For most of you who are CEOs of established businesses, running hard is never a problem. It’s never a question of whether or not you are going to go after everything you can with EVERYTHING in you.
In fact, one of the reasons you have been so successful is due to your ability to grab life and shake the heck out of it. You’re excited about your message, you’re determined to share it with as many people as possible, and you won’t stop until you make an impact.
The problem is that you’re not very good at pushing pause.
But what if we told you that pushing pause:
- Improves your messaging
- Aids in customer retention
- Increases your profit {and profits you personally}
Would you be more inclined to take a break? Or would you smile, nod your head, and then keep running at your usual break-neck pace until you run out of gas?
When you’re constantly hustling, your messaging suffers
While your average, everyday Joe might stop and take a breather, the wonderful curse of being a brilliant, driven visionary is that you are often tempted to keep going. Even if you’re limping. And this, friend, is where you run into trouble, because your messaging suffers because of it. Your content becomes compromised. And {oh, by the way} your soul shrivels up. {Not exactly what you’re after!}
If you’re experiencing burnout, your content will be weak and not believable to your audience. You’ll lose your edge. Determined to hang on to control and keep being the voice of your brand, you’ll keep putting out content that is subpar and losing and/or confusing your audience. {Eek!}
Customer retention goes out the window. After all, it’s hard to build client loyalty when you’re not inspiring people anymore. {Hint: SO not the goal!}
Profiting Personally
Here’s the deal: We’re not life coaches. But we sure love them! And if you’re anything like us {and you are}, you’ve probably got a few faves that you listen to regularly. There are plenty of experts out there saying compelling things like:
“It’s very important that we re-learn the art of resting and relaxing. Not only does it help prevent the onset of many illnesses that develop through chronic tension and worrying; it allows us to clear our minds, focus, and find creative solutions to problems.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
I’m pretty sure we’re all on board for preventing illnesses and finding creative solutions to problems. If life coaches don’t motivate you, maybe this recent post on Facebook will: “If you’re not willing to invest in your wellness, then you will be forced to invest in your illness.” {Oof!}
I don’t think we can get any more direct than that.
When your business starts to suffer
Have you ever been in such a hurry to get somewhere that you find yourself being a little reckless on the journey? As in, you’ve been driving for so long and you just want to freakin’ GET THERE already, so you start taking those speed bumps a little fast {which, you admit, can be a bit jarring}, you start taking turns with a little less caution, and you start paying less attention to the road signs?
Maybe your “check engine light” comes on, but you’re so motivated to arrive at your destination that you don’t give it a second glance and kind of hope that maybe, by ignoring it, it will go away?
Speed bumps and such
We are 100% positive that making life-changes in your personal life will lead to increased profit and customer retention. {We know you know this. But we could all use a reminder, eh?}
And, professionally, based on our work over the past 10 years with CEOs and entrepreneurs, we’ve met so many business owners who have exhausted themselves wearing too many hats and not leveraging their team, virtual assistant, or outsourcing options.
They’re so motivated to get to their place of maximum impact and influence that they start being a bit more careless than normal. They ignore the warning signs that tell them they need to slow down, taking turns with a little too much bravado. And they think they’re invincible, because, well, they’ve gotten this far, and hey, “So far, so good”!
In fact, one of their main complaints in today’s “content is king” business environment is that they feel trapped under the content burden. But rather than stopping and searching for a solution, they strap on the extra weight of churning out web copy, sales pages, and eBooks without really taking time to see if there’s a better way. {Nevermind that their plates are already way too full!}
Does that sound like you? {4 ways to push pause}
As messaging strategists, we are able to work with our clients to find a place of peace. To push pause on the craziness and take some practical steps that help reduce the stress when it comes to content creation. To help our clients feel empowered when it comes to identifying brand voice, writing with authenticity, and using copy for maximum customer retention.
- Get to know yourself and your brand. Go back to the basics of why you started. {This article is chock-full of practical advice for doing just that.}
- Define your brand voice and get it packaged up so it can be reproducible. {You can start by taking our Copywriting Character Quiz, which is a great first step on the path to nailing down your brand voice.}
- Get outside feedback: Ask those in your tribe if they think you’re working too much or coming across as stressed or frazzled. Ask them what they think of the content you’re putting out {via social media, web copy, emails, etc.}. Ask them if it seems like you love what you do.
- Hand the content writing to someone else. {We’re here if you need us!} If you’ve done the above three things, then outsourcing your content will be a breeze, because your team or your VA {or your fave messaging strategy firm…ahem} will be able to replicate your voice without compromising quality and without requiring countless edits.
Greater business profit
As you push pause and allow yourself to be the leader that you are {without having to focus on churning out content night and day, among other things}, it keeps you in your zone of genius. And when you are in the genius zone, you are able to increase your bottom line because you are operating at optimal capacity. You are able to show up, in all of your glory, and in a way that you’re proud of.
Customer retention is no longer a concern, because your clients are inspired and respond positively to your leadership. They line up behind your values and your vision! And you are able to lead the way with that particular innovation that makes you unique.
The best thing about pushing pause? Everyone wins. {Especially you!}
Content creation getting you down? Say no to overwhelm and get a plan. By taking our revamped Copywriting Character Quiz, you’ll be well on the path to reclaiming your time and energy, finally free to get back to what you do best.