Hear from a real live entrepreneur building her business with 黑料门. Akilah created Kissedbyabee.com to help people with skin conditions with her natural products.
We discuss her background and how she got started with 黑料门. We discuss the real challenges of building a business when you aren鈥檛 a tech expert.
- Selling offline
- Taking pictures
- Posting on Social
- Instagram Shoppable posts
- Facebook ads — step by step process
- Pixel and analytics
Show notes
Transcript
Jesse: Happy Friday!
Richard: Happy Friday is back again, flying by.
Jesse: I think this is episode number 34, I believe. Correct me if I鈥檓 wrong. Yeah, man, we got 34 episodes.
Richard: That good stuff. And I鈥檓 super excited. I always love getting to talk to merchants. And today we got another one.
Jesse: Yeah, this is a highlight for us because we are entrepreneurs and dreamers and we love talking to people that are also working on their dream. So yeah, we have more of this.
Richard: Yeah, good stuff. And to all the other 黑料门 users out there. Remember you too can put a spotlight on your business. You can get on the show. If you go to 黑料门.com/blog/podcast at the bottom of the page, there鈥檒l be a form, where are you too can get on the show and highlight how you got started, what you do and what you鈥檙e up to, and we will be more than happy to push it out to all the other merchants and Apple iTunes and all the good stuff. So everyone can learn about your business. So yeah, let鈥檚 get this started.
Jesse: All right, so let鈥檚 bring our guest, Akilah Nisa. Are you there?
Akilah: I am, hi, guys!
Richard: Akilah, how are you?
Akilah: I鈥檓 doing well. Thank you.
Jesse: And how did I do on the last name? Give us the proper pronunciation here.
Akilah: Oh, actually, it鈥檚 my middle name. Akilah Nisa, yeah. My last name is
Jesse: I鈥檒l write this down now so I can put in our show notes there. But Aquila, it鈥檚 great to meet you. So there鈥檚 an interesting title, what do you call the title of your job?
Akilah: I just call myself a creator only because I feel like that encompasses everything that I have to do. I create my products. I鈥檝e created my website. I create marketing, HR, I create it all. Also, a creator is
Jesse: Awesome, I love the word creator. I think that really describes you well. As far as your business, what do you do for business?
Akilah: For business, I鈥檓 an herbalist. So a lot of people are like “What does it mean?” and it pretty much means that I heal skin, that鈥檚 my specialty. I鈥檓 very good at it. I really don鈥檛 do anything internal, as plenty of herbalists. You know, people like to ask, like “I鈥檓 having high blood pressure”. I don鈥檛 mess with that. I love skin and I want to heal skin and I鈥檓 good at that. So I just stick with what I鈥檓 good at.
Richard: It鈥檚 the biggest organ in the body. So you still good.
Jesse: And everyone is a potential customer to you, everyone has skin. (laughing)
Akilah: Absolutely. That is exactly what I tell people when I鈥檓 doing vendor events.
Jesse: Makes sense.
Richard: That鈥檚 great. We鈥檒l definitely get into that too. Cuz not only did you do the
Akilah: Cool.
Jesse: Yes, so people have skin conditions or they just want better skin. Acne, skin conditions, what is the product or what is the solution that you have?
Akilah: My number one product I should say for skin is eczema. I have an eczema buttercream, whatever you want to call it. It鈥檚 phenomenal for anyone with mild to moderate eczema. If it is pretty severe, I have not had luck with that. I鈥檓 very honest with any client that comes to me. I can only do so much with plants. Sometimes you have to go chemical and that鈥檚 okay. But once you get it under control, you can always come back to a
Jesse: Okay.
Richard: Awesome, if someone鈥檚 listening right now again, they鈥檙e going to go to KissedByaBee.com and that actually brings up something that we were going to say. One of the things we also like to do is tips for customers, and we noticed that you have the domain but it reroutes to 黑料门 domain. So we鈥檙e going to see, Jesse could almost鈥� is there a reason you have that or do you want to try to figure that out? Can we help you?
Akilah: You absolutely can help me, and the reason that it鈥檚 like that is because I am not very technological. I鈥檝e done the best that I can and 黑料门 is so easy. I mean everything is so easy. But for some reason, this brand of mine, this creator brand of mine cannot grasp the concept of actually making KissedByaBee the domain that it goes to, so help me.
Richard: It sounds like you could do 80% of almost anything. We鈥檒l just help you with the next 20%. How about that?
Akilah: Perfect.
Jesse: I think it鈥檚 important, and I wanted to bring it up because I wanted to share with other people because I do see that. I see so many 黑料门 stores, I see a lot of them have the subdomain, maybe they renamed it, or maybe it鈥檚 still a store
Akilah: Absolutely, I love live chat. I鈥檝e used it quite a few times more or so. I should say when I first set up my store, but it was so helpful. They were quick. I didn鈥檛 have to wait a long time and I didn鈥檛 feel stupid. Didn鈥檛 make me feel stupid, people ask questions and you鈥檙e like “Oh my God, why are you asking me this?” But I didn鈥檛 feel any of that. I wasn鈥檛 intimidated, they鈥檝e taken care of everything that I鈥檝e had an issue with.
Jesse: It鈥檚 awesome. We鈥檙e gonna use it as a quote. I think it鈥檚 sort of an overlooked thing with 黑料门 that our live chat — they鈥檙e really awesome. It鈥檚 24 hours and they can do pretty much. I worked a lot of companies out there. For people in those other companies, I don鈥檛 like it in the answer, “We don鈥檛 know how to do that, you鈥檙e going to have to hire a developer.” And I think it鈥檚 very very鈥� They really push the limits on that. They do way more than they should be doing but they just want to help you make it.
Richard: For those who are listening, try to find that limit. (laughing) Ask them as often as you want.
Jesse: Yeah, really push them. Liza, support team, I鈥檓 sorry that I said that but we鈥檙e gonna let our customers push it.
Akilah: Oh my God, that is a challenge. Hold my beer. (laughing)
Jesse: How did you get started? Kissed by a Bee, did you go to school for this, handed down, how did you get started as a herbalist?
Akilah: That story is very interesting. I鈥檓 actually a regeneration herbalist. I say the third generation. There is my grandmother, my company says it was established in 1918. That鈥檚 when she was born, and then my father, and then there is me. I was born and raised vegetarian. My mom was not a vegetarian, only my dad. He took care of all the cooking cuz he鈥檚 an amazing cook. He鈥檚 just one of those guys that whatever he tries, he masters. We all wish we could be like that. I鈥檓 definitely not like that. But he鈥檚 just that man. So we grew a lot of what we ate. And that鈥檚 how I was born and raised. You plan it, you grow it, you eat it, you can it for over the winter and then you do the same thing again in the spring and it was the same with my grandmother. I remember when we were little if we cut ourselves, if we had issues, she would break off a piece of a plant, and she鈥檇 make some stuff together. And at that time we didn鈥檛 know what it was. “What is she doing?” And she put it together and then she made a salve out of it and she put it on us and then magically we were healed. So that鈥檚 just how I worked and that鈥檚 just how I grew up. I鈥檓 just fell into it. I was born into this. This is my destiny.
Jesse: Wow, and the thing is that story sounds so crazy, but it shouldn鈥檛 be. It should be like this is how humans have grown up for hundreds of years and why does that seem like out of the ordinary?
Akilah: Absolutely. We鈥檙e just used to convenience, grocery stores.
Richard: Exactly, and fast food. I mean our family same, we got rid of the microwave I think 9 years ago. And it wasn鈥檛 necessarily that we were super afraid of microwaves or anything like that. I鈥檓 not trying to freak people out. It was really more of if we can鈥檛 wait and actually sit and prepare the food with love and take the time to sit as a family like, we have bigger problems. So that was our quick solution to this happy medium like the training wheels towards. Well, maybe we don鈥檛 have the space to plant and grow and wait, but we do like that idea. So that was kind of our family鈥檚 happy medium. Just get rid of the microwave, cook it a good
Akilah: Absolutely. I really like that you say that because I tell my clients that. Also because I work with my hands and I grow it from seed to finish. It鈥檚 all mine. And I try to keep my mindset. I don鈥檛 create if I鈥檓 not in a good headspace only because I鈥檓 touching it and my energy is going into everything that I鈥檓 creating and there is no way I would want something negative to be put on your body. So when I create and when I plant I do everything with love. Same as what you said.
Richard: That鈥檚 great. Quick question before we move on past the three generations. Did the rest of the family have a heavy focus on skin as well or did they think more internally also and you just had that, what was the reason you focused on skin? It鈥檚 kind of a
Akilah: Well, I focus on skin because let鈥檚 just be honest. I feel that there are a lot of people, when people are in dire situations, when people have tumors or cancer or things like that. They look for anything to help and I just don鈥檛 feel like it鈥檚 responsible of herbalist to say: “Oh, you know, I can heal this, I can do, you take these herbs and then, you know, the cancer is going to go away or your tumors going to go away.” There are some things that you can do, but it鈥檚 definitely not. I just don鈥檛 believe in that and I would never want to give any type of false expectation. And so skin — yes. Internal issues like that — no. And I think people are in such a vulnerable state when they鈥檙e going through issues like that. So they鈥檙e just open to anything and I think a lot of people take advantage of that. I鈥檓 not interested in that and I don鈥檛 even think my liability insurance cover some of the money. (laughing)
Richard: If you did say it, there鈥檇 probably be someone coming knocking it. “No, you can鈥檛 say that”. So origin story, not all the way back to 1918 because unfortunately, we can鈥檛 have the original interviewee here with us.
Akilah: We are only a year and a half too late. She lived for a long time.
Richard: Wow, whole another story, but that鈥檚 one of the reasons why I wish more people would do interviews and interview their families and get that documented for their future generations cuz I love passing on stories for my family鈥檚 too. That would be great for us to document our past a little bit better and get a whole another podcast. A year and a half, you鈥檝e been started. Where did you get started? How did you find 黑料门? What was the鈥� let鈥檚 do this鈥� to you with your husband? “Let鈥檚 make this a business.”
Akilah: I鈥檓 actually 6 years in. I鈥檝e had Kissed by a Bee around for six years. It will actually be six years in May. I had actually had 黑料门 for a while, I think for longer than that. I had another business, I have another business. I think I might be a serial entrepreneur. I had another business and I found 黑料门 some type of way. This might have been seven or eight years ago, and I鈥檓 logged on, I got an account, but then I decided to go a different direction with that business fast forward to Mother鈥檚 Day last year. I needed to do some Mother鈥檚 Day boxes. And I was with Square and I just used their web page, but their web page does not give an option. So you can鈥檛 do size option. There were no options and I was like, I need options now. I鈥檓 like I have that 黑料门 account. Let me go in there and see what I can do. I uploaded the boxes. I did options. It was very quick. It took me all of 10 minutes. Pictures, options, I had a link. I was like, Great. I took that link and I posted it on my Square web page so that people could buy it from there and it synched so easily. I was like, this is good and I was like, it鈥檚 time, it really is time for me to upgrade. I had purchased another provider鈥檚 account. I think they have like a Black Friday sale or something like that last year and I went on and I was lost. I was like, I have no idea what to do. This is not
Richard: When you say you got the highest tier, you bought the unlimited?
Akilah: Yes.
Richard: So you actually do get more help than just live chat too?
Akilah: Oh. Oh, I should say “oh” like I knew that, right? “Oh!” (laughing)
Jesse: A lot of times people go the unlimited plan because you get free developer hours too. That way if there鈥檚 this really crazy problem you can鈥檛 solve, you talk too many people locally. They can probably solve it for you.
Richard: So now we feel a lot better about putting the live chat support team to the test because if you do put them fully to the test, you have development hours available to you as well, so they can pass it off and not feel bad. (laughing)
Akilah: Okay, I鈥檝e only used live chat because they respond right away.
Jesse: That鈥檚 perfect. What I like about this story it鈥檚 a lot like other people. You鈥檝e tried a couple of things. You鈥檝e tried different products, you run into limitations and then it sounds like this 黑料门 account was probably a free account for like 7 years because of your previous business. You can get back to it and it鈥檚 still there and you can do what you need to do with it. So all these people that used it seven years ago, come back. We鈥檙e still here. (laughing)
Akilah: Absolutely, absolutely come back. And I鈥檓 glad I had it. Looks like this is it, this is the solution that I need it and it鈥檚 been great. I need something easy.
Richard: And speaking of coming back, you mentioned a little earlier that it was going on for six years and you came in via Square, it was that because you were doing the offline events first and then brought it back to online? Was that the reason for that?
Akilah: No, I was always online and offline. Square was working. But again, it鈥檚 very limited. All it is just a web page. I mean, you post a picture, you put a price, and that鈥檚 it. At this stage of the game I just needed a few more options and I鈥檓 in of course a few business groups and everyone talks about some of the other options out there. As I said, I fell into the height and I did buy one of those options and I should have just gotten my money back if I could. I don鈥檛 think they would have given it back to me. But again I pay for the option but then I would have to pay somebody to actually built a site so that didn鈥檛 work for me.
Jesse: You don鈥檛 really need that much. Particularly when I look at your business. We haven鈥檛 mentioned it. You have a web page, as your products in your story. But realistically you don鈥檛 live just there, you live on social media. You have some great social media profiles and I think in some ways that might be more important for you than vegan fans to your website.
Akilah: Absolutely, yes. When I talked about 黑料门, I actually have gotten a couple of people that ask me: “Oh, that鈥檚 your website, how do you like them?” I鈥檓 like “I love it”. I have all of the options, all of them. I love the fact that it integrates with Facebook because I鈥檓 very, very active on Facebook. I run ads on Facebook every day. So I love the fact that I can tag my product and it鈥檚 right there. Also, have the store integrated on Facebook which is phenomenal. And then Instagram now, of course, I can tag my products on Instagram and go straight to the 黑料门 store and everything, so that鈥檚 awesome.
Jesse: I wanna dig in a little bit more to that because we get a lot of questions about people don鈥檛 know how to start on Facebook. They don鈥檛 have a start on Instagram. Walk us through, what was your last post about? Just walk us through.
Akilah: Oh, my last podcast was “I鈥檓 doing a podcast for 黑料门.” (laughing)
Richard: You know what鈥檚 funny about that is I want to just give a shout out. We looked real quick at your social media and everything, and not only are you an amazing personality but boy you have some super fans. Wow, this is not just like a regular business. These people are like, it鈥檚 like you have a hive literally, your own hive. I鈥檒l just stick with the theme of the bees and it鈥檚 literally wow. Just one quick thing before you go into that, I want to say to you since you鈥檙e a serial entrepreneur and you talk about it, go ahead. You could sign up for an affiliate code too in it and you can make extra money from 黑料门 just passing this on to other people without having to do much. And they don鈥檛 have any additional costs. They get the same great deal and you don鈥檛 have to do anything really. It鈥檚 not like you gotta start a whole new business, but if you want to get started, “Here鈥檚 my link and maybe鈥�”
Akilah: Oh, sir, you think I have not? (laughing) Of course, I have created. Because I wanted to let people know, they need to know that you guys do have that option and yeah, that is phenomenal. I don鈥檛 know what other people are doing. But yeah, it鈥檚 easy, you just give them your link and boom because you鈥檙e signed up, they sign up.
Richard: I mean you鈥檙e not only you鈥檙e an inspiration with your business, but it sounds like you really believe in business in general and you鈥檙e probably inspiring other people to do this. So we covered that little spot there and go ahead. What was the response when you said you were doing a podcast?
Akilah: Oh, I guess some likes.
Richard: Nice. So I take it you鈥檒l be sharing the link to the podcast when it actually comes out too. (laughing)
Akilah: I like that. You know what? I might even have like a bad signal in the sky. Check me out here. I鈥檓 here. (laughing) Yes, yes. I鈥檓 super excited, this is my first time doing a podcast. I actually just got into podcasts, as I listen to them while I鈥檓 working, of course, I鈥檓 into True Crime.
Jesse: Sometimes you have to be entertained too. It鈥檚 not all work.
Akilah: I do. This is my first time doing a podcast and I鈥檓 so excited and today is International Women鈥檚 day and the fact that you guys chose me for today, that鈥檚 just “Yay!”
Richard: Awesome. That鈥檚 great. So you do Shoppable posts now and what was that experience for you as far as getting that set up and how easy was it, what鈥檚 your experience so far with it?
Akilah: It鈥檚 easy. If anyone takes anything out of this entire podcast, the only thing I want them to know is that it鈥檚 easy. Take that out. I鈥檓 not good at and I have ADHD probably like most creative, so I鈥檓 all over the place, but it鈥檚 easy. It says right there “Do you want to link the product?” You click on it. It has a search button. You start typing in the name of the product. It pops up, you click it. Boom! It鈥檚 there, it takes two seconds.
Jesse: I actually want to get the video of your screen on your phone doing it because people are thinking “Oh my gosh, so hard.” But this is so simple and the world lives on Instagram and Facebook. So yes, why not have your products for sale that you can just tap on and purchase?
Akilah: Yes. And and the other thing that I want to mention that I didn鈥檛 get a chance to that installing the pixel. You literally get your pixel ID from Facebook, and then you鈥檒l find, I鈥檓 not exactly sure. I鈥檓 sure you guys know exactly where it is on the 黑料门 side, and you literally just paste it and you click done and boom, your pixels right there. And you get all your analytics, retargeting and things like that.
Jesse: And how long did that take you including you had to go to live chat or had to go look at a tutorial, how long from beginning to end?
Akilah: It took me probably like one minute.
Jesse: All right. I feel like I gave you notes ahead of time to say, but I didn鈥檛. (laughing)
Akilah: You did not, I鈥檓 not getting paid. No, no literally my pixel is easy for me to find on Facebook because I run ads every day so I know how to do that. I found my pixel, your copy it and then you go right on 黑料门, you paste, it鈥檚 done.
Jesse: That鈥檚 awesome and I wanna dive into the making ads because people just don鈥檛 know where to start. So besides you did the one for the podcast. What is another ad that you run? And by the way, I鈥檝e seen your pictures, so this is a podcast, this is
Akilah: Thank you.
Jesse: Walk us through what do you do for a Facebook ad? What鈥檚 a version that you think would be helpful for people starting?
Akilah: So a Facebook ad. I鈥檓 going to tell you guys exactly what I do because I鈥檓 more of
Jesse: I love it. I know people think, they read, there鈥檚 a video on this for ten minutes, but it鈥檚 really is that easy.
Richard: It literally takes longer to go through the video than it does to actually do it.
Akilah: Oh yeah. I鈥檓 pretty sure in that amount of time you could upload twenty products.
Jesse: And so when you do these photos, you do the photos for Facebook, what鈥檚 your, do you have like a personality on Facebook or is it different in Instagram? What do you say? So you take this picture, it鈥檚 got a product in there. What鈥檚 next?
Akilah: I take the picture, I should say I I used to try to do something different on Instagram than what I did on Facebook but that requires me to think too much. I decided I鈥檓 just cut that out. I do have Instagram and Facebook and Twitter all linked. So when I post to Instagram, it automatically posts to Facebook and Twitter as well.
Jesse: Good idea.
Akilah: I did find that Instagram is a lot, I鈥檓 doing air quotes, “looser”. You have a lot more fun on Instagram. My Facebook clients or my Twitter clients are a little bit more conservative. That鈥檚 what I would do. I would just take a picture, come up with some type of copy, and that鈥檚 it. If I want to link the product, I will. Instagram doesn鈥檛 allow you to boost the post if it鈥檚 linked. So I don鈥檛 necessarily do it on Instagram. I have better success with ads on Facebook.
Jesse: Linking a product you mean you use the product tag, it won鈥檛 let you boost it?
Akilah: Maybe I鈥檓 getting that wrong. I might be wrong, but it鈥檚 something that doesn鈥檛 allow me to do. But, you know, again, I鈥檝e not really had much success
with Instagram ads. So I really don鈥檛 run into the Instagram ads. I stick with Facebook.
Jesse: Okay. Alright, so you have this, there鈥檚 a picture. There鈥檚 a saying, you take the product and then you boosted it to your people, there are followers, or do you pick other audiences?
Akilah: I pick other audiences. What I love to do is I do a lookalike audience. I have the option of doing a
Jesse: Ok. That鈥檚 good. You鈥檝e told before you鈥檙e not a computer programmer here, but you threw out a lot of big words there to some people, but it sounds like it was pretty easy to figure that out too.
Akilah: Yes, it was pretty easy to figure out, but also Facebook has the blueprint which is phenomenal. It鈥檚 free education for how to run ads. And they offered me an ads manager and I took advantage of that. I called them and they actually walked me through how to get more deeper into the business manager side of Facebook. So it鈥檚 been helpful for me.
Jesse: Perfect. Take the free resources, right.
Akilah: I鈥檓 all about free.
Jesse: I think a lot of times people are scared about Facebook ads particular because to start out it might seem a little overwhelming but you can start and once you spend a little bit of money, Facebook notices that and they start sending emails and say “Hey, would you like to meet with a specialist?” And they will walk you through a bunch of things and Google will do the same too. So both are there to help you as long as you are actually鈥� Of course, they want you to spend money, but you do need to spend some money and you do need to go to work. And actually, blueprint also is awesome. I鈥檝e done a few courses. They鈥檙e very in depth.
Akilah: Yeah, and they鈥檙e free. Take advantage.
Jesse: And you have to do the work. It sounds like you鈥檙e willing to put into work. That鈥檚 why everything鈥檚 working out for you.
Akilah: Yeah I鈥檓 a control freak and I just need to know exactly what鈥檚 happening. If I might not totally understand it, but at least just have some type of concept of what鈥檚 going on.
Jesse: Perfect. You鈥檙e selling on your website, you鈥檙e selling on Instagram, and you鈥檙e selling on Facebook, on Twitter, you鈥檙e selling offline at events and such.
Are you also selling on Etsy?
Akilah: I am on Etsy.
Jesse: You鈥檙e handmade, you鈥檙e perfect for that.
Akilah: Yeah. I鈥檓 handmade. I鈥檓 gonna be honest. I just got on Etsy only because for SEO purposes so that it鈥檚 another spot for people to find Kissed by a Bee if they鈥檙e looking for something. I only have like three products up there
and they鈥檙e very expensive actually, in order to kind of boost post and boost your ad. And I did that, I did try it. I try, I think I spent probably maybe a hundred and fifty dollars, and and I probably got maybe four orders or so during that time. So the numbers didn鈥檛 quite measure up. I stopped that. It鈥檚 up there. I don鈥檛 really use it like that.
Jesse: I think that鈥檚 actually good advice to people. You gave it a little bit of a shot. But when if it didn鈥檛 work, you just left it there. So now if people type in Kissed by a Bee, there鈥檚 another spot occupied on the Google search results page.
Akilah: And of course 黑料门 ties with Etsy. Oh, I鈥檓 sorry, not 黑料门.
Jesse: We don鈥檛 do Etsy.
Akilah: I鈥檓 sorry, I鈥檓 just thinking about ship station that I use for shipping. But yeah, it鈥檚 not something that is beneficial for me. It鈥檚 just there I can order every now and again. That鈥檚 fine.
Jesse: Amazon is a bit of a beast. Do do you work with Amazon at all?
Akilah: I have not worked with Amazon yet. I鈥檓 thinking about it though.
Richard: We like the yet part.
Jesse: You鈥檙e probably on the right track, but it is a little bit harder than the things you鈥檝e done. So, brace herself.
Akilah: Really?
Jesse: That鈥檚 personal opinion. If there鈥檚 an Amazon person here, they might be “tisk, tisk” on me. But I think there are just a few more rules to follow.
Richard: Well, you鈥檙e probably doing in the right order. You wanna have your own website going up polished the way you鈥檙e doing it. You鈥檙e doing this in the right syntax for sure, eventually, there鈥檚 also probably nothing wrong with having the number one destination where people go look to buy things also. But you鈥檙e doing it in the right order.
Akilah: You鈥檙e right. And yeah, like I said not yet. I have looked at it. My brother in law actually works for Amazon, so maybe I should help increase his stock prices. Not that my little Kissed by a bee will have a big impact but it is on my radar, absolutely.
Jesse: Makes sense, makes sense on that and I would agree. How about Pinterest with all these good pictures? Are you on Pinterest as well?
Akilah: Oh lord, no, I鈥檓 not and I鈥檓 not because I don鈥檛 have time. (laughing)
Jesse: I understand that.
Akilah: I have a lot to keep up with. Somebody asked me that and I鈥檓 like “What?” and they were like “Snapchat”, and then something else and I was like “It鈥檚 only me, it is one of me.” I鈥檓 not, but I do actually have a Kissed by a Bee, I did set it up. And it鈥檚 very old. Actually, thanks for the reminder, appreciate it. It has some very old pictures on there that I need to update and spruce up a bit.
Jesse: I think that鈥檚 actually probably a good thing. You鈥檙e not gonna do it as much as Instagram and Facebook but every few months you spiff it up, throw some new photos on there. Pinterest just released the ability to sink a product catalog to it as well. A little pro tip there, it鈥檚 not going to be super easy quite yet, that鈥檚 coming later but it鈥檚 there. If you can do a Google feed and you can get it down to CSV, you can put up in there.
Akilah: That鈥檚 not bad. Okay, now see, you said something that I know about though a little bit.
Jesse: Be prepared for a little bit of, it鈥檚 not going to just work like magic the first time but it is there and so there鈥檚 more to come there. I鈥檓 gonna solo teaser for the future.
Akilah: Great. If there is anybody out there that does that, have dollars, will pay. (laughing)
Jesse: Yeah, everybody, you know how to get to Akilah.
Akilah: Exactly.
Jesse: Yeah. Hooking up interest, I think is gonna be a cool thing, it just got released last Friday. So, hint, hint. All right, what鈥檚 anymore? I don鈥檛 wanna get stuck on Pinterest, but I think it鈥檚 a great platform for anybody that has in your market, good photos are important.
Akilah: Yes, I鈥檓 on it.
Jesse: Is there any tips that you鈥檇 like to share with people? There鈥檚 a lot of people listening or probably in your shoes or you know trying to get to where you鈥檙e at. What type of advice can you give?
Akilah: Oh, man, that鈥檚 funny. That鈥檚 really funny. As I told you guys before, I really just, I wing it, just throw it out there and hope for the best. I鈥檓 trying just like everyone else. I don鈥檛 know anything about business. I absolutely don鈥檛. I鈥檓 winging it as I go. I鈥檓 learning just like everyone else. My best advice is that if you have a business idea, if there鈥檚 anybody that has a business idea right now, and you just don鈥檛 know where to start, my advice is just to start. Just do it, get your 黑料门 store, take some pictures and put it up, and then use Facebook to promote. It all syncs in, and it鈥檚 easy. Remember, that鈥檚 the take away from the whole podcast. It鈥檚 easy. Just try. I really rely on friends and family because I don鈥檛 have all the answers. And I do not have a business degree and I have people I can lean on thankfully. If I have a question, they鈥檙e experts in X, Y, and Z, so I can ask them because I鈥檓 trying just like everyone else. I鈥檓 just here.
Richard: No, that鈥檚 great. I mean, it literally is as if we did talk on something prior to say, like Oh, say it鈥�. That鈥檚 what we鈥檙e hoping that people get out of it. Just get started, give it a shot, adjust accordingly, and just keep going through the loop. Right? You learn something new. You learn what doesn鈥檛 work. It鈥檚 ok. You don鈥檛 bury the hatchet just because it didn鈥檛 work that time. You take another move on. I love it.
Akilah: And keep going. Everybody thinks entrepreneurship is, you know, social media has people, they hype it up. And they think that entrepreneurship is easy and it鈥檚 not, it鈥檚 like a graph. Sometimes it鈥檚 up. Sometimes it鈥檚 way down. If I don鈥檛 get orders in a couple of days and I鈥檓 like “Oh my God, what鈥檚 going on? Let me freshen up my resume, I need a job. Oh my god, what did I decide, why did I do this?” And then you know you have your good days. There are good days and bad days. But it鈥檚 hard work. It鈥檚 a
Jesse: Awesome. I think that鈥檚 great advice, it is a great encouragement for everybody listening. In general, follow Akilah here.
Akilah: Oh, follow me. I will follow whoever follows me. I鈥檒l follow you back. (laughing) I need some help from you. So I鈥檓 going to lean on you as well. That鈥檚 what entrepreneurship is about, just connecting, networking and helping each other. That鈥檚 what we should do as humans. Just in life. In general.
Richard: I love it. Literally, I鈥檓 bringing it back to the hive again. That鈥檚 what it sounds like. Your whole thing is for the collective good, the best you can be and there you go. Before we say goodbye to you, what鈥檚 the best place for people to follow you, to get your products?
Akilah: The best place to follow me is KissedbyaBee.com. And right now when you go to KissedbyaBee.com, it takes a second and then it goes to my 黑料门 store. But trust me, by the time this broadcast you鈥檙e just gonna go to KissedbyaBee.com.
Jesse: We solve problems here.
Akilah: Yes, it鈥檚 such a mystery. And on Facebook Kissed by a Bee Organics. On Twitter, I鈥檓 KissedbyaBee.org, and on Instagram somebody actually had Kissedbyabee and she does nothing with it. But that鈥檚 okay. Om Instaham I鈥檓 @kbyab.
Jesse: All right, we鈥檙e going to get that all in the show notes on the page. Awesome, Akilah, love having you on. Richard, this is awesome.
Richard: Yeah, this is great. We get more of these. Definitely remember, listeners, if you are interested, please go to 黑料门.com/blog/podcast. Go to the bottom of the page and fill out your form, so we can spotlight you and all the good you鈥檙e doing for the world.
Jesse: Awesome, Akilah. Thank you so much.
