In this episode of The Dietitian Success Podcast, Krista chats about what’s been happening with Dietitian Success Center over the last week. Specifically, details on developing a YouTube strategy, what a day in her life looks like with a 5.5 month old baby, how to organize and prioritize your day, hiring a virtual assistant and what to do if you’re spinning your wheels and making no progress.
Links:
- Check out the Dietitian Success Center YouTube Channel
- Connect with Krista on Instagram @dietitiansuccesscenter and @kristako.rd
- Check out the Dietitian Success Center membership here
- Check out our Freebies here – PES Statement Cheat Sheet, Client Resource Kit & Business Planning Workbook
Episode Transcript:
Welcome to the Dietitian Success Podcast. Here at Dietitian Success Center, we’re all about making it easier for you to build your confidence and expertise. So, whether you’re a dietitian or a dietetic student, we’ve got something for you. I’m Krista, your host and the founder of DSC. Now, are you ready to ditch the imposter syndrome and join our incredible, vibrant community?
If so, let’s jump in.
Hello? Hello? Hello. And welcome to a new episode of the dietitian success podcast. I am simultaneously recording this and videoing this as well so that I can post this episode on YouTube too. So. If you are interested in watching the video and seeing me talk about this topic, then you can pop on over to the dietitian success center, YouTube account. Which is something I would be talking about today in this episode.
And you can feel free to, watch it.
So last week I started this business chats series. And as part of that, I asked. If you are a listener of this podcast episode. Too. Send me a message either on Instagram, the at dietitian success center or at Krista co dot RD, or send me an email Krista dietitian success center.com to let me know. What types of episodes have been your favorite so far?
What types of format do you like? Are there topics that you’ve really liked? Are there topics that you would like to see more of? And for those of you who did actually send me a message, I just so appreciate you. Your insights were super, super helpful. And actually a lot of the topics that I’m going to talk about today came straight from those conversations that I had from you. In the DMS or via email or whatever.
So thank you. Thank you. And if you haven’t messaged me yet, but you’re thinking, oh, I need to do that. Please do it. I would love to hear from you, send me a message. Let me know. What content do you enjoy hearing on this podcast? What do you want to hear more of?
Do you like this style of episode? I think that’s been one of the themes of the responses that I got back is actually, yes, this more. Informal behind the scenes day in the life style. Works quite well versus having a really specific topic that I’m educating on for an entire episode, because I think this is a good way to learn in a bit more of an ad hoc perspective.
And it also gives you an opportunity to just get a sense of the behind the scenes. Inner workings of a business, which I know. For me, I always learned the most from that type of content. So. Anyways, thank you to those of you who have responded or reached out to me. And for those who haven’t, I’m excited to hear from you.
So thanks for today. Okay. So today I’m going to talk a little bit about YouTube strategy. I mentioned at the beginning of this episode. And I’ve been talking about this. I posted in our dietitian success center, community chat. Just that this is something that we’re thinking about working on. So I’m going to talk a little bit about YouTube strategy.
I’m going to go through a little day in the life. So what my life looks like right now I have a five and a half month old baby. And so. I’m going to speak to you, just like what? My day to day looks like, how I’m spending my time currently. One of the questions or thoughts. That somebody shared with me that they were hoping I might be able to cover. In this podcast is just about how do you organize your day?
How do you balance priorities when you feel like you have a thousand things to do. And on that note, what do you do if you feel like you are spinning your wheels? You’re doing all the things, but you’re, and you’re getting burnt out, but you’re not making progress. I’m going to talk about that too, for sure. Because, yeah. Been there. Been there.
I think we’ve all been there or are there right now? So. Very relatable topic. So I’m going to talk about all of those things. I’ve just been writing some sort of rough notes as I’ve been brainstorming for this podcast episode. So I’m going to glance over to my screen every once in a while. If you’re watching this on YouTube, you will see that. But Let’s just get started on the whole topic of YouTube. One of the things that I’ve been thinking a lot about as I think I had mentioned in the last episode, that one of the big changes that we made in the business, since I’ve had a baby and obviously The time that I have available to work is different. \ we made the decision for Maria who is our operations manager.
She’s now full time. And so. Because of that, a lot of the day-to-day tasks, she now takes care of, which is incredible. And so because of that, now I am able to dream a little bit, think a little bit about what is next for us, for the business. And what is there another, and I think that we’re at this stage now where we’re trying to think of is there another marketing strategy or marketing tactic that we want to add to the mix? Because so far, we’ve really refined our process for. SEO.
So Google search, we have a very active blog that is delivering in terms of bringing people to dietitian success center. We are active on Instagram predominantly when it comes to social media. So that’s working well. And then word of mouth is working well, too. And so thinking about, okay, so now that we have systems in place where we are. Able to consistently market ourselves on those channels.
Is there another channel we can start to add to this mix? And so I have thought a lot about YouTube in the past, and I’ve actually tried in the past too. Start creating YouTube videos, but I feel like I really lacked. A solid strategy, a solid, like, why are we doing this and how are we doing this? And what are we doing? And so have never been able to stick with it, like it just, and one of the things that I feel like I’ve learned over time is that if you don’t make something really easy to do consistently. It falls off.
It totally falls off. Right. There’s a bazillion other things to do on the to-do list. And if you know that something is a big time suck and it’s just like time and energy intensive. And ends up falling off the list. And so, oh, the other thing I wanted to add obviously to that marketing or marketing mix is this podcast, of course, too. So anyways with YouTube, One of the things we’ve been asked about in the past is from our members, is could you create videos that I can actually provide to my clients?
Because right now the video courses we have on dietitian success center are dedicated or are aimed at the practitioner right they’re jargony. They’re like the intent is for a dietitian to be able to learn from those videos. They are practitioner focused. They’re not patient or client focused. So a few times we’ve been asked, Hey, would you be able to create videos that I can send to my clients on very like basic nutrition-related concepts that I find myself repeating over and over again, to add as an additional learning tool.
So things like label reading or how to build a healthy plate or what are some sources of plant-based protein, et cetera. So that’s something we’ve been thinking about a lot. And I think that it probably makes more sense to offer those up as free resources via YouTube channel versus putting them behind a paywall. And what I mean by that is versus it being member only content reason being is because. Creating things like YouTube videos and same with blogs, right?
It has that double purpose of being valuable content, but also helping to bring people to your business. So to attract people to your business, to act as a marketing channel. And so the reason why I am interested in YouTube is because YouTube works like Google in that people go there to search for answers, to search for content that meets their needs. And so, because Google has worked really well for us. I think that I don’t know.
We’ll see what happens with YouTube. But I’ve been, so I’ve been working a lot on that strategy and. Really when I say strategy, what I mean by that is taking a step back and thinking through. What does it look like to be really intentional about this versus just. Going full force into it, throwing spaghetti at the wall, trying to see what sticks, which is what I’ve done in the past.
And I’ve learned from those mistakes. And so trying to take a step back before I go full force and really understand what is the need? What is out there? What would this channel look like? What would it deliver on? How would it deliver on those things? What’s the process going to be? In order to make this something sustainable that we can do. Cause that’s an important component too, right?
Like we have all of this video content in our, within our site. We have handouts within our site with so much content. So how do we re. Figure out a way to efficiently repurpose that. Into stuff that we can use that is public facing that is assigned for the patient or client, not the practitioner. Okay.
So that is my update on YouTube strategy. That’s something I’ve been working on the most over the last week. In terms of day to day right now, what my day looks like is typically, and this was just a question from one of the people who responded back to me. To say that they’d be interested in just hearing what my day-to-day looks like, how I spend my time.
So I have a five and a half month old baby. , I’m a full-time entrepreneur. And so. What my days look is we typically wake up around six. Ish. Usually set the alarm for five 30 or six. We’ve always been early risers like that. We’re early risers, early to bed. That’s just how we like to do things. And typically the baby wakes up around that time as well. We go downstairs, have a coffee, hang out for about 30 minutes. Relax.
And then my husband watches the baby. I take out the dog for a dog walk in the morning. Typically during that dog walk is when I’ll listen to a podcast, listen to audio books, whatever. So do that and then come back. Feed the baby, put him to sleep for a nap. And then while he’s doing that first nap, typically that’s when I’ll do a workout of sorts. Right now I am training for a, another triathlon.
And so it’ll either be a swim, a bike or run. I have a training plan that I purchased off of training peaks. If you’re looking to train for an event sometimes endurance event, highly recommend checking out training peaks. They have training plans on there that you can purchase that have been created by a coach in that area. And so it’s pretty cool because then it just, it’s a whole, for me, it’s a 20 week training plan. And so then every day it’ll give me a specific workout to do so. That’s fun. And then we do have a part-time childcare at the moment.
So I am able to. Work on work in the business work period for about 20 hours a week. That’s what I’m doing right now. So I’m part-time at the moment. And so our childcare typically comes around nine in the morning. So from nine till 2:00 PM. And so that is my working time.
Those are my working hours where I’m able to get stuff done. And then when childcare ends at two, that’s basically when my work day ends as well.
And then Sonia and I hang out, he has his naps when he needs to, we play, we do all the things, My husband typically wraps up work around 4 35 and then he’ll take the dog for a walk. I will make dinner. We will all hang out for a little bit after that. And then we put the baby to bed and then we will hang out and watch TV for a little bit before bed.
And then I always read right before bed. For 10 or 15 minutes. Depending on the day. So. That’s really what my day-to-day looks like right now during this season of life. Okay. So now I want to get into this whole idea of organizing your day, balancing your priorities.
And I want to. Read out just a little tidbit from one of the people who had responded back to me. Because I think it’s so, so, so relatable. And they had said, one of the things I struggle with the most as a business owner is setting up a system. And a work plan to get everything done.
I’m constantly feeling overwhelmed. Trying to see clients. Get new referrals, write blogs, email newsletters, create social media content. Keep up with continuing education, et cetera.
How many of you can relate to that? Yes. Okay. So this is very real. And though I’m going to talk a little bit about. How could you structure your day? How could you organize things? Some of the key lessons that I’ve learned, helpful tips there. I think what’s important is to actually start with just really normalizing that feeling. And knowing that this is just a very normal, natural part of being a one person business and. Particularly in the earlier stages of a business. And I think maybe making peace with the fact that this may not go away. Until you’re able to start offloading some of those. Day to day tasks because the end of the day, like you’re the only person that’s there to get all of these things done.
And so, especially at the very beginning, when. Or even during the first couple of years, there is so much work to be done. That it is almost impossible to feel like you’ve finished your day and you’ve accomplished everything that you wanted to accomplish. I feel like there’s always this weight of, oh, I need to do that.
Or it could be doing that or it could be doing more of that or what have you. And that can be really challenging, but I feel like what’s helpful. There is knowing that’s.
A normal part of the process. You’re not alone in that. Nobody else who’s at this stage in business is feeling any differently than that. And maybe being okay with it, knowing that it’s temporary and knowing that at some point, you’re going to get to a point where you can bring some help into your business and you can offload some of those tasks. There’s just so much to do at that beginning stage, right?
There’s Just business setup, but then there’s also, coming up with an offer, developing content for that offer. Delivering that offer, figuring out marketing, figuring out what marketing channel works for you. All of that is time consuming stuff that you can’t skip. And I remember this from earlier stages in my business.
I can’t remember who said this, but it was advice that I always remember. And it was this, concept that you can’t skip steps. You can’t skip steps. You can’t rush these processes in business because every single business is different. It’s going to take you time to figure out. Which marketing channels work, what offer feels really good for me to offer and deliver. Does Instagram work for getting clients?
What kind of content on Instagram works? Does an email list work? What freebie works for bringing people into my email list that all takes time. And we can’t skip the steps of experimenting with that. And so. That’s all to say that this feeling is just so, so, so normal. And I will get to some thoughts on like how you can structure your time, how you can prioritize, et cetera. But I first want to speak to something that I think is really important too. And that’s that mindset block of feeling like you’re not accomplishing anything feeling like you’re spinning your wheels.
You’re maybe getting burnt out, but you’re not moving anywhere. And I just want to say. That you are though. It may not feel like that every single client that you work with, every single tiny action that you do in your business. To put yourself out there to get visible, to get seen, to be noticed, to talk with somebody, to tell somebody about your business. Building awareness.
Those are all something, those are all important things. And I want you to have this visual of every time. You are doing that sort of work. You are planting seeds and eventually. Those seeds will come to fruition, but again, we can’t skip steps and it’s going to take time. So to me, blogging is such a good way of. Demonstrating this idea because blogging is such a long game. And it only really works because of like cumulative time and volume.
So what I mean by that is that when you start a blog, when you put your first blog post out there, nobody will see it. Nobody will see it. Nobody will read it. In fact, it takes about six months or so for your blog to even be indexed with Google. So what that means is for people to like Google something and for your blog to show up, that’s going to take about six months. But it also takes time for an individual blog posts to start picking up traffic. One blog post, probably isn’t going to do much.
It’s the cumulative impact of multiple blog posts that have been around for a good chunk of time that actually. Starts to show you results. And so it’s like all of those seeds that you’ve planted. Plus time equals results. So, I just want to validate that, even if you feel like you are spinning your wheels, you’re not as long as you are planting those tiny seeds every single day. You will start to see them come to fruition. And I often refer to the book, the compound effect. And I love that book.
It’s basically this whole idea of slow consistent actions over time will eventually yield big results, but it’s going to take time to get there. And so it’s just like a very validating book. The other thing that takes time is word of mouth too.
So even when you’re working with your patients, like that is something that is marketing still because people tell other people, they tell their friends, they tell their family, they tell their colleagues about this dietitian that they worked with. And again, that’s a ripple effect, right?
That takes time to accomplish. And so you are making an impact. It may not feel like it every single day, but when you zoom out over time, You will be able to see how those cumulative things have actually made a difference over time. The other thing I want to go back to too, as I was talking about like that feeling of overwhelmed, there’s so many things to do, and you may not stop feeling that way until you have someone that you can offload some of those tasks to that’s really where hiring comes into play.
And I want to talk for a second about hiring because you might be wondering, well, at what point am I ready to bring some help into my business? And so typically the first person that somebody will hire an a business is like a virtual assistant is available to help assist you with some of those day-to-day tasks and you can train them on any number of things.
And so, consider. What would it look like for you to even hire a virtual assistant for two hours a week? I asked Chad GPT what typical hourly rates are for virtual assistants. They said typical hourly rates for a virtual assistant ranges, anywhere from 15 to $50 per hour. So if we picked somewhere midway and if you were to pay somebody $25 an hour and you were to hire them for two hours a week, That’s $50 a week that would cost you, but that’s two extra hours of your time.
What could you do with those two hours? Could you see two additional clients? And let’s say you’re charging $150 an hour for clients. That’s 300 extra dollars a week. So you’ve paid 50, but you’ve gotten 300 out of that. Or \ if you’re not at the point yet where you’re like maximized with clients, is there stuff you can do during that two hours that will help you get more clients or will help to maximize revenue? Or we’ll help to generate more revenue. Can you use that two hours to reach out to more community contacts, to follow up with people, to post on social media, to write blog posts, to do all of these other things that could then result in more business. And doing a bit of a time audit and thinking about what are the tasks that only you can do in your business? If there’s things that only you can do, like for instance, working with your patients or clients, emailing with your patients or clients that they have questions, Maybe writing blog posts.
Those might be things that only you can do, but what are the things that somebody else could easily do? Admin stuff, for example billing work, scheduling emails, scheduling social media posts, do a bit of a time audit. So yeah. How have you spent your time over the last few days? What tasks could you offload to somebody else? And maybe you’ll realize that you’re ready to hire somebody, sooner than you think. Okay.
So now having said all of that, what are some of the ways that we can. Organize our time and prioritize tasks.
Okay. So I feel like one of my biggest learnings when it comes to. Getting. Not necessarily more done, but getting the right things done is what are we doing first in the day? And so. Typically. It’s really easy and it feels really good to do the easy tasks in our business. Right. The more like administrative busy work things.
I know that’s true for me. Love a checking an email hour. Pay a couple invoices, submit a couple of receipts, check my QuickBooks, that busy work stuff is so easy to do. And it feels like you’re being productive, but are you actually doing anything impactful? So obviously that stuff still needs to get done, but does it need to get done first because what are you putting off in order to do those things? So one of the things that I have learned over time is to do the hard thing first. So we all, I think have a sense of what that thing is in our business that we feel. We should be spending more time on, I think probably for 90% of us it’s marketing. Right.
It is. I’m writing an email to our email list. It is working on a blog post. It is posting on Instagram. It’s doing an Instagram story. It is reaching out to a community contact. It is just getting out there in the community. It’s those things that actually feel quite difficult. And so we often put them off and we say, Hey, I’ll do this tomorrow because I have all this busy work stuff that needs to get done today.
But. It can get done after the heart thing. So. What I have learn to do over the last couple years is first of all, every day I make a list of what I’m going to do that day. I do actually check my emails at the beginning of each Workday, but I don’t respond to them at that point.
So I check them and then if there’s things I need to respond to or address, they go on my list, but they’re not going to get done first because. That can be such email, especially can be such a massive time. Suck. And then, really looking at this list and asking the question what is a revenue generating activity?
What is an activity that will move the needle in my business? And I need to do that first. And if it’s a big project, it might feel hard. So let’s say, okay. I’ve been wanting to work on this online course, or I’ve been wanting to write this blog post. If it’s a big project like that, that you know is going to take you a while.
Sometimes it feels really hard to sit down and say to ourselves, okay, I got to finish this thing. Why not break it up into chunks and just set yourself a timer for 30 minutes and say, okay, I’m going to spend my first 30 minutes on this thing. And then I can do the same thing tomorrow and I’ll continue to do the same thing until I get that thing done. We don’t have to finish it all in one sitting, it can be over multiple days, but the whole point is that we want to move forward with it.
We want to make progress on it. So. Definitely having a list, but having number one, be that thing that you know is going to move the needle in some way in your business. Some other examples. So writing an email for your email list, writing a blog post for me, recording a podcast episode, reaching out to a community contact. Posting about your online course on Instagram, on social media. Going on Instagram stories and talking about what you have to offer working on that course that you’ve been wanting to work on for a while, or that ebook or whatever.
And so the other thing, I mean, some people do find it helpful. I’ve tried this in the past, but I’ve actually found that it doesn’t work as well for me, but having dedicated days for different types of tasks in your business. So like Monday might be your marketing day. Tuesday might be your client administrative day.
Wednesday might be your getting out in the community day. Thursday might be your writing day or whatever. Knowing that during those days,
and if you’ve never tried it, give it a go. And actually just put those blocks of time in your Google calendar or whatever calendar you’re using, set it up so that, Monday, whatever time you have to work on your business, you’re blocking it in your calendar.
And you’re making it a recurring event for marketing every Monday for three hours. And just see how that goes. See how that works for you. Like I said, I’ve tried that. I don’t think long-term, it just didn’t work as well. For me, I tend to do better when I have a number of different tasks happening in one day, but definitely learning to prioritize the important thing for sure.
Okay. So that’s it for me today. I hope that this episode was helpful for you for those who have watched the video on YouTube, subscribe to our channel, because we’re going to be adding a lot more YouTube content. Moving forward. So thank you for your support there. And again, reach out to me. I would love to hear from you.
So thanks so much for listening. I hope you have an awesome week and we’ll see you next Thursday.
