The Socialize Strategy - Answering FAQs
Welcome to the socialize strategy. Happy Valentine's Day. This is officially the Valentine's Day edition
Helen:2025. I'm so happy you're here, and I wanna take a minute to say how much I love what I do and how much I love you for being with me. And I know you're listening wherever you are right now, car, kitchen, studio, work, and I appreciate you taking me with you for that time.
Helen:And I enjoy spending time with you in this way. It's really funny because I do feel like it's very personal. I don't feel that I'm speaking to a bunch of people right now. I feel like I'm just with you. And today, I'm gonna do frequently asked questions.
Helen:But before I get into the frequently asked questions, which is funny, I wanna share that I just went way off the rails. When I I took out this microphone to record this podcast, and I said, god, I wish I could be a singer. You know what I mean? I just had a moment with the microphone and I thought, oh, I wish if only I had a voice. And I decided because what was going in my head at the time is the Pink Pony Club song.
Helen:So I decided to turn on the music, put my phone up here, and I pretended I was a singer and I belted it out. Thankfully, you don't have to listen to my audio. So I did a lip sync and I did the pink pony club and I don't care. I don't care. I just decided I was feeling it.
Helen:I went off the rails and I made the video. And I went off the rails twice today because I was at the gym this morning in this building downstairs. There's a little gym. And I decided to take on the abracadabra dance which I've been wanting to do but I every time I try and learn it, I get sweaty in five minutes. So I decided perfect.
Helen:I'm at the gym. I'm supposed to get sweaty. And And I didn't have a tripod or anything. I literally set my camera up and I tucked it in between yoga mats and I wrapped I wrapped a yoga mat around it. Don't even ask.
Helen:And I set my camera up and I decided to go bonkers and try this abracadabra dance. So twice today, I went a little bonkers, little crazy. And, I'm not apologizing. I enjoyed every minute of it. I sweat my butt off trying to do abracadabra, and then I just belted out the pink pony club.
Helen:So it's been a day. It's been a day. That's all I can say. Sometimes it's so much fun to go off the rails and just be crazy for no reason. It feels so good.
Helen:It feels so freeing. That's what I think you should do with your content once in a while. Just like say f it while I'm going off the rails and do whatever I wanna do today. I don't care if it's not my normal content or my niche or who's watching. I'm caring about none of the things, and I just go for it.
Helen:I wanna, circle back a little because I was in Tampa and I did post some content. And when I got together with the ladies of course, the ladies in Tampa was so much fun. It was like a lot of screaming, a lot of hugging, just a lot of fun content creating. Then I got connected with Lorraine. And again, like, getting together with a content creator who also doesn't give a shit who's watching and just like set up a tripod and we're dancing and we don't care.
Helen:And it's very freeing. There's a lot to be said for the power of free just free dance and free movement and not being conscious of who's watching or not to care who's watching. It's it's really I highly recommend it. I highly recommend it. I have to talk to Julie more about this.
Helen:Anyway, before I go on into the topic for today, I wanna just mention that next week on February 20, I will be speaking in Darien, Connecticut at the women's women's entrepreneurial luncheon, and it is going to be an hour and a half session. I'm really happy to have more than sixty minutes because it can be more hands on. The the presentation tends to take an hour and then questions, that all fills up usually an hour. So this time, I'm gonna have thirty minutes extra where I can do a hands on lesson. And I'm so excited for this because I only did it one other time at a conference where I had enough time that I could set up a tripod and show them how to do an outfit transition right on the spot.
Helen:And for to show people how easy it is to do it in real time makes it seem makes it not seem because it is, makes it attainable. It is something you can do. It's not that hard. I show it in real time. I make the magic happen in real time.
Helen:And I I make it where, the way I teach it is understandable. So anybody that's in that room is gonna be able to walk away and do do a a video like that. And I think that makes me feel good because I'm giving them the power and I'm empowering them to be creative. And then once you learn it and you unlock that potential, it's really crazy how people can just fly. Because once you once you have you realize that, wow, it's not that hard.
Helen:And I I was overcomplicating it in my mind. So I'm excited about it and I'm I can't wait to talk to them, share, show them, hands on. Everybody's gonna take out their phones and make content. I mean, this is my vision of the conference. I hope it goes I hope it goes like that.
Helen:It's gonna be it as a luncheon. So I don't know if I'm supposed to be eating during that time or what, but I guess we'll soon find out. I'm very excited. I will put the link to that in the show notes. And if you want to attend, it's I think it's like, for non members.
Helen:There's a member's price and then there's a non member's price. I think the non member's price is 50. Maybe that's I think that's right and I think that includes the lunch. So it's worth it. Right?
Helen:We'll have fun. I promise. If I'm there, we're having fun. That is the guarantee. The other thing that I am embarking on in the studio very soon is we're scheduling a session with my casting director.
Helen:His name is Donald Case. Donald Case Casting. You can Google it, look it up. He's got his website and all that. He's been in the commercial TV casting industry for, I don't know, forty plus years.
Helen:I've been working with him forever. And we grew almost like grew up in the business together. And he's very very good at his job. He's got him and Rachel, they're a team and they do such great work in casting for commercials and video content and web content, testimonial work. So he has been more and more recently tasked with finding real When I say real people, I use that term in quotes because we're all real people and actors are real people.
Helen:But in the world of casting, when you cast actors, the other opposite of that is casting real people. Meaning that they're not people who are professional actors but they're let's say, dentists, let's say doctors, moms of real kids with whatever, people with certain issues. So we did one with foot odor. That was funny. But real people.
Helen:So it's really a different lean the way the industry is going. And because of that, he's been doing more and more of that seeking people out on by posting on social media and the places where he reaches out to find those people. And that is, I think, very valuable to the people who are content creators and they're looking to raise up, raise the bar, up their game, get more opportunities for on camera type type of roles. And so I'm going to have a a workshop in the studio with him, and he's gonna answer questions, and he's gonna talk about how he how he does it. And I'm very excited because we've been friends for a really long time.
Helen:So this is your month to get in the studio, and we do have this week this weekend only is the, love discount, the Valentine's discount. So hop on it if you want are interested and you'll have the advantage of that, the other lessons that are provided and all the things and all the things. Let's get into today's topic which is FAQs, frequently asked questions. And I love it because I get these questions all the time. This was very easy to come up with because it's the truth.
Helen:How many times do I get the same questions in my comments again and again or people messaging me? So I thought let's put them all together and Julie tackled it this week. So the first one is so often asked especially more recently. How can I save all my content in case TikTok goes away? Well, TikTok is sticking around whether it's going or it's not, we don't know.
Helen:And I've been thinking a lot about that. What's gonna happen again? We're gonna get to that point and we're gonna have had our head in the sand and we're gonna be like, at the as always at the last week or we're gonna be in a panic trying to figure it all out. So I'm urging you to think about it now while you have some time. Think about how you're gonna save whatever content you might have only on TikTok.
Helen:And the way to do it, unfortunately, there's only two real good ways that I have found so far. The first one is doing it one by one. Torture. One by one. There are apps that can do it.
Helen:There are apps that you can put in your account and it just you put it in overnight and it does it. And one of those, which is the good one and it is the recommended one, is called repurpose.io. And the cool thing about repurpose.io is not only can you download all your content and bulk download and, of course, make sure you have space as it's downloading so that there you don't run out of storage space, but you can also use this platform and it's a paid platform. You can also use it to repost. So as you move forward, if you if TikTok doesn't go away, there is one of our creators who is in the studio uses it to download and she pays for it.
Helen:She puts in her TikTok. As soon as she posts to TikTok, she puts it in and it goes to five other platforms. She doesn't have to do anything. She doesn't have to write captions, post, drafts, nothing. She just boom and it boom.
Helen:Now I haven't used it myself personally thinking about venturing in, but that is one of the apps that I would say if you're gonna do something like that, I highly recommend looking into that one because I know it's reputable. Okeydoke. Next one. We got a good one for you now. And I talked about it last week, but I'm gonna talk a little more about it this week.
Helen:Should I use hashtags? So a few weeks ago apparently, Adam Mosseri, who is the CEO of Instagram, was asked by a reporter and his response to hashtags with the was that they don't work. But I think that people immediately overreact to that statement and make it a blanket like, oh, I'm not gonna just put hashtags anymore. You still need words that are searchable. And if that is still better for you to do that with hashtags, you should do it.
Helen:The other thing I'm gonna add is that brands are still sending caption requirements and they're giving you the exact hashtags to use. So it's not that hashtags are are not working at all. It's that there are other things at play as well. So I think that to react and say, oh, that's it. I'm not gonna do hashtags.
Helen:Adam said no no more hashtags. I mean, there's brands that I'm working with that are giving me legitimate captions that have to be posted with these specific hashtags. So to me that says, well, they must be working to some degree. So if someone who wants to search for us exactly that, they're gonna type in and some people still search using hashtags. The apps still have the option at the top.
Helen:When you type into the search, it gives you the option to search that word users, videos, posts, hashtags, sounds. It gives you categories that you can tap to search. So if hashtags were irrelevant, it would no longer be in the top category. I'm gonna look at my phone right now as I'm saying this because I I want I'm gonna first look at TikTok. So if I'm going into my search Oh, it's loud.
Helen:I'm sorry. So if I go going into my search, lowering the volume, and I'm gonna type in something. Here, candle lovers that just came right up. So, okay. So I go across the top.
Helen:It says, you can search now. Once you type in candle lovers, you can search videos, users, shop, sounds, live, places, hashtags or photos. So if hashtags were irrelevant, it would not exist in that top menu as a choice. That's how I look I look at it. So I still think and also when I search for something, I'm making it up Dior bags.
Helen:We're gonna search for drones. When I do that and I search for drones and I start tapping on videos, in the captions, it all says Dior bags. It all says drone. It's in those captions with the hashtag. So I'm not gonna say don't do it.
Helen:I'm gonna say don't over focus on it. Maybe, yes, less is more. So focus on two to five key ones instead of 20 like it used to be. 10 do 10 to 20 hashtags. It's not as important now, but it's not that you abandon it completely.
Helen:Okay? Don't be that person that just says, I'm gonna you know, that's almost like puppeting. They said to not to do that, so I'm not gonna do that. They said to do that, I'm gonna do that. It's just it'll make you'll be like a crazy person.
Helen:Ping pong ping pong. Especially with all of the experts and gurus telling you, do this, don't do this, do this, don't do this. If you If I reacted every time an expert said to do or not do something, I don't know. I think I'd be tired. And I'm never tired, but that would kill me.
Helen:Alright. So that's that's that one. Now let's talk about how can I get something to appear in my video search bar on the top? This is very challenging and I've talked about this briefly in my meetings when I'm with the studio because I find if that the videos because I check my own content and I use my own content as my guinea pig. And so one time, and I use this example prior, one time I put I had done a alpha transition and I put in this was a fun magic trick.
Helen:And then up in the top search, and it was the first line in my lower caption, fun magic trick. Right? Duh. In the top search bar, what does it show? Magician.
Helen:I'm not a magician. I'm not a magician. So it categorized my video wrong because the first thing I put in the caption, I was being clever. I was being funny and it took it literally. So you have to think about those words and if the chance that it could take it literally and what is that gonna do for your search.
Helen:So oh my goodness. You know? And none of this is an exact science because sometimes it takes the words you put on screen, sometimes it takes the first word in your lower caption, and sometimes it takes something in your audio. And, you know, also, it's gonna take something in your auto captions, which is also your audio. So there's unfortunately, there's not an exact science.
Helen:So your best bet is to pound that word down like down like crazy when you know you want that word to be in the search bar. So for me, if it's tutorial I don't know if you can hear those sirens, but it's like they're coming right in the front door here. Every time I record the sirens all the time, I can't avoid it. Hopefully, this microphone hides it a bit. But so as I was saying, if you wanted the word tutorial to make sure you show up, you wanna make sure you say that word, you text that word at the top, and you put that word in the caption at the lower caption.
Helen:Whatever the word is, you wanna use it multiple places so that the platform will attach it. So that is my my advice. And then the things I said before, which is, you know, do make sure you think about what your videos are about. Make sure you think about how you want your video to be categorized. And then those words are what you're going to just, I don't know, drive home with your captions and your text.
Helen:K. Next one is a, one I love. I get it. I think I get it multiple times a day every day. How can I get more views on my content?
Helen:Listen. If I could crack the code on this algorithm, I'd be very rich. But after all the time on social media, it it seems to me that this is almost like it's the I wanna say it's the secret sauce because it's not even a secret. I say it all the time. It's relentlessness.
Helen:It's not being so worried about it that it stops you from enjoying and continuing. The relentless gene that I have, I have to say, I have the relentless gene. I'm like poke, poke, poke. Like I will post, post, post. That one didn't do good.
Helen:Tomorrow I post another one. That one didn't do. Tomorrow I post another. I don't put I don't look back a lot. I don't do a lot of like, what yesterday?
Helen:Today's a new day. We post again. So weirdly because I'm that kind of person, has it been an advantage to me? Because I don't get bogged down. I don't get upset.
Helen:I don't even look back and I think most people think that your other viewers are looking at your views. You're the only one looking at your views. Trust me on that one. You. Only you.
Helen:When I look at someone's video, I don't tap on it and scroll and see how many views they have on all their videos. I know some people do that. I personally just don't take the time to do that. Do do you care who's looking at your views? No.
Helen:No. You care about your views. Don't worry about them. Like, don't. Just, like, move on.
Helen:Think about your own what gives you joy to keep going forward. That is that is it. It's just now if we're gonna get into the nuts and bolts of analytics and how to actually get more views by like a strategy, which I hate to think about, but I have to think about it because it's my job to think about it. The things that do give you more views are when people view your video and share it. So it's not not I always, of course, view the video is an obvious thing, but sharing and sending it to someone are the higher metrics than commenting, likes, and just watching.
Helen:Okay? Sharing, sending, saving. Sharing, sending, saving. Is that three this sharing and sending are kind of the same. But if you share it with someone, if you send it directly to a person or you send it directly, copy the link and post it somewhere, And then what was the last one?
Helen:Sharing, sending, and saving. I almost forgot the last one. Because if you're saving it to your phone, that's telling the algorithm that it's important to you. So those are the higher metrics. And then comments, it's nice when people argue in the comments because it boosts it, but it's the first thing that I can tell you from absolute, I wanna say pen and paper experience, but the numbers.
Helen:I've seen a video of mine with a hundred comments, like a hundred comments in the first five minutes, and it doesn't even get to a thousand views. Yet, I will post a video that has a hundred saves and maybe three comments that will have 10,000 views. I'm telling you. It is it's such a fact that I I can't emphasize it enough how much the sharing and the saving rates you higher in terms of analytics because I've seen it. I've looked at the numbers.
Helen:I've screenshotted things. I've sent them to Julie. I'm like, Julie, look at this. This video has a hundred comments and it's not even at a thousand views. How is that even possible?
Helen:And then I get another video. It's got a hundred people saved it or you get, you know, the little forwarding icon and it shows a hundred and maybe there's 30 comments and that one has, like, 10,000. It is crazy, but it is factual. So it's like getting getting people on board to, like, something that's relatable or a funny story that happened to you that you know they'll relate to and then they send it to somebody else. That's the high that's the secret sauce.
Helen:Alright? That's it. Now the last thing I'm gonna say which is also the million dollar question again is how can I get more followers? Okay. So, hi, Nicola, if you're listening.
Helen:I'm gonna use you as an example because she just recently said to me, and then I said, will you make me a video, which she did. And, hopefully, if I can get it posted today, I'll include it in the newsletter in the notes. But she made me a video because she said, this is what happened to me. For the past couple of months, I have been not seeing any follower count go up. It's been discouraging.
Helen:I've even seen the numbers go down. And then now that she joined the studio and she's accountable, so every week she's doing the challenge, She's more inspired to post. She's doing it oh, she learned how to do this transition, so she did a couple of them and she posted. That has finally got her follower count going up. So I'm not saying, oh, join the studio.
Helen:Magic things are gonna happen and this your follower count is is gonna go up. Although, I'm gonna say it probably will because we're teamwork. We're moving together. Everybody's supporting each other's content. We're we're working on the things every week.
Helen:We're all sharing the things every week. You're posting more consistently because now you're accountable. And then it's like she wants to do the challenge. I even said, don't worry. You don't have to do the challenge every week.
Helen:Right, Nicola? You don't have to do it every week. If it doesn't fit in your content, you can skip the challenge this week. She's like, no. No.
Helen:No. I like it. It keeps me accountable. I wanna do the challenge. And because of that, that consistently consistency and that those doing those trending type of things has made her follower count go up.
Helen:Okay? So even though, you you think the views aren't like they were in 2020. I'm not getting followers like when in 2020 and 2021. Gosh, it was a different time. We had a lot of times on our hands.
Helen:We were home. We spent all day scrolling. Scrolling was our escape. Now we have to do life to escape from scrolling because scrolling can be like doom scrolling. So we have this whole thing flipped where people are spending less time on the apps because it's not making them feel as good.
Helen:And so therefore, there's not as many people consuming the content in the same ways or wanting to follow to make sure that they see people. So it it could be really depressing and really discouraging. So that's why it's like having these blinders on and finding finding your joy and what's keeping you doing it is just the most important thing. Otherwise, you'll be discouraged. You know?
Helen:It's a long game. It really is. I sometimes think about, wow. If TikTok goes away, again, I'm gonna have to deal with, like, do I wanna try and get people to YouTube? YouTube doesn't have the same community sense, like in the comment section, the way the way TikTok is like your home in your hands in a way.
Helen:It's like your community in your hands. YouTube doesn't it doesn't give me that. I don't it's I don't see it. I don't think and for me at this point, Instagram is a close second and I think it does do it. I don't lean in it lean into it enough, and I think of it more as like my friends and family place.
Helen:I don't think of it as much as my larger community place. And I know that if TikTok goes away, I probably will lean in more into that and cultivate more of a community vibe there because it is it is closer. The comments and the community in the comments feels very similar. So I think the whole thing is just you you wanna find your tribe. You wanna try and attract the audience that you want to see your content.
Helen:That's why it's not a good idea to do these mass following things or the follow for follow. Some woman came into my content, mass following. I look at her account. She's got 7,000 followers, and she's following 7,000 people. So I just said I commented back because sometimes I have to.
Helen:I said, this is a terrible strategy. Good luck. Because I'm like, why are you doing that? If you you're gonna max out. You're only gonna be able to follow 10,000 people back, then you're gonna have maxed out of all the people you can follow.
Helen:You're gonna have to unfollow in order to follow more. You're not gonna be able to keep up with that. And also the people that you followed, you probably don't even wanna see their content. So you've spent all this time following accounts that probably aren't even interesting to you and you've curated your feed into a shit show to be honest. I'm sorry for the language, but that's what's gonna happen.
Helen:And then you're just gonna be annoyed because you can't follow more people. So then you have to spend all this time unfollowing. Now you promised these people you're gonna follow back and now you can't. Listen. I'm sorry to go on a tirade about that, but I just so when I see it and I see people who start these things, it just burns me up.
Helen:Okay. That's it. I'm wrapping it up for today. I hope that you enjoyed being with me. And if you're interested in trying out the studio, you can try it out with a discount code.
Helen:Actually, when you click on the link, the code is baked in. So no mistakes. You won't have any problem if you forget to type it in. It's already typed in for you. So click on the link and see if you maybe are interested in trying it out for a month.
Helen:And if so, I will meet you next week at the next Zoom meeting. Have a good weekend.
