Rachel Michaelov is on mission build her accounting business into a multi-million dollar enterprise. You’d think accounting is boring, but Rachel’s Facebook posts, punctuated throughout the day with color and vibrancy show that she sees accounting quite a bit differently.
I was clued into Rachel by Ramon Ray an entrepreneur and producer of the 14th Annual Smart Hustle Growth Conference in New York City.
At his conference Ramon is bringing together successful businesses owners to share their growth insights. Some of the speakers include Deepti Sharma, founder of FoodToEat – she’s helping women and minorities build their catering businesses; John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing will speak how to build a self-reliant business; Mark Levy, brand positioning coach to Simon Sinek will give his insights on finding your ONE BIG IDEA; Josh Cohen of Junk Luggers will share how he grew from borrowing his mom’s car to a multi-million dollar franchise.
And of course Rachel! Rachel says that Facebook is one of the keys to her marketing success. It’s not just “Facebook” but it’s HOW she’s using Facebook!
While so many business owners focus on advertising on Facebook, which is important, Rachel focuses on telling stories through her posts. It’s FREE. She tells captivating stories about her client’s success or business owners who have screwed up. One of her recent posts read:
I don’t know how businesses hire unlicensed accountants to do their taxes.. it’s literally like hiring unlicensed doctors to perform surgery on you!
I just don’t get it..This is the kind of post that draws you in and makes you sit up and take notice Sure, it’s “fear based marketing” but it works. Another post Rachel recently made, in big white letter with a pink background reads:
You still need to file corporate tax returns even if you had NO income.
It’s informative posts like this that make Rachel a go to source for accounting insights, and she’s converting these followers and fans into customers. For sure, it’s getting harder and harder to use social media organically. In order to reach a wider audience most of us have to invest money in advertising. However, you can see from Rachel’s example that by being focused and frequent you can build a loyal following of fans on social media who over time will become your customers.
Here’s how to get the most out of social platforms and not spend money on advertising.
- Be consistent
Posting here and there is no good. Train your fans and followers that every Sunday at 8pm, or Thursday at 11am, you’ll be posting something. - Be frequent
To build a fan base on social media you have to keep at it. After 3 months of posting something on Twitter and you stop? You won’t get results. Give yourself 3 – 6 months of consistent, quality posting to start seeing results. - Be interesting
Boring content is just as good as cold rice. No one likes it. Let everything you post, be it plain text or an image, be interesting and of value for your readers. - Measure your results
If what you’re doing does not work, try something else. Facebook has extensive analytics to gain insights into each post. Other social platforms have similar analytics tools. Take a look at what works, what resonates with your fans and what gets the most engagement. Do more of it. - Be responsive
As people start to engage with you, make sure you engage bag. If people ask a question, make sure you answer and respond. Even if your team responds be sure to respond to your fans and followers. - The power of video
For some people, video is tough. They’re shy. I get it. However, video is a powerful way to connect even better with your audience.
Facebook can be big, scary and intimidating. However, if you keep things simple and focus on your AUDIENCE, how you can add value to them, how you can make their lives better, how you can serve them, you’ll be fine. Some of your posts might have to “scare” people into action. Other posts might “inspire” people into action. Other Facebook posts might give people a chuckle. Yet others might pull at their emotion.
If Rachel can make accounting fun, sassy and interesting, you can do the same with your business!
