Take a Vacation: A Mom Entrepreneur’s Advice to All Mom Business Owners

Are you unintentionally sacrificing family bonding time to grow your business? 

Alston, our two-year-old son.

I recently returned from Turks and Caicos. My husband, son and I took the beach vacation to celebrate our wedding anniversary and son's second birthday.

A warning from my husband a couple of days before our family bonding time: “I don’t want to see you checking or responding to any client emails, voice mails or calls.”

It sounded like a reasonable request, but those days leading up to our trip were nonstop. I worked what seemed like around the clock to wrap up projects, but the requests kept coming in.

Sidebar – please do not mistake being busy as a negative thing … I was pleased about the work. After all, getting new assignments is like winning the lottery for a freelance writer, only with much better odds.

The night before boarding our 9 a.m. flight, I was working until 1 a.m. (as I’m sure all busy mom entrepreneurs have done before a long trip). I was exhausted, but  determined not to let it show. Before boarding the plane, my husband whispered to me again:

“Remember what I asked of you, no working.” Hmm, I thought, he is sure acting like I’m some crazed business owner who doesn’t know how to relax and have a good time. 

That’s not me. Right?

When we landed in Turks and Caicos, I tried to get a quick look at emails. I wasn’t planning to work, but just wanted to check things out. But guess what? There was no Internet connection on the island … unless we paid for it. I surely wasn’t going to talk to my husband about paying for Internet connection after he clearly didn’t want me even thinking about work.

I admit that I was afraid of not being plugged in while on vacation. But because I couldn’t log in, I focused all of my time and energy on those who matter most in my life – my husband and son.

How’d the business do while I was away? Great! I had no client complaints and actually came back to a few new freelance writing assignments. Who hoo!

My Wake-Up Call

While sitting at the airport in Charlotte, I read an article that really put things into perspective for me. In “Take a Serious Vacation: A CEO’s Advice To All CEOs,” author Jim Moffatt got a wake-up call from a partner at his firm that had a “profound impact” on him. In short, he told Moffatt that true leaders don’t need to be in the thick of things day in and day out. Real leaders take time away to regroup and look at the big picture - and trust the people they hired to handle daily tasks.

Now, my small writing and marketing business is nowhere near the size of Moffatt’s firm (he is the chairman and chief executive of Deloitte Consulting), but the message means just as much. When you skip out on family bonding time for work, you can’t get those special moments back. So if a big-time CEO can unplug and take time off, I certainly can do the same.

So what's the lesson here? Clients and money will come and go, but you can’t go back in time and, for example, have your son turn two years old again because you missed it.

So if you haven't taken your vacation yet, take one. Opportunities to make money and build your mommy business will always be around, but unless you're developing a time machine, you can't go back and make up the family bonding time you missed.

Are you planning to unplug from business for some relaxing family bonding time? Share your stories!

5 Brilliant Marketing Lessons from Kelly Rowland’s "Dirty Laundry"

No need to hire a fast-talking marketing expert, mom business owners can learn all they need to know from Kelly Rowland's Dirty Laundry lyrics.

In “Dirty Laundry,” former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland reveals her many struggles, from domestic abuse to bittersweet feelings for former band mate turned superstar Beyonce. This song has sparked a lot of emotion and attention from women and men who commend her willingness to share her story.

Kelly Rowland's new song brought me to tears when I listened to her confession of pain, love and jealousy. Hell, my husband was even moved by the song … and he’s not one who gets all caught up in his feelings from an R&B singer … unless of course it’s a Mary J. Blige song.

After listening to the Dirty Laundry lyrics about six times, I started thinking like a marketing professional. The song is passionate, honest and appealing. The fact that I and so many others were so completely moved by the song is marketing at its best. People are talking and when that happens, people start buying.

And you know the rest … CHA-CHING! As a mom entrepreneur, I respect the game … do your thang, Ms. Kelly!

Catch this, ladies … here comes the lessons.

1. Be Relatable

Let’s look at her confessions of domestic abuse. Every nine seconds, a woman is assaulted or beaten in the United States. More than three women living in the United States are killed daily by their husbands or boyfriends.

With that being said, domestic violence is unfortunately a highly relatable topic of discussion. It’s pretty safe to say that most women have either been abused or know at least one woman who has been abused.

From a business perspective, being relatable sells products and services. People want to know that you’ve been where they are and understand their pain. For example, I previously worked as an in-house law firm marketing professional. So when I pitch my writing and marketing services to law firms, I talk about this experience to let prospects know that I understand the demands of law firm marketing.

2. Keep It Real

Infamous producer, The Dream co-wrote “Dirty Laundry.” From that we know that while the basis of the song may be true, some “creative writing” was used to make the song appealing. Now do I believe the song is false? Absolutely not. But I do strongly believe Kelly Rowland and The Dream sprinkled in a bit of fiction to make the song more appealing.

At the end of the day, people sympathize with honest brands. Consumers don’t want you to mislead or lie to them. Now honesty doesn’t always mean it’s 100% your truth. A “believable” and relatable story is appealing. And appeal encourages people to buy.

3. Show Some Passion

Bottom line, Kelly Rowland aired her dirty laundry and showed us her passion. She could have sung about anything, but she chose to be transparent and share her story of love and pain.

I always tell clients to let their personality shine through in their business writing because people want to do business with other people. As consumers, we want to know that you understand our challenges and pain. Because let’s face it, you really can’t provide a solution unless you know your audience’s struggles.

Passion should be easy for most mom business owners to convey because passion is what drove us to do what we love and sacrifice time with our family and kids.

4. Appeal to Your Target Audience

Kelly Rowland hit on two topics most people sympathize with … abuse and jealousy. Even if you’ve never experienced abuse, you naturally feel sorry for those who have. And if you say that you’ve never been jealous of anyone in your life … I’d have to call that a partial truth at best. We’ve all been there … she’s thinner than me, she’s more successful, she has a caring husband … whatever.

Kelly’s song gives people who sympathize with stories of abuse and jealousy a feeling that they’re not alone. She talked about herself while still appealing to her audience. Your prospects want to know your story, so tell it. But tell it in a way that gives them something worth reading. Now think for a moment, what does your product or service give to your audience?

5. Air Your Own Damn Dirt

Entertainment writers and bloggers have been speculating for years about Kelly Rowland’s jealousy of Beyonce’s success. What did she just do? She aired her own shit … with a few curse words to make it interesting. Now writers and bloggers are interviewing her and sharing her comments and words which brings more visibility to the Kelly Rowland brand … genius!

Mom bloggers and other self-made entrepreneurs are raking in some serious cash by sharing their own dirt, tea, dirty laundry … whatever you want to call it.  Look at the success of reality TV shows.

Reality stars make hundreds of thousands of dollars to live their lives in front of the camera. They make this because we tune in every week to watch them air their own damn dirt. Dirt doesn’t need to be gossip or rumors. It’s simply you owning the truth of your business and telling your story your way before it’s delivered by someone else.

Is your blog or business venture relatable and appealing? If not, how can you let your passion as a mom entrepreneur shine through?