The Socialize Strategy - Small Biz Success with MyConquering
Welcome to the socialized strategy. Today, we welcome Tammy Nelson, cofounder of my conquering. She and her son designed inspiring fidget jewelry to help you feel empowered, focused, and calm. I'm showing it right now on the screen. She, their success on social media is, I don't think, an accident.
Helen:And I think she's gonna tell us how it happened and share all of her insights to creating a small business and having it be successful right here with us live. Thank you so much, Tammy, for agreeing to the workshop and podcast. I appreciate you so much.
Tammy:Amazing.
Helen:But it's so much fun to meet. Yeah. So much fun to meet you in person. I'm excited that you're here. So you know that our mission here on the podcast is to share social media insights, strategies.
Helen:But today, we're gonna start a little further back before the social media piece because I think a lot of people have ideas out there for businesses, but they don't even know where to start to bring it to life. So in this case, we're gonna start way at the beginning. And if you would not mind if we could take a few minutes and just tap into the very beginning, you're working full time, you had an idea or somehow an idea was formulated, and what steps you took to turn it into a product and a brand. And I will let you take it from the beginning and get share a little bit, and I'll interrupt you with some questions.
Tammy:Awesome. Yeah. I would love to talk about it. It's fun to reminisce. We're at about the 4 and a half year mark of our brand, but it started actually in 2018.
Tammy:I first had the idea to create interchangeable jewelry. So the first thought about it was not so much for the fidgeting aspect, although that was still important. Our first real goal of the brand was to create something that would help people, I guess, really live with intention and kind of take at least that, you know, we're very busy. Right? And so to take that small pause at the beginning of each day and think about their day ahead and what might most help empower them to conquer the day, which is, of course, where our name came from, conquering.
Tammy:That came a little later than the product idea, but that was really the impetus of it is how could we help someone, you know, not just, like, put on the same old ring and necklace that they wear every day, but to actually maybe stop and think, what what does my day had look like? And so our idea at first was to create a ring that had an interchangeable piece and that piece had a hidden message on it. And that hidden message would be revealed when you took the ring off and gave it a spin. So, there's like part of the letters on one side of a disc and then the other parts of the letters on the other side of the disc so your eye when would kind of complete the word when you spin it and you're looking at it. So, that was the original idea.
Tammy:So we I kinda had the idea, and then I talked to my son who at that time, I guess, would have been only, gosh, 19, maybe.
Helen:Probably still in college, or was he out of college? He was just
Tammy:in college. Like, just or a year in or something like that. And I had the idea, but I don't really have, like, an engineering kind of mind. And
Helen:so I have to raise my hand. How do you have an idea that part of a word's gonna be there, and then you're gonna spin it to complete it? That's interesting because I'm looking at what I have now, for example, of people that are watching. I have, like, 2 jewel pieces here. I didn't get the words once.
Helen:I got the jewel the more jewelry, which I'm sure evolved. But what made you think, oh, if I have part of a word, did you see something in art, in nature? How did that come up?
Tammy:Yes. There are other, there's actually even other jewelry that has kind of an idea like that that dates back to really, many, many, many years, decades ago. And, also, I don't know if you've ever seen, like, the, like, maybe it's like a book that you flip through a book like Oh, yeah. And then, like, it looks like it animates as you, like, push through the book. Well, it's that kind of an idea that came to me.
Tammy:And, like I said, there there are other jewelry pieces, nothing really very prevalent on the market now. But from a long time ago, I had a, a necklace that, my mom had that had a little bit of this idea. It said I love you. And, but it wasn't interchangeable. It, that and that's why the interchangeability was such a key point because I thought, well, it's great that it says I love you, but, it just says I love you all the time.
Tammy:And what I wanted was something where people could say maybe they had a day where they needed to be really creative. So maybe they had one that would say create when you spun it, or maybe they really had a lot of trouble focusing. And so one could say focus or one could say you got this. Maybe you had a really, challenging presentation you had to give, And they that day said, okay. I got this.
Tammy:I can do this. And so they pick the you got this, element to put in their ring that day. So that's really, that was really the impetus. And as you said, we have now expanded in so many ways. We have, you know, 400 elements, I think, and so many of them are crystals.
Tammy:But, again, still the same idea. Some people choose a crystal. Like today, I chose this particular crystal just because it matches my outfit. But sometimes I'll pick one because it's known for like, for example, Dalmatian Jasper is a crystal that's known for joy and playfulness and family. And sometimes I will purposely pick that on the weekend to remind myself, like, stop working and Discuss with the weekend.
Tammy:Do something with your kids. I know. And so it is just about that, like, mindful living and really, just focusing on your day, living with intention. So that's really kind of how the idea started.
Helen:Gosh. It's a it's a great story because I had no idea that it was that's how it start. Because now I see where you are now and it's what's on your website site now, and it's interesting to see the evolution. So ideas can always change. It doesn't have to be you have this idea now.
Helen:It's and I love to use the word fluid because things can change if you can go with the flow and see where it's supposed to lead you. Oh, I love it.
Tammy:Okay. That definitely happened a lot while we were prototyping. So kind of getting back to, what you had asked about, like, where did we begin and sort of, like, how did my son, kind of join the cause? So, I really I had this idea, but I didn't actually know how to, like, make 2 pieces connect in a way that they could be changed out every day, but also stay securely in place when you didn't want it to fall out.
Helen:Right.
Tammy:And, he had just a whole bunch of ideas about how it might happen. And so we just, together, kinda started noodling and, like, sketching things out. And, fun fact, our first word that we made on our first prototype was the word, wow, which also, if it's the other way, it says mom. So he picked that. That was his first sketch.
Tammy:He's like, I'm gonna pick this one because you can read it as wow or mom.
Helen:Oh, I love that. That's so, that's that's really meaningful, especially that's it's coming from your son. I love that. Definitely. And just to let you know, occasionally, if I raise my hand, it's just because I don't wanna talk over you, but I might wanna interject something.
Helen:It just helps with the audio. So I'm just letting you know that and everyone else in the chat. That's why I'm raising my hand, not because I'm waiting for my turn.
Tammy:Perfect. Okay.
Helen:You know?
Tammy:Got it.
Helen:Okay. Yeah. Julie and I have a good system when we podcast now. We we're like so that the other person knows to pause for a second.
Tammy:I love
Helen:it. This is amazing. Alright. So I love that. What now I wanna know is just does your son have an engineering background?
Helen:Or why why is is he just good at figuring things
Tammy:out? Yes. He has always he's always been interested, like, in how things work. Like, as a little boy and as he grew up, he always would, like, take things apart, and he just would see things in, like, a different light, I guess, than than I would see them. I'm a very visual person, but I don't really have, like, the same curiosity and understanding that he does about, like, how something actually works.
Tammy:So, yeah, he'd never studied engineering, but just really always kinda had an aptitude for understanding that kind of thing. And so he kinda just was helping me out on the side while he was in college and, really helping me with prototypes. We went through so many prototypes.
Helen:So did you make them?
Tammy:So yeah. So fun story. We actually, we had he had created a sketch of our design, which ultimately, one of our first sketches, and our first prototype made out of literally a piece of paper actually became very close to the final, production design. But we went through from that first prototype until we actually started production. We went through about, I don't know, 30, 40 other designs and ultimately ended back almost where we started, but with a slight, adjustment that ultimately made it work.
Tammy:But our very first prototype, like I said, was made out of paper, and then we, hired a a student actually from the University of Cincinnati to take that idea and that design that my son had done and turn it into a CAD rendering of it. Oh. And then we took it to the Cincinnati Public Library. They have, a makerspace, which is just kind of like an open space. I think a lot of libraries have them where you can, you know, make things and they have digital printers.
Tammy:And, we went on a little flash drive. I took this CAD design, and I went. And for 20¢, they printed out for me a plastic prototype. And that was the first prototype we got that was, like, actually, you could put it on your finger. It was, like, in real size.
Tammy:It didn't actually spin. It didn't click, and you couldn't, like, spin it fast enough. You know, you couldn't spin it to read the word, but it gave us at least something we could hold in our hand and, like, give the idea. And then, of course, that propelled us, further. And eventually, we started prototyping through a company called, shapeways.com.
Tammy:They do a lot of, 3 d printing, and we were able to then prototype in metal. So that got us closer to the real design before we actually went into manufacturing.
Helen:Okay. So the plastic one worked pretty it was a plastic. Right? The first one. So that one worked pretty that one worked pretty well for you to see that it was you were onto something.
Helen:You were feeling it? Yes. Yes.
Tammy:It gave us at least enough confidence to take it further, and then we went into metal prototyping. And then, ultimately, then we had the hard part of, like, how do you find a manufacturer?
Helen:Right. Because that's where you start spending money. I mean, the thing is right up until now, it's the 2 of you conceptualizing. It's like whatever money it was for the library machine. Yes.
Helen:But then then it yeah. Then it gets intense. So now I need to know in this what was it in this order? So did you then did you first think, okay. Let's make branding.
Helen:Let's name it website blah blah blah before you did production, or did you do everything simultaneously? Because there's a lot that has to happen parallel almost. Right?
Tammy:Yes. Yes. We did a lot in parallel. I would say there was 2 big pieces happening in parallel, and one was just what you said, the, naming, logo, branding, design, website, all of that we were starting to work on once we got pretty comfortable with the prototype. But, of course, like everything, it takes longer than you think.
Tammy:So we did get to a point where we were, like, ready on the marketing branding side, and we still didn't have a really good solid prototype. And so it they weren't exactly, perfectly aligned from a timing perspective, but we did do both simultaneously so that once we did have a working prototype, we're, like, ready to go to market.
Helen:Amazing. Now that stuff that you said, branding and website and all that, that was all done by you and your son? Or at this point, were you bringing in people in terms of designing logos and things like that?
Tammy:Yeah. So, so my background, I I've worked in marketing my whole life. So, fortunately, that is one area that we felt really confident in. And so I was able to do a lot by myself on the branding side. But we did we did hire, just a freelancer that did help with, some of the fine tuning and, like, the logo development.
Helen:And then Was it always called monk my conquering from the beginning once you landed on that name? Okay. So it hasn't changed. That hasn't I love it.
Tammy:Yes. We explored quite a few different ones, but it we ultimately really loved conquering because,
Helen:if any of
Tammy:you look at our logo, the c and the o, were actually designed in a way that it actually mimics the look of our flagship product, which is our fidget ring, because the c, is the ring band, which is very much like a u shape or, in this case, a c shape. And then there is an element that clicks into that ring band, that at least started as a circle, like an o. So, our logo just, like, perfectly kind of came out of our of our design. And so we were very happy that we were able to secure that trademark, because I think I would have been devastated after we Right. We kinda, like, had that moment where we're like, oh my gosh.
Tammy:This is perfect. Right.
Helen:And I never even realized that about the logo. So now I can't wait to look back at it and really fully process that. I love it. So at this point, you also had to hire a trademark, you know, pay for the trademark because I know that that's not cheap either, by the way. I I know that from from doing it on other things and work with my job.
Helen:So it's not. It's not cheap. So now at this point, you're committed, and you've you know that you're gonna make some kind of a personal investment. Luckily, you were working full time still, and you're still working full time. Is that right?
Tammy:I am. I am still I have a traditional full time job as well as running this company. Fortunately, I have a lot of help in running the companies. So it it's good, but it does it did give me and continues to give me the freedom Right. Right, to, you know, really take risks and go after it.
Tammy:Right? If this was, you know, putting
Helen:Oh, yes.
Tammy:Through my head and feeding my family, you know, I might have to play it a little more cautious. And, it's that is the benefit of of still.
Helen:It's a benefit, and it's also, like, for your own soul that you know that you have you know, you're doing this, but you almost it's almost like you have your backup plan still in place. You're not you're not, like, throwing it all to the wind and, you know, on a wing and a prayer. There's something to be said for that, I would think.
Tammy:For sure.
Helen:Alright. So that so that's happening. Branding, website, blah blah blah. But are you planning also at this point that you're going to sell on a website? Did you have plans for how you were gonna do fulfillment?
Helen:And talk to me about that because I really know nothing about it. When you're when you hire a company to design, are they also then play fulfilling the orders? Were you doing that out of your house? I see that different ways people, you know, proceed.
Tammy:Yes. So, we did I would say we did always plan to be an online business. Yes. I would say that but but with dreams and hopes to make it into retail at some point as well, but it was definitely started with a focus on online. And, we were definitely doing it out of our house for a long time.
Tammy:We did it out of our house. In fact, funny story. We, and I know we're kinda jumping ahead, which is fine. But so we'll just jump to we launched the brand in 2020, January of 2020, right before the pandemic. So at first, it felt like the worst possible timing, and it kind of was, like, our first few months.
Tammy:I mean, the world was focused on many other more important things than buying jewelry. But it ended up, honestly, being truly, I think, our saving grace because so many people once the shock of, you know, COVID in March, April, when people kind of then all of a sudden were in their homes and probably really anxious and could use an anxiety ring. Yeah. You know, and they're online, and TikTok was taking off, and we weren't on there yet. But, you know, we just had a captive audience.
Tammy:Everyone was sort of in a different telling you.
Helen:Yes. And that's that was key for a lot of people who got on social especially on TikTok at that time. Yes. Because because we because I was there right on with you on March 2020. We were ahead of the curve of people, especially older people embracing it.
Helen:I said we suddenly had the time to to bother. I don't think if there was a pandemic, I would be here right now because I'm certainly not on TikTok because I wouldn't have had time to learn it. And I had so much time on my hands. And I do think people were scrolling more. And so if the purchase wasn't like 1,000 of dollars, it certainly would be something they would be likely to invest in.
Helen:So okay. So did you start on Instagram first? Or how how did you first start your marketing?
Tammy:Yeah. So we first we were actually yes. Facebook and Instagram is where we first, you know Okay. That's the first place we opened up a page for conquering was on Facebook and Instagram. And, and then, of course, a little bit started trying to build a list.
Tammy:But we hadn't hired any marketing help yet, so it was not very good.
Helen:You know, we were doing
Tammy:our best, but, definitely on Facebook and Instagram. And I'll be honest, like, our sales from January to, like, the the first half of twenty twenty, January through June, I think maybe, like, $6,000 total. Like, very small, under $10,000 between January June of, 2020. And then, my son was home from college for the summer, and he said, I think you should get on TikTok. And I'm not kidding.
Tammy:I said, what's TikTok? I'm like, what is that? And and then he's like, you know, like, the dancing, like, we're the like, we're we all the kid the girls. I have 2 girls as well that are younger than he he is. And they're like, you know, like, where the girls are doing all the fun dances and stuff.
Tammy:And I was like, you want me to go on TikTok? And he was like, no. No. We just we'll start a TikTok account. And I was like, great.
Tammy:If you can do it, awesome. So I I'm like, go ahead. So he set up the account and then didn't do anything with it.
Helen:He said What's your son's name? Tell everybody in the chat.
Tammy:His name is Jake.
Helen:Okay. So Jake gets on TikTok. Well, he didn't get on. He just made a TikTok.
Tammy:He just made an account for conquering and then just, like, went back to college in the fall, and then there we sat. So August comes around, and, you know, all summer I'm like, well, are you gonna do anything with that? Like, do you need like, what well, how can I help? Are you gonna do something? Oh, yeah.
Tammy:Yeah. I'll do it. He's not a social media guy. Like, he doesn't really not enjoy social media, and it's just, like, not his thing. And, so August comes around, like, beginning of August, and he's, like, headed back to school.
Tammy:And I'm like, well, now what am I supposed to do? Here, I have this account. I have nobody to do anything with. And he's like, oh, mom, well, you should just get on. And I'm like, oh, great.
Tammy:I'm like this old person. Like, really? Yeah. So I did. So I
Helen:did Easy.
Tammy:Started. I I posted a few videos. They were cringey. Like, if you scroll back
Helen:Right. Scroll back. I always wonder who does it. Does anybody scroll back and really see how we started?
Tammy:I would die if I, like, seen my first few videos. But then there was a day when I posted a video, and it was I'll I remember it so well. The video was, and it was very timely and relevant. So, you know, we were all, like, going back people were going back to work by this point. It's August.
Tammy:So, like, pandemic kinda started end of March, April, May. A lot of people were still, like, work from home. And then a lot of people were still work from home through the summer, but they started, like, heavy on Zoom. Right? They're on, like, Zoom calls, like, over and over and over and over again.
Tammy:And so the video I made was it looked exactly like us right now. So there I was on Zoom, and the caption said I was just there, like, talking like this on the video, and it said, what people see on Zoom, and this is this. And then it cut to my hands down where you can't see them. Just like right now, you can't see my hands, and I'm clicking my ring.
Helen:Oh my god.
Tammy:And, so it's just that video. So it was like what people see on Zoom and then what I'm actually doing on Zoom, and then they see me, doing this down below. And I remember I, like, posted the video. None of my videos had like, they all had a couple views, like, maybe a 100 views. It was, like, nothing.
Tammy:And so I posted the video, and then I remember we, like, went out. We were we cooked out that night, and we were like and all of a sudden, I look at my phone and I'm like it's just like ding ding.
Helen:Ding ding.
Tammy:Ding. Because
Helen:you had notifications on, which I since turned off.
Tammy:Happening. And he's all of a sudden, I look, and I'm like, oh my gosh. You know, it has a 1000 views, 10,000 views, a 100,000 views. I'm you know, it is, like, climbing like crazy. And all of a sudden I look on our site, and it's just like, order, order, order, order, order, order.
Tammy:I mean, the order's like, I can't even, like, I can't even tell you. It was, like, one of the most exciting moments of my life. My son just happened to be here that night, and we it completely sold out our site. Like, it was insane. Like, completely insane, like, dream come true moment.
Tammy:We were not at all prepared for it. We won't we didn't have an office yet. Like, we had product, but we didn't have an office. Like, it was crazy. And so that was really the start of
Helen:My god. Time out. Raising my hand. I have major chills. I literally feel like I just lived it because I know that feeling of a viral video.
Helen:So multiply that by you sold things. Okay? Yes. I literally am freaking out, number 1. I didn't know that at all because we didn't for anybody listening, we did not prep for this call.
Helen:This is, like, real time. The only thing I asked Tammy this morning, is it okay if we start at the beginning? And she said, okay. So here we are. But I had no idea that that's what happened.
Helen:I'm completely blown away. I also still don't so at this point, you had a bunch of rings and parts and oh, these are called elements for anybody listening. That's why she's using the word elements. So these pieces that click in are elements. So you had rings, the the shapes, the rings, and the elements in your house, and you would now have orders coming in like freaking rapid fire.
Helen:So first, how did you react? What'd you do? Did you think I gotta bring people in to help me make this ship? How'd you do it?
Tammy:Yeah. Well, so I did. At that point, I had someone that I had originally hired as a personal assistant, because I have a full time traditional job and I was running this business, I had hired someone. She originally was working just, like, 3 to 5 hours a week, helping me with personal, like, calendaring and scheduling, like, to manage I have 3 kids and, you know, just kinda coordinating things like that. And I had had a product prior to this, a much smaller product, much smaller.
Tammy:It's not even worth talking about on this on this. But, she helped me with that a little bit. So she was already, like, geared to be able to, you know, take order. I mean, because we had been taking orders since January. So she was able and out of her house, same thing.
Tammy:So she lives about a half an hour from me, and she was able to fill orders, and she it was just her. So when it happened, yes, we had to we called my kids' friends. We're like, we need help. Like, they went to her house. They, like, literally drove a half hour, went to her house, and around her kitchen table sat and filled orders.
Tammy:And I was driving all around town because we didn't have enough boxes, like, the jewelry boxes that Yeah. Came in. And I'm driving to, like, every Michaels and Hobby Lobby and, where any place that had, like, little, like, crafting, like, boxes that we could use, and I'm buying out every possible. And then I'm going to, like, Sam's and Costco buying, like, little bubble envelopes because we send the orders in. And I'm, like, buying every bubble envelope I can find.
Helen:God. This is what this is what we need to know, behind the scenes what's really happening, Because that's what nobody really talks about. And Julie and I always talk about this as ideas for content is showing what's actually going on in your business. But that's insane. So you literally had to make those orders happen and figure out how to get new more product in probably.
Helen:Right? Because you were
Tammy:Yep. That's that's stressful. It was. It was stressful. And then and then, of course, the business side of you is also, like, your guts, like, in knots because you're like, oh my god.
Tammy:I'm missing like, I'm having this viral moment, and I'm out of product. And now what? Like, oh, it's gonna be 2 months before I have more product in, and how can I, like, keep people engaged and excited? And Right.
Helen:How can
Tammy:I, like, capture their enthusiasm and get them on an email list and and whatever?
Helen:So that you can tell them later that it's coming. But the other thing is how can is there a way could you figure out how to make a wait list quick or you couldn't even figure I mean, I don't even know if that's a oh, you did. Okay. Good.
Tammy:We figured out a way to, like, have a, like, a back in stock notification.
Helen:So
Tammy:let people to sign up. But yeah. So that was that was a fun like, it was gave us the taste of what could be and gave us the confidence in the idea. You know? Because having only had, like, a few $1,000 of sales over 6 months' time, we were like, well, is this a dumb idea?
Tammy:Like, are people not really loving it? And then when one And
Helen:then that's it. So Yeah.
Tammy:One video. We're like, okay. We just haven't gotten the word out to the right or we haven't demonstrated it well enough until this point or haven't reached the right people. And, of course, there've been a 1,000,000 up and downs since then, but, you know, that was that was, like, the point. And, TikTok has been just, like, such a huge, huge, fuel for our fire.
Tammy:And I think I was so excited to find you on TikTok because Oh, yeah. There aren't a lot of people. And I know you said it before, so I'm feeling that you opened the door to the age.
Helen:Oh, yeah. Absolutely. No problem.
Tammy:You know, like, I'm in my fifties, and there aren't, I mean, now there are a lot more of us. Yes. Yeah. But at back then, like, I was the oldest person I knew on the app for sure.
Helen:And it all came me on your first few pages.
Tammy:Yeah. So it was different, you know, but I think that, you know, people, like, appreciate the authenticity, and they appreciate the feeling like they know the company, the brand. They like to perspective. And so I feel like so many brands, like, if they have someone that's willing to be out there and be the face of the brand, there has been
Helen:a lot
Tammy:of success because people crave it.
Helen:So you didn't really even know how to make videos probably until I mean, is that is is is that really, really where you learned? Because you said early on, you were scrolling, and that's how you came across me. And is that partly were you doing all your own content still?
Tammy:Yes. Yes.
Helen:Are you
Tammy:well, today, I do have a team of people
Helen:Okay.
Tammy:But very part time. So I still am, like, very, very heavily involved in TikTok. I would say I'm the lead person running our TikTok, account still today. I do all of our lives, and I shoot all of our raw video, but I do have help, editing and, captions and posting. On most days of the week, I have help.
Tammy:So, so I'm not a totally a one person show anymore, but I'm still definitely the main base.
Helen:You're the face of it. You're who I see. I mean, you're who I see on my for you page, so that makes sense. But now let's just talk about the the how you work it out with social media. So do you if you're shooting the content, how do you what's do you have a platform you share with the team?
Helen:Do you use something like Planable con HubSpot? Any of the I'm I'm listen off. But, like, Airtable, how do you share the content? Because if you're doing and you're shooting in your phone, as I always preach, then it's only in that person's drafts. So do you have a system, and can you share that?
Tammy:Yes. We do have a system. I don't know if it's perfect, but it's running pretty smoothly for us. So I almost never shoot in TikTok, which I know may might I mean, I don't know. I see mixed things, but it's hard to edit in TikTok, most things.
Tammy:And so I shoot mostly just regular video. I mean, I just shoot video right on my iPhone. We have a system with, the person who does assist with TikTok. I upload everything to, all the raw video into a Dropbox.
Helen:Okay.
Tammy:And then she is able to take video from the Dropbox, edit it into what is actually gonna, be published. And when we first started working together, she would run everything by me. Like, she would, create it and then, like, screen record her draft because like you said, we can't even though she's in my TikTok account, we can't see each other's drafts. So she used to, you know, edit it into a video. She would screen record the draft, send it to me for approval.
Tammy:And now we've worked together long enough that, yeah,
Helen:you know what she's
Tammy:Yeah. So she just posts, but, you know, she we have a lot of communication going back and forth about what's because we launch new products every week.
Helen:Every week, new products. Every week. Wow.
Tammy:Which is kind of crazy, for any brand, honestly, but especially for a small brand like us. So that's the biggest thing that that she and I need to stay coordinated on is if, like, there's delays or things that, like, we don't want, obviously, a bunch of video to go out if something isn't back to day 1
Helen:packing. Exactly. So yeah. And we do back to day 1 packing.
Tammy:Exactly. So yeah. And we do, she does use scheduling. She uses Later, and then, other person who works with us in some of our other channels uses Metropool.
Helen:Okay. I don't
Tammy:know if you guys are familiar with those.
Helen:But to know. Helpful to know. Yeah. I love that because I and I always I've talked about this so many times, not that you would even know this, but on on my TikToks, on my workshops and everything in my course is that you don't really have to shoot in the app because it's only especially if you want to if you're running a business and you wanna be on multiple platforms, it's not worth as much as people will say you'll get better engagement, I don't buy it. I think content drives over everything.
Helen:People wanna watch your video. They don't care if it was and and the platform, the algorithm is not gonna care. If people are sharing it, they're still gonna push it out. So every single one of my tutorials, which gets the most views of anything on my page, is never shot in TikTok, and those are the most views I get. So it's because the content's more valuable to people.
Helen:So I totally agree with that strategy. Do not change it unless you really have to and you need, like, a crazy filter or something, then, of course, do it and then screen. Then you could always save it and send it to her or whatever. But it's just debilitating for a business, and I don't think it's worth it if you can find another way to get the engagement. So I love that.
Helen:So what do you struggle with the most in terms of creating when it comes to social media and getting yourself out there? Do you have, like, a thing that you would say is your biggest struggle?
Tammy:Yeah. I think so I mentioned to you that I'm a marketer by training and career. So I think the thing I struggle with most on social media is the fact that I can't segment my audience. Like, as a marketer, like, I can choose, like, email. Let's say we're sending out an email campaign.
Tammy:I can and we're launching rose gold. I could choose to only send this email to people who bought rose gold in the past, versus blasting my whole email list with rose gold launch that they don't care about.
Helen:Yeah.
Tammy:But on social media, it's so hard. Like, that just like as a marketer, it eats at me that I'm, like, putting it out there. And so what I find myself really struggling with related to that is I forget that sometimes I'm getting brand new people and I need to, like, go back and communicate more fully even what we do. Whereas, like, my true, what I call my super fans, like, they I mean, they
Helen:know that already.
Tammy:Yeah. They know all that. They just wanna, like, what's new? What's coming out on Friday? And they want, like, more of the behind the scenes, and they want like that.
Tammy:And so I find I struggle with remembering to speak to everybody because I can't take it.
Helen:Know. Yeah. Because you can't take it, and you never know. And there's some learning in this that I've discovered from my own content is sometimes even your regular customers, let's say you're you're loyal people that already know your story. You might have something new that you're that they've already heard, and then they're reminded to send it to someone else.
Helen:So I do a thing where it's like, here's how to do a duet in a stitch. Guess what? Everybody who's followed me for a while already knows how to do that. But when I those videos, for some reason, they get they get more views for me because it's like a random new person gets it or people I know forward it to someone. So you're your existing customers might be helping you get to new people.
Helen:So I don't know. I don't, I guess, because I don't have that audience segmenting in my head, I'm always thinking, well, if the people that are watching this, they're not interested. They'll just keep scrolling, and it'll maybe it'll find its way to new people. I don't know.
Tammy:That's a really good perspective. I have to keep that in mind because sometimes I almost actually feel guilty.
Helen:Feel bad. Right?
Tammy:Right. Because I'm like, I know I can literally name off, you know, 50 superfans in my head. And I'm like, oh, I feel bad I'm posting this because these 50 people that
Helen:They know this already.
Tammy:Don't care and don't want
Helen:It's very highly likely that they're not even gonna see it the first time because it might just get, I don't know. It's really getting into that mindset of social media to say, okay, you never know who's actually gonna see this. And you in your mind, you think those 50 people are getting it, but they might not even see it. It just might get fed to a whole new bunch of people. So that's a hard that's a hard mindset to come to grips with.
Helen:But, anyway, yeah, there's something to be said for that. Oh my gosh. It's so it's so tough. Do you make sure you put content out every day? Because you're on my for you page every day, but I don't know if you're posting every day because that's a lot of times, it's not even new content that shows up.
Tammy:We post 3 times every day, 7 days a week, 300
Helen:subscribers. Every day.
Tammy:A day. We do. Holy.
Helen:That's
Tammy:impressive. We do. 3 times a day, and then we kind of TikTok is like the center of our universe, I like to say. So we create through TikTok, and I know this you might have feel free to disagree. You're the expert, Helen.
Tammy:But for us, we create for TikTok because it is our primary channel. It's where we where we get the most, and then we repurpose onto other channels. Like I said, we don't record in TikTok, but we create with TikTok mind at first. And we post 3 times a day there, and then we will, repurpose that content onto Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. Oh, god.
Tammy:So, so, yeah, pretty much all those channels get 3
Helen:times a day. That's amazing. And that's where having somebody that's doing almost solely that, like, that's her main that's her main job, right, is to make sure this content's going out every day. It's editing the content and all of that. Right?
Tammy:Yes. Well, I have kind of a collection of part time people that do it. But, yes, I don't have, like, one full time person that only
Helen:does that. Because imagine if you had to do it. It's not even doable. Right?
Tammy:Oh my god.
Helen:Not even not even a chance in hell.
Tammy:No chance whatsoever.
Helen:No chance. Okay. So that's helpful info. Number 2, I do agree with you. I will always create for my first platform, and then it flushes out from there.
Helen:So you're you're right on with the strategy, and I think it's it's always been something that I preach because people are like, how do you be everywhere for everyone? It's like you can't really. You have to create for what you want to create for and then push it out from there. So your people are not making they're not catering the content and changing it necessarily for each platform. They're just sending it out to those platforms.
Helen:Right?
Tammy:Mostly. Yeah. Well, like the videos. Yes. They will maybe adjust, like, captions.
Helen:Captions.
Tammy:Of course. Yeah. So, like, for example, Pinterest. I am no expert on Pinterest. But, obviously, it's a a different different animal.
Tammy:So when we create when we, you know, develop a, a caption for Pinterest, it's a little different than
Helen:Yeah. Yeah.
Tammy:Perhaps what we've done on TikTok or Instagram.
Helen:Yes. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Alright.
Helen:I I love that. So I just wanna this topic is always something I like to address with guests because we all have it. Even people who are doing the most innocent, like, feel good, good for you content. What happens when you the haters come out, and have you had experience with that? And I know sometimes for you, it's an innocent thing that happens because you call something a certain thing, and the next thing you know, they're misinterpreting it.
Helen:I think something like that happened to you. So if you feel comfortable sharing any of that, please please do tell.
Tammy:It did. It did. We have had a few, I we're lucky because the kind of community that we we've cultivated is very, kind and empowering and, you know, open and accepting and diverse. And so, generally, we're very fortunate. But by design, like, we've worked really hard to create an environment like that.
Tammy:But, of course, there will always be the trolls, and there will always be, our most recent, you were referring to 1. That was, like, the last thing that happened before what happened a couple days ago.
Helen:Oh, gosh.
Tammy:But what you're referring to is we changed, yes, our the, piece that clicks into our jewelry. We used to call it a spinner because as I shared earlier, it first, was a word that you had to spin in order to read the word. So spinner really fit that. Of course. But we have expanded so much beyond that that, the word spinner just didn't really resonate anymore.
Tammy:And so we changed the word to element, which we're we love for a million reasons that I won't bore you with now. But in doing so and making that switch, some people, a very small, minority, but it always is that. Right? It's like Yes. You know, 1% or even far less than 1%, will be a very loud voice.
Tammy:And people took it almost like I was insulting people who had ADHD or who needed to fidget, and used fidget spinners. And I'll tell you what, I won't do it, but down right next to me, I have a full basket of fidgets. I am a fidgeter. I have ADHD. I am someone who uses fidgets, and I'm that's my whole goal is to normalize the need for stimming and fidgeting and make it look beautiful and discreet so that people don't have to walk into a boardroom carrying a toy toys fidget spinner.
Tammy:But it got kinda spun out of control and
Helen:taken off. Pun intended. Yeah.
Tammy:And so well, I'll say 2 things. 1 is it is hard. Like, for someone who I don't know, I care I I'm a Pisces. If you believe in zodiac signs and, like, how it creates people, like, I'm a person who just, like, very much is in tune with other people's emotions and, like, feel them myself. And I want people to be happy, and I feel there should be more kindness.
Tammy:And so it just, like, it's like a gut punch to me when, like, someone takes something I said the wrong way or, you know, feels that I've, like, wronged them. It it's hard personally, but, also, it's all I always think of it as it's an opportunity to clarify and to build the brand further. And so I always take those opportunities to respond of negative stuff like that, it you usually get good engagement. Right? Like, it creates a controversy.
Tammy:And if you've built a following,
Helen:they come they come at your defense. Oh my god. Oh my god.
Tammy:Groves. And so you feel, you know, you feel supported, and, like, I just take it as a brand building moment. And Good for you. Most recent one we had, actually had to do with pride month. So we sent out you know, we we celebrate pride all year long.
Tammy:We have all sorts of, elements and designs in support of the LGBTQIA plus community. And, you know, we sent out our latest release, and, of course, we got some negative feedback. And for me, again, I just I just look at it as, you know what? Great. It's helping us cultivate the community that we're working toward, and so unsubscribe.
Helen:Yeah. Yeah.
Tammy:It's hard it's hard to to take sometimes with some of the things that they say are so Yeah. Aligned with my values and our company's values, but you just say, alright. That's just helping us continue to refine.
Helen:It's hard not to get defensive because, you know, you you know that you're trying to do something. And I think that you and I are very much alike, and we met in person. So even more so I know this is like, you wanna try and make it better. You wanna try and convince this person. No.
Helen:That's not how it's intended. And you just feel because also the people pleaser, like, you don't want people to feel that way about you. That's not what you're you're about. So it's very challenging, more so for people like us who we don't ever intend to hurt anyone. I mean, if anything, it's the exact opposite.
Helen:We're trying to welcome everyone in. So I feel you, and that is probably one of the most challenging things that even recently when I've had some negativity, I'm like, what? Really? I'm here just trying to help you. This is not, you know, what was meant by this so frustrating.
Tammy:I don't know how anyone could ever in a 1000000 years give you a negative comment. Like, you are the most sunshiny, happy like, I think that's why I was, like, just instantly drawn to your videos because, honestly, a lot of not all. I learn things from you all the time. But I do I'm on TikTok, and I do a lot of the things that you teach, I do a lot of them. So I don't everything you post, I don't learn from, but I learn a lot.
Tammy:And what originally drew drew me to you was just, like, she is like sunshine on camera. Like, you cannot, like, you can't watch one of your videos and just, like, not feel better than when you started watching it. Like, you're just so upbeat and you're just so helpful. And I I think it's amazing how you are able to you're just clearly a teacher at heart. Like, you
Helen:Yeah. People think I'm a teacher. That's the
Tammy:craziest thing. Expert and such a good teacher because you have a way of, like, breaking stuff down and saying it in a way that doesn't make someone feel stupid for not knowing how to do it. Right?
Helen:Right. A lot of people leave stuff out.
Tammy:Yeah. Right. You leave out important details, and then you struggle. But you are so organized, and you think through it in such a great way. Like, I love I mean, I've saved so many of your videos to, like, go back and learn.
Tammy:My latest was the, stop motion.
Helen:Yeah. That was stop motion. You should really do that because there's so many opportunities for you to be able to do stop motion.
Tammy:I know. I'm so excited to try it. I haven't tried it yet, but I have 2 of your videos. It's a
Helen:good one.
Tammy:It's a good one. About stop motion.
Helen:Yeah. Because one of them is using the effect and the other video, you don't have to use the effect. And I That's
Tammy:exactly the 2 I saved.
Helen:Yeah. Honestly, I'll tell you probably do it without the effect just because you're more limited. The effect, the the it's gonna go much faster. And with the other one, you can decide how quickly it's gonna move along. So if you want my recommendation.
Helen:Okay. But the you know, the effect is helpful for people who don't wanna think, and they just wanna tap, tap, tap, and they don't wanna have to think anywhere beyond that. It's it's quicker.
Tammy:Yes.
Helen:But, yeah, I'm so excited you saved that because I was thinking that's a good one for you. A lot of product based businesses could be very creative with this. So have fun with that.
Tammy:And I had no idea how to do that.
Helen:So I'm so happy. And that was one of my first early viral videos ever. That's how I one of my earliest where I got really got on the map on TikTok was through stop motion. And I think because I love explaining it because I know how long it takes to do in real production. And to me, the fact that a simple effect or a mobile phone can do this, it is amazing to me.
Helen:And so I get so excited explaining it because I am excited that it can be done with my phone.
Tammy:Right.
Helen:And people really get into what I'm excited to share. They're they're like, oh my god. You're she seems so and they put they write about me in the 3rd person in the comments. She seems so happy about this. I'm like, yes.
Helen:Because you should know how long it used to take Absolutely. Before this came along, you know.
Tammy:I know. Well and and that is the advantage of having more experienced people, right, on TikTok because I too have, you know, a lot of experience with video in a whole different way, having worked at ad agencies. And, you know, the amount of money that we would spend on a video and amount of time to create that can now be done just by one person It's insane.
Helen:On a
Tammy:phone is, like, mind blowing.
Helen:Yeah. And all the things I have up here from working with all these people, I can now do myself. It's nuts. That's why people think how are you teaching it? Because I really understand how it used to have to be done.
Helen:I can explain it. I know. I love it. Alright. So I wanna make sure we have time for questions for you because I know we probably have some already.
Helen:So before before we get to the questions, I just have one last one for you, which is what would you do differently? Is there anything that you would change about what you did if you were doing it over? And that if you don't even have anything you'd change, that's fine. Because I'm looking back thinking, I know what one thing is. You shoulda actually started posting on TikTok in March or whenever he made that account.
Helen:But, anyway, if that's your thing, maybe. But it had to happen the way it happened. Is there anything you might do differently if you were doing it over?
Tammy:Yeah. I think, honestly, the biggest thing I would have done differently is this sounds crazy because I generally think of myself as, like, a big thinker, like, big ideas. Mhmm. But now looking back, I I wasn't thinking as big as I should have back then because we made some choices, early on that were very constrained by that first product. And, we still actually have some inventory left from things that we did all, like, circling around that first product instead of thinking as big as we are today and as much as was really, on the table for us as an interchangeable jewelry brand versus just like a fidget ring company.
Tammy:And so I think yeah. I kinda look back at myself. I'm like, jeez. You're a big thinker. Why did you think so small back then?
Tammy:Like, what was what was holding you back? Like, was it interesting or I don't know. Like, I just think we could be even so much further if I had a bigger open more open mind back then to what was possible.
Helen:Oh, I that's a really good one because I would never think of that. I would never think about that. So let me start putting some of the questions out here. The first one was, how did you find your assistant that does the video editing? And that might be just that you had a network already, which is fine because I've answered that in the chat to say that we could also help with that.
Helen:But how did you find
Tammy:it? So we have done a lot of sourcing of our employees through friends and family, truthfully. Very little family, mostly just my son. You know, he's full time in the business now. But, just a lot of friends of friends and, honestly, a lot of young people who needed, like, flexible work schedules and who have grown up on social media.
Tammy:And so that really has been like, we have a lot of, this is kind of a fun a fun fact, a little surprising fun fact. One of our employees is a dancer on tour with Olivia Rodrigo right now.
Helen:Oh my god.
Tammy:Another one is on a world tour in China right now for another music artist, a dancer. We have a lot of and we have, another person who works for us who's in Mean Girls the movie that just came out, like, a few months ago. Oh my gosh. We have a lot of, like, theater and dance. My family is very involved in, like, the arts.
Tammy:And, so a lot of those people need, like, kind of steady income that's very flexible
Helen:Mhmm.
Tammy:Because their contracts are, you know, they're, like, on a tour and then they're not working. And then they're on another tour and then they're not working or they're in
Helen:a movie and then they're not. Right. That's why you have to have multiple people because you never know when someone's busy.
Tammy:Exactly. So, yeah. So that's kinda how we found. But I do have, like, my personal assistant, I actually found through a company who helps me with, like, administrative stuff.
Helen:I don't
Tammy:know if you want me to share that or not.
Helen:Sure. Yeah.
Tammy:It's called Squared Away. And they were, they were actually on the Inc 5000, which is how I found them. We were also on the Inc 5000, and I found them through that. And it's a really cool business model. They're, they employ military spouses.
Tammy:Oh. So that, military spouses have to move a lot because imagine. Right? How could you hold down a job if you are constantly moving because of your military spouse? So they
Helen:Wow. Amazing.
Tammy:Employ them. And so they have, like, administrative assistants that do a lot of things.
Helen:Oh, that's amazing. That's great to know. I'm thinking of 1 military spouse who has 5 kids, so God wondered how she would ever hold down a job. That's another story.
Tammy:Yeah. No kidding. That was
Helen:her job right now. Alright. So nuts. Alright. So that is one thing that was really helpful to know because I I love that, and I've heard about this before.
Helen:So I'm happy to know the company. The other question that's come in so far is, did you post 3 times a day right from the start? I think I know the answer to this, but I'm gonna let you run with it. And if anyone else has questions, type them in while we're while we're chatting so we can get them.
Tammy:Yeah. No. We did not. We well, partly because we didn't see the value when we first started. We didn't know that we could ever go viral.
Tammy:We'd, you know it seemed like something that happened to other people, not us. And so we didn't and we just didn't even it took us so much longer in the beginning. Even now, I could like, while we were on this, I could quick pop out a video in, you know, 2 minutes. But at the time, it would take me 2 hours to, like, think of the idea and, like, try to make it just right. And I'm sure you've, given lots of tutorials about, like, don't do that.
Tammy:Like, don't overthink it. Don't spend 2 hours.
Helen:Don't overthink it.
Tammy:Knock it out. Like, be authentic. Like, just go. And so once I realized that and realized how much we could do, it makes all the difference. Yeah.
Tammy:So we start with that.
Helen:Yeah. I can I can imagine that you didn't? And I do think making it simple makes it a little makes it faster. So another question was what apps you use. I think she already mentioned that you you use Later as your platform.
Helen:And what was the other one? You mentioned one other one.
Tammy:Metricool. Yeah. Metricool. Okay. And Metricool.
Helen:Okay. And if you're wondering I
Tammy:don't really know that we have a reason. I I think it's just we have different people on the team that
Helen:you They just use them. A lot of times, it's who you bring in and what they're comfortable with. So, for example, Julie and I use Airtable. That's another really good one working with a team. And so it's a it's a matter of what you're what you're used to doing.
Helen:So I I I love it. I wanted to I wanted to know this. This is about the posting 3 times a day. I'm so curious about this. Do you think that you have more up more viral videos since doing that?
Helen:Do you see get more views? That's 1 question number 1. And what was question number 2? Oh, question number 2 is sponsored posts. I noticed that I'm seeing a lot of ads, and I would love to know when you decided to do that and how much stock you put in that.
Helen:What do you see as far as the return on doing ads Yeah. On TikToks, especially?
Tammy:Yeah. That's a great question. So in terms of, do we see a lot more views, it's kinda I can't really compare to back event. Like, what back when we were doing fewer posts versus now when we're doing more posts, you know, TikTok's a whole different animal as you know more than anybody. So I would say no.
Tammy:I mean, it's it's hard to go viral right now for us, especially as a brand. It's challenging because, you know, we have to use commercial songs. Like, we can't use all of the we are a business account. We're set up as a business account. So there's, you know, it's challenging things, in going viral.
Tammy:We still do, but it's just, like, not quite as often as we used to back in the heyday when there weren't a million people on and there wasn't TikTok shop and all that. So I wouldn't say more, but I always feel like the more we get it out there, the more eyeballs we're seeing, the more we can repurpose it onto other, platforms. And, you know, platforms kinda change around, like, what one's hot and what where everybody is, how much it costs to advertise here versus there. It's always shifting. So we're always of the mindset, like, eggs in lots of baskets.
Tammy:Like, we'll be on all the places, get build our own email list, our own SMS list, like, protect ourselves because, you you know, TikTok is always at risk of being banned.
Helen:We know that.
Tammy:Like, we just have to kinda just keep going. Right? But in terms of, paid ads, we did, once we got further along in our journey, we did hire, a marketing agency to assist with all of our paid ads. And so we do paid ads on TikTok, on Instagram, Facebook, and Google.
Helen:And what do you mind saying what agency you work with?
Tammy:We work with an agency called Conversion Bird. They're based in San Diego, and we love them
Helen:Okay.
Tammy:So much. They're great. But they help us, manage our email list and our SMS list, and then they also do all of our paid ads. So anything you see that sponsored on TikTok as an example, they have chosen to do that. And so we communicate back and forth.
Tammy:If we have something that's going really well, on an organic basis, like just organically performing well, I will send it to them and say, hey. Here's one worth, like, putting some money behind. It's already going viral. And then they also, you know, are always advising us on, like, what kinds of videos are doing best. And so sometimes we'll create videos specifically for them to use in ads.
Tammy:Got it. Okay. So that's the one time that we do sometimes create for different platforms. Like, right now, they're telling us, like, you know, one of our competitors is really heavily purchasing ads on Google. And so they're kinda backing off a little bit because it the cost per, click is just really driving up high, and so we're putting more, like, in Instagram reels
Helen:as well. Gotcha. Gotcha.
Tammy:So they'll kind of give us some direction and, you know, we'll adjust and maybe make something for a particular channel like a Instagram that might be more suited for that channel. But that's really the only time we we do that.
Helen:Okay. Alright. Now this question, believe it or not, I wrote it down here so that I would ask it, and it just showed up in the chat over here. So did you start as a business account or or did you just do a personal account in the beginning so you had more chances to go viral?
Tammy:Well with the
Helen:viral sense.
Tammy:This should have been my my regret that you asked me earlier.
Helen:Oh, okay.
Tammy:So, we very early did a business account, and I'll tell you why. Because I was afraid. I'm a very because I my whole career has been in marketing, and I've mostly been in financial services marketing, that's a heavily regulated industry, I'm, like, a very risk averse person. Right. You're a rule follower.
Tammy:I am a rule follower. And so I was very afraid of doing using a personal account, promoting a business, and getting in trouble for using someone's song or whatever.
Helen:And, you
Tammy:know, like so I felt like doing the business account gave me, like, that protection because they stop you. They don't let you. You can't you can't post something that isn't approved for commercial use. So that's why I did that. But here's what I wish I had done.
Tammy:Okay. And I know of someone who has done it and has been really successful. Do you do you happen to follow Declan's Mining Company? Or, it's Kelly Rose Sarno, I think is her name. So she's a business owner.
Tammy:She owns Declan's Mining Company, and they have, I think, more than a 1000000 followers on TikTok. They're really big on TikTok. They might be even way beyond that. And Kelly Rose Sarno, the, owner of Declan's Mining Company, has her own account personal account, and she also does a lot of, like, beauty influencing too. And so she has a personal account where she does beauty influencing and also talks a lot about Declan's Mining Company and all sorts of other things.
Tammy:And then she has her business, Declan's Mining Company account. That's what I wish I had done. I wish I started a Tammy Nelson, whatever. But it would just be my name or what. But, like, a personal account as, like, just a marketing CMO, whatever, and then also a business account.
Tammy:And I wish I would have grown them together because now I'm just in that business account. And if I, like I mean, I I still could. Right? I mean, you can always start anything.
Helen:Yeah. Of course.
Tammy:So I could still start my own account, but, I
Helen:would be fun.
Tammy:I think it would give because she cross posts everything too. Like, she'll repost each other's. And so I just think she's like building them together. Like, I think it's a brilliant stretch.
Helen:Okay. But here you go. Because guess what's coming up now? There's gonna be the collab feature. Just shoot you know, on Instagram, how you can you can post to one account and you can invite a collaborator.
Tammy:Yeah.
Helen:That's coming to TikTok. Julie just sent me a screenshot. And I'm really excited about this because we've had the socialized TikTok for a while. We have a socialized Instagram. And for a while, I was regretting that we did it separate from me because then I was like, oh, it's confusing because we have the business, and now it's like my personal account is bigger.
Helen:I have the opposite problem. My personal account is much bigger. And now on this business account, I have people that message me, and they're like, someone's stealing your content on this other
Tammy:And I'm like, no. It's me. It's me.
Helen:It's me. So the collab might be the perfect time for you to start your new your second account. That could be really fun. That could be the reason you're doing it. Like, here, you know, now that I can collaborate, here's my thing.
Helen:And then you can always have the collab thing. I don't know how that works if you use a commercial song on the on yours and then you collaborate. I don't know how that works in terms of collaborating with a business account. I guess we'll find that out soon enough. So Okay.
Tammy:Food for thought. Food for thought. My husband might have a heart attack if I, like, take on one more thing. But
Helen:Well, if you do your own account, maybe it's just you making videos, and it's not you don't get stressed about making, like, 3 a day. Maybe just do 1 a couple of the week.
Tammy:Yeah. I'll tell you, though. With TikTok shop, man, like, I when I love something, I love it. Like, I'm a real I'm just like a passionate person, period, in general. And, like, I know if I really wanted to be an influencer on TikTok shop, like, I I just one time, Helen, one time I posted a video on my conquering because people kept asking me about my purse, and I love my I have my purse in, like, 8 colors.
Tammy:I love this purse. And I made one post about it, and I it was before TikTok shop even existed.
Helen:Oh my god. Everybody's asking for the per purse.
Tammy:Right? And I linked it. I joined the Amazon affiliate program just so that I could link this purse, like, and put it Amazing. But it was super like, it was not a good user experience. Like, the way they had to find it was they had to, like, click the link in our bio and then go down to this other link, and then they would land on this actually super poorly designed page that had the purse on it.
Tammy:But in one day, I sold, like, a I got a $1,000 in commission in one day Oh
Helen:my god.
Tammy:From this purse one post.
Helen:From crappy affiliate Amazon affiliate money. Yes. That's crazy.
Tammy:I'm like, oh, I could do that.
Helen:You could do that. You could so do that.
Tammy:No. No. No. Don't don't go there. You have a full time job.
Helen:You have too much going on.
Tammy:Business, you are not also gonna be a content creator. Like, uh-uh. That's where you got to draw the line.
Helen:You have to well, maybe maybe when your full time job ends and you decide you're gonna move on from that. But this is what I meant to ask you because you mentioned it, TikTok shop. When did you decide to take my conquering to the TikTok shop, and why did you do that if you were successful with having a link in your profile?
Tammy:Yeah. Well, we kinda just felt like we've got all this traffic here on TikTok, and we're just missing the opportunity for the the person who you know, the super fans, they're gonna come to our site. They want the whole experience. They wanna see everything we have. They wanna poke around.
Tammy:They wanna browse.
Helen:Right.
Tammy:They wanna see every new thing that comes out every single week. But for the casual viewer who's just, like, scrolling and like, oh, I might wanna buy that, like, having it right there, click. Boom. So that's why. Yeah.
Tammy:And, you know, the challenge of it is we we we don't get all the information from the customer. We have a lot of restrictions about how we can communicate with that customer. There's really tight guidelines, but we we were Is it worth it? Yeah.
Helen:It is worth it.
Tammy:Okay. Worth it. It is worth it. We don't have, like, our whole catalog on it, because it's painful. Like, it's painful.
Tammy:It's like, the integration is painful, from Shopify where our website is posted to TikTok shop. We use an app that connects the 2, and we believe we're using the best app that exists, but it's still, like, not that great.
Helen:Right. Right.
Tammy:And it's I don't even think it's the app's fault. I think it's TikTok shop's fault because they're constantly changing things, and then the app has to try to quick catch up to match. And so it's a real it's very challenging. So we only put, like, our best sellers on there. But, yeah, we sell, It's not, like, a huge portion of our sales, but it's probably, I don't know, maybe 5 to 10%.
Helen:Oh, that's alright. So still people a lot. But some still people will come to your website, though, because, like, repeat customers are not going through the TikTok shop.
Tammy:Yeah. For sure.
Helen:And then and then do you use shop did you start with Shopify? What did you start with as you're selling? Okay. Are you still with Shopify?
Tammy:We are. But we've kind of, like, grown with the platform. That's one nice thing about Shopify is
Helen:Right.
Tammy:You can keep growing. And, like, now we're on what's called Shopify Plus, which is, like, their highest
Helen:Right. So you yeah. So you could start at the lowest one and then work your way up to as needed. So Yes. My gosh.
Helen:This has been so incredibly helpful. It is so great to hear you go through this. My son's doing something right now where he he's doing something in the gaming space, and I'm like, I'm gonna make him listen to this for sure so he could hear your process. I think there was so much to be learned. And you you're so much fun to hang out with.
Helen:I could keep on going, but we have to end it. You have a you have work to do, and so do I.
Tammy:Yeah. Yeah. Oh, it's been so fun.
Helen:I really enjoyed it. And so I will be sharing this in the newsletter when it releases. If you haven't if you're not on the email list, get on it so you can get all of the links and everything in the newsletter. Thank you so much for attending. If you if anybody happened upon this as a podcast just through a search, this is a podcast that is done twice weekly, and we have a matching newsletter.
Helen:And you can make sure you get everything if you go to hellosocialize.com. And today, we've had Tammy from my conquering. And is your website straight up my conquering.com. Right? Nice and easy.
Helen:One of the easiest things is having an easy website because you can say it and people can remember it. So that was a real plus. Good job on the naming.
Tammy:Aw, thank you so much.
Helen:Do you have any parting words or advice for people who might want to get started and they're just scared and frozen stuff frozen in place?
Tammy:Yeah. I would just say it's really easy to just, like, lose sight of the goal when you have just, like, obstacle after obstacle. But I think what helped us was just focusing on I know it sounds crazy and so simple, but we just focused on the one biggest problem that was in our way. And we're like, soon as we get that one done, there'll be another one, but we're always making progress if we just get the next biggest problem done and the next biggest and the next biggest and the next biggest. Because it's real easy to just, like, go, there's too much.
Tammy:But Too much.
Helen:You can
Tammy:always make progress if you just knock them out one at a time.
Helen:I love it. Thank you so much, Tammy. Have a great afternoon. Thanks so much for taking the time to be with us today. And everybody, my conquering.
Helen:Get your fidget get your elements and your rings, your jewelry. There's people in the chat that already said they're gonna go ahead and and hop right to the website when this is done. So you'll have a couple of sales out of today so far. Fun. Alright.
Helen:Thank you, Tammy.
Tammy:You so much. It was so fun. Talk soon. Bye.
