In the first post of my blog, I focused on the idea that people don’t choose to turn on a device to watch adverts, and on the different approaches we need to have for our website and social media as a business.

In this second part, I am going to explore how we can make people want to follow our business.

First of all, we need to be aware that there is a massive difference between the economy of a social media creator and that of a business owner.

A lot of the advice you find online is aimed at people who want to go viral, but going viral doesn’t necessarily mean making money. Fame and money are two different paths, especially on social media.

There are plenty of people who are very famous online but not necessarily successful financially, and your number of followers means very little if they don’t buy from you.

On the contrary, there are businesses with a relatively small social media audience but loyal customers who provide a consistent income. That is, at least, what I think is the goal we want to reach as business owners.

Therefore, the content we need to create is completely different because the objectives are different.

Your content should be focused on your target client and your type of business. It is not the same for a business that does ecommerce as it is for someone who only provides a local service.

Many believe that attention brings money, but the reality is that quality attention brings money.

And we have to be careful here because some kinds of attention can actually make your customers go away, and you can end up becoming a broke entertainer.

So, the big question is:

Why would someone follow you?

Attract the right audience, not just a bigger audience

Here we need to be mindful that the main people we want to attract are the right ones.

For example, you know that I do personal branding photography and headshots. My content on social media should not be about photography gear, talking about other famous photographers, or sharing knowledge about this craft that is clearly aimed at photographers.

Why?

Because I don’t sell courses for photographers.

My clients are business owners and professionals, therefore my content should be created to help them, not photographers.

Now, this doesn’t mean that photographers don’t follow me. They do!

Some of the information might be helpful to them, or they might connect with other aspects of what I do or say. After all, they are business owners too, right?

The same situation can happen to you.

Let’s say you are a business or wellbeing coach. You need to create content for your clients, not primarily for other coaches. However, your colleagues may find that information useful and decide to follow you as well.

And this happens because, with time, you are gaining a certain level of authority.

For a professional, this is one of the most valuable things you can have. You may not go viral because of those Reels, but you can become a trusted source.

Here we are choosing between the immediate reward and the slow one.

If you are a business owner, someone should follow you because you are a helpful, trustworthy and inspiring source of information.

Bringing new perspectives, sharing news and offering your own point of view on certain subjects can make people stop and listen to what you have to say.

That kind of authority can eventually bring clients, but maybe not rampant virality.

And that is a good thing.

Reputation is not built in a mechanical fast factory. It is something we craft with care, slowly and over time.

What credible content actually looks like for a business owner

So, what can you actually post?

There are many possibilities, but here are some types of content that can help you build credibility and give people a reason to follow you.

1. Teach something your client needs to know

Not necessarily a complete tutorial. It could be an explanation, clarification, common mistake, misconception or piece of information that helps your target client make a better decision.

A photographer could talk about why a professional headshot communicates differently from a casual selfie.

A financial adviser could explain something clients regularly misunderstand.

A lawyer could explain a process in plain English.

A business coach could discuss a common business problem.

The important thing is that the content is useful to the person who might eventually buy from you, not primarily to your peers.

You are demonstrating your knowledge while helping someone at the same time.

That is a much more useful reason to follow a business than simply being told, repeatedly, that you are very good at what you do.

2. Give your perspective on something happening in your industry

The idea of bringing a new perspective to something that is established in your industry or widely accepted by the public is very powerful.

Many times, people repeat what others say without a second thought. However, if you have a different vision, why not share it, especially if you have good fundamentals to support your point of view?

This is another aspect that can reinforce your authority and make you stand out.

For example, Photoshop has many detractors, and some of the most vocal ones are celebrities who seem very willing to talk about it as a PR tactic to bring themselves from “forgetfulness land” back into the news.

Suddenly, we get a headline saying: “From now on, I don’t want to be retouched in Photoshop.”

Of course, what the celebrity doesn't say is that she is being retouched by her plastic surgeon and aestheticist... but apparently, she wants to look “natural” somehow.

Yep, I don't like them.

What I do like is Photoshop.

Because high-resolution cameras capture a ridiculous amount of detail from our skin, and that can be frankly evil! So, thank goodness this software exists to soften the skin lightly, fix flying hairs, sort out malfunctioning wardrobe issues and correct all sorts of other little distractions.

And this is just one example.

There are so many subjects where you can disagree with what has become the established opinion, challenge something that everybody seems to accept, or simply explain why you do things differently.

If you have sound reasons to support your position, sharing that perspective can attract people who may actually be grateful that you openly express an opinion they have been thinking about themselves.

A secondary consequence of this is that you start to build your own tribe or community around your unique voice and personality.

You are no longer simply a transactional service.

Loyalty starts to develop.

3. Explain how you work

This is an overlooked type of content.

People don’t only want to know what you sell. They often want to know what it is like to work with you.

You can show your process, how you make decisions, how you approach a problem, what you consider important, what happens behind the scenes and why you do things in a particular way.

This is particularly useful for professional services because the service itself can be difficult to understand before someone has experienced it, and because different professionals can work in completely different ways.

For example, two business coaches may offer a very similar service but have completely different approaches.

Two photographers can offer headshots but create a completely different experience.

Two accountants can provide the same basic service but communicate with their clients in very different ways.

As I mentioned in part 1, showing how you work allows a potential client move from “This person offers the service I need” to “I can see myself working with this person.”

4. Show evidence of your experience

You can tell the story of a problem you encountered, a project you worked on, something you learned from a client, a result you achieved or a decision you made.

The story demonstrates the experience, but also telling a story is more compelling than simply saying that you are an expert in something.

Remember: we all love stories.

You can explain what happened, what the problem was, how you approached it and what you learned from the experience.

This gives people an opportunity to see your expertise in action rather than simply taking your word for it.

There is a big difference between saying: “I am an expert in X” and showing someone a real situation where your experience with X made a difference.

5. Talk about things your clients care about beyond the actual transaction

This is where your inspiring category can come in.

Provide ideas that are relevant to the world your clients inhabit.

If you work with business owners, you might discuss confidence, decision-making, presentation, leadership, aesthetics, productivity, changing careers, dealing with uncertainty, building a reputation or navigating changes in your industry.

The connection is based on showing that you understand the kind of world your clients operate in.

It doesn't always have to be directly related to what you sell.

Sometimes people follow you because they find your perspective on a subject interesting, even if they don't need your service today.

And that is fine.

They might need you six months from now, or they might recommend you to somebody else, or they may simply continue following you because they find your content useful.

Not every follower needs to become a customer immediately.

6. Curate rather than constantly create

Credible content doesn't always have to originate entirely from you.

You can share an article, book, exhibition, report, news story, podcast, photograph, campaign or idea and explain why you think it is relevant.

Again, the value isn't necessarily the topic you are sharing, it is your interpretation of it.

You are showing people what you pay attention to, what you find interesting, what you agree or disagree with and how you connect different ideas.

This is another way of building your professional identity.

And over time, all these pieces of content start to create something much bigger than an individual social media post.

They create a picture of who you are professionally, what you know, what you believe, how you work and what kind of person you might be to work with.

That is the kind of attention I believe is worth having, not necessarily millions of views or thousands of followers. The attention of the right people, for the right reasons, because ultimately, as a business owner, you are not trying to become a celebrity.

You are trying to build a business.

Thank you for reading this.

Follow me in Instagram. Connect with me in LinkedIn.

Bye for now.

Aberdeen - Aberdeenshire Portraits

Headshots - Branding

Attract the right audience, not just a bigger audience

What credible content actually looks like for a business owner

1. Teach something your client needs to know