September 15, 2024 - Part 12

Hello, hello, hello, welcome back to Confessions of a Small Business Owner with me, Alisha.

Its a new episode, new week, new vibe, new energy.

Confessions is where I share my experiences as a small business owner. I share them here (on my blog) and record them for my vlog on my YouTube channel. I release them a few times a month. If you’re new, welcome. If you’ve been here, THANK YOUUUU for coming back. I appreciate you. You can check out some of my previous blogs below.

It’s been three weeks since my last blog/vlog. I am going to try to be more consistent. When you want to see results in anything, consistency is key. I’m hoping to release one every Monday.

Something I've learned over the past few days is I've been looking at and writing my story wrong, thinking it's going to look like someone else's. Focusing on how I think things should be because that’s how they’ve been done rather then flowing in a way/writing my story so it’s mine. Your story is yours, your vision is yours, so it will not look like anyone else’s.

So, my week started off great (week of 08/19, right after my last blog/vlog). Well, at least my morning did. I woke up ready to take on the world. Then as soon as I went into my office, I was instantly overwhelmed. In my last blog I talked about writing down my task and as soon as I went to tackle them I felt overwhelmed. And to be honest, I’ve been overwhelmed, underwhelmed and distracted since then.

How do you handle feeling overwhelmed? Of course I recommend breathing and deep work (check out Deep Work by Cal Newport). Focus on one task at a time.

So something that I've noticed over the past couple of weeks is a large uptick in people DM’ing and asking me for free products or “working out a deal” because they are a “content creator” and want to work with my brand. I'm not sure if it's because of the current economic climate and they're attempting to take advantage of businesses because they think businesses are hurting for business/advertising. Or if the current climate is making more people think they will jump on the content creating train because they don’t want a regular job. Or because good content creators make it look easy. Who knows the reason. But I have experienced several “pitches”. Have you? How have you been handling them?

Someone DM’d me and wrote “I am in my contact creator era” and I'm like girl, being a content creator is not an era. It's something you have to commit to. Another person DM and used all of the key words that are in my bio and website. I appreciated the initiative, I was very impressed, but currently I am not interested in working with someone. And then I got another one who said they are trying to grow as an influencer. Like you want me to help you do that? You want me to send you free products, that you don’t follow, have never tried so you can grow your brand. She didn’t even say so we can grow together. What is the incentive for me? Make it make sense.

What are your current experiences with content creators?

One thing I noticed over the past few weeks is that although as small business owners we work for ourselves, we rely on a lot of other factors to help us get our business done. Like different vendors we may rely on. For example, I’ve been using Bulk Apothecary for years for my product labels. They have had way extended processing times (not indicated on their site or in email) and it affects business. 

After a week filled with lots of tears, doubt, low sales, I ended the week inspired (at least that week).

Moving on, make sure you are responding to your customers. One terrible habit I have is opening a message and not responding when I open it. You don’t have to respond to messages instantly but when you open it, respond. Don’t open it until you are ready to respond. Don’t open the message until you are in a mental space to respond. You don’t want to forget and people really feel away when you leave them on read. Something to remember is just because someone messages you at 2 am on a Saturday, doesn’t mean you have to respond at that moment, but don’t open it until you are ready to respond.

Over the weekend (two weeks ago), I received a DM from a long time customer, long time in the sense that she has followed the business for years, comments occasionally, and made several purchases in the past but not recently. She was DMing to ask if I can replace the elastic on a bonnet purchase in 2020. Instantly, I'm like whaaaa. Who asks that? But I had to fall back. Put myself in her shoes. Maybe she loves it so much she wants another one or she doesn't want to “waste” fabric. Everything is negative.

I recently started selling one of my products on Amazon and it's been a challenge communicating with “Amazon support”. The whole thing has been a challenge. But I pray and am already thanking God for a smooth process.  

Two of my YouTube videos for one of my business channels got over 4K views. That’s never happened. So I'm curious as to why and how??????? I did get a few “dislikes” which is funny to me. Who dislikes videos?!!!???!!

I just wanted to give you a little pep talk, just because your followers aren’t increasing, doesn’t mean they don’t see you!! My followers have been decreasing like crazy.

Last week, my procrastination was on 100. I’m not sure if you are familiar with “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield but man, that book describes my procrastination this last week to a T. 

Use your friends and family to help create content. I used a neighbor to help me creator a YouTube video this week. Also, when it comes to creating the content, just do it. A lot of you are waiting until you “figure it out”, the “right time”, the right camera. It’ll always be something. You get better with repetition.

I intended to upload this last week but I was sick. Like super sick so I took time to lie in bed and rest. The thing about running your own business and being sick is no one is going to do it for you. You don’t get sick leave. I think I am going to start preparing for that. Creating a little savings cushion like a traditional job does. Maybe 4 hours a pay period or something like that. During that time I emptied my hidden IG inbox. Man, it was a shit show in there. I feel like I should have done a whole episode on the stuff in the inbox. What’s some of the craziest messages you’ve received?

That’s all for now. Thanks for being here. Love ya and remember to be the you that makes you the happiest.

Drink your water and mind your business.