Tag Archive for: marketing

Lessons from My First Year as a Mompreneur

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5 Lessons I Learned in My First Year as a Mompreneur

This month, my son celebrates his first birthday. It’s miraculous how much he has changed, and amazing how quicky the time has passed – even though I’ve tried to slow down and enjoy every little moment (even the tough ones.)

Being more present is just one of the lessons I’ve learned since adding “mom” to my resume. Here are a few more:

1. The struggle to find balance is real.

One of the greatest challenges of running a business while being a mom is trying to find the right balance for yourself, your kids, your spouse – and your clients. I doubt there is a single working mother who hasn’t felt torn between being there for her family and being the best possible co-worker, boss or service provider. Personally, I’ve felt the pressure to prove I can do it all – to say yes to every project because I don’t want people to think I’m prioritizing my child’s needs over theirs.

I’m super lucky to have a spouse who is all in on sharing responsibilities. But even with help from my husband and our families, I quickly realized that being a new mom was a lot like being an entrepreneur. Each “job” comes with a unique set of challenges and rewards. And keeping both worlds running like clockwork takes determination, time management, and a solid support system.

2. The support system that works for you may not work for anyone else.

One of the most difficult choices for every working mom is finding reliable childcare that allows them to fully focus on their work. I took six weeks off after my son was born, and we were beyond fortunate that my husband had 20 weeks of paternity leave – which meant I didn’t have to stress about knowing my newborn was being well taken care of. (PSA: Companies need to be more generous with maternity/paternity leave. It’s better for everyone when both parents are caring for their baby.)

Given the high cost of day care, being able to rely on my husband and family has been a huge gift. But each of us has to figure out what works best for our situation. And not give a crap about what anyone else thinks.

3. “Flextime” takes on a whole new meaning.

Entrepreneurs are notorious for wearing many hats – and seriously, I wouldn’t have it any other way! Likewise, moms wear just as many hats — like caregiver, chef, nurse, and chauffeur. So, when it comes to keeping all of the balls in the air, flexibility is one of the greatest perks of mom entrepreneurship.

Being my own boss allows me to make my own schedule. Since my husband went back to work, I’ve been able to plan client meetings around naps and feedings. I may work more at night to get ahead of the day or over the weekend to meet a tight deadline. And having a home office eliminates the hassle (and time suck) of commuting. The catch? It can feel like the work never ends – and it’s tough to get a mental break. But I remind myself that being there for my son when he needs me most is why I do what I do.

4. Prioritize what matters and get help with the rest.

Being “on” 24/7 can take a toll. As the creative director of a branding agency, I’ve had to learn to make choices that support my ability to, well, be creative! When I take a break to feed my son, I zone out and give my brain a rest so I’m refreshed when I get back to my desk. And I hired a part-time assistant to help with some of the work. I’m such a perfectionist that letting go is incredibly hard. But maintaining my sanity means establishing priorities and asking for help – in the office and at home.

Working hard to be a great mom and business owner leaves little room for downtime. The upside is I’ve come to value my time and my talents more than ever. It’s been easier to say no to projects that aren’t a good fit – and to price my work more competitively.

5. Being a momprenuer is utterly exhausting – and deeply fulfilling.

Striking a balance between nurturing our families and nurturing our clients is the goal for every working mom. It’s also equally important to not lose sight of the things we love.

I started playing tennis in 4th grade. Since having a baby, tennis has been a welcome break and the exercise helps get my creative juices flowing. This spring, our group formed a team and we’ll be playing legit matches with other women in the area. I hope my mom will bring my son to watch – and maybe one day he’ll fall in love with it, too!

Pursuing our passions as moms and entrepreneurs feeds our souls and sets a positive example for our children. Yes, juggling all the things can be demanding on any given day. But for inspiration, we need look no further than the countless women business owners who are achieving success – and redefining motherhood in the process.

3 Secrets to Creating a Marketing Plan That Works

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Have you started your marketing plan for 2024?

No pressure – but now is the time to be analyzing, strategizing and budgeting for marketing
your business in the New Year. Of course, recent experience has proven that none of us can
predict what might happen over the next 12 months (or 12 hours!) But here are three concrete
steps to creating a marketing plan that will support the goals you set now – and any pivots you
make as the year unfolds.

1. Resist the Urge to Recycle (Last Year’s Plan)

With so much on your year-end plate, it’s tempting to simply look back at what worked in 2023
and plan to do more of it in 2024. But returning to the tried and true is not exactly a “strategy.”
If your company is evolving, your marketing objectives need to support your evolving vision.
Assessing last year’s marketing successes – as well as evaluating what did not work so well – is
an essential first step in developing your new plan. But don’t stop there. Identify what you want
your business and your team to achieve in the year ahead, then consider how to tweak or
revamp your marketing efforts to support these objectives.

2. Map Out the Right Mix

How do you determine what to keep, what to toss and what to add to your marketing mix?
Start by reviewing all of the internal data/metrics you can gather from the past 12 months.
Check in with your customers or clients. What are their current pain points or concerns? Which
of your company’s products or services could address these challenges? And what messaging
and call-to-actions need to be developed?

It’s also important to consider projected trends for your industry or market niche, and be super-
clear about where your target demographic is getting their information. Is it via websites?
Google? Specific social media sites? What they prefer now may be significantly different than it
was a year ago – and it may shift again six months from now.

Many businesses map out their plans by marketing channel, but keep in mind that your
customers don’t necessarily experience your marketing that way. Each interaction they have
with your brand is part of their total user experience. It’s important to spend time evaluating
how your customers are moving through their buyer journey – and designing your marketing
campaign so it resonates with them each step of the way.

3. Build a Realistic Budget

No matter how small or large your business is, your budget needs to allocate specific dollars to
marketing. But exactly how much should you spend on promoting your business?
Industry experts typically suggest calculating your marketing budget based on a percent of sales
or revenue. (Just Google “small business marketing budget” and you’ll see this can range anywhere from 2% to 12%.) But simply using a random percentage doesn’t take into account
your unique challenges and goals.

So, in addition to looking at your current and projected sales, you need to consider the other
key pillars of your marketing plan:

  • Your target audience
  • How to reach them
  • Where to focus your time, energy, and dollars in light of the financial and human
    resources that are available.

Once you have all of these components in place – and factor in the reward vs. the risk – then
you can figure out the budget.

When it comes to marketing, MIFA Media is all in on being innovative. But we also know that
customers want to engage with brands that are consistently authentic. If you want content that
connects with your audience and stands out from the crowd, give us a shout!

Graphic Design Dictionary Print Edition

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In this blog post, I’ll explain some common terms used by myself and many other graphic designers.

This edition will be based mainly on printed design work. Next month will be for digital design.

Resolution

This refers to the DPI “Dots per Inch” which means the amount of dots of ink printed per inch of paper. The standard amount for print is 300 DPI. This ensures that your images and content will print crystal clear. Web resolution is much lower which is why grabbing images off of Google will be likely blurry or distorted, especially if you try printing them.

Dimensions

This is an easy one. This is the size of the printed piece. Many times this is often forgotten about by people who aren’t designers. This is one of the first things needed before starting any project. If you change the dimensions, this can change the look and layout of the entire piece, causing more time to revise everything. So be sure before starting anything to figure this out first.

Bleed

Have you ever tried printing something from your home printer and it NEVER goes to the edge of the paper, and there is always a white border? Adding a bleed means extending the design past the dimensions of the finished piece. This then lets the professional printers trim your piece to the correct size allowing your piece to go to the very edge.

Pantone

This is a book of colors that are a standard for matching colors. It’s very important to get your logo in Pantone colors when needing the exact color. A color can look VERY different on screen than print. Having this standard allows you to know that each print will look exactly the same. Please note that this is NOT the same as CYMK or RGB. A fun fact is the name PMS comes from “Pantone Matching System”

Vector Art

One of the most important items to have in vector is your logo. Vector files can be .ai, eps, PDF and SVG. This means that when scaled up or down the file, no matter what size, will retain it’s shape and will be clear and not distorted.

Color Modes

Besides Pantone there is also CYMK and RGB. Each color mode is used for different types of design. CYMK “Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and Black” is used for printing. Did you ever look at the ink inside of a printer? It is made up of these colors. Everything from images needs to be converted so when printed everything will print correctly. RGB on the other end is for digital design. I’ll go over this in my “Digital Edition Blog Post” next month.

Crop Marks

These are the marks that printers use to cut your piece to the correct size. These marks are at each corner of your piece to ensure you get the correct final size.

Dieline

When doing more intricate design such as packaging a dieline is very important. This is the shape of the final piece. A dieline is a layer which should NOT be printed, that depicts all elements including: cut, fold glue marks and more.
Typography: This is the overall generic term which relates to the fonts in your project such as serif and sans serif fonts. Typography has so many components that I’ll do another blog breaking it down more.

High versus low resolution

High resolution means the file is print ready and saved at the best possible setting. The images will appear crisp and not fuzzy. Low Resolution means the file was down-saved. The images will appear blurry/fuzzy. This file is not for printing purposes but used many times to sent to client via email for proofing purposes since it’s a smaller file size.

3 Reasons how a blog can benefit you

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3 Reasons how a blog can benefit you

1. Drive traffic to your website

This might be the most obvious reason, however, many people seem to overlook this.  Adding new content to your blog increases the amount of “fresh” content on your website, which can place it higher than other websites on search engines.  This minimal add is an easy and affordable way to boost traffic to your website.
 

2. Boost your social media

Having extra content to share gives you the opportunity to share it on your social media platforms; and if you don’t have that, it’s a great time to start.   Adding content that is valuable to your demographic gives you a higher chance of gaining social shares, which leads to new clients.
 

3. Showcase your skills 

Writing content about what you know and your experiences helps to showcase your talents to the world.  Writing about topics you know helps reassure your clients that you are an expert in the field. Another perk is it might tell people about a skill set they didn’t know you had.
 
Regardless of your industry and where you are, having a blog can be a very beneficial tool for your company. With minimal effort and consistency, you will notice over time the positive effects a blog can have on your business.
Why Social Media for Business

Why you need social media for your business

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Why you need social media for your business

Whether you are a startup company or have been around the block, it’s important in the modern world to acquire a social media presence. With social media usage being one of the top online activities, it was calculated in 2019 that 79% of the population in the United States alone had a social media profile. With social media being free, it’s a no brainer that you should get your company on the grid. Here are just a few reasons why you need social media for your business.

1. SEO

No matter the field of your business, people always want to increase traffic to their website. If your clients cannot find you easily on the internet, then you will have trouble increasing traffic to your site. Social media helps you to overtake the first search results effortlessly. With millennials spending a vast amount of time on social media, it has been proven to hold value now and will continue to do so in the future.
 

2. Stay Relevant

Social media helps to create a bond between you and your clients. With simple posts, you are able to keep your clients updated on new launches, store openings, company policies and so much more. Each post helps to share your values and ethics with the rest of the world – but be sure to refrain from unnecessary posting, since this can push away clients.
 

3. Client Relationships

Hearing that someone does not have a social media account normally arouses a negative connotation and is unusual in contemporary America. Social media has become as important as having a well-designed website. With clients posting reviews to social media, while also gaining influencers for their brand, it becomes another form of publicity that their company needs in order to remain prevalent in the digital world.
 
With a variety of different channels, whether it be Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, it is vital to jump on the bandwagon. With the right combination of imagery and context along with posting strategically, your business will begin to boost sales and gain new leads more efficiently.