Dear Pennies & Pens,
Over the past few weeks, I have been soul searching and thinking about my life and business. And honestly, I have realized that I have issues with consistency. So now that I have acknowledged my issues, I can fix them.
Every year, I do a yearly analysis to see what worked and what didn’t work as far as business. It helps me repeat what worked and stop doing what didn’t work. Entrepreneurship is all about change and being flexible. So you constantly have to be to adjust your business plan and schedule. Now let’s talk about why I have issues with consistency.
Why I’m inconsistent
- I have no time
Currently, I work full time and that shit is really starting to kill my productivity. Five days a week for 8 hours a day, I am sitting behind a desk creating content for someone else. Instead of working on my next travel guide, book, blog post or my fashion line or planning an event, I’m doing what someone else wants me to do.
So I have to work on my breaks as well as before and after work just to get things done. This means that instead of spending all of my time focusing on the business, I have to split my time with something else.
I’m lucky if I get 3-5 dedicated hours of work in. This is no bueno because I genuinely need to be getting things done because the business has grown so I honestly have a lot to do.
I need help
So as far as ISLP, I am a team of one. That means, I write & edit our books, write articles for de la Pen as well as our travel guides, design the travel guides, and I handle all of our marketing. If that made you go: zamn Penny, that’s a lot then imagine what the inside of my brain looks like.
I was working with some friends of mine on ISLP projects and that was amazing! However right now, these friends have to focus on their own businesses, lives, and projects so they can’t be a part of #TeamISLP…whomp, whomp.
Also to be blunt, if I could afford to pay them as team members they’d be able to dedicate the time because we all know money is how one shows ROI (return on investment) for what they’ve put into projects. But I ain’t got no pennies for a team so there’s that.
In regards to 8515, I have an amzing business partner, Miss Cacha Lopez. Cacha & I have been working together for 9 years and we truly have a great working relationship. The issue is that we don’t have the money to travel so that we can collaborate in person. For those that don’t know, Cacha lives in Baltimore and I live in Dallas.
For example, we need to do a photoshoot but that requires that I travel to Baltimore or Cacha to Dallas. We also need to be able to help each other at our events as far as setting up, styling the event, etc.
For anyone who’s ever planned an event, you know set up is the hardest and most time consuming part. So you need help making sure everything looks pretty. Every time, Cacha does an event in Baltimore or I in Dallas, we are left scrambling to do everything ourselves instead of being there to help each other.
Lack of motivation
I’m going to be honest here, Pennies & Pens. Sometimes, I just don’t fuckin feel like it. I mean did I not just say that I work full time?!
Who feels like going straight home to edit photos, design an invite, create a travel guide or whatever else after you’ve been dealing with work bs all day? So some days, I just don’t feel motivated.
Like last Thursday, literally two days before Pensgiving, I went home and drank wine and talked to my bestie on the phone because I wasn’t motivated. I knew that once again I’d have to cook 8 courses and do all the set up without any help so a part of me just felt like “fuck this”.
- Personal Issues
So umm idk who needs to hear this but I am a real person. That means I go through personal shit while running ISLP + 8515. For example, my grandmother passed away the week before I was scheduled to do my event, Pen’s Flicks: Little.
I had to cancel the event to travel to her memorial. Also, this happened about 2 weeks before my Denver trip. So during this time, my head was literally about to explode.
I was emotional dealing with my grandmother’s passing but still stressed thinking about all the work projects I had going on. It was a true hot mess. Idk how I made it through. I guess my grandma was shining for me on the other side.
What I’m doing to fix my consistency issues
- 2. Getting organized
I have realized that you can’t be consistent if you’re unorganized. And being organized means creating a system and a schedule for yourself. You have to create a daily routine that works for you as well as a schedule. Your daily routine includes things like taking a shower, making your breakfast or lunch, etc.
Your schedule should be: on Mondays, I create content for the week, on Tuesdays, I schedule social media posts, etc. So my goal is to create a daily routine that works for me along with a corresponding schedule.
- Planning content + projects
When it comes to ISLP + 8515, I am working on planning content and projects a year in advance. This way, I know exactly what is happening and when. It helps me stay organized and I feel so much more in control and ahead of the game.
Planning helps you stay focused but also if you veer from the plan, you will develop an understanding for why. For example, my plan was to produce ISLP’s travel guides within two months of going on the trip. But I’ve realized that until I have a full team, I need to give myself 6+ months to produce that content.
I have to give myself a longer lead time because the travel guides require sorting thru the unedited photos to select which ones will be edited, editing said photos (I usually edit about 500 photos so I have plenty for the guide as well as blog and social media content), writing the articles (I usually have 10-20 articles in each guide) then designing the layout of the guide as far as where text and photos will be placed. Then I still have to market it so it sells!
- Creating a schedule
I am working on creating a schedule for planning content, creating content, and publishing content. Since I produce a variety of different pieces of content, I am definitely still figuring this out. I have finally created de la Pen’s editorial calendar for the rest of November, December, January and February.
But what about my next travel guide? And my next event? I should also start working on my next book and the fashion line. So as you can see, Pennies & Pens, it’s a lot. In essence, I have to create a schedule or this shit will never get done.
But I’ve got a plan and it’s called: the Pen Planner. This is a sidebar project for ISLP and I plan to be the first guinea pig. For years, I have used a variety of planners like the Passion Planner and Content Creators Planner. And don’t get me wrong, I adore these tools!
The Pen Planner
But as a Creative Entrepreneur, I need more than that. I need to have instant access to my business plan, marketing plan, PR plan, project schedule, events calendar, editorial calendar, financial/sales excel sheet, etc. If all of these things were in one place, my life would be BOMB.
I want the Pen Planner to be a physical planner because to me writing things down makes me more productive and honestly it’s more fun. You can use pretty pens and markers to make it colorful and pretty.
So that’s it, Pennies & Pens. I am learning that if I’m going to teach you how to ink the life you’ve always wanted, I have to do it first. I can’t lead by example if I’m not the example. Also unlike every other online entrepreneur, I refuse to position myself as an expert when the truth is, I am learning as I go.
And there it is. de la Pen…All Pen Everything. With us, keeping it real never goes wrong.
