Marketing Secrets for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Ahh….my favorite topic.

The age-old question: what am I actually doing here?

I’m an artist. I’m a writer. I’m a content creator, a marketer, a mother with a gazillion interesting stories to tell, if you are willing to listen. Or read them.

When I first started freelancing, I had zero clue how to market myself. With all the labels like “content strategist”, “blogger”, “copywriter”, “social media guru”, the list goes on. I could not narrow my title down to just one thing.

Photo by Timon Studler on Unsplash

But here’s the thing: marketing yourself when you’re not 100% sure what you’re selling doesn’t have to be as complicated as we make it.

Because here’s what I learned through my mistakes:

1. You Don’t Have to Be a “Master” Yet

When you first start a new creative journey, it’s easy to feel like you need to have everything figured out before you start marketing…. but you don’t.

And you’ll never have it all figured out.

When I first started my own business, I was still figuring out my strengths, what I actually enjoyed doing, and understanding how to tie that back to needs I could address.

I made a promise to myself, though: I wouldn’t wait for perfection to start pitching myself.

My advice:

Find one thing you know how to do well and talk about it. You don’t have to be an expert. Offer the solution you can currently provide, even if it’s not “perfect.”

People are willing to pay for progress, not perfection.

2. Let Your Work Speak for You

One thing I didn’t realize at first was that marketing didn’t always have to be about a sales pitch. It could be about showing your work.

My advice:

Post the process. Let people see what you’re working on — whether it’s writing a blog, designing a logo, or brainstorming content ideas. People don’t necessarily need to see a finished project.

The journey is more interesting.

My small business started out by people who liked my art on Instagram, and everything snowballed from there.

3. Use Simple Language

When I started out, I didn’t know what to call myself. So, I just kept it simple: “I help businesses create content that connects with their audience.” It was broad, but it worked, and since has evolved.
My advice: Instead of overcomplicating your pitch, use clear language that anyone could understand.

Think: “I help [type of client] with [type of service].”

4. Ask for Feedback

The more I put myself out there, the more I learned what people actually needed. I asked past clients for feedback and paid attention to what they valued most in my work. I even asked them for Google reviews because I quickly learned that people were finding my business online through search results and keywords like “marketing loudoun county”
My advice: Reach out to people you’ve worked with (even in volunteer roles) and ask them:

“What was the most valuable part of working with me?”

What You Can Do Today:

• Start with one simple service that you know you can offer (even if it’s just a small part of a larger project). Maybe it’s copywriting, or editing, or creating social media posts for a client.

• Share your process on social media or your blog to build visibility and engagement.

• Ask for feedback from past clients or people you’ve helped to refine your pitch.

Marketing yourself doesn’t need to be a perfect science. It’s all about putting yourself out there, learning as you go, and refining along the way.

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4 Ways Partnerships Can Increase Your Google Rank and Brand Awareness

In a previous post, we talked about a number of ways to optimize your website for search engines organically. While this should be a priority for you, it’s also important to know how you can increase your ranking aside from keywords, tagging, and all the other daunting ways it takes to get your site optimized organically. The secret is in partnerships. The more others talk about you online, the more likely you are to boost your rankings in the search engines. So how do you get that to happen? Here are three tried-and-true methods for getting your ranking up there without minimal work on your end.

Google Reviews

It’s ok to have your customers do a little work for you. If you know someone has had a positive experience with your business, always ask for a Google review. Better yet, write your own review for them, send them the Google link, and let them know its as simple as copy and paste. Make it as easy as possible for them and tell them you’ve paraphrased a sample review for them so they know what keywords should be used.

Here are some best practices about asking for reviews, from the Google experts themselves:

Verify your Business Profile: This makes your business information show up on Maps, Search, and other Google services. To respond to a review, you must have a verified business.

• Remind customers to leave reviews: Let them know it’s quick and easy to leave reviews. Google advises against offering incentives to customers to leave reviews, but you an make it easier for them if you create and share a link. To do so, log in with the account you used to sign up for your Business Profile. Search on Google for your exact business name. Select Customers Reviews -> Get more reviews. Share the link with your customers directly or use the sharing options provided.

• Reply to reviews to build customer trust: Your customers will notice your business values their input if you read and reply to their reviews.

• Value all reviews: Reviews are useful for potential customers when they’re honest and objective. Customers find a mix of positive and negative reviews more trustworthy. You can always respond to a review to show the customers that you care and provide additional context. If the review doesn't follow our posting guidelines, you can request its removal.

Media Relations

Having a PR background is definitely a perk when it comes to media placement for your business, but really any sort of media mention - whether it’s a blog post, an online article, or social media shout-out, only helps increase your ranks in the search engines. Be sure you add any media mentions you have to your website, which also helps.

Social Media / Influencer Partnerships

Remember that whole social media thing and how you’ve tried to avoid it for the past 20 years? Well, unfortunately for those who have a love/ hate relationship with social media, the truth is, it’s not going away anytime soon. When it comes to marketing, social media is king these days and any partnerships you’re able to build through social channels are great ways to not just boost your rankings, but also increase brand awareness.

Email Marketing

Despite what some may say, email is not dead….yet. In fact, most people I speak with tell me something comes from every email campaign they send - whether it be a sale, question, or some other type of engagement. And if there’s anything you can take away from this blog post, it’s just that - engagement. You want people to remember you’re still alive even when it seems like there are crickets on the opposite end of the email chain. When you do reach out to influencers about potential partnerships, ask for an email mention in their newsletter - it will only increase your exposure online.