The Blog
The emotions, actions and thought processes of my creative work.
This is where I share what I’m doing and why, how I’m thrashing out problems and what I’m trying to achieve.
My Dirty Secret About Reach - And Embracing The Business I Actually Want
Here’s the thing: there is no immunity from worrying about your numbers. There is no point you can reach where you stop, where you think “I have enough now,” and you can just get on with the stuff you enjoy. The number of people in your audience, whether on Instagram, your mailing list, your Facebook group, is always a source of worry. No matter how many benchmarks you reach, you’ll always be certain that everything will be great just once you reach the next one.
The ‘Own Your Space’ Myth
You’ve probably seen the advice to ‘own your space’. I’ve probably used that phrase myself over the last few years. But recently, as I’ve been working with clients to help them stand out in increasingly crowded markets, I’ve started to question whether this is actually the good advice it sounds like.
Renegotiating My Relationship With Instagram
A few months ago, Instagram and I reached an impasse. It had been a long time coming. For a while I had struggled with showing up there, feeling bound to it by its necessity to my business but deeply uncomfortable with all the layers of the ropes that weren’t really working for anyone.
Some Thoughts on Vulnerability and Saturation
Over the last few months, I think we’ve all felt a shift in the online landscape, and the conversations I’ve had with clients have reflected this. It started with questions about whether anyone even buys e-courses anymore, or the market being saturated and people struggling to stand out.
Understanding The Customer Journey
If you listen to Grow With Soul you will have heard me mention The Customer Journey off hand in several coaching episodes, and I’m conscious that I haven’t really gone into the theory of it.
Blogging vs Podcasting: Which Is Better For Your Marketing?
In October last year, marketing guru Seth Godin published a piece announcing that “podcasting is the new blogging”. Cue the sound of marketing plans being ripped up and podcast microphone order confirmations hitting inboxes around the world.
What Is Outreach and Why Do You Need It?
Next week my new course, Smoke Signals, all about outreach starts – but what even is outreach? Essentially, it’s any activity where you are getting onto a channel that you don’t own to talk about your business, thereby getting in front of new and broader audiences where they are already consuming information and positioning you as an expert in your field.
Is There A Place For Hustle In Slow Marketing?
For me, when I think of hustle I see pink, marble and #girlboss; I think of aggressive sales techniques, webinars with no value, numbers with the letter ‘k’ after them. I think of the glossy, successful women who have absolutely everything together and are constantly striving for more, all whilst having the perfect morning routine.
How To Plan Your Content
We all know that we need to be publishing quality content consistently in order to be discoverable, valuable and remind people that we exist online. But man is that easier said than done! In between struggling to find time and inspiration not striking we have lots of hurdles to jump in order to get content out there. For me, having a simple and clear content plan is the key to keeping on top of your content, allowing you to show up consistently with quality content for your people.
Instagram Photography Tips: How To Compose Your Photos
There is no doubt that my business has been built off the back of my photographs. Yes, my blog and content has been vital too, but almost always my photos on Instagram are the first thing that people find, and draw them in to learn more. And really, I’m an amateur photographer – I shoot on Auto (and previously, an old iPhone) and, to be honest, find the technical stuff a bit boring and, well, technical.
Why I’m Starting A Podcast
What kind of a season is summer? With it's endless, cloudless days, sticky drips of ice cream and overhead buzz and flutter of transient birds and insects? It's a season, to me, of both rest and projects. After a spring of 'hustle' and growth there is now space and opportunity to enjoy the fruits of that labour, while this same space reinvigorates inspiration and creativity and brings new ideas to the fore.
Why People Engage Less With Sponsored Content, and What We Can Do About It
Last week, I had a bit of a paddy about Instagram. For about five seconds I thought about my deleting my account, but mostly I just felt glum after a picture bombed.
How To Structure Your Marketing Plan
A question I’m often asked is “how do I do a marketing plan?”. Marketing plans are one of those things that we somehow know that we need, but, as with most things marketing, the advice and templates out there are complex, confusing and overwhelming.
What I Learned Hosting Workshops & Event Planning Tips For Your Own Workshop
Over four weeks in April and May I hosted three workshops in different corners of the country. As a start to spring this was immersive, intense, overwhelming but also completely inspiring.
6 Ways To Bring Your Personality Into Your Marketing And Feel Comfortable Doing It
Injecting their personality into their brand is a conversation I seem to have over and over again with my coaching clients – should they do it, do they want to do it, and how to do it. It’s a tricky balance: most of us are pretty introverted so the idea of bearing ourselves, of having us at the centre of our business and plastered across our channels can be pretty daunting.
Create Loyal Customers – Setting Up A CRM Strategy For Your Creative Business
There always seems to be an emphasis in online marketing advice on getting more customers. Everyone wants to expand their audiences, grow their email lists, find new people to sell to. The same emphasis is not placed on how you’re going to nurture those customers when you’ve got them.
Why You Need To Stop Using The Instagram Algorithm As An Excuse
We need to talk about the algorithm. It feels like every day I see someone (usually a blogger, usually on Twitter) bemoaning what the algorithm has done to their Instagram numbers.
How To Make Your Content Marketing Work Harder
What is the number one reason content marketing doesn’t happen in your business? I’m willing to bet that it’s because ‘it’s time consuming’. But let’s think about other things that are time consuming in your business – making or sourcing your products, responding to emails, doing client work.
How To Create an Inspiring and Engaging Brand Story
The phrase ‘brand story’ gets bandied around a lot and it’s one of those marketing phrases that no one questions yet no one fully understands. For me, a brand story is essentially a USP, but a USP with flesh and bones and heart.