The internet is absolutely flooded with well-meaning advice for how to grow your business, which includes a whole heap of stuff about how you should (and shouldn't) show up in your digital presence.
That's all well and good, but that doesn't take into account what that looks like for your individual business needs and your individual personality type.
For some people, creating YouTube videos every week is a breeze. For others, a fortnightly blog post makes the most sense. Some love chatting on Stories, whereas others would rather dance on TikTok. Showing up as you means choosing the options that allow you to be the best version of you.
It's important to me that my clients feel comfortable with the brand strategy plan we create together. This means bringing in less of what everyone else says you should be doing, and more of what feels right in your heart.
This means knowing when and how to navigate around the rules, when to reject them out of hand, and when to tailor them in a way that makes sense to your business goals.
This doesn't mean hiding in a comfort zone. Almost nothing worth having is easy to get, after all. But it does mean gently challenging that comfort zone, in a way that still allows for growth.
Because if you hate doing something, you'll never do it. Just ask my accountant about my financial spreadsheets.
So how can you apply this to your business?
Write down all the things you could be doing to grow your business. This may include:
- Instagram posts, Stories, Reels and Lives
- Facebook posts, Stories and Lives
- Facebook group relationship building
- TikTok
- Blog posts
- Podcasts
- Guest blogging or podcasting
- YouTube
- Newsletters / email marketing
Now, rank these from highest to lowest, for what you perceive to be the most valuable. Valuable means thinking about where your audience is, what they're most likely to engage with, and what is most likely to convert both short and long term.
Blog posts have the longest shelf life but it's harder to get eyes on them, whereas Instagram Live's get you in front of your audience faster, but won't last as long. It's best to have a mix of rich content (blogs, podcasts, YouTube) with a mix of social content (Instagram, TikTok) for a holistic digital marketing plan.
Again, I say should, while urging you to keep in mind that anything you decide to do, should be based more on what you feel capable of, over what you feel like you 'should' do.
Finally, highlight each of these, one of three different colours from what feels like the most to least challenging to your comfort zone.
Rearrange your list in a way that prioritises some of the rich and some of the social platforms, and some of the comfortable, and some of the gently uncomfortable platforms.
You might find (like me), you're pretty chill about any and all of them. Seriously, if I had the time, I'd just create content for every single platform for my whole life. That's totally impractical though, so still, just pick a handful to start off with.
If some feel like more of a stretch than others, move them further down the list, as something you can come back to later as your confidence grows. Remember, your brand strategy can grow and evolve as you do.
Hopefully, at this point, you'll have some clear winners. You can pick a handful of options that feel doable, fun and challenging, while not being something you'll abandon after a month because you feel like you're pretending to be someone else!
Start there, build up your confidence, your audience and your business, before you start thinking about moving on to the next!
Until next time, be kind to yourself and create something remarkable!
Laura x
[RELATED] How to be your own Content Creation Inspiration
[RELATED] 4 Steps to a Story Driven Content Plan
[RELATED] What it actually means to Add Value in Content Creation
