Ep 60. The 80/20 Rule: How to Identify & Double Down on What Actually Works & Scale Your Business Faster - Call Her Creator with Katelyn Rhoades

Call Her Creator with Katelyn Rhoades: Episode 60 Summary
Title: The 80/20 Rule: How to Identify & Double Down on What Actually Works & Scale Your Business Faster
Release Date: March 4, 2025

In Episode 60 of Call Her Creator, host Katelyn Rhoades delves deep into the transformative power of the 80/20 Rule, also known as the Pareto Principle. This episode provides creators and entrepreneurs with actionable strategies to identify the most impactful activities in their businesses and personal lives, enabling them to scale efficiently by focusing on what truly matters.

Introduction to the 80/20 Rule

Katelyn kicks off the episode by introducing the 80/20 Rule, highlighting its significance in maximizing results while minimizing effort. She states:

Katelyn Rhoades (00:00): "What would you say if I told you that 80% of your results come from just 20% of your efforts? Imagine if you could identify what that 20% is and double down on it. You'd accomplish so much more in this lifetime."

She explains that this principle was named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who discovered that 80% of Italy's wealth was owned by 20% of its population, and that similar patterns exist across various aspects of life and business.

Understanding the Application of the 80/20 Rule

Katelyn elaborates on how the 80/20 Rule manifests in different areas:

Business: "80% of sales come from 20% of your customers or social media efforts."
Social Media: "80% of your engagement usually comes from 20% of your posts."
Productivity: "80% of results come from 20% of your tasks."

She emphasizes that not all efforts yield equal results, and recognizing this imbalance is crucial for working smarter, not harder.

Real-Life Examples

Social Media Engagement

Katelyn provides a practical example regarding social media:

Katelyn Rhoades (09:00): "If 80% of your engagement is coming from 20% of your posts, what do you need to do? You need to focus more on that type of content that is producing that 80% of engagement."

By analyzing analytics and identifying top-performing posts, creators can double down on content that resonates most with their audience, thereby enhancing engagement and growth.

Apple's Revenue Strategy

Another compelling example she discusses is Apple's revenue model:

Katelyn Rhoades (15:30): "80% of Apple's revenue comes from just 20% of their products, primarily the iPhone and the MacBook lines. That's where the profit is."

Apple's strategic focus on its high-impact products allows it to maintain its status as one of the world's most valuable companies by maximizing revenue from core offerings.

Applying the 80/20 Rule: A Four-Step Process

Katelyn outlines a four-step approach to effectively implement the 80/20 Rule in one's life and business:

Identify Your 20%
- Action: Perform a time audit to determine which tasks or projects drive the majority of your results.
- Example: "If 80% of your engagement is coming from educational reels, focus on creating more of those" (Katelyn Rhoades, 20:45).
Eliminate or Delegate the 80%
- Action: Remove or delegate lower-impact tasks that consume significant time without yielding substantial results.
- Example: Prioritizing client work over less impactful activities like sporadic TikTok posts (Katelyn Rhoades, 25:00).
Double Down on the 20%
- Action: Invest more time and resources into high-impact activities, optimizing and scaling them for better results.
- Example: Enhancing top-performing Instagram reels by experimenting with different hooks or formats (Katelyn Rhoades, 35:20).
Regularly Review and Adjust
- Action: Continuously monitor and reassess your high-impact areas to ensure they remain effective as trends and business dynamics evolve.
- Example: Conducting quarterly audits of social media analytics to adapt to changing audience preferences (Katelyn Rhoades, 50:00).

Personal and Business Insights

Katelyn shares personal anecdotes from her own journey in building a multi-six-figure social media marketing agency. She recounts moments when she had to step back from less impactful activities to focus on her core business, illustrating the practical application of the 80/20 Rule:

Katelyn Rhoades (42:15): "Once you've identified your high impact 20%, you're going to give it your full attention, you're going to optimize it, you're going to innovate it, you're going to amplify it."

She also highlights the importance of flexibility, noting that the 20% may shift over time due to changes in trends, business models, or personal goals. Regular reviews ensure that creators stay aligned with what drives the most value.

Notable Quotes

Katelyn Rhoades (00:00): "The 8020 rule is going to change your life if you can learn it and stick to it and live it out."
Katelyn Rhoades (15:30): "Apple focuses on its high impact 20%, the iPhones and the MacBooks because they generate the majority of their revenue."
Katelyn Rhoades (35:20): "Repurposing is a big part of the 8020 rule. You are finding content that has already performed well and leaning into it harder."

Conclusion and Actionable Steps

Katelyn wraps up the episode by summarizing the key takeaways:

Audit Your Life: Track your time and identify the activities that yield the highest results.
Prioritize Ruthlessly: Focus on high-impact tasks and eliminate or delegate the rest.
Experiment and Optimize: Continuously refine your strategies to maximize effectiveness.
Commit to Regular Reviews: Make the 80/20 audit a routine practice to stay aligned with your goals.

She encourages listeners to embrace the 80/20 Rule as a compass for their personal and professional lives, urging them to share their 20% wins on Instagram to inspire others.

Katelyn Rhoades (58:00): "If you really want to go far in life, you have to learn how to ignore the noise and focus on what truly matters, what is already bringing you those results."

Final Thoughts

Episode 60 of Call Her Creator serves as a comprehensive guide for creators and entrepreneurs aiming to streamline their efforts and amplify their successes. By mastering the 80/20 Rule, listeners are empowered to focus on what truly drives their growth, enabling them to build thriving online businesses without being bogged down by inefficiencies.

For more insights and actionable strategies, download the Call Her Creator podcast and join a community dedicated to empowering creators to turn their passions into profitable ventures.

Transcript

Kaitlin Rhodes (0:00)

What would you say if I told you that 80% of your results come from just 20% of your efforts? Imagine if you could identify what that 20% is and double down on it. You'd accomplish so much more in this lifetime. Sound too good to be true? Well, it's not. It's the 8020 rule. And it's the secret weapon behind the most successful people that you know. In this episode of Call Her Creator, I, I'm going to dive into the AB20 rule with you guys and reveal how the most successful creators and entrepreneurs use this powerful concept to maximize results while minimizing their efforts. I'm going to teach you how to identify the high impact activities that truly matter and how to let go of the distractions that are holding you back. I'm Kaitlin Rhodes. Welcome to Call Her Creator. Powered by Stan. I'm really excited for today's episode. We're going to talk about your efforts and how to stop getting distracted by all these little things that pop up in your head. The eye, your eye needs to be on the prize. So I'm going to teach you how to do that. What you should be looking at, what you should be focusing on. The 8020 rule is going to change your life if you can learn it and stick to it and live it out. So if you've been feeling overwhelmed, you're constantly busy, but you just feel like you're not moving the needle, this, this episode is for you. Today we're gonna go learn how to work smarter, not harder. So first let's start off with what even is the 8020 rule. So the 8020 rule, also known as the Pareto principle, is a powerful concept that states 80% of your results come from just 20% of your efforts. Crazy, right? This was actually named after an Italian economist who back in 1896, his name was Wilfredo Pareto. He observed that 80% of Italy's wealth was actually owned by 20% of the population. He then noticed this pattern everywhere. 80% of the peas in his garden came from 20% of his pea pods. So the way that this all works is the 8020 rule shows up. It actually shows up in all areas of our life, right? Not just in economics. It's essentially the imbalance between inputs and outputs. So for example, in business, there's 80. 80% of sales that come from 20% of your customers or social media. 80% of your engagement usually comes from 20% of your post in productivity. 80% of results come from 20% of the tasks. It's Just the way that it is. Not all of your efforts are equal. You know, you're doing some stuff. There's the heavy lifting and there's the little lifting. So they're not, they're not equal. A small percentage of your actions actually lead to the majority of your results, which this kind of ties into last week's episode where I was telling you guys, those small wins are the things that we need to celebrate because they actually snowball into the big things. This is kind of like that. The key here though is to identify and focus on that high impact 20% while minimizing or eliminating altogether that low impact that's taking up 80% of your time. It's, it truly is the work smarter, not harder. So if something is taking you so much time and it's only really giving you back so little, it's, it's time to reevaluate that stuff. With this 8020 rule in mind, it helps you eliminate distractions and low value activities. Love that. Especially as a business owner, you know, you want to know what you're spending your money on and how is it working. Almost like roi, right? It also allows you to maximize your productivity and success by focusing on those tasks or those strategies or those relationships. Even that will move your needle, not just keep it stagnant. So let's just take a look at two real life examples. The first one I have here for you guys is social media. Okay, if 80% of your engagement is coming from 20% of your post, what do you need to do? You need to focus more on that type of content that is producing that 80% of engagement. So that's where you're gonna go look at. Okay, what's giving me the top amount of comments like shares? You can do this by visiting your analytics and your insights and you'll kind of take a look at those top performers and you're going to double down on that. You're going to be putting more effort into those things that are moving the needle for you. Same with sales. If 80% of your revenue is from only 20% of a certain product, prioritize the marketing for that. Apple does this. Actually, they're the perfect example for the 8020 rule. So 80% of Apple's revenue comes from just 20% of their products, primarily the iPhone and the MacBook lines. Right. So Apple focuses on its high impact 20%, the iPhones and the MacBooks because they generate the majority of their revenue. That's, that's where the profit is. This focus that they have, it's super strategic because it allows Apple to maximize their revenue but also maintain their status as one of the world's most valuable companies. Right. Another example of this is if you're on Instagram and and again, we were Talking about the 80% of your engagement is coming from the 20% of your post. If you notice that a specific reel or content format, maybe like all of your educational videos are performing really well and getting you the most comments, or maybe all of your behind the scenes clips actually give you the most engagement, if that is consistently performing better, then you need to double down on that because that's what's drastically gonna grow your account. Stop trying to be everything at once. Stop trying to put yourself in all these little places. Focus on what's working. That's what all of this really is all about, is to focus on what's working so you stop spinning your wheels and you work smarter, not harder. So the way to apply this 8020 rule. And as I was reading all of this, I was just like, what can I do in my life to stop wasting all of this time on the things that don't really do anything for me? And it's different. You know, when you're thinking about life. There's the business part of your life, there's your health, there's your marriage, there's your kids. So I'll just think about like exercise. What part of my health routine helps me stay the healthiest? Is it the, the eating or the working out or the walking? And which one can I lean into better? Especially like when people are talking about getting abs, they always say that like the big part of that is actually what you eat versus working out. So it's just little things like that. You need to realize what actually is going to move the needle. How can I hone in on that? Work smarter. All right, so I want to walk you through how to apply the 8020 rule to your own life. And four steps, four easy steps. So the first step you're going to take is you're going to have to identify your 20%. What even is that? Okay, so you're going to look at your tasks or projects that you're working on and ask yourself, which 20% are driving 80% of my results? How, how do you figure this out? Well, you can perform a time audit to see where your efforts are going versus the results they're getting. Example, if 80% of your engagement is coming from those educational reels, you're gonna focus on those educational reels. If 80% of your diet is coming from what you're eating versus you running, wouldn't you wanna focus more on what you're putting in your body versus running yourself ragged? Running like that's, this is where that plays into your life. Step two is you're gonna eliminate or delegate that 80%, that big bulk that you don't need to be pushing yourself ragged for. So not everything on your to do list is important. And we all know this. I know this. I tell the girls here at the agency to prioritize their tasks all the time. If something pops up, like client stuff always takes priority over us posting a TikTok, it just is what it is because at the end of the day the clients pay my bills for this agency. Right. Versus our TikTok, which is still like that's getting us brand awareness, that's getting us in front of more people. But at the end of the day, you got to do for business wise, you got to do what's pushing that revenue. The same goes. Maybe you are, I don't know, maybe you think that for your business, social media isn't really your big revenue or money maker. Maybe what actually helps you is calls so you spend less time on social media and you do more cold calling. That's what we're doing here is we're identifying what's actually working. How do I lean into that more? And then once you identify what that is, you're going to double down on that, you're going to double down on that 20%. So once you've identified your high impact 20%, you're going to give it your full attention, you're going to optimize it, you're going to innovate it, you're going to amplify it. The same real life story here with us here at the agency. And like, okay, let's just step back for a minute. I've got my social media agency, I've got my podcast, I've got my membership, I've got digital downloads and then I do speaking and trainings. When I'm looking at the big picture, like when I'm starting to run ragged, I'm sorry I keep saying that, but that's the only way I can really explain it. But when I'm starting to get tired and I tell my husband, he's like, okay, we'll step back a little bit from what you're doing. I have to be smart about that as a businesswoman. Okay, what can I afford to step back on? And that's where like my agency is my biggest moneymaker. So that's always going to be my top priority. But little things like, I don't know, going live on Instagram, well, that still contributes to my agency. So how can I, what can it be? A different, let's say I'm doing a blog to promote my membership. Maybe that doesn't become priority, but instead posting a reel. Marketing our social media agency and social media marketing and management, that's going to take priority over me writing a blog to promote my membership. That's where I'm talking about, where you have to prioritize the bigger picture versus the little things. Once you've got your 20% and you double down on that, you're gonna have to adjust it regularly. Things change, people change, the seasons change, the algorithm changes. So you can't always be set on that one specific thing that you chose. So your 20% might change over time because trends shift or your business evolves. But if you are reviewing this quarterly, you can ensure that you're focusing on the right things. When it comes to social media content and my Instagram strategy, I truly analyze that every. Well, I'm not a good example cause I analyze it weekly. But for a normal person posting on Instagram, that's not an influencer. I would say checking your analytics, you know, every 30 to 60 days and really leaning in on what works is that's how we do it here at the agency. That's how you deliver better content, that's how you deliver better information to your audience because you're finding out what is already working. How can I make that even better versus always throwing spaghetti at the wall and trying to decide, you know, oh well, what should I post today? No, you find what's already working and you lean in harder to that. If you've ever seen people on Instagram talk about repurposing content, repurposing is a big part of the 8020 rule. You are finding content that has already performed. Well, maybe that's based on engagement, maybe it's based on shares, but you repost it maybe with a slightly different hook or a different video, or maybe you just download that same video and repost it again. But you're leaning into what already worked and you're trying to get those results again. The 8020 rule works honestly for anyone, anyone in this world. I've got a few examples. But like Warren Buffett, for example, he's one of the most successful, richest people in the world. He focuses on a few high impact investments instead of spreading himself thin. Tim Ferriss, he wrote the book the Four Hour Work Week. He uses the 8020 rule to streamline his business and that's how he wrote four Hour Work week book. Social media Top influencers myself. Not saying I'm a top influencer, but saying that I am a part of this stat that I'm about to share with you. Top influencers focus on the 20% of their content that goes viral rather than trying to create every single trend and trying to start over every single day. We know what works and we keep leaning into that. So just to summarize everything that we've talked about, one, you're going to want to audit your life. If you want to put this 8020 rule into play for your own life, you need to audit yourself. Spend the next week tracking your time and identifying that 20%. Then you are going to prioritize ruthlessly. You're going to cut out or delegate those low impact tasks that are just making you tired. Then you're gonna experiment and you're gonna optimize because you're gonna test different strategies with that 20% so that you can optimize for better maximum results. And then from there you're going to commit to reviewing this information. You're gonna make that 8020 audit a quarterly habit or a 30 day habit or a 60 day habit, but you're going to use those numbers. We have analytics for a reason. There's reporting on all of these different apps. There's so many different apps out there that help you to identify, you know, what's working in your social media content. We love using metrical. They have a really good analytics dashboard that allows me to look at my top performers, see how many, I don't know, impressions it got, how many likes it got, how many follows it got. And guess what, I take that information and I bring that into my next month of content planning. Gracie just was working on some content for me for call her creator and she said, what do you want me to focus on this week? The first thing I did was I went back to my analytics for the last 60 days and saw what other type of topics already were working for me and I gave her those ideas to redo again, but in a different manner. So biggest piece of advice for you is to find out what's working and lean into it super duper hard. If you really want to go far in life, you have to learn how to ignore the noise and focus on what truly matters, what is already bringing you those results. Don't waste your time on that 80% that's only giving you 20% of the results. Instead, set your eye on that prize and let the 8020 rule be your compass. I'd love for you guys to share your 20% wins with me on Instagram. Feel free to send me a DM over on Call Her Creator or post a story about the 8020 rule and tell us, you know, what is that 20% that you're going to focus on this week? I'd love for us to share something like that. Get the conversation going. Inspire others to stop working tirelessly and work smarter, not harder. If you like today's episode, I'd love for you to download the Call Her Creator podcast. You will get alerted next episode. I have a new episode out every Wednesday. Love to have you here and keep this community going. Thank you so much for listening today and I hope you like this episode.