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Shine On Success
Shine on Success is a dynamic, story-driven podcast where extraordinary entrepreneurs, visionary leaders, and resilient change-makers share their journeys to success, revealing both the challenges and the strategies that led to their breakthroughs. Each episode offers a unique blend of inspiring personal stories, practical business insights, and actionable advice, allowing our guests to connect with an engaged, growth-oriented audience ready to be motivated and uplifted. By joining us, you’ll not only have the opportunity to showcase your expertise and inspire listeners but also to be part of a powerful platform that celebrates ambition, innovation, and the courage to turn dreams into reality.
Shine On Success
Visibility Without Ads: Growing Your Business Authentically
Ever felt like you're doing all the right things in business but still not getting the traction you want? You're not alone. In this episode of Shine On Success, Tracy Beavers, CEO and founder of Tracy Beavers Coaching, shares her inspiring journey from a successful corporate career to building her own coaching business. With over twenty years of experience in business growth and organic marketing, Tracy reveals the real struggles, pivotal moments, and powerful lessons that helped her thrive. From personal adversity to organic visibility strategies, Tracy’s story is a testament to resilience, consistency, and the belief that everything is figureoutable. Tune in to learn how Tracy leverages authenticity and strategic visibility to attract clients without spending a dime on ads. If you’re ready to take your business to the next level without burning out, this episode is for you!
Connect with Tracy here:
Website: https://www.tracybeavers.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tracybeaverscoaching
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tracybeaverscoaching/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-beavers-b650449/
Connect with Dionne Malush
- Instagram: @dionnerealtyonepgh
- LinkedIN: /in/dionnemalush
- Website: www.dionnemalush.com
- Facebook: /dmalush
- LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dionnemalush
Have you ever felt like you're doing all the things in business but still not getting the traction you want? Maybe you're struggling with visibility, or organic marketing feels like a mystery. Well, today's guest is the expert you've been waiting for. Tracy Beavers is the CEO and founder of Tracy Beavers Coaching. With an award-winning 20-year career in business growth, she has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs expand their visibility and increase revenue through organic marketing strategies. She's a public speaker, published author and has been featured by CBS Television, the Wall Street Journal, vanity Fair, lingerie and Kajabi. Oh, and did I mention? She's also the creator of the top-ranked business podcast, create Online Business Success. Well, tracy, welcome to Shine on Success. I'm really excited to have you today. How are you doing?
Speaker 2:I'm doing great.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2:I couldn't wait.
Speaker 1:Actually I'm very excited to hear a little bit of your story. I'd like to get started with this important question what is one thing you'd love people to know about you?
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, wow, that. I am just a normal, warm, kind human being that wants to have the same things everybody else does, you know, wants to have a fun life full of joy and laughter. And I want to be a great mom and I want to be a good wife and I want to be a good daughter. And, yeah, I mean, it doesn't matter what I have found in life is, it doesn't really matter what title you have, how much money you make. At our core, as I've traveled the world, we are all far more alike than we are different, and so I just want people to know that I'm not any different than they are. I might just have a different title, different income level, drive, a different car, but you know I'm the same.
Speaker 1:I love that and I you know, for me, I think it's all about love. Right, life is all about that what we give, what we get, and you know. So you're starting off already here, warming my heart, so thank you for that. So let's talk about this. Your journey in business, growth and marketing spans over 20 years. What inspired you to take this path?
Speaker 2:It was a CEO I was working for that did not know how to motivate a sales force.
Speaker 1:Oh, that was so easy then.
Speaker 2:It kind of happened to me or it happened for me. It felt like it was happening to me because and I tell people this all the time If you had told me that I was going to be an entrepreneur in the last half of my life, I would have said you're absolutely out of your mind. Because growing up, my dad was an entrepreneur. He worked for himself, he was an architect and Dion he made it look so, not glamorous, so like so, not fun. It was an architect and Dion he made it look so, not glamorous, like so, not fun. It was a grind. He was working all the time and I was like, oh, I am not doing that.
Speaker 2:And so I went into corporate, like I'm going to be all thing, I'm going to be vice president of all things important, I'm going to rise up the corporate ladder, I'm going to get the corner off. You know what I mean? All the things that we see on TV and it just. I think the last few years of my corporate career, I think God was just throwing little rocks at me, like you need to do something different, I'm gonna get your attention. And I went hardheaded and I was stubborn and the final straw was working for a CEO. So I was. I'd been in 25 year career, award-winning sales career, marketing, business development, sales, growing portfolios, market share, all the things and I knew I didn't have any control over my time. But I thought I had control over my money because I had a commission structure right.
Speaker 1:Right Makes sense right.
Speaker 2:Makes sense, not if you work for a CEO that wants to change the commission structure every time you turn around to benefit the company and not you. And I finally was like I never saw that coming. I was like you've got to be kidding me. This could actually happen. And so it was then that I thought this is not what I want to do anymore. But then I was like well, crap, what.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so then, what? So then I was like oh gosh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but through some really great friends and a women's mastermind I was in, they helped me realize that I'd always been a coach. I just didn't recognize it. And they helped me realize that being a business and sales coach was a thing, because I'm in Arkansas and our part of the country we're a little slow on the trend.
Speaker 1:And so, if you've been doing this for 20 years, you were far ahead of coaching before coaching was cool.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, I was in sales and marketing and business development, not as a formal coach, but, um, but people had always been coming to me for advice, is what they meant. You know, you've kind of always been a coach, but I didn't know that you could call yourself a coach and make money doing it.
Speaker 1:I have to call myself a coach someday and make money. I like that idea. That's cool. So you knew at that moment, and you know one thing I the main reason I did Shine On Success podcast was so that I could prove that we could all go through adversity and push through to the other side right as business owners, as people. You know, life throws curves at us all the time. In fact, today is a positive day for me because yesterday I found out that my husband has a liver donor for a liver transplant coming in three weeks. So it's a big deal. So, yeah, I just feel like I have to celebrate it on our show because, yes, it's huge.
Speaker 1:So he's what a blessing we have light at the end of the tunnel. It's going to be tough, I know it's going to be rocky, but we're going to get through it because I'll be there helping him. So we all get to go through that right, no matter who we are. It's going to hit us time after time. You're going to go through it. So let's talk about you and some adversity you've had. Obviously, going from working at J-O-B right To be an entrepreneur big differences but is there anything else that stands out in your mind of an adversity that you pushed through to get through to the other side?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah. So in 2007, I had been married to my kid's dad for 12 years and it was February 2007. And I had spent four years prior to that trying to save the marriage. You know, I went to counseling, I made him go to counseling, I made us go to counseling together. And you just can't have a marriage by yourself. And I woke up one morning in February 2007. And I said it was when that book he's just not that into you came out right around there and I woke up and I went he's just not that into me. He wants to be married, but he doesn't want to be married to me. And so, fast forward, I was like, and I knew I could not stay in that marriage and keep any sense of sanity, any sense of my spirit. I mean I was dying in that marriage and he clearly wasn't going to be a team player, like there was no nothing. And I was like, wow, okay, and we had.
Speaker 2:And the kids were little, eight and four, they were really little and at that time this was a million years ago. So this was before I got into back into corporate, into sales and marketing and business development and all that jazz. So the two years prior I had gotten laid off from a corporate job so I hadn't worked a real job in two years. We were, I was just using my severance package, so I had no money of my own. I had no job. I could not afford our house by myself, the house we bought when we were married with two incomes. And he said to me that I just needed to take the kids and find a place to live. And I was like, wow, okay, so I bet I made it so, but I made it.
Speaker 2:I mean, that's adversity. That's a lot of adversity. At one time, right, girl, there were days where I was flat on the floor. I'm sure I was on my knees with my face in the cushion of the chair, bawling, bawling your ass, and literally saying to God, I don't know why I'm going through this, I don't know what I'm going to do, I don't know where we're going to go. And with my parents, I didn't want to do that to them. I thought I've got to stand on my own two feet.
Speaker 2:Little by little I was able to save some money. I was able to find a job at our kid's school. So I went from being a corporate executive to working as a paraprofessional, not that it's a. You know this is not going to come out the way I want it to sound, but it was a big pay cut $15,000 a year working at the preschool, at my kids' elementary school primarily because their tuition was free then and I got. I had their same schedule and I was on campus with them. That was the driver on that and that did not work out. Let's just say that was not consistent for a while.
Speaker 2:You know, there were times when I had enough money for food for them and I kind of made do with whatever I could find. But I found a place to live and I had the money to cover the rent every month and I put things on a credit card when I didn't have the money that we had to have, not that we wanted to have. We had homemade haircuts, you know, we packed our lunches and we. But we established some new traditions, you know, as the three of us and it was hard, I'm not going to lie, lie, I was I did meet my now husband a few months after that, after the, you know, through the separation and all that jazz.
Speaker 2:But he was, he was two hours from me, thank goodness, here in Little Rock, I was two hours away in my hometown, and so we couldn't see each other all the time, which was great, not not because I didn't want to, but because that was too much for me, too soon, and I didn't want the kids to meet him right away, you know. So we were just like taking it slow. Nobody really even knew we were talking and you know. But but I, I was single, I was on my on my own as a single mom with these two little babies for three years. But we did it day by day and my grandfather I loved him and my grandmother so much and I miss them every single day. And he always said one day at a time yeah, makes sense. And you know what, sometimes it was five minutes at a time. Sometimes I was like I don't think I can get through this whole day, so I'm going to get through the next five minutes.
Speaker 1:So in that time because that was very stressful and hard and sad and everything what was a positive that you found in that space that you can say today? This was what I took away from it.
Speaker 2:The positive was I bet on myself and I was reminded that everything is figureoutable, that if you decide that you're going to figure it out, if you decide that you're going to make a way, it will happen. And you have to stay positive. You have to have faith even when it doesn't, even when you're like there is no way in hell. This is going to work out. It always did. It may not work out the way I wanted it to, and it may not come in the Louis Vuitton package that I wanted to, you know, or whatever, but it always worked out, it always does. If you believe it will yeah, if you believe it will and you look for the good things you know there were.
Speaker 2:I could have focused on the fact that I didn't have money for, you know, paper towels and toilet paper and stuff like that. Thank goodness my mom, she would come over when I was out with the kids and she would dump off paper, paper goods you know napkins and I'd come home and they'd be on the kitchen table and I'm like mom, you know, and she's like I wanted to make sure you had what you needed. You know you got to love mom. So moms are great, yeah.
Speaker 1:So talk to me a little bit about organic marketing, because a lot of people probably have no idea what that means. And I see you have visibility and list growth. I'm not sure what the end of it is, because it's got the three little dots, but my focus is organic visibility and organic list growth and what I mean by organic is free, so I do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I do not teach. I don't teach paid ads and I'm also not the list growth coach that's going to teach you to create yet another free lead magnet and put it out on social media, because chances are you've already done that and you've got a couple of lead magnets. I teach you everything else you can do to ramp up your visibility on social media where your audience says to you Dionne, I see you everywhere. You know you're not everywhere. You're sitting on the couch watching Netflix room. I feel like I'm landing in somebody's living room when I land in their inbox. That's where we're going to really develop the relationship and turn them into buyers in the inbox and in the DMs. But we've got to have attraction strategies to get them offline into the DMs, onto our email list.
Speaker 1:So can you tell me a success story?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah for sure. So one of the strategies I teach is how to navigate other people's Facebook groups for visibility, leads and list growth, other people's Yep and even yeah, and even the groups that don't allow promotion of any kind. Okay, okay, so, but the first step of this is so when you're in Facebook groups, it's your personal profile that shows up, unless you create a profile for each group you're in which you technically can do. I don't do that, it's extra steps. I'm all about not complicating the situation. I have one Facebook personal profile, but I had a client. Her name is Tracy, also brilliant woman, helps parents of children that have been diagnosed with ADHD, love their brain, navigate their diagnosis, all the things Very cool work. And she did not want to use her personal profile for business at all and I said, okay, cool, we'll park that strategy. I've got nine other strategies I can teach you no big deal. And when she I finally wore her down, I think she got tired of me talking about it. And so we, with the strategy that I teach for your Facebook personal profile, we dial that in for list growth using every nook and cranny of the profile that Facebook gives us the about section, the intro section, right under your photo for you to say immediately who you are, who you serve, how you serve them, all of your links and the most important piece is the cover photo. We want it to go to your email list. So mine, you'll see I'm showcasing my free Facebook group because of the way I have my membership entry questions set up. You want to give me your email address when you come to join my group, but you could showcase a free lead magnet there, right? We just have to attract people to it. So, going into people's Facebook groups, it's your Facebook personal profile that's present there, and all we're doing in this strategy is showing up as a warm, kind human being serving other warm, kind human beings who happen to be our ideal clients, answering their questions where we can.
Speaker 2:You know, if somebody posts something about my list, growth is stagnant. I don't know what to do. I'm going to comment and I'm not going to say well, I'm an award winning, I had an award winning sales career and I've coached hundreds of entrepreneurs and you should buy my thing. And da, da, da, da. No, because most of these groups don't allow promotion, right? What I'm going to say is oh my gosh, dionne, I'm so sorry to hear that. Tell me what you're doing, tell me what you've been doing, tell me what you're doing now and try to help figure out where the wheels fell off the bus on their list. So brilliant it's? So yeah. And so I am literally showcasing my expertise without telling everybody I'm an expert. I'm promoting myself without promoting a darn thing.
Speaker 1:So good. It's getting value all the time, and that's so important attracting the right people Exactly, and then some people will post.
Speaker 2:You know, if somebody posts and says, oh my gosh, I'm starting my first launch next week, I've got my first live webinar, I've got all the nerves, I'm going to comment and I'm going to say you've got this, I've got my pom poms out, I'm cheering you on. I know how that felt. Come back and tell us how it went, because that's the kind of person I mean. It is natural for me to do this, it really is. But what happens is I'm showing up in that group, not every day, not 24, seven, but a few days a week, with purpose and help, and people are going to go. Who is this Tracy Beavers girl? I see her name all the time and I bet you can have. You know what's going to happen next. They click on my personal profile, of course.
Speaker 1:They go there.
Speaker 2:They see my cover photo and they go oh, I want to be in that free Facebook group because they can promote their offers anytime. They're encouraged to DM each other and set coffee chats and that's what all my online entrepreneurs want. And so I haven't had to tell them about the group, I haven't had to post about the group. They go there and they slide like a grease pig right down my list growth, funnel onto my email list. It's magic, it sounds like it 90%. I have hundreds of people joining my free Facebook group and my list every month and 90% of them I have not had to invite.
Speaker 1:That's amazing.
Speaker 2:I'm like how did you find me? How'd you find my group? Oh, I saw you in the XYZ group. You, you're so helpful and you're so kind. And then I realized what you do and I need you and I'm like, oh my gosh, that's amazing. You know, come on in, let me show you around.
Speaker 1:You know I own a real estate company and I'm always trying to give them tidbits of tips, of easy, free things they can do, because I don't want them to spend any more money either.
Speaker 2:It's expensive.
Speaker 1:The trial and error is way too expensive. Yeah, you know, this idea just to put in front of a real estate agent is so simple. Go in your community groups right. Go in the community where you live, be in that group, give value all the time, say nice things, be the person that they want to know. Yes, it's simple advice, but it's just very good. So let's talk about mistakes you've seen entrepreneurs make in this arena. So if I'm, you know I'm starting out. I want to do, I want to grow my Facebook social media. What mistake have you seen someone like me who is an entrepreneur make?
Speaker 2:Oh gosh. The first thing is, if they're wanting to build an online business, because of the way it's been marketed, people come into this space and they think it's going to be cheap and it's going to be easy. Now, it is less expensive than opening a brick and mortar boutique that has inventory and cash registers and employees and all that jazz, but there are some expenses. Another mistake I see them making is put the cart before the horse in terms of what are they developing first. So what they really need to do is get a couple of free lead magnets those are important and then work with somebody to nail down what their social media messaging is going to be and what their offers are going to be.
Speaker 2:But the mistake I see them making is creating the offer before they've got an audience to sell it to. So, like they come to me and they go. Well, I created this course because I took this thing that said to create this course or this membership, and I went to launch it and nobody bought it and I'm like it's because you don't have an audience, because you don't have an email list, Right? The other thing I see them doing I know you only asked for one thing, but three things.
Speaker 2:I don't care, if you want to say that the other thing that is a really big deal is losing their consistency and losing their patience. Patience and consistency with any business that you are growing. Those are the two fundamental keys that will keep you in the game long-term. But a lot of times what I see, even like you, work with realtors, my realtors. I was in the real estate industry when I was in marketing, sales and business development, mortgage lending, consumer lending, title insurance, all that. So I speak the language. And when I was first starting out as a coach, a lot of my realtors hired me to help them set up their brokerages and get their teams going and all that from a sales standpoint.
Speaker 2:But a big thing I see them make and it's a mistake for most of us they come out of the gate on social media and they're like I'm gonna post seven days a week on all the platforms, I'm going to go live, I'm going to do a post, I'm going to do a reel, I'm going to do a carousel, I'm going to do a blah, blah, blah. And they have worn themselves out within three weeks and they're like I cannot create one more piece of content and they stop. They don't do it at all and they don't do anything for like another month until they catch their breath and then they're all excited again. I'm going to go on all the platforms and do all the things. They wear themselves out and they stop. And it's the same thing with our email list. When we start to cultivate an email list, the worst thing we can do is email that list consistently for two months and then stop for two months, because I come back two months later in somebody's inbox and they're like I don't remember who Tracy Beefers is. Who's that? Yeah, it makes sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so what we have to do is we have to pick what we can do realistically. Yes, it's exciting to get out on social media and start creating content, but don't, don't get over your skis on it. Pick how many days a week can you realistically create content for the long term, week in, week out, whether you like it, whether you don't, whether it's raining, whether you've got a cold week in, week out, because you like it, whether you don't, whether it's raining, whether you've got a cold weekend, week out, because the minute that consistency drops off, that's where the algorithm favor drops off, that's where followers start to drop off All of that momentum that you've gotten and that visibility that you've worked so hard for drops and it's like your boulder rolled down. I get too many analogies today. It's like your boulder rolled down the hill and you got to get down there and push it back up. Push it back up.
Speaker 1:And it's heavy. You're right, the momentum's lost. So I love having a positive mindset and I've been through a lot in my personal life and professional life, but I still maintain positivity every single day. So let's talk about mindset. How important is it in growing an online business and what shifts have you seen make the biggest impact for your clients?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's foundational, just like consistency and patience. That mindset I did a podcast interview with a friend of mine, jennifer Jacobson, who teaches mindset and confidence, and we were talking about how it's almost the last thing we think about because we're worried about, like realtors. They wanna get the license, they wanna pass the test, they wanna get the name tag and the business cards and they want to start getting clients and they want to do this and this and this and this and they're thinking I've got a good mindset, I'm fine, and they ignore it. But then there's going to come a day where it's going to really knock on your door and it's going to smack you so hard You're not going to fester. We've got to have, we've got to understand that being an entrepreneur is freaking hard. It is a roller coaster and we've got to have ways of managing that.
Speaker 2:It's fun for the most part, but there are days when I'm like I think I might just go get a job. This is it. I'm going to burn it down. But then the actual, the actual reality of writing the resume that I haven't had in years and interviewing and putting on real pants to leave the house. I'm like you know, but I have to.
Speaker 2:It doesn't matter if you're just starting out in whatever career you're in, or you're 15 years in and you're making millions of dollars a year and you've got everything you could possibly want. We all have days where we talk crap to ourselves, and the biggest thing that I want my clients and students to do is to recognize it immediately, because imposter syndrome can show up in a red dress today and she can show up in a green dress next week trying to trick you that it's not imposter syndrome, when it really is, and you've got to be aware of that. That the what are you saying to yourself? So when I have a day where I'm like I can't coach my way out of a paper sack, I don't even know why I'm bothering.
Speaker 1:You know what I?
Speaker 2:mean I have to stop and say, okay, recognize that I'd have that thought, reframe that thought into something positive and then repeat that thought until my brain gets on board with it. Because it's that fear popping up of you know, even when we go to try something new, our brain doesn't know that. I just had this conversation with somebody today. When we go to try something new, our brain literally does not know the difference between going live on Facebook and a saber tooth tiger. Your brain thinks you're going to die either way.
Speaker 2:Now we know nobody's really ever I don't think anybody's died from going live but our brain doesn't know that, and so it's our job to say no, no, no, I'm going live, I am confident in my messaging, I am an expert, I have a message to deliver. And you repeat that until your brain goes oh okay, all right, we can do this, but it's recognizing that crap. You're telling yourself and then asking yourself is this based on fact? Is it true? I can't coach my way out of a paper sack? No, you know, yeah, that mindset thing. If we ignore it, it is going to bite us in the rear.
Speaker 1:And I agree, and I used to tell the story. Last night I was speaking at a positivity circle meeting and we talked about this time in my life where I was going through something that was really bad and negative. And I met with one of my friends who used to work for the Napoleon Hill Foundation and he said to me every time that thought goes into your mind, put a price tag on it. And I said what?
Speaker 2:do you mean?
Speaker 1:It's like like a hundred dollars. And I said okay, so every time I think of that, I'm supposed to think about a hundred dollars. He said yeah, because that's what you're wasting every time you think about it. It's so good, you know, and it really got me out of a really big bind with myself. Let me tell you I was having a really difficult time, depressed. I felt down. So I would just put it, it would come up and $200. Nope, I'm not thinking about that. I'm not wasting that money. I love money too much. It was great advice and you can take it if you want.
Speaker 2:I would. I would love to share that with my people. Yeah, oh my gosh, it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 1:It's easy because we understand money right, or we think we do anyways.
Speaker 2:For sure.
Speaker 1:So you're a professional speaker and author and you run a successful coaching business yeah, and you have kids yeah, and a marriage yeah. How do you do all of that?
Speaker 2:It's a lot it is. And when I was building this, alongside this stressful corporate job, the kids back then were in high school and middle school and it felt like they played every sport that had a ball, and so we were, oh my stars. It was a juggle, I think, like my grandfather said, one day at a time you know, not getting too far ahead of myself, because I can spiral I can go like Emily has a birthday coming up next week. I still need to redo the guest bathroom. We moved my mom here last fall. Our dog had surgery.
Speaker 2:Like I could be like what are we going to do for Emily's birthday? And I'm never going to get this guest bathroom done. And oh my God, and who's calling me now and who wants? You know what I mean and just. But what I do is I just like okay, the guest bathroom, park it the birthday, ask her what she wants to do, make the plan done, you know, but then do what I can do and then park the rest and give myself grace because I don't have 24 seven to build this business and I don't wanna do that 24 seven. I wanna I built this business so that I could be more available for the people that I love, right and that's the whole point, right, so we can do that.
Speaker 1:So I think that one of my favorite parts of entrepreneurship is the flexibility that we have. But the thing is, if you don't work, you don't get the flexibility. Yes, exactly. Yeah, you can't just expect to sit there and think it's going to be okay. I have my own business now. I'm just going to sit here and wait. It's just not how it works.
Speaker 1:I think there's a lot of people in my life where I've seen that happen. I'm like you have to get up, you have to keep moving, you have to do something every single day. So let's talk about your podcast. I created mine because I was grieving my father and I wanted a way to share adversity, to realize that you know, obviously I'm not the only person that ever went through this and I loved him dearly and it was difficult, but Shine on Success became came out of that and so I've been extremely creative.
Speaker 1:Since he passed away and you know, now going through a liver transplant the things that we're doing. I've my creativity is through the roof. So that's why I do this, because I love learning other people's stories and being able to help and share your message to other people. I think it's incredible. So your podcast, create Online Business Success has gained a strong following. What inspired you to launch it and what's been your biggest takeaway from hosting it?
Speaker 2:That's a good question. So I wanted a podcast for a long time. As you can tell, I can talk to a brick wall. I love to talk, I love public speaking. A brick wall, I love to talk, I love public speaking. And I thought how much fun would it be to, you know, talk into a microphone and get my thoughts and ideas and tips and all that stuff out into the world to reach more people. Logistically I couldn't. I just couldn't put it on the plate of priorities until last summer, and, the cool thing is, my podcast is repurposed. So I do.
Speaker 2:For years, I have gone live every Thursday at 1130 using StreamYard which I'm so glad you're using, as I love it, me too and I'm live in my free Facebook group, on my YouTube channel and on LinkedIn, okay, and then we pull the audio from the live and that's the podcast. Oh, that's so good. Yeah, it's brilliant, and what I've loved about it is it's ended up doing what I wanted it to do. There are a lot of people that are not on Facebook, but they love podcasts yeah, they do. So they might not join my free Facebook group to come watch me live, and maybe they're not YouTube fans, but a podcast will reach them. And then it's also opened some doors for me to be on some bigger shows, because my podcast is a top, top ranked show.
Speaker 1:And when people see that, they're like, oh, I'll let you be on my show If.
Speaker 1:I can be on your show and I'm like okay, well, that's a cool door that I mean, that's awesome. Yes, I've been opened. Yeah, I love that. I love doing this. I meet people all over the world and it's so cool, you know, and I get excited about it, and then, when we're finished, I'll take it, I'll transcribe it, I'll pull the thoughts out of it and then I'll have gained knowledge in this 30 minutes that we're together. That's unlike most schooling that you can get, so I do love that.
Speaker 1:So you've been featured in major media outlets like Wall Street Journal, oh gosh, and I cannot remember the name of that organization where you can sign up for.
Speaker 2:it used to be called Help a Reporter Out. It used to be called HARO H-A-R-O. Now I think Peter Shankman has it and it's called SOS Media maybe. But anyway, it's journalists that are making lists of story ideas they have and they want experts, and so that's how I ended up in the Wall. Customer service specifically for Dillard's Corporate and Dillard's was founded here in Little Rock.
Speaker 1:And so I wrote in and I said, I'm here in Little Rock.
Speaker 2:Dillard family lives here in Little Rock. You know, what do you need to know about their customer service and I? So I was featured in the Wall Street Journal for you know the business side of customer service kind of thing. And then CBS News. That was interesting, that was during the pandemic. I think that might have come through a mutual connection here in Little Rock because that was on our CBS station here they featured me once a month for business tips for small business owners during the pandemic. Yeah, and so I'm pretty sure that that connection for that show came through a mutual friend.
Speaker 2:But it's funny where you'll find things when you start asking people and saying you know, like if there's a magazine that one of your realtors wants to get into, asking people and saying you know, like, if there's a magazine that one of your realtors wants to get into, if they just do some local networking and find out, hey, do you guys happen to know the publishers of that magazine? You'd be amazed. Yeah, it's a small world. So you really just have to start asking. You know, when I wanted to get on podcasts I was like, oh my God, I would see one of my friends on a podcast. I go how did you get that podcast guest spot? And they tell me, and I go replicate what they did. And pretty soon, one podcast led to another, led to another, led to another, one media thing led to another, led to another.
Speaker 1:So you just have to start asking, really. So I always tell this my one of my famous sayings the most powerful three letter word in the English language is ask, ask. I love it. Right, you never know until you ask. Just ask what if they say no, so what? Move on to the next one, right, you know. So I love that. That's important to you too, I mean. I see you're not afraid to ask anything I can imagine.
Speaker 2:No, I'm really not.
Speaker 1:So I think I'll leave our listeners with one key action step to improve their business visibility today. What?
Speaker 2:would it be? Even if we're a local brick and mortar mom and pop shop, doesn't matter what kind of business it is. We all need social media. We all need an email list. So I would say pick one social media platform, go all in on it. Decide how much content you could reasonably create for that week for that platform. Don't overload yourself and just get into a muscle memory. Week in, week out of this is the day I'm going to create my content, whether you feel like it or not. It does not have to be the best content you've ever done. You can use an AI tool to help you. The important thing is to get it out there. Have calls to action for engagement and for list growth, and be consistent and patient and be present and then start building relationships.
Speaker 1:Just like you do in a networking group. Relationships are the key to success. I truly believe that, so thank you for being on here with me today. And how can our listeners find you? And if they are interested in hiring you or interested in talking to you, how can they find you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've got two awesome places where they can join me. One is on my podcast, it's called Create Online Business Success and the other great place. If they love Facebook and they like Facebook groups, if they're an entrepreneur, they can come join my free Facebook group. It's called Be a Confident Entrepreneur, get visible, grow your email list and your income, and we let people promote themselves anytime. We encourage the members to make connections and genuine relationships and have coffee chats and network Because, just like you said, you got to ask other people what they're doing in order to get the doors opened.
Speaker 1:Makes so much sense and I really appreciate you being on here today and for our listeners. Please like, subscribe and share, because my goal is to help one person with every podcast, but seemingly lately I think we're helping so many more than just one person. In the country and in the world. That's my goal and I want to make sure you all know that we all go through things. And in the world. That's my goal and I want to make sure you all know that we all go through things. We all have stuff. Life is full of hard things, but you have to push through to the other side every single time and your life will be better for it. So thank you very much, Tracy. Thanks for having me.
