Your Booked Out Business Pie

Being booked out consistently in my business has been a key piece of bringing more simplicity and spaciousness to my work.

It’s how I’ve stabilised my income, it’s how I’ve been able to intentionally build my schedule in a way that works best for me, and it’s how I’ve been able to run my business in a way that doesn’t feel like I’m constantly hustling to try and make it all work.

And here’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned: there is no secret formula to being consistently booked out in your business. It’s not something you can just replicate from someone else’s path, instead it will be a unique blend within your own business that will support you to find this stability and consistency in your work.

And the other lesson I’ve learned? It doesn’t have to take complicated, sleazy, out-of-integrity marketing to make this possible either.

I know without a doubt in my mind that the fact I show up for my marketing with a slow, gentle, human-first approach is why my client schedule is filled with the incredible humans I’m so privileged to be able to walk with in their business journey. Because the energy we put out through our business defines the energy we attract back in too.

So if you’re hoping to find more stability in your business, more consistent client leads, and less anxiety around where your next client is coming from, this is where your booked out business pie comes in.

Because it will never be just one thing that books you out consistently, it’s a unique blend of multiple pieces in your business all working together for the same end goal: a spacious, impactful, and financially thriving business that works best for you.

Here’s how my booked out business pie breaks down:

1: Experience

This is the piece that I think we so often overlook, we think that if we just nail the perfect strategic marketing plan our business will thrive when in reality what will truly support our business to thrive is honing our craft, building our experience, and becoming undeniably damn good at what we do.

All of these other pieces of my booked out business pie are able to work for me because I have eight years experience now of doing this work, of honing my craft, refining my approach, and the steadiness and trust that comes with that is priceless. But don’t worry, you don’t need 8+ years behind you to have this, every client and project you work on builds this, and your experience slice of the pie is always building too so will continue to strengthen for you along the way.

2: Word of mouth & referrals

Building on from our experience, our word of mouth and referrals are so often the linchpin that supports us to be booked out in our business. From clients recommending us to their peers and friends, to their testimonials being one of our most valuable assets in our business, our word of mouth is essential for our business to truly thrive. So many of my clients tell me they decided to book after reading the testimonials on my website, or from a direct recommendation from a past client. Our business can say all the fancy promises in the world but someone else saying how good we are at what we do will be the most impactful piece of all.

Something that isn’t in my booked out business pie because of the nature of the work I do is a portfolio, but I want to include it here because for some of us this will be just as impactful as your work of mouth and referrals. For me, my testimonials are what prove my experience and the impact of my work but if you’re a designer or copywriter or artist your portfolio will be able to showcase your work too and will be a really impactful way for potential clients to see what you and your work can offer them too.

3: Website

This is the digital storefront of my business, my website is where people can find me, discover more about my work and offerings, subscribe to my newsletter, dive into my blog, and explore my client stories too. This is where my visual branding and copywriting comes in too, really setting the tone of what it’s like to work with me, and where I plant my flag in the sand of who my business is for and what I offer them too.

4: Weekly letters:

These letters have been a key piece of my booked out business pie from the very start - they’re where I share weekly musings of encouragement and support, and they’re also the place where I can gently put my lights on for anyone who wants to dive deeper and work together too when I remind people of my upcoming availability. This has been a great way for me to consistently nurture my community and be of service and sow seeds for potential clients along the way.

5: Podcast

I’ve had four podcasts over the years, this one being the one that is currently in production but all of my past shows and episodes still exist for people to find and connect with my work, and they have without a doubt played a huge part in building my audience and sowing intentional seeds for my business along the way.

It’s been such a strong content stream for me, one which I really love creating for too (being married to a podcast editor also really helps), and that’s why I’ve intentionally added this back into the mix with this new show too.

6: Instagram:

This is the tiniest piece of the pie for me, the one I give the least amount of energy and focus to. For the first few years of my business I didn’t even use Instagram at all, focusing on my blog, podcasts, and newsletter instead, and these days I just show up occasionally whenever I have the inspiration to share. I do love connecting with my community on Instagram and the creative process for creating content for there too, it’s just not something I’m willing to spend a whole lot of my life minutes doing in my business.

And then finally something I want to add back into the mix this year is blog articles. Way back in 2015 when I first started my business I blogged weekly, anywhere from 3-5 times a week, it was a huge part of how I built my business in the beginning. I’ve really not focused on this in recent years but something I want to shift some attention to is creating some really valuable SEO evergreen blog content so I can create this new way for people to find my work and for people already paying attention to my work to have some super in-depth articles to feel supported through too.

So what you’re hopefully starting to picture here are the different pieces of my booked out business pie that all work together to support my business to attract and resonate and connect with people who my work is a big hell yes for. All of these pieces are the reason why I have the business I have today, this is my eighth year now of being booked out months in advance and that stability in my business is something I’m so grateful for.

So now we have the example of my business, let’s our shift focus to yours.

And if you’re currently thinking: Jen, which pieces of my booked out business pie should I be focusing on then?

Start to visualise your own booked out business pie and then ask yourself:

What’s currently working for you: Are you connecting with some awesome potential dream clients through Instagram? Or your newsletter? Or perhaps you’re getting really aligned organic search referrals to your website? Are your clients recommending you to other awesome potential clients?

These are the key pieces of your pie you can continue to prioritise, build upon, and leverage too.

Then ask yourself: What needs nurturing?

Will your business benefit from you focusing on honing your craft and building up more word of mouth and testimonials? Can you nurture your email list more by sending consistent newsletters? Can you build up stronger organic website traffic with SEO?

These are the pieces of your business pie you want to dial up your focus on, the pieces you know can work for you even stronger if you intentionally take action in these areas.

And then finally ask yourself: what needs building?

I would on the whole say it’s best to focus on building in new pieces to your booked out business pie when what’s currently working for you and what needs nurturing are already in flow and stabilised, as building on top of unsteady ground doesn’t often make for strong business foundations. My caveat here is that if you feel energised or inspired to do something new and your business inner compass is guiding you to do it now, trust that and follow where your inner wisdom is leading you.

Focusing on what needs building may look like planning to create a podcast that can help you reach and connect with more potential clients, or creating a new opt-in to intentionally build your email list, or experimenting with Reels on Instagram if you feel inspired and energised to do so.

Ultimately what you’re building here are pieces of your business that are all working together to support you to find stability and momentum so that you can have a consistent and steady stream of clients and customers along the way.

You may already have all of the pieces in place and you just want to turn up the dial more on the ones that will support you to thrive in this season, or you may be needing to build into your booked out business pie new pieces that will support you to find the stability you crave.

And here’s my favourite part of the booked out business pie: once you’ve built it, nurtured it, and found flow in maintaining it and experimenting with it as and when you want to, your business will be consistently working for you behind the scenes, sowing the seeds you want it to sow, and making it easy for your hell yes people to find you and choose to invest in going deeper into your offerings too.

It’s a tool that keeps on giving in our business and more than anything it’s the very heart of our marketing plan but looking at it through this lens is how we remind ourselves to not just put all our eggs in one basket or hope that there’s just one quick fix or formula we can follow to help us reach our goals.

Because business is a long game and it’s the work that we do consistently with focus and intention that sows the most impactful and sustainable seeds of all.

So what does it look like for you to build, nurture, or leverage your booked out business pie in this season?

Let that guide your marketing efforts and experiments in this season, keep your eye on the longer game, and stay open to whatever lessons your business is trying to teach you about what it needs to thrive in this season too.

take the quiz

Jen Carrington16 March 2022