Marketing has been my passion and profession for nearly a decade, but when I pivoted my business to focus on working with entrepreneurs, instead of artists, I kept hearing the phrase “the riches are in the niches” ringing in my ears. As a good marketer, I knew I needed to niche down, but there was definitely resistance because I knew I could help so many different types of entrepreneurs. However, after much thinking, I decided to niche down on solopreneurs and in this blog post, I’m sharing why I became a marketing strategist for solopreneurs.

 

 

Before, I delve into why I decided to become a marketing strategist for solopreneurs, I wanted to quickly ensure we are all clear on what a solopreneur is.

 

According to the dictionary, a solopreneur is “a person who sets up and runs a business on their own”. Now the term seems to have been growing in popularity in recent years, however, it came into existence in the 1990s as a blend of solo and entrepreneur.

 

This leads me nicely onto the first reason why I work with solopreneurs.

 

1. I work with solopreneurs because I’m a solopreneur too

I’m a solopreneur and proud of it, so I love to work with other solopreneurs too. I know how frustrating it can be when you sign up for training/courses/coaching etc and quickly realise that that just isn’t achievable for you, because you are doing this all alone. Now, lots of coaches will tell you that you can’t do it alone, you need to outsource. But, I know for some people they don’t that. They specifically want to build a one-person empire and if that is you then I’m here to support you.

 

2. Creating a marketing strategy for solopreneurs, is different from the strategy you would create for a small business or big brand

 

I have been fortunate enough in my marketing career to have worked with small businesses and big brands. I have been the only person looking after marketing for a company, I have led teams of employees and freelancers, and I have been in a marketing department of 30. When it comes to budgets, I’ve worked with budgets as small as a few hundred pounds and as large as over half a million pounds.

 

This wealth of experience means I know how a big brand and a small-medium enterprise (SME) market their business, but I’m able to pick and choose the best aspects to make something a solopreneur can manage.

 

The resources (money, time, skill) available make a drastic difference on the type of marketing strategy one should be following. When I first started PropelHer, I still had my marketing hat on from my day-job so I set out to deliver everything consistently across way to many channels. I learnt over time to drill down on what activity was having an impact and focus on those areas. As a solopreneur, it is key your marketing strategy is focused on return-on-investment (ROI) and this is in terms of money and time.

 

Now when I create marketing strategies for solopreneurs I focus on ensuring the strategy is simple so a solopreneur can deliver it with confidence and ease. I also make sure that it is clear what metrics need to be monitored so you can ensure that the marketing is working and you are making the most of your precious time and money.

 

3. I was fed up of seeing business coaches teaching solopreneurs to market their business in exactly the same way that they had built their business

Whilst I’m a solopreneur because I have a wealth of previous marketing experience I create bespoke marketing strategies rather than rely on how I built on my business. As I delved deeper and deeper into the world of online marketing and online entrepreneurship was the number of business coaches who would be teaching people to follow the same marketing formula as them. For example, if someone had built their business by having a successful YouTube channel that drove people directly to book a discovery call and sign up for high-level coaching packages through them they would push people to use YouTube. Or if they had blogged for years and incorporated content upgrades / lead magnets into blog posts to build their mailing list and then sell via email marketing they would recommend everyone else follow the same thing.

 

The fact is there are numerous different ways you can market your business to achieve the overall business objectives.

 

I hated seeing people being pushed to follow strategies that clearly didn’t align with them, purely because it was the only way the business coach knew.

 

When it comes to choosing the right channels, as part of your marketing strategy, I focus on three things: your audience, your business and YOU.

 

There is a sweet spot, which means that you are showcasing your business in the best way, whilst getting in front of your target audience in a way that you can truly shine.

 

Now, this doesn’t mean I won’t push you outside of your comfort zone. For example, one area that some solopreneurs feel resistance too is video. Now video is valuable on so many different platforms now that it is likely to be part of a marketing strategy, but that doesn’t mean I’m forcing you to open a YouTube channel before you’re ready. We can work out which one you prefer out of live and recorded and focus on increasing your confidence in that format first. We can also look at using video content in the most effective way possible. For example, videos on sales pages can drastically improve conversion. Now with one video we can work together to create the script, you have time to choose the right outfit, location etc. This will ensure you have a great video that can then sit there for months, even years.

 

 

4. When you work with a solopreneur you are changing a business, and a life!

Marketing is central to business growth and I love seeing businesses grow. It brings me so much joy to see businesses smashing their income goals. It is so satisfying when you create a marketing strategy that works and the numbers are all pointing in the right direction. However, when you work with a solopreneur that income goal isn’t going to the shareholders, or being drastically by all of the business’ expenditure, instead it is going to the solopreneur and making a difference to their life!

 

The majority of my work is with service-based solopreneurs and with service-based businesses the profit margin can be very high. That means every sale counts and makes a difference. I love being able to see the impact that money has made. Everyone is different and people use the money for things such as: upgrading their equipment, hiring help, going on holiday or retreat, paying off their mortgage etc. I believe there is something so powerful about being able to make your own money on your own terms and I love to help others to achieve that.

 

That’s it! Those are the four reasons why I decided to niche down and be a marketing strategist for solopreneurs.

If you are a solopreneur that knows you need to get your marketing sorted so you can truly grow your business in the way you want then you can find out all the ways of working with me by clicking here.

And I would love to know why you decided to become a solopreneur.