Episode 195
Take a moment to ponder this – how crucial is brand identity to your e-commerce venture? Sandy DeDeian, a seasoned entrepreneur and marketer, peels back the layers of this question in today’s episode. Entrenched in the product-based business sphere since 2004, Sandy radiates invaluable knowledge, especially about the importance of understanding your brand’s personality and the preferences of your customers.
Ever wondered how to make a seemingly mundane product trendy and appealing? Sandy shares her winning strategies, including leveraging social media platforms, particularly during the lucrative Q4 season. She encourages early preparation and crafting offers so irresistible they rise above the holiday noise. Small e-commerce businesses seeking to broaden their reach will find Sandy’s insights particularly enlightening.
We wrap things up with a deep dive into Sandy’s mastermind program at Rectified.co, where she offers guidance on harnessing social media platforms authentically. She emphasizes resilience, a supportive team, and the right mindset as key ingredients to entrepreneurial success. Whether you’re a seasoned e-commerce player or a newbie, this episode is packed with pearls of wisdom to catapult your journey. Don’t miss out on this enriching conversation with Sandy DeDeian!
GETIDA Amazon Owes You Money! Get $400 in FREE reimbursements done for you, follow the link below.
Helium10 50% OFF first month OR 10% OFF LIFETIME subscription = PROMO CODE “FTM”
Your 1st Month Is Free For Any Plan You Choose!
If You receive value from this content please SUPPORT The Podcast
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
🗣️ TALK TO US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 👇
Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/firingtheman/
Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/FiringTheMan
Website ► https://firingtheman.com/
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
💥LISTEN TO THE PODCAST 👇
On Apple Podcasts ►https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/firingtheman/id1493680004
On Spotify
► https://open.spotify.com/show/2mE9YcE5gWtMwsmZUTS84M
On Stitcher
► https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/firingtheman?refid=stpr
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
💻 COACHING 👇
https://firingtheman.com/coaching/
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
00;00;24;02 – 00;00;52;14
Unknown
Welcome, everyone to the Firing the Man podcast. On today’s episode, we have the pleasure to interview Sandy today. Sandy has been an entrepreneur and a marketer since 2004. Throughout the years, she has worked with multiple SMEs in Canada, the U.S. and the UK, along with the Middle East, to help them maximize the impact of their marketing efforts. Sandy founded Rectified in 2017 after she completed an MBA with an HBC in Montreal.
- Hardcover Book
- Clifton, Jim (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
00;00;52;15 – 00;01;13;26
Unknown
Sandy’s goal is to help as many DTC brands get discovered in scale to 7 to 8 figures. Welcome to the show, Sandy. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. So to start things off, can you share with our listeners a little bit about your background and your path to becoming an entrepreneur in marketer? Yeah, well, I’ve always been an entrepreneur sort of.
00;01;13;29 – 00;01;44;05
Unknown
I never was part of the big corporate world with the big companies and all of that. So I graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor of Business Administration, and then I started working in our family business. So my dad was my boss, mainly in a company where we were retailers of ceramic tiles, bathroom products or product business. There was no big e-commerce or, you know, a lot of we just had like a static website and that was it.
00;01;44;05 – 00;02;10;17
Unknown
And marketing. We used to communicate with our people through magazines. You know, the traditional way this, all of this thing that’s happening now didn’t exist. So I did that for 11 years. And then after that, during that time, I got a master’s degree also. And after that I moved to Montreal. In 2015, I got my MBA from ABC Montreal, and then I started rectified in 2017.
00;02;10;17 – 00;02;30;08
Unknown
So I went on the other side of the thing where I’m not the product based business owner, but I’m on the other side helping them, and that’s how the whole thing started. Awesome. Yeah. Thanks for, for sharing your background, Sandy. And yeah, you have like a decade or so of real life experience working in a family business. And so hopefully that went well.
00;02;30;08 – 00;02;55;04
Unknown
I know working, working with family members sometimes is is difficult. Yeah. So probably some stories from that. So my my first question is you know product brands lack an identity and they’re sold as an inanimate object. Tell me why this doesn’t work. Well, if we look at the products that are available in the market, we’re no longer in the old times where you create a product and it’s one of a kind, you know, Oh my God, I created the washing machine or something.
00;02;55;04 – 00;03;15;08
Unknown
Every single product has been created in the market and there are slight differences between one and another, but you cannot just sell a product as a product. Let’s take the most common thing, for example, just to illustrate the scented candles, like how many people can go and make scented candles in their kitchen and then put a label and then they try to sell it online.
00;03;15;09 – 00;03;39;01
Unknown
But what makes you buy from this person and not from the other person? They’re just abject. But you’re not selling them as an object. They’re selling a feeling behind to the sense of relaxation. Maybe some of them have. I don’t know. There was one brand that was like, really targeted to, like the lumberjack kind of person. You know, It was all like, wiry and would they like manly kind of thing.
00;03;39;01 – 00;03;58;12
Unknown
So it depends on the type of that that candle you have. But the product is the same. If you’re trying to sell it as a scented candle, it’s fine. But you’re selling a lot more than just the objects, you know. To your point, I think that the the shampoo that I just bought the other day at the store on on it, it said it had a picture of a lumberjack.
00;03;58;12 – 00;04;13;02
Unknown
And so I’m like, yeah, I’m a lumberjack. Let me get that shampoo. And so I totally get it. I didn’t buy it because of price. I didn’t buy it. I bought it because it had a lumberjack on it. So that’s how that’s how they got you as a customer. Yeah, it was. It was excellent marketing. Yeah, I totally understand.
00;04;13;05 – 00;04;32;03
Unknown
So within the e-commerce world, we have pictures and video that in text that’s typically how we are communicating with the customer. And I would imagine there’s a lot of brands that say, you know, if I could talk to my own customer, I could tell them all about the brand, but I can’t. I need to communicate with text images and potentially video.
00;04;32;04 – 00;04;52;16
Unknown
And so as we talk about, you know, forming an identity and communicating that identity to the customers, what are some ways you’ve seen that within the text and the photos in the video? There are different ways to communicate. It all depend on the type of product that you have and where your ideal audiences and how they prefer to be talked to.
00;04;52;17 – 00;05;15;14
Unknown
Sometimes some companies, they only do Twitter, for example, and it just works perfectly for them. And then, well, it’s no longer Twitter, it’s X, but we’re still adjusting to that, saying some people, they’re only on TikTok, some people only do podcasts. So it depends on where your audience is and that’s where you’re going to go and you’re going to adapt to their needs and talk to them in their own language.
00;05;15;14 – 00;05;34;18
Unknown
But the thing is, when you know what your brand is about, you know your brand’s personality, you know who you were talking to, you know who your audience, that’s where you’re going to identify by where they are and how you’re going to talk to them. And you’re going to know their preferences. If they’re if your audience is Gen Z, they’re going to be on TikTok.
00;05;34;18 – 00;05;58;19
Unknown
If you know, it depends on a lot of factors. But once you have your brand personality right, and you know, you know where you live, it’s you on your in your day to day, you know, business life, you’re going to know exactly what to do, how to talk to them and where and in which format. But there are some very interesting things that are happening in the market in terms of video and in terms of tech.
00;05;58;19 – 00;06;17;24
Unknown
And now there are threads that are in in the mart in the mix also linked with Instagram. So there are so many ways to communicate. You just need to do, you know, have the right messaging in order for you to talk to them. I’ve heard you talked a little bit about brand personal i.t. Can you can you expand on that a little bit?
00;06;17;24 – 00;06;39;15
Unknown
Yeah. So without without knowing the lumberjack shampoo that Ken and that Campbell yesterday they knew who they’re targeting. They’re targeting people like Ken. You know their their personality goes revolves around that. There are other brands that are more feminine. There are brands that are more fun. And you can without, you know, this thing, you can see and feel that.
00;06;39;15 – 00;07;02;03
Unknown
And that’s the kind of people that they’re attracting. You know, if it’s a funny brand or brands that may, I don’t know, pranks all the time, maybe I don’t like that. I like more, you know, feminine stuff. And if we go back to the scented candle, more like luxurious scented candles with nice smells that are relaxing while other people love the ones that smell like pumpkin and sugary and this and that.
00;07;02;03 – 00;07;20;21
Unknown
And that has to be reflected in their brand. So that they attract the people that are right for this product. You cannot sell to everybody just to sell for a specific type of specific group of people. And you cannot sell to a specific group of people without knowing who you are. Just like a person. You need to have a personality for your brand.
00;07;20;23 – 00;07;36;04
Unknown
Yeah. So, you know, one of our listeners on the show is they’re thinking, Oh, I don’t know any of this about my brand. I don’t know who what any of this. How could they start? Let’s just say like, for example, I always use this water bottle. I don’t know why, but this water bottle, this this entrepreneur has a small business.
00;07;36;04 – 00;07;58;29
Unknown
They’re selling water bottles and they and they have no messaging. They have no branding. Where would you start? Gather this information. How can you orchestrate, like, a plan for like a day? One plan, You don’t gather information. This is your brand, you created it. It has to reflect what you’re creating, you know, whether if you’re creating an eco friendly brand that cares about the environment, etc..
00;07;58;29 – 00;08;19;24
Unknown
Like this morning I had a conversation with someone who was selling backpacks that are made from eco friendly, organic cotton and his helping people in India and giving back, you know, to them by giving them, you know, like somebody will guarantee buying all their crop and giving them the right products and you know, they don’t have fertilizer, etc..
00;08;19;24 – 00;08;41;22
Unknown
Like it’s it’s really like a full circle kind of a brand that revolves around then lifestyle and eco friendliness and all of that. And it’s just the school backpack, you know, And this person was like, I don’t do sales. I don’t push my sales on people. I don’t I don’t have payment plans because if you don’t have money, you should then buy a new product and things like that.
00;08;41;22 – 00;08;58;26
Unknown
And without him knowing he’s living the brand, he already built a personality around his brand, but he was not aware of it. So when you’re creating a product, you know what kind of product you want, but you just have to make sure that this is that I want my brand to be funny. I want it to be feminine.
00;08;58;26 – 00;09;20;25
Unknown
I want it to be eco friendly, you know, all those things or luxury or classic or whatever it is. And you need to have that translated. And every single decision that you do and your brand like the person this person doesn’t want to have sales or doesn’t want to push sales people because he believes in this lifestyle and this is why he created the product and he’s loving the whole thing.
00;09;20;25 – 00;09;46;15
Unknown
So day one, you just have to decide why you’re creating this product, how is it going to be? And it just pay attention to all of these details and you will know you will really just don’t copy other people. Just focus on what you’re doing. Very nice. Very nice. So to our listeners that say follow that advice and have to find their brand personality, what are the secrets to scaling that brand?
00;09;46;16 – 00;10;10;12
Unknown
Well, first of all, having a defined personality, like we said, that’s very important. The second is to have a roadmap of every single thing that they need to do if they don’t know anything about marketing. Yes, there are very low barriers to entry in the marketing world, so every single person thinks that they can go on Instagram or whatever, whichever platform they want, and post the picture about their product and everybody will buy.
![[2022 Version] How to Start and Grow an E-Commerce Business: Answering the 5 Fundamental Questions of eCommerce and Taking the Entrepreneurial Leap](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41E5JmJaq0L._SL160_.jpg)
- Camisasca, Charles (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 193 Pages - 01/17/2022 (Publication Date) - Independently published (Publisher)
00;10;10;12 – 00;10;41;04
Unknown
While it’s more complicated than that. So if they can afford at the beginning to hire someone who can help them with the marketing, that would be great. And if they can’t, there’s a lot of, you know, material out there that they can read. Just don’t follow Wade Kayaked and, you know, get rich quick kind of stuff because this doesn’t work, because all of this noise that is on social media is literally just noise like do this and go viral on TikTok example.
00;10;41;04 – 00;10;56;28
Unknown
Yes, I went viral on TikTok and then what happened? Do I have enough inventory to fulfill all these orders? Do I have enough? You know who’s going to help me pack the orders? Am I able to reorder all this product? What’s going to happen after I go viral on TikTok? Am I going to be able to keep up with this?
00;10;56;28 – 00;11;18;07
Unknown
You know, all of those things. Meanwhile, what you can do is work on your brand strategy, your brand personality, and then really decide on all the marketing activities that you need to do and then combine all of this and communicate that with your people on social media with content that actually helps with conversions and not like wood cuts and going viral and all of that.
00;11;18;07 – 00;11;51;04
Unknown
So for me it’s really three steps and this is the framework that I work with it revamp, share, revamp, reshape. And so revamp your brand, reshape your strategy, your marketing strategy, and then reach your audiences. And so, Cindy, kind of piggybacking off that question, I want to reach back a little bit and your previous experience working in your family business for a decade or so, were there any anything that stood out in terms of growth or expansion that that maybe a new marketplace, maybe a new process or something that that helped propel your family business to the next level?
00;11;51;04 – 00;12;12;28
Unknown
When you say that could actually like it’s a lot but it was really it was really a decade and a little bit more than that. So what happened is that it was that time was the time where everything switched from the analog world, let’s say, to the digital world. So we had websites, but it was just like a static page and nothing was happening there and that was it.
00;12;12;28 – 00;12;37;10
Unknown
Everything changed very, very in a very fast way. So what happened is that the industry that we were in is not very sexy, let’s call it. It’s like toilet seats and things and, you know, bathroom tiles and things like that. It wasn’t like the nice product. And yet I said, I think we need to be on Facebook. It was Facebook at the time and it wasn’t Facebook pages, it was Facebook groups.
00;12;37;10 – 00;12;59;04
Unknown
I remember and I created this Facebook group and I was in the Middle East like, things don’t happen as fast as in North America in terms of adopting the technology. And yet I managed to have like a big group of people and then we transferred to a Facebook page and then the competition started copying and, you know, Facebook started to become more mainstream.
00;12;59;04 – 00;13;18;28
Unknown
But that thing we were always on, you know, the first page of Google, our website was always like up to date with the latest, whatever technology was there. And the Facebook thing, and then Instagram, you know, all of those things. I was the first there in in the country and in the industry. So it’s just who I am.
00;13;18;28 – 00;13;39;09
Unknown
It’s not like the product was cool enough to be to be on social media, but it’s just who I am and I managed to make it cool. So all my friends, they’re like, Oh my God, Sandy She managed to make bathrooms cool, but that’s what I did. I think that that the thing that helped us reach more and more people, people who were in other remote areas that didn’t know that we existed or something.
00;13;39;09 – 00;14;00;02
Unknown
They started finding us on Facebook and joined the group and, you know, know about the promotions that start messaging us and all of those things and the like, primitive ecom sort of way. So yeah, so you leverage your, your own kind of skill sets and marketing to kind of put the business out there when, when, when the technology didn’t exist or a lot of other businesses weren’t using it.
00;14;00;02 – 00;14;27;01
Unknown
So Right. Like that. And I think for that brand, I think like gone down the, the, the marketing persona of jokes, I think that would work really well for us. Yeah. So kind of switching direction. So as we’re taping this, it’s we’re we’re in September at this this show will probably air in late October early November. So so so all the listeners, entrepreneurs are going to be gearing up or getting ready to go right into Q4 shopping, which is one of the biggest days of the year for a lot of brands.
00;14;27;02 – 00;14;46;02
Unknown
And so do you have any tips or tricks on how to, you know, how to get more attention or how to get more sales for for Q4? Well, first and foremost, they’re going to listen to this a little bit late. But for next year, the holiday season starts in the summer. And that’s what I always say. And people are like, no, we want to go on vacation, especially small businesses.
00;14;46;03 – 00;15;10;11
Unknown
They don’t have like the big teams to work on this thing, but they should start thinking about all of this in August. I do think about this earlier because I want to push people, you know, keep nudging them like you should start. You should start, but start thinking at least in August and September, start really creating those partnerships or decide on what offers do you need to do Because Halloween is around the corner, Black Friday is around the corner.
00;15;10;11 – 00;15;34;11
Unknown
Christmas, you know, Q4 is the highest selling period for all e-comm brands. And the big brands know that they work on it. It’s like 40% of their annual sales, while the small brands, they have no idea they’re vacationing somewhere in Europe or something. And then in October they call me and they’re like, Please help. We have nothing ready, you know, that kind of thing.
00;15;34;11 – 00;15;57;06
Unknown
And then they ended up I’m not saying that they lose, you know, and in the process, but they could make much more than what they’re making. You know, on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, all of those events. So the key is in preparation. The key is knowing what you’re doing and in terms of, let’s say, communication, they should start talking about these things earlier.
00;15;57;06 – 00;16;16;20
Unknown
Let’s say you cannot push your Black Friday offered on Black Friday only like at least with a Black Friday week or a Black Friday month or something, because there’s a lot of noise out there like you, you both know how many emails you get, but many SMSs you get, how many ads you get. It’s like all over the place and there’s so much noise.
00;16;16;20 – 00;16;40;04
Unknown
And how can you stand out in the world where these big giant corporations are out there and they’re like pushing thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars? I don’t know how much they’re pushing to make more Black Friday sales and to have people buy their Christmas gifts and all of that. So try to work on that earlier. If you could post or like create some kind of, you know, oh my God, it’s coming.
00;16;40;06 – 00;17;00;20
Unknown
Black Friday is awesome. You know, you you won’t believe what kind of offers we have. Just like do something that will break that nose earlier than what’s going to happen on the day of Black Friday. If we’re talking Black Friday. Yeah, no, I like that. So just to kind of recap for everybody listening. So just for example, Black Friday could do a week long sale.
00;17;00;20 – 00;17;19;05
Unknown
You could also do a month long sale. But yeah, but basically like getting out in front of your customers before your competitors do that and having an extended period of So you do not have the funds or the capacity to face these big corporations. They’re too small business. You’re a small e-com brand and that’s the key to just like get ahead of them.
00;17;19;09 – 00;17;43;25
Unknown
We’ve talked a lot about big corporations and and I think from the perspective of, you know, somebody just getting started or even somebody that’s a little bit established and has a small team, there’s only only so much time that they can put into things and only so much budget that they can put into marketing. And you see a lot of big brands that have a podcast, you know, full stack of social media, blogs, email marketing.
00;17;43;25 – 00;18;02;28
Unknown
And so as we sit here and in September 2023, out of those marketing efforts, what do you think goes the furthest or where do you think the business owner is going to have the highest yield? First of all, small businesses, they don’t have to spend a fortune on ads like they don’t have the funds any way to do that.
00;18;02;28 – 00;18;28;11
Unknown
And I do believe that they can scale organically. Like I’ve seen it with many brands, people I talked to on my own podcast or people I worked with. They managed to grow organically and then once they made it to seven figures, multiple seven figures, that’s when they started to compliment that with ads. So first of all, you can totally make it organically, but you need to make it a habit once again, you know who you’re talking to, which platforms you want to adopt.
00;18;28;11 – 00;18;49;13
Unknown
Usually you have to be on Instagram. If you’re not there, it’s like your brand doesn’t even exist. But other than that, there are two platforms that I really, really love and that TikTok and Pinterest and interest is really low effort compared to the other two. And TikTok has become it’s just like a role natural, like who you are kind of thing, and you can just go and say everything.
00;18;49;13 – 00;19;13;06
Unknown
So there are different ways you can do that and it doesn’t have to like you don’t have to spend much time on it or much money on it. You can just like we’re product based businesses I’ve seen and I’ve worked and interviewed with many people who simply became like founder and founder influencers. They just document their journey. Oh my God, Today I went to the store and they didn’t want to buy from me or sampling food on the street.
00;19;13;06 – 00;19;34;08
Unknown
And then people are like, Go away. I don’t want your product. Or, Oh my God, I really love your product, you know, that kind of thing. And people can resonate with your story even if you’re not doing like crazy stuff. Just like I’m packing my orders and just put your phone and record that you’re packing orders. Like it’s not it’s no big deal, but it’s working on social media and people are relating to all of these things.
00;19;34;08 – 00;19;54;07
Unknown
So just be our self documents or journey and share it with people. Because at the end people buy from people, they don’t buy products or services, they literally buy from you because it’s you and it’s not because it’s someone else’s brand. So that’s what I’m seeing. What’s succeeding the most. It’s not just like posting pictures of your product and say, Come and buy it.
00;19;54;07 – 00;20;17;25
Unknown
It’s more like telling the story about your product, why you created it, you know, your journey, your frustrations, etc.. Yeah, I like that. I’m going to repeat that. What you said, Sandy. People buy from people. And I think that’s that’s going to I think it’ll increase as as we as we move forward. I think a lot of the younger generations are really anti corp establishment and are more for that and so excellent message.
00;20;17;25 – 00;20;41;14
Unknown
So I wanted to open it up. Sandy, any questions that we didn’t ask you that we should have about branding or marketing? Interesting. There are some things that I always like to talk about. The first one is the follow hard, you know, and going viral and all of those things. The second thing is when to play, when to start paying for ads, which is something that we were we also talked about.
- Kenneth Laudon (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
00;20;41;14 – 00;21;00;17
Unknown
These two are very important. The entrepreneur journey and how important that is to have the right mindset to go for it. Maybe we can that we can talk about that. Yeah, absolutely. So what what mindset? Let’s get into that a bit. Now. I’m a service based company and I was in a product company and I work with a lot of small businesses.
00;21;00;17 – 00;21;16;09
Unknown
That’s what I’ve done my whole life and I know how difficult it is. I mean, there are until now so many days where I said maybe I should get a full time job. You know, I’ll just go work and then come back home and then get my paycheck, get my insurance and see, you know, all of those things.
00;21;16;09 – 00;21;40;13
Unknown
And just like this, connect in the weekend and come back on Monday, like today is we’re recording on Labor Day and we’re recording because for entrepreneurs and then, you know, while other people are out there doing stuff, you know, barbecuing or whatever it is that they’re doing. So it’s all part of is that what you really want in life and is this aligned with who you are and what you want to do?
00;21;40;13 – 00;22;06;20
Unknown
That’s number one. And then number two is having that resilience and that mindset that, no, I need to keep going because I want to reach that goal. Because if you don’t have that, if you don’t have the will and I think the why I didn’t create that. Simon Sinek, but it resonated so much with me, like there’s a higher purpose that I’m following and that’s why I keep doing this over and over again.
00;22;06;20 – 00;22;24;29
Unknown
And I know that if I go and become an employee, I’m going to like the. FOUKARA It’s, you know, doing the same thing over and over again. But there are days where I don’t want to do this, but then the next day you have to bounce back and then start again. And then that’s like it’s a resilience and it’s all in your mind.
00;22;24;29 – 00;22;52;29
Unknown
Then you have to keep on doing, doing, doing. I don’t know if you guys go like are in this in the same situation. Absolutely. Yeah absolutely. The mental gymnastics of it doing the right thing. It was way easier when I was working for somebody and getting those paychecks is something that I think we definitely both go through. But I would say that’s offset by tremendous amount of upside and and happiness that is granted by making your own schedule and having control over your time.
00;22;52;29 – 00;23;15;00
Unknown
And you know, it’s really your destiny. So, yeah, that’s very I would say that’s very familiar. Do you have like the Sunday scaries or is that you know, I would say that there are times yes, certainly there there are times I would say we the longer we do this and in the more good people that we surround ourselves with and build up a team of really awesome people, it makes those go away.
00;23;15;07 – 00;23;35;16
Unknown
It makes it makes going in on Monday a lot more fun. There was a big transition when we went from kind of solopreneur, doing everything by ourselves to having a team of awesome people around us and I sure enjoy the team aspect of it a lot. So Ken, what about you? Yeah, I agree. And there’s, you know, mindset is is crucial.
00;23;35;16 – 00;24;03;28
Unknown
I would say it’s probably the the majority of of hurdles that entrepreneurs will face in terms of, you know, like the imposter syndrome or, you know, weakness entering the mind. Oh yeah, I just want to go back and work 9 to 5 and check out all the weekend, you know, versus what David mentioned, all of the pros, you know, making my own schedule, you know, saying yes or no to things surrounding yourself with a team of experts and then kind of, you know, working on higher level stuff and things like that.
00;24;03;28 – 00;24;20;11
Unknown
So absolutely, mindset is crucial. Just a quick tangent. I have a friend that recently fired the man and the reason that he did was he had planned on taking it was his daughter’s birthday. He planned on taking the day off and taking her to Build-A-Bear. His boss said, no, he couldn’t. And that was the straw that broke camel’s back.
00;24;20;11 – 00;24;41;07
Unknown
And that is, I think those scenarios happen a lot, like not necessarily daughter’s birthday, but things like that. And I remember thinking there’s this 0% chance that that would happen to me because I am an entrepreneur. And so it was a fan of the podcast and he fired the man and we’re super excited for him. But that’s yeah, on the bad days, it’s nice to think of things like that.
00;24;41;07 – 00;24;59;05
Unknown
But flexibility, this makes me think of my dad because he was always there, like his to come for lunch. He used to come home just to have lunch with us, you know, because it was his own business and he can leave. And yeah, we he was always present for all of our events and all of that. And nobody said no to him.
00;24;59;05 – 00;25;20;24
Unknown
So yeah, he was, he was one of the, the people who encouraged me to have my own business anyway. So yeah. You had also mentioned so switching gears a little bit out of mindset, you had talked about at what point should people turn on ads? And this is something that I think a lot of people wrestle with is, you know, do I have enough followers already?
00;25;20;24 – 00;25;48;11
Unknown
Do I am I putting ads? Am I, you know, placing dollars into platforms that I’m going to have a positive ROI? And so can we talk a little bit about that? First of all, it’s not about how many followers you have it so much you are converting with your content. And I do believe that your content needs to work organically first and then once that’s working, you just complement that with ads because if that’s not working, I’ve seen it a lot.
00;25;48;13 – 00;26;10;19
Unknown
Some people just started and from the beginning they had they didn’t have organic content. They just post once in a while and now if they reduce their ad spend by a dollar, their sales just drop. You know, while if you start with your organic content and it’s working and it’s generating sales regardless of the number of your followers, you’re making enough sales.
00;26;10;22 – 00;26;30;25
Unknown
That’s when you can complement it with AD Why am I saying your organic content is working? Because when it’s working, it means you know that your messaging is right. You know that you’re doing the right thing, you’re targeting the right audience, you have everything in place and and it just becomes easier to start with ads and use the right copy target.
00;26;30;25 – 00;26;56;19
Unknown
The right people have the right messaging. You know, you know them very well. It’s working organically now. You’re just adding another layer which will take you to a whole other layer, a level in your sales. And that’s the indicator for me. And then in terms of you had talked about Instagram and Tik Tok, and so just thinking about content for those platforms, if you were starting a brand, at what point would you say my organic content is working?
00;26;56;19 – 00;27;18;26
Unknown
Is it a number of sales or is it a number of impressions? Or what is kind of the threshold for knowing I’ve arrived? Yeah, well, there are so many people who talk about how many followers you have and your reach and your impressions and your likes and your comments. But for me, the indicator, if we just take what we have as insights on social media is the website linked up like these things?
00;27;18;26 – 00;27;43;08
Unknown
How many people actually are interested to go to my website? You can also see how many people reach out through DMS and ask you questions about your product, you know, because they’re interested that these are all indicators that people are interested in you. And then you can also see all the information of what’s happening on your website, how many are converting, how many people came from Instagram, how many came from TikTok, etc., etc..
00;27;43;10 – 00;28;02;22
Unknown
And these are the metrics that are important, like how much you’re converting, how many people are going to your website, and then how many are buying, and sometime between how many people are going to your website and how many are buying. There might be something that’s not working on your website too. So that’s a whole other topic too to talk about.
00;28;02;22 – 00;28;36;03
Unknown
But usually sales and conversions are the most worth of metrics, and you can know that with any Google Analytics or, you know, all of those tools. And before we get to the fire around, can we talk about Rectified Dot SEO and what type of clients you serve? So I work with direct to consumer brands. If you’re asking some people that still don’t understand what what direct to consumer means, it means you have a product based business and you sell directly to your customers through your own channels, whether it’s online.
00;28;36;03 – 00;28;57;28
Unknown
Sometimes they’re even starting to open stores. They’re going brick and mortar also direct to consumer. So it depends. But what I specialize in are people who are studying online through their own ecommerce stores, okay, and what type of services they offer. So we have different different get depend on the businesses category, but the most popular one is the mastermind that we have.
00;28;57;28 – 00;29;18;21
Unknown
It’s usually people who are making six figures or low seven figures and something is not right and they’re unable to scale. And that’s where we jump in. And in the Mastermind program, we help them. We help take their brand to the next level. Sounds good and we will post links to all of that in the show notes for any of our listeners that are interested.
00;29;18;28 – 00;29;55;24
Unknown
So Ken, why don’t we get into the fire round? Yeah. Sandy, are you ready for the fire round? Ready? Yeah. All right. What is your favorite book? If it’s a marketing book or I Really Like Superfans by Pat Lynn. It’s a really nice one. I love purple cow. Seth Godin These two, like, really portray everything that I believe in, mainly in terms of marketing and content, then being, you know, an audience that around you in terms there’s so many like if there are so many books around mindset, I don’t know, let’s just think now those are both good.
00;29;55;28 – 00;30;20;08
Unknown
What are your hobbies? Hobby marketing. Oh no, I’m kidding. I do a lot of like yoga. I play piano. I love to learn languages. Yeah, it sounds like you’re busy. How many languages do you know? But I’m always impressed with anybody that knows more than two. So this question is for for most of the people that we have on the show, that they’ve had a corporate corporate job and quit.
00;30;20;08 – 00;30;38;07
Unknown
But it sounds like you’ve worked for the family business. And so maybe we don’t want to ask this this question. We’re going to skip this one for for today. So the last one, what do you think sets apart successful e-commerce entrepreneurs from those who give up, fail or never get started? It’s not just for e-comm, it’s for all businesses.
00;30;38;07 – 00;31;22;20
Unknown
But if we’re talking e-commerce, I think it’s very important to ask for help. And this is something that we don’t do. Like it’s our business and it’s our baby and it’s like we know everything, we know what’s best for us, etc. But asking for help or for advice from people who are experts or there are even organizations or help startup, there are so many things that you can do to be in an environment that encourages you to go further and be surrounded by people who will give you the right advice and will shut down the noise that everything that’s happening around you and all those things that are in your mind that I don’t want
00;31;22;20 – 00;31;45;17
Unknown
to go on. Maybe I should quit and get a full time job kind of thing. Okay. Now that’s that’s excellent, right? Sandi, what would be the best way for people to get a hold of you if they are interested in in following your content or potentially working with Rectify that SEO mostly active on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, these three block borns, they can find me.
00;31;45;17 – 00;32;11;01
Unknown
The handle is my name and they can do me any questions they have about my services. The best way to work, it depends on the size of their business, but if they’re on the smaller side, then they want to scale. They can join the mastermind group, which is a four month program. There’s one every three months, so they will always find a group that’s that’s available to accept them.
00;32;11;01 – 00;32;28;29
Unknown
And yeah, if they have any questions, just they can reach out. I always answer my DMS, no assistants, no bots. It’s me so they can talk to me and I will answer them. Very nice and we’ll post links to all of that in the show notes. Sandy, I want to thank you for being a guest on the Firing the Man podcast and we’re looking forward to staying in touch.
00;32;29;05 – 00;32;30;05
Unknown
Thank you so much.
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Dib, Allan (Author)
- English (Publication Language)