Business Niche – Using Content Creation to Break the Glass Ceiling
My journey from owner to online entrepreneur – finally finding a business niche and publishing consistent content.
Quick Links:
- TIP: How to improve your entrepreneurial goals in 5 steps [Infographic Download]
- Episode Overview – Using Content Creation to Break The Glass Ceiling
- Personal Note from Jenn Neal on business niches and content creation
- Episode audio [Podcast on Spotify]
- Blog Post – What Is Your Content Marketing Strategy Template?
- Related Posts
TIP: How to improve your entrepreneurial goals in 5 steps
Reading Time: 5 minutes
TIP: 5 steps to improve your goals
- Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
Focus on your business niche and stay in your lane
- Look at all of the things you are doing in your life – personal and in business.
Not only as an entrepreneur but how does your work life balance look
- Then write out your goals. Where do you want to be in a month, a quarter, a year?
Keep this simple and easy
- Now rate your tasks on a scale of 1-5 – 1 being it’s not related at all and 5 being a direct step to your goal.
Be brutal and honest here
- What can you do to take all of the 1s and 2s off of your list?
- What is the biggest challenge you have to deal with when it comes to improving your business goals?
What’s In This Episode?
I look back at how I started a business to break the corporate glass ceiling, and follow my 10 year journey as an agency owner. Then how finally finding a business niche with online content creation and re-purposing is shifting me from a leadership role to entrepreneur.
Jenn Neal on Business Niches and Content Creation
Pause and reset.
-Jenn Neal
Just Because I Can Doesn’t Mean I Should
Hey – I know it’s been a long time since you’ve heard from me I’ve been really busy working away here at Formula Done – but now i’ve got some amazing new things I’m working on I can’t wait to share with you!
So, late last year I was holding one of my team meetings and Ashlie, my assistant who’s been with me for about 6 years, drops this little nugget on me:
“Did you know it’s officially been 10 years that Formula Done has been in business?”
I stopped mid – sentence/ stride/ whatever I was doing.
Honestly, I can’t remember. It literally felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I wanted to scream and cry, and not in the good way.
As I thought back over the last 10 years, I realized we had helped so many other business owners with success. We had built the systems that handled 5 and 6-figure launches, crazy successful evergreen membership sites – and have helped multiple businesses across the 2 Comma (1,000,000.00) line.
But even with all of this success, it felt lacking.
Because I’ve been spending so much time working IN my business.
I’ve been building other peoples’ dreams and ignoring my own.
And I realized after 10 years it’s time to change focus again.
I realized I’ve been spending time chasing after basically 50 first dates. Designing, building, and maintaining custom systems for all different kinds of businesses just because I could.
I realized just because I CAN doesn’t mean I SHOULD.
In order to grow I need to narrow down the scope of what I’m doing. And, I have to prioritize my own growth or it’s never going to happen.
So… I’m taking a leap.
I’m not taking on any additional service retainer clients. Once we finish out our current projects, we’re done. And I’m focusing on my own content publishing while also helping others publish and repurpose.
I’m curious – have you ever felt like all of a sudden you hate something in your business or how you’ve been running it?
Whew! This email is getting on long here – so I’ll save more for another day. I’ll share over the next few weeks what I’m up to in case you would like to follow along (love to have your support BTW!)
If at any point you have questions or feedback, please hit reply and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. These emails are actually coming direct from me, so I will see your message and respond personally.
We’re in this thing together! I super appreciate your support – and if you need the same please be sure to let me know!
Up next we’ll explore the actual tactical things we’re doing to make some changes here at Formula Done. Until then!!!
Thanks for everything!
-Jenn
Using Content Creation to Break the Glass Ceiling
While strides have been taken towards creating equality in the workplace, many people still face the glass ceiling. Even with the experience, qualifications, and right attitude, we still don’t get the recognition we deserve. But why is that?
Here, we discuss the glass ceiling, how it affects people, and why it shouldn’t be a thing. Then we delve into how we can use content writing and online storytelling to break through it. We also talk about my journey as an operator and how I used content creation to transition into entrepreneurship.
So What Is the Glass Ceiling?
The glass ceiling is a metaphor that represents the invisible barrier stopping people from getting to higher positions. It’s a subtle yet harmful kind of discrimination, blocking people from the opportunities right in front of them. It not only concerns women and minority groups but can also affect anyone regardless of their gender, race, and beliefs.
How the Glass Ceiling Hits You
As a graphic designer, I ran marketing departments for small local businesses and continued to do so until I worked for agencies. For most of my corporate career, I worked in-house and had plenty of staff working beneath me. I was confident in my skills and abilities and knew how to direct people because I knew what it was like to work at the bottom.
And while I was highly experienced and had everything figured out, I realized that I had hit a glass ceiling after ten years. I was looking at all the skills and talents I had and the results I provided for every company I worked for, but I only had a salary of $35,000 every year. Meanwhile, I looked at my fiance, who had less experience, but for some reason, his salary kept going up.
So I decided to get out there to start my agency — thus Formula Done was born.
I realized I was building other peoples’ dreams and not my own.
***Placeholder for a personal note from Jenn Neal on gaining confidence to break the glass ceiling
Why Create Content?
In any industry, creating new and insightful content is an essential practice of business. Those who fail to give content creation the time and attention needed will often fall short in their marketing goals. And while creating content may not be a recognized sales technique, it ties in with any marketing strategy you can think of. Here are a few reasons why you should consider having content creation as a part of your company’s digital marketing plan.
- People will see you as an expert.
- Your customers will trust you more.
- It will help your SEO.
- You can build a collection of content.
- It will attract new customers to your business.
- It helps to increase your market share.
- It helps to establish your brand.
- Content drives more viewers on the web.
- It helps with lead sourcing.
Breaking the Glass Ceiling With Content Creation
One sure way to break the glass ceiling is to be your own boss. It’s not easy to start and scale a service-based agency business or venture into entrepreneurship at all. I learned that you will always encounter problems throughout the journey. Like in the movie “50 First Dates,” you’ll have problems trying to deliver something new every time a customer wants something out of your depth.
But the solution is quite obvious: you need to find your business niche and stick with it. Once you find it, the next step is to market it. How do you do that? Simple: content creation. You can make a blog, have your content on a website, create video content, or share your business through social media. With content creation, you can break through the glass ceiling and grow whatever business you can think of.
Keep in mind that success doesn’t happen overnight. Before you create a business that will stick with you for the following years, you’ll have to expect a few bumps on the road. But once you’ve found your niche, you can create content to gain the audience you need. And with that, you can break the glass ceiling. You will never have to take a corporate job again.
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