Nikita Dixon is the owner of Story Sense, and I first met her when she joined a big marketing online course I ran during lockdown called "Level Up Your Online Presence".
At the time, Nikita had a website she'd built herself using Weebly. She had a logo but no other brand guidelines, and wanted to get her business found more online. The course she did covered a bit of everything, including working on identifying your target audience, how to improve your website to appeal to that audience, what to include on it and convert better, SEO training, creating brand guidelines for your business, social media training, blogging, Google and Facebook ads... we packed in a LOT! It ran from 22nd Feb - 10th April 2021.
I caught up with her this week to find out how things have been going since then, and how my advice and training has helped her business in the last 3 years...
Hi Nikita! Can you start off by telling us more about you, and your business
I'm Nikita Dixon, founder and franchisor of Story Sense, a company dedicated to igniting children's imaginations through the power of storytelling. As a Story Play Specialist and a mum of three, I understand the importance of engaging and educational play. At Story Sense, we create immersive, narrative-driven experiences that captivate young minds and foster a lifelong love of stories. We use a mixture of real-life images, sensory equipment and a unique class structure to make sure we support each child's development. Through our lively story sessions, interactive play, and creative activities, we aim to foster a lifelong love of stories in every child. We are dedicated to making storytelling accessible and enjoyable, working closely with parents, educators, and communities to bring a whole range of sessions to the UK. We work with preschools and nurseries with our outreach sessions and now work with schools to provide classes, PPA cover and after school clubs to support children up to the age of 11 to become storytellers. From parties to special events, we cater for everyone!
What challenges or struggles did you have that made you decide to get some help and join the course I was running?
I joined Fran's marketing challenge which gave so much fantastic information and tips that I then joined her marketing course. I was particularly interested in learning more about brand guidelines and SEO for my website as I was planning on franchising my business at the time and needed to have certain things in place for franchisees to be able to take on board too. I needed my website to now work not just for me locally but across the UK and I had no idea where to start.
And how did it help you?
All the tips and information about what SEO is and how it works was really helpful for me to go back to my website and play around with the key words on the page to make it work for me. I have been able to take this skill and apply it to growing the franchise too, giving my franchisees the best chance of being found in their area. The brand guidelines meant I actually changed my branding colours to more align with my vision for the future. With a clear brand guideline, franchisees know exactly what they can and can't do so we are recognisable across the UK.
I can't remember how many the course included but it was a lot and every session was jam packed with useful information. There was no point in the course where I thought I hadn't learnt something new. The sessions were informative, well structured and easy to follow.
After the course, what did you do with what you learnt?
There was so much covered that I had to write a to do list of things I needed to go and work on. I still have that list and I am slowly ticking things off as they come up. Some things were vital to do straight away such as the SEO and brand guidelines where as others I could take my time with. I still work on SEO all the time and have big plans for the website for the second half of this year.
And has it made a difference to your business?
Absolutely! The brand guidelines in particular are keeping everyone in check!
Anything else you'd like to say about working with me?
Just a big thank you for all your help and support with marketing. I learnt so much in a short space of time which has been invaluable for my business.
Be sure to check out Nikita's Website, and see all of this in action! Vist www.storysense.co.uk
You can also find her on social media:
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