Struggling to market your business using social media AND raise your kid(s)? I can feel you and I’m here to help you out. Being a mum is a job in its own right, and when you’re a mumpreneur on top of that, things can get rough. Balancing the life of being a mother and being an entrepreneur isn’t without its challenges, but as they say – where there’s a will there’s a way. Here are my top 5 tips on how to run your small business AND nail your social media!

1. CLEAR THE CLUTTER AND SAVE TIME.

When you’re a mum, time is of the essence. Normally, you want to spend as much of your free time with your family. Being organised and productive is the key to success in any business – however small or big. And I’m not talking about spring cleaning. I’m talking about being digitally organised. When it comes to nailing your social media, your computer is your office, and in order to be productive ‘in your office’ first you need to have a properly functioning computer (or laptop preferably because it’s mobile). Secondly, if you want to save time you need to keep your files nice and neat. Sometimes it can take ages for you to find that photo that you wanted to post on Facebook because everything is chaotic. By organising your files and folders and by knowing where everything is you will save yourself a lot of time.

2. TRY NOT TO GET OVERWHELMED BY SOCIAL MEDIA.

Social media is addictive, so it can be quite a challenge to stay offline sometimes. Every comment, every like and message can distract you from everything else that you’re doing at the moment. Dedicating a special time of the day for social media will help you balance between your job and being a mum.

3. SET UP WEEKLY GOALS AND CALENDARS

Planning ahead is super helpful when it comes to maintaining a positive presence on social media. Posting and managing social media accounts sounds like an easy thing to do, but in reality it’s quite challenging. Fans and followers can be a tough crowd. First of all, you have to be consistent, and secondly you always need to come up with new ideas in order to keep them engaged. The best way to keep your social media pages live is to create weekly content calendars so you know what to post on a daily basis.

4. ADVERTISE ON SOCIAL MEDIA.

Organic reach is on the decline, and as the time goes by it is getting harder and harder to increase your follower base and engagement organically. That being said, it is necessary to advertise your business on Facebook every now and then. If your posts are getting little to no engagement it may also be useful to boost them for a couple of dollars just to spur the engagement. Engagement is important, and most businesses, however big or small, struggle with this. Luckily, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and other social media networks offer a myriad of ways to increase engagement and get the conversation going.

5. USE SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS.

Again, if you would like to save some time (and there isn’t a mum who wouldn’t like that!) automation tools like Hootsuite and Buffer can be a huge help. Hootsuite is a social media management tool that is perfect for scheduling posts for the entire week or even month. It supports social network integrations for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn etc. Buffer is another social media management software that can save you tons of time. Aside from scheduling and posting, it also allows you to track your performance, and all in one place.

Marketing your small business through social media is crucial these  days. Social media holds so much potential you would be crazy not to use it to your advantage. It is a treasure trove of potential clients and you need to tap into this source as soon as possible – or someone else will. Sometimes it can be a struggle to fit everything into you schedule. There won’t be any more hours in a day no matter what you do, but by being productive and practical you can always make it look like there is. Balancing between work and raising kids is tough, but with the right tools and tips up your sleeve you can achieve anything – Sam x

Sam McFarlane is a social media and email marketer, a content creator, an event planner, a virtual assistant, and a shopaholic food lover who can’t wink (for real). For over 19 years, Sam has worked as a marketing professional in the UK and Australia for a variety of industries and businesses. In 2012, she started her own business, Sam Says and now focusses on helping small to medium businesses build their online profile.
www.samsays.com.au