How are y’all dealing with the yet again prolonged #WFH quarantine life? Are you ready to step up the game in building strong and no-bull social connections?
I hear you. With everything that we’re experiencing in 2020 alone - an entire pandemic, massive global changes, and reforms that are happening all over work industries, sometimes it does feel like it's impossible to socialize with anyone anymore especially when we’re literally stuck at home.
We have to get out of this hole. This too shall pass. Inject new ideas for a new page in life. Focus on the blessings and the good that we still get to enjoy during an uncertain time like this. It is time to pivot. It is time we make adjustments. And it is time to leverage what we have and turn it into open doors of opportunities.
Our hopes and dreams are waiting for us to take flight. Believe it or not, right now could be the best moment for you to take some action from that brilliant business idea that you’ve written down in your journal a few Christmases back then. All we need to do is to remind ourselves of the why’s, connect and power through our purposes, then lay out some plans strategically and take action.
I’ve got you, friend.
I’d like to share with you here my two cents on some totally workable zero-cost strategies that you could apply right away to start building your professional brand.
Thanks to the digital world, we can now host Zoom meetings in the fluffiest pants we own, order scented candles from a nice New Zealand lady located in Belgium with just a few clicks on the web, and graduate from a certificated professional crochet online course in 4 weeks’ time - you get the idea. Btw, imagine trying to explain all these to your ancestors. Sometimes I can’t resist to pause for a moment just to process how much we have evolved as humans. #MindBlown
So, why don’t we take full advantage of the free resources we enjoy in this digital era we’re in, connect to business partners with virtual handshakes, and build meaningful relationships with potential clients by means of virtual coffee chats?
Establish Your Online Presence
Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. These are the top social platforms today that we could utilize to build a personal and professional branding. Take Instagram for an example, it is currently one of the fastest growing platforms. 1 billion people use Instagram every month, and 200 million Instagram users visit at least one business profile daily. Just in the US alone, 75.3% of the businesses use Instagram in 2020, and Instagram’s potential advertising reach is up to 849.3 million users. The other cool part about this is, there is actually 42% of the world population who are already social media platform users as of 2020 (and that’s a whopping 3.2 billion people we’re talking about), but only a portion of them know the tricks to get the most out of these social platforms to build their brand and businesses.
Within minutes, anyone could create a free account on these social platforms. Yet, if you want to build a trustworthy and high converting brand and business, it will require a bit more effort than that. And I don’t mean going straight away to paying ads. As I advise my private 1:1 business clients, don’t invest in advertising until you can prove that you could gain results organically. I’m going to explain to you how we could do this.
First, you want to make an impression. From the brand name that people recognize you with, your professional title which showcases your expertise, social media bio, graphics & photos, all the way to the color palette that represents you. Keep in mind to stay consistent with your branding throughout every social platform so as to make sure that your brand is authentic and could be easily searched.
Next, give people an idea of what you can do and offer. Let them know how you can serve them and how you can help them solve their problems.
Now, social media platforms have offered you a great way to expose and promote your brand and business entirely for free. If we want to convert these followings and traffics and transform them into sales, we need a place where we could actually sell.
Creating a website for your brand and business can be a good way to display your services or products if your budget allows. Notice though that it is not an absolute must that you start a website right at the beginning. You can easily create a Facebook and Instagram online store for free. When you’re ready to take the sales to the next level, you may want to consider investing in an effective online selling platform or website building platform such as Etsy, Shopify, Wix, or ClickFunnels, depending on your business nature and needs. The tactic is to showcase the amazing offers and values that you bring to your potential clients through your website landing page and sales pages. Creating and incorporating marketing and sales funnels on your website could also help position you and your brand as the authority in your field. In that way, you could build connections with your potential clients, while at the same time position yourself as the go-to expert.
Creating High Impact Contents
As mobile video consumption rises by 100% each year, video content has become one of the most effective content strategies in the digital marketing world. People find videos more engaging and more memorable visually. According to researchers, views retain 95% of the message when they watch it on a video, compared to 10% when they read it in text.
With this latest social content trend, YouTube has become the second most popular website in the world after Google. And here’s a crazy stat from G2 Crowd, social video generates 1200% more social shares than text and image content combined.
Utilize your video content on your Instagram page, Facebook page, YouTube channel, and on your website landing page and sales pages.
You can start by creating a simple video about what you do. An introduction of your brand, your visions and missions, your backstory, and your past challenges as the creator of this brand. It could also be a form of free educational content. For instance, a tutorial or coaching video to nurture your prospects, and to give them a taste of what level of value they would receive if they opt-in to your services or products.
Create and Nurture Your Leads For Your Business
With this digital era filled with ads anywhere your eyes land on, people have developed a new skill and are able to smell an ad from a few miles away. How do we pierce through the interest of people, wake them up like a shock of lightning - when they were just planning to get online to browse on cat memes?
The number one tip in a nutshell is, if you want to nurture your leads, you need to first raise awareness on the challenges and problems that your potential clients are experiencing. Educate your prospects, introduce them tangible solutions, then create a genuine relationship with them via comment boxes, direct inbox messages (DMs), and emails. Once you have reached this step, congratulations, you have earned your chance to directly talk about your offer and to actually sell the products or services to your potential clients.
Hang Out With a Community
As the saying goes, “Birds with the same feather, flock together.” It is best to join and associate with online groups or communities that line up with your interests.
So, whether you’re a wantrepreneur, a full-time employee ready to quit your day job to become your own boss, a part-time student, a mom, a freelancer, a photographer, or a coach, you can always find a group of people who are going through or have been through a similar stage and path with yours. Go exchange ideas and interact with them. Once you have connected with your new business besties who share the same alignment and mindset as yours, you won’t ever feel like you are walking alone anymore in your solopreneur journey.
On Facebook alone, you would be able to locate hundreds to thousands of groups and communities. Choose one that you are comfortable with and feel connected with. Go with like-minded individuals. It is the new way of mingling just as if you were in a good ol’ networking event. Members of social communities could ask questions in the group to exchange ideas, ask for opinions about their challenges, and even share their personal and business wins so that others could celebrate them and their milestones along the way.
Connecting with other groups could provide potential leads for your business too. Even if you don’t have a service or product yet, you will surely gain insights and ideas from studying other people’s cases. After all, knowledge and experiences are the most valuable currency that makes you stand out from the others.
Dedicate a "Social Hour"
Some people think of it as a chore, some consider it an assigned task for their jobs. Socializing online for your business is actually a fun game if you set clear purposes and goals. Create a simple social media calendar by using an excel sheet or free apps such as Asana. Sit down and use a day to plan out your content for the month. Set a particular time and duration that you engage and interact with on your account could make it less overwhelming and easier to stay consistent. #ConsistencyIsQueen
Everything Is Gonna Be Okay
Lastly, I would like to congratulate you on making it this far to this point in your life where you are right now. I truly believe that everything we are going through has a reason and a lesson behind it. You are exactly where you are meant to be. And a year from now, you will wish that you had started today.
Drop me a DM @queen.b_official or email me at admin@queenb-official.com and let’s talk about how to make your business idea come true today. I can’t wait to see you succeed!
