10 Tips To Make Consistent Content Creation Less Stressful With Louise Gregson Williams

You started your business because you’re fab at what you do, not to post daily content…that just came with the territory. Marketing expert Louise Gregson Williams walks you through how to make content creation more natural and fun to do rather than having it be yet another chore on your endless to-do list. Tune in for 10 tips on how to remove the pressure from consistent content creation.

(10:59) “The stuff that doesn't go well for you are the things that people really want to know about in your content. They don't always want to know the shiny, glossy story of your amazing business. They want to know how you got there.”

3 ways to start removing the pressure from consistently creating content (tune in for more tips):

1. Dictaphone for rapid content creation: by speaking your content into your phone’s recorder, you’re able to create content where you sound more natural…bonus: it’s also much faster!

2. Reactive and proactive content, merged: set aside an afternoon each month to map our your month’s content. Don’t over plan, just make some notes on what you want to discuss this month. This way, you’ll have a  “reactive element as well as that proactive planning” and you’ll be able to “be a little bit more flexible if something happens in the industry”.

3. Outfit changes and procrastination: “if you can't be bothered to get changed into loads of different outfits, don't put yourself under loads of undue pressure or use it as a reason for why you're not recording.” (08:58)  

Links

Connect with Louise Gregson Williams: LinkedIn | Instagram | Discovery Call

Content Planning Wizard - beat the blank content planner!

If your general reaction to posting on social media is 'I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY' then it's time to turn yourself into a content creation wizard in this 2.5 hour masterclass + extras.

You'll learn what things to talk about so that you don’t run out of ideas and what channels to prioritise for your business.

This content planning class gives you the kit to plan like a pro and is completely tailored to what is realistic for you and your business...

You're going to be set-up for success so that you can create stop-the-scroll content to keep you in your customers' minds. YAY!

Includes:

• 2.5 hour action planning session f2f (if in Devon) or online
• A content planning template you can use every month
• The rest of your month planned out
• My secrets for where to find ideas
• All the tools I use to create content
• WhatsApp check-in and support when you need it for 2 weeks afterwards
• 30 min check in online to troubleshoot any questions you have
• transcripts and recordings

**SPECIAL OFFER** For ‘Build a brand with Rosie Parsons’ listeners you can get this for the 2022 price of £345+VAT if you book your session before 28 February 2023. Email louise@leapthirtytwo.com for more info or book a free half hour discovery call about this or any of my other programmes – let’s chat!

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Transcript

Rosie Parsons  0:00  
So today we welcome marketing expert Louise Gregson Williams from Leap 32 is going to be talking to us about how to be successful consistently posting on social media when we're already under so much time pressure from everything else in our lives. Hi, Louise, and welcome. 

Louise Gregson Williams  0:17  
Hi, Rosie. I'm so pleased to be here. Thanks for inviting me

Rosie Parsons  0:20  
You're welcome! Well, it'd be great if you could introduce yourself and what you do.

Louise Gregson Williams  0:24  
Sure. So Hi, I'm Louise Gregson Williams and I'm the owner of Leap 32, which is a marketing consultancy. And I work with small and medium sized businesses and solopreneurs. Because they probably started their business, because they were an expert in what they did, or they absolutely loved what they do, or they wanted to make some sort of contribution to the world. And then they had to decide that, oh, I actually need to tell people about this. So I can work with those businesses, so they can get really clear on their marketing really understand, like, what it is that they actually need to do, rather than all the fluff and the gunk that happens around it. And yeah, grow their business with purpose so that they can be more visible.

Rosie Parsons  1:10  
Great. Why? Why is it really important to be visible in our business? Do you think? Well,

Louise Gregson Williams  1:14  
I think now, more than ever, like we're kind of we're consuming so much content, we see so many things happening. And people are naturally really sceptical. So they want to see people, they want to understand what it is that they do. So being more visible in your business really helps people come in, and it sort of opens the door to what it is that you can do and what you can do for them. So yeah, being bit visible is so important, because that's how people find you.

Rosie Parsons  1:47  
Yeah, it can feel very overwhelming, though, to get visible and put yourself out there all the time. Why do you think people do find it so hard?

Louise Gregson Williams  1:55  
So I think one of the reasons that people find it so hard to be more visible is because they think of it as overwhelming, I think that's one of the things we get really hung up on, oh, my God, this, this whole new thing, like, I'm gonna have to put myself out there. And actually, one of the things that I think it's really true is, if we think of it as something unfamiliar, it's unfamiliar to us rather than overwhelming. And then that means that it's something that we can practice being good at, practice getting more familiar with. So therefore, it's like less of a stress on ourselves, because we put so much pressure on ourselves that we've got to be this new business owner, and do all of these amazing things. Whereas if we just thought, Okay, I'm just gonna give it a go and see what happens, it will take that stress away a little bit.

Rosie Parsons  2:45  
So what would you say are some good baby's first steps to kind of get yourself out there then.

Louise Gregson Williams  2:51  
So baby first steps, like if you're really unfamiliar with a showing up on social media, for example. So one of the baby first steps would be just kind of get used to recording yourself around the house, you know, I'm going to go and make a cup of tea right now. And these are the things I'm going to do to make it happen.

Rosie Parsons  3:09  
Is that one for sharing on reels, just for me,

Louise Gregson Williams  3:13  
you can you can, if you're gonna share it, like go ahead and share it. But you could just do it just for you. And the other thing that you could do, like, for example, on Instagram, you can create like a close friends list. And you could just share some of those more casual episodes of your life. But you know, what, people would probably love to see you making a cup of tea and chatting about what it is that you're gonna do for your day. But yeah, that's babysat. Yeah, I

Rosie Parsons  3:40  
think that's a really good idea. Because it's the same with being photographed that the more you expose yourself to it and get used to it, the less intimidating it feels.

Louise Gregson Williams  3:49  
Absolutely. And even things like people really hate the sound of their own voice. So that's another thing that I hear from clients, I really don't like the way that I sound. And it's because we're not really used to hearing ourselves consciously listening to ourselves. So one of the things that certainly I used to do when I really first started the business, is I used to record so I used to use my dictation function on my laptop, and I would record all of my content into the laptop. So I took it through, it would get more familiar with what I was going to say as well. So you know, you be doing a double thing like, Oh, God, that's what it sounds like hearing myself, but also, okay, like, I can pause, I can think if I'm going to earn an arm and all of that kind of stuff, I can just turn off the dictaphone. So it just gets you a bit more used to having those chats.

Rosie Parsons  4:43  
Yeah, that's a really good tip. And I was funny at the cell this morning as well, because I wanted to sort of remember what I wanted to say. So I use the teleprompter app on my phone. Yeah, but I find that when I write the script down, just straight into Google Docs, it doesn't really sound like me how I Talk. So like what you were saying I wrote into my notes first I kind of said what I wanted to say. And it did do a lot of hours and hours. It didn't say things quite right. But then I could, like, finesse it. And then I had my script as I would say it. And then I could just remember what I said, because it was in the teleprompter app. So that was Yeah, that's a great tip.

Louise Gregson Williams  5:17  
Yeah. So that's totally it. Like, as you say, like, you want to sound like you as well. You don't want to sound like it's something that you really painstakingly scripted, you're having speaking function, like being able to record what how it is that you talk is actually what you were saying.

Rosie Parsons  5:33  
Yeah, because it can feel like when you write it, write a script, it can feel so much more formal content and things that you wouldn't really ever say, how do you decide what to post you always like with sharing really great tips all the time? And like, how did you come up with all this amazing content?

Louise Gregson Williams  5:47  
The main thing that I'm thinking about every time I post a piece of content is what is this going to say to my audience? Like? Is it going to help them with a problem? Is it going to address a pain that they have? So something that really irritates them? Or is it potentially going to entertain them and just sort of tap into those feelings that they have about running a business, so the main thing to do is just to really understand who it is that you're talking to, and then who it is you're talking as. Because once you've got that really clear, it becomes a lot more easy to sort of communicate where it is that you're going to add value and why it is that people should follow you?

Rosie Parsons  6:30  
Do you have a bit of like, how do you plan it out? Do you sort of have one day a week where you sit down and plan what you're gonna write about for the week? Or how does it work?

Louise Gregson Williams  6:38  
Yeah, so I kind of have like a couple of things that I tend to do in a month. So I'll have like, at the beginning of the month, I'll scope out a kind of overview of what the month is going to look like. So I'll pull in like some overarching topics that tell people about, like, why they should work with me, or what it is that they can learn, etc. So I'll have an overarching map, if you like, of what the month looks like. And that will take me a few hours, just to sort of plan out that for the month, that's actually a fairly quick task. And then on a week by week basis, then I will create the content. So I'll sit down for a few hours, and just really, like, you know, nail the rails like record one, and then maybe do a carousel, etc. So I spend a reasonable amount of time just understanding where it is that I'm trying to go with the content, and then plan it out as I as I go along. And I know that some people batch content completely for the month. And that can be really, really useful. Like if you're short on time. I personally like to have a slightly reactive element as well as that proactive planning in it, because it allows you to be a little bit more flexible if something happens in the industry, huh,

Rosie Parsons  8:02  
yeah. That's great. So when you record it all, then is you recording it in one session on a particular day? And then for the whole week? Do you kind of get changed in different outfits and everything to make it look different each day? Or do you just go no, I'm like, I'm wearing this outfit this week. And, yeah, what's the process?

Louise Gregson Williams  8:22  
So I think like, this is something that we kind of really get hung up on. I when I first started doing it, I was like, Oh, God, I got to change an outfit every single day. So I look different, like it looks bad. And I think actually, like, people generally know that you're probably creating content for more than one session, like for more than one session in one day. So I think, yeah, I sometimes like if I'm doing a transition Sure, I'll change the top because it does visually make it more interesting for the viewer. But I think, you know, if you if you can't, if you can't be bothered to get changed into loads of different outfits, don't put yourself under loads of undue pressure, or use it as a reason for why you're not recording.

Rosie Parsons  9:08  
Yeah. What have you What have you said would be like the most popular posts that you've put out there that people have really liked? What kind of topics have you been talking about for those. So this is gonna

Louise Gregson Williams  9:17  
sound like a total plug. But generally, my most popular posts are ones where I've had a brand shoot Excellent. People really love seeing people behind the business. So I think that that's something that really resonates and the posts that I use when I'm using the brand photos, they tend to be more kind of like personal posts like successes, how the business is going, or what clients have said testimonials etc. And they seem to really resonate with people. The other thing that I find like a really super popular are more like carousel posts. So when you're actually giving your audience some value You So, for example, like trends to do with marketing or mistakes that you're making, when you're doing your marketing planning, these tend to resonate more because people can really understand where it is a where I can make a contribution, and it helps with my credibility, but it also makes them think, oh, yeah, that's me, or Oh, yeah, I could use that in my business.

Rosie Parsons  10:24  
Yeah. So how personal? Are you saying personal posts like work really well? How much person personal part of our life do we need to share all online? Do you think, to kind of connect with our clients?

Louise Gregson Williams  10:38  
So I think like, when I say personal, it doesn't need to be, you know, like all the ins and outs of your own for your life. It doesn't have to be that unless it's something that you really want to do. When I say personal, it's kind of like maybe achievements or successes, or even things that have gone not so well. In fact, the stuff that doesn't go well, are the things that people really want to know about. They don't always want to know the shiny, glossy story of your amazing business. They want to know how you got there. And through that, that's like, how they understand that it's okay to make mistakes. And it really, those posts really resonate with people. Okay, this didn't go so well. So this is what I've learned from it. And so you don't have to make that mistake, either. So that's a good tip. Yeah. So yeah, when I say personal, it's not necessarily everything, you know, airing your laundry out in public. But it can be as much or as little as you think that you have the confidence to give at that time. The reason it works so well is because people can really make a connection with it.

Rosie Parsons  11:52  
Yeah, talking of which, so what posts have you put out there that are sort of like tanks that haven't been so good? What What can we take from that like?

Louise Gregson Williams  12:01  
So, um, I know, the people out there that love doing this, but I did. It's funny, because I did a lip sync post once, I did a lot ones. And there will be lots of creatives out there that will use them, and they look fantastic. During them. The post did fine, the post did fine. But actually it reached people that I didn't really need it to reach. Alright, so it actually resonated like it had good reach. But there wasn't necessarily my ideal customers, because it wasn't really 100% aligned to where I was trying to get to in the business. So I think we get really hung up on what worked well, and think that reach and likes are the only way to measure whether a post is any good or not. And actually, you don't really want to go viral. Like, oh, like, Oh, can I make it go viral? Can we make it go viral, but you're probably going to attract a load of not clients that aren't really, for customers or followers that aren't really bothered about your business, and then that can actually hurt your growth. Because when they realise that you're not actually doing those lipsync posts all the time. They are not really interested in what you've got to say. So then you will end up with a load of people unfollowing you. So I think like, whilst it's not necessarily a post that tanked, it was actually a post that really didn't fit with what I was trying to say. And also didn't really do the job that I wanted it to do. So. Yeah, sorry.

Rosie Parsons  13:44  
Is it still online? Can we see it?

Louise Gregson Williams  13:46  
Yeah. I mean, it's not like it's not like, yeah, it's one of these kind of trending audios and you just mind to it, you know, like that. And it Yeah, it's still on there. Because actually, that tell that reminds me that I'm not gonna do one of those. And be it's it's also not a you know, it's where we is how we learn, Mike? Yeah, the thing, might we get hung up on doing the wrong thing all the time. But actually, all I've realised is that I'm just not going to do that again.

Rosie Parsons  14:19  
Yeah, that'd be really interesting. I'll put it in the show notes just so that people can see what you usually do now and then compare to sort of one that you tried out that sort of forget, it didn't work as well for you. Which kind of posts do you find actually do connect well with your clients and then will lead to inquiries and DMS,

Louise Gregson Williams  14:36  
I find generally the ones that really connect with my audience are things that happen actually, in my story, or in my DM. So like, because those are the people that are really actually engaged with what you're doing because they've bothered to watch your story. And then or they bothered to send you a message or you've bothered to reach out to them because They've responded to something in your story. So those are the ones that are where you're well, where I see more of the conversions, or they've seen me on Instagram, and they've gone to some sort of face to face event. And they've gone, ecosphere, Louise, I really want to chat to you. And I've got no idea who they are, but they. And then that is when the I get more kind of conversations going. And it's not like selling because people feel like they already know you. So, again, like we get hung up on whether we've got enough likes on our feed saves what the engagement rate is. But actually, sometimes, what we really want to do is think about what it is that it's bringing from outside of the world of our feed and our social media channel. Because social media is such a good awareness tool to make people make you visible and make people know that you exist.

Rosie Parsons  16:00  
So what do you share on your stories compared to what you share in your feed? Like, what how are they different?

Louise Gregson Williams  16:07  
So generally, on my stories, like I'll ask questions, so use a lot of poll stickers and questions, stickers, and things like that about pain points that people have in their business. So it might be like, for example, what to post on social media when you don't have much time? You know, but then there might be questions in relation to that. So how long do you spend planning your social media? Or how much? How many times a week? Do you post on social media? And what do you

Rosie Parsons  16:41  
question? We'll ask you that in a second.

Louise Gregson Williams  16:45  
What do you find really difficult about posting on social media or whatever it is, but there's generally pain points that people will probably engage with, that doesn't take too much thought process for them to respond. And then once they, once they've responded, you have an opportunity then to reach out to them and just say, you know, Oh, thanks so much for the information that makes it really useful for me when I'm creating content, what is it in particular about creating content that you hate, and then you can have like these longer conversations in the DMS, where you're actually connected to the person who's responded to whatever it is that you've written?

Rosie Parsons  17:21  
Oh, that's a really good way of using it because like it with me, even stories, I'm just sharing like watching the football, my dog.

Louise Gregson Williams  17:32  
People really want to see like, because it gives you the chance as well to see that behind the scenes part of the business. Oh, yeah, I'm going off to this networking event, or I'm cuddling the dog and watching the football. It humanises the brand as well, because it makes people see like the types of things that you're interested in, and whether they connect with those things.

Rosie Parsons  17:52  
But I do yeah, I love the idea of the polls and asking questions and stuff. Where can we find those kinds of if we want to ask a poll or ask questions? How do we find that in stories?

Louise Gregson Williams  18:04  
Instagram already has like stickers that you can use for polls and stories. So basically, what you do is you create your photo or your video, or whatever it is, add your text. And then there's a little sticker button right on the right, top hand side. And if you click on there, you'll get like a whole load of potential things that you can stick on to your posts. One of them is polls, one of them's asked question, there's also a really nice one is, there's like a rating slider. And you can change the emoji that's on there. And what you can also add in is sort of like, for example, if you wanted to say to someone, how's your week been? So if you wanted to get some engagement on how people's weeks been, you could add a sad face, smiley face or an angry face, and glide it to where they were, how their weeks been. And it's just a fun way of getting some engagement. I did one recently to do with cold emailing, you know how often you get a cold email and you just love it. And like what is your reaction to when you see receive a cold email and added some emojis and people were able to slide along to the it's got engagement, because it's something that really, like as business owners we resonate with, how many times have we been stuffing in the DMS or in cold emails?

Rosie Parsons  19:29  
Yeah, brilliant. Going back to that question, you came up with yourself, which it was very good. So how many times a week do you post on social media?

Louise Gregson Williams  19:38  
I've actually changed my posting slightly as a bit of an experiment, because what I found was I do it real and it would actually have pretty good reach and then I would post the next day and it would kill it. So it would kill the reel that was actually still moving. And I think it's the same. If you look at something like LinkedIn, I think maybe it's slightly different because it depends on with LinkedIn, it kind of your stuff can appear on the feed like a few weeks later and all of that kind of thing. Whereas Instagram seems to like once it once it's dead, it's pretty, like hard for it to pick up momentum again. And that well, that's why I found I'm not sure if it's the same for everyone else. But certainly, I thought, This is odd. Like, it seems like it's doing well. And then it does, it just stops doing anything. So I've switched up from posting Tuesday to Friday to Mondays generally choose Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so that it gives time in between for that growth. So in the early stages of testing, so I'm not sure how successful that is at the moment. But I think there's some logic behind it that I'm going with, anyway, yeah,

Rosie Parsons  20:55  
well, it's also really reassuring to hear that you as a marketing expert are sort of posting three times a week and it's not like it's it hasn't got to be every day or twice a day, come on.

Louise Gregson Williams  21:05  
Yeah, I think there's this real thing, like And sure, like, the more you post, the more likely it is you're well, the more likely it is that you are probably going to grow. However, if you are totally missing the mark with your audience, and you're just posting, posting posting, there's probably a couple of things that are gonna happen. Either, you're gonna get, like, set up burnout, and then you're just gonna have really long periods of where you're not even present. And the other thing is, yeah. And the other thing is, you're probably just gonna, like people probably gonna get a bit bored. Like, I would think like, oh, God, here she comes again. I think that there is like, as business owners, again, we put loads of like, unnecessary pressure on ourselves that we have to show up on social media a certain number of times a week and all this kind of thing. Whereas actually, it's about understanding, and it's something that I've really worked with my clients what's actually realistic for your business? So that and what that looks like is okay, let's do a bit of a time tracking exercise, see what, where you're spending your time in your business. So like, there's some free ones, like, I think there's one called toggle or something like that, where you can look at where it is, you're splitting your time across the business, and what is realistic to them, either deprioritize, so that you can build more time into social media, and content planning and all of the stuff that goes with it, or, you know, okay, so this really is my week, and there's nothing really that I can move around. What are the possibilities of us outsourcing? How much is that going to cost? What will it do? So, yeah, I think like, of course, like, if you only post once a week, and you've not got many followers, you're probably going to find it harder to get traction. And also, you're not going to be able to practice as much, which means that therefore creating content is always going to just take you longer.

Rosie Parsons  23:14  
Hmm. So you're talking about outsourcing, that how can people sort of outsource social media when it seems such a personal thing to kind of share? What does it look like if you're going to outsource something to social media manager?

Louise Gregson Williams  23:27  
So with a social media manager is totally right, you can have that. Roque let social media managers gone rogue again, I mean, I late.

Rosie Parsons  23:40  
Yeah, they might post something really embarrassing about me.

Louise Gregson Williams  23:44  
So I think the way that I generally work with clients, if I'm if I'm working with them on social media is you get really understanding, real understanding for what it is that the client wants to show. That's one of the things that's really and if you're looking for a social media manager, one of the things that you want to make sure that they understand is what it is that you're trying to show, and who it is that you're trying to resonate. And who it is that you want to come across as as a brand. Because say you do want to be fun and cheeky and quirky, then you want that to come across in whatever your social media manager writes. If you're super corporate and professional, and you only work with a certain type of client, you're going to want that to come across in your brand voice. So when you're working with that social media manager, you want to make sure that they as closely can replicate. One of the things like practical ways that you can get around that is ask them once you've had a conversation with them about who your ideal customers are, what type of brand voice you have, and what it is that you want to get across is see if they will just write you one or two posts, where you can assess whether they really represent you and your business. So yeah, when you're working with a social media manager, it's really crucial that you have that sort of onboarding, where you get an opportunity to really tell them what it is that you want to communicate and how you want to show up on social media?

Rosie Parsons  25:14  
And how would you recommend people find a good one.

Louise Gregson Williams  25:17  
So I think when you're looking for a social media manager that you're going to want to outsource to, one of the things that you've really got to make sure is that they get you, as we said, like, so you want to have some sort of connection with them. So when I work with my clients, one of the things that they say is that, you know, like, you've just really get my business, that's one of the things that they say. And I think that's some of the reaction that you want to go for, you want to think about, okay, this person really understands what it is that I'm trying to do. And in order to do that, you want to have a really strong kind of content brainstorming together so that you can see whether you're aligned with what they're thinking, and you want to make sure that they are giving you ideas as well. So that's really, really key. Because if if they're not giving you ideas, and they're relying on you to come up with everything yourself, you might as well do it yourself. So and they should be able to kind of give you the basics for how you could interact with the platform yourself so that you have some type of control. And the thing is, you also want to make sure that you are trusting them, there's a lot of the time as a business owner, like we hang on to our cards so closely. And like we try to micromanage everything, because it's really personal thing for the business. But if they're a professional in what they do, they should be able to make a contribution that makes a difference to your business and makes it better rather than thinking, oh God, like, as I said, social media manager has gone off on one again.

Rosie Parsons  26:59  
What sort of prices are people should people expect to pay to have a social media manager look after their socials for them.

Louise Gregson Williams  27:07  
So it can really, really vary depending on the person's experience. And also, if they've got more experience than just social media as well. So like, if you are a pure Social Media Manager, you might be managing loads and loads of accounts, it might be like fairly new to you, it might be like you haven't got a broader marketing experience that you could then bring to join other stuff up for your clients. So for example, you might be doing social media manager, and then you might think, at work in this person has got expertise in like landing page design, for example. So they could also design a landing page for you. So it's not just the social media content that they're managing, then they're managing how you're going to get leads, etc. So it can really, really vary. And the main thing is that you want to make sure that they are doing what you want them to do. And don't be surprised if social media managers do cost more than you think that they're going to cost. Because they are creating, if you think about it really granularly what they're doing is they're finding out what it is that makes your audience tick, they are writing copy in in a way that makes it sound like us. So they're having to get into your business and understand it. They're not just creating the copy, but they're probably creating the posts as well. So they're creating graphics, if you have got a strong kind of brand identity and logos and that kind of thing, they're probably doing a load of graphic design as well for you. Yeah, so it becomes like a big task, then this shedding it. And then they're also probably doing community engagement as well. So when you post something out, they're not just posting it out and hoping that it's all going to be okay. They're going around to other accounts, competitors, accounts, your followers, etc. And getting more engagement by having conversations in the comments or the DMS, etc. So don't be surprised if a social media manager comes to you and they give you a price and it's a bit more than you're expecting. Because there is quite a lot more involved than just scrolling Instagram, or

Rosie Parsons  29:34  
I'm gonna get used to something interesting that you said about going on competitors accounts. I thought about that, like, What do you mean by that?

Louise Gregson Williams  29:41  
So there's a really, really good piece of marketing that there's a photo basically so you've got McDonald's underneath. And you've got a billboard on top of it. And on that billboard. It's a billboard from Burger King and it says always on top. So So the reason that I mentioned this is because Burger King have figured out that their ideal customers are probably hanging out with McDonald's. And it's probably the same for you. So your ideal customers are hanging out where your competitors are rude. And the only reason that they're doing that Rosie is because they don't know about you. Yeah,

Rosie Parsons  30:27  
that's true. That's true.

Louise Gregson Williams  30:31  
But it's really true. But there is like, the reason that they're there is because you know, they've got an interest in what it is that you're doing for your brand, but they just don't know that you exist yet. So looking at competitors accounts can be really useful for understanding what type of people are following your competitors. And if your ideal customers are hanging out there, the only thing I would say is that sometimes we get so hung up on what our competitors are doing. You mentioned earlier about the feeling overwhelmed with what to write or what to post. And sometimes we see what our competitors are doing. And all we do is get hung up on how much better they are than, than we are. Yeah,

Rosie Parsons  31:19  
I mean, that's why I find that if I look at what some another photographers doing, that I cannot then think of anything original. I think that was a brilliant idea. Why didn't I think of that? I can't think of anything else now. So I actually try and avoid looking at any other photographers work just because otherwise I get a bit stuck.

Louise Gregson Williams  31:35  
Yeah, absolutely. So if you ask is looking for your customers over with your competitors, I would say don't invest loads and loads of time about worrying about whether your competitors are doing something that you're not doing or because the chances are you're doing something that they're not doing too. And more than anything, and I think when we just a quote Kaylee Lloyd actually, Rosie, you know, your biggest selling point is you. And regardless of what your competitors have got, you are what makes your business different. So that is something really useful to remember when you're on that Doom scroll. Get everyone else is that actually they don't have you?

Rosie Parsons  32:28  
So it's interesting about checking out the competitors accounts because obviously like, well, it's not really nice practice to kind of try and sweep in there and or sweep in there and kind of snatch their their work off them. Yeah, so what's like, you don't want to be like, horrible, kind of, I don't know what the word is. But you know, yeah, you want to be like ethical and get along with everybody in the industry. So what are you talking about kind of contributing to the conversation? Yeah. Yeah, not DMing. Like, their, their potential clients and stuff like that you like so and so's post?

Louise Gregson Williams  33:05  
Yeah, exactly. So this is what I develop? Absolutely, yeah. I think when I say like, see where your ideal customers are hanging out, you're looking not necessarily just for the customers that are on your competitors feeds, you're looking for people that are like the customers that are all your competitors.

Rosie Parsons  33:26  
So their understanding of who they are.

Louise Gregson Williams  33:29  
Sure, exactly. So your understanding more about what it is that is really resonating with those customers? Oh, that's a

Rosie Parsons  33:37  
good idea. Yeah. See what posts are performing well for the other person?

Louise Gregson Williams  33:41  
Yeah. So you can then use it as inspiration. Because then what you're more likely to do is attract more people like those people that are appearing on the feed. So it's, yeah, it's not necessarily about snaring, so

Rosie Parsons  33:59  
to speak, people have tried to do that with me and I have not taken it well.

Louise Gregson Williams  34:05  
And I think it's really translated like it's really obvious as well. So, yeah, so if you're like, even to a point where someone goes through all of your comments, and just likes them all. Yeah, so and they're doing exactly the same thing. So

Rosie Parsons  34:25  
you're, I know what you're up to.

Louise Gregson Williams  34:28  
Exactly. Like it's really, it's quite obvious, you know, it's not very clear

Rosie Parsons  34:32  
on customers.

Louise Gregson Williams  34:37  
But yeah, it's more of a tool to kind of say, unless you're McDonald's and Burger King and you can get away with it right.

Rosie Parsons  34:46  
You'd be really starting some sort of like literal beef, wouldn't you? Yeah. If you if you cold out and other competitors are better than you.

Louise Gregson Williams  34:56  
Yeah, I think. Yeah, leave that one. So the the moral is that your customers, whatever is resonating for your customers, that's something that you can use as inspiration for, for, for finding more of your ideal audience.

Rosie Parsons  35:18  
And then going back to like people that maybe don't think we're not going to quite have enough money to invest in a social media manager at the moment, but I'm still wanting to post on social media, but it is a bit overwhelming. Can you recommend any scheduling tools? Should we be scheduling? Or is that a bad idea?

Louise Gregson Williams  35:36  
Scheduling can be really, really helpful, like, especially if you want to sort of do your planning, and then you want to make sure it's all scheduled. And then you don't want to have to think about it again. So it can be really, really helpful for that. And I don't know whether your listeners aware, but both Instagram and LinkedIn are rolling out in app scheduling as well. Yeah, so you'll be able to schedule from LinkedIn or Instagram,

Rosie Parsons  36:06  
that really will be fantastic, because at the moment, you're having to use a third party, because that's like learning a whole new thing, again, is like, Oh, my brain can't cope.

Louise Gregson Williams  36:16  
Yes, and then it just becomes like you've got ended up with like another scheduling tool. And another thing to manage. So this works better. If you've got like, one or two accounts that you're posting on, if you do multiple ones, then it's probably worth investing in and learning a bit more about a scheduler. So one of the ones that I've used most recently, and the reason that I like it is because it's got a really good analytics tool in it, which can be really helpful for knowing what's resonating with your audience. And also being able to work out how your accounts performing is metrical. So m e t r i, and then cool. Isn't that cool? I find that one. I particularly like as I said, because I think the analytics are nice and simple. But I think that you know, there are, there are advantages to being able to post in app if you can, and at the time, because what happens is if you shedule, all, all your posts, then they kind of go out without thinking, which is lovely, that solves one problem. The thing that it doesn't necessarily solve is that community engagement side of things. Whereas if you post, set a reminder, and we post for a time where you're more available to be able to do the commenting, or the clients, the direct messages, etc, then that's all going to serve you better with the algorithm algorithm. Yeah. And it's going to make things it's going to sort of wake up the channel that you're on to say, okay, they're they're busy, they're responding, they're active. Therefore, let's give it a bit more of a push. Let's give it a bit more rich.

Rosie Parsons  38:04  
Brilliant. Well, that's been really helpful. Thank you so much for all of your tips today. You've got an awesome, competent. Thanks, you've got an awesome competition that you're going to be sharing with us. Yeah. And you want to tell us Do you want to tell us about the price.

Louise Gregson Williams  38:18  
So if you are sat there thinking, Oh, my God, like, there's still so much to do in terms of content. And I'm not really sure where to start with it. If that's kind of you. Then I'm offering one lucky listener a one to one content with it session with me. And basically what that means is we really get into the details about who it is that you're trying to target, what type of messaging is going to make them tick, so that you can start showing up more confidently and more consistently. And will also made sure that the next this month that you're in that you have the session is planned out as well. So you're hit the ground running with your content after that session, and it includes like, some follow up support as well. So you can send me a WhatsApp and be like, I don't know what I'm doing anymore. And I'll reply.

Rosie Parsons  39:14  
That sounds great. What a fantastic price. And if people want to buy that from you directly, as well, like how can people do that? What's the cost?

Louise Gregson Williams  39:24  
So the customer is 345 pounds, and that is last year's price. So this is the 2022 price, so it will be going up. But for you lovely rosy listeners, you can still get it at the 2022 price for a month after this podcast have aired.

Rosie Parsons  39:44  
Oh, that's very kind of you. That's lovely.

Louise Gregson Williams  39:46  
That's okay. So if you want to book that, do send me a message through leak 30. And very soon you'll also be able to book on my website. 

Rosie Parsons  40:01  
great. Okay guys, so to enter that then when that amazing prize what you need to do is subscribe to the podcast, leave a rating and share this episode on one of your social media channels. Then send a screenshot of your share to Rosie at Rosie Parsons photography.com with the subject line marketing competition, and the closing date for that is the 14th of February 2023. So get sharing. Well, thank you very much, Louise for joining us today. That was really helpful. And yeah, we'll put all the details of where to find you online in the show notes

Transcribed by https://otter.ai