Soul Traders

Season Finale: Self-Promotion Q&A

For this final episode of our special season Bo and Tess are taking listener questions. They’re answering all your gripes and grievances... And it turns out that we all have a lot of those when it comes to the frustrations of marketing your business on social media. From the paralysis of comparisonitis to the sheer exhaustion of putting yourself out there again and again and seeing little or no gain from your efforts. Tess and Bo talk about the tools and strategies they’ve used in their own businesses and lives to create boundaries around social media use and find less energy draining ways to market their businesses.  LINKS:  Bo's Website Bo’s Retreats Tess’s Website Self-Promotion Without Social Media  - This podcast is a collaboration between Soul Traders Podcast and Creative Minds.  If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please, take a moment to recommend us to a friend by sending them a link to the show.  You can find us online at soultraders.net.au and creativemindshq.com Tess’s new book Self-Promotion Without Social Media is available at bookstores and independent retailers around Australia, internationally via Amazon, and at creativemindshq.com. Thanks to Lucy Peach for our music and Scott from Sound Mind Editing.  This podcast is recorded across the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang peoples.

Navigating Changes as a Sole Trader

As a sole trader or freelancer, changes in your personal life can have a huge impact on your business. In this episode, Tess and Bo talk about the risks and rewards of pivots and big leaps as well as small incremental changes across their own businesses and their client work.  From having children to moving interstate, to changing your business name or a global pandemic, internal and external transitions can force us into having to change our business offerings whether we like it or not. Sometimes, it’s appropriate to bring your community with you on that journey of change and Tess offers suggestions for making sure your website and your narrative around that change is authentic and clear for your clients and colleagues.  LINKS:  Bo’s Mentoring  Bo’s Retreats DIY Guide to SEO  Self-Promotion Without Social Media  - This podcast is a collaboration between Soul Traders Podcast and Creative Minds.  If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please, take a moment to recommend us to a friend by sending them a link to the show.  You can find us online at soultraders.net.au and creativemindshq.com Tess’s new book Self-Promotion Without Social Media is available at bookstores and independent retailers around Australia, internationally via Amazon, and at creativemindshq.com. Thanks to Lucy Peach for our music and Scott from Sound Mind Editing.  This podcast is recorded across the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang peoples.

In Person Events

In this episode, Tess, Amy and Bo talk about in-person events and why they’re important for relationship building as a smalll business or sole trader. From attending an event as a punter to organising your own event - we think the informal opportunities for connection are incredible and can help your business in so many ways. People remember unique in person experiences for many years to come.  Tess talks about strategies and ideas for approaching an in person event as an introvert and Bo talks about living regionally and the effort and impact of attending a few selected events in the city every year. We cover the benefits of industry specific events and offer ideas on low effort/high reward events that you can ‘muscle in’ on!  Bo talks about the Pecha Kucha format as a sharpening tool for content and Tess talks about how her book was originally a talk and workshop that evolved into a book over time. Amy and Tess talk about their bug bears at in person events, how to avoid them and ways to make sure everyone feels welcome and has their nerves set at ease.  LINKS:  Melbourne Design Week, event at Coco Flip and Plyroom Creative Women’s CircleThe Pecha Kucha format for speaking The Power of The Pause panel discussionM Pavillion Living Futures Institute  —------------- This podcast is a collaboration between Soul Traders Podcast and Creative Minds.  If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please, take a moment to recommend us to a friend by sending them a link to the show.  You can find us online at soultraders.net.au and creativemindshq.com Tess’s new book Self-Promotion Without Social Media is available at bookstores and independent retailers around Australia, internationally via Amazon, and at creativemindshq.com. Thanks to Lucy Peach for our music and Scott from Sound Mind Editing.  This podcast is recorded across the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang peoples. 

Websites and SEO

Is a website the jewell in your digital marketing crown? We think so. But how do you get the attention of your website visitors and encourage them to take the next step? Amy and Tess discuss our love of a good about-page photograph, what bugs us about inefficient websites, how blogging can boost trust with your customer and draw more people through your website’s doors, and how websites offer space for nuance that social media often can not. Plus, some technical tips and tricks you can implement today too! DIY SEO: How to optimise your website to get more clients, customers, and sales (eBook) by Tess McCabe  Find Your SEO Keywords (free worksheet) Find Your Brand’s Tone of Voice by Angela D’Alton and Renee Baker (free worksheet) Establish an Evergreen Traffic Source Using Pinterest (eBook) by Angela D’Alton and Renee Baker - This podcast is a collaboration between Soul Traders Podcast and Creative Minds.  If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please, take a moment to recommend us to a friend by sending them a link to the show.  You can find us online at soultraders.net.au and creativemindshq.com Tess’s new book Self-Promotion Without Social Media is available at bookstores and independent retailers around Australia, internationally via Amazon, and at creativemindshq.com. Thanks to Lucy Peach for our music and Scott from Sound Mind Editing.  This podcast is recorded across the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang peoples.

Self-Initiated Projects

Today we are discussing the little-known golden nugget that is self initiated projects. For creative business owners, self initiated projects can be a low risk space to test out creative ideas and build new skills. And they can be great tools for marketing your business too.  Bo, Amy and Tess have all had plenty of experience with self initiated creative projects over their careers and have seen how dynamic they can be. LINKS Creative Minds Bo’s ‘Golden State: Afterglow’ project  Tess’s series of books ‘Conversation with Creative Women’ Tess’s website Bo’s retreats Lalese Stamps’ 100 mugs project Shannyn Higgins Duality project Kitiya Palaskas’ creative wellbeing blog series - This podcast is a collaboration between Soul Traders Podcast and Creative Minds.  If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please, take a moment to recommend us to a friend by sending them a link to the show.  You can find us online at soultraders.net.au and creativemindshq.com Tess’s new book Self-Promotion Without Social Media is available at bookstores and independent retailers around Australia, internationally via Amazon, and at creativemindshq.com Thanks to Lucy Peach for our music and Scott from Sound Mind Editing.  This podcast is recorded across the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri and Menang peoples.