How Social Media Has Helped Grow 15 Small Businesses Around The Globe
If you haven't heard, I love social media. I truly think it can help transform a small business. In fact, it's a large part of how I grow my own business.I asked 15 small business owners how social media has helped them grow their business and I can't wait to share! There are a lot of goodies in here, so take notes!
How Social Media Has Helped Grow 15 Small Businesses Around The Globe
Kayla Hollatz
Social media has been the catalyst of my personal brand and business. It allows me to directly connect with community members through my #createlounge Twitter chat and through personal Instagram updates. Whenever I launch a new product or service offering, I never have to feel like I'm going to launch to crickets because I have a supportive community on social media. Social media is absolutely worth the time investment, especially in the early stages of your business growth.[bctt tweet="Social media is absolutely worth the time investment, especially in the early stages via @kayla_hollatz @brittneyllynn" via="no"]Follow: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest
Krista Rae
Social media has helped grow my business in so many ways. Honestly, if I didn't have social media I wouldn't have a business.Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest have been the big game-changers for me. Twitter introduced me to my best friend and is responsible for forming my mastermind. I don't want to think about where I'd be without those amazing ladies. Facebook groups have been helpful in building relationships, finding clients, and growing my traffic. Finding each group's daily threads and participating regularly is a great way to make the most of the groups you're in. And Pinterest has been my #1 traffic source from the day I started giving it the attention it deserved as a social media account.If you're looking to grow your business through social media, be sure to study up on how to best use each platform. I recommend focusing on one platform at a time until you get the hang of it and really key in on what works well and what your audience resonates with. It can be time-consuming, but it's well worth it![bctt tweet="I recommend focusing on 1 platform at a time until you get the hang of it via @heykristarae @brittneyllynn" via="no"]Follow: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest
Natalie Bacon
Social media is the number one factor that has helped me grow my business. Pinterest, along with other social media platforms, is where I get most of the traffic to my blog. And more traffic means a bigger platform, which means a growing business. Without social media my business wouldn't be successful.[bctt tweet="More traffic means a bigger platform, which means a growing business via @natalierbacon @brittneyllynn" via="no"]Follow: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram
Summer Tannhauser
I had achieved success on Pinterest for a past travel business, and ended up booking over 75% of my travel clients directly from Pinterest. So I knew how powerful it could be! But I didn't know how well it would work for my current business. Well, I shouldn't have doubted it! Pinterest allowed me to go from a "nobody" in my industry to being seen as an "expert" with knowledge worth sharing. There is no way I would have been able to build my email list to over 3,000 subscribers in under a year without the use of social media to help me get my message out!
[bctt tweet="Pinterest allowed me to go from a nobody in my industry to being seen as an expert via @ladybossleague @brittneyllynn" via="no"]Follow: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram
Four Oh Seven - Lindsay Wright & Kristin White
A lot of people are on social media to get clients + sales. We’ll be honest, our regular social media posting has never gotten us a client — and we’re totally okay with that! What social media has done for our biz is that it allows us to connect with like-minded business owners. Having a place where we can openly share wins and struggles, while being supported by a community is essential to our ability to be boss day in and day out.[bctt tweet="Social media allows us to connect with like-minded business owners via @weare407 @brittneyllynn" via="no"]Follow: Website | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram
Amy Howard
When I started Amy Howard Social, I had a super small social media following - like most do when starting out. In less than one year, I now have a combined social media following of over 12k. This has resulted in an increase of blog traffic, client work, brand awareness, and relationship building. Social media is a huge part of my business, seeing that I am a social media strategist. I cannot express all that social media can do, but for me and my small business it has helped me quickly grow my dream biz! Pinterest is BY FAR my number one traffic driver and Instagram is my favorite for relationship building.[bctt tweet="Social media has helped me quickly grow my dream biz via @amyhowardsocial @brittneyllynn" via="no"]Follow: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram
Ashley Beaudin
Social media not only launched my business, but has given me a visible platform to help and encourage women. Whether it be running Twitter Parties, hosting Instagram campaigns like #theimperfectboss or using social media to make new friends, it has grown my email list, connected me to clients and given me a voice. I believe social media can be a weapon in our business and a platform for so much goodness.[bctt tweet="Social media has given me a visible platform to help & encourage women via @ashleybeaudin @brittneyllynn" via="no"]Follow: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram
Kory Woodard
Social media has played a huge role in my business, and it's actually how I got my business off the ground when I had first started offering blog design services. Since then it's helped me connect with people who may need my services through word of mouth and my sharing blog posts or my work, and that's just Twitter! Facebook and Instagram have been a bit trickier to land clients through, but through sharing my work on Instagram with strategic hashtags and others mentioning me for work in Facebook threads, all three platforms have been amazing for my business![bctt tweet="Social media has helped me connect with people who may need my services via @korymae @brittneyllynn" via="no"]Follow: Website | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram
Kaitlyn Kessler
I owe a lot of my success in business to social media. It expands my reach and gets my content in front of thousands of people and gives me an opportunity to connect and build relationships with other online business owners. Most of my clients come from social media and most of my ideas for products or services are initially generated through questions I see people asking on social media. Overall, as far as I am concerned - social media is vital to my business.[bctt tweet="Social media expands my reach & gives me an opportunity to build relationships via @thecrownfox @brittneyllynn" via="no"]Follow: Website | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram
Corinne Kerston
Social media has played a huge part in growing my business. Its impact has been 2-fold. First, there's traffic. Pinterest has been my #1 traffic driver recently, and all it took was being consistent. Second, social media has allowed me to meet and collaborate with many other bloggers. I've gotten my posts shared, traded guest posts, gotten referred for jobs, and have made online friends that collaborate with me on courses and webinars, all of which help boost my business.
[bctt tweet="Pinterest has been my #1 traffic driver & all it took was being consistent via @corinnekerston @brittneyllynn" via="no"]Follow: Website | Twitter | Pinterest | Facebook
AllieDanae Walker
Social media has allowed me to connect with my ideal clients in two huge ways: Facebook & Instagram. All of my clients have come from Facebook groups I am a part of (and active in) as well as referrals within those groups. Instagram is newer for the "business" side of things for me, but I've continued to engage and interact with other online entrepreneurs there.I am looking forward to growing my Instagram in September and adding Pinterest to see where those can take me! The biggest thing for me & social media was this - being social! That's kind of the whole point isn't it? I'd encourage others to get out there and just be engaging on a daily basis.[bctt tweet=" I'd encourage others to get out there & be engaging on a daily basis via @thesocialwalker @brittneyllynn" via="no"]Follow: Website | Twitter | Instagram
Dia Darling
Social media has helped me to connect with readers and other writers in a way that I would never be able to do with just email or my website alone. I’ve made some amazing connections and friends because of social media. For every troll or hater on social media you can find at least 5 more supporters if you look in the right places. I think being able to engage and interact with people on social media really helped me figure out what I wanted to do and which direction my business was going.[bctt tweet="Social media has helped me to connect w/readers in a way that I would never be able to do via @diadoll @brittneyllynn" via="no"]Follow: Website | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram
Jessica Lawlor
Developing a strong personal brand through my blog and social media is the sole reason I was able to quit my PR job in December to take my side-hustle full time. I actually landed my first-ever client by including an article written by a startup founder in a link roundup on my blog and tweeting it to him! That small social media interaction was the catalyst for a business relationship that is still in progress more than three years later.
The majority of my clients tell me they find me through Twitter (the social media site I'm most active on), as well as through my blog. Taking the time to develop a personal brand while building your business is key. People tend to get bogged down in client work and put their own brand on the backburner, but when you make time for both, your business can truly thrive.
[bctt tweet="A small social media interaction was the catalyst for a business relationship via @jesslaw @brittneyllynn" via="no"]
Follow: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest
Lizzie Davey
Social media has helped me grow a thriving community around my business. When I first started out, I fell under the camp of "promote, promote, promote", but now I'm all about building relationships and creating connections. My Facebook group is one of my favourite places to hang out online, and it's really helped create a nurturing, supportive community around my brand. In this day and age, that's absolutely valuable!
[bctt tweet="My Facebook group has helped create a supportive community around my brand via @WanderfulWorld1 @brittneyllynn" via="no"]
Follow: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest
Kathie Wiehanne
I’ll speak for two of my favourite social media platforms. Pinterest plays a big role as content marketing distribution for my small business, which helps me reach wider audiences apart from the existing readers. Then there is Instagram which brings out my personality through consistent content and increases engagement + conversations with my existing customers and potential customers.
[bctt tweet="Instagram brings out my personality through consistent content via @bluchic @brittneyllynn" via="no"]
Follow: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest
Final Thoughts
As you can see, social media has been absolutely game-changing for many of these small business owners. In fact, several admit they wouldn't even have a business if it weren't for social media!
How do you use social media to grow your business? If you're looking for more tips on how to use social media to increase your business reach, sign up for my free email course Shape Your Social!
