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The first rule of investing is diversification — splitting your money among several assets and asset types. You don’t buy shares in a single company, no matter how much you believe in their ability to turn a profit for you. You buy shares in several companies and then you move on to other asset types: real estate, cryptocurrency, jewelry, art, and so on.
Diversification is the bedrock of smart investing because no matter what happens with one industry or with the economy in general, there will always be something that’s still working, something that’s still valuable. [Unless the zombie apocalypse happens; then even the smartest financial bets will be useless.]
The same goes for business: the more you diversify, the lower your chances of losing money.
Distribute your eggs across multiple baskets before it’s too late
In my 15+ years in marketing I’ve seen a common pattern among small business owners and, more recently, creators or solopreneurs: they find something that works and double down on it with all they’ve got (time or money). That’s it.
If you’re doing this, if you’re betting your entire business on one channel or one funnel, you don’t really have a business. You just stumbled upon something that works.
Psst, my subscribers read this before you did. Want to be the first to see analyses and roadmaps like this one? Subscribe to Ideas to Power Your Future and get them in your inbox every Thursday.
Don’t get me wrong; if you found something that works, it’s a good idea to milk it for all it’s got.
But it’s a terrible idea to postpone diversification.
All channels and all funnels eventually dry out or become too expensive.
My agency clients saw this happen with Google or Facebook Ads, for instance. It’s easy to get fooled by audience size. With both Facebook and Google Ads you can potentially reach billions of people. You won’t be able to go through ALL of them, right?
Wrong!
Your funnel will dry out much, much faster than you think because only a tiny fraction out of those billions of people need your products and/or are willing to pay for them. I can’t emphasize “tiny” enough, especially if you’re a fan of extreme niching.
The first sign that your paid ads funnel is about to dry out is an increase in click/conversion cost. If you see that happening and it can’t be attributed to something else (like running ads during Black Friday, when competition intensifies), you’ve already lingered too much.
If you’ve been paying attention to the social media landscape, you’ve definitely noticed people fleeing from Twitter to other channels. Some of them left behind 20K+ audiences because Twitter simply stopped working for them. [It still works for some but that’s another discussion for another time.]
Let’s do something about it before that happens to you, shall we? Choose at least one of the channels below to build a successful business, not just a successful funnel.
Free marketing channels
1. Social media profiles
(LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, Reddit, TikTok)
There’s no shortage of platforms to choose from. You’re most likely on at least one of these. If you’re thinking about expanding but you’re short on time, here’s what you can do:
- Use an app to cross-post to another platform automatically. I use Sendible but there are dozens of options out there. Just to warm it up until you’re ready to engage in there as well. It will take you 10 mins to set up and you can forget about it (almost) completely until you’re ready to do more.
- Choose a platform where it’s easy to repurpose what you already have. Longer YouTube videos can be repurposed into TikToks or Instagram reels. TikToks and reels make great YouTube shorts. Tweets can be screenshot and posted on Instagram.
Bonus tip: Reddit is a severely underused platform for both research and promotion. It takes a lot of time to master, that’s true, but it can become a steady supply of leads if done right.
2. Social media groups
LinkedIn and Facebook groups are the most popular ones, followed by a newcomer: Instagram Broadcast Channels. If you’re on Instagram, I highly recommend trying them, they are a great way to get to know your audience better and to get direct access to them.
You can use LinkedIn and Facebook groups to meet new potential business partners or show off your expertise with the aim of moving people to your personal/business profile or to your email list. It’s a slow funnel, though, because most groups explicitly forbid blatant self-promos. Those that accept it are useless because everyone’s doing the same thing — everyone’s selling, no one is buying.
3. Live events on social media
I’m adding live events separately because they’re a completely different beast from posting and engaging. They usually require more preparation and less “stage” fright.
They come with a huge benefit, though: when you go live, all your followers receive a push notification/an invitation to join (on most platforms).
Thus, they have a better reach than anything else. Use them sparingly, though, people get bored of anything. And annoyed at too many notifications from a brand they follow.
4. Slack/WhatsApp groups
If you ever thought about building a real community around your brand, start with one of these before you invest in an expensive made-to-measure platform.
Slack and WhatsApp groups are excellent if your brand caters to highly-skilled professionals who need an easy way to connect with peers. They’re perfect for solopreneurs and creators, for instance, but also for SaaS companies, and relatively low maintenance — lower than managing a Facebook or LinkedIn group. They also have better privacy, so they’re more appealing.
Think of them as a forum where members can help each other and where you can get daily insights into what your audience needs. Not bad, right?
5. Build an email list
This is by far my favorite channel (in case it wasn’t completely obvious by now!) for one simple reason: direct access to your audience without being at the mercy of fickle algorithms you have no control over.
On platforms like ConvertKit, you can start completely free until you have enough subscribers to start monetizing. If you’re active on any social media platform, start driving your audience to an email list — it’s the fastest and cheapest way to future-proof your business.
It’s not the easiest anymore, though. Everyone and their mother has an email list, so expect a few initial hurdles and slow-ish growth.
6. Blogging
You’re already creating content for your business — on social media or for email, for instance. Why not publish it as a blog post too? It takes minimal time investment and the ROI can be amazing, especially in the long run.
Into video or podcasting? Publish the transcripts as blog posts.
All my emails end up in my blog section and it takes less than 10 minutes per week to set everything up. You could automate this and spend exactly 0 minutes but I choose to keep them secret for 24 hours so that YOU are the first who reads them.
7. SEO content
SEO still works and it will keep working for a few more years. If you’re already blogging, you might as well do some SEO optimization for it. The compounding effects are astounding! An optimized blog post on my agency’s website still brings us leads after 5 years — it was published in 2018 and never touched since.
Speaking of SEO content, this is my agency’s specialty, so reply to this email and let me know if you need help with it!
8. Guest blogging/guest posting
This is the tactic that brought my agency the most leads. It’s perfect for service providers, coaches, consultants, and more.
Here’s how it works: you write an article for a website in your industry for free in exchange for permission to add a link to your website in your bio or in the article itself. It works wonders for brand awareness, SEO, and direct lead generation.
This is a monster list of 300 blogs that accept guest posts, sorted by topic. Can’t find your topic? Google “[your industry] blogs that accept guest posts”.
A caveat, though: not all your submissions will be accepted, so read the editorial guidelines carefully and abide by them. If you’re not a seasoned writer, hire someone to write it for you. My agency can take the writing part of your table *wink-wink*.
9. Guest appearances in podcasts
Guest podcasting is the new guest blogging, so if you’ve never done it before, it’s high time you started. As always, start with smaller, less popular podcasts and work your way up. You will have to pitch yourself for the first few podcasts and face some rejection but once you’ve been on a few, you’ll see more invitations coming your way.
This website can connect you with podcast hosts looking for guests. Or inspire you to create your own podcast.
10. Partner up with brands in complementary industries
My agency had a lot of partnerships with web design companies — they provided the design, we provided the copy, and ta-da! a turnkey service for our clients.
Figure out what other services/products your clients are looking for and find experts in those fields. You can create turnkey packages together or simply refer clients to each other.
11. Cross-promos in newsletters and blogs
Or even on social media, why not?
Got a few people in your network who are in fields complementary to yours and not necessarily direct competitors? Promote each other on your best channels. It’s a great way to tap into new audiences.
12. Incentivize referrals
This tactic works in almost any industry, from services to SaaS and from digital products to consulting. If you already have a few happy customers or subscribers, remind them to recommend you to their peers.
Make it a no-brainer by rewarding them for their time: 10% off on your services for 3 months, a free extra service, a consulting session, a digital download — the options are endless. Just make sure it’s something they want to receive, not something you want to offer.
My referral program is a good example here: it takes you less than 2 minutes to share your referral link (find it at the bottom of this email) on social media or in your own newsletter and you can get 3 different rewards.
13. Free webinars and workshops
Ideal for service providers, consultants, and coaches, free webinars and workshops are great ways to showcase your expertise to people who aren’t yet ready to pay for it. Plus, they’ll also get you insights into what your audience needs.
For excellent results, make sure you make time for a Q&A session at the end. And, for the love of all that is sacred in marketing, make sure that you spend less than 10% of the webinar promoting your paid stuff. There are few things more annoying than a webinar that’s 70% pitch. That’s an infomercial, not a webinar.
14. Take it offline
This is one of the most underrated tactics ever, so let me ask you: have you told your friends, your family, or your peer network what you do? I’m not talking about pitching them your stuff, just letting them know what your business does and what type of clients you are looking for.
Now that the plague years are over, events are back on the table and so are work hubs and cafes for people to work from. Spark a conversation with the people you meet there, what have you got to lose?
Paid marketing channels
I know a lot of people have a fetish for organic growth. I get it; it’s a flex to say you grew organically. It’s almost like saying you’re too good to pay for ads, people flock to your brand anyway.
But here’s the catch: organic growth has a price tag too and it’s usually your/your team’s time. Think about what you value the most, time or money, then decide how you want to pay for your growth.
If you’re ready to throw some money at it, these are a few options:
15. Social media ads
You can try them out on any network (almost) and you don’t need a huge budget to get started.
My recommendation: try paying for ads on a network where you already have some clout. It’s a great way to build up your audience or sell your products directly.
Alternatively, you can pay for ads to accelerate the growth of a brand-new profile IF you’re certain that you’ve found the right social media platform.
You can expect a $2-$8 price tag per conversion. The easiest way to lower it is to change the location of your target audience — but that doesn’t always make sense.
16. Google Ads
Google Ads are great if you’re selling to people who are well beyond the problem-aware phase aka to people who are ready to buy. If someone is searching for “how can I run 5K?”, they’re not ready to buy running shoes. On the other hand, if they are searching for “running shoes for beginners” or, better yet, “Nike running shoes for beginners”, they’re ready to buy.
This is why Google ads are (still) the holy grail of eCommerce and some services but don’t work that well for consultants or coaches.
Of course, if you have no budget constraints, you can also use them to educate problem-unaware leads, but it will be quite costly.
17. Ads on other networks
There is life beyond social media and Google when it comes to ads. There are dozens of ad networks that can get your message on highly relevant websites. This is a good list to get you started.
A word of caution, though: read the user guides and the terms and conditions very, very carefully before you get started, especially if you don’t have a lot of experience with display ads. Your budget can get depleted in seconds if you check one wrong box. Start small and work your way up!
18. Ads and advertorials on major media outlets
Think Entrepreneur, Forbes, The New York Times but also your local media outlet (if you cater to a local audience). Yes, they’re VERY expensive. Yes, ROI is very hard to track.
So who do they make sense for? If you already have a solid reputation and you’re ready to go for the industry leader title.
If you don’t want to pay that much but still want a similar level of exposure, here’s what you can do:
- Advertorials cost less than plain ads
- Work with a PR company to get you relevant placements — yes, those are expensive too but they also have preferential rates with big media outlets, so in the long run they will help you save money.
- Try scoring a guest post (entrepreneur.com accepts them for instance, although it’s incredibly hard to get accepted).
- Go for niche publications. There’s a publication for anything under the sun, from oil and gas to crocheting aficionados. They have smaller audiences but they are hyper-targeted. You’ll pay less and get in front of a more qualified audience.
19. Influencer/creator and affiliate marketing
This one is pretty straightforward: pay influencers in your industry to promote your business. Or create an affiliate program that influencers can use to get a cut every time they help you make a sale.
The key here is relevance: make sure you choose the right people, whose message and values align with yours.
Before I sign off, one word of caution: don’t spread yourself too thin. Some of these channels may sound appealing and you can be tempted to try them all at once.
While it’s a bad idea to rely on a single channel, it’s an equally bad idea to get started on 4 or 5 at the same time and half-ass them all. Try them one at a time. When they become second nature, move on to the next.
Not sure which of those fit your brand best or which would make the biggest bang for your buck? Book a 1:1 strategy session with me and let’s figure it out together!
That’s it from me today!
See you next week in your inbox!
Here to make you think,
Adriana
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Adriana’s Picks
- Twitter is rebranding to X, so I have to plug my favorite pun of the week: “if we’re no longer tweeting, does this mean we should be X-iting?”
- This piece of news keeps on giving: x.com was banned in Indonesia for a few days because it used to be a pr0n and gambling website, both of which are banned under Indonesian law.
- ChatGPT might be less accurate, contrary to what most people expected. This thread digs deeper into the issue.
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