CAREER PURSUIT 2021

EXPERT ADVICE - SELF-EMPLOYMENT 35 (hence why you always see congratulations-type posts at the top of your feed). Whilst you can’t control the latter two, you can control when you’re posting, which is why trying to post at the time most of your followers are online is a good idea. When it comes to HOW to schedule your social media, there are what seems like hundreds of options out there, some free, some paid, all offering different features to try and lure you in. Personally, I always prefer the free, native options where available; they usually have the most features for free and whilst they don’t look the prettiest (hello Facebook Business Suite), they work. You also need to make sure that using a feature of a third-party scheduler doesn’t violate any of the networks’ terms – for example, using a third-party scheduler for Stories on Instagram violates the terms of use and can get your account banned. WHAT TO POST ABOUT We’ve been through the why, who, when, and how, so there’s just the WHAT to post about left to fully cover the basics of social media for business. This is a really difficult thing to advise on when I’m not sat talking with you personally, but think of between one to three topics that you can come up with plenty of ideas for that are relevant to your business. These are your content pillars. You want these pillars to inform, entertain, or inspire your followers. So, unless you are incredible at creating flat-lays or have something amazing to say, a picture of your half-drunk cup of tea just isn’t going to cut it. Then, write your posts talking directly to your ideal customer, and you should be absolutely nailing your social media as a business. Don’t get too salesy, and always include a call to action in every post. This can be as simple as “How are you?” but should be varied and always lead your follower to do something (this is linked in with the WHY you thought about earlier). People are lazy − we need to be told to do something before we go and do it. STILL A BIT STUCK? I love to help people out with their social media, as well as supporting small, female-led solo businesses with their admin as a virtual assistant. Rachel Luke − Virtual Assistant Website: www.rachelluke.co.uk Email: contact@rachelluke.co.uk Facebook: @rachellukeva Instagram: @rachellukeva