Kristen Bousquet - Creating Soulcial Influence

Chris Stone [00:00:01]:
An amazing guest that we've got today. She is the host of the Social Scoop podcast, the founder at, Your Social Mate, and she helps entrepreneurial creators become more profitable business owners. Would you please welcome to Dealcasters, Kristin Bosuet.

Kristen Bousquet [00:00:23]:
Hi, everyone. Thank you guys so much for having me.

Chris Stone [00:00:26]:
Thank you for coming. Look at the what did you call what did you call that, that office behind? What did you call it?

Jim Fuhs [00:00:31]:
You're

Kristen Bousquet [00:00:32]:
So this is my clothice, my closet office, because I've got my whole desk set up over here, but also, like, my whole closet's on this side. We're short for space, so here we are.

Jim Fuhs [00:00:42]:
Adapt. Overcome. Love it.

Kristen Bousquet [00:00:45]:
Yes. Also, I really feel like I want Oreos now that you guys just had that entire conversation about Oreos.

Chris Stone [00:00:51]:
On Amazon, we should put the Oreos and maybe some milk and some glass and maybe in the carousel. So you're an Amazon influencer as well, and Right. So, is your is your Amazon shop on on Amazon, is it is it the same handle as as everything else, this, this right here, that that we put on the screen? It's k Yeah.

Kristen Bousquet [00:01:14]:
And if you're on yep. If you're on any of my platforms too, it's linked in my bio. So I share a lot of, like, photography equipment, like, different backdrops that I use, but also a lot of just kind of office things that I like to use a lot. So I update it pretty frequently.

Chris Stone [00:01:30]:
Very cool. Very cool. So if you're just now joining us and you don't know yet who Kristen Bosquet is, we've been really digging your stuff because, Kristen, I think a lot of people when they get into the content creator thing, and I think Amazon has opened up the door, you know, for a lot of people that are maybe four digit, not five and six digit subscriber and follower level. And when when they get into this whole content creator thing, there's not really necessarily a manual out there, there's not like, you know, how to do TikTok for dummies. I mean, there's, you know, maybe somebody's written a book by now, but I mean, by the time it's printed and published, it's changed, right? And so Right.

Jim Fuhs [00:02:16]:
One of

Chris Stone [00:02:17]:
the things I really like about your stuff and your content when you're when I do and you're working with content creators is you're sharing these things that are sort of the practical tips and and and strategies for someone who has never had experience maybe with having a conversation with a brand. And, they may not have, like, the the level that you do in terms of Instagram and TikTok followers. Yeah. So how have you, how have you worked to to build that business for you at Social Mate?

Kristen Bousquet [00:02:49]:
Yeah. So my journey actually started a really long time ago. Back in around 02/2008, I started a blog, and this was really so far before influencers I don't even know if influencer was, like, a term at that point. Everyone was, like, a blogger. And I started a blog. I lived in a small town in Massachusetts, and I just wanted some way to kind of express myself. And honestly, I just I've I've rode the wave all the way until today where we've had so many different platforms that have have come and gone. And Instagram is really where I think I kinda hit the jackpot in terms of building my community.

Kristen Bousquet [00:03:28]:
I realized that platform was the one where I was really able to build, like, this loyal audience of people that every time I share something, they actually care about what I have to say and they're actually reading it. And then TikTok came along, so I also kinda transitioned a lot of my audience there, and I've been growing there as well. But over the last however many years of being in this kind of creator industry, I've just learned so much. And I realized going through it by myself that there, like you said, was no manual. It was all trial and error, which obviously took so much time. And I made so many mistakes along the way that could have really been easily avoided if I had any sort of guidance. So that's why I actually started SocialMate was really just to kind of be that guidance and hold people's hands throughout the whole process of building a business as a creator. I feel like there's a lot of information out there, but it's kind of all over the place.

Kristen Bousquet [00:04:25]:
So there's not a lot of really great places where you can go to get everything you need, but also get, like you said, very timely information because it's all changing literally every single day.

Jim Fuhs [00:04:36]:
Yeah. So, Kristen and and that brings up a good point because, like, right now, like, say for an example, Chris and I as creators, you know, we we had focused a lot on Instagram, and then you start hearing people say, oh, well, you gotta be on TikTok. And it's like, you you start to sometimes, like, is it really gonna help me that much to to go to one or the other? And then, you know, you saw Instagram was trying to become more like TikTok, and people started literally online protesting. And so Instagram said, oh, okay. Okay. We we'll we'll we'll kinda, you know, pump the brakes a little bit and and be more Instagram. What what are your thoughts on those two? Or do you think that all these platforms are trying to, like, copy each other and and there's like, we're losing that originality?

Kristen Bousquet [00:05:22]:
Yeah. I mean, Instagram for me will always be, like, my favorite platform because I was a photographer long before I was a creator, so I really love being able to share, you know, high quality photos, but it does stink because Instagram is shifting to be such a video platform. So almost the photos almost don't get as much recognition as they used to, which is discouraging. I will say I actually resisted getting on TikTok for a while. And then

Jim Fuhs [00:05:51]:
maybe, I

Kristen Bousquet [00:05:51]:
think it was November of twenty twenty, I said, okay, I'm just gonna do it. Like, I have no expectations of what's gonna come out of it. And honestly, I'm so happy that I did. I've realized that my audiences on Instagram and TikTok, while they're both interested in the same things, they're very different people. And so I've been able to kind of, like, reach a bunch of different people, like, some people who are really looking for a one on one experience to to learn the ropes of this whole industry, but then other people who just wanna consume a bunch of, you know, small content. They want ebooks or they want, you know, little seminars and things like that. So I've been able to really, you know, touch on a lot of different categories of building my business of being on both of these platforms. So I don't know.

Kristen Bousquet [00:06:37]:
I always encourage people to get on both of them. I think it's overwhelming to try and consistently share on both platforms because it's a lot of content to create. But I think once you get your systems in place, it becomes a lot more manageable. And also, TikTok is a lot more casual, so you can almost have just less of a production and kind of, like, more on the fly videos. So it becomes a little bit less stressful, I guess. We actually just did an episode this past Tuesday on Social Scoop about how to be consistent on multiple platforms because you have to get those systems in place for it to work or you're gonna go crazy.

Chris Stone [00:07:14]:
Yeah. And I love how you you you are on all of the tubes, you're on all of the things, and this is we encourage this as well, but it's also just so intimidating and so daunting Yeah. For a content creator to go, oh my god, how am I gonna do, oh, I gotta do a Pinterest thing, I gotta TikTok, I gotta do Instagram, I gotta tweet it, I gotta, you know, all of all of the things. Yeah. And so what happens I think a lot of times is instead of doing what you're doing is you're looking at each one of these sort of individually and you're thinking about the audience there, right? You're you're saying, okay, on TikTok, this is what I'm seeing people resonate with.

Jim Fuhs [00:07:49]:
On Instagram, this is what

Chris Stone [00:07:49]:
I'm seeing people resonate with. Experimenting with all of these kinds of things, and I'm building my tribes, my audiences, my my my, you know, whoever is following me up a hill on TikTok may not be into me on Instagram, that kind of thing. Man. What about content creators that say, I don't have all of this time, so I can't be on all of these things, so maybe they're taking and creating a fifty nine second video, and maybe throwing some subtitles on it and they're using it as a YouTube short, as TikTok, as Instagram like, they're using the same piece of content. Is would you recommend them to do that maybe at first and kinda see what sticks and then be able to change? Like, how did you how did you create different types of platforms for your singular brand on these different pipes?

Kristen Bousquet [00:08:40]:
Yeah. It's it's definitely challenging because, again, like, you can definitely repurpose content, but that doesn't necessarily guarantee that it's gonna perform really well on each different platform. So I guess there's a couple of different things that I recommend. First, I would recommend doing what people call a creator sprint. So this is where, I think, when you get on a new platform, it's really helpful to do this. So, if you were today to go join TikTok, I would say for maybe thirty or sixty days, you go in in just thirty to sixty days of posting anything and everything, different topics, different formats, different links, different trends, all of the different things that you could possibly think of. And you spend those thirty to sixty days just not even worrying about building that community, not worrying about, you know, sticking to a niche or getting brand deals. You're just really trying to experiment and find out what actually works and what doesn't work, but also what's sustainable for you to create.

Kristen Bousquet [00:09:37]:
You know? Like, I really like making videos of different outfits and things like that, but can I make those every day? Absolutely not. I would go insane. So you find what's sustainable, but you also find the different topics or the different formats that start to really work for you with your audience, and then you're able to kind of grasp it a little bit more. So then from that point on, you know a little bit more of what's gonna work and what maybe you should put more of your energy into. But I also would recommend too, like, I think repurposing content is is a great, great thing to do. It's really such a time saver for creators. If you were to make one long YouTube video, maybe a, you know, ten, twenty minute YouTube video, you take clips from that and put it onto, TikTok, and then maybe you do an Instagram post where you share some of the, you know, a list of the tips that you shared in that YouTube video, directing people maybe back to listen to the whole thing if they want more. And then you can make a pin of that as well.

Kristen Bousquet [00:10:35]:
So I do think that repurposing content is the smartest thing to do. But I also outsource too. So I think that's something not a lot of creators really think about because our our life as creators, it feels so personal. Like, we're the only ones that can do it because our content is typically of us. But I have, actually, a Pinterest manager who she just pulls from all of my content. I haven't touched Pinterest in months. So she keeps it all going. And anywhere that I feel like maybe this isn't the platform that I know the most about, which is Pinterest for me, that's where I say, okay, you can just handle it.

Kristen Bousquet [00:11:13]:
I'm gonna leave it to you from there. And then she can kind of keep that going for me so that I don't have so much on my plate too.

Jim Fuhs [00:11:19]:
So let's dive into that a little deeper because that's a very interesting, you know, concept or or tactic. So you're so you're creating the content, and then she just takes it and kind of says, okay, I'm gonna make this Pinterest likes. Or does she maybe sometimes say, hey, could you do this or that? Because that'll work better on Pinterest. How does how does that work?

Kristen Bousquet [00:11:40]:
Yeah. So typically, most of the time, she's just pulling content from what I'm already creating. So if I create a a TikTok video about here's five tips to get brand deals, she'll go make a pin that's a graphic that says five tips to land brand deals, and then it directs over to that video. So she kinda just makes the, you know, the visuals a little bit more Pinterest friendly. But there's also times where usually in the beginning of the month, she'll say, hey, these are the trends for this month of of what's trending on Pinterest. And usually it will be like, you know, influencer tips or maybe it's, you know, how to land holiday campaigns or things like that. And then I know to just create more content around those. And what I've found too is typically when she gives me something that's trending on Pinterest, it's usually something that's also kinda interesting on the other platforms as well, or relevant on the other platforms.

Kristen Bousquet [00:12:34]:
And so I usually just kind of will take those Pinterest terms that are trending, and I'll create TikTok content or Instagram content. And then, again, she can use it on Pinterest

Chris Stone [00:12:43]:
as well. I love that because you're talking about like, you talked about before, like, creating a YouTube video and then just repurposing it and chopping it up and and utilizing it for, you know, a particular platform and sort of testing it out. But I think what you're talking about too is when you do outsource that, and I we're huge fans of investing in this as a business for yourself, including, like, saying, hey, listen. I don't know that much about Pinterest. By the way, that's me too. And so, you know, so why not find someone who is absolutely passionate about it that wants to do this to further their career, so they need a sandbox to play in, and so they're encouraged to do that, and you're you're outsourcing that with a little bit of money in terms of your investment. And not only are they getting you additional audience on that platform, but you're taking that content and saying, you know what? I happen to be an expert on this other platform, and, actually, that really works for this as well. So you're so you're almost double dipping with that with that content there.

Chris Stone [00:13:42]:
Right?

Kristen Bousquet [00:13:43]:
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, she almost kind of she's helping a little bit with strategy too when she's telling me these are all the things that's trending because Pinterest especially, like, Pinterest is a search engine more than it's a social media platform. So you're getting more of the information about what people are actually searching, which is gonna be pretty much no different from what they're searching on TikTok or Instagram or YouTube. So, it's really you get that insider information, and then I kinda just spread it throughout all the platforms. Yeah.

Chris Stone [00:14:13]:
It's and, yeah, I think, the underrate, you just this is huge, and I'm sorry, Jim, for interrupting, but I just wanna underline and punctuate this especially. And people all the time, you know, Kristen, you're a podcaster as well. People all the time will come to us, and be like, well, I just don't have time to do a podcast. Maybe they're doing a live stream already. And they don't understand. Sometimes it's about putting that content out as a podcast and maybe finding people that are in that audience. Right? But you just touched on this. Most of the time, it's about SEO.

Chris Stone [00:14:45]:
It's about getting found. It's about a search engine. And, you know, Google loves podcasts. You know? And when you type in Kristen's name or you type in SocialMate and you type in social scoop, you type in these words, your podcast populates. Your Pinterest page is a great search engine. Right? YouTube there's a reason why YouTube is so popular. It's it's a massive search engine. It's the number two search engine in the world.

Chris Stone [00:15:11]:
So if you're focusing yourself just on one and you should do the one you're most passionate about, I'm a big, proponent of what you're talking about, which is create real estate for yourself on these other platforms if you have content. You don't necessarily have to do it every day, but you're gonna get found from some stuff you did two years ago possibly that you put up there.

Jim Fuhs [00:15:35]:
Yeah?

Kristen Bousquet [00:15:36]:
Yeah. I think it's important to be on both of those platforms, like, some that are a little bit more focused on search, which could be, like, a blog or a YouTube or a Pinterest, and then also the more algorithm based, you know, platforms as well because then you're able to, first of all, have that more evergreen content on the search based platforms, where, again, like, two years later, you could still be making money from the same post. And then at the same time, you have more of that algorithm based platform where you never know what's gonna happen, you never know who you're gonna meet and who you're gonna get in front of, so you can kind of dip into both of those. I think that's a good plan.

Jim Fuhs [00:16:13]:
So, Kristin, and because you said you started out as a blogger, so are you still heavily involved in doing blogs, or have you kind of morphed more to where you do more social? Are you still kind of like, you know, hey, blogging is where I started. I because you you're talking about search.

Kristen Bousquet [00:16:30]:
Yeah. Yeah. We definitely haven't put as much of an emphasis on blogging. Right now, the the biggest form of blogging we do is actually taking notes from our podcast episodes, turning those into blog posts. And then, actually, again, we repurpose those on Pinterest and everything as well to drive people to the blog, which drives people to the podcast. So the blog is really mostly kind of like our show notes where we're giving, here's the the rundown of what happened in this podcast episode, all very SEO friendly in hopes that they will also dip into listening to the whole podcast.

Jim Fuhs [00:17:04]:
Excellent.

Chris Stone [00:17:05]:
Just to, you know, follow-up on this because we've got a comment over here, on Amazon from our friend Fabian at, Jarhead six rides. He says his top five videos on his main channel this month, did them, like, seven years ago. So Crazy. Yeah. And I think, a lot of people and I just wanna roll this over to you, Kristen, because, you know, people when they when they're gonna click on all of these links, and I'm sure they're clicking on them right now, they're gonna see just a content machine, right? They're seeing a lot of stuff going on and, they're they're probably wondering how you do it. How how does that that machine that you talked about kind of, you know, working with someone on Pinterest and maybe you do that with with other thing, but I think I wanna transition into something I know that you're, more passionate about, which is, you know, dealing with, what's going on between the ears as a content creator. And when all of the things are happening and you've got someone who who you know, imposter syndrome, like, how could I ever do this? How could I ever be this? How can I do all of these things? And maybe what this is is not necessarily their main thing. Maybe they're doing you know, they've got a family that they wanna pay attention to, and they've got a main job, and this is a quote, unquote side hustle.

Chris Stone [00:18:20]:
How do they continue to to do that and and balance all these things mentally? So I just wanted to roll that, you know, over to you because I know that, that you're you're you spend a a lot of time in that space and working with content creators there.

Kristen Bousquet [00:18:35]:
Yeah. I mean, our business is based on keeping the soul in social media because I think it's really, really easy for you to almost get into this cycle of I have to pump out content consistently, consistently, consistently. And people start to think that consistently consistency means frequency. And that's not necessarily the case, you know? Like, you don't have to post three times a day on TikTok. Sure, it might help you grow faster because you're putting more content out there. But at the end of the day, if you posting three times a t on TikTok every single day is gonna make you literally have no your brain is gonna be mushed by the end of that, then it's not necessary. You know, you have to, I think, do a lot of trial and error. And I know for me in the last few years of having my business and the podcast and my own content creation, brand deals, and all of these things going on, I've done a lot of trial and error to really figure out how I can manage all of that.

Kristen Bousquet [00:19:36]:
And definitely, like, outsourcing has been a huge part of that. I think for me, as someone who's a very type a person, I am a control freak. I don't like to give other people my work because I know it's not gonna get done the way that I personally would do it. So it was really hard for me to do things like outsourcing. But at the end of the day, you know, like, I put those systems in place for my team so that they can do it, even just give me a first draft, you know, and then I can go from there. And anything like that, that's gonna make my life a little bit easier and take more of those tedious tasks off of the off of my plate is definitely something that's gonna, I think, help with my mental health and make me not get burnt out. Because creator burnout is so, so real, and I don't think a lot of people talk about it enough, but it's really, really easy because these platforms not only expect so much out of us in terms of post frequency and all of those things, but just the the aspect of putting yourself out there on the Internet for thousands, millions of people to see and dealing with all that comes with that, I think, is a whole challenge in and of itself.

Chris Stone [00:20:50]:
Yeah. And I think, you know, a lot of people, especially in the Amazon, community, talk all the time about trolls. You know, they talk about people that are coming in their chats, and and, you know, there are sort of tools in place to be able to kind of, you know, squash them, but, you know, the the probably the larger you get, the more the more that that compounds. Right? Yeah. So what are what are maybe some you know, I'd like to I'd like to touch maybe on we can put the trolls aside for a little bit, but you you talked about, burnout, content creator burnout, and, I think a lot of times that happens and you couldn't see it. You couldn't see the edge of the cliff. Right? So I know you've gone through it yourself. You've spoken to other content creators that have and you've worked with other content creators, to to power through that.

Chris Stone [00:21:40]:
What are maybe some of the flags? What are some of the the things that that you need to be kind of preparing yourself, for that you don't run into that burnout phase and you don't run into something? Because I think a lot of times what ends up happening is you quit or you, well maybe not quit, but you you know, you put stuff on the shelf and, you put stuff on the shelf and then all of a sudden, it just takes even longer to build yourself, you know, back up to being found. So what are maybe some some practical things that you can maybe look out for, as a content creator?

Kristen Bousquet [00:22:14]:
Yeah. I mean, one of the biggest red flags for me is that when I just cannot think of one thing, one idea, you know, when you go to sit down and plan your content and you have literally nothing, I just feel like that is where I I realize I need to step away and go do something, go outside, go for a walk, you know, go take a weekend trip somewhere and come back a little bit more, you know, inspired or refreshed because I think it's really easy to, you know, we're like idea machines, idea robots. We're busting out ideas constantly. And I think that mental challenge that it is to be consistently thinking of new ideas is definitely a way to burn out really quickly. So whenever I start to feel like I literally can't even think of one idea, I'm so tired that my brain is just not even computing any sort of creative ideas, that's one thing that I always realize, okay, it's time to step back and go do something technology free. I definitely think that also when you find yourself, like, very consistently being negative about the platforms, forms. That's definitely something that I realized, okay, like my mindset needs to change because if I keep staying and living in this negative mindset, there's no way you're not gonna burn out after that. Because you're doing something that's making you miserable every single day and that's, you know, we we didn't quit our nine to five jobs with mean bosses to work for ourselves being an even more mean boss.

Kristen Bousquet [00:23:47]:
You know, that's I think about that all the time. So whenever I I realize that I'm being really hard on myself or, oh, my post didn't perform the way I wanted it to, like, I give up, whenever I start to feel those things, that's another sign to me that I shouldn't be feeling that negative about this platform. I have a lot of really great opportunities. I still have a great community. Everything is fine, but I think it's mentally really difficult to kinda get yourself out of that. So, I typically typically will take a step back at that point as well.

Jim Fuhs [00:24:19]:
I'm gonna add something that Chris might find controversial. So, just gonna warn everybody. Do you find do you end up sometimes running into, I'll say, potential creators that really you know, because I think one of the things that's happening, I was like, oh, it's the creator economy. There's there's money for everyone. And and, personally, I don't think that's true. Everybody is not going to make money. And I I you know, not to say that we don't all have the potential, but I think what people miss I mean, you talked about you said I think was it 02/2008 you said you started doing this? Right? This didn't happen overnight. Right? You didn't get here overnight.

Jim Fuhs [00:25:01]:
It's a lot of hard work, and I don't think people see that. They think there's an easy button. I I how do you Yeah. Deal with that sometimes when you run into people that are maybe like, well, you know, I did all these videos, and I'm not getting anything out of it.

Kristen Bousquet [00:25:15]:
Well, I I totally agree with you, first of all. I I agree in the way that, yes, everyone has the potential, but will everyone actually follow through? Absolutely not. So many people, I think, look at the world of being a creator and they're like, oh, I get to go on trips, and I'm gonna get free stuff, and I just get to post a couple of videos, and I'm gonna gain, like, 200,000 followers. You know, like, if people especially, I see this all the time on on TikTok and Instagram where people make videos. How I gained 20,000 followers in five days? First of all, that's very much not realistic. It happens to a very, very small amount of people, but I hate seeing those videos come out because I think it sets up really unrealistic expectations for people on the outside. So they come into it and they think, okay. Well, like, I'll just post some videos and, you know, like, I'll gain a bunch of followers and make a bunch of money.

Kristen Bousquet [00:26:06]:
But at the end of the day, being a creator and and running our businesses is just that we are running businesses. I I try to explain to people all the time all the things that I do. And that's something that on my TikTok and on my reels, I share a lot of. Like, I try and show people all my spreadsheets and all my planning and how much time I'm spending on emails and reading contracts and all of these things that people had no idea is even part of being a creator. And that's a huge part of of my platforms is really showing the realistic side of being a creator so that you can figure out if it is right for you or not. Because I I think there's a lot of people who wanna be creators, people who go into it thinking it's easy, and they're not gonna make it out as a profitable business because they had no expec no real expectations of what it was gonna be like.

Jim Fuhs [00:27:00]:
Yeah. And and I love to, Jarhead six is talking about, you know, the fact and and Chris talks about this. It's the rented land thing. Right? You could be on a platform. The platform could disappear, or, like, what we're seeing now, things change. And what worked for you last week doesn't work anymore because the platform's decided it wants to do something else. You know, we talked like, you talked about earlier, right? Photos used to be really big on Instagram, and now people are even a little concerned, like, well, if I'm a person that does the great photos, what's the platform where I can get visibility? Right? Right. And not everybody wants to do video, but all the platforms seem to be pushing video first.

Jim Fuhs [00:27:42]:
I mean, it's, it's really, you know, interesting times.

Chris Stone [00:27:46]:
Yeah. Yeah. I think if you've got a, if you've got an ear and eyes for your audience, like like you do, Kristin, then you'll you'll find a way and your and the people who have trusted you through, you know, Instagram when it was primarily photos and hardly any video, and now, you know, like, they'll the those are the people you want with you when you take them to the next mountain, whether it be from other, you know, piece of rented land or your own land that you're that you're bringing it, to. I wanted to maybe go back a little bit because you you touched on something I think is is something I I never really even think about, because I you know, going back to sort of the, looking for the edge of the cliff as a content creator and and, you know, how do I you know, the the burnout thing. How do I avoid it before it's already upon me and, you know, I'm I'm down for three days, you know, laying in my bed, cowering, wondering if I can get to 3,000 subscribers on YouTube. So one of the things you said I thought was really, really good and practical, and for people who are listening, you know, watching on on any YouTube or on replay or whatever, I think this is so key, and this is something that I'm going to do myself because, you know, lots of times you just get to a point where you're like, I know I need to create something, but I don't have an idea. I really don't. And I'm like, well, you know, and then you're you're really struggling with it.

Chris Stone [00:29:10]:
And so personally, and I know a lot of other people do this as well, is they just they immediately go back into their screen, they go back into their artificial intelligence machines and, you know, word clusters and all of this great software that's out there, to maybe get that or they'll go to a platform and see what somebody else is doing and then try to make a Xerox copy of a fax copy of a written napkin of somebody else's thing that that that that they were doing and then try to try to emulate that, and it's really not them. Right? It's them trying to be something else. And then and then, you know, maybe that doesn't that doesn't and so I think what you said was really key was, like, if you can't come up with an idea, just pull the plug and go and do something that will help you and your brain and your per you as a human being be creative because everything that you've already put into your mind and your body will come up with something creative. You just gotta go for a walk or a run like Jim is doing 12 miles before we go live, or do whatever makes you happy as a human being mentally and physically or whatever, and then just be with, you know, yourself or your community to generate thoughts that can create that content and be open to saying, oh, wow, that's a really good idea to to do content instead of going back into the screen and going back to trying to do what somebody else is doing. I think what you said is so key and really needs to be, punctuated. Is that something you feel like a lot of people are doing is just kind of, like, trying to copy other people?

Kristen Bousquet [00:30:54]:
Yeah. Honestly, I I definitely do, especially because I see so much of the exact same things over and over again. So I'm sure that there is a lot of that going on, but it really is so crazy. I think as creators, we get so deep in our businesses that, like, we're we have the blinders on so much that we literally have no idea that we even need to step away. And I always realize this every time I, like, go on a weekend trip or I go on vacation, I get, like, I have my couple days of, you know, like, I'm away from the computer, I'm feeling great, I'm relaxing, but then I'm so excited to come back to work because I feel like I just am so refreshed and I have so many new ideas. Or even I've been I've been actually trying to take self care, like make it such a priority for me in my life. And I actually started making content out of that, you know? So, like, I it's forcing me to actually take care of myself because if I wanna, you know, have my next video in the series, then I've gotta do something that I can record that's self care related. So, that's the thing I've actually been doing as of recently that really is forcing me to take care of myself.

Kristen Bousquet [00:32:04]:
And it's cool to see I've actually been getting a really great response on it. So, you know, it makes me wanna do it even more, which is, you know, a really a really great thing, a good position that I'm in for sure. But sometimes I even as of the last few weeks, I've been trying to do, like, some things that are a little out of my comfort zone. Like, I I took a ceramics class. I, you know, I I went to a journaling class. All of these kind of different things that I really would have never done, but you'd be so surprised that when you're not using your technology, like, thoughts are actually happening in your head and you actually can think of some cool stuff. So it's worth taking a step back when you feel like you're kind of out of ideas, and even when you're not.

Jim Fuhs [00:32:46]:
Yeah. I've taken some of your advice. You know, when I'm running now, I'm listening to music, and Chris Chris says listen to music every day. And I think that really helps spark creativity.

Kristen Bousquet [00:32:57]:
Yeah. It's it's true because a lot of the times, like, I think about, you know, when I was really burnt out, like, if I had free time, I wasn't listening to music. I was listening to podcasts. I wanna learn more. I wanna always think about my business. You know? Like, I am almost never unplugged. So that's, again, in the last month or so been something I've I've really been trying to do, you know, technology free things. And when it is technology, I'm listening to maybe, like, coffee shop music even, just something that's gonna kind of, like, bring me bring me down and just kinda even me out.

Chris Stone [00:33:28]:
Yeah. There I I was, there's a content creator who will remain nameless because they they shared this with me in confidence, but they actually put a voice activated device in their shower, because they they that's where their best ideas came from. When they were in the shower You know, because think about it. I mean, when you're in the shower, it's not like you're thinking about, you know, maybe a TikTok thing that you're putting together or, like, that almost is like one of those moments. I mean, I hate to, they're just getting really, you know, whatever, but I mean, lots of people go to the toilet and they're still on their phones, right?

Jim Fuhs [00:34:06]:
You

Chris Stone [00:34:06]:
know, it's a thing, and so, but you can't really, people aren't bringing their phones into the shower, Right? Yeah. And so put a voice activated device in there, and all of a sudden, it's like, well, I had this idea, but then I got to putting makeup on or getting myself ready, and the idea is gone. You know? You put a voice activated device in your car and in your shower, and now all of a sudden, it's like some of these ideas, you know, are are being generated while your brain is being unplugged from your device and you can apply it there. And, you know, listening to podcasts is great for influence. I mean, I love watching, you know, TikToks like yours when you were, you know, doing the ceramic class and you posted, you know, little clips in here and you

Kristen Bousquet [00:34:51]:
should

Chris Stone [00:34:52]:
see backstage, so to speak, of the life of content creators and that's all great, but you actually did that thing and you actually used that and utilized that from a mental health perspective, so you can really do both, right? You can you can unplug yourself, but also, you know, hand the phone to somebody and say, hey, you know, like video me doing this, you know, for fifteen seconds or whatever, and then that's content when you sit down going, I'm gonna apply this to my vlog or I'm gonna apply this to something I'm doing later after you've come back and you're refreshed, you've rebooted, and, you can you can apply that. This is some really great practical stuff.

Kristen Bousquet [00:35:29]:
Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, this is a huge part of our business is is making it sustainable for creators to run businesses. Again, like, you know, it has to be you can't be setting up expectations that are very unrealistic for you. You know, like, you have to find things that you can sustainably create. And if me doing all of these things outside of being a creator is a great place to get content, then that makes it so much more sustainable and easy for me to be consistent because I'm not having to, like, skip doing all the things outside of my business that I wanna do so that I can create content. You know, like, I can do both at the same time. Also, side note, maybe a couple years ago, I had this, it was like a suction cup notepad and pencil that you suction onto your shower. And I actually got it on Amazon.

Kristen Bousquet [00:36:19]:
So that's a good thing to check out if you're watching on Amazon. Quick.

Chris Stone [00:36:22]:
Put it in the carousel. Lightning deal right now on the on Amazon. Amazing. So how, how often do you go live, on Amazon? Is that something do you do you bolt it onto an existing, sort of multi stream that you do, or do you do a specific Amazon live when you do go live?

Kristen Bousquet [00:36:42]:
So I actually don't go live on Amazon. I I have my Amazon shop where I link everything there for people to kinda go on there, but it's just it's one of those things where it's on my to do list. Mhmm. We're gonna get there eventually, but for now, I'm just sharing all of my products where people can kinda just go check out the shop.

Chris Stone [00:37:00]:
Yeah. That makes sense, and there's a lot of people that are doing exactly that. Like, it's it's, not only just a a way for you to get incremental revenue, but, you know, a lot of content creators don't realize how much maybe,

Jim Fuhs [00:37:15]:
you

Chris Stone [00:37:15]:
know, associate revenue they're maybe leaving on the table by not having a place, you know, on Amazon because you've built this trust level with, you know, people who are following you and people who are you know, and then maybe you're you're showing something cool off whether it's an outfit or whatever, like, where are they gonna go get it? I mean, if they have to make two to three clicks, they're probably not gonna get to it. Yep. And if they are gonna get it, you're not gonna get any commission revenue because they found it somewhere else. And so, you know, Amazon's kinda making that really easy, and why wouldn't you do that as a as a content creator? Do you do a lot of affiliate revenue? Is that an important part of what you do? I know you were blogging, so I'm sure that was a big part of that.

Kristen Bousquet [00:37:55]:
Yeah. Affiliate, I take on very specific affiliate partnerships. I find that a lot of creators will take on any and every affiliate partnership that comes their way. And I think that's tough because if I'm gonna take on something that is an affiliate partnership, it's gotta be something I'm talking about pretty frequently. Because, you know, like, if it's a specific brand or specific product that I'm working with in a on an affiliate basis, I need to be talking about that so often in order for me to actually make something that's kind of, you know, relevant, to to be considered there. So, typically, I I only work with I think I may be working with three to four brands right now on specific affiliate partnerships, brands that I organically talk about all the time. Like certain platforms that I'm on for creators that I think are really great tools for creators. Those are the ones that I I am more active on.

Kristen Bousquet [00:38:52]:
But I think a good thing about something like Amazon is you can link so many different things that people can kinda just go to your shop versus just, you know, like, having one product. So I think if you are gonna be dipping your toes into affiliate marketing, Amazon is a great place to be because, obviously, again, you can just have so many different options for people there. But outside of a marketplace like that, where you are working with individual brands, I think they have to be things that you are consistently and organically gonna be talking about.

Chris Stone [00:39:25]:
That's it. This is such a great conversation. I feel like there's so much we haven't gotten to, but you you brought up brands, and we we have to go there. I mean, obviously, as a content creator and someone who's done this for a number of years, you know, we had Justin Moore on this show. We've had Monty Weaver on this show, and these are these are people that we call brand whisperers. I would consider you, one of them, as well, but talking to a brand in 02/2008 is a lot different than talking to a brand in 02/2022. And so, and things have changed and things will change next month. And, you know, and so, I think a lot, you know, sort of going back to, you know, what what this audience mostly is is, you know, a content creator that has aspirations to do and have conversations with brands, some that are having conversations with brands and have made mistakes, and others who have been in the game for a while and want to get better at having conversations with brands.

Chris Stone [00:40:28]:
You have a different brand than what we have, clearly. You know, we're speaking to sort of we are speaking to content creators, but we all speak you know, there's more tech and more, you know, for us, and and Yeah. You have some tech stuff going on, and and you clearly know, you know, a lot about that, but your audience is not, you know, oh god, the Rodecaster Pro has come out, so, you know, Kristen's gonna do an unbox. It's that's not your

Kristen Bousquet [00:40:49]:
Right. You know that's

Chris Stone [00:40:50]:
not your deal. Right? But speaking to brands is something that applies to, you know, lots of different people, you know, content creators in general. When you're working with people on your social mate, what are what are some of maybe the, the pitfalls that people can avoid when having a conversation with a brand? Their inbox gets filled up because they got accepted as an Amazon influencer, and there's all kinds of companies with names you can't pronounce. And, you know, all of a sudden they're getting approached by, you know, maybe a brand that they really want to work with or maybe they want to be able to reach out to them? What are some some practical sort of tips, you know, language that they could use, approaches that they can use in terms of, you know, conversations and and, you know, communications with these brands?

Kristen Bousquet [00:41:41]:
Yeah. I think this is definitely where a lot of creators make their mistakes. I know for me, as I was going through all of this again with no guidebook, I absolutely made a lot of mistakes there. One thing that I tell all creators to remember is that any partnership that you get into with a brand, it is a fifty fifty partnership. So, you know, it's very easy for creators to say, oh, well, they're hiring me, they're paying me, so, like, I have to do whatever they say. And I think a lot of creators get taken advantage of in that way. But also, it's mostly because those creators don't really see their value. They don't know their worth.

Kristen Bousquet [00:42:17]:
And, again, it kinda goes back to that imposter syndrome thing of like, oh, well, if this brand only wants to pay me $50, like, I'll just take it. It's fine. Like, you know, I'll go for it, but they really should be getting paid $500. So I think thinking about it as a $50.50 partnership will kinda help you throughout the whole communication process. When you are communicating with a brand and they're asking you for things that maybe aren't fair to you or are leaning a little bit more towards being fair towards the brand, or in their best interest, it's up to you to be able to speak up and have the confidence to say, you know, that actually doesn't work for me. And I think so many creators get afraid to say those things because they're like, well, if I say that something doesn't work for me, they're just gonna go away with the whole deal and they'll be gone and go on to someone else. And honestly, from my experiences over the past, I don't know, however many years, that's not typically what happens. Usually, once you're already in talks with a brand, they're gonna be, you know, more lenient to hearing why you don't wanna do something or why you don't want something in a contract, and they usually will work with you to make it fair for both parties.

Kristen Bousquet [00:43:30]:
So having the confidence to speak up, I think, when when something doesn't feel right or when something doesn't feel fair, I think is a really, really important skill for creators to learn. But aside from that, honestly, I will say every brand that I've worked with that rehires me, they all say the same thing to me. They say it's so easy to work with you. And that's because I am sending them my content on time or early. I'm labeling all of my content in folders so that it's very easily, easily found. You know, they can they can search for whatever they need and it's it's organized for them. At the end of the day, if you can make a brand look good or your your contact look good to their boss, they're gonna wanna keep rehiring you. And if you can make their life easy, because typically when brands are working with creators, they're not just working with you, they're probably working with ten, twenty, a hundred, a thousand other influencers.

Kristen Bousquet [00:44:28]:
So if you can make their life easy by, again, being very quick and easy to, communicate with, you are being very diligent and organized and detail oriented, those are the things that they're gonna really value. Even if your content is subpar, being a great brand partner will absolutely get your foot in the door and make you wanna, you know, them wanna rehire you time and time again. So those are the things that I find, definitely help me when when working with brands.

Chris Stone [00:44:59]:
I love that because what that does is that it it god. This is money. So, you know, if you're a content creator and you think, you have to have six and seven digit subscribers and followers in order for brands to have conversations with you, it's not correct, but when you do have those smaller amounts and you have you're thinking, well, there's tons of other creators that they're speaking to that have more followers than subscribers with me. But what you can control is how professional you are as it relates to working with that brand. And if that brand says, yeah, well, you know, this particular creator, whoever you are, you know, may not have an audience that these other creators do, but you know what? When I talk to them, they respond to me. When they come back to me, they may have you know, they may tell me no on a couple of things, and they may it may cost me something, but it's worth it because I get the content back that I can send to my boss. And I think a lot of people don't realize, like, when you're having a conversation with a brand, you're not talking to the CEO, ladies and gentlemen. You are talking to somebody who is on an org chart, you know, maybe close to the bottom, and that person has to deliver something to their boss that you have something to do with.

Chris Stone [00:46:10]:
And so if you can make that person look good, that person calls you back, and then you're having a relationship with a brand. And I think and it's just another thing that I wanted to underline, when it comes to being a content creator is be a pro from the start, and, it will it will bode well, for you. And I think the other thing too is when you're having a conversation, let them speak to this, Kristen, if you would, is they turn on that gaslight when they say, you know, hey, this these other content creators did it for free. They just you know, I just sent them product. How do you deal with that gaslight when it comes on?

Kristen Bousquet [00:46:49]:
That for me is a huge red flag. Like, if a brand ever is gonna say, well, this person did it for free, my response is, okay, well, then I'm glad you're working with those people. Let me know when you have a budget. Because I I'm not gonna stoop down to other people's level. I know my my value. I know the what I bring to the table. And so, again, it's up to me to be able to say, that doesn't work for me. That's not fair for me.

Kristen Bousquet [00:47:13]:
I'm not sure why you would expect me to work for free with a platform that I've spent years and years building that is absolutely worth something, and I'm confident that you're gonna make money from it. So whenever I'm in those situations, those I kind of write off as brands that I don't even wanna work with. They might just not even be good brand partners because they clearly don't see the value in what I'm bringing to the table. And I don't wanna have to prove myself too much, you know? Like, I have no problem if a brand is like, let's see your stats. Okay. Let's show them. But if I'm showing you all of that stuff and you're still questioning whether I'm gonna be a good brand partner or not, then you're probably not someone that I wanna work with. So, you know, it's it's okay to say no to brands and it's okay to not work with every brand that comes your way.

Kristen Bousquet [00:47:59]:
I promise there are more brands out there that will come and you will work with them and everything will be great and they'll see your value. So it's really all about waiting for the right brand to come along or, again, pitching to the brand that that feels like a good fit for you because not every brand is gonna be a good fit.

Chris Stone [00:48:18]:
That's awesome. One last thing is, so what would you say to a content creator that is looking at opportunities with brands, and one of the stipulations is must have, IG following of this, must have TikTok following of this, but you still want to approach that particular brand. And you may you may be not too far, but far enough away to where, you know, they're they're setting that benchmark for followers. And so are you able to like, is there some sort of way to continue to to say, hey. You know what? Here's the value I bring even though I don't have this many subscribers or followers?

Kristen Bousquet [00:48:59]:
Yeah. I mean, honestly, I think for some campaigns, there are gonna be set requirements like that. And if you don't fit those requirements, I don't know that it would be necessarily worth applying to that exact campaign because they are looking for something very specific. But that doesn't mean that you can never work with that brand. So, typically, what I actually teach in terms of starting a connection with a brand is actually, to kind of plant those seeds. And then when things do come along, you'll be kind of top of mind. We actually have, a free master class. It's called the anti pitch method.

Kristen Bousquet [00:49:34]:
I literally have not sent a pitch email in I don't even know how long, because I just don't think that the cold pitch email really works that well anymore. Everyone says the same thing. They're all the same. You know, you don't have the opportunity to really get to know anyone. Like, it's a very cut and dry, kind of tedious, boring process that I don't think brand partners really care to read everyone's pitch. So typically what I teach is to find the people that work at the brands, start relationships with them, send them an email and just say, hey, introduce yourself. And then maybe you say, I'm really excited that you guys just launched this new cleanser. Like, I'd love to hop on a call and hear what else you're coming out within the next six months.

Kristen Bousquet [00:50:20]:
And not ask for anything, you know? Just start to build relationships with these brands because then when the next campaign does come around and they're looking for, you know, micro influencers who have under 10,000 followers, you've already got your foot in the door. You already know the people that work at those brands and that you're gonna be first person that they think of. So it's all about timing with brand partnerships. You know, you can send out a hundred pitch emails, but again, they look the same. You might not be the good fit right now, then you never get a response. So instead of spending all of that time copying and pasting the same pitch to a million different brands, just spend the time building high quality connections so that when campaigns come up that you are a good fit for, again, you're top of mind.

Chris Stone [00:51:05]:
Awesome. That is that is god. That is money.

Jim Fuhs [00:51:09]:
I think she brings up a great point, and and she hit on it earlier. Right? It's like, if there's a a product or a brand that you love, right, and you're, Mike, you don't have those numbers, just do start doing content where you highlight that stuff, and they will notice you. I I think that's that's we've seen that happen with us, Chris.

Chris Stone [00:51:31]:
You know? We Exactly. Exactly. You know, engage with them on social. Provide Right. Show them that you can provide some value to them outside of whatever that that prerequisite subscriber follower account is. Show the value that you do have, and, you know, again, you know, be patient and just so many like, this is one of those shows, Kristen, where I'm just gonna have to go back. I'm gonna do a transcription or something. I'm like, there's so many gold nuggets for content creators, here.

Chris Stone [00:52:02]:
I think especially the mental health piece and content creation, sort of looking at the flags, to avoid that, to keep yourself sort of creative and creating that content and all of these tips and speaking with brands. I'm I'm so glad that we got to have you here, our Southeast neighbor, from Charlotte, North Carolina. You know, we're we're sharing this this ridiculous humidity here in the South, and, you were willing to to join our show, our little show here on Amazon. It's so amazing to have you here. And for those of you who are watching and or listening on the on the podcast, go to yoursocialmate.com. That's where you get all of the stuff and you could connect and the masterclass and the email list and all of the trust me, when we say we're on all the tubes, we're not on all of them.

Jim Fuhs [00:52:56]:
She's on

Chris Stone [00:52:56]:
all the tubes, and, we've been flashing up the TikTok and the Instagram and the YouTube. This is all in the show notes, ladies and gentlemen. Whatever platform that you love to hang out on, you can hang out with, Kristen on those and, even connect with her on LinkedIn, LinkedIn, as well. So, Kristen, thank you so much for joining us on, on Dealcasters. Is there anything else that we've we've forgotten? I wanted to give you sort of the last word before we sign off.

Kristen Bousquet [00:53:27]:
Man, I don't know. I think we we dove into pretty much everything here, so I hope everyone got a a good nugget of information and is feeling inspired to go do what they need to do. But thank you guys so much for having me on. This was so much fun.

Chris Stone [00:53:40]:
Thank you, Kristen. Nuggets galore. And as always, don't fear the gear.

Jim Fuhs [00:53:45]:
Thanks for listening to Dealcasters. Congratulations. You've taken another step forward in your content creation journey. Please don't forget to hit the subscribe or follow button here in your favorite podcast player so you can be reminded every time we drop an episode.

Chris Stone [00:54:01]:
We love hearing from our listeners and viewers. And if you're wanting to watch our shows live on Amazon, feel free to follow Dealcasters Live as well at dealcasters.live. Follow us on Twitter or subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we also included added content that you cannot find anywhere else.

Jim Fuhs [00:54:21]:
If you have questions about this episode or have something you want us to review, you can also email us at dealcasters@dealcasters.live. Thanks again for listening, and you know the deal. Don't fear the gear.