All that I can say after my first Out of Office month of 2020 is: HOLY SH*T.
I didn’t do an Out of Office recap in December, simply because I was overwhelmed and the holidays took a lot out of me, so this recap may include a little bit from December as well.
January was full of newness in my business. I onboarded two new clients that I will be working with on a consistent basis, I launched a new series on my blog, I redesigned my blog (!!) and I organized and ran my very first giveaway.
I also completed a writing project for a client and was pleasantly surprised when they asked me to quote on another project for them! Getting a new client feels great, but having an existing client show that they appreciate your work by asking you to do more work feels even better.
So, I learned A LOT this month.
I can’t believe how much I learned in January. I am creating systems and processes as I go, and learning so much about project management. One area that I need to improve on? Focus. I get easily distracted by the work that I want to do, and tend to lose focus on the work that I need to do. Holding focus will be a big goal for me in February.
One thing that I learned this month was that it’s okay to say no. This month, I had to say no to a very prestigious business that wanted me to work for them. Working with this business would have been great for my resume and it would certainly have grown my income significantly, but something about it just didn’t feel right for me. I was worried that the time commitment would pull me away from smaller clients that have shown great trust and loyalty for me, and I wasn’t ready to give another business that much of my time.
I literally cried about this. Kirby watched me have a full blown panic attack over it. I felt honoured to have been offered the job and I knew that it would help us out financially, but it just wasn’t the right call for me right now. I think it was mostly difficult because I didn’t want to disappoint the client, but ultimately, I had to do what was right for me. Saying no is hard, but necessary.
These past two months were also huge for my blog. I still have a long way to go, but I’m absolutely loving the process. I love creating content and connecting with new people through my words and images.
Some wins from this month:
- Successfully onboarded two full-time clients
- Redesigned my blog and added new features
- Grew my LIKEtoKNOW.it following and generated four sales (working on this one!)
- Organized and ran my first giveaway, which generated the most engagement I’ve ever seen for myself on Instagram
- Began working with Smooth Effects Kelowna and shared my first and second experiences there
- Published 13 blog posts in December and 22 blog posts in January, and these were my top three posts:
Some losses from this month:
- Felt very overwhelmed at times and had to get ahold of myself
- Dealt with the reality of spending too much $$ over the holidays and not having the income that I used to have (yet!)
- I had to turn down a client and I felt terrible disappointing them
December By The Numbers
- Generated 1,494 pageviews
- Landed two new clients
January By The Numbers
- Garnered over 2,700 entries on my Instagram giveaway!
- Generated over 1,900 pageviews – my best month so far
- Renewed one client
- Met with one potential new client
Do you have tips and tricks for holding focus? Especially if you have an out of office career! Let me know in the comment section 🙂