BusinessTok - A Short Form Video Marketing Podcast

4 Secrets to EXPLODE Your Short Form Videos W/ Rachel Pedersen

• Austin Armstrong • Episode 38

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Today's guest is the queen of social media, Rachel Pedersen!

Connect with Rachel Pedersen:
https://rachelpedersen.com/
https://www.facebook.com/the.mrs.pedersen/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4p2nJb-8j9IjVOhrlTUmWw
https://www.instagram.com/themrspedersen/

Connect with your host:
https://www.tiktok.com/@usefulaiwebsites
https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinarmstrong90/
https://twitter.com/SocialtyPro
https://www.facebook.com/Owwstin/
https://www.youtube.com/@socialtypro

If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a 5-star review on iTunes and subscribe here on YouTube! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/businesstok-a-tiktok-marketing-podcast/id1612378488

What if your social media strategy could transform your business and personal life simultaneously? Join us for an eye-opening conversation with Rachel Peterson, the queen of social media, as she recounts her inspiring journey from college dropout and single mother to a top-tier social media strategist. Rachel's groundbreaking techniques, such as leveraging TikTok as a search engine, have driven immense business success, and she shares the importance of providing free value as a way to enhance both personal and professional growth. Learn how her entrepreneurial spirit, influenced by her grandmother, has shaped her family's approach to business.

Discover how Rachel transitioned from hairstylist to marketing consultant, with support from a crucial ally—her spouse. We explore the initial steps in social media marketing, the pivotal moments that opened new doors, and the challenges of adapting to new relationship dynamics when pursuing ambitious goals. Rachel's journey highlights the significance of a supportive partner and the role of attitude and humility in overcoming obstacles. Furthermore, we delve into her evolving TikTok strategy, inspired by industry giants like Gary Vee, and how blending personal and professional life can lead to thriving digital content creation.

Get an exclusive look at Rachel's future projects, including a top-secret long-term initiative and the creation of a physical product brand. She also shares her passion for high fantasy writing, with dreams of seeing her work on the big screen, and her progress in becoming a certified equine specialist. Lastly, Rachel introduces her "90 Day Business Magic" program, aiming to scale a hobby business while providing daily insights and transformative experiences. Tune in for actionable strategies, inspiring stories, and a glimpse into the exciting future endeavors of Rachel Peterson.

Speaker 1:

in a time where I'm not desiring to create short form content. It has changed my life.

Speaker 2:

Welcome back to Business Talk, a short form video marketing podcast. I'm your host, austin Armstrong, and on this show I interview the best content creators and entrepreneurs who have leveraged short form video to actually drive leads and sales. In this podcast, we deep dive into their tactical strategies and stories so that you can get actionable takeaways. You can connect with me across social media at Social T Pro. Today's episode is sponsored by my company, syllabiio. Syllabi is a one-stop shop for video marketing on social media. From finding trending topics your potential customers are searching for online to generating new video scripts, creating faceless videos with your AI clones, and even direct publishing to your social media accounts, syllabi has you covered. You can get started with a seven-day free trial into show notes.

Speaker 2:

Let's jump into today's episode. Today's guest is the queen of social media, the one and only, rachel Peterson. Rachel is a social media strategist recognized by Content Marketing Institute as one of the most influential online marketers. Rachel went from college dropout, single mother on welfare, to a successful and highly sought after social media strategist, best-selling author and educator. She has been featured on top publications such as Huffington Post, cosmopolitan, the Daily Mail and more, as well as on the top podcasts such as Entrepreneur on Fire. Rachel, thank you so much for joining me. You are one of my dream guests on this show and it is just beyond an honor to have you.

Speaker 1:

Austin, I'm really excited to be here. Thank you for having me.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely so before we jump in, I got to tell a quick story about you and to the audience, because everyone Rachel literally changed my life and the trajectory of everything that I have today, and it's because of a single webinar, which is so funny sometimes. But, rachel, if you'll allow me to nerd out here for a little bit, I got started on TikTok about five years ago. I guess I was a big Gary Vee fan and he was shoving it down our throats and when Crushing it came out and he was like you got to get on Musically. And then TikTok at the time and I thought I was late four and a half years ago. And I thought I was late four and a half years ago and I got on and I really wasn't getting any traction. I was trying to jump on trends. I was painstakingly doing dance videos, which I'm terrible at that. I was throwing in some business stuff and I'm like this is not working, this is not working.

Speaker 2:

And I saw an ad on Facebook for one of your upcoming webinars and I said you know it was, it was free, why not jump in? You know, I, I RSVP'd, I sat through that whole webinar and you know when, you, when, when people talk about aha moments light bulbs that just click it was. It was so perfect. It was a collection of my whole experience how you focused on treating tiktok as a search engine, uh, finding particular hashtags and doing competitive research in the business space at the time, which was so ahead of it like I don't think tiktok even thought of themselves as a search engine that far ago and it all just clicked and I gave myself an ultimatum of 30 days only business content. Because of that webinar, I immediately saw traction and the rest of my life has changed. So firstly, just thank you so much for all of the amazing free value that you put out there in the world.

Speaker 1:

It's amazing free value that you put out there in the world. It's amazing I'm just trying not to blush because that was so kind. You got it. Honestly, the free value is a huge key to growth, as you've learned as well, and, honestly, it helps you to sleep at night as you're building something. You're like I'm still offering free solutions. There's also this paid solution, but here's the free stuff to get you going, get you started and kind of almost reach back to people who are in similar positions to where each and every one of us has been at some point in life.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think that's one of the biggest marketing secrets that I've ever learned and it almost sounds counterintuitive. But the law of reciprocity kicks in there and again, you do just feel good about yourself by giving your best information out there for free and like personally, like whether they end up working with me or they just associate their success with me and tell other people about me. That is, that is rewarding, and I tell people about you all.

Speaker 1:

Thanks, shucks.

Speaker 2:

What is your origin story Prior to getting into marketing and becoming an entrepreneur? What really led you up to that point?

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh. Okay. So it's interesting because throughout our family I come from a lot of mostly like blue collar or like education teachers, lots of teachers, lots of kind of just people who would take salaried jobs, and I didn't even realize that there was an entrepreneurial spirit in my family until I grew up and I realized my grandma wasn't just this little seamstress when she told me, oh, I've got a client from China who is having me make a custom garment for them. It didn't seem glamorous because it was my grandma and I didn't realize, oh, she's kind of a big deal, and so she was kind of a really big entrepreneurial force in our family and it kind of started to spread. Even just in the last few years I've seen my cousins and different family members going into entrepreneurship and it was right around the time that my cousin was starting a candle company and I was like that's so cool, I really like that.

Speaker 1:

I was working as a hairstylist. Now, side note, I still love the world of hair. I love doing extensions, I like highlights, I love wedding updos. My assistant is getting married and I'm going to do her wedding updo and I'm like it's so fun. But it was actually there that I started to say, what if I start putting content on Facebook and Instagram? There weren't as many options back then as there are now. What if I just start putting like before and afters of extensions or a really radical color or whatever, and I would put those before and afters up and suddenly more people who wanted radical colors and extensions would start to book with me and it really started to grow my business as a hairstylist and I was like there's definitely something to this. I don't understand how and I do not understand why, but the more stuff I put out there, the more people start to come to me, and so that was how I started to really grow.

Speaker 1:

My business as a brand new hairstylist was how I started to really grow my business as a brand new hairstylist and before you know it, I had a whole lineup of really high maintenance blondes and high maintenance colors, and I loved that because I enjoy the world of high maintenance. I understand high maintenance hair, and so one day a client sat in my chair and her stylist had randomly been sick. So she just came to me because I had an opening and we started talking about like business and I was fascinated by it this, that and the other thing. And before you know it, she was like can we hire you for marketing help? And I right, it was that moment where I was like, wait, is this how it happens, you know? But I didn't really feel. I knew I wasn't qualified. I knew I wasn't even close to qualified. I didn't know what I was talking about. So I said yes, and the reason I knew I was going to be qualified for them specifically is because she said said she gets dead serious and looks at me through the mirror and says show me your Twitter. And I was like what? And she said show me your Twitter. And I literally didn't know what she was talking about. So I said I don't think we do that at this salon. And she was like the bluebird thing. And I was like the blue bird thing and I was like oh, Twitter, yeah, I'll show you my Twitter. And so I knew I could at least help them, because otherwise she was going to walk around asking people to show her their tweeters. So she needed my help.

Speaker 1:

So I came home that day and I was like Paul, like this happened? This is so weird, I think I should just do it. He's like I think you should too. And so I negotiated with them $15 an hour was what I was going to charge for consulting, so really good rate. I was really excited about it and I started working for them. And after my first dinner meeting with them the husband and wife they were like we want to meet Paul, we want to to meet your kids. And we started talking about plans for the future. And that night we went home and paul looked at me and he said I think this is your next thing. And I was like I do too. And then we started the journey of making it happen such a supportive partner.

Speaker 2:

Um, I love that and that's and you've mentioned that a lot in your story as well. I've been following you a long time and I know a lot, but talk about how impactful that aspect was of having a supportive partner that just said Rachel, this is your calling, there's something here, go do that. How did that impact where you ultimately are today?

Speaker 1:

I don't know if I can even see myself even at a tiny fraction of a percent of where I'm at today Having happy experiences, revenue, travel, really cool things that have happened. I don't think it would have been possible without a supportive partner. Now I will say my husband, paul, is next level and we're that way for each other. We're each other's biggest fans, and so I don't say that lightly. It's part of the reason why I try to keep him off of social, because I'm like I don't want to put him out there for people to make their own judgments or decisions about.

Speaker 1:

He didn't sign up for that part of it, that's for sure. He signed up for. Babe, I think this is what you're meant to do, you know. So we really and truly like, want what's best for one another, even if it's hard for us to understand or even if it really complicates the life path, because we've had a lot of those things where we're like this doesn't make sense, but this is what you're supposed to do, and I know it. So it makes all the difference in the world, and for some people it might not necessarily be like their romantic partner or life partner. For some people it's my best friend, or my sister or my dad, is the one person that always encourages me, no matter what, and as long as you have at least one of those people, I think it makes such a difference and it makes it feel so much more possible.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's such a good point. Now, if you don't mind my asking of this, with him not being prominent online and with you being such a prominent figure with a large following and sort of fame and notoriety, has that ever impacted your relationship at all positive or negative, or has there been any weirdness there?

Speaker 1:

Oh for sure it's interesting because there was a short period where we both let like ego take over and it was a time where we were adjusting to like wait.

Speaker 1:

So this means I'm the full-time breadwinner and you're not, but this goes counter to how it used to be and just like really struggling with the new dynamics. But the biggest thing I'll speak to me in that I had a bad attitude, I had an ego. I thought my poop didn't stink. I thought like I thought that I was just going to continue to always grow and rise and if you're either for me or you're against me, and like I think I had binged too many Instagram quotes you know what I mean that are like pretty toxic, yeah, and what's really interesting is I only had to go a little bit further to be wonderfully humbled by business and humbled again, and then humbled again, and over time you start to realize like, oh, if we kind of average all of this out, yeah, I'm doing pretty good, but my poop does in fact stink and I have a bad attitude from time to time.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. So thank you for thank you for transparency there and sharing video space. You were so early on TikTok and for business and you've done a great job of blending personal life with business and a little bit of entertainment and applying trends to really both aspects in your life. How did you sort of figure out short form video so early and especially for business, when the vast majority of content on TikTok early on and even like Vine, you know, prior to TikTok I don't know if you were active on Vine, but you know how did you sort of figure out this new format, this new platform and how to get business with it?

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh, I, oh my goodness, I love this picture. Um, I think so. It was interesting because when tiktok was like it first came out, I want to say there was like a little window where it was. It felt like it was almost 100 consumers and then just old music like people, that's it. And I was actually on a mastermind trip from Russell Brunson for like top affiliates and Annie Grace, who's one of my dear friends. She wrote this naked mind, but she was like Rachel, have you seen the TikTok where that girl says and I was like I don't know what TikTok is. Annie, now I'll give a heads up.

Speaker 1:

I don't normally feel like I'm the first person to get places or discover things. It's more like I start to pick up a trend. If I hear something a few times, then I'm like oh, I'm hearing this and I'm hearing it from reputable people. And Annie was like Rachel, you've got to get on this TikTok platform because you're really weird and crazy and unhinged and you say like stupid things all the time. And she said that's from a place of love, of course, thanks, yeah, it always sounds like you're just like blah, blah, blah and you say something really stupid. And then I think he would be so funny on TikTok and I was like, oh, I'll check it out. And it was actually there that I recorded my first TikTok and so I started it.

Speaker 1:

But I was like I don't know about this and so I looked it up, saw that a few more people, including Gary Vee, were talking about it, and then I started creating stupid little, crazy, unhinged videos. They were so bad they're still up on my page too, if you scroll all the way back, and some of them are wildly cringy and I've intentionally left them up. It was a long process for me to discover what worked and after a few months, like one video blew up and it was like me and the kids doing Baby Shark together. Now my kids don't show up in my content anymore at all, but at that time I was like that's so interesting how quickly that blew up. That was exponential. And years ago I was speaking at an event with Gary Vee and he said look for where there's a disproportionate and or exponential return on your time investment. And I was like this feels like that.

Speaker 1:

So I started testing a few more things. They started to work and then it was like I'm just going to test. It was a lot more simple back then, by the way. You know, like the ones where you would go, do, do, do, do. And so I'm like I'm going to do some of those for business, because it's so easy that I can see if I can just get some attention here. And it started to work and I was like, all right, game on, let's go, it's time. And so when the first one of those took off, I was like I'm going to go for it. And it was actually a very frustrating journey trying to explain to other business owners that they could crush it on TikTok, because people laughed at me, made fun of me. People were like have fun with your little thing. And I was like I am, and you know. Then, a year later, they were like how much can I pay you for an hour of consulting? So yeah, it was a wild journey.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and it still is. I mean, it's still. It's still constantly changing. What's working on TikTok? What's? You know trends are rapid fire, come and go and peak, and how has your content sort of and strategy evolved over the last couple of years, from you know the pointing days and dancing in trends to you know the type of content that you're creating now. How has that changed? What do you see working right now?

Speaker 1:

Well, I'll answer the first part of that first, because this one's a complicated answer. It's two parts. So, if we go back to like, a couple of years ago, I started switching to this model that I call the four Vs and it's value, variety, viral and vulnerable. And when I switched amongst those four with regularity and then there are some ways to like, game the algorithm within that, like, I was growing very consistently everywhere with short form and it was, it was awesome and it was fantastic. And there was one where I, you know, I gained, uh, 60,000 followers from three videos organically and I was like, yep, this formula works really, really well and it, it did and it still does, with some tweaks, but then about a year ago and I actually haven't even shared this at all anywhere, I know.

Speaker 2:

On the beans.

Speaker 1:

So about a year ago, I started not wanting to be on video anymore, and I mean truly, and yeah, that was unexpected. That was surprising. It wasn't helpful or good for anything that we've built, and I suddenly had this deep desire to start writing things, and I want to start writing things out, I want to start making things long for text, and I don't know why, but that shift just happened and I've tried to figure out some workarounds. We found some that are decent, but the truth is I've been shifting some energy into other brands that don't require my face a hundred percent. Yes, in more like, uh, physical, physical products and e-commerce and non-profits and things like that, and just starting to see, like, do I, do I want to be in front of the camera anymore or do I want to do more of strategy and directing and putting together?

Speaker 1:

I keep talking about, like, the composition of videos, not to say that they're high def or anything, but like what is the color composition? Is the rule of thirds in play here? So that's been one of the most unexpected transitions that I've been experiencing, and you might notice that I kind of seem like I don't really know what to do about it. The answer is like, yeah, I still don't really know what to do about it, but I do feel it's leading me to somewhere where I can help people in a different way, even if maybe I'm on video less.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, it's been. It's been a fascinating and thank you for for sharing that vulnerability as well, cause that's that's very important. You do a lot on Facebook. I mean I, I have, I have had a lot of success on Facebook, the last on Facebook. I mean I have had a lot of success on Facebook, the last, I would say two years. Now. At this point, text posts have been doing exceptionally well. Facebook kind of went through this resurgence again. I'm curious, going down the text rabbit hole a little bit, what platforms are you leveraging with long-form text that you're seeing the most traction on right now?

Speaker 1:

Well, I wouldn't say we've seen a lot of traction in it yet because, yeah, I've really stepped back. I'm still posting. You probably see, I do quite a bit of like text. You do too those short form, medium form, long form text. You pick some, you repurpose some, some. But there hasn't been like a super intentional plan for what to do with the text yet. So I'm trying to see, like how is this going to play into everything? You know I was actually following.

Speaker 1:

I really like the content that ellen sultanic puts out there in held back. He puts out these long form like just value bomb packed posts and everyone's always like you should be on social media, like fully, fully. You know, alan, and he's like why would I do that? I don't want to do that. And reading that I was like that's so interesting because I love writing things out. So I'm still kind of in the brainstorming phase and I've been testing out combining it into a Facebook group with really interesting visuals and video. So Facebook profile for sure, that's been going so well. Email I do a lot of long emails and even if if it's a sale, I still try to make sure there are takeaways. But there hasn't been a super intentional move, yet I'll share with you where I think I'm going with it, though.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, let's hear it.

Speaker 1:

I have a funny feeling about blogging, but only if blogging is done in a way that it has pattern interrupts and isn't the same length every single time, and sometimes it's really short and just to the point. I have a really strong gut feeling that people are going to start moving back towards text based blogs. I don't know, we'll see if I'm right, but that's my theory.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, a full circle. We'll see if I'm right, but that's my theory. Yeah, a full circle. You know, it's even more interesting, like because I I'm in this space a lot, as is in ai, video creation, yeah, and I I do wonder at times if the because it's so easy now to create content with ai, whether it's fac, whether it's avatars, whether it's some sort of combination, if you know, not to say like the dead internet theory. I think that's a little silly, but like I wonder if people will start to not trust video anymore and go towards these other mediums again, like text. It's a really interesting theory.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I don't know if you've ever tried also, so I do notice that people are starting to doubt whether something was written with AI or not.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

So I try to write in the way that I would say something if I was talking to a friend. Like, if I were talking to a friend, I'd be like, dude, that is not how it works. And so I'm like, okay, I'm going to write it in a way that AI just wouldn't replicate, you know. So, dude, tons of U's and not all caps, and I think it helps people know from the onset this isn't just something I plugged into chat GPT, I actually wrote this for you and I think that does make a difference. I do love and I still need to get in touch with you about your software, and I really mean that because I love the concept of AI generated video and I love the idea of even for me, like disclosing in each video. By the way, this is my AI twin and she does this because I'm introverted and I get to hear really easily. So let's dive on in, you know. But, by the way, I am so excited about diving in to your software.

Speaker 2:

Let's have that conversation.

Speaker 1:

We have to have that conversation. We started and then like something happened with like one of the kids and I was like, ah, I don't know how I'm ever going to close this loop, but it's still like on my list, so I'm so excited for when it does happen.

Speaker 2:

You get free access, I'll get you. Oh no, no, no, We'll get you set up. We'll get you set up, It'll be good. I just want your opinion there. That's awesome. I love the text rabbit hole there. I think you're probably right there. And I like looking at other platforms, like threads in particular. Like I was just looking at threads analytics. I had one thread. I love that they finally put out views and analytics and they're going down that rabbit bowl. I mean I posted one a week or so ago, maybe two weeks ago. I just screenshotted it two and a half million views on a on a thread on threads and there's something there Like I don't think that they're just faking those numbers, because there's real engagement there and I think people are sleeping on that platform and the format in general.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I 1000% agree. I did notice that when I was active on threads which, even as we're talking about threads, I'm like why am I not, why don't I have that open throughout the day for my little like one miners and my little just things that I type up as I'm thinking throughout the day when I was active on threads was when my Instagram was growing the fastest, and that carried over for three to six solid months once I stopped. So we should all get back on threads. Take on it.

Speaker 2:

I think so too. I've been using it. I've been doing a lot of text-based and it's so funny we're on a short form video podcast but now we're talking about threads everybody. But it really is an interesting, compelling platform, I think, and they're doing a lot over there. Adam the CEO is just. He is so active on threads and doing a lot of videos and a lot of content over there, so I think it has a bright future ahead of it. But sort of back on to short form a little bit. Do you think and be honest here, do you think anybody can be successful with short form video? Does it take a certain personality, or can anybody learn frameworks to be successful?

Speaker 1:

on it, honest with themselves about their strengths, their weaknesses, what magnetizes people to them, what's not working. Anyone can be successful, but you have to be willing to adapt. And here's case in point I worked with a few different coaches and mentors over the years who would say things like Rachel, why don't you just and they said it in different words than this but why don't you just dress more trendy and go be like the mom that's like oh, hey, guys, like I'm so cool and like, yeah, and I'm like I'm not trendy and I'm not very cool and I'm not funny when I try. And so if I tried to do that, I would always feel like I was falling short and people would be like we kind of hate her. And I'd be like, yeah, me too. I hate that person too because I'm not me.

Speaker 1:

But that came up so many times Like why don't you just dress well and like show people what to wear as like a mom, and I'm like like I'm wearing sweats on the bottom right now because it's comfy, and that's my style on the bottom right now, because it's comfy and that's my style. So if I were to try to be like I'm going to start a comedian account and do funny business jokes. No, people don't think I'm funny. When I try, I'm going to sit there and be so frustrated all the time. But when I just try to be myself and be chill and sharing lots of stuff and being a little bit weird, it does pretty well. So I do think anyone can be successful. You just have to be aware of who you actually are and be comfortable with the fact that you might have to adapt what types of content you create versus what you had hoped to be successful with.

Speaker 2:

Now you have some great frameworks as well for people that they can follow, one in particular your short form video domination framework. I'm wondering if you could kind of elaborate on that a little bit. If somebody is maybe just starting or maybe they haven't had a lot of traction with short form, what is that framework that somebody could follow?

Speaker 1:

So this is like the super simplified version of pretty much any type of strategy that I would want to take like a client through, or someone or a friend If a friend came to me for advice. This is so simple. I promise anyone watching listening all of the above. You can implement this right away, and it can be free, which is awesome. Implement this right away and it can be free, which is awesome. So, basically, what you do is you craft 12 subtopics within your major topic.

Speaker 1:

Now, this is important to note. This works best for businesses. It doesn't usually work super well for personalities, because personalities are going to run out of value to give at times, unless you have 12 topics that you're really passionate about. Okay, so you've got your umbrella. It could be dentistry, it could be art, it could be social media marketing, it could be Instagram. Then you're going to create 12 subtopics within that. If my topic were Instagram, I might do hashtags as one, captions as another, reels as another although that could probably be split into like three, because that is complex and loaded Bios and profiles, discoverability threads you could put into there, and so on and so forth till you have your 12 topics. Then there's two different ways I like to do this. One is through a tool called Answer the Public, which I want to shout out Neil Patel for making that way cheaper, which was awesome. It used to be like $97 a month and now it's, I think, I think, under 20 for one person to use stain tool yeah, he's so brilliant, so answer the public.

Speaker 1:

Basically, you can um search for each and every one of those subtopics as keywords and it'll give you the top most googled questions related to those subtopics, and then you download the spreadsheet, compile it. Your goal is to get about 30 questions, maybe 31 for each and every one of those subtopics. That feels like this is relevant. This is something I would want to answer for my audience. To do it 100% for free. You just type in those subtopics into Google and then there's the little section that says people also ask topics into Google, and then there's the little section that says people also ask. And this is so. This is such like a I don't know like a redneck workaround, but like you expand, contract the little arrows over and over and over.

Speaker 1:

I love that because it's free, so I think it's amazing. So then you compile 30 questions from there and sometimes you have to adjust kind of the starting query for either answer the public or inside of Google until you get the right types of questions and then, once you compile them all, you can either keep them in order. So here are my 30 to 31 questions that I'm going to answer, with content for each and every one of these topics in order one per month, or you can shuffle them if you like variety and it's so good and it's so, it's so tactical and it and it.

Speaker 2:

It's sort of like it's one of those things that like, of course, why, why don't I create content around what people are actually searching for online? But then people get stuck in the trend rabbit hole and all this stuff and those videos will likely perform well, but they will reach the right people and you're much more likely to turn them into interested buyers. So you know, from a funnel perspective here as well, virality is great, vanity metric numbers are great. But as deep as you want to go here, what are some of your strategies or funnels to actually turn viewers into buyers?

Speaker 1:

Oh, so, yes, there's a couple of different ones. There are a couple of different ones that consistently work really, really well. The first works on any platform where you can share a link in some place, even if it's over DM manually, even if it's responding to comments manually, that does not work at scale, just keep that in mind. So you got to be able to put the link somewhere link in bio, link in the description, et cetera. So the first one is basically I'm a huge fan, okay, so I've got this short form video, and the short form video is crafted around the question from that framework, right, and at the end I know okay, so if someone is saying, how do I handle when a client says your prices are too high, they're also highly likely to need a pricing guide, right? So I tell them, by the way, by the way, I'm a free pricing guide. It's at the link in my bio and that brings them to the link in my bio for it, and from there they're going to show up at my funnel where there really actually is a free pricing guide. But then after that there's a low ticket offer and so this could just be a low ticket. It could be a low ticket with an order bump. It could also have a one-time offer, but after that we've got emails that nurture and so on, so forth. So this is one that I really really like and I use it pretty regularly.

Speaker 1:

The second one, oh and, by the way, I'm going to share this because this is big. So, if this is the question that people are asking, a lot of times, most of the time when people are asking questions, they're not asking for what they actually need, because maybe they're not aware or maybe they think that this little symptom is what they actually need help with. So when you start with something that answers the question, but then you offer the thing that actually is the solution for free to the bigger problem, oh my gosh it's a game changer.

Speaker 1:

And then the second one. I'm a really big fan of this and there's been some controversy over it the last few days, right so on instagram, on instagram Facebook too.

Speaker 2:

Oh, yes, that automation.

Speaker 1:

You know Trigger with yes. So asking people to comment a keyword in order to get basically something for free, the ManyChat automation kicks in and nurtures them to that same exact funnel the freebie. And Instagram, of course, came out and said well, it was kind of an unhinged process when they were like we're not okay with this, we're gonna not push out videos that say comment. And then they took that video down real.

Speaker 2:

I saw that because, yeah, everybody, including myself, we ran to the comments and we're like we thought you partnered with many chat. We thought many chat allowed. What are you talking about here? What are we supposed to do?

Speaker 1:

It was wild, but I don't sense that that's going anywhere anytime soon because overall it's been a pretty good experience for most people.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean the ManyChat automation itself has been an absolute game changer for me, the last, I think, eight, nine months that I've been using it. It's one of those things like I wish I was using it so much earlier than when I jumped on it. And, by the way, for all the listeners, you got to go on my YouTube channel and watch this, because Rachel just drew this whole funnel out on her clipboard as well. So definitely go over and watch this if you're just listening to this episode as well. But yeah, that was. That was brilliant. Thank you so much for sharing that. That's. That's just Incredibly valuable advice. Now, rachel, you've accomplished pretty much Everything that you've set out to accomplish. We were chatting a little bit about this before that. You've spoken on Every stage, every conference that you've spoken on every stage, every conference that you've set out to. You're a best-selling author. You have millions of followers. You've grown several very successful large businesses. What's next? What's your? Big? Bhag now your big hairy aud Goal? Anything else that you're working on?

Speaker 1:

Well, I think if I told you, you probably wouldn't believe me, and I really mean that we haven't shared it yet.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

Something we'll be sharing in a year and a half.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's a long, long game One. It is so wild what I've been working on in the meantime, because that one it won't be ready for a year and a half and it has nothing to do with software or it's so wild. But um, in the meantime there's one brand in particular that I've been growing that I've been really excited about and it's in a physical product space with the ability to have affiliate. It has the ability to go as big as I want to take it, but it's more of a hobby space and so really excited about it because, like, I want to get my hands on something like tactical, I want to touch textures, I want to manipulate something and feel it like change, versus sometimes when we craft things online it's all just imaginary until it is something and it still feels kind of imaginary. So that's been really fun. I've also been working on this. Law sounds so stinking vague. As I'm saying this, I'm like this is a horrible answer. I'm so sorry.

Speaker 2:

Share what you can share, that's okay.

Speaker 1:

I'll share what I can share. I'm almost finished with my PATH certification to become an equine, an equine specialist yeah, in mental and learning. So there I'm still trying to figure out if I want to do something where there's like masterminds come and stay in some type of like lodge and experience equine assisted learning and it pushes them outside of their comfort zones and experience like different levels of breakthrough. Yeah, so I'm talking to a therapist about partnering up and actually like making it happen, as well as a horse trainer, that's an expert and I do think there's a way to incorporate that into business in a really cool way, because horses are shockingly powerful at changing your entire paradigm of everything you think you know. So those are a few of the things I've been working on that I'm excited about. My husband and I are almost done as well with our first fantasy novel, first Draft.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and what's that about?

Speaker 1:

tell me about it oh, it's about old paradigm versus new paradigm, the old world, magic, which happens to be a more matriarchal society, and the necessity for a shield that ships them into a new paradigm, which happens to be a little more royalty-based and kind of like the history of our world a little bit more so it's very, very interesting. But, yeah, we have 90,000 out of 100,000 words done and it's high fantasy, so full-on magic systems, invented magic systems. I'm working on a language. We have new races created, so not just elves and fairies. There are different things, which is really fun. It's so much fun, it's like so nerdy.

Speaker 2:

That must be such a fun creative process. I love fantasy as well, so that's super fun. I'm definitely going to be. Do you have a timeline on when you're planning on releasing that book?

Speaker 1:

We have to decide if we're going to go traditional or not, and I know if we go traditional it'll take years, but we're ahead of schedule still for finishing the first draft and then we're going to take some time to really refine it I would probably guess two to four years out, which is so weird to say it takes so long to release it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and then. And then. How soon do you think we'll see the movie?

Speaker 1:

Oh, doesn't that usually take like 10, 23?

Speaker 2:

years yeah. Yeah that would be cool that would be awesome right to see your idea come to words, come to film or series on the screen.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, something I'm really excited about with it, like is there's. So there, there's a rumor that in the land there's, um, the pegasus exists, and I really wanted a pegasus at least at some point throughout the series, you know, because so I have a horse that's gigantic, massive horse like. He's so big that everybody always stops, even like professional horse people stop and they're like holy crap, he is huge and he's 2400 pounds. A normal horse is 1200. So just a beast, and I was like riding him is probably not that different from riding a Pegasus and I kind of want to do that.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, that would be so cool. I would make for a great. I don't know the temperament of the horse, but uh, just a great halloween costume. Just put some wings uh-huh that would be, that would be amazing. A crazy photo. That would be a cool photo shoot too.

Speaker 2:

Just you on you on the pegasus this so yeah, so how can people I mean, this was, this was fantastic. I, I I wish we could uh continue talking for hours and hours and hours? Uh, I probably would ask you endless questions. But how can people not only get a hold of you, but do you have any upcoming uh, any offers, or are you doing any trainings or anything that you'd like to promote that people can learn from you?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so there's one that we have that is not like a limited time to get in. So that probably be a really fun one, especially because we're compiling each and every day of this entire, basically the entire program. So it's called 90 Day Business Magic, and I'm going to see how far I can take that hobby business in 90 days. And then at 90 days of sharing daily updates, everything from here's how much I spent to here's how I created the logo, here's how I determined what would work on social. Here's how we monetized.

Speaker 1:

We're not at that point yet, but it's coming, so I'm really excited. Then we're going to decide do we start a new one or do we try to scale this one further? And so it's going to be really fun because the community gets to be really involved in like voting on that type of thing and say, let's, let's take this one further, let's see if we can scale it to 10K months, 20k months, can you start the process of creating that type of software for that particular hobby? So that's a really fun one, and that one you can find on my website at rachelpetersoncom.

Speaker 2:

Perfect, fantastic, rachel, and if somebody wants to get a hold of you, to hire you or learn more, is that website the best way to get a hold of you as well, or any other preferred way.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so that's probably the best way to get in touch with me. I would say, like, message me on different platforms, but sometimes I'll get a surge of traffic, as you know how it goes. You get a surge of traffic and then you lose all your messages and you're like aha, dang it. I don't remember who I was supposed to message back. So rachelpetersoncom is the best place to get in touch with me. There's a few places to contact there.

Speaker 2:

I'll have all those links in the show notes and description of this for everybody. Rachel, any final words of wisdom or encouragement that you'd like to share and put out there?

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. So this is big. If you have just like a gut feeling about something with, like short video, or should I just do this thing? No, it's a little different. It's a little weird. Nobody's doing this or I haven't seen this in my industry. Just go for it and then do it again, and then try it again, and then iterate and do it again, because even right now, in a time where I'm not desiring to create short form content, it has changed my life and I'll probably come back to it in some way at some on some level, probably not that long, far away. So all of it to say like go for it, try it, do it, because you just never know what could happen on the other side of creating short form content and how it can change your life.

Speaker 2:

Such a perfect note to end this episode on Rachel. Thank you so much again for your time, your wisdom, your expertise coming on the show. Ladies and gentlemen, if you learned something, you were inspired by this episode, please leave us a review five-star review. Share this with somebody that can take inspiration from it and until the next time, I appreciate you all. Thank you for listening to another episode of Business Talk If you feel like you're ready to get started on TikTok. I appreciate you all listening platform. I know that's a lot to ask of you, but it really does help the podcast reach more people. Do you have any feedback about the show or a guest you'd like to recommend? Email me at podcast at socialtprocom. Until next time.

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