Here's a Guest Blog Post I did for Shoo Social
The world of social media and the digital ether can seem like a vast and daunting place for anyone, let alone new – or indeed seasoned - entrepreneurs on their business journey. The Equestrian Industry has long been viewed as a “traditional” or “old-fashioned” place but with a new generation of tech-savvy and optimistic Equine professionals on the rise, it’s about to be brought into the 21st century…
You don’t need to be a PR guru, graphic designer or Marketing master to have a visible digital presence online. It has never been easier to utilise social media platforms for business start-ups or to create a basic website with freely accessible resources – as Equine Business Owners, we should be making the most of it! There’s plenty of personal horsey accounts both little and large that are pioneering the way for Equestrian Influencers to work with established Brands but what about Business owners with a service to provide or a product to sell? The world has got a whole lot smaller and the opportunity to reach a wider audience is at the tap of a screen. I’m talking about getting in front of your ideal audience; as a service or product based biz, personal or professional brand, no matter what business you have you NEED to get it online.
We are so lucky to have social media as a free resource which is available to us all. We now take Wi-fi, phones and Laptops as a given in our day-to-day lives. It is EASY to be online and that’s been massively highlighted in the last 12-18 months especially. Yes, those pesky algorithms can be frustrating… but they are there to encourage us all to try new things and make use of the latest features provided by the platforms we’re using. We could all benefit from adopting this mentality and being adaptable in our approaches to business so as not to plateau or stagnate. This is what the Equestrian Industry needs… to embrace the new features, try new things, enjoy them! Social media in particular is supposed to be fun!
Although any new business venture is a scary but thrilling journey, we can make it a whole load more enjoyable with a supportive community behind us. Now I’m well aware of the disgrace that is internet “Trolling”. Thankfully I can say I have not experienced this to a substantial extent myself. There will always be people who don’t agree with what you have to say, but they’re not the people you’re trying to attract anyway. This is where it becomes more crucial to have at least some idea of how to utilise the platforms you are perusing and get good at marketing, engagement and getting the right following. Having thousands of followers or loads of Web page hits isn’t going to actually generate income if those people aren’t receptive to what you’re offering, they’re not engaging with your content or generally don’t actually want to hear what you have to say.
Get good with creating content. Batch it; if you have an idea make a note of it on your phone then draft it on Word later. Have a go at creating graphics; Canva is great and super user-friendly. Be inspired; find accounts or other people that are doing a similar thing and see what they do, can you do something similar? Seek advice; Go and watch some YouTube videos or join some Facebook groups that reflect your style/business.
It’s all out there, at your finger tips, ready for you to use. You don’t need to spend loads of money on fancy packages or programmes to get you to where you want to be, you just need to take that first step.
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