After months in the incubator… We are thrilled to introduce the birth of our new brand Social Pivot PR. This has been a journey of growth, change, amazement, and a few kicks in the gut.
Welcome to Social Pivot PR
Social Pivot PR – Ribbon Cutting
Simplifying our Business Model
The services that we offer are not changing, we have done Social PR for years and it works. We have simplified our business model to focus on consulting and advisory services. Primarily working one on one with our clients who are ready to leverage the assets that they already have for their businesses, build a communications foundation, and own their voice online.
Our offerings include a limited amount of project based work and engage with 3-4 clients on long-term partnerships (at the time of publishing this post, we already have two partnership clients and three projects in contract).
Through our newsletter, our blog, social media, complimentary offerings, speaking engagements, and interviews, we will share educational content and build community around the topics of social media research, social media listening, PR, SEO, and content marketing and how to strategically use these tools to grow your visibility and your business, so stay connected.
The Deciding Factors
Both Social Sage PR and our group program the Total Social PR System turned four in August of 2016. This is also when we sit down to evaluate and plan for the next year. As we started mapping it all out, I became totally overwhelmed. Keeping up with changes in social media for 100s of people is a lot of work and we are but a small, but mighty team.
I started to imagine…what if I didn’t need to do this? What would I focus on? I stopped the process and focused on creating a pro/con list. The entire time, the never-ending loop of the Clash singing “Should I Stay or Should I Go” was playing in my head. This is always a sign that I need to make a life altering decision… I knew that change was not far off…
The pro/con list was drastically uneven in favor of closing down the program, it is astounding how clear things can be when we write things down. This was the first kick in the gut, my ego jumped in and started whining, I had worked so hard, I spent so much money, I love my business and my clients, my clients need me, I can help so many people. Through the noise, my heart quietly said… those are not reasons to stay… The voice said… There is more, you are needed someplace else. As I listened, this quiet voice kept getting louder, I accepted that it was time to trust and let go.
Letting Go
Before I could move on to what was next, I had already determined that it was time to let go of my baby, the Total Social PR System. It soon became apparent that I had to also let go of Social Sage PR and rebrand. The program and the brand went together, I would not be able to grow unless I changed everything. Welcome kick in the gut #2
This was hard, there is much to do to dismantle a business and start a new one. Every system, process, and tool needed to be evaluated and we changed most of them. As a result, we cut costs by approximately $1000 per month. There are some incredible new tools available to run your small business and I will share what learned in an upcoming article.
I was raw and it took some time for me to open up and share this news with others. I started to test the waters and tell a few people, the response was extremely positive and I clearly had the support of my community. Many were sad to see the end of an era, but they all agreed that it was time for me to move on. I felt free to start down the next path.
Starting Over
Starting over is hard too. I literally and figuratively cleared out my business and my home. Now everything is streamlined, organized, and ready for growth. There are still a few more pieces to put into place, SEO, a complimentary gift for our website, content reorganization, and creation. Stay tuned we have some exciting things coming.
For years I worked too hard, I struggled with mass marketing, it never felt right to me. Although I had great success in many ways, I was always juggling and struggling. I learned so much, I make tons of mistakes, but I did many things right too. As the team and I build this new version of my business, I realized that everything we are doing is with intention and on purpose. We are working from the perspective of what does this business need to thrive and then creating the plan to get there. It all feels easier and “just right.” The validation is in the incredible opportunities that are showing up.
This has been a journey, scary and new, but mostly wonderful and exciting. Sometimes the things that feel impossible or too far out of reach are exactly what you need to do to grow. Listen carefully, the biggest lesson I learned through this transition is that the answers we are searching for are within US if we are willing to listen…. Can you hear that small voice?
0 Comments