Tune in now and don't forget to sign up for www.solciety.co!

Speaker 1 (00:03):

Welcome to the Solarpreneur podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level. My name is Taylor Armstrong and went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fail. I teach you to avoid the mistakes I made and bringing the top solar dogs, the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro and closing more deals. What is a Solarpreneur you might ask a Solarpreneur is a new breed of solar pro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery. And you are about to become what's up Solarpreneurs, Taylor Armstrong. Back with another episode,

Speaker 2 (00:45):

I am stoked today because we have a guest that we have been trying to schedule for a while. Now. He was, he is high level high profile. I've been following him for a long time. And he was one of, I would say the people that got me into kind of online marketing online lead gen taught me a ton about, um, hiring people from our teams. So I got to thank you today. We have a Brock Johnson on the show Brock. Thanks for coming on with us today. Yeah, absolutely. Taylor, thank you so much for having me. I'm happy to finally be here. Yeah, I'm stoked. And, um, Brock I brought one of your, I bought one year, uh, first courses you made on a Snapchat. I don't even know if you remember that it's been awhile since way back, way back, about four or five, maybe even six years ago now.

Speaker 2 (01:31):

Totally. So that was, um, that was one of the coolest courses. I'm like, wow, this has got a Snapchat guru. Who's teaching guys, delay dance, do all these crazy things on Snapchat. And um, yeah, it's I got a thank you got a ton of value from that course. And thank you. And, uh, yeah, I've been continuing to follow you and your mom, so you guys host a podcast together and um, do you want to tell us just kind of your background Brock, how you got into, um, being like an Instagram expert that you are and kind of how things evolved from your early Snapchat days? Sure, absolutely. So, yeah, I got my start back in like 2016, 2017, uh, teaching. This is gonna sound crazy to say now, but I was actually originally teaching moms how to keep their kids safe on Snapchat. Uh, back in like 2016, 2017, Snapchat was as popular as something like Tik Tok is today.

Speaker 2 (02:24):

It was wildly popular. Um, and with the whole disappearing messaging thing, there was just like a lot of fear going around related to Snapchat. And so that's where I created. My very first course was teaching parents kind of basically how to use Snapchat and then some tips on like how to keep their kids safe on the app. Um, that very quickly evolved into the course that you said you were a student of, which is like how to market and grow a business using Snapchat because very quickly influencers and business owners and network marketers and direct sellers, they were realizing that, Hey, you could monetize this social media following. People could

Speaker 3 (03:00):

Build on Snapchat, not too long after that. Instagram released Instagram stories and a mass exit is from Snapchat, happened to everyone, left Snapchat for Instagram. And I went with them, um, and I spent the next year or two really honing my skills on Instagram, growing my own following very organically, figuring out like what strategies work, what strategies don't work. Um, and now here we are about three or four years later. Um, and that's what I do full-time. So now full-time I teach people, I teach business owners, network marketers, entrepreneurs, how to organically grow their Instagram, following how to do it the right way with the least amount of time possible and not just, you know, growing to get more likes or more followers. I'm not in it for vanity sake. I teach you how to grow your following with followers who will actually become customers really, uh, that way using your Instagram as a lead generation magnet.

Speaker 2 (03:53):

That's awesome. Yeah. And I've learned so much from you and your mom. So I got to ask Brock, um, obviously your mom is huge in the entrepreneur space and growing up around that. Um, um, yeah, I'm jealous. You gotta be always surrounded by experts and, you know, learn from the best. What was it like growing up with your parents being such entrepreneurs and at a, did you always like want to be an entrepreneur and getting this whole social media game? Where, how was that with?

Speaker 3 (04:20):

Yeah, so there's a great question for people who don't know my mom, if you're listening, uh, you might know her, if you haven't turned on your TV at like 2:00 AM and you see one of those fitness infomercials, that's how a lot of people know her. And that's how she gained. A lot of her kind of popularity or notoriety was from fitness infomercials and marketing and selling fitness DVDs and workout programs. Uh, she actually, it sounds so funny to say that she has half a million followers on Instagram. Most people they think about their parents, they're like, Oh, they don't even know how to use social media. My mom, literally for a living grows social media platforms and teaches people how to market their business with social media and without social media. Uh, so that's her background. And like you said, I was very much raised in an entrepreneurial family.

Speaker 3 (05:04):

My parents have bought and sold dozens of different businesses throughout my life. Um, so yes, I've always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I've always wanted to work for myself. One of my goals for myself from a very young age was to never have a boss to order me around and tell me what to do and have set hours or whatever. I've always wanted to work for myself. I didn't know it was going to be social media or Instagram. I mean, I was born nine years before Facebook was even invented. So I was, you know, growing up in the social media age, for sure. Like all of these different social media apps were being invented when I was growing up. But, um, I never thought I would necessarily become an Instagram marketer, but I always knew that I would be an entrepreneur in some way. And, uh, this is my expertise right now. This is what I'm really good at. And this is what I love to do. So this is what I do full time.

Speaker 2 (05:52):

Yeah, I love. And if I remember your story, right, you kind of went off to school and um, all of a sudden you're like, Oh crap, I'm not at home. I got to start. I want to start making money on my own. And that's kind of when you launch your first, uh, first Snapchat course from there, right?

Speaker 3 (06:06):

Exactly. Yeah. I got the, I got to college my freshman year. Um, and I wanted to create some financial independence and freedom for myself to not have to rely on my parents, um, and, and, you know, use them to pay for everything. So that's kind of what my first real business, which was that, that Snapchat course back in my freshman year of college.

Speaker 2 (06:23):

Yeah. I love that. Cool. So, uh, we were talking off camera before this, what we're going to jump into is just basically how we can, um, kind of grow our social media followings as Tom Brock. Obviously this is a podcast for solar cells, professionals, and we are definitely trying to use social media to generate leads. Um, I don't know, does your, your parents have solar on their house? Do you know Barack? You guys have all right. Well, we can talk to them after getting him hooked up. Um, but yeah, so we're in the business of getting homeowners, solar panels and social media. We're trying to use it to obviously provide value, especially here in Southern California. I'm in San Diego. People are constantly getting hit up by, um, you know, door to door sales people, which is what we do a lot of. Um, but threes and we, I kind of created this podcast.

Speaker 2 (07:16):

Solarpreneurs is because I want to expand what we're doing, not just knocking doors, but really we're trying to teach these cells, people that become entrepreneurs and, you know, use kind of the new age cause the truth is, I mean they, not, everyone is going to respond to having their door knocked on. Um, I mean, really, I think it's super important that we as sales people are to generate leads through social media, through online channels. And then also grow our teams. I mentioned a Brock is another big thing we're doing. Um, a lot of the biggest sales teams are growing through just social media because, um, in the solar industry we can make thousands and thousands. Um, so people are seeing that and it's attracting other people into the industry. So Brock for you. Um, I guess what, what can you go through maybe some of the mistakes that you see people making on Instagram and maybe just give us like the biggest, um, yeah. Common errors, mistakes, and then the little things that you teach your students to start doing in the beginning just to kind of have that basis to start on.

Speaker 3 (08:21):

Absolutely. So I think that the first biggest mistake that I see people making is failing to niche down. And if people are scared by the word niche or have never heard it before, basically a niche also pronounced niche is basically just, it's a focus, it's an expert piece, it's a group, it's a subcategory it's who are you specifically serving or trying to attract? And I know that immediately people are going to think, well, I want to put solar panels on everyone's phones and that's awesome. But if you're trying to talk to literally every single homeowner in America at the same time where every single homeowner, even in your County, or even in your city at the same time, you're not going to be able to show up and serve all of those people effective. And also a 65 year old homeowner has totally different motivations, totally different desires, totally different problems.

Speaker 3 (09:09):

When they're considering putting solar panels on their home compared to say a first-time home homeowner, somebody who's 25, someone who's fresh out of college and just landed their first job. Those two people are in a very different group. And if you're trying to market to all of them, both of them at this same time, you're going to market to neither of them. Honestly, you're going to market very ineffective. When you try to serve everyone, you're going to serve no one effective. So that's step one on Instagram. That's really step one on just about any social media platform is pick a niche. And really ultimately there's just two things you need to pick, pick a specific group of people to help or to serve my niche. My specific group of people is entrepreneurial groups, whether you're a small business owner, you're a direct sell or a network marketer.

Speaker 3 (09:54):

I know that I can talk to on for new words, influencers or people who want to grow on Instagram, just because they want, you know, to be famous or whatever. That's not who I talked to. That's not who I help grow. I help entrepreneurs, small business owners grow on Instagram. Then the second thing that you have to pick besides just the problem is the group of people, or excuse me, besides just think of where people is the problem. So what is the problem that you serve? Like I was just saying, my group of people is small business owners, but the problem that I solved, the problem that I serve, the thing that I have figured out is organic Instagram growth. And if you think about the different groups who you might be serving the 25 year old first time home buyer, the 65 year old retiring, you're going to identify that they likely have very different problems or at least that their, their priority rankings of, of what matters the most to them.

Speaker 3 (10:45):

It's going to be very different. So step one, um, to growing on Instagram is picking your niche. And also the flip side of that point. And that's also the biggest mistake people are making is they're not defining their niche. They're not clearly defining who do I help serve and then how do I serve them? That's the first biggest mistake. And then the second biggest mistake, if I can quickly share that as well. Second biggest mistake that I see people making on Instagram, specifically direct sellers network marketers is selling, which sounds counterintuitive sounds counterproductive because you would think if I want more sales, I have to sell more. But actually the opposite is true. When you are selling on your Instagram feed, you're turning people away because ultimately when you're selling with your Instagram feed posts, you're doing the digital equivalent of door to door sales.

Speaker 3 (11:34):

You're just knocking on people's doors saying who wants to buy this most, buy this, just trying to sell, sell, sell, and it's going to turn people away. It's going to be really tough to grow your following, going to be really tough to get your followers, to pay attention and to engage with you if you're constantly selling on your Instagram feed. So instead, what I would recommend doing is using your Instagram feed to serve your Instagram feed posts, all those pictures, videos, reels that you post on your Instagram feed, use those as opportunities to serve people, to teach things, to teach about solar panels, to, um, solve problems for them for free to just really serve. And over-deliver with your Instagram feed. And then, you know, down the line, you start building these relationships and start having direct message conversation. That's where sales can take place. Sales can take place in the future with a personal relationship and the direct messages sales aren't going to take place. If you're just hosting promotions and sales and discounts and Christ tags all over your Instagram feed. Hmm.

Speaker 2 (12:35):

I love that. And it's huge as they say riches in the niches, I guess it doesn't really work as good with the niches, but, um, I know that's a big key. I think that people are a big error that people make all the time. And so let me ask you, Brock say I'm a sore, um, manager, Sam trying to use my Instagram to not only, um, you know, spread the word to maybe more homeowners, um, just get more solar, solar knowledge out there, but also I want to use it to recruit other people on my team. Um, so other, you know, potential sales reps can come and join my team. So would you say, is that a mistake to kinda like have both those niches, um, having, having both be gone at the same time, or would you suggest maybe like creating separate Instagrams to do those, to add those two purposes? Or what would you say in like an example?

Speaker 3 (13:25):

Yeah. So this is a great question. And one that every person who's in network marketing direct selling multi-level marketing hats, because there are always these two sides to the business. There's the actual business itself, the actual product or problems that are being solved. And then there's the team component. There's the business component, there's the money-making component. Um, and so there's the, there's the confliction of like, how do I promote both or talk about both if they're kind of different, you know, how do I get someone to buy, but also maybe at the same time to join my team or maybe they don't want to buy, but they know that they want to join my team. You know? So there's always going to be that challenge. Um, and I think first of all, no, what fires you up? Like know your own passions and what got you into this?

Speaker 3 (14:07):

Are you in this business? Because you're like, yeah, I don't really care about solar panels. I don't really care about the benefits. I don't really care about them. I just care about check and I just care about making money. Like if that's why you're in the business and you're just trying to build a side hustle and you want other people to be able to build a passive income or a side hustle themselves, then go ahead. You can take that angle. Um, but I recommend picking whatever angle you're more passionate about. Is it that business side or is it the actual like product? Is it the actual solar panels themselves, pick one, focus, your feed, your Instagram feed all around that. One thing, that one niche that one subject or focus. And then in your stories, that's where you can kind of allow your followers to see everything.

Speaker 3 (14:48):

And really that's what stories are stories on Instagram are a place where you kind of go behind the scenes. You let people see every area of your life, whether it's related to the niche or not. And so on your stories is really where someone would see, um, you know, Hey, this, person's got a really successful business and they've got two kids and they're a stay at home mom or dad, and they're able to just be with their kids and don't have to work a nine to five job and be gone all day. They can take their kids to practice or whatever that may be, or, you know, they, uh, be able to go on this vacation because they've built this extra income for themselves. So really show all of that on your Instagram stories, let us see it all. And then all of that will lead to people being like, yeah, I want that.

Speaker 3 (15:29):

I want to know what you do. I want to know like, how did you get into this? And they're going to ask you questions. And when you get people asking you questions, it's the equivalent of like someone coming up to you at a coffee shop and being like, Hey, can you tell me more about what you do? It looks really interesting. Now they've taken an interest. They're curious, and they're literally asking you to basically invite them onto your team. And that's a much better starting place for the relationship rather than just hold messaging, thousands of people and hoping that you get a few responses.

Speaker 2 (15:58):

Yeah, definitely. And that's, our dream is sells people that they will reach out to us instead of having to go knock on another door because it's like, yeah, it's just like a gifted sell to us. And that little things happen, but it can't happen if you're not, you know, on social media doing those things consistently, which I know is another big thing that we'll probably talk about. Um, but before we kind of shift gears Brock, do you have any stories or any of your students where you kind of taught them? This thing helped them find like a niche or maybe they thought they were already being specific and they're posting their publishing, but then they, you know, double down and focus more on something super specific. And then they started having tons of success after you seen any of that.

Speaker 3 (16:38):

Absolutely. So, uh, one of our instant club hub, which is like our Instagram membership, one of our top members in there, uh, she grew by more than 10,000 followers in a month and it wasn't like she was at, you know, 3 million and then she went to like 3 million and 10,000. She went from 2000 followers on Instagram to over 12,000. I think now she's closer to 14 or 15,000. And she did that in a month after really just doing two things, niching down, getting really clear about like, who is that group? And what is the problem? And focusing on Instagram reels, which is something that, you know, we can talk about later if you want to. Um, if we, if we can, but reels definitely are a huge way, a huge component of growth on Instagram. So she really just did those two things and saw about 10,000 followers in a month. Uh, I also just had a student this week on a much smaller scale. She ended up her bio and really niched down. She posted to Instagram reels and just from two posts and focusing in on her niche, she said that she signed three new clients and had four upcoming potential client collaboration calls where she was going to have like an introductory meeting. So basically three guaranteed new clients and seven possible total new clients, just from two little tiny Instagram posts and cleaning up her niche.

Speaker 2 (17:54):

Wow. That's incredible. So what were they, I guess, what were they focused on before and then what, what was it that they cleaned up about their, their niche?

Speaker 3 (18:03):

Yes. So for, for, uh, Shariece Alison, who is the person who grew by about 10,000 followers in a month before her bio said something, it was she's in the fitness industry and her son, her bio said something along the lines of, you know, like helping you get fat or helping you live your best life or helping you with your fitness transformation, something like that, which is somewhat specific, some might say, but honestly, uh, who is the, you says helping you, who is you, like let's get really specific with who is that group. And then rather than just saying live your best life, we'll get fed, let's get really specific. So I think her new bio says something along the lines of, uh, helping women are helping women in their thirties even, uh, transform their bodies with less than 30 minute at-home workout. So she like got really specific with like, this is how I solved the problem less than 30 minute at-home workout. So she's, she's solving a problem for a very specific group of people, uh, women in, I believe in their thirties. And so that's really what allowed her to grow super fast in such a short amount of time.

Speaker 2 (19:03):

That's awesome. Love hearing those examples. So yeah, for our listeners, make sure you're being as specific and whatever you do. And I like that that clarified something for me because, um, I think, um, some something that I've tried to do is kind of have my foot in both ends of the spectrum, but, um, yeah, I think that's a fire tip right there. Pick what you're passionate about and then go all in on that one thing. And then, um, I know bio is another, uh, your bio description. That's another thing that is important to make sure you're putting the description in that. So people know exactly what it is. You do exactly what it is that fires you up and that you're trying to help the problem that you're trying to help solve. So Brock I know something, another huge key that you talk about all the time is just consistency. And I mean, that's might be kind of a no-brainer for people, but I think that's probably the biggest struggle for me. And probably most of your students, you just doing those things consistently for people that are just starting out, what do you, uh, like recommend as far as consistency? Like how many times do you have posts and what is consistent and look like for your students that just, um, start out on Instagram?

Speaker 3 (20:09):

Yeah, absolutely. So consistency is key really. There's, there's no way we can talk about growth on Instagram. There's no way we can really talk about growth in any area of life without consistency. If you want to be a great piano player, you don't play piano once a month and hope that you have great results. You have to practice every single day. And it's the same exact thing with Instagram feed posts. If you want to grow on Instagram, you need to be posting at least once a day to your Instagram feed. And I think that that's a great starting point. And maybe just, you know, if you, if you've never really posted on Instagram before, you've never been consistent, or this is first time, you're really seriously considering it. I encourage you to just set a goal for yourself to post four or five times this week, four or five times this week.

Speaker 3 (20:57):

And maybe that's all you're going to do for now. And eventually you'll turn that dial up and you'll start posting more, but really ultimately there's kind of two sides to this whole consistency thing. Number one, you want to be posting as frequently as you can. I actually recommend for ideal growth for optimal growth, multiple feed posts per day, like two to three feed posts per day. But for most people that sounds crazy. That sounds outlandish. And that's something that they could never sustain. And that brings me to the second point, which is what can you sustain? I don't want you to get so fired up from this podcast. And you're like, Oh my gosh, Taylor and rock from the fire. Like I can't wait to get on Instagram. And then you post three times saying you post three times tomorrow and then you're burnt out and you're overwhelmed. You're like, I just can't sustain that. So really there's the two sides. It's what can you sustain and how much, you know, what's, what's the max that you can turn that dial up, uh, while still staying consistent, serving your audience and showing up, uh, every single day, if not multiple times a day on your Instagram feed.

Speaker 2 (21:59):

Hmm. That's awesome. And I know something that holds me back and I'm sure a lot of your other students is like, what do you post and how do you keep getting ideas? And like, I've done this for two weeks, but now I don't have any more ideas, what I post about Brock. So, um, I know you teach a ton about those things, but, um, I guess just a shorter, um, uh, some summarized answer. What do you, um, how do you give people all these content ideas and what do you say to people that ask that and always run out of ideas for content?

Speaker 3 (22:27):

Absolutely. So I think that, uh, really there's, there's two ways that I come up with my content. Number one in the vast majority of the time it's taking ideas and youth from other people and using them as inspiration. So I follow a ton of other Instagram marketers. And if they post their top seven hashtag tips, I'll be like, Hmm, I can come up with my own hashtag tips and maybe I don't have seven. Maybe I have four. Maybe I have nine. Maybe my tips are very, very similar to theirs. Maybe they're totally different. So I'm constantly using other people's posts as ideas, you know, like solar panels, you know, how do I install them? And there's tons of questions that someone might have. How do you install them? Are they installed professionally? Do I install them myself? How are they plugged into my house? What happens on a cloudy day?

Speaker 3 (23:13):

What happens on a rainy day? What happens if I live in Southern California and it's always sunny, can I store it up for a rainy day? There's so many questions that the average person, uh, may have. And so that's kind of the second point that I want to make. And that's the second way that I come up with my co my content is I think, what would it beginner need to know? What does someone who has no idea about this topic? What questions are they asking? And honestly, it's not like you need 300 different questions. You just need, you know, about dozen, maybe 10, 12 different questions that they commonly ask. And that has 10 to 12 posts right there. And you can just continually cycle through those questions. And I think sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we get so close to our own expertise and what we love to do and what we love to talk about that we forget that the vast majority of the population isn't as obsessed and isn't as knowledgeable as we are.

Speaker 3 (24:06):

So we really have to go back to the basics. You know, sometimes even myself, I get lost in the nitty-gritty the tiny little sub facts about Instagram. I want to share this little tiny trend that I found. And in reality, people want the basics. People want, wait, wait, wait, don't talk to me about like the most powerful phrases to use in the last 33 seconds of your real life. Don't get that nitty gritty. Let's just say like, Hey, Brock, how do I make an Instagram real I can deal with every day that what the heck even is an Instagram real after remind myself, like take off the expert cap, put on the beginner cap and go back to the basics and just start teaching and serving and educating people, um, on the very beginner stuff that they one stop and people will really appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (24:52):

Yeah. I love that. And yeah, for our listeners, I mean, we've interviewed dozens and dozens of top guys in solar. So if you're not, if you're trying to grow, go follow guys like that. And to Brock's point, go see what they're posting model that you're not trying to copy people, but I think that's, um, great way to get ideas. Just see what they're posting. If, um, if you're trying to target those same people, then your followers are probably gonna have similar questions and that's how we're going to be able to grow. So that's a great key. And then with, with that Brock, um, I'm sure you have a pretty dialed in like, you know, content, calendar and stuff scheduled, things like that. Um, but for me, that's an issue that I run into all the time. Like for example, last week I was in, uh, I was, uh, down in Mexico down and up, where do I are?

Speaker 2 (25:36):

The last thing I wanted to do is, um, you know, be worrying about what I'm going to post on, uh, on Instagram while I'm sipping pina coladas. And I'm like, man, I don't want, wanna, I don't want to get on Instagram. I just want to like sit in the pool. Um, but for you, what does that look like? I know probably, um, beginners, I mean, we're probably not going to have some die without content plan, but do you suggest for like beginners to have like stuff scheduled or what is your like content calendar look like and what do you suggest for people starting out with that?

Speaker 3 (26:08):

Yeah, so this, this answer might surprise you Taylor, and actually I don't have anything scheduled. I don't have anything planned out. I don't really have very many pre-made posts. I don't use a scheduling app. Um, I do have a running list in my notes app and in my to-do list app, just a running list of ideas of screenshots, of things that I'm like, Hey, I could boast about this. Hey, I could do this topic. Hey, I could elaborate on this subject. So I do have post ideas and I have lists of literally dozens, if not hundreds of post ideas so that if I'm ever not feeling super creative, I can refer to list in terms of scheduling things out and planning these ahead of time. I honestly don't do much. Now. I will say this batch producing content producing multiple Instagram reels in one sitting, making multiple Instagram posts at one time on Tamba.

Speaker 3 (26:59):

For example, that can definitely be very useful because then, you know, when you are sipping pina coladas, you don't have to worry about creating the content. You can just literally post it and move on, cause you already have to create it. So, absolutely that can be beneficial. I can tell you myself, most of the time I'm creating the content either the day of, or maybe the day before at its earliest. And I'm doing my best to stay on top of it that way. Um, but also I think everyone needs to recognize that like life has seasons and, and also that like business and social media and Instagram, there should be boundaries for this stuff. So if you're sitting in the pool and you're sipping a pina colada and you're on vacation, forget about Instagram, like enjoy life, enjoy the vacation. I can tell you that.

Speaker 3 (27:40):

I oftentimes take weekends off. People say, do you ever unplugged from posting on Instagram all the time? I take weekends off all the time. I don't work on weekends. I might make a post if I feel inspired or if I want to, but I enjoy my weekends. I don't work after 6:00 PM. I hardly work after four or 5:00 PM. I don't work before 10:00 AM. So have those boundaries absolutely take your time off of Instagram. And it's having those boundaries in place. It's taking enough time away from Instagram, which will actually allow you to be more mindful and more thoughtful and more engaged when you are on Instagram, because that's less of a chore and it's more of something you can actually look forward to.

Speaker 2 (28:17):

Yeah. I love that. And that's something I really respect about you and your mom Brock is, um, I've heard in previous podcasts you guys have done. Um, I remember maybe it was like a year ago or something, but for whatever reason, it was a couple of weeks where maybe you didn't have a podcast or there's just like one podcast where I was used to hearing, you know, like a couple podcasts in a week. Oh my God. I wonder what's going on with Barack and Shaleen. Haven't heard with them for as much for a little bit. And then your mom on that show, she's like, yeah. Um, I had, you know, family stuff, things were busy and I, you know, family's my priority. Things come before, like my podcast posting and I really respect to them. I'm like, wow, okay. If Shaleen and Brock are saying that, and even they have boundaries and put other things before their business, then, um, that actually was something that helped propel me forward because at the time in my podcast, I'm like, I was just kind of starting now.

Speaker 2 (29:13):

And I'm like, I don't know if I want to do a podcast. Cause all these podcasts are saying you have to publish every day and have a podcast episode scheduled out for months in advance, all these things on my land. This is overwhelming. And then I hear that and I'm like, okay, if these Brock and Shaleen are saying that, then I don't have to stress as much. So I like that advice a lot. It makes me feel better about myself, but at the same time, I know it's not an excuse to not, um, you know, produced content. But uh, no, I appreciate those tips Brock. And then, um, kind of the, one of the other last things I wanted to go over with you before, maybe I have some final tips to share is one of the first things you helped me learn. And I think I bought one of your mom's courses.

Speaker 2 (29:58):

Um, I think it was a virtual business Academy, something like that where you guys talked about just getting like, you know, virtual assistants to help out. And in solar we do a ton of things. We have to handle different documents for homeowners. Um, there's things that's, um, aren't necessarily a great use of our time when we could be closing more deals, getting in front of more people. So for you, is that still a big focus for you? Do you still have like a virtual assistance and um, I guess what if you do, what does that look like for your social media posting and what you do on Instagram?

Speaker 3 (30:32):

Yeah, so I think I have the best business decision that I ever made was hiring my first virtual assistant. And I will say this, you will never feel ready to hire someone if you've never hired someone before, you'll never feel ready. And if it's a virtual assistant, someone, who's literally, it's their job to assist you and help you out. Especially as an entrepreneur, someone who's like the Jack of all trades and you're trying to wear every hat and you're trying to do everything within your business. Let me tell you, you will never feel like you're totally ready hire that person. And by the time you do feel like, okay, I'm ready. Like I know I need to hire them. It's probably too late. And I don't mean it's too late to hire someone. You can still hire someone. But by that point you're probably feeling ready because you're way too overworked.

Speaker 3 (31:17):

You're way too overwhelmed. You just know you you've been dropping the ball in other areas of your life. Like you just know you can't do it on your own anymore, but I think you should hire someone before you get to that point. I think you should hire someone before you get to that point of overwhelm and exhaustion. Um, so yeah, about four or five years ago was when I hired my first virtual assistant. She still works for us now and she's actually recently been promoted and upgraded to a full-time team member who, um, works on a couple different other projects, a little bit more in depth now and doesn't just assist me. And so that means that I was out of an assistant. Um, so I actually just literally this week is my first week with my new virtual assistant, um, who was going to help me with, uh, mainly email management.

Speaker 3 (31:59):

So she will manage all my emails for me, respond to those schedule appointments, also be managing my calendar. Um, any schedules, interviews, anything like that should be managing that for me going forward. Um, but having someone to help you with those tasks and really, I like to encourage people to, uh, just think about, is there any part of your business or your job that you hate, that you don't like that you're not very good at? Is there any part of your job or business that you do repetitive with day after day? Like checking emails or going through your calendar or scheduling meetings and events and appointments? Are there things that you're repetitively doing over and over again? And if yes, to any of those questions, those are things you can outsource. Those are things that you could, I mean, maybe you would hate video editing I or a video, and then that way they can edit your content for you.

Speaker 3 (32:47):

Now it's done, it's going to look a lot better because it's professionally done. You get to employ someone and you get to do more of what you love, the stuff that actually you're good at. And that brings you joy rather than spending your time, banging your head against the wall, video editing or, uh, you know, podcast reporting or replying to emails or whatever that specific thing is in your business. I cannot stress enough, hire, help, hire virtual assistant, even if it's just starting with like a content editor or something like that, it can really make all the difference in your business.

Speaker 2 (33:18):

That's huge. And yeah, and one of the exercises I heard from one year podcasts Brock is just to go through the tasks you're doing. Just basically write out every task you do for a week and look for things that maybe you could outsource. I mean, if you're spending a couple hours a week, grocery shopping, you're spending a couple hours a week doing laundry. Like I wonder if someone else could do that. I think you mentioned back when you were, uh, you know, in college, I think when your podcasts, you said you're having someone come do your laundry and stuff like that. And I'm like, well, yeah, there's really tons of things. And I think it's important for entrepreneurs. That's what we're trained to teach these, um, our solarpreneurs to do is just think like an entrepreneur, cause obviously entrepreneurs, we can't do it all.

Speaker 2 (33:59):

I know. Um, you and your mom, you guys, you know, and, or your parents' businesses, they have teams of, um, you know, probably dozens of people, helping them with all the tasks they need to do. So I think that's huge. And for us it could be maybe it's managing your leads. We've got CRMs. Um, there's lots of little things you do. I get overwhelmed with all my leads coming in. Um, did I sit down and appointment with them? Do I need, do they need to be followed up with, um, I have my virtual assistant. She helps me follow up with these leads. Um, she helps me manage email too. So for our listeners, think about those things that you're doing. What don't you like? What, uh, sorry, what do you not like doing like Brock said and what could you possibly outsource? And then for those people that want to consider getting like a virtual assistant Brock, where do you go, where do you actually find these people to help you out with tasks like that?

Speaker 3 (34:48):

Yeah, so I, I think that, uh, there's a great website called freelancer. That's one that I've used in the past for mainly like project based work. Um, I found my original virtual assistant, um, on online jobs with an S dot P H P H for the Philippines. Uh, that's where she was located. So I, that's where I found my original virtual assistant who still works with us today. This most recent assistant who I just hired. I actually found her via social media, which might not be an option for all people, but basically I just put out a little help, wanted ad on my Instagram. I had a bunch of people respond to it and we kind of went through the process from there. And actually we're releasing an episode of our podcast on Thursday, April 15. That's kind of detailing my entire, uh, process of how I hired that assistant and all of Oh, awesome.

Speaker 2 (35:38):

Love it. Awesome. Well, broccoli, appreciate you. Um, yeah, giving us some fire tips today as some good advice on how to get started in growing our Instagram's growing our social media and I definitely need to get going in going, um, on the social media. I know I'm lacking a ton, so you've helped me out. Um, so appreciate you coming on the show. So Brock before he let you go, where can people find out about, um, you know, your podcasts, what you're doing. I know they can find you on Instagram, but you want to share where people can find you and learn more about Instagram and possibly become one of your students in your courses. Sure, absolutely. So the best place to get connected is like you said, on Instagram, my Instagram handle is at Brock 11 Johnson. So the Eleven's right there in the middle.

Speaker 2 (36:22):

Um, I do respond to all of my DMS personally. It's always me managing them. So if anyone has a question or they listen to today's episode and they, uh, you know, he literally wanted to tell me how much they hated it. Go ahead. Send me a DM on Instagram at Brock 11 Johnson and then yeah, our podcast out. Oh, it's the one I just mentioned. It's called build your tribe. So if anyone wants to search that up and subscribe to that as well, you can find that on just about every podcast platform. Awesome. Love it. So go fall Brock shooting him, DM, let them know you appreciated him coming on the show. And last question I had for you Brock, do you have any questions that you wish the people don't usually ask you, but you wish they did ask you before we let you go?

Speaker 2 (37:04):

Hmm. This is a great question. You know, someone actually did ask me this exact question the other day on Instagram said, what questions do you wish people would ask you more? I have an answer to that. I don't know if I have a question. I definitely get, um, more than my fair share. More than I can handle. Sometimes have questions on Instagram. So I don't know if there's a question that I'm really dying for anyone to, to ask me, but I appreciate you as well. Good guests. People are asking good questions then. Well, thanks again for coming on the show Brock we'll definitely hit you up and um, yeah. Follow him. If you want to grow your Instagram or social media is, and he is the master. He's going to show you the ways so Brock will let you go and appreciate you coming on the show. We'll talk to you soon. Taylor, thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (37:46):

Hey Solarpreneurs. Quick question. What if you could surround yourself with the industry's top performing sales pros, marketers, and CEOs, and learn from their experience and wisdom in less than 20 minutes a day. For the last three years, I've been placed in the fortunate position to interview dozens of elite solar professionals and learn exactly what they do behind closed doors to build their solar careers to an all-star level. That's why I want to make a truly special announcement about the new solar learning community, exclusively for solar professionals to learn, compete, and win with the top performers in the industry. And it's called Solciety. This learning community was designed from the ground up to level the playing field and give solar pros access to proven mentors who want to give back to this community and to help you or your team to be held accountable by the industry's brightest minds. For, are you ready for it? Less than $3 and 45 cents a day currently society's closed the public and membership is by invitation only, but Solarpreneurs can go to society.co to learn more and have the option to join a wait list. When a membership becomes available in your area. Again, this is exclusively for Solarpreneur listeners. So be sure to go to www.solciety.co to join the waitlist and learn more now. Thanks again for listening. We'll catch you again in the next episode.

Speaker 4 (39:14):

[inaudible].

The SOLARPRENEUR podcast is here to help you close more deals in the solar industry, generate more leads and referrals, and hopefully, have a much better time and situation.