Hello my friends. This episode is going to be a little different than my other episodes as it’s a goodbye — at least for now.
2020 has been a heck of a year, hasn’t it? I started the year with big plans for my business and excitement about where we were going.
But as the year went on, I saw more and more that where I wanted to go in my heart wasn’t where the profit was at.
You see, for years I’ve had two sides to my business. One side has been corporate consulting. I’ve been a marketing consultant at Microsoft since I left in 2012, and I’ve done consulting for other well-known businesses like LinkedIn, along with lesser known businesses up and down the west coast.
Normally my consulting work would offset my work with solopreneurs. I love helping people get their dreams and goals off the ground and working well… but honestly, I’ve never been comfortable charging the kinds of prices I charge my corporate clients.
Now amidst this long-standing COVID outbreak I realize I can’t effectively run two businesses any longer… and even though Profit Without Worry and MichelleLEvans.com are very important to me I need to prioritize my time and efforts to my corporate clients.
Deciding it’s Time to Change Course
A big shift for me came when I decided to stop doing Facebook Ads back in late May/early June. At the time I had between 12 to 18 clients and a few more who would come and go depending on what they were launching in their businesses.
But the more I saw the tide turning against Facebook Ads and how politicized it was getting, the more I realized my heart wasn’t in that any longer. And I haven’t done a launch or sold my courses in a very long time because honestly, I just don’t have the time.
Like many of you with kids doing school at home, I’m struggling to find time to do anything. I’m the main teacher, tutor, lunch lady, breakfast maker, homework monitor, fight stopper and more for my kiddos — my youngest just started 3rd grade.
Between all the kids’ Zoom meetings and assignments, I find myself day after day exhausted trying to be there for my kids while also taking care of my business clients. And that doesn’t work when you’re doing Facebook Ads because you’ve got to be ON IT with changes, comments and more.
So, over the summer I stopped doing Facebook Ads for all my clients. I helped many of them find someone who could work with them. Some decided to take a break from Facebook Ads or continue with the ads we had already tested and do it themselves.
On the marketing funnel side, I have my course, which has been hugely helpful for people but I didn’t have the energy to go through doing a big launch right now. It felt off and like it just wasn’t the right time.
Instead, I’ve been focusing more on doing marketing audits for smaller companies. Those audits lead into bigger engagements and I’ve had a lot of success transitioning into more full-time consulting work.
So much so that I launched a new website called Accelaris.
The funny thing is I don’t even really need a website though. I’ve been using LinkedIn to connect with people in a way that’s low-key and simple. And those low-key, low investments are turning into amazing opportunities.
Accelaris is taking me back to my marketing roots in the corporate arena. I know this space well and these clients have resources to spend. The best part is that I can reconnect with the connections and people I’ve known for years who are happy to work with me again.
It’s hard to let something go that I’ve spent so much time and energy building, but I know going on hiatus — and potentially stopping this podcast for good — is the right choice for me right now.
I’d love to hear from you! How has 2020 thrown your business plans for a loop? Are you letting go of anything or is it business as usual?
Links mentioned in this episode: