My business Alexandra One Marketing was set up during the covid pandemic. A huge gamble with the state of the economy but I was determined to work for myself. Many businesses were working digitally which meant I could harness my social media marketing expertise from my previous roles and target small businesses that needed support with their social platforms. The pandemic proved to be an opportunity, social media was bigger than ever before and everyone was constantly accessing content on their phones. The trick is to hit your audience when they aren’t busy.
I wanted to create a business that would support small niche clientele with their social media. I started off with a few freelance gigs, to begin with, usually creating covid-related content for public sector clients but shortly after this, my work began to get noticed. By the third lockdown, I had four clients on my books which is huge for a small startup business. I’ve always stuck to my guns on the advice I give to small brands and businesses when it comes to social media marketing. I believe in creating a solution whilst also being realistic. You can create the most beautiful piece of content but sometimes this isn’t enough. One of my favorite mottos is ‘failure is success’ why? you may ask, because in order to succeed you have to fail. That could be in strategy, in the content created, or in the editing process for videos. Some may thrive and others may not but it’s these challenges I face on a constant basis that drive me forward.
Many of my clients have stayed with me, huge kudos to them for believing in my work. Some come to me for smaller projects or contracts and it’s always sad when they leave as I lose great relationships. Relationship building is so important to me, I like to work with clients that have a similar vision when I ask them what their measure of success looks like. I dislike the word passionate because I think it’s the most overused word in the marketing dictionary but I’d say my clients are the reason why I’m still grafting hard to make Alexandra One a success.
If you had asked me two years ago would the business still be running I might have responded with no because it takes a huge sacrifice to run a business but I’m so proud to say Alexandra One Marketing is two years old and still going strong. I’m a small business and I’m not looking to compete with big agencies because I like to think I can offer a more intimate and dedicated approach. I’ve also developed a new part of the business that covers videography for socials, I don’t outsource this, it’s all in-house and delivered by yours truly.
I’m proud of running my own business, it’s definitely hard work, and not all of it pays off but I live for the challenge and creativity every single day.