Entrepreneur Inés Ruiz: How to Connect with Your Audience

When it comes to social media, there are always new strategies, techniques, secrets, and tricks popping up that promise to get you results to grow your business and increase followers. Entrepreneur Inés Ruiz says one way to stand out against the competition is to engage with your community and listen to your audience to help solve their problems.

“Marketing is not one size fits all. I think it’s important that entrepreneurs, especially those just starting out, don’t get caught up in another person’s formula or cookie-cutter strategies,” she says.

Inés Ruiz is the founder and CEO of Diary of an Entrepreneur, a free membership community for women in businesses. She also created ELEInternacional, and the award-winning Medita Spanish, the world’s first guided meditation and language app. 

Inés breaks down her top social media techniques, why you don’t need to buy every course out there, and how to tackle imposter syndrome.

1. Are you listening to your audience?

“Every market, every business, every client base is different,” says Inés.

The biggest thing entrepreneurs need to focus on is intimately knowing their audience and the kind of communication they need from them. This is how you focus on what converts your business and clients and gets you the most ROI.

Don’t waste too much time on paid courses that promise results, but instead only fill up your inbox with self-promotion and empty hustle.

• Invest your time and energy in getting to know your audience.
• Use the data to see what types of posts get the most engagement.
• Use polls regularly to make sure you are addressing your audience’s needs and learn where your focus might be lacking. 

2. Focus on Quality Content

“Quality is where most of a business’s time should be spent. Building quality content, courses, communication, and relationships,” says Inés.

Inés used metrics to figure out what her audience wanted and started to repurpose major content into minor content to make it easier to streamline the process for her team.

“We also have people who focus daily on engaging with our audience, so we remain active and connected,” she says.

• Always think in terms of quality over quantity.
• Create a content calendar to set yourself up for success and keep your team organized. 

3. Connect + Engage

“We try to always look at what’s going on and innovate and test to see what works and what doesn’t. That includes video, text, quotes, content, and freebies,” says Inés.

There isn’t a one size fits all social media formula for every business out there. When creating content, ask yourself if you are bringing something valuable to the table so you can create an emotional impact.  

• Spend some time trying to find what resonates with your audience and find new ways to connect.
• Create a mix of posts that start conversations with your audience.

4. Stay in Your Lane

“If you focus and stay in your own lane, your purpose will always be clear, and you will stay connected to your audience.” 

With so many distractions coming to us from all angles, it’s easy to lose track of things. You can make the process easier for yourself and your team by being more purposeful with your actions and strategy. Don’t worry too much about what everyone else is doing.

Learn from your struggles and celebrate your wins.

5. How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome

“Even after I created a business that sold over a million courses, I still felt that I wasn’t good enough. I didn’t think anyone would trust me because I just thought I got lucky. I kept questioning: WHO AM I to do this?”

If you’ve ever had doubts about what you are doing or trying to achieve, YOU are not alone. We’ve all been there. It’s during these times that you have to learn to trust yourself more.  

“We seek coaches, experts, mentors, programs…but usually, we’re seeking these things for the wrong reasons. We’re doing it for outside validation. I think it’s important to still seek help but do it for the support, not for validation and not for somebody to tell us what to do just because we doubt ourselves,” she says. 

Inés has two Master’s Degree in e-learning and education. She was a professor at Cambridge University, where she created one of the first online learning environments for the Spanish department. As a child, she developed an allergy that left her almost blind and had to have 15 surgeries. In early 2017, she learned she had adult ADHD. 

She overcame any self-doubt and learned how to tackle imposter syndrome to focus on building a million-dollar business. “I hope to inspire women to trust themselves and learn to believe in themselves,” she says. 

Inés Ruiz’s Biggest Takeaways

• Create a routine and stick to it. 
• Delegate as often as you can. 
• Create a schedule to keep up with your appointments. 

“If something isn’t in your wheelhouse, delegate to someone else who knows and does it better. This is how I was able to build my business successfully and start thinking like a CEO instead of a startup.” 

Follow Inés Ruiz: Diary of an Entrepreneur on Instagram @diaryofanentrepreneurofficial.

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