Latest / Profitable Christian Business / Faith, Farming & Marketing: Consistency, Systems & Trust in Business with Jennifer Elia

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Faith, Farming & Marketing: Consistency, Systems & Trust in Business with Jennifer Elia · Profitable Christian Business

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome to another episode of the Profitable Christian Business.
• 0:04
  I am so pleased to have my friend Jennifer Alia with me today.
• 0:09
  Jennifer is uh a master marketer.
• 0:12
  She's gonna show us a little bit about how to make your business more profitable uh through marketing and things of that nature.
• 0:19
  We're gonna get into her faith journey.
• 0:21
  She has a very interesting life.
• 0:23
  We're gonna talk about that.
• 0:24
  We're gonna talk about how her faith is interwoven through everything that she does.
• 0:27
  oh But without further ado,
• 0:30
  Jennifer, if you don't mind giving a brief introduction.
• 0:34
  Yes, so I am a marketing strategist, which means that I help businesses to create systems and a foundation for your marketing so that you know what is going on, it works for you,
• 0:48
  and everything you do has a job.
• 0:50
  So I don't teach you these hacks or tricks.
• 0:52
  I don't only concentrate on one platform, but I create that structure so that everything that you're doing works together.
• 1:01
  and it makes it more profitable, it makes it easier to run, it saves you tons of time and money.
• 1:06
  em And it just makes it something that happens as part of your business instead of it just constantly hanging over your head like, need to do marketing.
• 1:15
  oh
• 1:18
  We're gonna dive into a lot of that.
• 1:21
  But I like to start off each interview with just some casual getting to know you questions because uh I'm all about know, like, and trust.
• 1:29
  People like to do business with people that they know, like, and trust.
• 1:32
  uh So the more that we can establish some of that so people get to know you a little bit more, whoever's watching this, uh and they're like, she's a pretty cool gal.
• 1:39
  I want uh her to help me with my marketing.
• 1:43
  uh One of those things that I know about you is that you are a homesteader.
• 1:48
  You're also a gardener.
• 1:49
  My wife's a gardener, so I know a little bit about that.
• 1:51
  I know how to dig the holes for her that she needs.
• 1:53
  uh And of course, you run a business.
• 1:58
  So uh tell us a little bit about how the homesteading life oh is for you.
• 2:05
  Well, it's busy, especially right now.
• 2:08
  We live in rural South Dakota, so we have a very short season.
• 2:12
  So there's a lot cramped into just a few months.
• 2:15
  So it is very busy, but it's exciting.
• 2:19
  really, I like knowing how everything works and where things are coming from and constantly learning how to do new things because I think that it is important to know
• 2:31
  where our food is coming from and
• 2:34
  have that connection, but also understand like how does everything work?
• 2:38
  And so I really enjoy systems on that end as well.
• 2:42
  One of my favorite parts of it though is that I did get a dairy goat a little over a year ago, about a year and a half ago.
• 2:47
  um And so that's how I begin my day and I, oh
• 2:55
  You're you're froze
• 2:56
  Yeah, I know I was talking when I realized that you weren't there and my goodness why isn't this working?
• 3:02
  It's not like I've never done a podcast before like
• 3:07
  on this side, right?
• 3:09
  I've only done 100 or more.
• 3:11
  Well, probably 200 or more than these.
• 3:14
  But, um.
• 3:15
  the problem is.
• 3:17
  It's just reverse high is not liking me today.
• 3:19
  Yeah, if you're watching live, this is what happens sometimes.
• 3:24
  we might just uh pick up.
• 3:26
  uh I'm going to so we're going to because this will be edited.
• 3:30
  We can preserve that first part.
• 3:31
  So now that you're back, not frozen, let's see uh how long we can we can sustain, if you will.
• 3:37
  uh So I'll just ask that question again that I just asked will preserve the intro and your introduction.
• 3:45
  So I'll do a hand countdown, if you will.
• 3:49
  Five, four, three, two, one.
• 3:54
  One of the things I know about you, Jennifer, is that you are a homesteader, which I find fascinating.
• 3:59
  And you're a gardener.
• 4:00
  My wife gardens, I know a little bit, and that's like, can dig a hole for her.
• 4:03
  That's kind of what I know.
• 4:05
  And you're also running a successful marketing business.
• 4:09
  So.
• 4:10
  All that is very interesting, but what I want to know and maybe what the audience would love to know more about is the whole homesteading because a lot of people are unfamiliar
• 4:17
  with that.
• 4:17
  So can you kind of talk about how your life is around that?
• 4:21
  Yes, so it's busy, especially right now.
• 4:24
  um We're in our business time of the year because we have a very short season.
• 4:29
  We're in rural South Dakota, and so we need to get everything done in a short amount of time.
• 4:33
  And it's great because it gives us that connection to everything that we do.
• 4:40
  So everything is based in our home, our business, our home school.
• 4:43
  um And we get to understand how the world works.
• 4:48
  And I think that it's very important
• 4:50
  to our faith journey too, which we can talk about later, but having that connection to creation.
• 4:56
  uh And I just enjoy learning new skills that have been lost and preserving them uh and preserving the food for my family and having a plan in advance, because I'm a planner and
• 5:09
  a strategy and systems person.
• 5:11
  uh But my favorite part of my day really that shocks me to be quite honest is I got a dairy goat about a year and a half ago.
• 5:20
  And so every morning and every evening, um I start and end my day with milking her.
• 5:26
  And it's just a quiet time to just like decompress.
• 5:30
  you know, we just have that quiet, she eats, milk.
• 5:34
  And it's just like my little step away from everything that I can try to kind of like decompress my mind.
• 5:43
  Like, you know, it's a very soothing thing.
• 5:46
  It seems like it wouldn't be, but.
• 5:48
  um It's just something that I get to enjoy every day.
• 5:51
  And there are times when my kids have to milk for me for whatever reason and I always miss that I didn't get to do it.
• 5:57
  yeah.
• 5:57
  em
• 6:01
  The whole getting back, getting into nature.
• 6:04
  So there's a couple things.
• 6:06
  Normally we don't go too deep in these getting to know you questions, but we're going to go just a little deep here.
• 6:11
  The whole getting, I like to do that as well.
• 6:14
  And I don't get to do it often enough is getting out in nature to communicate with God.
• 6:19
  feel like it's not necessarily true, but I just feel a better, a closer connection when I'm out in nature and looking at his.
• 6:27
  his creation, right?
• 6:29
  And it's just so wonderful.
• 6:32
  I imagine you feel oh that way too when you're uh doing that sort of thing.
• 6:38
  Yes, it's still, I've been a gardener for, I don't even know, at least 15 years or more, and it still amazes me that you take this little seed and you put it in the ground and
• 6:48
  it's like...
• 6:49
  It grows and makes it, and so he's like, wow, I can't believe that worked.
• 6:53
  And so every morning there's eggs, and every morning and evening there's milk.
• 6:58
  And just the fact that you put it, I just put eggs in the incubator, and we're gonna have ducklings in like a month.
• 7:05
  It's so fascinating to realize how intricate all of it is.
• 7:10
  and how it all works really despite us.
• 7:14
  seeds grow, I I fertilize and weed and all that stuff, but really it's all designed to work without us having to mess with it at all.
• 7:25
  And it's just very exciting to get to see every day.
• 7:28
  me to all the verses about anxiety in the Bible because we get so anxious for things and God, all you have to do is step out and watch how nature is working.
• 7:40
  It's just out there working.
• 7:41
  It just, it happens.
• 7:44
  You can get comfortable knowing that God is in control when you envision it that way.
• 7:50
  There is a time and a season, right?
• 7:52
  In gardening and sometimes we're trying to get things out of season.
• 7:56
  Right?
• 7:57
  We're wanting something, but we're not ready for that thing that God has for us.
• 8:02
  So many good ways to use nature to think about the way God provides.
• 8:08
  Yes, and there definitely is a deep faith part of it.
• 8:13
  I was talking to my son about it the other day.
• 8:15
  He runs a small scale regenerative operation and it's hard.
• 8:20
  Like you have these plans, but then you can only control so much.
• 8:24
  Um, and I said him, this is why farmers are known to have deep faith because you have to have faith that you have to realize that you can't control the weather.
• 8:32
  You can't control what happens to your animals like predators or
• 8:36
  things eating your plants or there's so many things beyond your control and you just have to have faith that it all is gonna work out and faith that whatever happened, like you can
• 8:46
  find a way to solve it or like there's something better that's going to come.
• 8:50
  And so there are those nights of praying for rain and praying for like predators not to attack.
• 8:55
  And it's very much a deepening faith journey because
• 8:59
  It's not a guarantee when you go to the grocery store, for the most part, you expect there to be milk and eggs and butter and you know where it is.
• 9:07
  But here, even though we sit down in February and plan out everything that we're going to grow and all the food that we want to have and what we're going to do with it, like the
• 9:17
  plan is great, but there's so much out of your control that a lot of it is just prayer and hope.
• 9:25
  And you can't plan beyond that.
• 9:27
  So.
• 9:27
  uh
• 9:28
  It is a humbling experience that's very powerful.
• 9:32
  Oh, I love all that.
• 9:33
  And I will just say I'm a little envious.
• 9:35
  We have a small garden.
• 9:37
  If my wife had more time, our backyard would look like uh something very elaborate.
• 9:44
  uh It's a good size garden.
• 9:46
  It's not like uh where she wants it.
• 9:50
  But yeah, I feel that way.
• 9:53
  Like every time we go to somewhere where they're selling plants, there's never enough plants that she can buy.
• 10:02
  But the whole, being able to eat whole foods, right?
• 10:05
  We eat what we get from the garden, but we would love to have kind of more what you have.
• 10:11
  Like almost, I'm sure almost everything you put on your plates comes from your farm and that is just amazing.
• 10:18
  pretty close, uh not everything.
• 10:19
  We still can't grow bananas in South Dakota.
• 10:23
  There are some things.
• 10:24
  uh yeah, it's exciting also to sit there and be like, wow, this is what all our work amounted to.
• 10:33
  It's rewarding in that way.
• 10:36
  Nice.
• 10:36
  Well, we're going to shift gears entirely from the home setting to more of the marketing.
• 10:42
  Is there one kind of trend that's kind of going on now or you've seen in the past that you kind of laugh at and roll your eyes as far as marketing goes?
• 10:51
  I think virality, like we all feel we need to go viral.
• 10:57
  And I'm not saying that more visibility or more views or more comments are ever a bad thing.
• 11:03
  However, I have yet to see where going viral for, I don't know, a reel or a post or whatever, because I have had some things go viral.
• 11:14
  And it's great, I get some more friends, I get a little boost in my visibility, but honestly, it doesn't do much for your business.
• 11:22
  And so for business, we sometimes fall into the trap of thinking we need to be by like influencers, like influencers, virality does help them because they're getting paid by how
• 11:33
  many people view it, right?
• 11:35
  people don't really necessarily even go to the rest of their channel or know what they do, but they see this one thing and they share it and they like it and it keeps going and then
• 11:43
  influencer makes money.
• 11:45
  Even if all of those people have no interest in anything else that they're doing.
• 11:49
  Whereas when you have a business and you're trying to make money off of a product in some way, just having something go viral and have people like it.
• 12:00
  doesn't mean they're going to buy anything from you because 90 % of them just like that one post.
• 12:05
  And I can tell you that most of the time it's something completely random that has nothing to do with what you sell.
• 12:12
  And so yes, it's nice to be able to say, got 10,000 or a hundred thousand or a million views or whatever it is.
• 12:20
  But if you go back and see what did that do for your bottom line?
• 12:25
  I think we take way too much time trying to chase that virality instead of
• 12:30
  trying to think how can this content get someone to take the next step I want to.
• 12:36
  So well said, so well said.
• 12:38
  I think along the same lines and because it's usually something not business oriented that will go viral.
• 12:45
  you have to, and usually it's something stupid um that people love to see silly things and funny things and things like that that often have nothing to do with your business.
• 12:57
  So uh yes, it can help you with your visibility, but it won't necessarily bring you more clients.
• 13:05
  Because they weren't watching it for whatever you have to provide.
• 13:11
  They were watching it for the entertainment of it.
• 13:13
  Yeah.
• 13:14
  Yeah.
• 13:16
  Very well said.
• 13:16
  One thing, one thing, and I think you and I can agree on this part as far as content.
• 13:21
  I think the most important part of business content is being consistent, right?
• 13:29
  No matter how many views you're, you keep showing up, keep showing up, the consistency is going to pay off.
• 13:34
  oh So if you want to just provide some insights on that.
• 13:38
  Yes, so I always tell my clients that consistency trumps volume every time.
• 13:44
  And yes, there's a place for volume and volume does get you more visibility.
• 13:49
  However, we sometimes fall into this trap of, I'm going to do 50 posts this week and I'm going to post seven times a day.
• 13:57
  And then that works for maybe four days.
• 13:59
  And then you don't do it.
• 14:01
  And then you just do two posts.
• 14:02
  And then all of sudden three weeks went by and you didn't do anything.
• 14:04
  And then you just...
• 14:05
  And that is actually so much worse for you than if you said, you know what, I can post three times a week and I'm going to post at 10 o'clock Monday, Wednesday, Friday every
• 14:13
  single week because we complain about the algorithm and there are, there are wonky algorithms out there right now.
• 14:21
  Um, and sometimes it does go off the rails and you're like, I don't understand why nothing's working.
• 14:25
  It's because the algorithm shifted, but at the same time, the algorithm is something that's trained.
• 14:31
  And so if you are putting out content and it learns,
• 14:35
  what type of people like your content and what you talk about and when you show up and that you're putting out content regularly and being uh visible and engaging with people.
• 14:46
  You're not just, you know, throwing everything out there and then never showing up.
• 14:49
  It will serve that to more people.
• 14:52
  And so that's why when you put out more content, you get more connection requests or you get more views.
• 14:58
  It's because the
• 14:59
  The algorithm's learning, hey, this is who she wants to talk to.
• 15:02
  This is what she talks about, and these are the people that she can help and what she's doing.
• 15:08
  And so it brings those people to you as opposed to virality like we just talked about, which just brings anybody, right?
• 15:14
  Anybody who would be interested.
• 15:16
  And we don't want anybody.
• 15:17
  We want our content to be polarizing in some way, not in a highly negative way, but that people who are like, yeah, that's not what I need.
• 15:26
  They just go someplace else because
• 15:28
  They don't need to waste their time and energy and neither do we and there's someone else out there who could serve.
• 15:34
  Man, I love how you said that is exactly how I feel too, is that consistency is what pays off because it's data in.
• 15:44
  You're feeding the algorithm data on a regular basis.
• 15:47
  And in all my tests and experiences, the more consistent I am, the more it grows.
• 15:54
  And not just consistent in just posting, consistent in the messaging.
• 16:00
  If you're all over with your messaging, the algorithm doesn't know who to serve it to.
• 16:04
  Yes.
• 16:06
  And we think we need to keep talking about new things, but we don't.
• 16:11
  You really should get bored with what you're talking about.
• 16:14
  I mean, I'm really passionate about what I talk about, but sometimes it's like, oh, I guess I should bring that up again.
• 16:19
  Because statistically only 2 % of your followers will see and possibly remember what you put up.
• 16:27
  So even if you have a million followers, there's such a small percentage of them that are seeing it and remembering it.
• 16:34
  that if you only put that up once and you think, oh, nobody was interested, I better scrap that, let's come up with a new plan.
• 16:40
  Like nobody signed up, nobody likes it, nobody commented.
• 16:44
  You're constantly putting new things out there.
• 16:46
  People don't have a chance to even learn what you're doing.
• 16:49
  They don't have a chance to understand like who you are and how you serve or that you have this program, right?
• 16:55
  Cause you put out three posts or you did one live.
• 16:59
  and lives are great and reels are great and stories and, you know, LinkedIn and all of that.
• 17:04
  But if it's one and you think of 2%, most of us don't have one to 10 million followers.
• 17:10
  uh 2 % is so small and then only a percentage of them are even going to be interested in it at that point in time and make the decision.
• 17:19
  So it really is important to have that consistency and like pick one thing you want to talk, like one thing that you want people to go towards.
• 17:27
  uh
• 17:29
  maybe per quarter, per year, even per month, not where every day is something different.
• 17:34
  uh Yeah, you need to test things for quite a while to evaluate that nobody's interested in it.
• 17:41
  Yeah, and I feel like branding is important there too.
• 17:43
  Like people see the same thing over and over again and they correlate you with your brand and you with what you're messaging.
• 17:52
  uh If you can constantly, if you're very good at articulating exactly what you do and how you do it and you say that over and over again, uh it's gonna get a better response.
• 18:02
  Yes.
• 18:03
  Yeah.
• 18:03
  Yeah.
• 18:03
  I heard once that the best marketing is when you can have someone come sit down with you and they can tell you your story back.
• 18:12
  And I know that that might be a little extreme with all the content that we have going on, but really you want people when they meet with you either face to face or, you know,
• 18:22
  decide to opt into your newsletter or whatever it is that they understand exactly who you are and they can tell other people what you do.
• 18:31
  Um,
• 18:31
  because that's still word of mouth is still the best marketing and it always will be.
• 18:35
  Yeah.
• 18:36
  oh
• 18:39
  That's another reason to stay consistent in your content is you're getting more people to know you, hopefully like you.
• 18:48
  did, so let's sit here for a second because you did a presentation at an event we were at.
• 18:54
  And I think there was something about you don't necessarily have to have them like you.
• 18:58
  So if you could expand on that.
• 19:00
  Yes, I said that we always say no, and trust, but really what they have to do is trust you because there can be things that you don't know.
• 19:08
  You know, like someone says, Hey, you have to buy the shampoo or Hey, you need to sign up for this webinar and you just do it because well, I really trust Doug and he said to use
• 19:19
  it.
• 19:19
  So I'm going to use it.
• 19:21
  Right.
• 19:21
  And you know nothing about that company other than my friend Doug says, this is a great thing.
• 19:25
  Um, the same with like, I mean, there are things that
• 19:29
  we do or people that we follow that we know have really good advice, but we don't necessarily like them.
• 19:36
  Like we wouldn't be best friends with them.
• 19:38
  We're not going to hang out on a Saturday night, you know, and even if we were to meet in real life.
• 19:43
  Um, and I think that there, there are several, I guess you could say influencers in the marketing world that I follow because I know that they know what they're doing and I trust
• 19:56
  what they're sharing because
• 19:58
  they have consistently over the years shown that, okay, I'm not just throwing this out there so that people are going to watch it or, you know, basing it on some latest trend.
• 20:07
  Like I have data to back it up.
• 20:09
  I am walking the walk.
• 20:10
  I'm doing exactly what I'm teaching people to do, which is a huge thing because there are so many people not doing what they're teaching.
• 20:17
  That's, that should be a red flag for you.
• 20:19
  uh At the same time, we have very different worldviews.
• 20:24
  Like we have very different lifestyles.
• 20:28
  Even if we were to meet, like I said, and get to be connected, we're never going to be best friends.
• 20:33
  But I truly respect and trust what they share.
• 20:37
  And so I think that that's why trust is more important than anything.
• 20:40
  um You don't have to be fun and boisterous.
• 20:44
  You don't have to be stylish.
• 20:46
  You don't have to, you know, fit into any of those things that we feel make people like us because they really just need to trust us.
• 20:54
  They may not like that I homestead.
• 20:57
  but they may trust my strategy and those are the people that I want to come into my world.
• 21:04
  Yeah, so well put.
• 21:07
  And I feel like people can get into the trap of, I've just got to get everybody to like me.
• 21:13
  No, not necessarily.
• 21:14
  You actually want to push some people away.
• 21:17
  um You want to attract the right people.
• 21:20
  um And there's going to be some people.
• 21:22
  um I've always heard like, you kind of know when you've made it when you've got haters.
• 21:28
  Right?
• 21:28
  uh So yeah, you don't need everybody to like you.
• 21:34
  uh They just need to trust you.
• 21:37
  Some people could have totally different values and still think that you have very sound advice.
• 21:43
  Yes,
• 21:46
  We have a question that we ask every single time on the Profit for Christian Business podcast and that is our fill in the blank question.
• 21:54
  And your fill in the blank question, Jennifer, is a Christian entrepreneur can avoid burnout by blank.
• 22:03
  systems.
• 22:04
  Like it really all comes down to your life, in your business, in your homestead.
• 22:10
  Like it's all just systems.
• 22:12
  em And whenever things feel like they're going off the rails, that's when it's time to just say, okay, you you can blame the algorithm, you can cry, you can think that like the
• 22:24
  internet doesn't like me.
• 22:25
  And you know what, there's a place for that.
• 22:27
  And sometimes you need to just cry and like move on.
• 22:30
  But it really all comes down to a system.
• 22:32
  Like, why am I struggling?
• 22:33
  It's because there's not a system in place.
• 22:35
  em Because when you're trying to do it all, like, you can.
• 22:39
  You need something, you need to have structure.
• 22:42
  If you're reinventing the wheel every day, you're never gonna get anywhere.
• 22:46
  So.
• 22:47
  It's the only way to scale.
• 22:49
  those listening, it's the only way to scale is putting in systems.
• 22:53
  A lot of people cap out because they failed to put in the systems as they went along.
• 23:00
  then they hit a plateau because now they're having to put in those systems before they can scale.
• 23:07
  If you're growing your business and you're like, I wish I could make this easier, okay.
• 23:14
  Think about the system that you can put in place to make that easier.
• 23:16
  And then you're stepping up.
• 23:18
  The next step is the next process and so on and so on.
• 23:21
  We just recently in our company, we had a conversation just earlier today about we know someone that is a client of ours that would totally bust through the roof.
• 23:31
  They have so many other great assets.
• 23:33
  They're just missing a few systems.
• 23:36
  If they put those systems into place, watch out, right?
• 23:41
  And the systems are boring and sometimes they feel like I'm wasting time.
• 23:46
  I want to be making money, but you can't, it doesn't work.
• 23:49
  And so I have been putting, I, you know, a year ago was like, okay, this is where I want to be.
• 23:54
  And I put all these systems in place that really were overkill for what I was doing, quite honest, but I didn't want to get to the point where it's like, no, nothing's working.
• 24:03
  And now I need to try to reverse engineer it and don't have the time or capacity or, know, like people.
• 24:08
  all these people waiting for things to work and they don't work.
• 24:11
  uh But at the same time, like now I've reached another spot where it's like, okay, this is what I want to do.
• 24:17
  And I'm putting in systems that I can tell you like the transition is hard.
• 24:21
  I like what I'm doing right now, but I know it's not going to work in six months.
• 24:25
  And so I need to force myself to like, this is a better system, just develop the habit of using it and refine it instead of like hitting the wall and realizing, no.
• 24:36
  like we have no system in place to deal with this.
• 24:39
  And there's always going to be times where you're like, wow, okay, that was a hole in the system that we need to fix.
• 24:45
  It's never bulletproof.
• 24:47
  But when you're at least thinking about it ahead of time and you stick to your systems, I think that's a big thing is that sometimes we have systems and we have processes.
• 24:55
  And then because we want people to like us, or we think, oh, this is a nice client, like I want to work with them, we skip steps.
• 25:04
  Or we compromise like in the process and I can tell you every single time it backfires every single time.
• 25:10
  And then it's like, Jennifer, what did you do?
• 25:12
  Like you had a process and you skipped it.
• 25:15
  And um so I think that it's important also to have that system because if you run into someone who doesn't want to go into the system that you have, you can either say, persuade
• 25:27
  them and help them move.
• 25:28
  Or if they're like, I'm just not doing it.
• 25:31
  I need to do my system, which isn't working by the way.
• 25:34
  Then you're like, you know what, I can refer you to somebody, but like this is how I make it work and I can't make it work unless you let me help you make it work.
• 25:43
  So, yeah.
• 25:47
  That that that is so true.
• 25:49
  I want to leave the audience with a practical step here.
• 25:52
  One of the things that we help people do is uh is through time blocking, right?
• 25:58
  Prior, like you plan out your week, you plan out your days, plan out yours.
• 26:02
  You need to set aside some time blocking to work on systems, because if you don't make it a priority, if you don't make time for it, you will not do it.
• 26:11
  You'll just continue in the old broken way that you've always been doing it.
• 26:15
  So
• 26:17
  Advice, look at your schedule.
• 26:19
  Maybe you take an hour or two out of the week and just review your system, see if there's anything new to implement and get to work on getting those systems.
• 26:27
  And if you need help, like with a marketing system, know who to reach out to, like Jennifer, because a lot of times it's just ignorance of not knowing the systems we need to
• 26:37
  put into place.
• 26:38
  We know something's broken, but we don't know how to fix it because we don't know what system needs to be put in place.
• 26:44
  And it all depends on what...
• 26:46
  area of your business that's in, whether it's an operations or it's a marketing or uh it's a sales process or something like that, the person that you might need to bring in as a
• 26:53
  consultant uh or to maybe even handle that side for you.
• 26:57
  uh
• 26:59
  yes, because systems don't just happen.
• 27:01
  You need to make them happen.
• 27:03
  And it's like I said, they can be boring.
• 27:05
  They can be tedious.
• 27:06
  It's never something that you're like, wow, that was amazing.
• 27:10
  It's amazing when it works.
• 27:11
  But in the process, especially when you don't necessarily know what you're doing or it's a struggle, uh you do need that guidance.
• 27:19
  And then it makes your life so much better on the other end.
• 27:21
  But yes, you need to block out time where it's not going to
• 27:26
  So I think this segues really nicely into our secret question.
• 27:30
  And the secret question we have for you is what is the secret to having a profitable marketing campaign that doesn't take all of your time and energy?
• 27:39
  It comes back to a system.
• 27:41
  um It comes back to knowing, you know, when we set up marketing campaigns, it's not that we don't have a goal.
• 27:49
  think most people have an idea in mind of what they want to happen.
• 27:52
  You know, like I want more leads or I want more people to buy this product or there's a loose goal there.
• 28:00
  The worst one is I just want more people to see me because like,
• 28:04
  More people will you when you're doing the right thing for marketing, but that shouldn't be your goal.
• 28:07
  You don't need more people, you need the right people.
• 28:09
  uh But when you go and say, okay, in six months, I wanna have 10 people in this program, or I want to have scale this to this much recurring revenue, or it doesn't even have to be
• 28:24
  a dollar amount, it's just that I want my business to be here, then you have to work backwards of what does that mean?
• 28:32
  has to happen now and more importantly, like what marketing message needs to go out?
• 28:39
  How often does it need to go out?
• 28:40
  How many weeks in advance?
• 28:42
  And I'm telling you, we need so much more than you think you need.
• 28:44
  Like you need minimum three months, really.
• 28:47
  If you can have a three month leadway, runway, then that will work.
• 28:51
  And so uh the secret to not burning out is first of all, giving yourself plenty of time and understanding that it takes time to get going.
• 28:59
  Do not give up after three days.
• 29:00
  um
• 29:01
  have a plan of what is going out and why it's going out and how that brings people to that destination.
• 29:09
  And then have a plan B because not everybody's going to buy into that thing that you want to sell 10 of, but they might buy into a lower ticket or they might join a nurture
• 29:19
  sequence to get them into like the next, you know, event or whatever.
• 29:23
  So I think those are the biggest things.
• 29:25
  When we put all our eggs in one basket and a lot of pressure on us to do something in two weeks, it's,
• 29:31
  just designed to fail and it's just not fair to us or our audience.
• 29:37
  Yeah, that's I love what you had to say in there specifically about a runway.
• 29:42
  So often we don't give ourselves enough runway, especially if it's something uh brand new that we're doing, right?
• 29:50
  That we have this vision.
• 29:51
  oh because I want the customers tomorrow.
• 29:54
  This needs to happen tomorrow.
• 29:56
  uh But you have to have have a really good runway and a system.
• 30:02
  Right.
• 30:02
  uh One thing if I could add to that is the importance of data.
• 30:06
  Right.
• 30:07
  Yeah.
• 30:07
  Yeah.
• 30:08
  don't know because you don't know, right?
• 30:10
  So uh I know you're very big on this is once you run something, you'll get back some data and then you'll be able to optimize off of that data.
• 30:19
  uh And it's very good to have someone in your corner like Jennifer, who will help you look at the data and say, okay, this is our results from that.
• 30:28
  This is how we can tweak things in order to get better results.
• 30:31
  So we'll love more insights on the data.
• 30:34
  Yeah.
• 30:35
  Yeah, because otherwise you just toss it all out and say nothing worked.
• 30:39
  And then you start over and then you're constantly starting over and you have nothing to base like it is trial and error.
• 30:45
  I mean, all businesses trial and error and it's a lot more failing than it is success.
• 30:49
  Like I'm being honest, like that's what it is.
• 30:51
  I'm sure you would agree.
• 30:52
  But
• 30:53
  That failure isn't really failure unless you don't learn from it.
• 30:56
  And the only way you're going to learn from it is having that data and taking a step back and looking at what is working, what isn't working, and possibly meeting with um an expert
• 31:06
  that can tell you there's a hole right here that you're missing.
• 31:09
  Because that's generally what it is.
• 31:11
  It's just a hole that you're missing.
• 31:14
  Yeah.
• 31:14
  Sometimes you try to skip a step ah or something else that made it all go awry.
• 31:20
  ah What do you feel like the biggest mistake a lot of businesses make when they overcomplicate their marketing?
• 31:31
  Um, they're putting too much time and resources into it and then not the time and resources into the actual client acquisition.
• 31:39
  So they're putting so much time into their content or engaging with other accounts or whatever they're doing that they feel is important.
• 31:49
  But then.
• 31:50
  they don't have a sales system.
• 31:52
  Like if you have a marketing system, need a sales system.
• 31:54
  If you have marketing out there, you need to have time that you can meet with people, that you can have conversations with them, that there is some sort of follow-up.
• 32:04
  You can't just say, have the marketing do it for me.
• 32:06
  No, you need to be selling.
• 32:07
  And marketing needs sales, sales needs marketing.
• 32:10
  And so I think trying to rush that and just focus on the content is that they start with the content instead of starting with the plan of what's this content going to do.
• 32:20
  But also they try to skip steps so they want to shortcut things I see an influencer doing this and they went viral So I'm gonna go viral or I hear that ads are like really great
• 32:30
  and they're gonna get me all these clients and I can have 100,000 people see what I'm doing in one day for $20 it never works that way by the way, um But ads only work when
• 32:41
  everything else is working
• 32:43
  Everything is built on top of itself.
• 32:45
  So if you're at this point that you're still trying to clarify your message and you're like, you know what, I'm going to dump money into ads.
• 32:51
  It's not going to work because the algorithm hasn't figured out who you're serving.
• 32:55
  You don't have a message dialed in that people understand what it is.
• 32:58
  And you haven't tested any of your systems to know that when someone sees that ad, now they're going to get put into a nurture sequence or they're going to get invited to this,
• 33:07
  or they're going to book a call with you or whatever it is.
• 33:10
  Until that can happen manually and you have spent hours doing it and you're like, okay, this is what works.
• 33:16
  You can't automate it and you can't shortcut it.
• 33:18
  Um, doesn't matter how great AI gets either.
• 33:22
  I'm just going to throw that out there.
• 33:23
  AI is valuable, but like they can't shortcut things because it needs to actually happen in real time for you to understand how to, how to create a shortcut in the system for it.
• 33:35
  Yeah, that's so good.
• 33:36
  Can we kind of peek under the hood a little bit with ads and the importance of, we talked about data.
• 33:42
  A lot of kind of what you said, some people will just go out there and throw an ad up and say, okay, bring me the clients.
• 33:49
  Can you talk about like the importance of testing and again, analyzing data and that sort of stuff?
• 33:54
  Yeah.
• 33:55
  So ads is a process.
• 33:57
  I think that, I mean, I did it when I started business.
• 34:00
  I thought everybody says ads will work.
• 34:02
  You you just throw an ad out there and then you spend money.
• 34:05
  And it was like, why didn't it work?
• 34:06
  I guess nobody wants my business.
• 34:07
  It's like, no, it's because you don't have that.
• 34:10
  It's like scaffolding, right?
• 34:12
  And ads has its own scaffolding.
• 34:14
  Like it isn't just the ad.
• 34:16
  It's the whole process before and after it.
• 34:18
  So first of all, you need to have that clear message and the consistency in the audience and the trust.
• 34:23
  and knowing that your systems work and then you can start ads.
• 34:26
  But ads really is a, you know, I heard someone say you have to be willing to lose money for three months before you make any from ads.
• 34:34
  And I think that that is really good advice because I'm not saying that you're going to crash and burn for three months.
• 34:40
  But if you're not at that point that you're going to put something out and test it and have like A B testing and say this worked and that didn't work or this audience I got.
• 34:49
  Tons of people signed up for the webinar, but no one showed up and no one bought.
• 34:52
  So like, this is not my audience.
• 34:54
  Like where you can keep refining it, it is an art and a science and you need to, it's not just about, well, you know, this comes back to AI.
• 35:02
  Like it's helpful, right?
• 35:04
  With ads, because it can help take language that's way too wordy or vague and it can boil it down and make it, you know, to the point and, and really help you in that way.
• 35:15
  It can generate graphics if you want them.
• 35:18
  I feel like they all look very generic and that doesn't help, it's not, like that's not ads actually.
• 35:26
  It's just like doing marketing where the TikToks and the reels and the articles are the last step.
• 35:32
  Like that, the creative and the copy is the last step.
• 35:36
  You need to have like the audience and the testing and the data and the systems for it to work.
• 35:42
  And that is a very complex.
• 35:45
  It's a complex setup that isn't something you can do overnight and you need to be willing to do it for three to six months before you get it right.
• 35:54
  And it's like, okay, now this is working.
• 35:55
  Now how do we scale this?
• 35:57
  em Because sometimes like an ad doesn't work and then you change it then you change it and then you change it.
• 36:01
  And then you have 20 different ads running for two weeks at a time and you never know what's working or what's not working in them because you're just changing everything.
• 36:10
  It needs to be a very slow process based on that.
• 36:14
  That's so good.
• 36:16
  if I could use this analogy, and I think you might agree with me, some people hear like, a lot of people say, well, I put a dollar in ads, I get $3 back.
• 36:24
  uh They don't hear about the iceberg, the part that went into getting the $3 back.
• 36:31
  So it's more like, it's not like an ATM, people.
• 36:34
  not like, it is more of an investment.
• 36:37
  Think of it as investment.
• 36:38
  Sometimes you have money and let it, it's going to produce results, not now.
• 36:44
  in the future.
• 36:44
  uh But I think there are ways to kind of set yourself up for success.
• 36:50
  One of those is getting help from an expert.
• 36:53
  Right.
• 36:54
  And then another one is doing research.
• 36:56
  A lot of people go into it they don't even research their industry like what has been the uh success rate of people in their industry with ads.
• 37:04
  You can get that kind of data and kind of know like what the benchmarks are for your industry and try and hit those benchmarks.
• 37:12
  uh
• 37:13
  Yeah, so very, very good.
• 37:16
  like research, yes, you're speaking my language.
• 37:18
  I was actually originally a my first degree was in poli sci and my uh minor was in history because I just love doing research and writing papers.
• 37:27
  That was my first degree.
• 37:28
  But um and then I realized I didn't really want to read papers for the rest of my life.
• 37:32
  So I have to.
• 37:33
  um Anyway, so research is so important, though, and it's so discounted because we look at the vanity metrics.
• 37:41
  of likes and comments, or maybe we will look at analytics a little bit.
• 37:45
  I'm like, there's more people following me.
• 37:48
  But it takes the research.
• 37:50
  You can do this a long way and just keep throwing out A-B tests and figure out what your audience responds to.
• 37:57
  Or you can do the research on your audience of what's keeping them up at 2 AM?
• 38:01
  What questions are they asking Google?
• 38:04
  What false beliefs do they have?
• 38:06
  Because we talk.
• 38:07
  We're experts, right?
• 38:08
  And we talk about what we're expert in, but we don't realize that our client isn't an expert in that.
• 38:14
  And they need, um, they need to hear certain things that build that trust and empower them to take that next step.
• 38:23
  And when we're too busy talking up here and they're waiting for someone to help them take that next step, then we miss so much opportunity.
• 38:31
  So research on both ends, like research, how marketing should work and how ads work and all of that.
• 38:37
  but in the sales end of it, but also on the clients and the industry and the audience that you need to build is so important.
• 38:45
  You don't just want a huge audience, you want the right people so you're speaking their language.
• 38:50
  Yeah, I think all that plays into, we talked about having a runway and having a runway for ads.
• 38:55
  You can shorten that runway or get a faster jet uh if you do the research and maybe hire an expert to help you.
• 39:03
  So uh very, very, very good.
• 39:07
  uh We're gonna transition again back to, so I think this has been amazing.
• 39:12
  Like as much as the marketing knowledge, I think somebody could take this and there's so much application that they could do and uh
• 39:20
  and really get a good start um with their marketing.
• 39:24
  Especially getting in the right mindset.
• 39:26
  I think we've really helped people get in the right mindset around their marketing and kind of see how it goes.
• 39:32
  I want to go back to some of the faith stuff because we really haven't learned a lot about you and that journey.
• 39:39
  how has faith, this is going to tie into marketing a little bit, how has faith influenced the way you approach marketing and serving your clients?
• 39:46
  Well, one of the biggest things is that when I was starting out in all of this and you know, when you start a new business, you follow all the influencers because you think that
• 39:55
  they have your best interests at heart and they know everything.
• 39:57
  Um, and so I took all the courses and learned how to do everything.
• 40:01
  I want to serve my clients well.
• 40:04
  And I realized that a lot of that, a lot of what was going on out there that they were telling you to do really wasn't working.
• 40:10
  Like it was showy and maybe one viral or it may help them sell all these courses because
• 40:16
  I supposedly made a million dollars doing this, but it wasn't actually something that worked.
• 40:20
  And I realized that to work in integrity, I had to find something that worked.
• 40:26
  couldn't.
• 40:26
  And I know that there have been people that have been frustrated with me and haven't worked with me because they're like, all I want is a big audience on TikTok.
• 40:33
  And I'm like, that's not what you need though.
• 40:35
  You need the system to make this work.
• 40:37
  You need to figure out how to make this profitable.
• 40:38
  Like I don't want you doing all this work.
• 40:40
  I want you to figure out how you're making money.
• 40:42
  And um I know of at least one person that was like, you don't understand.
• 40:46
  And I was like, okay, well, I'm sorry, I can't help you.
• 40:48
  uh But I think that there's a big, I know that in the end, we all have a mission, right?
• 40:57
  Like all of us were created for a reason, know, such a time as this.
• 41:01
  And it's not just the period of time that we live in.
• 41:03
  It's the gifts that we've been given, it's the opportunities that have opened.
• 41:08
  I never really pictured that this is what my life would be, but this is where God led me and the doors that he opened.
• 41:14
  And sometimes I'm like, why do I own a SaaS platform and do marketing strategy?
• 41:19
  Like I'm really, I don't understand God, like what you were thinking, this wasn't my idea, but he's like, this is what I want you to do.
• 41:27
  You know, like this is what I gave to you.
• 41:29
  And I was like, let's just find something else.
• 41:31
  And it's always like, this is where I put me, this is I want you to do.
• 41:34
  And it's because, you know, what I've come to realize is that, cause I've struggled with it really.
• 41:40
  feel like I'm not a high tech person.
• 41:42
  Like I am not.
• 41:44
  influencer type, I don't need to be the star of attention, you know, as far as marketing and stuff.
• 41:50
  But what is placed on my heart is that I feel very strongly in having small businesses like local brick and mortars, oh family run businesses, um businesses that, you know, like
• 42:02
  we run oh small companies or teams or agencies.
• 42:06
  I think that that is so important to have.
• 42:08
  When I say small, I don't mean like
• 42:11
  you know, they're only making $10,000.
• 42:13
  I mean, it's not like this huge conglomerate that owns everything, is gonna buy everything out.
• 42:18
  These small businesses are what protect our freedom, they're what create legacies for families, they're what support communities.
• 42:26
  And when we look at when people get upset about Main Street dying, or, you know, shifts in the market that hurt this sector, that sector, it's because of those ripple effects.
• 42:37
  It's really...
• 42:39
  Everybody's like, it's just nostalgia.
• 42:40
  You need to move forward.
• 42:41
  It's like no when when a Main Street dies it It ends like a heritage, you know, it changes the whole legacy of the area.
• 42:50
  It changes family dynamics and I think it froze
• 42:58
  Can you still hear me?
• 42:59
  I think it froze for a minute.
• 43:02
  Okay, good.
• 43:03
  So it's so important for those missions to be fulfilled because there are people out there.
• 43:11
  a little, a little frozen, but I can hear you.
• 43:15
  Okay, good.
• 43:17
  It's so important for us to fulfill our mission because just like God created us to fulfill that mission, he's created people that need to benefit from our mission.
• 43:26
  And so when we abdicate that, then those people don't...
• 43:33
  Okay.
• 43:35
  Then those people don't...
• 43:37
  You hop back in.
• 50:51
  Okay, I'm hoping this works.
• 50:54
  It told me that time that my browser was out of date.
• 50:57
  So, I don't know.
• 50:58
  I tried a different browser.
• 51:01
  You can't hear me?
• 51:06
  still can't hear you.
• 51:14
  you
• 51:20
  I don't know.
• 51:21
  Can you hear me?
• 51:22
  see.
• 51:30
  Test one, two.
• 51:32
  Can you hear me now?
• 51:33
  I can but I don't see video.
• 51:37
  Maybe it's just taking a while to hook up.
• 51:38
  Like it says that it's hooked up.
• 51:40
  Like when I checked the settings, it's not right.
• 51:43
  I saw you on video when you first came on and I couldn't hear you and now I can hear you but not see video.
• 51:51
  um I don't know, it's not letting me change any of the settings.
• 51:55
  I don't know what the problem is.
• 51:56
  uh
• 51:57
  it's not on my end.
• 51:58
  doesn't look like it is.
• 52:00
  Oh, somehow I just, hold on.
• 52:02
  I think I put you backstage.
• 52:08
  Okay, is it there now?
• 52:09
  put you backstage and brought you back on.
• 52:11
  But that didn't change anything.
• 52:14
  Yeah, I click video on and off and it's not changing anything.
• 52:20
  It's weird because I can see my video and it says my microphone is working and I can see you.
• 52:28
  Okay, I guess worst case scenario is that we record the rest of this and this is just an audio podcast and doesn't go to YouTube or we cut the YouTube video short if it doesn't
• 52:42
  show up.
• 52:43
  um
• 52:45
  again, so I don't know if that's affecting it.
• 52:50
  It says it's like 52 % uploading, so I don't know if that is.
• 52:54
  Yeah.
• 52:57
  um
• 53:01
  just uploading the video as we're recording.
• 53:03
  oh
• 53:07
  I don't know.
• 53:08
  I don't know why this is happening.
• 53:10
  Maybe we could.
• 53:12
  really want to get, like, I feel like the first part was really good.
• 53:15
  I'd really like to make sure we get a good second part.
• 53:18
  So, because I really want to make good reels out of it.
• 53:24
  So.
• 53:25
  understand what's not working because like all the settings are set up and they say that they're working so I don't know why it's not working.
• 53:33
  uh
• 53:37
  open to make just scheduling 30 minutes next week to wrap it up?
• 53:42
  let me see when I have some.
• 53:45
  Let's try to find a time that works for both of us.
• 53:47
  um
• 53:51
  because this week is kind of crazy.
• 53:53
  And I think we're live right now.
• 53:54
  I'm gonna go ahead and stop the recording.
• 53:56
  Thanks.
• 53:58
  because we're just live mobile.