Yong Pratt 0:00
Have you ever felt like there is something missing in your business? Something holding you back from the success you're seeking? If so, you are not alone. For nearly 20 years, that's exactly how I felt as a business owner. It wasn't until I discovered Human Design, that it all became clear. And it turns out that I was the missing piece in my own business. Join me on this journey of discovering the real me and hear stories from other business owners, building businesses around all of their awesomeness. I'm Yong Pratt, and it's time my friend to Amplify Your Awesome™!

if you've ever gotten to the end of your workday thinking, Oh, shoot, I didn't post anything on social media today. Well, today's guest is here to solve that for you because she is an amazing entrepreneur who helps other entrepreneurs with ideas for social media. She's a social strategist and is the Chief IdeaPreneur at For the Love of Your Biz. She's been on the podcast before and we love together geeking out about all things content. So I want to welcome back to the show Deb Laflamme.

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 1:15
Hey, Yong. Thank you! You are speaking my love language.

Yong Pratt 1:20
Yes, you and I can talk for hours and hours. And we definitely won't make everyone listening for hours and hours to this interview. However, I knew I had to have you back on because you've been really leaning in to something a little bit different than what you used to do. But really laser focused on helping people in a particular way to stand out on social media. So before we get to those goods, can we backtrack a little bit? Can you give us a little backstory on how you got to be doing what you're doing today?

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 1:49
Sure. Yeah. And thanks, again, for having me. It's always fun to be on your podcast. And I'll say it this time, and many more times, that you're the reason I even have a podcast myself. So I just wanted to thank you for that for inspiring me. And I know you've inspired so many other people to start getting their stories out by using podcasts as the form of medium I'll say. So my story, um, you know, I've been at this a long time. And I was just repeating this to someone recently, that I didn't wake up, you know, three months ago and start doing this. And so I just want to share that if you are listening, and you're like, Why are things not clicking yet. And it's because you do need to go through the things that you're doing to figure out what you're really good at and lean into that like Yong said. So I used to be everything to everybody. I'm pretty sure a lot of marketers and coaches and people who want to help other entrepreneurs, they can probably relate to this. If you wanted your logo done, I would do it. If you needed me to come into your brick and mortar and take pictures for your website, I did it. If you want me to help you write your email copy, I did it. And for those of you that know me, you know, that's not my favorite thing to do. So when I started looking at the things that were either taking me 10 times longer than they would take someone else, or didn't fill me up, right, I wasn't paying attention to how I felt when I was doing some of this work.

And in the last three and a half, four years, I started really paying attention to how my work felt at the end of the day. Was I excited about what happened today? And was I even more excited about waking up tomorrow morning and doing it again. And I realized very quickly that what I was good at was not all of those things - the logos, the email marketing, copy, the taking photos. I'm not a photographer. I mean, I enjoy it. But there are photographers that are far better that could be in that space, creating something so beautiful, and at the same time feeling joy while they were doing it. So I decided to pay attention to what filled me up. And that was and still is helping you market your business better by giving you those content ideas to connect with your dream clients online. And so when I even say that I can feel the joy in my voice and even like my whole body shifts. That is my superpower coming up with creative ideas to help you market better. And I jump out of bed to do that every day. And I love hopping on Facebook Lives and sharing ideas. It's, they call it my psychic superpower, right? So if I was going to be a psychic, it would be to predict what content you should share with your social media audiences.

Yong Pratt 4:39
Oh, so good. And I think so many people listening can probably resonate to the fact that when you're in a business and you know whether you've been in business for a while or you know, you're just starting out, trying to be that end all be all trying to be all things to all people while we're trying to figure out what it is we're doing because in the beginning, when we're bootstrapping things, we just feel Like, we have to take on all the responsibilities, someone asked for this? Well, yeah, I guess I can do that, I'll do that. And, and then we spread ourselves so thin. And then you get to the point that you share with us that you kind of wake up and think, wait. You know, I don't feel joy when I wake up, or I don't feel fulfilled at the end of the day. And I don't feel like I've filled myself up with the proper things. And I know lately, you've been going on this journey with tracking your energy. And I know for you when, when you're in the state, you know, I can see in your physiology on camera as well, like when you talk about your ideas, and you're there sharing your new ideas every month. I mean, you're just so lit up. And I love seeing that in you. And I'm so happy that you've reached this place. And I've been fortunate to watch this journey of your, your transitions, and you really finding this particular space, because people are listening, people are so tuned into this because this is what's missing in their business, and the fact that you can help them fill the holes and fill those gaps with your superpower. That's an amazing day.

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 6:06
Yeah. And so it's interesting, because I know that many of your listeners are probably thinking, well, like, what's my superpower? Like, I didn't wake up one day, I had to go through all those other things. And yet, like you said, bootstrap my business like, of course, I could do those things, you know, you want me to come in and help you organize your files, I could do that, you know, I could, I could take all your business cards and enter the contacts. I mean, I literally did that I think back seven years ago, eight years ago, 10 years ago, I and you know, I love the people that I worked with.

So I want to make that really clear. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy that moment in time. But what it did was allow me to test and try and find my way. So here we are in a space where I do feel like I can do this with my eyes shut hands tied behind my back every single day. I can serve my audience in a way that they want to be served, give them ideas that are easily manageable, right. So this isn't like download a 30 page, ebook on how to market on Facebook, this is take these practical ideas and make them your own. And you know, let people connect with you based on what you share online. And I will just share that when you know what your superpower is. And if you take the time to pay attention to what fills you up. And what what you jump out of bed for like pay attention for two weeks or four weeks, write down everything that you do in a day. And use I one of the suggestions I always say is use the markers like a red, a yellow and a green. And if things feel really hard and icky, and it's a conversation you don't want to have, those are probably red, and you can just put a checkmark next to it. And if it's like, okay, like if you had to do it, it wouldn't be terrible. And that would be yellow. But if it's something that like you look forward to doing like, it's always the thing that's on your to do list that you get done right away, those are green, and channel that like pay attention to that. And I guarantee that when you identify what is green and maybe a little bit of yellow, that's okay, because that's part of running your own business and doing all the things. But the green stuff the green stuff is is is the magic potion we'll say it's it's the it's where the magic happens.

Yong Pratt 8:25
And this color coding thing is really great. Because for anyone who's out there who's a visual learner to really go through and denote what it is that is lighting you up and what is detracting and what what what, what if you could create a whole day? That's all the green mean? How did that feel? Like? How would that change business? And Deb, I know you wake up every day and everything, everything is great. There may be some yellows I know in there because we do like you said we do all have those. But being able to lean into those, those green things that bring you joy, and those things that light you up so much that you lose track of time. I know that this this idea of the flow state where you could start a project and you're so engrossed and so enraptured in what you're doing. You look up and hours have passed. When you get to that point, you know, that's one of your superpowers. And I will say that sometimes we need the people in our lives, to point out what our superpowers are to us. Because often they are the things that come the most naturally, the most easy, and we don't think they're a value because they're so easy for us. But we have to remember that what is easy for us is not necessarily easily easy for someone else. So yet, you fast forward two months, three months, four months, and what would your day look like if it was all green for anyone listening out there. I mean, that to me, sounds like a little slice of heaven right there.

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 9:53
Well, and you can also take those red items and some of those yellow items and you could probably find someone who actually enjoys those because there's all sorts of people out there. People who can do your promotion for your podcast. People who can edit your copy on your website. People that can do your Facebook ads for you or, you know, do your bookkeeping or your invoicing or ordering, you know, do your, your, what's it called when, when you're taking, oh, inventory, you're doing inventory of your products, right? So you know, there is there are people in this world that absolutely have your red items as their green items. And so I think that's really important to remember that if I go back to like the example of the example of taking photos, we'll use that one as the example for a client going in with my camp. Yeah, I had had an, I have an expensive camera, I have a Canon Rebel, that is really nice. And I got it for business use, because clients needed to take pictures, okay, great. But here's the thing, like I don't know how to edit. All I can do is really take a picture, hope that it comes out great, maybe lighten it, but I don't really know how to do much more than that. And so the product that you're going to get for me behind the lens of a camera is going to be very different than the product. And you'll probably get a better value for time and money. When you use someone who's whose green item is being a photographer, it's just a simple example. But it's important for us to pay attention to that. And to look for people who love the things that don't fill us up.

Yong Pratt 11:33
That's a really good example. Because I think I filled that role in my business for a while too, when we needed to have so much photography done. You know, I love taking pictures. I took a lot of classes and really enjoyed it. But then when I had to do it, and the having to learn to edit them, it was it was a huge learning curve. And it took far more time and it would have been way more productive. It would have been way better for everybody had I had I just stepped away and just let somebody else go in there. So yeah, if there's one thing to take away from this episode at all, it's to find those people who you know, love to do the things on your list that are red, because for sure. I mean, we may think it sounds a little strange at somebody might like to do things like inventory. But definitely there are people out there, everyone has their superpowers, everyone has their gifts. And if we can get all the right people in our business on the bus going the same direction and in the right seat, then that's when business gets to feel really joyful. and dare I say easy.

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 12:30
Yeah, I was gonna say and it doesn't feel like work. That's where I was literally just wrote that down, like, you led me right into that. So it's, it is about ease, right? So it's not easy, like we're taking shortcuts, but the feeling of ease and joy. And for me that the word this year has been space like having that like freedom and space, and not feeling like I have to do you know, 40 to 60 hours of work a week, and paying attention to when I can do my best work. And I know we'll probably get into that too. But that's part of it is identifying what brings you joy in your work. And also identifying when you're at your best for creating or consuming or all of the things for content.

Yong Pratt 13:15
Yeah. And that leads me to the next sort of segue in the interview. And that's, you know, figuring out those things that make us our superpowers that make us good at what we do and make us you know, light us up and really help us get to that next level. I didn't know before we started the interview, you said there was a story you wanted to share about being the real you showing up as your awesome self every day in your business. And I definitely want to hear the story. Deb, can you share it with us?

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 13:42
Yeah, know. Sure, um, this this just recently happened. And I know, I know, in my heart that I'm going to be sharing this a lot because I've shared it a little bit so far. And people are like, that's exactly what I needed to hear. So I'll set the premise. I was a speaker for a virtual event. And there were three speakers. And I was the second speaker. So I followed someone before me and there was someone after me. And I didn't know the speaker that was ahead of me. I didn't know any of the speakers. I was I was invited from one of the board members. And the person before me, amazing, talented woman, the moderator began reading her bio and all the things that she's involved in, and all the people she's worked with, and who she represents and what she represents. And I just started like falling into my chair. Like who am I to go after her she had some big name? She has big name clients like big name clients, and I was like, Oh my god, I am not worthy of being on this. I'm not worthy of being here. Why am I here? Why am I following this woman? And I said, You know, I just kind of kept just was trying to breathe because I was going after her literally, it was 1, 2, 3 speakers. And I was watching her presentation. And her presentation was so formal. Her slides were like, meant to be on a TEDx stage. This is my impression, this is what I felt. I felt like she was polished. She was, you know, beautiful, and her hair was perfectly quaffed. And her backdrop was, you know, on point as if she was, in fact, on a stage at, you know, Apple or Microsoft, like she deserved a bigger stage, or I deserve not to be on the same stage as her. That is how I felt. And I watched the thread and the comments, and I watched the way that we could see all of the attendees and how they were reacting to the presentation. And there was little time for QA and I watched the feedback in the comments. And it was just like, thank you, thank you. Wow, thank you, okay. And I felt miniscule, like, how am I going to show up and be as good as she, who was right before me.

Now, she also was talking about marketing, but she was very much talking about branding and things that I don't specialize in. Sure, again, I could talk about those things. But that's not what I was here to do. So then it was my turn. The baton was passed, and the moderator read my bio. And when you hear someone read your bio, like you just did at the beginning of this podcast, it puts you in your space, where you get to shine your light, and not worry about any one else ahead of you, next to you, or coming after you. So I'm not done with the story yet. But I want to say if you guys have not written a bio, and or had someone read and introduce you into a space, practice, have your kids read your bio, have your husband read your bio, let someone else say what it is about you that they've invited you to this moment. Okay, so that's my little tip. So the bio, my bio was read, and I got welcomed, and my slides were up on the screen. And I love my slides, they are all they look like me, they feel like me, there's pictures of me, there's real quotes from my clients. There's practical tips that leaders and marketers can do right away. My mission was to make sure they left my session with pillar content that they could go and plan for the month of October. That was my goal. I wasn't here to impress, I was here for them to hear. I was at that moment I was there for them to learn that marketing doesn't have to have weight on their shoulders, it can actually feel that he's feeling that feeling of joy when you put out your content. And so during my session, the moderator kept interrupting me because people were answering and engaging and interacting with my session. And that's what I was there to do. I was there to inspire. I was there to guide. I was there to be the beacon that I always talk about you guys being in all of my content I was doing, I was practicing what I preach, I was there to serve and guide these amazing women on how to market better and for how it should feel in their bones when they share their message. And at the end of my session, the comments that came in this is not this is not against anything that the previous speaker did. But I was a small business owner talking to a small group of small business owners and solopreneurs and leaders in their industry. I was speaking their language. And what I shared was what I was meant to share. And we got that deep connection because I was authentically myself. Even though for one hour before my presentation, I felt like I should quickly rewrite my bio, and talk about all the big names that I've worked with, and change my slides and my headshot and all those things. The moment the moderator read, who I was, who I serve and what I was here to do. I put on my cape, and I use my superpowers Yong and I shine my light bright and I am sharing this story. I'm so glad I get to share it because there are going to be times during your entrepreneurial journey where you feel like someone is better or going to do a better job and remember who you are because that's who your dream client wants to connect with. That's who they want to hear from. They want to hear your voice. They want to hear your story. They want to hear how you are marketing better. For my example, or how you are leading the way, and also they want to know what might have been hard for you to get you to work to get to where you are today. And so I mean, I've told this story four times since it happened. And every time I tell it, I get goose bumps up and down my back. Because that feeling I felt when when the other speaker was, she's amazing. She's amazing. And she's someone that you know, I want to be on a stage with and I was, I was on the stage with her. So it doesn't make my light any less bright.

Yong Pratt 20:33
Thank you for sharing that. Deb. I literally have goosebumps right now, as you're telling the story. Because I can feel the energy, I can feel the passion. And you are absolutely here to inspire others to know that marketing doesn't have to be hard, that shining the light on who we are flaws, and all is part of why people connect to us. And I know in my life, you have reminded me that of that so many times. And I'm grateful for that, for sure. So thank you for sharing that amazing story. Because I think people can listen and can resonate with that, because it's so easy to go onto social media and look at someone else's feed and think, Oh, I haven't achieved that. I haven't done that. And not to celebrate our own wins or discount the wins we have, and I have to share with you. As you were listening to your bio, you know, and hearing someone else talk about you, when I record a solo episode, this is gonna sound weird, but I do that for myself. I will literally introduce myself, I won't put it on the recording. But I will introduce myself because it brings me to a different space, a different energy. And that is enough to shift me to the place that I need to be for everyone listening to the podcast.

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 21:44
That's that's what happened to me. Right, I was in a place of, I'm not worthy. And then the moderator started talking about me. And I was like, right, I'm here with that. That's what I'm here for. That's what they're here for. And I mean, I I want to I want to relive that moment as much as possible. Because it truly I mean, I just I've been on a on a on another wavelength since this happened because I was low. I was so well. I was like, Nope, not supposed to be here. This is a mistake. Like, I've got someone else's ticket. I shouldn't be here. And then oh my gosh, yes, I'm so meant to be here. And I will say that this summit was really successful. We had a Q&A session later that day, where I was able to go back and some of the attendees came and had a lot of questions for me, which means that they were excited and inspired and they wanted to do what I taught them, they want to implement it right away. So true validation, for sure.

Yong Pratt 22:46
Oh, amazing. And wanna shift now into one of our favorite topics. And that is content, creating content for our business. Because, you know, as business owners, we're wearing all the hats, we're doing the marketing, we're doing the billing, we're doing the admin, you know, we may get help with some of those things. We may be solopreneurs, and that's okay, too. We're all in a different space in business. So when it comes to marketing, it can sometimes feel like the last thing that we prioritize, because for some of us. It's not always our forte to have ideas and like to be able to be out there and show our real selves on social media, because that is a trick but you have a way to help us show up as our real selves. Can we talk about how you help your clients to create content that reflects the real them?

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 23:37
Yeah, for sure. And I think like one of the things that you mentioned before was like being our authentic self, and sharing the the successes and the things that were are a little bit harder for us for our journey, because I do think when you go a little deeper with your own personal stories, you know, like Deb likes coffee, you know, what is what Yong like? Does she like coffee or tea right? Does does Yong have a mug full of Sharpies like Deb does, right? Like certain things that you can share about yourself that help have that common thread, so that when Yong and I are up on a stage selling you guys the same product, as far as you're concerned, right, the same price can be used the same way you can get it right now like I usually use the red pen as the example right, we're both selling the same pen. It can be used, it works the same way it costs the same, you can both we can get it from both of us right now.

At the end of the day, when it's time to make a decision, you're going to buy the pen from the person who you have connected with. And so just remember the story of the pen, and remember that your audience only knows what they know. And so they're going to make assumptions. If Yang and I are both social strategists and you want to both buy a strategy. You don't want to buy a strategy from both of us, but you can only buy one, you're going to buy a strategy session from the one of us that you feel a connection with and PS we are a lot of alike. We both have red hair. We both have two daughters. We both love animals. Like there's a lot of parallels between Yong and I. But you would find something that is different between Yong and I, and you would make a decision of who you would buy a strategy session from. And the beauty of this is, there's enough people to buy Yong's sessions, and there's enough people to buy Deb's sessions.

You want your dream client to buy from you, because of that connection. So the way that I like to teach you to make it to remove that weight from the marketing, when you go to bed, yeah, I don't want your head to hit the pillow and you're like, Oh, geez, I didn't post today. I want to help remove that weight. The first thing I want to help you do is have marketing, move up your to do list, right, because if you knew that marketing your business would bring in revenue, or grow your email list, or bring in people to your brick and mortar, or get more people at your virtual event. I know for sure you would do the work, right. But you probably haven't seen the results that you can get from using online marketing.

So there's three steps of content curation that I believe are valuable for you to understand. And the reality is, if you are thinking about marketing your business, you're probably sitting down, coming up with an idea, creating a post and posting it. So that is a strategy that works sometimes, but it's not going to work forever. It is a shoot from the hip strategy. It's not going to last you it's not going to be sustainable for your business, because you're doing all those other things that long and Yong and we're talking about. So you need to have it be three separate phases, curation, creation, and calendaring, and I'll go over them pretty quickly. Because doesn't, that's not rocket science, you guys, it's really not.

Curation is where the ideas come. Like you might be on a walk in the woods or strolling down the beach, or in the shower. I'm often in the shower when the best ideas come, right? When you're disconnected from Tech, typically, the best ideas flow. So you can't really book time to curate content, like the ideas just need to come. But where they can come from Are you can inspire people, you can talk about your services, you can talk about you like things, like I said, that may set Yong and I apart, you could also be of service and share valuable content or other people's content. So that's the type of content that you'll be curating. When you're like strolling around, maybe you're listening to a podcast, and you're like, Oh, that's a great idea. So the curation process, you need to make sure you either always have a journal with you or you have an app on your phone that you could voice text, I use voxer for myself. Some people use Trello, Evernote or don't discount Google Docs. I mean, really, you could just have a curation folder in Google Docs and get those ideas out of your head and put them someplace so that they can become something in the next phase.

The next phase is creation. And that's when you take those beautiful ideas from the curation moment and turn them into something that is going to connect with your audience. And this is where young and I really kind of are aligned. Right. So is that idea going to be a blog post? Is it going to be a Facebook Live? Is it going to be an email campaign? Is it going to be a podcast episode, right? Is it going to be a social media post? Is it going to be something on Pinterest? Or, you know, is it going to be your speech for a live event? Right, so those are the options, it could be text only, it could be with a graphic without a graphic, and Yong is the queen of helping you repurpose that. So if it is a podcast episode, that idea, she can help you take the podcast, grab quotes from it. The quotes can then become social media posts, right? Then you send out an email with graphics and the link to the download the podcast like there's all these things that you can do. But right now you're just taking the idea from the curation phase, and putting it into the creation and deciding how that idea is going to become a message for your audience.

So for example, I love lighthouses so if there was a lighthouse quote that I came up with in the curation phase, now I'm going to sit down at Canva. And I'm gonna take some graphics that are branded for me like my, my colors are blue, and green and preppy stripes. And if there's a beach or a lighthouse, you can be sure it's probably my post if you see it in your newsfeed. And I'm going to lay that over and I'm going to put the quote on the graphic and I'm going to, that's going to be the creation part. Obviously, I'm just giving you a very simple example of a quote, which is inspiration, turning it into a graphic.

And then the third phase you guys is the calendaring. And this is when your awesome post idea, which is now a graphic with a quote is going to meet your dream client. So where and when, where would it be what platform?

So am I going to use this quote on Instagram? Am I going to use it on Facebook? Is it Am I going to use it on Twitter? at LinkedIn, I'm going to decide that and then I'm going to get it scheduled. Do you see the difference here, intentionally setting up my content to go out and meet my dream, my dream clients when and where they need it, right. So if it's a graphic, typically it will be on Instagram and may also go on Facebook. But you know, that's all a conversation for a longer podcast. But let's just talk about that you've got the idea. You've turned it into something beautiful, something that you know your audience needs right now. And then you decide when and where it's going to meet them. And that's the calendaring part.

And I do want to point out that there are tons of schedulers out there it is, at the time of this recording, it is 2020 technology is our friend. And what it allows you to do is create a strategy so that you could be doing the things that you really love in your business and not worrying about your marketing. Okay, so curation, creation, and calendaring. And don't be afraid of using a scheduler, you can use the free Facebook scheduler, it's amazing. I just got an update today for the business suite, where you can schedule both Instagram and Facebook right from the app. But there's others post planner Hootsuite Buffer, Later, Planoly. Google and find one that fits your needs. Ask people in your groups what they use, ask them the pros and the cons, you're not in this alone. And I promise you, you will find a tool that will make this process even more amazing. So there's that's my three step strategy for marketing your business better and staying in the hands of the people who need to hear you.

Yong Pratt 31:36
So good. So think about this. Three steps, just three steps. There aren't 33 steps are 300 steps, Deb is suggesting three things. And if you can do those things consistently, that's when things are going to start to shift and change. And I will admit right now, on this podcast episode that as I've gotten ready for this launch, my calendaring of posts has gone by the wayside a bit on my calendar next Monday, however, is what I'm going to schedule out the next month of posts as I like to just do the one month because it's doable. It's not a huge like day long process. It just takes a little bit of time. And you know, like Deb said, I love to repurpose content. So knowing that I have content, I could have already, you know curated, I can just pick and choose whatever is going to be of service to all of you out there listening. If you follow me on Facebook, or Instagram or wherever else, you'll you'll see different things. And I think that's the beauty of this curation thing. Because it doesn't have to be one thing all the time, it can morph, it can change. But the idea here is the consistency bit because I think this is the part that I find the most challenging. And I would venture to say most business owners find it challenging to be consistent. I know when I talk about creating a podcast or creating a video series, I get a lot of pushback on you have to just do it, pick a day that works for you. It doesn't matter the format, whichever one is the easiest, like pick the easiest route, pick the best day for you and just make it happen. Try it for a quarter and see the results you get and and i think dad for you to consistency probably is one of those things that you know we talk about a lot because it does make a difference in the beginning. It's going to feel like Oh, no one's seeing my stuff like, no one's engaging. But get over time, the consistency will definitely catch up to you. And Pete, the people who are following you are going to be so grateful that you're consistently putting information out in front of them that they need. And the magic is that they're going to find the right post at the right time for them. Sounds weird. Definitely true.

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 33:45
That's true. You always see the message that you need to see when you need to see it. And so from a content creation point, when you are setting up that that schedule that calendaring, know in your heart, that the message will be received when it needs to be received. And I do want to say that you I love that you said like next Monday, you're going to do that, do that work. So the creation, I want to make sure you guys are paying attention to when you feel at your best. So if you are someone like me that needs a nap around 2-3 in the afternoon, you will never see content creation in the mid middle of the day for me. I will get up on a Sunday morning if I have to and do my creation then because that's when I'm at my best things flow. There's no distractions. So this is really an important part of knowing when you're at your best when your energy is higher. I only do content creation twice a month, because I also pay attention to my cycle and my energy during my cycle and I have over the last five months identified when I am more outward and when I am more inward. And I don't expect a lot of myself when I'm more inward. So that week potentially is not used to create messaging that should go out. It'd be more behind the scenes stuff like bookkeeping, or things like tracking my social stats, which by the way, you mentioned consistency. When we did a challenge back in March, and everyone that was in the challenge, we asked them to do 21 days of posts, they could pick any of the 21 days in March, and everyone who participated 21, out of 31 days, they saw their engagement go up. And we're at right now at a point where I'm telling everybody to track their stats. And everyone who was consistently showing up for whatever consistently showing up looks like for them, saw an increase in engagement and reach those that didn't plan and did their social strategy by shooting from the hip, they saw a dip, they saw less engagement less than reach. So it is about showing up when your dream audience needs you.

Yong Pratt 35:59
Yeah, and the idea of just showing up like those two words showing up, and then you add the consistency piece to it. And it doesn't have to be the same days, every single week. I mean, like Deb's saying, you can really focus on when you're at your most energetic to create these things. So that you're creating things that you know, are quality, and that you're proud to put out there and share. And you don't have to wait until the last minute to put something because that gets really exhausting really fast. Trust me, I did that for a very long time. And, and I just, I got to not enjoy social media marketing for a while because it felt hard, because I was always trying to make it up on the fly, trying to solve the problems thinking about Okay, what happened today that I could share? Because it's just hard to share it like that. So. So as you're listening, think about your month, think about your week, when during the week, can you be consistent and show up perhaps live or do a podcast or put out a blog post? Like when can you do that? When can you commit? And then when are you going to commit to scheduling it out? Because I know that is definitely you know, a lot of us. Yeah, a lot of us do the work and then we forget to schedule, it's like oh, shoot, then we're back in that challenging, it feels hard step. But if we let these tools that technology has provided to us, if we let them do the work they're meant to do and just do our work to put in there so it can schedule it out. Again, that is so freeing. And then social media marketing, or just marketing in general, becomes really fun, because you just see it like you. It's like this big, beautiful machine, this wheel that keeps turning, you keep putting things into the wheel, you keep moving forward, you keep putting more stuff in, and it's just this beautiful cycle and this machine that works for you, instead of you working for it.

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 37:50
Totally, I agree. Ease, flow. Pay attention to when your energy is at its best. And when you're feeling creative, and just don't get caught up in thinking I have to post three times a day every day. Like, I do want to add that. You know, your you may think and you may wish that your dream clients or your fans and followers are like sitting on a Tuesday. It's too like oh, yawn usually post it two o'clock on Tuesdays. Where's her post? Like? That's not real? Not. But if you're wondering why your post at 10:30pm Mountain Time isn't getting the attention that it deserves. It's because of when it went out. So think about your your dream client. When is he or she online? When are they scrolling the newsfeed learn their habits so that you can be there and give them the message they need to hear when they need to hear it.

Yong Pratt 38:47
So good. Yes, it doesn't have to be hard. It can be easy, it can be joyful, you can get to that state of flow. And that's what Deb does best. She has a million ideas she has every month, I gift for the people who aren't in her community. I am there. I've been there for quite some time. I love it because it's always full of gifts. Because when it comes to posting, you know, sometimes if we are busy, we don't, the ideas aren't flowing like they normally would be. So here's them, giving us this list of ideas, not a curated thing where you post this picture with this caption because I've done that. And that never felt right, because the pictures alone never represented what I like to

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 39:26
I know. I know

Yong Pratt 39:28
A little disconnect with that. So I know and I learned. I wore orange today for a very specific reason. Well, I love orange anyway, but I know did you just did a video today where you shared something brand new for the month of October. Can you tell us about it?

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 39:43
So every month inside my Facebook community, which is free. It's called social post ideas with Deb La Flamme, I'm sure we'll link to that. Every month. I give you guys a gift, a content calendar full of creative social media prompts that you can use right away and what I love about it is Like if you're if you want to swim in the pool, but you don't know how to get into the pool. Imagine you and I are up on the diving board together. And I'm holding your hand as we jump in. So I give you the prompt, right? So a prompt could be share a statistic, right? Every one of you have something valuable that you can share with your audience that could be showing them that what you offer you sell, you know, whatever product or service, that you could share a statistic about your industry, that's a social post idea right there. Like you're like, Oh, my gosh, I totally know that. Right. So if you're in the health industry, or you're an attorney, or you're a baker, you're an online business coach, there are statistics that you can show, to prove to your dream client that they need to work with you or this is why they need what you sell. Another example is asking for reviews. I know you're like, Oh gosh, like what I have to do that. Now here's the thing, you don't have to do it. But I can tell you that if you use 50% of my social posts, ideas and your content each month, you're in your reach, and your engagement will double. And I know that for sure. Because I've watched clients come into the group use these pop these prompts in their own way, like Yong said, You're not I'm not writing the captions for you. I'm not giving you the graphics. It has to be in your voice. That's what's going to set you apart from everyone else like you. And even if you are an author, or you are a massage therapist, or you own a dance studio, or you're an online business coach, even if you and all of your peers are in my group together, the beauty is when I say share a fill in the blank post, you're all going to do it in your own way. That's the beauty of my social post calendar. So in addition to the ideas, I give you national days that I know you can use in your business, and high level themes for the month that we're in, and I support you and cheer you on every step of the way.

Yong Pratt 41:58
Absolutely. And I will be the first to attest to that, that Deb is there every step of the way.

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 42:03
My favorite place online.

Yong Pratt 42:04
She give us practical examples. So no matter what your industry is, or you're a brick and mortar business, or an online business owner, she's always giving different examples of how you can apply these particular ideas in your business. So if you need ideas, I will definitely link up your group Deb in the show notes of this episode. Because I believe that if you're in business, you need to be marketing better. And there's no better person on the planet to help you with that than Deb. Now, Deb, as we wrap up this interview, I have one last juicy question for you. Are you ready?

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 42:39
I am ready.

Yong Pratt 42:40
It is this...So how, for the listeners out there, what is your number one tip for helping them to really stay true to their real selves, and let all of their awesome shine through in their business?

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 42:55
So if I had to pick just one? I would my advice would be if your daughter or son was watching you in your business? Would they see you as they see you online? So I make sure that when I do something online, that my kids would say that's my mom. That's my mom's voice. That's how my mom talks. That's the kind of gifts my mother would use. And today actually, I did a Reel on Instagram. And I'm waiting for my teenager to say mom, mom. Yep, that was you. Like I was dancing like me. I was lip synching like me. And I don't ever want my kids to see or hear anything that I say that isn't true to me.

Yong Pratt 43:50
Mmmm...so good. And again, I have goosebumps because I know I have two daughters as well. And yeah, to know that. I'm staying true to me. And they can recognize that even if they're not in business, but they just know me for who I am. And your your daughters see you for who you are. And they could recognize and pick out from a lineup of posts. Which one is yours? Oh, that is truly amazing. Thank you for sharing that.

You bet. And I will tell you that what I have a business friend, video video marketing coach who I've known for 15 years, and he will text me and say you are the most consistent, authentic person I've ever seen. You're still saying the same thing that you were saying five years ago, and people are just actually listening, right? So I haven't really changed my messaging. I've just gotten clear about who I can serve and how I can serve you. But that is the ultimate compliment, right? Like you you are still saying the same things like I'm not jumping on every bandwagon and I'm really staying true to what I know to be true for you to market better. So that's a really Really beautiful thing too.

So good. Deb, I want to thank you so much for being here today sharing your wealth of knowledge, sharing the fact that marketing doesn't have to be hard. It can be small, and it can be fun, especially when they have at their side, your monthly social post calendars. So much for being here.

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 45:19
As always, thank you Yong. Being in space in in the virtual space or in space, a space with you is always super fun.

Yong Pratt 45:25
Thanks, Deb.

Deb | For the Love of Your Biz 45:27
Thank you.

Yong Pratt 45:29
Next week, you'll hear from me on the final episode of 2020. Together, we'll reminisce about 2020 and I'll be diving into more of my journey from performing art studio owner to becoming doctor content. Here's a little spoiler, I'll share my journey of discovering the real me and amplifying it all inside my business. Until then, come on over and join me inside my Facebook community where I do weekly live trainings, sharing real-world examples of showing up as your real self in your business using your awesome content. I'll be sure to link up the group on today's show notes at www.YongPratt.com/313.

Thanks for tuning in to the Amplify Your Awesome™ podcast. Be sure to hit that subscribe button so you don't miss any tips, tricks or secrets on building a business based around your awesome. Hey, and while you're there. Leave us a rating and review. Let us know what you think of the show. And until next time, my friends, go out there today and Amplify Your Awesome™!