November 26, 2024 • 29 mins
Ashley Mason is the founder of Dash of Social, a content marketing agency specializing in social media management, blog content, and email marketing. Working closely with their clients, Ashley and her team help small businesses and tech startups craft and execute value-driven marketing strategies designed to establish thought leadership, grow online communities, and drive brand awareness. Additionally, Ashley founded Massachusetts Business Network in 2022, which is the only statewide publication that provides free to low cost resources that support organizations with increasing their visibility and establishing thought leadership through its podcast, blog, and directory. Ashley is a graduate of Stonehill College, where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. She is a TEDx speaker, has been named a 40 Under 40 Honoree by Cape & Plymouth Business Media, and was recognized as Best Social Media Specialist by Boston Business Women. Ashley currently serves as a Board Member for the Brockton Visiting Nurse Association (BVNA) and Middleboro Public Library. When she isn't working, you can find her running on her Peloton or curled up on the couch with a book.
https://dashofsocial.com/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Josh Bolton Show, where we dive into
interesting and inspiringconversations.
And now your host, josh Bolton.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Sure.
So thank you, josh.
Firstly for having me on yourpodcast.
I'm very honored to be herebecause I love chatting with
other podcast hosts.
But for those who I have notmet yet, my name is Ashley Mason
and I am the owner of themarketing agency Dash of Social,
which is based in Massachusetts, and we specialize in content
marketing for small to mediumsized businesses and tech
(00:36):
startups.
So we primarily support themwith their social media, email
marketing and bloggingstrategies and really consider
ourselves to be their integratedmarketing partners.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And, honestly, as I've looked at your website and,
like the stuff you've done, youtruly are a Titan within your
own field too.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Thank you, I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
You're welcome.
So we were talking earlier andso I mentioned to her that
blogging, I believe, is kind oflike a dying trend, but I also,
like I was mentioning, I kind ofhave dyslexia and words jump
everywhere so I don't know whatto do.
But she was telling me that sheactually believes it's much
stronger.
Can you also tell them why?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Absolutely so.
I view blogging as a fewdifferent benefits, so one being
it drives website traffic.
So if you publish a blog post onyour website about any topic
that relates to your zone ofgenius and then you promote that
blog post through social media,through your email list,
through just sending it out tofriends and family, whatever it
might be, when people click onthat link it obviously brings
(01:38):
them back to your website.
And once people are on yourwebsite, the whole goal is that
after they read that blog post,they'll then kind of click
around and see who you are, whatyou do, what services you offer
, so on and so forth, kind ofreeling them in.
I guess that's the way todescribe it.
I also think, along with that,blogging helps with thought
leadership.
So when you're posting orwriting a blog post on a certain
(02:00):
topic, you're hopefully anauthority, have an authoritative
voice in that expertise orwhatever it might be or that
topic, and so you're kind ofable to position yourself as an
expert when you're writing abouta certain subject or anything
like that.
And so when you're just able towrite and publish this long
form content, it helps totherefore demonstrate the
(02:21):
experience that you have andalso help to prove your
credibility to anyone who'sreading it.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
That's a good point.
Yeah, I'm going to say there'sa few times I've listened to
audio books.
I didn't know anything aboutthe person.
I'm like, well, they wrote anaudio.
Well, they wrote a book slash,read a book Like there must be
an authority in it and then Iguess halfway through I'm like
they have no idea what they'retalking about.
I know right.
(02:49):
But so for the bloggingspecifically, so is there a
certain writing style or themeor structuring of the actual
blog that you've noticedconverts well, or like it's more
desirable, like the twoparagraphs max, or is it like a
long, detailed but spaced outkind of thing?
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah, that's a good question.
So I would say I like to aimfor a minimum of 500 words, but
I think length can really varydepending on what it is you're
writing about.
I mean, you don't want to forceyourself to try to write a
bunch of words if you don'treally have much to say on the
topic, but you also want to makesure that you're giving enough
information that someone'sactually learning something.
(03:23):
You don't want to kind of cutit too short.
So I would say focus on atleast 500 words per length.
But then, in terms of like theactual format of the blog, I
always like to veer more towardslike the tutorials or how to's
or like step by step type ofcontent that kind of educates or
explain something to someone orexplains it to the reader.
(03:44):
And then I always like to makesure that there's readability
incorporated within that.
So by that meaning, like you'reusing the headers and having
different sections to break itup really nicely and organize it
.
You're using bullet points whenit makes sense if you have
lists, so that way it's easierto read.
Also, making sure that you'rehyperlinking within the blog
posts to other pages on yourwebsite that might be relevant
(04:05):
or other resources that aren'ton your website but that might
be a trusted source that peoplecan click through, and always
including some type of call toaction at the end where people
can reach out to you directly ifthey want to learn more.
So the whole point of a blogpost is you want to give someone
a bunch of information that'shelpful and then at the end you
can say something like if you'relooking for support with this,
(04:26):
reach out to me and kind of linkto your contact page or
whatever it is that you'd liketo drive people to.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Okay, it's kind of what I was thinking, but I'm not
the expert in writing blogposts.
That's where my what do youthink?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yeah, no, I think it's great, and I think with
blogging too, you don't have togo overboard.
So if you want to do just oneblog post per month, that's
sufficient.
I don't think you need to tryto stretch yourself too thin,
producing too many blogs at once.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yeah, Like, if you listen to someone like the
millionaire blogger, he's likebuy his AI automation thing and
just like pump out like three tofive blog posts a day and see
which one works and I'm likesounds like a lot of work.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Exactly, and so that brings me to something that you
had mentioned earlier, Josh.
But you want to meet yourtarget audience where they are.
So if your target audienceisn't reading blog posts to
consume content, that you don'twant to spend all this time and
energy and effort writing andpublishing blog posts if they're
not even going to read it.
So it's important for you to dothe research to see where your
(05:26):
target market is hanging out andthen be able to make sure that
you're building a presence inthose different channels and
platforms to reach them.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, no, definitely For me.
A lot of it.
I get it through.
It's funny, I'm a podcaster butI don't really listen to
podcasts.
I more listen to audiobooks, Ithink.
For me.
I get annoyed with the tangentswhere they just like, oh, they
start talking and they go aboutthe grandma and then their kids
and then this terrible trip andit's like where the hell are you
(05:54):
going with that, with?
an audiobook it's very concise,it's very organized.
I could just play a chapter andI'm good for the day and I
think that's very, that's veryrelevant.
Yeah, cause, like I, if I wasto try to categorize myself, I
would.
I would say you need to createaudio books or like really good
YouTube videos.
I like that, thank you.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
So for you were mentioning earlier too.
Um, I, I don't really usesocial media cause my fear of
missing out kicks in hard and Ican do scroll for hours.
Then I sit here and I'm likeman, I had a whole plan for the
day.
I watched this YouTube shorts.
But how does someone approachsocial media?
(06:35):
Should they?
Wouldn't they have somethinglike me?
Where should they get, likemaybe a third party scheduler,
or just learn to suck it up anddownload the app and do it
themselves, kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah.
So I mean, I guess it depends Iwill always recommend batch
producing and batch creating.
So meaning, if you're managingyour own social media, I would
recommend being able to dedicateone hour per day or maybe a few
hours each week to actuallyjust plan your social media
content in advance being able towrite your posts, being able to
(07:06):
pull together the visual thatyou want to go with that and
then scheduling it all outthrough, like you said, a social
media scheduler.
So that way everything's kind ofon autopilot from there and
it's ultimately out of sight,out of mind.
I think it's easier to be ableto plan things in advance or
kind of do like a few weeks ofcontent at once, compared to
trying to do it in the moment,Because what I see oftentimes
with any type of creator or abusiness owner is that when they
(07:29):
try to post day by day, it veryquickly and very easily leads
to them not posting at all forseveral weeks or several months
because they understandably justget busy with life and what's
going on in their careers andbusiness, whatever it might be.
So being able to kind ofdedicate some time to doing that
will ensure that you're able tomaintain your consistency.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Okay.
Is there any scheduling apps orplatforms you recommend?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I usually refer people to using something like
Hootsuite or Buffer is good.
Those are typically meant forwhat I'd say.
Maybe, like an individualperson, I use a different social
media schedule because since Iown an agency, it's more so
meant for agencies multipleaccounts that they're managing
but later is another one thatpeople tend to use a lot.
(08:15):
Planoly is also pretty popular.
So I would say, a lot of these,or at least most of them, have
a free option or at least a freetrial.
So it's kind of nice to be ableto just sign up for maybe a
handful of them and test themout and see which one you like
the best and which one suits theneeds that you're looking for.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Okay, sounds good and there's a few apps.
I've been watching on AppSumofor scheduling and I think their
big agency plan, though they'rewanting like 200 upfront.
I'm like, hmm, you're so newthough I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Exactly, yeah, you don't want to kind of spend the
money if it's not something thatwill support you in the long
run.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yeah, there was one I signed up for called get
marqueeai, and I was.
I noticed the owner in his owncomments is like yeah, I don't
know if I can sustain paying foruh, I'm gonna I'm gonna get my
refund yeah, that's concerningthat's if you're openly saying
(09:15):
on a form, I don't know if I canafford this bill yeah so, yeah,
that's where I've just beensitting here.
I'm like, who, um, what do I do?
The the biggest one for me,however.
He did his uh instagram forscheduling.
I am now completely locked outof my account.
That's a real, and Meta thinksI'm some Lithuanian hacker.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
So they're not giving it.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
I'll go through the process, reset everything, and
then they're like yeah, no,sorry, wrong person, do it again
.
It's just a loop.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
That's frustrating.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
So I'm like did I just lose my account?
That sucks.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah right, I know.
Unfortunately, it's too commonthese days.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I feel like yeah, so do you do also a type of PR for
your customers?
Um, or is that a little too outof your?
Speaker 2 (10:06):
I'd say I was of my wheelhouse, so typically for
that I have a few different, uhgreat referral partners that I
will typically send clients toif they come to us looking for
those services.
I have a handful of people thatI can trust to offer that that
I know will deliver quality workand follow through on what they
promise.
So I like to typically justhave people that I recommend for
(10:26):
that, as well as othermarketing services too.
I mean, we don't do any type ofgraphic design or web design
and development.
Paid ads we don't do.
There's like a bunch ofservices that aren't what we
offer, and so it's really niceto have other people in the
industry that you know you cansend business to and who will be
able to support your clientsand really prioritize them the
(10:48):
way that they should beprioritized.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Did you try to do that before, and that's why you
decided not to.
It's funny that you mentionedthat.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yeah, because I feel like so.
I started Dash Social in 2016.
So we just celebrated our eightyear anniversary two months ago
.
Thank you, and I feel like whenI first started, I tried to
offer every service under thesun, because I'd have clients
coming to me looking forservices that we weren't
offering at that time and I wasreferring business out and I was
(11:16):
like, well, one day I was like,well, this is kind of silly,
instead of sending businesselsewhere, why don't I try to
offer it?
And so I tried to become more oflike a full service agency.
But I realized that it's reallydifficult to successfully
manage an agency that offers adozen or so different services,
and there was also so manyservices within that that I just
(11:36):
genuinely didn't enjoy.
So I realized, through probablyat least the past five years,
if not longer than that theservices that we really are
really, really are good at andthat I really enjoy are the
social media, blog content andemail marketing.
And I kind of realized thatbeing able to focus on what you
enjoy and what you're good atwill help you to be successful,
(11:57):
rather than trying to offereverything.
Know what you're good at, knowwhat you can deliver and then
kind of forget about the rest,and so that's been really
helpful to just kind of.
I guess niche down is reallywhat I'm talking about here
being able to niche down andfocus on what I know I can do
really well.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
No, that's very important.
There's a few of my friends whohave tried to build their own
business and like, oh, we'lljust do everything and I'll
check in a couple months later.
I'm like, how are you doing?
They're like terrible, why.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I can't do this.
Yeah, it's hard.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
I'm like, you're really good at X, Y and Z.
Just do that.
They're like, but it doesn'tpay that well, Mike.
But if you become like awell-known person, it doesn't
matter, Everyone will just cometo you.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yep, exactly.
So yeah, it's nice to just kindof know what you're good at and
not try to do everything.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Exactly.
So I am curious for your emailmarketing, what specifically are
, I guess, some of the call toactions on the blog, but is
there a certain sequence you doto filter them and stuff like
that?
I hope you get the question.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Do you mean so, getting people onto your email
list?
Is that what you're referring?
Speaker 1 (13:08):
to yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Perfect.
So there's a few different ways.
I would say the biggest andeasiest way to do so is to offer
what's called a lead magnet.
So for anyone who's notfamiliar with that, a lead
magnet is a free resource thatyou'll typically put on your
website and you'll have sometype of call to action on your
website that says you'reinterested in getting access to
(13:30):
this free ebook on how to doemail marketing.
Enter your name and emailaddress and you'll get it sent
to you.
And so pretty much every websiteI feel like has some type of
call to action in that sensewhere they offer free resource.
Or, if you're a product company, a lot of those will offer like
a coupon code in exchange forjoining their email list.
But you'll see that typicallyas like a pop up on your website
(13:51):
or embedded in like what'scalled the hero of your homepage
, kind of like in that top fold.
And so by being able to offerthat, it's a win win situation.
You're providing any of yourwebsite visitors with free and
valuable information, becauseyou're creating this resource on
a specific topic, but inexchange you're getting their
email address, and so whenthey're automatically added to
(14:13):
your email list now, you're ableto continue to market to them
through newsletters or whatever.
It might be that you're usingyour email list for.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Okay, so what's a good lead magnet that you've
noticed that has good conversionrate?
Is it like a free pamphlet, afree book, like stuff like that?
Speaker 2 (14:33):
I would say it depends.
I've seen a few that have donewell, have been kind of like a
video series, so maybe like athree day video series that will
kind of get dripped outthroughout the course of three
days.
I personally have some type oflike playbook it's called, so
it's basically like a reallylong white paper, ultimately
that talks about how to buildyour marketing strategy.
(14:54):
A lot of people will do like afree webinar that can do it.
So I guess it really justdepends kind of going back to
our conversation earlier,thinking about who your ideal
client or ideal customer is,thinking about how they like to
consume content and what type ofcontent they like to consume,
and then being able to createsomething that aligns with that.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I mean that in alone, right there, I've had multiple
people come on just specificallyfrom avatar creation and how to
reach them.
Is there a method for you,though, for your email marketing
and blogging, that when youconvey to your customers like,
hey, if you're wanting to reachX client, we need to talk this
way.
I know you want this way, butthis one's better.
(15:35):
Is there a formula you have forthat?
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Yeah, so for email marketing specifically, I will
always recommend that yousegment your email list.
So for anyone who's listening,who isn't familiar with what
that is, segmenting your emaillist basically means if you have
this whole group of subscribers, you actually want to be able
to narrow them down intodifferent subcategories
ultimately.
So if you have a whole group ofsubscribers, you could have one
(15:59):
subcategory of those people whosay that they're clients.
You could have one subcategoryof those people who are maybe
referral partners.
You just want to get morespecific.
So that way you can actuallyget more targeted with the types
of newsletters that you sendand you can send custom and more
personalized ones to thosespecific groups of people.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Um, so let's say, within the one you gave, like
client referral and a leadmagnet kind of buckets, just for
simplicity, what would be thedifference in the lead bucket
email versus the referral versusthe client email?
Is there?
Like the sorry you go.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Oh, yeah, I was going to say so.
The difference is that clientversus referral partner, we're
talking about those.
So a client is someone who isactually a client of your
business, so they've given youtheir money, you're performing
some type of service for them orthey purchase some type of
product from you.
A referral partner would beidentified as someone who isn't
a client or customer, but theysend you business.
(16:59):
So, for example, my types ofreferral partners would be PR
firms, because they typicallysend clients to me.
Or they might be web designerswho send clients to me, so
they're not hiring me directly,but they are sending me business
.
So if I have these twosubcategories within my email
list, I can craft emails thatare specifically meant to my
clients.
That's talking about maybe anew service that I'm offering.
(17:20):
But then I can also send in aseparate email just to my
referral partners.
That maybe say to them hey,thank you for being a valued
referral partner of Dash ofSocial.
We're actively accepting newclients.
Like would love to hear if youhave anyone in mind for us to
work with, so you can just beable to tell your content a
little bit more.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Okay, so for, like, the referral partner, it's still
professional, but more laidback and easygoing compared to a
customer.
You got to be a little morepolished.
And okay, yeah, that makessense Because it's more for the
referral partner.
It's just like talking toacquaintance, like hey, I'm
taking clients again, if youwant to send some to me.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Is there anything since 2016,.
The trends you've noticed thathave changed throughout time,
but also, I guess, also some ofthe old ones coming back too.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Yeah, so I would say things that have changed
throughout time.
I feel like when I firststarted it was, the expectations
were that you'd keep, like yourbusiness and your personal
content completely separate.
So people would always say,like you can't talk about
anything personal on yourbusiness social media profiles,
and it was very, very distinctand separate from one another.
(18:35):
But I feel like over the pastprobably four or so years, I
feel like those lines havebecome blurred.
So people on their businessprofiles are talking about
exciting life milestones of,like getting married or having a
baby or anything like that, andI feel like content has become
a lot more humanized is what Icall it.
(18:56):
So basically like human centriccontent, and that's important
because you're giving an insidelook into the people that you're
going to be working with fromthat business, and that's
important because you're givingan inside look into the people
that you're going to be workingwith from that business and,
ultimately, people do businesswith people.
So once you start to learn moreabout who someone is as a
person and you get a feel fortheir personality, that's when
you start to like them.
Once you start to like them,you start to trust them.
(19:17):
And once you start to trustthem.
Then you are able to basicallywant to purchase from them or
give them your money.
So it's really important tokind of build that rapport
ultimately, and I only see thatcontinuing to grow, moving
forward as focusing on the humanpeople behind it.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Oh, absolutely Like earlier today with my job.
I do like I clean pools is mymain job, then I do podcasting
on the side and I bumped intoone of my one of the employees.
I was talking to him and he'slike, yeah, I noticed your truck
was out in front of thecustomer's house a long time.
I'm like, yeah, he's a lonelyclient.
(19:56):
I'm like the only person thattalks to him in the whole week.
And I told him like the thingabout service business that no
one talks about is you kind ofbecome an indirect therapist,
friend and confidant and I'mlike like you don't realize how
much of a responsibility it is.
And he's like that sucks, Idon't want to do it.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I'm like, whoa, okay, I feel like you get the most
successful.
As you said, like businessrelationships, you actually take
the time to know someone andknow who they are as a person,
and that's how you build thattrust with them and that's when
they feel like they can reallywant to maintain that
relationship, which is good foryou in the long run.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Oh, absolutely the same employee.
He was telling me.
He's like yeah, you know yourroute.
There's always things goingwrong.
He's like and all the customerstalk to you.
You know your route.
There's always things goingwrong.
He's like, and all thecustomers talk to you.
He's like I don't have time forthat.
I'm like that's why I do myroute the way I do.
And I said that's also whyeveryone gives the boss man like
Josh is a man, I take the timeto get to know them.
(20:53):
I said there's one client.
She always tells me about hergrandson who does hockey.
I don't know anything abouthockey when she was first
telling me, so I actuallystarted watching youtube videos
like oh, that's that, okay, okay, okay now I get it, but then
when I but, then, when I talkedto the next, we should go.
Oh, you actually know, I'm likeI like binge watch youtube.
So let's, let's ignore thatpart.
But that's where I told him Isaid, um, because I always read
(21:18):
audiobooks when I'm working.
I told him.
I said there's a reason why Ilisten to self-help to.
I said it sounds silly, but alot of therapy books or ways to
talk to people.
Because I said I don't knowwhat they went through or how
they experienced it, but I canlearn to understand it, to be a
better listener.
So I maybe and that's where I'mlike threw him off.
(21:42):
I'm like have you noticed?
I actually haven't reallytalked to him this much and he's
like wait a minute, how did youdo that?
I'm like, cause I'm a goodlistener.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
And that's where I told him.
I said that's the thing withservice.
Like you, any service business,even if it's online, you gotta
make time to understand yourcustomer too.
Do you have like an onboardingprocess and then like this is
more just on the side, not theactual email or social media?
Do you have like an onboardingprocess and on your own?
Do you have like a CRM orwhatever that like keeps track
(22:13):
of everything for your customers?
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Yes, so when a client begins working with us, we go
through a really robustonboarding process where it
typically starts with sendingthem an intake questionnaire to
understand their business, whotheir target market is, who
their competitors are, whattheir goals are for social media
all the really importantinformation we kind of need to
know to have that background onthem and then, using that
(22:35):
information, plus our additionalresearch and ideas, will then
build up their marketingstrategy.
So being able to identify theircontent pillars, their growth
strategies, do an audit of whatthey've done up to date, conduct
a competitor analysis, reallybe able to kind of outline the
blueprint or plan for what wecan do moving forward, and that
really kind of helps to ensurethat we stay on track and are
(22:57):
strategic with what we do andintentional with what we do.
So that's really what we followfrom there, with what we do and
intentional with what we do.
So that's really what we followfrom there.
In terms of a CRM, I would sayit's more of like a project
management system, but I reallylove Asana and have used that
for most of the time that I'vehad my business.
I've switched between a few,but Asana has been the one that
I really, really loved and it'sreally helpful for being able to
(23:19):
keep track of client projects,tasks that need to be done, due
dates, since I have a team beingable to kind of get a feel for,
like what their progress onwork is and really being able to
ensure that everything's inline.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
How do you spell that one again?
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Asana, so it's A-S-A-N-A.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
I just want to look that up while we're doing this.
Yeah, but that's interesting.
So, like I heard, monday is areally good like project
management one too.
Is that one you would recommendtoo?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
yeah, I think it's a little bit more.
I don't know if complex is theright word.
I think sometimes it has alittle bit more features than
like just one person might need.
I think monday is more so meantfor teams, people who might
have like multiple people kindof involved.
But Asana is a good one formaybe like a solo person who
needs something, or Trello ispretty popular as well.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Okay, that's really good.
Thank you, of course.
Is there anything else inparticular that I may have not
asked that you want to talkabout?
Speaker 2 (24:18):
I would say, to review your analytics.
That is something that's reallyimportant when it comes to
marketing.
I think a lot of times peoplethrow spaghetti at the wall and
hope that it sticks, or they'remore so just kind of doing
something and not even reallyunderstanding why they're doing
it or how what's performingreally well.
(24:40):
On the opposite end, what mightnot really be performing so
well, so that we can use thatinformation and that data moving
forward to plan your contentand ensure that you're really
only producing work that isactually going to align with
your target audience.
So definitely review yournumbers and kind of make some
decisions from there, ratherthan kind of going at it blindly
(25:01):
, almost, and just doing it justto do it, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Yeah, absolutely.
Is there a guideline though,cause, like I could post a blog,
but if I mean we check it inlike two minutes, it's not gonna
, it's not gonna reflect.
Is there a timeline you alsorecommend for your clients, like
, hey, check it every threeweeks, sorry, every three days
to a week, kind of thing?
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Yeah, so I will always recommend a minimum of 30
days you want to give yourselfat least a 30 day window because
it does take some time forthings to play out.
And I explain it like this Ipreviously had clients were kind
of looking at like a one weekwindow and that's truly not
enough data.
It's kind of like the sameanalogy where if someone's
trying to lose weight and maybeone week they act, they gain a
(25:43):
few pounds well, instead of themsaying, oh that's it, it's
clearly not working, I'm givingup.
If they were to look at thewhole 30 days but see that they
actually did lose weight, it'skind of like that net loss.
Well, now you have more data towork with.
So, looking at just that, oneweek is too short of a timeline
to kind of make any I don't wantto say rash decisions, but make
any decisions and kind of viewthat to be the absolute truth.
(26:05):
I think you need to giveyourself a much bigger timeline
and then see how it really playsout throughout time and not
just kind of call it quits orthink that you have the right
answer when there's only notbeen that much time going by.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Fair enough, I was actually impressed.
A lot of people have alwaystold me like, oh, three days to
a week max on anything you do.
I'm like seems a little short,but okay.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Yeah, especially because different times of year
also have different, they alsokind of affect how content
performs.
Like, for example, when theelection happened two weeks ago.
I mean, a lot of content didn'tget as much engagement or reach
during that time because, ofcourse, everyone's posting about
the election.
And then also to during theholiday season, when businesses
(26:49):
are spending so much money onads they're the organic posts
aren't really getting much reachbecause meta or whatever
platform is prioritizing theadvertisers and the people who
are spending money.
And also to, like during thesummer, when people are
typically on vacation or not ontheir computer, not working.
They're not looking at socialmedia.
So content isn't going toperform as well then either.
(27:09):
So it's important to know thatit's seasonal and that's why
it's important to give yourselfmore of a timeframe to make the
right call.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Oh, absolutely that's the one thing.
After doing this almost threeyears I was, my father got into
podcasting because me.
I told him I do.
I don't know what it is,especially being like more
business fall, but not winter.
In the beginning of the year Iget a ton of engagement and I'm
like and it's just gone exactlyso.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
It's because you're looking at your analytics,
you've picked up on that and nowyou know moving forward.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Right and that's where I told him like, yeah, if
we're doing it based off that,I'm like that's going to be hard
to sustain it for a full-timegig.
But honestly, this has beentruly insightful and refreshing.
Thank you for your insights.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Thank you for having me, josh, I appreciate it.
Is there anywhere they canreach you at that.
You um other than the dashsocial?
Yeah, so you can go to mywebsite, dash of social.
I'm also active on LinkedIn soyou can search my name, ashley
Mason.
You can find me from there.
And then, of course, once yougo to the dash of social website
, I have links to all my socialmedia profiles in the footer, I
(28:17):
believe, of my site so you canclick through and follow and say
hi perfect, thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Thank you again thank you, josh.
Welcome to the Josh Bolton Show, where we dive into
interesting and inspiringconversations.
And now your host, josh Bolton.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Sure.
So thank you, josh.
Firstly for having me on yourpodcast.
I'm very honored to be herebecause I love chatting with
other podcast hosts.
But for those who I have notmet yet, my name is Ashley Mason
and I am the owner of themarketing agency Dash of Social,
which is based in Massachusetts, and we specialize in content
marketing for small to mediumsized businesses and tech
(00:36):
startups.
So we primarily support themwith their social media, email
marketing and bloggingstrategies and really consider
ourselves to be their integratedmarketing partners.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And, honestly, as I've looked at your website and,
like the stuff you've done, youtruly are a Titan within your
own field too.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Thank you, I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
You're welcome.
So we were talking earlier andso I mentioned to her that
blogging, I believe, is kind oflike a dying trend, but I also,
like I was mentioning, I kind ofhave dyslexia and words jump
everywhere so I don't know whatto do.
But she was telling me that sheactually believes it's much
stronger.
Can you also tell them why?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Absolutely so.
I view blogging as a fewdifferent benefits, so one being
it drives website traffic.
So if you publish a blog post onyour website about any topic
that relates to your zone ofgenius and then you promote that
blog post through social media,through your email list,
through just sending it out tofriends and family, whatever it
might be, when people click onthat link it obviously brings
(01:38):
them back to your website.
And once people are on yourwebsite, the whole goal is that
after they read that blog post,they'll then kind of click
around and see who you are, whatyou do, what services you offer
, so on and so forth, kind ofreeling them in.
I guess that's the way todescribe it.
I also think, along with that,blogging helps with thought
leadership.
So when you're posting orwriting a blog post on a certain
(02:00):
topic, you're hopefully anauthority, have an authoritative
voice in that expertise orwhatever it might be or that
topic, and so you're kind ofable to position yourself as an
expert when you're writing abouta certain subject or anything
like that.
And so when you're just able towrite and publish this long
form content, it helps totherefore demonstrate the
(02:21):
experience that you have andalso help to prove your
credibility to anyone who'sreading it.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
That's a good point.
Yeah, I'm going to say there'sa few times I've listened to
audio books.
I didn't know anything aboutthe person.
I'm like, well, they wrote anaudio.
Well, they wrote a book slash,read a book Like there must be
an authority in it and then Iguess halfway through I'm like
they have no idea what they'retalking about.
I know right.
(02:49):
But so for the bloggingspecifically, so is there a
certain writing style or themeor structuring of the actual
blog that you've noticedconverts well, or like it's more
desirable, like the twoparagraphs max, or is it like a
long, detailed but spaced outkind of thing?
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah, that's a good question.
So I would say I like to aimfor a minimum of 500 words, but
I think length can really varydepending on what it is you're
writing about.
I mean, you don't want to forceyourself to try to write a
bunch of words if you don'treally have much to say on the
topic, but you also want to makesure that you're giving enough
information that someone'sactually learning something.
(03:23):
You don't want to kind of cutit too short.
So I would say focus on atleast 500 words per length.
But then, in terms of like theactual format of the blog, I
always like to veer more towardslike the tutorials or how to's
or like step by step type ofcontent that kind of educates or
explain something to someone orexplains it to the reader.
(03:44):
And then I always like to makesure that there's readability
incorporated within that.
So by that meaning, like you'reusing the headers and having
different sections to break itup really nicely and organize it
.
You're using bullet points whenit makes sense if you have
lists, so that way it's easierto read.
Also, making sure that you'rehyperlinking within the blog
posts to other pages on yourwebsite that might be relevant
(04:05):
or other resources that aren'ton your website but that might
be a trusted source that peoplecan click through, and always
including some type of call toaction at the end where people
can reach out to you directly ifthey want to learn more.
So the whole point of a blogpost is you want to give someone
a bunch of information that'shelpful and then at the end you
can say something like if you'relooking for support with this,
(04:26):
reach out to me and kind of linkto your contact page or
whatever it is that you'd liketo drive people to.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Okay, it's kind of what I was thinking, but I'm not
the expert in writing blogposts.
That's where my what do youthink?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yeah, no, I think it's great, and I think with
blogging too, you don't have togo overboard.
So if you want to do just oneblog post per month, that's
sufficient.
I don't think you need to tryto stretch yourself too thin,
producing too many blogs at once.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yeah, Like, if you listen to someone like the
millionaire blogger, he's likebuy his AI automation thing and
just like pump out like three tofive blog posts a day and see
which one works and I'm likesounds like a lot of work.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Exactly, and so that brings me to something that you
had mentioned earlier, Josh.
But you want to meet yourtarget audience where they are.
So if your target audienceisn't reading blog posts to
consume content, that you don'twant to spend all this time and
energy and effort writing andpublishing blog posts if they're
not even going to read it.
So it's important for you to dothe research to see where your
(05:26):
target market is hanging out andthen be able to make sure that
you're building a presence inthose different channels and
platforms to reach them.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, no, definitely For me.
A lot of it.
I get it through.
It's funny, I'm a podcaster butI don't really listen to
podcasts.
I more listen to audiobooks, Ithink.
For me.
I get annoyed with the tangentswhere they just like, oh, they
start talking and they go aboutthe grandma and then their kids
and then this terrible trip andit's like where the hell are you
(05:54):
going with that, with?
an audiobook it's very concise,it's very organized.
I could just play a chapter andI'm good for the day and I
think that's very, that's veryrelevant.
Yeah, cause, like I, if I wasto try to categorize myself, I
would.
I would say you need to createaudio books or like really good
YouTube videos.
I like that, thank you.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
So for you were mentioning earlier too.
Um, I, I don't really usesocial media cause my fear of
missing out kicks in hard and Ican do scroll for hours.
Then I sit here and I'm likeman, I had a whole plan for the
day.
I watched this YouTube shorts.
But how does someone approachsocial media?
(06:35):
Should they?
Wouldn't they have somethinglike me?
Where should they get, likemaybe a third party scheduler,
or just learn to suck it up anddownload the app and do it
themselves, kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah.
So I mean, I guess it depends Iwill always recommend batch
producing and batch creating.
So meaning, if you're managingyour own social media, I would
recommend being able to dedicateone hour per day or maybe a few
hours each week to actuallyjust plan your social media
content in advance being able towrite your posts, being able to
(07:06):
pull together the visual thatyou want to go with that and
then scheduling it all outthrough, like you said, a social
media scheduler.
So that way everything's kind ofon autopilot from there and
it's ultimately out of sight,out of mind.
I think it's easier to be ableto plan things in advance or
kind of do like a few weeks ofcontent at once, compared to
trying to do it in the moment,Because what I see oftentimes
with any type of creator or abusiness owner is that when they
(07:29):
try to post day by day, it veryquickly and very easily leads
to them not posting at all forseveral weeks or several months
because they understandably justget busy with life and what's
going on in their careers andbusiness, whatever it might be.
So being able to kind ofdedicate some time to doing that
will ensure that you're able tomaintain your consistency.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Okay.
Is there any scheduling apps orplatforms you recommend?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I usually refer people to using something like
Hootsuite or Buffer is good.
Those are typically meant forwhat I'd say.
Maybe, like an individualperson, I use a different social
media schedule because since Iown an agency, it's more so
meant for agencies multipleaccounts that they're managing
but later is another one thatpeople tend to use a lot.
(08:15):
Planoly is also pretty popular.
So I would say, a lot of these,or at least most of them, have
a free option or at least a freetrial.
So it's kind of nice to be ableto just sign up for maybe a
handful of them and test themout and see which one you like
the best and which one suits theneeds that you're looking for.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Okay, sounds good and there's a few apps.
I've been watching on AppSumofor scheduling and I think their
big agency plan, though they'rewanting like 200 upfront.
I'm like, hmm, you're so newthough I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Exactly, yeah, you don't want to kind of spend the
money if it's not something thatwill support you in the long
run.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yeah, there was one I signed up for called get
marqueeai, and I was.
I noticed the owner in his owncomments is like yeah, I don't
know if I can sustain paying foruh, I'm gonna I'm gonna get my
refund yeah, that's concerningthat's if you're openly saying
(09:15):
on a form, I don't know if I canafford this bill yeah so, yeah,
that's where I've just beensitting here.
I'm like, who, um, what do I do?
The the biggest one for me,however.
He did his uh instagram forscheduling.
I am now completely locked outof my account.
That's a real, and Meta thinksI'm some Lithuanian hacker.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
So they're not giving it.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
I'll go through the process, reset everything, and
then they're like yeah, no,sorry, wrong person, do it again
.
It's just a loop.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
That's frustrating.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
So I'm like did I just lose my account?
That sucks.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah right, I know.
Unfortunately, it's too commonthese days.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I feel like yeah, so do you do also a type of PR for
your customers?
Um, or is that a little too outof your?
Speaker 2 (10:06):
I'd say I was of my wheelhouse, so typically for
that I have a few different, uhgreat referral partners that I
will typically send clients toif they come to us looking for
those services.
I have a handful of people thatI can trust to offer that that
I know will deliver quality workand follow through on what they
promise.
So I like to typically justhave people that I recommend for
(10:26):
that, as well as othermarketing services too.
I mean, we don't do any type ofgraphic design or web design
and development.
Paid ads we don't do.
There's like a bunch ofservices that aren't what we
offer, and so it's really niceto have other people in the
industry that you know you cansend business to and who will be
able to support your clientsand really prioritize them the
(10:48):
way that they should beprioritized.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Did you try to do that before, and that's why you
decided not to.
It's funny that you mentionedthat.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yeah, because I feel like so.
I started Dash Social in 2016.
So we just celebrated our eightyear anniversary two months ago
.
Thank you, and I feel like whenI first started, I tried to
offer every service under thesun, because I'd have clients
coming to me looking forservices that we weren't
offering at that time and I wasreferring business out and I was
(11:16):
like, well, one day I was like,well, this is kind of silly,
instead of sending businesselsewhere, why don't I try to
offer it?
And so I tried to become more oflike a full service agency.
But I realized that it's reallydifficult to successfully
manage an agency that offers adozen or so different services,
and there was also so manyservices within that that I just
(11:36):
genuinely didn't enjoy.
So I realized, through probablyat least the past five years,
if not longer than that theservices that we really are
really, really are good at andthat I really enjoy are the
social media, blog content andemail marketing.
And I kind of realized thatbeing able to focus on what you
enjoy and what you're good atwill help you to be successful,
(11:57):
rather than trying to offereverything.
Know what you're good at, knowwhat you can deliver and then
kind of forget about the rest,and so that's been really
helpful to just kind of.
I guess niche down is reallywhat I'm talking about here
being able to niche down andfocus on what I know I can do
really well.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
No, that's very important.
There's a few of my friends whohave tried to build their own
business and like, oh, we'lljust do everything and I'll
check in a couple months later.
I'm like, how are you doing?
They're like terrible, why.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I can't do this.
Yeah, it's hard.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
I'm like, you're really good at X, Y and Z.
Just do that.
They're like, but it doesn'tpay that well, Mike.
But if you become like awell-known person, it doesn't
matter, Everyone will just cometo you.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yep, exactly.
So yeah, it's nice to just kindof know what you're good at and
not try to do everything.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Exactly.
So I am curious for your emailmarketing, what specifically are
, I guess, some of the call toactions on the blog, but is
there a certain sequence you doto filter them and stuff like
that?
I hope you get the question.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Do you mean so, getting people onto your email
list?
Is that what you're referring?
Speaker 1 (13:08):
to yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Perfect.
So there's a few different ways.
I would say the biggest andeasiest way to do so is to offer
what's called a lead magnet.
So for anyone who's notfamiliar with that, a lead
magnet is a free resource thatyou'll typically put on your
website and you'll have sometype of call to action on your
website that says you'reinterested in getting access to
(13:30):
this free ebook on how to doemail marketing.
Enter your name and emailaddress and you'll get it sent
to you.
And so pretty much every websiteI feel like has some type of
call to action in that sensewhere they offer free resource.
Or, if you're a product company, a lot of those will offer like
a coupon code in exchange forjoining their email list.
But you'll see that typicallyas like a pop up on your website
(13:51):
or embedded in like what'scalled the hero of your homepage
, kind of like in that top fold.
And so by being able to offerthat, it's a win win situation.
You're providing any of yourwebsite visitors with free and
valuable information, becauseyou're creating this resource on
a specific topic, but inexchange you're getting their
email address, and so whenthey're automatically added to
(14:13):
your email list now, you're ableto continue to market to them
through newsletters or whatever.
It might be that you're usingyour email list for.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Okay, so what's a good lead magnet that you've
noticed that has good conversionrate?
Is it like a free pamphlet, afree book, like stuff like that?
Speaker 2 (14:33):
I would say it depends.
I've seen a few that have donewell, have been kind of like a
video series, so maybe like athree day video series that will
kind of get dripped outthroughout the course of three
days.
I personally have some type oflike playbook it's called, so
it's basically like a reallylong white paper, ultimately
that talks about how to buildyour marketing strategy.
(14:54):
A lot of people will do like afree webinar that can do it.
So I guess it really justdepends kind of going back to
our conversation earlier,thinking about who your ideal
client or ideal customer is,thinking about how they like to
consume content and what type ofcontent they like to consume,
and then being able to createsomething that aligns with that.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I mean that in alone, right there, I've had multiple
people come on just specificallyfrom avatar creation and how to
reach them.
Is there a method for you,though, for your email marketing
and blogging, that when youconvey to your customers like,
hey, if you're wanting to reachX client, we need to talk this
way.
I know you want this way, butthis one's better.
(15:35):
Is there a formula you have forthat?
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Yeah, so for email marketing specifically, I will
always recommend that yousegment your email list.
So for anyone who's listening,who isn't familiar with what
that is, segmenting your emaillist basically means if you have
this whole group of subscribers, you actually want to be able
to narrow them down intodifferent subcategories
ultimately.
So if you have a whole group ofsubscribers, you could have one
(15:59):
subcategory of those people whosay that they're clients.
You could have one subcategoryof those people who are maybe
referral partners.
You just want to get morespecific.
So that way you can actuallyget more targeted with the types
of newsletters that you sendand you can send custom and more
personalized ones to thosespecific groups of people.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Um, so let's say, within the one you gave, like
client referral and a leadmagnet kind of buckets, just for
simplicity, what would be thedifference in the lead bucket
email versus the referral versusthe client email?
Is there?
Like the sorry you go.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Oh, yeah, I was going to say so.
The difference is that clientversus referral partner, we're
talking about those.
So a client is someone who isactually a client of your
business, so they've given youtheir money, you're performing
some type of service for them orthey purchase some type of
product from you.
A referral partner would beidentified as someone who isn't
a client or customer, but theysend you business.
(16:59):
So, for example, my types ofreferral partners would be PR
firms, because they typicallysend clients to me.
Or they might be web designerswho send clients to me, so
they're not hiring me directly,but they are sending me business
.
So if I have these twosubcategories within my email
list, I can craft emails thatare specifically meant to my
clients.
That's talking about maybe anew service that I'm offering.
(17:20):
But then I can also send in aseparate email just to my
referral partners.
That maybe say to them hey,thank you for being a valued
referral partner of Dash ofSocial.
We're actively accepting newclients.
Like would love to hear if youhave anyone in mind for us to
work with, so you can just beable to tell your content a
little bit more.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Okay, so for, like, the referral partner, it's still
professional, but more laidback and easygoing compared to a
customer.
You got to be a little morepolished.
And okay, yeah, that makessense Because it's more for the
referral partner.
It's just like talking toacquaintance, like hey, I'm
taking clients again, if youwant to send some to me.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Is there anything since 2016,.
The trends you've noticed thathave changed throughout time,
but also, I guess, also some ofthe old ones coming back too.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Yeah, so I would say things that have changed
throughout time.
I feel like when I firststarted it was, the expectations
were that you'd keep, like yourbusiness and your personal
content completely separate.
So people would always say,like you can't talk about
anything personal on yourbusiness social media profiles,
and it was very, very distinctand separate from one another.
(18:35):
But I feel like over the pastprobably four or so years, I
feel like those lines havebecome blurred.
So people on their businessprofiles are talking about
exciting life milestones of,like getting married or having a
baby or anything like that, andI feel like content has become
a lot more humanized is what Icall it.
(18:56):
So basically like human centriccontent, and that's important
because you're giving an insidelook into the people that you're
going to be working with fromthat business, and that's
important because you're givingan inside look into the people
that you're going to be workingwith from that business and,
ultimately, people do businesswith people.
So once you start to learn moreabout who someone is as a
person and you get a feel fortheir personality, that's when
you start to like them.
Once you start to like them,you start to trust them.
(19:17):
And once you start to trustthem.
Then you are able to basicallywant to purchase from them or
give them your money.
So it's really important tokind of build that rapport
ultimately, and I only see thatcontinuing to grow, moving
forward as focusing on the humanpeople behind it.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Oh, absolutely Like earlier today with my job.
I do like I clean pools is mymain job, then I do podcasting
on the side and I bumped intoone of my one of the employees.
I was talking to him and he'slike, yeah, I noticed your truck
was out in front of thecustomer's house a long time.
I'm like, yeah, he's a lonelyclient.
(19:56):
I'm like the only person thattalks to him in the whole week.
And I told him like the thingabout service business that no
one talks about is you kind ofbecome an indirect therapist,
friend and confidant and I'mlike like you don't realize how
much of a responsibility it is.
And he's like that sucks, Idon't want to do it.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I'm like, whoa, okay, I feel like you get the most
successful.
As you said, like businessrelationships, you actually take
the time to know someone andknow who they are as a person,
and that's how you build thattrust with them and that's when
they feel like they can reallywant to maintain that
relationship, which is good foryou in the long run.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Oh, absolutely the same employee.
He was telling me.
He's like yeah, you know yourroute.
There's always things goingwrong.
He's like and all the customerstalk to you.
You know your route.
There's always things goingwrong.
He's like, and all thecustomers talk to you.
He's like I don't have time forthat.
I'm like that's why I do myroute the way I do.
And I said that's also whyeveryone gives the boss man like
Josh is a man, I take the timeto get to know them.
(20:53):
I said there's one client.
She always tells me about hergrandson who does hockey.
I don't know anything abouthockey when she was first
telling me, so I actuallystarted watching youtube videos
like oh, that's that, okay, okay, okay now I get it, but then
when I but, then, when I talkedto the next, we should go.
Oh, you actually know, I'm likeI like binge watch youtube.
So let's, let's ignore thatpart.
But that's where I told him Isaid, um, because I always read
(21:18):
audiobooks when I'm working.
I told him.
I said there's a reason why Ilisten to self-help to.
I said it sounds silly, but alot of therapy books or ways to
talk to people.
Because I said I don't knowwhat they went through or how
they experienced it, but I canlearn to understand it, to be a
better listener.
So I maybe and that's where I'mlike threw him off.
(21:42):
I'm like have you noticed?
I actually haven't reallytalked to him this much and he's
like wait a minute, how did youdo that?
I'm like, cause I'm a goodlistener.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
And that's where I told him.
I said that's the thing withservice.
Like you, any service business,even if it's online, you gotta
make time to understand yourcustomer too.
Do you have like an onboardingprocess and then like this is
more just on the side, not theactual email or social media?
Do you have like an onboardingprocess and on your own?
Do you have like a CRM orwhatever that like keeps track
(22:13):
of everything for your customers?
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Yes, so when a client begins working with us, we go
through a really robustonboarding process where it
typically starts with sendingthem an intake questionnaire to
understand their business, whotheir target market is, who
their competitors are, whattheir goals are for social media
all the really importantinformation we kind of need to
know to have that background onthem and then, using that
(22:35):
information, plus our additionalresearch and ideas, will then
build up their marketingstrategy.
So being able to identify theircontent pillars, their growth
strategies, do an audit of whatthey've done up to date, conduct
a competitor analysis, reallybe able to kind of outline the
blueprint or plan for what wecan do moving forward, and that
really kind of helps to ensurethat we stay on track and are
(22:57):
strategic with what we do andintentional with what we do.
So that's really what we followfrom there, with what we do and
intentional with what we do.
So that's really what we followfrom there.
In terms of a CRM, I would sayit's more of like a project
management system, but I reallylove Asana and have used that
for most of the time that I'vehad my business.
I've switched between a few,but Asana has been the one that
I really, really loved and it'sreally helpful for being able to
(23:19):
keep track of client projects,tasks that need to be done, due
dates, since I have a team beingable to kind of get a feel for,
like what their progress onwork is and really being able to
ensure that everything's inline.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
How do you spell that one again?
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Asana, so it's A-S-A-N-A.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
I just want to look that up while we're doing this.
Yeah, but that's interesting.
So, like I heard, monday is areally good like project
management one too.
Is that one you would recommendtoo?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
yeah, I think it's a little bit more.
I don't know if complex is theright word.
I think sometimes it has alittle bit more features than
like just one person might need.
I think monday is more so meantfor teams, people who might
have like multiple people kindof involved.
But Asana is a good one formaybe like a solo person who
needs something, or Trello ispretty popular as well.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Okay, that's really good.
Thank you, of course.
Is there anything else inparticular that I may have not
asked that you want to talkabout?
Speaker 2 (24:18):
I would say, to review your analytics.
That is something that's reallyimportant when it comes to
marketing.
I think a lot of times peoplethrow spaghetti at the wall and
hope that it sticks, or they'remore so just kind of doing
something and not even reallyunderstanding why they're doing
it or how what's performingreally well.
(24:40):
On the opposite end, what mightnot really be performing so
well, so that we can use thatinformation and that data moving
forward to plan your contentand ensure that you're really
only producing work that isactually going to align with
your target audience.
So definitely review yournumbers and kind of make some
decisions from there, ratherthan kind of going at it blindly
(25:01):
, almost, and just doing it justto do it, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Yeah, absolutely.
Is there a guideline though,cause, like I could post a blog,
but if I mean we check it inlike two minutes, it's not gonna
, it's not gonna reflect.
Is there a timeline you alsorecommend for your clients, like
, hey, check it every threeweeks, sorry, every three days
to a week, kind of thing?
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Yeah, so I will always recommend a minimum of 30
days you want to give yourselfat least a 30 day window because
it does take some time forthings to play out.
And I explain it like this Ipreviously had clients were kind
of looking at like a one weekwindow and that's truly not
enough data.
It's kind of like the sameanalogy where if someone's
trying to lose weight and maybeone week they act, they gain a
(25:43):
few pounds well, instead of themsaying, oh that's it, it's
clearly not working, I'm givingup.
If they were to look at thewhole 30 days but see that they
actually did lose weight, it'skind of like that net loss.
Well, now you have more data towork with.
So, looking at just that, oneweek is too short of a timeline
to kind of make any I don't wantto say rash decisions, but make
any decisions and kind of viewthat to be the absolute truth.
(26:05):
I think you need to giveyourself a much bigger timeline
and then see how it really playsout throughout time and not
just kind of call it quits orthink that you have the right
answer when there's only notbeen that much time going by.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Fair enough, I was actually impressed.
A lot of people have alwaystold me like, oh, three days to
a week max on anything you do.
I'm like seems a little short,but okay.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Yeah, especially because different times of year
also have different, they alsokind of affect how content
performs.
Like, for example, when theelection happened two weeks ago.
I mean, a lot of content didn'tget as much engagement or reach
during that time because, ofcourse, everyone's posting about
the election.
And then also to during theholiday season, when businesses
(26:49):
are spending so much money onads they're the organic posts
aren't really getting much reachbecause meta or whatever
platform is prioritizing theadvertisers and the people who
are spending money.
And also to, like during thesummer, when people are
typically on vacation or not ontheir computer, not working.
They're not looking at socialmedia.
So content isn't going toperform as well then either.
(27:09):
So it's important to know thatit's seasonal and that's why
it's important to give yourselfmore of a timeframe to make the
right call.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Oh, absolutely that's the one thing.
After doing this almost threeyears I was, my father got into
podcasting because me.
I told him I do.
I don't know what it is,especially being like more
business fall, but not winter.
In the beginning of the year Iget a ton of engagement and I'm
like and it's just gone exactlyso.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
It's because you're looking at your analytics,
you've picked up on that and nowyou know moving forward.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Right and that's where I told him like, yeah, if
we're doing it based off that,I'm like that's going to be hard
to sustain it for a full-timegig.
But honestly, this has beentruly insightful and refreshing.
Thank you for your insights.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Thank you for having me, josh, I appreciate it.
Is there anywhere they canreach you at that.
You um other than the dashsocial?
Yeah, so you can go to mywebsite, dash of social.
I'm also active on LinkedIn soyou can search my name, ashley
Mason.
You can find me from there.
And then, of course, once yougo to the dash of social website
, I have links to all my socialmedia profiles in the footer, I
(28:17):
believe, of my site so you canclick through and follow and say
hi perfect, thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Thank you again thank you, josh.
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