If Had To Start My Business From Scratch

If I had to start my business from scratch, what would I do now? I absolutely love seeing this on social media. As someone who started freelancing about 6 years ago, the route to success looks very different compared to what it did previously - and thats okay! Tides change, people change, and the way they look for their next business partner has changed completely. But before I do into what I’d do now to grow my business, I thought I’d tell you how I go to where I am now.

Halfway through University, I realised I was going to need some relevant work experience before I could even fathom getting a job In writing. Unlike a lot of my friends at the time I was incredibly career focused and surprisingly practical - degrees are great, but they serve as a baseline to employers, so I wanted to show them I had some real life experience. Whilst looking at guest writing, starting several blogs (all deactivated many moons ago), I discovered a local magazine called Amble. The free magazine focused entirely on the independent businesses in the local area, shining a spot light on local events, and talking about the towns rich history - I was hooked.

I started working with them writing a few different articles, reviews on the local cheese toast restaurant, music nights, and even some opinion pieces regarding supporting local businesses and banning “coffee shop culture”. The volunteer work with Amble allowed me to get aquainted with a bunch of local businesses in the area, and pitch some social media management services to them.*

*Remember, this was a very small town. In 2017/18 social media was only just being used by local businesses to promote their services. Any already doing it were not doing well.

And thats where I got my start, helping very small businesses market themselves to students and swarms of tourists for a small fee, or free goodies. Soon, I didn’t really fuss too much about getting a job in journalism, I began to fall more and more in love with the creative possibilities of marketing.

It’s not the same as most peoples stories, but it was definitely a great way to start. Although I live on the other side of the country to these businesses now, I’ve still got some really strong relationships with the businesses that are still around today.

Since then, the world of social media has become messy and the realm of freelance marketers has got chaotic. The amount of TikTok ads I’ve seen this past month encouraging people to try it for quick money is ludriculous, the trend of “side-hustles” over COVID boils my blood, and I couldn’t even count the amount of times I’ve had clients reach out to me following a bad experience with another freelancer.

The game is more competitive and messy. So how do you succeed? If I lost my clients, website, and accounts today- this is what I’d do to build a presence with no budget.

Set Up A Fiverr Account

We all hate Fiverr for a varied amount of reasons but you have to admit that it’s got some serious benefits for businesses starting out.

If I had to start out from scratch I’d set up a Fiverr account for all my services and start building out a client portfolio. If I was able too, I’d start creating templates of my proposals and strategies (to minimise the amount of time spent/money lost) and use these projects to build a list of testimonials and case studies to promote my services.

It takes a while to build a list of case studies but they have some serious long term benefits in terms of showing clients your value.

Open an Instagram Account

Almost every client I’ve had this past year or so has been from Instagram. Which sounds surprising until you open an account and start posting.

Once you start adding value on Instagram and sharing your customer stories from Fiverr, people will start reaching out to you for help.

Instagram takes time, but once you’ve developed some content pillars to start you off, it can be easy to build a solid strategy and growth plan for your business Instagram.

Competitor and Hashtag Research

Never start posting somewhere until you know what you’re up against. As someone with a “time is money” mindset it’s just an absolute waste of time.

Find your competitors, see what they’re doing, take note of what they’re sharing, and ask yourself, “can I do it better”.

Before I even start posting on Instagram I would scope the land, see what hashtags they use on their most successful posts and add them to my content pillars.

I would just make this a one-off challenge either, I would do this monthly! Trends are always changing and your competitors are always looking to be one step ahead from the rest.

Build A Prodominantly Reels Instagram Strategy

When I first started posting on my new freelance Instagram, I made sure reels were the focal point of my strategy. By sharing b-roll footage with value adding copy and proper hashtags I was able to hit the right people and build up a following of people with a need for social media help.

At the start, I posted 4/5 reels per week.

Add Value Via Carousels and Static Posts

I don’t know what it is, but I hate the idea of an account just filled with Instagram reels. It ain’t happening!

So if I had to start again I would make sure I added value via a range of different formats on Instagram, that includes stories, static posts, and carousels. That way you can guarantee you’re hitting as many people as possible and increasing awareness of your business.

FAQs!

I’ve literally just put up a post ranting about this. WHY DON’T BUSINESSES HAVE FAQS?

When it comes to marketing, you have to spoon feed your ideal customer every single detail. You can’t expect them to go through your sales funnel independently. So I would make sure one of the first things I did on both my Fiverr and Instagram was creating an FAQ section.

What do I offer? What do you get with my services? How often do you get feedback? How much does it cost?

The above and more are essential for giving your customers a crystal clear image of what it’s like to work with you.

Honestly there’s so much more I could add to this list, but I think I’d be giving away too many secrets.

A lot of people think it’s too late to start a freelance marketing business, but it’s not true if you’re willing to start slow and scale up. This is just some of the ways you can build an impressive presence and portfolio to prime you for reaching out to that ideal client.