How to Tell Great Stories That Connect with Your Audience

Show Notes

In this episode of Tales from the PROS, I talk with Tara Hunt, an author, speaker, and Founder & CEO of Truly and the CEO of Phlywheel.

Tara is an executive-level digital marketing professional with over 20 years of progressive experience. She specializes in relationship and inbound marketing with a passion for a data-driven strategy and has over 20 years of research and analytics experience using quantitative and qualitative data.

She is also a best-selling author of The Power of Social Networking and Crown Business, professional international speaker, and was recognized as a Women to Watch in Entrepreneur Magazine in 2013, Women-led Startups to Watch in Fast Company in 2011, and The Most Influential Women in Technology in Fast Company Magazine in 2009.

In this episode, we chat about Tara's entrepreneurial journey and how she leverages social media to tell great stories that instantly connect with her audience. 

Listen to this episode. Hope you enjoy it!

Don't Miss:

1. Tara's entrepreneurial journey - 04:50

2. Why audience should be the "hero" of your story - 19:30

3. Challenges that made Tara stronger and more determined - 47:03

 

Listen and Subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tales-from-the-pros/id1371067192

 

Things we talked about:

1. Tara's inspiring story and her entrepreneurial journey

2. How to tell a story that can connect with your audience 

3. How to create an effective content strategy

4. How to leverage today's social media channels correctly and organically

5. Some problems and struggles she overcame during her career

6. Tara defines her story in "one-word."

 

Follow Tara Hunt:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/missrogue

Instagram: http://instagram.com/missrogue

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/missrogue/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trulysocialwithtara/

Website: http://www.tarahunt.com/

 

Follow Me and Subscribe:

https://linktr.ee/mgeorgiou22

What is Tales From The PROS?

Tales from the PROS is hosted by Michael Georgiou, Co-Founder, and Eric Lawrence, Director of Growth at Imaginovation, an award-winning app and software development company. Each episode dives into honest, unscripted conversations, hard-earned lessons, and educational insight into how to help bridge the gap between technology and people.

If you’re a founder, exec, or innovator trying to navigate the tech world without getting burned, this podcast is your no-BS roadmap. Through real talk, personal stories, and insights from the front lines, you’ll pick up smarter ways to build software, steer clear of common mistakes, and choose the right partners in a crowded, often confusing space.

Whether you’re scaling a startup, driving digital change at a larger company, or just love keeping up with tech innovation, Tales from the PROS brings you straight-shooting advice and inspiration without the fluff.

Tara Hunt: 00:00

There is enough space in this world for every one of us, every brand. Like, monopolies aren't supposed to happen anyways. Like, that that's actually against the rules, especially in a capitalist society. We need to make space for everybody to succeed.

Michael Georgiou: 00:17

This is Tales From the Pros, where business leaders and influencers share their stories of inspiration, struggles, and successes. And I'm your host, Michael Georgiou. Hey, everyone. Welcome to Tales From the Pros, and this is Michael Georgiou, your host and cofounder of Imagineovation. My wonderful guest with me here today is the CEO of Truly and the CEO of Flywheel.

Michael Georgiou: 00:48

She is an executive level level digital marketing professional with over 20 years of progressive experience. She specializes in relationship and inbound marketing with a passion for data driven strategy and has over 20 years of research and analytics experience using both quantitative and qualitative data. I'm interested in what in I'm actually really interested in her story. We're gonna talk about that in in a few minutes here. But essentially, you know, this amazing woman is is also the best selling author of The Power of Social Networking and Crown Business, professional international speaker, and was recognized as a Woman to Watch in Entrepreneur Magazine in 2013, woman led startups to watch in Fast Company in 2011, and the most influential woman in technology in Fast Company in 2009.

Michael Georgiou: 01:36

Please welcome the amazing Tara Hunt, or I would say Tara. I keep saying Tara, but that's okay.

Tara Hunt: 01:41

That's a okay. I'm so used to it. Thank you for having me on this, Michael, and thank you for that introduction. Now I have a lot to live up to.

Michael Georgiou: 01:49

Oh, yeah. Well, I I listen. You know, Tara, I've read so much great about you, and and you have, I think when I the research I've I've done on you and just learning about you and watching your videos, reading your content, you have a strong influence on what you do, and it seems like you're very passionate. And I can see that when I watch YouTube videos, you have so much passion. You know what you're doing.

Michael Georgiou: 02:09

You're not just I've seen a lot of stuff on all these platforms where people, it's like, it's a lot of it's not I don't wanna say made up, but it's not it's not coming from a lot of experience, but with you, I can see that you have so much passion, experience, enjoying what you're doing, and it comes across that way. So I just want to let you know that.

Tara Hunt: 02:28

Well, thank you very much. Yeah. I I think it's, content when you're a content creator and a lot of people are content creators, you know, it takes a lot of time to do to do content right. So, you'll find a lot of content creators that do great content, but they're just doing content. And then you'll find a lot of people who are working on projects, and they just don't have time to do the content, so they don't speak about it a lot.

Tara Hunt: 02:54

And, it's it's definitely like, it's great to hear that from you because I try to balance the 2 as much as possible. So to to varying degrees of success, I guess.

Michael Georgiou: 03:05

Yeah. Yeah. It's It's it's, you know, it's definitely, there are a lot of people in your space, you know, that that are content creators, and and I'm sure we're all sick of this word influencers. I know we keep hearing it, and there's always different there's all these, different buzzwords that come out. Right?

Michael Georgiou: 03:23

There's always a buzzword. Entrepreneur, that's been want coming that's been out for how long now? Probably over 10 years, it's been in trend, and then influencers, and now people are saying, you know, micro influence. I mean, what's next? I don't I don't I don't know what the heck is next.

Tara Hunt: 03:39

Nano influencers.

Michael Georgiou: 03:41

Sure. I'm sure yeah. I'm sure COVID will will, influence something else. We'll we'll come up with, another tag word, you know, trendy word of of what people are gonna call themselves. But, but, anyways, Tara, I'm really honored that you're here.

Michael Georgiou: 03:55

Thank you so much. I know you're doing a lot of different things, and I wanna talk about your your successful businesses, your new ventures, your story. As you know, I'm a fan of storytelling. I know you are as well. And, I definitely want to talk about the power of storytelling and talk about the the power of of a good content marketing strategy, and and targeting the right audience and all that good stuff.

Michael Georgiou: 04:18

So, just to kinda kick things off, I I know you do have a a good story behind where you came from, and, I know we talked a little bit before that you are in Toronto. But, Tara, can you tell us a little bit about how you got to where you are today? You know, what what was the you know, were you always a a, did you always have a passion for marketing or how did how did you get to this point that you are, you know, in today?

Tara Hunt: 04:46

You know, I've heard this I've heard it a 1000000 times and quite often I roll my eyes, when I hear, like, follow your gut. Right? Because it's a really it it well, it's a precarious position to be in because, like, that's it's not a real thing. Intuition, I guess, is what we're talking about when it's, following your gut. But, you know, even then, I've seen a lot of people following that intuition and, you know, following it basically down to down a bad path sort of thing.

Tara Hunt: 05:18

But I can say that part like, I feel like my whole career has been stumbling to stumbling in mostly right directions by, like, just be seeing something and feeling something and recognizing, oh, this is this is good. I should this is where I need to go, and then just sort of trusting that instinct. So, you know, I, years ago, I'm a, you know, Canadian. I was, you know, living, in Toronto, and I just like, I found out about this blogging thing, and I started blogging. And then I was really passionate at advocating, for this idea of, like, brands creating relationships through these digital channels.

Tara Hunt: 06:08

There wasn't even social yet. And then I got, like a, headhunted basically down to San Francisco, and I followed that. Like, I just dropped everything in my life and just jumped on a plane and moved down to San Francisco. Of course, I, you know, went through the proper channels to get my, work visa and stuff, but, you know, like but then I got there and I remember feeling like, oh, damn. What did I do?

Tara Hunt: 06:36

Have I ruined everything? Like, why did I just, like, do that? But then that worked out really well. I mean, that took me to, new levels of of, like, insights and meeting really cool new people that taught me new things and having experiences that took me to the next level. And then, I got a book deal, which was like, what?

Tara Hunt: 07:01

It's like, why would anybody like, I mean, I knew I had blog readers, but why would anybody wanna, like does myself put in a book? Wow. I guess I guess I was about to find out, and I started being asked to speak. I was scared, like can I swear on your podcast or no?

Michael Georgiou: 07:17

Little little ones.

Tara Hunt: 07:18

Yeah. I was scared I was scared shitless, like, when I started speaking. I remember being backstage at one of my first talks. They had hired me as a keynote. I'd been on a few panels before then.

Michael Georgiou: 07:30

Wow. Which keynote was it?

Tara Hunt: 07:32

It was actually they had brought me back to Toronto. It was for Mesh conference, I think it was called. It's backstage, and all of a sudden, I could just feel, like, everything bubbling up inside of me. And I had to run to the bathroom and I I because I was like and, and then I had to go up and I had to perform. I mean, basically, on stage, I was so nervous.

Tara Hunt: 07:57

But, you know, that, after a while, got easier. And then just like at every stage, there was, like, something that like, you know how you know it when you see it, and you're like, oh, that's that thing. And just I don't know what it is in in my in me that I looked at things and said, I'm gonna follow that with complete faith. I guess that's what happens in religion, so this is you know, maybe this is my been my religion in a way. Yeah.

Tara Hunt: 08:24

You know, I just kept following it, and sometimes, I mean, I can't say that everything that I've done has led to great success or or been, you know, a great decision, But, yeah, like, a little small town Alberta girl, you know, from yeah. Like, I wouldn't have even been able to dream this up if somebody asked me when I was graduating from high school, like, where I saw myself in 10 years, in 20 years, in 30 years, or whatever. It's such a big question to ask that too. Like, I all along the way, it was not planned. It was No.

Tara Hunt: 09:03

It was more it was like, wow. This looks interesting, and I just followed it. So, I mean, I guess, and and and that's terrible advice to give to people too, I think, because they'll be like, follow your instincts well. Sometimes that's you know, will take you in the wrong direction. And what does that mean?

Tara Hunt: 09:19

But, you know, when you talk about the videos that you see sometimes on these social platforms, I think a lot of times, what we do see is that people there are people who see somebody else's like, you see somebody else succeeding because they followed that instinct, and that person that they admire, that they want to, you know, replicate, I guess Right. That person took a chance because, instinctually, they saw something that was gonna be, like, really interesting for them, and they didn't do it for the wrong reasons. Usually, like, anytime I followed my instincts, it was like, I feel this, like, passion for it, and, like, I feel this is the right thing to do, not, oh, I'm gonna make a bunch of money or I'm gonna get a bunch of followers or whatever. It's not that.

Michael Georgiou: 10:09

Right.

Tara Hunt: 10:10

But I think, like, the first mover, the person who is influencing all of these up and coming content creators, follow their gut, and because of that, people follow them. But then there's a whole bunch of other people that say, oh, that I wanna be that person. It's not the same thing. That's not following your gut. That's following the money or following the likes or whatever it is.

Michael Georgiou: 10:36

I know what you mean.

Tara Hunt: 10:37

So it comes across that way then too. Right?

Michael Georgiou: 10:42

Yeah. And did you so, I mean, we all know that you have you know, you had this. I can see it in your face, your eyes that you you love content. You love marketing. You you love digital.

Michael Georgiou: 10:52

You have all these passions for it. And, and and, you know, I I could tell from your content, you love talking about audiences, how to target the right audience at the right time with all these different tools and and strategies, tactics. But, you know, before all that, when you started Truly, how did Truly truly come about? Was it something, was it just you or did you have a partner? Did you have this idea to start this agency?

Michael Georgiou: 11:15

Or was it just like, you know what? I I'm just gonna kick this off.

Tara Hunt: 11:20

Truly wasn't my first, rodeo, I guess, or my no. My first, project, you know, where I started something. I had done many companies before. And in fact, here is, like, kind of an example of me kind of well, I mean, I wasn't ignoring my gut, but I wanted to actually find a job. I was like, I'm through with this entrepreneurship thing.

Tara Hunt: 11:45

I don't wanna do it anymore. I'm tired. Yeah. I'm in my mid forties, and there's absolutely, like, no way that I'm gonna continue to, like, run this hamster wheel. And, so I had actually put a I started my video series, and it was really in order to be, like, hired by somebody, and instead, I kept attracting would be clients.

Tara Hunt: 12:12

And there were enough kinda cool projects that came along that I was like, I guess I'll do this. I'll do it as a freelance thing for a little while. And at the time, I was talking to my accountant who was like, you need to incorporate. I was like, oh, but I don't wanna do another business. And he said, well, even if you don't go forward with it, it's still a good way, like, tax wise, for you to operate.

Tara Hunt: 12:34

So I incorporated, and the entire time, I would be even I said to my clients, I was like, I'm just doing this until I can find a job. Next thing you know, I was so busy, I had to hire somebody. I got on that, like I was in that part of the, you know, growth of a business where you're, like, either I turn away the business or I hire somebody to help me with the business. And I end up hiring I end up going down the, okay, I'll hire somebody. And then I hired several people.

Tara Hunt: 13:03

And then I was signing a lease on an office, and then I was putting, like, benefits plans, like, all sorts of things together. Yeah. And here I am, 4 and a half years later, and, you know, there was a I you know, for a joke for a long time, it was my accidental agency because I really just it wasn't what I wanted to do, but I just kept saying, okay. Well, universe, you keep telling me that this is what I need to do, and it's worked out so far. We've had bumps in the road.

Tara Hunt: 13:35

Everybody has.

Michael Georgiou: 13:37

Of course.

Tara Hunt: 13:38

But, yeah, like, four and a half years later, I have an amazing team of of of people who work with me, that I get to, like, pay even during a COVID 19, like, shutdown.

Michael Georgiou: 13:55

They're you

Tara Hunt: 13:55

know, we haven't cut back because we're so busy. So yeah. Like, Yeah. And, that's that's the evolution of of Truly, for sure.

Michael Georgiou: 14:09

That's great. We and we have I'll tell you from listening to that story, we have a lot of similarities because 9 years ago when, my brother-in-law and I started Imagine Ovation, in 2011, the economy wasn't good. And it started almost, I wanna say, by accident, but we didn't know that it was gonna take off. We had no idea. He was working another job.

Michael Georgiou: 14:29

I was unemployed after my master's degree. I was doing it just to say, let me get some experience. I couldn't get hired. It was it was at least for a job that I wanted. And then the third, you know, we were posting on Craigslist all over the country.

Michael Georgiou: 14:42

I got banned, like, 4 times. I found other ways to get to get on there. Didn't give up. Was very I had a lot of resilience, perseverance, just kept going. And, yeah, you know, just it just worked out.

Michael Georgiou: 14:53

The 3rd week, we closed up, you know, for at least for us at that time, it was it was a lot of money. We're like, you know, let's let's do this. This might be something cool to pursue. So it was a it was a blessing in disguise the way it happened. We didn't know it was actually gonna be successful, but we've had our bumps in the road.

Michael Georgiou: 15:11

That's a different story. Yeah.

Tara Hunt: 15:12

What were you posting to Craigslist? I'm I'm very curious. Like, that's your services? Or Mhmm.

Michael Georgiou: 15:18

Yeah. So what I would do is I would create yep. So I I knew, like, the basics of Photoshop. I was not a designer by all means, but I knew I I did I took some classes in college, so I would do some basic, create some basic designs like a banner ad. Put the banner ad of our services, web design, web development, web applications, mobile, all that stuff, And then put that on there with our logo, have a little story, and then post it on different cities.

Michael Georgiou: 15:40

I would post to hundreds of cities around the country. And then they said, you're posting too much, so they banned me. I started I created another email, with different I changed all the words, different images, everything. I did that numerous times, and it got us it got us business. We had no money.

Michael Georgiou: 15:56

We started from nothing.

Tara Hunt: 15:57

So That's just so in like, it's that's the there's ingenuity in there. You're a true entrepreneur. That's very interesting. I never thought of using Craigslist, but, yeah, that's cool.

Michael Georgiou: 16:07

Well, you probably don't wanna use it now. Not with a good clientele. We got some crazies.

Tara Hunt: 16:11

Yeah. I'm sure. Oh, yeah.

Michael Georgiou: 16:13

We got some crazies. But, yeah. Anyways, that's a different story. But no. This is this is cool.

Michael Georgiou: 16:19

I mean, you definitely have a lot of a lot in common. And and, you know, I there was a a a few pieces of content, Tara, that I saw on your YouTube and, even a written post as well in regards to storytelling. And, I I like how you talk about, finding your story, tuning into it, and and turning your values into action. Can you talk more about that?

Tara Hunt: 16:42

Yeah. So the storytelling series, like, came actually a little bit out of frustration because so many people do talk about storytelling, you know, like, and a lot of people talk about storytelling in this very kind of, from the point of view of the storyteller. So, you know, the so you get, like, a lot of kinda advertising story you know, those ads that make people cry or whatever. But when I think of storytelling, I think of it in a very different way. I think of, like, my series.

Tara Hunt: 17:19

I don't tell stories necessarily. Maybe there's stories embedded within them, but I think of storytelling more of, like, how you connect with your audience. Right? So different types.

Michael Georgiou: 17:30

Yep. You're right.

Tara Hunt: 17:31

Yeah. The best stories I find are stories that you read and you see yourself in in some way, shape, or form. Right? Like, either you see yourself as I've seen this happen, and I empathize with the characters, or you read the story and you're like, oh my god. That was me or that is me, and so I need to keep reading to find out how my story ends.

Tara Hunt: 18:04

And I've always been a huge fan of Joseph Campbell, and the hero's journey. Are you familiar with

Michael Georgiou: 18:10

I've heard I've heard of it, but I I can't, yeah, I can't quote any of their content or anything, but I Yeah. Yeah.

Tara Hunt: 18:16

So so he, he I think in the sixties is when, he coined the term the hero's journey, and he talks about all great stories, like, are the, you know, the similar to what you'd see in, like, Star Wars or the Lord of the Rings or whatever. Like, this hero starts out normal life. There's a call to action. He refuses that call. He or she refuses that call.

Tara Hunt: 18:39

Then something happens that he or she cannot ignore. He's taking that person the hero's taking over the threshold, goes through a series of battles, like, has to win those battles until there's, like, the final big battle, and then there's, like, a death of sorts. So it gives either a death of an idea or let let it go or or an actual death, of the hero, and then they're reborn, and they're reborn into a new normal. And and that's a very simplifying simplification of this journey. But if you take a look at any, story in the history that's connected with people, it almost always follows this very same arc.

Tara Hunt: 19:20

And what I what I, learned about the hero's journey many years ago, it's not that you're following some, like like, hero out there that, is just sort of this floating separate from the audience. But everybody needs to that's why the hero starts in the normal, because everybody needs to relate to the hero. So when you are telling a story, it should always be that your viewer, your audience needs to be the hero, not you. You're not telling your story. Even those people that will tell a story and you're like, wow.

Tara Hunt: 19:59

What a brave story. You like, if it's if it's a story that you're gonna connect with, it's because you see yourself in that hero's, journey 100%. So when I talk in that story series, that's basically, like, what I'm talking about is it's not, you know yeah. It needs to be, like, that whole personal authentic. Duh.

Tara Hunt: 20:26

You're not making something up. But that's like, you know, I don't know if you've heard of Brene Brown or seeing her stuff, but, like, the whole idea of vulnerability, that's one of the ways that you can tell your story in a way that will connect deeply with the, with the person who is observing that story. So that's why stories are so powerful, is that people get to be vulnerable. And in that vulnerability, others can connect with them because they feel vulnerable in the same place.

Michael Georgiou: 20:59

I completely agree. Yeah. I it's funny that you say that. I just made a a LinkedIn post today. Actually, I think I tagged you in the post.

Michael Georgiou: 21:06

But, yeah, I I made a LinkedIn post today in regards to, a lot of us marketers, I feel like we we tend to fall into this, mindset sometimes when you're in your day to day, you're in the day to day grind, and you see a lot of other companies that are branding themselves, especially competition. Right? We'll we'll always have competition. And when we see someone doing it better, sometimes, not all of us, but some of us, we end up falling into this trap where we're comparing ourselves to others. And that, I feel, is a is really a thief of joy.

Michael Georgiou: 21:41

Comparison's a thief of joy, and a and a thief of of success. And I love how you talk about vulnerability, because when you, you know, when you put out content, especially either for yourself or your clients, let's just say for your clients, you have to be vulnerable. Because it's it's it takes a lot to put something out there for the world to see. To do it the right way the right way to make it resonate with your audience and to connect with their audience or your audience through stories and through all these different things, you have to be vulnerable. That's a big element of this.

Michael Georgiou: 22:17

I put that on the post today. It was it's funny how you said that. Wow. That's cool.

Tara Hunt: 22:20

It's so cool. Yeah.

Michael Georgiou: 22:22

But, I love how you said that. I think it's so true. And and, you know, Tara, I I also love what you talked about in regards to when you are storytelling, and I know that's also a big word. But, when you use that when you incorporate that into a strategy, let's just say, for your for your clients, or even branding your own businesses, I like how you talk about we do it for others. It's not about ourselves.

Michael Georgiou: 22:47

Mhmm. And I've talked to so many people on this podcast, successful marketers and business people, they all have a very similar element in regards to always being about other people. And I love how you mentioned that, And that's probably a part of your success. It's very selfless. It's not all about you.

Michael Georgiou: 23:04

You're trying to help others.

Tara Hunt: 23:05

Right.

Michael Georgiou: 23:06

You know, you're providing value to others. So that's also yeah. But I I just love how you I wanted to to recognize you for that.

Tara Hunt: 23:14

Well and it's also like, just to clarify, we're all selfish, but we should be selfish in the in the right way. Like, one of my favorite books, of all time is The Origins of Virtue. It's by Matt Ridley. I loved it so much, actually, I named one of my dogs after him. But he's talking about, like, the, that, you know, people actually, they're we're all selfish.

Tara Hunt: 23:45

But if directed in the right way, like, the selfishness becomes about helping others because there's a bit of a in the back of our minds, like, if we help others, then when we need help, we'll get help. There yeah. There's a bit of that whole virtue signaling stuff. Right? Of course, that's positive pressure towards that rising tide brings up all boats idea.

Tara Hunt: 24:10

So if we're, making sure that what we're doing connects with others and helps inspire others I love that you talked about looking to the competitors and feeling, you know, bad. Well, don't. Like, anybody that gets joy in somebody else's demise or feels jealous of their success. Like, you just have to step back because, Yeah. That like, we are all we are, like, if if there's nothing we haven't learned during COVID 19, we are truly all in this together.

Tara Hunt: 24:42

There is enough space in this world for every one of us, every brand. Like, monopolies aren't supposed to happen anyways. Like, that that's actually against the rules, especially in a capitalist society. We need to make space for everybody to succeed. And so, that, that you know, that's a really, important lesson.

Tara Hunt: 25:05

I will have to check out the post.

Michael Georgiou: 25:07

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And, you know, in regards to, you know, talking about posts and content, and we we I mentioned this a little bit earlier, but when you in that video on YouTube that you post about turning your values into action, can you talk a little more about that? I I love what you said.

Michael Georgiou: 25:23

I think it would be good for people to know.

Tara Hunt: 25:26

So you're making me go back into my constant database in my head. But I do believe what I meant, in that is Sum it up. Is living your values. Right? So no matter what you're doing so I think of, for instance, we're seeing this right now with Black Lives Matter and all these brands who are like, We believe black lives matter, but they don't actually do stuff do anything to demonstrate that they believe that black lives matter.

Tara Hunt: 25:53

And, of course, this is gonna this is, like, biting them in the butts. Right. So, like, they don't have, any black representation on their boards. They don't have, black people at their senior levels. They, haven't, you know, they haven't examined their policies in their organization, that sort of thing.

Tara Hunt: 26:14

They haven't been proactive on hiring. Yeah. Great. You put out, like, an Instagram post, but that's not living your values. That's just speaking to something.

Tara Hunt: 26:24

And I think we are living in a, day and age that that is of like, it is starkly clear when people are performing, their values, not actually living their values. So that's a big part of it, and I think it's very important for brands. There's been study after study of after study that, millennials and the new zenials or whatever we call the next Gen Y, Gen Z, like Yeah. That whole that the young the younger, audiences coming up are that they they they buy with their beliefs. If they don't see a brand acting, like, in step with what they believe, they are going to leave and not be loyal to that brand.

Tara Hunt: 27:18

So all that money you might put into our marketing that makes you seem, you know, amazing, is gonna go poof. You're not going no matter no. Like, that's not authentic storytelling if we wanna go back to that.

Michael Georgiou: 27:33

True.

Tara Hunt: 27:34

You know? Yeah. Pantobomb.

Michael Georgiou: 27:37

Yeah. We we believe in brands that we, we buy brands that we believe in. It's so true. I love that. I I need to quote that out after after this.

Michael Georgiou: 27:45

I love it. Some some, you're dropping a lot of jewels here, Tara.

Tara Hunt: 27:49

This is good. Boo.

Michael Georgiou: 27:53

You know, when you are creating a a, a content plan or strategy for your clients, do you have some, I hate saying the word tips, but what what would you consider an effective content strategy?

Tara Hunt: 28:10

Well, I mean, we always start with making sure that we understand what exactly, what keeps an audience up at night. Probably a good framework to use if you just wanna be, like, very very, like, tip like, this is in instant tip is like a jobs to be done framework. Do you know of that framework?

Michael Georgiou: 28:30

No. No. I don't.

Tara Hunt: 28:31

The the idea behind jobs to be done, is that you're not selling a product or a service or something. You, your people that are looking for you, your customers, your potential customers have a job that needs to be done. Now they're not looking for a specific thing. They're looking for a solution to their problem. Right?

Tara Hunt: 28:55

So in your case, when you were starting out and doing web banners, they you know, the your customers would have been looking on Craigslist to have, somebody make, ads that help them grow their business. So their job to be done was, like, growing their business and you were, like, a means to that end. Right? Mhmm. So, you know, when it comes to, you know, thinking about your customer, you shouldn't think about, like, we're the best of this.

Tara Hunt: 29:28

You should be always thinking about, like, speaking directly to what that job to be done is. And that's why I like ads that are like you know when you you come across an ad where it asks you a question like, oh, are you, you know, are you tired of your inbox being filled with spam or whatever? You're like, yes. I am so tired of it. Click click.

Tara Hunt: 29:47

Right? As soon as they speak to, you know, content that speaks to, where somebody is at, where like, on that spectrum of their job to be done is content that is going to resonate. And so it's important to create content that resonates. Here's another here's a an example I'd love to talk about all the time. So when we went to go sign our lease, on our offices a bunch years back, my real estate, broker was like, you need to get a lawyer to look at the lease.

Tara Hunt: 30:22

I was like, what? I don't wanna spend money on a lawyer. I haven't signed a 1000000 leases. What? You know?

Tara Hunt: 30:28

Yeah. I Googled, do I need a lawyer to, like, sign a commercial lease? And there was a post that went right at the top of my results. It was a LinkedIn post that said, do you really need a lawyer to, like, help you with your commercial lease? It was, like, ex almost exactly what I Googled.

Tara Hunt: 30:52

So, of course, I clicked on that, put that post, read the post. Basically, the post said, yeah. You I mean, it was it's always helpful, but, you know, here are some ways in which you can, you know, get through doing this yourself, things you should look out for, and it was written by a lawyer who does commercial real estate. Great. I went back to my commercial, like, my real estate, agent, and I was like, I don't I'm fine.

Tara Hunt: 31:21

And then I got the lease. The lease was, like, 75 pages long. And then I was like and and I just I I broke down. I was like, oh, man. I do need somebody.

Tara Hunt: 31:34

And guess where I went back to? I went back to that post. It was in my history in my browser, clicked on it. I looked the lawyer was here in Toronto, because Google's good at, you know, featuring low more local content. And I reached out to her, and I hired her, like, on the spot Yeah.

Tara Hunt: 31:56

Because she she didn't give me a hard sell in that post. She created content that exactly spoke to my job to be done at that point, and it can be it like, even though I didn't buy right away, like, she actually but I trusted her now. She created this amazing, you know, she she showed that she knew what she was talking about. And so when I got that mega thick leaf, I was like, oh, I do need help after all. I knew exactly where to go at that point.

Tara Hunt: 32:27

And I think everybody that does a content strategy needs to get into the shoes of those customers who are googling or asking around for that thing that they need to solve. It it doesn't necessarily mean that they're gonna be directly looking for a lawyer or directly looking for that iPhone case or whatever it is that they're looking for. They're looking for something. You know? They're looking to protect their iPhone or they're looking to alleviate any sort of, issues that they could have down the the pipe with their lease.

Tara Hunt: 33:06

So that would be my my focus is focus on their jobs to be done and answer those in your content.

Michael Georgiou: 33:14

And in terms of, the the the quantity of content that a a company or a brand, small business, large company, whoever it may be, is trying to put out, do you think that do you would you recommend a a a number of pieces of content of blogs, let's just say, per week to to to start writing? I know for us and our company, we do about one post a week. 2,000 words minimum. You know, we we ensure that a lot with a lot of the research that we do, we we try to make it resonate with our audience and the intention of the audience and things like that. But

Tara Hunt: 33:51

Yeah. There's a million factors at play. I am I'm usually bullish on, like, more content is better. And part of that is because, like, HubSpot and, you know, various different firms that, like, have studied this have shown that more frequent content drives, better, like, lead results, lead generation results. However, I also know of many, many examples where small businesses have written some really just amazing, like, relatable, useful, interesting, content pieces, and and they do it maybe, like, once a quarter, but the the content is resonates so deeply and is so timely and is so connected to their, customers', like, jobs to be done that they end up just I'm like, the, the lawyer, her that post was was old.

Tara Hunt: 35:04

It was not new. It was, like, 2 years old. And Right. To this day, when you're in Toronto and you Google it, it's at the top of that result. So that one post, I don't even know if she's written another post since then.

Tara Hunt: 35:19

But that post She's

Michael Georgiou: 35:20

just realizing that post for all her leads. Hey. It happens. Yeah.

Tara Hunt: 35:24

So if you if you, I mean and so it's, you've heard a million times before. It's about quality and not quantity. However, I mean, search engines do tend to, index and reward sites where posting is more frequent and fresh.

Michael Georgiou: 35:43

More consistent.

Tara Hunt: 35:44

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think she was lucky because she had posted on LinkedIn, which is very there's a lot of fresh content coming out of LinkedIn in general. Like, Medium would be the same way. Although, I'm kinda like I go back and forth on posting on these third party platforms versus your site because you kinda just want people to be driven to your site

Michael Georgiou: 36:05

Right.

Tara Hunt: 36:06

At the end of the day. But, yeah, like, it's that's my non answer answer.

Michael Georgiou: 36:13

But it's also hard to create thought leadership with just your website. That's why you as a marketing agency, right, you you probably write for your clients on on Fast Company and Forbes to get their recognition up, to get them out there to their audiences, not just their own website. So it's kind of both, I'm assuming.

Tara Hunt: 36:30

Yeah. I mean, we, we focus more on building content on their side, and then we would work with their PR agency usually on how we could, some of the content that we create also pitch to these other, platforms, for sure. So, but I do like to also raise the the search ranking of their core sites as well Yeah. For sure.

Michael Georgiou: 37:01

Yeah. Well, that that's cool.

Tara Hunt: 37:02

It's a valid

Michael Georgiou: 37:03

one. And hey. Yeah. Absolutely. I and I think, like, I think we hit the spot with, a lot of his consistency.

Michael Georgiou: 37:09

So it's quantity, I think, is important to a certain extent, but quality, we know, is very important. You're gonna need to ensure that the the quality of content is is very high, that resonates with the with the audience, and the and the targeting factor, I think, is is incredibly important. But, in regards to social media, I know you're you're big on social media. You're on all these platforms. I mean, Tara, you have, what, on your LinkedIn, I think over 220,000, connections or followers, which is which is, I mean, it's amazing.

Michael Georgiou: 37:40

I I one day, maybe I'll get there in, like, 10 years. But

Tara Hunt: 37:44

It's worthless. It's worthless. Let me tell you.

Michael Georgiou: 37:47

Oh, really? It's is it not is it not giving you guys leads? Your the the connections you have or the the content you're posting on LinkedIn?

Tara Hunt: 37:54

Or take it back What's

Michael Georgiou: 37:55

been what's been effective for you on social media? What's worked for you and your company and your clients? What's

Tara Hunt: 38:00

been good? I will take back that it's worthless because there's an there the fact that people follow me and there's attention there and there's, like, human beings that, like, at some point, I connected with on some level, so they wanted to hit that follow, is amazing, and I thank everybody who has ever done that. The worthless part is, that these all of these platforms control algorithms. So, my numbers of followers have steadily gone up, but my engagement has steadily, flat like, has been pretty flatlined. And and it's and it's not necessarily because of the quality of the content, although maybe that I don't know.

Tara Hunt: 38:43

Maybe I'm fooling myself. But it's also a lot I just hear this across the board. These platforms are noisier. Their algorithms, like, change all the time.

Michael Georgiou: 38:54

Very saturated. Yeah.

Tara Hunt: 38:55

Yeah. And and so I always make the joy joke, like, if you want to, do well on LinkedIn, you just talk about LinkedIn. And those posts just do so well. It's funny.

Michael Georgiou: 39:07

They do very well. I've noticed that too. And I've interviewed many people on the show there. LinkedIn, quote, unquote, influent yeah. Yeah.

Michael Georgiou: 39:14

You know what I mean? But they're heavily promoted on LinkedIn. There was a, I was interviewing a guy a few weeks ago, and he was wearing I mean, it was a it was a beautiful interview. It was the guy's one of the nicest guys I've ever met. He's so good.

Michael Georgiou: 39:27

But, he's like, listen. I'm wearing the hat. You know, LinkedIn hat, LinkedIn shirt. He was doing very well for himself. That's great.

Michael Georgiou: 39:34

But all he posted, was a lot about LinkedIn and and all that stuff, but, it was also he had hit a lot of amazing insight and how to provide value and and generate leads through LinkedIn. So it was it was very valuable, but, it's not something I I don't I don't wanna dedicate my whole my whole life to to that. I have a lot more I'm gonna do, you know?

Tara Hunt: 39:54

Well yeah. And it's like I am not ever going to be a chill for an for those for those companies. So, you know, I, I like to think that my posts are about, you know and I go off of real questions that real people ask me or if I've, like, actually discovered something through working with a client that I should talk about. Right? Like, I won't give up the client's secrets, but if something is happening where I'm like, oh, I bet more people would benefit from me talking about this, I'm not gonna go on and be like, here's how to make a lot of money with LinkedIn or Facebook ads or what.

Tara Hunt: 40:31

That's that's not my shtick, and I don't I would rather not have the attention. And just like the other thing is, like, a 100 strong views or listens from people that are really engaged That's right. Are is worth way more than a 100,000 from, like, people who just wanna become LinkedIn influencers, you know?

Michael Georgiou: 40:58

Yeah. It's We have to measure the right metrics the right measure metrics and impact on on, you know, on these these social videos and posts that we're making. I think, what what do they call it? Vanity metrics? So a lot of the vanity metrics.

Michael Georgiou: 41:12

Right? It's, I I had a a quick little story. I have, a friend of mine, and she's a model, and, she does modeling on the side, and she's all about Instagram. Not no. She's not on LinkedIn.

Michael Georgiou: 41:24

Always. She's on Instagram, Instagram and Facebook. And, you know, she was getting to this point where she's like, you know, I'm I'm really upset these last few weeks because a lot of my posts are not they're they're not getting engagement. I'm just like, listen. Like, I I'm not saying to to not have a goal to try to increase your reach.

Michael Georgiou: 41:41

I think there's there is positives with that. If you can reach people, you can touch and inspire people. I I get that element, but don't rely on that for your own joy and happiness. That that's crazy. I was telling her.

Michael Georgiou: 41:54

I'm like, you need to put your, your your, have have your your happiness and your joy come from other things about, you know, are you enjoying modeling? Does that give you does that bring you joy? She says, yes. It does. I'm like, stick to that.

Tara Hunt: 42:08

Yeah.

Michael Georgiou: 42:08

Stick to that. Don't stick to the metrics. These platforms are defining that for you. Yeah. Yeah.

Michael Georgiou: 42:14

Isn't that crazy? Like, we're

Tara Hunt: 42:15

Oh, yeah. Because I you know, I I railed against adding followers to Twitter back in 2006? No. 7. I remember when they added the follower numbers to Twitter in 2007, I actually was quoted I think it was in The Wall Street Journal in an article.

Tara Hunt: 42:36

Wow. Basically because they call like, they talked to me when I was at South by Southwest, and I was like, this is gonna change Twitter, and it's bad. And all the people are gonna care about are their follower numbers now. And sure enough, my prediction from 2,007, and I was actually I don't know if you know who Robert Scobel is. I was actually talking

Michael Georgiou: 42:55

I've I've heard I've heard of him. Yeah.

Tara Hunt: 42:57

Back talking him on that because it was, like, kind of about him and taught him talking about how he loves the follower numbers. And and sure enough, years later, like, I I know that Instagram's been, experimenting with taking away, like, like numbers and all that sort of thing. I would just like to see them pull like, just what would happen if we didn't have that social proof? And, like, would we just like stuff that we would like? Would we follow people that we personally just found interesting?

Tara Hunt: 43:31

Like, why do we need to know that that person's popular in order to follow them or that post is popular in order to like it? You know? It's, it's, I think it's been a big problem, and it's and it's and it has. It's, there's dopamine here. There's, like, all sorts of data science behind and, yeah, I know why these companies did this.

Tara Hunt: 43:53

These companies did this because it drives more time on the platform.

Michael Georgiou: 43:58

Oh, yeah. It's an addiction.

Tara Hunt: 43:59

I mean,

Michael Georgiou: 44:00

I'm I'm I'm guilty of it too. I'm guilty of it too. 100%. Yeah.

Tara Hunt: 44:05

Yeah. Dopamine hit. And so, like, if you do not know who's who's liking and stuff, you do not get that dopamine hit. If you do not, like, look at those numbers as a measure of self worth, like your friends, you're not getting that dopamine hit. Maybe that means you post less.

Tara Hunt: 44:24

Well, that's fine. Live life. Like, live your life.

Michael Georgiou: 44:28

So true. Yeah. I mean, the the dopamine hits I get, I'll tell you, is, when I'm able to get someone on the podcast and connect, like, well, some someone like you, and, you know, you're you're phenomenal, and I I love you know, for me, I get a lot of joy from this. This is because it's a it's a connection. It's it's real.

Michael Georgiou: 44:47

I can you know, I know we're not face to face, but I can see you can see me. And that to me, I'm like, you know what? That's what I love. And that that brings me joy. You know?

Michael Georgiou: 44:56

And build being able to build relationships, that brings me joy. Being able to do what I love every day, and that's marketing for my company, that brings me joy, you know, in helping people. And so this is what this is what's valuable for me. This is what I love. But, you know, not everyone's not everyone's like that.

Michael Georgiou: 45:14

You know?

Tara Hunt: 45:15

Yep.

Michael Georgiou: 45:15

But what are you gonna do?

Tara Hunt: 45:18

Well, hopefully, things change after this period of time. I feel like there's a 2020 has been very interesting, and I feel like there is change is gonna come. And there's a lot of stuff that's happening that I think it's just the beginning, and it's gonna probably be a little painful for people for a while, but I I feel like I feel like, actually, a weird sense of hope around all of this stuff. Maybe I

Michael Georgiou: 45:44

Either that. Yeah. I I think so too. Either that or, I I said this to to my fiance the other day. I said, what's next is, they're gonna find aliens below the Empire State Building or something.

Tara Hunt: 45:56

Yeah. Yeah.

Michael Georgiou: 45:57

So, you know, it's either things are gonna go up there. Fireball, you know. Yeah. Godzilla's gonna you know, it it's just yeah. We're in some very uncertain times at the moment.

Michael Georgiou: 46:10

But I guess all we can do is have hope. And and, I I think it this is a reset on the world a little bit. And it's showing that we're all connected, that we're all very similar, that we need each other, and, hopefully, it's gonna have a positive impact. We'll see.

Tara Hunt: 46:26

Yeah. And then there's more important things than they got your double soy latte order wrong, you know, in this world to think of So true.

Michael Georgiou: 46:37

Yeah. And and, actually, this is a perfect segue. You know, this is really my what I wanted to also ask you. With I know we all have our struggles, obstacles that we go through, and you being an entrepreneur and business owner, you both own multiple businesses. And were there any obstacles, Tara, or challenges that you had?

Michael Georgiou: 46:55

And you could talk about life, I'll leave it up to you, or even your career that they were they were very tough, but you felt like you overcame and you made you stronger. What were some of the the really tough challenges that you had in in your career? Can you talk about Truly? I'll I'll leave that up to you. But

Tara Hunt: 47:10

Yeah. It happened actually a few years with Truly. So, like, as I said, it was like this accidental agency, and all of a sudden, I'm in this position where I'm, like, trying to be CEO of an like, a lot of people give them the themselves the title of CEO, and there was a moment where I actually had to earn the title of CEO. A whole bunch of stuff had happened all at once. Like, we were winding down with a few clients already, but we had some other really strong clients.

Tara Hunt: 47:43

But then they had a change over one of our biggest clients had a change over in leadership, and their new leadership was like, I don't like this strategy. Like, this is not my idea. They wanted to go in a, like, a a way different direction, so they killed our contract, right there. So we were winding down with some clients with that big client was gonna be gone in a month. And there and then there was a bunch of, like, business development we were doing that just, like, all of a sudden, poof, dried up.

Tara Hunt: 48:16

And I had staffed up, earlier in the year to, like because I was feeling very optimistic and because I wasn't properly measuring, like, the, all of the things that an agency should be measuring, which is, like, full time equivalent cost per, you know, like, da da da da.

Michael Georgiou: 48:37

Yep. Operating cost, your fixed cost, everything. Your mark yep. I we've been through the exact same, go ahead. Yeah.

Michael Georgiou: 48:42

That's crazy.

Tara Hunt: 48:43

So there I was, and the rug was pulled out from under me. And, yeah. So the next few months, oh, man. I I was, like, I was devastated because I had to lay people off. I had to like, we had to make a lot of different cutbacks.

Tara Hunt: 49:03

We had to make some other hard decisions about things. Like, everybody was in fear, and, we got through it. Like, it was like a 3 month period. We got through it on the other side. We gained some business, and we ended up, like, putting in some amazing, like, practices and, tightening up the way that we keep track of time and, like, just making sure that everything like, we were tracking our margins and we had dashboards and all this stuff.

Tara Hunt: 49:40

Like, it was just like we were I was like, why weren't we this efficient before? I guess, like, part of me knew that I had to be before, but I didn't like, I just it always felt like, ah, they're be, you know, fine. We'd be fine. And all of a sudden, we weren't. And there there I was, like, on the other side of this, just way stronger and understanding that process is sexy.

Tara Hunt: 50:05

Process is good. Process

Michael Georgiou: 50:07

Yeah.

Tara Hunt: 50:08

Will help you be better to your staff. Process will you know, your staff might hate process, but at the end of the day, it's for them. It's for their jobs, to protect their jobs, to really help, ensure that they have security. You know, process will help your clients even if your clients hate process, because, you know, it'll ensure that they get the best possible service, that we are, like, making sure budgets are staying on track. You know, process and process is, of course, really good for an agency, and it allowed us to make our margins such that a few late years later, we're building Flywheel, which is was sort of, like, one of our dreams to do.

Tara Hunt: 50:54

Right? So

Michael Georgiou: 50:56

That's great. Yeah. We, it's crazy that you said that because, last, in earlier 2019, we went through that same thing where we had to part ways with our largest client, and it really hurt us. It was a real it was one of the, I would say it was probably one of the toughest years I've ever had, and it was very similar to what you went through. And we had to go through the layoffs and all of that.

Michael Georgiou: 51:20

And, it's it really does test you. You know, I I don't think people are really prepared when they start a business. You know, all these things you see on Facebook, I'm sure you probably stay off of it. But when you see on Facebook, you see, oh, you know, make a $1,000,000 in in, you know, in next 12 months. You know, I'm making you know, I have a stack of cash, 300,000 last month.

Michael Georgiou: 51:40

You know, it's just all fake. It's not real. It's not Yeah. It's not, you know? And instead, we need to talk about, you know, how difficult it is to be an entrepreneur, but how joyful it also is, and also it can how much joy it can bring to you and to others.

Michael Georgiou: 51:58

But with that being said, there's a lot of obstacles that that come,

Tara Hunt: 52:02

you know, along the journey. So I will also say we learn way more in our failures than we ever do in our successes. People that are like, I was successful because a, b, c, d. It's like BS. No, you were not.

Tara Hunt: 52:15

There maybe there were things that you did that led towards this, but there was also probably a lot of factors that you couldn't control. But in our failures, we learn to be smarter about, like, that whole, like, mitigating risk, which is a big part of the entrepreneurial life. Yeah. Right? It's not just the glory.

Tara Hunt: 52:36

It's also the you know, we're risk takers, but we also have to be smart about what kind of risks to take. So

Michael Georgiou: 52:42

Calculated risks. Yep. That's all. And that's about knowing your finances and your costs and your Oh, yeah. If you're actually making money or if you're losing money.

Michael Georgiou: 52:51

There's a lot there's a lot that goes into it, but it takes time. We've we've been

Tara Hunt: 52:54

there now as well.

Michael Georgiou: 52:55

It's hell. It's hell.

Tara Hunt: 52:56

I did not sign up for that. But, hey, I'm here, and, actually, I feel stronger because of it. So

Michael Georgiou: 53:01

It's good. Absolutely. No. That's that's great. And, you know, just to, the you know, I always ask this final question, on every episode, and it does have to do with with your story and all the things that you've, that you've gone through, good and bad, everything that's made you stronger.

Michael Georgiou: 53:20

But for you, Tara, how would you define your story in one word? Choose one word of how to define yourself. It can be your personal, your career, anything, but how would you really define your story?

Tara Hunt: 53:37

Humility. Love it. Yeah.

Michael Georgiou: 53:42

Humility. Okay.

Tara Hunt: 53:43

Yep. Yep.

Michael Georgiou: 53:44

That's a that's a that's a really, really good word for a business owner.

Tara Hunt: 53:50

You need it. If you don't have it, you're gonna be screwed. Oh, man.

Michael Georgiou: 53:54

Yeah. Yeah.

Tara Hunt: 53:55

I love it.

Michael Georgiou: 53:56

That's that's great. Yeah. Well, Tara, it's been, an honor, you know, talking to you today. I'm I'm so so happy, and it's a great, ending. We're kind of ending to the Friday.

Michael Georgiou: 54:06

It's, what, 12:30, but, you know, I'm definitely blessed and honored to to have you here and and to share your story and your and your expertise expertise, excuse me, and your insights. Can you tell everyone where they can find you? And, actually, if you can, tell us a little bit about, Flywheel and even, Truly, just a little bit and as well as where where everyone can find you socially and and websites.

Tara Hunt: 54:30

Okay. My name is Tara Hunt, and it's but you can find me at missrogueverywhere, m I s s rogu e. It's pretty much my handle across everything, whether it's on LinkedIn or Twitter. Flywheel is spelled which is our new, product that, we're doing a beta test on, and we're officially launching in July. It's how we're trying to scale services for small and midsize businesses because it's really hard.

Tara Hunt: 54:57

That's why it's so expensive to hire an agency for a small business, but we're trying to through community content and, and coaching, we're we're we're creating this, like, community of small business, professionals who need to get better at marketing and help, like, not buy Facebook ads anymore. But flywheel is spelled with a p h, p h l y, w h e e l, and, like, you know, like the nineties fly. Fly. You'll also see in our you'll also see in our branding, and, yeah, it's everywhere flywheel everywhere because, hey, surprise, surprise, nobody had that name before. When it happens, you might.

Tara Hunt: 55:40

Absolutely. Yeah. And then Truly is, Truly Inc, Truly, t r u l y I n c, everywhere, and that's, you know, where that's our services, base branch, and we can really only scale now to do, like, bigger, like, bigger projects, bigger long term, projects. That's why we wanted to create Flywheel so that we could help people small businesses in the near term, at a at scale. So

Michael Georgiou: 56:10

Perfect. Well, Tara, really appreciate you. Thank you so much, and, look forward to continue yeah. Absolutely. And look forward to continue connecting and and building that, you know, relationship.

Michael Georgiou: 56:21

And, I I think, a lot of people are gonna find lots of value from this and and be inspired by by your story and, be inspired from everything you've gone through and all the knowledge that you have to share. So I really appreciate you, and and, thank you for being here again. So

Tara Hunt: 56:39

Thank you, Michael. Talk soon.

Michael Georgiou: 56:41

Thank you so much. Absolutely. Well, thanks again everyone for listening, and this is your host, Michael Georgio, on Tales From the Pros, and until next time. Thanks, guys. Please subscribe to our YouTube page and also follow our social media.

Michael Georgiou: 57:00

There are links somewhere around here. But, we really appreciate it guys. Thanks for all the support. And I'm gonna be giving you awesome content continuously. And we look forward to seeing you soon.