The 3 Best Things I Did For My Business & Brand in 2011

This post was inspired by Megan Auman’s annual “Best Things I Did for My Business” posts. You can find her 2011 post here.

2011. What. a. year.

3 best things I did for my business & brand in 2011

If you were alive on Earth this year, I’m guessing it was a challenging one for you in at least one major area of your life {health, finances, relationships, creativity, etc.}. I can’t think of a single person I know — online peer, client, personal friend, or family member — who didn’t have what they’d describe as a really rough year.

Was it in the water? In the stars?

Regardless, I’m seeing and feeling us all breathe a collective sigh of relief to be stepping out of this year and into a new one.

This last week of the year is always a good time to be thoughtful and critical about not only what didn’t work so well that year, but more importantly, what did work well.

Inspired by Megan Auman’s insightful post, I’m collecting my own ‘best practices’ for Abby Kerr Ink for 2011 right here. Perhaps this’ll become an annual tradition for me, too.

The 3 best things I did for my business & brand in 2011:

1} Discerned my truest teachers. Drank deeply. And wised up.

2010 was my first year as an online-only business {95% non-local clients at that time; currently 100% of my clients are non-local}. That year, if I subscribed to one e-newsletter or RSS feed, I subscribed to 250. {No joke.} My inner archivist/curator was flattered . . . and nearly maxed out.

I entered 2011 unsubscribing from lots of feeds and email lists, which was a terrific decision. I honed my weekly blog reading down to about 15 or 20 subscriptions, and as soon as two or three installments in a row from any one blogger failed to educate/enrich/deepen my learning in a way that I experienced as meaningful, relevant, and timely for my phase of business growth — I clicked the Unsub button. I still follow this precedent for myself.

I intuitively honed in on about 5 or 6 entrepreneurial/business coach voices that resonated deeply with me in terms of strategy, mindset, and perspective. I vetted these teachers carefully to make sure that as far as I can see, the talk they talk is the walk they walk. I watched and learned from these teachers through their blogs, their launches, and the way they conducted themselves in the space. {“The space.”}

Also, I selected 3 branding/copywriting peers to keep an eye on for business development, impact, and strategy. I think of them as my Worthy Peers. Two of them were a bit ahead of me in terms of reach and biz growth, one of them behind me. All three I deeply dig, respect, and have watched this year {mostly from afar} as they connected with their audiences, launched their own products and services, turned out great content, and grew their influence. I highly suggest you ferret out your own Worthy Peers, too. It helps you track of how you’re different from your competition, and gives you extra incentive to keep upping your game. {A full post about Worthy Peers to come.}

I also chose one business mentor with whom to invest deeply in my learning. Something interesting happened when I did that. Not only did I start having a more lucrative and sustainable experience in my own business, but I reconnected with my own power center. I got shaken free of the belief that one person has the system, the answers, the template for a successful business. {Not that this was the promise I was sold, or bought into.} I re-embraced the truth that ultimately, at the end of every phase of learning, it’s your business and you, plus your right people. There are no gurus. Learning is a wonderful thing — my inner Sage really gets down with some good learning — but my inner Ruler writes my own story, 100% of the time. I’m responsible for my results — the triumphs and the flops. And that inner knowing is worth every penny.

2} Deepened and strengthened friendships with online peers. And realized afresh the interconnectedness of everything and everyone.

2011 was the year I formed and solidified my brain coterie — my group of  trusted peers who are growing their online businesses at about the same rate I am, and with similar values underpinning the biz dev — but more than just mastermind partners and people to work through new ideas with, these women rapidly became some of my dearest friends.

{You know who you are.}

I can’t speak enough about the value in sharing this online business experience with likeminded friends. If you haven’t found those deep friendships in the entrepreneurial community yet, be patient. Don’t rush it. Your people will appear around you when the time is right.

3} Raised my prices.

Raising my prices allows me to filter for — no, not wealth — commitment. As consumers, we invest most in what we value most, or in what we can’t get at the same quality for a lesser price. More than what the market dictates, brand experience truly does govern what consumers pay for goods and services. Time after time, I will sow my dollars with the brand I most want to affiliate with because of how it makes me feel, the possibilities it allows me to open up for myself, or the experience it creates for me. When it comes to investing in services {and sometimes in physical products}, I choose brand experience over features articulated and over price. And I’ve found that my right people clients do, too.

Time after time, I found that clients who questioned my prices upfront or wanted to negotiate in some way about features-for-dollars, well, they just weren’t my right people. Not by a longshot.

One note about price-raising: I raised my prices not arbitrarily, but when I could better articulate and actually deliver more value over time to my clients. And when I noticed that I work better with fewer people at a deeper level, over time. And in order to do that, prices have to go up as smaller, lower-priced services go by the wayside.

So that was my business in 2011 in a nutshell: deeper learning, deeper connection, and deeper value reflected in higher prices.

Thanks to Megan Auman for inspiring this reflection. Now I’d like to hear from you.

What were the 3 best things you did for your business and brand in 2011? Tell me in the comments. And Happy New Year!

Photo by Powi.