[00:00:00] Speaker A: I didn't realize that you can really start a business with nothing. If a client emailed me, I would respond. I was solely focused on the money and I was losing my why? When you're not putting those boundaries, you can burn out. You can start to resent the client. Boundaries is the word.
[00:00:19] Speaker B: Welcome to the Entrepreneur's Aqua Podcast. I'm your host, Zach Bernard. You can find me on Social at. It's Zach B. In each episode, I bring on experts from various industries for you to learn about their strategies and insights driving extreme business growth. The Entrepreneurs Output podcast is sponsored by we feature PR where we're dedicated to helping entrepreneurs build their thought, leadership and business by booking their own podcasts and launching their own podcasts. But today we're joined by Annie Rosinsky, founder of a Market Social, a marketing and branding boutique that specializes in digital marketing, brand development and social media management for businesses looking to bridge the gap between their brand and consumers. And funnily enough, she brings over 10 years of experience in digital marketing and branding to her Miami based company where she's built a reputation on creating engaging content and growing social media presence for companies across various industries. And now she's now focused on helping individuals build their side hustles into full time businesses. Annie, it's great to have you on the show. Welcome aboard.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: Thank you so much. I'm super excited to be here.
[00:01:21] Speaker B: I love it. One of the things that I always like to do with anyone that comes on this show is you've obviously been around the block. You've been running your company for a little bit here. And as most of our listeners are typically business owners, entrepreneurs, reps, people trying to start a business.
I'd love to hear from you. If you had to rebuild your company from scratch, knowing everything that you know today, what's like the one thing that you would implement or do that you feel a lot of entrepreneurs get like totally wrong?
[00:01:47] Speaker A: Yeah, I definitely. There's two words that come to mind right away is fear and boundaries. I think when you're starting a business, fear creeps in more than you would like to admit and sometimes you don't even realize it. And I think the fear, sometimes you're thinking as a entrepreneur and starting a business, you have to get everything perfect. So sometimes you are afraid to even start because you're like, I don't have the money, I don't have the investors, I don't have the right tools or technology. And so for me, I didn't realize that you can really start a business with, with Nothing, you just start it. Because if it's. Because if there's a need in what you're offering and if you're solving a problem, the business is going to come. And so I think two boundaries. When I first opened a market social, I opened right after college and I was working 24 7. If a client emailed me at 3am because that's the time their brain works, I would respond.
And I think being able to have those boundaries, one, it makes you look and you exude this energy that says my time is valuable and my work is valuable, but anything like as an entrepreneur, a lot of times you work more than just a 9 to 5, but answering emails and calls at 3am.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: Like it's a no, that's a bit too much.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: Yeah, definitely. But at that point I was so hungry for it, which is a good thing. You want to be hungry for it. But when, when you're not putting those boundaries, you can burn out. You can start to resent the client, you can start to like you. I believe that if you're in a creative field, like marketing and branding, you have to rest. You have to be able to find inspiration by slowing down. And so I think I was just on the go go when I started that I needed to sit back and just get. Boundaries. It's the word.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: Yeah, that's very. And I think as like any entrepreneur, when you start a company or a business, you will go through that stage, like regardless. Like, you obviously have to grow, you have to be really young here. But I think it becomes a point where you have to have that balance. As you mentioned, where you can be working 24 7, you'll just burn out and then that will hurt you in the long run either way.
[00:04:09] Speaker A: Right.
[00:04:09] Speaker B: But I like what you mentioned though, and I don't remember what it's called specifically, but analysis paralysis, something like that, where you think too much, you're analyzing everything, you're like, do I start this? I could. There's still a few things missing. It's like that, the classic people that you're trying to build a website, you're building a logo, you're trying to make it all pretty and everything like that before you even have one client. I see this so much.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: Right.
[00:04:31] Speaker B: And I think the best piece of advice is you start. And then as you start getting that traction, as you said, business will come if you're obviously offering a great service. And I feel like a lot of people are a bit thinking that. And would you say you've ran into those, like when you started your own company. Seems you were directly, like, just working.
[00:04:48] Speaker A: Yeah, so I started in a unique way. I was super blessed. I was actually in college for business, marketing and psychology. And so I was working at a gym just at the front desk because my classes were in the afternoon. And so I did the opening, and when that, like, when it was slow, I would start trying to take what I was learning in my classes and apply it to the gym, the business of the gym. And so I shared it with the manager, and she said, okay, I'll pay you extra if you start doing this stuff. So I'm like, okay, cool. And then a couple other companies on the street in the area of Coral Gables, Miami, were asking her, who did you hire for your marketing?
And she was such a gift. She was so kind. She said, you have something here.
Open up an LLC and run for it. And so I really started the business by just creating proposals of what I offered or what I could offer to these local companies. And then I started growing from there. So for a while, I really had work without even having a website. And so that was. That's my whole point, is that you don't have to have a perfect, beautiful logo. You don't have to have a website. But, wow, yes, that's so important now for SEO purposes or credibility and things like that. But, yeah, so I think once I.
I think like a year or two in, I had a website, but it wasn't anything because a word of mouth for me was really how I got the majority of my clients in the beginning. But when I hit a year or two, I'm like, oh, my gosh, I'm doing this work. If someone ever saw my website, they would never hire me because it's just boring and plain.
So I really struggled with the amount of edits I did for my own website. I wouldn't have done for a client ever.
So I think it's just getting out of your head. And also I would say is it's great to look at what other people are doing in your same industry, but don't get so consumed by it that again, you have, like, analysis paralysis.
[00:06:52] Speaker B: They get bogged down, like, what other people are doing. Oh, should I be doing this? Just focus at what you're doing. Make sure you're good at it. Just keep improving.
[00:06:59] Speaker A: And yeah, and I think to don't fix it if it's not broke. So if someone. If another person in your industry is doing it, well, great. Follow their systems. Don't rebuild it, use it. But because what I'VE learned too, is you are the unique proposition because it's your brand. So really trust in yourself.
[00:07:19] Speaker B: Yeah. Don't reinvent the wheel. I think that's a classic thing with that.
[00:07:23] Speaker A: Yeah, it is. I was literally. Did you. I don't know if you saw my brain. I was like, what is that saying? But thank you.
[00:07:28] Speaker B: No worries. Yeah, but one thing, it'd be like housing. Explore, though, because when we, before we started recording, you mentioned that you obviously had a market social and then you're somewhat transitioning to work more with like individuals specifically that perhaps had a hustle and then they're trying to take that like full time and really, like, focus on that heavily. I'd be kind of, like, curious what kind of made you want to decide to do that change. Okay. We work with brand companies and now I kind of want to focus more on helping other, like, entrepreneurs.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: Yeah, I think I was really getting into marketing can be a very.
How do I explain it? Cutthroat industry.
And I was becoming very tough. Like, I was. If a contractor, someone that I had subcontracted for work, didn't have what I needed on time, I would send an email asking for it without even saying hi. I'd be like, where? Where is this? And so it was taking like the. It was just. I wasn't feeling like myself anymore. I was just so, like, money hungry. I'm like, I have these big clients. I need to just. I was solely focused on the money and I was losing my why. Like, I was losing the why as to why I started marketing. Why I studied marketing. I started getting a lot of women, especially mainly women asking me, like, how did you start that? Because again, being in marketing, being in business has been for so many years male dominated, like a male dominated industry. And now it's changing for sure. But so many women were like, how did you do it? And so I have a lot of friends who are in the creative industry, like photographers, writer, like content writers, bloggers.
And we all decided, hey, let's start something for the community for women in Miami. And so we called it Women who. And basically our brand is to. We have a podcast and we share a lot of, Yeah, a lot of business tips. We get business, we get entrepreneurs on here. We get. We just interview women who have gone through that journey of, hey, I was, I was a mom and I just needed something for myself. So I started this little craft and now it's a huge business and we, we have the same system that a market social had. So if you want to Work with us. You definitely can. And we can do your branding, your marketing, all of your strategies, things like that. But women, who is mainly a resource that people can use, women can use to build their confidence in what they're doing in their craft, turn a side hustle into a profitable business and just really prep them and prepare them and build a community where they don't feel alone in business. Because sometimes being an entrepreneur can feel so lonely.
[00:10:16] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm with you. That's like the balance component in a way that you're touching on in a way. And I guess with the process, like, what does that kind of look like? Because I know you mentioned it's a community. You have the podcast, like, business tips, like any other, like, support that, like you're like, providing or.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: Yeah, so we have them in person events. We offer in person events where people can get together, women can get together. And we've had panel discussions.
So we just want to. Anytime that we can talk business, talk tips, talk with these women, we definitely want to be able to be in their corner as much as we can.
[00:10:53] Speaker B: Well thought. And I guess just like shifting back to the marketing component, because I saw something and I wanted to go back to that because I'm a big believer of that as well, but I saw something around you believing that branding precedes any, like, marketing efforts.
And I'm like, really with you on that, because I feel like anything that we do on their set of things, it's like an amplifier when you have a really good brand. But I'd love to hear if you could break down for, like, the audience, like, why do you think so many businesses get this backward? And what happens when companies do marketing or perhaps like someone that is building a personal brand. Can you, like, break that down for us? Because I'm really curious, like, what your perspective is here.
[00:11:30] Speaker A: Yeah. So I think so much of it has to do with trust.
So if there's a company that you're seeing online or anywhere and they have a different logo with each time they send out an email, or their tone, the way they're talking is different. And you're like, did the same company write this different? Yeah, you should have your brand colors and your brand font typography. You can change it up for, let's say, Christmas, Black Friday, things like that. But to have that core brand builds trust. People love consistency.
And if you think about your own life, like, if you don't have structure, you feel chaotic. So if a brand doesn't have structure, it feels chaotic. And I think that's one. Number one is trust. Number two is being able to recognize a company.
So I used when I first started. Funny. I don't know if it's funny or embarrassing, but there's a game on your phone. I don't remember what it's called, but it would show you these brand logos and you had to write like, figure out what. Yes. And I would. I loved that game.
And so there's some brands, like you see gold arches, you know, it's McDonald's, you know. And so I think that keeping brand cohesion is just so important for it to get com. To get buyers to trust you and to be like, okay, there's someone that I could give my money to. There's someone who's going to. The return is going to be beneficial because I can already have a sense of trust with this company or this brand.
[00:13:06] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's like very important that you manage your brand correctly. One good example I think was maybe two years ago, I remember talking about that on a podcast. But have you ever seen the ad that Jaguar did where it basically ruined their entire brand image? And I think their stock tanked, but 80% or something like that. It was crazy.
[00:13:24] Speaker A: No, but I saw one with Levi's. I saw one with Levi's, but I didn't see Jack.
[00:13:28] Speaker B: That was the number.
[00:13:29] Speaker A: Now I'm gonna go YouTube it. But okay, I saw Leaf. Okay.
[00:13:32] Speaker B: But basically what happened is Jaguar was always about just like gas cars and everything like that, like luxury. And then I think it was around like two years ago, but on Twitter, X whatever you want to call it, they released a new car, like an ad, and it was like all futuristic, like all like electric vehicles and everything like that. And everyone was like, what is this? And then directly they were through brand tank. Like I don't remember what happened to this dog, but it was like pretty bad. And I think this applies like same context with any like company's personal brand. If you don't have that same consistency that consumers, clients are expecting, then you're hurting like your own like brand, like reputation, like future growth potential in a way for sure.
[00:14:14] Speaker A: And I think too because brands are allowed to expand, they're allowed to grow. Like we as people, we grow, we mature, we transform.
So brands are totally allowed to do that, but you have to walk your customers hands while you do it. You can't just go from, I can't just have this brand that is so feminine and pinks and pastels and all these colors and tone in my marketing is very Soft and sweet to then randomly doing a campaign that's like black and white and very stoic and more masculine, because then it's just, whoa, what happened? You feel catfished in the brand. And so I think had Jaguar have said, hey, this is where we're going. This is the direction we're going as a brand. Invite your clients to come on board with you. Say, hey, we're going this direction and it's going to be great because abc, and then you take your clients on that journey with you. But to just go from that gas luxury, like, I'm driving this beautiful machine, to then all feature, it's, well, I have a Jaguar because I like to drive, so I get. But I think it's taking your clients along for the ride.
[00:15:25] Speaker B: I think you put it, like, perfectly. Like, if you're making a rebrand or anything like that, you don't want to make it, like, abrupt because your customers are expecting something specific and holding the round while you go through that process and slowly doing it is the way to go. And I think mercury research is pretty important, too. I'm not sure if they did their mercury research before they did the rebrand.
[00:15:45] Speaker A: Right.
[00:15:46] Speaker B: But that tweet I remember, he blew up, like, I think it was like 50 million views and everyone was like.
[00:15:51] Speaker A: I can't believe I haven't seen it.
[00:15:52] Speaker B: Oh, no, it was bad. I remember laughing about that. I was like, they should not have done that. But it just goes to speak, like, you really have to do your due diligence, do your market research and obviously hold your hand of the customers, clients, without just doing it like all at once here.
And I guess, like, when you work with clients, companies, or obviously like the women that you mentioned that are taking the side of the sold, like the full. More like full time. How do you, like, help them or try to guide them through crafting their brand stories? Are there some common mistakes that you see them do when they try to, like, tell their story or I guess express it?
[00:16:27] Speaker A: Yeah. So we, we always want. We want the women to know who they really are. Because if you know who you really are and what you stand for, that can be portrayed in your brand.
And that should be. Because that builds such a strong why and it builds purpose. And we know this. Every brand has a mission and vision statement. And so if you don't know what that is and if you can't pitch that really well in five seconds, like, yeah, you, you need to be able to learn how to do that. When we work with clients and when we Work with these women. We really take the time to get to know them, to get to know their service or their product, to get to know why they started. And then we offer things like freebies, so we have a downloadable guide that's rooted in purpose and it just talks about that. So like, why are you starting this? What problem is it solving? How is this aligning with the way you live your life? How does it align with the way your consumers will live their life? And I think knowing yourself and knowing just what. Again, I'm just everything is purpose because there's so much content, everything is so saturated that if you're just throwing things up there without any foundation, if you will, I feel like it gets so lost and I forgot the question.
If you can repeat your question but. Because I know I was going somewhere with it. But if you could repeat the question.
[00:17:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I was more so talking. Do you have a specific way that you guide the per. The people that you work with?
[00:17:58] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, perfect. So going, getting to know them. And then also we'll send them a questionnaire, like a whole questionnaire, branding questionnaire, things like that. And then we build from that foundation that they give us.
[00:18:10] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think like a big thing within like building a brand is like the authenticity as well. Especially when you're building like your own personal brand. Like that becomes like very important. And I guess that also touches onto like the purpose, like the why that you mentioned and for a lot of like the woman's that you work with. I'm assuming that is like one of the big things that you're like a proponent of, making sure you have that established.
[00:18:32] Speaker A: Definitely. Because I think now with social media and all the platforms, we're so accessible to business owners and CEOs, like they all have, whether they show up on their website or they show up on their personal social media account, their Instagram.
So you have to have a personal brand. If you're in the business industry, in the business world, helping them realize that that you are in your brand has been super beneficial.
[00:18:59] Speaker B: Cool.
So with like you mentioned like the personal brand and then we talked about the authenticity aspect. Things like business owners being like very reachable and everything like that. Like one thing I'm always seeing, I'm seeing more now is there's so many people just having AI be like their entire like Persona, it's writing their entire content. They're writing AI like pictures, posts and everything like that. Are you like seeing that like more like in the industry? Because that's one thing I always Love to touch on AI. It's obviously becoming like more and more popular, but everyone seems to have a different opinion around it.
[00:19:30] Speaker A: Yeah, okay.
I, again, I think it's great. I love AI. I think if you work it for the right reasons. Great. What do I mean by that? If you have an E commerce company and I don't have time to do a whole, let's say a jewelry brand and you don't have time to do an entire photo shoot, do not use fake models.
But you can, you can have AI take a picture of the jewelry, the bracelet and have AI create the background. That's fine. I also think that using AI to help you organize for operation purposes in the business, in the back end of the business, like use it to organize your company, use it to create better systems for your company. When people are using AI to create the content, I'm just, maybe I'm old school, I don't know, but I like those, like just the old school, like photo shoots of Dove or any big company, like Old Navy. It's just there's the person behind it and I do believe that people really resonate with people and that's what we're seeing. Even just social media without AI. Yeah, everybody's, oh my God, these kids, all they're doing is on social. They don't have that person to person interaction. So I feel like if you're using AI to that and it's taking away the person to person interaction, not the biggest fan for it. But if you're using AI to enhance productivity, to enhance systems, to enhance operations, great, use it. Because that's a tool.
[00:21:06] Speaker B: I'm with you 100%. I think it, it amplifies any efforts that we do, makes us more efficient, we can get more done. But there are limits to how you should use it. I think if you're going to use it content, it should be more for research, getting a proper structure and what you want to talk about and everything like that. But don't use it to be like your own voice. And you mentioned that we're losing some of that touch, like those old ads and everything that was really like the person. That's one of the reason I love podcasts, for example, like we're speaking, we have a brand voice. It's not a robot that's like talking or anything like that, explaining what I'm doing. And I know you're on your own podcast too, so you get the concept too here.
[00:21:40] Speaker A: Yeah, but I think just people need to continue spending time with people. Yeah, we're in the digital world, and we are talking about marketing, which is a digital industry. Nobody's sending catalogs anymore. I love catalogs. I miss them. But, but, but, yeah, to have podcasts, like you say, to have that human connection. And I think that's what all brands and businesses need to keep.
[00:22:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
One of the other things, just like wrapping things up. That'd be really curious. So for any company's people brand out there listening that are like, hey, I want to get my brand, like, in order. I want to make sure that I have, like, the right messaging. I'm approaching it the right way. Is there maybe two or three bullet points that you would like, actionable bullet points that you would give to anyone trying to, like, maybe do a rebrand or just get their brand more in order to have a better brand perception or something of the sort?
[00:22:37] Speaker A: For sure one is find someone in your life, because I know you'll have them, that would be your target audience. And pitch the rebrand to them. If they understand it, see if they get it, see if it. Because that's really important, like market research, if you will, but in irl, in real life. So definitely pitch that to somebody. I would also, again, it doesn't have to be the fastest rebrand. Take your time with it, ease into it. See how your customers and your clients are responding to the new content, and also ask your current clients about it, too. And then I think the last thing is just trust yourself. If you're doing a rebrand, it's for a purpose. It's for a reason, and it's not.
But I will say there's people that I have met who do a rebrand because they're like, oh, now I don't really like red anymore. I'm super into purple, and it's okay. But you are a bagel shop, so why are you doing the color purple that doesn't enhance or evoke hunger. That's, you know, so don't just do it for aesthetic purposes. Have meaning behind it.
[00:23:50] Speaker B: Yeah. There needs to be an intention behind it.
[00:23:53] Speaker A: Yeah. So.
[00:23:54] Speaker B: And good.
[00:23:55] Speaker A: No. Yeah. So just ask. Pitch it to somebody who could be your target audience. Then take your time with it. Doesn't have to be super fast and have intentionality as to why you're rebranding.
[00:24:07] Speaker B: Yeah. And I love, like, the pitching to someone because I've heard, I mean, there's so many ways to do, like, market research. Maybe you do a survey with your current customers, clients via email, but pitching it to someone is interesting because you get, like, direct feedback. Honestly, right away.
[00:24:21] Speaker A: Yeah. And so you could. They could be like, oh, it's great. And I'm like, sounds like it's great.
[00:24:27] Speaker B: You're like, okay, this doesn't pass the test.
[00:24:29] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah. So I love the in person.
[00:24:33] Speaker B: I love that. Annie. Really appreciate you coming on the show and for anyone that wants to get in touch with you because I know you do some LinkedIn stuff. You obviously have your new company and you have the podcast or where should people, like, get in touch with you?
[00:24:45] Speaker A: They can find us on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn. Our website. It's all women who Miami kept it super simple. So women who miami.com.
women who miami.com. yeah. And then all the socials are just women who. But all the socials are on the website too. So you can find us there.
[00:25:03] Speaker B: Then we'll just put that in the description here. But perfect. So to your listeners, if you've enjoyed this episode, do not forget to subscribe to the podcast. You can also find more
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