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

Desiree, appreciate you joining us today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

For as long as I can remember, I have always been a very independent person, and my parents definitely saw that in me. They really let me make a lot of my own decisions, even at a young age. They would give me choices and I always knew they trusted that I could make the best one. I feel that even from small choices like choosing what I wanted to wear really aided me in my decision making. It made me confident in my decisions.

I even remember when my mom asked me in high school what I wanted to do for college and work, I told her I wasn’t sure but I wanted to do something that had to do art and computers. She told me about Graphic Design and it was a wrap from there. She listened to me AND told me an option that matched what I was interested in. She didn’t try to convince me to do something else that could be “more stable” in her eyes. My mom knew I was confident in my interests and walked with me to make the best decision that suited what I wanted.

Now as an adult, every decision I make – I am capable of trusting my own intuition, my own confidence.

I honestly believe I would not have been able to trust in myself to start my own business if it weren’t for them instilling that self confidence in my decision making at such an early age.

Desiree, 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?

As a Brand & Online Marketing Specialist, I have had the pleasure of working with a diverse range of clients over the years. From coaches to service providers to sticker companies and dance studios, I have helped them all overcome the common challenge of maintaining clarity and consistency on social media.

Social media can be a tricky beast to tame, and that’s where my expertise comes in. My name is Desi, and as the CEO and Creative Director of CreativDesigner, I am dedicated to helping online businesses establish a confident brand and purposeful online presence through social media. At the core of what I do is the importance of having a solid brand. Without a strong foundation, every other aspect of marketing your business will suffer.

But fear not! I have a variety of proven methods to help you build that foundation and execute your brand into online marketing. And what I love about these methods are that they are tailored to meet your unique needs.

For example, if you are just starting out, I suggest a more hands-on, DIY approach, which I can guide you through every step of the way. On the other hand, if you are an established business, you may prefer to hand over the reins and let me take care of the work for you – and I can do that as well.

My services are designed to help you achieve your goals, no matter what they may be. Here are just a few examples of what I can offer:

– Comprehensive Social Media and Brand Management
– Personalized Social Media Mentoring
– Expert Content Creation (including graphics, social media content, and more)
– In-Depth Brand and Marketing Strategy Consulting
– Professional Photography and Videography

So whether you’re just starting out or looking to take your existing business to the next level, I am here to help you every step of the way. We can work together to build your brand and establish your online presence like never before!

How did you build your audience on social media?

The hardest part about Social Media is comparing yourself to everyone else on all of the different platforms. I know we all want to be extremely successful online because then that means our businesses are successful. Which then means people want to work with us, and so forth. But my biggest lesson with building my online presence, even as a Social Media Specialist, I struggled with the comparison really bad,

With comparing myself to others, it made me not show up as my truest self. I was just trying to look like the other folks on there that are “doing well”. That was my biggest mistake. There was an entire 6 months of me just not enjoying being on Social Media at all. And again, as a Social Media Specialist, that’s probably not a good thing! I started doubting my abilities, my skill level. The thing is, I knew what I was doing, I was just blinded by the one thing preventing me from doing well.

So when you show up on Social Media, make sure your main focus – before getting into strategy and marketing – is understanding yourself and how you want to show up. If going LIVE isn’t something that brings satisfaction to your energy, you don’t HAVE to do it. If making funny reels is your jam, find ways to incorporate that into your messaging online. By doing this, you will create an organic following that will result in a higher conversion rate.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been nourishing my inner circle. 90% of my clients come from friends of clients I have already worked with. I put a lot of effort into the clients that I work with, and if they’re happy, they’re most likely going to tell their friends!

And when I say nourish my inner circle, I don’t just mean continuously sell to them. I mean getting to know them and their families, being in love with their business as much as I am in mine, having conversations with them outside of the work space. By doing this, I have not only gained amazing clients that speak so highly of the work that I do, but I have also gained the most amazingly aligned clients I could have ever asked for. I enjoy working with them, they enjoy working with me, and they also enjoy telling people about how much they love working with me as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://subscribepage.io/KInnVC
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativdesi.gner/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CreativDesigner67

Image Credits
Photos of me: https://www.instagram.com/collinscollectives/