Have you ever considered becoming an influencer? If so, you may be wondering the same thing as Cindy. She asked during myweekly Facebook live chat: >>“What is the most important thing to do if you want to be an influencer with a certain brand?”<< Although I am not an influencer myself (I choose to build my own brand and business), I can talk about influencer marketing all day from a business perspective. As it becomes more and more popular for brands to invest in influencers to market their products, I have learned so much watching my friends, colleagues, and (yes) strangers get brand deals. The biggest thing I’ve learned? >>Influencer marketing is the Wild West, my friend.<< *Brands think they have all the power when I think it should be the opposite.* Influencers have ALL the power and brands should pay a premium for them to talk about their product! The reason why I say it is the Wild West is because let’s say Brand X wants influencers to talk about their product, so they DM 10 influencers whose niche and audience aligns with theirs. They ask, “How much would it cost for you to talk about our product?” All three influencers can have 10,000 followers, yet:
Since there is no standard price for an influencer post, they can over and under value themselves. So, all brands have to figure out is who will talk about our product for the lowest price! >>How do you stick out as an influencer to brands you want to work with?<< My biggest piece of advice is to show how much content and how much product you can move before they pay you. For example, say you want to work with Brand X but they haven’t asked you to partner. Instead of waiting for them to notice you, create a post for Brand X (yes buttercup, for free!) to show them the type of content, engagement, and excitement you will push. Then, send Brand X an email saying:
>>Boo, when you demonstrate your value, they will pay more for it!<< I hope this helps you navigate the Wild West of influencer marketing. Are you an influencer with tips and tricks of your own? Comment below! I’d love to hear from you so the community can help each other grow. This town IS big enough for the two of us, cowboy! via RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230553 https://ift.tt/2YA2njp
0 Comments
When I first started my business in 2007, people told me to build my email list but I didn’t really understand why, so I simply put a “Sign up for my newsletter” button on my blog. I would occasionally send newsletters about what I was up to, but I wasn’t sending them with intention or strategy. It wasn’t until 2016 that I really started to seriously build my email list, and I quickly realized my largest form of communication and to build trust was by regularly popping in people’s inboxes. Over the past decade of buildingmy email list, I have learned the following best email marketing practices for business owners! 1. Keep it consistentI don’t care how often you’re sending a newsletter but whatever it is, pick a number and stick with it! The best way to build trust with your audience is predictability and consistency. Let your audience grow to expect when you will email them and they are far more likely to trust you with their credit card. 2. Keep it differentLook at what other people are doing in your industry and do something different because THAT is what will make people engage. When you make your newsletter not all about you and your business, your audience will love to open them and see what surprise is inside. 3. Keep it valuableAsk yourself: *What does my audience want to hear?* Then send THAT. The most important email marketing practice I can share is to offer value. And yes, that means to not always be selling something! Businesses that only sell to their email list have a much higher unsubscribe rate than ones that take the time to educate, entertain, and empower them. 4. Keep it thoughtfulA common myth about email marketing is that you cannot send long emails. But I would challenge that and say that there is no email too long, there is only one too boring! I am a believer that your emails should have a beginning, middle, and end, and then it doesn’t matter how long they are because they are thoughtful and intentional. Friend, if you use these 4 best practices to craft your email marketing strategy, you will be a LOT better off than I was in 2007. If you have yet to build your list, I have another blog post that would be perfect for you to check out:How To Build Your Newsletter List With A Freebie Your Audience Actually Wants. See, I gotchu, boo! Best of luck list-building and business-growing, j* via RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230553 https://ift.tt/2LNNkfU Ello, mate! Okay, that was lame. I blame the Aussies… >>Let me explain.<< Recently I was interviewed by Fiona Killackey of Australia’s The Design Files about how we can use Instagram for business. *How did she know this is my FAVORITE subject?!* >>It was an honor to have this conversation and I hope you find it useful as you hustle your way to the top.<< Keep reading to learn my top tips on how to promote your business on Instagram without the overwhelm! 1. What’s one thing you think small business owners would benefit from doing more of on IG in 2019?My answer is so easy…and yet so hard: just be consistent. So often we get in our heads about posting the perfect picture and writing the perfect caption that we make it so unnecessarily hard, overwhelming, and “just-forget-it-I’m-over-this” that sometimes we just don’t post at all. But the best thing you can do for your business is show up every day on Instagram and connect with followers in a place of service to them, not from a place of perfection for you. 2. There’s an idea that IG has lost its sparkle / magic, that it’s being set up to become the next FB where you’ll have to “pay to play” (be seen etc). What do you think of this?I think this is very true. It’s not a matter of IF, but WHEN. And while it’s tempting to get down about it, I take the opposite stance: I want to maximize my time on the platform, build as much as I can, leverage it today because I learned from what happened (and is happening) on FB. Instead of looking at the glass half-empty, I look at a glass filled with opportunity and the chance to make the most of it. 3. So many small biz owners stress about what to post and how often etc. So they end up doing nothing for weeks on end. What advice would you give to someone stuck in the mindset that IG is just another thing on the to-do list?To be honest, everything is another thing on the to-do list. We want to protect our time and while there’s a temptation to look at our social media marketing efforts as chores, I invite people to view them as golden opportunities. Never before in human history have we been given huge megaphones on massive platforms like we do today, so when I hear people stress about how much work it takes, I think it’s the same as complaining about a free ride to the airport because you actually had to open the car door and get in. No one is forcing you to use Instagram…so when business owners choose to do so, we should do it with a smile and hope for amazing things to transpire from our hard work. 4. How can small biz owners utilize IGTV to build their business & engagement on the IG platform?I spent three days answering this question, but since I don’t have that time, I’ll share three tips instead: 1. Clearly outline the purpose of the video (this is called the “promise”, what they get as a result of watching) 2. Articulate a pressure point (How to Organize Your Work Day) and offer 3-4 tips (this is called the “solution”) 3. Have a clear Call To Action (this is where you invite them to DO something, like leave a comment/click to buy/sign up for a newsletter/etc.) If you LOVE this interview, be sure to check out The Design Files for more tips and inspiration. As they say in Australia… See ya! via RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230553 https://ift.tt/2K7HyCB Is HUSTLE A Bad Word?
7/27/2019
Real talk: Is HUSTLE a bad word? I was recently interviewed on Basic Girl Marketing with Danielle Cevallos and she caught me off guard with the question: >>“Recently there has been a demonization of the word hustle… What does hustle mean to you?”<< Y’all, I told Danielle exactly how I feel… Maybe a little TOO much how I feel, you know what I’m sayin’? I told her that the people that preach the most about finding the right balance and re-assigning how much you should hustle are often those who worked extremely hard and were met with success. Then later, in an ivory tower wearing rose-colored glasses, these are the same people who say, “Everyone needs to find balance.” When I hear that, I think, “Easy for you to say.” *I mean, there’s a reason why you are successful, bro!* Do I agree there should be some sort of balance? Of course. I do not advise anyone to sacrifice their health, family, or wellbeing for their work. But I will not ever make it look like I’m having a 4 hour work week! >>I still show up for my business 13 years in even MORE than I did my first year.<< Now my friend, here’s the caveat: I will take a very hard issue when someone is only hustling for metrics and end results. Recently I spoke at an Amazon Resellers event with 3,000 attendees, and afterwards there was a line of people to chat with me. There, I met this man who told me, “Jasmine, I’m really passionate about selling sports gear to raising money for children with special needs.” I heard that and I said that is AMAZING! But he said, “You don’t understand—people don’t buy basketballs as much as they do meat thermometers. So I’m selling meat thermometers.” Ohhhh, I wouldn’t let this man LEAVE until he understood this: **When you’re just hustling for meat thermometers and metrics, you’re banging your head against a wall!** >>Hustle is so much more of a bad word when you’re hustling for something you are not passionate about than when you’re hustling for what lights you up.<< Listen, I understand why people raise a pitchfork against the idea of “hustle”…I really do. But when you love what you do, you drive farther, wake up earlier, and do whatever it takes to build your dreams. Why? Because you see a future where nobody else sees. I won’t tell you whether you should or shouldn’t hustle, but I will encourage you to continue to love what you do and remain steadfast in your pursuit. I don’t need a work-life balance if I love what I do… It’s called a life-LOVE balance. J* out. via RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230553 https://ift.tt/2KdkUsO Recently Stephanie told me during my weekly Facebook live “Ask Me Anything” that she is getting a lot of traffic on her website, but barely any inquiries. “I can see there’s interest but to get MAYBE an inquiry a week (if I’m lucky) is incredibly disheartening.” When I read this comment, I felt for Stephanie because I’ve been there. But I also wanted to challenge her to change her change her perspective… >>If you’re getting clicks on your website, you need to have a mindset shift first because there was a time in your business when all you WANTED was for someone to visit your site.<< Now, people are visiting your website and although they aren’t converting, that is *huge* step in the right direction. One of the hardest things to do right now on the internet is to get people OFF social media and onto website. *So let’s clap.that.up, my friend!* After you’ve had the mindset shift, now I can give you practical advice on what to do if you’re getting clicks to your website but no inquiries. >>Ask yourself: “What am I willing to test or change on my website?”<< Once you have looked at your analytics and you know which pages people are clicking on, you have valuable information to test how to convert them. What you can change on your website to test conversions:
…just to name a few! Your website is your store. If you had a brick-and-mortar store downtown and people were coming in to simply look around and not buy anything, we wouldn’t close down the store! The conclusion wouldn’t be “My store is terrible,” the conclusion would be:
Test different elements on your website and track them until you find something that converts, buttercup. That’s the only way to know how to turn clicks into inquiries! But it all starts with gratitude for the clicks to begin with. via RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230553 https://ift.tt/2OaQw7D We Are ALL Capable Of Our Wild Dreams
7/19/2019
I’m getting a little VULNERABLE…but I can’t help it. Today, I am inviting you into my journey, my career, and my desired impact after over a decade of hard work. We were raised by immigrant parents in a rough and tumble neighborhood in East Los Angeles. I didn’t learn to read until I was 11 and I wasn’t good at math… The stories I told myself as a child were “I’m not smart,” and “I’m a slow learner.” Unbeknownst to me, being a late bloomer when it came to education meant I became super creative and I really loved learning. >>I graduated with a 4.0 at the top of my class and earned a scholarship to UCLA Law School.<< I felt like this was the path I was supposed to be on, that I was not just going to Law School for myself, but that I was representing my community and culture. The gravity of that responsibility made me afraid to admit how unhappy I was. It was then that my mom had a relapse with brain cancer, so I left law school on a whim. I knew I needed to be with my mom and that life was too short to stay unhappy for another minute. That was the day my then-boyfriend JD asked me, “If you could do anything for the rest of your life, what would it be?” I looked him straight in the eye and said, “I want to be a photographer.” He said, “Okay…but you don’t have a camera.” On New Years Day 2006, I opened up my first camera. I left everything that was predictable and safe to follow my heart. I went to the University of Google and YouTube, and with ONE camera and a bunch of rented gear, we worked our way up to the 1% of the 1%. >>In just a few years, I was named one of the top 10 best wedding photographers in the world.<< When I look back on my career now, I think it’s tempting to think the journey is liner. But there is nothing wrong with not knowing the end but being okay taking the first step. Every amazing decision I’ve made in my life was taking the wrong step but the wrong step led me to the right one. As I was running one of the largest photography businesses in the world, I started consulting with other business owners. I was seeing their genius and helping them with their strategy to build a brand and market it on social media. Watching them succeed empowered me and JD to take that passion and curiosity and start Social Curator, a monthly subscription for entrepreneurs. >>To do big and crazy things, you have to big and crazy dreams.<< Oh friends, thank you for being here. Thank you for connecting with each other. Thank you for chasing your dreams along with me. You have one wild, crazy and beautiful life, and it is so short… What are you going to do with it? via RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230553 https://ift.tt/2O3lxKx My 2019 Hashtag Strategy
7/18/2019
I share everything I know about Instagram and I don’t believe in secrets… Why? Because we ALL have something unique to share. We create value simply by speaking our truth and SHOWING people how to do it. >>So often Instagram is filled with look-at-me content instead of let-me-show-you content… And this last subtle difference creates friends, not followers.<< I share everything I know about Instagram because I want FRIENDS (you, yes you!) to believe you can leverage this platform to get you closer to your dreams. One of the best ways I know how to encourage you to make genuine connections on Instagram and spread your message is to use hashtags to connect with your ideal client. But of course, hashtag strategies are always changing.
>>It’s hard to connect with our ideal client when the strategy has to keep changing.<< That’s why, my friend, I am going to tell you what MY 2019 hashtag strategy is. No games, no guessing… In fact, it’s not even a theory. In 2019, Instagram encourages us to use 30 hashtags. However, they don’t want us to use hashtags that do not pertain to the subjects in the photo. **So if you’re laying out on the beach and you want to get more eyes on your profile so you hashtag Kim Kardashian but Kim ain’t in the photo, that’s a red flag to Instagram boo boo.** Now, you know how MANY hashtags to use… You know WHAT hashtags to use… You’re probably wondering WHERE do you put them? Instagram says it doesn’t matter if you put hashtags in the caption or in the comments. For me, I’m a photographer which means aesthetics matter. *I don’t want 30 hashtags all up in my caption, you know what I’m sayin’?* My solution is when I want my audience to GO to a hashtag and check out what I’m doing, I’ll put it in the caption. The other 29 will go in the comments because although they are related to what I’m doing, my followers are not wanting to click on them. These hashtags will allow my ideal client to find me. Simply, here is my strategy:
So friend, did that make sense? Do you feel more comfortable with your hashtag strategy this year? I’m here to support you through all the Instagram theories and algorithm changes, so please let me know your questions in the comments below. Hooray for hashtags, j* via RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230553 https://ift.tt/2LYlcGo Picture this: I’m chillin’ in my kitchen in a Rolling Stones t-shirt and answering questions on a Facebook live, and I get this question: “How do you differentiate between your free and paid content?” I LOVED getting this question, even though I’m pretty sure my response caused all of my viewers to sing “I can’t get no satisfaction.” *If taking a golden opportunity to use a Stones reference is wrong, I don’t want to be right.* They were probably not satisfied because there is no differentiation for me. >>Friend, based on past experience, I have learned that the more I give to others, the more they give to me.<< I don’t mean this as a biblical principle, I just mean that I can’t out-GIVE the internet. When everything we sell is Google-able, nothing is coveted, my friend. I go live once per week on Facebook, twice per week on Instagram, I write 3 blog posts per week and host free challenges and webinars every quarter. And you know what? I still have a multi-million dollar business. There are a small group of people who are willing to pay to get more access, more information, or a specific set of products that are only available on the inside. They are my ideal client, and we (Social Curators, of course) are going to do amazing things together. >>But that doesn’t stop me from sharing my free content with everyone else.<< Buttercup, the more you put out valuable content, the more trust you have with your audience. And the more trust they have in your business, the more they’re willing to invest. Now when I say content, I don’t mean to put out the Gettysburg address in a blog post every day. Free, valuable content can just be one epic blog post per week that you take multiple snippets from to share on social. >>Deriving social media content from one blog post or video allows you to work smarter and not harder when serving your audience, all the while building trust along the way.<< I have built my business on serving my audience, giving them everything I have, telling them all that I know. *Friend, I am living proof that it PAYS to SERVE.* If you are worried about serving your audience too much free content that they will not invest, I am here to tell you that you should be doing the opposite. Try this out for a few weeks and let me know how it goes. I can’t wait to see how your audience responds! via RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230553 https://ift.tt/2J7VDAQ 4 Tips For Outdoor Photoshoots
7/1/2019
In January of 2006, I unwrapped my first camera and I instantly fell in love… *Despite the fact that I had no idea how to use it.* >>Four years later, I was voted as Top 10 Wedding Photographers in the World, and my work was published in a litany of magazines.<< To this day, one of my favorite places to shoot is in natural light. When speaking with photographers over the years though, I have learned that not everyone loves to shoot in the “great outdoors.” Today, I’m giving you 4 tips for outdoor photoshoots so you can leave the insecurities at home and just take your camera bag full of confidence to your next shoot. 1. Use a Clean Background: Positioning your subjects against a simple backdrop, especially when they are wearing colorful clothes, will ensure they are the focus of the shot and not be distracting. 2. Utilize the Sun’s Reflection Off Surrounding Objects: Most photographers know you should not position your subjects in harsh light, but shadows can cause a dark, unappealing photo. One of my favorite tricks is to use surrounding buildings to reflect the sun on my subject’s face. 3. Position Your Subjects Toward The Wind: Girls love the JLo effect in post! Make sure they are positioned so the wind is blowing their back, not in front of their face. 4. Place Subjects Against A Wall To Avoid Harsh Wind: The JLo effect looks great when dealing with a light breeze, but what if the wind is harsh? A great tip is to position them against a wall that is blocking the wind so they don’t look like they are blowing away in pictures. I hope this gives you and your subjects confidence then shooting outdoors. Natural light photography is some of the most beautiful yet tricky settings to shoot. Enjoy the light and airiness of your shots with these 4 tips! via RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230553 https://ift.tt/2XeYikK |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
October 2021
Categories |