3 surprising ways to make your business more visible
I’m excited to introduce you to today’s guest blogger, the lovely Katie Skelton from Little Green Duck. As a visibility mentor for impact-driven and sustainable businesses, she’s a great person to give you tips on how to stand out from the crowd.
We’ve all heard a lot of the same advice about how to make our businesses more visible. And it’s true—blogging, networking and being consistent on social media are all solid ways to get seen—so don’t disregard them. But some of these can be tough on your brain, especially when the blasted algorithms thwart you by rewarding your efforts to create and share valuable, life-enhancing content with a big old rolling ball of tumbleweed. Not the most motivating situation, is it?
So here I am, popping into Claudia’s blog with three of my favourite ways to make your business more visible—without spending any extra money and without your brain exploding with overwhelm. Sounds like a bit of what you need? Read on.
Talk to anyone who will listen
It’s a bit of a myth that the only way to connect with (and sell to) new clients or customers is by talking directly to your target audience. Yes, on social media and when you’re blogging or working on your website SEO, you need to have your ideal customer and their needs in mind. But what about when you get chatting with a local tradesperson, a fellow parent at the school gate, or your family members?
It can be tempting to play down or skirt around talking in too much detail about your business to people who seem “irrelevant”. But here’s the thing—you never know who someone knows. So, next time someone asks you “what do you do?”, get specific. Talk about the kind of person you’re looking to reach with your product or service, and don’t forget to mention any types of business or person you’d like to collaborate with.
You never know when the tree surgeon, fellow parent, family member or anyone who gives you 30 seconds to talk about your business will be able to introduce you to your next customer, supplier, or partner. This is free business visibility at its finest.
Need help putting together a 30-second business pitch that’ll keep people engaged without missing any important information? You can grab my free 30-second elevator pitch guide to give you a framework to nail your pitch, no matter who it’s aimed at.
Make contact with past clients & collaborators
My husband often gives career advice to people looking for jobs (he’s a headhunter—no, don’t worry, he’s a nice one!). I’m often in the room or the room next door when he’s talking to people, and some of his advice can also be applied to business owners looking for visibility tips.
My favourite piece of his advice is that it’s a lot easier to get work or be referred by someone who already knows you, your business and your strengths than it is to cold pitch to new people.
Now, that’s not to say you shouldn’t connect with people you don’t already know—just don’t forget those that do. If you are looking to boost your business, get back in touch with past customers, past nearly-customers-but-it-wasn’t-quite-the-right-time and anyone else who might help you get your business seen.
This can be by asking them if they’d like to work with you again, or by asking if they know of anyone who might. Or just by simply checking in to see what’s going on with them—you never know where the conversation might lead.
Oh, and in the spirit of point one (speak to anyone and everyone about your business), this is my husband’s LinkedIn profile. If you know someone who is struggling to find a recruiter that doesn’t make them want to bang their head against a brick wall, or needs to find a candidate to fill a key role, now you know where to point them.
Make your business more visible by being a podcast guest
Podcasts are huge right now. Whether you’re a fan or not, they can be a really good way of increasing the visibility of your business, particularly if you find podcasts with a similar audience to your own (although I’ll say it again, always remember point #1—talk to anyone about your business!)
It’s all well and good me saying “be a podcast guest” but how do you find podcasts that will consider you as a guest? Conveniently, this gives me a lovely link back to point 2—reach out to people you know before people you don’t.
If you have a Facebook group, an email list, social media platforms, or business networks you regularly engage with—ask them! I find the best approach is to mention the fact you’re looking to become a guest on some podcasts, list out some of your areas of expertise or interest for anyone that doesn’t know you well, and see what you get back. Then you can ask for a personal introduction (always a winner from a trust point of view if you can wangle it), or send a brief pitch message to the host to tell them why you’d like to be a guest.
You don’t have to be a die-hard podcast listener to be a guest, but it’s a good idea to listen to a few episodes before pitching to hosts. This is mainly so you know the style and format of the podcast, so you can personalise your pitch. But it’s also helpful for you to judge whether the host and style are a good fit for you.
By the way, word of mouth counts as marketing
Don’t let anyone tell you it doesn’t. I speak to so many people who, when I ask them how they promote their business, say “JUST word of mouth”. So before I go, I want to remind you that word of mouth is a viable visibility tool for your business. In fact, it’s one of the most effective marketing methods. It requires little effort from you (apart from running a business that people want to recommend), it costs nothing, and inspires trust way more than any cold message on LinkedIn ever will.
Which business visibility activity will you try?
I’d love to hear whether you feel inspired by any of these business visibility tips—if you fancy letting me know which one (or more), you can email katie@littlegreenduck.co.uk or drop me a message on LinkedIn.
A final big thank you to Claudia for hosting this post on her blog. I’ve always loved reading and learning from what she writes, so contributing here is an honour.
About today’s guest blogger
Katie Skelton, the founder of Little Green Duck, is a multi-passionate entrepreneur with a love for sustainability & nature, marketing, tech and project planning. She works with purpose and impact-driven business owners to get their business seen and unscramble the ideas in their heads to turn them into clear, simple action plans. Her business nemeses are the words “should” and “overwhelm”.
Katie lives in the New Forest with her husband and two children, and she loves salt and vinegar crisps. You’ll know she really likes you if she shares her sharing bag with you.
Collaborate with Claudia
Are you running an ethical or sustainable business? If you’re interested in a blog post swap, let me know! You can either reach me via the social media links below or contact me. And if you’re interested in more marketing ideas, you may find these resources interesting.
