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Imagine in Color 2023: Head of the Table

Nov 16, 2023

The Think In Color 2023 has officially been concluded! We're grateful and happy for the opportunity to listen to our lineup of amazing women as well as BIPOC creators and innovators in the business. We're hoping that, at the end of the evening you were encouraged by our panelists' journeys and learned how to build an effective virtual community, broaden your service offerings, and scale your business and expand your reach, among other things.

Although many topics were covered at the event however, we've made every effort to bring the highlights to you. Find out the key points we learned from each of the speakers.

Skip ahead:

Creating Cozy & Collaborative Virtual Communities

Cicely Blain, anti-racism consultant and Founder Bakau Consulting. Bakau Consulting

The session's description is that although remote work existed before COVID-19, the pandemic intensified the requirement for businesses to shift to a virtual setting. As a result, those who wanted to maintain a close relation with their clients decided to set groups of like-minded people can learn from and support each other. But, it's hard to make it as tight-knit as a physical one.

In this session, Cicely Blain shares their journey to build their virtual community called Living Room. They shared the method they use to create a cozy and welcoming vibe within a virtual space by creating inclusive and secure communities, and using digital tools to meet the needs of people.

  Principal takeaways  

  Know who your audience is and what they're looking for.  

Prior to launching Living Room, Cicely had to figure out the people they wanted to build the digital space to. As their work has roots in anti-racism and anti-oppression, Cicely was aware that the community would mostly cater to people who are DEI professionals, consultants as well as HR professionals doing similar work.

Next, Cicely had to figure out what the people actually desired.

      "I considered what these people are looking forward to, in particular at these crucial times when so many things are shifting and they're being directed by different names?    

      The people are clearly looking for a sense of community, of solidarity, and connection when there's a feeling of the feeling of. They're also looking for ways to connect and learning."  

  Make your content an audience-friendly website.  

The best way to get members to join your virtual community is to give them something they can relate to. For Cicely, that relatable thing was their living space. They were looking to recreate exactly the identical cozy and welcoming feeling that their living space gave them.

      "I wondered, "What is it that I want people to experience when they come into the space?' I thought, well I would like that they feel the exact way they might when they walk into a physical space that's warm and welcoming and cozy. I wanted them to be relaxed, happy, supported, connected, and seen."  

Cicely incorporates this spirit in the community through:

  • The beginning of every virtual conference begins with 10 minutes of reflection. It is a quick question on the screen to help attendees do some self-reflection.
  • Playing a soft R&B-inspired playlist that helps people relax and ease into the call.
  • Engaging in each conversation as though you're enjoying a casual conversation with their closest friends. While recording footage for their on-line class, Cicely might be doing their makeup or making a cup of coffee in their kitchen.

  Provide a variety of ways for members of the community to obtain what they require  

While the members of an online community tend to be people with similar interests, they may have different needs strength, weaknesses, and needs. For your company, you'll have to discover different ways in that you are able to meet the needs of your community members, despite the differences.

Together with Living Room, Cicely met the demands of its community through:

  • Providing different forms of engagement (e.g. chat forums, live discussion, comprehensive online courses and so on. );
  • The definition of the community's values and guidelines;
  • allowing people to dress in their authentic selves;
  • Removal of unnecessary stressors for example, time restrictions and meeting agendas;
  • Considering accessibility needs (e.g. impairments and neurodivergence), etc.

Funds in the Funnel: How To Maximize Revenues Using a Funnel that is focused on customers.

Ellie Diop, Content and Finance Coach for Ellievated Academy

Session description: To build an effective business there are customers who will take a purchase or use with your offerings. However, many businesses make the mistake of creating content that the ideal customer would prefer and not what customers actually want. In this talk, Ellie explains how you can grow your business and increase sales by creating an effective funnel to attract your ideal customers and caters to their needs and wants.

  Key takeaways:  

  Every single piece of content has a role to play.  

The process of creating a funnel that's focused on your customers can be described as establishing a connection with your customers. One of the best ways to accomplish that is to create material that is educational, useful, relevant and valuable to customers. A funnel designed to be customer-focused has five stages:

  • Awareness
  • Discovery
  • Consideration
  • Conversion
  • Relationship + retention + REPEAT

On the importance of creating content, Ellie declares, "Every piece of content you write is an integral part in your team selling. What you wrote in the last three months is doing the job of moving users through the funnel... Being consistent and presenting regularly with the same style creates a predictable tone for customers to comprehend to help them move along this funnel."

  Define your brand  

If you're not aware of the people your services or products are catering to, nobody will buy from or hire your services. So before building a funnel, define your business's purpose and goals by starting with the ideal customer. Ask yourself:

  • Who do I serve?
  • How can I assist them to in resolving their problems?
  • What do I need to do?

These answers form the foundation of the business decisions you make. Ellie suggests a basic template that can be used to assist [YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE] to meet [YOUR GOAL] with your product or service

Drawing on her experience of growing her company, Ellie declares, "For me, that might be "I assist women in building successful businesses by providing them with strategy and financial skills '... for a long time I kept this information written on a notepad in a corner. So, whenever I decided to make a video, I remembered whom I was speaking about."

  Build your social media following  

Social media is one of the most efficient digital platforms for creating the brand's reputation and driving leads for your business. The results are so good that many people will browse through the profile of your company's Instagram profile (or your other social media pages) before they visit your site.

Thus, you must put in the your time (and possibly funds) in your social media content in order to make it more visible. Some ways you can do this is to:

  • Creating educational, engaging, and shareable content (especially videos)
  • Ads that run paid
  • Working with influencers that have a similar target audience as you

  Lead magnets can be used to expand your email database  

As you're creating content, the goal is to pull the maximum number of people who aren't on social media onto your email list. When people subscribe to your list of email subscribers will give an opportunity for you to connect directly with them, that's more beneficial rather than just hoping that they stumble onto your videos and posts when they browse Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). This is where lead magnets are useful.

In the ideal scenario, when you use lead magnets you're handing worth to get people's contact information (usually their email and name address). But you can request other items as well. In the beginning of her company, Ellie offered free 1-on-1 classes to people in exchange for reviews. They were used to get her first batch of paying clients.

      "You've got to consider what is the field where I can provide high-quality free services that can get someone excited?' and make that your main attraction. [In my business], I recently made a change where instead of pushing you directly to a product, we direct the user to sign up for a free deal that is a free masterclass. We then sell it on the back end. Our results have been fantastic."  

  Retaining existing customers is much easier than finding new customers  

Each new lead that you receive each lead you receive, you must go through the process of driving them along the sales funnel. This is more challenging than convincing an existing client to purchase from you once more. Therefore, you should focus on maintaining your customer at the same level and if not more than customer acquisition.

To keep your customers, here are some tips to follow:

  • Provide high-end customer service
  • Utilize surveys from customers to gather feedback
  • Gather testimonials from satisfied customers (offer incentive programs, when it is possible)
  • Create a secondary offering that can fill in the gaps in the market

In creating the new offer, Ellie shares, "I created my first business credit course for just 15 dollars. In the meantime, I was getting comments from my customers on what theywould like to see next. So I came up with the Business Credit revamped. After that, I developed my Business Credit masterclass, and after that, the whole bundle. It turned out that the majority of those who had purchased the initial one purchased the second to make up the missing pieces. [Then] they bought the third one because as they were advancing in their understanding, they required more."

Growing Both B2C and B2B Business to generate multiple revenue streams

Jessica Chen, Global Communication Expert & CEO of Soulcast Media

Description of session: Businesses generally speaking, have three primary revenue and sales determinants: their products/services and the content they produce to explain their products and services and the channels by the channels they share that content. In this talk, Jessica discusses the power of LinkedIn in helping businesses connect to both clients (B2C) and other businesses (B2B) and how you can make your content appealing to both groups, and how to expand the range of services you offer in order to meet the needs of both groups.

  LinkedIn is an effective platform to distribute content and boost your profile  

While many professionals and entrepreneurs have profiles on LinkedIn, they don't consider it a platform where you are able to increase your reach and publish contents. Instead, they see LinkedIn as a tool for enhancing resumes, locating job opportunities, and communicating with friends and acquaintances.

In real life, LinkedIn is a social media platform, similar to Instagram as well as X (formerly Twitter), and must be treated as such. There is only one difference: the kind of content that you post.

On LinkedIn's appeal, Jessica says, "The appeal of LinkedIn is this: You're reaching a particular set of audience who is in a mind space that is focused on professional growth and eagerness to learn."

Jessica is also willing to share her journey from speaking about her experience as a journalist in the year 2018 to becoming a qualified Top Voice and a LinkedIn instructor in just five years. She chalks this up to being consistent on the platform and connecting with a wide variety of audiences that can be benefited from her service to help people improve their communications skills.

  Modify your message to suit both B2C and B2B viewers.  

A lot of business owners think that they can only gain visibility when their content is targeted at consumers on a personal basis. It's not the case.

The power of LinkedIn is the fact that it allows users to modify their messaging to cater to both B2C and B2B audiences. Your offer doesn't need to be changed, however changing the language you use to describe your company can increase your exposure and help you attract individuals and companies.

"I discovered that when I'm trying to communicate to my B2C audience, I prefer using words such as 'you', 'your' and have you thought of it? ...?'" says Jessica. "My style of speaking is clear, so the person that reads the content feels like it's personal.

      "[With a B2B audienceinstead of using  the words 'you' and "your", I'm structuring my presentation by using things like, 'the team' and 'the organization'. It's more positive-driven and [less personal."  

  Make yourself known as an thought-leader to appeal to B2B audiences  

Unlike individual customers who only need a good product, B2B customers want to be sure they're buying from the top of the line. So to get their attention, you'll need present your self as an expert or thought leader in your field, regardless of whether your product is primarily targeted at B2C customers.

If, for instance, you're a photographer, then you may create and sell courses in photography for your B2C market. To get B2B leads, you could post thought leadership material about being in the arts industry or how to build a successful business by being an artist. Also, if you are offering 1-on-1 workshops that teach people how to be more productive and efficient, you could appeal to B2B viewers by publishing content about improving workplace productivity.

In this way, you could go from selling B2C items like e-courses or one-on-one classes to offering events and speaking opportunities.

Making a personal brand using video

XayLi Barclay, expert as well as Visual Content Coach with Start Shoot Develop

Description of the session If you're the owner of your business you can feel invisible, especially if you're selling in a crowded marketplace or in a crowded industry. However, you can get over that by building your personal brand with videos, whether it's short TikTok clips, Instagram Reels, or longer-form YouTube videos. In this presentation, XayLi explains how you could use videos to help promote your online courses to increase sales and solidify your brand to your clients.

  It doesn't take much in order to begin.  

If you are creating your first video or doing your debut livestream, not everything has to be flawless. Start with the footage you already have. At the start, people are willing to overlook your poor video quality and poor editing skills since they are aware that as time passes, you'll be better.

XayLi herself began by using a laptop, a simple white backdrop as well as a ring light that was ripped from the mill.

"This is the place where I got my start, even when approached me as one of their experts," she states. "I didn't wait till I had the newsroom set for my first lesson to teach people. I used what I had because I knew what I wanted to teach did not revolve around just how beautiful your setup could be.

      In the present I'm using a built-in studio in my home However, this is the place where I started a few years in the past."    

  More resources will be available as you advance  

As you get more visibility through your video content and earn revenue, it's time building up your collection and enhance your equipment for video. For example, you can buy a more powerful camera or webcam as well as a tripod stand (worth around $500-$1,000) and a green screen as well as E-Camm Live and a teleprompter application along with an Adobe Premiere subscription for editing.

Speaking out upgrade options for equipment and sets, XayLi clarifies, "[At this stage] it is possible to have multiple camera angles, and the list goes on. It's time to start investing in those things because you're earning cash. Many of us believe that we need to look good before we can earn money. No. You need to get in the marketplace, and you will get the cash."

If you are earning enough money, you can begin outsourcing the recording of your videos edits, distribution, and recording to freelancers or an in-house team.

  Concentrate on one thing at a moment  

There's a common misconception that you have to take every step to grow your business: post on every channel, get on every trend, and speak about a range of subjects. It's not always the case. It's better to concentrate on a single thing in a row as you create your own personal branding. Not only does this prevent the possibility of burning out and wasting time, it also lets the viewers know what they can look forward to each whenever you make a video.

According to XayLi Barclay's "Rule of 5 Ones" These are the five things to focus on when you are deciding on your digital plan of action:

  • One item or service
  • One possible market
  • One lead conversion tool
  • One of the main sources for traffic
  • One objective for business

Memberships -- The Good, The Bad as well as The Ugly

Teri Ijeoma the founder of Trade & Travel

Summary of session: If executed properly, memberships are an excellent way for companies to build stronger relationships with their customers, as well as generate extra income. Teri Ijeoma created the membership program that she developed to support Trade & Travel and she currently has more than 35,000 participants taking her classes and over 185,000 subscribers to her email list. In this talk, Teri shares the benefits of establishing a membership system as well as explains how businesses can establish and utilize to create memberships in a way that is effective.

  Learn when it is time to move from a group that is free to a paid membership model  

If you're not a famous business, then you'll be required to launch your membership plan by providing worth for nothing. Teri created her own with a free Facebook group. But, as you build your network, it is important be aware of when you should transition from a free community to a paid membership model.

Here are some indicators to be aware of prior to making a pivot:

  • The group you are working with is growing in size, yet the members pay a one-time fee for the service you offer, as opposed to paying for the additional benefits your organization offers, e.g. year-long customer support, etc.
  • Group members start their independent group meetings, or sub-groups. This makes difficult the group administration.
  • The group is hiring moderators and coaches to provide consulting services for group members and not generating any additional income from your members.

  Your member program is a service by itself  

A lot of companies that offer online courses also offer membership plans as an add-on to those courses. While a membership program is an excellent way to make your courses more effective however, it should be treated as a complete productit's not just a gimmick.

Speaking about her Trade & Travel membership, Teri admits "In my initial stages, I believed that the membership was an extension of my education. This isn't the case. the membership is a product entirely on its own. It's got to have its own staff, promotions and marketing plan... you should consider it as a product itself."

  Make sure you are aware of your pricing  

If you're transitioning from a free group to a membership model, think about the income goals you have and price your offer on the basis of the goal. In this point, it's simple to set your price less to attract more customers. If you're certain that your membership program is packed with value, don't be afraid to ask for a premium rate for the program.

If, for instance, your goal is to make 10,000 per month, you'd better have 500 people spend $200 a month than 1000 people to contribute $100 per month. It's true that the higher your prices are, the fewer people will sign up for it. But this also means that you'll hit your income goals more quickly, while also finding it easier to control your program.

Head of Table Panel Discussion

Diandra Marizet (Host) the Executive Director and co-founder of Intersectional Environmentalist

Session description: This panel discussion includes speakers Cicely, Ellie, Jessica, and XayLi sharing their perspectives on the importance of inclusivity and diversity within the business world, the difficulties women and BIPOC business owners face as they enter the creator economy, and how to value their offerings ethically within a capitalist system.

Here are a few of the poignant questions and answers in this conversation:

  Women of color who are entrepreneurs are coming into financial stability for the very first time. What new challenges, issues, and opportunities does the future hold for them?

Ellie Diop: Just like there's poverty trauma There's also wealth trauma as well. If you're one of the few in your family to own an e-commerce or a seven-figure company, there's not many examples to follow. There's a stigma that still exists when speaking about money, specifically in the case of a person who is of color and earning more than what most people can imagine in a lifetime.

As an example, after I made my first million dollars, I was scared to move out of the house my mother lived in. I wasn't ready to commit the money since I wasn't sure what I would do if it was gone. I also was afraid to inform my family members because I was concerned that they would think differently about my character.

What I'd love to be able to see more of are collaborative areas like this, which can eliminate this stigma, and state "Hey What's happening? If you're struggling to make money and what to use your money for, don't be afraid to talk about it". This stigma is one reason we see people make a lot of money and return to the place they were.

  Oftentimes, in business settings there is a need to integrate, code-switch or keep quiet, or even put aspects of ourselves aside. It is not always easy to think that we belong to the idea of professionalism. Has that experience shaped how you contribute to your local community? How do you apply that to the work that you enjoy as an DEI professional?

Cicely Blain: In the system we grew up in, when we see the same type of person represented on media, television as well as social media and when certain online creators gain traction, while other creators get banned, you begin to think that you have be a certain manner of speaking and being.

In the event that you are in a position that you're recognized for what you really are by your peers and leaders (even if they don't have the same lived experiences as you) is truly liberating. However, although there is a growing number of representations and more opportunities are available, there's still an unwritten rule about what people are expected to do. We sometimes internalize these two rules (even when they could not be true) which can keep us from achieving our goals.

For example, on TikTok, many people do not appear neat and well-dressed constantly. Although it's a relief however, I believe that this opportunity is only afforded to some people who have a greater expectation for others and how they present themselves.

  When do you decide that your current path isn't in line with the direction you're able to take you and what your passion could be, and you decide to move to full-time entrepreneurial?  

Jessica Chen: All of us will reach a point in time arrive at where we recognize that the dream we had to achieve is completed and we're now ready to try some new challenges. Myself I had an excellent job that I enjoyed, however after 10 years of working, I realized that there was more available. I've always been a kind of person who has the ability to design my own way. So I thought about how I could pass on the knowledge I've learned to other folks.

I started out as a journalist, which might consider a "proper" job where you can't share your thoughts, and you aren't able to express yourself as you're sharing stories of other people. It was a jarring transition to begin creating my own voice and displaying my personal style. It was certainly a learning steeple.

  How do you approach pricing your products or services to attract people that are in the same boat, eager to take a lesson from you and see the value in your offerings?

XayLi Barclay Says: Lots times, we set prices low, but we overwhelm the person who's investing -which is an injustice to the person. It's easy to think you'll get a lot of buyers if you sell cheap, but the reality is, you're getting overwhelmed people who aren't ready to make a decision.

I hired a coach for my business to determine how much I should be making, and that determined my prices based on volume. It's common for creators who create a $7 course and make 6 figures off that course, but they have the volume. If you're a less experienced creator, you need to be aware of the goals you have in the business world so that you are able to price your product appropriately.

If I sell 5 online classes at $1,000 for each course, I'll be making $5,000. This is in contrast to offering 500 courses at 10 dollars per course. Imagine it in this manner. This is the procedure I had to experience.

Watch Sessions of Think In Color 2023 on-demand

Here's the scoop The key takeaways that were gleaned from this three-hour long event for both budding and veteran entrepreneurs operating in the economy. We invite you to dig deeper into any of the topics that piqued your curiosity.