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

Alright, Julie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

Asking friends and family to support your business is such a simple and wonderful way to give yourself a leg up when you’re first starting out.

I feel like people immediately think of asking friends/family to BUY something from you as supporting your business, but that’s only one option. Supporting your business could be telling their friends and family about you, sharing your posts on social media, writing a (hopefully) positive review about your product or service, and so on! Their support doesn’t have to cost them a dime, just a few moments of their time.

I find that asking my friends and family to like or share my posts has a much bigger impact on my business and a higher response rate from them! Your friends and family don’t want to see you fail, and you asking them to take 15 seconds out of their day to help you without spending a cent is easy enough, so why wouldn’t they? Plus, that word of mouth or share of your post can reach so much farther than them just coming in, buying something, and leaving. That shared post is put in front of thousands of people and potential customers who never would have seen your post if it hadn’t been for your friends or family. Talk about a great return on investment!

For instance, when I first started my social media business, B&B Marketing, I made a big intro post announcing the business and asked friends and family to share it. Thanks to that request, my post was put in front of someone who knew a business owner who needed social media help! Just like that, I had my first client, and it didn’t cost me or the friend who shared it a penny!

I think it becomes trickier once you start asking people to buy your product to support your business. It’s no longer a mere 15 seconds of their time, now you’re asking them to spend their hard-earned money on your service or product. People tend to feel a little less generous when being asked to do something like that. Instead, I like to leave the purchasing of a service or product to those who are truly interested in it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

B&B Marketing started from a genuine love for helping small businesses find their voice on social media. I’ve always been drawn to the storytelling side of things and connecting with people in real and engaging ways, so social media marketing felt like a natural fit. As I got into the field, I saw how many businesses struggle to keep up with the demands of social media while running their day-to-day, and I realized I could step in and make a difference.

At B&B Marketing, we handle all things social media, from crafting unique strategies and planning content to engaging with followers and tracking results. Our goal is to take the weight of social media management off our clients’ shoulders so they can focus on what they do best. We want to help them reach the right people, tell their story authentically, and ultimately grow their business.

What makes us different? I think it’s our personal touch and how invested we are in each client’s success. We genuinely care about helping our clients not only look good online but connect with their audience in a way that feels true to them. One of the things I’m most proud of is the feedback we get from clients who tell us they feel truly seen and supported.

At the end of the day, I want potential clients and followers to know that we’re here to be their social media partner—someone they can trust to handle the details while they focus on their passion. We’re not just managing accounts, we’re helping build communities and tell stories that matter.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Being resilient is a constant part of my journey! It’s not as easy as waiting for the clients to magically come to me. Every week I’m trying to put my business out there. This includes posting on my social media pages, sharing it to my personal pages, posting on local group pages about my business, going to networking events, and even a few door-to-door introductions!

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

Piggybacking off of the first question about resilience, I had to unlearn being impatient and that millennial “instant gratification” mindset!
Having worked at agencies and businesses before, I never had to go out and get my work if that makes sense. It was sent to me by a project manager, coworker, manager, etc.
Since starting my business, I have been the CEO, CMO, CFO, COO, sales manager, administrator, you name it! So I had to learn very quickly not to sit on my @ss and wait for clients to come to me. I have to constantly put my name out there, take calls, respond to emails, anything and everything to try to get more clients on board AND understand that these things do take time. The millennial in me is clawing her eyes out having to wait for responses or accept that I’ve been ghosted by yet another inquiring business owner.
It’s brutal, but a great lesson learned!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bandbmarketing.org
• Instagram: @bbmarketingco
• Facebook: B&B Marketing
• Linkedin: B&B Marketing