027: Why You Shouldn’t Start A Blog on Instagram with Shaunda Necole

Kate Kordsmeier 0:00

Well hey there, it's Kate Kordsmeier host of the Success with Soul podcast and this is episode 27. Today I'm sitting down with my friend Shaunda Necole, a former cheerleader and CEO of a seven figure cheerleading company turned award winning business coach, speaker and lifestyle influencer with over 100,000 followers. But despite that impressive figure, today's episode is actually all about why you shouldn't start your blog on Instagram one of the most common questions I get asked, instead, we're talking about how to grow your blog on your own property and getting into a business mindset for your blog and why it's going to make all the difference. We're also digging into why story is the most important thing to focus on second only to maybe people and partnerships, and how a great way to succeed in this industry is with Pinterest. We're talking about the best images to get people to click and how to convert into subscribers and customers once they do. And because Shaunda is a super successful woman of color, we are also sharing plenty of resources for other women of color in this industry. As Shaunda says the future economy belongs to online creators. Can't wait for you to see why. Let's do it. You're listening to the Success with Soul podcast with Kate Kordsmeier x journalists turned CEO of a multi six figure blog and online business. But it wasn't that long ago that Kate was a struggling entrepreneur who lacked confidence, clarity, and let's be honest money. But all those failures, experiments and lessons learned helped Kate create a thriving business that impacts thousands and brings freedom, flexibility and fulfillment to her life. If you're ready to do the same and make it Something happened with holistic, soulful, step by step strategies from Kate and other experts. You're in the right place. here's your host, writer, educator, Mom, recovering perfectionist, bookworm, and sushi connoisseur Kate Kordsmeier. Hey, Shaunda, welcome to Success with Soul.

Shaunda Necole 2:19

Hi, Kate, how are you? I'm so happy to be here. Thanks.

Kate Kordsmeier 2:22

Me too. I'm so pumped that you're here. I know that you have a lot of marketing expertise. And I'm excited to dig in with some of the especially Pinterest stuff that we're going to talk about. But before we get to all of that, tell us a little bit about just who you are your story and how you got started and where you are today.

Shaunda Necole 2:44

Sure, thanks for asking. Again. Thanks for having me. I'm happy to be here and to talk with this successful so listeners so I love talking Pinterest as well as other things with respect to social media. So this point I teach Instagram and social media. marketing strategies. And I came from a very unique background to come to where I am today. So I'm gonna kind of take you back a little bit. Yeah. I've been an entrepreneur for probably about 15 years now. And I started as a retail store owner, I owned a store for cheerleaders. We were very unique in our niche and we're the first of our kind to have a brick and mortar retail store all for cheerleading all for cheerleaders inside of a mall. So it's like almost like remember those malls? Well that we come off. I had a store there. And my passion for cheerleading runs deep. I wasn't cheerleader. My daughter grew up at age seven. She became a cheerleader. She started recreational and then went into the competition arena and then middle school. I was a competitive cheerleader. super exciting. I always say everyone knows the cheerleader. So the store was just irrelevant. People would come in like I have to sell my news, right? So my cousin you know, everyone knows a cheerleader. As my daughter started in this hole, and I was so excited, she wanted to be a cheerleader and she started into this whole new world of its own. What became apparent was that there wasn't any place for me I guess as a parent to purchase the items that she needed. Everything was catalogs. And ecommerce wasn't as big when we started so we built a store for cheerleader So cheers could walk in, they could try on the shoes, they could try on their uniform, we could fit them It wasn't just you ordered through this catalog and kind of guessed that what you're doing, right? We eventually the store turned into an e commerce business eventually, we came in away so when I guess the market crash and the recession everything, we actually made it because we transitioned into online. So as we moved into online, that kind of freed up, free up my time and I had a little less responsibility without having to manage customers coming into a physical store, all the timer and I began to collect this home decor product and you This brand has this huge sale every year for four days. And they invite you know, customers to come to their big like warehouse farm area and to shop with like huge discounts on their products. So I decided, Hey, I'm gonna go do this and I'm so excited, I'm gonna go and get all this stuff at such a discounted price. And I decided I guess the entrepreneur side of me decided that if I want to do this and I'm traveling like nine hours, my car to the sale to buy all this stuff and bring it back. I'm sure there are other women who want to do that too. But for whatever reason, maybe were kids may not be able to go. So I put an ad on eBay and said I will personal shop for you if you're interested in the sale and there was like a fee to get on my list and commission I would earn based on what they wanted me to buy. So it worked and I had custom post savvy, super savvy, so I was able to have to pay for my trip. Well one of my customers said that the brand was having a sale of Susan on sale but a contest on Instagram and it's This point I had no personal social media, I had social media for my business in the past. And being that we were a cheerleading store. I always had young people and cheerleaders so they would manage the social media accounts. So my daughter actually created my first personal social media account so that I could enter this contest that my client told me about. So I entered the contest, it was all about creativity, and that's my jam. So and I thought I was winning because I had my dog and all the pictures but I designed the shirts and we won the contest. And so I got to the prize was that I didn't mention that the brand is located in a little village of about 900 people, and 20,000 fanatics like myself come through every year for this four Day Sale. So you get to skip the line winning the contest. So won the contest, I got to skip the line. When I got to the sale. I knew so many people because of Instagram because I've been participating in this week long contest that I knew other fanatics and followers and It was just so fun to like arrive and kind of know people already. So I decided to keep the Instagram account after the whole sale was said and done because I had such a good time with this account and knowing people upon arrival, and then the account just grew from there. It's just pretty much all organic. I always say I'm blogging backwards because my story started on Instagram and not on my blog.

I ended up creating a blog and it was more so that my customers could keep in touch with me and you know, prepare to purchase their spots for the next year when I would shop for them. So I created a blog it was mostly around centered around this brand, which was a good thing because I get tons of organic traffic from that today. So my Instagram grew just from other fanatics like myself, and then I started to naturally just get inquiries from brands that would say, will you you know, can you I don't even know influencer was a word back then. But share this product or my brand with your following and it started with free product as it mostly does and it just grew into pay sponsorships and at that point, I had a blog, I grew into a pretty sizable following. And from there, I guess the rest is history at this point, I have a blog that I've fully concentrate on on like I said, kind of blogging backwards going from Instagram, my own what I call real estate, my own property. And I have an agent who manages my brand partnerships and things and bigger than that, she manages my speaking gig. So now I've come into a space where I actually teach kind of what I did, and how I got the Instagram following how I get the traffic to my blog and how I use Pinterest to really make that traffic flow in those areas.

Kate Kordsmeier 8:40

Genius. Oh my god. Wow, cool story. I love the journey. Thank you for sharing that with us. Oh, it opens up so many questions. So okay. The first thing I'm thinking is we are dealing with this all the time lately. It's funny how you get like just a delusion. Same question all at once from bunch of different people, and then it kind of moves on to the next thing. But right now, we keep getting people who say, I'm going to start my blog on Instagram. And I say, I love it. Okay, you guys can't see your face. But my face right now is like, No, don't do it, which is my reaction as well. And you know, we're kind of laughing at him. And I because we go well, first of all, Instagram is not a blog. So you're just starting an Instagram account. You're not starting a blog. But semantics aside, I would be especially based on your facial reaction. I want to know why you think what, what would your response be to that question?

Shaunda Necole 9:40

I love that question. And I know your response. your blog academies. We get it but it's not just that transparent to the average person and one would think, oh, Instagram has traffic I should go there. But I'm also a real estate agent. So I actually am licensed in Nevada. Because I kind of go between Vegas and Virginia Beach. Okay, fine. Yeah, I will say my by Coastal blogger. So with that said I kind of look at things in perspective of real estate, Instagram is real estate that you have no ownership in. So you always want to have your own and that's why I would definitely like I say in my story that I it's kind of funny that I'm blogging backwards because my journey just organically started on Instagram but I knew enough to know that I'm not going to be able to keep up with my followers who have come to me because we have this brand and comment or the people that you know, want me to shop for them, you know, year after year for the sale that occurs. I need my blog, I need to be able to structure that to be able to cater to that particular audience. And then you have total control over your real estate over your property. And you know, with Instagram, there's you have control don't have any control over anything that it doesn't belong nothing. Yeah, you can really nothing. Yeah, nothing. I sometimes forget that this happened and when I share the story when I'm teaching students, they can Like, everyone thinks it's fascinating. And sometimes you don't hold things that way when it just happened to you, but in respect to Instagram not being your property. When I got to about 25,000 followers, my Instagram account disappeared. What? Yes, I was devastated as you could imagine. So I've worked for like a year and a half. Yeah. And it was gone. And I don't know if you've ever tried to contact Instagram, but it's pretty much impossible. And I learned that point.

Kate Kordsmeier 11:29

Yeah, they like customer service does not exist doesn't exist.

Shaunda Necole 11:32

Yeah, there's no email, there's, you know, there's not like one person online. It just doesn't happen. So with respect to that, I wasn't able to contact anyone. So I did a bunch of, you know, research on YouTube, mostly on YouTube, anything I could find on the web. And I saw this actually happened to quite a bit of influencer and sometimes just regular people. Some people got their accounts that no explanation from Instagram of what happened. They just got they just kept checking, like the Like I wasn't there. And then in other cases, it never came back. I knew some influencers just restarted a whole new account. And they would they would make multiples. And some of them would say like, this is my backup account, because they happen again. So why myself there were all kinds of before that major Instagram update a few years ago, there were those apps that would tell you like who's following you? Yes. So that was a godson, the Savior for me, because I was able to go in there and reconnect with all my followers. Not to mention, I was able to tell my story to you know, the people that my subscribers so that people knew that I'm still exist, and I was able to do that on my blog, and from my email list,

Kate Kordsmeier 12:37

that's to get right there, because you can reach your people anytime you want on your blog or through email.

Shaunda Necole 12:46

Exactly.

Kate Kordsmeier 12:47

And even if Instagram doesn't delete your account, you're still working against the algorithm. You know, who knows how it works, and anybody who claims they do I feel like is

Yeah, for this moment. Yeah, you know, right, exactly. Maybe

you figured it out today, but tomorrow, it'll be something new. And yeah, that I mean such a good point. And that's exactly what we say is like, you don't own it. And, and it's not Yes, people can search like hashtags and stuff, but you have to be able to show up in those hashtags, which is really difficult at the pace that Instagram moves. And, you know, I think one of the biggest reasons to have a blog Tell me if you agree, I'd be so curious is so that people can find you and through search, both on Pinterest and on Google? And without that, you're not gonna you're not as finable if that's the word.

Shaunda Necole 13:42

Correct? Correct. If you're not figure out a bowl, you're not fundable. Like it, you almost don't exist. And that's what I teach. I mean, what's the point of having a blog if you don't have traffic, because you have to learn how to leverage that trying, you know, because really, this is a business you're putting all this hard work into. I mean, I put up a post yesterday. And I started at Sunday, I just finished it. Like, I think the video went up to go into it early this morning. So it's just, uh, you know, if you're taking it seriously, there's so much research to be done as far as keywords and you know, all types of things that go into every blog post. So, as you said, Your find a role. I like that we're gonna, we're finable when you have keywords, and when you're on a search engine, people don't go to Instagram to figure out like, how do I prepare my child for homeschool? That's not what they go to Instagram for. They're going to go to Google or they're going to go to Pinterest for that type of information. So Instagram is more of a scroll game, and it's great to have a presence there. You know, it definitely gives you so you know, what is it the word? There's no proof? Yeah, social proof. That's a credibility, social proof. It definitely you know, does that for my business or any business but where people are going to find you because they're searching for a problem and you problem and you have that solution that you're going to solve. It's going to be through a search engine, like Google or YouTube or Pinterest?

Kate Kordsmeier 15:02

Yeah, I've heard it said this way a few times. And I'm trying to remember who I heard it from the first time, but you can't pay your bills with followers. Oh, isn't that so good? When it's what is it?

Shaunda Necole 15:15

Instagram followers or like, something like Monopoly money? Yeah. I have to get the thing back together. But yeah, it's pretty much the same thing. Is that like, being famous on Instagram is like being rich in monopoly

Kate Kordsmeier 15:28

is what Yes, exactly. Like, who cares? No, it doesn't. It doesn't really mean anything. Period, but especially to your bottom line. And it's so easy, especially in the online business world to get sucked into the game. And like you said, it's not that there's no value in having an Instagram presence. But I'm so glad that you are in agreement with me that way. You know, it's not where you should put all your eggs in the Instagram basket for

sure. Totally.

Hey there interrupting this programming for just a second, tell me Do any of the following sound like you. You've been trying to create a successful blog for months, maybe even years, but haven't gained any serious traction that inspires you to keep going. Or maybe you've had some on and off blogging successes, but you feel like you're just winging it. Time isn't your friend, you've got a never ending to do list and you don't know what you need to be doing right now, to stay on track and earn a consistent income. Maybe you don't even have a blog yet. And you're just not sure where to start when it comes to growing and monetizing a blog, or let's be honest, if it's even possible to make money blogging, well, my friend if you relate to any of these challenges, I've got you covered. I'm about to show you how to generate some serious blogging momentum and my free training three behind the scenes SEO secrets to profitable blogging in 2020 and beyond. If you're frustrated by your lack of progress with your blog despite working tirelessly on it, and if you're ready to unleash your inner entrepreneur badass, who already knows she's worthy and successful and can do anything she puts her mind to, even if your inner critic is currently calling the shots, then this masterclass is a must attend. Head on over to successwithsoul.co/masterclass to register now, it's totally free. That's successwithsoul.co/masterclass. I'll see you there. Okay, so tell me when you first started the blogging side of your business, and then you had kind of this personal shopping aspect to it, how are you monetizing things at that time and then how does that compare to how you make money today,

Shaunda Necole 17:59

so good. Question. It's fun to actually look back and re you know, kind of see your growth yourself as I say this out loud. So with the personal shopping thing, I totally created the blog with the intent of just making sure I had a place for that audience to come and find me when they wanted to book me for personal shopping. So the blog pretty much started with a product. You know, just being a retail store owner, I guess I was just naturally in that mindset of having the product and the product was my personal shopper. And now it's, you know, grown into. I'm not even sure if I'm going to continue personal shopping. I just don't have the time anymore. You do still offer this service. I hear I said, Yes, I do. It's kind of funny, because, unfortunately, the sale didn't happen this year. So Oh, sure. Yeah. So it's just become something it's become. I started going with my family. I took my mom, my daughter, my son go with me. And my son even like the last year we went, he even worked for sale as an employee. So it's just become kind of a tradition for us. So I just enjoy going to upstate New York. It's just beautiful. So it's something I want to continue doing. But I don't know if I want to continue in the aspect of having a job doing it, because I've moved on to a digital job, you know, and I'll write more about that.

Kate Kordsmeier 19:10

She's much more profitable.

Shaunda Necole 19:13

So I will go to the sale, but I'm not 100% sure that I'll be personal shopping, in fact, digital product thinking, My thought is to teach that to other women who want to do it, because I do some other women that say, Can you tell me your ways? Can I pick your brain? So I think that I'm just going to create a course to teach how I do what I do, because there are certain variables in our Yeah, I have to watch out, not watch out for it. But just you know, that you should know and doing this to make sure that you provide the best service to the customer that you're shopping for. So, one way to teach that. So that's how I blog started. And I used to write articles about the brand, you know, just sharing stories of unfound

Kate Kordsmeier 19:51

What's the brand I guess?

Shaunda Necole 19:53

Mackenzie childs? Oh, yeah. Okay, thank you. You're familiar with him. So, funny story I had heard Have them from Caroline Manzo, of the New Jersey housewives and Kris Jenner, of course, we know that first dinner is I'd always seen the product on their stove. And that's what got me collecting. And then from there, I was just all in so it's all over my house. And I met Caroline Manzo. That's the funny story on my first trip to the event. So I actually posted recently, I have a selfie with her at the event, I got to tell her when I started collecting, so but that's how the vlog started. And then I just as I were sharing stories about the products, like you know, just how I decorated my Christmas tree with the products or, you know, this is our Thanksgiving table, then I just, again, this just naturally takes shape. I just started telling more stories about you know, just things that go in my house, you know, this I made this recipe or I made this for, you know, my husband's retirement or you know, whatever it may be the story is just got more personal. And then of course, you get questions from people. So that prompts you to, you know, to write worry or you know, or what's trending in society that probably To write a story, so or what's happening on Instagram and all kinds of things created new stories, and then it became a lifestyle blog from that point. So the way that the blog began to make money, it first happened through Instagram because of the social proof. So I got brand partnerships, okay, when those kind of got a little more overwhelming, I'm not interested in negotiating that type of thing at all. So that's when I reached out and I found an agent who's been become what my business bestie so we just really work hand in hand and the women she represents or like just dynamic, one of them has an Emmy from her YouTube video and I just think wow, credible that the way that the blog works for me now is I'm found for speaking engagements. So when I leveled up and now I have a speaking page, a press page. So I started also contributing to other bigger sources and in case you totally get this as a journalist, so I you know, would do guest posting or guest blog posting or I'd submit like they Take bits of what I said and you know, it had her like an expert interview for me. So that was social proof and it was just a good way to maybe, you know, drive a little bit of traffic back to my blog. So from there

Kate Kordsmeier 22:13

on, I point out to like, there's two great reasons to do something like that. Because a you get, you know, new eyes on your, on your stuff than you that you wouldn't have had before. But also it's building your SEO because you're getting that backlink from that other site. So I think there's really you know, a couple great reasons to do something like that. You're totally correct. And I think I when I start doing the guest posting I just had so much fun with it was kind of like how many media logos Can I collect, it was kind of paying for my game, but the backlinks I kind of just fell into and then realized that this is golden. So that was a really good thing. And so having

Shaunda Necole 22:51

developed that type of press, I had a press page and then a speaking page and so now and because I have business in Las Vegas, I'm found for speaking in engagements in Las Vegas that that was one of my last in person gigs before the whole COVID thing was, yeah, in person speaking and then now it's just evolved into more communities that have grown or even gotten tighter knit online since we're all at home now. So I've been speaking in different communities online versus in person, which I really love in person. But I'm often found for I guess, my expertise and Instagram growth and now and Pinterest growth also. Yeah, so cool. So, so in the beginning, like was Mackenzie childs paying you to do any of this or you were just getting paid from the customers that would hire you to personal shop for them? Correct. So I did. I did do a partnership with them. And this was like, again, four, almost five years ago. It was just that time when in the influencer world was so new. I think I kind of forgot this part. Of course, build affiliate links, create revenue, and then there's, you know, ad display. That I get revenue from them. But my bigger, I guess, profit is from speaking engagements and teaching.

Kate Kordsmeier 24:06

So this is so great to hear because I, you know, obviously I'm such a fan of blogging, but I think so many people think of it as, like, there's one way to do it. And this is such a beautiful example of, first of all, that you can evolve as your interest and needs and your own life, you know, evolves. But also that you know, it like in my course, the six figure bond Academy, we teach how to monetize just from the three kind of traditional way. So you mentioned that affiliate marketing, display ads and sponsored content. And I think those are great ways to monetize a blog. But then there's also the reason to blog that has nothing to do with that. Like let's say you go well, I don't I don't want to work with brands. That's not of interest. To me. A blog is a great just like home base for you. Now, people are finding you because they're looking for an Instagram Expert or a Pinterest expert. They find you by, you know, having such great SEO and Google juice from years of doing this and and now you're getting speaking gigs. And you know, there's the potential for like book deals. And there's all kinds of other opportunities that you can get from blogging that have nothing to do with sort of that traditional blogging monetization strategy.

Shaunda Necole 25:21

Correct. And I love that and those three ways, because I've actually gone through six figure blogger Academy. Amazing, because it's just those things that you wouldn't blog backwards like I did, you know, my story is my stories organically how I came to be, but if I were to tell someone how to do it right from the start, I would send him to 60. And I do send them to go through the basics of what you should know because SEO wasn't something that I knew when I started so right things just accidentally happened and it was for the good but I sure would have liked to have known, you know that keywords were so important. In the beginning, you know, it just would have made things a lot easier, but so some of my blog posts Get the most traffic is what I'm trying to say are some of my older posts when I was on boards, and some of them I got right you know, not knowing and then some I went back and SEO and keyword it appropriately and right well, so I've also now free products for those posts. So this is kind of a woman funny story. But last almost a year ago I had a hysterectomy. And it was just a big decision for me it was a pretty brutal I thought experience. It's not anything that I regret, but the recovery wasn't what I anticipated. So again, I just naturally shared that story. And it is my number one blog post, you know, on a job at my age and I'm like the hysterectomy Queen on Pinterest. never intended to be this person in hurting so but here you never

Kate Kordsmeier 26:50

know there's sometimes it's like there is just no rhyme or reason to what resonates and what doesn't. Yeah, I had to like draw a common denominator. What I do Think about that post probably is like when we're vulnerable and we're honest and real those are the posts that resonate so much so that's you know if there had to be some kind of link there it's probably that

Shaunda Necole 27:13

I think you hit it on the head yeah cuz it's a it's a cool story of my journey you know, of how this all transpire but it also has really helpful tips of you know, here are the things that my doctor didn't tell me that I wish someone did you know, and I without, so now because it brings so much traffic, and I teach this also that now I'm creating products for these type of posts. So for this post, like now we have, I had a party for my hysterectomy and that was kind of the theme of the post and I've even made like a couple other sub posts off of that, but how to throw a hysterectomy party. So yeah, we had like I made the crafter me me photo signs and everything. So now I have these really great printables that you can do to make your own party. You know, like big Go. So there's just so many ways, like you're saying to get creative and write your blog, you know, so now since so much traffic is landing here, you know, I can funnel that into a profitable product, you know, for my blog also, because people are just organically coming here for how not wait,

Kate Kordsmeier 28:19

and what a great lesson in like, listening to your people figuring out what it is they want, what resonates with them, and then also in making something that works for you. Because while affiliate relationships and brand sponsors are awesome, you're still not in total control, right? Because the brands could do anything and they're not consulting you on it or they could shut down their affiliate program or something like COVID happens and the brands not able to deliver you know, they don't do their sale this year, or whatever it might be and but you have your own stuff. And I think that's so, so smart. I know that Once I started doing, you know, when I launched my course, that was really the first product that I had. I mean, I have a couple ebooks, but that was really the first real product. And it was such a game changer. So why didn't I do this sooner? And you just

Shaunda Necole 29:15

don't know. I mean, I think that's just your, you know, you have to naturally evolve into these things, because then it makes sense for you to it at that time. But I totally agree. And to your point about brand sponsorships, like you said, I didn't go to the sale this year because sale didn't happen. And in addition to that, like we were on the heels of me, you know, going out and taking pictures with a photographer in March, and I've had a brand partnership that's been on hold since March, because I know of COVID happening. So like you said, those are things that are totally beyond my control. But what I can control, you know, are those things that are on my blog and the content that's created there and that I share, I can promote that content, you know, if I choose to or I can see who's organically coming to that content and choose how to leverage you know, the traffic that's coming there. from that. So it really just puts you in the driver's seat having your own job versus just having social media platforms that you're operating from. Right? And it's like,

Kate Kordsmeier 30:11

yeah, you can get some great brand partnerships on Instagram. But that's almost the only way to really monetize that platform. You know, I mean, especially directly like you still, if you have your own products and stuff, you're still having to drive people off the platform to

Shaunda Necole 30:28

Yeah, right. And oftentimes, people don't realize, of course, that Pinterest is not a social media platform. It's a surprise.

Kate Kordsmeier 30:35

I'm so glad you said that. Tell us more.

Shaunda Necole 30:38

So it's so easy. And I when I teach this, that Instagram being a social media platform, they do everything in their power to suppress their users from leaving that platform. So you get one link in your bio and like you just said, you have to say check the link in my bio, you know, you'd have to have 1000 followers to get someone to swipe up. Well, I'm a shopper, and I don't have Swipe up, you know, when I'm looking at people that I follow because when you're on the platform, you're on the platform, you're, you know, just kind of hanging out checking, you know, checking out things, you're not there for solution. That's where you go to Google or you go to Pinterest for that. So the opposite of that Pinterest being a search engine, and also an inspiration engine people come there to plan a life that they love. So they come they're looking for, you know, ways to redecorate, because fall is coming or to you know, get scheduling ideas because now their children are going to be home you know, with them and they're going to be working and their kids are going to be in school. How do I manage that Pinterest is a place that you can visually especially for women, you know, it's such an which are most of the users up there were such a visual people that it lays it out for us that way you can create a pin that can tell that story and inspire someone you know, just a few seconds and compel them to click through. And unlike the Instagram platform, Pinterest allows you to put a link on every single pin that you make. There's no just one link in bio, right? Oh, the probability of people clicking through if you're creating great content is really, it's just almost inevitable that it's going to happen. And

Kate Kordsmeier 32:09

those people are more likely to engage with your content when they click through because they were looking for it. They didn't just happen to like mindlessly scroll past it, right? So there's that intent there.

Shaunda Necole 32:22

Mm hmm. And Pinterest users, like you just said, Come with intent. They're looking for the solution, you provide the solution with the pin. And they also come with Pocket Books ready to take action. So you know, in my case, when someone you know, woman's coming, looking to get tips to plan for her surgery, you know, and she clicks through to my link, you know, now I've inspired her, not to worry about hers, don't be overwhelmed about your surgery, be overwhelmed about this bad party that you're going to throw virtually or in person, you know, whatever, but about this bad party that you're going to throw at your friends to make this just you know, an easier experience for you. So I have a product that can help you with that. So you know and that anything that anyone One could possibly, you know, sell on the platform. But Pinterest allows me to, you know, have that customer come to my real estate, you know, off of the platform and be inspired to do the thing that they want to do that they came searching for.

Kate Kordsmeier 33:14

Right. And I think also such a good thing to note as well that a lot of people think, Oh, well, I'm not a DIY blog, or you know, I'm not an interior design or food blog. So there's nothing on Pinterest for me, but as you just showed, I mean, people are literally searching for hysterectomy advice on Pinterest and one of our most popular posts on Route and rebel my vlog is how I was able to reverse my pcls without medication. That's not something that you would maybe think like, Oh, yeah, Pinterest, people are looking for that

Shaunda Necole 33:47

but they are best and just remembering and what a great story. And someone wants to know that. Just remembering that the men certainly go to Pinterest. My husband uses Pinterest he likes he's a builder. As a real estate guy, he loves to look at the pictures because it inspires them to do this with this house or that with that house, but the primary audience is majority the majority of our women. So women we search for things like that that's right in our wheelhouse of something that we may be going through or need help with. And Pinterest is a place where you can find that solution, you know, be it health wise, food wise, crap wise, because I'm not a craft blogger. I'm not a DIY blogger every now and then I may throw up a post something like that because you know, I'm just a lifestyle blogger. It may be something that I did and I want to share with my audience that hey, I made this it was really easy. You can do this to anything from you know, travel to stories, anything that you could think to search for people are looking for on Pinterest also. Yeah,

Kate Kordsmeier 34:48

so how about when it comes to creating pins that inspire people to actually click through what what advice do you have for people just getting started.

Shaunda Necole 34:56

basic things like lifestyle pens, do better. Then text pins. So people probably don't really click through for quotes even though quotes are inspirational they'll say those but and words you know they might like it but when people can kind of see if you're showing in that pin like what this looks like then it really makes a difference and that's where the inspiration takes place and they want to click through to learn more

Kate Kordsmeier 35:21

sample just thinking of something that maybe is like there's not an obvious image coming to my mind for hysterectomy post losing for images like that

Shaunda Necole 35:30

oh so great. So I and I've been like looking at mine to to see like which ones you know do the best you know, because I have is probably about six pictures that I rotate on these pins that I just keep pinning you know I keep making new PIN fresh pins for and sometimes we pin the old ones, but one is the blogger me Forgive me the influencer but when I had my surgery, I ordered a mermaid tail blanket and I told my daughter like who used to be my primary photographer. I'm a grown daughter. And she went to school for photography. So I was fortunate that's convenient very quickly. So now that she's out of the house I usually hire a photographer but my grown daughter photographer she's going to be there at surgery. I said I've got this mermaid blanket so I need a you know, Instagram post or a blog post so I need these pictures. So I was out of it I wasn't in any kind of capacity to take pictures was all in my mind this was going to go so well. Had enough strength it was just a little bit to like get out of bed like and spread this mermaid tail on my bed and snap a shot but I wasn't in it. But the lifestyle post shows the hospital bed, the mermaid tail, which you know, kind of female. You can see like I had my robe. My hospital gown was like over the mermaid tail. So that's why it does really well for me because it's not just saying like hysterectomy tips, you can see that someone was in the hospital. It's kind of interesting because there's a murmur. Sorry, there. Yeah, worry there so people click through. I've also seen that people use that mermaid tail. For history. There are Believe it or not, Directly tattoos that is one that's often used so it kind of fell into place. Another thing I like I said and my time because my surgery was a year ago I had an in person party and so when I planned the party I totally knew that I was taking pictures at the party for my blog as well just growing to know that at this point, but I took pictures and I I made just some quick DIY like photo signs which now I've elevated and that progress comm product is going to be on my site in like the next week but I have the elevated signs that people can purchase now But anyhow, we have the DIY signs, you know, we were at this nice fancy table I had like everyone like where something sequence so the pictures like just really cohesive of women like together. So I think it's just inspiring. It's just a bunch of women together, you know, in unity. And there's this one post one of my best friends is this one picture of her and I that like does so well. So I'm just like she all you know, Teresa, and you heard all these pictures. change policy to give me so much traffic Yeah, it was just lifestyle posts I'm in the moment it's you know, I'm in the moment celebrating you can see the celebration, I'm not just saying throw a party, there's not just a picture of a cake or cookie, but you can see yourself you know, and your friends in the same scenario. And like, hospital you can see, you know, the hospital experience that's coming, but it looks a little, I guess a little more appealing because there's the mermaid tail and then my husband brought flowers. So I took a picture, you know, with the flowers. So it just makes for a more pleasant looking experience, even though you know, you're going to have a surgery. So, right. Those are the lifestyle shots that I use for the hysterectomy post. Yeah, so smart. And do you put text over the image or you just use the image? Absolutely. So text overlay does way better on Pinterest than non text overlay? It notes to the reader that there's a story or there's information that they came looking for and it's Also the fastest way to capture someone's attention because remember when you're looking on Pinterest most users are on their phone on a mobile device so they're not just seeing your pin they have to click through to see your pin individually but they're saying a rose a pen so you want to stand out so a compelling lifestyle image and then text overlay to say what this image means because a mermaid tail could mean a lot of things. But right telling you you know, these are 12 tips for you know, your best hysterectomy recovery. Okay, this I need to know what these 12 tips are new to this I've never had, you know, you only do this once so you need it. You want to know what those 12 tips are. So you'll you'll click through or one of them says like, everything no one tells you and that was pretty much my experience. It was like I felt like Why didn't my doctor tell me these things so now I share them so you know the post it says everything that no one told me or that no one tells you so that the text is really important. And then like background colors, you know, you want to kind of make it vibrant or colors that complement each other so that it It just looks appealing for someone to want to click on that and get to your site.

Kate Kordsmeier 40:04

Right? Totally. So once you get them to click and they're on your site, then how do you make the most of having them there? How do you either like, What's your goal when you get somebody to your blog,

Shaunda Necole 40:16

so when I get someone to my blog, my goal is not to sell a thing is to get them to subscribe, so that I can keep nurturing that customer. So if I know and it gets a little more in detail there, like I have Pinterest tags, you know, there's a lot more detail. It's kind of the back end stuff, but a Pinterest tag tells me like, you know, a little more information about leads that I you know, have that came to the account. So, that's more of the promotions and other things, but just to answer the question, I guess, you know, in a couple of steps, I want them to subscribe because then I can keep in touch with you know, the visitors that are coming to my site, and I can share stories with them. You know if there are new courses or new products that I'm offering new products around surgeries or hysterectomy, I can make them the first to know about that. So, on my blog, I've kind of spaced it out or not spaced it out, but I have segments in it. Where I have is kind of like how you want it, I think it says something to the effect of you choose how to add me in your inbox. So because I get traffic from my Mackenzie childs friends and followers, they can subscribe there. And that way, I'm only emailing them, you know, so now they're tagged as Mackenzie childs, so I'm only emailing them about that brand. And so when I'm talking to that audience, I'll send them emails, it may be a recipe where I use the cookware or I did a new decoration in you know, with the product and oftentimes I'm putting affiliate links in there or now oftentimes I am there so that they can click through so like this year, they held a sale virtually. And I emailed that list to say like you know, X number of days left before the sale was over, so that people could click through from my email and there was my affiliate link to you know, capture any purchases that they make. So The goal is to get that email so I can nurture that audience, talk to them about what I know that they came to my site for and keep those communications going. So you can kind of subscribe to me about because a child's about just you just want to see my lifestyle posts, you don't have a business, you're interested in a blog, you just want to know like, what I'm cooking, what I'm doing, you can subscribe that way. And then I have a segment for bloggers to come on so that they can either join six figure blog, you know, as they kind of go through that as they start to elevate now you have a blog, that you can join my Pinterest group and you know, I can teach you more about how to keep that traffic coming and how to keep the inspiration going. You know, get more subscribers to your account also.

Kate Kordsmeier 42:41

Right, right. Make sense?

This episode is brought to you by my free blogging quiz. If you love the idea of blogging, but have no idea what you even want to blog about. I got you take our free quiz to find out what Have blog you should start at successwithsoul.co/quiz. Your results reveal which of the six types of profitable blogs best suits you plus step by step actions on what to do next to get started. That's successwithsoul.co/quiz, if you're ready to get direction and finally start the blog of your dreams. So, if somebody comes in through one way, maybe this is what you were saying, I just want to make sure I understand why do you ever ask them like, Hey, would you also be interested in learning more about x, y and z? Or do you just kind of keep them in their lane and then if they happen to find out about other things on their own, they can get added to those segments. Totally Good question. And the email thing you know, it's kind of been

Shaunda Necole 43:54

a new not new that I email people because I've been doing that since the blog started. That was kind of the whole premise of doing it, but segmenting the emails and getting like really fancy with you know, Magnus, who said that that's a new thing for me over the last year. And now having to teach online versus teaching you know, just in person is a new thing for me also. So these are all new channels that I'm even navigating through and you know how to bring on a virtual assistant to help me kind of but to answer the question, no, I kind of cross it because I feel like myself you know, I'm a mom I was a business you know, I'm a business owner was a business owner, you know, in I guess real life and I'm in a brick and mortar store. My story is all about crossovers, you know, so I write the header picture on my email like if you're subscribed to my email list kind of says what I do like and I my tagline is something to the effect of like, I teach you how to get fall I'm gonna kill it sometime. It's basically about getting traffic without having to chase after all thirsty like a desperate housewives kind of headline. So that is up there like in the head or Of all the emails that you will receive from me so that's just a reminder of who I am. You know, right what I do. So if you are that mom that's thinking of starting a blog and sometimes I'll send emails to that respect, you know, like have you ever thought about you know getting credibility that like one of my affiliate partnerships is about with impacting millions is totally about getting yeah Selena Selena so yeah, getting media exposure. So I'll email that to everyone and then segment you know, the list based on who clicked through or replied back to me, so segment the list that way, but oftentimes, when I have something new, I put it out, like my Pinterest group to everybody, because there may be that mom who just was following because she, you know, like my cheesecake, Instant Pot recipe right there. But now, you know, she's inspired to create a blog. She's home now, you know, with her kids and she's got some free time. And now she wants to do this. So I don't want to miss that opportunity by not sharing that. And my emails are often stories, you know, of something That's happened to me, but I'll you know, it's a story that I'm sharing with you. And then I'll segue into, you know, I told you that because of this, and you should think Brian has to and then you know, we go from there. So it can, it makes it more real life relevant, if you're gonna do the business thing that may be in there also,

Kate Kordsmeier 46:17

which is also just such a good reminder about the importance of story and just that that's really what people connect with and why they keep following you how you build that trust with them, so that when you do tell the cheesecake reader about something else, she's like, Oh, well, I trust Shaunda now, you know, like, I'm gonna listen to this because I know you know, I think it's, it can be weird sometimes when you meet people that have been following you and they know all these things about you. Because you've been you know, and it's like, but I think that's, that's why people stick around because they like you it is this you're 100 cent right and you forget

Shaunda Necole 46:56

that sometimes because even like my cousin, we don't live in the same state but if I see her She'll say, you know, have this workout or whatever. And I'm like, How do I know that? I tell you that and it's like, She's like, I follow you done, you know. And so yeah, people know more about you than what you think because you've intently shared these great stories with them. And just like you said, with the surgery, and the hysterectomy is because it was a personal experience. And, you know, someone was able to resonate with that. And then they trusted the advice and they stuck around from there. So the stories are really valuable and important. And all the things to be quite honest, for me, emailing is it's not the hardest by any means, because I can talk and I know how to translate that into text, but it's just like, it's very important that you stay in touch with your community, and that you nurture them, you know, as they become, you know, loyal subscribers to your blog and your place of doing business. So it's just, that's probably the most daunting thing I think is just to keep keeping in touch is to try to keep those up. Mills consistently going to have that nurture sequence when they join, you know, so that you're already you know, keeping in touch from the beginning, they don't forget who you are and how how great is So,

Kate Kordsmeier 48:10

yes, sometimes I know we have a lot of students when they're getting started will they'll say, Yeah, well, I you know, I only have like 200 subscribers or something. So I don't have a nurture sequence set up and I'll say, well, when was the last time you emailed them? months ago? Well, now you're gonna email them and they're gonna go,

Shaunda Necole 48:27

who's this chick? I don't even remember you.

Kate Kordsmeier 48:29

Right? So it is I'm like, from day one, just get it set up. Because even that one subscriber, you're gonna want to start nurturing the right way from the beginning and, like, learn from my mistakes, right?

Shaunda Necole 48:43

Yes. So it's, I mean, that's just so important. 200 people is actually a good list. You know, often Sherpa thinks that, you know, it may even be a more intimate list where you hang on your words, though. Yeah. So it's never the size is an important the nurture part is so Is that? Yeah. How do you feel being a black woman in this space? Do you? Do you feel like you're in the minority in in this industry? Or what's that experience been like for you? Thank you and so relevant yesterday, I could hardly focus with the news of a black woman going to, you know, potentially be our next vice president was I just like I'd be doing and I was just crying. Like, today, because I was just so happy and overjoyed. But when I first started in this space, and even in my start with the Mackenzie childs brand, there aren't many women. You know, it's mostly women at their sale. Their sale is called barn sale, but the sale every year barn sale, there aren't many women that look like me. And the ones that there's a handful of us and we're all friends because we look alike at this point. So now their lifelong You know, Friends just because of this, you know, I guess pilgrimage we make every year to this one place. That is such a, I guess an underverse base. I don't think that's intentional because the brand is so Just whimsical and in and of inclusion, but that's just the way their audience is right now. So I think that I learned a lot by you and sharing their product, you know, as a black woman. And yes, I do feel like there aren't many of us. Let me check that back. There are lots of black women bloggers and black bloggers in general. But I don't think that we're as elevated as maybe our counterparts that are blogging. So I happen like I said, the agent that I have, we are really just hit it off. And she champions women of color, because that's pretty much I think, like 90% of her clients, there's like nine of us and I think except maybe one woman, we're all women of color. So she made, you know, been a champion for that type of woman and that type of diversity. So I have someone kind of that has my back in that respect, but it is different. It's never hindered me or stop me clearly from doing what I do. But with just being Here a lot of the groups that I've been able to get into and share stories about Pinterest and, you know, help elevate have been specifically black targeted groups from foodies, you know, to just black bloggers in general. And I've been really happy that I've been able to have this time where we can come together and I can try and you know, share what I know with you know, my community of bloggers and influencers. So it has its challenges for sure. And I am hoping that with everything that's going on right now that there really becomes more diversity and inclusion because you know, women like me want to see women like me to when they go to search hysterectomies or when they go to search, you know, you can be challenged pot or when they go to search, you know, the cheesecake recipe, you know, you want to see that as well. Right? Really important.

Kate Kordsmeier 51:49

Yes, yeah, definitely. Do you were there any resources, either today or just along your journey that you feel like helped you as a black woman in this space? And then you mentioned your agent, obviously, but I'm just thinking if there are other women of color listening, you know, what, where could they go to get some, some support here, or what advice would you give to them?

Shaunda Necole 52:11

I don't know if you're familiar with Brittany Hennessey? she was, she wrote the book influencer. Oh, yeah. So Brittany and I had a few consultations and she was really instrumental in my level up as a blogger. And this was like, on the heels of her like leaving her job at Conde Nast and going full time as an entrepreneur and she teaches entrepreneurs now and actually she has a partnership with for fo HR that ate that brand agency. She's working hand in hand with them now for co so look them up. Yeah, Brittany has always been a great resource. In fact, she's just she's the way I met my agent without knowing because of just as a social media post she had and we intersected and that's how we met. Oh, cool. That's really it's really neat. How that all can come Together, but Selena Soo another woman of color, an affiliate partner of hers, but also, I took her courses and I just believe in them, one of her media coaches Lenya Floyd. Yeah, resource Linnea. And you may even just know her from journalism. Linnea is I mean dynamic as far as a media coach and writing coach, so I've done some work with her. So, for me, I'm just I'm not that I just get it. I mean, once you teach me something, I'm like, on fire with it. Like I'm the anxious, not anxious in a bad way. We're the person that's really like, put it into motion. So yeah, you know, I learned one thing, and then I'm just researching the next and next and next, which has been good for me, because I'll often say it's been social media may have put me on the map, but it's been my partnerships that have grown my business and it really has been like, you know, some of those names that I just mentioned that I've been able to either partner with or take a course or in some way, you know, just having, you know, contributed to where I am today as a blogger or you know, in the This whole online space that well we call it have just been, you know, a great value to, you know shaunda that was four years ago just going to personal shop at the barn sale to you know Shaunda now now teaching other people the things that I know that were instrumental into me being where I am today. Yeah,

Kate Kordsmeier 54:18

so awesome. Thank you so much for sharing all of your journey and your tips. This has been so helpful and so just grateful for your time. Yeah, before we wrap up, I ask everybody kind of the same like five lightning round questions at the end. So just rapid fire. What's your favorite way to make time for self care? Ah,

Shaunda Necole 54:43

this is gonna sound because I spend so much time like doing so much for other people. I also manage all my husband's properties for real estate and Oh, wow. So much other people throughout the day, including my own business. I like to watch The Real Housewives. That's my girl. Like My guilty pleasure I don't even feel guilty about it that's like I live with a son and a husband. A boy dog and there's one girl cat. So

I'm and that's my meantime. So that that's how I do that.

Kate Kordsmeier 55:13

Great. How about one tool or strategy that you use to help you with time management? Clearly you're juggling a lot of balls. Mm hmm.

Shaunda Necole 55:22

So I start with like three things or a main priority for the day. So those three things I just have to get done. And then I also use my iPhone as a timer. So if I'm gonna like, because it happens, you go down a rabbit hole, you know, someone texts, you receive something. I'll put it on a timer. So you've got like, 15 minutes to do this, because it's kind of a deviant from what you were supposed to be doing. Yeah, so that's kind of how I manage time a block off time for myself. But even if it's a list of 10 things, three of them are a major priority that must get done today. Probably because time sensitive, and the other seven can probably get carryover.

Kate Kordsmeier 55:58

Yeah. I love the timer idea two, that's super smart, especially for those like kind of things that pop up. Because always you can plan and plan and plan but what we know is that every day there's going to be something that you didn't plan for we go pop ups.

Shaunda Necole 56:14

What's one of your favorite business or mindset books? Whoo. The one that I mentioned influencer, I think this is great for new bloggers and influencers. And Brittany will tell you the same thing in that book that you need a blog. So she's gonna echo the same sentiments, but that's one of them. And then what's another? We have so many books around here? This is real estate, but Rich Dad Poor Dad. Yeah, that's a great. Yeah. So

Kate Kordsmeier 56:42

yeah, I read that Gosh, in college, but I just sorry, it's an oldie but goodie. Yeah. Okay, how about mantras? Do you have like a mantra and affirmation that you're telling yourself these days?

Shaunda Necole 56:57

Yes. So for me, a couple of them are Innovation is rewarded, execution is worshipped. So it's just always, you know, we can come up with, you know, what do they say the graveyard is full of ideas, you know, that never took shape. So you can have all these wonderful ideas, but it's what you do within that makes a difference. So the other thing I always tell myself is, start before you're ready. So you just, pretty much just do it, is you just got to get out there and get it going. You'll, I think my I feel like my story is all that, you know, I was just like, Hey, I'm gonna go to this barn sale. Hey, Mom, cousin, daughter, son, you're gonna go with me, you know, and having one shot for some people, you know, and if I hadn't done that, you know, that could have like, changed the whole course of what I'm doing right now. So right have to start before you're ready. You want to do this, then just do it. You know, right comes up along the way. do that too. And, you know, see where that takes you.

Kate Kordsmeier 57:53

Love it. Let's see. Okay, last question. So what does Success with Soul mean to you?

Shaunda Necole 58:00

Success with Soul. I think that that just means genuine, you know, success. That's, that's genuine success that's earned and most people don't realize that, you know, someone's success story. It's been like 10 years in the making before that, you know, that's the part of the soul I would say that deep, you know, that depth to it, that all of this was going on. But now it's to you know everyone else to get this person to where they are today. So even though I just shared a lot about my blog and influencer journey, I was a retail store owner for about 11 years. And I wouldn't know how to manage a blog or, you know, a business without having that experience that hands on, you know, more hours, 333 days a year, you know, experience with employees and payroll and all that good stuff. So, that's part of my story. You know, that's part of so in essence, you know, wasn't technically blogging for 15 years, but I was doing work that prepared me to be where I am today where I can work from home comfortably, you know, and, you know, if someone needs me to run off and do something for them, you know, I can get up and go, I don't have to ask someone else can I do that? But all those years of putting in, you know, that work every day that prepared me for where I am today. So I just think Success with Soul is all of the hard work that was put in before someone sees your success. Or Yeah, success story, I should say.

Kate Kordsmeier 59:29

Yeah, so true. I remember. Last October, I was at Amy Porterfield entrepreneur experience event. And Rachel Hollis was there speaking and she asked everybody Raise your hand if trying to remember exactly how she phrased the question, but there was 900 people at this event and she says Raise your hand. If you if you've heard of my book, girl, wash your face or something like that. And, you know, at least half the people in the room wait raise their hand. If not, ever Everybody. And then she said, raise your hand if you had heard of it three years ago. And, of course, everybody's like, oh, three years ago, I don't know. I'm not sure. And she's like, yeah, girl wash your face was I feel like I screwed up this story. Now I'm like, combining two of the thoughts. But she says, girl wash your face was my

fifth book.

And everybody thinks, no, it was your first book. That's how you know you got famous from doing that book. And she's like, Oh, no, I have a lot of bugs that came before that. There was a lot of story that you didn't see. And now we're all comparing us to like, well, look at Rachel Hollis, you know, she's did this and this quick amount of time and overnight success. And it's like, ah,

Shaunda Necole 1:00:47

nobody does. It just doesn't work that way would be great. But you have to put the work in. I mean, even like I said, the old gardening post. It does so well. For me. I wrote it back in 2017. You know, right. Thank God. I do. But, you know, but it wasn't doing anything for me then but now it now it is. But that was the work that the Shawn did three years ago or you know, put in more equity in that work to, to be where I am today. And the same for Rachel Hollis. Those books that she wrote those what, five, four other books? Mm hmm. Girl wash her face is you know, that's what she put in the work to be where she is today. So just the not the untold story that's probably told in the book somewhere, but it's not. over again. Yeah, the sensational story that people most you know, tend to look for the surface story of an overnight success, which really doesn't work that way.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:01:39

Yeah, exactly. Well, thank you so much again for being here. It was such an honor to speak with you.

Shaunda Necole 1:01:45

Likewise, a honor to be here. So thank you for having me.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:01:53

Thanks for listening to the Success with Soul Podcast the place to be for holistic online business strategies. and achieving more with less, as this show is a brand spankin new any and all support is greatly appreciated. So if you haven't done so already, please subscribe on the apple podcast app, Google podcast, app, Spotify or wherever you listen. This makes it possible for me to continue to provide free helpful content and bring you amazing guests. You can also give us a rating and review with your honest feedback so we can improve and better serve you in the future. Plus, you could be featured on a future episode during our listener spotlights. Your reviews are super helpful and motivating to me personally but beyond that reviews help with rankings, which helps others find the show and allows me to keep providing you with free content every single week. Share the podcast with your friends, family, coworkers, dogs, cats, neighbors, whoever. And don't forget to join the free Success with Soul Facebook community at successwithsoul.co/Facebook. We have follow up conversations about the podcast episodes and I often go live to answer your burning questions. Plus, you'll get to hang out with like minded bloggers and heart centered online business owners exchanging priceless feedback, encouragement and other golden insight from the trenches. That's successwithsoul.co/Facebook. Until next time, remember to celebrate your progress, not perfection.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai