Four benefits of marketing my online business without social media

And an invitation to join the waitlist for Grow ✨

Have you submitted your questions yet for the free (prerecorded) office hours? Submit them by February 17th through the form below, I’d love to answer them!

This month, it’s been 3 years and 4 months months since I left social media. 3 years and 4 months without a single post, reel or story. 3 years and 4 months without thinking about the algorithms, the perfect image, the perfect light.

It’s also been 3 years and 4 months since marketing finally started to feel good to me. 3 years and 4 months of marketing my business in a way that is all me. 3 years and 4 months of doing what I want to do—and of booking amazing clients and customers along the way.

In this post, I’m sharing 4 reasons why I love marketing without social media—and invite you to the waitlist for Grow if you too want to feel confident and intentional in your marketing.

#1 Less overwhelm

I am an introverted, easily overwhelmed person. I get sensory overload easily. I like quiet.

The constant scroll that Instagram encourages got to me really quickly. Being on the app meant fielding so many impressions that I often left feeling overwhelmed and simply icky.

But it wasn’t just being on the app that overwhelmed me. For years before I left in 2021, I tried to find the right way of showing up on the app. I tried content calendars; having set days for certain types of post (such as my Monday mantra posts); limiting the number of days I posted. None of it worked. I was playing a game where the rules, if they were clear to me at all, seemed to constantly be changing. Whatever I did, it was never enough.

I have to focus on only 3 marketing channels and that feels amazing.

#2 More focus

Just not having to come up with ideas for Instagram posts—which seemed to cost me considerably more energy than coming up with newsletters—has freed up so much brain space for me.

I feel so much more focused marketing on just the three channels I use now. I’m not scrambling to catch up with a particular channel. And, I’m not tempted to pick up my phone to ‘just quickly check Instagram’.

Have you received your free PDF with 3 easeful marketing strategies, tailored to your business, yet?

#3 Getting to do exactly what I want

One of the main reasons why I started my business was because I craved autonomy. Ironically, I immediately began to follow everybody else’s advice about marketing, trying to follow their rules. I didn’t regain the autonomy I craved until I left social media and restructured my marketing.

It’s your business and your marketing. You get to set the rules.

I often remind my clients that in their business, they get to set the rules. They get to decide what they do and don’t want to do—which is not something we’re used to. We grow up believing that we need to follow the rules, usually those of other people, and never really learn how to make our own. Your business is the perfect place to set your own rules, as is your marketing, as I show you in Grow.

#4 No need to take pictures of my tea cups

This last one sounds a bit frivolous, but not looking for the perfect shot, with the perfect, on-brand feel, has actually made a difference to me. Not everything has be content anymore, whether it’s a beautiful notebook, a cup of tea, or my office. While I still take the occasional picture of my tea (↓), I’m really happy to feel less of a pressure to be creating ‘content’ all the time.

The perfect light after days of grey hitting my teacup just right at NO FIRE NO GLORY.

But doesn’t an online business need social media?

But wait, you might say, isn’t running an online business without social media impossible? How do new people find you? How do new clients and customers discover you?

The short answer is: clients and customers find me through search engines, through recommendations here on Substack, and through Pinterest. Some of them find me through a guest podcast, or a guest blog or newsletter post.

The even shorter answer is: you don’t need social media to run an online business.

How new clients find me

If you want to market your business in a more intentional, confident way, in a gentler way, that allows you to use your strengths and follow your joy—then Grow is for you, whether social media is part of your marketing or not.

If you want to leave social media as I did, I’m very happy to support you to do just that in the programme (for instance through our monthly office hours). If you want to use social media differently, then I’m here for you too.

Grow is the marketing programme for people who dislike the word ‘marketing’.

In Grow I support you to create your own marketing blueprint, using the framework I’ve successfully used myself for years.

Grow launches in two weeks, on February 27th 🎉 Can’t wait to find out more about it, get bonuses (including a €100 discount) and extra marketing love? Join the waitlist for my free ebook, bonus resources, and early access to the launch.

Two of my favourite things about Grow:

1. It’s all about you. I provide the structure and framework, and within it you create your own marketing strategy. I don’t make promises, but I know that only by marketing in a way that actually fits in with you, your strengths, joys and business will your marketing ever work. I ge tot know your business through the onboarding questionnaire, and of course through your questions throughout the programme;

2. It’s hybrid. Are you the type who wants to do all the modules at once? Go ahead—all 6 modules are available from the start. Would you rather take it slowly? Perfect, you’ve got lifetime access to all the materials. Need some more accountability? The bi-weekly accountability emails, monthly office hours and live monthly planning calls have your back. Have an irregular schedule or unpredictable energy? The monthly office hours are prerecorded (you submit the questions whenever suits you) and the live planning calls are recorded too.

I’d love to know what resonates with you from this post! How do you feel about marketing with or without social media? And, if you have any questions about Grow, just reply to this email or send me a message, I’m happy to help.

I am really excited about Grow because it brings everything I do and believe together. Sharing about it with you feels truly delightful—I know that this programme is powerful if this is the right time for you. I can’t wait to welcome you on board ❤️ x

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