When you’re starting out there are so many tasks you need to perform yourself. And I get it – I’ve been there too. Not having money for outsourcing, getting by in your first months of business. In our advanced world, you don’t have to do everything yourself and you don’t need to hire people straight away. What you can do instead is start by using fantastic tools: apps and systems. Today I want to show you 5 tools growing your audience.
1. Lead Generation
A business is just an expensive hobby without clients.
One of the biggest challenges of online entrepreneurs is not knowing how to turn viewers, readers and followers into clients. One of the must-have tools, when you’re starting out or want to grow online, is an email automation system. It helps you build trust, authority and create a wonderful relationship with your audience.
You can start building your list offline too. In the past few years, I tried a few systems with various features. My current favourite one is Get Response. It has many useful options. Basic ones: list segmentation, premade opt-in forms, landing pages, drag-n-drop email builder. More advanced such as scoring, tracking and workflow creation. You can create client journeys based on their behaviour. Done correctly, it will change your business forever.
P.S. Join here to get a £20 credit to use at GetResponse.
2. Facebook Groups
There are tons of them, majority not that great. Use them for research, online ‘listening’, networking and authority building (creating your own). Before you jump into them though know that you need a strategy whether you decide to take part or curate one. It takes a lot of time to become recognizable in them thus limiting your presence to just a few (ideally not too big ones). If creating your own – don’t panic if it is small. Utilise what you have (have a strategy). I was able to get clients from my own groups as small as 30 people.
3. Instagram Love
Not being present on social media is a luxury only a few niches can afford. Even the most bizarre industries join the conversation. Having a loyal follower base can prove super helpful. Having big numbers of followers is one thing. Knowing how to manage these audiences and convert them into clients is another.
The world of social media moves fast. Every blink of an eye there are millions of new posts. Sometimes it feels like we would need to have an army of employees to work for us to keep up. That’s why to get some sanity you can plan your posts in advance and only show up on the day to engage.
It’s much easier to write a bunch of your posts in one go. Write them as a sequence to increase conversion. Especially if talking about specific event or promotion. Design your own grid on Instagram so it looks more consistent with your brand. For this specific task and to autopost (business accounts) I am using Planoly.
PLANOLY Features:
- Posts Planning
- Stories Planning
- Auto Posting (for business profiles)
- Grid Design – drag-n-drop
- Statistics of each photo
- Hashtag Organisation (create your lists of # – then just copy and paste)
- Analytics: likes, comments, followers, by week/year or even by comparison to specific time frames
- Reply to comments from within the app
- Make your feed shoppable
4. Video
Ok, it’s not technically a tool you hold in your hand or an app. Yet it is one of the biggest drivers behind my brand. The world where attention is one of the most valued assets, a video is the deal breaker. Images are great but they work as short boosters. Blogs are amazing, but it’s hard to follow with many on the market. What you can’t forget though is the one thing we have that’s closest to a real human connection – video.
If you, like me, struggle with getting your personality across via text, a video is a way to go. Going live, pre-recording or creating stories is an amazing way to connect on a human level. Don’t worry if when you start, you stumble. It’s the personality that gets someone to invest or buy from you. Even the biggest brands such as Nike, Net-A-Porter or Audi incorporate video.
Since I incorporated it into my strategy, the response of my audience became warmer. And though my YouTube channel is still in its infancy stage I already see a huge potential.
5. ASANA
When I worked at my corporate job we served fifteen regions. Every single region had at least three people my team supported. You can only imagine how many tasks we were getting assigned to us. This is where task and people management system comes in place. I learned about ASANA some time ago and it changed my life.
I am using it to plan my own content (content calendar), train and manage contractors. My 1-on-1 clients get to enjoy having a regular form of communication. It’s amazing for service providers such as designers, photographers, etc. You won’t lose an agreement, a contract and all details are in one place.
No matter what you use in your daily activities your brain is the most important asset in your business. Deciding on apps, programs and other tools needs to be personal and based on your own preferences.
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I hope you found these tools growing your audience helpful. I certainly was grateful when I found and started using them regularly. Our attention and time are limited so having elements of your biz that are automated is a necessity. It keeps you sane in the sea of to-do lists, strategies to keep up with and content to be produced.
What are your favourite tools that you use? I would love to know. Let me know in the comments below.
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