As a coach or consultant, you most likely create programs designed to draw in new and returning clients.

Whether designed for groups or individuals, you provided needed advice and other offers for your audience.

However, as anyone knows, the biggest hurdle is getting people to register. Afterall, teaching requires students, right?

While you can make social media posts or advertise it on your website, sometimes that’s not enough. 

So, what do you do if the ‘traditional’ ways to get butts in seats aren’t working?

When you’re struggling to boost attendance you’re going to have to reach out to people in different ways.

Here’s five fantastic (and super effective) ways to help you to share the value your programs offer and attract more people to register for your coaching or consulting programs.

Make Calls

Ok, stay with us here. We know that picking up the phone and calling people may be a little uncomfortable for some.

We’ve become accustomed to reaching out via emails and text messages.

While it’s true that written communication allows you to plan out what you will say, making calls provides other benefits we simply can’t ignore.

Making a phone call allows for a two-way conversation.

You have the opportunity to personally interact with people. You get to build or deepen relationships and find out what is happening in their lives. 

Download our Ultimate Guide to Delegating for More Tips & Tools on How to Delegate as a Solopreneur

Valuable Conversations

Understanding where your clients are at will help you 

• Design better programs around your client's needs
• Gain insight as to why they may not be signing up (time, fear, money)
• Increase your odds for registrations and referrals

Moreover, those personal interactions will help your clients more fully understand how the program can benefit them, on a personal level. 

All that said, don’t just pick up the phone and start dialing. 

• Make a plan. 
• Be strategic. 
• Draft a loose script but stay open to letting the conversation flow.

Start by reaching out to those that you already formed a relationship with. Previous clients, prospective customers, and anyone else that you know who would be interested in your program.

If Not You, Then Who?

Even if the person says no, don’t be afraid to ask if they can think of anyone that could benefit from the program you’re offering. 

When you get a referral, always ask the person the best way to reach out to their colleague, friend, or family member. 

Referrals can mean more butts in seats but even more valuable is they grow your audience and allow you to reach people you would not have been able to otherwise. 

If you’re still saying, “Umm, yeah. This introvert will never be comfortable with making calls.” That’s ok.

Even though calling is about relationship building, this is something you can delegate.

Believe it or not, there are people out there that love this stuff; it’s their zone of genius!

If you don't feel comfortable making these phone calls, you might want to enlist some help from a super outgoing virtual assistant skilled at relationship marketing to handle them for you.

Send Personal Emails

Automation is a huge time-saver. We are strong supporters of automating everything you possibly can. However, every blessing can also be a curse. 

Spam folders coupled with everyone’s overwhelm with coupon after coupon means it’s a bit tougher to stand out in your client’s inbox. 

This means that you take the time to write the personal emails to your key contacts. From you, to them.

Relate Appropriately

For example, if you have a strictly professional relationship, then you can use a professional tone and style.

However, if you are acquaintances, then use a more friendly and approachable tone. This further communicates to the receiver that this is indeed a personal email especially for them. 

In short, strive to relate to the individual recipient.

Keeping the receiver in mind and communicating that you took time to reach out and that you care can deliver a great return on your time investment. 

Again, be strategic with these.

Make a list of people in your direct circle of influence that would be interested in your program, offer you valuable feedback, or would be strong supporters with qualified referral leads.

Create an Online Presence

Phone calls and writing personal emails are effective but you’re going to need a way to reach people with a wider sweep. 

Videos and live social media posts are a great way to get your message out in an interactive way. 

Show Personality!

• Create a video that explains the program and how it can benefit potential users.
• Go ‘live’ at the start of your promotion and right before registration ends (a few times in between won’t hurt either) to allow people to ask personal questions and to build excitement and value for your program. 
• Create a video showing any handouts or materials they will be getting with the program; their take-aways. 
• Use personal pictures, not just stock images. Show people what your program will offer them. 

These visual, interactive, and connection-based posts help your potential clients process information more easily and helps them relate better to the content and messages that you share with them.

Don’t stop there. Make sure you’re commenting and responding to people on your social channels. This will help your customers develop more trust and interest in your offers and programs.

In short, use images and videos to easily invite people to register for your programs in a creative way.

Appear on Podcasts

Join in on podcasts in your niche to spread brand awareness.

This is a great way to grow your audience, help people find out about you, and connect with more potential clients. If you’re really loving this idea, check out this article on being a podcast guest.

Being a guest on a podcast is the perfect opportunity to share your program while you discuss interesting topics with like-minded people.

If you land a podcast guest spot, focus on sharing interesting points of view or content during the podcast to catch the attention of listeners.

It’s not only about plugging your program it’s about building credibility, allowing people to get to know you, and feel comfortable with you. 

Contribute to Attract

Join high-quality podcasts that fit your audience. This way, you can attract the right people to join your coaching programs while contributing valuable content to the podcast itself. The result? 

• Gain more traction, attention and interactions for your program.
• Draw in high-quality customers potential clients.
• Build your know-like-trust factor with a wide reach

Showing up as a guest on a podcast allows you to draw in more customers, make them feel comfortable and spread your program to potential clients.

Pay for Ads

Sometimes you need a little dough to get a rise in attendance. 

Puns aside, paying for ads remains an excellent way to get more people to register for your programs.

Even with a small budget, paid ads allow you to share your programs with people that may have an interest in them.

This is where metrics and algorithms become your friend.

For example, if you offer life coaching, then the algorithm will aim for people that would be most open to your services.

Target the Right People

Whether you pay to...

• Boost a post.
• Run a social media ad campaign,
• or opt for the pay-per-click model (you pay a website for every person that clicks on your ads)

you’re drawing the attention of specific people who would be most interested in your brand. 

Paying for ads can help put butts in seats while growing your list.

Bonus benefits are building brand awareness, driving more traffic to your website, and helping people find you when they are asking the search engines questions that you can answer. 

We sound like a broken record but if you’re going to put your hard-earned money on the line make sure to spend some serious time designing and implementing ads for your programs.

Mirror Your Model

In conclusion, if the traditional ways of program promotion are not filling your virtual classroom seats give one (or all) of these ideas a try to help you stand out.

Track your data so you can determine which method or combination of methods works the best to attract your ideal client. 

Always be expanding your overall reach.

Don’t stop if the traditional methods aren’t producing the results you’re looking for.

At the end of the day, coaching and consulting is a deeply personal business model, let your marketing strategies mirror that. 

As you do, you’re likely to see more butts in seats and more dough on your bottom line.  

Branding your coaching business is fundamental to reaching your business growth goals.

Are you wondering how to brand your coaching business in a way that sets you up for whopping success?

Maybe you already have a coaching life, but you're not reaching enough people.

Together we will uncover the importance of branding, how to choose the identity of your coaching life, and break down the steps for your branding plan. 

Why branding your coaching business is important

Marketing and branding are both important, but the difference between the two is what makes branding so important for your coaching life.

"Branding" is who you are; the person. And "marketing" is how you build awareness for that identity; the logo.

Both are important to expanding your reach and maintaining client loyalty.

As a solopreneur, you’ve got to stand out among 7.8 billion people. People buy from people not logos so branding is how you educate your audience about who you are.

How to brand your coaching business

Now that we understand the importance of branding, you might be wondering how you can brand your coaching life?

If you have a solid understanding of who you are, what your story is, and what you stand for, you're already halfway there.

Branding communicates those things in layers, allowing people to get the full sense of what it will be like to do business with you.

Successfully branding your coaching business will leave a mental imprint that immediately comes up when they think of your business.

So, let's come up with an effective branding strategy for your coaching business.

In our experience, there are generally four elements to keep in mind when coming up with a branding strategy.

Let's break these four elements down so you can create an effective branding strategy for your coaching life.

• Brand Value – What do you stand for? What is the reason you do what you do? Your “why”. Your brand values typically guide your actions, your decisions, and how you influence.

• Niche – What are you good at? When you tell someone that you are a life coach, the term is so broad that you will need a niche to communicate specifically who would benefit the most from your skills. An example of a niche for a life coach is a Health and Fitness Coach. You can view more examples of niches in your field by clicking here for inspiration.

• Target Audience – Your target audience is who will you be coaching. Will your audience have an age range or limit? Is your coaching life for an audience of a specific gender? For more information about your target audience matters and how to find one, check out this article

• Brand Identity – Your coaching brand will come to life with your branding identity; the brand identity is basically a physical or visual representation of your brand.

With those questions answered, you can confidently move forward in laying out your brand strategy for your coaching life. 

Awesome! Now, we are going to put all these elements together to create your brand identity. 

You will need a brand name, slogan, mission statement, logo, and color scheme for your brand identity. First thing's first, let's think of a name for your coaching life.

Download our Ultimate Guide to Delegating for More Tips & Tools on How to Delegate as a Solopreneur

What's in a Name

You may already have the perfect name for your coaching life—and maybe you do, but before you make a final decision there are a few things to consider.

For example, should you name your business after yourself?

Should you include your initials or family name in the title of your business?

Let's explore some issues people have when naming their business and how you can avoid them.

• Using your own name: If your professional coaching life fails, it may give a bad reputation to your name. If you try to start another business with a bad reputation to your name, you're already starting off on a bad foot with your audience. What if you decide to merge with another life coach? You will probably have to change your name to James & Janet's to make your partner feel included or change the name altogether. What if you get married or your legal name changes?

• Unexclusive name: If the name isn't unique, someone else most likely already has it. This is a name that can run into legal issues. One way to possibly avoid this is by registering your name properly. Each state is different, but you can learn more about the proper way to register your business name by clicking here.

• Too narrow: If the name of your business is too narrow, it might become irrelevant long term. For example, if in 1998 you named your business "Twentieth Century Fitness" by the year 2001, your business would have  become "irrelevant" because it was outdated. This is the main reason we now know FOX as Fox and not Twentieth Century Fox as it was originally called.

• Domain availability: A domain is the name of your website. Using your business name in the website link makes it easy to find you, but sometimes that domain is already taken. A quick fix to this issue is to check the domain before registering the name. Another way you can prevent this issue is by spelling the name uniquely. For example, you might choose to call your business Appl3 instead of Apple.

Great job on choosing a name for branding your coaching business life, but we need a catchphrase that captures the attention of our audience and makes it stick in their minds.

If I were to ask you what you wanted to eat and you answered, "Something…fresh" I would automatically think of Subway, and you want to know why? It's because they use the slogan "Eat Fresh".

Slogans are typically two to seven words long. Do you have a catchphrase in mind for your coaching life?

We are making so much progress, and I can't wait to see the completion of your ideas in the end!

Along with a slogan, businesses typically have a mission statement. Everything we discussed earlier including your niche, your target audience, and your purpose, will all be included in this statement.

Your mission statement is not something you advertise, but it is needed to explain why your business exists.

Logo and Color Scheme

We got through the boring part of branding, but now it's time for the fun part! Let's talk about the logo for your business.

The logo and the color scheme of your business go hand-in-hand so we can kill two birds with one stone. Haven't you always wanted to design your own logo?

Some people prefer to purchase a logo instead of making their own, but let's explore these options together.

Whether you want to purchase your logo or design it yourself, deciding on a color scheme is still our next step.

Why is a color scheme important? It seems like such a minor detail that it shouldn't matter, right? Well…not quite.

The Importance Behind Colors in Branding

I learned the importance of color scheme from Rebecca Kowalewicz, the Vice President of Clearbridge Branding Agency. She wrote the article, "The Colors of Branding" for Forbes magazine and I would like to share what I have learned with you.

The color scheme is important in business branding because it reveals the value and character of your brand. Since colors are associated with value, they connect with your audiences' emotions.

Kowalewicz also says that most of the time your brand will consist of three colors: the base, the accent, and the neutral color. The base color is normally used for the name or the focus of your logo, and the neutral color is used for the background.

Businesses can choose to alternate the color scheme, but the accent is used to decorate your logo and is not the main focus. Think about Netflix, for example. The word "Netflix" is in bold red and the background is black; but sometimes the word "Netflix" is white, and the background is red.

Your brand colors are probably going to be used on your uniform, business cards, website, flyers, and logo. That's why it's important that you consider them carefully.

Remember that your brand gives people an insight into who you are as a life coach. That's why it's important to review the meaning of the colors together.

Meanings Behind Colors in Branding

When you walk into your local market, have you noticed how it is decorated with red during Valentine's Day? Well, this is not a coincidence.

Business uses certain colors to connect with people's emotions. Since red is typically associated with passion, this is a smart way to increase purchases during Valentines.

Red also represents energy and danger. It's no wonder why brands use red to emphasize urgency.

Have you heard about the little girl who called the fire department when her house caught on fire? The dispatcher on the line asked her how to get to her house, and she answered, "Duh! Big red truck!"

Okay, that's just an old joke—but it does reveal the truth about the color red. Even little kids' memories improve when they associate objects with colors. So, what colors should you use for your logo?

As a life coach, you may want to consider colors like green, orange, and yellow.

Have you heard of Starbucks? Of course, you have. The two colors they use for their brand are green and white. Green typically represents health, growth, and safety. If you want to give your audience a sense of security and safety as a life coach, then this may be one of the colors for your color scheme.

Orange symbolizes positivity, warmth, and optimism. Some businesses use orange with yellow, which relates a message of joy, positive mentality, and inspiration.

Color scheme choices are endless... At the end of the day, it's up to you, but you can find out all the different color scheme combinations and what they mean by clicking here.

Designing Your Logo

You have a name for your coaching life, and you have an idea of the colors you want to use in your logo.

How about we look at some options for designing your logo.

You can create your design from scratch, you can use logo design websites, or you can simply pay someone to do all the work. Which option sounds more pleasing to you?

If you want to create your logo from scratch, one way to do that is to use a software or app like Adobe Illustrator. This gives you full control of your design and you are not limited by what you can do.

If you use software like Adobe or Photoshop, you can create your own text font and style with the tip of your finger—literally. However, designing a logo from scratch isn't for everyone.

If you're not willing to watch countless tutorial videos to figure it out, you may want to use an online logo building service.

Canva is a popular one. The logos are simple to create. Just type in your business name, choose your industry, and the fonts you like. The downside is that you are limited when it comes to the designs and they look stock and unoriginal. 

You may be asking yourself - does SEO really matter? You’ve done some research to try and figure out how to get more people to find your website.  On one hand, SEO seems like a magical potion that will miraculously solve your website traffic woes. On the other hand, it seems super complicated and it just gives you a headache thinking about it. Is SEO really worth the trouble? Do you really need to spend time optimizing your website or is that just for large businesses?

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is simply a marketing strategy for “increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results.” It’s what websites use to get ranked on search engines so that they are found when you type search queries.

Let’s say that you wanted to understand why hiring a virtual assistant is important. You type “Why hire a virtual assistant?” in the Google search bar as shown in the screenshot below.

Google instantly uses its autocomplete feature to suggest other possible search engine queries. Each of these queries (including your initial query) is called a keyword phrase.

You click “Enter” and the following results appear.

It is highly likely that the webpages you see on the first results page have used some elements of SEO to get their articles highly ranked.

Getting SEO right often seems like rocket science. There are so many elements that contribute to a successful SEO strategy and businesses are often competing in an overly crowded marketplace. In fact, some businesses only choose to use SEO techniques if they want to get leads from organic search while others focus on different combinations of digital marketing strategies.

The truth is that SEO is important for everyone. Not only can it improve a website’s visibility on search engines, it can also improve a website’s user experience. Virtual A Team is committed to helping our clients incorporate the best SEO practices that lead to greater brand exposure. Here’re some of the things we do to help our clients get the most out of SEO.

Download our Ultimate Guide to Delegating for More Tips & Tools on How to Delegate as a Solopreneur

SEO Best Practices for ALL Websites

There are just some things that all websites must have even if you aren’t trying to rank on search engines. Some of these elements are described below.

1. A Keyword-Rich Title Tag

Moz defines a title tag as “an HTML element that specifies the title of a web page. [They] are displayed on search engine results as the clickable headline for a given result and are important for usability, SEO and social sharing.”  The title tag should not be longer than 60 characters and should have the following format:

Primary Keyword – Secondary Keyword | Brand Name

Here is an example of a title tag using the virtual assistant example.

Let’s say that you own a life coach agency called Life’s Spring. You have done your keyword research for your homepage and identified “life goals” as your primary keywords and “lifestyle guru” as your secondary keywords. Your title tag would look something like this

Life Goals – Lifestyle Guru | Life’s Spring

This is great but how do you actually create a title tag on your website? The answer to this question depends on your website host.  Here’re the steps if you’re using WordPress.

• Install and activate the Yoast plugin.
• Create a new page or post.
• The Yoast box will appear below the text field. Click “Edit Snippet”.
• View the preview and adjust where necessary.

Contact your website host if you’re not using WordPress to determine how you can access the HTML code for your website’s pages. Here’re the steps for changing the page’s title tag using HTML code:

• Locate the editable HTML
• Move your cursor between the <head> tags only.
• Type <title> Life Goals – Lifestyle Guru| Life’s Spring </title> (The exact title will depend on what you include in the prescribed format.)
• Save the code.

2.  Appropriate use of keywords in meta descriptions.

According to Yoast, a “meta description is a snippet of up to about 155 characters which summarizes a page’s content.” It’s often what people use to determine whether to click on a link and view a web page.

Here’s an example of a meta description.

The same text is not on the webpage when the link is clicked.

A good meta description has:

• A clear call-to-action that relates to the headline and is written in the active voice
• Wording that matches the actual content on the webpage
• Focus keywords

Here’re the steps for including a meta description for your web page if you use WordPress.

• Install and activate the Yoast SEO plugin.
• Enable meta keywords support in Yoast SEO.
• Create a post or page.
• The Yoast box will appear below the text field. Click “Edit Snippet”.
• Enter the meta description. Remember that it shouldn’t have more than 155 characters.

The meta description would need to be included in your website’s HTML code if you don’t use WordPress. Contact your site administrator to learn how to do this.

3. Internal page linking

Internal page linking involves including links to other pages on your website in your content. It acts like a web connecting your website’s pages together. Search engines get a better sense of what your website is about and how it is structured when you use internal page linking. In fact, internal page linking can help a search engine learn which pages on your website are most important.

There are 3 ways to include internal links on webpages:

• Identify your most important content and include links to this page in more than 60 percent of your content. These links would be included in anchor text (clickable text within content).
• Add anchor text links for related topics. For instance, let’s say that you’ve written a series of articles about creating attractive signs. You can include links to these articles in your most recent article in the series.
• Add a related posts section. Some websites include this section in the middle of the text, others include it at the end.

+ 5 More Important SEO Features for an SEO Marketing Strategy

These SEO features specifically relate to those who are more focused on SEO from a digital marketing perspective.

1.      Content Rich in Target Keywords

Content marketing is a highly involved digital marketing technique that utilizes bog articles, videos, podcasts and other types of digital media to provide valuable information to customers. It’s less about selling products or services and more about addressing customers’ pain points.

Each written piece you create for your website should be rich in target keywords. This doesn’t mean that a keyword or keyword phrase should be included in every other sentence. Instead, the content should be written in a natural way bearing in mind the inclusion of target keywords.

A good content writer can help you use the following strategies to get the most out of the content you create.

• Include primary keywords in the article’s title and H1, H2 and H3 headings.
• Write posts that are longer than 1,000 words. Longer posts tend to perform better.
• Long-tail keywords in the body of the content

It’s also important to set up a content calendar. Think of your content calendar like your GPS; it guides the content pieces that you post each month. Some of the benefits of a content calendar include:

• Organizing content based on monthly themes
• Choosing the right focus keywords related to the theme
• Identifying the right types of content (article, video, infographic etc.)
• Setting publish dates and assigning writers and other content creators

2.      Keywords in Image ALT Text

ALT text is an abbreviation for alternate text. It is the image description that helps search engines know what the image is about. Including ALT-Text in your images can help people find them in the results of an image search. This adds an additional layer of visibility to your website.

Here are the steps for including alt text for an image on any website hosting platform:

• Insert the image.
• Click “Image Options”.
• Click on the “Alt text” box.
• Write the Alt text and click save or enter.

Some things that you should look out for when including image alt-text are:

• Avoid keyword stuffing. Use keywords strategically to explain what the image is about.
• Be specific based on the article’s topic.
• Use less than 125 characters.
• Only use keywords in one of the images in a blog post. Including keywords in every image used in a single blog post can be too much.

3.      Backlinks

Backlinks are sometimes called inbound links or incoming links. Think of them like the links on a chain. Each link represents a website. When one website includes a link for another, a connection is made in the chain. Backlinks are these connections and they can only occur when another website includes a link to content on your website.

The thing is that getting backlinks for your website isn’t easy. It all boils down to doing one or more of the following:

• Consistently writing high quality content that people love. People will naturally want to include links to the content in their own articles.
• Volunteer for guest blogging. Search for blogs that have a “Write for Us” or the “Contribute” page.
• Look for broken links on competitors’ websites and try to create new content using the topic of the missing link as a guide.

4.     Use the power of Featured Snippets

Let’s go back to the search results for our “Why hire a virtual assistant?” query. You probably noticed something interesting about the results page.

Do you see that box with “Reduces Costs” as the heading and a cartoon-like image? This box is called a featured snippet. Impact BnD defines it as “an instant answer to a search query found in a box above organic results on a search engine results page.” It’s one of the most sought-after pieces of search engine real estate for 4 reasons:

• It’s prominently featured in search engine results. Its rank is sometimes called Rank 0. A website user will more likely click on this search result and ignore the rest.
• It takes up much more space than other organic search results.
• More internet users are doing web searches from their mobile devices. This considerably reduces the number of search results they see thus making it even more likely that they’ll click on a featured snippet.
• The webpage doesn’t have to be in one of the top 3 positions in order to be featured.

So, how can your webpage be featured?

• Your content needs to be in the first page results. This means that your content must be a part of the top 10 search engine ranking.
• Give a clear answer to a common question. Remove the fluff and get straight to the point.
• Use primary keywords in your H1, H2, H3 and H4 tags.
• Use specific HTML code for lists and tables:

5.  Don’t forget voice search

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has changed the way we interact with our devices. An iPhone user can simply say, “Hey Siri, what is a virtual assistant?” An Android user can do the same with Cortona, Genie or even Google Voice. An Amazon Echo user can talk to Alexa. You get the idea.

These smart device virtual assistants add another layer of complexity to SEO. In fact, it has created another branch of SEO called Voice Engine Optimization (VEO). So, how can you optimize for voice searches?

• • Reduce the page load time for your website
  • Write your content with a focus on conversational, long-tail keyword phrases. Think about what you would say about the topic if you were speaking to someone in person.
  • Create content that answers questions and is easy to read.

How can you find the right keywords?

We’ve spoken a lot about keywords throughout this article. You know they’re important for SEO but may have challenges finding them especially if you’re on a tight budget and can’t afford to invest in sophisticated keyword finder tools. We’ve got a few tricks up our sleeves to help you solve this problem. Here they are:

• Identify a topic that you want to write about and create a mind map of all possible related ideas and subtopics. This can help narrow down your keyword research.
• Type a query into the Google search bar. You’ll get a range of suggestions that you can use as a guide for basic keywords.
• Use one or more of the following free tools:
  • Google Correlate
  • IM for SMB Bulk Keyword Generator
  • Soovle
  • Ubersuggest
  • Wordtracker Scout

Putting It All Together

SEO is here to stay. It works in your favor if SEO becomes a natural part of building your brand’s online presence. Some of the best ways to build a strong SEO strategy include:

• Keyword research
• Title tags
• Meta descriptions
• Internal page linking
• Strong content marketing
• Image Alt text
• Backlinks
• Featured snippets
• Voice search

Let Virtual A Team help you use SEO to make your brand visible online. Contact us today for a free consultation.

I am so happy to write today’s post! After I describe who a content creator is and how they help businesses and bloggers grow their online presence via content marketing, the expression will be “Hey, I need a content creator!”

Why is a Content Creator Critical for Success?

Content creation is closely involved in every part of the Internet and data. Think about it; the Internet contains a vast catalog of content. Content is what we save, tag, share, and consume. Also, it's what we consume on social media.

Quality content turns potential audience members and resolute purchasers. As the saying goes — behind all viral content is a talented content creator.

If we want good content for marketing goals, we need a good ‘content creator.’ 

The Importance of Quality Content

Brands and businesses have witnessed better Return of Investment (ROI) using quality content creation as an approach. 

When we say content, we're referring to all visual and written material we use to interact with our target audience.

Content includes written materials like articles, landing pages, blog posts, email newsletters, instructional videos, Instagram stories, and so much more.

It's vital for most businesses, irrespective of offerings and scale. Content can help our businesses rank higher in Google search result pages.  It also lets us reach potential audiences regularly. That said, here are some key reasons why content is vital for our brands.

• It's Important for Branding

Content creation is a good way to market our brand and our business values. Social media content marketing (blink) can allow us to be less formal and playful. Great, right?  This connects potential clients and our brand.

Social media contents can highlight the tender side of our business. On the other hand, long-form articles allow potential customers to know how our products can solve their issues.

• Content Helps Us Target Potential Clients

The essential step in digital content creation is knowing who our audience is. Professional content creators understand the consumer's persona. They know their pain points, who they are, and the kind of content they want.

Producing good content frequently can help us reach our target audience. Good content provides solutions and helps rank our content on Google's result page. 

Content helps us reach our target audience and create a relationship with them. Further, sharing user reviews and guest posts can help boost our credibility and build trust.

Hiring a technical writer to craft a comprehensive guide to our products shows our audience that we care. It shows that we want to help them learn how to use our products before they buy any.

Download our Ultimate Guide to Delegating for More Tips & Tools on How to Delegate as a Solopreneur

• Boosts Traffic and Visibility

It's no news that content is a great way to maximize the number of visitors to our site. Yes, visual marketing adds a human touch to our marketing tactics. But written content also helps rank high in search engines.

By carrying out keyword research in a niche, we can write articles that boost our visibility. We advise starting with tools like Ahrefs to perfect the keywords that work well in a niche. After getting the keywords, plug them into Buzzsumo or Clearscope to make most of the content performance.

•  It Can Save Time and Money

Professional content writers can create new content effectively and faster than most business owners.

They can build products in a particular context. Also, they can accent how specific offerings can ease pain points and provide solutions for customers. By saving us time, we can concentrate on building our business.

• Better Return on Investment (ROI)

A content creator can help ensure that the material we develop delivers the highest ROI. Remember, content creators are not equal. So we may employ many writers to meet our company's needs like:

• A social media content writer for creating viral or appealing content
• A web designer for designing infographics
• A digital media for using the information developed by a content writer

What is a Content Creator?

A content creator contributes information to digital media or any other media (link). They target a specific audience in particular contexts. Additionally, a content creator provides the following:

•       Email newsletters
•       Blog posts
•       Video marketing
•       Social media copy
•       Graphic design
•       eBooks...and so much more!

Further, they build offline content like client packets, brochures, and so much more.

Their goal is to take our opinions and turn them into valuable content for our business. All we need to do is send them a project brief and ask them to complete it.

We can give them complete control and trust them to develop content for our business.

Why Hire a Content Creator?

To many, hiring a content creator is irrelevant. Why hire a content creator when we can write our own content?

It's simple! Content creators specialize in creating content regularly.

If we don't want to manage two job roles simultaneously, it's best to hire a professional content writer. Meeting a complete content strategy requires full attention.

If we want to reap the benefits of creating content, it shouldn’t be a box to check on our list. We need someone enthusiastic about developing our brand.

We also need someone that can produce working strategies and carry out those strategies.

Still not satisfied? Read on to learn why hiring a content creator is important:

• It’s Cost-Effective

We don't  often come across ways to save money and grow our business. But hiring a content creation agency or a freelance writer will save us training cost and time. Content creation has the largest percentage of outsourced content marketing.

Some content creators may be expensive, but you can devise a strategy before hiring them. The strategy includes the type of content we want and what we’re willing to pay. Remember that behind a successful content marketing strategy, is quality content.

We can get an affordable deal on Upwork or Fiverr. But never compromise quality for affordability. You’ll end up doing more damage than good.

• It Saves us Time

Content writing goes beyond producing blogs at our convenience. It requires time to craft high-quality content since it involves a whole lot more than just sitting down and writing.

It's is a blend of research, proofreading, editing, and formatting to create high-ranking content important to our business.

If we don’t have the time to learn the latest SEO techniques for 2019, a content writer can take care of that.

• Quality Content Preserves our Brand

Hiring a content writer to give our brand a voice will provide audiences with a unique perspective.

Content creators will learn about our company, and what it's about. They'll learn the intricate details of our business identity. Next, they'll transform it into a conversational piece to pass to our audience.

Furthermore, regular content will keep our online presence current. Uploading new material on all platforms will help rank our website high on Google search.

Convinced yet? If yes, that's great! But before we employ a content creator, we need to know what we want. We must define our goals so that we can relate them:

What kind of content do we need and how do we want to sell our brand?

Do we have a budget?

Do we want to outsource?

If we can answer these questions, it will point us in the right direction.

Creating quality content is more than an article or blog. What happens when we spend a few minutes scanning through articles? It's possible that we'll soak in vital information.

In essence, good content speaks directly to our target audience. A content writer knows what's essential to our audience.

Their words reach past the time we use reading their content. Sometimes we don't even know it.

Expert content creators search for things that are at the core of what they're selling and highlight that.

The Dos Equis example...

Dos Equis wasn't linked with anything interesting until a daring mascot came in. If we place creativity at the top of a content strategy, we'll reach buyers without over-promoting our brand.

Nanette Burstein (a content creator) changed the negative meaning of “like a girl” in the Always marketing campaign. The content she developed linked Always with female empowerment. She used it to empower women while selling a lot of feminine products.

Metro Trains had a straight forward message for travelers. It says: don’t mess around on trains. Their content creator designed a video portraying “Dumb Ways to Die” with an appealing jingle and matching attractive characters.

The outcome? About 160 million views (if not more) on YouTube. They had successfully communicated their message.

Content doesn't have to be connected with what we're selling. It involves creating content that interests our target audience. Indeed, creating relevant content reaches beyond our products and services. In the end, we’re developing a relationship between our brand and audience.

 

Picking a Content Creator

We often prioritize content creators with expertise in a specific industry. It's simpler to teach a writer branding style and voice. But it's hard to bring them up to speed on expertise if they don't know the subject.

We advise using writers with experience in your niche. If a company specializes in advanced technology, get a writer with a college degree in technology. For other businesses, a college degree may be an extra benefit, not a prerequisite. Draft a list of essential qualifications. Remove writers without these qualifications.

Don’t Underrate the Value of Marketing

Yes, content marketing is that important, don’t underestimate it!  Content creation concerning inbound marketing, SEO, and brand awareness can help grow our business. Likewise, don’t trivialize the value of hiring a content creator to manage it all.

A content creator can craft about 5000 words of content daily. And even more!

That's not all...

The content will be suited for SEO and written for consumers to engage with. If we want to reap the benefits of inbound marketing strategy and achieve brand awareness, we need a content creator!

It's that simple.

Related Articles

Wondering about the difference between a content writer and a copywriter? Find out right here.

Read using a video marketing assistant here and what you need to know before hiring a writer here.

Are you overwhelmed with constantly brainstorming new content ideas? Most leading food brands have a research and development (R and D) department. These R and D specialists spend hours trying to figure out the next best product that consumers will love. It takes months, maybe even years, or experimenting and testing with focus groups. This is probably the motivation behind Lay’s annual “Do Us a Flavor” competition; having customers suggest and sample possible flavors makes finding new products much easier.

A content creator is the R and D officer for a brand. Consistently creating fresh content that your audience will love is challenging. It isn’t enough to throw it into the hands of the customers (although this is a strategy that has worked for many brands). Here are 10 ways you can up your R and D game and produce content that resonates.

Read the Latest Industry News

What are the latest things happening in your industry that are creating a buzz?  How does your brand fit in with the latest trends? People who are interested in your industry want answers to these questions. These topics are great content ideas.

You can only provide these answers if you’re keeping abreast with industry news. Subscribe to industry blogs and magazines.  Watch the news. Spend less time scrolling on social media and more time following what’s happening in the industry.

Here are some of the best magazines blogs and newsletters to follow in the life coaching business:

• International Coaching News
• Life Coaching Press
• Life Coach Training Institute
• International Coach Federation

Download our Ultimate Guide to Delegating Here for More Tips & Tools on How to Delegate as a Solopreneur

Have Conversations

Verbal conversations unearth new ideas and build relationships. Recently, a magazine creator and editor we know had a conversation with one of the entrepreneurs she was featuring. Her magazine focuses on helping readers start a business in her home country. This entrepreneur highlighted how difficult it is for locals to find everything they need to successfully start a business.

Eureka! The editor instantly came up with a series of videos that could simplify the process and attract more readers. That conversation helped her identify a real need and create a content solution to fill the gap.

You may be pleasantly surprised by the insight you glean from face-to-face and telephone conversations with customers. Viewing and responding to social media comments is great but nothing beats that personalized conversation.

Leverage Social Media

It isn’t realistic to assume that you can have verbal conversations with everyone interested in your brand.  Sure, your life coaching business thrives on the personalization that your small team offers. Client consultations also provide perfect opportunities for you to learn more about what your direct customers want to learn.

However, there is a sea of potential clients that you are trying to reach daily. You need to know the right content to produce for them so that they will be guided through your sales funnel and become paying customers. Some possible ways to get this information include:

• Posting a poll on your social media pages
• Viewing the conversations on your posts
• Identifying the posts that get the most engagement
• Responding to private messages that followers send
• Asking probing questions to stimulate further discussion on an active post

Repurpose Content

Sometimes it isn’t worthwhile teaching an old dog new tricks. Some of the content you posted months ago can be repurposed and posted as new content. There are many ways to repurpose content. Some possibilities include:

• Transforming popular blog articles into podcasts. Chandan Kumar describes how to convert an article into a podcast in this article.
• Combining popular posts on the same topic to create a pillar page. For instance, the Virtual A team posted an article entitled, “How to Cultivate Your Network on LinkedIn”. This article could segue into a series of articles on cultivating a network on each type of social media platform. All of these articles can be combined to create a pillar page like this. It could be called, “The Ultimate Guide for Growing Your Network on Social Media”.
• Expand on the points made in a list-style article to create individual posts.  For instance, this list-style article from Virtual A Team identifies 6 virtual services that can be outsourced. An article can be created to further describe each item on the list.
• Create a SlideShare post on LinkedIn. It would be unwise for a life coach to not have a LinkedIn profile. This social media site for professionals is a great way to meet potential clients. Slide Share is a Power-Point style post unique to Linked In that allows users to succinctly share information on important concepts.
• Create an infographic. People are highly visual and hardly have time to read large blocks of text. Infographics summarize blogs in a highly visual, easily digestible, way.
• Add up-to-date content to an existing post and repost it. This works best when at least 3 months have passed since the post was published.

Plan a Team Brainstorming Session

You may be blessed to work with a small but capable team. Even if you aren’t, there is a group of people who you turn to for advice.  Arrange a content ideas brainst

orming meeting with your team or core group.

Apply caution, however, because a brainstorming session can go off track. Some tips for having an effective brainstorming session include:

• Determine the problem question you’re trying to answer. A possible question is, “What type of content can we use to retain high-value customers?” Everyone should be aware of this question at least a week before the meeting so that they can come with fresh ideas.
• Lay some ground rules. There should be some structure so that each person has an equal opportunity to share an opinion. Respect is paramount; no one should feel stupid for sharing an idea. This doesn’t mean that clear bad ideas shouldn’t be respectfully squashed. You don’t want to spend too much time discussing bad ideas.
• Appoint a facilitator. This doesn’t necessarily have to be you. However, you do need someone who will guide the discussion.
• Choose the right location. You may choose to have a virtual or in-person brainstorming session. If you choose a virtual session, ensure that everyone has a good internet connection and good sound equipment.
• Keep the meeting short. It doesn’t need to be more than 30 minutes.
• Determine whether an in-person meeting is necessary. Sometimes it may be more feasible to get ideas through anonymous submissions or electronically through live software such as Google Docs.

Pay Attention to Your Competitors

Waging war against your competitors can be counterproductive. Oftentimes, your competitors can teach you valuable lessons and be great for collaborations or partnerships. Visit your competitor’s social media pages and website and answer the following questions:

• What is this brand doing well?
• What is this brand not so good at?
• Is it possible for your brand to collaborate with this brand to create new content?
• What distinguishes my brand from this one?
• Which posts do well on this brand’s platform? What special features does the post have that makes it do well?
• What type of content are the top brands in your niche writing?

Look at Topics from Another Angle

Writer’s block can be a real issue especially when you’ve been churning out a high volume of articles consistently covering the same theme. For instance, you may be selling a unique life planner that you’ve designed. You’ve already written 3 articles about the benefits of life planners and feel like you have exhausted the topic.

It helps to break the topic down to its bare bones and then working your way up from there.  Let’s look at the life planner example. Instead of focusing on a life planner, it may help to look at the broader topic of life goals. What content ideas can you create with this broad topic? How can you incorporate your life planner into these new articles?

Create Buyer Personas

Understanding who your buyers are is really the first step for creating good content.  It helps to be highly specific about the groups of buyers you are trying to target and what each group needs. Focusing solely on a broad target audience won’t provide this detailed perspective.  This article sheds more light on this important point.

For instance, you may be a life coach who focuses on women with newborns. Within that group, however, there are many subgroups. Some possible groups are:

• New mothers who have a child with a disability
• Female executives struggling to balance motherhood with corporate life
• Female entrepreneurs with newborns
• New mothers considering furthering their education

...the list is endless.

It’s imperative for you to identify your preferred sub-niches and think about the type of content that would appeal to them. A female executive who has a newborn will have different needs and interests from a female entrepreneur with a newborn. Sure there are some commonalities but there also are some stark differences.

Visit Quora

Quora is the leading question and answer site where people can ask any question and get answers. It’s a great way to see the types of questions people in your industry are asking. You can answer the questions on Quora and include links to content on your website that further elaborates. This helps build the backlinks to your site.

You could also answer these questions directly on your website. Doing this allows you to provide an even more extensive answer to the question. It helps position you as an expert in the field.

Use Social Media Discussion Groups

Each social media site has a community of users with similar interests. LinkedIn has LinkedIn groups, Facebook has Facebook Groups, Instagram has community hashtags and the list continues.  Find a group that relates to your industry and become an active member.

Just like Quora, you’ll see the questions people are asking. You’ll also see the content that interests them and the content they post on their own websites. Essentially, these discussion groups are a gold mine of information.

Some of the top LinkedIn groups for life coaches include:

• International Coach Federation
• International Coaching Network
• Professional Life Coaches Network
• Coaching Zone
• Find a Coach

The I-N-K Strategy for Identifying High-Quality Content

Searching for content ideas is one thing. Ensuring that you consistently post high-quality content based on these ideas is another.  The I-N-K strategy can help you determine if the content you’ve created is high value.

I- Interest

It helps to get a second opinion on the content you create before you post it. A key question to ask the observer is, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how much does this pique your interest?” Although this is just one opinion, it helps you gauge how your audience may respond to the post.  Feel free to get more than one opinion if you can.

N- Nail It

The feedback will help you refine and improve the content. You want to hit the nail on the head and keep your audience intrigued. Get it right at least 80% of the time and you’ll have a loyal lifelong following. 

K- Keep Up

Each post provides an opportunity to identify what really interests your audience. Pay keen attention to how your followers and website visitors respond to each post. Their responses, or lack thereof, speak volumes. Keep up with their demands and you’ll consistently produce the right content.

Final Word

You may be the sole content creator for your business. The task may not be as simple as experienced content creators make it seem. The pressure is high to regularly produce content that your audience will love and it’s often difficult to come up with fresh ideas.

We’ve shown you how to find fresh content ideas. With this knowledge, you can create solid content marketing plans that help you win new customers and retain high-value customers. It’ll take some work but the effort is ultimately worthwhile.

Once upon a time, social media management was easy. You could occasionally throw up a link to your blog article and people would comment.

However, the scenario has completely changed now. Websites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter are no longer making it easy to get engagement. They want to keep their audience on their own sites. In addition, they are making it harder and harder to get people to see your content without paying.

It takes a lot of effort to create the right social media plan and then to implement your strategy at the best time.

Taking advantage of this fact, many businesses (especially online ones) have taken to social media to advertise and drive more traffic to their websites. Unfortunately, the number of social media websites out there have increased exponentially and every one of them is a potential market that you can exploit.

So, how do companies, large and small, keep up with their regular posts on all these various media you ask? They use programs called Social Media Management tools. Essentially, these are tools that help you manage all your social media content together and plan which post goes online at what time. Thus, you will need to use these to keep up with the competition (or possibly beat ‘em too). Hence, we compiled a list of some of the best social media management tools out there.

Download our Ultimate Guide to Delegating Here for More Tips & Tools on How to Delegate as a Solopreneur

Why can’t I do it myself?

Sitting at home working with a team around the world and running an online business might seem like an amazing idea. Unfortunately, the amount of work that needs to be done is still quite a lot, especially in the social media sphere. It isn’t the kind of work that you can just pass off to your intern either. There are two main reasons why you should use these tools: consistency and time.

I can remember when I was still bootstrapping my business and had more time than money. I felt like I could handle the social media without the added expense of a monthly fee for one of these services.

Unfortunately, the task quickly became a full-time job as more and more sites came out. Each site has different ideal times to post and different ways to post. It was getting to be too much to keep on top of it all.

Social Media Management Tools Help with Consistency

One of the keys to successful social media marketing is to be consistent with your activity. You can’t post every two years and expect your followers to stick around or engage with your content. But more importantly, you can’t post a ton of content on a single day and completely abandon the followers the next day.

This is when things started going downhill for me. I thought I could keep on top of it but it was often the first thing to go when I got busy. Then I’d try to play catch up and everything would come out at once.

Thus, you need to plan out your content and split it over a few days and different social media to attract as much traffic to it as possible. This works especially well if this is one of your cornerstone content driving all the boys to the yard.

Social Media Management Tools Save Time

In order to remain consistent, you would have to post the content regularly throughout the day on different social media sites as needed. However, you may not always be free during these times of peak traffic and that ends up affecting your consistency.

Furthermore, you may have more important aspects of your business to concentrate on at that point. Thus, when you have some free time, social media management tools allow you to schedule all your posts to be posted on different social media. The app takes care of the rest. This will help you save a lot of time in the long run.

Of course, employing a social media management tool also saves you the hassle of using multiple excel spreadsheets and keeping track of which post has been posted where. There are several other benefits depending on the tool as well. So without further ado, here are some of the best social media scheduling tools we have come across.

Smarterqueue

Smarterqueue, true to its name, allows you to select your queueing times much easier than other similar services. Moreover, it will automatically queue posts that are doing well (or if you want) without any effort from your side. It can also automatically set up a schedule for you based on your preferred posting times. Smarterqueue gives you the option to share directly from a website you are viewing using a bookmark which helps you save a ton of time. Great analytical software that comes with this is just an added bonus.

Social Media options

Twitter profiles, Facebook profiles, pages and groups, Pinterest, Instagram profiles (Using push notifications), LinkedIn profiles and pages

Pros  

• Allows you to re-queue good content multiple times automatically using several variations,
• You can post using a bookmarked link from any website,
• Has a Find Content feature that allows you to search social media platforms,
• You can import content from an RSS feeder,
• Excellent stats to review what posts are working,
• Easily reshare your best content.

Cons  

• Inability to reply to comments or messages,
• Post limit on every profile applied every day (but this number is high),
• App functionality is very limited.

Pricing 

Smarterqueue is priced rather reasonably making it our top recommended tool (and the one we personally use). The simplest option can be bought at $18 a month which allows you to control 4 social media profiles. If you want more, you can go for the business plan at $35 with 10 profiles or the Agency plan allowing 25 profiles at $82. A custom option is also available at $18 plus whatever add-ons you feel you need.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is one of the classics when it comes to social media management tools. The UI is extremely simple and rather easy to use. There are multiple pages and you can open multiple columns (RSS feeds)  in each of these pages. Each column can represent a single aspect of some social media app out there, for example - the inbox from one of your Facebook pages. From these RSS feeds, you can schedule new content or manage your account to a certain extent.

Social Media options  

Twitter profiles, Facebook profiles, groups and pages, LinkedIn profiles and companies, Wordpress blogs, Instagram personal and business profiles (Using push notifications), Youtube channels and Pinterest Profiles.  

Pros 

• No need for additional installments - can be accessed from the browser,
• Engagement possible from platform,
• Provides suggestions for sharing content

Cons 

• Adding extra users proves to be quite expensive
• Comes with a tag saying “Posted by HootSuite”  

Pricing  

There are multiple plans available, but the most common ones are professional, team and business. This can cost you about $18, $95 and $652 respectively a month. There is also a customizable option that allows you to tailor the number of social media platforms profiles you want to access. The price would also change depending on the number of users you want to give access to.

Buffer

Buffer is a hot favorite in the industry when it comes to such tools. It has a great UI and frankly just a pleasure to use. This smart software will not only help you schedule your posts, but it will also post your content at the best times possible to get the highest amount of traffic directed to your site. It allows you to choose different preset posting times for all the different profiles you have. Then you can simply drag and drop in the calendar to adjust the times. You can also access the detailed reports to tweak the times your posts go online.

Social Media options  

Twitter profiles, Facebook profiles, and groups, LinkedIn profiles, and pages, Pinterest Boards, Instagram personal and business profiles (Using push notifications)

Pros

• Gives you suggestions on what kind of content to post,
• Chrome extension allows you to quickly share any link to your platforms, essentially allowing you to “collect” content as you go.

Cons

• The social media platforms are quite limited,
• No categories for posting,
• You can’t reply to your messages on the social media profiles

Pricing

While the free version allows you to access 3 social media profiles, the pricing starts with the “Pro plan” allowing you to access 8 profiles. The small business (25 social media profiles), the medium business (50 profiles) and the large business (150 profiles) are priced at $99, $199 and $399 respectively.

Agorapulse

Agorapulse allows you to take care of all your social media needs under one tab. You can reply to comments, inbox, and tweets seamlessly. Alternatively, you can assign it to your team members as well without worrying about two members replying to the same comment. You also have endless scheduling options for your posts allowing you to gain full control of your social media. Like all other tools on this list, Agorapulse also offers its own comprehensive analytics reports.

Social Media options

Instagram profiles (Using push notifications), Facebook profiles, pages and groups, Twitter profiles, LinkedIn profiles, and Youtube channels.

Pros

• Bulk uploading is possible,
• Extremely comprehensive analytics giving you demographics data too,
• Ability to engage with social media directly from the platform,
• It’s more than just scheduling, it’s full management.

Cons

• Pricing is on the higher end but provides a lot more features.

Pricing  

Agorapulse has multiple plans available for purchase. The most basic one - Micro, sells for $15 a month and allows you control over just one profile. The small and medium plans sell for $49 and $99 a month respectively. On the other hand, the large package will end up costing you $199 a month with access to multiple profiles. An enterprise plan can cost you up to $299 a month. However, if you opt-in for the annual subscription you can get hefty discounts on these prices.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is another great social media tool designed like Agorapulse. It allows you to check out various feeds and comment on them as well. Similarly, you can also reply to the inboxes across the different social media. You can set up multiple projects, depending on which blog you are working for or which site you want to promote. You can assign different tasks to your team members and monitor the status quite easily. Moreover, a feed showing you content related to your interests allows you to curate content more easily. Great analytics reports are just the icing on the cake.  

Social Media options

Instagram (Using push notification), Facebook profiles, groups, and pages, Pinterest, LinkedIn profiles and Twitter profiles.

Pros   

• You can create your own chatbots,
• Engagement from platform,
• Bulk uploading is possible.

Cons 

• The pricing is on the upper side,
• Designed more for agencies,
• Low uploading options.

Pricing   

The pricing of sprout social is almost criminal. The basic package starts at $99 a month per user. While the number of social media profiles you can use remain the same in consecutive plans, the analytics power increases. The highest package available is priced at $249 a month per user. However, there is an intermediate option at $149 too. Businesses can also choose to opt for the Enterprise bundle which allows you to customize your requirements and pay accordingly.

Tailwind

Tailwind is an amazing scheduler focusing on Instagram and Pinterest. With a browser extension, it allows you to post to multiple boards at the same time reducing your work tenfold. It also has a feature that automatically selects the best times for uploads and schedules your posts accordingly. Tailwind’s analytics sends you a detailed report weekly with traffic details and how your posts performed. It also introduces a feature called “Tribes” which is essentially a group on Tailwind full of people sharing content on a particular topic. These are great for curating content to your social media and having more of your content shared. The analytics also look into how you are performing in these tribes.

Social Media options

Instagram and Pinterest

Pros

• Browser extension available for sharing on Pinterest
• Ability to post to multiple boards together
• Posting to Instagram does not require a manual step

Cons  

• The number of social media options is extremely limited.

Pricing 

The price of this tool is rather average considering that you have to pay $10 for a month for just one profile - this can either be Instagram or Pinterest. So, if you want both Pinterest and Instagram, you’ll have to pay double. You upgrade for more tribes or SmartPins. Alternatively, you have a free trial which lets you pin up 100 posts with no time limit.

Coschedule

Coschedule is another favorite of social media marketers around the globe. It has a well-designed calendar which allows you to schedule posts with ease and assign tasks to your team members before the post is due to be shared. Coschedule integrates well with most other marketing software like google analytics making it an even powerful tool. It also has the option to re-queue posts which are doing well in getting the attention of your audience.

Social Media options  

Tumblr blogs, Facebook profiles, pages and groups, Twitter profiles, LinkedIn accounts, Google+ pages and profiles, Pinterest accounts, Instagram accounts (Using push notifications)

Pros  

• Amazing analytics that even checks the header of your social media post and suggests changes
• Wordpress plugin available allowing you to schedule posts directly from Wordpress

Cons

• Lacks the ability for bulk upload
• Extremely expensive for beginners to use  

Pricing

Coschedule offers a 14-day free trial (no credit card details required) for all its plans. Otherwise, it has 3 main plans with a range of choices within them. The individual plan can cost anywhere from $0-$49 a month. The business plan can cost anywhere from $60 to $1200 a month while the Agency plans can cost anywhere from $60 to $300 a month. Each of them supports different numbers of social media profiles and additional features.

Conclusion

When you are trying to choose social media management tool, there are a lot of factors like cost, features, a number of users allowed and even the social media platforms supported to consider. You need to decide which of these factors you care more about and accordingly make the right call for your business.

If you want, you can even use some of these tools together. One of my favorite combinations is to use Tailwind for Instagram and Pinterest and Smarterque for everything else. You can come up with a combination that suits you best.

So, get rid of all the excel sheets you had while queueing your posts. Just get one (or more) of these tools and let your life become infinitely easier. This way, you can focus on what really matters - growing your business.

Just imagine if the worst thing we fought over was when to start playing the holiday music and decorating the stores! I think the world might just be OK.

So, are you the kind that throws up the tree shortly after Halloween or do you prefer to let the turkey have his day? 

Yep, it’s that time of year. People and businesses alike begin prepping for the holiday season. From parties and gatherings to holiday specials and marketing, there is so much more to do during this season.

Stores are full of people with crying babies and carts parked in the aisles, missing their owners. Every weekend, I look at my calendar and see the blocks filled in with events and parties and gatherings.

I personally feel very overwhelmed this time of year. It’s an outgoing introvert’s worst nightmare. Getting to meet people and learn about who they are is wonderful. Coming home to fall into my couch and wonder when I’ll get to work on my business isn’t.

However, with a little preparation, I know that I can handle this busier-than-normal season. In addition, I can use the time to prepare for an AWESOME kick-start to the new year.

How to Prepare Your Business (and yourself) for the Holidays.

As solopreneurs, it’s important to consider and focus on five key areas when preparing your business for the holidays.

• Personal/Family Time
• Marketing
• Operations
• Year End Review
• New Year Strategizing/Planning

When you take time to carefully consider each of these areas, you will have an effective game plan for staying on top of the chaos of the season.

Personal/Family Time

Yep, I put personal/family time first. It’s often the thing we focus on by default but with the least amount of attention actually given to it. We have a lot of extra tasks this time of year.

• Cleaning
• Decorating
• Shopping
• Hosting guests
• Attending parties
• Wrapping
• Sending cards
• UN-decorating...

Most of these things we find ourselves doing because, well, we are expected to. Something gets pushed aside to make room for these extra chores. Unfortunately, that something isn’t always the best something. It might be your health and exercise plan and you end up starting the new year feeling fat and lazy!

Or it might be your business planning and you start the new year behind the proverbial eight ball. Rather than starting off the year running, you find yourself scrambling to get things going.

This year, take a moment to pause and plan out the next several weeks. The time is now to do this. Here are some tips to help.

Tip #1 – Plan early

What will your holiday expectations look like this year? When you know what you will and won’t commit to, you can better plan way ahead.It’s not too late to start planning. And you can always keep this one in mind for NEXT year.

Tip #2 – Shop early

Don’t wait till after Thanksgiving to start your shopping. Ideally, make a list and start shopping in the summer. Always be on the lookout for that unique, wonderful gift idea, buy it, wrap it and put it away with a removable note as to what it is (or take a picture before wrapping) and who it’s for. While it might be well past summer, you can start now.

Tip #3 – Growth or Reflection?

Is the holiday season a busy time of year for your business? Then it is a period of growth. Plan to let go of other things so you can focus on that growth. Does business slow down in the last quarter? Then it is a time for reflection and planning. How will you grow your business in the new year? What can you do to set up your marketing and other growth ideas now?

Download our Ultimate Guide to Delegating Here for More Tips & Tools on How to Delegate as a Solopreneur

Tip #4 – Don’t try to keep up with the Griswald's

Whether it is the amount of money you spend on gifts or how well your home is decorated for the holidays, this is definitely not the time to compare what you are doing to what those around you are doing. Decide on your own level of festivities and be OK with that.

Source: American Research Group

Tip #5 – Don’t over commit

We tend to want to be able to do it all. Decide in advance how much is too much and be OK saying no to things that don’t fully serve you and your goals.

One year, my house went undecorated because it was going to just be my husband and me. I LOVE to decorate for the holidays but felt that the full day of cleaning and decorating before and the day of un-decorating after was not worth the investment of time. So I chose to skip it.

Tip #6 – Let go!

This time of year is not the best to plan things that can be done at other times of the year. For example, don’t plan your routine doctors and dentist appointments during November and December. Decide the car doesn’t need to get washed. And your dry cleaning might be able to wait until January. What things are required and what things can wait in your personal and business life? Choose carefully.

Tip #7 –  Take time for you

It seems like the LAST thing you will have time to do with all of that chaos is take time out for yourself. However, if you don’t, your body will for you. There’s a reason many of us experience more colds and flus this time of year and it isn’t because of a widespread virus. It DOES have something to do with more stress, less exercise, and crappy eating that all affect our immune system.

Marketing

Whether you are all in and this is the busiest time of year or your business goes a little quiet, this is still a great time to do some marketing.

For health coaches, this is a prime time of year to start focusing on new year’s resolutions and healthy eating tips all holiday season.

Business coaches might start to market plans for New Year’s Goals and Planning programs.

Life Coaches might talk about new year’s resolutions and healthy personal goals.

You might not be selling a program or system during the next several weeks, but priming your audience at a time that they are aware of their pain is an excellent way to prepare them for your January sale or promotion.

Create a Marketing Plan

Prepare your marketing materials as far in advance as possible. Nailing down a concrete plan will help you with your overall strategy.

Create a marketing plan now to includes:

• Social media posts
• Email newsletters
• Physical greeting cards

Be a Resource, Not a Sales Pitch

Unless you have a very clear sale going on, use this time to be a source for great information. Constant Contact suggests offering advice and tips to make it through the holidays. You can offer advice on shopping, staying stress-free, minimizing debt or setting goals for the new year.

Consider Going Charitable

While you may not want to run a sale, it might be a great time of year to select a charity that is near and dear to your heart and sends a positive message about your brand. Offer to donate a certain percentage of your proceeds to this charity for every sale made during the holiday season.

Be Careful of the Grinch

Avoid using holiday terms that may offend others unless it’s part of your authentic brand. If you proudly wish people a Merry Christmas, then it works for your brand to celebrate the holiday in the full spirit you intend. However, if your business is more of the Happy Holidays sort, you may want to avoid using the term Christmas in your marketing.

Keep it simple

Pick one marketing plan and stick to it. Until you are ready to hire an entire marketing team to manage different promotions, keep things as simple as possible.

Think Outside the Wrapped Box

Don’t do the same old thing. Black Friday sales are overdone. People are tired of them and they are spending their money on things that will most likely go to someone else.

Get creative with your marketing. Some ideas might include:

• Advent program where you give 24 freebies away leading up to Christmas (if it’s within your authenticity to use a religious concept).
• Hosting a virtual holiday party in your Facebook group. (Hint, I'm throwing one of these on my Facebook group if you want to check it out.)
• Or a 15 Days of Thanksgiving Giveaway.

Settle on one idea or concept and build upon that. Next year, if all went well, you can consider adding another.

Operations

Most solopreneurs don’t think much about operations. Operations are things like your workflows, systems, and processes. Some of these might be physical, like your computer and cell phone. Others are more general, like the process used to invoice clients.

A good way to prepare your business for the holidays is to consider your current operations.

Is there anything you can scale back for the season? As solopreneurs, this might happen naturally if your business slows down. It’s not like you have employees looking to take a vacation.

Is there anything that can be improved? The slow down for the holidays might be a great time to reflect on your current systems and make a plan for the new year to implement strategic improvements.

This brings me to the next point.

Year End Review

The Year End Review is an opportunity to reflect on how the current year went. I typically plan this activity for the week between Christmas and New Year’s. I ask questions like:

• Did you meet your goals?
• What went wrong? How can you prevent those things from happening again?
• What went right? How can you make sure more of that happens in the new year?

A couple of years ago, I wrote a “recipe” for how to complete a year end review and begin planning for the new year. It’s super simple but not always easy.

If you are coming into a super busy season, you may want to do this in the Summer instead. Just because it’s called the “Year End” doesn’t mean it has to be done then.

Strategize and Plan

Once you’ve completed your year end review, it’s a great time to start focusing on your strategy and goals for the next year. Get out your goal planner (or borrow this one) and get to work.

The key is to know you are setting time aside to do this. If you have it floating in the back of your mind, you won’t get “around tuit”. It may feel like just another thing on your already bursting to-do list for this time of year but the investment will be well worth your time.

Take time now to prepare yourself and your business for the next several weeks. You’ll be glad you did.

Conclusion

The best way to prepare your business for the holidays is to have a plan. A great plan will reduce stress and make sure nothing falls through the cracks.