← The Mindful Marketing Podcast (Formerly Known As The Savvy Social Podcast)
The Mindful Marketing Podcast (Formerly Known As The Savvy Social Podcast)
Creating Community-Driven Events with Kristina Bartold
00:37:04
Ever wondered what it takes to plan and sell out an incredible live event? In this episode, I sit down with Kristina Bartold, event marketing pro and co-founder of High Vibe Women, to talk all things event planning, building authentic community, and...
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- [00:01]
A
Marketing your event can feel like a whole event in and of itself. And today I'm excited to have Christina Barthold on the podcast to talk to us all about event marketing. But before we get into that, I gotta give a shout out to our sponsor, Riverside. Riverside is the all in one recording studio I use to record this here podcast. And my favorite part is a little magic they do behind the scenes. It's called magic clips. You record your podcast episode, and then the little AI robot guy behind the scenes takes clips of the episode for you. So when y'all see those clips I post on social media. Yeah, that's AI and it truly is magical. So check it out for yourself. Click the link in the show notes today and get 15% off your Riverside subscription by using the code DREA. That's D R E A at checkout with that, Christina. Welcome to the show, Drea.
- [00:51]
B
It's a dream to be here. I'm so excited, so thank you so much for having me.
- [00:55]
A
I'm excited to have you because I'm just coming off of the high that was High Vibe Women, your signature event that you hosted this past weekend in Kitchener, Ontario, and it was just absolutely fabulous. So I want to start the conversation with the catalyst, the inspiration for getting into the event space. Because you come from a marketing and social media background. So what. Why. Why events? What started that line of business for you?
- [01:19]
B
Yeah, so similarly to you, Drea, I loved my marketing agency. So we've been in business almost four years. We do done for you social media and podcasting. We have 80 clients like love love, love. No need for a side project. But something I had noticed was a lot of the entrepreneurs who I knew and who we got to serve said entrepreneurship was lonely. And they talked a lot about how they didn't have great entrepreneur friends. They didn't have people to bounce ideas off of. Maybe there was a lot of gatekeeping in their industry. And so I was really lucky that early on I was investing in a lot of really great American rooms and was going over to the stadium, going to some amazing events over there, and just couldn't find anything comparable at home. So we started throwing these little dinners. There'd be like 10, 15, 20 entrepreneurial women. We always joke that our first one we made $7, and then we realized we never even counted the gas that it took us to get there. So we're calling that one still in the Green. But we would go and we would get together, and we had kind of a little bit of a format of the discussion and people would leave with these amazing connections. Businesses were formed like relationships, client relationships were made. And we realized we were kind of onto something so we started to run a little bit bigger events, you know, 30, 40 people. And then last we ran our first 100 person event this past weekend. We had 140 women. In March we were gearing towards a 200 person event, but really focused around like how to help entrepreneurial women build community and you know, better their business. We know that business is not really meant to be done alone. Our businesses are stronger, better, I think more profitable when we can do them with others. And so really just kind of leaning into that has, has kind of how we got started.
- [02:53]
A
Yes. And I could tell being in the room, the intentionality behind the connection piece because it really did feel like we were all on the same team. Right. Like even though there were other, even marketers in the room, other agencies, like everyone was there to kind of lift each other up. And I think that that is some of the value of live events. And I'm seeing that especially like in this post pandemic world, we want to be together in the same place. But what do you think is like one of the biggest takeaways of these live events outside of the connections that are made in the room?
- [03:28]
B
So a few things I think come to mind when you ask that. Like obviously the connections are the best part, but I would say one is drawing inspiration for your business. Like I think that is a huge one. So whether it be like I have been so shocked by sometimes sitting next to someone at dinner who I think like in air quotes, I'm going to say like, might not provide value to my business. Right. Like you sit next to someone and they're a lawyer and you're kind of like, oh, like well actually lawyers are really going to pour into your business. But like, you know, someone who maybe might be adjacent, not be adjacent to your business and you might not think, oh, like you know that's going to be a really fruitful connection, but you have no idea what that person's experience or what, what they know or what they've tried, whether that be an amazing marketing idea, maybe it might be a connection that they have. There's lots of really good opportunities there. And so I think like the connections are great for the inspiration for your business. And I also think listening to some of the speakers is so powerful because it allows you to borrow belief from them as well. Right. So we had a panel, a seven figure founder panel and people I can't tell you how much good feedback we got about the seven figure panel. And I was on the fence about doing it because not everyone's very comfortable always talking about their numbers. And I didn't want people to feel like they had to, you know, like, maybe people don't want to scale to seven figures. Maybe that's not an aspiration of theirs. But it was really cool to listen to people be like, oh, yeah, that's gonna be me one day. Like, I can't wait to sit on that panel. I can't wait to be part of that and really borrow belief from each other. So I think apart from the relationships, I think that inspiration is what keeps us going and keeps us really excited for, you know, changes that come in our business. And that's really helpful when, you know your business isn't in an up season. Right. You need that inspiration and that joy.
- [05:02]
A
Yeah, it's so intangible too. Like the dynamic of, like, I love that you said borrowing belief from people because we do need that as business owners, especially those of us who work by ourselves, for ourselves. It can be very isolating. And so to have that camaraderie is so important. Okay, so let's talk about event marketing. You know, when we sit down, start planning out our events. How do we design an event that makes people excited to attend? What are some of the things you think about when you're planning your next event?
- [05:28]
B
That. Yeah. So in terms of when we're actually doing the actual planning, I think the thing that we have noticed the most is actually, and it's funny because I think this is actually counterintuitive is people think that speakers are what people come for. And we've always been so, like, blessed by our speakers. Drea, you spoke. You were fabulous. We had some amazing speakers. But I actually think people come more for each other. And so really, when we start to think about our experience, we start to think about, like, what can we do to foster connection with each other? We think about what kind of. Of things we'd want people to be talking about what we think backwards a little bit. Like, what would we want people to describe our event as? And then, then we start to fill in the programming. Do we want people to feel like there was tons and tons of information? Do we want people to feel like there were lots of opportunities for connection? Do we want people to feel like, you know, there were a lot of photo ops? Do we want people to think that there was, you know, like, a lot of great snacks, like what. Whatever those things are. And we kind of plan from that point. And so I think that that's kind of what's made this at least successful to this point, has been. There's been a lot of intentionality around the feedback that we take. Take from people of what people like and what people don't like. And we really use that to help, you know, build hype around what we're doing. And so I actually, from a marketing perspective, you know, luckily, being a marketer, like, I'm able to, like, actually use the words that people say about our event in the marketing. Like, when I hear people say, like, you know, I love meeting new people. I'm really here for, you know, the people at my table were amazing. Okay. The next time, I'm gonna actually let people talk more at their table. Like, when I hear that people are like, hey, I actually didn't really care that much about, you know, the snack break, but I really would have loved more movement. Okay, great. How do we implement more of that stuff? So I think when thinking about building an event, really just listening to what people have to say about your event is helpful not only on the marketing side, but then also in the design perspective. And we always, too, when it came to social, I can't say enough that when you're planning an event, invest in the video, invest in the photography, you know, invest in the content creator. We had, like, at one point, there was. Our, like, videographer was standing, and then I saw our photographer was standing in front of her, and then crouched down was a girl with an iPhone. And I was like, that is the way it's supposed to be. People, we need this content because people want to feel part of something. They want to feel part of that emotion. So that's why our first reel that we always post after event, there's lots of people in it because we want people to look for themselves and see themselves in. In there. So I think really focusing on your people makes such a big difference.
- [07:54]
A
Yeah, 100%. Like, show them what it is instead of describing it. And I do want to talk more about your marketing, because I think that the challenge with events is that sometimes as the event planners, I work with a lot of event planners, they want to just go, it's here. Sign up.
- [08:10]
B
Yes.
- [08:11]
A
And, like, we want people to just go, oh, yeah, I'm in. But there's a strategy behind just, like, come to our event. Come to our event. Please beg it. Come to our event. So talk to me about the marketing strategy, like, leading up to event. What are some of the things that you're making sure to put in there to sell out the event.
- [08:28]
B
Yeah. So we were really blessed with this past event that we sold out that event in 10 days. So we were really, like, lucky. And before we'd even really announced speakers, so we were like, getting close to, like, we were still announcing speakers and events had sold out and I was like, sorry, speakers, your friends can't come. Like, it was actually getting, like, getting a little tight in there, as you saw. But one of the things I think that we did well with that was we learned a lot from the first time we ran our 100%, where we didn't sell out and why. I think there was that difference. There is one. I think proof of concept is very important. I think when you are selling an event for the first time, go easy on yourself. Like, it's so easy when you see other people. I have friends who run large scale thousand person events and it's so easy to compare yourself and be like, oh, you know, people just don't want what I'm offering. Like, people aren't looking for that. But if you provide one really good experience, the second is easy for you to put on as well. It's just, you just need that practice. It's like putting in your reps with anything else. So I think that's the first. First thing. The second is we did really focus on a lot of, like, FOMO creation in terms of content. I hate saying that because it sounds like non inclusive that I'm trying to, like, create FOMO for people. But we really wanted to show people, like, what they were missing out on if they hadn't been there, the relationships. And. And because we use so much content of the actual participants, it was so cool to see them, like, be like, oh, my gosh, this was the best weekend ever. And then people are seeing their friends comment, right? And they're like, oh, that's like, that's the trust. And I think we know this as marketers ourselves. Like, we can say whatever until we're blue in the face, but that's nothing compared to someone else's, like, trusted friend or sourcing it. I think about, like, anything I ever buy, I'm like, oh, I got hit by an ad for this. But Dre, if you tell me to buy it, I'm definitely going to buy it, right? So we really, like, we have a lot of trust in our people. So how do you actually get a lot of your ambassadors ready? And that's something that we did really well. The second time was we were very Honest. With, like, you know, our friends and our entrepreneurial friends who are going to be there, like, hey, like, it's our goal to sell out this event, and the tickets are going to go on sale on this day, and here are the assets. And we made it easy for people to promote. Like, we didn't say, like, oh, we have this event that's coming out on this date. Like, you know, can you talk about it? It was like, hey, here's an email you can send. Here are photos, like, making it very, very simple for people. And there's also a rule, too. And, like, I think that this is something that we see with all forms of marketing, but event marketing, too, is the more that people see something, the more it resonates for them. Right. So when people see something over and over again and they're like, oh, Dre went to that event. Oh, Christina went to that event. Oh, like, this person went to that event, then they start to kind of build a narrative around, like, what it is for good or for bad. And so I think, really, again, building that hype and asking people to share and be part of the messaging and the sharing of it, I think was. Was kind of one of the keys that we had in building it out.
- [11:16]
A
Yeah. Yeah. And I love that you talked about the ambassadors, too, because there is a power in community, and I think when you're. You're talking about event, it literally is a community in and of itself. Right. And so having the ambassadors is a great amplification. It's like, showing what that community is. Like, I'm. I'm so guilty of this. When I go to events, I'm always like, well, who's going to be there? Who. Who's going to be in the room? Right.
- [11:40]
B
100%.
- [11:41]
A
And so that's what your ambassadors are doing. Yeah.
- [11:43]
B
And you know what? It's so interesting because I. I've been that person, too, where even though there was an event recently in New York City, I went to, and there. There was 75 people going, and my friend was like, was running the event. She should come. I was like, yeah, I'm definitely going to come. And I didn't buy my ticket. And I was like. I was like, oh, like, who's. Who's going to be there? Like, who's in the room? Like, who am I going to sit beside? Like, what's the situation? Even though I was pretty bought in. And so I think it's the same for anything that we do is, like, people want. No one wants to be the first to do anything. So that's why social proof is really important. And whenever I tell anybody who's, you know, selling an event, something that we do that is so little that makes such a big difference is we will take screenshots of, like, receipts of people buying, like, with no personal information. No, like Drain Jones is buying a ticket. But, you know, and we'll say, oh, look, there's, you know, 25 people who purchase. And I can tell you the. How many times where I've been like, oh, you know, get your tickets. Like, we've, we've, you know, we're at 60% sold out. We're at 80% sold out. That those numbers that sit with people, they create urgency. And so something I see with a lot of people is they don't create any urgency in their marketing plan for selling events. And so then they're like, why aren't people buying tickets? Why aren't people buying tickets? And then it's two days until the last day, and they're like, oh, oh, 10, 20 people bought a ticket because they were waiting. So what can you do to actually spark some excitement and some urgency in folks so that they make a quicker choice?
- [13:03]
A
Okay, I want to talk more about urgency because I think it can be challenging depending on the timeline of the events. So when we're thinking about urgency, you know, sometimes when I work with event planners, it's like raising the price of the tickets over time. It can be things like speaker announcements, booking rooms, you know, refund deadlines. What are some of your favorite ways to deploy urgency in marketing, especially when it comes to event marketing?
- [13:29]
B
So one of the things I will say I'm very passionate about is being honest about things. So, like, I think people sometimes create fake urgency. And like, I've seen this before. I've gone to events actually before where they're like, it's 90% sold out. And I'm like, this is a 1,000 person here event and there's 65 people here. Like, that's. There was, there was no 80% sold out. Right. And so that's a faux pas. And people don't like that. And people won't buy or ticket twice. Right. But I think for when I think about creating urgency, it's really around one. I love the pricing structure of it. So something that I'm really also passionate about. Maybe this is a hot take, but I don't like the yo yo on the pricing. So where it's like, you know, you go, it's 499 and then, and then it goes up to 599 and then it's 299 and then it's back up to 599. Because the people who bought at regular price are not happy about that. And for me it's really important about kind of creating that experience for people. And this is something that we weren't a bit the hard way, right where we would be like, oh, you know, we get even. This past weekend we gave a code and bunch of people didn't use the code and they're like, can you refund me the money for the code? And it creates kind of a logistical nightmare. So really, like I think that early bird is really important and being really strategic with that early bird of, okay, I'm going to give it a week, you know, maybe do it like a. But I'm thinking about like what is a, what is perceived value for people? So maybe it's, you know, $100, $200 off. But it also could be like, could it include a breakfast? Like could you add an extra something in a swag bag? You know, we had our friend Jordy IVs like could a B12 shop be included? Like can you do something like that that's creative and adds value that maybe doesn't hit the cost too hard. Then I would say as you're getting closer, I would, I would just think about bonuses in different ways. One of my mentors, what they would do if they were ever in a pickle on people is they would offer like a hotel bonus that would be like get four people to buy a ticket and we'll cover your hotel room for the night. Like, you know, thinking about different ways that, you know, is of respect still to the people who bought the tickets. But also can get, get creative if you need people kind of in the doors. But hopefully the thing I will say to Drea in running an event, we didn't start with a 200 person event. And so I think when you're running an event, like knowing kind of what your audience size is and like what people would buy is really important. So you don't have to like depend on urgency. Because I think that that's something I've seen people make mistakes on where they're like, I'm going to run a thousand person event, but they don't have the thousand people who are going to purchase an event and maybe at that price point. And so even things like that, keeping those things in mind. And that's why market research is really important. But I would say for urgency, the big Stuff is really just like on the front end, I think, like, what can you do to like create that kind of instant buy?
- [16:10]
A
Yeah, yeah, I love that. I love this conversation. And one of the things that stuck out to me too, what you said is building trust with the urgency so that there's higher potential for them to come to the next event. Right. It's like looking beyond just this, this isolated event and going, this is a long term strategy. And that's what I really loved about your event as well is the amount of people afterwards who messaged me and they were like, this was amazing. Will you be at the next one? And then also the people who messaged me was like, man, I missed this one, I need to go to the next one. Why do you think that is? Like, why do you think your people are so loyal to your community? What are the moves that you're making so that the next one sells out just as much as this one does, Guys?
- [16:53]
B
Well, firstly, I'm honored to hear that because honestly, like, I, I don't take that for granted at all that people are interested in coming to these events. Like me and Maria always joke around every time we book a venue and our next one's larger and was quite a hefty deposit when we put it down, we were like, well, hopefully it's not just me, you and the stage, you know, up here. So every time someone buys a ticket, we're like another one. So the first thing I will say is I'm in a very privileged position in the fact that there isn't a lot going on where I live. And so that is something to keep in mind with folks. Like, I have a friend who lives in New York City and she was like, how do you get your events to sell out so fast? I'm like, you could do something different every minute in New York. I live just outside of Toronto, about an hour out and there there isn't a huge entrepreneurial scene here and. Or it is and I'm unaware of it. I don't know someone, I always say, if someone knows it, please invite me to it. I'd love to come. So I think that's one piece that's really working for us is that, you know, we're kind of going first in a lot of ways and kind of really just like kind of building, which is great. I think what keeps people coming back, which we have a really high return rate for events. Like, it's very rare we see somebody only one time. So whether that be the small to the big, I Think really a big piece of it is Maria and I's energy around the event. And I think the leadership that people show in events is so important. Like, you know, I take time to try to like meet everybody. I, you know, we go with like, I great with names, which is a gift. But like really try to remember things about people's businesses, really try to make those connections. And I think that itself creates a ripple effect. I have a mentor that I love and I go to a lot of their events and they're the same. Like, you know, they, they'll meet somebody and it's like I'm like, oh, I. There's no way they remember that person. And they're like, so sorry I don't remember you. What kind of business you have again? Oh, I have a great connection for you. Like really just like that generosity goes a long way and then people start to do that with each other. And I think the nice thing about these events, Drea, is that once people start coming, it's really not about us at all. They're not coming for me and Maria. They're coming for each other. Like, it's like you go back to camp every summer. You don't really go for the counselors. You're going like for your friends. And that's kind of what the vibe has become where you know, they're like, oh, I'll see what the next high vibe women thing. I'm so excited to see you like. And Maria and I are just kind of like the minions organizing it over here. And so I think that that's it. And I think around the piece about selling out, you know, I'll be vulnerable in telling you that moving this to a 200 person event at a hotel like has a different feel for it for sure and different level investment on our end and like really a lot of things. But I think what we were so passionate about was just actually like could we. We could have fit more people in. But the round tables were really important to us. Like we wanted people to have seats where they could sit with lots of people and they could get to know a table rather than just like one or two other people. You know, there were, there were little things that we kept like, you know, having an accessible ST page is really important to us. Like little things like that that you know, really keep our, keep us at the forefront, I think are what make our events our events. And so it's really easy I think when you're thinking about like how am I going to sell at this event? Like you know, do I, you know, do a sale? Like, do we, like, you know, do I send a message to every single person I know? And like, but I'm actually noticing that our people are actually selling the event in a lot of ways for us. And, like, we're seeing people posting on Instagram being like, hey, high vibe women. Like, there are 60% sold out of their VIP tickets. Like, if you want one, grab one. Like, and we're not even saying it, which is awesome. So, yeah, long winded. But I would say, like, really it's keeping it to the core of the energy of what you want to bring to the event. And I think also really using that community and your network to be able to help you move it in front of new people.
- [20:27]
A
Yeah, I want to talk more about the energy piece too, because I think that this is hard to capture in marketing, especially for events. Especially for the first event. Right. I think subsequent events you can use the videos from the event. But you know, for someone listening who's thinking, okay, I'm going to start my first event and I do want to capture what that energy is. Like, what kind of advice would you give that person as they're planning their marketing?
- [20:52]
B
Yeah. So I would say if I was doing this all again and I was running my first event and I was trying to get like, you know, a content creator or I was trying to give advice on what kind of person I wanted, I would say really making it so much less about the people on the stage and making it so much more about the people in the room. Room and really capturing content of them rather than of you on stage or of your speakers even, like, getting great shots for your speakers is so important and getting shots of you is important, but really making it about their experience and being quick with it, that's something that actually like my, my friends who own crate and cultivate in the States, like, they actually post. I think this is nuts. And I, like in the best way. I've just never been able to actualize this myself. But they post fully edited photos day of like, we'll be at the event. Like right now a fully edited photo would be posted. And I think that's amazing and it adds a very high level professionalism that I personally am not available for. Like, I'm, I'm a tired woman. I'm like, I'm not gonna be editing these photos. But. But it was, it's such a cool idea. But I think, like, what's even better is like, how do you capture the spirit and the energy Quickly. So if you're there taking video, it doesn't have to be perfect, it doesn't have to be fully edited, but, you know, hiring a content creator to come and make two or three reels, and then the next day you're posting the reels while people are still so excited about it. I think that makes a big difference. And really you want to make it so people see themselves in it, so that it's not about you speaking and like, you know, you probably did a great job speaking and accolades for you, but really, like, it's about how do you like, really capture the spirit of the event and the people in the event that's going to make the big difference on selling the next one.
- [22:33]
A
Yeah, yeah. Speed is key too, because I feel like there's something about the psychology behind it as an attendee too. When we see the stuff happening after the event, we're more likely to like, engage with it and share with it because we're still living in the moment. Right. I love that. I want to shift gears a little bit and talk about success because this is something you mentioned earlier with your first event being $7, but you didn't count the gas. So I know that for a lot of events, people treat them as marketing assets rather than business. So I'm curious about what you define success to be with your events. Monetary, but also outside of that, like, what. What makes it like, yeah, this was a win for me.
- [23:15]
B
Yeah, 100%. And I was actually going to bring that up earlier was that there's. It depends on what you think success is in an event and what your ideal is like. So a lot of people sell from. At events, which is very common, where people will sell a program and that they actually don't care about making money about in. On the ticket. It's about, you know, you're selling, you're doing an upsell and you'll make $500,000 on. On a program. Like, that's great. That hasn't been our. Our goal. And truthfully, like, not to sound like Mother Teresa over here, but like, really where. Where we came from with this was very like, we're doing this out of like, goodness. Like, we were like, we just want to bring women together. Like, we're. We're not sure if it is a little up. Make money. We don't. We. This. We don't actually need this to make money because our other business is doing fine. Right. So it was really at first about us being like, what would happen if we brought women together and we were using it as marketing. It was not uncommon for us to run one of these events and then get a client out of it, which is what we know to be true when we go to events in the U.S. right. Like that's how our business scaled so fast. And so I, and I love that. But at the same time as more and more effort went in, we actually had to start being honest about the fact that we were like, oh, we're actually, we've created a second business and you know, we're running events that are costing upwards of $100,000. We probably should be trying to make some money. Like we should probably try to figure this out. And that's where things like sponsorship come in and all of that. So would I say I'm super clear on the metrics of what success looks like to us because Maria and I are very touchy feely. So we're both kind of like, but did you see the impact and did you see these people connecting with each other and that's person found their business bestie and did you see them collaborating like they were on a podcast together? How cute like we are in that energy. But for us really trying to increase the profit margins of these events has been big and not doing it at the expense of the tickets for, for the, the people coming. We haven't tried to make these like, you know, super expensive tickets. We want this to still be very accessible. But the other thing that's been really successful or like a metric of success for us has been about partnerships. And this is something that I think is really underrated that people do not do when it comes to events. There's people who do it and they do it so well and then there's people who don't do it at all. And I'm somewhere in the middle I think, but where people are really connecting with brands and organizations, businesses, even solopreneurs who want to get in front of the audience that you're running an event for and finding ways to amplify them. And whether that be through a social media partnership, whether that be partnership day of and really trying to move the needle there. And that's actually been an area where we found success and that's made these events a lot more profitable because it's been easier for us to find these people who you know, are going to serve these women. That's always what we always say when we go into partnership. It has to be win, win and they have to serve these women. It's not a hey, come and pitch on stage for 20 minutes. But really, like, I think those partnerships go such a long way and can really grow the impact of it. About.
- [26:07]
A
Yeah, that's so beautiful. And I think the same thing with you mentioned earlier, like, touchy feely. I'm the same way when I run the events of, like, who cares about the numbers? Two of my attendees are now doing a podcast together because they happen to sit next to each other at the VIP dinner. You know what I mean? Like, I'm always like, oh, my gosh, this is, like, what I dream of. And also, like, we have to make sure we're not doing it at the sacrifice of our business. So I love that you've identified that partnerships is that way for you. Okay, so I want to talk about challenges, especially with marketing and community building, because they go so hand in hand when. Especially when you're event planning. The marketing of the event all comes from the vibes in the room. And sometimes we have those moments where we're like, oh, no, the vibe's off. It's not working. Or just in marketing, we're like, oh, this thing was supposed to happen. Or what are some of the oh, no moments in your community building or marketing? And how did you turn them around?
- [27:01]
B
So I would say I am generally pretty optimistic as a person, which is like, both my crux and my joy is that, like, I kind of see the good in most things. But I would say early on, like, where something that we really struggled with the marketing of community. And I don't know, Dre, if this is where you're going this question, but I will share this and be vulnerable for a sec. Is that, like, when you are building a community of entrepreneurial women, lots of women there, there. It's very hard to uphold boundaries sometimes around some of this marketing as well. And people expect you to share everything that they post because they've invested with you. And that's something we kind of got into really early, where people would be like, I have this launch. Would you mind sharing it? And would you mind doing this? And I'm such a big believer, even with my own clients. I said this on stage on Saturday, that we work with a luxury rug client. Anytime I can think of anyone who needs a rug, I'm like, you need to work with this man. Like, that is how my brain works. I love to support my people, but it also. We had to set kind of, like, some precedents around, you know, what that felt like. And that doesn't feel good in community. Like, when you're in community with other People, it doesn't feel good to be like, no, sorry, I'm not going to reshare that post. Because if I reshare your post, I have to reshare everybody's post every time they have a launch. So that was a really hard thing that we kind of came across and we actually got some pushback on it where people were kind of like, we thought you support women. And we were like, like, we do really support women. But like, we also need to not do this 24 7. Like, where, you know, like, maybe we need to create a system or maybe we, you know, like, maybe we need to charge and create better assets. Like, it was like, started a bit of a spiral for us. And so I think for me, that was one of the big things with marketing community building, where we had to really start to actually push back and be like, okay, what's important to us? What's important to the brand long term? How do we add the most value to people? What's going to feel the most fair? And that's like, not the space I like to live in. Like, the space I like to live in is like, let me repost this and then also do a story and then also buy the program myself. Like, that's like, where I live. I think you do probably Drea. And then the other thing I would say too is that one of the things that, like, I've been really struck with more lately is like, you know, when things don't go perfectly at your events, like, not owning it. And I think the more that your events grow, like, whether it be small or large or whatever, whether that be from a marketing perspective where you're like, oh, I thought this would sell more tickets, or it's like something happens at the event that's not perfect or whatever. These events can't be reflections of who we are as humans. And so really just taking that step back and being like, okay, what's going well? What do I have to be proud of here? And what can we change for the future? But what do I have to be proud of? And how do I continue to move the needle that way?
- [29:40]
A
Yeah, not owning the things that go wrong. I feel like I needed to hear that personally because it is challenging as the organization organizer, as a marketer, as a community, like, space holding person to, like, feel responsible for everything and everyone's emotions. And I want to share everyone equally and not, like, you know, do one thing more for another person. So, yeah, I think this is just part of, you know, being a leader and being very Publicly a leader in this space. One of the things that I also really love about the way your events bring community together is that it feels very natural. And I've been at events where it kind of feels a little maybe orchestrated, like over, overly done. And so I think that part of that does come from the marketing of it attracting the right people. So what are some of the things that you do as signals for your community to make it feel natural? That they're like, yes, I need to be in this room.
- [30:41]
B
I think a lot of. A lot of the pieces around the marketing aspect of it is around the language that we use. Like, we're very, very key about, like, you know, high vibe is one of these words that could literally mean anything. Like, it's very vague. Actually, somebody asked me recently, they're like, is this like a marijuana community? I'm like, no, no. But thank you so much for telling me this. That someone else might think this. Thank you. And so it's funny, I was like, if you want it to be, it can be, but it's up to you, really. But really, for us, it's really. We talk a lot about community. We talk a lot about collaboration over competition. We talk a lot about everything you need is in the room or one step away. Like, we talk about relationship. We talk about the follow up. Like, fortune in the follow up. Like, those are things that you will hear. Every time you come to one of our events, you're seated next to the person you're meant to sit next with. Like, we, in our smaller events, we choose everyone's seat and intentionally. And people will be like, like, oh, I really came with my friend. And I'm like, nope, not today you didn't. You came. You came alone and you're going to meet this person. And then afterwards, always without fail. Thank you so much. This was so helpful. I got to know someone different. We give them the tools to have the conversations. We set people up. Something that we do in our smaller events, which is why a lot of the women tend to know each other, is we have every single person go up and say who they are, how they help people and something they need. And it's amazing how many people are like, I need a web designer. Someone's like, me. Another person's like, I help people, like, unblock money trauma. Someone's like, I didn't even know I had money trauma. But thank you for, like, bringing that to my attention. Like, let's do it right. So it really. I think we do a lot of those efforts in Our smaller events. So the bigger events feel more homey because these people already know each other. And I think a lot of it comes from the way that Maria and I want to show up, which is like, we want to be like, we're always like, we were laughing a bunch of the high five women, like, they did something together. And Maria and I were like, where was our invitation? You know, but it was fine. It felt like the teacher of the school, but it was just like a reminder to me that it wasn't about us. Right. And that it's about the connection in the community. And so I think the signals that we give people is that this is a very community oriented space that, like, anyone's welcome. And I think another thing that we really prioritize when we're taking video and that when we're inviting people, when we're choosing speakers is like, diversity and like, whether it be ethnicity, whether it be age, whether it, you know, like, all different types of women, we want. We have women. We've had women come who are 75 getting started, and we've had people who are new grads come and join us. Like, and those two women will sit together and they will plot world domination. And. And that's the beauty. So I think really just showing people, like, what our expectations are, I think people tend to fall in line. And I'll be honest, sometimes people come and they don't have a good time. Right. And I have to release that of, you know, I want everybody to, like, love everything that I do. I'm an only child, so my parents love everything I do. And so I'm like, oh, you must love this. But recognizing, like, not everything's for everybody and, you know, maybe that's not a fit for them. And I'd love for them to find the space that is the right fit. And might not be with me, but. But I know I'm still doing good stuff, even if it's not for everyone.
- [33:41]
A
Yeah. So much goodness there. And I feel like there's like, everything you said is the magic sauce behind building a community that truly is energetic. Right. Like, being intentional about the smaller events so that the larger events feel homey. Making sure that, you know, people sit next to the right people in the room, whether that's accidentally or intentionally, like all of it is supposed to happen. And I feel like these are all of those signals that we put in our marketing that do they do attract the right people. Right. It's like every little detail matters and all of those details are like, chef's Kiss. What makes everything flow so nicely together. So I want to end our conversation with the story. So you mentioned that the words that you choose in your marketing are very intentional. And I know that you have a story starter guide for us. So tell me about the starter guide.
- [34:34]
B
Yes. So, yeah, our story starter guide. So it's so funny because Drea, I don't talk about events that much on podcasts. So this is like, this is my debut, my foray. But I would say, you know, our marketing agency, we do a lot of work with folks and on helping them tell their stories. Right? And actually that helps them be better when they're at events and they're able to kind of meet with people. And so we have an awesome story starter guide that gives you a different story starter for every single day. So that this way or for 30 days, you. And you don't have to think twice about what you're going to say when you show up on your Instagram stories. And I'm going to tell you when you practice these things. What your elevator pitch comes way easier when you're in person. So, yeah, I recommend you guys downloading it.
- [35:14]
A
Awesome. I'll put that link in the show notes, y'all. It's online. Dre.com 331 where else can we connect with you online, Christina?
- [35:22]
B
Well, any friend of Drea's is a friend of mine, so feel free to come on over, shoot me a dm, let me know what you think. I also had Drea on my podcast called Community with Christina Bartol. It's actually like maybe the fifth most downloaded episode. So Dre has rise in the ranks. Let's go to number one. But we talked all things building a genuine community. Love for you to listen to that. And yeah, come on over and let me know what resonated.
- [35:44]
A
Yes, check that out. I'll put that episode in the show notes as well as all of Christina's socials stalker. Because her socials are fun. Honestly. Love it. Thank you so much for being on the show, Christina. This is great.
- [35:56]
B
Oh, my gosh. My pleasure. And I'm just so grateful for, for you.
- [35:59]
A
And thank you, dear listener, for tuning into another episode of the Mindful Marketing Podcast. Make sure You Rate Us 5 stars on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can now leave comments on Spotify, which is super fun. Continue the conversation there. It keeps us in the top 100 marketing podcasts. And that's all because of you. Coming up, if you're not in the mindful marketing lab, why not? You gotta Come on in and join us. We're doing a 2025 planning workshop up on November 13th. That's the day after this episode. If you're listening to it live, come on in. We're going to plan out and plot out our marketing for the year. Yeah. 2025 is almost here. Dive on into all the things that we have available in the lab as well. I'd love to see you there. Next episode, I am doing my 2025 predictions episode. This is the fifth one that I've done. If you want me to predict, take out my crystal ball and show you the future of social media media. This episode is for you. Stay tuned for that next week. I'll see you then. Bye for now.