Interview – Sam Milburn Of Sam Milburn Digital Marketing
Invisible To Influential is an inclusive business membership that helps you to get more visible in your business and make more money.
All designed for neurodivergent brains, Maddy the founder wanted to help neurodivergent people in an easy to understand format.
Every month you get masterclasses on things that will help you to grow your business, you get your content reviewed 4 times a week, tips on specific platforms to help you to grow.
Discounted tickets to Visible Fest , Discounted 1:1s with Maddy, missions to help you to hit your goals.
It’s £27 a month but for you as readers of What’s Good To Do you can use discount code “WGTD” and get 50% off making it £13.50 per month!
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Now, here’s what lovely Sam Milburn of Sam Milburn Digital Marketing had to say…
How and when did your business start?
I started my business around 6 years ago when I realised that working a 9-5 just wasn’t working out for me and my family. As a parent of a neurodivergent child, things like after school clubs just didn’t suit and I was finding myself getting later into work after difficult mornings on the school run.
So I started to look at what I could do. I was working in marketing at the time, but I didn’t have the confidence back then to set up a marketing business so I started as a Virtual Assistant. A year or so in things were going well, so I got myself a coach who helped me with my mindset and confidence and I transitioned back into marketing which I absolutely love! Working with small business owners on their marketing challenges and seeing them grow brings me a lot of joy.
What have been your biggest business challenges?
For me it always comes back to balancing work with life. I had a year when my son was very unwell and housebound so I dialled back on the business and found a work from home part time marketing role to take the pressure off. When you work for yourself it does give you more freedom in terms of when and how you work, but it’s also all encompassing, it take up a lot of brain time! When you work for someone else you can draw that line between homelife and work. It’s hard to do that with your own business. I think I’ve got the balance right now, but it’s taken time to figure out how to do that and it’s always a work in progress.
What advice would you give to anyone thinking of starting a business?
1.Figure out what it is that you really love to do. And then figure out what you’re really good at. And combine the two. That’s when the magic happens.
2. Be yourself. As a digital marketer I spend a lot of time online and I see the same kinds of content over and over. Remember that what sets you apart is you – so you need to get that across to people.
3. Try not to get swept up in other people’s versions of success. If your aim is to turnover 1K a month then make that your goal and revisit it when you get there. The success part might be that you get to do the school run every day. Success doesn’t have to be monetary.
What do you like best about being in Maddy Alexander-Grout’s Invisible To Influential membership?
It’s great for accountability. I have ADHD so consistency in my own marketing is not always there. Maddy is great at nudging us and giving feedback so we can keep tweaking and testing. This is the most crucial part of marketing that people forget about. Marketing is often like a science experiment. You keep trying things in slightly different ways to see what works.
Even as a qualified professional marketer I recognise that we can all learn from each other so even though me and Maddy have some similar knowledge we can always learn more from each other. It’s a very collaborative place where people doing similar things are friends which I love.
What tips would you give to any business owners who are finding it challenging?
Take a step back, or a day off, to reflect. Break it down. What are your challenges right now and where and when are they happening? Then start to solution seek. When you can really pinpoint the root of the problem then you can start to find solutions.
For example, if your challenge is not having time to post on social media start making a note of where you are spending your time and what on. Is there anything that you could reduce/change/delegate.
If you’re feeling close to burnout stop. Burnout is horrible and you will want to burn the whole business down! I’ve done that before – it’s the brains way of keeping itself safe as it starts to see your business as the threat. When in reality it’s not – it’s just that some things need to change.
Working with a coach is good for exploring these things as they can gently ask questions to get to the bottom of what is going on. A coach is someone who gets you to look inside and explore. They don’t offer advice – you already know the answers – they just help you to uncover them.
Have there been any recent wins that you would like to tell us about?
I started a podcast this year called ‘Could it be ADHD?’ which started as a passion project and has proved really popular! My social media channel for it had 9.2 millions views over 5 viral reels. Doing something totally different alongside my business really helped me to test and tweak marketing tactics – and I’ve now got a new series planned for next year that I hope to get sponsorship for it now I know what I’m doing!
Is there anything exciting coming up that you would like to tell us about?
In January I’m launching a membership for start-ups and small business owners called ‘The 10 Minute Marketing Hub’. The idea being that all video tutorials are less than 10 minutes long. Many of us have limited time (and limited brain space!) and I find long tutorials really difficult to follow myself. When I don’t follow them, I don’t implement the work.
I want this to be a place that people can come and learn, and then get accountability to actually do the thing! To make marketing really easy to do. Blocks with marketing tech and knowing the ‘best way’ to do things can really stop small businesses putting in place the marketing processes they need in their business. I’m hoping this will change all of that.
I love the Pareto principle which is the 80/20 rule. What 20% of work can you do to get 80% of the results. In other words, what do you really need to concentrate on to make the most impact. That’s what I want to show people.
Which activities do you enjoy doing in your leisure time?
I love walking and training my dogs. I have a working cocker spaniel and a border collie so they are pretty active dogs. I’m also into every craft going. From knitting to drawing and painting. It changes on a monthly basis. I’ve always been creative and a crafter – there’s never just one thing that I’m into.
I once saw a stamp picture in a magazine and spent the next 6 months collecting huge bags of stamps off ebay, sorting them into colour groups and creating giant ombre effect montages which are now framed and up on my walls at home. So anything goes!
Contact info:
You can find me on Instagram www.instagram.com/sammilburndigitalmarketing or contact me by email to find out about my ‘done for you’ services hello@sammilburndigitalmarketing.com
You can also find more details about me on my website www.sammilburndigitalmarketing.com
And join my waiting list to find out more about ‘The 10 Minute Marketing Hub’ here 10 Minute Marketing Hub Waitlist — Sam Milburn Digital Marketing