A TANGIBLE guide to working on the back end of your creative business during the slow season!
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What to expect on this episode of the Hey, Thriver Podcast:
A TANGIBLE guide to working on the back end of your creative business during the slow season!
In this episode of the Hey, Thriver podcast, Devin + Shay chat about:
Exploring the Back End: Delve into the off-season challenges faced by creative businesses, focusing on the less visible yet crucial back-end tasks.
Defining Back-End Priorities: Understand the distinction between client-facing responsibilities and analytical tasks like blogging, client experience refinement, and financial planning.
Navigating Off-Season Priorities: Discover how individual strengths and preferences drive focus—Shay's enthusiasm for content creation contrasts with Devin's emphasis on website revamping and financial planning.
Innovating and Financial Prudence: Insights into expanding services, like adding second shooters, and the importance of financial planning to ensure fair compensation.
Learning from Experience: Reflecting on past mistakes and the value of setting clear goals and professional boundaries.
Your Guide to the Back End: Insights into defining business goals, prioritizing tasks, time management, client relations, financial management, online presence, marketing strategies, and workflow optimization.
Embracing the Slow Season: Acknowledging the slow season as a time to fortify foundations, innovate, and prepare for a more streamlined and profitable future.
Actionable Resources: Encouragement to download the free back-end checklist and access resources to elevate your creative business during the slow season. Don't hesitate to reach out for guidance on social media—thriving together!
A TANGIBLE guide to working on the back end of your creative business during the slow season!
Elevating Your Creative Business During the Slow Season
As they delve into the off-season, a time often marked by a slowdown in their respective creative industries, they acknowledge the struggle of balancing personal life and business demands. It's a challenge they've tackled head-on, a topic they’re eager to explore: working on the back end of their businesses.
Defining the Back End
The "front end" encompasses the client-facing, immediate tasks: emails, shooting, editing—essentially, the time-sensitive duties. However, the "back end" often gets overshadowed. This domain houses activities like blogging, client automations, refining the client experience, and the more analytical aspects like financial planning.
Shay confesses her admiration for Devin's prowess in focusing on the back end, though Devin modestly admits feeling like she’s never doing enough in that area. It’s a familiar sentiment for many entrepreneurs—what exactly does the back end entail?
Embracing Back-End Priorities
Shay’s excitement for blogging and SEO drives her to dive deep into content creation, an area where she thrives. Meanwhile, Devin’s enthusiasm lies in revamping her website, switching back to Squarespace to simplify her workflow and ensure easy updates.
Their discussions reveal contrasting strengths and procrastination zones. Shay’s finesse with SEO and blogging contrasts Devin’s knack for financial planning and analytical tasks. However, both share procrastination stories—the tasks that slip through the cracks despite their significance.
Navigating Priorities in the Off-Season
Their priorities for the off-season vary—Shay’s website overhaul and blogging versus Devin’s focus on refining client guides and updating financial records. They humorously acknowledge their mutual struggle with procrastination, particularly in gathering client testimonials and refining general guides for clients.
Innovating Offers and Financial Prudence
Both photographers plan to add second shooters as upsells, recognizing the need to enhance their services and streamline their workflow. They also emphasize the importance of financial planning—balancing books, reviewing expenses, and redefining pricing to ensure profitability, avoiding situations where their efforts don’t translate into fair compensation.
Learning from Experience
Reflecting on past time wasted on non-productive activities like excessive research, both Devin and Shay stress the importance of having clearly defined goals. Shay highlights the value of an early-established branding guideline, while Devin regrets not having set professional boundaries earlier.
YOUR GUIDE TO WORKING ON THE BACK END OF YOUR CREATIVE BUSINESS
Defining Your Business Goals
One key takeaway was the importance of setting financial goals that align with our business needs. For many, the "profit first" approach serves as a guiding light, ensuring that revenue meets both personal and business financial requirements. This approach requires understanding the minimum income needed to cover expenses and savings, emphasizing a crucial aspect of financial planning.
Prioritizing Tasks and Setting Realistic Objectives
Defining tasks and setting achievable goals emerged as a recurring theme. The conversation highlighted the value of listing down tasks related to client relationships, financial management, website presence, and marketing strategy. But the key isn't just about compiling a laundry list; it's about distilling it down to a few crucial tasks each day.
Task Management and Time Allocation
Overwhelming back-end responsibilities often lead to analysis paralysis. However, the recommendation to focus on accomplishing three key tasks each day resonated deeply. This approach streamlines productivity, preventing unnecessary time wasted on deciding what to prioritize.
Client Relationship Management and Email Efficiency
One notable area for improvement is refining initial inquiry emails. Ensuring that these templates are polished can significantly impact client conversion rates. Moreover, streamlining email responses not only enhances professionalism but also alleviates email-related stress—anxiety many of us face.
Financial Management: Tracking, Bookkeeping, and Outsourcing
Effective financial management involves diligent tracking, whether through manual spreadsheets or employing bookkeeping services. For some, outsourcing aspects like bookkeeping might be a game-changer, allowing more focus on core business functions.
Website and Online Presence: SEO, Image Updates, and Content Creation
Updating website images, optimizing them with appropriate alt tags, and aligning them with SEO objectives significantly impact online visibility. Additionally, creating blog content strategically, focusing on topics that address client queries, aids in search engine rankings.
Marketing Strategy: Social Media, Blogging, and Wedding Submissions
Crafting a solid marketing strategy involves aligning blog content with what potential clients search for. Utilizing social media in a batched manner and targeting wedding submissions to relevant publications can amplify online visibility and attract potential clients.
Workflow Optimization and Client Experience
Efficiency in workflow, particularly in editing, is critical. Customizing editing schedules to match personal circumstances, whether through outsourcing or revising editing routines, ensures high-quality deliverables without overwhelming oneself.
Taking Action and Personalizing Your Approach
The key lies not just in understanding these areas but in implementing personalized approaches that suit individual business styles. It's about finding a balance between work and personal life, enhancing productivity, and ensuring exceptional client experiences.
Conclusion
The back end of a creative business isn’t just about administrative tasks; it’s a canvas for innovation, refinement, and growth. The off-season provides an opportunity to fortify the foundations, enhance client experiences, and set the stage for a more streamlined and profitable future.
Download the free back end checklist and thrive, bby
Our aim is not just to offer advice but to be resources for action-takers. We encourage you to access the linked checklist and resources to jumpstart your back-end business strategies. Moreover, don't hesitate to reach out on social media for tailored guidance or to share your challenges—let's thrive together!