We recently connected with Darcy Birden and have shared our conversation below.

Darcy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later?

There are times I wish I didn’t “waste time” and started my own business sooner. I think the biggest thing was believing in myself. After college, I did what is considered normal and got a 9 to 5 job and started grinding it out working long days as a news reporter. Funnily enough, as a reporter you are shooting your own content and running your own social media while contributing to the tv stations social media. Basically I was doing what I do now, just in a different way at the job I was at. While that job provided steady income and health benefits that I don’t have as an individual business owner I wish I started sooner because I feel like my growth was quicker as an individual. Bigger mistakes were made because I work for myself and take contract work but those mistakes taught me things that working in corporate never could. I think that’s the biggest thing. No matter when you start there will always be a learning curve, you will always make mistakes. It’s important to note that it’s okay, own them, learn from them, acknowledge them to your clients and you will be okay. I like being treated like a human versus a machine which I think says a lot about corporate vs self employment.

Darcy, 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 currently run The Birden Brand. The Birden Brand is a place small businesses, brands, and influencers can come for social media content, strategy, marketing, and management. My experience in News, Communications, and Marketing have allowed me to really understand all angles of social media. COVID is honestly the reason for me starting my own business. I was still in news at the time and when COVID first began my hours were cut to a non-livable wage. At that point it was go big or go home. I took a job in communications to bring in additional income while I started growing my brand/business and left it once I was earning enough income to pay the bills. While looking for leads in social media management and content creation I reached out to a photographer, Marcos Covos, for tips on shooting. That connection led me to working on commercial photography sets involving brands like Morphe, Patrick Ta, Lilly Lashes, Ryan Sims Beauty Cosmetics, D Hair Boutique and influencers like Real Housewives of Dallas Star Dr. Tiffany Moon, Netflix’s The Circle star Chris Sapphire, and more! These connections and work helped my business to gain notice and I started receiving inquiries and work that grew and grew and grew. Following these shoots some of the above mentioned brands/influencers even hired me for social media and content creation which is the main services I provide.

I think what people don’t realize is you don’t have to be a massive brand to work with big brands and big names. All it takes is reaching out! I also want to emphasize building genuine connections. If you don’t have something genuine then those connections will never grow. Marcos and I started chatting on Instagram. I literally just started commenting on his lighting and such and the day he needed an assistant I was the person selected. By being on that set and actively working to help him and not shove my business out there is honestly what helped grow me. He would call me more and more often and so I was learning more and more tips from him until eventually I was his partner in crime, running his photoshoots for him so he could just focus on photographer. Being genuine and willing to learn opened doors to connections that I wouldn’t have received otherwise and I think that’s an important takeaway. The people that call me for social media work and content creation would not know my name if I showed up on set one day and just tried to push myself onto people because if I did that, I never would’ve gotten a call back.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

It is not important to go viral.

There. I said it. I know that’s a controversial statement but it’s true(mostly). When working with a real estate client we put out a reel that reached a couple hundred thousand people. Those numbers and metrics are great right? Yes, for the algorithm it’s helpful, but then I was asked “why didn’t I get very many leads from that video?”. The truth, we went viral but it wasn’t his audience. He was reaching people all over the country, all ages, and all demographics. A very small percentage of the people who saw the video were people who fit his target audience. From then on we worked to “go viral” within his target audience, which meant hitting 10-20k views on something versus 100-500k views. It meant niching down the content – not jumping on the big trends unless it could be made relevant to his audience, and trial and error. It might not be what most consider “going viral” but it works to generate more leads than the majorly viewed content.

Do you have multiple revenue streams – if so, can you talk to us about those streams and how your developed them?

I have a wide range of skills within the creative industry due to my college education and work history. I have a lot of people who come to me and ask me if I can do something that’s not listed on my website. If it’s something I can do I set up a meeting to truly get their vision, come up with a price point, and we go from there. If it is something I can’t do then I usually know someone I can refer them too. I work in social media and content creation but I also work as a Unit Production Manager (producer) on commercial photography sets. It’s not a service I advertise too often but I have a lot of fun doing it and I’m good at it. I was flown to Paris to produce a 2-day long photoshoot across the city – so crazy! I also consult with people on their brands and their social media. I truly believe in being open to other services than those listed on your website if it’s something that’s going to make you happy. As mentioned above, if I can’t do it I normally know someone who can. One time a client called and said “You know everyone who does everything and our dog sitter just cancelled, I know it’s a long shot but do you know anyone who can dog sit while we are out of town?”. Guess what, my little sisters dog sit. Having that reputation of being the go-to person has really helped my business. I refer people to so many other people and in return those people refer me to clients too.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thebirdenbrand.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_darcybirden/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBirdenBrand
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedarcybirden/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DarcyBirden

Image Credits
Marcos Covos