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Creative/Manager/Entrepreneur: Q&A

Let's dive into a little bit of Q and A, in regards to ideal client profile, attracting your ideal client, or the balance of roles. Kinda is gonna be like a free for all right now, we're gonna get into two questions, I love this. You ask away, boo, you ask away. So we have a few questions online, we'll start off with a few questions here. So when you're kind of managing or compartmentalizing things, I'm thinking about the blog and the content, is that considered creating or is that considered managerial? Oh, that's good, that's good. So for Camille who's gonna outsource, it's managerial. For me, because I write all my own staff, it's creative. Okay. Depending on where you are with that, but yes. Great question. Does that feel okay? Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out how to make that all work. Oh, aren't we all? (audience laughs) You are not isolated in finding the balance, and finding the time and finding the creativity to dig deep. I can't tell you how many times a week...

where I wake up, and I'm like I need to write something, I need to write something. And here's the ironic part, the stuff that I throw together, just to be like, I need to get something out, let me just write. What am I feeling right now? I'm gonna write it. That's the stuff that freaking takes off. The stuff that I actually plan for, nobody comments on. It's so odd. But I won't know that, I don't know the hot buttons until I just start pressing buttons. And showing up and doing the work, even when it doesn't feel right or feel good, if you just show up and be present, it makes a wild difference in your business. And you're saying that Instagram, blogging, all of those different-- The whole nine, boo, the whole nine. Now here's where I feel like, somebody had asked me a couple days ago, what makes you different? There's all these business strategists. There's all these people talking about social media, there's all things, like, what makes you different? And I feel like the thing that makes me different is that I'm an unqualified scrappy hustler who's learned how to build a big business with little money. And so people often are resistant to, so you mean I have to blog every week, and you mean I have to write something on Facebook every day, and post something on Instagram, the answer's yes. Yeah. 'Cause I'm doing it. And there's hundreds of thousands of people who are doing it. If you're not doing it, you become immediately playing defense, instead of headlong, I'd rather make a mistake on offense than try to get a perfect play on defense. It's just how I run my business. I'm a firm believer in making mistakes, fail fast, fail hard, and then get up and you know your path. I just made a sports allusion. (audience laughs) Just saying. Yes? So do you schedule all of your posts, like do you like batch all of your Instagram and that way they're all scheduled so when you have your time and you're trying get your tasks done but you're like, oh, I really need to get a post out, like you don't need to worry about it. Great question. For me, no. I'm not opposed to it. Everybody has their, I mean, here's the thing, I don't have any children, and hopefully that changes in the very near future, but for right now, I'm afforded the luxury to kinda be like, oh, sure, I don't need to plan, I'll just get my work done. Now, there's other people who are balancing and juggling a lot more things, and for them that makes sense, but there is something, my biggest caution is, I see businesses and these are large-scale businesses who have pre-scheduled posts and Tweets and Instagrams and it happens during a very volatile time in American history, like during the Boston. Why am I blanking? (audience murmurs) Thank you. But during the Boston Marathon, people had had pre-scheduled posts about their shoes being on sale or like you can choose the color of your bag and it seemed extraordinarily insensitive, and there was a lot of companies that got slack for it. There's a lot of issues with automation, that I'm like I really don't want to risk. I really do post 95% of everything in real time, and I do respond to people on my designated time. But it's just where I prioritize, yeah. Yes? You know, I kind of messed around with SnapChat and it was a fun toy but it's such a pain in the butt to add people and do real business on there. Do you use it? And I think that's one of the things I'm definitely gonna outsource. Okay, so outsourcing SnapChat's hard. It's like you can actually outsource Instagram Stories and you can outsource, you can upload, schedule things to have somebody upload videos to your Facebook. It's hard to outsource SnapChat, unless you do it as a derivative of your business and then that person takes on the official identity or storytelling for your business. Now, I was huge on SnapChat, I loved it, I was like nothing, this is it oh my gosh, and then Instagram Stories hit and I was like, sh-go bye. (audience laughs) No, I mean it's difficult. I know right, same here. It's difficult because, because, because I'm a firm believer in keeping things, and oh you guys are just setting this tones for where we go, but I'm a firm believer in respecting the platform and what I see a lot of people doing is creating the stories on SnapChat and then putting them on Instagram, which means that you're not respecting the platform, because users know. Like when people are like, "What up, Snaps?" and they're watching it on Instagram, they just feel like it's a lackluster, like stepchild type endeavor. And people wanna feel like they're being present. And when they speak to somebody on that platform, they wanna feel like they're actually having a real conversation. Right, and it's really important to tailor it to that platform. Absolutely, because when all you have all these like crazy filters that work so well on SnapChat, people feel disassociated with them on Instagram, because they themselves don't have the capability to reciprocate in that type of story. [Male Audience Member] Right and the quality looks different, you can tell and so there's a lot of things to consider. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. Find a teenager who's passionate about copyrighting, and then just ask them to jump in and (laughs). But here's the thing, no, no that's not, 'cause I'm gonna challenge you, I think that might be a waste of money, because how many of your clients are in the 16 to 25 range who are paying for copyrighting? It's probably a platform you don't need to touch. Could be a phantom market there, who knows. Maybe, you're right. (laughs) I need like a copyright for my Facebook post, yeah. Right, yeah, very good point. I mean, it just depends, it really depends. Like I have decided that to me, it was a platform that I dove in headfirst, I loved it, I thought it was smart, and I still think that for millennials it's gonna be the number one driving marketing force, and I'm still in it, I'm in SnapChat every day, I follow people, I watch what they're doing, I watch indicators. Micro-video is where it's going. Like, it's already, the good people are already there, and I'm just trying to claw my way to get there, too. Micro-video is 100% where the industry is going, but Instagram and Facebook have bit into it in regards to their messaging, you can now do micro-video messaging, we're gonna get to the social media. Can you guys see I'm like yeah, yeah, yeah, I love it. I love this stuff, but we'll get to that in a second, thank you. Great answers, thank you. Let's go into a online question. Any tips for an introvert wearing the sales hat? DaisyChainOddities, that's a great question. Now, this is where a lot of people are gonna be like, no you're not, okay. (claps) 100%, true and true, I'm an introvert. My good friend, who I'm gonna introduce in a second, her name is Promise Tangeman, she's worked for me for years and she knows that to be true. And the reason why we get along so well is I can just tell her like listen, I just need to be by myself. Or we're in the same room, I just wanna, I'm just gonna work in silence. I, when I go into a cocktail party, I'm not the person who is the center of attention. I don't start conversations, I don't end conversations, I'm notorious for leaving parties without saying goodbye to people, I'm that girl. When we go to vacation, and we decide to sit in the beach or the pool, I choose the chair on the farthest part. Like I can't believe people go to airports and they sit at a bar and they strike up conversation with people. Are you kidding me? I sit in the corner with my own little drink and my like pockets of like veggies and hummus by myself on my computer. That's me. I am not a salesperson. In fact, I caution people away. People try hiring me on the spot, and I said take that, let's chat in 24 hours. It's just who I am. I don't want to sell something that they don't find valuable. I don't sell. I have never said I am having a sale on wedding photography, I have never said I'm having a pop-up shop, I have never said hire me now and you get 10% discount. It's hire me now because I'm the best fit for you. Hire me now because you have a high maintenance mom, and I know how to deal with those, those are my specialty. Hire me now, because you need help with Instagram, and I'm gonna be the guide to get you there. That's what I do, I don't wear the sales hat, I show my value, and if you find that valuable, invest, and if you don't, cool. We're good, I'm a move on. So introverts, can be amazing salespeople if the sales are driven by value, not the source of your production or your product or your service. Let's go to one more online question. Jasmine, do you use any software programs to manage your schedule? If not, how do you manage to identify and schedule your daily tasks? KansasJohn. Okay, one, if that is your legit name, awesome name. I have envy, name envy. Okay, so, I actually get this question asked often, so often I'm probably gonna do a YouTube video on this because people wanna know how to manage your time. Maybe my video, well actually, I'm certain my video will be totally pointless because I don't use software. I am an old school planner. Through and through. I use Google Calendar, right, paper and pen, paper and pen's my jam. But here's the thing, my husband has actually bought me these beautiful planners in the past, and I make it through maybe January, and then the rest of the year is empty and one time I left the planner on a plane. Yeah, hurt, hurt so bad, I was scarred for, until today. (audience laughs) I am 100% Google Calendar, ghetto fab. I list all my tasks. I put in what time I'm gonna have dinner, I put in where I'm going to work out, and then the time I need to leave the house. And I have a master to-do list, everything that needs to get done at any point in time, I just write it on this master to-do list. And then I have my daily to-do list, so I pick and I prioritize the things I need to get done in that day, and then what I do is I create a timeline in which everything must be done, I mean y'all know, I mean guys it's proven, that I'm crazy, but I get ish done. And in fact, my husband would be like what are you doing? And I was like, it's right here. This is where I will be at 1:15. This is what I will be doing. I have included two dog walks in that itinerary, I've included a 35 minute bath, no sorry, lunch, I've included a bath, yes, I take a bath every day, and some moms are watching like what are you talking about, listen if you don't schedule for the bath, you will never get the bath, so I'm just basically creating a pattern in my life. So either way, I don't use project management, I have everything on my Google Calendars, just in case I lose my master calendar, if I need to. I will pre-plan things that need to be done on a certain date in advance, and then I make myself a little note. Two days from now this is due. So then I get a Google notification: Two days from now, project X is due. Okay, need to put this back into where I'm going. But I have the master plan, I have the daily plan, I have the hourly plan. I do that every single day, six days a week. So annoying, so annoying. I think we have one more online question. If you plan in advance how to break up your day, how do you accommodate unexpected events or tasks that arise, do you ever find your routine rigid or inflexible? Kristina, I have no idea what you're talking about. Yes, yes, there are unexpected things, always. And when that unexpected thing happens, you simply modify and then you prioritize the tasks that you had to do that day, depending on how much the detour comprised of your day. Then you subtract the least important. And yes, we all know that it was very important and needs to get done today, but it's not going to. Let me tell you, 11 years doing this, the world goes on. The email you thought had to get out, that sales letter, that sales website that you needed to post, now nobody's gonna buy your online program, you sell it, it'll be fine, the world goes on, you learn from your mistakes. But the time that you don't get back from that moment of screaming in the kitchen, oh my God, how is this gonna, you don't get that time back. So you can just say, okay, I know what I needed to do, this goes to tomorrow, I'm gonna wake up earlier, I'm gonna stay up a little later, I'm gonna put the kids down, I'm gonna talk to my husband, say tonight, because this happened, can you give me grace, I'll make it up to the kids over the weekend. These are the conversations that you have.