Full Transcript for Stop Hiding, Start Selling: Founder Who Built Six Figures From £76 | Three Founders Walk Into A...

that's not this week. 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:00.000 Just keep smiling. 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:00.640 Exactly. 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:02.560 So our guest has walked in. 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:06.799 So I'm gonna go and grab her, but before I do, let me tell you a little bit about her. 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:13.599 So she is a web marketing expert and she helps and she does personal branding as well, which I know is a massive thing at the moment online. 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:20.400 She helps service businesses turn the websites and their personal brand into predictable inquiry engines. 00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:22.800 If that's not marketing talk, I don't know what is. 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:24.080 Yeah, no, that's right. 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:27.520 So I met her through well, two ways. 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:33.759 Firstly, she sent me one of the best cold email sequences I've ever had, ever. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:36.719 It was really, really funny and sad. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:44.400 And she wanted basically to work as our web and digital marketing expert for my recruitment company. 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:47.039 So that was and the way she did it was just brilliant. 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:49.120 And we also met through Entrepreneur's Circle. 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:50.240 So I have met her in person. 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:55.199 She is based in, I want to say Nottingham. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:56.560 She's definitely in the Midlands. 00:02:56.639 --> 00:03:02.240 She's not from Nottingham, and she's also built her own system, a marketing system called Inquiry OS. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:04.240 And I think she's going to be a really brilliant guest. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:05.280 She's chatty. 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:06.400 Okay, good. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:09.439 But I know that she's nervous because I've spoken to her. 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:13.120 So we need to be as kind as can be to welcome her in. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:14.319 Shall I go and grab her? 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:14.879 Please. 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:15.599 You ready? 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:16.560 I'm ready. 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:17.280 Always. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:18.800 Right, here she is. 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:19.680 Okay. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:20.960 I've just let her in. 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:21.360 Hello. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:22.319 Here she is. 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:22.719 Hello. 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:24.719 Hey Emma. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:26.240 Emma meet Crystal. 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:27.280 Hello, Emma. 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:27.919 Hi, Crystal. 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:28.879 Really nice to meet you. 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:29.520 How are you doing? 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:30.639 I'm good, thank you. 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:31.199 How are you? 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:32.159 I'm really well. 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:32.960 I'm really well. 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:34.479 So we have one founder. 00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:35.520 We have two founders. 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:36.400 That's Emma and I. 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:39.120 We have three founders, and we've got three founders. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:41.919 Have just walked into a dot dot dot. 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:43.759 Crystal, where have we walked into? 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:47.199 We are in an island in the Philippines. 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:49.360 The name is Baracai. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:53.840 Um, I grew up in the Philippines, so that is like my happy place. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:56.800 The sand is like uh sugar powder. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:03:58.159 Wow. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:03:58.960 It's amazing. 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:03.599 And um, we're sitting in a sunbed with a mango shake. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:05.840 Yeah, this one. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:08.000 Yeah, we can just stop there, shall we? 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:09.439 We've all just relaxed. 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:10.560 Just kick back. 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:13.039 Yeah, kickbacks and a mango shake. 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:14.319 So what's in the mango shake? 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:15.199 Literally mango. 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:17.600 Oh, just yeah, mango and milk. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:19.360 It's just pure yellow mango. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:20.000 Wow. 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:20.480 Okay. 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:21.360 And the weather? 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:22.399 What's the weather doing? 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:28.399 And the weather is about 30 and a bit windy, so it's not too hot, not too cold. 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:30.160 But yeah, it's amazing. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:33.439 And see if they're like fish and stuff in the sea. 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:34.319 Can we snorkel? 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:49.279 If you go through like in the far bar area, yeah, but you can definitely walk around without aqua shoes and just enjoy the beach and paddle board, or if you want to go parasailing or jet ski or any other sports, so amazing. 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:52.319 That sounds like something out and get on the plane. 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:57.120 Being in here, although I've never been to a beach like that. 00:04:57.199 --> 00:04:58.160 I've never been to the Philippines. 00:04:58.240 --> 00:04:58.879 Emma, have you? 00:04:59.040 --> 00:04:59.279 Have you? 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:00.959 Not been to the Philippines, no. 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:04.399 But um yeah, I've heard lots of really good things about it. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:09.360 Yeah, it's one of the best for me, even if I go to Europe or America. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:11.600 I think it's still the best one. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:21.519 It's just everyone is friendly, hospitable, and just and is this a beach you grew up on, or is this a beach that you would like to go back to that you haven't yet been to? 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:24.639 Yeah, so um where I grew up is in Manila. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:32.560 And um it's like a 45-minute plane ride to that place, and any problems that you have, you just completely forget it. 00:05:32.639

--> 00:05:34.240 It's just definitely a paradise. 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:36.319 Wouldn't that be lovely? 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:39.360 45 minutes flight from a beach like that. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:40.399 Yeah, yeah. 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:45.360 And I bet the difference between Manila being a a bustling, probably a very hot city. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:50.240 It is a concrete city to then 45 minutes to a beautiful beach like that sounds like paradise. 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:51.279 It is, it is. 00:05:51.360 --> 00:06:05.439 And it's it's interesting as well because growing up you don't see that as a privilege once you move in a different country because it's like it's winter, it's cold, and it there is all sunny all almost all year round. 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:12.160 But how did you get here from yeah, so uh presumably you're not in the Philippines now? 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:12.480 Yeah. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:15.920 I mean not in America, completely different. 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:31.680 Yeah, so um after my uh finished my university in the Philippines, um my brother is actually uh starting his school and we decided to move. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:39.199 It's a perfect time to move because it's his first year of like as a student, and then me graduating. 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:41.600 We have a big gap, 14-year gap. 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:46.639 Sometimes I joke around that I'm the mother just just to annoy him. 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:47.199 Yeah. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:51.439 Yeah. 00:06:52.240 --> 00:07:01.120 I moved about 2011, and yes, luckily I got a job straight away, same of my degree, which I really love. 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:01.839 Brilliant. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:09.040 And the and Helen's done a little bit of chit-chatting about what you do and how you do it, and she's kind of said that you are amazing at it. 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:12.560 So, how did you come to be in your own business? 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:13.839 How did you come to be a founder? 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:23.600 Yes, I uh work in a marketing agency specializing in accountants and solicitors and the professional firm services for about 10 years. 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:24.160 Okay. 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:28.399 And I was more of like, yes, I say yes to everything. 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:34.959 And I didn't know what I was doing, but I just yes to everything because there's Google, you can just search for it, isn't it? 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:37.439 Like with social media, yeah, I'll do that. 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:41.040 Type in or design anything, yeah, I can do that. 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:57.120 Canva wasn't a big thing back then, but you can just uh learn it with Adobe and everything, and it's quite exciting because after that, when we to um lockdown happened, and I was just I was fortunate that I was going in the office every day back then. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:00.639 I was one of the chosen team members to be in there. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:08.000 And

you get exhausted though, although you get that privilege that you sometimes it's just because it's always the same thing. 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:15.759 And after that, one of my colleagues moved away to a different job, and then that happened to me moving away as well. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:26.079 And that unfortunately closed down and made me realize that it's not everything is not permanent, and you have to think about things in life that for yourself as well. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:33.919 And that time I only have after the paycheck, I only have like 76 pounds after paycheck, and it was different kind of way. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:47.759 And I told my partner as well, like, if I'm gonna open a business, there's a lot of risk that's gonna happen, and yeah, she was very supportive about it, and we just went for it because the domain is cheap, then I'll do my skin. 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:50.639 You can buy a domain, and that's it. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:56.000 And you can design the logo and the website for that already. 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:58.720 Yeah, that saves so much money. 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:00.879 Yeah, exactly. 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:03.360 Yeah, amazing. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:07.759 And so that was post-COVID or during COVID that you started your business? 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:10.320 That is uh after COVID, yeah. 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:13.600 About two years after COVID, two to three years, yeah. 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:15.200 So my business is quite fresh. 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:17.440 This was uh two years ago when I opened it. 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:22.720 Okay, actually, so it was two years ago then that I got your your cold email. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:23.440 Yeah. 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:28.159 I mean, I I haven't done much cold email at all. 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:30.320 As a recruiter, I think people don't want to know. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:32.240 They don't want to talk about it. 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:33.519 Never mind have a cold email. 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:39.200 Your email that you sent me was phenomenal, but you did that at the beginning of your business. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:39.600 Yes. 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:44.879 That takes some real either a morning of just get on with it, you need clients. 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:48.879 Yeah, you know, having a chat with yourself, or real self-confidence. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:52.240 I have a feeling it was probably the first one, knowing you as I do. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:54.399 Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:57.840 Uh, because at that time, all you have to do is just learn. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:09:59.759 Every day you have to learn things. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:06.240 I was like an accidental business owner, like I didn't really know about accounting and admins behind it. 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:12.080 I I really thought I would just go and focus on work, but I didn't know around the business model and everything. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:16.000

And you just have to be creative with anything that you approach. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:19.919 So I thought, why not be funny at the same time? 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:24.399 And it was a just getting yourself out there is the one thing, isn't it? 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:36.159 And surprisingly, um, when you do your business maths and everything, and you realize like your main source of marketing, it goes to like cold outreach. 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:38.720 It's surprising, but it's true. 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:41.519 But yeah, you just have to be consistent. 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:51.039 Yeah, because I guess if you're coming from an employee uh situation, you have got clients that you can bring with you, you've probably not done networking, and if you have, it's for that business. 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:53.600 So then you've got to start for yourself. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:11:00.480 I mean, I've been in I don't do well, I do a bit of cold email, which is not good because it's supposed to be consistent. 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:08.960 But what I do is have referrals, which isn't actually sustainable because I'm not in control of that at all. 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:16.960 And I learned that last year when I was unwell, and you know, those referrals soon dry up when people think, oh, she's not around or she's not well, so I better not. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:20.960 For your business then, so you started with the cold from scratch. 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:21.759 From scratch. 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:25.360 What do you think your biggest biggest win or biggest challenge has been? 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:28.080 I'll let you decide which route you want to go down for that. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:28.720 Yeah. 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:34.080 So a referral is always always gonna be a biggest impact on your business, isn't it? 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:38.159 But I agree with you, um, Helen, that it it's gonna dry up. 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:43.440 And you just have to find multiple outlets for you to get a lot of increase. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:50.000 And one of that is being visible to where people are, so where is your target audience? 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:52.720 So, which is LinkedIn and email. 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:54.639 So they're quite busy on that. 00:11:56.639 --> 00:12:02.960 And sometimes you can do Facebook, but sometimes you get a lot of like the quality isn't as quite as good. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:18.720 And I was very fortunate that people find it funny, and you know, some people will just say bad things, but luckily throughout my cold email, I didn't really get that kind of response because oh, I really like your email, so you just get that, isn't it? 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:19.759 Which is quite good. 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:22.639 You get the aim back, and it's just really exciting. 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:23.840 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:29.360 And you may have seen me cover my mouth and smile a lot when you talked about being visible. 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:34.639 Emma, why why did I smile the way I did when she said about being visible? 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:37.039 That's all of that's what we're doing this year. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:38.559 This is this is the point, isn't it? 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:40.480 We're all here to be more visible. 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:45.279 We're kind of putting ourselves out here in a podcast to be more visible. 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:55.440 And while I don't think a podcast is necessarily a, you know, it's about that visibility, it's not necessarily about the kind of the marketing of your business because it's not quite the same thing. 00:12:55.519 --> 00:13:04.559 You know, we're not you know, we and I are both founders, obviously, and we both love what we do, and we really love working with you know business owners and founders. 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:08.480 And this, while it's visibility, isn't necessarily marketing. 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:10.559 I think there's a real difference between those two things. 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:13.039 Like, yeah, how do you kind of distinguish? 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:22.559 It's a lot of like right now, organic is booming, whether you do YouTube or podcasts or anything that you could do, even social. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:28.879 That's the whole reason like AI is so massive this like this year. 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:35.360 It's just a lot of people use it, and you have to use that tool to be consistent and visible. 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:43.039 And now it's possible to post three times a day, five times a day, or whatever times a day you are, you know, even once a day. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:54.159 You have to maximize the organic growth before going to a paid approach, and you just know really want to know where are your audience are really hanging out. 00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:59.120 It's interesting, and that you say this isn't marketing, because isn't it all marketing? 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:06.879 If we're out there at all, or my understanding, marketing being if it leads to it's a lead generation for one of us, then that's one thing. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:14.399 But us sitting here being visible because we're nosy and want to have conversations with other people, the founders, very coming down to. 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:19.120 But ultimately, someone might find one of us, absolutely, yeah. 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:24.559 Yeah, it's definitely the authority that you're giving back to them and your personality. 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:31.360 Like in AI, the most important thing now is having the personality in your copy. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:40.720 It's you are the one going to distinguish whether it's uh because AI doesn't have personality, and you have to give that information you have. 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:54.720 It's like documenting everything, your brand voice, your brand archetype, your everything that you wanted to personalize is it's in your hands now to give it to AI and give it

all and as much as possible. 00:14:54.879 --> 00:14:57.200 You can even chat to that by voice, isn't it? 00:14:57.279 --> 00:14:59.840 So it gets about your voice straight away. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:02.080 Oh, I don't chat, I do I type mine. 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:07.759 If I chatted with my AI, whether it was my AI board, I know you've got an MI AI board, haven't you, Emma? 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:11.759 If I chatted with it, it would just it would tell me just to stop. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:14.000 None of what you just said made sense. 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:18.399 Let me rehash it for you in a way that a human being might actually understand. 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:22.639 And I'm pleased it can't talk back to me, it can only message me. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:26.879 But yeah, that's that's next year's problem, I suppose, with AI. 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:29.440 It will start talking to us and going, Helen, stop it. 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:31.279 Do not post that. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:34.480 Even that's even if that's not how you're feeling, do not send that email. 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:34.960 Yeah. 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:35.679 Yeah, it will. 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:36.879 But it's true though, isn't it? 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:40.399 Like before, like you there was only a certain amount that you could physically do, right? 00:15:40.480 --> 00:16:03.360 There's only a certain amount of number of images you could put on, or you know, the there's only a certain amount of captions you can think of that um imaginative and and and but now having that kind of background tool, although you know there is personally, there's still a thing where you just don't want to bombard people, like there's only so much you can kind of but that's a that's a limitation, isn't it, that you kind of put on yourself. 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:06.159 That's not necessarily true. 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:13.120 Like, how does that you know there's so many more people on socials, it's a much broader audience. 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:14.399 Is that even relevant? 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:17.440 Like, you know, is it just a case of doing more, more, more? 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:22.399 It's not just more more, but it's just the quality that you're giving out as well. 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:30.720 That's the whole reason why we do lead magnets or giving out freebies, and it's about you showing up. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:34.399 It doesn't matter how many times you post it, as long as you show up. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:36.480 It's that's an important thing. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:37.200 Okay. 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:40.000 So I started actually uh being brave. 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:42.559 I was hiding through camera a lot of times. 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:46.480 This is the year I said I'm gonna be brave and show up in camera. 00:16:46.720 --> 00:17:02.720 So I funny enough, I bought like bought these tools and everything with the teleprompter and just just do it and film and don't watch it if you don't want to, if you feel like you feel the eek, if you feel the eek and don't watch it and just do it record, show up.