Don’t you love when creatives pull back the velvet curtains to show you sneak peeks of what it really takes to run their businesses?
I have to admit that it’s one of my favorite things.
And, that’s what this month’s tag is all about.
If you missed the tag experiment that I started last month, you can check out all the details here. Basically, I’m coming up with a topic, asking questions, answering those questions and then tagging others to answer them on their blogs.
When I announced it last month, I said that I would continue it the next month if the first was successful. More people than I could’ve imagined participated so I’m deeming it successful.
So, here we go with round two and it’s all about spilling the jellybeans about your business—letting your readers see what happens behind the scenes.
THIS BLOG TAG TOPIC: Behind the Scenes of My Business
Here are the questions and my answers for this topic:
Question 1: What’s your two to three sentence bio? (You know, what the heck do you do?)
April Bowles-Olin is a writer, creative business consultant, marketing strategist, and photography dabbler. She wants to live in a world where artists and makers adore their blogs, write with confidence and know how to get their unique work in front of people who love it—and scramble for their credit cards because they just ‘have to have it.’
Question 2: What’s your favorite part of your job?
Teaching in all forms—through blogging, online courses and speaking to live audiences.
Question 3: What’s your least favorite part of your job?
Technical stuff like website coding. Yuck! That’s why I hire it out.
Question 4: What are the top three tools you use the most in your work?
Macbook Pro, Dell 27-inch monitor, and Nikon D90
Question 5: What business goal would you love to reach before the end of the year?
Have 15,000+ live viewers for my next CreativeLive courses. RSVP right here to watch live for FREE and help me reach my goal.
Question 6: Who are three creatives that inspire you?
Mayi Carles, Bonnie Christine, and Austin Kleon
Question 7: What do you listen to (if anything) while you work?
Music (some favorites: Train, Florence + The Machine, and Third Eye Blind) and podcasts (some favorites: The Unmistakable Creative and Online Marketing Made Easy with Amy Porterfield)
Question 8: Morning person or night owl?
Night owl.
Question 9: How many employees do you have and what are the main things they do for you?
None. I hire out when needed like with web design, videography, and accounting.
Question 10: What’s your favorite social media platform?
Instagram—love seeing bits of peoples’ lives and businesses through visuals.
Question 11: What’s your least favorite social media platform?
LinkedIn. I haven’t checked that site in over a year. I’ve been considering just deleting my profile.
Question 12: What works best when it comes to marketing your business?
Building my email list.
Question 13: What’s one thing about your business that your blog readers probably don’t know?
I make the least amount of money from one-on-one consulting even though I charge $495 per consulting client and the most amount of money from online courses.
Question 14: If your business were a fashion accessory, what would it be?
This camera bag in caramel—chic, well made, and traditional seeming on the outside with lots of flair on the inside.
Question 15: What’s your top tip for someone who wants to do something similar to you for a career?
Spend time every day (just ten or fifteen minutes works) building genuine connections.
I’m tagging these 6 people to answer these questions in a blog post (via video or text) on their blogs:
- Rebecca Nash because she was the very first person to participate last month and I’d love to see how she answers these questions.
- Sarah Shotts because she’s a League of Supers rockstar. If you don’t know what that is, you’re not in the cool crowd. Just kidding. (Kinda)
- Amanda Creek because I’m really enjoying the connection we’re making via the comments on Blacksburg Belle.
- Michael Nelson because we connected through my course on CreativeLive and I think she’s awesome.
- Richelle Shadoan because she attended my last CreativeLive course and has been making changes to her business and blog ever since.
- YOU! Tag, you’re it.
Here’s how you play:
- Copy and paste the questions below and then answer them and publish as a blog post. Or, record a video answering these questions and upload it to your blog post.
- At the bottom of your post, tag anywhere from 2-10 bloggers you want to see answer these questions. (I also suggest hitting up your tagged people via social media just to let them know you tagged them to do this tag challenge.)
- Use the title: Behind the Scenes of My Business Blog Tag. Once you’ve hit publish, leave a comment below with the link to your post.
- Use the hashtag #MyBizBlogTag when sharing on social media so we can all find your awesome posts!
As you can see from my answers, your answers can be super short.
If you want an intro to include at the beginning or end of your post, here’s one:
This blog post is a part of the ‘Behind the Scenes of My Business’ Blog Tag started by April of Blacksburg Belle. She began this blog tag experiment to build community among creatives, help us bloggers to connect more and get to know each other better. This month’s topic is all about sharing the behind the scenes stuff of our businesses. If you’d like to participate or want more info, check out this post right here.
(Disclaimer: It’s totally cool to NOT participate if I tagged you and you either: don’t want to do it or don’t have the time. You won’t totally crush my feelings.)
Easily copy and paste the questions below OR read when you film your video:
Question 1: What’s your two to three sentence bio? (You know, what the heck do you do?)
Question 2: What’s your favorite part of your job?
Question 3: What’s your least favorite part of your job?
Question 4: What are the top three tools you use the most in your work?
Question 5: What business goal would you love to reach before the end of the year?
Question 6: Who are three creatives that inspire you?
Question 7: What do you listen to (if anything) while you work?
Question 8: Morning person or night owl?
Question 9: How many employees do you have and what are the main things they do for you?
Question 10: What’s your favorite social media platform?
Question 11: What’s your least favorite social media platform?
Question 12: What works best when it comes to marketing your business?
Question 13: What’s one thing about your business that your blog readers probably don’t know?
Question 14: If your business were a fashion accessory, what would it be?
Question 15: What’s your top tip for someone who wants to do something similar to you for a career?