Hi, I’m Laura. I’m a Digital Marketing specialist and founder of Digital Marketing B&T Ltd.
In a nutshell, I help businesses get new customers and generate even more value from their existing ones.
I use tools like Facebook Ads, Google Ads and Google My Business and harness strategies like SEO, content marketing, sales funnels and email marketing. I help my clients to give their digital content a quality edge, illuminate their brand and reduce their paid advertising costs.
I founded my business 6 years ago in New Zealand, following a 12-year career as a communications specialist. I worked in big corporates like JPMorgan in London and Newcrest Mining in Australia, where I managed internets, intranets and employee communications. My background and training is in broadcasting journalism, but my passion is in anything digital and online as I love the efficiency and immediacy.
I live in Walthamstow and have been here for 2.5 years following our move here from New Zealand.
We didn't know a soul before moving here but chose it as it seemed affordable, had great transport links and my cousin said he'd been to some great workshops at Blackhorse Road! Since moving here I have been amazed by the kindness and friendliness of people in our community who genuinely care for and help each other. I also love being close to the forest and feeling as if we are in the country but actually being a stone's throw from Central London, which I think is the best city in the world.
Digital marketing sets up all the possible roads to a website, ensuring there are no roadblocks, crashes, wrong turns or dead ends! My job is helping businesses and organisations get found online and their products, content or services easily downloaded, booked or sold. Many digimarketing tools are free but most people over 30 don't know how to use them to their advantage. My vision is to help businesses and organisations who do good, use digimarketing tools to their advantage so they can keep up with their competition online.
I discovered Hive Collective when I first arrived in the UK, through a fellow Kiwi with whom I was introduced on Facebook by a mutual friend. She mentioned a new business collective so I went along and met Nat and Carmel and have been to every Hive Collective event bar one since then.
The thing I love most about Hive events is that the speakers are always exceptional communicators and speak on topics that the audience really want to know about. The topics are either super informative and/or very illuminating. The audience leaves feeling refreshed, better equipped as business people, and inspired to try new things to improve themselves or their businesses.
I was on Hive Collective’s The Next Level Coaching Programme - a supportive collection of local business owners who work together to help each other achieve their business goals - when we had an epiphany that has since saved me a lot of time and helped me gain new business. “You’ve got to imagine you’re a plumber,” said Nat Harrison (Co-Founder of Hive Collective and Founder of Ayama Coaching), who was the coach for our group of 8 small business owners.
In our Next Level group, I had been exploring a problem I just couldn’t figure out: I didn’t understand why my proposals for prospective clients were not being accepted. I thought the proposals were beautiful! They were well researched, and outlined in great detail how I would fix clients’ problems, and with what tools.
When coaching me, Nat used an analogy “If you were a plumber, you’d look at your client’s blocked pipe; tell them you could fix it, and then quote them a price, but you wouldn’t tell them the tools you were going to use, or how you were going to use them”.
By talking it over with my group and Nat, I realised that clients were probably ignoring my proposals as a) they were bored or baffled with their length and detail, and b) if they managed to read a proposal without falling asleep; there was no need for them to hire me - I’d already given them everything on a plate for free. I hadn’t been able to work out the problem on my own, but by talking it over in the group, the solution was clear. Since then I have saved a lot of time by writing short, succinct proposals. Even better, they now have an acceptance rate of over 85%!
“Being a small business owner can be lonely as there is usually no-one you can share your challenges and triumphs with.“
Figuring out our problems as a group was par for the course on the Next Level’Programme. Nat led our group through 9 months of regular meet-ups, a little coursework, self reflection and exercises in practical business know-how. At the end, one of my co-groupees said she felt like we’d all had babies together. We collectively experienced and supported each other through 9 months of nausea, self-doubt, growing pains, stretch marks and worry, but also increased excitement, realisation and hope for our business’ futures as our knowledge and confidence grew.
Being a small business owner can be lonely as there is usually no-one you can share your challenges and triumphs with. It can also be hard to progress professionally and keep up with hearing about opportunities for small businesses.
In my view, the Next Level course fills all of these needs. This course is for you if you believe there is always something new to learn and that more heads are better than one.
Hive Collective are big advocators of skills swaps and collaborations and as a result of Hive, I've collaborated with: Hive Collective, Carmel King Photography, Borrowed Light Florals, Sweet Pea Rosa Florist, Emily Brooks Illustrator & Designer, Accountant Asim Manzoor (AM & Co) and Psychotherapist Vanessa McHardy of Light Education Training.
My Hive Success Stories include working with Sarah and Claudia at Borrowed Light Florals doing their hosting, website maintenance and digital marketing to help them save time and money and bring in more clients. I am also saving myself around £100 a month in accountancy services since moving to Asim at AM & Co, after seeing him speak at June 2019’s Hive Event.
If you’d like to explore ways to make the most of your business online do get in touch. I'd love to hear from you.
Words with thanks to Nicola Greenbrook (follow her on Instagram here)
Photo Credit: Carmel King
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