Hey Rach… How do I ‘quit’ social media and still get customers?
I can’t quite believe I’m saying this but… I started my first business BEFORE social media. We had no budget, no experience, no contacts, no plan. Carving out visibility in a sea of competitors who’d been in the game longer, had reputations and bigger budgets felt SO hard.
And it was. This is what happened:
✨ We put the odd ad in print media outlets which was SO expensive and we learnt that if you can’t afford consistent campaign presence there you’re unlikely to get a huge result
✨ We tried our hand at DIYing PR but all we got was closed doors and wasted time
✨ We had an email list but didn’t know how to use it so never sent emails
✨ We didn’t feel like ‘proper’ business owners and were far too scared to go ‘networking’ plus frankly I hated the transactional vibe
✨ Podcasts, google ads and SEO were all either not on our radar or still in fledgling stages of growth
We relied HUGELY on word of mouth marketing which meant growth was slow and we didn’t have a lot of control.
Which is why when social media came along I could see the opportunity for what it was and with She Owns It grasped it with delight. I threw myself into organic content strategies, pushing myself waaaaay outside my comfort zone with live videos like this 👇
And starting our Free Facebook Community for NZ women in business. It all went so well it drew the attention of Facebook and She Owns It became the poster child for their ‘Facebook Community Boost’ campaign. With their sponsorship we travelled around NZ delivering free social media training to over 1,000 women in business. So yes, things were going well. BUT…
IMAGE: Me on stage at one of our Facebook Community Boost events:
Things have changed right?
Socially, politically, environmentally AND technologically. As small business owners I can see the HOLD social media has over us has become mentally more and more taxing over the years. The platforms have evolved, less organic reach, higher ad spend, less consumer buy in. Ethically, many of us have questions about big tech that we don’t like the answers to.
So where does that leave us?
Because it feels like small business owners are in the thick of this. Our e-comm businesses are battling against big unethical international companies with prices so low it makes NZ made and sustainably made goods harder and harder for the general public to justify.
If you pull yourself OFF socials, does it leave your precious business totally exposed and give your competitors an edge you can’t compete with?
The answer is, not necessarily.
Like I said, I’ve been there before. Yes, it was hard, yes it took us time, but we still built a significant business that turned over £50-70,000+ a month. So it can be done.
So let’s take a look at if this move is right for your business and some strategies you could put in place to move forward 👇
➡️ If you want to create a simple, impactful custom marketing strategy with me (together we’ll build out your brand message, visibility strategy and sales strategy) DM me on Instagram I’m about to open up some 1-1 spots (yes I get the irony of this given I’m blogging about going OFF social media 😂) or join us inside the Membership for support & momentum implementing your plan 🚀
How to grow your business without social media
Step One: Actually HAVE a strategy
Before you dive in to different approaches remember to put your CEO hat on here. Bigger, non ‘solopreneur’ businesses are not making emotional decisions about this- neither should you.
You can give your business and yourself the space to say- YES this is something I want to do, NO I don’t want my business to crumble like a house of cards. This is something I can implement over time and from a strategic perspective (not reactive).
So let’s start there. You don’t have to pull pin overnight.
Step 2: Decide the goal
I like to call this ‘Backwards Business.’ Because if you don’t have a solid clear goal, you end up floating, trying things out, testing, planning, research till the cows come home.
You don’t want to do that. That is not a CEO move. So, decide what you want here, and when you aim to do it by. For example:
- My goal is to replace my existing stream of leads from social media content with other avenues by X date
- I’d further break that down by looking at how many leads you get a day/ week/ month from socials and put a number on it
- I want to replace the 20 leads I get from social media per week with other avenues by the end of 2025
So now you have a solid goal (20 leads from non social media avenues a month) and a date to focus on.
STEP 3: Audit 😴
So many small biz owners are future focussed and that’s what gives you hope and energy and momentum. I get it. I really do 🙋♀️
But the problem is (and what the best in the biz will tell you) is that looking back informs faster growth in the future.
So, here’s that CEO hat again.
It’s time to audit. Go back and look at your data. Put a day aside. Really dive into it. What ‘non social media’ activities have you done in the past that has attracted new customers? What’s worked?
The reason this is so important is because TOO MANY PEOPLE look at what others are doing and try to replicate it in their own business.
This doesn’t work because what will work for you depends on:
👉 Your industry
👉 Your budget
👉 Your skill set
👉 The time you have to put towards it
👉 What you're prepared to do
And what you actually feel LIT UP doing. The times I’ve seen the most growth in my business has 100% been when I’ve felt excited and out there talking about things that light me up. No one else has that answer for you.
So these are ALL the things you need to think about as you consider the next right move.
Step 4: Understand your options
Here’s a braindump of ALL the ways you could attract new people to your business:
1. SEO
2. Google my business optimisation
3. SEO optimised long form blog posts
4. Online Directories like the She Owns It Directory and review sites
5. Search optimised You Tube videos (also embedded into your blog)
6. YouTube and/ or Google ads
7. Instagram/ Facebook ads
8. Business groups where you can promote like the She Owns It Membership
9. Influencer marketing
10. Brand collaborations and partnerships
11. Collaborations with complimentary businesses
12. Email marketing (you will need to make sure your emails are ‘send to a friend’ worthy)
13. Freebie offers (run ads to your freebies, get new people on your email list, sell to your list)
14. Hold your own events - online or in person (run ads to attract new people, nurture your email list, build trust at the event, sell)
15. Go to networking events
16. Speak on stages
17. Community build - ie create free group on a platform you like and get people to invite their friends/ nurture and sell within
18. Sponsoring events, conferences or communities
19. Publishing work on other people’s blogs
20. Exhibiting at markets and fairs
21. Print marketing
22. PR
23. Pinterest
24. Snail mail
25. Have your own podcast or guest on other podcasts
26. Flyers and posters locally
27. Cold pitching via email, LinkedIn
There’s so many options, and each has it’s own set of risks and rewards. They’re either going to cost you time or money- some of them will cost you both. You need to ask yourself:
- Do I have the budget to test ad strategies?
- Do I want to build my own audience or leverage the audiences of others?
- Am I prepared to create content?
- What options are realistic for me and my business here?
- Which options light me up? What would FEEL the most fun to become a master at?
I’m serious about that one, because when I’ve gone ALL in on a strategy, that’s when I’ve seen results. And to go all in, you have to be loving it. Otherwise you feel resistance every step of the way. So look for the ease and flow so to speak. I’m not saying there won’t be a learning curve- but what will your future self thank you for here?
Step 5: Create your Visibility Strategy and implement it
If you' haven’t downloaded it yet grab your 1 Page Visibility Plan doc to help you with this. Inside, you’ll see I recommend choosing just one strategy to work on at a time:
You really have to go all in for at least 3 months to master something. To give yourself a chance.
So pick your ‘strategy, set yourself a goal or create your 5 Move Plan and work toward it with curiosity and that CEO mindset to have complete control over the growth of your business (instead of sharing another reel ‘hoping’ it might lead to a customer).
Mostly, this is what I WISH someone had told me about marketing my small business:
At the end of the day, what works for other people might not work for you.
In order to not waste time and move strategically, you need to:
- Educate yourself on the options (by the way you don’t need a course for this. Just read this post 😂)
- Decide what you want to become a Master at
- Trust yourself and your decisions
And stop looking outside yourself for quick wins and quick fixes. YOU are in the drivers seat of your business. Don’t hope that some outsourced social media VA or marketing company is going to be a winning ticket for you.
Too many small business owners get burnt by that kind of ‘hope’ approach.
BUSINESS IS MARKETING.
To have control of your business you need to have control of your marketing. Don’t hand over the reigns before you’re ready.
You’ve GOT this and yes it’ll be a ride but get curious, set your goals and work toward them and you’ll see long term growth that compounds over time.
If you want support making it happen, don’t forget I’m here for you inside the She Owns It Membership.
It’s for you if you’re ready to move out of planning and research phase and into action and momentum- where all the magic happens!
Let me know below- what NON social media marketing strategies sound fun for you or have you tried in the past? 👇