Hey Reader,
One of the things I love most about gardening is the plan.
- Creating a Pinterest board so I can visualize how they will look and work together.
- A spreadsheet with links to each seed I wanted to order and what brand it comes from.
- I uploaded all of my plans into Seedtime, a third-party platform/website that creates a planting, transplanting, and harvesting calendar based on your zone and planting method.
- Then I had to organize seeds I already had with new seeds based on types, germination time, and temp.
I love how gardening is a process and how much it can teach you about the value in strategy, having a plan, but also adapting that plan as you go.
There are both dependent and independent variables at play at all times, and then when it’s all said and done there’s a death season and renewal happening below the surface.
Sure you can chaos garden & throw a bunch of seeds in and see what sticks (and in all honesty there’s a time and place for that), but if you want to control the outcome, if you want to grow enough flowers for your wedding, or food for your family, you can with the right strategy.
You can create so much beauty in the long term - if you create from a plan in the short term. And it all starts with a seed and understanding how it grows.
Planning now and executing said plan means having everything I need 6 months from now to create with.
A lot of people talk about “messy action” but what about the condition that seed needs?
Whether that seed Is a new idea, a new client, every seed has its own needs to grow. Creating a planting plan helps you to work strategically to meet those needs
Now that it is June - the very last of my seeds are planted. Executing the strategy is almost complete.
All that’s left is to cross my fingers, see what worked and what didn’t.
Take notes, and learn.
Fill the holes if I can.
Care and nurture the seeds that have decided to germinate,grow and and start to bloom.
I am just now beginning to be able to harvest - to get something out of all the work and planning that I did 3-6 months before.
Soon - the garden season will change and slow down for the summer.
Sure there will be some days to say maintenance.
But the planning, and the execution - those seasons are behind us - now it is time to enjoy it.
I can’t help but draw so many parallels between this season in the garden and this season in business.
Q3 is going to be a slow slow season behind the brand.
Because life is taking up space in the best way possible.
I just wrote this whole Substack article talking about it.
And I’ve spent the last month of my newsletter talking all about
But now what. You know what you need to do - but how do you execute that?
Especially when you are off the clock in the summer - you want to be OFF the clock, totally bricked, maybe even no cell service (if we can be so lucky).
You are living life in the best way possible. Not taking a step away from your brand - but creating healthier boundaries around it.
And when you are working, you want to be inspired, focused, working on things that you are confident are going to make a difference.
Doing a mid year brand reset helps you to identify just what those things are going to be.
Now all that's left to do is find the time to do yours.
Part one of a mid-year brand reset, how to reflect on and audit your Q2, was covered in last week's newsletter - and this week I am diving into the second part, sharing exactly what I am doing to plan for a slow summer behind the brand.
Step #1 Reflecting on last quarter: covered in last week's newsletter
Step #2 Life first planning: Reviewing my calendar & availability - making sure all of my time off is blocked off accordingly & checking that my HoneyBook links all look right on the backend.
Step #3 Schedule a CCO week: I’ll be doing my Summer CCO week from July 12th - 19th click here to get the template and do it LIVE with me - i’ll be putting together a group chat where we can share our daily wins and done list + giving away your choice of a FREE Studio Session or custom branded icon. And all you have to do is take a week to work on your own brand! Not to shabby hey? This is prime time to put the strategies you come up with in your Quarterly Brand Reset into action.
Step #4 Planning: I use a combination of The CJ Brand Roadmap Notion Planner, Notion Calendar & my paper calendar (this is the one I use)…First, I figure out my plan for the last and first week of the quarter - including having time mapped out to Reflect and Audit the previous quarter - then to map out what my strategy is going to be for this season.I currently use a hybrid of a batch day system and capacity planning.
- I look at all of my working days that are open and treat them as batch days when it comes to long term planning, typically in pencil in my paper planner I will label days for content, CJ work, and for clients. This is how I can tell how much availability I have and what offers I can book in this quarter.
- Then on a monthly basis I make a giant brain dump of everything I need to do in my paper planner.
- On a week to week basis I try to organize my days based on the kind of task I am doing (content creation, admin, design etc.) (or at least mornings vs. afternoons) and block out time blocks on my Notion Calendar)
Step #5 Reviewing promo periods and launch calendars: This is something I set up when I do my annual planning. After having to take off the better part of the first six weeks of this year and recovering from smooshing my arm into a skin bag of bones while still planning a wedding, the first part of the year hasn’t exactly gone as planned. So I am looking at my actual availability vs. how and when I want to relaunch each of my services before the year ends. Knowing what I am promoting helps me to plan ahead when it comes to content.
Your action items
- Block out some time on your calendar to reflect and review Q2 (follow along with last weeks newsletter or click here to get the template)
- Review your availability & schedule your summer CCO week (if you can - join me LIVE July 12 - 19th)
- Decide what you are going to promote and market over the next few months.
- Come back for next weeks newsletter where I will be telling you exactly what I learned from my own Quarterly brand reset.
- & if you do your own Quarterly brand reset I would love to hear from you - how it went & what you are working on - hit respond to fill me in!
