Would you like to know what you should be posting on Instagram?
You know, that secret combination of posts in feed, stories, reels, lives! If you said yes, you’re not alone! Many of us would love to know, but Instagram never tells us exactly what we should be posting. Instagram has been meeting with creators over the past few months to share exactly what they are looking for and that presentation has been leaked.
Are you curious about what to post?
IGTV: 1-3 /week
Remember when you couldn’t post a video longer than 60 seconds on Instagram? IGTV was Instagram’s solution to that problem. IGTV is a way to upload high-quality video content to your Instagram account. You want to be sure to capture your audience’s attention in 3 seconds and have them engage with you. This is a great opportunity to show your brand off!
In Feed: 1-3/week
The content should be your highest quality content! Use images that capture your audience’s attention and are aesthetically in line with your brand. You can share your IGTV and Reels into your feed as well to be part of your feed count, don’t forget that IGTV cover! Be sure when posting your video to your feed that you’re not using horizontal…ever! Post video vertical 4:5 aspect for the best results.
Reels: 4-7/week
Instagram is owned by Facebook and Facebook doesn’t like competition. Reels is Instagram’s way of rivaling the popular, TikTok platform. So what does that mean right now? That means Reels are a big deal and Instagram wants you to use them! This is a great way to get new subscribers due to Instagram’s Reels Discovery tab. To be completely transparent, I just started using Reels not too long ago and I wish I had started earlier. They are a lot of fun to create and I noticed a change in my analytics pretty quickly!
Stories 8-10/week
Stories are short little clips that last 24 hours and then disappear. Instagram wants you to use stories on a regular basis and ideally 2 times a day! Stories are a great way to give those behind the scenes peek into your brand, business, and life! You can use stories in a variety of ways. a few examples are by using polls, questions, and gifs. Be sure to use the features that are offered by Instagram. This is a great way to get your audience engaged with you and to gain insight on what it is they really want from you! When a new feature is launched, start using it. Facebook (Insta’s parent company) encourages using new features when they are launched and will typically give them favor in reach.
So now that you have the secret, the next step is to create your plan of attack! What’s the one thing that you’re looking forward to doing more of the most?
Videos have been becoming more and more popular in the last several years
The reason for that is that social media platforms have been giving favor to content in video format. The most popular platforms have incorporated videos and going live as a feature today, and if you use it, you will reach more people organically.
If you ever wondered where even to begin when it comes to creating great videos, you’re in luck!
Today on The Sassy Girl Entrepreneur Show, I have Video Creation Strategist Edie Clarke to share how to create great videos! She’s going to explain how you can create high-quality videos without the cost of hiring your own production crew!
Today we are talking about:
1. What type of equipment do you need to produce great videos
If you’re enjoyed this episode, will you do me a favor and leave a 5-star Apple Podcast review. It really helps the show grow and I appreciate each and every one of them. Leave your name in the review and then message me at de****@sa************.com and let me know.
I would love to treat you to a coffee as a thank you!
If you would like to be a guest on The Sassy Girl Entrepreneur Show, click here!
Edie Clarke is a remote video creator and YouTube channel manager. She has been using video to build her business for over 6 years, as well as the businesses of others. As a YouTuber with nearly 1.9 million views, Edie loves helping others use easy-to-learn and easy-to-use tools that allow them to gain visibility while they sleep!
Edie grew up on the island of St. Thomas Island and now lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and college-aged son, Thomas. She teaches her audience how to create their own online presence through video marketing services such as consultation and coaching, remote video recording, video tutorials, and YouTube channel management.
Her favorite pastime is researching her family history – it’s so much fun learning about all of the people who came before us!
Hey, everybody, it is Deanna, and welcome to the Sassy Girl Entrepreneur Show. I have a repeat guest that I absolutely love. I met this chick in Chicago, at a conference. We were both speaking at the conference and totally hit it off. So I am so excited to introduce you to Edie Clarke.
Deanna
Now, Edie is a video creation strategist, and she works with established entrepreneurs who really want to use videos to reach a broader audience and grow their business online. And when I tell you that she is a rock star, when it comes to videos and how to create videos and how to share it on YouTube and you name it, anything around videos. She is the rock star like she is the real deal.
Deanna
Okay! I’m so I am so excited to have Edie Clark with me. Edie, how are you, girl?
Edie Clarke
I am doing absolutely wonderful. And as always, it’s great to see you. Sorry that it’s been so long since we’ve last seen each other, but it’s really nice to be here, so thank you.
Deanna
You are so welcome. And that’s equally my part, right? I mean, I think everything was 2020. We actually saw each other right. In the beginning of COVID, it was March. That was the last conference I spoke at, and that was in Chicago and flew home was going to get ready to go to Europe and everything came crashing to a halt in the world. So I know we’ve all been doing our own thing and working with our clients because a lot of businesses had to restructure a little bit and change the way they do things.
Deanna
So I know that you’ve been just as busy helping everybody as well, but the one thing and first off, stick around because at the end of this video and podcast, right. I’ve got a special offer that Edie has been so generous to share with us. So you definitely want to hang to the end to get this because she is going to be hung tight, right? It’s going to be really cool. So I’m pumped about this. But you actually use proprietary software, right where you can remotely help people with their video.
Deanna
You can help them create it and collaborate with them. And you don’t have to be right there. And it’s so cool. And I know that we had worked with that a while ago. I think I had a Droid. I am now all Apple. You’d be happy to know.
Edie Clarke
Congratulations. Yeah.
Deanna
I know. And I’ve been a die-hard droid, right. So she was using me as a guinea pig to see how everything worked on Droid. I think maybe two years ago, quite a while ago. But no, I am now Apple phone, and we are filming this. I have a new Mac 27 inch computer. I am like all Appled out right now, which is super cool, but I know we were doing that before, and it’s really neat how you do that. If I’m creating a video, you can coach me and see everything without actually being on the video.
Deanna
So explain how that works. And I know you’ve got to see it to really get it.
Edie Clarke
They have to experience it to really understand it because in some instances, some of my clients would just submit their videos to me on their own. It took a lot of sort of cajoling and constantly bringing it up for them to say, okay, well, let me try it. And then when they do, they’re like, oh, my God, I didn’t realize it was this easy, but the idea and the premise of this service came up because that was the issue that a lot of my clients had was maybe they were interested in getting their content on a consistent basis, but they were really lazy about trying to make sure that they were doing it effectively.
Edie Clarke
And most of my clients at the time were doing packages. So they would do, I want to do four videos, or I want to do eight videos every month, and to do that on your own can be kind of daunting. If you’re not super comfortable with being on camera and sort of maneuvering your equipment and things of that nature, they would be able to sit down and easily record four videos in one session. But for others, it was like, oh, I only do one. I’ll get to the other next, and then it just prolonged, and then it would screw up my schedule in terms of how I needed to get their content out.
Edie Clarke
So when I came across this platform, I was like, I think this could be a game-changer for my clients. I think this really could be something that they can benefit from. I was first introduced to it. I think it was in 2019. And then I developed a service around the platform at the end of 2019. So by the time COVID hit, I was just sort of getting into the habit of selling it. And it just made sense that now certainly it was going to be beneficial because people couldn’t hire production.
Edie Clarke
I guess they could if they wanted to be super safe. But it cuts down on the price of having a crew come to you, and it enables you to be able to use your existing equipment. So it’s based on using your webcam and specifically your iPhone. They are trying to figure out a way that they can develop this Android, but it has something to do with the operating system of Android. It’s just built a little bit differently. And depending on the phone that you have, Samsung is different than Pixel versus Motorola or whoever else is out there, whereas iOS is iOS.
Edie Clarke
And so it’s a little bit easier to create apps and software for that. And so the reason is that it’s an app that you have to put on your phone in order for me to connect you. So I connect to you remotely. It doesn’t matter where in the United States of America that you are. I’m in Brooklyn, New York. You could be in California, which I have a client in California. You could be in Missouri. It doesn’t matter where it is that you are. We can connect.
Edie Clarke
And then the great thing about using the phone is I’m an advocate for making video creation easy for my clients. So if you ever visit my YouTube channel, which I hope that you’ll visit my YouTube channel, you’ll see a lot of different video creation tools and platforms, and software that I talk about because my mission has always been what’s going to make my client’s life easier. How are they going to be able to create videos without stressing over them? Oh, I have to buy this expensive DSLR, or I have to fill my area with these professional lights, or I have to have a separate studio.
Edie Clarke
Whatever it is that has usually been blocking people from creating videos. I didn’t want that to be a reason why they weren’t doing it. So I look for apps. I look for software. I look for platforms that make it really a no-brainer for you to create your content. And one of the things that I’ve loved that some people don’t particularly care for is using a video teleprompter. And the reason why I like this idea is that a lot of us are not super comfortable on camera, and sometimes you know that the light slit or you see that red light, you freeze up.
Edie Clarke
I mean, that’s just the reality of a lot of people to make the process faster. It actually is advantageous to read a script. But the old school way was either putting it on your computer. If you were using, say, for example, your webcam. And if I was looking at a script right now, I’d be looking down like this so you can see I’m not looking at the camera right now. I’m just seeing my screen. So that doesn’t work because you really need to be able to connect with your viewer by looking at the camera eye so that they can see that you are talking to them.
Edie Clarke
That is the point of it. And with video teleprompter apps, they’ve created a way where they will put the text right next to the eye of the camera on your phone. So when you use it, it does look as if you are looking at the camera when in fact, you’re actually reading. So if you don’t need me, I recommend a boatload of different teleprompter apps right now. My absolute go-to favorite.
Deanna
Yeah, I was going to ask you, I’m like this would be great to be able to have that on my phone.
Edie Clarke
Share tell us what’s your absolute favorite teleprompter Big Vu TV and you can go to it by going to my website. eddieclark.com/bigvue that’s B-I-G-V-U. If you go there, you’ll be able to try this out for free. And then once you try it out, you can then decide whether or not it’s something for you. They have a number of different subscription basis for their application, but I’m in love with them because in all honesty, I discovered them probably about five or six years ago, but I ignored them because there was one that was exclusive for iOS devices only, and because of that, I was just like, I’m just going to go with that one.
Edie Clarke
Whereas Big Vu, in all honesty, was iOS and Android from day one. I just liked the other one. Well, Big Vu has blown the doors off of anybody else. And what they are doing is they have the ability not only that, they’re giving you access to both devices. They now have a desktop version where you go onto the desktop and you can type out your script, and then you can send it to your app. So you don’t have to be on your phone trying to type in your script or typing in your script, say, for example, in Google Docs, and then uploading it or transferring it to your phone by email.
Edie Clarke
And then any of that stuff you just go on to their desktop version. You type out your script, and then you say, send to app. When it’s on your app, you click on it, and then you hit the camera icon. You set up the feed, the font, all of that stuff that you need to on your phone, and then you just go. Now. The recommendation that I make is primarily two things. One, you want to make sure that you write your scripts the way that you naturally speak.
Edie Clarke
Don’t write your scripts like you’re writing a blog post, write it like the way you speak. If you say Ghana instead of going to write in Ghana, however, it is that you speak whatever the natural and the way that I like to do my scripts is I actually narrate. Whenever I’m going to write a video script, I’ll actually narrate it into some kind of an app. There are speeches that you can have that are on your phone or my other go-to now is Otter AI, and so I will just narrate what it is that I want to say because I know I’m going to speak the way I normally speak.
Edie Clarke
Then I go in and I edit it out by taking out the I say so a lot. I didn’t realize until I first wrote my videos and I was like, dad, I say so a lot. But anyway, so if you want to take out your sows or if you want to take out your arms or whatever it is that you need to do, you can edit it. And then from there you can add that to the Big Vu desktop, send it to your phone, and then the other thing that I recommend that you do is you practice reading it out and read it out loud.
Edie Clarke
Don’t read it to yourself. Read it out loud. If you do those two things, you can record your videos in one take using this method. Wow. So if your video is five minutes long, you’re done. You don’t really need to do much.
Deanna
Right. So do you find that most people are using their phones to record their videos?
Edie Clarke
I think that they are a because now everybody has them. Yeah. Everybody has phones that have really iPhones cameras on them. The latest Samsung, the latest iPhones have really brilliant up to 4K. I think Samsung even has up to K cameras on them. And that’s another thing I’m a proponent of using what you have as opposed to going out and purchasing some expensive camera because there are other things that you’re going to need to go along with your camera or your phone. In order for you to record, you need to have a tripod.
Edie Clarke
You need to have a holder for the phone. You want to make sure that you have some kind of artificial light. If you’re not blessed to live in Florida or in California.
Deanna
I have my window on this side and my ring light over here. Well, I guess you can’t see the ring light is here. The window is there.
Edie Clarke
That’s perfect. So if you can use natural light, then, by all means, go for it. Whether it means you literally put your phone right in front of the open window, go for it. But if you can’t and you live in an area where it’s not as sunny or you are in an office that doesn’t have as many windows or some people have an office that’s in a closet or not.
Deanna
Well, that’s true.
Edie Clarke
If that’s what you’re working with, then you need to purchase lights. So those are the things that I would recommend purchasing, like your lights and your audio, because that is super important as well.
Edie Clarke
And so for your lighting, I would go with all of these things you have to take into consideration. Where are you going to be? Is it close to outlets? Do you want to have a ring light? And if you want to have a ring light, I’d recommend it’s because you don’t wear glasses, because if you wear glasses. Yeah, I’m very aware.
Deanna
Can I tell you I learned a trick, though? I’m very aware of the light in my camera, and I’ve gotten better at it.
Edie Clarke
Yeah.
Deanna
You know it, huh? It up. I don’t know. Tip them up a little bit so that they face down so that it won’t hit. But you’re right.
Edie Clarke
It’s just really trying to like, I have a ring light on as well, but it’s over here and it’s pointing more to my background because I wanted the more lit up. And then I have a softbox light, which you can see in my glass softbox light that’s here, that sort of radiates the light a little bit. Those I actually recommend because they normally come at least two or three in a pack. But again, if that’s what you’re going to have, then that means you actually have an office or a spare bedroom that you have the room to put that in.
Edie Clarke
Right. If you are in a really enclosed space, then you might want to opt for a ring light or some other kind of light that is smaller and doesn’t take up as much space. But bear in mind if you’re wearing glasses that you need to be conscious of. Okay, how am I going to light this area? Because I don’t want to have the light in my lenses because it is very distracting.
Deanna
It’s so distracting. And when you wear glasses, this is a challenge. And then if you do like the blue light, if I have these, you can get everything which these are super because you can actually see the screen right back in it, too. But it is so distracting. And I’ve watched videos where people have had their blue lights on, or you can see the ring light in both eyes because it’s right in front of them. And I’ll be honest, I’m only staring at the yeah.
Edie Clarke
I’ve done that too. It’s not like everybody. I’m like an expert. So I’ve never done a faux par by having the license I have. And usually, if it’s happened, it’s because I didn’t notice it at the time. I wasn’t really paying attention to that. I wanted to get my video created really quickly or if it was because at the time I didn’t care one way or the other. But now I’m a lot more conscious. So you just need to be able to set up the lighting in such a way that you’re lit so that you can be seen.
Edie Clarke
But there’s no glare of the reflection of the light in your glasses. And then the next thing that you need to focus on and pay close attention to is your audio. And so if you’re using a webcam like I’m using a Logitech 920 right now, old thing. I’ve had it for how long I’ve had this camera. But if you’re going to record this way, then you need to have a USB microphone because it’s plugged directly into the USB Port of your computer, and they range in terms of price, and they range in terms quality.
Edie Clarke
I have an audio technicaiPhon at 2020 that I’ve had for forever. Love it. I’ve never had any issues with it, but there’s a lot of other ones that are out there that you can use, but I just highly recommend that it’s a USB microphone. And then if you’re using your iPhone or your Android, then I would recommend actually plugging in a mic. Sometimes you don’t need it depending on the room that you’re recording in. But just as a safety net. I always recommend that they purchase one because you don’t want to not purchase it and then start recording your videos, and your audio just sucks because that’s the second thing that people will see or hear that will turn them off from watching a video.
Edie Clarke
Not only that it’s not loud enough, but it’s just not if it’s just not prominent, and I will turn people off. So the Lavalier mic that I use is called Smart Lab by Rode R-O-D-E. But again, there are bajillion lavalier mics that are out there that I would highly recommend to anyone if they were interested in using it. And just as long as they make sure that they have one that has a long enough cord. That was the mistake that I made when I bought my Smart Lab that has a cord that I want to think is probably about 4ft, maybe.
Edie Clarke
So I can do it if I’m doing a video here at my desk or maybe off to the side, but I can’t do it if my camera is all the way across the room. There are some lavalier mics that have, like, 20-foot cords, so I would recommend getting a longer one if you think that you’re going to be either outside or you have a space that’s big enough that would warrant you to have enough space between you and the camera.
Deanna
Now, do they have them that you can Bluetooth to your phone too?
Edie Clarke
Well, they might. I don’t use those, but I’m trying to think if they might have them because I know some people will use their AirPods, so there probably are some that can work with the Bluetooth, but I’m old school. I like to.
Deanna
That’s so important because right now, short videos are really big with Reels and stories. If you are on Instagram, I mean, you’ve got to be doing Reels, and that’s really helping a lot. So those are short little video clips.
Deanna
Like I said, there are times I’m scrolling through, and I’m like, what are they saying? Something you probably don’t know this yet. Edie, this actually just happened in March, and I did openly share it, but I had to get hearing aids.
Edie Clarke
Which ones are those?
Deanna
So they’re from Starkey, the Livio one thousand. But I have them in both ears. I knew that I had some damage. I didn’t realize how much I did.
Deanna
So. When I realized when she told me how much in that why everything that goes along with hearing loss. And it was like dementia. Alzheimer’s balance. Oh, gosh. I’m blanking on some of the other things that she listed because of Alzheimer’s in dementia. Oh, cognitive ability, right. I am like, Whoa, you got my attention now because I put this off for far too long, had to deal with a bunch of emotions. But I will tell you the super cool thing about these is that they are Bluetooth to my phone, and so I hear everything in my ear.
Deanna
Right. So if I’m going through my phone and I’m scrolling videos, which is kind of cool. It’s like always having Bluetooth in it, and I can keep it really low and I can still hear it, okay. Well, I Scroll through stories often and watch reals or TikTok videos, and if you can’t hear the person, I have to turn it up, I am like, oh, goodness. I want to almost message them and say, Can you do that again? Because you nailed it. But I had to turn it up and I’ve got these Bluetooth, so somebody else may not really, if I didn’t have these, there’s no way I’d be able to hear it. I’d have to try full blast.
Edie Clarke
Right.
Deanna
And once I got this, I’m realizing how many people are like that’s. Me too. I can’t hear. So having that mic is really important.
Deanna
Because. I don’t know, the 80s had too many concerts is all I could say.
Edie Clarke
That’s what I realized too. But yeah, I’m not going to go into that. But yeah, I went to too many clubs and stood too close to the speakers that I know.
Deanna
Me too. Get the mics on what she’s doing. And video is huge. But I want to ask you just a quick question we can kind of touch on, right. If somebody is afraid of doing these videos, if you have a business, you’ve got to be doing videos. This is not an option. At one point, it was an option. But if you are still saying I don’t need to do videos, this is your wake-up call. You need to do videos. It could be YouTube. It could be on your website, it’s on Facebook, or anywhere.
Deanna
Everybody, it’s so needed. You absolutely have to get comfortable. But it’s scary. You mentioned that earlier. It’s scary for some people that do want to get it. So how can they overcome those nerves when they’re yes.
Edie Clarke
Actually, Ironically, am in the process of editing a new video phobia email series.
Deanna
Are you really?
Edie Clarke
Yeah. Actually, I am.
Deanna
Oh, my gosh. Well, then get on her email list. If you are not on Eddie’s email list and you’re scared.
Edie Clarke
I have the series actually attacks different reasons why people would be afraid. So let’s say if, for example, they’re afraid because they don’t feel comfortable being on camera, which was probably one of the number one reasons that I heard. And it was the reason that I connected. I actually understood that because my background has been behind the cameras, somebody that was comfortable in front of the camera. In fact, even with some cameras, I would run and I’d be the last person or the person all the way in the back.
Edie Clarke
You can see a little bit of my head and probably about it. So I know what it’s like to not feel comfortable or feel natural in front of the camera and can be daunting. The fear that comes along with seeing that red light or just seeing the light on and knowing that, OK, I got to speak and then feeling like you’re stumbling or what have you that definitely is a valid fear. So if somebody knows that they need to do videos, they’re like, okay, I’m sold.
Edie Clarke
I get it. I see the importance, and I see the potential benefits that I could do for my business, but I’m just physically uncomfortable about being the spokesperson and being on camera. Then I would recommend that they do Facebook videos and essentially Facebook videos. There’s a number of different ones that you can do, and it’s all based on what it is that you do. If you’re a service provider, you could do videos where you’re educating and informing your audience, where you don’t need to be in on camera.
Edie Clarke
Your voice can be heard, but you don’t physically need to stand in front of a camera or sit in front of your webcam and talk to anybody. You can do it by educating them with some sort of screen recording. So let’s say, for example, you’re an expert in social media and somebody you’re teaching people how to upload videos to Facebook or how to go live on Facebook or how to use stories or all of those different types of things are videos that you can. It’s like the show and tells.
Edie Clarke
Basically, you’re doing the show and tell videos, and then another way that you can do it, which I used to dump as blog videos back in the day. And my blog videos used to feature my voice. But it was featuring stock footage or roll footage that I would purchase from a company. And there are many companies out there that have reasonable monthly or yearly subscriptions where you can access this. And then for everything that I talked about, I would find footage that related or kind of showed again, another show.
Edie Clarke
But it was just done with B-roll footage. So I would do those types of videos in place of me being on camera until I could work my way up to being a little bit more comfortable. The way that you can do that is first open and close your videos with you on camera, but the meat and potatoes, the middle part is the Broll or the screen recording, and then eventually you’ll start to get more comfortable. Another quick way to get comfortable really is like jumping straight in doing live streams.
Deanna
Yeah, that’s what I did. I’m comfortable talking to people, but going on camera, is intimidating and lives.
Deanna
I will say if you are going to go live to get used to being on camera, it’s so much easier to have somebody with you. So that conversation goes back and forth, because when you go on by yourself, sometimes it feels really uncomfortable because you’re like, okay, I just have your bullet points ready, have your bullet points ready. But I’m all for just jumping in and doing it. Here’s the thing in my opinion, right. The biggest thing that I hear from clients is that of being afraid of being judged for whatever reason they’re going to be judged, right.
Deanna
And most people don’t care when you mess up. It makes you more human and we like you more.
Deanna
So. Embrace the screw-ups.
Edie Clarke
Yeah. That’s why I say that. I mentioned that in one of my videos. I think it’s the uncomfortable one, too, where I said that we’re our own worst enemies when it comes to our critics. I should say when it comes to judging ourselves and that nine out of ten times not saying that there are trolls out there, but nine out of ten times. Your ideal client or your ideal audience is so appreciative of the content that you’re providing to them the information that you’re telling them they don’t give two craps about what you look like.
Edie Clarke
They’re not sitting there judging. Well, gee, her head’s ball. She doesn’t have hair or whatever or wearing makeup. Why didn’t she wear it? Nobody is saying any of that stuff. You are. Yes.
Edie Clarke
Nobody else is saying that.
Deanna
You guys have held on for half an hour now, so I’m going to share with you what Ed has been so generous to offer all of the listeners. So we talked about this super cool remote video creation that she’s able to do where she is going to be, like, right there with you and helping you out and coaching you along. And it is the coolest service. So I highly recommend that you take advantage of this because it’s really a cool opportunity to be coached and to see exactly what you need.
Deanna
And she is going to be doing this for a discounted price. You get one video, but that’s one video discounted price. Video recorded and edited for 197, 197 guys. This is like a killer deal. It is. It’s like replacing a whole camera crew of doing this because you can create this video, remotely, collaborate with them, and write from the equipment that you currently have and from multiple angles. Right. So you can do, like, all these really cool things for only $197.
Deanna
so super cool. Check out her link in the comments and in the show notes. If you’re on YouTube, it’s in the notes below. If you are on Apple’s podcast, it’s in the show notes. So get in touch with Edie and let her hook you up that you are video-ready. Thank you so much. I appreciate that generous offer for everybody. I think that pardons me.
Edie Clarke
Only for your listeners.
Deanna
We will take it. We will appreciate it. So thank you. And thank you so much for coming on. As always.
Deanna
I absolutely love talking with you. Me too. Absolutely.
Deanna
I love to get you on the calendar for a regular thing and then also, like, side.
Edie Clarke
Right. Right.
Deanna
We have a side Zoom session or whatever so we can chat. All right, everybody, I will catch you all next time. Next week on The Sassy Girl Entrepreneur show.
Do you sometimes feel like you are running in circles when it comes to your marketing strategy?
As entrepreneurs, we are constantly looking for ways to better our business and our marketing strategy. We read books, watch videos and listen to podcasts just like this one to gain insight into running our business better.
We are told that we should be here and there and do things this way or that way. We watch others succeed and make quick decisions that we should start doing things the way “they” are doing it, and we can gain more business. We get super excited about it until….we see something else that seems to fit us better, and then we shift.
In the end, we have a list of amazing ideas, but our execution is off. Our marketing strategy has us on a hamster wheel, and you desperately want to get off and start making money!
Sound familiar?
If so, then my guest today will help you stop running in circles and get started with the right marketing strategy specific to you.
Many times, small business owners will invest in purchasing a website as part of their marketing strategy. Investment is important if you’re serious about your business. Once you have a website, the goal should be to drive traffic there, not social media platforms or other places. Your website should act as part of your sales team.
There are essential components to having a great website:
You want your website to be easy to navigate
You want your website to be aesthetically pleasing and represent your brand
However, many times, small business owners don’t know how to effectively create a marketing strategy that leads their ideal client (avatar) to their website.
The truth is, you can have the most beautiful website, but if people don’t see it, then it’s not working for you.
That’s why today, we are talking about you stopping running in circles and starting to create an effective marketing strategy
How to Stop Running in Circles with your Marketing Strategy Guest: Rita Suzanne
About Rita Suzanne
Rita Suzanne is a digital strategist who helps coaches and creatives automate their business and marketing using simple but effective conversion strategies to achieve time and financial freedom.
She is also the creator of Mom Owned and Operated, a support community and podcast for mom business owners where she interviews other moms about raising their families, running their business, and remembering themselves.
Rita combines over 15 years of business and marketing experience. Due to several life changes in 2020, she is dedicated to helping other women create a profitable business without sacrificing themselves in the process.
She’s been featured in business, branding, and design podcasts, blog interviews, and summits. When she’s not helping other business owners, she is working on upgrading herself, learning new things, and serving up no-nonsense business advice.
Don’t worry, she takes breaks from her business life to focus on her four children, her burgeoning coffee addiction, and wearing a whole lotta comfy clothes.
If you’re enjoyed this episode, will you do me a favor and leave a 5-star Apple Podcast review. It really helps the show grow and I appreciate each and every one of them. Leave your name in the review and then message me at de****@sa************.com and let me know.
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Things right now are challenging for all of us and small business owners are doing everything they can to stay afloat. We are all being impacted in one way or another. Now is not the time to sit back and wait for it to pass.
Social media has increased in usage during this pandemic as we stay home yet find ways to connect with one another. Take advantage of that increase by making sure your social media is ready.
Here are some tips on how to adjust your social media during trying times
Tip #1 Update your profiles across all platforms.
If your business is during curbside pickups or deliveries.
If your customers can order online
If your business doing anything different than your customers should knowUpdate those bios! Keep your audience and customers informed!
Tip #2: Post with a purpose!
Share information that is worthy of your audience. This isn’t the time to post useless information. Now more than ever, people are using social media more to communicate with one another.
Highlight what you are currently doing
One business is doing something cool…they are posting what they need to sell to stay in business when they hit it, they announce it in their story and encourage you to support another business
Be empathic to what is going on
Help more than selling (You can still sell, but now is the time to really bring the value)
Tip #3: LISTEN!!Pay attention to what your audience is saying.
Pretending that everything is normal can come across as unauthentic. Let them know you hear them. Don’t forget to comment on those posts and respond to those messages.
Be present!Tip #4: Spotlight Customers, Partners, and your Team!
Re-introduce yourself!
Introduce your team
Share your partners or vendors
Spotlight your customers
Tip #5: Use Stories….EVERYDAY!It doesn’t need to be perfect, you just need to be top of mind every single day!
Tip #6: Repurpose your best content!We all have it. It’s that content that did exceptionally better than the other pieces of content.
Pull that out and use it again!
Maybe it’s that video that you did that got a lot of attention, break it up into little nuggets of information. You can create:
Short videos
Images with quotes, facts or great information
New ideas for content can come from the questions or comments on that video if it was live.
Tip #7: Expecting a longer sales cycle is not the same as a nonexistent sales cycle.
People still WANT to buy from you, but they may not feel like they CAN right now.Still continue to provide great content, help, nurture while you’re being authentic and empathetic. The sales cycle maybe a little longer right now, so think of ways to really bring value and do things a little differently.
Ex: People may not be buying homes, but you can provide virtual tours, share tips to get ready to sell, and reasons why buying is a great idea.
Facebook isn’t one to not recognize an opportunity when it arises. During this pandemic, everyone has turned to social media and virtual meetings. A year ago when I moved from Ohio to Montana, I continued to meet with clients through Zoom, an online meeting platform. I have to laugh that even that short time ago, I had to explain more times or not what Zoom was and how to use it.
I don’t think Zoom needs that explanation any longer. Zoom has been one of the top platforms of choice for hosting meetings for business, classrooms for teaching, and happy hours for friends at 5:00 on Friday.
You didn’t think Facebook was going to allow Zoom to be the big dog with virtual meetings for long, did you?
Yesterday, Facebook rolled out Messenger Rooms! Here’s how it works:
You have the ability to create a “room” on messenger.
You can invite those with on Facebook, or those who have the link, which means if you’re not on Facebook, you can also join in
You can join in from your desktop or mobile device
You’re not limited to the number of people who can join
From your desktop, you’re able to view a person’s Facebook profile and send them a message via messenger
From your mobile device, you have access to fun filters
You’re able to do a screen share with others in the group
You are able to change views from your desktop from speaker view to grid view
So, how do you access it?
From your desktop:
Go to Messenger
Hover over the video icon
Create your Room
Join
From your mobile device:
Go to the Messenger app
Select “People” at the bottom of the screen’
“Create A Room” is at the top
You have the option to select who can join
Overall, Facebook created a fun and easy way to connect with others. The only piece that I did not see was the option to record. So, if you still need to record meetings, then this may not be the solution for you.
What do you think about Messenger Rooms? Will you use it for fun, business, or both?
If your business is during curbside pickups or deliveries.