86: Influencer Marketing for Small Businesses with Charmaine Charmant
Lauren Tilden
Welcome back to Making Good, the podcast for small businesses who want to make a big impact. I'm your host, Lauren Tilden. And this is episode 86.
In this episode I am so honored to have an amazing woman I've known for a long time on the show Charmaine Charmant. Charmaine is a fashion influencer and published author with the mission of empowering women to live confidently. In this episode, we talk about influencer marketing and what it looks like for small businesses and I cannot wait for you to hear this one. Before we dig into the episode though, I have some super super exciting news to share with you. And that is this Making Good is going pro. This new monthly membership is called Making Good Happen. And it's for those of you who wants to take everything you learn here on Making Good to the next level. Making Good Happen is designed to make sure that we're taking the actions we need to take to move the needle in our businesses.
In this monthly membership we'll work together on creating and implementing a marketing plan that will take your business where you want it to go. Private podcast accountability and focused deep work sessions are included. It is going to be so good. I'll be sharing more in the coming weeks. So stay tuned and make sure you're following me over on Instagram at @LaurenTilden for all of the inside details as I share them. In fact, for a sneak peek of the details now just DM me the word Pro and I will share you some of the inside scoop.
Okay, so let's get into today's episode, which is such a great one. My guest is Charmaine Charmant, and I have known Charmaine for years and it was such a blast to have her on the podcast. Charmaine is actually one of my youngest sister's best friends from college, and they went to the same college that I did Wellesley College outside of Boston. Charmaine is a New York City native of Caribbean descent with a passion for business, fashion and women's empowerment. She currently has a full time position at Deloitte Consulting, where she works with government and public service clients. She's also a fashion influencer, and that's what we're talking about today. Her work is backed by high quality content and a cheerful voice that energizes her audience to feel comfortable in their own skin.
She has appeared on ABC seven, Who What Where and XO Necole, and has worked on campaigns with brands like Facebook, Good American, Fabletics and Spanx. She's also a published author. In this episode, we discussed what is influencer marketing? Why now is a good opportunity to work with influencers even if you are a very small business. Why in influencers, number of followers matters less than the engagement that they get, how to find the right influencers, what it looks like to work with an influencer? How to become a content creator or influencer yourself, how to build community with your audience and more. I loved this episode, I think that you will too. Here it is. Charmaine, welcome to the Making Good.
Charmaine Charmant
Thank you so much, Lauren, thank you for having me.
Lauren Tilden
I am super excited about this. I haven't had many people on the podcast who I know from like, outside of my small business journey, small business life. Charmaine is one of my sister's really good friends from college, we actually went to the same college, but years apart. So this is it's just really fun that like life has led us both into, I don't know how to pass in a similar arena, like after going in very different directions. So I'm really glad to get to chat with you today.
Charmaine Charmant
I know I always love connecting with Wellesley alum, so I'm really excited to be here.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah, influencer marketing is gonna be kind of the focus of our conversation. But I would love for you to first introduce yourself and share a little bit about your path because you have done a bunch of different things. So what what are you doing now? And kind of what is the road that got you there?
Charmaine Charmant
Yeah, well, nine to five, I actually work in consulting. I do federal consulting. So for any government agencies, if they have any issues that they can't solve with their own resources and house, they will contract out different firms to help them. And so that's basically what I do in the change management space, nine to five. And outside of that I actually am a content creator. So I do fashion and lifestyle and confidence building for women across all different ages, really, with the primary focus of you know, fashion, helping to boost your confidence. And so that is what I do outside of my 9 to 5.
Lauren Tilden
You have also written a book and have another one coming, right?
Charmaine Charmant
Yeah, that's correct. So yeah, so I wrote a book for teens girls, I have a gratitude journal. So it's just like daily prompts that teen girls can use just to feel a little bit more happier on their day to day lives. And I also have an empowerment journal. So it's kind of like the same deal, but dealing with self confidence, and empowerment and just learning to kind of come into their own skin as young women.
Lauren Tilden
I love this. I love this so much. And we'll definitely make sure those are links in the show notes. For anyone listening who has a young woman in their life that could benefit from those books, definitely check those out. Let's start really broad, you know that most of the listeners of this podcast are small business owners or aspiring small business owners. So a lot of makers, a lot of product based businesses, and then some kind of creative, let's say creative small businesses, things like photographers, graphic designers, things like that. We're going to be talking about how influencer marketing relates to these kinds of businesses. And I'm not, we're not going to talk so much about like, how do you become an influencer? Although, maybe I will pick your brain a little bit about that, too. But mostly, I'm interested in exploring, how can small brands work with influencers to you know, tackle whatever business objectives they have, whether it's growing their reach, generating sales, whatever. So overall, could you just define for us what influencer marketing is?
Charmaine Charmant
Yeah, I think influencer marketing, if I had to put it into words, well, an influencer is someone who has influence, right. So you know, whether it be someone who is like a tech expert, or a fashion expert, or, you know, a small business expert, we're really thinking about regular people who are experts in some way, shape, or form, and who have accumulated a following, you know, over the course of, you know, however long they've been on whichever social media platform they're on. So influencer marketing is really the future of marketing, in my opinion. As a fashion influencer, I work with lots of small brands, but also big brands, on various different campaigns. And, you know, influencer marketing is only growing, I think there's huge potential for small businesses to really work with influencers, to grow their brand and to grow their reach. So I think this is a really cool topic that we're talking about today. And yeah, I mean, that's really how I would describe it.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah. And you said that you work with both small brands and bigger brands, and I think this is one of the kind of myths I want to dispel together is, you don't have to be like a big huge corporation to be able to work with influencers, who, even influencers who have really big reach. So what would you say to like a small business owner who's like, oh, like, I can't work with Charmaine, because, you know, I don't have an enormous budget, or I'm just a small jewelry business. And she's I see her working with these bigger brands, like, what would you say to someone with that mentality?
Charmaine Charmant
I would say that that is definitely a limiting belief. And I think, as a small business, as a small business owner, and also as an influencer, as anyone, in any professional role, I think limiting beliefs are the death of you. And so I feel like you just got to get over that hump. Anyone can work with anyone, it's you always got to think about things in terms of, you know, what would entice this person to work with me? What incentives could I give to them to want to work with me? And vice versa, right. I think small businesses are in a really unique position right now, because influencer marketing is still at, I think, the beginning of, you know, regulation of funds like funding as we know it traditional funding it I know that it's even now just recently become a course in business schools.
So it's so it's such a young industry, I feel like, and so a lot of the rules haven't been set. And so you really have the opportunity to kind of set the tone, set your own rules. And as a small business, I think that there's more of an opportunity to kind of develop a relationship with an influencer to grow as an influencer grows, and to really just identify, you know, who it is that you see, you know, as your brand ambassador like. So for instance, for fashion, right, I will talk about fashion because I'm a fashion influencer. If I was opening up a small boutique, I would think about or if I wanted to market, my small boutique, I would think about, okay, who is my ideal customer? And, you know, where does she already shop, who are her, her favorite influencers, and kind of go from there kind of like reverse engineering, the collaboration in your head, I think that a lot of folks think they need to have someone with huge reach, or lots of followers in order to, you know, get a collaboration that will have a good return on investment. But from what I've been seeing, it's actually quite the opposite. You want to look at like smaller influencers, who have great engagement and whose audience is in line with your target demographic, I feel like those are really the sweet spots for coming out with, you know, an influencer marketing collaboration that will work for your small brand.
Lauren Tilden
And when you say like, maybe you're looking at influencers who might not have, like millions of followers, but have good engagement, what general range are we talking about? Like, I know, I've heard terms like nano influencer micro influencer? Yeah.
Charmaine Charmant
There's lots of terms. Yeah. But yeah, there's lots of terms for the different, you know, I guess, size, the different groups of influencers in terms of like, their sizes. And honestly, you just want to look at, okay, like, for instance, like, you know, if someone is posting who has like, 5k, or 10k, you want to see like, okay, look into their comments, if you're on Instagram and see, are people really like, you know, having conversations under their posts? Like, does it seem like their audience is truly engaged, like, you know, does this influencer create high quality content that you could use on your page, you know, there might be, you might want to work with a different influencer for different things.
So, you know, while someone might be really good at coming up with like, editorial, beautiful photos, another person might be really good at, you know, creating interactive content on like, say, TikTok, or something like that, that's a little bit more informal, but will really like spread the word about your product, right. So you know, having that person, right, who creates editorial content that you could, you know, use their images on your website, because there's so high quality, like that person is as equally important as like the person if you're a small business, and you're, you're looking at influencer marketing to kind of like outsource some work, then you know, that person is just as important as the person who can make, you know, a five second video on TikTok go viral to like, spread the word about your product.
Lauren Tilden
Okay, yeah, that's really helpful. And you talked a little bit about this already, the best way to find the right influencer for your brand, but I just want to reiterate what you said, which is to look at your ideal customer. We talked about that a lot on this podcast, and who are they following? And, you know, you want to you want to be working with an influencer, whose audience is similar to yours? So great points. Yeah.
Charmaine Charmant
And they're, you know, they're great influencers all over the place, like, you know, you could leverage someone who has, you know, a really great YouTube following, TikTok, Instagram, even Pinterest, I think the world is really your oyster in terms of finding influencers. And, you know, there are tons of influencers out there. But, you know, always searching hashtags, really helps any hashtags that are, like, relevant to your niche. That's a great way to kind of find an influencer, who might be in line with, you know, your brand, even looking at your competitors, and seeing, you know, who your competitors work with. That's great, you know, research as well to kind of understand what works and what doesn't work. And then there are also other platforms that connect brands with influencers, so it might be worth getting onto those platforms. One is Fohr. And you know, there are tons of platforms like that one that connects brands with influencers to kind of make that process a little bit easier.
Lauren Tilden
Great tip I have not, I didn't know that those platforms even existed.
Charmaine Charmant
Yeah, yeah, they do.
Lauren Tilden
Awesome. Cool. Do you use those?
Charmaine Charmant
Um, yes and no, I think because I do have a full time job. I don't do as much outreach to brands as I would like. That's another thing. That's another thing to know is that, you know, influencers, who do this full time, like, they will reach out to brands, and they will pitch brands. So, you know, it's really good to let it be known that you work with influencers by you know, having your social media up to date or, and things like that, because you never know, you might, you know, join one of these platforms and an influencer might reach out to you directly, when you might see you there and follow up. So yeah, that's another important tip.
Lauren Tilden
How would you make it clear that you work with influencers? Like, make sure your social media is up to date?
Charmaine Charmant
Yeah, I mean, you know, one, you want to make sure your social media is up to date. So you wherever your presence is, whether it's on YouTube, or Instagram, or you know, wherever Pinterest, or even if you just have a website. You know, if you're working with influencers, you want to make sure you're like reposting their work. You also want to engage with people on social media. So you want to engage with accounts within your niche, you want to engage with influencers within your niche. If an influencer sees that you, as a brand have been liking their posts or stuff, they might, you know, start to follow you. Or they might have you in the top of their mind, like, oh, I should probably pitch them one day. That's what I think whenever a brand, you know, likes my picture or anything like that.
Lauren Tilden
Nice. What would like a fee structure normally look like? So I know, you hear about people being like, you know, sending product and exchange for promotion, I know that influencers probably also prefer to get paid, not just getting free stuff. So how does that generally work?
Charmaine Charmant
Yeah, I think it depends on an influencer, to influence their case basis. But I would say, you know, a lot of influencers do collaborate, especially influencers, who are just starting out, those nano influencers, they will definitely be open to gifting. Even big influencers, like huge influencers are still open to gifting. So I think don't, don't let that discourage you, I think gifting is great. Just make sure that your product is awesome. And that you really believe in it. And don't require, I mean, you know, in the conversation in the negotiation stage, like, you know, you guys can come to an agreement, you and the influencer. But if you are gifting, you know, don't be pushy about, you know, setting deliverable structures and things like that, because it's just like, you know, the same way that you're a small business and influencer also is kind of running their own small business as well. And so you want to make sure that there's a level of respect there, you know, right.
Yeah, but I mean, in general, I think for influencers, if you do want to approach an influencer, and you do want to pay them, I think a great way, a great baseline, a great baseline structure that you could follow would be, you can charge 4% of their following for a post and 2% of their following the you know, if you did the math for like a story for Instagram, for TikTok, I don't know if those numbers will, will would slide or scale or whatever. But, you know, thinking of just having a percentage of the following or if it's like a nano influencer, you know, of the engagement or whatever the case may be.
Lauren Tilden
Okay. Just while you mentioned TikTok, so I know that you're kind of bread and butter, at least originally is Instagram but you are expanding to TikTok. It sounds like how are you kind of viewing? The difference between those platforms? Like are you putting equal energy into each? How are you viewing that?
Charmaine Charmant
Yeah, I'm definitely not putting equal energy into it. But I would say if I were starting out as an influencer right now, TikTok would be my go to app. Probably. Growth. Yes, yes, definitely. Tick tock is an app that provides explosive growth. The algorithm is pretty awesome. It's just like super quick, short content, video content. It's great for like, getting your personality across. And it's just like a quick app and people can't it's like an app that kind of like, you can't put it down once you open it up. There's just a lot more that I feel like for Instagram, there's a lot more that goes into it. Because it is a video sharing app and a photo sharing app, although they are primarily focusing on video content right now, I don't know, I just feel like there's a little bit more production that goes behind Instagram that TikTok, you could really just, I mean, of course you could, depending on what you'd like to do, it could be a whole production for TikTok as well. But it's an app that's really meant to just like, I feel like seamlessly fit into your everyday life.
Lauren Tilden
Just in terms of, you know, with the emergence of reels, like, as an influencer, are you, like in your client work, like with the brands that you work with, are you are reels being sponsored now?, I don't know if I really noticed this, or is it still exceed posts and stories? Generally.
Charmaine Charmant
Yes, everything, anything that a brand or a social media platform offers a brand, like will pay for. So I mean, I have been asked to create reels, TikToks, posts, stories, even going live anything within a platform that, you know can be utilized, I think brands have definitely asked for sure. Okay, even blog posts are still something that I'm still approached for, which is like, pretty rare these days, because I don't think people read blogs that much. But that is also something that brands are still sponsoring and paying for. So yeah, definitely. I think there's definitely a benefit to, you know, each, what is it like offering that social media platform has and so just thinking strategically about the ways that you can leverage a post versus a video, versus a reel, versus IG TV Live, knowing the difference between those things, is super important when thinking about a campaign and how to best get your product or you know, your business idea across.
Lauren Tilden
Right, right. Let's say that so we know you're a fashion influencer, let's say we are a small jewelry business. What would make it and we like, we follow you, we've gotten to know what kind of content you create. And we are pretty confident that your audience would be a great fit for us. What would make it like a no brainer? Absolutely yes decision for you to decide to work with a small brand.
Charmaine Charmant
For me, I always love it when I can have a phone call with the brand or a video chat with the brand just to get to know the team. I love it when a creative brief is provided for me. And space, there's space for me to kind of give my input and share my ideas as well. And, you know, just having, you know, some realistic turnaround times. Some brands want content super quickly. And I think it's nice when you kind of have a little bit of, you know, notice, like realistic timelines basically. And of course being paid.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah, yeah, of course. What would be okay, you said a couple of things. I want to dig into more. What would be a realistic timeline?
Charmaine Charmant
It depends. It depends on, it really does depend, I think when I say realistic timeline, I think okay, here's the timeline we were hoping for, does that work for your schedule? Or, you know, given the scope of the deliverables, what would be a feasible timeline for you so that it's more of like a conversation and less of this is demand on Friday and you sent me the email on like, Monday it's like that's a bit much.
Lauren Tilden
yeah. And creative brief. What is that in in the case of influencers?
Charmaine Charmant
Yeah, so that's like just like, like a branding like you know, it kind of gives an overview of the campaign, the brand, what the goal is, what the objective is, it has some styling inspiration if it's for you know, fashion influencer or even if it's for like a stay at home mom influencer or like a cooking influencer, it just has like a guide of what you're looking for. The best creative briefs I've received are the ones where they have pulled my own images from my feed and said, we want something similar to this, this is the lighting we want, this Is the hairstyle we want, so that I could literally it's like, quick and easy, like I know exactly what they want. And if it's not images of me from my timeline, that's fine. But you know, images from somewhere, or someone, or something that kind of just lays out exactly what the vision is. So that, you know, it's executed as seamlessly as possible.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah, great point. And when people are, like, when you sign a conctract, I'm assuming you sign contracts. When you sign a contract with a brand, what is like? I'm sure this is a it depends question. But what would be the general scope? Is it like, okay, two feed posts and like three stories, or is it one at a time? Or like, how does that generally work?
Charmaine Charmant
It totally depends, like some brands will approach you for a one time campaign, you know, they might, whatever they could ask for, like, anywhere from like one feed post to like, three feed posts for the month, then five images? And, you know, it really depends. Some people have ongoing partnerships, a lot of larger influencers, have ongoing partnerships with alcohol brands, or, you know, home goods brands, or things like that. So it 100% depends on your marketing needs for the year, your budget, and you know, your needs.
Lauren Tilden
Right. Yeah. I had a feeling that was the answer. Yeah. And generally, when you're signing these contracts, are you bringing the contract template to them? Or are they approaching you with like, a proposal that you sign?
Charmaine Charmant
Yeah, they're definitely approaching you with a proposal. And then, you know, based on their proposal, I could go back and say, okay, like, I don't, you know, this is not going to work for me, these terms aren't going to work. We need to adjust this. And then you kind of work together to reach a middle ground, and then you sign, both parties sign.
Lauren Tilden
Oh, my gosh, a whole new world is it's so interesting. You said like, this is starting to be taught in business school. I know you went to business school, right?
Charmaine Charmant
Yeah, I did.
Lauren Tilden
Did you learn anything about this? There?
Charmaine Charmant
Not at all? Not at all. I know, my friend goes to Columbia Business School. And she's like, Oh, my gosh, I'm taking an influencer marketing class. And I was like, what?
Lauren Tilden
Oh, my gosh, amazing. Yeah, so cool. The wild, wild west. Let's talk a little bit about becoming an influencer. For anyone who might be interested in doing that. I, I feel like we there's a perception at least that like these days, it's harder to grow following on Instagram. I don't know if you're experiencing that. Or if that's like the narrative that you've heard or that you subscribe to, but like, is this, is there a sense that like, the ship has sailed if you haven't already started or?
Charmaine Charmant
People think this ship has sailed. And you can't think that way. I think that there's so much room, if you are someone who, you know, thinks that you want to do influencing. I also think if you're a small business owner, and you know, you can wear your product, or you're like a great ambassador for your products, I think it's probably a really good idea. If you if you really do have the drive to look into getting started, you know, I never think I never think I don't believe in like, oh, it's oversaturated I just don't believe in that. Because, you know, in my thought that I wouldn't have started blog. I you know, I started blogging when I was in college, but I took a break a couple years. And like, you know, by then, you know, bloggers that had started out where I started out, they were like, huge, had huge followings. And if I had said, oh, you know, it's getting oversaturated there's so many people now doing it, like, I miss my chance. You know, I wouldn't be here where I am today, like, you know, doing really great things with influencing.
So yeah, I definitely don't, I just think people say that just to scare people. I don't know, I don't believe in that. And that's for all platforms. Like, there's so many platforms that you can leverage. It's not just like, Instagram, you know, and in the next couple years, it'll be a new platform. It's about just like, keeping up with the times. Making sure that your audience trust you. You have to really build that following be consistent. And be true to yourself. And your people will find you and you know, as long as you continue to be true to yourself and you're a good person. They'll never leave you. They will people you like you're growing together. with your friends really? Just online.
Lauren Tilden
Yeah. So how what has been your process for kind of building your audience and your following? I mean, you said you started a blog in college, took a break from it. When did you like kind of start in earnest? And how has it gone for you?
Charmaine Charmant
Well, when I started, I was in high school, and I'd always been a curvy girl. And it was always like, very hard for me to find clothing, especially back then when like, brands were just not as inclusive. I was like in high school, going back and forth from New York City, to Western Mass when I went to boarding school, and just like, you know, trying to find the best deals with my mom while shopping. And I would always get questions from my friends who were like me, they would ask, where do you get this? Where'd you find this? And I just thought one day, I was like, I should make a blog. But I didn't really, I thought about it. And then I just kept thinking about it. And then when I was in college, I got this internship at J Crew corporate doing Merchandising, and I remember all of these buyers, they were sitting around a computer, and they were laughing at this blogger, the Man Repeller, who was like a huge, she's like, the OG bloggers, huge blogger, lots, you know, big business now. And they were laughing at her. And I remember thinking like, Oh, it's so weird, cuz she was like walking around in a flamingo suit. But I was like, it's so weird that they're laughing at her because she's like, you know, she's posting and you're watching her content. And like, this is pretty cool. So in the back of my mind, I was like, I'm gonna do this.
And so it was a really safe space to start at Wellesley. Just like taking pictures of my outfits. I didn't think anything of it. Like, I thought maybe I could work with brands like in the future, but I never thought it would look like what it looks like today. And then I started working in fashion full time after graduating from Wellesley. And working on the business side of fashion, really just crushed my spirit as like a woman of color as a plus size woman. It and I was so funny to say like that, because I was probably like a size 14-16 back then. And now I'm definitely not I'm definitely like a size 18-20, 22. But, um, but yeah, it crushed my spirit, like, everyone, like on the back end looked the same. And they didn't look like me. It was like a very tough environment. It was the total opposite of Wellesley, I felt like my experience at Wellesley was, like amazing and so empowering. And I felt like the energy at Bloomingdale's corporate was just in my buying department was like very, they just kind of felt like Devil Wears Prada, but like worse, because it was like my real life. And I just couldn't take it anymore. And so that kind of discouraged me from blogging as well, because I was like, the fashion industry, isn't it for me, like there's no place for me. And so I kind of hung it up.
And I went back to business school, and I was recruited to work for my current consulting firm. And I've been working there ever since. And while I was living in DC, I moved back to New York recently. But while I was living in DC, I kind of missed it. And I decided, Oh, I really like miss fashion and sharing my fashion sense. And, you know, I just got back to it really, when I was out there in DC. And in DC, there were so many creatives, there were so many brands, small brands, midsize brands, and we're working with influencers. And it just made me realize that Whoa, this is like bigger than I thought it was. Even as a micro influencer living in DC, I was like, going to events getting invited to different events, meeting all kinds of creatives, all kinds of small business owners working with like a small Hair Studio, it was like the coolest experience ever.
We shot like a promo video at the wing. And like, you know, they had like a whole expo where they invited influencers to like, cover the content, like cover their whole day and create content for it. And I remember feeling like whoa, this is like, what I want to do, and like there's a space for me, and people want to hear my voice and they want to hear my opinions. And they want me to like, you know, sell their products online like whoa. And it was really just about remembering that there was a space for me and like, you know, I do have a voice and there are people just like me out there looking for inspiration, who might not have had a mom who you know, knew how to dress them, help them dress for their bodies or things like that, and they're looking for that. And you know, traditional marketing isn't giving that to them. So they're looking for it in people like us, who are normal people but just have like a knack for something that's interesting to them.
So, and it's so funny, you know, I started this by sharing my outfits and stuff, but the work that I do and like even sharing things that, you know, I think I look cute and it gives people inspiration to like, who have given up on themselves, right, so many women, a lot of older women actually like in their 30s and 40s, 50s telling me that they have like, given up on going out because they don't like how they look in their clothes, or, you know, whatever the case may be. And it's so much more than just like sharing a beautiful outfit. It's about empowerment. And it's so cool to just see how many brands, you know, that message can align with. It's not always clothing, right? Sometimes it's, um, you know, I've worked with like, a, I've worked with, like, beauty products, beauty, beauty brands, and like, you know, Home Brands and things like that. And it's just about, like, you know, bringing people into your everyday life, you know, because at the end of the day, it's kind of like, I think following an influencer, for me, and my favorite influencers. It's really about like growing with that person seeing their growth over time. And, you know, gathering inspiration from them, it's kind of like having a friend through the internet. And that sounds a little weird, but that's how I think about it.
Lauren Tilden
I love just listening to you talk about like, I don't know, I'm hearing I maybe I'm putting words in your mouth, but I feel like I'm kind of hearing your why, like, why, what keeps you going, which is like these messages you get from people that kind of articulate how you've inspired them and how you know, they've given up but just seeing examples of people who walk like them, or, you know, have found clothing that like looks amazing. And it's just such a great example of doing something that's so aligned with, with your values and finding a way to, like make that a business. And yeah, I'm, I'm inspired by that big time.
Charmaine Charmant
Oh, thank you.
Lauren Tilden
You've talked a bit about, you know, developing this relationship with your followers. And, you know, you're kind of like their friend that they're gonna grow with over time. You have a full time job, too. And you have like throughout this, as we've discussed, so, how do you do that? I mean, like, it's so much time and effort. How do you? How do you put the I guess, aside from creating content, how do you invest the time and like the energy into building and maintaining these relationships?
Charmaine Charmant
I think the key to social media, and the key to anything in life really is not to like overthink it. I like to take things step by step. And so if I have 30 minutes, well, one thing I always do is I always respond to my comments. And I try my hardest to respond to all of my DMs, because at the end of the day, I think, you know, those pieces of engagement, comments and DMS, they matter the most. Because that's like direct, you know, engagement with your followers. So like, I especially in the first hour of my post, I answer all my comments, and I interact with all my comments. And even the next day, I'll go back and make sure that I, you know, got to everyone at that point. So I think that's very important. And also DMS, like if people have questions, making sure that if someone asked me for a link that I can send them something, you know, that's an exact match or similar. Just being there for those questions is really important. And you know, also those messages where people are sharing, you know, their stories, just like interacting with them. Because it's important, like that's your community, right? Right.
Other than that, like, I think if you're someone who's super busy, just set aside, if you have 20 minutes a day, like of downtime or 30 minutes a day, sometimes people do an hour of just like engaging with the people that you follow as well. Because you just want to make sure that you're staying kind of like in the top of everyone's algorithm. So that is also very important and I've been really bad about that recently. But it's important no matter how many, you know, followers you have.
Lauren Tilden
If you could look at kind of your journey as a content creator and an influencer and looking back at like the different strategies that you used or things that you've tried, what have been the things that have helped you grow your following the quickest or the most.
I would say consistency, because if I wasn't consistent, I'm like, Okay, so like I wasn't super consistent in DC during my two years there, the return on on being consistent was not immediate at all whatsoever. But because I was consistent, you know, during that time, and then when I moved to New York City I was, you know, consistent then it really even on the, even in the months where I blogged. After that, it just sets the stage right, like, the growth doesn't happen overnight. For some people it does on TikTok it might. On most of these platforms, growth doesn't happen overnight. It's about being consistent. It's about remembering, you know, that even if you have 20 people watching your stories, that's, you know, a classroom full of people. It's about remembering your why, and showing up right, for a little for the, you know, for the first couple, I don't know, months, years, whatever the case may be, you might not, you might feel like Oh, I'm just speaking to no one. And then when they will wake up and realize, oh, my gosh, I've grown so much. So I think consistency is the key to growth is definitely consistency. For sure.
Not the answer anyone wants but yeah. Oh my gosh. So good. Thank you for letting me just like ask all of these really pointed questions. Obviously, I know very little about influencers and working with influencers. You know, we're coming into the busiest time of the year for most small product based businesses, at least, which is the kind of Black Friday through the end of the year, when, like, when are brands are typically reaching out to influencers about working with them for campaigns over Black Friday, or the December holidays. Is that happened already? Is that happening? Now? What do you suggest there?
Charmaine Charmant
I say just as when you hear this, I think it'd be the best time to reach out. I think around, you know, around this time, like late October, early November, you want to start getting your ducks in a row around getting those collaborations, those collaboration ideas together and who you might want to work with and starting to reach out.
Lauren Tilden
Cool. And just a fun question, which is, are there any types of businesses that you are currently looking to work with? Just in case someone listening? It's like, oh, that's me.
Charmaine Charmant
Oh, whoa, so interesting. Oh, my gosh, I should have thought about this before. Honestly. Not really, not really. I am...I've been really into jewelry actually lately. And my followers know that. So and also I that's just like naturally like what I am interested in right now. So if you are a jewelry brand, and you are looking for someone to collaborate with, please feel free to reach out to me.
Lauren Tilden
Cool. Definitely. A lot of jewelry brands. I will I will. I will keep this matchmaking opportunity in mind. I want to transition into some of the questions that I ask all the guests, the first one I think you have, you've spoken to us a little bit already. But how do you approach doing good through your small business or through your work as a content creator?
Charmaine Charmant
I think as a content creator, being true to yourself is the most important thing I think that you can do. Especially for someone who is in fashion or body confidence or just instilling confidence in other people. If you're seeing that you're an expert in those things, I think being truthful, honest, and being yourself is the best way to show up because you can really just attract people who need to hear your voice. So I think that's really in, in terms of influencing and just using your influence to you know, encourage people to buy products or, you know, make big life decisions. I think that's the best thing that you can do.
Lauren Tilden
Mm hmm. What is one small business that you admire?
Charmaine Charmant
Oh, okay. I have a small business that I admire. I admire hairapy by j. So this is a business by a woman named Jilani. She is a loctitian and she actually has this like whole line of these different types of like oils for people who have a lock their hair, and I recently started my lock journey last year. And so I've been using her products ever since I started and they have really helped my hair to thrive. And she makes the best like she makes the best products. I Have seen in a long time um, that worked for my hair and so she's her businesses definitely a small business that I admire.
Lauren Tilden
Awesome. We will link to her in the show notes. What is a business book that you would recommend.
Charmaine Charmant
I really liked you the owner of Nasty Gal had that book is it Girl Boss, Girl Boss. Yeah, I really liked that book. I read that book quite some time ago, but I loved her journey. I love seeing how she started her business in her garage. And just taking it into like a full fledged company. I know she's sold it since but that book really inspired me because it was kind of like related to my wheelhouse, which is like fashion, women's fashion.
Lauren Tilden
Awesome. I haven't read that actually. So great recommendation. Okay, where can everyone connect with you online, share like website I know that the names of your books I'll link those but just in case people want to find them to buy and social accounts, all the things?
Charmaine Charmant
Yeah, so I am @Charmaine.Charmant on Instagram and TikTok and if you want to buy my books, you can just type in Charmaine Charmant into Amazon and I think my titles will show up. And yeah, on YouTube I am Charmaine Charmant.
Lauren Tilden
Didn't know you're on YouTube, amazing. Wow, all the things. Charmaine, thank you so much. This is like brand new territory for me as you can probably tell, so I've learned so much from this conversation. And I just like I personally, as someone who's really interested in body positivity and you know inclusive fashion, I am just so all about what you do. I really admire you, so thank you so much for being here and for the work that you do. Overall.
Charmaine Charmant
Thank you so much for having me Lauren, this was so much fun.
Lauren Tilden
As someone who is all about inclusive fashion and body positivity. I love love, love what Charmaine is all about. Friends make sure to follow along with her and if you would be interested in collaborating with her, get in touch. Did you enjoy this episode? I know Charmaine and I would both love to connect with you on Instagram. You can tag Charmaine at @Charmaine.Charmant, and me at @LaurenTilden.
If you enjoyed this episode, I would so so so love for you to leave a rating and review on Apple podcast, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find all of the notes from this episode at makinggoodpodcast.com/86 If you're interested in learning more about my small businesses Good Sheila and Station Seven, the links are in the show notes. And I would love to have you in the Facebook community for this podcast head over to makinggoodpodcast.com/community to join. Finally, make sure you're following me on Instagram at @LaurenTilden to make sure that you get all of the inside details on the pro version of this podcast coming soon. It's called Making Good Happen. And if you want a sneak peek on the details, just DM me the word Pro and I will send you some of the fun inside scoop. Thank you for being here and for focusing on making a difference with your small business. Talk to you next time.