Episode 3 - Marketing Your Business w/ No Expertise & Our Personal Stories - a podcast by Vanessa Shepherd & Terrica Strozier of Shes Got Vision

Episode #003 - Marketing Your Business w/ No Expertise + Our Personal Stories

Show Description

In this episode we're diving into a pretty big topic for most business owners especially at the beginning. That is how do you market your business when you don't feel like you're an expert in your field? Or you feel like your knowledge is not on par with others in your field.

We're also going to give you some behind the scenes of our businesses and what our early days look like too.

Show Notes

[00:00:00] Terrica: Welcome to the marketing cocktails podcast. We're your hosts. Terrick Strozier, that's me a brand designer and sugar attic and Vanessa shepherd and launch strategist and content creator. With a love of all things Disney, each week, you'll hear our behind the scenes conversations and expert advice on marketing and launching your next offer while doing it all ethically and organically.

And given that bro marketer advice, the book. Thanks for spending some time with us today. Grab a drink and let's jump into today's episode.

Welcome to episode three of the marketing cocktails podcast. Today, we're diving into a pretty big topic for most business owners. And that is how do you market your business when you don't feel like you're an expert in your field, or you have the expertise that is on par with the rest of your niche.

We're also going to give you some behind the scenes of our businesses and what our early days look like too. So if you're ready to hear us stories, let's dive in.

So what about when you don't have the [00:01:00] expertise to market your business. Well, I'll just do what everybody else does. I'll fake it till I make it. I'll act like a habit all to get together. When in reality behind the scenes, now this is a shamble that maybe I've never gotten a client act like I'm booked out.

and when I'm marketing myself, I'll take one little. nuance of something that I've done and I'm going to blow it up tenfold, because we've all seen that someone, no one person take a step forward. Now they've transformed somebody's business and then that's how they market themselves. And that's okay.

They put it out there even though they have, they don't have the expertise and it's okay if you don't, we all start somewhere. You all don't even want to know what my stationery business looked like when I started back in 2011, then in a one bedroom apartment with. This laser printer that [00:02:00] I didn't even really know that like how I was going to use it, but I took a client and I couldn't figure it out.

And my inkjet didn't work.  and I went and spent $350 on a laser thinking that that was going to fix him. It was an Epic fail guys. It was so bad. I don't even want to look back at those things anymore, but I've come a long way in nine years, but I didn't fake it too. I, I wasn't faking it at that point.

I just put out what I knew, what I could do offer. And at this offer point that I felt was congruent with where I was, so that if I underlay under delivered just a little bit, and it didn't feel like I was ripping these people off, but the whole time I was trying to overdeliver, I was like, I'm going to give you the best product that I

can right

now.

And that's okay.

Vanessa: Yeah. Oh my gosh, you, you don't need really don't need a college degree or a super extensive, consultant or, [00:03:00] all these fancy things that you could invest in right away to start and to start marketing your business. If okay, let's go back to some super simple examples.

If a

little kid can have an idea and start talking to people about it and make sales. Then you as a grown ass adult can do the exact same thing and I'm completely serious here. So if, if we're going to turn back the clock, once upon a time, I was a cute little blonde girl in Northern Canada, and I, they essentially started a business without knowing it because as you're a kid, you don't know what it's doing.

You don't know what, you're, what you're kind of leading things in. I essentially started my first business when I was like six or seven. And I was making things I was crafting and making things for weddings or that people needed. And people bought them. I don't know if they actually thought they were good or why, or if they were just seeing, being nicest, poor little kid, but either way I made stuff, I sold it.

I [00:04:00] talked to people that the people that bought my set I've talked to other people and people kept coming back fast, forward 20 years. I'm still doing the exact same thing. On down though. Cause that's not something I promote or push anymore a while. It was, I did a lot of weddings. I did a lot of birthday parties, a lot of baby showers I made and crafted my heart out.

Did I have a website and a fancy, set of tools that I hire, a fancy consultants? No, I did make money. I did cover my bills. I covered my expenses. I was profitable doing it. I loved what I did. until it took like the fun out of it. but essentially like you D I didn't, I didn't have a college degree at that point.

I didn't have, a marketing education, but I still was able to create a plan that was true to me. It was treating my customers, it communicated what I did, how I helped, people knew how to get in touch with me. And I took steps [00:05:00] that were really methodical because that's the way I am one foot in front of the other one step after the other.

And I reached my goals. Was that okay? Absolutely. Everybody has different goals. Everybody has different outcomes for me, it was just having a fine side hustle that I did something I loved. I was helping people. I was creating things. and I paid a few extra bills. And was profitable doing it for somebody else.

Somebody else might want it. They could turn around and do the exact same thing. They could turn around and make something, but they might want to grow it to six figures instead of, a few, four figures or whatever. And that's totally okay too. You don't, you don't need a degree to make a plan. I know people that have started their business by writing their, their plans and their goals and how they're going to go from point a to point B on a napkin.

Okay. It's just a matter of write it down, figure it out, learn what you don't know. Constantly. Always be learning. Don't hack your way to the top. Don't super fake it. Be true to who you are [00:06:00] and people will. They'll they'll come and they'll, they'll flock towards you because you're real because you are relatable.

And because you're, you're putting yourself out there in a way that's honest and ethical and is just like, Hey, I have a thing. I do this, and I want to help these. And people will appreciate the clarity that that brings to the table.

Terrica: Exactly because real is not a trend or a fad. I know everyone loves that word authentic right now, but at the core of it, if you're true to yourself, that'll always be in season.

It's interesting that you were using the example going back to when you were like six or seven, because as not every little girl, but many of us had the experience to be girl Scouts. I stopped [00:07:00] after brownies, but I, so I sold my fair share of cookies and we all learned really quickly to find a unique.

Way of selling cookies. Cause everybody wanted to, the amazing you got when you sold like X number and higher and you wanted to be better than the other troops, or maybe somebody in your troop, you want to beat them. And you, I realized that maybe their mom worked here and they were doing it. They're like, what can I do different.

What, what can I make up when I go knock on the doors and say, to make people want to buy my cookies and buy more than one box buy like three or four or five boxes? we've all heard the stories, like you said, Where someone started their business on a napkin with an old laptop in their closet. like all of the rags to riches story, does it take

Vanessa: all the detours and other fancy techniques?

okay guys, at one point in my life, I was [00:08:00] homeless and broke and I had absolutely nothing. I managed to get my hands on a snow shovel and I shoveled walks all winter. And that's how I made money, extra money and paid the bills and got myself back into having a roof over my head. So there's always a way there's always a way to communicate what you do and to put money in your pocket

Terrica: and see.

I learned something new about Vanessa every day. And this speaks to her, not just her innovation, but her grit guys cause I'm in Georgia and we barely have snow. So I couldn't even imagine having to do that, but it does speak to one thing that I've focused on, especially as a brand designer and everybody feels like.

You gotta have the pretty brand. You gotta have the logo and the amazing website, [00:09:00] but guys, I know people who are booked out and I've made six figures off of emails. no actual website. My folk is, and I'm going to be a broken record with this. Is that the core of it all is people. And that empathy that you can have for your fellow man and finding out how you can truly help, how you can truly connect to actually listen, and to hear people that in itself takes no money.

All that takes its time and focus and energy. And when you can do that, To me, that is the core of ourselves. That's how people book out. Doesn't matter how pretty now don't get me wrong. I love some pretty and true design has not only the aesthetic piece, but the impact is, [00:10:00] well, it converts and you need it when you get to a certain level,

Vanessa: but

Terrica: starting out, you don't have to have that.

Like you were saying, Vanessa, it's. Having this idea. I do this, I offer this. This is how I can help you guys talk. And you have that full, that conversation that you go in that's cost you nothing. So even if you don't have this expertise, even if you feel like you don't have 10 years of experience and three degrees, and guys I'm telling you that doesn't mean anything.

I have two degrees and sometimes I feel like I still don't know enough. I'm always learning. the master a true master of any craft is always a student. So in that. You don't have to have the expertise to market your business, but you do have to have a plan and you have to have intention and you have to map it out.

Even if you map it out, thinking that these are like massive dreams. And I don't know if I'll [00:11:00] ever get it. It's literally taking one step.

Vanessa: I come down those massive things, you break them down. So, okay. A great example for this is, me a few years ago, so I was constantly booked out. I didn't have a website for anything I did.

I've had, I'm a serial entrepreneur. I've had multiple businesses over the years. I've sold the few. I've had a few down. It's fine. but I didn't have a website up until 2014 and in 2014, the only reason I actually started a website was because. For a project. When I was getting my marketing degree, we had to make a website and it had to be present fictional company.

And I was like, Oh, hell no. If I'm going to break into the online space, I'm going to do a fictional company, but it's really on underneath. It's going to be like my real company and I'm going to make it awesome. I always worked double duty, but anyway, You don't have to have fancy things to make a go of it.

I still pay my bills. I wasn't online. It was fine. but in terms of like having that [00:12:00] plan and having a big, lofty goal, I had a crazy goal, but what most people would call a crazy goal. I even thought I was crazy at the moment, to go back to school. I was in debt up to my ears. Like we're talking like 80 grand in the hole and didn't have my own place, had a car, barely, , had payments on it.

I was not healthy. I was not, I wasn't even living a secure longterm job. I was trying to side hustle on top of it. And it was like probably one of the lowest points of my entire life, but I knew that I needed to dig myself out of the hole. And I set my sights on going back to school and getting a degree because I came , the thing at the time was okay, if you want to get that, this specific

level of job, you needed a degree.

Okay, fine. If that's what I need to do, I will find a way and I will get a degree, but I'm in debt up to my [00:13:00] ears. So how the heck am I going to get a degree? Well, I'm going to have to find a program that is 100%. Online, so that I can work full time, go to school and make a goal day. And at the time I was like, okay, cool.

I can do this. I can do this part time. I had some serious doubts, whether or not I could go back to school in my late twenties and actually like fit in and, and make a go of it while working full time in a high pressure job. It wasn't permanent. And I didn't know if I was going to have a paycheck after my contract, my now and a few months.

But I took the risk. I took the plunge. I applied to go back to school. I took one course to start. I knew, okay. I want, I want the degree. And it's probably, if I do it one or two courses at a time is probably going to take me for freaking ever. But that's the plan as to how I'm going to get there. And they mapped that out.

I took one course and was like, I had this almost instant reminder of how. [00:14:00] Easy school could be for me and how much I loved learning and how it didn't feel like a chore that I thought it would be. And how everybody else around me had said, it's going to be impossible. You're never going to be able to do it.

It's going to be way too hard. It's going to be, Oh, it's going to suck. You're not going to have a social life. And, and you're just, Oh, you're going to be miserable and don't even do it. If I had listened to all those people. And there were a shit ton of people who were telling me this. I never would have enrolled in that one class.

And I was like, no, I'm going to enroll in this one class. We're going to see where it goes. That class was fairly easy. Yeah. There were, there were challenges as with anything else. but I went into it and I was like, by halfway through that class, I was like, Oh, hell no, I could do, I could do three of these at once.

If I do three, I'm classified as a full time student. And if I do three at a time, I started doing math. I was like, how long it would take me to get this degree. If I did three or four or five. By the time I did that first class, then I did three and I was like, Oh, if I can do three, I could do five. That's totally fine.

And my plan [00:15:00] kept adjusting. And that was totally okay because I still had a plan. I still broke it down. I even like I had, I had a crazy spreadsheet that mapped out all the courses I needed to take. And I moved those courses around as they changed because. Of course you'll enroll in a degree program.

They change it as you go. It's lovely. Love the love, the educational system. but I mapped it out and I kept changing it to stay true to me and my goal and where I needed to be. I took what it's been a path that I should have finished in eight years doing it part time. I finished it in four and a half with honors and $10,000 with the scholarships in my pocket.

I over that same amount of time, I landed a permanent job. I got a promotion. I wound up, collecting a whole bunch of scholarships, getting recognized, getting awards. I wound up moving, getting a better housing situation. eventually moved in with a boyfriend. Eventually got engaged to say boyfriend, like so many [00:16:00] things in my life started coming together because I created a plan.

At the same time that I did all this crazy things, one of my assignments was to create that website. I created a website and while I was working full time, going to school, full time, trying to navigate a new life and all the things that change along with it, I decided to start side hustling too. So it is all possible.

And it does sound absolutely ridiculous. And if even hearing myself related, it was like, man, if I was somebody looking at the outside of that situation, I'd be like that chick's insane. That is the craziest story ever.

Terrica: And that's crazy. And people, probably someone listening is like, I have just as much things going on and I can't see, the forest for the trees.

I don't know, where. My next move move is, and maybe, Hey, you [00:17:00] say you like created a plan, but I don't even know where to go next. And that's fine too. Knowing where you are is one of the biggest catalyst for change in how you go forward. So if you're at a point where. You really feel like you're in a crossroads and you don't know where to go and even crafting a plan seems overwhelming, then find help.

Like I know that sounds so simple, but find help if you have the resources, if you can. Do things to garner resources. If you don't have any money. Now, if you need to sell a couple of things, if you need to try to work a little bit extra, whatever you can do to maybe invest in a coach or a program, didn't do that.

If it's getting further education, then do that. If you're you're listening and you're like, and like I was at one time and it's like, I [00:18:00] don't have no money. Like I can't sell anything. I have nothing.

Vanessa: We

Terrica: are in the prime day and age right now. Of social media. There is a Facebook group somewhere that you can hop on for free 99 and ask questions and put yourself out there.

Believe me, there are people who are out there who actually want to help. There are a lot of people who are trying to sell you some shit too, but there's a lot of people who are out there who truly want to help. So put yourself out there and say, Hey, I'm here. I know where I want to go. I just don't know how to get there,

Vanessa: who

Terrica: can help me.

and that may seem like a big question, but that's a small question. And then people will ask you more detailed question. Okay. Well, where are you having trouble? Oh, how can I help? Oh, you need help here. You help there let's work through it. Then now this overwhelming goal. Now seems like actually attainable.

[00:19:00] Now your mind is like starting to formulate in your mind and set changes. Oh, kind of like how Vanessa was that I just want to get a degree, and you break it down. Like,

I can. I think I can do this. Like I'm doing it. Oh,

Vanessa: we all have the power to do things that you literally blow your own mind.

If you get into the right, like the right head space and you start realizing and putting things together, you're like, actually some of these things aren't quite as hard as they could be in. And some of these things are. No, they're, they're just easier. The biggest thing that holds us back is that fear a lot of times, and just the unknown of like, what the heck do I do?

Write it down. Brain dump, journal your heart out of it.  put it on paper and really think deeply. On what you want to do and where you want to go. And not just  the surface level stuff,  honestly, almost everybody on the planet [00:20:00] wants to make money. Don't don't, don't go that far. That's not going to help you break down a plan.

think deeper, dig deeper and really, really hone in on where you want it to go. And why? Like I wanted a degree. Yes. I wanted a better job. Yes. But my big, big, big vision that was like driving everything else is that I knew that someday I was going to make it possible to create a company that would help build up other women who were basically like in my shoes, who struggled, who didn't have a time who didn't have, but didn't know what the heck to do or how to put one foot in front of the other.

And I'm still driving towards that vision and getting one step closer each and every day.

Terrica: Thanks for listening. Y'all you can find the show notes at she's got vision.com/podcast. If you've enjoyed what you've heard today, please leave a review and subscribe to the podcast. And because word of mouth is still the [00:21:00] best marketing Avenue. Please tell a friend to share it. If you do, don't forget to tag us.

Yeah, she's got vision on all platforms until next time. Y'all we're wishing you much success. I remember there's always time for cocktails.

Further episodes of Marketing & Cocktails

Further podcasts by Vanessa Shepherd & Terrica Strozier of She's Got Vision

Website of Vanessa Shepherd & Terrica Strozier of She's Got Vision