Welcome to the Join Up Dots Podcast with Erin Corn

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Introducing Erin Corn

Today’s guest joining us on the Join Up Dots business podcast is an  expert in navigating the micro nuances that make social media so effective, whilst dodging the pitfalls that trap so many people.

As she says “Social media advertising has become increasingly complex.

Using my knowledge gained from her 14 years of experience at companies including, Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon, I specialize in performance marketing to deliver a higher return for businesses.​

Show Highlights

During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Erin Corn such as:

Erin shares why social media is so powerful, simply as your customers are on there so go and talk to them….they’re are waiting for you.

The reasons why Twitter has not hit the ground running, and is in Erin’s opinion a pale version of what it could have become.

Erin openly discusses the addiction that social media has on us all, and the steps that we can take to control it..

And lastly…..

Erin remembers the humbling days of beginning her fledgling business, and why her backstory just gave her a foot in the door and nothing else.

How To Connect With Erin Corn

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Full Transcription Of Erin Corn Interview

David Ralph [0:01]
Once upon a time, there was a guy with a dream, a dream to quit his job to support himself online and have a kickoff live. Little did he know that dream would lead him into a world of struggle, burnout and debt, until he found the magic ingredient and no struggles became a thing of the past. I of course, was that person. And now My dream is to make things happen for you. Welcome to Join Up Dots.

Intro [0:27]
When we’re young that we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be, but somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here’s your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph.

David Ralph [0:52]
Yes, good morning. Well, good morning and thank you for being here with Join Up Dots really appreciate you is as always And I appreciate today’s guest who we’ve had a few technical issues but she overcame like a monster. And now she’s sitting there ready to be grilled, thrown left thrown right and try to convince me that social media is the way forward because she is an expert in navigating the micro nuances that make social media so effective, was dodging the pitfalls that trap so many people that actually says social media advertising has become increasingly complex. Using my knowledge gained from 14 years of experience at companies including Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon. I specialise in performance marketing to deliver a higher return for businesses. Now while at Facebook, I partnered with startups to fortune 500 companies to implement marketing solutions and serve as an expert consultant. And now it’s Instagram I lead Product Marketing Communications, but the Instagram ads global rollout and develop their first ever digital marketing campaign. Now, most Recently I managed the Client Services team at Amazon overseeing entertainment advertisers. Over the course of her career. She’s worked with brands such as Zillow, Disney Liberty Mutual, PepsiCo, Bare Minerals, Warner boss and many others. So why do so many people make a complete mess of building an effective social media strategy, no matter how large their budget and where should people start today when launching their own online success, Twitter, tick tock Snapchat. Well, let’s find out as we bring them to the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Erin Corn. Good morning, everyone. How are you?

Erin Corn [2:39]
Good morning. Good. How are you?

David Ralph [2:40]
I’m very well I’m very well indeed. Yes. I feel like I’ve come through a dark time in my life every now and now the light is shining on me. And it feels like summers around the corner. Probably not as summary as it does being in Orange County, California at the moment area.

Erin Corn [2:59]
That’s true. I was in shorts yesterday at the pool. So I’m sorry to rub that in. But it’s a very beautiful day here in Orange County. How do

David Ralph [3:06]
you get any work done? I always ask this because it makes me wonder how people shouldn’t move to Alaska if they want to create an online based business because what do not go outside all the time why, you know, last thing you want to do is sit here recording a podcast episode.

Erin Corn [3:25]
You know, it does take time. I’m originally from the Boston area. And if you know anything about Boston, it’s extremely cold. And so it did take time for me to realise this weather stays here in California. So it’s a little bit of trading yourself that you do have to keep your head down. And it is tempting to be outside. Oh, I will. I won’t deny that.

David Ralph [3:43]
So when you first moved down there every day, he was, Oh, it’s an amazing day that’s go out.

Unknown Speaker [3:47]
Yes, I have to do something. It’s not going to last forever and winter is around the corner. And so that’s just kind of what happens when you live in the weather that I’m sure you’re accustomed to. You just don’t think it will last and so even being out in California 70 years later, I still kind of have that East Coast mentality. They think you need to appreciate the weather more, you know, not like some of the people have grown up here. They don’t know how rough it can be for you with polar vortexes and, and all types of weather coming out. You

David Ralph [4:12]
know, today I’ve had since I’ve been looking out my window, I’ve had rain, I’ve had snow, and now it’s beautiful, clear blue sky, but a bit windy. So we were we’re very much four seasons in one day, but you’re not here to talk about whether or not you’re here to talk about social media. So it’s a complete waste of time. Aaron, do you agree?

Erin Corn [4:32]
And that’s something that I’ve battled against on since joining Facebook in 2012. When it was not the behemoth of the advertising platform it is now and to this day with smaller business owners. It’s something that comes up quite a bit. And my answer to that the short answer is the platform is where your audience is. And I’ll use Facebook as an example. There are 1 billion people on the platform today Tick Tock there as of 2018 800 millionaires users. So social media is where your customer base is, regardless of the type of industry you’re in, or the type of customer that you’re trying to attract. And so it’s not so much about social media, but it’s about reaching people where they are. And that’s where they’re spending their time. So that’s really, you know, the way I look at it, and whether it’s Facebook, tick tock snap or the next social media platform that we haven’t even heard about yet. I really do think that you need to go where your customers are

David Ralph [5:24]
doing the same cutting edge and trendy area.

Erin Corn [5:27]
Yes, yes, absolutely. I’m being in a podcast, I think is very trendy, and you have been at it for about seven years. As you’ve mentioned, I think podcasts are in many ways underrated, but they’re becoming more and more a way that people are getting their names out. And I think of podcasts in many ways as a form of social media. People are connecting on their digital devices. They’re sharing about it on LinkedIn, and in an extension of people’s brand. And so I do think in that way, you’re actually on social media, whether you like to admit it or not.

David Ralph [5:56]
I was expecting just a yes, but that was a very formal answer, which is great. On a podcast, but I don’t I feel like I’m trendy. I feel like I’m counting age. But I don’t understand so many platforms. I don’t understand Tick Tock. My daughter’s always on Tick Tock. And it just seems to be that she dances and records herself. And she showed me somebody on there and this woman had like 2 million followers. And all she does is dance and records herself. I don’t get it.

Erin Corn [6:27]
I you know, I think it’s these different apps. They definitely attract a certain demographic and i think it’s it’s very true to say that Tick Tock users are definitely ageing on the younger end, but it kind of follows that the trend that we’re seeing on snap before tik tok, and even on Facebook that people are engaging with video short form video, and tick tock does a really great job of that they’re in an age that your daughter, for example, are in an age where they have kind of a short attention span. They’re looking for the next best thing fast moving So it’s a social network but it also allows you to engage in a quick and engaging way and also with a lot of influencers that are on the platform it makes it easier to kind of follow along with a lot of the influencers that this age demographic really interested in. So I think Tick Tock has done a wonderful job at realising the trends and getting ahead of them and many way creating a trend with musically which then became tik tok.

David Ralph [7:23]
Now, you sound lovely, you sound knowledgeable, you’ve got 14 years of social media experience. Are there platforms that you look at and go, I don’t get it. I just don’t understand it.

Erin Corn [7:33]
Well, this is gonna not come across in the best way to send me your users. But Twitter to me is something that I understand that it’s a necessary evil, but to me, it’s never grown into the platform that I feel like it could have. And it’s still around. It’s still a very viable platform. But I feel that Twitter has been kind of a mess in terms of the social network platforms. And the engagement isn’t there people login sporadically. And for me as an individual, it’s just not Somewhere where I spend much of my time and so, you know, that may be something that people on your podcast may not agree with, but it just hasn’t really reached. Its full. It hasn’t reached to the point of some of the other platforms that we see out there. But, you know, unfortunately, Donald Trump has made it still a household name always

David Ralph [8:16]
good on that isn’t a I must admit. Yeah, I read hardly any tweets at all. But I was talking to my daughter the other day, I was amazed that Jim Carrey has 18.5 million followers, and Tom Cruise has about 6.7 and I thought, how does that go? Why is somebody as good as Tom Cruise and I love Jim Carrey. I think Jim Carrey is brilliant. But what what is it that makes people sort of go migrate towards certain profiles and not others?

Erin Corn [8:48]
Yeah, I think it’s really about the form that you’re using on Jim Carrey. In this example, Jim Carrey versus Tom Cruise. Jim Carrey is a comedian. He is just always producing great content, whether it’s on Twitter or other platforms and so I think it’s really about your engagement on the platforms not just putting content out but engaging with other people, other comedians and having a reciprocal relationship. And so I think for someone like Jim Carrey, it’s really just a way that he can practice some of his jokes, practice some of his act and, and put that out to his audience in a really easy way. And you know, the same with some of these other platforms like Tick Tock or Instagram, they’re really short form. Now having the ability to post stories that disappear within 24 hours, it gives people the ability to test a little bit more and not have as much risk because they know that that won’t necessarily live on like it previously had with just having the option to post on your Facebook feed and you’re a little bit more precious about what you put out there. So you know, the Jim Carrey example I think, just the fact that that is his medium, his comedy and putting out content in one liners, it makes sense that you would have a big following.

David Ralph [9:55]
He’s not Tom Cruise is a Tom Cruise can do no, Tom Cruise is about too and looks exactly the same as he did four years ago. I don’t know what he’s doing. He really does a must be the American way of life. That’s what we should do. We should all move to America. So with yourself, Aaron, when did you decide? Obviously, this is an entrepreneurial programme? And when did you decide actually, to leave working for people and actually create your own company? And why is it called shore bird?

Erin Corn [10:25]
Yeah, so it’s always been, which I’m sure is the case. For many entrepreneurs. It’s always been this nagging voice in my head that you should go out on your own. You like to have more ownership of your schedule for your kind of destiny as I would put it on. And really the impetus for me just finally ripping off the band aid and doing it was a year and a half ago, when I was at Amazon. I had an incredible experience there. But I had been at these larger tech companies, one tech company after another and I felt like nothing was changing in terms of the impact that was making whether I was on a small team or a large team, and I felt a bit of frustration that I wanted To feel more ownership over my future and and what kind of clients I worked with. And so it really pushed me to have some hard conversations with myself about what’s the next five to 10 years look like? And also in terms of work life balance, what do I want for my future as a grow my family. And so finally I started schwarber media. And about a year and a half ago, as I mentioned, as I was on my way out of Amazon, I kind of made that decision that it was time for me to move on, with incredible support from Amazon. And I picked shorebirds because I’ve always lived on the coast. I’ve always lived, whether it was the East Coast or the west coast and I feel like it was a name that really rang true to me because I kind of am a shortbread. I’m always living by the water. I don’t like to be landlocked, and I think it kind of has a lightness to the name and so that’s why I picked it and I’ve gotten a lot of compliments and it kind of makes people think twice rather than it just be another digital, you know name or something about technology. It’s a little bit more open ended, which I also appreciate it now.

David Ralph [11:57]
So like to say start up business but you’re you you’re a family lady, you’re a mom. You’re a mother. That that’s it. That’s a juggle isn’t it, you know, even as a dad, and I think that’s a different from moms, dads can just go, I’ve got work to do and go off to do the work. But moms have to juggle all the other stuff. And I don’t know why it works like that. But it always did with me. I always took work as priority and it was kind of accepted where my mom and my wife has to sort of deal with everything else. How do you deal with that? What’s a normal day in your life?

Erin Corn [12:31]
Yeah, I’m very lucky. I have extremely supportive husband. But you know, I think that dynamic is true even if your husband is trying to carry as much of the load as he can. My morning start with my you know, my son wakes up and we spend some time together but he does go to a little school right down the road. And so I have the ability to have time that I can really focus on on work and have him half time where he can spend time with friends. And then when we are together I feel like I don’t have the distraction of always trying My email and wondering what’s coming in, because I’ve put that time in, when he’s at school where I can really try to cut out that time just focus on my career. And it is a juggling act. I’m going to Social Media Marketing World next week based here in San Diego. And just the preparation to go away for a few days you kind of realise, or my husband might be realising how he takes for granted when he has a workshop, he’ll just tell me he’s going away for work. And that’s that but you know, with me going away, there’s a little bit more preparation in the background about you know, that writing out the schedule, putting together the lunches, and so it is kind of a good, good balance, though for me to get away as well just so he can kind of understand what’s involved.

David Ralph [13:41]
Now I see a lot of women walking along and I had to go to a post office about Christmas and a parcel tried to be delivered to us and it wouldn’t go through our letterbox I had to go and collect it. And the room was full of women with their babies and their kids jumping up and saying Mom, Mom, mom, and they were just scrolling up and down their phones, they were just oblivious. Now with yourself, bear in mind, I imagine that you are dealing with other people’s campaigns and the effectiveness of their campaigns. How do you detach yourself from that? And being the mom, holding the kid with one hand looking at the phone or the other, and not really sort of engaging with life?

Erin Corn [14:23]
Yeah, I think it’s really about balance. And again, I started working at Facebook in 2012. And so when I first started, it’s very easy to get pulled into work and Facebook and social networking. 24 seven, it’s just the nature of these platforms, unique it very addictive, but I’ve had to kind of as I’ve built out my own career and have to create some boundaries for myself, and I’m not perfect at it and there’s days where I kind of feel like they’ve blended together but really managing my calendar making sure that when I am with my son, if you know there’s a day that he’s not at school, for whatever reason, I block it out. I don’t take meetings, making sure that I I have a support team under me that’s able to manage the campaigns or some of the tactical pieces, or the design work. So I know that it’s in good hands, and I don’t have to micromanage everything. So I think it’s really about delegating, and also making sure you own your schedule, because it’s very easy as an entrepreneur for that to kind of bleed into your everyday life. But there still are those late nights and early mornings, that I think that’s just part of being an entrepreneur, but it’s something that I enjoy, and I wouldn’t change it all.

David Ralph [15:26]
Yes, listen to Oprah Winfrey. And then we’ll be back with Aaron,

Oprah Winfrey [15:29]
the way through the challenge is to get still and ask yourself, what is the next right moving? not think about, Oh, I got all of this stuff. What is the next right move? And then from that space, make the next right move, and the next right move and not to be overwhelmed by it because you know, your life is bigger than that one moment. You know, you’re not defined by what somebody says, is a failure for you because failure is just there to point you in different direction.

David Ralph [16:00]
So you’re sitting at Facebook or you’re sitting at Instagram and you’re looking around and you’re thinking I should be doing this myself, you know, I don’t need these people I can go and create sure bird and things will be just easy. How easy was it? Was it harder than you imagined?

Erin Corn [16:19]
It was definitely harder than I imagined. And to be completely honest, you know, the people I worked with that Facebook, Instagram and Amazon are some of the smartest people I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with. And so I think that’s something that I took for granted as well being on your own, especially as social people like yourself and I are, it is a shift in many ways. I think having that camaraderie around you when you are working at these larger companies and the resources available to you is something that especially having been in it for 14 plus years you become accustomed to and you take for granted. And I would also say I definitely was humbled in the early days of going out and reaching out to new people. clients or potential new clients, because previously, who wouldn’t want to talk to Facebook? Who wouldn’t want to talk to Amazon, I had the backing of these large tech companies. But now I really had to prove myself outside of those companies. Well, what have you done lately on your own? Where are the case studies? And so well, my resume and my background, maybe got me a foot in the door, I think it was really focusing on building out those early success stories. So I can be taken seriously as a business owner separate from these companies. So to answer your question, it was harder, I think, than I expected. And as people often say, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. And I think that’s very much the case.

David Ralph [17:37]
I don’t know if it is the case, because I think even if it was easy, there’s more lazy people than anyone. It’s really struck me how many just people that expect it on a plate, they expect to click a few buttons and get it I expect it to occur within two or three weeks. I think it’s the persistence But the laziness, and I’ll explain this because this is my new theme that really works in building a business. I think that once you become lazy and you become focused on doing the right things at the right time, like Oprah says, that’s when your business really scales and that’s when life becomes easier for you. But at the beginning, you can’t see that What’s up,

Erin Corn [18:22]
I absolutely agree with that. And someone had said to me, you’ll look back at you know, the early days of starting this business, it will be completely different the way you operate and what you do. And that’s a positive thing. I think it’s a growing experience and, and being able to kind of cut out some of the clutter like you mentioned, and focus on the things that are really impactful and will help you grow. And for me, you know, it may be obvious but when you’re in the middle of it for me, it was really taking a lot of the tactical pieces off my plate and focusing on business development being the face of my business and, and making that time to speak with clients rather than being in the weeds of my existing business because that’s not a way that I can scalar grow. And so I agree with you kind of having those very clear goals, how many new clients will I reach out to where am I spending my time and making them very clear and actionable steps so that way I can see growth year over year.

David Ralph [19:12]
Now, when I started Join Up Dots many, many years ago, there was a guy and he stood around called Pat Flynn. And he had Smart Passive income. And I think he’s, he’s based in San Diego, so you’re probably bump into your net, net network. And he used to say, be everywhere. That was his big thing be everywhere, you know, whatever platform you can be on, just be on. I’m not sure if that’s right anymore, because I think people are more strategic. And I want to circle back to what you said or join up the dots of what you said that your customers are on the platforms. Is it as simple as saying to the people out there who get caught up with overwhelm in social media, don’t be everywhere, but just be exactly where your customers are.

Erin Corn [20:00]
Yes, and and i think that that’s a trap that a lot of people fall into, especially, you know, as business owners or marketers have larger businesses, they feel like they have to be on the next shiny object or they have to be everywhere. But really, if you’re everywhere, you’re not doing it well. And so when I especially when I talk to new clients, they asked me, well, where should I start? What platform should I be on? And it’s really, what can you do very well, and what can you do consistently, I’d rather that than have you on seven different platforms where you kind of had one foot out the door. And so I think just you know, whether you’re on multiple platforms right now, or you’re just starting small and testing out a Facebook or a tik tok to start, it’s really having a concerted effort in one area, and then seeing what works and then scaling that, you know, I do see that there is a benefit to potentially being on Twitter, and Instagram and tik tok to reach different audiences. But you have to figure out what is it that’s working for you first, what type of content what type of message because at the end of the day, your content doesn’t change its discipline. For me what you’re delivering it, whether it’s through print, or it’s a video, or it’s a podcast. And so I’m an agreement that it can be a bit frenetic. If you feel like you have to be on every single platform at once. It’s just as an entrepreneur, it’s very difficult to do until you grab a team to help you with that.

David Ralph [21:16]
And also is the thing I think that people struggle with. And I certainly am speaking from my own experience, have, you turn the microphone on, and I can give you content for eight hours a day, I can just keep on going. It just seems a natural fit. When I look at Facebook, and I just think, you know, what are you really posting I because every time I go out for a meal with my wife, she has to put her drinks together, and then post it and I look at it. Why does anybody want to even see that? But she does that all the time? Where am I going wrong?

Erin Corn [21:52]
No, I think that you have to be true and authentic to what works for you. And if podcasts and speaking works well. I think that that It makes sense. But think about how that can be transformed to Facebook or Instagram or some of these other platforms like LinkedIn, you’re already doing a podcast, why not turn on your camera and have it be a live conversation between you and your guests? Or have some kind of show? Oh, you know, people watch anything, David. I mean, you see Gary Vaynerchuk in you know, he’s not the most handsome model, but he is extremely, extremely engaging. And I think if you have the message there, and you’re comfortable speaking, why not? And

David Ralph [22:30]
I love the fact that you didn’t come straight back with no, I don’t believe that’s true. But you came back with people will watch anything.

Unknown Speaker [22:39]
Well, I you know, I’m just to say that I think you’re very handsome.

David Ralph [22:44]
Thank you, me. Thank you and I’ll edit that up a bit. But no, that is that is something that people struggle with, isn’t it? Yeah. How they look and you know, it’s a hair done well and stuff.

Erin Corn [22:55]
Yeah. And and I think that you have to if you at the end of the day, truly feel uncomfortable. Being in front of a camera, and you just it takes so much for you to really make that happen. It’s not something you’re going to stick with, it’s not going to be authentic. And so like you mentioned, if that’s just something that’s just not for you think of other ways that you can promote what you’re already doing. So promoting your podcast with, you know, great imagery or videos, and rather than just having it be you or promote the videos of your guests, but I think that since you’re already doing a podcast and you have the audio and you have the reach, there’s ways that you can bring that to life on platforms like Facebook and Instagram that are more visual, and there’s ways to do it to capture attention that might not just be a talking head there’s there’s a lot of different ways that you can kind of engage people with images or video that might not just be us speaking.

David Ralph [23:43]
Now, as you said, you will you alluded to that you are more strategic now and so you have got people working for you that do all this kind of stuff, and that the changing of a podcast into images and images into because otherwise you’d go mental

Erin Corn [24:00]
Absolutely, I think where, you know, it’s a simple exercise, but it took some time to let go of the reins is looking at my day, my week, my month and figuring out where I was spending my time and, and where that you know what type of value that was adding. And a lot of my time, you know, as it was at Facebook and these other companies was the tactical pieces. And so in the same exercise I would have done at these companies looking at where I can take some of these things off my plate that weren’t value add. And I do have a team that oversees some of the campaign setup and management. But at the end of the day, my value that I bring to clients is that my background and my experiences in this field and so I don’t have a team that does it without my oversight. I’m the person that speaks with my clients at the end of the day, because having that hands on experiences is very important to me, but there is no way that you can grow a business unless you have a team to help kind of take on some of that extra work. Or you’ll drive yourself crazy.

Unknown Speaker [24:54]
We’re speaking to Evan Cohen and we’ll be back after these words. Are you ready to make a full time time living online, check out the amazing Join Up Dots business coaching.

Unknown Speaker [25:04]
Hello, my name is Alan. And I’ve just completed the excellent eight week course with David.

Unknown Speaker [25:09]
Before I started working with David Actually, I had no idea at all where to start.

Unknown Speaker [25:14]
I had a lot of ideas about what I probably thought was going to be good business time he was out to help me through that day to find that passion. Within literally minutes. We had a we had a business idea, and for the last seven weeks have been building on it and building on it and the position I’m in now, I don’t think I’ve ever got here on my own

Unknown Speaker [25:35]
because of the amount of information that David gives the structure. He’s got the full package here and he explains it in a way that I can understand. His support is phenomenal. I feel like this is the way business is supposed to work. David helped me understand, okay, what was the next logical steps that I should do? How can I get this up and running? So I would really recommend this as an excellent course helping you If you have an idea if you have no idea, really teasing that out and at some of the practicalities and steps to take to really launch your business, whether as a full time job was a side hustle. So it was really excellent. I recommend it for anybody thinking about setting up their own business. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say David will totally save you years.

Unknown Speaker [26:19]
Thank you, David, for all your amazing help and support which keeps on going. And we certainly couldn’t be where we are today without you so your author,

David Ralph [26:29]
so if you would love to become my next success story and have your own life changing online business following my step by step system, buying tuned over many years to take away the effort and expense that others struggle with Ben come across to Join Up dots.com and book a free call with myself. Let’s get you living the easy life as it’s there waiting for you to get it that is Join Up dots.com business coaching. Now as we were talking beforehand, we were talking about all the different platforms and be here everywhere. Now, if you go over to social media land, you’ll find evidence of Join Up Dots everywhere. Well, I’ve dabbled. And as I was listening to those words, I thought, my my Instagram account, and I’ve done 78 posts, I’ve got 292 followers, and 151 following. And it’s boring. I look at it and it’s boring the images, I think to myself, I don’t even know why I posted photos. So how do you get a brand strategy that soars?

Erin Corn [27:32]
That’s a great question. And it’s something that comes up quite a bit with early business owners and larger corporations. And it really comes down to your brand, your strategy and what your kind of messaging pillars are, and really have that ladder up to everything you do from a content perspective. And so, you know, as an example, Join Up Dots is focused on entrepreneurs and you have specific messages that you want to get across every day. And so the content that you’re putting out, you have to make sure one it’s sistent so if someone was to quickly glance at Join Up Dots, podcasts and just looked at it for 30 seconds, would they know exactly what this stands for? That it’s speaking to entrepreneurs? Do you have a consistent look and feel? Is it video? Is it quotes? Do you have a colour theme, which sounds kind of funny, but people when they start to follow you, as a podcast, start to be trained to expect a certain type of content from you, whether it’s a podcast or a branded, so making sure that you’re consistent and giving your followers What they need is very important. And just making sure that you’re authentic to yourself. One example I give which is a bit corny is that you know, a lot of these larger brands does feel the need that they have to post quantity over quality and you know, a bank is posting about Taco Tuesday in the US or they’re posting a funny GIF of, you know, the trending gifts of the day. And so, is that authentic? Does that go back to your messaging pillars about being a trusted bank or someone that makes it easy to save, you know, at the end The day if you keep going back to those messaging pillars you’ve established for yourself and what your goals are, that will help you kind of remove a lot of the the noise and make sure that you can kind of have that moment to check back and say, is this really worth posting? Will this resonate with my audience, or maybe I hold off until there’s something that’s more impactful to put out there. And so it is a balance. And I think another thing is, you know, the algorithm changes very frequently. But the one thing that remains true is that in the case of Instagram and Facebook, they take user sentiment very seriously and it’s part of the algorithm so rather than just putting things out there and making sure that you are speaking to your audience, you’re engaging with them you’re engaging with other people in your industry, and you know, Facebook and Instagram take that into account and I think that will naturally help you build out your your brand as well.

David Ralph [29:48]
Yeah, cuz I think that’s a key thing to it. When people mentioned things, you’ve got to respond to them. But with me, it’s like a black hole. People say things and then six months later, I look at it Anything, oh, people have mentioned me here I should, I should have responded,

Erin Corn [30:03]
right? It really is like another, you know, customer service channel, if you will. And it’s a way for you to engage with your audience. And you know, it’s a very personal place where people will send you a message directly, or they’ll comment on on your post. And it’s no different than email. So I think looking at is another email channel or customer service channel for businesses or retail businesses. It’s really how people are communicating with brands, whether they’re happy with them, or unfortunately, in many cases, when that’s the place where they’re going to go then to that an airline or a service plates. And so you do want to have a billet E to be able to either yourself or have someone on your team responds as often as they can, because if you’re posting they expect you to also be present on the platform and respond to them. So I think just taking it in that way, and looking as another communication channel with your audiences is very important over time.

David Ralph [30:57]
Now, one thing that I’ve just clicked on to your website And I was looking at Instagram and it’s come up not sure bird like I was expecting but South Orange County but local mums network. Is this something that you’re actually building into your business, or this is the business.

Erin Corn [31:13]
So my business is shurberg Media and I’m focused on paid social on advertising and then content marketing. But one of the things that is important to me is as a working mother putting out examples or stories about how I’ve kind of found balance, and so I was featured in Orange County as kind of a medium on feature where I talk about my journey as a mom as a working mother and helping people understand that it’s not perfect. There’s a lot of messiness that comes with it, but just sharing my perspective of things because, you know, in this age of influencers and having people put out these images that you know, they have everything together, especially as a mom and a working mother. There’s a lot of doubt that can come with that. And so that is just a way that I feel like I can connected with other moms that are in a similar space. And so that’s not a direction I’m going with my business. But I do think it’s authentic to who I am. And it’s very important to kind of identify is that when I first started, I feel like they almost hit that as part of my identity. But I think that makes me stronger instead of weaker being able to balance all these different pieces of my life.

David Ralph [32:20]
Yeah, I agree with you totally. And what’s interesting about this, for the listeners out there is it’s clear I can see why you’re posting these images, everything reconfirms that you’re a mom, you’re a working mom, and it’s, you know, it’s making the lunches and the kids and everything. He’s just hammering home, the same sort of message time and time again. So is that one of the sort of mistakes that people make, but they don’t really reflect on that core messaging, as you say, and they think they’ve got to do a bit of this and a bit of that and really share every aspect of their life, but really, they’re building that one brand

Erin Corn [33:00]
I think whether it’s on social or you know, any other place that you’re putting out messaging about your business, it’s doing that upfront work. And a lot of times people skip ahead, and they don’t do that homework, and it really hurts them in the end. So, you know, if you feel like you’re, you’re putting out these messages, and it’s not really resonating, or you’re not sure where to spend your time, I really would recommend to anyone, whether they’re an entrepreneur by themselves, or they’re part of a larger company, to really go back to what is their messaging strategy, as, you know, as a business owner or as a, as a business? What are you trying to get across? What is your service offering? Why should it matter to your audience? And who is your audience? You know, a lot of times I’ll ask clients who are very established and have been extremely successful, who is your target audience and the answers they get are sometimes very, very flimsy. You know, women 25 to 34 in the US and, and that doesn’t really tell me who your audience is, who is what are they interested in? What motivates them? What are their challenges Doing that homework. And that’s something that I was really impressed by you, David, when you had sent me a little bit of an update on your show you shared with me who your audience persona is the type of person we’re speaking to. And if you don’t know who you’re speaking to, how will you ever get a message across that resonates with them? So I know some of this is obvious, but a lot of people skip that step. And that’s what really hinders them.

David Ralph [34:20]
You say, You’re winning me back now. You started off with saying, I’m not attractive? I’m good. I’m good as well. This is what women do they push pull all the time. So what is the highlight of your week fame? Can Can you totally disconnect and walk away from it? Or are you really focused on it all the time?

Erin Corn [34:42]
You know, I I’m always focused on it. In the back of my mind, I think that as a business owner, it all is on falls on your shoulders. And so even when you’re taking time off of vacation, at the end of the day, the responsibility lies on you, but it’s something that I really enjoy. It’s something that I’ve been involved in social media and digital Marketing my whole career and so it doesn’t feel to me like a burden, I would say I’ve worked harder in this role than I have it any other company and, and that’s a lot saying a lot, because Facebook and Amazon, these are not small companies to be a part of, and they do really put you through the grind because they are have high expectations. And so to say that I’ve worked even harder out on my own, it has to be something I’m passionate about. But really, the highlight of my week is when I get to connect with my customers and, and share what’s going well and really strategize with them. And I love working with the businesses that I have is as clients and that’s something that’s really valuable to me is that in many ways I can select who I work with. And so believing in the brands that I work with feeling that I have a personal connection to them, makes it that much more enjoyable to jump on the phone with them and talk about their business and strategize about you know what the next step is for their business and how we can help support them.

David Ralph [35:56]
Now this all makes total sense and I started off the same Episode thinking, What’s the point in social media? But I think the point is, I’ve missed the point. And the point is actually reconfirming your brand more than anything else is not being clever. It’s not trying to help people in a kind of cheesy way. It’s basically really giving the core strategy of what your business is time and time again, so people just know like, every time you see the golden M’s, you know that you’re gonna have a rubbish hamburger and feel ill for the rest of the afternoon. It’s what they’re known for.

Erin Corn [36:33]
Hey, that’s, that’s correct. And yeah, I really think of it as being another channel of an a more direct way that you can speak with your customer or prospective customers. And especially, you know, in the business that you’re in as a podcast host. I think that you naturally are just conversationalist you have content you’re you know, you communicate very easily with your guests and and with your audience, and so why not bring that over to Use some of these other social platforms and, you know, be more engaged and build out time for yourself. Maybe it’s once a week you set aside 20 minutes to go in and check to see what people are saying about your podcast positive or negative, because also selfishly, it’s a sounding board for your podcast, it’s a way that you can get real time feedback about what’s working well, what’s not thinking of as another kind of place where you’re seeing reviews outside of iTunes, or SoundCloud. And so I think it’s a great way that you can also put content out to your audience and ask them, you know, what do you think about a show about, you know, entrepreneurship? And, you know, what do you think about a show that we talked about an entrepreneur who’s been at it for 15 years, or just put out questions, what would you like to hear from me? So it’s a really easy way to do user research as well. And so taking advantage of that is really important for all brands and businesses.

David Ralph [37:48]
So for somebody who hasn’t got a mobile phone like I happen, I know that a lot of the platforms don’t kind of work on desktop. And I think the last time I looked at Instagram, it was a big fast and you had to download Some thinking upload that to get it on. It wasn’t designed for solo Luddites, like me, no longer walk along the street being connected all the time. Are there tips to get around that

Erin Corn [38:12]
yet. So some of the platforms, Facebook obviously is on desktop, Instagram has definitely taken note and they are much more accessible on Instagram, you can message directly, you can share content. And so it depends very much on the platform. But there are platforms like Twitter and Pinterest. And you know, the ones I just mentioned that are on desktop. And so I would recommend and being connected on mobile, because your consumers on mobile, 90 plus percent of you know, people that are accessing these social platforms are accessing it from their mobile platforms. So it’s important for you to be able to at least do that, you know, occasionally so you can see how things are showing up for your end consumer. If you’re seeing something on desktop, but your whole audience is looking on mobile, it might appear more clunky to them. And so you just Have to make sure that you know anything you’re designing and putting out there for your audience is mobile first. And so knowing that desktop is still where people access and just keeping in mind that mobile is really King and that’s where you need to place you know your focus. So you saying I’ve got to get Yes, Yes, you do. Never gonna

David Ralph [39:18]
happen. Never gonna. I’m gonna be the last man standing on this one. Let’s play the words from a man who are supposed to lead us all into the iPads and the iPhones and god knows what Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs [39:31]
Of course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards 10 years later. Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something, your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever, because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow you Your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference.

David Ralph [40:05]
So did you follow your heart? Or did you follow your head? At the beginning? Was it a case of you knew you had to do it, the heart speaking or actually, I think I could do this the head speaking,

Erin Corn [40:16]
I really think it was my heart that really pushed me finally in the direction because if I really looked at things just without, you know, paying any attention to you know, my mission in what I saw for my future, my family, I would have said, You’re crazy. You’ve been at tech company after tech company. They’re giving you endless snacks in the micro kitchen. They’re giving you plenty of vacation time, why would you ever walk away from that and take a complete risk and might fall flat on your face and so kind of trying to balance that out and realising that at the end of the day, my family and my work life balance and you know that voice in the back of my head is really pushing me in another direction and and realising that there is going to be a risk but also having the confidence and knowing that Wasn’t those tech companies I had the experience, I had the know how and the knowledge to be able to do this on my own. And so I would say definitely my heart is what went over. Because if I was just completely practical, I never would have done it. And I get that question often. Why would you leave some of these larger tech companies to be out on your own, but I think my story resonates with people and they respect that I feel confident enough. And I’ve you know, proven that being out on my own and standing on my own two feet. I’ve been successful in driving a lot of strong results for my clients and continue to do so

David Ralph [41:34]
I knew wouldn’t have got on Join Up Dots. He was just eating woman, Instagram.

Erin Corn [41:40]
Exactly. I wouldn’t miss this opportunity. And I’m so glad that I followed my heart just so I can be on the show.

David Ralph [41:46]
I think you did. I really do. Well, this is the part of this show that we’re going to be leading up to the Sermon on the MC. But before we get there, I want a big four tips for somebody out there but doesn’t know anything about social media, but they’re starting the online. What would be your big four tips for a total beginner?

Erin Corn [42:07]
For a complete beginner, if you were to get started in social media tomorrow as a brand or as an entrepreneur, the first tip I would say is really be clear, as we mentioned about your brand strategy and your content strategy in terms of what are your messaging pillars? What are your the key messages you’re trying to get across and make sure that anything you do ladders up to that? Number two, being consistent. Whatever you put out on social media and the content that you create, make sure it’s consistent as a consistent look and feel a consistent colour scheme. And it’s authentic to your brand because people are very savvy and they’ll they’re very fickle, and they’ll quickly follow and unfollow if they’re not seeing the type of content that they had initially expected. Three is in terms of advertising, which is what I focus on quite a bit. If you’re someone that wants to build your business follows likes and shares is not going to pay the bills. So whether you have a budget of $10 a day or $100,000 a month, it’s really important to invest in advertising. If you want to grow your presence on these social platforms, there are many cases where brands have built themselves organically. But even those larger brands have understood the importance of advertising because you can really hone in on your audience. And I think fourth would be Don’t be afraid to test and learn that is true for organic content. That’s true for advertising. These platforms change every few months it feels like and if you’re going to be stagnant and feel like you can just turn on social media and do the same thing every day. without making any changes you’ll be very disappointed. So understand that as you approach these problems. It is a test and learn strategy. If something doesn’t work, try something new the next day. It’s a learning experience, especially as your audience changes and so I think those would be the main four key tips to start with just, you know, not being afraid to play around with with these platforms and taking yourself too seriously because there’s always, you know, the next opportunity to try to get better.

David Ralph [44:10]
You know, Evan, it’s almost like you know what you’re talking about was impressed. I was impressed with your knowledge. Well, this is the part of the show that we’ve been building up to, and this is the Sermon on the mic when you’re going to go back in time and speak to the young Aaron and if you could speak to her, what advice would you like to give where we’re going to find out I’m going to play the music and Ben, it’s your turn. This is the Sermon on the Mount.

Unknown Speaker [44:38]
Here we go with the best.

Erin Corn [44:57]
This is a bit like a therapy session. Well If I was speaking to my younger self, which I will be doing right now. And I would say, don’t be afraid to take risks. And you’ve been at these larger companies one after the other, where they have a certain name recognition, and you’re chasing after the title and the promotion. But at the end of the day you have to do what makes you happy. And what’s been making you happy and most satisfied in your roles is being in a position of power where you feel like you’re making an impact and you have ownership over your schedule over the project that you’re working on. But what’s really lacking for you is that you feel like there’s not the freedom that you’d like you want to have more ownership over the type of clients, you work with the type of projects that you work on, and you want to feel like you’re not always out chasing after that next promotion or chasing after that next review. And so, I would encourage you to take that leap of faith, build out a business plan for yourself, and think about ways that you can mitigate the risk. How are you able to To take time and start a new business and put yourself in a situation where you have the financial backing, and you have the savings to be able to take a step out of your comfort zone and really give it a shot. I think that without trying and putting yourself out there, you’ll always wonder what if there are plenty of entrepreneurs out there that have done successfully and I recommend that you build out that business plan and figure out what it is that’s your niche, what makes you excited what type of customer you really enjoy working with. But you have the confidence, you have the experience, you have the ability to do it. And the only thing stopping you is really your yourself limiting beliefs. So at the end of the day, I think that it’s important for you to just map out a plan, put one foot in front of the other and figure out when you’re going to make this decision to walk away from these larger tech companies and really pursue that dream that you’ve had to work on your own terms and build out your own team and in stand in Being a business owner. So if you don’t do it now, you won’t ever do it and just have a plan in place and make sure that you check in with yourself about what your goals are, and the type of, you know, metrics that you want to deliver and iterate on that. And I think that’s really where I would stop and the way I would speak to me myself and I hopefully you take my advice younger Aaron, do you think she would? I think she would she she’s a good girl have an issue?

David Ralph [47:25]
Yes. Wow. There you go. So what’s the number one best way that our audience can connect with you, Aaron,

Erin Corn [47:32]
I think the best way that they connect can connect with me is through social media. Please visit me on my social media profile. It’s just short bird media. And feel free to send me a message connect with me on LinkedIn, of course. And also feel free to send me an email if you ever have any questions. It’s just Hello at schwarber dash media.com and I will always get back to you and happy to answer any questions from your audience.

David Ralph [48:00]
Grace that we have over links on the show notes to make it as easy as possible. Evan, thank you so much for spending time with us today, joining up those dots. And please come back again, when you got even more dots to join up, because I do believe that by joining up the dots and connecting our pass is the best way to build our futures. Evan cone, thank you so much.

Erin Corn [48:20]
Thank you so much. Have a great day.

David Ralph [48:24]
Erin Corn, so a lot of sense.  I think in many ways, I probably I’m so anti social media due to the way I got into it right at the beginning where it was, like, be everywhere and just splash everywhere. But of course, it’s not bad. It’s about reconfirming your brand reconfirming your colours reconfirming your core messaging to your target audience. And so if it’s a podcast, been a podcast, as she said, would work very well on Facebook, and I know it does. But it could be an Instagram one as well. I’ve never found Twitter. Very good. I’ve never found Pinterest or any of them really very good. Um, I might, I might go back a dabbling. Thanks to Erin.

Until next time, everybody. Thank you so much for being here. You Look after yourselves and I’ll see you again. Cheers. Bye bye. Are you ready to start your own podcast and really make it work for you bringing customers and profits into your life and your business in the easiest way possible, or perhaps you’ve already launched and aren’t getting the results you want? If so, I’m going to teach you the information that you need that makes all the difference to your success. Now, don’t be fooled into believing what others are teaching you when it comes to what makes your podcast get those results. podcasting success is not about the podcast. It has nothing to do with a recording or equipment. It has everything to do with understanding your market and making those customers come to you time and time again. This is raw 100% live behind the scenes podcasting mastery, not shown anywhere else. If that’s of interest Head over to Join Up Dots and book a time to speak with me to make sure that you’re a fit for our next course. This is podcasting mastery live at Join Up dots.com