How to build a ride or die online community with Madison Paige

Have you ever posted something on your Instagram feed, asking your followers to leave a comment below with an answer to the question you're asking, and all you heard back was... crickets?

If that's happened to you, I'm willing to bet you said you would never ask another question in your caption again, in fear of that experience being repeated over and over - and in fear of others noticing that people AREN'T responding or engaging with your questions.

This is one of the biggest hurdles that small business owners face; how do you actually connect with your followers? And even more challenging than that, how do you get them to actually buy your products, too?! In today's episode, special guest Madison Paige shares with you how to build a ride or die online community that's engaging with you, excited for you, AND buying your products. If getting more sales and building more connection on Instagram is your goal, then this is an episode that you don't want to miss.

Madison Paige is Business Growth Specialist, Top Rated Business Podcast Host, & Public Speaker that helps brands build a ride or die online community so you can stand out & sell out on social media. Her genuine spirit, high energy, & 8 years of experience in the social media world supporting over 150 businesses equips her to bring you high level, practical tips as your newest biz growth bestie.

BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL​ LEARN:

• What it means to build a business that gives you a freedom based lifestyle including financial freedom, time freedom, and TASK freedom
• How to build a community on Instagram that is DMing you, commenting on your posts, and excited for every single product you sell!
• Why you need both emotion AND logic within your Instagram content for people to actually buy your products - and how to create both necessary pieces
• What it means to show up as if your business is in-demand and to how to hold that energy and excitement even during the days when you don't "FEEL" like your products are selling as quickly as you would like

LINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY'S EPISODE

Follow Madi on Instagram @thisismadisonpaige

Listen to the Small Business Growth Podcast hosted by Madi

LEARN MORE FROM MONICA LITTLE

Website: www.monicalittlecoaching.com

Instagram: @monicalittlecoaching

Order your small business daily planner & mindset journal: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1410735360

Transcript

Monica Little: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the Product Biz Podcast. This is episode number 55, how to Build a Ride or Die Online Community with Madison Page. So excited to have Madison as a guest on the podcast. It's so funny, we were just chatting after we got done recording the episode and we were cracking up because. We preach a lot of the same things and Maddie says, yeah, sometimes I wonder if people think that I'm paying people to come on the podcast to say the same things, to preach the same topics, to to say the same fundamentals of how to grow a business.

And we were just dying laughing because a lot of the concepts that she shares are concepts I've talked about before in the podcast. But she's gonna say it in a unique way with her spin on it. And you're gonna see how. Other people who are coaches, who are guides, who are mentors, are helping others with super similar concepts and why these concepts actually matter.

So what we're gonna talk about today is how to build a ride or die online community. How to actually show up and build hype and show that your products are in [00:01:00] demand to get people eager to buy your products. How to use emotion and logic to get people to purchase your products. How to really. Get people to visualize themselves using your product and how to further such a build engagement with them to get them talking to you in the dms, commenting on your Instagram post if that is something that you struggle with.

This is gonna be an amazing episode that Maddie's gonna share her strategy and her insights with you on how to create that ride or die online community on Instagram for your small business. Are you ready to go behind the scenes and learn what it really takes to create consistent sales? Each and every month with your handmade small business, join me, Monica, little Self-taught multiple six figure small business owner and your product business coach.

As I give you the insight and inspiration on how to better run your business and increase your sales in ways that you may not have even been aware of, so that your business can truly become what you knew [00:02:00] it could be back when you first start. Learn how to let go of perfection, overcome the fear of failure that is holding you back, and finally start taking action so that you walk away feeling like you've cracked the code on how to run a successful small business.

You are listening to the Product Biz Podcast. Let me tell you a little bit about Madison before we jump into the episode. Madison Page is a business growth specialist, top-rated business, podcast host and public speaker, and she helps brands build, ride or die online community so you can stand out and sell out on social media, her genuine spirit, which you'll.

See in this episode, her high energy, her eight years of experience in the social media world, supporting over 150 businesses, equips her to bring you high level practical tips as your newest biz growth bestie. This is such a great episode, and I can't wait to hear what you think. So without further ado, let's jump right into it.

Well, welcome Miss Maddy to the product-based podcast. So [00:03:00] excited to have you here today. I'm so excited to be here. Oh my gosh, it's gonna be such a fun episode. I'm super excited to talk with you about building community and a freedom-based business and how to really build that. So super jazz to be talking with you about that today.

But before we dive in, I would love for you to just introduce yourself to the people listening so we know who you are and what you do and all that fun 

Madison Paige: stuff. Yeah, absolutely. I am a business growth specialist. I say that I'm helping you stand out and sell out by building an online community on social media.

Super community based, super like warm and fuzzy, but aesthetic strategy kind of driven. My whole mission is to help people build freedom in their life. Through having a business, which I think some people are like this kind of an oxymoron where it's like, Maddie, like I can't have freedom and have a business at the same time.

I'm trying to debunk that idea around whether it's services, whether it's products, whatever that may be helping you build that business with that freedom while including that community element. And that's kind of the base of all of it there. 

Monica Little: Oh my gosh. I love [00:04:00] it. And I love what you said about building freedom, because that's essentially what everyone wants, right?

Like we want freedom of time, we want freedom of money, we want freedom to do whatever we want to do. But a lot of people, when we're actually building our business, it's like the opposite, right? You're actually working more hours, spending more times. Spending your weekends working on it. So tell me a little bit more about like the freedom-based side of business.

Like how do you teach that? What are some of the main principles that you talk about for people to actually get the freedom that they've wanted from the beginning when they started their business? 

Madison Paige: Yeah, of course. And I am not here to tell you that like just post these six things and like you'll make a hundred K passive months.

Like I understand that's not how it works and that's not what my like. Free preneur lifestyle kind of mission is, but I am all about having balance in your life. And like you said, so many people, they're like, it's the grind, it's the hustle all day, every day. And I had a business like that, like my family owned an adventure resort, um, my whole life.

So sometime I was like 12 years old, I guess. And I was the operations manager at 17 [00:05:00] running a business of like with like, 40 staff members, and it was seasonal April to October, but through those months, like I wasn't even outta high school yet, and every single weekend I was there. When I was there, I was living on the property working 16 hour days, like literally would lose like 20 pounds a summer by just like, and I, it's like I'd, I would come to the end of the summer and I'd be like, what even just happened?

Like there would be eight weeks out of the summer that I was just like, I don't even remember because it was so busy. So just like hectic of like getting everything done. Getting it all happening, and we would put. 50,000 people down activities, whitewater rafting, ziplining, paintballing, all that stuff, cabins, camping.

And I was the main manager on the property. And when I was starting my own business, I was like, I don't want that. Like I can sit in my pajamas and work my little business, uh, in, on my laptop, like go into coffee shops doing my thing and enjoy life and still have this business. And so that has kind of been the main mission behind everything that I've talked about forever in my business, is having that balance.

So what that [00:06:00] really looks like is. Needing structure, needing strategy, having solid foundations of your business in place, as well as automation and understanding when to outsource and realizing that not everything can fall back on you. So when you take a step away from your business, it's still working for you.

Having content that has longer lifespan, having content that lives longer for you. Having a community that even if you take a week because you're sick or something like that, your community's still there being like, Hey, Where are you at? Like, I miss you showing up online. Um, and so it's more so having that like tight-knit strategy that really works even when you aren't showing up so you can guilt-free, take a day off, guilt-free, go on your trip and I mean, there's time location, there's financial location, there's even just like task.

Uh, freedom, not location. There's time freedom, location freedom, all of those things. Financial freedom. But even just like task freedom that allows you to do what you wanna do. And I have people all the time, they're like, Maddie, I'm just like, I'm not a graphic designer, or like, I'm not a photographer. Like I don't take good product [00:07:00] photos.

Go get a product photographer. Like if it's not your zone of genius, go out and like have somebody do it for you. I know it's gonna be more expensive, but it's also going to get done properly where you're not gonna feel like you don't even wanna put those photos out that you just spent 24 hours trying to take all the pictures because it's actually like they're done.

Right? You know that you'll like it and it's something that you didn't have to do. Oh 

Monica Little: my gosh. I love that so much. And I, and I love what you said, it's not like, don't work, right? Yeah. It's like put the structure in place and outsource. And my business coach always says this, like, structure leads to freedom because then you have a plan, then you know what you're working towards and you can get help in certain areas.

So it's not like you're reactive and instead you're being proactive. But I absolutely love, I've never heard task freedom, but oh my gosh, that is, So golden. Yeah, like task freedom is huge. And I was just having a conversation with my clients, two of them actually, where one of them has just been busy with kids being sick and visiting family, and another one that just had like [00:08:00] life stuff happen.

Yeah. And that's exact thing that I said to them. I'm like, there's a difference between. When you're truly running a business, which is when you are away for a week or two because life happens, that your business is actually still growing and still running without you. Yeah. And a lot of people, I think this is such a great conversation.

A lot of people, it's so interesting, um, when, when they say that they're dedicated and committed to their business, they think it means working from 5:00 AM to 9:00 PM mm-hmm. But what it means is take those risks. Outsource, get help actually be the c e o of your business. And that's dedication, that's commitment, that's skin in the game.

So two totally different definitions of what that mean. And most people are in the, I'm dedicated because I'm working all day, every day, instead of I'm dedicated because I'm outsourcing and taking risks and actually getting support where I need 

Madison Paige: it. Right. Exactly. Yeah. And I think that that's such an interesting distinction because of the hustle culture that's been there because of the like masculine side of marketing of business running where it's like you gotta work your butt off.

[00:09:00] Like I saw a video the other day of someone being like, did you know you spend 32 minutes like sitting on the toilet a day, like those 32 minutes you could be posting on Instagram and like, and it's like, oh my gosh. Like yes, you can be productive with your time, but it doesn't have to be that way. Like where you can't take a, take a step back.

And I have clients right now that. Their nanny like couldn't show up for two weeks or their, like their mother-in-law is sick and they were able to take that week away from their business or the weekend and they do come back and they're like, oh my gosh, I have so much to do. But instead I'm like, I wanna point that out that I.

If you had a nine to five, you wouldn't have been able to do what you just did. If you didn't have the business that you had, you would feel more pressure financially than what you just did because you now have that freedom in your business to be able to, okay, my mother-in-law needs me. I can get up and go and be able to work anywhere and like build this business.

Still stay relevant, stay out there, but nothing is like you wouldn't have that freedom, that task freedom, that ability for your business to still work. [00:10:00] In other forms of life. So it's actually celebrated to take time away from your business? Yes. When it's needed. 

Monica Little: Yeah. And that, I love saying it this way too, that, you know, it's a business when you can take time away from it and it's actually still running.

Mm-hmm. Like it's a hobby when it's tied to you. It's such, it's a hobby when literally you have to be doing all the work in order to make su, to make sales, to make progress, to make money. Yeah. But it turns into a business where like, yeah, you take a couple days off and whoa, I'm still getting orders, things are still getting done, my virtual assistant's doing this, or my packer, who is doing this?

You. Right. And and that's what really excites me, cuz that's when people start to realize like, wow, this is truly a real business. So I wanna ask you because. What I find, and I'm totally on the same page with you, with like professional photos, right? Professional branding, graphic design, outsource. Mm-hmm.

With the specialists. Even though it's gonna cost you money, it's gonna save you time. Exactly what you said. How do you position that to people though, who are maybe in a strict finance financial position? Is there anything in particular you say to them, or how do you really [00:11:00] pitch that to get people on that side 

Madison Paige: with you?

Totally. And I, I support people through, like the majority of my clients are getting like two consistent sales. I have a lot of clients that have consistent sales and we're scaling, and I understand they have more wiggle room for the hiring and everything like that. So for those consistent people that are trying to get to those consistent sales, they might have a little bit tighter of a budget.

I would say that the main focus there is that community building. Then it's getting that community of guaranteed sales that, uh, people that love your business, people that love what your business. Stands for focusing more on meaning of your business, like getting more of those foundations really set to have that community where I have clients that are like, Maddie, I know every time I launch, every time I run a sale, I'll get right around X amount of dollars.

Like I know I can do this. And it's guaranteed and it's there and it's predictable and that's really what you're looking for. And then once you get to that point, it's a little bit easier to be like, all right, it's time to outsource. It's time to, it's time to get the specialist to come in. It's time to hire that product photographer.

Cause that's what I hate. Um, like, I [00:12:00] don't like doing it. I'm done. Like I don't wanna do it anymore. And that's okay. And so I guess people that have a stricter budget is focusing more on community building rather than like pushing numbers all the time. Having more variety, having more lifestyle around your business, um, that allows people to.

Latch on. Like people, people a lot of times are like, well, I just need to sell. I need those sales to come in, so I'm just gonna push sales all the time. But instead, if they take a step back, focus more on the connection, the meaning behind their business, the message they're trying to convey. It allows people to feel way more connected and way more like tapped into what you have to offer.

Monica Little: I love it. So tell me a little bit more about how people can really build that type of connection. Because one thing that I teach, um, my members and would love to know your spin on this too, and maybe it's completely different, but I always tell people to really, when, you know, marketing is essentially the emotion behind it.

So for example, if you're selling candles, you wanna be portraying the candle on the nightstand and someone reading a book. Yes. Or a candle on the kitchen counter next to some flowers like the actual ex. Experience of the end user. So [00:13:00] then when they see it, they're like, oh, that's what I want. A nice relaxing night.

Yeah, my kids in bed, me reading a book with my candle. Right? So that's one way that I like to teach, like marketing and really connecting with people. But tell me more specifically on, I know you talk about building a Ride or die online community, so what are some of the key aspects on how to 

Madison Paige: actually do that?

Yeah, and the like aesthetic lifestyle side is absolutely there. And I think there's this big push to be like, we don't want aesthetics. Like we want it to be more raw and real. And that is absolutely, we don't want it to be, everything is perfect. Like life is great when things aren't always that way, however, 90% of people are visually motivated, meaning if you aren't aesthetic, you are actually speaking to about 10% of your possible people.

Mm-hmm. And so having that lifestyle, having that like putting people in the mind, how I like to phrase it, is putting people in the mind of already owning your product. Like when they own your product, how are they gonna feel? What is it gonna look like? But as well as that is a part that people are missing a lot of times as well, is meaning like people, and I know we talked about this.

On my podcast [00:14:00] is talking about like something deeper than just like by my candle, having them like, when don't you light that candle? What do you want people to feel when they reach for your candle? How do you want people to feel that they are supporting themselves? That they are representing, or that they have meaning?

Like it's not that deep, but make it that deep. Like put like if you're selling a candle, but like make it something else. Make it knowing when they reach for that candle. Ooh, I wanna. Feel this way, and then you portray that in a visual sense and get people to connect to it. Like what do they wanna add to that message?

What do they, how do they like have them create your next scent of, okay, maybe your next scent is whatever. It's spring. So let's talk about like florals. So this is your floral scent, but maybe the meaning behind your candle is actually like, The becoming and it's like it's your becoming the person you wanna be.

So that candle is when what you light, when you are doing your morning routine, doing your journaling, trying to like do the becoming or maybe you're meditating, whatever like that is that candle. So adding that [00:15:00] meaning showcasing it in your content, in use, how it's working, and then get people to be like, how are you like getting them collaborative around that.

When do you light the becoming candle? When do you use it for, and have that collaboration in it. To again, put more people into the mind of like, Ooh, I could use this at this point. Ooh. 

Monica Little: I love that question that you said at the end, like, when would you use this? Or how would you use this? Because then you're actually taking that one step further, not only visually showing them here's what it looks like in actual experience.

Yeah. But now you're asking them like, how would you use this? And they're like, oh, well I would use this in my morning routine, or what I'm meditating or what I'm doing yoga. And then they're actually taking them that one step further. I love that. Mm-hmm. 

Madison Paige: In that place. Oops, sorry. You're putting them in that place of like when they would actually use it again, making them feel like they already own it.

They're like, Ooh, it's like a longing. Then they're like, I wanna use this at this point. Beautiful. 

Monica Little: So where does this live? Is this like an Instagram caption and an Instagram post we're talking about? So have like a real [00:16:00] showing experience. Have your caption talking about the actual meaning of the product, and then have that question at the bottom to get people engaging and really building that community.

Is that how this comes into like tactical, real life? 

Madison Paige: Yeah. And I think that you can use it in multiple ways. Um, it's hard because I, I like to say that your Instagram feed should be like a magazine of your brand. You want the aesthetics there. You want people to feel the value of what's your business like?

Everything. If your dream, brick and mortar store came out and was like, we want you make us a magazine of everything that you're about so we can, we, we can know that you are exactly what we want. Um, the meaning behind your brand, what you say. Stand for the things you don't stand for, your product, education, when to use it, the benefits, all of that, as well as the aesthetic lifestyle side, make that on your feed.

And then your stories is where you have a little bit more of that collaboration, that connection like that is actually where, like that community is held more on your stories than anywhere else. Um, Instagram doesn't have the same culture anymore of like a ton of comments and a ton of information there.

It's funny because. A lot of the other platforms still have [00:17:00] that where like TikTok and all of Facebook, like there's a lot of comments going on. Um, and so your Instagram stories is where you can incentivize that collaboration. So even if you make that into a reel, and I would mix it around every once in a while, but you can make it, make it a reel, have it in the caption for people that enjoy.

Like commenting and having that collaboration, but also open up the conversation on your stories. And then you can u put a little story sticker out there that says, when would you use this? Um, like, here's us using it here. When would you use it? And then you can share those different story responses for people to be like, oh, it's like, it's a testimonial.

It's showing that you're in demand and showing that people are using it and loving it. And it's giving people ideas of like, Ooh. I could use it at that time too. Have all of that engagement, put a link, buy this becoming candle here and show like right away. Have that like very natural general call to action added to it.

Monica Little: Hmm. I love it. And I love how you said show that it's in demand because what I talk a lot with my clients is like showing social proof. Right. Show the [00:18:00] dms. Show the questions. Show the reviews. Show the comments. Anytime anything like that happens, take a screenshot, pop it in your stories. But I love the flip on words instead of saying like, just show social proof.

Show that it's in demand. Yeah. That people are asking, reaching out to you and talking to you and conversing. I absolutely love that. So tell me a little bit about community building, cuz I hear this from some of my members that they're doing this stuff in terms of like asking questions and trying to get their audience to engage, but sometimes it doesn't happen right away, right?

Yeah. So talk a little bit about what's required. Is it just showing up? And it's okay if you're talking to no one for a little bit. It'll come with time. What's your guidance in terms of that topic? Yeah. 

Madison Paige: As such a good question because it is hard. It's like you're actually making somebody take, and it's funny, like looking at how I consume, I am not somebody that's like, like engaging with all of these people on social media naturally.

Like when I am just mindfully like myself scrolling and, but when you do think about it, Like you are actually taking, you have to make somebody take time [00:19:00] out of their day to type something up, to send it to you, to engage or hit the button, whatever. And so the hardest engagement to get from somebody is the first engagement.

Once you get one, it's easier to get two. I like to call it like, it's their mental connection. Tallies. Like every time they engage with you, it's like a little tally of like, oh, I'm connected to this person. Ooh, another one. Like, Ooh, I was talking to him here. And like, communi community is a two-way street.

So having some sort of like background, like communication to them as well, asking for their opinion, also talking back to them in the dms, in the comments, liking, commenting on their stuff. However, when it's easiest to get that first tally is on something that has nothing to do with your business. And so if you have been doing these things, but it's like, which pattern is your favorite?

Do you like this scent over that sense? Like really business focused people. Like we put a quick stiff arm up to being sold to all the time. Like, we're like, uh, I don't want it. And so like, well, the perfect way to do it is put a pole out there that has nothing to do with your business. Do you drink [00:20:00] coffee or tea in the morning?

Do you like, are you a summer person, a spring person? A fall person? Like which one is your favorite? Like, and make it a little bit more deep than those. Those are obviously very like, Easy, but have it be something that, or like talk about like a personal story, like show up, be yourself and then like ask them a question.

Like this morning I put my face, my boyfriend and my picture on the like old face filter and I put it on my Instagram stories and I was like, why do we look like, like the hip grandparents that go to a nightclub? And I had so many people, I was like, wrong answers only like what are we doing for fun? We looked.

Ridiculous. And it was so funny. People like the responses people got and I started getting new responses back and it had nothing to do with my business. Mm-hmm. And that is that type of content, like the first engagement is the hardest to get. And it, a lot of times it comes from something that has nothing to do with business.

That's why you need variety in your content. That's why you need more content than just pushing sales. Because if you're just pushing sales, no one wants to engage with an advertisement. And that's, I like, Essentially what you're doing if you're doing it [00:21:00] that way. So yeah, to get that first commun, like that first engagement is posting something that has nothing to do with your business being a little bit more personal.

Your most engaged content will be more personal content that people can relate to because they know what to say back. Um, And kind of starting there and then building into that more business style of engagement. Mm-hmm. 

Monica Little: I love it. I heard that from someone else too. That one strategy that she does is every single morning on her Instagram story, she does a poll like that.

Mm-hmm. That's not necessarily business related. It's tied in like maybe a little bit to maybe her values or. You know, it's somehow tied in a little bit course, so it's not like totally out of the blue. But yeah, like you, I love what you said of it being not entirely business related, so then you get that first little interaction and then it just kind of opens the floodgate for them to interact with you more.

I absolutely love that. I think that's such a good idea. And I'm thinking too, for people who are listening, how they can tie in like something of their business but not like it's selling their business. So if they are, I'm trying to think of some of my clients. Um, I know someone [00:22:00] makes embroidery kits and they're these beautiful kits that are meant to like slow down and do a meditative form of art.

Yeah. So that could be her with the meditative slowing down. Coffee or tea, because that fits actually perfectly because she actually has like this beautiful teapot that she pours her tea in the morning, which goes so well with her brand of slowing down using art as meditation. So it's not a direct business correlation, but it's also not like completely out of the blue that it's like, okay, who is this?

And, and what are you talking about? Right. Yeah. So I, I love how you said that's such a good way to build community. Um, what are, what are your thoughts in terms of. Sell. When you actually do start to sell. So you have this community, you're asking questions, you're interacting, getting them to really buy in to you, your brand, your business.

Now when we actually do flip it to selling, uh, what are your recommendations there? Do you, do you say like, you know, click the link of my bio, here's where you can buy, here's where people love [00:23:00] it, show it's in demand. Or do you have any formula with the actual selling pa part of things too? 

Madison Paige: Yeah, so I like to tell people that it's good to have seasons of business.

So like when you're trying to like build community, it's very nurture, like it's growing, growing, nurturing, or selling. And so a lot of times you do this like heavy nurture season. So if you're like medi, I don't even have people engaging. I put polls out there, nobody says anything. Let's go into a nurture season where you're really heavily trying to engage with people.

And then having like a sale or having a collection release, having something like that that you can put out there. Um, so a selling season has like strong hard call to action. That's like when you're releasing a new, uh, a new colle collection release or releasing a subscription or launching something new or having a collaboration, something like that, that you are like, Go click here, do this thing.

But you can sell in the in between more naturally, like I just said. When you're talking about that candle, like asking them, engaging them, ha, showing that in demand and then like having a link be [00:24:00] like, are you ready to like implement this into your morning routine? Like, here's the link and buy it there.

And so it's having a little bit more variety in what you're doing and it can be more natural. I like to have that like natural stor, natural selling content that it's like, what's going on in your day? Like, oh my gosh, I just got this awesome testimonial. Let's break it down. This is what somebody said.

This is what, like this is why I do what we do. Our values here are all of these things. Wanna try it? Here's a link. Or did you know you can use this over that? Like, here's two different things. Let's provide some education around it. Get them like connected to that, like meat and bones. This is the topic.

Um, here's the link to buy this one. If you want this, if you're, if you need that, here's the link for those. And filtering that throughout. So it doesn't all have to be. Like pushy, pushy, pushy. You can educate, you can inspire, you can share. And then just have a natural call to action. And realizing the days that you launch, realizing the days that you have a sale or something are naturally going to be the days that you have the most amount of sales coming in.

Just [00:25:00] because you're incentivizing it, that's why you do it. Um, but you should have sales throughout, but you do still have to prompt them. You're kind of trying to warm somebody up enough, build up that intrigue, peak their interest, their desire, all of it, and get people there. However, People don't want to eat at a restaurant with an empty parking lot.

How many times have you like driven by and like driven to a restaurant and then all of a sudden you're like, wow, this place is dead. Like, why is, why is nobody here? Or on the contrary, like a new restaurant pops up and their pa, their parking lot is overflowing. You're like, I gotta go there. Like people clearly love it.

And that's the vibe that you want, the Stanley Cup, like the Stanley Cup that everybody's dying over. The only reason people love it is because there was scarcity there and that it was so in demand and there was. So much conversation around it. So how can you use that? And it's a marketing thing is why that cup did so well.

Um, there's a whole story behind it, how like they discontinued it. This marketing agency came in and was like, this was your best product. Let me market it for you. They marketed it and now it's their number one best selling product, and it's viral everywhere. And that's because it was scarce [00:26:00] to start, it was so in demand.

And they talked a lot about how to use it in their lifestyle. And so talking more about. Like selling in between is making it feel like people want it as well as like putting it into their life a little bit, but always realizing like Christmas season, November to December, hard selling season. You're given call to actions all the time.

October, you're probably nurturing, giving people a little bit of like, Warm and fuzzy what to expect, those things. But still filtering in smaller call to actions there. Lower involvement, call to actions. Mm-hmm. 

Monica Little: Yeah, I love it cuz that's definitely something that I teach with my members too, is selling through educating, selling through, talking about the benefits of the product, how to use it, what is it for, uh, where do you use it, how do you use it.

Mm-hmm. Um, selling through showing reviews, showing it's in demand. Yeah, like you were just saying too, because a lot of people think selling is purely saying, Hey, buy this now, but you can sell indirectly by saying, here are all the benefits, and then have a little in your caption say, if you want this now go to [00:27:00] link my bio.

And you're not like, Pushing. You're not convincing. You're just saying, here's what's great about it. Yeah. And if this sounds like what you need, here's where you can go to get it. So I think that's a big thing that a lot of people, when they hear selling, they're like, oh my goodness, but I'm gonna ask people to buy stuff.

But it's like, if you're giving value, it's not that scary. It doesn't feel pushy. And especially, I love how you said you amplify that even more with community then it's just like this. Whole ecosystem that mm-hmm. You're talking about your products, sharing about it, and people are getting super jazzed and excited and they're actually buying it too, which is the fun part.

Madison Paige: Exactly. And sharing how they can use it. Like, it's like almost making 'em so intrigued of how many people, like why, what's the hype here? Like what is this? Getting that first purchase. And then you're like, they're like, oh, okay, I get it. I wanna be a part of this. Like, it's like the fomo, it's the aha. What the heck is going on here?

And then when you educate, One of my favorite quotes in business is that people buy from emotion, but they justify on logic. So the emotion there, they're buying because they see the hype, they see the excitement, they see the lifestyle, the aesthetic, and [00:28:00] then you justify by telling 'em the actual tactical benefits of it, giving 'em a little bit more of like, Here's how you can use it.

This is what, like this is what it's gonna do for your life. So then they're like, ha. Oh, like it's a practical purchase. How many times at like 2:00 AM are you scrolling Amazon and you're like, oh, I could use this here. Or like, oh, my husband and I could share this. And then you're like, okay, it's a practical purchase I'm in.

Even though you were already sold emotionally, I. You had to justify it, so how can you justify it with logic to actually seal that deal? 

Monica Little: I love it. And how I think that works, if we talk about super tactically too, is is like you were talking earlier, the visuals super emotional, right? Yeah. Visuals should be the person using it, how they would use it in their home, in whatever instance.

And then the caption can be more logical. The details really explaining it. And that's one thing I work with my members too, is like, make your captions long because the people are looking for that one question that they want answered, right? That one little thing. So if, if you have quite a few sentences in your caption, I mean that's okay.

Cuz sometimes people are a little bit nervous on that too. Like, I don't wanna [00:29:00] make it too long, I don't wanna bother people. But really if you're just educating and from a point of service, I mean, then they get, I love what you said, the logic. Which can be the caption and then the motion and the visual, and bam, those two.

Beautiful. I absolutely love that. One thing I wanna talk about too, when we talk about things being in demand, cause I know some people maybe are like, well, I'm only selling one or two products a week. Yeah. So how do I show this demand? So how would you answer a question if someone's maybe working through something like 

Madison Paige: that?

Yeah, and that's a hard one because you don't wanna lie. You don't wanna be manipulative. But marketing is in general, like it's. Tad of manipulation like there is that you are trying to get somebody to give you their credit card. And so it's bringing that energy if it's not there, telling yourself that it is there.

How would you be showing up as if you were sold out? How would you show up as if you were and we're not lying to anybody? We're not. Saying that there's only two left. Like that gets old to your audience when you're like, there's two, like two things left, like make sure you're buying, now we're almost outta stock.

Like all of that gets [00:30:00] old. People can see through it when they're like, all right, like, gimme some receipts here. Um, but like people see through being sold to at this point. But, um, what I would say is bringing that energy, something that I like to tell my clients when they're like, Maddie, my, my launch isn't going well.

Like, what do I do it? Like I know that people are watching but they aren't buying. And I say, write it out. Tell yourself I am getting 15 orders an hour. I am so thrilled, like this is the biggest launch I've ever had. This is how I'm feeling, and feel how that feels in your body. And then like, what would you be posting as if that was actually happening and post that, like show up as if it was happening for you and letting that continue through.

So what that kind of looks like a lot of times is sharing your own excitement if you were getting any engagement, screenshotting every piece of engagement that you're getting. Yes. Showing people buying. If you have one order, every single order you have, I want you to put on your Instagram story. It's like every time you have something, a label printout, show that label being printed out.

[00:31:00] Even if it is just one, nobody else needs to know. You're not gonna be like, well, this was my only order this week. Or like the, the small businesses that are using audios that are like, well, my content sucks. So like, um, Instagram, please push this content out to people who want it. It's like that style of content is not going to sell and make people feel like they want your con, your, your product, like to be totally mm-hmm.

Tough love, but it's like the people that wanna buy wanna buy because other people have seen, especially if you're like skincare, like you are, like skincare is a high involvement trust purchase. I'm putting that on my face, like it better, like people better know that it's not gonna break me out right away or like that other people like it enough to try it on my face.

And so realizing that that's building trust, it's building that in demand. Every single order you put, you get. You're putting it out there. If you got new, new packaging, you can be like, oh my gosh, I can't wait to send this out to everybody. Let me show you my new packaging that's gonna go out. It doesn't have to be.

Like, don't, you don't have to come out and say like, I've only [00:32:00] gotten one sale this week. Like you can just share from the place of already being in demand and it will happen quicker and, and semblance of being in demand. You're screenshotting and you're putting it out there. You're giving people permission to react and to respond to you in that way.

That's another big thing with community is. Telling your community how you want people to engage with you. If you're getting a DM and you're like, oh, I just wish I could get more dms like this, screenshot it and be like, I love when you guys send me dms like this, and you'll get more of them. I find this on my podcast all the time where if I say like, oh my gosh.

I love getting dms from you guys telling me just how much you're loving the podcast. Feel free to reach out, like feel free to reach out anytime. I just love to hear that you are loving it and I wanna connect and I wanna stalk your profile. And I see after I put that out there, I'll get a half a dozen people to reach out and be like, Hey, I've been Bing, your podcast new followers, new people coming in, new inquiries because I gave them permission that that's something that I want.

And so you can do that. Mm-hmm. Too. Tell people, I want you to do [00:33:00] this. Like, I want you to send me video, like po comments like this, like, oh my gosh, this warms my heart. People need, in a world where people are ki we're kind of awkward, we're kind of anxious about everything. We don't wanna like be too like out there.

We, we don't wanna offend anybody. We don't wanna like, people want to know like, okay, it's okay. Like, she's open to this. And so when you can get out there and show those screenshots, show all of that, people know, okay, like, she's cool. We can do this. I can, I can send this message that I've been feeling. 

Monica Little: Oh my gosh, I love it.

So it's basically inviting them to like, yeah. DM you, right? When you share a screenshot of a dm, you're inviting other people to say, yeah, I check my dms. Yeah. I answer, yeah, I'm excited when you DM me, so feel free to DM me. And then it leads to like this growing compound effect, which I absolutely love.

But I love what you said of basically like holding the energy, right? Yep. If you don't feel, quote unquote, your products are in demand, you have to have that like day one energy of this is the best product ever. I can't wait for you to try it. You're gonna [00:34:00] absolutely love it. And that's one thing I tell people all the time is like that day one energy, you have to have that every single day because your sales are gonna ebb and.

And there's things you can do, obviously, but that energy, that excitement of this is the best product ever. I can't wait to share this with you. I can't wait to share this with, the world has to be there and it's the hardest thing when those sales aren't there. But if you can master that, that's like a game changer because you know how much your product does help people.

So you will show up and talk about it in that way, no matter if you're getting 10 sales today or zero sales today. Right? So, I love what you said in that regard, and I tell my clients the same exact thing. If you have one order that should be on your story, if you have one box going out, that should be on your story and every single time.

Because then people don't realize all of a sudden, three days a week, they see you with at least one package those three days, and they're like, whoa, like she's sending some stuff out. I gotta go to her website and see what 

Madison Paige: is right? Mm-hmm. Yes, exactly. And I think a big thing to talk about as well is, When we're business owners, we put so much of [00:35:00] ourselves into our business that it becomes so personal, but a lot of times we have to detach our own like personal worth from our sales.

Just because your business isn't seeing sales doesn't mean that you suck as a person. Like it means that we need to tweak some strategy, like we need to tweak what we're doing, make some changes. And I think it's really easy when you're launching something and nobody buys to be like, Why me? Like why, or do all of these other people have this?

But if we can detach our own personal worth, our own like thoughts on ourselves from how our business is working, it makes you look at it more from, someone told me once to, um, approach your business as if it was a project in college that like if you tanked a project in college, like it wasn't that big of a deal.

Like of course you're gonna be a little bummed, but like, you're not gonna be like, this is my whole personality that's just like gone. As opposed to it being like an ex. Tension of who you are, like your whole brand identity, um, or your whole personal identity, I guess. And so when your business is, is flourishing, you're like, I'm hot.

Like I'm doing good. Like this is great. And then when you're, when your business isn't working, like when it's [00:36:00] ebbing a little bit and then you're like, oh my gosh. Like what am I doing wrong? Why do people hate everything that I'm doing? So detaching your own like, Personal worth from your business results, I think is a big part that's not talked about enough.

Um, especially when you're growing your business, like getting you to consistent sales. You have to test, you have to see what works. You have to learn strategy and see like your audience is different than every other audience. That's why having a mentor or somebody like give you strategy or like even just somebody that knows what you're trying to do, come in and look at a gap.

Like we can't always see our own gaps, myself included, where I have like friends come in and they're like, oh my gosh, you don't have one of those set up yet? And I'm like, Hmm. I didn't even really, I know I've been try, like it's something I've been meaning to do and she's like, oh no, no, no. It's like a game changer.

It's something you need and it's like, oh, okay. Like you're even in business, we are only so in our own heads sometimes, especially when you have a small team, that it's nice to have people there to, to tell you those gaps are there and to tell you like, this isn't you. This is just like the output that we need to adjust.

Mm-hmm. 

Monica Little: [00:37:00] Yeah. And I really like to approach business from like a scientist's point of view. It's like truly test and learn everything. And there's this, um, one way that I like to look at it too, which compliments what you said, is if you have a Venn diagram, that's the two circles, right? Yeah. Um, and then one side of it, it should be like, act as if, so that's like home the energy act as if it already happened.

Act like you are making the sales that you want, but then the other side is detachment. And not taking anything personally. And it's that beautiful sweet spot right in the middle of the Venn diagram when you're acting as if your goals came true and your dreams came true. But you're detaching and not making it mean anything on the good side or the bad side.

Cause a lot of people will attach meaning when things aren't going good, but when things are going good, sometimes people attach meaning too. So it's even detaching from like the good days, right? Exactly. Mm-hmm. And just saying, Hey, I'm, I'm here to build this business and see what it's capable of and I'm learning along the way and everything's happening.

For a reason for me to become a better leader, a better business owner, no matter what it may be. But I think that's like the sweet [00:38:00] spot, right? And not letting your current circumstances dictate your mood. Dictate your energy. Because if you do, then your energy comes down, then you're not showing up on social media, then you're hiding in the basement, then you're wishing your sales were more, but you're hiding in the basement.

So how are your sales gonna be more when you're not showing up or doing anything and you, yes, 

Madison Paige: it snowballs. Mm-hmm. Exactly. Yeah, I think people do that a lot when they launch and a launch doesn't work. It's like 12 hours into a launch where nobody's bought, they're like crawling in their turtle shell and they're like, shoot, like another one that's not working.

But instead taking the next three days to really show up as if people were buying and being excited about it and having that energy and keeping space for people to feel it. Like, okay, it takes a little bit of time to get those immediate sales. It takes a little bit of time to get people like, Setting alarms, waiting for your launches to happen.

But what it doesn't take is for people to be intrigued enough like it takes a couple of days sometimes for some people. Not everybody has that need [00:39:00] actualized as soon as you launch. And so the worst thing you can do when you're feeling down on what your business is, and we've all been there, we're like, why did this not work?

The worst thing you can do is ghost, because then it's like you just said, it's just a spiral. You're gonna ghost. You're still gonna get no sales and then it's gonna be worse and worse. You're like, oh my gosh, it's been a week since I launched and nobody's bought anything. And then it's like, well, how did you show up to, to actually get like more sales coming in?

I think that is when you really have to sit down, write down, things are awesome, what's going on? Like I got all of these sales coming in and show up as that's actually happening. 

Monica Little: Beautiful. So that's the tool you would recommend for people. It's like journal as if it already happened, right? What type of energy, what type of state would you be in and start to live into that?

What you're writing on paper, right? 

Madison Paige: Yeah. And some people are like, Physical like that on a paper. Some people are like mood board, visual, whatever it may be. Some people just like to read it and a lot of times I think it's interesting looking at the love languages versus how like you can hype yourself up because I'm super words of [00:40:00] affirmation.

So I can sit there and have my piece of paper that says like, how awesome I'm doing written down, and I can read it and just be like, you're right, Maddie. Like. You're, you're awesome. Like you're crushing this and I can use that. Some people want like, okay, an acts of service. Like, okay, what would I be doing?

Like, how would I be treating myself? How would I be serving myself as if this was happening? Let's do that. So I think almost looking at your own love languages and how you can hype yourself up through that. Um, some people need to read it, some people need to write it. Some people need to act as if it's happening.

Some people need to see it visually, like look at the mood board, whatever that may be. Um, And really just act, like I said, act. Act as if your business is seeing that and sharing every semblance of being in demand. Beautiful. 

Monica Little: I love it. Yeah. So good. Oh my gosh. Amazing. Awesome, awesome. So many good insights.

Well, tell us, Mandy, as we wrap up more about the programs that you offer and where people can find 

Madison Paige: you. Yeah, I have all sorts of things from getting two consistent sales to expanding your current sales. To like really scaling [00:41:00] and going into that like freedom-based, like sanity program that's gonna help you sustainably scale.

So a little bit of everything. Um, and so you can come hang out with me on Instagram at this is Madison Page. I have a podcast called The Small Business Growth Podcast that the majority of my people love hanging out with me there. I put out new episodes every Tuesday and Friday, um, and I'm exploring Lemonade, which is a new platform.

Um, and it's Madison Page there as well. Ooh, okay. 

Monica Little: What is this new platform? I 

Madison Paige: haven't heard of it. Oh, really? Yeah. There's a new social media platform called Lemon Eight. It's owned by TikTok, but it's kind of like a birth child of Instagram and Pinterest. So it's Pinterest style, like aesthetics and pictures.

I think there's big opportunity for it for product base, et see everything, um, because it's super aesthetic, like it has, if you have a brand identity and you can really share that. Um, but it's a little bit more lifestyle, so it kind of pairs those two like powerhouse things. And so it's like Pinterest where it's very aesthetic.

You're scrolling on like people you don't like on a for you page that you don't follow. Um, and then when you click on it, [00:42:00] it's like a little mini blog in the caption, so you can write it's photo based, which I know a lot of people are very excited about. Um, and so I've only been on it for like a week, but I do see big opportunity for businesses and stuff on it, so, you know, oh my gosh, it's too early to see if it'll stick around or not, but it's at least fun to play around on it.

Monica Little: I love it. Awesome. Awesome. Cool. Well, thank you for that. That's something new that I learned, but I'll make sure to link your Instagram, your website, all that fun stuff. And before we wrap up, I just wanted to ask if there's any, any final words of advice you wanna give to the small business owner that's listening.

I know that's, that's a lot of weight on your shoulder, but what would you end with for. 

Madison Paige: Um, my word would be to stop being so realistic. Um, I have had people my whole life be like, that's an audacious thing to do. Like, why? Like, wow. Like what are you gonna do when your business fails? Like, that seems a little bit too big.

And I think being realistic, like realistically, what can you. Here is just trying to like dampen what your op your opportunity actually is. Cuz realistically you can do absolutely anything that you put your mind to. Um, [00:43:00] realistically, there's a lot of people out there that didn't think what they're doing now was realistic for them.

And so realistic is so relative that if you stick to what feels realistic to you, you're thinking of yourself at such a smaller level than you actually can be. 

Monica Little: Ooh, so beautiful, so inspiring. Woo. So thank you so much, Madison. I know people will absolutely love everything that you shared with us today.

And those ending words were just perfect. So just wanna say thank you so much and express my gratitude, and I look forward to seeing what comes next with you. And thank you for being guest on the product based podcast. 

Madison Paige: Thanks so much for having me.