It seems a bit late to be wishing everyone a Happy New Year but going to in anycase!
I spent the last few weeks of 2022 running a rather fun marketing campaign.
It was to promote the reason creative businesses should have a blog and all my posts were blog memed Christmas songs.
'Tis the Season to be Blogging' and 'Blogging around the Christmas Tree' certainly got noticed and will probably run it again this coming Christmas as it was such fun!
Lots of gorgeous wedding related businesses signed up to my second Blogging Brilliance Course. There is now a waiting list if you wish to be notified when it starts again you can sign up here.
Why should you have a Website and/or Blog for your Creative Business.
Creating content for platforms is great, if you are on Instagram, most are, it is a great piece of your marketing machine puzzle, along with Tik Tok, and other social media platforms you love to hang out on.
BUT YOU DON'T OWN IT.
Focusing all your efforts on social media is like decorating someone else's house, if they decide to tell you your stay is up what have you got left?
This isn't a scaremonger post but I do want you to consider how to grow your creative business in your own home first.
Think of your website like a shop, it looks pretty on the outside and encourages people in.
Your website link is on your Instagram profile so if they like your feed they will head over to take a look at your website (your shop).
Once they walk in they can see what you offer, get to know you and take a good look around.
If there is nothing in your shop they will be disappointed and leave.
If there is a whole host of goodies, they are going to hang around and pop back as a potential buyer when the time is right. Get my drift?
Blogs are Old Fashioned, why should I waste my time with one?
Blogs are anything but old fashioned. During this year and 2024 you will see a surge of blogs appearing as creative business owners realise the potential of creating a marketing power house utilizing blogs for SEO content.
A lot of the old responsive websites are already changing over to a heavy blog content website and there is a reason why, easy SEO.
As I work with creative business owners a common theme is they are beginning to feel tired running on the social media hamster wheel.
Yes they get enquiries and sales but at a cost of having to constantly be showing up.
They want to learn other ways to grow and market their businesses in a kinder, nurturing way, stepping back from the daily hustle and grind that is required on social media platforms.
You are running a business, you aren't a social media content creator yet the pressure to do video content, reels, TikTok to be seen, is huge.
Yet you can be seen on Google and Pinterest, there are lots of other places you can be marketing your businesses.
I am by no means knocking social media as it is brilliant and free, or paid if you do want to run ads, but many business owners would love to find a balance.
Creating content in house and then sharing across to social media makes perfect sense.
Plan a Blog Marketing Strategy
Recently I was chatting with one of my daughters who is creating a gorgeous food and table styling business but purely on Instagram.
She creates beautiful reels and content, is collaborating with other businesses and it is growing.
She has now realized her next step is to create a lifestyle blog, guess who will help!
Consumers welcome a quieter environment to escape to. This re-set started during the pandemic, many avoided social media due to triggers and to preserve their mental health.
Create a gorgeous space on your own website for them to retreat to, read your posts, learn a skill and just enjoy hanging out with you. They will thank you for it.
Grow an audience who adore you, this was the backbone of my success when I started my wedding business.
Clients from years ago still read my posts and remain connected with me as I bought a bit of joy and inspiration into their lives when they were planning their weddings or parties.
Blogs are the basis of every other marketing tool you use for your business. Pinterest, Google my Business, Substack, creating an email subscribers list, the options are endless. You can also generate income from your blog using affiliates, sponsors and brands.
Substack is another community building platform writers are migrating to. I will soon a blog post about Substack.
So where do I start with a Blog?
I work with technophobes as don't want anyone to suffer with overwhelm resulting in imposter syndrome.
My own daughter told me she froze the other day after googling setting up a blog and spent a day trying to figure it out, got nowhere and just sat there back at square one not knowing what to do.
She said she had been watching You Tube videos about setting up a Wordpress site and was so overwhelmed she thought she could never do it. She isn't even 30 so imagine how older ladies must feel.
Needless to say she is now being taken under my wing! Funny isn't it with daughters, they don't take much notice of what you do and yet it was staring her in the face!
So here is how you start, purchase a website domain name with a domain name provider. I purchase all mine on Go Daddy.
Then you start building a website on a platform like Wordpress, Wix, Squarespace, etc. I can share tips about the different platforms but if you have a tech phobia Wix by far is the easiest and user friendly.
Squarespace doesn't give you much time, I think it is two weeks before you have to pay whereas Wix you can spend a year creating a site and pay when you are ready to connect your domain name.
There is a certain snobbery about using Wordpress and I am sure for a reason but don't let this stop you in your tracks, as it did with my daughter, she was totally overwhelmed with the jargon. If something stops you, find another way.
Curating content for a blog is exciting but if you are not a writer it can be challenging at first. It is like learning to ride a bike, the more you practise the better you will become.
It is also important to learn how to blog properly, using searchable titles, headers, keywords and metatags.
This isn't difficult to learn, many make it sound so teccie but if you are able to create hashtags for your Instagram posts you are more than capable of understand this part of blogging. Let's make this easy.
What else can I do with my Blog?
As I mentioned previously the list is rather endless!
For creative business owners, Pinterest is the perfect place to share your blog content, whether it is a 'get the look', 'shop the look', read more, sign up, all the Call to Actions you wish to use to drive the Pinterest audience to your business.
Hint, all creative businesses should be on Pinterest!
Pinterest is the largest visual SEO traffic driving platform and not social media. You should be pinning your own work and not just sharing others inspirations if you are using it for your business.
You can create an email list using your blog, getting people to sign up to a newsletter or freebie to download are just two ways of starting an email list.
Connect with potential customers directly in their inbox. This audience are much more likely to buy from you as they signed up to something they are already interested in.
Using blog posts in your social media bios will increase traffic to your business and help you get more engaged followers.
You can use your blog to make money, 'passive income' is a big word out there.
You can incorporate affiliate links, paid partnerships, sponsors, sell online products.
Some examples for you, a recipe book, a recorded floral workshop for DIY brides, printables, wall art, the opportunities are endless and rather exciting.
If you are happy and getting enough enquiries through social media then brilliant.
But if you wish to create a sustainable business that will grow as you evolve then I highly recommend you start learning to create a gorgeous space in your own shop.
If this is something you would love to do with me holding your hand you can sign up here to be notified about my Blogging Brilliance Courses.