You probably have friends that run their own small businesses. It might be a sideline to their main job, or selling at a craft fair at weekends.

Whatever it is – they NEED your help! Not with your hard earned cash, but in so many other ways that won’t cost you a penny.

Marketing is key with small businesses trying to get their product or services seen, and you can really help with this.

Engage on social media

• Follow their social media channels – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn – whatever channels you both use, give them a follow.
• Like and comment on posts – a like (or even better a heart or wow reaction on Facebook) or a comment on any of their posts will help them be seen. Even an emoji helps! 🙂
• Share posts or tag friends – if you think a post would be of interest to your friends – why not share it or tag them in it?
• Engage with posts – have they asked a question? Posted a poll? Asked for an opinion? Asked for a picture? Please spare a minute to engage with the post instead of scrolling on by.

Why is this important? 

The more engagement a post receives, the more likely it is to be seen by prospective customers.

Only a small fraction of what is posted by business pages is actually seen on timelines due to algorithms used by the social media companies to decide what the user wants to see.

If you comment on a post (or share or tag), a friend of yours is more likely to see that post and they may comment – which in turns means one of their friends may see and then engage with the page.

This will widen the circle of potential customers a business page can reach.

Every single engagement increases reach so please like, love, comment, share and tag.

Refer a friend…

… but only if you think they might be interested.  If you think someone you know would like the small business product or service then tell them! Whether it’s a face to face recommendation, tagging the page or giving out business cards – all referrals help.

Please avoid “invite all to like this page” though – not ALL your friends will be interested so even if they do like the channel they will not engage, and it is much better to have a few truly engaged followers than lots of people who ignore posts!

Leave a review

If you do make a purchase – please remember to leave a review.

Whether it’s on the selling platform itself – eg The British Craft House or on Facebook, Google, Yell – or somewhere else, reviews are so important for helping a small business become established and trustworthy.

Give moral support

Believe in your friend and their business. Support their ideas, and be positive. Take them for coffee and chat about their venture. This is probably their ultimate dream and they need your support.

Support your friends, not just the celebs!

You’ve probably shared a lot of posts in the past from celebrities – but trust me, your friend needs the promo a lot more than any of the Kardashians do!

Follow me on all the usual @woodcraftbyjomo