How to use Content to Grow your List

There are so many different voices out there sharing their opinions of how to earn 10K months. Or become a millionaire through coaching... The problem is that many of them are sharing misinformation. They say that their way is the only way. I get it, and hopefully so do you. Their "way to create a path to success" is the one that they're selling. So how do you know who to trust and how to grow your business?

There are a million different ways to promote your business and most of them work.

I know this, from experience, because I worked for over twenty years in busy media agencies. I received many different proposals from publishers who wanted to be recommended to my clients. PR, Partnerships, Ads, Networking, it can all work.

One big factor that focuses everyones mind and ability to promote their business is BUDGET.

Chances are that most businesses don't have the budget for producing TV ads or the investment it would take to run an effective campaign. Nor is it warranted.

So do you choose other media, radio, press, outdoor, cinema, digital ads? It depends on what you want to achieve and how you deliver your service, how much you can sell. They all require investment in production and purchasing the space.

Which is why so many businesses, start with social media. And they're right to start there because social media is a powerful medium for increasing loyalty, advocacy and higher customer lifetime values.

Content and social media are not "free." You pay to produce your content.

Perhaps not in an obvious way, but with your time, your energy, the phone that you bought with a better camera, the subscription to Canva.

Why do I mention this? Because so many of my clients come to me when they are trying to build their business and they're posting random content. Some have employed Virtual Assistants and can't figure out why on earth "it's not working." They don't understand why they don't have enough sign ups.

Here are some of the issues that could be affecting the performance of your content and therefore your business:

• It's not the right format for the platform you've chosen. For example short video works really well on Instagram. Polls work well on LinkedIn.
• The quality is poor, perhaps pixelated imagery or the wrong size. Again most social media platforms want their audience to remain on the platform so they favour good quality, engaging content.
• It's too salesy, when we are browsing social we love to be entertained or informed. But we forget this when we sit in the producer seat.
• It doesn't represent you. If you've decided to copy everyone else in your niche but without thinking why, or whether it suits you or your prospective clients.
• You don't have a system in place to build a list of people to contact, either email, or through a call.

Social media works wonders when your content has a purpose.

When you've thought about who you want to talk to and what you're offering them. And I don't mean your services but actual tips that can help them, now.

Different content should have different jobs.

1. Building an audience of followers
2. Growing your list of customers
3. Establishing your credibility.

So before you start posting, or you jump on Fivver or Upwork or brief a Virtual Assistant, think about what you need:

• Have you got different content to tackle these three separate jobs?
• Do you have a strategy in place?
• Do you understand your ideal client and what they need?

You need a list of potential customers before you can sell.

Otherwise you'll feel deflated when you've put so much work into all the things (website, course idea or even content) and no one shows up.

A great place to start is here on LinkedIn.

Start with your own profile and how you are reflecting how you help people. I've used this platform for over 10 years with great success. I love it as a social media platform because it's largely used to do business, so it's a bit more commercial than other platforms. And it doesn't require high end design to work. There are simple things you can do to stand out.

One of the major things I changed recently to build on my success, was changing my LinkedIn profile dramatically, rewriting my title to be focused on my ideal client, changing my profile to a Creator account so that I could do live videos, and reaching out to my ideal client, interacting on their posts and also using Sales Navigator. Want the list so you can do it too?

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