HeartBiz Letter πŸ’Œ - some encouragement for you & life since knee 🦡🏼surgery πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» with photos!Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ 
Jane Hinchliffe - Squarespace Web Design | Harrogate UK

HeartBiz Letter

6 February, 2023

Happy February πŸ’– and thanks for being here.

If you’ve just recently signed up, a warm welcome πŸ‘‹ to you.

***

Why Blogging is Better than Relying on Social Media for Your Online Presence

Something that I’m really passionate about…

Perhaps your blog has gathered dust, or you haven’t started a blog yet?

Rather than write a blog post, it can seem β€˜easier’ to share that juicy learning or nugget of wisdom/insight/aha moment, your unique point of view, your products, details of your services, client/customer feedback and so on, via your favourite social platform: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn etc but are those posts (over the days/months/years) working as hard for you as they could/should?

Whenever you post, do you have that sinking feeling that your most precious of commodities in business ie. your time and focus isn’t converting to enquiries/sales/clients? That’d be a hand up from me.

Believe me, I know how that feels…

Over the past decade of running an online business, I’ve had an on/off love-hate relationship with social media. β€˜Love’ because I was (and still am) in contact with some lovely people. β€˜Hate’ because I didn’t like playing the β€˜game’ in the expected way. Spoiler alert: I still use social media but now on my terms.

Years ago, as a full-time artist, I would find myself responding to the pressure, expectation and general hustle of creating multiple posts for the social media β€˜gods’ that seemed like a never-ending process. Yuck!

Perhaps you can relate with this lengthy process?

It went something like this:

Think up an idea, find the words and type up the draft, brainstorm multiple hashtags, create a graphic to go with the post, upload it, wait with bated breath for any likes/hearts/shares/clicks, answer any comments, follow and engage with yet more accounts/profiles to boost engagement and blah, blah, blah..

All the while, you’re aware of the growing sense of unease and urgency inside of you, knowing that specific and focused tasks that could move the needle in your business are having to wait.

Meanwhile, I was left drained. Exhausted. Depleted. And to be honest, sometimes resentful 😀. Added to this, as someone with introverted tendencies and on the sensitive side, I frequently felt overwhelmed (after getting sucked in - hello, algorithms) and needed to take a break in order to reset! More time wasted, more pressure.

But. I’m not the only one. This is such a common problem and as I speak with other business owners, my web design clients and those that purchase my 90 minute for Β£90 strategy sessions, I often hear the same from them. But there’s another way…

Dust off your blog

Blogging is better than relying on social media for your online presence. Use it as your primary means of expressing and communicating valuable content.

The average engagement rate for a social media post is only around 1%! Soooooo, not great!

I’m NOT saying delete all of your socials (IF it’s working for you AND you enjoy it) but rather with the intention of sharing valuable content from your blog (and website pages) to your socials, that serves your ideal client. Think of your blog as a personal invitation to visit your online home and to show them some love. Help them to solve their problem or pain.

After all, ALL content must lead back to your website.

82% of marketers who blog consistently see positive ROI (return of investment) from inbound efforts.

Embrace your blog: here’s why:

1. Putting the lights πŸ’‘ on - When I work with clients, I get them to think of their website πŸ’» as their online home and you can too. It’s where you can (and should) be yourself. So, β€˜put your lights on’, make them a virtual cuppa and get them comfortable and ready to settle down and have a β€˜chat’ ie. to interact with your content.

Sounds better, right? Yes, your blog (and website) is the equivalent of that - it can delight, educate, entertain, and/or inspire your ideal client in a way that only you and your brand can. Remember, you are not bothering or hassling your ideal client, you are there to help them as the expert and brilliant wholehearted human that you are.

2. Long term, or β€˜evergreen’ value 🌲 - A blog post tends to have a muuuuch longgger lifespan than social media posts, which might only be 24 hours!

A blog post can potentially receive traffic for years to come. This means it won’t be forgotten and fade into the ether like a social media post but could still be relevant and even re-purposed in months or years to come.

Bonus: If the content becomes out of date, you can always go in and re-edit/re-publish it.

2nd Bonus: Don’t forget to re-share (aka re-purpose) older blog posts from time to time.

3rd Bonus: Use content FROM your blog posts FOR social media posts giving the all important link back to your website. See, social media is useful but just in a different way.

3. Security problems and algorithm 🀯 changes - There’s a LOT of talk about social media at the moment.

I always tell my clients that when it comes to using a social media platform, you’re at the mercy of the next algorithm change. There is ALSO the worrying trend of security issues and accounts being deleted and not reinstated, or accounts being hacked and all content lost!

Remember: you own your blog and it’s content!

4. SEO πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» - Don’t miss the opportunity to include all that lovely search engine (SEO) friendly stuff that gets you found in a Google search. This would include things like relevant keywords, long tail keywords, backlinks as well as optimising your headers, subject line and description etc.

I know it can feel a bit nerdy πŸ€“ but paying attention to these β€˜touches’ is SO important because it means that your page will be picked up (indexed) by search engines. On the other hand, social media posts have a short shelf life and are often not indexed (searchable) at all.

71% of bloggers agree that optimising for search engines is the best way to get more traffic.

5. Creative 🎨 Outlet - On some social media channels you have a restricted character count and image limit but with a blog post, this isn’t the case. This gives you the opportunity to get really creative on your chosen topic AND to express what needs to be expressed without holding back.

Bonus: Why not include an embedded video?

Your audience can interact with your content and the whole experience feels waaaaay more intimate and without the distraction of other accounts vying for attention, only to click away!

6. Analytics πŸ“ˆ - A visitor to your site, gives you the opportunity of understanding the metrics, like how long people stay on a page, or how quickly they leave it and other pages that they might decide to click on. In contrast, a social media post often only gives an β€˜impression’ but not an accurate figure of engagement.

7. Audience Engagement πŸ’• - When a reader is clicking over to your blog (or hopefully returning!), there’s ALSO the possibility of engaging with other content like your newsletter, services or product page. With social media, you may have people liking and commenting but still the average engagement rate is only about 1% of everyone who viewed your post.

With a blog, interaction with your audience is also possible via comments. It’s an opportunity for them to ask you questions, give feedback and engage in a meaningful chat with you.

Oh and don’t forget to add internal links within your blog posts so that more content is viewed on your website, thus giving you Google indexing brownie points

Bonus: Depending upon your website platform, add social sharing to your blog posts.

Bonus 2: Consider adding an option to subscribe to your newsletter (your most important asset) after your blog posts.

Social media posts can also elicit comments but your website makes for an uninterrupted conversation without the distraction of a zillion other accounts vying for attention.

Here’s my encouragement for you:

Give your blog some love πŸ’–.

If you rely on social media to get your business seen and it works for you, that’s brilliant, I’m happy for you. BUT if you’re not receiving quality traffic to your website, the task is putting you under pressure, you feel bad about yourself, or feel cornered into posting because it’s what you’ve always done, or what you feel you β€˜should’ be doing it, I’d ask you if it’s worth your time and effort?

Are the activities bringing in traffic to your website and converting to sales/enquiries/clients? If not, think about switching to blogging for control over your content, long-term accessibility and better SEO.

Finally, if you’re not sure πŸ€” what you should write about, you need writing or SEO guidance, a new plan, or perhaps a fresh pair of eyes to look over your current blog and to chat through β€˜all things’ blog strategy, reply to this email, or click below and we can schedule a 90-minute for Β£90 blog strategy call and get the ball rolling. I’d love to help you…
 BOOK YOUR STRATEGY CALL 

As always, I’m cheering you on, all the way.

Jane x

On the β€˜other side’ of knee 🦡🏼surgery

Many of you have been kindly asking how I’m doing on the other side of partial knee replacement surgery four weeks ago (2nd photo from the left, is me just after surgery and before the anaesthetic and pain relief wore off!). Anyone else experienced this surgery? How was it for you? πŸ˜‰

Well, I’m certainly relieved to be more in control of the pain now and not waking up quite so often in the night. Returning to my business has certainly been β€˜different’ because I can’t sit in a chair at my desk just yet, so, as you’ll see from the photos below, I’m currently working from my β€˜bed office’ or an armchair with my legs resting upon a footstool and not forgetting the joys of multiple physio sessions punctuating my day (it actually helps a lot).

I’m hopeful that more mobile days are just around the corner with my trusty bionic leg 🦡🏼🀣🦿!
ice on my leg after knee surgery Me after surgery before pain relief wore off
After knee surgery and my scar My 'bed office'

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Hi πŸ‘‹, I'm Jane - a mid-life business owner. I learned the hard way that having a hazy strategic plan and doing β€˜all the things’ doesn’t work. But luckily, with focus and learning from my mistakes, that led me to creating a website design, marketing and coaching biz for small business owners who need a brand, website AND a plan for growing and marketing your business. I’d love to work with you…

I want you to fully express and grow your business with momentum, clarity and joy, giving you the time and confidence to do what you love and freedom to create the life you want. Jane x

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Jane Hinchliffe - Squarespace Web Design | Harrogate UK
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