Why Businesses are Missing out on TikTok with Rebecca Simon

Joe Casabona: Real quick before we get started, I want to tell you about my free weekly newsletter, Build Something Weekly. You can sign up for it over at buildsomething.email. It has all sorts of things: insights and questions, it has the top takeaways of each episode weekly, it has the latest content I’ve created. And it’s genuinely where I first announced new things I’m working on, like this new Beyond 8 workshop that I’m putting together to help podcasters fight pod fade. You can find out more about that and everything in my free weekly newsletter over at buildsomething.email.

Intro: Hey everybody, and welcome to Episode 238 of How I Built It, the podcast that offers actionable tech tips for small business owners. Today’s sponsors are TextExpander and Nexcess. You can find out about them later on in the show. All of the show notes will be over at streamlined.fm/238.

As an elder millennial, TikTok as a platform scares and upsets me. I’m not really sure how to use it to grow my audience if I even can, and I’m worried it’s just going to be a huge time suck. But according to Rebecca Simon, if your business isn’t on TikTok, it’s a huge missed opportunity. So naturally, I asked her how a small business owner can make the most of the platform. Rebecca offers some of the best advice I’ve heard for any social network.

So if you’re wondering how you can grow your audience through TikTok, this episode is for you. I promise it’ll be more than three minutes. Plus, in Build Something More, I asked Rebecca how some of my favorite TikToks, which made it to Instagram reels were made.

If you want to get ad-free extended episodes of this podcast, including today’s bonus conversation, and you want to get them a whole day earlier, you can join the Build Something Club. That’s just five bucks a month or 50 bucks a year. And you can sign up and see all of the show notes for this episode over at streamlined.fm/238.

Now, let’s get on with the show.

Joe Casabona: Hey everybody, and welcome to another episode of How I Built It, the podcast that offers actionable tech tips for small business owners. My name is Joe Casabona, and I am excited to be with you today.

I am excited to bring on today’s guest. Her name is Rebecca Simon. She is a business coach for Virtual Service Providers at the Success Society. And on top of her entrepreneurial journey, we’re going to be talking about TikTok, something that scares and upsets me. Hopefully, by the end of this conversation, I will no longer be scared or upset. Maybe I’ll even be on TikTok. As an elder millennial I feel like the deck is stacked against me. But we’ll see. I’m excited to talk to Rebecca. Rebecca, how are you?

Rebecca Simon: Hi, I’m so good. Thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to be here.

Joe Casabona: Thanks so much for coming on the show. I’m excited to talk about this, because like I said in the intro, my babysitter, who was 17 at the time was telling me about this new thing called TikTok. And I opened it and I’m scrolling and then like 10 minutes go by, and I’m like, “What happened?” And so I immediately deleted the app because I have children and I was like, “I can’t do this.”

But now all the TikToks are making it over to Instagram reels anyway. And in a previous episode, I spoke to my friend John Perpillant and he mentioned “try out various areas of content, repurpose.” And so I’ve been doing YouTube shorts. And maybe that’s a fit for TikTok. I don’t know, though.

But before we get into all that, we’re like three minutes in and I’ve been talking too much. We’re here to hear from you. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.

Rebecca Simon: Yeah. So my background, I started in a corporate setting. I actually was one of those people who really enjoyed my job. I didn’t mind going to the nine to five. My job was in human resources, and I was a Director of Human Resources. But at the time, I was doing a lot of babysitting and a lot of nannying. And there gets to be a point I feel like in a lot of people’s lives where they just like don’t want to watch other people’s kids anymore. They want to find other ways to make money.

And I did one of those Google searches, like, “how to make money online” or “side hustles,” stuff like that, and I fell upon the world of virtual assisting. And it completely opened up and changed my eyes. I found this world of what being a virtual assistant is, what being a virtual service provider is or was. And I started working as a virtual assistant.

And as I became more and more involved and passionate about my VA business, I started to care less and less about my corporate job. And I learned how to leverage all the skills that I had from my corporate job and apply them in my online business, which grew, which then I was able to grow and scale my business to a point where I was able to leave my nine to five and scale past the salary from what I was making as a Director of Human Resources. So it’s been a really cool journey.

My platform of choice is TikTok, which is definitely out of the norm these days for people. People are starting to get more into TikTok. But that is my platform of choice. That’s how I communicate with my community, my audience.

I started on TikTok I think kind of like you. I downloaded the app thinking nothing of it, thinking maybe it’ll pass the time during, I think it was like the middle of quarantine, where everything was locked down, and you couldn’t go anywhere. And I started to get into it. And I was like, “You know, this looks really fun.” And I started just making small TikTok about my life as a virtual assistant and as an online business manager because I transitioned from being a VA to an OBM.

And the response that I got was overwhelming. Like people didn’t know. The same feeling that I had when I googled how to make money online and like fell upon the world of being a VA is the response that I got, the more I was putting myself out there and telling others about my experience being a virtual assistant and being in the online space.

Joe Casabona: Awesome. So there are a couple of things I want to touch on here. And when you said babysitting and nannying, that was in the metaphorical sense?

Rebecca Simon: Early stages.

Joe Casabona: Is that metaphorical or you were literally watching children?

Rebecca Simon: Oh, no, I was literally watching children for extra money on the side.

Joe Casabona: Got you. Got you.

Rebecca Simon: I was just over it. I was over it.

Joe Casabona: When you said Director of HR and then you said babysitting, I was like do you mean like the employees were babies? But you were literally a nanny.

Rebecca Simon: There’s a lot of babysitting in that too.

Joe Casabona: And then the world of being a virtual assistant is interesting to me. Because I have a VA she’s based in the Philippines and she’s been great. But I’ve been thinking more about… you know, because she’s like, “You can always give me…” She didn’t explicitly say “give me access to your email.” But she’s like, “I do these services where I can have access to your email.”

I think about the tasks I have her do, which she might be listening and transcribing to this. So, Ana, you’re fantastic. I’m very happy to have you aboard. But I see kind of a delineation between the specific tasks. Like generally, I’ll make a video on exactly how to do it, and send it off. And she always does really well with that. Versus finding somebody who thinks a little bit like me and understands my business so that I don’t have to do as much instruction.

So maybe just quickly, we can touch on that a little bit. Because you’re based in the United States, I guess?

Rebecca Simon: I am. Yes.

Joe Casabona: Okay, cool.

Rebecca Simon: So let me start by saying there’s a ton of different types of VAs out there. The term VA is such an umbrella term, because under the umbrella, you have specialists, you have generalists, you have online business managers, which is kind of a little bit different than a VA, which I’ll talk about next-

Joe Casabona: That’s what OBM stands for. I was going to ask you about that too.

Rebecca Simon: OBM.

Joe Casabona: Cool.

Rebecca Simon: Yes, exactly. So there really are VA is for so many different things. There’s VA is you can hire to help pitch you for podcasts. There’s VAs you can hire that’ll just schedule all of your social media posts and manage your calendar. So there’s really VAs out there for everything.

But there is a difference between a VA and an online business manager. And the way I like to explain it is a VA is the doer. The VA, give them a task, they’ll knock out the task, they’ll get it done. They’ll follow directions. Whatever you give them as far as to be completed as long as you train them and you have SLPs for them to follow, or if you show them, they should be able to complete the task.

An OBM, an online business manager is someone that plays more of a strategic part in a business. So they are more strategy, more looking at the metrics, more working with the CEO so they can step out of the day-to-day operation. So they’re usually the ones checking in with the VAs, making sure things are on track, making sure that deadlines are going to be hit, managing lunches or different projects, and that type of thing.

So the OBM is more of the delegator where the VA is kind of the doer. And a lot of VAs will realize that they want to become OBMs. But then there’s also different types of OBM. There’s tech OBM, there’s OBM that specialize in team management and HR and recruiting. So there really is a huge umbrella, but an OBM and a VA, the biggest difference I would say is an OBM is definitely a strategic role versus a VA is the doer.

Joe Casabona: Got you. I love that. So, again, if we look at my example, my VA definitely a doer. She will upload and schedule this podcast, we have a very clear process for that. I built a handbook with her. Another VA, perhaps that is… maybe a different VA could check and manage my email inbox, maybe reach out to sponsors or potential guests.

The OBM is somebody that I would work with to be like, “Okay, these are the things I want to get done this month. Make sure the VAs do their thing, make sure the sponsors are taken care of whatever.” Right?

Rebecca Simon: Yeah. Like let’s look at your monthly goals together and figure out how we’re going to get there and figure out who needs to do what. Do we need to hire a special VA for this? Is it something that the OBM can take on? And we’ll help you game plan, map out, get to those goals, and then manage the whole process. So the CEO or the leadership team, or whoever may be can really step out of the day-to-day operations and focus on content or focus on the things that’s most important to them in their business.

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Joe Casabona: So fantastic. We have a little bit of background. On your website, workwithbecca.com, it looks like you have a virtual service provider directory now. Virtual service provider looks like a blanket term for both VA and OMB. Right? These are just maybe people who are doing things who are not in the same room as you? Is that about right?

Rebecca Simon: Yeah. So I do have a virtual service provider directory, which are people that I vet and that I work with personally. A lot of the times I hear business owners get very frustrated, like “Oh, I hired a VA and it didn’t work out” or “I hired a VA and it just wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.”

So I have a free matchmaking program. I also have a directory if you’re looking for someone specific like OBM or a social media manager or a VA. Or if you’re not really sure what you need, the directory can kind of help to. And that gets updated on a regular basis. But it’s really a way to help the problem I hear consistently, like, “I can’t find anyone good.” These are my vetted people. So I know these are people that can help you in your business, social media, or whatever virtual service you’re looking for. And if you’ve had trouble hiring, definitely check the directory out. Yeah.

Joe Casabona: Yeah, that’s great. I think that’s always a very important problem, right? Because when I was looking, I didn’t know where to start. I did all this research, and then I posted a job on a website and got like literally thousands of applications. And I’m like, “I don’t even know which one stand out.” So just having a personal connection or a personal recommendation is always really great for that. Awesome.

Rebecca Simon: And then too half of it is finding the right person and then the other half is on the business owner making sure that you have your systems in place, that you have good delegating skills, that you can give clear direction.

If you don’t have an OBM, it’s never too early to start putting some SOPs in place, setting up a project management tool. You can prepare for a VA so then that way when you are ready to hire a VA or any virtual service provider, you kind of have the tools already in place to make the onboarding successful so you get the most out of the relationship with working with them.

Joe Casabona: I think that’s another great point. I talked about this a little bit on episode 208 with Matthew Yahes who kind of has a VA service. But part of it was I didn’t have systems in place. I just kind of assumed I could hire somebody for less than minimum wage here in the United States, I’ll just say and be like, “Do this.” And then just let them do it. But that’s not the case at all.

If I want that, I need an OBM who knows and understands what I need and can delegate, or I need to implement the process I’ve done which is record a video of me doing it, narrating it, then having my VA write out the steps, me reviewing the steps and then having her do it.

Rebecca Simon: 100%.

Joe Casabona: And then even then, I need to review some of the show notes or like kind of not… you know, I’m like, “That book that Rebecca mentioned or whatever.” And then she’ll link that book Rebecca mentioned or whatever. And I’m like, “Well, this is exactly what I asked you to do. I don’t expect you to know what I was thinking when I wrote that note.” That’s fantastic.

Now, the convergence of being a VA or an OMB with TikTok. Again, as an elder millennial, I started on Facebook. Well, actually I started on Myspace after much resistance. But Facebook was the cool new thing when I was in college. And then I started to like Instagram more because there are fewer words on Instagram, just pictures so I don’t have to deal with people’s opinions. And I’ve been really into Instagram reels, and then virtually every Instagram reel I watch has little TikTok watermark on it.

So maybe first, for those my age and older, I keep saying this… I’m not going to ask. I have no idea if we’re around the same age. I’m going to say I’m 35 at the time of this recording, and you can use that information to frame this whole thing. What is TikTok and how does it work? Because I just thought TikTok was like dance videos.

Rebecca Simon: I’ll first start by saying that the direction marketing is going in and marketing trends, it’s video. And you see that with Instagram reels. I think Instagram just announced a week or two ago that they’re no longer a photo-sharing platform, they are a video platform. So the direction that social media and social media marketing is going and it’s headed towards a video whether anyone likes it or not.

But TikTok is not as scary as it seems. I also start basing that TikTok is a form of social media. And like any new social media, it’s new at first. It’s scary. Anything new, right? You switch to a project, new project management tool, you’re like, “Oh my god, what is this? If I don’t know what I’m doing. That’s kind of what it feels like at first to switch to TikTok.

TikTok can also be a rabbit hole of endless mind entertainment videos that can get you stuck for hours and hours and hours at two o’clock in the morning when you’re trying to go to bed.

Joe Casabona: When you’re trying to figure out which voice all these people sound like. Is it Jennie, Luna or [inaudible? 00:20:23]? Right?

Rebecca Simon: Oh, yeah.

Joe Casabona: I think I just dated this episode now. But that’s okay.

Rebecca Simon: No. It’s not as scary as it seems. If you’re not using TikTok in your business now, you’re definitely missing. It’s a missed opportunity. It’s a missed opportunity for sure. TikTok is pushing videos to other people. Whereas Instagram is not pushing you to new people. You’re not really getting pushed to the discovery page. You’re just getting pushed to your followers and no one’s really following anyone new on Instagram.

On TikTok, you’re getting pushed to hundreds or thousands of people from the TikTok algorithm. So new people are seeing you and new people are discovering you. I also think Instagram is just like way intimidating and just way like… I just don’t… I have different feelings about Instagram.

Joe Casabona: It’s like too many features, right? It’s like, is this a story or a reel or a live or a photo or all of them somehow?

Rebecca Simon: And you have to do the caption and people are like, “Oh, your feed has to be cohesive.” you’ve got to use these hashtags. It’s just a lot. Whereas TikTok, it’s like… I hate to use the word more casual. But it’s fun. It’s a lot more fun when you learn how to use it. And it’s totally a missed opportunity to get yourself in front of new faces, and use it as leverage in your business.

Joe Casabona: Amazing. I really like that. This is a really great point. Again, I was doing reels for a while. They were getting like 2000 views or whatever, way more than like my stories or anything on my regular image feed. And then I’m like, “What do I do with this information?” Like, “What do I do? Do I have a call to action at the end of my reel?” It’s like, “Here’s like 55 seconds. Now subscribe or whatever. What do I do with that?”

So it’s really interesting to hear the TikTok as a missed opportunity because they’re getting you in front of new eyeballs. YouTube algorithm is scary and confusing sometimes. Maybe the TikTok algorithm is a little bit smarter. Or because it’s more focused, it’s easier to understand.

Rebecca Simon: Yeah. And don’t get me wrong, your quality still has to be there. If your videos aren’t quality, the TikTok algorithm is not going to push your videos to the “For You” page. You still have to have quality content. But the algorithm wants people to discover new people.

So whatever your call to action is, whether it be an opt-in or checking out your website or signing up for a free masterclass or whatever that looks like or getting people over to your Instagram page to start following you there, you’re putting yourself in front of new people and that’s something that you can’t really do. Instagram is trying to do but you haven’t been able to do that with Instagram in years.

Joe Casabona: Right. Right. And I mean, inherently Instagram is owned by Facebook. Facebook’s core mission was always connecting friends. People who have already formed that connection. That’s really interesting. Okay, I love this. I’m loving every minute of this.

Video quality is important you said. I have an iPhone 12 Pro Max. Again I’m dating this. The new iPhone is going to be announced by the time this episode comes out. So I will probably have that one, my friends. Is that good enough video quality or should I be using like my 4k camera? Is there some low enough quality and then there’s like too high of like will this look too produced on TikTok? There was a question right in the middle of… what is good video quality and is there too good video quality I guess is the question.

Rebecca Simon: I would say there’s no such thing as too good a video quality. I shoot with just my iPhone. I don’t even know what type of iPhone this is. Gosh. Maybe a 10 or an 11. But I shoot and edit and add all my captions. I do everything in the TikTok App. Because that’s what I’m used to. And that’s where I feel most confident editing.

So if you feel most confident editing on Final Cut or on Instagram reels, if you feel more confident editing somewhere else, you definitely can. I started on the TikTok app so that’s where I feel most comfortable and confident editing my videos which translates into better quality. I mean, you definitely don’t want to use like a flip phone from…

Joe Casabona: Like my first smartphone in like 2006.

Rebecca Simon: Yeah, exactly. But more so think about the quality of the video that you’re posting as far as content too. Because you know, you can shoot on an iPhone, you can shoot on whatever camera you have. But also thinking about the quality of the content is also super important too.

Joe Casabona: Awesome. So that actually makes me think perhaps a fun segment for Build Something More. Because I see these TikTok and I’m like, “How did they do that?” So I’m going to mention what I think is a popular TikTok and then maybe you could tell me how you think they edited it. In Build Something More we’ll do a couple of these. Is that okay?

Rebecca Simon: Yeah, sounds good.

Joe Casabona: Awesome. Totally unplanned. If you are not a member of the Build Something Club, head over to buildsomething.club because I think this is going to be a super enjoyable Build Something More at the end of the show. Awesome.

So that’s video quality, Great. Like you know, you have an iPhone, do you connect an external microphone to it or do you use just the regular like…? I’m overthinking this, right? Because I have multiple microphones.

Rebecca Simon: You have so many microphones. That made me laugh.

Joe Casabona: For those who can’t see the video, I just pulled like my boom microphone in frame too. So built-in microphone for your phone is fine?

Rebecca Simon: Start with what you got. Start with what you got, go from there. Don’t overthink it. It’s new, right? New is scary. Anything new can be intimidating. Start with what you got and go from there.

Joe Casabona: Awesome. Love that. Because I think you’re absolutely right. I spent all this time… again, with the reels, I was like, “I have a switch pod and I have this external microphone, and I’m going to frame it. And then I’m going to import it to ScreenFlow and edit it there.” And then I’m like, “This takes too long. Why do people do this? This takes too long.” And now you’re like, “I edit in the TikTok app.” And I’m like, “Yeah, that’s smart. That’s smarter.”

Rebecca Simon: You know, I thought you have a tech background, so that’s not surprising that you think that way. You’re like, “Okay…” That’s your area or your zone of genius. So I would be surprised if you didn’t think like that. But you can do it all in the TikTok app.

Joe Casabona: Awesome. Well, thank you. Thank you very much. Any day that somebody references my name in the same sentence as genius is a good day. My daughter said, she’s like, “Daddy, you’re a genius.” And I’m like, “Thank you, sweetie. I hope you don’t meet more people.” I’m just kidding. My daughter’s fantastic.

So video quality, content quality. How do we come up with content? Is it like vlog style? Do we need to take advantage of the memes to grow. I was doing like podcast dictionary for a while. Here’s some common terms I feel like that’s good content. It did okay on shorts. It did pretty good on reels vs like some mix of the two. Like content, blog content, useful content, memes.

Rebecca Simon: Yeah, there’s definitely a balance between educational relatable. Again, TikTok is definitely more casual as far as platform goes. And you kind of have to figure out what your audience likes and what your audience responds to best. TikTok is one of those apps…

Like, for example, Instagram, everyone gets very offended. No, not offended. I don’t use that word. But like, you know, “This person’s copying me. This person did the same thing as me. This person…” Whereas TikTok wants you… TikTok, the whole point of trends is to copy someone else.

Joe Casabona: Got you.

Rebecca Simon: The whole point is to take a trend. One of the main strategies of getting yourself out there and getting yourself pushed to the “For you” page is taking a trend, which makes things so much easier, because then you don’t even have to think of new content. Take a trend, and you just apply it to your own niche.

So whatever trending sounds, or whatever those sounds you hear over and over and over again on TikTok, how can you apply that to your own niche? How can you make it your own? So how can you put your own twist on it. It really is taking the trends which is part of it, if not all of it. Part of it a good place to start to especially if you were to content creation. Take the trends and put your own twist on things.

And if you’re really new TikTok, you don’t have to… I think there’s this misconception that you have to show your face, do some booty dancing where shorty shorts, be 15. But you don’t have to put yourself out there or even show your face in the beginning if you don’t feel comfortable. Like work your way up to that.

There’s things that you can do, like a day in the life or behind the scenes or what it would look like to work with me thinking about your ideal client and what kind of content they would be interested in, and play around with it and have fun with it.

And then work your way up to the fancy ones. Like when you feel more and more confident and as you practice editing and you practice using the different effects, you’ll feel more confident creating TikTok. And you’ll get faster and you’ll have more ideas on how you can use different effects. And as you continuously use it, you’ll get more comfortable in it. And then you can kind of see what your audience is receptive towards, and create more content from there.

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And now let’s get back to it.

Joe Casabona: Basically I’m going to get on TikTok today. The first thing I’m going to do is that dance with the French song. That’s like this one, right?

Rebecca Simon: Yeah.

Joe Casabona: Where it’s like I sold my first sponsorship. And then that’s like my audience, is podcasters you want to make money, then work up from there. Do podcast dictionary stuff for like about to record an episode behind the scenes sort of thing.

Rebecca Simon: I love that. And you could even take clips of some of your podcasts and start by just posting them on TikTok too. Like start there if that’s what feels good to you. You know, start with something.

Joe Casabona: Awesome. Love that. Okay, we are coming up on time. And the last thing I do want to ask you is about that call to action. I mean, it’s more casual. It’s more behind the scenes. You have to find the right balance between educational and relatable. Let’s say I have a TikTok… First of all, an individual video is called a TikTok. Is that right?

Rebecca Simon: Yes. Yes.

Joe Casabona: Okay, cool. Because, you know, some people are like, Oh, I put out a new podcast today. But like podcast is the thing and the episode is the individual thing or blog post or whatever. So I put out a TikTok, let’s say it blows up and it’s got some number of views that is considered a lot to TikTokers. How do I, I don’t want to say take advantage of it, but how do I take advantage of this newfound audience? If you’re interested in what I do, do I say “sign up for my mailing list?” Do I just say “follow me or LinkedIn profile.” What’s the call to action?

Rebecca Simon: I think in the beginning, it’s really important to start by creating a connection first and creating your authority and showing people that you have value, and connecting with your audience first. And then obviously you want to make sure you have your links in your Bios and the standard things like that.

But as you start growing your audience and as you engage with your audience and your followers, the first thing I would say is you can ask them in a video like, “Hey, if you enjoyed this video make sure you…” just kind of like YouTube, like, “Make sure you follow me for more.” Or there’s things you can do like series. Like you can have multiple series. Like I did a series on myths about being a VA. So you can have different parts so then that way they’re incentivized to follow you so they can hear the different parts and come back for the different parts in your series.

And then when you start building that community in that audience, and you’re engaging with them and you’ve really warmed them up you can host things like that. I mean it depends on what your end goal is. I would also think about what your end goal… why are you on TikTok. Like what is the point? Is it for visibility? Is it to get them into your email list? Is it get them…” Like what is the main purpose of you posting content on TikTok. And then you can create calls to action from there.

But I would say the first thing you would want to do is just start by building that audience and getting momentum and warming them up. People on TikTok generally speaking, they don’t want to be sold to immediately. It’s not the audience where you’re like, you know, “Buy this.” They’re going to be like, “Who is this person? Who do they think they are?”

But start by warming them up and creating that connection. And then you can do things like asking them to follow you on Instagram or heading over to your email, like sign up signing up for your email list or things that get to your end goal.

Joe Casabona: Got you. That makes sense. Again, with Reddit, for example, you don’t want to go on Reddit and the first thing you post is a link to your own blog post.

Rebecca Simon: Same thing.

Joe Casabona: You want to provide value first. Love that. And then like you said, you get to know your audience that way, and then you know what an effective call to action would be. Well, Rebecca, I gotta say you’ve delivered on your promise. I’m legit going to try out TikTok. Now I have those shorts.

Rebecca Simon: Yay!

Joe Casabona: I have a bunch of pre-recorded video that I can start uploading and we’ll see how it goes. I’ll keep you posted.

Rebecca Simon: Yeah.

Joe Casabona: Before we wrap up, I do need to ask my favorite question of course, which is, do you have any trade secrets for us?

Rebecca Simon: Yes, I do. Yes, I definitely do. My trade secrets are if you’re feeling stuck, and you don’t know what content to create… I have two. I have two trade secrets.

Joe Casabona: All right.

Rebecca Simon: The first one is if you’re feeling stuck, and you don’t know what content to create, stay on TikTok with your eyes closed and just scroll and listen to the sounds and scroll and see as you’re listening to the sounds how you can apply those sounds to your niche.

Joe Casabona: Wow. I love that.

Rebecca Simon: Definitely one of my secrets.

Joe Casabona: Yeah, that’s great.

Rebecca Simon: My second secret I will share with you is that while you are on TikTok in your free time and you’re mindlessly scrolling and you’re not thinking about work and you’re just kind of in the TikTok rabbit hole at two o’clock in the morning trying to go to bed, when you’re watching content, comment, and engage in other people’s posts and videos.

Because as you start growing your followers and as you start growing your audience on TikTok, when you comment on someone else’s video, it’ll pop up first when another follower is looking at that same video. So people can get to know you and engage with you and get to know your personality even when you’re not creating content.

So even if it’s like a funny video, like a relatable video… I did one… I commented… someone was getting a tattoo removal and the person who was doing the tattoo removal was so encouraging to this person that was like getting it done. And I commented like, “Oh my gosh, like I would need that sort of encouragement too because I also had a tattoo removed. And let me tell you, like it hurt.” And I kind of did that. And all of my followers saw that comment because it came up on the top of that video for them. So if you’re following someone, it’ll come up at the top, and it kind of gives your audience additional ways to get to know you and to form that engagement in that relationship with you.

Joe Casabona: Oh, I love that. That’s fantastic. Well, thank you very much. This was really great. Well, Rebecca, if people want to learn more about you, where can they find you?

Rebecca Simon: I am obviously on TikTok. My handle is @virtualassistantcoach. So definitely check me out and follow me there. I am on Instagram. My handle is @workwithbecca and then my website is workwithbecca.com. And definitely feel free. You know, shoot me an email, shoot me an Instagram.

I also have a membership called the success society, which is a way to work with me, where I provide monthly coaching calls, guest expert trainings, and so many other tools and resources for virtual service providers that are trying to launch grow and scale their businesses.

Joe Casabona: Awesome. Awesome. I will link to all of that, and more. Maybe even my own TikTok on the show notes over at streamlined.fm/238. I don’t think I said the episode number at all in this episode. So Episode 238. It’ll be in the top bumper when I record that later. Rebecca, thank you so much for joining me today. I really appreciate it.

Rebecca Simon: Thanks for having me.

Joe Casabona: And thanks everybody listening. I’m going to pick just three random TikToks I’ve seen and I’m going to ask Rebecca how she thinks that they were made. If you want to hear that conversation, head over to again streamlined.fm/238. There will be a sign-up for the Build Something Club there. And if this is where you leave us, thanks so much for listening. And until next time, get out there and build something.