Your network is your net worth. In this inspiring episode of The Hayley Osborne Show, we explore the profound impact of community on business growth and success. Joined by Chanelle Le Roux, we dive into why creating and keeping your connections are essential when you’re running a business.
And even more so, let’s be genuine about it because when you are a supportive network you can unlock new levels of exponential success.
We have some laughs as we’re super similar and I just knew Chanelle would be such great value for my audience and prove (as we are in similar industries) how community offers far more than just camaraderie—it’s a powerful tool for growth, resilience, and sustainability.
Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or a small business owner, discover actionable insights on building and leveraging community to thrive together.
You can find her here: https://www.ninkionline.com
Instagram: @ninkicontentmarketing
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ninkicontentmarketing
SUMMARY
0:00:01 Introduction and Guest Introduction
0:07:22 Community Over Competition
0:11:24 Channel LaRue’s Background and Business
0:15:22 The Role of Community in Business Success
0:22:09 Practical Tips for Building Community
0:28:53 Navigating Business Ebbs and Flows
0:33:55 The Impact of AI on Marketing
0:37:59 Content Marketing and Its Role
0:41:42 The Importance of Authenticity in Marketing
0:42:34 Final Thoughts and Call to Action
Hayley Osborne
Hello and welcome back to the Hayley Osborne show. I am glad to be in your ears for another week of amazing, inspiring, filled content and knowledge and all the things. Today is the first guest episode, actually, in a little while, and I’m so thrilled. This is such a fun episode, lots of laughs and lots of complete knowledge bombs, because today I have with me Chanel LaRue, if you don’t know her, she is a marketing specialist and coach.
Chanel and I both live in the same state, and we have both sat on stage together and given keynotes. We’ve been on a panel together, and we’ve, yeah, been in the same room as each other and riffed off each other. And it’s just like it is always a fun conversation with Chanel. So I really wanted to have her on the podcast.
She is the owner of Nin key content marketing and then in key Academy, and she’s been in the industry just as long as me, so since 2009 and has worked with some really big brands, ESPN, BBC and so many more, and now works with small to medium sized businesses across Australia. She’s also a part time performer, which is probably why she’s so damn funny gin enthusiast and has a strange fear of bananas.
Anyway, without further ado, I really want to get into this episode with you. We, you know, really want to prove that thriving together is a thing, and also, we talk deeply on how the community feels about business success. So without further ado, let’s get into today’s episode. Hello, Chanel, for like, getting the drum, drum roll out. Um, welcome to the podcast.
Chanelle Le Roux
Thank you, my darling. Thank you for having me. Oh Hayley and I have just spent like, the last like, half an hour chatting, and then she was like, we need we probably should probably get started with this podcast. Thank you for having me.
Hayley Osborne
I think that you and I could probably just talk for ages about all the things. Yeah, I reckon, well, I’m really glad that you said yes to coming on my podcast. And I want to just preface this with the fact that I’ve obviously read out your bio, and I do that like I, you know, saying I do that after so I can summarize what the conversation is about and really put you up in lights, but we are both in the same industry.
And I want to highlight the fact that, you know, there’s so many people that do what you do, like you know, there’s lots of coffee shops, there’s lots of builders, there’s lots of this, but there is room to coexist and collaborate with those people that do what you do, and two heads are better than one. And this is me, we like walking that talk, because I do often talk about that, and it’s like, definitely community over competition. And like, I value that, and I love what you do, and what your agency does, and everything. And so I think it’s important to come together as a community.
And I don’t think that, you know, there’s no need to feel threatened by other people in your industry that do what you do. A rising tide lifts all boats. I think yes, and you wouldn’t have come on here, if you can think that as well?
Chanelle Le Roux
No, I mean, you hit the nail on the head. Community over competition all the way. There’s so much that we can learn from each other, and there’s so many ways that we can help each other out. And I’ve got so much from having those, you know, strategic partnerships and conversations with people, even though we’re in the same industry.
So if you’re listening to this and you’re afraid of what you deem to be competition, take your competition out for a coffee. You might find that there’s an epic collaboration that you can do together, that you can both benefit from, and there’s always something unique, right? So I’ve got a client who started like a virtual rack service, where you can. Um, book a rack and sell your baby’s clothes.
And she messages me, and she’s like, oh, this place has just popped up, and this place has popped up. And I’m like, Girl, there’s going to be, like, a million businesses who are doing the same thing that you’re doing, but each of you will have something that’s very unique, whether it’s you or your process or your system or your customer service, or you know where you’re located, or there’s so many different things that make your business unique.
So yes, community over competition, but then also know that your business, even though you might do something similar to someone else, there’s always something that’s unique to you. Yeah,
Hayley Osborne
I love that. So how about you introduce yourself? Yeah, let’s just dive right in. But can you tell our listeners who you are and what you do in your own words?
Chanelle Le Roux
My name is Chanel LaRue. I’m a digital marketing specialist, and I am also a marketing coach. I own a content marketing agency called Ninki, so we’re not a full-service agency that does everything. We just specialize in content marketing. I do also have the Nike Academy, which is the educational side of my business.
So if you’re looking for on demand courses, or you’re looking to DIY or social media, you can go onto the Ninki Academy, and there’s some educational stuff. That’s the stuff I’m really passionate about, is the educational piece. I’m a part time performer, so I’m very comfortable being, you know, on stage and sharing, you know, things like that with people, but then, yes, much like you, I’m also a marketing coach. So for businesses who can’t afford our management services, I can just teach you how to do it yourself, and I don’t keep anything to myself. I can, I can, you know, show you how to do it.
So that’s that, that’s me. I’ve been in the marketing industry since 2009 and over my career, I’ve worked in lots of different areas of marketing. So I’ve worked in programmatic advertising and coaching and sales and strategy, but content marketing was the one area of marketing that I enjoyed the most, because it’s it really gave me the opportunity to be quite creative and use both strategy and creativity, I’ve worked with some really big brands, like Victoria secrets and BBC and ESPN, not through my business, not through Ninki, but through agencies that I’ve worked for in the past, but now, I generally work with small to medium sized businesses, which I really enjoy.
And then every now and then, I work with a big business, but that’s essentially my journey and where, where I’m at right now, and what I do right now, I
Hayley Osborne
i love it, so it’s a good segue, because we kind of spoke offline. But what, what does like, like-minded people coming together and, you know, kind of create? And we talked about, you know, how businesses will we think? And you think you will fail without community. So can you kind of elaborate on that a little bit more? Like, what do you do, what’s your take on the community, and how do you see, like, the collaboration space, you know, uplifting businesses, yeah.
Chanelle Le Roux
So I think community has different meanings for different people. So you have, like, a physical community. If you’ve got a coffee shop, then your community will probably be people within a two-kilometer radius that are very loyal to your business, because that’s the physical community. There’s an online community, if you look at something like a Facebook group, for example, that is a virtual community that can exist across multiple countries, and it’s all online.
But then there’s your, your brand community, which is the community that you build around your brand and your service and your products. And there’s a couple reasons why a brand community is very important, um, which I’ll circle back to. But the other community is sort of your business community, right? So I am an SA woman, which I believe you are as well. I’m part of the community she creates. I’ve got my own community from G and T nights, which is something that myself and another agency owner do.
So there’s, there’s the community that also uplifts your business. So there’s really, you know, lots of different types of communities that serve different purposes, but if you’re a business owner that’s listening to this, the community that I would probably suggest exploring a bit is your brand community. So back in the day, relationships between the consumer and the brand were very transactional. People were happy to just buy a product or service and walk away, and it was very, very, very transactional. But now consumers are looking for something so much more than a transaction.
They’re looking for an ongoing relationship, and they are willing to sell very, stay very loyal to brands who take care of them, and brands who have a community that they can bring people into. People really want a sense of belonging, and your brand needs to create a community that gives people that sense of belonging. So there’s lots of different examples I can give, but go to skin does a really good job of it.
They’ve got their go to gang, which is their sort of loyalty program of people who are advocates or evangelists for their brand. And they really do. Job at keeping their existing customers engaged with the brand, to keep them loyal. And it becomes a bit like, you know, country road or something like that, where it’s a real status symbol to that particular brand so your brand, your brand and your business, needs to exist for something more than just profit.
It needs to stand for a higher purpose, and one of those higher purposes is a community. I’ll give one more example. Who gives a crap is a really good example. They sell toilet paper, and they give a percentage of their profits to build toilets in third world countries. And so they’ve got this community around their brand of people who really value philanthropy and helping people that are less fortunate than us, and even though, to be perfectly honest, the toilet paper is not great.
I buy from them, me too. It’s crap, I have to say. But I buy it because, sure, it’s convenient that it gets dropped off at my doorstep once a month, but I know that the portion of the funds are going to people in third world countries, and they do a really good job at keeping me engaged with their brand, with social media, email marketing, all of that kind of thing.
So to sum up, there’s lots of different types of communities, but your brand community is really important if you want to keep customers loyal to your brand. We’re so busy thinking about how to get customers in that we actually forget about how to keep them once we’ve got them
Hayley Osborne
100% and I think it’s easier. The customer lifetime value of one customer is so large compared to what it takes to drive new audiences in. And so if you can, like you’re saying, build that loyalty with some kind of loyalty, not a program, just some kind of community way to keep them in your world. It’s a lot easier to acquire than looking for new ones.
And so you gave a really good example about how you do that, as I’m not, you know, a small to medium business, and that’s through your G and T nights, and that’s a really good example, because I can hear, like, listeners saying, Yeah, but it’s all fine for go to and who gives a crap, because they’re large businesses, but I’m a small business.
Like, how could I do that? How can I add my piece of community. Like, what are some examples? And so, like, for me, obviously, I have my membership superhero marketing. And, you know, one way I try to create a sense of community is, you know, I send out welcome packs. We’ve got, like, different things on at certain times of the year, if you are local, to come in, and if you’re not around Christmas, like, I send something.
And so there’s different ways to build community. What are like, I know you do G and Tina, what are some other suggestions for like, business owners that might be like, a service-based business, that kind of maybe work from home, like, I do, you know, my office is at home. Like, I don’t know, what are some I’m trying to think as well, I know from me Well,
Chanelle Le Roux
I mean, you made a really good point. And there’s sort of it, it kind of melts into one, because we’re talking a bit about community, but then we’re also talking about brand loyalty. Yes, how to keep your community engaged with your brand? And you’re 100%, right? You don’t have to be a big business, or have a big budget to keep your customers loyal, I had a podcast interview with somebody named Louisa Ford not so long ago.
It was fantastic. Give it a listen, and some of the things we spoke about were things like you were saying at Christmas time, send your clients a bottle of wine or, you know, once every couple of months, offer them an additional service as added value. As a nice little surprise, one of the things that is a real unique selling point for my agency, that I know our clients get a lot of value from, is my network.
I spend a lot of time and a lot of money networking and going to networking events, and whenever a client comes to work with us, I’ve got so many people that I can connect them with for brand collaborations and all that sort of thing that they are very loyal to me, because they’re like Chanel knows people. She knows a lot of people, and it’s really benefited our business. So when you think about keeping people loyal to your brand, don’t think that it needs to be a hard thing or a time consuming or an expensive thing. It’s lots of little things that go a really, really long way.
So that’s that side of things. But then when it comes to community, there’s your virtual community, right? So you could set up a LinkedIn group, you could set up a Facebook group, and you can offer value as a service-based business, or even a product-based business, to the world. The only downside to those virtual communities is that you have to drive it’s they’re hard to maintain.
So you have to be posting in those groups all the time, and you have to be pushing people into those groups like there’s no tomorrow. So those groups that they can work for. Your virtual community, but it’s quite difficult to get up and running. I honestly think that the best way you can build a community is through in person networking.
Um, I’ve only realized this year, after seven years, how powerful the network that I’ve built is. I’ve really underestimated the power of it. And we’ve all heard the quote, your network is your network? Oh,
Hayley Osborne
I feel exactly the same.
Chanelle Le Roux
Yeah, it really is. So if you are a small business and, you know, you work from home and your service based or product based, sure, we get all bogged down in this online marketing shit, you know, the cm and the SEO and the social media and the YouTube and TikTok and on and on and on.
But sometimes it’s just, you know, get out of your gym jams and go and find a networking event, or pay a little bit of money to go to a premium conference if you’re looking for people who can afford your services. And instead of building your own community, insert yourself and somebody else’s as a means to drive leads. Because obviously, that’s the other thing is, are you wanting to join a community to build your business, or are you wanting to create your own community to bring people into because there’s, obviously, it’s a push and pull thing. It depends on the business and what they’re trying to achieve.
Hayley Osborne
I love the communities that I’m part of, and honestly, it is like no one can take those connections away from you once you’ve built them. And I like to hear what other people are saying now, but I’m really nervous to go into groups, and I, you know, don’t really do well when I don’t know anyone.
Well, the place to start that I could think of is to start to go live on your social media. Start to show up on your social media, because you become confident by showing up. And then when you enter rooms where you don’t know anyone, like, for me, I just love, I love the thought of walking into a room where I know nobody. It’s like, I’m just like, this is my vibe.
Chanelle Le Roux
I’m like you. You are the only person in the whole entire world that is like that me. So this is, like, amazing, because I love it. It’s, I was going to say, arousing, that wasn’t the exhilarating, exhilarating,
Hayley Osborne
yeah, yeah. That’s how I feel when I walk into a room where I don’t know anyone. I’m just, like, lit. I don’t know why it’s, is it some sort of psycho kind of behavior, or is it just, no,
Chanelle Le Roux
I’ve wondered that about myself as well. I’m like, am I a sociopath? But no, you’re a social butterfly. You get your energy from other people, and you’re probably quite generous. You like to give your energy and time to people because it fills your cup. Um, so giving to people, actually, it’s not giving and then feeling empty, it does the opposite. It’s like, you give, but that fills your cup. Yeah, and
Hayley Osborne
I’m super nosy too. Like, I just want to know everything about everyone. And I like, I’m the one that will ask you a billion questions about yourself, but like, I don’t like to talk about me, but I just want to know everything about everyone. And like, do you know what I love to follow? I know this.
We’re totally going off track, but I love to follow on social media people that go around asking people what they do, and, like, stop them, and they’re like, what do you do for a living? You’re driving, like, a roll, Royce or whatever. What are you doing? What? I’m like, tell me. I’m like, I’m
Chanelle Le Roux
so intrigued.
Hayley Osborne
How did you start your business and, or, or, how do you and I’m like, what if I did that? If I did that, I don’t know. Like, someone would say, oh, I inherited it or something, I’ll be like, damn it. I’m just so nosy. I want to know. Give me the grit, give me the story. I
Chanelle Le Roux
I love this guy so what you’ve just said is what so many people fail to do. The key to being able to have a conversation is to ask questions. Yeah, and I have, admittedly, some friends who I adore, but they never ask me any fucking questions. And it drives me nuts, because you just sit there and you’re asking all the questions and you’re not getting anything back. People love to share things about themselves.
They do that, like, this was a study that said that people love to share things like, if they’re asked. So if you’re listening to this and you hate networking, because, like, you just hate it. Become prepared with a couple of questions you can ask people because, so I think keep doing what you’re doing Hayley, because, like, we need more people like you who can go out and just ask people questions, because it’s a real skill. Actually,
Hayley Osborne
I’m intrigued. Anyway, next question I have for you, because you are in the marketing buzz, and you’re so close to everything. What are your biggest bizzo
Chanelle Le Roux
biz, Australian? I
Hayley Osborne
I love it. No. Bizzo, that’s not something that you would say.
Chanelle Le Roux
I don’t say, but I’m not Australian, but I like it, and I’m going to stop saying it,
Hayley Osborne
yeah? Bizzo, Hmm, interesting.
Chanelle Le Roux
So yes, I’m in the marketing bizzo,
Hayley Osborne
you’re in the marketing bizzo, you know, you know you’re, you’re and you’re deep in it. And so, same as me, right? So you see a lot, but what would be your biggest fears about marketing you personally
Chanelle Le Roux
do? Um, it’s definitely the AI thing, which you and I have obviously spoken about heaps. Um, AI is definitely a concern, not just for the marketing industry, but for a lot of different industries, and for anybody who is not living under Iraq, you will know why. The reason why is because it’s incredibly powerful. Sure it’s not perfect, and there’s a lot of examples of how AI is not producing perfect stuff, and how humans can still do better than AI, but it’s only getting better.
And I think I’m most scared about AI because it’s already impacted my business quite significantly. I had a copywriter who was also my best friend, and I had to make her redundant because she wanted to be a copywriter. She only wanted to do copywriting.
She is not a marketer, and she didn’t want to do anything else but copywriting. And we didn’t have enough just copywriting work. And when ChatGPT came out, we did. We noticed a huge decline in copywriting inquiries. It’s lifting up now because people have realized that chat GPT is a lot more limited than what people think.
And my husband’s a copywriter, and he’s the busiest he’s ever been. So I think people have you know, they’ve smelled the coffee and woken up and realized that it can’t do everything. But that was, that was, that was a big hit to my business. I had to get rid of my first employee, my best friend, and it was rough. It was really, really rough.
So my biggest fear for marketing is definitely, it’s definitely AI. I think the other thing is that there’s no regulation around marketing, and that worries me, because there’s a lot of inexperienced people, students, etc. And I’m not having a go at students.
I love working with students, but who set up an agency, and they’ve got no experience, and they burn all of these businesses, and then they give agencies a really bad name. So I would hope to see a body one day that can regulate anybody who calls themselves a marketing professional or a marketing agency to protect us as marketers. I’d probably just say those two things, just AI and then, like, the lack of regulations.
Hayley Osborne
Yeah, the second one I definitely agree with as well, simply because I’ve had a few incidences, especially over this year alone, where people have come to me and they’ve said they have employed X business website with faceless it’s a faceless website like, versus, say, faceless SEO website claiming they can do this, this, this and this.
There’s no one behind the brand, and there’s no, like, trustworthiness kind of factor. But they’ve gone with them because they’ve had a really strong web presence. So they obviously invested a lot in their own SEO to deliver zero to, like, make false promises. So obviously, AI has written the web copy, and then, you know, they’ve sold it somehow promised the world over a zoom call, and then not being able to deliver, and not, you know, like, committed to what they said that they would, and been paid for it.
And it’s like, so anyone can pretend to be this person. And then, like you said, Yeah, I have, I know of a few people that that’s happened to, and you don’t know what you don’t know. And if you’re not in the industry, of course, you’re going to think that what people are writing on their website they can do and that it’s legit. But I’m telling you, it’s not like, if there’s no one behind the brand, I would think twice about working with a company like that.
Chanelle Le Roux
And also, if it’s $9 a month, yes, come on. Like, do you really think you’re going to get something good from something that costs $9 a month. So like, yeah, it’s bad on the agency or the business that is selling those services, but then it also has to be on the business owner for not doing their due diligence. And we’ve all fallen into that trap, so don’t beat yourself up about it.
We’ve all spent money on shit that can go down well, but treat it like you’re getting your car. You would never just buy a car without chatting to your mates and being like, what do you think about this car? Do you like this car? Have you driven this car? Can you recommend any other cars? Like talk, you know, ask, and I know, the last time we chatted about this, we both said, drop us a line on Instagram.
Like, if you’re thinking of working with an agency, even if it’s not mine, I’d rather say to you, oh, maybe don’t go with that one. Then, yeah, then have you go. And then, you know, I get, I get a bad name because somebody else did a shit job
Hayley Osborne
100% I think that’s a lovely idea. And then at least you know that you’re doing good in this world for small businesses. So I do know, and I use this in my own communications, that small business owners make up the backbone of our Australian economy. And so, like, if you and I can do good in that space, then we’ve done our bit for future proofing, like the economy that we live in, and making it a better place.
And so I do think that that is a part. Of it. When you break it down on what you could do better? Well, it’s just like, ask more questions. Yeah, yeah, for sure. So just like coming towards the end of the year, and you know, it’s October at the moment, businesses, some ramp up, some get slower, and some get scared, right? Oh no, is my business coming to an end? Is it a slower period when I’m freaking out like clients aren’t coming in?
And what would you recommend that people do when that starts to happen? And you know, working on their business is definitely a huge step forward. But from like, you know you are an expert in this field. Like, what can business owners do to help themselves without, like, freaking out and closing their doors?
Chanelle Le Roux
Yeah, so I think if you’re listening to this new business owner, you’ll probably know by now that business ebbs and flows, and depending on what you do, you may find that there’s particular times of year that are always busier, and particular times of year that are always quiet. For me, I’m always really busy at the end of the year for some reason, but throughout the year, my business 100% ebbs and flows 100%, but the goal is not to go during the quiet periods, oh shit, it’s quite what am I going to do instead? It’s best to think about what you can be doing consistently throughout the year, so that if you do find yourself in a quiet period, you’ve got something running in the background all the time that could potentially be driving you leads during that downtime, right?
So that’s the mistake that a lot of businesses make, is they don’t do a hell of a lot, or they do the bare minimum, and then when it gets quiet, they go, oh shit, what are we going to do? And then they start getting busy. So I think the first thing would be to look at your marketing strategy, and look at what you’re doing consistently throughout the year.
If you’ve got the budget for it, and leads are really low, I would always say, invest in paid ads. I mean, obviously this is, this is very broad advice. It would always depend on your particular situation, but supplementing your organic content with paid ads is always going to lift leads and always going to lift sales.
But if you don’t have the budget to invest in paid ads, old school marketing, baby, pick up the phone. Hire a business development manager, write some cold emails, get on LinkedIn messages, some people like, I think we’ve forgotten about the power of that pick up the phone thing. And if someone, if you’re listening to this, and you feel like you want a business development manager, but you don’t want to hire somebody, I work with a lady named Tanya from potato consulting, and she’s my business development manager.
She picks up the phone and books appointments for me. So don’t be afraid to like the answer may not be online, it may be offline. It could even be an ad in the paper, like there’s still some merit in offline advertising. It could be a letterbox drop. It could be a poster. So if you find that things are getting a little bit quiet, I wouldn’t say Don’t panic, but rather take a beat and go okay with the budget and the time and the team that I have, what could I do?
And the answer to that is not always easy, and that’s when you consult somebody like us, who are marketing professionals, who can say, well, this is where I recommend you invest that time and money. But you know, it’s a big question, because there’s a lot of shit you can do, right? You can do stuff online, you could do paid, you could do unpaid, you could do offline. But I would say, if it’s really quiet and you’ve got the money, invest in paid ads, if you don’t have the money, then then go out and just do old school sales stuff, pick up the phone, LinkedIn, etc.
Hayley Osborne
I remember, that’s what I did when I first started my business. I was so scared. It was about seven years ago, but I was so scared I just ended up, you know, going bag grill styles, Gorilla marketing. I talk to anyone and everyone about my business, and that’s how it took off,
Chanelle Le Roux
yeah, but hopefully, you know, and somebody said this to me a few years ago, um, Corey Wolf, who’s a lovely, lovely guy. I don’t know if you know him, but you know he said, you know, you want to put yourself in a position where you’re running your marketing in such a way that when things are getting quiet, you don’t worry, because, you know, you’ve got these things working in the background that will bring you those leads, and then also leverage your network, so all the people that you’ve collected business cards from, or all the communities that you’re in reach out to them and say hey and be honest and vulnerable.
Like, say hey, things will be quiet. How things think things for you. If there’s anything I can help with, let me know. Like,
Hayley Osborne
yeah, yeah, I love that. I do know. And I can’t remember where I read this, but they. Say that the six weeks of what you did six weeks ago inside your business are the rewards that you’ll be reaping at the present time, absolutely.
Chanelle Le Roux
So you’ve got to keep sowing the seeds. And it’s exhausting, you know, but if you create systems and processes where you build it into your daily operation of planting those seeds, I presented a proposal to a company a year ago, and they said, thank you so much, but we’re going to give it a go in house. And they’ve come back to me a year later saying, hey, we’re really struggling. Can you pick this up for us? So obviously,
Hayley Osborne
left a great impression. And that is, you never know how it comes back. And yeah, that happens to me as well. It’s so lovely. You can’t teach that though. You can’t tell someone that. So I’m a marketing coach as well, and I have one on one coaching clients, and I say the amount of times I say that, that it’s about doing all the things and things come out of left field, and you never would have like known that 12 months ago when you wrote that proposal, that that client would now come back and need your help, but you leave with your head held high, and you just keep doing what you’re doing, and keep showing up, and now,
Chanelle Le Roux
boom, yeah, 100% and you can’t. And you know, unfortunately, when things are quiet and like some people just withdraw, they just panic and freak out. But that’s when you know you have to just keep planting those seeds, and you can plant those seeds in many ways, which we’ve spoken about today, but you’re 100% right. It doesn’t pay off straight away, but eventually it will, yeah,
Hayley Osborne
so let, let’s just, I want to chat about content marketing, because that’s obviously your jam. What does that mean for the layman person listening? What is content marketing?
Chanelle Le Roux
So the best way I like to describe content marketing is through a quote that I invented, which is that ads help you be seen. Content helps you be chosen so you can run paid ads. Let’s say you see a page that
Hayley Osborne
down. Quote by
Chanelle Le Roux
it’s a good one, because if you saw an ad for a pair of Nike or Nike shoes and it was $400 you wouldn’t go, oh, those are nice shoes, and then buy the $400 shoes. That is not happening. You’re not buying a $400 pair of shoes unless you do the research to vet that these are the right shoes for you. So after you’ve seen the ad, you go onto YouTube and you look at some unboxing videos. You go onto their Instagram, and you see that there’s a famous person who wears these shoes, and you have a look at that video, and then you look at the reviews of the shoe through a blog from somebody who specializes in Nike shoes or whatever it is, all of those things, the video, the Instagram, the blog, all of those things are content.
And that’s what informs my decision. It’s not an ad. I don’t see an ad and then decide to buy something, unless it’s something you know of a low value, like hand soap. It’s all of those pieces of content that help me make that decision. And if your business is pumping all this money into ads but doesn’t have any of that organic content, then your ads won’t convert, because they will see the ad, and then they will research you online, and you know what?
They’ll find your competitors’ content, not your content, and then they are persuaded off to something else. So content, in layman’s terms, is anything that you can read or watch or look at. It’s videos, its images, its words, but it’s all meaningful content that ultimately builds connection. It builds trust. Because, as you’ll know, if we don’t know you and like you and trust you, we won’t buy from you. So content marketing is there to build that relationship and connection and trust so that people will buy from you. So that’s the best way that I can explain content marketing. Yeah,
Hayley Osborne
so ads help you to see. Content helps you be chosen. Yes, that’s going to be the title for this podcast. Yeah,
Chanelle Le Roux
I do know I tried to see if I could trademark that quote, because I’ve seen so many people share it, and I would hate to be in a position where someone is claiming it, and it was going to cost me something like $7,000 to trademark that quote. Can you handle it?
Hayley Osborne
Oh my gosh. So I was like,
Chanelle Le Roux
Thanks to everyone. If someone can take it, that’s fine, I don’t know, lying around, and
Hayley Osborne
you can just use it free will as you please. Yeah.
Chanelle Le Roux
I mean, I suppose, as long as people are using it correctly, and it’s highlighting the importance of content marketing, that’s all I can wish and hope for. So totally,
Hayley Osborne
totally. My thing is, I always say Done is better than perfect. I’ve got it on notepads, I’ve got it on, like, postcards. I’ve got it on all my merch. Everything done is better than perfect, because it is, I don’t know if that’s trademarked or not. I just, like, I love it. Yes, I never came up with it. I just, I came up with it, but I haven’t looked into it because.
I do believe that Done is better than perfect, because if you’re never going to be completely satisfied with how you show up that first time, or put that, you know, copy out, or run that sales page like you’ve got to get it out there get some feedback, and how you start is probably not how you finish based on what people want that are seeing what you have to offer. So Done is better than perfect,
Chanelle Le Roux
absolutely. And I quote a similar quote that I put on my LinkedIn the other day, was that perfection hinders progress, because if you’re trying, if you’re waiting for something to be perfect, you’re missing all of these opportunities, and you’re not moving forward and you’re not progressing. So yeah, I’m a big believer in the Done is better than perfect thing. I’m with you on that one, yeah. And
Hayley Osborne
I think too, I remember when you shared the second lot of marketing from my podcast interview on your podcast, it was really raw, and I was like, oh, I love this. It’s so good. That is what I think is going to make way for some serious progress in the future. Is that more raw content? Because, as say, our communities on Instagram or Facebook or Tik Tok or whatever grow like a lot of people would think, that they need to become more polished to be able to fit that field to, you know, but for me, I just want to remain as real as possible, like I show up, I don’t have makeup.
As you know, I’m raw. It is like unfiltered goodness coming your way. And I think that that is what is going to set a lot of brands apart in the future, especially as you grow in numbers for your community, or whatever that is, the more real you can be and raw you can be, the more humans connect to humans, and I think that will drive a lot more success for businesses.
Chanelle Le Roux
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think it’s so easy for us, because without trying to, you know, make us sound like big fat wankers. We are quite like charismatic, confident people. That doesn’t come,
Hayley Osborne
wankers,
Chanelle Le Roux
like, like, it doesn’t come. It’s very easy for us. And I also pride myself. I’m also like, no makeup, no under. Yes, you can see that. But ja, like, very raw and authentic. And that’s also like a good segue into the UGC style side of things like user generated content. Brands are, sure, still paying, you know, models and celebrities and stuff to endorse their products, but the user generated content, with just everyday people trying different, you know, products and services and creating videos of their experiences are is absolute gold for brands, it’s not about what you say about yourself, it’s about what other people say.
So that raw, authentic stuff definitely works. But sometimes I do think Chanel puts a bit of effort in slapping some makeup on, for God’s sake, and I definitely need a new webcam so I could do a little better. I could do a little better look.
Hayley Osborne
I think there’s a time and a place for both. Like, I feel like, you know you need that raw, ready sort of stuff, but you also need your professional shots. Otherwise, you know when, if you want to impact more people, it means talking in front of a lot more people. And so when you want to impact more people, you have to have kind of like, your professional hat on. But if you want to be real and relatable, you also have to have a good blend.
So I love to show myself when I’m exercising, because that’s when I’m at my actual worst. Like, not the worst, but like, right? I go tomato red, and I’m sweaty, and it’s, like, not beautiful, but I want it’s, I do it on purpose, to show people that you can show up however you are, and, yeah, be like, proud to just get it done. And Done is better than perfect and all the things. And usually that’s when I’m on my own, so that’s when I’ve got space. But it’s like, I gotta do it right? Because I want to share as much as I can with people. Yeah, absolutely.
Chanelle Le Roux
And once you get over that barrier of being, you know, self-conscious, of showing up. It’s so liberating. And your marketing, your social media content, for one thing, will certainly start performing a hell of a lot better, because people want to see you like you say, people, you know, humans connect with humans, and people want to see people on social media.
So if you’re pumping your social media with Canva graphics all day long, that’s not really going to cut the mustard. So, you know, pull the trigger and jump on and show your face, and it’ll only get easy. And like you say, it gets you built. You don’t need the confidence to do it. Confidence comes from doing it. And I really like that quote, which is why I put it on my social So, yeah, I’m with you on all that
Hayley Osborne
cool. So what’s a lasting one thing that you could leave us with today? Something nuggety.
Chanelle Le Roux
Sounds awful. Hayley to your listeners.
Hayley Osborne
Not like chicken nuggets, just a nugget of gold wisdom. Oh,
Chanelle Le Roux
my God. From you. I like to think I’m pretty wisdomous or wise.
Hayley Osborne
What are you working on at the moment, that people can come into your world and support you or learn from you, because you’re very magnetic. Oh, thank
Chanelle Le Roux
you. I will share that, but I just thought of something and look, this isn’t groundbreaking, and it’s not it’s not nuggety, but I think it’s something that we all need to be reminded of a lot is to just unplug and switch off whenever you can. And this is not new information, and it’s not groundbreaking, and it’s not even related to marketing, but I know the impact that business burnout has had on me and my mental health.
This is my diazepam that I take because I’m very anxious. So take time out. And if it means that you’ve got to block out that time in your calendar to do that, then do it. Because if you just keep going and going and going, you will burn out, you will resent your business, and you’ll not be showing up the best way you can for your customers.
So if I’m going to leave you with anything, it’s just a reminder to like, if you can slow the fuck down and take some time out and in terms of what I’m working on, I’ve got all sorts of things going on at the moment, but one thing I’m really excited about is that I’ve got a six-week DIY, your social media course, in the pipeline.
I’ve got about 50 people on the waitlist, which I’m very excited about. And I’m in the process of building the course. It’s going to be very affordable for the first time. I’ve got a great launch offer. So if you go onto the Ninki Academy website, which is ninkiacademy.com.au, and you go to the course section, you can join the waitlist
Hayley Osborne
for you as well. Yeah,
Chanelle Le Roux
thank you so and if yeah, that’s pretty much it. And if you’d love to connect with me, LinkedIn is a good place. Instagram is also a good place. You can connect with me @ninkicontentmarketing on Instagram or @chanelleleroux_marketingcoach on Instagram as
Hayley Osborne
well. Beautiful. I love talking to you. I genuinely love talking to you and like, I think I said this to you when, like, a couple months ago, but I feel like I mark my words that you and I are going to. I don’t know if we’ll do something together at some point. Yeah,
Chanelle Le Roux
oh yeah, yes. I
Hayley Osborne
feel like it’s in the air, so
Chanelle Le Roux
it’s on its way. Brewing.
Hayley Osborne
We are birthing. We are brewing when it’s
Chanelle Le Roux
Friday, and I feel like, yeah, I feel like we could just keep going. We could bring out the G’s. So absolutely, I always love speaking to you. And thank you so much for having me.
Hayley Osborne
Oh, it’s been so good. I thank you for taking the time to come on the podcast. And yeah, follow Chanel, for all of her genius, with what she does, and also some laughs, because I think that you’ve got a great sense of humor on your socials.
Chanelle Le Roux
I’m so glad that being an idiot makes someone happy. You’re welcome.
Hayley Osborne
No, it’s lovely. All right. Thank you so much, Hayley. I hope you’ve enjoyed listening to this episode. If you have hit subscribe, so you don’t miss any new episodes released every Tuesday, and while you’re there, leave me a review. I would absolutely love to read it. Also, don’t forget to tag me @hayleykosborne over on Instagram and share this post with your audience so they can get learning too. Sharing is caring. If you want more, head over to https://hayleyosborne.com/category/podcast/ for today’s show notes and links. Catch you next week for another episode of The Hayley Osborne show.
