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Welcome to Make More Money without Selling Your Soul with me Polly Lavarello, evergreen marketing expert. This podcast is for you if you are an online entrepreneur who is looking to simplify their business to scale.  On this podcast you can expect to hear regular talk about wealth, about selling and about wellbeing. Because I believe these three core fundamental things are pivotal to your growth moving forward.

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Hello, and welcome to make more money without selling your soul with myself, Polly Lavarello, Evergreen marketing expert and cushy business pioneer. And today we are diving into the more cushy side of business. Because we’re talking about taking time out of your business in a way that is not going to damage your business, it’s actually going to make it not just better for you because you’re getting time out. But actually your business doesn’t have to suffer. Which, you know, to a certain extent is just the truth in general, like you need to be pouring from a full cup. So sometimes just taking a break, regardless of the ramifications on your business is just a must do. But let’s talk about ways to kind of make it easier because I’m recording this beginning of December, there two weeks Christmas holidays coming up very soon for my children. And also, you know that time of year is a time of year regardless as to whether you celebrate Christmas, where people like to know it’s the middle of winter, if you’re in the UK, a lot of people are wanting to slow down a bit. It’s the end of the year. So regardless as to what you celebrate, there’s that desire to kind of reflect on the year previous and make plans for the year ahead. And ultimately, a lot of England just slows down between the 25th of December and New Year. So again, regardless as to what your plans are, or what’s going on in your life, it tends to be a relatively slow period for a lot of people. And a chance for those who want to have a bit of a break to get to slow down. I know certainly, I don’t hear very much my clients I never have between that period, because most of them are taking time out to do enjoy the very same thing and not hearing from theirs.

So it’s a bit of a unique moment in the year I remember when I first started out and on my business thinking I love between Christmas and New Year because it’s pretty much the only guarantee time here that I take time off. And it genuinely is time off. I find when I took time out the summer, I’d still hear from people like any other time of year, there’ll be things that needed tending to, but most of the time between Christmas and New Year, aside from keeping an eye on our ad campaigns that are running, it was pretty smooth sailing. So yeah, it’s a special time and a time that you know, like I say even the weather outside is making us want to hunker down and slow down a bit. And this is the premise to today’s podcast where it’s like, whenever you want to be taking time out, let’s try and make this more possible for you. Because like I say a lot of people equate spaciousness are working less hours, or taking time off, as to earning less. And it really, really, really doesn’t need to look that way. In fact, when you do it cleverly, you actually get to earn more and be more creative and be more inspired, and be better rested, and be more generous and all the things spaciousness really is the key to success. One of the things I’m really excited for, which I decided on probably by the end of August this year, is that next year, I’m taking the entirety of August off. And I know it won’t impact my bottom line. Because I have a variety of things set up that I did the previous August, that resulted in a 50k a month in sales. So I know exactly what to do. And I want to impart some of that magic on you today, regardless as to whether you’re just starting out in business, or whether you’re well established, I feel like there’s always concerns whether it’s who’s going to run my team, or I don’t have a team. How do I make this work? Here are a few three very simple tips to help you genuinely take time off. I’m not talking about the kind of Time Off you go. I’ll just put my laptop in my bag just in case or a bit. I have my phone with me just in case somebody needs me.

No, I mean, like genuine, leave your phone in your room, forget about your laptop, take time out. And it’s amazing. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if it’s just a me thing. Because when you start out and online business, it can kind of be addictive. I mean, this is the truth right? Whether or not you run an online business, social media, particularly if you’ve got an ADHD or kind of neuro spicy brain like mine. It’s very kind of addictive scrolling and liking and commenting and connecting and, and sometimes when that’s the space you also work in. It can almost feel like if you’re not doing that, then you’re not making money and that’s just not the truth. But I definitely know I share This because one, I know this has been my experience in the past. Or you also know if I, if I’m ever going through a bit of an anxious patch, that’s exactly what I do, I kind of find myself glued to my phone. And I have to catch myself when I’m doing that and remind myself that that makes no difference to what’s going on in my life and to actually put it away, if I want to feel calmer and more regulated. But I hear it from my clients all the time to most clients who come to work with me will admit that they have a little bit of a workaholic streak in them, it’s certainly it’s often the thing that gives people the motivation to get started in the first place. But we do need to know when to slow down, because your business will not be sustainable. If you don’t know how to slow down. And I know I’m kinda like, you know, I’m probably being like that annoying relative right now, repeating myself a bit here. But it’s just so essential as someone who’s been through burnout in the past, I just don’t wish that for anybody else. And I really want to ensure that you take this on board.

So there’s three tips I’m giving you today. And the first one is the most simple to do. And yet for some reason, so few people do it, which is to plan ahead. So one of the things we do in our business is I say from Mike to my team from the very beginning of November, right, let’s make sure we’ve got our email signature ready to remind people of what our office hours are over Christmas, who they need to reach out to, let’s make sure our out of office is already pre scripted and ready to go live from us, you know what date, we know, you make sure my team confirm really early on in the year, what time they’re taking off over Christmas. So that, you know, in my case, we have ads running. So it’s ensuring that there’s always somebody there monitoring the campaigns over the Christmas period, and making sure that all of us get some time when we’re truly truly off. And at the same time that the ads are still covered, which is unique to us right now, if you don’t have that scenario where someone needs to be running, monitoring your ads, then I would suggest truly, genuinely taking time off. And luckily for us, in our case, with ads management, generally speaking, that’s a daily thing that we check in and make any updates. So it’s something that’s easy to be boundaried around and not indulge in anything else. So planning ahead means that you can make sure that you’ve had those conversations. So all of my clients, this was a mistake I used to make, I would assume that people would also want to take time off around Christmas. And I got burnt really early on with certain people going well, we’re launching in January. So actually, I know it’s two days till we close. But can you know like, can you just do X Y Zed, and the people pleaser in me who was lacking the boundaries, which is going to be tip number two would go Alright, then because I would be nervous about upsetting them. So it’s really important to communicate ahead, particularly if you are new and expressing your boundaries. You know, by communicating ahead, it’s much more comfortable to be able to turn around and say, We did say that the office is closing at this time, we did prompt you for any final things you require from us at the very beginning of December and made it really clear that we needed with this submitted by whatever date and that our office would be off by this date, it means that you can very comfortably communicate those things. Knowing that there’s been sufficient warning.

You know, one of the biggest mistakes online business owners make is that they can be a little bit erratic, dare I say, scatty in their approach, and then they can treat their contractors in a similar way. So you know, I mean, obviously, it’s really going to vary depending on the kind of clients you work with. And some of you may be listening to this going, well, this just isn’t a thing for me. But if you are a service provider, just make sure that you are an even if you’re a coach, you know, like, again, if you do Voxer, and you don’t want to be doing Voxer over that period, just let them know, like I had a hesitation because I was thinking does anyone really want to be being mentored in the third week of December around their evergreen group program in my evergreen container? You know, the third week of December? Does anyone actually want to attend that? Does anyone actually need to have a sales workshop in the third week of December? Or does it just make more sense to say, there’s gonna be two weeks of no calls in the last week of December, and we’ll add a week on to your contracts. So that we can do that without worrying about it. And that’s what we chose to do in the end. And again, it was about communication, this was communicated in advance, I was sure to ensure that nobody had an objection to it. And again, the older version of me, the people pleaser me would be so fearful of what if anyone were to be upset that I was kind of moving the boundaries and changing what they’d initially signed up to. But of course, the majority of times people hear this and go, Oh, that’s great, because actually, I’ve got loads going on this. And you know, I probably wasn’t gonna attend that call anyway. So now I don’t have to worry about it. And I’m getting an extra week added to my contract. Great. And of course, another way I’ve managed that is reminding people that we’ve only got two calls this month to ensure that they show up and know how to make the most of them. And we’re starting the new year with a bumper call so that everyone can set themselves up for a really, really strong 2024.

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So, you know, as long as you have your clients at the forefront of your mind, and you communicate things in advance, most of the time they really do care. And I know this should sound obvious. But again, I just know if I, if I was talking to an older version of myself, that is what I needed to hear, I needed to hear people go, Yeah, we don’t mind. You know, it’s the same with August, when I decided to take the month of August off, I thought, most people in August, when I run my group coaching programs, the attendance rates been quite low, because a lot of people go on holiday that and a lot of people are away, then a lot of people are choosing to kind of slow down their approach to business in general, then anyway, or reliant on their automations. So actually, you know, again, taking that month off, wasn’t really ever going to badly impact anyone. And I have my team who can step in and help in various other ways during that period. So yeah, so that’s that plan ahead. And number two, you know, boundaries are not a word boundaries are things that you stand by, once you’ve planned ahead, and you’ve got those things lined up, stand by them, and do not be afraid to stand by them, people have a lot more respect for people who say they’re going to do something and then they do it, then those who go, we’re going to do this all but if you really need this will do this for you now, relationships, what I’ve learned in online business in the early stages, I used to be, I used to have a very weak spine, I used to bend in whatever direction a client pushed me. And it resulted in me hating the work I was doing me really resenting certain clients that I work with.

Now, I really stand by anything that I say I’m doing. And that’s wonderful for my clients, because it means they know, whatever I say I’m doing, that’s what they’re going to be delivered. And the respect is mutual. And I don’t hate any of my clients. And I shot with a real spirit of generosity and over giving, because it’s reciprocal, because we have that good relationship. So one of the things that will help you taking time off is planning ahead. The second thing is having boundaries. And recognising like I say that you need to be pouring from a full cup, if you are giving everything to your clients and leaving nothing to yourself, then you are going to really, really struggle. Obviously another thing you can do to ensure they actually taking time off, of course is with things like social media, when I talk about planning ahead, you know, batch your content, make sure that you have everything scheduled, so that you can be off. And that’s obviously one kind of automation. Another kind of automation. And this is point number three, in terms of how you can plan ahead to take time off is ensuring that you’ve got automations in your business so that you aren’t like or even though you are physically off, people are still experiencing the magic of yourself and your business and the transformations you support people with. And particularly this time a year, our most popular time of year for new client inquiries is between Christmas and New Year. So the very same time of year that in the past I’ve had clients say to me, is there any point even posting is anyone even looking? Aren’t people just chilling out by the sofa? Yeah, they’re chillin out on the sofa, and they’re scrolling on their phone. They’re dreaming up what they’re going to do with any year.

So if you have a service or an offer, that people are going to be interested in, it’s actually prime time to be getting in front of them. Because they are you know, they’re excited for their vision for what they want to be doing in 2024. And, and if you want to be in that, you want to be sure that you’re getting in front of them. So when we’re talking about automations, where you have the potential to advertise, the cheapest time of year to advertise is that last week of December and the very beginning of January. It’s also one of the most potent and effective times to advertise. And it also means that even when you’re taking time off, your list is always growing. Even when you’re taking time off. There are emails being sent out daily, nurturing new people in your world. Even when you’re taking time off, people are booking in sales calls with you so that when you come back to work, and this is what happened to me this time last year, well almost this time last year, when I came back to work my first week outside of my kind of kickoff mastermind coaching calls that I had with my existing clients, the rest of my week was full like full back to back with sales goals. Why then went on to fill not just my February container, but my March container too. So it really is that simple plan ahead, be boundaried and become friends with automations. Those are the things that haven’t just helped me over the Christmas holidays. But they’ve helped me to really take time off in the summer too. They’ve also really helped me like if I’m having a sick day, or are having a day where I go out and I’m having a manicure or I’m having a massage or I’m just hanging out my friends. I don’t feel guilty. And I know it sounds ridiculous. But when I was a solopreneur not using automations not using ADS. I was very conscious every time I took any time out that when I wasn’t working my business wasn’t working for me. Like social media. Yeah, it’s great when you’ve just posted a real it’s gonna be seen by what I don’t know, however many people but then it kind of peters out right?

There’s a really short timeline like time kind of continuum with anything that you create, and then it kind of drops off again. But with advertising it’s there it’s always working with your funnels are always there always nurturing so it’s really incredible to kind of know that even when you’re taking time out your business life kind of a well oiled evergreen marketing machine is constantly pumping out new leads. And I hate doing I know leads is not a very nice way of putting it. But you know, it’s welcoming new people into your world. You know, in my mind, it’s kind of the equivalent of you know, having a hostess downstairs in my house constantly inviting people through the doors with glasses of kombucha and gin martinis and saying welcome settling, learn about the world of evergreen. I mean, even things like this podcast, are a way that my business work for me when I’m not proactively working in it. So I really, really encourage you to think about what automations you have in your business to enable you to not feel like you’re holding the entirety of your business up. And instead you are being held by the beautifully oiled evergreen machine marketing machine in your business that is constantly welcoming and nurturing new people into your world, that you make sure that you have boundaries around how you show up in your business.

So you can be in that spirit of overflow. So you can have that spaciousness to go out and be inspired and reconnect with yourself and love and all the good things in this world. And of course, you know, ensuring that on a practical level that you’re planning ahead, because you know, if there’s one thing I noticed a lot about entrepreneurs is a lot of entrepreneurs tend to think day to day, week to week, but the ones who are really successful are never just thinking day to day, week to week, they’re already planning months, even years ahead. So yeah, gift yourself that please, if you’ve left it too late to do it really effectively this Christmas, take these learnings on board. So you never ever, ever have a Christmas holiday like this one again. And make sure that you’re honouring time up for yourself because you totally and utterly deserve it. Anyway, that is that for me this week, next week, I’m going to be coming back with how to create an office suite that continuously converts. Yep, I’m going to be sharing with you the very secret behind how I have created an office suite which means I convert at least 80% of all sales calls that have come my way in November and December. I cannot wait to share the secrets with you. I’ve just been showing them today in the mastermind that I host for my clients and they were blown away at how effective and simple it is and how easily implementable it will be for their business too. And I cannot wait to share it with you on here soon. So I shall see you be in your ears next week.