Before we start talking about how to run a business without social media, let me share with you my life before I became a business and career coach for women of color and allies.
I was a former grassroots organizer and nonprofit fundraiser for over a decade. As a grassroots organizer, I averaged 400 phone calls per day, and knocked on 15 doors per hour reminding voters to Get Out To Vote.
I drove across the country in my truck and worked on campaigns from Ioww to New Mexico to Montana to Massachusetts.
(Yes, girls drive trucks heyyy. And how could I not do a yoga pose? I’m from LA!)
I was so good at what I did that I recruited 557 volunteers in Iowa within 6 months. I’m not even from Iowa. I even helped Congressional leaders make it to Capitol Hill.
But my proudest accomplishment was raising $1.1 million in student scholarships in 6 months, providing 200+ scholarships.
It doesn’t matter if it’s door knocking, phone calls, in-person meetings, Zoom meetings or social media. These are all different tools used to connect with people. When it comes to sales and having difficult conversations, it’s about listening and connecting.
Remember, your reputation isn’t based on what’s on the gram. Your relationship is based on the relationships you create and maintain.
Why do a lot of people not do this? Reach out and build relationships?
Because people get scared of rejection and get caught up in perfection and the shiny object syndrome.
Whether you’re selling products or services, you’re speaking to a human being who is deciding to buy from you or not.
In all transparency, I use social media platforms in my business.
But what I want you to hear is that I am not dependent on social media marketing
And I want to show you how you can also not depend on social media.
I’ve been working with my Marketing Strategist (who also happens to be one of my Legacy Lifestyle Inner Circle clients), Monica Schrock, in creating a holistic marketing strategy for my company.
For 2022, I’m being extremely intentional about how I want to connect with this Color Your Dreams community.
Here are 3 reasons why I’m being less dependent on social media:
1. I acknowledge that I do not own my content on social media, the social media companies do and they could take it away at any moment.
2. After watching the documentary, The Social Dilemma, the point of social media is to get you addicted to staying on the platforms. As much as I do love connecting with others digitally, I want to make sure I don’t stay out of touch and continue to stay connected with people IRL as opposed to URL. I want my community to read my content out of choice, and not addiction because of an algorithm. Even Lush announced they would be quitting Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok and Snapchat over safety concerns.
3. In all transparency, I find my most ideal and potential clients from referrals and renewals, as well as long form content like blogs and podcasts. I find that “cold leads” who find me with long-form content are more intentional in what they are looking for as well. In fact, 100% of my current Aligned Legacy Mastermind clients are from referrals. Also, how cute are my clients?!
If you do get clients from Instagram, here’s my tip:
I do have a number of clients who receive customers from Instagram. And if you are one of them, just like what I tell my clients — I want to encourage you to create an email list! Grab those clients and leads’ email addresses for deeper engagement and higher conversions. (Seriously, it’s a thing!)
Remember, Myspace? Anything can happen to social media platforms like when Instagram was down for a whole day back in September.
Here are some helpful tips on creating a business marketing plan (with or without social media):
1. What is your why? Why are you even creating this business in the first place? For me, it’s to honor my ancestors.
2. What is your mission? My mission is to create a sustainable, abundant, enriching way that isn’t cookie cutter and plays by the rules that work for them. Now, go journal what your mission is.
3. Understand your ideal client: This is business 101 for business owners. You must understand your ideal client, what are their big challenges? How old are they? How do they gather information?
4. What is your client journey? Do you know how your ideal client receives their information before buying? My clientele starts in their late 20s. They are more intentional about who they work with and like doing their research before investing. As a result, long-form content works best for me. This may be different for you, but try to understand your ideal client.
So, what are ways you can build your business without social media, while still growing your business?
1. Referrals and renewals – Yes the old school word of mouth to build relationships. This is our favorite in my company. As of January 2022, 82% of our business comes from referrals and renewals. How? My team and I focus on providing the best client service and ASKING for the referral.
2. Meet with people (including a family member) – Think about when you were a kid, you knew the best ice cream because of your cousin. I want you to think about connecting with people in-person (or virtually). Make a list of 10 people to connect with. Be brave, meet with folks in coffee shops, not just connect with them in a facebook group. Even bring business cards. And yes, people still use business cards!
3. Create a blog post like this – Why? People will get to know in an intimate way, and by knowing the most pressing topics for your ideal clients it will also help with our search engine optimization. Last year, I was focused on growing my SEO and it has resulted in an 1,108% ROI! What was interesting is that I followed my intuition, I was hearing that a couple of my clients were looking for a “WOC business coach” and found me. I realize, if I focus on my SEO I can get more people to find me. As a result, when you search for me on Google I’m #1 – #3 (after the ads). Go Google “WOC business coach” for yourself. You can also Google:
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- “Women of Color Business Coach”
- “Business Coach for WOC”
- “Business Coach for Women of Color”
- “Business Coach for Female Entrepreneurs“
- “Business Coach for People of Color”
- “Business Coach for POC”
- Special shout out to my SEO Strategist, Andres Aguero.
- Email Marketing – Social media is constantly changing, but email marketing hasn’t. Also, email marketing is something YOU own, and you can carry your audience from platform to platform. What are ways you can get people to opt in to your email? You can have a weekly newsletter like we do, or share an opt-in like my Aligned Legacy Meditation.
Now what?
If you would like further support in your career, business, or leadership, my team and I would love to support you in creating a sustainable life! You can schedule a 30-minute legacy business or career review call with me to see if it’s a good fit to work together, and you’ll receive 3 action-items from me.
