5 Things To Do During a Slow Season
About the episode:
In today’s episode of Rebrand with RuthAnn, I explore the natural slow seasons that every business owner must deal with. Whether you are just starting or a seasoned professional, slow times can surprise all of us. Throughout the episode, I'm offering five actionable techniques to help you survive and flourish during these quiet periods. These ideas are meant to help you keep momentum and guarantee ongoing development, from changing your perspective to using your marketing tools and beyond. This episode is perfect for you if you want some friendly guidance on maintaining the vitality of your company throughout its slower periods or a boost!
Highlights:
How you can transform your mindset to thrive in slow business periods
Why updating your testimonials and marketing materials can refresh your brand
Proven and effective ways to get visible and attract new clients
How shifting from selling to a mindset of service can enhance your business
The importance of finding a marketing strategy that works for you and how to keep clients coming
Resources
5 Questions I Ask Myself Daily (for more ease in my business) by Anna Rapp
Connect with me on Instagram: @r_artspace
Learn more about working together
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RuthAnn
Hey there friends, welcome back to another episode of Rebrand with Ruthanne. I am so excited that you're here. And today we are going to tackle a topic that sometimes happens to the most experienced of us. And you know, especially if you've been in the entrepreneurial game for a while, like going through slow seasons in your business is just inevitable. It just happens.
And so I'm excited to be talking about five things you can do during a slow season so you can pick up some momentum. So if you're going through this, I just want you to know that you are not alone, that this happens to everyone. Even seasoned pros, I think this happens to them too. And so I would just encourage you to stick with it, to not give up and to just look for some opportunities and ways that you can continue to grow your business during a slow season and hopefully you can take one of these tips and Run with it and it can really help your business Grow to where you want it to be. So I think it's important to say, you know when When your business is getting slow. I think the tendency is to change a lot of things is to say like, no, this, you know, I know for me anyway, I've gone through slow seasons in my business and when that happens, I'm like, no, I should probably change my marketing message. I should probably change my, you know, update my website and do all these things. But I think before you make any decisions, because sometimes those can be hasty decisions and sometimes they're not even reflective of, you know what's going on because maybe you have a seasonal business and maybe it's just slow because it's like a slow season. So before you, you know, change a whole bunch of things, ask yourself, why are things slow? Have you not been getting visible? Have you not been selling? Have you not been putting your work out there, talking about your work to people, you know, networking with people? I think it's important to make sure that there's a reason why it's happening. It's not just because you haven't updated your website in a while. It's not just because you haven't, you know, maybe done this or that. But I think, you know, looking back to like how has your marketing been and how has your sales been. So I am getting a little bit ahead of myself, but I, I just think that's such a natural tendency for people when they're going through a slow season is to change everything. And I just don't think that's the answer.
So I would love to talk about the five things I recommend to do if you're going through a slow season. And something I remember my coach talking to me about, because I went through the feast and famine cycle a lot when I was in my earlier years. And I remember my coach told me, she was like, you know, the reason you're in this cycle is because, you are focusing on marketing to get the clients. You're getting visible, you're selling, you're reaching out to people, all of that kind of thing. But then once you have all the client work, you're only working on client work and you're not doing any selling anymore, you're not doing any marketing anymore. And so then when you're done with the client work, then you have...
And then when you're done with all the client work, then you realize you need more clients. And so it's just, it is a cycle that can be hard to get out of sometimes because when you have a lot of client work, it's easy to put marketing and sales on the back burner. But I think it's really important to keep up your marketing and sales, even when you have a lot of clients, when you're fully booked out, because that's the way that you're going to stay booked out is if you continue to market, continue to get visible and continue to sell even when you're really busy. So, okay, let's dive into the five things I recommend what to do. So let's dive into the five things I recommend that really help if you're going through a slow season to help pick up momentum and help get your visibility back on track and sign some more clients. So the first thing I think is working your mindset.
And I know this can seem like, how do I even do that? I'm not even sure where to start. But I think working your mindset is one of the most important things you can do during a slow season or a slow period because your mindset plays such a huge role in how you show up. Like if you're thinking, my word, no one wants to hear from me.
No one's wanting to buy from me. No one's interested in my services. You know, if you're kind of going in this spiral of like a self pity type spiral of like, this isn't working. I just feel like that was a huge thing that I said. I just remember last year, I just had like a rough type of, I mean, I did well last year, but I think for my goals and my personal goals and stuff, I really wanted to do better.
Last year I wanted to work with more clients. I wanted to help more people in their website and branding. And I helped a handful of people. It was wonderful. But I think I was feeling a little bit disappointed in my own performance, I guess you can say. And something I always, I remember telling my coach, I was like, it's just not working. Like it's not working. I'm so frustrated. It's not. And I just, that mindset really does come through. Even if you think like, no one will, you know, even if I say those things, you know, to my coach, but then I go out and I'm, you know, happy and I don't know, I just feel like that energy comes through. So it's really important to think about what you are telling yourself and how you are talking to yourself and believing that more clients, more people are on the way. And yeah, I just cannot emphasize how much your mindset plays a role in how you show up.
And something that I have been working on so much is, you know, really developing this mindset of there's so many people out there who need my services and, you know, I'm helping change people's lives in their business. You know, when they have a new brand, a new website and they go out and double their revenue or something like I'm helping change lives. And so it's really important to help. It's really important to think about you know, how you're really making an impact in your corner of the interwebs, how you are impacting the lives of your clients and thinking about, you know, this is what the work I do is truly important. And if more people, if I could help more people, you know, the world would be changed for the better. And I know that's kind of, it's just sounds a little like on a huge scale, like, I'm changing the world with what I do. You know, it's sometimes for us, it's, for me anyway, like, you know, I work with clients one -on -one and so it's on a small scale. But I think what I'm trying to say is when you have the mindset of like, I'm really making a difference with my work and my work really matters and I'm really excited to help people, I think that's super important to keep that in mind. Cause it's not just about making sales or numbers or reaching revenue goals while that's incredibly important. It's about...
you know, keeping that service aspect, you know, primary when you're, you know, thinking about the work you do and how you help people and how more people are on the way. So a few affirmations that I absolutely love are the right clients are on their way to me right now. I love that one.
Another affirmation is everything is working out for me. I can be confident knowing momentum is on my side and in my favor. I am celebrating all that I have done this year and all that's to come.
I am a successful entrepreneur and there is more success on the way.
My audience can't wait to hear from me. I have more than enough time to get everything done. My clients love working with me, paying me, and getting support from me. My expansion is here, and I can see so much abundance coming my way.
So those are just a few affirmations that I like to think about and write down. I do a daily check -in every single day from my coach. My coach created that and it's called The Daily Check -In by Anna Rapp and it's so helpful but in that little daily routine you write down some affirmations and that's really, really helpful for me.
And so that's one way to kind of work your mindset is like, you know, telling yourself positive things and really questioning those negative beliefs when they come up, because they come up for all of us, I'm sure. And, you know, really questioning like, is that true? You know, and just kind of going into that and and really trusting that more clients are actually on the way. Because if you really, really truly believed that five clients would come to you in the next week, how would you show up? So it's really envisioning what you desire and want and telling yourself positive affirmations and taking those bold actions to make that happen. So yeah, number one, work your mindset, extremely important.
Number two, we're getting more practical here, but update your testimonials, marketing materials, sales pages, et cetera. Sometimes I don't have time to update my portfolio or update my testimonials because I'm churning out client work, which is super exciting. But sometimes updating things on my website or my marketing materials, they can kind of slip through their cracks.
So this going through a slow season is such a great time to update those things that have been on your mind, like your testimonials, your marketing materials, going through your website, making sure things are updated. And if you have new photos, updating your photos, updating your client, updating your client experiences, if you have like a page of like your client results and stuff like that. So I think it's super important to take that time to update those things. And I feel like this can be one of those things where it's like, it sounds like a blanket statement of like, just update your stuff. So I think it's really important to look through, okay, what do I actually need to update?
You know, maybe go through your website page by page and write it down. Okay, so I need to update my bio or something, my bio on my about page. So that's like one thing. And then number two, you know, okay, in my portfolio, I need to add this client project to my portfolio. Add, you know, Jane Doe client project to the portfolio. And so like getting really specific rather than saying just make updates, because whenever you say like make updates or refresh my website, it's one of those things that doesn't tend to happen sometimes because it's too vague. So try to get really granular and try to write down the specifics of what you need to do in that instance. the third thing I recommend to do during a slow season is get visible. And I'm talking about marketing and putting yourself out there for people to see what you're working on and the work that you have done in the past. Wwhat you can do for potential clients and getting visible, it's, you know, definitely doesn't have to be getting visible everywhere. Cause I think this is a mistake people make as well. Is like sometimes if things are slow, then they're like, I need to be like on Instagram, like posting three times a day, or I need to be on LinkedIn and I need to be on Pinterest and I need to be in Facebook groups. And I think that can be helpful.
But I think it's also wise to not burn yourself out in this season where you're trying, it can make you have a frantic energy if it's like you're doing all these things. Just pick one or two places that you really like to show up and show up in that way and do things that you really enjoy. If you really don't like getting on Instagram Live, I would say don't do that. I think it's really important that you are aligned with how you're showing up.
And so that's why I recommend really enjoying and loving where you're showing up, whether that's writing long newsletter emails or whether that is doing podcast interviews on other people's podcasts, you know, whatever you really enjoy doing. I think that is the way to go when it comes with getting visible. So look for more opportunities to get visible. How can you reach out to other people? How can you network with more people?
You know, really tap your tribe when it comes to seeing like what are some other options for how you can get visible and try to do those things. Something for me that has worked pretty well is joining a lot of networking groups and I haven't had time recently in the recent I did this a lot in the beginning of 2024, was I was in a lot of networking groups and it was such a great way to expand my network and meet incredible people and have a lot of different opportunities present themselves. And so I think that's something I really recommend is, you know, looking for new ways to meet new people and, you know, asking your friends about like, you know, where are they meeting new people? Where are they reaching potential clients?
And I feel like that's always a great thing too, is because we never, you know, we're all in this together. We're all, you know, wanting to grow our businesses and sign more clients. So the more you can talk to people who are in your peer group or your network of like, you know, how is this working for you? You know, asking for ideas. I feel like we all have so many ideas to share and we all want each other to succeed. So definitely ask, you know, around if you are.
Finding that getting visible is hard for you or you're not loving where you're showing up You know look for new ideas through different people as well because that can be really helpful Okay, the fourth thing to do during a slow season is sell and I Almost don't even want to write the word sell. I did write it in my notes, but I'm thinking You know sales is just inviting people to work with you and you know they exchange money in place of your services. So selling, while that word can like conjure up a lot of things for a lot of people, I think it's really important to go back to making selling more focused on service. And this is something I mentioned in number one, I think it was, but really focusing on the service you're providing for people and how you're really making an impact in people's lives, how you are changing people's lives for the better. And it's not just about selling and making more money and signing more clients. It's about serving people and really changing that frame of reference from selling to service. I think that is such a game changer when you are wanting to sign more clients is when you have that heart of service. You're wanting to help people. You're wanting to meet them where they are. You know, you're really thinking it just changes like how you approach it.
You think about like, okay, how is this helpful for you? Like what is the most helpful thing you need right now? Like how can I help you in your business right now with where you're at? So I think it's important to change your thoughts about selling to service, but also going for the ask. And so it's not just about serving people and helping people and giving your time away or free things away. It's also about coming to close that loop, which is, you know, can I help you with your website? Like, do you need help with your website? Do you need help with your branding? You know, coming out and asking for what you want and seeing where people are in their journey, whatever service it is that you offer, whether it's coaching, whether it's, you know, a done for you service like mine. So I think it's important to sell and to think about it in terms of service, but also, come to the end of it and invite people to work with you. Number five, the final thing to do during a slow season is find a sustainable marketing and sales strategy so you can always have a steady stream of clients. And this is also called a funnel, but it's just having, or as my coach likes to call it, a client roadmap.
So this is just having a way to find new people and to invite them into your world and offer your services to them in a really sustainable way. And I think the key to making this sustainable is making it something that you really enjoy. And I'm talking about like how you're showing up, how you're marketing and how you're selling. You know, you have to really enjoy how you're doing those things in order to keep it up. Because if you're doing something and you really don't like it and you're really not into it, you can do it for a while. You can do it for a three week challenge or something, but it's gonna be hard to keep that up over the months and months. So I think it's finding a sustainable way that works for you, that you really enjoy, and that way then you can always have a steady stream of clients and inquiries and people who are interested in working with you and just as an example something that I found that really works for me is offering my brand and website assessments and this is a paid service now, but I used to offer them for free and they are They're where I review someone's website and I really give them so many practical tips on like how to improve their site
And this goes for copy tips and design tips. And it's like really an in -depth, sometimes it's like 15 to 20 minutes, me reviewing their site and giving my best ideas to like how they can improve their site and make it more effective so people can like sign up with them and stuff and work with them.
And so I found that doing these brain and website assessments, when I did them for free, I was noticing that they are very effective for me. Like people would end up getting on discovery calls and would work with me in the end. Not everybody, of course, but it was a great way to like get new people in the door and get people thinking of like, I really need help with my website. And, you know, I wonder if Ruthanne can give me some advice. And then I would give them all of my best advice and then they would be like, wow, I actually need help with this. And then they would in turn, you know, learn more about my services and see if we could work together. So that was something that I found that worked, that does work for me pretty well. And so I think, and that was a journey of like figuring it out and seeing like, you know, does this work? You know, does this look like, what is the thing that works the best for me?
And I absolutely love doing these assessments, so it's so fun for me. And so it just is kind of like a no brainer. It just like works super well and people can right now purchase those assessments on my website, but it is, it's a fun way for me to invite people in and it's a personal way, which I love is that one -on -one connection. So yeah, there's, you know, finding something that works for you that really is something that, lights you up and is something that really helps you know your ideal client that is the key. So finding a way to market and sell in a way that really works for you and for your clients is key. So those are the five things I recommend doing during so those are the five things I recommend doing during a slow season. I'm just going to recap them really quickly. Number one work your mindset.
Number two, update your testimonials, marketing materials, sales pages, et cetera. Number three, get visible. Number four, sell. And number five, find a sustainable marketing and sales strategy so you can always have a steady stream of clients, whether you're busy or slower.
I hope this was a really helpful episode for you wherever you're at in your business. Maybe you're going through a really busy season in your business. Maybe things are on the slower side, but these things I come back to all the time. If I am feeling like I need some more clients or I'm wanting to book out a little bit more, these are things that have always helped me. So I really hope that these help you too. And if you want to continue the conversation, I would love to chat with you about this and you can.
DM me at r_artspace on Instagram or you can reach out to me via email and I would love to connect with you and chat about this and maybe give you some different ideas for how you can continue to grow your business while it's maybe in a slower season or you've gone through like a dip or something. I would love to see if I can help you in a more personal way if you wanted to chat with me. So feel free to reach out and until next time I hope you have most beautiful day and I will talk to you soon.
