How to Build a Social Media Business from Your Last $60 with Lora Shipman

Kathi: Hi everyone, this is Kathi. I'm with Lora Shipman of Shipman Media. Lora's passionate about increasing her clients' visibility so they can serve their clients better. Whether it's having them as guests on her wildly popular Lora Shipman podcast, she's there to help them drive social and accelerate their business. She shares her knowledge about social media and digital marketing gladly and honestly and really helps her clients move forward and shift themselves into a better space. She lives in the Tampa Bay area, where I used to live, with her husband and her two dogs, Shih Tzus. I love it. Anyhow, thanks for being on the show, Lora. I very much appreciate you being here and giving us your time and your expertise.

Lora: Well, thank you for having me here. This is really exciting, and I love all things organization. So this is great.

Kathi: Yay. Cool. Okay. So before you started getting into media, marketing, that kind of thing, what did you do before that?

Lora: Before that, I actually worked in the home offices of Sunglass Hut when it was based in Coral Gables, Florida. And that was just such a great job. I loved working there. It was a lot of fun. I did a lot of neat things, and that job actually really required me to be highly organized. So I learned a lot of things from organizing, like structuring a company, through to just organizing the day-to-day crazy. And I did a lot of event planning when I was there, where I just had to manage a ton of moving parts. So a really great job. I loved it. It was a lot of fun.

Kathi: That's fantastic. So is that where you realized that you had a passion for social media and that type of thing? Were you dealing with that at Sunglass Hut?

Lora: No, actually, that was before social media even existed. So what really drove me to social media is a different story. I was actually very ill, and I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and I was a single mom at the time, and it was just a really hard time for me. And this was back in 2007, when we weren't working from home. We weren't remote. People really frowned upon working outside of an office setting. People didn't trust people to work on their own and be really structured and disciplined and organized to get the job done. But I just didn't at that point have the energy to do that. So I went on a freelancing site, and I took my last $60 and invested that in myself, and I bet on myself, and I won.

I took my last $60 and invested that in myself, and I bet on myself, and I won.

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Kathi: Thank you.

Lora: And there was this guy, his name is Mike, who took me under his wing. He was an international speaker, and his platform was all about respect and consent when you're dating and things like that. And our target market was mostly high schools, colleges and military bases. That's where we spoke to people. That was just right when social media was beginning to emerge, and he was really into content marketing. And that's how I got started, was with him. At that point, social media was emerging, and I just grew up with social media in that sense, and stayed with it ever since.

Kathi: So he was your first client.

Lora: He was my first client. Yeah.

Kathi: How'd that feel when he said, "I'll hire you to help me, Lora"?

Lora: Oh my gosh, it was so exhilarating. And the thing is, he believed in me, which was amazing. And I believed in him, and I totally supported what he was doing. And he made sure that I had the tools that I needed to succeed. So whether that meant traveling with him… He lived in Wisconsin. I lived in St. Petersburg at the time, and we would meet up in New York City, and he would have me go to all of these workshops and trainings with him. And then he would go on the speaker route, and I would go on the support route, and I just learned so much from him. I mean, he opened my eyes. So that first client was amazing, and it gave me the traction I needed and the motivation I needed and the confidence I needed that I could do this, and that if I bet on myself, every time I'm going to win, and it's going to be fine.

Kathi: I love that story. We have such similar backgrounds, because I was in St. Pete and blah blah blah. I started my company on $49. You started your company on $60. It can be done, and that's the beautiful thing about being an entrepreneur. And I think being a woman entrepreneur, we have even a foot up, if you ask me, as far as entrepreneurship and starting companies. Especially since during COVID, there was so much more money out there for women-owned and operated businesses. So women out there who are looking to jump, it is ripe, and it is time for you to jump and do your own thing. Lora and I are both testimonies to that, right, Lora?

Lora: Absolutely. I often say I'm unemployable, because I've worked for myself for so long, since 2007. I would never have it any other way. I mean, to have your own business, to structure it the way you want, around your lifestyle and at the pace you want. You can't do that anywhere else, really. I can't say that you cannot do it, but it's harder to do it on somebody else's terms versus your own terms.

Kathi: Absolutely. Hey, that leads me into the next question. A perfect segue. What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs who want to create more freedom within their business? I know that oftentimes our business will end up being our boss. I always say my boss is mean. So if you had to give a piece of advice to someone who's feeling a little bit strangled by their business, what would you say to them?

Lora: I would say take a step back, take a look at your business, and really get analytical about how you're approaching it. Are you spending your time in the best places? What can you outsource? Who do you need to hire? And make sure every activity that you're doing is pushing you to your next goal. You might have this huge goal out there. Keep that goal in your horizon, but look at the many goals that you need to attain to get to that big goal, and make sure every activity you're doing is pushing you there. Otherwise, you're wasting your time, and you are being drowned by your business. You're being strangled by your business, because maybe you have too many flashy objects that are distracting you from keeping you where you need to be.

Make sure every activity you're doing is pushing you there. Otherwise, you're wasting your time.

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Kathi: Squirrel.

Lora: A squirrel. Exactly. And it's such a hard lesson to learn, because you can easily fall victim to burnout if you don't watch yourself.

Kathi: Yeah. So what's one lesson that your business has taught you over the years that you would tell other people who have either been in business for a long time or are just starting out?

Lora: I say there's no rules. I mean, there are certain rules you need to follow, like tax rules and things like that, but as far as creating your business and what you're looking to do, there are no rules. So do what you want to do for yourself. Follow that passion or that idea, and ignore the people who tell you you can't, or that it's impossible, or that you're going to fail. Tell yourself, don't listen to them. Let me back up. They're not doing what you're doing right now, right? They're probably working the 9-to-5, working in that J.O.B., which, by the way, my husband and I always joke stands for "just over broke." So don't listen to those people. Really listen to your gut, listen to your instincts, listen to your passion, and just go for it.

Really listen to your gut, listen to your instincts, listen to your passion, and just go for it.

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Kathi: I love that. Absolutely. I love that: J.O.B., just over broke. If you're doing a job, that means you ain't doing it right.

Lora: Right. That's absolutely right. And just a fun fact: both my husband and I are entrepreneurs, and we've been that way for a long, long time, and we just believe in it so much.

Kathi: Yeah. Absolutely. And again, we're simpatico on that. My husband's also an entrepreneur. We're like twinsies on opposite sides of the US.

Lora: That's right.

Kathi: Tell me about a time when you discovered a really powerful organizational tool. What was it, and how did that impact you?

Lora: Oh, okay. So for me, those tools are in the digital world, because I do a lot of social media. Any time that you can find a way to automate any task that you do, I highly recommend doing it. And it can be something as simple as automating your Zoom, if you set up meetings through Calendly, for example. Automating that process, and actually your process is amazing, because it keeps you in touch with the person every step of the way, leading up to maybe 15 minutes before the call. I think that's really important, is automation. Take advantage of that. I know when you're first starting out, it could seem really frivolous to invest that money if maybe you don't have it right away. And I used to be like that a lot. But the minute I pulled that Band-Aid off and said, "Look, my hourly rate is so much better and well worth spent if I was actually working on my business instead of on these little admin tasks." So it can be really, really hard to come to that realization if you really don't have the money. But just imagine how much more income you could have coming in if you had someone or something else doing these menial tasks for you.

Just imagine how much more income you could have coming in if you had someone or something else doing these menial tasks for you.

Kathi: Yeah. I think a lot of entrepreneurs don't understand their rate. They understand the rate that they charge their clients, but they don't pay themselves that rate. So oftentimes I'm saying, well, that's below your rate. That's below what you should be making. And again, I agree, Lora. Are you on your business or in your business? We have to be in our business often, right? We have to set up the Calendly so that it happens with Zoom, so it's all automatic. By the way, Calendly, is that the app that you really like?

Lora: I do. I really like Calendly, and I love that it integrates with Zoom, and it just makes my life so much easier. I never have to think about it. So that's really important. The other thing that I would say too is a lot of times we get so caught up in the day-to-day that we don't sit there and think about the future of our business and working on our business, like those strategic moves or those strategic tasks or projects that you need to do. And this morning was a perfect example. I spent some time really thinking that through. And I think it's important that we carve that time out, maybe not daily, but definitely weekly. The beginning of the week is probably the best time, and the end of the week, because you want that vision for what your week's going to look like, and then you want to do a retrospective come Friday and look at how your business went and what you're going to do come the next week to make it different.

Kathi: Hey, have you been taking my training?

Lora: Oh, no.

Kathi: I love you. You're saying what I say all the time: beginning of the week and the end of the week, have a plan, and go back and reflect on your plan on Friday, and then tidy up and make sure that you know what you're doing on Monday. And then Monday you're going to figure out again what you should be doing. So I love it.

Lora: So I've even come down to where I've got a daily task thing.

Kathi: What's that? I was going to ask you that. Okay. Talk to me about it.

Lora: Yeah. So it's one of these things that I developed just for myself, because I manage close to 20 clients by myself, which is a lot, and I need to stay really organized and focused. And so I work it out where I have a daily plan where I only focus on one or two clients a day, and that's it. I'm not going to go try and hit every client every day, because that's just impossible, and I'm not spending enough time really getting deep into their content and creating everything that they need. And this might sound wasteful, and I'm so sorry if people get offended by this, but I have one for every day of the month that I'm working, and I just know that that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to stay on that track. And there's a couple of things that help me here. It's how I've become really focused, and I stay focused in my day, and I'm not getting distracted. But it also helps me plan time for myself, because a lot of times as an entrepreneur, what we do is we want to do everything, and we wear so many different hats that it's easy to get caught up in that workaholic trend, right? Where you're that hamster on the hamster wheel, just going, going, and you never stop. Until I developed a daily plan for myself, I wasn't taking weekends off. I wasn't taking vacations. I lost myself to my business. It's funny, because my friend and I were talking about this the other day: what are our passions? There's so many times where we get lost in our work that we forget about what makes me Lora, or you Kathi, you know what I mean? So if you don't do that, you're going to lose yourself. And that's the secret sauce to the magic of your business, is not losing yourself, because it's your personality, your creativity and your ideas that really are the driving force behind your business. If you lose that, your business is going to feel it, too.

It's your personality, your creativity and your ideas that really are the driving force behind your business. If you lose that, your business is going to feel it, too.

Kathi: That's so succinct, and that's so true. And that's why I think, number one, there's enough business out there for everybody, because no one can do what you do the way you do it or the way you think. But I do agree. When I rebranded my company to Organized and Energized, I actually did that so that I could gain more energy in my business, because I had lost myself with Add Space to Your Life, which was my original company. I'd lost who… What's my hobby? Gosh, I don't know. Do I have any hobbies? It's like, okay, let's revamp, rebrand, refigure out who's Kathi, what she's doing. I love to talk, hence the podcast. I love to meet other entrepreneurs. I love to pass on secrets of other entrepreneurs. And so here I am. And yeah, I think if you get to the point in your business where you don't know what you like to do besides work, if work is your identity…

Lora: Yeah.

Kathi: And that's a good sign of burnout too, or that burnout is coming soon, if you lose yourself like that.

Lora: Absolutely.

Kathi: Okay. So what's the best piece of advice that anyone's ever given you as an entrepreneur? Anybody?

Lora: You get a lot of advice when you are an entrepreneur, from people who've been down that path and then the ones that haven't. I think the one that I've received is: don't be afraid to try it. Just try it. Because it doesn't matter if you win, lose or fail. Just try it, because you will always learn from whatever it is that you've done. So don't hold back, and just don't worry about trying it.

Kathi: Yeah. And there's nothing wrong with not succeeding in anything, because again, I agree. It's a compass. You just tack. You tack into one thing, tack into another thing, and you might fall off and go back around again and jibe and come back into the wind and go a different way. It doesn't matter, but you know you shouldn't be going that way.

Lora: Yeah.

Kathi: Fabulous. Okay. So I know that you have a valuable free resource to give the listeners here, and I bet it might have something to do with social media of some sort. What is it that you want to offer the listeners or viewers?

Lora: So actually, it's a whole library of stuff. This link that I have given you will just give you a bunch of resources, from scheduling social media to templates to advice on how to do social media and how to save time. Because chances are, if you're an entrepreneur and maybe you're a one-person show or two-person show, you're probably doing a lot of your own social media. And to be able to schedule that and come up with content and things like that, it's really helpful to have somebody in your back pocket who will help you do that. So definitely go check that out.

Kathi: I love that. That's fabulous. I just have to ask you, have you ever used Buffer, and do you have any of your clients use Buffer for scheduling?

Lora: The two tools I use: I use Hootsuite, and I use Facebook's Creator Studio. Those are my two go-tos. Creator Studio with Facebook is free. Hootsuite does have a paid option, but their free option is very robust, and I think for most people, they can get away with just doing the free version of Hootsuite.

Kathi: Oh, that's fantastic. Yeah, I didn't know they had a free version. Last time I checked into them, I went to one of their little conference things. It's really fun. By the way, if you ever hear Hootsuite's coming and they're having a little party in your area, go, because it's really a blast, and you can learn a lot of stuff.

Lora: Cool.

Kathi: Yeah, the one I went to was fantastic. Anyhow, thank you for sharing those tools, because there are a lot of free options out there. That's why I was saying Buffer. I used Buffer for years before I turned to another one, and it served me well for something that's just prescheduling, and also looking into the Facebook option. So there's a lot of options out there. The bottom line, gang, and Calendly, as you said earlier, Lora, Calendly is free too. So you don't have to buy a big version to get this stuff done. One thing I also just discovered, which makes me so happy: I use Google Calendar, and I can save it as a Zoom meeting. Boom, one click and it's saved as a Zoom meeting. So there's so much out there. Just have fun. Were you going to say something about that?

Lora: No, I was trying to figure out what you were talking about, but I'm like, yes, that's right. It does do that. That's really awesome.

Kathi: I just discovered it about two months ago. Make a Zoom meeting? Heck yeah. It's not good for podcasting, but it's good for client meetings and whatnot. Now they no longer have to figure out where they're going to find me, because it's in their calendar invitation. Thank God. Hallelujah. So that's a good thing. Well, I really appreciate your time. And is there anything that I should have asked you that I did not? Anything that you feel like we've missed the boat on with this?

Lora: Just, if you're thinking about starting your own business, but maybe you don't know what to start, just do what you love doing, and the money will come. You're an expert at something, so just figure out what that is, or you have a passion about something, and turn that into a business. That's the best thing you could do to get out of the J.O.B.

Kathi: That's fantastic advice. And even if it's your passion, even if you're not an expert, you will become an expert very quickly, because you'll know more about that topic than anybody else after you've done it a while, because you love it, and you're going to be absorbing all this information. I think that's so perfect, Lora, because it doesn't take a lot to be an expert. All an expert is, is someone who knows a little bit more about the topic than somebody else. So if you are passionate, I actually guarantee that you're going to know more than the average bear about whatever it is that you want to pursue. So that's really good advice. So come on, ladies, jump off that corporate bandwagon. Let's go.

Lora: Excellent. Yeah. If you fail, it doesn't matter. Just try again and do something else. Who cares?

Kathi: Exactly. It's all about the journey. And you know what? The journey never gets done anyhow.

Lora: That's true.

Kathi: Well, I really appreciate your time. Everybody, check below and download all of those assets that Lora's offering for you. I guarantee there'll be something in there that'll be a huge nugget that will catapult you into whatever you're going to do next. So thanks for your time, Lora. I really appreciate it.

Lora: Thank you for having me. This was great.

Kathi: Absolutely.