What comes first, a business or a website?
That's a trick question!
So often, freelance social media managers tell us they're waiting to launch their business as their website isn't finished yet. But that's crazy! You need a website, but you shouldn't put off your marketing until it's created!
On the other hand, we'll often have people tell us that they don't need a website because they use social media for marketing their business/rely on referrals/are at capacity [delete as appropriate!]
Do social media managers need a website?
Spending your days hanging out on social media and using your social content as your portfolio can make a website feel pointless.
Let us be very clear here. ALL FREELANCE SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS NEED A WEBSITE.
A website is your little piece of real estate on the internet. The only part you can control.
Without one, your business doesn't look professional.
If someone is considering your services, it's highly likely they will check you out across the internet. They'll look at your social channels, your reviews, and, you guessed it, your website.
And if you don't have one, you can miss out on the most incredible opportunities without even realising it.
Social media managers need a website to generate leads
Would you buy from a business that doesn't even have a website? No? So why would someone invest in you without one?
Your website will allow you to show off your expertise and position yourself as the perfect person to help your dream clients.
It should list your services, display your from prices (don't use pricing packages) and show your customer stories and social proof.
You'll also add a pre-qualifying system on your website to ensure that potential leads are the right fit for you before being invited to a discovery call.
Your sales page lives on your website.
To reduce the risk in your business, we recommend you build a business using the Offer Triangle® framework to provide long-term services, 1:1 services and group offers.
To sell them, you'll need a sales page for every 1:1 and group offer you provide.
Your sales page will provide the reader with all the information they need to make a buying decision and give them a way to pay. (We love Thrivecart for this)
You'll use your website to grow your email list.
Yes, that's right, you need an email list! Even if you are at capacity or only work with a handful of clients at a time, there will never be a better time to start an email list than right now.
Email is the only place you'll be able to reach your whole audience without battling algorithms, and once you spend time building it (and emailing your subscribers), it will become one of the most valuable business assets you own.
But to grow your email list, you need two things.
- A lead magnet (there are 34 ideas you can download here)
- A landing page with a form that collects email addresses
Your landing page will live on your website, and you'll point people to it at every possible opportunity.
Your evergreen content will live on your website.
Writing evergreen content in the form of blog posts is the most efficient way to market your business.
Unless you are an SEO guru, your blog won't suddenly bring in tons of organic traffic. But it will provide unlimited content ideas for all your channels and a valuable resource to share with potential leads.
Writing a blog sounds like hard work, but we've broken it down to make it really easy for you in one of our exclusive Inner Hub® masterclasses. Join the waiting list to get access.
Most people writing blogs make one big mistake. They write the blog and expect people to come and read it. But that's not likely.
And when you've spent time writing a great piece of evergreen content, you'll want to ensure you get the most out of it.
Here are three tips to help you make the most of your evergreen content:
- Don't only share the blog when you first publish it. Share it regularly with your social media audience and email list.
- Use it to create other content for your social media platforms.
- Please don't wait until it's perfect before you publish it! You'll tweak and update it regularly anyway, so get it into the world now!
Grab our checklist with 16 ways to get more from your blog.
Use your blog to make more money as an affiliate
We are big fans of affiliate marketing and offer all our customers the opportunity to make some commission when they promote our products.
The way we see it, affiliate marketing is a win/win situation.
We get to help our customers make more money while bringing new people into our world and helping them grow their businesses.
As affiliate marketers, we have also made a lot of money telling people about tools, products, courses etc. We often recommend products we use and love, and by using our affiliate links, we get a small commission for sharing things we would have shared anyway.
If you're not already including an affiliate marketing strategy in your business, now would be a great time to start.
Consider all the tools you use in your business and see whether they offer affiliate commissions for.
PRO TIP: If you have any of our products, you can drop us an email to become an affiliate here.
To become a great affiliate marketer, you will need a website. You can then write blogs about the products, include affiliate links to products in other content where relevant and even create a dedicated favourites page.
The easiest way to create your first website
The way we see it, there are three ways to build your business website.
- Hire a website developer.
- Learn how to use WordPress.
- Use a simple website builder.
We've tried all three! Our first websites were all hosted on WordPress, and we used a developer to build those. This was an expensive investment, and as we are the types of people who change their minds often and want to get things done quickly, this wasn't a long-term option for us.
We also learnt how to use WordPress to maintain it while also having our developer's support. But WordPress is clunky and confusing – and really easy to break!
Nowadays, we use a simple website builder called Showit, along with templates from Tonic.
Showit is super simple to use and integrates with WordPress for your blog for SEO purposes. Laura M created this site using the Margarita template on Showit, and this blog was written on WordPress.
If you are just starting out, we'd recommend using Showit. You can learn everything you need from their support articles and YouTube. And you can get your first month free here. (affiliate)
