Episode 11

Taking Advantage of Video Marketing in Your Business

by | Sep 23, 2020 | Podcast

You’ve probably heard it before, “video is the future” of digital marketing. More platforms are continuing to heavily push video content, and for good reason. There are many people, like today’s guest, who are crushing it on video. That is why I wanted to bring Renee (My Girlfriend Renee) on the podcast.

Nick (00:00): Hey guys, and welcome to the Nine-Five Podcast. I'm really excited about this interview today. In this episode, we are chatting with Renee Dick also known as My Girlfriend Renee, for those who are familiar with her, as you'll hear in this episode, my wife was the one who actually pointed me towards Renee's content on Instagram, because she has managed to grow an amazing following and produces tons of video content, which is something that I've been trying to get into a lot lately. So as much as this episode is an amazing learning experience for where I'm at personally, in my business and strategy, we cover a lot of really great topics that I think you'll be able to learn a lot from. Renee has been seeing a lot of success with her video content, obviously. That is why I wanted to bring her on, but she has also been killing it on Instagram and Pinterest. So in this episode, we also dive pretty deep into Pinterest and how that has had an effect on Renee's business and her brand. So let's get right into the episode, cue the music.

Nick (00:53): This is the Nine-Five Podcast and I'm your host, Nick Nalbach. Where we get into the minds of entrepreneurs and people just like you. So you can start, build and grow your own online business.

Nick (01:10): All right. Welcome to the Nine-Five Podcast where we get inside the heads of entrepreneurs and business professionals to help you become a better entrepreneur or business professional. Today, I am sitting here with Renee Dick. Otherwise you may know her from Instagram as My Girlfriend Renee and Renee, welcome to the Nine-Five Podcast.

Renee (01:32): Hi, I'm so excited to be here.

Nick (01:34): So I guess first off I have to ask, where did the whole, My Girlfriend Renee name come from?

Renee (01:42): In the beginning it sounds crazy, right? When you tell people, you're like, yeah, I have a call with My Girlfriend, Renee. They're like, what? But now take you back. I used to be a hairstylist and then I did spray tanning. So whenever girls get their hair done, their friends always ask, where do you get your hair done? And they would always say, Oh my girlfriend, Renee, does it go see my girlfriend, Renee. So that is how it came about. So it's not weird. It makes sense when you know the story

Nick (02:06): And then it just stuck. So it's perfect.

Renee (02:07): Yes, exactly. So that's what I named my blog. And it's pretty much the girlfriend. You never thought you needed. And I pretty much provide every kind of tip whether it's business, fashion, life entertainment, whatever it is. And so I'm the girlfriend you never thought you needed.

Nick (02:22): Awesome. I love it. That is very fun. Um, okay. So I guess to get going here, you kind of dove into what it is you do. Um, why don't you give everybody just a little bit of introduction of yourself and then how did you end up in the entrepreneur online business space?

Renee (02:40): Well, I'm Renee. I have a monthly shirt subscription for women entrepreneurs, small business owners, and we have a online community and every month you get a custom design t-shirt sent to your door, um, that all, you know, motivational Boss Babe themes. And then we do zoom calls where I bring on all of our members and we learn from each other and share our journey. So that way we can learn and make our lives a little bit easier and connect with others. Because as you know, as an entrepreneur, especially working from home, it's lonely, very lonely and it's very hard. And when you do not have somebody to call, it could be the, like the biggest game changer for you. So that's why I created this community.

Nick (03:14): That's really cool. I was picking around on your website and I really like everything you have going on there. I really liked that, "Everything You Never Thought You Needed" slogan.

Renee (03:24): Exactly. Right? Because it's like, you don't really know the questions to ask when you're an entrepreneur, you kind of like learn by doing so I just kind of cover like all of my content shares every single step of my journey. So that way it helps kind of alleviate and eliminates that question. All of a sudden I answer it and you're like, Oh my God, I didn't even know I needed that. But boom, here you go. You know what I mean? Um, I'm only about a year and a half into. I went to a women in business conference last year and that was, I had no business. I was a stay at home mom. Uh, like I said, I did hair. I did spray tanning, stopped that and then became a stay at home. Mom, take care of my son realized it was not for me. I was not about that life. Um, so I needed something for me. So I started a blog and then it quickly went into that. So I went to the women business conference. Didn't have a business, didn't have a computer, didn't have anything. I was still just Renee on Instagram. And by that day I owned my domain, changed my Instagram and just hit the ground running. I went from a blog and now a year later to the monthly subscription.

Nick (04:23): That's awesome. Um, I'm curious when you started the blog, how long did it take for stuff to kind of really get going? Like did the blog hit and everything started moving with the blog really well? Or did you just kind of jump right into these other ventures?

Renee (04:37): Both. So with my story, everything happened so fast. Um, and I think because I just hit the ground running, like I said, I felt like I had so much time to make up. Like I was hungry. I wanted this to succeed. So every single day I just fricking hit the ground running. I would not stop. And when I launched my blog, I realized like, you, you, you know, you launch your website, you launch your podcast, you launch your business. And you're like, Oh yeah, all these people are just going to find me now it's done. This is how it works. And then quickly you realize that's not the case. You have to put in so much effort to tell the world about your business. And that's kind of where everything started evolving. It was like the blog. And then it was Pinterest and then it was clothes.

Renee (05:14): And I started listening to my audience. So after the blog I realized I wanted to do more. I started blogging more about fashion and I grew my audience, um, through, through fashion. So I started doing a boutique. I started launching clothes and it was super fun. And then I had this one shirt that said, "Babes Support Babes" on it. And no matter what, it always sold out, no matter what, nothing else sold. Nothing in the boutique, nobody wanted that shit. They were like, nah, we good. And the "Babes Support Babes" kept selling. So my husband was like, you're not making money because when you do wholesale, you have to buy in multiples of six. So you have 2 small, 2 medium, 2 large. And my largest would always stay in stock, but my smallest would sell out. So I'm thinking I'm crushing the game. I'm like, Oh my God, I'm hustling.

Renee (05:54): I'm moving all this, all this product. And he's like, no, no, you're not. You're larges are still sitting here and you're buying more to get the smalls. He's like, you need to start making your own shirts. And I'm like, yeah, okay. I don't know how to do that. And he's like, we'll figure it out. So I started Googling it of course, and started watching YouTube videos and found a graphic designer on Instagram, had her start creating designs for me, found a printer, found this, started crushing it. And now I do my own shirts forever. And that's kind of, it all happened within a couple of months. It was crazy.

Nick (06:24): Yeah. That's really cool. It's kind of crazy how that stuff, like once the ball starts rolling, there's no stopping and you're going like one into the next and the next,

Renee (06:35): Well, you test, and then you listen. I tested and then I knew my audience was telling me, I mean, if you really, if you really pay attention to what your audience kind of attracts to, that's kind of guiding you along the journey. Like I knew they weren't, the botique wasn't working. It was the shirts that were working because a lot of my audience were small business owners, MLM, um, a lot of like, you know, side hustles and moms that are working. And so they wanted that for content. They wanted to wear the shirt for their posts on Instagram or their blog, or if they're going to network events, they wanted to wear that. So that's kind of where my audience was telling me, Hey, we don't really necessarily want this. We want this. And I doubled down on that. And ever since then, I let my audience kind of tell me what they need and that's how I've succeeded ever since.

Nick (07:18): That's really interesting. So the whole idea of the boutique, I mean, we'll, we'll get into the, the grand Boss Babe brand, but so it never really started out as a, a means to help entrepreneurs. It was just to sell products. That's crazy.

Renee (07:32): Yeah. Cause I was so new. I didn't really know I was an entrepreneur. Like I don't really eat my whole life. Like I've done hair since I was 18. Like I came from a single mom, so I always had to make my own money. I always had to work and she worked at nine to five and I knew I was never going to do that. I was like, I am not about that life. Like, no, thank you. You have to go to work Monday through Friday, like, and sit at a desk. And I just, I knew I was not going to do it. So I did hair and I realized like I have to do everything on my own to make my own money. And I just did it. Like it didn't, I don't know. I didn't have to learn it. I didn't know I was an entrepreneur.

Renee (08:05): I just did it. Like, I don't know how to explain it. Like I needed money. Yeah. I got creative. Like I was like, okay. I did. Then I realized spray tanning was faster than hair. I could make money faster. So I started doing spray tanning and I loved it. Created, you know, did that. And then I started working for the company, became an educator. So this whole time I was an entrepreneur, I just didn't know I was. Um, but I had to learn all of those jobs, like taught me the skills to get to where I'm at now, but I didn't feel confident cause I'm like, I haven't been doing this that long. So I didn't feel confident enough to teach business or you know, things to people. But I did know fashion. So I was like, Hey girl, come and buy my stuff. I was like, this is fun, but I didn't know how to teach entrepreneurship at all. Like I had no idea I was even doing it.

Nick (08:46): You were, I guess you were the student kind of teaching yourself in a way.

Renee (08:51): Exactly. And then that's why like the, when I went to the women in business conference, it was 30 other women who thought like me and I was like, Oh, okay. I'm not weird. This is, this is, Oh, that's what I am. I do business. I, these are my people. And then it just kinda was like, Oh, okay. I get it all makes sense.

Nick (09:09): That is awesome. So the Boss Babe brand, why don't you talk a little bit about what that is? What to be honest. So to back up a little bit, my wife was the one that actually pointed me towards your content. Cause I was getting into the entrepreneurship. Um, I was thinking about starting the podcast, doing all this stuff. And she's like, you have to go check out My Girlfriend Renee and see she's doing a bunch of video content. She's doing live speaking events, all this stuff. And I was like, okay, yeah, I gotta check this out. And the first time actually up until recently, I honestly thought the Boss Babe Shirt Club was like a shirt club. That was it. It wasn't until very recently that I realized it was much bigger than that. So why don't you tell everybody what the Boss Babe Shirt Club is.

Renee (09:53): Shut out to her. Thank you. Because I do not market to men at all. Like all of my content is for women, so yay. Um, so pretty much, yeah. I, I need to rename it because like I said, like, or like you said, it's more than that. The shirt is just the badge of honor. So the shirt represents the community, but we do way more than that. Where we share our struggles, we share our journeys and I don't know everything. And I'm willing to say that, but I have members in my community that are strong in here in other things. So I bring on people that are experts in their industries to teach us. So we all learn from each other versus one person providing content. We all provide content for the group to better ourselves. And it's not a community. It's not a comp or competition mindset, it's community. So nobody is holding back anything because we all know like when you hold back stuff, you limit yourself. But when you share with other people you grow, you know, what's that rising tides lift ships that that saying it's so true. Like when we all better each other, we grow. And it's, that's the mission of the group is to provide value always to each other and be a resource and a network to one another so that we can all grow.

Nick (11:05): Awesome. That kind of reminds me of the saying, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You want to surround yourself with people in your group, in your community, in your friend circle, whatever it is. Not necessarily that are exactly like you, but people who can counter-balance your, I guess, weaknesses. So you guys can play off your weaknesses and your strengths and as a whole grow, but you might not be the expert. Someone else might not be exactly.

Renee (11:33): It's important. And I think we have to highlight that and what it does is it, it also strengthens you because when somebody else, like you don't think you're an expert in anything because you're constantly learning. Right. But when somebody else validates that and says, Hey, you know, can you teach this to, you know, a couple hundred women, you're going to be like, wait, what me? And then all of a sudden your confidence goes through the roof. So in a way you really are helping grow personally and in your business.

Nick (11:56): No, I think that's a very good point. Touch on. Um, I guess I kind of want to talk about this, the community as you were growing it. Cause I kind of think you have somewhat of a cult following. It's it's kinda cool. Like I like watching, I was following you more for the business side of it, just to kind of see how you're doing everything. It's very cool. How everything's kind of shaping up. I mean, you have an awesome fan- base. How, I guess for one, how did you tap into that? How did it really grow to what it is? I guess let's just start with that. What, what do you think actually forced this thing to grow?

Renee (12:31): I think it was pretty much always being like real because when you're starting out and you ask people things, they don't really share. A lot of people keep it close. They don't want to share like what they're doing, because they have that scarcity mindset where I come from, I give you everything. Like I don't, I do not hide anything. Anything that I'm learning, anything that I'm using, I am more than happy to share because all that does is build your trust. In me. I'm a big believer in you have to build that trust factor. Like people buy from people that they trust. So by me giving you everything, I have, it builds that trust to where you're like this girl's really got my best interest in mind. And then we grow a better relationship if I'm just telling you things and not, you know, sharing genuinely wanting to help you, you can feel that.

Renee (13:16): I mean, everybody nowadays is so sold to every single day and everybody has an ulterior motive. But when you meet somebody that just genuinely wants to help and understands like, Hey, I know this shit's hard. Cause I'm doing it too. That trust gets built. And now everybody that follows me, we have a relationship and they can DM me and say, Hey, I need help with this. And I do it. You know what I mean? Through my content or through that. And that's why I think my relationship with my followers is so deep because I give you everything.

Nick (13:43): I think that's something that I think plagues, a lot of people that try to get into entrepreneurship because everyone wants the, I guess the instant gratification of it, they know where they want to be and they don't know how to get there, but they think it's just going to happen like that. And I don't know, everyone, I think tries to take a little bit of shortcuts. They don't realize that they have to be genuine and give and be transparent. Like what you're talking. I mean, it all comes down to having to put the work in up upfront and not willing to put the work in upfront. Yeah. Every day. I mean, I see you posting content every single day and that's exhausting, but that's what it takes. And a lot of people aren't up for that challenge.

Renee (14:22): Well they want the quick route, you know what I mean? Like the quick, like tell me, tell me what it is and I'm, I literally show you through my content that all it is is repetitive action every single day and pushing past your comfort zone, getting uncomfortable, doing the stuff that scares you and just realizing you're going to suck. It's okay. Like keep going anyways. You're going to get better at it. And I show that every day, because I think a lot of people are over the instant gratification too, because people promise it. And then they realize they're like, okay, this is a lie. You know what I mean? So people are gravitating to like the real, Hey girl, it's going to take you years to get where you want to be. And that's where I'm at right now is the patience. That's the hardest part.

Nick (15:00): Patience is huge. I think once people realize that it might take, I mean, I was kind of the same way, right? When I was getting started, I was like, okay, I want this to happen. Now it's going to happen in the next couple of months. And this is what we're going to do. And I mean, I'm, as far as the Nine-Five To Freedom brand, this is year two and I'm still figuring it out. But now I've come to the realization. That's not going to happen fast. And now I'm okay with that because I've accepted it at this point. I realized that that's what the truth is, but it took the, I guess, wasting time and trying to find the shortcut to realize that there is none for me to actually come to that realization. Yeah, it's frustrating. But the quicker you can come to that realization, the lot you were going to be way better off

Renee (15:41): I attack the day, like the best thing I ever heard was like, Andy Frisella's podcast is like, you have to attack the day, not the big b oulder. Like just do the steps to get you there today and chip away. I just picture it like I'm chipping away, chipping away like that little dude in the mountain trying to get that diamond. And he quits like right before, like you're just chipping away constantly every single day. And as long as every day I do something for my business and my brand. That's a win. Then the next day it'll be a win and they just keep stacking one plus one equals two. That's just it

Nick (16:08): Love it with that. Following that you've built. Did we talked about the blog? Did it come from the blog and you brought people over onto Instagram or did you kind of start building up that following on Instagram that kind of created a cross promotion of itself

Renee (16:22): To be 1000% honest. My traffic for my blog does not come from Instagram. It comes from Pinterest. So that's where my brand headed next was. I started to find this gem because if you think about it, Instagram is there for entertainment, right? You want to just casually scroll. You're doing it when you're in line somewhere or you're bored or whatever. You're not really there to do long form content. So when you're on a blog, that's long form content. You want it. You're there to find the answer. So I use Pinterest to grow my blog, not Instagram. Instagram is how I capture you. Like, I show you my personality. I capture you. And I entertain you. I give you a little bit of tidbits, but my blog comes from Instagram or from Pinterest and Pinterest. People are there to solve a problem. When you go on Pinterest, you're there for an answer, a solution. And that's where my blog traffic comes from.

Nick (17:12): That's interesting. How long have you been doing Pinterest?

Renee (17:15): Uh, I'd say a couple months. So I started, let's see, where are we at? What day is it even like quarantine? I don't even know what month we're in. Like where are we at? I would say like, right. I'm like, what day is it even I'm I go through months now cause of my shirts. Um, so I think it was like March. I started and I quickly realized holy crap, like Pinterest is the golden nugget for blogging, not Instagram.

Nick (17:42): I was messing around with it for awhile and I was hitting it very hard. Maybe we can get into a little bit of the Pinterest strategy. I know you some courses and eBooks on it, so we don't want to give away everything. Um, I struggled with it, I think because I was trying to pin so much, like I was trying to put out and I mean, it's working for you so you can correct me if I'm wrong. But I was putting out probably 10 to 15 different pins every single day. And really it didn't yield a whole lot for me. Granted, I know you are in a completely different niche only. It's not really, you'd still be in the entrepreneur business niche, but you also have the fashion and all that on top of that. Do you see a lot of success with the fashion or more success than the entrepreneurship?

Renee (18:29): Yeah. So there's, there is a niche for everybody on Pinterest. It isn't certain things obviously performed better. Yes. Like recipes crush it, workout tips, crush it, small business tips are a little bit smaller, but they do work. So when you are doing your 10 to 15 pins a day, which is great. Keep doing that. I personally got it down to five now because of I'm just so busy that five, every single day keeps me consistent. And it's the best that I've used. But when you were doing it, what were you pinning and what type of content? Like what was your goal and strategy behind it?

Nick (19:01): So really, and that's, that's part of the reason why I think I failed with it. I didn't have, aside from bringing visitors to my website and reading the blog. I didn't have any end goal in mind. I just figured I'd try to bring readers, try to, I guess, pick up subscribers from there. People interested in the content. I didn't really have any freebies to give away on the pages, any of that stuff. So I was really just trying to drive content or drive traffic. And I don't know a lot of the pins that I did, they were virtually the same pins that I would just tweak minor and I would mass produce them. So I'd create for one blog post, I'd create a hundred pins at a time and then a hundred pins of this blog post and a hundred pins for that blog post. And then I just post five from that one, five from this one and just every single day do the same deal.

Renee (19:46): That's right, though, everything you're doing is right. Pinterest is long game. It's evergreen content, Instagram, you get three days and it's gone, right? And with Pinterest, you can have, you can pin in March and it does nothing. But then you look back today and it has over a thousand thousand views thousand hits thousand saves, whatever. So I think a bit as what did you lose? Nothing, right? It's free. So you're doing everything right now. You have to pay attention to those analytics. And now you got to see what's doing well and double down on that. So say you have a pin that has, you know, a stock photo and it says, you know, some sort of tip and everybody's clicking on that one versus the other one. Keep going with that one and start pinning content. That looks exactly like that again, because obviously that's, what's growing.

Renee (20:30): So you gotta pay attention to your analytics and double down. But Pinterest is not a short game. It's long game all the way I can pin something from months ago. Like when I first started blogging, my very first blog post was why I decided to have an only child, not even close to my brand today. Right. And that is my most popular pin. That's ever driven traffic to my site. Why? I don't know, but it's long game. I keep it on there because you know what? It still gets hits, but it's not necessarily where my brand is today. And that's okay, it's free. I didn't have anything. I don't have any new lose by not doing it. It takes you a couple minutes. Like you can even do five and it takes you. It takes me less than 10 minutes. And what you get, there's a chance you can get a listener, you can get a subscriber, you can get a customer I'm here for it. Like what do you have to lose? You? Can't double down all on one platform. We have to go on all of them.

Nick (21:17): I completely agree. And that's, I kind of have adopted this approach. The "Be Everywhere" approach. I'm trying to be literally everywhere. The podcast I'm starting to get into YouTube. Now I've been slacking that with the launch of the podcast, but Instagram, Pinterest, I do think there is something to be said. I know there's a lot of argument saying focus on one until you master it.

Renee (21:39): I got that yeah, master it a hundred percent master. It stopped trying to be like crappy at all of them, but master one. But I mean pretty much by now everybody's mastered Instagram. I mean, realistically, everybody that's just routine now. So once you feel like you have that under control, a good example is I was pinning a lot of my packaging content, like small business content on Pinterest. And I had a girl that found me on Pinterest, went to my blog read all my blog posts, then went to my YouTube, watched all the videos on my YouTube and is now a subscriber in my store. My shirts subscription, because I provided so much value to her, with my content that she trusted me. Instead of she's giving me all of this for free. What is she going to give me when I pay her? So if you think about it, if I didn't do that and I didn't do those pins, she would've never found me. It's a different audience. So it's like be everywhere. So that way you get a chance for one person at least to connect with you. I'm a huge believer in being in all. Yeah, you don't have to be amazing at it, but you can dabble in it. Realistically. We have time to figure it out. I doubled down on, I mean, I'm on all the damn platforms. Let's just be honest. But I doubled down on Instagram and Pinterest because that's where my audience is.

Nick (22:48): You were saying that you can probably knock out five pins in like 10 minutes. What are you using to create those

Renee (22:53): Canva. Canva. The free one too. Yeah. I don't even use the pro I got the free one, but with Pinterest. So I make my Canva templates, right? Because they provide Pinterest templates already for free. So I do the little Pinterest templates, download them. And then in Pinterest, you can do five pins at one time. You can create them all at one time. So I just do it for one blog post. I saved the same link and I pin it all at one time, pin them and it mass, it just puts them out into the world, and I'm done.

Nick (23:19): Very cool. That's what it takes. I mean, with how busy everyone is, you have to come up with a system that streamlines everything.

Renee (23:29): That's why I teach it. Like all my girls. I did a challenge for the five pins a day checklist. Like I literally said five pins a day, commit to it. Just to get you in the routine of actually doing it. And five pins I think is like realistic. If you can't do five pins, you're lazy. I'm sorry. Uh, so I started that challenge and I great results from it. So now I appreciate it. I'm like everybody has time to do five pins, whether it takes you 10 or 30 minutes, that's usually like the going time that people say, and the better you get the lower, the time it's going to take. And you're consistent. Think about it Monday through Friday five pins. It is 25 pins a week. That's like 25 chances of somebody clicking on your content. Like it's not that hard. People tend to overthink things like always, you know.

Nick (24:08): I mean, with Pinterest, it's kind of interesting. I did have a pin or two that created like crazy buzz. Like they went off for whatever reason, no idea why, but with Pinterest, I think it is a consistency factor. I think you can post the same image to Pinterest every single day for the next 365 days. And a couple of those are for whatever reason, there's going to freak out and go high. So it, consistency is huge.

Renee (24:32): Yeah. You never know. I mean, it's, the alignment has to be right. I don't know. I've, I've tested a lot with Pinterest. Um, same with all of my content. I mean, we all test and see, you know, what's working, what's not working and certain things perform better on Pinterest. Like they like stock photos versus pictures of you. Like, I would do pictures of me and they would tank. I'm like, Oh, okay. All right. I'm not that cute. I get it. And then I would do a stock photo and they would crush it. So it depends. Um, there's different texts that do good. There's different color combinations. Like there's so many things that you can test and it's actually kind of fun when you think about it. Cause it's like a game, you know, it's like you design something and you put it into the world and you're like, Oh, who's going to like this one. Like it's kind of fun.

Nick (25:13): One thing that will be the last comment I have on Pinterest. I want to get into the video content side of things. But one thing I did think was interesting. I, I had not used Canva, right? I was familiar with it, but didn't really use it. I was using Adobe Spark and it's kind of the same concept. Although Canva seems to be a little bit more user friendly, but with Adobe Spark, they have color palettes set up for you. And when you go create your pin, you have your text, your image, background, colors, whatever you have, you can click on those color palettes and it'll shift the colors for everything. So will change the color, the text, color, the background, color, the image, color, everything. And you can cycle through these different color palettes like five or six colors. And they'll shift all the colors for you over and over and over again. So I was able to, that's how I was like mass producing all these pins. If I'd find one that would work, I would create that same pin in multiple different colors. And I could create 15 pins in five minutes. If I wanted to

Renee (26:10): Just little tweaks, like it doesn't have to be this huge grand transition like thing. You can just spin, simply change the text on one, change the color on one, change the image on one. And there you go. Or just change the title. I mean, people definitely overthink this. It's really not that hard just switch out some stuff and the content you're already creating for Instagram, you can put on Pinterest. You know what I mean? We're already spending all this time, creating Instagram content and people are doing graphics for Instagram now, and they're doing, you know, the story templates, like just put them on Pinterest.

Nick (26:40): That's um, I've been big into the repurposing content. If can take one piece of content and spread it across every platform. I am all about that

Renee (26:48): I am a Pro at that. And that is like, yes, I can definitely say I'm a pro at that,

Nick (26:54): The video content and the podcast stuff. I love it for that aspect because it's so easily, I guess, manipulated to where you can share it on literally every platform, a hundred percent agree. So, okay. Speaking of video, that is what kind of drew me to your content the most, because I was always really wanting to get into video and I'd go just paralysis. Every time I tried to hit record and it was miserable, it wasn't until I actually funny enough launched the podcast that I started getting more comfortable in front of the microphone and the camera and everything. So when did you start getting into video content? And I mean, right now you seem like a natural, you're very confident on camera. Was it always like that for you?

Renee (27:40): Yes and no. So I started doing video. This is, I think this is why I'm, I'm so comfortable because when I did spray tanning, I said I was an educator for the company by that I had go on stages at conventions and they would, it, they would record it and put it on YouTube. And this was when YouTube was like really big, you know, this was like 2012, I think it was before. So it was like 2012 when the YouTube thing was like huge. And so we were constantly doing YouTube videos of spray tanning. And my boss at the time was like, okay, we need to do a spray, tan yourself, a video. Can you do it? And I was like, Ugh, dammit. So I was in a bikini spray, tanning myself in the most awkward position you will ever see in your life. And I did it and it was the first video I ever did by myself was me in a bikini spray, tanning myself.

Renee (28:28): Now, nothing can phase me because I did the hardest, literally the hardest video I think anybody would ever do. And then we started doing like lessons. So we would do like training DVDs and she would spray tan me in a bikini getting spray tanned. So like I said, everything I did was like the most uncomfortable situation. Now I'm just talking with my face. This is easy. I have clothes on. Like, I love spray tanning so much. I just, it didn't even affect me. It just, she threw me in the fire and was like sink or swim pretty much. And I thank her every day for that, because look at what it did for me. So like I said, all of the jobs that I had led me to where I am now. So doing those spray tan videos and educating and doing all of that heck yeah it was awkward.

Renee (29:11): Like, are you kidding me? Who would you be in a bikini? Like on YouTube spray, tanning yourself? No,

Nick (29:16): I honestly wouldn't do that.

Renee (29:20): But me, I was like, yeah, girl, I'll do it. I don't care. I was making money. I'm like, I'll do it. And I loved it. And that's where I think I got so comfortable is now nothing can phase me now. I'm like, dude, I love video. I am like a FaceTime girl. I am like video chat, video messaging, Zoom calls. Like I don't like people that talk in email. I hate it. I'm not, I'm a face to face kind like on person. And I think even being with a hairstylist, I was on like, I was the entertainment for my client. So to me I've always been technically on video, just never with a camera. So I'm definitely comfortable with that. And I think being, you just kind of have to do it, right? Like there's not really a secret. You literally, you're going to suck when you first do it. Cause you're gonna be like, uh, but once you do it, then you flow a little bit better and a little bit better and a little bit better. So keep doing it. So that way you get more comfortable. Cause you're not going to be comfortable. Nobody is.

Nick (30:14): I can definitely attest to that. I literally, every time I'd hit record, just blank, everything would go out. And I don't know, after doing the podcast, like I said, I've been trying to get guests like you and everyone on video. So I have this face to face, everything's being recorded video and that's really gone a long way, but I think social media has really helped push that boundary. And I mean, you're putting videos out all over social media. You're constantly on Instagram. I think that is a little bit low stakes or it can be a little bit more low stakes than trying to let's say put out a big 10 minute video on YouTube. So for anybody that's trying to get started and they're nervous, can't really put their thoughts down into the camera. I think social media is a great outlet for that to just kind of take baby steps. I started with TikTok and I was doing

Renee (31:02): Yeah, with Reels. It's 15 seconds. If you can't do nothing for 15. I mean, come on. I love reels like that went from IGTV of having to create over a minute to now Reels, which are 15 seconds. Get on it, like do not sleep on this. This is your best chance to do it. Like it's 15 seconds. You can, anybody can fake it for 15 seconds. Like get on it. Challenge. Like, what does that inner, like, what's the embrace. Like somebody at channel, there it is channel somebody else's personality and just go balls to the wall and like go for it. And then you can go and have a panic attack after the 15 seconds every time, you know what I mean? Like just go real quick and then shut it off and then go hermit crabs the rest of the day. It's fine.

Nick (31:46): And I mean Reels right now. I think Reels is a huge opportunity for anybody trying to get into the video space because you know, Instagram's pushing the hell out of Reels. You know, they're gonna try to get in front of everybody.

Renee (31:57): I've doubled, doubled, in following, engagement, everything with Reels. I have doubled down on Reels 1000%. Nobody is commenting anymore. And nobody's looking at long form content like me personally. I don't know how yours is working with your brand. But with me, I was putting out, I was getting like, I do pretty well on engagement and I was tanking and people weren't watching it. They were just like scrolling. And I think with all of the stuff going on right now, it's so negative that people just want to be entertained really quick. And then once it kind of like requires any sort of effort, they're like I am out. So Reels have been a huge game changer for my content. My engagement has been through the roof. My following has grown so fast overnight with Reels because, and my I'm more customers from it. People are finding me more. So definitely double down on Reels a hundred percent.

Nick (32:44): So my Instagram account is very minor right now. When I started posting Reels, I had less than a hundred followers and I'm, I dunno, I'm growing slowly, but I was able, one of my Reels reached almost a thousand people with less than a hundred followers. I'm definitely a big proponent in Reels. I was upset that I missed TikTok because of how massive

Renee (33:11): I'm not about that life. I never did it. I was like, no, I refuse.

Nick (33:14): I gave in just because I was like, okay, I suck in front of the camera. If I just, it's 30 seconds to a minute, I can get on camera for 30 seconds to a minute. So I was consistently putting out videos. I was doing like three or four videos a day just to do it. And that really built up the confidence and Reels is the same way only it's 15 seconds. It's way easier than a 32nd minute video.

Renee (33:35): And that's amazing. Good job for that in case nobody tells you good job for doing that because people don't don't think like that. So good job for, you know, putting yourself out there and using that, even though you're like, Oh my God, this is going to be so bad or whatever. And it, you actually took a step into the right direction, was forcing yourself to get uncomfortable. So good job on that one boy. I'm a clap that up.

Nick (33:55): Thank you. I mean, the videos aren't great. So if anybody wants to like cringe, I'll put a link in the show notes to my TikTok and they can go cringe at my videos.

Renee (34:05): And then it goes viral.

Renee (34:08): Well, what's cool about it is that Reels you can edit. So a lot of people get caught up with editing video because they're like, what do you use to edit? What do you do this? Do I need all this fancy equipment? And TikTok does everything for you. So if you are already on TikTok, now you're on Reels. You have an upper hand because now you're comfortable with the controls with Reels. All the editing is done inside the app. It's like you eliminated half the trial of trying to find a videographer, trying to find the apps to, you know, clip all your stuff together. Reels gives you everything you need. So you're, you know, you don't even need a lot of effort to create an awesome video nowadays.

Nick (34:41): So what kind of, I've watched some of your Reels already, but for the listeners, what kind of content are you actually posting to the Instagram Reels.

Renee (34:50): So I've done a lot of education because like I said, I'll creep. So I educate myself when something's new. Cause I want to be able to master it. And like I said, I didn't do TikTok cause I'm like, girl, I can not dance. So I was not about it. So I started realizing it's kind of a funny way to introduce your brand. You think about it, you want to entertain, you want to provide value always, but how do you do that in 15 seconds behind the scenes do really well. So the one that I did, um, I turned, I actually turned it into a challenge and it pretty much took off. So that one has over 16,000 views and yeah, I don't even have that much followers. Like what's, you know what I mean? But I did this challenge where I was in the shower and I was thinking, and I'm like, okay, how can I show, you know, behind the scenes of my business.

Renee (35:30): So I did a video of me saying, meet the team, welcome to My Girlfriend Renee headquarters. And it was me in every single slide. I was like, Oh, this is our shipping manager. Hi, I'm Renee. This is our photographer. Hi, I'm Renee. Nice to meet with is our office girl I'm Renee. And so everybody was DMing me and being like, can I copy this? And I'm like, yes, go for it. And actually I was like, no, actually we're going to make this a challenge. So it was show me your headquarters challenge. And I had over 30 people doing this real challenge where they showed their headquarters. Cause I, like I said, my audience is all small business owners. They're all, you know, entrepreneurs. And so they all did that and I turned it into a challenge. We did a huge giveaway and it went crazy over a 15 second video.

Renee (36:13): Right? Like it was amazing. Yeah. So showing the behind the scenes, I think does really good. Another one that I did was, um, the behind the scenes of a zoom call. And it was like, literally what happens in a zoom call, which we all know nowadays because we all do zoom. And it was like clothes in the background. My mom, my kid coming in for snacks, like, you know, just the normal funny stuff. And it's showing my business and what I do, but not talking about it. I'm showing you what it is in an entertaining way. And that's kind of where I, I kind of excel is I make a joke out of it and I turned it into content with providing value and showing my brand without talking about my brand. If that makes sense.

Nick (36:50): Yeah. That's where I've been struggling with getting into Reels. Like I know I really want to, and I've been trying to put more out, but it's yeah. Trying to tie in the educational side of it in 15 seconds is very difficult to do. So I was actually studying what you were doing in your Reels and trying to figure out how you were actually coming up, like where you're making the ties and almost trying to reverse engineer how you're doing your Reels and coming up with them,

Renee (37:13): Think about it like the background. So say that you're doing podcasting. You can put that in the background. And then people automatically creep in the background. Everybody does it. So me, I do it in my office. Like I can do it in my house, but that doesn't benefit me at all. I always do it in my office. You can see our shirts behind me. And I always connect that. Like I am a small business owner in my house and I do, you know, videos that reflect that. So you can show things in the background, depending on what you do. If you're a graphic designer have fricking Photoshop in the back background of you working on a project and you talking about something and a lot of people now are doing that stupid dance. I swear if I see that one more time, it's like that.

Renee (37:48): And then they point to all the stupid little things. I'm like, why I don't understand this? Like, what is the point of this? You know? But it works. People pointing thing, like why aren't people dancing and pointing? I don't get it. So I refused to do that because I don't understand it, but it provides value. You know what I mean? They're like five Instagram apps that I use and they're like, Ooh, it's like, but it works because it gives somebody what they need really fast. I love educating quick content. Like what can I learn in two seconds? Like teach me something, because think about it. You can share how you set up your podcast. You can be like, we did Google Meet. We did this and this is what you need for your podcast. Done. That's it? You know what I mean? Like you can just think about what people would want to see. What would you want to see?

Nick (38:31): Exactly what I'm curious to see how Reels actually grows on Instagram? Because the one thing I did like with TikTok is you were actually able to search for specific hashtags or content. You could search for specific content with Reels you can't do that. So I was trying to see what other people were posting. You can?

Renee (38:49): So what I've learned is, so I do like hashtag small business tips. Reels is first to come up. So when you do your hashtags, it'll be like the first thing on your feed. So Reels are definitely priority. And you click on that and then it'll show you all the Reels in that hashtag.

Nick (39:05): Oh really? I was thinking that just threw Reels up at the top. I didn't know. It was hashtag specific like that. Yeah.

Renee (39:11): So if I use so on my comments, this shout out to one of my Boss Babes club members, Lexi. Yeah. Hey girl. Um, she taught me that she was like, no, you can use hashtags are very important on Reels because when you search, like I was searching hashtag graphic designer, right. Let's just say this. And one of the girls was creating like illustration, her Reels was first. Now I'm a follower. Like, so she's using hashtags in her description. And then you come up first on that hashtag. So if you're searching in hashtags, the Reels are gonna come up first. It's amazing.

Nick (39:40): After we get off this call, I'm gonna have to go play around on Instagram somewhere. I didn't, I honestly did not know that. That's awesome.

Renee (39:47): You gotta be in the club Boss Bave Shirt Club hit me up.

Renee (39:54): That's the stuff we learn. That's like that other thing, like, I didn't know that, but uh, my friend, Lexi, who is a Boss Babe Shirt Club member is a content creator for multiple companies. So she was on TikTok, she's on here. So she knows the behind the scenes. And she shared that with the, we did a Reels course, like a, a whole thing in the, in the club because a lot of the girls were like, I have no idea how these girls are getting texts on their videos. None of that. Do we need hashtags? Should we title it? What are the rules? So we did a full on zoom call on that. You know what I mean? Because you have to learn and if somebody else can learn it and teach you that that's valuable.

Nick (40:25): That's perfect. So you got started in video, it was pretty natural for you. Do you encounter a lot of people coming to you that have zero experience looking for help?

Renee (40:36): Yes.

Nick (40:39): You kind of fell into it very naturally. So it was very, I guess, a smooth transition for you. Once you picked up into the entrepreneurship space, was there a little bit of hesitation doing video there in a new niche that you didn't quite know as well? Or was it still pretty smooth for you?

Renee (40:56): I started with, so I knew video was the way to go, obviously on Instagram, on social media, on my blog, I wanted to do video because I'm not really good with like tech. Like I said, I'm an on person, I'm a creative. So I was always working with my hands. So tech isn't my strong suit. So blogging really isn't my favorite thing to do. I would rather just do a video and put it on there. It's faster. So my thing is I preferred video. So when I was doing my blog, I would embed my YouTube videos to the blog because that's just how I connect with people. I prefer learning through YouTube. And so I started doing like quick tips. That's where I first started videos on Instagram was quick tips. I did like two minute. And maybe even less than that of apps that I found that were amazing for Instagram.

Renee (41:36): Like all the animated apps, like how to put captions in your videos. And I just do a quick little video and those are what kind of got traction. Then I started doing like the longer form IGTVs, which I would just do a longer video. Then life came in the game, live is a huge game changer for getting traction and building relationship with your customers live sucks. It's so hard. Like I do it every single week. Every single, every single Friday at 10 o'clock I go live no matter what, I never quit. And it sucks. I get sweaty, I get nervous. I get hot. Like, I feel like I ramble. You know what I mean? But I've been doing it for a couple of months now and now I love it. I look forward to it because it's, it's, it's raw. You know what I mean?

Renee (42:19): Like you mess up, you're screwed. Like then it's fun. So I would say like, I started doing the quick tips and then it evolved over time and I got more comfortable doing it, but I knew certain things. Like I can share that, you know what I mean? And that was value and I, I didn't have to be a pro it's just, Hey, this is what I found. You want to use it? Here you go here. So I didn't really put too much pressure on myself to be like this professional. It was like, I'm here to help if you want to listen to it. Cool. If you don't deuces. Like done.

Nick (42:44): It comes back to the being transparent and being your genuine self. Okay. The question I was going to kind of segway into, what would you tell somebody who is, I guess they're new. They don't really have a niche. They know they want to, maybe they want to start creating videos. Like you, they found you on Instagram or YouTube, whatever. Like, I want to do that, but I don't know where to start. Don't have a topic. Where would you tell them to start?

Renee (43:09): I would say like brain dump. That is like, the first thing I would do is like brain dump, whatever the hell you like talking about. Like, think about what, because we're not going to make money at this. Right? Like, just think about it this way. Like you're not going to make money the first day. You're not going to make money here. So this is a long game. So think about the stuff that you like talking about. For me, it was fashion. I loved fashion. That was the first thing. That's not where I'm at now, but I, it opened the door. So don't think your end all be all, has to be like, you put your stake in the ground. And then all of a sudden, this is you, you can evolve. I mean, I started like with fit, I've done everything. Like I did fitness on Instagram.

Renee (43:43): I had all this kind of crap because I didn't know. And it doesn't have to be today. You know what I mean? Like, whatever you say today, doesn't have to be your forever. So write down a couple things that you like talking about and that you feel, you know, a lot about, right? Like something that you can, you can share something that you enjoy, or you have a passion about. Because when it's sucks, when you don't make sales, when you're not making money and nobody's liking your stuff, that all you have is your passion. Like, all you have is what you enjoy, because if you don't enjoy it, you're going to quit. So my advice would be brain dump, all this stuff that you like and start there and start talking about it and then talk for one person. Don't try to be everything to everybody because we all think we're amazing. We all think everybody's gonna love us. That ain't no, that is not the truth. So talk to one person versus everybody.

Nick (44:30): I like that. There was something in one of the last episodes. I'm trying to think of which episode it was. Um, but they create this persona. Oh, it was episode 6 with Jay Clouse. They create a persona and it was based off of a real person. And every time he does anything, whether it's video, blogs, podcasts, he acts like he is talking to this person. And that's the person he pictures every single time he goes into it. Um, I think that'd be an excellent thing to do. Getting into video content is pretend like you are talking to Renee or pretend like you were talking to Joe or whoever it is you going to build up this idea of a person or maybe it can be based off a real person and then kind of alleviates the pressure of feeling like you're talking to a massive group of people.

Renee (45:15): I totally do that. Oh my God. Her name's Lauren. She lives in Southern California. She has a small business. She has a little side hustle. She has three kids. They're toddlers. She makes all right. She has a brand new house she's living, but she wants something else. Like, dude, I can go deep with this. Like I do that 100% because you'll second. Guess yourself, if you don't, if you're trying to appease everybody, you're going to start second guessing yourself, you're going to overthink it. But if I'm like, I show up and I'm like, No, Lauren thinks I'm funny as hell. Like Lauren loves my content. I show up for her. And if you don't like it, skip through it's okay. But Lauren is going to learn from me and she's gonna appreciate it. And her business is going to grow so a hundred percent believe that.

Nick (45:53): Awesome. And then like you said, once you get done with the brain dump, get down all your ideas. I think you just got to start going with it and kinda like how you've been developing. You've been listening and playing off of what other people are telling you. They want more of. So even if you do start with maybe a couple of different topic ideas, you can start putting videos out for all those topics. If you really wanted to and see what jives with everybody, and then kind of take that in a direction and say, okay, everyone likes that. I'm going to go that way.

Renee (46:22): Yeah. And it's not going to be one week, like this took over a year to get to where I'm at and really kind of evolve. So I always say evolve because it's really, that's what it is. It does. It's like you start with one and it grows into this and then it leads to this. And then it leads to that. Like, I didn't know. I was a Pinterest like pro I don't do this for a living. I noticed it worked now. All of a sudden people are interviewing me on podcasts for Pinterest, just because I, I did it. I learned it and I talked about it. So it doesn't have to be your one end all be all. It's going to evolve into something. You have to take the first step though. And a lot of people don't even do that.

Nick (46:56): Exactly. They're expecting to step into something that's already polished and clean. If they even take that step. Yeah.

Renee (47:01): They overthink the small stuff and it's not, you know, it's not like that. You don't have to, it's not your end all be all. Like, I get questions like this in DMs all the time. Like if I put fit under my name, like, then I'm going to have to always be fit. And it's like then don't put fit. Like, you know what I mean? Don't feed just because somebody else is doing it doesn't mean if you want to do workouts, but you don't want your name to be fit. They don't freaking do it. Like it doesn't have to be whatever everybody else is doing. Do what works for you. Like My Girlfriend Renee, are you kidding me? People could think I'm a stripper. They think I'm like a call girl. Like my name could go under anything. You know what I mean? But then when you get to know my content, you're like, Oh, this makes sense. So it doesn't have to be like your end all be all your name. Doesn't have to be your one and done. It can change over time and nobody's gonna care. You think people care, they don't care. They're all have their own shit going on.

Nick (47:50): Yes. Okay. You mentioned podcasting. And before we got on recording, you had talked a little bit about diving into the podcasting world. So talk to me a little bit about that. How is that all going?

Renee (48:03): That was like the next step on my journey. I feel like, um, I do videos all the time. I do my blog. I felt like this was kind of like the missing link to create another, to kind of hit another audience. I mean, it's a different kind of person that consumes podcasting. I listen to podcasts every single day. I am like obsessed. That's all I listened to. I don't even listen to the radio or anything anymore. And my friend, actually, we did a live together. Her name's Katherine. She owns kidding me. I'll be a teacher. She does, um, like stationary fund, like witty stationary. And we did a live talking about our small businesses and it went really well. It was a really good conversation. Even my husband was like, dude, I actually listened to that whole thing. Thanks, babe. Um, so she DMs me and was like, Hey, um, do you want to do a podcast with me?

Renee (48:47): And I was like, Nope, that shit's too hard. I don't have time. I don't want to do it. And it kept kind of like it was tapping on my shoulder. Like, Hey girl, you should probably just look into it. Stop being a little chicken shit, like step out of your comfort zone. You know? So I started thinking about it and it kind of evolved and I had a blast doing it cause I've been getting on more podcasts to get brand awareness. And I'm like, this is so fun. Like I love doing it. All you're doing is talking to cool people. And so we decided we're going to go for it. And I can't do it myself because I'm like, I need a, I need a partner. I need somebody to vibe off of. And so we are launching it in October and it's a small business.

Renee (49:23): It's two women, small business owners. We're going to cater to more women. Like always, that's just what we do. And it's small business tips for the creative business owner. So it's going to be our journey and everything. We're learning along the way and advice. And we have different, we have different opinions. Like she is about five actually. She's about 10 years in. She's a graphic designer. So she's has a way different mindset than I do. I'm like the, bootstrapper find everything on YouTube. And she's like, I've been down that I'm going to buy a course. I'm going to figure this out. Like she does way different things than I do. And it's the best conversation because there isn't a wrong way. Everybody has their own route. What works for you. Isn't going to work for you. So we're sharing our journeys in hopes that you can see two different perspectives and learn that and implement that in your business.

Nick (50:05): That's really cool. Do you guys have a name for it yet?

Renee (50:08): Dreams to Plans Podcast. I've said that in the intro a couple of times I'm like a pro now. Like welcome to the Dreams to Plans Podcast. Like, you know, that goes, the intro is like the hardest part of a podcast. You're like, I don't know what to say.

Nick (50:22): The first time I, when I was recording the intro for this podcast, I, I tried to do like a little bit like deeper radio voice and it was bad. I showed it to my wife and I had her listen to it. I was like, how does this, how does this sound? I was like, I think it sounds decent. And she's like, you sound really creepy, okay. So we're going to redo that

Renee (50:44): Then 10 more times that we're going to, well, I got the microphone thinking I had a yell into the microphone, so I got all super close and I yelled and then I listened to a back and I was like, Whoa, girl. So yeah, it's definitely the most uncomfortable thing. I think I've done it a long time. Is this podcasting thing for sure.

Nick (51:01): It's I really like it just because it gets me able to talk with people like you. Like, I know I wouldn't go out of my way or reach out just to chat with people. Like, it's just not who I am. I'm kind of an introverted person, but it's enabled me to reach out to people like you and Jay and several other people that I've interviewed on the show that I maybe have had small interactions with on social media or whatever. But that's it. So it's, I don't know. I've had a lot of really great conversations with people because of it. I think it's a really good opportunity.

Renee (51:31): And you meet new people listening. All of a sudden the people that are listening are like, dude, I really vibe with this person. Like you connect on a deeper level and then you invest in them for so much longer. Like all the podcasts people I listen to, I consume all of their content. I'm like obsessed because I'm like, I vibe with this person so well, and I just enjoy being in the room with them, you know? And you're just putting good vibes in your ears. Like everything's so negative nowadays. It's nice to have positivity, you know,

Nick (51:55): A hundred percent. So is this going to be like a weekly deal or are you planning

Renee (51:59): Every Tuesday? We are launching every Tuesday. Yeah. We figured that out. Yeah. I'm super excited. It's going to go, it goes a lot faster than you think, right? Like when you're launching it, you're thinking, okay. I think we need like three months to get this planned out. And then you start getting the wheels moving and you're like, Oh, this is actually a lot faster than I thought.

Nick (52:18): That's I, when I set out to do it, it came together in a month and a half.

Renee (52:23): That's about where we're at too.

Nick (52:25): It came together real fast and I had probably three, four episodes already prerecorded, ready to go. And I was like, okay, I guess, now we do it. And they just put it up.

Renee (52:36): Yeah, the scary part. It's like putting it out into the universe, you know?

Nick (52:39): Yeah. But it's, it's a lot of fun. I think that podcasting is going to be really good for the stuff you're doing because it's, it's a lot different than Instagram or YouTube or blogging. Like there's such saturated niches, niche, niche. However you want to call it both platforms. They're all very saturated platforms. Whereas podcasting, this year, they just hit a million total podcasts, comparatively speaking, I think YouTube has over 50 million channels, like active channels and blogging. I don't even know, like in the hundreds of millions or billions. So podcasting is still, super new in the grand scheme of things and Google and Spotify, all these big names are putting a lot of effort into making it more accessible to people. Cause it's still not quite caught on. I know a lot of people who are like, I've never listened to a podcast before.

Renee (53:29): I know I have some friends that just are not podcast listeners and I I've been listening to him for a while. It's all like, I don't even listen to the radio. I'm not even cool enough to know what songs are like. I work out and I listen to like Spotify. I'm like, who is this guy? Like, I don't know who these people are. You know what I mean? I don't even listen to radio. I don't watch TV anymore. Like, that's all I put my AirPods in. I get shit done. You know, with podcasts, get put in good in your ear. Like you only have a little bit of energy. Like you have to put it towards something good or else you're going to get complacent.

Nick (54:00): Yeah. I'm a huge proponent for that. I guess I kind of want to wrap up a little bit here with some final words of wisdom or advice from you. Um, what would you tell anybody who's looking to get started in the entrepreneur space where, I mean, where should they start? What, what advice would you have for these people?

Renee (54:17): I would say figure out what it is that you enjoy. And then don't look at anybody else. When I was doing my blog, I did not read one blog. I didn't go on anybody else's website because you're so prone to like taking on other people's words when you're in that stage, because you're in that like build stage. So the more you can keep your eyes focused on your own paper, the better. So I would say like, don't pay attention to what other people are doing. Don't, you know, compare your chapter one to chapter 25 of somebody else. Because I think that hinders your progress so quick. Once you get distracted on what other people are doing, all of a sudden you're going to out-think it. And you're going to start thinking bad things. And you're going to say, I can't do this. Who am I to do this?

Renee (54:56): So my advice find something that you love and that you're like, dude, this makes me so happy that I would do this even if I don't get paid and I just want to help people, or I want to do this and then keep your eyes on your own paper. Don't look at anybody else and don't overthink it. And if you need help, just call me. I'll help you. I'll I'll set you straight. But don't, you know, don't overthink it. I know, I know it's kind of like played out, but don't because once you are, once you start thinking, that's where the bad shit happens, just go for it. You know what I mean? And don't look back. It'll the jump in the net will appear. I always use that little saying because it's true. It does, you know what I mean? Just take the leap and the net will appear. You got this.

Nick (55:31): Awesome. I love it. Okay. Lastly, where can people find you, find the Boss Babe t-shirt Club or Boss Babe Shirt, Club, sorry. Um, social media. Where do you want people to go?

Renee (55:44): Literally everything is @mygirlfriendrenee. I made it easy for y'all. So everything. Um, Pinterest, Instagram, I'm always on Instagram. I don't go on Facebook. Um, Instagram, and then my website is mygirlfriendrenee.com. And then the new podcast is Dreams to Plans Podcast.

Nick (55:59): Awesome. And for everybody listening as always the links to all of these will be in the show notes. So head over to the show notes and you can get to any of the links we talked about on this episode.

Renee (56:11): Awesome. Thank you for having me.

Nick (56:13): Thanks for coming on. This was a blast. I had a fun time.

Renee (56:16): I hope it provided value. I hope somebody goes and does something today.

Nick (56:20): Yes. Go do something and go check out My Girlfriend Renee, not my girlfriend, but @mygirlfriendrenee.

New Speaker (56:26): Right. Right. Right. It's Weird.

New Speaker (56:31): Awesome. Thanks for coming on.

Renee (56:32): Thanks.

Nick (56:33): Okay. I hope you enjoyed that interview with Renee. I had a lot of fun with that interview and I know I learned a lot. So hopefully you did as well. My hope is that with each episode, you're able to take something away from these interviews that you can apply directly to your own business. So hopefully that's what's happening here. And hopefully that interview gave you something to work on. Something you can take back to your own business. Anyways, I highly encourage you to go check out Renee on Instagram and Pinterest. Her handle is @mygirlfriendrenee, R E N E E. And then make sure you go check out her blog and the Boss Babe shirt Club, over at mygirlfriendrenee.com.

Nick (57:10): She has a lot of really great content and I think you'll be able to learn a lot from the stuff she's sharing. You can find all the links to Renee's accounts, website, and any other links that we discussed on this episode. Over on the show notes. The show notes for this episode can be found over at ninefivepodcasts.com/episode11. And just remember nine five is all spelled out. That's N I N E F I V E podcast.com forward slash episode 11 and 11 is the numeral. The number 11. If you enjoyed this episode, please help spread the word and then go leave a rating and review on iTunes or wherever you listen to the podcast. Your reviews mean a lot. And I really enjoy reading what you guys think of the podcast. One of the last episodes we had talked about coming back and looking to see how many reviews have been getting from week to week.

Nick (57:58): And since we did that, we did pick up another five star review. So thank you very much for that. And let's keep that rolling. Let's try to get more of week. We got one last week. Let's try to get at least two this week. So I know you guys can do this. I believe in you. Anyway, that is it for me today. Let me know what you thought about this episode in the comment section of the show notes page, or shoot me a message over on Twitter. I love to connect with fans of the podcast and I'm on Twitter more than anything. So, so if you want to chat, come say hi over on Twitter. All right, guys. Thanks for tuning in. And I look forward to chatting with you guys next week.

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Hosts & Guests

Host – Nick Nalbach

Guest – Renee

Show Notes

  • What does it take to see success online?
  • How do you build a strong fan-base that cares what you are creating?
  • How do you drive more traffic to your blog or website?

We cover all of these on this week’s episode with Renee A.K.A “My Girlfriend Renee.”

 

The Boss Babe Shirt Club

 

In under a year, Renee has built up a loyal band of followers and members to be a part of the Boss Babes Shirt Club. This is a monthly subscription membership in which the members who sign up get a new shirt, designed by Renee, each month.

But it’s not just the shirt that her members are getting. The Boss Babe Shirt Club is actually a community of female entrepreneurs who help each other get started and thrive in the online business space. The community features monthly Zoom calls and masterclass sessions with Renee as well as a private Facebook community exclusive to Boss Babe Shirt Club memebers.

Oh, and you can’t forget the shirt!

So how has Renee been able to build up this business?

Through trial and error, listening to her audience, and staying transparent and consistent.

 

Blogging: Increasing Referral Traffic with Pinterest

 

Renee has seen quite a bit of success with her blog and that is largely due to her presence on Pinterest.

Pinterest has been Renee’s #1 driver of traffic to her blog. And because of Pinterest, she has even picked up new members and loyal fans.

“Pinterest is long-term.”

Just like any other area of business, you need to stay consistent and show up every day. Renee encourages her followers to post 5 Pins per day. With tools such as Canva and Adobe Spark, this is a task that can be accomplished without spending too much time and effort.

We cover a lot more about Pinterest in this episode, so make sure you listen all the way through!

If you’re looking to learn more about Pinterest, Renee has a free guide on her website as well: Girlfriends Guide to Pinterest.

 

What Are Instagram Reels and Should I Be Using Them?

 

Reels is Instagram’s response to TikTok. Reels allows you to create up to 15-second videos that can be easily edited and shared all from within the Instagram app.

Why are Instagram Reels so important?

Instagram is pushing the hell out of Reels!

With less than 100 followers on Instagram, one of my Reels reached just under 1,000 views. No other post on Instagram has had that kind of reach for me.

For Renee, she says she is doubling-down on Instagram Reels, figuratively and literally. Since starting to post to Reels, Renee has over doubled her followers and increased engagement on Instagram.

Not only is Reels a great opportunity for those just getting into Instagram and looking to build a following from scratch, but Reels is also a GREAT introduction to creating video content.

You can increase your on-camera presence without any pressure and any editing you need to make is minimal and all done within the app.

 

Getting Started with Video Marketing

 

Everyone knows video content is taking over. The big problem is that it can be difficult to get started.

The tools are there, but not everyone is comfortable getting on camera.

I know this because I was (and kind of still am) that same way. My experiences of trying to record myself have been pathetic, in my opinion.

Renee is constantly putting video content out there on YouTube, Instagram, IGTV, Instagram Live… and this was the main reason I wanted to bring her on in the first place. To help teach us HOW to get started with video marketing.

 

Make sure you listen to the full episode to get all the good stuff from the interview, but Here are a few tips for getting started:

 

  • Brain Dump – If you don’t know what types of videos to create, write down all the different things you enjoy and would have no problem talking about. You don’t need to settle on one topic at the beginning, just start creating.
  • Start Small – If you are not quite comfortable recording yourself yet, start by posting short clips on TikTok or Instagram Reels. 15-30 seconds is a lot less intimidating than a full YouTube video (hint: this is the exact tactic I used to build up my confidence before launching the podcast).
  • Listen to Your Audience – After you’ve got a list of topics you enjoy and you started creating video content, figure out which content is doing best and “Double-Down” on that type of content. If you pay attention, you’ll see what content performs best and your audience will literally show you which direction you should go.

 

I know just as well as anyone that trying to get into video can be intimidating. With a little courage, some help from amazing people like Renee, and genuine effort, you CAN get started and you WILL get better.

The videos may be rough at first and that’s okay. That is how it is for EVERYONE. If you don’t believe go check out the first videos I posted on TikTok. They aren’t great. I know I still have a long way to go, but I have been building my confidence and hopefully you can see/hear a change in my presence on social media and on the podcast.

Links & Resources

Note: Some of the links listed below may be affiliate links. This means I will receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you choose to purchase through them.

Thank You!

I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Nine-Five Podcast. Thank you so much for listening!

 

If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to iTunes and leave a review. Your reviews are what help get this podcast in front of more people!

 

What questions do you have when it comes to creating video content?

 

Let me know in the comments below!

 

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"The value you provide to others directly correlates to your success. The more value you provide, the more successful you become. Focus on the value!"

- Nick Nalbach

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I am an entrepreneur and adventure enthusiast, looking to break free from the Nine-Five grind. I'll show you what has worked and is currently working for me, as well as what hasn't worked so well.

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