Speaker 1 (00:02):

Welcome to she sells radio. I am truly so excited for our guest interview today because you’re gonna get to meet one of our, she sells 10 K club, community members, and truly an amazing woman who is changing the world with her business. And you’re also gonna get to hear some behind the scenes live coaching as we work together on her business model and how to achieve her goals with the world change that she’s implementing. So let me tell you about my guest, Valerie Bowden, and then we’re gonna dive in with over a decade of experiencing living in east Africa. Valerie has helped some of the most recognizable brands in the world do business and investment in Africa. She helped launch the Ethiopian outsourcing association and works in partnership with the top tech outsourcing companies in Africa. She’s the founder of cradle, the most diverse B2B marketplace that connects African brands to global customers. Her advice and experience in African countries have been featured on PBS Huffington news, NBC news, Yahoo, and the Washington post. And listen to this before launching her career. She packed the entire length of Africa by herself. Oh my gosh. Wonder woman. Welcome to she sells radio. We’re so excited to have you.

Speaker 2 (01:18):

Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:20):

Oh my gosh. So I wanna get into, you know, cradle and have you educate our listeners a bit on what you’re doing, why this is so important, but I just have to stop and ask first. I mean, that last line in your bio, you ed, the entire length of Africa by yourself. What inspired that? And what was that experience like for you?

Speaker 2 (01:40):

It was, first of all, it was amazing. Um, it was just me and a backpack and a tent, and I did the whole thing, public transportation. So I was hitchhiking or taking cargo boats where I was like, bailing out the water on the boat. Or I was on a, a 12 passenger bus with 25 people and 10 goats on it. It was, it was really wild, my gosh. And it was so fun and it was so safe and, and I had a, really, a really great time.

Speaker 1 (02:06):

Wow. And how long did it take?

Speaker 2 (02:08):

Seven months and nine days.

Speaker 1 (02:10):

Oh my gosh. That is, that is incredible. I don’t know if I, yeah, I was, I don’t know. We just, we just got our RV and I’m like, glamping is about the extent of what I’m up for right now. I have so much respect for you with that, but I could only imagine how you probably fell more in love with the country and how that shaped what you’re doing today.

Speaker 2 (02:29):

Definitely. And I was, I was not the kind of girl who would go camping before this experience. I mean, I had never even set up a camp, a tent before. Wow. But I had, I had done this three month volunteer trip in Ethiopia before my trip. And it, it showed me kind of all the negative problems with volunteering and charities and, and things like that. But it did gimme a huge love for Ethiopia. Mm. And I thought, if I love Ethiopia, I wonder what the rest of African countries are like. Wow. And because I was out of grad school, the only choice I had was to backpack. And so I just bought a one way ticket and I thought I’d be gone for one month. And I was gone for for seven months because I was just having such a great, a great and a very safe time traveling. Wow.

Speaker 1 (03:14):

That’s incredible. That’s so incredible. So here’s what I wanna do. Cause I know we have some very like specific things we’re gonna be working on in your business model today and in your marketing. But before we get into that, I think you do such a good job of educating people on the importance of doing business with African brands and how we can start to do that. And then also dispelling myths and things that people don’t realize are true, um, about the con. So can you share with our listeners share some more details about, I guess what inspired cradle, what do you think people need to know about doing business in Africa? Let’s let’s start there.

Speaker 2 (03:50):

Yes. That’s a great question. Um, so I, I mean, I went to school for social work, so I was hardcore on the non-profit train. Um, and then when I first volunteered in Ethiopia and then as I was traveling through the continent, I stopped at different kinds of organizations, charities, nonprofits, tech, hubs, women, associations, businesses. And I was trying to figure out what is making a big difference on the continent what’s working and what’s not. And time and time again, it showed me that businesses that were creating jobs and paying to the well were creating the biggest impact. Mm. And in fact, a lot of these American charities that my church supported that my family supported when I actually visited them in, in person were doing horrible job. Mm. Many of them were operating illegally or mismanaging funds the money to actually reach the community. And a lot of times the projects backfire and actually create a negative impact. And so coming from the social work world, I was like blown away to see that actually business was, was the answer. And so when I was traveling, I got a job offer in Ethiopia for six months to work with the women’s association. And I, I thought that sounded amazing. So I finished my trip. I went home for Christmas. I came back to Ethiopia for what I thought would be six months. And I ended up staying eight years.

Speaker 1 (05:11):

Wow.

Speaker 2 (05:12):

<laugh> so a little longer, a little longer than planned. And the whole time I was, I was there for eight years. I worked just with businesses. So I work with local businesses, exporters women tech outsourcing. And it was just so clear to me that businesses are creating jobs. So it’s a sustainable way to reduce poverty. They are empowering women because when women make money, statistically, that money goes to help the children more. So the next generation has better education and more nutrition. And when, when people have jobs there’s less political conflict, less ethnic conflict. And the one thing that also surprised me is that, especially when it comes to physical products, when that is done, right, it actually actually benefits the environment a lot. Mm. And a lot of the carbon emissions come from just not doing trade with African countries correctly. So there is this huge environmental component, which I think is so relevant right now. Wow.

Speaker 1 (06:09):

Wow. And so tell, tell us about what inspired cradle. So obviously you’re, you know, you’re working with the women’s association, right. You’re seeing the impact of business. And then was this like an aha moment? Was this a, like, how did you get the download for, for this business?

Speaker 2 (06:24):

Well, I got a call one day from Ikea and Ikea had an office in, in the capital city, in Ethiopia, in Ababa. And they were trying to find suppliers and they couldn’t find anyone in the country that, that they could source from. Wow. And I thought, if that’s Ikea who has so much money and such a big desire to, to do business in Africa and they can’t find anyone, then clearly this is a huge problem. And I, you know, within days I was able to connect them to suppliers. That would be a good match. And pretty soon, you know, on social media, I was promoting the benefits of doing business with Africa and I was getting people so excited and, and inspired, and then they would, they would message me and be like, okay, so connect me to like a t-shirt manufacturer or who is the best, you know, coffee farmer. And I didn’t actually, I didn’t know that. And so cradle, I launched cradle as a B2B platform to easily connect businesses around the world to businesses in Africa. And so that’s both physical products and also tech outsourcing services.

Speaker 1 (07:24):

Ah, yeah. I mean, I was, you know, just prepping for the interview and reviewing everything that you do. And it was, it was exciting because there’s opportunities both for physical products. And then also for any of us who have VAs, who, who have team members that need outsource. So tell, talk a little bit more about what the capabilities are and the types of, whether it’s goods we can source from Africa or whether it’s services that we can source. I think just so as you and I go into some of the coaching segment, everyone has like a real, this was a very eye opening for me to even just start thinking about like, oh my gosh, I could hire team in Africa. So, so, so talk a little bit more about that.

Speaker 2 (07:58):

It’s, it’s so interesting because I know for most Americans, African countries are not on their radar, but truly if you own a business or if you’re a sales professional, it, it needs to be something that you’re focused on because it is first of all the future. And there’s kind of two things I always like to say is that the first one is I know a lot of business owners really wanna grow their business so they can eventually give back and, you know, fund these nonprofits in these charities. And what I like to say is that actually, if you just did business with them, you would create a bigger, a bigger social impact. Wow. And the best part is you don’t have to wait until you’re making a certain revenue goal. Like you said, just hiring a developer or getting a virtual assistant starts to create that, that social impact you want.

Speaker 2 (08:41):

And you can do that where you are in business today. Mm-hmm, <affirmative>, that’s incredible. And the second thing is, is that, I mean, Africa is the second biggest continent and it has over a billion people and it has the fastest economies in the world right now. So if you’re not sourcing from Africa, you’re kinda missing out because when it comes to outsourcing, for example, the Philippines and India are kinda saturated and that’s why African countries are becoming the next outsourcing destinations. Wow. So I’m seeing companies like CVE and Salesforce and Intel, they’re all sourcing talent from Ethiopia and from other countries. So now, because of COVID, you actually have this opportunity, um, to have a, a remote team member, which is so common now, and it doesn’t matter if they’re located in, in, let’s say the us, or now it could be, it could be in Kenya, for example. And so that’s kind of where today’s world is.

Speaker 1 (09:34):

Wow. It’s so exciting. And so cradle can literally connect you with people like team members, mm-hmm, <affirmative>, um, outsource team. And that that’s so exciting. Cause I think that becomes, obviously that’s the problem you solve is it feels daunting to figure out where do I connect with people. Right.

Speaker 2 (09:47):

I do that. So, and how do you know if they’re good or trustworthy? Right. So we’re, we’re working with them. So we know who’s the best one. And we’re able to match you, um, for companies with physical products, we can look at, you know, how much can you order and what do you want? And we can help match you up and facilitate the samples and the shipping prices and all of those kind of things. So we just try to make it easy and streamlined.

Speaker 1 (10:08):

That’s amazing. That’s amazing. And before we get into coaching, I know there’s some common myths about Africa that I think you wanna dispel, right? That you talk about that it’s important for people to understand. So I just wanna give you a moment for whatever, um, whatever people need to know about the truth of doing business with Africa, what it’s, what, what sort of myths do you wanna dispel? Yeah,

Speaker 2 (10:29):

I, I can fill an entire podcast episode around all the myths. Um, so the first thing I think to note is that African countries are super different from each other. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so we say Africa because it’s easy and it’s a continent, but the countries are so, so different. Um, so it’s important to keep that in mind. And I think it’s also, you know, it’s good to know that even though you’re, you might be doing this at first to make a social impact. I think the ethos and the buy behind it is that, um, instead of viewing a group of people who you’ve never met through pity, instead you’re, you’re taking them in as individuals getting to know them, adding them as valued team members, making them your supply partners. And you’re working with fellow business owners because they’re inspiring and innovating and leading, you know, their industry and you wanna work with them and they, you know, you can develop real friendships. So I think that’s the kind of vibe behind trying to do business with them.

Speaker 1 (11:25):

Oh my gosh. I love that so much. That’s so important. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:28):

It’s a different way. And it feels, it definitely feels better. I think

Speaker 1 (11:31):

So much better. Right. Exactly. Is there anything else that I haven’t asked you that you want to talk about for a moment about cradle, the platform about doing business in Africa before we start to get into some of your coaching questions?

Speaker 2 (11:44):

I think, um, I think there’s just, again, so many, so many myths. And so that’s why I try to like hop on the phone with people and, and hear what, what challenges they think they are. So I know a lot of people, um, when they talk about wanting to hire a remote team of developers or telemarketers, or, um, you know, we also work with virtual assistant appointment bookers. Um, they think, oh, I can’t hire someone in a foreign country because I’m not equipped to deal with foreign labor laws or, and so there’s a lot of different ways that we set up these really great business partnerships where it’s more of a, a contract kind of setting. Um, so I guess if you have anything that’s like keeping you from wanting to explore doing business in Africa, we’ve probably already worked with the company like yours and help them figure it out. So that’s, what’s important is don’t let, um, something stop you from getting going.

Speaker 1 (12:36):

I think that’s so important. I think that’s so important. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so, okay, amazing. So let’s do this. So I know you had some specific coaching questions you were wanting to work through today. So I am here. I am all ears. I’m gonna let you lead with, what is, uh, where would you like to start? What’s your first question?

Speaker 2 (12:53):

Okay. So my first question is about reaching bigger corporations. So I have found it much easier to meet, um, solo entrepreneurs and small businesses because they respond on social media and cold emails and they’re just easier to work with. And I love that, and I’m really excited about that, but I know that when you work with a bigger company, they have the manpower to, to hire 20 developers at once or hire 100 customer service agents. And so I haven’t found a good way to get in touch with these bigger companies. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And what I’ve seen in Ethiopia is a lot of them outsource it to subcontractors who then outsource it to Ethiopia. Um, so it’ll be like a giant fortune 500 company who, whose work is being done in Ethiopia, but it’s, it’s gone through so many middle men who are taking most of the money.

Speaker 1 (13:42):

Mm.

Speaker 2 (13:42):

So the us company is paying a lot and then the Ethiopians aren’t making as much money. And so if we could directly match them, it would be a win-win for everyone. Yeah. But I don’t know how to, I don’t know how to reach them. So I’ll send messages on LinkedIn to like the talent recruiters mm-hmm <affirmative>. And if you, if you email them on their website, it’s, it’s a general, you know, email contact, right. Nobody’s gonna respond. Right. So do you have any advice on how, how to get in the doors of these bigger companies?

Speaker 1 (14:08):

Sure. Okay. Sure. And I’m gonna be kind of taking notes. So if you hear like a little bit of typing in the background, I’m taking some notes while we talk too, so, okay. So you just answered one of my questions, which is like, who’s your contact there? Um, but let me ask you this. So the companies that are already using the subcontractors is that your like super ID, like, do you have a list of, these are my super ideal clients and that, like, if I could just connect with them, it’s an easy sell cause I’m gonna help them save money. They’re already sold on doing business with Africa. I think that’s the first thing is really identifying, like, who’s the really ideal client

Speaker 2 (14:42):

For you, right? Yeah. I don’t, I dunno. I mean, I know for example, there’s several us banks right now that outsource C P S so I think maybe I could pitch it to, to different banks. Mm-hmm <affirmative> or I know companies like Salesforce are using developers, um, in Ethiopia mm-hmm <affirmative> um, so I dunno if I just pitch them directly and, you know, and say, instead of subcontracting, without to someone who’s subcontracting it out, why don’t you go direct? Um, but that’s the part that I still, I still don’t quite know.

Speaker 1 (15:09):

Yeah. Well, you know, as you talk about it, to me, it’s always about what’s the lowest hanging fruit, like who’s the lowest hanging fruit. And so what I love about what you shared there is with someone who’s not yet outsourcing to Africa, like you’re gonna have to sell them on why they should do it. So for these companies, like they’re already sold. Now, if you can hone in on what’s the current pain point around that, or help them see there’s a better way or a different way to me, I would probably start there first. So I always, I mean, whether it’s a CRM, whether it’s a good old fashioned spreadsheet, it’s like warm, you know, warm list. Right. Which you’re probably already doing, cuz you’re a, you’re a sales pro. Um, but starting there and really looking at who’s already doing this and what would be the specific value proposition I can give to them. So for someone who’s already outsourcing to Africa, the value proposition is gimme the value proposition of cradle.

Speaker 2 (16:01):

You’ll lower your cost by doing it directly. Great. I can match

Speaker 1 (16:06):

Directly. Okay. And do you have an estimate of like how much the cost can be lowered mm-hmm

Speaker 2 (16:10):

<affirmative> yeah, exactly. So maybe they’ve hit a subcontractor 15 an hour, but the Ethiopian is making, you know, half of that.

Speaker 1 (16:19):

Mm mm-hmm <affirmative> so I think what would be

Speaker 2 (16:23):

Costs? Go ahead. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (16:24):

Okay. So cuz that’s one of the things we wanna have too, is like a very clear, compelling promise statement. That’s attention getting that they’re gonna get. So if you have some real specific numbers, did you know that there’s a way you can do business directly and you can lower your cost by X amount of what it’s costing you to work with the subcontractor? I think that right there is gonna be a very comp uh, compelling value proposition. So I’m just taking some notes on my end for that. And then I think, you know, in terms of how do you get into these organizations? Mm-hmm <affirmative> we have to remember, it’s still people at the end of the day, it’s people now, when you’re working within a bigger organization, it’s probably gonna be more people it’s gonna be probably a longer process. So that’s okay. So we go into it knowing that and just wanting to understand what their process is. But you said you, is it the talent recruiter? That’s like, who’s the true person you wanna connect with within the company? Who’s the decision maker for this

Speaker 2 (17:15):

That’s so that’s what I’ve been reaching out to so far. OK. Because there’ll be a talent recruiter who posts a, a development job, um, or an SDR job. But then when I message them on LinkedIn, they’re like, oh no, we don’t actually outsource. And sometimes I know that they do outsource, actually know your team. Um, okay. So I think it’s not the right person.

Speaker 1 (17:38):

So, so I think there’s a bit of research that needs to be done there first. And I mean, I don’t know who it is cuz I don’t sell this, but I would, I would look at, um, I mean it’s like who’s signing off on it at the end of the day. Is it, is it still the CEO of the company? Is it C FFO? Is it, is it somebody else? Like when we can figure out who’s actually signing off on the agreement, I’m always a fan of going directly to them. So I do a little bit of research and you could even ask, um, you know, you could reach out and ask, like I know that you’re currently outsourcing, uh, you know, you’ve got a partnership with this outsourcing company in Africa, who’s in charge. Who’s currently in charge of outsourcing who’s in charge of choosing the outsourcing partners and just do a little bit of digging and research. I don’t think it’ll take you long, but we wanna know like the specific title of who the real decision maker is. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (18:29):

And do you think the same is true for, um, sales reps? Because I know recently there’s a bunch of our outsourcing companies in Ethiopia have launched telemarketing as a service. Okay. So they have, I think combined about a hundred sales reps who are baking 200 calls a day to us companies mm-hmm <affirmative> and then they send the warm leads over to, to the client themselves. Okay. Um, so since you have like that background in sales, you think you, in that case I would pitch the sales director

Speaker 1 (19:00):

Or I would, yeah, I would, I would start there. So whoever’s managing the sales team, whether it’s VP of sales, sales director, you know, how do you decide, um, how do you decide who to hire for your telemarketing for outsourcing? So cuz it’s usually gonna be them. Okay. So yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (19:16):

And do you like emails or LinkedIn messaging better? Or how do you

Speaker 1 (19:20):

Like that? So here’s okay. So I’ve got a couple ideas for you. So my number one, now this is not always possible, but whenever it is possible, a referral always, always, always. So I would use LinkedIn to see what are the shared connections we have between, between us. And if you can get a referral to the person that is my favorite way. Um, if you can’t, I would look at how can you quickly get their attention. So I will often do a multi-pronged approach. I’ll do a LinkedIn message and I’ll do an email. Um, but the key in it is to grab their attention quickly. And it’s not gonna be just these first two outreaches. I would actually have probably like a seven to 10 step outreach plan mapped out, which you and I can work together on in the cause we’re, we’re not gonna have time to go like super deep into it today, but we can work on it together, um, in the 10 K club.

Speaker 1 (20:12):

But I would have a seven to 10 step outreach plan mapped out, um, that involves multi-pronged touchpoints every single time along the way you’ve gotta be adding value. Okay. So when I, I love reaching out on LinkedIn because you can send a voice message, right? So I think that’s really powerful now you’ve gotta be, I think you gotta be connected to them first, so you would need to probably send a connection request. Um, but I love that you can send a voice message or you can send them an email with a personal video to them. So if I’m doing direct outreach to somebody it’s, um, it’s very, and they, I don’t know them. It’s very rarely just a written thing. It’s gonna be a video or it’s gonna be a voice message. It’s gonna be something that’s like, I’ve done that before. Oh this, okay.

Speaker 1 (20:52):

This is gonna be a game changer. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So make it, um, make it super personal and make it different. So we wanna think about these people are like, there’s just, there’re zipping through their skimming. Ha you gotta think about what modes you’re in when you’re doing your inbox. Right? So most of the stuff you probably just delete, you don’t even wanna pay attention to. Exactly. So they’re gonna be the same. So what’s gonna catch their attention. Well, it’s probably gonna be something personal. Um, it’s probably gonna show that you’ve done research. It’s probably gonna be, um, something that’s different. So you can use again, you can send a voice message directly through the LinkedIn app and that’s gotta be on your phone. So you just, you do it from the phone here. Um, or again, you can record a quick video and send it to them.

Speaker 1 (21:39):

Um, I like making it, I think having your value proposition in that is really important. So you wanna think about what’s in it for them. So I noticed you’re currently doing business with Ethiopia and this way, I think that’s amazing. Like I just got back from eight years, Ethiopia. I’m super passionate about it. Hey, I just wanted to reach out to you because most companies in the us don’t know that you can actually source you can actually outsource directly to Ethiopia and save X amount on average of the cost. If you’re interested, I’m happy to send some more details and we can schedule a time to connect from there. So keep it like really, really short, make it really interesting and then make it low commitment. So what’s the next step you want them to take? That’s super low commitment where it’s like an easy yes.

Speaker 1 (22:24):

Whether it’s yes. Send me an email. Yes. Let’s hop on a call. I would always ask for the call over an email because I think it’s just, you know, then you’re gonna have to keep following up on the email, but if, if you can at least get their agreement and their buy-in to send them some more details over email that’s that’s great. And then you follow up from there. So, so that’s gonna be more of your, um, you know, your outbound strategy of reaching out to these people. Now the other part of it, the second half of it is gonna be inbound. So we wanna start really positioning you as the expert in this space to start getting their attention. So actually before I, before I start talking about inbound, do you have questions on anything I just said about outbound? No.

Speaker 2 (23:05):

I’m like getting so excited thinking

Speaker 1 (23:07):

About it though. Okay. I’m so excited to cuz it’s, it’s just like it’s little stuff. It’s different stuff, but you just wanna think about if I was them mm-hmm <affirmative> what would matter to me? Mm-hmm <affirmative> and what would make this easy? What would be like an easy yes, for me. So we always just put ourselves in the other person’s shoes. Okay. So yeah. So that’s, that’s that part of it now in terms of inbound and this is the longer term approach. So that’s why you wanna be doing both simultaneously, right? Cause this may take, you know, it may take a couple months, it may take three months. It may take six months to start really generating momentum for you. Mm-hmm <affirmative> um, but I want you to start to really position yourself as an expert in the space. So I know you said previously you were putting out videos on social media about doing business in Africa and they started getting traction. So mm-hmm <affirmative> what are you doing right now? Do you like, talk to me about your content marketing plan right now?

Speaker 2 (23:56):

That’s another thing I wanted to talk to you about. Okay. So we are doing Instagram and um, once in a while I’ll hop on a video on LinkedIn or on an Instagram story, but that’s all I’m doing. So it’s definitely lacking. Um, I would love to do more videos. I also wanted to ask you about perhaps doing a podcast. I’m wondering if you think this would be the answer to, to getting some more inbound inquiries.

Speaker 1 (24:25):

Yeah, 100%. So, so let’s talk about the podcast in a minute because yes, I think you should. Okay. Um, but yeah, so what I would do is, um, have you applied for LinkedIn live?

Speaker 2 (24:36):

No.

Speaker 1 (24:36):

Okay. Apply for LinkedIn live. As far as I know, it’s still an application process and it can take, it can take a while to get approved. Okay. Um, but what’s great about that is that once you’re approved, I mean, I think your people are on LinkedIn primarily mm-hmm, <affirmative>, they’re probably podcast some YouTube, but, but podcast in LinkedIn I think are gonna be your biggest sources. Okay. So we wanna get you approved for LinkedIn live. So that’s the first thing I would do. You can just Google it. How do I get approved on LinkedIn live? And you submit a little application, you talk about your plan for the content. And so I would do that today and go ahead and get yourself approved. Um, and then the second piece is yes. A podcast. So let’s, let’s make the podcast kind of a separate conversation in a second.

Speaker 1 (25:20):

So I wanna talk with you about that. Um, but in terms of putting the content out there, we wanna think about what are the biggest, like what sort of content to create, what are their pain points? What are their questions? What are their challenges right now? So when I think about content for you, you know, we wanna think about for this, um, you know, for this VP of sales, it’s like, I think you could do things specific to outsourcing, to outsourcing parts of the sales process. I also think you could do things that are like a little broader about just in general, how do you manage your sales team to greatness? How can you be effective with it? So it’s gonna be a combination of things that are very specific to outsourcing in Africa and questions that are like very specific to what you do. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and then slightly broader as well. So you become just this, like this trusted expert that they think about all the time when they’re thinking about growing and leading their team. So I would make a list of questions that your ideal client has as it pertains to outsourcing, as it pertains to building vendor partnerships, as it pertains to sales leadership, if you’re gonna go that angle and you start creating content positioned around that. Um, and then, and

Speaker 2 (26:33):

How do I do that when we are working with so many industries, I mean, I’m helping you get an SDR, but I can also help you source vanilla from smallholders in Uganda.

Speaker 1 (26:43):

So mm-hmm,

Speaker 2 (26:44):

<affirmative> it, it’s, it’s really different. It’s all sourcing macro. So there is a common theme, but the, the businesses I’m talking to are very different.

Speaker 1 (26:52):

For sure. For sure. So I would probably segmented a bit. Is there a, is, is there a certain group that’s most valuable for you right now? Let me ask that.

Speaker 2 (27:06):

Yeah, I would say the outsourcing services is something I’m, I’m super excited about, extra excited about right now. So developers, sales reps, customer service agents, mm-hmm <affirmative> that is growing really quickly and we’ve had a lot of great success already matching with

Speaker 1 (27:23):

Us. Okay. So I probably lead with that. I think it’s, um, I, I think you can have a mix of content, like, you know, I’ll share behind the scenes. So we’ve got in, she sells world. We’ve obviously got our women focused brand and we also have we’ve ended up having quite a few men and people of other genders who listen to and it’s like, great. I want content to benefit everyone. So we are kind of strategically mixing in different types of content that are gonna appeal to different buyers, but it’s still primarily woman focused cuz that’s still the primary focus of the brand. Right. So, um, so I think I would start there, but I think there’s so much, I mean, this is just probably being in the entrepreneur in the, the service based business world, but there’s so much need for outsourcing. And I think there’s gonna be so many people who are excited about that, that if you kind of lean in with that content even just to start, um, I, I think that would be powerful.

Speaker 1 (28:14):

And then, you know, so you’re, you’re doing this and you’re simultaneously building your network on LinkedIn. You’re simultaneously doing outreach and then what’s gonna happen is as you grow your connections on LinkedIn and get connected with the right people, you can be tagging them in this content. Hey, I, you know, I thought of you today when I posted this, I remembered a recent conversation. What did you think? You can send it to them directly in a DM. So it’s really about getting them hooked on you and like, oh my gosh, Valerie shares so much value. Right. And so much information that’s helping me with my job. And then they’re, they’re so much more likely to wanna connect. Um, so a couple

Speaker 2 (28:50):

And do you do I’m so sorry. Do you do EO blogs on top of this? So you write a blog, that’s SEO focus and then you do a video on it and then you make a social media post. Is that how you kind of organize it?

Speaker 1 (29:02):

It can feel like a lot, right?

Speaker 2 (29:04):

Yeah. And I came from, I mean I used to do SEO when I was in okay. In marketing a little bit. Yeah. So I mean, but that it is very intense to do it correctly.

Speaker 1 (29:13):

Yeah. I think it’s all about bandwidth. I, I truly think it’s all about bandwidth. So one of the companies that, um, I’ve been a part of over the years that I think does a great job of explaining this is called brand builders group and they have a whole method called the content diamond, which is like, you make a podcast and then you repurpose it a million different ways. Um, and I think that’s a great plan for when you have a full team. I would say the most important thing right now is get started. Okay. Like put something out there. Um, there’s 20 things I know we could be doing with our videos right now that we’re not mm-hmm <affirmative> and it’s literally just about like, it’s step by step. Like what’s what can I do today to get it out? So I would say if you have someone who’s great at SEO who can write a great SEO blog post post for you, and that could maybe be a LinkedIn article as well.

Speaker 1 (30:00):

Sure. Go for it. Right. Um, but we wanna be very intentional about what you’re doing and really thinking about what’s gonna move the needle most mm-hmm <affirmative> for you. Okay. The other thing I want you thinking about in terms of inbound approach is where are these buyers currently paying attention? So what are the podcasts they’re listening to? And you wanna think about, again, this is where we wanna be really clear on who your buyer is. So if it’s VPs of sales, let’s just play with that. What are the podcasts out there for VPs of sales? You’re gonna pitch yourself as a guest on them, on those shows. And you’re gonna come on and talk about cradle. Um, if it’s, you know, on entre, if you wanna build a brand in front of more small business owners, I mean, there’s a million entrepreneur podcasts out there, um, all about efficiency and optimization and outsourcing. And I think it would be tremendous for that. Um, listen, notes.com is a great database for you to pull different podcasts from. And we can also, do you have a media kit yet?

Speaker 2 (31:00):

No.

Speaker 1 (31:00):

Okay. I’ll work with you on that. Um, yeah, cuz you’ll, you’ll wanna have a, just a nice little media kit that you can send out, but getting booked on podcasts to me is like the best and fastest way to grow your sales and your audience.

Speaker 2 (31:16):

Okay. I can that because I am hard for on the podcast and I’ve done a lot of, whenever someone I listen to recommends a book or a person I always fallen through, so I can do

Speaker 1 (31:26):

That. Yeah, for sure. So I, I would make a list. I mean, you’ll have thousands, you can go on, like you could spend the rest of your life going on podcast interviews if you wanted <laugh>. But it truly is one of the best ways, because just, I mean, think about even in this context, it’s like for my listeners they’re so they’re like, I know my listeners, they’re excited about what you’re doing. They’re like, oh my gosh, this is an amazing concept. How can I work with her? How can I partner with her? And the listeners already know and trust the host. So you have that built in trust factor. Mm-hmm, <affirmative>, it’s going, it’s a lot easier to sell someone when they reach out to you. When they say, you know, when the CFO reaches out to you’s like, Hey, I heard you on blah, blah, blah, show. Exactly. I’m curious about this. So it’s a total, it’s a game changer. Um, but so let’s get you on podcasts. I would love for you to be on like one to two a week. So you probably need to pitch, you gotta figure out what your numbers are, but maybe 10 a week. Okay. This is also something you could have outsourced for you. So you’re not doing it yourself. Um, but, but start there.

Speaker 2 (32:25):

I’m also thinking, I, I know because I, because of what I do, I was like, I have so many Ethiopian assistants who could work with me on this and exactly for anyone who’s listening, it’s that’s like a perfect thing that calendar is equipped to do.

Speaker 1 (32:38):

That’s amazing. Yeah. That’s amazing. So like you obviously leverage your team, leverage, leverage the cradle team to do it and to, to pitch you on shows mm-hmm <affirmative> and then I would also just be thinking about what events can you be speaking at? Okay. So looking at, um, industry events, you can go to directory of associations.com to take a look at all the different upcoming industry events. And you can really filter it down by region, by, uh, topic, by there’s so many ways you can filter it and go and pitch yourself as a speaker. That one is gonna have a longer term life cycle, probably cuz you may be booking for something next year. Podcasts are gonna be much faster. Um, but so just really thinking about who, like who already has my audience, where are they paying attention? Where are they listening? And then getting yourself positioned in front of them as an expert. So I just talked a lot. I’m trying to fit a lot in for you right now. Cause I don’t have a lot to cover, but what questions do you have on any of that?

Speaker 2 (33:37):

None I’m like ready to go. I’m so excited. Like there’s so many ideas that are coming to my mind now, so it’s really exciting.

Speaker 1 (33:44):

Awesome. Okay. So I know you wanted to talk specifically about launching a podcast too, right? So you wanna, I do because

Speaker 2 (33:51):

Okay, great. First of all, I would love, I love talking about this stuff. I could go on and on and on. And so I wanted to launch a podcast, but I mean, I know you’re not supposed to listen to what other people say necessarily, but everyone was like, who would listen to a podcast about, about African countries or, you know, I could go in depth about the cashew industry and how it’s so corrupt and how one of our brands is like changing the entire industry worldwide. I could do a whole hour on that love and then some comments I know do, but they’re like, well that wanna be profitable. You know, who would be, how would you pay for this? Or how would it make money for you? OK. So it sounds like by your initial feedback, you don’t agree.

Speaker 1 (34:32):

You gotta, so here’s the thing. So, and I don’t know who these people are and I don’t care. You don’t need to tell me. But what I would say is everyone will always have an opinion everyone. And so this, this applies to anything you’re launching as an entrepreneur is being so mindful of who you share things with. Mm-hmm <affirmative> um, I think this is so important because especially when it’s in that kind of lift off stage, it’s almost like this little infant, right. And if we set it out, we set the baby out in a tornado is not gonna do well. It’s the same. <laugh> it’s the same with your business ideas. We wanna be so conscious of not guarding them out of scarcity, but guarding them out of like, who do I really wanna know their opinion on this and only bringing it up with those people. And that may mean oftentimes not talking with family about it or not talking with certain friends about it. It’s not about making them wrong, but it’s like, have they done what I wanna do?

Speaker 1 (35:27):

Right. If not, why would I ask their opinion? Right. Right. So it’s it’s so it’s just kind of having that in mind, but you, you will absolutely like the fact that this is a calling on your heart, the fact that there’s so much, like there’s already so much momentum and excitement behind what you’re doing. There’s so many people who will be interested, but they can’t be interested unless you put it out there. And here’s the key too with your podcast is it doesn’t have to be a top 100 podcast to help you grow a really successful business. Right. That’s the, like there are podcasts out there for everything it’s wild when you look at it and if they develop these like cult followings of people who are just all about crocheting or all, I don’t, I mean, pick your, pick your poison, there’s podcasts out there for everything.

Speaker 1 (36:18):

Exactly. So, absolutely. And I think it’s great for a number of reasons. So one, you could ha you could actually feature your suppliers on there. So you talk about like the cashew farmer, right. And like the different, so actually highlighting them and featuring them, I think is phenomenal. Um, and it’s, I mean, you can also have on the people who you wanna be your clients. So, so this is, and it’s, it’s not about being, it’s not about manipulated it’s, it’s not that at all, but it, I want you to think about if I reach out to you and I’m like, Valerie, I’d like to have a, um, you know, I think you could benefit from my programs. I’d like to have a discovery call with you. You’re gonna be like, um, probably not. Right. But if I reach out to you and I’m like, Hey, Valerie, I think what you’re doing is amazing.

Speaker 1 (37:04):

I’ve gotta show that highlights female entrepreneurs and sales leaders. I’d love to have you on and talk about, um, you know, how you’ve succeeded in your career. Would you like to come on? Most people are gonna say yes. Right? Right. So it’s a great platform for you to have a built in way to invite and build relationships with these people who you wanna build relationships with. So think about kind of to go back to the outbound approach from before, when you’re doing your direct outreach, depending on who it is, if you truly wanna have them on the show, mm-hmm, <affirmative>, you know, you can, you can lead with that. It’s gonna be an easy yes. For most of them. Exactly. You know, or you could do the, if you don’t wanna do that on the podcast, do the podcast separately and make LinkedIn live. That could be interviews with, you know, inspiring business leaders who are doing outsourcing the right way, something, something like that. Right. But I think you having a platform where you can bring these people on, you’re the expert, you’re, you know, you’re building them up. It’s gonna be such a great way for you to build relationships and get ins within these bigger organizations.

Speaker 2 (38:08):

Okay. That makes, that makes a lot of sense. Yes. And would you say that I could launch a podcast now when I don’t have that many followers, because we just officially launch like six months ago or do I need to wait till I hit a certain number of followers now?

Speaker 1 (38:22):

I think the way you’re gonna get followers is you’re gonna launch a podcast. <laugh> OK. <laugh> I mean, I mean, truly like, right. You gotta do it some way. So I think this is where we all get to collectively stand up and say, I’m gonna build my own platform. I’m gonna make my own thing. I’m gonna let people come to me, but I’m, I’m not gonna wait for the right time. Right. I’m gonna put my stuff out there now because I know it’s good. And I can create my own platform tomorrow. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so yeah, I would do that. Now the key with it is don’t get fixated on the numbers. So if you’re like obsessively tracking the numbers and you’re not where you wanna be in a couple months, give it it’s a long term game. Okay. It’s a long term game. Do it, like do it for a year and then look at the numbers. Okay. I mean, seriously, you’re gonna get people reaching out too. Like, I love your show. I loved your, I mean, you came to me I think, from the podcast, but you’ve been listening to it for what, like a year and a half.

Speaker 2 (39:17):

I did listen to it for a year and a half. And then

Speaker 1 (39:19):

Yeah. I mean, so case in point, right.

Speaker 2 (39:21):

<laugh> right. <laugh>

Speaker 1 (39:24):

So you’ll have that happen too.

Speaker 2 (39:25):

Okay. <laugh> but yes, that makes sense.

Speaker 1 (39:28):

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Awesome. And you’ll have people who, so don’t be disarm. You’ll have people who come sooner, but, but it makes it’s a long game. It’s a long game. Okay.

Speaker 2 (39:36):

No, it makes sense. And just the thought of doing it, I would do it totally for fun. I mean, even if it had no business purposes, I would, I mean, I have these conversations anyways, so it’s more just about recording

Speaker 1 (39:45):

Them then that’s what’s gonna, and you just, you do it, you have fun. It doesn’t have to be tied to a specific business outcome. I find in my own, like when I’m lit up about something, other people are gonna be too. And if you’re putting stuff out there that people that you’re not lit up about, they’re not gonna be lit up about. So you kind of just have to like get beyond the whole algorithm thing and get beyond how do I turn this profitable and like, just have fun with it. That’s the most important thing. That’s the most important thing. Okay.

Speaker 2 (40:12):

And besides that, are there any other, like one to two tips that you wish you would’ve known when you started your podcast? That I shouldn’t, I should just know before going.

Speaker 1 (40:20):

Yeah. I mean, I think there’s some good, just like basic things to think about. So one is, okay, what’s the show like what’s the publication schedule gonna be of the show? So what’s the consistency. Is it a, is it a weekly, is it a bi-weekly is it a couple times a week? So do you have a sense of, I think I can do. Okay. So weekly is great. Mm-hmm <affirmative> um, and are you gonna do video and audio?

Speaker 2 (40:44):

I think I’ve done video before and sometimes it, it can be a little bit challenging. Um, okay. Sometimes I’ll do a video with a supplier and then their electricity goes out. So there’s dark. So got it. I think audio just might be, what’s more practical

Speaker 1 (40:58):

For me. Okay. So I think so make a, make a decision there and that’s totally fine. So whatever you decide to do, roll with it, if you can do video, it’s great because then you can repurpose it as a YouTube video and you can, you can repurpose it as a lot of different content. So this is, and you’ve probably got, you know, a great social media team who can help you with this, whether it’s like repurposing it into Instagram reels, um, even, you know, TikTok, short clips for LinkedIn, there’s so much more you can do if it is video. So I’m always a fan of if you can make it video and audio, but if audio is the way you’re gonna go, then do then just make a decision. Okay. Um, and then decide like, what’s the show structure. So is it, it sounds like you’re gonna have interviews. Are there gonna be solo episodes kind of decide what’s that gonna look like?

Speaker 2 (41:43):

Okay. Mm-hmm <affirmative> I think I could do both like solo just on general education and inspiring people, what to do and how to do it and the, the factors behind it. And then also right. Highlighting the suppliers and highlighting the, the buyers who are doing it correctly.

Speaker 1 (41:59):

Perfect. Okay. Okay. Perfect. Yeah. So it’s just, it’s letting people know what to expect upfront. Um, okay. With that. So they get used to that. I would probably pre-match like six to eight. Okay. Right. So have, have quite a few in the can so that when you release, you can release, you may wanna release like three to four at once so that people can go through and they can like, if we just release one episode and they listed on the one, we’re like, okay, this is great. Now I gotta wait for another week to listen. So when you first launch, ideally you wanna launch with, I’d say three to four. Okay. That you can go with and then have, I’d say, have at least another months already recorded so that you’re not scrambling to record. Okay. Um, just to stay on track, I’d say outside of that have a regular scheduled recording time where you’re like, I know I record every week at this time, so you can stay on top of things. Um, and then also this is really important and people don’t think about this, be a sponsor of your own show. So when you’re doing the show, um, I mean, have it be sponsored by cradle? People are like, how do I monetize a podcast? You monetize it cuz it’s sponsored by cradle. And so you can literally just do a little thing at the beginning. This show brought to you by cradle, blah, blah, blah. Here’s our tagline for a complimentary consultation go here. Boom. Cause

Speaker 2 (43:13):

That’s what you do. That’s what I’ve noticed. You don’t have ads for affiliate sales and it’s actually kind of refreshing to not have to hear general ads. <laugh> one of those podcasts I find

Speaker 1 (43:24):

Really nice. Yeah. I mean it’s like for, for some shows and it’s, I think it’s a strategic decision. So when you have, you may reach a certain level where you’re like, I want, you know, I wanna sell ad spots on here and it’s actually worth it. Usually it’s not worth it for the money. Okay. Um, and you can make way more just by being your own sponsor. Got it. So yeah. Okay. Those are, I feel like those are the primary things I’d be thinking about. Okay. Going into it. So yeah.

Speaker 2 (43:53):

Okay.

Speaker 1 (43:54):

Any other questions on that?

Speaker 2 (43:56):

I, I do have one last question. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so you know, my, my schedule <laugh> yeah. I am giving birth in November to baby number two. So in my head I was thinking launch podcast, starting in January, uh, just gimme a couple months. Would you say that that’s still kind of a smart choice or would you say get going now and just pre before the baby?

Speaker 1 (44:18):

Yeah. Okay. I’m glad you brought that up. Cause I was like, I don’t know if we can talk about it on the show. Yeah. Oh, it’s so exciting. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so, um, how long do you wanna take off?

Speaker 2 (44:31):

I’m gonna take off she’s due at the beginning of November. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so I’m gonna take off November and December and let my team run it,

Speaker 1 (44:38):

Run it.

Speaker 2 (44:38):

Okay. While I’m gone two months, it’s still check in a little bit, but mm-hmm <affirmative> mm-hmm <affirmative> that’s my plan for right now.

Speaker 1 (44:44):

Okay. Awesome. And

Speaker 2 (44:44):

It is the holiday season, so it’s kind of a little bit slow anyways, for us. Most people wait until January before ordering a product or onboarding new team.

Speaker 1 (44:53):

Got it. So, so here’s the, so here’s my thought and I think I’m always big on like family first and mm-hmm <affirmative> mom time first and you doing what feels most in alignment for you as a mom. So I think, really check in with that. Okay. Um, and that should, that should be above everything else from a purely business standpoint. I think it would be great if you could have this running in the background while you’re gone, especially if people are typically making decisions in January, if you can be kind of planting it in seeding it November and December, because oftentimes during that time it’s like business is a little slower for some industries, but people are also their home. They wanna escape their family. They’re checking on social media, they’re listening to podcasts. They’re doing so it’s actually a good time to kind of get in people’s ear. Okay. So that, I think you’ll, you’ll feel like you’re coming off of leave with more momentum. Yeah. If you can have it running, but then you would have to pre-match enough to last you through that. So you’ve gotta decide, do I bandwidth for that or not right now.

Speaker 2 (45:57):

Okay. I, I mean, I do. I do. I think, I mean, especially cuz again, I, I would do this just for fun. Um, this is like one of the things I’m most, I, I love doing the most, so yeah. Um, that makes a lot of sense. Okay. Wow. Okay. And, okay, last question. Um, just for this, the, the, the part about like naming a podcast, what do you just call it like the cradle podcast or would you come up with a, a catchier name if you is different than your, your website name?

Speaker 1 (46:23):

Yeah. So with the name of the podcast, um, I mean you could, you could name it the cradle podcast, but what I would do is I would think about SEO. So I would think about podcasts or a search engine too. So what are people going in there and searching for and then thinking about for both the name of the podcast and then also for the description, having it be very SEO friendly. So what would your ideal listener be searching for?

Speaker 2 (46:50):

Oh man. Um, I mean, I think the people who are like me who are just so excited about this kind of thing would be searching something about Africa because I’ve searched and I didn’t find anything good. Mm-hmm <affirmative> when it comes to actual sales professionals, um, or, or businesses I’d probably have to do a little bit more research and see what they would search for and how I can kind of combine it a little bit.

Speaker 1 (47:12):

Yeah, I would, yeah, I would, I would really lean in on search terms. Something about what are they looking for specifically, but it could always be still like on the thumbnail of the podcast, like brought to you by cradle.

Speaker 2 (47:24):

Okay.

Speaker 1 (47:24):

Right. Cause the challenge is like, if, if I don’t know what cradle is and I go see the cradle podcast in my list, like I’m probably not gonna suck. I don’t know what it is.

Speaker 2 (47:31):

You’re probably not like cradle, oh the cradle humanity. This must be about Africa. <laugh>

Speaker 1 (47:35):

Right. Right. And I mean, I love the name. It’s like, once you get to know, you’re like, oh, this is amazing, but you just don’t don’t know mm-hmm <affirmative> yeah. So I probably have like brought to you by cradle somewhere on the thumbnail, but then let’s, let’s think of some other SEO friendly words for the title.

Speaker 2 (47:52):

Okay. That makes sense. Awesome. Okay. I’m excited. I’m so excited. Um, okay. So I just have one more question for you. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and I am in such a bubble because I’ve spent the past decade in African countries and everybody I work with is either an African entrepreneur or a buyer who’s already working with an African business. Yeah. So I know all about the countries and the differences and the benefits and everybody in my world is sourcing from Africa. OK. So I, I forgot, you know, I just moved back to the us in February. So I forgot that the, the average American isn’t like that <laugh> a decade, um, abroad in an African country. So, I mean, I guess just from your perspective, I would love to hear how would you pitch, you know, African talent to, to your audience or after getting to, to know me and hear about this, what kind of stands out to you as like the most exciting and the most inspiring part?

Speaker 1 (48:48):

Oh my gosh. Yeah. I mean, there’s so much, I think some keywords from what you’ve shared are like when it’s a huge opportunity. Uh, and I think that’s something that a lot of American business owners and business, like they don’t know unless they’re plugged into the community. So, um, it’s almost like, like, did you know, there’s this huge opportunity where not only can you save money on what you’re already doing, what you’re already outsourcing within the company, but you can actually do incredible good in the world. Um, to me, it’s, it’s kind of like that. And then making it kind of, it’s like every savvy business owner, like, is doing this right now and gets this AOSIS and don’t you wanna be, you know, I mean, kinda like an early adopter of this mm-hmm <affirmative>, um, within the state. So to me, it’s kind of those themes of like huge opportunity. You can save money, you can do good

Speaker 2 (49:39):

Mm-hmm <affirmative> right.

Speaker 1 (49:41):

Yeah.

Speaker 2 (49:42):

Yeah. That’s everything.

Speaker 1 (49:44):

That’s yeah, it’s, it’s pretty comprehensive. But I think, you know, we kind of, we talked through your messaging earlier around the pain points and if you can get really specific for the companies who are already doing it about how they can do it even better, I think that’s gonna be powerful too, but I mean, you’ve got something incredible, like I’m so excited about it. Um, yeah. And I’m, I’m, I’m quite certain that so many people are listening are gonna be really, really excited as well. So, yeah. Awesome.

Speaker 2 (50:12):

Perfect. Well, you’ve answered all my questions. I I’m ready to go. I’m like ready to get going on all of these ideas. So thank you so

Speaker 1 (50:19):

Much. Oh, I’m so excited. Absolutely. Valerie. So tell everyone, tell everyone where they can connect to find out more about cradle. I know you also offer free consult, so I’d love if you could share where they can go to sign up for that.

Speaker 2 (50:31):

Exactly. So you can go to cradle.com. That’s C R D cradle, and you can also find us on social. So we’re at cradle Africa on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and then we do also always do free consultation. So if you just send an email to info, cradle.com saying, Hey, I’m a business owner. I’d like to explore no pressure, but I’m, I’m happy to hop on a call and be like, this is what’s available. This is the pricing. Here are some ideas for you and just walk you through what, what could be your opportunity?

Speaker 1 (51:05):

So exciting. It’s so exciting. Oh my gosh. Well, thank you so much for coming on. This was fun. This was like, I felt like a lightning. I felt like I was talking so fast, but I <laugh>. We got everything you needed. <laugh>

Speaker 2 (51:18):

No, it’s awesome.

Speaker 1 (51:20):

I’m just so inspired by what you’re building. It’s truly like when you first reach out to me and I found out that I thought, gosh, this is incredible that this doesn’t exist yet. And how needed. Yeah. Um, so thank you for bringing this into the world. It’s it’s just brilliant.

Speaker 2 (51:32):

No, I’m excited. I mean, right now I’m working with a hundred different businesses in 20 different African countries. Wow. And the businesses I work with, the, the entrepreneurs are amazing. Um, so they inspire me and they’re like the heroes of the story. And so just the fact that I get to partner with them and see their business, you know, flourish makes me, makes me really excited. So the joy,

Speaker 1 (51:54):

Gosh, it’s so exciting. Yeah. Well, thank you again, Valerie. And to you, my listener go connect with cradle. Um, so we’ll have everything linked in the show notes and again, it’s C R D L E. Um, so cradle.com. You can connect with Valerie through there too. And, um, gosh, I’m just so excited about this, this opportunity. So thank you as always for being a listener on, she sells radio and I’ll see you on our next episode. Bye for now.