The In-Between Report
A Bi-Weekly Look At The Work Behind The Work
Welcome to The In-Between Report. My bi-weekly check-in on what I’m learning as I build my personal brand and stay creative. These are the small insights, shifts, and reminders that usually show up in the quiet moments. Maybe something here finds you where you are.
📈Episode 2, Q1
😬As I thought about what to write, this installment started the same way the season has felt: a bit uncertain, unstructured, and brutally honest. Over the holidays, I intentionally stepped away to reassess and settle into my new niche of health and wellness. I gave myself nearly three full weeks to slow down, rest, and actually enjoy food again.
Somewhere between quite mornings, plenty of napping, and discovering pickled shrimp 🦐(after living in Louisiana for seven years and somehow never trying it before🤦🏾♀️), I remembered how necessary pauses really are.
That made space for clarity.
Behind the scenes, I made several foundational updates to my site, adding a Work With Me section, creating a lead form for potential clients, and finally acknowledging that my online shop is still a work in progress.
Instead of forcing it, I added a simple coming soon placeholder while I make time to create products that feel natural and aligned with Digital Drip by Aliya.
In that clarity, I saw that not everything needs to be rushed, and taking my time will make everything feel really special.
My consistency dipped during the holidays. I was still scrolling LinkedIn, but noticing people still posting, even on Saturdays. It was clear that consistency doesn't take holidays off.
There were moments when I could have posted, but didn’t. Not because I didn’t care, but because I didn’t have the energy to perform. And instead of forcing it, I paid attention to what that resistance was teaching me.
Sometimes showing up looks like engagement, not broadcasting.
Sometimes it looks like learning instead of posting.
A lesson that surfaced for me: you don't know what you don't know, so try to learn it all. Narrowing my focus, knowing the broader landscape of digital marketing, the language, the systems, and the strategy all help in how I communicate and run my business.
👥What is your business without relationships? What is life without relationships?
The two of them are inseparable.
As I continue to brand myself not only in ecommerce but as a health and wellness writer, my biggest metric by far is my connection with people on and offline.
We don't have much if we don't have true relationships with our clients. The best ones are mutually respectful, honest, and at times give way to compromise. Because at the end of the day, we're all human, reaching for the same hopes, crushing the same fears, and navigating our work all at the same time.
🚪🗝️This is where engagement unlocks the doors to relationship.
It's not enough to post and hope someone sees your post. You can't engage with 2 people and scream, 'No one's seeing my posts!' Akin to this world we all live in, the internet is also a big ole place, and if you're not dancing on the street or knocking on doors, no one knows you exist.🎤💥
Make noise! Celebrate yourself online! Be cringe!
It all matters.
Every step moves the needle.
Here's my biggest takeaways this month:
Study your craft and be the expert you know you want to be.
Don't be a spectator in your own personal branding. Engage, engage, and engage some more. ( Did I mention engage?)
Show up/grind/post on a Saturday, because, at least when you're starting, that's often when attention, clients, and momentum are built.
This has been The In-Between Report
With Aliya Banks
Digital storyteller exploring self-love, creativity, and modern marketing.
