Selena Soo SelenaSoo.com But are you your company? This is the challenge posed by business and publicity strategist, Selena Soo. It s not enough to simply sell a great product. To change the world and create a meaningful legacy, you must embody your brand in heart and soul, forging emotional relationships with customers and breaking through via media. Selena reveals the pathways that allow you and your business to transform lives. Caitlin: Well, hey, everybody! Welcome back to the Work-At-Home Summit. I m here with Selena Soo. She s a publicity and marketing strategist for visionary entrepreneurs, experts, and authors who want to reach millions with their message. She s helped clients and students get featured in places like O, The Oprah Magazine, Forbes, and Inc. and land interviews on popular podcasts and national TV. Many of Selena s clients have become industry leaders with sevenfigure businesses, raving fanbases, and hundreds and thousands of followers. She lives in New York City. Selena, hi. Welcome. Selena: Hi. Thank you so much for having me. I m really happy to be here. Caitlin: Yeah. Yeah. So, I want to dive right into it because and we were just talking before we started recording that my business originally started with influencer marketing, but at the time, I didn t know what it was. I was a budding proofreader. I had this little training program where I had an ebook and offered one-on-one training for new proofreaders. This is before I even knew it was possible for somebody like me, just a freelancer, to create an online course. I had this ebook, a website, and my husband put it in my ear, Hey, TheWorkAtHomeWoman.com is featuring people who work at home. Maybe you should write in, and see if you can get featured. And I found out about Help a Reporter Out on the different networks, that you could connect with the media. I started responding to a few different inquiries and started getting some publicity. And so one of my first clients came from my post on TheWorkAtHomeWoman.com. I didn t even have an affiliate program yet or anything. LearnVest was another media outlet that I was really surprised they responded to that query, and they posted something about what I was doing to make extra money. It went out to a whole bunch of college students that were following that media outlet. I got my first customers that way, and it just kind of grew from there. So I want to hear from you what exactly is an influencer because I know my explanation probably wasn t that great. Selena: No, it s great. There are many different types of influencers. The way that I define an influencer is that they re someone who is connected to your goals in some way, and I think they should be someone that you feel naturally drawn to. It s not just like, oh, this person is famous or important. If you feel like your values don t align, you don t actually really like them, then they re not someone to really put on your personal list of influencers. You were talking about in this case, the media, and them getting your message out there and people finding out about you and signing up to be customers. The media s a type of influencer; somebody who works at a
media outlet. There are several different types, from people who could be mentors and highprofile experts to colleagues of yours that are maybe connected and could refer clients to you, to people who self-identify as super connectors. There are so many different types of people, but the main thing is they need to be connected to your goal and be able to help you achieve that goal faster. Caitlin: Yeah. In thinking back to my very first feature on TheWorkAtHomeWoman.com, I actually had googled work-at-home blogs, and she came up. And because what I was teaching was teaching people to work at home, I was like, well, maybe I should connect with this person who s got a page on her site that she wants to feature a work-at-home woman. I m a work-athome woman, and so there s so much alignment there that made it easy for me to say yes. This is somebody that I want to be in touch with. We ve been friends ever since, and we ve seen each other grow our blogs and our platforms, and we re actually going to meet for the first time at a conference later this month. It s super exciting, that first influencer relationship. I told her I was going to give her a huge hug when I saw her because she was the first person to feature me. And it was largely because of her that I continued to grow my business because I saw what that connection could lead to, and if I could connect with one person, and we could help each other grow, and she s one of my affiliates, so we ve been able to give back to each other in so many different ways. It s the ripple effect. You start with one, and then you start from another, and you re all this team. I think a big mistake and we re going to talk more about big mistakes. It s on my list. One big mistake that people make is they look at other people in their niche as competitors instead of teammates. And like you said, not everybody is going to be aligned with your purpose. So, yeah, there are definitely people in the finance and work-at-home niches, where I m mostly based, that I don t really want to align myself with. But there are a ton of people that have a lot of the same message, and we really just jive with what we re trying to do and the way we re trying to help people. Those are people that I want to connect with. So why, as a beginning business owner, is it important to connect with influencers? Why is it better to try to reach out than try to do it all yourself? Selena: Yeah. I mean, there are so many reasons to connect with influencers because I believe that behind every big goal or opportunity that you want, there s a person who can give you that opportunity, or a person who can help you achieve that goal faster. And as new business owners I mean, two things. One, there is so much to figure out. We have a million questions, and it s just so much faster to ask someone who s been there, done that. They can really shortcut your learning curve. Then, I think the other thing is as new business owners, the best way to get clients is typically through referral. Other people who believe in your work, think you re amazing, and they kind of sell people for you, and they just kind of put you in touch. So that selling piece has already been done. But you need to build relationships for that to happen. It s always important, but it becomes more and more important as you re looking to work with successful business owners because they are so time-strapped. They re just going to ask their friends like, who do you refer, who s good, who do you work with? That s really what it comes down to. They re not doing several hours of research. They just want a recommendation. So you want to be that person that people think of. They see you as that go-to expert and so that they refer you out.
Caitlin: Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Just recently, actually, somebody tagged me in a Facebook post, and I didn t recognize the name, but I just saw we had a lot of friends in common. We weren t friends yet. It turns out they had reached out to me two years ago when I was just kind of getting started with my business, and they said the nicest things about me I d ever seen. I was so blown away. I m like, Wow. Thank you so much. Now, I m hiring her to create some videos for me. So that just kind of goes to show that if you make yourself available and you actually provide value this amazing testimonial that somebody left me on a post they re creating a ripple effect for me. Now, the question that and this isn t on my list, but it just popped in my head because I m trying to think like somebody who s at home watching this, who maybe is me three years ago, just starting out, no idea what to do. Why would somebody who s more successful than me three years ago why would somebody want to work with somebody like me? Selena: Why would someone who wait, go back. Work with you in what way? I just want to make sure I follow. Caitlin: Sure. If I m a beginning business owner, and I m taking a look at my influencers and somebody who can get me to the next level. They re at the next level. They re looking up to who can them to the next level. Why would they look back down at somebody like me who s just starting out? Selena: Got it. I mean, there are a couple of things. One is business owners are looking for people who are reliable, who can provide high-quality work at value, and people that are really emotionally invested in the project. I think about copywriters, for example. I ve worked with copywriters, maybe I ve known for a while, but maybe they re doing more things. Maybe they re starting group programs. I feel like while they like me, I m not really their big focus anymore. If there was a new copywriter that was really hungry, that was working really hard, really saw the opportunity to work with me as a I mean, even like a stepping stone or that opportunity for her to make her name for herself and would pour her heart and soul into it, I would be interested in working with that person if their work was high quality. They re going to prioritize my work. Maybe they re getting started, so they have more time on their calendars, so they can help me hit my deadlines faster, and they re willing to give me a really reasonable price. Then that person would be especially attractive to me. So it s not just like we only want to work with the people that have been doing things for years and years. If you ve got the passion, the drive, and high-quality work, you can still definitely be considered for those big opportunities. Caitlin: Yeah. I think there s a lot to say about that. I think another big mistake that new business owners make is being very me-focused, and they re like, okay, well what can this influencer do for me instead of what can I do for this influencer? It s like the John F. Kennedy quote, It s not what the country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. [sic] The same thing when you connect with big influencers, and I personally love to see that my work has been prioritized. I don t like to know or feel that I m just a number on a list or just a part of somebody s bottom line. I m really attracted to people who make me the center of their business, and in my own messaging to people in the Work-At-Home Summit, people in the
Work-At-Home School, it s that nobody your clients don t care about you. That s not to say that they don t think you re a human or care if your dog dies or whatever happens, or you were involved in a natural disaster, but they care about their businesses. You re there not to become friends with them, but to help meet their needs. And that s really all building a business is, is people meeting other people s needs and doing that for money and helping each other out, and that s what they really care about. Selena: Yup. I only want to add, Caitlin, is just as you re talking about this, I feel like because we live in a virtual world, a lot of your proofreaders are going to be working virtually with clients. That communication piece is really important. If you re someone who s a good communicator, responds quickly, is proactive about updating your clients, you re going to put them at ease. That s such an advantage because there are people that could whether it s proofread well or be a great VA or whatever but they re not communicating. We can t see them, so we don t know. Is anything happening? I gave them this deadline, but are we on track? For me, when someone is just really proactive with communication, kind of, in a way reading my mind and anticipating, see I probably want an update, they become my new favorite person. So it s not like I need years and years of experience or all these fancy credentials or to work with ten influencer clients. Once I start working with someone, if they communicate well with me and deliver a good job, that s really what I m focused on. Caitlin: Yeah. I can absolutely attest to that. As somebody who s, in the past, offered a lot of different positions within our company that s been growing really quickly, the absolute worst thing is for me to respond to their initial email that seemed so great, and then they take three days to respond to that. Something I m always harping on is that the worst message you can send to a potential client is that you re not important, which is exactly what you not responding to email or taking three days to respond to a simple request or an update is communicating to that client. Something else that just popped into my head in terms of influencers that maybe not everybody s thinking about, but in terms of getting your first work-at-home job or growing your freelance business. Clients are your influencers because if you do a great job for those clients, they become guess what? Testimonials! And what is more influential than a testimonial on your brand-new website? So even if we re not using influencers I say using, that sounds like such a bad word but using the influencers as stepping stones, media or whatever, to grow our own influence as well and grow our own business, get more clients if you re influencers become your clients, then that becomes so much more powerful because they can refer you. They can become a testimonial on your website, and then you get so much credibility that way. So anybody sitting at home right now thinking, oh well, I m not quite ready to go and get media mentions or get featured in the Washington Post or whatever it might be, every time you reach out for respond to a job request, or you try to get a new client, or you respond to a job board posting or something like that, that is you responding to an influencer because they could very well become your client testimonial. So, yeah, that s something that popped into my head. Selena: Caitlin, I have a very relevant story to share. About a year-and-a-half ago, someone reached out to me. She was a proofreader for a colleague of mine, and she said, I would love to proof a piece on your site for free. I just love your work so much, would love to add value. At
the time, I already had someone in-house I was working with, so I was like, Thank you so much. I m good, but I really appreciate it. Then she just followed up saying if there s any way that I can ever add value or be helpful, please let me know. So she made an impression. I didn t have anything for her, but I remembered her. And, then, we re connected on Facebook, and I would see her postings on Facebook. She would like my status updates, so she kind of remained a little bit top of mind. Then there reached a point when I actually did need someone, and I thought of her. So now we re working together; it s a really great thing. I think that sometimes people feel like if they reach out to someone and they don t get a yes, it s like, oh, I failed. I screwed up. But it has nothing to do with that. Sometimes people just have a position filled. They don t have a need. But that clearly made an impression on me, so I think that s important. You might be doing a lot of heavy lifting and doing outreach and thinking, I m not hearing back, nothing is working. But you really are planting seeds and building relationships. And when people say no, don t just not respond. Respond kindly and build that relationship and follow up, and then think about how can you be connected on social media? Or do you want to have a little schedule where maybe every six months, you send them a quick check-in to see how they re doing, if you can be helpful, even what they re focused on, their business, and just if there are any ways that you can be helpful? I think that those little things really do add up, and that s how we as entrepreneurs get business. Caitlin: Yeah. That s incredibly valuable. I ve experienced much of the same thing. I think last December I was looking for a copywriter, and I got in touch with one who was just kind of busy, but she said, Oh, I will be free in January or February or something. I was like, okay, well, I need something now, so it s not going to work out. But, gosh, it was probably August that she pinged me, and she s like, hey, I just wanted to check in, you might not remember me, and that kind of thing, a little bit of small talk. But I was like, actually, I need a copywriter, and now I m paying her like $20,000 to help me write copy for a big, big project. So it definitely matters if you follow up and not taking that no as no forever. And as busy as I get sometimes, I will put a job post out on a Facebook group or something like that, and be like, I m looking for this. Then I ll find the person that I want to work with, and for some reason, they won t work out. So I ll go back to the same job board, post the same thing, and then even if I could go back to the other people who responded, I just don t have time to do that. Easier for me to post what I m looking for right at that moment among people who are interested. I ve had people that have said, Hey, I responded to your last post. I see that you re interested in that again. It s great that they respond again because they might actually get the work this time. So it just goes to show that the follow-up and the consistency is super key. Then, yeah, staying in touch with the people that maybe tell you no and not taking it as a personal rejection or feeling like you ve been defeated or that you did something wrong. It s probably not that at all, so I think that s excellent advice. Cool. So how do you find out who the ideal influencers are for your particular niche?
Selena: Got it. Well, the first thing is it depends what your goals are. Everyone s influencers are going to be different. People sometimes think, oh, well, Oprah Winfrey and Richard Branson are influential, but these are not people that we necessarily need to focus on for our short-term goals. So let s say maybe your goal is getting clients. Think about who do you know that is already working with clients, that may have some tips for you, or maybe they have some overflow in their business where they can pass a client on to you, or perhaps they re somebody that works in a related service business, not identical, but they can send people to you. It s really getting clear on what your goal is, and then, who are people who can help you reach that goal? In this case, people sending you clients, people who are super connectors, people that could maybe invite you to certain events where you can meet people. I think the best thing really to do is to create a list, but then also asking people. I always ask people who is the most connected person you know because I always like to know who those super connectors are. Another thing is that sometimes the most influential people in our lives are in our own backyard, but we totally forget about them. Let s say maybe you already have a couple of clients. Take a look at those clients, and think about, how did I learn about them? Who connected me to them? Maybe even go on Facebook and see who are our mutual friends because sometimes there are these people that are at the center of everything. If a certain person s name keeps popping up, like, oh, I met them through that person, that would be a great influencer for you to reconnect with and let them know, hey, I m looking for more clients, and by the way, if you would like, setting up kind of a referral partnership. Like, I would love to send you a commission or some kind of thank you because these clients are what makes my business and my dreams possible. Caitlin: Yeah. I think that s super key. If you can offer somebody a commission to say thank you, that s really valuable. In growing Proofread Anywhere, back when I was first getting started especially, being able to say, Hey, I don t want to just take up your time or ask you to promote me for nothing. I know that you have a lot of different offers that are great for your audience, so I want to make this worthwhile for you. So just make it kind of a no-brainer. But what about somebody who they don t have any clients yet, but would you say it s valuable if you don t have any clients yet, but you know people around you, or you can find people around you who have clients doing the work that you want to do. Is it valuable to reach out to them, or is it just like, oh, they re my competition-type thing? Selena: Yeah, it s funny. I think a lot of people worry about the competition piece, and I think it s important to be mindful of that and a little bit sensitive to it, but don t assume that the door is just closed. I mean, someone could come to you, Caitlin, and be like, oh, if I let them know I m an aspiring proofreader, she s going to be competitive with me. When, really, it s like you re here to mentor other proofreaders. You ve got more business than you can accept, so actually, it would probably be a pleasure for proofreaders to want to join your community and learn from you. I wouldn t just assume, but I think that you can always reach out to people, and just say, Hey, I admire your work so much. I m really looking to grow in this particular business. I was wondering if whether it s asking for advice, wondering, is there an opportunity to ask you are there podcast interviews I could listen to, or is there an opportunity to join a membership group that you lead, or I could whatever. But just putting it out there.
I guess when it comes to making these types of requests, it is kind of a back-and-forth process that builds over time, so usually, the first email s not going to be requesting a specific favor off the bat. It might be more like expressing appreciation, but as you get to know the person over time, you can make a request, whether it s for advice or if there is a way that you can develop some kind of win-win relationship. I think that the most important thing is to always put yourself in the other person s shoes. I think it s hard for people to make referrals if they don t know the person because even more important than the money that they receive through the referral is their reputation. They want to endorse someone they feel like they know. I think what you could do if you were just starting out and you start building a relationship with an influencer that does similar work, you could say, I admire your work so much. As I shared with you, I m early on in my business. I m really eager to learn and grow. If there are any people that approach you that you re not able to take on, I would love you to consider referring them my way. Here are some work samples, or here are some endorsements. Also, happy to work for less to really prove my value. So kind of removing the fears that people may have, which is, are you going to do a good job? If you can show testimonials or work samples or something, or just explain the quality of your work, that will help ease them. Then, also, letting people know that you re not doing it just for the money. You re doing it for the experience, for the, hopefully, the glowing recommendation after. Sometimes when people say to me, oh, I m looking for someone to hire me for X, Y, Z, and then later I realize, oh my gosh, they charged three times more than the industry average, and I don t know if they re that great, I m less likely to refer them. But if I know that they re really hungry, they re willing to work hard, and they re at a very affordable, reasonable rate, I m more likely to excitably share that with my friends. Like, this is someone under the radar who s on the rise. It d be a great idea to try the person out. Caitlin: Yeah, like a best-kept secret-type thing. And in my mind, I m recalling when I was first getting started, and it still happens. I get a lot of emails, on Proofread Anywhere especially, where people are asking me why I m giving away all my secrets. And I just have a philosophy that the more you give, the more it comes back to you. It actually makes me a lot happier to share my secrets than it does to keep them all to myself. It s like a spreading joy thing. If you connect with an influencer and maybe they have an online course you have online courses, pretty much everybody that I ve been interviewing for Work-At-Home Summit has online courses, then sometimes the best thing you can do is hook up with those people because they have a whole network of people that are doing the things you re doing. So you get to create that ripple effect by connecting with somebody who s an expert in your industry. And, then, the people who are within that, you can also connect sometimes. For example, on Proofread Anywhere, I have a list of graduates right there on the site. Somebody who s curious, they can feel free to email somebody and be like, hey, is Caitlin legit? Is what she s teaching really worth it? Most of the time, students will say they ll either ignore the email depending on what they re asking because if it s spammy, like, hey, can you give me your password? That happens sometimes. They just want to see the course without paying for it, and they re trying to take shortcuts, and that s not cool. But a lot of times they just want to know. Is this legit; is it worth it? That s why I put my best foot forward in terms of what I share with other proofreaders. Instead of keeping it all back, I put it all out there. So my students
actually become influencers to the people who are my next target customers. They can say, Caitlin is absolutely legit. This course changed my life. I ve made back my course fee five times over just in the first few months. Like just all the different things that they ve been able to say because a result of my course. So really, finding your influencers, if they ve got resources, whether they re free or paid, like - to consume those resources because don t try to get everything out of your target influencers for free, I think, is really key because they have a lot of stuff on their plate. They have a lot of paying students that they are prioritizing over the people who are emailing them and saying, hey, what advice do you have? Sometimes they get frustrated because I have millions of words in my FAQ posts and my blog posts on ProofreadAnywhere.com, and people email me and ask me questions that are answered in the FAQs. But I m like, you want to learn how to be a proofreader, but you aren t willing to read my website? So there s some irony there. So make sure that you research the person before you ask them for help, I think, is super, super important. Super important, yeah. Selena: Yeah, got it. Another thing that I love about what you said is your students who are basically ambassadors who can promote and speak to your program. I think a lot of times when we think about influencers, we think they need to be years ahead of us, and we re always thinking about who is in that next place versus the people who are right around us. Also, a lot of people will say things to me like, I don t want to come across as a fan. I m going to play it cool and act like I don t care. But I think for all of us, we need people who really care about us deeply, people who are our biggest cheerleaders, including people who are our students, customers. I mean, maybe it s family members and friends. They don t need to be people that are even at a certain level of business, but if they can cheer us on and speak positively and spread the word, that s really important. And them being those ambassadors for you is a way for them to build that relationship with you because you remember the people that have referred people into your programs, that are supporting you. So it s just a win-win all around. Caitlin: Yeah. I think one of my first biggest fans was back in February of 2016. I ended up hiring her as my first office manager/virtual assistant, and it s because she kept popping up, kept volunteering, and she was a success story for Proofread Anywhere. Then she was always helping in the Facebook group, not being asked to do any of that. I ended up bringing her on as my first office manager, and then she s grown her skills into an amazing virtual assistant for one of the biggest bloggers in the work-at-home niche, and I m just really proud of her. So it all starts with just being helpful and being present and not trying to get more than you give kind of thing. I guess reciprocity is the word that comes to mind, for sure. And just being willing to, yeah, just give more than you receive. What other biggest mistakes would you say that people make when they first try to connect with key influencers? You said being a fangirl, which oop, I want to say Selena: Oh, that s not a mistake. Caitlin: Or you said that s not a mistake and so I want to say why because I think people are afraid of being yeah, that s the mistake, being afraid of being a fangirl or being a fanboy,
right? Because I don t think it s a mistake in that the more you geek out on what you re passionate about, the more it comes back to you, and that makes you unique. There are tons of people out there trying to play it cool and trying to pretend like it s not a big deal. Like, I don t want to fluff up your ego or whatever it might be, but if you really just let loose and let your freak flag fly is what I like to say and not be afraid of reaching out and saying, Thank you. You re amazing. How can I help you? Whatever it is just being really authentic with the people in your sphere, I think that goes a long way, and it makes a much better impression than some cool kid on the block, right? Selena: Yeah. I think you want to be genuine and passionate, but there is certain communication I guess, like no-no s, even if you are a super fan. An example is, I ve seen people who will write 13 paragraph long emails and it s great. They re talking about how they re enthusiastic. I think that would get someone s attention. But as they go on and on, maybe they ve got multiple questions or sharing so many personal details about themselves. And it s not really about the other person. It becomes more a monologue versus a two-way dialogue. In that case, it s a mistake. I think that sometimes we put people up on a pedestal, and we feel like, oh, my God, they re such a big deal, so I ve only got this one shot. But there s a saying that the moment you put someone up on a pedestal is the moment they start looking down on you. Not to say we don t admire people or appreciate what they ve accomplished, but to kind of go into a relationship thinking, oh, my gosh, they re everything and I m nothing. I m so below them. Why would they want to talk to me? That is kind of informing how you are communicating with them. They re going to feel that, and that s not going to be successful. So I think that when people write really long emails, it s usually because they feel like they ve got this one shot, so they need to say everything in a single email. Also, it s coming from a not intentional, but a selfish place because it s all about them versus really putting themselves in the other person s shoes. Because if they were to receive that email, that wouldn t work so well for them either. Caitlin: Yes. Oh, my gosh. Not enough can be said about being able to put yourself in the other person s shoes. So, as a busy business owner, I don t have time to read 13 paragraphs. I don t care how much you like what I m doing or what s going on in your life or why you want to work from home. I get these all the time, and maybe I perpetuate it by asking people to let me know how they ended up on my email list or what they re wanting to get out of the email course that they re in or whatever it might be. But reading too much into that and thinking that I have all the time in the world to read or people that want to get on the phone with me to pick my brain that happens a lot of times where they re like, hey even if it might be friends or family. They re like, hey, I lost your phone number, can you please call me so I can talk to you real quick? And it s never really quick. It always turns into like a 30-minute or 60-minute conversation that I just don t have time for. I actually have a FAQ on my post that answers the question, can you call me? And I explain exactly why. No, I cannot call you, but please read my and it s nice. It s not rude, but it asks them to put themselves in my shoes, and I try to do that as well when I reach out to other people. Sometimes, it doesn t always work. It depends on how well I know that person. I m just like, I m just going to say what I m thinking and whatever, and it works. But, yeah, I d say that that s probably the number one biggest mistake is that they try to do too much, too soon, and you can t automate relationships. You can t build a relationship in one
email. You have to be willing to do it piece by piece and not be in a rush. I think some people are in such a rush to make things happen. Things have to happen fast [snaps fingers], and maybe it s the age of the internet. But slow and steady wins the race, and I think there s no place where it s truer than in influencer marketing. Where just being slow and steady and intentional that s such a buzzword, but it s true just being intentional about your relationship building, right? Selena: Absolutely. Caitlin: Yeah. So we talked about I think we already blew through my list of questions. You can make yourself more memorable by well, let s just touch back on that. How can you make yourself memorable, so an influencer doesn t forget you? Selena: Yeah. I mean, there s two big things. One is the way that you get people to care about you and to be interested in you is to show that you re interested in them. So that comes through in your communication, expressing gratitude, referring back to what an impact their work has made on your life, and not just vaguely but being very specific. I ve had situations where people respond to my emails, and they ll be like, oh, love your webinar or love the email. Then I ll have to think like, I ve never heard and maybe they start sending me emails like we know each other, and I think I don t remember that person. I type in their name, and they ve sent me several exchanges, but they were all just very vague. There was nothing about them that was memorable. I think when you re communicating, you want to be specific about the impact the person has made, why you re interested in connecting, but also share a bit about who you are, and put that out there versus assuming that they re going to google you. Then another thing that we need to do is really think about ways that we can go above and beyond for people. That s why when it comes to developing relationships with influencers, I really believe in quality over quantity because if we re going to go above and beyond for someone, that s going to take a certain amount of time, and we also have our own business to run. So you can only really do that, invest deeply, in a couple of people at a time. One of the things I talk about is thinking of an influencer like a train. The train is on a track, and it s headed to its end destination moving full-speed ahead. The train might open its doors for some moments, but then the doors are going to close. And what a lot of people do with influencers is they try to pull them off the tracks, and be like, look at me, focus on me. That s never going to work. So one of the ways you make yourself memorable is by letting the influencer know that you want to help them get to their end destination and reach their goals faster, figuring out how can you insert yourself into that influencer s top goals. One example that I like to share is my mentor, a couple of years ago, Ryan Levesque, had a book coming out. I was in his paid Mastermind, and people there were paying tens of thousands of dollars to be a part of that Mastermind, but when I heard he had a book coming out, I thought, How can I help him? How can I help my mentor? So I rallied our Mastermind group together and was like, Hey everyone. Ryan s got his book coming out. I know it s so important to write Amazon reviews in the first couple of days. That really helps with more book sales. Here s what I ve written. Here s an Amazon guide that you can use to craft your own testimonial and endorsement of the book.
Because it was also more powerful for me to do it as a community member or Mastermind member versus Ryan. I also went out of my way to get PR for him and get him a bunch of placements. So those were things that he didn t even ask me to do, but I spotted, ooh, I know what his goal is. He just wrote a book which took years to write. He wants to get it out there, so what can I do to help him reach that end goal faster? Caitlin: Yeah. I love that. That s an incredible way to add value. And a theme that I keep coming back to in my mind as we talk and as I have been filming these interviews for the Work- At-Home Summit, is that it starts with one. It starts with one skill that you can build into more skills to create a bigger income for yourself. It starts with one client, and it starts with one influencer. If you go out and you try to learn all the skills, you become a master of nothing. If you go out and you try to get a ton of clients, then you become overwhelmed. If you go out and try to get a ton of influencers to notice you, then you don t get noticed at all. So you have to start with one. Be willing to start slow because if you re desperate for money, it s going to show. And your marketing if you re desperate for improving your situations, it s going to be very me-centered, and when you actually reach out to those influencers, you re just going to think, how can I get to my goal the fastest? We talked about mistakes, but that would probably be the biggest mistake is trying to take on too much, too soon, instead of moving slowly. Slow and steady really does win the race. Yeah. Well, Selena, thank you so much for being here today. You have a ton of expertise in reaching out and doing it the right way. I just think that this is super valuable, especially for all the new freelancers and the new people that are wanting to get their first work-at-home job, whether they want to use remote work as a stepping stone into maybe quitting their job on the side. It s just important to make those good connections and how to go about doing that, where you don t come across as spammy or self-centered or fearful or too much of a fangirl where you write 13 paragraph emails and stuff like that. So to everybody listening in right now, Selena has a free VIP video for you on how to connect with VIPs and influencers in your niche. This interview was super, super valuable, but if you want it broken down a little more step-by-step, and you don t have me tripping in and saying, Oh, this stuff. It s a great conversation, but I totally understand that conversations can be a little bit confusing, so if you want to just get to the information we also have the transcript, and that will help as well go to the link below this video to get the VIP video from Selena. Selena, thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us on influencer marketing. Selena: Thank you. I loved being here.