By Lindsey Smith and Alexandra Franzen, Co-founders of Get It Done
Get It Done is a small business founded by two friends, Lindsey and Alex.
We have a small team of full-time employees and part-time freelancers—and we’re all about books, books, books. We help you write your book and bring it into the world.
Whether you want to self-publish or get a traditional book deal, we have options to help you achieve your goal. To date, we’ve helped more than 650 people get it done.
Unlike many businesses, we don’t use social media to promote our work. In fact, we don’t have any social media accounts at all.
People often ask us:
“How come you’re not on social media?”
“How do you find customers without social media?”
“What’s your opinion on social media? Should I keep using it? Or quit?”
Because we get these questions a lot, we wanted to share our thoughts.
Our Stance On Social Media
We believe that social media is optional, not mandatory.
If you run a business, you love social media, and it helps you find customers and generate revenue, great! Go ahead and keep using it.
However, if you don’t enjoy social media, then you don’t have to use it.
It’s absolutely possible to quit social media (or never use it in the first place) and still have a successful career or business. There are plenty of other ways to create visibility for your work. Twitter is not the only place to be heard. Instagram is not the only place to be seen. Facebook is not the only place to hold conversations. TikTok is not the only place to entertain and inspire. You have other options.
How We Find Customers Without Social Media
We have a newsletter that we send out fairly regularly.
We do free events for our community, such as Book Chat, where people can ask questions about the publishing industry and get advice, Write Your Book In One Day, a workshop that’s all about getting unstuck and creating a very short book very quickly, and The Tiny Book Fair, a celebration of books with nostalgic Scholastic Book Fair vibes. Some events happen online and some are in-person.
We send press releases about our projects to journalists, which leads to media coverage.
We do podcast appearances and occasionally speak at book/publishing conferences.
The majority of our sales come from word-of-mouth, happy customers telling friends about us.
Leaving Social Media
Many people choose to leave social media because it feels distracting, stressful, and takes a toll on their physical or mental health.
Some people feel nervous (understandably so) about data breaches, fraudulent information, bullying, and harassment, and don’t want to spend their precious time on Facebook and other social platforms.
For some, the cost feels greater than the reward.
Running Your Business Without Social Media
If you run a business—or you’re a self-employed artist, musician, maker, author, consultant, coach, speaker, service provider, or product creator—you might enjoy The Marketing Without Social Media Course.
Because so many people asked, “How can I find clients and customers without social media?” we made this course in response.
Course includes:
List of 115 marketing ideas that do not require social media.
Inspiring examples of big (and small) companies that do not use social media—and their reasons for leaving.
Interviews with business owners who quit social media or cut back—and how they’re achieving success.
Facts on how excessive screen time and social media scrolling impacts your mental health—and why it’s a good idea to cut back.
Instructions on how to take a break from social media (a social media detox) without hurting your business.
And more.
Self-study course. Start anytime. Go at your own pace. Keep all materials for life. We hope you enjoy it. We certainly loved creating it for you. Visit www.MarketingWithoutSocialMedia.com for details.
Closing Words
We’re not saying “you shouldn’t use social media” or “you should quit.” That’s a personal decision that only you can make. What feels right for one person—or company—may not feel right for another.
However, we want to emphasize that social media is an optional part of your marketing toolkit, not a must-do. You can use it, or not, and you can be successful either way. There are many examples of businesses that do not use social media. In fact, one-third of small businesses in the U.S. do not have any social media presence whatsoever. Like us, they use other methods to find customers. This is more common than you may think.
Lastly, we want to emphasize this:
The #1 best marketing strategy is to be excellent at whatever you do.
Create a product or service that is so good, people can’t stop talking about it. Serve people at the highest level—so every customer immediately tells 10 friends about you. Make sure that each customer gets exactly what they paid for, keep your promises, be on time, be kind and gracious, and establish an impeccable reputation in your industry. This is the best way to get more sales flowing in the door. Social media: not required.