It’s early October and all of the tomatoes in my garden are green.
I’ve only picked one red one so far this year.
After all the work planting, adding fertilizer, weeding and watering, it’s a let down not to see any fruit.
When we built this garden last year, I had grand visions of eating caprese salad and making zucchini bread with my home-grown stash of fresh veggies.
It didn’t really materialize last year, and it looks like this year is another bust.
Have you ever felt this way about your business?
It can feel like banging your head against a wall. I know this feeling because I have been there.
Producing content, hustling with all my might and feeling like I’m running in place.
A few weeks ago, I was lamenting my lack of tomatoes (or anything else for that matter) to a friend of mine who is an avid gardener.
Her reply was, “It takes years to have a good garden.”
When my friend said this to me, I thought about it for a while.
Why would it take years?
The soil wouldn’t get better with time, right? It is actually the opposite.
The plants don’t come in stronger. Usually you pull them up at the end of each season.
Then it dawned on me: It’s not the garden. It’s the gardener that gets better.
In the midst of all the work you are doing, you are getting better. You are growing.
You are gaining a better understanding of your dream client. You’re honing your skill. You’re producing better content and solidifying your brand.
The thing is, all of that takes time. Unfortunately, it takes much more time than we would all want.
But think about where you were even a year ago. If you really think about it, where you are today is a huge leap from there, right?
I know this process is hard. And lonely. And it can feel like even your spouse or your friends might not understand. That’s why community is so important.
That’s why I created a community of service providers on Facebook.
Service that Sells is a free group for women service providers who want a place to network, celebrate, commiserate, and learn about marketing and branding their business.
It's a safe space to bounce ideas off of others without feeling like everyone is out to pitch you with their answers.
There are live trainings on branding, marketing and other aspects of running a business.
The CEO life comes with ups and downs. If you want a community while you work on producing your inevitable harvest, come join us.
P.S. I’m going live Friday in the group to talk about the difference between branding and marketing. Come join me!