Is it time to ditch social media?
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Welcome to Issue 15 of A Good Reputation, a newsletter about a good brand move that helped grow a small business. (Did someone send you? Subscribe here.) Hello Reader, Here's a not-so-secret secret: You don't need a social media presence to have a successful business. And if you absolutely hate it, I'm here to tell you that there's another way. How do I know? Because in under two years, I’ve built a successful solo 6-figure consulting practice with a steady stream of clients working less than 30 hours a week—and none of it came from marketing myself on social. Depending on your business model and the type of customer you want to serve, you might not need it either. You see, there are pretty much only three ways to market your business:
Most new businesses start with a relationship model. And that’s because it’s easier and faster to build than traffic. But then, this weird thing happens. Suddenly, every business owner thinks they need traffic. And they focus on traffic at the expense of building relationships. Before you know it, you're spending precious, countless hours trying to keep up with changing algorithms, posting on LinkedIn 20 times a day, and dancing while pointing at the camera for Instagram. And—for some of us—it's all so unnecessary. Today, I'm sharing my story as an example of how and when you can focus on a relationship model. (As well as when it might be time to shift.) Though I have an active social media presence and have helped build dozens of other businesses with a traffic-based approach, none of my clients have found me this way—it’s all been through my network. If you, too, want to ditch social and focus on relationships (or are unclear on what approach is best for your business), this one's for you. A Good Story I started my career as a journalist covering two topics I knew absolutely nothing about: pharmaceuticals and medical devices. I wrote for a publication called FDAnews, which is about as dry and boring as it sounds. Like most first gigs, I was just happy to take whatever I could get. And I got it by securing coffee dates with alums in my college network. After roughly a dozen requests for “informational interviews,” one of those connections introduced me to someone who decided to take a chance on a very green (yet very enthusiastic) young reporter. My next few jobs happened a lot like that. When I was ready to move on to something new (read: less boring) I reached out to my network for coffee dates. I offered help and asked for help. Eventually, I ended up at the San Francisco Business Times. For two fun years, I wrote about hotels, restaurants, nonprofits, small businesses, and startups. All the while, I was building my network and establishing relationships. I loved the restaurant beat so much that I started my own food blog. And that's when I finally married journalism with content creation. To grow this food blog, I used my connections from the San Francisco Business Times. I started by interviewing chefs and getting a home-style version of their most popular recipes. They shared that feature with their network. It took off from there. The approach here was relationship building and traffic, as I had to build an audience to sell sponsorship and make revenue from affiliate deals. After having my first kid, my next venture was an online magazine for new mothers, which was acquired as the content marketing branch of another startup. I grew that magazine the same way I did my food blog—by featuring other people’s stories. (See a trend here?) After one final in-house stint during my divorce as the head of content marketing for an established startup, I started what’s now my freelance content marketing consulting business. Before I quit, I wanted to have my first few clients lined up. So, once more, I turned to my network. A Good Approach I started by reaching out to people I had met, reported on, or collaborated with throughout my career. After researching their content channels and noticing opportunities for improvement, I reached out to see if they’d be interested in working with me as a part-time contractor. These weren’t cold calls—these were warm calls. They knew me and my work. So when I offered my new services, they were more willing to say yes if the time was right, the need was there, and the budget was available. With that, I landed three clients ready to roll as soon as I quit my in-house job. Those three clients led to three more clients after I specifically asked for referrals. They’ve also more recently led to repeat work, as I’ve approached them for add-on services or they’ve come back to me for specific projects. My next source of new clients came from attending in-person events, including marketing industry conferences, local business meetups, and chamber of commerce parties. Every time I'd go to an event, I'd come back with dozens of cards and follow up with the same approach: Research their content channels, find opportunities for improvement, and reach out with suggestions and ways I could help. My third and final relationship-based approach to landing clients has come from connecting with collaborators who complement my work. These referral partners include SEO specialists, paid ads experts, PR professionals, branding folks, and business strategy coaches. But instead of just meeting these people and saying, “Hey, it would be great if you refer me some time,” I find ways to collaborate. I feature them on one of my content channels or we trade services or do a joint event or webinar—anything that will allow us to borrow each other’s network or audiences. All this relationship-based approach to building my business has worked for me because I have a high-ticket offer for a mature audience of established business owners. I don’t need to have 10 clients a month—I make all the revenue I need with just two or three. Therefore, I don’t need to have a high volume of leads coming in the door for this part of my business. I don’t need to post on social media or write a newsletter or have a podcast or spend money on ads. And if you have a similar style of business, you probably don’t need to do any of that stuff either. But if you have a different type of business—like selling products or group services or a community or a lower-ticket offer that requires a higher volume of leads—then you need to play the traffic game. (At least in part.) Still, the majority of business owners feel like they need to build an audience when they could focus on building relationships instead. At this point, you might be wondering: Why then, Renee, are you building an audience on social media? Because I want to expand beyond the 1:1 small business and startup client work I’ve been doing to help more people. And that requires a different approach. A Good Lesson A mistake I made early on was saying yes to everything for fear of not having work in the future. As a result, I’ve taken on too much, committed to projects that weren’t a good fit, or otherwise unnecessarily complicated my life because I didn’t have confidence in my ability to keep securing client work. It’s a classic scarcity mindset a lot of entrepreneurs and new business owners suffer from. And it’s actually the real reason I initially started spending my time posting on social media. I thought I needed it to secure a lead pipeline for my high-ticket 1:1 consulting offer. (I don't.) There's a lot of noise and (seemingly) a lot of choice when it comes to building and marketing your business. Simplifying comes with maturity, time, and practice. But what if you started by simplifying your marketing to match what you're selling? While I’m still working through it, I'm getting clearer every step of the way. A Good Takeaway I’ve realized that it’s crucial to determine whether you're operating a relationship-based business or a traffic-based one before you spin your wheels building your brand reputation. (This framework, by the way, comes from business strategist Michelle Warner.) Each approach caters to different types of customers and requires distinct strategies to succeed. In a nutshell, a relationship-based model thrives on high-touch, personalized interactions and is often suited for high-ticket services like consulting or coaching. Your customers are typically more mature in their understanding and value the depth of the relationship you offer. The focus here is on trust and long-term partnerships. If you're operating in this space, your efforts should be directed toward building deep connections, leveraging referrals, and cultivating repeat business. If this is your approach of choice, you should be thinking about how you can continuously add value to your clients’ journeys and maintain that relationship over time. On the other hand, a traffic-based model relies on reaching a broad audience with lower-touch interactions. This approach is better suited for scalable offerings like online courses, workshops, or digital products. It typically requires a longer runway—like 18 to 24 months—to build momentum. Here, the focus shifts to creating content that attracts and nurtures a wider audience, optimizing your funnels, and developing a system to convert traffic into paying customers. If you’re debating which model is best for your business, here are some questions you could ask yourself:
If you, like me, want to keep riding that social train and need a traffic-based model:
Ultimately, the success of either model depends on your ability to align your approach with your audience’s needs and preferences. I’ll let you know how it goes for me. Will you let me know how it goes for you? A Few Good Resources
Hope you have a good one, |