3 Things I Did & Didn't Do Marketing My Business from Scratch

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Today, I'm sharing the three things I did and didn't do when I started marketing my business from scratch.

These are the exact three things I focused on to build up my customer base fairly quickly in the first few months. I have a feeling that first actions I really took may be different than you'd think and they may give you some new ideas that you can implement in your own local business... whether you're starting out or if you've been in business for years.

I've had my own local business for 11 years now. The three things I'm sharing today are implemented now in my local business, but they weren't at first. So these are things I wish I would have started with the beginning and I know 100% it would have taken out some of that painful slow growth at the beginning. You know may know that feeling of throwing stuff out there and hoping it sticks or someone bites. It can be painful.

But the business I'm talking about starting from scratch is this business... LesliePresnall.com and The Localpreneur Bootcamp, which is my program where I teach local business owners how to market their business online.

I started this business officially as you see it now in early 2020. I had local clients that I worked with one-on-one doing their marketing for them, but I wasn't marketing myself online. I got my clients 100% by word of mouth.

BUT when I created my program The Localpreneur Bootcamp, I knew I needed to be more proactive around scaling and not rely on word-of-mouth. So that's where these three things come from.

STARTING FROM ZERO

I literally started at ZERO a year ago.

Zero email subscribers, zero followers, zero customers.

And I think this was actually beautiful thing for me to do. Because as someone who does and teaches online marketing, I already had a very successful local business. People were engaging, I had all these followers - it felt easy. BUT starting LesliePresnall.com from scratch put me right back to where my students are. So it was a good reminder of what you as a local business owner who may be trying to figure out this online marketing thing would need.

#1: I CREATED A FREEBIE

The first thing I did to start my business from scratch is I created a freebie, or a free offer.

This was essentially something of value that my target customer would want that I give to them for free when they join my email list. My freebie is my guide called How To Grow My Local Instagram Following. I knew this PDF guide would be something super valuable that people would literally say "oh my gosh give it to me, I gotta have it."

Depending on your type of business, your freebie may look different.

Your freebie may be a discount code or free shipping. A few of my students in The Localpreneur Bootcamp who have brick-and-mortar stores or who are online retailers offer discounts or free shipping.

One student who's a home organizer created a PDF guide all around getting organized. Another student who's a local cooking instructor created a free cookbook.

Creating my freebie was my TOP priority when I started because I knew that's how I could get people into my world.... by giving them something free.

#2: I STARTED AN EMAIL LIST

The second thing I did to start my business from scratch was set up an email list - again I had zero subscribers. But I set up a list and I created an opt-in form.

I created a way for people to give me their email address in exchange for my freebie.

I remember when I had 11 people on my email list, and I emailed them every week. Sometimes we neglect our email lists if we don't have a ton of people because we think it's a waste of time. But those 11 people were SERIOUS.

Over the course of a couple months, I generated $16,000 with an email list of 62 people. One of my students started her email list and sent out ONE email and made $300.

You know why? Because people who are on your email list are already interested in what you're offering.

So the key is start getting in the practice of emailing your list consistently. And consistently talk about your your email list and consistently be adding more people to it.

Ok, so how did I get more people on my email list?

#3: I RAN A FACEBOOK AD

The third thing I did to start my business from scratch is I ran a Facebook ad for $10 a day. I ran an ad promoting my freebie, so when people clicked on that ad, it took them to the opt-inform to put in their email address. They got my freebie and now they're on my email list.

With this ad, I averaged about 10-15 new email subscribers a day. I left it turned on around the clock. So $10 a day is $300 a month and I'd end up with around 300 new subscribers every month.

Imagine that running month after month.

Do you know what that didn't include? Me running on a hamster wheel to post constantly on Instagram or worrying if a post only got a few likes.

My email list had my back. And it still does.

So let's talk about what I didn't do starting my business from scratch.

#1: I DIDN'T FOCUS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

First, I didn't focus ALL my time and effort on social media. I knew for $10 a day I could work a lot smarter not harder through a Facebook ad. I consider my $10 a day Facebook ad my lowest paid employee. It just goes out there and finds people for me.

The best part is as a by-product of running my Facebook ad to my email list, my Instagram and Facebook followings grew organically.

They grew because people were clicking my name when they saw my ad and because once I'm in their inbox every week, they just naturally come find me on Instagram. I also link up my Instagram account in my emails, so it's easy to grow both. Now, I have WAY more email subscribers than social media followers. And I'm OK with that.

#2: I DIDN'T FOCUS ON MY LOGO

The second thing I didn't do is focus on things that business owners think make us look professional... like a logo. You can spend so much time and money and energy on a logo. I don't have one. It doesn't affect me one bit.

I also didn't spend all my time and energy trying to perfect my website. So many times I see people tweaking their website constantly until they're ready to go public with their business.

NO!

You don't even have to have a website to grow your email list.

Be careful about focusing things that are really stopping you from growth. Be onto yourself!

#3: I DIDN'T WAIT FOR PEOPLE TO PAY ATTENTION

The third thing I didn't do when I started is wait for people to pay attention before I showed up and got started.

I spent time creating valuable content (videos, blog posts, social media posts and even emails). Because I knew the people were coming.

No one was there to see it yet, but I knew with my freebie and email opt-in and Facebook ad that people were going to find me. And I wanted to have content and posts already there, so when they did discover me they were like whaaaat I can't believe I just found this person!

So keep creating content, keep posting, keep emailing... even when no one is paying attention. They will start paying attention. And you'll have already created so much value they can see and dive into so they can really get to know your local business.

So my question is what kind of value can you be creating NOW in your local business even if you feel like no one is paying attention yet? How would you show up if you knew the people were coming and you wanted to have amazing things set up and in place when you got them there or when they discovered you?

Inside the Localpreneur Bootcamp, this is EXACTLY what we do. 

I walk you through step-by-step getting your freebie set up, getting your email opt-in set up and getting your ads set up so you can grow your following in your sleep. And yea don't worry, we still cover your website and social media. We cover a lot of ground inside the Bootcamp. But it's all designed to help you work smarter, not harder.

The Localpreneeur Bootcamp is my one-stop-shop for local businesses. I know you don't have time to go hunting and pecking all over the internet and enroll in all these programs, so I put everything you'd need in one.

Learn more here.