IAM1845 – Founder Helps Clients Build Relationships Through Social Media

Transcription:

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Lisa Nicholls 00:00

We can't post about these other things that relate to your business and help them understand more about what you do. And I think I'm really good at that. I think I'm really good at building a community rather than just followers.

So we focus on engagement, but we focus on getting people invested into what you sell rather than just liking it. We create, for lack of a better word brand loyalists and evangelicals about your brand so that they really just are gung ho and 100% behind you.

Intro 00:26

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you are in search of.

This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:53

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I appreciate you listening to this episode. If you've been listening this year, you know that we hit 1600 episodes at the beginning of this year. We're doing something a little bit different where we're repurposing our favorite episodes around certain categories, topics, or as I like to call them business pillars that we think are going to be extremely impactful for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners, or what I like to call the CB nation architects who are looking to level up their organizations.

This month, we are focused on leadership, management and coaching. When we think of leadership, management and coaching, we often think of doing all of the things, but often it's the person that's able to build up their team, that's able to cultivate a creative and innovative culture so that people can excel and actually be their own leaders. So that's why this month we're focusing on those three big topics because they make a huge impact on the organizations that we're part of.

Now you'll hear some of those topics this month, of course some really great perspectives on how people are even defining leadership, which I think is extremely exciting. So sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I am CEO podcast.

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Lisa Nicholls of Tira Strategies. Lisa, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Lisa Nicholls 02:12

Hi, thank you. I'm excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me. And yeah, this is going to be fun.

Gresham Harkless 02:17

No problem. Super excited to have you on as well, too. Before we jumped in, I want to read a little bit more about Lisa. So you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing.

Lisa is a consummate networker and community builder who intuitively understands how to form genuine connections with people in real life and online. After a career holding customer-focused positions across a variety of industries in 2009, Lisa founded Tira Strategies, a consultancy dedicated to helping small business owners navigate the complex and dynamic world of social media.

Lisa leverages her deep expertise in relationship building and communications to help her clients form meaningful relationships with customers online, building communities of loyal and devoted customers.

Lisa, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Lisa Nicholls 02:59

I am so ready. Yes.

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Gresham Harkless 03:01

Let's do it.

Lisa Nicholls 03:02

All right.

Gresham Harkless 03:03

So to kick everything off, I wanted to start in the beginning. Could you take us through your CEO story? What led you to get started with your business?

Lisa Nicholls 03:09

Sure. To make this brief, because it's a longer story, but 10 years ago Facebook wasn't as huge as it is now. And I was actually working at a local newspaper and we were doing some social media campaigns on behalf of our clients. When the paper decided to close as many of newspapers gone that way, I was trying to figure out what to do and I loved that job so much. So I was looking around and realized that I couldn't find anything I loved as much and decided I would just open my own company and help businesses with social media because they didn't know how to use it. And I did.

Back then you could put up a Facebook page and people followed you like that because, Oh my gosh, it's so new and it's so different now. It's amazing. So 10 years later, I just made the business, went in a few different directions, but I really realized that I love to focus on social media. So that's why I really have all of my time focused on social media and helping people create a social media presence that really draws clients to them.

Gresham Harkless 04:01

Yeah, that makes so much sense and it's definitely so powerful. And it's funny you said that because one of my last jobs is I worked with patch and there was a lot of people that were former patchers that actually went into a lot of digital marketing.

And a lot of it is because and definitely correctly if you find the same thing where obviously, a lot of the skills are transferable, but also that story piece is so important. So when you have somebody that has that background and is able to showcase you in the best light, it really goes to another level.

Lisa Nicholls 04:27

It does, and so funny, small world about that, but my boss who owned the newspaper actually went to work for the rest in patch for a while and one of our reporters went there too. So, yeah, I was pretty tight into patch when it was going on also.

Gresham Harkless 04:40

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's a super small world. And I know that a lot of people are transferring into different type of digital marketing spheres. And I know you can rub shoulders with a lot of people that have former patches is it seems are in the industry.

Lisa Nicholls 04:53

Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 04:54

Awesome. So I know you touched on a little bit about your business and how you serve your clients. Could you drill down a little bit deeper? Let us know a little bit about that experience and how you set the clients you work with.

Lisa Nicholls 05:03

Sure. So most of my clients I have, I do social media management where it's really just done for them. I go in and look at what they've got going on now. Look at their platforms, on their content and create a strategy based on what they want to get out to the world about their business and what the world wants to hear about them from them about their business and then we implement it.

So we create content, we create graphics and we start putting content out there and monitor it, engage it, create engagement among other businesses, other people and do that. It's really designed to boost their visibility in front of their target audience. But I also, sometimes we'll go into companies, larger companies, and just create a strategy for 3 to 6 months and then they have people who implement that. Then I also do workshops about social media, which I love doing because put me in front of an audience with a microphone and I am just golden.

So I'll do workshops and speaking engagements. Those are the big things that I do for clients and it's just so much fun. I love being able to look at what they've got going on with social media and create in making corrections that work. Because when you really look at it, a lot of people are doing the same things wrong over and over again. And so, it's just taking the best practices and shifting their focus.

Gresham Harkless 06:16

Yeah, absolutely. I love the word visibility, is always music to my ears because I think so many times, and I'm sure you experience this as well, too, is a lot of times clients and people have really phenomenal products and services and things that they're doing, but they can't get it out to as many people.

Being able to understand the nuances, I love how you have a different approach to be able to help serve clients because I think that being able to get your name, your business, what you stand for, and all those things around your story out to the world is such a huge thing that people need to take advantage of.

Lisa Nicholls 06:47

Yeah, and that's a good point that you bring up. I always say that more people would buy our stuff if they knew what we did. So what I have to do is help people see what other businesses do so they buy their stuff. People just don't understand it. I love to take businesses that have a weird thing that nobody gets and make that into something that the average person would understand.

So, yeah, that is just, I think the commonality among a lot of businesses, the more people who know what you do, the more they're likely to buy from you.

Gresham Harkless 07:12

Yeah, absolutely. I can't tell you the amount of times I've heard entrepreneurs and business owners say Oh, I didn't know you existed. I wish I knew that you were around. And a lot of that is because maybe they need a little boost in your social media strategy so that people know exactly what you do and how you do it.

Lisa Nicholls 07:25

I didn't know you did that, right?

Gresham Harkless 07:28

Why did you tell me that? I'm your best friend. I thought you knew.

Lisa Nicholls 07:32

Only on my website. I post about it all the time, but okay, nobody knows.

Gresham Harkless 07:36

Yeah, absolutely. But it's of where the people are. So that's why I love everything that you do. You help people to understand that and understand how best to leverage that.

So, what do you consider to be what I call your secret sauce and the thing you feel sets you apart or your organization that makes you unique?

Lisa Nicholls 07:50

Yeah, I think I have two things that set me apart. First of all, I think I'm really good at going into a business and taking this weird thing they do and making it palatable so that their audience really is interested in it. So a lot of my businesses have services or products that are really not normal, and so it's hard for people to understand what it is and it's hard to translate it to social media.

I think what I do well is go in and say, okay we can't post about your thing that you sell all the time because people would be turned off and that would get boring. But we can't post about these other things that relate to your business and help them understand more about what you do and I think I'm really good at that.

I think I'm really good at building a community rather than just followers. So we focus on engagement, but we focus on getting people invested into what you sell rather than just liking it. We create, for lack of a better word, brand loyalists and evangelicals about your brand so that they really just are gung ho and 100% behind you.

Gresham Harkless 08:44

I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book or a habit that you have. But what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Lisa Nicholls 08:54

There are a couple of things when we talked about this, I thought, okay, what is it? So, my top thing is the Pomodoro technique. I tend to, left to my own devices, go to the work that I like doing the most. So, I would end up spending hours creating graphics in Canva or doing fun stuff and letting all the other stuff slide. But with Pomodoro, it's a technique where you put a task in a 25-minute blocks at a timer. When that time is up, you're done with that part of the task and you have a 5-minute break and move on to something else.

So now I just put all of my weekly tasks into pomodoros throughout my week and I tackle them. So the stuff that I hate doing, I put in there and I can do anything for 25 minutes. So it just makes me a lot more productive every day, every week, every month. Because I can put my long term goals and the things I need to do for planning in there, then it helps me make the time to plan and to have goals because without goals, you've got nothing or without working towards your goals.

So Pomodoros have been life-changing for me. They are amazing.

Gresham Harkless 09:51

Yeah, absolutely. I don't think I've heard of Pomodoro. I feel like I've heard the word, but I didn't really understand exactly what it is. Is it like an app or is it something that is just a practice or something you do on a regular basis?

Lisa Nicholls 09:59

Yeah, it's a technique. So, actually, the sauce, right? It's spaghetti sauce.

Gresham Harkless 10:02

Okay, maybe that's probably why.

Lisa Nicholls 10:05

But if you look the Pomodoro technique and I don't remember the person who created it, it's not anything you can buy. It's just a technique to do your time block. So they may have built it up to do tasks, but I just use it the way it is. And so sometimes I'll put things into Pomodoro blocks like to 15-minute blocks. It's a bigger task, but again, it's just that productivity for me is so much better.

I think I have trouble focusing on things. So this just really helps me knock out my work, make sure my clients are happy, do my long-term planning, do my short-term planning, and get everything done. It also helps me with my family life. So, before this, I was bleeding into the evenings and my son was upset with me. Now, I actually have it like at five o'clock start dinner, or, I'm working till four or working till six and then I put it away. So it's been super helpful.

Gresham Harkless 10:51

Yeah, I absolutely love that. Now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. This could be a word of wisdom or piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client, or if you hopped into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

Lisa Nicholls 11:03

So, again there are a bunch of them, but I think for me, my big thing is to find your tribe and hold on to them. I think we use the word tribe a lot in terms of the relationships we build. But I think having been in business for 10 years and over the years, just having friends come and go, I think finding those people that support you no matter what, both in business and in your personal life, are just crucial to being a successful business person. The ones who share your values, the ones who, you know, when you have a bad day, you can go crying too, and they lift you up.

I think it makes all the difference in the world to have that amazing support network. There are days when I will just, I have a gratitude journal and I'll sit back and be grateful for the people that are in my tribe, for my people, for my sisters in my business organization. I'm so grateful for the people who are in my life, because they are so high quality and it takes a long time to develop those relationships and they tend to happen naturally.

But just find your tribe and hold on to them and be a good supporting person and friend to them also.

Gresham Harkless 12:05

Yeah, absolutely. We so many times forget about that human aspect of business and being able to have that tribe that you spoke to, so having and finding that tribe of those people that you can lean on or talk to, or just express anything with allows you that opportunity to show up in your best self in so many different other ways.

Lisa Nicholls 12:21

It does. And I think it helps you grow your business and make it through, as a business owner, the tough times. And then the resources are amazing. I can always look to somebody who I know for something that I need or, it's just gosh, it makes all the difference in the world for me.

Gresham Harkless 12:33

Yeah, absolutely. Success is a team sport, they say. So you want to make sure you have the right team and tribe in place.

Now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote and quote CEOs on the show. So Lisa, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Lisa Nicholls 12:48

So I love this question and again, had to get a lot of thought to it, but I think for me, I really subscribe to the idea of servant leadership and similar to many of the organizations I volunteer my time to where I am a leader to help others. So as a CEO that carries through everything I do, I can choose to use my time as a business owner to help other businesses in any way that I want, whether it's to volunteer, whether it's to offer products, whether it's to support them through low-cost offering.

I just love that for me, it allows me the freedom to run my business the way I want to be the kind of leader I want that can help other people. And so that is everything I carry through into my Facebook group into my business into the volunteer work I do. So yeah, it's just the autonomy to make the decisions and to be the kind of leader that I feel like I want and I want in my business.

Gresham Harkless 13:42

Yeah, that's so powerful. So many times I say a lot of times being a quote and quote CEO means, being like an artist and you get to really paint a picture on the canvas that you want. You get to be the leader, you get to be the change you hope to see in the world. I love that just because so many times we forget the autonomy and even the power we have in order to write that and create that.

But I love that definition just because it hits home directly to that. And also the direct effects of sometimes us being and serving on a really high level can have on the world.

Lisa Nicholls 14:11

Very true. Yeah.

Gresham Harkless 14:12

Awesome. Lisa truly appreciate that definition. I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know.

And of course, how best they can get ahold of you and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.

Lisa Nicholls 14:26

Sure. It's so funny because when I talk about social media, I think, and I'm going to give you guys a little bit of tip, wisdom from me who's been in it for a while, but I think that the 2 top things to be on social media are authentic and consistent. If you can master those, you are so far ahead of the game. The funny thing is, I was listening to singer Jason Derulo, who has millions of followers on his Instagram, and he was on a radio show and he said consistency and authenticity are the two biggest things that are crucial to gaining his following. I said, Oh my gosh, me and Jason, so if you guys can master that, I think you're going to be so far ahead of the game. It's amazing.

Then in terms of getting in touch with me and following me, I think you asked that, right? So I have a Facebook group called the Engaging Entrepreneur, and it's open to anybody who wants to better learn how to use social media for their business. So we do a lot of fun challenges. I give tips every day. There's a lot of interaction and that's a great way to find me. Then, of course, my social handles Facebook Tira Strategies about Instagram under lisaanicholls with 2 L's. Twitter, I don't use that much. I'm on LinkedIn.

If you guys wander to my website, just know that is actually hopefully by the time this airs, it will have been revamped because it is very old right now. So we've got cool new colors that kind of match that painting there. And yeah, and a big revamp. So we just went through rebranding.

Gresham Harkless 15:45

Awesome. Very, very exciting. We will have the links and information. So knows as well for Tira Strategies. So you can get all the Lisa joined the Facebook group and hear about all the awesome things that I love that consistency and authenticity message as well, too.

I think so many times I say you can't lose if you run your own race and so many times we're running somebody else's race. But being authentic to you and being authentic to yourself on a regular is so important to being successful where we're talking about social media or just showing up as leaders in this world.

So I appreciate that reminder so much and I hope you have a great rest of the day.

Outro 16:17

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play at everywhere you listen to podcasts, subscribe and leave us a five-star rating.

Grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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