Creating Community Online

Transcribed from Live Video on March 19th, 2020 at 8:04 pm. 

Hello friends, it's Jen. Welcome back to... Well, this is a little bit like a daily life blog right now. But I just created a brand new page. A few days ago, Jen Obermeier, it's just Jen Obermeier. Where I'm just sharing additional content that is on my heart and mind right now. About creating an online business. Today is Thursday, March 19th. So interestingly most of the country has already experienced some kind of shift in how we are living and working. Your mileage may vary based on where you are. I would love to hear in the comments what your life is like right now. Like what has your day been like. What's happening with your job. Your kids, your family. That kind of thing.

I initially, I just wanted to share with my network because I have had various people coming to me for questions, including my very, very, very dear friends and family about questions about my online business but also things that they can do right now to adjust and change. Not only for the short term but possibly for the long term. So that was my intention in creating this daily video series. I've already done two long because I can talk for a long time. Two long chats the past few days about just some overview 101 basics about online business. Hello if you're joining, I can see you and I'm really glad that you're there. Tonight I... I probably didn't know until about 20 minutes ago what I really, really wanted to talk about tonight. And I do have something that I really, really want to share.

I do want to continue to hear from you guys about your questions. Thoughts, plans. Or anything else, about your particular situation and how you are thinking about adjusting again, for whether it's the long term or the short term. Yesterday I did a video where I went over... There are three groups of people. Group one is just how do I adjust my current business to where I can offer an online service or continue serving my clients that I usually see in person, online. Whoa. Okay. Have things going on in the background here on my computer screen. And I'm actually... It got really bright. I'm actually doing the live video from my phone. Because I had last-minute technical problems, Facebook seems to want to shut down right now. On the desktop. That's just part of the game, with doing live videos.

So I apologize, this hopefully will still sound and look good on the other end. So whenever three groups of people. One group is looking for a short term solution. Another group is looking for more of a side hustle additional income stream that they don't want to turn into necessarily their full-time career. And then the third group is thinking there's no time like the present to create a long term online business. Such as really transitioning out of your current job or current role, and going all-in with creating a business that you can have coaching clients, all over the world. That you can work with from your computer, from your phone. You don't necessarily have to travel to see them.

Hey Rob, I'm so glad that you're here too. Veronica, I saw you and Suzanne and Rachel. You guys make my day that you showed up for this. And I can read the chat as we go, so please keep typing in your comments and questions. And let me know how you guys are. I mean all of you that are listening, or that are live right now, I mean I know you personally and you're all very, very dear to me. I talked yesterday about figuring out which track that you're on and figuring out how you are approaching this idea of online business. And again just to reiterate, my whole purpose of sharing or doing these kinds of chats is just to be a free resource for you in figuring this out. Because I know that once you start googling or start getting sucked into various websites and articles online about, create a blog that makes you $50,000 overnight.

You kind of are like, it just sweeps you into this alternate reality where you think about it for a while and then you stop. Because it seems unattainable or whatever. On day one of my... Like I said, this is day three. I feel like I'm doing a video journal but anyway. Day one I shared more about my story where I said, I am not sharing because I am some guru that has made millions of dollars online. Far from it. I do have a very normal person's income online. And I'm very proud of that. So I hope that me sharing very average results makes you feel like, hey this is actually possible versus if you start following one of the many gurus' out there that is making a six-figure income per month from their multiple websites and courses or memberships, that it starts to seem scammy almost and possibly overwhelming.

I would love nothing more than to end that scammy mentality of online business or the assumption that everyone who makes money through a website or through an online format, is not being truthful or out to just get your money. Because that could not be further from the truth. I have poured my heart and soul into my business over the past several years and I know many other people who have done the same and how have been successful in doing that. Rachel said, lately she's been up working on admin work for her business. Housework, etc. Rob said, he would love for me to be making the six-figure income monthly. Ah, yes. When I figure that out I will let you know. But yeah, Rachel, I've just been staying busy too. And honestly, this commitment to do this daily video series gives me one additional outlet to just help people and share and help give what I can to adjust in uncertain situations.

So here's my topic for tonight. It is about creating a community online. I didn't know until about 30 minutes ago that this is what I wanted to talk about because approximately 6:00 PM Eastern tonight, which is a little over two hours ago. I basically had a spiritual life-changing experience in an online live video, Facebook format. On Facebook. Okay. I just repeated myself three times. And I want to describe why that was. And also, if you guys have been tuning in daily, or watching the replays daily. You know that one of the reasons why again, I wanted to share is because I have actually been helping my dear father who has been trying to figure out how to make his... I mean he has a career that is heavily focused on public speaking and essentially all of his events have been postponed until next year.

He has so much that he wants to give and to continue to serve the wide audience of people who know him and love him. And up until a few days ago, he didn't really have the know-how of how to do that. And once I talked him through it and talked him off of the ledge, I think that that gave him hope and a project to work on. So dad, get in here and listen to those live chats because I'm going to talk about something important tonight for you too. But this is true too if you're someone who's listening in who wants to figure out how to take a coaching or consulting business online. Something that is more in depth and personal. If you're listening and you're in one of those other groups where you want to do a blog or a side hustle type of thing, I trust me, I'll come back to you. But tonight I really want to focus on people who really are ready or at least willing to consider being vulnerable, essentially, with some people on the internet. Not everybody on the internet.

In the hopes that what you do is you don't convert every single person into a fan or follower but you have to show up and be yourself, online. And how do you do that. And how do you create a community around your ideas and what you are teaching and sharing. So here's what I experienced in the past few hours. There's a musical group called the Indigo Girls, that you may or may not be familiar with but I basically was raised listening to them. And I still do to this day. I've never been to a live concert of theirs. It's two women and they did a live acoustic concert from their living room tonight on Facebook live. And they simultaneously broadcast it to Instagram live at the same time. And it was pre-arranged or pre-announced about three days ago. And they shared it on Facebook and I heard about it from my stepmom and my dad earlier today was like, "Are you going to listen?" And I was like, "Yes," because what better thing could...

I mean I have never even seen them at a live concert so I just felt like how cool is it that they're doing that and it was scheduled to be from 6:00 to 6:30. 30 minutes of live concert and Q&A and just sharing freely, with their fans and their audience. The thing ended up going until 7:45, so it was an hour and 45 minutes and here's why for me, this was one of the most transformative experiences that I've had online. Is because all they did was show up and... There were people who were helping them manage it because they had to have two people that were broadcasting, one on Instagram and one on Facebook. And so when I mean thousands of people showed up and were commenting or requesting songs. So they ended up playing some old songs that everybody knows and loves. Then they played some new ones. They did some Q&A where people would say what was favorite memories on tour or whatever.

Because these women who have had a long time, musical career. Have just also, very similar to my dad, just can't... I mean they've had to cancel the rest of their year. For many reasons, not just for the near future because we don't really know when large groups of people, when it will feel safe or obviously from a business point of view, when you can count on ticket sales in venues and everything. To be able to do that for the near future. So given that they just had to announce to their entire following or all of the people who had already bought tickets for their concerts that they had to cancel all of those. This was probably a spur of the moment decision that we're going to do this concert. So I did tune in, as promised. And I was planning to listen while I was cooking dinner for my family, which I was.

I was singing along but they were 50, over 55,000 people watching them on Facebook and then I don't even know how many on Instagram. And I switched back and forth a couple of times because my connection had dropped out, so I know at one point they had like 10,000 on Instagram. Then you have to think there's more people that are listening to it per like, more than... What am I trying to say? When you're tuning in there were probably more people sitting there listening to each individual, what's the word? Phone or computer or however you're listening to the video. They were reaching probably 100,000 people easily, live. I don't know if it's the fact that I haven't been out of the house much lately or that it reminded me of my childhood. Listening to all these songs and I was singing along and I could see my dad was logged in and that other people I knew were logged in but it was unbelievable.

But the community. People were saying in the comments, I didn't know how bad I needed community or thank you so much for creating community where we all feel like we are going through something together. Because we know that mentally. But to see it and to all show-up, simultaneously, was a really big deal. It was very emotional and people were saying, "This was... I needed this so badly. This was the first time I've smiled all week." People tuning in all over the world. Saying, "We work for Delta and we have it live streaming at our office." People saying, "I've got every single one of my sorority sisters listening in because we... You guys were all we listened to 25 years ago." So it was a way to bring people together and connect people. That they probably... I mean I don't know if they've never done it before but they don't do that on a regular basis and this was just good timing. And it was just honestly like I just wanted to cry. It was so good. I did tear up a little bit.

I just wanted to... Because that experience is so fresh in my mind, obviously I'm feeling very inspired by that. And like I said a minute ago, the idea that internet business or people who are... Anybody who's putting their personality out there on the internet. Whether that's through YouTube videos or Facebook live video like I'm doing right now. The perception that that's only people who are weird or scammy or selling something sleazy, or it's fast money overnight or passive income or any of those other buzz words, I want that perception to die. Today. And I think that it will. Because I think that there are so many people right now that have nothing else to do in terms of finding community, creating community, and learning from each other. Leaning on each other. There is no other option right now so I think people will finally actually see, I think that this was very interesting. I mean Facebook has been around now for a long time.

But I think that there are people who for the first time ever will be like thank God, that I have this way of connecting with my friends and family. I mean love it or hate it. It's the platform where everybody shows up. I just want to encourage that in terms of the mindset shift of I can't be one of those people that just shows up and talks and is really vulnerable or authentic or is willing to show up on the spot and answer Q&A. When they don't have it all pre-planned. This would be the time for you to pivot in your mind and say, "Maybe I can be one of those people." Because that for me, even though that was four years ago, that for me is why I have the business I have today is because I was willing to show up and talk to people and share about my life. Not everything about my life. But just to say, I'm here, I want to help. I want to be of service. I do have a certain area of expertise and if I can't help you I will pass you along and send you on your way to somebody who can."

But the community that I have is not only how I make my income, but it's more about who knows me, and the connections that people make between each other. And it's not just for people who are my paying students. But even people who have never given me a dollar and never will. They listen to the podcast that I put out. They have watched my videos and know or have learned one thing from me ever that they carry with them on their way. I think that that community aspect, if you are going to be someone who is going to take a full-time approach or have the dream of creating that full-time business online. There's no way around it and I hate to be the bearer of bad news but maybe this is the kick in the butt that you need to hear. There's no way around it that you are going to need to just show up and be yourself. And do that for free.

There's going to be some aspect of doing that for free so that you can pour into creating that community and then the people who do want to take it a step further and either coach one-on-one with you, come to you for consulting on your specific expertise. Buy your program, buy your e-book, buy your regular book. Sign up for your email list so that they can come see you speak the next time you do it. All of those things are not going to be possible if you don't have... If you don't just go ahead and create the free community. I think that's the biggest thing I want to say. Is that there's no way around that so let me know what questions you have about that because that involves you guys putting that crown on your head. Because there is no mayor of the internet who's going to come around and say, "Okay, you ready now?" Or, "Okay you've been chosen and here's where you're good at and here's what people want to hear from you."

You're just going to have to show up and figure it out. Because you'll get feedback about what was really impactful. You'll get more questions. You just build momentum and you go from there. And that really is fortunately or unfortunately, how I built the business that I have. And how I've seen others build the businesses that they have. Okay. I'm going to scroll back up and see some comments. Suzette says, "I started a private group online today and the response was great." Suzette, I cannot tell you that almost makes me bring tears to my eyes because I'm just like thank you for not waiting one more single day for creating something. Creating a place for them to connect with you. You said you're excited to use it as a tool for connection and leadership. That's amazing and I'm beyond proud of you. I mean, you know.

Suzanne said she's gotten out of her comfort zone to do some video. She said, "I would love to do what you're doing now." You mean like literally right now? What I'm doing right now? What I'm doing right now is I'm, as Suzanne knows, I'm deciding every day what time that I can get on a video and then I'm just showing up and seeing who comes and talking to you guys. And that's exactly how I started even when nobody knew me. So I really want to encourage you because you totally can do that. Suzanne, there's so many people in their lives right now that do not know how to adjust to working from home. Having their kids around at the same time. Having their spouse around at the same time. I mean talk about an organization problem. Talk about a mental health issue. What we're going through right now is so much more than just about the physical disease. It will be about that but it's going to be economic, it's going to be... Anyway, so much to say about that.

Susan, I'm so glad you're here Susan. She said, I'm trying to figure out the best reach for videos. IGTV or Facebook. Thoughts? Yes, I do have thoughts. What you need to do... Because Susan, I think there are two different things when it comes to reach. If you have a current following on Facebook. Or have people who like your Facebook page for your business, the best reach that you are going to get is going live on your Facebook page. Where it's public and that people can share it. Especially if you're creating shorter topic videos about organizing or whatever, specific niche that you have. If you put it on your Facebook page, it's going to be sharable to the most people and then people who like your page or people who have watched one of your previous videos, are more likely to see it come up live. Like in the algorithm as it's actually happening. But here's another thing when it comes to reach is, putting those same videos somewhere where people who are searching for your content are going to find them. Because people don't use Facebook like a search engine.

What you can do is after you make that Facebook live video you can download it. By the way, Facebook even has now an option where you can trim your live video after the fact. So if you ever, if you have an awkward beginning where you're like, hey I'm trying to get set up or I'm having trouble logging in or can you see me, can you hear me? You can just cut all that out. And then or if you have something weird at the end you can cut that out and then you can download the video, that you did live. And what you would want to do then is upload it to YouTube, which is where people do a search. They use YouTube more like a search engine and you would want to make sure that you're really optimizing your videos for... Give it a title. Even if you talked about a few different things, give it a title that gives the main topic that you think people would be searching for X, Y, and Z. And want to see this content or want to hear this content.

Then in the description of your YouTube video, you can put longer... Here are all the topics we covered and are you wondering this, are you wondering that. Because usually, those phrases that you type in will be things that people are also searching for on YouTube. And that will continue to help it be searchable and indexable on YouTube for people who are looking for those topics. When we're talking about reach, I wanted to talk about those two separate things. Do it on Facebook but then cross-promote in on YouTube. That's how I grew my audience initially is that people who were searching for the content on YouTube would find the videos and then they would come and join at ... I initially had everything inside a Facebook group because I was terrified of doing live videos somewhere where just anybody can find it. Which is what I'm doing right now. And here's the secret, I'm also still terrified because this is not just one small audience of people that I already know. This could be anybody.

But that's the only way I can help as many people... I mean it's not even, I'm not saying it's not worth my time but I don't care anymore because I want people to be able to have this information freely and to not get burned by people selling them an e-book or a course about something that is literally freely available. They just didn't know before how it worked. You don't need to pay $1,000 for a course to find out how all this stuff works. That's not necessary. Okay. Scrolling back up. Veronica said, "My big hang up right now is that I transitioned my virtual assistant business into consulting. Is that people will see it and I'll have a ton of followers and will not take my knowledge seriously." Okay. That's interesting Veronica. Let's break that down. First of all, for example. This new Facebook page that I started a few days ago, I think I have 15 followers. I mean tons and tons and tons of people who know me.

The actual followers don't indicate how much I know about this topic. The fact that I continue to show up consistently, that creates a momentum that is undeniable, I believe. Especially if you're going to really go in. Like when you're talking about consulting and you and I talked about this the other day. What you would really want to do is get very well known in a particular niche, and we talked about business consulting for organizing and systems and efficiency and all that stuff. If you're the one who's consistently creating fresh really good content, about that topic, you stand out from every other person who one, never bothered to show up on video in the first place, for people to get to know you face-to-face. And two, it actually shows that you do care and that you do know what you're talking about. So the initial followers don't really matter because that will continue to grow over time as long as you're continuously posting and promoting that content. But that's a really, really good question.

Do you have to have a lot of followers to make money? No. No. I think there's a lot to be said for authentically showing up and serving people. Before you ever ask for money or... It depends on what your goal is. If you're trying to get the one-on-one clients, locally, for your business, then that will look a little bit different then if you're eventually trying to sell an online program. But a few testimonials go a really long way no matter what you're doing. That's true whether you're starting a service business or an online consulting and coaching business. I think what people really want to hear is from other real people. That yes, I worked with Veronica and this was a game-changer because we didn't know how to do this before and now that we do, we're implementing it and we're getting these benefits or results. That's your template for that testimonial. That once other people can see that you're a trustworthy person, they're not going to look at your followers and go, "Well she doesn't even have 100 followers. She doesn't have 1,000 followers so she doesn't really know what she's talking about."

Those are metrics that don't mean a whole lot. In the scheme of things. But that was a really good question. Rachel said, "Should private groups be free?" And Rachel, I'm assuming you're talking about Facebook. So here's what I'll say about that. I have heard of people using paid Facebook groups as a community, going back to that idea of community. Community or membership site. Membership platform. But my understanding actually Rachel, and this goes back to just like Facebook, Facebook's terms of use. Is that you can add in, like a Facebook group can be a bonus. And this is what I do, for my program. I have a Facebook community that goes along with my course, my online course that I teach. But I'm not selling membership in the Facebook group. That's not the main product, it's a bonus or a side benefit. I believe that Facebook does not want you to use their platform... I could be totally wrong on this, but this is my understanding.

I don't think that they want to you sell membership into a Facebook group as your primary offer. So what I would suggest is looking into platforms that you can create a membership site on. Or the alternative would be selling some information products. Like say for example Rachel, I don't know yet what your plans are but let's say you were creating an online organizing course for moms. So you create the course, similar to the way that I do, where I have all the content. It lives on its own platform. The one that I use in case you guys are wondering, is called Kajabi. I have been with them for a long time now and I started with someone else but I've been very, very happy there for a while. And I know that that's a really frequently asked question about online courses. And they also have an option for you can set up in Kajabi, you can set up at either a course format or you can set up like a membership inside Kajabi.

The benefit of having your community live on Facebook is that that's where people already are. And so they're more likely to engage with the community aspect of whatever it is that you're selling. If it's on Facebook versus if they have to actually go and log in to another site. Obviously there are pros and cons. I would love to continue discussing this because I get really sick of Facebook sometimes. I want my personal life and my business life to just be completely separate and unfortunately that never happens because that is part of my job, is to be on social media because that's how I engage. Not only with the free aspect of our bigger community but also with my student group who are the people that I have committed to answering questions and they tag me, we talk. We share. We do things. We do things online in that way and that's a really actually critical part of what I even sell.

I have a course that costs $1,000. It's not a recurring membership type of thing. It's a one-time, lifetime access but at this point, I would venture to guess that there are certain people who buy it more for the community aspect than for what Jen has to teach. I mean I think that they are... Again, I haven't done a detailed survey about this but I want this to encourage you because I don't necessarily think that they are there because I am... I think that they like my style. And I think that I break things down in a very easy to understand way. But essentially the part of what they're buying into is a group of other people that have a similar world view. As they do, that they connect with the long term that they're part of a community and that they now have a group that they belong to. Where they can come and get support and ask questions. And I'm just sort of, I'm not going to say the mom, but I'm sort of the... I'm their coach.

I mean I'm there for them in that way but I am not a part of every single discussion that happens in that community. I think that that's a really important part of what I wanted to share tonight. Is creating that community not only is going to help you in your whatever business idea that... Whatever that looks like. Creating that community is going to be a valuable benefit not only to your people, but also to you because that's where essentially you can share an idea and you're reaching all of your students or all of your clients all at the same time. Versus having to have that conversation 100 times, one-on-one. You can see obviously that the efficiency adds up there.

I also want to share that I can tell you that I recently had a online course buying experience where I bought something as a student. It was very poorly executed. And I'm telling you, I've bought a lot of online courses and products. This as the worst of the worst for sure. Primarily because the online community... They added in a Facebook group because everyone does. But they had zero interaction. Zero communication from the person who had just launched this brand new course. You know what happens when somebody doesn't run a community really well? Is they will still go and create their own. So shout out to the people who we've gotten into a group chat. Just a private group chat together because we all bought into this course and the person's not delivering on the content and they're not communicating about it. And they're not saying that they're sorry. And they don't have a plan and so we're all just like, "How about we get our money back." I mean talk about something that is not done well. When you do not create a community, they will create their own community and then they're going to talk badly about you.

So that's just public service announcement. Don't be that person. And trust me, yes, it gives the industry a bad name. It's really unfortunate. That does not represent the majority of most online course creators that I know personally because I know a lot of them. They have poured years and blood, sweat, and tears into creating not only a quality product but they are in it, every single day. They have team members that help them so that they are communicative and that they're offering long term value. So whether it ends up looking like an online course for you or a membership. I'm sorry, Rachel, I'm totally going back to your question. A membership or a Facebook group. You should be selling only to the community, you should framing it as you're selling the structured step-by-step of whatever it is.

Whether that's an organizing course or whether you know, you guys are listening to me at something that totally different niche. Like you have expertise in how to flip houses. And you have a system that you figured out for yourself that you never found when you were doing your own research. That would be a perfect online course. And you create that part one time. You got to keep it updated, you can't just create it and walk away because like I said yesterday and the day before, I think I'm going to say this every day. There are no real passive incomes. Not any true passive income. But the community that gets created around that content is so valuable because nobody wants to sign up for a big transformation or a big project that, whatever it is your course or your content, helps them go through. And feel like they are on their own. So creating a community around it is just so valuable, so good. So Rachel, I hope that that answers your question. I think that the private group should be a free bonus to what they're getting.

But there are other options if you didn't want to create that on Facebook. You can sell a membership or have a membership site through Kajabi. I would highly recommend looking into them. I am going to post a link. I'm going to post an affiliate link for Kajabi. I don't care whether you go through my affiliate link or not. It's just that they are... I mean they're a company that I know very well and very familiar with and I do trust them so if anybody is thinking about using them, they're the ones making all the ones.

They're the ones getting rich off the online course business, not me. It would just throw a little bit of money back into my business but whether you use it or not, highly recommend them. Okay. Susan said, "I have some questions in my local Facebook moms group, as to what they are doing to stay organized with their home office, childcare, mealtime. And I got some great ideas that I'm going to share and add too." That sounds amazing. And Susan, I need your help right now because I am currently swamped at work. And my kids are just having to live their best life with unlimited screen time. Because what am I going to do all day? Yeah. And if I can just get dinner on the table every night that's amazing. Okay. So you all having... See, okay. Another perfect example. You guys are talking to each other in the chat right now. Not even to me. And that's another example of creating community. Community in the comments is absolutely a thing.

Whether it's Facebook Live, or on your Instagram page or if you create a YouTube channel. Let me go back to Rob. I haven't seen a comment from Rob in a few minutes, and Rob if you're still there. Let's say, Rob, that you start a YouTube channel where you're talking about your area of expertise. You haven't even put together a course yet. But if you can start to create a community of people on your YouTube channel, who are watching all your videos. They're the ones who are asking questions. You're responding to them personally so you're essentially giving them not free coaching one-on-one but you're addressing their specific topics in your video content as you're going. Like this first 100 people or 500 people who follow you and consume your content, you're going to know all of them. You're going to know here's where they are, here's where they want to be.

How can I create a... When you're thinking about monetizing that, how can I create a product or course or some type of experience to serve them? What is it that they really want? Do they want to coach with you one-on-one? Can you create a signature program that you have people go through and then you offer coaching one-on-one if they need more than that. That's essentially what I do. And I just think that's so much more doable than I think most people believe that it is because they don't really get how people make money online. This is my passion, this is why I show up for this topic. Okay. Suzanne said, "It is hard to get followers to follow my private page. I have maybe 67 members." And Suzanne do you mean people who have liked your Facebook page? And Suzanne, tell me how long have you been doing videos, what have you been doing videos about and what has your call-to-action been.

When you do a video, and I'm totally making up an example. When you do a video and say you're doing organizing tips, what's the call-to-action? Do you ask them to share it with a friend, do you ask them to get in touch with you on your contact page? How are you... And have you really been thinking do you want people just beyond your local area, to know about you and to work with you. Do you have a way for them to do that? Or have you really up to this point been just focused on getting local clients through your Facebook page. Also, I mean that's still very doable but that's not really... That's more like digital marketing for a local service business. It's not so much building an online business long term. Does that make sense?

Okay, Susan and Suzanne, just talking. Kate Jones is here. Katie Wall is here. I am so excited that y'all watching. Rachel said, "Teaching the information in the private group would not be recommended." Right. I'm not saying it can't be done. I have actually... I have seen, let me think about that. I have seen Facebook groups do have an option for you to upload content. You can upload content and create it into units, categories. It almost seems like a self-learning, complete at your leisure type of thing. But I would very much recommend having that content live somewhere else so that the group can just be the group. That they don't have to come into the group to get the content. Because that would help you avoid the issue of selling membership into the group. You would want to do a membership site on Kajabi or somewhere else. So yes, that is what I'm recommending because I would say out of all the people... Again, I know a lot of course creators or membership site owners and I would think that the best practice is not to have your entire thing live on Facebook.

But if you had a free Facebook group, let's say you had a free Facebook group where people come and join you after they start watching your YouTube videos. And you say, "Hey, the call-to-action is, hey come join my free Facebook group. We're doing live videos, we're working through all these topics." Whatever. You can have that free content living in that free Facebook group. And you can definitely organize it into units, categories, all that stuff and have people mark it off and complete it. But I wouldn't have that be the thing that you sell, monetize.

One option that you could do is the entire purpose of that free group is to have them start working with you one-on-one, with virtual organizing. Or for you to let's say you grew that group to 1,000 people that were going through your free content and you're like, "Okay, this is awesome." But once a quarter you offer 10 or 15 spots into just a small group coaching where you are selling it. You're selling like a 90-day program or group coaching program. And how they work with you is you guys have Zoom call every single week for that three months or whatever.

You're teaching the same content. You might be teaching the exact same content or taking them through the exact same stuff you talk about in your free group, but they're getting your one-on-one attention through that 90 days versus them just consuming it and maybe doing it on their own or in most cases probably not. That would be another option, is doing a group organizing coaching or a group virtual organizing option. And then if they really want to just talk to you one-on-one, they will have had all of that content, up to that point, for them to get to know you. You're the person that they want to work with because they know that they relate to you, they understand your style. They like the way that you go about it. Okay. Tasha, hello. Rob said he's here. Thank god. And set the topics, then talk to those topics. Rob, that's 100% what I would do.

My first few videos... When I started this business or when I started my Pro Organizer Studio business, I did, I want to say the first three to five videos, was just open Q&A. And then every week I would take the top one or two questions that were asked after the fact. And I turned that into the topic for next week. So it becomes its own mechanism because you want to address topics that are timely, that people actually care about. And the way that you know that is because they showed up to your videos. And they showed up to your live videos and they asked the question. That's, I mean it's... It works. I'm a testament to that. Okay. Suzanne said, yes she's doing it on Facebook. No call-to-action. I did start doing videos on Instagram. Okay. Oh. That just reminded me that Susan, I didn't... Susan Carson, I didn't answer your question about Instagram TV. IGTV. About reach.

In my experience, people didn't really grab onto the IGTV videos idea. If you guys are listening and don't know about that, it was sort of Instagram's video platform that they wanted to compete with YouTube for. Because I mean people do spend a lot of time on Instagram but essentially they found out that at least at this point, they're not really going there to watch the video, like longer video content. Like YouTube does. So I don't think, I mean Susan, of course it never hurts to have your other Facebook lives uploaded to IGTV. But as far as reach, I don't think that that is going to be super impactful unless you have grown a massive Instagram following and you're constantly driving them to the IGTV.

I honestly, I swear to you I think YouTube is the way to go. Again, because of the search engine function. If people don't get on... People don't get on Instagram to search for stuff either. There's the hashtag. The hashtags help your content get found. But they're not going to help the type the question of what do I do with my life or you know, things that people are really struggling with. They're not going to type that into Instagram or Facebook. But they'll type it into YouTube and Google. Anyway. Okay. Suzanne, coming back to you. No call-to-action. I started doing videos and Instagram. So, oh, another thing. If you do videos on Instagram just like Facebook, you can download them and then cross upload them or cross-promote them to other channels. Such as YouTube, your Facebook page and so on.

Because your audience, as you're growing an audience, they're not likely to all see... You're going to think to yourself, you're like, "Well I just did this live video and I'm going to annoy everybody if upload it to YouTube, put it on my blog. Send it out to my email list and put it on Instagram. All in the same day." Guarantee you, guarantee you, nobody is going to see all those. If they see it twice, that will be shocking. And that will probably be a good thing because people do need repetition and reminders all the time. And that's even during normal times. And lately, I'm going to venture to guess that people are a little extra scattered than usual. But if you have the answer to something that in the back of their mind, that they're asking themselves or that they need to know.

Then you're going to remember it and they're going to save it and they're going to come back to it. And especially again, if you're doing this to grow your local business, Suzanne, your people. Trust me. Things might be slow right now but when it comes back my official predictions... Sorry, I'm going off-topic because this about professional organizers, not about online business, but people are going to need professional organizers in a big way. When people start getting back to normal. And can start getting out of their house again and have to go back to work. There will be so few people that actually spent their time at home organizing and doing things on their own. It's more like their regular problems got worse and their lack of systems and efficiency got worse and they're just going to be like, "I'm now swamped in crap, that I'm never going to be able to dig out of because I still have to go back to work and I can't catch my breath. And now I don't have any vacation time for the rest of the year because my company just made me use it all."

Soapbox moment. All right Rob said I had a good point. I don't know what he meant but, or I don't know exactly what he's referring to but I'm sure it was good. All right, give me more questions. I want to talk for at least a few more minutes but for those of you who are here, and whether you're here live or whether you're here live later. That's not live. Whether you're watching the replay and you're thinking about you want to have a full-time coaching business. You want a full-time consulting. You don't ever want to be reliant on having to go into a workplace to make money again. Because I have to tell you, though my business may slow down for a little while right now, I am so grateful, I am so grateful that there is a way for me to make money. I have an audience. If everybody stops being interested in what I talk about and teach now, I can pivot and start talking about the things they want to hear about. And if they want me to teach me something totally different that I know how to do, I can do that.

I know how all of that works so I can continue to evolve with my audience. In that my income would not hopefully, I mean knock on wood, completely disappear just because let's say worst-case scenario, we went into lockdown for three months. So anyway. Again, and not everybody listening is going to be thinking about leaving their job forever. But maybe thinking seriously about moving in that direction sooner rather than later. All right. Rob said, "I made a good point about the am I annoying people, too many videos, [inaudible 00:50:06]." And Rob, let me say something to you specifically too. Is, there are not enough people in this world like you who are really, really smart but also are not worried about infusing a little humor into the things that they do and teach online. I promise you that your like whatever... I'll say this to everybody. But and Rob, I swear I'm not calling you weird.

But whatever it is that makes you guys weird or different, is going to make you relatable to so many more people. Then if you tried to water down yourself and who you are, in order to try to be cool or try to please everybody or whatever. However, you think of it. I just made Rob laugh. Yes, so when you... That's another thing that is like is scary but maybe it's freeing. Where you're just, you're putting yourself out there to millions of people on the internet. But you have to remember you don't need... You need so few of them to resonate with you and to be interested in what you talk about and to want to work with you. Very few. To have a full-time online business. And I just want to encourage all of you, no matter what you're thinking about, that your personal story is important. The way that you would sit and talk to a friend, is the way that you should sit and talk to your audience.

Even if you're super, super brilliant and very decorated in degrees with what you do, I think that your approachability and your relatability and your empathy with other people and bringing humor into tough situations. Is going to be something that makes you stand out and helps you build that audience faster and I hesitate to say make money faster but really we wouldn't be talking about this if we weren't talking about how do I monetize this and make this... I'm serving a lot of people. They don't all become my clients or my students but enough of them do. That that is a full-time business. That's what I think all of you showed up here because you want that. And you will gain that quicker by really being yourself. I swear to you. I mean I've seen it happen.

I mean I'm not saying this because I... I don't of myself as a celebrity at all. But when people say I binge-watched all of your videos, I have listened to your story. I love your Southern accent. I mean I know I have a lot of idiosyncrasies about me and if I sat and thought about those, I would've never, ever, ever done what I do now. I also have plenty of people that are like, "Thank god that you did what you did or thank god you got over that fear because I really needed to hear what you had to say. In the way that you had to say it." And maybe they weren't looking for this overly, authoritative, or perfect person to be the one to convey that message. I hope that that makes sense.

I'm picking on Rob because he's a funny guy. He's a smart guy but I mean I think that his jokes and his humor are a major selling point, for him. Because a lot of people really like that. Rob said, "As far as humor and credibility, for the general public, would humor take away from credibility?" I don't think so. I don't think so. The only thing I will say... Oh, this is really funny because I don't think I've ever said this before. If you know me from my main business, from Pro Organizer Studio. I've been doing videos for a long time. I've been doing podcasts for a long time. I would say the only thing that I filter about myself is I don't use profanity online.

And in my real life, I do. And I really hate if I just busted your bubble of what you think that I'm like as a person. But I just figured you know, I wanted to talk to people as though they were the friends of my kid's parents or just somebody who I know but I'm not necessarily this tight with. And I do think that one of the things that burst that bubble of credibility for me with other people that I follow online is when they go way overboard with the authenticity of cussing a lot. So I hate to say that because I know for some people that really seems to work. Because people like that they're very real and raw like that but for me and maybe just because I'm a good girl, Southern girl. I don't want to put myself out there like that. So I don't do that. So, Rob, that's the only thing I filter but I like to laugh, I like to make jokes.

I've had people... I just did it. I've had people write to me and say that I say "um" too much and that I should work on my public speaking. And to that, I say, "Yes. You're probably right." But again, if I sat and thought about that or waited until I was perfectly polished and ready, I would've never started this business and I would've not been helping people and being where I am today. Veronica said she has listened to my podcasts multiple times because it sounds like I'm talking to my friend Jen. And that's good. That's what I want. I want people to feel like that. And I will say that it's easy for, easy, I mean, nothing is easy but it's easy for me to sell or it's easy for me to offer one-on-one coaching and for people to want to do that because it's the very next natural step. Because they already feel like they've been listening to me and they have been in a video Skype call with me because they watch my videos. Or if they listen to my podcasts.

And so when I say, "Hey, if you want to work one-on-one with me, here's how we can do that." For them, it's the most natural thing in the world. Is they're just like, "Oh, well I can just talk to her face-to-face because I already feel like I know her." Which is another reason why I think it is absolutely critical if you want to be doing coaching, that you are doing videos online to build your business. And to find those people who need you. Cool. Rob said he's trying to install the filter as we speak. All right. Let me know how that goes. That's hilarious. So if or when we ever get the chance to meet in person, I've met some of you in person obviously. I'm pretty much exactly like this except I do drop the F-bomb when necessary. Okay, I think I've talked for about an hour. I don't want to bore you guys to death but I wanted to really nail that takeaway of community is important on a regular day. Community is... I really think is going to become exponentially important just like the virus statistics, exponential.

As we are all starting to get locked up together and we don't know how... We don't have any other way to connect other than online format. At the very, very least. If you are listening and you have clients who you're not able to work with right now. Whether I'm talking to professional organizers, or interior designers or anybody else who's listening who for some reason you have been put on hold. You could implement a Zoom call, just for free. Anyone who is... I know a lot of professional organizers it's like their projects got halted right now. Just for all of your current clients. Just say, "Hey, you don't have to come. It's totally optional but I'm just going to offer a private, group Zoom call right now." And if three people show up or even one person, great. They're not paying you anything additional. It is just practice. It is just practice for you to have people talk through what they're going through right now.

What their needs are right now. What is changing right now. And it would be just an ideal way for you to see what it's like. Oh, I can still help people online even though I've never done that before. Oh, my dad just logged on. So now, I'm going to continue this chat and make sure that he's... Make sure that I'm communicating everything I need him to hear tonight so dad, I have been talking about the importance of community and the spiritual experience that was given to us by the Indigo Girls online tonight. You should be doing that. You got to do that because that, while it is not necessarily doing an online live concert, might not necessarily make you money today. Creating that experience of that community online, it brings people to you and I know you and Terry were talking about this the other day. Is how do we bring people into the community through our content.

If you guys have... We talked about this. You're doing the online live shows or doing your podcasts or doing the edited videos, always give them somewhere to go where they can congregate together. And I know that that was a thought in your mind the other day but I think watching the comments and the engagement on that live concert that Amy and Emily did tonight, you could see where people were saying, "I'm sitting at home singing and crying and I didn't know how badly that I needed community right now," or "Thank you for creating a community of people who love you guys from all over the world and we felt like we were in that moment together." That is not only just, I think a generous and nice thing to do right now but I think it's something that is going to explode both of your careers in the long term.

Because once things start to return to normal, think about all the people who will have found you during that time. That would have never known about you otherwise. Because that content is sharable and when it hits those heartstrings, people want to share it. I have my dad said, he did Christopher Robin for Ella Jane a little while ago. He is singing and reading stories for my nieces and nephews and for my kids. Put us on the list, we want to be next. I think that that's really, really special. Dad, how are you sharing that? This is turning into a coaching call with my dad and I'm totally fine with it. But I want to talk about how like specifically you guys are implementing what I'm talking about. Because dad, each one of those could be a video and even though it was a moment and Ella Jane, that again can be sharable and touch people. Veronica said, "There are so many videos of Italians creating music from their balconies." Yes, I think that's extremely moving and it just, yeah.

Suzanne said it brought tears to her eyes. A lot of stuff has been making me cry the past few days. I think that just seeing people have that... I don't know if it's just music. Or a need to just hear and see other people, even from a distance. It's like you're looking through glass or something. I mean it's just... It is very, very moving. All right I'm going to wrap up. I'm going to try not to cut off too quickly because I've noticed that when I... In watching other people's live videos that they'll ask if there are any more questions but there's usually a little bit of delay. And this is a little tip for you guys. If you're doing a live video, a live Facebook video, there's usually a little bit of delay between when you're talking and reading the comments and when you see the comment come in. For whatever reason, it's probably a full minute.

So that's why I will watch and wait and make sure that nobody is typing anything last second before I log off for the night. But if you enjoyed this, or if this meant something to you or you know somebody who needed to hear this, it would mean the world for me for you to just tag... You can type a comment and tag them in the comment and they'll come back and see it. Or you can share it just directly with them. I am planning on doing daily Facebook lives. And that helps me too right now because it's an extra outlet for me to talk about something that I love and care a lot about. But it also helps me get dressed and put on makeup for the day. And plan out my schedule because once I commit to doing a Facebook live video, I have to show up. So it's an accountability thing for me, which is really helpful.

Okay, thank you guys so much for being here. I do see your comments. Suzanne, Rachel, Tasha, Veronica and Rob. And anybody else I missed. It means the world to me that you were here to listen. Please let me know what other questions you have in the next few days because guess what? You guys are the ones who decide what happens next. This kind of like choose your adventure. You guys are wonderful, thank you. And I'll post tomorrow about the topic and time and I'll see you then. Kiss, kiss. Bye.