Carlissa LeBlanc (00:00)
Well, hello, hello, Andrea, and welcome to the Side Hustler podcast. How are you?

Andria Singletary (00:09)
I'm doing good.

Carlissa LeBlanc (00:11)
Awesome. Well, I am so excited to have you here because I, first of all, me and Andrea, we connected on Instagram. and I am so excited because when we first connected, we were talking about how we shared the experience of being mompreneurs. and I'm really just inspired by your premise and your mission of your business. And so I'm super excited because I know there are a lot of people that are listening that may have this thought in their mind, like,

really do not like to be on social media like that. But I feel like I have to because I have to market my business. And so today we're going to get into some trending, trendy, trendy topics about how you can market your business without necessarily relying solely on social media and how you can increase your sales without social media. So I'm super excited to have you here. Thank you so much for being on the podcast. So let's get into it.

So I want you to tell me a little bit about yourself and what led you to becoming a visibility strategist.

Andria Singletary (01:16)
Yeah, so it's a long story. But just to share a little bit about me. I'm a wife. I'm a mom of two, my kids are four and two at the time of this recording. And after I had my first I had my son, April 2020 at the height of the pandemic. And so

I that I was not gonna go back to like a nine to five or anything like that. Like I knew once I laid eyes on him, like I wanted to be home with him, be there for all those first moments and stuff. And so I ended up not returning to my job. They actually shut down due to the pandemic and became a stay at home mom. And so during that first year, home with him loved it, but.

really desired something for myself, desired something outside of motherhood and everything. And so I decided to look at what I could do like from home, like in the online space and everything. So I actually started out as a virtual assistant doing all of the things and quickly discovered I did not like social media management. And I ended up actually niching down into podcast management.

I really love listening to podcasts and I wanted to support other women with getting their voices out there and making an impact that way. And so as I, you know, niche in the podcast management and supporting more clients, one of the things that I noticed was that they weren't really leveraging their podcast as part of their marketing and sales strategy. It was just this extra thing that they did. They would do like interview heavy podcast or talk about everything but

their expertise. And so I sort of made it my mission to really support women with leveraging their podcasts for their business. know, podcasts are such a powerful thing. It's such a powerful way to get your name out there, get your voice out there, reach people across the globe and everything. And it's like, if you're putting all this energy and this time into this platform, you might as well make it work for your business, right?

Carlissa LeBlanc (03:12)
Mm-hmm.

Absolutely.

Andria Singletary (03:22)
Um,

so that's what I like made my mission and supporting women with doing that and absolutely loved it. But I ended up having to step back from managing podcasts. Um, at the end of 2023, we just had life happened to us. Um, October, 2023, my daughter had a seizure the next month. My son was diagnosed with autism. And so my season of life changed. Like I was no longer able to.

manage multiple podcasts and everything like I needed to be there for my family more and whatnot. And so as I was like really reflecting on you know, how I wanted to pivot and change my business and everything. Something kept coming up for me with really being able to support women with building a business that didn't rely on social media. And so I first explored coaching, which I really love that but

Carlissa LeBlanc (03:57)
Right.

Andria Singletary (04:17)
I realized that I am a big strategy person. I really like helping you map out that plan to make it a reality. Like, yes, I will coach you, but I want to get all in your business and help you really plan it out and tell you like, you need to do this, that, and the other. And so like really leaning into that, I realized that a big part of how I supported my clients like with podcasting was really leveraging it for visibility to

Carlissa LeBlanc (04:20)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Andria Singletary (04:45)
get their name out there and not just getting their name out there on their own podcast, but also really helping other people to discover them and invite them to collaborate, invite them to, you know, speak at their stomachs and speak in their groups and different things like that. And so that's kind of like where the whole visibility strategist thing came from. It's like,

you know what, I'm really helping my clients get visible and using their podcasts to make these connections and whatnot and, you know, get in front of other people's audiences and everything. And so that's kind of like what led me down this path of being a visibility strategist. But most importantly, it really allowed me to be that present mom that I needed to be and support my family and whatnot while still getting to build my business in a way that I enjoyed and everything like.

Carlissa LeBlanc (05:37)
I love that. I absolutely love that. And I think you do a phenomenal job because even when I'm like scrolling on threads, like I'll see your post and I'm like, that hits so differently. But it's like, you have a unique approach on how you tackle visibility. Like whenever you hear about visibility, most people are telling you, you you have to, you know, be on social media. You have to post all of these times. You have to go live. You have to do...

all of these, and there are several people that struggle with putting themselves out there simply because that's just probably not a comfort zone of them. And I understand like a part of being an entrepreneur is really putting yourself out there and getting out of your comfort zone. But I do feel like there is a way of being able to put yourself out there and increase your visibility. Whereas it doesn't come off as inorganic or inauthentic to who you are.

So I think that that is absolutely amazing. And so even just your journey of getting there, figuring out where to land, like you said, you tried several different things. You tried to figure out things that worked for you, worked for your lifestyle. And every time you started something, you would figure out, know, I like the strategy, but I don't like this part. Or I like, you know, this part, but I'm not really into social media management. So it's like, also part of the journey is figuring out where to land by trying things.

and figuring out like how to piece all of the things together that you absolutely love to do. So I love that. I absolutely love that. Let's see. why do you, well, no, no, no, no, no. I don't know. I'm going to skip that question. What do you feel like is one of the biggest downsides that people see or that you believe of relying on social media to attract new, to attract new clients? I don't know why I can't talk today. To attract new clients.

Andria Singletary (07:29)
Yeah, I would say the biggest thing is that when you rely on a single platform to generate leads, then nurture those leads and then convert them into your offers, it's stressful because you're having to create so much content to do all of those different things. And let's be real, like the Instagram algorithm sucks. Like it does not play nicely with business owners. And so you're getting frustrated because you're not

Carlissa LeBlanc (07:53)
Yes.

Andria Singletary (07:59)
seeing that engagement and like only about maybe 10 % of your audience is actually seeing your content. And it's like, you're putting all this energy into this platform that is not really created for you. Like they don't want you pushing people off of their platform. You get penalized for that. And like, yes, there are things like mini chat and everything, but it just does not feel like it should be like, that's not worth your time and energy as a business.

Carlissa LeBlanc (08:06)
Mmm!

Mm-hmm.

Andria Singletary (08:28)
business owner, but especially as a mom doing business, we have limited time, we have limited energy. And so I'm all about working smarter, not harder. So I feel like there are so many other ways to get out there where you essentially can get more bang for your buck without having to put so much energy into it. Like for me with podcasting, the episodes I create each week,

Carlissa LeBlanc (08:32)
Mmm!

Yeah.

Andria Singletary (08:56)
They're gonna go on and live for weeks, months, years. I have new people come into my world and they will binge my podcast going all the way back to episode one that I published over two years ago. Nobody's going back and binging your Instagram content like that. Like all of it gets buried in everything. And so you really wanna look at what is actually serving you well. What is actually getting you those consistent results without you having to give more of yourself?

Carlissa LeBlanc (09:00)
Absolutely.

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah.

Andria Singletary (09:26)
because you don't have more to give. Your kids take so much out of you. And then if you're married, you got your husband you got to care for. And then you have other family, your parents, you have siblings, like all these other responsibilities. Like you don't have time to be wasted like that.

Carlissa LeBlanc (09:26)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yes.

Exactly. Exactly.

No, you're absolutely right. And that's honestly, I'm so glad that you said that because I feel like coming from me as a marketer, know, people just feel like I'm just telling them these things because I just somehow know the secret code, but it's like I'm on Instagram, but I do understand that these social media platforms do not play in our favor at all whatsoever. Yes. I mean, it does benefit you to have a presence.

However, part of marketing is understanding the way things work together. You have a place where if people really just want to see visually what you do or how you do things, okay, that's where they typically go. But as far as providing value, you cannot provide value to your potential customers in a highlight reel. And that's another reason why I decided to add podcasting to my ecosystem was because

I really wanted to create a resource library for anyone that found me. If you are starting a business, if you have a job, this is the place to be for you to figure out, okay, how do I go from point A to point B? How do I go from point B to point C? But then also podcasting serves as a search engine. So if you go on the podcast app, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple, Spotify, and you type a specific keyword or topic, you'll have tons of different, it doesn't matter if it was posted in 2016.

or if it was posted yesterday, it'll all show up there and you can have a way of being able to see through of which podcast you want to listen to. And so I think that you hit that so, good. Also, even when you're talking about 10 % of your audience, I feel like it's not even 10 % anymore. At one point it was 10%, but now I'm like, it's like close to five, like between two to five, you know? So sitting here and it's so easy to get this like.

Andria Singletary (11:23)
Yeah, it does.

Yes.

Carlissa LeBlanc (11:34)
really just overwhelmed, but then also discouraged when you're posting content, you're like, I feel like I'm spending so much time on this and it's not converting. It's like, I'm wasting my time. I'm putting all of this good content out. Nobody's seeing it. I'm spending a lot of time editing it. Nobody's seeing it. And so it's like, okay, what can you do to leverage your time, use your time wisely, but then also provide the same amount of value and effort into something else.

that actually has a higher chance of converting. So I love that. I absolutely love that. Okay. Let's see. okay, so we're gonna go into some alternative ways to increase your sales without social media. since social media, since no social media is your premise or your perspective,

on, let me reword how I'm saying that. Cause like when I typed one of these questions, I was like, I don't know if this even flows well, but since your standpoint is leveraging other avenues to market your business, what are some highly effective marketing strategies that business owners can use outside of social media?

Andria Singletary (12:37)
you

Yeah, so I mean, the options are endless, honestly. But you have like your SEO driven platform. So like we were talking about podcasting, blogging, YouTube, those are all SEO based. And what I love about those platforms is that literally the people who are actively searching for a solution, when they come across your content, they are ready to invest, they have a problem, they want to solve it. And so SEO based platforms are going to bring in your highest quality

leads. They're gonna bring in those people who they're like, take my money because I want to solve this problem right now. Then you also have collaboration. So this looks like podcasts, guesting, speaking at conferences and summits.

Carlissa LeBlanc (13:26)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Andria Singletary (13:37)
participating in bundles and different things like that. And the nice things about collaborations is that you're getting in front of already established audiences. You're not having to go out and necessarily find those people. They're already there ready for you. You just have to show up and be your amazing self, essentially. And so I would say like those are some of the main ways, but you also have like

in person networking, like getting out in your community and finding those, you know, local business groups and different things like that, where you can connect with people one-on-one in person is so powerful. Like I actually met one of my clients, well, a now client in person. We went out to lunch and everything and just getting to connect with her one-on-one.

She ended up joining one of my offers probably like a week or so after we had lunch together. But it's just something about, you know, that human to human connection and everything. And then also referrals, like having a referral based business. So expanding your network, connecting with other business owners who serve a similar audience as you. And, you know, they offer a different service than you. But you guys can refer each other, you know, clients and different things like that. So you have.

Carlissa LeBlanc (14:28)
Yeah.

Andria Singletary (14:54)
so many different options outside of social media. And I feel like those options again, give you better leads, give you quality leads, give you leads where these are people who they actually are looking for support. They're actually willing to invest in your services and different things like that.

Carlissa LeBlanc (15:11)
Yeah, no, that's really good. That's really good. And so I know that you mentioned first SEO and for a lot of people that are beginning, they may not understand the concept of SEO. so just for reference, SEO, when you're hearing SEO, we're referring to search engine optimization. And so going back to SEO, because I really, really want to focus on that for a moment. What...

do you feel like would be the best place or where do you feel the best place would be to land for someone that is starting out, someone that's brand new, that has like no type of knowledge about how these things work? Where would you think would be a good place for them to land?

Andria Singletary (15:51)
Yeah, so I would say like, especially if you're thinking about SEO, instead of focusing on starting your own platform, because that can be overwhelming, you can do things like podcasts, guestings, so looking for podcasts where they actually have like their show notes on their website, and essentially where they can, you know, include your links, like your website link, and your information and stuff like that. So people can find you organically that way. You also can do

Carlissa LeBlanc (16:06)
Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Andria Singletary (16:21)
guest blogging. There are a lot of business owners who look for other business owners to contribute to their blog. And again, you can include your links and your information and everything in that blog post. So I would start with there. And then if you do want to, you know, eventually, you know, start your own platform, so to speak, I would look at how you actually enjoy creating content. Podcasting is not for everybody. And that's okay. Like you have

Carlissa LeBlanc (16:28)
Yeah.

Mmm.

Andria Singletary (16:50)
So if you're not someone who enjoys being behind the mic, then maybe starting a blog is a better option for you. Like if you love writing and everything, blogging is a great option for you. And it's not like with blogging, like you have to do a new blog every week. Like you can do a blog monthly. You can do one quarterly and everything because you're leveraging that SEO where people are able to find you organically and everything. So I would say like before you commit to like

Carlissa LeBlanc (17:02)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Andria Singletary (17:18)
podcasting, blogging, or YouTube, figure out what you actually enjoy first. Like I usually recommend for my clients, start with podcast guesting. And then if you actually like that, then let's talk about you starting your own podcasts and everything.

Carlissa LeBlanc (17:28)
Yeah.

Yeah,

yeah, I love that. I love that. And also I wanted to add to that because I said originally that we met on Instagram, but we originally met on threads, right? Yes. Okay. I'm like, we met, we met on the, but threads has been like such a, I, I just love threads. Like I didn't even realize how dope threads was until like maybe a couple of weeks ago, but it has been like the marketing, like it's kind of like Twitter mixed with LinkedIn.

Andria Singletary (17:42)
Yes, I'm third.

you

Carlissa LeBlanc (18:02)
And I really like it because it's not as like buttoned up as LinkedIn. It's like everybody just shares their thoughts, but it's also like more refined to where it's people that are within your industry. And you don't necessarily have to be following someone in order for their content to post onto your thread. And that's a way that I've used to network and to build my network with people that are in the industry, people that aren't even in the industry. I know the first post that I put out.

on threads that really got a lot of traffic was me asking to connect with people that are also mompreneurs or that are side hustling entrepreneurs. So put out a post and I'm like, hey, I wanna connect with people that have full-time jobs and are running a business. Like, what are you doing? What is your business? What is your full-time job? And that thread got like over a thousand views. had over, I wanna say 60 comments.

And it just became like a library of people for me to connect with that. I eventually met on Instagram. They ended up following me on Instagram. And then we're like continuing our conversation in the DMS. And so some of them have podcasts. Some of them don't. Some of them have businesses online. Some of them have physical, physical brick and mortar. So it was just really interesting to be able to connect with people in a different way. So that's another thing that I'm going to start telling people is like, get on threads. I know it seems like, not another app, but

Andria Singletary (19:22)
Yes.

Carlissa LeBlanc (19:25)
It can actually be a tool to help you meet with people, to connect with people, to network, to build your visibility through connections, like you were saying. And so I think that that is phenomenal because even within the past couple of weeks, I was looking for podcast guests to appear on my podcast and I went on threads and was like, Hey, you know, I want to, I want to do an episode about this, or I want to do an episode about that. Who is a strategist in this area? Who is this? Like who's drone of genius is this?

And I was able to just connect with so many people. So yes, I agree with that a thousand percent. If you don't see yourself physically starting your own YouTube channel or your own podcast or your own blog, just try to pitch yourself or try to connect with people who do have those platforms with similar audiences and be able to leverage and build connections through that. I love that. I love that.

Andria Singletary (20:17)
Yes.

Carlissa LeBlanc (20:19)
And so I wanna talk about how, cause I also wanna hit on, you were saying something about referrals. And this is something that I've tried to start to emphasize into my business because I was watching a video about, I wanna say it was about visibility on YouTube. And it was talking about how as an entrepreneur, we feel like we have to always get new clients.

instead of using our network, using the people that are in our contact list and basically having them refer our services or our business to them or to us, but also rewarding people that refer your business to people. So basically, let me try to break that down. So there's this circle, I'm like a visual person. So it's this circle of will and at the top, there's an entry rate into that circle and it's basically a new client.

And then you have this new client, you provide the service, you give them the product or whatever. They either like it, love it, hate it, whatever. And then they either decide to continue in the circle, meaning they book you again for that service or they buy your product again, or they exit the circle. And so part of understanding and having your business being able to function and thrive to where you're not always hustling to try to find new clients is trying to figure out ways to keep that person in the circle.

or have that person bring more people into your circle. And the way that people do that is through referrals. And so one thing that I've tried to implement in my business is having like a referral program. And I know this sounds kind of daunting because when I first became an entrepreneur, was like, nobody's going to refer me. But if you actually give people the incentive to referring you clients, it's a win-win for people. Now, you want to make sure the referral that you give them is a good...

incentive. Okay. So I think about like HoneyBook. HoneyBook has a really good referral program. So someone comes onto HoneyBook and you send them your code, your referral code, and they sign up for HoneyBook. HoneyBook pays you $150 cash, not $150 off of your program, not, you know, anything like that cash. They deposit $150 into your bank account. And so I was thinking about this, like that just made me want to go refer more people. Like

Easy $150. So I'm thinking to myself, how can I implement that into my business to one, help me not feel like I have to always grind, grind, grind to get new clients, but reward the clients that speak highly about my product, that speak highly about my service, that have a network of people that could benefit or use my service. So that way it's a win-win. It's like I get new clients on one hand.

but then also the client that has rewarded or that has referred me has also gotten a extra hundred dollars or whatever it is that you can afford. mean, you know, whatever it is, if your product is, you know, a certain price point, okay, don't go and spend the whole, you know, don't go spend all your money on referrals, but you do want to reward them with something that is, you know, in sentencing enticing them to bring people back to you. So I wanted to talk about referrals and like, do you have a referral program or like,

How do you feel about referrals and bringing in referrals into your ecosystem as a way of having that visit, increasing your visibility, also not having to work as hard to get new leads and start at the top of the funnel every single time.

Andria Singletary (23:54)
Yeah, so I don't currently have a referral program set up, but I am planning to set up one for my membership, the Social Media Detox Club, just because my members sell that program for me. Like it's how they talk about it. Like I don't ask them to. They're constantly posting about it on socials, telling all the people in their network about it. But the reason why is because I deliver in that membership. The membership is ninety seven dollars a month.

Carlissa LeBlanc (24:07)
Mmm!

Wow.

Andria Singletary (24:24)
I treat them as if they're paying me 2K a month or more. And because they get such, you know, so much out of it and the support they're looking for, they can't help but talk about it. They tell their business besties like, you need to be in this membership right now and different things like that.

Carlissa LeBlanc (24:27)
Wow

Yeah.

Andria Singletary (24:42)
I

actually got a voice note from one of the members today saying that she's been telling everybody and whatnot. But I think it's such a powerful thing. ideally, we would love to have a referral based business because you don't have to worry so much about marketing, right? But I think it all goes back to the customer experience. Like, how are you treating your clients and everything? And

Carlissa LeBlanc (24:57)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Andria Singletary (25:09)
Are you creating that memorable experience where one, they wanna stay working with you, but they also can't help but tell other people about it because they love working with you so much. And I think when you really focus on that, that's really gonna help you build that referral-based business. Truly delivering the thing that you said you're gonna deliver, not.

over promising, but also not under delivering, like making sure you're doing what you say you're going to do and everything. And so I think especially as moms, we definitely want to do that, but it goes back to, okay, how are you treating your clients when they're working with you? What type of experience are you creating for them and everything like that? And when you create that phenomenal experience, they're going to tell other people about you and everything like that.

Carlissa LeBlanc (25:35)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Andria Singletary (26:00)
I think the biggest thing though is also making sure that you're making it clear who your offer is for because you don't also don't want to get referrals that aren't aligned and everything like that because that could be kind of frustrating, especially if it's like a red flag client or something like that. But I think as long as you're creating this amazing experience and everything, again, your clients, they're going to sing your praises.

Carlissa LeBlanc (26:10)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, a thousand percent, a thousand, a thousand percent. And so going back to your process or going back to your alternative way of increasing sales, do you feel like this method works for all businesses? Like a meaning only, or do you feel like it only works for online businesses or product based businesses or personal brands? How do you feel about being on social media and how it's, what am I trying to say?

Do you feel as if being off of social media is something that all businesses or all brands can implement in their marketing strategy? Or do you feel like this only works for personal brands or online businesses?

Andria Singletary (27:13)
So let me explain what I mean, like, you know, not relying on social media to build your business. I'm not saying don't be on social media or you don't have to be on social media. That's ultimately up to you. But what I find is that most of us, when we enter the online space, we put so much pressure on performing on Instagram, you know, showing up in stories, doing the lives, creating the carousels, creating the rules. And then we get so burnt out that we end up just stopping in that market.

Carlissa LeBlanc (27:22)
Got it.

Andria Singletary (27:43)
marketing our business. But when you create, like you said, an ecosystem where, yeah, I'm on Instagram, but I'm focusing more on my podcast or I'm focusing more on collaborations. And so when I show up on Instagram, I don't feel this pressure or I could care less if nobody likes my post or engages with my post because I have these other platforms working for me.

Carlissa LeBlanc (27:45)
That makes sense.

Mm-hmm.

Andria Singletary (28:05)
that when you have that, that takes the stress off that stops you from experiencing social media burnout and different things like that. So I just wanted to address that there. But as far as like who can benefit from marketing off socials, all businesses can benefit from it. Just to kind of give an example, I had a client who she was a STEM coach. So she basically coached other STEM teachers and, you know, creating STEM curriculum and different things like that.

And so she wanted to start kind of like a STEM group for kids locally. So what she did was she reached out to one of the local coffee shops, let them know her idea, and they decided to collaborate with her. So essentially she was leading these STEM sessions with the kids and then their parents were sitting there in a coffee shop drinking coffee. And so they both benefited. They both were making money, but she also

was able to help this coffee shop essentially increase their visibility because they got new clients who originally weren't even going there. So whether or not you're, you know, a brick and mortar business or an online business, like you can benefit from options outside of social media. So it may look different for you. Like, especially if you like say you're a product based business.

Carlissa LeBlanc (29:10)
Mmm.

Andria Singletary (29:27)
look at your local community, like whether that's going to like, you know, the local farmers market or different things that they have within the community. Like the whole goal is to get your offer in front of more people. And so looking at all of the places where your idle clients are potentially hanging out because they're not just on social media. Like when we focus heavily on social media, we miss out on so much of our

Carlissa LeBlanc (29:41)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Andria Singletary (29:53)
audience, especially like, let's be real, what's going on in the US right now. A lot of people don't want to be on social media because it's triggering. They don't want to see all of this different content that goes against their values and their beliefs and everything. And so they're not spending as much time on these platforms. And so if you're still relying heavily on socials, you're missing out on all those people who aren't showing up on there. So looking at how else are my people consuming content?

Carlissa LeBlanc (30:02)
Yeah.

Wow.

Mm-hmm.

Andria Singletary (30:22)
Are they listening to podcasts? Are they going to, you know, local community events and different things? Are they attending, you know, summits and conferences and different things like that? Like expand your reach. Like look at where else you can reach your people.

Carlissa LeBlanc (30:23)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah, I love that. I love that especially because when I first became on this online space, I originally started off as a influencer and content creator for brands, like partnering with brands. And so I obviously have the, I have learned how to build the muscle of being able to pitch myself to people and to brands. And so as I pivoted into becoming an entrepreneur, that was a skill that I developed several years ago that has like,

come back to help me and benefit me in so many different ways. And so I think about even with some of the partnerships that I've gotten with like local content houses or with local entrepreneurs, coaches, things of that sort. A lot of those people that I've connected with were because I decided to pitch myself and put myself out there instead of just hiding behind the screen.

And so I think that goes back to what you're saying. I mean, apart, would say a part of also seeing a decline in social media engagement is you're right. A lot of people don't want to be on social media because it is triggering. There's a lot going on, especially now with the whole tick tock band. A lot of people are like, why am I investing all my time into this thing that could be taken away from me at any given moment? I don't own it. I'm spending a lot of time creating content for it. At one point it could be gone. Why am I doing this? And so I think that that goes back to show that

we definitely need to be spending time on things, spending time on things that are actually going to move the needle, rather than spending time on doing things that we see our counterparts do or things that we see other businesses and other people do because just because it worked for them doesn't mean that it's always gonna work for you. So even if you're realizing, you know, or you're seeing that, hey, I've spent, you know, this amount of time, I've invested this amount of time, this amount of energy on this one thing, it hasn't been able to convert into any new clients.

Let's see how I can move the needle by putting myself out there in other ways, going to events, networking, pitching, cold pitching, DM, sliding in the DM, sending emails that you would be better, that time would be better spent and well spent by doing those things than scrolling on social media to find content ideas. And then you're on here and now you're like, okay, I'm going to create this content. And then it flops and then you've already spent two hours on that one piece of content. So.

I agree, I think that that is something that a lot of people should definitely start to think about. It can be a little daunting putting yourself out there and pitching, but you just never know. You never know what the results may be. And the worst thing that could happen is someone saying, no, that's the worst thing that could happen. So there's no need of you hiding behind fear of putting yourself out there or being the first person to initiate that type of connection because you just never know what could happen or what can come out of that.

Andria Singletary (33:14)
Yeah.

Carlissa LeBlanc (33:28)
I literally pitched myself to a content house, had an event there and we did a giveaway. And with that giveaway, I was able to land two new clients that ended up paying me to hop on a call with them and walk them through a content strategy. And I would have never gotten those two clients if I would have never pitched myself. So it's all about doing things that are actually going to move the needle and being able to audit and seeing what you're spending your time on and what is the thing that...

you should not spend your time on, guess I should say. What is the thing that you shouldn't spend your time on based off of what is converting and what's not converting?

Andria Singletary (34:04)
Yes, I agree. And I wanted to touch on something you said about spending the hours like on creating like social media content and stuff like that. One thing that will help you like if you do want to be on socials is when you add in like long form content, repurposing it for socials. So like for my podcast, I repurpose it for threads posts, I repurpose it for emails. Like I can take this large piece of content and break it down into multiple pieces of content. And so it's like you're

Carlissa LeBlanc (34:22)
Yeah.

Andria Singletary (34:34)
essentially just planning this one piece of content and then you can just break it up and share it across platforms and so that will even cut down your content creation and everything.

Carlissa LeBlanc (34:42)
Yeah.

Yeah, exactly, exactly. And that helps out a lot too, because then you, like for instance, with this podcast, exactly what I'm gonna do, we're gonna trim this podcast into some clips. I'm gonna post this on socials, but then also I'm gonna collaborate with you. And then whoever follows you is gonna see my content and I'm gonna be able to be exposed to a new audience and vice versa. I collaborate with you, now you are being exposed to my audience. And so it works both ways instead of you having to reinvent the wheel every single time. Like how can we make...

better use of our time and work smarter rather than harder. Instead of having to always create a new piece of content, let's take one content and see how many pieces of content we can take from this one piece of content. I love that. So I want to get into some practical steps that people can use that are considering pivoting from being social media dependent. So whenever you're thinking about people that are

typically relying solely on social media. We talked about how they can leverage collaborations. We talked about how they can leverage SEO, but I want to talk about how all of that plays into email marketing. And so a lot of people feel as if, if you have social media, I have thousands of followers on social media. That typically means that I can have thousands of dollars in the bank account. I don't know why people think followers associate with money. I don't know. I have no idea.

But I have been telling my, I've literally been telling my clients since I'm blue in the face, like you need to grow your email list. You need to grow your email list. And so if you're going to be posting this content, you need to be gearing them to go down your funnel to your email list. And so when you think about collaborations and SEO, what is the tool that you would use? Cause I have mine, but I definitely want to hear your point of view as well. But what is a tool that you use to get those people?

off of socials or off of that audience, that new exposed audience onto your email list.

Andria Singletary (36:49)
Yeah. So when it comes to collaborations, like bundles, they're automatically going to get on your email list because essentially they're signing up for whatever resource you contributed to that bundle. And in order for them to get that resource, they have to hand over their email. but yes.

Carlissa LeBlanc (37:05)
Wait, so first of all, sorry, when you talk about bundles, because I

have some baby entrepreneurs in here, so when you talk about bundles, what?

Andria Singletary (37:11)
Yeah, let me break down what bundles are. So bundles

are essentially you partner with other business owners who serve a similar audience as you. And so essentially the person who is hosting the bundle, you provide them or you give them like access to a resource, like usually it's a paid resource that you have that you essentially make.

available for free during this collaboration. And so essentially everybody who's participating, they share about the bundle with their audience, whether it's via email or on socials. And so people who sign up, they are taken to this page that has like all of the resources listed and they just go through and decide which resources they want to sign up for. And so when they sign up, essentially they have to hand over their name and email to access that resource.

Carlissa LeBlanc (38:03)
I gotcha. So when you say bundle, cause when I think, I don't know why my brain goes here. I think about people that have like a digital course. And so if you have, say you have a digital course that you are launching, but you want to do like a segment on marketing. essentially, is it that I'm providing you like my marketing segment to your audience for free that typically would charge? Is that what you're saying?

Andria Singletary (38:31)
Sort of. it doesn't have to necessarily be like a digital course. It can be a PDF. It can be a template or anything like that. But to kind of give an example. So I hosted a bundle. It was called the Social Media Detox Bundle and everyone who contributed a resource, it was something that helped.

participants essentially build a business that wasn't reliant on social media. So I had a contributor who was a web designer who provided a website template. like say you were redoing your website, now you have this template you can use. I had someone else who it was like a mini course on sell strategy, know, selling via email and other platforms outside of social media that people were able to.

Carlissa LeBlanc (39:01)
Mmmmm

Andria Singletary (39:17)
sign up for and access it. So it's different types of resources, but again, it's usually something that people have to pay for. So you don't have to necessarily contribute your whole course. Like maybe you just contribute a specific module from that course. And then you can even do like an upsell or tripwire where they can pay for the full course if they want to access it that way or something like that. Yeah, but that's essentially what bundles are.

Carlissa LeBlanc (39:33)
See.

I see.

I gotcha. And so going back to the original question, you leverage bundles with other people within the industry to build your email list. So basically when they sign up for the bundle, they have to provide their email address. And how does that work on the backend with, you know, logistically? Cause if someone is signing up for our bundle and they're going onto your website, how do I get their email address?

Andria Singletary (40:12)
So.

As the host, you get everyone's email address because they're giving you their name and email to get access to, they call it the gift page that has everyone's resources listed and linked. So as the host, you get everyone's email, but then people can go through the gift page and whatever resources stand out to them that they were like, ooh, I want to sign up for this. Then they have to click a link that takes them over to another page where they'll enter their name and email.

Carlissa LeBlanc (40:25)
Mm-hmm.

Andria Singletary (40:43)
to access that specific resource. Yeah.

Carlissa LeBlanc (40:44)
I see.

That is impressive. That's impressive. So is that like a certain platform that you would have to use or can you like host that on your own website? I guess essentially you could.

Andria Singletary (40:57)
So

the gift page and even the registration page, yes, would be hosted on your website, but you would use your email marketing platform for people to register. like, for instance, what convert kit you would just create. can't think of what the form type is, but it's one that you can embed on your website. So that way, you know, they enter their name and email and then you will set it up on your end where they get a specific tag.

Carlissa LeBlanc (41:17)
Mm-hmm.

Andria Singletary (41:25)
and then are added to like a specific sequence that gives them the link to the gift page and all of that stuff.

Carlissa LeBlanc (41:27)
Yeah.

Yeah, I love that. I love that. So utilizing bundles, okay, that's one way. What's another way that you would suggest?

Andria Singletary (41:37)
Yeah.

So within collaborations, even like speaking at virtual summits and events, you would just make sure to pitch like a lead magnet to get people on your email list. And one thing with that is you want to make sure whatever the resource you're pitching is connects to the topic you're speaking on. So that way, like that resource is the next logical step people would take.

Carlissa LeBlanc (42:00)
Mm-hmm.

Andria Singletary (42:05)
And then even with podcasts guesting, so like I'm gonna share with you guys about my free private podcast, Make Social Media Optional, since that's what we're talking about today. And so, you know, sharing that free resource that people can sign up for that way. that's with collaborations, like one way I do it. But then also I leverage my podcast to grow my email list. So I do a mix of in my episodes, like I will...

pitch a specific offer or I would pitch either like my private podcast or pitch my email list in general, just because I talk about marketing without social media on my email list and my email community gets more of the behind the scenes, like they're more of like my VIPs and everything like that. you exclusive access to new offers and different things like that. But I use my podcast that way as well. Even with blogging, you know,

If I'm speaking on a certain topic in a blog post and I have like a lead magnet that connects to that topic, I will include the link to sign up for that lead magnet. So just those different ways. then even just having a pop up on my website for one of my lead magnets, like that's been really good. So anytime new people come to my website, they immediately see that pop up and people join my email list that way. So.

There's lots of different ways to do it. I would say the biggest thing is though, was just talking about your email list, whether that's telling people about your lead magnet or even just selling people on joining your email list, like whether that's they're going to get access to exclusive content or access to, you know, exclusive offers and discounts and different things like that. But just telling people about your email list and everything.

Carlissa LeBlanc (43:38)
Yeah.

Yeah, that's good. That's good. And while we're talking about new strategies to implement, I also wanna hit on the most common mistakes that you see people make whenever they are switching from becoming social media dependent. I like the word social media dependent now. Social media dependent. So what are some common mistakes that you see people make that are making that switch from relying solely on social media?

Andria Singletary (44:24)
One mistake I see people make is that they completely just ghosts their social media community without saying anything and you don't want to do that. Like you want to tell people what's going on and everything. Plus you want to give them that opportunity to connect with you on, know, whatever platform you are going to be showing up on. So whether that's driving them to, know, your podcast or your YouTube or driving them to your email list, because the reality is that you have

quality leads within that community. Like you've been putting your energy in growing and connecting with that community. So you don't want to just leave them hanging like up and disappear. And they're like, where does she go? So I would say that's like the biggest thing I see people do. So don't do that, you know. And I would say even just taking some time to kind of transition away from socials, like if that is your plan where you just want to step away completely.

Carlissa LeBlanc (45:05)
Mm-hmm.

Andria Singletary (45:22)
so again, like taking time and actually telling people what's going on and driving them to your email. So that way they can stay connected to you. so that's one mistake. And then the other mistake I see is people trying to implement all of the different platforms outside of social media at once. And it becomes overwhelming. So they want to launch the podcast and the YouTube channel, start the blog, start doing collaborations, and then they get burnt out. So.

Carlissa LeBlanc (45:31)
Mm-hmm.

Mmm

Yeah.

Andria Singletary (45:51)
I wouldn't do that. I would take it slow, especially if you haven't been doing those things already. Take your time. You don't have to launch the podcast and the YouTube channel at the same time. You could start with an audio-only podcast first, add in YouTube later. Or start with collaborations. I feel like collaborations are so low-lift because they don't require a lot on your part.

Carlissa LeBlanc (46:03)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Andria Singletary (46:16)
for me doing this podcast interview, I don't have to edit this. Like, that's not my responsibility. So you can start with doing something like that just to kind of fill it out and making sure that is something you actually enjoy doing and everything and then go from there and adding in little by little, know, more and whatnot. But one thing I'm big on and I tell all the mamas I serve is looking at your current capacity. Like,

Carlissa LeBlanc (46:42)
Mm-hmm.

Andria Singletary (46:42)
What

can you realistically commit to in this season of life? know, starting the podcast may not be something that you can do right now, and that's okay. Like, you can add it in later. So really looking at what makes sense for you right now, what you can realistically do right now and start with that, and then gradually adding in more.

Carlissa LeBlanc (46:53)
Yeah.

Yeah, I love that. I love that. And also I know that you have your podcast as well. So I do want to let people know that you have your podcast. And if you wanted to check her out, definitely, definitely check her out. Her podcast is called Marketing Without Socials for Moms. So I just wanted to plug that in there because I do feel like podcasting is absolutely amazing because one, whenever, and it is likely, it is very mutual.

Andria Singletary (47:19)
Yes.

Carlissa LeBlanc (47:29)
Even though I have to edit the podcast, it's not a lot like, it's not a lot of like preparation as it is for like solo episodes. So it's mutually beneficial. On one hand, you have someone that's a guest that speaks about a topic that they can talk about in their sleep. But then on the other hand, like for me, it's not a lot of preparation on the back end. Like I don't have to come up with an outline. I don't have to figure out the title. I don't have to come up with the outline. Like all I need to do is just think of some questions to give to my guests.

But then also we just come on here and have organic conversation as if we're just sitting here having coffee, chatting with one another about our industry. So it definitely is good. But if you don't have the bandwidth to do all the editing and the promos and all this, I definitely wouldn't suggest for you to just hop into something that's so foreign. Like she was saying before, start with just going on other people's podcasts. It's going on live. I feel like Instagram Live is another thing that a lot of people don't really take advantage of.

But even if you go on live with other people, that's another way of collaborating in the video format so people can gauge your personality. That's really what people want to be able to see before they invest in you. What is your personality? Like how is your character? How do you show up? Do they actually like you? Do they feel like they can know, know you? Do they feel like they can trust you? Do they feel like you're a credible person for somebody to spend their money on? And so that's really what people are looking for before they decide to buy. It's not about

how perfect your content is. It's not about how great your video is. It's not about what outfit you have on. It's just about you and your area of expertise. Do you actually really know what you're talking about? can I trust to spend my money with this person? okay. Does she really know what she's talking about? Or is she just out here just trying to scam and get our money and talk about, you know, something random? That's what people want to know. And so...

Andria Singletary (49:13)
Yeah.

Carlissa LeBlanc (49:16)
Long form content podcasting is a definitely good way of being able to increase your credibility, even if it's not necessarily your podcast, just hopping on other people's and getting your voice out there to the masses, one episode at a time, one live at a time, one video at a time, or one panel or speaking engagement at a time. That's really it. So, and I think also where it ties into being a mom, because I know you were talking about balance and having capacity.

Like I want to know what your insight is because even you as a podcast host, having a business, having all of the things, like how do you manage to do it all?

Andria Singletary (49:55)
I don't do it all. No, I seriously I don't. So one thing like you'll go to my Instagram and I don't really post anything like I do try to update my feed quarterly like I do like a nine or 12 grid. But that platform hasn't served me well in my business. I don't put energy into it. But as far as like for content creation,

repurposing makes it so easy for me. I start with my podcast. I plan my podcast content. like right now I'm finishing up planning March podcast content. Then I'm going to go through that content that I plan for the podcast and look at, okay, what emails can I write from this content? And then I'm going to go through and look, okay, what thread posts can I create from this content?

Carlissa LeBlanc (50:48)
I like that.

Andria Singletary (50:49)
And usually what I do for threads, because I use for my podcast, Cast Magic. So it spits out a transcript and it gives content ideas and a whole bunch of stuff. And so I just pull from that. I'll pull out specific quotes and go like, oh, OK, let me expand on this a little bit more, make it a threads post. And I schedule out my threads post. my threads post, those posts that you see, that's not me posting live. All of that was scheduled out and stuff like that.

Carlissa LeBlanc (51:17)
haha

Andria Singletary (51:19)
so like that, like having this streamlined system and really, really repurposing content, like, because we create a lot of content as business owners and kind of like what you were saying earlier, we're constantly like, Ooh, I need to create something new. No, you don't. You don't. Not everybody has seen, you know, that piece of content. Not everybody has listened to that podcast episode. So

break it up, repurpose it, put it on different platforms. And sometimes people need to hear the same thing multiple times before it finally clicks. I do that as far as like the content creation and marketing, sales side of things and everything like that. But then also like how I serve my clients. Like I can't do a whole bunch of live calls and my clients get it because they're primarily moms. They don't have the time to hop on live calls too. So.

Carlissa LeBlanc (51:47)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Andria Singletary (52:11)
coaching and stuff like that, we do that via Voxer. As far as like the membership, you know, we do monthly coworking calls and then a monthly live workshop or training, which I've been doing a lot of guest speakers, just because I like, I know a lot about marketing without social media, but I know there are lot of experts who can dive deeper into these topics. And so,

Carlissa LeBlanc (52:16)
Mmm.

Andria Singletary (52:39)
I open up my community to these experts and stuff. like we had a guest expert that came in this week who was talking to us about increasing our visibility through like article features and stuff like that. And it was so, so good. but I do things differently. I look at what I can realistically do. Like I'm not going to run myself into the ground for this business. And so if it's something that is not serving me well or

Carlissa LeBlanc (52:51)
Thanks.

Andria Singletary (53:06)
I just don't wanna do it, I don't do it. That's kinda like my attitude with it and everything. And then looking at what I can simplify and then of course outsourcing where I can outsource. So like for instance with my website, anytime there's an update, I got my web designer there. I'm not doing it, I don't have the time for it. I give her what she needs and she handles it and everything like that. But I think just being okay with as a mom,

Carlissa LeBlanc (53:09)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Andria Singletary (53:35)
it's okay to do things differently. You're not going to do things the way that all these other people out there are doing it. You know, the so-called gurus and experts are telling you to do it because a lot of them, don't have kids. They don't get it. So I, yeah, just doing things differently.

Carlissa LeBlanc (53:37)
Yeah.

Nope. Mm-mm.

Yeah.

And I love that because I feel like when people find that piece of difference, that's where they typically thrive. Like, because you're being different, you're doing something that hasn't been done before. And so even I think about myself where I've tried to like put myself into all of these boxes that I saw other people create and I'm like, that sounds brilliant. Like, let me do that. Or that sounds brilliant. Let me do that. And so

Even with me finding my different, my different of being a side hustler. I feel like that was a community of people that was just not served at all. And so even just being in this space, I've seen how there's a need and there's a sense of community that people need when they're on this journey. And that's my different. And so even just finding your ways of doing business different, it doesn't matter what the next person that's in your industry that's doing like focus on you, focus on what works for you.

what works for your lifestyle, works for your family, what works for yourself and your mental being, your mental capacity. Just like you were saying, coaching, like coaching on Boxer, everyone feels like they have to show up on one-on-one calls, video, all of the things, but you are literally finding your way of doing things different, but still providing the same amount of value to your customers. So I commend you for that. I love that. I did want to ask you before we hop off,

Andria Singletary (55:12)
Thank

Carlissa LeBlanc (55:16)
Cause I know that you said you're podcasting your own threads. You do your quarterly fee updates. You have your emails. Like if you could think of a pie, like, and what percentage of time you allot for each, you know, area, what would you, what would you break your pie down into?

Andria Singletary (55:34)
Ooh, so I would say probably spend the most time on the podcast. So for like full production, editing, scheduling the episode, scheduling the show notes, writing the show notes. also leverage Pinterest for my podcast. So creating the pins for that, like that full process takes me about an hour for episode.

Carlissa LeBlanc (55:57)
Please tell me you have someone

creating your pins for you, because that's insane.

Andria Singletary (56:01)
No, I do it. Like I have templates. It doesn't take long. Yeah. So like for the full, yeah, for the full process, takes about an hour, which I mean, that's because I'm creating essentially multiple pieces of content within the podcast and stuff.

Carlissa LeBlanc (56:03)
Okay, that makes sense, that makes sense.

Yeah.

Andria Singletary (56:16)
so I would say that probably takes the longest with my emails. I give myself no more than 10 to 15 minutes to write an email. Like if I'm sitting there staring at the screen, it's just time to end the email. Like that's it. Like I, and that's something I had to set a boundary with myself because I'm a recovering perfectionist. And so, and it's like,

Carlissa LeBlanc (56:29)
Yeah.

Come on, me too.

Andria Singletary (56:38)
It's like, girl, you cannot spend hours on a single email. So now that I've really like found my voice in email marketing and stuff, like it doesn't take me long to write an email. Like I'll get an idea for an email. Like when I'm in the bathtub and I'll like, let me grab my phone. And I will write the email right there in my notes app. And that email will be done. I just need to schedule it and convert kit. so.

Carlissa LeBlanc (56:59)
Yes. Yes.

Andria Singletary (57:03)
And then as far as like collaborations, cause that's another, another part of what I do. I have created a streamlined process. like I have, I call it like a collaborations assets document. So it has all of my signature topics in it. has like the links to like my headshot. It has my bio, like everything in one place. And so it takes me like five, 10 minutes to apply for different collaborations and stuff. So.

Carlissa LeBlanc (57:25)
that's so brilliant.

That is brilliant.

Andria Singletary (57:34)
Yeah, I created it for my membership because one of the mamas was like, you know, it takes me a long time. OK, let me create something for you. So I did that. And so now, like even with the members, it doesn't take them a long time to apply for collaborations because they have literally everything in one place. Yeah, I would say like the podcast probably takes up, I guess you could say maybe 75 percent of the pie and then everything else would be like.

Carlissa LeBlanc (57:42)
Wow!

Yes!

Andria Singletary (58:02)
applying for collaborations and then what else? The threads content, is repurposing content. Yeah, so, yeah.

Carlissa LeBlanc (58:10)
repurposed, but because

the podcast is solely the entryway of your content, that's why a lot of that time is spent there because everything else follows after the podcast content.

Andria Singletary (58:21)
Yes.

Yes, my podcast is I say my podcast is like my main converter. Like I have seen it where someone found my podcast, binge the episodes and within two weeks opted into one of my offers. I think the shortest amount of time has taken someone to convert. was like 10 days. So, yeah, so like I focus heavily on the podcast because that I call it my moneymaker, like.

Carlissa LeBlanc (58:31)
Mm-hmm.

Mmm.

Yeah.

Andria Singletary (58:53)
People listen to my podcast and they're like, okay, I need to work with her late. So yeah, I spend the bulk of my time there, but because it's serving me well, I'm seeing the results. I'm seeing the conversions and everything. It makes sense to me to focus my time and energy there.

Carlissa LeBlanc (59:09)
Yeah, I love that. So if you are in a place of wanting to try out some different things of increasing your visibility, number one, the number one thing would be just be to put yourself out there and try different things. So try the SEO strategies, try collaborations, try networking, see what works, but give yourself time to implement those strategies. Don't just do it one time, say it doesn't work and then not do it again.

Give yourself time to do it. But then once you figure out that thing that works for you, that should be the place where you land and spend most of your time. And basically take that place, repurpose it to other methods and other platforms and other streamlined areas, and then continue to recreate that system. That's what you're saying, right? I'm like, that's what you're saying, right? No, this was good. This was really good.

Andria Singletary (59:56)
Yes.

Carlissa LeBlanc (1:00:05)
Well, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. I'm so excited. I'm so excited, but I do want to give you an opportunity to tell the audience where they can follow you, where they can learn about you, where they can connect with you and just learn about your work and your business.

Andria Singletary (1:00:22)
Yeah, so I would say the number one place is my podcast marketing without socials for moms. It's available on Apple, Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcast, that's where you can learn more about me. But also just learn different strategies for building your business outside of social media. And then learn more about like my coaching style and different things like that. But outside of the podcast, I am very active on thread. So if you want to follow me on there, my handle

is Mama Turn Mompreneur. And then definitely check out my private podcast, Make Social Media Optional. I dive into email marketing, podcasting, and collaborations and how you can leverage each of those to sign clients.

Carlissa LeBlanc (1:01:08)
Yes, that's amazing. Thank you so much again for joining me today. It was such a pleasure. I am so honored to have you and hopefully I'll have you again.

Andria Singletary (1:01:19)
Thank you so much for having me. really enjoyed our conversation.

Carlissa LeBlanc (1:01:24)
Yes.