8 | Shift to Scale Without Social
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[00:00:00] Hi friends. Yay. So today is kind of a big day because this podcast is going to be taking a bit of a pivot. And I am going to challenge you today to think through something that's been on my heart for a minute. And as soon as I had the epiphany. Of how many people this might impact myself included. I just knew that it was a conversation that needed to happen and that conversation is can you scale and run your business?
Without social media. More importantly, can you do it without having to become an online influencer? And I am essentially going to be shifting my personal focus with my business. As well as the focus of this podcast on helping you be able to grow your business without being a slave to social media.
So this is a big shift, obviously, and it's a big conversation. And i'm thrilled to have you [00:01:00] along for the ride
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Okay, so here we go. Says you were listening to that intro. I am curious. Did it touch your heart? Did it peak your interest? How are you feeling as you were thinking about some of the things that might be creating big distractions? In your life and some of the things that might be. Keeping you from staying focused in your business.
Well, I'm here to tell you. I have a feeling that social media is while a very useful and helpful tool in building your business. It is not only, not the only way that you can scale and grow your business because hello. It's only been around for a minute and we have generations of proven business models that have thrived outside of the social media model.
But also, I really feel that it's likely that social media could be one of the things that's holding you back [00:03:00] from scaling your business, because you might be trying to do your business. And show up in your business in a way that doesn't necessarily serve your gifts and skillset. So today I'm going to be sharing five reasons why I believe that you can grow your business without social media.
And let's set some parameters before we begin. I'm what I mean by social media. So I'm not talking about technology or online community, or even certain, you know, connections on the internet like Pinterest or telegram or WhatsApp. I'm really talking specifically about the ones that tend to suck the most of our time, which would be Facebook, Instagram, Tik, TOK, maybe Twitter, if that's for you.
And if you are in really any entrepreneurial journey right now, but in particular, if you're inside the network marketing, Sphere like myself. You are getting tons and tons of coaching and information and [00:04:00] examples of people having amazing success by showing up as essentially an online influencer and a marketing superstar on these platforms.
And while, like I said, that is an amazing way that does work for some, there are other tactics and strategies. And platforms that can. Grow your business. I would even argue to say on an even more impactful level because they aren't built on volume. They're built on value. And I don't know about you, but I am all about choosing value over volume, especially if it's going to send me into a comparison mode spiral of.
There's always going to be more, right. There's always going to be someone who's selling more, who has more followers who got more views on their real. And when you can take that focus off of. How others are showing up and again, move back. A few steps. And look at what has worked [00:05:00] for generations and more than likely what has worked for you in your business thus far.
And when you can focus on simple systems around the actions that have brought you success and the actions that have brought other success long before social media. You can scale and grow your business without having to feel like you are being a slave to social media
Now if someone shared this episode with you, or this is the first episode that you're listening to on this podcast, you're probably wondering, okay, who the heck is this girl? And what does she know about scaling a business? Not on social media. So first I would say, I would love for you to go back and listen to episode one, my original podcast, where I share my background in both traditional business and in network marketing, using the acronym of dream, which I still believe with all my heart is an amazing way to break down your goals. So you can catch up on the previous episodes.
If you have the goals and want to. No, how to break them down in your business, or if you [00:06:00] want to learn more about my story. But just to give you the little synopsis. I have been an entrepreneur, as I said in my intro for almost half my life. So going on. Almost 20 years, 20 years next year. And I have built five businesses and four of the five of them.
We're done without social media or certainly without showing up as an online influencer. Now full disclosure. I now am in a, an amazing network marketing company. And I would say that certainly in my five years in this business, social media and being able to connect with and serve my customers in that way has no doubt had a big impact on the growth of my business. So I'm certainly not here sitting.
Saying that I have done it without social media, but what I am saying and what I know to be true is that when I look at my top 50 customers, I have a little over 1400 customers right now and my business and I lead a [00:07:00] team of about 3,800. And when I look at my, my best customers. 60% of those customers right now came from in-person endeavors, meaning they were either connections that I had prior to starting my business. They're not people that I met online.
Or they were done from in-person Contra classes as we call them or people that I met at one of my kids' sporting events, or again, someone that I met, even through one of my traditional businesses. I had a boutique in Savannah, Georgia. Well really at 1.3 boutiques in Savannah, Georgia. And I sold them in 2019 to focus on what for me has been a better business model.
And that is network marketing. And so when I see a lot of industry coaches and entrepreneurial coaches focusing on. Social media as the primary or only platform to build the business. And then simultaneously I see people on my team. [00:08:00] I see some of my friends that are entrepreneurs. Really getting sucked into the strategy that is essentially having to spend so much time creating content in a very specific way that is ever changing, ever shifting on a platform that they don't own to create connections with people that could go away and disappear tomorrow.
And it hurts my heart a little bit, because I know that that is not the only way. So we'll dive in a little bit more to that in just a minute. But essentially the intention behind the shift is I have been feeling like social media is something that I have to do in my business. Not something that I get to do or choose to do.
In fact, I would venture to say that social media currently is one of the biggest distractions in my life. That's keeping me from staying focused and it's probably my number one time. Suck. So I had the epiphany and I've mentioned this on a previous episode that I don't want to be a content creator [00:09:00] or personal brand, or in fact, I don't even want to be categorized as a social seller.
It's just not something that I want to do, and I believe that it can be done in other ways. So when I realized that I had built these businesses without social media and 60% of my customers came from these in-person endeavors, I knew this conversation had to happen. So here are my five reasons that I believe you can grow your business. Without social media
Okay. So reason number one is it's been done for generations long before social media was even a thing. So, whether you are a traditional retailer, an online retailer, which obviously I can argue is going to make it a little bit more difficult for you to take your business offline. And of course, we'll talk about that in a bit.
Or if you're like me and you are in network marketing or aiming to be a social seller. Brands have been doing this successfully for generations. Prior to the launch of these platforms. And in fact, [00:10:00] a lot of traditional retailers that. You know, founded these amazing online businesses. Are starting to do in-person brick and mortar stores because of that connection that it allows them. And because I think people are craving to be able to see what it is that they're going to purchase. And obviously social media and online shopping has transformed the landscape. And that will always be a thing.
So I'm certainly not saying that you have to eliminate all. Online platforms. But there are some incredible tech tools and innovations. That again. I've worked for, for decades. Things like email marketing. Online blogging or here I am on my podcast. Sharing about my business model. Right. These are things that don't have the time-sucking comparison centered.
Capabilities that social media, Facebook. Instagram ticktock have, but they absolutely can scale and automate your business. So one of those things, when [00:11:00] I talk about network marketing versus social selling, And in fact. That's been something I've been wrestling with and I will do an entire episode on that coming very, very soon.
But essentially social selling, which is what a lot of coaches in the industry right now are sort of touting as the way to do network marketing. I believe it actually steps. Away from what I have found to work best in network marketing. Which is essentially building relationships and building connections that are built on trust.
And it's really, really difficult to do that with volume. And. You've I'm sure no people in your company or in your industry who have tons and tons of followers on social media and they're obviously killing it right. But I bet you, you also know people who are killing it in your company or your industry that don't have massive followings on social media. And guess what? It starts with building a connection and a relationship with one person. And it honestly has nothing [00:12:00] to do with selling. I do not like the word selling.
I don't like the word sales because essentially the way that you make money in any business model is by serving and sharing. What's working for you and what can work for them. So if you're showing up trying to attract people. To you or trying to sell things on a platform. I think people are getting a little tired of that. Whereas if you can build
relationships and trust. On or off social media, you can build your business one customer at a time by creating raving fans that will spread the word. Word of mouth is always going to be your biggest, even if you are trying to build your business on social media, word of mouth is going to be one of the biggest things that will build your business. And again, it doesn't have to be done.
Looking like an online influencer. So that's my number one reason is it's been done for generations, whether you're in network marketing, traditional business. And even some online companies are going more the route of the traditional retail. And one of the reasons I think [00:13:00] they're doing that is my reason. Number two, which is post pandemic, which I realize we are.
Maybe not through this thing yet, but certainly we'd been in it for a minute. People are sick of it, regardless of how they feel. About it and people are craving connection. They lost that for at least a year throughout the world and they miss it. And I think it's going to create a huge shift as we exit, hopefully this pandemic.
And people want to be around other humans. When you look at things like the bridal industry, one of my boutiques was a bridal shop, so I still keep in touch with friends within the industry. And you would think that post pandemic, these weddings would be smaller, intimate, but Nope. They're spreading them out into three, sometimes even four day events. They are inviting anyone and everyone, they know weddings are getting bigger.
And I think that's a perfect example of how people are craving connection more than ever. Likewise in my business model and [00:14:00] network marketing and specifically in the makeup industry, because people couldn't go into an Ulta or Sephora to purchase their products or, you know, whatever, whatever products you sell now, they're so excited to be able to go out and shop again. And.
Physically touch things and see things and smell things. And being able to create that for people I think will be essentially giving them more of what they want. So. The landscape I feel will shift post pandemic. And I think that that taking advantage of that in-person connection and relationship building is going to be the next step in helping you thrive much. Like most of us experienced the massive growth online. Through the pandemic Okay. So reason three, that you can grow your business without social media is there are so many new, incredible tech options online that allow you to connect virtually, which is obviously a huge benefit from social media, but they do it without the comparison game or the [00:15:00] quote highlight reel that we experienced on social media.
Plus you actually don't own your social media contacts. And as some of my friends are experiencing, literally, as we see. Those accounts could disappear tomorrow or the entire platform. How many of you guys experienced that? When Facebook, more than once and Instagram have shut down for hours at a time? I know a lot of people were shaking in their boots, right.
But let's talk about some of these tech options. And obviously we'll dive more into this into future episodes,
But for example, apps such as WhatsApp or telegram, which is what I use for all of my team communication and what I'm so excited to share with you guys as a way to connect with other entrepreneurs that are maybe like you wanting to explore ways to grow your business offline. We'll talk more about that in a second, but apps like this, like telegram, for example.
You can create communities. You can create channels to share content images, [00:16:00] documents that are beneficial to your customers, to your team, to your employees. More importantly they create and build that trust and that connection, which is what is going to cause that person to go and tell someone else how much they love you and your product, and want to join with you as well.
Right? So, I believe that those tech options like telegram, like WhatsApp, like good old fashioned phone calls, like text messaging services. Doesn't have to look like , your personal texts that you're handing out, but there's so many great text campaign services out there right now, like project broadcast or text magic, or high-level that allow you to communicate and connect with your customers often in an automated fashion.
But it is giving the people what they want, which is direct communication, right. To the thing that they're holding in their hands. And again, you can do it in a way that isn't buried in something. Inbox right over on a social media platform. So there are so many new tech options and I'm sure they'll will be many [00:17:00] more to come.
And on this podcast, we will be exploring a lot of those ways that you can leverage tech tools and things to automate and grow and scale your business. But again, there'll be something off of social media
okay. So reason number four is I'm not here to tell you, unless you want to, that you have to delete your social media completely. What I am saying is you do not have to show up as a personal brand on Instagram or on Facebook. You don't have to completely shift your entire focus of how you've been doing.
Just to build your business, right? You don't even have to start an entirely separate account, which is going to require you to learn how to become a professional marketer. Right. Essentially, that's what online marketing and those who are doing it well, they have learned through that process and it, it, it's quite a bit of a learning curve that not all of us have, but what we all have is the ability to share the things that we love and to serve others with a product that we're [00:18:00] passionate.
And you do not need social media for that. So I am here to tell you, you don't feel like you have to run, go delete your social media. I'm actually not planning to do that myself and I can't promise that I won't do things like a little bit of recognition or, you know, here and there share something that I love in the same way that I would share a restaurant that I love or.
A favorite place to shop. Again, these are things that when I feel the desire to share on social media we'll do it, but not coming from a place of what I'm going to get from someone else. It's just sincerely going to be a place of sharing the things that I love, right. Or documenting the pictures and images and experiences that I love.
And so I'm not saying you have to delete it completely. Inviting you to shift your strategy and your focus off of building up a social media following in order to build your business because yes, your business. And again, another episode we'll touch on this. You have a funnel, right? Like there are all the people in the world who may or may not want to purchase your product [00:19:00] or join you on your business, journey.
But it all starts with the people that you're connected with and then guiding them through that next. Position in whatever your funnel is and what social media does again, is it just puts a lot of people into the funnel. It creates an, a volume that can at times be even a little overwhelming and certainly a little bit time consuming and very, very difficult to create connections.
And I'm here to tell you, you can build your business one happy customer, edit. So don't feel like you have to delete social media. I'm not even deleting mine. I'm just going to be shifting my strategies of growing my business in a different direction. And I can't wait for you guys to come along that journey with me.
Yeah. And essentially, I know that's a big, a big dichotomy to what is being taught by a lot of other top coaches within the network marketing industry, or really any business industry at the moment. And so I want this podcast to be about. For either yourself, if that, if that is you [00:20:00] or a place for someone that, you know, a friend or perhaps a teammate that might be struggling with what it looks like, or maybe they don't even have social media.
I actually have one of my most recent business partners that doesn't even have Facebook. And I said, you know what? Don't, don't start Facebook just for this. You can do this without Facebook. And I believe with all my heart that she can, and I believe that you can do it. Now, let me integrate this little bit of a side note for those of you who absolutely are thriving and loving social media and would never dream of running your business anywhere else.
This is not this conversation isn't necessarily for you because you are building your business on your passion, on your gifts, which I bet is centered around storytelling. You thrive on showing up in a big way. You thrive on sharing what it is that you love with as many people as possible. And that is your gift.
My friend. Applaud that. And I have many friends and business [00:21:00] partners who absolutely have built their business that way and will continue to build it. And I want them to, I would never tell them to do it otherwise because they would be miserable. But. I have a feeling that's probably about only at least in network marketing, probably five to, I don't even know if I would say 10%.
I might even say two to 5% of people have that gift and skillset and passion to show up in that way. And so if you're a part of that 90 to 95% to 98%, that doesn't want to build your business that way, girlfriend, I am here for you and here for this, and I'm glad you're here too, but just know that if.
This doesn't resonate with you. That's okay. That is okay. Go listen to a social selling coach because certainly people are having success with that. Okay. So the final, the fifth and final reason that you can grow your business without social media is you can be a part of this movement and be an example to our children, to [00:22:00] others who might be feeling the same way that you are to those who maybe want to do.
It is that you do, but don't want to show up in the way that they're seeing others show up and you can essentially help break the addiction. That is social media. That is, you know, the little amazing tool that we hold in our hands, our cell phones. Right. And I know that's one of my big driving factors for myself personally is I have two girls, eight and 12, and we have recently.
Shifted my, 12 year old, my seventh grader to not allow her to be on social media. And it's pretty amazing watching her relationships with her friends thrive, watching her grades improve and watching what it's doing just to who she's meant to be as a person when she removes that comparison mode.
I'm sure some of you guys have seen the social dilemma on Netflix. If you have. Definitely should go watch it. And I'm excited to be able to show my daughters that they can build a legacy business [00:23:00] without having to fall into that trap of what seems like the only way which a social. So that's reason number five is you could be a part of this movement.
And again, we're all learning and growing to gather and figuring this thing out together. I certainly, even though I do have years of experience doing this without social media, and I have read every book not every book, but I've read a lot of books that I can't wait to share with you. And some principles that are time tested and will always be effective in growing and scaling your.
And I'm so excited to have those of you who are aligned in this mission. Come along the journey. So I always love to leave you with a little bit of homework or some action steps that you can take to take your next step towards your dreams. And today's homework is a simple one. I am going to invite you if this resonated with you to do two.
Number one, share it with someone that you think needs to hear it. So even again, if you are thriving and [00:24:00] loving social media and this doesn't apply to you. Awesome. I'm so thankful that you've made it through this entire episode and hopefully it's given you some food for thought, but there might be somebody that, you know, that needs to hear this.
And if you could just share this with them, I would greatly appreciate it because I can't wait to hear more from others who are. Kind of in a similar thought process as me. Cause I, I really can't think of a place where this conversation is happening right now. So I'm excited to create it with you guys.
And that leads me to my second piece of homework, which is join the community over on telegram. So I have created a community called scale without social for female entrepreneurs. And I know you might be a male that's listening to this and you're, you're welcome to come and join as well. But I know that many of you live.
Probably or like me, you might be a mama or want to be one, one day and you, again, want to be an example for your children. I want to find ways to do all the things without having to do all the things. And [00:25:00] so for that reason, most of the conversation will be a little bit more geared towards women. So I have created a telegram community called scale without social for female entrepreneurs.
And I've linked it in the show notes here. So you can just tap your screen if you're listening on your phone and you can click, I think it's more information in the description and it will have a link directly to that telegram thread. It will be a way for you to connect with other entrepreneurs , who may be interested in your product or service that you offer.
And it will be a fabulous place for us to continue this conversation and connect again, outside of social media. So that's your homework for today? Share with a friend or a group or anyone that you think might need this message in their life to. And also, I cannot wait to see you over in the community on telegram.
Thank you guys so much for allowing me to share my heart with you on this. It's something that, like I said, I'm very passionate about. I can't [00:26:00] wait to continue the conversation with you in future episodes. So go ahead and subscribe and hit the little plus sign. If you're on apple, apple pod. And each week I will be sharing a hopefully bingeable episode.
I say that meaning 15 to 30 minutes. Cause I know so many of us are, are busy and I can't wait to share all of the crazy things that are in my mind and what has worked for me and for others, for generations in terms of building and scaling your business off of social. Yay.
