E26: Social Media Secrets That Will Help You Dominate The Market | Tracy Cole
Struggling to make your business stand out on social media?
In this episode, discover the secrets behind building online communities, creating authentic content, and leveraging digital tools to grow your brand.
Digital marketing expert, Tracy Cole, shares actionable strategies and lessons learned from her journey as a digital marketer and community builder.
Whether you're new to social media or looking to improve your presence, this conversation is packed with valuable takeaways.
📒 Show Notes and Resources 📒
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Kellen Ketchersid
Kellen is a co-founder of Stag Business Coaching, business strategist, and a systems thinker. He leverages his extensive experience in biotech and consulting to empower entrepreneurs to navigate complex challenges with strategic growth solutions.
Albert Gillispie
Albert is a serial entrepreneur, business efficiency expert and co-founder of Stag Business Coaching who has founded several multimillion-dollar companies. With expertise in optimizing operations and innovative systems, he mentors business leaders who want to unlock their business’s full potential.
Tracy Cole is a dynamic and inspiring serial entrepreneur, community builder, and digital marketing consultant based in Lubbock, Texas. With a background in teaching, she transitioned from the classroom to empowering businesses and individuals through her expertise in social media, branding, and content creation.
Tracy is known for her ability to create thriving online communities, such as the highly popular LBK Foodies Facebook group, which boasts tens of thousands of members and serves as a hub for local food enthusiasts and businesses.
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Let’s Connect!
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EPISODE 26 TRANSCRIPTION
Introduction
Albert And Kellen [00:01]: All right, we are live. Welcome to the podcast, Tracy Cole.
Tracy Cole [00:04]: Thank you for having me.
Albert And Kellen [00:06]: Yeah, thanks for being here. We are excited. I first heard about you from my wife. Both of our kids go to Lubbock Christian, and come to find out they’re like best buddies that spend 45 minutes after school every day.
Tracy Cole [00:18]: I apologize.
Albert And Kellen [00:20]: No, it’s fine. That’s why we have to take a soccer ball every day to school. And it’s a whole thing if we don’t.
Tracy Cole [00:25]: I hear about that almost every night.
Albert And Kellen [00:27]: Yeah. Well, okay, I don’t know how to articulate it well. So tell us—what do you do? Like, what do you do for a living? I know you do a lot of things.
Tracy Cole [00:36]: So, from listening to your previous podcast, I learned that I am a serial entrepreneur.
Albert And Kellen [00:40]: Okay.
Tracy Cole [00:41]: That’s a thing. I am. And I do a lot of things. I build community groups online. I’m a Facebook global community group power admin, whatever. So I do a lot of stuff online—digital marketing, helping people build their brand presence, things like that.
Albert And Kellen [00:55]: I used to be a teacher.
Tracy Cole [00:57]: I guess I am. I’m still a teacher. I’m just not in the classroom anymore.
Albert And Kellen [01:00]: I just retired.
Tracy Cole [01:01]: Okay.
Albert And Kellen [01:03]: Now you’re teaching business owners instead of kids.
Tracy Cole [01:05]: I am.
Albert And Kellen [01:06]: They’re still kids.
Tracy Cole [01:07]: Yeah, it is. If I can teach an 11-year-old something, I can teach a 60-year-old something.
Albert And Kellen [01:12]: Okay, so icebreaker here—one of your Facebook groups is a staple in our house, the LBK Foodies page. Anytime it’s date night—we like food in our house—and anytime some new restaurant posts something, it never fails. It’s LBK Foodies, and my wife’s sharing it with me.
Tracy Cole [01:28]: Awesome.
Albert And Kellen [01:29]: Before you say, LBK Foodies has like a hundred thousand followers—something crazy like that.
Tracy Cole [01:34]: Not yet.
Albert And Kellen [01:35]: Okay.
Tracy Cole [01:35]: We’re at 87, 88 thousand, but I feel like we’re getting there.
Albert And Kellen [01:39]: That’s like a quarter of Lubbock.
Tracy Cole [01:41]: It really is.
Albert And Kellen [01:42]: And part of New Mexico.
Tracy Cole [01:44]: We get a lot of New Mexicans coming in because they visit, which is fine.
Albert And Kellen [01:48]: Yeah, we welcome them. So how did it get started?
Tracy Cole [01:51]: Yeah, how in the world?
Albert And Kellen [01:53]: How did that happen?
Tracy Cole [01:55]: What happened? So let me tell you one thing about me—I’m a very impulsive person.
Albert And Kellen [01:59]: Okay.
Tracy Cole [02:00]: And I’m a see-the-need, fill-the-need type of person. My friend Dylan created the group, and we were doing the same thing. It was 2020, you know, we got shut down that one time, and we were doing the same thing on different sides of town.
Tracy Cole [02:14]: And he was like, “Hey, I’m going to make this Facebook group. You want to help me with it?” I was like, “Sure, why not?” We just started off sharing our food. He’s the type of person who would go into a cookbook and cook a recipe. I’m the type of person that’s like, “Blue box magic—watch out now.”
Albert And Kellen [02:29]: Okay.
Tracy Cole [02:30]: That was the different audience we were feeding. Then, once everyone—because we started June 4th, 2020, which happens to be my birthday—
Albert And Kellen [02:37]: Okay.
Tracy Cole [02:38]: Just putting that out there. And it was right when businesses were opening back up, and they didn’t know what to do. Like, all their budgets were cut. They couldn’t advertise like they used to. So we were like, “Hey, here’s this group. You can advertise here. No negative reviews because we’ve all been through it. Like, we barely have toilet paper. Just let it happen.”
Albert And Kellen [02:55]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [02:56]: And so it grew quickly. By Thanksgiving of 2020, there were like 15,000 members. Then we’d get random viral posts. Like, one time it was about Mrs. Baird’s cinnamon rolls—it blew up. We were like, “What’s happening here?”
Albert And Kellen [03:07]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [03:08]: And so it was that for a while. It just kept going because people don’t want negativity. Like, we catch a lot of flak—and when I say “we,” I mean me. There’s been a petition to have me removed. Only 50 people signed, so it’s fine.
Albert And Kellen [03:20]: Okay.
Tracy Cole [03:21]: And people would say that I got paid under the table.
Albert And Kellen [03:23]: Oh, wow.
Tracy Cole [03:24]: It’s like a mobster. That’s cool because they couldn’t imagine doing something and not getting compensated for it. At the time, I was teaching, so I had my full-time job. This was just a way to help people. And then, all of a sudden, one day you wake up, and there’s 87,000 people.
The Power of Digital Marketing
Albert And Kellen [04:45]: Okay, and so the Facebook page is a Lubbock food group where you post various recipes, restaurants, new restaurant openings, restaurant specials—just really telling of what’s going on food-wise in Lubbock.
Tracy Cole [04:58]: Everyone has to eat.
Albert And Kellen [04:59]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [05:00]: Like, you gotta eat. I gotta eat. And so I like good food. That’s one thing I think people were drawn to—because it wasn’t just one thing. A lot of people knew that I was a teacher, so they knew I wasn’t making a whole lot of money, but they saw that I was still going to eat at nice places.
Albert And Kellen [05:16]: Right.
Tracy Cole [05:17]: Of course, they’re like, “She’s getting that for free.” No, she’s not, but she would love to. They were seeing that and getting to see different places. I started off cooking at home more, and I called it the struggle meal. One of my friends told me, “You’re not struggling. Change the name.” So, I changed it to ballin’ on a budget.
Albert And Kellen [05:34]: There you go.
Tracy Cole [05:35]: And that still took off because I was showing, “This is what I bought. This is how much I paid. My kids eat it.” My son, who is your son’s best friend, he’s a little foodie. This kid has been eating brisket since he was six months old—like gumming it down. That’s my foodie. He’s the one who’s like, “Mommy, can we go get sushi today?” I’m like, “Where did you learn about sushi?” But okay, let’s go. My other one is like, “No, give me cheese pizza.” It’s like, cool.
Albert And Kellen [05:59]: Right.
Tracy Cole [06:00]: But that’s the thing—people were drawn to that. It’s like, “How can I cook at home?” Then it turned into people being more home cooks.
Albert And Kellen [06:09]: Right.
Tracy Cole [06:10]: They were starting businesses. The number of businesses that have come from that group over the last four years is absolutely amazing. The number of businesses that the group has saved—because it’s like one post and 25,000 people see it. If they tell two people, and those people tell two people, it just keeps going.
Albert And Kellen [06:28]: Wow.
Tracy Cole [06:29]: That’s been the success of it. People are like, “Just post it on Lubbock Foodies.” It’s like, “Hey, remember this thing called Texas cottage food laws? If you get in trouble, don’t call me, because you’re doing it at your own risk.” But overall, there’s good stuff. There’s tons of good stuff here.
Albert And Kellen [06:46]: Have you been to the African restaurant?
Tracy Cole [06:49]: Yes.
Albert And Kellen [06:50]: Visos, right?
Tracy Cole [06:51]: Yes.
Albert And Kellen [06:52]: Yeah, it’s good.
Tracy Cole [06:53]: It’s delicious.
Albert And Kellen [06:54]: Well, okay. What cuisine?
Tracy Cole [06:56]: African.
Albert And Kellen [06:57]: Yeah. Well, like, what’s a dish?
Tracy Cole [06:59]: I don’t know. Chicken.
Launching LBK Foodies and Its Growth
Albert And Kellen [07:04]: I don't know. If I remember right, I didn’t know a lot of the names, but the waitstaff is very helpful, and they'll walk you through it. There’s a lot of spicy stuff—you’ve got to watch out.
Tracy Cole [07:14]: Yes, and they sell their own sauce in the grocery store. I should have brought you some. I’m sorry.
Albert And Kellen [07:19]: But you promote a lot more than just food on social media, right? I know that's one of the big groups.
Tracy Cole [07:23]: Yes. I used to be an athletics coach.
Albert And Kellen [07:26]: What’d you coach?
Tracy Cole [07:27]: Girls’ volleyball, basketball, and track. I was the coach for a wrestling match once.
Albert And Kellen [07:32]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [07:33]: I was just the adult present.
Albert And Kellen [07:35]: It smells like staph infection.
Tracy Cole [07:37]: Yeah, it’s gross.
Albert And Kellen [07:39]: And bleach.
Tracy Cole [07:40]: Anyways, but yeah, that’s what I did. So I did that for nine years. And then I got a divorce. My kids, at the time, were two and five months old, I want to say.
Albert And Kellen [07:51]: Okay.
Tracy Cole [07:52]: So when I got out of coaching, I think they were three and two or something like that, or about to be two. I just wanted to spend time with them. I came home one day after a volleyball game, and both my kids were laying on the floor waiting for me.
Albert And Kellen [08:06]: Wow.
Tracy Cole [08:07]: And it was like, this is the sad part—it was the same day my grandma passed away. I was like, “Alright, coaching will always be there, but this time won’t.” So that’s when I got out. I’m internally competitive, and I was like, “I’m more than food. Just wait.”
Albert And Kellen [08:23]: Right.
Tracy Cole [08:24]: And then I created another group about food—but it’s fine. It’s called Gals That Brunch, but it’s about brunch and bringing women together. Of course, we brunch—we brunch well—but we also have coffee shop meetups. We read books together.
Albert And Kellen [08:38]: That’s awesome.
Tracy Cole [08:39]: The other night, I did a mental health check. It’s like, “Hey, do you need someone to talk to? Someone who’s just going to listen?”
Albert And Kellen [08:45]: That’s great.
Tracy Cole [08:46]: Then, of course, I was like, “That’s been fun. Let me see if I can do something else.” So I created another group. Now I’m a serial community group creator.
Albert And Kellen [08:54]: There you go.
Tracy Cole [08:55]: It’s called Hire the LBK, and it’s about helping people find employment and present themselves well to get hired because it was an issue.
Albert And Kellen [09:04]: That’s so needed.
Tracy Cole [09:05]: Okay, that’s a lie. I was in another group, and someone said they were going to charge people thirty dollars to be in the group.
Social Media Strategy for Businesses
Albert And Kellen [09:31]: And I was like, how are you going to charge people who don't have a job to find a job? And I thought, I’m going to make my own. On August 4th—something about the number four—I created the group, and now it has 8,700 members.
Tracy Cole [09:50]: Cool.
Albert And Kellen [09:51]: Okay. I need to pause for a second. When we talk about marketing—we were visiting with a marketing agency the other day—it’s so... I know this is true, but it’s so baffling sometimes how big a role social media plays in marketing for businesses. From paying influencers to ad spend on Facebook, and just reaching people. You talked about the 87,000 people.
Tracy Cole [10:11]: That’s a big, captive audience.
Albert And Kellen [10:13]: It is. It’s so... My kids don’t even know what commercials are.
Tracy Cole [10:16]: No, they don’t.
Albert And Kellen [10:17]: They know when the little button comes on to skip.
Tracy Cole [10:20]: Yes, yes.
Albert And Kellen [10:21]: Yeah, they start poking my phone. I’m like, “Get your finger out of there.”
Tracy Cole [10:25]: Yeah.
Albert And Kellen [10:26]: What? I don’t know. I just don’t.
Tracy Cole [10:29]: I don’t know what to do with that.
Albert And Kellen [10:30]: That’s a thing.
Tracy Cole [10:31]: It is. It’s huge. And that’s really how I got into it—through Lubbock Foodies—because people were telling me all the time. And then, of course, people would say, “You get paid for that.” I’m like, “No, I don’t.” And I never thought about it until people said, “You should.”
Albert And Kellen [10:47]: Right.
Tracy Cole [10:48]: And, of course, people are like, “My gosh, you get paid.” And I’m like, “Listen, this is just how I write.” I have a degree in English. I used to write my mom letters whenever she made me mad. I’d write her a letter. I’ve always done this. So to get paid for it was different.
Albert And Kellen [11:02]: Right.
Tracy Cole [11:03]: I was like, “People get paid for this?” Then I started asking questions and found out about people who were paying others. I’m like, “You’re paying somebody for that?”
Albert And Kellen [11:13]: Sounds like fun.
Tracy Cole [11:14]: I know! It sounded amazing. And I thought, “If you’re paying for crap, I could definitely do better and get the same...”
Albert And Kellen [11:20]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [11:21]: And actually, it was—I was at a friend’s business during 2020, and someone came by and said they were paying someone $500 a month to post for them. They were posting on Lubbock Foodies. I said, “They’re posting about lunch at seven o’clock in the morning.” Even just that little thing, it’s like, “How about you wait till 10?”
Albert And Kellen [11:43]: Yeah, like something.
Tracy Cole [11:44]: And I was like, “$500?” At the time, like I said, my kids were still super little. I think they were three and four. I thought, “Dang, $500 would just support the things I want to do.” So I just put it out there and tried. I’ve had a few people here and there who pay. There are some who felt they didn’t have to.
Albert And Kellen [12:03]: You just have a natural talent for this, but there are a lot of people who might be listening that probably don’t.
Tracy Cole [12:08]: Right.
Albert And Kellen [12:09]: So as you’re thinking about growing your following and trying to put out effective posts—not being the person who posts the lunch invite at 7 a.m., but remembers to do it at 10 a.m.—what are some easy things you’d suggest? Types of posts or rules of thumb?
Tracy Cole [12:24]: For me, I’m always creating. Even before I came here, there are these Hex’s Knockout Rosebushes, which are my favorite rosebushes ever. Thank you, Taco Villa. I happened to see one and thought, “Huh, I always keep a little Jesus in my purse.” Took a picture, put little Jesus down, took a picture. I’ll use this later for something—I don’t know what—but I know that would be a picture that catches people’s attention.
Albert And Kellen [12:47]: It took you one second.
Tracy Cole [12:48]: Yeah. Well, it took me longer to find little Jesus than to take the picture, but yes. That’s just something that for me, it’s always there. I think that’s something God gave me, because who thinks of that all the time? Like, “Let me get Jesus out.”
Albert And Kellen [13:00]: Right.
Tracy Cole [13:01]: But for business owners, my biggest thing would be: if nothing else, post that you’re open. Post your hours every day. That’s it. Like, “Hey, we’re available today.” Or, “Hey, we’re closed today. Just a reminder of our address.” That’s the biggest thing.
Posting Frequency and Optimization
Albert And Kellen [14:06]: You have a lot of boomers who are using social media now, and they’re like, “What’s the address? What’s the cross street?” All this stuff. Make it easy for them. Think about it like you’re talking to your grandma. Well, not my parents—they’re not on social media—but my aunts and stuff are, and they want it to be easy. They’re like, “Where is it? What’s the address? What’s the phone number?”
Tracy Cole [14:25]: It’s almost so obvious that people don’t think about it at all. So here’s my free tidbit of advice: set an alarm on your phone. Our phones can take how many alarms? I know I have five alarms in the morning just to get up. When my kids were little, I even had an alarm to put them to bed. It was like, “Turn everything off and put them to bed.” So if I had an alarm for “post your business hours,” well, you already have your phone in your hand.
Albert And Kellen [14:46]: Just post it.
Tracy Cole [14:47]: And that’s it. I even had someone today message me, and I texted my friend and said, “In the same amount of time it took them to send me that message, they could have just posted it themselves.” But you don’t think of that. If you have an alarm and you see it often enough, eventually you’re like, “I can do that.” And then at 10 o’clock every day, you’re posting. When I was teaching, I would post in Lubbock Foodies my breakfast every day.
Albert And Kellen [15:10]: Love it.
Tracy Cole [15:11]: I’d always get breakfast pizza because it’s my favorite meal. I had a Bible verse flip book, I’d flip the verse, I’d find little Jesus or something, and I’d set up my pizza and my drink and post it every morning at 8:06.
Albert And Kellen [15:25]: So how important is it? What’s a good frequency that a business needs to be posting on their Facebook, Instagram, or whatever social media? Is daily kind of the minimum, or what’s the prescription there?
Tracy Cole [15:37]: I say three times a day during business hours.
Albert And Kellen [15:40]: Okay.
Tracy Cole [15:41]: For instance, if you’re closed on Sunday, do your one Sunday post—it might be inspirational or something about what’s coming up. Do your one on Sunday. But if you’re closed, you’re closed.
Albert And Kellen [15:52]: That sounds like a lot, though.
Leveraging Content Creation Tools
Albert And Kellen [16:25]: I mean, would you say that for every business type, or are you thinking more just like restaurants and retail? Because, like, if you’re a law firm, do you think people want to see it that much?
Tracy Cole [16:35]: If you want your presence to be seen, yes. It depends on what you want your presence to be. No matter what, I say be consistent. So if you’re a law firm, do it twice a day. Post when you open and maybe an hour before you close.
Albert And Kellen [16:50]: Okay.
Tracy Cole [16:51]: Then the next day, think about what you dealt with all day yesterday. Like if you were dealing with child support cases all day, guess what? Now you have content for two or three days because people are looking up stuff like, “I need an attorney that specializes in child support,” especially right now during the holidays.
Albert And Kellen [17:06]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [17:07]: It’s sad, but it’s true. You also have to know what’s going on in your community and your environment. That’s knowing your audience. For instance, if I owned a counseling service, I’d probably be posting three to five times a day right now.
Albert And Kellen [17:20]: Wow.
Tracy Cole [17:21]: Just scheduling it out.
Albert And Kellen [17:23]: So you would schedule some, but not all?
Tracy Cole [17:24]: Not all, because stuff happens. There’s improv stuff. Me personally, I schedule three things, three times a day—at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., and 3 p.m., because that’s usually when I go pick up my kids. Then anything else is just randomness. Some days I might have seven posts in a day and think, “Gosh, I was annoying today.” Other days I just have my three, and I’m okay with that.
Albert And Kellen [17:48]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [17:49]: Facebook—or Meta—allows you to post 28 days ahead of time. So if I have my business hours for the next 28 days and something happens, I can just go delete it. It’s like, “Not happening today.” But it’s the consistency. It’s like going to the gym.
Albert And Kellen [18:02]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [18:03]: I don’t go to the gym. But if I did, I’d probably go at the same time every day. But you don’t do the same workout every day because you’re not going to see results.
Albert And Kellen [18:11]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [18:12]: Once you see results, then you change up your workout because you’ve plateaued.
Albert And Kellen [18:15]: Okay, I love the analogy.
Tracy Cole [18:17]: It is coach talk.
Albert And Kellen [18:18]: Yeah. That’s one thing we’ve heard over and over—whatever you’re going to do, have a plan.
Crafting Authentic and Impactful Content
Albert And Kellen [18:42]: And you're kind of testing things, trying this time or that time. It’s intentional, based on the season and what’s going on. Business owners listening to this, with your social media, create a plan. How many times do you want to post a day? What information needs to go out? Whether you’re a plumbing company and we’re about to have our first freeze—
Tracy Cole [19:02]: If you’re the plumbing company that has consistently delivered that message about winterizing your house, when those pipes burst, who are they calling?
Albert And Kellen [19:09]: The ones they saw.
Tracy Cole [19:10]: The ones they saw, day after day. The ones that treat it like a business. The posts look professional. It doesn’t look like, “Oh, my aunt put this together.”
Albert And Kellen [19:18]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [19:19]: If you’re a business owner and you do not have Canva Pro for $15 a month, just go work for somebody else.
Albert And Kellen [19:25]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [19:26]: If you can’t afford $15 a month, then you have a whole other issue. Canva makes it look pretty. Use it. I use Canva all the time.
Albert And Kellen [19:34]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [19:35]: I’ll create something real quick, change the colors, make it my own. I’ve been using it long enough to do different things, but you have to have at least that one tool. Social media is free. Canva is $15. You can make a whole business for $15 a month.
Albert And Kellen [19:49]: Canva has blown up.
Tracy Cole [19:50]: It has.
Albert And Kellen [19:51]: Canva has taken over. It used to be Photoshop and all these applications that cost a ton of money.
Tracy Cole [19:55]: The free version of Canva still lets you do a lot.
Albert And Kellen [19:58]: It does. And we were with a marketing agency the other day—huge, super professional—they use Canva.
Tracy Cole [20:03]: Yeah.
Albert And Kellen [20:04]: Business owners, whoever’s running your social media, make your posts look professional.
Tracy Cole [20:08]: Yes.
Albert And Kellen [20:09]: Go on Canva, match the colors to your logo, and put your logo on it.
Tracy Cole [20:13]: Exactly.
Albert And Kellen [21:05]: Even podcasters—use Canva. You can add a banner to the bottom of your video, and then it’s branded.
Tracy Cole [21:12]: Canva does video, too.
Albert And Kellen [21:14]: I didn’t realize that.
Tracy Cole [21:15]: You can do everything.
Albert And Kellen [21:16]: What type of content is better for a business to post—videos or images?
Tracy Cole [21:20]: It depends on your audience. That’s the biggest thing. It’s funny—when I was in college, my English teacher always said, “The rules of grammar are: it depends.” Now, I realize the rules of social media are: it depends.
Albert And Kellen [21:31]: OK.
Tracy Cole [21:32]: It depends on a lot, like who your audience is. For me, images are better. That’s why I take pictures. I know they’ll stop and look, then read what I have to say. If we did a social media audit, and you had a video with text, that might be too much. As a 40-year-old, I think, “I’m not reading that.”
Albert And Kellen [21:47]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [21:48]: I’ll watch the video. Which do you want—views or clicks?
Albert And Kellen [21:51]: Right.
Tracy Cole [21:52]: Facebook counts the first three seconds. That’s what matters. If they exit out after that, it still counts as a view.
Albert And Kellen [21:59]: Wow.
Tracy Cole [22:00]: The other day, I went to a local business and took a time-lapse video on my phone. It was maybe 30 seconds, condensed to three. It got 1,600 views.
Albert And Kellen [22:10]: Wow.
Tracy Cole [22:11]: It depends on your audience and timing. Facebook gives challenges, like creating a reel. I throw that out sometimes.
Challenges and Solutions in Social Media Management
Albert And Kellen [23:19]: And I'm like, okay, here we go. So I just do it real quick and go. I went to a Texas Tech football game, did a video of the entrance, and it was shared 30-some-odd times and had over 12,000 views. I’m just like, we do the same entrance every day. But I also know that I’m not reaching the same people every day.
Albert And Kellen [23:42]: So are you thinking of video as the type of content you’re capturing, whether you use a video or an image, or is it more about the audience you’re trying to reach? Or both? Can you break it down more in terms of when you decide to use one type of media rather than the other?
Tracy Cole [23:54]: I usually use videos on the weekend.
Albert And Kellen [23:56]: Okay.
Tracy Cole [23:57]: Because people have more time. They might be with their family—like, my kids are in sports. So when you’re waiting right before the game starts or afterward, you might scroll through. That’s when you’ll watch a video. And your kids are usually distracted by their stuff, so you finally get two seconds to yourself. That’s when you watch a video.
Albert And Kellen [24:12]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [24:13]: During the week, I do more still images because people are scrolling by quickly. I want something that fits a phone because people take screenshots. It depends on the timing. My target audience might be scrolling at lunchtime, which is why I post at 11 o’clock. I know you’re about to go to lunch from 11 to 1. That’s the time to post.
Albert And Kellen [24:33]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [24:34]: I also know it takes the algorithm an hour to settle. I might post at 11, but you might not see it until 12:30.
Albert And Kellen [24:40]: Right.
Tracy Cole [24:41]: Then, when you comment on it, your friend Albert sees that Kellen commented on it. Then he comments. I don’t have to do anything. You’ve boosted my algorithm while I’m doing absolutely nothing.
Albert And Kellen [25:32]: Okay, so you’re a creative type, right? You like to write, take pictures, and create all the time. Most business owners, that’s not their thing. They don’t see the art in what they do.
Tracy Cole [25:44]: Right.
Albert And Kellen [25:45]: Maybe they’re just not good at it.
Tracy Cole [25:47]: They’re camera-shy.
Albert And Kellen [25:48]: Yeah, camera-shy.
Tracy Cole [25:49]: You can’t be camera-shy around me. I’ll pull it out and say, “Let’s go!”
Albert And Kellen [25:53]: So to help solve that problem, you have your consulting business. Tell us about that. When did you start it, and how’s it going?
Tracy Cole [26:02]: That’s cute—“How’s it going?” I technically started in 2020 without knowing it, because people kept asking me questions. I went full-fledged, got the LLC, and did everything in 2022. I help people see their digital footprint—how to brand themselves and understand what branding is. It’s more than just colors and a logo. It’s your presence and how people know you.
Albert And Kellen [26:24]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [26:25]: I’ve been at it for about two years. I just got out of classroom teaching and decided to do this full-time. Now, I’m playing with different ideas—focusing on social media aspects. I manage social media for a few clients, but I don’t want 30 clients.
Albert And Kellen [26:38]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [26:39]: I’m a firm believer in quality over quantity. I’d rather help four people and give them great quality than help 40 people with a template approach.
Albert And Kellen [26:46]: Right.
Tracy Cole [26:47]: In 2025, I’m transitioning to content creation consulting. For people who don’t have time to take pictures, I’ll come to their location, take all the photos, and send them over. If they want extra, I’ll create captions for them.
Albert And Kellen [26:58]: That’s amazing.
Tracy Cole [26:59]: Think of it like “Wheel of Fortune,” but it’s all about content creation.
Building Trust Through Consistent Branding
Albert And Kellen [27:59]: And then you just spin a wheel, and whatever it lands on, you post it that day. You don’t have to think about it. It has a caption, it has a picture, and you’re done. Or bingo, whatever you want. Make a bingo card. That’s why I say make a bingo card out of content. Get a blackout. Get five in a row or however you want it. And you’ve at least posted five things.
Tracy Cole [28:22]: That’s where I’m shifting. Because it’s been hard to get people to understand that what I do isn’t free. They understand it—they’ve been paying other people to do it. And that’s also where I’m hitting a wall, because they paid other people to do it and got burned. Then I have to build that trust. I have to say, “Let’s start with $250. It’s fine. If this one post works, you’ll get your money back.” And then they say, “Okay, let’s try it again.” It’s about building trust.
Albert And Kellen [28:51]: Right.
Tracy Cole [28:52]: I had a friend who sponsored food because it’s tangible and easy to say, “Here’s what you gave.” She sponsored food, and from one post I made, she booked three people. So she made her money back and then some. It’s about building that trust. I’ve been doing this for a while. I had to coach seventh-grade girls in volleyball—I know how to build trust.
Albert And Kellen [29:16]: That’s something I see in you. Everybody knows they need to be good at using social media nowadays. But it’s this mysterious thing—how do you actually get the clicks, the likes, the engagement? Everybody talks like they know, but some people like you seem to have a magic formula or a way that just works.
Tracy Cole [29:36]: I guess so.
Albert And Kellen [29:37]: So my question is, if you’re talking to a business owner and you want to work that magic on their accounts, what would you tell them? Are there things you’d say they need to be thinking about or posting that we haven’t already covered?
Tracy Cole [29:53]: The first thing is you don’t have to give your elevator pitch every day. We get it.
Albert And Kellen [29:58]: Right.
Tracy Cole [29:59]: Think of it like this: what’s something you could talk about for 45 minutes without stopping? If it’s your business, break it down. If you had one minute to talk about your favorite or least favorite thing about your business, what would it be? It’s about getting face-to-face with your audience.
Albert And Kellen [30:17]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [30:18]: Social media is big, but people still want authenticity and connection. You have to portray that. Show why you love your business. It’s not just “Please buy my stuff.”
Albert And Kellen [30:28]: So it can’t feel too canned.
Tracy Cole [30:30]: No, it can’t feel canned. People don’t want to be sold to anymore. Think about brands like Louis Vuitton.
Albert And Kellen [30:36]: I haven’t had the pleasure.
Tracy Cole [30:37]: They don’t do ads because they don’t have to. The quality speaks for itself. People know what they’re getting. But people sell dupes all the time. It’s about showing value.
Albert And Kellen [30:49]: Right.
Tracy Cole [30:50]: You bring the value. I’m not going to sell it to you—you know you need it. You might not need a Louis Vuitton bag, but you know you need social media. You can’t have a business without social media or a website.
Albert And Kellen [31:06]: That’s true.
Tracy Cole [31:07]: Sometimes Zuckerberg gets in trouble, and Meta blacks out. Then everyone’s on Twitter asking, “Is Facebook down?” It’s happened three or four times in the last two years.
Long-Term Business Growth with Social Media
Albert And Kellen [32:49]: So you have to have a website. You have to have an email list. You have to have a text list. But you can't just be like, "Hey, one of my biggest pet peeves is 'Hey, girl.'" It's like, you don't know my name, do you?
Tracy Cole [33:03]: It's so impersonal.
Albert And Kellen [33:04]: I don't know if they do that for guys. Are they like, "Hey, dude?"
Tracy Cole [33:07]: Maybe.
Albert And Kellen [33:08]: "Hey, bro."
Tracy Cole [33:09]: It's rare.
Albert And Kellen [33:10]: See? Why do they do that to women?
Tracy Cole [33:13]: I don't know.
Albert And Kellen [33:14]: I don't know.
Tracy Cole [33:15]: That's unfortunate.
Albert And Kellen [33:16]: I'm also blissfully unaware of myself all the time.
Tracy Cole [33:19]: You probably also don't sign up for a 20% off discount and give your number like your wife does.
Albert And Kellen [33:25]: Yeah, no. I usually give my wife's number at checkout.
Tracy Cole [33:28]: Next time, put in my rewards for United. Thank you. But no, it’s that impersonal text message. Like if I just say, "Hey, it’s Tracy here," instead of "Hey, girl," I’ve now made it personal. I’m letting you know it’s me sending it versus a blanket message.
Albert And Kellen [33:45]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [33:46]: And it’s just changing it that way. Maybe that is the formula—I’m authentic. I don’t have time to be fake.
Albert And Kellen [33:54]: Yeah, and there’s just so much out there, so much information on social media. Telling an authentic story that people can relate to, where they see their problem and see how your product or service can solve it, is key.
Tracy Cole [34:07]: Exactly.
Albert And Kellen [34:08]: And they’ve seen that story over and over, done professionally.
Tracy Cole [34:11]: Right.
Albert And Kellen [34:12]: I’m part of the apartment association in Lubbock, and we have product and service members who join because they want to sell more to apartment communities. I always tell them, "Hey, you’re not going to come to one meeting and make five sales."
Tracy Cole [34:25]: Right.
Albert And Kellen [34:26]: "But you’re going to build rapport, relationships, and expertise over time. Then, heaven forbid, when their building floods or burns, they’re in a pinch, and they need someone they trust—that’s when they call you."
Tracy Cole [34:39]: Exactly.
Albert And Kellen [34:40]: Because you’ve demonstrated that over time. You’re an expert. You treat it like a business. You care about your customers.
Tracy Cole [34:48]: That’s it.
Albert And Kellen [34:49]: And that’s what social media is—telling your business’s story in an intentional, professional, and authentic way.
Tracy Cole [34:57]: Yes.
Albert And Kellen [34:58]: And that’s super hard. That was deep.
Tracy Cole [35:01]: That was good.
Albert And Kellen [35:02]: Well, there’s the professional aspect of being taken seriously, but also the personal side. People want to work with people they like.
Tracy Cole [35:11]: Exactly.
Albert And Kellen [35:12]: And I think that’s what you bring to this. Your authenticity says, "Hey, I’m a real person. You’d like working with me or checking out this restaurant I recommend."
Tracy Cole [35:20]: Which is funny because most of the time people say, "Hey, let’s meet for lunch. You pick." And I’m like, "I don’t want to."
Albert And Kellen [35:27]: Yeah.
Tracy Cole [35:28]: Because I don’t want people saying, "Tracy picked this—it’s her favorite spot." No, it’s not. I’ll give you three options, and you pick one.
Albert And Kellen [35:36]: That’s the strategy I use with my wife.
Tracy Cole [35:38]: Exactly.
Albert And Kellen [35:39]: The date night strategy.
Tracy Cole [35:40]: Right. One thing I liked about what you said earlier was being authentic. That’s key. And another point I’d add is for business owners—don’t promote someone else’s business on your business page.
Albert And Kellen [35:54]: Right.
Tracy Cole [35:55]: It blurs the lines. Small businesses want to share their friends’ stuff, thinking their friends will share theirs, but they don’t. And now nobody knows what you’re selling because you’ve put their stuff out there.
Overcoming Challenges as a Creative Entrepreneur
Albert And Kellen [37:17]: George’s place 15 times and one thing about yours? Well, you just got lost.
Tracy Cole [37:22]: It is. It’s very confusing. Some businesses strictly advertise using memes, and then they wonder, "Why aren’t people ordering from me?" It’s because people looked at the meme, laughed, and moved on.
Albert And Kellen [37:35]: They didn’t even think about your business.
Tracy Cole [37:37]: Exactly. They didn’t think about what you’re trying to sell in the text because the meme was funny. They saved it and forgot about you.
Albert And Kellen [37:43]: So it needs to be on brand. It needs to be about your brand.
Tracy Cole [37:46]: It does. And one thing I’ve learned is that "no" is a complete sentence. It’s hard, but I’ve started saying, "No, I can’t share that on my page because it doesn’t align with my brand." There are even people I’ve disconnected from because they don’t fit my brand.
Albert And Kellen [38:04]: That’s tough, but it makes sense.
Tracy Cole [38:05]: Sometimes I’ll share things to my Facebook stories instead. Here’s another nugget: Facebook stories last for 24 hours. Post something and wait a bit, then share it to your stories. People watch stories. I get 80 to 120 viewers daily, some I know, some I don’t because it’s public. That’s a lot of visibility.
Albert And Kellen [38:24]: That’s a good tip.
Tracy Cole [38:25]: If someone asks me to share something, I might put it in my stories. I’m not sharing it to my page because I don’t want to dilute my content, but I still want to help. Even though, let’s be real, they’re probably not sharing my stuff.
Albert And Kellen [38:39]: Well, we’ll definitely share your stuff when this episode comes out.
Tracy Cole [38:42]: Thank you.
Albert And Kellen [38:43]: Looking ahead, what excites you most about your future ventures?
Tracy Cole [38:46]: 2025 excites me because I’m stepping out of my comfort zone. I’ve decided to do more speaking engagements. I used to say I wanted to be Oprah, but then I realized Oprah’s kind of shady. So now I just want to be Tracy Cole.
Albert And Kellen [39:02]: Hey, 1990s Oprah.
Tracy Cole [39:04]: Yes, that one! But not the one who brought raw meat out on a wagon. That was weird.
Albert And Kellen [39:09]: Why didn’t we cook that steak, Oprah?
Tracy Cole [39:11]: Right? Anyway, I just want to be me. I want my name to be a household name. When I got my divorce, I told my attorney, "I’m going to do great things with this name. I need it back." My LLC is my name because it’s who I am.
Albert And Kellen [39:27]: That’s powerful.
Tracy Cole [39:28]: My friend gave me a fancy wooden pen, and I told her, "This is the pen I’m going to use to sign a multimillion-dollar contract." I look at it every day and think, "Let me use you!"
Albert And Kellen [39:40]: I love that.
Tracy Cole [39:41]: My goal is to keep moving forward, finding my ideal clients, and creating space for my passion projects. Eventually, I want enough clients that I don’t have to worry about people who won’t pay me.
Albert And Kellen [39:54]: When you make it big, remember us and come back on the show.
Tracy Cole [39:57]: I will.
Albert And Kellen [39:58]: Are we ready for a fire round?
Tracy Cole [40:00]: Let’s go!
Albert And Kellen [40:01]: What’s your favorite movie?
Tracy Cole [40:03]: Love and Basketball and Selena.
Albert And Kellen [40:06]: Who doesn’t love Selena?
Tracy Cole [40:08]: Right?
Albert And Kellen [40:09]: Love and Basketball. Sanaa Lathan, right?
Tracy Cole [40:11]: Yes, and Taye Diggs.
Albert And Kellen [40:13]: What’s your favorite book?
Tracy Cole [40:14]: Confession: I don’t read much anymore. I was an English teacher for 15 years, so I’m used to reading books for work. But recently, I loved The Go-Giver.
Albert And Kellen [40:24]: That’s a great one.
Tracy Cole [40:25]: I’m also reading a book by Keith TooGood called Kingdom Ministry. It’s challenging me in the best ways.
Albert And Kellen [40:34]: Shoutout to Keith TooGood.
Tracy Cole [40:36]: Yes!
Albert And Kellen [40:37]: What’s one piece of advice in your industry that you completely disagree with?
Inspiring Words and Future Goals
Albert And Kellen [43:32]: Well, it used to be posting every day, but when you're building a brand, you have to post every day.
Tracy Cole [43:38]: I don’t know. I don’t listen to what other people say. I’m very tunnel-visioned because I get distracted easily. If you haven’t noticed, I kind of have undiagnosed ADHD, and I’m unmedicated, but it’s fine. If I pay attention to what other people are saying, it’ll get me off track. I’ll start wondering, "Should I be doing this?" I just don’t pay attention because what works for them isn’t going to work for me. I also don’t read reviews.
Albert And Kellen [43:59]: That’s probably pretty smart. That was a good answer.
Albert And Kellen [44:02]: All right. Finally, what words of wisdom have most impacted your life? Or phrase or quote?
Tracy Cole [44:07]: Right now, because I go through different ones every year, I’m really into women of the Bible and Judas. I know it’s weird.
Albert And Kellen [44:15]: Women of the Bible?
Tracy Cole [44:17]: Obviously Esther. I have that tattooed on me, much to my mother’s dismay. She’s just angry. I got a tattoo of Esther, Esther 4:14, with an elephant, and it says "Perhaps."
Albert And Kellen [44:28]: "Such a time as this?"
Tracy Cole [44:30]: Yes. I was reading Bible stories to my kids, and we happened to open up to Esther. That was the first thing we read: "Perhaps you were made for a time such as this." And I thought, "Perhaps."
Albert And Kellen [44:44]: That’s powerful.
Tracy Cole [44:45]: Then there’s Judas. My big takeaway is, Jesus knew, but Judas ate too. Jesus knew Judas was part of the purpose and that his end wouldn’t be great, but He still let him eat and broke bread with him. He didn’t change anything knowing Judas would betray Him for blood money.
Albert And Kellen [45:10]: Wow.
Tracy Cole [45:11]: The story of Judas also taught me that not all money is good money.
Albert And Kellen [45:16]: There’s a lot in that.
Tracy Cole [45:18]: There is. I’m unpacking a lot, which is why I can’t finish books.
Albert And Kellen [45:22]: That’s really good.
Tracy Cole [45:23]: I know. We went deep here at the end.
Albert And Kellen [45:26]: That’s good.
Tracy Cole [45:27]: Thank you. Just wait—2025. I want to write a devotional.
Albert And Kellen [45:33]: I love it.
Albert And Kellen [45:35]: How do people get in touch with you or do business with you?
Tracy Cole [45:39]: It’s mainly on Facebook.
Albert And Kellen [45:41]: What’s your handle?
Tracy Cole [45:42]: Executive Hub by Tracy Cole or just Tracy Cole. My profile picture has me in green—it was my best car picture. People ask, "Is that you?" and I’m like, "Yes, do I look different?" That picture is about two or three years old, but I’m pretty excited about it.
Albert And Kellen [45:58]: Love it.
Tracy Cole [45:59]: So, Tracy Cole—spelled T-R-A-C-Y C-O-L-E. That’s me. You’ll probably see my profile before you see me. People say, "You’re out all the time," but I’m actually not.
Albert And Kellen [46:11]: What were you doing this morning?
Tracy Cole [46:13]: Honestly, I was distracted, creating content, and eating Apple Jacks. People think I live this luxurious life, but no—it’s just for my kids.
Albert And Kellen [46:22]: Awesome. Thank you so much for being a guest.
Tracy Cole [46:24]: Of course.
Albert And Kellen [46:25]: That was a fun conversation.
Tracy Cole [46:26]: I’ll share your content once you share mine.
Albert And Kellen [46:28]: Deal. Thank you!
