Self – Promotion

The Days Ahead – I write this article for those of you who have small part-time businesses or are thinking about working or selling on-line. As evidence of my ability to write this article, I offer this website as proof. We have at worse two-hundred and best one-thousand Visitors a day here on LEN, and it seems to have an increasing voice within the Well Being, Wellness and Alternative Health Community and LEN enjoys World Wide Visitors.

We are in the early days of a long journey, and while the first few days will take much adjustment, it is essential to consider the time ahead. While I am in no position, nor do I possess the knowledge to advise on the how’s of one’s daily life, I can offer specific suggestions on how to pace social media posts. And how to gain traction with your business or services.

If you offer ‘hands-on’ services you may think you are in a difficult place, indeed you may already feel helpless to find direction. Be clear in your mind: the objective should be to keep in touch with your clients and those you work with: Failure to do this will set you back. Therefore it is imperative to stay in contact with all who support you, and you can help each other by sharing your knowledge. Do this with your friends and help them to share your work. magic will happen.

Do not think a focus group will help you in the long term. Yes, there is vital support available from the wise and knowledgeable. But one must accept that a group of a thousand business people or a thousand therapists are within their sphere. And while there will be an opinion and wise counsel, the fact remains that your future is with keeping clients. Now is the time to think outside of the box.

The most important asset available to you is time. You have the time to make headways. In eight weeks, many people will be looking back and realise they have missed an opportunity: Because you have the unique opportunity to look long and hard at your business and how it could benefit from a thorough promotional spring clean.

How does one gain visibility?

Many people believe that whenever they share information on social media, many people will see the post. The reality is an average of 25 people see the post and three will engage with it! Worst of all is if the post is too often repeated, ‘friends’ become ‘snow-blind’ to the information. Thousands of people waste hours thinking sharing with friends helps business thrive. The reality is: friends already KNOW what other friends do: and one has to acknowledge how many friends purchased services during the last 12 months.

Therefore one has to find multiple ways of sharing information:

Information should be displayed on platforms which have plenty of passing traffic. Imagine the billboard in the town or on the roadside. Tens of people drive by an hour: they may not be needing or thinking about the product advertised, but the product will register in the mind.

For example, LEN and LizianEvents Group have plenty of passing traffic. And we encourage Community, and like-minded people use the platforms to their advantage. Regular readers see the push toward connectivity and displaying the work of, and information about people who are part of the concept. Do not forget the shows and events are conceptual and evolving. And because of this, the sites have 100’s of engagements. So there is a strong possibility of your posts becoming visible. Therefore, wherever a promotion is placed: the platform chosen should be one where there is an eclectic mix of contributions. Of course one has to search to find the right platform.

What should you post?

Write about people and share their work: Copy and paste information about friends and colleagues. Think about the times when one enjoyed an aspect of work and share the experience. Do not become a moaner or soapbox preacher; demonstrate fairness and open-minded thought. These are essential pointers to gaining visibility. A kind word is treasured forever, malice is remembered forever, make your choice. Most do not comment on stupidity, but they will remember. I’ll come to self-promotion in a paragraph or two. However, one should be clear; it is essential to mix your information within a sea of shares promoting of other peoples endeavour.

Once you have a personal message:

Consider if the content is right for the purpose. Remember, it is easy to write something provoking and with a deeply held opinion. However, for every friend you win from posting an opinion, you’ll lose five more! I’m not writing one should stay neutral, far from it! The suggestion is to make ones comments fair and without bias. And it is essential not to be suggestive, people see through sleight and make no mistake most do not like innuendo. I spoke to a Visitor at a show who comments ‘I wouldn’t buy from them: I don’t like their Facebook posts!’. Remember, win one, lose five!

When the message is ready:

Take care with how many times your promotion goes out. If you fire out an advertisement every five minutes, it will no longer register with the viewer. If the message is sent out twice a day: Morning and evening, it will make an impression. Make the message simple and clear.

For example:

‘The Celebration of Well Being will take place on 18 +19 July at Newark Show Ground’ is a defined message. Readers will interpret the message correctly, and if they seek more information they’ll do so:

An alternative could be ‘Ethically Gifted products support those people whose small businesses support their fragile community’ is a powerful and accurate message. And one which is easily remembered.

If the news is a l-o-n-g m-e-s-s-a-g-e… people will not read the information. The real trick comes in when time is spent each day thinking up new short slogans around the theme.

If the message is one of inspiration: be careful: too much too often: soon becomes ignored and can become repetitive. Is easy to begin something daily and run out of steam a week or so later. Possibly a better way of sending out inspirations is to write the piece and then spilt it down into seven parts: one a day for a week. I ruined a well-subscribed weblog when I cut back from twice-weekly articles to random posts. Once read by a few hundred each week, it is now lucky to have thirty views. If I’d posted one article a week, it would still have a good following.

Take time to digest this lesson. A corner shopkeeper knows he must stay open every day and for long hours. His shop is vital to local people. Although the keeper trades on thin cotton, the thread of business is easily broken, customers desire consistency and the customers will not always be visible. If he closes his shop for a fortnight holiday he’ll lose customers. A salient observation of the amount of hard work need for a small business to survive.

In the way, if one begins a promotional campaign understand the first weeks will be slow going and seemingly without attention. It takes time, effort and above all consistency to attain log term awareness. Break the thread and people will soon think the business is dead.

OK! That is enough for today: Here are a few conclusions:

There is a long journey ahead
Use this time to your advantage
Think of ways of staying connected
Share the work of friends
Choose your words with care
Jump on platforms which have varied visitor traffic
Do not over-promote
Consistency wins
As does continuity

Have fun promoting your work and the work of family, friends and colleagues. We could have eight-weeks of social distancing ahead of us, and many attitudes will change. Anyone who chooses to work an hour a day on promotion and to keep people aware of one’s work will see the future as a great opportunity.

See You Soon