Growing Your Audience with TikTok

Hey there, welcome to Inside Scoop. I'm Paula Rizzo. We're talking video today, one of my favorite topics. Of course, as you know, I'm a former television producer, so I love video. I've been talking about it for years and years, and finally people are catching on and doing video and understanding what a powerful tool it can be to talk to anybody, to show your personality, whether it be your family, your friends, your coworkers, your colleagues, whoever. Hopefully, if you're running a business, it'll be the people who will hire you to do what you do best. So we're going to talk all about video, but specifically video on TikTok. Okay. So TikTok is sort of newer, right? In the realm of social media. But it is really, really powerful for connecting via video. And I've got to admit, I'm just a TikTok stalker. That's it. I have not created one thing on it. So I have an expert here today who— I'm gonna bring on in just a moment, who is going to take us from stalker to creator on TikTok, because it is a really, really great tool to be able to use. And I wanna do it the right way. And you don't have to dance. You don't have to dance on TikTok, I'm told. It's not just for Gen Z and all of that. So we will dive into that. And I wanna hear from you throughout, throughout, if you have questions, we will grab those at the end. But I do have a resource for you about media that I think will be really helpful for you to get your message out into the world. 'Cause media is one way to do that. So if you could check out my checklist to become a go-to media expert, you go to paularizzo.com/checklist and you'll be on my list. And I share all kinds of info about video and how to do it better and all of the above. I'm also a LinkedIn Learning instructor and I have a whole bunch of courses on productivity. I'm an author of two books about productivity. And so we do talk a lot about productivity, maximizing your productivity in your remote office. And there is a whole chapter in there about how to set up your virtual Studio, because we want to make sure that, you know, when you are presenting on camera, when you're working, that you're doing it in the best possible way that you can. So check those out. I have 6 courses on LinkedIn Learning. You can check those all out on LinkedIn's website, of course. And throughout this conversation, I want you to leave some comments in the chat boxes below. If you have questions, if you have comments, if you have friends who you know have been interested in TikTok or video, Tag them, tag them below and have them join the conversation with us. Without further ado, I'm going to bring on my fabulous guest right now. She's a speaker and a LinkedIn Learning instructor. Thank you for being here, Selena.

Thank you, Paula. I love your work and I'm so excited to be here with you.

Thank you. I'm psyched to go from stalker to creator on TikTok. So thank you.

Well, may this be the catalyst because you can do it. And that's a big part of my message around this.

Yeah. What got you started doing it? Because you now have, you know, close to 200,000 followers.

Yeah. Well, what started it? I mean, you probably noticed I'm not 15 and kind of the maybe typical TikTok creator that might come to mind. I'm 44. I have a leadership development company and I found through using TikTok, I found my voice in a new way. I feel like I've cemented my niche as a business owner in a different way. And you can add value. That's something that I found. And what really started it was for me realizing I couldn't be on stages speaking and maybe addressing during the pandemic some of the corporate audiences I usually do. But You know, there's ways to still build community. I don't need to be holed up in my third floor office by myself. I can still share this. And so my hope was to kind of pay it forward. The content I create is about career advice for sticky situations at work. And, um, you know, I found there was interest by putting it out there. And so, like you said, it's been one year on TikTok. Last May I started, and here we are with a wonderful smart community of almost 200,000.

Fantastic. Okay. So one year, and I want to dig in a little bit on what you first started to share and all that, but I want to share with everyone now one of your videos, a little piece of the videos, so we know what we're talking about here. And this video is one about paid time off and you shared this and BuzzFeed was actually very interested in it. So I want to hear that story in just a moment, but let's just play it. Real quick, uh, and play a little piece. Oh, I don't hear the audio. We'll get that in one sec. But as we're getting that audio back, um, tell me, how did BuzzFeed find this? Did they reach out to you, or did they just, uh, you know, did they just grab it and start writing about it, or did they reach out to you?

They did. Um, they reached out to me and The Independent and another publication called Bored Panda. Oh yes. And it ended up being covered on Yahoo News as well. And they said, look, we think this struck a chord. We want to hear more. Why are people, particularly Americans, so hesitant to take time off? Why is this so awkward? Should bosses be asking for reasons and justifications for this? Or is it a benefit that you should use and no sooner give back than you would give back your paycheck?

Yes, exactly. And one of the things that, you know, this is how media finds people, right? You're sharing things that you know. This is something that I talk about quite a lot. You have to be your own producer. You have to put all your own content out there and then, you know, they'll find it and they'll say, hey, this is interesting. We should be having this conversation. We should be, you know, listening to what this person says. What made you come up with that topic?

Well, it's so funny you ask that because if I had been asked to predict, you know, what will go viral? That's probably the last thing.

Yeah.

You know, taking vacation time at your job, that doesn't sound necessarily hot and exciting, but I think it's what more deeply struck a nerve, which is this employer-employee contract kind of changing, not just the formal contract, but the kind of social contract and the respect between employers and employees. And I think it was touching on that nerve. And so what started it was a different reporter from USA Today had asked me to weigh in on the topic of PTO, and I thought, all right, let's pivot from that article and make a video about it.

It's interesting because, you know, I find that also, you know, for years I worked in television news, you know, close to 20 years, and a lot of times we would do stories that we thought like, oh, everybody's gonna love this, this is gonna be amazing, we're gonna get so many comments, we're gonna— and there was nothing. Crickets. Like, it was just us who were excited about And then the stuff that we were sort of like, eh, everybody knows this. I don't know. It's not going to be— I covered health and wellness for a very long time. And we were just so surprised. Have you found that as you pick topics to do?

Oh, completely. And I can only imagine, Paula, chefs and musicians and other creators probably have the same exact thing. Sometimes you think this is so obvious. So timely, it's so relevant, um, and it's just not necessarily what people want. And, and I think it's important to use your audience as a compass, but not for everything, you know. I think if you get too focused on making it about them, for them, and, and not sharing what you yourself find interesting or value-adding, um, you know, there can be like an overemphasis And so I think there's a balance.

Totally. And I think it's good to experiment, you know, because you just never know what might work. And I want to play down some of this video a little bit, just a short little clip here, just so that people can see the type of videos that you're doing, you know, and obviously go to TikTok and follow you, please. But I just want to show, you know, it doesn't have to be over the top crazy, which is what a lot of people I think associate with TikTok.

For years, I took my paid time off all wrong. Here's what you should do. Number 1, regularly take your PTO. There's no medal you'll receive for not using it. And by taking it regularly, you train your manager to see it as this consistent, natural occurrence, not some freakishly odd, rare event.

I love that advice. I mean, I just think it's such simple, clear, to-the-point advice. And that's part of what really appeals, you know, just having something that you would probably say that to someone that you were working with or if you were speaking on a stage, right? Yeah.

Or somebody you care about, like a friend who's struggling to kind of set boundaries or stand up for themselves at work. And to me, that is the voice I want for somebody else. The kind of voice of their content creation might be different. And one of the questions I encourage people to ask themselves is like, if somebody went to an expert in your arena for help or for a service, how would they want them to do that job? You know, with like care and precision and exactness, like maybe you want your CPA, you know, to be, or with the friendliness, you know, of, um, uh, you know, or the familiarity of a friend.

Yes.

Yes, it's true.

It's the mindset, right? We talked to someone on LinkedIn right now is saying, "So true. Retraining your mindset is critical." And it is true. I work with a lot of experts, entrepreneurs, authors, and do media training and get people more comfortable on camera. And a lot of what I say is that this is a public service. You're doing something to help someone else. And as soon as you get that in your head, that this is not just about you and your lighting and what you look like and all of the above, which is, I mean, It's critical. Come on. It's a visual medium. Let's be clear. It's important to not look like it's a hostage video. But the content of what you're going to share is really important and will change people's lives. That is a big deal. What do you suggest for people who are a little bit timid and maybe like, I don't know if I should step a toe out into the water?

Here's what I would say. Trust that the camera confidence will come. Don't feel like you need to arrive polished, finished, perfect. That's not what it's about. It's actually a place where it's really okay for you to find your voice and hone that voice with practice and with experience. So know that authenticity, you know, casualness, openness is really sought after on TikTok. And I think people are really hungry for the opposite of that superficial gloss.

Yes. You know, polished.

Yeah.

Yes. Yes. And we're not saying like you don't have to, you know, forego makeup and, you know, be like brushing your teeth in the morning and showing videos of that. Like, it doesn't have to be that either. Right.

And if anything, I'd say, you know, experiment, as you said, be you. You can probably tell I really love color. It is part of my daily joy and happiness, both to wear it, to surround myself by it in my office. It makes me feel more creative. More bold and daring. And that's often what I'm asking my community to do, to use their voice and to ask for what they need. So one of the things— the other thing I recommend just to really engage that audience of yours is to kind of read between the lines with comments.

Okay.

So not just I'm going to check the comments. That's not enough, but to really look for the emotion. In the comments. And it's one way you can tell what is suiting people or what's exciting them, what's making them feel really seen, like, oh my goodness, you just looked into my soul. Or what's maybe a misunderstanding in your arena that they're debating with you and have some pushback for you. So look for some of the emotion. I think it's going to help you have more of a compass. For what's exciting, what's bubbling among your community.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And if you're watching right now, if you have questions about TikTok or video or creating content or anything, please leave your comments and your questions below and we'll grab those. And even if you're watching the replay, we're going to be checking back and answering questions for sure, because this is a conversation that's going to be had for a very long time. Some of these, the medium, it almost doesn't matter what the medium is. There's always going to be something new. There's always going to be something different. But we're going to still be talking about what we want to talk about and fitting it to that particular social media platform or whatever it is. I want to talk about consistency with you because that is very important to have the community know that you're there and coming back and will continue to give them good content. So what is your strategy on consistency? How often do you share new content? And then I want to talk about repurposing too, because that's a separate issue. But as far as consistency goes, what's your editorial your calendar look like?

Well, when I first started, in part because I knew I wanted to experiment and test different formats and formulas, um, I put 3 videos up a day. And I know that sounds like a lot. Sometimes when I say that to people, they like make an audible noise, like, that is a lot, you know what I mean?

That is a lot.

And I get it, and I get it, I really do. But you have to think to yourself You know, if a, let's say a 1-hour webinar that you attend on a training is like a meal-sized portion of food, this is like a little past hors d'oeuvre at a party. So when I talk about making a TikTok, you know, shrink way down, you know, what you think you have to share in one video. It could be one delicious bite that's small and simple. That's 30 seconds long. You know, so when I say, you know, 3 videos, realize some— in some cases they were 3 30-second videos. And then fast forward to today where I do 2 videos a day.

So 2 videos a day, slowed that down just a little bit.

Whatever number works for you, you know, whoever is with us and watching this today, that number's up to you. Um, I certainly wouldn't dictate what, what the right amount is, but I do think the consistency is key.

Yeah. Oh, for sure.

Okay.

So you do 2 videos a day. Do you have a theme? Like you do this kind of thing and then that kind of thing, or what, what's, what's that look like?

Yeah, I do a mix both for my audience's interest and also to keep me, um, having some variety and keep me on my toes. So I mix that between evergreen topics, right? So for anyone listening, that might be, you know, how to present confidently in a job interview, something that's not going to go out of style. A second category for me is news, and of course you can't predict that, but I leave spaces and openings for news. So for example, um, when Peloton laid lots of employees off, I made a video about layoffs and I showed the headline, um, And so I find that enjoyable to share the latest and to have a take on it of my own. And the other thing I like to share is responses, you know, to requests. So that's a big one that I think builds trust and builds more of a two-way communication kind of loop. So if somebody asks a question, oh, you know, thanks, or puts a comment, you know, thank you for sharing how to present confidently in an interview. Can you do one on You know, can you do one on good follow-up questions to ask in an interview? Um, that's where a huge source of the, the content inspiration and ideas comes from. And, and that's really fun because you can't predict what people, you know, want to know more about.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, and, and these are short videos, right? I mean, we're not talking about— I mean, what, what is the, the span typically for you?

Yeah, I'd say they usually are under about a minute 10. You know, sometimes I might be telling a story. Just yesterday I told a story about my first promotion ever in my career and some of the imposter syndrome that came with that. That might be a little bit longer of a video, you know, but I find most are in that like 35 to 40-second or less range. And so when I said like past hors d'oeuvre, I really mean, you know, that little one-bite nugget.

I love that. It's such a good way of thinking of it, you know, because you can have, for for people who are already creating content. You could have a blog post that you have 5 or 6 different points on, and then you say, you know what, I'm just gonna take this first point, this first bullet point, and I'm just going to talk about that one, and that's it. And it is— it's sort of freeing, you know? It's nice. It's like you don't have to jam too much, you don't have to talk really fast. You can just get in and, and give that its, its just due, you know? Just that.

That's right. And it's kind of the counterpoint to the volume. So I'm encouraging people to, if they can, put volume out there. And one of the ways I put it is instead of trying to plant this one perfect prize orchid, yes, you know, like I have to get it perfect, I've gotta know my hair's not right, my this, my light, you know, instead plant a forest.

I love this. I love the way you, you, you describe these things. It's very—

I love a metaphor, Paula.

Very good. I was gonna say, are you like a poet? This is very interesting. Thank you.

But, you know, I'm really visual. I think that's what it is, and I think more in pictures. But it— the beautiful thing about planting more of the forest approach and being more prolific, which I encourage you to be, is you get more practice, true, you get more comfort. You better find your own voice and what's funny and entertaining to you, or what's poignant and value-adding to you. Um, so You know, just think of it as giving yourself many more shots on a target, right? Than having to do it perfectly once.

It's true. And you know what? They're not all going to be home runs. They're just not. It's just, you can't, you know, even in the best of situations. You know, I worked in TV news for years with professional cameras and professionals and, you know, and sometimes we were like, eh, that one, It wasn't our best, but it's all right. Tomorrow we're going to do it all over again and we're going to try it out again. And you have to sort of have that continuation mode, like this is going to continue on. You're going to keep putting things out there and having conversations. And I love the idea that you mentioned before about taking from what people are asking of you, taking those questions, whether it be on social media, on TikTok or somewhere else to say, hey, someone asked me this question. If someone's watching and they work with clients, to be able to say, hey, you know, this topic keeps coming up with my clients. And so this is something that I think a lot of people will be interested in. There's so much content that we have in our everyday life, uh, that, that can really be wonderful for video and, and for TikTok in particular. Um, I, I wonder if there's any other advice that you have on maximizing the content. Uh, you know, what do you do with it afterwards? Uh, and I want to know about your process as far as you know, do you batch when you record, or how do you, how do you handle that?

Yeah, that's a great question, and it seems like so many people have different ways to get to that, uh, different roads that lead to creating solid content. For me, um, I told you about the categories, so I try to come up with those broad categories, and for me, that instantly took some of the intimidation factor out. Because now it's not you have to come up with 10 videos a week. It's like, okay, you have to think of 2 or 3, as you said, FAQs you get all the time, or tools and resources. Oh, well, I know tools and resources, or a Microsoft hack, or a book that was valuable to me, or a podcast. Like, I can do that, you know. So I would encourage other people to think of those categories. And then for me, I'll take those TikToks, and one of my mottos One of my mottos is nothing's wasted. You know, like we take all those little apple peels, you know, the peels of the skin and make something else with it. And same with the seeds and same with the core. For me, that's like my weekly branded newsletter, um, called Quick Confidence, which is on LinkedIn. I'm in conversations with publishers to turn that into a book. So when you think about repurposing, like, really think big, think big about how you could use it. I certainly use it in articles. I've had one or two media companies like NBC say, we saw that TikTok, would you consider writing an article about that and go deeper into it? And LinkedIn posts, right? The, the posts you might put up week to week, you know, certainly repurposing those TikToks on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram too. So, you know, milk it, I say.

I love it for sure. And you know, you're right, congrats on the, on the book, potential book deal.

Thank you.

Awesome. And you know, that is a lot of people, and I work with a lot of authors and, you know, people who want to be authors, and I often say like, this is what you need to be doing. You need to be like workshopping your ideas because you will get great feedback live right now. The book takes forever to come out. Okay. It takes forever. Publishing is, I don't know, it's like an eternity, right? For the book to actually come out. However, you can get feedback right now on your idea. And then you can say, "You know what? That was gold. I'm putting that in the book for when the book does come out." That's right. It's a really great way, blog posts, videos, however you want to parcel out your content. It's a really nice way to be able to get some feedback. And I know for myself with my first book, listful thinking, I started it as a blog. It was a blog that I wrote 5 days a week because I was like, "Hey, I want to just get the content out there." Same way like you did, right? It's like, first off, let me see if I can do it. And then second off, let's see what happens. And then through the years now it's once a week, right? We've kind of scaled back. But that was what was the catalyst for the book and to get the book out there. And a publisher saw my blog and said, "Hey, this could be a book. Let's work on this. And just having your content out there is what will get you noticed.

It's so true. And it can be so frustrating when you're starting out. I remember as just coming up as a speaker and an author with my first book, people saying media begets media, and you'd be like, ah, but how do I get my first—

first one? Yeah.

Fill in the blank. Right. And it can feel so frustrating. It's like Gen Zers who are like, how can I get experience if I have no experience? And it can feel like that. But you've kind of planted your own forest with your blog.

That's right. You have to be your own producer. I say it all the time. That's right. And now we have tools that are amazing. I mean, this stuff we didn't— this was— I'm doing a live show right now. This was something that you could only do if you worked in one of the major networks for years. And now anyone can do it in their living room. It's unbelievable what we have at our fingertips.

It's so exciting. I mean, and I think at a time too, Paula Rizzo, when a lot of us were really like thirsty for connection.

Yes.

You know, and feeling socially isolated. Thank goodness for these tools because they've created a sense of community for me too, you know, in a self-serving way, not just in a like let me give, right? But, but finding friendship and fellowship in communities like this pretty awesome.

What a nice extra there.

I love that.

And I so appreciate your time. Thank you for being with us. And if people are watching the replay or watching live, leave us comments and questions below. We'll get to those for sure. And I want to give a little shout out to a freebie that you have. You have a 24 Powerful Phrases to Boost Your Authority Right Away, and that people can grab. Do you want to tell us a little bit about that? That's where you can grab it at your website there. And also there's a QR code, new to the show. Thank you, Ali, behind the scenes, my producer, for setting that up. If you're watching, you can just put your, your camera right up to it and click the button, and off you will go to Selena's website. It's happening.

Awesome, I love it. Yeah, well, some of the videos I've done that have performed the best have some scripted comebacks, you know, for tricky situations. Um, and in the case of this download and this digital offering You're going to get some of those specifically to boost your authority. For example, how to like weave your resume into everyday storytelling, you know, so you're not hitting people over the head with, you know, where you've been, but you're more skillfully integrating that into conversation. Um, and ways you can boost your credibility too, maybe if you feel diminished, you know, that you can come back from those. So Um, great, practical.

I love that. And you know what, being prepared is very important. So to have those key phrases ready to go and roll off your tongue and practice them a couple times, that is just— it's gold.

That's right. And like I always tell people, like, one of my goals is you'll make it your own. Yeah, you know, you'll make it even more in your language and annotate it and, you know, really, um, make it in your voice.

Yes, for sure. Well, thank you again for being here, and I hope everybody picks up your freebie and checks out your courses on LinkedIn Learning, of course, and And you do have one coming down the pike on TikTok as well.

That's right. Look out for that this summer on creating on TikTok as a business owner.

Awesome. I love it. Well, thank you again for being here. And for those of you watching, I have a freebie for you as well. If you go to my website, you can get my checklist to become a go-to media expert. I talk all about video and all of the above. If you go to paularizzo.com, and if you have questions, feel free to leave them in the chat. We're gonna continue to check this out even on the replay. And thank you so much for being here. I'll see you next time. Bye.