Introducing My New Offer: The Business Sheppard

Stacey offers business branding and marketing support

For the past four years, I have diligently focused on building this community. I have done my best to uplift you and create opportunities for you to thrive. I have promoted your products and services, invited you to run workshops, shared your offers and done everything in my power to help you grow. I have also looked out for your well-being and tried to pre-empt your needs.

I realise now that I have been pursuing the model of shepherd leadership. You can read my other blog post to find out more about what it means to be a shepherd leader.

Since I opened The Tribe in 2020, so many women have asked me to be their coach or mentor, but those words didn’t resonate for me and I couldn’t give myself that title. But that is not to say that I cannot fulfil that role. I just didn’t like the label.

The truth of the matter is that I have a lot of business experience and skills that I have gained in 14 years of self-employment building two successful and multi-award-winning businesses.

As well as running The Tribe, I am a freelance writer, professional blogger and editor of one of the UK’s top 10 interior design blogs. I have a client roster that includes the likes of Samsung, DFS, Dulux, Magnet Kitchens, Wayfair, John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Rug Doctor, Tesco, Velux, Duravit, Liebherr, Ufurnish.com, Very, Balsam Hill not to mention the hundreds of lesser-known home interior brands that come to me for content creation to help them market their business. I’ve even spoken on stage at Grand Designs Live and guest-starred on The Gadget Show on national TV.

I have almost 15 years of experience in journalism, branding, PR, marketing (content marketing, digital marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing), community building and communications. These are all skills that are invaluable when starting and growing a business.

And yet for most people, marketing themselves is deeply uncomfortable. It feels wrong to promote ourselves and big ourselves up and shout about how great we are. Many of us confuse sales and marketing which simply amplifies the problem and makes us even less inclined to show up. I’m not immune to this by the way. I have found promoting this new service extremely uncomfortable. It’s natural. But we must get over this if we want our business to be successful.

Where I have no problem with this whatsoever, is helping you to market yourself. Your business is not personal to me, I have no emotional attachment to it. I haven’t spent time working in it and it is not tied up to my self-worth. I can be subjective. I can see what you need to do, what your strategy could be, what your message should be. I can see what you can’t because you are too close to your own business.

So whilst I may not want to be anyone’s “coach” or “mentor”, it has got to the point that I can now no longer refuse to help my community when they need it. It feels like I have a responsibility to use my gifts to help others. The good news is, I now have a new word that I feel absolutely comfortable using to label this role. I am now a Business Sheppard! I’ve been The Design Sheppard since 2009, and now I’m The Business Sheppard too!!!

What is The Business Sheppard and How Can I Help you?

Much like a coach or mentor, I will act as your guide and help you with business branding and marketing support. Things I can help with include:

• Creating a strong brand for your business.
• Building the foundations to attract your ideal clients and turn them into paying customers.
• Working out which marketing activities will work best for you and your business.
• Creating a marketing strategy that you can actually stick to
• Working out your marketing messaging and how to deliver that message
• Using the power of AI to help you with your marketing strategy
• Showing up on social media and knowing what to share, why and when
• Starting an Email newsletter and sending it out regularly
• Starting a blog and creating optimised posts that drive traffic and educate readers
• Getting in the press
• Doing all of this without abandoning yourself or being inauthentic.

If you need help getting visible, showing up, building trust and above all being consistent as you build your business through marketing, The Business Sheppard is for you.

What Can The Business Sheppard Not Help You With?

Sales! I cannot promise or guarantee that you will make more sales if you work with me. Sales and marketing are different things. Marketing builds awareness of your business and helps you to attract leads. Sales is the process that converts those leads into actual purchases.

One of the main reasons that small businesses fail is a lack of adequate marketing and publicity. You could have the best product or service in the world but if you are not getting in front of your ideal client and taking them on a customer journey with your marketing, nobody will be buying from you or paying for your services.

The saying “If you build it they will come” is only true if you tell them where you are, how to get there, and how to buy from you once they arrive. This is marketing!

Is The Business Sheppard Right for You?

Working with me is right for you if you answer yes to the following statements:

• You like the way I market my business
• You share my values
• You want to market your business in a way that allows you to be authentically you
• You want to feel good about showing up and sharing your business
• You want clarity about your marketing
• You want a strategy
• You want to be consistent
• You want some accountability
• You want support from someone who is gentle but also tough
• You are willing to be patient and are in this for the long game
• You are ready to move outside your comfort zone
• You truly believe in your business and its impact
• You believe in yourself and your abilities and you know you’ve got what it takes

I read last week that 50% of people want to start their own business, but only 4% of people actually do. If you’ve taken the leap already you probably have no idea how brave you are. Starting is the hardest part and you’ve already made the decision to do that. So now you just have to build and show up for your business consistently. I can help you with that!

What outcome can I expect?

As I help you with business branding and marketing support, you will no longer feel frustrated and stuck when it comes to marketing. You will no longer feel guilty because you’re not promoting your business. You will no longer feel confused and uninspired when it comes to content creation. You will no longer feel like you are talking into a void or wonder if you are saying the right things. You will no longer feel overwhelmed by all the things you think you SHOULD be doing. You will feel confident about showing up for your business.

How can you work with me?

I am offering a 6-month Business Sheppard programme to help you with business branding and marketing support. You get an hour-long 1:1 with me every month for 6 months and email access to me throughout the programme for continued support and accountability. We will work out your goals and a strategy to get there and then we will implement it. The programme will be unique to your needs and something that you feel comfortable implementing and sticking to over the long term. I promise I won’t force you to make Reels if you really don’t want to!

What is the cost?

The cost of the 6-month business branding and marketing support programme is £720. This can be paid upfront or in monthly installments of £120. It doesn’t cost you any more money to pay in installments as I don’t believe that it is ethical to charge people more if they can’t afford to pay upfront.

What happens after the 6 months?

After the six months is up, you can carry on with the strategy we set in motion for you on your own. You should have learnt enough to take the momentum that we created and simply continue on the journey we plotted for you. This is my goal for you anyway!

If, however, you need or want ongoing business branding and marketing support, you can continue on a rolling monthly basis until you feel confident enough to go it alone. Or you can book individual sessions when you feel like you need extra guidance.

How do I book?

Before you sign up to work with me, I invite you to a free 1 hr meeting in-person or online. During this time we will talk about your business and how it is going. I will ask you questions to get to know you and your business better. We will talk about what’s going well, where you’re struggling. We’ll talk about what success looks like to you and how you measure that. We’ll talk about what you most enjoy when it comes to marketing your business and what absolutely has you running for the hills and burying your head in the sand.

If after the meeting you decide we’re a good fit and you want to work with me, we’ll get your six months of dates locked in and get started.

If you have any questions about The Business Sheppard programme please do not hesitate to get in touch.