Expert marketing advice, PR strategies, and business growth tips specifically tailored for the equestrian and rural businesses. Learn how to elevate your country brand, secure press coverage, and reach your target audience

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A few minutes with… Samantha Hobden – Haynet

Today’s ‘a few minutes with…’ is all about Samantha Hobden from Haynet. Haynet is a fabulous community online created for bloggers.

Tell us about you and your backgroundSamantha Hobden

I am a half Finnish mum born in the seventies running two businesses, two terriers, a handful of chickens and one huge horse! I have always worked with the public sorting out problems through customer services or promoting companies through marketing and PR. These industries have ranged from the banking sector, hairdressing and medical companies to the car industry. I have also worked in a partnership with a clothing and accessories business. I am now working within the equestrian industry talking all things blogging and social media, which I definitely enjoy the most.

What made you want to start a business?

Having worked for many big companies and sorting out their client’s problems, I knew that I would rather be working for myself utilising these skills and helping smaller businesses. This has now expanded to the rural industry where they are experiencing tough times, so to help with their social media marketing I find hugely rewarding.

How is your business different?

I think because I own and run my own social network it enables me to give my clients and the work I do an extra audience. I would say the experience in running this business over the last few years enables me to use a wider network and encourage them not just to use the basics in social media but help them with content and trying to be just that little bit different.

What makes your product special?

As I don’t sell a product but a service, I would hope that my experience running a social media network would make an extra impact to potential clients needing help. with their social media.

If you had to sum up your business in five words, what would they be?Haynet

Telling your stories from the stables to the fields!! Sorry that is nine…..

Do you have a motto or ethos?

I cannot emphasise enough to have respect for your clients and work colleagues. Just be nice and friendly. There are times where mistakes are made, so say sorry. Don’t make excuses and own your errors. This builds respect and that goes a long way in business.

If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring business owner, what would it be?

Well as the saying goes “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and I think that applies to any new business. Give it time, put in plenty of research and thought and go with your gut feeling. It also takes time to gain a reputation and all the hard work you put in when starting will be worth it. However, it just may take some time, so be patient.

One thing that helps you run your business more effectively

As my business is totally online, I would have to say I would be lost without my iPad. I do all my work on a desktop and this is invaluable but my iPad takes over when I am away from home or away from my desk, it continues to work for me. Software wise I am a massive fan of Canva. I am no graphic designer but this piece of software has made my life so much easier. Photoshop made me cry…. So thankfully I discovered Canva before booking on a Photoshop course!

Best thing about running a business?

It is totally flexible and you only answer to yourself. You make the decisions whether they are right or wrong but the buck stops with you. It is also a massive learning curve being responsible for your own income and growing your business. However, it is a great learning curve!

Worst thing about running a business?

Being responsible for your work and this is potentially a tie. You cannot clock off at 5pm and having time off from it can be like organising a military operation. If you work from home like I do, it is not recognised I think as “proper work”. I think perception of working from home is sitting in front of the tv with your iPad watching Phil and Holly!

Top business blog you follow

I suppose it will have to be Andrew William Smith on Facebook. Every now and then you need to take a moment and listen to his video tutorials to make sure you are keeping an eye of the ever changing world of running a business, especially through social media.

Top business book you’ve read

I will side track from a business book and say The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. If you are ever thinking life is not going your way or work is getting you down, please read this book. It will change your outlook completely!

One thing we might not know about you

I love psychic mediumship and all things about it. I have read so many books on the subject and love seeing mediums and have been on workshops too. So make the most of this life before you move on to the next one…

Top business achievement

It has to be Haynet and the recognition and following I have with this now. Someone was talking to me the other day and one sentence from our conversation made me smile and think that running Haynet is all worth it. She was visiting a yard with her work and one of the liveries was telling her how she loved Haynet and had learnt from the blogs and content that was featured on it. She also said what a friendly equestrian place it was online. It may not sound much but it made my day!

Where can people follow you or your business online 

Haynet: http://www.hay-net.co.uk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haynetblog

Twitter: https://twitter.com/haynetblog
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haynetblog/

 

 

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Blogstars – Wiola Grabowska – Aspire Equestrian

In today’s ‘Blogstars’ post, I chat to Wiola Grabowska from Aspire Equestrian. The lovely images in this piece were taken by Christine Dunnington Photography.

 

Why did you started blogging?

I first started blogging in 2007 to share my new freelance coaching journey with friends and family. Most of them lived abroad and since I loved writing and wanted to practice my English language skills, the blog became my way of keeping everyone updated with my various ups and downs.
Over the years I went away from a typical diary format and now focus on growing a blog that you might call a coaching and a curious rider companion!

How do you measure its success?

The blog exists to help riders and coaches out there to ride and teach with horse’s wellness in mind. It is also my way of telling others what we do at Aspire Equestrian Riding Academy and how we do it. I consider it successful every time the post makes someone stop and think or gives them an idea Wiola Grabowskathat starts a chain of improvement in a skill they have battled with for a long time. Emails and messages from the readers as well as readers who become real life clients are my success measures.

Tell us about the post you’ve most enjoyed writing/has been the best received

This one is a funny one for me. Sometimes I spend a ridiculous amount of time thinking up a post. Making sure it is what I want to convey, that it is clear and concise. It, no jokes, takes me hours to put together just to then receive a several hundreds views and no interactions whatsoever.
Then I might be in the middle of a lesson and think oh, this could make a nice quick blog post. Jot something quickly on my phone, put a post together in just about half an hour (editing photos etc), let it fly live thinking it might help a few riders just to be shared everywhere and hitting over 30k views.

To answer this question fully – the posts I most enjoy writing are those that draw from my riders’ or my own experiences, that try to address real, well-lived in issues that we managed to tackle and can now pass a little knowledge on.

How do you promote your blog?

Carefully! 😉 I have a very specific audience in mind that I want to reach so I adjust all my promotion activities to that. I mostly use social media and other blogging platforms to spread the word about each post and have in the past boosted posts on Facebook but have not done it for a long time now.

Any tips you’d like to pass on to first time bloggers/people who are interested in blogging?

Blog with passion for what you write about. Write about the things you would like to read in a way you would like to read. Add photos that make the words in the post come alive and have a clear “why” for every post you write.

Has anything ‘good’ come out of blogging?

I don’t even know where to start here and how to keep it to a few lines! I would totally monopolise Aspire EquestrianRhea’s blog space if I accounted for every amazing opportunity blogging has brought me in the last 10 years!
One of my most memorable blogging “goods” was being invited to learn from Anna Ross for several years. I think it was her mum who read my blog first 😉 I went to spend a day auditing Anna’s lessons almost 10 years ago and have learnt a lot through watching, tagging along and helping on the yards she was based. To this day I tell anyone who wants to listen to go and watch riders and coaches. Just sit, observe and listen. You don’t have to copy everything or teach the same but there is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom out there that can really be learnt by quiet observation and analysis.

Around 2010 I think I was sitting at Cafe Nero in London looking out at crazy amount of snow outside that stopped my teaching (and my income) for days when an email appeared on my screen. It was from a lady in Norway who said she’d been reading my blog and wondered if I would be interested in coming over and running a clinic for their riding club…These were the guys who trained with Andrew Murphy and many top riders and trainers in the world. I said yes of course and then spent weeks wondering what on earth could I teach them they didn’t already know!
I went over to run the weekend clinic once, twice, several times. An experience I will treasure forever that not only taught me a lot but gave me friends for life.

Similar opportunities happened over time, from invitations to run my training weekends to gaining real life, long terms clients who loved what they were reading on the blog. I have been sent products to review from various brands, met some amazing, inspirational people and that’s only the beginning as we have big plans for my little blog!

Thank you Rhea for the opportunity to write for this series!

Where can we find you online?

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aspireequestrian/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AspireAcademy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aspireequestrianacademy
Website: www.aspireequestrianacademy.com

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Does context matter on your social media content?

Does context matter on social media?Does context matter when it comes to your social media content? It’s something that I am constantly aware of, but a post I saw on Instagram last week prompted me to blog.

So, what do I mean? Context?

In this blog, I’m looking at the platforms and the way they work – so we’re thinking about Twitter’s 140 character limit – the ‘stuff’ that makes a platform the platform. Now, any social media user will know that all the platforms have their own style and their own limits. We have the retweet on Twitter, for example, that allows you to share other people’s content with your followers, but you can’t retweet on Facebook, you share. And you can’t share on Instagram, you repost. See what I mean?

Does context matter then?

Yes. The example I saw that inspired me to write this blog (and made me revisit the importance of this) was a competition on Instagram. Instagram is a highly visual platform, as we all know, and this competition graphic was, well, underwhelming. White background, common font, pixelated. Ugh. That annoyed me for starters. But you know what annoyed me more? The word share. Like and share. Now, this annoyed me on a number of different levels…

  1. The graphic had clearly been used on Facebook as that’s where ‘sharing’ works
  2. The graphic was rubbish and shouldn’t have generated much interest on Facebook either
  3. The competition was using liking and sharing as an entry mechanism. And having sharing as an entry mechanism breaks Facebook rules.

The last one is a REAL bug bear or mine, but let’s get back to the actual theme of the blog…

The graphic asked people to like and share to enter. How on earth can you do that on Instagram? You can’t. Saying this shows a lack of understanding for the platform and a lack of care. Context matters. It’s frustrating when someone posts competitions and even content that doesn’t fit a platform’s parameters. And there’s no need for it. If you’re doing it to ‘save time’, just don’t. Some content can be shared across platforms, I get that, but if it doesn’t look native, just don’t. It’s better not to bother. Please. Context matters. You could have killer content, but if they context is out, it just doesn’t work.

What do you think? Does context matter to you?

What do you think? Have you see requests for a share on Instagram? A repost on Facebook? How did it make you feel?

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What’s a hashtag (and should you care?)

What's a hashtag?Hashtags are a big deal on social media and they’re something that you should be prepared to embrace if you want to be found. But what exactly are they and can you use them everywhere? Here’s a starter guide to hashtags. Well, #hereswhatithink

What is a hashtag?

A hashtag is a word or phrase that begins with a #. It’s just a normal word (or a few words), but that’s in front of it. There’s no witchcraft or wizardry about it. Honest.

Why are they used?

Hashtags are used, mainly, as a search mechanism, to help content be discovered on Twitter and Instagram predominantly, although some people do also use them on Facebook too (although there’s a lot of articles suggesting that on Facebook the search doesn’t really work with hashtags and it can actually lower engagement, but that’s a blog for another day!). The main platforms and the ones I’m focussing on here when it comes to the good old hashtag are Twitter and Instagram. Both work slightly differently.

Hashtags on Twitter

I believe that Twitter was the first platform to embrace the hashtag fully but, with only 140 characters to play with, use of the hashtag on Twitter has always been fairly limited. And that’s fine because that’s how the platform works. It’s generally accepted that one or two hashtags is the limit – too many and it turns people off. And you don’t want that. If you’ve gone to the effort to use a hashtag so your content is more discoverable, you don’t want people to find your tweet and move on, do you?

Hashtags on Instagram

Instagram is different to Twitter in that you can have up to 30 hashtags, and many people use them all. Using all your hashtags mean that you have more chances of your content being found, but by separating your copy with a few dashes to create space between your caption and your hashtags, or putting your hashtags as the first comment, you’re not overwhelming people.

Tips for using hashtags

  • Always keep them relevant – don’t say your content is about #chocolate if it’s about #spacetravel
  • Check them – sometimes when you combine words together to make a hashtag, the message isn’t quite the one you wanted. There was a brilliant example of this with a hashtag connected to Susan Boyle. Not good.
  • Don’t just use them for the sake of it. Yes, you can use 30 hashtags on Instagram, but you don’t HAVE to use 30 with each post. Make them count!
  • Do some research and see what people talking about similar topics are using for their hashtags. On Instagram when you start to enter your hashtags it tells you how popular (or not!) that hashtag is
  • If you want to follow or get involved with an event on social media, research the official hashtag and tweet, post or search using that. The official content should have this hashtag and content from other people wanting to follow or get involved should have this too.

What do you think? Are you a fan of the #hashtag or wish it would go away and leave you alone? I’d love to hear your comments.

 

 

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Video alert – can you make something negative, positive?

It’s video time! In this video I’m talking all about how you can make something negative, positive – well, how you can take negative feedback generated by a faulty product and turn into a positive. How you can turn this into a great PR opportunity? Does it sound a bit far fetched? I don’t think so…

Is it really possible?

It honestly depends on a number of factors but I think in most cases it can be IF it’s handled properly. I say most cases because it obviously does depend on the ‘damage’ something has caused, this can be a variable and can mean that your task is incredibly difficult if not impossible. However, when I created this video I was thinking more about popular products that we buy that can leave us disappointed, something like clothing or footwear. I’m not talking dodgy seatbelts here. I’m looking at the kind of products that most people sell online.

Any other caveats?

Yes. The dodgy product needs to be unusual. If all your products are substandard you’re basically firefighting and you can’t win long term because everyone is going to be peed off with you because you’ve let them down.

But what about social media?

Yep. Social media has changed the game in this area. Previously people would call the company or email them first – or even take it back to the shop they bought it from – and would follow the correct complaints procedure. Now they take to social media. If you’re lucky they’ll send you a message, but they might just post that you’re Satan on your Facebook page and that they’re bitterly disappointed/the product is cheap and rubbish/they hate you. Before you become a keyboard warrior too, just take a breath. It can be really frustrating and it makes you wonder if you should bother trying to turn this negative into a positive but you should. Honestly. Even if they don’t respond how you’d like, your other customers will see that you’re trying – in some cases they might come to your defence (I’ve seen this happen before…). Acknowledge their message and suggest they DM you or email you with additional information to try and remove the discussion from public view. This has the obvious benefit but also allows you to ask them personal details that they shouldn’t disclose in public. Be nice to them. Try and help them. Obviously you must follow your company’s complaints procedure, but do it in a nice way. If you say you’ll get back to them by a date – DO – even if you have to say you’re still waiting. Keep them informed. Be honest. Be genuine. Be understanding. If you can, send them a goodwill gesture. You’ll be amazed at how these ‘haters’ can become your biggest cheerleaders if treated kindly and respectfully by someone who wants to help them.

Of course, no one should ever be happy with selling substandard products, but sometimes things slip through the net- I’ve had clothes shrink, boots split and all manner of things as I am sure you have. These things happen and people do generally understand. And if you’re nice to them, you might have got yourself a lifelong brand ambassador too.

If you liked this, you might like this blog here – all about turning a negative or fault products into a good PR opportunity.

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Video content: How to make video work hard for you

This blog is all about how to make video content work hard for you. Because, let’s be honest, it needs to. Making a video takes time, and if you pay to have it edited, it costs your money too. And that’s what I’ve created a video and a blog post about how to make video content work hard for you.

The video is on Youtube, and if you click on the image, you can watch the video.

How to make video content work hard – eight steps

Actually, let’s use the video above as an example of how to make content work hard for you. So, the start of this is the video. I created the video on my iPhone (so, no extra cost to me), and I did pay my husband to edit it because, well, he does this as part of his job and I like to have my logo on it in the right places. That didn’t cost me a huge amount, but it’s still a cost. So, step one… the video is on Youtube. Great. The video will stay on here forever (well, until I take it down) and it’ll be getting views until that point. Great. People can find it by searching for it.

Step two, in this case, is this blog. This blog, with the video embedded in it, will sit on my blog, on my website. It’ll help my SEO (due to the blog around the video), it’ll provide useful content for people viewing my website, it’s a solid step two.

Step three, sharing. I’ll share the blog with the video on my social media. By which I mean my business Facebook page, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. I might also share it in some of the business groups I’m involved with on Facebook.

Step four, native posting. I’ll then post the video natively to Facebook. Not the same week as I post the blog, but I will. And I’ll subtitle it so it works when people view Facebook on silent and autoplay kicks in.

Step five, I’ll share the Youtube link straight onto all my social media platforms. This won’t be in the near future, but I’ll post the link to Youtube on its own, without the blog content, so people can view it and visit my Youtube channel.

Step six, I’ll share it with my newsletter subscribers, so they get to see the blog and the video. Well, so they know it’s there. I’ll share a link to the blog for those who fancy a read, and I’ll embed the video too.

Step seven, if someone asks me a question about how to make content work hard, I’ll use this blog and my video as a resource that I can send them.

Step eight, in a few months, I could well do this all over again, when people have long forgotten about the blog. Or I might share it again when there’s a relevant news story about it.

And believe me when I say that depending on the social networks you use and the business you have, there are plenty more ways to make your content work really hard for you. Maybe you can use your video at shows you attend? Burnt onto a DVD for prospective customers? As a part of a resource pack for retailers selling your product? To help add another level of customer service, to help reduce the amount of time you spent troubleshooting or giving customers phone tutorials? Honestly, we’re just scratching the surface here.

If you’ve ever wondered how to make your video content work hard for you, but you’e still not sure how to make it work in your situation, why not drop me a line?

 

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How does Facebook advert targeting work?

I love a Facebook advert, and the targeting available is just incredible. More than this, it’s really easy to set up. It takes a bit of time and patience, but it’s really worth it. This is more of a basic intro to get you all fired up about Facebook adverts and targeting, I could probably write a book on it…

Let’s start at the beginning…how does Facebook advert targeting work?

How does Facebook advert targeting work?If you have a look at Facebook and select the create ad option, you’ll work through it (after you’ve chosen your objective, etc.) until you get to targeting – which is what this blog is all about about. So, how does it work? Facebook targeting allows you to make sure your ad is shown to the people who have the most chance of wanting to buy or being interested in your product. You can target by geographical location (not just UK, a whole lot more specific than that!), gender, age, language, behaviours and interests (including pages they like), and you can even include or exclude people. You can even target connections. Targeting is great and can make sure your ad is seen by the right people, which is different to magazines. Let me work through one example before I leave you to ponder you own targeting and your next Facebook ad.

And example of Facebook advert targeting in action

Let’s say you make car seat covers – you know, the seat covers that stop hair, mud and other stuff damaging your upholstery. You do loads of car seat covers, but let’s say you want to promote a backseat cover that stops little Charlie’s juice and snacks from making a HUGE mess inside the car. So you’d probably target ladies of childbearing age. Maybe you’d go UK (if that’s who you market to) and you could look to add interests connected to children – and websites/pages too. Maybe somewhere like Mumsnet? Mothercare? NCT? That would be one ad. Or maybe you have the same product but you want to aim it at men who have ‘luxury’ cars that the kids sometimes go it? So you’d change the gender and the interests – maybe you’d think Audi, BMW, Mercedes, etc. Get the picture? Of course, your imagery would be different to appeal to different groups, but can you see what I’m getting at. And this is just an overview, when you get into it, you could can be even more specific if you like.

How specific should you be?

However, a word of warning – being specific is great, but don’t cut off your nose to spite your face and don’t make your potential reach too small. There’s an illustration that shows the size of your potential audience as you add to your targeting, so try and keep the dial in the green to get maximum reach. Find out more here 

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