Whether you’re just getting started in your journey to entrepreneurship or you’ve been at it for years, budgeting and managing your money will always be important as a small business owner. In today’s episode, I’ve brought on Youtuber and educator, LaShonda Brown to share her approach to growing your business without breaking the bank. Listen in as she discusses how she makes money through content creation, the importance of integrity in affiliate partnerships, and using tools in your business on a budget!
If you’re loving Quianna Marie Weekly, make sure you’re following the podcast on Apple Podcast App or Spotify, leave me a rating & review, and connect with me on Instagram! You can view more episodes from this podcast here.
“There is someone willing to compensate you what you’re worth, you just haven’t met them yet.”
– LaShonda Brown
Advice for Showing Up Online & Making Content Fun (2:38)
Using Social Media with Clarity in Our Brand (4:53)
Selecting Your Social Media Marketing Based on Your Audience (6:17)
Budget Friendly Solutions for Content Creation (9:12)
Gear for Youtube (12:25)
Canva Certified Creator (14:35)
Being the Mentor You’ve Always Wanted (18:02)
Coupon Book for Small Business Owners (20:36)
Keeping Your Integrity (23:42)
Key Tips for Small Business Owners (30:19)
Links:
youtube.com/channel/UCcWBoUPjML16CPk36009N1Q
Review the Transcript:
Quianna Marie
There is someone willing to compensate you what you’re worth. You just haven’t met them yet. This is a quote by LaShonda Brown, and I am beyond thrilled to introduce you to her today. Liz Shonda is an incredible YouTuber who, by the way has hit over a million views on YouTube. And she is a certified Canva creator, which will find out exactly how many actually carry that badge of honor in the chat today. Lashonda pours her heart and soul into creating content, education and inspiration for free. She literally gets paid through YouTube and through affiliate marketing to get paid to do what she loves. And she’s my kind of people. So without further ado, I’m be on excited to introduce you to Lashonda Brown. Let’s go. 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 the resources mentioned in this episode at quiannamarie.com/podcast. Join me as I share weekly motivation and chat about growing themes, finding genuine connection and celebrating your wins through the lens of a photographer at heart. Come join me for a dance party. Ready? Let’s go.
Quianna Marie
All right. All right. All right. Hello, there, Shonda, I’m so so grateful that you are here. And we are just going to crush content, small business growth, bootstrap all the things and I am just so happy to see you. How are you?
LaShonda Brown
I’m doing so well. Like I have been wanting to have a one on one conversation with you for so long. So I’m going to try to contain myself. But this is going to be a lot of fun.
Quianna Marie
Oh, I can’t wait, let’s just dive right in. I’m all about giving out these juicy secrets, content that converts and just really just get this conversation going. So when I see you online, and it’s crazy, because I feel like we’re besties. But I’ve never actually met you in person. But when I see you online, you always look so lit up and happy and joyful, and coming from a lot of small business owners that maybe feel like content is the death of them. And it’s just frustrating. And these trends are so fleeting and annoying to some of us. What is your best advice for showing up online and making content fun?
LaShonda Brown
Yeah, I think the biggest piece of advice that I would give small business owners content creators is do less, okay, I am known for doing the most. Okay, I’m multi passionate, I’m doing all the things. At one point, I was like running three businesses at the same time, because why not. But when it comes to social media, people want you to put yourself in a box. Now once you put yourself in that box, you can make that box as big as you want. But you have to tell yourself, I want to be known for one thing, I want to be the go to person for x. And once you clearly establish, what am I trying to sell that being first, what am I trying to sell? And what do I want to be known for? All of a sudden content is so much easier to create? Because from that point, all you have to think about is how can I creatively tell that story? How can I creatively show people what I want to be known for and make sure that my bio is optimized to show them what I sell. And so when I finally took a step back and said says Calm down, do less, and said okay, if you could be known for one thing, what would that be? Because once they’re on your email list, you can tell whatever you want, then I was just good to go. And then content kept coming. And so when I would see a reel or see a carousel post or a photo, then I could say to myself, Okay, how can I tell that story? From my perspective? How can I put my spin on it? And so instead of just sitting in a room wondering what to post, I had a framework that I could leverage anytime I wanted to go on social media.
Quianna Marie
Oh my goodness, you are seriously my spirit guide today because I feel like I am that person. I’m so multi passionate, a lot of us are really good at a lot of things. I feel like a lot of us as creatives, we just have a knack for picking up new things, learning things easily and being really great at a handful of things. So that can be so overwhelming when you show up online and you show up on Instagram. And you just you feel like pulled in so many directions. So I love your advice on picking one thing figuring out what to sell. That is just incredible.
LaShonda Brown
Well, and I think the thing is like we forget that the goal of social media is to drive people to take action It’s not about the social media platform, my Instagram is not about my Instagram, my Instagram is about enticing you enough to take the next step. And once you’re on my email list, once you deepen that relationship with me, then I can show you more of my personality, I can share more of my life, I can bring you in to all these different facets. But if I’m not clear about what I want to be known for, then you’re not going to tune in and you’re not going to keep coming back. And you’re not going to share, we have to make it easier for people to refer us. And so that clarity with your brand message, once you have that nailed down, it is unbelievable what will happen.
Quianna Marie
I love this. So okay, let’s walk us through this journey. So once you have figured out exactly what you’re selling exactly what services you’re offering, and you have a really good kind of grip on where you’re going with social media. Where would you where do you suggest people start first is this, we just should start posting to Instagram, should we create, you know, boost our Pinterest? Should we be posting to YouTube, I feel like a lot of us are sleeping on YouTube, I feel like people are not taking advantage of these offers. So what is your advice for feeling like social media overwhelm, and where should we laser focus our time and energy?
LaShonda Brown
Well, I think if you hone in on who you want to talk to, then you’ve got to be where that person is, you know, if you want to talk to, you know, millennials, then Ma’am, you need to be on Instagram, that’s where we hang out. But if you’re trying to sell to teenagers, then you got to be on Tik Tok, suck it up, you got to tick tock it, you know, because that’s just where they hang out. And so I think it’s just so important for you to understand that the platform isn’t about you, the platform is about your audience, you’ve got to go where they are. And then once you decide where they’re located, then you can share your personality, be yourself deliver value. But my thing is, if you’re trying to reach teenagers, and you’re posting on Facebook, you’re not going to reach the teenagers, because that’s not where they are, it doesn’t matter how amazing your content is, they don’t hang out there. But if you’re trying to sell to Grandma’s, no offense, but they love Facebook, that’s how they stay in touch with all of their brands, and their friends and their classmates and all of those things. And so understanding that these platforms typically tend to attract a certain type of customer. And if you know who your customer is, then it’ll make it easier for you to show up in the right place.
Quianna Marie
That is brilliant. I feel like I need a mic drop for you already. But it’s true, because I feel like a lot of us too, there’s this, I feel like there’s this hesitation with creating content where people are either fearful, or they’re overwhelmed. And then they also think, well, you know what, I just don’t want to do this, because I don’t want to. And I feel like the growth of business is sticky, and hard and challenging. And if you’re not keeping up with these trends, or you’re not keeping up with where your audience is, you totally hit the nail on the head with that one. And that is that’s where the magic is?
LaShonda Brown
Well, and it’s a way to keep you from having to pay for reach. If you’re in the right place, then you’ll meet your people organically. But if you’re not in the right place, then you’re going to have to pay to reach them. And so that’s the mindset behind Facebook ads is that unfortunately, in order to reach the right people on Facebook, typically you’ve got to pay for it. And when you go to pay for it, it’s going to ask you who your audience is, what their demographics are, how old are they? How much income do they have? When are they on social media. And so no matter what you do, you can’t get away from the fact that you have to know who you’re talking to. And so once you do that, you can save a lot of money simply showing up in the right place.
Quianna Marie
So incredible. So you mentioned budget friendly solutions for creating content, can we dive into different ways that you can show up for free show up with just sharing your heart too? What are some ways that we can do that?
LaShonda Brown
Well, obviously I’m biased, I am a YouTuber. And so one of the things that I like to say to people who are like, ah, hang time for YouTube. I don’t know how to make videos, whatever. I really want you to just take a step back and think about this. The top two reasons why I would suggest someone leveraging YouTube is because I get paid when I post. I don’t care who clicks on my link or when YouTube pays me when I post this Facebook pay you. Does Instagram pay you this Pinterest pay you. This is an income strategy, right? So I get paid to post and then I get to leverage the power of Google to reach my people. YouTube is owned by Google. So if you search for something In a Google search, what it’s going to do is it’s going to show you some search results of websites. And then it’s going to suggest YouTube content. So what happens is people looking for solutions to a problem stumble across you, they don’t know you from Adam, but they know that you have a piece of content that can help them address a problem. 93% of the people who watch my videos are not subscribed, they typically don’t know me, but they are looking for an answer. And I happen to have that for them. And so because I have it set up, well, then I can just focus on showing up delivering value and creating, and I don’t have the pressure of, oh, now I’ve got to push sales. I don’t, because YouTube pays me to post. And those people looking for solutions tend to click on my links in my description. And so that’s how I’ve been able to leave my career as a web designer, and just be a full time content creator, because of that platform, then for fun, I can just show up on Instagram. And so Instagram is a way for me to reach my audience, show them more of who I am, I don’t have to be a teacher on Instagram, I can just be me. And then I can drive traffic to YouTube. And so I just feel like there’s just so much potential out there. When you realize the power of that platform. It’s not trendy, it’s been around forever. And it can seem super overwhelming. But I’m telling you, there are teenagers sitting on their bed, talking to a camera, making 1000s of dollars on this platform, you do not have to be a filmmaker to make a YouTube video. So if you can get over that hump, if you can let that go, then you can do some incredible things on that platform.
Quianna Marie
Wow, you’re literally giving me the chills. And it’s making me think like I mentioned earlier, there’s a lot of us that are just sleeping on it. It’s right. It’s like we know it’s there. We may have maybe started a YouTube channel and maybe a little dusty, right? We haven’t been consistently posting. And you’re definitely inspiring all of us to start to simply keep going. So what tools would you suggest I you know, going back to your bootstrapping, and you know, doing things really budget friendly, the video portion can be so intimidating for us. So where do you suggest we start with gear?
LaShonda Brown
Well, definitely, most of us have a cell phone with the camera good enough for YouTube. And to be honest with you, most of us have also leveraged things like zoom, and we have a webcam, whether it’s built into our laptop, or we have one attached to our screens. And so ultimately, you have exactly what you need to make a YouTube video right now, you know, I recommend that over time, as you continue to post you improve your production value. But the first thing that you need to do is just use what you have. Because just getting over the hump of consistently creating is going to be hard enough, then you going out and buying a DSLR and Oh, you got lighting, you got your microphone, you got it, you don’t have to do all that, you can start with what you have focus on delivering value and then increase your production value as time goes on. So I would say you know, use what you’ve got. And then also, this is nuts. But Canva literally rolled out the ability to make a video in Canva. I’m like, Who in their right mind even went there, when they thought about oh, the same platform that you use to make your Instagram graphics you can use to edit a video. And so they’ve got stock videos in there, and they’ve got animations in there. And so if you’ve use Canva, to make graphics for your business, you have a video editor you’re already paying for one, they’ve got music and graphics and gifts and like it is just unbelievable what you can do in that platform. So if you have your cell phone, just record the content, and I would recommend do it in little chunks. Because the downside of Canva right now which it could change is the longer the clip, the longer it takes to upload. The upload is not fast for video because the files are so big. But if you do little clips, you can edit them together easily in there. And so you don’t have to worry about being overwhelmed by video editing either. So yeah, use what you got and use Canva
Quianna Marie
that was the perfect that’s like segue for us to chat about how you are actually a certified a Canva certified creator. And can you tell me how many people actually have that badge of honor?
LaShonda Brown
So I honestly I didn’t realize like, how legit it was until I just asked in our Facebook group and I asked Charmaine I said, Hey, show me just curiosity, like how many of us are there? Because there actually aren’t that many people in the Facebook group and I didn’t know if the number of people in the Facebook group was the number of creatives in the world and come to find out I am one of 175 people with that certification. And so that’s worldwide Canvas base in Australia. And so just the thought of like, wait a second, I don’t just use Canva. They give me access to features before they released them publicly. We test them, we help name some of them. It’s ridiculous. And recently, they posted in the group, hey, we’re looking for some people to help create content for our YouTube channel. Let us know if you’re interested. And so obviously, I do all these tutorials on my own channel. So I’m like, Okay, fine. I’ll see if they’ll pick me. So I just, you know, dropped it in the comment, hey, I be interested. And so come to find out that post was my audition, unbeknownst to me, and my oh, gosh, I would have like, put more effort into it. But anyway, so they watched my tutorial, and they came back and said, Wow, this is really professional. And he did such a good job teaching, we would like to pay you to make content for our channel. And I just thought, like, Oh, my God, like trying to geek out like, you don’t really win awards as an entrepreneur, like, no one’s like really looking to like, make us feel significant. But like, for me, I’m like, this is the tool I use every day, every day, there’s some reason why I need to go in there, whether it’s Instagram, or email marketing, or whatever. And I’m like the thought of them, not just validating me as a creative but saying, We want your content on our platform. I’m just like,
Quianna Marie
I’m so proud.
LaShonda Brown
I just can’t believe it. It’s the coolest stain. It’s so cool. So you know, that really helped me hone in on like, what, what is it that I want to be known for. And that’s it, you know, what I want to be known for is, you know, teaching people how to use an incredible tool to grow their business without breaking the bank, we don’t have to go into debt to be good at business. And, you know, if you want to spend 1000s of dollars on someone’s program, someone will pitch you that, but I’m going to show you how to do it for cheap. You know, and I love doing that. And it just brings me a lot of joy.
Quianna Marie
Yes, and you’re so good at it too. I feel like that’s the best part. When you start like when you do stumble upon your Instagram, I feel like it’s kind of like that Netflix and chill vibe with you. Meaning like you just like you binge it, like you just you can’t get enough of your videos, you can’t get enough of your tutorials. And I just love watching everything. In fact, when I’m on your YouTube channel, I love like visually how everything is laid out. It looks like I’m literally on Netflix, where you can see the different videos and the great like, this is what’s recommended for you. This is the playlist that you need to watch. These are just so powerful, and and beautiful, but still real. Like that’s the part that I feel is so amazing about your magic is you don’t do it in an intimidating way. It makes it look like hey, if I could figure this out, you guys got to try this tutorial, you got to try this new tool and you make it so fun. So fun.
LaShonda Brown
Oh my gosh, that that makes me so happy. Because ultimately, like I just want to be that mentor I always wanted, you know, like, I want to be that person. That’s like, Look, ma’am, I’ve been doing this for 10 years, you know, my backgrounds, actually theater, my degrees are in theater arts performance in production. And so, you know, when I decided to get married, and my husband started his video production company, I’m like, dang, like, I want to still perform, I want to still show up somewhere. And so in this really odd twist of events, I almost feel like, you know, my YouTube videos are like my little stage and my little chance to like, yeah, you’re so be, you know, to be the character of the teacher teaching you guys how to use stuff. And I think honestly, what’s so impactful is, you know, kind of realize the trickle down effect. Like, you may say, like, oh, so dumb, I’m just teaching people how to make a real in Canva. But okay, if they make a real and Canva and they grow their business, and they need to scale it, and they hire people, then that little stupid tutorial provided jobs for people maybe helped send a kid to college, like help somebody quit their job that they hated, you know, help them get their life back. And so it’s just like, yeah, what I’m doing is tech. You know, I’ll be honest, like, sometimes I get bored to tears. All it is, is this is where you click and this is how, but it could lead to something great, and to be a part of someone’s life to help them feel like okay, I don’t have to figure this all out myself. Like I can go to Alicia on this channel. She might have a video on it. And then they can focus on doing what they love. That is the best job ever. I make a living giving stuff away for free. Like,
Quianna Marie
what could be better than that. That is amazing. And I just I just have to mention to you like I love your heart. I love your heart for giving and sharing. In fact, I have to mention that that’s actually how we connected was through rising tide society and through You being the launch leader for Natalie Frank’s book built to belong. And honestly, Lashonda when I first met you, right, virtually, I was just attracted to your energy and to everything that you have to offer. And I feel like ever since I’ve started following you and being a long distance bestie I feel like you just have that heart for giving. And so I wanted to kind of share a little bit, I’m excited to ask you questions about this coupon book that you are putting together for small business owners? Can you share a little bit more about that? Because you were always giving, always sharing? And I’m excited to hear about that.
LaShonda Brown
Yeah, so it’s honestly, it’s a little theory I’m testing. And I think oftentimes, we feel like we have to do what everybody else is doing. And I’m like, Okay, everyone else has 10,000 freebies, like, what if I had like one thing that I consistently gave away for free, and so I love saving money. And my mom calls me bargain, Betty, like, that’s her nickname for me. And there is a thing called like the entertainment book, and they do them in different communities. And what it is, is just, you know, it’s a literal book of coupons, and businesses pay to be in it. And people actually pay for the book, because they save all this money. And so I’m not at the point yet where someone would pay me for my coupon book. But the idea of going to these tech companies and saying, Hey, I have an audience full of entrepreneurs and bootstrappers, can you offer them a discount on your tool? Can you offer me a free trial? Can you offer me a discount code. And so I am putting all of them in this giant PDF. And so hopefully, every year, I’ll just keep expanding the PDF. And so what people will be able to do is to go in and say, oh, you know, I’m looking to start my email list and go grab the flow desk coupon, or, Oh, I’m looking to upgrade my Canva account, and get, you know, the Canva pro coupon. And so from a business standpoint, I’m, I’m a numbers person, and 73% of my income as a YouTuber comes from affiliate marketing. And so the crazy part is, you know, if people use the coupons, then I’ll get affiliate marketing. So essentially, I’m getting paid for giving people discounts. And so I was just like, sounds great. Let’s do it. You know, and so I think it’s gonna be awesome. And if it goes well, in 2022, then every year, I’ll just make a new coupon book. And so that will help me to promote the same thing, and all my YouTube videos, and whether someone’s watching the video that I posted today, or posted three years ago, if that link stays the same, it will continue to grow my list for years. So that’s kind of the the strategy behind it. But literally everyone wins, the tech companies get more customers, the Bootstrappers get discounts. I get commissions for the referrals. And you know, it’s easy, easy, easy, easy, we don’t have to do do it the hard way, if we know how to leverage the tech to do it.
Quianna Marie
That’s amazing. And I love that you’re putting in the work to do that right to take the time to leverage your connections and your growth and your community. So we literally just can just download this PDF and just go to work and have everything at our fingertips. That is incredible. And I can’t, I can’t even imagine. Like we know when we talked about our businesses, and we’re sharing it with our family and our grandparents like thinking that there’s actually money in giving away free things is just mind boggling.
LaShonda Brown
Oh, yeah. Like my family still doesn’t understand how I pay my bills. Like I, I have now gotten over the fact that it doesn’t make any sense. But it’s it’s beautiful. And it’s the magic of the internet. And I think the biggest thing that I would say is yes, there is money to be made in being a generous giver. But you have to hold on to your integrity. Because if you’re promoting stuff that you don’t believe in, that’s not good, then it’s going to come back to bite you. And so, you know, unfortunately, there are some tools that want me to share about them, that I go to them and I’m like they’re not good. Or it looks like a spammy website and I wouldn’t put my credit card in that thing. So I think that is a part of the equation is there is a certain dynamic of stifling my growth in a way just to make sure that my authority on technology stays intact, because the minute I’m not trustworthy, no one’s going to click on my stuff. And so that’s really I mean that’s the heart behind influencer marketing and no offense to anyone holding up teas and lotions and such. But you know, when you are recommending business tools and things with recurring costs, you really need to be able to Stand behind those recommendations. And so you can’t just promote everybody who asked for you to do it, you have to be able to say, you know, this is a reputable company. And this is not or this is a good fit for my audience. And this is not. And so if you’re balancing that, then yeah, you can totally make money, charging nothing. And it’s unbelievable. But that’s, that’s the rub. That’s where you really have to be, be willing to do the hard work to say no, so that you can maintain your reputation.
Quianna Marie
I love that. And I feel like that’s even more of a reason for us to utilize social media. But at the same time, always, always remember that we are the humans behind it, right? Like, I feel like sometimes we can be amplified. And we could be spread all over social media all over the internet, which is just so weird to think that. But when you really go back down to those roots, and you really go back down to our hearts and our missions, and what we stand for, just sharing who you are as a person online, is really what it’s about. And I just I love that you, you dance with that so beautifully. Well, and you
LaShonda Brown
know, I think it gets easier over time. But you realize, you know, when when you really fight for truth, then you don’t have to keep up with lies. So you know, if you truly use something Sure, share about it be genuine. But if you’re not actually using it, where you wouldn’t use it, don’t take the sponsorship money, don’t take the promotion, just say hey, this isn’t a good fit for my audience, or this isn’t in alignment with my values and and be willing to walk away because, you know, understanding that you can turn money down and still have money come your way is something that comes with maturity, and comes with time in business. I think when I first started, I don’t want to say no to anybody, you know, it’s like, oh, if I say no to you, I’ll never, I’ll never be able to pay my bills. But you’ve realized over time that your people will find you. And so you can say no, if it’s not in alignment, you know, understand your vision, understand your mission and business and funnel everything through that. If it’s not in alignment, say no, because you’re no opens up the door for someone else that can say yes. So it’s like, let me save you some time. The same for me. But you know, not me, but and you know, feel free to recommend people you know, clients be willing to say, not a good fit for me, but my bestie awesome, awesome fit for you. And so when you get all those things off your plate that aren’t in alignment, business stays fun, and you don’t burn out.
Quianna Marie
I love that so much. Oh my gosh, I once again, I feel like all these mic drops are just coming from me.
LaShonda Brown
Oh, I love sharing because I mean, honestly, I what’s happened for me is I realized, like, holy crap, I’ve been an entrepreneur for a decade. Like, I’m like a grandma. I’m like, Oh, I started in a recession. Yeah, I’m still here. You know, it’s like, that’s the reality. And so ultimately, like, this is 10 years of hindsight, you do anything for 10 years, and you really start to see things in a different light. And so, you know, everything I’m sharing, like, you know, my bootstrap visit bias, which when I call my channel, like all of it comes from, I’ve been there, I’ve screwed up, I’ve wasted the money. I’ve thought something was a good fit. And it wasn’t, you know, I want you to learn from my mistakes. So you don’t have to make them. And that’s what what’s that’s the heart behind everything I post is like, let me give you the inside scoop to save me some time. Like you, you don’t need to Google. I can help you, I can help you. And I think one of the things that I’m interested in getting back to is I used to live stream all the time. And when Periscope went away, I stopped live streaming. But now LinkedIn has approved me to use LinkedIn live. And so I’ll be doing Lashonda lives with my audience next year of it and just shooting the breeze and just you know, pick a topic and, and just talk to people real time and say, hey, you know, let’s talk through these things. And to be able to have that dialogue will be really fun. So I’m looking forward to that. And yeah, you guys follow me? Follow me on the social medias on YouTube and Instagram and, and we can walk this journey together. You know, you don’t have to do everything by yourself. And I think even if you are a solopreneur and your mom doesn’t understand what you do, and your dad’s confused, too. I’ve been there. I’ve been there. So I’m definitely willing to help. Yes.
Quianna Marie
Oh my gosh, all of your information already has been so helpful and so inspiring. I feel like that’s the best part with this podcast. I love introducing new small business dreamers and influencers but like I say, when I say influencers, I’m talking about the real humans that actually influence It’s my life that have created impact and spark ideas. And so I love asking all of my guests about key tips. So if you wish on that have a key tip that you’d like to share with a small business owner, starting with YouTube, starting with content, what is something that you would like to share?
LaShonda Brown
I think the biggest thing that I would say is remember that things last a long time on the internet? Oh, that applies to so many things. What you say, in 2018, may pop up again, in 2022, you know what I mean? So from from the standpoint of, you know, be careful what you post, you know, because those things last forever, but also, when you create content, you know, don’t think about just the short game, you’re playing the long game, you know, and so it’s like, okay, if someone stumbled across this, six months from now, is this even still relevant? If they stumble across it two years from now, is it still relevant, because if you’re so short sighted with what you put on the internet, you’re going to constantly be on the hamster wheel, creating more and more and more. But if what you create has longevity, if you can create something that’s still relevant six months, six years from now, then you’re going to start building up a catalogue of content, that’s all going to point people in the right direction. I have YouTube videos that are three years old, still making me money. But I guarantee you, you’ve got an Instagram post three years old, that, you know, you got a different business title, a different name, different business colors, you know, all the things because you’re scattered, you know. And so I just tell people, you know, just remember, like, the internet lasts a lot longer than you realize. And so if we can focus more on having a long term focus on what we put out there, then what you do this year, can help build that foundation that can grow your business. Otherwise, every single year, you’re going to be tearing down your house and rebuilding it, and you’re never going to be able to scale and grow. Because you’re constantly reinventing yourself. So yeah, that will be my my advice when it comes to you know, your personal brand, making sure that what you post is, is really in alignment with what you believe in, no matter what’s trendy. But then also, from a business standpoint, once you really lean into the fact that I’m trying to create evergreen content, I want it to still be relevant months from now years from now, you’ll start to see that your income will just keep climbing and climbing and climbing. And so that’s what it’s all about. That’s amazing.
Quianna Marie
And that is such an important reminder for everyone, right? It doesn’t matter if you’re a small business owner, if you maybe don’t have a business online, just having that reminder that the internet lives forever, and things are easily screenshotted things are easily shared or possibly even taken out of context. And so I love that. And I love your what you mentioned too, about creating that evergreen content, creating things that are preventing you from constantly having to create new stuff all the time. Like I love that I love, like you said, like, do less.
LaShonda Brown
That’s the motto like we really, and I think the thing that I’m learning and it’s, I mean, literally sometimes I’ll just be like mentally shaking. I’m like, It’s so boring, I want to do more. But like, if you take the time to strategize, you can do more with less. But if you don’t slow down long enough to think it through, then you’re just going to be going and going and going and going. And eventually you’re gonna burn out and then you’re going to ghost people. So ultimately, you’re going to hurt yourself doing more. So yeah, do less think more than you do. And it’s going to pay off in the long run.
Quianna Marie
So as people are searching for you, and they’re looking on Instagram, YouTube, and they’re looking for these business tips, and also life coaching lessons.
LaShonda Brown
I call them my mama Shonda moments. Like, I don’t have any kiddos, but let me tell you, I will nurture you, whether you like it or not like that is where I’m at. made from
Quianna Marie
the same seed. I swear, this is so awesome. So where do you hang out the most? Well, I mean, obviously Instagram and YouTube, we chatted about that, but how can our people find you?
LaShonda Brown
Yeah, I mean, the easiest place to go is just Lashonda brown.com That’s gonna be your hub that’s gonna send you wherever I am on the internet. And I’ve got tons of resources there. I write a column in a business magazine. And so I’ve got articles in there. I’ve got, you know, podcasts, interviews, and all sorts of tools to try to help you and so I know everyone doesn’t fit in the same box. You know, some people come to me because of my nonprofit background. Some people come to me, you know for small business advice. And so I set my website up in such a way where you get to choose your own journey. So you know, you may stumble across me on YouTube or Instagram. But I would encourage you to still go back to my website and just poke around and see how I can help you for where you are in this season.
Quianna Marie
Awesome. Thank you so much for your time dropping incredible mic drops and golden nuggets of information. I’m just so grateful to know you and to have you in my circle and I, I can’t wait to officially squeeze you one day.
LaShonda Brown
Oh, it’s gonna happen. I’m coming for all y’all. Like I will be masked up and doing whatever I have to do. But it’s time to bring internet people into the real world. So that’s all my bucket list for next year.
Quianna Marie
Awesome. Thank you so much, Lashonda. I appreciate you so much.
LaShonda Brown
No problem. Thanks again for having me.
Quianna Marie
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 quiannamarie.com/podcast. I’d be honored and so grateful if you showed your support by leaving a review and rating on your favorite podcast app. Until next time, keep on dancing
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