What’s actually changing behind the scenes of a business that’s working

I wasn’t sure if I would write this today.

There’s a lot going on in the business right now and I feel a bit like the house-proud neighbour who says, “don’t look around, it’s a mess!”

Things aren’t a mess exactly, but there are moving parts.

Parts I’d planned to share as a polished, “come look at this thing I did” announcement but in reality, it feels more useful to show you how these decisions and changes are actually being made.

Because business is a constant evolution.

You learn so much across so many different data points each month or year you build, and at the same time, the market shifts around you. You have to keep editing else you’ll get complacent, bored or miss the mark.

So I share some of my “mess” in the form of four things, to illustrate that even when things look stable from the outside, underneath there’s often a constant recalibration.

And, honestly, I find business to be a creatively fulfilling playground and get quite a kick out of all this ‘thinking’, anyway!

Thing 1: Am I using AI correctly?

I’m using it, for sure. Cooking, life admin, finances... it’s become my helping hand. But when it comes to work I’m starting to feel like I’m not quite getting the balance right.

There are obvious gaps. For example, I’ve never used Claude, never vibe coded. The Claude Cowork hype hasn’t evaded me, I just haven’t actioned anything.

Then in other ways, I feel I should use it much less. I’ve decided to stop using it for any LinkedIn posts — like not even a tiny bit. My post today is currently sitting at 45 impressions so that’s great.

But honestly, I’m done with sense-checking stuff with ChatGPT. It filters and changes me every time. Not once does it say “This is clear, you’re great, send the damn thing!”

It only ever suggests changes. I’ve started to lose confidence in my voice, and that, my friend, isn’t okay.

(Also I feel conscious that em dash just made it’s way onto the page. I often use them naturally. Are we allowed to include them more? Help!)

Thing 2: I’ve been handing out OBIs.

I’ve been handing out OBIs (One Big Ideas) more than ever.

Often it’s my exact words, something I say mid-conversation or write in a client’s notes, that becomes the central idea they build their work around.

There’s one particular client who took my editorial direction and went on to achieve an insane amount of engagement and opportunities with it in a very short space of time.

Am I frustrated I’m not referenced? Not at all.

They paid me for these exact insights. That’s what my services include, even if I don’t promise someone a copy perfect tagline (I’m not an advertising agency), I do often end up having the exact words and sentiment that clients love and end up using.

I’m the behind-the-scenes partner to big thinkers. Their authority exists, I just help to sharpen it and make it more commercially usable.

Another reason I’m happy this happened, is it confirms my belief that words and ideas alone, are not enough. The very reason this client has been so successful was their execution of this idea. It’s been flawless. They’ve been showing up for months with a tonne of excellent content. Their OBI was timely. They didn’t sleep on the opportunity, they ran with the plan we made. An idea alone is worth nothing without execution and repetition.

Too many OBIs gather digital dust, which saddens me.

Why do I share this? Because I’m wondering if I should be more vocal about this creative editorial role I play with clients. It’s very different to just a ‘coach’ label.

For now, I’m not going hard on it. I see it more an added bonus that clients get alongside the structure, commercial direction, and emotional support my work provides. But I could be wrong on this. Let’s see.

Thing 3: My offers

Authority Letters and Authority Club are in full swing.

Across those, plus 1:1 clients, I’m working with around 50 people which means there’s now a lot of data to look at.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I see that the best results happen for those who access both support programmes, and some 1-1 time, too.

Which has led me to explore my offers once again, and how I might ‘cut it’. There’s absolutely something brewing and that’s exciting.

But these decisions are not fast. They require deliberate review of how to structure everything in ways that both serve client’s needs and optimise for results, and make sense alongside active programmes that are in flow. And, they have to optimise for my own needs. Specifically, the need to do work that energises me, in ways that are sustainable in the long haul.

I’m certain that protecting my energy is part of my job, so that I can give, guide and lead at my best.

Thankfully, pretty much everything I do today gives me energy and I can work at a high capacity, and want to protect that. I have created time back since moving to scaled, group offers. Most weeks, I have two non client days on the calendar. It’s been great exploring how to use this time for strategic projects, partnerships or something more serendipitous that might come in.

Thing 4 - Creaky Systems

With that volume, my systems are starting to feel it.

Many of which I’ve strung together. I use Beehiiv for this newsletter, Slack for internal comms, Circle for Authority Club, Maven for Authority Letters, Notion for ops and CRM and other finance tools, too.

As my team member Esme is well aware, we have some cracks: missed enquiries, small gaps during launches, things not quite syncing.

Nothing catastrophic just enough to know it needs attention and we’re now testing new setups to find out what will hold at the next level.

Those are my things!

In terms of working through them? I took a week “off” at the start of March to read, think and explore some options. This provided me space for a completely new set of ideas to come through and some obvious things to ‘click’.

I also have people in my corner I speak to regularly, and the structure and support of a business mentorship programme.

With these in place, I know that all my ‘things’ will get sorted pretty quick. Until new ones emerge, of course!

If any of this resonates, I’d love to hear what’s on your mind too. I read and reply to every email.

Until next time,

Ellen