Key Points

02:00 Kim’s journey from stay at home mom to Forbes Top 20 Social Media Influencer

04:45 A big key to being able to establish your authority in a niche

05:03 The mistake most people make with their website

09:00 Kim’s Authority Creator 10 Content piece pre-purposing strategy

15:04 Going viral may not actually be beneficial to your business

16:51 Three fundamental components to get right in your business

20:00 Going from messy messaging to dialed in and on point for my audience

24:27 Kim’s tip about leading with the transformation you provide so your audience self selects

Jody: [00:00:00] Welcome to this episode of Online Confidential, where I am so excited to introduce you to one of the gems in the online marketing space. Kind of like an OG, and without further ado, I’m so excited to introduce Kim Garst. Welcome to the show!

Kim: I’m super excited to be here. As you know, we’ve been connected for a minute or two, so having an opportunity to be with you is my joy [00:00:30] I’m excited to be here.

Jody: Awesome! So for those guys who’ve been living under a rock and don’t know who Kim is, Kim is a Forbes Top 20 Social Media Influencer. She’s got, oh my gosh, how many like Twitter followers do you have?

Kim: I think I am at about 670,000 Twitter followers. So I’m really hoping Elon Musk pulls an amazing transformation over on Twitter [00:01:00] because it needs a facelift!

Jody: Right? It’s gonna be interesting. Are you gonna pay for Blue Check Mark if you’ve got to pay for it?

Kim: I’ve already got one! My question is, is he going to make me pay for it now?

Jody: Time will tell! Kim has been around for a lot of years. She has the authority in the social media space.

She has seen things change over the years and she adapts and keeps getting ahead of the curve with this. And with [00:01:30] that, she is helping so many people around the world to be able to monetize their expertise by standing out as an authority. That’s why I want to talk to you today about this. And for our ad managers out there, establishing yourself as an authority in your field, that authority as an ad manager because people are coming to you and entrusting you with their ad spend.

You need to be an authority. So listen up to this episode!

Kim, first of all, tell us [00:02:00] how did you get on this journey of being where you are today?

Kim: Well, I laugh and tell people I’m an accidental entrepreneur.

Jody: Me too!

Kim: I use that term quite frequently, but when I first started, oh, 31 years ago, so when you say og, yeah, I’ve been around for a minute.

I was getting ready to go to law school and we [00:02:30] decided we’d been married about five years. We were like, okay, it’s time for the kids. And we got pregnant with my oldest son and my life shifted as soon as they laid him in my arms. I’m like, I’m not sure I can do this other thing that I had laid out my whole life in front of me, you know?

I gave up the law school dream and became a stay-at-home mom. And then we quickly became a borrow [00:03:00] from Peter to pay Paul family because we were way overextended. You know, it was tough. We were going from two incomes to one, a young couple we thought we could do it, and then realized we couldn’t.

So I was like, what can I do? What can I do? And 31 years ago, the internet was just beginning to take off. It was just beginning to get commercial. So there were no YouTube videos to watch until your eyes bled. There was no Google machine. You know, there were no resources. I had to literally go to the [00:03:30] bookstore and buy a coding book to figure out how to create a website. Right?

So obviously things have shifted a lot since then. I’ve built seven, 7-figure businesses. In the last 30 years, I’ve had several six-figure businesses, or multiple six-figure businesses. Pretty much done it all in that time except for E-comm. I can’t plant my flag in the e-comm pile.

Pretty much everything else I’ve done successfully. It’s been a journey. [00:04:00] It’s been fun.

Jody: Certainly has, and being fun is such a key element to it. Because you only have one life to live, right? So you want it to be fun, but your story is so similar to so many ad managers out there. And for myself included, it was like family comes along. What can I do now?

I don’t want to be dumping them at daycare, going off to the nine to five. There’s times when yes, we need to do that, but now with all this right at our fingertips, there are so many opportunities. So that was your journey to here. [00:04:30] So now you really specialize, because you’ve had influencer deals over the years and you are, like I said, a Top 20 Social Media Influencer.

You’ve obviously established your authority over the years. What do you think is a big key to being able to establish your authority in a niche?

Kim: Such a great question because a part of it is really build it and they will come. There is something to that [00:05:00] if you do it correctly. So I think one of the things that most people do when they first get started is they get their website up, right? But it’s a placeholder website. It’s not a website that is designed to convert sales.

And a lot of times we immediately rush to social media thinking that’s our bullet. You know, that’s our magic bullet. It’s gonna solve all of our problems. We’re going to attract all these people to us.

The reality is that people are searching for us every day. They’re [00:05:30] searching for, especially as an ad manager. So if I’m looking for an ad manager, I’m going to the Google machine and I’m gonna type in ad manager, my city. Because I’m going to want somebody potentially that’s local. If they find your website and it doesn’t tell them what you do in two to three seconds, literally, why you matter to them, or that you solve the problem that they’re looking to solve for themselves. Then they’re gone. They bounce. [00:06:00]

You’ve lost that opportunity. And then beyond that, you really have to have a customer journey. You have to have a path for them to figure out how they work with you.

And it has to be simple. You know, nobody has time for complex things anymore. But most people don’t have that. So building your website is your house. It’s like going to a seedy restaurant. You pull in the parking lot, and you’re like, do I [00:06:30] really want to go in?

Is that what your website looks like? Or do you pull up to a nice restaurant and you’re like, oh my gosh, I can’t wait to go in. They’re gonna have amazing food, et cetera. So anyway, I think that’s a component. Because you have to have components in your business, foundational pieces in your business that showcase your authority.

And if you don’t, why would they pay any attention to you? And that’s one of the reasons that social is not very [00:07:00] effective for people when they don’t have foundational things in their business. That’s when I realized I was a part of the problem. I was teaching all these social media shiny object tactics when foundational things weren’t in place for a lot of people.

So I think the authority component starts with your foundations to sum it all up.

Jody: So many gold nuggets in there. So, okay, that’s great. So your [00:07:30] website, that place where people get to because while social media is great, people are opting in, we know we want to get them off there and over onto our list.

So what does that process all look like? Yes, there’s lead forms, but they’re going to come over and check it out. And this is where Kim and I were having a good chat earlier about Go High Level and how that is a tool that is very effective. You can simply plug things in and get that application funnel or lead magnet funnel up and running.

And they look great. So [00:08:00] there’s plenty of tools and resources. You’ve just got to make sure you get your Facebook pixel on whatever platform you use. Make sure you get your pixel on board. And then, like you also said, so many bright shinies, right? So I know for a lot of us, we go over and we’ll look at Reels.

We’ll go and look at TikTok. And you know, oh my gosh, I’m just so thankful that the whole dancing and pointing phase is over with TikTok. I was like, Ugh.

Because you want to be consistent with your brand, right? Yes, you can establish yourself as an authority doing all that. Plenty of [00:08:30] people have, but you don’t have to do that.

I know you have a lot of skills and expertise and knowledge about being on video as well and how to use that to build your authority. What sort of tips would you have for people? Because we’re used to hiding behind the computer here, a lot of ad managers, right? And we’ll promote our clients, no problem.

But then when it’s time for us to get visible, it’s like, oh my gosh, it’s so scary. So give us some gold nuggets for that.

Kim: Absolutely.[00:09:00] In my program Authority Creator, we teach a process that I call pre-purposing. It’s a content flywheel, but it’s done with intention, meaning what is your person searching for? What answers are they looking for? Or, what do they need to believe in order to purchase from you?

Create those 10 pieces of content with pre-purpose strategy, meaning answer those questions. [00:09:30] Speak to the things that they struggle with and maybe in some cases it’s myths or limiting beliefs, or, oh my gosh, I have to spend a thousand dollars a day, or, you know, whatever it is that you need to address so that they understand that you get them and you’re answering the questions that they ultimately have.

I think we need to stop all the other stuff and focus on those 10 pieces of content first. Create those pieces of content, video [00:10:00] preferably for YouTube, because YouTube and Pinterest are on the only social platforms left today that you do not have to have a followership in order to be found.

If you’re just starting out on Instagram or wherever, those people have to follow you or connect with you in most cases, there’s some exceptions, to see your content. But that’s not true on YouTube or Pinterest. [00:10:30]

So, setting up that funnel, essentially using video content because people are searching for those answers, that’s what they’re looking for. That’s the kind of content.

Even if you don’t have a lot of subscribers on YouTube, guess what? When they Google those questions in the Google machine, then those videos are going to show up in the search results because Google owns YouTube.

So pre-purpose your content, be intentional [00:11:00] with it and then repurpose it with some intention. Instead of doing all the things, do the things that are actually going to move the needle in your business. Build a YouTube sales funnel.

Jody: Love that. And like you were saying, you’ve got the video over here for YouTube and that video can then also be repurposed over onto Facebook as well.

You get it transcribed, it’s a blog post. Build your list, that’s content that you can be sending your list to come [00:11:30] over and look at you there on YouTube. So it’s a matter of working smarter with it all.

So Kim, do you think a lot of people might say, I just don’t want to do video. I don’t feel comfortable on video. What’s your answer for them?

Kim: I think you could also create blog content. It’s a slower roll but remember, I am talking to you as ad managers. People are searching for you. They may not be searching for you on social media. [00:12:00] Newsflash! I’m just saying they may not be searching for you on social media, but they are searching for you on the Google machine.

They are looking for you, and if they can find you specifically, if you’re geared towards your location, if you’re doing location specific ads, doing local businesses or brick and mortar businesses or open to that anyway. You can be found each and every day with some intentional content.[00:12:30]

Jody: Absolutely. There’s all the brick and mortar businesses going to Google and they’re saying Facebook ad manager for chiropractors, or Facebook ad manager for whatever it may be. As long as you’re out there and you’re creating content, then you’re improving your chances to get found.

As Kim said, you can be found, your YouTube video can pop up, your Facebook page where you’ve got a video and you’ve got that tagline, Facebook ads for chiropractors [00:13:00] that could be popping up. I think video is such a key part of it all. And that’s where I tell ad managers, well I think you’ve just got to do it.

Kim: Honestly, you just need to get over yourself when it comes to video because it really isn’t about us at all if you really are about serving.  The bigger issue is lead generation. Lead generation is tough if you make it tough. And I think that’s why so [00:13:30] many people are struggling, because they’re not doing the right things.

They’re chasing the shiny things. You know, somebody’s like, oh my gosh, I did a TikTok and I got 5,000 views. Okay, how many of those views turned into a lead?

Jody: Yes.

Kim: Do things that are going to create a lead for you. Do the right pieces of content so that people who are searching for that are going to find you, they’re predisposed to purchase from you because they’re searching for you.

And when you’re using social to attract [00:14:00] people to you, you have to work hard for that attention, you have to nurture that attention. You have to be seen 50 times before they’re ready to do business with you. Instead, if somebody finds a YouTube video, they start paying attention to your content. Hey, look, book a call. Let’s talk to this person. They obviously have a solution to the problem that I have.

Then, you are more likely to have a sale versus the slow roll of, it’s not [00:14:30] that social doesn’t work. Please, I don’t want anybody to think I’m saying social doesn’t work. I just think you need to be smarter with how you use it

Jody: Yep. A hundred percent agree. You certainly need to be smarter with it. And that’s something like with the Client Attraction Code strategy that I have where you can be retargeting, you’re building that audience and anyone that engages with you on Instagram, Facebook, your website, you can be retargeting that audience.

Kim: Yes!

Jody: That’s fabulous. I did have a thought there on [00:15:00] TikTok, but I’ve absolutely lost it. Oh, viral, right. Going viral. So I did like a little reel, we went out for dinner for my daughter’s birthday and it was some trending audio and I did whatever, and then, you know, it was just going off. I wouldn’t say it’s viral as such, but it was like, oh, okay, this is still getting views.

And I thought, well damn, if all these people are going to be coming into my, you know, what was it, it was reels. And they’re coming into my audience. I don’t want this to go viral because this is like contaminated with all these people who actually aren’t [00:15:30] interested in becoming ad managers or working from home. It’s just all these randoms.

So like you said, being very specific and intentional about your message, who it is that you serve, and just putting out that good quality content that is going to attract that person. It’s much more, for me, a case of quality versus quantity. For sure.

Kim: Absolutely. And again, being intentional. Think about it through the lens of, does my person need to know this? Are they [00:16:00] looking for this information? Do they need the answer to this dilemma that they find themselves in, or what do they need to believe in order to purchase from you?

If you really start to look at it through that lens and then marry that with your messaging, because if you don’t have clarity of messaging, and that starts with your website by the way, that should flow throughout all of your assets, from a new attraction model perspective.[00:16:30]

And once you nail this, you will create leads and sales every day.

Jody: Yep. Okay. Well, Kim. You’re the authority here. Tell us how do they do that? Where do they start to go, oh wow, I feel so messy with this. Where do they start to go? How can I dial in my messaging and who it is that I’m talking to?

Kim: I have a real simple process for this, and it’s really about what is the transformation you offer?

So [00:17:00] thinking about it through the lens of an ad manager, why does your person want to work with you? The generic answer is they want more leads and sales. Right? That’s what a lot of people, a lot of businesses want. They want, in some cases it’s leads, but that turns into money, right? Sales.

So if you were just to generically say they want more sales, right? But why do they want more sales? In some cases, it depends on the [00:17:30] business, you know? Some businesses are very driven by mission. They want more money because they can make more impact. If you’re serving a specific type of client, like you’re serving chiropractors, what is behind what they do, right?

I mean, you’re supporting that. So getting really clear on the transformation that you offer your person and stating that. And being very clear as your [00:18:00] headline, if you will, on the top of your page. It’s not about us anymore. It’s not, oh, I’m an ad manager. That’s not, that’s not what we should lead with.

We should lead with that transformation that they’re looking for, because that’s the first touchpoint. They’re like, oh my gosh, this person can deliver exactly what I want. And then the next component really is mapping out your customer journey. You know, what do you want people to do?

I understand the ad space pretty clearly. I’ve done [00:18:30] it myself and I’m very familiar with it. So I feel like for most of us, we want them to get on a call with us, right? So what does that look like? The reality is if they found you through the search, they’re wanting to talk to you.

They just need a mechanism to do it. So laying that customer journey path out, one call to action and making it super clear. That’s [00:19:00] critical. And then once you get your clarity on your transformation, that’s what you talk about everywhere. In your emails, in your videos, when you do your intro for anything, the pain points that you solve are how you lead in social.

It translates, it rolls downhill, all of it rolls downhill once you get your clarity of message in place. And I have found it’s hard to nail that down for people because they can’t get out of their own heads. [00:19:30] But once you do it, it can really make a difference. We work with our students because it’s always good to have that outside viewpoint, you know, and then we do a lot of research, like when people are looking for you, what are they searching for?

And that helps you get your semantics down. You know, your word choice. It’s wordsmithing. It really is, it’s wordsmithing. [00:20:00]

Jody: Yeah. My journey with that was like, for so long I felt so sort of messy and muddy because it was like, who am I talking to? Was I talking to the coaches and course creators and helping them run their Facebook ads?

Or was I talking to the ad managers who were running the ads for the coaches and course creators? So until I really dialed in who I was talking to, I had such a muddy message. It was very [00:20:30] unclear for me. Then when I went, right, I’m talking to ad managers, they’re my people, right? These are the ones that I relate to.

I was an ad manager. I actually wasn’t a coach or a digital course creator at that stage. So it was like, ad managers are my people. I know how I could talk to these people. Then my messaging got so on point. And I was able to very clearly, like you said, on my website, on sales pages, on ads, in the emails, I knew the pain points and I could address that.

And so when you do get on sales calls with people and you have those conversations, or people send you a [00:21:00] DM, you’ve got your messaging down and they’re asking you these questions, this is where I always say, use their words in copy, right? So if somebody has said to me, oh, you know, I hate sending people to my website because it’s old, ugly, and out of date.

Then you’re saying, are you afraid to, are you embarrassed to send people to your website because it’s old, ugly, and out of date? So using their words of verbatim so they can go, oh my gosh, they know exactly where I’m coming from. They’re in my head. So, you know, as an ad manager, as you’re [00:21:30] talking to people, And like Kim said, they’ve said yes to you.

They have a pain point. You know, they’ve stopped the scroll. You’ve caught their attention there. They’ve said, oh my gosh, yes, yes, yes, yes. They wanting to book a call with you because they have an issue that you can solve.

Then when you’re on that call and those words that they say, you say those words back to them when you are getting to your sales process then of going, okay, so you said if X, Y, Z then X, Y, Z? And they’ll say ‘Yes, that’s right.’ And then using that in your ad copy, your messaging, and everywhere like that.

Kim: Absolutely.  [00:22:00] I would just like to say real quick because I think a lot of people may be listening to this and they’ll be like, okay, yeah, I hear it, I’m hearing, and then they get started down the road and they may even say to themselves, yeah, I’m embarrassed to send people to my website right now because it doesn’t do what Kim just said.

It doesn’t tell people in three seconds or or less that this is the transformation I offer. But what I would like to share is this, it’s a process. [00:22:30] Just like you talked about Jody.

You had to figure this out, so don’t get so wrapped up that you get paralyzed by it.

Just get on the road to changing things. Test it, figure it out. Is this working? Is this right? And then if it’s not, continue to evolve it. That’s how Jody’s gotten where she is. That’s how I’ve gotten where I’m at. How I know what I’m sharing with you today. I didn’t know this when I started, in fact, Authority Creator [00:23:00] is my journey.

I had to circle back to this stuff. I had 750,000 followers on social media before I realized I needed a lead magnet. Seriously. Can you imagine what my list size would be if I had been intentional when I first started with social media?

But that said, it doesn’t mean you’re getting a buy from this. [00:23:30] Meaning you do have to see to some of these things, they’re important, they’re foundational pieces, but you may not get them right, right out the gate. Give yourself some grace and continue to evolve it.

Jody: Exactly as you get feedback, as you talk to more people that’s going to help you refine your message and go, aha, this is what I need to put in here.

I lost my train of thought again, but great information with that. Oh, that’s what I was going to say, because sometimes it can be [00:24:00] fear that stops us from dialing in and getting our messaging, oh, for me. What if I’m talking to ad managers, then I’m going to scare away all these other course creators who could benefit from my knowledge or expertise.

That’s okay. They will come along as well. Right. Just get clear and focused to that one person who that ideal client is. People who are on the fringes, who are interested and they like what you’re saying as well. They will still come to you. So, it’s a benefit for you.

Kim: There’s another avenue for this. I’m going [00:24:30] to just share it real quick because this has kind of been the approach that I’ve taken lately with the clear messaging because I feel like it is slightly different than a lot of people teach it. And it’s different than I’ve traditionally taught it, so I will say that too because most of the time we are so focused on who.

Who is our who, right? Who is that avatar? Who is our perfect person? You know, you’ve nailed yours down to ad managers, but I’ve found that if you get super clear on the transformation that you offer [00:25:00] then your person will self select in.

Jody: Yeah.

Kim: Think about that for a second. If you really get super clear now, it could be that your ideal person is exactly who you think it is because you’ve gotten the clarity of message, you’re speaking to your person by the transformation that you’re offering, and they are like, oh my gosh, I need that.

But sometimes it’s surprising, your person comes out on the other side, spits out on the other side of the transformation, and it’s somebody you don’t think it is. [00:25:30] So just get super clear on what you do for people. Do that and your person will come out on the other side of it.

Jody: Absolutely, a hundred percent agree with that.

Get super clear, and don’t be afraid to get super clear guys, and don’t be afraid to get on video and get yourself out there because like Kim said, if you’re coming from a place of service, then people need to see you because if you’re not out there and being visible, like I just read a post from another ad manager [00:26:00] colleague who spoke to someone, a big agency was running their ads.

There was a big launch, the most they had ever spent on a launch, three days in still no leads. The agency was saying, oh yes, iOS audience, blah, blah, blah. The owner went in and had a look. Clicked the link and the link wasn’t going to the webinar registration page. It was going to the actual checkout page, and it was like $8,000 in ad spend and this kind of thing, right?

So I know a lot of the ad managers that I [00:26:30] work with are very detail oriented. They wear their heart on their sleeve and want to do the best they can for their clients. So if you are not out there being visible and showing people that you know ads and you know how to run them for them, they’ll go somewhere else and they may get burnt with somebody else, or, you know, someone who’s not quite so ethical.

So, you know, you are ripping people off if you don’t get yourself out there, right? So get out there, get [00:27:00] visible. So people can come to you and you can support them in the best way that you can. So Kim, last words of advice from Kim.

Kim: Yeah. The end goal is to showcase that authority and expertise in such a way that people know very quickly that you offer a solution to the problem that they have. And I think if you start to do that, your name’s going to come to the top of the pile very quickly when somebody’s looking for an ad manager, [00:27:30] because it’s just what happens. You become known for the thing that you offer and having those foundational pieces is super powerful.

Jody: Absolutely. And I see that with the ad managers in my community The Clique, my mastermind where they are in places and they’re giving advice, they’re standing out as that authority, and people are just coming to them because they can see these guys know what they’re talking about and want to talk to them. I want them to run my ads so they’re [00:28:00] being hunted rather than being the hunter.

Kim: Yes. That’s a much more preferable place to be than constantly being on the lookout for the next client. Absolutely.

Jody: Well, Kim, that has been amazing. Loved diving into this with you, your messaging, establishing your authority.

Love it. Where can people learn more about you?

Kim: Obviously my website, kimgarst.com. If I’ve said anything today that you’re like, oh my [00:28:30] gosh, I need to know more about that, or you’ve gotten value from it just connect with me over on Instagram. Send me a message. I always respond, almost always with a voice message because it’s easier and I might talk your ear off, but it’s okay.

I would love to hear from you if I can give you any value at all.

Jody: Oh man, and she genuinely means that Kim is just such a gem and she’s just an awesome person to have on your side. Thank you. Hands down. [00:29:00] Thank you, Kim. Once again, it’s been an absolute pleasure and guys run over check out kimgarst.com, send her a message on Instagram.

Tell her what value you’ve got from this podcast. That would be awesome. Thanks, Kim. Thanks everyone. Thank you. That’s it today. Bye for now.