Sarah Thomson is the owner and founder of Online Social Butterfly, a digital marketing agency specialising in training and coaching to help female entrepreneurs build their empires online. Established in 2011, Online Social Butterfly offers a range of online courses and workshops that have been designed to provide knowledge, guidance and confidence in the fast-paced digital marketing landscape.
For more information, visit onlinesocialbutterfly.com.au
Here we sit down with Sarah, to know a bit more about her journey as an entrepreneur.
Q. Tell us a little more about your journey as an entrepreneur – how did you get started? What inspired you?
Sarah: I left the world of corporate marketing when my sons were young. I decided that I simply was not managing the juggle of motherhood with a career. I actually didn’t know what I was going to do, I just knew I couldn’t handle the juggle anymore.
Having worked in marketing and communications for over 15 years, I thought that starting a marketing consultancy would be easy but I soon realised that in my hometown of Perth, there wasn’t a huge demand for this.
After a whole load of NOs, I finally had a small business owner say that she would engage me to work on her social media marketing. It proved to be a minor course correction at the time that set me on the path to becoming a digital marketing expert.
All that was over 10 years ago and now I get to work with clients I love helping them grow their business using digital marketing – it is the best feeling!
Q. What’s one thing in your routine that you do consistently that has made a huge difference in your personal or business life?
Sarah: I love to go for a daily walk with my husband (who also works in the business ) and our 2 dogs. Whether it is a quick 15 minutes around the block or a lovely long walk through the bush, it always clears my mind and focuses me. If I miss this, I notice a difference in my productivity.
Image Credit: AJ Harrington
Q. Who are your mentors and inspiration? and what knowledge or insight did they give to you that was valuable?
Sarah: My journey as a digital marketer was shaped by some strong and inspirational women.
Very early in my business journey, I met Claire Mitchell, owner of The Girls Mean Business. She is based in the UK and running online courses, I took lots of these in the early days that helped me shape my business and my service offering.
Fast forward a few years later and I purchased a course called Lucky Bitch Bootcamp by Denise Duffield-Thomas. This course is something that I have gone back to time and again as understanding your money blocks is one of the key steps to growing your business.
Whilst I have never met either of these ladies, I have spent a silly amount of virtual time with them, hanging out in their courses, listening to their podcasts or reading their books.
Q. What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
Sarah: I think it was in February 2020 when I launched my first online course – this was a path I had wanted to pursue so long and it felt like it was years in the making.
Q. How do you market your business, and which tactics have been most successful?
Sarah: I market my business mostly online but have also used traditionally face-to-face networking as well. My most successful tactic has been running very targeted Facebook Ad Campaigns to attract people onto my email list and into my community.
Image Credit: AJ Harrington
Q. What have been your biggest failures or challenges?
Sarah: I think it was the length of time that it took me to create my first digital course. I suspect it was a thought or desire for about 5 years. Looking back, I realise it was my mindset rather than the tech that was holding me back!
Q. How did this failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
Sarah: Whilst I often feel disappointed that it took me so long to create my first digital course, I now realise that I was on my own journey and that it happened at the right time. You definitely grow with confidence and I am sure that my extensive business experience set me up for success when I did finally launch.
Q. If someone was to create a TV show about you, what would it be about and what would it be called?
Sarah: Progress not Perfection!
To keep up to date with Sarah and her journey, connect with her on Facebook, and Instagram.
