According to Merriam-Webster, a vine is a type of plant whose stems require support and that climbs or grows along the ground and has twisting stems. That sounded a bit stiff so let’s soften things up. Basically, a vine needs support to grow, thrive and be happy. Climbing the SEO vine, starting from a simple little plant, is both complex and challenging. This is my woman’s journey in marketing.
Climbing the SEO vine is what I am doing with linksandmaria.
This journey is so many things – exciting, confusing, and everything in between. 
Confident businesswoman anyone?
The idea of the successful businesswoman is that she is confident, happy, and strong. Just a week ago, I found myself looking at all these super-cool women on Instagram and immediately felt anything but confident.
I had feelings of confusion and doubt. Instead of feeling encouraged or taking action and actually doing an SEO task, I started to research what seed I should be planting next, if that plant would turn out cute, started researching different types of seeds and BAM! – three hours had passed.
The positive thing is that I now knew more about a certain tomato seed but apart from that I felt a bit empty, I got very sidetracked.
So maybe the idea of the “confident businesswoman” feels a bit outdated. Of course, confidence is a good thing but it’s also okay to have other feelings, to get sidetracked, to feel lost – all while climbing the vine.
Having limiting beliefs as a business woman
How much will the vine grow? Will it even grow? I don’t know about you but I still have many beliefs that are so limiting, and that are not kind at all.
When I started out on my woman’s journey in marketing, I believed that I could only target the Swedish market–it’s what I knew best and was my native language.
I also knew that it wasn’t the norm in my friendship group. 9-5 grind, secure corporate job, going on vacation every year – that’s what was kind of expected.
It was a huge step for me to even register the business, to start doing outreach in Swedish, and then to start writing articles like this or even doing actual link building jobs in English. Was I “allowed” to do this?
Of course, I knew on a theoretical level I was allowed, but feelings are not always the friendliest type of beliefs.
The vine needs support when it climbs, and so did I.
The obsession about being unique
I had been so obsessed with understanding what my unique selling point was, and that I actually didn’t realize it was there all along.
Questions like “Who am I” “What makes me unique” and “What is my unique business idea” kept spinning around my head, all while I was watering my zucchini plants (and being angry when they weren’t growing!)
And then it kind of made sense. This is my thing!
I am the plant-lady who does SEO and builds links.
We get bombarded with all types of business information about how to niche down and find profitable niches. And that is not unimportant. But I think it’s more about backing yourself and being kind about your own quirkiness – that could actually be your USP, or a part of it.
Women entrepreneurs are super-heroes (but not robots)
I know I am repeating myself, but the vine needs support in order to grow and to flourish. Even with the right type of support, branches will break and leaves will fall to the ground.
If it’s a bad year, maybe the vine won’t climb at all. Or it will climb very little.
Even if you have all the best types of support, things may not work out for whatever reason. Even for female entrepreneurs. However, if we can reflect and take a step back and actually involve our feelings and be honest with ourselves we can get back at it.
Keep climbing the vine with kindness
Starting a business as a woman is hard, to keep going is even harder. Finding your way, finding a sense of belonging and believing in yourself–it’s challenging.
And not getting sidetracked by cute tomato seeds or getting angry with zucchini plants that are not doing their job. Feelings of confusion, doubt and anger are part of the journey, and they need space and respect.
That is not the same as saying we should all do yoga 24/7 and forget about the business perspective. But the vine needs the right support.
Whether you are a woman who’s into marketing or into a completely different field, your own vine needs the right type of support. Sometimes leaves will fall off, sometimes it may not even grow the way you want it to. In a kind space we can continue to climb the vine.
I will continue to climb my SEO vine.
Author: Maria-Katarina Johannesson is the founder of Linksandmaria. Plants, link building, and cute dogs are her thing. Sometimes, she even dances with plants! If you want to catch up and see her talk about SEO, link building, and her plant adventures, check her out on TikTok @linksandmaria.
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