When I came upon Danielle Gardner’s blog post about Success Without Social Media, ironically because someone tagged me on Facebook, it was clear she’d make a brilliant contribution to my No Social Media Un-marketing Experiment. A conversation was afoot!
Dani’s quiet, thoughtful presence invites reflection about what we truly desire in business, something that’s rare in the world of hustle and hype marketing.
She shares generously from her own experience of shifting away from social media on a journey of “quiet marketing.”
You’re welcome to watch our conversation here, or jump to the highlights in the article below.
Here’s some of what we explored:
- The results of Dani’s 30 day experiment of not posting in a group
- How she optimized her blog (with no fancy SEO!) and created a course making $1,600 per month from one blog post
- A powerful question to discover your way of quiet marketing
- Marketing as a Projector in Human Design and the importance of sharing your point of view
- Getting over nervousness about sharing your opinion
- A creative and simple newsletter format that minimizes screen time
- Are websites dead?
- 3 legitimate purposes of social media for your businesses…and what it’s not good for
Leaving the Noise on Facebook
In the beginning, Facebook groups were a primary way for Danielle to connect with her audience, but over time, she noticed her social media activities were creating low-level anxiety.
After a three day experiment of no posting in a particular group, the difference was palpable, and Danielle knew she would never going back to endless posting.
She reduced her Facebook posts down to 1-2 more potent pieces of content weekly, rather than daily sharing, and uses a messaging framework to go directly to the places she posts, limiting distractions within the feed.
Where Do Your Clients Really Come From?
When Danielle was considering a change in her social media activities, she got curious about how her clients were actually finding her.
A look at her analytics revealed that 80% discovered her through a blog post, and the other 20% came through referrals or people she’d worked with in some way. When it became clear that social media wasn’t the source of clients, the transition away became easier.
Whenever someone signs up for her email list, Danielle asks how they discovered her. She consciously channels support to the people who send referrals by thanking them and mentioning them in her newsletter, thus cultivating a healthy quiet marketing ecosystem.
Danielle identifies three purposes of social media for your business:
- It allows people to get to know you from a comfortable distance.
- People see that you’re still open for business.
- It’s a vehicle for self-expression.
If you’re considering a reduction in your social media activities, take a tip from Danielle and look at how clients are actually finding you. Then you’ll know if it makes sense to adjust your social media efforts now, or if it’s necessary to cultivate other client inquiry sources first.
Actively cultivate and uplift clients and partners who send you referrals by featuring their work. The gratitude feels good and it keeps the referrals coming.
“I believe we can create a sustainable livelihood around our soul work without having to spend so much time on social media…when we have a clear message that creates a deep resonance in our ideal clients’ hearts and minds, so much so that they can easily justify investing time and money with us…we can get away with marketing less often {and living more}.”
Danielle Gardner
Your Human Design For Marketing
Danielle is a Generator according to Human Design, so it was natural for her to write a blog article around her own experience of “responding” in marketing. After noticing this article was getting a lot of organic traffic, she created a business course for Generators that continues to generate passive income.
Without doing any sophisticated SEO, Danielle has been able to repeat these types of results with blog posts on marketing for Projectors in Human Design and other topics of interest to her clients. These generate more subscribers for her email list.
Identify the questions your ideal clients are asking and answer them in blog posts. This gives your website natural ranking on Google and attracts potential clients.
Danielle’s Quiet Marketing Advice
Give yourself permission to do it your way. Ask yourself this question: “If you could really be yourself, how would you love to do this?” And then, do it your way!
Explore alternatives for connecting with others and creating content offline, such as doing an audio recording for your newsletter or hosting live classes.
Before taking on another platform, strategy or training, do a reality check. Do you really want to spend more time in front of a screen?
Share your point of view. Take the emotional risk in sharing your opinion. Be vulnerable and tell your story. It creates transformation and attracts ideal clients.
Create intentional content your ideal clients are searching for. Write articles on your website or share videos on YouTube where it’s searchable. This is far more direct than interruption marketing on social media.
If you teach a particular modality or system, pay for a practitioner listing in a directory. This is one of the simple ways Danielle shares to be more discoverable without social media.
Want More Soul Aligned Strategies For Marketing…Without Social Media?
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Meet Danielle Gardner, Quiet Marketer
In the early days of her business, Danielle spent a lot of time in Facebook Groups experimenting with her message and building a client base. Ultimately, she became overwhelmed and anxious from the relentless engagement.
She began shifting her energy to her Facebook Page, taking more risks with content, focusing on native posts and offering paid online classes. Today, a steady stream of clients find her mostly by word of mouth as well as Google and Instagram searches.
Danielle believes we can market less and live more when we have a clear and resonant message to attract clients, allowing us to create a sustainable livelihood around our soul work without having to spend so much time on social media.
Connect with Danielle
Website: https://www.danigardner.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thequietmarketer
This was a fantastic interview.
I have been dancing with on off sm marketing for years. I have been waiting for something to respond to to start the ball rolling to exit the noisy world of FB.
thanks so much for this!
You’re so welcome! I’m taking the easy road to an exit, letting it show me the way, and hopefully helping some people in the process by sharing my exploration.