The first official episode of Built on Cape Cod is now live! I know that many of you aren't local so this podcast might not sound like a great fit, but I promise that if you have any interest in entrepreneurship, you'll learn a lot from the small business owners that I interview in this first season. 

Here's a quick rundown of the first episode: 

Joe + Kristen Navas of Organic Photography grew their wedding photography business slowly, from shooting just 1 wedding their first year (2010) to between 25-35 weddings per year over the the past few years. In this episode they share their origin story (which includes an epic love story!) and some of the wisdom that they’ve gained along the way. Learn more at BuiltonCapeCod.com.

This episode is sponsored by The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod and Rogers & Gray Insurance. Built on Cape Cod is brought to you by LoveLiveLocal + Starr Struck.

How to Listen: Apple Podcasts |  Stitcher  | Podcast Landing Page  | Stream below...

​We hope you enjoy the show!

Thanks for your support and a huge thanks to our sponsors and to Joe + Kristen. 

With the arrival of April + tax day comes my yearly reflection on money, income, expenses, and how I make a living. As I mentioned in my recent blog post about the hidden costs of having a child when you work for yourself, this time of year always has me comparing my income for the preceding year to that of past years and looking at how things have changed for me as a solopreneur. 

Because it's become a bit of a tradition around here, I wanted to once again share where my income comes from and a quick breakdown of exactly how I make money, which has changed a lot since my first installment of this post waaaay back in 2015. 

I've included pie charts showing the difference in where my income came from in 2016 vs 2017, and here's a breakdown of  the "buckets" into which I file my income:

YOGA TEACHING BUCKET

• Weekly Classes
• Workshops
• Retreats
• Teaching Teachers/Teacher Training

ART BUCKET

• Custom Paintings/Commissions
• Etsy Shop Sales
• Retail Sales

CONSULTING BUCKET

• 1-on-1 Consulting Sessions
  
  

DESIGN BUCKET {all Starr Struck Design Studio projects} 

• Custom Design Projects: Website Design, Logo Design, + more

BLOG BUCKET

• Sponsored Content

Interesting, right? It takes WHOLE lot of buckets to make the money that I make but I wouldn't have it any other way ;) 

Another interesting note: for the first time ever, my income held steady (instead of increasing) from 2016 to 2017. I outlined the reasons for this in my post about how having a child in late 2016 impacted my ability to make money in 2017, but I find it interesting that despite making the same amount over the course of these two years, the methods in which I made this money changed quite a bit (as you can see from the chart).

Fellow solopreneurs, have you looked back at how your income streams have changed in the past few years? If not, you should! It's a very eye-opening exercise and a great way to take stock of where you are in your business. 

You can take a look back at last year's summary here and glance at 2015 here. 

This past weekend, Ben and I finally pulled together all of our tax documents to send to our accountant (Tax Preparer = best investment EVER). As we were looking back at our finances for 2017--and comparing them to our 2016 and 2015 finances--I was once again reminded that having a baby has affected our finances in a BIG way.

Before you have kids, people you that "kids are expensive" and that your financial situation will change once you're parents; but just like everything else when it comes it parenting, it's really hard to truly understand what this means until you're experiencing it firsthand.

It's like the sleep deprivation that comes along with parenting: it sounds doable and exaggerated before you've ever dealt with it ("How could it possibly be that bad?") and then you realize that everyone was right and it is HELL ON EARTH AND NO HUMAN BEING SHOULD EVER HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT KIND OF TORTURE ON A NIGHTLY BASIS.

But I digress. My point is that it doesn't seem like your finances should change that drastically when you have just one little baby (or toddler) but for us, they really have. And one of the main reasons for this is because I work for myself. 

As I've explained here many times before, when you work for yourself in the way that I do (in a primarily service-based area of business), for the most part, you only make money if you're working. Meaning, if I'm not able to sit down at my desk and "clock-in", or go into a studio and teach a yoga class or workshop, I don't get paid.

My income is variable and is mostly based on how much I can get done in a day, a week, or a month. My schedule is also variable which allows me to work when it's most convenient and scale back when needed. 

Because of this, our current financial situation is VERY different than it was at this time two years ago; we have to pay much more attention to when and how we're spending our money now, we're not putting as much away into savings each month, and things just feel much "tighter" now than they ever did before we were parents.

But this change in our finances is so much bigger than the statement "kids are expensive" would have you believe. It's not just about the child care costs or the cost of diapers and clothes--although sure, those things play into the total cost of having a child--but more about the hidden costs of having a baby and especially the hidden costs associated with being self-employed and having a flexible work schedule (blessing and a curse).  

Here's how some of these hidden costs have affected us over the past 18 months: 

When you have a child and work for yourself, you immediately experience a huge decrease in the amount of time you are able to work (even if you have child care!) and thus, your income decreases accordingly.

I know this sound obvious but here's the reason it's a "hidden" cost: I knew I wouldn't be able to work as much as I used to. I knew I would be scaling back. I planned for part-time childcare (vs. full-time) because I wanted to be home with my child some of the time, and I knew that would result in lost income.

But what I didn't understand about being self-employed? Whenever things fall through, you're the one who is "available" to pick up the slack. So when Charlie Mae is sick, I'm the one who is home with her. When day care is closed because the owner's child is sick or because her power is out (which has happened twice in the past few weeks!), I'm the one who "takes the day off" to be with Charlie Mae because I'm the one who has the flexibility to make super last-minute changes to my day. 

Similarly, in addition to these uncontrollable lost work days that all parents deal with (but that those on salary still get paid for), I didn't expect that there would also be additional "controllable" but still desired lost work time.

You all know that I love what I do and that I adore working, but I also adore spending time with my child and it's really important to me to be sure I do so every day. On some days--even if I'm slammed with work and could use every second of childcare possible--I pick her up early from daycare so that I can spend some quality time with her before I have to go teach in the evening.

And despite the fact that my business (and stress levels) could definitely benefit from adding a fourth day of daycare each week (we currently only do 3), I won't do it because I want two days at home with my child. I couldn't have anticipated how my strong desire to spend time with Charlie Mae would result in a decrease in even more lost work time.

Lastly, I've lost a lot of the time that I used to spend working in my mind, if not at my desk. For instance, I used to take Sayde on hour-long walks every day during which I would listen to podcasts and get business ideas, learn about current trends in my field, and get inspired. I also used to spend more time reading about business, doing continuing education, and taking e-courses. All of that is gone. I don't have the time to do any extras right now. When I walk Sayde, I'm also pushing a stroller and entertaining a toddler and my mind is full. This also results in lost income. 

When you don't have as much time to work, you have to start outsourcing tasks that you used to do yourself, and thus, have more business [and household] expenses. 

Although this is related to the above points, it's also slightly different. When I thought about the expenses related to having a child, I didn't think about that fact that I would have so much less time to devote to both business and household tasks and therefore, would have to pay someone to do the things that I used to do.

For instance, in the past 18 months I've had to rely much more on Sara, who works for me at Starr Struck Design Studio, than in years past. She is a Godsend and has SAVED me in so many ways since having Charlie Mae, but it's also much more expensive to pay an employee for more hours of work. 

Similarly, because my precious "free time" needs to be spent working, we've had to pay to outsource more of our household tasks: we sent Sayde away to a very expensive doggy training bootcamp because we didn't have the time to go to weekly trainings ourselves and knew we had to train her. We upped our house cleanings to 2x per month because we simply couldn't stay on top of the cleaning ourselves. We've hired someone to do a bunch of home improvement projects that we might have attempted on our own in the past but knew we would NEVER get to now. We've had to get a lot more takeout in the past 18 months because there have been many nights when neither of us were home to cook. 

As you can imagine, all of this really adds up.

The right part-time child care situation is harder to find than expected, and you can spend tons of money figuring out the best situation for your family. 

When I was pregnant, I thought I had the child care thing figured out. I had hired someone to come to our house and watch Charlie Mae at home while I worked and I knew it was going to be perfect. Spoiler alert: it was not.

As I've mentioned many times before here on the blog, I spent the first 6 months of Charlie Mae's life paying people to watch my child as I sat in my office, paralyzed, and listened to her cry. Then when working from home didn't work, I spent precious child care hours driving back and forth from the local library--working in 1 hour increments--so that I wasn't in the house and she wouldn't smell me, but so that I could still rush home and breastfeed her when needed (she would never take a bottle).

In the beginning we bled money as I paid people for hours and hours of child care during which I got little-to-no work done, hoping that one day my child would get used to that person and the lost money would be worth it. 

Eventually, we found an in-home daycare that worked much better for Charlie Mae (and got her out of the house and away from me, which is what we needed), but even that took a while to adjust to and meant many, many months of short, half-days of daycare (even though I was paying for full-days).

The hours of unused childcare that we have paid for in Charlie Mae's 18 months on this Earth is kind of horrifying. I had no idea that this could possibly happen before I was a parent. 

Sleep deprivation affects your productivity and when your productivity affects your bottom line, you feel your child's Sleep Regressions in your bank account.

While every parents' productivity is affected by sleep deprivation, this doesn't matter as much when you work for a big company with tons of employees.

When you work for yourself, if you're sleep deprived, your business becomes sleep deprived, too. You're not as motivated. You're not as inspired. You have less energy to do the things that keep you healthy and clear-headed, like working out and eating healthy.

All of this affects your ability to work efficiently with minimal errors. If you're lucky (like I am), you have an amazing employee or assistant who can ease some of this burden, pick up the slack when-needed, and catch your mistakes, but it's still a big [internal] business issue.

But wait--there's more! Here are a few of the un-hidden, out-in-the-open costs of having a child when you're self-employed that I think are worth mentioning in a brief roll-call:

You don't have paid maternity leave, you don't have personal sick days (but are sick ALL of the time now that your child is bringing home all of the germs), you don't get paid vacation days, and you don't have any of the employer perks that some parents get, like discounts on specific daycares or products or travel.

And don't forget about the cost of health insurance, which many self-employed people have to buy themselves!

While this issue didn't affect me personally because Ben works for the state, I should also mention that many self-employed parents have to buy their own health insurance. And often this health insurance isn't as good as an employer-provided policy would be or has a higher deductible, which means that in these cases medical costs (like birth, pediatrician's appointments, follow-up OB-GYN visits, etc) can be way more expensive. I know some self-employed people who had to pay upwards of 10k out of pocket for their hospital births [with insurance]. Unacceptable!

So yeah, the struggle is real.

I'd obviously do it again in a heartbeat and any financial hardship is totally worth it in my book, but as you know, I think it's important to talk about these things.

And I also think it's important to remind all of my fellow parents that there isn't an easy or right answer when it comes to working (or not working) and parenting. My flexible, work-from-home, part-time stay-at-home-parent situation might sound like the ideal, but I'm here to assure you that while I'm very grateful for this life situation, it is not without it's own set of challenges + drawbacks, and it has definitely resulted in a loss of income for our household. 

Parenting, huh? Such a wonderful challenge. 

When I first quit my 9-5 job and started teaching yoga back in 2010, I taught an average of 15-20 classes per week. I was trying to make a living teaching yoga, I was a new teacher, I was subbing my face off at any location that would let me teach, and I just jumped in. It was a little insane, but I loved it. 

Once I settled into a groove teaching yoga and managing Tranquil Space Arlington on the side, I taught 12 classes per week. I did that for a few years, and then when we moved to Cape Cod and I started teaching here and focusing on really growing my design/art/consulting/online biz, I taught around 10 classes per week. As my business grew,  I eventually dropped down to 8 classes per week, then 7, and that was where I was until I had Charlie Mae.

Since coming back from maternity leave, I've had to drastically change my schedule. Slowly, one by one, I've had to let go of the yoga classes that don't fit into my new life as a mom, and as of this week, I am now down to teaching just 4 yoga classes per week. Four; a far, FAR cry from the 17-ish and even 12 classes per week of my past life as a yoga teacher.

And I'm kind of struggling with it. 

Ever since I made the decision to quit my job and teach yoga, I have defined myself as a yoga teacher. There was a time when I was teaching so much that Ben remembers me sitting up in bed and teaching a forward fold in my sleep. And while I still feel like a full-time yoga teacher at heart, I'm not anymore. Teaching just 4 classes per week means that I teach yoga on the side, that I earn my living doing other things, and that's a really weird concept for me to wrap my head around.

Yesterday, when I taught my last class at Orleans Yoga--one of the first studios to hire me when we moved to the Cape back in 2013--I got way more emotional than I was expecting.

When I first started teaching there, the studio had recently opened and I was a brand new teacher on Cape Cod, so I taught many classes with just a few people in them {as different as you could get from the classes of 20-48 people that I had taught in DC!}. But the studio + it's community grew as I settled into my new life as a Cape Codder, and it was an honor to be a part of that growth as I put down my own roots in this totally new place.

I didn't know how hard it would be to say goodbye to the very last class that I was holding onto at Orleans Yoga--I didn't expect the tears that came as I bowed my head to say 'Namaste' at the end of yesterday's class, and despite the fact that I'm headed back there to teach a workshop in early December, it still felt like the end of an era for me. Giving up this class was symbolic of how much my life has changed in the last 15 months.

Having a child changes everything; my role as mother trumps all of my other roles now. As much as I have defined myself as a yoga teacher, I now define myself as a mother. A working mother, a yoga-teaching mother, but a mother nonetheless, and a mother first.

If something work-related no longer works for my family, it has to change, no matter how hard that change is for me to accept. There is definitely some mourning involved in making all of these changes, a grieving of my old life that has to happen as I am continually reminded that my needs aren't the only ones that matter anymore, but it's still hard and it's still sad. 

I'm going to miss my weekly class at the Orleans studio and the lovely students that I've been teaching regularly since 2013. But I'm also going to love finally having a weekend morning at home with my family, a time to make French Toast and eat breakfast together, "sleep in" (ha!), and just laze around in our PJs. I haven't had that in years and it will be extra-special now that we're a family of 3 (or 4 if you count non-humans, as Sayde will most definitely be involved in all of the aforementioned Sunday morning activities).  

So with that, I'll leave you with the reading from Karen Maezen Miller's blog that I shared at the end of my class yesterday, which I think is quite appropriate for this time of change (for me) and this time of year (for all of us):

Mindfulness means to remember that you are here, and to forget the story of where you are not.

So forget the story you tell yourself about your parents, the story you tell yourself about your childhood, the story you tell of your first love, the story of your first marriage, the story of pain and partings. Forget the birth story, the death story, the whole story, the story you keep repeating, the story you’ll never forget. Forget that story, and do not replace it with another.

Forget what might have been and what could still be. The past is gone and the future will arrive on schedule.

Forget the time you ran away, the time you cheated, the time you got caught, the time you found out, the time you broke down, the time you picked yourself up, the time you were left high and dry, the time the milk spilled and the glass broke, the time you’ll never forget. Forget time.

Forget what happened this morning. There is no this morning. There is no last night, today or tomorrow.

Forget your second thoughts, your second guesses, your second glances and second chances. Forget the count. No one knows the count and there is no way to count it.

Forget your worst fears and highest hopes. Forget all fears and hopes. Forget all worst and highest. Forget altogether the habit of make believe when reality is magic already.

Forget your leaps of logic and foregone conclusions. Nothing is ever foregone or concluded. Cover the ground where you stand. It’s enough.

Forget what you thought.

Forget what you felt. Do not resurrect a ghost.

Forget what she said, what he said, and especially what she said. Do not mistake the word for the thing.

Now, open your eyes and do what needs to be done. Having forgotten all obstacles and limitations, all distractions and negations, there is nothing you do not know how to do. Surprise yourself.

A huge thanks to all of the Orleans Yoga peeps who have been such a big part of my yoga life here on Cape Cod since 2013. I'll miss seeing you all each week! 

I just finished doing my taxes for 2016, and last year, for the first time ever, my non-yoga teaching/non-yoga-related income was almost double my yoga teaching income. Woah! If there was ever anything to make me feel like a real entrepreneur/solopreneur, it's this big change in where most if my income comes from.

And while I absolutely LOVE working for myself and am even more thankful to be my own boss on days like today-- when I'm sick (and the baby is sick) and didn't have to call in or worry about going anywhere (and can write this post in bed with Sayde on my lap, as pictured above)--I think it's always important to reiterate that working for yourself is still really hard, no matter how much you adore it. 

There are the obvious reasons for this, most of which I've discussed here before--like the fact that you don't get benefits or paid vacations (or paid sick days, for that matter!), or that you have to fill every role in the business and therefore are in charge of marketing, accounting, content + product development, account management, and scheduling--but in my opinion, there's one thing that is WAY harder than all of these things combined, and it's this: being a solopreneur or entrepreneur is an emotional rollercoaster. 

What do I mean by this? Well, here are some examples of the emotions that I experience running my business on an almost weekly basis:

• Overwhelm: when the buck stops with you, it's very easy to get overwhelmed. It's a *great* thing when you have a lot of work coming in, but it can also lead to lots of feelings of, "How on earth am I going to get all of this done?" Obviously hiring Sara to work with me has helped me with this A LOT, but not every solopreneur can hire someone, and even when you do have someone working with you, there are still the things that only you can do. Thus, the overwhelm. 
  
  
• Fear: just as it's easy to feel overwhelmed when a bunch of requests come in at once, it's also easy to feel nervous and fearful every time that things quiet down. In every business there are definite ebbs and flows, but when you work for yourself, it's easy to go down a rabbit hole every time that you have a slower week or month ("That's it, it's over, the business has dried up and I'm done..."). This fear is real and every solopreneur that I know deals with it on a somewhat regular basis. 
  
  
• Anxiety: when your name is on everything that you put out into the world, it can lead to a lot of anxiety. Every time that I send an email out to a client with a draft of a logo, website, or painting, or every time that I write a blog post or announce a retreat, I feel like I'm holding my breath until I receive some sort of feedback. Because it's personal! And even though it's not, it is! And since I'm already an anxious person, this does make it hard to work for myself at times. 
  
  
• Guilt: when I'm not working, I feel like I should be working. When you work for yourself, there is ALWAYS more to be done. Even if you don't have any pressing client work, you should be doing marketing, or be on social media, or planning your next product or project, or revamping your website, or doing some accounting...it never ends and it's never enough and turning off is REALLY hard. I've gotten better at it over the years, but I still feel a lot of guilt a lot of the time if I'm not working and know there is a lot to be done. 

So do you see? It's not all sunshine and rainbows when you work for yourself--and although you *do* get to go outside and enjoy the sunshine in the middle of the day whenever you want to--you may just have an emotional rollercoaster happening in the old dome while you enjoy those warm rays. 

{I think I should also add that I'm aware that you can still experience all of these emotions while working in a more traditional job, but I think it's much more rare to feel all of these emotions at once (or as frequently) as you do when you work for yourself.}

And with that, I'm off to walk around the house with a garbage bag, picking up dirty tissues and cough drop wrappers while praying that Charlie Mae doesn't wake up. Ahhh, such a glamourous solopreneur life, isn't it!?

In a consulting session with a new client a few weeks ago, we were talking about burnout—how most people experience it at some point in their working lives and how some people work for years in a burnt-out state without doing anything about it or even realizing that they’re burned out. 

Then we started talking about getting to the root of why you do what you do; obviously people work because you need money in order to do most things in our world (and uh, eat, have a roof over your head, etc.), but we also work because having a job gives you purpose and makes you feel useful, which is important to our sense of self-worth.

But when you take it to the next level, when you move past these things and get to the place where your job is taking up most of your energy, most of your time, and most of your mental capacity, it’s really important that you’re working for more than just the money or a general reason to get out of bed every day. 

That’s when it becomes imperative that your job feed you in some way. Does that mean that what you do at work has to be what you’re most passionate about? No, it doesn't. But if you don’t love the actual work that you’re doing, then I hope that you love what your work enables you to do—whether that’s spend lots of time with loved ones, travel the world, do what you love on the side, or buy experiences that are important to you. 

As you know by now, I love the actual work that I do, but I also love that I have control over my schedule and when and how I work. This doesn’t mean that I don’t get burned out (because believe me, I do!!!), but that when I do, it doesn’t feel as hopeless as it used to because ultimately, I know that I've chosen this work and I have control over it. 

But you don’t have to work for yourself or love your actual work to feel this way.

I have a student who told me that he doesn’t necessarily love his job, but that he has found a workplace where he’s allowed to take a 3-month sabbatical every year to travel, which is his ultimate dream. So for him, even though the work isn’t the most stimulating and he doesn't make the money that he could, it paves the way for him to do what he wants to do, and in that way, he knows what he’s working for. If he were to feel burned out, he would know that it was for a really wonderful reason (in the long-term), and he could justify that feeling. 

So here’s my question for you: What are you working for? Do you know? Do you have something to hold onto when you’re feeling burned out?

​If not, what steps can you take in 2017 to get to a place where you are working for something that is meaningful to you?  

Think about it.

I know that for many of you soloprenuers and small business owners out there, I'm preaching to the choir. If you've been doing this on your own for a while or follow any business podcasts or blogs, you know that this is a must.

But if you're newer to this whole thing--if you've just become a yoga teacher and are trying to build your tribe, or if you've just created a website and are trying to grow your brand--and you haven't yet started collecting email addresses from your followers, you should start right now. 

Why? There are SO many reasons, but here are just a few:

1. So that you begin creating a list of your most loyal followers/fans/customers/readers [because at some point in the future, you will want this list]. The people who sign up for your email list have to do more than just press a "follow" or "friend" button on social media--they have to enter their email address and then confirm their subscription, so you know that they want to hear from you. Having a list of people who want to hear from you will be crucial in the future as your business grows. 

2. It's the best way to actually reach those loyal followers. I know you might be thinking, 'Well actually, my inbox is a hot mess and I don't read half of the email subscriptions that I receive, so won't people do the same to my emails?' They might. But think about it: don't you still stop and read (or at least skim) the newsletters or email blasts from the people that you follow and care the most about/have learned the most from/are most interested in? I know I do, *despite* having an inbox so full that it makes me want to cry most days. So yes, if you have something important to say to your peeps, if you say it through your mailing list you can feel more confident that the people who care will read it. 

3. Because if you're selling something, the people on your mailing list are more likely to buy it than the random person who follows you on social media (although I don't want to discredit the importance of social media followers!). Not that it's all about selling, because it certainly isn't, but *if* you are selling something or are going to in the future, an email list will make selling online much easier and more profitable. 

4. You own your list and thus, have control over it. I know this sounds weird, but here's the thing about social media (the other way we all reach our people these days): it can change at the drop of a hat. Facebook could change it's algorithm again and you've just lost the way that you reach all of your audience. Twitter could shut down for good (lets hope it doesn't!), and just like that, you're out of contact with your tribe. But if you have an email list, you know that you can still reach your true followers through their inboxes. Phew!

So do you see why it's so important to start connecting email addresses? 

Even if you don't send out an email blast anytime in the next year, I guarantee that if you've recently started an online anything, there will come a time when you think, "Wow, I really wish I could reach all of the people who are interested in what I'm putting out there at once to tell them about ______." If you've been collecting email addresses all along, you'll be able to do that right away. 

So what's next? If you haven't done it already, create a free account on Mailchimp (or use a paid service like Mad Mimi, AWeber, etc.) and get a sign-up box up on your site right now. It's easy and it's a must. 

Oh, and a 'do as I say, not as I do' recommendation: you'll get way more email list subscribers if you offer a "free gift/free download" to everyone who subscribes to your mailing list. I've been meaning to do this/create this for about 3 years but, well, life.

All of that being said, here's a shameless plug for my mailing list! Want to join? You can do so below [my February newsletter will be going out tomorrow!]:

Welp, this is my last full week of my official, self-imposed "maternity leave." Obviously, this is a weird thing to say, because I work for myself and therefore make my own schedule and could make my maternity leave as long as I want it to be, but as mixed as I feel about it, I've decided that I'm ready to start transitioning  s l o w l y  back to work starting next week.

In fact, I've already been doing some bits of work here and there over the past 2-3 weeks, and it's felt good to use my brain in the way that I did before baby. Usually, this work is done while Charlie Mae is asleep in her carrier on my chest, and therefore, I don't feel bad about doing it, but next week, things become more official. 

Before I get into that, though, let me back up: when I got subs for my classes and transitioned all of the in-progress Starr Struck Design Studio business over to Sara back in August, I left things open-ended; I told everyone I would be back in anywhere from 6-12 weeks, depending on how I was feeling.

When Charlie Mae was about 1 week old, I looked at Ben and said, "How am I ever going to go back to work? How am I ever going to get anything done again?" And I meant it. It felt impossible.

But then, we hit week 5 or so, and I saw that I would be able to transition back--and actually, would be able to do so sooner than I had previously thought. I reached out to the childcare provider that we hired back in early August, and asked if she'd be up for starting for just 10 hours per week the week of October 17th--Charlie Mae's 8th week of life. I reached out to the studios where I teach and started discussing return dates, and once I got everything ironed out, felt really good about my ability to inch back into work at my own pace (even if it is also kind of sad and anxiety-producing to do so). 

Curious what my return to work will look like? 

Well, starting this Saturday morning, I'm returning to teaching just 3 classes per week, all at the studio that's closest to my house (5 mins away). When I leave to teach these classes, I'm gone just 2 hours and Ben will be home at all of the times they take place, so it's an obvious fit. 

Then, I'll return to the rest of my classes at the studios that are farther away from my house and thus, involve a commute and a longer time away from my breastfeeding baby (who still eats every 1-2 hours) in November. 

As for my art, design, + consulting work, I'll be slowly transitioning back starting next week, thanks to the help of the aforementioned babysitter who will be coming to the house to stay with Charlie Mae twice per week while I work in the other room (and pop out to feed her as needed). Starting in November, our childcare provider will start coming 3 days per week so that I have a bit more time to work. 

And that leaves the blog! I've decided to ease back into posting regularly here, too. My new "regular posting schedule" will probably be 3 days per week once I'm back to it; for now, I'm going to try and post 1-2 times per week and work up to 3 times per week starting in November (FYI, everyone's favorite, Simple Joys of the Week, will be back starting in November). 

I'm not sure if I'm 100% ready to get back into all of these things over the next couple of weeks, but at the same time, I want to. I'm eager to resume some of the work that I love so much, and that gives me purpose, a creative outlet, and a connection with the world, but I'm also horrified at the thought of not spending almost every waking minute with our sweet girl, and of having someone else take care of her--even if it is in our home while I'm home, too (!!!!). 

S0, to my yoga students: I'll see you back on the mat starting this Saturday and continuing until I'm back up to my full teaching schedule in early November (I did decide to give up one class when I return--you can see my full, updated teaching schedule here). 

To my art, design, and consulting clients: my maternity leave autoresponder will go away starting Monday the 17th, so feel free to reach out with any needs you've been holding off on or any new projects you want to start! I'm excited to get back to it ;) 

And for fellow new moms and/or new moms to-be: I should mention that one of the main reasons I feel ready to get back to work now is because Charlie Mae has been such a [relatively] easy baby. Since her arrival, I have gotten much more sleep than I anticipated and she's been a champion breastfeeder, which I can't take any credit for, but which I am very grateful for. Also, my body has healed quickly from birth; I credit yoga, sleep, having so much help, + all of the good food Ben has been making for me.

I *DO NOT* want anyone reading this to feel bad if they aren't ready to go back to work at a similar time, and want to be clear that if I had to return to a full-time job where I was away from home 40+ hours per week right now, I would not be ready at all. Like, at all at all at all. I can't imagine. 
 
In addition, lets call a spade a spade: I'm not on paid maternity leave. When I don't work, I don't make [much] money. Financially, it's also in our best interest as a family for me to return to work, which definitely plays into my decision to start transitioning back next week. Self-employment, y'all! There are pluses and minuses to everything. 

So I'll stop there for now and go enjoy my last week of no work (my dad is coming in town to help +  get to know his grandaughter better. Hooray!)...see many of you very soon!

Well, here we are: our baby's birth month. With my due date in the middle of the month, I think it's *fairly safe* to say that I'll be giving birth sometime this month (unless our babe is crazy late, in which case there is a possibility that we could move into early September!?). 

Either way, as my due date gets closer, I'm starting to get serious about my "maternity leave" plans. But lets get real here for a second: when you work for yourself, you don't get maternity leave. You don't ever get any kind of paid leave, but the trade-off is that I can come and go from work as I want to, without any time limits--as long as I'm ready to stop making money if I stop working. 

Has this been stressful for us as we've prepared for having a baby? Absolutely. We rely on the income that I bring in and aren't looking forward to going without it. But at the same time, I am really thankful for a schedule that allows me to take time off if I need it, and for the ability to slowly ease back into work when I'm ready (and work from home!), as opposed to having to jump back into work full-time (and abruptly) at the end of some predetermined chunk of time.

Obviously, there are pluses + minuses to my situation, and as much as it scares me to take more than a week or so off {for the first time since I started teaching yoga back in May of 2010!}, I'm also super excited to have the time and space to be fully focused on our little baby for a while. 

So, since I've been getting tons of questions about how much time I'm taking off and what that will look like, I thought it would be helpful to lay it out for you here, so my clients and students are clear (although my clients will be getting an email today that outlines what they need to know) and so that my fellow solopreneurs out there can see how Ben and I have decided to handle this new challenge/change: 

• Yoga Teaching: As of right now, I'm still teaching yoga (I'm 2.5 weeks out from my due date). I still feel good and teaching is still fun, so I'm continuing to go for it. I do, however, have "on-call" subs lined up for all of my classes starting this week, so all I have to do when I feel done with teaching is let them know and they'll takeover. But I think for now, I have another good week or two in me ;) 
  
  Once my subs takeover/I have the baby, I'm planning on taking anywhere from 6-12 weeks off from teaching. All of my subs are open-ended and the plan is to just give them a heads-up when I'm ready to come back. I may transition back to some classes earlier than others, depending on the class time (does it work for the babe and Ben being home with the babe?), location (is is super close to home and thus won't take me away from the babe for long?), and how I'm feeling, but I wanted to give myself plenty of space in case I need it (physically, mentally, or emotionally). 
  
  Obviously, I'm not teaching any workshops again until later in the fall/winter, and retreats are on hold for around a year (stay tuned for another Namaste Nantucket Retreat in August or September 2017). 
  
  
• Design Projects + Existing Client's Needs: Up until now, I've been continuing to take on design work on a project-by-project basis, simply because I can do this from home right up until the baby comes and I can often turn things around really quickly (if needed). But, I'm also very lucky because I have Sara, who can continue working on most client design projects while I'm out. In fact, I've been able to continue taking on work because I do have her and know she will be available to clients while I'm out, and I feel SO much better knowing that my existing clients who need a website tweak or quick flier created will have her as a resource when I'm unavailable.
  
  Plus, the great news is that her continued work on client projects and client needs will help me continue to have a little trickle of income while I'm off. All of my clients will get an email outlining how to handle needs while I'm out and I will be checking email twice per week to respond to any immediate needs that Sara can't handle; but otherwise, I'm going to try and be very "off" when it comes to this side of my work.  
  
  
• Consulting: I will not be doing any consulting while I'm out on maternity leave. If a current consulting client needs advice on something super quickly via email, I'll be responding [quickly] during my designated email times each week, but otherwise, these services will be on hiatus for about 8-12 weeks. 
  
  
• Custom Art: Again, this part of my biz will be on hold until I ease back into a regular schedule with childcare (more on that below). 
  
  
• Etsy Shop: My Etsy shop will stay open! I'll be removing all of my custom order options, but prints, greeting cards, and apparel will still be available, since I can easily pop something in the mail while Ben holds the baby ;) 
  
  
• Blogging: And last but not least, this little blog! For the first time since starting it, I'm planning on taking more than a week off from blogging, too [so weird!]. I'll keep blogging 4 days per week up until I go into labor, and then I'll be taking around 6-10 weeks off from writing regularly.
  
  I'll *definitely* pop-in here + there to share my birth story, baby pics, and give you baby and new mom updates, but my regularly-scheduled programming won't return for a while, and when it does return, it might return slowly. I'll probably ease back in to posting on a regular schedule, and it might not be back up to more than 2-3 days per week for quite a while. But don't worry--I'll def be back and I'm sure I'll be eager to share stories + experiences from my new life with you ;) 

So that's what my "maternity leave" will look like.

The next question that everyone asks is about childcare, so here's what we're planning in that arena [when I do go back to work]:

Obviously, Ben and I will both be home with the baby for the first few weeks. We're lucky that Ben gets 5 weeks of paternity leave (yay!), so it will be both-hands-on-deck for the first 5 weeks. When Ben goes back to work, each of my parents will come up for a week or so, so that I'll have around 7 weeks of help. Once they go home it will be just me during the day, until I'm ready to start transitioning back into work. 

When that happens, we're planning on having a childcare provider come to our home to watch the baby while I work. I will either work from home (so I can breastfeed as needed) or pop out to a local coffee shop if I need to get out for a bit, and the plan is to pay for this kind of childcare for around 15-20 hours per week to start. Ben will be home with the baby while I teach in the evenings and will obviously be around on the weekends when I'm teaching/if I need to work some then.  

We've started interviewing childcare providers and have already talked to some very promising candidates, so are feeling pretty good about having someone lined up for when we're ready in early-to-mid October... 

{Phew!}

So, that's how things are looking right now. It's all so unknown, which is super scary for me/us, but that seems to be something I need to get used to when it comes to being a parent, so I'm going with it. 

As for the finances of everything, we've been saving as aggressively as possible over the past 9 months and I've been working my butt off to make more $ this year (in preparation for this time off) so we're going to be okay, but we sure would rather not have to take this financial hit! {Obvs.} 

And that's about it! I hope that you've learned something from this little inside look at the logistics of having a baby when you work for yourself, and I appreciate all of the advice I've gotten from so many of you readers out there who are in the same boat/have been in similar boats.

Over the weekend, as Ben and I sat on the beach soaking up the sunshine and intermittently jumping into the water to cool off, I found myself thinking about how grateful I am to be able to take a weekend mostly "off" despite working for myself.

At a time in the very recent past, I wasn't able to relax in the same way over a long weekend because I always felt a nagging feeling that I "should" be working. Despite that fact that it's taken me almost 6 years to get to this place where I can take time off without feeling stressed about it, I'm finally here and am really loving it. [This is also pretty important as I prepare to take off for "maternity leave" late next month...]

So anyways, this weekend "off" got me thinking about what has enabled me to feel more relaxed on the weekends, which got me thinking about big life upgrades, changes, or "investments" that have created more space and relaxation in my life, which made me think I should share some of these things with you--all in once place--despite having mentioned many of these investments in posts (or podcast episodes) at one point or another.

Thus, here are 5 Life-Changing Investments That I've Made in the Past Year, all of which I *highly* recommend if you're looking for more space in your life:

1. Hiring Help {aka Sara!}: I think this one is obvious and I know I've mentioned it many times before, but because it's made the biggest impact on my life in the past year, I have to highlight it again here. Having someone else on my team--and not just anyone, someone SUPER capable, intelligent, and productive--has been more game-changing than I can begin to explain. Not only has Sara enabled me to feel less stressed because she shares the workload with me, she has also enabled me to take on more work and thus, increase my earning power; I crunched some numbers last week and I'm up over 10k where I was at this time last year! I know this has to due with having help.

So, for my fellow solopreneurs out there, I know it can be scary to have to pay someone when you're so used to having no personnel/contractor expenses on the books, but if you're totally overwhelmed and have room in your budget for even some part-time help, I can't recommend it enough.  

 2. Going to Therapy: While this one isn't really a financial investment for me since my insurance covers it, it does take a time investment (and emotional investment) that many busy people simply don't think they can make. But let me tell you (again, for the umpteenth time), it's worth it. I've written many posts about being a big proponent of therapy, but getting back into a regular groove--even though I only see my therapist every 2-3 weeks)--has really helped me to slow down and relax, and has been super helpful as I prepare for and think about what maternity leave will look like for me. 

3. Signing up for Freshbooks: At the end of last year, I finally decided to invest in an accounting program. I was invoicing enough clients and receiving payments from so many different sources and places that I knew I could no longer keep track of everything in Google spreadsheets, so I bit the bullet. OMG, signing up for Freshboooks was one of the best things I've ever done for my state of mind and business (seriously!). At any moment, I can see where I am [financially] for the month without having to do any weird calculations. All of my expenses and invoices are in one place. Sara and I can clock-in and clock-out when working on client projects and invoice from our timesheets. I also think that having a clear picture of my finances is another reason that I've already made so much more money this year than last year--because I'm aware of where I am financially and am able to make decisions accordingly. 

Fellow small business owners: I highly recommend you give it a try! {Here's a link to a free trial.}

4.  Hiring Cleaning People: While this change happened a bit more than a year ago, it has also made a pretty big impact on my life/state of mind. When we moved, Ben and I came to a mutual decision that the amount of money it costs to pay someone to do a thorough cleaning of our house is well worth it, considering the amount of time it would take us to do a similar deep clean. While it might not sound like it would be that life-changing, it is when you work from home. Now that someone else is keeping our house clean, I'm no longer distracted by the dust bunnies and dirty floors, and am not constantly reminded of all the things I'm falling behind on when I'm working.

Local? I can't recommend Clean Green enough! We love this eco-friendly biz SO much and have been thrilled with their work.  

5. Buying a King-Sized Mattress {from Casper}: Buying a king may be the single most amazing thing that Ben and I have *ever* done for ourselves as a couple. Seriously. And as a pregnant woman, business owner, and yoga teacher, there is nothing that affects my ability to be productive more than sleep. Since buying our new mattress a few months ago, I have slept more soundly and more comfortably than EVER before. I can't believe we shared that full (full!) for as long as we did. Yikes.

(Oh, and if you're interested in buying a Casper and want to save $50 on your purchase, use this link!)

What do you think? Have you made similar investments and found them to be equally life-changing? As I said, most of these changes do cost something upfront,  but often you have to spend money (or time) to make money, and I am here to tell you that each of these investments are 100% worth it.

Hope this gets your wheels turning!

On Friday afternoon, I had a chat with Amber Beam for her podcast, The Art of Personal Growth. During our conversation, we talked a bit about my journey to self-employment and what's it's like doing what I do. As usual, this conversation got me thinking about being a solopreneur and about the many creatives who have a dream of pursuing this sort of lifestyle someday...

While talking to Amber, I was [once again] reminded of the ways in which self-employment gets so glamorized online, which I find quite problematic. So, today I wanted to do a quick check-in on my life as a solopreneur (can I still call myself that now that Sara works with me?), since it's been quite a while since I've given an honest rundown here on the blog.

But first, I feel like I should give you a little status update, as the way that I'm spending my days and the work that I do now is quite different than the work I was doing as a solopreneur 2 or 3 years ago.

My days are now filled with less yoga teaching and way more client design work and consulting than ever before, and it's been really exciting to watch this transition happen over the years. Would I have ever predicted that this is where I would be in mid-2016? No way. Never. Which is one of the things that makes the world of self-employment so fun. 

Similarly, I am still just as happy as ever that I am no longer working for someone else or working a traditional 9-5. I don't have a single regret and wouldn't change anything about how this journey has gone thus far. BUT, I've said it before and I'll say it again: just because I love what I do doesn't mean that it's always peaches and cream. It doesn't mean that I don't experience burnout, get frustrated or stressed, or worry about work. I do, all the time. 

Thus, that being said, here's a little update on how things are going {now that I'm about 5.5 years in} which I've broken down into three categories with three bullets each (because I love symmetry)...

The Good:

• I am still super fulfilled by my work. Every day is different, every client project is different, every creative project is different, every yoga class is different. I am able to work with + help amazing people bring their visions or businesses to life. I'm able to hold space for people connecting with their bodies and quieting their minds. I find it all pretty wonderful and feel very full at the end of each day. 
  
  
• I am making more money doing what I love than ever before. The hard work really does pay off, and each year that I work for myself, I make more than I did the past year (which is how I want it to be). Am I rolling in it? No, of course not, but I'm making more than I ever have and that feels good. 
  
  
• I love being able to scale up and back whenever I want to and however I want to. I have total control over my schedule--I can work when I want to, from wherever I want to, how I want to. I can accept projects that excite me and turn down projects that aren't a good fit. When I have our little baby in August, I can change my schedule to be able to spend more time with her and work with Ben's schedule.  I have complete control over my workday.  

The Bad:

• I am more frustrated than ever that I don't have any paid days off--especially when it comes to maternity leave. Despite being happy about being able to scale back when we have our baby, I don't get ANY paid leave, so will just stop making money when I take time off to recover and be with our daughter. I hate that it has to be this way!
  
  
• I still struggle with the low-lying guilt that I always can be/should be working. Although this has definitely gotten better over the years (I used to work basically all the time because I felt like I should), even when I'm not working, my work kind of hangs over my head. Part of this is because I really care about it, but part of it is because I don't have a defined workday or stopping point for a lot of what I do. This is a hard feeling to carry around. 
  
  
• The buck stops with me, so when I stop, the business stops (for the most part). Similar to the maternity leave gripe, if I'm not working, work isn't getting done (except for when Sara is working, which is actually quite a lot these days, thank goodness!). But big picture, this is scary. I have lots of worries about how that will be when I'm on my maternity leave, and it's crazy to think that if I just stopped for a long period of time, everything I've been working towards for 5+ years would just wither away. 

The Meh: 

• My email inbox is still my biggest struggle AND most helpful/most used tool. Even after all of these years, I'm still a slave to my inbox. I've tried so many things, I've adopted so many tools and strategies and apps, but when it comes down to it, it's still always haunting me. However, at the same time, it's where all my new business and new opportunities come in, it's my favorite way to communicate, and I love connecting with people over email, so I also really love it. It's a double-edged sword if there ever was one...
  
  
• Social media. I also have a love-hate relationship with social media. There are so many reasons I love it, but there are just as many reasons I hate it. I need it to sustain my business (in so many ways!), but I wish I didn't need it as much as I do. I'm addicted to it, but I also don't do it enough and am always behind. Urgh. 
  
  
• There are a lot of unknowns. Where will my business be in a year? Which parts of my business will continue to grow and which parts won't? Will I continue to make more every year that I do this? Is blogging going away and if so, how will that impact what I do? Unknowns can be exciting, but they can also be scary and unsettling, which is a reason this aspect of the business can be both good and bad at the same time...

As I wrote this, I realized that I could go on and on in every category, which is another great reminder that with every wonderful thing in life (like being self-employed), there are also many sacrifices and compromises that have to be made.

​When it comes down to it, though, I think the best question to ask yourself is: do the goods outweigh the bads (or the "mehs"?)? If the answer to this question is unequivocally 'yes,' then I think it's worth it. 

Want to read more about the reality of working for yourself? Here's a series that I did about it back in 2014:

• Part 1: Figuring Out the Finances
• Part 2: Scheduling Stress
• Part 3: Building Your Business

And if you want to learn more about how I actually spend my time (and or earn a living working for myself), here's a good post that clears it up: How I Make Money. 

Fellow solopreneurs and/or self-employed, do you agree with my thoughts on the subject? I'd love to hear about your experience...

With the emergence and perfection of fabulous drag-and-drop web design tools like Squarespace + Weebly (both of which I am a huge fan!), it's become easier than ever to design your own website.

When I work with solopreneurs and small business owners, I always encourage them to take on this part of their business *IF* they have the time/space to do so and the interest in design and creation.

Let me be clear: designing your own website is not for everyone (that's for sure!), and I've seen many a solopreneur set out to create her own site, only to find that it's not her cup of tea--or she doesn't really have the time to teach herself the ins-and-outs of these programs in enough detail as she'd like--so she hires me to do it (and of course I'm happy to help since I love this stuff so much!).

But, for those who do decide to take on this fun project (and I promise, if you get into it and carve out the time to dedicate to this project, it can be super fun!), I have some advice that I wish someone had shared with me when I first made my own website 6 years ago.

Here goes...

1. Make your homepage shine: if I click on a link to your website on social media and land on your homepage, I should be able to tell who you are/what you do/what your site is about in just a few seconds. This means that your homepage should have at least 1 (if not more) images that convey something about your site, business, or brand, and at least 1-2 sentences about what it is that you do or offer (or are all about). This should be clear, easy to find, and near the top of the homepage.  

2. Stick to a clear color scheme: pick 3-6 colors (including black, white, and/or grey) and stick to using ONLY those colors on your site (and on all brand materials you create that are separate from your site, of course!). Set up a site design outline: all page headers are one color, all subheaders are one color, all links are another, etc., in order to make your site look branded and cohesive. You can get color hex codes from online tools like The Color Picker, Color-Hex, or HTML Color Codes (which lets you pull color codes from an image). 

3. Use only 3 fonts (max!) on your site: again, this will make your site look more cohesive and professional. Sites with tons of fonts look confusing and often a little crazy ;) Easy rule of thumb: use one serif font (like Times, Georgia, Baskerville), one sans-serif, and one flourish font (this might be a cursive font, a handwritten font, or something more fun or whimsical). Again, be clear on where you use these fonts and how, i.e. all page headers are one font, all body text is another, etc. 

4. Include at least one *good* picture on every single page: the online world has become VERY visual (hello, Instagram!), so you want your site to be just as visual and pretty. In order to do this, every page on your site should have a picture on it; if you don't have enough good or professional pictures to use, you can pull free images from amazing free (for personal and commercial use) sites like Unsplash or Death to the Stock Photo. FYI, the image used for this blog post is from a free site like this! They're great ;) 

5. Decide on a tone for your site and stick to it in all body text: do you want your site to feel personal and friendly, so that the visitor feels like she's having a conversation with you? Do you want it to be a bit more professional and distant? Should it be funny and a little kooky? Decide how you want people to feel when reading your body text before you write your text, and then when writing, keep coming back to that feel. If you decide to write in first person, write in first person everywhere. The same goes for third person if you decide to go that route, of course. 

6. At the bottom of every page, tell your visitor where to go next (or what to do next): when someone visits your website, you have a chance to guide them through the experience. This could mean including a "start here" button on the homepage, or linking directly to the most popular pages on your site in a clear, visual way. From there, the bottom of every page should include an ask or a direction, for example: "Interested in my web design services? Contact me for pricing," or "Want to learn more? Visit my About Page to read about my journey." 

7. Make it SUPER easy for people to reach out to you + connect with you: if your ideal client visits your website, you want to make it crystal clear that they can and should contact you--and tell them how you want them to do that. Make sure you have a separate "Contact" or "Connect" page that includes your email address and social media buttons. If you have a business phone number that you want to include, you could also include that here. Include multiple reminders that people can reach out throughout your site. Make yourself accessible! 

8. Don't include any pages that simply say "coming soon!": urgh. This is a pet peeve of mine. If I had a dollar for every site that has a Blog page that says "coming soon" (and has said that for at least a year), I would be able to buy a whole lot of baby supplies (my purchase of choice these days). If you don't have the content ready for a specific page on your site yet, just don't include that page in your navigation bar. Make it on the back-end, if that helps you from an organizational standpoint, but hide it from the public until you're ready to take it live and include actual content. "Coming soon" is the worst! 

9. ALWAYS embed your links: don't know what I mean by this? Here's a quick demo:

• ​DO: You can purchase one of these tanks in my Etsy Shop. 
• DON'T: You can purchase one of these tanks in my Etsy Shop (https://www.etsy.com/shop/marycatherinestarr).

Make sense? To do this, highlight the text you want to link, click the little button in your text editor that looks like a chain link, and insert your link. Super easy!  

10. Don't wait until your site is perfect in order to launch, as it will never be perfect [and thus, you'll never launch]: this one is obvious, but I can't tell you how many people wait waaaaayyyy too long to get their site up because they're waiting until it's completely done. My first site was basically a bag of garbage, but I just got it up and tweaked it and redesigned it over the years and it slowly got better. Is it perfect now? Not at all--there is so much I still want to change, but websites are a work-in-progress, just like your business or brand. Get the basic pages up now, get the basic content up now, and then tweak it as much as you want while it's live and being visited by your potential clients/customers/readers.  

So there you go! My top 10 tips; I hope you find them helpful.

{And if you do get stuck and decide you need some help, remember that I'm here for you! Learn more about my web design services here.}

In this week's episode, we're talking self-improvement and personal growth: we discuss the importance of self-improvement--or self-help, self-study, continuing education (whatever you want to call it)--and what can happen if you overdose on self-improvement, or at the other end of the spectrum, don’t continue to challenge yourself or focus on learning + growing enough.

Obviously, as with everything, there’s a balance, so we discuss what this balance looks like and enjoy a few laughs while doing so ;) 
​
​You can listen below OR by downloading and/or subscribing in iTunes or Stitcher (be sure you search "Starr Struck Radio").

Here are the links mentioned in the show:

• How to Earn a Living Teaching Yoga: A Business Guide for Yoga Teachers
• Episode 18: How to Make a Big Career Change
• Have you rated us or written us a review in iTunes? If not, please do so; it helps us SO much and takes just 2 mins. Directions are here. 
  ​

You can view all Starr Struck Radio episodes and get answers to FAQs on the podcast homepage. ​

As always, thanks for listening!

When I read through my reader survey responses earlier this month, I came across a few questions about doing business online; some of you wanted to know what tools I use, some of you wanted to know how I learned everything that I know (up to this point), and some of you wanted more sharing of said information.

So, I'm here to tell you that it takes a village--of apps, services, products, + technology--to run an online business.

It also takes a lot of time, a lot of googling for resources, directions, + how-to videos, and a lot of trial and error to learn the wide variety of skills you need to know in order to blog, podcast, offer online design services, consulting services, etc. Just like any other business, trade, or skill, you have to put in the time to actually learn about the industry and then stay up-to-date as the industry changes; it's not easy. 

​That being said, there are a TON of tools that make running a business online *much* easier. And I wouldn't know about many of these amazing tools if I hadn't learned about them from fellow online business peeps. So today, although I have shared some of this information piecemeal in the past, I wanted to compile a complete, updated roundup of ALL of the tools that I use in the various areas of my online business.

I hope that this list is helpful to you as you build your own online presence or brand...and again, remember that you don't learn this stuff overnight, but it is all very learnable if you put in the time + energy ;)  

Here we go...!

Website/Blogging Platforms

• Weebly: this is what I use for my own website + blog, which I created back before I knew about Squarespace (not sure it was even around/as well-known then as it is now?)
• Squarespace: this is what I use for all client websites + blog designs. I will no longer design sites in Wordpress because I find that it is not user-friendly enough for clients to manage on their own AFTER I finish their sites
  
  

Blog + Social Media Graphics

• Photoshop Elements: worth learning! It only costs around $70 and is the BEST investment I've made in my business. Yes, you have to take some time to learn it, but I used Lynda.com videos to teach myself in just a day or so
• Canva: if you don't have Photoshop and/or don't want to learn how to use it, this is the design program I recommend you learn ASAP. Free and easy to use! Simply put: you cannot have an online business and not know how to use at least one image/graphic creator
• Wordswag: super easy app that lets you add words to images and create graphics for social media using cute backgrounds and templates
  
  

Social Media Scheduling

• Hootsuite: free (for up to 5 or 6 social media accounts) and quite simple to use

Newsletter/Mailing List Management

• Mailchimp: I'm a huge fan of Mailchimp! It's free until you have 2000 people on your mailing list and very easy to use. Yes, just like anything else you have to take the time to teach yourself how to use it, but once you have, it's extremely user-friendly
• Feedburner: how I deliver my daily blog posts to subscribers via email 

Podcast Creation + Hosting

• Garageband: this is what I use to edit my podcast episodes (I've also heard great things about Audacity, for those who don't have a Mac)
• Libsyn: this is the program that hosts my podcast episodes, meaning that it saves them in a cloud, delivers them to iTunes once I upload them, makes them available for download, and allows me to view download + listener stats
• iTunes + Stitcher: when you first create a podcast, you have to apply to get it accepted to both of these networks so that it's easily find-able and subscribe-able. Once it's been accepted, Libsyn does the rest for you (each time you publish a new episode) 

Video Creation + Hosting

• iMovie: comes free with a Mac and is pretty great. Yes, there is a learning curve FOR SURE, but it's worth taking the time to teach yourself. If you don't have access to iMovie or don't want to learn it, I've also heard wonderful things about Clips Video Editor. I haven't used it myself, but I hear it's a great, easy-to-use editing app for your tablet or phone 
• YouTube: this is an obvious one, but this is where I upload my videos in order to embed them in the blog

eBook Creation, Order, + Delivery

• Pages for Mac: this is the program that I use to create eBooks and all PDFs that I want to make pretty ;) Just like a lot of the other programs listed here, it takes a little time to get the hang of it, but once you do, it's wonderful
• E-junkie: the website that hosts my eBook and delivers it to those who order it; once I set up my account, uploaded my eBook and set up the back-end, I've never had to think about it again. So great! Only $5/month and well worth the cost
• Kindle Direct Publishing: the account that allows me to make my eBook available on Amazon (for Kindle). Free to set-up but they do take a percentage of your sales (obviously)

Accounting + Invoicing

• Freshbooks: the program I use to keep track of all of my business expenses, income, invoices (I can send them from here), timesheets/time tracking, etc. It has been a life-saver; my only regret is that I didn't start paying for Freshbooks about two years ago 
• Paypal: what I use to accept payment through the buttons on my website (like you see on my consulting page)
• Vanguard: hello, retirement! When you work for yourself, setting aside money on a monthly basis for savings/retirement is a MUST. I have a Vanguard account for this and have it set up to automatically remove money from my account and invest it in my selected fund each month

Free {Beautiful, Not Cheesy} Image Sources

• Death to the Stock Photo: you sign up and receive a free photo pack in your email every month 
• Unsplash: my favorite one! Great searchable directory of gorgeous images
• PicJumbo: also helpful, although not as great as the others (I search this one last)

File Organization

• Dropbox: both Sara and I are upgraded so that we can share all Starr Struck files easily (and so that we know they're safe and backed-up!). This is also how I deliver large folders of logo files to clients
• Google Docs: I mean, obviously. Love accessing docs on both my phone and computer, and love being able to share them easily with others (non-Dropbox peeps). Also great for surveys! 

Free Blog Widgets/Apps: 

• Surveymonkey: how I conduct reader surveys (free for up to 10 questions)
• Rafflecopter: great, easy widget for keeping track of people who enter raffles or giveaways
• Random.org: how I select the winners of giveaways that were not done through Rafflecopter (Rafflecopter selects the winner for you)
• Snapwidget: Instagram widget for your blog sidebar or website (allows you to display recent posts, like on my sidebar)
• iTunes Playlists: widget I use to embed my yoga class playlists in my website

Blog Ad Networks

• Clever Girls Collective: apply to be a part of this network and if accepted, you can apply for various ad/sponsored post campaigns on your blog
• Collectively: same as the above, just slightly less established/organized ;) 

Online Shop

• Etsy: although you can easily create a shop on your Weebly or Squarespace site, I've found that Etsy makes product management, shipping, and sales much easier than website-hosted shops (at least for what I'm doing). Not only does it allow me to print + pay for shipping labels within my shop dashboard, but it also brings in lots of new shoppers who wouldn't have found my products otherwise

Scheduling

• A good old fashioned paper planner, y'all! I've tried everything else, but have come to the conclusion that I'm just a paper planner kinda gal. Technology can't do everything! ;) 

And there you go. {Phew.} I had no idea how many tools I rely on until I made this list. Thank goodness for all of these free apps, programs, and websites I use! They make life SO much easier.

Have a favorite tool that I didn't include? Please post to comments so other readers (and I) can learn about it!

{Basically all of my blog posts/"deep thoughts" these days start with the same sentence: "I was listening to a podcast the other day and..." I know it's getting old, and yet, today's post is going to start the exact same way. Here goes!}

I was listening to an episode of Being Boss the other day, and the guest, Life Coach Jay Pryor, said the following: 

"These days, everyone has a platform--it's free--so the only reason that you're not using yours is because you don't want to."

This really struck me. I was reminded that in our current version of the world, if you have something to say or something to share, you have a ready-made platform online. Whatever it is that you stand for, create, believe, or love can be shared with a few clicks, and if you're regular about those clicks and about your message, your passion will eventually build a community of like-minded individuals. 

Knowing this--knowing that you have the ability to step up onto your platform at any point--is very empowering. You can make the choice whether or not to use your platform and how you want to use it.

But that's the thing: if you're not using your platform it's important to acknowledge that you're making a choice and you're saying to the world that you don't want to. {Which is totally fine! This is your choice to make and deciding not to use it is totally valid and great!}  

Because that's the other thing about your platform: you can use it for whatever you want. You can use it to be political, to stand for what you believe, to share your story in order to teach people to be more open or accepting, to grow your business, to display your creations or artistic endeavors, to make people laugh, to become the go-to resource for kitten videos, whatever you want. And this is exciting.

There's a big conversation around blaming social media and the internet for making our attention spans so short, for making us slaves to our phones, for distracting us with the endless scroll and giving us a way to escape the present and what happens 'IRL' ("In real life," which is now a term we need because so much happens online). And I'm the first to admit that I have said, probably many times, "If I didn't have to be on social media for my work, I would get off."

But when I really think about it, deep down I know that's not true, because I am super grateful for the free platform that social media has given me and for the ways in which it has changed my life for the better. In fact, how I make my living didn't exist 20 years ago, and I know I have the internet to thank for this life that brings me so much fulfillment. 

So, here's what I want to ask you today: if you aren't using your platform, why have you made the choice not to? Is it an intentional choice? If so, what is the reason behind it?  

If you are using your platform, it's worth thinking back on why you chose to use it and how it has helped you. If it's not helping you and is only hurting you, why might that be?

It's time we take ownership over our choices and experiences when it comes to social media and living life online. I'm ready to own up to the part I play in all of this, stop the social media bashing, and express my gratitude for the free platform that I've been given; how about you?