Episode 25: Simplifying Self-Hosted Summits: Promotional Planning and Engagement Strategies
February 27, 2024Episode 27: Maximizing Profit Margins: Mastering Lead Gen & Launches for a Lucrative Year
March 19, 2024Episode 26
The Intentionality Behind Social Media Success with Katie Brinkley
- March 5, 2024
- 5:00 am
Curious about what truly fuels social media success? Well, you’re in luck because in this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with the insightful Katie Brinkley. Katie graciously opened up about her entrepreneurial journey, sharing both the highs and lows she’s encountered along the way. From navigating the tumultuous waters of starting a business to finding her stride in the ever-evolving world of social media, Katie’s story is as inspiring as it is relatable.
If you’re ready to uncover the secrets behind social media success – from navigating trends to fostering genuine connections then join us for an enriching conversation that’s sure to leave you feeling inspired and empowered. Let’s dive in!
Resource Links
Connect with Katie:
Follow Katie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamkatiebrinkley/
Connect with Katie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiebrinkley/
Listen to Katie’s podcast – Rocky Mountain Marketing Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/rocky-mountain-marketing/id1506956667
Connect with Jennie:
Website: https://jenniewright.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennielwright/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniewrightjlw/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjGQCVDgaOGsxrqq-w0Osmw
Want to grow your email list or launch your next product to a ready list of leads? Let’s talk
On This Week’s Episode:
- Katie Brinkley opened up about a challenging period she faced, where uncertainty clouded her path. However, through resilience and introspection, she not only navigated through but also emerged with a newfound clarity on her offers and passions. Her story serves as a testament to the power of perseverance and self-discovery on the entrepreneurial journey.
- Delving deeper into Katie’s business ventures, we explored the emergence of podcast strategy as a pivotal aspect of her offerings. Managing multiple podcasts simultaneously provided her with invaluable insights into audience engagement, content creation, and brand building. Her journey exemplifies the transformative potential of embracing new opportunities and adapting to evolving market trends.
- Looking ahead, Katie shared her ambitious plans for launching a podcast strategy offer through a summit. She expressed her intention to streamline operations by hiring a Chief Operating Officer (COO) to spearhead strategy and sales initiatives, allowing her to focus on fostering client relationships and expanding her business horizons. This strategic shift underscores the importance of scalability and delegation in achieving sustainable growth.
- Both Jennie and Katie echoed the sentiment of embracing one’s unique business journey without succumbing to the pitfalls of comparison. Their shared belief in the power of authenticity and self-awareness resonated deeply, emphasizing the need to stay true to oneself amidst the noise of external benchmarks and expectations.
- With the dawn of a new year, Katie shared her guiding mantra for 2024: “intention.” This overarching theme permeates every facet of her business, serving as a compass for decision-making and prioritization. By approaching tasks with intentionality, Katie aims to mitigate burnout and impulsive decision-making, fostering a culture of purpose-driven action and sustainable growth.
- In anticipation of the evolving social media landscape, Katie offered insights into effective strategies for 2024. She emphasized the importance of intentionality in content creation, audience segmentation, and platform-specific engagement. By tailoring content to resonate with diverse audiences and leveraging data-driven insights, businesses can forge deeper connections and drive meaningful engagement in the digital sphere.
- Reflecting on her experience hosting a virtual summit, Katie highlighted its multifaceted benefits in nurturing community engagement and driving business growth. From expanding her email list and securing speaking engagements to fostering networking opportunities and generating leads, the virtual summit served as a catalyst for transformative growth and industry recognition. Katie’s success story underscores the untapped potential of virtual events in driving brand visibility and audience engagement in the digital age.
- In a light-hearted exchange, Jennie and Katie shared personal anecdotes ranging from childhood interests to quirky talents. Their candid sharing fostered a sense of camaraderie and authenticity, underscoring the human element behind the entrepreneurial journey. These anecdotes served as poignant reminders of the shared experiences that unite us and the power of storytelling in building meaningful connections.
Jennie Wright
Lead generation and online summit queen, the host of the Aquire podcast
Jennie Wright [00:00:02]:
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Acquire Podcast from the Odd Phonic Podcast Network, and I’m Jenny Wright. This is the podcast that delves deep into the world of list building and online events, and it’s designed to empower entrepreneurs and marketers with the knowledge and strategies to master these essential business growth tactics. Today’s episode, we are welcoming back Katie Brinkley, who was with us on episode 6 and who’s gonna be with us for future episodes, I’m sure. Katie, thanks so much for being here. Well,
Katie Brinkley [00:00:29]:
bonjour. Thank you so much for having me.
Jennie Wright [00:00:31]:
We were offline. We were talking in a couple different languages. So, you know, We’re doing German. We were doing French. Maybe we’ll go to Spanish. So it’s gonna be good. So you are amazing. You are a social media marketing guru.
Jennie Wright [00:00:48]:
You help people grow their businesses with social media. You’re also now venturing into supporting people with their podcasts. You’re an author of The Social Shift. Congratulations. I’m so excited about this, and I’m you know, at the time that we’re recording this, I’m about to meet you in person in a couple of days, and I can’t wait. 1 for the biggest hug in the world. I I mean, I think I’m taller than you, so I might actually, like, pig pick you up and, like, spin you around just for giggles. But then I really want you to see my book.
Katie Brinkley [00:01:20]:
Surprisingly short. I will give you that heads up. People are surprised Wright the
Jennie Wright [00:01:24]:
How tall are you?
Katie Brinkley [00:01:27]:
I am 5 foot 3 on a good day.
Jennie Wright [00:01:31]:
5 foot 9 and a half over here.
Katie Brinkley [00:01:36]:
What? Yeah. So I’m you are talking about god.
Jennie Wright [00:01:39]:
I did not know. I would have put you at, like, 57.
Katie Brinkley [00:01:43]:
The you know, thank you. A lot of people think that they think that about my height, but, I just I just have a a larger, I just present myself bigger than I am. The.
Jennie Wright [00:01:53]:
A good
Katie Brinkley [00:01:53]:
presence. Yeah. I’m little. Yeah. I’m only I’m only 5 foot 3.
Jennie Wright [00:01:59]:
Oh my goodness. Okay. Well, you know what? That’s that’s gonna be good. Okay. So definitely, we’ll be doing the pickup and twirl. Right? That’ll be a thing. But no. I really I’m actually really excited to meet you in person because this has been a a friendship for a number of years.
Jennie Wright [00:02:14]:
We’ve, you know, been collaborating for a really long time, which is great. You’ve been helping show me how to manage my social, and you’ve helped me grow it by leaps and bounds. I’ve supported your business and, like, You know, webinars and launches and summits and things like The. So meeting in person is gonna
Katie Brinkley [00:02:31]:
be great. I still have people asking me Oh my god. On this our the summit. And Yeah. You know what? It for anyone that’s thinking and I know that this isn’t The topic for today’s conversation. But if anyone is thinking about potentially doing a virtual summit, The, As far as growing my list, it was phenomenal for growing my email list. But 2, The networking opportunities that happened between me and the other speakers was phenomenal. 3, it allowed me opportunities to speak at In person events.
Katie Brinkley [00:03:07]:
And then 4, I got I got leads out of it. I I made money off of it. Yeah. The doing the the virtual event, it was a ton of work, and you gave me a heads up when I said I think I was gonna have 40:42 speed. Wright? That’s a That’s big, Katie. That’s a lot of sessions. It was a big goal, but I definitely could not have done it without you, and It’s really helpful if you decide to do a virtual event to have somebody that’s been there and done it before And can as I said, I called you the puppet master. You were I was I was on stage, but you were the one directing me and moving The and telling me what to do.
Katie Brinkley [00:03:47]:
And I still have people asking me about that event, and they’re bummed that they missed it. So I’m I probably will do another another one, another social profit lab, but I could not have done it without you. So
Jennie Wright [00:04:00]:
We’re totally doing another so oh, it’s It was like you were the ideal client. It was like, you do this. You know, I ask you to do whatever it was, and you’re like, done. Okay. Okay. Great. Social profit lab was such a fun summit, and, actually, I get clients asking me about it. I’ve actually gotten business.
Jennie Wright [00:04:16]:
I’ve closed probably about 4 really Big name clients as a result of your summit because people are like, Katie, who’s doing this? You would tell people I was the puppet master, And then those people Mhmm. Wanted to work
Katie Brinkley [00:04:28]:
with you. LinkedIn title to
Jennie Wright [00:04:30]:
Puppet master?
Katie Brinkley [00:04:31]:
The virtual summit puppet master?
Jennie Wright [00:04:33]:
Sure. Sure. As long as, you know, as long as you change your title to the what was it? The Yo Yo Master. Right?
Katie Brinkley [00:04:41]:
Yeah. So for those listening to The Podcast, somebody asked me, like, on a Deidre. She asked me, is there a fun fact about you? And I couldn’t I was like, well, Pretty darn good with a The yo. And she didn’t think I was serious, but I really am. I’m pretty darn good with a yo yo. It’s been It was something I’m an only child. It was something that I, did in my spare time.
Jennie Wright [00:05:04]:
Only children are really good at magic and things like that. Just It’s like a thing. I would
Katie Brinkley [00:05:09]:
also host radio shows in my room by myself, recording myself talking into a microphone. I would do all the commercials. Oh, yeah. Like, I was really cool growing up. I don’t
Jennie Wright [00:05:20]:
That’s a really good sense of imagination, though. That’s really cool. Yeah. That’s really cool. Some kids need The
Katie Brinkley [00:05:26]:
the passion behind podcasting.
Jennie Wright [00:05:28]:
Yeah. Started at a young age. Meanwhile, what was I doing? I was making Barbie clothes.
Katie Brinkley [00:05:35]:
Oh, wow.
Jennie Wright [00:05:36]:
Yeah. Yeah. I was I was always playing with my I was one of those people who played with Barbies until, like, later. Like, Like, I was probably I probably stopped playing with Barbies when I was in bed 11. But
Katie Brinkley [00:05:46]:
That’s not later. Like, my kids still put my I
Jennie Wright [00:05:49]:
love Barbies.
Katie Brinkley [00:05:50]:
9 And 6. But, I mean, like, the Barbies, and LOL dolls are, like, key fixtures in the house.
Jennie Wright [00:05:57]:
Yeah. But your kids are young. Okay. All things aside, well, I’m I’m really excited. We’re we’re meeting at, and Deirdre’s running this event, so it’s live, and it’s at the time we’re recording this, like happening in a couple of days, which we’re all excited about. I’m nervous as I’ll get out. I’ll be fine once it’s over. Once I’ve gotten off stage, I’ve given my presentation, but until that point, I will be nervous.
Jennie Wright [00:06:19]:
I can’t help it. But what I wanna talk about is I wanna talk about What’s going on with social media right now? I feel like there’s a lot of people because it’s still a sort of brand new New Year thing where people are like, hey. Brand new tactic. Try this for social media. It’s gonna be revolutionary. It’s gonna change everything. And I have a feeling that you’re kind of maybe going, not really, Or maybe you’re rolling your eyes a little bit at these, like, brand new year, brand new thing. Like, tell me what you’re thinking for 2024 with social.
Katie Brinkley [00:06:51]:
I I feel like more postings, more, you know, 30 days of going live, you know, Oh, 30 days of real challenges. That’s tired. That’s so 2022. I I know. Don’t I sound like all the kids these days? No. I it’s you don’t need to post so much, and that’s I know that so many people are Probably saying like, oh, well, you should be doing The, and you should do that. And I really I really want people, as this new year Kicks off. To really honestly, if you need to step away from social media for a month, It and as you figure out your strategy, that is going to be the thing that moves the needle.
Katie Brinkley [00:07:40]:
Mhmm. You need to know what the strategy is for your audience on social media. Who are you talking to? Jenny, your posts with all the pictures of you, your audience really likes to see you. They love your hearing your personal stories, how you overcame things. For me, people really like it when I go on long tangents And have a really long caption. I they those posts are knocking it out of the park.
Jennie Wright [00:08:12]:
They blow it up completely.
Katie Brinkley [00:08:14]:
What works for you is very different than what Works for me, which is very different than my client, Kim, where people love her reels. Mhmm. So you have to really take a step back, Look at what’s working, what platforms are working, and and who you’re creating the content for. Because if you’re creating it for yourself, That’s it’s not going to move the needle for your business. Mm-mm. It it’s just not. You have to really step aside and say, okay. On On LinkedIn, I’m creating this post for Eric.
Katie Brinkley [00:08:47]:
He is a C suite, business owner that has a team of at least 10. This post is for him. On Instagram, this post is for the solopreneur, A female that still has still trying to juggle a family at home. Yeah. So know who it is that you’re talking to and who the post is for. So I think that in 2024, Honestly, I scroll right on past the use this trend use this trending audio if you wanna go viral. Scroll right on by those Challenges or the hey. You can use AI now to, you know, deep fake yourself and create all these videos.
Katie Brinkley [00:09:26]:
Scroll right on past that and take the time to sit down and think about who am I talking to, and what is the goal behind this this effort that I’m putting out The?
Jennie Wright [00:09:36]:
I agree. I agree. I think a lot of people are just
Katie Brinkley [00:09:39]:
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Jennie Wright [00:09:40]:
Right? So look. There was The of your long tangents. We’ll give you the transcript for this, and then you can go and, Use this for social because you just did another long tangent. Oh my god. I love it. You know, when it comes to when When it comes to what I am talking about with social this year because I, you know, I’m not the social expert. You are. But it’s part of my job To include social media as part of what I’m doing.
Jennie Wright [00:10:04]:
Like, I have to talk about it. I have to include it. It’s definitely part of the, you know, sort of the curriculum per se. And what I’m telling people is post with intentionality. And What I’m hearing a lot of people actually, funny enough, I just got a proposal from somebody who wanted to take over the social for something that I’m doing, And their whole thing was post every day. Get every quarter, do a full day of filming, Get x amount of videos, right, and then spend the 1st Monday of every month figuring out everything or creating all your posts and post every single day. I was like, really? And you know what they were gonna charge? They were gonna try and charge I think it was, like, 6 I don’t know. It’s like 1,000 and 1,000 and 1,000 and 1,000 and 1,000 and 1,000 and 1,000 of dollars.
Jennie Wright [00:10:53]:
I get it because you’re posting every day. That would require a lot of work. However, I don’t think, Like, I mean, what works for some people, great. If you wanna post every day, go ahead and post every day. I guess I’m not knocking it. Now it’s my TED Talk. Thank you. But, I don’t know.
Jennie Wright [00:11:09]:
Like, What do you say to that? Like
Katie Brinkley [00:11:13]:
You know, it all depends it all depends on your capacity that you can remain committed to and can assist you with. The 3, yeah, the 3 the 3 c’s right there. Mhmm. Capacity, consistent, committed. What what is your capacity as a business owner? Because I know. So for me, I’m I’m on my soapbox here telling people to not post so much on social media. And, really, the whole basis behind it is to Post with intention and know who your posts are for. Mhmm.
Katie Brinkley [00:11:42]:
And it’s a very it’s very different if you have an in house marketing Well, this is one of their core focuses. They can create, you know, a ton of video content. They can create a The. Get a bunch of photos. They are writing for you every day.
Jennie Wright [00:11:58]:
Well, we’re not Gary’s.
Katie Brinkley [00:12:00]:
Days. Yeah. I mean, he’s got a team of, I think, like, Thirty people that can repurpose 1 15 second video of him going to a garage sale 38 different ways. Like
Jennie Wright [00:12:12]:
No kidding. Book on are the days, you were saying.
Katie Brinkley [00:12:14]:
Depends on what you have Mhmm. At your disposal. But for the majority of our clients, so we we help elevate CEOs come thought leaders in their industry. So we use podcasting as that core medium to help launch your business. And, 1, bring in the brand awareness, bring in people that wanna work with you, get you speaking on stages, get you, you know, All of the things that come for you, the business owner, as the lead gen. Mhmm. And I think that that’s that’s a very different strategy than, let’s say, Nike.
Jennie Wright [00:12:51]:
This is
Katie Brinkley [00:12:51]:
The have a they have a lot more at their disposal. And so with with like, you know, you’re saying, like, posting with intention and, you know, I counted the 1,000. And so for 6 6 to $7,000 to post every day, yeah, if it’s good stuff that’s posted with intention and you’re purposing it, and and you have the team that’s doing it as long as it’s not white noise. Because gone are the days of just creating a generic Canva graphics saying happy holidays and throwing your company’s logo on it. Those things are gone.
Jennie Wright [00:13:25]:
So gone.
Katie Brinkley [00:13:25]:
You know, you And Canva’s phenomenal. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a I use Canva every day. But, I mean, those days are gone. You have to know and a lot of times, it’s it is just having a a picture. A lot times it is just having text. So if you have a team that’s able to create the variety of content that your audience best engages with on that specific platform, That’s worth every penny, and it just comes down to consistency.
Jennie Wright [00:13:52]:
Yes. It does. You know I harp about consistency all the time, But I think that there’s something to be said about you know? Sure. Sure. I could be consistent. I can throw a lot of money behind social media. I can throw a lot of money behind somebody doing my posting and so on. But I think that the story that you’re posting matters.
Jennie Wright [00:14:14]:
The things that you’re posting matters. And if I I think you can get lost. Right? I would rather have, like, I look for your posts. Okay? I look for your stories. I look for your reels, and I’ll watch them because I know that I’m gonna get something of quality and value versus I’m not gonna get a reposted, you know, quote Or a reposted this, that, and the The. Like, the the intentionality, I think, really, really matters, especially when you’re trying to drive community. That’s one of the things that I work on With summits and launches and list building and lead gen is that building of community. And I think that You’re not really building community if you’re posting in a nonintentional way.
Katie Brinkley [00:15:00]:
Yeah. And and that’s such a great point because with Community, like and it you were there you were there in March for me of 2023, Jenny. It was a rough month for me. Yeah. That’s Wright think I posted 3 times for the whole month on Instagram. And, it was one of my better sales month I had in 2023.
Jennie Wright [00:15:21]:
Yeah.
Katie Brinkley [00:15:21]:
You might say, okay. Well, now you’re telling me to not post at all here, miss social media agency owner. And then no. I even though I wasn’t posting, I wasn’t creating the content. I was going in, and I was engaging with my power partners. I was engaging with ideal clients and customers, And I was engaging with my followers every single day, and that is just as important as creating the content. So if you have An agency that’s coming to you and saying, okay. It’ll cost x amount for us to create all this content.
Katie Brinkley [00:15:50]:
That’s great. Awesome. We have our own little media empire, But how are we going to move make people aware that we exist? And it’s by that outbound engagement. It’s by having the conversations with people In the comments, being there to like their post the second that they publish it. That’s what really helps drive community and is going to build out a following of your biggest brand advocates.
Jennie Wright [00:16:15]:
How much time should we be spending doing that?
Katie Brinkley [00:16:18]:
So I spend 10 minutes a day per platform. Okay. And I’m on 3 platforms, so about 30 minutes a day. And that’s also where, you know, I tell people you don’t need to be on every single platform. Just be on the ones that you have the capacity for because that is one of the things that is is going to move the needle as you actually engaging and being on these platforms. But and I’m not just saying go on and scroll the feed, Unless that is your scroll The feed day. But, you know, like, when I’m on, I hop on in to, you know, hashtag Denver business owner. And I’m engaging with all with all of those most recent posts.
Katie Brinkley [00:16:55]:
And then on LinkedIn, I’m going over and checking out, you know, my 2nd connections of people and seeing who who could I connect with, who could I engage with their posts, who, you know, was an ideal client that I can just start following and seeing if where this goes. That’s what moves the needle and makes you probably, you know, aware to to your audience and gives you opportunities. And The, I’ll step off my soapbox after this. But, I mean, one of the so Joe Pulizzi, his company, Tilt Publishing, published, The Social Shift. Mhmm. And he also wrote me the forward. Joe Colizzi is the creator of Content Marketing World And coined the term content entrepreneur. He also has a twice a week newsletter called The Tilt.
Katie Brinkley [00:17:46]:
He’s the founder of the Content Entrepreneur Expo every year. I’ve followed him for Years. And I went up to him at a conference last October. So October of 22. And I said to him I said, hi, Joe. I don’t I don’t know if you know know who I am, but I just wanted to say and he’s like, I know who you are. And I was like, Oh, you do? He says, like, yeah. He you you’re like I hit publish on LinkedIn, and there’s Katie Brinkley leaving me a comment.
Katie Brinkley [00:18:26]:
Nice. The. And I was like, oh. Okay. Well, hi. Well, I just wanted to let you know, you know, like, it’s so great to see you. I’m gonna be writing a book, you know, and I know you’ve written a number of books. In fact, I have his most recent book right up here.
Katie Brinkley [00:18:40]:
You know? And, I was like, I would just love it maybe if, you know, any Wright or guidance that you have as somebody that’s just starting writing a book. And he goes, oh, well, once you’re, you know? He’s like, I’d be happy to. And once you’re done with it, you know, if I’d love to read it. And he wrote the foreword on this. Nice. And, honestly, it wasn’t If he hadn’t said he wanted to read it, I I don’t know if it would have been written. But it gave me the incentive to be like, hey, Kaye. Here’s somebody that I’ve looked up to.
Katie Brinkley [00:19:08]:
Yeah. Even know I existed. And he said, I’d love to read it, and then lo and behold, his company ends up publishing it for me.
Jennie Wright [00:19:15]:
Well, he followed through. Like, that’s big too. Right? So that’s Yeah. That’s, like, kind of a
Katie Brinkley [00:19:21]:
talk The talk, but he actually walks the walk. Oh, yeah. I say this because It I’m not saying that everyone’s gonna go and get a published book written by somebody that they’ve looked up to, but people see like, he knew who I was just because I I was there commenting on his posts and showing up and entering putting myself into his world and his realm.
Jennie Wright [00:19:45]:
I love that. Now now I I mean, while you’re talking, I was like, I can need to open up LinkedIn. I didn’t, but I always kept it.
Katie Brinkley [00:19:52]:
LinkedIn is where it’s at. I so I I have the big 3 from my socials Mhmm. At Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. And Instagram used to be my favorite. I think I have around, I don’t know. 7,000 ish followers on on Instagram. I have 1900 on Facebook, and then I think, like, 45100 on on LinkedIn. So not like, there there’s a great follower accounts, but, like, nothing to write home.
Katie Brinkley [00:20:19]:
Like, Joe has 250,000. So it’s not like I’m, you know, huge on any of these platforms. But LinkedIn is one of my favorite platforms Because people are there to talk shop. They are. And I’m not saying, like, to go in and slide into people’s DMs. There’s really relevant conversations that are happening on LinkedIn. It’s not just a bunch of, hey. Use this trending Audphonic you wanna go viral and have $100,000 months like I do.
Katie Brinkley [00:20:48]:
Like, that’s no one’s doing that. It’s Yeah. It’s very authentic. Instagram’s kind look. I kinda got jaded on it In 2023. Like, all the different things. And then there’s threads, and then there’s reels, and then you have to do stories. And it’s like, golly.
Katie Brinkley [00:21:04]:
And it was just it was hard for me to to show up over there because I felt like I was around a very toxic Energy of people just wanting quick fixes. And LinkedIn, for me, I felt like people were still willing to have the conversation about The effort it takes to grow a business. And yeah. Feels a
Jennie Wright [00:21:25]:
bit,
Katie Brinkley [00:21:26]:
Facebook Wiehler
Jennie Wright [00:21:26]:
a little bit
Katie Brinkley [00:21:27]:
more focused for 2023 for me, and now Now I’m trying to get back on the Instagram bandwagon, but we’ll see.
Jennie Wright [00:21:33]:
LinkedIn feels I mean, by its very nature, it feels a little bit more professional.
Katie Brinkley [00:21:39]:
Yeah.
Jennie Wright [00:21:40]:
And, I mean, I always look at Facebook for Facebook for updates and diatribes like rants. That’s where I would rant is Facebook. Instagram for, you know, fun and where I post pictures of the things I bake because I love to bake. That kind of thing. And then LinkedIn, I will have, like, really thoughtful discussions
Katie Brinkley [00:22:02]:
Mhmm.
Jennie Wright [00:22:03]:
On the posts and thoughtful conversations in the DMs, like, I don’t have thoughtful conversations in Facebook DMs, definitely not in Instagram DMs. Those are just, like, lighthearted, you know, hey. I’d love to have you on my Podcast, blah blah blah. But LinkedIn, it it you kinda get deep with these people. You know? And that’s and that’s different, I think. And I think people are a little bit more intentional on there, which is apparently the word I keep repeating in this Podcast, so maybe it’s my 2024 word.
Katie Brinkley [00:22:30]:
Your word for 2023?
Jennie Wright [00:22:32]:
20 we’re in 2024, dear.
Katie Brinkley [00:22:35]:
Oh my gosh. Yeah. Thank you. Yikes. 20 No problem.
Jennie Wright [00:22:39]:
I got you. I don’t know if it’s gonna be my word. I don’t know.
Katie Brinkley [00:22:43]:
I’m not sure. So my that was my word for 2023 was intention. Yeah. Because I I did a I did a tangent post over on Facebook on it. But, essentially, with And it it comes back to social media, but, I mean, I implied The applied this for all aspects of my business in 2023.
Jennie Wright [00:23:04]:
Mhmm.
Katie Brinkley [00:23:04]:
What is the intention behind this post? What is the intention behind me going on this podcast? What is the intention behind me speaking at this event? Because I you know, Jennie. But for your listeners, I’m pretty impulsive, and I need I needed that to slow myself down because I was burning the candle at both ends,
Jennie Wright [00:23:27]:
And I was getting burnt out.
Katie Brinkley [00:23:29]:
Burning myself out.
Jennie Wright [00:23:30]:
Yeah.
Katie Brinkley [00:23:30]:
Yeah. And, I mean, that’s when March came into play. I was just burning the candle at both Jennie, and I think that I had to ask what was What was the intention behind this post? What was the intention behind me going and speaking at this event? Like, yay. I get to, like, fluff up my feathers and feel really special, but at the same time, like, Is this really what? Am I gonna get sales out of this? Like, what what’s the goal? Mhmm. This year, my word is refine.
Jennie Wright [00:23:57]:
Oh, I like it. That’s a good one. So there’s 2 more things I wanna talk about before we wrap up, and one of them is The. And everybody goes through this, so I’m not, like, calling you out on it. But everybody’s business goes through a dip, and you have a point where you’re like, Do I keep doing this? Is this for me? And you went through that in 2023.
Katie Brinkley [00:24:18]:
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Jennie Wright [00:24:20]:
And I remember, like, really crazy conversations where you’re like, I don’t know, man. I don’t know if I can you know? And and you did it. You turned it around. Do you feel like sharing a little bit about that?
Katie Brinkley [00:24:34]:
I think that as entrepreneurs, all of us will go through that time of like, man, this is really hard.
Jennie Wright [00:24:38]:
Yeah.
Katie Brinkley [00:24:39]:
It’s really hard, and I don’t know I don’t know if I can keep up with it. I I’m so fortunate. My My boss my former boss my my last boss, because now I’m my own boss, and I will say my own boss. But my last boss, Jen, She’s the one that even put this whole crazy idea of being an entrepreneur in my head. But I remember sitting in her office, and I said to her, Wiehler, Jen, I don’t when I found out I was being laid off from, DIRECTV, I was I was like, man, I just don’t know what I’m gonna do. And she’s like, Katie, I I’d love to see it where social media is all you did, and you somehow found a way to get back into radio. And I did. I have a podcast now.
Katie Brinkley [00:25:22]:
I started my own business Wright social media. You know, that’s all like, we do strategy. That’s all we do, and I love what I do. And I Spoke with her. She and I got together for a drink, a couple months ago, and she’s like, man, Katie, you give me way too much credit. And I was like, no. But if you have those people in your life that are Believe in you, it makes it hey. I can I can achieve this? And I said, you know, honestly, Jennie, I’ve never worked harder in my entire life until I started business.
Katie Brinkley [00:25:49]:
And she goes, well, that’s not what I wanna hear as your former manager. I’m like, but no. Like
Jennie Wright [00:25:54]:
It’s true, though.
Katie Brinkley [00:25:55]:
It is. It is a ton of work. It’s a ton of work to be an entrepreneur. And, you know, I I got in so when I started my business, I was working from the couch at night when my daughter went to bed and in between nap times. So I got in The habit of working really, really hard in short bursts. Now my daughters are 69. They’re gone at school all day. However, I was still in the habit of working really, really hard when they weren’t around.
Katie Brinkley [00:26:28]:
And so I all I wore it almost as a badge of honor. Like, my friend Carol, She was, what? You’re writing a book? You’re you have a pot you’re k. How do you find time to do all these things? She’s like, and you have kids. And I was like, I don’t know. I guess I’m just a hard worker. You know? But it was because I’d come to the office, and I was working so hard. Girl, I don’t know if I even told you this. There were times where I was felt guilty about getting up from my desk and going to the bathroom because I
Jennie Wright [00:26:55]:
Oh, no. You felt guilty.
Katie Brinkley [00:26:55]:
If I can take that to I I I can’t take that time away. It was It was a terrible cycle that I got myself into. And so I think that
Jennie Wright [00:27:07]:
I I I remember getting on a call with you, and you’re like, we’re talking. And then you said, Jenny, I’m really, really sorry. Can we just hold on for a second? I really gotta go to the bathroom. I didn’t wanna say anything, and I Trying to wait. I’m like, why were you waiting? Go to the bathroom, please. Right? And you’re like, but I felt guilty because we had this call. I’m like, Please, you know, go and take care of what you gotta take care of, and I’ll be here when you get back. Right? It’s not a big deal.
Jennie Wright [00:27:35]:
Go for it. So, I mean, that was funny. So you had this low. I think everybody goes through it. I went you know? And we go through it multiple times. They look different every time. But then coming out of it, I think, is the really cool piece. And you came out really, really strong.
Jennie Wright [00:27:51]:
You grew your agency. You ended up hiring a, what’s that person’s title? I guess, like, a manager of some sort, sort of like an account manager. Right? And then That went a bit further, and now you’ve added on this new piece. And it’s going strong. It came out. Yeah. Podcast. Like, talk to me about what Why you added that piece into your business? What was the foundation of it? How’s it going?
Katie Brinkley [00:28:18]:
It’s going great. It’s really going well. I’m really finding a lot of clarity with what my offers The, and I think that that’s all part like, going through the low, It’s hard, but what you come out with is clarity of what you enjoy doing, what it is that you are most passionate about, What’s worth your time? What isn’t? And that’s where I came up. And after the one of the lows, and I was like, man, That’s you know, everyone keeps asking me about podcast strategy. Everyone keeps asking me to come on stages and speak about podcasting. Now I don’t even have an offer for this. Mhmm. And then I was talking with our good friend, Sean Q, and he, again, brought up podcasting with me.
Katie Brinkley [00:29:06]:
And I’m like, man, you know, I don’t I don’t offer that. And he was like, why? I was like, Well, I mean, I love podcasting, and I love diving into the strategy. And he’s like, okay. So why aren’t you why isn’t that an offer? And I was like, I didn’t have an answer.
Jennie Wright [00:29:20]:
Do you don’t you love the way that Sean asks questions? He just sits there and goes, why? Why?
Katie Brinkley [00:29:26]:
Uh-huh. Oh my god. Yeah. And it was great because I was like, yeah. This why am I not doing it? People want people want my advice on it. I love the medium, And now I have an offer for it, and it it’s been one of the it’s an easy sell it’s an easy sell for me because I’ve went through it. Everything that we offer now, everything we’re doing are things that I learned, implemented, and grew from with my business that has scaled and grown my business. It helped me write a book.
Katie Brinkley [00:30:02]:
It helped me get paid speaking opportune like, Everything that I learned, I’m now implementing for my clients, and I I know how to do it. Yeah. There’s no questioning involved because Now I’ve done it. I can help you, and I have a lot of confidence in what my offer is because I I can walk the walk.
Jennie Wright [00:30:23]:
It’s not that you’ve even just done it once either. It’s you’ve done it multiple times. Right? So what most people don’t know about you or maybe they do is during the I’m working my tail off between, you know, the times Wiehler my kids are at school. Is you had multiple podcasts?
Katie Brinkley [00:30:36]:
I had 3 at one time.
Jennie Wright [00:30:38]:
3 podcasts at 1 like, what the crap? But so you you grew 3
Katie Brinkley [00:30:44]:
was guesting.
Jennie Wright [00:30:45]:
And yep. And stage speaking And and and and and and. Right? So this pullback and getting you focused, seeing you get focused, I think, is phenomenal. You know me. I’m all about, like, own Own the one thing. Right? That’s why Yeah. Although I don’t call myself this, I get called the summit queen. I’ll take it.
Jennie Wright [00:31:03]:
Thank you very much for the The. Because I’ve done 370 summits, so I know every iteration. I know how to make them successful. I know what works, And I know how to make it happen in every industry. Right? You know how to make a podcast work. You had a sports podcast. You have your social media podcast. What was the other one about?
Katie Brinkley [00:31:22]:
I had an NFT podcast, and then I I forgot. I also had a mindset podcast where I was the host and I interviewed. Yeah. So, I mean, like, it
Jennie Wright [00:31:32]:
Yeah. All of the things. So you know how to make these podcasts work. And with your social media agency, you know how to make Different industries. Right? Like, you’ve had, like, real estate and so on and so forth. So now you have this proven sort of methodology. You prove it for yourself. You prove it for clients.
Jennie Wright [00:31:47]:
It’s great. And I think a lot of people should do that, and that’s one of the reasons I want to bring this up. I know this podcast is about list building, lead generation, and launches, and all of this Plays into that. Right? So you have the low, then you figure out what to do next. You get more clients. You bring in more talented employees or Contractors, you refocus. You get that new thing like your you know, the Podcast that you’re offering. What are you gonna do? And and this is gonna wrap this episode up.
Jennie Wright [00:32:14]:
What are you gonna do in Wright to assist in the launch of this podcast strategy, like, offer. If you say summit, I’ll be happy.
Katie Brinkley [00:32:23]:
Yeah. No. A summit would be it would be great. I’d love to do a summit, another summit again. Maybe you know, it is, You know, February. So knowing how long and all the things that need to happen, maybe a good September summit would would be good. I feel like that’s a good launch time. Yeah.
Katie Brinkley [00:32:41]:
I’d I’d anyone that works with Jennie, understand that, you know, a summit is not built in The day. You know, just like anything, it’s it’s another arm of your business, and you you need to have that launch time to make people aware and to Do it the right way. Mhmm. And so, yeah, maybe a September summit would be great. I think that for me, I the next hire that I’m bringing on is for a a COO. You know? And I never thought I’d be at a position to to have To be looking for that hire, but I’m learning so much about what my strengths are, what my needs are. And if I have a COO, I’m not gonna be in the day to day of actually completing the client work. I can be out there doing the strategy, which is my favorite, And doing the sales, which is my 2nd favorite.
Katie Brinkley [00:33:30]:
So I feel like as we are on this business journey, there’s There’s gonna be peaks. There’s gonna be valleys. There’s, you know, there’s so many different ways to grow your business. Just Don’t compare your journey to someone else’s. And I know that sounds very cliche, but, you know, I’m at this it’s taken me 7 years to get to this point of my journey. Somebody else might have been on this journey the the same journey, but they’re 17 years ahead of me. Someone else might be just Just starting their journey. And we Wright the comparison, especially on social media, it is the enemy.
Katie Brinkley [00:34:10]:
You can’t compare your journey and where you are on your journey to anyone else’s, just enjoy the ride. I think that Yeah. Just enjoy the ride.
Jennie Wright [00:34:20]:
That’s a good way to end it. That’s awesome. Thank you so much, Katie. This has been really fun. Where can people Get the social shift. Where can they find and connect with you?
Katie Brinkley [00:34:30]:
Yeah. So you can get the social shift at katybrinkley.com/book, or you can, connect with me just atkatybrinkley.com, and it Has connections to all my socials that I’m on, the book, my 4 post planner. If you are interested in posting less, I have a whole planner That you can use to help set aside all the The you wanna do, it’s all at katiebrinkley.com.
Jennie Wright [00:34:55]:
Amazing. Thank you so much for doing this yet again. I’m so glad to have you back. In the last episode, if you wanna catch up on the last episode with Katie, go to episode number 6. This is episode 26, so just go back 20, And, we’ll have to have you back on probably less than 20 episodes from now because there’ll be more good stuff to talk about. The acquire Podcast, as always, is Produced and edited by Jason Wheeler. And if you found this episode to be valuable, and I hope you did, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and leave me a review. Let me know what you think.
Jennie Wright [00:35:24]:
I really do wanna hear from you. And I want to thank you for being part of my growing community. Please do share this podcast with anybody that you know that you would find it valuable, And I’d love to see you within my own Facebook group. The links to come and join that are in the show notes. Thank you so much everybody for listening. And as always, the Acquire podcast is brought to you by the The Phonic podcast network. Talk to y’all soon.