It’s not surprising that business owners feel overwhelmed or lost in a sea of Facebook or website advice. There are so many people out there telling you what to do. I admit that I’ve been sucked into it too. I remember getting on a call about how to be a social media manager only to be told that all I need to do is subscribe to Social Media Examiner and then I could happily charge whatever I liked to the poor unsuspecting business owners. What the?!
While I advocate connecting to your clients from the heart as the best way to approach your customers, there are some technical skills in actually getting your message out there. This is where the tech blogs come in handy, but I want you to realise something about the vast majority of them.
They are written for the US market. I know the internet is global, but when you are an Australian business, selling to Australian customers – some of their hints just don’t work. Here’s why.
Volume
Yes, there are a few Australian businesses with tens to hundreds of thousands of followers, but in the main, most of us creative businesses (yes, I own one) are lucky to have a couple of thousand. These advice blogs generally base their information on the performance of the large businesses with tens to hundreds of thousands of followers. In Australia, we just don’t have the population to build these numbers. It is easier, and more impressive, to show statistics where the numbers are in the thousands – but you need to ask what the actual percentage of their total fans these numbers represent.
Trends
In the US, most blogs will advocate that creatives use Pinterest for sales. Unless you have a huge US fan base and can sell to the US, then you are wasting your time. There are only 600 000 Australians on Pinterest, compared to 14 million on Facebook. I used to spend hours each day on Pinterest (and not because I got sucked in) trying to post new content. When I realised that the majority of my fans could never be my customers (due to insurance) I radically reduced the time I spent feeding that beast. What did that do? Well it removed a lot of anxiety over having to find content, but it meant that I had more time to focus on my business and where Aussies hang out – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
Age
Most of the pages that they profile are for a younger demographic than the one you would have on your creative business page. They tend to profile Coke, Subway, Starbucks and the like. Do you think your ideal client is likely to like this page? Most of my clients have a core following in the 35-45 year bracket, most people in this age group have moved on from these businesses.
So where am I headed. You shouldn’t be hard on yourself if you try what the big guys suggest and it doesn’t always work. They are playing a different game, in a different league, and with different players. You just can’t expect the rules to apply to your heart-centred creative business. Yours is created on connection, service, and a whole different culture.
So what do you need to do instead? Connect to your client – show them you understand them, you have solutions to their problems. Speak from your heart – show them your passion. Be consistent – flip flops belong on your feet, not on your social media or website. Trust yourself – know that you are not alone.
If you would like any help with this, you can either book a free 30 minute consultation to discuss your needs, an hour of one-on-one coaching, or we can work together to develop an overarching strategy to grow and retain more customers.