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A few weeks ago someone emailed me Rachel Pedersen’s 2023 Marketing & Social Media Predictions. I thought it would be fun to share it with you AND add in my two cents.

Hold on to your hats, it’s a long one––but worth it.

+ RACHEL’S PREDICTION: Instagram will officially be out and winding down in a big way.

ERIKA’S TWO CENTS: Agreed. However, IG remains a valuable place to consistently connect to your existing audience. But you have to be intentional with how you use it. It no longer works to create hodgepodge content and still get tons of likes & followers like you could in 2015.

Unlike other social media platforms, the Instagram grid shows a quick snapshot of what you’re all about and can serve as a beautiful portfolio for your physical products. (Or if you’re a service-based business and don’t want to blog anymore, it’s a great place to spread your message and share your expertise.)

Also IG ads are still working to get your offering in front of the right audience.  

Plus their DM feature is the best! It’s especially useful when you’re trying to connect with someone you don’t know. It feels more casual and friendly than sending an email. Like getting a text message from a bestie. 

+ RACHEL’S PREDICTION: Hype and clickbait will wind down in popularity.

ERIKA’S TWO CENTS: Because I’m a sucker for a great subject line, I believe hype and clickbait will always be on trend. However, if there’s nothing of value on the other side of the link, then Rachel’s spot on. It’s definitely on its way out.

Pssst. The secret to creating high-value content is to keep your ideas as simple and pointed as possible. Be ruthless with editing out the fluff. No one has time for that.

By creating content that’s laser-focused on helping your customers solve their pain points, you can avoid the hype and clickbait trap. You’ll be able to provide real value to your readers and cultivate a true connection with them over time—without relying on gimmicks or tricks. 

+ RACHEL’S PREDICTION: The best way to effectively reach your ideal audience is to intimately know what problems and pains they experience. Creating content around this will be a game-changer in 2023 and moving forward.

ERIKA’S TWO CENTS: For sure.

And I know you’re not putting out crappy content, so keep doing what you’re doing.

Where I sometimes see entrepreneurs get stuck, though, is that the bigger they get… the less they take the time to connect with her audience. And the essence of their brand becomes diluted and lackluster.

No matter where you are in your business you gotta stay in the trenches with the problems you solve for your customers. Don’t hide behind your marketing team. Get out there and have real conversations. 

+ RACHEL’S PREDICTION:YouTube is about to become the BIGGEST platform on a whole new level (those who create on YouTube consistently are going to thrive!).

ERIKA’S TWO CENTS: So happy about this! I have a paid YouTube subscription and watch a video there almost every day.

If you’ve already got a strong TikTok game, you need to leverage what you already have and post your TikToks to YouTube Shorts.

+ RACHEL’S PREDICTION: TikTok will be a close second with the platform reconfiguring a few things with their algorithm.

ERIKA’S TWO CENTS: Yes. Yes. Yes.

You know how much I love TikTok. It’s been a great place for me to build my video confidence, test out ideas for my serialized Think Like A Stripper podcast, and get new clients.

I love it so much, I created a TikTok course, Viral Impact Foundations, with my partner in crime, Christine Buzan. We are finishing up the first cycle and super impressed with what we’ve been able to help our clients with.

+ RACHEL’S PREDICTION: Overly edited content is making its way out.

ERIKA’S TWO CENTS: Amen :)

This is coming from the woman who lives to be editorial and make everything beautiful. I will happily spend a Saturday evening rearranging my closet––making sure that even the inside of my closet drawers are photo shoot ready.

What I love about this, though, is that this opens up the marketplace for expert-based entrepreneurs. (Which is the majority of my clients.) 

Instead of fussing about your visuals, you can get to work on helping people solve their problems in a powerful way.

I think there will always be a place for beautiful, highly curated, photos and stuff. But now both lowbrow & highbrow content will perform. That’s how it should be.

+ RACHEL’S PREDICTION: People are not going to be interested in long (or even short) intros for your content unless it’s absolutely excellent. You are not the decider of what’s excellent – your drop off times in content/videos is.

ERIKA’S TWO CENTS: Preach it Rachel! 

Creating that hook, or that perfect email subject line, is always a fun challenge. At least I think so. The easiest way to do this is to create content first––then develop the hook from the existing content.

+ RACHEL’S PREDICTION: Text message marketing will ramp up and wind down by the end of 2023.

ERIKA’S TWO CENTS: I’ve never done text message marketing. But I’ve definitely signed up to receive it from companies that I like. However, I haven’t seen anyone who does a good job with it. It’s always way too salesy and boring. If you have any examples of a brand that does it well, will you let me know?

+ RACHEL’S PREDICTION: Pinterest will also be a hidden gem for 2023, both organically and paid advertising.

ERIKA’S TWO CENTS: I absolutely love Pinterest and am there at least once a day feeding my interior design addiction & adding to my Daily Whip style boards. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for this platform. Let’s just say, if you’re not considering Pinterest as part of your digital marketing strategy, you’re missing out on a lot of potential growth opportunities – especially for product based companies.

+ RACHEL’S PREDICTION: Paid advertising costs on all platforms will decrease in 2023 – time to run lead gen campaigns.

ERIKA’S TWO CENTS: Yippee

PRO TIP: If you’re going to run lead generation campaigns, make sure that the opt-in you’re promoting is so good, you could charge for it.

If you know you’ve created a puff piece, toss that sucker into the Google Drive graveyard and craft an ad-worthy-opt-in that…

✔️Grabs attention

✔️Embodies your brilliant expertise 

✔️Fills your sales pipeline

+ RACHEL’S PREDICTION: B Roll with overlaid words is going to reign supreme next year. Thank goodness it’s super easy to create.

ERIKA’S TWO CENTS: I’m here for this. And doing B roll is a great way to baby step your way into getting comfortable and being confident on video. 

+ RACHEL’S PREDICTION: Marketing events will need to have actual value and community to continue working. 

ERIKA’S TWO CENTS: Agreed. And the key to creating a marketing event with value is being so hyper-specific that everyone walks away with at least one guaranteed result.

Online marketing events (even Instagram Lives & TikTok Lives) are also super effective because they allow you to connect directly with your audience – without having to spend money on a physical event. And that opens up a lot of possibilities.

+ RACHEL’S PREDICTION: The value of free is making a comeback. While everyone else is pinching every last penny from their customers, try sharing massive value and transformation for free.

ERIKA’S TWO CENTS: I was introduced to this concept back when I was stripping in the 1990s. One of the clubs I worked at mandated an hourly Texas tease – a free 45 second lap dance that got customers in the mood to buy. 👀 And buy they did. 

Bottom line? Everyone loves free. But it has to be as good as anything your customers would pay for.

___

Not mentioned in her trend report, but worth noting, is the rise of experts and the fall of influencers.

This is very good news for smarty pants––like you.

More and more brands are looking to partner with influencers who have “day jobs.” People who are experts in their field and have spent years developing their skills.

For example, skin care brands want to partner with influencers who are estheticians and dermatologists versus an attractive Gen Z influencer who’s hawking a new product every day. 

In 2023, authenticity and expertise will push through the noise in the influencer world.

XXXO

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Many years ago, I was a member of several local clubs for women in business, and often got invited to speak at meetings and events.

One day, an invitation rolled into my inbox asking me to give a talk. I told the event organizer, “Sure, that sounds great! I’d like to title my presentation ‘Think Like A Stripper’, and base it on my upcoming book.”

If emails could express ‘stunned silence,’ that’s exactly what her reply would have sounded like.

She wrote: Actually, we’re hoping you can choose a different title for your talk – and not mention your book. We don’t want to potentially offend anyone.

If you’ve known me for about 5 minutes, you’re probably aware that “don’t want to offend anyone” isn’t a part of my vocabulary.

If you have to tone down your magic, you’re working the wrong crowd.

So I wrote back: I’m willing to change the title of my talk, if that feels absolutely necessary, but I’m not changing my content – or my story.

Let’s just say . . . that speaking gig didn’t pan out.

Nor did the speaking gig where I was asked to speak to a group of commercial real estate industry professionals – but if I wanted to bring my book to sell at the event, I’d have to hide the book in a brown paper bag so participants wouldn’t be embarrassed to walk out of the venue with it. No thanks!

Or the other time I was UN-invited to speak from a national women in business group – after I had already promoted the event on my website and to my mailing list.

Turns out I was too edgy for the board of directors. Too bad for them!

My street smarts are what helped me co-create a multi-million dollar commercial real estate investment company and a successful business coaching consultancy. Their audiences could learn a thing or two from me.

Here are stunning results from one of my speaking presentations where I showed the audience how to create bold viewpoints in their business.

– One participant sold $4000 in jewelry THAT day.

– One participant closed a $20,000 consulting deal a few weeks later.

– One participant got featured in the Washington Post.

And one participant had her article featured on Fast Company’s website.

I could have boxed up the stilettos and toned down my message to score more speaking gigs, but that’s not who I am.

Even though it initially hurt to not score that speaking gig, to get uninvited, and to be asked to put my book in a brown paper bag, it made me more determined to share my voice, and leverage my story.

Frustration and determination always strengthens my personal brand. 

Hiding your true self halts business growth and keeps you constantly second-guessing your magic.

XXXO

_______


Ever since I saw The Devil Wears Prada, it’s been my dream to have an assistant who would practically give their life to Lyremark, Inc.

Yes, I do have high demands. No, I’m not nearly as mean as Meryl Streep (or maybe I am?).

So when I was out shopping one day and struck up a conversation with a sales associate who told me she wanted to be the Hathaway to my Streep, I was in heaven.

I started imagining her happily serving me my morning latte at 7:01 AM on the dot, color coordinating my Le Pen collection with my Tieks, and popping in at the end of the day to say that she had sent my mother her weekly bouquet of pink peonies.

My mother is getting pink peonies from me? Every Friday? Really? Yes please!

Soon after, we had coffee together. She showed me her resume, and it was pretty good––not perfect for my needs, but not bad either. So I gave her a writing test. She passed––just not with flying colors. But maybe she would get better with some help and TLC from moi.

I was t-h-i-s close to offering her the job––but a little voice stopped me. ‘Erika – even though she told you everything you wanted to hear, you’re settling for something that’s just OK, but not great. Don’t settle. Your Hathaway is out there.’

The problem was that intuitively I knew that––after all, there are over 7 billion people on the planet. But logically I was getting hung up on the HOW?

HOW was I going to find this person who could …

Write like a mofo,
Market like a maven,
Wrangle tech details like they used to work at the Apple store,
Have great taste in flowers,

AND not want to build their OWN company?

Because up until now, all of the seriously talented people I’ve wanted to work for me, either already had their own company or wanted to eventually have their own company.

And just like Ms. Streep (in the movie), I wanted ALL of their attention. I was NOT going to let this ‘how’ HALT me!

I decided to have an energy clearing session with Christina Ambubuyog from I Love Intuition because I really needed my brain to believe that my Hathaway was out there.

(I think of energy clearing as a way of cleaning out my internal house. For example, I’m not going to buy a brand new sofa and place it on top of my old sofa. Nope, I’m going to get rid of the old sofa, wash and scrub the floor, and then bring in the new sofa.)

After my session with Christina––which was amazing by the way––I wrote down what I wanted from my Hathaway and what they could expect from me.

I will give you the full ad a little bit later on in this post (you can swipe it and use it to write your own ad) but for now here are a few snippets.

___

: You are a skilled and experienced copywriter. You probably have your own blog and write poems––and taglines just for fun. You can’t help but want to re-write everything you read. (You might even want to re-write that last sentence – or maybe even the whole page!).

: You are obsessed with marketing. You love to test out your powers of influence and persuasion for the greater good.

: You are addicted to learning and you always welcome feedback so that you can get better at what you do.

: You have no problem whatsoever with clearing a huge portion of your schedule to work on someone else’s business.

: You are not interested in building your own business. Working for someone else suits you just fine, thank you very much.

: You do not mind reading this long list of qualities and you will read every last word. Including the next instructions.

: You are reading carefully enough to know that you need to reference “The Devil Wears Prada” in your cover letter (cover letters without this reference will be rejected).

___

You get the idea.

I was specific about what I wanted. It made my hiring decisions easier––plus whoever was reading could decide if they wanted to give their life to Lyremark, Inc.

This was a huge step for me which––for whatever reason––I had been resisting.

Around that time, I was returning a pair of boots to Zappo’s––stick with me here, my boots have everything to do with the story.

I wanted a refund rather than an exchange, and I got such a great response from Anna S. in customer service, that I actually wrote her back.

She was cheerful, off-beat, and made me feel good. So good, I actually suggested that she apply for the job.

She never did, but it made me realize that there was a good chance that my Hathaway was working in a corporate type job (or had just left one) was bored, and desperately seeking a new challenge in their life. I had more hope than ever before.

At this time I was also ramping up for my newest offering––fully trusting the Universe to send me my Hathaway – when I got an email …

“Hi Team Lyremark –

While I am not on the fence at all about working with you, even though I’m just on the verge of setting up a business and still nailing down what I want to offer – I’m ambitious, hardworking, and smart. I just want to make sure that being an embryonic business owner is right for you and the other ladies – I don’t want to hold anyone back by being a bootstrap beginner!

Give me the thumbs up and I’m SO in – thumbs down and I understand.

Thanks for your time – Elle”

I loved the energy! So I shot back an email to find out what kind of business she was trying to set up.

“I’ve been working (for others) as a writer and social media strategist, and while I enjoy those things, I’d really like to try and figure out how to utilize my super-weird-special skill of – what to call it? Information Mining? Findology? I’m a natural data warehouser, love information for information’s sake, and, whether people want to know what’s the best shoe store in Seattle, if there are artist residencies for making pagan objects, or whether Jane Austen was left handed, I’m the gal who knows, or can find out pretty quickly.

Most asked question? ‘What was that movie where the guy did the thing?’ Give me a third variable and I can figure it out 98.6% of the time!”

And then, I asked her how she found me.

Usually people say things like ‘I saw your website’ or ‘my friend so-and-so loves you’ or ‘I read your book and really wanted to work with you’ but the answer that came back was this:

“A couple months ago it became clear to me that having my own business was probably the way of the future, and finding someone much smarter, successful, and more knowledgeable than me to learn from was indispensable.

So I built a search string in which the results had to include all of the following: ‘best smartest funny kick ass awesome effective business coach’ and you were the #1 return. More than a dozen other people had all posted about you, using every single one of those words. So I surfed in on the wave of your avid fans, got on your list, and hoped an offering would come up that I could pounce on!”

Could this be the Hathaway to my Streep?

Could the Universe be clearer?

Would we one day have our likeness turned into glamorous dolls?

And even though I felt really weird about doing it (and I’ve done some pretty weird things, as you know) – I mean she had already paid for the program to discover what she wanted to do in her business, and here I was assuming that working for me was going to be her business dream.

But I had to take the risk.

I put on my big-girl panties, summoned up some courage and asked if she might be interested in working with me. And I believe her response was:

“Holy Mother of Mozart, are you trying to make me faint?”

OMG! So I sent her over to my advertisement for my Executive Producer – which I hadn’t even posted yet, and she came back with a cover letter, a resume, and not one, but TWO references to The Devil Wears Prada.

I think you know by now I hired Elle.

I held out for just the right person, and I knew it when she turned up in my inbox.

But there’s just one more crazy twist in this adventure.

She’s not Hathaway to my Streep: now don’t cry for me. Keep reading.

We have WAAAAAY too much fun!

It’s more like she’s the Chuy to my Chelsea Handler – and while she says she’s slightly better looking than Chuy, she also says that relationship works for her.

XXXO

P.S. Keep reading. I’ve included the whole want ad I wrote to find my Chuy – and broken it down with simple prompts that you can follow to craft your own want ad.

SWIPE FILE

Executive Producer Needed by Successful Business Coach/Author – Must Love Copywriting, Marketing, Customer Service and Organizing Other People’s Lives to the Point of Obsession.

Your Turn: Write a Headline that Covers EXACTLY what you want.

Team Lyremark is looking for an Executive Producer for a dynamic, fun, totally amazing business coach & published author who runs a successful (and rapidly growing) business in Minneapolis, MN.

Your Turn: Tell them who you are and what you do.

This is a subcontractor position at the moment. However, I’m only interested in talking with candidates who are open to becoming a full-time employee (potentially within the next 3-4 months).

Your Turn: Are you putting them on the payroll or setting them up as a contractor?

You will handle all my customer service, social media, co-write all my website content / blogs  / course material, do all my PR, and manage my online profiles. You will also be in charge of my affiliate program.

(And there will be more … yet to be determined.)

Your Turn: Be CLEAR about what you want them to do.

YOU MUST POSSESS THE FOLLOWING QUALITIES

1. You are a skilled and experienced copywriter. You probably have your own blog and write poems – and taglines just for fun. You can’t help but want to re-write everything you read.  (You might even want to re-write that last sentence – or maybe even the whole page!).

2. You are obsessed with marketing. You love to test out your powers of influence and persuasion for the greater good.

3. You are addicted to learning and you always welcome feedback so that you can get better at what you do.

4. You love and are incredibly good at:

• Social media
• Copywriting
• Reading anything you can get your hands on
• PR & pitching
• Organizing someone else’s ideas into concrete plans
• Handling customers with professionalism and stellar communication skills

5. You are hyper-organized to the point that a trip to The Container Store is more exciting to you than a day spent shoe shopping. (You may also be obsessed with gorgeous shoes, though!)

Your Turn: Let them know EXACTLY what skills they need to bring to the job.

7. You have no problem whatsoever with clearing a huge portion of your schedule to work on someone else’s business.

8. You are not interested in building your own business. Working for someone else suits you just fine, thank you very much.

9. You do not mind reading this long list of qualities and you will read every last word. Including the next instructions.

10. You are reading carefully enough to know that you need to reference “The Devil Wears Prada” in your cover letter (cover letters without this reference will be rejected).

Your Turn: Make sure they are reading carefully and can follow instructions. Give them a mini pop quiz!

11. You are Internet and tech savvy and there’s no computer challenge you will not solve or track to resolution.

12. It’d be amazing if you also love documentaries, pop-culture and infomercials.

13. One of your deepest desires is to be a part of something great and work with people on the rise. (Think Oprah’s producer Sheri Salata.)

Your Turn: Try adding some references that are important to you – if they don’t know who Oprah is (or whoever is your hero) they might not get where you’re coming from.

14. You want a career where you can grow. You want to make more & more money. (Bonuses? yes please!)

Your Turn: Let them know there will be rewards for a job well done.

PAY

To Be Determined

Your Turn: If you know what you are going to pay, say it. If not, then write “To Be Determined.”

PERKS

: Free access to all my courses. PRICELESS!

: Free mentorship from a successful entrepreneur & published author. PRICELESS!

: The most fun you have ever had at work (and did I mention you can work in your pajamas in your own home?).

Your Turn: Are there any other perks besides getting a paycheck?

LOCATION

Can be located anywhere, but candidates in the Minneapolis / St. Paul area will be given huge preference. (I’d love to sip green juice with you while we go over this month’s project schedule and this week’s tasks.)

Your Turn: Let them know where you are located and if they can work in their pajamas.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR NEW BOSS

– I change my mind on a dime. What was the A-plan yesterday may be the sh*t-plan today. Until I know something makes me money I keep the strategy flowing.

– I’m collaborative. So you may send me something and then I may send it to other peeps for feedback and to change it up. So if you’re attached to it being your way, we won’t work out.

– I pay my bills. On time. Always.

– I’m not cheap. But I spend my money wisely.

– I like frank feedback. I dish it out. And I can take it too.

– I move fast. Keep up.

– I’m organized. Mostly.I need fast communication turnaround time (preferably within 4 hours).

– I work on the weekends and evenings. And appreciate if you are available for questions or if I have an emergency.

Your Turn: WARN them about you. If you’re bossy. Let them know. If you’re uptight. Let them know. Some people love bossy uptight people. Really!

HOW TO APPLY

1. Write a cover letter that starts with, “I always have my greatest epiphanies when I am….” (all standard, boring cover letters will be rejected).

2. Tell me why you geek out about marketing, taglines, soundbites, infomercials, etc.

3. Tell me what blogs you read religiously and why.

4. Attach, or include in the body of the email, your resume, a link to your blog sample writings, or portfolio.

Your Turn: Ask them specific questions about themselves and you’ll find out if you have anything – or nothing – in common.

5. Tell me why this position interests you and why/how you are available for both contract work and potential full-time work in 3-4 months.

6. Tell me why – very specifically – you want to work for me. What do you think I can offer you (besides a paycheck)?

Your Turn: Here you can find out what their plans are, plus you find out if they know anything about you and what you do. Are they just throwing their resume at anyone, or have they done their homework?

If helping me dominate the planet – for the greater good – sounds like your dream, send your cover letter & resume to hello@dailywhip.com (put Executive Producer in the subject line).

I can’t wait to hear from you!

XXXO

P.S. Make sure you understand all the legalities to hiring – and firing, and have an independent contractor/new hire agreement before you get started.