Are you ready to conquer your fear of reels whether it’s of the tech or just being the face of your brand? Expert advice is you have to show your face on video and you need to start using reels to increase your reach. That is only partially true. But here’s the thing, you can actually use reels without showing your face! 

Today’s guest is Allison Scholes and she is going to share some tips that will help you push through the fear that has been holding you back! She also shares some time saving tips to help with content creation that you don’t want to miss.

Shannon Baker  

So I want to thank everyone for joining me for this week’s podcast, which is a chat. It’s actually the first chat on the podcast this year. And I’m excited because I’m chatting with my biz bestie, coffee buddy, podcast bestie. We’re like sisters, like soul sisters – like deeply. It’s Allison Scholes. And she’s actually been on the podcast before. So if you want to check out that episode, it’s episode number 39. And Allison shared tips to help us learn how to use Instagram effectively to grow our business as busy mompreneurs.  So she gives tips that are going to save you some time. And we’re going to even expand on that a little bit more. But specifically, talking about reels today and getting over the fear of using reels on Instagram. So, Allison, since you were on the podcast, before, your business has gone through a little bit of change, because we were talking about before I started recording. So this kind of came to mind because both of us are entering like new phases of our journey as mompreneurs. Spring is coming, so this new season this like renewed energy, the ways we show up taking action, which this fits right in. So what’s on the horizon for you? Because I know we talked about it a little bit.

Allison Scholes  

Oh, gosh, I feel like there’s so much on the horizon, right? You know, it’s funny, because we were just talking about, like our journey, or evolution of our businesses, and how the two of us have changed so much. And, you know, to really like get through the change is just to get clarity on like, what you want in life and what you want for your business. And that’s how I kind of had this recent evolution because I was feeling that I was getting pulled in all the directions and feeling very stretched. And as a creative entrepreneur, I think being creative can be a double edged sword. Because yes, it’s great to be creative. But then you also feel that you’re going to do all the things. And that’s kind of where I was for a while I was doing all the things.  I recently just told you that I actually had to pull back on my podcast a little bit. I asked God for clarity on that. And you know, I just got the answer that I needed. But right now I am just diving deep into helping my busy Christian mompreneurs create the content that they want. But they’re going to do it in a way that’s faster, and it’s easier. And it’s just going to help them be more consistent, where they want to show up and just do what feels good to them. And not feel that these social media platforms, especially Instagram is sucking their soul. I’m all about making, creating content and showing up online and a fun way and not let it be overwhelming and daunting. So I feel like it’s always this roller coaster ride. But I have to enjoy it and I have to embrace it. And I know you have embraced your roller coaster ride as well.

Shannon Baker  

I mean, even to the point where as you mentioned, social media can suck the life out of you. So I mean, that’s why I took like a four and a half, almost five month break from it. Because I just needed the space. And as you mentioned, we’re constantly creating content, social media, your podcast, like everything, and it’s like you’re always in creation. Well, even if you’re recreating using what you already have, it still requires some effort and for all the things we have going on outside, you’re a homeschool mom, you know, when you put mommy into the the everyday things that we do. And then I’m also mom, my daughter is older, but I have a day job. So it’s like we have all these different things that pull out us. Time is always of the essence.  And I appreciate your approach to content creation because it has definitely saved me a lot of time. Helped me simplify my thinking. And my approach. And the great thing with it is you can use the content even outside of Instagram, even though that’s you know what we’re gonna talk about specifically. But your approach to content creation works across the board. Yes. So now when it comes to using Instagram, how do you suggest we approach getting that into like our system especially to help market and grow our business?

Allison Scholes  

So I think when it comes to Instagram, a lot of people will initially think of all the features and they’ll immediately start thinking about Instagram Stories, Instagram reels, the DMs, and video. So you can think of Instagram is just a bunch of different little cities or communities right? And you’re constantly running to one or the other. And that’s why it gets so overwhelming, in my opinion. So I think it’s a really great idea before you tell yourself, like, I’m going to get on Instagram, and I’m going to build my presence, and I’m going to get the leads. And I’m going to get the sales. We’ve all said that. I know I have said that in the past. I’m sure you thought that too in the past. But I think we need to take a step back. And we need to look at the big picture of Instagram, because it is a massive community, you’re not going to get on and have that overnight success, which I don’t think overnight success even exists for anybody in the world, unless you buy a lottery ticket, and you happen to win, but most likely, you’re going to blow it within the first year because you really don’t know what to do with it.  

But when it comes to Instagram, what the big picture is, is I’d like to call it my three C’s and Shannon, I know you have heard my three C’s to how to approach Instagram. And what they are is clarity, content, and consistency. And in the beginning, most people roll their eyes and go, I’ve heard that before. But you might have heard it from experts or gurus when they’re talking about a specific feature. They’re not talking about the big picture. So when it comes to clarity, you have to really decide for yourself, who you are, and what you’re meant to do. But also when it comes to clarity, what do you want to be known for? Because we really show up on Instagram, and what do we do, we start consuming everyone else’s content, and we’re watching what everyone else is doing. And you’re gonna fall into the hamster wheel of mimicking what they’re doing. And I’ve done it too. I’ve seen other amazing Instagram coaches like Jasmine star, two years ago, I was probably copying her exact strategy because she seemed so successful to me. But I didn’t have clarity on myself. I didn’t understand who I wanted to be, and what I wanted to be known for.  So I think you have to work through that first, before you can even begin to create your content. 

And once you know what you stand for, and what you want to be known for, that’s how you can really start to create your own authentic content. And I know that’s another buzzword. A lot of people are so sick and tired of hearing about authentic content. But to me, all it means is it, you just take what you’ve learned. Because I’ve learned so much from other coaches, I’ve taken so many courses and listening to other podcasters. take what you’ve learned. And all you have to do is infuse your personality with it. And infuse your experience and your overall life experience with it. That is authentic content. And that’s all it needs to be it doesn’t need to be something that is completely brand new. Because really is there anything really brand new, it’s all been done before. It’s just you’re doing it in your own way. 

And then the last part of that is creating consistency.  And the good news is you get to define what that is for you do not listen to any coaches or gurus or mentors saying, Well, if you want growth, or you want the 10,000 followers, you need to post two times a day, seven days a week for three months. I’m sorry, being a mompreneur. And I think she would agree with me that is not sustainable. No way and you will not repeat that. So your consistency is really your consistency pattern. What can you do over and over and over to show up for your audience. Serve your audience make an impact online. That’s all consistency is it’s creating that pattern that’s sustainable, so you can have that long term growth.

Shannon Baker  

And to piggyback off of what Allison said about authenticity, if you follow her online and you’re a Marvel fan, she is a Loki fanatic and always reminds us don’t be Loki when it comes to your content because that is frustrating because it’s not really you. So I also love your approach because it’s like okay, here’s an idea for you that you can use in your content. But do it your way, even down to using reels, which Allison knows I’ve only dabbled into reels because of her help in her urging me because I am not a reels fan. But keep that in mind. For me. It wasn’t really fear. It was just um, I was over it before it even got started. Because to me, it mimicked Tik Tok. So reels to me was like Loki. Right. So, reels is the popular trendy feature right now on Instagram. How can we start using reels and get over that initial fear that many people have?

Allison Scholes  

First of all, I would identify what is the fear? Is it getting your face in front of the camera? Is it the tech? Is it a fear of what other people will think about your reels? Is it a fear of time? Do you feel that you’re going to spend so much time creating the reels, and you’re not going to get anything out of it? So I think first identifying getting specific of what really that fear is about reels, identifying what that is, is actually going to help you take responsible responsibility for that reel. And then tell yourself okay, now that I’ve identified it, I’m not going to let it take control. And now I can move on. So I think number one, identify what that fear is.  Secondly, it’s super easy to fall into the scroll of reels. There’s nothing wrong with getting ideas and watching what other people are doing. But I think and like you said, it’s like watching, you know, Tik Tok’s, twin sister, or you know twin brother, and they’re everyone’s pointing to text bubbles and doing these crazy dances. I’m going to tell you right now, you do not have to do that to be successful with reels or so called go viral. I don’t like that term go viral. Just get that out of your head. Don’t worry about that.  You have to identify what is your goal with reels? Why do you even want to do them in the first place? Think about your audience. Are they going to consume reels? Think about the time that you have? Think about your niche, all of that stuff. What is your overall goal with reels? Are you trying to get a target audience? Or are you just trying to get more visibility and more eyeballs on your account. So you have to think about that first. 

But my best advice when it comes to starting with reels is stay within your niche. Don’t get too caught up in all of the trendy fun reels. There’s nothing wrong with doing that once in a while. But you want to make sure that the reels that you’re going to do, you want it to relate to you;what you stand for; like who you are and your business. Because you’re going to get the reach. But you want to make sure that you reach the right type of people.  A lot of times all the I see a lot of mentors or gurus out there saying if you do this trend, this trend, trend alert, trend alert, use this audio and point to these words, and you’re gonna get like 6,000 views. But if you do that, you’re getting all like these crazy usernames, and they’re not going to follow you with you and they’re not going to engage with you. So what was the purpose of getting all those views? Is it just so you can feel good about yourself, just to get metrics that really don’t mean anything. 

So don’t get caught up into the whole views, I would rather have less views. But it’s to my targeted audience. And I’m getting more comments and more saves and shares. Because that tells me in my Instagram insights that my audience likes the kind of content I’m putting into these reels. And they’re saving it for two reasons. Either they’ve learned something from it, and they want to refer back to it or it gave them a content idea. And they would like to do it for themselves in their business.  So when you’re first starting out with reels is just do two things, speak to your audience and show your face. All you have to do is share one to two tips or hacks that your audience can get a quick win, or they can implement immediately. And yes, you can use trendy music as background if you want to try to get the reach and the views. 

But think of your target audience every time you’re going to create a reel and instead of opening reels and dealing with all the tech and being nervous when the record button hits, I’m sure most of the audience has been in Instagram stories.  So just open up Instagram stories because now it allows you to record up to 60 seconds which is amazing. Speak into the camera and give your one to two tips right there, download it to your phone, right, and save it for later. And then you can upload it to your Instagram reels, you can add some text trending background. But there you go, start your Instagram stories where you’re already familiar with that neighborhood of Instagram, you already know how the buttons work, create your video right there, put on the fancy filter if you want, so you can look good, right? We all have our favorite filters. And that’s how I would get started is just teaching your audience something within your niche. And you really just need to start out with maybe one reel a week. And do that for a couple of months and see how it works for you.

Shannon Baker  

And then if the fear which you taught me because it was It wasn’t necessarily a fear for me. But once you’ve been working at home, you kind of get into a rhythm of, you know how you show up every day, which is not with the perfectly styled hair and the full makeup in the style clothes and all of that. So that may hold many of the listeners back from actually showing their face. But one thing I quickly learned from you was, I don’t have to show my face. But I’ve learned to do a combination of the two. So I may do a quick clip where I’m talking about what the reel is about. And then the rest of the reel is not my face, it’s me showing something else that like works really great. And then sometimes I don’t show my face at all, except for the cover image of the reel is a still shot of me that I’ve uploaded from my camera. So like with little tips like that any other tips that you can share to help those who buy might be like, Okay, I can do this, but I’m still not quite ready to show my face.

Allison Scholes  

So if nobody wants to show your face, there’s a couple of different content type ideas that you can do. You can do a screen recording tutorial, and you can do a voiceover you can record your voice and Instagram reels. Or you can also record your voice in one of my favorite apps that I talk about all the time it’s in shot, I find it so easy to use, you can do all your videos in there if you wanted to. You can even do like a photo collage with voiceover or trending music. You can even do a time lapse of a process. So if you are, I don’t know, maybe a fitness person, do a time lapse of your morning workout. Or if you are in to nutrition. And you’re always sharing recipes, do a time lapse of you putting together like maybe you bake gluten free bread, or you have the best smoothie recipe with all your greens and all your collagen and all of that packed in one little shake, you can do a time lapse.  

Let’s say you have physical products, maybe you can show the packaging of your product from how it starts on the line to how it’s being shipped out to your customer, do an office tour. That that would be a fun one, do your office tour and show on a daily basis like your three or four must haves that you can’t live without. And I guarantee the number one thing for Shannon I will be our big cup of coffee, that would definitely be in there. Or even take a tour through your your workday. Just take little video snips of how you start where you’re at mid morning. And then how you end your day. Maybe it’s always me putting my feet up in my basement with my kids and getting ready to binge Netflix like that’s how we end our day. 

You can even do testimonials, it would be awesome just to go in Canva and do the 9 to 16 ratio, which is the Instagram reels ratio. And you can do a nice animated slide of your testimonials. Or you can even create presentations right in Canva. So there’s a lot of ideas of not showing your face but trying to do voiceovers would actually be great practice. So the audience is like hearing your voice as you’re kind of giving a tour to whatever you’re going to teach that day.

Shannon Baker  

And one thing I’ve done to kind of test things out as well instead of uploading some reels to my actual feed, I just share them into stories because it’s just it’s a fun way to put little clips together. That still gives you the practice of using reels but you can kind of test run it by sharing it in stories. Now of course I have to record it and download it which I do automatically anyway because I’ve been the one to do all the stuff in reelsand then go to share it and it’s gone.  Number one, and when you start using reels, make sure you download your reel before you get out of Instagram, or you will lose it, you could lose it. So we’re gonna save you from that happening. But you’ve shared some great ideas to help everyone get started with reels, because like I said, it’s been a game changer of you helping me kind of reframe my mindset around using reels. And it’s a great way to convey information quickly. And it can be entertaining, without you having to do the bubble pointing, dancing, or the fancy transitions that most of us don’t have the time to practice and you know, get down. I love to see it. But no, I don’t know how to do the jumping out of your clothes thing. It’s a little too complicated for me.

Allison Scholes  

I do have one more tip because I think some people get stuck on Well, what kind of content do I put out? You know, they’re like, Okay, I’m gonna do a tip, or I’m gonna record my face or my voice, but they don’t know what to do. So if you’ve been on Instagram for a while, the first place that I would point you is your Instagram insights. Look at the posts for like the last year, or like the last three months, and see the top six to nine posts, which posts gave you the best reach the most saves and the most shares. Just repurpose that as a real so if you had a carousel that gave like three tips, and it was it was the top performing posts for you will take the content and then just repurpose it as a real so then now you can just speak those three tips because I’ll tell you something. I think a lot of people are really afraid to repurpose or reshare their content. But I’ll tell you right now, nobody remembers. Nobody remembers to be honest. Shannon is my online biz bestie I couldn’t tell you what she posted yesterday. I don’t remember I don’t even remember what I had for dinner yesterday. Um, when nobody remembers your content. So reshare, repurpose, reshare. Repurpose, like crazy. People probably think that I create endless content all the time. No, I don’t. That’s all I do is I use my insights. And I go grab the best performing content, and I tweak it and repurpose it. That’s all I do.

Shannon Baker  

And I started doing that. And even for things that were great tips, but maybe just the format wasn’t that great. I’ve taken carousel posts that kind of fell flat and taken the content and put it into a video moving animation through Canva.  It skyrocketed and it did well. Took the same content and just did like you said either still clips with the words, transcribing across the screen. Haven’t done voiceovers yet. So that’s next on my list. But it’s the same content. It’s just in a different format. So people are like, Oh, this is great. This is new. I’m like I share these tips like three times. 

Allison Scholes  

Yeah, uh huh. I know, I get that all the time. They’re like, Oh, wow, this is awesome. And I’m like, Yeah, I shared that like four times already. But all right, great job!

Shannon Baker  

No, that’s great. So just shows you don’t always have to be recreating content. Just use what you already have. And reels is a great way that we can repurpose our content. get over that fear showing our face because we don’t always have to be seen. There are a lot of, some of my reels is just my hand on my desktop. But people recognize my face so they know it’s me.

Allison Scholes  

Exactly! And think of the two because a lot of people use the word fear. But if you think of the word fear, and excitement – is the same feeling in your body. So change the word fear to excitement, like, Okay, I’m excited to try reels. Like, if you just have that mindset shift, and just changing the definition and changing that one word, then you’re going to be able to do it. And it’s okay, if it’s your first couple of reels stink. Mine stunk they were terrible. If I scroll back over a year ago, and look at like the first six reels, I’m like, Oh, my goodness, I actually put that out there. But that’s how you evolve. That’s how you learn. That’s just how you grow. I mean, no one is perfect, perfect. Perfection does not exist. And the only way that you’re going to get good at reels is if you actually take action and do it.

Shannon Baker  

Exactly! So now these have been some great tips. And you also have something that you’re going to give away to those who wanted to help them with kind of sprucing up Instagram going back to that spring thing. What is that gift for the listeners?

Allison Scholes  

I do have a download. It’s a three part Instagram makeover. And this goes back to what I was saying in the beginning that you really have to fine tune your foundations. If you have a rocky foundation, it’s going to be really hard to have that long term success. So it goes back to the clarity, the content, the consistency that that will really help you. Fine tune your brand on Instagram, that way, you’re going to be able to put out the content that you want. Yeah, so yep, that’s what I have.

Shannon Baker  

Okay, great. So one, I’m gonna put a link in the show notes to that freebie, you can grab that from Allison. And if you want to connect with Allison, you can find her on Instagram. Allison, what is your Instagram handle?

Allison Scholes

It’s @allisonscholes.

Shannon Baker  

Great. And one bonus if you want more one on one, stock images, like you name it when it comes to Instagram and social media. And I can attest that this membership that Allison recently created is the bomb.com. It’s Insta-Accelerator Academy, you need to be in it. If you really want to change your approach to content creation and make social media easier. Plus, you get a call with Allison each month where she gives us so many ideas and coaching that it really is going to be game changing. Did I miss anything?

Allison Scholes

No, I mean, that’s why I created it. Because last year, I was all about the one on one coaching or the boot camps. And what I found is, after the coach call, or after the boot camp, after a few weeks, I saw the implementation in the action just decrease and they were going back to their old ways, their old habits and they were losing what they learned. So what I like about this membership, it is the kind of the culmination of it is a self paced course, put together with group coaching. So every single month, not only is there Instagram content, but I bring in a guest expert, because obviously I don’t know everything, I’m not going to pretend to know everything. And of course, Shannon was one of our guests, experts as well in there. But there’s so many things in there of how to learn how to create a great lead magnet, how to get more clients, learning airtable, learning Canva…all the different facets of your business rolled into learning Instagram as well. You’re part of an amazing group. And then we have our our monthly coffee chats, which I just love. That’s my favorite part.

Shannon Baker  

Yes, and it is great. And it really is a great springboard to get us in the routine of creating content because Allison, if you do not know also has a second life as a photographer. So she provides some amazing photos for the members, as well as some done for you captions that you can customize and tweak to help you get into the practice of creating content. All of this is included in more inside that membership. So definitely consider that if you want to simplify your social media content creation process. So I knew this was gonna be a wonderful conversation. And it’s a great time for as we are rounding out Q1 of the year, where most people are kinda like getting their footing and know where the direction they’re going in the rest of the year. So now’s the time to really embrace your social media plan. And this I think will be a great way for them to learn how to do that. So thank you, Allison, again, for coming on and sharing these great tips. And hopefully everyone will at least give reels a try before they kind of put it on the backburner like I’ve done. But I’ve taken it off and I’m working with it.

Allison Scholes  

Thank you so much, Shannon! It’s always so much fun to talk to you.

Shannon Baker 

Always even offline-online. We thought they get almost every day for them. Yes. Be sure to connect with Allison online. She’s very responsive. Her reels are educational, and sometimes entertaining as well. And definitely in her stories. Will you get a combination of both. 

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Have you ever thought about scaling back on social media because it’s taking up too much of your time? I have been feeling the same way! That’s why I’m scaling back on social media.

I decided to do this because I know I’m not the only one who feels like social media is sucking the life out of them. And guess what? I have a strategy so it’s not about that. It’s really about the fact that social media is a long term game and takes a lot of your time if you want results. 

So let me start by sharing how I started feeling despite sticking to my routines and taking care of myself by eating pretty healthy, exercising regularly and getting enough sleep. I found myself picking up the phone more than usual to see what was going on in everyone else’s life. I didn’t realize that I was spending way too much time commenting and liking everyone else’s posts that I wasn’t sticking to my schedule so I was failing to execute my plan properly.

That being said, I could feel the anxiety building and I started posting less and less because I didn’t feel like my content was good enough or that I was doing enough. As I sat down one morning and really reflected on how I was feeling and identified where those feelings were coming from, I decided that I needed to scale back immediately to re-center myself. 

Once I made that decision, I was so relieved! 

So here’s how I’ve decided to manage my social media presence to stay active but not obsessed. I’m not posting to my Instagram profile right now and I don’t know how long I’m going to keep it this way. I plan to stay active in IG Stories for the most part but I don’t feel obligated to post multiple times a day every day.

I am actually spending more time on my personal Instagram account to keep up with my friends and family but I do find myself talking on the phone and texting them more these days. My Facebook pages for the business and the podcast will remain active with 1-2 posts a week. And I am thinking of ways to be more strategic with my LinkedIn account because of plans I have for the near future. 

Now one thing that has been neglected is my Facebook group. So I definitely plan to be more strategic and more active with that in upcoming days because I feel I will get a better return on the investment of my time. After all, who has time to waste, I know I don’t! 

Social media is supposed to be fun and it is a great way to find inspiration, connect friends and your community, cultivate relationships that lead to business opportunities and more. However, I need to spend my time on more strategic tasks that align with my long-term goals. 

So in addition to limiting my time on social media even more, I will also be doing the following:

Adding “Social Time” to my calendar

These will be designated time blocks for me to connect with friends and family and be social either in person with a select few of course for safety reasons or even connecting on Zoom or on the phone. I’m even compiling a list to start sending out good old fashioned cards!

Taking walking tech breaks

This one has a dual purpose for me. My daily goal is 6,000 or more steps every day right now. So I schedule two 15 minute walking tech breaks every day. I pop in my Airpods, turn on my playlist, set the timer on my Apple watch for 15 minutes and just walk outside in the fresh air when the weather permits. The bonus of doing this is my eyes get a break from me working on the computer all day, I get outside and soak up some vitamin D and I come back refreshed and rejuvenated which increases my productivity. 

Live in the moment

I purposely keep my phone somewhere away from me when spending time with friends and family. I don’t worry about posting pictures and videos online for everyone in the world to see what I’m doing. Instead, we capture the moment with a few photos and we put the phones away and just enjoy ourselves. This reminds me of life before social media and I love it! This is also a great time for you to just put your phone on the charger and just live in the moment and make priceless memories. 

So in a nutshell, I am scaling back on social media to care for more important things including myself! Am I worried that my business will suffer because of this. No I am not! I’ve actually noticed that I have more conversations in the DMs and am making better connections for my business even though I’m not posting to my IG feed. 

And the best part, I’m using all of my extra time to practice more self care and do things that bring me lasting joy in life in addition to working with my current clients. So I have no regrets!

Feel free to join me, even if you just scale back the time you spend on social media by 10 minutes. You will be amazed at the difference that will make. So if you decide to try this, DM me on Instagram stories and let me know! I would love to hear what changes you plan to make. 

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Shannon Baker  

I would like to welcome everyone to this week’s episode. And I’ve been excited to talk to today’s guests because this topic is one that is near and dear to me as a podcast host. And I know there are women who have podcast in my community. And some of the things we talked about today are pet peeves that they have about being pitched by people to be on their podcast. But let me introduce today’s guest is Christina possehl, of confetti creative. So I’m not going to go on and on about her because she’s amazing in what she does. But Christina, tell us a little bit about your background and how you came to be in the podcasting space and doing what you do.

Christina Bizzell  

Sure, first, thank you so much for having me, Shannon. Excited to be here. Hi, everyone. I’m Christina. As Shannon said, I’m a public relations strategists. And specifically, I worked at a podcast with an agency for three years, so I’m very well versed in the podcast space. Now I’m running my own public relations business where I specialize in getting women business owners in front of their ideal audiences, mostly on podcasts so that they can become booked out with dream clients.

Shannon Baker  

Awesome. So we’re going to find out, you know, her expertise with helping women find these podcasts for their dream clients. As we get into our discussion, a little bit about how Christina and I connected actually was through a well pitched email about a new freebie that she was creating. And she wanted to feature my podcast. Once I got that email and read it, I went and looked at her Instagram account, watch the stories, a couple of her reels. And I was like, Oh, perfect timing, because this topic about how to pitch yourself to be a guest was like at the top of my list of podcast topics. So let’s just dive right into this thing, because it’s big. I mean, you know, there are so many different podcasts, everyone may not want to be a podcast host. But we know, then a podcast guest is a great way to increase awareness about your brand, share your expertise, tap into someone else’s community. So when someone’s thinking about, you know, pitching themselves to be a guest, what are some of the things that they should include, or think about in that process before they even reach out to someone about being a guest on their podcast?

Christina Bizzell  

Okay, so before you pitch yourself to a podcast, there’s some research that needs to go on. First thing you want to look at is the show’s bio. Now, you can find this on Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you listen to podcasts, there’ll be a bio about the show. That will give you a good idea of what the show covers, who their audience is, and what the audience is coming there for. This is going to be very important in your pitch because one of the biggest things, the overarching theme of the pitch that you send is how can you help the podcaster deliver that value that the audience is coming here for. So for example, with this podcast, people are coming to this podcast to find out how to build an online business and stay organized, stay sane, all while being a mom. 

So with that in mind, you should frame your pitch around that. Frame your pitch with the best interest of the audience at heart. One of the biggest mistakes that comes out is people will pitch a podcast and because they know that they need to prove themselves and that there’s competition to be on a podcast they will make the podcast all about them, their achievements, why they’re great, what’s in it for them, their new book, what’s coming out their new promo their new offer. While you do want to talk a little bit about your credentials, so that they know why they can listen to you. You want the bulk of the pitch to be about how you can help the listeners. I cannot emphasize that enough. And so that is huge. 

And then you also want to look at past episodes of the podcast, just scroll through and see one do they have guests. That’s step one, because some shows don’t have guests and they still get pitched guest submissions. Two, you want to look at what kind of topics are they covering in these past episodes. Sometimes not always, but sometimes there might be a disconnect a little bit between the bio and a new direction that the podcast is taking. So you want to see what the episodes have been about. And that can also help you start to think, what angle or what talking point that you want to pitch to the show, because then you can see what they’ve covered. Maybe there are some gaps that you notice that you can talk about, they’ve covered this, this, this and that, but not this thing. They’ve covered social media, but they haven’t covered email marketing. And then you could come in from that angle.

And then you also want to look at, maybe you’re an email marketer, and the show has covered pretty much everything about email marketing, then you might want to look for maybe another angle that you could come at it from, and stand out from the sea of what they’ve already covered. And lastly, whenever you’re looking through the podcast episodes, you can also see have they had somebody on the show that you have a connection with, and be a past client, someone that you’ve done a workshop with somebody that you’ve worked with, because this is networking. People want to have guests on their podcast that they have a connection with because that lends credibility to you, and already warms up the podcaster. And one last thing, you also want to look at the website of the host, or the website of the podcast, to get an idea of who the hosts is, what perspective they’re coming from, what industry they work in. Because once you get an idea of what the host is like, you have a better idea of how to connect with the host in the pitch email. 

Because at the end of the day, you want to talk to this podcastor like a person and the same way that you would network with somebody in real life. You want to see what things you have in common and sort of find an in there. If this podcaster on the website is talking all about their kids and how crazy their life is at home, you can maybe draw a connection between that if that’s how your life looks, too. It’s very similar to networking in person. I think that’s a huge misconception that people have, when they pitch, they get very nervous, and start to get weird with it, treat it like the same way that you would talk to somebody when you’re meeting them face to face for the first time.

Shannon Baker  

Oh, but your tips are like spot on. Everything that’s been, you know, circling around in my brain about this topic, because the majority of the pitches that I receive, one is a company that’s been hired by the person to pitch for them. So right away, that eliminates that personal connection. And then as you mentioned, the research is just so critical, because really the majority, if not all of the women in my community, we operate as solopreneurs. So I’m not fishing through a 1,000 word email, and looking at all your attachments, and all of these things that this person sends me to see whether or not you’re a right fit for my audience. And I’ll be honest, most of the time anyway, the pitches are so generic, like you said, it’s about what they’ve accomplished and how great they are. And half of them don’t even apply to things that my audience is looking for. Like I actually got a pitch from someone who does like investments in farms. And it’s like, why are you even emailing me for this person that has nothing to do with my community. 

But one thing you mentioned when you’re looking at websites for people to pitch is, you know, a process person, see if they have a process, which it’s simple. It even says it on my website, and I see this on many – submit an application or apply to be a guest right there. They’ll let you know, they don’t want an email. They have a process for tracking. I know I have one day a week where I focus on podcast tasks. That’s when I go and I review the applications but the application has to be submitted in order for me to follow my process. That makes sure I reply to everyone whether it’s I’d love to have you on the podcast or no thank you, this isn’t a good fit for my audience. So why don’t we get in, let’s get a little bit more deeper into the mistakes some of the other mistakes that you see people make when they’re pitching yourself or even that the a company that pitches for others may be making.

Christina Bizzell  

Yeah, so we’ve covered being too generic and this is huge. Sometimes people will make a very generic pitch, and then send it out to as many outlets as they can find. I worked with a client who said that she had received a training in the past that told her to pitch to 20 podcasts a week, or something like that. And if you’re getting to that frequency, it’s hard to take the time you need to make your pitches personal. It’s one thing to start with a template. But you need to personalize that before sending it out.  Maybe the meat of the pitch, the topics that you’re going to talk about might be the same for shows in the same niche. 

But your introduction, your call to action, you should be finding ways to change that up and make it tailored to this podcaster. Because, like you said, it is it gets ridiculous, it gets to the point where somebody in agriculture is pitching a parenting podcast and it just doesn’t, doesn’t make sense at all. And it’s clear that they did not do any research. And another big mistake that I see and hear about a lot that’s in the same vein of being overly focused on yourself and overly self promotional is sending your media kit right away. I think there are ways to do it tactfully. Maybe at the end of your pitch, say, you know, I’ve also attached my media kit, in case you’re interested. But what I’m hearing more so is that people will just sort of send the media kit, and with almost nothing else with just a couple sentences, hey, I want to be on your podcast. Here’s my one, one sheet. Let me know what you think, when you want to book the interview. That’s not going to work! No one’s going to be interested in your credentials and accomplishments if they haven’t been warmed up yet.  

Think about whenever you meet somebody face to face, you don’t just immediately start talking about who you are, what awards you have. Start talking about your life, your deep details right away, you start by with a handshake and introducing yourself making some connections with each other building some rapport, and then talking about what you do, who you do it for, and how that can be maybe advantageous for that person to enter into a partnership with you. I think, as I was saying earlier, a lot of times people get online and sort of forget how to socialize a little bit. Because yes, you do want to sell yourself as a guest. And you are trying to make yourself seem credible, and stand out against the other applicants, of course. But the best way to do that is not by talking about yourself for five paragraphs. The best way that you can do that is by positioning yourself as somebody who can help the audience.   

That is going to make you stand out so much, especially with how Shannon was saying that podcasters get so many bad pitches. If you can send a good one, you are going to stand out so much. Don’t worry about the fact that, oh, I’ve been in five articles. And I need to put all five articles into the stitch? No, you don’t know you don’t. And it’s easy to think that you need to send all five articles that you’ve ever been featured in and put those all in the pitch. But no you don’t. You can just put in one. I see it a lot of times where a client will come to me and one of the biggest things that I have to convince them of is that they can actually share a little bit less than they think. It doesn’t have to be an exhaustive resume. You don’t have to try that hard to get the podcaster to like you. You can establish your credibility and two to three sentences. And then the rest of your pitch should be focused on how you can help the audience because at the end of the day, that’s the most exciting part. 

Because I see people all the time getting booked on the podcast, and they haven’t won an award. They haven’t been in People Magazine and USA today and huge, huge outlets. And they still get booked on to podcast because they have expertise that can help the audience and they have a good personality. Now something that Shannon and I were talking about before was that another great thing that you can do to increase your likelihood of being accepted as a guest that has has nothing to do with your credentials or focusing on yourself in the pitch is connecting with podcasters on social media. That is a great way to get yourself on their radar maybe a little bit before you want to pitch them and warm them up. Because again, networking is huge. And people want to work with somebody that they know, already and like and trust already. And once they’ve connected with you on social media, and they can see some of the information that you’re sharing, they can see how you talk, they can say, you know what this person does know what they’re talking about whether they’ve been featured in magazines or on TV interviews or not. They know what they’re talking about, I would love to have them as a guest.

Shannon Baker  

And that is key. Because even I’ll be 100% honest, I don’t think any of my guests that I’ve had on this show is someone that I wasn’t already connected to. There are a few that submitted applications. And before I accepted them to be a guest on the show, the first thing I did was go look at their accounts online, start a conversation with them. Because one thing that’s important when you’re a podcast host is to have someone with personality. Someone could be an expert at what they talk about, but their personality may not be a good fit for your audience. For me, I know by looking at someone’s profile, if they freely use profanity. That’s not what I want on my podcast because I have a clean rating, I want to keep it clean. You know, that’s the disclaimer when you submit your information. 

So I’m not going to invite that person to be on my podcast. But those are the things that you have to find out by being online and really researching as a podcaster, to see if they’re a fit for your audience. But you know, for someone that you’re going to pitch, like you said, network, make the connection ahead of time. That way, it kind of jumps you to the front of the line, if you submit the application. But it’s even better if you develop the relationship and the podcaster just reaches out to you and says, You know, I love the content that you share online, would you like to be a guest on my podcast? Then you don’t even really have to pitch yourself, they work for you because they just straight out ask. So you shared some really valuable tips in that area. Now, what are other any other things that someone can include? If it’s a cold pitch, that will put them ahead or as you say, take them from being blocked to show stopping?

Christina Bizzell  

Yes, there are a couple things that you can do to elevate your pitch and stand out from the crowd in a good way. First thing is to listen to an episode or two or more of the show before you pitch it. You want to know, what kind of personality does the host have? What’s the format of the show like? Is it something that you enjoy? Because at the end of the day, you need to be having fun on these podcasts. And this needs to be a partnership that helps the both of you. And it’s also good to know what kind of questions are asked, and what interviewing style the host has. Maybe there’s something that they always reference to, or something like that, that you can put into your pitch, and just show that you are a listener of the podcast and show that you’re genuinely engaged with the content that this podcast is putting out and you support them. 

Another good thing is to personalize the pitch to the host’s specific needs and quirks as someone that touched on a little bit earlier. But to go a little bit more deeply into that, if the host is always talking about something or if there’s something that they really don’t like, or something that they’re personally a fan of, if you know that this host loves Trello and talks about it through different episodes. And you’re a huge fan of Trello bring that up. Or you know if you know that this podcaster talks a lot about their love of design and you’re interested in that, make those connections because it’s, again, just like in person, you want to connect with the host because you have to put yourself in the podcast host position.

Think about how they feel they’re getting all of these applications. They’ve never met you. And so they need to have somebody on the show that they can build chemistry with right away. So if the interview is fun to listen to, they need to feel like they’re going to have some similarities with you. They need to be able to trust that you’re going to teach their audience well. And so whenever you keep the host in mind and touch on topics that they frequently bring up, talk about things that, you know, are important to them, they are going to feel so much more supported. And they’re going to think, well, what a thoughtful pitch. I like the first one right away, they clearly get me, they clearly get my audience, come on my show, I would love to have you. 

And another thing that I have not mentioned yet, is the length of your pitch. Podcasters are busy. Most podcasters are running their podcast, they have a business, they have a personal life, they have so many emails. And so whenever they open your email, and they see that you have written a book, they’re just gonna throw that out, they’re not going to look at that. And so I recommend keeping your pitches to under 350 words 250 could be good to somewhere between 250. And like 350 is the sweet spot for pitches with keep it to the point. less information truly is more, because in a way these pitches are like an appetizer, a teaser, you want to drum up interest. And then in the interview, that’s when you give away all of your secrets. And so you don’t have to worry about Oh, but I need to put in my whole life story. You don’t, you don’t have to worry about putting in every idea you’ve ever had. Fully teasing out every talking point you have. Just keep it short, sweet to the point and I promise you, the hosts will be intrigued and read your pitch and love it.

Shannon Baker  

And that that is so key short and to the point here, like you mentioned. I mean, you know, we don’t have a lot of time because we’ve got so many different other things. And honestly, podcasting itself takes a good investment of time. So I don’t have another, you know, 30 minutes to like you said read this long email and then look at your attachments or you know, look at where you’ve been in your your media kit, and I don’t care. I need to know that we have a connection, that is going to vibe with my audience because I know my audience by we love coffee, we love wine, we love self care. I mean, they’re just certain things that the women in my community love. They know I love the word no. And that no is a complete sentence. 

So it’s like, knowing those things. I’m looking, always looking for people, whether I’m connecting to them on social media, or definitely having them on the show that as you said, we’re gonna just have this free flow conversation where we’re sharing information, but you get to showcase your expertise. But it needs to be a vibe that works for both of us. Because if you go on a show where it’s just like blah on either end, the chances are either the podcast host is not going to share the episode or they’re going to share the episode and send you the information, which hopefully they have a process for giving you the the links and the graphics, which makes it easier for you to share. But you’ll be proud to share the episode after the fact, which in turn is that mutually beneficial part of the relationship, keyword being relationship. So don’t look at pitching as just, you know, tapping into someone else’s community. But it should be the a building block in building that relationship with a person as you mentioned earlier, don’t forget the social aspect. Because this really a podcasting is a collaboration. Because it’s two people working together for a similar purpose. So don’t lose the social aspect of it when you’re you’re pitching as well. This has been great. So now you’ve listened to the show my guest chats, you know, I have a bonus question. So what is one system either in your business or your personal life that you cannot live without?

Christina Bizzell  

I am a huge fan of AirTable. It’s for anyone who’s not familiar with AirTable it’s basically a smart spreadsheet. And I love it so much. My business is built around it. It’s where I keep contact information. It’s where I can track lists of different podcasts for projects I’m putting together. It’s how I can track clients performance. It’s how I can track how the pitch angles are doing. It’s the best. It takes so much stress off of me having to remember things and I love that all of my information can live in one organized place. I don’t love having to go between a ton of different websites or a ton of different apps and stuff that I have to remember. I love AirTable couldn’t live without it.

Shannon Baker  

And as you were talking, you know, my face lit up because I love AirTable too. So my podcast dashboard is set up in AirTable.  Has the links, where the downloads, the topic, you know, links to Google Drive, to the blog posts, and on and on and on and on. But it’s all in one place. So I describe AirTable as if Google Sheets and Trello got together and had a baby, it was AirTable, because that’s literally how it works. But that’s awesome. Because I’m sure with you pitching others, being able to keep up with all of those pieces is critical. And it’s easier, as you said, not to have to go to multiple places to find the information but to find it in one spot. So yes for AirTable in that wonderful system that we have, you know, that’s my jam.

Christina Bizzell  

So yes, love a system.  Got to stay organized. And having systems just eliminates so much stress in your life, because you don’t feel so much pressure to have to be on top of everything and have to remember everything on your own.

Shannon Baker  

Yes, systems equals brain space, because it’s something you don’t have to think about and use energy to do. But now you have a new freebie. That is awesome. I was so excited when I got my copy. So tell us about this new freebie you’ve got?

Christina Bizzell  

Yeah, so I am imagining that after listening to this interview, maybe I empowered some of you to start pitching yourself to podcasts. And if that’s the case, you will love this freebie. It is a list of three unique podcasts for 15 different niches all geared toward service business owners. So I’m sure at least something related to your niche is in there. And if that is of interest to you, you can find it at Confetticreative.cocapable, and you can find the list of different podcasts to get you started on pitching yourself and maybe even just listening to a new podcast.

Shannon Baker  

Yes, and I’m going to drop a link direct link to that in the show notes. But just a little clue if you’ve been listening to my podcast for a while there are some previous guests that I’ve had, that their podcasts are listed in that freebie. So as I was going through, I was like, Oh, I know her and I know her I know her to grab your copy link will be in the show notes. And if they want to connect with you online, where can they find you? 

Christina Bizzell  

I’m the most active on Instagram. That’s the best place to connect with me on social media, on Instagram @confetticreative.co. And you can also find me at my website, confetticreative.co. I would love to hear from you all and my DMs are in the contact form on my website.

Shannon Baker  

And she’s very responsive. We send voice messages to each other all the time. So definitely be sure to connect with her online, share this episode with anyone that you know that’s looking to build brand awareness or thinking about pitching theirselves to be a podcast guest. If they’re ready to step into that space, they definitely need to hear these tips so that they can be successful with pitching themselves so that they can grow their business. So thank you, Christina, for being with us today and sharing these tips.

Christina Bizzell 

Yes, thank you so much for having me, Shannon. I really enjoyed talking to you today.

To hear all of my chat with Christina listen to episode 78 of the podcast. Click below and tune in on your favorite platform.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Connect with Christina on Instagram @confetticreative.co

Grab the Niched Podcast Lists 

Let’s Connect Online 

Follow Me On Instagram: @the_shannonbaker

Follow The More Than Capable Mompreneur Podcast on Facebook

The post Do’s and Don’ts to Pitch Yourself as a Podcast Guest appeared first on .

A strategic plan will help you avoid shiny object syndrome so you can achieve the success on your own terms. How?

I want you to think about how often you get distracted by the latest greatest tool or trend on social media? 

Don’t feel bad if it happens more than you would like to admit because you are not alone! I see this quite frequently and honestly I’ve had the same problem in my journey and I have to be very conscious of the choices that I make so that I don’t fall back into my bad habits.

If you’re wondering how I do that, then this is just what you need!

Let’s start by talking about what shiny objects are that distract us. I’m referring to all the things that distract you from being productive. It can be some new tool you see someone using that you admire, social media in general because there are so many options that you can loose track of time, online courses, free trainings and challenges, and so many other things I can spend a lot of time talking about.

Now I am going to be transparent and say that when you are just starting your business or your business isn’t generating the income you desire, it’s much easier to get distracted. The reason why this is the case is because you don’t have a strategic plan which is the key to staying focused.

To create a strategic plan you have to analyze your business to determine where you are and where you want to go. This detailed plan outlines your mission, vision, and values, your long-term goals, your short term goals and the action plan that will help you reach them. This plan is key to your success because it helps you evaluate opportunities and deal with challenges.

So when you don’t have a strategic plan, you can get easily distracted because let’s face it, trying something new is fun and exciting. Sticking to the plan when things get difficult is not as fun at all. 

So before you try one more thing, I want you to follow this simple 5 step process to help you start creating your strategic plan so you can start to build momentum in your business over the next 90 days and start reaching your goals to end the year strong. 

1. Write Out Your Mission

This statement defines your values, fundamental goals and reveals what your business does, how it does it, and why you do it.

“To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” – Starbucks

Your mission statement shapes the decisions you make in your business every day. It boils down to whether the choice you’re making helps you achieve your mission. Is it aligned? If it isn’t, then you need to pass.

2. Write Out Your Vision 

This helps you prepare for tomorrow so you need to be specific. Specify what you will accomplish and by when. If everything went according to the strategic plan over the next 3-5 years, what does your business look like? What kind of successes do you have? Where do you want to be? What kind of leader are you? What kind of team do you have if you want to build one? What kind of offers do you have? What kind of revenue are you generating? 

Spend the time to define that vision.

• Create one new revenue stream by the end of the year.
• Increase email subscriber list 20% by the end of the quarter.

How does having a vision help? If you know where you are going and can see those details then it will help you in making a solid decision when that shiny new thing catches your attention.

3. Set Your Goals and Objectives for 90 Days

First off let me say, yes they are different but they work together. A goal is the outcome you want to achieve. An objective is the specific, measurable action you’re going to take to achieve a goal.

Let’s say your goal for the remainder of this year is these two goals:

• Increase your brand awareness
• Increase email subscribers by 20%

Great…now what?

Now you need to write out some data to determine how you will achieve these goals. Think about what resources this will require. How many hours do you have to focus on marketing your business online? Look at the return of investment, meaning how long will it take you to recoup the cost, time, and energy that you will have to put into achieving those goals. 

By gathering this data you will have the data you need to create a step by step plan to reach your goal. So it would identify what platforms you need to be active on, what you are going to post and when, do you need a new lead magnet or can you refresh one you already have. Those are some of the things you would need to consider for these goals.  

And once you have written out your goals and objectives, imagine what your life would be like when you achieve them. Notice I said when, not if. Next…

4. Assess Your Business Operations

No matter what your goals are and no matter how good your plan is, if you do not have systems in place in your business you will not be able to achieve sustainable growth, if you ever have any at all. 

So you REALLY need to audit your back office and get some processes documented and incorporate some automation. There are six core systems every business needs to be able to achieve sustainable growth and I have talked about all six in other episodes. But you can click here to learn about the first three you need right away. Then click here for information on the next three. Click here to learn about the top five tools I can’t live without in my business. 

Now, if you want help auditing your back office, I’ve made it easy for you. Grab a copy of my DIY Back Office Assessment.  The worksheets will help you identify the gaps in your current business operations in about 15 minutes or less. You also get a 15 minute call with me to discuss your results and map out a quick action plan and it’s just $27. Click here to check it out. And be sure to tune in to the podcast episode for a special offer. The links are below!

6. Get Feedback

Once you go through steps 1-4, I want you to share your plan with your mentor, coach, or biz bestie. Ask them for their opinion, give them real facts, and a picture of the impact this strategic plan will have. 

If you are looking for a group of likeminded women in business that you can talk shop and life with, then feel free to join The More Than Capable Mompreneur Facebook Group. We would love to support you, answer questions you may have and even help you identify some goals that you can reach this year!

I brainstorm with them and bounce ideas off of them which helps me get clarity. With their support, I feel empowered and excited as I grow my business and become a better woman, business owner and podcaster. If you would like to join, there is a link in the show notes. 

Remember, there’s no straight path to success. There will be obstacles that will arise and have you rethinking yourself and your strategic plan. Ignore the shiny things, you won’t miss out on anything you see others doing.

If necessary, partner with someone who can help you be methodical so you can create a plan that works for you and is right for your business. I would love to be that person! So if you want to see if we’re a good fit, schedule a Discovery Call with me and let’s do this! 

If you would like to hear the audio version of this episode, be sure to check out episode 74 of the podcast. Tune in on your favorite platform by clicking one of the links below.

If you’d like to connect online you’ll find the links to connect with me below. 

Follow Me On Instagram: @the_shannonbaker

Follow the Podcast Facebook Page

The post 5 Steps to Help You Create a Strategic Plan and Avoid Shiny Object Syndrome appeared first on .

I know you have a lot on your plate, which is probably why you need help with your content creation. But creating content for social media isn’t your strong suit, it can be a time consuming process that leaves you overwhelmed. In fact, sometimes I feel so overwhelmed that I don’t even post. 

So I thought, there has to be a way to streamline the process and save time. And there is! My friend and podcast buddy Lora Shipman has a trademarked process that is going to be a game changer for you. It’s called Batch and Slay!

Shannon Baker 

So I’m so excited to chat with today’s guest. This is one of my coffee loving biz besties you all hear me talk about all the time, Miss Lora Shipman. I am so glad to have you on the show today!

Lora Shipman  

I’m so so excited to be here! Thank you for inviting me on. It’s gonna be great!

Shannon Baker 

Yes, it is actually long overdue! I can’t believe it’s taken this long for it. Well, for me to have you on because I’ve been on your podcast. So today, Lora is going to share some tips. She has a specific signature method called Batch and Slay which I love the name of her method! It’s trademarked isn’t it Lora?

Lora Shipman  

Yep, I have a little trademark there!

Shannon Baker  

Awesome! Wonderful! So before we dive in and talk about how we can save time by batching our content creation, tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, what you do for our audience.

Lora Shipman  

Yeah, sure. So I’m a social media manager and consultant and a fellow podcaster. So I manage a lot of different companies and industries’ social media profiles. And so that means researching the content that goes out there, creating the graphics, writing the content and scheduling it out. So there’s quite a few and I do it all by myself. 

I’m a one woman show. And I like it! I enjoy it! And it’s my passion. Just writing content for me is fun. So that’s basically in a nutshell what I do. I also do some one on one consulting for people who want to learn how to level up their social media game. And I focus mostly on the top three social media platforms. So that would be Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. So everything I bet we talk about today is going to be centered around those three with my Batch and Slay method.

Shannon Baker  

Yes, you are going to love these tips. So of course, the key word in this episode is batching. So tell us a little bit about what a batching process looks like.

Lora Shipman  

Yeah, so I had to develop something. Because if you imagine, I work for my own 12 or more clients at a time. And so for me, I didn’t want to be sitting in front of my computer, just creating content, like all the time, because it would kind of stunt my creative outlet. So what I did is I had to figure out a system so that I could create everybody’s social media content, almost a month in advance. Actually almost every single client I have, we do it a month in advance. And so I thought what would be the best way to do it? And so what are some of my clients I write blogs for? 

So when I first developed this batching system, I used one piece of pillar content to kind of drive the ship and that would be the blog post. And I recommend a lot of people maybe start here because it’s really good to blog for your business. And I know sometimes people sit there and go, oh my god, I have to think of something to write. You know, for my blog, this is a way to get you disciplined to do that. 

So what I do is I think about what is the theme for the month, and I’ll pick so for let’s take February, for example. There’s like an overarching theme, which might be love, for example, because of Valentine’s Day. So if you can weave that into your content, that’s a fun way to do it. March, you might pick luck as your theme for the month. 

So there’s two ways I batch. So for my clients, what I’ll do is I’ll figure out what their theme or what their focus is for the month. And then I’ll write a blog post on that focus. So for example, let’s say I have a client and they post three times a week. Usually there are four weeks in a month. And so that comes down to 12 posts. So I know, I need to write 12 posts for the month. So what I’ll do is I’ll think about what that blog topic will be, and how I can get maybe 12 paragraphs out of it. Maybe I can get 12 tips out of it. Maybe I can get 12 pieces of a framework, although I won’t say that’s a 12 piece framework, because that’s a really big framework, but you get my drift. Like there’s 12 pieces of value that I’m going to weave into that blog post. And this is kind of where repurposing comes in. 

So I’m thinking okay, so now I’ve got that outline, I know I have to come up with 12 posts. I know what that theme is going to be for my client or for myself, and I’m going to make sure I have 12 pieces of content weaved into that blog post. And then I’ll write that blog post. When that blog post is written. I’ve proofread it, read it and everything. Now it’s time for me to create my social media content. And what I’ll do is I’ll look at that, and I’ll pull out those 12 pieces and create many posts out of it that will fit really well into Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn. 

Once I have those 12 written pieces of content done, then I’ll go over to Canva and create a graphic that matches up with with those 12 pieces that I’ve pulled out. And then all of a sudden, I’ve got 12 posts that are ready to go! And I can schedule them out on social media. So that’s one way I tackle it! And then that’s the batching part of it. And a lot of people will sit there and they’ll say, well, gosh, how long does that take you to do? Because that’s like, it sounds like it can be tedious. For I think for a business like one business like for you, Shannon, if you just set aside maybe one to two hours of just writing time. I think that’s doable once a month instead of piecemealing it out, because I think it wastes your time piecemealing.

Shannon Baker  

It does! And the key of course, you know I’m a big time blocker. So while I don’t necessarily do a month at a time, I do allocate in my schedule specific time blocks where I focus on my content batching. Now mine doesn’t start with a blog post. But I do that process for my podcast. So it’s you know, let me block this time, I’m going to come up with my topics based on my theme for the month. And then it goes from there. And then I take my actual podcast recording the screen transcribed version, and that turns into my blog post. But then I still have to come back and do the batch of now how can I break all of this down and repurpose it to use it on social media. So yeah, definitely putting that into your schedule, like you say, because otherwise, it can be overwhelming. And we know if it feels overwhelming, we tend to put it off. Or we just kind of wing it, which is why we don’t get success. But your method, what I love about your method is you can take the pieces of it and kind of customize it to what works for you as an individual.

Lora Shipman  

Yeah, and so there’s some science that backs this up a little bit. So if you, so I want to imagine you’re in your car, and you’re stopped at a red light, and the red light turns green. So you hit the gas, and you’re trying to get up to that cruising speed of, I don’t know, 50 miles an hour, 55 miles an hour. It takes a lot of energy to get your car to get there. And it’s not very efficient for your car to accelerate to the cruising speed, right? But once you hit that cruising speed in your car, your car becomes more efficient. 

Well, your brain works kind of the same way. And that’s why batching is so important because what happens is, and this is why I do my written part first. I stay in that written zone for a while in that first post or that first sentence or that first paragraph might be really hard and slow. But once you get into that rhythm in that zone, it comes a lot quicker. So when you first sit down to either write your blog or your posts or something like that, it might be a struggle, but just ride that wave through. And then really try and stay focused without interruption. And then toggle over to graphics, because then your brain is gonna switch into bracket, graphic mode, and to create graphics is going to move a lot faster, too. So I try and avoid toggling back and forth. 

Shannon Baker  

Oh, yes, you know, I’m not a fan of jumping from task to task because as you said, you have to, you have to shift your brain and then the time it takes for your brain to adjust, you actually lose time. Because it’s like, wait a minute, it’s like slamming on the brakes on your brain and then like throwing it back in gear and expecting it to be able to take off.

Lora Shipman  

Yeah, so I think so. And then so you brought up a good point, like you don’t write a blog. And so I know a lot of people don’t write a blog, so maybe this, oh, let me start with one piece of content in and try and create a batched amount of work. I have another system. It’s also the Batch and Slay system, but it’s for people who don’t write blogs. 

So the way I look at this is I think of, I asked people to write down four or five topics inside their business that they want to be known for. And so then what you do is you figure out what that is for your business. So if you’re an aesthetician, someone who does facials, let’s say you want to be known for anti-aging, reactive skin like rosacea, stuff like that,  acne. I’m trying to think of two more. So but you get the drift. Like you come up with all these different skin conditions that you want to be known for as the authority and plot that out on a calendar. 

So each of those, whether it’s a four week month or a five week month, you have four or five pillar topics that you can talk about. And so I literally do that on and like looking at, I don’t know if you use the video or not from our segment. Now just Okay, so I’m looking at a paper planner. And it’s done by the month, right. And it’s a month at a view. And so for each week I write down ok, pillar topic for week one is going to be this. Pillar topic for week two is going to be this. Pillar topic for week three is going to be this. And week four is going to be this. So what this does, when you focus on a pillar topic per week, your audience gets to know oh, Lora really knows about social media analytics. She’s posted three times this week about social media analytics, she might be the go to person for that. 

Instead of sending a bunch of different messages to your audience about different topics within your business, that’s like a BB gun effect, like you’re all over the place, the precision is that they’re your audience, you’re training your audience to get to know you for certain specialties. And then you become that go to person. So when I Batch and Slay this way, what I do is I create a topic for each week of the month, I pick three days of the week to be business type posts. So for example, the first week of January for me was I focused on hashtags. And so I did three posts, surrounding hashtags that first week, and then the other two posts during that week, or maybe something about me or something fun, or some sort of engagement posts that I did with my audience. So it’s not just like business business business all the time. So does that make sense? How I broke it down week by week?

Shannon Baker  

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Because you have to have a strategy, like you mentioned! Like, our audience may hear word phrases like your content pillars, for your business pillars, or you know, Allison Scoles, our usual coffee buddy, and biz bestie. She calls them content buckets. So it’s like, what do you want to be known for? I can see you start with that. And having that piece of information has really helped me to focus on okay, I want to be known for systems and productivity. So these are my four categories.

And then like you mentioned, everything we post doesn’t have to be a business. That’s just so corporate, so to speak. Social media supposed to be fun! So varying the type of content that you share, you can share tips, but it can still be done in a practical way. And you can post like the intro, like we all do this, I see some new faces. Tell you a little bit about myself. Or I love some of your, this or that kinds of fun. Those are fun! They’re really fun!

Lora Shipman  

It’s good, because it just gives people a break from the daily grind. Right? So if you can play a game with them and interact with them and make yourself memorable for having fun with your audience, I think I think that goes a long way.

Shannon Baker  

Absolutely! So what two characteristics would you say are needed for someone to be able to Batch and Slay their content?

Lora Shipman  

Yeah, I think the first one is to have the discipline to sit down and do it. I think that’s really important. Because if you can’t carve that time out for yourself to do it, it won’t get done. And then the other one is patience. And I think that you have to be really patient to see the process through. And like I said, when you’re first accelerating your brain, like that car, it’s going to take some time before you get to that cruising speed. And so if you can have those two things, I think it would be great. 

Shannon Baker  

Okay, so those are good, definitely discipline! Yeah, I use that word a lot, too. Because I know, setting up systems isn’t fun, but you have to have the discipline to sit out and just get it done so that you can focus on all the other stuff that you want to do. Now, the other question I have for you, you know, it’s one of my favorites, what are some of your batching tools that you would recommend, and I know what one of them is gonna be.

Lora Shipman  

So I use a bunch of different tools. And I think one of the first ones I use to get me started is Trello. Like, I love Trello, because I love the mobile version of Trello. Because when I’m walking, I walk every morning, and usually I’m listening to podcasts or listening to YouTube videos, and those generate ideas for me, right. And so I have my phone with me. And so I’m just jotting down ideas for future thoughts. So that’s one of them. 

Another one that I use that I think for me, it’s just really important is Google Drive. I love it! So I’ll use Google Docs. And I’ll separate out each week of the year, you know, for my posts, and I’ll just like write everything in a Google Doc. Now for me, I use that too. Because sometimes I have clients like I have a family law attorney, that I use that I just, I’m not a lawyer. So I don’t want to misrepresent her and say anything wrong. So I like using a collaborative tool like that. So she can see what I’ll do is I’ll batch all of her stuff at the beginning or the end of the previous month. You put it up in Google Drive, and I’ll say, okay, go take a look at all four weeks that are there for February. Go check those out. And she’ll approve them. 

And same thing, I have a naturopathic doctor who’s the same thing. I can assume things and I can do research. But you know, sometimes it’s not 100%. Right. So I love that there’s a couple other tools I use for scheduling. Actually, there’s three I’ll talk about. The first one is Facebook Creator Studio. Absolutely, that has been a game changer for me! Like I can’t even tell you. So um, the reason why I love Creator Studio so much is because you can schedule both Facebook and Instagram at the same time. And that counts for carousel posts, and it counts for IGTV, all of that stuff. And so it’s a game changer, it just saves so much time. 

Another tool I use is Hootsuite because I do have a lot of clients who are on LinkedIn. And I’ll set them up on LinkedIn. And I’ll schedule posts out using Hootsuite. And then the third tool I use sometimes is Cinchshare. And I’m able to post to Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn through there. But because I manage so many clients, it’s just confusing to do it there for so many people. But those are the three tools that I really go to, I’m trying to think if I’m missing any. Did I name the one that you use?

Shannon Baker

Well, I was gonna say Trello. 

Lora Shipman

It’s just a favorite of mine, I love it.

Shannon Baker 

Yeah, and I love it too because you can house it or you know, you can set it up the way that works for you. So I always get tips from a bunch of people. I mean, I know a lot of people that use Trello. And while their method may not work for me, I always grab an idea that I can tweak and use for myself. And I know one that you recommend especially when it comes to using hashtags is to create your hashtag buckets. So inside of my Trello board for all of my social media content that’s already been created, I have a list that is all of my hashtags by category. So that way, you know, like you said, when I’m on my phone, or on my laptop, I can just go in there and grab the categories that go with my posts. And I don’t have to think about oh, well, what if I want to, you know, tag working moms or get access to them via hashtags, I got to think of what all of those hashtags are. They’re already put together in there. I just copy and paste it in, put it in Creator Studio and hit the schedule button. And I’m done! It’s so fabulous!

Lora Shipman  

Yeah, and Trello is good! Like, I used to be a notebook person, I still am a notebook person. But I would take notes and write down ideas and stuff like that, and brain dump stuff on notebooks. And then I would lose them because I was always flipping through papers, trying to find that last note. Trello is amazing! I have a category for everything over there. You know, like a board for everything over on Trello so that I don’t forget anything.

Shannon Baker  

Exactly! And I have one of those lists as well! And it has like a board and then it has lists inside. So there’s a running list with all the ideas. And then once a month, or if I don’t get to every month, at least once a quarter I go in there and look at the ideas and kind of evaluate what I want to do with them. So then I have additional lists that I kind of categorize them in because if I don’t do that, of course, you know, the list will grow and grow and grow. And it’d be too many ideas. But that way it lets me know, do I need to take action on it? Do I need to push this off until later? Or some of them I look at this like what where in the world would this even come from? And why did you think this was a good idea? So that goes into my list for forget about it. So it helps me sort them so that I know, you know what action to take on them next. 

And I do have a question for you based on one of your tools because I want to do more with LinkedIn this year. But you know, LinkedIn doesn’t have an internal scheduling feature. Now, I tried Bitly. But I don’t like the way that the links look when it actually posts. So with Hootsuite, when the posts go live on LinkedIn, how do the links come across?

Lora Shipman  

So you can do it one of two ways. The links come across as a full link like if you pull it from your website or something like that, and you could just leave it in its natural form, or it also has a shortener there. So I think it’s called owly. Well, that’s their shortener. And it’ll shorten the link up. So that’s mostly used for like Twitter. If you’re going to be in Twitter, and you want to link shortener, and you’re counting cat category categories, oh my god characters. I was gonna say calories and I had to stop myself. But yeah, so with LinkedIn, you have quite a few characters that you can use that you don’t always need that link shortener. So I very rarely use it. But yeah, it’s there if you need it.

Shannon Baker  

Okay, I used to use Hootsuite way, way back in the day. I don’t want to date myself by using too many way olds. Of course everyone kind of developed their own schedulers, especially Facebook. And then now we have Creator Studio. So there wasn’t really a need for me to use Hootsuite much anymore. 

Lora Shipman  

They have a pretty robust free version. So if it works out well, I think you have up to 30 posts for free. Anything over 30, you would need to buy some sort of a subscription with Hootsuite. So if you’re doing three posts a week, which most of my clients are doing, it works out perfectly. Yeah,

Shannon Baker 

Yeah, that’s good to know. And you can also connect it to your LinkedIn page because I have both split between the two. So that’s definitely good! I’ll look into getting back into using Hootsuite. It has been great! Those are great tips, especially for the time starved who want to do more with social media. Batching, if you haven’t gotten the point by now is the way to go. 

So one tip I would definitely say or takeaway for everyone is just do it! Just develop the discipline, even if you only blocked 30 minutes a week, just to get started. That’s better than nothing! And it will make a huge difference. But how would you say, well, knowing you have so many clients that you manage accounts for and you’re active, your accounts are active on social media. So how would you say batching your content and even for your clients has made a difference in your business and your personal life?

Lora Shipman  

Oh, my gosh, it’s huge! So first off, it streamlined my workflow. Like it just, it just kind of cleared up things on my calendar. So I can do special projects, and things and passion projects and things that I really want to do. So I wouldn’t if I didn’t batch my content and my client’s content. I think I would be a slave to my computer. I probably wouldn’t have been able to hop on the show with you. I wouldn’t have time. I would be panicked, pulling my hair out. And after I get off this with you, I have to go run errands. 

So it’s like I can have freedom and flexibility in my schedule. So I’m not tied to my computer. So that’s number one. Number two is for the personal side of things. Again, it’s that freedom and flexibility. And I know it sounds weird, because you might be thinking to yourself, yeah, but I’m blocking off two hours of time, instead of doing it sporadically throughout the month. It’s so focused and concentrated, that once it’s done, it’s done. And all you’re doing is popping back in just to check the temperature of things like respond to comments, share things out, whatever it is. You’re not a slave to your phone or your laptop, for your social media. So that means you can be with your family, you can binge on Netflix at night, if you want to. You can cuddle with your fur babies! Whatever it is that makes you outside of your business, you get that freedom back. And that’s what I love about it most! There’s not this pressure sitting on my shoulders all the time, because I have to be creating content or always in content mode. That’s the other thing too, because you can get content fatigue, trying to come up with information and something that’s valuable. And the next thing you know what, you’re just posting something just to post and all of that stops when you really have focused time to create the content you need.

Shannon Baker  

Yeah, and what I found also for myself is it clears up mental space. Yeah, you want to do all the other things because if you are like you said in constant content creation mode is mentally stressing. Therefore it blocks out anything else that you want to do. So being able even if you just start off batching your content for just one week. And you get that freedom then you do it another week. And you like it, increase your time…you get addicted to having that free space. And then as you mentioned, you can now, where you may have been spending really three, four plus hours creating content, you know, bit by bit. If you add it all up, you can take half of that and break it up and get more engagement. Be more engaging online, interacting in stories on Instagram or creating reels, you know. Being in Facebook groups to build your community and make connections. So it’s like it opens up the room for so many things that will benefit your business. And just in life, or maybe because, you know, we make connections online, but until you really engage with each other, you don’t really know each other. And for us, we’ve known each other two plus years.

Lora Shipman  

I was gonna say years, like, the s on years!

Shannon Baker  

We’ve never met in real life. But because we talk to each other through stories, or you know, video chats or different things like that, it’s like we’ve known each other forever,

Lora Shipman  

I would think like, so of all the people in our group, like, I think if I were to, like, bump into you, or see you somewhere in person, like we would just kind of pick up from where we left off, like good old friends. And I love that feeling! And I know that the friends and the connections that I’ve made on Instagram and things like that have been invaluable. I mean, I can go to my social sisters anytime I need to and say, “Hey, ladies, what do you think about this is?” you know, and I love that. And so those connections, they mean so much. And you’re right, being able to batch like, that frees you up for that space that maybe you didn’t have before!

Shannon Baker  

Yeah, and another great thing, when you have batched content, you don’t have to recreate. You can look at and I know one of the things you talk a lot about is look at your analytics, your insights into how your content is doing online. And all the stuff that your audience really likes, just redo the same content and present it a different way. Or if something didn’t go, well, maybe you know, repurpose it a different way and try it again. But unless you look at the information, you don’t know. So you really can recycle! Same content over and over again.

Lora Shipman  

Absolutely! And then one other thing that I loved, this is pre-COVID times, we would travel a lot, my husband and my family and I in our favorite thing to do would be taking cruises. And the reason why we like that so much is because you know, for the most part, you can get Wi Fi plans. And we usually do but for the most part, you’re disconnected from social media and from but it’s still going automatically for me in the background. So I could, you know, drop out of life for about, you know, 7 – 10 days and not worry about if I had content going out on social media, because I did so.

Shannon Baker  

Yes, that’s definitely good. You can take a vacation!

Lora Shipman  

Yes. And just be completely disconnected. Which is awesome!

Shannon Baker 

Yeah. And I love that too, it’s like the beaches for us. I live vicariously through you when you used to take your cruises all the time. But I love like when we take family vacation to the beach like you said, my content posts automatically. Yeah, I would hop on, you know, every once in a while to check for comments. And really just to look and see what everyone else is doing. Not even, you know, looking for a lot of engagement back. But I love stories because then you get to see what’s happening with all your friends. But you don’t have time for that if you’re constantly stuck in “Oh, well, I need to post tomorrow.” Well, what am I going to post? But if it’s done, then you can focus on something else. 

Lora Shipman 

So yeah, and it keeps you working! It keeps you from working in your business. Like if you have your content done ahead of time and all of that you can work on your business and grow it like you should be your business should not be social media, that’s my job is to be right, you know, you should be working on your business, get being creative, and figuring out what it is that’s going to help your business grow.

Shannon Baker  

That is true! And the great thing with Batch and Slay you know, your method is if we approach all of the work we have to do in our business with the same type of method, it just frees up so much real time and space. And as I said before mental time and space, because you’ve got that, that focused energy right there without breaking your train of thought. So you don’t have to shift gears and a lot of people, some people will do the Pomodoro method. You know, I time block in two hours, one to two hour chunks. 

And I allow myself breaks in between there so that I can refresh my brain and move around and kind of come back and then start on the next thing. But all of it requires discipline in order for us to be productive and make an impact with things that we’re doing. So these have been great tips Lora! And you actually have some valuable resources that you’re going to share with our audience today. I’m going to drop a link to it in the show notes. But tell us a little bit about what they can find there.

Lora Shipman  

There are so many gems! So Shannon has the link and I have so many different like calendars, checklists, processes, all the things that you would need to help you get through social media and do it effectively and have the time to Batch and Slay your stuff as well. Other thing I’m working on, I didn’t mention to this this to earlier, but I’m going to work on a Batch and Slay day. So sometimes people need, like the accountability, just a team of people who are there and we’ll have time together. And we’re all going to be working on our social media. And then it’s done. Like it’s done! So I’m excited to announce that too! So that will be on the resource page as well when it’s ready. 

Shannon Baker  

Oh that sounds awesome! That is really good! Accountability makes a difference when you need to get things done. So awesome! I can’t wait to share all of your goodies with my audience! So they can get more tips like these and even more from you online. Where can my audience find you online?

Lora Shipman  

Yeah, I like to hang out on Instagram. So I’m there most of the time. And my handle is @Lora_Shipman. Lora is L-o-r-a underscore Shipman. So go find me there and then I’m on Facebook. Not as much in them on LinkedIn too. But I spend a lot of my time on Instagram.

Shannon Baker 

Oh, and one thing you didn’t mention, be sure to check out Lora’s podcast the Lora Shipman Show because she also you can pop in your earbuds when you’re on your walk and get many, many, many more tips. And she does like mini tip episodes like tons of things that will help you with your social media. So make sure you connect with Lora online. Drop into the DMs and let her know that you connected with her from this podcast episode and engage and start batching your content so that you have time to do that. So thank you for sharing these tips with us today Lora!

Lora Shipman 

Thank you for having me! This was so much fun and I hope everybody goes out there and batch in slays!

Shannon Baker 

Yay, me too.

Click below to hear my chat with Lora, in episode 73, on your favorite platform.

The post How to Batch and Slay™ Your Content Creation and Save Time appeared first on .

Having a clear marketing message is the key to being able to scale your lifestyle business. Without this clarity, you can’t successfully create the know, like, trust factor which is key to getting your target audience to take action.

So during my chat with Heather Thatcher of The Solopreneur Survival Guide she shares the three biggest mistakes you may be making in your marketing that are keeping you from being able to scale your lifestyle business. She also shares some tips to help you change that to improve your results. 

Heather Thatcher  

I am really excited to be here and help serve your audience! Thank you so much for this opportunity. So I started my career as a registered nurse in the ICU. And what I was seeing is a lot of people found themselves there because of illnesses and diseases that could be linked to chronic stress. So I got out of the reactive side of medicine and into the proactive side and started my first business in a stress management and trauma healing space. And then after a number of people went through my mindset reboot program, they started asking me to show them how to grow their own online business. And so that’s where The Solopreneur Survival Guide started was from that group of people that wanted to shorten the learning curve so that they could learn everything that you needed to be able to be successful online.

Shannon Baker  

Oh, that is great! So really, it’s like your business, trend, you saw a need, you filled that need, and then it kind of grew a life of its own. Which, let’s be honest, that’s what a lifestyle business does! I mean, I especially know that I started in one space, saw a need, made a shift. And then this business has kind of grown and taken on a life of its own. But Heather shares some amazing tips online! And we’ll get more into some of those things as we go into our topic. Let’s just go ahead and jump right in! So Heather what would you say, you’ve seen, are the three biggest mistakes that people make when it comes to their marketing?

Heather Thatcher  

So the three biggest mistakes that I see people making number one, is they’re putting the wrong free content in front of their person at the wrong time. So when we think about free content on social media, everyone keeps saying put out lots of value, keep giving all the how to content. Show them everything and then you’ll be set.  But the truth is, a lot of people, especially in lifestyle businesses, they’re not ready to fix their problem yet. And the greatest example of this is the health and wellness industry. Because if you think about it, there is a ton of free meal plans and workout plans on YouTube, and videos you can do.  Yet the obesity epidemic is still a thing. So putting more of that kind of content out there for free, isn’t going to serve your audience. 

And so it’s learning about meeting your audience where they’re at, you’re giving away the right content for free. So that’s where the messaging pillar system that I teach really plays into that.  And then another one of the mistakes that I see is that people are, they aren’t clearly communicating the pathway. They’re saying, hey, come follow me. And I’m going to show you how to get 10k in 10 days for your business. And you’re like, great, but how? How? And a lot of people struggle with communicating that how. And so that’s another part of the messaging system that I teach.  And then the last mistake that I see people making is that they’re niching in a way that feels inauthentic to them. Or they’re not niching down enough. And so the niching strategy that I suggest actually lets you feel less limited, because it gives you a niche topic. And then you break that down into your first niche demographic.

Shannon Baker  

And that you’re the first person I’ve heard explain it that way. And it actually it makes sense because when I rebranded my business, like I literally took six months to really niche down. However people want to say it. And focus in on who am I talking to. And what I found beyond the demographics, when I got into the psychographic portion was it wasn’t one person. It was a common problem among three different types of targets.  So that, that definitely makes sense. Because without that piece as you specialize in, you can’t really nail your messaging because you’re not talking to the right person. So those are great tips! I can’t wait to see what else we get. We’re starting off with some serious nuggets here. So, being that that’s the case, even if we start with we get that clarification, what would you say is the best way then to start to create that know, like and trust factor with our messaging?

Heather Thatcher  

So the fastest way to create know like and trust is to show people that you understand what they’re struggling with, that you know what they want, and you’ve got a logical step by step framework to get them there. So the days of the pain point, push on that agitate that and then offer the solution – I feel like those days are over. I don’t feel like copywriting is moving that way anymore. Moving into a much more compassionate space, a much more understanding and empowering space, rather than a place of self loathing, especially in lifestyle businesses, this is so important.  

So connecting to your person in those early stages of their journey, and they’re ready to make change is really important. And so there’s this medical model that I used as a nurse. And it’s originally developed to help people overcome an addiction. But it’s been tested in a bunch of different spaces, including marketing. And it’s actually one of the most powerful marketing strategies you can use because it speaks to that first mistake that I pointed out, putting the wrong content in front of the wrong people at the wrong time.  So everybody moves through five stages on their readiness to make a change. 

The first stage is pre-contemplation. And that’s where they’ve got like their head in the sand, they’re just like, don’t just surviving, not really ready, not even looking for options.  Contemplation is where you’re going to be meeting people on social media. And so on social media there, that’s where you’re going to have to meet people in those early phases. When they’re understanding what they’re thinking when they’re still very much like, well, this problem is happening to me, I can’t do anything about it. You’re going to try and meet them there. Help them understand their current circumstances and how to overcome them.  

That moves them into the third stage, which is preparation. And this is where a lower cost offer can do really well, to then build people up, get some more that know, like, and trust that they’re ready then for your higher ticket offer, which is when they’re ready to take action and truly solve their problem.  And then on the fifth stage, that’s maintenance mode. And so that’s when you’re helping them maintain that problem. So what does this look like in a business? How do all of these pieces fit together? 

So, in The Solopreneur Survival Guide, the pre-contemplation is what I call your dreamer. You’re sitting there in your day job staring out the window being like, I wish I could be my own boss, wouldn’t that be nice? You’re just dreaming. Then in contemplation, that’s when you become the builder. That’s when you’re just like, okay, now I need to figure this out. I know, I want this, how do I start a business? What am I going to start a business around, you’re starting to look for information, to try and figure out how to solve your problem.  Then in preparation, that’s when you’re ready to start working on things like building your website, starting your social media, writing your emails, that’s where you’re really in that preparation phase. 

But every single entrepreneur that I’ve worked with has always hit a roadblock where the imposter syndrome, and that pesky inner critic starts to hold them back. And so really, people think that they want to build this online business, and that they need to walk work on website and social media first, but truly, they need to work on their mindset. So action, the action level step for me is the mindset reboot program. And that’s where people can then overcome that imposter syndrome, and be able to fully become the digital CEO that they were meant to be stage five.

Shannon Baker  

That’s awesome! I love framework iterations!  like I have the three C’s of streamlining. It’s like it helps you pull the pieces together for your business. And as you mentioned, that framework is really important, because that’s how you identify, as you mentioned, what’s the issue. But instead of beating people over the head with it, you can connect with them by like sharing a real life story of how did you deal with it which comes to the mindset. How did you overcome it to get to where you are, and now you can help the person with that. But that takes knowing the process before as you mentioned, you can get people to actually take action,

Heather Thatcher  

Because we buy for emotional reasons, and then use our logic brain to justify it. So if we can get the emotional connection with their struggles and what they want and paint this beautiful picture of the journey, and then when they get emotional They invest in, they’re like, yes, that’s what I want! And then you say, Oh, yeah, here are the five steps to get there. And then their logic brains just like, “Yeah, let’s do this!” And then the credit card comes out, and then you know that you’re set.

Shannon Baker  

Exactly. So now, one of the things I know, that we’ve all been taught to help with this process is give them the freebie. So we take them along. And the journey starts with giving them a free download. But then we believe them to, as you mentioned, that low ticket offer, you know, the $17 to $49 kind of offer where we’re like, okay, yeah, we pulled that card out quick. And it’s like, let me test this person out and see if this is actually going to work. And then when they do, and it works, they’re like, okay, now I’m really ready to invest in this person helping me. So getting started with that freebie, like, what type of freebie Do you think works best for someone to start this process.

Heather Thatcher  

So there are three different freebies that I recommend. And the goal with these freebies are to create a gap that your offer will fill. So you want them, the person reading your freebie or going through your quiz, or whatever it is, you want them to self identify, ooh, there’s a difference between where I am right now and where I want to be. And they could help me fix that. So the three different kinds of freebies, I recommend number one other roadmap. So you’re going to give people those five stages, the five stages of change for your business. So that way, they can see like, Okay, I’m in stage two right now. But I know what stage three, stage four, stage five looks like. Great! I know what the journey is gonna look like. And that’s where you’re gonna bring in that logical brain to justify the emotional experience. So the roadmaps, the first one.  

There’s a self discovery opt-in, because we all like to learn more about ourselves, which is why there’s so many of those BuzzFeed quizzes,. What fruit are you? What Harry Potter character are you? What color best represents your personality? So coming up with some kind of self discovery, often as it relates to your business is really powerful. And an example of this, for my stress management business is we look at what your core values are. Because a lot of people have gone through trauma. They have been people pleasers for so long that they actually don’t really know who they are. They only know who they are for these other people. So reconnecting to that part of you is sort of one of the first steps in that journey. So it’s some kind of self-discovery opt in.  For the entrepreneur business, we talk about discovering your five brand connectors. these five things that you can talk about on social media that are have nothing to do with your business, but they’re just fun things about you. So these kinds of pieces are really good freebies, because we’re, we are wired to learn more about who we are. So it’s a really easy yes for people.  

And then the last freebie that I recommend is one that’s really good at creating that gap. And that’s the assessment opt in. And so you have some kind of assessment that you create checklists that they can go through that will then help them realize, Oh, I really need to do something about my problem. And so for the stress management business that I have, we have a stress risk assessment that’s based in research and evidence that shows based on the different things that have happened to you in the past two years, what are your likelihood of getting sick because of that? And then for the business, the solopreneur business that I have, we have a successful business checklist where I show you all of the things that you have to have in place before you’re ready to scale. So that you can just go through and see what is missing in there. And then that’s a really easy upsell to your lower cost offer that’s going to help fill in those gaps.

Shannon Baker  

And you know, that’s actual, it’s very informative and accurate because one of my most successful downloads similar is a checklist of the 15 processes that like every mompreneur needs to run a side business. So if it’s like you say, you just check the boxes off, it’s like, Okay, well, one, it helps you see, I’ve got some good things in place. I’m just missing a few. So it boosts your confidence to Okay, well, I’m not and someone actually told me, I wasn’t doing as bad as I thought I was because I was able to check some of them off. So now I see I don’t have as much work to do. So that definitely is a good one. But you gave me an idea with that roadmap. So now I have to put that on my to do list! I like that idea.

Heather Thatcher  

All right! I’m excited to see it, Shannon!

Shannon Baker  

So you’ve shared so much value just in these few, maybe 15 minutes or so that we’ve been chatting so far. And everyone that’s listening is going to agree. Okay, they need more of you. So don’t be sad. We have just what you need! you need to check out Heather’s Solopreneur Survival Guide Podcast because it actually has a free training. It’s amazing! Like when I looked I was like, she’s given all of this away for free. It’s like, Oh my goodness, what do people get when they pay for work with her? So tell us a little about that.

Heather Thatcher  

Yeah, because the podcast is a full business course, each season is like a module of a course to get the theory to run in, apply for your business. But there’s a lot of tech in online business. The learning curve of like, okay, so Instagram says, you need to be on stories;  you need to be sharing to social media. But what, what do you share? And so that’s what my membership offers.  It is walkthrough videos, templates, frameworks, guidelines, support, that way you know how to implement this, and how to actually make it really effective for you. Because a lot of business courses out there, I find they’re very good at giving great theory and suggestions. But I was left feeling that gap like okay, but how, how do I build a website. And so that’s what we talked about in the membership, a lot of the walkthrough components.

Shannon Baker  

And hey, if it wasn’t for everyone needing some help to get the tech in place, I wouldn’t have a job either! Let me shorten the learning curve to getting some of that technology in place and getting your automation in place. So that’s why we love what we do! So I want to put a link to that in the show notes, but also so that they can get your other tips that you share online. Where else can everyone find you? 

Heather Thatcher  

So they can find me and lots of free resources on my website. It’s Heather thatcher.com. And then you can also find me on Instagram @thesolopreneursurvivalguide. That’s where I’m pretty active on social media. 

Shannon Baker  

Yes, she is. And she’s very responsive as well! So I’ll make sure that when you finish listening to this episode, screenshot it, share it in Instagram stories, tag us both, so that we know that you enjoyed it and tell us one of your favorite nuggets that you bought from this episode. So before I let you go or wrap up our chat, tell me what is one system either in your life or in your business that you can’t live without?

Heather Thatcher  

Evergreen social media! If I did not have evergreen social media, I would not be able to run four businesses, I would be sunk!

Shannon Baker  

Four…you’re amazing! 

Heather Thatcher  

Or a little bit crazy. 

Shannon Baker  

Well, you never look crazy or sound crazy! So that means you’ve got it under control. So that’s a good thing. So proof is in the pudding. Make sure you check her out. And that is going to wrap up our chat today. Thank you so much, Heather for joining us and sharing all these nuggets with us today. 

Heather Thatcher  

Well, thank you so much, Shannon. It was a really good time!

To hear all of my chat with Heather, listen to episode 67 of the podcast. Click below and tune in on your favorite platform.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Connect with Heather on Instagram

Check out Heather’s Free Business Training

Grab My Biz Ops Checklist

Connect With Me Online 

Follow Me On Instagram: @the_shannonbaker 

Follow the podcast’s Facebook Page: The More Than Capable Mompreneur Podcast

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Growing an online community is hard! Especially when you don’t have a lot of time but it can be done. The best part, there are more options than Facebook. So how can you do it? Where can you start?

That’s what my chat with Emily Aborn is all about! I’m part of her Facebook community online which is called She Built This and I must say I love it because Emily really foster’s the sense of community online in her group! But I’m gonna let Emily tell us a little bit about herself before we dive into the good stuff!

Emily Aborn:

I thank you for saying those things! So as you heard, my name is Emily Aborn and I’m the owner of She Built This which is an Women’s Entrepreneurship organization. And I also have two businesses. So my second business is content writing for small to medium sized marketing companies and solopreneurs.

Shannon Baker:

Oh, great.! That was quick!

Emily Aborn:

Yeah, I mean, I can go deeper, but…

Shannon Baker:

That’s okay! So I’m looking forward to this conversation, especially because the way we have to build communities and network and everything, as we all know, has had to change and everything has had to convert to being online. And one thing that many people may struggle with is actually making

connections because they were used to doing things in real life. So how would you define a community nowadays, based on I guess, the scene of the world that we live in?

Emily Aborn:

And that’s a great question! I think that a community, and I’ll be anxious to hear what your thoughts are, too. But I think a community is really like a group of like minded individuals that are working towards some sort of common goal. So it doesn’t all have to be that they have the exact same goal. But the the overall goal is in alignment with each other. So for example, in the She Built This group, it’s, it’s women entrepreneurs and professionals who are all believing the fact that they can live their very best life and that that is possible. And so we’re doing that through running our own businesses and being our best professional selves. So that’s kind of like the overarching goal, which is what I think fosters that sense of community.

Shannon Baker:

Absolutely! And I agree, because what like, if I look at the diversity in my community, is generally women, they’re not all moms. But all of us have built our businesses to allow that true lifestyle freedom, it’s aligned with our vision, our goals. We put family first, we know our values, we stick to those, and we have a specific skill set that we use in our businesses. And that, along with the love of coffee, and wine, are, you know, some of the dynamics that really draw us together as a very close knit community! So now, how would you recommend we seek out a community that fits us?

Emily Aborn:

Yeah, this is a this is a good one. Um, so there’s a lot of there’s so many things right now. And especially, I think, at the beginning of the pandemic, I felt like, Oh, my gosh, all of my groups have to go away, you know, like, we would meet in person and have workshops. And I felt that real sense of loss that I think we all feel when those things are gone. But the more I got, you know, I had to step out of my comfort zone, because virtual is not my comfort zone. But I, I basically created the same group that we had that now meets virtually, and what it’s allowed, what it’s allowed it to do is be open to people all over the world really now. So So that’s, that’s the question, right? There’s so many things at our fingertips right now, how do we decide?

And I think it’s all about, like, you know, there are a 50 million Facebook groups that we could be part of there are organizations galore speaking groups, moms groups, there’s all this stuff we can be part of. But I think it’s really important to look at, like, where you are in your life right now and where you want to go, because those are the people. You know, we’ve all had friends in our lives, that maybe they’re not like fairweather friends, but they’ve been there for a reason. And they’ve been there for just a short period of time, and then we kind of move on from them.

And I’m not saying that that happens with communities, but communities are sort of the same way where we’re looking for something in a period in our life that aligns with our goals and our values. So that’s my, that’s my first suggestion. There are all kinds of options! There are Facebook groups, there are things like, you know, virtual masterminds and accountability groups and peer groups and things like that. There are events that you can be a part of, and a lot of those events break out into something afterwards that become a group.

But so there’s all kinds of things depending on what your goals are. If you’re a writer and your goal is to perfect or work on those skills and be with other writers, then you’re going to want to seek out those groups. But there is a community for everyone. Facebook actually did this amazing ad! And I’m only using them as an example because it just shows the power of what we’re all seeking. They did this amazing ad at last year’s Super Bowl, that was all about Facebook groups. And just like I mean, like it almost moved me to tears because it was just all of these people. There were Facebook groups for everybody. There were Facebook groups for like painters and carpenters, and just people of all walks of life looking for all different things in their life. And so I think it really comes down to like, what, not what void you’re trying to fill, but what you’re trying to achieve in finding that community.

Shannon Baker:

Yeah, that that is a good to point that you mentioned. What I really like is that it changes! So I mean, I’ve seen that over time. There were groups that I may have joined, you know early a year ago, or early in the year that now you know, over the past 12 months, my life has changed, my business has changed, and the group may not necessarily fit me anymore because I’m in a different place. Yeah, and it also comes down to knowing what it is that you’re looking for. And how then you know, putting in that research work to find it online. Because as you mentioned, you can find a group on Facebook for just about everything in the world.

Emily Aborn:

You’ll be so proud of me! I actually had somebody, I paid someone to go through all of my Facebook groups that I’m part of, and any Facebook groups that I run and like leave groups that I don’t want to be part of and help kind of weed out the ones that I do. So it was it was a really, you know, it’s it’s taking that time to just like really evaluate and be intentional. Because I think that when you do decide to become a part of a community, you should really immerse yourself in it and be a part of it. And if you’re part of like 50 or 60 Facebook groups, you’re not really going to be able to dive in on any one in particular, you know, and and like, I think when it comes to ones that you really want to invest your time in, it doesn’t have to be a Facebook group, anything. Like I think five is pretty much the max for most people, the sign behind you says focus in on one task. And it’s the same kind of concept, you know, like you can go a mile wide and an inch deep and everything, or you can go a mile deep and an inch wide, because your focus is just that much tighter.

Shannon Baker:

Yeah, and that makes sense. Because I know one thing we’re all guilty of doing is where we become, you know, really good online friends with someone who has a Facebook group. So they invite us into being part of the group and never participated in anything. So don’t feel bad, let your friends know, it just, it doesn’t fit you. It’s nothing personal. But we need to spend our time where it’s going to be beneficial, whether it’s for personal reasons or for business reasons.

Emily Aborn:

Yeah. And there is you’re right, there is a little bit of that guilt factor. I think that weighs on us in some of these group situations. And you can’t let that be a factor because you’re right at the end of the day, it’s not doing you any favors. And it’s also not doing them any favors if you’re just sitting in there guilty, but crickets. So we can keep that in mind too because we only have 24 hours in a day. So If you’re like me, I spend as little time as I can on Facebook. I don’t have time to be in all the groups that I’m in sometimes. So I regularly go through probably, I would say, at least twice a year, and do some cleanup like you just did, because I have to come to the realization that I just can’t be everywhere.

Emily Aborn:

And to that, you know, I mean, I’m sure you recommend these kind of techniques to kind of to the time blocking that we talked about on my podcast, I time blocked for social media. So I will set aside my morning time when I’m taking care of, you know, that’s like my business time. And I count social media as part of that, that plan. So I will set aside the morning to check my email and check social media and then I don’t check it again until the end of my day. Because otherwise, those you know that little bell it is it is literally designed to keep you addicted to the app and like checking to see what is on the other side of those notifications.

And so we can get really sucked into that! And then before you know it, your entire day has been, you know, engaging on Facebook groups. And while that may be great for you now, certain things and certain times in your business, it’s not practical if you’re trying to live a more productive life. So I really encourage people to do it with like their networking engagements, too. You know, I have one day per week where I do all of my calls and all of my networking. I’m the kind of person that it takes a lot out of me to do those things. And so I find that if I can put it all into one day, then I’m not breaking up that energy throughout the week, you know, I’m just like focusing in on one day.

Emily Aborn:

And that might look different for everybody. I know, for a lot of mompreneurs, that’s not practical. They can’t take a whole day where they’re doing their calls and things. But for me, that’s really been like the key to being successful and still staying active and present and how I can also make better choices about the groups and part of my goal that isn’t on that day. So it’s not going to work for me.

Shannon Baker:

But those are very good tips because that helps us to be intentional with our time. Because, you know, like we talked about when I was on your your podcast, with time blocking, like I specify in my daily tasks, or my time block has a space for professional development or business heads, whatever the case may be. And that’s how I limit the amount of time that I spend on social media, I do the same thing. So when I hop on, whether it’s instagram or facebook for 10 minutes, I’m in there with intent. I know exactly. You know, if it’s 10 minutes, where I’m responding to comments on my posts, then 10 minutes another time in the day where I’m responding to comments I get from stories, then it’s another 10 minutes where I’m engaging and leaving meaningful comments on other Instagram posts, not just hitting the like button or you know, double tapping and moving on, but I’m really engaging or participating in the conversation.

Now, I must admit, I have to get better at doing it with Facebook. But I know I get more back and forth conversation on Instagram, which is why I spend most of my time there. And not as much on Facebook, probably as I should be. So I do need to make that adjustment. But that’s neither here nor there. But time block and be intentional because it definitely makes a difference. You know, what would you say are the perks of being part of a community or building a community?

Emily Aborn:

I’ll tell you my answer in a quick story. So in my first business, I owned a retail store, and we it wasn’t a very exciting store we own we sold mattresses, and they were like, yeah, everyone loves me. And they did then do um, but so there they were kind of like high end luxury mattresses and the foot traffic in the store. It was like few and far between during the weekdays. So I was pretty bored and lonely, like, all the time by myself, except for the weekends when, you know, people would go mattress shopping. And that was like, you know, that was to be expected in the industry and the store was successful. And from everybody else’s perspective, it was doing great. And I was just absolutely miserable. And like I had no one I really could talk to about being an entrepreneur or being in business. It just and everybody was always looking at like I had five heads, you know, except my husband, I were the only people that would talk about our business together. You know, that gets old every single night at dinner. You’re like talking about the same thing.

So I started to work with a mentor from the SBDC, which is like our local it was just like free business advising and I had never, I had never had a coach or anything like that. So I worked with her and she sat me down. And she was like, you need to treat yourself like a baby brand new business and get out there and go meet people. And at the time I only had Mondays and Tuesdays off and so that felt like oh, what am I going to do that you know? So I would take every Monday On Tuesday, like it was my job, and I would book like coffee chats and networking things, and I joined the chamber. And some of those two of those coffee chats are still to this day like my business best friends.

Emily Aborn:

So we got really, really close. But that opened me up to meeting all kinds of people. And through that experience, I realized, oh my gosh, like, this is what I’ve been missing the entire time is people that are doing what I’m doing. And when I when I opened my eyes up to that, like New Hampshire, especially, I was like, Oh my gosh, there are so many women entrepreneurs, and I had no idea here I am thinking I’m like, on this little island. A one man Island. Yeah, so um, that’s actually really how she built this got started is I just saw that need for us to join together. And and like, you know, we’re all doing the same thing. So why aren’t we doing it together? So I think that answers your question. For me, it was really a matter of like, you know, I needed like, working for yourself all day, every day is hard. You it’s a rollercoaster ride, you go through really intense stuff, sometimes where you want to give up and throw in the towel, even on your best of days, sometimes you don’t even know why you’re like, I don’t know why I just don’t like any of this. And so I think having those people in your life that are going through what you’re going through, and struggling with the same things you are but also are there to like, pick you up, dust you off, kind of like you know, slap your cheeks and say like, let’s keep going. So that’s really what I think the power of community is.

Shannon Baker:

Yes! And I mean, actually, it goes to how we met! So both of us are connected to Stacey. But I met Stacy through a local connection. Monica, who I’ve never met in person, and she lives in Virginia, I live in Maryland, we set dates, but we’ve only been able to talk online, something has always come up. But we are like coffee online coffee buddies, we’ve been connected for years. That’s how I connected with Stacey years ago. And then through Stacey, Emily and I connected together. And all of us do different things. But we have the same type of mindset and mentality and approach to one building connections. And, you know, not necessarily in networking, but just building relationships with other women online. And you’re right, we cheer each other on, which is great! And it’s not always about business, which is what makes it fun.

But it’s good to have that group of women online that you can connect with, because then we can bounce ideas off of each other. Because all of us don’t have someone in our home that has the entrepreneurial mindset. I know I don’t like I talk business to my husband. And he tells me, I’ve been in business for almost nine years. And he looks at me and he says, I still can’t tell you explain to people what you do. I don’t know. I know. It’s a bunch of stuff online. And it’s got something to do with technology and systems, but I can’t explain what that is. So when I talk business to him, he’s like a deer in headlights. So I can’t use him as a sounding board. That’s where my community comes in. I, you know, check text a couple of people or start a conversation in a group. It’s like I’m thinking about this. What do you guys think? What about this or that? That’s where your community comes in. And then when good things happen, they cheer you on or when you’re low, you’re feeling like I’m ready to give up because this isn’t working, then I give you the feedback. What try this or try that. Have you thought about this? Or maybe it’s not the right time. So that’s like the cheerleading squad that we all need, because this journey is hard.

Emily Aborn:

And you know what you made me think of another thing too, when you said that about asking your husband? Yeah, these groups are such great places to get resources! So like I went in. I went into my group the other day, and I was like, you know, I had somebody who was going to be helping me as a virtual assistant. She kind of like she ghosted me, basically. And so I said, I need help finding a person. And somebody like raised their hand right away and said, I can help you and I have this many hours, like, her business is a little bit slow right now. And so she was looking for extra tasks to take on and it was just perfect. And it happened in five seconds, you know, whereas I would I’m sitting there, like, should I go to Fiverr? Should I like, type it into Google? What do I do? And it was like all of five seconds and I had the resource that I needed.

Shannon Baker:

And that is wonderful, because that kind of eliminates the trial and error portion of when you’re looking for someone to do a task. It’s much quicker when it’s a referral process opposed to you just starting out fresh and you’re just hoping for the best I found that as well. Absolutely. So this is great. These are been great tips and reasons why we really need to focus some time attention on building an online community. But now, what if the listeners or Someone may say, Well, I can’t I don’t like social media? What else can they do?

Emily Aborn:

Yeah, so I think that’s really valid. And a lot of people don’t like social media. So so that’s okay. Um, I think that the other ways to get involved are really like some of these events that that I was talking about at the beginning. And also just having Zoom calls with people picking up the phone, sending, you know, a lot of my friends, we just send text messages that is honestly, that is networking and building in building relationships right there. And I think that’s something that we, that we miss, when we use the word networking is it’s really not like, you know, I’m not trying to sell you something, you’re not trying to sell me something.

We are building relationships. And we’re just like setting these foundations. And I would say probably 90% of the time, you’re not selling to the person ever, that you’re talking to, you know, you’re selling someone that they know, or that they know, no, no, you know, like, it could be so far down the line, like the way that somehow you met Stacy. Stacy introduced you to me, you know, like that’s like six degrees of separation. So it’s not always about selling. And I think that’s where, you know, when we think of social media, I think that’s instantly what we think of so there there is a term actually for this boxer is another good example WhatsApp, it’s, it’s called the dark social.

And it’s really more about like, the one to one connections with people rather than like, you know, one to many connections. And another one, which is new, is Clubhouse, and you love Clubhouse. I know, I’m still like, kind of on the fence about it. It’s not It’s not that I don’t want to love it. I just I’m like, I don’t have time. But that’s another like, you know, it’s so powerful. 

Our voices are so so powerful when we’re connecting with other people. And so I think Clubhouse offers that like, in a way that nothing else does not even video really, because it’s really hard to watch a video when you’re when you’re doing something else or like when your spouse is sitting there with you. So but Clubhouse is different. It’s like just gives you that instant, like connection or not with somebody I guess. So that’s another great way that is new to network.

Shannon Baker:

Yeah, and I would say even if someone doesn’t really like social media, it’s all about using it strategically, to make those connections. And to the point you made earlier, someone who I’ve known she’s been in business for, oh, gosh, I know, over 20 years and has been very successful. But she said growing a business isn’t about who you know. But who knows you? Yeah, that’s where your your business is going to grow based on referrals. So we do need to shift from thinking, Oh, well, I need to make a sales pitch to every person that I connect with? No, it’s about building relationships. So when they’re talking to someone else, and they say, Oh, well, I’m looking for someone that knows marketing and knows how to build communities, they’ll think of Emily, they’ll say, I know just the person and let me connect you with that person. So that’s what we need to focus our time on.

And you’re right, I love Clubhouse! But I use it very strategically as well. Yeah! When I’m on Clubhouse, I look to see what topics are being discussed that day. And I only allow myself a certain amount of time to be on there because it can be another rabbit hole. So I’m not just I know some people that consume it all day long. I don’t understand how their brain can take it. But I’m either there to learn about the topic. One day a week, I go in and see who I know that’s hosting the room. I want to support them because they’re part of my online community. Or I’m looking for topics that I can take the stage and speak, not pitch, but share my expertise, which then pushes traffic to Instagram where we can continue the conversation via coffee chat. Yeah, since I’ve joined Clubhouse last month, I have a 9% increase in engagement that has gone to my Instagram page. And I have had three coffee chats. Very good coffee chats with people that I connected to on Clubhouse.

Emily Aborn:

Yeah, I think it was something you said something about social media not being a bad thing. And I think you’re right. It’s really all about our perspectives and like, recognizing that these things are tools. They’re like money, you know, like money is not a bad thing. innately it’s a tool. It’s a resource, and so

you can use it in a good way. And then the other thing is I think when we like you said in Clubhouse, you don’t always you don’t go to pitch. You know, like it’s really when you’re approaching these things about How can I add value just as much as I’m looking for value, but I would actually say like you need to make what you’re adding double what you’re looking to get, you know, like, I think it’s really just coming from a place of safety nice key says when you come from a place of service, you don’t need to be nervous. And I love that line. But it’s just true just coming from a place of like, how can I give? How can I add value.

Shannon Baker:

And really, that’s what growing a business is all about is always adding value in whatever way you can giving because let’s, let’s say it’s a, you know, one thing we all know, if you give, you know, just to give, it makes us happier. And when you give without looking for something in return, generally you get back way more than you expected. Yeah. So this has been great. Emily, thank you for sharing these wonderful tips about the online community with us. Now, before you go, I have a question for you. So I know you have some routines and systems in place. So what would you say is one routine or system pick which one in your life, or your business that you can’t live without?

Emily Aborn:

Every single morning, I make my bed very first thing like before I even go pee. And I think that that is like one little thing that you can put off and put off and put off until later in the day. But it’s like, right when you get out of bed, you’ve already kind of done something. And it’s a positive thing that makes you you know, every time you walk in your bedroom from that moment on, it’s like set up and nice and ready for the for the night ahead. I’ll give you one more. That also sets me up for the day ahead. I always take time at the end of every day and I clean out my downloads folder. And I write out my list for the next day. So I never like closed down my computer without having that list ready to go for the next day. Because I don’t like to. I don’t like to just come running to the gate in the morning like a hot mess. I like to know exactly what I have to do and what’s going on and how I’m going to plan that out. So those I would say are my two like checking the box night before and checking the box right away first thing in the morning.

Shannon Baker:

And I love that I am a huge fan of morning and nighttime routines to increase our productivity. So thank you for sharing those with us. Now where can everyone find you online?

Emily Aborn:

So on Facebook and Instagram She Built This is actually She Built This and then you can also find it on shebuiltthis.org and that’s probably the easiest way you can find everything from shebuiltthis.org.

Shannon Baker:

And don’t worry if y’all forgot this because I’m going to drop the links to all of those places. You can find Emily online in the show notes so you can connect with her. So thank you again for being with us today. I have enjoyed our chat with each other and I know we’ll keep chatting because we chat all the time. Anyway.

Emily Aborn:

Thank you so much for having me Shannon. This was really fun.

To hear all of my chat with Emily, listen to episode 64 of the podcast. Click below and tune in on your favorite platform.

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A personal brand is much more than a logo. You need Robyn Graham’s 5 C’s of personal branding!

Robyn is a Certified Brand Strategist, Personal Branding and Business Coach and host of The Second Phase Podcast. Robyn helps her customers find clarity, confidence, and connection with their brand messaging to build relationships that convert to profits. Her work includes brand marketing strategy, personal brand coaching, branded photography content development, professional headshots, and fine art photography.

Now let’s talk about branding. It’s a term you hear all the time and see online. But what exactly is branding? Well for starters, it’s not your logo. And you to understand that if you are a personal brand, people need to see your face. Why?

That’s what my chat with Robyn is all about!

“I wanted to help women be present in their business, and create images and visual content for them to help them stand out online.” ~ Robyn Graham

What a personal brand IS NOT

A personal brand is not what you say it is. It is what other people think, say and feel about you whether you’re in the room or not in the room. A personal brand is how you differentiate yourself from others in your industry. A personal brand is not your logo, your fonts, your typography or your color palette. That is your brand identity and your brand identity is very important for recognizability.

What exactly is a personal brand?

Your personal brand is your story. It’s how you tell your story so that your audience can connect with you emotionally. Your story is how you can become recognizable and memorable, and then shareable. But also, so that once those things happen, you they you really build that know love and trust factor. And once that happens, your audience becomes more clear on what you do. You can build a business around that and help them understand how you are going to help them. How you will be the hero of their journey. So they can create their story of success.

The Importance of Showing Your Face Online

If you’re not front and center in your business, people don’t know who we are. And our eyes and our smile are the gateway to our soul. That’s our essence! That’s how people are going to build that emotional connection with you. A logo is a great identifier, and people might remember it. But what they’re really going to remember is what you look like and how seeing you made them feel.

You should also have your picture on the homepage of your website. The second someone lands on your website, they see you and they can immediately connect with you. And your about page should have a picture of you as well. A headshot picture is simply a picture of basically your face. It encourages that connection with who you are. Branded photography is more telling your story. It shows the behind the scenes; where you work, how you work, maybe you working with clients, those things about you.

For instance, I love coffee! So photos of me with my coffee cup to show a little bit of my personality besides just the business side. This way people can connect with me as a person as a whole, not just a person, as a business person. These pictures are sprinkled throughout my website and should help me be cohesive across all other platforms.

There should be a picture that shows your eyes and your smile as your profile picture on every single one of your social media platforms. If it’s the same picture as on your homepage, great, because then it makes you super recognizable. Be sure to look straight at your audience. That way whoever is looking at your profile picture can really connect with you. Think of Instagram. You have nine squares of your feed that usually pop up when you first go to someone’s Instagram account. Your picture with your face should be in at least one of those nine squares. It can be an introductory post, or it could be a post that is provides a tip to your audience. Share a little bit about you as a business person so that people can really get to understand who you are, why they should work with you. But also get that feeling of trust, as they as they see you and learn more about you.

The Five C’s of Personal Branding

Clarity ~ When we talk about clarity, clarity is a two way street, it is very, very important for you to have internal clarity with what you do, how you do it, why you do it and who you serve. So we want to talk about your niche, or what it is that you do and then who it is that you serve, you have to be 100% clear on who that person is that you’re going to solve a problem for. Because without having clarity on what you do and who you serve, you can’t effectively communicate your story, you can’t effectively communicate what you do and how you do it. And the problem that you’re going to solve, to help that other person that you’re meant to serve, be the hero of their journey.

Cohesive ~ This is where your brand identity comes in because you want to have a cohesive feel from your website to your social media platforms. So your color palette should be on your website and should be splashed throughout your social media feeds. And use the same pictures that represent you so that people easily recognize you. All of that makes your brand cohesive.

Consistency ~ This is more about that content that you’re putting out. What is the messaging on your website? Does that message feel consistent with what you’re putting out on Instagram? So maybe you’re saying you are a process engineer on your website. But on Instagram, you’re talking about creating social media content? Well, what do you actually do? Figure out how those two things go together. You want to be very consistent in your messaging. And then again, your visual content, your brand aesthetics, your brand identity, all of that should be consistent. You don’t want your website to be , hot pinks and turquoise and then on social media you use browns and navy blue. It doesn’t flow; it doesn’t feel cohesive or consistent.

Content ~ Your content should be cohesive and consistent. That brand message is at the core is who you are and what what you do and who you serve. But you always want it to entertain, educate and enlighten or inspire. Make sure you have some sort of value in that content. To get people’s buy in, to trust you, to show that you are an expert and an authority in your space. Also just to keep them engaged and coming back wanting more, and then obviously building the trust factor.

Community ~ This is important because you can start with the community that you have. So you have family, you have friends, you have you know, your, your kids, sports team, people, you have your kids, the kids from school, you have all these parents, right, that you’ve connected with over the years, or these people you’ve connected with, start with that small community, and then let that grow. It will ultimately grow by itself. Invite people into your journey and tell them about your business! Tell your community what you’re doing. If they want to follow along with your journey they will do so.

Community is also a great place to collaborate. So many times with especially social media, we find ourselves comparing ourselves to other people out there and what they’re doing others in our space, like, oh, gosh, they’re doing that I’m not doing that, maybe I should be doing that. So instead of thinking of it as comparison or competition, think about how you can collaborate with others to not only build yourself up, but help build them up. As you do that, you grow your referral source. And you help yourself become more of an author, authority and expert in your space.

How to DIY Your Brand Photos

If you’re interested in standing out online but can’t afford a professional photographer, you can take your own photos with just a few resources. Lighting is key! If you are doing anything related to photography and representing yourself online via still photography or video, you have to be well lit. And the good news is that through different resources online, you can actually purchase a ring light relatively inexpensively and they come with a tripod. So if you want to stand or you want to be sitting however you want your image to be or your video to be presented, you can do that just using this inexpensive tool.

Robyn has a download on her website, Smartphone Photography for Business. All of the tips shared are also in that ebook. Click here to grab a copy.

To hear all of my chat with Robyn, listen to episode 61 of the podcast. Click below and tune in on your favorite platform.

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I know, it’s hard to leverage Instagram Reels, Posts, Stories, and IGTV!

Honestly, I was not a fan of Reels when they first came out because I was a little intimidated. Yes, I was intimidated by the technology! But now I love creating reels! Are you wondering what changed my mind?

There are some amazing women in my online community who have helped me learn how to use Reels and Stories to connect with my audience and grow my business. One of them is Dana Bowling and her name is pronounced Donna.

The tips Dana shared during our chat on the podcast are going to help you become the person your audience needs to follow online!

Dana helps women gain confidence to take action and show up & stand out on Instagram. She’s also the host of the AMP It Up Podcast where she inspires women with tangible, actionable advice on how to show up, stand out, and start their businesses. 

Why You Should Start Using Instagram Reels

Dana was an early adopter of reels. She had been on TikTok and wasn’t really gaining traction on TikTok. A lot of other people are using it and their business has exploded. But Dana wasn’t feeling that at all and TikTok just didn’t feel like her home even though she likes consuming the videos.

Instagram is her jam! So when she woke up and saw that she had Reels, she created a silly reel with her son. But she didn’t know a lot thing about it. So she didn’t share it to her feed but she got 100 views on it. Then Dana created another reel later that morning, a valuable Reel and shared it with hashtags hashtags. It got 3000 views that day!

When reels came out, she had less than 7000 followers. So to get 3000 eyes on a piece content was unheard of! It shows you don’t need a lot of followers to be successful. We only get such a small percentage of views on our stories, usually 10% or less. Most people are around that 5% of their total viewers see their stories. And then a similar if not less amount of people see your static posts or your you know carousels or whatever it is.

“Reels is the only the only way, the only shot you have of really growing and getting in front of other people that are not in your little Instagram bubble“ ~ Dana Bowling

How to Start Using Instagram Reels

Keep your Reels simple. Most are 15 seconds, 30 seconds max. So you have to get to the point, share the tips, share whatever and get off. Some of them are as simple as a person just staring in the mirror and mouthing and doing a voiceover like lip synching. Thing is there’s no rhyme or reason to why things go big.

Don’t feel like your Reels need to be really, really amazing. Once in a while you can throw out something incredible if you have that energy or time but in general, it’s just about doing it. Start by looking at your content that you already have on Instagram that is doing well. What content do people really engage with?

What do people really want to hear from you about? Think about one of those big questions that you’re getting consistently. For example, Here are three ways to (insert your topic).

Make sure you don’t just look at the camera for 30 seconds straight. People don’t like that; people get bored. Start recording and say “Three ways to (your topic).” And then the clip kind of stops and all of a sudden you’re in a different location. Bam! People are more interested in it!

The most difficult part of Reels is to figure out what you’re going to say. So write it out before and then you can record. Decide if you want to record just talking to the camera in different positions. Start by stating your topic, then maybe filming your computer screen as you’re showing things. Or do a screen record. You can delete. You can try it again.

The key to captions in your Reels is to make sure you don’t write too much. Now to make sure your caption doesn’t get cut off. When you’re writing the caption for the Reel, hold down the caption, and slowly drag it across the screen. If you drag it really slowly, a blue line pops up on the left side, on the right side, below and above. That’s your guide. You have to drag it really slowly. If you drag it fast, it won’t, like catch it. Sometimes you have to play around a little bit. Be sure to focus on engagement not views.

How to Cultivate Relationships on Instagram

There’s a lot of people that I talked to that are like, I want more engagement. I want more comments. I want more followers. Are you engaging? Are you commenting? And are you following others?

This is not a just come and get me type of situation. This is a given take. Instagram is very crowded! Instagram is very, very competitive. There are a ton of people next door to you that do what you do. Don’t let this deter deter you from growing your business on Instagram. There’s space for everyone! People decide to follow you and stay because of what they’re getting back from you.

This is not a one way street. If people are commenting on your posts, you best be commenting back.

What people see on Instagram is what starts to build the interest which is the like part. But the trust comes from the conversations. Be engaging by responding to comments and leaving comments for others. Just liking someone’s content or just following someone’s account is not enough. Look at their stories and send them a DM to start a conversation. Then keep the conversation going by responding.

How to Become the Person People Need to Follow

Everyone loves to watch stories especially in the evenings! They are looking for people who provide value with really good tips, make them laugh and are authentic. Create FOMO with your content and they won’t want to miss a thing. Stories is where you really get to put the stuff that you don’t want in your feed.

What should you share in stories? Start by being consistent. Then show up with some sort of give, like at the very beginning of when you’re kind of nervous. Even when you don’t know how to show up on stories, show up and just teach. All of us do something to help people in some category. Just share details related to what you do.

For instance, if you sew hats for a living say, “You guys, I wanted to show you why I love this material. This is a material that really works! And actually, every single person that uses them talks about how even when it rains outside and it’s really cold, it will warm your head. And do you know that the majority of the heat that leaves your body is through your heads?! You’re definitely going to want to keep that on especially if like right now. It’s cold.”

How to Beat Anxiety and Show Your Face on Camera

It is awkward and uncomfortable. But the only way to get better is to do it. And over and over. So you just have to pretend that you’re talking to someone that is really loving what you’re saying. We psych ourselves out by thinking we’ve got to be picture perfect and fully made up. But we don’t!

Use stories to make a connection with your audience, which then builds the know, like, and trust. If you don’t hit all three with your audience, you can’t get to the portion where they trust you enough to make the investment and purchase something from you. So all of that is what builds that relationship. And really, that’s what social media needs to be about, building that relationship. Showing your face in video so they can see your facial expressions, hear your voice and get to know more about you will help.

If hear all of my chat with Dana including the story shared that is really vulnerable, be sure to listen to episode 56 of the podcast. Click below and tune in on your favorite platform.

Connect with Dana Online:

On Instagram @thisisdanabowling 

Check out her website https://www.danabowling.com/

Check out the Amp It Up Podcast 

Connect With Me Online:

On Instagram @the_shannonbaker

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Are you frustrated trying to use Facebook to market your business?

Billions of people use Facebook every single day. I’m pretty sure that your ideal customers are included in that number and are using it actively to connect with their family, their friends, and their favorite brands.

That’s why you need to know how to use Facebook to market your business!

Well you’re in for a treat because that’s what the chat with my friend Sandy DeMarco was all about! Sandie is a social media manager and coach for real estate professionals. Her company is called Socially Branded and she helps them build authority and generate organic leads on social media.

Sandie shared share some tips that are going to help you effectively use Facebook to market your business so it grows. Why do you need these tips?

Because Facebook can be very, very useful in growing your community – which in turn grows your business.  Now you need to have a strategy and a specific purpose no matter what social media platform you’re using.

The problem is most business owners don’t not leverage the power that Facebook holds to really grow a stronger community. So what can you do to use it effectively?

Do You Need A Facebook Page?

If you are connecting in groups or you want referrals you need a Facebook page. What happens when someone is looking for a person that offers what you do? They get on Facebook and they say, “Hey, does anybody know a person that does this?” So your friend says my friend does this! She can say she has a friend who can help. Then she can tag your business page and connect you two.  

This is so much better because we’re lazy people! The likelihood of us going to search for a website or search for the information is unlikely. But on a Facebook page there is a link we can just tap and go over. That is powerful in itself!

So if someone wants to send a referral to you whether you’re on your personal profile or in a group, your presence is there. And that’s super important!

How Can You Optimize Your Facebook Page For Better Results?

Having a Facebook page is great for you to show up in searches. To ensure this happens, make sure that everything looks fresh and is up to date. People want to personally connect with you. Even though it is a business page, if it’s a personal brand, be sure to use a clear good picture of you.

DO NOT steal your banner image off the internet. First of all, the quality is terrible AND it’s someone else’s art. Even if it says free, it’s not really free because someone else has it. Take the time to create something on Canva and use your brand colors and your brand fonts. Also keep in mind your banner should say somewhere on there either boldly or subtly who you are, what you do, and who you serve.

Make sure all your links and all your contact information is up to date. Make sure your about section is filled out and up to date. Don’t overlook that whole our story section. Sometimes it’s called about us. This is where you can add another picture of you and a little bit more about what you do and why you do it.

Keywords, make sure you use them. Then make sure that your call to action button goes to the right place even if it’s just to give you a phone call. And there is an appointment setting function to that button. So if you don’t have Calendly or Acuity, people can actually set appointments right there on your Facebook page.

So be sure to audit your page regularly. Make it so that you look like you’re in business, you want business and you are ready to serve.

Other Benefits of Having a Facebook Page

Don’t have a website? You’re not alone! A lot of business owners or owners don’t have a website yet. The next best thing until you get a website up and running, even if it’s a one page website, is to have a Facebook page.

Facebook is the new yellow pages! When people want to know more about a business they will go to Facebook and do a search. They can also see announcements, reviews if it’s a restaurant and more. As mentioned earlier, you can also get referrals.

Using Video to Build Engagement

Video is top performing content on Facebook. You have the choice of either showing up live or in a premiere video. Premiere is a pre-recorded video that you upload. But because you’re going to be live in the comments, it counts as a live stream. Live stream is the one that really is almost number one because people engage. And that’s what they want! They want that retention, they want that engagement.

When uploading a video you just choose choose premiere at the end. You can set up the whole post and it creates a post in your feed so that people know that this video is going to be premiered. Then people can check off a little section that says that they’re interested in getting a notification when it starts. So you create that post and you can gain momentum until the day that it’s aired.

Remember, people prefer to watch video over reading a post. And they prefer to watch the video with captions. So definitely add those captions when you can. There’s a great editor in Facebook too! Even if you live stream, you can still add your captions. And you can actually go in and edit those captions.

Remember people want to see your face! Video is almost like that trustworthy trait. They get to see your nuances, see how you speak, and decide if they resonate with you or not. It’s a great way for people to really connect as if they’re standing in front of you. So it really is the way to go!

To hear all of my chat with Sandie and get the rest of the tips to help you use Facebook to market your business, tune in to episode 45 of the podcast. Click below and tune in on your favorite platform.

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Connect with Sandie online:

Connect with Sandie on Instagram 

Connect with Sandie on Facebook

Connect with me online:

Follow Me On Instagram: @the_shannonbaker

Follow my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/theshannonbaker

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