Top Tips to Fight Procrastination

Are you a procrastinator?

The first step to overcoming procrastination is to recognise that you’re procrastinating.

It ISN’T the same as being lazy.

If you fill your day with unimportant tasks, take lots of breaks from important tasks or wait for the ‘right time’ to complete a task, you’re probably procrastinating!

So, why are you procrastinating?

Are you unsure how to tackle a particular task?

Are you worried about failing?

Stress, anxiety and depression can often cause procrastination so if you think this could be the cause, make sure you go and seek professional help.

Here are my top tips for fighting procrastination:

  1. Remove distractions – turn off the TV, social media, the radio…whatever it is that is distracting you. You’ll be amazed at how much more you get done!
  2. Treat yourself with a reward for completing important tasks promptly.
  3. Break down bigger tasks into smaller chunks and add a timeframe to complete them.
  4. Find the best time of day for you – maybe you work better first thing in the morning? If so, get up early and crack on! Perhaps you work better when you’ve had a lie in and work later into the evening. Do what works best for you if you can.
  5. Get accountable! Ask someone to check up on you – business Facebook groups are great for this as you don’t want to look like a failure to other people.

For me, making a list the night before of all the tasks I need to complete the following day is key to a productive day! What do you do to avoid procrastinating? Let me know in the comments.

Seven Simple (But Important) Things To Remember About Blogging

It’s Blogger Day so if you’ve been thinking about starting to write a blog – today is the day! In this post, I share with you 7 simple (but important) things to remember about blogging…

1. Write about what you know and write for yourself

When starting out, blogging can be a daunting task – you can spend too much time overthinking – what should I write about? What will people think? Do I know enough about anything to write about it?

Stop.

Just write what you know and write it for yourself. Once you stop worrying about the other stuff the words will come.

2. Get ideas from your audience to ensure you’re offering value

Use your social media to ask your audience what they need help with and use their responses to come up with topics to blog about. You can then encourage interaction by asking them to comment on the blog with their questions or feedback!

Make sure you always include a call to action at the end of your blog so your readers know what to do next – follow you on social media, download your free guide, sign up to your mailing list, etc.

3. Write a catchy headline

This can be the hardest part, especially if you’re not particularly creative. 

Don’t worry, help is out there! There are lots of online blog title generators out there – here are just a few:

https://seopressor.com/blog-title-generator/

https://fatjoe.com/blog-title-generator/

https://www.hubspot.com/blog-topic-generator

https://www.portent.com/tools/title-maker/

https://www.impactplus.com/blog-title-generator

4. Use images

Not only do images break up text and make your blog easier to read, but you can also use images to tell a story.

The use of images within a blog can also help with your SEO (search engine optimisation) as long as you add alt text and an image description to each image you use.

However, there are a few things you need to be careful of when adding images to your blog:

  • Resize your images before you upload them to your blog using an online image resizing tool.
  • Compress your images before uploading to your blog to avoid issues with loading time. I use https://compressjpeg.com.
  • Don’t use any old image you find on a Google search as it may be copyrighted. Use free stock images from sites like Unsplash and Pexels, or create your own images using Canva.

5. Be consistent

Blog regularly and let people know about it! 

Build your email list and send out notifications when you publish a new blog, and share it across your social media profiles.

If you can aim to blog roughly the same time each month or so, your followers will come to expect to hear from you and will be more likely to read and engage with your blogs.

6. The ideal blog length

You’ll need to keep your blog reasonably short to keep readers engaged but it should be at least 300 words long. Any shorter and it is too difficult for Google to understand what your blog is about and could therefore harm your SEO.

Hubspot data suggests the idea blog length is now (2021) between 2,100-2,400 words.

Longer posts will offer more value and will keep readers on your page for longer – as long as they like what they’re reading!

7. Track your analytics

Set up Google Analytics so you can track how people find your blog and how long they spend there. High bounce rates will suggest the content of the blog doesn’t meet readers’ expectations compared with the blog title, or that the content isn’t interesting enough, doesn’t offer enough value, or is difficult to read.

You can use this data to tweak your blog and review the data regularly.

Do you blog? Share your latest blog post in the comments below! 

Do you check your social media insights?

What are social media insights?

Simply put, social media insights = data that tells you how your social media content is performing.

Also known as analytics, or social media metrics, your social media insights should be monitored regularly to ensure your efforts are actually having a positive impact on your business.

The key is to determine what your goal is before you start to track your insights. What do you want to achieve? Brand awareness? Engagement? Leads? Conversions or sales? Deciding on this first will determine which insights you should be focusing on.

What do they all mean?

Engagement: Likes, comments, shares and clicks

Impressions: The number of times your post appears in someone’s timeline

Post Reach: The number of unique users who saw your post

Post Engagements or Interactions: The number of engagements divided by impressions or reach

Page Reach: The number of people who saw any of your post content during a given period of time

Page Views: The number of times a Page’s profile has been viewed by people

Followers: The number of people following your page

New Followers: The number of people new to following your page in a given period of time

Profile Visits: The number of people visiting your profile from a post

Website Clicks: The number of people clicking on your website link from your profile

How do I check my insights?

You can find your social media insights through your account on each social media platform. Or, you can use one of these tools (some free, some paid for). 

Facebook

Go to your business page > Scroll down the menu on the left hand side > Click on Insights.

Or, use the Facebook Business Suite app (I find this much easier to use!)

Instagram

From your business profile > Click on Insights 

If you don’t have this option it is because you don’t have a Professional account. You can easily switch your account to a Professional account though. Just go to Settings > Account > Scroll down to Switch to a Professional account

Twitter

From the Home Page > Click More > Analytics

LinkedIn

If you have a personal account, go to your Profile > Scroll down until you see Dashboard. This gives you some limited information about how many people have viewed your profile and posts, and how many times you have appeared in a search.

From a business account, go to your business and you will see Analytics on the top menu.

You should also look at your top performing posts – do you see a pattern? Are you top performing posts videos, images, or text only posts? Do more of what is performing well, and less (or none) of what is performing badly!

What do I do with my social media insights data?

The first thing you need to do is have somewhere to store this data so you can see, at a glance, how your social media is performing. I use a simple Google Sheet for this (drop me an email if you’d like me to send you a copy).

Next, at the end of each month, make a note of all of the data you want to track. Think about those goals – brand awareness, engagement, leads, website visits, sales?

Brand awareness = mentions and reach

Engagement = engagement and post engagement

Leads = always ask your leads where they found you and make a note of this on your tracker

Website visits = website clicks

Sales = find out more about Facebook/Instagram shop insights here

Step back and take a look at the data. Where can you improve? What needs tweaking? A lot of this will be trial and error, but by monitoring your social media insights regularly, you will get there quicker. You’ll waste less time posting content that isn’t working for you and you’ll get to learn what your audience wants.

For more social media tips, follow me on Facebook and Instagram. Or, if you would prefer to outsource your social media work, get in touch to find out how I can help.

10 WordPress Website Maintenance Tips

Maintaining your website is essential to ensure it runs smoothly and offers a great experience for visitors and users. But, if you’re not too technical, it can seem like an absolute minefield!

In this blog post I share 10 easy step by step tips to maintaining your WordPress website…

Tip 1 | Back up your site!

This is probably the most important tip of all. There are a number of seemingly complicated ways to backup your WordPress website, but plugins like this can make it super easy > https://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/7-best-wordpress-backup-plugins-compared-pros-and-cons/

Tip 2 | Keep your site updated

This means plugins, themes and your version of WordPress! To do this:

  • Log in to the back end of your website
  • Under Dashboard you will see Updates with a number in red
  • Click on this to see what needs updating!

Make sure you update your files before performing updates. Click here for more support on how to do this.

Tip 3 | Optimise your database

Even when you remove unused plugins, all the related information is still stored on your database, along with content, images, videos, etc.

Optimising this database will improve your site’s performance. Use a plugin like WP-Optimize for this.

Tip 4 | Remove unused plugins and themes

If you’re not using a plugin, just delete it. The same goes for themes, however it is recommended you keep ONE WordPress theme alongside the active theme you’re using, such as Twenty Twenty-One.

Tip 5 | Test your forms

If you have contact forms on your website, it is because you want people to contact you. Regularly checking that these forms are working correctly is vital to ensure you’re not missing out on business.

Tip 6 | Check for broken links

Google does NOT like broken links so take some time to check through your site regularly to make sure your links are taking visitors to the right places.

If you don’t fancy manually checking, click here for some handy tools to help!

Tip 7 | Check your site speed

Slow loading sites are a HUGE turnoff for visitors which will have a negative impact on your SEO.

Use Google’s handy tool to find out your site’s speed and what to fix to improve it > https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

Tip 8 | Remove spam comments from your blog

To do this:

  • Log on to the back end of your website
  • Go to Comments on the left hand
  • Click on Spam
  • Select all comments
  • Click on the Bulk Actions drop down menu
  • Choose Delete Permanently
  • Click Apply

Tip 9 | Check your website for usability on other devices

Do the images display correctly? Do the pages optimise well? User experience is the most important thing when it comes to your website.

Tip 10 | Change your password to something unique

Updating your password regularly will help to keep hackers out. Change it to something completely random so there is no chance of anyone guessing it!

If you still don’t feel comfortable maintaining your website, why not outsource it to me? Email me today to find out more.

The Best Free Online Drives

Did you know that 1 in 10 computers are infected with viruses each month?

That’s why it is so important to backup important files, especially in this paperless age!

But storage doesn’t have to cost you a fortune. There are a number of free online drives available. In this blog post, I’ll share what I think are the best free online drives out there.

1 | Google Drive

Google Drive is by far my most favourite online drive.

If you have a Google account, you can get 15GB of storage for free – which you can access anywhere! However, this storage is spread across Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos so if you need more, you’ll have to start paying.

ProsCons
Great shareability / collaborationNon-Google account holders need permission to access files
Super user-friendly & easy to navigateNo protection against human error (deletion, malware, etc)

Try it now – https://www.google.com/intl/en_in/drive/

2 | Microsoft OneDrive

To access Microsoft OneDrive’s 5GB of free storage, you’ll need to sign up for a free Outlook.com account (if you don’t already have one).

ProsCons
Mobile application makes it easy to use and share documents on the goCannot sync with third party platforms such as calendars and project management tools
Access to Microsoft apps such as Word, Powerpoint and Excel No protection against human error (deletion, malware, etc)

Try it now – https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/onedrive/online-cloud-storage

3 | Dropbox

Dropbox can be installed on your desktop for 2GB of free storage. If you need more, you can EARN more storage by inviting others to Dropbox. If they sign up, you both get an extra 500MB (up to a max of 16GB on TOP of your original 2GB).

ProsCons
Great third party integrationLimited search function which can be frustrating
Allows working offline to minimise downtimeLack of high-level security

Try it now – https://www.dropbox.com/en_GB/

There you have it – my top 3 favourite FREE online drives. Can you recommend any others?

My Home Office – Get the Look

With nearly half of us now working from home in the UK, having a calm space where you can focus and be productive is now important than ever.

Throughout lockdown, my partner and I were working from the dining table, a dressing table, the sofa and even occasionally from our bed!! It got to a point where I just couldn’t deal with it – my back was killing, I didn’t feel focused anywhere and everything just seemed chaotic.

My partner’s office finally reopened so it was just me working from home, but living in a tiny millworkers cottage, my options for a workspace were very limited. With my step-daughter only being here half of the week (and being at school whilst I’m working), I decided to replace the dressing table in the corner of her room (which only I used because she is far too young for makeup – my thoughts, not hers!) with a proper desk and chair (which I was informed just had to be pink…I wasn’t ever going to argue with that!)

As soon as IKEA opened I was there, and within 2 hours the back of the car was full with everything I needed for my workspace:

  • A desk (small but with storage)
  • Shelves
  • Storage boxes
  • A clock
  • A fake plant
  • Mirrors

I got home and promptly set it all up but it still didn’t feel right…I needed a few more bits and bobs to make it feel like my own space. So, half an hour online shopping at Next, Sainburys and Not On The High Street and I was sorted with:

  • A lamp
  • (another) fake plant
  • 2 pin boards
  • A desk protector
  • Some inspirational prints

And that was my home office complete…

But then…working on a laptop started driving my CRAZY so I started looking at getting a new one. Having only recently started out in business it seemed silly to fork out for a new laptop when I had a perfectly good, albeit HUGE in comparison to the students’ laptops next to me in Starbucks, laptop in working order.

So, as soon as Black Friday came around I jumped on the Currys PC World website and ordered myself a new screen, keyboard and mouse for an absolute bargain!

The final addition to my workspace is a back massager from Snailax that my wonderful financé bought me as a Christmas present! Now I have no excuse not to work all day!

So there you have it, my home office project is now complete! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading…

Michelle xx

Get the look:

Shelves from £5

Grey storage boxes from £6

Alarm clock £4.50

Artificial hanging plant £6, and pot £3

Mirrors £12 for 2

Artificial plant in pink pot £20

Cork board £8.99

Pink dog print memo board from £30

Desk protector £13.99

Green motiviational print £9.50 and photo frame 50p

Pink motivational print £3.23 and photo frame £1.75

Office chair £100

No longer available:

Desk – similar at IKEA

Green box file – similar at Sainsburys

Desk lamp – similar at Next

Pencil case

5 FREE Apps Every Small Business Owners Needs In Their Life

Apps make life easier.

When you’re a one-man band, you need all the help you can get, so today I want to share with you 5 of my favourite FREE apps to help you to run your business…

1 – Trello

Trello is a virtual To Do list.
You can create ‘boards’ where you can list tasks to be completed, assign tasks to other people, set deadlines and add attachments. Boards can be shared with members of your team, or with clients, so everyone knows what is expected of them.

2 – Canva

Ahhh…my favourite app of all time.
Canva is a design app which allows you to easily create graphics for social media, flyers, posters, invitations…basically any document you can think of!
There is a paid version which gives you more options but with the free version, you get plenty of photos and graphics to choose from and can set your brand colours to quickly create branded items.

3 – Later

Later is a social media scheduling tool. Again, there is a paid version which gives you access to analytics and insights.
But, if you’re just looking for a simple scheduler, Later is a great option!
For those who like an aesthetic Instagram feed, you can preview, and click and drag your posts around until you get a beautiful grid!

4 – Google Drive

Google Drive is fab for storing documents and photos. You can create documents (using Google doc), spreadsheets (Google Sheets), presentations (Google Slides) and forms (Google Forms) and store and share them all from Google Drive.
Files and folders can be made private or can be shared with other members of your team, or even with clients.

5 – Hubspot

Hubspot is a great CRM to store contacts, create landing pages, set tasks to follow up potential clients, track deals…the list goes on!
The free version is perfect for anyone just starting up in business who wants to keep their leads and sales organised and in one place.

So, there you have it! 5 of my favourite free apps to help you to run your business.

If you need a hand getting organised, get in touch today to find out how I can help!

10 Days of Social Media Content for December

A little gift from me to you 🎁


Last month I shared some social media ideas for November and it went down a treat! So…I’m doing the same for December 🎄

#givingtuesday
#nationalgriefawarenessweek
#illuminationstreetweek
#humanrightsday
#christmasjumperday
#festivalofwinterwalks
#wintersolstice
#christmaseve
#christmasday
#nye2020

There you have it, 10 ideas for your December social media content calendar.

If you’d like some help with planning and scheduling your social media, get in touch with me to find out more about how I can help.

A Quick Guide To The Best Times To Post On Social Media

Here’s a 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 guide to the best times to post on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn.

𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 – if you don’t know what I am talking about, get in touch and I will happily point you in the right direction.

Instagram

Best TIME: 11am

Best DAY: Wednesday

WORST day: Sunday

Facebook

Best TIME: 11am – 1pm

Best DAY: Wednesday

WORST day: Sunday

Twitter

Best TIME: 9am

Best DAY: Wednesday or Friday

WORST day: Saturday

LinkedIn

Best TIME: 8am – 10am

Best DAY: Wednesday or Thursday

WORST day: Sunday

There you have it – a quick guide to the best times for posting on social media!

If you’re swamped by scheduling your social media post, have you considered outsourcing it to a lovely Virtual Assistant like me?

Message me today to book in your FREE discovery call to chat through what help you need.

8 GREAT Things You Can Do With A Spreadsheet

Bear with me…I know this doesn’t sound like a very exciting post, but spreadsheets are SO versatile and I absolutely LOVE them!

You don’t have to be a formula whizz, there are plenty of things you can use a spreadsheet for without being a mathematical genius.

Here are my Top 8…

1 Content Calendar

Mapping out a content calendar for your social media or website can be done using a spreadsheet! Use Google Sheets to share with other members of your team.

2 Accounting

If you don’t use accounting software, spreadsheets are a great way to keep on top of your accounts, create budget plans, forecasts, etc. You will even find some ready made templates in Microsoft Excel.

3 Inventory Tracking

Again, using simple formulae, you can set up an inventory tracker to help you to stay organised.

4 To Do Lists

I am a sucker for a To Do list…I have a notepad on which I write the next day’s To Do list every evening, as well as three different project management platforms that I use!
But sometimes, it is easier just to do it on a spreadsheet.
This week I have created my Christmas Shopping To Do list, with a different tab for each recipient, tick boxes and links to every present I want to buy. And it only took a couple of minutes to set it up!

5 Calculator

If you have to do the same calculations over and over again for your business, you can simply save your formula in to a spreadsheet and every time you need to run the calculation, just enter your figures!

6 Time Log

A lot of virtual services rely on time logs – spreadsheets are a great way to do this. There are lots of time tracking apps out there, but spreadsheets are free!

7 Mailing List

Spreadsheets can be great for keeping on top of your mailing list, especially if you use an email marketing platform like Mailchimp or Mailerlite.
If you do use these platforms, subscribers will often sign up directly from your website or social media, but what about those people who want to join your mailing list another way?
Simply pop them on your spreadsheet, then upload the sheet weekly to your mail provider.
That way, your mailing list will be up to date without you having to keep going in and entering new subscribers manually.

8 CRM

This is only really suitable if you only have a handful of clients. You can easily create a simply CRM to stay on top of your clients using a spreadsheet. But, if you’re dealing with larger numbers, I’d recommend using a pre-built CRM system or app.

So, there you have it…8 AMAZING things you can do with a spreadsheet.


If you need some help with any of these things, or you just want something setting up…get in touch today to find out how I can help.