The Homeworker magazine interviewed Emily Hopkins, founder of Content Solutions Ltd, about how she made the switch from nursing to running her own business. She also shares her social media tips for growing your business and following.
Emily Hopkins isn’t usually the person in the spotlight. She’s normally the one pushing others centre stage to get more focus on them and their business.
As a social media marketer, her work is constantly evolving. With a client list ranging from millinery to classic cars, she tailors her work to each individual business. “Each client has been very different and the kind of social media is very different each time,” says Emily.
For some clients, she becomes almost an integral part of their team, doing a lot of her own research before creating and scheduling all their social media posts. “I love working with a client and seeing the progress. I get quite excited and involved. I’m always happy to go and work in their office for a day if that makes it easier for me to get content,” says Emily.
A big life change
Inevitably, her work involves really getting to know and understand a client and their business needs and goals. Her ability to listen and develop strong relationships with such a varied client list stems from her background in nursing.
Emily specialised in haematology after training as a nurse. She says that this was a high-impact job and very intense when having to help patients with illnesses such as leukaemia. But it has given her a range of skills that help her interact with different personalities, and the resilience to handle any challenging situations she faces.
The switch to social media came after leaving nursing to raise her family. She had taken a course in events management and found the social media component drew her in. “I loved it. It’s always changing and evolving.”
And what about that algorithm? Emily says she has to constantly keep up with the new developments and changes to the platforms. “I keep up with monthly news and articles and am always going on courses and attending talks. I’m part of digital marketing groups… I don’t think you can ever stop learning with social media.”
Social Media Tips
-Pet hate: Cross-posting between platforms. Each platform needs different types of post.
-Hashtags in post or comments: It doesn’t make too much difference whether you post in comments or not but keep them separated from the main written content to keep it neat and not looking spammy.
-Stories: These are great for reach. Remember to use a few hashtags in stories as well.
-Hashtag popularity: Use a range of hashtags from some popular ones to less popular and some unique to your brand or industry.
-Location tags: If you’re a local business that attracts local customers, add your location to the post and use locations in hashtags too.
-Invest in your website: Make sure it’s well-optimised and linked up to your social media.
-Start small: It’s easy to be overwhelmed so only start with a few social platforms so you can keep on top of replying to comments and messages. This helps you to engage and keep a high response rating on messenger for instance.
-Reviews: Don’t underestimate the importance of reviews on Google and Facebook. People do a lot of research and look for social proof. It can help your visibility and rankings.
Analytics to keep track of
- Times: knowing when your audience is online.
- Demographics: Look at who is following and engaging and reevaluate the sites you’re using if different to your target audience.
- Engagement: check what interactions you’re getting.
- Reactions: Monitor negative reactions and unfollows.
- CTA: How many are clicking through to your website or following through on your CTA (Call To Action)?
Growth Plans
Emily credits her success to growing slowly at first and staggering her client uptake. “I make sure everything is going smoothly and the relationship going well. Then we evaluate the analytics and once that’s sorted, I’m ready to take on another client,” she says.
It’s a similar approach to the one she recommends for growing your social media: getting one platform right before trying to have a presence on all the different sites.
As her own business grows, Emily plans to build a small team to help manage her workload and expanding client list. Word of mouth has been “very powerful” which is testament to the results she gets for her clients. “I love being a part of their team that’s helping drive their business forward.”
Web: ContentSolutionsLtd
Facebook: @contentsolutionsltd
Instagram: @contentsolutionsltd
In collaboration with Content Solutions Ltd
This profile first appeared in the Flex issue of The Homeworker magazine.
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