Marketing Without Social Media: 21 Ways to Grow Your Audience
It’s not a secret that organic reach on Facebook, Instagram and others is at an all time low. What’s worse, even if you’ve mastered a platform or two, it seems as if every week or so, there’s yet another algorithm update that threatens to destroy all the work you’ve put into it.
Pinterest users are even feeling the pinch. The platform is often referred to as a search engine rather than a social network, and as such it’s been the go-to traffic source for bloggers in many niches for years. But now, even Pinterest has left some content creators feeling frustrated over a dramatic drop in traffic.
But what can you do? How else can you get the word out about your latest course, or your new opt-in offer? Turns out, there are plenty of ways you can market your business without social media, and in this week’s episode, I’ll give you my top 21 suggestions.
Why I finally (mostly) left social media, and how I’m making Facebook work on my terms today.
The single most important marketing channel all small business owners should be prioritizing, and why.
How to leverage search (and not just from Google) to get in front of your ideal audience.
The strategy I used to launch my business and quickly grow to six-figures in revenue.
What Steve Martin can teach us all about getting noticed in a competitive world.
Resources mentioned:
Debbie Gartner’s SEO guides are worth every penny. Start with this one if you’re brand new, or this one if you’ve been blogging for a while.
Stupid Simple SEO is the best full-featured course on SEO I know of. I took it two years ago and it’s well worth the time and money investment. Start with Mike’s free class to learn more about the topic and his teaching style.
Affiliate Program Success was not mentioned, but it’s a helpful resource if you’re interested in creating your own affiliate program to sell your courses and products.
Medium.com has a built in audience and it’s easy to get started syndicating your content there.
HelpAReporter.com is a great resource if you want to get quoted on high-traffic sites. Sign up as a “source” and then choose the types of notifications to receive.
Meetup.com makes live, in person networking easier. Just search your area for your topics of interest.
UpViral makes hosting a viral contest as simple as filling in a few details.
Steve Martin has the best advice you will ever hear about finding success, and it’s not just true for show business.
In episode eight I talked more about participating in bundles and giveaways for list building.
Related Episodes:
Encore Presentation: Marketing Without Social Media You don't have to be a social butterfly to grow an online business. In fact, marketing without social media is easier and more effective than ever. Here are 21 strategies to add to your marketing toolbox.Read More »
Improving your content marketing results (Online Business Roadmap Step 6) Regularly publishing content online is a tried-and-true strategy for building an audience. Once you’ve nailed that though, it’s time to improve your efforts. In this episode of the Tiny Course Empire podcast, I’ll give you five ways you can start increasing your reach by making simple changes to what you’re already doing.Read More »
A Day in the Life How do online entrepreneurs spend their days? And more importantly, what should YOU be doing today (and every day) to grow your business? Find out in this episode of the Tiny Course Empire podcast.Read More »
When I started my first blog 4 years ago, I knew nothing. Now, 4 years later, I know “a little somethin, somethin”, and, in 2021 I launched my second site (homeschooling niche) and am excited to build it up!
However, I have always been somewhat discouraged about the whole social media thing because, in our family, we have absolutely NO social media for many “obvious” reasons that you mentioned even in the podcast. I’ve never had a Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., and would feel rather “behind” on growing my sites due to not having that social media “outreach”. The pressure was real for sure, but I still don’t have any social media accounts and will not have any.
I’m thankful for this podcast topic, as this has really helped me see other ways to expand my horizons with my sites and I am super excited to try them!
Two things that have worked for me this past year were:
1. Learning SEO and going for long-tail keyword topics and nailing page #1 on Google. Woohoo!
2. Listing my digital products on an Etsy shop! This has actually been awesome for me, as Etsy brings me a whole bunch of buyers. Not necessarily subscribers to my sites, but, it does bring in some sales, which I cannot complain about! And because I learned some SEO, almost all of my products will show up as the first few (if not, the first!) products listed when searching for many variations of keywords for my products.
Hey Cherelle, thanks for that tip on Etsy. That’s a great idea! And good job on learning SEO. That will always be more sustainable than social media for sure. Keep it up, and thanks for listening to the podcast! 🙂
Lovely to hear that it’s okay not to love social media! In my consulting business, my buyers largely come from happy clients (word of mouth), partnerships with industry associations, guest presenting, LinkedIn, and my podcast. I’ve given myself permission to spend less and less time on social media. Great tips for alternate – and better – methods to market your business, Cindy!
Hey Jean! It’s absolutely ok to not love it. That’s the beauty of owning your own business. You get to do exactly what you want to do, and nothing else. 🙂
Thanks Cindy. Excellent information. It’s great to know you don’t have to be a slave to social media to run a successful business.
Nope, you definitely do not. I know plenty of successful business owners with little to no social media presence.
Hi Cindy,
Thank you, THANK YOU, for this podcast and tips!
When I started my first blog 4 years ago, I knew nothing. Now, 4 years later, I know “a little somethin, somethin”, and, in 2021 I launched my second site (homeschooling niche) and am excited to build it up!
However, I have always been somewhat discouraged about the whole social media thing because, in our family, we have absolutely NO social media for many “obvious” reasons that you mentioned even in the podcast. I’ve never had a Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., and would feel rather “behind” on growing my sites due to not having that social media “outreach”. The pressure was real for sure, but I still don’t have any social media accounts and will not have any.
I’m thankful for this podcast topic, as this has really helped me see other ways to expand my horizons with my sites and I am super excited to try them!
Two things that have worked for me this past year were:
1. Learning SEO and going for long-tail keyword topics and nailing page #1 on Google. Woohoo!
2. Listing my digital products on an Etsy shop! This has actually been awesome for me, as Etsy brings me a whole bunch of buyers. Not necessarily subscribers to my sites, but, it does bring in some sales, which I cannot complain about! And because I learned some SEO, almost all of my products will show up as the first few (if not, the first!) products listed when searching for many variations of keywords for my products.
Anyway, thanks again, Cindy!
-Cherelle
Hey Cherelle, thanks for that tip on Etsy. That’s a great idea! And good job on learning SEO. That will always be more sustainable than social media for sure. Keep it up, and thanks for listening to the podcast! 🙂
Lovely to hear that it’s okay not to love social media! In my consulting business, my buyers largely come from happy clients (word of mouth), partnerships with industry associations, guest presenting, LinkedIn, and my podcast. I’ve given myself permission to spend less and less time on social media. Great tips for alternate – and better – methods to market your business, Cindy!
Hey Jean! It’s absolutely ok to not love it. That’s the beauty of owning your own business. You get to do exactly what you want to do, and nothing else. 🙂