Her Data Method

  • Homepage
  • About
  • Services
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Courses
  • Login

Entrepreneurs

April 26, 2018 - Shannon Ware

Mind, Body, Data: How to Find Peace of Mind as a Mompreneur

I can’t tell if it’s because I have small children or if it’s my busy schedule, but this year is flying by. Even though the 1st quarter is gone (girl bye), I’m going to pretend we’re still in the goal-setting part of our business journey for 2018—because Melody and I still are! To be honest, this is the time of year when I look up and think, “Shit! It’s not January anymore!”

Anybody else?

Goals and/or Intentions

I’m always fascinated by other people’s goals or “intentions” setting practices. And the people who actually meet their goals? They are an anomaly to me. At our last meeting, Melody and I were wrapping up an extra-long “squirrel chasing” conversation, which left us laughing about the chaotic year we’ve had so far. We concluded that the universe always has different plans than we do, which makes the idea of setting goals seem almost laughable.

Tell me I’m not the only one who feels this way...

As a business owner, it makes sense to set goals, and over the years I’ve learned that you need to have data in order to set those goals. But where do you fellow mompreneurs find the headspace for this process? Let alone the time it takes to keep up with the goals as the year flies by?

Luckily, Melody and I each have a personal connection to HerDataMethod, and despite our respective life crises, pressing on does not feel optional at this point. We are literally on a mission to bring this project to life.

But what if I didn’t feel so passionately? Would I bail?

It’s HARD to separate work and life

When you’re a mother, life is about sacrifices and balance. How do you “press on” when things at home are pulling you so far in the opposite direction? This got me thinking about balance. Work and life balance. Even when you find a stride that seems to work, it only takes one crisis to throw everything into a tizzy.

However, I have learned that these blows to the day-to-day routine are a little less traumatic when I feel healthy. Not just eating right, but when I’m in a good place in my mind and heart. I recently started a new daily routine that allows for some “me” time every morning: time to set intentions for both work and life. Time to clear my head and start the day focused on what needs my attention.

Mind, Body, Data Balance Image

So why shouldn’t you have this kind of focus when making business decisions? What if you could create a process for collecting the data and information you need to know about your customers that will help you stay focused on your business goals?

There is a way to get hyper-focused on creating content and speaking directly to your customer’s pain point.

Just add it to the list

I know what you’re probably thinking: “I have enough on my plate. I don’t have time to learn anything new right now!” And trust me, I know—attempting to balance all the moving parts of life is straight up overwhelming. But figuring out how to keep up with the world of online marketing is a necessity if you want to grow your business. I’ll admit, it was extra haunting for me because I’m the organized one. Melody is the smart one. That’s honestly what I used to think. But let me tell you, I’ve been watching the clients who refuse to adapt suffer for long enough. Understanding data has moved from my “one day I’ll learn this” task list to my “urgent” task list. People with the data make the decisions. That’s true not only for business owners but for anyone in marketing.

Yea, there’s that scary word again. Data.

Mind, Body, Data Haunted Data Image - Her Data Method Blog

Free your brain

Setting up a data collection framework for your brand will result  not only in giving you a louder, more authoritative voice in making big decisions for your business, but it will also free up that part of your brain that’s constantly nagging at you: “You have to start being strategic about your brand.” How many of us have completely jam-packed calendars and to-do lists that, at the end of the day, aren’t resulting in more sales? I can’t tell you how many times we used to get through a month full of website tasks, email newsletters, blog posts, and social media content with no new leads.

My kind of goals

Wouldn’t it be nice if you knew exactly who you were targeting with those tasks? If you knew exactly what problem only you could solve for these customers? And what if, at the end of the month, you had a beautiful report that told you exactly what worked and what didn’t? How much anxiety and mental energy would that free up for you to focus on other things?

Mind, Body, Data Graph Image - Her Data Method Blog

We designed this course exactly for that reason. We want to give other female business owners what we never had. We want to help other women start their workday with one less thing to worry about. I know it’s scary to try something new. And if you are a creative, it’s even harder to imagine yourself spending time learning about data. But please, trust me and know that I am the last person to spend over a year creating something that I didn’t think would be beneficial. I am first and foremost a project manager, so wasting mine and other people’s time is a big No-No.

Mind, Body, Data Venn Diagram - Her Data Method Blog

I want to encourage you to try it out. Come to one of our workshops, or sign up for our newsletter so we can share more about this course. You’ll be able to get familiar with our teaching style and feel a little more comfortable with the lessons. Or, better yet, ask us your questions. Sign up for a free 30-min consult and give us your hardest question. As much we hate to admit it, sometimes as women, we need permission to ask the questions. I might not have all of the answers, but I promise I will get you closer to an answer.

Data Matters! Her Data Method Course

Related Posts

Filed Under: Motivation Tagged With: data, entrepreneurs, female entrepreneurs, planning

March 22, 2017 - Melody Jennings Bowers

Why Data Collection Matters: Web Entrepreneur Kevin Murray Weighs In

When Kevin Murray, a California-based entrepreneur, first began his digital career, it was in the late ‘90s at a time when the Internet and all of its potential was widely unrealized. Now, having worked in web development and design for nearly two decades, he has not only seen the evolution of the Internet, he has staked his claim in the digital space. “I was working for Entrepreneur.com (Entrepreneur Magazine) in web development and technical design,” Murray shares, “and working at a place like that, you can’t help but get inspired to start your own business.”

So that’s just what Murray did.

He went full-time freelance, translating the technical knowledge he gained at the agency level into a successful career, and in 2015, he launched KamGraphica, as a boutique web studio based in Long Beach, California. “We build websites that appeal to both people and search engines,” Murray explains of his work. “And we aim to turn our clients’ prospects into customers.”

Educated and Informed Decisions Require Data

He quickly built an impressive client base comprised mostly of referrals, and his company continues to thrive. And he credits data as one of the most crucial components of his success. “The biggest thing is getting the data so you can make educated and informed responses to what’s happening with your investment,” Murray shares. Whether he’s creating a site for a client or developing his own projects, he understands that data collection matters to help guide every decision from how and where to spend your marketing dollars to where to place your social buttons on your homepage. “If you have a campaign on Facebook or analytics for Google, seeing metrics helps you understand your audience and shows you where the efforts need to be applied.”

But simply looking at your Facebook insights or Google analytics, while helpful, doesn’t offer the big picture of how all of your efforts and entities are working together. “To do it one-off makes it hard to understand the overall scope — you have to go to each platform, compile it manually, and it can be time-consuming and time-intensive,” Murray explains. “A dashboard allows you to simplify your data collection in one spot and get the basics in one place.”

If you don’t have a starting point, it’s hard to understand where you need to focus your efforts. That’s why I recommend all small business owners set up their data tracking efforts before they launch their business to set a benchmark.

Most importantly, Murray underscores the fact that time is of the essence. “If you don’t have a starting point, it’s hard to understand where you need to focus your efforts,” he says. “That’s why I recommend all small business owners set up their tracking efforts before they launch their business to set a benchmark.”

Start small. You don’t have to collect ALL the data at once!

One important suggestion Murray offers is to start small. Diving into data and signing up with the big tech tools to pull a bunch of intricate and possibly irrelevant data is not only unnecessary, but it’s also expensive. “I’ve seen people start big, and it’s too much,” he shares. “There are a lot of tools out there, and some are too technical for people just starting out. But if you start small and start to understand the data, then you can move your way up with a more clear understanding of why you need more technical tools.”

Before even that, though, is the need to understand how to begin the data collection process so you can determine which data matters most to your company’s success, which is where Her Data Method comes in. “There’s a saying in the conference space that content is king. Everyone is looking for the next big piece of content. But I want to say ‘data is king.’ The data side, the SEO, is a very mystifying thing, so people are reserved to spend money on it because it’s not a tangible thing,” Murray explains. “Trying to justify $500 a month to services for a ranking that could change next week is hard if you don’t understand the data, so understanding what the data means to the business will help you understand the investment and feel good about the direction your company is heading and the decisions you’re making to get it there.”

Related Posts

Filed Under: Interviews Tagged With: data collection, entrepreneurs, startups, web development

  • Homepage
  • About
  • Services
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Courses
  • Login

Courses

  • Intro to Data Collection
  • Data Collection 101
  • My Courses
SIGN UP FOR OUR MONTHLY DATA MATTERS NEWSLETTER

MADE BY THE VIRTUAL COLLECTIVE, LLC IN NASHVILLE, TN © 2020

SITEMAP | PRIVACY | TERMS

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.