We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jasmyne Tomlin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jasmyne, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
My idea to start a consulting agency began the summer entering my senior year at Jackson State University in 2017. I was a business management major and hadn’t figured out a business to create. While a student, I helped numerous classmates create ideas for their businesses, gave unbiased opinions, and helped run their social media accounts. Along this journey tons of problems began with the teams of some of the classmates I helped. Some people were taking ideas from their peers and creating businesses from them. Shockingly some people were so foul enough to take business names that weren’t licensed yet just so the entrepreneur couldn’t use them. It was then that I realized I needed to help save my peers from this drama and teach them business processes that they were ignoring.
Jasmyne, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I entered the world of consulting because there were far too many business coaches. I studied many business coaches and saw the same aesthetic, styles, color schemes, and even verbiage. I decided to take the area of coaching/consulting and made it my own. A lot of the people I studied in my industry weren’t college graduates. Though your education status isn’t relevant to attracting clients, I used it to my advantage and created a huge differentiation between myself and my competitors. The process within my business is similarly run like college. You must be accepted by completing an inquiry form. I offer payment plans for most of my services. Ebooks that are free and cost can be found on my website to help further assist with problems. Webinars and events are soon to be added as well.
The biggest solution that I offer to my clients is to create a business foundation first before focusing on anything else. In the 4 years that I have been a business consultant, I realize that social media is the new “business plan”. Everything that people do within their business is on social media. From their portfolios, how they market to a new audience, what determines if their business is successful or not and all of this is absolutely WRONG! My ultimate job is teaching my clients to go “back to the basics”, word to Yo Gotti.
I am most proud of being able to turn my client’s wildest dreams into a reality. A lot of entrepreneurs dream of what they see others receive. As a client of mine, I physically create blinders for you to always stay in your own lane and see what you want to see. At Tomlin Simplified Solutions, we strive to build profitable businesses with the business foundation always in mind first.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Video content has been the most effective strategy for growing my clientele. One of my favorite social media platforms is YouTube. I don’t care what anyone says, YouTube will always dominate in the video content lane. From long-form videos to short-form, YouTube does not lack in video content pertaining to tutorials, case studies, reviews, and more. I have spent a great deal of this year pushing out more videos on YouTube because there isn’t a 48-72 hour algorithm cycle like TikTok and Instagram. A 48-72 hour algorithm cycle is the time limit you have to make an impression on your audience and those who come across your content once you publish it. On YouTube, if you properly title your videos, someone somewhere will always type in their search bar exactly what they are looking for, and hopefully, it is your content.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I build my audience on social media by talking about the problems entrepreneurs experience and gave the solutions for free. When I had questions about certain things in my industry I couldn’t find a direct answer. So when I learned the answer I knew that there was someone just like me who needed that answer. Creating free relevant content is something that most business coaches refuse to do. Even when they do create it, it is usually some of the most basic Googled questions and answers. Prospective clients are tired of basic solutions. They want help that they can implement in their business immediately.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tomlinsimplifiedsolutions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigmamajass/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BigMamaJass/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasmyne-tomlin-47198898
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BigMamaJass
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx8GH9-n27ftINKClVyo9pQ
Image Credits
Photos By: @kimanithekreator (on Instagram)