[quote style=”boxed”]Experiment with Facebook Ads to build your email list. It’s my #1 tool for list building, and if you do them right, you can grow your list quickly without breaking the bank![/quote]
Amy is the co-author of Facebook Marketing All-In-One for Dummies and is a social media strategist for entrepreneurs and small businesses. With 12+ years of marketing experience, Amy has worked with mega brands like Harley-Davidson Motorcycles, as well as with Tony Robbins International, where she oversaw the content marketing team and collaborated on multiple online marketing campaigns. She currently creates online programs to teach entrepreneurs and small businesses how to leverage social media to gain greater exposure, attract quality leads, and turn their fans and followers into loyal customers who are eager to do business with them again and again.
What are you working on right now?
Right now I’m finishing up a Facebook Ads program that I am really excited about. It’s called FB Ads Insider, and it dives into five, proven strategies anyone can use to attract quality leads and move fans to take real action.
Where did the idea for your company come from?
When I was still working for Tony Robbins, he always taught the value of being your own boss. He would talk about the endless opportunities and freedom that came with being an entrepreneur. I listened to every word he said, and when the time was right, I took his lessons and applied them to building my own business.
What does your typical day look like?
I work from my home office in Carlsbad, California, so I can essentially roll out of bed and walk down the hall to my office. Because I was in corporate America for so long, and this is one of my favorite perks of starting my own business. A typical day is usually diving into a project around 8:00 a.m. (I’m best in the morning, so I spend the morning creating and working on programs and products) and then I usually have calls with partners and clients in the afternoon.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I love mastermind groups, and for the last three years, I’ve been a part of one. When you find a great mastermind group, you can take your business to places you would have never thought of on your own. When I get an idea, I like to run it by the members of my mastermind to flesh it out, and they encourage me look at it in news ways to help me begin to develop it.
What’s one trend that really excites you?
Pinterest. Although I pretty much eat, sleep and breathe Facebook (because it is my core area of business), I am excited about Pinterest. I have seen what it can do for traffic and exposure. I have not yet perfected it, but I am definitely intrigued and have started to dabble more and more.
What was the worst job you ever had and what did you learn from it?
In college I worked for The Annual Fund, which was the group that called alumni and asked them to pledge money for the university. I was hung up on or told “No!” about a hundred times a night. When you get told “no” that many times, it toughens you up and gets you prepared for life.
If you were to start again, what would you do differently?
I would have said “no” more often, and I would have gotten more laser-focused on the exact ways I wanted to make money. Although I know it was important for me to experience new things when I first started out with my business, I tended to take on a lot of new work that I secretly hated doing. Once I stopped that bad habit, I started making even more money and began to enjoy building my business.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
I take action, even when things are not perfect. When I get an idea, I run with it. And if another idea comes up along the way, I jot it down but don’t jump into it until I’ve finished my current one. This strategy ensures that I don’t have a bunch of loose ends that are not producing profits.
What is one problem you encountered as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
In the beginning, I doubted or second-guessed my every move. It was scary to step away from my “secure job” and into the unknown. I overcame that problem by surrounding myself with people who believed in me. When I doubted my abilities, those people were there to remind me to keep moving forward. Also, Tony Robbins told me to surround myself with people who were more successful than me. When your peer group is more established than you, it pushes you to be better. Therefore, I sought support from a few mentors who had already seen the success I wanted.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Experiment with Facebook Ads to build your email list. It’s my #1 tool for list building, and if you do them right, you can grow your list quickly without breaking the bank!
If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be and how would you go about it?
Bullying is a hot topic these days, and I am glad it’s getting the attention it deserves. It’s about time. The way I go about helping to eradicate bullying is by starting in my own home. My husband and I talk to my son about it, and teach him about the importance of acceptance. We talk about how being gay, looking different or acting different does not mean you should be treated differently–and I love when we get to have those talks that I know are shaping him to see the world in a new light.
Tell us a secret.
When I was working with Tony Robbins, the head of human resources set me up on a date with her ex-husband, and I married him. (She is now a matchmaker by profession!)
What are your three favorite online tools or resources and what do you love about them?
- SnagIt is a great tool for making short videos or taking screen grabs. I use it daily for my team, and to help my clients navigate through Facebook.
- Evernote is the tool I use to keep track of all my blog and product ideas, and it is a fantastic tool to organize any articles I want to get back to when the time is right.
- Screenflow is what I use to create all of my video training products and programs. I don’t know what I would do without it!
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
The girls in my mastermind group turned me on to the book Double Double by Cameron Herold. It is a fantastic book to help you plan for the future of your business.
Three people we should follow on Twitter and why?
- Danielle LaPorte. Her relevant, thought-provoking tweets will make you laugh and see things in a new light.
- Ellen DeGeneres. She cracks me up. It’s that simple!
- Gary Vaynerchuk. I have followed Gary since my first day on Twitter. He has taught me so much about the power of social media marketing, and keeps me up to date on the trends that matter most in online marketing.
When was the last time you laughed out loud? What caused it?
My assistant, Rebecca, and I laugh at each other all the time. Sometimes I think we might be Lucy and Ethel incarnated. This last time, I was on Facebook and logged in as a client. The challenge was that I forgot I was logged in as him, so I was posting all over Facebook, thinking I was posting as myself when really his picture would show up with my comments. Rebecca saw my posts and thought my client had gone crazy and stolen my identity online. She was terrified he had gone rogue or something. I still laugh when I think about her terrified email.
Who is your hero?
My mom. No matter what, she stays positive and is so easy going that nothing ever bothers her. Plus, people love to be around her because she makes them feel at home.
What surprised you about starting your own business?
When I started my training and consulting business, I thought I would have a lot more free time, since I would be calling the shots and no one was going to be tracking my hours any longer! I had just left a job where I was working 60+ hours a week, so the thought of working less was beautiful. But I quickly realized that building a business is no cakewalk, and I think that during that first year, I worked way more than my 60+ hours per week with Tony. It was a big eye-opener, and I realized I needed to start making some boundaries or else I would be living on my computer 24/7.
Connect:
Amy Porterfield on Facebook: www.facebook.com/amyporterfield
Amy Porterfield on Twitter: @amyporterfield
Amy Porterfield’s website: www.amyporterfield.com
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.