I don’t know about you but whenever I think I’ve been like a broken record about my business and upcoming events etc there are always people who haven’t seen my stuff. I wonder if you can actually ever do too much promotion? If you think about how global brands,  famous all over the world, like Coca Cola and McDonalds are relentless with their advertising, I expect the answer is no. You never see them slackening off of having a break from touting their wares because everybody knows about them. 

 

When I talk to my FAB Business Club members and other female solopreneurs the topic of marketing often crops up. We all want more sales but don’t like selling and marketing is a pain. We just want to spend our time doing our *thing* that we really enjoy. And yes, I know you can outsource things, but what if that’s not accounted for in your marketing budget (what marketing budget? Lol) then what? You’re back to the ‘I never know what to post’ zone and get content constipation. 

 

When you have content constipation your visibility becomes even more hit and miss because you’re not being consistent. You might have flurry of activity, a creative burst and post lots of stuff for a few days and then dry up. You need some content prompt ‘prune juice’ to get you back to being more regular. 

I’ve had my thinking cap on and been going back to basics the past week or two, so I thought I’d give you a shot of my prune juice and share some of my tips for boosting your visibility both on and offline. 

 

1.    Create when you’re most likely to be in the mood. Set aside some time each week/fortnight/month for planning your regular stuff. For example, I tend to be more practical and ‘list ticky’ in the morning and creative in the afternoon. So it makes sense for me to block out time to do creative jobs later in the day and I plan in blog writing for Monday afternoons. 

 

2.    Ensure you’re active and consistently engage on your preferred social media platforms. Don’t spread yourself too thinly. It’s better to be consistent in one place where you know your audience hang out than try and be everywhere all of the time. You can decide what consistent means to you – once a week/every other day/ Monday to Friday etc. Share content that your tribe will find interesting, entertaining or of educational value content. That’s up to you too – mix it up, it’s good to keep your content varied, see what gets the most engagement and respond to comments. 

3.    It helps me to work with a content calendar for my blogs and social media. I plan ahead with the basic theme of the content, making  sure there’s a varied mix of topics. Once this is done, I don’t have to think too much when I’m creating the actual posts. You can plot in some of those ‘awareness days’ but try and keep them relevant and on brand – don’t just do them all for the sake of it. 

 

Here are a few other ideas to help you plan ahead: 

 

·         Weekly tip – be informative and educational, not everybody knows what you know 

 

·         Behind the scenes – people love a nosy, share a photo of your desk for starters 

 

·         User generated content – e.g. client pic with your book/product 

 

·         Question of the week – make sure it’s easy to respond to (yes or no replies) and there are no wrong answers e.g. what’s your favourite colour etc – keep it vaguely relevant to your biz though. It’s ok to have a random thing every now and again but not all the time cos you want people to know what you do. 

 

·         Product of the week – showcase one of your offers 

 

·         Industry news – show that you are up to date with what’s going on 

 

·         Spotlight on a team member – might even be your dog – pets are always good for engagement 

 

·         Throwback Thursday – dip into your Facebook memories or archives 

 

·         Do a ‘this or that’ poll 

 

·         Fun Friday – save up memes that resonate with your audience in a folder on your phone and share them as you wind down for the weekend 

 

·         Drip feed – try delivering something over a few days in a few parts 

 

·         Seasonal content – I created an advent calendar in December, we’ve got Easter coming up, what can you do around that? 

 

·         Mix it up with Canva graphics, photos, short form and long form text only posts, video etc 

4.    Optimise ‘Google My Business’ – it’s free to do this and get your business on the map. Keep your business information up to date, add posts and photos regularly, and encourage customers to leave positive reviews there. You’ll just need to have a Gmail account. 

 

5.    Speaking of reviews, how often do you remember to ask for them? You can showcase positive customer testimonials on your website and as social media content. This builds trust and credibility in you and your personal brand. Screen shot them and upload them as photos, get into the habit of asking for them and sharing them regularly. 

 

6.    Online directories, these are usually free for a basic listing. If it’s relevant get your business on online directories and review sites. This improves your online visibility and can attract new customers. I got lots of clients in this way when I was in the make up business. 

 

7.    Get involved in local events and maybe think about sponsorships. When you participate in or sponsor local events it not only supports your community but also increases your brand visibility. 

8.    Build your ‘list’. Don’t rely just on social media platforms for your business visibility. Facebook and Instagram, then Linkedin all went down last week, albeit temporarily, but it could a disaster if you don’t have any other way to contact your audience. You’ll need a compelling lead magnet for this and some platform for collecting email addresses that is GDPR compliant. As your list grows you can launch targeted email marketing campaigns, offer promotions, share valuable content as blogs etc, and encourage  your subscribers to share with their network. 

 

9.    Write articles/blogs – you don’t even need a website to do this. You can upload articles to your LinkedIn profile. That way they come up in Google searches too I believe. You could create a free account with Medium or Substack too and share your thoughts there for free. 

 

10. Collaborate with likeminded business buddies who share the same target audience but aren’t your direct competition. Even buddy up with local businesses who are aligned to what you do to cross-promote each other and expand your reach within the local community e.g. when I did wedding make up many moons ago the local florist gave out my business cards to her brides and vice versa. 

Implementing some (or all) of these steps will help boost your visibility quickly and efficiently, most things I’ve mentioned are free or low cost. You just need to invest some time to schedule the work in and then you can regularly monitor analytics (if you’re that way inclined) to assess the impact and adjust your strategies as needed. Before you know it, you’ll be a mean, lean, marketing machine. 

 

Let me know if you try any of the tips