Ep. 35 Building Authority Online Without Posting on Social Media 24/7 with Alete' Dotson

If marketing your business feels like a full-time job on top of the business you’re actually trying to run… this episode is for you.

In this conversation, I’m joined by social media strategist Alete Dotson to unpack what it really looks like to build authority online , without posting 24/7, chasing trends, or burning yourself out in the process.

She breaks down the difference between being “consistent” and being constantly visible. If you’ve ever felt pressure to show up daily just to stay relevant, you’ll want to hear this.

Inside this episode, we discuss:

• What sustainable marketing actually looks like for service providers
• Why consistency is more about structure than frequency
• How to build authority through strategic content, not just volume
• The importance of tracking the right engagement metrics
• Refining your messaging to attract higher-level, aligned clients
• Why authentic connection (online and offline) still wins
• The powerful shift from constantly telling to intentionally documenting

This conversation is a reminder that burnout is not a marketing strategy. You don’t need to post more. You need a clearer strategy, stronger positioning, and systems that support your visibility.

If you’re ready to market in a way that supports your business growth, instead of draining your energy..Press play! 

♥️About the Guest: 

Alete is a social media strategist and manager who helps ambitious women reclaim 20+ hours a week by turning chaotic posting habits into intentional, revenue-driven strategy. What started as a small e-commerce hustle turned into a multi-year career helping coaches, founders, and service providers grow their brands with clarity, confidence, and consistency.

Website: Www.simplyalete.com/management

IG @simplyalete
LI Click here

🎙️ABOUT THE HOST

Hi, I'm Kenniqua Lewter, Client Experience Systems Strategist, HoneyBook Educator, and the host of the Systems Rehab Podcast. I help service providers create client experience systems that save time, strengthen client relationships, and build a business that runs with ease. 

➡️WAYS WE CAN WORK TOGETHER

🌿

Systems & Chill is a Monday hangout for service providers who want to simplify their business and finally get their systems under control. Each week we dive into client management, automation, and smart processes to help you work less, book more clients, and run your business with clarity. Plus I’ll share some behind-the-scenes of what I’m working on, answer your questions, and more.

Join Here

If you’re a service provider and you want some hands-on support to get your business systems set up and running smoothly, I have something that might help. My Client Experience Accelerator is a 90-minute strategy session where we tackle your biggest client experience bottleneck, clarify your next steps for systems, and create a clear action plan so your business can run more efficiently. Go to YourSystemsPro.com

Let's keep the conversation going. Send me a DM on Instagram or Threads @kenniqua.lewter

Transcript

Kenniqua Lewter (00:00)
If you're a service provider who feels exhausted by social media, constantly posting, chasing trends, and still not seeing the results of leads and sells into your business, this episode is for you. Welcome back to the Systems Rehab Podcast. I am your host, Kenniqua Lewter Client Experience System Strategist and HoneyBook Educator. And today I'm sitting down with Alete a social media strategist and manager who helps ambitious women

we reclaim 20 plus hours a week by turning chaotic posting into intentional revenue driven strategy. We're talking about what sustainable content actually looks like in 2026. Why consistency doesn't mean posting every day and how to show up confidently without forcing yourself into trends or content formats that just don't fit who you are in real life.

We also break down why strategy and systems matter more than the algorithm and how to stop just posting and start being more intentional. If you're ready to market your business with clarity, confidence, and structure, this episode is for you. So let's dive in.

Kenniqua Lewter (01:10)
All right, so Alete I have a question for you. So if a coach or a service provider, if they wanted to go through and market their business this year, they wanted to be consistent, they wanted to be confident, but they don't want to go through, they don't want to chase trends and they don't want to just burn themselves out. Where exactly, what's the first thing that you would say that they should do?

Alete' (01:31)
I would say first and foremost is create a schedule that feels good to them. And like it's so much to unpack there because I feel like a lot of people don't understand what that means. But when it comes to the trends, the updates and things like that, there's so many things you need to do, shouldn't do, should jump on, shouldn't jump on, but it's all based on you and your brand.

Kenniqua Lewter (01:50)
so let me ask you this. So creating a schedule for yourself, does that look like because I know like usually when I could get safe for myself with posting on social media is that I have tried in the past to try to go through and to be active everywhere. Like in 2024.

for I was trying to be, let's say, on Instagram, and I'm gonna try to do LinkedIn, and then I'm gonna do threads. How do you, what would you recommend, like, trying to kind of narrow down that focus?

Alete' (02:22)
wouldn't recommend try to be everywhere unless you have a team to support you. If you don't, my biggest thing is always have a rule of one, like that one main platform that's your main lead generation. And that's what I always started for all of my business needs.

Kenniqua Lewter (02:38)
So I know like before, so I've gone through, tried to go through and to be active in so many different platforms. And so when I think about like having a posting schedule for me, a lot of times people say, hey, you you have to try to go through and be consistent. And before, I personally thought being consistent meant that I was posting every single day.

Alete' (03:00)
So first I'm gonna say I hate the word consistent because when people hear consistent it's like I gotta post five times a week, three times a week, I gotta do all these things. And consistency is by far, it's like more than just social media. When you're building a brand on social media, yes that's your main lead generation, that's where all your leads are gonna flow through, but if your website isn't consistent, your email isn't consistent, if when somebody reaches out to you they get on a discovery call or your services aren't consistent, what you said you can deliver for them, then I don't care how many times you post a week,

always in a loose clench and it's gonna be harder to retain because yeah you're consistently on social media but when I land on your website when I land on your LinkedIn versus your Instagram when I get on your YouTube when I'm actually having a conversation with you it's not consistent across the entire brand and then we're gonna dive into like you said when it comes to posting schedule consistency is what it looks like for you we're not gonna lie and say well if you post three times a week you're gonna outshot somebody posting seven eight nine times that may not be the case it's more about what you can do in the same without having to worry about

burning yourself out. What you can do to where you're providing your community with not just value but something that shifts their perspective. And then it's also like, if I can post more, should I? Sometimes evergreen content works. If you post that perfect piece of evergreen content, you can literally post three times a week and still do better than somebody posting seven times. And vice versa. If they're seven times as better than your three days, then it's not, it just depends on the content you're putting out, not necessarily how much you post. Now, should you have a consistent schedule that says, hey, I'm going to post this many

times. Yes, because we already know we have a schedule. It's a routine and to have it, it allows us to show up more consistently for ourselves in that aspect. But it's not more so like, well, how many times should I post? Should the time be the same every single day of the week? That all depends on you. If you post at 7 a.m. and you can't engage, you can't respond to comments to push yourself an algorithm, would be the purpose of posting at 7 a.m.? So that's my take on the consistency and the real like, the vagueness behind that particular word in itself.

Kenniqua Lewter (04:51)
Hmm.

Okay, I

So let me ask you this. if I were to go through like, so for me, me trying to post every single day, just doesn't, it just doesn't work. So I was trying to post everywhere before. It just isn't my thing just because you do have to learn every platform is different. So the same content that I might try to put on to YouTube shorts.

My YouTube shorts does way better than me trying to post something onto Instagram or me trying to post on to LinkedIn. So what I have personally tried to do is try to narrow down my strategy to say, Hey, I'm only going to post on Instagram for like my short form. Well, YouTube, of course, but that's more so for long form. as far as short form, it's going to be Instagram and then it's going to be threads and just kind of leaving everything else behind. But when we're thinking about.

consistency for us. So like if I say, okay, I'm going do three times per week. Is there a certain type of content as a business owner that if I'm only going to post three times per week, is there a certain time of content that I actually should be posting in order to drive leads to drive sales into the business?

Alete' (06:05)
I love this question because people will tell you to post reels, to increase your visibility, et cetera. Post carousels for your engagement or to like add a thought-provoking statement or just to guide your audience along working with you. When truth be told, there are a lot of creators who are doing either one or the other and some who do both like myself who still are winning on social media. I remember following accounts who only post carousels and had no problem making money. I know other accounts who only post reels or video content and still make money.

Kenniqua Lewter (06:07)
you

Mm-hmm.

Alete' (06:34)
in a season especially in 2026 of doing less of what they tell us we should do and more what feels good to our soul because if it doesn't feel good and you gotta force yourself to record a video to get on camera and talk to create a carousel and you hate graphics it overwhelms you you're always gonna find yourself stopping what you're doing you're never gonna finish and get to your end goal because you're like I'm forcing myself to do something that does not feel natural to me

Kenniqua Lewter (06:56)
Yeah, because I seen a post, it's funny because I saw a post the other day on threads where someone was basically debating about they were saying something didn't work. This didn't work. Blogging's dead. This is dead. And it's kind of like and then other people were debating of the fact that nowadays everything works.

Everything works. There's something for every everybody's going to give you an idea or, and I think a lot of times the noise at this point, like social media is so loud at this point to me, it's just, it's just ridiculous. Like I'm one of those people, I just turned 40, so this may be part of what I'm about to say. I don't know, but short form content is just not my thing. Not necessarily my thing as far as me posting it.

Alete' (07:34)
you

Kenniqua Lewter (07:42)
But also my thing as far as it's not my thing as far as consuming it. I hate consuming short form content. It just is such a, I don't know, such a distracting type of thing. You know, it's just, I don't feel like I get a whole bunch of value from it. Like if it's something like, okay, you're showing some food or something like that. Okay. That's one thing.

I just don't personally like going through and consuming the short form,

So is there some type of because I know like when I see like there's accounts, there's I forgot her name, but she has a lot of great tips for posted on social media. I forgot what her name. She has a podcast as well, too. But anyway.

is that there's so many different, like you have to have an authority post. You have to have like a sales post. You have to have like a post that builds up your personal brand,

what is your take on that? And like that posting like strategy as far as again, our ultimate goal, trying to just get leads and clients.

Alete' (08:39)
So I strongly feel like first off like when it comes to building a personal brand I feel like every brand needs a personal brand. It doesn't have to be like sharing all your business all your behind the scenes. It's just more letting people vibe with who you are your beliefs and like even what you do as a systems strategist is letting people know like this is what I do I live read this this is how I help my clients it's building that authority based around what it is you already love doing. So it doesn't have to be it's not it's just I just feel like it's another buzzword people talking about because if you're on social media and you're molding like

a coach service provider or a founder you're already showing your face you're already having them in-depth conversations you're already doing the things to build your personal brand it's just now everybody's making the word like let's build it let's go and it's like okay let's just chill that's one and then when it came to like you asking like the different types of content i feel like you do need all those like as far as authority you know i'm saying the sales post and all those things on your content but i lean heavy into authority because if i'm a coach i'm a service provider telling you hey this is what i do this is how i can help you

You're not gonna believe me if I'm just sharing educational tips. You're not gonna believe me if I'm just sharing sales tips because it's giving ad, it's giving like a whole tourist attraction. But if I get on camera and share my expertise and like give you a reason to say like, ⁓ she do know what she's talking about. You're more inclined to invest in me because you understand that I'm not just sharing educational chat chibi tista, but I'm sharing things that I really know and know true to believe because I worked on it.

Kenniqua Lewter (10:03)
So you would say really just going through and just really leaning in really with authority posts and it doesn't necessarily matter like the methods. So it could be reels, it could be carousels, it could be lives. Like you do lives, do you still do your lives on a, I see them pop up, but are you still like this year? Have you been, or are you giving me the look that you...

Alete' (10:23)
you

this year but I definitely said I'm gonna go live because I actually love going live. To answer your question you can post any type of content you want and just build your authority like make your presence known you can be heard without having to be loud and doing trending things. I also want to add in that when you're creating your content you literally can have one piece of content take somebody from brand awareness to consideration and conversion in one post so it doesn't necessarily have to be 20 different posts doing those things you can actually when you get good at it you can do all those things

and one post and still land new eyes, clients, as well as people who are like, hey I might want to work with you, I got questions for you.

Kenniqua Lewter (10:58)
Okay, yeah, I love that. And would that be more so, would you say that would be more so like in your carousel format or it doesn't matter? It could be any type of format.

Alete' (11:09)
Oh, it don't matter. It does not matter because even if you do a carousel, it's more than like a story. The best ones when you're like creating digestible content, where it's like a storytelling where they're going from point A to point B on like how you help somebody get to the end. That's simple case studies and testimonials and things. You can also get on a video and do the same exact thing and guide them into wanting to work with you. So the format does not matter. It's how you deliver the content using that format that makes all of the difference.

Kenniqua Lewter (11:34)
Love that love that. So what would you say for someone that they okay so they know that because at this point it's like us as business owners, we have kind of just

become, had to become content creators in a sense. Like we don't call ourselves content creators, most of us, but we have to because we know that that's what brings business to us. Whether it's short form content, long form content, writing, whatever, we've had to go through and create content, but yet this isn't like our.

This isn't where we necessarily want to spend most of our time going through and doing that. So when it comes to going through, we know that we have to post. We do know whatever cadence is going to be that we do have to go through and show up. And we kind of have an idea for the most part of.

what type of posts that we should be doing? Like sometimes, well, I'm not everyone, but hopefully after they listen to this, they do know what type of posts that they should be posting to bring in leads. What about, actually, before I even get to that question, what about, because I have suffered from this as well, about...

going through and creating the post, like what you say, the authority post, posting sales content, propose ⁓ authority content, all of that. Right. But then you're not getting the views that you want. How would you say? And I know how I have come over kind of.

Overcome it. But how would you say like somebody is coming to you and they're like, Hey, I feel like I'm doing all the things, but I'm just not getting the views that I need in order to be able to make leads to be able to get sales. What would you say to that?

Alete' (13:10)
So first off, I will let him know.

Feelings aren't fast because most of the time we're not getting the views we want. We immediately be like my offer is not good enough. I got to rethink my whole entire process or maybe I'm just not cut out to do this. And we kind of attach what we're seeing and making it about us and like kind of internalizing those things and we get imposter student and stuff. I first helped them understand that that doesn't define their work ethic and if they can deliver the results. The next thing I would ask and what I've noticed working with clients with one-on-one coaching and clients I manage is a lot of them don't check their analytics. So if your my content isn't performing well, I'm not getting enough views.

You can now go in your data and say for instance with reels, my reels are stopping between let's say 5 seconds and 15 seconds. That means in that particular part you're losing them. So now they're not watching anymore. So most cases if you watch and look at your data, it'll tell you where you need to work on improving your stuff at. And that's why I talk a lot of time. People are like, I want to do a 90 seconds reel when it first became a thing. If you can't get me to stay after 5 seconds, I'm not going to stay for 30 or 90. So instead of trying to jump and create these long extravagant videos and talking,

and stuff. Get people to stay at the beginning and the more they go then you can know where you need to refine your process. Don't throw the whole post away. Don't change your whole process or pivot the whole plan. Start looking at your data and seeing where am I losing it Matt? So I can work on getting better at this area and then continuously work on that for more than just 30 days so you can have some data that say okay now I'm getting better let me move forward.

Kenniqua Lewter (14:33)
Okay. So actually, and I want to go back and actually just kind of break down like a part that you just said, kind of go into that a little bit more. Something that I love that you said is that you say fill-ins aren't facts. and I absolutely love that. It's funny because I was literally just talking to my husband about that earlier, earlier today.

And I said, it's so funny is that very thing is that especially, and I think especially as business owners, and I am pretty sure maybe other people do it as well too. But I think definitely our subset of people that we constantly are judging ourselves. We're constantly overthinking. We're constantly telling ourselves, I don't have a lot of views, so they must not like me. My messaging must be off. Maybe they, you know, they're not listening to me. Like these are all the thoughts that are running in our head. And when you say feelings aren't facts,

That's something that I think that we all have dealt with and probably still deal with. And it's funny, cause I was just telling him, said, what I had to start doing was keeping a record like of truth. Like when someone says something nice to me, like on social media, like, Kaniko, just love that you did it. That lets me know that somebody was listening. I'll screenshot it and I'll put it in a folder. when

I feel like no one's listening to me or they don't like me, I could go back to that folder for proof that that wasn't actually true. This is just garbage that I tell myself. And so I love that you said that, that villains aren't facts. Cause we definitely all do that all the time. And then the next thing you were kind of breaking down the analytics. Now I will say that I do not check my analytics. I do not, I'm sorry. I don't, I don't check my analytics. Like on Instagram, don't.

⁓ on threads I don't either, but I kind of just chit chat on there. I do have like a little bit of a strategy that I'm working on now, but I don't really check that now YouTube I do. And I do look at like the YouTube videos, like, okay, what, where, like you described, like where, where are people falling off? What could I do? Why, why was this part something that made them leave the video? But it feels like on short form.

is like you said, it definitely should be where they are checking or we are, cause I don't say they, we are going through and checking our analytics. But I think that it's kind of like the thing I feel and I'm not going to speak for everyone, but how I feel about it is that sometimes it's like, why bother checking when it's like the posts are going to be dead in 24, 48 hours.

So is it like, should I just kind of, and you're looking like no, but I guess that's just what I think is like, if the post is going to die in 24 to 48 hours, should I really be checking every single post or should I have like a strategy for checking my analytics or should I really be, get that out my mind and actually really be checking my analytics?

Alete' (17:26)
So before I answer the question, let me ask you this. This is when you gotta listen. If you were looking at your bank account and every month you noticed that your money was depleting, would you ever go look at your bank statement and be like, hey, where the heck is my money going? Or would you say, I ain't gonna worry about it, I'm gonna get some more money next week, I'm not even trusting it. So to me, your social media is your currency. And I feel like you should do it, even for my clients, I do this every 30 days, I run their analytics report. We look at what posts worked, why it worked, we decipher why this one didn't.

Kenniqua Lewter (17:42)
Hahahaha

Alete' (17:54)
didn't work. We decipher like what the goal of the post was. it work in that aspect or because you can have a post that's supposed to be a sales post. didn't get you sales, but it got you visibility to get more potential leads on your feed. So it's different ways you can look at your content, but you definitely should look at your content because how else are you going to be able to figure out what I'm supposed to do? And even down to the other question, should you, should each post matter? Every post you post matters. And I don't know about you, but like when I look at client's accounts or my accounts and I go look through the feed, when you look at the notifications,

Kenniqua Lewter (18:04)
Mm-hmm.

Alete' (18:22)
People will comment on a post from weeks ago, from months ago. So a lot of the information we're hearing on social media is outdated. It's like, oh, the post is not going to last after 24 hours, 48 hours, it's dead. The post is still there. People can still see it. At some point or another, they will see it. And if your content is really good, each post you post, somebody will get on your account and bench every single post from that point. The worst thing you can do for yourself is not care about each individual post. And then you post a piece of content and the next one's like, I don't care, I'm going to just throw something at it and say I did it.

Kenniqua Lewter (18:32)
Mm-hmm.

Alete' (18:51)
to check off some of my box and then somebody venges your content and they get to this post that has no value, doesn't mean anything to them, your brand, your values, doesn't align with your service. They're like, well, what is this? Now you done lost the customer because you took it like it wasn't something to worry about. When at all, I feel like each post should stand alone, be strong enough to stand alone, but it should work as part of a bigger ecosystem to help you attract the leads you want for your business.

Kenniqua Lewter (19:14)
I love that. So really. So number one, I need to check my analytics. I need to make sure I'm checking my analytics for it. But I think that even goes back to like what you were saying before is kind of even like with the consistency thing. So like, if you don't have true value to post that we're not just checking a box to post, we were making sure. And I've done exactly what you've said. Like I've stumbled across.

people's pages and I have done that. Like I don't, I'm not, like I said before, I'm not really, really into social media. I do use it for business and I go and I find information mostly for business. But I don't spend a lot of time, my time on social media is probably about 45 minutes a day. It's not long at all. Like I'm not just up here. can't just be up here just scrolling mindlessly up there, but.

I do that. If I find somebody's page, I'll go, I'll go back on a rabbit hole and just start clicking on posts and stuff like that. So I am one of those people that definitely, that definitely do that. okay. So going through and checking our analytics. So after we're checking our analytics, so we're going through, we're making these posts, we're being consistent that works for us and we're checking our analytics. What would be that next bridge of what we should be doing if we're just not seeing

We're not seeing the, and I'm not gonna say views because views ultimately they don't really matter as far as views. Like I can only just say that just from a long form standpoint is what I personally like to do. I know that views don't matter. You can have, I have videos, YouTube videos. I only have 200 views that I still get cells of high ticket cells from those videos. So I know that views don't matter, but what if you are.

posting consistently on social media, whether that's Instagram, TikTok, whatever, and you're not getting any type of leads, any type of sales. What is one thing that, or not even just one thing, what are some things that you personally do to go through and help your clients to kind of bridge that gap?

Alete' (21:18)
That's a good question. I go check. I'm a nosy little social media person. I'm checking your emails. I'm signing up. I'm checking your websites. I'm checking the links. I'm checking your messaging. Does it make sense across all platforms when they come in touch with your brand? And I'm also going to audit the social media because I feel like a lot of times you're not letting the clients. Something in your wording is off. In most cases, you're getting more peers on your content than your ideal clients. And it's like, you're talking to people who don't, who you're talking to your audience as if they're your peers.

They don't want to be you. So all the technical terms, I got to show off and bet my chest that I'm so smart and I have my knowledge and my degrees and I want you to know that about me does not land you clients. The simple keep it simple straight to the point. I'm talking to my girlfriend like look, this is what you need. That type of content pulls people in because if I wanted to be you, I wouldn't have no reason to hire you. So I would definitely look at the messaging first because in most cases the messaging is off. You're attracting people that you're not trying to work with. And I'm a hundred percent firm believer in

Kenniqua Lewter (21:53)
You

I'm sorry.

Alete' (22:16)
need to start creating content that repels people you don't want to work with and starts bringing people in that you want to work with. I'm not trying to like, I'm not gonna lie, I've never went viral. I've had a good couple of views, videos that go good on views. Some of my clients have never went viral. It has never stopped us from landing money. So I'm 100 % with you on the going viral, getting the views really high. But our messaging speaks to people we want to work with and that's what pulls them in and attracts them to want to hire us. And if you're like, okay, I've been posting for 30 days. This one I posted us on LinkedIn, I think like the other day, like maybe Monday. Have you been posting for 30?

Kenniqua Lewter (22:44)
Mm-hmm.

Alete' (22:45)
to 60 days and you have not landed not one lead into your business you need to start checking your strategy checking your messaging and if you like girl I just don't know nothing about marketing it's just not working I've tried even for the whole year if you haven't landed a good 10, 15 that's even a little bit because you should be able to land a lead a week hopefully and if you're not getting those leads and I always recommend people to get a coach go join a community because just benching social media and the thing I've noticed to a lot of ways though they'll bench 21 different social media

coaches pages and they'll look at everybody saying do this, do that, let me follow everybody and then you're wondering why you're not getting any results because what Jessica may do, Chris ain't doing. What Chris ain't doing, Samantha. Like it's just like everybody has their own thing that works for them and one of my rule of thumbs is even because of what I do because before I got into marketing I wasn't doing this. I had to educate myself, self-teach myself, get clients and then start investing in coaching. So I'm saying this from a person who didn't come from a marketing background, instantly able to land clients who are willing to pay me for figures to

Kenniqua Lewter (23:15)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah

Alete' (23:43)
work with me, land clients who are reaching their goals and surpassing their goals from working with me. So I'm saying this from a person who gets what entrepreneurs are going through, who are trying to build a business on a platform. They don't know what they're doing. They're not in marketing. They're probably working a nine to five or something like that. This is to say that you have to start like focusing on one thing and unless you're to find a coach who is doing social media management. And I said this because if they're managing more than one account, they have a little more experience in whether this will work with multiple accounts and not versus just a coach who's

Like I talk to one person, I work on one account and that's They don't have any hands in the game on what content to create, what's gonna resonate, what's gonna work, what's not gonna work, what's actually hurting your growth. And then on top of that, I always say just find one to two people and then find one person that you truly believe in and then hone in on what they're saying to do and then see if that works. Stop following everybody on social media. Everybody don't get your results you wanna get. Everybody doesn't align with you and that's what's hurting a lot of people's growth and attracting those leads on social media.

Kenniqua Lewter (24:33)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I love that. And I 100 % agree because I think that's what happens a lot of times is that we do as just business owners in general, follow a lot of different people talking about the exact same, overarching, the exact same thing. But like you said, all the strategies are different. So, but they want those same results of that particular person, but yet.

It's kind of like you're going through and you're baking a cake and you're taking this person's recipe and then you're mixing it with that person's recipe and that person's recipe. And you expect that you want to get the results of what one person has, but it's like, you're mixing all these other ingredients into it and you're, you're just not going to get that same output. so I definitely agree with following one person. That's something that just in business in general, I'm one of those people that are a, I'm the silent viewer.

I normally won't interact. So on threads, I interact more on threads. I have conversations, that's what threads are about. But when it comes to Instagram and stuff like that, I don't interact a lot, but I'm constantly, the people that I'm peeping out, I'm constantly watching. But I'm watching a subset of people in whatever I'm trying to learn. I can give you an example. was earlier,

last year, 2025, I'm like, okay, I need someone to help me with lead leads. So I'm like, okay. I was eyeing two people with leads and then it's like, well actually this person actually has the program that I really need. Let me continue to watch her. okay. Then I'll just buy this one. And now, yeah, there's other people that talk about leads and sales, but I I'm getting coached. So I need to listen to the coach and not try to.

Alete' (26:24)
Thank

Kenniqua Lewter (26:24)
go off on a

tangent and like, well, she says do this. No, my coach said to do this. So I'm gonna run her play and get the results. So I definitely, I definitely agree with that. And one thing I like about you because you're very active on social media. It's like, especially when I go on threads and I'm not sure if it's because I interact with you on threads is the reason why I see all of the threads that you interact with. But I'll go on a thread and then it's like.

Alete' (26:48)
you

Kenniqua Lewter (26:49)
Your name is right there again, right there again. I'm like, see all your little

comments and I'm like, this girl is active. So I'm not sure if that's the reason why maybe the algorithm shows me the posts that you are interacting with because I interact with you. But I find that, you, but you are definitely active in, in social media and, and, and marketing your business. Another thing too, that I saw that you did, which, well, I think it's fine to say.

Alete' (27:00)
Yeah.

Kenniqua Lewter (27:14)
but because I don't want to like give your strategy away if it was something. But one thing I saw that you did, like when someone asks for like a social media manager is that you have that slide, your carousel slide of your services. I love that. I that so creative. Like I never, I never see anybody, I've never seen anybody do that. Like have it ready and you've done it multiple times. So it's like, it's already ready. And it's like, okay. I get all the information that I need.

Alete' (27:26)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Kenniqua Lewter (27:43)
from

it, I absolutely love that. what are you seeing now as far as in 2026, is there anything that you're seeing that is going to be,

I don't want to say the next big thing or trend, but that's actually kind of, guess, what I am asking. Is there something that you think us as business owners in 2026 that we should definitely start incorporating either into our content marketing strategy or just marketing in period?

Alete' (28:11)
I would have to say it's a few different things. We already talked about the personal brands. We're not going to lean into that because we already said our piece on that. I would also say like to just lean into more documenting versus I'm going to tell you what I do, but I'm never going to show you. People like, like I always say, I like your Chicago. It's a show me state. I need to see what's going on. I don't need to see your whole process, your whole like breakdown on what you do, like the how, but I need to kind of get an idea of what this is going to look like if I decide to work with you because now we're out of the phase of people

over getting scammed, they'd have spent a whole 2025 hiring people to help them in various industries and not getting the results they want. So where now they're like, I need something that's going to be like, I need to work with you. So that documenting that behind the scenes, that sharing more of the transparency on what this looks like to really work with somebody is going to help more businesses grow. And plus people are getting into more like, I buy with you, I'm going to shop with you. I even use myself like, there's this brand that charges like $20 for a body oil. You know, we can go to a little flea market and get it for like $5.

Kenniqua Lewter (29:06)
Yeah.

Alete' (29:08)
But I will spend

$20 on her body oil because I vibe with her. Her energy is good. I watched her like from TV and the social media and she's always stay true to herself. And it's just not about like body products and skincare. It's the whole brand. like to, they like, they like to spend money on and vibe who they feel like I can connect with this girl or this guy. I feel myself in them. I see myself in them. They really can help me go from point A to point B. That's what I'm going to work with. So I feel like document more instead of just showing like, okay, I do this and never that's it. Because what

you

do. If I got a pic between a coach who's documenting, showing me what they do versus somebody who's saying, I do this, I'm going to go the other route because I know what I'm getting into when I walk into the door. People are a lot smarter with their money. The economy is not getting any better right now. So they're going to be hushed on how they're going to spend their dollars. So if you want to make them invest in you, give them a reason to lean into that more than anything else. Cause I feel like anytime you're creating, you're burning out. You're eventually going to burn out. If you just document what you're already doing, it helps you out along the way. Get those people you want to actually work with without burning yourself.

Kenniqua Lewter (29:50)
Mm-hmm.

Alete' (30:07)
I've had in a long run.

Kenniqua Lewter (30:08)
Yeah, I love that. That's something that I just started it this year is trying to do that exact same thing because I feel like over the years, that's one of the things where I feel like I underutilize the fact of just showing what I did versus kind of telling you what I do or to teach you what I do.

⁓ I think that was definitely something underutilized. So now I've been posting like an Instagram stories, you know, just kind of posting Instagram stories, just showing tidbits of the day and kind of sharing little clips or little tidbits of this is how, like, I think the other day I showed one, like, this is how I actually create a thumbnail for YouTube. Right. Granted, I'm, that's not have anything to do with being a system strategist, but I'm showing you that.

I created a thumbnail for this video that I'm about to post about system strategy. Right. So, yeah. So I do love that about the document. And so what do you think about, because me and you, just in case, like, I don't think I even specify that in this video is that number one, me and you have met in real life and we live in the same place. So just in case no one, I didn't even mention that we live in the same city. it's funny the other day, I got an email.

Alete' (31:17)
Thank

Kenniqua Lewter (31:24)
that said IRL. And then, I opened up the email, cause I was like, what the heck is IRL? So this is, I'm 40, okay? I'm 40. So I was like, what is IRL? And so I opened it and then I started reading the email and I said, in real life.

Alete' (31:27)
you

I'm like that to you.

Kenniqua Lewter (31:40)
But yeah, so how do you feel about, because I think that, this probably, this isn't necessarily social media marketing, but this can maybe kind of go into something else that we're talking about, is that how do you feel about, as far as marketing in general, is for some of the business owners incorporating their content marketing strategy with having those in real life moments? How do you see that going in 2026, especially with the...

with the rise of AI and stuff. And that's kind of like a whole different discussion. But what do you, what do you think about having those, those, in-person encounters?

Alete' (32:16)
necessarily say like as far as AI goes but to have those necessary like well first off AI if you're a coach or if you're a business owner period learn to leverage AI to your benefit don't like let it speak for you but learn how to leverage it for your benefit to grow your business on social media. Number two for the real-life moments getting people's DMs and start having real-life conversations like connect with them meet up with them because what's the worst that's gonna happen you meet somebody in real life another connection so when you meet them you vibe them they may not

your services with somebody else and say hey I know somebody that can do that for you. I'm a firm believer in connecting, networking, and building those communities so I feel like just start jumping in DMs and having real conversations outside of hey here's my service you need to call me or hey I can help you do this. No have genuine like real conversations that allow you an opportunity to get to know somebody deeper than their business.

Kenniqua Lewter (33:07)
Yeah, I love that because I think sometimes too is that it's like we all know or at least have an idea of like the strategies and like techniques. And then I think that sometimes people it's kind of like in the back of their head, they have these ideas and these techniques. And so when they do like, when they reach out to you, sometimes maybe I should say it like this.

is that sometimes it doesn't feel authentic. It seems like they're kind of just jumping into the DMS because they know that they have to have this conversation with some people and it just doesn't necessarily feel authentic. You know, it just doesn't feel authentic. It's like, okay, when's, when's the pitch coming in? How do you like, how do you actually get into having those

real like actually starting a discussion in the DMs, like genuinely having, starting that conversation. Like where do you, where do you start in having that conversation without you knowing that you're not going to pitch this person?

Alete' (34:13)
Okay. So that's a great question because I feel like a lot of times when somebody jumps in our DMS, they're always ready to pitch. So now we've conditioned ourselves to feel like if somebody gets to my DM, I'm automatically on guard. Like, what do you want to get straight? I'm quick to say, what are you after? Get straight to the point. Like let's go to that. Cause I'm just a straightforward shooter. I rather you say, I can help you do X, Y, and Z. Then you ask me 21 questions about my business. Like you would never meet me in person in real life and ask about my personal life. So I feel like comfortable enough to do it in my DM.

Kenniqua Lewter (34:28)
Yeah.

Alete' (34:40)
So what I've learned is one of the easiest ways to build that conversation is when somebody posts in their stories and you see a commonality Compliment have a conversation girl. Where are you at? What is the weather like? I love what you just said add like more depth to it like to me the DMS it go down in the DMS when I first got into marketing my first two clients came from Social media they never jumped on a discovery call now, course I have them now, but then they never jumped on a discovery call We never met in person. They were out of state and they hired me for their social medium. So it's

Kenniqua Lewter (35:03)
Mm-hmm.

Alete' (35:09)
to that the DMs, go down and you can have real life conversations about anything. And if somebody does want to pitch an offer, especially for someone like me, I'd be like, I'm not interested. Thank you, but no, thank you. But if you need help with your marketing, feel free to reach out to me because if you're in my DMs cold pitch and I'm assuming you need my help. that's like, I just found my own way to slide it in there. But it's easy to have them conversations even down to like, do. So for instance, I do lead generation and community management for clients who are like,

Kenniqua Lewter (35:24)
Yeah.

Alete' (35:38)
I got my social media, I just decided to reach out, have conversations. It's simple, hey, I'm so-and-so. If you see a comment, or maybe they comment on a person's post that you know, jump in the DMs, hey, I see me, have a mutual friend, da-da-da, I wanna learn more about what you do. Or if you say, hey, I noticed we're in the same area, like I'm a firmly ready, if you're in my area, hey, I see we're in the same area, I would love to link up, I would love to learn more about your business, let's connect. Because...

Kenniqua Lewter (35:47)
Mm-hmm.

Alete' (36:00)
Anytime you're feeling like, it's overwhelming. I can't do it. just how I you're just having a conversation. It's like a text. I'm just having a conversation. And some people are receptive to it. And some are like, I'm not interested. But if they're not interested, you don't get them. No way. You don't want to talk to them anyways. But just act like you're having a regular conversation. Hey, how you doing? How's everything going? I would even ask about business. Like, how is everything going for you? It's 2026 now. It's the new year. Like, how is your year kicking off? Happy New Year to you. I'm glad you just popped up on my feed and I just want to connect with you more. Oh, I just seen your

and I absolutely love what you said. I loved it because of this, this, and this. Like there's so many ways you can jump into somebody's DMs and not pitch a service that could still lead you to a client at the end because you're connecting on a deeper level. If they need you, I've even hit a lady up who was doing a grand opening. I was like, congratulations on your grand opening. I see you're here in the Newport news area. Cause I was excited. It's it's a black owned business. She's opened up. I'm like, I'm ecstatic for her. And then we got to talking and she's like, ⁓ I'm not from here. I hate creating content.

Bye!

It was a, it was no, at that point it was a no brainer, but you'll never know if you don't have a conversation with people. And she could have been like, girl, this girl probably wants something from me. She on my page. Like she could have came with the defense, but sometimes you block your blessing, walking into it on guard already. Just have a natural conversation and see where it takes you. Sometimes it leads somewhere. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it may be, hey, I need you really bad. I can't afford you, but maybe later on at that point you start, you put a little flag on that, that little lead, put it into your system. So you know that I'm a

Kenniqua Lewter (36:59)
Yeah.

Alete' (37:27)
back with so-and-so because she wants to work with me she's just not ready to work with me right now so I just feel like keep it conversational don't overthink it and like you talking to your best friend and just have a casual conversation

Kenniqua Lewter (37:39)
Yeah. Because I think that's, that's probably how, and I'm not, I don't remember whether or not it was you or me, but that's probably how it probably was probably you of how we actually met. Because I know I was already following you, but I'm not sure who messaged you first. But then, like you said, then I found out, you, right here in my city. So, or our city, you know, we're in the same place. So I'm like, okay. And so then that's when we, you know, we,

went to go eat something to eat. But yeah, I think that I think like, cause sometimes I think maybe because most of the time I will say that I am not necessarily the DMR. Like I don't necessarily, like I respond to people in the DMs, but I don't, I don't necessarily initiate it. I think because of what you said is that I am like kind of overthinking it. Like if I am,

Only time I will DM as if I'm responding to like these stories. So if someone does post something in their stories and I do find it interesting, I do respond back to it, but I don't necessarily like kind of keep the conversation going because number one, I'm not really trying to sell you at all. So I think that's maybe why, but I do think I probably overthink the DMs. Um, but yeah, so maybe something to work on.

I have landed a client in the DM, like who most of the time I have sales calls. I do love sales calls. know a lot of people don't. I do, but I have had a client that didn't want to do a sales call and she just went and paid just from the DMS with just a couple of voice notes and that was it. But for some reason I overthink that process because it just seems like that's it. You know, you just want to just two voice notes and that's it. And you're good to go. Like, so.

I don't know, really do think I over kind of think that process there, but I'm gonna try to work on trying to out, do a little bit of outreach and see, you know, see how that goes. But I always just think about like, what do you say, you know?

Alete' (39:34)
Just don't think of it like outreach thinking but like I'm just having a regular conversation with somebody who was also in business who like I just want to connect with network with online virtually network with and then if we happen to align as far as our services we able to work together whether it's partnership whether it's you be my client vice versa then we'll take it to that next step but just think of like a virtual networking event I'm just having a conversation you know more about you in your business and if we work we work and if we don't we don't because even what you do you can jump in somebody's dm just

to have regular conversation and realize we can have a brand partnership. Like even I'll say, let's use me and you because we're already on the call where people are listening. I do social media managing and strategy sessions. You wouldn't be surprised how many clients I have that don't have their system set up. They aren't aware of it. And it's like, it's hard to work with them. So I got to like, you need to go get this, this and this set up before we can even proceed. So don't even think if I can even work with you as you be on my client. You get partnership with businesses like that and be like, offer these services? Let's work together. I send you referrals, you send me referrals.

But you would never know that unless you jump into the DMs and just have a basic conversation. Because brand partnerships do exist. They work really well. And like I said, what you do, a lot of people don't like dealing with systems. They don't like the back end. They don't understand that it's too complex. It's confusing. You talk about automations. You talk about everything that could be from CRMs. We're talking about HoneyBook. We're talking about AirTable. You talk about all the things. And there are business owners who are like, ain't trying to do none of that. But if you meet other strategic, other founders, other service providers who have clients that align with your

Kenniqua Lewter (40:36)
That's true.

Alete' (41:01)
clientele or your ideal client, you can easily have a conversation with them, a simple coffee and chat, a simple, hey, I see you doing this, I want to learn more about how you got started, da da da. Once the conversation gets a phone, hey, you be open to having a coffee and chat? Or you open it like, so we can talk about maybe a partnership. People are always looking for more ways they can get more clients, get in front of more people, as well as make more money. And that also benefits you because if they love what you're saying and they like what you're doing, now you have new leads coming in that you don't have to work for because they've already built that

Kenniqua Lewter (41:21)
Mm-hmm.

Alete' (41:28)
that strong base with that client, I need a system set up. Don't worry, I have somebody that can do that for you. That's what you'll never know if you don't let the guard down. Let me just have a conversation and see where this could go.

Kenniqua Lewter (41:38)
Yeah, I agree with that. Cause that's definitely something this year. Like I do have one young lady that a couple years ago that I did befriend in the DMs. I talked to her all the time. do like, we, well, we used to do like coworking and stuff together for a while, but it's funny because that relationship happened on Instagram, her posting and me just responding, her responding to me. And eventually it's like, this is like my...

my business friend on the internet, you know, and so that did happen where she does send me people that need help with HoneyBook and stuff like that. So definitely something I would love to lean into going into the new year. like you said, well, new year, we're in the new year now, but that's definitely something that I want to to lean into this year. And like you said, just having those conversations because I don't I am not the sales person at all. I'm not like

Last year, that was part of the main thing I was getting coaching in, like people, they have come to me, they buy, but it's not because I quote unquote, sold you. My method now for quote unquote, selling you is exactly what you're talking about. It's just done on a sales call. It's me just having conversation with you, but I feel comfortable having that conversation where it's 45 minutes an hour. And by the time we get done talking.

You come to realize that, yeah, you do need system. So let's go ahead and do it. So, but just the DMS, just seems so, seems so short. It seems so like I have to try to be fast at it. And then it's, it just doesn't seem authentic for me. I feel, I don't feel good about it because it feels like I'm speeding the.

relationship up where I'm a little bit more of a slower to warm type of person. Like just in general, my interactions and just in life, I'm just, I'm that person that's just slower to warm. It takes me time to kind of get into it a little bit. And so in the DMs, because it just seems so fast, it just feels, it doesn't feel authentic to me, you know? So I think that's probably my whole thing of why I over-guess, like why I overthink it really.

Crazy breakdown, but that's why. So this is what I wanna know. So we're gonna wrap up the conversation. I know I already said that before, but we are gonna wrap up the conversation. But I wanna know how after someone they're listening to this episode and doing lead market, lead, Legion, doing content marketing is part of what they know they need this year in order to be able to bring in more leads, more sales into their business so they can hit their goals this year. How?

How can people work with you in order to be able to go through and get that done?

Alete' (44:10)
So we're going to talk about first my main big service that most people come to me for because they lack the time to do social media. They don't care for they know it's important. They're just not interested is social media marketing and management where I do all the content creation capture right in the whole shebang for you. All you got to do is approve the post or request edits. Now for that service if you want to work with me you just go ahead and send me a message. We can hop on a clarity call and see how we can work together with that service is all about checking your budget. My services do start off at 1800. So if you're like that's out of my price

range. I'm not ready for that now but I do need the help. We also offer one-on-one coaching where you and I get to work together. Yes you'll be on the call me for 60 minutes but prior to that call I'll spend three to four hours dissecting your brand revamping your brand whether it's for LinkedIn or for Instagram. Coming up with your strategy we're gonna redo your bio, profile optimization, your banners, all the works to make sure that you're set up for success and we'll go over the content and how you should create it. And in that strategy session you'll also be able to get two additional weeks of working with me so

you're like girl I got another question or girl like I feel stuck again or like cuz we get in our head or we think of 21 things after the call is over with you get that extra opportunity to work with me more close than that and that's a one-on-one strategy call so just depends on your budget if you're like I want to just throw it off done for you reach out to me for the manager if you're like I just need a coach real quick just to kind of get me going then the one-on-one coaching will be best suitable for you both get you the results I have case studies that I can show you for both services so you'll be in good hands regardless of which route you decide to take

Kenniqua Lewter (45:34)
No.

Okay, and they should reach out to you on Instagram.

Alete' (45:39)
Yes, on Instagram or on LinkedIn, can reach out to me via DM. If you want to go either platform, if you're like, I don't want to DM, I just want to book a call, tap the link in my bio on LinkedIn at Aleta Dotson or on Instagram at Simply Aleta. You can tap my bio as well to book, to work with me on either one of the services.

Kenniqua Lewter (45:54)
Awesome, awesome. appreciate you sharing that. And that's definitely valuable for them to be able to know because yeah, you'd be having all the gems. I'd be tuned in. I need you to start going back and doing your lives. Who's the young lady that you normally do the ⁓ lives with?

Alete' (46:02)
in

That's my girl, Lindsay. So we met on social media. In the DMs, we just started, we started engaging each other's content, been in the DMs. Now we text all the time, like.

And we just kind of talk about everything from business to personal. just like a really good person that we bonded for like, I think I met her last year on social media, maybe before that, maybe a year before that. But we really got closer throughout last year. We've never met in real life yet. We're working on that towards this year, but we always go live together. And it's always, I don't know, when you find that person you go live with where it's like a girlfriend chat, it's the best type of lives to have.

Kenniqua Lewter (46:38)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah, y'all, your conversations that you guys have are so, are so good. And you could tell, I wasn't sure, like, if she was a part of, your team or something like that, because it seems like, because you always go live together, and then sometimes you guys will bring on, a third person, like, a guest or something like that. So I absolutely love that.

Alete' (46:50)
Thank you.

It's funny,

we used to do our lives separate. Somebody had messages and like, both know that we've joined a live on somebody else's life, always together, the person always wanted us. And they were like, I think I'll be really good at doing lives. We were like, really? I will give it a shot, like whatever, who cares? We already do our own lives anyways. And then since then it just became a whole year of us going live together.

Kenniqua Lewter (47:16)
Yeah. And how often were you going out? Was it every, it was every week, wasn't it?

Alete' (47:20)
Yeah, it was every week, then we moved it to every two weeks and we just kept going live, like yeah, every single week,

Kenniqua Lewter (47:24)
OK.

Love that, love that. Well, I appreciate you joining me here on the podcast. Amazing conversation. We'll be meeting again in person for your, know, I really hope to that. Just want to say this, too. I really do hope because I think that would be a really good thing for you. Even when we're talking about doing like events and stuff like that in person is for you to like host like events on the regular basis, especially specifically like when it comes to social media.

Alete' (47:32)
Yes.

I want to, that's a conversation I want to have with you. Yeah, but I want to, I haven't done like an event in like, I think a whole bunch, like maybe like five, six years. I was getting my flyer and I was like, dang, it's been a minute. But I do want to host events as far as social media goes, content sessions, all the things. I also will be speaking at an event in February and having a whole workshop catered to helping women fix their crown to fix their content is the name of the event that I'll be like, that'll be my workshop session or whatever. So I'll be doing that as well and you'll see the details of

Kenniqua Lewter (47:59)
Mm-hmm.

I love that.

Alete' (48:19)
more of that on my social media. But yeah, I'm super excited.

Kenniqua Lewter (48:23)
Yeah, that'd be great. Yeah, that's definitely something to lean into because that's why I said to you, have one that I have planned. I need to get the date. I'm thinking about being in the beginning of March. So I want to start doing because I haven't seen anyone talk about or just because I hadn't seen it doesn't mean it ain't happening because I don't be seeing a bunch of stuff. But teaching systems, clients, you know, I do the client management. So doing client management systems in person.

Alete' (48:42)
You

Kenniqua Lewter (48:49)
And so that's something I want to do too. But definitely social media, like everybody needs social media. And to be able to do that in person, I think would be great. Would be great.

Alete' (48:58)
Yeah, that's

on the agenda.

Kenniqua Lewter (49:00)
All right. Well, I love this conversation. Thank you so much for coming up with all your information in the show notes, the links below all the places so everybody would be able to get in contact with you. And then even if it's not just for, you know, services per se, definitely still reach out to Alita because she's going to be able to chit chat and be able to answer like any I'm pretty sure any questions, anything that you have as well, too. So definitely reach out to her.

Alete' (49:27)
Yes, thank you so much for having me.

Kenniqua Lewter (49:28)
Yeah, no problem.