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Social Media Decoded
Ditch the 9–5, Keep the Money: How Lindsey Wagnon Scaled Her Marketing Without Burning Out
00:24:51
In this Social Media Decoded episode, marketing strategist Lindsey Wagnon breaks down how women founders can ditch hustle culture, simplify their marketing, and scale sustainably—especially in the first 1–3 years of business. We cover lean-budget marketing, post-purchase automations that turn buyers into promoters, and the exact systems Lindsey uses to show up consistently without a huge team or ad spend.
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- [00:00]
Wix Designer
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- [00:33]
Grainger Maintenance Engineer
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- [01:01]
Michelle Thaimes
Hello everyone. Today's guest is someone who walked away from the corporate climb right before hitting VP status to build a marketing agency that supports her version of success. She's a marketing pro and you all love. I know. I love talking to other marketing pros with the past life managing, get this, million dollar accounts, a present life, running her own business on her terms, and a mission to help women founders market smarter and not harder. You all know I love that, especially in the early years when the resources are super tight. I am super excited to welcome Lindsay, founder of Lindsay Wagon Marketing to the host and the host of the Savvy Startup Marketing podcast which I was a guest on as well. Which Talking automation, Lean Budget marketing, and how to scale a profitable business without sacrificing your sanity or your schedule. Lindsay, welcome to the show.
- [01:59]
Lindsay Wagner
Yay. Thank you so much Michelle. I'm super honored and excited to be here.
- [02:04]
Michelle Thaimes
Yes, and we had a really good time on your podcast, so thank you for having me on. I'll make sure I link that episode too below in the show notes so you all can go ahead and check that out. But let's get right into it. Lindsay, I love that you left corporate America. I know you know a little bit about my story. I was fired. Fired from my job in corporate America. So I really love hearing the stories on this podcast. And so you left right before VP status. What really pushed you to take that leap and build your own agency instead?
- [02:32]
Lindsay Wagner
Yes, I think that my honestly, my story can resonate with a lot of women, especially new moms Because I was about a year into working in the marketing department as a senior copywriter. At that point I had already kind of been, you know, built up my career in marketing and I had my first baby and I loved the company, loved the team I was on. But for me it was kind of a double whammy. It was introduction to motherhood and all of the figuring that out and realizing, you know, what so many new moms have been saying before me, that the whole work and having a baby at home situation just is pretty imbalanced and really tough on new moms. And then alongside that, my husband is a pastor and has been in church ministry for several years. So we are a pastor's family and our weekends have always been very heavy with church involvement and events. And at the time this was pre Covid, so we actually did at our church services on Saturdays and Sundays at the time. So here I am, I'm really enjoying my job and I'm getting promoted and also at the same time I've got a brand new baby at home who I put in daycare at only six weeks old. And my husband and I do not have a single day off because I'm doing Monday through Friday, he's doing all weekend long and his day off is Friday, so he gets to be home with the, the baby. He's like sending me video of her and I'm sitting here at my cubicle thinking, wow, that's unfair. So I did that rhythm for about three years and then I just, even through the toddler stage of my first daughter, you know, climbing the corporate ladder, getting to do really fun, exciting things in corporate, getting to travel, getting to teach marketing, getting, getting to work with these multimillion dollar earners, that truly was a privilege. And I'm also just gutted by what I feel like I'm missing at home. And I do think that I've always been wired, entrepreneurial. And it started to kind of creep into my mind these thoughts of, you know, I could help people on a freelance level do exactly what I'm helping them do at corporate and, and I could have so much more control over my time over when I'm available. I could create the schedule around my husband's schedule, a lot more my child's schedule. And about a year before I actually quit my corporate job and launched my agency, I started to put the pieces of that together and I was super fortunate to basically stop working for that company and then launch straight into a pretty full time situation with my agency. I had several clients already and yeah. So I definitely had kind of that perfect storm of, like, I really do enjoy what I'm doing, but I cannot sustain this, and I need. I really, really need to make a change.
- [05:48]
Michelle Thaimes
Wow. Such a powerful story. And I know there are so many women listening to this podcast that are in that same moment.
- [05:56]
Lindsay Wagner
Yes.
- [05:57]
Michelle Thaimes
Feeling like they're stuck in a box that no longer fits. I know I was. And so what do you say to that woman who is scared to walk away from that safe job, but really, is any job safe?
- [06:08]
Lindsay Wagner
Yeah, no kidding. You're right about that. So what I would encourage is don't let the thought of that just get pushed aside. I think it's very valid to feel like you said that you don't want to be put into a box and that you do want to customize your life. I think that that is doable for anybody. But I also would say, on a practical level, what I did, because I knew my husband was going to be like, wait a minute. You, like, are doing very well at Corporate world, and things are going very well, and it looked very promising and successful to people on the outside. So that's why the third thoughts and the process for me, making the leap had to start about a year early. And it's very difficult to be at a corporate job and also kind of in the back of your mind, be building something else. I definitely get that. I have been there. But I do think that taking some steps to prepare for launching and doing something different will help you have the confidence when the time comes. And part of what that, for me, was looking at budget wise, what I needed to be earning with the freelancing by the time I did launch on my own. And that was a goal that I had. We also made sure we did save up for some, you know, like an emergency fund, a pretty strong cushion to give me a little bit of Runway that I ended up fortunately not needing, but was there to provide confidence and to, you know, help us both feel like, okay, you know, we're good. Lindsay's gonna pursue this thing. We've got some financial cushion, and we've processed through this, and we've taken some steps. So I would say, honestly, like, write down the few things that it would take to make you feel confident that this is gonna be what I'm gonna do, and then maybe put some timeframes on it, put some goals on it, maybe work a little bit at a time, stretch it out. That's okay. And go for it.
- [08:15]
Michelle Thaimes
And just go for it. I love that. And, yes, I think so many of us are afraid to walk away from our nine to fives. And I love that you shared that it's possible you all, it is possible. If you're listening and you're like, I'm ready to take the leap. It is possible you're listening to two people who took the leap. Now, I, I wouldn't say that I had a master plan, but I just knew that I would be okay. I am someone of faith and I just knew that I would be okay. So I absolutely love that.
- [08:41]
Lindsay Wagner
Ashley. Yes, Ash?
- [08:41]
Michelle Thaimes
I, I wanna dive into strategy because I know we're two strategy girls and we love talking marketing strategy. And you are really big on automation, especially post purchase funnels, which I do not think a lot of us think about. What are some easy wins here that entrepreneurs can take advantage of?
- [08:59]
Lindsay Wagner
Yes. And I'm so glad we're talking about this because this is like my passion within a passion. I really enjoy fun focusing on working with women who are very, very early on in building their business. And what I love to unpack for them is this idea of building the full foundation of the business experience that your customer is going to have with you before you actually go out and start trying to get leads and customers. And the reason for this is, like you said, so many people want to very early on jump into lead generation, jump into selling, and then realize when they're trying to handle those people, they don't really have the process in place to do that very well. And then every client is like painstakingly slow because you're figuring so much out on the fly. And then the customer service side of things really, you know, takes a hit, is limited and is not very impressive to the consumer working with you or buying your product. And so in order to keep this really simple, I like to refer to the, you know, post customer transaction journey as the repeat ready is what I call it. And basically you have to think ahead and consider the fact that if you get it right with every single customer from the very beginning of your business, then that is the absolute best marketing that you can do. You want somebody experiencing, working with you, buying your product and being very impressed and feeling like things were set up for them. The red carpet was rolled out, little things were thought of and by the end of that experience, you don't even have to hardly ask or say a word or do much at all. And they're like, that was fantastic. I will recommend you all day long. In fact, I'm just going to go ahead and start talking about you and posting about you on my social because you had this part down for them at the very start. And then the repeat ready side of things is, you know, not only do you do a excellent job at building the customer experience experience, but then you are ready with the automated communication as soon as that transaction is done and you're checking in with with them, you are asking for feedback. Because most people are like, especially with a new business, most people are very happy to, you know, pretty quickly say a couple of things about their experience, give you tips. A lot of people are very happy if something was not right to let you know like this is an area to work on and that's helpful for a new business owner. In addition to that, you're going to make sure you are doing the ask for a review. Hopefully you've got places set up where you are gathering reviews, whether that's on your website, whether that is like my favorite place is the Google business profile because it holds weight with search engine optimization, which I won't dive into that. But you're asking for the reviews and then you're also asking for the that referral. So you're just putting these thoughts into their minds and making sure you're doing your side of things and all of that can be automated with some pretty simple work upfront. Yes. I'm a big fan of these things that need to happen no matter what. After a customer purchases from you, you can set that up, you can automate it and then you can also just automate a lot of even that purchase experience experience for them to make things smooth and to take a lot of weight off of you as the business owner.
- [12:50]
Michelle Thaimes
Absolutely. You are giving a masterclass here. I hope that you all are enjoying this conversation. You I love marketing and you're absolutely right. Setting up all that in the beginning just makes everything easier. Right. And I want to touch on next lean budget marketing because this is something that you really love too. And that is exactly what I believe that most founders need and those listening. So, so what are a few underrated marketing tactics that cost next to nothing but work? I know you said Google business. That's another. That's a good one. But what are some other marketing tactics that are definitely very low cost or none at all?
- [13:26]
Lindsay Wagner
Yeah. Okay. So my favorite one, especially for the newer business owner and also I would add for the person who feels like you've been working at the business for a while and it's just not doing anything like both scenarios apply. I call, I call this your startup squad and it's basically Old fashioned networking. But to be honest, I have to preach this because we are so used to the digital bells and whistles. We've definitely neglect leaning into the word of mouth and the community marketing that is just right there in front of us and is the lowest cost, fastest gain type of marketing that we can do honestly. And so I'm a big fan of saying don't worry so much about being on platforms and feeding platforms and managing platforms until you start practicing your sales skills, talking about your business, learning how to hone that elevator pitch and learning, you know, how to have conversations to different types of people in your life about your business. That's one of the best things and best skill practices that you can work on as a business owner. I know it's not the most comfortable thing for a lot of people, but listen, your girl here is like a hundred percent introvert on every test that I've ever taken. If I can learn how to do it, I promise you can just push yourself a little bit to have these conversations. So, so that's my gonna be my first piece of advice is just really focus on the networking. And it doesn't even have to be formal networking. It can basically look like talking about your business in casual conversation with friends, with family and you can even be like hey, I am new at this but I'm really excited about it and I want to share with you the business that I am working on and this is ideas that I have or if you're a little further along, you know, I want to see what your thoughts are so and so about these couple of offers I have in mind or the offers that I've been putting out there that don't really seem to be getting traction like what are your thoughts on this? It can be that casual. But that is going to help you not only hone those sales skills and the marketing skills that you need because you're going to figure out what am I saying that seems teams to register with people. What is the advice that I'm getting and the language that is starting to form around my business that I can even use in my marketing copy. So that's the big place to start. And then in addition to that, I really am a huge fan of building the email list. I know if you listen to many podcasts about businesses like this is the reason you hear so much about build your email list build and don't be shy about sending emails is because it is one of the most low cost marketing methods that just works for anybody. Like it really does. I have seen the stats. I've. I have looked at clients budgets going completely out the window to paid ads versus what they are totally missing with person email list over here. And I'm just like, wow. We apparently don't talk about it enough, but that's the, the other thing that I really love to lean into with people is let's network, talk about your business, not be shy about it. And then let's lean into building the email list and getting practiced at keeping up with the emails, getting the emails out there, talking to people about what's going on with the business. And of course, you and I know that podcasting is actually super effective and it almost combines the two of those things. So it is one really amazing tool that helps you to network with people. I mean, you and I are, we met because we are on each other's podcasts and connecting and chatting and we. This is a way we can get in front of each other's audiences in a way potentially, you know, we keep each other in mind if somebody, you know, needed one or the other's skillset in the future, we can recommend each other. That's a way almost to kind of combine the different digital opportunity that we have with also building our list, building our, our audience. And you don't have to have your own podcast. You can guest on other people's podcasts. And that's just one form of media. So it could be podcasts, it could be you're doing a guest blog post for people. It could be you are doing their vlog with them, their Instagram interviews and lives. There's lots of those types of opportunities that I don't think are really getting tapped into very well, especially with people who are early to business and just haven't really been in that world yet.
- [18:31]
Michelle Thaimes
Yes. Oh, no. You said you hit all the points. Number one, that email list. Let's grow that email list, people. It is important. Okay? And I am all for in person networking. We have to get behind from behind the computer screens and actually go and talk to people like this. Earlier this year in April, I was out to like three events back to back. But you know, what that did for my business exponentially is going to expand it because I was in the room talking with people, I followed up with people, and I'm being intentional about networking. So you're absolutely right. And let's not even talk about podcasting because you already know how I feel about that. It definitely is a major opportunity for, for you to be able to get in front of other people. So I love everything that you shared. This is a masterclass, you all. I hope you are taking notes. You know, gems are dropped here on the social media decoded podcast. Now let's talk about some advice. What advice would you give someone who is trying to scale but wants to keep things really simple and strategic? I love simple and strategic. I'm not about all the tools, all the things. I have very low overhead and keep things very simple. But I would love to hear from you as well.
- [19:41]
Lindsay Wagner
Scaling hopefully is going to happen. When you have done some testing, I think that a lot of times we want to jump into, I've got these handful of offers not even going to question are they going to work, like is it sustainable for me to keep doing this for clients. And so I think that early on it's really important to not get too married to your ideas and too married to your offers, too married to even like the product line that you have and to take, you know, put some variety in there. Again, with some of the conversations that you're having, you don't even have to go all the way to fully building something. Hopefully in the conversations you're having you are able to kind of test what the reaction from people is going to be. As you're building your email list, you are able to put feelers out to your audience, maybe it's also your audience on social media platforms and get some, some weigh in from the people in your world. And then once you do get, you know, some, some actual purchases, you definitely want to make sure something is selling, people are, people are signing up for it or people are attending or whatever it is that you are promoting, then whatever sort of starting to stand out is that thing that you can start to push more and to scale on and to lean into and then you can even simplify more, which is like music to the business owner's ears when they're two or three years in and it's like, please tell me I can just hone this down. Just a couple of things. So I would say testing needs to be the focus early on. Some experimenting needs to be the focus. Make sure you're flexible and in open handed with your ideas and then you will find the offers and the type of product that you can scale on and counter to what a lot of us think and get ourselves into, it's probably going to be fairly focused. So you know, if you are a jewelry seller, I'm sure you probably love a vast array of jewelry types, right? But if you feel like, you know what I'm Offering is again, like a vast array that's going to be very difficult for you to really be able to focus on any particular type of audience because it's like, I just want the people that love all of this different type of jewelry to want to buy my product. But then it makes it difficult for you to market because your message gets very general. You have so many things on your website. I actually am speaking to this from personal experience with a client. You have so many things on your website that it's like overwhelm as soon as somebody goes to buy from you and they don't even make it to the cart because it's. It's just too much. And that is what we tend to do when we first start. And so the testing, the, you know, narrowing down is going to help you really know, okay, this is the area that I have discovered is meeting the need, is filling a gap, is kind of niched down. And I, you know, feel great about. I feel like I can really push the business forward on this. And then, you know, you can start to lean in on that and make, you know, the great offers around that and the promotions and the revenue kicks up, hopefully, and means that you can spend more on marketing those specific things and then you can spend more on getting help and not having to do everything and doing some delegating, which feels really, really good. Yeah. So I think that's the path to being able to scale a newer business.
- [23:33]
Michelle Thaimes
Love that you have shared so much good advice here. And I think one thing that you said is like, yeah, we, we want to do everything. We want, you know, all things to be. I want to say, like, all your ducks in a row before you start or even, like you said, selling, you know, something before you even, you know, are fully ready to sell, which is so important. And this has been such a refreshing episode. I love that you're not just preaching strategy and that you're living a business model that value, you know, really is sustainable and real. And so I'm glad that you share that here with everyone. And I just love the name of your business, the Savvy Startup Marketer. Because I don't think there's a lot of people who want to help people in the beginning. And so I am really grateful that you are doing that and that you have, you know, your niche. Like we talked about, we're not for everybody. Everybody is not your audience. So let's really focus this year, right. And beyond. Let's focus and get really clear on who we're talking to online So I love that. Absolutely love that.
- [24:33]
Lindsay Wagner
That's right.
- [24:34]
Michelle Thaimes
But before we go today, definitely want to know where listeners can find you, where can they work with you or learn more about your signature marketing system, which I think is so genius.
- [24:46]
Lindsay Wagner
Yes, you can find me and the savvy Startup Marketer system at Lindsey Wagner. Com. Pretty much everything is housed there. The link to the podcast, the link to savvy Startup marketer and the specific services that my agency provides. And then I also have Instagram is kind of my focus of social media as many people prefer. So you can find me on Instagram at Lindsey Wagnon Marketing.
- [25:16]
Michelle Thaimes
So I know you all love Instagram. So if this episode hit home for you, definitely share it on your Instagram stories and tag Lindsay at Lindsey Wagnan Marketing and ichellellthaimes and the social media decoded pod. This is the kind of conversation that helps women and everyone really to rethink success and own your power in your business. And I love that. So, so thank you so much Lindsey for coming on today and sharing such valuable information. And until next time, you all, let's keep showing up. Let's build smart and scale with intention.
- [25:52]
Wix Designer
As a designer, you know clients want it all. A stunning site that runs their business and scales with their success. But tight deadlines shouldn't mean compromising your vision. WIX Studio is built for designers like you. Plan sites in seconds with AI powered site mapping. Then design starting in Figma or in the WIX Studio editor with precise layout tools. Then bring your vision to life with no code, animations, AI tools and one click responsive design. Design smoother and deliver sooner. Go to wix studio.com sometimes an identity.
- [26:24]
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- [26:31]
Michelle Thaimes
I need a coffee and you need.
- [26:33]
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- [26:54]
Lindsay Wagner
Oh, what you eating?
- [26:55]
AMPM Customer
The new banana split cookie from AM pm. All freshly baked with real butter with banana, chocolate and strawberry flavors.
- [27:01]
Lindsay Wagner
That sounds amazing. Can I have a bite?
- [27:03]
AMPM Customer
I'm sorry, but no but you can. Can't split the banana split.
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Lindsay Wagner
Not even a little?
- [27:08]
AMPM Customer
Not even a crumb.
- [27:09]
Lindsay Wagner
What if.
- [27:09]
AMPM Customer
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