Episode 5- Kat Crane (Audio)
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[00:00:00] Shelley: Hi, I'm Shelley Cox, founder of The Regional Collective, where we're all about empowering entrepreneurs like you. Our podcast is for anyone navigating the world of small business, especially in regional areas. I'm based in the Barossa in South Australia, a place where I love, have three young children and also play in community club netball.
[00:00:31] Shelley: My previous career as a winemaker has taken me all over the world to New Zealand, Japan, USA, and all around Australia, but there's no place like home. I've started not one, but four businesses from the ground up since 2018, and have helped over 50 other small and micro businesses, and I can't wait to help share my lessons with you.
[00:00:53] Shelley: Over the coming weeks and months, you'll hear tales of success, challenges, and community spirit in small [00:01:00] and micro businesses. Let's redefine small business with big hearts and determined hustle, and be inspired to thrive.
[00:01:11] Shelley: Hi there. In today's episode, we're delving into the art of showing up in your brand story, and I'm thrilled to introduce our guest Kat Crane from Crane Creative, a regional guide from The Collective. Kat's got a wealth of wisdom to share on understanding your brand story, being authentically you and your brand.
[00:01:31] Shelley: and mastering social media storytelling. Kat will demystify brand storytelling, uncover how to find your unique brand tale, and maintain authenticity while connecting with your audience. Plus, Kat will spill her tips on getting noticed on social media. So stick around for a quick Q& A where Kat will tackle some of our community questions, and we'll wrap up with a recap of key points so you can get started on sharing your brand story today.[00:02:00]
[00:02:00] Shelley: Ready? Let's do it.
[00:02:03] Shelley: Okay. So today we've got Kat. Welcome Thank you for joining us. And we're going to be looking at how you can show up in your brand story. So perhaps give us a quick intro into what your experience is with crafting brand stories especially for small and micro businesses.
[00:02:23] Kat: So I think a great case study to start with is my own, funnily enough. So when I started, you know, my business, which is nearly seven years ago, Where's that time gone?
[00:02:35] Kat: Is yeah, I wasn't showing up in any of my photos or you know, I wasn't really sharing my story. And I think I was about a year and a half in before I actually had a photo of myself on my own grid on Instagram. I was watching the trends of what was happening and this was the time when stories were starting to become a lot more prevalent.
[00:02:55] Kat: And You know, talking on the camera and all of those things. And I'm like, I don't [00:03:00] think I can hide anymore. So I put on my big girl panties and I contacted a photographer and did my first brand shoot. Yeah. Something that was completely out of my comfort zone, something that I'd never done before.
[00:03:14] Kat: And, you know, started using that, my engagement went up over 300%. So funny because really the thing you need to remember is that you, especially when it's you and you're running the show and it's your business, people want to know who they're dealing with. So you've really got to, you know, Put yourself out there, so you're, it's like almost breaking down the anxiety of meeting somebody new.
[00:03:46] Kat: Yeah, so you've already got a sense of who you are and what you're about and that will draw more people in than hiding.
[00:03:55] Shelley: Because I think, and you would probably find and I've had comments [00:04:00] that people who have followed you on Instagram and Facebook feel like they know you and then are not surprised that when they meet you in person you're exactly like you are.
[00:04:10] Kat: It's kind
[00:04:11] Kat: of like that's the whole point.
[00:04:12] Shelley: That is the whole
[00:04:14] Shelley: point. But I think that's also where you, you completely understand that and you do a really good job with your clients as well of making sure or encouraging them to turn up and be themselves. Whether they do have a small team or a large team, but it's about that.
[00:04:28] Shelley: Tell those stories, tell who's, you know, who's working behind the scenes, share that because that engages people. We're naturally interested in other people as humans.
[00:04:38] Kat: Yes, we're all voyeurs.
[00:04:40] Shelley: That's right.
[00:04:41] Kat: And I mean, I say it regularly, you know, the Wizard of Oz. I think if anything has taught us to be voyeurs because we all want to know what's behind the curtain So and you know, you don't have to give away the whole kit and caboodle of your whole entire life You know, it's social media.
[00:04:56] Kat: It is your highlight reel, you know to some degree there is [00:05:00] merit in showing when things go bad as well because You know It humanizes who you are. But you know, you don't have to show absolutely everything. But you know, what you do show is enough to be able to create a story and get people to get to know you because at the end of the day it comes down to no lack of trust.
[00:05:19] Shelley: Yeah.
[00:05:20] Kat: So if you're putting yourself out there and showing up within your brand, people get to know and like you. And then the idea is that they will then give you their money.
[00:05:30] Shelley: Yeah.
[00:05:32] Shelley: And how would you recommend, so small businesses, micro businesses who needing to really sort of hone in, how would you recommend that they get started in uncovering that brand story or sharing that brand identity?
[00:05:45] Shelley: How can they, what are some just simple things to start doing?
[00:05:49] Kat: Start.
[00:05:51] Kat: Yeah. I'll take it really back to grass roots. Yeah, it does. You don't have to go out and have a photo shoot, you know you don't have to do [00:06:00] TikTok dances. Jeez. No. Hopefully I think the days of that is, is done. I hope. You know, let's leave that for the
[00:06:08] Kat: teens
[00:06:10] Kat: and also they're not your target audience either.
[00:06:13] Kat: But it is, you know, it can be, you know, setting up your camera and actually, you having a few poses and having a timer on doing a few selfies, you just start doing
[00:06:25] Shelley: some time lapses. Well, your workers, again, people are interested in behind the scenes.
[00:06:31] Kat: What's the process? You know, and if you're not ready to turn the camera around on yourself, you can have the camera turned away and talk or do a voiceover of stuff or
[00:06:42] Shelley: show your hands
[00:06:42] Shelley: making something or doing something.
[00:06:44] Kat: All
[00:06:45] Kat: of those things until you get yourself feeling like you're ready. And you know, and I don't think that it's a lack of confidence because you've started a business. You have the confidence in yourself [00:07:00] to begin with. What you're missing is I think the permission In yourself to be able to do it the curiosity as well So, you know, it comes down to you giving yourself permission to show up and be you and you don't The worst thing you can do is put on Some kind of show of what kind of person you could be, or you think you should be, because it's not sustainable.
[00:07:30] Kat: You know, you don't want to be, I hear you're a hype girl all the time because that is exhausting. You know, be real, like
[00:07:38] Kat: people can see through bullshit.
[00:07:40] Shelley: And also think about when you do meet, you know, you might meet customers in person. Do you want them to be confused by the person that they're meeting or the brand, the people behind the brand and go, well, that's not who I thought I was dealing with.
[00:07:53] Shelley: So that doesn't create trust. A lot
[00:07:57] Shelley: of disconnect.
[00:07:58] Kat: So, you know, be, [00:08:00] be real, but give yourself permission or, Hey, I'm giving you permission right now. To show up in your brand, you can do it, you know, and it's baby steps. I'm not expecting you to just suddenly jump out and then you're talking to, you know, 30, 000 people on a stage, like, you know, but it's just taking those steps and every day you'll get better.
[00:08:20] Kat: You'll be a fill. more empowered to do it. And then it's just as simple as like, Oh, I've got something to say, pick up the phone. Yeah. Yeah. Do a story. So you don't. And then that way you're not overthinking it. And you know what? There's times when I've done stories and I've got something to say and then I'm like,
[00:08:41] Kat: that took me five goes. And then at the end it's like, it is what it is because I'm sick of trying to say this.
[00:08:46] Shelley: Well, I think even Narelle has, said you know done is better than perfect. So it's about getting a start and making, and like you said, I think it does get easier. I've been a fan of nobody sees my face for a long [00:09:00] time and I'm getting better at it.
[00:09:01] Shelley: Yes. Because also we've got to get over ourselves and go, people aren't actually don't care what we look like or they're not going to critique it. They're going to be. The people that matter will be interested in the content that you're sharing exactly and not be like, oh, she's not as polished as you know As I thought as the influencers that we are, you know constantly Seeing so like you said get over ourselves
[00:09:26] Kat: Just get over yourself.
[00:09:27] Kat: You know, it's it's just something was doing, you know, listening to yourself on the radio or podcasts Yeah. Oh my god. I didn't know my voice sounds like that. Oh my god. I'm horrible. I'm never speaking again It's like We are not judging your voice ever. If you've got something important to say and you've got merit, people are going to listen.
[00:09:46] Kat: And by the way, we listen to you every time you talk normally. So how is this different? So, you know, it's not, I think it's just that reminder that, you know, a lot of these things that we put restrictions, we [00:10:00] put on ourselves are actually because we're doing it to ourselves. So you've got to stop. Getting in your own way.
[00:10:07] Kat: Yeah.
[00:10:08] Kat: And realizing that when you do show up in your brand and you do share your story and you use your voice and your face and all of the things, yeah. People are gonna love it. And the one, your people
[00:10:23] Shelley: audience, you know,
[00:10:24] Kat: you might be cringe, but that's fine. You can just, as long as you still do it, you know, because no one else is
[00:10:30] Kat: cringing.
[00:10:30] Kat: That's just your, your brain .
[00:10:32] Shelley: And I think also what I really like is. You know how you've identified that we have had the courage to start a business not everybody does that So take those little bits of you know, positivity and you know self belief into the next step so if you've been afraid of putting your face out there or telling more so videos are the way to engagement is that
[00:10:57] Kat: videos
[00:10:58] Kat: are right yeah it's [00:11:00] it's and i mean i've got to do more of it myself practice what you practice what i preach but you know it is it's that showing up you know grabbing the camera talking it doesn't have to be polished my business coach has similar saying but you you know practice makes permanent.
[00:11:17] Kat: So, you know, and it's get rid of this perfect ideal because unless you have a team of 20, it's going to be really hard for a one man band to have that level of, you know, perfection. So, you know, but the more you do it, the better you get. So practice makes permanent.
[00:11:37] Shelley: And as a side note, if you see on social media, things that are looking really well put together and really polished.
[00:11:44] Shelley: Just know that it's not one person just figuring out how to do that then. It's probably years of learning, a team of experts and people guiding them or working with them to show those best bits.
[00:11:56] Kat: Exactly.
[00:11:57] Kat: You know, it's, you know, I've been doing [00:12:00] this, what, 13, 14 years now. Yeah. So, you know, I do know a lot of other things that some people don't.
[00:12:07] Kat: And But I don't expect you as a brand new business owner to know all the things that I know of, you know, especially when it comes to the back end of Meta and that kind of thing.
[00:12:15] Shelley: But there's skills that can be learned.
[00:12:17] Kat: But there's skills that can be learned. But you know, just start with the basics, you know, you've started a business that is huge.
[00:12:24] Kat: So, you know, give yourself the biggest pat on the back, huge high five, whatever you do, you know, you high five yourself in the mirror, you know, that is celebrate that. But you know, part of that business is showing up. So even if you are, you know a maker who then sells at the market, what's the difference of you standing at your stall.
[00:12:47] Kat: And people talking to you. In front of hundreds of people. In front of lots and lots of people of you showing up on social media. Yeah. There's no difference. Yeah.
[00:12:57] Shelley: It's just getting more comfortable.
[00:12:59] Kat: It's just getting [00:13:00] comfortable with it. The most comfortable part. Yeah. And the thing is growth is, you know, it's like, you know, you've got to get comfortable with being uncomfortable in business because you need to step out of that comfort zone.
[00:13:09] Kat: You can't stay in that comfort zone because you won't grow.
[00:13:13] Shelley: Yeah.
[00:13:14] Shelley: And what role does consistency play with building that brand identity and showing up in the story? Everything, yeah. And what can small businesses do? What can they start? So, kind of like, what would you know, in terms of trying to build up that practice of consistency, what's something
[00:13:31] Shelley: you start with?
[00:13:31] Kat: What's sustainable? You know, I've never ever told someone that, you know, you need to be posting three times a day, seven days a week. It's not a sustainable model unless you have stuff. All right. And a dedicated team to do that. It takes a lot of effort. So start with consistency of what is easy for you to .
[00:13:50] Kat: maintain and then you can add to it. So, you know, for you smaller, smaller accounts, you know, [00:14:00] you can start with two, three times a week of posting. You still want to try and do two, two, three stories daily. Yep. Cause that will help, you know, nurturing your audience. So your stories are really good for nurturing your audience that already follow you.
[00:14:15] Kat: Yeah. Your reels. And your carousels and your posts are very good for reaching engagement and helping new people find you, but the way where you will, you know, get You know, those people who are your biggest fans are the ones that always see your stories. And so remember to have call to actions in there as well.
[00:14:36] Kat: So you get them to answer a question or use the polls. All of those things come down to nurturing that audience and by showing up. You, it actually shows that you care about them as much as they care about you.
[00:14:51] Shelley: And
[00:14:51] Shelley: it can be you know, as simple as, okay, we, if you're a product based business, you say, look on a Tuesday, we take all of the orders, we print them all out and [00:15:00] we do something.
[00:15:00] Shelley: So go, well, Tuesday could be the day where you set up your time lapse. You can take your photos, your video and share something there on a Friday. You might always be doing a podcast. So you might be doing stories about podcasts, but you can work at how you can work it. consistently and you can try and do it each week.
[00:15:20] Shelley: And then by that practice, you'll actually get, you know, more sustained growth as well. And organic growth through that social media.
[00:15:27] Kat: And
[00:15:28] Kat: yeah, there's I was literally got an email from a client today. It was like, Oh, can you look at this? It seems too good to be true. And it was a so called influencer in PR and I have my air quotes on.
[00:15:42] Kat: And they're like, you'll get this amount of followers from this post if you pay this much, blah, blah. And I went, I'm going to check out her account and people have been paying her for these posts. And it had, the first one I looked at was for a building company and it had over 1, 200 [00:16:00] likes on it. But all the, all the comments were, Oh my God, Slay Girl, oh, you look so great.
[00:16:05] Kat: And it's like, it's a picture of a building.
[00:16:08] Shelley: What was I saying? Consistency.
[00:16:11] Shelley: Oh, the building. Right.
[00:16:12] Kat: Yes.
[00:16:12] Kat: So, you know, you have the, all of these comments which are not related to, which means they're all fake bots that are commenting, so it's not real. So for you, the rule of thumb is if it seems too good to be true,
[00:16:24] Kat:
[00:16:24] Shelley: And also I think key is knowing what you want to get out of it.
[00:16:28] Shelley: So knowing what your you know, what your target audience is. you know what your goals are as well are key to, to how much you show up. So if you've got really, you know, high aspirations of, of growth, well then, like you said, you may need to be posting a bit more.
[00:16:44] Shelley: how can small businesses determine what or which social media platforms are best suited for their brand storytelling efforts?
[00:16:53] Kat: It comes down to where your audience is, you know, so knowing who your audience is, is imperative [00:17:00] for you to know where you should be hanging out online. So, you know, if you If your main audience you know, retirees, they're not going to be hanging out on TikTok and they're probably not really going to be on Instagram that much.
[00:17:12] Kat: So, you know, your main focus would be Facebook. However, you've got to remember that if you're, that is your target audience, you, you might want to be looking towards what would be the next Instagram. But then you want to remember to tweak that content per audience. The platforms, because of who you're talking to.
[00:17:31] Kat: Because the audience on Instagram will be different from Facebook. So, you know, you'll be talking to people, maybe who are preparing to retire. We're on Facebook, you're talking to those who have already retired. And so that way you've kind of got that as a, a lead through. But you know, if your audience is the younger generations, you know, the Gen Zs or whatever they are, can't keep up with the alphabet anymore.
[00:17:53] Kat: Gen alphas and whatever's, you know, they're going to be on TikTok. They're going to be on Snapchat. You know, so then that's where [00:18:00] you should be also. So yeah, knowing who your audience is means that you don't need to be. everything to everyone because you know, everyone isn't your target audience.
[00:18:10] Speaker: Yeah. And are there, what sort of tools have you used or would recommend for, you know, being able to capture, so we're talking about trying to do more videos that video editing you know, on a limited budget without a huge investment, especially for startups.
[00:18:24] Kat: So,
[00:18:25] Speaker 3: There's CapCut. You can use that for free or you can pay. Obviously within Instagram you can do your reels. TikTok you can do it within the app as well. Canva is a great tool. You can do lots of video editing in there. I use another program as well for larger videos called Wondershare. Yeah. But there's lots of different things out there.
[00:18:45] Speaker 3: But you keep it simple. So use what the apps give you. Yeah. And, and see what, what you can do within it. See what you can do within it. You know? You don't have to have a masterpiece, it just has to work. Yeah. You know, and you know, I always don't overthink it. If you [00:19:00] overthink it, then it doesn't happen. Yeah.
[00:19:01] Speaker 3: So, you know, just get it out there. Get it out there, get it done. You know, it'll, every, you know, my first real, I've got no idea what the hell that was about . But you know, it was horrible. And I'm not just saying that, you know, mine are great now. They're probably not in some standards, but
[00:19:17] Shelley: I don't know, but they are.
[00:19:18] Shelley: Sorry. Do you want me to jump in?
[00:19:22] Kat: Sure. Thanks for that. Thanks. No, but you know, it's still, I'm just doing it because it needs to be done and, you know, I know that it's valuable people, you know, when I do have my moments of, Oh wow, that's a really good thing I should share. People enjoy that moments of brilliance.
[00:19:39] Kat: So I should share that with other people. I shouldn't just keep it for myself. That's really selfish.
[00:19:45] Shelley: You're doing
[00:19:45] Speaker: a really unselfish thing. Thank you. By not keeping it and by sharing it as well. So perhaps, you know, getting better at practicing and you know, stories are a great way because they're not super permanent.
[00:19:57] Speaker: So just, you know, if you want to [00:20:00] have a, have a dabble, that's probably a good way to, to start, even though And you can keep them as highlights and you can keep them there. They're also gone in 24 hours.
[00:20:10] Kat: Yeah.
[00:20:11] Speaker: So practice and that's the, that's really the
[00:20:13] Shelley: key, isn't it? Yeah.
[00:20:14] Kat: Yeah.
[00:20:15] Kat: And you know, there's a new, it's not really a new trend.
[00:20:18] Kat: It's a old trend coming back where a lot of people are creating Insta sites. So basically archiving all of your content and then just having like a pretty grid with nine squares.
[00:20:32] Speaker: Yeah.
[00:20:32] Kat: What people are doing is just focusing on reels and stories. Yeah. This could work, and I can see the merit in it, especially if you were time poor.
[00:20:42] Kat: However, you know, three years ago when reels were huge and that's where they were pushing all of their energy into, that would have worked fantastically for growth. These days, you know, they're rewarding everything the same. So you would, realistically, I think that, [00:21:00] you know, while it could work for some, it's not great, because, you know, At the end of the day, you've got to remember when you go to someone's profile, what do you look for?
[00:21:09] Kat: Are you there going, Oh my God, I'm going to treat their grid or are you just going, okay, what do they offer? Where are they from? And how do I contact them? So personally, I would say you will still keep posting, you know, using
[00:21:22] Shelley: Not everybody goes to a bridge profile to look at.
[00:21:25] Kat: No. So keep posting to, you know, show up on Explore, keeping people's feeds you know, reviews, reels, carousels.
[00:21:32] Kat: Hashtags. Hashtags, you know, there's a mixed review, but I'll be looking at keywords. It's probably, you can still use your hashtags, use them more though as a, as part of your keywords. So having the keywords within the caption and then the hashtags as well. But you make sure your bio, which is where every, you know, where the information is, is actually banging because that's your front door.
[00:21:59] Kat: Because [00:22:00] you want them to get off that platform. At least with Facebook you can put a link in there and then people can click away when they see your post. You want to get people to your bio, you know, you want to make sure that it's appealing and you want them to click the links and
[00:22:13] Kat: do things.
[00:22:14] Shelley: Get to your website or your booking site or your Shopify website or whatever your call want them off.
[00:22:20] Kat: I know that they're, Facebook and Instagram's thing is to keep you on the app, but our jobs are to get them to the website to buy the thing, or to order the thing, or to book the thing.
[00:22:31] Shelley: To contact them. Excellent. So, is there anything, probably as a takeaway, just to finish up for I mean just, yeah, in a nutshell, what your advice would be to small micro businesses, that haven't got the confidence, but now that they've listened to you, I think they will have the confidence.
[00:22:52] Shelley: What would your last bit of advice be?
[00:22:55] Kat: Don't
[00:22:55] Speaker 3: overthink
[00:22:56] Kat: it
[00:22:57] Kat: and just start step by step. You [00:23:00] show up a little bit You're doing the work, but people need to know that it's you doing the work. And I think that's the really important thing. It's like, you're not going to be perfect. So, you know, and don't compare yourself with other accounts that are huge as well.
[00:23:17] Kat: So, you know, we always talk about doing competitor analysis and stuff like that when you do it. Remember to do like for like. So if you're, you know, a brand that's, you know, small and starting out and you're comparing yourself to someone who's been doing it for 15 years, that is a very unfair advantage.
[00:23:35] Kat: And then that's what's throws us into the realm of imposter syndrome and all of those other things that we talk about. So, you know, look at other businesses that are in similar stages. space and stage is a better idea for you to get a gauge on what's going on and to remember that, oh, they're not perfect either.
[00:23:54] Kat: And that's okay.
[00:23:56] Shelley: And also they're unique and you're unique. So you're going to be bringing something else. So,
[00:23:59] Kat: [00:24:00] yeah. And you've, if one of the other things people ask is like, well, why would someone want to hear from me because of what you're bringing to the table? Just because they're, you know, there's, it's kind of like, why would I?
[00:24:14] Kat: start a cafe when there's like, you know, already a cafe in town. It's like, well, how many wineries are in the Barossa Valley? And there's another one popping up, you know, because each one has their own
[00:24:24] Kat: flavor.
[00:24:25] Shelley: That's it. Their own story to bring to it. And that's our job then as the business owners or the brand owners to Share that story.
[00:24:32] Shelley: Yeah, and if we don't and keep it to ourselves, that's selfish. Yeah, it's very selfish, sharing a story. The most unselfish thing we
[00:24:40] Shelley: can do is to share that story. And to show up. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:24:43] Kat: So, and if you do have people that you talk about you. then they're jealous. Yeah. And obviously they're not your target market and don't let that get to you because they've got their own issues.
[00:24:57] Kat: Yeah.
[00:24:58] Shelley: No, you find your people [00:25:00] and then share your story. I think a really good point as well is to, when you're doing stories and promoting things on that, just thinking about the people are, they're already engaged with you. They've already started following. They're the ones that are going to see such a nurture that.
[00:25:13] Shelley: I think it's a really good point as well, so, and, easy to do, simple to implement. Just gotta keep showing up. And it's sustainable. Yeah. Awesome. Thanks, Kat.
[00:25:24] Kat: My pleasure.
[00:25:25] Shelley: We'll think of some new things to talk about next time.
