114: 20 Tiny habits that help me build a successful small business as a copywriter
In this episode, I’m introducing an exciting new segment of the podcast called "Pick My Brain," where I answer your burning questions about copywriting, messaging, marketing, and sales.
To kick this segment off, I'm tackling a question that many content creators struggle with: How to consistently come up with fresh ideas for podcasts, emails, and other content.
I’m sharing the 12 ways I come up with content even when I feel like I’m fresh out of ideas and inspiration. From my secret weapon (the Joy of Copy Cards) to leveraging tools like AnswerThePublic and ChatGPT, I'm giving you a peek into my content creation toolkit. But it's not just about the tools – I also dive into mindset shifts and habits that can transform your approach to content ideation.
If you've ever found yourself spinning wheels when it comes to content ideas, this episode is for you!You've probably heard the supposed secrets to small business success: posting 5 times a day on Instagram, going viral on TikTok, adhering to a strict 5 am morning routine, or constantly churning out new digital products. But are these really the keys to small business success?
As someone who's built a highly profitable and surprisingly relaxed service-based business that's generated over a million dollars in lifetime revenue in just 6 years, I can confidently say I did NONE of those things.
Instead, I developed a handful of habits that have allowed me to run a successful, laid-back business that provides both a comfortable work-life balance and a solid monthly income.
In this episode, I'm sharing the 20 Tiny Habits that helped me build a thriving small business as a copywriter. These are practical, actionable tips that can help you achieve success without sacrificing your sanity or personal life.
Topics We Cover in This Episode:
A simple daily routine that significantly impacts professionalism and mindset
How to optimize your workspace with this surprising hack for maximum productivity
An effective strategy for scheduling client meetings to improve workflow
A small but impactful ritual that will add joy to your workday
A practical technique to overcome writer's block and start writing faster
The mindset shift that turns business challenges into exciting experiments
Of course, I don’t practice all of these 20 Tiny Habits all the time. Depending on what’s going on in life and business, I might prioritize some activities over others - so keep that in mind!
I hope this episode has inspired you to adopt one or two of them yourself!
Wanna pick my brain? Here are two ways you can:
Visit https://www.speakpipe.com/kimkiel to record a voice note with your question or suggestion. Include your name, email, and background info for context.
Send me a text. When you click this link, it’ll open up your text messenger, where you can text your question directly to me. Leave all the weird numbers that pop up and add your name and email or mobile number so I can keep in touch.
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[00:00:03] Welcome to ill communication, copywriting tips and sales strategies for small business. I'm your host, Kim Keel. I'm a copy coach, sales strategist, and direct response copywriter. It's my mission to help women leaders and changemakers amplify their voices through copy. It's why I'm dishing out all the juicy tips, writing prompts, and sales formulas to help you generate more leads, book more calls, and get more high value clients on repeat. Sounds pretty good. It's time to ditch the overwhelm you might be feeling and find confidence in your copywriting so you can get your message out there and attract more soulmate clients. Let's get started. Hey there and welcome to this episode of the Ill Communication Podcast. I'm really excited to share this episode with you because I actually saw another content creator who I'll mention towards the end created episode like this. And I loved it. So I wanted to do my own take on it and share it with you. I'm sharing 20 tiny habits that led me to build a successful small business as a copywriter. Now, a lot of gurus will tell you that the secret to small business success is posting five times a day on Instagram, or going viral on TikTok, or launching a digital course, or having a tiny offer, or having a non-negotiable 5 a.m. morning practice. But after running a highly profitable and very chill, service based business that's generated a lifetime revenue over $1 million in just six years, I can tell you I did none of those things.
[00:01:46] Instead, I developed a few habits that helped me run a successful, chill business that gives me a pretty good work life balance and a pretty decent monthly salary to boot. So here are 20 tiny habits that helped me build a successful Small business as a copywriter. Tiny habit number one. Super simple. Every day I wake up, shower, get dressed in decent clothes, and do my hair and makeup. I've been working remotely since long before the pandemic, and this practice of getting ready for the day as though I'm going off to a place of work helps me show up as a professional in my own business. On the days when I don't shower or I put on my yoga pants, I find I just don't have the same serious mindset or approach to the day. So I can say this is truly one of my biggest and tiniest secrets to my success. Tiny habit number two is related to Tiny Habit number one. But after I wake up and get dressed and made up for the day, eat breakfast, yada yada, I go to work in a dedicated office. We converted one of the bedrooms in our house into my home office, and I do 90% of my work in there. Even though I have a laptop, I rarely work from the kitchen table. Never from the couch.
[00:03:12] Rarely on a sunny day will I set up on the patio table. And I often don't work from coffee shops either. It's because I have two screens and external keyboard and a mouse, so when I write from my laptop, I actually find it very limiting. Before we moved into this house, I had a dedicated desk and office space in our living room, which was not perfect, but I needed that dedicated space. I always worked from there. Having that dedicated zone for work keeps me free from distractions and gives me the discipline of working from home. I also have a standing desk converter that allows me to sit and stand at the push of a button. I've been using this sit stand converter for the last six years and I love it. I ordered it from Amazon. It sits on the top of my desk. It holds my laptop, my second monitor, my great keyboard that I love, and a mouse. And I'll link to all my favorite office gear into the show notes in case you're curious. Tiny habit number three is walking in nature. I've noticed that when I'm my most successful, most motivated, and creating the best content is when I go for regular, nearly daily walks on my favorite nature trails in the city. These nature walks are very grounding for me and they help me connect to my higher self or to source. It's a tiny habit that actually I realize I've kind of let fall over the last year, so I'm definitely going to be making it a priority going forward.
[00:04:41] Tiny habit number four reading. I read business books, copywriting books, nonfiction books, and even fluffy, romantic beachy reads. As a writer and a business owner, I like seeing how others write. It inspires me to write differently or try new things. And while I love my Kindle, I prefer to have physical books, especially for referring to for marketing, business, or copywriting principles. I like being able to pick up a physical book and flip to the pages I need for a refresher. I keep three books by my desk side all the time. Those books are words that sell the Copywriter's Handbook and Breakthrough advertising. I will drop the links in the show notes to some of these favorite books and other resources I mention in the podcast, so make sure you check that out. Tiny habit number five I use essential oils to inspire me and help me focus. I use a brand called sage, which is a Canadian brand. I have a diffuser and I use roll-on essential oils like Quick Steady, Peppermint Halo Immune Energy Refresh, and I find they all give me a boost of focus or refreshment when I'm doing deep work. Tiny habit number six I personally cannot listen to music or have the TV on when I'm working.
[00:06:07] Now I do keep the radio on in the kitchen, which is further away from my office, so there is a bit of ambient noise. I'm not working in absolute silence like a psycho, but over the years I've found that whenever I put music on in my office or maybe work in front of the TV, I just get way too distracted and I work much slower. So that's a tiny habit that works for me. Tony Abbott, number seven. I don't book client meetings on Mondays. I use Mondays to get my head in the game. After the weekend, I have a planning meeting with my assistant, Hannah, where we review my to do list, client work, and plans for the coming week and month. Instead, I generally open up my calendar for meetings on Thursdays and Fridays. That way I have a good flow of a few days to work, and then I open up my calendar for client or sales calls toward the end of the week. Tiny habit number eight. You know, I love drinking my espresso, but I drink my espresso out of beautiful teacups. I have a collection of old teacups from my mom and my mother in law, and they bring me so much delight every day. I pick a pretty teacup to sip my espresso out of. It's a simple little ritual that brings me a spark of joy every day while I'm sitting at my desk.
[00:07:27] I had the people on zoom calls often comment on the tiny little teacups that I'm drinking out of as well. Tiny habit number nine is after drinking a couple of espressos. I of course need to rehydrate, and I love my soda stream. Most afternoons when I need a little pick me up, I fill a one liter soda stream and enjoy the sparkling water. I love that I get hydrated, and I get a little sugar free boost in the middle of the afternoon. Tidy habit. Number ten. I follow profit first in my business. Now this is a habit that may be one of the most important. I worked with my money coach, April Stroink to help set up profit first in my business, and each month I allocate my gross revenue into different accounts. Profit, taxes, owners pay expenses. It's created tremendous peace of mind knowing I'm socking away money into a tax account every month, so I'm never surprised by a huge tax bill. I recorded an episode on Profit First that I'll link to in the show notes if you're not familiar with it. Tiny habit number 11 related to profit. First is I use a bookkeeper to help me stay organized and on top of my finances. Because here's the thing I hate bookkeeping. I would procrastinate the hell out of it if I didn't have a bookkeeper, so that is a habit I am never giving up.
[00:08:52] Tiny habit number 12 I love listening to podcasts, especially in the morning when I'm putting on my makeup or doing my hair, or when I'm driving around. I like listening to podcasts in the morning, especially if they help me get into a positive growth mindset. And when I'm driving around, I love listening to podcasts that might be about business or marketing, so I'm always learning something new. Also, as a copywriter, listening to my clients podcasts is one of the best ways to figure out how to write in their voice. Tania, at number 13 is having a podcast. This podcast has forced me to create constant, consistent, fresh content every single week. It's been an exercise in discipline that my business really needed. If I didn't have this podcast, I'd probably post very little on social media. So it's been a great anchor for my marketing and my business. Tony Abbott 14. I never write from a blank document. Now Nothing scares me more than staring at a blank page. And maybe you can relate to this. So when I'm writing emails or even a landing page or a website, I'll insert a table into Google Docs with a couple of columns. This somehow creates a visual boundary for my creativity and allows me to start writing a little faster. For example, if I'm writing an email, I'll insert a table with two columns and 4 or 5 rows. On the left column I have the different sections send date, audience, subject, line, preview, text, body copy, and in the right column I write those sections.
[00:10:37] Just having that simple table framework calms the chaos in my mind and helps me start writing. Tiny habit number 15. Similar to 14 is I use frameworks and recipes for writing copy. So not only do I have that table to physically put a boundary on the page. But I also use copywriting frameworks, writing prompts, and recipes to organize the message of the body copy. I've shared many of my favorite recipes on this podcast, but I'll direct you to listen to a couple of episodes, particularly the one about copywriting framework Aida, attention, interest, desire, action, and the P4 picture. Promise proven. Push. I'll put the links in the show notes to those two particular episodes, but there are many, many more prompts and frameworks for you to get hold of as you listen to this podcast. Tony Abbott number 16 I really work on maintaining a positive growth mindset, where other copywriters and service providers tend to complain a little bit about clients or work, or the lack of work. I really try to stay focused on what's working rather than what's not working. Of course I'm human and I have my down moments, but I do believe that my growth mindset and optimism have created and sustained much of the success I've had in my business.
[00:12:04] Tiny habit number 17. I am a lifelong learner, and I have taken a lot of programs to boost my skill and my mindset. I've invested in copywriting, training programs as well as personal growth and mindset mastery programs both build my confidence and surround me with people who are smarter and more successful than me, which I know contributes to my own personal and business growth. Tiny habit number 18. I approach a lot of what I do in business and marketing for my own business as an experiment. Launching this podcast was an experiment. Many of the events I host are an experiment. I'm experimenting with different kinds of offers, and I think positioning these as experiments allows me to move a little faster than I would naturally, because if I was so focused on making these activities successful, I would be more focused on creating the perfect offer, or making sure that all of the ducks were in a row. So that play and experiment helps me get and stay in motion. Tiny habit 19 is for my own business. I aim for B+ or even B minus work. It's related to the last habit. If I aimed for perfection on everything I created for myself, I would never put anything out there. I'd spend too much time overthinking, second guessing, perfecting and tweaking, and not enough time taking action. I also know that my B minus work is probably pretty good.
[00:13:43] I just probably over judge how good my stuff is, and you probably do this too. And putting out B minus work is better than not putting out anything at all. And just to be very clear, when I'm writing copy for my clients, I am aiming for a++++. I'm much more meticulous and perfectionist with my client's copy than with my own and tiny habit number 20. I've talked about this before, but I've really learned to trust the ideas and intuitive hits that come to me, both in terms of the strategies and tactics I use with my private clients when I'm writing for them, but also in the strategies and tactics I deploy in my own business. When I get an idea for an email or an event or something else, I will trust that idea. It's so easy for me to talk myself out of my own ideas, but when I trust those little idea whispers and intuitive nudges, they've always delivered. So, my friend, there you have 20 tiny habits that have helped me grow a successful service based business. Of course, I don't do all of them all the time. Depending on what's going on in life and business, I might prioritize some activities over others, but maybe you'll be inspired to adopt 1 or 2 of them yourself. Or maybe it'll remind you of some of your own tiny habits that help you in your business or life, and to appreciate those little things that you do to create success.
[00:15:16] Now, before I go, I want to shout out my client, Roseanne. She created a YouTube video about the 20 tiny habits that made her rich. And that's what inspired me to create this episode, which is in itself a bonus tiny habit. I pay attention to what other marketers and business owners are doing in their business. If it inspires me, I take note of it and reinterpret the idea for myself. So consider this your permission slip. If you enjoyed this episode, why don't you turn around and create your own ten, 12 or 20 Tidy Habits content for your audience. I'll be back next week with a few more writing prompts, a copy recipe, or another tip to help you write faster, better, and more effective copy. I'll see you then. And that's a wrap on today's episode of Ill Communication. Hey, if you're picking up what I'm putting down, I would love if you would leave a rating and a review to let me know. And don't forget to follow the show so you never miss out on the tips, prompts, and strategies I share in every episode. They're designed to make you an ill communicator too. As always, you can check out all the links and resources from this episode on the web page. Just head over to Kim keel.com/podcast. I'll chat with you again next week.
Resources Mentioned
Find links to things I mention in this episode
Episode 5: The Mary Poppins of copy formulas - “Practically perfect in every way” (AIDA)
Episode 13: How to write a compelling sales message without being cheesy or sleazy
Check out Rose Han’s YouTube video - 20 Tiny Habits that made me Rich
Additional Resources
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