The Ultimate Blog Podcast - 72. Finding Your Target Audience with Erin Trusner Fischer

Episode Date: May 2, 2023

Do you know who your target audience is? Today, we are excited to have Erin Trusner Fischer, the owner of Trusner Designs, join us to talk about how to find your target audience. Trusner Designs is a full service marketing, branding and graphic design firm. Erin’s specialty is working with small businesses to create stand out, branded imagery that reflects their authentic brand voice and showing them how to thread this throughout their business aesthetic via her e-course suite, Business: Engage. If you are struggling to find ways to reach your target audience, you don’t want to miss this episode! Thanks for listening! Connect with us on Instagram: @sparkmediaconceptsSave 20% off of Berkley Sweetapple's templates using code SPARK20 on her website: berkleysweetapple.comCheck out The Blog Depot. This is a community and course that we have set up for you if you need questions answered before you start your blog. Join The Ultimate Blog Bootcamp, our online course and coaching that helps you build the blog that you have always dreamed of.Check out the show notes (link below) for more information including links and resources mentioned in today's episode! SHOW NOTES: www.sparkmediaconcepts.com/episode72

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast with Amy Reinecke and Jennifer Draper. We're on a mission to empower women who want to start or grow their own blog. This podcast is for women who want to learn blogging basics and who crave inspiration and encouragement. Whether you're just getting started or have been a blogger for years, we're excited to welcome you into this space where we are passionate about creating community over competition. We are bloggers who want to encourage you to believe in your potential, step outside the norm and step into a life where you create your own schedule, your own success and your own story. Join us for weekly episodes as we navigate blogging

and work from home life all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. Okay, welcome back to another episode of the Ultimate Blog Podcast. Today, we are really excited to talk with Erin, who is the owner of Trestner Designs, which is a full-service marketing, branding, and graphic design firm. Erin's specialty is working with small businesses to create standout branded imagery that reflects their authentic brand voice, showing them how to thread this throughout their business aesthetic via her eCourseSuite Business Engage. She has had the wonderful opportunity to work with more than 570 businesses since 2015. And we are excited to pick your brain today,

Erin, because you said something before we hit record about your messaging. And so I'm really, really excited to dive more into that because we talk a lot about who you're talking to and your avatar and your niche and all of that. And you're kind of coming at this from a different angle today by saying, let's make sure that you have the right messaging. So welcome to the podcast. We are really excited to have this awesome conversation today. Thank you so much for having me. I'm absolutely thrilled to be here. Thank you both. Yeah. Yeah. So we want to hear about how you got started in this area. And you've told us this is an interesting story. And we're on the edge of our seat,

excited to hear about it. So tell us about how you got started with marketing in this area of finding your target audience. So Trust and Designs happened by total accident. Total accident. So the knowledge didn't happen by accident, but business did. I came fresh face out of college, working for a high net worth finance company as their youngest VP of marketing. I loved my job. I just had the best co-workers and everything. And I got pulled into my boss's office one day and they said, we need you to design the company Christmas party invitation. And deer in the headlights, Aaron, instead of just being like, okay, I'll find a company, you know, with an invitation we can have. I apparently decided to take it upon myself to learn an

entire software system just to create a holiday party invitation after close to dozens of YouTube videos and everything. I don't know what it was. Something just clicked and I was just determined to do it. And I discovered that not only did I love it, but I was pretty good at it pretty fast. And that's so weird to say, but it was. And so I remember I put the proof of what I had created on the big boss's desk and I'm just, you know, my knees are knocking. I'm sitting there waiting for like, what is this crap she presented to me? And he said, did you design this? And he said, yes. And he said, I love it. And you were like, phew. I was like, oh yes. Like the sweat was pouring for sure. And then he said, I want you to design every marketing material we put out for our clients from here on out. Oh my gosh. And I said, yes. Again, equally nervous. Why did

I do this? I have no idea. So I ended up taking charge of all of the external marketing materials to all of our high net worth clients. I mean, this is brochures. This is just at the cusp of social media marketing for business. This is back in 2010. Just companies just starting to dive into that. And really, it was just a hot shot, just learning curve for me to do all of this. And I just, at the same time, I discovered how much I loved doing it. And so I asked permission to start a side business. You know, you're young, I'm 24 years old. I just want as much money I can get at the, at the time. And he said, of course, yes, he was fully supportive of that. And so I

started designing all of my friends' wedding invitations. I was at that age where everybody was getting married. They were on a budget, you know, and I was giving away the farm just to get my name out there. And I started a Facebook group and I'm like, what am I going to name this thing? And so I just named it my name, Trussner Designs. And it just snowballed from there. People wanting baby shower invitations, you know, birthday party invitations, all everything. So it started out as an invitation company. And then I got smart. And I realized that I have this degree in marketing that I love.

I love how businesses run. I love to help them run and optimize and grow and figure all these little nuances out. So I started branding small businesses and offering logo design and diving deeper into the marketing strategy and people who wanted to start a business but didn't know the first thing about starting a business. They knew their offering and they knew they had something special, but how to get that out there and how to attract people to them.

And then, like I said, in 2015 is when it really took off. In 2017, I had to make the decision, do I sleep or do I just work for myself? Yeah. And so in 2017, Trustner Designs became my full-time income. And it has been bliss and wonder and growth and amazingness and some hard times and some lessons ever since. So here we are. That's really cool that it kind of just fell in your lap. So here's my question. Are you the type of person that's like i'm just going to figure it out like

do you like to kind of figure things out or you are okay i don't know if you've seen that there's an audio i mean i love instagram there's an audio on instagram i mean lise myers if you don't follow lise myers oh yeah well she's just i just love her whole vibe she said she has an audio going trending right now it says says, I have this gene where I have the, I can do anything gene and it's incredibly delusional and very helpful. I'm paraphrasing. That's not exactly what I mean. It's very close. And I have never related more to an Instagram audio in my entire life. But it can serve you really well. Because this started over 10-ish years ago almost.

And so it's obviously served you really well to have that mentality to come at something and be like, I'm just going to figure it out. And I do think that coming from a blogger's point of view, a lot of bloggers have to do that exact same thing, especially in the beginning. You kind of do have to figure it all out. We have our course, Ultimate Blog Bootcamp. And in there, we have a glossary of blogging terminology, because you kind of feel like you're learning a new language when you're learning about blogging, but many of them just figure it out. You literally just dive in with both feet and say, okay, I want to do this. And this is part of it. And so I just am going to dive in.

Nodding vigorously, but I'm nodding vigorously. It's very relatable. And in the world of blogging, very, very, very true. Yeah. So when did you make this shift? Because now you're serving in other capacities as well. You don't just have trust in our design. So how has this evolved for you over the last several years? So it's just about... I realized when I first started doing the logo design and things like that, it was like, Oh, one logo design is X amount. Just piecing it together. And then as I was saying, well, that's not how I run my business. Other small businesses don't want to run their business piecing these things together. They want full service.

They want to know that there's a one-stop shop to come for visual branding, your logos, your color palettes, your fonts, but also implementation strategies and social media tips and tricks and again, the website and the SEO and how to take those imagery, the imagery that you've been given and actually how to go use it and apply it and talk to your target audience, which I know we're going to touch on a lot today and how to resonate with that and be able to convert that into what we all want, sales, money, income, keep the lights on, keep everybody's head. So it just evolved from branding in a basic form to a full service, what people really need to be to set up their businesses for success. I love that. So essentially, you are kind of teaching people how to find their target

audience. And that is what we want to dive into today is this idea of target audience. You might hear it as like a reader avatar as well. It could be another phrase that you've maybe heard. And so why do you feel it is so important, Erin, to find your target audience? What is the benefit of that? Great question. So first of all, it is just the fact that we do what I call, and it's a common term in the marketing deal. I did not make this up. Spray and fray. Okay. We're spraying and fraying. We're talking to everyone. What ends up happening is we're talking to no one. No one resonates with our message. No, everybody's like, I'm confused. Like,

who is she talking to? Who is he talking to? Who are they talking to? And then we don't end up connecting because we're just praying someone somewhere reaches out and grabs it and comes in. Right? So the importance of it is figuring out who you're talking to. And this is, we'll get into this in a little while, but I mean, literally we're going to make a profile of this person. We're going to profile in a good way, this person to help you figure out who you're talking to, because then your messaging is specific. The likelihood of someone who you're speaking directly to resonating with your message or understanding what you're saying statistically skyrockets when you are speaking directly to

that person and giving them the nuggets and the goodness and the information that they are going out and seeking, whether it's Google search, or they're looking on Instagram through hashtags, whatever their avenue is, if you're speaking directly to them, your visibility level is actually going to go up when you take your audience specificity down. I feel like that's something that's so hard for us as bloggers to accept is that we'll probably be talking to more people, reaching more people if we get more specific because we're so afraid of leaving people out. And at the end of the day, no, we're doing a disservice if we don't get more specific about who we're talking to, because then nobody does find us. Nobody does hear us. Our message just doesn't get out. And yeah, so when you talk about target audience, and you're refining this message, how does this relate to this word that we hear a lot of times

when you're starting a business, when you're starting a blog, we start talking about niche. that we hear a lot of times when you're starting a business, when you're starting a blog, we start talking about niche. And how does your niche relate to your target audience? And how specific does your niche need to be when you're figuring out what you're going to be sharing? So basically what you're doing when you're blogging, and you're blogging in a certain niche, let's say that you are in the modern home decor space. Okay, like you, that's your thing. the modern home decor space. Okay. Like you, that's your, that's your thing. You are wanting to then speak to people, AKA your target audience who specifically enjoy and will find to be searching for modern home decor. Okay. So it's just the translation horizontally from the thing you are the most passionate about and what you're offering your audience. Now they're nebulous,

right? We don't know who they look, what they look like your audience. Now they're nebulous, right? We don't know what they look like right now. And it's taking that and basically just clarifying as clear as we can get a picture of someone's face of who you are offering them to. And there's more than that, obviously, but it's just translating it horizontally from what you offer to who you're talking to. And for those people that say, I want to talk about all the things that I love, all the things that I'm interested in, what would you say to them when they're getting started? I would say that's fine. If you're a blogger and you're like, I love cooking and I love sharing fashion and I love sharing about my home renovation. Okay, so we've got three areas here that you're really focused on.

There's still someone resonating to you, your personality, your style, your age group, the type of home you live in, the type of things you're cooking. You know, maybe the person who's eating your healthy meals doesn't love the style of home decor you have, but they're gonna resonate with that. So you can have different target audiences, but you're going to find that as you start profiling,

as we get into these questions here in a little while, they do have similarities. No two people are alike. So obviously they're going to have differences as well. I think we, sometimes when people hear the word target audience, I think it's like a row of 100 people who have blonde hair, green eyes, they all like the same thing. They all want to go, you know, they all come from the same type of background. And that's not really what a target audience is. So we kind of build this pseudo intimidating little army in our heads about what they look like. And it's not true. So we're going to take some of the mystery out of that today. I really appreciate your opinion on this. I think it's because it's not always what we hear, quite honestly. And we're kind of guilty of that, if I can be honest. We often tell people to niche down. And it's more coming from a Google aspect of being able to find

your content easier on Google. So that's kind of where that... If you're listening to this, I'm wondering like, hold up, Amy and Jennifer. I thought you said that we shouldn't do that. We want you to know that's where that's coming from. But I really agree with you, Erin. And here's why. We are multifaceted people with lots of different interests.

And I think that you could potentially grow a little slower if we don't know who we're talking to or if we're talking about 15 different things and people don't really know who you are and what you stand for. So I think we're going to dive into that a little bit, making sure that your marketing messages are the way that they need to be. But I think that that's something I just want to make sure that we're talking about right off the bat here to make sure that we're in alignment with what we've put out before. Just that you have to know who you're talking to. And you have to know. And I think some of that really does come from being confident in who you are, what your passions are, and what you want to share with the world unapologetically. If you only want to share salmon recipes,

sure, do it. Don't worry. I will fully support you. Yeah. Or if you only want to share about... You make baby clothes or something. I'm thinking of very random items here. But you can do that. It doesn't mean though that that's all that you get to be. Because I do feel like people, especially as bloggers, personal experience, you connect with people on a level with something, something that they're sharing. And then you're like, Oh, well, I really trust them in this area. So I'd like to learn from them in this area. And I bet I would appreciate their insight on this area as well. So you kind of are as a blogger selling... Sounds not so great the way I'm going to word this, but selling yourself in a way. Absolutely. You are. 100%.

And I think that that's okay. So to be multifaceted. So thank you for just giving some context to this because I think this whole idea of lifestyle blogging is essentially what we're talking about here. Finding a target audience of lifestyle blogging, I think is really important because a lot of people do have this desire to have a lifestyle blog, but they've been told they shouldn't. They should only have one pillar of content that they can talk about. Right. And I think something that I always say to my business clients, which is perfectly transitions to your audience and all these bloggers is, I tell my clients and they look at me like gobsmacked when I say it, I say, people buy or listen to or whatever the situation

is from people first and what you offer is just secondary. So you have to make the connection with that audience, which is why it's so important to know who you're talking to, who resonates with what you're offering, because then you can talk to them. And I mean, perfectly said what you just said was that maybe they trust you on this space and then they go, okay, well now I want to trust them. Their inclination is to trust further. If you want to have other offerings and other things to talk about and are passionate about, because they trust you so much and have connected with you on one level. Now you've built that credibility and that authority to them and their space to move on to have them trust you in something else. somebody can take as they start to define their target audience? Like you've said, you want to really hone in on that. So where do they start in that process?

So my recommendation is to start with a list of... I think it's 8 questions. 6 or 8 questions. I'll read them off here. And of course, if anybody listening wants a list of them, I'm happy to send them to them. It's no big deal at all. These are basically what we want to do is like I said, in a good way, we want to profile this person or people. You can have people inside of this that you are specifically talking to. And in the blogging world, when I say people or audiences would be someone who follows the recipe content might be looking for this. Somebody who follows the fashion content might be looking for this. And if we just go down the list for both offerings that you are passionate about and you want to share, you're going to still find similarities. Then you kind of get clarity on each one of what they're looking for. So the general questions are, ask yourself, who are you selling to? Okay. So I always use myself

as an example. I target small businesses. Okay. I don't want a $10 million company coming to me for a rebrand. And you're like, why? That would be more money. Because my specialty is in the small business sector. I'm not going to pretend I know what I don't know, okay? So who are you selling to? Are you selling to busy stay-at-home moms who want easy toddler recipes for their children, okay?

Get very, very specific on that category. Or maybe it's just busy working moms who want healthy weeknight meals for their family. It doesn't have to be way, way, you know, way down there, but just that very specific, you talked about what she does for a living. She works somewhere outside of the home. Then she has children.

You know, we're getting like, it's more specific than you think when you just put that phrase together at the very top, right? So who are you selling to? Where are they spending time? So where are they spending time is kind of twofold. Are they at their kids' soccer games on the weekend and they're on the run and they got to do everything from their phones. Okay. So they're not at a computer on their lunch break at work. You know, they're, they're on the go constantly. So, you know, you're mobile friendly on your blog better be on point. Okay. So it tells you so much more than just they're on the go, right. As we dive into this. And then the other facet of that is where are they when they say, where are they spending time? Where are they spending time finding people like you? Okay. Are they on Instagram? Are they a hat? Do they like the

hashtags? Which now Instagram is rolling out some really cool stuff with that, which that's for another time to be able to tell you where people are coming from. But are they on Instagram? Are they just going to Google? Do they find you through like a blog, Facebook group? I mean, there's just all sorts of things. And you can find that information a few ways. You can look at your analytics, obviously. And there is absolutely nothing wrong. In fact, I love polling audiences.

Okay. You can literally put it out on your Instagram story or out on your blog. How did you find me? Just ask people. Be direct and ask people how they found you. You're a little confused on where people are spending time. That's a great baseline to start. So where are they spending time?

What are they struggling with? Okay. And that top identifier we just talked about on target audience, she's a busy working mom who wants healthy weeknight meals that are fast for her family. So they're struggling with finding healthy meals and they're struggling with how to make them quickly because they're running to and fro. Right. So what are they struggling with? You've kind of already gotten that top 10,000 foot level by identifying who you're talking to. And then why are they struggling? This is a big one. So why are they struggling? Are there, are they not finding any blogs out there with modern home decor

on a fresh out of college budget? So things like that. Why are they struggling? Is there a space in the market that you can fill for these people that are looking for something and be able to say, I got you. Here you go. Here's what I'm offering exactly what you're looking for. And then what are you selling to them? This is my favorite question because my clients and people I speak to all the time, they go, okay, I'm selling blog content. You know, I'm going to make affiliate mark, whatever, however you're monetizing your blog. Okay. Obviously I know there's several ways to do that. You, you know, what are you selling to them? I'm selling them the, you know, how these how to's or these recipes or whatever you are, but you're not.

What you're selling to them is an experience. Okay. When they come to you, they feel related and safe in your space because you are also a working stay at home or a working mom looking for these healthy recipes. You feel this experience that you're providing to them. Are you making it very easy for them to find the recipe? AKA, there's not a billion lines of content above the recipe when they're like,

dude, I just want to know how to make the chicken skewers. You know what I mean? So what are you selling to them is far more experiential than it is the physical offering that you you selling to them is far more experiential than it is the physical offering that you are giving to them and how you are driving traffic to your blog or how you are monetizing your blog. So take that question from an experience point of view, take yourself out of your boot. Well, boots in my case, shoes, probably in everybody else's case.

And put yourself where they are and answer that question. What experience do you want to have coming to your blog? What are you looking for? So that's my favorite one. And then the last one, actually two, I'm sorry. How does it help them? You've solved a problem for them by offering what you have is solving a problem for them and the and kind of this kind of big point be what does their life look like after they buy from you or find your blog what do they look what what have you alleviated for them are they like i go to her blog every time because i if i need a craft project for my kids like she is just killing the game and we can you know we make two hours of our saturday just so much fun because she has the most creative ideas, whatever the, you know,

whatever you're blogging about. And then this is the one that often besides the, what are you selling to them? This is the one that is kind of the most of a deep dive into you as a blogger would be, why should someone come to your blog for this information versus going to someone else's blog for this information? So that's where the target audience comes in such handy because you are building connections with them. People buy from people first and your offering is just secondary. You're connecting on a deeper level and you're building trust and you're building up your

authority in your space. And it's just going to create this magnet between you two. And they're going to be like, I am going to Susan's blog every single time because I know I'm going to find the information that I need and it's valuable and it's relatable to me. So those are the questions that I go through with everyone to really create a profile of your target audience. Do you know if your website is protected?

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Berkeley's available templates on her website, berkeleysweetapple.com. And if you use code SPARK20, you can save 20%. Protect your website and your business today and let Berkeley Sweet Apple provide you the legal templates that you need. You can find the link to Berkeley's website and the code for 20% off in our show notes. Wow. I just have learned so much that I never even thought about before. I think at a high level, we kind of know some of these things, but this is a really deep dive into the whys and the hows. And I think it's just incredible. And I'm even sitting here thinking to myself, this explains why I go to specific blogs a time and time again,

because now I understand why I'm connecting. I'm understanding the experience that it gives me and the way it changes my life. Even if it's just for a recipe, something like that can change your life. Even if it's in a small way, it makes a difference. And so, yeah, it's just, it's just really interesting. It is. It's an eye-opening experience from, you know, the consumer seat and from the product that you provide in the blogging seat really on all that. So it sounds intimidating and like, oh my gosh,

you have a lot of questions to answer. But once you start really being truthful with yourself and listing it out, it will start to flow very naturally about who you're talking about. Yeah, I think it's just having an important conversation with yourself about who you're serving. Because that's essentially... We say all the time, blogging is helping people. That's in our job description is how are you helping? So when you're going through that,

just have that lens coming at it is, how am I helping this person? I'm doing this so I can help more people, not so you can pigeonhole yourself, but so you can't help people. I love that you said that. Because all the time, I mean, if you look at anything I put out on social media for helpful tips and tricks, I say all of the time, you have to provide value for first, solid value before you can expect anything in return. Yep. We agree. So that makes me so happy that you said that. So would you have to have an audience first before you can start this process? Or if you're just thinking about starting, whether you're going to share via blogging or some other way, how can you start to form a picture of this person so that you can kind of have this in your mind as you start creating content in the very beginning?

as you start creating content in the very beginning? Fabulous question. So no, you don't need an audience. I mean, if you're starting from the very beginning, you're like, I want to blog so badly and you have your areas that you, area or areas that you want to blog in. You are actually starting with your target audience. You can go through these questions

and then, wow, look at that. You have a picture of this person or people already and you can start right out of the gate, tailoring your messaging and your content to them. And then that is just amazing. And I'm not to say that if you need to retailer your content, but after you answer these questions, it's still fantastic. You can ease people into that. And it's very, you know, they'll start resonating more if you already have an existing audience and an existing blog that's doing well, or you're, you know, you have your audience you're talking to. But no, you don't have to have an audience to start.

That's the beauty of this is that you actually get to start out of the gate with more information than most people are armed with years down into the process. And I like that you just said, like, you can go back if you need to, Because I think a lot of blogs kind of start with, I don't know who the heck I'm talking to. I'll take any click. They're just excited to have anything. But then you do get to a point that you're like, hold on, I feel like I'm just chasing clicks. And that's not really what it's about. It's truly about that connection and serving and helping. And so how can you foster more of that? And these questions that you asked, I think can be done at any point.

Honestly, if you don't feel like your messaging is resonating with people, or if you don't feel like you're finding the people that you know that you're meant to serve or that you can serve, I think you can do this anytime. I would even say you can do this if you think you're successful. Oh. Because if you think you're like, it's going great, right? Like it's going great. I'm getting, I'm getting everything. I'm monetizing it. Great. I'm making five, six figures a month, whatever.

But could you be making more, you know? So there's nothing wrong with, you're like, I'm cool where I'm at. Like I'm doing really good. This is taking off. I still always say like, you want more, you got to go for more. And by answering these questions, you might really dive into another little area. And you're like, Oh, well, I could do let's try a little bit of this. And then you could you can get better. So I would say I don't care whether you haven't started to blog yet, whether you're struggling with the one you have, whether it's going okay, or whether it's going great. These questions are for everyone. Yeah. Yeah. And I think you could even give yourself the opportunity if you,

if you do this exercise, like you said, you're, you're satisfied with where you're at, but you could give yourself the opportunity to just do something more fulfilling too. Cause you'd find out, you know, these people are multifaceted just like I am. So I can add something on to what I already offer that brings me joy and also helps my people out and gives me that deeper connections. But I don't feel like I'm just kind of pumping out content. I'm actually creating something that is meaningful. Absolutely. 100% agree. Once you build that community, you have more wiggle room once you build that. Because you've established that rapport, that connection. And like you said, if you're like,

well, this would fulfill me to add this, do that. Or if you're like, you know what I discovered in this whole process? This over here does not bring me very much joy. Let's drop. I think the important thing to say there is that it's okay to pivot if you need to. I love the word pivot. I always talk about the power of the pivot. And it's priceless once you learn that it's acceptable, it's okay, the world's not going to fall apart. In fact, it might fall together. So I am all about the power of the pivot. Yeah. I think that that's something as an entrepreneur that a lot of times if we have to pivot, we do assign failure to it. But I love that you just said instead of falling apart, it's actually falling together. I think

that's a much kinder way to look at that when you need to go back to the drawing board on any number of things in your blogging business or any other business, to be honest. I think when we start our blogs, we tell ourselves, I'm always going to be just like this. And the fact of the matter is that we grow and evolve and we get new interests. And if you're a food blogger, you might all of a sudden come down with a food sensitivity. You might have a completely different change of belief based on something that happened in your life. It is okay to change. And it is okay if that needs to shift in your blogging journey. That was something that I know personally, I've had a really hard time with a couple different

times in my blogging journey, feeling like, oh my gosh, now I have to say that I don't agree with what I used to say. And it's kind of freeing. It's freeing and it humanizes you. Yeah. And you're like, you know what? I am who I am. The longer that you're out there and you're like, yeah, you give permission to other people. That's not even the intent, but you end up giving permission to other people to be like, you know what? That wasn't resonating with me anymore either. Or I might want to look into that as well, because that's something that... I like what I'm learning from you in this. but also for ourselves as human beings. So we don't feel like, okay, I started my blog and this is what I always have to be. And because that can, I think, prevent people from ever starting either.

Like, what if I don't want to just talk about like slow cooker recipes forever? What if I don't want to talk about that forever? Like, what if I want to change? What if I end up hating my slow cooker? Right, right. I think that's such a powerful thing when you can come into that and realize that it

doesn't have to be a negative just because something's changing. You know, we as humans in general, we always approach change like, like what? No, we can't do that. Like that would be changed. That would be scary. You know, and I can tell you from a personal level, even though I don't blog per se, that the changes that have happened in my business with the power of the pivot have been the best things to ever happen to my business and to myself. So it is scary. It is definitely.

It's like, you know, you got one foot off the edge of the cliff and you're like, oh, what's happening here? You know, but I think it's positivity and the power of the pivot will get you very, very far. I know one thing that happened to me was I started my slow cooker blog with a very specific person in mind who was just like me. She had kids, was busy working and needed wholesome meals. And so I pictured the people that were coming to my blog and getting my recipes as people like me. And then over time, what I started to realize as I was getting emails or

getting questions or getting comments, that wasn't who was coming to my blog at all. It was older people who had more time on their hands. They were looking for creative recipes. And they were just looking to kind of be outside the box. And they were looking for like, meals for two people meals for one person. And so I think that I had to take a step back and say, like, who am I really talking to here? And can I serve this audience? So what are some tips you might have if you find out that the people that are coming are a little bit different? How can you test out some ideas on them?

How can you make sure that you can serve this audience if you decide that's the direction you want to go? Perfect. So you can obviously go two ways. You can keep talking to them, right? You can keep doing what you're doing and serving them. Or if you're like, that's not who I want to talk to, you can obviously go two ways. You can keep talking to them, right? You can keep doing what you're doing and serving them. Or if you're like, that's not who I want to talk to, you can pivot. Okay. So if it's working and you're like, okay, actually, now that I have this eyeopening

experience of knowing who my target audience is and I'm serving them and I'm serving them well, and the feedback is great. And you're like, this is, this is going great. I actually like this. I'm it's eyeopening that I know who these people are great. I actually like this. It's eye-opening that I know who these people are now. You can do that. Or we can pivot and you can say, I really do want to talk to moms like me. And I got confused somewhere along the way. Because sometimes we do think our messaging relates to somebody and it's relating to somebody totally different. And then that's when you can do a dive looking for your audience and figuring out, you know, you can go to, I would say, analyze competitors. So go to a competitor's blog, who you know has your target audience. Look at the questions that they're asking in the comments.

Look at the feedback that they're giving on, let's just go with slow cooker recipes for this example, right? So look at the feedback that they're giving them and go answer their questions, address their pain points directly, and use those comments and that kind of intel you're gathering to go back to what your content, your blog post. Maybe you go in, you revise a blog post, you re-upload it. After you've tweaked it, you do a little A-B testing, which means you've posted it before with one set of wording. You do it you do a little A-B testing, which means you've posted it before with one set of wording. You do it again with a different title, different photos, different set of wording, and you see which one resonates. And if you're getting toward more of the target

audience that you want to speak to, if that makes any sense. So competition is a great place to go for that. You're not trying to swipe anybody in business. I always tell you, you're not trying to swipe anybody. You're trying to learn from that audience and about what value you thought you were providing that maybe there's just a little hole. Maybe we're just missing a little bit. Maybe our messaging is missing a certain thing that they're relating to over one blog versus another. So there can be a number of factors in blogging, obviously, that can cause that or be an issue. So that's a really great baseline, in the dust, in the trenches way to go and find the answers to that.

So that would be where I would say to start. Yeah. So finding your target audience, you're never really done. You're always looking, you're always analyzing, you're always listening and taking in that feedback and adjusting. Absolutely. It is an ever-evolving process. And even more so now in the world of searching. So even on social media now, social media has come out, obviously like Facebook and Instagram are owned by the same people. So if you have any sort of pages linked to your blog, that you're driving traffic to your blogs and social media pages, they have put a massive importance recently on SEO, which is search engine optimization. So keyword terms, things people are searching for, what your target audience is searching

for specifically and using that as a way to drive the traffic. So that's going to be another big one in terms of speaking directly to your target audience. And that's also where the polling can come in handy. If you do have a little bit of that audience that you want to speak to already or more, that's a great way. If you're going to look for a slow cooker recipe on chicken, what are you searching for? Put the question, like let them tell you because they're gold-minded information because they're the ones literally trying to find you, right? So SEO is a huge thing these days, even not just people going straight to Google to look for blogs, but searching on social media as well.

That's really insightful. And it just proves that when we do create content, we do have to have a thought journey that comes before it. Blogging is a little bit different. We pivoted then back in the olden days, like when you could just sit down and write. But truly, if you want to be found, I think that you do have to take some of these principles and tips that you've shared today and put them into action. Because if you want to write to write, that's great. And having a hobby blog, there is room for any type of blog that you want to have. But if your goal is to build a blogging business, then I think a lot of the tips that you've shared

today, Erin, have been really, really helpful. So people can really understand like, who do I want to talk to? How am I going to reach them? And you've given some great tips, really tangible tips, I think that they can, Hopefully, if you need to rewind and write those tips down and then brainstorm and ask yourself, maybe it is polling them. We can do that in a number of different ways. We often send a Google survey to our email list. So that's one way to connect with your audience. You can also connect with people on your social media.

But just know that your people on social media and your people who are on your email list, they might have some carryover, but they're not the same audience. Those are different people. Erin's clapping. I am clapping. Email lists are gold. And I can't even believe I skipped over that when it came to blogging because that is such a great avenue for blogging. So yes, I am clapping in the background. But that is just really important to know that you're going to have people come from all different areas. And that might look like your target audience. You might be talking to somebody just a little different on Instagram than you are on Facebook. I think that's where the messaging comes in and can be a little different. Do you want to maybe just talk

about that real quick before we sign off here? Because I think that might be important. Just something that you shared was just how your messaging attracts people. So how can somebody know if their messaging is actually working? Is it actually... Besides conversions. What if they don't have anything to sell yet? What if they are just trying to grow their blog? trying to grow their blog. So how do they know that? How do they know, is my messaging working? Especially on the front end, in the first couple of weeks and stuff, it takes time for that stuff to come to fruition. Oh, yeah. So no one's going to like my answer. Sometimes at the beginning, you don't know. And sometimes going through even months in, years in, you don't know. I can tell you now, I have people that will message me weekly and be like, I've been following you for a year. I'm ready to bring my business. And I'm like, where have you been? You know, I have not seen this. So always know that somebody is listening. Somebody is watching. Somebody is paying attention. Even if they're not saying it, showing it, hitting the like button, signing up for your email. It is just the age that we're in. So,

but when you do start to get that audience and build your email list, which is number one for me, build your email list, build your connections. I mean, again, directly asking them like, do you resonate with this topic? Is this a topic you want me to discuss? Or is this a, an area that you're interested in knowing more about? I mean, they will tell you and they will really tell you if the answer is no, right? Like people love to tell you like what they don't want. And so stay consistent. That's a huge thing. Stay consistent with your messaging. Facebook, as far as blogging, like linking the social media stuff to your, to your social medias, Facebook's obviously been around a little longer than Instagram.

So your audience there has aged probably more than your Instagram audience. So, and some bloggers I know are huge on TikTok and then you've really sprung into a whole new, a whole new group of people. So I think if you do like, I go back to it, but it's true. Like really ask them, give their, get their information, then like ask them about their opinions, their pain points, all these things, and then compare your email list answers to your Facebook answers to your Instagram. And you might be, you might have an overwhelming number of people on Instagram who say this, and people are saying the total opposite in your email list, you know? So that's a really great way to analyze your messaging and how you're putting things out there and the type of content, you know, because now, you know, on certain social

media platforms, video is like the thing to do. And then other places, they want more of a community connection, you know, image driven or, you know, information driven, DIY connection, image-driven or information-driven, DIY-driven, how-to-driven content. And sometimes your audience is just different than somebody else's. And that's why it's so important to stay connected to them and bolt yourself in with them, be present for them, and really listen and take their feedback and implement it. If it requires the power of the pivot, it might, because then they're going to see that too and see like, okay, I'm being seen and I'm being heard. But for the very beginning, if you're like,

I have no one, it's crickets, talk to your audience, in quotes, as if it was your ideal target audience. As if you're already there. As if they are already there. As if you have a stadium full of people that you've analyzed those questions we talked about earlier and you were like, okay, because I don't love the phrase, fake it till you make it. I actually prefer the phrase to face it till you make it, but face it till you make it. Put it out there. Let it ride. It's never instantaneous. No.

But consistency, speaking to that group, and connecting and offering value are going to be your pillars for success in the blogging world. Yep. I'm going to share a personal testimony for Jennifer and I here that I think it's not about a blog. It's actually about the podcast. So we started the podcast in January of 2022. And we knew we had people listening, obviously, but it really wasn't until summer of 2022 that we started getting messages like, I found your podcast. I found your podcast. I found your podcast. And I mean, they ever just started rolling in and we were like, Oh my gosh. it took time. I'm going to say it took about eight months before we really started feeling like an impact there. Like that we were making an impact that we were actually, you know, we could see our stats kind of increasing. But what's happened since is we know, like we are making an impact and we know who we're talking to now.

It's so much easier to create podcast episodes now than it was back then because we know exactly what our people want to hear. So I love that you said consistency because I think no matter what you're building, whether you're building a brick and mortar, a blog, growing a podcast, being an influencer on social media, though I would tell you that you still need a blog, growing a podcast, being an influencer on social media, though I would tell you that you still need a blog. All of it. Just know that that consistency and that never give up attitude is just part of being an entrepreneur. And there is no such thing as an overnight success. And there are a lot of like, you know, A, B testing and things and asking yourself what's working, what's not, what's bringing me joy and what's not. You said that as well. I really appreciate you sharing that because we're in a job that we should be enjoying. Truly. This is our business. So we should be doing things that light us up.

You should be doing things that at the end of the day, you're like, damn, I love my job. This is what I was created for. And we want to help people feel like that. And when you know who you're talking to, and when you're resonating with them, and they are coming, that is when you have those days that you're like, yes, all that hard work, all that effort, all those brainstorming sessions, sitting down and asking myself, who am I actually talking to? Is anybody out? Is anybody out there? As you're going through that, it really is all worth it when you start to get those nuggets of like, hey, I'm hearing you. Hey, this content helped me. That's what we're here for. So I think reminding yourself of your

why as you're working through this process can be really, really helpful too. I 100% agree. That's so wonderful. And to hear, like you said, it wasn't instant, right? Eight months of consistency and dedication. And I mean, with clients of mine, I always say Instagram is not instant. That's a platform they're going for. But also the general analogy is like, I want to lose weight or I want to tone up. You're not going to do one workout and be like, oh yeah. Look at these abs. Yeah, it's like, oh my gosh, right?

And so I think it's just, we're in a society and a world now where a lot of things are so available and so instant and seem so highlight real perfect when no one shows the trenches behind what it took to get there. And so consistency, you know, motivation is motivation. But, you know, discipline and consistency will get you very much further. Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing your insight today. It's been awesome. You just give off like great energy. So I know that people listening can feel that because we can feel it.

I mean, we're looking at you. My bullwinkle horns. Your bullwinkle horns. Yeah. My logo has for people who can't see. And I placed my sign very not strategically behind my head where it looks like I have horns coming out of my head. That's actually amazing. I love it. I love it. So Erin, can you please tell our audience where they can connect with you?

Absolutely. I have a website, trustourdesigns.com if you just want any information. I do brand bloggers and blogger businesses. It is a thing. And then I love the conversation. I love my community, my connection. All of my socials, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok are all at Trustner Designs. No periods, no spaces. So I would love to connect with you. My inbox is always open with

questions. If you want the list of questions where you can actually write them down and save them, I'm happy to send them to you. Yeah. We can actually put those in our show notes too, if you don't mind, Erin. Absolutely. We can do that. Not a problem. We will put those in our show notes so you guys can just head over to our blog and check those out. That way you can do your own little brainstorming session about your target audience. Let me know how it goes. I would love your feedback on how it goes. Awesome. Thanks so much, Erin. Thank you guys. Appreciate it. Awesome. Thanks so much, Erin. Thank you guys. Appreciate it.

Thank you. Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you'd like to continue the conversation about blogging with us, please find us on Instagram at Spark Media Concepts. You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter where we share blogging tips and inspiration. You can sign up by finding the link in the show notes. For those of you who are ready for the next step and want to start your own blog, join the waitlist for the ultimate blog bootcamp. The link to join the waitlist is also in the show notes. Go out and make today a great day.