How new clients find me

+ an invitation to discover marketing beyond social media

The other day someone said to me, “of course social media is the easiest way for new clients and customers to discover a business”.

I hear that a lot.

And I disagree.

Because for many small businesses, social media is not the easiest way in which we get discovered at all—especially when you factor in the work it takes to keep posting on social media.

But if you’re considering marketing your business beyond social media, you might wonder, how does that even work practically? Without social media, how do new clients and customers discover your work?

In this post, I’ve collected all the ways in which new clients have found me over the past two years. It turned into an inspiring list that I hope will empower you to consider marketing beyond social media as well.

How new clients discover my work

Guest blog posts

I occasionally write guest posts for other people’s websites, like this one on 4 ways to market your book without social media for

Katie Sadler

’s blog, and this one on marketing for social media for

Sarah Robertson

’s blog.

Writing is one of the things I enjoy the most in my business, so writing these guests posts feels easeful and aligned to me. Katie asked me to write a post for her, and I pitched my idea for a post for the series of guest posts Sarah runs on her blog.

Both of these posts bring new people to my work, to my website, my newsletter and my group programme Marketing without social media.

Podcasts

A year ago Alice Sheridan interviewed me for Art Juice. Of all the outreach I’ve done over the past couple of years, this has made the biggest impact and it brought hundreds of new subscribers to my newsletter, as well as several new 1:1 clients—and continues to do so.

Google/search engines

Several new email subscribers and people who signed up for Substack for small business owners found me through Google—especially through the blog posts that I wrote as a response to the questions I was getting about Substack.

It’s a really pleasant surprise how much these have taken off!

My current top 3 most popular pages in terms of click-throughs (past 28 days):

1. Substack 101: how to use and enjoy Substack as a reader (424 clicks!)

2. Should you move your newsletter to Substack? (60 clicks)

3. How I quit social media for my business and what happened next (30 clicks)

I get these insights through Google Search Console, which you can set up for both your website and your Substack newsletter.

My website, and especially the blog posts on it, are a key part of how I market my business. The blogs work together organically and easefully with my newsletter on the one hand, and Pinterest one the other.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Optimizing our website is one of those things that many of us feel we should do, but have no idea how to approach it. Although I’m not an SEO-expert, I have learned a lot about it over the past years.

The most important things I’ve learned about using SEO:

1. You can take it gently and incrementally. There’s no need to work on all your pages at once, or to maximize them.

2. Use tools that come with your website builder (my website runs on Wordpress, and I use their free Yoast-plugin for help with SEO, especially selecting keywords for blogposts and writing search engine snippets).

3. This will become second nature. For me, the bulk of SEO-work I do is done through blogposts, where I think explicitly about engaging titles and using keywords. I don’t do regular, extensive keyword research though.

SEO is one of those things that you can just have ticking along in the background of your business.

Some of my favourite resources are:

• Studio Cotton’s blog posts on SEO

• Word by Word: SEO basics and blog posts and SEO

• Intuitive SEO, by Sophie Caldecott

Substack

In a recent post for paid subscribers I write a little about the Substack “network-effect” and the extent to which I experience it. While I’m sceptical about the stats that Substack offers, there’s no doubt that a considerable portion of new subscribers finds me through Substack: either through recommendations or referrals, or through shares or Notes. It is very rare that a new client is not a newsletter subscriber: my newsletter is the number one way for me in which readers become clients and customers.

Pinterest

Although I’ve been using Pinterest for years, I often find it hard to grasp its effect. It certainly draws new visitors to my website and blog posts, which I want it to do. But does it bring in new clients? I wondered about that, until just last week a new client reached out about working together. She’d found me through Pinterest. Marketing success!

Which of these things can you implement into your marketing? What feels exciting and expansive to try? Leave a comment to join the conversation.

Discover my way of working and how your marketing can feel more aligned and organic too by downloading my free resource, How to create a marketing strategy that is focused + purposeful.

If this resonates with you, if approaching marketing in a slow, gentle and profitable way feels right for you, I’d love to invite you to join Marketing without social media, my new group programme.

Doors close next week for Marketing without social media

Marketing without social media is a four-month programme for small business owners, freelancers and creatives who want their marketing to be gentle, intentional and effective. Discover the magic of sharing about your business in a way that is all you—and attracts the clients and customers you want to work with at the same time.

Marketing without social media is right for you if you…

• Desire more clarity, calm and focus around marketing your business;

• Want to discover the possibilities of marketing away from social media, and make marketing all yours, not the algorithm’s;

• Crave a slower, gentler but effective and profitable way of marketing;

• Want to attract new clients and customers by sharing about your work without relying on icky sales tactics, sleezy funnels or scarcity tactics—and without having to be ‘on’ all the time;

• Want marketing to feel effortless and for it to tick along even when you’re experiencing limited time or energy.

Marketing without social media is a hybrid programme: all workshops and office hours are pre-recorded to watch whenever suits you. You get direct access to me by submitting your questions to the office hours and through our really gentle community on Podia, where I’ll check in twice a week to encourage you to set weekly goals and keep you accountable.

📖 Read more about how I market my business without social media.

What makes Marketing without social media such a special programme?

• Its blend of structure and flexibility allowing you to create your own marketing strategy, unique to your business and your life;

• It is designed for humanness: its asynchronous format and gentle pace allow you to honour your own rhythms and energy, while getting the support and accountability you need to change your business marketing;

• My 2+-years of experience marketing my own business without social media. I’ve since build a thriving business without spending a single second on social media and it feels amazing;

• Lifetime access to the programme and materials, including any new materials that will be added should I run the programme in the future.

In Marketing without social media I’ll teach you my gamechanging approach that finally made my marketing effective, organic and even fun—without spending more time and energy on it.

What I know is possible for you + your business

I know what it takes to market my business in a way that is aligned, intentional and organic. I know how that I can share about my business in a way that feels really good—and that attracts lovely clients who want to work with me.

Magic happens when we market in a way that is all us.

And I know the same is possible for you.

I’ve seen it in the clients I’ve worked 1:1 with over the past years. I’ve supported them to discover marketing that suits their strengths and values. I’ve helped them overcome mental and emotional blocks that kept them from leaving social media. I’ve supported them and cheered them on as they began to share about their business in a way that feels completely like them.

Our businesses can thrive when we stop squeezing ourselves into someone else’s mould or format, and when we discover our own.

Lovely words about my work

Marketing without social media consists of…

• 4 pre-recorded workshops with detailed workbooks guiding you as you chart your marketing foundations, leave social media, design and implement your own marketing ecosystem and discover how you launch new products or services, sell in an intentional, gentle and profitable way and use evergreen products and content.

• 4 monthly pre-recorded office hours where I answer your questions about your business, your marketing, your goals and anything you run up against.

• a gentle and intimate community on Podia just for this programme, where I provide weekly accountability and support, where you can connects with others on the same journey and where you can reach out to me.

• monthly mini-bonuses supporting you around themes and topics that come up, from digging into your business values to designing a newsletter strategy and more.

Plus, the opportunity to get a front-row seat to how I market my own business in a slow, gentle and profitable way.

📌 Practicalities

The programme starts on March 1st and runs for four full months. You’ll have lifetime access to all the workshops, office hours and resources.

when | you can now book your place on Marketing without social media! The doors close next week, on February 25th.

price | the price of the programme is €800, paid either in full or in 4 instalments of €200. This corresponds to around $865/£688 or 4 instalments of $215/£170 (check your currency).

group size | 5 to 15 people, creating a true, gentle community and allowing me to get to know each and everyone of you (and your business).

more info | find out about the full outline of the programme here.

I’ve spent the past week connecting with the small business owners and creatives who have already signed up for Marketing without social media. It’s shaping up to be a lovely group of people just like you, ready to make marketing their own. I’d love for you to join us.

If you have any questions, check out the FAQ, reply to this email, send me a message or hop on a quick free call with me to discuss the programme (no strings attached). I’m here to answer any questions you might have.

Thank you for inviting me in your inbox during this launch month. 💌

Until next time x

If reading this newsletter makes you feel inspired, empowered and seen as you do business away from the norm, I’d be so grateful if you would support the work I do by becoming a paid subscriber. Upgrade your subscription to become part of our slow and gentle community and get even more support, bonuses and strategies.