Are you catfishing your clients? Imagine that you are a fisherman proudly displaying a fish for sale. You are a small business owner, and you’re wanting to sell that fish. In today’s episode, I’m sharing a portion of my presentation from the 2023 Creative Marketing Summit, which includes a ton of content generating ideas so that you can market that fish and show up better for your business and dream clients.
On Quianna Marie Weekly, we’re chatting about business growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating wins of all sizes through the lens of a photographer at heart. Sprinkled throughout stories and interviews with past clients, photographers and other business owners this podcast is designed to help you step into your purpose and to truly create a life you’re proud of, a life worth photographing and sharing.
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Review the Show Notes:
The Fish Is Your Product (2:30)
Content Generation: Ideas For Selling The Fish (4:30)
Sharing For Someone Who Has Never Met You (11:14)
Mentioned In This Episode:
Review the Transcript:
Are you catfishing in your audience? All right now, I know that sounds a little silly. But I literally want you to imagine you holding up a fish as your profile picture, not just for a dating website, I’m not trying to poke fun at these guys that think posting pictures of them on a boat, catching a fish is what we’re all looking for. I’m not trying to poke fun at that. But I literally want you to imagine that you are a fisherman, and you’re holding up that fish ready to, I don’t know like to attract your dream clients right? Now, are you catfishing them? Meaning does that fish have an illusion that it looks bigger, smaller, more healthier? That you are actually a pro? Or like most guys on dating websites today?
Are you just posting a picture of you outdoors, maybe on your friends or your uncle’s boat, and holding that fish proudly as if that is what you have to offer someone. In today’s episode, we’re going to dive in to a really quick and easy way to shift your mindset on creating content, create living content for your business. And I’m not just making this pun to actually efficient a fisherman, but I want you to start challenging yourself with this story of being a fish and a fisherman into how that can apply to your business.
Just recently, I had an opportunity to speak at the creative marketing summit with Jen dotsquares. And this is just one little blurb from my presentation. So if you missed that, make sure to go check it out. I’ll have it up on my website and up on my link as well through Instagram for a short time until the next opportunity comes. But I wanted to really hone in on this lesson before it passes us by. So like I mentioned before, are you catfishing your audience?
Welcome to Quianna Marie weekly, a podcast for creatives who love to celebrate wins, big or small by dancing in the kitchen photographers who are excited to serve their clients and friends who are ready to chase really, really big dreams. You can find all of the resources mentioned in this episode at quiannamarie.com/podcast. Join me as I share with you motivation, chat about growing pains, finding genuine connections and celebrating your wins through the lens of a photographer at heart. Come join me for a dance party ready loves though. I want you to imagine this.
Okay, like you have the juiciest offer, you have the most incredible experience, whether that’s a service based business and online business, freelancing. Or maybe even you have a corporate job and you’re a part of the marketing team and you’re trying to get tips, right? Whatever it is that you’re looking for, I want to challenge you. And I want you for just a quick second, getting back to this fish name. Sorry if this sounds a little fishy. But I want you to imagine that that fish is your product. Okay?
If you’re only posting images of that fish, and you actually carry in that fish, you are going to be burnt out of ideas. And you’re trying to come up with algorithms and trends. And you just like you just cannot photograph any more pictures of this fish. Okay. I know you’re getting annoyed with it. And you know, I’m getting annoyed with it, as you know, as a consumer of your content, like what’s going on, right? How can we dig deeper. So I want to share just a handful of ideas. This is going to be a really quick episode because I really, really wholeheartedly want you to create this shift, right?
Put yourself in the boots of this fisherman aka think of your business with this kind of mindset, and how we can show up online and how we can create magnetic content for the things that we’re all ready doing. If you have been around for a while I’m so happy you’re here. I am just obsessed with you and your business and helping you shine online.
And I know as a photographer for over 15 years and an entrepreneur for over 10 Like actually working for myself for that long. I get that it can be really overwhelming and we can be so close to our business. And content generation just isn’t something that comes natural to a lot of us.
I want you to start thinking bigger, but at the same time really like easier, right? Like I this should not be difficult to create content for the things that you’re already doing. So I might just kind of fire rapid some things at you as if you are a fisherman and you are trying to sell that fish. Okay. I would love to know when is the best time to fish. Okay, like seriously, are you a seasonal fisherman or do you wake up and do you only offer certain services a certain time of year? Do you wake up early to provide your services do you will only offer them on certain days of the week. When is the best time not only for you based on your needs In your schedule, but also with the best interest of your clients. And that literally can be answered with when is the best time to fish. Right?
So like, as always, please apply these thoughts to your own business. I know we’re not all fishermen. Okay? Which season goes back into, you know, the best time to fish the year? What type of gear are you physically wearing while you’re fishing?
For example, what do you wear to work?
What do you wear when you are popping in to see a friend for coffee? Or maybe making a zoom call or making a connection call with a potential client? What gear are you wearing? And what rates like what about your outfit is different? And what about the actual gear you’re using? So obviously, as photographers, many of us have our lenses, have our backup gear and maybe even have lagging equipment. Or we’re prepared with our umbrellas in the rain. Clear shower curtains are great for muddy grass when the bride is out in the middle of a rainstorm. And maybe there’s like a quick clearing of the clouds and we can hop out and capture some beautiful portraits but she doesn’t want her dress all muddy.
Right? So clear shower curtains come and count in perfect timing for that. So what type of gear are you working with? Share it? Where are you fishing? AKA Where are you located? Babe? We need to know this.
A lot of us are not brick and mortar stores or shops, right? A lot of us work anywhere our laptop can plug in and we can tap into that Wi Fi right? So oftentimes are working from our kitchen counters, or working from coffee shops or on the road. But where are you actually fishing? Where are you booking your services?
This is really important because a lot of times people will be looking for location specific things for what they’re looking for service based business, local restaurants, local shops, they’re gonna want to know where you’re located. When’s the last time you shared where you’re located? Holds versus next. This is a note obviously for the fisherman, but back again, what is bass?
Are you literally sitting off the dock fishing? Are you on a river bend? Are you in the ocean? Where are you when you’re physically fishing? Okay, and what you’re using? Are you using nets? Are you a huge commercial fisherman where you bring in lots and lots of fish at once? Right? I hope you’re following along with these analogies. I love analogies.
I hope I’m not losing you with this. But I want to know these things for your business. Okay, where are you? What are you doing? And what does it look like? Another thing that you can consider that a lot of times business owners aren’t even aware of because they’re always doing the best practices. But what about your business? is environmentally sound, right?
Or how are you going green with your business? As a fisherman, for example? I mean, I’m not, I’m not too aware of all the details when it comes to fishing. I was raised just you know, fishing off the boat docks, and, you know, on, you know, actually in lakes and stuff with family and friends. So I’m not a professional fisherman at all. But I would love to know, Are you catching things that you aren’t supposed to be catching? What is the safety procedures for you know, like, we’ve seen these big commercial fishermen that bring up octopus or bring up other elements of the sea that we want to keep protected and keep safe. Right? So how are you handling those issues?
As a fisherman once again, as your own business? Okay, what are the health benefits? All right, so as you’re holding up that fish, and it’s for sale and you’re trying to get more, you know, fish out of the farmers market or out of your commercial stores? Why is it a benefit to eat your fish? Okay. So like, tell us, let us know, you know, we know how important salmon is. And are you even selling salmon? Or is that not an option? Right? So, tell us why your business and what you’re providing is the best option. Okay, now we’re not knocking other people we’re not.
I am not a I’m not a fan at all of sharing negative things about other businesses. I just love to shine light on the positives and why yours is the best, safest, most beautiful, most environmentally safe option. And then of course, recipes, I can go on all these ideas, but recipes is a great way to share about that fish. Okay, like what are you doing with it? What body parts are using what body parts that you’re not using? And I’m so sorry for like a pescatarian or vegetarian or vicious isn’t your thing and I’m giving you all these visuals. I know a lot of us as creatives and entrepreneurs, we’re very visual right?
So I apologize for all the guts about this, but I really wanted to have this this episode really burden your brain when it comes to marketing your business. Okay, so back to those recipes. You know, are you sharing the best butter to use when you are frying up your fish? Are you sharing you know the different ingredients and where Are those ingredients are found, right?
Like this is where we get into that affiliate marketing and how you are using other businesses to, to showcase your services showcase your work and your products. Okay?
Now, I hope that this kind of just gives you a broader spectrum of ways that you can look for different types of content to capture for your business, I know that creating content can be really overwhelming. But like I mentioned before, we are so close to our business. And we don’t always have to share about educational things, right, we don’t always have to share about how to do this, or three tips for this. I think those are all very valuable and very easy content, ideas that we can generate quickly for our business. But I also see so much value in just sharing what you’re doing.
I challenge you to think of these ideas, think of different ways that you can use this fish analogy in your own business. How can you show up online? How can you answer these questions? And how can you be a resource for your dream couples, they’re out there, they’re looking for you.
They’re praying to find you. And they want to see behind the scenes. So a couple of tips that I have in closing for this episode, I told you it was going to be really quick and really easy. As I just want you to imagine that you’re you’re showing up with someone who has never met you before. Okay, and what type of content are they going to want to see on your feed? On your website, maybe even on your blog? Like, what can you do to show up for them and to help them feel seen? feel heard? Right? Because I think sometimes we can get overwhelmed with just okay thinking…
Well, I had to just show up online every day, I have to post everything that I’m doing. I can’t have my phone on me just recording everyday life. So what can we do to be strategic about what we’re sharing? Right? So back to the vision analogy, I hope you are just picking up little pieces of ways that you can share those daily life moments, but always filter them back in two ways that you were helping that client that you’re entertaining them. You’re showing more about your personality, sharing about your business and what you can provide, highlighting past clients and highlighting their experiences.
Literally, there are a gazillion different ways that you can spend one act or one routine of your daily life, and how it can entertain, encourage and educate your clients.
So I hope you found this episode really helpful. My entire presentation on this is available through the creative marketing summit online with Jen Bossk was and this was an incredible opportunity. I have a whole presentation on there with more information about this as well as over.
Oh my gosh, I think I was gonna say a dozen I think there’s almost two dozen different speakers that are so incredibly talented. So I will link the link in the show notes for this at this point. By the time this episode is released, the creative marketing summit should already be over. However, there are ways for you to purchase tickets. At this point, it is a free event. But to catch those replays, you’re definitely going to want to invest in that I sure am. And I cannot wait to learn from all the other speakers.
I hope you are having a beautiful day cast those wide net spade. Get out there. Let your business be heard seen and loved because you deserve it. Keep on dancing, baby. I am always always cheering for you. Love you. Okay, bye.
That’s a wrap on another episode of Quianna Marie weekly. Thank you so much for your listenership and support. You can find the resources and show notes for this episode and more at Kiana murray.com/podcast. I’d be honored if you show your support by leaving a review and rating on your favorite podcast app. Until next time, keep on dancing.
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