It is time for another episode of Behind the Business, an educational blog aimed at educating creative business owners and mompreneurs to grow their business and better their lives. Today we are discussing 4 tips to promoting your business or promoting yourself to your clientele or referral sources.

Here’s today’s video on Promoting Yourself and Your Business:

What we learned:

Promoting yourself successfully is a long-term, ever-evolving goal. It constantly changes based on who you are and what you or your company stands for. Hopefully, it is evolving for good over time as you grow as a person. For myself, my business and its goals and values have changed as I became a wife and a mother. These factors will affect how you promote yourself and what you are promoting.

Start with yourself for a solid foundation

• • Visually how are you portraying yourself to the outside world? Remember that your appearance is the first thing people see. For example, my brand is more laid back and easy-going, but still professional. Unless we are doing a downtown, black-tie event, you will not see me in a black suit or cocktail dress. That is just not my style or brand. Instead, I go for the put together, Sunday dress or cocktail style outfits at events because that portrays my brand style. I love bright colors and patterns and I am not afraid to wear them to an event.
  • Your face says a lot about you…..not in a beautiful kind of way, but the expressions on your face. It say sooo much about your character and personality. When you are promoting yourself to potential clients, current clients or referral sources, you need to portray your personality at ALL times. For myself and my team, that is a bright and bubbly personality. I DO NOT want to see any RBF here…you know what I’m saying?

 

• • Where to Promote Yourself
    1. In-Person, In Person, In Person….Did I mention, in person??? There is nothing better than building face-to-face relationships. Confession time. This something I struggle with! Introverts unite lol. I have horrible anxiety in a room full of professionals when networking. It is the worst kind of stage fright. Not to say that those types of environments are beneficial. They are extremely beneficial if you take full advantage of the opportunity to meet people and grow relationships. For me, I love to be in small, intimate settings. My favorite way to build relationships is by taking a vendor out to lunch or stopping by the office with coffee or tacos. Who doesn’t love Tacos? You can take time to get to know that particular person and how you can connect with them. It is intimate and allows for a personal relationship.
    2. Over Social Media. This allows you to reach a much larger audience on a broader scale. You can reach the masses but on a very surface level. It is a great tool, but only as a supplement to personal relationships. When you are on social platforms, be transparent and open about your brand message. This will help people see the real person behind the business. If you will promote your business often, clearly, and with precision on social media, you will see huge strides in your success.
       • My Favorite Social Media Gurus:
         1. Tyler McCall – Instagram
         2. Vanessa Kynes – Pinterest
    3. Paid Advertisements. You need to do your homework here to see if this advertisement will bring in the right clientele and referral sources for your business. Check out our Making the Best Business Decisions Blog for more insight into promoting yourself through a paid expense.
    4. Get Reviews… and then some more reviews. All of my favorite referral sources and clients have either found us or verified our services through reviews. This is a critical point that is often not thought about when promoting yourself. You can talk about yourself on social and in-person as much as you want but you have to have the goods to back it up. Get reviews wherever you can! Google, Yelp, The Knot and Wedding Wire are all great places for wedding industry professionals to gather reviews.

Pro Tip: Guide your clients on how to write the best reviews in order to receive killer, in-depth reviews that really show your personality and service.

Please let me know if you found today’s content helpful. We would love to hear more from you and what you need to be successful in your business. Until next time, have a blessed day and be a blessing to others!

With Love,

Kelsea