#awinewith Shea Morrison
MEET Shea
Shea is the Founder of Collaborative Media Group and The Goodnight Co.
Find Shea here:
Collaborative Media Group website and Instagram @collaborativemediagroup.
The Goodnight Co website and Instagram @thegoodnightco.
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:08):
Shay, thank you so much for being with us here on Spark tv. You are wonderful. Thank you for sharing your time with us.
Shea Morrison (00:16):
Oh, thank you so much for having me. I've been really looking forward to this.
Danielle Lewis (00:20):
Yeah, it's always nice to get away from the workday for a bit and reflect on Biz life and let's start there. So tell us, so you run two businesses, the Collaborative Media Company and Goodnight co. Obviously two very different businesses. But I'm super interested to hear about your journey. So how did you get to actually being a business owner? Was there a career beforehand and then what was that kind of pivotal moment where you said, stop it, I can do this myself?
Shea Morrison (00:53):
Yes, there was look on my background, my career, former career was in radio advertising, so I was with Southern Cross Stereo and then Nova for a big chunk of my life in a sales capacity. So I was a direct sales manager and had an amazing career. It's exactly what I wanted to do when I left uni and well, not so much sales, but I sort of fell into sales, but I wanted to work in radio. I just thought it was so fun and it was lots of fun, but it was also massive. I look at it now and just go still talk to so many old colleagues and I just had a conversation with somebody from our Melbourne office today and they were saying what went on then people just wouldn't understand because
(01:47):
I know it doesn't seem like that long ago, but it really was a different time and it was a lot of fun, but it was also a lot of hard work. And so I was sort of got to that point after 10 years at Nova that I was ready for a change. I just had my second child and it just wasn't really the right, I needed a change of pace even though at the time I guess you think, oh, you'll start your own business and that'll be a change of pace in a good way. Don't really know what all
Danielle Lewis (02:19):
Do you know
Shea Morrison (02:21):
What you're heading into. So that was really eye opening and lots of really long nights with two little babies. And yeah, I was ready for a change. I'd always been entrepreneurial. So I had also, while I was working in radio, I owned a laser hair removal clinic, which was my first foray into
Danielle Lewis (02:44):
Business. Oh, I didn't know that. Cool.
Shea Morrison (02:46):
And sort of got a bit of a taste for it. And I'm also a marriage celebrant, so I've always looked at doing extra things and then when I had second child sleep became, sleep's always been really important for me. I'm one of those people that really need sleep and if I don't get it, I just don't function properly. Even when I was at uni, I'd be there going, how many hours do I need? I guess I'd be partying, but I really needed my sleep so I had to calculate it. And so when I had children, that just was a non-negotiable for me. And so Danielle, my business partner for the Goodnight Co and I had babies that were the same age and we just thought we'd add that element of the luxury. So sleep wasn't so big as it is now seven years ago, but we were sort of heading in that direction and we started the Goodnight Co, which was a sleep based business. We started off selling silk pillow cases in Imas and some aromatherapy. And then as more information grew and the more we learned, we added a whole massive range of products into it to really go down the sleep path of helping support people to get a better night's sleep.
Danielle Lewis (04:06):
Wow.
Shea Morrison (04:07):
I also had collaborative media groups, so I guess because I had my former career, I had clients and I had experience, and so I just thought I'll start two businesses because I had no idea and started a media business as well, which I still run today. So life is full, but somewhat rewarding as well.
Danielle Lewis (04:30):
Yeah, amazing. And interesting too. I think I love the point of I'll just quit my job and do it for myself because then I can kind of be flexible and work by own hours and you're like, oh my God, my own hours are all of my hours, 20 or seven. And I think sometimes as disciplined as you try and be, it's very hard not to even just keep thinking of work all of the time.
Shea Morrison (04:54):
All of the time. So as much as I think it's amazing and I love it, if you're somebody who doesn't want to do that, don't start a business.
Danielle Lewis (05:03):
Oh my gosh, I know. And look, it's really interesting. As a founder myself, I really struggle with sleep. The 3:00 AM wake up thinking about, I haven't done that, I haven't done that all that's a great idea. I should do that. Jumping on the phone and doing the bits and pieces. So I'm interested to get your thoughts on sleep and dive a little bit more into that, especially as so people watching today are business owners or aspiring business owners. And I know from every conversation I've had with a business owner this year that we are tired. We are tired and our sleep is suffering. So can you, I don't guess impart any wisdom on potentially what's going on and what we should be doing to help ourselves to have a little bit?
Shea Morrison (05:51):
Definitely. I could probably talk about this topic for hours, so I day,
(05:58):
But sleep is the third pillar of health and I think that a lot of people don't really understand that. I think that one of the problems that we have in society is that we are not educated during school around health, nutrition, diet and sleep as the three key pillars of health. And yes, I'm not saying it's totally excluded, but there isn't a huge amount of emphasis on it. And I think anything we actually innately aren't really born to understand what all of that needs to look like and all of those elements are very personalized. As a human being in our body, we are genetically so different. We are not the same. No cookie cutter approach can apply. And so that's why it's really important to take a step back, understand what, why sleep is important for you, and then start experimenting with what works well for you so that the key focus is prioritizing it and then making some steps to try to work out how it can make you feel better. I was speaking with a client today and they were saying that they hadn't really had a huge emphasis on sleep, but they were going down a health kick journey. They've lost 30 kilos just this year, which is a lot of great, and they said that sleep has played such a critical role in that. And he said, I've only just worked it out. And he said, when I'm not getting good sleep, I can't lose weight. He said, I know now when I really put the priority on sleep,
(07:36):
I just lose weight. So he said, yes, there's a diet element and he's exercising more. So there are those elements as well. But he said without the sleep, he really struggles to lose the weight. So I Interesting. I love that though. And that's the critical element to it, but I think that it's not just for weight loss, it's actually just so that you wake up in the morning feeling great. And also for our, I
Danielle Lewis (07:59):
Think clear, that's the biggest thing for me is if I don't get enough sleep or I've interrupted sleep, I wake up foggy, everything's out of whack. And those nights where I get a really good sleep, I'm like, oh, okay, I get it. I know what I got to do. I'm hustling today. It's all is good.
Shea Morrison (08:20):
And look, it's not going to happen for everyone every night. That's the reality. But if you can aim for it 80% of the time, then I think you're on a great, you're 10 steps ahead of everybody else and there are lots of things you can do, but there's lots of really simple things. There's also lots of free things that you can do. There's a great, I don't know if you heard of Mel Robbins, she's got the
Danielle Lewis (08:40):
Five. Oh my God, yes. Love that. And
Shea Morrison (08:42):
Mel plays a really big role in this as well because if you listen, what we talk about all the time at the Goodnight Co, so I run sleep workshops for corporates. We're about launch sleep consultation. So you can do a 15 minute consultation with me, which is redeemable on products, just to try and really help break it down a little bit and understand a bit more about what's going on for you. But there are products that can support you with this, but if you don't want to go to that step, you can also just do the free things, which is listen to Mel Robbins, get on board with her morning routine because the client's sleep actually starts in the morning. And so it's all about how you wake up and her five second rule is 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 launch before your brain can take over and say, hit the snooze button and jump out of bed. So if we take that action, that forward momentum and do that, we want to open the curtains, open the blinds, get the hit of sunlight, set that circadian premium, which is what helps the body to move through the day.
Danielle Lewis (09:46):
Yeah, I know, I must admit, so I'm in a hotel right now and the temptation is the curtains block out, but if I do that, I just want to sleep in and just go, oh, I'm in a luxurious bed. It's so dark and cozy. So I've consciously had to leave a gap so that as the sun is something up, I'm starting to wake up.
Shea Morrison (10:06):
Yes. And that's key. And then we want to try and remain calm throughout the day. So we break sleep into morning, day, night. So we've got products that support the morning, products that support the daytime and products that support the night and throughout the day. The key goal during the day is that we take some moments to take breaks so that we can try and keep the calm. So we are trying to keep the calmness, reduce the load on our nervous system so that we're in a less high flux state with our cortisol rising. So all of these things can really help us when we get to the nighttime. Then if we just have our nice little nighttime ritual, which might be having a hot shower, spraying your room with some sleep mist or putting essential oil on doing a quick two minute meditation or a gratitude, something that you're grateful for today, that's as simple as it needs to be, but the consistency part is the key. So you can't just do it once and say it didn't work, it didn't work, do it for at least 21 days.
Danielle Lewis (11:16):
But I do love that you are right. Everything you've just said, there's nothing insurmountable there. There is nothing where I'm like, oh, that sounds a little bit too hard or too much. Everything you said was super easy, but it is that conscious actually consciously need to be preparing for your sleep and the maintenance, that consistency.
Shea Morrison (11:36):
And if you think about it like that, it's no different to if we decide that we were going to run a marathon or we've got one lose weight or do any of those things. Because when we do that, we invariably set a training routine. We might recruit a personal trainer or start going to a gym. We probably buy a whole pile of new fitness equipment and some water bottles and yoga mats and all the rest of all the flash gear. Yes,
Danielle Lewis (12:00):
Absolutely. You can't start without that. Yeah,
Shea Morrison (12:02):
That's right. So we're spending all of this money and we are talking about it to everybody and we are telling them this is what we're going to do. And it's the same when it comes to sleep. So it's exactly the same thing. We need to talk about it with your partner or somebody that is going to keep you accountable. So the accountability is really key and then put it into action and create it so that it's beautiful. Going to bed should be an amazing experience because then your body and your brain is sitting there going, oh, this is what I want to do. I love climbing bed. It's like, oh, it's the best feeling. So trying to get that positive association is probably important as well.
Danielle Lewis (12:42):
Yeah. Oh gosh. I know. I mean, I must admit there is nothing after a long day curling off under the covers isn't there? But you're right. If you think about like, oh, I'm going to have another bad night's sleep. I'll be tossing and turning. If you've got that negative self-talk around sleep, then you're kind of setting yourself up for a bad night's sleep.
Shea Morrison (13:02):
Yeah, well the worry and the stress takes over. So if we look at the connection around, as you said before we were talking about this, so fatigue and burnout is so high on the agenda in the corporate environment right now, and we're all feeling it. I'm feeling it. You are feeling it. So it's that also that notion of how stress is the number one culprit when it comes to sleep. Right now we've come off the back of this pretty hairy stage for the last couple of years and people are tired, they are exhausted, and they're kind of just limping to the finish line. And so sleep can really help play a part in that. The trouble when it comes to stress and anxiety is it's like the chicken and egg. Are you not sleeping stressed and anxious or are you stressed and anxious? You're not sleeping and sometimes,
Danielle Lewis (13:54):
So
Shea Morrison (13:54):
It's trying to break that connection around that and coming up with some strategies that work for you that help you feel more calm and more relaxed.
Danielle Lewis (14:04):
Oh, I love that. Okay, so speaking of being stressed and anxious, potentially feeling a little bit burnt out, I'm interested to know, and we talked earlier when we said, oh, just quit and start a new business and amazing. What was your transition? Were there some key things that you really had to I guess, grow and upskill and learn about as a business owner? Were there any kind of key moments or challenges where you went, oh, this was completely unexpected?
Shea Morrison (14:35):
Yes, I would say that that came down to zero and our financial side of things, when things hadn't been journaled properly for 12 months and we had to pay somebody to come in and really sort our books out, it's
Danielle Lewis (14:50):
One of those boring things that you put to the bottom of the list, isn't it?
Shea Morrison (14:54):
Yeah, it's not high on my agenda ever and not my skillset, but I do say to people always, I was just talking to a friend who started a new architecture firm and I was saying to her and her husband actually, and I said, just get a bookkeeper first thing, get a bookkeeper. You
Danielle Lewis (15:13):
Don't have to have them on full time, but just a couple hours a week to keep things maintained.
Shea Morrison (15:19):
And I said, for what? You are worth your hourly rate and then what? Having to upskill yourself in the things that you don't know, it's not financially viable for you to go and do the bookkeeping part
Danielle Lewis (15:32):
Of it.
Shea Morrison (15:33):
And that's your expertise that you're relying on that person to be able to send you the information, feed you with what's happening, what you need to do in that space. So I always think that finding a great bookkeeper if you're just starting out is a great place to start. Having a good accountant is also very worthwhile. And then just making sure that you are, I think you spoke about it before as well, Danielle, around community, and it doesn't really matter what business, I think it doesn't matter what business that you are going into, you need a community, whether that's part of your business or for you. So community probably is a key part.
Danielle Lewis (16:12):
I love that so much. So I'm absolutely obsessed with community at the moment. I really think it's going to be the way of the future no matter what industry you're in, especially as we hear more about Web3 and the Metaverse, it's all based around communities and them gathering online. And I think you're right. And even a bit of self-reflection, one of the things I notice is when I stopped talking to other people, I really struggle. I really, I'm not confident in my decisions. I second guess myself and then I'm like, you know what? You need to just book three meetings with three other business owners that and just verbal diarrhea. And I do. And then I'm like, look, this is what I'm doing. This is what I'm thinking. This is what's happening. This is the challenges. Am I being crazy? And invariably you're not. You just need to say words out loud. So surrounding yourself with your people is such a good idea
Shea Morrison (17:16):
And I think and it's for you as your community and then in your business, who is that community as well and nurturing those.
Danielle Lewis (17:25):
Yeah, absolutely. And I think as business owners, it's super important to understand that as the CEO or the founder, you're not always going to be able to talk to your employees about every issue, and you want to protect them from the actual business owning. So having peers that you can go to in that community is super important. I totally agree.
Shea Morrison (17:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
Danielle Lewis (17:49):
Then do you do, so obviously we've talked about sleep. Is sleep the be all and end all for you or do you have ways of juggling everything? I mean, you've got two businesses, there might be wind of a third, there's a family at home, there's a personal life. How do you juggle everything, manage everything and actually stay sane during the process?
Shea Morrison (18:14):
In the early days, I was very guilty in reflection. Sometimes I don't know how I did it when I had babies. My children are born 15 months apart and I look back and I go, I had babies and I used to stay up really late and work, and I was so excited and I look at it now and I think, how did I do that? I can't. I'm in bed 9, 9 30.
Danielle Lewis (18:40):
I know. I'm like, where was that useful energy going?
Shea Morrison (18:44):
And I think as we move through, I was doing a podcast yesterday with a naturopath Matt Leg, and he is just phenomenal. He owned a TP Science. Oh, cool. What are they? Supplement brand. And he's just a great guy. And we were talking about cycling through the seasons but also through stages. And so we are talking that was more in reference to seasonally buying fresh produce and how important that is. But it also comes back to cycling through our stages of life as well.
Danielle Lewis (19:21):
And
Shea Morrison (19:22):
I think that as we move into different stages, particularly as females, it's understanding where we're at and really honoring that. And I think that when I do reflect and I look well, then I was in my early thirties and now I'm in my early forties. It's a really difference. And I hate to say it, but I'm getting older and I'm not saying that I'm old, I'm just getting older.
Danielle Lewis (19:47):
And
Shea Morrison (19:47):
I think it's also acknowledging that and understanding where you are at and where you can push your boundaries. And I think for me, coming out of a really busy, I used to go out three or four times a week and then I would be out on weekends because that was part of my job. I say no a lot because I actually really love being at home and I really love being with, I have a really busy family life as well. And so I really enjoy that. And I think that it's putting up your boundaries, knowing where your boundaries are is critical. And that's whether that's the personal space around you with your employees, with your clients, peers, whoever that is, and understanding what you want and being able to say no is really important, I think.
Danielle Lewis (20:42):
Yeah, I love that so much because one of the things I hear from business owners is the comparisonitis looking at other people's Instagram journeys and kind of going, oh my god, I'm not hustling. I'm not up at 5:00 AM going for a run, or I'm not doing this, I'm not doing that. And I think that it's really, it's almost a little bit toxic, the energy around being a business owner and the standards that you hold yourself to. I love the idea that we are moving towards more of an aligned feeling, more of an understanding of where we're at, what we want our business to even look like. I have this hatred for people that post about being five figure, six figure, seven figure agency. I'm like, because different for everybody. Not having a seven figure business doesn't mean you're a failure, but having a business that aligns to the life that you want to live is absolutely assess and absolutely fantastic. So I do love that idea then of self-reflection and understanding where you are at in your life and your life journey and having the business aligned to that.
Shea Morrison (21:57):
And I think it's understanding what your values are and what's important to you. And so it's how old are your children and do you need to be there for them as well? And where do you fit things in? And if they don't get done well, then they don't get done. And so who are the people around you that are asking for the things to be done and can you push back and you own the business, so what does that look like for you? And so you set those really clear boundaries and sometimes that's tricky. I know I have investors and there are lots of pressures and demands from different people at certain times, but at the end of the day, it's your business.
Danielle Lewis (22:41):
Oh my God, totally. I love that so much. There was once a time with Scrunch where I was super unhappy if I'm being honest, and I was like, oh my God, you're an idiot. You are the boss. You are the one that gets to change things. So I do love that it is that you are the boss of your own life, of your own business. So actually take that time to sit down and map out what it would look like if it felt amazing for you.
Shea Morrison (23:09):
And I think that's critical. And I also look at it, I think that one, I sit in a Gen X category and I think if we're looking at the different generations that sit underneath me and a lot of those make up my workforce, and I think it's also really tuning into that we are different.
Danielle Lewis (23:32):
Totally. And
Shea Morrison (23:33):
Where we have come from and what we've done is very different to what is here now and how do we make that work as well. There's so much talk at the moment. I'm sure you've seen with smack bang designs have gone to a four day work week, so paying their staff, their full salary. And then there was an article in Daily Oz yesterday that they're doing a trial in New Zealand, UK and then Australia and New Zealand, I think it's 3000 companies to go to a four day work week. What does all of this look like for business as well? Because for me, I love that all my team will work from home on Fridays. I'm the silly one that still comes into the office on a Friday. I'd really like to work a four day work week.
Danielle Lewis (24:19):
Yeah, I know. So my mantra, what I'm working towards as a whole day work week is not starting till midday on a Monday and knocking off at midday on a Friday. So I do two half days. Yeah.
Shea Morrison (24:32):
Oh, that's a good idea.
Danielle Lewis (24:33):
Well, in theory, but then the challenge is as a business owner, it's like Saturday and you're on the couch doing emails. I'm like, that's not quite working. Yeah, no, that's really interesting. And look, you mentioned investors, so I'm keen to understand how that process was for you. So was that for the Goodnight Co or both businesses or no, what good.
Shea Morrison (24:56):
Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (24:57):
So obviously being a product based business, how did that process look like? Was it to get it off the ground for either product creation or growth or what did it look like?
Shea Morrison (25:07):
Yeah, it was more for scale. So I can't remember the dates exactly, but I think we were probably 18 months in to the business and things were going really well and we needed some extra funds to scale from a product point of view and a marketing and advertising point of view I guess at that point as well. So we took on three minority shareholders and yeah, it's been an interesting process. There are pros and cons.
Danielle Lewis (25:43):
So we've done five rounds of investment for scrunch, but I'm now at the point where I'm never again, so it is, and so it's Spark though that's completely bootstrapped a totally different model. And people always ask what the experience is like. And I kind of say, and it depends if you've got three minority shareholders, they might've been friends or contacts, I'm not sure. As opposed to Okay. As opposed to going out and doing a large raise where you've got to talk to 17,000 people before you get one person that says yes. What was that process like for you? Did you find it, have to talk to a whole bunch, was strategic, how did that roll out?
Shea Morrison (26:25):
No, it was more a friendly round. And so I have a friend who invested and then he had two contacts as well. So it's definitely friendly, but we've certainly looked at second rounds and things like that and we've prepared an investor pitch deck and we've gone down that whole process and looked at things in detail. We are probably steering away from wanting to do that at this point in time, but we eyes wide open to it.
Danielle Lewis (27:00):
Yeah. Well it's interesting now because there's a few options now, obviously a lot
Shea Morrison (27:05):
Of options.
Danielle Lewis (27:06):
Yeah. There's traditional investment for equity, there's crowdfunding now where your customers invest in you and
Shea Morrison (27:14):
Then the equity funding funding. Yeah, a lot. So I was at a naturally good business summit last Friday and
(27:22):
It was really interesting and that was a big topic of conversation and they had an equity crowdfunding company there talking and a te, which is that brand, it's spelled E-T-H-I-Q-U-E. They're a really big sustainable, they call themselves now regenerative beauty brand. Oh wow. 20 countries and they've got the beauty bars and shampoos and things like that. And she did a crowdfunding capital raise. So it was interesting listening to her experience with that, which were customers. And then there was the other brand, I can't remember the name of it, he's got the little tablets that you dissolve into the water to give you the soap.
Danielle Lewis (28:11):
Oh yeah, yeah. Oh God, I dunno.
Shea Morrison (28:13):
Yeah. Anyway, it's got a quirky name. Anyway, so he was there and he was talking about his experience. His was through an equity crowdfunding company, and then they were talking about debt funding, and I was sitting next to somebody from an equity from a capital company. So there was a lot of conversation going on about it, and everybody's got different stories and different experiences, and I definitely feel from when we've been talking about it in the last couple of years, a lot has changed. As you say, a lot more options are available.
Danielle Lewis (28:44):
Yeah, definitely. And I think it's like, I love that because a lot of times in the media we just see the headlines for the So-and-so raised $10 million or a hundred million and then the next unicorn. And I feel like sometimes it makes us feel like if we're not doing that, we're not successful. Whereas companies that bootstrap sometimes are more profitable than the old unicorn that raised a hundred million dollars or going out to your, if you have built that epic community going out to your customers and doing it that way. I've seen those, I follow a few of the companies, I've seen those sell out overnight because that's how strong their community is. So yeah, the
Shea Morrison (29:24):
Handwashing one, I think he did it.
Danielle Lewis (29:26):
Yes.
Shea Morrison (29:27):
Or actually the Handwashing one I thing he did in three days and then I think she did it in 90 minutes.
Danielle Lewis (29:34):
Wow, that's
Shea Morrison (29:36):
Incredible.
Danielle Lewis (29:38):
So my experience, traditional capital raising has been six months, six months of slog. And then you look at that and you're like, wow, powerful community. Like 90 days, or sorry, yeah, 90 minutes or three days or I'm like, wow, that is incredible.
Shea Morrison (29:54):
I think it's all about what you want, what doing a lot of research, understanding what you want out of it, understanding what control you're prepared to give away as well.
Danielle Lewis (30:03):
Yeah, definitely. It's definitely a key factor. I was actually having a conversation with a founder yesterday around different companies in Australia, and I was a bit surprised about how little some of the founders own now, and I was like, oh, that's a bit sad when you're kind of losing control and this baby that you've built is now almost like a job rather than being your business. So you do really have to, I feel like the moral of today's chat is like self-reflection. Like what do I want out of this? How do I want my life to look? And then making the appropriate decisions.
Shea Morrison (30:38):
And not to sound loom, but we are only here for a really short time. So it's like, and I think being able to make quick decisions as well is important. If something is not working or it's not enjoyable, then you just need to change it.
Danielle Lewis (30:53):
Totally. Totally. I agree with that. Okay, so then raised for growth. So let's talk growth and obviously got the media business as well, and you've got the marketing background, the sales background. So I feel like sales, marketing growth is in your wheelhouse as a new business owner. So someone who's listening, who is just getting into it and right in that phase of trying everything, any thoughts on how to create a growth strategy when you are just starting out and you really have no idea what's going to work for you long term?
Shea Morrison (31:34):
Yeah, it's a tricky one, isn't it? But I think that some of the, in reflection, I think that
(31:43):
Trial and error is great, but you also need to be following somewhat of a plan. So I think that there needs to be a really clear goal of what is the outcome? Why are you doing this? What is the purpose? Who are your customers? Because who's going to be your community? I think the two key points for businesses these days, and there was obviously this natural business summit last week, there was a lot of conversation around is it business for purpose or what are you doing? Where is the sustainability element in it? So it depends on what sort of business you're running, obviously. But I feel that the two key points are messaging and community. So getting really, really clear about your messaging. And again, I keep saying community, but who is your community? And I think when you get really clear about those two points, I almost feel like you can't do a business if you're not clear about those two points. And I say that through experience. I'm not saying it, it's through experience of working that out. It's taken me a long time. And to try and save some of that heartache for people that are starting out, I think that if you can get to that point really quickly, then you're probably going to be way ahead of anybody else.
Danielle Lewis (33:05):
Totally. And I could not agree with that more. So if you know who your people are, who your community is, who your customers will be, you want them landing on a website or on your socials or any point of contact where you are super clear, right? That's one or two, you need the right people to see the right message at the right time and taking the time to sit back and actually understand that. I mean, I love it because I'm actually going through that process with scrunch because we've kind of pivoted a little bit this year actually taking that time to sit down and go, okay, hold on. What's different now? What value do we actually provide? What problem do we solve and how do we say it in a way that connects with this person? Now it's a little bit different than who we used to market to. How do we say it in a way where they just see that one sentence and they get it? And that is actually hard. It's hard work. It's hard many iterations.
Shea Morrison (34:05):
And so also I think that these days, because it is a pay for play type of environment as well, you've got to have decent budgets. I know that sounds a bit horrible in a way, but you can't be deciding to launch a business now and not have some decent marketing and advertising budgets because if copywriting's not your expertise, if paid social is not your expertise or even organic social, you're going to need to be paying a really decent amount of money per month to get all of that sorted, unless you've got some amazing sales strategy that doesn't require any of those elements.
(34:49):
And I think that most businesses, whether it be products or service based, you do need the brand builder in the first place to get that brand awareness out there. I mean, that's our number one goal. We are not a household name, but we really want to be a household name, and you need to spend a lot of money these days I feel to, and it's not so much a lot of money, it is just more you need to have those budgets set aside so that you can speak to consultants, talk to people, and get the advice as well on how to bring all of that to life.
Danielle Lewis (35:24):
And that's a really good point. If you put up a website, no one finds that tomorrow. So you are either one-to-one going out and cold emailing someone. And it's a very slow process if slow process. And if that is the model and it's super high value, maybe that's okay. But if you are going to connect with the masses, I need to get that out there. You do really have to have a budget or people are just not going to find you
Shea Morrison (35:49):
Or have some great people around you that can help you get to get to that point as well. And I think that that's where the community element comes in. So if you don't have massive budgets, if you can build a great community through Facebook community or any type of program like that, then I think that that's going to really help as well. There's such a great, I love listening to a lot of Jenna Kutcher's podcasts and all of her blogs and things like that because I think she gives away so much excellent free advice. And one of the big key strategies is around using a podcast and a closed Facebook community group. And I think that's a really lovely way to build community if you are on a really tight budget as well.
Danielle Lewis (36:36):
Yeah, and I love that too, because there in case in Point is the example of she's obviously provided value and now we're out here talking about her amazing community, right? And just free promo. That's right. Yeah, it's amazing. Well, look, you are absolutely wonderful. Thank you for spending your evening with us on Spark TV and giving up all of your amazing wisdom and sharing your story. So I guess to close it out, if there might be one piece of wisdom that you would share with a female founder who's in the trenches right now, what would it be?
Shea Morrison (37:14):
I think it's about having, whilst you might be in the trenches and you're in that feeling of bit of doom and gloom, maybe, is really trying to find the spark that you are talking about, Danielle, and it's like what is the joy remembering why you've done what you've done and trying to bring that fun and energy back into it. Because if you are on your journey to building a business that is massive, it is such a huge step. And I think that there are so many amazing, particularly females out there doing it. And like you said, we are all here to help support each other and be collaborative as opposed to fighting for your piece of the share. And the more collaborative that we can be together, the more that we can just grow collectively as a universe. And I think finding and remembering that little spark about why you did it and bringing that back into your day can make such a big difference.
Danielle Lewis (38:10):
Incredible. Thank you so much. That is absolutely spot on. Yeah. I'm so grateful that you spent your time with us and shared your wisdom, so thank you and cheers for coming.
Shea Morrison (38:22):
Thanks, Danielle. Thanks so much for inviting me. It was lovely to connect.
Danielle Lewis (38:26):
Of course.
