How To Promote Yourself as a Content Creator
When you first start a business, one of the biggest and most important things you need to do is marketing. Without viewers, followers, subscribers or customers, you won’t have a business.
So how do you market yourself? What tools are good ones? It all depends on what you’re selling. If you are marketing yourself, (what a lot of people start out doing on YouTube when they first start out), you are selling an idea. You are sharing information about yourself, or something you like to do in hopes you will make a billion views and hit it big on YouTube. Unfortunately, since the restrictions on YouTube have changed, it takes more than that to make money on Youtube. When you do start making money, it really isn’t that much.
In my case, I didn’t have a solid business plan, I was just playing with ideas and investigating what being on Youtube would look like. I eventually started making stickers (after an initial investment for a Cricut Machine and an iPad Pro), and then I started developing a more solid business plan.
So how do you market yourself once you start as a digital creator? Well, let’s explore some ideas:
Business Cards:
I love the idea of having business cards - the design aspect is right up my alley. I made my own on cardstock initially, before I started making money. I think people appreciated them because they were literally handmade and took more effort than a pre-printed one. Once I started getting more serious, I used Vistaprint to design my own cards. They are still very “Sandra” inspired, but it’s easier, because I paid someone else to do it for me. When you first buy business cards from Vistaprint, you can actually get a really good deal, and it’s really cheap, depending on the options you choose.
One of the main issues is that you need to hand out these cards yourself. If you work from home, and never really leave the house, it’s difficult to do that. The way that I do it, is by taking my planner with me everywhere I go, or, doing my makeup. Both of these are conversation starters - if someone asks me about whey I’m carrying my planner, or if they comment on my makeup, it gives me an opportunity to talk about my business, what I do and then I hand them a card. I also use any and all opportunities such as grocery shopping, going to breweries, and even grabbing coffee to start these conversations. Trust me, it works. Ask everyone you talk to to spread the word - hand them a few cards, and ask them to share with their friends. Before you know it, you will have a local following!
If you don’t like having physical business cards, you can share your website or contact info by word of mouth, or you can also have a digital business card. I don’t know what that looks like since I’ve never done it, but I’m sure you can check it out on your own!
Use YouTube or Instagram (or any other platform) to talk about what you’re selling:
In my case, I started out on YouTube, and I wasn’t really selling anything. Now that I’m making stickers and planner charms, I’m using Instagram and YouTube to market my products. I use my items in my planner setups on my channel, and I post pictures on Instagram of my products as well. You can also set up Instagram as a shopping page, but I usually just use it to share what I have available, and then hope that people click the link for my website or my Etsy shop. (This is called a funnel). You can use any platform that you prefer - some people prefer Pinterest or Tik-Tok.
Trade Shows/Farmers Markets
I personally have not participated in a trade show (yet), but they work great for when you have one-of-a-kind, tangible items to sell. (For example, crocheted products or wood carvings). In my case, I save on costs because everything is digital and I do not pre-make anything except for my planner charms, and even then, some things are made to order. It does cut down costs from overhead, but sometimes people like to see the physical product. (However, this limits you to selling locally).
Talk about what you sell:
Don’t be shy! Talk about your business! Be proud of it and be proud of yourself! Don’t let anyone bring you down! Anyone who is not supportive of you and your business can be let go. You don’t need them. The trick is, talk about what you do! Tell other people to share the information - they can give your name, and share pictures of what you do, or you can even give sample products to your friends to share. Get your family to support you by telling their friends and people they work with. Your family should be your biggest supporters! Also, the more you talk about it, the more your business and your goals will be at the top of your mind, and the more likely you will succeed at it.
Thanks so much for reading and best of luck!
Sandra 🧡