How To Create A Video Strategy Even If You Don’t Want To Do Video With Elise Darma

TRANSCRIPT AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED Diane: [00:00:00] Hey. Hey, today's guest, Elise Darma is a marketing coach who helps people make money directly from social media, from reels to TikTok to YouTube. If there's video, she's done it. So I wanted to find out the best video strategies that are working right now. Hey, Elise, welcome to the show. Elise: Hey Diane, good to be here. I'm excited to dig into things with Diane: Yes, I'm excited to catch up with you. So let's start with a little intro to you and your business journey. Elise: Ooh, how far back do you want me to go? Diane: Maybe we do like highlights and then more recent. Elise: I like. Okay. I love it. Well, I've been in the Instagram marketing space for 10 years now, which is wild. I started in 2013 when I was working a day job. I got a client on the side of my day job. I figured out how to grow their Instagram account, and of course it was like, Wild, wild west then very different landscape, and we were able to grow to a hundred thousand followers in like six months using a lot of influencer marketing. But that client things just spiraled from there, I was able to get more clients and then I had the chance to quit my day job just to focus on this new agency that I was creating essentially. And then I ran that agency for a couple years where I. Lived out my digital nomad dreams. I did my eat, pray, love. You know, I did Bali, Australia, Hawaii. I generally spent like a three months of the year working abroad and that was Diane: Were those three months winter in Canada. Elise: Exactly like January, February, I wanted to be nowhere near Toronto. So Costa Rica and Nicaragua, it was amazing. And you know, business was basically funding my lifestyle. And in 2016, I thought, Okay, location independence is great. How do I get financial independence? Like, you know, there were, there was, there were people I was starting to learn about, like Amy Porterfield and Mariah cause and Melissa Griffin, and they were talking about courses and I thought, well that looks cool. So in 2017 I launched my first course, which basically bundled [00:02:00] up what I was doing for my clients, but in a way that they could do for themselves. So, And I learned how to do webinars and I launched a personal brand. I sold about 50 seats to that first course to my beta students and then built it. And since then I've just been all in on the digital product course business. I shut down my agency in 2020 and. Yeah, like I said, I've gone all in on digital products, mini trainings for business owners. Worked with over 30,000 business owners, 30,000 students inside of my trainings at this point, and this is my full-time gig, so I call myself an Instagram educator or an Instagram strategist for small business owners today. Diane: So one of the things that's been a huge part of your strategy, especially in the recent years, has been video and. I think it's safe to say that you are a video person and I'm not a video person. Elise's looking stunning, beautifully made up hair, all done. I've got my hair scraped into a messy bun because it's like 80 degrees here in London and our buildings are not designed to cope with this, right? So for me, video feels like way more effort, which is why I have a podcast. Before we dive into how do we create a video strategy when we really don't want to do video. Let's just talk about what's working in video right now. Is it shorts only? Is YouTube still a thing? Is TikTok still better than reels? What's the general kind of, this is good right now. Elise: Well, first I wanna acknowledge your impression of me in video. It's, I laugh because so much energy and effort goes into what you're seeing right now and it's not something I necessarily wanna do myself either, but it is my business, right? Like being an Instagram educator talking about video, I just make it part of my job. But the hilarious thing is like setting up this backdrop behind me just. A couch and a plant. Simple. It has taken multiple weekends. Just to set this up so that I'm like camera ready so that I have my YouTube set, so that I have my reels [00:04:00] backdrop for filming and even today, my hair was curled yesterday, right before we got on, I put on some foundation and lipstick and eyeshadow. And I've just learned how to do these things in like five minutes. Also, I have the AC blasting because I'm eight or nine months pregnant and also super hot in Barcelona. So funny that you say that like I'm a video person because the truth is I'm an introvert and I'd much rather be someone who doesn't have their face full of makeup. Hair is up and that is me actually. 80% of the time, I just get into my Elise Dharma quote unquote character for these sort of things when I'm teaching, when I'm recording, when I'm showing up as the Elise Dharma brand, and that's how I've figured out how to make it work. As an introvert who. Look, I'm 36. I would say it's not so natural for me to like lift up my phone and film my day as it might be for someone who's 20 or 25 because they grew up with that culture. I'm an elder millennial. I grew up with having no internet, and then I got the internet. Then I was kind of scared of the internet, and now I've leveraged the internet. For my business. So anyway, I've just all that to say, I've figured out how to make it work for my personality and like my brand persona. And I keep using quotation marks for that because Elise Dharma is a brand. It's not who I am. My first name is actually a different name and entirely, Elise is my middle name. So that's how I've created this way for me to show up. That separates who I am from my personal life, still allows me to put myself out there and grow my business, but then feel comfortable with what I've put out there. Sleep and I can sleep well at night. You know, I'm not airing my d dirty laundry. I'm doing Instagram tips for business. So hopefully that's insightful for your audience to know that us flashy looking people. We, might look a certain way from the outside, but on the inside. We're probably just like you. We don't wanna be on video either, but we've figured out a way to [00:06:00] do it. So in terms of what's working today, I. Well, we've seen TikTok explode in 2020. Reels came along in 2020. Of course now there's been shorts and all that great stuff. And so I would say that they're all still working and to be fair, I'm hearing a lot more chitchat about YouTube shorts. Just like this is the platform that's blowing up right now. I personally haven't experimented with it more than a handful of videos, but I'm going to, because I'm a, I have a YouTube channel. I'm definitely going to post some of my helpful type videos, the ones with the tips, the hacks, maybe some of more my more inspiring videos. I'm gonna post them to YouTube shorts and see what happens.. Diane: So for those, are you gonna repurpose video that you have for reels or TikTok and upload them? You're not gonna do brand new video for YouTube shorts. Elise: No, I mean, if I, if anything, I might ask my YouTube editor, Hey, can you pull a couple clips that would be good for YouTube shorts? And we'll experiment with those. But for now, the easiest thing is just grab my tos. Grab my reels. There's ways that you can save them, download them so that they don't have the watermark on them, cuz you don't want the TikTok logo and then post it to YouTube. Right. So I'll just start with that. And I'm not gonna repurpose things that were trending like six months ago. I'm gonna focus more on the videos that are on more evergreen topics, things that people are always interested in. So that's a little hint as to what's working right now. TikTok is still amazing for what I would call virality and free reach in front of your target audience if you're making videos. Related to your niche and they're getting traction. I would say that TikTok is not a great business or sales tool. It's really good for visibility and getting those viewers and subscribers, but it doesn't have the sales tools and capabilities like Instagram has. And we know that Instagram's followed in talk's footsteps, right? We've got the reels feed now, and I think the TikTok algorithm is superior. Like [00:08:00] it is so smart in terms of catering. What content it puts in front of me. The Reels algorithm. It needs some work. Like I get bored with what gets put in front of me with my reels algorithm. It's the same. Same saying over and over again. It's like, okay, I've heard this song five times in a row, so the algorithm is not as great, but. It's still the best place to connect with your customers, your future customers, and close sales. So I leverage, you know, both TikTok and Instagram, but where I really put my time and energy and focus, especially when I'm getting people, viewing my videos, commenting on my videos, sharing my videos, DMing me on Instagram. I'm spending most of my time in the backend features of Instagram, like creating stories to generate replies or replying to dms, because those are my leads. Those are my sales right there. Like I said, TikTok doesn't have the same capability to engage with people in the dms. I think sharing links in, in TikTok is like a relatively new feature, but within Instagram dms, you can go ham, you can video call each other, voice notes, everything. You can just. You can have a sales call type of experience through your Instagram dms without jumping on a sales call with a potential client and still make like a still close a high ticket client. I see my students do it all the time, and we do it as well with our course launches. So that's what I'm seeing working right now. Diane: So would you create for Instagram reels and repurpose to TikTok if we, if the sales are happening in Instagram? Ram versus creating in TikTok and repurposing to Instagram because it's a slightly different vibe on the two platforms, right? Elise: It's very different. I think you're lucky if you get a video that performs well across both. In general, I find that TikTok has its own culture. TikTok has, it's the place where trends start. That's where you'll get, yeah, TikTok, it starts and then it kind of trickles down to Instagram. [00:10:00] So if you're lucky to jump on a trend and create that type of video on TikTok and you see it take off, I would then repost it to my Instagram. Cuz that generally means you're gonna be the first or one of the earlier people to capture that trend on Instagram. Cause like I said, it, there's a trickle effect from one to the next. I think that. It's, if you've got more evergreen type of content that's not based off of a trend or an audio and you've really nailed like a talking head video or a style that's working for you on one platform, I would definitely try it on the other. I know some accounts that just create really. Punchy talking head tip videos, like one account that comes to mind. His name is Therapy. Jeff. See even the fact that I can remember his username, that's good branding right there. he started to blow up on TikTok and he just does really simple like tips for counseling, for couples therapy, whatever the case may be. He films in the exact same chair with the exact same light every single time he changes his shirt. He's got a lab mic so that the audio's good, and I could tell his system because he'll film and then he will upload the same clip. To TikTok with TOS built in captions. And then the version that makes it onto Instagram is gonna have Instagram's built in captions. So he's actually not repurposing one to the next, but he's filming probably in his phone's camera app, and then taking that raw footage, uploading to TikTok, adding captions because. The platform generally prefers for you to use its tools, and then there's the whole metadata debate of, well, if you repurpose from one to the other, then it knows because of the metadata anyway. So he's figured out a system that he'll use the tools to post in TikTok, he'll use. He'll upload that raw footage to Instagram separately. He'll use the Instagram built-in caption sticker, and then gets great reach and great views across [00:12:00] both platforms. And that's because he's really nailed his video style. He's really tapping into. The pain points of what his audience wants to know. And that's what I recommend for most business owners. I mean, trends are fun, trends are great. But sometimes when you go viral, most times it's often not in front of your target audience. So you might look a little insta famous or famous on TikTok, but you only really. Care about getting in front of your target audience, right, to make it worth your while. So I always tell my audience like, don't aim for virality, aim for going quote mini viral in your niche. So for you, that might mean a thousand views in front of high ticket coaches. Or for someone else it might mean mini viral is hitting 10 K views in front of. Copywriters or whoever your target audience is. So you kind of have to figure out what works for you and then that allows you to step back from this idea of, oh, I only got a thousand views. That's a flop. I'm a failure. No. Can you imagine a room full of a thousand people? You just like, imagine speaking to a room full of a thousand people. That would be scary. So you just got free reach in front of a thousand people who are more or less. If you did your video right, more or less, they're your target audience, so that's amazing. Free advertising. I'd be patting you on the back for that. Diane: Yeah, I always say that I think having a podcast does wonders for your ego about vanity metrics. Because as much as you wanna think that you're like a John Lee Domas and you're getting like a bajillion downloads, it's really not happening. And you do have to have that reframe of like, okay, if I put this many people in a room with me and I got to speak to them on this topic and they're the right people, what difference does that make in my business? Versus if I was in front of a hundred thousand people who may never, ever buy from me. So for me, And for others like me, I think we're like, at least it's like the team video. I'm the team not doing video yet. Let's be optimistic yet. Elise: I like Diane: So for me, here's what I think about adding video.[00:14:00] First of all, I feel like it has to happen because that's just the way the world is going, right? I think. So I do record video for all of my podcasts, so I have it, at least for this year. I have video for all my podcasts, which could easily go into clips and be repurposed but how does the Diane Mayer in quotation marks brand show up on video? I think for me, what I find the hardest with video is it doesn't occur to me. like you said, it's not something we grew up with, which I'm incredibly grateful for that all of my misspent youth is not on video. So it doesn't occur to me to do it right. So like stories, even like through my day, I'm like, oh, this is interesting. Let me film some B-roll or whatever. That doesn't occur to me. Then there's the element of like, okay, it feels like a lot of work. It feels like lighting. It feels like a backdrop. So YouTube feels like YouTube. YouTube, not YouTube. Short feels just like. That would be a step too far for me. Like I'm never gonna get there. So do I draw a line between that platform? Like as someone who doesn't want to do video but has tons of content? What is my like intro strategy Elise: well, first of all, my question is, you're recording this with video. What happens to this video recording currently? Does it go anywhere or do you just have it Diane: lives in a very well labeled Google Drive. Elise: Okay, so you've been preparing yourself for video content, but you haven't taken the next step to I. Systematize what's gonna happen with this video content? Correct. Okay. Diane: And for my solo episodes, I have no video cuz that I just turn the mic on and talk. Elise: Okay, well, you have a couple options, and this is kind of similar to my YouTube production strategy, where you spend so much of your time scripting, researching, filming, editing, like 80% of your time goes to making the thing and 20% of your time goes to actually promoting it, publishing, sharing it. So I think that's, especially with YouTube, it's a time intensive platform, but as much as you can flip [00:16:00] that. And spend less of your time doing the creation aspect and more of your time promoting, or maybe not time, but let's say. Strategy because I'm not gonna ask you to take more time. Then you're gonna get, you're gonna get so much more reach and legs from that effort, that content that you've put the effort into already. So for our YouTube production, every video we create and publish, it's not enough just to publish it. We then have. Other tasks that make sure that it's going out into the email list. The key takeaways are getting turned into a carousel post for Instagram. Maybe there's a real pulled from it that drives people to YouTube. So, this is what you can all, you can set up. So for you. I would look at the path of least resistance, what are you willing to do in order to turn this video content into something that will help you get more eyeballs and listens to your podcast? So first of all, on YouTube are actually really huge. Not when you mix in podcast episodes with your regular channel, but if you're, if your channels only like video version of your podcast, that's a massive niche right now. One PO that comes to mind that does this really well, it's called My First Million and their podcast. Published as per usual, but their YouTube channel has like 200, 300,000 subscribers because they're, they've got the system down to get that video content out there on their channel as well, so, So you could do that very easily. Now these are all relatively bigger strategies and projects that I'm talking about. So I would say the easiest thing you could try for now, cuz this is a muscle that we're starting to flex and starting to build up. The easiest thing you can try is this tool that I just heard about, haven't used it. But it's blending. Our favorite thing that everyone's talking about right now, AI with video creation. It's called Munch or get munch.com. And this isn't a testimonial for it at all cause I haven't used it. But what it does is you [00:18:00] upload your long form clips. And it pulls the impactful parts out for you and turns them into a repurposed video that you can edit or publish for TikTok and reels. So it's not done by humans, it is done by ai. So I don't know how the results are gonna be, but this would be the easiest thing for you to just like, Start with that process, and then if you're liking it and you're like, eh, the AI tool is hit and miss, you can easily then go onto Fiverr or Upwork. Find a video editor who is specializes in short form video content. Send them your long form content. Say, Hey, pull the best p the best parts from here. Edit it to be something that's watchable and shareable something between 15 and 30 seconds. And then compare. Hire someone, look at the work that they produce, compare it to the AI work, and then decide, well, okay, no, the AI stuff performs just as well. Or, no, it's better to have a human choosing these clips and making these clips because they perform better. And then you could decide, is it worth adding that cost to your business because you're getting that organic reach that's ultimately creating more waves for your podcast and more downloads. So I kind of started like I. Most complicated, brought it down to the most simple. So I would start with that. Diane: Amazing. Yes. I like the idea of, okay, how can AI help me in this situation? What if somebody is like a blogger, like, this is not me. I struggle to push pub publish on any form of blog. Again, why I have a podcast, but what if they've got a ton of content, but it's all in written form? Elise: And how do they make the, jump Diane: what is, what's the, what's their kind of path of least resistance because they don't necessarily have that content that they can just chop up and repurpose. Elise: Right. Well, at the end of the day, I think that when you're creating content, you want to feel something for that content. And this is a little woowoo, but the energy you put into creating your content, I truly believe your audience can get a vibe. They get a sense of it when you publish it. So [00:20:00] if you're someone who really wants to be writing and you're forcing yourself to like create content, And I think, I don't know. I don't know if you're gonna enjoy it, and I don't know if you're gonna see the results that you, that would make it worth it for you to continue. Definitely experiment. See if you like it, but don't force yourself to do something you don't wanna do, just because video is the thing right now. And it probably will be for a long time. So if you can learn it, it's great. But if you're a writer, you can still see success through written content like Instagrams, carousel posts that are all text based. Those still do really well because people love swiping through reading something interesting and in depth sharing it. So there's some accounts that are purely just text based. You can stick with that if that is. What works for you if you wanna dabble over into video marketing, then like you said, there's ways that you can film B-roll, whether it involves you or not, or you can actually grab stock footage if you want. There's tons of stock footage service providers now. Grab some and then overlay your text on top of what you've written, right? So it's not gonna be a blog post, but it's going to be a couple sentences, maybe a couple paragraphs, overlay that, and then let that video play for 15 seconds with some trending music. And that's also gonna get you some reach. And again, you don't have to be involved if you don't wanna be on camera. And Diane, you mentioned a few times that like it just doesn't. Occur to you to film your day or collect Diane: I just don't think my life's that interesting. And I think not having grown up with documenting like, here's my cup of coffee in the morning. Is what I like had for lunch. Elise: I would say right now what you had for lunch is not that interesting to me, but people are not looking for that content. They are looking for what do you do in your day-to-day as it relates to your business and how it can help them. So like with your business, Diane, what's your main offer? Are you coaching? Are you doing services? Like there are so many little [00:22:00] nuggets and takeaways that you can, that you probably have throughout your day with clients, with whatever, and it's a matter of remembering to pick up your phone. And record that moment. Hey, I just jumped off a call with my coaching client who's experiencing X, Y, Z in their business? And here's the one aha moment that changed the entire dynamic of the call. See how that's like a r a hook? It's like, oh yeah, I'm struggling with low revenue just like her. What's the one thing? Right? That's all. That's all it is. It's that simple and that hard. I agree. It's not necessarily easy, but it's capturing those moments. So I'm a visual person. Set up visual cues to remind yourself. So for example, sticky note, I have a pile of sticky notes right here. Add your little reminders, add them to your screen. Just write down, you know, film B roll today, or. What's an aha moment, like write down your sticky note reminder and stick it on your computer so you don't see it or so you don't miss it. Another visual reminder on my desk is this, and this is a way too expensive 16 euro desk organizer that I liked the color of. It's my tickle trunk for my desk. So there are some blue light glasses. There's some sharpie pens. There's some lav mics that I connect to my phone. So I have good audio. There's my burner phone that I use for filming. There is my screen cleaner. And then next to it I have my tripod that is about a foot and a half tall with a smartphone holder. This is my desk, right? And so when I have these visual cues where my tripod is within reach, my blue light glasses are right here so that I can change up my character. Like maybe I want to pretend to be my. Client in a video, I just put these on. You know, they're all really accessible and so that way filming doesn't become this arduous, like, ugh, I gotta do this thing. Like, ugh. No, [00:24:00] it's just, you do it in the moment though. And honestly, the in the moment filming videos. They tend to perform the best for me, not my done up. Like I'm all glitz, I'm all glammed, I'm scripted. It's in the moment. It's because people are feeling the energy of like, oh, I just realized something. I have to share it. People resonate with that Diane: okay. You make it sound so easy. Elise: I struggle just the same, you know, because like social media is one aspect of my business, right? There's teams, there's bookkeeping, there's hiring, there's funnels, there's just staying on top of industry trends and news like this isn't my entire day, so I have the same. Struggle. But when I do hone in on like, okay, the next hour or two I'm making, I'm scripting reels or I'm filming reels, you just really wanna get hyper-focused and make sure that it connects to the big picture strategy like we've been talking about. Diane: Okay. What do you think is next in video? So we had TikTok and then we had reels. And then YouTube shorts. But now TikTok and Reels are allowing you to record for longer. Are we heading back to YouTube? Do we think there's another variation on this that's to come? Elise: I mean, I think we've gone so far. Down the path of short form video. You know, now with Gen Z, using the app called Be Real, which is like, you know, don't look posed just, oh, you got the alert to your phone. Make sure you take a snap of what you're doing this moment and share it with your friends. Like, there's no filtering whatsoever. So I think we've gone as far to that side as we can. And then in, I just think that, Yeah, there is a swing, or at least a renewed interest back to long form video. Even with YouTube, I've got a YouTube channel that we are resurrecting after a year hiatus. But you know, our YouTube videos were always like 10 to 12 minutes, and now people are saying, no, actually people wanna hang out on YouTube. Listen to long form podcasts, no problem. And they want to be with you for 10 to [00:26:00] 20 minutes. There's data that, that's a better timeframe to have for a video. So I'm not sure I really have a crystal ball on what's gonna happen with video other than every platform's moving towards it. Every platform's also building in AI more and more. So I think that's not something that's a flash in the pan. We're gonna see this way more integrated with our tools already seeing it like in tools like Canva and later.com, which is an Instagram scheduling tool. Like they're all building an AI prompt and generators. But yeah, I think that. Short form videos have had such a profile, high profile for the last three years. They're not going anywhere. But there is a bit of a swing back to interest in long form video. I would say people wanting to go deeper than just getting those like ten second hits. Diane: Yeah, I think like in Covid times we wanted the, like the short little hit that was like all our brains could take. And now I'm like, why am I watching part six of this same like TikTok series? Like why is this not just one video so I don't have to keep going and finding like the next version, right? So I'm getting like frustrated at that. I have Elise: our habits are changing for sure. Like TikTok trained us to sit on the toilet and watch one video after another, you know, or sit on the couch or you're commuting and just watch one video after another. But I have different desires for long form format, depending on what I'm doing, when I'm doing my hair and makeup, and it's so boring to just, Ugh, I just hate it. I'm listening to a podcast. If I'm washing dishes, I'm listening to a podcast. Those are habits I've created where it's like, ugh. This is a boring activity and I wanna listen to something more in depth. If I'm looking for relaxation and entertainment, I might scroll my YouTube home feed at night and kind of treat it like a Netflix. So yeah we definitely are developing different habits for different platforms or types of content, depending on our lifestyle Diane: I've just remembered that when I was preparing for this today, [00:28:00] I was flicking through TikTok just being like, what kind of videos do I like watching? And there's this series that this girl's doing, which is hysterical, she basically creates like a slight gap in the wardrobe, and she's seeing if her boyfriend will always pick. A shirt from the Gap rather than looking through his wardrobe. And she's on like day seven, and I'm so invested in this series of this stranger choosing whether or not to like scroll through his clothes kind of thing. And she's gone mini viral on it. Elise: Yeah, I can see Diane: I think it's one of those moments where I think my brain gets so caught up in this has to be super strategic and super perfect and every video has to be really thought out and it, you know, has to flow through. And I think maybe that's why it's, it feels so intense Elise: I'm the same way. It's that eat that frog saying like, sometimes we build it up to be such a bigger thing in our head than it is, and then, and I have the same angst. And then when I film and I've, you know, figure out ways to do it quickly, add captions quickly, and I post and I see the results of it. I was like, oh, that was kind of fun. Like it wasn't that bad. And for you, Diane, like, especially if this is how you are on your client calls, then that's how you should be on camera. And just like that girl found a random topic that people are invested in. I think if you have good content, people will not care what you look like. People will just wanna know that they're getting a little nugget in that video you shared and now you're on their radar way more than you were before. Diane: And I think that's such a key thing that you just hit on there. So for me, the reason I don't blog and I podcast is that when I write, I become very, Corporate Diane, it becomes henceforth. Therefore, you know, thus like everything just kicks into a really formal thing and people would like have maybe read something I'd written and then they'd meet me and I'd be in like jeans, converse, if it's cool enough a hoodie. That's kind of my uniform and I wouldn't marry up. And so I did the podcast because I wanted people to[00:30:00] see what they would get if they were ever chose to work with me. So, I'm very like, what you see is what you get. Like, I'm not coming fancy for anything. I always joke that like I, if I have to go out somewhere, like to a restaurant or a bar or anything like that, like I have to be able to wear my converse. I'm never putting heels on ever again in my life and I'm the same in my business. And so that really resonated for me. That actually for me, the idea of being super dulled up and fancy. So, On my reels is gonna cause that shock when then somebody comes to actually have a real, in real zoom conversation with me. Elise: And it's not your brand. Your brand is literally called Coffee and Converse. That is a casual coffee hangout one friend to the next. You should own that, like be casual. This is you. As you are. This is how I'll be working with you as a coach. That's more important than you spending time making sure your hair and makeup is right. Because like you said, it's not the experience people will actually have with you. And I think it's just gonna solidify and make your brand so much stronger and you're gonna be so much more memorable in the feed. So I say go all in on the coffee and converse. Visuals and casual Diane: And casual vibe. A hundred percent. Okay. Thank you everyone today for listening to my private coaching conversation with Elise. So if you could only tell any business owner one thing about video for business, what would the one thing be? Elise: The easiest thing would be just do it cuz that's what we've been talking about this whole time. We all have these mind gremlins that hold us back and it's going to be awkward, it's gonna be annoying. You're gonna hate the way you sound and look, but post it anyway. And that video is gonna create data that will tell you, oh, People really liked this. I'm seeing a lot of saves or, oh not so many comments or reactions to it. Okay. I won't do something like that again. So try to neutralize the experience that it's not a reflection of who you are as a [00:32:00] person. It's just a 15 second video clip that's going out there into the internet as an experiment, and you're getting data back from it, and you can test to see what works and you're gonna do more of that and what didn't work. So, And you're not gonna do that again. So that's how I try to approach it. Easier said than done, right? But that's how I try to approach it with that experiment or hat so that I don't get caught up in like feeling like, oh, the people don't like me, or, oh, I'm not a worthy Instagram educator. Anytime it goes that level, like where it affects my self worth or who I am, no, create that boundary. Create that barrier. You know, I have videos that flop all the time. I leave them up there because it's just data. It just shows that didn't work for my audience. But some, maybe with this tweak, it could work. So that I'd say is my best takeaway for your audience. Diane: Awesome. Well, this has been super duper helpful for me. Is there a resource or something I. That cuz I feel like we've covered a lot and I know that there'll be some people who are listening who are like, I love video, I just wanna create it all the time. So you'll have some releases and some Dianes. Is there a resource that both can use? Elise: Of course you can head to on video.co. On video is exactly spelled the way it sounds, and that is going to give you access to a freebie that will help you get started with some ideas that are really good for business. And if you'd like, you can join my on video membership, and that's where you get a weekly drop of five video ideas every single Wednesday that are perfect for business. We help you, we show you how they're adapted to business. We give you ideas and then caption templates on how you can make them work for your business. Plus there's a group so that you can get support. So that's a really good starting place for someone who wants to be on video, but they're not sure how to make it work for their business. That's exactly why we designed that membership. So you can check that out if you'd like. Diane: Perfect. Okay, so [00:34:00] to finish up, I always ask my guests the same two questions. First up, what is your number one lifestyle boundary for your business? Elise: Lifestyle boundary. I would say that. When I'm going through something difficult, whether it's business related or personal related, my personal boundary is I don't share about it online while I'm going through it. Some people are very good at doing this, and we follow them as if they're a vlogger or they're an influencer because they'll leverage those opportunities in their life. For content, and that's just not me. I need some, I need to go through it. And once I've processed it, in retrospect, I can share about it, but I never trust myself to share about it in the moment. Just, I don't wanna regret putting something out there, whether I feel a hundred percent about it or not, or whether it's like it's the right thing to do, or this is the only fair thing to do. I don't wanna regret it. Because I'm always thinking long term. Well, what's the impact on my business? What's the impact on how people perceive me? Potentially good or bad, right? So I'm always thinking like three steps ahead, and I just don't trust myself to post when I'm highly emotional about a topic. Only in retrospect, only after I've learned from it will I share about it. Diane: Yeah, I can't remember who the quote is from. It might be Glen and Doyle, or could be Brene Brown, which where they talk about writing from the scar and not the wound. So having the lesson and then sharing the lesson rather than taking everybody through that journey of your pain. I often watch people have like a moment on, on Instagram or Facebook and think you're not gonna be glad you shared that. Elise: Yeah and I know you can delete things, but I think of the internet as a place where things live forever. So if you are gonna share more personal items or stories or anecdotes, just be comfortable that they're, they'll be there forever. Someone can screenshot, someone can record very easily. So you just have to be prepared for that. Diane: Yeah. Okay. Finally, what is the worst piece of cookie cutter advice [00:36:00] you have been given as an entrepreneur? Elise: I would say, I don't know if anyone gave me this advice, but I don't agree with the advice that you should. I. Turn your passion into a business or find what you're interested in and turn it into a business. I don't necessarily believe that's the best case because honestly, your passion exists for a reason. You wanna keep it something that's fun for you to do. When you turn your interest or your passion into a business, it then becomes your job. You know, whether you like it or not, there's, if you turn it into your business, there's gonna be aspects related to it that you are going to have to work at as a job. So, do you wanna do that to your passion? Do you wanna potentially kill that interest in your passion or do you want to save it as your passion? And instead look at designing a business around something that you're good at, naturally. Something that people ask you about naturally, they see you as an expert in. Might not be your favorite topic to talk about for eight hours a day, but can you do it well and can you make it a profitable service or offer or product? If so, I would be more inclined to turn that into a business versus a random hobby or passion. Diane: I agree with you, like you don't want the thing that you love the most in the world to necessarily become your job, but I do think it does also need to have something that you're at least happy with talking maybe four hours a day, and the other four can be a bit blah, but I think there needs to be a bit of joy every day. Elise: Yeah, it can't be something that drains you. It's gotta be something that you are comfortable becoming a deeper expert in. And I'm speaking from experience like social media, videography, documenting, those were all interests of mine that I have essentially turned into a business. And there's moments where I wanna step away from it all but that would mean stepping away from my business and I still enjoy them. But I've had to reframe how I think about them in order to do them for my business. And then there are other interests of mine that I just think[00:38:00] I as an entrepreneur have this idea on how I can monetize this interest or hobby. But I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna do it. I'm gonna stick with what's working, what's been set up, and save my interest for just that. Just something to do when I'm not working. Diane: Yeah, I think we as entrepreneurs have a tendency to try to monetize everything that we do. Elise: Uhhuh Diane: Oh, Elise: we see the vision. We're like, oh, I can connect these pieces of how this is gonna work. But no. Stay the course. Stay the course on what's working and what you know. Diane: Amazing. Well, this has been so fab. Where is the best place for people to find you? Given that you are all over the socials? Elise: All over, so. So Instagram would probably be the best at Elise Dharma, E L I S E D A, RM A. And that's where you can stay up to date with? Well, I am gonna be on maternity leave. I might be posting, I might not. That's another personal boundary. I'm just leaving that one up in the air to see how I feel. And my team will be helping to run and manage my account. And then if you do want any more like how to based trainings, you can check out my YouTube channel. So same thing, just go to YouTube, type in Elise Dharma, and you're gonna see tons of trainings related to Instagram and TikTok for business. Diane: Yeah, I highly recommend Elisa's YouTube channel. It's probably the number one place that I send people who go, oh, I'm trying to do this. And they go Check out Elisa's YouTube. Cause it's so. Value packed. Oh, well amazing. Thank you so much for today and for coming on squeezing us in before maternity leave for you. Kick back hopefully for a little bit. Elise: Yeah, I have a weird idea of maternity leave, like, ooh, a vacation. But we'll see. Diane: Oh, thanks so much Elise: Diane.