when you are just starting out
The COVID pandemic has accelerated digital adoption, and people have spent much more time on digital consumption than ever before. Today, as we have started to learn to live with COVID, many still prefer to consume information online rather than meeting up physically.
As we have discussed in this article, investing in ourselves is one of the best choices during a recession. At the same time, many would find ways to supplement their income and ready themselves for the imminent recession ahead.
Look for your niche
Depending on what you are good at, you can look at providing a service such as giving tuition or helping with website design. Some people may choose to import items from overseas in bulk at a discount and sell them for a profit. Or you can try to promote products for direct selling companies and earn a commission for your effort.
You can find a suitable gig that suits you in many different ways. But all of them require you to market yourself, or no one will know your offerings.
Let’s imagine for a moment if there is a housewife called Sarah, who has recently got herself a multi-function cooker. This product happened to have a referral program where she could earn a 20% commission for every cooker she referred to.
Due to COVID, gone are the days when she could throw a cooking party at her place where all her friends could gather while she shared the benefits of using the cooker. What then can she do?
Fret not. Now imagine if you are Sarah; here are five ideas of what you can do to kick off your online marketing presence:
1. Go live
The easiest would be to shoot a Live Video using your handphone. You can show your friends on Facebook about the preparation of your dinner and how the cooker helped with the ease of cooking the dishes!
Live videos are authentic and a great way to connect with your friends who are already connected to you via Facebook or other social media.
2. Shoot a video
If you are less spontaneous or prefer to make sure that you have no ‘bloopers’, you can shoot the video first, then have the footage edited to your liking before you share it.
In this way, you can remove the bloopers and enhance the videos with captions or other enhancements. Moreover, this will also allow you to distribute the videos directly to your friends. Using YouTube as a channel to share your videos also allows people outside your circle of friends to find your video and promote your product or services further.
3. Taking photos
If you are the shy type and do not want to get on a video, you can also take and share photos! Shoot the process of the preparation, the cooking, or instructions and steps of using the cooker and of course, not forgetting the final product.
We can share these photos using Instagram and other platforms. Your yummy food can entice people; others will want to know how you do it.
4. Recipes or Guides
Recipe works not only for food. It is about exploring before others and sharing with everyone the best way so they can avoid your mistakes. Share what works and what’s not. People love to follow a guide, and if your tips help, they will love you for it.
There are also many ways to present a recipe. It can be done in video format, as a series of photos, or even simply written as a blog. Find a presentation method that you are comfortable with. Just make sure you are creating it from the perspective of how the recipe can help solve the viewer’s problem.
5. Journaling
Lastly, you can also do it in the form of a diary. If you are Sarah, you would want to use the cooker to prepare a series of meals. You will find problems when you start using it, and you will solve those problems as you get more experienced. One year later, you will be so good with the cooker that you can start attempting challenging dishes with the cooker.
Document down this learning process of yours. Then share it with your audience. It can be any format mentioned above. When you do this, your audience will grow together with you in your journey using the cooker. Over time, they would have built a bond with you. More importantly, they would have also become familiar with the cooker at the same time.
They would want to get themselves a cooker now. From whom do they approach to buy one?
You, of course!
Where to start
You may be excited to start trying out some of the ideas above but not know how to start.
Many people will get a book or watch many YouTube clips to find out more information on how to shoot and post a video, set up a Live, etc. The common problem is that they usually spend the next few months watching the ‘how-to’ and fail to start shooting their first video.
The brave and savvy ones would simply pick up their handphones and start shooting without any knowledge or preparations. Although they usually fare better than those who never started in the first place, these brave ones typically have to make many mistakes themselves first and learn from those the hard way.
The better way is to find short courses which are designed specifically with a beginner in mind. Courses that can show you the way and prepare you for mistakes and potholes. Make sure you enroll in one that allows you to make your very first video or article as part of the course. This will ensure that you are ready to create it on your own subsequently.
This article is written by Andy Ang.
Andy helps individuals and companies create engaging content and teaches content marketing. You can connect with Andy here