That time-old saying - “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. When it comes to business, it really is true. Whether you’re talking about pitching for potential opportunities or finding your audience on social media, it really is best to make sure that you’re not totally reliant on one place and that you continue to diversify if you want to grow your business and community. Here’s why.

I have predominately grown my business through Instagram and through using my pre-existing network. Given that I launched Your AJency mid-pandemic and when IRL wasn’t really an option, Instagram seemed to make the most sense as its what I knew and trusted the most. I am still a huge advocate of finding your social media audience on the platform.

But… in the last few months there has been a lot of disruption and huge change across social media. Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, it has seen some HUGE names leave the platform and some reservation from many about its’ future as a platform in which they want to invest their time. A few weeks ago, Instagram went down and was closing accounts with no apparent reason. Hackers are getting more and more sophisticated, so despite the dual authentication, some huge accounts have been taken down and it has taken time to get them back. So this is just a little reminder that as a business owner, it is important to not put all your eggs in one basket. That way you can try and avoid a situation where should you lose a social media account, you won’t be losing your audience along with it. Here is some advice and other ideas for you on ways you can ensure that you don’t rely on one platform to grow your audience, build an engaged community and retain amazing clients. Of course, social media has its place, but there are other highly effective ways to do all of the above outside of social platforms.

The following things work well for us at Your AJency. It’s important to know that for all of these things, I have taken the last few months to upskill myself and set up new methods for Your AJency. It takes time, but it can all be done. This list is by no means exhaustive and we love to hear from you, so let us know over on Instagram what is working for you!

Launch a blog

If you’re going to launch a blog, the most important thing is to do it consistently! We publish ours weekly – It is a time commitment but worth it in my opinion. A blog allows you to share more value and knowledge in a longer form content. For us, at Your AJency, the blog gives us a space where we can share expert advice and behind the scenes examples for other business owners. It’s also been a great forum for me where I can share some of the amazing women I’ve been lucky enough to have met on my business journey and hopefully motivated my fellow female founders with their stories.

The “Moments to Motivate” series is something I always look forward to writing and publishing so definitely check it out! And as a sidenote, if there is something you want covered on the blog or someone you would love for me to interview, let me know. I am always on the lookout for inspirational content.

Visibility through PR

Getting visible using PR comes in many forms and again requires a time investment but I have built new connections through it and continue to get new leads too. It has undoubtedly helped me grow in the last few months. I have won awards due to the work, which has helped me position myself as an expert. I have shared my knowledge with guest podcasts and blogs and have been featured in magazines and other mediums where I know my target audience hang out.

I couldn’t and wouldn’t have made as much progress without the help of Fiona at Boss Your PR. She has an amazing membership (PRSpotlight) which shares all the very best journalist requests for you to respond to easily, and saving you hours of time researching them yourself. I’ve also learned how to write pitches and make great use of the templates she has to use at your leisure. As an investment in you and your business, it’s well worth it!

Website

Is your website up to date and a great shop front for your business? Your website is something that needs regular attention and isn’t something that is just launched and then done! It needs maintaining just as anything else that you do in your business. I loved working with @readypretty on my website which I launched late last year. I have since enhanced it with online scheduling for my mentoring services.

If you are looking for tips on website and copy – here are 2 accounts I love.

I am now really focusing on my SEO and have started following @menekse.stewart . She has great actionable ideas for you to start working on straight away! @kizkopop_ offers amazing advice to help you write interesting, relatable content that will speak to your brand and your audience.

LinkedIn

Of course, how you might want to use LinkedIn will depend on your business but I committed to post more consistently on my own LinkedIn to continue growing Your AJency. I am still learning and have picked up some great advice on lead generation from @melissa_henault – she runs some great challenges and I have also recently started following Louise Brogan after a recommendation.

Email Marketing

If getting a mailing list together isn’t on your to-do list, now is the time to start thinking about it. In fact, the more I read, the more essential I think it is. I recently completed an amazing course from @_Helen_Perry_ who I now also follow on Instagram for great advice. The reason a mailing list is soo critical is firstly, it’s your mailing list, it’s not reliant on a third-party platform. Once people subscribe, they are agreeing to enter your community and hear from you. Secondly, these days, it takes a lot more for people to sign up to your emails, so once you know that they’re invested enough to sign up in the first place, you can assume that generally they’re a warm audience that are interested in what you have to say. Email marketing is also a great way of rewarding the loyalty of your existing clients, by offering early bird offers, or special discounts exclusive to them for example. Watch this space as Your AJency emails are coming! (I’ve written it now and so now after sharing with you, I am 110% committed!!!)

As I said, these are just things that we have done at Your AJency this year. The list is endless, so prioritise things that you can and feel able to do. There are lots of free resources on all of these things, and there are also some brilliant paid-course options too.

Perhaps you’ve found something else useful? At the end of the day we all have a preferred way of communication. Despite it’s downfalls, I am and will continue to be a HUGE fan of Instagram. I have Instagram to thank for my initial business growth and for many of my clients too. But like anything you need options and so this is a friendly prompt to check where you are communicating with your audience and question whether you are doing it in enough places. That said, be careful to not spread yourself too thin, so that the motto still remains quality over quantity. It’s ok to have a favourite platform that you write for first and foremost, and then repurpose your content across them.

If you found this useful, or if you have other ideas, come and let us know on our Instagram!