Note: This transcript was auto generated then some poor soul sat and listened to it, and followed through correcting any mistakes they spotted. Please however expect human error and shout if you spot an issue. Email: lee [fancy curly symbol] trailblazer.fm.
Verbatim text
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Hi, and welcome to the WP Innovator podcast, the WordPress podcast for design and web agencies. Let’s make WordPress work for your business. Hi, and welcome to the WP Innovator Podcast. This is your host, Lee Jackson, and today we have Cheryl Tan in the studio. Now, we had a fantastic interview with Cheryl. She is so full of knowledge, it’s insane. And you’re going to learn how to become a media magnet.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That’s right.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
You’re going to find out the top tips for getting yourself in the press. You and your company could be in the press, either via radio, via TV, etc. We’re all agencies. Our clients expect us to know everything, so hopefully we can learn from someone who knows so much. So I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you want to come and talk about it, head on over to leejacksondev.com group and that will redirect you over to the Facebook group where there are fellow web designers, web developers, design agencies and more, all chilling out in a private Facebook group where we can ask each other questions, generally have a laugh, and also just keep up to date. So, without further ado, on with the show.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Hello, this is your host, Lee, and today I have with me in the virtual studio. Yes, you all know I do most of this from underneath a blanket for good sound control, but we also have here Cheryl Tan. Hi, Cheryl. How are you doing?
Cheryl Tan:
Hi there, Lee. You know, I’m sitting in my closet right now.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
No way.
Cheryl Tan:
With a lot of clothes around me. Yeah, sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I actually heard. Yeah, I thought you were in a studio. To be honest. I actually heard someone say, literally today when it was on the Paradise. Yeah, it was the podcasters paradise podcast and they said to get rid of background noise, a really great place would be to do your podcast in the closet. And they’ve actually heard of people that do that. So you’re actually the first person I’ve met. There you go.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I actually sit under a blanket and about halfway through most podcasts, I kind of start to get a little bit dizzy because I’m getting really, really hot. So I think that.
Cheryl Tan:
Or we’re talking too much.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I know. Actually once I a light switch, I had the light on just above where I had the blanket and I could smell burning. And I was like, oh, no, this does not smell good. So. But you know, my professionalism, we managed to get through the end of the podcast before I freaked out. Anyway, sorry. So it’s been fantastic to meet you, Cheryl. We’ve already had an awesome chat before we hit record, which has been awesome.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So what I’ll do is I’ll let’s introduce you your Cheryl Tan. Cheryl is a journalist. She’s turned an entrepreneur and she helps business owners get the media attention she wants. So what that means is she specializes in getting business media coverage in all channels, so multiple channels, and that includes social media, radio, television, and much more. Because we all know that the media landscape is constantly changing. She’s also the host of Hampton Radio’s Business Weekly that airs on Sunday mornings. If you’re in the US of A at 9 on WVEC and she’s the host of Stand up with Cheryl Tan podcast show, you’re very busy. Cheryl, do you want to just say hi and give us an introduction of who you are, a bit of background, what you’re all about?
Cheryl Tan:
Lee, thank you. That’s a great introduction. And thank you so much for having me on your show.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
No worries.
Cheryl Tan:
First of all, even though I call myself an entrepreneur, I don’t really feel like I’m an entrepreneur or a marketer. I really still feel like I’m a journalist. I’m a storyteller. I’ve been doing that for so, so many years. And so when I meet people, it really is about getting their story out to many people. So when I talk to entrepreneurs, what I do is I really them see the jewels in the story that they’ve created for themselves and helping them tell that story to the right people and having those right people, which would be the journalists, the media, the big bloggers, and having those people tell your story to a major audience so it feels more authentic. You’re not tooting your own horn, you’re having somebody else tell your story for you.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That just sounds like for most businesses as well, the ultimate goal to have authorities like that telling your story. And it must be hard as well to find, find those stories as well sometimes because we all look at our own day to day and we’re like, where is the story in this? And I guess that’s one of your talents to. To find the stories, help people discover that.
Cheryl Tan:
Well, when I was a journalist, in the beginning of my career, I was doing a lot of the court stories, crime stories, that kind of thing. But toward the end, I had the opportunity to interview a lot more entrepreneurs. It was the first time I’d really met entrepreneurs who were creating businesses as opposed to entrepreneurs in my daily life. So I had the opportunity to talk about them and their startup stories and why they began their businesses and how they were able to take their businesses and grow it in the way that they were able to with success. And that fueled my passion to learn more about business, to learn more about why people do what they do. And, and that’s the beauty of it, though, is when you talk to somebody and you ask them some pointed questions like, why do you do what you do? How did you get your start? How have you been able to grow business? A. From this point to this point, you really hear people talk about their passion, and people don’t really ask others about those questions because we’re busy. We’re living life.
Cheryl Tan:
We’re busy growing our businesses. We’re doing what we need to do to pay the bills and to get clients. But when someone, someone like me or someone just kind of on the outside asks you and you’re finding some success in your business, then you really can find those jewels, those stories that can inspire other people. And that’s the whole goal, is to create some emotions so other people can become invested in your story.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That is really cool. And it’s actually, as you’re talking, I can just picture being in branding exercise meetings. Obviously, as you’re aware, a lot of design agencies are listening in. And I’ve been a part of design agencies over the years. And one of the common questions is trying to draw those stories out of businesses as well, because it’s those stories that really kind of help establish who, you know, what’s the background of this business, what is this business all about? And therefore, what does the brand need to reflect as well? So rather than it being, hey, the MD really likes the color brown because he loves the brown sofa he has. It’s more of a case of, you know, obviously, let’s. Let’s tell the story about the target audience, and let’s also talk about the story of the business, who is the business and what they’re all about. And that’s absolutely fascinating.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Now, I was saying as well, before we started the podcast, was that as a kind of design agency, most design agencies are expected to pretty much know everything about everything. And we kind of paralleled that with the IT guy. And because there’s an electrical current, someone’s asking him how to fix the refrigerator. So this is the reason why I wanted you on the show. Because a lot of people or a lot of agencies, it is assumed with them that they will know how to get you on multiple channels of media that, you know, you will know how to, you know how to get more exposure. Maybe, maybe it’s going to printed advertising on the side of a building, I don’t know, maybe it’s through TV, etc. And that’s quite a lot of pressure for agencies and they’re kind of freaked out. So what I’d be interested to doing really is finding out a bit more of your background of how you got started in journalism and then how that transitioned into the consultancy business that you’re doing now.
Cheryl Tan:
Right, well, that’s a really great question, Lee. And I started right after college. I started in television news. I was an on camera reporter, moved up to anchor and host and then just moved around to several states in the United States working at different television stations. It’s a phenomenal career. But you know, after working nights, weekends, holidays and raising a family, it just, it stopped making sense. And so as I mentioned earlier, toward the end I was able to interview entrepreneurs. And it was right in that time period I was like, I, I think I can do that.
Cheryl Tan:
I think I can grow a business using the knowledge I’ve learned in television news. And at that time I’d been interviewing so many business owners and I could see that they had some great stories, but they didn’t know how to maximize that publicity. So I had already gone to them to do a story on them. So I sought them out, I saw something in their stories and I brought a camera crew and I told their stories. But then I could see that they could do so much more after I left, after I left with my crew and I told them when the story would air on television, that there were so many more possibilities for them to get more coverage. And so once I left, I made that decision to reach out to companies and help train their teams. So a lot of the companies that I work with, they have marketing teams, they have companies, they have, they have teams on their, in, on their roster that work to promote their company through social media, through press releases, all of these things that they’re doing to market themselves, but they’re not quite doing the right thing. And then they come to me and they say, what? Why aren’t we getting media attention? We’re doing all the right things, why isn’t it working? And so I came up with five things that they’re not doing exactly right.
Cheryl Tan:
Where if you make these switches in your mind, you can really find some success. So let’s say you have a successful company, you have a company that’s doing all the right things, it’s growing, you’ve got happy clients, happy customers, and you’re really doing good business. You’re, let’s Say an expert in IT or security or design, whatever it is. But you’re awesome at what you do. So that’s the basis of what we’re talking about, that kind of company. Well, the one thing you’re probably doing wrong is you’re probably sending mass press releases. So the misconception is that one press release equals a million media mentions, which it doesn’t really work like that because the idea behind a press release is that you’re sending it to a mass audience. And media outlets know that.
Cheryl Tan:
Like, they completely know that. They can tell when you’re sending a mass press release because a lot of times people forget to put the BCC and they put it on cc and so everybody sees everybody ccs. And so if you take the time to figure out, if you’re a design firm, you figure out the outlets that cover design news or IT news or security news, you find those particular outlets that care about your news, and you target your email to those editors, those reporters, you’re going to have a greater chance of success because you know automatically that they care about the news that you’re sharing. So that’s mistake number one. Number two is you try to sell something. No doubt you are excellent at what you do. You’re great at selling your IT services or creating packages around your development, like developing websites, things like that. But if you sell a reporter on your services, they’re going to say, I’m sorry, I’m not in the market.
Cheryl Tan:
I write stories for a living. So I listened Lee, to one of your past interviews with Heather Havenwood about how to sell, and I completely agree. Like, she had such great stuff to say about selling. But this is not a sales conversation that you’re having, not with a journalist. No, you’re trying to tell them why your story. So you’re selling yourself in a sense, but you’re not selling your product. You’re telling the journalist why your story would be interesting to that journalist’s audience. And the third mistake is that you’re not thinking about their audience at all.
Cheryl Tan:
If you are a health reporter and you pitch someone security tips for your computer, that health reporter doesn’t really care. Like, not at all. But if you find somebody, maybe from the New York Times, like the business section or the technology section or USA Today, and you are an IT company with some great tips on how to keep your, your servers secure, well, those reporters are interested and would love your story ideas related to IT security. The fourth thing is, is you’re not looking at your business as a way to Share trends. Because you Lee, are in your business, you know the trends in developing. So you know more than I would what those trends are. And so share it. Share what those trends are.
Cheryl Tan:
What are you seeing? What are the hot new plugins? What are the, what’s the wave of the future for development for people’s businesses, for the people, for people’s websites, that kind of thing. And then the last thing is they send one email or one press release or one make one phone call and then they stop
Lee Matthew Jackson:
giving up at the first hurdle.
Cheryl Tan:
They give up. And I mean it’s scary. I gotta tell you. It’s like if you’re asking for a job and you, you know, you put in that resume and then you stop. Like they say don’t call back, but sometimes if you don’t call back, you are not gonna get a call back either.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
No, exactly.
Cheryl Tan:
It’s about knowing when to continue to add value and continue to reach out. That you really could get lucky and get the story, get the media mention that you want.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I just want to thank you so much for sharing. You’ve just dropped five amazing tips and personally I am like yaha. Me Yep. Check. Huh? Yep. Me check. Done that like wrong. Yep.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Okay. Oh crap. So I think it’s probably a really good opportunity for us just to mention a course that I’m about to take as well. It’s called Become a Media Magnet by our one and only Cheryl Tan. So this is a two week challenge, I believe it’s completely free email courses. It. That’s amazing. And you are giving it away on Cheryltan Media.com WP Innovator so that’s Cheryltan Media.comWP Innovator.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And that’s a two week course where I assume you’re dropping stuff like this left, right and center and educating all of us developers and as design agencies who really really want to know more about how to understand how to tell our stories and how to connect with those right people. So that’s utterly incredible. Mind is kind of blown. I did exactly what you said. I did a massive PR release once. Absolutely no one took it up. I probably wasn’t a very excited story. I did get into the media once but it was totally for the wrong audience.
Cheryl Tan:
Oh. No business from it.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
No, exactly. We were really excited and we managed to get into our local paper and there was a picture of me and my two business partners at the time. We’d managed to bag a deal with Universal Records and we, we did a game for their, for their Christmas album release and Our picture was in the local media, but obviously it was totally the wrong space. This was just, you know, locals looking at it. They no one was our target audience. But yeah, I just remember when you, as you were speaking, you like saying people kind of send it to the wrong people. I mean, obviously it was a great local interest story. You know, small company manages to bag, you know, a big client like that.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
But at the same time, for us, it wasn’t really very targeted and we did like sit there waiting for the phones to ring.
Cheryl Tan:
Well, what I would do is that media mention is still out there. So I do believe in using, in utilizing local media because they do, they care about you, you live in their community. And so don’t let that go to waste. Keep that on your website, keep it on a media tab on your website and use that as an opportunity to show other media outlets that a local reporter found your story interesting. So it is not a waste. It is never a waste.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That’s another note to self. And we’ll get that on the website. Yes, just put press. That always sounds good, doesn’t it?
Cheryl Tan:
It does. It does sound good.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Wow. So it sounds like you’ve. Well, how long have you been in consultancy then? Kind of. When did you make that transition?
Cheryl Tan:
It’s been about, gosh, it’s coming up on two years.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Two years. Well, happy birthday.
Cheryl Tan:
Well, thank you.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So over the last two years, then, could you share with us what you feel has been your biggest challenge to date?
Cheryl Tan:
Do we have enough time? Oh, my goodness, sure.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Let’s do it.
Cheryl Tan:
The part about the media has not been the problem just because I’d been in it for so very long. So that wasn’t the problem. The problem is not helping people with their story or packaging it or reaching out. That’s not the issue. But the business part, I think, is something that they don’t teach in school and that if you don’t know what you don’t know, then sometimes you get into some trouble. So I’m talking like accounting, we’re talking about bill collecting and invoicing, that kind of thing. It didn’t get me into trouble, but it’s a learning curve that is kind of hard to get over sometimes. And I would say that learning how to sell is different.
Cheryl Tan:
So I may be very good at telling a story, but learning how to sell has been something completely different, like a whole different animal. And so I just go at it as adding value. So the more content I can share, the more value I can add. Then people will come up to me and see the value. And so sometimes that translates into sales, but more importantly, it translates into a relationship. And so that’s what I really, really value. And I’ve really enjoyed the last couple of years because it’s taught me so very much. And then don’t get me started about tech.
Cheryl Tan:
Oh, my goodness, Lee, the whole tech thing, putting your business online and figuring out websites and things like that, that’s been fun, to be honest, but, boy, I’ve been up till like two in the morning from many times trying to figure out this plugin or that or why this coding thing doesn’t work and why does my website look like that?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
We’re going to unpack that in a little bit because I think you’ve probably got some advice for us there, so we’ll hold on to that. But I can definitely kind of. I feel your pain on that whole area of kind of accounting, but keeping all of that sort of stuff that comes with the business because you’re so used to doing all of that good stuff that, you know, the journalism. It’s the same with me. I was an amazing coder, if I say so myself. Yeah, of course. And just having that, suddenly I was responsible for all of this. I had to send invoices, I had to make sure they were being paid.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I had to record everything correctly, else the government would tell me off because that would affect my taxes. And I also then had to think of pipeline and future sales. It was just a complete, you know, complete mind meld. And Mike Doyle, who was on the podcast a couple of weeks ago, he. He was saying the very same thing. You know, he came from an animation background, but suddenly, boom, he’s now in business and he was a technician learning how to become a manager and an entrepreneur. I think we were referencing the E Myth book there. If you’ve seen, read the email, visited, I pretty much dropped that in every now and again.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Amazing book and that great book.
Cheryl Tan:
Absolutely.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Again, for me, that helped me realize that there was a little technician in here creating a job for himself who kind of needed to let the manager and the entrepreneur loose on getting the rest of the business sorted out.
Cheryl Tan:
Exactly. It’s like bringing other people in to share your vision. And sometimes you don’t want to let go.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Exactly.
Cheryl Tan:
That’s the hard part.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I just wanted to sit in code, and now my coding has gone to. I think I do 40% code now. I used to be like 100%. This is all I want to do, and now it’s 40%. But, you know, you talked about creating content, adding value, that actually on my own side has become something that’s, you know, that I’m very, very passionate about. And I do it on a daily basis. I start the day with creating some form of content, be it a blog, be it a short video, be it a podcast or a download or something like that. It’s just so great to be able to add value.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And I’ve made friends. We’ve both got a common friend in Dennis, who was a guest, great guy, Dennis Brown, about four episodes ago. And, you know, we’re not necessarily doing any business together, but we’ve created a really great friendship and we’re. We’re chatting about ideas where we could add value, free value again, to other people via blab or via other platforms. So it’s so cool.
Cheryl Tan:
It is pretty incredible to be able to have these kinds of relationships, ones that start online, but with conferences and gatherings all around the world. I mean, we could meet one day. You never know. It’s pretty incredible.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Well, there’s. There’s the podcon, I think. Is it. Was it called podcon? No.
Cheryl Tan:
Podcast movement.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That’s the one that’s coming up. I can’t go this year, but I’m definitely there next year, so. And I know there’s like 300 people that I know who are going, so I’m gutted that I’m not there this year unless my plans change last minute and I can head over. But right now there’s. There’s too many things booked up.
Cheryl Tan:
Well, if you can, I’ll be there.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah, I think pretty much you and the rest of the world are there and everyone’s response is, you can’t make. You should be there, Lee. I’m like, okay. It just makes me feel really bad. I’m not going.
Cheryl Tan:
Well, right. Post it on social media,
Lee Matthew Jackson:
the hashtag get Leah. Yeah, no, sorry. Cool. So, okay, well, you’ve kind of established then for you, it was very much that kind of the process of running a business and learning sales, I guess. Then what was that kind of turning point for you then where you. It kind of clicked and you were like, okay, this is what I need to do so I can carry on doing what I’m amazing at and also deal with this whole kind of administration, half of the business, kind of. What was the mindset shift there?
Cheryl Tan:
I think, like you did. And it’s funny, I’ve been as a reporter creating content on a deadline, sometimes several deadlines a day, for so many years. But right in the beginning, I kind of lost Sight of that. But when I realized that everything begins with content is when everything else fell into place. And I don’t know why, and I don’t know why it works like that. But when I started consistently creating content and making it a mission to produce regularly once a week and then twice a month for other pieces of content, when I made that decision, for some reason everything else made more sense because then everything else was on a schedule. So we handle accounting. On a certain day of the month, I drop my content once a week, and then twice a month for another piece of content.
Cheryl Tan:
I deal with social media scheduling certain times during the week. And so what it is, it just kind of makes, it helps, at least for me. Helps my brain figure out, okay, today is Tuesday. We’re going to do this, and we’re going to do this. And so when you have a job, you have that automatically because you have deadlines and you have a boss and you have co workers, but when you’re on your own, you don’t have that. So. And took really, it took me a little while to figure that out. But once I instituted the content creation, the production of the content, like everything else sort of came together.
Cheryl Tan:
I don’t know how. Yeah, I don’t know how that comes together, but it does. It’s weird.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
No, I totally get that. And I mean, I think a part of that is that we are humans who kind of do thrive well on some sort of routine. And I think what you kind of established there was kind of a bit of a pattern. We’re humans, we find patterns in everything. And we can also work well with patterns. And you’ve got a pattern there of, you know, creating content at certain times of the week. You’re putting content out on a schedule. You’re doing your admin, for example.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I think I’ve, I think we’ve done a very similar thing. I have my admin Friday, which is usually followed by Fast Food Friday, which means I take the team out to McDonald’s at lunchtime.
Cheryl Tan:
I love it. I love it.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah, exactly. But, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s kind of creating that kind of structure that, that regular schedule where this is, when I do X, it doesn’t actually stifle creativity, it actually helps enhance that creativity. And like you said, it really does focus you on, you know, on your goal, which is the growth of your business, obviously, as well as, you know, really kind of blessing your community, your target audience with, you know, with great value, great content. So.
Cheryl Tan:
Right.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That’s amazing. I Love it. Thanks for sharing.
Cheryl Tan:
Thank you.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So you mentioned that you built your website a few years ago and I guess from that I would love to find out what theme or plugin that you have warmed to and has helped you in the build of that there website.
Cheryl Tan:
My husband, if he were here, he would laugh because for some reason I was approaching obsessed with creating a website. I have no coding experience. I don’t know HTML, but I, I guess a few years ago I was listening to Brian Clark in Copy Blogger who I adore. I just think I’ve never met him, but I love the, the I help. I love the copy side. And then he created or his company created Studio Press, which is a set of themes for WordPress and I jumped on board because they were clean and they were simple and it looked like it was plug and play. And it’s not that it’s not. I think for most people it’s pretty easy.
Cheryl Tan:
But every few months I have the whole theme package, like I bought the whole package and I’ll just flip them. I’ll just flip them. Once in a while I get in a mood and I’ll flip the themes and so I use Studio Prep and right now it’s on Daily Pro. Cheryltanmedia.com is on the Daily Pro theme and the coding that I don’t know, which I don’t really know the HTML but the coding I need help with. I get my 13 year old to help me with and he’ll roll his eyes but he’ll do it and he helps me out. So I get into a bind.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That is so cool. And I was commenting to you just before the show, I like what you’ve done. I mean you’ve obviously got an eye for design, you’ve used things like the ribbon for the episodes, etc. I don’t think that comes with Studio with the Daily theme itself. So yes, you’ve used something to help you, but you’ve also, you know, unleashed your creativity there as well. I do remember myself, I’ve. I must have. I think it, I think it’s a very common.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
If you’ve got access to a whole load of themes, we all get so bored and we end up changing our sites regularly. I managed to stick with my site now for a year and a half but I am itching to change it so much, like really bad. And people keep saying no, concentrate on other stuff. I’m like, no, I really want to
Cheryl Tan:
change because it’s fun, isn’t it? Kind of fun?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
It’s great fun. Hey, here’s a question. You’ve got a podcast player on your website. Which one is that?
Cheryl Tan:
I use Blueberry.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Blueberry.
Cheryl Tan:
So blueberry PowerPress. And that’s a plugin. I use that. Let me see if I understand exactly how I’m using it. I signed up for Blubrry and I use that as my hosting and because of that I get all my stats in my WordPress dashboard new way.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That’s pretty awesome, isn’t it?
Cheryl Tan:
It is pretty awesome. It’s really great. Yeah.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So also, if you’re listening and you think studiopress rings a bell, then think Genesis Framework as well. They produce the Genesis framework and it’s an amazing framework if you want to start building your own themes as well. So, yes, it can be used to build websites, but also it can be used to roll in and you can create child themes and then resell them or use that for your clients as well. So absolutely. Good call. And you definitely went to the right place, Cheryl, to get the themes for your site. So I’m intrigued. I’m going to be checking your site now regularly to see which theme you’ve gone for next.
Cheryl Tan:
Right.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
But right now I like it.
Cheryl Tan:
I don’t know how to put it on silent or whatever. So you’ll see it happen as it happens.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Oh, exactly. Yeah. Exactly how I used to do things as well, so don’t worry about it. I mean, now my host provides a. What’s called a staging area. So I’ll use that now. But back in the day when I was still learning that, you know, exactly. That people would see the site kind of half done for a few days whilst I was trying to get through it.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That’s so cool. So, well, there we go. We’ve got StudioPress, we’ve got. Was it the daily theme that you’re using? Genesis Framework for people to check out. So that’s pretty cool. WordPress geek time for everyone who’s listening in waiting for the WordPress slot. So I think we got that covered. Okay, so what blogs or online resources would you recommend to our listeners? And I’m going to caveat that with anything to do with multiple media channels.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So kind of things of helping people understand their story or understand how to tell their story better. So I kind of put you on the spot there, but is there anything you would recommend? Obviously there’s your course etc, but is there anywhere else that you’d recommend people go check out as well to start to understand this what to me seems like a very complicated world of getting yourself out there in these Multiple channels of media.
Cheryl Tan:
I think it starts with understanding copy. So as I mentioned earlier, I’m a big fan of Copyblogger and Brian Clark. So Copyblogger has a lot of free resources when you’re talking about writing copy that converts and digging into what your personal story is. So I’m a big fan of Copyblogger. I listen to a lot of podcasts. Amy Porterfield Entrepreneur on Fire Although more recently, and I think Lee, it goes back to where we’re creating content. I’ve tried to stop consuming so much so that I can focus on not even creating, but more connecting. So I really was consuming a lot before and then I realized right around the time when I started to create that it was keeping me from moving forward.
Cheryl Tan:
It was keeping me from doing the work I needed to do. I think that is necessary though. I think you need to do a little, a lot of learning and then you have to also, you also need to go sometimes it’s easy to just kind of stay where you are and just keep consuming and keep learning and, and really being motivated to sit and listen. Right? But if you, I don’t know, if you just tell yourself, okay, I’m going to listen here for just a little bit, then I must create or I must connect and like make some phone calls and reach real people. And then I think you’ll find that balance that you need.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That is so cool. And that is great advice because I mean, otherwise we’re going to become the world’s expert on social media marketing. For example, if you’re listening to podcasts on that, but if you’re never doing anything about it, then you’re just kind of soaking up your brain Now. Lawrence Howlett a little while back, he was a guest about four, six or seven episodes ago. He’s from the More Demand podcast and he was saying that what he likes to do is create before he consumes. So and I think with what you’re saying as well, I think we can kind of of evolve that message a bit with create. So connect, slash, create before. Before you consume.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And I think kind of to. To mirror what you’ve talked about. I spent probably a year before I a year of kind of filling my brain full of entrepreneur on fire and smart passive income. Amy Porterfield Similar sort of podcasts and slowly started to action what they said. But then I’ve literally cut right down the sorts of content I’m consuming. I only listen to one episode of Yo Fire a week now because it’s 30 minutes and that’ll be on a run. And now what I’m concentrating on doing is creating my own content using the stuff that I’ve learned within my business, but also, obviously across all those different channels as well. So, great, great advice, but I’m gonna drop all of those resources that you put out there because they’re all awesome and they’ve all inspired me as well.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Even Copyblogger. And there’s a great Facebook group as well, actually. Cool.
Cheryl Tan:
I can’t remember, is it Copyblogger? No, I’m not even in it.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So there is the Copyblogger one, but I think it’s called Cult of Copy. It’s.
Cheryl Tan:
Oh, okay.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
It’s a great place. So I’m not a great copywriter, but I’m a member of there because there’s a great community of about. I think I’m gonna. I’m gonna go with 27,000 or something ridiculous. There is a lot of copywriters in there and they’re sharing amazing tips, and I’m just sitting there sponging all those amazing tips, saying, I’ll take that. Thank you. Exactly. So that’s amazing.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Alrighty. Well, we’re near the end of the show, and I would love this to go on for hours. To be honest, I actually have millions more questions. I’d love to unpack, but we kind of promise people that we stick to about 40 minutes tops, because that’s kind of the average commute. So I might have to send hints that you may come on again to help us unpack storytelling another time.
Cheryl Tan:
I’d be happy to. Thank you.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
You see how I did that? I asked you on the show, so you kind of felt like you had to say yes. That’s. I’m sorry. That was pretty manipulative.
Cheryl Tan:
No worries. I will come back. This has been a lot of fun, but there’s this.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
The huge question is, like, how can. How can you help us unpack our stories? You know, is there some top tips? And I imagine that that is another podcast in its own right. So I’m not going to put you on the spot there, but let’s. I’m wetting people’s appetite with that one, because I’m sure that’s. If it’s in my mind, I’m sure it’s on other people’s minds. So I guess then let’s wrap up the show, then with kind of one piece of advice that you think people could start to apply to their business today. Kind of some sort of pearl of wisdom that you would like to Impart. And then if we could wrap up with just knowing how we can connect with you either via social media, your website, or any other channels that you’ve got.
Cheryl Tan:
Okay, I’m going to start with this pearl of wisdom which I’ve been. It’s something that I’ve been thinking about more recently. We’re all online and we all connect online and we’re all trying to do the whole one to many. And for so many years, I’ve created content for television and for radio that goes to people I don’t know, tens of thousands of people that I don’t know. But in business, I found that the relationship is so, so very important. And so my just, I guess, little nugget is to not forget to grow your business one customer at a time. Like, it’s, of course, the way you’re going to scale is through one to many or one course you create that goes to millions and millions of people. I mean, that will help you create wealth.
Cheryl Tan:
But, but really what you’re going to do is if you’re adding value, you grow your business. I mean, your true business, one person at a time, one satisfied customer at a time. And so that’s what I tell myself. So really it’s a mantra for me as I’m running and creating content and doing all of these things that are keeping me very, very busy. It’s to sometimes just sit back and think, all right, grow your business one customer at a time. Make that one customer your focus, your primary focus for that one moment, and just keep doing it, and then you’ll have a whole host, hopefully.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That’s awesome. And you know what I love about that? That really takes off the pressure because a lot of us do think, oh my gosh, I’ve really got to do what these guys are doing where they do a webinar and they, they onboard, I don’t know, 200 people all paying 400 bucks. That’s, that’s what I need. I have to go on that. But, you know, and that’s a lot of pressure. And for people without huge followings, it’s pretty hard to do that. You know, these guys are already well established. Whereas if we’re doing what you’re saying, you know, we’re growing our design agency, our web design business, whatever that is, one customer at a time, really adding value, then it takes the pressure off.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And also that act of really giving that person everything that you’ve got for that moment, that’s going to create a really loyal customer who’s going to be Using you for years to come. I love that. That’s awesome. You’re awesome.
Cheryl Tan:
You’re awesome. Thank you.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Next I’ll be saying you hang up first. No, you hang up. Joking. All right, how can we connect with you then, Cheryl? And then we’ll say bye. Bye.
Cheryl Tan:
Everything is on my website, cheryltanmedia.com and I’m going to make a special page for your [email protected] WPInnovator so there I’ll put my free two week course become a media magnet challenge. But you can access episodes of my [email protected] and then I host that TV show. It’s a local show, but we interview entrepreneurs locally. But these local stories are still pretty phenomenal. So you can watch the shows also@cheryltan media.com as well as other other resources and articles about how to get media attention. You can get it all there.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Awesome. And I’d also recommend as well, if you’re near Twitter, which I live on, head on over to twitter.com Cheryl Tan that’s T A N. And you can follow all the good stuff that Cheryl is talking about there as well. So that’s right.
Cheryl Tan:
Lee, thank you so much. This has been phenomenal. Thank you so much for having me on your show.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Have a fantastic day and thank you so much for your time. I look forward to seeing you again.
Cheryl Tan:
Yes, thank you.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Take care.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So there we have it, episode 25 already done and dusted. Can’t believe it. We’ve been going now for 25 weeks putting out WordPress related and agency related content out there and it’s been a complete blast. Now I’d really love to continue to receive your feedback. We want to evolve this podcast so that we’re putting putting out information that is of value to you. So if you can connect with me over on Leejacksondev.com contact or simply email me on Leejacksondev.Com I’d really love to hear from you. What would you like to hear from the show? What am I doing right? What do you feel I’m doing wrong? I can’t change my voice unless we get like a Darth Vader converter kit. That would be actually, that’d be really cool.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
But anyway, I digress. It would be brilliant to hear from you, get your feedback and also if
Lee Matthew Jackson:
you’d like to be on the show,
Lee Matthew Jackson:
do you have a story that you think that other agencies are going to be able to learn from that will really add value to them as well? Then let me know what’s the story. Let’s have a chat, let’s get you on the podcast and unpack what happened, how you dealt with that situation, etc. Your successes, the failures, all those sorts of things that we can all learn from. Alrighty now, next week, episode 26, we have got Chris Badgett lined up for you. Now. He is the guy behind Lifter lms. That’s an online learning management system. They launched that product as a pay for product which got great traction.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
They even had the guy behind Yoast using it and loving it. And then they decided to disrupt the market by offering it for free. Yes, for free. Free. Why? Well, find out next week. That is episode 26 with Chris Bagehot. We’re also going to talk about the agency that he co owns, which is code box and find out some of the backstory behind that agency and also how they work as an agency. So we’re gonna get the best of both worlds.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
We’re gonna be talking about WordPress plugins, gonna be talking about the marketing of those plugins, and also we’re gonna be finding out from an agency that has about 17 people in it, you know, what goes on in their lives. So that’s episode 26 next week. Don’t forget, head on over to the Facebook group on leejacksondev.com group that will redirect you to the private Facebook group where you can come and chill with everybody else. Have a fantastic week, look forward to seeing you next week and keep innovating.
