December 23, 2024 • 25 mins
Katherine Martin-Fisher introduces Nikki May, exploring her journey into social media and the rise of her digital marketing career. Nikki shares the importance of processes and creating ideal client avatars in business. She delves into storytelling and content creation strategies, highlighting the influence of mentors and addressing social media misconceptions. Nikki discusses common mistakes and offers advice on overcoming camera shyness, alongside tips for effective visual content creation. She shares her passion for work and the importance of bridging generational gaps in social media. The episode wraps up with Nikki's final advice, contact information, and gratitude for her insights.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Good afternoon.
This is Catherine, your host with the BeyondBusiness Podcast, and I am so excited to have
Nikki May and introduce her to you.
So Nikki, over the last, 4 years, Nikki hasworked in social media and digital marketing
exclusively for small businesses.
Through countless hours of research, socialmedia, and the spending habits of digital
(00:25):
consumers, she's become an expert in her field.
She launched social blueprint in January of2024 with the goal of helping entrepreneurs
create purposeful content that yieldsmeasurable results and establishes a strong
social presence.
So she has worked to grow businesses in thefollowing industries, childcare, recruiting,
(00:48):
counseling, fashion, cosmetology, retail, food,music, and more.
I am so excited to get to know you, Nikki.
Thank you for being with us here today.
Of course.
Happy to be here.
Really excited.
So so, Nikki, everybody has a story andeverybody has a reason why they do and what
(01:08):
they do and why they're passionate about whatthey do.
So tell us a little bit about your journey.
What were some of the things in your early lifeexperiences that that allowed you to decide
that this is what you wanted to do for aliving?
Yeah.
So I actually stumbled into social media, notmeaning to, I guess.
(01:29):
So when I graduated with my business managementdegree, I started managing people.
I was in operations management with thecompany, and I felt like while I enjoyed the
work, it wasn't something that I was justexcited to do.
You know?
It was fine, and I was happy with it.
But after marrying my husband, he actuallywanted to travel the US full time.
(01:54):
And so that's what we did.
We got married.
I couldn't keep my operations management job,so I, got an email about a company that was
looking for someone to work in social media forliterally just 5 hours a week.
It was so small, and, I was having a reallytough time finding a remote job.
This was before the remote work really became acraze, in 2020, and I decided to figure it out.
(02:18):
I said, well, if this is the only job I canhave right now, I'm gonna take it.
It's 5 hours.
So I started learning all about social media.
I got certified in content creation and just,social media advertising, all these different
things, and it really just took off.
So then I started contracting with a lot ofdifferent companies, and I would do their
social media.
I had a lot of fun.
(02:39):
I thought it was a super creative outlet, and Ididn't think I was a creative person until I
started doing this.
I just realized that my creativity is not like,I can't draw.
I can't paint.
I can't do all of this stuff, but I'm really,really good at creative social media
strategies.
So, I started getting into that, and then Ifelt like rather than trying to figure out all
(03:01):
these different things with these differentcompanies, because, you know, every company
runs their social media in a different way,that I wanted to launch my own company with
what I found was the best way across all thesedifferent industries.
And from learning from everyone, I took all ofthat and launched my own company.
And so now I get to do it the same way for, forevery single client.
(03:22):
Obviously, that's very branded, very niched forwhat they wanna do, but I feel like it's more
streamlined and it works really, really well.
So one thing that I got out of what you weresaying that I feel that's important for the
audience to know is you you seem to be someonewho understands processes, and you're able to
(03:42):
help people with processes.
Because one of the the most difficult things inbusiness is just not having your processes
right.
So even in social media, in advertising, andtelling who you are to the world, there is a
process that is important.
Would I is did I hear you correctly?
Yes.
Absolutely.
(04:02):
So, yeah, processes are so so important, andthat's actually the main thing that I'll work
with, like, consultation clients on.
So I have some people who come and maybe theycan't afford social media management.
It is an investment.
It's not something you can get cheap that doesvery well.
So I'll have some people just do consultations,and the main thing I help them with is their
(04:24):
social media processes and figuring out how tomake it not as overwhelming as it seems in
their mind.
Right.
Oh, man.
That is good.
So tell me a little bit about when let's sayyou're working with a client.
First of all, let's find out who's your yourbest client avatar, your ideal client.
(04:46):
Yeah.
So my ideal client is an entrepreneur with asmall, small business.
So we're not going for, like, this technically,a small business can have thousands of
employees and still be classified as small.
I love the, the small businesses that have, youknow, under 10 employees because they are still
(05:07):
very personal, and I love working to buildpersonal brands within the business.
And so my ideal client is someone who isn'tafraid to be in front of the camera.
Yes.
I can make it work if you're afraid of thecamera.
I can make a strategy that works, but I telleverybody it's not gonna work as well because
people are interested in people.
They're not really interested in your business.
(05:27):
They're interested in the feelings that you cangive them in the journey and the storytelling
that you are sharing as the founder.
And so founders that want to be a part of theirbrand and typically are in this very small,
small businesses, those are my favorite ones towork with.
Oh, I like that.
Along with what you're telling us about the,you know, just just being able to tell the
(05:49):
story, I'm always very interested in the story.
How do you help people capture the true heartand the essence of their story?
Like, what what would you say is something thatyou have found to be successful in your
business and how you're helping others to dothat?
So when it comes to storytelling, what I wouldsay helps founders the most is digging a little
(06:14):
bit deeper.
And what I mean by that is sometimes a founderwill just say, well, I don't really have a
story.
I just saw this need, and I started thisbusiness.
But that is a story.
You know, talking about this huge gap that wasin your field and how you've come in and you
filled it and having testimonials from yourclients who were so grateful that you filled
this gap, that's a story right there.
(06:35):
And there's a few different ways that you cantell it.
So the most typical one people think isovercoming something.
Right?
This happened.
It was a bad thing, but we turned it intosomething good.
And that resonates really well, and it'sactually gonna help you with that top of
funnel.
So getting awareness for your for yourbusiness.
And to get people to trust you, it's kind ofnurturing and getting this awareness.
(06:59):
So you have that, but maybe you also just havea story of you didn't overcome this huge
obstacle, but it's just the story of your day,the story of launching this business.
Maybe there weren't a ton of obstacles, butthere's a reason that vlogs and, like, come
spend the day with me, come get ready with me,they work because people connect with people
(07:19):
and they connect with stories.
And so sometimes you have to dig a little bitdeeper and say, like, I didn't think I was very
interesting, but in all honesty, you don't haveto have this crazy story.
Right?
A lot of people relate to the very common dayto day things.
So I worked in the travel industry on theinfluencer side for a while, and I can say that
(07:41):
the things that people related to, the reelsthat would go viral, were not me staying in a
$2,000 a night hotel room because that's notrelatable.
Most people cannot do that, me included.
Right?
But the you're flying on a plane, and you'renot gonna spend $12 to sit with your husband
because that's just not worth it.
Right?
Like, that's something that's a little bit morerelatable.
(08:04):
You're not gonna upgrade those seats.
You're just gonna deal with it for a few hours.
So kind of just thinking of maybe your boringis the most relatable part of you, and that's
that's okay.
That's that's a great example.
So along your journey, did you have any mentorsor coaches that, you know, that helped you as
(08:25):
you're navigating and making new decisions foryourself?
Yeah.
So when I started, I didn't have many mentorsor coaches, but I started in social media, with
that 5 hours a week.
And I went to HubSpot, and I did their onlineacademy, all these different certifications.
And then when I started getting into the moreinfluencer side, I would take courses by, like,
(08:51):
Marie and Jake Snow.
They were a popular travel influencer.
Now they've kind of shifted their niche, butthey were traveling and that's what I was
doing.
And so I I started learning from them, and Ithink it was amazing because there are so many
things that you just don't think about.
And like I said, it simplifies the process.
So if you are a founder or you're a contentcreator and just starting out, it's kind of
(09:16):
hard to think, okay.
What can I do?
Because it's just so overwhelming.
There's so many things you can do.
But then when you have somebody who reallybreaks it down for you and says, well, maybe
you just need to focus on x, y, and z, andthat's it, It just kinda, like, calms your
mind.
And once you put those processes into place,it's just so much easier.
(09:37):
And so I didn't really have any, like, personalcoach or anything like that.
But just from from courses, I feel like Ilearned so much.
And now I get to be that coach for otherbusinesses who are launching, and that's pretty
cool.
So the you know?
And and I just wanna make sure that I do saythis, that coaches and mentors can also be the
(09:59):
the information that we seek out.
And and that, you know, because that in and ofitself, knowledge is power.
And, you know, the more knowledge we have andthe more tools that we have, you know, the the
better we become in in whatever our industry.
Right?
And so so there's a factor there.
So what would you say is something that clientsthat you work with when they first started with
(10:25):
you that they didn't know they didn't know?
Because sometimes we just don't know that wedon't know something.
Right?
Very true.
I would say for the most part, clients don'tknow that they don't know that social media is
not for promotional content, really.
I say that with a bit of an asterisk because, Iam somebody who says, yes.
(10:49):
You do need to post about your product and yourservice.
However, you have to do it in a way that issocial media friendly.
People are not going on to social media tolearn about your product.
They are going on there to be entertained, tofeel closer to people that they know, to learn
about the lives of maybe people that theyfollow that they don't really know, but they
(11:10):
are not there to watch your ad.
And I think this is where small businessesreally struggle because, yes, you have this
great product and you have this great idea,but, honestly, nobody really wants to hear
about it.
And it sounds a little bit mean when you say itlike that.
But then when you start talking with them aboutideas to make their content fun, it makes
(11:32):
social media fun because it's not just ads allthe time.
It's now maybe you just have to take a video ofyourself working or packing an order, and
that's a storytelling thing.
So come pack an order with me, and you can seethe behind the scenes process.
People actually genuinely like this, and yourcontent doesn't necessarily have to be
something where you're going out of your wayand driving 30 minutes to get this perfect
(11:54):
shot.
It can just be what are you doing, film it, andthen use that for your content later, which
tells that story or tells them more about you,and then you kind of slip your product or your
service into the mix.
Right?
That is great advice for our our audience.
What would you say is, something, whether it bein your own life that you've learned that maybe
(12:20):
mistakes that you've made or you've seenclients make.
So you can either use it on your, you know,your own life journey, as you're navigating to
this career and helping your clients or evenyour own clients that you've helped them learn
something that they just, you know, didn'tstart out knowing?
(12:41):
Yeah.
This is great.
So I would say I have two examples of mistakesthat, one that I have made and one that I see
clients make a lot that we should probably talkabout.
So for me personally, I beta tested a lot ofstuff on my own account first because I didn't
wanna mess up my clients, and I still do thatwith my business account.
(13:01):
I beta test all this different stuff, and a lotof it will flop.
And I say, okay.
I'm okay that it flopped for me.
I don't want it to flop for my clients, sowe're not gonna do the same thing.
So my account is kinda just all over the place.
I'm trying to figure all this stuff out.
But one mistake that I made specifically on mymy travel side was that I gained over 7,000
(13:24):
followers from one piece of content that I putout.
It is possible.
It took me 2 years before that happened.
Okay?
So this is not like I just post this and you'llget 7,000 followers.
But I gained that in the wrong niche.
So I was trying to share travel content.
I'm sharing bucket list destinations, placesyou don't wanna miss, advice for traveling full
(13:47):
time, and then I posted a reel about me and myhusband, and that gained me 70% of my
followers.
And they came for relationship content.
So, what happened was that my engagementtanked.
Right?
Because people are there to learn about me andmy husband and our story, and I was there
sharing, road trip itineraries.
(14:08):
Right?
That's not what they came to see.
So huge mistake is to go viral in the wrongniche.
If you are posting about your business and thenyou make a random reel about your cat doing
something funny and it goes viral, you're gonnaget followers who don't care about you in the
long run, and it's gonna hurt your account.
(14:29):
So, mistake, don't just post anything.
Post related to your niche.
And if you're gonna post something about yourcat, you better relate it back to your business
so people know when they come to you that it isabout your business.
So that was kind of the one mistake that Iwould say that I I definitely made.
And the second is a little bit related, andthis is what I see business owners do a lot is
(14:52):
that they treat their business page like apersonal diary, or they'll start sharing about
their kids or, like I said, their pets.
Or they kinda share about all this other stuff,but it's not related to your business.
And so there is a way to balance thestorytelling, you behind the scenes, you as a
personal brand with your business over just mykid did this really funny thing today when
(15:16):
you're selling software.
Like, sorry, but people don't wanna see thatkeep it on your personal page.
So your business page is not a diary unless youare making it storytelling about your business.
Can you give me an example of maybe somebodythat you started to work with?
Because I I you know, not everybody'scomfortable like you've started to say in front
(15:38):
of the camera.
And, so if you have someone who that's they'renot comfortable in front of the camera, how
have you been able to help them get to thatother side of that and get more comfortable
with telling their story and and, you know, andputting themselves out there?
Because I I've had recently actually had somepeople even when in the podcasting industry
(15:59):
that are not comfortable being on camera.
And so how have you helped them navigate to getcomfortable and get more confident?
And then do you find that they get moreconfident after?
Yes.
Okay.
So great question.
If you are not comfortable in front of thecamera, here's what I tell people who come to
work with me.
I'm a very blunt person.
(16:21):
I say that I know what is working.
I do the research.
If you're not comfortable in front of thecamera, get comfortable in front of the camera.
That's honestly what I tell people.
Let me move this cat.
I understand the camera.
Yeah.
I understand that you're not comfortable, and Iunderstand that it's awkward.
(16:42):
And I was in the same boat.
Every single picture of me from middle schooluntil recently was this.
My hand in front of the camera blocking it.
I didn't wanna be in pictures.
I was so awkward in videos.
I didn't know what I was doing, but it's notabout you.
If you are trying to grow your business, yougotta get outside of your comfort zone.
(17:03):
And, one thing that I tell my clients whenthey're nervous, I say when you're filming
yourself, first off, flip the camera around onyour phone.
Don't be looking at yourself because thenyou're so judgmental of what you're doing.
Make sure you set it up.
Just flip it around.
Make sure you're in the screen, and just talklike you're talking to me.
Just act like we're in a meeting just likethis.
(17:25):
Your story if I told you to talk about, like,starting your business, Just tell me your
story.
It can be 10 minutes long.
You don't have to get it perfect.
You don't have to have a script.
Just tell me your story, and I will edit itdown.
I will do my magic, and I will put it into a32nd clip that is engaging, that gets people to
(17:48):
want to know more about you and your business.
And so, I mean, again, it's kind of blunt, butwho cares that it's uncomfortable?
Life is uncomfortable, and you're never gonnagrow if you stay in your comfort zone.
Your growth only happens outside of it.
So if you really want to be successful,sometimes you're gonna have to do stuff that's
really, really uncomfortable.
(18:11):
But, also, I do not work with people who arenot willing to come out of that comfort zone.
Makes sense.
So tell me, if you can give our audience anexample of somebody who may not have video, how
are you able to navigate and work with picturesand create the story the stories if that would
(18:32):
be the starting point for them to and asthey're getting comfortable?
Sure.
So if you are just adamantly, like, I gottajust start with something, and I get it.
I just started with photos too.
It happens.
There there is a whole journey there.
It's doable.
And what's really cool is that, yeah, videosmight help you reach more non followers, but
(18:53):
your photos are actually more of that nurturecycle for your current audience.
So that gets pushed more to them.
And that's really cool too.
And so maybe you're not gonna grow your socialaccount very quickly.
That's okay.
If your goal is just to really nurture thataudience and then try to sell to them down the
road, pictures are actually a great way to dothat.
(19:13):
Graphics are a great way to do that.
And so we can just start with you take somepictures, you send your favorite ones to me,
you can take a 1000000 pictures and just sendme 10.
It's okay.
We'll make it work.
So we would tell the story in the caption, ormaybe we would even do a carousel where we can
tell your story as text as, like, a 10 partseries.
(19:34):
Right?
They read the first one.
They swipe.
They read a little bit more of your story, andthey keep swiping.
And so we'll figure out a creative way to tellit with just pictures until you're ready to
finally get into video and kinda tell thatexact same story.
That is great.
This is great.
Really great, nuggets that you're giving us.
Tell me, is there something that you would liketo leave the audience with as a teachable for
(19:58):
them, for them to, to know that what you haveto offer is something that'll be very valuable
for them?
So there's so many things I'm trying to tonarrow with that in my head.
I think the most teachable thing is that whenyou use social media correctly, honestly,
(20:21):
digital marketing as a whole, When you learnwhere your audience is and how to talk to them,
your business can grow so much faster than ifyou don't.
And I think that that kinda sounds like justcommon sense, common knowledge.
If you do it right, it's gonna go well.
But I feel like so many people think they arewasting their time because their accounts
(20:47):
aren't growing or they're not getting theengagement.
They're not seeing the sales from social.
And to be honest, you are.
If you're not seeing that return, you arewasting your time.
So you know, maybe Instagram is not where youshould be at.
But I say this with the kind of asterisk thatyou have to do it right.
If you're just posting ads and wondering whyit's not working, it's because your strategy is
(21:09):
not good.
But if you are really, really trying to have agreat strategy with your content, you've come
up with these ideas that are relatable andentertaining, maybe funny, maybe you're trying
to skit, then you're trying a talking head,you're trying all this different stuff and it's
just not working, pivot.
You know?
Stop just kind of dumping time and money intosomething that's not working.
(21:31):
But when you really put in that contentstrategy across all these platforms and you
find where your audience is and it's goingreally well, I would say, like, it's an
exponential growth is what's happening with myclients across all these different industries.
That is so great.
I just wanna thank you.
What I'd like to leave the audience with iswhat how is it that they find you?
(21:54):
How do they do business with you?
What would be the offer that you would have forour audience today?
Yeah.
For sure.
So if you wanna get in contact with me,Instagram is my main platform.
So all of my social media handles are SocialBlueprint, exactly how it sounds, LLC.
That's on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, all overthe place.
(22:16):
That's what it is.
Social Blueprint LLC, and that is also mywebsite.
I make it very, very easy.
If you type that in, you will find me on socialplatforms, and you'll find my website.
I do have a contact form there.
So if you are trying to think of maybe how wecan come on board and partner with you and help
your business grow, I would love to do that.
You can tell me what you're looking for, and,my services are all customizable.
(22:40):
As a small business owner, I understand thebudgets are constrained, especially when you're
just starting out and when you're starting togrow your team.
So if you go to my services and you say, youknow, I can't spend $2,000 a month on social
media management, We can still help you.
Tell me what you need.
Do you need someone to edit your videos?
And that's that's all you can afford right now,but that's really going to make a difference in
(23:03):
your process.
Okay.
We customize everything.
We'll put together a package that works for youbased on your budget and what's really going to
help you.
That is great.
And so what I'd love for you to maybe tell usis what is the thing that you love most about
what you do?
(23:25):
Oh, I absolutely love the community of othersmall business owners that I have fallen into.
What is really cool is that when my businessgrows and I tell my clients, hey.
I have brought on somebody else.
They are also going to be working on youraccount to help with engagement or video
(23:46):
editing editing or whatever.
I don't have clients that say, oh, I reallywish it could just be you.
All my clients say, I am so happy for you.
That is awesome that your business is growing.
Yay.
I mean, the the clients are supportive, whichwhich is so cool.
And same with I've kinda just fallen intofinding these other small business owners that
(24:07):
are not clients, but I just genuinely lovebeing around because we are giving each other
that free advice.
We're helping each other grow.
And then as we grow, we're kinda, like,starting to use everyone's services, but we're
supporting all these small business owners.
And I think that is kind of the coolest thingabout this.
That is so awesome.
Nikki, this has been really great, and I thankyou because I'm gonna tell you that, you know,
(24:30):
one of the things I do find is thatgenerationally, the people who are not
comfortable with being in front of the cameraare people who have they didn't grow up with
the camera in front of them.
Right?
And, and so you're able to help them createthat comfort and just be okay with telling
their story and help to elevate their message.
And so, you know, so thank you so much forsharing all of this.
(24:55):
Hopefully, our audience will go ahead and, youknow, and seek Nikki out and her services.
Just, you know what?
You make me feel confident, so I I thank you somuch.
Thank you.
Of course.
I'm so glad I got to be on this show, so thankyou.
Oh, you're welcome.
And, again, this is Catherine, your host withthe Beyond Business podcast.
(25:17):
And, again, we've had Nikki here with us todayand Nikki May, and we're just so happy that, we
were able to give you all of this information.
So please go ahead and look, Nikki up, and allof it will be on the show notes as well.
So have a great day.
Good afternoon.
This is Catherine, your host with the BeyondBusiness Podcast, and I am so excited to have
Nikki May and introduce her to you.
So Nikki, over the last, 4 years, Nikki hasworked in social media and digital marketing
exclusively for small businesses.
Through countless hours of research, socialmedia, and the spending habits of digital
(00:25):
consumers, she's become an expert in her field.
She launched social blueprint in January of2024 with the goal of helping entrepreneurs
create purposeful content that yieldsmeasurable results and establishes a strong
social presence.
So she has worked to grow businesses in thefollowing industries, childcare, recruiting,
(00:48):
counseling, fashion, cosmetology, retail, food,music, and more.
I am so excited to get to know you, Nikki.
Thank you for being with us here today.
Of course.
Happy to be here.
Really excited.
So so, Nikki, everybody has a story andeverybody has a reason why they do and what
(01:08):
they do and why they're passionate about whatthey do.
So tell us a little bit about your journey.
What were some of the things in your early lifeexperiences that that allowed you to decide
that this is what you wanted to do for aliving?
Yeah.
So I actually stumbled into social media, notmeaning to, I guess.
(01:29):
So when I graduated with my business managementdegree, I started managing people.
I was in operations management with thecompany, and I felt like while I enjoyed the
work, it wasn't something that I was justexcited to do.
You know?
It was fine, and I was happy with it.
But after marrying my husband, he actuallywanted to travel the US full time.
(01:54):
And so that's what we did.
We got married.
I couldn't keep my operations management job,so I, got an email about a company that was
looking for someone to work in social media forliterally just 5 hours a week.
It was so small, and, I was having a reallytough time finding a remote job.
This was before the remote work really became acraze, in 2020, and I decided to figure it out.
(02:18):
I said, well, if this is the only job I canhave right now, I'm gonna take it.
It's 5 hours.
So I started learning all about social media.
I got certified in content creation and just,social media advertising, all these different
things, and it really just took off.
So then I started contracting with a lot ofdifferent companies, and I would do their
social media.
I had a lot of fun.
(02:39):
I thought it was a super creative outlet, and Ididn't think I was a creative person until I
started doing this.
I just realized that my creativity is not like,I can't draw.
I can't paint.
I can't do all of this stuff, but I'm really,really good at creative social media
strategies.
So, I started getting into that, and then Ifelt like rather than trying to figure out all
(03:01):
these different things with these differentcompanies, because, you know, every company
runs their social media in a different way,that I wanted to launch my own company with
what I found was the best way across all thesedifferent industries.
And from learning from everyone, I took all ofthat and launched my own company.
And so now I get to do it the same way for, forevery single client.
(03:22):
Obviously, that's very branded, very niched forwhat they wanna do, but I feel like it's more
streamlined and it works really, really well.
So one thing that I got out of what you weresaying that I feel that's important for the
audience to know is you you seem to be someonewho understands processes, and you're able to
(03:42):
help people with processes.
Because one of the the most difficult things inbusiness is just not having your processes
right.
So even in social media, in advertising, andtelling who you are to the world, there is a
process that is important.
Would I is did I hear you correctly?
Yes.
Absolutely.
(04:02):
So, yeah, processes are so so important, andthat's actually the main thing that I'll work
with, like, consultation clients on.
So I have some people who come and maybe theycan't afford social media management.
It is an investment.
It's not something you can get cheap that doesvery well.
So I'll have some people just do consultations,and the main thing I help them with is their
(04:24):
social media processes and figuring out how tomake it not as overwhelming as it seems in
their mind.
Right.
Oh, man.
That is good.
So tell me a little bit about when let's sayyou're working with a client.
First of all, let's find out who's your yourbest client avatar, your ideal client.
(04:46):
Yeah.
So my ideal client is an entrepreneur with asmall, small business.
So we're not going for, like, this technically,a small business can have thousands of
employees and still be classified as small.
I love the, the small businesses that have, youknow, under 10 employees because they are still
(05:07):
very personal, and I love working to buildpersonal brands within the business.
And so my ideal client is someone who isn'tafraid to be in front of the camera.
Yes.
I can make it work if you're afraid of thecamera.
I can make a strategy that works, but I telleverybody it's not gonna work as well because
people are interested in people.
They're not really interested in your business.
(05:27):
They're interested in the feelings that you cangive them in the journey and the storytelling
that you are sharing as the founder.
And so founders that want to be a part of theirbrand and typically are in this very small,
small businesses, those are my favorite ones towork with.
Oh, I like that.
Along with what you're telling us about the,you know, just just being able to tell the
(05:49):
story, I'm always very interested in the story.
How do you help people capture the true heartand the essence of their story?
Like, what what would you say is something thatyou have found to be successful in your
business and how you're helping others to dothat?
So when it comes to storytelling, what I wouldsay helps founders the most is digging a little
(06:14):
bit deeper.
And what I mean by that is sometimes a founderwill just say, well, I don't really have a
story.
I just saw this need, and I started thisbusiness.
But that is a story.
You know, talking about this huge gap that wasin your field and how you've come in and you
filled it and having testimonials from yourclients who were so grateful that you filled
this gap, that's a story right there.
(06:35):
And there's a few different ways that you cantell it.
So the most typical one people think isovercoming something.
Right?
This happened.
It was a bad thing, but we turned it intosomething good.
And that resonates really well, and it'sactually gonna help you with that top of
funnel.
So getting awareness for your for yourbusiness.
And to get people to trust you, it's kind ofnurturing and getting this awareness.
(06:59):
So you have that, but maybe you also just havea story of you didn't overcome this huge
obstacle, but it's just the story of your day,the story of launching this business.
Maybe there weren't a ton of obstacles, butthere's a reason that vlogs and, like, come
spend the day with me, come get ready with me,they work because people connect with people
(07:19):
and they connect with stories.
And so sometimes you have to dig a little bitdeeper and say, like, I didn't think I was very
interesting, but in all honesty, you don't haveto have this crazy story.
Right?
A lot of people relate to the very common dayto day things.
So I worked in the travel industry on theinfluencer side for a while, and I can say that
(07:41):
the things that people related to, the reelsthat would go viral, were not me staying in a
$2,000 a night hotel room because that's notrelatable.
Most people cannot do that, me included.
Right?
But the you're flying on a plane, and you'renot gonna spend $12 to sit with your husband
because that's just not worth it.
Right?
Like, that's something that's a little bit morerelatable.
(08:04):
You're not gonna upgrade those seats.
You're just gonna deal with it for a few hours.
So kind of just thinking of maybe your boringis the most relatable part of you, and that's
that's okay.
That's that's a great example.
So along your journey, did you have any mentorsor coaches that, you know, that helped you as
(08:25):
you're navigating and making new decisions foryourself?
Yeah.
So when I started, I didn't have many mentorsor coaches, but I started in social media, with
that 5 hours a week.
And I went to HubSpot, and I did their onlineacademy, all these different certifications.
And then when I started getting into the moreinfluencer side, I would take courses by, like,
(08:51):
Marie and Jake Snow.
They were a popular travel influencer.
Now they've kind of shifted their niche, butthey were traveling and that's what I was
doing.
And so I I started learning from them, and Ithink it was amazing because there are so many
things that you just don't think about.
And like I said, it simplifies the process.
So if you are a founder or you're a contentcreator and just starting out, it's kind of
(09:16):
hard to think, okay.
What can I do?
Because it's just so overwhelming.
There's so many things you can do.
But then when you have somebody who reallybreaks it down for you and says, well, maybe
you just need to focus on x, y, and z, andthat's it, It just kinda, like, calms your
mind.
And once you put those processes into place,it's just so much easier.
(09:37):
And so I didn't really have any, like, personalcoach or anything like that.
But just from from courses, I feel like Ilearned so much.
And now I get to be that coach for otherbusinesses who are launching, and that's pretty
cool.
So the you know?
And and I just wanna make sure that I do saythis, that coaches and mentors can also be the
(09:59):
the information that we seek out.
And and that, you know, because that in and ofitself, knowledge is power.
And, you know, the more knowledge we have andthe more tools that we have, you know, the the
better we become in in whatever our industry.
Right?
And so so there's a factor there.
So what would you say is something that clientsthat you work with when they first started with
(10:25):
you that they didn't know they didn't know?
Because sometimes we just don't know that wedon't know something.
Right?
Very true.
I would say for the most part, clients don'tknow that they don't know that social media is
not for promotional content, really.
I say that with a bit of an asterisk because, Iam somebody who says, yes.
(10:49):
You do need to post about your product and yourservice.
However, you have to do it in a way that issocial media friendly.
People are not going on to social media tolearn about your product.
They are going on there to be entertained, tofeel closer to people that they know, to learn
about the lives of maybe people that theyfollow that they don't really know, but they
(11:10):
are not there to watch your ad.
And I think this is where small businessesreally struggle because, yes, you have this
great product and you have this great idea,but, honestly, nobody really wants to hear
about it.
And it sounds a little bit mean when you say itlike that.
But then when you start talking with them aboutideas to make their content fun, it makes
(11:32):
social media fun because it's not just ads allthe time.
It's now maybe you just have to take a video ofyourself working or packing an order, and
that's a storytelling thing.
So come pack an order with me, and you can seethe behind the scenes process.
People actually genuinely like this, and yourcontent doesn't necessarily have to be
something where you're going out of your wayand driving 30 minutes to get this perfect
(11:54):
shot.
It can just be what are you doing, film it, andthen use that for your content later, which
tells that story or tells them more about you,and then you kind of slip your product or your
service into the mix.
Right?
That is great advice for our our audience.
What would you say is, something, whether it bein your own life that you've learned that maybe
(12:20):
mistakes that you've made or you've seenclients make.
So you can either use it on your, you know,your own life journey, as you're navigating to
this career and helping your clients or evenyour own clients that you've helped them learn
something that they just, you know, didn'tstart out knowing?
(12:41):
Yeah.
This is great.
So I would say I have two examples of mistakesthat, one that I have made and one that I see
clients make a lot that we should probably talkabout.
So for me personally, I beta tested a lot ofstuff on my own account first because I didn't
wanna mess up my clients, and I still do thatwith my business account.
(13:01):
I beta test all this different stuff, and a lotof it will flop.
And I say, okay.
I'm okay that it flopped for me.
I don't want it to flop for my clients, sowe're not gonna do the same thing.
So my account is kinda just all over the place.
I'm trying to figure all this stuff out.
But one mistake that I made specifically on mymy travel side was that I gained over 7,000
(13:24):
followers from one piece of content that I putout.
It is possible.
It took me 2 years before that happened.
Okay?
So this is not like I just post this and you'llget 7,000 followers.
But I gained that in the wrong niche.
So I was trying to share travel content.
I'm sharing bucket list destinations, placesyou don't wanna miss, advice for traveling full
(13:47):
time, and then I posted a reel about me and myhusband, and that gained me 70% of my
followers.
And they came for relationship content.
So, what happened was that my engagementtanked.
Right?
Because people are there to learn about me andmy husband and our story, and I was there
sharing, road trip itineraries.
(14:08):
Right?
That's not what they came to see.
So huge mistake is to go viral in the wrongniche.
If you are posting about your business and thenyou make a random reel about your cat doing
something funny and it goes viral, you're gonnaget followers who don't care about you in the
long run, and it's gonna hurt your account.
(14:29):
So, mistake, don't just post anything.
Post related to your niche.
And if you're gonna post something about yourcat, you better relate it back to your business
so people know when they come to you that it isabout your business.
So that was kind of the one mistake that Iwould say that I I definitely made.
And the second is a little bit related, andthis is what I see business owners do a lot is
(14:52):
that they treat their business page like apersonal diary, or they'll start sharing about
their kids or, like I said, their pets.
Or they kinda share about all this other stuff,but it's not related to your business.
And so there is a way to balance thestorytelling, you behind the scenes, you as a
personal brand with your business over just mykid did this really funny thing today when
(15:16):
you're selling software.
Like, sorry, but people don't wanna see thatkeep it on your personal page.
So your business page is not a diary unless youare making it storytelling about your business.
Can you give me an example of maybe somebodythat you started to work with?
Because I I you know, not everybody'scomfortable like you've started to say in front
(15:38):
of the camera.
And, so if you have someone who that's they'renot comfortable in front of the camera, how
have you been able to help them get to thatother side of that and get more comfortable
with telling their story and and, you know, andputting themselves out there?
Because I I've had recently actually had somepeople even when in the podcasting industry
(15:59):
that are not comfortable being on camera.
And so how have you helped them navigate to getcomfortable and get more confident?
And then do you find that they get moreconfident after?
Yes.
Okay.
So great question.
If you are not comfortable in front of thecamera, here's what I tell people who come to
work with me.
I'm a very blunt person.
(16:21):
I say that I know what is working.
I do the research.
If you're not comfortable in front of thecamera, get comfortable in front of the camera.
That's honestly what I tell people.
Let me move this cat.
I understand the camera.
Yeah.
I understand that you're not comfortable, and Iunderstand that it's awkward.
(16:42):
And I was in the same boat.
Every single picture of me from middle schooluntil recently was this.
My hand in front of the camera blocking it.
I didn't wanna be in pictures.
I was so awkward in videos.
I didn't know what I was doing, but it's notabout you.
If you are trying to grow your business, yougotta get outside of your comfort zone.
(17:03):
And, one thing that I tell my clients whenthey're nervous, I say when you're filming
yourself, first off, flip the camera around onyour phone.
Don't be looking at yourself because thenyou're so judgmental of what you're doing.
Make sure you set it up.
Just flip it around.
Make sure you're in the screen, and just talklike you're talking to me.
Just act like we're in a meeting just likethis.
(17:25):
Your story if I told you to talk about, like,starting your business, Just tell me your
story.
It can be 10 minutes long.
You don't have to get it perfect.
You don't have to have a script.
Just tell me your story, and I will edit itdown.
I will do my magic, and I will put it into a32nd clip that is engaging, that gets people to
(17:48):
want to know more about you and your business.
And so, I mean, again, it's kind of blunt, butwho cares that it's uncomfortable?
Life is uncomfortable, and you're never gonnagrow if you stay in your comfort zone.
Your growth only happens outside of it.
So if you really want to be successful,sometimes you're gonna have to do stuff that's
really, really uncomfortable.
(18:11):
But, also, I do not work with people who arenot willing to come out of that comfort zone.
Makes sense.
So tell me, if you can give our audience anexample of somebody who may not have video, how
are you able to navigate and work with picturesand create the story the stories if that would
(18:32):
be the starting point for them to and asthey're getting comfortable?
Sure.
So if you are just adamantly, like, I gottajust start with something, and I get it.
I just started with photos too.
It happens.
There there is a whole journey there.
It's doable.
And what's really cool is that, yeah, videosmight help you reach more non followers, but
(18:53):
your photos are actually more of that nurturecycle for your current audience.
So that gets pushed more to them.
And that's really cool too.
And so maybe you're not gonna grow your socialaccount very quickly.
That's okay.
If your goal is just to really nurture thataudience and then try to sell to them down the
road, pictures are actually a great way to dothat.
(19:13):
Graphics are a great way to do that.
And so we can just start with you take somepictures, you send your favorite ones to me,
you can take a 1000000 pictures and just sendme 10.
It's okay.
We'll make it work.
So we would tell the story in the caption, ormaybe we would even do a carousel where we can
tell your story as text as, like, a 10 partseries.
(19:34):
Right?
They read the first one.
They swipe.
They read a little bit more of your story, andthey keep swiping.
And so we'll figure out a creative way to tellit with just pictures until you're ready to
finally get into video and kinda tell thatexact same story.
That is great.
This is great.
Really great, nuggets that you're giving us.
Tell me, is there something that you would liketo leave the audience with as a teachable for
(19:58):
them, for them to, to know that what you haveto offer is something that'll be very valuable
for them?
So there's so many things I'm trying to tonarrow with that in my head.
I think the most teachable thing is that whenyou use social media correctly, honestly,
(20:21):
digital marketing as a whole, When you learnwhere your audience is and how to talk to them,
your business can grow so much faster than ifyou don't.
And I think that that kinda sounds like justcommon sense, common knowledge.
If you do it right, it's gonna go well.
But I feel like so many people think they arewasting their time because their accounts
(20:47):
aren't growing or they're not getting theengagement.
They're not seeing the sales from social.
And to be honest, you are.
If you're not seeing that return, you arewasting your time.
So you know, maybe Instagram is not where youshould be at.
But I say this with the kind of asterisk thatyou have to do it right.
If you're just posting ads and wondering whyit's not working, it's because your strategy is
(21:09):
not good.
But if you are really, really trying to have agreat strategy with your content, you've come
up with these ideas that are relatable andentertaining, maybe funny, maybe you're trying
to skit, then you're trying a talking head,you're trying all this different stuff and it's
just not working, pivot.
You know?
Stop just kind of dumping time and money intosomething that's not working.
(21:31):
But when you really put in that contentstrategy across all these platforms and you
find where your audience is and it's goingreally well, I would say, like, it's an
exponential growth is what's happening with myclients across all these different industries.
That is so great.
I just wanna thank you.
What I'd like to leave the audience with iswhat how is it that they find you?
(21:54):
How do they do business with you?
What would be the offer that you would have forour audience today?
Yeah.
For sure.
So if you wanna get in contact with me,Instagram is my main platform.
So all of my social media handles are SocialBlueprint, exactly how it sounds, LLC.
That's on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, all overthe place.
(22:16):
That's what it is.
Social Blueprint LLC, and that is also mywebsite.
I make it very, very easy.
If you type that in, you will find me on socialplatforms, and you'll find my website.
I do have a contact form there.
So if you are trying to think of maybe how wecan come on board and partner with you and help
your business grow, I would love to do that.
You can tell me what you're looking for, and,my services are all customizable.
(22:40):
As a small business owner, I understand thebudgets are constrained, especially when you're
just starting out and when you're starting togrow your team.
So if you go to my services and you say, youknow, I can't spend $2,000 a month on social
media management, We can still help you.
Tell me what you need.
Do you need someone to edit your videos?
And that's that's all you can afford right now,but that's really going to make a difference in
(23:03):
your process.
Okay.
We customize everything.
We'll put together a package that works for youbased on your budget and what's really going to
help you.
That is great.
And so what I'd love for you to maybe tell usis what is the thing that you love most about
what you do?
(23:25):
Oh, I absolutely love the community of othersmall business owners that I have fallen into.
What is really cool is that when my businessgrows and I tell my clients, hey.
I have brought on somebody else.
They are also going to be working on youraccount to help with engagement or video
(23:46):
editing editing or whatever.
I don't have clients that say, oh, I reallywish it could just be you.
All my clients say, I am so happy for you.
That is awesome that your business is growing.
Yay.
I mean, the the clients are supportive, whichwhich is so cool.
And same with I've kinda just fallen intofinding these other small business owners that
(24:07):
are not clients, but I just genuinely lovebeing around because we are giving each other
that free advice.
We're helping each other grow.
And then as we grow, we're kinda, like,starting to use everyone's services, but we're
supporting all these small business owners.
And I think that is kind of the coolest thingabout this.
That is so awesome.
Nikki, this has been really great, and I thankyou because I'm gonna tell you that, you know,
(24:30):
one of the things I do find is thatgenerationally, the people who are not
comfortable with being in front of the cameraare people who have they didn't grow up with
the camera in front of them.
Right?
And, and so you're able to help them createthat comfort and just be okay with telling
their story and help to elevate their message.
And so, you know, so thank you so much forsharing all of this.
(24:55):
Hopefully, our audience will go ahead and, youknow, and seek Nikki out and her services.
Just, you know what?
You make me feel confident, so I I thank you somuch.
Thank you.
Of course.
I'm so glad I got to be on this show, so thankyou.
Oh, you're welcome.
And, again, this is Catherine, your host withthe Beyond Business podcast.
(25:17):
And, again, we've had Nikki here with us todayand Nikki May, and we're just so happy that, we
were able to give you all of this information.
So please go ahead and look, Nikki up, and allof it will be on the show notes as well.
So have a great day.
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