Transcript

Gayle Johnson

For me, I decided that I would rather do one platform well rather than spread myself thinly over several platforms. And for me, I chose Facebook. So I spend a lot of time in the Facebook environment. I have a Facebook page that I set up.

And it felt so daunting, I have to say, setting it up. I felt like I was exposing myself to the world. And then I launched this thing and not very much happened. I thought OK, I could take a few risks here.

So I use that Facebook page to really start conversations, interestingly. It's not primarily a selling tool for me. The selling happens, but first of all, it's about building a relationship and it's about building connections.

So on that Facebook page, I share little snippets of what I'm doing. I share little snippets of behind the scenes at my work, some good news about my clients. And every so often I will throw in an offer or an invitation to work with me, but that's not primarily how I use that page. It's more about letting people into my world, I suppose.

And it goes back again to this belief I have that people are people, so by using social media to just be yourself and get allow people to see a little glimpse of what you're like and what you might be like working with, I think it helps them build trust in you. It helps them get to know you. And they can make the decision to buy from you if they need to. And that certainly worked for me.

But then I found what's been even more powerful is setting up a group. So I have a Facebook group now which isn't huge but it is pretty active. And that really has built a sense of community around what I do. So the people in there, they share their kind of issues and tips to do with my work, which is about writing. They ask me questions. They share what's going on in their day. And they've kind of built up networks and friendships with each other too as a result of that.

And that, I have to say, is probably where I get most of my business from. And again, I don't spend a lot of time advertising in there. Every so often, when I have events running. Or if I have an offer, I will make that clear to people. But mostly, it's about building that community.

So when people think they need someone who does what I do, I'm the first person that comes to mind. And they know me, and they must like me because they're still in the group, and they trust that I can do what I say I'm going to do because I kind of throw in bits of evidence. I throw in successes from my other clients, that sort of thing. And that's how work seems to have grown very organically really.