170 – Going from Emotion to Productivity When Tragedy Strikes with Bobbi Baehne of Think Big Go Local
Bobbi is the President of Think Big Go Local, a digital marketing agency headquartered in the Chicagoland area.
They focus exclusively on entrepreneurs and have worked with over 300 clients spanning dozens of different industries.
TBGL specializes in getting small business messages in front of their client’s ideal customer, thereby growing their business and bottom line.
Three years ago, Bobbi lost her 25-year-old son in a motorcycle accident. She is now passionate about turning emotion into productivity and sharing a message of strength and resiliency.
Business Building Insights
- Social Media isn’t necessarily a selling tool. It is a relationship building tool.
- With the limited reach we’re getting in social media, our content has got to get better in order to get noticed.
- Building relationships requires us to be our authentic self. Start thinking in terms of creating groups, attracting the right people and engaging as your authentic self.
- Take something terrible that happened in life and turn it into an opportunity to grow something else.
- Put your energy into something that can help other people and make a difference in the community.
- Stay ahead of the curve by having done things in advance.
- Cross-train so if something happens to you or one of your employees, someone else can pick up where you left off.
- To anyone going through tragedy: Be kind to yourself.
Resources Mentioned
Canva – An online app to create content, GIFS, graphic designs and more
Werble – Allows you to bring a piece of content and add movement, animation and elements.
Contact Links
Gift Biz Resources
Join our FREE Gift Biz Breeze Facebook Community
If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you.
Thanks! Sue
Transcript
Gift biz unwrapped episode 170.
Speaker:One of the reasons I like sharing this story is I
Speaker:really felt like I was very alone in that decision.
Speaker:I had so many people around me supporting me,
Speaker:but I also had people telling me I wasn't doing it
Speaker:right? Attention.
Speaker:Gifters bakers,
Speaker:crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.
Speaker:Whether you have an established business or looking to start one.
Speaker:Now you are in the right place.
Speaker:This is gift to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode,
Speaker:packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow.
Speaker:Your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal,
Speaker:Sue moon Heights.
Speaker:Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue And thank you so much for taking part of
Speaker:your day and joining us on the podcast.
Speaker:Once you're done listening,
Speaker:if you'd like even more gift of biz motivation,
Speaker:I'd like to invite you to join our private Facebook group
Speaker:called gift biz breeze,
Speaker:pursuing your business should be fun,
Speaker:exciting, and rewarding,
Speaker:not stressful and scary.
Speaker:When you join the breeze,
Speaker:it's like sitting in the park with friends who bring you
Speaker:all the support and the answers that you need,
Speaker:and that you've been looking for.
Speaker:You'll have access to a group of amazing creators,
Speaker:along with tools and resources to help grow your business.
Speaker:You don't need to do this alone to join the group.
Speaker:Just jump over to gift biz,
Speaker:breeze.com. I have to admit that,
Speaker:although I've wanted Bobby on this show for a long time,
Speaker:I wanted her to talk about social media.
Speaker:And when she decided she wanted to switch this up and
Speaker:really direct the conversation in different way,
Speaker:I wasn't so sure how I felt about it.
Speaker:And now I am.
Speaker:Oh, so glad we did.
Speaker:What happens when tragedy strikes and you have a business to
Speaker:run, how do you handle things?
Speaker:How do you make it all work out?
Speaker:That's what Bobby was so open and willing to share with
Speaker:us today.
Speaker:And I can't wait for you to hear from her.
Speaker:So with that,
Speaker:let me introduce you to Bobby Baney.
Speaker:Bobby is the president of think big go local,
Speaker:a digital marketing agency headquartered in the Chicago land area.
Speaker:They focus on entrepreneurs and have worked with over 300 clients,
Speaker:spanning dozens of different industries.
Speaker:They specialize in small business messages to get in front of
Speaker:their clients,
Speaker:ideal customer growing their businesses.
Speaker:And bottom line three years ago,
Speaker:Bobby lost her 25 year old son in a motorcycle accident.
Speaker:She is now passionate about turning emotion into productivity and sharing
Speaker:a message of strength and resiliency.
Speaker:And I have to tell you give business listeners.
Speaker:She is the one who came to me and said,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:I think this is a message that can help a lot
Speaker:of people.
Speaker:And she is graciously going to be sharing that story with
Speaker:us today.
Speaker:But before we get into all of that,
Speaker:Bobby, welcome to the show.
Speaker:Thank you,
Speaker:Sue. I'm so honored to be here.
Speaker:So as you know,
Speaker:I like to start off the show in a little bit
Speaker:of a different way.
Speaker:And that is by having you describe yourself through a motivational
Speaker:candle. If you were to give me a color,
Speaker:like I don't already know what it's going to be,
Speaker:right, Bobby,
Speaker:if you are going to give me a color and a
Speaker:quote that is a motivational candle that represents you.
Speaker:Describe to us what it will look like.
Speaker:My motivational candle would obviously be bright.
Speaker:Yay, Surprise,
Speaker:surprise. And my quote,
Speaker:that would be on my candle,
Speaker:which is a quote that I look at almost every day
Speaker:is be strong when you are weak,
Speaker:be brave when you are scared,
Speaker:be humble when you are victorious and be bad every day.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Fabulous. Who wrote that quote?
Speaker:Do you know what?
Speaker:I actually don't know who wrote that quote?
Speaker:I've seen it all over the place and I'm not sure
Speaker:who wrote it.
Speaker:Oh, that's funny.
Speaker:Well, it's unknown,
Speaker:but it totally works with you.
Speaker:That's for sure.
Speaker:Love it.
Speaker:So take us back in time.
Speaker:First of all,
Speaker:I love the name.
Speaker:Think big,
Speaker:go local.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Perfect name for social media for sure.
Speaker:But I know there was a history before that.
Speaker:So give us a little bit of a feel of how
Speaker:you've gotten to where you are today.
Speaker:Absolutely. So I came from a corporate background and was working
Speaker:in that arena at the time that social media started to
Speaker:really become a thing.
Speaker:I was an executive marketing director and a pretty large nonprofit
Speaker:in the Chicago area.
Speaker:And they,
Speaker:as many other corporations did thought it was kind of a
Speaker:fad that this wasn't a place they wanted to invest time,
Speaker:invest money,
Speaker:even just to kind of see what it was going to
Speaker:all turn out to be,
Speaker:which was really frustrating to me because I just saw very
Speaker:early on how powerful at that time it was really Facebook
Speaker:and Twitter were what was out there.
Speaker:My space was there,
Speaker:but it was so different from what people were doing in
Speaker:that corporate environment.
Speaker:And so I just started to do some little side hustles.
Speaker:I was raising three kids on my own at the time,
Speaker:really needed that corporate income.
Speaker:That was pretty important to get them to where they needed
Speaker:to be.
Speaker:But I started doing social media for friends and for a
Speaker:family business that we had just trying to learn a little
Speaker:bit about it and I'm not going to lie.
Speaker:I was stalking my daughter.
Speaker:She had just gone off to college.
Speaker:So that was kinda made it interesting.
Speaker:And I learned pretty quickly that that was a really bad
Speaker:idea, but I was kind of all in,
Speaker:at an early stage.
Speaker:So Was it that you understood that this could be something
Speaker:big? What was it that you were about social media at
Speaker:that time that perked your eyes open and said,
Speaker:okay, well,
Speaker:I'm going to pay attention to this and then do some
Speaker:testing and figure it out.
Speaker:But nonprofit that I was working in actually served children and
Speaker:adolescents. And at that particular time,
Speaker:the larger group that was in Facebook was really that adolescent
Speaker:age kids in high school kids in college.
Speaker:So I was really fortunate to be in a market where
Speaker:we were serving adolescents and we had group homes for teenagers
Speaker:and boys that were transitioning from living in a group home
Speaker:environment to living independently.
Speaker:So this space and Facebook really,
Speaker:really spoke to this particular audience.
Speaker:And because I was watching this younger generation interacting and watching
Speaker:the things that were going on in college,
Speaker:it was just really ideal at the time for the audience
Speaker:that I was trying to attract really interesting,
Speaker:how it's changed so much over time,
Speaker:but when you're witnessing those conversations in real time and seeing
Speaker:how connected people were becoming,
Speaker:it was really hard to not pay attention and not to
Speaker:see the potential.
Speaker:Heck if I could connect with a boyfriend from kindergarten in
Speaker:this space who couldn't I connect with,
Speaker:if I was really trying to reach out and target an
Speaker:audience. So that was interesting to me.
Speaker:Yeah. And I just want to stop here for one second.
Speaker:And lot of us,
Speaker:this is a perfect demonstration of how smaller businesses.
Speaker:Now you didn't have a business yet,
Speaker:but you saw an opportunity there.
Speaker:And the bigger organizations just don't jump on things like this.
Speaker:And that's one of the benefits of smaller businesses is we
Speaker:can be so nimble and so quick to adapt to situations
Speaker:that we're seeing that can be really beneficial.
Speaker:And this is one of the ways that small business can
Speaker:get ahead of big business just by being able to move
Speaker:much quicker.
Speaker:So you didn't have your business yet,
Speaker:but you saw the opportunity.
Speaker:So continue on Bobby.
Speaker:Yeah. So I saw that opportunity and you're so right.
Speaker:And so I started incorporating it into small businesses for friends,
Speaker:for our family business and just was seeing those results.
Speaker:And of course Facebook was so different back then starting up
Speaker:a page per se was genuinely personal.
Speaker:They didn't have business pages at the time.
Speaker:And so the interaction was just so stimulating and motivating.
Speaker:So were you seeing Results in just new connections,
Speaker:so new prospects for people,
Speaker:or were you actually seeing new sales for these businesses as
Speaker:you were getting going Prospects leads and sales because it was
Speaker:so much easier back then to get good organic reach.
Speaker:Like everybody was a community in that space and to mirror
Speaker:what you said,
Speaker:why this really is so important is can you imagine having
Speaker:started your business page back then versus starting it right now,
Speaker:how challenging it is and for business owners to understand that
Speaker:ability they have to get in on something early and really
Speaker:kind of bring their TRIBE with them and create that audience.
Speaker:And sometimes it's probably not going to work.
Speaker:There's going to be platforms that come and go,
Speaker:but we don't have to wait through the corporate red tape
Speaker:and for someone else to be convinced that it might be
Speaker:worthy of the investment.
Speaker:And that was interesting to me too,
Speaker:that here's this young opportunity.
Speaker:I don't know if it's a fad,
Speaker:maybe Facebook would have gone away.
Speaker:I really had no way to know,
Speaker:but I did know when I was in that space,
Speaker:that people were connecting and having conversations and making recommendations for
Speaker:other people to come and see what you were doing or
Speaker:sharing your content with someone that might need your services.
Speaker:So it was just a really amazing opportunity,
Speaker:especially in that time.
Speaker:Yeah. And the only investment really was time because it doesn't
Speaker:cost anything.
Speaker:So I had been Working in the social media space for
Speaker:a couple of years,
Speaker:starting to really see some results and seeing things start to
Speaker:change and become a little bit more business focused.
Speaker:And I really knew this is what I wanted to do.
Speaker:I was kinda tired of the corporate environment.
Speaker:It really never was me.
Speaker:It just was my way to provide for my family.
Speaker:So as they grew and when my youngest went off to
Speaker:college, I decided at that point in my life,
Speaker:I thought,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:This is what I want to do.
Speaker:I know I have value to give,
Speaker:I know that small businesses need to learn how to leverage
Speaker:these platforms in order to grow,
Speaker:because it was becoming increasingly obvious that they were not going
Speaker:to be going anywhere soon.
Speaker:And that this was going to become a really important part
Speaker:of any business's marketing mix.
Speaker:So I just made this crazy decision when my youngest was
Speaker:supporting herself at college.
Speaker:And I thought,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:what? If I fall on my face,
Speaker:now nobody suffers.
Speaker:But me,
Speaker:this is the time to go all in because at the
Speaker:time I was working full time and doing this on the
Speaker:side, and I knew that I really couldn't grow it to
Speaker:what I wanted it to be.
Speaker:If I didn't give it my full attention.
Speaker:So I went into work,
Speaker:I quit my job.
Speaker:And I just started sitting in coffee shops,
Speaker:talking to people,
Speaker:bringing on new clients,
Speaker:managing their social media.
Speaker:And that was really where things started to just start to
Speaker:pick up What learnings do you have from that?
Speaker:That's pretty bold move.
Speaker:Bobby. Is there any advice you'd have for somebody here and
Speaker:just listening to your story at first while you're talking,
Speaker:I'm thinking to myself,
Speaker:all right.
Speaker:Well, you proved the idea because you were starting to see,
Speaker:and it sounds like you might've had some clients somewhat lined
Speaker:up already.
Speaker:So you kind of knew what the potential could be.
Speaker:You didn't just jump and start fresh.
Speaker:You had research,
Speaker:you'd proven already that there was interest in what you were
Speaker:doing, but what advice would you have for someone who is
Speaker:maybe in your spot today,
Speaker:they see something that they really want to get going.
Speaker:They are looking at cutting the cord with corporate,
Speaker:but they haven't it yet.
Speaker:Yeah. That's such a great question because boy was,
Speaker:I lucky it could have really gone badly for me,
Speaker:but one of the pieces of advice I would say is
Speaker:I learned within probably the first two weeks,
Speaker:how important it was for me to avoid distractions.
Speaker:That was one of the toughest things was to come from
Speaker:sitting in an environment where you knew you had to be
Speaker:there. People expected you to be there to all of a
Speaker:sudden, have so much freedom to do things the way that
Speaker:you wanted to.
Speaker:And I learned very quickly that people felt like that meant
Speaker:I wasn't working.
Speaker:And maybe sometimes I felt like,
Speaker:Oh, I'm home today.
Speaker:And to really block that time,
Speaker:I had to learn to set daily goals and just to
Speaker:do everything I could to avoid the distractions so that I
Speaker:was giving as much focus to this business.
Speaker:As I would give,
Speaker:when I knew someone was kind of watching you in that
Speaker:corporate environment,
Speaker:I don't know that you could be successful without really giving
Speaker:just as much as you gave in that environment.
Speaker:And that was a tough shift to make.
Speaker:I think it's really tough going from corporate to having all
Speaker:that freedom to work when you want,
Speaker:where you want.
Speaker:I thought it was going to be a lot easier than
Speaker:it actually was.
Speaker:And so that would be my advice,
Speaker:Setting those goals and just making sure that you are,
Speaker:you're kind of your own watchdog at that point,
Speaker:making sure that you're not saying,
Speaker:Oh, you know,
Speaker:I'll start tomorrow because I want to take a day off.
Speaker:I deserve it getting down to business right away,
Speaker:Exactly. Getting to business right away,
Speaker:like knowing how many clients do I need to attract this
Speaker:month? How many do I need to attract this week?
Speaker:And what do I need to do to make that happen?
Speaker:Because at the end of the month,
Speaker:I still had bills to pay.
Speaker:Like we all do.
Speaker:So we've gotta be kind to yourself and,
Speaker:and you've got to schedule time to be away from your
Speaker:desk and all of those things,
Speaker:but you really had to structure it like a business from
Speaker:the get-go in order to reach those goals and make it
Speaker:happen. Another thought comes to mind based on the conversation and
Speaker:the comments that you had that people thought,
Speaker:well, maybe you're not really working because now you're out of
Speaker:the house.
Speaker:Right. Right.
Speaker:What type of adjustments did you make to actually set up
Speaker:your business so that it was professional out of the house?
Speaker:I had worked in the house for awhile and I found
Speaker:that to be distracting.
Speaker:So I started working immediately just set up shop in a
Speaker:local coffee shop where I kind of had my own little
Speaker:space and would just put my headphones on and just grind
Speaker:at it all day long.
Speaker:For me,
Speaker:that was what I needed to do to avoid those distractions
Speaker:was to just not be in the home environment.
Speaker:I didn't start this because I wanted to have a home
Speaker:office. I started it because I wanted to have a successful
Speaker:business. So for me,
Speaker:that meant getting out of the house,
Speaker:avoiding the cute little dogs,
Speaker:wanting to come over and play in the laundry.
Speaker:And all of the other things that are waiting for you
Speaker:in the house,
Speaker:I had to separate those two things that helped me stay
Speaker:business focused and avoid all the other distractions that were screaming
Speaker:at me all day.
Speaker:The other thing I really liked that you said is you
Speaker:already had a vision for something more than that.
Speaker:Your coffee shop seat,
Speaker:if you will,
Speaker:was kind of an interim to where you are today.
Speaker:So you already had the vision of,
Speaker:it was going to be out of the house.
Speaker:It was going to be an office space or whatever.
Speaker:And you started working yourself there right from day one.
Speaker:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker:Where Are you today to give everybody the whole picture here?
Speaker:Well, today we have a beautiful office out in McHenry County.
Speaker:We have a training facility here in our office,
Speaker:as we had talked about before.
Speaker:I'm incredibly passionate about small business so much.
Speaker:So we made a decision in our business that we would
Speaker:only serve small business owners almost three years ago.
Speaker:Now I brought on a business partner.
Speaker:I really couldn't sustain the growth on my own.
Speaker:And I also started to see that there were other services
Speaker:I needed to make sure my clients had set up properly
Speaker:in order to make the social media management count like really
Speaker:great websites and excellent landing pages in places where they could
Speaker:convert this audience and these relationships into paying customers.
Speaker:So when I brought on a partner,
Speaker:we opened an office so that we could work together,
Speaker:that we had conference space to meet with clients.
Speaker:And we made the decision at that point that we knew
Speaker:not everybody could afford our services.
Speaker:And so we opened a training facility so that we could
Speaker:teach small business owners how to leverage these platforms.
Speaker:And in turn,
Speaker:as they became more successful,
Speaker:it actually became a really great source of new clients for
Speaker:us because when people realize how to do it well,
Speaker:and they attracted their tribe and they got too busy,
Speaker:a lot of them came back and said,
Speaker:now we really need you to manage this for us.
Speaker:So it really turned out to be a great addition to
Speaker:the services that we offered.
Speaker:And my partner is absolutely fantastic.
Speaker:And that's really helped us to be able to go out
Speaker:and sell more,
Speaker:to have more credibility,
Speaker:more authority.
Speaker:And we're pretty happy with where we're at right now.
Speaker:All of this happened because you kept your eye on the
Speaker:needs of the customer.
Speaker:Absolutely. You didn't even know that training was going to be
Speaker:in the mix or building websites or landing pages or anything
Speaker:Had no clue,
Speaker:But you found it because you were watching what your customers
Speaker:experience and then what they needed next.
Speaker:Exactly. And I will say,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:we had mentioned this earlier that I did have a very
Speaker:life-changing events take place through the midst of all of this.
Speaker:That really made me dive into this even deeper than I
Speaker:had been in the beginning.
Speaker:So in the intro you had mentioned,
Speaker:my son passed away almost four years ago.
Speaker:And at that time I was working in the coffee shop.
Speaker:Still didn't have the office yet.
Speaker:And you get that phone call that there'd been an accident.
Speaker:I hope nobody can actually relate.
Speaker:It really was a terrible time.
Speaker:However, I knew very quickly after that,
Speaker:I gave myself about four days and thought,
Speaker:okay, I have a decision to make right now because it
Speaker:would be so easy to fall apart.
Speaker:I didn't have a partner yet.
Speaker:I was doing this on my own.
Speaker:I had clients.
Speaker:I was responsible to,
Speaker:even though I know every one of them would have said
Speaker:take all the time that you need,
Speaker:that. Wasn't who I was.
Speaker:And I had to make that decision.
Speaker:Do you go all in,
Speaker:can you keep on doing this?
Speaker:Can you get up and focus and keep making this happen?
Speaker:Or are you not going to be able to follow the
Speaker:structure by yourself anymore?
Speaker:And I really thought hard about it and thought,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:This is my opportunity to take this emotion and to continue
Speaker:to nurture something.
Speaker:And literally I walk into my office every day and I
Speaker:think about my son and think,
Speaker:I don't think I'd be here in this particular space.
Speaker:Having seen this level of success without having realized that I
Speaker:could take something really terrible that happened in life and turn
Speaker:it into an opportunity to grow something else and give credit
Speaker:to that terrible time in my life.
Speaker:And to say,
Speaker:Billy, we did this together.
Speaker:You were a part of giving me an opportunity to nurture
Speaker:something else and to put my energy into something that could
Speaker:help other people that could help me,
Speaker:that could make a difference in my community.
Speaker:And that was the choice that I allowed myself to make.
Speaker:And it was actually kind of tough to do that.
Speaker:There was almost as you're still going to work and people
Speaker:are kind of looking at you,
Speaker:like, what are you doing?
Speaker:Like, shouldn't you be at home crying?
Speaker:Shouldn't this have devastated you.
Speaker:It was kind of tough to just go back out there
Speaker:and say,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:no, this is what I'm going to do.
Speaker:I'm going to work harder and I'm going to share this
Speaker:success. And I'm going to just take all of this sad
Speaker:emotion and say,
Speaker:it's okay.
Speaker:I can internalize that and turn it into something else.
Speaker:And that was really big turning point.
Speaker:And it brought my partner into my world.
Speaker:We'd started working on projects together and I worked too hard.
Speaker:There was no doubt.
Speaker:I poured everything into this business for awhile.
Speaker:It's incredible.
Speaker:What happens when you put everything into a business that you
Speaker:have? Not that I would say I recommend going all in
Speaker:for everybody because it does also get pretty exhausting at some
Speaker:point. But yeah,
Speaker:that was really a pivotal time and really kind of led
Speaker:us to where we're at today.
Speaker:Just as much as all the other business decisions that we
Speaker:had made.
Speaker:So listening to your story,
Speaker:there's so much strength behind your voice.
Speaker:And I love that.
Speaker:And you and I know Bobby,
Speaker:and I'm now sharing it with GIF as listeners,
Speaker:we talked about this and you were saying,
Speaker:yes, I want to share my story about Billy,
Speaker:because I think it can help so many people.
Speaker:And my response to you was I know that a lot
Speaker:of people who are listening right now have gone through,
Speaker:or are going through very difficult times,
Speaker:whether it's a child or a parent or themselves with illnesses,
Speaker:that stuff comes out of left field and you're not expecting
Speaker:it. And then you're at a point it's like,
Speaker:what do you do?
Speaker:And you with your story first,
Speaker:thank you so much for sharing.
Speaker:And on behalf,
Speaker:all of us,
Speaker:we're very sorry about Billy.
Speaker:Of course,
Speaker:of course.
Speaker:But I'm curious if there's any other information by way of
Speaker:just thinking back of how you could make that decision to
Speaker:help our listeners.
Speaker:You were at a crossroads and you knew that,
Speaker:how did you make the decision to go right?
Speaker:Instead of left?
Speaker:I think that it maybe was just in my DNA.
Speaker:I don't know why I made that decision.
Speaker:It was just literally saying to me,
Speaker:this is the right thing for you to do.
Speaker:One of the reasons I like sharing this story is I
Speaker:really felt like I was very alone in that decision.
Speaker:I had so many people around me supporting me,
Speaker:but I also had people telling me I wasn't doing it
Speaker:right. That I was putting too much into work that I
Speaker:needed to grieve in a different way.
Speaker:And in all honesty,
Speaker:I went and I talked with a counselor and I talked
Speaker:through how I was feeling and what I wanted to do,
Speaker:because I kind of felt like I needed a little validation
Speaker:that there isn't a right or a wrong way to do
Speaker:this and that I get to own that and make my
Speaker:own decisions.
Speaker:So I did seek out some help in talking through it
Speaker:because there was a lot of conflicts.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:there's a lot of conflicts in general,
Speaker:between family and friends,
Speaker:when there's tragedy,
Speaker:that strikes right in between marriages and things like that.
Speaker:And I want to share this story because I do feel
Speaker:like people sometimes feel really alone,
Speaker:especially when you own a business.
Speaker:And if you're an entrepreneur,
Speaker:you don't have a large staff and it's really you making
Speaker:this happen day after day,
Speaker:is that feeling of nobody gets that.
Speaker:I don't get to stay home and take a grievance,
Speaker:leave for a couple of weeks or get my benefits while
Speaker:I'm sitting home and grieving in this corporation will allow me
Speaker:to do that.
Speaker:It's really hard as a small business owner to take that
Speaker:time, because it's just not a luxury that most small business
Speaker:owners are afforded in my situation.
Speaker:I didn't have a spouse to help subsidize,
Speaker:and my goodness he would have been just as in the
Speaker:same terrible state of grieving as well.
Speaker:I just think it's really hard on small businesses and that
Speaker:I want people to know that really they're not alone and
Speaker:there's not a right or a wrong way to do it.
Speaker:And if you can find that strength and find the ability
Speaker:to say all the love I had for this particular person
Speaker:or this particular situation,
Speaker:I can take into loving myself and loving what I'm building
Speaker:and realizing a goal because you get to actually give credit
Speaker:to that situation for that happening.
Speaker:If that's what you want to do.
Speaker:And I don't feel like enough people really know what do
Speaker:I do now in that situation,
Speaker:how do I move forward?
Speaker:People are watching at the same time and is terrible as
Speaker:it is.
Speaker:They're often judging and telling you what's the right way to
Speaker:do this.
Speaker:And I would hope that maybe through hearing this podcast,
Speaker:that people can kind of break that if they ever get
Speaker:in that situation and say,
Speaker:I get to make these decisions.
Speaker:And I get to nurture the,
Speaker:that matter to me and move forward,
Speaker:Right? And nobody can judge the way you do it to
Speaker:your point.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:no one can tell you there's a right way or a
Speaker:wrong way to grieve.
Speaker:Exactly. And it's tough because people wanted me to be there
Speaker:for them through that time.
Speaker:And I was really just being in my business in that
Speaker:moment. That was where I needed to be.
Speaker:And it was tough for a while until I really saw
Speaker:what I was building and started to see the benefits of
Speaker:having done all of that nurturing in the business and working
Speaker:so hard on it and staying really focused.
Speaker:And I literally had to say to friends in the coffee
Speaker:shop, I switched coffee shops actually.
Speaker:So that I didn't know anybody new coffee shop to be
Speaker:able to say,
Speaker:I need to focus.
Speaker:And I don't want everybody to come and say,
Speaker:they're sorry,
Speaker:even though I know they are.
Speaker:And I know that comes from such a genuine place of
Speaker:love. I needed to take those distractions out.
Speaker:So once again,
Speaker:I was making a shift to be able to stay focused.
Speaker:So from the coffee shop,
Speaker:I'd spent time in,
Speaker:I had to move literally over to another town where I
Speaker:didn't know as many people and go in and say,
Speaker:this is what I'm going to do.
Speaker:And I'm going to focus on it and I'm going to
Speaker:do it without distractions to the best of my ability,
Speaker:which was a little bit of a struggle for a little
Speaker:bit too,
Speaker:but you just kept at it and kept looking at the
Speaker:changes and the impact that it was making on the business.
Speaker:And that became my motivation.
Speaker:Do you have any advice for like we were just talking
Speaker:about, you never know when something like this is going to
Speaker:strike and you certainly weren't expecting what happened.
Speaker:Is there any advice,
Speaker:is there anything you can think we could do for our
Speaker:businesses that if something like that happens,
Speaker:things can carry on for a little while without you,
Speaker:if you did,
Speaker:if you were feeling Bobby,
Speaker:like I need to take a few days off,
Speaker:but my customer's social media posts still need to go out.
Speaker:Like you have contracts with people on they're expecting things.
Speaker:And of course they would understand I get that.
Speaker:But is there anything hindsight you could have prepared for,
Speaker:to give yourself some space?
Speaker:Yeah. You know,
Speaker:actually, that's such a great question because as I train our
Speaker:new social media managers,
Speaker:when they come into our business,
Speaker:now, one of the things we talk about in the early
Speaker:stages of our training is that things do happen.
Speaker:They happen to all of us.
Speaker:They might be little things.
Speaker:They might be bad days.
Speaker:They might be big things.
Speaker:So that was a really good lesson in staying ahead of
Speaker:the curve,
Speaker:in having things done,
Speaker:things that needed to be done tomorrow.
Speaker:I wanted to have done.
Speaker:I now have done a week in advance so that you
Speaker:do give yourself that time.
Speaker:So even if it's just having it drawn out and having
Speaker:a roadmap that maybe makes it easier to follow for us,
Speaker:it could be actual creating content and having it scheduled a
Speaker:week ahead of time so that we know,
Speaker:but something does come up that we've got that little bit
Speaker:of buffer space tough for small businesses.
Speaker:Sometimes it really is tough and everybody's model is so different,
Speaker:but just keeping in mind that boy,
Speaker:what happens if I get sick tomorrow and I just can't
Speaker:make it in.
Speaker:Am I prepared for that?
Speaker:Is there a roadmap that I could hand to someone else?
Speaker:Is there someone else I trust are you bringing people into
Speaker:your business that could help you and pick up and go
Speaker:on? Are you cross training people that might be working alongside
Speaker:of you?
Speaker:So if something happens to one of you,
Speaker:the other one can pick up where you left off.
Speaker:It is important to not always easy for entrepreneurs,
Speaker:but definitely something to always keep in mind,
Speaker:because in all honesty,
Speaker:it's just a way to be kind to yourself when you
Speaker:need it and not have that pressure Even could be something
Speaker:as wonderful as a huge opportunity with a new client comes
Speaker:in that you have to 100% focus on.
Speaker:So you need to hand off some of your other things
Speaker:to someone else.
Speaker:So you can focus and not have an opportunity just fall
Speaker:to the wayside because you just couldn't give it the attention
Speaker:it needed.
Speaker:Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker:I mean your whole discussion here about having backup systems or
Speaker:bench strength cross-training I think is what you were calling.
Speaker:It is something that you can pre structure in your business.
Speaker:So that's something I would encourage everybody to think about is
Speaker:do you have other people who could jump in,
Speaker:think about it now when things are calmer,
Speaker:there's nothing going on about what would you do in a
Speaker:situation? Because after you have something come up,
Speaker:it's too late,
Speaker:you're not going to be able to get something put together
Speaker:to be able to accommodate a situation.
Speaker:The other thing,
Speaker:I'm sure Bobby,
Speaker:you have systems,
Speaker:you have something set up within your business.
Speaker:So there's some type of structure that someone could follow.
Speaker:If you weren't around to be able to direct somebody how
Speaker:to do something.
Speaker:Oh yes,
Speaker:absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker:We have systems for each one of our clients.
Speaker:They all might differ a little bit,
Speaker:but all drawn out.
Speaker:It's all in writing what their content looks like is all
Speaker:in writing.
Speaker:So that absolutely somebody could come in and pick up the
Speaker:pieces and make those things happen on any given day.
Speaker:Wonderful. Any final comments on this portion,
Speaker:in terms of any other advice,
Speaker:suggestions, anything else that you experienced that you weren't expecting?
Speaker:I didn't know what to expect.
Speaker:It was also unexpected,
Speaker:right? I would say to anyone that would be going through
Speaker:tragedy is really to be kind to yourself.
Speaker:There will be so many people around you being kind to
Speaker:you. There truly are people genuinely care and want to be
Speaker:there. And I guess was surprising to me is how much
Speaker:I actually wanted that to go away kind of quickly isn't
Speaker:that sounds terrible.
Speaker:But I mean,
Speaker:I literally had to say to people,
Speaker:thank you,
Speaker:please. Not here.
Speaker:Like when I'm sitting in this space,
Speaker:when I'm working,
Speaker:I need to focus.
Speaker:And I had to literally ask people,
Speaker:could we not talk about it?
Speaker:Could you not approach me about that?
Speaker:Or literally say,
Speaker:thank you,
Speaker:but I'm here today because I need to work.
Speaker:And I appreciate it.
Speaker:And just to give yourself that power to say,
Speaker:I appreciate those sentiments,
Speaker:but I'm going to focus on this.
Speaker:I feel like even in those moments,
Speaker:we all feel like we have to take care of other
Speaker:people. And so remember you get to take care of yourself
Speaker:and ask for the things that you need to get to
Speaker:that place.
Speaker:You are trying to go and to find that inner strength
Speaker:as you get to ask for that and make that happen.
Speaker:Yeah. I think it's also good for that person.
Speaker:Cause I think if someone hadn't seen you and they walked
Speaker:up, they can't just say hi and not acknowledge that they
Speaker:know that something happened,
Speaker:but for you then to be able to say back to
Speaker:them, you're kind of directing them how you would like things
Speaker:handled. Cause most people don't know.
Speaker:Right. Thanks.
Speaker:No, it's a terrible position to be in.
Speaker:They really don't know.
Speaker:Yeah. And so you just helping direct them,
Speaker:I think puts them at ease too.
Speaker:So they know that you've acknowledged.
Speaker:Right. And then they know that that for the time being
Speaker:anyway, Exactly.
Speaker:Like just being honest,
Speaker:like really,
Speaker:it's just kind of an exercise and honesty is to be
Speaker:able to say,
Speaker:thank you.
Speaker:And then this is how I'm feeling right now.
Speaker:Or this is my strategy to get through this and putting
Speaker:it out there a lot of times,
Speaker:I don't think we feel like we can do that.
Speaker:And Yeah.
Speaker:And I think also knowing how you manage through things like
Speaker:that, we also had a tragedy in our family this year
Speaker:and I know the way I handle things is I draw
Speaker:inwards. Most of my friends already know that I'm going to
Speaker:be silent for awhile.
Speaker:I'm okay.
Speaker:But that's my way.
Speaker:And I think sometimes you need to communicate that to people
Speaker:too. Look,
Speaker:I'm fine.
Speaker:You're just not going to hear from me for a little
Speaker:while. Explain the situation and how you handle things and people
Speaker:respect that.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:You're right.
Speaker:That's exactly it.
Speaker:Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So now I want to move on a little bit because
Speaker:you're such a specialist.
Speaker:I can not take this opportunity and hear from you a
Speaker:little bit more about social media today and suggestions or advice
Speaker:you have on how to manage social media accounts because,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:Bobby, over this last month,
Speaker:things have changed drastically Facebook yet again,
Speaker:new changes on the way and some challenges for that platform
Speaker:too. Obviously,
Speaker:what are your suggestions on how you manage social media today?
Speaker:Bobby's going to give us her expert advice right after a
Speaker:word from our sponsor.
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Speaker:for more information.
Speaker:Yeah, it is Really been a whirlwind couple of months for
Speaker:sure. And as I've looked around and looked at what's working,
Speaker:but I'm also really looking at what these platforms are doing
Speaker:and what they're saying.
Speaker:And I think that what's happening now more than has happened
Speaker:in social media before is that they are creating opportunities for
Speaker:us to really deepen the relationships that we've been talking about,
Speaker:creating in social media for years.
Speaker:I think everybody at this point hopefully understands that social media
Speaker:isn't necessarily the selling tool.
Speaker:It's the relationship building tool and to build relationships,
Speaker:we have to be our authentic selves and we need to
Speaker:be that so that we attract the people that want to
Speaker:work with us.
Speaker:And when I see platforms like Instagram,
Speaker:when they launched stories so cool,
Speaker:you can take people along with you on your journey.
Speaker:You didn't have to have that picture.
Speaker:Perfect polished photo to go on your timeline all the time.
Speaker:You had the opportunity to just be in that moment,
Speaker:crazy hair,
Speaker:makeup, no makeup,
Speaker:whatever it might be.
Speaker:The people who are watching you,
Speaker:they feel that authentic real you.
Speaker:Now I've looked now Facebook has stories on business pages.
Speaker:Facebook has personal stories.
Speaker:You can now do stories in groups and everyone in the
Speaker:group can contribute to the group stories.
Speaker:I think it's pretty hard to ignore at this point that
Speaker:this is what people want to consume that people want to
Speaker:see. What are you actually doing in the moment?
Speaker:Not what's all this polished stuff that you're putting up because
Speaker:that's all really very easy to kind of hide behind in
Speaker:a sense we need to give value.
Speaker:And when we give value over and over again in that
Speaker:space, people are attracted to that,
Speaker:but they might be attracted to that piece of content or
Speaker:that piece of value and not necessarily feeling like they're part
Speaker:of your actual TRIBE.
Speaker:And so at this stage,
Speaker:in the game today,
Speaker:we're putting a lot more focus on trying to understand and
Speaker:test what's working in these story platforms.
Speaker:How many people are watching them?
Speaker:How do we get them to engage and give us feedback
Speaker:in stories and that as well as live streaming,
Speaker:same kind of concept Facebook still giving a lot of credibility
Speaker:to live streams.
Speaker:We're not seeing as many people jump on while you're live,
Speaker:but so many people jumping on in that replay.
Speaker:So it is still being pushed up in the algorithm and
Speaker:getting a whole lot more attention than other content.
Speaker:So my real focus right now,
Speaker:and my advice to people right now is to really start
Speaker:embracing those platforms.
Speaker:Because if Facebook really sticks to what they're saying,
Speaker:we're going to have a really hard time getting our content
Speaker:seen. We need to start thinking in terms of creating groups
Speaker:really attracting the right people and then finding out how do
Speaker:we be that authentic self what's,
Speaker:that gift we have that attracts people to us that we
Speaker:can share in these story platforms,
Speaker:because those are being placed at the top of the newsfeeds
Speaker:in the middle of the newsfeeds on the side of your
Speaker:Facebook. I mean,
Speaker:really, if you just look at the platform,
Speaker:you see,
Speaker:wow, this is,
Speaker:and they run from one into another.
Speaker:So you have this opportunity for people to be watching this
Speaker:whole series and to be in it.
Speaker:So that's really what we're focusing on right now is really
Speaker:understanding those.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:Okay. Two questions for you on all of this.
Speaker:If somebody has not been using,
Speaker:let's just go with Instagram for now.
Speaker:Okay. So for Instagram you have the opportunity to post and
Speaker:it go on your account,
Speaker:right? And it stays,
Speaker:or there's an opportunity to do stories,
Speaker:which are in the moment,
Speaker:just like you're saying some real raw and authentic.
Speaker:They don't have to be picture perfect.
Speaker:Right? If someone is strapped for time just getting on to
Speaker:Instagram, is it okay if they don't post photos and just
Speaker:start with stories and go there first?
Speaker:I think they could.
Speaker:I think that they should post at least nine photos only
Speaker:because if someone goes from your story to follow you,
Speaker:you want to at least be able to show them just
Speaker:what you're about.
Speaker:You want them to be able to take that glance and
Speaker:understand what your business is about,
Speaker:what you're about and what your brand looks like.
Speaker:So you could certainly dive right into stories,
Speaker:but I would make a focus to at least get enough
Speaker:content in there that people would jump over.
Speaker:See it feel a connection to you and then immediately become
Speaker:a follower.
Speaker:And you could do that over time.
Speaker:You could do stories first,
Speaker:get the feel.
Speaker:If you haven't,
Speaker:if you're brand new,
Speaker:there may not be a ton of people watching your stories
Speaker:yet because you're still building your tribe.
Speaker:So it's a great time to get comfortable with the platform
Speaker:and learn it while you don't have a huge audience.
Speaker:So I think you could definitely do that,
Speaker:but keep the focus still on,
Speaker:just getting something up there to let people know what you're
Speaker:about. So it's just not a blank account.
Speaker:If someone goes and looks Exactly.
Speaker:Cause our goal is to build a following,
Speaker:right. To build an audience.
Speaker:So we want to make sure that we're able to do
Speaker:that when they do.
Speaker:Right. Okay.
Speaker:And another question,
Speaker:I think a lot of people here are on Facebook.
Speaker:I've tried to make sure that everyone understands you need a
Speaker:business page.
Speaker:If you're on Facebook,
Speaker:if you're using Facebook don't and I have to say this
Speaker:every time,
Speaker:Bobby. So I just have to say it again is don't
Speaker:make yourself a personal account with your business name.
Speaker:It's going to get you in trouble,
Speaker:but we're going to make the assumption that everyone is doing
Speaker:on Facebook now.
Speaker:So I think many people now are doing Facebook stories.
Speaker:What do you say about the difference?
Speaker:If someone felt time-wise they needed to choose between Facebook stories
Speaker:or Instagram stories?
Speaker:Well, here's the beautiful thing from a business perspective is you
Speaker:don't really have to choose.
Speaker:You can go into your Instagram settings and do your stories
Speaker:and Instagram,
Speaker:and they will actually go over to your business page.
Speaker:So you really don't have to make a choice between the
Speaker:two. Now a lot of it really kind of depends on
Speaker:what audience do you have in each space and maybe what
Speaker:you do in those different spaces.
Speaker:And that might change your strategy a little bit.
Speaker:If you really talk specific to a Facebook audience,
Speaker:you might want to organically create those stories in Facebook.
Speaker:But if you talk in generalities and you're not specifically talking
Speaker:about an Instagram platform or a Facebook platform,
Speaker:it would save a lot of time for most small business
Speaker:owners to be able to maybe originate them in Instagram and
Speaker:let them go over to Facebook where people can watch them
Speaker:on your business page.
Speaker:Perfect. And it doesn't go the other way,
Speaker:Instagram to Facebook,
Speaker:but not go the other way.
Speaker:Okay. All right.
Speaker:Great, excellent input there.
Speaker:So stories,
Speaker:if you want both of your audiences to see on Instagram
Speaker:and Facebook originated in Instagram stories and then connected up so
Speaker:that it shows Facebook.
Speaker:Absolutely. Yes.
Speaker:Perfect. All right.
Speaker:So I'm really hoping you have a really fun answer to
Speaker:this. Bobby,
Speaker:are you ready?
Speaker:Okay. Do you Have some type of a fun,
Speaker:special, exciting app or some source that you're using that maybe
Speaker:we don't know about for our social media?
Speaker:Well, so this isn't I can,
Speaker:I do too.
Speaker:Cause I found a new app.
Speaker:I love well,
Speaker:of course.
Speaker:Okay, good.
Speaker:First I think if you haven't been using Canva,
Speaker:if you're creating social media content,
Speaker:I am on there all the time,
Speaker:just such a fantastic resource.
Speaker:They now have a new feature where you can make animated
Speaker:gifts, which is a great way to get your content to
Speaker:pop out a little bit in the newsfeed.
Speaker:So I think that's just like for me,
Speaker:that's just one of those foundational programs that are going to
Speaker:really level up your social media.
Speaker:But I just recently found an app that I am enjoying
Speaker:so much.
Speaker:It's called<inaudible> w E R B L E.
Speaker:And what it does is it allows you to bring in
Speaker:a piece of content,
Speaker:a photo or a video and add these really,
Speaker:really cool elements like flames and glitter and snow and all
Speaker:kinds of things to them.
Speaker:Because again,
Speaker:with the limited reach that we're getting in social media,
Speaker:our content has got to get better in order to get
Speaker:noticed. And this app really lets you put in just these
Speaker:little bits of movement that just grab people's eyes and I've
Speaker:had so many people reach out and go,
Speaker:what app did you make that with?
Speaker:So people are noticing it and knowing that there's a trick
Speaker:to it.
Speaker:So I wanted to mention that one because I'm getting a
Speaker:lot of feedback on the post that I use it for.
Speaker:So really great way to make things jumped right off of
Speaker:that. Newsfeed Love that.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:my eyes opened wide when you said snow.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:And I'll tell you it's I think it's free.
Speaker:There are paid upgrades within the app,
Speaker:but I bought them all.
Speaker:They're also worth it because that movement just grabs people's attention,
Speaker:which is why we're seeing gifs everywhere is we're getting tired
Speaker:of the still photos and we're looking for something else that
Speaker:excites us and stimulates our brain in a new way.
Speaker:And this app really does Beautiful and give biz listeners.
Speaker:This is also a way if you're not comfortable in front
Speaker:of the camera to add some movement to your images,
Speaker:just regular images,
Speaker:whether they're still images,
Speaker:whether it's something that you've made a picture of from the
Speaker:office, whatever it is.
Speaker:But to add a little bit of movement,
Speaker:just like Bobby saying,
Speaker:it grabs the attention.
Speaker:So it could be a step closer to going live if
Speaker:you're still nervous and concerned about that.
Speaker:Absolutely wonderful.
Speaker:Well, Bobby,
Speaker:at this point,
Speaker:I would like to invite you to dare to dream.
Speaker:I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:This is your dream or goal of almost unreachable Heights that
Speaker:you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box Box?
Speaker:When I opened my box,
Speaker:there is a beautiful envelope in there.
Speaker:And in the envelope when I opened it up is an
Speaker:invitation to speak at a national or international social media conference.
Speaker:That is a big goal of mine right now.
Speaker:And if that gift was in that box,
Speaker:I'd be doing the happy dance all over the place.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:And you're already training.
Speaker:So it's just a natural for you to get on bigger
Speaker:and bigger stages.
Speaker:I sure hope so.
Speaker:That's where we're heading.
Speaker:Amen. Yay.
Speaker:You're going to circle back and let us know.
Speaker:Right? Absolutely wonderful.
Speaker:Where can our listeners get in touch with you?
Speaker:You can follow us on every social media platform we have
Speaker:at think big go local in Twitter,
Speaker:Instagram, Facebook,
Speaker:just about everywhere.
Speaker:I love direct messages from people and I encourage more people
Speaker:to start connecting in those platforms,
Speaker:using direct messages and don't be shy.
Speaker:Use audio,
Speaker:use some video,
Speaker:take a picture.
Speaker:I'd love to meet you that way.
Speaker:And I'm always open to answering any questions people have.
Speaker:You can always find me by email at Bobby it's B
Speaker:O bbi@thinkbiggolocal.com.
Speaker:And if social media is your thing,
Speaker:and you're looking as a small business owner to just have
Speaker:a place where you can grab some information as new things
Speaker:arise, we've got a Facebook group on our think big go
Speaker:local page called Bobby,
Speaker:be social media clambake and I'd love to have anybody joined
Speaker:in there.
Speaker:That's just looking for some small business advice so you can
Speaker:do what you're good at and have a place where people
Speaker:can say,
Speaker:Hey, by the way,
Speaker:this changed and you should know about it.
Speaker:Keep on working Beautiful.
Speaker:And you're the one to provide that information to us.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:Thank you,
Speaker:Bobby. Thank you so much.
Speaker:I really,
Speaker:really appreciate opening your heart,
Speaker:telling us your story.
Speaker:I think that's going to help.
Speaker:So, so many people who are in a situation like this
Speaker:and I encourage all of you give business and ours to
Speaker:make preparations just so that although nothing is ever going to
Speaker:happen, you're ready.
Speaker:At least partially if something does.
Speaker:So a very,
Speaker:very valuable message.
Speaker:Bobby. I super appreciate that.
Speaker:And of course then all your tips and tricks with social
Speaker:media. I hope people can put them into play.
Speaker:We all need to help each other.
Speaker:It's a tough game out there.
Speaker:Yes it is.
Speaker:Thanks again so much for coming on today.
Speaker:Thank You.
Speaker:So I appreciate the opportunity.
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Thank you so much for letting me share my story on your podcast Sue. I hope there are members of your audience that needed to hear it 🙂