Every day in May: My marketing mix
May is my month to show up every single day.
I've started an experiment.
After 14 years running Lyons Creative, in April I made the decision to position myself as a design agency. A micro agency. I am a company of one and that is ok, but I'm shifting away from the freelancer tag I've placed on myself.
With that came conversations with people about my offerings, my process, my finances and of course my marketing.
Before I shift my messaging and everything that goes around it, I wanted to share content online every day, post something on a channel to see if that would make any difference to enquiries and my SEO presence.
I'm auditing it to see what happens and being intentional about it. Seeing what happens when I stop leaving my marketing to the gaps between client deadlines.
Running your own business is hard. If there's anything you take from this, do it a little at a time. I have a grand dream that I'll have a beach house staring out to sea and the content and ideas will flow. Well, with life comes life stuff. I'm currently sat in my office, which obviously has no sea views. What I'm saying is, I have to start, so here I am.
Here's the rundown of the channels I use to market Lyons Creative, why I chose them and what they actually do for my business. If you're a freelancer or small creative studio trying to figure out where to put your energy, hopefully this saves you some of the figuring-out time I've already spent.
I want to reach business-to-business clients so I use LinkedIn. It's where my clients are, where conversations in comments and direct messages can turn into commissions, or someone sees me and recommends me. I use my personal page even though I have a LinkedIn business page. People buy from people.
I post a mix of things: working with me, my newsletter, my podcast and, after my audit, I realised I need to talk more about the results my clients get. Show a little more behind-the-scenes from client work, thoughts on the design industry and the occasional personal post about business life. It doesn't have to be polished. It just has to be useful.
LinkedIn is long-game marketing. You won't post once and get a flood of enquiries. But show up regularly and people start to remember you. They may just call you when the brief lands on their desk.
LinkedIn Post
Update of what projects I’m working on that week.
I know creatives use Instagram as their portfolio platform and have beautifully curated feeds. I create the graphics for my clients but have I done it for myself?
What I post on LinkedIn for business, I repurpose on Instagram. I know some social media managers would hear that and shudder. But I don't have the time or energy to create separate content to feed the Instagram algorithm gods. True story: one day I was about to sack off Instagram and two leads came in. From people who had been following me for years.
You know I kept it.
I post to Instagram Stories, which last 24 hours, though you can save them to Highlights, a function on your profile where you can group saved stories by topic. Stories give your followers an insight into your life and you can share whatever feels right. I don't share everything of course. As Lucy Werner says: "Show a little ankle." You really don't need to tell the whole world about your life.
My Newsletter: Font Love Friday (And Other Designery Things)
Once a month I share my thoughts on fonts, something from the design world and tips for small business and freelancing. I give a lot away in it and over the years I've realised I genuinely love writing it, but I don't think it has ever directly generated a sale. Visibility, yes, but not a direct sale.
After a Power Hour with email marketing specialist Minal Patel, she advised me to share more of my work. So in between the monthly newsletter I'll be sharing a case study and more of what I actually do, which will also feed content for LinkedIn and Instagram.
TikTok
Let's just say I have an account and I repurpose my reels from Instagram here. I try not to stay too long on the platform as it does suck you in.
The Creatives Like Us Podcast
The podcast started as a way to amplify underrepresented voices in the creative industries and to talk with Black and Brown creatives. Season 3 is underway and the community around it keeps growing. Downloads are up and people are sharing.
From a marketing perspective, I share when each episode is released and share it with my guests too. I used to have a separate newsletter for it but that got folded into Font Love Friday, so those subscribers now hear about both.
Guest episodes are long-form audio and my solo episodes are usually no longer than 15 minutes.
My Blog
Yes, I write one. And yes, you're reading it.
The blog lives on my website and it does two things: it helps people find me through search and it gives me somewhere to go deeper than a LinkedIn post. I can write about editorial design, brand identity, marketing designs, or apparently, my approach to showing up every day in May. Your blog is your part of the internet that you control.
Events and In-Person Community
I also like being away from my desk. I attend local events and travel to a few further afield.
I co-host Cowork Crew London, a monthly coworking meetup, and co-founded the Creatives Like Us event. The people I've met at events have become collaborators, clients, cheerleaders and friends. There's something about being in the same room as people that online meetups can't replicate, and it's always good to meet the real person behind the profile or a rectangle on a Zoom call.
If you're not doing any in-person community events, I'd encourage you to try one. If you don't want to go alone, ask a friend to come with you, or ask the organisers if there's a pre-meetup so you can connect with other attendees before the main event.
Cowork Crew
In person coworking and networking once a month
Adobe Express for Content Creation
I'm an Adobe Express Ambassador and I use it for my own content. Carousels, social graphics, quick brand assets. It's where I make a lot of my marketing graphics, including client templates and social media graphics.
Adobe Express
Content creation - also doubled up as a partnership advert with Adobe
And that's enough for now
Sharing content, whatever channel or avenue you choose, takes effort as a small business. The goal is always the same: you want it to reach your target audience.
Mine is a little tricky to define, because I work with corporate marketing teams and publishing teams designing everything from marketing materials to magazines, and with small businesses creating bespoke branding, which includes marketing design and Squarespace websites. Some people think they can do it themselves with design software and DIY website builders. But the results speak for themselves when clients get booked and the feedback includes: you look professional.
Before you go, sign up to my newsletter and come along for the ride as my business develops.
Thirty-one days of May. Let's see what happens.
