We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sue Reynolds a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sue, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I started Carmine Media in 2011 as a social media and web content marketing agency. I had just started a new role as a social media analyst for a major corporation and wanted a way to experiment with social media on my own business channels and also learn to build and edit websites using WordPress. Carmine Media was born. Carmine is the color of strength, fire and vitality, and since my favorite color is red, the name fit perfectly. I began blogging, giving social media tips and experimenting with new tools and platforms. I had a few customers but nothing outlandishly successful.
Fast forward to the pandemic. I joined TikTok like many of us as a way to feel connected, be entertained, and experiment with a new social media platform. I was completely new to short form video as well, At that time most of the content was limited to viral dances and trends. Since I can’t dance I decided to use my leadership degree and the latest books I had read on women in leadership to create videos around the ways in which women sometimes hold themselves back at work. My very first video on removing unnecessary phrases from emails took off. It received over 350 thousand views. I was completely shocked. Thinking this could be a one-time phenomenon, I created a few more videos on the topic. The reaction was the same. Women from all over the world were commenting on my content, asking me to make more videos, telling me how much I was helping and inspiring them, asking me questions and sharing their concerns.
I knew I was onto something real. I put my leadership degree to work and obtained my coaching certification, then added leadership and career coaching to Carmine Media’s list of services. Since then I’ve become a regular speaker on the topic, a professional coach and a thought leader on the subject. I became accidentally famous on TikTok and with the advent of Facebook and Instagram Reels, accidentally famous on Facebook too! I always tell my social media team that the audience will teach you what works as long as your are paying attention. In this case, my audience taught me that women were hungry for this content and needed someone to support and encourage them. I’m still learning from them today.
Sue, 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?
What sets me apart from others is that I give real, actionable changes women, and everyone really, can make to their communications in order to be successful right now. I appreciate higher-level leadership theory as well, but the concise, actionable advice I am giving seems to really resonate with my clients.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I built my audience on social media by paying attention to what was working and what wasn’t working. Look at your analytics. Understand and provide the value your audience cares about. Ask yourself what’s in it for them. If your content is not useful to them in some way, by entertaining them, educating them, or making them think, they will scroll on.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I built my reputation on my own personal brand. My audience trusts me and my content. I now get many brand deal offers and I only take the ones that align with the values of my audience and deals that won’t make me sacrifice any of my values in the process. I will not consider any brand deal that doesn’t fit with my overall mission.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://carminemedia.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/carminemedia
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/carminemedia
- Other: https://tiktok.com/@carminemedia