11 Things to keep your mind & business going strong during this tough time -plus printable sheets

Who would've thought the year 2020 brought us this level of challenge and craziness around the globe? Amid uncertainty and crisis around the current situation, many of us could use this time to focus and refocus on activities and tasks that we find too busy to do while in a full hustling and grinding mode.

Guess what? The time has come. It's time to work on tasks that we wish we had the time to do.

While this article may not help you generate revenue or clients instantly, it will help you establish a strong foundation for when we all are back at it again.

I'm also sharing this detailed downloadable productivity guide that contains actionable items to keep you on track & on purpose with these activities.

Now that people spend more time online, it could be the time time to put yourself to connect with others and provide your service/value. Without further ado, these are 11 things to give your business and personal life a strong foundation during this downtime.

Check out this productivity guide/checklist to help your business fight against the Corvid 19 impacts:

#1 Reset your mindset and goal(s): All of us anticipated the arrival of the big 2020 and had so many exciting things planned in our businesses. Then a few months later, our world has turned upside down in a way that no one had imagined. We all are facing a challenging time. While the current situation is uncertain and scary, it's even more important than ever to keep your spirit high.

Resetting a new expectation can positively impact your mental and emotionally health

If your goal in 2020 is to hit a six-figure, but you foresee a major revenue drop due to clients' financial hardship, then adjusting and refocusing isn't a bad idea.

You always want to keep your momentum and good spirit while focusing on your business goals that feel right and not put too much pressure on you.

#2 Create a quality time/memory with your loved ones: for most business owners, we always work, work and work. Dad's guilt, mom's guilt - you name it. Oftentimes, we don't get to spend a lot of time with our family. Now there is no better time to reconnect and create the quality time you've always dreamed of having.

• Color or sing with your children

• Cook or bake new recipes

• Play game boards

• Reconnect with your spouse

• Call your parents, relatives or friends

#3 Establish your "online" presence and keep the momentum going. Not all businesses can become online business but every business can benefit from having an online presence in some shape and form, be it on social media or your own website.

#4 Plan your social media posts, newsletters and/or blog posts: I know this is such a daunting task for many of us. No surprise this task has been put on the back burner over and over again. There is no better time than now to get started. These are some ideas to help spark your ideas in case you don't know what to post:

• What made or inspired you start your business?

• 3 Surprising facts about you or your business

• An office tour video to show your work space

• Share your thought process of your product/service

• 5 Things you learned from your business last year

Coming up with topics to share in your social media or blog posts isn't as difficult as you think.

If you come from a place of "sharing/telling" instead of thinking of a perfect message to sell.

Once you make that mental shift from trying to create that perfect marketing message/sale pitch, words and ideas will flow naturally and you'll find yourself having a long list of topics to "share" with your audience.

#5 Try a 5-min meditation

This is one activity I've always wanted to try but I always feel rushed and could never achieve this routine. In times like these, perhaps a peaceful moment is what we need the most to boost our mental health to be prepared for any situation.

#6 Review and update your website: when was the last time you updated your website? Since the outbreak of the novel Corvid 19 virus, your business online presence is more critical than ever. You want your clients to be able to find you online when visiting your physical location isn't convenient.

Not all businesses have the ability to become online businesses as some of you provide/deliver the in-person experience that cannot be substituted with online transaction, you can use the power of internet to establish your online presence.

If you need help to diy your website, I'm offering a flexible/obligation-free/buy-only-as-you need option at a special rate (contact for more details).

#7 Follow up or check in with your past prospects & clients: they may have said no to you weeks or months or a year ago, but hey things may change. Many of us are too busy, too shy, too intimidated to follow up, BUT now it's time to do so.

Simply sending a quick email to check on them to see how they are doing and how they have been impacted. A caring and genuine message goes a long way during a difficult time like this. Showing that you care and think of them can make someone's day.

For service-based businesses, these are some of the activities you can do to stay in touch with your clients/prospects:

For hair salon, eyelash, microblading and all other beauty related businesses, women still want to look put together. And looking good helps boost their emotion. While they can't see you in-person to get the beauty service at this time (which can be depressing for some - bad hair day, anyone?), creating video tutorials or sharing information on how to care for their new set of lashes, eyebrows, easy way to diy an easy hairstyle, good product to cover grey hair and etc can truly make someone's day.

Just don't go quiet. People are always online. When people can't go out to spend money right now, it doesn't mean it ends here. Keep engaging and letting them know you're here.

This concept could be adjusted and used in other industries as well. Let your thinking outside the box and creative ideas run wild!

#8 Review and evaluate your current business approach/process: When we get into a habit of doing something, it's easy to operate even though it isn't efficient. If you have a process in place, carefully analyze and list a few other alternative methods you could put in place to improve. If you don't have one, it could be a good time to establish now to help speed up and become more efficient.

#9 Clean up and organize your work and/or home space

When all else fail, we can always clean and organize our homes to keep our minds occupied. If you're like me, you're CONSTANTLY on the go. Your day is filled with life/work/side hustle/family/spouse/child's school+activities/aging parents/unexpected circumstances and the list goes on. It's mind-blowing! It feels like there is never enough time to be home to clean/organize your home nor work space.

Cleaning an entire house can feel overwhelm. My proven cleaning/organizing tip is to focus on one small area at a time. Be it a counter in the kitchen, one drawer or one room. Whatever feels good to you. Just don't try to overwhelm yourself with the thought of cleaning an entire house in one day, chances are you'll back yourself out form this grand plan.

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#10 Exercise and keep your body moving and active: don't let the self-quarantine or work-at-home deter you from being active. As a matter of fact, we all have more time now and the probability to gain weight is a LOT easier (talking about unlimited access to kitchen and pantry 24/7 and binge watching on Youtube/TV/Netflix anyone?)

I'm a big fan of at-home workout. Over the past 5 years, I primarily exercise at home, never go to the gym. There are so many Youtube workout videos for ALL fitness levels and won't require a lot of space that you can perform at home and use what you have even if you don't have gym equipment (don't let that be your excuse either).

#11 Time to learn new skills and things you have always wanted to do: Are you the kind of person who like to buy online courses/books but never have time to read/study? There is no perfect time than "now" to go through those materials.

I created a more detail guide that you can download here. In this productivity list, I shared some examples to help guide you and you can fill out your own ideas.

Get your free productivity list here

To do list for business

After all, we are all in this together. I'm sending you a bucket full of strength, good health, faith and hope.

Tat

(www.Tatiwa.com)

What platform should you choose to build your website & what should you ask?

This seems like a simple question but it isn't easy to answer. Why is that? - you ask. Because there's more to this than meets the eye for what is right for you. And it is not purely based on platform's popularity or expert's opinion.

For the past few years as a business owner, I've joined many (more than I can remember) Facebook groups where new and veteran business owners and online entrepreneurs hang out. Some of the most frequent questions and posts are "what platform is best?" and "where should I build my website?"

You could be even more overwhelmed with answers from fellow business owners or web designers throwing all kinds of honest answers or sometimes bias/promotional opinions to the mix

BUT I noticed that no one really asks or tries to understand what that person tries to achieve with his/her website or what his/her technical background is.

For most DIYers, they aren't tech-savvy. Some may feel more comfortable with tech stuff than another and are willing to learn some coding while some have zero interest or time and feel intimidated. This second group of people want to avoid touching the tech side of the website as much as possible.

This is a very critical question that you should consider asking yourself even before deciding on Wordpress/Wix/SqureSpace/Weebly/Shopify or etc:

1. How comfortable am I with tech/website?

2. Does learning tech stuff get me excited or make me feel scared?

3. Do I enjoy learning and overcoming challenges? Am I easily overwhelmed or do I tend to want to give up easily if I hit roadblocks? Am I good at figuring things out?

4. How much time do I have to commit to learning in addition to operating other parts of my business?

5. What exactly I want my website to have and my business goal? Will the platform be able to grow and evolve with me?

Most people go with what others recommend without asking these initial questions or further research.

While some have great success, many end up feeling frustrated and wasting time/money in the process. Many people get bogged down and can't successfully bring their project to life.

Wordpress, Wix, SqureSpace, Weebly and Shopify are popular choices for modern business owners.

Wordpress has great reputation and is powerful when it comes to its long standing blogging features and full flexibility for customization.

Due to its flexibility, it's important that you do research because there are plethora of options from hosting company, domain name provider, theme, plugins, security backup and etc that you have to select.

Shopify is well known for eCommerce and could be perfect for people who sell physical products (or even digital).

Wix, Squrespace and Weebly are all known to be friendly to non-tech savvy people who want to get things up and running.

I can't speak for two other platforms as I am more familiar with Wix. Wix advertises itself as a drag-and-drop website builder but offers a more advanced feature that allows you to fully customize your site with coding. This is very little known to public (Wix Corvid). This helps eliminate many limitations in the drag-and-drop feature and open up more endless possibilities.

For an in-depth review/analysis of these platforms, I highly recommend these resources:

https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/website-builders/comparisons/wix-vs-wordpress/

https://winningwp.com/wix-vs-wordpress-which-is-best/

Now, don't forget to ask those 5 questions and have fun building. If you decide to go with Wix and need help, don't hesitate to contact me :)

Have a great day!

The 8 truths about running a business

What do you think it takes to run a business? Personally, there's more than one single answer. After 20 months into building my web design and photography business, there are eye-opening truths. Here we go!

#1 You have to wholeheartedly believe in what you're building even when no one else does.

People may say something about your goal from a place of love / concern or it could be their own limiting belief, listen with a grain of salt.

No one knows your whole life story and what you've gone through, trust yourself, your instincts & your gut.

Carefully evaluate & process those concerns. Some suggestions are worth considering in order to help you minimize your risks or help you explore new ideas/possibilities. Don't give up on your dream just because someone said it's too much, too complicated, too difficult, too risky. Running a business is about taking a risk (calculated risks of course).

#2 Having a talent isn't the only ticket to success.

I've seen some really, really talented people with incredible skills but they don't thrive in business.

This was a major factor that made my business fail 5 years ago. I thought I had what it took but I didn't market, make connections or sell my skills. I stayed in my bubble thinking when you build, people will come. I hated to be pushy or came across as being sales-y.

For years I misunderstood that being a pushy sale person was the only way to make a sale and I totally hated it. I didn't know you can market and offer your service in a "compassion and authentic" way. Once this clicked, everything changed.

You can't hide behind your computer or hope that people will come. You have to go find your customers. There is no other way.

#3 If you don't believe in your product or service, it is going to feel forced and awkward when you talk about it.

Before selling, test, tweak, test some more and create a product and service that you are proud of, know it works and can make a positive impact to those who need them.

You have to love and want to use your product/service before selling it to others. If you don't believe in what you offer to begin with, you will feel forced to market and people can sense it.

Take the time to develop and create a high-quality product/service, research, test, get feedback from your ideal clients as you go so that you are confident that it will work and your clients love the experience. This can be done in several ways. My favorite method is finding strangers who are in the same FB group or IG that appear to be your ideal clients, offer the service as a beta test at a lower price point and test this out or ask your exiting clients for thorough feedback about ways you can improve.

#4 Strengthen your mind & soul

When things get tough, our fear and self-doubts play a dirty trick with our mind.

Let's be honest, things will get tough when you start and as you continue on this journey. It's like riding on a roller coaster that will take you up and down, up and down some more. The ride will never end.

Let's look at what makes things tough in business.

• Overwhelming steps to start your business

• Fear of rejection

• Uncomfortable feeling when meeting/talking to strangers especially if you're an introvert

• Fear of not having enough time/money to invest

• Doubt your ability/skills: am I good enough?

• Financial stress from not making enough to pay bills

• Inability to find customers

• Customer complaints and etc.

Those concerns and fears are very real when you become your own boss. It doesn't matter how many years you're into business. A new set of challenge will present itself at various stage of business journey.

Knowing and accepting the facts that these fears/concerns and scenarios are common and normal. They are part of entrepreneurial journey and every single business owner/entrepreneur faces many times.

When people don't talk about what the struggles/difficulties they have, it doesn't mean they don't face any. At the same time, what's the point about talking about difficulties all the time right? The first step to strengthen mindset is to find a healthy way to cope when difficulties arise.

I personally have spent my morning drive after dropping my daughter off at school listening to self-development podcasts and YouTube (only listen while driving). Two of my favorites are Women of Impact and Impact Theory on YouTube. Highly, highly recommend them.

#5 Don't take your physical or mental health for granted, ever!

It's so natural for most of us to want to go 150% with our business. We want it to grow fast and do as much as we possibly can. Every minute counts.

During my first year, I got caught in this mentality "if I stopped even for just one day, I'd have a terrible setback". I have no time to waste. I hustled like I was a robot and you bet my body could only handle so much of that with little sleep for so many months.

When you're physically exhausted, your mind isn't in the right place. You become moody, cranky and can't think straight. Most importantly, you start to feel that the entrepreneurial journey sucks the life out of you and you no longer enjoy it. It's so easy to be negative, your productivity level is low and that shows in your quality of work.

I learned this the hard way but it was necessary for me to experience it by myself. It was difficult to know where that line is when you feel you have to persevere and push your limits but pull back and call it quit for the day in order to give your body/mind a break.

Risking and sacrificing your health is never worth trying. You only have one life to live, one body and one heart.

You're in this for a long ride.

Pull back when your body signals you "enough is enough", rest and renew your energy so you can make conscious decisions, produce high-quality work & regain positive energy

#6 Don't try to do it all. Delegate and get help.

This was a tough one for me. In my first year, I tried to do everything by myself on top of having a full time job, a child and a single mom schedule for the sake of wanting to bootstrap. The thought of hiring out or paying someone to do something for me didn't make any sense when I barely made any. But you know what? I hated reconciling Quickbooks. It was never fun for me and I dreaded this part.

After a year, I finally outsourced this part and life is MUCH BETTER. Many people are like me when getting started, it makes sense to try to do everything that you can to save money. However, each of us isn't good at everything. We have strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly, we have limited time and time is the most precious resource that cannot be replaced.

Once you find someone that you can trust to help you with certain parts in your business, you're going to feel a sense of relief and can focus on bringing in even more revenue.

#7 YOU ARE ENOUGH. Focus on yourself, not others.

The comparison game can be so destructive to our mental health. I can't stress enough how having and developing positive perspectives and mindset is so crucial.

There will always be people who do what you do, offer the type of product or service that you offer.

But "they are NOT you". They don't talk like you, think like you, express it in the way that you do. Heck, no one sounds like me with an accent!

By comparing ourselves to someone who has 20 years of experience in their field can be very intimidating. However, I found that people who are highly experienced can feel insecure about themselves too. It doesn't matter how young, old, inexperienced or experienced you are. Start telling yourself a "new" story that can open up many possibilities.

Each of us brings something unique to the table. Our style, the way we see the world, the way we express our opinion and the way we deliver them.

Focus on yourself, stay in your lane and do the best that you can with what you have. You're enough. Utilize what you have, take action now and always learn and improve to be better at it.

#8 Not everyone is going to like what you do or become your clients.

And that's absolutely okay.

Be unapologetically you

When you express yourself, speak your truth and be who you are, you'll lose and gain some people.

We can't please everyone. Filtering your inner circle or even your clients can be beneficial and liberating to your mental heath and business in a long term.

Attract and surround yourself with people who believe and like who you are and what you do. Don't be afraid to lose those who aren't a part of your journey. Respect their decision and let them go.

This also applies to your social media following. What's the point of having 100 followers on your FB or IG but no one cares about what you do or sell? Numbers sometimes are meaningless. Investing your time and energy on people who want to engage/interact with you can be more rewarding and fulfilling.