Man alive, do you think we are ever going to get a break? It feels as if “we” have been lurching from one crisis to the next over the past decade, between “austerity” (who even remembers that) when we were all told we had to dig deep to save future generations from national debt, then we lurched through Brexit and all that, no sooner do we leave the EU than we were hit with Covid-19 (when all the “saving” we had done was blown straight out of the water with massive scale government financial support throughout lockdown) and now we are having a cost of living crisis.
I'm so aware that now isn't the time for people to be spending money, although it is a good time to INVEST in your business. So what is the difference I hear you ask! Good question, spending money for me means paying for things that aren't strategic, ie, spending money on things that won't directly generate income is what I'm cutting down on, the more frivolous purchases, tightening my processes and systems so that everything runs slicker and easier is one way I'm saving money, I'm getting rid of apps for example that won't have a direct impact on my business - why pay for illustrator when I can use Canva and a Mac version of Photoshop (Pixelmator) to design great graphics at a fraction of the cost. Do I really need membership to lots of different photo libraries when there are plenty of good one's to use without cost (for example, Pexels and Unsplash).
Investing though is different, because I'm a web designer I'd say investing in a website that is going to generate leads is a good investment (of course I would say that) but let me tell you a very true story.
I was introduced to someone recently, she had been let down by her web designer and she was launching at an exhibition that weekend. Honestly I cried with her, she was so stressed and frazzled, she had spent so much getting everything ready for launch but yet she had nowhere to send those enquiries to. As it happens I had had a client push back and I had a very rare opening in my diary for the next day. She had all her content together and I got her to email it to me and in half a day I had created a website, not just a website but an absolutely bl**dy brilliant website if I say so myself! She went away and launched and today alone she's had four people enquire via her website for her services
That is a wise investment, she knew that she needed to show up online in her very best way. She was selling a high(ish) ticket service and she needed to inspire confidence for people to book her. She invested in having some great photos taken (which were incredible and made my life so much easier). When the pieces of the jigsaw come together with a strategy to make people take action, that is where the magic happens. That is why I do what I do and I will give my all to get my client's over the line. Now more than ever, I can't even begin to say how important it is to show up and show up well.
