The Effable end of year review
2021, you have been a year.
For many, it's been tough, and I'm so grateful to have made it out the other end with my nearest and dearest beside me. So, apart from the obvious, what happened this year in the world of Effable?
This was my side-hustle at the start of the year, alongside a full-time job as a content manager for an automotive marketing agency. It was demanding, and my time was split between working full-time, growing Effable and serving my clients, as well as trying to stay upright in the middle of a pandemic.
It took some balls and a fair amount of pre-planning, but in August 2021 I left my job to take Effable full-time; the best decision I could have made. I invested in a second screen – boujee, I know, and started to build up my client list with passion and purpose-led businesses. In September, I spoke on the main stage at Brighton SEO, all about how to build emotion into SEO copy. A 'pinch me' moment, for sure. I remember standing in Brighton seafront a few hours after I had spoken, reading all the tweets and nice messages about my talk and thinking, is this real? Like, I get to do this, for work. Wild, right?
I've always loved writing, even from a really young age, and the fact that I get to tell stories for a living is the most mind-blowing thing. So, thank you. Thank you to everyone that supported me, told me to go for it, and has supported me since. And thank you to the incredible clients that I have worked with and the ones that are coming.
There have been these amazing times, a handful that I have mentioned, and there have been some big learnings as well, which, arguably, are more important than the wins.
So, here they are.
ONE
If it isn't a full-bodied yes, it is a no.
I have a few opportunities that came up this year that just didn't feel right.
Some of them I let go, and some of them I took. But, the ones that I took didn't end so sweetly, or they felt like I was shoving a square peg into a round hole. So, my first learning from this year is that I am an all in or all out kind of person, which deep down I knew anyway. The good news is that it gives me space to go all in, chin-deep, into the things that light me up, and that align with the Effable brand values, which is such an important thing for me.
TWO
Mind over matter.
There have been some testing times over the past twelve months. Not so much in the business side of things, but tricky conversations that needed to be had, and sweating the small stuff when I didn't need to. Mind over matter is the next learning or lesson, in the sense that taking care of my mindset and the way I think, gives a whole new perspective on what matters and what doesn't. That sounds deep, but it really isn't.
Cue the affirmations and the EFT.
THREE
Community can be virtual.
More lockdowns and restrictions than you could shake a stick at, with the painful realisation of the fact we'd seen it all before, meant a lot of things got cancelled, and the online world opened up its doors again. Now, I love people, I am such a people person, and there is nothing quite like a conversation face to face (hell, I hosted networking events before this kicked off!) but, the online world truly does have a warm community to offer. I have been able to connect and collaborate with some amazing humans thanks to things going online, and I have found some incredible communities as well. Sharing struggles, sharing wins, and a mutual understanding between us all.
As for next year, it's going to be big.
I have started planning and plotting, and I cannot wait to share some of the things that I have planned for Effable.
I'll be launching the PR arm of the business (properly and officially) as well as hosting some events in Spring/Summer and beyond.
I didn't have a word for this year, but I have chosen one for next year; Magnetic. Magnetic work, magnetic clients, magnetic relationships.
And, 2022 is going to be all about raising glasses and spreading words to the masses.
Let's make some magic.
Molly
Founder of Effable