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t’s been a truly wonderful start to 2022 for Ebb, Flow & Grow. I wanted to give you all a little update on what we’ve been up to in recent months. It’s been a major season of growth and change for us as we’ve navigated the first half of this year. I can’t actually believe it’s July. Whilst we pulled back temporarily in certain areas, others have propelled forward at a rate of knots that I simply didn’t anticipate.
So here goes! Grab a cup of something lovely and get settled in.
We’ve done a huge amount of work behind-the-scenes during Q2. More than I had ever anticipated doing. As this business has continued to blossom, I had the startling realisation that our messaging and forward-facing comms had become wildly misaligned with the work and impact we were actually having. It was as though the business had skipped forward half a dozen steps, but our marketing strategy had been unable to keep up.
After a few false starts and trying to push myself to be present, I took what ended up being almost two months away from Instagram and from proactively pushing out content. Whilst it didn’t feel like the best time to do that in terms of strategy – after all, we’d just launched our first in-person retreat and I vanished off the face of the planet – I knew deep down that it was the right thing to do.
Instead of forcing out content and messaging that felt funky and off, I took a big pause. A deep breath. Time to take stock and reflect. It resulted in a couple of major things. The first – a total overhaul to the user flow and customer journey through our website. We had to completely rethink the structure of the business which is now a true hybrid. Through one arm, we offer coaching and education – 1:1 services, our beautiful membership space, and a range of courses and ebooks. Essentially, if you’re looking for consultancy or to up-skill and learn, we’ve got you covered.
On the other side of the coin, we have our boutique agency, that has really elevated this year, far quicker than I thought it would. We’ve offered branding and website design since day one of EF&G, but we expanded this offering the end of last year into marketing support – this is hands-on, done-for-you – including social media management, blog and content creation, email marketing, PR and advertising. We can step in and handle as much or as little as you need.
Once the website was reflective of the true scale of this brand, our marketing strategy was the next big focus. We literally went back to the drawing board with the support of The Cheetah Company. Ashleigh, who heads up the business, has years of experience in marketing and I just knew she was the right person for the job. We revisited everything – brand values, founder story, USPs, core messaging bank, and produced a brand new omni-channel marketing plan.
Now, you might be sat there thinking – aren’t you experienced in marketing? Surely you could have done this for yourself? I probably could have. However, over the almost-three years that I’ve been running this business, I’ve seen time and time again the power of investing in good people to support you. I also continue to work 1:1 with Ashton Smith, CEO of The Awakening Co. Why? Because she’s an inspiration, a mentor and a guide. I brought in Ashleigh for a brand new perspective and to harness the knowledge she has from so many years in her field. Trust me when I say, business is better when you don’t do it alone and the impact of 1:1 coaching should never be underestimated.
Whilst things have been completely bonkers behind-the-scenes, I am feeling SO much alignment and peace having taken some breathing space. I can’t wait to see how the coming months pan out now we’re fully armed with a new plan of action as we move into a whole new era.
I wanted to also take a moment in this blog to celebrate our amazing clients, because they’re doing some incredible things.
Our marketing retainer clients have all continued with us since the tail end of 2021, a testament to the work the team has been doing. They are becoming true partners with our business. This is what really lights me up, when I can form long-term relationships and have a big impact over a period of time. Remember, marketing and brand visibility can often take time to build momentum but if you can give your campaigns and channels longevity and consistency, that’s where the magic happens.
“If you can give your campaigns and channels longevity and consistency, that’s where the magic happens.”
Our clients have developed some phenomenal partnerships in their own right too. For example, non-profit organisation Beneath the Waves teamed up with Nora en Pure, an international DJ, to deliver a highly immersive and interactive livestream event, which generated over $4,000 in fundraising revenue in just a few short days. We backed up this activity with our social strategy across Instagram and Facebook. You can check out the livestream here. We’re about to start prepping social content ahead of Discovery’s Shark Week which drops next month, and we just announced one of their biggest ever ocean discoveries on Instagram, so it’s an exciting time all round.
We’ve brought on some new marketing clients this year too – one of my absolute favourites is Enzo’s Pet Pantry. Vaneeta & Enzo have been on quite the journey over the last few years and we project-managed the launch of their brand new Shopify website that went live just last month. We’ve also been developing their first ambassador campaign that successfully launched alongside the website, where we harnessed the reach of their partner accounts. We launched the website with a big giveaway and generated almost 500 entries in just 3 days.
I should also point out that our coaching clients are continuing to complete projects and launch things that make me literally giddy inside – including Kirsty, who launched one of the most well-thought-through lead magnet and workflows that I’ve seen from any of my clients. You can visit her website and take part in the quiz here if you’re looking to unpick your brand personality. The work that has gone into this is simply immense.
Team wise, things have also been developing behind-the-scenes. Wonderful Danni is focused heavily on several of our key retainer accounts and continues to support me with our own marketing strategy and content, which is only going to be growing in the forthcoming months. We’re embarking on a period of up-skilling and knowledge building, with TikTok, LinkedIn and Pinterest forming a key part of that focus. And we have an exciting new addition joining us in just a few short weeks. Becky will be coming on board as a new member of the team and I can’t wait for her to bring her extensive marketing and retail knowledge into the business.
I also couldn’t give an update on all things business without mentioning Immersion, our first in-person retreat, that is coming up later this year. Prep is really starting to gear up for this behind-the-scenes and it’s fast-approaching.
The concept for Immersion was born earlier this year, when I realised that my community were desperately craving personalised and experience-led support for their businesses. We’d been cooped up for several long and very strange years. I wanted to create something that allowed a small, intimate group of wonderful humans to come together and powerfully unite across three days and two nights in the heart of the Devonshire countryside.
“I wanted to create something that allowed a small, intimate group of wonderful humans to come together and powerfully unite across three days and two nights in the heart of the Devonshire countryside.“
I had a stunning vision in my mind. Gorgeous, nutritious food. Wholesome workshops and activities, designed to reignite the fire for your business all over again. Laughter and late nights under the stars, waxing lyrical about this wild ride of entrepreneurship. Gentle mornings, slow starts, sumptuous breakfasts.
Call it divine intervention, or maybe it was just luck, but the moment I drove up to Pip Farm to view the potential venue, it was like coming home. I knew I’d found our special location and felt an immediate soulful connection to it. This was it – our sanctuary for our first ever retreat.
If you’re looking for a new way to connect with like-minded individuals in an earthy, organic environment, Immersion could be perfect for you. Escape from it all – realign your heart, soul and mind with your business. Take a dip in the natural wild pool, experience the outdoor sauna, embrace the nature on your doorstep, pick wild fruits from the orchard to top your home-cooked pancakes for breakfast. Take a little piece of this hive mind home with you, as you step back to reality and your business, full of abundance, inspiration and knowledge that will take you forward into a new phase.
Immersion has a few spots left. I’d bloomin’ love for you to take one.
Explore the retreat when you’re ready.
Here’s to an amazing July and let’s see what the rest of this year will bring for us. I can’t honestly wait!
