This year of crazy has seen a huge growth of WFH entrepreneurs jumping in and getting started…but due to changes in workforce, employment, and the complex economy, they’re doing so without the usual luxury of time or money behind them.
Starting a business with very little (or no) budget isn’t easy, but the marketing side at least, can be managed with a bit of hard work, a bit of consistency, and a ton of faith in yourself and your offering!
How can you create a year of content with very little time or money?
Pick your platforms (based on audience, story, message)
Check out our post on choosing the best platform(s) for your business – it’ll give you all the direction you need. Then set up a calendar for each platform and audience so you can stay on top of content generation instead of always having to produce genius from nothing!
Plan your frequency
Consistency is key, and we get used to seeing your most valuable (to us) stuff on a regular schedule. If you do videos every Tuesday, social posts every weekday, blog posts once a week, and emails once a month, then stick to that. If that schedule made you throw up in your mouth a bit then cut back.
The frequency of your posts, while important, is less important than the consistency of your posting.
Theme your days (on social media)
The easiest way to hit all of your messages and follow all the “rules” of social media is to theme each day’s posts and then work way, way ahead to create 10 posts per day, then reusing those same 10 and updating for season or item.
We use the following system:
Monday is for branding and traffic generation (so brand value and/or blog posts),
Tuesday is for offer benefits (how your offer/service/product solves a specific problem),
Wednesday is for offer value (how your offer/service/product changes your client’s/customer’s/donor’s life),
Thursday is for team (selfies, group shots, behind the scenes),
Friday is for FUN (jokes, TGIFs, general silliness),
Saturdays are pretty dead (but for those whose insights show their people are active online we recommend doubling up on the benefits and value of your offering),
and finally Sundays are for either inspiration or information (self care posts for natural beauty businesses, productivity tips for coaches, selling or buying tips for real estate agents, etc.)
Research events/holidays/days to celebrate
Take a look at upcoming events or “holidays” in your field, like a therapist posting regularly during Domestic Violence Awareness Month (October), or a spa/salon posting on November 18th for “Princess Day” (yep, this is for real!)
For a super easy tool, we use https://www.daysoftheyear.com to keep track!
Look up all upcoming events for the year and add them in
Are you planning a sale in November? Is your company’s birthday in April? Are you putting on a big Christmas in July event next year? Fill out a content calendar that has all the special dates already set up – a few hours of planning here will save you literal days in implementation.
Make an appointment with yourself
We always think of our best clients and larger customers as “deserving” of our uninterrupted time. If you were having a meeting with a client that was guaranteed to bring in 50% of your total sales this year, you’d probably give them your full attention for as long as the meeting takes. Heck, you’d probably throw in a few hours of chit chat and a nice bottle of wine!
So why is is so hard to give that kind of uninterrupted time to ourselves when we’re doing parts of the business that account for at least 50% of new sales (especially in the first few years of business!)
Your content marketing is a major sales driver, and needs to be given the time, attention, and respect that it deserves. Make an appointment with yourself to put the focus on your business growth, no excuses.
Reuse, reuse, reuse
No matter what you’ve created, you’ve done it by spending either time or money. Don’t ever let content you’ve paid for go without being used at least 5 times. Here’s how:
Write a blog post
- Take some highlights from that blog post and create 3-4 graphics in canva to market your ideas
- Copy/paste that blog post into your personal linked in, with a link to your site at the bottom
- Share that blog post over all of your social media
- Copy/paste the blog post into the body of your next marketing email/newsletter 2 weeks later
- Do a live or video covering the same exact content 3 weeks later
- Repeat with every post you write.
Planning, reusing, and prioritizing. If you need the keys to the content marketing system, there you have it.
And of course if you need help in creating that first batch of ideas, join our FB Group or get in touch!