The Color of 2023: Head of the Table

Think In Color 2023 has officially come to an end! We're grateful and happy for the opportunity to take in our line-up of amazing females and BIPOC creators and innovators in the field. We'd like to think that by the end of the evening you were encouraged by our panelists' journeys and learned how to build an effective virtual community, diversify your services and expand your company and expand your reach, among other things.

Though many different topics were addressed during the conference, we've done our best to share the best moments with you. Find out the key points we learned from every speaker.

Skip ahead:

•    Creating Cozy & Collaborative Virtual Communities
•         Funds in the Funnel: Maximizing Sales With a Customer-Focused Funnel
•         Growing Both B2B and B2C businesses for Multiple Revenue Sources
•         Making a visible Personal Brand with Video
•          memberships Memberships The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly    
•         the Head of the Table Panel Discussion

Creating Cozy & Collaborative Virtual Communities

Cicely Blain, Anti-racism Consultant & Founder Bakau Consulting. Bakau Consulting

Description of the session: While remote work existed before COVID-19, the pandemic intensified the need for businesses transitioning to a more virtual location. By extension, businesses that wanted to maintain a close relation with their clients decided to set groups of like-minded people can learn from and help to each other. However, it can be hard to make it as tight-knit as a physical one.

In this talk, Cicely Blain shares their journey to build their virtual community called Living Room. They shared the method they use to create an inviting and cozy atmosphere within a virtual space, developing inclusive and safe communities and utilizing digital tools to meet the needs of people.

  The most important takeaways are:  

  Know who your audience is and what they are looking for.  

Before establishing Living Room, Cicely had to figure out the people they wanted to build an online environment for. As their work has roots in anti-racism and anti-oppression, Cicely was aware that the community was primarily geared towards those such as DEI professionals, consultants as well as HR professionals doing similar work.

Then, Cicely had to figure out what they really wanted.

      "I was thinking about what these people are seeking, especially in this moment of change, when things are shifting, and being referred to by different names?    

      Folks are definitely yearning for a sense of community, of belonging, solidarity and connections in times of being isolated. People are also seeking resources and looking to learn."  

  You should be an audience-friendly website.  

One of the best ways to attract people to join your virtual community is to give them something they can connect with. For Cicely the thing that was relatable was their living room. They sought to replicate the same cozy and comforting atmosphere that their own living space gave them.

      "I was thinking, "What are the feelings I want people to experience as they enter this space?' And I thought: well, I want people to feel exactly the as they do when they enter the physical space. It should be comfortable and warm, and inviting. I wanted people to feel comfortable, relaxed, supported, connected, and seen."  

Cicely infuses this spirit to the world by:

• Beginning each meeting by allowing 10 minutes for reflection. The facilitators ask one simple question on the screen for participants to engage in an internal reflection.
• playing a soothing music playlist based on R&B to help listeners relax and get comfortable with the call.
• Approaching each call like you're enjoying a casual conversation with their best friends. While filming videos for their online course, Cicely might be doing makeup or brewing a cup of tea at the table.

  Give a range of options that community members can get what they require  

Although members of a virtual community are ideally people with similar interests, they may possess different requirements strength, weaknesses, and needs. As a business, you'll need to discover different ways in how you can satisfy the requirements of your community members regardless of their individuality.

With Living Room, Cicely met the needs of their members with:

• Engaging in various ways (e.g. chat forums, live discussion as well as online-based courses that provide comprehensive information, etc. );
• The definition of common values and guidelines for the community;
• Lets people show up as their true selves;
• Removing unnecessary stressors, for example, time restrictions as well as meeting agendas
• Be aware of accessibility issues (e.g. disabilities and neurodivergence) and other.

Funds in the Funnel: Maximizing sales with a funnel that is focused on the customer.

Ellie Diop, Content and Coaching Coach for Funding for Ellievated Academy

Description of the session: In order to build a successful business there are customers who will take a purchase or use in your service. However, many businesses make the mistake of creating content they think their ideal customers would want, instead of what their customers really want. In this presentation, Ellie explains how you can increase your sales and boost sales by establishing the right funnel that entices the ideal customer and responds to their wants and needs.

  The most important takeaways are:  

  Every single piece of content is important.  

Building a customer-focused funnel can be described as establishing a connection with your clients. The best way to do this is to develop information that is relevant, helpful, and beneficial for them. A funnel designed to be customer-focused has five steps:

• Awareness
• Discovery
• Consideration
• Conversion
• Retention + relationship + REPEAT

In regards to the importance of creating material, Ellie declares, "Every piece of content you create is a member of your sales team. So whatever you posted in the last three months is doing the job of moving users through the channel... Being consistent and presenting every day with a consistent style creates a predictable tone that your clients can understand to help them move along the funnel."

  Define your brand  

If you don't know whom your goods or services will be marketed to, then nobody will buy from or employ you. Therefore, before you build a funnel, define the purpose and mission of your company, starting from your ideal customers. You can ask yourself:

• Who do I serve?
• What do I help them solve?
• What can I do?

The answers to these questions are the basis of every business decision. Ellie proposes a simple template that can be used to assist the [YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE] achieve fulfill [YOUR PURPOSES] through the use of [YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE]

Drawing on her experience with growing her business, Ellie says, "For me, it could be "I support women to create successful businesses by giving them strategies and financing strategies. '... for a long time I wrote this down on a sticky note up in a corner, so every time I went to make a video, I remembered who I was talking about."

  Build your social media followers  

Social media is considered to be one of the most successful digital channels for building branding awareness as well as generating leads for your company. The results are so good that many people will browse through your business's Instagram profile (or your other social media sites) prior to visiting your site.

Hence, you need to spend your time (and perhaps cash) in your social media content to increase its visibility. One way to do it is:

• Making engaging, informative and easily shareable media (especially video)
• Paying for ads
• Collaborating with influencers with an identical target audience to you

  Utilize lead magnets to build out your list of email subscribers  

While you're creating content you want to bring most people from social media onto your mailing list. If people sign up to your email list it gives you a way to communicate directly with them -- this is better rather than just hoping that they stumble upon your content and videos as they scroll through Instagram or X (formerly Twitter). Lead magnets are where they can come in.

Ideally, with lead magnets, you're handing the value of your product for free in exchange for people's details of contact (usually their email and name address). You can also ask for other things too. In the beginning of her company, Ellie offered free 1-on-1 sessions to customers to get reviews. She used those testimonials to secure her first set of clients who paid.

      "You've to think about, 'What is an field where I can provide great free value that'll inspire people? and make that your main attraction. [In my business], I made a shift recently where instead of pushing customers directly into a item, we instead push you to a free offer that is a free masterclass. Then we sell on the back end. Our results have been fantastic."  

  Maintaining customers who are already there is easier than acquiring new ones  

Each new lead you acquire each lead you receive, you must need to follow a process for pushing them down the sales funnel. It is more challenging than convincing an existing customer to return to you. So focus on customer retention equally and if not more as you do customer acquisition.

To keep your customers, here are some steps to take:

• Offer high-quality customer support
• Conduct surveys with customers to gather feedback
• Get testimonials from happy customer (offer incentive programs, when it is possible)
• Create a secondary product that will fill the gaps in the market

When she created a new offer, Ellie shares, "I made my first credit for business course for just 15 dollars. In the meantime, I was getting feedback on what [my customerswould like to see next. This led me to create Business Credit, which is Business Credit revamped. Then I created the Business Credit masterclass, and then the entire collection. It turned out that the majority of people who purchased the first bought the second one to fill in the gaps. They then bought the third one because as they advanced in their knowledge, they needed more."

Growing B2C as well as B2B Businesses with Multiple Revenue Sources

Jessica Chen, Global Communication Expert and CEO of Soulcast Media

Session description: Businesses, in general, have three main revenue and sales elements: their offerings and services and the content they produce to describe those products/services and the channels by which they disseminate their information. In this talk, Jessica discusses the power of LinkedIn to help businesses connect to both clients (B2C) and other businesses (B2B), how to craft your content to speak to both audiences, and the best way to grow the range of services you offer to suit both groups.

  LinkedIn is a powerful way to share content on LinkedIn and boost your profile  

Although many professional and business owners are on LinkedIn however, they aren't considering LinkedIn a platform on which you increase your exposure and publish content. Instead, they see it as a platform to update resumes, find new jobs, and only connecting with people you know.

In fact, LinkedIn is a social media platform, just like Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), and it should be treated as such. There is only one difference: the kind of content that you publish.

In regards to LinkedIn's popularity, Jessica says, "The beauty of the platform is that: You're reaching a particular set of audience who is in a mind space of personal development and eagerness to learn."

Jessica is also willing to share her journey from speaking about her experiences as a journalist in the year 2018 and then becoming a certified Top Voice and a LinkedIn instructor in five years. She chalks this up to posting consistently on the platform and connecting with a wide variety of audiences that can profit from her services to help people improve their communicating techniques.

  Change your messages to fit both B2C as well as B2B viewers.  

A lot of business owners think that they can only gain visibility if their content only caters to consumers who are merely individuals. This isn't true.

The power of LinkedIn is its ability to allow users to modify their messaging so that it can be tailored to B2B and B2C audiences. Your offer doesn't need to change, but altering the language you use to describe your company can increase your visibility and attract both business and individual customers.

"I discovered that when I'm trying to communicate to my B2C audience, I prefer using words such as "you," "your" and have you thought of it? ...?'" says Jessica. "My words are direct, which means that anyone who reads my information feels it's their own.

      "[With a B2B audienceInstead of using 'you' and 'your', I'm now presenting my message using phrases like 'the team' and 'the organization'. It's more positive and [less personal."  

  Position yourself as a thought-leader in order in order to attract B2B buyers.  

Unlike individual customers who only desire a top-quality product, B2B buyers need to know that you're the real deal. In order to attract the attention of B2B customers, you'll have present your self as an expert or thought-leader in your area, even if your offer is generally geared towards B2C customers.

In the case of an artist, you could develop and market courses in photography to your B2C audience. However, to gain B2B leads, you could publish thought leadership content about having a career in the arts or about building a career by being an artist. Or if you offer 1-on-1 workshops that teach people how to become more efficient You can reach out to B2B audiences by posting content about improving workplace productivity.

This way, you can go from offering B2C products like e-courses and 1-on-1 classes, to providing talks and workshops.

Making a personal brand using video

XayLi Barclay an expert and Visual Content Coach at Start Shoot Develop

Session Description If you're the owner of your business you can feel invisible, especially if you sell in a saturated marketplace or in a crowded industry. You can combat that by building a personal brand through videos, whether it's shorter TikTok clips, Instagram Reels, or long-form YouTube videos. In this session, XayLi explains how you could use videos to promote your online course to increase sales and solidify your brand to the people who purchase from you.

  There isn't really much to get started  

When creating your first video or doing your debut livestream, it's not necessary for everything to be flawless. Start with the footage you already have. At the start, people will accept your poor quality video and poor editing skills since they are aware that as time passes, you'll be better.

XayLi herself got started using her laptop, simple white backdrop, and a run-off-the-mill ring light.

"This is the place where I got my start with my first job, and I was even approached to be one of their experts," she states. "I did not wait until I was able to set up the newsroom to begin teaching others. I took my resources because I realized that the things I wanted to share wasn't only around how amazing your setup could be.

      Today I've got a complete Studio built into my house however, this is where I started a few years back."    

  More resources will be available as you grow  

If you start to see increased visibility through your video content and earn income, you can start building up your collection and upgrade your video equipment. For example, you can purchase a higher quality camera/webcam, a tripod stand (worth about $500 to $1,000), a green screen, E-Camm Live and a teleprompter application, and the Adobe Premiere subscription for editing.

When it comes to the latest equipment and setting upgrades XayLi says, "[At this stage], you can have multiple camera angles and the list goes on. The time is now to invest in these items because you're making cash. It's common to think we have to be attractive before we can earn money. No. You must get on the market, and after that you will get the cash."

When you start making enough cash, you may begin outsourcing the recording of your videos edits, distribution, and recording to contractors or an internal team.

  Concentrate on only one thing at a given moment  

It's easy to believe that you need to do everything to scale your company: publish on every channel, hop on every trend, and speak about a range of subjects. This isn't necessarily true. It's better to concentrate only on one aspect in a row as you develop your image. Not only does this prevent the possibility of burning out, but it also lets your audience know what to be expecting from you each whenever you make videos.

In accordance with XayLi Barclay's "Rule of 5 Ones" Here are five elements to consider when you are deciding on your digital strategy:

• One product or service
• One market to target
• One lead converter tool
• One of the main sources for traffic
• One objective for business

Memberships -- The Good, The Bad The Ugly, and The Ugly

Teri Ijeoma founder of Trade & Travel

Summary of session: If executed right, memberships are an excellent way for companies to forge deeper relationships with their customers, in addition to generating additional revenue. Teri Ijeoma has created a membership program that focuses on Trade & Travel and she is now able to enroll over 35,000 customers who are enrolled in her programs and 185,000 email list subscribers. In this presentation, Teri shares the benefits from establishing a program for membership, and explains how businesses are able to set up and manage memberships the right way.

  Be aware of when you can transition from a no-cost group to one that has a fee  

If you're not the most well-known business, that you'll have to begin your membership plan by providing worth for nothing. Teri began her membership program using a group on Facebook that was free. However, as you grow your group, you'll need be aware of when you should transition from a no-cost community to a membership-based model.

These are indications to be aware of prior to turning a corner:

• Your organization is expanding in size, yet your members are only paying an annual fee to receive your service -- instead of paying to cover the other benefits your organization offers, e.g. year-long customer support, etc.
• Group members start their independent meetings or sub-groups, making difficult the group administration.
• You're hiring group moderators or coaches to offer consulting to group members, with no additional revenue generated from your members.

  Your membership program is a product in and of itself  

Many businesses that create online courses also create membership plans as an add-on to the classes. While a membership program is an excellent way to make your course more attractive however, it should be treated as a product itself -and not just an add-on.

In her interview about her Trade & Travel membership, Teri admits "In the beginning, I believed that the membership was an extension of my training. That's not true -- the membership is a service entirely on its own. It needs its own team, promotion, marketing schedule... it's best to be thinking of it as an actual product."

  Be intentional with your pricing  

If you're transitioning from a free group to a paid-membership model, take note of what your income goal is and set your price on the basis of the goal. It's simple to set your price lower to get more members. However, if you're confident that your program's packed with quality, then don't hesitate to ask for a premium rate for the program.

For example, if you're hoping to earn the equivalent of $10,000 per month, you'd better make 500 people agree to pay $200 per month rather than 1,000 customers to pay $100/month. The higher your prices are, the fewer people are likely to sign up. This also means you'll hit your income goals more quickly, while also finding it relatively easier to manage the program.

Head of Table Panel Discussion

Diandra Marizet, (Host) the Executive Director & Co-founder of Intersectional Environmentalist

Session description: This panel discussion will feature speakers Cicely, Ellie, Jessica and XayLi giving their opinions on the importance of inclusivity and diversity in the business space. They will also discuss the difficulties women as well as BIPOC entrepreneurs face when they take up space in the creation economy as well as how they can price their products ethically in a capitalist environment.

Here are some of the most poignant concerns and questions in this discussion:

  Women of color who are entrepreneurs are gaining financial security for the first time. What are the challenges, new issues, and opportunities does this bring?

Ellie Diop: Just like there's poverty trauma, there's wealth trauma, as well. If you're the only one within your family to have an e-commerce or a seven-figure enterprise, there's numerous examples you can follow. There's a stigma that still exists when discussing money, particularly in the case of a person with a different race earning more than the majority of people do in a lifetime.

As an example, after I first made a million, I was afraid to get out of my mom's home. I wasn't ready to commit the money since I was unsure of what to do if it was gone. I was also afraid to tell my family because I was worried they'd think differently of me.

One thing I'd like to see more of is collaborative places like these that can remove the stigma of being a victim and instead say "Hey, what's going on? If you're worried about earning money and what to use your money for Don't be shy to talk about it". The stigma that is perpetuated is part of why many people earn lots of money, only to later return to the point at which they began.

  In many business situations, we feel the need to blend, code-switch, keep quiet, or even put aspects of ourselves aside. We may not always feel that we fit into the concept of professionalism. Did that experience influence how you contribute to your local community? How do you apply that to your work as DEI professional? DEI professional?

Cicely Blain: With the systems that we have been raised on, when we see a particular kind of person on media, television, and social media, and also when some online creators have a lot of traction and others are banned from shadows, it is easy to think that you have be a certain style of living and how you speak.

If you can find a place where you are seen for who you truly are, by those around you and the people in authority (even when they may not have the same experiences that you) is truly liberating. But, even though representation is increasing and opportunities are more readily offered, there's still an unwritten rule about how people can show up. It's not uncommon for us to internalize the double rules (even when they could not be true) and they hinder us.

As an example, on TikTok, many people do not appear neat and well-dressed all the time. While that's liberating, I feel like that possibility is limited to a select few as there's an elevated expectations for other people and the way they portray themselves.

  When do you decide that your current path doesn't align with your capabilities to be and what your dream could be, and you make the decision to transition into full-time entrepreneurship?  

Jessica Chen: All of us will reach a point in time reach where we realize that what we were hoping to attain is done and we're ready for some new challenges. For me, I was in an excellent job that I enjoyed, however after 10 years, I felt like there was more available. I've always been the kind of person to create my own path. Therefore, I began to think about ways I could pass on the knowledge I've learned.

I started out in the field of journalism, which might consider a "proper" career that doesn't allow you to share your opinions, you aren't able to express yourself and are merely telling other people's stories. It was quite a shock to begin creating my own voice and showing my personal style. That was definitely a learning process.

  What is the best way to price your offerings or services in order in order to draw people that are in the same boat, eager to learn from you, and see the value in your offering?

XayLi Barclay The majority times, we set prices low, but we overwhelm the person who's investing -in turn, doing a disservice to that person. It's tempting to believe that you'll get a lot of buyers if you sell low, but chances are that you're dealing with people who are overwhelmed who aren't ready to make a decision.

I worked with a business coach to figure out the amount I should be making as well as to determine my price based on the volume. There are many creators who create a $7 course and make 6-figures off of that product however they don't have enough volume. If you're a small-scale creator, it's essential be aware of what you want to accomplish in the business world so that you can price according to your goals.

If I can sell five online courses at $1,000 per course, I'll be making $5,000 -- versus selling 500 courses at 10 dollars per course. Think about it that way. That's the process I had to experience.

Watch Think In Color 2023 sessions on-demand

Here's the scoop an overview of the most important insights from the three-hour-long event created to help budding and experienced entrepreneurs in the creator economy. We urge you to go further into those topics that caught your curiosity.