Second Annual “Week of Engagement” Day 3 – Service

This is our second annual “week of engagement” and our Day 3 discussion is with Lisala Peery, owner of SimplyStunning Media. She sets up and manages social media accounts, mainly LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. And when she’s having fun she’s also a container gardener and theater stage manager.

Tag your favorite laywer, accountant, dentist, electrician, plumber, interior designer or other service professional on your socials and use #engagesmall so we can follow along.

Find out everything about SimplyStunning Media on their website and connect with them on Facebook and Instagram.

Transcript

Brandan: Hey, this is Brandan Baki from Engage Small. So today is day three of our week of engagement where we’re tagging our favorite small businesses and using the #engagesmall. Today is service. So, service is going to be anybody with a single-service offering. Typically, it’s gonna be like a lawyer, a CPA, a plumber, an electrician. They might have a physical presence in your city but they might also just work online. So it’s a pretty big kind of catchall. Usually this group that we’ve determined are non creatives. And if you wanna learn more about this group or Engage Small at all. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram @engagedsmall or engagesmall.com. But today we’re talking with Lisala Peeray of SimplyStunning Media. And although she kind of teeters with service and creative, we thought we’d feature her today. I’m here with Lisala Peeray from SimplyStunning Media. How are you doing Lisala?

Lisala: Great. How are you today Brandan?

Brandan: Good. I’m good, I’m good. So, I appreciate you taking the time to do all of this. So, we’re just gonna kinda dig in what does SimplyStunning do?

Lisala: So, SimplyStunning Media manages social media accounts. I do a lot of setup for LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube accounts because it’s a lot of typing, just menial details and tasks that small business owners and artists may not have the time to do. So, I would say my service is definitely kind of a luxury because you’re paying me to do something you don’t have time to do. It’s not.

Brandan: Right.

Lisala: Yeah. There’s, yeah. And then I also do training for staff to, so they can better utilize their social media.

Brandan: Yeah. That’s great. So, do you see yourself… where do you feel like your business falls? Does it feel like marketing? Does it feel like,

Lisala: Yes.

Brandan: Okay, so you feel like you’re supporting a marketing team or not team but you’re supporting that marketing arm of a small business.

Lisala: Right, yes.

Brandan: So, it’s funny that you say that there’s all these little details and like this minor stuff to do. I set up last year, I set up my, I’d always had my work accounts but I was like, “You know what, I’m gonna go in like actually do all of the things on my social channels that I’m supposed to be doing and really try to energize the posting and all that stuff.” And I can tell you, I mean it was weeks of work to get in there and actually do. And I’m like, I’m Google searching what stuff means, like Facebook has. I mean there’s like 30 tabs on Facebook to set up your business site. It’s ridiculous. And I don’t know what half the stuff means. And then, once you even get it set up it’s like, “Oh, I’m gonna start posting.” And I mean, that ran a very short period of time before it was, it’s exhausting. It is a full-time job.

Lisala: It is.

Brandan: It is work.

Lisala: It is.

Brandan: But I will say when I’ve committed the time, there is meaningful returns on that.

Lisala: Yes, yes. So, the way I look at it, if you’re doing social media you’re probably not doing your business ’cause you’re working on this-

Brandan: 100% yes.

Lisala: I spend one day a week just learning and Facebook is always changing and they’re always improving, improving their small business options. So, if you don’t go to those webinars to learn the tips and tricks then you don’t know what you’re looking at. And they change all the time. So,

Brandan: Yeah.

Lisala: It’s really something, same with Instagram though. Instagram, it changes little things change here and there. And if you’re not doing the webinars and the training sessions, you would miss out on those nuances that make the difference between 50 followers and 500 followers. So,

Brandan: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I’ll like, look for something, “Oh, I don’t know how to do this.” So, I’ll search it. And I go in and I do exactly what some random blog said and then at the bottom I’m like thinking, “Well, this doesn’t seem right.” And I go back and the blog was posted in 2017 or something when it’s like, “Okay. well it’s probably wrong now.”

Lisala: Yeah. Yeah. Everything’s advanced and shifted in terms of how people,

Brandan: So, when did you start doing this, when did this business kinda come about?

Lisala: Okay, so if I can start a little bit before that.

Brandan: Yeah absolutely.

Lisala: As a kid, I was always into computers and coding and it was also the 80s, so there weren’t as many resources for that kind of thing but that’s what I was doing after school generally. And I’m a writer. Once social media started to even just appear on the scene. I recognized it as a place where I can get my writing out there. And as I started doing more things, people started asking me to help them or do things for them. And after the third person asks, I figured I should start charging. And after I started seeing results, I was like, “Oh, this is actually something on a different avenue where I can be self-employed and not actually worked for another organization and still put my skillsets of writing and tech to work. Good work.”

Brandan: Yeah.

Lisala: Yeah. That’s fantastic. And it’s almost a, you’re a writer, so writers usually go down the path of writing. And it’s really interesting that you were like, “I’m going to also pair in these other, kind of,” I wouldn’t call them anomalies, but you just kind of focusing and specializing, which I think is really powerful in this time really.

Brandan: Yes.

Lisala: But

Brandan: Yeah, you kinda have this like multi-tentacle business too where you can still write, you can still market, you can still set up social media, you consult. So, it’s just a lot to kinda go after. Do you, so when you’re offering something to accompany, do they usually reach out because they want you to initially set up stuff? Or is it more of a long running, they want you to be more of like a partnership.

Lisala: So, up until recently, it has been a lot of, “Just set this up and we’ll manage it.” But recently I’ve started getting clients who really just want me to take over everything and they, but also those clients tend to supply me with their work. So, I don’t have to come up with as much content, I just have to distribute it which is really the sweet spot to be in for a business like mine. But I’ve also seen a marked difference in the people who use my management services versus the people who just use my setup services with how far their social media reach really grows. And usually the growth doesn’t happen very quick, It doesn’t happen quickly anyway. Social media is a long game, it takes about three years to get a solid audience of a thousand that’s engaged and interested in what you’re doing. But it’s even more time if you aren’t paying or if you don’t have a person concentrated to do just that for your business.

Brandan: Yeah. Yeah. I didn’t know that, but that makes complete sense. It feels like there’s this slow rolling ball. Where it’s kind of snowball where it’s kind of gathering and growing. But once it attaches to little things, that really you can’t time. It’s just about being consistently engaged. And,

Lisala: Yup.

Brandan: I think, once it starts attaching to stuff it really does start to grow, which is really really cool. So-

Lisala: Yeah.

Brandan: Go ahead.

Lisala: I was just gonna say, you have to be consistent and if you’re not consistent, then it’s,

Brandan: Yeah, people just disappear. I mean, small businesses do

Lisala: Yup.

Brandan: I do all the time and I know that it’s not beneficial, we’ve, everyone’s kind of said this before. It’s like, “When you have time to advertise, that’s when you need to be working.” Right?

Lisala: Yeah.

Brandan: If you have, “Okay, I’ve got two weeks of nothing to do, so I’m gonna start advertising.” Well, you don’t advertise to get work today. You advertise to get work three months, six months, whatever.

Lisala: Exactly.

Brandan: Obviously different businesses. If you sell a product that could wildly different but for freelancers or anybody could just creative. Yeah, you’re planting the seeds. So,

Lisala: Yeah.

Brandan: You’re not gonna, so it’s just like, if you’re advertising today, ’cause you don’t have any work today. You’re definitely too late. Not to say you shouldn’t, you should obviously get started whenever you can.

Lisala: Right, right.

Brandan: But yeah, that’s cool. So, what do you know now that you wish you knew then when you started?

Lisala: It’s a good question. To your point, you read articles about how to do social media or how to get clients. And I’m also a virtual assistant. So, I offer a whole series of services to people that again they may not have time to do. So, spreadsheets, documents, letter writing. And when you read these articles about how to start the, it’s like if you do this, this and this and now you’ve got a business you’re set, and that’s not true. It’s not true at all. And if you go to the meetings and network with people and talk to folks, everyone has the same pain points. It takes a lot of time to build an audience. It takes time to find the right voice. It takes time, it takes time, and you’re gonna fail and you’re gonna make mistakes. And a lot of it really is just staring at your computer in the space for a couple hours, before you actually start turning out a whole bunch of work that’s really great. And no one talks enough about that aspect. Everyone makes it sound like, “Just do this, this and this and you’re off.

Brandan: Yeah. It’s a lot of behind the scenes hustle. It’s owning a small business is, it’s well, when you’re a freelancer you’re still a small business owner, right?

Lisala: Mm Hmm.

Brandan: There’s no way around that. You still have to, you’re taking out your own taxes, you’re playing HR, you’re playing everything.

Lisala: Mm Hmm.

Brandan: So, you’re marketing for yourself. You’re doing all of the things. So, you’re a small business, anyway you slice it. And there are so many unpaid tasks to do that really, you just have to, you got to learn as much as you can and just try to do them the best you can. When you get to a space where you could ask someone to help you, that’s like a a great level to be at. But I think, I have somebody who helps me with my social media and it was honestly the best. That was the best, it seemed like a major investment at first, right? Like everything’s like, “Well, I can’t, if I pay you that’s less money than I’m getting.”

Lisala: That’s right.

Brandan: That’s really not how any of it is. It’s, “I’m paying you so I can make more money”

Lisala: That’s right.

Brandan: So, yeah. I would highly encourage. So, I think one of my biggest, I’m always surprised when I go to someone’s website or their social media and like they’re a website and I know restaurants are really bad about this, like small restaurants. They’ll have, they’ll build their website with Wix or something. But then, like all the social media buttons and everything, all the links, they just go back to like the Wix general website because they have it up, they didn’t get in there and actually doing it.

Lisala: Ooh, so you can go in and fix it. Okay.

Brandan: Yeah. Because they probably just set up their website really quick. They didn’t know that they were supposed to or they don’t know how to, whatever it is. But the same with like social channels. I see people, they don’t have a website, so I’m like, “I just wanna go to your thing and buy your thing. But I don’t know how.”

Lisala: Right.

Brandan: I just, I think it’s kind of funny. It seems like everyone’s kind of like, “Okay, let’s just, if I just get the name on Facebook and I’ll put my phone number on there, I’m good to go.” It’s like, well, that’s kind of like the bare minimum but I even think then it can be damaging to your business to not have set that stuff up appropriately because I don’t want to say it’s easy but it’s one of those, it’s low hanging fruit at that point.

Lisala: Yes.

Brandan: If someone’s on your Facebook page let them, give them all the info that they want. Don’t make them hunt for it.

Lisala: Yeah. And then if you are going that route, post at least once a week so that when people come to your page, it doesn’t look like no one’s paying attention.

Brandan: Yeah.

Lisala: Because it looks like if I send a message, no one will answer. I’d probably just look for something else.

Brandan: Yeah. I’ve been to business pages where they haven’t posted at all and you go there and you’re like, “Well, I don’t think.” Like, did they go under, it says they’ve been in business since 2008.

Lisala: Right.

Brandan: But haven’t posted, that seems crazy. So, as far as social since you’re in there. What, where do you like to engage with people, for your business, for work. How do you interact with-

Lisala: So, I most enjoy LinkedIn and Instagram. I just, I can connect with business people of all kinds and get all kinds of information on LinkedIn and showcase my professional work. And on Instagram is literally everything else. And I’m honestly trying to move away from Facebook which is kind of difficult to do because everybody wants to be there. But as I look at the demographics, if you’re, it depends on what audience you’re trying to reach but Facebook does skew a little older than all the other media out there. So, if you’re trying to reach a younger age group or if you want people who are going to grow with you, Instagram or TikToK is a much better way to go because those folks you’re getting them younger.

Brandan: Yeah, that’s what I have.

Lisala: And I honestly started doing that with periscope in Instagram. Everyone that I communicated with was at least five years younger than me. And my thinking was when they start getting graduating from college and going into work, they’re going to need, they’re businesses will need someone to do a marketing position will open. And maybe they’ll think of me because I’ve been around and that’s actually paid off a little bit. So,

Brandan: Mm Hmm. Planting the seed.

Lisala: Right, right. Planting the seed. Facebook is good because everyone expects you to have a Facebook page. And like if they, and a lot of companies are starting to do all of their customer service through Facebook messaging which can be frustrating because you call and they don’t answer but then you send a Facebook message and it’s like, “Oh, we can type all day.”

Brandan: Yeah, right.

Lisala: You just can’t talk to the person. So, it’s become a necessary tool but in terms of reaching a new audience and getting new eyes on your products, I really like Instagram and LinkedIn.

Brandan: Yeah. That’s great. I have some, Like I don’t really care for Facebook on a personal level. And I think maybe more of my direct to client audience is on LinkedIn, but I can’t crack LinkedIn to save my life. I’ve like posted and posted, their algorithm is so specific and people have mastered it. But I have such poor interaction on LinkedIn but then I go to Facebook and I get good interaction on Facebook. I’m like,

Lisala: Right. “Well, okay. I’ll just take that.” And Facebook’s ad buys so much easier. It’s just simpler. It seems like

Brandan: Yeah, it is. the engagements much more active on there. I feel like LinkedIn is, it seems more labor intensive, but in a good way.

Lisala: Mm Hmm.

Brandan: I’m sure if you played the game, it’s purposefully that way. It’s not easy to get interact, to get that engagement. But I think that’s a good thing. It’s just hard to do.

Lisala: The key is really having a strong network. Like if you have people you’re connected to aren’t liking your content or engaging with your content no one else will either.

Brandan: Right.

Lisala: So the key is to have a strong network on LinkedIn that you can discuss with.

Brandan: The key is to pay someone $100 to get 10,000 bucks to like my thing.

Lisala: Well, see, I don’t like to go that route because if bots are liking your stuff, no one is buying and no one is engaging.

Brandan: It’s just fake.

Lisala: Yeah. Just a number.

Brandan: Fake. Nothing. Yeah. Which,

Lisala: Yeah.

Brandan: we’ve seen now is becoming less and less important to like true engagement. I mean, LinkedIn has always been like that though. Right?

Lisala: Yeah.

Brandan: It doesn’t matter how many likes you have on LinkedIn. You’re not really boosted through their algorithm unless people are commenting and you’re commenting back. LinkedIn wants conversation. And if you’re not,

Lisala: Yes. if that’s not stimulating conversation LinkedIn doesn’t care. They don’t care-

Brandan: Instagram is the same way, you can go and like all kinds of stuff but until you start commenting, that’s when you’ll start to see, what pays off with LinkedIn if you’re commenting on other account’s content, other people who follow those accounts will start to like your page.

Lisala: Okay.

Brandan: Because he was commenting and they liked what you had to say.

Lisala: So, you engaging

Brandan: So, the comments is really

Lisala: with other people.

Brandan: where your engagement happens.

Lisala: Yeah.

Brandan: And that makes sense too. I’ve encouraged businesses to reply to people as much as they can and ask questions even in those replies, start, like engagement just as a whole, I think is a funny thing. We always think about likes, and hearts, and thumbs up. And it’s just much more than that. And social media is kind of like they’re just sick of people pretending to engage and they want real engagement, which is good ’cause that’s good for businesses. That’s what,

Lisala: It is.

Brandan: If I comment on something in a business comments back, like that’s huge. I think people always want to know that there’s humans at the other side. And,

Lisala: Right.

Brandan: I wanna buy things from people. I don’t want to buy things from corporate something.

Lisala: Right. Yeah.

Brandan: I think that’s really important. So here to kind of bookend on a human question. What makes you, when you think about all of the things that you do for work and you put that aside, what do you like to do that has nothing to do with that?

Lisala: Okay. I wanna go back to one thing though

Brandan: Go ahead, go ahead

Lisala: on that one question. My favorite thing to do really is to build YouTube pages. I re&ally love building the channels out.

Brandan: That’s hard too.

Lisala: Figuring out those exact hashtags to get the right, every day you have to go in and comment on your peers that are in the same space here. I love that setup part of the whole thing. So,

Brandan: YouTube blows my mind.

Lisala: Yeah, it has blows my mind too.

Brandan: It’s crazy. Like people are so engaged in YouTube in a way that I never, if you look at all the social channels and YouTube, I don’t know if they would call themselves social. They’re more of like video search engine. But when you look at the amount of engagement people who actually care to follow these videos and they dig in so deep and then they continue to comment and post and they interact so much, it’s crazy. People are really engaged on YouTube.

Lisala: Yeah. Yeah. It’s a lot. If there’s a second largest search engine and they say the first most popular social network and a lot of businesses do well. If you’re active on LinkedIn as a business or on YouTube as a business, you will do really well. So as far as things I do that are not related at all to that, I do container gardening. So, I have probably about 20 plants right now.

Brandan: What kind of plants, did you, vegetables or?

Lisala: I tried, but I don’t have enough sun for vegetables, right in my yard.

Brandan: Oh okay.

Lisala: So I switched to mostly like ivies and succulents and I’m just developing my green thumb learning how to keep them alive and thriving and growing. And that kind of thing, love it. And I like camping

Brandan: That’s cool.

Lisala: in outdoors and all that stuff. And I’m in theater. So, I’m a stage manager for plays and I just picked up a play yesterday that’s gonna go up, it’s Cleveland Public Theater next month, well July. So, yeah

Brandan: Oh that’s awesome, what’s the play?

Lisala: It’s called Black Panther Women. And it’s, I believe seven women, the cast is seven women do it, and the play is also outdoors. So it’ll be outdoors at Cleveland Public Theater and also at Cultural Gardens. So, yeah.

Brandan: Oh, that’s awesome.

Lisala: theater is something I really love but I love the back stage. I have no interest in being on stage, memorizing lines, performing but backstage I can keep everything together and make sure the show goes off really well. I love it.

Brandan: That’s fantastic. That’s like a, flexing a totally different creative part of your brain. And that

Lisala: Yes.

Brandan: can be like wildly fulfilling and refreshing. And I feel like doing stuff like that can always re-inject energy in your work,

Lisala: Yeah, it does.

Brandan: doing these things, like yeah, sharing that.

Lisala: And really what it takes is being extremely organized and detail oriented. It’s not creative at all on my end. My end is all about responding to what people need and making sure everything is timed right. Yeah. It’s all the other half of the brain entirely.

Brandan: Yeah. Right. Just a nice take on something else.

Lisala: Yeah.

Brandan: So, where can people reach out to you if they wanted to contact you?

Lisala: Okay. So I am SimplyStunning, if you’re at my website simplystunning.media. Facebook Instagram SimplyStunning Media. Perfect.

Brandan: Yeah, yeah.

Lisala: Message me, I respond pretty quickly.

Brandan: Lisala, thank you so much for taking the time to do this for us.

Lisala: Thanks, Brandan. This was a lot of fun.

Brandan: Thanks for watching. If you wanna know more about Lisala Peeray or SimplyStunning Media, you can check out her links and don’t forget to tag your favorite service businesses today. Use the #engagesmall so we can follow along. If you want to learn more or participate in any way you can go to engagesmall.com and find out more about us. Thanks.