Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
As a small business owner, you need to be a lot of things to make your business go—but you don't have to be a marketer alone. Join host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, and Kelsi Carter, Brand Production Coordinator, as they explore what it really takes to market your business. Even if marketing's not your thing! You'll hear from small business leaders just like you along with industry experts as they share their stories, challenges, and best advice to get real results. This is the 2x Webby Award Honoree Be A Marketer podcast!
Dave Charest: Today on episode 17 of the Be a Marketer podcast, you'll hear from a founder that likes to go big or go home. And I'm sharing why you shouldn't fall for this social media trap. This is the Be a Marketer podcast. B A Marketer my name is Dave Charest, director of small business success at Constant Contact, and I've been helping small business owners like you make sense of online marketing for over 16 years. You can be a marketer, and I'm here to help. Well, hello, friend, and welcome to another edition of the Be a Marketer podcast. As always, I am grateful to have you here with me today. Today specifically, I'd like to call your attention to something that's I think is really important to recognize when it comes to marketing your business online. And it's often a trap that I see a lot of small businesses fall into, and it's really thinking that they can rely on social media alone to market their business. Now, look, I'm not saying that social is bad, right? Really, when you think about it, social allows you to take action in public. You can engage with people, and through that engagement, you reach new people, which allows you to grow your following, and so more people know about your business. Right? This is good. But you also have to keep in mind that algorithms control who sees what and limit your reach. Plus, as I've mentioned before, you don't own that audience. And if you think of it like this, additionally, if a social site goes down, which has happened in the past, and I can guarantee will happen in the future, or they decide to make another sweeping change, it really can end up having a negative impact on your business, particularly if that's what you're relying on and you have no control over any of that. And so this is really where, when you think about it, both email and text marketing really start to separate themselves from social. Because both email and text are contact lists that you own. You have control over those, and that means that you can decide when you want to communicate with somebody when they're on your contact list. Right? And so please, here's what I'd just like you to remember, is you really should encourage your social connections to join your email or text list so that, again, you have ownership of those contacts. All you need to do is just make people aware that they can join your list from time to time. It can be as simple as that. Again, social can be a valuable tool, but you don't own those connections. And as you'll hear in our conversation today, and our guest would have you know, if you own nothing, they own you. Well, friend, heres another interesting fact for you. Did you know there are less than 2% of women owned us based businesses that ever reach 1 million in revenue annually? Todays guest Sonia Rasula is one of those women. She founded unique markets in 2008 to create large scale pop up markets across the country with the goal of supporting small businesses by showcasing up and coming designers, artists and entrepreneurs at the beginning of their journey. And she's also a constant contact partner. I asked Sonia how she got started in producing markets. Let's pick up the conversation there.
Sonja Rasula: I was a journalist for many years, and so I created content, I directed editorial, and I was on television for many years. So that was my background. I burnt out kind of a similar story to a lot of people. I burnt out, moved to Los Angeles to start a new life. And I was kind of just floating. Like I had been very, very successful at a young age, which was amazing. I have a very solid foundation working for Fortune 500 companies. So I believe that I'm very lucky and that I had a really, really good foundation of like, business learning as opposed to a lot of people nowadays who, like, start an Instagram account and want to become business owners. Worked for a decade first. So my background is, was in journalism. And when I moved to LA, I didn't want to work for anyone else anymore. I had gotten my dream job, which was on a television show called Trading Spaces. And then I was cut from the cast and it was heartbreaking. And so I just, I struggled with like, well, what do I do now? I thought I was going to be on tv. This was what my whole life had been about. But I realized it wasn't for me anymore. Like, it didn't make me happy. What did make me happy was I always loved design, fashion style. That's what I mainly wrote about as a journalist and covered. And so I realized that I could create a shopping event that would help all of these amazing small business owners who at the time were struggling to figure out how to get to the next level. This is pre instagram, by the way, so lots has changed since then. But back then, you were creating a business and not knowing, like where to go. So that's what my background was in, was really in journalism. And I started the markets. I had never held an event before. You know, I have no event experience. I have no trade show experience. I have nothing from that area. But I just, I had a solid idea. And like most journalists, I am very, very good at researching. And so that was the thing that I was great at, and I researched, and I researched and saw an opportunity in the market and ran with it.
Dave Charest: So I'm curious as to, like, what was the impetus for the idea of doing a market in the first place? What was your connection to artists? And, like, I know you enjoyed it, but, like, what was it, like, I know what I'll do. Like, what got you there? You know?
Sonja Rasula: Yeah, I know. Well, I. What? You know what? Honestly, I was in my car, like many people in Los Angeles, stuck in traffic. I live on the east side of town, and I needed to go to a store on the west side of town to buy a birthday present for my best friend. And I was just sitting in gridlock, like, fuming. And, you know, it was just one of those days. And I thought to myself, like, instead of driving all around town to go to, like, my favorite stores, could there be one place where I could shop from lots of different people? You know, I was just frustrated with, like, driving from place to place to place, and I just thought there should be a giant event that is like a trade show, you know, where you walk in, and there's hundreds of amazing people with things to sell, but for the public, very specifically for the public. And that was kind of the through line, which was just to make it easier for people to discover all these great people making great stuff. And, like, it's hard to discover, you know, unless you're a journalist and you're, like, always looking and reading everything, it's impossible to know everything that's out there.
Dave Charest: Now, it sounds like, based on how you're kind of telling the story, and I could be wrong, but it sounds like starting a business wasn't something you always thought you would end up doing.
Sonja Rasula: No, never. Never.
Dave Charest: So when you get to this place where you're like, all right, I'm gonna. I have this idea. I'm gonna get started. You start doing your research. I mean, did you have any doubts about doing this?
Sonja Rasula: No.
Dave Charest: Why not?
Sonja Rasula: I don't know. My dad and mom's combination created a very, very confident child. I don't know. I mean. Okay, so when you are a journalist, you research, and you have an idea of what the story is going to be, you interview all the players. There's this series of things that you do. It's very logical. And so I kind of applied that to starting the business. And honestly, I did not think it was going to be a business to me. I was creating something fun that would occupy me for a little while until I found the next thing, the next gig. So I never thought of it as me starting a business.
Dave Charest: Gotcha.
Sonja Rasula: For me, it was like, okay, if I want to create this fun event, I have to find a venue. I have to find sellers and convince all of the artists and sellers to take part. And ideally, I make my money back. So I figured out what those numbers were and did it. And the numbers were big. It's like I took out my four hundred one k. I took out $50,000 to book the venue for a weekend. Those are the numbers in 2008. That's what it costs. Rent a very, very large space. That's what I did. And so, yes, I never had a doubt. Otherwise, I probably would have had a heart attack taking my retirement savings out of the bank account.
Dave Charest: So what was the first event like? And then how did you get to, I'm going to do this again.
Sonja Rasula: The first event was amazing. You know, the high that comes with producing something, putting all of your time and energy into something, and then I witnessing the results is unparalleled. Like, it's an amazing feeling. And so that feeling, obviously, I wanted to continue, and I thought I should go with my gut and keep doing it. That first event, we had 225 sellers set up their booths and sell. And so that is larger than a lot of trade shows. It was a massive market. I do believe in the idea of go big or go home. You know, I wasn't going to create a little market that could happen outdoors in a parking lot, like, that's already out there. I wanted to create something new. I wanted to kind of disrupt an industry that, and almost like, I didn't realize I would be a leader in an industry that didn't exist yet, but that ended up happening. But to me, it was like I saw this vision, and then I'm standing in the vision and it's happening. And there's thousands of people who drove from all over. We had people who said that they had heard about it from Las Vegas and drove down. And so I was shocked. And so there's thousands of people supporting these small business owners. And I made $2,000. So I made all my money back. And then I made a big whopping $2,000. And I thought, I think this is a business. And so that after that first one, that's when I realized it was a business. I could do this and figure out ways to make revenue and to actually sustain myself. So that's what I did. And I never looked back.
Dave Charest: I love that. So can you tell me a little bit about. You didn't have any experience in doing this. Obviously, you're doing your homework, but did you have any people to turn to? Any mentors or people that helped give you advice during this period? Or was it just all on your own?
Sonja Rasula: I still, to this day, have never had a mentor. Also, in 2008, it was a recession. It was the worst economy until Covid, although I don't know if we were actually officially in a recession. So 2008, we officially were, and people were dropping like flies. So many of my friends were getting laid off, they were unemployed. And again, social media hadn't truly hit its height yet. Twitter was around and popular, but that was it. And so this idea of, like, having a community of people or, like, easily being able to see other people and ask them for help, that was not around 15 years ago. So, no, I did not have help. I relied on me, myself, and I. And the help of a lot of amazing friends and family, like, so my brother in law is in education. He is a school principal. And I begged him and he helped me. I taught him how to write press releases and emailed the press. And so he was my press person for a year, just, you know, helping me out on the side. Like, he would send these emails, like, trying to get people to write about us. So I absolutely had, like, a good circle of friends and family that I kind of pulled from, but that was it. Nothing, nothing legit.
Dave Charest: It sounds like, obviously, you did the first one. You learned a lot through that piece to say, okay, like, here's how I can make this improve on this and do better for the next one. What were the challenges that you kind of faced when you were putting on that first event?
Sonja Rasula: I mean, always marketing, right? You know, this. You know, you have a. You have a great product, you have a great event, you have a great service to provide. That's all lovely and dandy, but you have to have customers. And getting the word out, that was, you know, that was a challenge. I will say again, back to my journalist roots. And I'm just a naturally curious person. And I, even though I had never worked officially in marketing, I worked so closely with the marketing departments in all of these Fortune 500 companies. And so I'm a very, like, boots on the ground type of person. And so I just knew, I thought, okay, how can I spread the word? At the time, we had no email list, right? So, like, how can I spread the word? It was printing posters and postcards, and I would literally spend hours every day putting postcards on, you know, the car doors, the driver's seat. Like, this is what I did. It's like, so grassroots that I laugh when I think about it. But to this day, we still do those things. We have a street team out there that does this. So it's like it was grassroots marketing. It was postcards, posters, trying to get bloggers and journalists to write about us. That back then, that was kind of all you could do, right? And then I knew the importance of an email list. I directed email marketing campaigns for all of these various jobs that I had. We created the HGTV newsletter from scratch way back in the day, and I won an award for that. So it's like, I intuitively understand content and marketing. Somehow it's. Somehow I just understand it. I knew that when I had that first market, I had to get those email addresses. Like before, I didn't have any, but I knew starting with that first market on, I would need to collect email addresses and I would need to stay in touch with those people. And that, to this day, has been the largest driver of ticket sales to this day, hands down.
Dave Charest: I'm curious as to, at any point during this process, as you're doing it, I mean, I know you had no doubts. You're going full force, but were there any moments where you're like, did anything make you want to give up? Or like, say, I'm not going to do this, or were you ever hit with any of that idea?
Sonja Rasula: Not really. Not at the beginning. At the beginning, it's excitement, it's hope, it's, you know, like there. It's pure passion. And this is the point. Usually a couple years in is the point when small business owners then falter because they've started something that they've loved. Love takes you down the road pretty far, and then at some point you hit a roadblock, you hit a wall.
Dave Charest: Yeah.
Sonja Rasula: Exhausted. And, you know, and you don't have all the answers. Right. So as I was starting the business, I would have to say, no. There was nothing ever that I didn't think like, this is. I can't get over this. I'm pretty practical. I look at an obstacle, I look at it head on, I figure out what I can do or I get help, and then I move on. I'm very quick to move on and move past things. So at the beginning, I never had any issues. Fast forward a few years when I start to have employees, and I'm now a manager of people, not just an entrepreneur with my vision and my dream. And I would say that those were the first signs of like, I don't know if what I'm doing is the right thing. Like, I'm exhausted. I'm not feeling as passionate and as lovey dovey as I was before, because I'm managing people and personalities that sometimes clash, and it just. That that is a lot to deal with.
Dave Charest: Yeah, yeah.
Sonja Rasula: Obviously I got past it, but yes, that. That was a hard part.
Dave Charest: Obviously, there's more story to be written. You're still going and you're still doing this, but as of what you've accomplished thus far, what would you perceive as your biggest accomplishment?
Sonja Rasula: I would say that it's probably the fact that I am still here and not just still here. It's like I'm not just sustaining. I can proudly say that there are only shockingly 2%. It's actually now less than 2% of women owned us businesses that ever reached million dollars annually. And I'm one of those women. So I would say that is probably one of the biggest achievements that I have. I bootstrapped, obviously, you heard, I took all my retirement savings. I've never accepted investment, and I've never needed any loans. I somehow created a business that has been cash positive from day one. And so, like, that's a huge feat. You know, I come from this area in La called Echo park. It's. It's, like, very cool now with the hipsters, but it was, like, dangerous when I was growing up, it wasn't a great neighborhood. I'm a public school kid. I don't come from an Ivy League. So I just thought. I think that's probably the proudest thing, is that, like, I've been able to do really amazing things and break records with a background that is not in this world at all.
Dave Charest: First off, congratulations to you. Secondly, how does that make you feel?
Sonja Rasula: I mean, it makes me feel amazing, right? It. Like, also, I'm. Obviously. There's the added things of, like, also being a woman, and the stacks are not. They're against us. Also, I'm asian american, so I'm also a woman of color. Like, there's all these things, and so, yeah, I mean, I'm extremely proud. I'm excited to be, like, a face and a voice for all the kind of people who feel other, you know, who don't really come from maybe the world that they're in. It's like, you can do whatever you want, you can push forward, you can learn new things, you can test boundaries, and you can be whatever it is that you want to be. If that's an entrepreneur, good for you hope you have thick skin, too.
Dave Charest: Well, so that's actually a great point and something to think about here as I frame this next question is based on what you have accomplished and where you started and where you are today, what drives you and what keeps you going in this business.
Sonja Rasula: So we're about to have our 15th anniversary. This December will be 15, which is insane. And how did that time go by so quickly, like so many wrinkles. I think what motivates me has always been the same thing that motivated me back then, which is I love sharing stories. Like, I'm very curious. Any journalist, anyone who shares stories, like, we all have the same thing in us, which is, like, we love telling people about other people. It's a trait that we have. And so for me, it was always about helping the small business owners, and to this day, even more so in the last six months because I started an online membership community where we help each other. It's all about small businesses and creatives helping each other. It's really about seeing the legacy of what I've been doing, because I've been doing it for so long, Dave, that now what happens is that people come to the markets, they find me and they say, you know, this is my daughter. She's now 26, but we started coming to your markets when she was in high school. She just graduated university. You know, she's working at this job, and then her plan is to start her own business in one year. Like, it's really amazing to have that happen. And so, like, when you've done something for so long and, you know, because you've worked at constant contact for many, many years, and so you see the impact that it has on the community and the people who, you know, the whole goal is to help small businesses. And so it's like, wow, you see all of that. And then for me, I've been able to see some of the people who started selling at our markets and who were not even that successful, let me also say, like, they set up their tables, they would try to get people to sell, to buy their products or to taste their teas, and, like, they stuck with it show after show, year after year. And now they are like $35 million companies. So I've been able to see their journey, too. And, like, that's the thing that motivates me. It's all of the individuals who are creating what they feel they're supposed to put out into the world. And then watching them do it and grow because of the markets, thats the best thing for me.
Dave Charest: Trey, when you think about where you are now, what are your top priorities right now as youre running the business, man?
Sonja Rasula: Thats a great question, Dave, because today, this week has been quite a week.
Dave Charest: There are a few of those, right?
Sonja Rasula: Its funny how there are some months that go by. Youre like, this feels really great. This is why I became an entrepreneur, because I have a free schedule and I can go to the museum today if I want to, you know, and then suddenly these weeks hit and you're like, I'm drowning.
Dave Charest: Yeah, it's a roller coaster ride all the time.
Sonja Rasula: It is high and lows. It is highs and lows for sure. So I think my top priorities, it's interesting as a, as a, I will put this in air quote, successful entrepreneur, because I have been somewhat successful and have never had to, like, worry, worry about money. I think I've been a little bit, I've been asleep at the wheel a little bit in that, you know, because I didn't have to worry. There wasn't, like someone coming after me. So we've been successful. We, you know, we try to grow year over year, which any business should do, and that's all been great. And recently I started to ask myself, like, you know, what, what is your legacy here? Like, what are you actually doing? Because it's 15 years in. And so you start to think about legacy a little bit. And my priorities also are, like, me, to be perfectly honest, like, did I ever put that money back into the retirement account? No, I don't have a laugh about it. But it's like, wait, 15 years have gone by and I could have been putting money back in, but I didn't. And so I'm starting to be more focused about money and better about, okay, so we're making x amount of dollars. Like, I actually need. And Covid obviously taught me a lot. All entrepreneurs lived a few different lives during the last couple of years. So I think it's like, I think about money a little bit differently. It's not so precious, but also I need to think about, like, saving. And maybe that's an age thing, too, right? 15. I'm different priorities. But it's like, and I say this also to, like, share this advice to anyone listening. When you are going after your dream, you will literally do anything it takes to get there. You will pound the pavement. You will work 24/7 for years on end without vacations, without. And so, like, at some point, you have to realize that you have to take care of you. And I always make sure to, like, take care of everyone around me and all the people who work for me. But it's like, when do I give them bonuses? When do I give them raises? Well, like, what about raising my salary and giving myself a bonus? So it's just like, that's my priority, is to start thinking about the future of me, not the business me, but then at the same time, the legacy of the business, because I can't do this forever. So I've started to now think about, like, okay, do I want to hit 20 years? Of course. Obviously. Do I want to be running things? Probably not. Like, you know, at. At what point do I hire a CEO to come in and replace me? Or at what point do I sell the company? That those are the things that I start to think about.
Dave Charest: When we started this conversation, you talked about running your first event. You've got friends and family helping you. Just to give us a sense, like, you obviously hired people. You have staff that we're talking about now. Like, what does that look like now?
Sonja Rasula: Since COVID it looks very different. And often when people ask me the question, you know, I'm on a lot of podcasts. I talk to a lot of journalists, and there's always that question of, like, what advice would you give to your younger self? Or what's the best advice you can give to other entrepreneurs? And you're like, oh, my God, I've got a hundred. I've got a hundred tips. How do I choose one? But I tend to say to not pay attention to what we see in tv and movies because there's a very specific view of what, like, being a small business owner is, or being any business owner, or being. Working. Having a career. It's like you're in an office, you're wearing, you know, you're wearing, like, work attire. You're walking through the office, and there's, like, lots of cubicles. No one has a sense of, like, what true success and business is. What they have in their heads is what I had in my head because of all the rom coms that I've watched. When you're a small business owner, you have an office that is filled with people, maybe ten, maybe more, but, like, there's people around you. And so I grew, as I grew, I hired because that's what I thought I was supposed to do. And, like, that is what so called successful business ownership is. Like, hiring people, having lots of employees. And I would say, don't let the view of what the world has shown you of entrepreneurship. Don't hire anyone unless you know that they can work 40 hours a week every single week, all year long, you know, otherwise you're like, so I grew too quickly. I hired all these people. At one point, I think we were eleven or twelve people, which makes me laugh now when I think about it, because currently, after Covid, you know, obviously I had to have my whole team furloughed. And now there's three people, including me, three full time people who run the markets. And that's not to say that we don't need more. We do. We need some more freelancers doing things. But it did open my eyes to when I needed help in certain areas. Instead of hiring, like putting together a job description, hiring someone full time, when really their work would have been like 15 to 18 hours a week. Now it's finding great people who are good at graphic design or social media and bringing them on for those hours as opposed to hiring a role for it. Just something that, like me and a lot of other business owners who made it through Covid and are now sitting here still with successful businesses, a lot of us talk about, like, what are the changes, like, what has happened? And that was one of the big ones, which is that all of us realized that, like, we were bloated, you know, because that's what you thought you had to do. That's what a successful business owner is. But, you know, it's whatever you need. And so, yeah, I mean, I would just say, like, you know, that piece of advice for me is like, only hire who you need when you need them. You know, obviously surround yourself with great people. And I'm sure you've heard this before, but it's like, bring people onto your team and surround yourself with people who come from different backgrounds than you and have different skills. Because the things that I'm very good at, I don't need. I need someone who's really good at, like, creating social media posts, you know? So that is also another piece of advice is, yeah, like, surround yourself with people who are experts at what they do, not what you do.
Dave Charest: So, I mean, obviously we don't have to spend a lot of time here, but I think it is an interesting thing because I think whole industries have learned a lot through this period. But when it comes to you, specifically, where you've got a business that brings people together and you literally can't have what's going through your mind and what did you learn through that process?
Sonja Rasula: It's crazy to me, Dave, because it feels like yesterday. It really does.
Dave Charest: And yet many, many years ago, it's very strange.
Sonja Rasula: Time is just a construct, you know?
Dave Charest: Yeah, exactly.
Sonja Rasula: So March happened. I live in Los Angeles, California. So that's important with the story because, you know, people here are quite liberal, quite up on things, you know? So from many different perspectives, we knew, like, immediately, like, people started wearing masks. People started doing. And I was like, what's happening? Like, you know, I didn't. And so in March, when the shutdown happened, the official shutdown happened, it seemed to me like the rest of my community and the rest of the world were like, we'll be back in three weeks from now, or worst case scenario, summer. And I just remember thinking, okay, so I was just in New York City, March, because my birthday is March 9. So this is why it's so clear in my head. I was in New York City. I flew home right around my birthday because it started to feel weird. I noticed people in New York City wearing masks, and I started to think, is something about to happen and maybe I should fly home now? Cut the trip short. Fly home. I flew home. The shutdown happened. And what was going through my mind was, okay, so I was on an airplane. I didn't have a mask on. It was filled with people. There were thousands of airplanes, tens of thousands of airplanes that same day. And all the days since flying all around the world. How is it possible that this will go away in a few weeks? Because really, all of us potentially have it. So I put my scientific hat on and I walked into the office, and I think at that point, I had four people on my team, maybe five, and I gathered everyone in the room and I was like, I don't think this is going away. I have to furlough you immediately because I have to save the business, and you will be taken care of by the government, thank goodness, by collecting unemployment. And honestly, the craziest thing is, because of California, they got topped up, dollar 600. So some of them made more. They actually made more being at home. And I was like, listen, like, I'm going to take care of you, but we need to take care of the business. Do we all agree? Everyone agreed. And so I shut down immediately. I knew that if I kept trying to wait. Let's wait a couple more weeks. A few more weeks. Like you said, we hold events in person inside. Our events are not outdoors. They're inside. And so I knew we were dead in the water, like, so I did that very quickly. All the money that was in the bank account stayed in the bank account, and I just sat on it for over a year. A year and a half. It was heartbreaking to not be able to do anything. You know, there were things that we tried to do, like, do some online things. The whole world discovered Zoom, and everyone's like, start doing things on Zoom. Do you know, I watched other markets and other trade shows try to gather people virtually, and I just. I'm too pragmatic. Like, I just put myself in the shoe of a small business owner, and I just thought to myself, okay, so a hundred people join this event on Zoom. How many of them are actually going to purchase from these people? Like, it's so much work for so little outcome. And so I decided to start putting my attention into other areas, which was a lot of education for those small businesses. But, yeah, I mean, for us, I just shut down very quickly. I knew it would. I honestly, I thought it would be 2021, so I thought it would be summer of 2021, maybe. Maybe when we could start having events. And it was around that we finally came back in 2022. It took a while. Crazy, crazy times.
Dave Charest: Crazy times. Well, I'm glad we're still here talking about it. So that's good on you for making whatever decisions you had to make and getting through that. I want to shift a little bit here. We talked about marketing, and now that's always a challenge. I'd love to get your thoughts on just marketing. Obviously, you have this instinctive content gene in you and understanding how that all works. Right. But, like, I guess, what's your point of view on marketing, and then how often are you working on it?
Sonja Rasula: I love marketing. Some people naturally, and I'm one of those people, thank goodness. Some people naturally are curious about things, and, like, my husband is curious about, like, rare species of plants. Great. I happen to be curious about marketing, which is perfect for my business and what I do. Most small business owners, I work with about 500 a year. I mean, at this point, I've worked with over 15,000 small business owners across America. And usually the number one thing that they ask for help in is social media or marketing. I find it interesting that they relate. Like, social media is the first thing they talk about, which is fine. That's a sense of marketing. Sure, it's community in my mind, but there are all these other ways to market that they are blind to. I love marketing, like I said when I started the company, and I thought, how am I going to get people to know about this event? To me, it was so easy. Print posters and postcards and put them up all over the city. You know, what can I do for free? And you start to think about all these ways. And so for me, marketing just comes secondhand because I'm always thinking about my two customers, the customers that come to shop and my number one customer, which is small business owners. And it's like, how can I help both of those people? How can I continue to put my best foot forward and reach those people? So I'm always thinking about marketing. I noticed other people's marketing campaigns. I'm always paying attention. I have a folder in my email. I have a folder called great email examples. And so anytime I get an email, whether it's from a big company like J. Crew or a small business owner, like that folder is filled with emails that I think are great. Whether it's a great subject line that I'm like, oh, I love that pun that they use, I want to remember that. Or if it's a great image or a great video, like I'm constantly logging stuff all day, every day.
Dave Charest: So when you think about what you actually take action on and what you do, what is your overall approach when you think about marketing?
Sonja Rasula: For us, our overall approach does lean very heavy on email marketing. And we're going to start going hard this year with SMS, which we have the numbers, we just haven't done anything with them yet. So we collected them in December. So we're getting excited to start learning how to do all of that this year. For me, the touch point with the consumer, which are our shoppers, is something that is very special to have if they've given you their email address or their phone number, to me that's like there's a trust that's involved, right? And so like they love us enough or are interested maybe enough to give us that information. And so we, I'm grateful for that. And people should see that as like, wow, I own something now that I can use and so I need to nourish that relationship. I need to stay in touch with them. I need to give them a, tell them more about my story, tell them about the business, share reasons why, you know, an example is we're going to do an email coming up that is like the reasons why to shop small. And it's like, well, we know the reasons. They're so close to us. This is what we live and breathe. But our average shopper might actually not know. They just like shopping local and supporting, but like they're going to read this email from us and be like, oh, wow, I never thought about the fact that sales tax, all these things go towards public schools, libraries, the fire stations, like, you know, so for us, it's like we want to educate, we want to inspire and we want to keep those customers. And so for us, yeah, I mean, we lean hard on email. That's definitely our number one driver of traffic. And then we think of other new ways, which is, you know, I mentioned the sms and then we have a street team. So we still do stuff that's seen as very old fashioned, you know, putting up posters all over the city, doing, like, outdoor stuff, you know, out. So, like, billboards, which is more traditional advertising, but it kind of all feeds into the same thing you started before.
Dave Charest: Kind of like the big, like, Instagram didn't exist, for example. Right. And obviously we're talking about some own channels, right, where I feel like, I think you and I both agree here that, like, social is really great for engagement and maybe reaching new people, but you don't really own those. Like, you don't have that connection. Somebody hasn't taken that next step to give you that information. Right. And so I'm curious, because I think from the outside, right, like, if I'm looking in or some other business is looking in, you're pretty successful in terms of how you use Instagram, and you've got a good following and you seem to be doing a things that generate some engagement. Right. So what have you learned through that process of using that channel over the years?
Sonja Rasula: Great question, especially right now. You know what I like. This is a very good question that, and hopefully, you know, my answer will help a lot of people out there. Instagram, okay. You know, all platforms, if you are an early adopter, you will see some success. Right? How long has Instagram been around now? I don't know, 1314 years. It's been over a decade. So, yes, you can join Instagram and try to build a community. And you should, right? You should be doing all the things. Having an Instagram account does not mean you have a business. But seriously, like, especially Gen Z and the late, you know, the millennials that are on the curve, like people in their twenties and people in their teens right now who are in college, they equate having an Instagram or a TikTok to having a business. And for one in a million, that is true. But you have to remember that these platforms were built to be social. That is why the term social media exists, right? It wasn't to grow your business. It wasn't to tag products and try to sell products at the beginning. The foundation of social media is community and being social. And so they can add these features, and they can, you know, and try to convince you to use them, but they are a billion dollar business now. They are no longer out here for the people, which is harsh. And it's. Some people don't want to hear that. And so, you know, from my perspective, we were early. We have 75,000 followers. Let's say that's not amazing and it's not terrible, but the frequency in which our content is showed to those followers is percentages. And, you know, no one wants to talk about that stuff. They just want to be, like, once, like, I want a viral hit. I want to go viral. Or, you know, like, there's stars in the eyes of everyone, including me, you know, like, what? How can I be better at this? And I'm pretty good. I teach classes on it, you know, but there's this. Yeah. So, I mean, for me, Instagram is great. It's about building community. It's about, from a small business perspective, telling your story. It's about telling your story, getting people to feel like they know you. Because when people feel like they know you, they want to support you, and then that brings sales. But the missing key to all of this is what you mentioned before. You own nothing. Right? And as a business owner, if you own nothing, that means they Instagram, or whatever social media platform you're using, that means they own you. That's a terrible position to be in. Right? So for me, it's about getting real data. Again, that's an email address, that's a phone number or a mailing address if you want to go old school and send direct mail campaigns and send postcards and catalogs. But, like, you need a piece of information from people who like what you're doing in order to sustain your business and keep growing. That doesn't happen on Instagram. You're posting and that's it. That's it.
Dave Charest: I love it. We're getting to the bottom of the hour here, and so I want to ask you, we didn't even get into some of these stuff that I wanted to because this has been a great conversation. So I appreciate it. But I want to ask you one more thing before we leave here, because you've given already, so maybe amazing pieces of advice, but you're a constant contact customer, which we're grateful for. Thank you for that. What would be your number one tip for someone else using constant contact?
Sonja Rasula: I would like to hope that everyone uses the resend functionality already. But when we talk to our small business owners, it's surprising. And to be perfectly honest. Even my team, some of the producers send emails and then I'll say, and what was the resend open? And they'll say, what do you mean? And I'm like, no. You know, the reset since you started offering that, I don't know when that was introduced. It's absolutely amazing. The other thing, the other piece of advice I would have specifically for constant contact is there are a lot of tools within it that if you start exploring, you're like, oh, there's a partnership with canva. There are these things that exist that make the job so much easier.
Dave Charest: Well, friend, let's recap some items from that discussion. Number one, figure out the numbers. When you know your numbers, it changes the whole makeup of your strategy. You become more specific about what you need to do to at least break even. And this specificity allows you to better prioritize and make plans to grow. Embrace the numbers. Number two, only hire who you need when you need them. As Sonia mentioned, dont fall into the trap of doing the things you think you should be doing. Only make a full time hire when you have enough work to keep them occupied full time. Otherwise, freelancers can fill the gaps. And remember, surround yourself with people who are experts in what they do, not what you do. And lastly, create a folder of marketing you like. When you see something that catches your attention, take a picture, a screenshot, take a note. Do whatever you can to capture the campaign as an example of something you may be able to apply to your business. This is called a swipe file and you can go to it whenever you need inspiration. Now here's your action step for today. Try the resend to non openers feature this is a simple feature within your constant contact account that allows you to automatically resend your email campaign to people who haven't opened it. All you need to do is tick a box. I'll include a link to the knowledge base in the show notes in case you need some guidance. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Be a Marketer podcast. If you have questions or feedback, I'd love to hear from you. You can email me directly at dave.charest@constantcontact.com. If you did enjoy today's episode, please take a moment to leave us a review. Your honest feedback will help other small business marketers like yourself find the show. Well friend, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and continued success to you and your business.