We were lucky to catch up with Catherine Lyon recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Catherine thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you’re open to it, can you talk to us about the best (or worst) investment you’ve made. What’s the backstory and the relevant context behind why you made the investment

The best investment I made into my business was the very first one I made. I was toying around with the idea of starting a social media management business because of a TikTok video I saw of a girl who was teaching people how to start, set up and work in an online business. I had absolutely zero experience doing this and it was a 4 month program for around $7K which was the most money I had ever even thought about spending on myself before. I turned to my husband (then-boyfriend) and said, “I really want to do this, this person will teach me everything I need to know to get started… what do you think?” and he said “investing in yourself is never a bad idea.” I signed up that night and he was right. It was the best thing I ever did for myself because it not only led me to scaling into an agency, working with incredible women-owned businesses, making more money than I ever had at that point, but it allowed me to see what else I was truly capable of. I come from a family of entrepreneurs but never saw that in my cards because I didn’t know what that could possibly look like for me. I’ve always been more creative and never thought I could be a business owner. I always think back to that moment as the moment I took a chance on myself and regardless of what I had told myself in the past, I could make the choice to learn and take action. And I’m so glad I did.

Catherine, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a musician at heart, and that’s the only career I’ve ever saw for myself pre-pandemic. But when I couldn’t perform anymore and the world shut down, I knew I needed something else in the meantime. It was the perfect opportunity to explore a new path for my life, and to see what else I was good at! I knew I wanted to do something with social media because I’ve always loved creating videos, filming, editing and being creative but I just didn’t know how I could make that a career. I invested in a course that taught women how to start online businesses and I really connected social media management. Essentially creating content for business owners who rely on social media to bring them clients/customers, but don’t have the time to do it themselves. It was perfect. I started out just offering basic social media mgmt services like daily posting, engagement, analytics reporting etc… I also was learning anything that my client’s needed extra help with: blogging, email marketing, and updating websites. I was booked out with clients within 3 months making $5k/month. I had no idea this was even possible or that it could happen so fast!

I enjoyed learning new things, figuring out what worked and what didn’t and I really wanted to know the “why” behind how a post performed. This led me to learning more about social media strategy and the foundations of marketing which I really enjoyed. I invested back into my business, learning more and more and this led me to bring on two subcontractors to help me with my client work since I was growing so fast. I think this also set me a part from a lot of social media managers at my level because I was really interested in more than just “getting posts up everyday”, i was consistently looking at data and updating our strategies. I also think something that set me a part from other business owners at my level was that I never felt afraid to take action. I learn quickly, implement, refine and see results. I try really hard to not let fear hold me back from trying something new. I’m not always the best at it ;) but I work a lot on myself, my impostor syndrome, my habits, and I set really outrageous goals for myself and have a plan to reach them. And this is what I’m most proud of. I used to be the world’s WORST procrastinator. Always terrified of what I didn’t know how to do. This business really taught me that I’m capable of so much more and that I can grow out of bad habits and create new healthy habits in their place.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Content, 1000%. As a social media manager, I saw how many clients came to not only me but my clients as well all through social media content. Content creation is marketing. Marketing is the lifeblood of your business. It’s your lead driving activity and your money-making time. It needs to be respected. That’s something that I had to learn the hard way.

I would let my own social media fall short or just not even post because I was “too busy” with my client’s content to worry about my own. And I didn’t realize how much this was holding me back. I wouldn’t have client’s lined up to onboard when other’s would leave and just out of sheer luck, one would inquire at the perfect time or an old client would refer me. I think the only way I got by in the beginning was through referrals.

When I joined TikTok and started creating content consistently, I realized how many clients were finding me there, and inquiring. One video would pop off and it would give me leads for months. To this day, I still have never had to do manual lead generation or outreach at all. My content has done all the heavy lifting for me. Once you have a strategy that works and can create with a solid production plan, the clients come flooding in.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Building an audience takes time. And that’s the part that no one wants to deal with – and I get it! It sucks to do the same thing over and over again without seeing results. But it’s necessary.

I started my TikTok page in 2022 after I started my business and was booked out with clients through Instagram. I really wanted to use it more as an education platform than a place to get clients. I wanted to be the place where people could come and ask questions and get actual answers. I wasn’t thinking of growing in order to make money, I wanted to grow to help people and that was why I think I was able to grow my following initially.

I wasn’t worried about “over-educating” or “giving too much away”. I knew that if someone wanted to work with me, they would want to because of how much knowledge I had and how I connected with them on a personal level. So I continued to be myself, show my personality, be as authentic as I could be all while giving real tips and advice to help people create content. I think the first video I made that got a decent amount of views was my “social media strategy for the lazy business owner”. It got around 500K views, 10K followers and brought in around 30-50 leads for my business. It was at that point I saw the insane potential TikTok has for not only growing an audience but a business as well. I started incorporating TikTok management into my services and treating my own page as I would a clients. Learning, implementing, and refining until I could predict when a video would do well. I got more and more videos that would do well, and eventually got my first video to reach 1 million views.

In the grand scheme of things, I still have a very small audience, but they are engaged. They listen, ask questions, support me and that means so much more than a large follower count could. It’s a little community and I’m so grateful for it because it’s truly where I find so much pride in my work. Being able to help people that can’t necessarily bring on a social media manager but have the time to figure it out themselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: catherinelyoncreative.com
• Instagram: @itscatherinelyon
• Other: TikTok: @itscatherinelyon

Image Credits
Photographer: Mari Trancoso