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February 6, 2019 - Melody Jennings Bowers

Advice From a Female Business Owner Trying to Make it All Work

I have to be honest. I’m writing this blog as an accountability exercise to make sure I’m practicing what I preach. As a project manager, it’s my job to be on top of things, but life gets messy, and some days months it’s hard to stay focused.

Over the years I have found a few tricks and apps that make the hard days a little bit easier and keep me focused on my work even when my personal life feels chaotic. The easiest way to give you a rundown of how I stay focused would be to take you through one of my typical workdays.

Here we go…

While I’m adjusting my eyes, I open up my email to see what is waiting for me when I get around to opening my computer. I don’t reply to any emails this early, but this check-in allows me space to mentally prepare for the priority tasks that are waiting for me. Then I open up our Preview App to see what’s in the queue for our social postings that day. I can think through any stories that might make sense. If I’m really feeling jazzy, I’ll set an alarm for myself to post because who can remember things like that when you are trying to focus on everything else? OK, out of bed… time to make coffee, lunches, breakfast and wake up the littles.

Like clockwork, at 8:02 am, I get my motivational text from ShineText. After dropping Maisie off at school, I sit in my car, let that motivation soak in and allow myself a moment of joy. Now it’s off to the gym. My YMCA app has a scheduling feature that allows me to choose what group exercise class I’m in the mood for that day… Spin or Sculpt? And let’s be honest, some days I look at the schedule and still decide to drive home.

By this time, I’m either home from the gym, or my house is clean enough that I can actually sit down and focus on pressing projects. Right around this time, I get a push notification from Slack asking me if I’m ready to submit my daily Standup. Melody and I use Jell to keep each other in check and also allow for both of us to see what each other’s tasks are looking like for that day. It’s essentially a daily checklist of what has been done, what we are doing and what challenges are keeping us from getting those things done.

Once I know what I need to have done, I take a minute (or 5) and do a quick meditation in the 10% Happier app. Set my intentions. Clear out the distractions. Now I’m ready to work.

Because I only have 4 ½ hours for any client-facing work, I have to use my time wisely. What can wait until bedtime? What needs my attention during office hours?

After burning through four hours of client check-ins, completing proposals, answering customer questions, hosting strategy meetings with clients, and completing website review calls with the team- it’s time to recenter in my daughter’s car-rider pick up line with My Gratitude Journal. This app allows me to take advantage of some quiet time so I can prepare for whatever 1st grade emotions are about to come barreling into my car.

I should say, some days I use this time to grocery shop on my Kroger Pickup app. Ladies, if you aren’t using this app, you are doing life wrong!

So, after Elsie gets home, I enter into full mom mode until about 8:00 pm. I try to push all things work-related out so my energy can be spent on managing emotions, sibling battles, cooking dinner, bribing them to eat said dinner, working through homework and reading, then it’s bedtime.

I find a trashy TV show, open my computer and finish out whatever is pressing on my list. I clear out my inbox, add any items to tomorrow’s Jell list, and spend my evenings focused on our brand’s task list. Whether it’s our website redesign, social media publishing schedule, blog and newsletter content, or working on marketing funnels for our online courses, doing this work at night gives me focused and undistracted time to wrap up what needs to be finished.

Since our team works virtually, we use several apps throughout the day that allows me the freedom to jump in and out of work mode and still know where projects and tasks stand. I know I mentioned Slack, but we also rely heavily on Google Drive and Teamwork to keep up with everything.

Even though my days aren’t very exciting, my lists are long, and raising kids is hard work, our clients need to feel like they have all of my attention and focus. Using all of these little tricks throughout my day is crucial if I am going to get it all done.

JUGGLING SQUIRRELS DOES REQUIRE GREAT SKILL AND PATIENCE

 CHALLENGE NO. 1: MANAGING ALL OF THE HOUSEHOLD AND WORK RESPONSIBILITIES

I read a meme the other day that described adulthood like that feeling as a kid when you fell on the trampoline but everyone keeps jumping so you can’t get up. That’s what my life feels like constantly! On top of work obligations, I have a 1st grader in Girl Scouts AND ballet. I am the room parent for both of my kids’ classrooms (don’t ask me why — and I don’t recommend this!). I became a business owner so I could be a part of my girls’ activities, but man is it a juggling act! On the good weeks when I have a solid handle on things, I use my time after school to work on anything involving their activities or household responsibilities. I’m not talking cleaning — that’s an impossible feat for my family. I’m talking more about signing permission slips, paying bills, scheduling doctors appointments, etc. This way, I don’t have to think about it during my designated work time, and offices are still open to actually get things done.

 CHALLENGE NO. 2: STAYING FOCUSED ON YOUR OWN BRAND WHEN EVERYONE ELSE NEEDS YOUR ATTENTION

Not sure if you have noticed yet, but we have been “building” our courses for over two years now. We are just now getting around to updating our website, and we still to this day don’t have business cards for Her Data Method. My advice, which I wish I would listen to more often, would be to schedule time each day to close everything client-related (including your email) and only focus on your company’s growth. Hopefully, you will always have client work and customers to take up your time, but what happens when you hit a slow season and suddenly need to find more clients? Melody and I use a calendar/planner called the Passion Planner that has a lot of space for setting goals and holding yourself accountable to those goals. If there is a project you want to finish, a partnership you are working to form or an event you are preparing for, set aside time every day to focus on JUST those goals. It might take you longer to get there, but the more time you make for those projects and tasks, the more likely you are to stick with them and get them done.

 CHALLENGE NO. 3: MAKING TIME FOR OUR “PASSION PROJECT” THAT WE WANT TO TURN INTO A FULL-TIME CARE

I think the same method above holds true for this situation too. It might not be during work hours, but I would say the most important time spent is on vetting your idea. Is this a company worth building? Is there a need for the solution I’ll be solving? Is there a large enough customer base with this specific need? If you can’t answer those three questions, you aren’t ready to fully commit to this. You can find lots of exercises online that follow the LEAN business model, OR… you can take our course! In Intro to Data Collection, you will take your idea through a fundamental process (which we did too late so now you don’t have to make the mistakes we did!) and really establish the baseline for either building or growing your company. You’ll define your value proposition, your mission statement and identify who the customers are that you are trying to reach.

ONE MORE THING …

On the days where you feel like you are drowning and you just can’t seem to get yourself above water, we give you Newman. Melody’s daughter, Mary, has a new roommate at college who came with a support cat. Newman is now supporting all of us through all the photos Mary shares of his cuteness and joy.

I encourage you to find a place of solace, whether that’s means listening to Happiness Frequency Video on YouTube to boost your seratonin levels, a funny podcast or finding your own support animal. Find something to retreat to, allow time to regain your focus, then go get back to being the badass we know you are!

LINKS TO THE APPS WE LOVE AND USE THE MOST

WORK + PRODUCTIVITY

PREVIEW APP
JELL
APP
SLACK
GOOGLE
DRIVE
TEAMWORK
PASSION PLANNER

WORK + PRODUCTIVITY

MY
GRATITUDE
JOURNAL
SHINE
TEXT
APP
MY FLO
TRACKER
APP
10%
HAPPIER
APP
MY
YMCA
APP
KROGER
PICKUP
SERVICE

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RELATED POSTS

April 8, 2019

WHY DO I NEED A MARKETING FUNNEL?

If you have your own business and you’ve been learning best practices on how to market yourself, chances are you’ve heard the term “marketing funnel” quite a bit. But what exactly is it?

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March 5, 2019

HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL BRAND FROM NOTHING (WHILE RAISING A FAMILY!)

We met Gillian Stollwerk-Garrett during our crowdfunding campaign on iFundWomen. She had launched her campaign a few months before us and quickly became our go-to resource for all things crowdfunding, as well as, one of our biggest cheerleaders.

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How to Get Started Using a Content Calendar Blog Title Image | HerDataMethod.com
January 8, 2019

How to Get Started Using a Content Calendar

Her Data Method offers a series of online courses that teach women how to create a data collection system so they can start making data-driven business decisions.

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Filed Under: Online Tools Tagged With: apps, organization, webtools, women in business

April 12, 2017 - Melody Jennings Bowers

Why is iFundWomen Founder Karen Cahn Disrupting the Norm?

Here at Her Data Method, we are building and growing and evolving and thriving for one key reason: our iFundWomen campaign. Thanks to the hands-on coaching and support from the team at iFundWomen our project was funded three weeks into our campaign. Which is why we felt it was the perfect time to interview iFundWomen founder Karen Cahn to find out more about what led to the founding of iFundWomen, her thoughts on digital culture and, obviously, why she thinks data matters. Enjoy!

As Karen Cahn says it, she was born on the internet.

“I was one of those Gen-Xers who was in college when email became popular,” she explains, “and I’ve only ever really worked in the internet.”

Indeed, the iFundWomen founder has spent her entire career in the digital space, working at heavy hitters like Google, YouTube, AOL, and Salon.com to name a few.

And while she enjoyed supportive communities of female co-workers who worked alongside her in media sales, she is quick to acknowledge that that sort of support wasn’t as present on the tech side of the digital world. “I know that my sisters on the engineering side had very different experiences,” Karen shares, referring to the largely male-dominated tech industry, which she says is still, in large part, a “good old bros club.”

Which, in fact, was the impetus that led her to launch iFundWomen.

iFundWomen Crowdfunding Website Homepage Image

She looked specifically for crowdfunding sites for women. And when she couldn’t find any, she decided to build one.

“When we did our first crowdfunding campaign in 2016, I realized how little coaching, mentoring, and information there was available to entrepreneurs in general, let alone female entrepreneurs. Crowdfunding can be confusing, and it’s hard to raise money in general, let alone with no human help to ask questions to or to guide you along the way,” she says.  “Very quickly into our crowdfunding campaign, I figured out that it was just about having basic sales skills. Truly, it’s just sales. Selling people things they want to buy, through your crowdfunding campaign, as a way to fund your business. If you prepare and you have a community and coaching, then it’s do-able.”

That Kickstarter experience led her to the internet where she looked specifically for crowdfunding sites for women. And when she couldn’t find any, she decided to build one.

“Silicon Valley culture hasn’t evolved really. Sure the funding gap for female-run companies is starting to get a little bit better in the Silicon Valley specifically, but everywhere else, it’s not getting better,” she says, “and that’s exactly why we started iFundWomen.”

It's time to disrupt the norm.

We definitely consider her a trailblazer for women in the digital space, and she does too.

Not boastfully, but proudly. And passionately. And with an enthusiasm that is downright contagious.

When only 2%-6% of venture money goes to women and even less than that to women of color, iFundWomen is here to disrupt the norm and close the funding and confidence gaps.

To be clear, it’s not about chest-beating, man-hating females staking their claims.

In fact, it’s just the opposite. “Half of the backers on the platform are men who are excited about the same mission,” says Karen. “iFundWomen is not just a platform, it’s a movement, and it’s going to take all of us working together to get there.”

iFundWomen Founder Karen Cahn - Her Data Method Blog
iFundWomen Founder Karen Cahn - Crowdfunding Platform Build Exclusively For Women - CNBC Executive Edge

Data can open up a whole new world.

Karen’s mission and ours here at Her Data Method are definitely in sync.

Hers is to help women get equal access to not only funding but to the resources and support needed to help them launch their businesses. Ours? Well, we’re excited to help women successfully launch, grow and thrive with the empowerment that data provides.

“Data is SO important! And I love what Her Data Method is doing because you’re not dumbing it down,” Karen says, with the same level of excitement that we have as well.

Her Data Method Team at iFundWomen Nashville Marketplace Event

“Historically, women have not been encouraged to go into STEM fields where you are trained on how to use data for every decision. We have been encouraged to go into literally any other field other than STEM, fields like fashion, beauty, lifestyle, or even public service, which is fine, but if you demystify the world of numbers and analytics and tools, and make all of that less scary and more approachable, an entirely new world opens up, and the sky’s the limit. I just think that the mission of Her Data Method is amazing!”

And coming from an amazing woman like Karen Cahn, we will most definitely take that as a compliment!

“Data is SO important! And I love what Her Data Method is doing because you’re not dumbing it down!”

Conclusion

iFundWomen founder Karen Cahn spoke with Melody about what led her to launch a crowdfunding platform for women-led businesses. After completing a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds when launching her first startup she realized how little information, coaching or handholding is available to entrepreneurs in general, let alone female entrepreneurs. The crowdfunding process can be overwhelming without human help and guidance. When she was unable to find the resources that she was looking for she decided to build a crowdfunding platform for women. Now iFundWomen is here to disrupt the norm and close the funding and confidence gaps for companies like ours to launch projects that we thought not previously possible.

Data Matters! HerDataMethod.com Nashville, TN

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Filed Under: Interviews Tagged With: crowdfunding, data collection, female founders, iFundWomen, startups, women in business

March 29, 2017 - Ashley Haugen

The Day I Fell in Love With Data: A Google Analytics Love Story

Today’s blog post is written by our friend and fellow data lover, Ashley Haugen. Her editorial and management experience has spanned both digital and print formats across local and national markets throughout her career and she currently serves as the Managing Editor at Styleblueprint.com. Keep reading to find out more about Ashley and her love affair with data.

I’ve been an editor for nearly two decades. Having worked on both print and digital publications on both local and national levels. But the day that I was introduced to Google Analytics felt like a rebirth — I fell in love with my work in ways I hadn’t felt in years!

This…is my Google Analytics love story.

The Day it All Began...

I was running a print magazine at the time — one publication in a family of a few. Though my magazine had a web presence, the print publication was my main focus. I basically threw the print content on the website each month and would toss in the occasional web exclusive from time to time as well.

Talk Data To Me Image - A Google Analytics Love Story by Ashley Haugen - Her Data Method Blog

Our IT and web design department was tiny but mighty — two guys and a gal. One of the guys, Freddie, asked me to attend a meeting one morning to go over Google Analytics and SEO, neither of which were terms I was familiar with. But after that morning when he projected his screen and walked us through the Google Analytics dashboard, I was a changed woman. An analytics devotee. A data junkie who, from that point forward, has been posting, measuring and fine-tuning. I now live for pageviews and uncovering organic traffic search terms!

"After that morning when he projected his screen and walked us through the Google Analytics dashboard, I was a changed woman."

That day in that small conference room, I saw for the first time the URLs of my magazine articles on the screen, and I saw them with the number of pageviews on each one. It was a concrete validation that people were actually reading what I had posted (or not)! 

Sure, the print magazine consistently enjoyed 100% pick-up rate, but it was impossible to know whether it was one magazine per person, one reader grabbing a few copies, or hell, it could have been someone picking up the entire bundle and dumping them in the garbage for all I knew.

But Google. Google was giving me what I never knew I craved. It was giving me hard facts and concrete numbers in ways I never thought possible.

Google Analytics Image - Her Data Method Blog

My love continues to grow.

Now, long after that print publication has shut down, and years since I have left the world of print entirely, I happily work 100% in digital media as the managing editor of StyleBlueprint.com.

I live online. I breathe online.

And I never tire of the weekly editorial call when our marketing director goes over our analytics. It’s a real-time look at the successes — and yes, the occasional failures — of the content we create. That is the very data that drives our content strategy.

Quite simply, if an article tanks, we can look at why — was it the time of year? The day of the week? The topic? And on the flipside, if the article takes off, we can see why as well — was it the keyword? Does the topic have a ravenous audience? All of this information helps us decide what direction to take our editorial. Obviously, we like to ride the highs by creating similar content — giving the readers what they clearly want. (OR, we’ll never talk about the topic again if an article bombed!)

A Google Analytics Love Story by Ashley Haugen

Data helps me give 'em what they want.

In short, the data equips my team to provide the best content for our audience, and as an editor, that is my commitment — remembering the reader and giving them what they want. Data helps me do that.

Her Data Method is filling a TREMENDOUS void in the market by inviting the world of women business owners to start their own love affairs with Google.

It’s not scary, I promise. It’s empowering! And once you see in the data the impact of a decision you’ve made? You’ll fall in love with data too.

And if loving data is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.

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Filed Under: Because Data Tagged With: analytics, data collection, google analytics, women in business

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