Community, Connection & Instagram with Bella Foxwell

Hi Bella! Please could you introduce your business to us…

I am an Instagram marketing strategist and educator that helps female business owners leverage Instagram to grow their presence, their community, and their bottom line.

What inspired you to start your business?

It’s a bit of a weird story, actually! I started my business as a result of a challenge I set myself back in 2015 when I was working at a digital marketing agency.

Then, Instagram was still incredibly “new” and my team and I were tasked with growing the Instagram accounts of B2C brands like Canon and Disney Baby from zero followers to big, engaged communities in a matter of months.

I wanted to see whether the same strategies I was applying to these big brands could work for someone like me. I picked my niche – front doors in London, which I knew would work well because architecture in London is very popular on Instagram (even more so in 2015) – and set about growing the account.

Fast-forward to 2019. The challenge worked. I’d grown to 70k followers and been featured in some amazing publications (The Telegraph, Lonely Planet, The Observer to name but a few). And, I’d generated enough consultancy work on the side of my corporate 9-6 to go freelance and become my own boss.

I quit my day job in December 2019 and started life as my own boss in January 2020.

I’m definitely an early bird! I love to wake up early (around 6 a.m.), make coffee, and start working at my desk. My energy levels and focus really drop around 3 p.m., so the sooner I can crack on with work the better!

What value do you hope to bring to your clients and customers? How do you hope your work makes them feel?

I really hope my work gives clients the confidence to create content and build relationships with their customers on Instagram. 

Instagram can feel very overwhelming with a new feature being launched every other week (or so it seems!) and while it definitely does require planning and a strategy, it doesn’t have to be complicated.

Seeing clients make great content that performs really well, generating interest from, and conversation with, dream clients is my favourite part of the job.

How do you hope to be unedited in your business? How do you seek to be authentic and true in your work?

Doing the work that I do, it’s very easy to slip into the comparison-itis trap and get obsessed with what everyone else is doing online (and especially on Instagram!). 

As much as possible, I try to listen to my gut and strike a balance between heeding the advice of others more advanced than myself while also trusting that I know what I’m doing. When I manage this, that’s when I feel my most authentic. It’s definitely something I have to practice!

What’s been the biggest high of your business journey so far?

Signing my first proper long-term 1:1 client. It was wonderful validation and the best part? She was a *dream* client!

What was your greatest fear when you started your business?

Running out of money. I’m not really afraid of “failing” per se. Failing to me would be not going after your dreams and trying things that may or may not be successful. As a natural worrier, I always have finances in the back of my mind! 

How do you overcome self-doubt as a small business owner?

Chat to other people in a similar situation. Joining a female networking group and a paid community program at the beginning of 2020 were vital to giving me the confidence and the community I needed to believe in myself.

How do you make sure to have time for yourself as a business owner?

I’m not very good at this. Thankfully I have a very lovely boyfriend who tells me to stop working so hard and enjoy my life (aka my evenings and weekends!). In 2021, I’d like to be better at prioritising time away from screens and devices.

Finally, if you could give one piece of advice to a new business owner what would it be?

Join some kind of community – and one that costs at least something per month, so that you end up in a group of people who are invested in their success and the success of others (i.e. you!) It doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg – £10, £20 per month is enough – but that community, support and the referrals will generate you are priceless.