Transcript of Short 50 – Do Wedding Pros TikTok?

The Wedding Pro CEO SHORTS are quick, bite-sized episodes are meant to inspire you as you build the business you’re dreaming of! 

[00:00:00] Brandee Gaar:  On today’s podcast/blog, I’m gonna share a little bit with you about my journey on TikTok. (subject of this episode) 

So why have I decided to share today about my journey and how is it gonna apply to you? Well, I wanna share a little bit about why I decided to go all in on TikTok and how I’m doing that. And I also wanna give you four tips on how you can use, my journey, the things that I’m doing, the things that I’m going through to implement for yourself when you want to join the next platform, whether that’s TikTok or YouTube, or Instagram reels, or Pinterest, whatever it is.

I’m gonna give you 4 tips to help you get ready for that next platform. So I decided

[00:01:00] in the final quarter of 2022 that I was going to, go all in on TikTok. Why? Well, I had tried to use TikTok about two and a half years ago. So in the summer of 2020, I decided to go and use TikTok for 30 days.

I was gonna post every single day for 30 days, and I was gonna see if it was gonna help my business grow because TikTok was getting so much. Raves and so many compliments and all this press, right? For being this next great thing. And so I was like, I’m gonna do it. And so I did for 30 days. I posted almost every day and it really didn’t do anything.

Like I had a hard time getting followers over there. I was getting super frustrated. I was also just starting my coaching business, so I was really involved in other platforms, like I was going Facebook Live every single day. Five days a week. We were on LinkedIn. We had just started the podcast a few months before that. And so I really was

[00:02:00] thinking, this is not the platform that’s moving the needle for me. Like I can’t be everywhere. And so I really need to focus on the platforms that are making a difference. And so I decided to go off of TikTok. 

And to be honest, I didn’t even open the app again for two years. I, I had no desire to watch it, and if I wasn’t gonna create over there, I had no desire to be on it at all. So I didn’t even go back on it. 

Well, I’ve built up my Instagram. I don’t do Facebook Lives anymore, every single day at least. The podcast really has a rhythm and things like that, and so, I started to get the itch that I was ready to take on a new platform in the summer of last year.

And TikTok is still really proven to be a force in the social media world. Some people have said that it’s a bigger search engine than even Google is. It’s really going to battle with Instagram and YouTube, and so I thought , like it’s time for me to go learn this new platform, and I really want to do it well. Because there’s nothing more that frustrates me

[00:03:00] than when a student comes to me and says, ” Oh, I posted three reels, but I haven’t really seen much from it.” And I’m like, “Three? You posted three?”

And so understanding that there has to be a long-term consistency on whatever app that you’re using to really see results. 

Social media is not an overnight thing. It is simply not. It is a long-term game. It is part of your overall marketing strategy. And so I knew that if I was gonna go all in on TikTok, it was gonna be a long game, and so I needed to be prepared for that.

So I started to learn the platform. 

Here’s point number one. If you are thinking about starting on a new platform, no matter what it is, the first thing I want you to do is just watch. Now, that can sound like mindless scrolling, but it’s not mindless! Okay? I really want you to get on the platform, and I want you to just start watching what other creators are doing.

[00:04:00] I want you to see, what kind of videos do you resonate with? Because you are likely very similar to your ideal customer. Right? Or you know, what they like? 

I want you to see what kind of videos or what kind of content do you engage with?

Are they making more graphic content? Are they making more short form video? 

One of the things that I noticed was very, very different on TikTok than it is on Instagram people just literally are in their car and start talking to the camera, or they’re getting ready, like they’re getting ready with me videos… Y’all, I have not brought myself to be able to do that yet. I want to, but I’m like, I don’t know if I can do this. They’re just like no makeup in their bathroom, putting on their makeup or doing their hair and talking to the camera. 

So it’s a lot more just like on the fly giving tips or talking about their life or talking about a story over on TikTok and you don’t see that as much on Instagram.

Instagram is still a lot more like fun and on brand. So that’s something I had to really think

[00:05:00] about, how my platform would be different on TikTok than it is over on Instagram. 

So watching and kind of learning the type of content that people are making on an app is the first thing that I would tell you to do before you start.

 The next thing I would do is I would really start to look for your people on that app. 

So on TikTok, if I’m a coach for wedding pros, I wanna make sure that wedding pros are actually over there.

Now what I have noticed is that there’s not a ton of wedding pros creating on the TikTok app. There are a lot of Wedding Pros that are on the TikTok app. Okay? But they’re just not creating, it hasn’t been a space where our industry has really jumped into yet, but the few that are, are literally killing it, over on TikTok. 

There are several, Wedding Pro accounts that I follow, that I absolutely love watching because they are just creating the simplest content for engaged couples to help them to learn how to plan their wedding or just to have

[00:06:00] fun or to make fun of different scenarios that happen at weddings. It’s a trip! 

So I wanted to make sure, are they, there? Are my people there? And I wanna encourage you, this is tip number two to really think about that as well. Are your people on whatever app it is that you’re getting ready to jump onto? 

Let’s take Facebook for instance. Let’s say that you decide you’re gonna go all in on Facebook because you’ve heard that people are really killing it in Facebook groups.

Well, I want you to really think about, are my people in Facebook groups? So as a wedding planner, for instance, my company, Blush, we serve a luxury high-end bride. 

And what we have found is that our brides, our couples are not in these Facebook groups, okay? Because these Facebook groups are more geared towards a more budget conscious couple, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

If we wanted to go out and really push a DIY service, or we were month of coordinators only, then I would be all in on these

[00:07:00] Facebook groups. Like I would be like, yes, sign me up, because that’s where your people are. But I really want you to first look and see are my people on this app before you go all in.

Okay. Number three is to just start creating. 

So once you’ve watched what other content people are making, you’ve seen, yes, my people are there. 

I want you to just start creating. You are, going to feel awkward at first. I’ve been now creating on TikTok for over a month, and I still get a little sweaty when I go to make a TikTok video. Because it’s so foreign to me the way that TikTok works versus how Instagram works.

 You could put a camera in front of my face for either podcasting or a reel, and I could just start right away, just start talking about anything. But as soon as the TikTok app opens, for whatever reason, I get super anxious and a little sweaty because I feel like it’s still out of my comfort zone. Like I’m creating in a more

[00:08:00] raw and real way than I typically have in the past. Like it’s literally just start talking to the camera. And so that’s been a little bit challenging for me to, to learn, but I have decided that I am just gonna start creating.

And I tell my students this all the time with reels as well. Just start creating. It will feel awkward. You will feel ugly, you will feel weird. You will think people are gonna make fun of you, and they probably will. Who cares? 

Because at the end of the day, if you know that this is gonna move the needle forward in your business, then the people who are making fun of you aren’t your client anyway! 

I want to give you four tips on how you can use, my journey, the things that I’m doing, the things that I’m going through to implement for yourself when you want to join the next social media platform, whether that’s TikTok or YouTube, or Instagram reels, or Pinterest, whatever it is.

So who cares what they say? And just move on and create for the people that are really getting impacted by what you’re creating. 

Ditch the rules, like especially in the beginning, you’re not gonna be able to learn all the rules until you start creating.

You’re gonna start realizing what’s working, what’s not. If you need hashtags, if you don’t, do you need an SEO caption? Or do you not? All of

[00:09:00] these things are things you’re gonna learn as you go, and that’s okay because here’s what’s gonna happen. As your channel starts to build up steam, as your profile starts to build up steam, no matter what platform you’re on.

All of a sudden you’re gonna get one video or one post that people are gonna be like all in on. You’re gonna get thousands of people that watch it, or thousands of people that come to visit your profile. And if that’s the first video you ever made because you waited until it was gonna be perfect to make it, they’re not gonna have anything else to chew on, like anything else to watch or see.

So they’re gonna just click off of your profile and be like, that was a cool video, but they’re not gonna follow for more. Get valuable content up on your platform. 

Just start creating the number one excuse I hear people say is, “But I, I just don’t know how to do it right yet.”

Who cares if you’re doing it right? Just start! 

The number of awkward Tiktoks that I have made you guys go over to my platform on TikTok and cringe with me. Okay? 

It’s so bad. There’s so many that I’m like, “Oh my gosh.” But I

[00:10:00] heard that you’re not supposed to ever delete a TikTok, so I’m leaving them there, but they’re terrible. Okay? Because I am so awkward when it comes to TikTok. 

But I’m getting better. Every single time I put the camera in front of my face, I’m getting better. And what I’ve started to notice is as my platform is starting to grow, and by grow I mean like one person a day, it’s literally killing me.

But as my platform is starting to grow, I’m starting to see people watch video after video, and so old videos are starting to get more traction and while they may be awkward, the content is still really good because I’ve been educating my audience over there. So what is the moral of this point?

Just start creating and don’t worry about the rules. Okay?

 Number four is set a goal and stop making excuses. Take action! 

Which, if you’ve watched my stories, you know, is my word of the year! 

Take action! 

Stop making excuses and just start doing it. On TikTok, you guys, when I learned this, I

[00:11:00] almost died. On TikTok, they suggest posting at least three times a day. 

Now I thought I was killing it on Instagram because we post at least one time a day, sometimes two times a day. So when I heard that you needed to post three times a day to start getting traction on your channel, I was like, what on Earth? There’s no way I can do that.

And I made excuses for like two months. I was like, no, I’m gonna post one time a day. And the app can either like it or not like it… and how do you think that went over? Not great, right? 

And so I decided no, if I’m gonna go all in on this app, I have to play by the the rules of the app, right? 

Like now I’ve started to learn it, I’ve started to create, and as I know better, I do better. 

And so I went from posting once a day to posting three times a day. 

And because I made that goal and I told myself I’m doing this, I’m going all in. I wanna see if it works. I’m giving it at least six months. I have to hold myself

[00:12:00] accountable to that. So even on the days where I haven’t done my hair and makeup and I really don’t wanna be on camera, or even on the days where I’m like, I don’t possibly know what I could talk about today. I figure it out and I go on three times a day and I provide valuable information for my audience over there to help them grow and scale their business. That’s what I’m here for. 

So I think about, what tips I needed or what tips have come up in the Mastermind recently, what tips have come up in my community, things that I’ve learned that are helping me move the needle forward, and I share those over on my TikTok. 

So set a goal, whatever app it is that you’re gonna be on, if it’s reels, if it’s Instagram, if it’s Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok. Whatever it is. I want you set a consistency goal, and I want you to stay consistent with it, okay? That’s the most important thing. There’s no rule that you could ever follow that will ever trump consistency. If you post every single day or you post three times a week and you keep up with it, I promise you

[00:13:00] that will pay off so much faster than any rule could ever pay off. This leads me to my last point, which is have patience. So often you see people you follow that are like, I went viral and this is how I got 10,000 followers in three months. That’s okay. That’s them, right? 

You have to have patience with your growth, and when I give you this tip, I’m actually just talking out loud to myself because it is so, so challenging to make a video and stop my life to make these videos for my audience and to see, one person like it, or to see 10 people even watch it, to see my, follower count go up by two in a whole week. It’s excruciating.

And I want to, I really do. I want to just throw in the towel. I wanna just be like, “Why am I even doing this? Instagram is my jam. I’m just gonna stay over there and hang out with those people.” Right? 

But in reality, I do believe that TikTok has an audience that I

[00:14:00] can impact from my education. I really genuinely believe that TikTok can help me to move my business forward. It can help me to find new wedding pros that I can impact and help them to build that profitable business that they’re wanting to build. 

And so to do that, to find those people, I have to go all in, which I’ve agreed to do. And so I have to have patience. 

On the days when I get 10 views. And I think I should have gotten a thousand views on a Tiktok, I have to have patience. 

I have to show up every single time I go to make a video knowing that it’s not about the results, but it’s about the impact. 

And the coolest thing is that I still only have like 330 followers. I don’t know what it is, but I’m starting to see that we’re getting about five new followers a day. Which, I think is a lot, I’m super happy with that, considering I was getting like two a week. 

And so instead of thinking, oh, I should have 10,000 followers by now, or I should have a thousand followers by now, we’ve set a goal to have five new followers every single day. It’s

[00:15:00] a small goal. It’s not gonna help us hit 10,000 followers anytime soon, but it is an achievable goal, and it’s one that is making us have to really push to stay present on the app to be able to hit.

So tip number five, stay patient and to really, really focus on those small wins. To say like, I don’t need to hit this many followers by this time. I just need to impact the right people at the right time. I need them to hear a message. 

And I will tell you that there is no greater compliment than one comment.

I was so excited when somebody finally commented on one of my Tiktoks and she said, I really needed to hear this today. And I thought to myself, literally, like seven people have viewed this video but that one person said, “I really needed to hear this today.” And to me, that made it all worth it. 

So just remember, you are not trying to go viral, you are trying to impact the right people at the right time. And as a wedding pro, that means that if you can help one engaged couple to understand that planning a wedding or planning their music for their wedding or

[00:16:00] picking their flowers is not as overwhelming as it feels to them right now and that you can be the expert that can help them, then that made it all worth it. Thank you so much for being here. 

I would love to know what platform are you hoping to dig into this year? Come over to the Wedding Pro CEO, Facebook Community on Facebook. Obviously, you can drop down into the show notes and click to join.

I would love to know from you, what platform are you hoping to go all in on? There’s people in the group that I’m sure are already on whatever platform you wanna be on and can help give you some tips to do so. 

So come over to the wedding Pro CEO community and share with us.

We cannot wait to see you grow this year!!! 

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