WEBVTT - My business has started making money, what now?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome back. This is a bonus episode of Big Business.

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<v Speaker 1>And you know what, Xander, we need to come up

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<v Speaker 1>with a little name for these kinds of episodes where

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<v Speaker 1>people have sent ins like a DM to us and

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<v Speaker 1>then we're answering, you know, like the Advice series or whatever. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>the Business the BBA.

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<v Speaker 2>What's that Big Business Advice?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, the BBA Advisory Board with Brittany. And but it's

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<v Speaker 1>not just for business. You know, if you're an employee

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<v Speaker 1>or if you're wanting to start a business, you can

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<v Speaker 1>send in your questions as well.

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<v Speaker 2>If you've got a nasty coworker, send me.

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<v Speaker 1>Tell er, if you've got a workplace drama.

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<v Speaker 2>Was like, ask the.

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<v Speaker 1>Way, this is the BBA.

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<v Speaker 2>We want to give you the advice, but also know.

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<v Speaker 1>That the details. Okay, so we've got another message today, Xander.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, does say so? It says, Hey, britt I'm a

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<v Speaker 2>big fan of the podcast, thank you, and was wondering

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<v Speaker 2>if you could offer advice. I am an emerging designer

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<v Speaker 2>with my own business that is completely so funded. I

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<v Speaker 2>have grown from using any spare income from my normal job,

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<v Speaker 2>pouring that into the business, and now having the sales

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<v Speaker 2>from my business fund the business itself. My question is

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<v Speaker 2>where the heck do I go from here? How do

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<v Speaker 2>I keep scaling the business forward? Much loved you always.

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<v Speaker 2>I really hope I'm submitting my question in the right place.

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<v Speaker 1>You have, yes, And by the way, send your questions

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<v Speaker 1>to our Big Business podcast Instagram account, because that's where

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<v Speaker 1>we see all of your dms and we collect them

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<v Speaker 1>and screenshop them and we use them for episodes. This

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<v Speaker 1>is a really kind of hard question to answer, frag you.

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<v Speaker 1>This is hard for me to specifically answer without knowing

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<v Speaker 1>the details of what kind of business that you have.

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<v Speaker 2>In the context of fate, for example, you wouldn't have

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<v Speaker 2>been making a ton of the money in the beginning

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<v Speaker 2>that would completely self fund the business. Like I know

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<v Speaker 2>you poured like fifty grand into it when you started,

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<v Speaker 2>and that all came from your pocket.

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<v Speaker 1>Ye.

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<v Speaker 2>Now she's in the spot where she can actually pour

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<v Speaker 2>all the money she's earning from the business to.

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<v Speaker 1>Fack into the business into it.

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<v Speaker 2>So, like, what are some steps you would have taken?

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<v Speaker 1>My step from there? This is me assuming that she

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<v Speaker 1>is still the only one working in the business, because

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<v Speaker 1>she hasn't mentioned if there's staff or anything. I would

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<v Speaker 1>say the next step there for your business is to

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<v Speaker 1>keep ramping it up, whether that is hiring someone. And again,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know if you have the kind of business

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<v Speaker 1>where you can just have someone come in and help,

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<v Speaker 1>because I'll just use a reference of like someone who

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<v Speaker 1>does like nails. You can't just have someone come in

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<v Speaker 1>and help to do all the day to day tasks

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<v Speaker 1>because you have to train someone a lot and they

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<v Speaker 1>had to be like qualified or whatever. But like with me,

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<v Speaker 1>for Fate, it was hiring that first person to take

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<v Speaker 1>some of the tasks off me so that they could

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<v Speaker 1>keep the day to day stuff going, like packing the orders,

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<v Speaker 1>processing returns, you know, writing stuff on our website in

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<v Speaker 1>the product descriptions, so that I could then focus on

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<v Speaker 1>doing bigger picture things, which was going to in turn

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<v Speaker 1>make the company more money. I could then focus more

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<v Speaker 1>on the marketing. You know. My next suggestion would be,

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<v Speaker 1>whatever you are going to do, take it slow and

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<v Speaker 1>don't make any huge jumps because you're feeling confident in

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<v Speaker 1>this moment. It's great to see momentum in a business,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's amazing that you know, you were funding it

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<v Speaker 1>from your outside job and now the business is kind

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<v Speaker 1>of funding itself, which is a great position to be in.

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<v Speaker 1>Be very careful with every step you take from here.

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<v Speaker 1>And let's say, for example, the next step for you

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<v Speaker 1>isn't hiring someone because they can't do what you do

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<v Speaker 1>kind of thing. If you need to still be really

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<v Speaker 1>hands on with your designs, it would be I guess

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<v Speaker 1>building your client tell And again this might be hiring

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<v Speaker 1>someone that is going to build the client tele with

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<v Speaker 1>and for you, whether that's through organic social media, Like

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not sure if you're looking for more clients, I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know exactly how your business works, but it might

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<v Speaker 1>be worth you investing some money into paid marketing if

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<v Speaker 1>that's going to work for your business type, whether that's

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<v Speaker 1>like Facebook Ads or Google. You might want to take

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<v Speaker 1>your social media to the next level. Again, I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know what your business is or if it's suited to

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<v Speaker 1>social media, but in saying that, every single business can

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<v Speaker 1>benefit from being on social media. If you're wanting more

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<v Speaker 1>eyes on your business, maybe this is the time where

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<v Speaker 1>you invest more time of your own into your social media.

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<v Speaker 1>Or maybe you can have that first hire come in

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<v Speaker 1>and they're going to work as a social media assistant.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe they've got a really good eye for content creation,

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<v Speaker 1>you've got the eyes for the designs. Both of you

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<v Speaker 1>could come together and work together to bring eyes onto

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<v Speaker 1>your brand through posting organically on Instagram and TikTok. I

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<v Speaker 1>think that would be a great spot if you're wanting

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<v Speaker 1>to grow and have more eyes on your business and

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<v Speaker 1>maybe get new clients. And another point would be in

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<v Speaker 1>your position. Again, it's really hard for me to answer

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<v Speaker 1>without knowing exactly what your business is. I wouldn't suggest

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<v Speaker 1>hiring any external companies. That's a big tip for all

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<v Speaker 1>of you out there, if you're in those early days,

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<v Speaker 1>don't go and sign up to like an agency that's

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<v Speaker 1>going to charge you eight thousand dollars a month to

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<v Speaker 1>give you the best PR and marketing ever or like ads,

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<v Speaker 1>because I've been there, done that. A lot of business

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<v Speaker 1>owners have been absolutely burnt by that. But they're like

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<v Speaker 1>my main two things, Like, if you're wanting to scale

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<v Speaker 1>from where you are, you're obviously wanting to get more

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<v Speaker 1>customers or clients. However, your business is set up and

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<v Speaker 1>it's it's thinking about whether it's hiring and all rounder

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<v Speaker 1>to come and help you with the designs if that work.

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<v Speaker 1>But I know that's so specific or hiring someone to

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<v Speaker 1>come in that's going to help with your marketing to

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<v Speaker 1>build your business bigger across paid media and organic socials.

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<v Speaker 1>You might be able to explore working with content creators

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<v Speaker 1>and influencers. That's another great way to get exposure. Again,

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<v Speaker 1>you kind of got like a lot of options, but

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<v Speaker 1>it's really hard for me to answer. I know I

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<v Speaker 1>keep saying this without knowing the full context of your business.

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<v Speaker 1>Can we like tap on her profile and see what

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<v Speaker 1>it is?

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, it is eoshop spelled eeyo dot shop on Instagram.

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<v Speaker 1>So show me the Instagram page for one second. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>I've got this all wrong. I thought you were like

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<v Speaker 1>a freelance designer, but now that we've looked at your website,

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<v Speaker 1>you're a clothing brand. I thought she was like a

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<v Speaker 1>freelance graphic designer or something. So now I can answer

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<v Speaker 1>this exactly from my own experience. Hire that first employee

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<v Speaker 1>that's going to be the one packing your orders, that's

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<v Speaker 1>going to be doing your emails, going to be doing

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<v Speaker 1>your returns, so you yourself can focus more on the pieces

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<v Speaker 1>that you're coming out with and your marketing. Another great

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<v Speaker 1>hire for you will be that social media person. Let

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<v Speaker 1>me go look just quickly at your TikTok and your Instagram.

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<v Speaker 1>She's already doing great. Oh and she's making it herself

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<v Speaker 1>as well, sewing it by hand. I can see you're

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<v Speaker 1>sewing things at home. So again that's a hard thing

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<v Speaker 1>to hire someone to come and help when she's got

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<v Speaker 1>the art of the craft with her hands. My advice

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<v Speaker 1>would be all of the above that I've said, keep

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<v Speaker 1>going with your organic marketing on Instagram and TikTok, which

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<v Speaker 1>you're already doing. From what I can see like you're doing,

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<v Speaker 1>making and packing orders on TikTok, I feel like you've

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<v Speaker 1>already got the right idea. The next step for you

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<v Speaker 1>once you feel like you're nailing your organic social content,

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<v Speaker 1>which you're already doing, I would just say do it

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<v Speaker 1>more and more and more. Then you need to be

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<v Speaker 1>looking into those paid ads taking it to the next level,

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<v Speaker 1>learning how to do meta ads if you don't already know.

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<v Speaker 1>But make sure your organic social media is super super

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<v Speaker 1>strong before you start investing in paid ads. The thing

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<v Speaker 1>with like running Facebook ads is what a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>people get wrong, I believe is just say you launch

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<v Speaker 1>a brand and straight away you go to Facebook and

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<v Speaker 1>meta and you set up ads and you start spending

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<v Speaker 1>money in hopes to get customers. People don't realize how

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<v Speaker 1>much organic content plays a part in that, and like

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<v Speaker 1>your brand awareness in general. And when I do my ads, sorry,

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<v Speaker 1>when I do my videos on my reels and stuff

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<v Speaker 1>about my ads, people see how well our fate ads

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<v Speaker 1>perform and think, how, like, how are you getting these results?

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<v Speaker 1>It's because we have such strong social media presence and

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<v Speaker 1>brand awareness. So for you, there's so many things that

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<v Speaker 1>you could do, but I would focus on fostering a

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<v Speaker 1>community even more on your organic socials. Build a strong

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<v Speaker 1>community around your brand. Keep going with those behind the

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<v Speaker 1>scenes videos. You're on the sewing machine at home, you

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<v Speaker 1>doing all the things people love seeing that. They love

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<v Speaker 1>seeing the behind the scenes, So I would say spend

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<v Speaker 1>even more time on doing that, even if it's hiring

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<v Speaker 1>that social media person that's going to come in and

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<v Speaker 1>film all of that for you. Because you're the one

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<v Speaker 1>that's doing the work. You're using your hands to make

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<v Speaker 1>your tops. I would say do more of that and

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<v Speaker 1>have someone else even edit and put all the videos together,

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<v Speaker 1>because I know how time consuming it is.

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<v Speaker 2>The close a sleigh, Yeah, I'm just looking out. You

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<v Speaker 2>might actually get they because I sometimes like buy women's

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<v Speaker 2>clothes and wear them. It's like yummy, Like everything is

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<v Speaker 2>yummy on here, and I've seen I can see you

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<v Speaker 2>on here. You in some of your like marketing and

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<v Speaker 2>stuff and photoshoots. You've actually got food with the clothes,

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<v Speaker 2>which is so the thing right now. Actually, we're going

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<v Speaker 2>to get someone on the pod brit and have a

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<v Speaker 2>chat about the way food is used in marketing at

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<v Speaker 2>the moment.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, love that, But yeah, I would say keep doing

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<v Speaker 1>what you're doing, keep hosting that organic content on your

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<v Speaker 1>Instagram and TikTok, especially TikTok the behind the scenes taking

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<v Speaker 1>people on the journey. And if it's getting too much

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<v Speaker 1>for you, because I know how hard it would be

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<v Speaker 1>to be sowing all of your clothes and packing all

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<v Speaker 1>the orders and then making all the content, have like

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<v Speaker 1>a freelance social media person, even if you're not ready

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<v Speaker 1>to hire someone else, Hire a freelancer to come in

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<v Speaker 1>once every two weeks and just bulk film a heap

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<v Speaker 1>of videos with you, just anything that's going to take

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<v Speaker 1>that time off you so you can focus on what

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<v Speaker 1>you actually need to do. That would be my advice,

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<v Speaker 1>but I think it's amazing that you are at where

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<v Speaker 1>you're at in your journey right now. You've started this

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<v Speaker 1>business whilst working another job. You've funded it to the

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<v Speaker 1>point where it is now the business is paying for itself,

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<v Speaker 1>which is amazing. And I think slow and steady wins

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<v Speaker 1>the race, but you're doing bloody awesome and just keep

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<v Speaker 1>going and don't forget to ask for help when you

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<v Speaker 1>need it. That's a really important one as well.