Ep119 Behind a Canva template social membership with Kayla Butler

Caleb Butler. Welcome to her Empire Builder.

Thank you so much for having me.

It is my absolute pleasure. I always love. One of my favorite things about podcasting is talking to really interesting people. But for you, it was so exciting because we're like, we are obsessed with your products. And so when we're sitting there and sharing it, and we were talking about that Ivory Mix, too, so many people. And then I was like, who is this woman behind Ivory Mix? And I start checking you out online. I'm like, I need to speak to her. So it's very exciting for us. So thank you.

Yeah, now that's very flattering. Thank you very much. Make me feel like blushing, but that's always good to hear.

Yeah. So tell me, because for a lot of people that don't know, how did Ivory Mix actually begin?

I mean, it honestly started as a creative outlet for me. I think a lot of entrepreneurs can relate to that, but I didn't think it was going to be necessarily what it is today. I started as a hobby. It was really a blog, honestly. And so I come from a design background. I did interior design for.

That makes a lot of sense.

Nearly two decades, honestly. And that might age me, but I did it for a very long time and successfully. But I needed some more creative outlets because as I worked up the ladder, I kind of reached a ceiling, so to speak, and I didn't know where to go. And so I found that blogging was a great outlet for me, and it utilized my new hobby of photography. And I realized that a lot of blogs, bloggers, female entrepreneurs online, loved styled stock photography. And I like that perked my ears up. Like styled, styled anything. Right. Like I fall in love with. And so if you go way back on my blog, you'll see I was blogging about architecture or photography just in general, or design in general, even things about your home. And I, as a result, was playing around with the design of my blog and my website and got into creating my own styled stock photography and then realized that it could be done very quickly and easily. And for someone like me, it just came natural. So I thought I would share that with other people who I was communicating with in the communities that I was in regarding how to grow your blog or how to grow your online business. And I thought, well, let me start sharing some of what I'm working on. And I kind of went from there. I mean, I just want to do.

When you've got that skill that just comes so naturally to you, it's always the one that works out the Best that you're like, really? This is the thing. Like, this is so easy for me because I look at it and I look at your pictures and go, I'm a hobby photographer. And yeah, that's, that's not easy. Yeah, easy for you. It's not easy.

Yeah, yeah. And I totally get that and I appreciate that. And I'm aware and I, and I can see that in other people who they, you know, who they are and what they love to do is not necessarily something that I could ever do. So definitely have to look for those things for sure.

And when you, when you started, were you just doing the stock photography or when did you introduce all of the. Because what we know and love you for is your Canva templates. So how did they all come about?

So our Canva templates came as a result of how people were using the stock photos. And honestly, I love design, I love strategy and marketing. And in my background as an interior designer, when you work as either a small business owner or in a small business, you do a lot of things anyways. Marketing, sales, you know, just. Yeah, yeah. It's not, it's not your typical corporate environment just as a, as an industry. So I had a lot of skills anyways. And so going into building out the membership and listening to our audience and looking at what they needed and what they, how they used the membership and the stock photos, it just was a natural fit for things that I was interested in talking about and creating and also their needs. And it just expanded the use of stuff we were already creating. And so that's how we got into the Canva templates and really wanted to create something more than just one or two Canva templates. We wanted to be a strategy and a system. And so we kind of package our canva templates in things 30 day sets now. I mean, it's been sort of an evolving thing, but now we realize that if we put it in 30 day packages that are strategic based on the type of content that people create in order to create engagement, in order to nurture their audience, in order to launch a product, in order to, you know, convert someone into a sale, it's a long, it's a long process from day one to the end of the month, you know what I mean? And so it requires so many different things.

And yeah, I love it. Should we just have a moment to like tip our cap to Canva the amount of times in a day? I'm just like, canva, love Canva.

It's so true. I love it. I'M obsessed. I love it.

Yeah. So how do you deal with. Because I know so many people in the online world, one of the biggest things you deal with is copycats and competitors copying their work, which I know you get a lot as well, but you actually make yours available. So how do you continue to get that point of difference in such a crowded market?

That's a really good question. And I think I get that a lot from people who are in our community who are looking to grow things as well. And number one, I try not to pay attention to what other people are doing. So I try to keep my point of perspective because clean or cleansed of other influences so that all decisions around what types of content we're creating for our members to use is based on actual necessity and needs. And that is how I believe we stand out and are different in the sense that we really listen to our community. And I know that everybody probably tries to do that. But the difference is, is that we know what it's like to grow viral content or across different channels like YouTube or Instagram. So not only are we creating it, but we know what works to create more viral or more engaged with content. So. So let's talk about that because I.

Touched on this yesterday in going there's a difference in the content that we put out that's more engaged with than necessarily popular. Like I was talking about some of mine that I've been doing recently that, you know, didn't necessarily have as many likes, but they had a huge amount of comments and click throughs into inquiries to do work and to do our programs and that sort of thing. How do you distinguish between that different stuff and what have you seen is the difference in things that are just really liked and really actually have a tangible business difference?

This is a really good question because a lot of people don't realize that they think that every single piece of content should get the same or similar results. And every piece of content has a different objective. There's a different objective behind the scenes. And so you could. So in terms of content, how do I distinguish between that? Well, I have nine buckets of content that I have sort of developed into like a system. And so every bucket I have expectations on and each one is unique. And so based on the bucket or the content type, I have expectations.

And what's an example of a couple of those buckets?

Yeah, so I mean in general it's generally three basic buckets that are divided into nine. So three, three, three. So the first three are building your audience content that grows your audience. And then the second three are things that build your brand and then the third set are things that actually sell, you know, sell your offers. And so in terms of the individual 9, like an example of a piece of content grow, your audience is going to be, you know, your typical value content, like sharing a resource list or giving a tutorial or something like that. Whereas building a brand and content that supports that bucket is going to be things where you share your beliefs or maybe behind the scenes or share your brand story or things like that. Whereas something that actually sells is going to be, you know, like a walkthrough of the website or, you know, like client testimonials. Of course, client testimonials and walkthrough over your website aren't going to get as many shares saves, you know, maybe likes, but they might get a ton of comments and a ton of click throughs. Whereas stuff that builds your audience, that's where you have to expect more likes, more shares, maybe a lot of comments, but that's where. So it kind of trickles down from there. If you kind of view it as like a upside down triangle or a funnel, so to speak, your engagement level on the like likes and viral aspect diminishes, but the quality of.

Absolutely. Yeah.

Where they go.

So when you talk about the 30 day like strategy kind of packs that you get, which I'm a member of your Ivory Mix membership and love. But how, like what's the kind of balance between those three buckets that you recommend people having?

Well, that's a good question as well. And I give options to different business models and different types of businesses because for someone like, I love that, that.

It'S not just a one size fits all.

Yeah. And I do that strategically as well because you know, there are, there is a opportunity for me to be like, here's your canva template, here's your photo, here's your caption and post this on Monday and post this on Tuesday. But then everybody begins to have the same content, the same strategy and so, and across businesses it doesn't work. So if I were to go through the nine content types or the sort of three bigger buckets and divide it on your, you know, maybe your coaching business, so to, so to speak, if that's what we're working on, then I would say if you're aimed at getting, you know, 10 clients a month, then I would base your content on your strategy for how do you get 10 clients a month? So is it with a webinar once a month or are you booking calls every day? And if you're booking calls every day, then you're going to want to rotate through those three buckets every week. Yeah, Right. But if you have a webinar that you're hosting once a month, then you got to spread that across the month. So you want to, in the front end of the month, build your audience and work on audience growth content in the middle of the month, talk about your brand and promote your webinar date, and then at the end sell your offer. So that's what I mean. Like, it really depends on your business model, but it all works. You just kind of have to rearrange it.

Yeah. And so when you're doing that, because I know a lot of people, especially if they're coming up with their own social media content as well, how many hours a month do you devote to getting those 30 pieces of content?

How many? Can we go a little bit deeper with your question? Do you mean in terms of if someone were to take the templates, how many hours it would take them to.

No, I'm talking about you. How many hours do you spend doing it?

Well, luckily, I have a team now that supports our growth. So if I were to say how many hours it takes us to create 30 days worth of Canva templates, you know, it might be 16 hours or less, maybe eight. It depends on a few things. Like if we're exploring a new niche and a new business model with new Canva templates, then it takes us a little bit longer because we have to do a little more research. But yeah, I mean, what goes into creating the Canva templates is the research and then the execution. And so the research probably is really the front end, heavy part of it. So it takes us a while longer.

It's so good, isn't it? The impact that you can have with the low input of time. It's beautiful.

Yeah. Yeah, it really, really is. And yeah, it pays to have experience too. So it, you know, it sounds easy, but there's a lot of years at this point.

I mean, I use, I use a couple of templates and then we create a whole heap of stuff for our, ourselves as well. And so I spend like a whole day every month on getting the socials ready for that month. Like it's. And that's perfect time investment, but it is, it's so worth.

Is worth it. And I love that you do that because batching out the content.

Oh, batching. It's my love language.

Yeah, it is mine too. And it creates so Much focus and impact. So, I mean, on my calendar, I block days just for certain content and then. Or certain, you know, things that I'm working on. That way I have more freedom in my schedule as well.

Yeah, 100%.

So I don't spread it across multiple days. But, yeah, it sounds like you're doing it the right way, like all in one day.

Yeah. I find there's heaps more continuity as well. When. When I miss that one day, if I'm a bit behind and can't carve that out. And then I've got like a week where I'm playing catch up and going, oh, what are we posting today? It's just this, like, heaviness there and it doesn't have as much continuity as when I do it in one hit. And think about strategically, what have we got coming up? What are we looking at? Let's look at the marketing calendar. And then like you said before, with the different buckets and the different types of content, making sure that that's aimed at the different. Different objectives that we have.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

So when did you decide? Cause I love your business model in that, you know, you've got. The membership is your main. That's your main part of the business, isn't it? The membership that goes on.

Yeah. At the moment for sure. And I don't see that going anywhere anytime.

Yeah. And when did you. When did you make the shift from going like, I'm selling stock photography into let's make this a recurring revenue model?

Did you say make it a recurring. Yeah, okay. Yeah, so we. Well, I shifted into creating course material around. I mean, I've always dabbled in trainings and creating mini courses and things like that. But I actually last maybe two years ago, said, I'm not creating any more courses, no more mini products. Like, I just want to focus and have one thing that we're doing because marketing became so much easier and that's when revenue started to double and even triple at that point, because all the marketing and the messaging became more simplified. But my love for coaching or teaching marketing and helping people get results with what we were creating didn't go away. And so. So I just started adding course material and marketing content in terms of, like, lessons and things like that into the membership. Really Last year as a, like, core thing.

Yeah, I love that.

Yeah. Yeah.

I do think it's like, it's a mistake that a lot of people make. And I made myself at the start, when I went into online business was at one point I had like, 27 different offers that I was talking about. I'm going, no one knows what they're supposed to do. There's just too many options. And it makes the, makes the message so diluted. And it also meant that, you know, other people in the industry didn't share what I was doing so much because I was actually covering so much ground. Whereas then when I went really niche and really, like, you know what, this is my lane, this is where I'm sticking. This is my one thing, then it went so well in terms of marketing message, but also allowed other people to go, alright, that's her thing, this is my thing. We can actually work together now.

Yeah, yeah. No, I love that. And it's very powerful and it's, it's got this like compounding effect.

Yeah.

You know, it just builds and builds and builds and builds. In terms of, you become the, you know, you've got the expertise, you're the niche expert and then you can, like you said, collaborate with other people who have equal but different skills.

Yeah, that's it, that's it. And so like, you do a heavy focus on Instagram, which I love because Instagram's so highly converting and engaging. What changes have you seen over the time that you think people need to be aware of when they're putting together all of their social content?

Oh, in terms of content in general, there is a big need and want for that shorter form video content and, but still, like with substance.

Yeah.

You know, and in terms of, you know, businesses and online businesses. So I mean, of course there's TikTok and Reels and things along like that, that's just entertaining. But from a business aspect, you know, your longer form videos, like YouTube video content, it's still very relevant, but there's this need to repackage it in a impactful way.

In the short forms.

Yeah, in the shorter form video content. So like, so that's really where things are going. I mean, they've been going that direction, but it's not going anywhere. And whether you're on Instagram or you're, you know, you have a YouTube channel or you're starting to dabble into Pinterest, that 15 second video can be on any of those now with. Now they have YouTube interested in video as well. Yeah, you can share and they reckon. Yeah, they recommend that your video is shorter, like 15 seconds. So, yeah, it's, it's incredibly powerful and shareable and savable and all of the great metrics that you need.

Yeah, I mean, reels has blown my mind in terms of reach and the like interaction that has come from it. I'm going like these tiny, tiny, tiny little videos and they just, they're getting pushed out everywhere but on that. So because. Because reels are so, so quick and so digestible and so kind of looking, taking an action and then it's gone. Is there, like, it's a little bit more scrappy. So what I'm asking is, because everything. So do you think it's as. As important now to be so perfectly curated in the feed or can it have those beautiful posts and then have some messiness to it as well?

Absolutely. I think messiness is required.

Yeah.

Just because it shows, especially for the smaller business owner, it shows your humanity and that you're human and people really, really love that. They love it when you're not as polished.

Yeah.

And I think it really depends on the brand. I mean, there's gonna be some brands where it just doesn't fit at all. But I do think there is some craving there, even if, you know, I would test it. And I do find that the less curated feeds, you know, it's all based on value and that engagement and.

Yeah, well, I tried for ages to have the. Or not for ages. I tried for about two months to go like, have my system with like a quote and then the picture and then the thing and like the whole setup. And then it just did not work because I'd go to post something on the fly and then be like, oh, I can't put that in or it's gonna ruin the pattern.

I know, I know.

I don't care about the pattern. I'm just gonna do it.

Yeah, I stopped caring about the pattern too. I think after a while you start to realize, like, there are certain things that really work and achieve the results that you're looking for. And how it looks on the feed as a whole isn't really. Is really low on the priority list.

Yeah.

You want it to work for your business goals, not necessarily the aesthetic.

That. That is absolute gold right there. That's exactly it. It's always going like, what does our customer need and want? And then we can give that to them. And a lot of them. Well, I think a lot of people don't even know that we did blue, pink, blue, pink, and then we chucked a yellow in there like no one cares.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it might get you a follow every now and then, depending on if someone like just checks out your profile after seeing one post. But really what gets people to follow is does this bring value. So if you're in an industry that is aesthetic, then there is a benefit to doing that. There is some benefit to doing that. But I mean, otherwise, not too much.

I love it. Awesome. Kayla, it's been an absolute pleasure. I have linked to Ivory Mix in the show Notes down below, so everyone can see that. But what's the easiest way to follow you? What should they look like?

Oh yeah, follow me on Instagram @TheIvoryMix or on YouTube. Ivorymix. I've got videos coming out every week on either IGTV or YouTube and that's where you can really follow me if that's what you're looking to do.

I love it. Thanks so much, Kayla.