Raise Your Visibility Online

Running a Virtual Assistant business with associate team members with Claire Grace Have you ever thought about hiring a Virtual Assistant to support you in your business?  Could hiring a Virtual Assistant save you time AND money?  In this week’s episode, I interview Claire Grace, who is the founder and CEO of a Virtual Assistant business that supports female entrepreneurs. Whether you’re looking for ongoing support to manage your workload or help with a one-off project or event, Claire and her team have got you covered. Claire also supports female business owners with social media strategy and as an Online Business Manager, who is someone who helps you co-ordinate operations, projects, and people in your business. In this interview, Claire shares her experience of starting her own Virtual Assistant business after an ‘accidental’ 15-year-old career in banking. Specifically, we talk about the choices that Claire made when starting her business and why she opted for an associate business model, rather than working as a solopreneur.  You will learn…   What a Virtual Assistant is and how they can help you in your business (because it’s not just about getting ‘stuff’ off your to-do list!).  Why creating a team of trusted associates who help you in your business isn’t just a great benefit to you but to your clients as well.  Why open communication and building honest relationships are key when you’re starting out in business.    More about Claire You can find Claire on her website, on Facebook and Instagram. Here’s the link to Claire’s Virtual Assistant ROI Calculator. Other resources mentioned in this episode Georgina Chapman, Virtual PA – the Virtual Assistant I mention and recommend in this episode.  My one-day mastermind in Belfast I am running a one-day mastermind on the 22nd August 2019 in Belfast to help you move your business forward and set yourself up for success for the rest of 2019. On the day, you get 30 minutes in the hot seat to discuss any issue or questions you may have about your business and receive support and input from myself and other like-minded entrepreneurs. So if you want to grow your business online this year, email me at louise@socialbeeni.com to reserve your spot.  Social Media Bootcamp – Content Marketing for Business. 17th October 2019, Belfast Following the success of our first Social Media Bootcamp in May 2019 at the iconic Titanic hotel in Belfast, my friend and colleague Ashleigh Watson of Copper Square Communications and I are proud to announce that tickets for our second bootcamp-style conference are now on sale. The second Social Media Bootcamp is all about Content Marketing for Business and is taking place on Thursday, 17th October 2019 in Belfast.  *Super early bird tickets are on sale until the 31st July 2019*.  My monthly membership - The Social Bee Academy   I run a monthly membership, The Social Bee Academy, where I can teach you how to raise your visibility online through social media, email marketing, podcasting, blogging, and much more. The first month is only £10 if you use code SOCIAL-BEE-TRIAL. After that, for only £30 per month, you get access to me and the rest of the community to ask for help with anything you need to grow your business online.  If you’re in Northern Ireland, I also run regular workshops to help you use social media for your business, so keep an eye out on Eventbrite for any upcoming workshops you may be interested in.  My social media podcast series  If you want to know more about how to use social media for your business, I’ve recently run a series of podcast episodes that you might find useful.  How to use Facebook Groups in 2019. What’s working on Twitter in 2019. How to use LinkedIn in 2019.  What’s working on Instagram for your business in 2019.  What’s working on Facebook for your business in 2019.  More about me.  If you enjoy the show, I’d be very grateful if you could share it with at least another person and leave me a review on iTunes. You can also come and join my Facebook group for podcast listeners: Social Beehive where we chat about the topics I cover on the podcast. And if you want to find out more about how you can work with me or what events I am running in the future, head over to my website or email me at louise@socialbeeni.com. To receive exclusive access to my monthly value-packed webinars, join my 30-day social media challenge.

How to amplify your digital marketing by becoming visible with Bob Gentle When it comes to your digital marketing, are you being visible enough? Are you investing in building your own personal brand, or are you hiding and delegating?  In this week’s episode, I interview Aberdeen-based Bob Gentle. With 20 years’ worth of experience in digital marketing, Bob and his company help businesses to leverage digital marketing, so they can stand out, reach new heights and new revenues. Bob’s agency specialises in the oil and gas sector but works companies of all kinds. In our interview, Bob shares his path to becoming an entrepreneur and his plans to continue to support local businesses through his hybrid coaching and training programmes, which are aimed at helping micro businesses take ownership over their own digital marketing.  You will learn…   Why business owners should invest in building their own personal brand. Why courage and the willingness to put yourself out there and build relationships at scale is the future of digital marketing.  Why you should be brave and ‘play the numbers’ when it comes to video marketing, especially on LinkedIn. More about Bob You can find Bob on his website, on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. You can also listen to his podcast: The Gravity Digital Marketing podcast. My social media podcast series  If you want to know more about how to use social media for your business, I’ve recently run a series of podcast episodes that you might find useful.  How to use Facebook Groups in 2019. What’s working on Twitter in 2019. How to use LinkedIn in 2019.  What’s working on Instagram for your business in 2019.  What’s working on Facebook for your business in 2019.  My monthly membership - The Social Bee Academy   I run a monthly membership, The Social Bee Academy, where I can teach you how to raise your visibility online through social media, email marketing, podcasting, blogging, and much more.  Join us for only £1 for your first seven days at www.louisebrogan.com/join  After that, for only £30 per month, you get access to me and the rest of the community to ask for help with anything you need to grow your business online.  If you’re in Northern Ireland, I also run regular workshops to help you use social media for your business, so keep an eye out on Eventbrite for any upcoming workshops you may be interested in.  More about me.  If you enjoy the show, I’d be very grateful if you could share it with at least another person and leave me a review on iTunes. You can also come and join my Facebook group for podcast listeners: Social Beehive where we chat about the topics I cover on the podcast. And if you want to find out more about how you can work with me or what events I am running in the future, head over to my website or email me at louise@socialbeeni.com. To receive exclusive access to my monthly value-packed webinars, join my 30-day social media challenge.

Some people like to learn through podcasts, others prefer to attend workshops or conferences to learn face to face.  I like different styles of learning and in this episode cover the different types of teaching, and how we are all different in the way we like to take on information.  If you like to learn online, join me inside our membership - the Social Bee Academy - for only £1 for your first seven days, come and have a taster and see if you like to learn online too! www.louisebrogan.com/join 

Setting up an HR Consultancy and using social media with Aine Crilly Do you ever need help to manage your staff or the people who work alongside you in your business? Would you know where to turn to if you wanted to find out more about local policies and procedures in your industry? In this week’s episode, I interview Aine Crilly, who owns an HR Consultancy called The HR Elephant in Newry, Northern Ireland. Aine and her team support business owners with recruitment and selection, education, CV building, and career guidance amongst other services. The HR Elephant was one of the sponsors of mine and Ashleigh Watson’s first ever Social Media Bootcamp, which took place in Belfast at the Titanic hotel on Friday, 31st May 2019. In this interview, you’ll learn about how Aine started her consultancy, about how she has leveraged social media to create and strengthen her online presence, and about how she is able to grow her business and work with a variety of clients both from the UK and Ireland, despite having two very young children! You will learn…   Why you need to keep learning and innovating in your business.  How collaborating with other trustworthy businesses is key to developing and growing your business.  Why you should post articles and share videos on LinkedIn.  And as an added bonus, if you’re not familiar with the phrase, you’ll find out what ‘Irish twins’ are!  More about Aine You can find Aine on her website, The HR Elephant, on Facebook and LinkedIn.  Aine is currently offering a free HR Health Check to anyone signing up to her email list – you can access it by filling in this form.   Useful resources mentioned in this episode Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill.  My social media podcast series  If you want to know more about how to use social media for your business, I’ve recently run a series of podcast episodes that you might find useful.  How to use Facebook Groups in 2019. What’s working on Twitter in 2019. How to use LinkedIn in 2019.  What’s working on Instagram for your business in 2019.  What’s working on Facebook for your business in 2019.  My monthly membership - The Social Bee Academy   I run a monthly membership, The Social Bee Academy, where I can teach you how to raise your visibility online through social media, email marketing, podcasting, blogging, and much more. Visit www.louisebrogan.com/join to get your special offer. After that, for only £30 per month, you get access to me and the rest of the community to ask for help with anything you need to grow your business online.  If you’re in Northern Ireland, I also run regular workshops to help you use social media for your business, so keep an eye out on Eventbrite for any upcoming workshops you may be interested in.  More about me.  If you enjoy the show, I’d be very grateful if you could share it with at least another person and leave me a review on iTunes. You can also come and join my Facebook group for podcast listeners: Social Beehive where we chat about the topics I cover on the podcast. And if you want to find out more about how you can work with me or what events I am running in the future, head over to my website or email me at louise@socialbeeni.com. To receive exclusive access to my monthly value-packed webinars, join my 30-day social media challenge.

Have you been thinking about organising your own event? Do you ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes to make sure a conference-style event runs smoothly on the day?   As you’re listening to this episode, mine and Ashleigh Watson’s first ever Social Media Bootcamp will have taken place in Belfast, at the iconic Titanic hotel. In this solo episode, recorded the day before the event, I run through what went into organising the bootcamp – from picking a venue to finding a printer for our fantastic workbooks and lanyards. But most importantly, I tell you more about the speakers, panel members, and the team involved behind the scenes and how I got to meet them all in person before asking them to be a part of the event. Stay tuned for more information about the 2020 Social Media Bootcamp and a one-day Mastermind I’m organising later in the year.  You will learn…   What goes into organising a bootcamp-style event – from finding a venue to printing lanyards (and not forgetting those very important special touches!)  More about each of the speakers, panel members, and the team who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to make the Social Media Bootcamp happen.  About the importance of attending events, making face-to-face connections and building relationships with other business owners, especially if you want to become a speaker yourself!  Related podcast episodes Episode 42 – Taking a Pilates class online with Louise Humphrey.  Episode 48 – Making your mark online with Jammy Digital. You can also check out Martin and Lyndsay’s membership Make Your Mark Online.  Episode 56 – Build your brand story with Lucy Eckley. Episode 85 – Batching your content writing and running your own business with Sara Bussandri.   My social media podcast series  If you want to know more about how to use social media for your business, I’ve recently run a series of podcast episodes that you might find useful.  How to use Facebook Groups in 2019. What’s working on Twitter in 2019. How to use LinkedIn in 2019.  What’s working on Instagram for your business in 2019.  What’s working on Facebook for your business in 2019.  My monthly membership - The Social Bee Academy   I run a monthly membership, The Social Bee Academy, where I can teach you how to raise your visibility online through social media, email marketing, podcasting, blogging, and much more. The first month is only £10 if you use code SOCIAL-BEE-TRIAL. After that, for only £30 per month, you get access to me and the rest of the community to ask for help with anything you need to grow your business online.  If you’re in Northern Ireland, I also run regular workshops to help you use social media for your business, so keep an eye out on Eventbrite for any upcoming workshops you may be interested in.   

How organised do you feel about your content creation?   Do you struggle to write blog posts for your business?   Sara Bussandri is a Content Writer who helps personal brand entrepreneurs, podcasters, and small businesses with their blogging and content re-purposing. Over the last few months, Sara has been helping me with the show notes for this podcast, and in this interview, we talk about how Sara started her own business after leaving her corporate career and how she got to do what she does now. We also talk about the importance of getting organised with your content and batching your writing, how to best run face-to-face workshops, and the use of different social media platforms.   You will learn…    About the benefits of batching your content writing.    How writing blog posts for your business is a different skillset to writing for school, university, or other purposes.   Why charging for workshops and events can influence the type of audience who attends.   Related podcast episodes  Episode 48 – Making your mark online with Jammy Digital.   Episode 52 – How to stop burnout and build your business with Jessica Fearnley.   Episode 55 – How to build your brand through speaking events with Carol Cox.   More about Sara  You can find Sara on her website , where you can sign up for her FREE 7-day email course on batching your content writing.   Or you can connect with Sara on social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.   My social media podcast series   If you want to know more about how to use social media for your business, I’ve recently run a series of podcast episodes that you might find useful.   How to use Facebook Groups in 2019.  What’s working on Twitter in 2019.  How to use LinkedIn in 2019.   What’s working on Instagram for your business in 2019.   What’s working on Facebook for your business in 2019.   My monthly membership - The Social Bee Academy    I run a monthly membership, The Social Bee Academy, where I can teach you how to raise your visibility online through social media, email marketing, podcasting, blogging, and much more. The first month is only £10 if you use code SOCIAL-BEE-TRIAL. After that, for only £30 per month, you get access to me and the rest of the community to ask for help with anything you need to grow your business online.   If you’re in Northern Ireland, I also run regular workshops to help you use social media for your business, so keep an eye out on Eventbrite for any upcoming workshops you may be interested in.           More about me.   If you enjoy the show, I’d be very grateful if you could share it with at least another person and leave me a review on iTunes. You can also come and join my Facebook group for podcast listeners: Social Beehive where we chat about the topics I cover on the podcast.  And if you want to find out more about how you can work with me, head over to my website or email me at louise@socialbeeni.com. 

Did you have a linear career? Did your life and career pan out exactly the way planned when you were at university?   Laura Steele is a Lecturer in Business and Society and Ethics and also Responsibility and Sustainability Champion at Queen’s University in Belfast. In this interview, Laura and I talk about how her career has been anything but linear. And yet, this is exactly how the careers of many of the students graduating in the near future will look like. So what can we learn from this? How can we best utilise social media and broadcasting platforms to reflect modern careers? In this episode, Laura shares her best tips on connecting with people through face-to-face social networking. She also talk about the skills and characteristics that the graduates of today need to have to be successful in their future careers.   You will learn…    How to use face-to-face social networking as a tool for making connections and enabling collaborations in your business.   What modern careers look like and what skills and expectations you need to have as you enter the workplace.  How students and companies can optimise the use of LinkedIn to reflect modern careers.   More about Laura  You can connect with Laura on LinkedIn or contact her by email at laura.steele@qub.ac.uk.   The Northern Ireland Business and Human Rights Forum.   My social media podcast series   If you want to know more about how to use social media for your business, I’ve recently run a series of podcast episodes that you might find useful.   How to use Facebook Groups in 2019.  What’s working on Twitter in 2019.  How to use LinkedIn in 2019.   What’s working on Instagram for your business in 2019.   What’s working on Facebook for your business in 2019.   My monthly membership - The Social Bee Academy    I run a monthly membership, The Social Bee Academy, where I can teach you how to raise your visibility online through social media, email marketing, podcasting, blogging, and much more. The first month is only £10 if you use code SOCIAL-BEE-TRIAL. After that, for only £30 per month, you get access to me and the rest of the community to ask for help with anything you need to grow your business online.   If you’re in Northern Ireland, I also run regular workshops to help you use social media for your business, so keep an eye out on Eventbrite for any upcoming workshops you may be interested in.   Social Media Bootcamp  If you’re a regular listener to the show, you’ll know I’m running a bootcamp-style conference on Friday, 31st May 2019 in Belfast at the iconic Titanic hotel, with my friend and colleague Ashleigh Watson of Copper Square Communications, and I’ll be delivering a session on what’s working on social media in 2019.   To find out more about the conference and what to expect from the event, have a listen to episode 77 of the Social Bee podcast – Why I am co-hosting Social Media Bootcamp in Belfast.  For more information and to book your ticket, click here.   *If you’re flying in, book your flight to Belfast City Airport.*  And if you have any questions about the conference or would like more information about where to stay, email me at louise@socialbeeni.com.  More about me.   If you enjoy the show, I’d be very grateful if you could share it with at least another person and leave me a review on iTunes. You can also come and join my Facebook group for podcast listeners: Social Beehive where we chat about the topics I cover on the podcast.  And if you want to find out more about how you can work with me, head over to my website or email me at louise@socialbeeni.com.  Or join my 30-day social media challenge and receive exclusive access to my monthly value-packed webinars.