Today we’d like to introduce you to Elisabeth Bachmann.
Hi Elisabeth, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I graduated college in December 2019 — right before the pandemic. I went looking for public relations and marketing jobs because I had a shiny new Strategic Communications degree, and I managed to get a position at a small PR firm in Grand Rapids, Michigan. But a few months later, things changed. The world shut down.
And I started looking for another position. But this time, I’m job hunting for a marketing job in the middle of a pandemic, so… I’m sure many of you reading this know exactly what that looked like. I did end up finding a position at a company that specialized in publicity for authors. I was a social media coordinator, but my job, like many jobs at smaller companies, was a lot more than that. I started building digital strategies for new clients in addition to managing their social media accounts.
Fast forward about 10 months and several incredibly unpleasant client experiences, and I decided I didn’t want someone else picking who I was working with. And frankly, I didn’t want someone else picking how much I was paid either… don’t even get me started on the phrase “pay your dues” unless you’re looking for a 30-minute soap box. (I STRONGLY believe in value over years of experience.)
Either way, that’s why I started Wildflower. I wanted to use my degree and my skills, and I wanted independence and autonomy. Flash forward a few years and we’ve got a steady client base and a small team. I’m building social media strategies for a wide variety of industries, developing relationships through networking events, and learning something new every single day.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Of course, it hasn’t been a smooth road! You’d be hard-pressed to find any entrepreneur who honestly found this easy from the beginning.
Things that were hard? Ha!
– Convincing people to invest in my services before anyone in my community knew who I was
– Building packages and figuring out pricing
– Figuring out when to hire help and then who to hire
– Letting go of people (contractors AND clients)
– Revenue going way up and then plummeting back and doing it all over again
– Project management + not having any real time off
Look — starting your own business is hard work. Unless you have some type of business education, you’re about to learn a bunch of things the hard way that you haven’t even thought to worry about because you didn’t know they existed. But it’s also actually doable. Find your tribe. Find mentors. Invest in skill development. You shouldn’t do it on your own.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Wildflower Social Media is a social media company that focuses on social media STRATEGY. With the exception of our “Deep Dive” consulting call, everything we do starts with the development of a social media strategy. Why? Because social media does not work without a strategy. Period. We offer both management and consulting services.
Your social media should be supporting your business goals. Whether that is brand recognition + awareness or leads or hiring, you have to identify what you want your social media to do for it to work. Which is why we emphasize strategy.
We currently work with a wide variety of clients:
– Attorneys
– Skilled trades
– Photographers
– Coaches/Consultants
– Nonprofits
– Business associations
And we are open to working with clients that do not fall within the above categories.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Who you surround yourself with really is a strong indicator as to how this will go. Building a business can feel overwhelming and lonely. I cannot recommend business networking groups and investing in mentorship enough. There are no bonus points or gold stars for figuring it out all by yourself.
Pricing:
- Social Media Deep Dive Session – $297
- Contact us for other pricing (strategy, management, long-term consulting)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wildflowersocialmedia.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildflowrsocial/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildflowrsocial/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizannbach/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WildflowerSocialMedia
Image Credits
SQS Photography and Stuart Hasson Studios
