Have you ever felt like you’re spinning your wheels as fast as you can but you’re not really going anywhere? Or maybe you’re just trying to move your feet but feel like you’re stuck in a muddy swamp and can’t move?
When I first started my business back in 2018, I tried something that I NEVER do. I decided to enter into a services trade with an insanely talented copywriter friend of mine.
Her son was about 6 months older than mine, and even though she and I worked together at my last job, we only really started connecting since leaving the company and having our babies. We found ourselves in the exact same boat together as new work-from-home moms starting our own businesses, serving similar audiences, and we started to form a really tight friendship through it.
I knew I wanted copywriting help for my business eventually, but it sounded so expensive and intimidating I kept putting it off. But I also know that time and money in a business is a balance — if you don’t have the time to do something, then you need to spend the money to outsource it. But if you don’t have the money, then you need to spend the time to do it yourself.
One day I had the thought, “I don’t have the money, but I can make some time! Maybe we can trade?” She needed help with her brand and I needed help with my words. It was a perfect match! I shot a voice text over to her suggesting the idea to her and she loved it!
We found so much inspiration and accountability through the process and it was a win-win on so many more levels than I expected. She wound up with a brand that she loves, and I wound up with a beautifully crafted email sequence (in fact, if you’re on my email list, you’ve experienced the fruits of this collaboration!), and we both wound up with portfolio-worthy work that were are proud of and could use to help get our businesses off the ground.
But the most unexpected thing that I walked away with was the way that she helped me get unstuck. I didn’t even realize that I was stuck in my business and mindset! I thought I was doing pretty well, until she came in and showed me that I could be doing even better.
Our simple partnership opened my eyes to how beneficial it is to reach out and ask for help. I thought I was doing ok on my own, but I was just spinning my wheels without even realizing it. Going through the copywriting process not only gave me a great welcome sequence to introduce my new email subscribers to Happyland, but it helped me in so many unexpected ways — like honing in on my target audience, discovering my brand voice, building a content funnel, and giving me the boost I needed to overhaul my website.
Before, I was embarrassed by my website, writing lackluster social media posts that I was uninspired to share, and had a pile of sticky notes on my desk for “blog ideas” that never got written because I didn’t know how to start. But collaborating with a copywriter changed ALL of that. Now I can work confidently in my business every day because I know who I’m talking too, how I can help them, and where we are going. I know my purpose now.
All of that came from simple partnership where I thought I was just getting some emails written for me.
And believe me when I say this was not some special, lightning in a bottle connection. I also recently connected with another designer who helped me get unstuck in some areas of my design process that felt stale. With her outside perspective I was able to see some areas that I could streamline and she pointed me in the direction of some great resources that were able to help me.
I know asking for help can get you unstuck too.
By letting go of trying to do it all yourself and inviting another person to come alongside you, you are:
Creating more time. Literally. It's like having 30 hours in the day instead of 24. What would you do with all your extra time? What could you accomplish? What other areas of your business could you focus on?
Injecting creativity into your business and yourself. An outside perspective helps us see the weak spots in our process. Working with my copywriter friend not only showed me that I had a lot to share and teach about branding that would be so helpful for small business owners, but gave me a voice and taught me how do it. If it weren’t for getting that outside perspective, I’d still be sitting at my desk doing the same things I was doing last year and wondering why my business wasn’t growing.
Making leaps and bounds as a business owner by admitting that you can’t do it all and giving your business the best. Speaking from personal experience, Happyland has grown the most when I've invested in getting help from other people. From trades like I described with my friend when I first started my business, to spending five figures on business coaching (which ended up tripling my income!), to hiring a team to support bigger projects. Growth happens when we put our time and money where our mouth is and stop trying to do everything ourselves.
As the old saying goes, “If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together.”