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

Jenae, appreciate you joining us today. What’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

My “unpopular” industry opinion is two-fold, and it’s that business owners jump to delegating their social media and content marketing efforts too quickly to get it off of their plate as soon as possible; becoming part of the 60% average of business owners who report seeing little-to-no R.O.I. (return on investment) from their investment in a social media manager.; and that business owners without actual content creator aspirations don’t need to move online like content creators do… 👀

Before y’all come for me (😆 ), here’s a bit about me and my company SAYQUOI LLC.

I started as a social media manager and maintained my business off of that main offering for the better part of four years. What I found in that time, is that content is definitely King; and most business owners absolutely need social media managers/help OVER TIME–but not before they do the following:

-Have a “come to Jesus” moment with themselves about how they want to be represented on multiple platforms, in multiple mediums. Not all of us are creative types and therefore constitute success as: “I have an amazing product/service. I make/duplicate that product or service. THE END.”– giving very little thought or attention to how that connects with the exact person or persons they want to buy from them.

-Do an extensive, DEEP dive into their business goals and business plan and answer the questions: Does what I have to sell make an impact? Is it truly needed? What gaps am I filling? What problems am I solving; and how do I do so long-term AND meet my income goals?

– Cement their brand and get a brand guide created. A brand guide will solve nearly any roadblock or possibility of misalignment between a business owner and whomever they onboard to take over their online presence.

– Create an airtight sales funnel. What journey does your client go on from first hearing about you, to buying from you? Some systems and guidelines need to be in place and functional first. Bonus! : Content can be created *around this process.

– Have realistic expectations and appropriate metrics of success for your social media content. 100,000 views or followers does not necessarily $100,000 make! You don’t have to go viral– go VISCERAL!

Bottom line: Business owners are some of the most gifted among us. But we let our anxieties and the thievery of comparison in this digital age back us into analysis paralysis and wasted time, energy, and funds mishandling a free opportunity to market ourselves.

The wise are able to tap in a professional who cares about them, their clients and their businesses to help them reverse engineer their business plan; from plan— allllllll the way back down to client-facing lead generation (like social media content); before looking at social media platforms and running in the opposite direction.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Of course! I’m Jenae, Your Content “Therapist” and Creative Big Sis!

Fun facts about me:

-I can name a song (artist, genre, release year, and title) in seconds.
-Sour punch bites are my kryptonite. I can’t say no! (…If you’re my dentist and you’re reading this; no you aren’t! 🫣 )
-I studied Theatre Arts and English in college. Up until around 2018, you couldn’t convince me that my destiny wasn’t Broadway.
– I used to create full-on ad campaigns and commercials in my Tazmanian Devil Looney Tunes diary when I was a kid. I didn’t know that’s what I was doing, of course, but I would find a product we used around the house; make up a jingle, and storyboard commercials by drawing stick figures, locations, and everything. NERRRRD ALERRRT!
-I’ve been a solo business owner for nearly five years.

SAYQUOI started as an effort to help Actors, Artists, and Multi-Hyphenate Creatives dive into the business side of “show” with aligned, optimized social media and website content to keep them on top of their industry connections, and crafts, and keep them booked. It then evolved to servicing multiple businesses globally via social media management and brand consultations.

Today, I coach entrepreneurs, private practitioners, and subject matter experts on the art of reverse engineering their business goals to effectively strategize all applicable platforms and create dialed in content that attracts their dream clients/customers/fans, converting them into satisfied and paying clients/customers/fans.

My superpower is being able to look at the infrastructure of a business, how it brings people in, what its ideal client journey is, what the business owner or team’s divine assignment is for serving others, and diagnose how all of the above can get turned into effective marketing and content across all platforms on and off of social media.

My dream clients are business owners, private practitioners, creatives—subject matter experts who are not content creators, per se; but know they can’t afford to not have content that generates leads & builds trust. My clients understand that leveraging content and tapping into creativity and dialed-in messaging can keep the doors open and the lights on. My clients want to make a massive impact, have a heart to serve, and understand content & social media’s role in their goals.

I’m most proud of the immediate transformations I see in my clients on our coaching calls. That “aha!”, lightbulb moment when I can see that they feel both educated and empowered, but also nurtured and validated. They’re not “stuck”. They’re not “lost”. They CAN change the world with their particular brand of servitude, and it’s a few actionable steps away.

Folks are investing in themselves by getting free value sent to them through my email newsletter, by following me on my socials, and by joining my Booked and Balanced Content Marketing Mastery intensive program seasonal cohorts.

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

Selling through my Instagram stories, making TONS of connections on Threads, and word-of mouth… don’t sleep on these, y’a’ll!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

The Art of Pivoting. I’ve lived what feels like a million different lives; and all of them have brought me connections, colleagues and dear friends who willingly hype my name in rooms I’m not in.

I used to seriously shame myself for having had so many jobs over the years, and for so many of them being wildly different than my initial intended career path; but looking back I truly believe it set me up for optimal success with SAYQUOI. Because I’ve worked in so many different markets and worked with thought leaders spanning multiple markets/niches, I can now take on content coaching clients in any field and help them succeed.
I’ve traveled extensively on those side-quests, too. All of it gave me an education that even college couldn’t. I’m SO grateful!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.say-quoi.com (currently under construction at the time of this article’s release, but please keep checking back to visit me there online)
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_sayquoi?igsh=bGN5enk4dXd5NzF3&utm_source=qr
• Other: Interested in working together? Book a Clarity Call to see how I can best add value to you, here! :
  https://sayquoi-discovery.as.me/

Image Credits

Photography:
Emily Badgley
IG: @emb.jpg
emilybadgley.com

Creative Director:

Brianna McDonnell
IG: @_the_b_word
www.thebwordblog.com