Episode 007: The Fearless Entrepreneur: Andrea Jones

Hey there, Fearless Family! This is Will checking in with you with the Fearless Entrepreneur Podcast, where I interview some of the most influential people who have conquered their fears to pursue their passion in entrepreneurship. So kick back, relax, and let's unleash your fearlessness. So hey there, Fearless Family! Will here, and welcome to the Fearless Entrepreneur Podcast, where I have successful entrepreneurs share how they've been able to overcome their fears and challenges in starting their business., and now they're rocking it out and creating with no fear. Today we have Andrea Jones. Andrea, are you prepared to show how you became a fearless entrepreneur?

Yes, I'm excited. Thanks for having me on the show.

Good, good. Well, we'll dive in with Andrea in one moment, but right now let's take a second to thank our sponsors. Hey, Fearless Family, go and check out Phone.com, your business phone service in the cloud with dozens of included features, tons of phone options, all starting at $9.99 per month. This is a great phone system if you're trying to grow your business and is trusted by over 25,000 businesses every day. Go and check out Phonez.com, and right now you can get a free 30-day trial by going to our link, thefearless.co/phone. Again, that's thefearless.co/phone. So what's up, Fearless Family? Today we're chatting it up with Andrea Jones. She's a social media manager and community builder who creates engaging and beautiful content for lifestyle brands, startups, and small businesses in fashion, wellness, and e-commerce industries. Andrea, before we dive into your business and you tell us all about it, we want you to tell us a little bit about who you were as a kid and what was your biggest fear back then.

Yes, that's a good question, because growing up I was very shy, almost to the point of not talking at all, and I would often get in trouble in school for not talking. So, you know, that fear of, I guess, being noticed is something that I carried for a while through my childhood.

And how would you say you got over that fear?

Well, when I started getting older and I started figuring out my hobbies, when I was a teenager, I guess around, I want to say around 14 or 15, I started singing and my mom put me in voice lessons. I did I did not want to go, but she saw a talent there. And being in that space and being creative in that way and using my voice to sing and not to speak kind of broke my shyness a little bit. And from there, I mean, ever since then, I've not been shy. Like, people have a hard time shutting me up now.

That's awesome. That's awesome. What's crazy is that I have a very similar story. Like, I'm very shy and I was very shy back then. I had— I started singing and performing in front of people, and that was like my outlet. And you kind of get over that fear by being in front of people. But still, the inner me, still a little bit shy, you know?

Yeah, I know. When people call me randomly, I'm like, oh no, I can't. I'm not prepared for this call. But, but yeah, the shyness is still there. But I think using the stage as a way to express yourself definitely breaks through some of that fear of, you know, talking to other people and being yourself.

Good, that was an incredible story. So let's talk a little bit about your business today. How do you make your money in your business today?

Yeah, so I'm a social media manager. That is my primary business. I help clients express themselves online using social media, create a space for their fans, and, and create a community for them. And then the other half of my business is just starting. It's SociallySavvySchool.com, started last April, and it's a place where I teach businesses how to discover the techniques of marketing their own brands on social media. So it may be a business who isn't ready to hire someone for social media yet and they just want to learn the basics for themselves. So that's what Socially Savvy School is.

Good, good. Sounds very interesting. How did you get started in your business?

I started freelancing by accident. I didn't realize I was freelancing at the time. Some of my friends just needed help with their social media and their businesses, so I just started helping helping out. I wasn't really charging much. It was more of a, of a thank you for, you know, like friendship and that kind of stuff. Um, and then when I moved, I met my husband and I lived in Atlanta at the time and he lived in Canada in Toronto. Um, and so when I moved, when we got married, I just had this opportunity to start freelancing. So instead of looking for a job, I kind of looked more into this social media side of things because I found it fascinating and started a business that way.

Good, good. So seeing the opportunity, took advantage of the opportunity, the window of opportunity open for you, and you jump right through that thing.

Yeah, exactly.

So how old were you when you realized that this was something that you wanted to do? Maybe entrepreneurship was something that you wanted to do?

Yeah, I mean, both of my parents are very entrepreneurial, so it's in my blood. I grew up around it. I'm used to seeing it. So when I got the chance to kind of start my own business, it wasn't like a surprise really. It's just not something I never never really considered until, until I had the opportunity to do it.

What did you have to figure out once you started your business?

Um, the, the thing that I had to figure out for myself was— it goes back to that shyness— is selling myself. Um, I really don't like sales. It feels icky to me. I don't like bragging about myself. I don't like talking about my abilities. So, and that's very necessary to be a freelancer. Um, so that was something that I really to figure out when I get started because there's no way to really have a business like this without selling.

Yep, you're exactly right. Um, I struggle with that myself as well. Uh, not to make this interview about me, but, uh, just I think that a lot of us have a lot of similarities when it comes down to entrepreneurship. Um, we don't necessarily want to be selling to people, like, for the most part, but when you start to educate people and show them value, then it's not necessarily selling anymore. It's just, hey, I want to present this to you, and this is an opportunity for you to learn, gain more, and achieve your goals at the same time. And it took me a long time just to wrap my head around, you know, the— I don't want to be the sleazy salesman, you know.

Right, yeah.

But I know this is something that is of value to you, and, um, and I guess we have to figure out our worth as entrepreneurs prior to, you know, going out and trying to talk to people and get people on board with the value that we want to present to them.

Right, exactly. That, like, positioning as a value play is, is like the key to selling. If you can show someone what value you're going to bring to their business, that's a lot easier to do than saying, hey, look how awesome I am, and instead say, you know, hey, look how I can help you be awesome.

There you go. There you go. Well, we here at The Fearless Entrepreneur talk a lot about taking the leap into pursuing your dream. Take us to a moment when you started your entrepreneurial journey, that point in your life where you realize, hey, this is something that I really want to do. What was the biggest fear you had to confront when taking that leap, and explain what that felt like to you?

Yeah, I'm— so I kind of talked about this a little bit already, but going from having no job, like moving and having no job, and trying to decide I'm gonna to work for myself is just scary and it's a very, it's a place of fear in and of itself. So, I was very scared about supporting myself and I was in this new country and I had no idea where to find business. Now, back then Google was my best friend, it still is. So, I used Google to help me find places like Upwork and well, it used to be Elance and oDesk, but Upwork and Fiverr, these places where people were actively looking for the services that I offered. So, I was worried at first that even though I had these tools, I wouldn't be able to sell myself, number one, and I wouldn't be able to find enough work to sustain myself, number two. And like, especially when you start looking at these platforms like Fiverr and like Upwork, you realize there are so many people doing the exact same thing. And that's another fear block saying like, there's so many people doing this. I can't add myself into the mix and I can't add value. But just get over that fear. Once you figure out that, you know, people like working with you specifically, or, you know, your style of working works differently than someone else's style of working, and they can help you stand out from everyone else out there. And it's great to help people in a space where you feel like you can add value. And once you feel comfortable in that, then the rest comes. And, you know, plus getting past that fear like I had benefits along the way, like making my own hours and working for myself. So some of that stuff helped get me past that fear.

Good deal. Yeah, man, offering your uniqueness is your differentiator, you know. Being who you are and being authentically you is what'll set people apart, is what I kind of gathered from that, from that message that you just dropped. What are some tips that you could give to those that are having some of those hesitation and fears? You touched on a few of it, but dive in a little bit more for us.

Yeah, so the first thing is it's okay to be afraid. It's normal, everyone has them. Even, you know, Oprah is afraid of something and look where she is, right? So, you know, take the time to understand exactly what it is you're afraid of so that you can kind of work through that fear. So, one of the examples I gave was, you know, I was afraid that there are so many other freelancers out there, how can I make myself stand out? I didn't let that fear stop me. I just acknowledged that it was there. So what I did was learned along the way by just doing everything. And when I first started out, I really did a lot more than social media. Figuring out how I can help people and figuring out like getting feedback from that, you know, like I didn't let my fear stop me. I just used it to help me along the way and, and got feedback and kind of narrowed down into this niche that it's a place where I can really thrive.

Good. So I know you said that you started out on Freelancer, Fiverr, a lot of freelancing platforms. At that point, how did you take your business just from, you know, being a freelancer trying to figure everything out to actually thriving and being successful in what you're doing?

Yeah, that's a good question because a lot of people are in that place and it's hard. It wasn't easy. I ate a lot of ramen noodle. Um, but I started off small. So the first week when I started off freelancing, I said, how can I make $50 this week? What can I do to make $50? And this comes from, you know, that place where I was doing everything. I was, you know, editing videos for people. I was, um, you know, writing blog posts. I was just trying to figure out how I can make $50 that week. And then the next week after I made $50, I said, okay, I made $50 last week. How can I make $100 this week? And then the week after that was how can I make $150 this week? And it went on from there. And I'm still kind of doing that because once I reach the point where I have a nice client load but I'd like to make more money, then I raise my prices again and meet the demand of basically the business.

Awesome, awesome. So Fearless Family, those are some real jewels there. Start small, have your small goals, and reach them even on a weekly basis, then build up from there and push yourself to be better. Um, that's what I kind of gathered from that deal. Just, you, you set your small goals, put them into place, took the action, may have done some things that were a little outside of really what you wanted, but once you're able to get your foot in the door in one aspect, you're also able to experience different things and kind of figure out really what you want to do. So what has been the most successful story for you as an entrepreneur thus far?

Yeah, I, I like telling this story actually because, you know, some people downplay Fiverr and I use Fiverr. I still use Fiverr to this day for some stuff to get leads. And, you know, the key to Fiverr is finding a way to present yourself for $5, which now you can create gigs for more than $5, but present yourself in a way where you can do a task for $5 and then transform that opportunity into bigger opportunities. So I'll give you an example. My longest client to date, I'm still working with her 3 years later, started off as a Fiverr gig. She wanted someone to create a video testimonial for her handbag accessory company. And we found out through talking on Fiverr that we lived like an hour from each other. After I created the gig for her, we met offline from that, from there, and she was actually my first social media client. It's because of her that I really niched down into social media, and all it was is $5, and it started off as a $5 gig. So, you know, starting small is not a terrible deal, and it gives you the experience, it gives you a chance to build rapport with people, and you never know where that $5 gig can take you.

That's an awesome story too. That's an awesome story to find somebody that was right around your area as well, and now they're on for the, for at least the past 3 years. That's incredible. So what are you most excited about in your business today?

Um, well, I just recently hired more help, which is always awesome. Um, so now I'm in the place where I don't really know if I can still call myself a freelancer because I've kind of got this mini agency of sorts where I have I have other people that I outsource tasks to, and I have assistants who help out with a lot of the day-to-day. So that's like a really exciting thing. I'm so excited about what 2017 will bring.

So adversity happens no matter the amount of achievements and success that we may see in our life. It's usually when we're able to get through these things that we become a new person. You know, after you go through those challenging moments, you realize who you really are. Take us to what you consider to be the most pivotal moment where your business was kind of stressful and just you're overwhelmed and you're able to get through that and be successful.

Yeah, there is a defining moment for me in my first year as a freelancer. I did all the things that I said before. I maxed out my time. I was barely making minimum wage. But I had no room to take on more clients. I was working, you know, 60, 70, 80-hour work weeks, and I was stressed. And, you know, researching online, the next obvious choice was to raise my prices, but I was scared. I was scared that raising my prices would, you know, my clients would leave, or I wouldn't get any new clients at the new prices, and, you know, freelancing would be over forever. Like, so dramatic, right? Um, and I was so stressed then, but I took that chance. I raised my prices, and now looking back, you know, Hindsight's 20/20. I can see that as a defining moment that now I'm not even scared to raise my prices when I reach the point of like, hey, I have a lot of business. I could take more if my prices were more, you know. I think that's, that was a pivotal moment for me, and I think it really helped to like define me as a person and to help me get past that challenge and that fear.

Awesome. Well, we have the Fearless Five questions coming up, but before we do that, I want to take a moment out to thank our sponsors again. Fearless family, if you're looking to start a business, one of the things that you need to have is an online presence. Well, I have a secret for you. Right now you can go and purchase your first domain for 99 cents at GoDaddy.com. Just visit our link thefearless.co/go-daddy and you'll have the opportunity to purchase your first .com for 99 cents. Again, that's thefearless.co/go-daddy. Andrea, are you prepared for the Fearless Five?

I am.

Okay, so what was holding you back from becoming an entrepreneur?

Um, nothing was really holding me back. I was in the right place at the right time and I just took the chance.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

Keep the main thing the main thing, which means don't worry about about everything else. Um, your clients will come and go, just as long as you're doing what you're supposed to be doing and you're making money and you're loving life. And just keep that the main thing.

Good. The one book that opened my eyes and just kind of changed my mindset was The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. If you could recommend one book that kind of opened your mindset, what would that be and why?

I loved Girl Code by Cara Alwill Leyba, and that's because she talks about being a woman in the entrepreneurial space, which is a little bit challenging and I recommend everyone to read it whether you're a woman or not. I think you could really find value in that book and learn to just be yourself and love yourself.

Name one app resource you use the most as an entrepreneur.

Canva, canva.com. It's like literally saved my life.

Canva, tell us a little bit about Canva.

It's a design tool. It's like a cheat sheet for Photoshop. So if you are not techie like me and you don't know how to use Photoshop or any of the Adobe products, using Canva to create social media, sorry, social media images is awesome. And I even created a course about how to use Canva, which I can share with you guys later. But Canva, super awesome tool.

Okay, this is the last question. Imagine you woke up one morning, except you're your younger self at that pivotal moment where you realize that you really wanted to be an entrepreneur. All the bills are paid, you have food and shelter. Now you still have all the knowledge that you have now. You have a laptop and you know all the experiences in overcoming your fears thus far. You have $400. What would you do in the next 10 days?

Oh, that's a really good question. Um, so, you know, if I had $400, I'd hold on to that money until the very last second that I need it. So day 1 would be I would set up like a basic website that had all my prices on it, and I'd probably start off a bit higher than when I started off back in the day. Um, it'd have all my prices on it, all my offerings. I'd set that up day 1. Make sure that it's, you know, really strong SEO for Google as well. My day 2 would probably be crafting my pitches and, you know, taking my online pictures and creating all my social media handles and doing all that, that behind-the-scenes stuff. And then day 3 is where I'd really like dig in. I would try to find like maybe someone who worked at an agency or someone who's doing something similar and see, see what they're doing, learn from them. If I could get like a virtual coffee date with them, I would go for that, um, and try to figure out like what, what is this industry, what am I getting myself into. And then day 4 through 10 would just be pitching, like anywhere I could find to sell myself myself, I would do it. And you know, that fear that we talked about before, like if I had all the knowledge I had today, I would, I would have pitched so much harder back then because, you know, just getting yourself out there, like people don't know you exist until you tell them. So that would be, yeah, that would be what I would do in 10 days.

Awesome. Well, Andrea, let's end this killer interview with a piece of advice you'd like to give the Fearless family. The best way we can contact you, and then we'll say goodbye.

Okay, sure. Um, my advice would be to stay realistic, stay humble, and just keep hustling. Um, yeah, as long as you do those 3 things, I like— I'm pretty sure that you'll, you'll be awesome and fearless. Um, so you guys can find me anywhere online. By searching @OnlineDrea. That is on Twitter, on Instagram, my website's onlinedrea.com. Everywhere online is Online Drea. And then I also have two offerings for you guys. One of them's free. So if you want to learn exactly what I do with my clients for social media, I have a checklist. And if you go to onlinedrea.com/vip, you can grab that checklist for free. You can sign up for my weekly newsletters. That give you everything that I do behind the scenes as well. And then also I mentioned that Canva course earlier and I want to share a Fearless discount for the Fearless family. So you can get 30% off the Canva course by going to onlinedrea.com/fearless and this, this course will teach you exactly how to use Canva, how to easily create engaging social media images that your audience will love. So find me anywhere online @OnlineAndrea, and I hope to connect with you guys.

So Fearless Family, I end this thing the same way every time. You know, the fear of the unknown can kill your dreams and aspirations. You've been replacing fear with knowledge today with Andrea and Will. You can head right over to thefearless.co and type in Andrea in the search bar. We'll have show notes, we'll have links, we'll have all the things that she's referenced in this awesome, awesome interview, and you'll be able to see how you'll be able to connect with her online. Andre, I want to thank you for sharing your journey with the Fearless Family today, and we look forward to seeing you continue to create with no fear.

Awesome, thank you so much for having me. It's been fun.

Fearless Family, thank you for joining me for another episode of the Fearless Entrepreneur Podcast. Take a moment to visit thefearless.co/podcast, like, share, and comment on our channel.