Marketing is like a puzzle, and fitting all the pieces together—from website design to SEO to link building—can be overwhelming. That’s why marketing consultant Joana Veiga Ferreira always suggests keeping things simple. 

Whether Joana is helping a well-established or brand-new business grow their online presence, she starts with the same approach: The first step is refreshing your website and simplifying all your online material. And making sure your content is all about your customer and what you can do for them.

Tune in to today’s episode to hear Joana chat with Shaheen Samavati about what she’s learned over her decade-long career in digital marketing and how she supports small businesses through her agency JVF Marketing. Joana also shares key tips for successfully redesigning your website, content creation, guest blogging and more.

You can watch the full conversation in the video above or on YouTube, and listen to the podcast on Apple or Spotify.

Rapid-fire recs  

• Tools: 
  • Squarespace: “I particularly love Squarespace. I think for a small business, it’s the best tool [for website building], because it’s so intuitive and so easy to use.”
  • LinkedIn. “LinkedIn is a great place to find opportunities [for link building and guest blogging]. If you connect with the right people and you stay in touch and you check your newsfeed, you might find opportunities here and there.”
  • Haro. “I think it’s great. I use it for when I’m writing content and I want to find opportunities where I can talk about my brand or my client’s brand. On the flip side, sometimes I’ll put a Haro request out for people to contact me if they want to be on my article.”

• Publications: Blogs. “Blogs are the best source of online learning for me. When it comes to digital marketing and content I like HubSpot, Neil Patel, State of Digital, Think with Google etc. for learning about new techniques. I also read quite a few blogs for freelancers and self-employed. These include Talented Ladies Club, The Freelance Lifestyle, Kat Boogaard, just to name a few. I’m always finding new resources depending on what I’m looking for.”

• Books: Romance novels. “I’m not the best person to ask about books. When I need to read for work purposes, I turn to the web as it’s more up to date. Books for me are a hobby and for that I go for fiction or romance novels. I’m a big fan of Paulo Coelho and Nicholas Sparks.” 

• Apps: AppBlock. “It’s an app that blocks you from using other apps! Sounds counterintuitive but I’m a big believer in looking after your mental health, and always searching for that perfect work-life balance. And I wasn’t getting that, because I was always checking emails, Slack and messages at random hours. So I installed this app to stop me from accessing Gmail and Slack in the evenings and weekends. It has really changed my lifestyle for the better.” 

• Sources of inspiration: “This depends on the context. It could be a blog, it could be another freelancer or another business. It could be from a completely unrelated source—like going for a walk and feeling inspired. Inspiration can come from anywhere as long as you are open to it.” 

“Keep things simple. Simplify your online material, simplify your website and speak to your audience about what you do for them. Don’t make it all about you—it should be about the problems that you solve for the customer, rather than how amazing you are. You are amazing, but you can get that across in a much more relatable way if you flip it around.”

Connect with Joana and Shaheen on LinkedIn.

This post was edited by Daphne Binioris.

For more tips on how to grow your online presence:

• Every business needs social media
• Knowing your audience is the key to great marketing: 20 quotes from industry experts
• How to build meaningful client relationships with long-lasting results
• Best content marketing platforms and tools: A comprehensive list
• Content marketing for small businesses: 3 takeaways from major world conferences

To read the full transcript, click on page number 2 below.