Ep 1 - How to Run a Successful Business Without Social Media

What happens if you really don’t like social media…and you would love to run your business without it?

The great news is, you can absolutely have a successful business without social media!

Today I’m going to share 5 powerful ways to market your business (and flourish) without social media.

These alternatives are perfect, if you’re an introvert like me!

Social media is just ONE way to market your business – NOT the only way!

Now, I know that in a world that seems to be dominated by digital platforms, it's easy to assume that social media is the be-all and end-all of your marketing.

But here’s the truth. 

Lots of my clients – health business owners just like you – don’t enjoy social media. (That’s completely normal.) It can take time and energy, and it’s not a perfect fit for everyone.

So let’s explore these 5 alternatives (that work!) so you can build your business without pointy finger dances or feeling like you’re selling your soul.

And stay with me…

Because I’ll also share with you ONE THING that you can take action on, as soon as you’ve finished reading or listening!

(It’s too good not to share…)

5 winning ways to market your business without social media:

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

SEO is all about getting found at the very top of the Google search results. 

It's about making Google prioritize your website content, over and above others in your field. 

Before I knew about SEO, I had around 1,800 monthly visitors to my website. 

Fast forward a few years, after I learned and implemented SEO strategies, I was getting around 150,000 monthly visitors. (What a jump!)

It's all about creating excellent, high-quality information, like blogs or recipes, that answer the questions that your ideal customer is typing into Google.

And more eyeballs on your website equals more clients and more sales. Hooray!

Email Marketing

This one follows on from SEO beautifully because you can turn those lovely website visitors into email subscribers by strategically positioning ways to join your email list from your website.  

The intention of email marketing is to make a deeper connection with your audience, so they get to know and trust you better, as the person to help with their struggles or desires.

Emails are still considered to be one of the most effective ways of helping people move along the journey from being a browser to becoming a paying customer. 

And we know that people are twice as likely to interact with an email than they are a social media post!

Collaborations

Next, I would love to share with you the power of collaborations, and specifically, being a guest expert in other people's communities. 

For example, this could be delivering a presentation inside their paid program, writing a guest blog on their website, or speaking as a guest on their podcast.

Because when you show up as a guest in front of other people's audiences, there's instant trust. 

So why not create a list of potential collaborators (not direct competitors) and make contact? Pitch yourself as a guest and offer to return the favour.

Referral Partnerships

Most of you will be familiar with building relationships with doctors or other healthcare professionals to obtain referrals – but I want you to think a little more strategically.

Could you offer your referral partner an incentive such as a fee for every client they refer on to you who goes on to book? 

Could you ask your colleagues to do the same? 

The benefit to you is that your colleagues do the marketing for you, and the benefit for them is financial. 

Or you can ask for referrals from previous happy clients, and offer an incentive, 

And yes, this is legal. It's called affiliate marketing. (To comply with data protection, you may need to use some tracking software.)

Public Relations (PR)

When I say PR, you might automatically think of writing newspaper articles or going on TV. 

But actually, PR is part of your marketing toolbox.

PR is all about storytelling. It's not about marketing in the sense of declaring how good your service or your offer is. It's about sharing newsworthy stories that are picked up by the press because they celebrate or inspire. 

(Or they may be controversial! The press love a new angle.)

Being published in the media can get your name and your business broadcast far and wide, very quickly.

Key Takeaways:

• Social media isn't the only path to business success! Explore the alternatives and pick what suits you
• Prioritise one strategy at a time and master it before you embrace the next. Which one will you choose first? Will you start today?
• And you don’t have to do it all! It’s your business and you get to decide

Grab The Master Plan!

Ready to build the business you’ve always dreamed of?

This step-by-step workbook will walk you through exactly what you need to focus on and when.

You'll get my expert knowledge as a health business strategist.

This guide really is your master plan to business success!

Grab your free copy, right here, right now…

https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/master-plan

Connect with me here:

Website: https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dietitiansinbusiness/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dietitiansinbusiness

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beyondtheclinicbusiness

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeyondTheClinicPodcast

Episode transcription:

Beyond the Clinic EP01

[00:00:00] Sarah Almond Bushell: You might wonder why I have started this brand new podcast with such a topic. Given the overwhelming presence of social media in marketing businesses, it's almost assumed that, like it or lump it, social media is a necessary part of business. But that's not true. It doesn't have to be that way. You can absolutely have a successful business without it.

[00:00:24] Sarah Almond Bushell: In this episode, I'm going to give you my top five alternative ways to market your business without using social media. I've got some examples of brands who have utilized these strategies exceptionally well, and I'm going to share with you the one thing that I want you to take action on right after this episode.

[00:00:44] Sarah Almond Bushell: So you can elevate your business growth. So let's start at the beginning. What is social media actually used for in business? It's simply part of your marketing strategy and marketing for those who aren't familiar with it is just how you talk about your business. Social media can be highly effective. It's free of charge, you can reach literally millions of people across the globe, it allows you to get seen by brand new people who've never heard of your business before, and it also allows you to nurture those fans and followers who do know you but aren't ready to buy from you yet.

[00:01:22] Sarah Almond Bushell: It is a valid and very powerful strategy, but it does take time. It takes quite a lot of effort and tons of your energy, and sometimes it just isn't the right strategy for you, for the stage of business that you're at. Or for your personality. A lot of my clients are actually quite fearful of social media, and I get it, I understand.

[00:01:45] Sarah Almond Bushell: If you're not naturally an extrovert, standing in front of the camera, giving your opinion on something, or doing those finger pointy dances, it can feel a little bit daunting. And yet there's a sort of pressure to build a large audience. And when we struggled to gain followers. Despite putting tons of content out there and only getting three likes, it can feel really disheartening.

[00:02:10] Sarah Almond Bushell: It can lead to feelings of failure. And actually, it's thoroughly demotivating. And they are not the feelings that you need to be experiencing when you are growing a business. Social media growth is not easy, unless you happen to be a very high profile brand, an influencer or a celebrity. And yet we're led to believe that without thousands of followers of businesses just won't succeed.

[00:02:38] Sarah Almond Bushell: But that's not true. And there is not a one size fits all approach to actually anything in business. And so today I'm going to share with you five alternative ways to market your without using social media. So let's dive in. So number one is Search Engine Optimization or SEO. This is my absolute favorite, and it was what I focused on when I first started my business, The Children's Nutritionist.

[00:03:07] Sarah Almond Bushell: So SEO is all about getting found at the very top of the Google search results. It's about making Google prioritize your website content. Over and above others in your field. And, no surprises here, Google is the biggest search engine on the planet and has a far greater reach than all of the social media platforms put together.

[00:03:30] Sarah Almond Bushell: With that said, it's worth learning how to use it, right? Back in 2019, before I knew about SEO, I had around 1, 800 visitors to my website every month. Goodness knows how I had so many. It was more luck than judgment. But fast forward two years, and after I learned SEO, I was getting around 25, 000 monthly visitors.

[00:03:53] Sarah Almond Bushell: And then at the peak of 2023, I had 150, 000 monthly visitors to my website, and that was all through learning and implementing SEO strategies. So how do you do it? Actually, it's all about creating really Excellent, super high quality information, for example, blogs or recipes, things that answer the questions that your ideal customer is typing into Google on a daily basis.

[00:04:25] Sarah Almond Bushell: And did I mention it's free? And of course, if you sell things on your website, whether that's your one to one appointments or courses or eBooks, the more visitors you get, The more money you're gonna make. Number two is email marketing. This one follows on from SEO beautifully because you can turn those lovely website visitors into email subscribers by strategically positioning a way for them to join your email list on various different pages of your website. The intention of email marketing is to make a deeper connection with your audience so they get to know you better, to help them feel that you really understand them and their struggles and their desires, and also that you have the solution to help.

[00:05:13] Sarah Almond Bushell: So despite our inboxes being fuller than ever, Emails are still considered by business coaches to be one of the most effective ways of helping people move along the journey from being a browser to becoming a paying customer. And we know that people are twice as likely to interact with an email Then they are a social media post.

[00:05:35] Sarah Almond Bushell: So even if they delete your email, without even opening it or reading it, they will have seen it's from you and so you will remain top of mind. So let's do some easy maths here. Say you have 10, 000 visitors to your website every single month from implementing those SEO strategies. If only 1 percent of them signed up to your email list, that's 100 leads every month.

[00:06:01] Sarah Almond Bushell: And then next month, you get another 1%. So now you've got 200 leads on your email list. Let me just say that again. That's 100 new people's inboxes you're getting into every single month. And of course, as your SEO improves, that 100 may become 120 per month, then 150 per month. And this is cumulative. So you can see how powerful this can be when you do both of these two strategies together.

[00:06:30] Sarah Almond Bushell: And then your job is to write to the people on your list, but write to them often. This is so that they get to know you, and you get to know them, and that connection between the two of you gets stronger. And when you feel they know you well enough, that's when you can pitch them your offer. In July, 2022, I ran a campaign to sell some spaces inside my membership called the Happy Healthy Eaters Club. I ran three live webinars and I made 11 sales, but after the event, I sent just five emails to those webinar attendees, following up with them. And my sales went from 11 to 43. Just from sending emails.

[00:07:13] Sarah Almond Bushell: That's how powerful emails are for selling your goods and services.

[00:07:18] Sarah Almond Bushell: Okay, moving on to number three, and this is collaborations. So switching gears slightly and moving away from digital marketing, I want to share with you the power of collaborations and specifically being a guest expert in other people's communities. So this could, for example, be delivering a presentation inside their paid program, Or it could be writing a guest blog on their website, or speaking as a guest on their podcast.

[00:07:48] Sarah Almond Bushell: Because when you show up as a guest in front of other people's audiences, there's instant trust. And this is because the new audience already trusts the host, and so by association, they're gonna trust you. So the key with this one is identifying other people who share the same ideal client or target audience as you, but they're not direct competitors.

[00:08:13] Sarah Almond Bushell: So for example, in my business, the Children's Nutritionist, I might collaborate with baby sleep coaches or baby food chefs. We both have parents of babies and toddlers as our target audience, but we're not directly competing with each other for business. Put together a one sheet. So this is just a sheet that outlines the different topics that you can deliver on, who you are, what you do, and a few testimonials, and of course your contact details.

[00:08:42] Sarah Almond Bushell: And then next, create a list of potential collaborators and then just make contact. Pitch yourself as a guest and of course, offer to return the favor if they want to get in front of your audience as well.

[00:08:55] Sarah Almond Bushell: Number four is referral partnerships. So most of you will be familiar with building relationships with doctors or other healthcare professionals to obtain referrals. But I want you to think a little bit more strategically here. Could you offer your referral partner an incentive such as a fee for every client they refer on to you who goes on to book? Could you ask your colleagues to do the same? For example, if you work in paediatrics like I do, But they work in adult services, you're unlikely to want to see the same client. So you could cross refer to each other.

[00:09:33] Sarah Almond Bushell: The benefit to you of referral partnerships is that your colleagues do the marketing for you and the benefit for them is, of course, financial. Now let's extend this a little further. If you've worked with a client who's had a fantastic experience and they have achieved great results, you can ask them to refer a friend.

[00:09:55] Sarah Almond Bushell: Again, you could offer them an incentive, which could also be a fee, but it could be a complimentary session with you instead, if and when their friend becomes a client, of course. So yes, this is legal. It is all above board. It's called affiliate marketing. In order to Comply with data protection. You might need to use some tracking software so that your referral partner knows whether the new client actually went on to book with you without you having to disclose names or any identifiable information.

[00:10:26] Sarah Almond Bushell: And number five is PR or public relations. Now, when I say PR, you might automatically think of writing newspaper articles or going on the TV. And actually, if I'm going to be doing all of that work, shouldn't they be paying me? Unfortunately not. PR is actually part of your marketing toolbox. And in fact, you could be paying them.

[00:10:51] Sarah Almond Bushell: Although that's called advertising and that's an episode for another time. But PR is all about storytelling. It's not about marketing in the sense of declaring how good your service or your offer is. It's about sharing newsworthy stories that are picked up by the press because they celebrate or they inspire yet.

[00:11:13] Sarah Almond Bushell: Stories can be controversial and the press do love a story that deviates away from the norm. PR can also be commenting as an expert on somebody else's newsworthy story. It could be anything from a false headline stating that fish and chips are the new weight loss trend or it could be giving your expert views on a newly published research study.

[00:11:37] Sarah Almond Bushell: The press by nature is vast and far reaching, and being published in the media can get your name and your business broadcast far and wide very quickly.

[00:11:48] Sarah Almond Bushell: So there you have it. My aim for this episode was to share with you how you can still run a successful business if social media is just not your thing. So now you know you don't have to use social media if you don't want to. We've covered my five favorite alternative marketing strategies, including my favorite SEO, which if you're an introvert like me, it feels so much more comfortable.

[00:12:15] Sarah Almond Bushell: I also told you about email marketing, about collaborations, about referral partnerships, and PR. So my final question for you is, which one of these five are you going to prioritize in your business? My advice is just to pick one, just one, and go all in on it. And once you've mastered it, by all means move on to the next one, but you absolutely don't have to do it all.

[00:12:40] Sarah Almond Bushell: So join me next time. We are going to be talking about one of the easiest ways to make money online without seeing clients. It's all about selling digital products, such as eBooks and eGuides. So before we wrap up today's episode, I've got something extra special for you. If you're a healthcare professional, like me, and you love helping clients, but perhaps something is niggling away at the back of your mind, making you wonder whether you're actually working on the right parts of your business at the right time and in the right order.

[00:13:15] Sarah Almond Bushell: When you set yourself up in business, you probably quickly realise that we never got trained in marketing. And so you're likely struggling to be 100 percent sure about what to work on a day to day basis, to make sure that your business grows. And if this continues, you might find that you spend too much time on social media or blogging, and actually it doesn't have the impact that you really hoped it would have.

[00:13:40] Sarah Almond Bushell: And you might end up wasting a lot of time on it. Hunting and pecking around the internet looking for guidance. And in the long run, it means your business doesn't grow. But it really doesn't have to be this way. So to help you overcome the indecision and get certainty and take decisive action, you can download my free resource called The Master Plan.

[00:14:04] Sarah Almond Bushell: This step by step Sequential workbook is designed to walk you through exactly what you need to focus on and when so that you can build a business that you've always dreamed of. You'll get my expert knowledge as a health business strategist from the foundational steps so you can check you haven't missed any to the advanced strategies for when you're optimizing and scaling.

[00:14:27] Sarah Almond Bushell: This guide really is your master plan to business success.

 So, if you're ready to take your expertise to the next level and build your dream business, Head over to sarahalmondbushell.Com forward slash master hyphen plan and you can download your free copy. Thanks for tuning in.

[00:14:48] Sarah Almond Bushell: Bye for now.