78: How to Approach Content Creation with Taryn Rachelle
Lauren Tilden
Welcome back to Making Good, podcast for small businesses who want to make a big impact. I'm your host, Lauren Tilden. And this is episode 78. In today's episode, I am joined by my friend Taryn Rachelle, who let me totally pick her brain and dig into the behind the scenes details of how she approaches her content creation.
This episode is good, and I loved getting this peek behind the curtains of her business. But a couple of quick things before we jump into the episode.
First, if you struggle with figuring out what to say in your marketing, I have an awesome free resource for you. This free workbook will help you come up with a lot of content ideas, your audience will love to download it again for free head to Laurentilden.co/content. Second, I invite you to join other values driven small business owners for inspiration, accountability and lots of business and marketing strategy. We're currently hosting what I call procrastination sessions every other Friday, where you can join a Zoom co working session with other small business owners to get stuff done. Everything takes place on my free Facebook community for the podcast. It's called The Good Business Community and the link will be in the show notes or you can head to makinggoodpodcast.com/community to be redirected.
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Okay, so let's talk about today's episode. As I mentioned, my guest today is Taryn Rachelle. Taryn is the CEO and founder of the Social Lifestyle Co. She's a social media mentor and coach for ambitious female entrepreneurs. She helps them step into their social CEO zone by creating intentional content strategies that are aligned with their business goals, ideal audience and daily lives.
Like I said, Taryn, really let me peek behind the curtain and see how she approaches creating content in her business. And I'm so excited to share that with you. In this episode, we discuss what content strategy is and why you need one. What a cohesive intentional content plan looks like, how Taryn approaches content creation for her business, how to choose which social media platforms to be, and a couple of Instagram features like the power of the direct message and how Taryn is using close friends, social audio, and who should consider using it and much more. If you love this episode, as much as I loved recording it, I wanted to let you know that Taryn and I and a few of our other small business friends have a super fun collaboration in the works. We're still ironing out the details, but make sure you're following along with both of us and on our email list to be safe so that we can keep you updated on the launch. Okay, let's get into the conversation. Okay, Taryn, welcome to Making good.
Taryn Rachelle
Thank you. I'm excited to be here.
Lauren Tilden
I am so excited to have you. Before I dig into my huge list of things to pick your brain about Taryn, I would love for you to introduce yourself and your business and maybe share a little bit about your path to come to doing what you do now.
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, definitely. I'm super excited to be here and glad that we connected on Clubhouse. So it's only fitting that we're now doing a podcast together. So I'm super excited. So yeah, my name is Taryn Rochelle. I am the CEO and founder of the Social Lifestyle CO and I am a social media mentor and coach and I work with ambitious female entrepreneurs to help you just amplify your visions on social media. But by creating very intentional content strategies that are truly aligned to you, your business goals, your audience, and most importantly, your daily life. I am a wife and Mama of two and I can't show up, nor do I want to show up 24/7 on social media. But yet my business is still scaling and growing. And so are my clients, even though you know, there's so many like gurus and experts out there telling us to show up a certain way that just sometimes feels kind of like ick to us. But we feel like we have to in order to be successful. And that's the kind of community that I'm cultivating to kind of counter that and be like no, like we can show up the way that's true to us and still be successful in our businesses, especially so I have a lot of Mama's in my community, and that is obviously you know, the focus of our lives and we want to center our businesses around that and not the other way around. So I'm super excited to be here and chat with you today, Lauren.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah, amazing. Let's dig into kind of, I guess, what will be the baseline of this conversation? Which is the idea of Content Strategy? To anyone listening who maybe is like, what do they even mean by content strategy? Can you explain kind of what is the basis of this conversation? What is content strategy?
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, that's a great question. Um, a lot of times people feel like, having a plan to batch content is a content strategy. And just sitting down and just creating a bunch of things. And that's it, that's your strategy. When it's really not, you really need to take into consideration everything you have going on in your business, and most importantly, where your audience is at and meeting them at their seasons and their struggles and pain points that you can help them with in your content to build that like, know and trust factor. And also making sure that you're planning your content around your schedule, because a lot of social media platforms favor consistency.
And we also want to make sure that the quality of content is there. So I would rather have you, you know, show up consistently and efficiently, you know, three times a week, if you can only really do that for now, until you can add on more days, then really focus on just posting to post every single day, just to do it when it's not really efficient content, that's intentional. So really focusing in on those aspects is what is really like the foundation of a content strategy, there's obviously so much more that goes into it. But when we don't have that foundation and the bones of what a content strategy is, that's when it falls apart. And that's when social media burnout happens. So that's what I would say is like the foundation of a content strategy.
Lauren Tilden
I love that, and you use the word intentional, which is something I've heard you talk about many times when it comes to marketing. And I really love your take on this. So can you just share a little bit more about how the idea of intention comes into play when it comes to particularly creating content, um, kind of the debate of quality and quantity and intention, like how those all interact.
Taryn Rachelle
When you are intentional means you're showing up on social media for a reason. And what you're doing on these platforms has a reason behind it. And I don't want that to be mistaken for like a hidden agenda or anything like that. Yes, we all are business owners, and we are showing up for a reason. But it's also, you know, we should always be thinking of our audience in our community, like have that at the front of your mind, when you're deciding to create these content strategies, when you're deciding to show up and do a room on Clubhouse or post something on Instagram, it needs to be very intentional for your audience in your community and really thinking about them.
So everything that I do in my content strategy is for my audience and for my community to move the needle forward for them. There are some people that you know, may never work with me, but just binge my content. And that's okay. And there's people that, you know, go through my membership or go into one of my programs. And that's awesome, too. Like, it is all about just like the nurturing and the reasoning behind what you're doing. I just want to see my audience and community just thrive in their business, and whichever way that I can help them do that, even if it's just having that community and that support around them. So that is my intention for showing up on social media still really cultivate that community. But you have to do whatever is true to you and show up that way intentionally. So that's what I mean by that and how I really put that into play when it comes to my content strategies and what I teach to my clients and my community to do for theirs as well.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah, I love how you kind of almost are framing them as almost like a boundary. Like if my intention is to show up for my audience and provide value. I can run everything I plan on doing past that intention and say, okay, is this in line with my intention? If not, maybe I maybe this is the kind of posts I'm posting just for the sake of posting and maybe I should rethink it?
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, it's really kind of like checking yourself or like checking your content. I told this little trick to my clients to have like, put a little sticky note or something like whatever your intention is, behind what you're doing, what is your why, and like, have that up on your computer or wherever you create content when you're about to start creating something or you're about to say yes to you know, guest speaking or doing something really look at that and be like okay, Is this a line to with what I really want to be doing. And if it's not, it's okay not to do it. At the end of the day, these are our businesses. And you know, what we're putting out there is really defining our brand and our presence. So we want to make sure that whatever we're putting out in the world really is aligned with our why. And when it's not, it's okay to say no, or it's okay to pivot a different way.
Lauren Tilden
Love, love, love. Let's talk about creating a cohesive content strategy. What does that mean to you?
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, I love a good cohesive content strategy. And to me, this is just no matter where someone sees you, or find you at on any social media platform, or wherever you're marketing at that it's true to you and it's true to your brand, and that everything is cohesive and aligned to that. And so you never want to design or put things out there in the world that's going to confuse your audience. I always say a confused mind rarely converts.
And so if there's ever any confusion going on, you'll probably lose that potential client. And so when everything is very cohesive, then the opportunities for that to happen are very small, because you're always leading them on the journey, I teach my audience and my client, a breadcrumb method. And when you are leaving a little trail of breadcrumbs around, and all leading to that final destination of you, or your offer, or your community, that is a way to make sure that your audience doesn't get lost. So when I teach cohesive content, I teach it in a way of like leaving little breadcrumb trails around so that when your audience finds them, they're always going to the same destination. And they're not getting lost along the way. So when I teach cohesive content, that's what I mean by it, is to not to design to confuse or put things out there, that would really confuse your audience to make them go somewhere else, or leave your community.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah, I love listening to you explain that, particularly just after we talked about intention, because I feel like they totally go hand in hand, it's kind of like, you always have an intention of where your next leading your ideal customer or reader or audience member, like on their journey. So you know, if they're bumping up into you on Instagram, like they're seeing your posts, you have applied a lot of intention to that post and where you're directing people to go next. So I love, I love just how married those two concepts are.
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, definitely, like, that's why having a strategy in place is so important. Because when you don't sit down to plan things out, it's really hard to be intentional, it's really hard to have cohesion in your content. Because there is no plan, you know, there's no like structure behind it, you can still have fun with your content. I feel like there's this misconception that when you have a strategy, it's so rigid, and you can't just, you know, have fun with it. But that's not the case it just for me and for my community, it makes it more fun, because they can really start to enjoy social media again, it can feel social again, because they're not so stressed out about what's going to happen, like they have a plan for it. And it's just easy to implement. And that's also easy to outsource whenever you get to a point of maybe bringing on someone onto your team. So I think there's a big misconception in that, of that it makes it so rigid when you start having a plan but I think it's really hard to be intentional without one.
Lauren Tilden
I would love to dig into the specifics a little bit. So you mentioned you're a parent, your life is really busy. You're also a business owner. How do you keep all of this going? Like how do you stay organized, whether it's tools or just mindset stuff? Like what keeps you consistently moving forward and showing up constantly in the way that you want to on social media and maybe across any other marketing?
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, definitely. Well, when it comes to tools, my favorite tool is Trello. I am a very visual person. And so I love how much I can customize Trello and make it like very like on brand to me. It's just like the way my brain works. And like everything that has to do with my business is very on brand kind of at all times like downtime and like my office and like notebooks I buy and like the most Enneagram three you will ever meet. And so I just love using Trello for that reason. I can also bring people onto there and communicate with them. Like if I'm doing anything for clients or collaborations. So I really love using that to stay organised with my scheduling, my content and everything I do pretty much everything inside of there when it comes to that.
But also the biggest thing I can say when it comes to like, how do I juggle everything is I'm really big on looking at my schedule, not just this week, not just this month, but like really long term, I map out my months, my quarters, my years, as much as I can, obviously I'm a mom, things come up. But, you know, I still know that there are going to be seasons of life that are going to be busier than others. I learned that especially at this past year, I learned that you know, the month of June, there are three birthdays and my family, I'm a June birthday, my husband and my daughter. And so we are back to back birthdays, and it is very hard for me to, you know, be as present as I need and want to be with my family when I am so busy during that month. So now I have adjusted to where you know, I don't do certain things. I don't take clients during those months and stuff like that. So really figuring out a schedule that works for me that way.
But I wouldn't know to do that if I wasn't looking at my schedule long term. So that is something that I teach and preach is to look at things like in the future of what's going on, especially if you're a parent, you know, like back to school is happening, or whatever you're doing with that, like, I know that next week, my daughter's gonna start being in school full time. And so my schedule is gonna open up a little bit, I saw my son here about, you know, he still naps and things like that. So I can adjust my schedule accordingly. But if I didn't figure that out and map that out, it's really hard to stay consistent in what I do in my content and my business, if I didn't have that planned out ahead of time, because then you know, busy things happen. And you're like, oh my gosh, well I was gonna do a launch during this time and now I have all these birthday parties I need to do and I can't show up a certain way I want to, and then you feel defeated. But if you plan accordingly, you feel empowered, you don't feel defeated. So that's something that I've really had to learn over the last couple of years and really implement into my business is to really schedule ahead of time, especially for those different seasons of life that are busier than others.
Lauren Tilden
I love this. And I would love to just dig into some more specifics if that's okay with you.
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, of course.
Lauren Tilden
So how far like let's say specifically email and social media content, How far in advance are you.. A, well, I mean, maybe just walk us through your process? Do you sort of like, okay, generally, I'm gonna do three posts this week one will be about this, and this and this? Or do you literally write everything out? Like start to finish in advance? And how far in advance? Do you do all of this?
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, that's a great question. So I plan out quarterly. I know that like sounds crazy to people. But I plan out things quarterly, when it comes to my themes. So I teach this way of content creation, and just marketing in general, is having monthly themes for what you're doing. And so by doing that, and like knowing, okay, like, what are the themes going on this month? Then I can plan accordingly too for my content and for emails, and then also for collaborations or Clubhouse rooms, like what falls in under that and what do I need to maybe push to the next month or something, or maybe it's just not aligned at all with what I'm doing in my business, and need to not implement right now.
So that's how far I like to plan out things is quarterly. And so I map out things. I'm a pen to paper kind of person when I'm brainstorming. So I like to do pen to paper, or if you like whiteboards to that, I think when we stare at a blank screen, it could sometimes feel like I don't have anything to say or like, just like a blank screen like it is. But when it's pen to paper, I feel like you just naturally start writing. And so that's what I like to do is I do pen to paper, I can like brainstorm and everything. And then once I have it solidified, I put it into whatever tool I use, like Trello to have it more organized and systemize I don't have a team right now, I am a one woman show. But eventually in the near future, I do want to bring on someone and I want them to see a system that I have so that they can help me implement it. And it's not like oh my gosh, I have all these notebooks and paper everywhere and well we're virtually helping each other so you can't get all my papers.
So I like to you know, get everything into a software like Trello so that it's organized and easy for me to see. And because I know in the back of my head that I am going to be bringing on a team member that it'll be easy to implement with them. So that's kind of my process for that, and how far out I plan things. I do plan out like big things in my business farther than that. But when it comes to my actual content, I try and do it quarterly. So then that way, it's not too far in advance of you know, things change or anything like that, or, you know, certain things come up where I'm like, Oh, my gosh, well, I have my whole two years of content planned out. And now this change on social media, and I have to adjust everything. So I like to, you know, leave some wiggle room for things like that. But I need to have some kind of plan in place for me to be as intentional as I want to be with my content.
Lauren Tilden
Right? Okay, I'm just so interested by this. So you have you write out like the full content is created, probably months in advance a lot of the time? How long does that take you to like, sit down at one time and get everything cranked out?
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, so it kind of depends on what I'm doing. So when it comes to like, fully done, like, I don't necessarily have absolutely everything done with for that quarter, when I first plan things out. For me, at first, I do just like a rough, like a very rough draft of the like pen to paper aspect of like, okay, these are my monthly themes. These are the topics I'm gonna talk about during the week, and map all that out, I do a lot of integrated content, like taking a long form piece of content, like a blog post, or something like that, or a big thing I'm doing in my membership, and then like breaking it down into smaller pieces of content on Instagram, or on Clubhouse and things like that.
So I make sure to map all that out, especially because I do have my membership. I want to make sure I'm planning those things out so that everything is really aligned and make sense. But I obviously have things that are more advanced for someone that's paying me for the knowledge as opposed to like my free content. So that's something to take into consideration too is like, you know, what are you putting out there that is free and what are you putting out there that's paid.
And so when I go through and do this, to have everything, like completely mapped out just pen to paper, that usually takes me like a couple hours, just to have that done. And then I go in and input it into Trello. And once I have a pen to paper, honestly putting into Trello takes me like, I don't know, like 45 minutes to an hour just because I'm, I'm so used to it that I can do it pretty quickly. But to actually create the graphics and everything like that, I like to have like a day where I just really focus in and do that, when it comes to my reels I have like batching days that I do for video content, because mom life, I don't get ready all the time. So the days I get ready, I just like to batch record reels. So I'll record like, I don't know, five to 10 reels during one one day of being ready.
So then that way I have those. But because I did that scheduling plan, I know what reels to create. I know my topics that I'm talking about, I just have to create the content. So it's usually not the content creation that sometimes takes a long time. It's more of the strategy beforehand. And when you have that in place, the actual creation doesn't take that long, and it's not stressful. It's like more fun, because I already have a plan. And I'm not going into a blind like I have my phone on my tripod like what what am I going to do? What am I going to point at? You know, like, I have a plan in place, I can just do it. So the process hopefully that made sense.
Lauren Tilden
No, yeah, thank you for letting me like really get into the weeds there. I always love learning about other people's content creation process. And I think what you're describing is probably makes a lot of sense for most people. There are the people who like, you know, they've written their posts for six months from now and it's like all scheduled. Most of us that's not how we work. And so I like your, what you're describing, I'm like, really take the time upfront to think through the strategy, get intentional about what you want to be posting in the future, create like a general plan of what's happening. And then you know, as you go create content, but like you say, like you've already decided what it's gonna be so you don't have that blank page syndrome of just what do I write? like you've done the sort of hard mental part and then it's just creating content. So thank you for letting me really dig into that.
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, of course anytime.
Lauren Tilden
You know, there are so many social media platforms out there that we are all told we need to be using or we should be using. Instagram is a big one for people who listen to this podcast but we also talked about Facebook and Tik Tok and LinkedIn sometimes, like there's, even and there's more. So what is your approach to balancing all of these different platforms that we could be on? How do we pick? You know, how many to be on? How do we choose the specific ones? How do you approach all of that?
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, so I always tell my community to, obviously, always think about your audience first. So where's your audience spending their time at your ideal audience, your ideal clients, customers where they hang out at, because we can create all the content in the world for a platform, and if our audience isn't on there, you're just gonna hear crickets, and then you're gonna be like, well, I guess social media isn't for me, like, I guess my audience isn't on here. But they just may not be on that platform. So it's really important to know which platforms your audience is spending their time at.
And once you have figured that out, then to really focus in I say, when you first start out, one to two platforms that are your top tier, this is where your audience is, you know, they're there, you just have to cultivate that community now. So I say, to focus on one to two platforms to start. And then as you become very comfortable with those, you have a strategy in place, then if you are, you know, creating cohesive content and figure out a way to have it be very integrated between those two, it makes it so much easier to add a third or a fourth, I say don't overwhelm yourself.
If you are spending your time at you know, the one to two platforms where your audience really is, those should be very lead producing income producing customer producing platforms for you, as long as you're just showing up where they're at. So once you can do that, and have a solid foundation, then you can add in those other ones. So for me, my top platforms are Instagram and Clubhouse, I am adding in Pinterest. Pinterest is a search engine, not a social media platform. But it is a place for my audience, it does search a lot for things that I can help them with. And so I have now added that into my content or my marketing strategy.
But since I already have a strong strategy in place for the other platforms, I can easily repurpose and integrate my content through Pinterest. And it's just effortless for me now, because I had a solid foundation in the other platforms. And it's just okay, now I need to learn this one and kind of see, how things are done. But then I still make sure that my content is me. Honestly, when I first started looking at Pinterest, I thought I need to like do it a certain way. So I'm like, Well, this is like the Pinterest way. And so I was making my posts look not like me. But when I was doing that I just realized like it wasn't converting. And now that I have just done what I do on other platforms, I do see those conversions. Because my content is cohesive across all platforms, no matter where they're going, they're still getting me. And they aren't confused when they're going to a different platform. So that's what I say when it comes to figuring out which platform is right for you. One, where is your audience at then pick the one to two platforms. And then once you have, you can always integrate more. And then make sure that you are showing up as you and your content is cohesive across wherever you're showing up at.
Lauren Tilden
So good. You mentioned a little bit about like the aesthetics of the, you're creating the Pinterest posts that you're creating and learning how to create content, like graphics and specific that really feel like you. This is something I think you do a really beautiful job at, your feed is always like so on brand and just like you know, it's in your colors and the graphics are beautiful. Do you have any tips for listeners who may not be you know, experts and design or they're not working with a designer? Like how can others create beautiful content like this as well?
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, well thank you for the compliment. I love creating graphics and everything like my, it just like flows out of me, I really enjoy doing it that I get that some people it's just harder to do or they don't have that like you know, when they look at a tool like Canva they can't just like go in and just like create something like easily and I totally get that. But I do always recommend a platform like Canva though because it makes it so easy, especially if you know design and everything like that isn't necessarily your forte and maybe you're just not at a place where you can outsource to someone yet.
But there are great features inside of there. A lot of them are through the pro account that they're are some really great features still in the free version of Canva. But in the pro version, you can add in a brand kit. So this is something that I think is like one of the best features on Canva is you can go in, add your logo, add your fonts, you can upload new fonts that you have purchased, you can put in all your colors and everything like that. I didn't do all my branding, I worked with someone that helps me with my brand colors and everything. Because when I first started my business, I just, it was like literally just like pink and like just different shades of pink because I didn't really understand branding. And so I had someone helped me with it. And now it's just so much easier to create, because I have that brand kit in Canva.
And you can just go in, your colors are already there, your fonts are already there. And it's just so easy to change things around. It's very user friendly. So that's a tool that I really like to use. But I will always say like Canva, especially the templates, they're exactly what they're called a template. And it's not there to just like plug in, like you know, put your name in, and then just like post it, I can spot a Canva templates a mile away. And you shouldn't be able to do that it should still look very customized to you, which is how you tie in your colors and your fonts and your photos and your messaging to make it really true and branded to you. I still use templates. But the way that I do it, I don't see them. Other places, I'm not scrolling down the feed and being like, oh, like there's my template I use today, because we probably all are on Canva. But that doesn't mean that all of our feeds should look the same way it should be true to you, your brand and really resonating with who your ideal audience is. So that's what I love to use for my graphics. I don't use anything else. I am not, I don't know how to use Adobe or anything, my husband's a graphic designer. And like when I see him working on stuff for his work, I'm like, Oh my gosh, like gives me anxiety. I'm like, I'm gonna stick to my Canva over here. And I love it and what I recommend to everyone.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah, such a great tip and great advice to make sure that you're customizing the templates. You can put your brand fonts in there and your colors or take out graphic elements, use your own photos like you can really, like you said, make it your own pretty easily. And so just love the reminder to do that. So that it just doesn't look like a you know, Canva template to spit straight out with like different text.
You are an expert in Instagram, I have a couple specific Instagram questions for you. And then I want to talk a little bit about social audio. So you know that you said these are your two main platforms, Instagram and Clubhouse. I love both of these platforms too. So I want to dig a little bit into each of them. One is you talk a lot about the power of DM's on Instagram. So the messaging feature you even have a freebie that's like a free audio training that definitely everyone should go download called It goes down in the DM. So what is it that goes down in the DM's Exactly? Like what is the power of direct messaging on Instagram and if you want to share a little bit about that freebie and where people can find it. But I'd love for you to do that as well.
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, definitely. Um, so I love direct messaging. So um, if you guys don't know what DM stands for, yes, it's the direct messaging on Instagram. And then a lot of other platforms have incorporated this as well. But, you know, direct messaging is honestly just a place to cultivate those relationships and to build that community. I don't see it as you know, a selling tactic and things like that. Yes, in my resource I talked about, you know, you are, you can utilize them to generate clients. But it's because you're building those relationships. I have never sent a cold message, which is just like, hey, like you don't know me, but you know, you should work with me. I have never sent a message like that.
But I actually rarely get on, I honestly don't even remember the last time I got on a discovery call for my business, or anything like that. Pretty much everything happens for me in direct messaging, which is why I made that resource, It goes down in the DM's. But again, it is about building and nurturing those relationships. I'm building that like, know and trust factor with my community and I'm seeing them as people. I don't see people in my community as dollar signs. I see them as actual people. And when we look at our audience as dollar signs or even as just followers, I always say like I have so many people in my community I usually never say I have this many followers because I do truly see everyone as members of my community and I want to treat them as such.
So I'm not going to go in there and be spammy or salesy or anything like that. And I also never recommend my services or my products unless I genuinely think that they will help them. Because I want to see you know, the needle move forward in their business. And if I'm not the right person to do that, that's also why I've surrounded myself with a lot of other entrepreneurs, who I can refer them to if I need to. And so when it comes to those relationships inside of direct messages, it really is just cultivating those relationships and getting to know your audience in your community.
On a deeper level, I especially love sending voice memos, which is something I teach in the free resource. And I just think when we are talking with our voice, and we are hearing people, we are hearing their passion, we're hearing just who they truly are through audio, which is why I love Clubhouse, because we're really hearing each other. And it's so much different than like reading a message. I mean, how many times a week gotten a text from someone, and we think they're mad at us, but they're not. And we just think so because there's a period at the end of their message. And we're like, oh, they must be mad, like, shoot, but they're not. It's just like how we are taking what they're saying on a text.
But in audio, it's really hard to like mistake, what someone's saying. And so that's why I love direct messages, because you can have those conversations, honestly, with more people than you can with getting on a million discovery calls or talking to all of your customers or you know what I mean? Like you can do it in direct messages. So it just makes it so much better to build that relationship and cultivate that community. And I love that feature. I think there are ways that people don't use it correctly. I mean, I don't know how many cold messages I get weekly trying to sell me on something. And it's like this, I always think like, does that work? Like, I mean, you're still doing it. So like this, that like actually work for you. Because it doesn't for me, I don't know, you, I know, I value my money. And I'm not just gonna give it to someone I don't even know, or buy a program like I really need to, like, know who you are, and really know the company, even when I'm shopping. Like I just want to know, you know, what's this brand, like, what's the quality, like, you know, and it's not like, I can just return a program I buy, you know, like, I could return something on Amazon. And so I really just have to build those relationships. And so utilizing the Instagram DMS to do that has been really crucial for my business, and has helped me honestly not get on as many discovery calls, which really helps me with my time, especially being a busy mom.
Lauren Tilden
I love that and I went through the resource, there's just a bunch in there of things you didn't think about, or at least I didn't even think about. One example is just the way that you use the different folders in DMS, they say like, General, primary, there's requests, something like that. And Terran has a way of like organizing that to like kind of help filter almost like an inbox. So highly recommend that everyone checks out that resource. Will you tell us what the link is for that?
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, so um, you can get it and honestly might be easier if anyone in here just wants to like DM me the phrase DM and send it because it's kind of a long like URL. But you can just send me a message on Instagram and I can shoot it over to you. That's actually a little thing I share about in the resource is to make sure you utilize saved replies.
So I have a saved reply setup that I can just send to you guys very easily. My Instagram is the @sociallifestyleco. And then I can send over that resource to you. But it is called It goes down in the DMS and it is a five days of audio straight from my brain to your air pods so you can listen to it while you are running around with the kids or doing the dishes or working. I tried to say I love saying this is not something that's going to collect virtual dust in your inbox. Like a lot of freebies that you download. They just sit in your inbox. I am, you know, guilty of doing this. And so I wanted to create something that's easy for you to consume that you can listen to. And you can really hear why it's so important to utilize this feature on Instagram and how to use it effectively in your business.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah, amazing. And I will have Taryn's Instagram and also maybe the link to that resource in the show notes too. Yeah, perfect. Yeah, we'll make sure you get to it, if you want it. You also have, you just shared with me that you're starting to do some exclusive content using the close friends feature on Instagram? I would love to hear a little bit more about your thought process with using that, what you're using it for what kind of like, what content is different there versus just like all of your followers?
Taryn Rachelle
Yes, so I love this section of Instagram, which is the close friends section. And if you don't know what this is, or like, how to find it, um, you go into your settings on your Instagram, and you will see a section that says close friends, there, you can add people to it that will get stories that you send only to your close friends. So when you go to make a story, you'll see, you know, it says like, share to, and it's shared to your story. And then I'll have you know, people that you talk to, or that you follow, and then it'll say close friends. So you can send things just to your close friends. And I utilize this to kind of like, section out my community a little bit. Because there are people in my community that are ready to like, you know, dive into more of a deeper strategy, or kind of go farther from like a one on one strategy to like a 201 strategy. And that is how I utilize close friends. I am very intentional with my my content and my stories. But sometimes I do want to go a little bit deeper. But I want to go deeper with the people that are actually going to implement what I'm teaching.
And so I have like ask people to you know, if they're ready to do this, too, send me a message. And I will add them to my close friends. I'm not just adding everyone that kind of defeats the purpose. I'm not adding people without them like asking me to add them to it. And I'm kind of building this like curiosity of like, well, what's behind that curtain, like I want to get behind there. And I'm kind of funneling people into this. And I will also be utilizing the feature to also share resources or when I have launches, they will get first access to know about it. And especially a lot of behind the scenes, I have a lot of great things that are coming out in the next six months. And so people inside my close friends will get early access to that. And first dibs honestly on applying to things or joining things. So it's kind of like a little mini email list. But obviously, it's on social media and not your email list. You definitely need one of those too. But it's just a great place to nurture people that for me, how I use it to nurture people who really want to take that next step and get to a more advanced strategy than maybe what I share on my regular stories. Because I don't want to overwhelm people but some people are ready and that's what I use close friends for.
Lauren Tilden
I love that, my wheels are spinning. Okay, let's dig into social audio, which is the other kind of category of platforms that you use. You're a big Clubhouse person. We've got a really big following over there. What would you say to the listener of this podcast? Who is not on Clubhouse? Like who is Clubhouse a good fit for? a lot of listeners are product based businesses and makers. So is there a place for them on there to like grow their business to learn how do you, how would you advise someone when they're trying to think through if Clubhouse or another social audio platform is right for them?
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, definitely. So first, I mean going back to you know, figuring out which platform is right for you, and figuring out if your audience your ideal customers are on that platform to begin with. And if they are, then the next step is like okay, do you like audio, you know, it's an audio platform so for me, it is amazing because like I said, I am not ready all the time. You know, I want to, you know, I always say you never know what I actually look like behind my pretty little bubble because my bubble on Clubhouse is you know, a perfect branded photo of me but that is not what I usually look like behind my bubble. And I like that, I like that I can be on there and talk and listen, and you know, not feel like I have to be on 24/7 are ready 24/7.
So if you love audio format of learning or teaching that is a really great place for you. When it comes to product based businesses that best way I have seen and if you don't already have a pen and paper out, then get one out right now. But the best way that I've seen product based businesses use platforms like Clubhouse, or even on any social media platform, is what you're doing is not just sell, saying you're building a community around the lifestyle of what your product falls into. So you know, I'm gonna take like, you know, a skincare company or something, the lifestyle is more of that, like you can be that like healthy lifestyle, say it's like all natural products, you know, it's not just just skincare, it's not like all natural, that healthy lifestyle and things like that, I've seen product based businesses do a really great job of cultivating this community around that healthy lifestyle, and they are more selling that than just their products.
And then you know, when they are selling their products, obviously, it makes sense for their community to buy them, because they're building that like, know, trust factor with them, they want that lifestyle, they want to feel that they want to feel that way. And so that is a really great way that I've seen product based businesses use Clubhouse and use, you know, honestly, any social media platform is to more cultivate that kind of community than just selling, selling, selling 24/7. Because, you know, I have a lot of product based businesses that will, you know, come into Clubhouse rooms, like, gosh, like I just, you know, I'm running out of things to say I'm running out of things to pose, I'm just posting pictures on my products, you know, and when you're doing that you can become very burnt out, or you can feel like you're running out of content.
But when you're more building that lifestyle and community around your page, that's when you know, your engagement will boost, that's when you know, you're really building that community, and your revenue will increase because people are building that, like, know and trust factor with you. And they're gonna be like, of course, I'm gonna buy from her because, you know, I'm gonna buy from someone that I've already built that relationship with, I know what they stand for, I know what their values are. So obviously, their products are going to resonate with that, um, it's going to make sense for me to buy from them as opposed to someone else. So I would say yes, it can be for you, you just really have to really figure out if your audience is on there, and then dig deep and plan a strategy around how you're going to really show up on these platforms that makes sense for your community. And also, obviously, make sales because we're all businesses and we want to make income. So I'm not gonna say that that's not, you know, a focus too. But it's just a way to do it right? In a way that really resonates with your audience.
Lauren Tilden
That is an awesome answer. And I just also want to throw out there that I know a lot of makers who, who listened to social audio and Clubhouse the same way that they listened to podcast. So while they're making their jewelry, or sitting at the pottery wheel, or whatever it is, and you want something to kind of entertain you, if you like listening to business stuff while you're doing that. There's just constant content around different marketing and business topics on Clubhouse. So Taryn is a great resource for things like that she has a pretty big club on Clubhouse also. So I will make sure to link all of her clubhouse links in the show notes as well, if you do want to give it a shot. You know, like she says, feel it out to see if and where your people are. But if it's not a marketing tool for you, it's definitely something somewhere where you can learn a lot. So yeah, big fan of Clubhouse, I just think it's, like you say there's something about the voice, it's a more, I don't know, it's a more personal connection that you can make.
Taryn Rachelle
More personal. I mean, think about like all of us that have like, you know, became such great friends because honestly, because of the platform. And I think it's because we're able to build those relationships, sometimes deeper, then it's easier to on Instagram, you know, because you know, unless we're having those conversations already. And I think that because of Clubhouse, everyone has become way more comfortable with voice memos, with audio, with things like that. Because that's all you can do on a Clubhouse. And it's just so much easier to build those relationships. And you know, you get connected with people honestly, that like you probably wouldn't have before. Like, I was able to host a room with Amy Porterfield. And that was like an incredible experience where I probably wouldn't have connected with her as early on as I did in my business if it wasn't for Clubhouse, and you know, it makes it kind of get put on like even playing field kind of on Clubhouse, because we're all speaking, we're all talking. A lot of times you can get up on stage and talk to people. And so I think it's just a really great resource to either utilize if you're doing the teaching and then also like you said, Lauren, if you're just listening, I think that is a really great thing to do too. I mean, I, I still listen to a lot of podcast, but I definitely listen to Clubhouse a lot while I'm doing things as well.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah, so great. Um, I, first of all, just want to say thank you for letting me like, literally dig into all the details on how you use these different tools, it's really fun to get inside of your head. And that way, I could just keep going picking your brain, but I think we're gonna have to start to wrap up. So let me start by asking you, how you approach doing good through your small business?
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think the biggest thing for me is, I'm very anti hustle culture, which you will hear me say often on social media. And what I mean by this is that there is just this, like false belief that we've been taught that we have to hustle and grind 24/7 In order to be successful. And I just kind of call BS on that. And I don't think that's true. I think that's very limiting for people that just can't hustle and grind. I mean, I always say I'm like, I'm hustling too, like, chase my toddler around. So he's not taking his diaper off like, I have certain things that I guess I do have to hustle to do. But I don't think that I need to hustle and grind 24/7 in every season of my life, in order to be successful in my business, and especially when it comes to social media.
So I'm really trying to make good by cultivating a community that can see that they don't have to do that. And that they can be successful by showing up in a way that's truly aligned to them and aligned to their business and their daily lives. But still see that success and not feel like you know, I'm not gonna get there unless I do what these gurus and experts are telling me to do that just really aren't at the season of life that I'm in. So I think that, that is a way that I'm really trying to make good, especially in the social media world, is to really show that you can be true to you and show up in a way that's authentic to you and your daily life and your business and your goals and your audience. But still be successful and see that success in your business and achieve the goals that you want to do. But not feeling like you have to hustle and really take that hustle culture pill that I feel like we're being taught to swallow. So that's how I'm trying to make good especially in the social media world.
Lauren Tilden
Love, love, love, love. What is one small business that you admire?
Taryn Rachelle
Oh, okay, I'm gonna plug one of my previous clients because I just think she's incredible. But it is a baby boutique. Um, it's called For love and cuddles. And she is just incredible. The owner, her name is Rochelle. Um, and she has battled with fertility very, very hard during her life. And she's very open with this. And so I feel comfortable talking about it. But she's lost her twins. She's had multiple other miscarriages, and she is now pregnant again, and hopefully out of that, like, full like danger zone and everything and but it's just been a really hard journey for her. And during that time of losing her twins, she also lost her dad. And she wanted to build her business called for love and littles. And it's a baby boutique, which you know, we think would be hard for someone battling fertility, but she has turned it into a platform to really have that community around others that are going through the same or have gone through the same and are on the other side of things and having their rainbow babies.
And so it's just an amazing boutique. I was her social media manager back when I did social media management, and we became very good friends. And she's just incredible. Part of her proceeds go to help women battling with infertility, which is a really great and amazing part of her business and her mission behind what she's doing. So if you are a mama or a new mom or pregnant or know someone definitely check out For Love and Littles. It's a really amazing boutique, a small business that she runs, and I just can't wait to continue to see what she does and her journey of motherhood and her business.
Lauren Tilden
Amazing. I just pulled it up and beautiful stuff. So great recommendation totally gonna go geek out. What is one book that you would recommend?
Taryn Rachelle
I would say, there's a book by Carrie Green. It's called She Means Business. So I know a lot of you on here are probably entrepreneurs and everything like that. And she's just incredible. She's someone that I really looked up to in the business world. And she's someone that's like really helped me figure out a way to structure my membership.
She has a really incredible membership. And she has a book, that's how I found her, called, She Means Business. And you can get like the actual book, or I just got the audible version of it because I like all things audio. And it's a really great book and resource, I still go back and listen to things when I need just some, some encouragement or guidance on something, um, because she just really breaks it down in an easy to understand way, but comes from a place of like, you know, like she was there, you know, like, she gets it. And I think that's what has made her very successful as she doesn't just talk from a place of where she's at now, like she gets down to like, where we are, you know why we're reading this book. And that's how she speaks in it. And it's a really great resource. So if you haven't already read it, definitely check it out.
Lauren Tilden
Awesome. Awesome. Where can listeners connect with you online?
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, so on Instagram, I am the @sociallifestyleco. On Clubhouse I am Taryn Rochelle, I know Lauren will put the links below so it's a little confusing, you'll be able to find them. But you guys can connect with me over on either of those platforms, I always say my DMs are always open. So feel free to reach out to me if you ever have any questions or anything like that. And if you want those 201 strategies on Instagram, you can DM me close friends, and I can add you to my close friends list for those more in depth trainings.
Lauren Tilden
Amazing. Amazing. I'm gonna go get myself added to the close friends list right after.
Taryn Rachelle
We'd love to have you.
Lauren Tilden
Taryn, thank you so much for having this conversation with me. I'm just letting me take it wherever the urge called. So letting me really dig into the details of how you approach creating your content and different platforms. I so appreciate your approach to social and just the role that intention plays and everything that's super aligned with me, as you know. So I have loved this conversation. I can't wait to share it. Thank you so much.
Taryn Rachelle
Yeah, thanks so much for having me. And I have loved all the questions and everything. I love talking about this. I could talk about it all day long. So it's been a really great conversation. And I just can't wait to see what all of you guys do in this community, do with social media and for your businesses and how you start to show up more intentionally or really implement any of these strategies. I would love to hear about what you've done in your social media content strategy after listening to this podcast episode. So thanks so much for having me, Lauren.
Lauren Tilden
Thank you so so much for letting me get into such detail of how you approach your social media content creation, and then business in general. I love this conversation so much.
Listener. I know that Taryn and I would both love to connect with you on Instagram. Take a screenshot of you listening to this episode and tag us both. Taryn is @thesociallifestyleco and I'm at @LaurenTilden. Everything mentioned in this podcast episode can be found on the show notes page at makinggoodpodcast.com/78 If this is your first time tuning in, and you're interested in learning more about what I do check out the Good Business free Facebook community for this podcast has accountability exclusive content and great community at makinggoodpodcast.com/community how I can help with your small business marketing at Laurentilden.co My plant inspired greeting cards, vinyl stickers and art prints at goodsheila.com and Seattle retail shop Station Seven, that's station7seattle.com Thank you for being here and for focusing on making a difference with your small business. Talk to you next time.