Keep On Final MM S4 E4

Well, hey everybody, welcome back to Mogul Moments. I am your host and mogul maker, C.E.M®. Camille D. Jamerson. It is such a pleasure to be back with you guys today. I am, um, on season 4. This is episode 4, I believe, and it's entitled Keep On. And, um, as you already know by now, because you guys are my regulars, I'm sure, um, all of my, um, titles of the episodes for this particular season are songs. So Keep On is a song by D Train, and it's one of those songs that, um, it gets me motivated even if I don't want to be. Um, and it's a song from back in the '80s, I believe it was. So if you don't know it, you need to go, go to YouTube. Not right now, because you need to listen to this right now, But after this, um, you need to go and listen to it, add it, um, to your song list. It's one of those kinds of songs. So anyway, but, um, the reason that I used Keep On for the title of this particular episode is because we're going to talk about things you can do, um, before you just throw the whole business away, right? Um, some of you are, um, at a crossroads with your business or with your business idea, um, because of the pandemic and other things that you have seen happen to other businesses. You are even second-guessing whether you should start a business or not, or you're on the other side to know, okay, because of the pandemic, I do know that I need to start a business, but because of the instability the economy right now, the instability of incomes right now. I just don't know if I should, or if I should just look to do something safer. And I'm here for safe. I am a firm believer that people need to position themselves in a way where they can eat every day, okay? So whatever, whatever you need to do that, if that means you need to take on a 9-to-5— we've talked about that in previous episodes— you got to do what you got to do so you can eat every day. It is difficult to be creative if you're hungry or if you're worried about if somebody's gonna come and get your car or if you're gonna flick the switch and the lights are gonna come on. I get that. Okay, so you've got to do that. That's fine. But that's no reason to give up on your business idea. That's no reason to just throw your whole business away and all the hard work that you've put into it so far. And I don't care if all of that work has been mental. It's still work and it's still an investment in an idea, even if you haven't had the opportunity to bring that idea to fruition. So there are a couple of things that I'm going to talk about today to help you perhaps pivot a little bit, um, that may help you keep, um, your business or help you keep your business idea and maybe birth it differently or rework it differently or pivot, um, it differently but salvage it, um, nonetheless. Okay, um, so we, we've got to be innovative here. We've got to be creative, um, and we are created by a Creator, so therefore that creative energy is a part of who we are. So it's time to tap into that, um, before you just throw your hands up and give up. Let's be innovative, let's be creative, and let's just dig in one more time. And hopefully one of the three of these ideas will be one that you can take away, um, from this episode and help salvage your business and get you back to the growth and the money-making opportunity that you know, um, your business can entail. Okay, so let's just dive right in. Um, I've got some notes that are gonna hopefully, uh, help keep up with everything. So let's start with— we were talking about innovation. Innovation, um, is not As it says on the screen, it's not just changing the flavor of your business, okay? And what do I mean by changing the flavor? Changing the flavor of your business would be, um, you need to change your colors from, um, teal and yellow to teal and black. Actually, that's something I'm thinking about doing for the Camille D. Jamerson Company. Um, that yellow is just too much for me right now. But anyway, So, but though, that's flavor stuff, you know, that's flavor stuff, that's, um, that's lightweight stuff. Even things like, um, changing the logo of your business, or you might think, oh, I need to add my business to Instagram— that's not innovation. Um, that's, um, that's important, and those things may help you draw business or help um, set you up in a place where you can gain more business or gain more exposure, which could lead to business, etc. But that's not innovation. That's not what I mean today. That's not what we're going to be talking about today— not changing the flavor of your business, okay? We're going to be talking about something a little bit deeper, which is innovation, which is changing the form of your business, okay? So when we, we talk about form, we're talking about processes, how you do business, where you do business, what business you actually do and how you do it, um, the angle that you're using with your business. You may have thought that your angle was going to be one thing, but if you got to pivot, we may have to do something a little bit different, um, to get your business off and running. And then you may have the opportunity to pivot back or to, um, re-engage your initial idea for that business as time goes on. So today I want you to think way on the outside of the box. There is no box. We— 2020 should have proved nothing else to you but that there is no box. Okay, so we're not talking again about the flavor of business, we're talking about the form of business. So these things are going to sound a little disruptive, and that's intentional. Okay, because if we're talking about salvaging something, if we're talking about, um, injecting some new life into your business or into your business idea, then we're gonna have to do some radical things, okay? And, um, you need to be okay with that. All right, all right, let's go. Like I said, it's only 3 things, so hopefully this episode won't be that long. I say that all the time and it never works out that way. But anyway, thing number 1: You need to either widen your scope to include more industries, or you need to narrow your scope to focus your time and attention. I've had to do both. And let me— that's not, um, those things are not contradictory because they're not often things that you do at the same time. Okay, it depends on where your business or your business idea is. So for example, um, I'll start with narrow your scope in order to focus. Um, and I've talked about this before, closer to the beginning of my business, um, I had event planning as a part of my scope because when you're planning, um, public relations and community and strategy and, um, with businesses and entrepreneurs and public figures and private figures, 9 times out of 10, an event is going to be a big part of managing, protecting, or elevating their reputation or their business brand, right? So I thought that by including event planning that I, um, was doing my clients a service, um, by including that as a part of what I offered. Instead, there were people who would hire me just for event services, and I had no control over their brand or how it was, um, or how the event was marketed or how the event was communicated. I didn't have control over content. Um, so it was just basically event planning, which I love to do, but it's extremely time-consuming. So my brilliant board of advisors, um, they were like, no, I know you love it, um, I know you have fun doing it, but is the, the end— the ends didn't justify the means. Okay, it just didn't make sense anymore for where I was taking CDJ and Associates. Um, it just didn't make sense anymore. So eventually I had to, uh, take it off of my website, remove it from my content and bios and, um, all of that stuff. And it was painful. It was a painful process because like I said, I love events. Because, I mean, they are hard and they are time-consuming. But when you get to the end of that sucker and it goes off, even if it goes off with hitches that you were able— fires that you were able to put out or issues that you were able to manage that your client doesn't even know anything about— there's a sense of pride in that, right? And I'm sharing all this with you because that was precious to me. I enjoyed doing that. But I was willing to let it go if it meant pruning that would help the business survive. Okay, so because I let that go, I was able to focus my time and attention on really building branding, communications, and strategy, which were the three things that CDJ and Associates was really supposed to be about. Events It doesn't even sound like it goes with that, um, anymore, right? Um, so that's an example of that. Now the other one, um, widen your scope to include. So I've had to do that, uh, recently. Like I said, the first half of this I had to do kind of at the beginning of the business, but just recently, um, I did not market to or really seek to work with, with churches, even though those of you that know me know that I am a church girl. I've grown up in church world. My father was a pastor, and ministry has been a part of my life all of my life. So if I don't know anything else on planet Earth, I know church, okay? Particularly church in the African-American community. I know how to communicate church. I know how pastors think and operate. And, um, so it actually would have been a great fit, but I just didn't think to add, um, churches to my target market audience. So they weren't really on my purview. But then COVID happened, and all of a sudden churches needed to get online quickly. And when I say get online, they may have had Facebook pages or Instagram pages, but they did not know how to effectively communicate with their congregation in a way that mirrored the same type of communication that they would have gotten as a part of a congregation in a church building. They didn't necessarily know how to manage announcements and upload videos and put thumbnails in place so people could find Wednesday night Bible study easily. They didn't know how to brand themselves on the online world. And so enter CDJ and Associates. Um, we had to, um, widen our scope to include them, first of all because I care about that community, and secondly, um, it was a good fit. It's what we already do But now it's with the industry of church and ministry— under the industry, I should say, of church and ministry. So it was an easy fit. It was easy for us to bring them on. It gave us a wider scope. And it opened up doors and opportunities. We got the opportunity to work with a company called Poster My Wall just because of the work that they saw us do with churches. I have done two, I believe, webinars for that company helping churches build their communications tools. And I'll make certain that I put the link for those in these comments so you can go back and watch those. If that happens to be your world or if someone in your community is a part of the church world, we definitely would love to have an opportunity to help them. And some of the things that we talk about in those those webinars with Poster My Wall could be of a benefit to them. So that's number one. So you may have to think about either widening, widening your scope to include more industries. You might have been thinking you were only going to work with this group, but now you may have— you might have thought just millennials between the ages of blah blah, okay, but you might have to include Gen X. Okay, sorry, um, that's my generation, by the way. Um, you know what I'm saying? Or you might have to include Gen Z. You may have to widen your scope just a little bit, um, so you can, um, target a wider— so that your target is bigger and you have the opportunity to reach more people, get more engagement, elevate your profile. And then, as they say, the riches are in the niches. So you can niche back down when the time comes. But for the purposes of exposure and generating some cash flow, you might want to consider widening your scope. And that doesn't mean you have to do like I do and go on and change everything from this. But you can target people without them even knowing that they're being targeted. Okay, so just something to consider and think about. You need more insight or help or tips or strategies with that, just, just let me know. I'll definitely talk through it with you. Number 2, teach what you do or how you do it. You might say, okay, Camille D. Jamerson, but I I haven't really done it, done it yet, but there, there's something that you know or have expertise in that you can teach that can generate income for you. And that may not have been the initial thought concerning your business. You are thinking, no, I want to have a catering company. Okay, that's cool. You may still have a catering company. Or your catering company may not be doing as well right now because there aren't very many public events. Okay, but that doesn't mean you can't teach cooking classes. Do you know what people would pay for a cooking class live on Zoom or whatever to learn how to make a decent pound cake? That's real talk. Somebody need to call somebody and tell them that and tag them right now because that's a great idea. I just came up with that. But, but seriously, or if you're, um, a beautician, a hairdresser, and they lost no money during the pandemic, God bless them. But just to go online and teach folks how to flat iron or, um, the proper way to wash hair, whatever, you know what I'm saying? It's— it— there are so many opportunities to teach, um, your expertise set it up as a course or as a webinar, um, and, and generate income, exposure for not just yourself but for your brand. It will elevate your subject matter level of expertise because people actually see that you know what you're doing and that you know what you're talking about. And then they can put what you have taught them into practice and then give you feedback. And those awesome things called testimonies that you can leverage to get more business, right? Um, so you can do courses, webinars, you have books, um, classes, videos such as what I'm doing here. Um, and it doesn't even necessarily have to be about, um, your, your business. It could be about something personal. For example, for me, I could do a class on The Things You Need to Know to Care for an Aging Parent. Okay, those of you who know me personally know my dad died of pancreatic cancer in 2015, and my mom is, is ill as well. She's an aging parent and she's suffering from several things as well. And the things that I have had to learn— I'm the oldest of 4— the things that I, and not just myself but my siblings as well, have had to learn about navigating senior care— oh my God, I wish it was a class that you could take or a book that you could read or just really know all of the nuances involved. There's so much you need to know in how to do it in a way that's respectful of your parents, but also in a way that puts their, um, their best interests at heart. Um, the things that we had to learn, particularly with my dad, when it came to palliative care and hospice care, and, um, really doing away with the stereotypical images that, um, we had concerning hospice care but embracing, um, what it really is and learning if it would work for our family and putting those things in place to be of a support to my mom and to us. So I— you see how quickly and easily I could talk about those things? That could be a course because I know that, um, myself and my siblings aren't the only people that are going through something just like that. Right, so there are things that you already know just based on what you've been through already that you could teach, that you could write a book on, that you could create a webinar on, that you could coach on. And that may not have been initially where you wanted your business to go, but that could be the thing that helps elevate your business to the next level. So number 2 is teach what you know. We got one more. Number 3, create a partnership. And this one is a toughie for entrepreneurs, and you know why? Because a lot of us, myself included, suffer from that, um, that Lone Ranger syndrome. You know, we think we, we in it by ourselves, just me against the world, you know. And it's like, no, you're not. You know, there are 15, 20 thousand other people doing exactly what it is that you want to do, if not more, right? But the key is, when I say partner, I don't necessarily mean you need to bring on a co-, um, chairman or a co-CEO or sell off half your business. That's not what I mean. What I mean when I say partnership is to perhaps look at an agency model for what you do and see where it fits in the grand scheme of things and what other businesses you can, um, bring into this kind of circle of trust and all of you guys build together. Let me give you an example of what I mean. Um, okay, let's go back to my event planning, um, example. Let's say I was just an event planner. I was an event planner, okay? And because of what's going on right now um, events are few and far between where people don't necessarily need a planner. But, um, also because of what's going on, um, funerals have just went on the rise, okay? Um, it's stabilizing now, but let's, you know, thank God. But still, we're having a lot more than we normally would. So as an event planner, you could get with a funeral— a couple of funeral homes— and offer your services as a part of a package that they may offer to help families navigate planning, um, not just the funeral services but, um, that week. Especially if you're an African-American community, you know, it take us a week to do everything. So that week prior to the funeral, to kind of navigate, um, food and, and things that people want to drop off and donate. You are navigating who getting in what car. You're helping them navigate— seriously, because families fall out about stuff like this, and you can be that person, um, that kind of manages everything on their behalf. And you're the bad guy, but you're getting paid for it. Okay, so that's one idea. Another idea, when I say, um, create partnerships, is that agency model. So as an event planner, I could hook up with a photographer, um, somebody who owns a hall, um, a bridal salon, a makeup artist, and what else, and a caterer. Okay, all of us together, we could be called the Event Collective, and we can create a package where some— a couple getting married, they get all of us. For this amount, they get a dress between this amount, this amount. Of course, um, they get, um, a hall, a caterer, a photographer, a makeup artist, and an event planner. Okay, we create this package price, everybody agree to it, and it only has to be for a short period of time, guys. I'm not saying you got to work like this forever. It could just be for um, 6 months or, or whatever, right? To wait. And you can still do business on the side outside of the collective or outside of the agency model that you've created. But this gives all of you exposure because now the photographer, um, is talking about you on his page, and the caterer is talking about you on his page, and you're talking about the bridal salon on your pages, and you're exposing people to the makeup artist on your pages, and the makeup artist is talking about you as an event planner on their pages, and you're getting all of this extra, um, lift and exposure that can help give your business the boost that it needs to go to the next level. Okay, so, um, that may not have been what you had in mind, right? You might not want to work with anybody else because that is challenging. That's not going to always be easy to do. You got to agree on a price, a price. You got to agree on money. You got to agree on how money is going to be distributed. It's a lot to it, but the ends do justify the means in this particular case because everybody can walk away a winner if you learn how to work together for a short period of time. And instead of everybody struggling, everybody can elevate and use and leverage— I should say— each other's businesses to their advantage. Okay, so those, those are the, the 3 things. It's, um, you want to widen your scope to include or narrow your scope to focus. You want to teach what it is you know, and that could be in industry or out of industry, and/or you want to consider, um, developing a partnership or an agency model with those who are in your— in a part of your industry, but don't necessarily do what you do, the other pieces that are needed, um, to do what you do. So hopefully one of those ideas really kind of stuck with you, like, wait a minute, I could do that, and, um, or I wasn't quite thinking about that. Or maybe, you know, one of these ideas kind of gave you another idea, and that's fine too. But what I really want you to to think about is that before you just give it all away or just, you know, throw your hands up and forget about it, you want to be on record for trying everything that you could, okay, um, to make it work. Because you'll never forgive yourself if you don't. You know, the, the worst thing to live with is regret, okay? So if nothing— and if it— then if it don't— doesn't work, it doesn't work. You know, you might need to do a 360-degree— I should say 90-degree pivot and do something totally different. And that's fine too. But for that thing that's burning in your heart right now, that passion that you have, that business that you have, that book that you have, whatever it is that you have going on right now, before you give that puppy up, try one of these things or think of a way that you can be innovative. And creative and, and pivot your business either slightly to the right or to the left and see if, um, you can come up with something that would salvage your business and help catapult your growth and exposure to the next level. I think your business is worth that, don't you? I, I mean, I do. I think it's worth that. So that is Mogul Moments for today. Yeah, I did this in less than 30 minutes. Boom. Okay, that is like epic for me. Um, usually this is the part where I tell you about, um, what's coming next week, but I'm not sure what that is because at the time of this taping I don't have that confirmed yet. So, uh, stay tuned. If I do know by now, I would insert it right about here. So if I do, I'm gonna have it on the screen right here so you can see what's coming next week. And whatever it is, I know it's going to be great and wonderful. So make sure that you, uh, tune in. Hopefully you're liking season 4 so far. Um, when you get a chance, could you guys just tell me kind of, um, out of the changes that we made and the upgrades that we've made, even with the guests that we've had, kind of tell me what you like, um, so far, what you don't like, what I can do better, um, so I can make some shifts and some changes and— or really enjoy the kudos, um, as we go forward and wrap up Season 4, um, we're still taping now, and I'm trying to get all the taping done, um, before summer hits because, you know, we, we usually take, uh, summer off. So, um, again, if you are a business owner out there and you want the opportunity to sponsor a Mogul Moments episode, please let me know. I would be more than happy to have you. It's really inexpensive, and it's a great way for your business to get exposure with my audience. If you're interested in connecting with me offline, make sure you DM me and let me know, or send me an email at info@cdjandassociates.com. That's info@cdjandassociates, all spelled out, uh, .com. And that's to Rima, my amazing assistant, and her name is spelled R-E-E-M-A, and, um, she'll get you on my calendar and we'll chat. Okay. All right, guys, well, it's been fun. Thank you so much for tuning in. I hope something was said or done that will, um, inspire you to keep on. Okay. Um, if you enjoyed this episode, please make certain that you, um, let me know down in the comments and share it with somebody that you know. And please subscribe. I want to make sure that you're getting like the heads up when these things drop off, jump off. So if you're on YouTube, make sure you hit that little subscribe button. If you're on Facebook, make sure that you're following me. You might have stumbled on this by accident, but make sure that you are following me so, um, when these episodes jump off, you can just click and join me. Okay, all right, see you guys later. Thanks for tuning in. Bye.