1 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:05,560 Hello and welcome to another episode. 2 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:07,880 The Winning was Shopify Podcast. For anyone that's not seen it 3 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:10,400 before, my name is Nick and I've been hosting the show for 3 1/2 4 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:11,320 years now. I think it is. 5 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:13,760 It's even 3 1/2 or 4 1/2. I lose track of time. 6 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:16,680 I'm getting old now, but it's a pleasure to have you tuning in 7 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:18,240 today. And thank you so much for 8 00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:20,040 clicking on the brightest pinkest podcast you've ever had. 9 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:21,560 If you've been tuning in for a while, welcome back. 10 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:24,160 It's great to have you back listening to the show and 11 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:26,400 engaging with all the amazing things that we are doing. 12 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:30,800 If you haven't already, go to wwspodcast.com and join this 13 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:33,400 thing called the Growth Hub. We've just launched a whole new 14 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:35,000 platform. It's so exciting. 15 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:36,520 We're running round table sessions. 16 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:38,760 We're getting brands talking with one another about some of 17 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:39,840 the channels and problems they've got. 18 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:41,160 There's a bit of a forum in there. 19 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:44,160 And then there is also the most amazing round tables. 20 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:46,560 We've got guests coming on, experts talking about various 21 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:48,960 different bits and pieces. I would love you to join us. 22 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:51,920 We're building the biggest Shopify community in the world, 23 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,720 and the most important word in there is independent. 24 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:56,840 So we're building an independent Shopify community. 25 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,280 Anyway, today's show. So last week we spoke about 26 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:01,560 TikTok. Today we're continuing talking 27 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,920 about TikTok and talking to solo founders and how they're using 28 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:07,000 TikTok to get millions and millions of views. 29 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:12,040 My guest today, Megan, got 18 and a half million views on a 30 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:15,880 single TikTok video. Imagine what they did to her 31 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,640 revenue. We also spoke about COVID, 32 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:24,320 Toronto TikTok, when to post solo versus brand, as in a solo 33 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,240 entrepreneur like Megan versus a brand posting. 34 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:31,040 We spoke about making behind the scenes videos, prank videos, 35 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:33,880 which are not what you might think they are, but they are 36 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:35,040 quite cool. We talked about this quite a 37 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:37,400 bit. YouTube Shorts, which I think 38 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:39,680 might be the first time we've ever even mentioned YouTube 39 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,560 Shorts on the show, but they work incredibly effectively for 40 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:44,040 winning Shopify. We're talking about 41 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:47,800 authenticity, personality, and the most awesome topic I think 42 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:50,240 of today's episode or the funniest one certainly that I 43 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,440 will not be forgetting in a hurry is 70 millimetre 44 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:56,120 eyelashes. That's right, 70 millimetre, 7 45 00:01:56,120 --> 00:02:00,040 centimetre long eyelashes and how she pranks somebody with 46 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,160 those and they're currently for sale on her store as well. 47 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:03,880 If you want to get a pair for Halloween. 48 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:05,480 Anyway, I hope you enjoyed today's show. 49 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,759 Over to the actual episode. So, Megan, welcome to the show. 50 00:02:08,759 --> 00:02:11,160 How are you? Hey, Nick, thanks for having me. 51 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:12,280 I'm doing good. How are you? 52 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:14,480 Yes, I'm very well. Thank you. 53 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:16,200 Very well. And I'll say to everybody 54 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:17,640 listening as well. And Megan and I were just 55 00:02:17,640 --> 00:02:20,360 chatting before we got, we both got coughs at the moment. 56 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,080 And my editors are they're taking the Mick out of me at the 57 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,040 moment, how much I cough before we start recording as well. 58 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:27,760 And there will be a blooper really at Christmas, which I'm 59 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:30,400 sure will include some coughs. So, yeah, apologies if Megan or 60 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,680 I sound a bit croaky at any point, but opposite sides to the 61 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:35,320 Atlantic and we're both unwell. So. 62 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,800 But anyway, Megan, tell us a little bit about your business, 63 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:40,360 about your background, about how you got it started. 64 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:41,400 We ask all of our guests to do this. 65 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:43,680 So yeah, we'd love to hear a bit about your story and then we'll 66 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,160 dive in more as we go through. Awesome. 67 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:49,920 So my name is Megan. My business is Volashes. 68 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:53,200 We are based in Toronto. I say we, but it's just really 69 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,000 me. It started as a service based 70 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:00,480 business in 2017 providing lash extension services to clients. 71 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,880 So I would physically do these beauty services for my clients. 72 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:08,560 I built a loyal clientele, but when COVID-19 hit, I was forced 73 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:10,960 forced to shut down due to restrictions. 74 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:15,240 So this challenge kind of led me to pivot and focus on creating 75 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:18,760 an e-commerce store. So today my store offers 76 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:21,880 hundreds of lash styles along with a wide range of lash tools, 77 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:25,440 products and supplies for both everyday users and 78 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:27,440 professionals. Amazing, amazing. 79 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:29,360 And essentially you're based in Toronto. 80 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,600 I have to ask, is that why you use Shopify or was it just the 81 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:34,480 best option at the time? Because obviously they are based 82 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:36,440 in Toronto. They're one of the big flagship 83 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:37,560 companies over there, aren't they? 84 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,800 Yeah, they are the biggest one just because I was mostly I 85 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,120 found it more easier to use Shopify versus the other ones. 86 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,120 Yeah, amazing, amazing. And let's let's roll back to 87 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:51,000 COVID quickly. And it was a horrible time for 88 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:53,240 most of us. But just as you've described, 89 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:55,160 we, we've worked with so many clients, with so many people on 90 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:57,880 the show as well saying that COVID was just a game changer, 91 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:01,280 sometimes good, sometimes bad. And what was that initial kind 92 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:04,360 of shock like when it was like, Oh my gosh, I can't do my normal 93 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,160 service based business? Like was it quite like a 24 94 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:08,480 hours and you're completely pivoted. 95 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:11,280 It was all lovely. I'm sure not tell us what that 96 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:13,760 time was like, what were some of the key decisions and things 97 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,120 were actually going on around the business at that particular 98 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,079 moment. It was definitely very scary 99 00:04:19,079 --> 00:04:21,200 because that was my only source of income. 100 00:04:21,959 --> 00:04:26,280 I had quit my job to pursue that full time because I finally 101 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:29,560 built a loyal clientele, and to have COVID come and just shut 102 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:31,400 everything down was really, really scary. 103 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,720 It was definitely a slow pivot, but because also my clients 104 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:37,720 couldn't come to me to do their beauty services, I shifted 105 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:40,840 towards developing products that those clients could apply 106 00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:43,720 themselves at home without needing to see a professional. 107 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:45,920 Yeah, amazing. Amazing. 108 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:47,080 And it's really smart then. Yeah. 109 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:48,800 So if they couldn't do something with you. 110 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:50,840 And a lot of businesses did this and I thought it was really 111 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:54,240 effective. I even, I was supposed to go to 112 00:04:54,280 --> 00:04:57,040 a brewery tour at one point and they said, oh, where if you 113 00:04:57,040 --> 00:04:59,160 want, you can buy this kit and there's a video to show you how 114 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,040 to make your own beer at home. All my friends that have been 115 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:03,920 over and have beers at my house would be proud to hear that I 116 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:06,480 didn't do that because my cooking skills aren't very good 117 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:09,800 anyway, let alone brewing. But it's a really smart thing I 118 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:11,960 think to do then, so people could still engage with you and 119 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,760 still get this almost, maybe not the same, but a very similar the 120 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:16,120 result, but obviously 3 products. 121 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,080 But that must have added a an element of scalability to the 122 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:22,080 whole equation at the same time. Yeah, for sure. 123 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:26,360 So this just added a new source of income as well, just instead 124 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:30,040 of like servicing people in person, you know you have a cap 125 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:32,840 on the hours on how many clients you can do in a day, right. 126 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,720 But now with the sales coming in as you can get as many people to 127 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:38,680 buy your products. Yeah, yeah. 128 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:40,840 And I guess there must, I mean there are some limits, aren't 129 00:05:40,840 --> 00:05:43,360 there, in terms of like how many you can physically stock 130 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:45,160 deliver, but all those things are scalable. 131 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:47,360 So obviously you were previously doing services. 132 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:49,960 Were you doing services and products when you first started 133 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:52,880 out like pre COVID was like was COVID when you launched your 134 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:54,840 first product or were you already selling products as well 135 00:05:54,840 --> 00:05:57,800 as the service and then just just grew faster during COVID? 136 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:00,240 OK. So I was doing the service for 137 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:04,800 years, just solely the service closer to closer to COVID is 138 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:07,400 when I started offering like supplies for the lash 139 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:09,280 professionals to do on their clients. 140 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:11,560 But that was not really taking off yet. 141 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:15,360 But after COVID hit is when I really went to full force with 142 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,080 like finding the products for the end consumers. 143 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:21,320 Yeah, yeah. Now, one of the biggest reasons 144 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,240 we've got you on, I mean, amongst so many other other 145 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:26,360 things, though, but one of the biggest reasons we wanted to get 146 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:28,760 you on actually is your success on TikTok. 147 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:31,600 Now, the first question before we jump into like, you know, 148 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:33,840 what is your secret recipe? How have you done it and how's 149 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:35,800 it work? Before we jump into that? 150 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:39,080 There we go. I've coughed again, but what 151 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:41,520 what were some of the things that you were already doing on 152 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:45,080 social prior to when TikTok actually really started to build 153 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,520 and grow? Like was TikTok the start of it? 154 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:50,480 Was it result of what you went through in COVID or actually 155 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:52,680 were you doing that already and it just started to grow over 156 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:54,240 time? Like how did that initial kind 157 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,960 of spark begin? So definitely TikTok was after 158 00:06:57,960 --> 00:06:59,920 COVID. I actually never used TikTok 159 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:02,720 before COVID at all. When I was doing the beauty 160 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:06,240 service, I was just posting, you know, my last work on Instagram 161 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:09,040 and I wasn't really consistent with it either. 162 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:11,480 But that still helps me to build the clientele. 163 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,960 But after COVID, when I started the e-commerce stuff is when I 164 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,400 really, really jumped into TikTok, and that's when it 165 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:20,120 really took off. Amazing. 166 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:22,480 And did TikTok just kind of work overnight? 167 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:24,400 I again, like I said earlier, I assume not. 168 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:26,960 What were some of the things you had to do to really start to 169 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:28,480 build some of those views before? 170 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:30,920 I mean, it, I won't ruin it with a number, but you, you've had 171 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:32,600 some really successful videos over time. 172 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:34,800 So like, yeah, how did you, how did you really start to build a 173 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:36,680 bit of an audience on there and get some, get some views? 174 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:42,800 So on TikTok I would really post like 3 * a day if not more. 175 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,000 That's a little bit much but I would still recommend doing like 176 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:49,160 one to three videos. This is also when Instagram 177 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,480 Reels kind of came out too, and they were pushing a lot of their 178 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:56,280 Reels because they were trying to compete against TikTok. 179 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,400 But yeah, so when I was, yeah. So just like TikTok posting 180 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:02,080 consistently is what I really did. 181 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:05,600 And did you spend a lot of time looking at the analytics of 182 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,080 those posts as well to kind of go this one works, this one 183 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:10,160 didn't? Or did you just kind of just 184 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:13,000 keep throwing them out there in like 1 in four or one in five 185 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:14,800 works? Like what was that process of 186 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,080 looking at the analytics? So when I first started, I was 187 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:19,600 pretty much like an amateur at TikTok. 188 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:21,560 I was just throwing different videos out there just to see 189 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,520 what worked and what didn't. I wasn't really too familiar 190 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:28,480 with the data analytics then, but now knowing what I know and 191 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:30,680 with my experience that I definitely look at that. 192 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:34,559 Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I guess the more it grows as 193 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:37,600 well, like we're like part of my PPC agency here. 194 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,080 When we launch a new brand, it's always like, it's so hard when 195 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:41,760 they're like, how much money we're going to make? 196 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:43,480 How much do we need to spend? Like we don't know. 197 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:46,600 You're completely new. We've got no data, no traction. 198 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:49,040 But do you, I mean, just just a thought that jumped to my mind. 199 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:52,640 Do you think you had almost like an advantage that you were like 200 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,760 a solo person, which means you could just kind of throw 201 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:57,720 whatever content out and see what worked, as opposed to a 202 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,280 brand that then from the get go, the very first post they do like 203 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,080 there's already brand guidelines and sentiment and a business 204 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:05,200 case. Do you think you found it 205 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:06,960 slightly easier actually just being an individual going? 206 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:09,760 I'm just going to be me and if people don't like it, fine, I'll 207 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:11,080 adapt it and change it over time. 208 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:13,120 But do you think it kind of took some of that pressure off? 209 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:18,800 100% as a solo, you know, person running the business, I am in 210 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:23,000 full control and I actually find it more authentic and genuine to 211 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:25,560 just me posting myself and behind the scenes of the 212 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:29,560 business versus, you know, the viewers seeing kind of like a 213 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:33,680 brand posting because you know, people buy from people, right? 214 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:36,440 It's more authentic. Like I feel like if I see a 215 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,920 brand posting more behind the scenes or the about the CEO, the 216 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:42,640 founder, I find it more easy to trust them. 217 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,160 So it definitely is more of an advantage than just posting like 218 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:49,800 the brand stuff. Absolutely, absolutely. 219 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:52,120 We certainly had clients that sort of said like, oh, how would 220 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:54,200 TikTok work for us? Whereas when you're an 221 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:55,880 individual, you're like, that's cool. 222 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:57,680 I'm going to post a picture or a video about it. 223 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:00,960 Just like hit record and go, no editing, just just throw it 224 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:02,840 straight up. You mentioned something that our 225 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:06,480 guest last week, Kim spoke about, which was amazing or 226 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,200 certainly worked amazingly for her business and that was behind 227 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:10,960 the scenes. And I, I completely agree with 228 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:13,240 what you said about you connect more with the founder and that 229 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,080 sort of thing. How do you film that? 230 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:19,400 Like do you kind of try to make it look very sort of like, you 231 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:21,560 know, rough cut and stuff like that, but actually there's a lot 232 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:24,080 of time and energy go into it? Do you literally go, people 233 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:26,080 might like this record and just start recording? 234 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:29,160 Like what's the process of doing do you think behind doing a 235 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:33,320 behind the scenes successfully? It depends what I'm doing. 236 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:35,920 Every day I do something different, but depending on the 237 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:38,840 task, I will take out my camera and just record slowly and just 238 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:41,960 stock up all these videos. And then when a time, when it 239 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,040 comes time, sorry, when it comes time to just edit and think of a 240 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:48,400 video, I will put the clips together and make it something. 241 00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:52,320 OK, so you almost do like kind of just almost like keep a bit 242 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:54,560 of a diary and then kind of give like a here's a load of 243 00:10:54,560 --> 00:10:56,600 different cuts from the from what's been going on. 244 00:10:57,400 --> 00:10:59,520 Yeah, this is for more of the behind the scenes. 245 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:02,600 Like if I'm packaging an order, I'll I'll film that and then the 246 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:05,200 next day I'll film some more. But when it comes to like 247 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:07,800 different kinds of video, I do have to do planning for that. 248 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:10,680 Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. 249 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:13,320 And obviously we, as I think you saw before hit record, we do 250 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:14,680 lots of planning behind this as well. 251 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:17,320 You know, like, and I think any video content or even audio 252 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,920 content you're putting out, even if it looks kind of rough cut, 253 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:23,520 like some of the videos, like, hey, we just thought we'd show 254 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:25,440 you guys this and like, you know, kind of turn the phone 255 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:27,160 around, like, oh, look at all of this stuff going on in our 256 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:29,320 factory or whatever. Actually, it's like, well, 257 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:30,720 that's it. Months of planning. 258 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:33,800 It's professional camera crew. This presenter's an actor we've 259 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:37,080 hired to bring them in and we've had to get the CEO back from 260 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:39,920 Barbados to, you know, come and be in the video and all this 261 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:42,080 sort of stuff. And I do find it fascinating 262 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:45,280 though, like how much of it is kind of real authentic raw cut 263 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:48,440 content versus kind of being super pristine. 264 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,160 But it sounds like you've almost taken the raw content with a 265 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:52,800 little bit of planning, but tried to keep it. 266 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,960 I think as you said earlier, that authenticity behind I, I am 267 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:57,560 the brand and actually I'm going to portray that. 268 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:00,560 Yes, exactly. Well, let's talk about the 269 00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:03,360 biggest, Let's say biggest. You might tell me it wasn't one 270 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:05,720 of the biggest milestones. I would be incredibly proud if 271 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:09,440 I'd hear Is it 18 and a half million views on a single video 272 00:12:09,560 --> 00:12:12,000 you've done previously? As of today, yes. 273 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:14,200 It's slowly built up over the time. 274 00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:17,440 Oh, amazing. So it wasn't like a kind of you 275 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:19,720 posted it went to sleep, woke up the next day and was like, Oh my 276 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:20,880 gosh, you've got 18 million views. 277 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:23,640 It's I mean, first of all, tell us what the video is of like, 278 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:24,840 how did you come up with the idea? 279 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:27,760 How did you execute and and why do you think it's been so 280 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:29,240 successful? I guess so the the kind of 281 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:31,080 questions I'd love you to love you to share a bit more on. 282 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:36,840 So the video is me doing one of my lash clients also, I 283 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,120 analyzed, you know, I was on social media scrolling. 284 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,280 I saw a lot of lash pranks going on. 285 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:45,400 So lash clients were getting pranked by their lash technician 286 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:48,480 and it's a great way to show off, you know, your work as well 287 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,160 and promote your products. So I did this to my client, but 288 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:54,320 I put a little twist on it. Everybody was doing like a 289 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,440 different version of a prank. So I decided to, you know, get 290 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:00,600 these crazy lashes. They're like 70mm long. 291 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:03,760 Put them on her after I did the service. 292 00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:07,280 So obviously her real set was more natural looking. 293 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,960 Then I put the the fake ones on her and then had and had her 294 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:13,320 open her eyes and just film the entire review. 295 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:16,080 And it was just really funny. And I found that this really 296 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,520 went viral because it's funny and people connect when things 297 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:23,160 are really funny and it kind of evokes an emotion on people. 298 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:26,000 People shared it. And yeah, but when I woke up the 299 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:29,160 next day after posting it, it did do very well. 300 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:31,280 It just, it wasn't 18,000,000, right? 301 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:34,880 But over the course of the like months and it just kept going 302 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,720 viral. And I think it's, and tell me if 303 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:40,600 I'm wrong, it's much more your world than than mine. 304 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:44,000 But certainly when I look at it on Instagram posts, it's rare 305 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:46,880 you find anything that's more than what, like five days old. 306 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:49,640 Like Instagram just stops surfacing that content after 307 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:51,600 five days. It's still available if you go 308 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:53,880 on someone's profile. But TikTok does seem to have a 309 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:56,720 lot more longevity, doesn't it? Where actually a video, I mean, 310 00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:59,080 some of the podcast stuff we posted like six months ago, 311 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:01,960 we're still getting like 50 to 100 views a day on some of them. 312 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:04,520 And we've never paid to promote them or anything. 313 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:07,720 So TikTok does tend to have that longevity, which in in a weird 314 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:10,360 way means if you, as you say, you keep posting lots and lots 315 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:12,840 of content, you just need a few of them to pick up some traction 316 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:14,760 and suddenly you've, you know, you've got two and a half 317 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:16,240 million likes as well on your profile. 318 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:18,280 So it really starts to build, doesn't it? 319 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:21,040 Yeah, I agree. TikTok is just really great for 320 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:23,160 that. Like, sometimes a video will be 321 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:25,360 going viral. It'll stop randomly for, like a 322 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:27,800 week, and then later, if someone interacts with it again later, 323 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:30,440 it'll just start resurfacing again, which is really good for, 324 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:32,920 like, you know, small businesses like us who don't want to pay 325 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:35,040 for advertising or who can't afford it. 326 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:38,120 So it's really good, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. 327 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:40,560 And would you say the moment TikTok is probably like the 328 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:43,200 biggest and best social platform, would you say there's 329 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:45,480 any others out there? Is there any that you're posting 330 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:48,560 on, watching see if they grow or any that you just won't touch 331 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:50,000 anymore? Like what are your thoughts on 332 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:51,960 the kind of whole social landscape for your business? 333 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:54,840 Yeah, so TikTok is definitely taking over the social media 334 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:57,760 game, and you just know that because YouTube Shorts and 335 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:00,800 Instagram Reels are trying to do the same thing with the short 336 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:03,520 form content. But TikTok was the first to do 337 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:07,720 that and it just pushes new videos to like viewers without 338 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,000 them having to search for it. Like they're for the 4U page, 339 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:15,120 which is really nice. I also do news YouTube Shorts 340 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:19,520 and I found that it does pretty well as well, but you just have 341 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:22,040 to be really consistent with it because if you post like one or 342 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:23,600 two videos, it might not do well. 343 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:27,640 If you continue to pose, you'll gain some traction. 344 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:31,560 Even with the last prank I did on TikTok, I also posted that on 345 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:34,240 YouTube Shorts and it did very, very well too. 346 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:36,400 And you're reaching like a new community on there. 347 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:40,760 I also gained a lot of like my following from YouTube Shorts 348 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:42,880 from that video, which is really nice. 349 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,440 And also with Instagram reels, a few years ago when it was new, 350 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:51,600 they were really pushing out the reels to people. 351 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,080 So when you posted a reel, like you would gain a lot of 352 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:57,120 following and stuff like that. But now I find that it has 353 00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:00,760 slowed down a lot. So TikTok I would say. 354 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:02,800 Amazing. Yeah, Yeah. 355 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:04,920 And I thank you so much for that answer. 356 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:08,200 And the reason I say that is we've never ever mentioned on 357 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:12,520 the show YouTube Shorts, which I find I'm now slightly staggered 358 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,040 because actually it's one of our biggest audiences on the 359 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:16,880 podcast. More people watch our YouTube 360 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:19,920 Shorts than I think, I think it's probably, sorry, second 361 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:21,960 after Instagram in terms of social content. 362 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,200 So our, our reels on Instagram do incredibly well, then YouTube 363 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:27,360 Shorts, then TikTok. We're almost like the opposite 364 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:30,080 way around to, to where you are. But you're the first brand to 365 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,640 mention YouTube Shorts actually on the show, which I find 366 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:36,240 fascinating because I would say if there's two free avenues of 367 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:38,800 social traffic for any brand, it's Pinterest and it's YouTube 368 00:16:38,800 --> 00:17:13,599 Shorts. And I think TikTok is absolutely 369 00:17:13,599 --> 00:17:14,760 into that space. Now. 370 00:17:15,079 --> 00:17:16,720 I think some brands like yourself, you know, you're 371 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,079 obviously focusing on it and specializing in it and doing a 372 00:17:19,079 --> 00:17:22,880 very, very good job of it. But I also think that it 373 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:24,280 obviously depends on the product, doesn't it? 374 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:27,599 There's certain products you just wouldn't interact with on, 375 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:30,280 yeah, TikTok necessarily, which might be more than the sort of 376 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:33,320 luxury products or, you know, you wouldn't car brands guys 377 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:35,120 would put a cool video out, but they certainly wouldn't say 378 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:38,360 like, oh, it's at half, half the interest rate if you buy a car 379 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:40,400 on finance, finance. It's not really a TikTok piece 380 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:42,560 of content, is it? But it would be a YouTube short 381 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:45,160 and it would be a YouTube advert to say, find your local dealer 382 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:47,400 now and that sort of thing. So I think certainly choosing 383 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:49,200 the right, the right platforms to work with is really, really 384 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:51,760 important. But I mean, YouTube Shorts, I, 385 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:54,080 I've been staggered by how much engagement we get with them. 386 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,000 And actually something I've, I've noticed a lot as well is, 387 00:17:57,280 --> 00:17:59,360 and I don't know if you found this, but we get a lot of people 388 00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:01,040 on YouTube Shorts actually clicking through. 389 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:03,760 It's a lot easier to share a URL on one of those and it is on 390 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:07,080 TikTok is quite is fairly easy, but Instagram makes it so 391 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:09,920 difficult to leave Instagram, which we found as a business, 392 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:12,280 you're trying to drive people to your shop, your store or our 393 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:14,320 podcast. Do you find that you get more 394 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:16,320 traffic coming from YouTube shorts into your store than 395 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:17,720 TikTok? Do you find TikTok is quite good 396 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:19,520 for that? Do you find, do you get much 397 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:21,920 traffic from Instagram at all? Do you find Instagram as we 398 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:24,280 found especially like it locks a lot of people within the 399 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:27,120 Instagram app? Yeah, Instagram is very 400 00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:29,480 constricting with that. Like on TikTok it's still so 401 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:31,520 much easier to share. And YouTube Shorts as well. 402 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:35,280 I find a lot of traffic coming from TikTok, but my second would 403 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:39,360 be Instagram Reels. Weird. 404 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:42,720 But the YouTube Shorts is kind of newer for me so I'm just 405 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,360 slowly seeing the traffic coming from there now. 406 00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:48,480 Absolutely. No, that makes sense. 407 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,160 And the YouTube Shorts as well. I think we actually posted a 408 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:53,640 couple of things on it as a test and we were quite inspired by it 409 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:55,240 as opposed to it being like a core focus. 410 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:57,320 But it's what you've got to do with data, isn't it? 411 00:18:57,320 --> 00:18:59,800 You've got to say which channel is working best for me and let's 412 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:01,720 expand, expand off the back of that. 413 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:06,080 How important would you say consistency is in posting? 414 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:08,240 You obviously said you post several times a day on TikTok 415 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:10,800 initially. Do you think it's detrimental 416 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:14,000 for brands when they post for a while, then they stop for a week 417 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,880 or the social person goes on holiday and nothing happens and 418 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,200 then suddenly it they start posting it And do you find 419 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:20,760 there's a drop? Do you find the algorithms don't 420 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:22,080 like that? Do you find customers don't like 421 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:23,960 that? I guess the question really is 422 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:25,840 how important would you say consistency is? 423 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:30,200 Consistency is very important when you're trying to grow. 424 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:33,320 As I said, when I first started, I posted like at least three 425 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:36,280 times a day and I found out when I disappeared for a while and 426 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:38,840 came back, there was this like would be a drop. 427 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:42,080 Because I feel like people are used to seeing you on their feet 428 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:43,920 or something like that. And then, you know, you 429 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:45,800 disappear and then they kind of forget about you. 430 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:50,840 But when I post like that many videos a day, I'll be kind of 431 00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:53,880 trying to make sure to aim to make sure each video hits a 432 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:57,960 different element to give it that potential to go viral. 433 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:00,680 So each video would be different and they're not repetitive so 434 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,280 that you're, you know, your audience isn't kind of like 435 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:07,640 feeling a little drain watching your videos because it does get 436 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,200 a little annoying, right? If you're posting too much. 437 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:11,760 And then they're like, OK, this is too much. 438 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:13,720 This is too. This is too overwhelming. 439 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:18,240 And do you find on TikTok when you post more of your audience 440 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,440 see it than if you were to post on Facebook or Instagram? 441 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:24,600 Given that we, it's quite widely known now that Instagram and 442 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,040 Facebook do not put all the content in front of the whole 443 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:28,560 audience. Do you find actually with TikTok 444 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:32,360 is more important to get a follow to keep that consistency 445 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:34,320 than it is on Instagram for example? 446 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:38,560 With TikTok I feel like they don't really have to follow you, 447 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:41,920 it's just because TikTok tends to just push your video out to 448 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:44,720 people who are like most likely interested in your video 449 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:46,640 anyways. Like if they've watched similar 450 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,160 ones they'll probably get your videos on their feed. 451 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:53,480 Yeah, absolutely. And when you when you've got the 452 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,640 18 million views as well. And so I know I'm asking lots of 453 00:20:56,640 --> 00:20:59,240 questions about profile, but I think, and personally, I think 454 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:01,320 this is where brands actually go wrong, hence all the questions 455 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:03,080 about this. I think they they just, every 456 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:05,800 video is like an independent thing and there's just no 457 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:08,920 consistency, no continuity. They're constantly trying to 458 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:11,320 make it work. So did you find as well, when 459 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,600 you had the 18 million views on one video, was that like a 460 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,160 complete abnormality for you? Or actually have you got 461 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:19,240 millions on lots and lots of different posts? 462 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,320 In the past a few of my videos have gone viral. 463 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:27,600 Most of them would not reach that 18,000,000. 464 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:30,240 I feel like that was definitely just because of that one and the 465 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,560 way it was structured and because it was so funny. 466 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:37,840 I've my other ones would be like maybe like 1,000,000 ish but it 467 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:41,160 would never go past like you know that that length. 468 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:43,920 Yeah, yeah. And it's still 1,000,000 Views 469 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:45,280 is incredible. I mean, well done. 470 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:46,960 It's a huge achievement, I think. 471 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,360 And did you find when you, when you had a post, you're very 472 00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:52,040 welcome. And when you have a post like 473 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:54,920 that, did you find actually that there was like a big spike in 474 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,880 web traffic as well that you, a lot of those people did come 475 00:21:57,880 --> 00:21:59,360 through to the website at the same time? 476 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:01,960 Or the reason I'm asking is we've seen clients before go 477 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:04,800 like guys, we've had a million views on a video and I'm like, 478 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:06,800 where's the traffic guys? Where's the revenue? 479 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:09,360 The video was funny, but it was nothing to do with the product 480 00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:12,800 or it was too, you didn't feature the product enough in 481 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,440 the funny video. So do you find you get a spike 482 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:17,320 in visits on Shopify at the same time? 483 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:21,040 Yeah, it definitely depends on the video that goes viral and 484 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:23,080 what is shown in the video for sure. 485 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:25,520 Like I've had videos where I show the product and then, you 486 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:29,600 know, I get like a big, big splurge in like the traffic, but 487 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:31,440 then there's somewhere they're just more funny. 488 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:34,640 And then they, you know, I don't really see the people coming 489 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:37,040 onto my website. But for the one that is 490 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:39,800 18,000,000, that one, I actually kind of showed the really crazy 491 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,880 lashes and I actually put that product on my website too. 492 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,240 So there's people who actually bought that crazy lash. 493 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:47,680 I was, I was surprised. I'm like OK. 494 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:52,120 It was a 70mm eyelash and you put it on the side as a product 495 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:53,360 and people actually went and purchased it. 496 00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:56,480 That's. Yes, 70mm, yeah, I'm surprised 497 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,960 they bought it. Did you find anyone like re 498 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:02,760 posted a video and tagged you guys and said like hey I'm 499 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:05,680 trying out these new lashes and like was it that effective or do 500 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:07,720 you think it was just people maybe going to a fancy dress 501 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,000 party or just them doing something funny with it? 502 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:13,520 I honestly think it's other texts maybe wanting to prank 503 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:15,440 their clients with the crazy lashes. 504 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:20,240 I haven't had anyone share yet, though I hope so one time. 505 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,200 Yeah, yeah, maybe that's the next marketing campaign then you 506 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:27,240 could try that. But I think certainly it's yeah. 507 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:29,280 And I think it's really smart to put the product on the website 508 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:31,200 because it also means that if somebody goes to Google and 509 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:34,000 goes, oh, I saw this hilarious thing like let's go and try and 510 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:37,200 find it if your product comes up as well, given that there's not 511 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:39,320 loads of people selling a 70 millimetre eyelash. 512 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:42,800 So I think like being able to learn rank for that product 513 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:44,800 again is a good way of of hoovering up some of that 514 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,240 activity. I've seen it with PR as well 515 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:48,800 where some of our clients have been mentioned, like in the 516 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:50,680 national press and stuff, where they've been interviewed on the 517 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:53,320 news, on national TV. And I'm like, again, where's the 518 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:55,520 web traffic? Like, you know, you answered the 519 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:59,680 questions about the problem or the political situation or this 520 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:01,160 person that's potentially going to prison. 521 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:03,480 What, what it, what, what they did, what it means, etcetera. 522 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:05,240 You didn't talk about your business at all. 523 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:07,840 You didn't say like, oh, it's something we've noticed is, you 524 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:09,920 know, this particular thing that's happening politically, 525 00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:11,680 actually it happens to a lot of people. 526 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:13,840 It wasn't just this politician. And we see that amongst our 527 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:15,960 customers. At least talk about it in the 528 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:18,640 light that is the business to say where you're from rather 529 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:21,120 than just here's an expert and they're going to share some 530 00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:22,360 stuff stuff. And that's the end of it. 531 00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:24,680 And you've had this amazing piece of PR that's I think it's 532 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:26,920 the same with social with digital PR, isn't it? 533 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:29,320 And I think it's you've had that same impact. 534 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:32,760 Most of your videos. Do you try to like always 535 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:34,960 feature a product? Do you try to shy away from it a 536 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:36,800 little bit? Do you try to kind of alternate 537 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:39,040 a little bit between this is a specific product video? 538 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:42,000 This is not like what do you think works best for brands just 539 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:44,200 thinking about like actually selling products as well as a 540 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:48,360 result of the content? Yeah, I always try different 541 00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:50,640 videos for each one just to see what works. 542 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:53,760 And I would like to alternate as well, just to make sure that I'm 543 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:57,520 not flooding everyone's feed with the same repetitive videos. 544 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:01,240 So yeah, one video I'll do like a product, like how to use it, 545 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:04,160 but in the next video I'll alternate with still showing the 546 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:07,200 product, but like maybe providing tips on how to use it 547 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,400 or just how to like just overall make it better when you're using 548 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:16,560 it, Yeah. Yeah, and I think it's hard, 549 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:18,160 isn't it? So certainly for brands, it's 550 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,360 like if you don't try, you don't get, but then if you try it, it 551 00:25:21,360 --> 00:25:23,880 goes wrong. It certainly on social it can 552 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,720 hurt you. We certainly Kim was saying last 553 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:28,840 week where she ended up in A and if anyone missed last week's 554 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:32,080 episode as well, very similar story to Megan, but a completely 555 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:33,840 different business, different content, etcetera. 556 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:35,080 So definitely check out last week's episode. 557 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:37,800 But she ended up saying something, I think in a news 558 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,840 interview or something, and it completely backfired and she got 559 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:44,160 some real hatred online about it, but then turned it back to 560 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,080 explain herself off and say, actually, I didn't mean to say 561 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:48,040 like that. I meant to say like this and 562 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:51,600 actually kind of vacuumed all of that up and turned it to her 563 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:52,680 good. And some of the people that were 564 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:55,280 actually sending her almost like hate messages or hate comments 565 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:58,280 ended up buying a product and now become a, you know, a really 566 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:00,680 good customer of hers. And so I say, I do think there's 567 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,120 that sentimental and I won't I won't ask you today, Megan, if 568 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:04,880 you don't want to share, like if you know, if anything's gone 569 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,160 like completely wrong before. But you must have that thought 570 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:10,160 process when you're going out thinking like, you know, I've 571 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:12,720 got to be real here. I've got to be authentic and 572 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:15,400 I've got to actually add value, you know, either make you say 573 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:17,480 making people laugh or teach them something they don't know. 574 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:20,400 And I think brands fail to see that sometimes, don't they? 575 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:22,800 They go, let's just put an advert out and we'll call it a 576 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:24,960 social media post. And it's like, here is a 577 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,240 wardrobe and you can open it. You can put things in it. 578 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:29,520 You can hang clothes in it. It's like, OK, that's kind of 579 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:31,160 boring. What I really want to see is 580 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:34,120 like, this was voted the number one wardrobe of the year. 581 00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:36,480 And here's why. Like much more engaging content, 582 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:38,480 isn't it? Yeah, for sure. 583 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,280 So I guess I mean, coming on to the last couple of questions, I 584 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:46,400 think, but how can brands identify and use social media to 585 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,800 their advantage without coming across, as I say, being 586 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:51,120 inauthentic? Like what are some of the things 587 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:54,080 that has worked for you guys in just getting that authenticity, 588 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:56,600 that honesty across to to customers specifically on 589 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:59,520 TikTok? Yeah, you can use social media 590 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:02,960 to your advantage without coming off as like inauthentic or force 591 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:06,120 by making sure you're incorporating personal branding. 592 00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:09,840 And that's what I've learned kind of more the past year or 593 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:11,200 two. And I find that that really 594 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:14,640 works because again, people don't really like a robotic 595 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:16,000 brand. They don't buy from that. 596 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:19,560 They trust more, you know, of seeing a face and so they buy 597 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:22,560 from people. So just incorporating personal 598 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:26,320 branding can be can be like making sure you're showing 599 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,320 transparency in your videos with your business, such as like the 600 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:33,560 behind the scenes, you know, sharing your story, just 601 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:37,640 integrating your personality, like the founders personality 602 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:40,520 into your business and just being personable, showing your 603 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:44,360 likeness and just being funny. And then all while relating to, 604 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:48,040 you know, social media and the trends that are surfacing. 605 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:52,480 Yeah, absolutely. And I guess is there any advice 606 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,360 you'd give to like a, a bigger brand that perhaps doesn't have 607 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:59,120 a founder like yourself that's so, so involved and so engaged 608 00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:00,600 in the content? You know, what would your advice 609 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:02,680 be to a bigger business? Would it, you know, would it be 610 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:04,640 to get somebody internally to be the face of it? 611 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:07,480 Would it be to bring brand personality in rather than human 612 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:09,520 personality? What, what would you advise in 613 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:11,440 in that kind of situation? Do you think, again, 614 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:13,520 specifically for TikTok, what do you think might might work? 615 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:17,720 I feel like the people who work for the brand or the business or 616 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:22,320 the company would really benefit the brand, like if they were to 617 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,160 make videos and just show everybody's like, you know, 618 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,760 daily tasks and stuff like that. Like I've seen some big brands 619 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:32,760 on TikTok and they film, you know, their employees, like just 620 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:35,160 like fun videos that include everybody. 621 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:38,160 And then it just kind of shows what goes on behind the business 622 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:41,000 and just including everybody, and people just find it more 623 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:44,200 authentic. Yeah, yeah, You reminded me 624 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:46,400 actually of a video I saw on Instagram a few weeks ago where 625 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:51,120 they'd basically gone from like somebody had clicked by on a 626 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:53,800 computer. The camera then exploded into 627 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:57,720 the laptop, popped back out in the warehouse and factory where 628 00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:01,320 the product was and the product was like made instantly, then 629 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:03,040 packaged up, put in the back of a van. 630 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:05,480 The whole video was about a minute long, but it followed the 631 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:07,800 like delivery truck. It went on a plane, went across 632 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,720 the country, landed, got in another delivery, a big, big 633 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:13,680 truck moved overnight. Sun pops up, gets put in a 634 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:16,080 little delivery van delivered to the house and the guy puts AT 635 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:18,360 shirt on and it was like made for you. 636 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:22,680 And I was like, that is so it was almost like ATV advert but 637 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,640 on Instagram. And but the interesting thing 638 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:28,240 was it then came up with a question saying like, what was 639 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:31,480 your favorite moment? And people were then commenting, 640 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:34,160 my favorite moment was watching the guy making the product or 641 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:37,200 mine was the when the camera blasted into the laptop. 642 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,600 And I thought it was such an interesting way of trying to get 643 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:41,080 more engagement and more comments. 644 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:43,520 I forget which brand it was, apologies, guys, but I just 645 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:45,680 thought it was fascinating watching this product like move 646 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:48,880 countries and be made instantly when somebody hit go. 647 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:51,560 So I think, as you say, like watching the staff doing what 648 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:53,040 they're doing, I think is so important. 649 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,400 And I certainly get a lot of brands who will moan to me and 650 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:58,040 say, like, oh, my competitors above me on Google or something. 651 00:29:58,040 --> 00:29:59,920 And but we've got this and it's so much. 652 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:01,840 It's better. And I sort of put my hands out 653 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:03,160 and be like, what? I didn't know that. 654 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,160 Like, it's not on the website, it's not in any of your 655 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:07,120 marketing. Like you don't e-mail people, 656 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:09,560 you don't tell them. The delivery driver doesn't tell 657 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:11,560 customers the delivery. Bring it to life. 658 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:14,200 And I think social's got such a powerful part to play in that. 659 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:17,440 Yeah, I love what you think about doing the behind the 660 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:21,200 scenes, how it's made. As I say, it's so authentic and 661 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:23,200 I guess last question really, and it's more of a Shopify 662 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,000 question than a, than a TikTok question. 663 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:28,040 What what's next for you guys? Like what do you want to see 664 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:30,920 happen in the next kind of one? I say you guys, obviously it's 665 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:32,760 yourself at the moment. Is that going to change? 666 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:34,440 Are you going to try and build a team out of this? 667 00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:37,120 Are you going to try and focus on just the TikTok side of it 668 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:39,800 and hire an e-commerce team or you go to e-commerce, but 669 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:42,080 someone else takes the face like what do you think? 670 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:43,520 How do you grow from where you are today? 671 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:47,920 What's what's on the horizon? I honestly think that it's time 672 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:52,280 for me to kind of venture out into paid advertising because 673 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:56,200 it's been like years now and I've only done organic, just 674 00:30:56,400 --> 00:31:00,000 organic marketing myself. So I think that just hopping 675 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,800 into advertising will really take my brand to the next level 676 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:08,480 because there's only so much you can do with the organic, right? 677 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:11,800 Yeah, I was, I was, yeah. I was going to say absolutely 678 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:14,480 that Like, why would you, I guess a lot of people listening 679 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:16,240 would ask, want me to ask the question, like what? 680 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:19,120 When you've had a, you know, 18 and a half million views on a 681 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:21,640 single video, why on earth do you feel the need for paid 682 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:23,160 advertising? Is it, is it because it's more 683 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:25,120 direct? It's more like here's a product, 684 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:27,280 go and buy it, You know, is that something you really want to 685 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:28,920 drive in in the growth at the moment? 686 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:32,440 Yeah, although those views are really, really great and it did 687 00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:35,680 bring some traffic. I feel like just because it's 688 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:39,280 you can't all, it's really hard to get a videos to go viral. 689 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:44,120 Like I it's not easy at all. Like I try very hard and you 690 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:46,480 know, I'll get some videos to go viral, but you know, there's 691 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:47,920 going to be a lot of hit and misses. 692 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:51,200 So sometimes it won't bring traffic and it just won't bring 693 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:55,840 the sales just to be more exact. Like I feel like the paid 694 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:58,440 advertising will just kind of reach out to the people who are 695 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:01,480 are ready to buy. It's like something I would like 696 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:04,160 to try. Yeah, it's really interesting. 697 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,720 I've never actually, maybe not never, but I've rarely heard 698 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:11,200 someone saying that I want to try the paid side now because 699 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:13,960 I'm I've done organic and it's grown and it's fun, but it's a 700 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:16,520 lot of work I want to do paid. Normally it's brands going 701 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:17,800 right. We're paying for all our traffic 702 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:20,720 at the moment to the website and to the business and and social. 703 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:23,240 How do we now start to get some organic traffic? 704 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:26,320 So I I always think that the grass does always look greener 705 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:27,440 on both sides. So I'm great. 706 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:30,360 I'm really, really happy now that you've almost like given me 707 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:33,200 this quote now to give to my clients to say like guys, I know 708 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:35,720 you, we want more organic stuff and we do that on SCO and 709 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:37,480 everything. But actually it's a lot more 710 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,840 work than just kind of like we just produce more content and 711 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:43,240 money comes rolling in. It's like you got to connect all 712 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:45,240 those things, understand customer, it's going to be on 713 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:46,360 brand, it's going to be well shot. 714 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:48,560 And as you said, I've been posting three times a day. 715 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:50,320 I think most of my clients have a heart attack. 716 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:54,000 If I said right, I need 3 videos a day, guys, that's nearly 1000 717 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,520 a year get cracking. Let me know once the first 718 00:32:56,520 --> 00:32:59,040 thousands ready and we'll set up, you know, 12 months worth of 719 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:02,120 posts ready to ready to go out. And I think as you say, it's a 720 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:04,960 lot of work and I guess you, you're trying to put out enough 721 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:06,640 post to get one that goes viral, aren't you? 722 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:09,480 So you must have also had some. It'd be interesting to to hear 723 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:11,200 your thoughts on this. You must have also had lots of 724 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:13,920 videos that didn't go viral obviously, and didn't work at 725 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:16,800 all, just didn't happen for everyone that did really start 726 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:18,960 to spark. Exactly. 727 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:20,440 Yeah. It takes a lot of work, and not 728 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:23,680 all of them will go viral. So that's why it also takes time 729 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:26,160 away from me, too because eventually, like, I do want to 730 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:28,120 hire, you know, a team. Like, right now it's just me. 731 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:30,200 But, you know, my family helps me out when there's like, a 732 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:32,680 surge in sales and I need help packaging everything. 733 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:36,520 So yeah, I, I do, yeah. Just I feel like, you know, when 734 00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:39,480 you maybe hire people to do the advertising and just, you know, 735 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:41,880 make videos because I make them myself right now, it would give 736 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:44,440 me more time to do other planning stuff for the business, 737 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:48,040 which would be really nice. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, 738 00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:49,400 absolutely. Well, look, Megan, I really 739 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:51,240 appreciate your time. It's been amazing chat. 740 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,360 Love the story and thank you so much for being so, so humble in 741 00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:56,200 sharing it as well and and giving us up your time. 742 00:33:56,480 --> 00:33:59,000 If anyone wants to check out your TikTok, can you give us 743 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:02,280 your handle the web address to get to VO Lash's? 744 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:04,160 Yeah. Tell us how people can get in 745 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:05,680 touch and see what see what you're up to. 746 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:10,320 Yeah, our TikTok is Bowlashes and our Instagram is Shop 747 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:14,440 Bowlashes and the website to buy is Shop bowlashes.com. 748 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:17,920 Amazing. And last question quickly, I 749 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:21,120 have to ask, as you mentioned the product earlier, 70 750 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:23,320 millimetre eyelashes, are they still for sale on the site if 751 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,080 anyone's heard that and gone, I need to prank someone so I need 752 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:27,639 a set of these. Are they still on there now? 753 00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:31,120 They are on there, but there's only a few left because I think 754 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:32,600 it's Halloween. Everybody's trying to get them. 755 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:35,840 Oh, amazing. So yeah, getting quick, guys, 756 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:37,360 Getting quick. Yeah. 757 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:39,520 If it's, it might be a little bit closer to Halloween than the 758 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:41,400 date we're recording this, so there might be a couple of songs 759 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:43,719 from here. But yeah, go, go and check out 760 00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:45,159 if they're still in stock if you want to get them. 761 00:34:45,159 --> 00:34:46,719 But yeah, Megan, as I say, thank you so much for your time. 762 00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:48,360 It's been such a pleasure to have you on the show today. 763 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:51,840 Thank you so much for having me. Amazing. 764 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:53,639 And for everybody listening at home, thanks again for tuning 765 00:34:53,639 --> 00:34:54,560 in. If you haven't already, hit the 766 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:56,760 subscribe button, leave us a review, and make sure you check 767 00:34:56,760 --> 00:34:59,760 out our YouTube channel as well, which as I said earlier in the 768 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:02,400 intro, our YouTube is going to be changing in the next few 769 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:03,720 months. I don't know exactly how yet, 770 00:35:03,720 --> 00:35:05,640 but we are brainstorming how we're going to bring YouTube to 771 00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:07,760 life and change the world as a result of doing it. 772 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:10,080 So stay tuned. We'll be posting again next 773 00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:11,360 Friday. And thanks again for tuning in 774 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:11,680 today.