Elmtree DM

09/11/2023

Hey friends - check out the latest blog on blogging (I know, super meta right). I've covered EVERYTHING you need to know about blogging on Squarespace from finding keywords to selecting the right blog post settings.

Everything you need to know about how to blog on Squarespace from choosing keywords to selecting the right blog post settings. Start your successful Squarespace blog today!

07/25/2023

Not me! If you get a reach out from this IG account - it’s not me. Please block and report - it’s the only way to slow down the scammers!
PS. If you haven’t set Two factor authentication up, do it now! It can’t stop this kind of scam but it can stop a hacker!

02/21/2023

Today a profound event is occuring, 45 dynamic women who are changing lives launched a book: “Voices of The 21st Century: Women Transforming the World.” It’s only $0.99 TODAY. Let us know you align with bringing women’s voices to the forefront and get your copy today:

Canada - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BV8DR97X​

USA - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BV8DR97X​

PPS: Want to know more about the authors? Watch us TODAY at 12:00 pm Pacific at https://facebook.com/WomenSpeakersAssociation

01/19/2023

If you are a small biz owner looking to have more impact in your community, your province, your country, the world ... this is the program for you.

You want to make a difference in the world but that thing you’re passionate about isn’t related to your business. Sound familiar?

What if your customers and clients knew how passionate you were about this issue? 🥂
What if they rallied around you and helped to share your passion and purpose, supporting your business and growing your revenue? 💸

That would make a huge difference to your bottom line, right?!

Imagine … you’d actually be making a profit with purpose! Wahoo 😊 Forward-thinking businesses recognize they must exist for reasons beyond just making a profit.

This is 100% possible when you place purpose and impact at the heart of your business. This is the basis of Social Purpose.
You can learn how to create Social Purpose for your business in our upcoming course - showing up live, via Zoom, in a small group of like-minded women entrepreneurs. We’ll hold your hand and walk you through all the elements to build your Social Purpose for your business, and the loveliest thing is the community you’ll be part of.

The Social Purpose Playbook is ideal for women solopreneurs. Delivered live, on Zoom, to build the Social Purpose foundation for your business. In this group, 8 week immersive, live online training course, develop the ethos for your business. Learn to define your why, values, vision, personal purpose, and business purpose; then align a cause and learn how to partner with a non-profit to amplify your impact.

Starting Feb 8th and runs Wednesday’s 10:00 – 11:30 am Pacific, for 8 weeks.
https://business4socialgood.ca/work-with-us/social-purpose/

Let’s get you going on the impact you want to create with your business, in your community or around the world!

Still not sure why you need a Social Purpose? Consider this … Businesses with a strong Social Purpose:
• attract more customers and build customer loyalty
• gives your employees (if you have them), meaning beyond their pay cheque and they stay with you longer
• experience increased revenues
• stand out in the marketplace
• contribute toward solving pressing community or world issues
• connect to causes that are deeply meaningful to the business owners

Did you know?
“When consumers think a brand has a strong Purpose, they are 6 times more likely to protect the company in the event of a misstep or public criticism.”

And “Brands with a high sense of purpose have experienced a brand valuation increase of 175% over the past 12 years.”
I hope to see you in the Social Purpose Playbook training programs starting soon. Need more info? Book a call and let’s have a chat.

01/01/2023

Start your new year off with a plan! Here are all the 2023 Social Media Holidays - Canadian Style.

We've compiled the most comprehensive list of holidays including Canadian Commemorative Days, UN Days of Remembrance and of course, every Social Media day we could find.

https://elmtreedm.com/blog/2023-canadian-social-media-holidays

Here's to a successful year for every small biz owner out there!

12/28/2022

My first Pin … I’m branching out this year to Pinterest where I’ll be posting tips, tricks and tutorials to make your Squarespace site super rad!

https://pin.it/3csIHDt

06/06/2022

Remember being a teenager and having to consult your BFF on every little decision you made?

What top goes with these jeans? Should you go out with that person? How should you style your hair? 🤪

⚡ ⚡ Flashback ⚡ ⚡

This is one of those teenage moments! I know, I know. You thought those were over. But, I've been mulling something over and I would totally love to know what you think.

☎ *Dials Phone* (Yes, we used to actually talk on the phone.)

SO…

Filters - yes or no?
Are you using them?
Do you like them?
Do you think they are healthy or do they create a fake feed?

What do you think? Are you using filters on your images or reels?

06/03/2022

Hello, my name is Bad A$$.

That’s not true. My name is still Shaz. It’s just that I’m feeling less like a squirrel 🐿 running around collecting nuts 🥜 (yep - that's how I usually feel!) and more like a Bad A$$ these days.

You see, I've been taking a course that is really resonating with me right now. It's making me think about the way I run my business and how I can serve all of you even better.

It's crazy and scary and fun and exciting and makes me think every day all day (and night - Wes keeps waking up to me recording ideas on my iPad in the middle of the night).

A tiny little preview - it's all about 5 Minute Fixes for your SEO to help you drive bigger and better traffic to your site and get you ranking on page 1.

Have you had something happening in the business that's making you excited? I'd love to hear about it!

06/01/2022

I’m having one of those days.

You know the ones … when you get to the coffee shop to meet a new client and you realize your computer battery is almost dead and you don’t have your power cord.

Or you realize you forgot to save the file before you closed the file.

Or you are trying to finish off a project… But windows wants to do a massive update and restart your machine three times.

Yep - it’s one of those days.

So I’m putting my running shoes on and I’m heading to the trails. A bit of time in nature always seems to set things right.

I’d love if you shared your tips for working out technology frustrations. Help a girl out!

05/31/2022

PRO-TIP
What are your goals online with your content? Reach or Growth?

GROWTH
Post often for growth:
👉 Daily or even multiple times a day
👉 Plus stories with multiple frames, multiple times a day
👉 Like - a lot, a lot

This ensures something new is constantly being fed up to your potential audience and builds interest.

REACH
👉 Post with small breaks (like every other day, or every 3 days)

This means people who only visit social media once a day or every other day have time to see your posts before they get cannibalized by the next post.

When coming up with your strategy - you should know 50% of views happen in the first 19 hours. The total life span of a post is 48 to 72 hours.

How often are you posting?

05/30/2022

Quitters never prosper. Or… was it cheaters who never prosper?

Probably both! But that’s beside the point. Because what I’m trying to say is:
On your most difficult days—the ones where you are just really kicking your own ass for…

❌ Not starting to build your biz sooner
❌ Not being further ahead in your marketing
❌ Not having more followers, or likes, or whatever engagement metric you have decided you need

Stop all of that.☝

And remember the truth, which is: You are exactly where you’re supposed to be.
It’s normal for this process of business building to be slow. And quitting definitely won’t speed it up.

You are a million miles ahead of where you’d be if you give up.

So don’t.

Quitters never prosper. And if you want some help along your journey, just ask!

05/27/2022

People don’t doubt you.
They doubt themselves.

And then they throw all those Doubt-y McDoubt-erson vibes at you and rain all over your parade instead of dealing with their own sh$t. 🙄

Annoying, right?

When you’re:

⚡ Doing things they *wish* they were doing.
⚡ Achieving goals they don’t think are possible for them.
⚡ Being the brightest, most bada$$ light in the room.

Doubters are going to *doubt.*

Ignore it, and keep doing your thing anyway.

Because those doubts they have in you? It’s not about you. It’s about *them*

Pretty soon, you’ll be so far ahead of their voices, you won’t even hear them. And they’ll just have to brush all your sparkle dust off their shoes and go doubt somewhere else.

What are you going after in spite of all the doubters?

If people are doubting how far you can go, go so far that you can’t hear them anymore. – Michele Ruiz
💗

05/26/2022

Pro Tip
Are you too forward on social media?

If you are not asking outright for engagement, how will your audience know that you want it?

If you ever watch anything on YouTube, you will notice that virtually every video includes a call to action.

In the first minute of the video, you will be asked to subscribe and push the bell so that you get an alert on all future videos.

Then through the video, you will be served up other videos that might serve you and provide value.

At the end of the video, you will get a reminder of these CTAs.

You can use these same techniques on social media. I've added the following "ask" at the bottom of all of my Instagram and LinkedIn posts and noticed an almost immediate uptake in followers.

________________________________________________
Follow me to be the first to see new tips daily.
👉 👈

Add your ask just before your hashtags.

Be sure to tell your audience why they should follow.

On a long caption post, this makes it very easy for people who found your content valuable to find more content without having to scroll back up in their feed.

Are you going to try it?

05/25/2022

Today, I give myself permission to:

⚡ Start before I feel ready.
⚡ Do the best I can with what I have right now.
⚡ Work hard for what I want.
⚡ Spend time working ON my business - building my brand, creating social media content, and fixing my SEO so I can be seen, noticed, and remembered.
⚡ Eat cereal for dinner. Try and stop me!

Or…maybe something else? Maybe it’s all of the above?

What are you giving yourself permission to do today?

Today, I give myself permission to ______.

05/24/2022

PRO-TIP
Are you using geo-tagging and putting your business location in your posts?

Over the last three years, we have seen a huge increase in the number of people who want to buy locally and support their community.

Online, local means something different - it might be your city, your province, or even your country.

Regardless, your Ideal Client likes to know that you are local - geo-tagging is an excellent way to do that.

In fact, according to Social Insider: Posts with a tagged location result in 79% higher engagement than posts without a tagged location.

Let me know below ... do you use geo-tagging on your content?

05/23/2022

Monday! The global day of going back to *werk!*

I have mixed feelings about Mondays. A complicated relationship, if you will.

There are Mondays when I can’t wait to jump back into my to-do list.

And there are Mondays where I draaaaaaag my feet.

One thing that helps me on the Mondays when I’m not feelin’ it is taking a second to list a few small things about my work that I’m super grateful for…

⭐ I get to work with amazing powerhouse women who are inspiring and are working on some super fantastic projects
⭐ I get to work in my PJs! No office wardrobe, fancy haircuts or make up!
⭐ I have the best office mate. Cadence - the wonderdog - keeps me company and reminds me to get up and move every hour or so.

Sometimes, on a particularly rough Monday, I even write them down on a sticky note and plant that sucker right where I can see it.

Taking a moment to pause and think of these things reminds me that yep, this *is* work in front of me.

And I’m just the person for the job.

So I might as well enjoy it!

Happy Monday! What are you excited to work on this week?

05/20/2022

The best place to hide a dead body is on page 2 of google.
-Unknown (but true!)

If you are not showing up on Google, then really you are not showing up at all.

And when it comes to SEO and driving traffic to your website - It’s the little things that make a big difference.

💡 Think of the 80/20 rule - 80% of what you get comes from 20% of what you do.

And it’s just as valuable to do the common things and do them well.

For me, I used to think that everyone liked tweaking their website and playing the game to reach number one.

It turns out, not everyone does! But since I do, I realized that I could turn that into a business.

I love it! It seems simple to me. After all, I just do simple little tweaks and up the ladder, I go. But just because it’s natural to me doesn’t mean it comes naturally for you.

In fact, it's why I am working on a brand new resource - I'm not 100% sure on the name just yet - but I am thinking of 5 Minute Fix for Your SEO. It will include every SEO tweak and hack that I know but be laid out in such a way that you can spend just 5 minutes a day making improvements on your website.

And I'm designing it for total newbies - so no tek talk, no complicated steps, nothing scary and foreign and no way to break your website.

If you think that is interesting, let me know with a 👍 or a 💗. I'll let you know when it is ready.

05/19/2022

How my client went from not even ranking on Google to being on Page 1.
🎉🥂🎈

Friends, meet Cyn, a Professional Caregiver who helps family members keep their loved ones with dementia at home longer by providing in-home care with a team of trained home-care specialists.

When we started working together, Cyn was showing up online with regular blogging and a local Google My Business profile but was looking for support with a new website that better represented her business.

To do this, we talked through her website goals, clarified her brand strategy, and laid out a plan for her website. Looking at the front end wasn't enough - so we also put together a simple, tight, and achievable strategy for on-page SEO that would drive traffic to her business. Along with the website copy, we ensured that the 3 blog posts we created were specifically targeted to get her keywords ranking.

After implementing all of the above (it took less than 8 weeks!), Cyn was able to achieve front page results for her website under several of her targeted keywords. And over the next 3 months (where we are today), we have seen consistent, growth in additional keywords that we researched together.

She booked her first new regular client from her website only 2 weeks after going live!

"Shaz built my new website and really listened to what I was trying to achieve. She was able to capture my business voice beautifully. She has improved SEO and we are already ranking on page one of Google for several keywords that I thought were unachievable."
Cyn Dunn

Can we get two big thumbs and all the virtual high fives for !! 🎉🎈🎉

"

05/18/2022

Hack the Algorithm! 10,000 followers in 10 days! Do this one thing you are not doing on social to Grow Your Following Fast!

I'm calling BS on all these quick growth promises.

If you are still doing follow-for-follow or are in the middle of an engagement pod - I’m not throwing blame at you. In fact, I've played by these rules in the past.

But, I think it’s time for a change. I think we can all do better.

Here’s how:

Stop trying to hack the algorithm and focus on your own rhythm instead (and the rhythm of your ideal client).

If your clients are on IG daily - then post daily, but only if you have something to say.

If they are out there on LinkedIn just twice a week - then maybe only a few posts a week and a meaningful article is a better approach.

It all starts with you and me and how we operate our day-to-day.

So - stop trying to hack the algorithm. Go your own way and find success on your own terms.

Thoughts?

05/17/2022

Pro-tip for increasing your reach and engagement on Instagram. (Works on the other platforms too!)

Instagram rewards creators for keeping users on the platform longer and part of your goal is to keep people reading and engaging with your content.

Here are 3 tips to help you reach your goals:

⚡ 1️⃣ Use carousels, 8 slides to 10 slides - research shows watch time and engagement increases over a single image or 5 carousel slide

⚡ 2️⃣ Use long form captions. It might feel like a lot of work, but people do read them. You are reading this! Which means they spend scrolling.

⚡ 3️⃣ Use longer image size - while square images are still available, the newest recommendations is 1080 x 1350 - especially for Instagram.

👉 And as always - remember, none of this matters if your content isn’t high value, so concentrate on providing amazing value to your audience. 👈

Let me know with a 1, 2, or 3 which one you will implement. I always love to hear about your plans!

05/16/2022

3, 2, 1, Go!
👉 You don’t need a website.
👉 You don’t need a logo or a headshot.
👉 You don’t need a cutting-edge CRM, workflows, or even a pricing guide.

(😲 “Are they serious?!” you ask. “Yes I am!” came the narrator’s reply.)

You don’t need the fanciest equipment.

You don’t have to be the best in your field or have every detail figured out.

You just have to START.

Right now. As in, like, today!

You know that goal you set at the beginning of the year that you haven’t worked on yet?

You can start doing that now.

It’s not too late. It’s actually *never* too late.

All you have to do is start.

What’s one 2022 goal that you’ve gotten a late start on but are determined to get off the ground and running anyway?

05/13/2022

Repost, Share, Repurpose or Plagiarize? Last month there was a big old rumpus online when one big name creator stole the content of another creator and reposted it without permission.

It brought up a huge amount of conversation among creators about when it is ok to share someone else's content.

Here are some guidelines:

REPOST
Reposting is when you take someone else's content and repost it on your feed. On IG, you actually need a third-party app to do this. If you want to use this approach, you need:
1. Permission (ideally in writing)
2. To give credit

SHARE
Sharing is when you share someone else's content and share it to your stories. On Instagram, this is considered good behavior because the application automatically gives credit back to the original content producer.

REPURPOSE
Repurposing is when you take your own content and either post it as-is or rework it for another purpose. It is your own content and you can do as you please.

PLAGIARIZE
This is when you take someone else's work and use it without permission or credit. When you simply repost and label something as your own, it's obvious. But it can also happen when you rework someone else's content without making substantial and meaningful changes adding your own value and content on top of it. Inspiration is not plagiarism, but copying is. And it is simply never right.

It's not illegal, but it is also not ethical. So stop.

Are you committed to ethical marketing? Share some 💗 in the comments if you are.

05/12/2022

Stop Being the Best Kept Secret!

We lived in Australia a few years back ... OK - 20 years, but who's counting?

At the time, it was considered bad form to be a tall poppy, 🌸 someone who stood out from the crowd. In fact, people were quick to cut you down for standing out.

Even now - when someone does have a triumph, they are likely to celebrate with a self-deprecating FIGJAM announcement. (F$&K I'm Good, Just Ask Me),

But on social media - it's important to stand out. There is so much noise you need to be a little bit loud to get noticed.

Here are my best tips for getting seen, noticed, and remembered:
⚡ focus on your ideal message and speak directly to them
⚡ be consistent in your branding
⚡ prioritize engagement with your community
⚡ use video
⚡ post consistently
⚡ give people a reason to follow you with amazing high-value content

Add to your favourites to make sure you see every post

05/11/2022

Practice makes perfect?

It always used to worry me that both my doctor and my lawyer had a “practice”. I mean shouldn’t they be “experts” in their fields?

But then I realized that nobody is ever really at the top of the game, because if you keep on learning and trying and stretching and growing and practicing, you’ll get better at whatever you do.

What are you practicing to grow your business these days?

05/10/2022

I need a unique piece of content on each platform each time I post. So - if I want to post 4 times a week on FB, IG and LinkedIn, that's 12 pieces of content. Plus, of course, a blog post and maybe some website content update.

RIght?

❌ FALSE! ❌

Let's do some myth busting!

Did you know you can post the same piece of content (with tweaks for the platform) on IG, FB, LinkedIn, TikTok in your blog on the same day and in fact at exactly the same time!

Here's why:

1. Your Ideal Client is not going to be on multiple platforms at once - they likely have a favourite and spend the bulk of their time there. It's highly unlikely they will be on both platforms while the post is being served up in the algorithm.

2. The algorithm feeds only a % of your posts to your followers - so again lileyhood of them seeing it multiple times is low.

And really, even if they do see the same thing twice - is that a bad thing? Repetition is important in marketing.

Let me say that again, repetition is important!

And in the end, if you are like me, I gotta do what i gotta do to be consistent in posting. Because that is the key to getting seen, noticed and remembered.

So go ahead - repeat yourself. Reuse your content in multiple places to share your message far and wide.

Why not reuse a piece of content that you have already posted today? Tag so that I can spread some love on your post!

05/09/2022

What's something you want more than anything?

When I was about 12, I desperately wanted to go to Girl Guide camp one summer. It was a long way away, in Yellowstone National Park and I was desperate to go.

Unfortunately, begging and pleading and being super cute is not viable tender to sign up for the Jamboree.

So even though I was a painfully shy kid, I made flyers and walked around to the whole neighborhood asking if anyone needed babysitting work.

It was not fun. I hated putting myself out there like that.

But I was successful in doing enough work to pay at least part of the fee. I am sure mom & dad paid much more!

What’s the point here?

👉 The universe won’t just hand-deliver your wildest dreams to your door. You can’t just Instacart it! 👈

You have to put yourself out there and take bold risks if you want big things in return.

Will it be scary and awkward? Maybe.

Will you learn something valuable in the process? And will it get less and less scary with each chance you take? Absolutely.

If you ask me, the reward is worth the discomfort of putting yourself out there.

This is a long, long way of saying - if you want to get seen, noticed, and remembered online - you need to first - be online. Your face, your personality, your message.

I can help you, of course, but ultimately - you need to do the work. 💗

What have you done lately that feels risky to you? What was the outcome?

05/06/2022

30 reels in 30 days? Mmmmm ... not sure about that. Just like chocolate, it starts to taste a bit funny when you are on the second chocolate bar. 🍫🍫🍫🤮

So - what about committing to 1 reel a week for the next 4 weeks?

Surely you can do that.

It's only 4 reels!

Need some ideas?
✅ introduce yourself with 2 truths and a lie
✅ Film a simple tutorial of part of your process
✅ share 3 tips to help your ideal clients save time or money
✅ bust a myth in your industry or talk about a common trend

Give it a try!

What have you got to loose?

05/06/2022

Want to know a secret? 🕵️‍♀️
Value add content like educational videos and thought leadership is trending faster than dance reels and lip synching.

What does that mean for you as a business owner? That you can take advantage of the powerful reach that video and reels can achieve without having play the fool. 🤡

Let me tell you about a few of my client's real experiences.

Antonia is just starting out on Instagram and has a modest following of 360 people. Her very first reel in which she talked about setting boundaries - has 4184 views. That’s more than 10 times reach!

Another client, Deb, posted her first reel introducing herself and her business. She received 3139 views on her audience of 330. Again, 10 times her normal reach. And more importantly, we saw a 6% increase in her audience size in the 24 hours following the reel going up.

These are not the, “I got 10,000 new followers in just 3 days stories” … these are real examples, from real people who are real small biz solopreneurs just like you who achieved great results with only a small investment of time.

So, here is my challenge to you. Produce one, just one reel - it doesn't matter if you do a dance, sit at your desk and give a 15-second talking head, or put together a quick tutorial about what you do - just make the effort and see what the outcome might be.

Tag me Shaz | Content Marketing + SEO for small business owners] - So that I can cheer you on in your success.

_______________________________
Follow me for new tips daily.
👉Shaz | Content Marketing + SEO for small business owners] 👈

05/06/2022

Want to know a secret? 🕵️‍♀️
Value add content like educational videos and thought leadership is trending faster than dance reels and lip synching.

What does that mean for you as a business owner? That you can take advantage of the powerful reach that video and reels can achieve without having play the fool. 🤡

Let me tell you about a few of my client's real experiences.

Antonia is just starting out on Instagram and has a modest following of 360 people. Her very first reel in which she talked about setting boundaries - has 4184 views. That’s more than 10 times reach!

Another client, Deb, posted her first reel introducing herself and her business. She received 3139 views on her audience of 330. Again, 10 times her normal reach. And more importantly, we saw a 6% increase in her audience size in the 24 hours following the reel going up.

These are not the, “I got 10,000 new followers in just 3 days stories” … these are real examples, from real people who are real small biz solopreneurs just like you who achieved great results with only a small investment of time.

So, here is my challenge to you. Produce one, just one reel - it doesn't matter if you do a dance, sit at your desk and give a 15-second talking head, or put together a quick tutorial about what you do - just make the effort and see what the outcome might be.

Tag me - So that I can cheer you on in your success.

05/04/2022

Let's talk about internet security.

May 7 is . Here’s a few simple tips to keep you more secure online:

🔐 Unmonitored social accounts can be the target of hackers, who could start posting fraudulent messages under your name. If you aren’t using an account - consider shutting it down.

🔐Those “learn your elf name” and 10-year-challenge posts might seem like harmless fun. But they can actually provide scammers with information commonly used to hack passwords. Stop playing them.

🔐In a phishing scam, the goal is to get you or to hand over passwords, banking details, or other private information. One common phishing scam involves fake coupons for big-name brands like Costco, Starbucks, and Bath & Body Works. Be sceptical before engaging.

🔐Secure your device. Protecting your computer or phone with a password or fingerprint lock helps, but more than half of mobile phone users leave their phones unlocked. 🤦‍♀️

🔐 Use strong passwords. Make sure that your password is at least eight characters long and consists of some combination of letters, numbers, and special characters (for example, +, @, #, or $).
Don’t repeat them and change them often. Password vault software can be tremendously helpful here.

🔐 Use 2FA - 2 Factor Authentication. If it’s available on your software - turn it on. Facebook has it available - you should be using it.

🔐Report scammers and spammers. They will likely never go away, but this helps slow them down.

❤️Finally, remember: once posted, always posted. Use both your heart and your brain when posting online.

Save this list so you can implement ALL of these actions!