Friday arvo. Another business owner. The standard conversation opener… “How’s things? Crazy busy?”
“Nope, and I’m enjoying it.”
And I meant it. Not in a toxic positivity, everything happens for a reason kind of way. But in a I’m not stressing about it kind of way.
In the past, when things go quiet out in the ether, I would worry. Is it me? Is it my services? My pricing? Do I need to burn it all down and go find a job elsewhere? Not that anyone would know this though. I’m not one to wear my business stress like a badge of honour. It was more of a silent stress. Constantly permeating through my days and creeping into every thought I had, soaking up a whole lot of my mental capacity.
So this time, what’s different?
Nothing. Nothing is different. Maybe it’s exposure therapy. But I’ve been in this cycle enough times to know that it doesn’t last.
EOFY happened, WATCH YOUR EXPENDITURE. Everyone is banging on about the economy, STOP SPENDING. It’s an election year, NOBODY MOVE.
But the truth is, if you’re not marketing during the quiet times, you’re more likely to sink in them.
So what am I doing instead of being ‘crazy busy’? I’m having the BEST TIME.
I’m stressing less, I’m golfing more, and you may or may not have noticed… I’ve started marketing my business again.
Because that’s a lever I can pull when things slow down, marketing ramps up. Not the other way around.
The cool thing about being quiet is that I have the luxury of time. Time to think. Time to conjure up ideas, time to write this little insight into how my brain operates. Because when I’m deep in client work, and I mean really deep, I don’t have space for my own creative thinking. I’m head down, delivering, dreaming up ideas for everyone else’s business and neglecting my own.
So right now, I’m using my time wisely. Working on the stuff I kept putting off, the content I never got around to. Clearing out my random notes, folders of half-baked ideas and screenshots of inspiration that got interrupted by someone else’s deadline.
And I’m playing more golf, badly.
Because this isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve done a few laps of the sun in this business now. I’ve done the stressing and worrying, and it just kept me stuck.
And one thing I do know, and I’ll say it again because you need to hear it, the worst thing you can do when business is slow, is go quiet on your marketing. Don’t pull back. Don’t stop posting. Don’t stop reaching out. Don’t stop showing up.
Because if you lock the door, how the hell are people going to get inside?
So here I am writing this post. I’m following up with people. I’m showing up. And then I’m going to go and whack a small white ball around a paddock and call it golf.
Because, yep I’m quiet. And I’m really enjoying it.