Why I’m Taking an August Social Media Hiatus

I’m taking a social media conversation hiatus for most of August 2012.

I’m entering full-on creation mode for the next phase of my business. It’s time to clean-slate my brain — at least the part that handles marketing content, online business conversation, professional connectivity, and all things having to do with the teaching and learning of skill sets that support an online business. {My brain will still be treated to daily doses of this story, which truly is as good as everybody’s saying.}

Here’s how I’m running my social media hiatus:

• logging out of Twitter and Facebook on both my PC and my Mac — and not logging in {this is key}. There may be a few pre-scheduled tweets to share current and vintage content, but nothing over the top. I will not be checking DMs, Facebook messages, or responding to @ replies. My VA will monitor public channels once a day to make sure everything is copacetic;
• deinstalling all social media iPhone apps;
• shutting off email notifiers on ALL devices, and
• refraining from logging into Skype outside of appointments that were scheduled pre-hiatus. No Skype chat.
• Exceptions: InstaGram for iPhone, which isn’t a rabbit hole for me. My Inbox, which I’ll limit to checking twice daily for no more than 20 minutes, including response time. Emails from clients and prospects will be tended to as always {quickly}. Friends know I’m hiatus-ing and say they’ll only reach out and expect a response if it’s truly acute {or, if they’re inviting me over for margaritas, in which case the answer will be yes}. For everyone else, my incredible virtual assistant will stand in the gap.

I’ll be working from coffee shops: my favorite suburban Starbucks where, if I’m lucky, I can score the big table for two-with-only-one-chair; the French patisserie downtown with the killer affogatos, and the Euro-inspired marketplace and café that plays a Pandora station I might’ve curated myself. {I’m less thrilled there when it’s Motown station day, which is forgivably not very often. Much love to all the Marvin Gaye fans.} I’ll also work from my home studio, and from long drives into the country, dictating into the Notes feature on my iPhone {but only when I’m the passenger}.

What I’ve been working on behind the scenes for the past few months.

A colleague recently asked me what has changed about my writing business since I began back in early 2010.

My answer? Lots of things: my income levels {in and out of flush, lean, and ‘status quo’ times, as I learned to balance out many factors of building and working a business on my own terms}, my portfolio of experience {to serving, in the beginning, mostly retailers and those connected to the boutique industry, to serving, today, life and business coaches, web designers, bread makers, yoga teachers, natural skincare product line owners, photographers, and dog trainers}, and my bandwidth {very little energy or tolerance for that which doesn’t truly serve me and my clients, and more depth of exploration where it matters}.

But most of all, what has changed since I began my writing business is my vision.

I started Abby Kerr Ink as a holistic, nearly full-service branding/copywriting/marketing outfit, a one-woman show. I had nearly 20 service packages, all with the requisite cute-and-hoping-to-be-memorable names.

I repeatedly sold 3 of the 20 packages, showing me clearly what my audience wanted from me.

After a year like this, I then narrowed my focus dramatically to explore service in one particular area: brand editing. {Remember The Lustermaker?}

Then, early in 2012, I opened back up to serve my market with a skill set that was highly sought after {organic SEO copywriting and brand voice development — oh, that fluid dance}.

Earlier this year, I wrote about my brand identity crisis and how you can go about resolving yours quickly, holistically, and without embarrassment . . . you know, should you ever find yourself in one.

Now, I’m both “niche-ing” more fervently and intentionally, while building my business model to draw on the talents and expertise of others who I madly respect {and would be referring my clients to anyway}.

I’ve never served my clients in a vacuum — I’m known for making strategic, fortuitous referrals and connections in the timeliest seasons for clients and others in my inner circle — and now I’m building that holistic point of view into my business model.

Less collaborative than it will be cooperative {less creative-splash-on-messy-workshop-table, more sinewy-limbed-contemporary-pas-de-deux,-pas-de-trois,-pas-de-quatre}, I envision a cadre of independent, highly skilled and gifted creatives who work independently around a shared vision and project goals: integrity, relationships, clarity, excellence, creativity, futuremindedness, and authenticity.

I’m neither a creative director, exactly, or a project manager, inadvertently — rather, I’m a powerful voice of one, looking to strategically complement other powerful autonomous voices.

For months, I’ve been in conversation and collaboration with a coterie of smart, gifted individuals — creative professionals all, from copywriters to web designers, a social {multi}media strategist/digital storyteller, a holistic-thinking searchologist, and a Swiss army knife of a virtual assistant. I’ve been, and am still in, the process of culling my right partners for this venture.

In October, Abby Kerr Ink — the site, the brand, and the business model — is re-emerging as a new entity.

It will have a new name, an energized and built-out focus on voice as a brand asset, and an enhanced suite of services and learning opportunities to make your online voice carry, connect, and convert. {Because if we’re running businesses, being online is about more than spinning endless loops of conversation, don’t you agree?}

I look forward to sharing more with you.