6 things I would do differently if I started my online business again
Yes, I’ve built a successful business, but I’m not averse from making mistakes, in fact I’ve made plentyyy of them!
Looking back, there’s some things I’d do just the same if I started again. Granted, on the other hand there’s indeed many other things I’d have done differently. And today, I’m sharing those with you!
Many of these things which I’m mentioning that I would do differently if I started again, I have actually changed in my business or have plans to change.
1. Set aside blocks of time for content creation
Blogging has been the thing which has grown my business to what it is today. Granted, I didn’t do it in the most efficient way. I write blog posts every Tuesday and Thursday and they publish on the same schedule. I write them in advance, so I tend to write a post 1.5 weeks before it goes live.
Writing in advance and having a schedule on which I write has helped greatly to stay consistent, but because writing a blog post is just another thing which I need to get done that day, I don’t get to dedicate as much effort and time to making my posts truly as amazing as I want them to be.
Backlinko doesn’t have many posts, but the few he does have, he clearly spent a few DAYS per blog post. They are the definition of uber-valuable posts.
Back in the day if I knew what I do now, I would have set aside a week or a few weeks, however frequently is necessary, to hammer out a bunch of ridiculously valuable blog posts.
I have a few blog posts on my list now that would be amazinggg, but I know they’ll take days to write, so they keep getting pushed back as other things need attention day-to-day.
2. Don’t do Facebook groups
I actually heard from many online business owners not to start FB groups because of just how much work and annoyance they are. So I limited my course Facebook groups to 4 weeks and still had issues. If I could go back and do it again, I’d do no FB groups ever. Lesson learned.
3. Guest post and collaborate more
For a longgg time, I feel like I built my business in a silo.
I have hardly ever guest posted and never pitched to be on a podcast or in a publication. I really worked on my own content and marketing solo.
My main reason for not doing this was that collaborations and pitching adds a lot of work and communication that just never seemed vital enough to set aside time for.
Working in my little silo, it’s worked yeah, but I think collaborations and getting in front of new and different audiences has a lot of value and can be very good for business.
4. Hire decisively
I worked with about 3 different lawyers to get some legal paperwork done for my business. Switching lawyers when they didn’t get what I wanted just led to things getting a lot more expensive and stressful.
I also was so nervous at how expensive Facebook Ads managers are, that I put myself and my assistant through self-induced Facebook Ads torture during a couple launches before making the decision to hire a manager.
Big expenses like lawyers and Facebook Ads managers is pretty nerve-wracking, and if I were to do it all over again, I’d make a decision once and stick with it, instead of flip-flopping back and forth or coming up with every workaround imaginable, which just prolongs the process and makes it more painful to go through.
5. Create more video
Yeah, video is the future of the internet. If you do anything in online marketing, you know that. Video builds amazing relationships with your audience, it’s easy to consume, and for certain types of content (how-to’s and tutorials) video is just super practical.
Video is also an undertaking and a half to create, so that’s mainly why I haven’t done it. But still, I could imagine that had I gone the video route, my connection with my audience would be stronger. Not sure if it’d be bigger, but stronger for sure.
6. Be more decisive with picking a charity and cause
It’s always been important to me to have my business be a force for good in the world and I always knew that I would pick a specific charity to support long-term. I’m really excited by the fact that my business brings in more income than I need and that therefore the money can become a gift to those who need it.
I’ve thought manyyy times about which charity to pick, but it’s honestly a really tough decision with so many complexities to it. It’s something I still haven’t done. (Putting off the difficult is something I think most of us are guilty of, or is it just me?) I have donated to a charity a business friend runs once, but haven’t really defined a specific charitable cause and routine for getting involved and donating.
Once all my ‘money problems’ were met (here’s a fab video from Casey Neistat on that) I started to face more ‘life problems,’ wondering how to be fulfilled, find happiness and feel a purpose in my business. I think getting really involved with and supporting a cause I love through charitable donations would probably be a move in the right direction for that.
