Ep. 50: Time management for the Christian entrepreneur

Authentic Online Marketing with Ruthie Gray

English - September 05, 2022 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MB
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Previous Episode: Ep. 49: Do I need a perfect Instagram grid?

Next Episode: Ep. 51: 7 Tips to up-level your productivity

Do you have trouble (with time management) – deciding what to do first with your business? If so, you’re not alone, as you’ll see in my conversation with my pal and podcast coach, Wren Robbins. Wren is an award winning podcaster who has interviewed business owners, International Speakers, and New York Times Best Selling author. […]

The post Ep. 50: Time management for the Christian entrepreneur appeared first on Authentic Online Marketing.

Wren has 2 podcasts: Don’t Wing It and Friends of a Feather, and she and I sat down for one of our semi-frequent conversations here on the show to discuss how to determine where to focus time to move the needle on your business. So if you’re wondering how to get the important things done or even how to determine what those things are, you’re gonna love today’s show. And now, listen in.

Resources

*This episode contains either affiliate links or links to my products. Should you choose to purchase, the show will go on! Woo hoo!

Click here to learn the 10x Rule

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Listen to Ep. 40: How to fit in time for Instagram

Listen to Ep. 81: Achieving Your Best Yes: Learning to Say No and Prioritize

Listen to Ep. 67: Top 5 Instagram Features For Marketers In 2023

Time Management for the Christian entrepreneur with Wren Robbins

Ruthie: Hey Wren. Welcome back to the show. We’re so glad you’re here.

Wren: I am excited. It’s always a pleasure to come back on your show and talk to you, Ruthie.

Ruthie: I feel like we have this vibe that like maybe someday we’re just gonna even have a Wren and Ruthie podcast, who knows?

Wren: I’m here for it.

Ruthie: I am too. Even if all we get done is laughing and helping other people laugh and it’s fine. Laughing at ourselves. Well, as we wanna talk about how to get down to business and get things done as an entrepreneur. I feel like you do this well as a podcast coach, you have your own business.

What I wanna get into is when did you first realize you needed to corral your time management for your business?

Wren: That is an excellent question. It’s funny that you say that because at the beginning of my business, I remember I would get on Instagram and I would post and I would put in stories and all the fun things.

What is purposeful, intentional work?

I thought that was all the work. I was like, okay, I did my work today. And really it’s part of work. Instagram is a part of it, but that’s not all you do. I was just kinda thinking, let’s post on Instagram let’s connect, which I love connecting. But there was not any purpose.

It was not very purposeful. It was not intentional. That’s what I did. I was in the beginning of my business. That’s how I started out. Promo is such a large part of what we do because people have to know.

Ruthie: How else are they gonna find out? However, there has to be some reigning in of really targeting your business. So how did you learn to corral?

Wren: It took a lot of discipline. I’ll say that because I’m a creative and it’s hard to reign that in when I’m having so much fun on Instagram it’s work and fun.

When I hired a business coach, that was when I got into a mastermind class. It changed for me because I realized this is not all a business. Social media is a part of it, but that is not it. And it was great to have a coach come alongside me and others in that group. I realized, I need to get down to business.

Content Creation

Let’s get into this work of having a day for content creation. Let’s start your podcast for your business? I’d already had a podcast, but then I needed to have one for my business. That’s really when it changed.

How do you run that through a filter to decide whether or not to spend time on that? I’m always excited to see what questions you throw in my way.

Wren: In the beginning of your business I’ve been reading the book or I just finished reading the book by Grant Cardone called the 10 X rule. It’s talking about how most of us go and are doing things one X. Just like typical but few entrepreneurs are going 10 X.

They’re going all in. They’re doing 10 times what you should be doing now. I have to have a caveat when I mention books. It’s not that I fully endorse them. It’s just, I am reading a lot of different ones so that I can take what I need. Eat the meat and leave the bones.

Avoiding obscurity in business for time management

The content is incredible because he talks about obscurity and how a lot of businesses are. That’s the main thing we have to combat against is obscurity. And so I would say in the beginning of your business, that you pretty much need to say yes to everything. I’m just gonna say you need to get that exposure, that visibility, which is the opposite of obscurity.

From the perspective of always saying yes, no matter what. The whole time I say in the beginning, you say, yes, you want to have those collaborations with others, those connections you always say, yes. It’s like in the office when Dwight asks Pam, “Do you want to form an alliance with me?” And she says “Absolutely I do.” So it’s like you’re Pam and the person that’s coming to you at the beginning of your business, asking you to do something a summit or a podcast episode or a collaboration on Instagram or whatever you say.

Yes, absolutely. I do. So that’s what I would say is at the beginning, say yes, absolutely. I will. And then as it goes on, as your business is building, then look at those monthly goals that you’re setting for yourself, those yearly goals, and say, do these follow through with this? Does this align with the goals that I have, and then sincerely.

Taking time for your business

Take time and pray about it. And then you’re gonna know, you’re gonna know you’re gonna have a gut feeling the Holy Spirit’s gonna tell you where guide you, where to go.

Ruthie: If you go ahead and say, yes it’s because at the beginning we are not really clear. On our business, what direction, but if we move, instead of just staying stuck in our own little corner, then God is gonna show us through the movements and through the opportunities and the networking that we have what to do next.

Wren: I’ve heard recently that action brings clarity. So if you take that action, it’s going to bring you clarity of where you need to go and where you need to be and where you need to spend most of your time. Like you said, in the beginning of your business, you don’t really know you might be going into you might be pivoting in something else.

Taking action for your small business

That’s huge. Take action.

Ruthie: Take action. So what would you say your top three tips for planning? What to do each day are for your business?

Wren: This was my favorite question that you asked. So number one is you have to plan time block that has really helped me a lot. And it doesn’t mean you have to batch. I know a lot of people talk about batching and time block in the same hand and a lot of people can’t do one or the other, a lot of people can’t batch. I’m one of those people. I have to have a focus on one week one episode that I’m thinking about.

I can’t do more than one episode at a time. It’s just too much. That’s me. Other people can batch and do three episodes and knock ’em out and great. So do what works for you. So I would say time block or batch or both but plan beforehand, which is what you teach. and your membership, it’s always your plan beforehand?

Start connecting

So that’s tip one. Number one, tip number two is to start connecting, this is what I think start, build and nurture. So you start connecting with somebody, you build that relationship, that trust, and then you nurture them.

That’s in life too. You start that relationship, you build that, you nurture that relationship. Just like you would a client that we would have in our businesses, but you’re doing it beforehand. You’re doing it on Instagram. You’re doing it. Whatever social media you use, but relationships are key.

That is really huge to me of what I’m gonna do every day, because the other day I was interacting with somebody that it’s a follower of mine. So I’m figuring if they’re a follower of mine, they probably are interested in starting a podcast.

Intentional interactions

I started interacting with them and literally one comment, it wasn’t anything to do with my business. It was on their page and commented about their post. And I know they I know they would benefit so much from a podcast. And so I just commented and the next minute I see in my inbox that they booked a call with me a discovery call.

So it’s good that there’s that exposure. There’s that awareness it’s not being obscure. People are seeing your name with podcast coaching or whatever your business is. And relationships are huge. So I build that in my day, every day. And then tip three, is needle moving.

What are you gonna do today? What’s going to move that needle in your business? At the beginning of my business, I wasn’t thinking of any of these. Yes. I was doing the relationships that just come a little bit more easier to me than other things. Believe me. I have other things that do not come easy to me.

Clarity and planning

So let me just clarify that relationships do. But the planning, and then also looking at, what is my needle mover today? What am I gonna do today? That is more it’s more difficult for me personally, to do. So I really have to be intentional and clear about what I wanna do and being a needle mover, it’s gotta be a needle mover in my business.

Ruthie: I agree with all three of those things, I think they’re super important. It’s always important to plan, have a game plan and then. In the time for relationships, I think that’s something that especially writers and speakers have trouble with is they’re so focused on creating their content.

They stay in their little hole and they don’t I’ve even had writers say, I don’t wanna build relationships. I just wanna write a book, but community grows opportunity, honey! That’s just how it is. You have to network. You do. And then the needle moving part that is hard. That’s a hard concept sometimes for people to realize what is gonna move the needle.

Low hanging fruit

You have to think about the low hanging fruit. What is the thing that could move you that much closer to making a difference in your business. You don’t know that until you go back to the first thing you said Wren, and that was saying yes to opportunities. So that you can refine that.

Wren: Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s really important to look at what is a needle mover? I know you said that it’s hard. For sometimes for us to even say, what is a needle mover in my business? I know I’ve been there. Maybe it’s a reach out. Maybe it’s an email that you need to plan through your email course Ruthie, which has helped me so much.

I was so proud when I cranked out my first two. It was like, I need to message Ruthie and say, I got two emails down! I think I did. It was great and freeing, but that’s a needle mover. Do you have an offer in your email or at a PS saying “Book a call with me,” that’s a needle mover offering value, but then what can I do?

It’s about helping others!

Ruthie: That is a good point that you bring out.

It is about helping others. If it’s not, we might need to adjust our vision and our mission. For our business. Let’s talk about it. You just touched on it about you need to be on Instagram and you must be building an email list even more important than Instagram, but you need Instagram to drive the traffic to the email list.

But what’s your best tip on how to balance Instagram growth in an email list with running a business?

Wren: That’s really good because you have to have both. And I remember in the beginning it was, you need a website. You need an email list. Those are the only two things that you necessarily you own, you don’t own social media, you don’t own any connections that you have there, you’ve gotta take it to your email list.

Don’t miss-spend your hours

That’s the thing is when you’re on Instagram is mention that in your stories, Hey, I have this download. That’s what you really need. It’s one of the first six steps to start your podcast. This is where you need to start. And so balancing doing the email list, doing the Instagram, all the things, what I have done, you.

I used to spend hours on Instagram at the beginning of my business, thinking that was work, we talked about that earlier but now it’s a part of it, but it’s some days it’s not my focus. That is where you have to decide for yourself. What is your needle moving? I’m going to get it done. I am going to interact with people, but it might not be at 9:00 AM.

I’ve got to do my most focused work in the morning.

Time management tip: Block!

I have either interviews or I have clients on one day, and then I just get that done. I look at my planner, I’ve already time blocked. I’ve literally drawn a block around the time block so that I know.

Ruthie: I really am appreciative of you spending the time with us today to tell us how you break down your day and really make the needle move in your business. So Wren, tell us a little bit about your podcast coaching and let the folks know how you can help them.

Wren: Thank you for the opportunity to share that, because that is truly, my passion is to help Christian business owners who want to explode their exposure when they want to have to get away from the obscurity and really be known and to be known for what they do best, whether it is being a blogger or writing or speaking, or as a business owner.

Get your message out

It’s getting their message out. And really casting that wider net so that you can work smarter, not harder. And so that’s what I do is I take you from zero to hero. zero to having a podcast. I take you through the steps and I have a six week program that I really enjoy, and it’s all very personalized.

Also, I want to say that if you have been thinking nobody’s reading my blog anymore, or I just can’t get my message out, nobody’s watching me on Instagram. A podcast will set you up for success. If you create that content that you have for the podcast, you can repurpose it a lot of places and it can help you with your content so much.

I want to take women on that journey with me. I’ve been there, done that. I knew there was a business in me and then God called me to do this.

It’s important and yeah, you can book a call with me to, or follow along on Instagram and stalk me all you want. So that’s what I do to help others.

Trusting the process

Ruthie: Yes. I just wanna testify that what Wren says works. I was her very first client. She helped me get this podcast up and running and two two years.

A few months later now we have over 40,000 downloads. People are finding us every day and we are helping many writer, speakers, Christian entrepreneurs. To further the message on Instagram and through newsletter marketing. And it works. Podcasting works. So y’all go follow Wren. Tell us your username, your handle on Instagram.

Wren: It’s @wrenrobinscoach. And I wanna say Ruthie, you have taken this and gone way further than I like, even in the beginning, you were my first client, but you have taken this and done amazing things with it. And I love how you say that it works. It does. And so I’m excited for you to be one of those pioneer people to do it in their business.

Ruthie: Thank you Wren.

Ruthie: What’s the name of your freebie?

Wren: Your First Six Steps. And you can find that on my socials as well.

Wren gave us 3 clear time management tips: Have a plan and work the plan, build relationships, and target actions that move the needle in your business. She also gave a great tip for when you’re first starting out – say yes, but pray. The book she referenced, the 10 X rule by Grant Cardone is linked in the shownotes, as well as the last time she came on the show sharing how she grew her new account by 100 followers in 15 days. Of course, it’s a given that we BOTH believe podcasting is a huge plus for a business, so go pick up her freebie which is at the top of our shownotes, your first 6 steps to starting a podcast, and be sure to follow her on Instagram as well. As always, thanks for listening, and remember to share your message your unique way in your own authentic voice.

Meet Wren!

Wren Robbins is a seasoned award winning podcaster who has interviewed business owners, International Speakers, and New York Times Best Selling authors. She has a lovable personality and when she interviews you feel like you are talking to your best friend.

For the past three years, Wren has been on the Top 50 Moms in Podcasting by Podcast Magazine, has been featured in the Profitable Podcasting Summit, the Memphis Voyageur magazine and on podcasts such as Dwell Differently, Authentic Online Marketing, the Christian Woman Business Podcast, The Cultivate Legacy Podcast and many more!

She loves helping business owners launch their podcast with strategy for business growth with creative and easy to follow coaching.

You can find both of her podcasts, Don’t Wing It and Friends of a Feather on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher….or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Website

https://www.wrenrobbins.com

Instagram

www.instagram.com/wrenrobbinscoach

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/friendsofafeatherpodcast

Don’t Wing It Podcast:

www.wrenrobbins.com/dontwingit

Clubhouse: https://clubhousedb.com/user/wrenrobbins

Contact: