Alphabet Blog

The pressure to churn out an endless amount of social media content can take its toll on a small business. 😅

It can feel impossible to keep up with the demands for fresh new images, reels, carousels and more on a weekly basis. Not to mention, the costs that need to be taken into account when you need a supply of new brand images every few months.

The solution? Make your images work harder for you and turn them into something completely NEW with a few quick Canva tricks.

This one I particularly love and recently shared on our members' coaching call.

Watch the brief demo where I show you how to take a regular product photo and create a scroll-stopping design with the few clicks of your mouse. 🐭

Click on the video to watch now:

PRO TIP: You'll need a Canva Pro account to use the cut-out feature. Honestly? It's one of the best investments I've made in my business! Worth every cent.

PS - this blog contains affiliate links but I'll only ever recommend something I KNOW is worth the...

How is your organic social media engagement looking lately? If it resembles anything like rollercoaster or landslide, you're not alone.

If you rely on Instagram to market your businesses, the reality is that you are at the mercy of the algorithm. Especially if you're not investing in paid ads.

If you want more potential customers to see your content, you're going need to signal to the algorithm that it's YOUR content your followers want to see.

How on earth do you do that? 

By creating content people engage with in the form of: 

✅ Likes

✅ Comments

✅ Shares and Saves

✅ Messages etc.

Do you know what also counts as engagement? Interacting with Instagram Story Stickers!

These are some of the most underutilised but best features for driving new engagement on your account.

They're also a gold mine for finding out more about your audience, and them about you! 🤩

ENGAGEMENT DRIVING STORY STICKERS INCLUDE:

🤳 QUIZ STICKERS

Instagram’s Quiz Stickers allow you to ask questions (tri...

It all started on Sunday when I noticed the Instagram app crashed every time I opened it. 😫

Then, on Monday, I opened the app and was greeted with this panic-inducing message:

I was then prompted to put in my email address to receive a 6-digit code and then another notification asking for my phone number to receive another 6-digit code to log in to my account.

I did both those things (stupidly, in hindsight) and then was greeted with just a blank screen and the panic that my account had just been hijacked by hackers (even though I have two-factor authentication turned on).

My colleague searched my account and it couldn't be found. *poof* GONE!

Like many, I rely heavily on Instagram to market my business and the thought that 7 years of hard work had just *vanished* was terrifying.

Fortunately, within a few hours my account was back as Instagram rectified the situation. But I was also seeing reports of people losing followers by the bucketload.

*WHAT WAS HAPPENING?!*

I don't know...

Is it that time of the year already? 😱

Black Friday is less than a month away and, for many businesses, it is a date that is usually carved into the marketing calendar a year in advance. Brands often use it as a way to offload excess stock and seek out cash-strapped consumers who are hungry for deals.

But sentiments are changing and the trend towards promoting conscious consumerism is on the rise.

🌱 Choosing to do Black Friday more ethically is a great way to build your brand’s reputation and prove that you can Stand Out Without Selling Out.

So, as a small business that is needing to grow sales at this time of year, what alternatives exist if you don’t believe in the mass consumerism of Black Friday?

👉 Let’s take a step back from the consumerist nature of Black Friday and dive into 5 sustainable, purpose-driven alternatives:

1. Showcase Your Values

If you don’t agree with what Black Friday stands for, then create a campaign to educate your audience about the dangers of fast co...

If you use email marketing to communicate with customers then you probably have a list of subscribers and use an email platform such MailChimp, ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo. 

And if you are prioritising email marketing, then you may even have a list growth strategy in place. 

But when last did you focus on REDUCING the size of your list to improve your email marketing? 

Say what?! 🤔 Here's why... 

It's important to keep a high-quality, engaged email list.

If a large % of people don't open or read your emails, email service providers could categorise your emails as junk mail, even for those who actually want to open your emails. 

To maintain a strong email open rate (30% or more), you need to clear the dead wood from your email list regularly. 

How do you do this? 

 1. Use the filter tool in your chosen email marketing platform to filter out the inactive subscribers (people who haven't opened or clicked on an email in the past 90 days, and people who aren't customers / haven't purc...

In the age of social media, brands require a continuous stream of content in order to remain fresh and relevant.

But there’s nothing worse than investing a lot of money in a photoshoot, only to receive the photos and then not be able to use any of them in your marketing! 

So what’s the secret to maximum return for your money? 

PLAN AHEAD! 

It’s an important investment of both our time and money AND reflects our brand so it’s important that we maximize the opportunity with a well laid out plan before the shoot even begins. 

I recently did a LONG overdue photo shoot to update my image library and here’s what I did to plan ahead. I thought I’d share it with you in case you are planning a shoot in the near future: 

• FIRST, list all the types shots you need and how they’ll be used 

This is the most important step. Provide as much detail as possible. 

For example, if you need a website hero image with white space for text, you don’t want to end up with a whole bunch of busy portra...