We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chanelle Yarber a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Chanelle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

I don’t believe digital marketing is always the most effective way to reach audiences. Most businesses lean this way because it is accessible, trendy, and can be more cost-effective. So I understand why they abandon traditional marketing methods and run toward digital tactics. But digital does three things that I think water down marketing efficacy –

1. It takes away a personal approach. When you over-leverage digital marketing, you miss connecting and learning from your ideal client. You miss true relationship building when you hide behind a computer screen and rely on emails, ads, and social media.

2. It doesn’t allow you to truly stand out. If all of your competitors are digital-focused and not marketing in other traditional spaces, your company has to compete head-to-head with them if you do the same. It isn’t disruptive. People get bombarded with messaging in digital spaces and without strong brand recall, they can even begin to mix up your company’s messaging with your competitor’s products and services if they are too similar.

3. It causes you to rely on an algorithm that you have no control over. Social media and digital advertising are great because of the data behind them. But you can’t really manipulate who sees what beyond what the algorithms are programmed to do, which gives you less control.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started my business, BrightGirl Media, out of sheer necessity. I’m a speaker, author, and serial entrepreneur passionate about helping other business leaders thrive. But when I started, I had been searching for a solid career footing for a while and it wasn’t gelling. So I took matters into my own hands and dove into freelancing.

Over the years, I have worked with numerous companies and non-profits on their marketing and communications strategies.

BrightGirl Media creates custom websites, manages marketing campaigns, and craft marketing strategies that help our clients reach their ideal clients, convert them, and incrementally grow their businesses.

I am most proud of the clients I work with who come to me with a grand vision and need help implementing it. They know where they want to go but just don’t know how to get there. My superpowers are ideation and vision casting. I chart their course and color in the details to get the results they desire. Watching their visions come alive and being there to support them is my greatest joy.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I built my social media audience organically, slowly, and over time. I did not want to attract the wrong clients or just be on social media for likes and attention. I wanted to be able to leverage it as a marketing and sales tool and I wanted it to draw a like-minded community. So I was very targeted in my approach.

I began with my immediate circle of influence. I followed them, engaged with them, listened, and watched who they were engaging with. That informed my strategy of what to post about, how to connect with them, and how to be an authentic, authoritative voice for that particular audience.

My advice is not to get too caught up in numbers. I believe in quality over quantity. In some regards, you have to play within the algorithm, so the amount of followers you have may be important to an extent. But if you want an engaged buying audience and not just a spectating one, you have to hone in on who you want to follow you and draw them into your community.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I love to read for personal growth. Two books that have greatly impacted my entrepreneurial journey are Napoleon Hill’s Outwitting the Devil and James Clear’s Atomic Habits.

These two books have helped me reshape my thinking. Mindset is everything in business leadership. If you are focused on the wrong things or constantly distracted from your goals, you will eventually be so far off track that you won’t recognize where you were trying to go in the first place. It’s like flying an airplane. A one-degree trajectory shift can end up taking you hundreds of miles away from your intended destination. Discipline is key when motivation isn’t there.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.brightgirl.media
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/brightgirlmedia
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/brightgirlmedia
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/chanelleyarber
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/brightgirlmediainc