B&C Educational to help drive website traffic
· Email marketing for B&C Educational and Peak Your Pinterest
· Website content for KAMguru and Calvin Hanks
· Pinterest reviews for Base North Marketing clients and SM Web Designs
· Pinterest management for Torchlight Marketing
There’s also been a few firsts this year too:
I did my first guest podcast with Alison Liddic (Flourishing Business podcast) and have recently been booked for my first speaker session at the Pin it to Win it Pinterest Summit where I’ll be talking all around Auditing Your Pinterest Account to Get Results.
Scary stuff but this year has been all about stepping out of my comfort zone!
And who could forget being a home school teacher too! But even that taught me valuable lessons on managing your time and it was amazing to share some of the things I do as a day job (like using Canva to create simple graphics) with my 8 year old daughter.
But the biggest thing for me this year has been achieving a 10 year life goal of moving to Yorkshire and seeing how setting intentions really does work. In January 2019 my long term goal was to move by the end of December 2020. We completed on our new house on 27.11.2020. It was a dream come true that happened because of hard work, determination and tenacity. I could write a whole blog on the experience but I will save that for next year!
To round off here are my top 12 learnings from 2020 in a nutshell.
1) Follow your gut instinct you’re usually right.
2) You’ll always have good and bad days it’s like riding a rollercoaster! You must learn to take the rough with the smooth.
3) Follow your own advice so it’s setting a good example to clients.
4) Believe in your own abilities having a positive mindset works wonders for productivity.
5) Having your own business is not an easy option in fact it’s the opposite. Everything is 100% harder but then so are the rewards and it’s all YOURS.
6) Get a mentor or business coach so they can help you see the bigger picture.
7) Celebrate achievements big and small every win matters.
8) You learn from what you think are failures I talk about this more in my recent guest podcast.
9) Not every client will be right for you don’t spend time lingering on why it didn’t work out….just learn from the experience and move on.
10) Be always kind and positive – I believe there is such a thing as business karma. In a world of negativity, blame and shaming try to be kind, personable and encouraging
11) Set your intentions – write down what you want to achieve it really WORKS.
12) If you have faith trust God He’ll never let you down.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading some of my experiences from 2020.
If you like my style I’d love to connect with you, and share learnings and best practice.
1) Send me a connection request to connect with me on LI
2) Listen to my guest podcast here
If you’re looking for an awesome mentor get in touch with Kathryn Moorhouse.
Here’s to an awesome 2021! I wish you every success for the year to come.