Urgent vs. Important

Welcome to Beach Musings, Beach Creative’s long overdue blog!

Our middle child graduated high school this past weekend.

2023 has been, shall we say, a little busy for me personally so far. If you’re a working parent you’re probably already nodding your head in recognition even before I talk about the fact it was my middle child’s senior year, and that I’m juggling parenting three kids, 5 cats, 2 dogs, running a business and volunteering in my community. Life is busy and beautiful and rewarding and exhausting all at once. Lucky me.

But this past weekend, my daughter graduated. We had a party, our visitors left, the last school play was over, the last concert had been played, there were no more slide shows to create, no more banquets to organize. In short, I found myself with nothing urgent to do!

So instead, this week I’m turning my attention to all the IMPORTANT things that can get passed over when URGENT is demanding your attention. So far I have put in my kid’s overdue passport application, got 8 hours sleep two nights in a row, booked a doctor’s appointment to deal with my shoulder that’s been giving me grief for over a month, and today - I’m blogging!

But Why Blog?

Whenever I take on a new client to do a website build we always talk about connectivity. Often we’ll work and produce a fantastic site and the client will ask how many people have viewed it and be disappointed by the answer. The truth is that it doesn’t matter how epic and glossy and subtle and clever your site is, it’s a bit like having a house in the middle of the woods 50 miles from anywhere - if you don’t let people know it’s there, they won’t see it.

Your website without any connectivity - looks gorgeous, but no one knows it’s there!

When it comes to drawing people to your site, your blog is a tool you can use, in conjunction with social media, to attract people. Take you for example - you got here by clicking a link from Facebook, Instagram or Linked In. But you didn’t read what I had to say on that platform, I gave you a teaser and had you click a link to come here, and now, perhaps you’re curious? Perhaps you want to see some of the work I do and think about how my work could help you? Perhaps not - but it was worth a try!

But a blog post is more than just a cunning way to tell people where to look at your work, it’s also a way you can give back. You do this by sharing your knowledge, or encouraging your audience to think deeply about a subject. For example, today I’m sharing with you that when you have a site, you should make sure everything’s connected - your social media platforms (which is where many, many people get their information in 2023), your blog posts etc. This way people will have the opportunity to see you and your brand across multiple platforms multiple times, you will build not only your presence but also your credibility and awareness of your brand. Another day I might blog about color theory in design, and that may give you pause to think about how your brand resonates with your audience.

The other thing a blog does is to give you a voice. This is more important than ever as more and more consumers want to take a stance on issues such as sustainability, diversity and equity. If your company uses sustainable products, talk about the fact that you do, and why. If you are committed to diversity and equity in your workforce, let people know. Think about how you feel as a consumer - I know that my preference is always to do business with people I feel I know a little about - that I feel share my values and that I therefore feel I can trust. Your blog is a useful way to make these kinds of connections with your potential clients too, and to help you grow community around your business or project.

Back to urgent vs important!

It’s very, very easy to get caught up with firefighting all the urgent things in your life, but taking the time to tackle the IMPORTANT things may be just what you, your family and your business needs. So, if you are a small business owner it’s definitely worth investing time in the IMPORTANT task of writing your blog!

Until the next time…

Sarah