From TikTok to LinkedIn: Helen Polise on the Power of Consistency and Authenticity

GGGR with Helen Polise – Final

SUMMARY KEYWORDS
TikTok fame, social media expert, content creation, viral videos, lymphoma diagnosis, video editing,
consistency, brand deals, LinkedIn strategy, Hello Socialize, virtual studio, live workshops, video tab,
algorithm learning, call to action
SPEAKERS
Karen Yankovich
00:00
Karen,
Karen Yankovich 00:10
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Good girls get rich podcast. I’m your
host, Karen Yankovich, and I am so excited for our guest today. I have a fan growing a little bit
because I’ve been following her for a little while, and we have a lot in common, but we
deliberately chose not to talk about any of that before we jumped in. So we’re going to get to
know each other live on on this podcast while I’m really interested for you to hear her story,
because what I know of it is really interesting, and I’m really looking forward to jumping in, so
I’m going to bring on Helen policy, and here we go, Hi, Helen.
00:45
And gosh, that is so nice, and I am so excited to meet you.
Karen Yankovich 00:49
Yeah, this is fun, so I’m gonna, I’m gonna read your bio real quick so people know a little bit
about who you are. Helen is a TV commercial director and social media expert. She’s got 35
years of experience elevating numerous global brands, and after a quick rise to Tiktok fame as
the mothership, she’s currently has over 1.1 million followers who learn to create content from
her step by step tutorials and love her upbeat lifestyle content. She hosts a bi weekly social
media power podcast where she shares trends and strategies and more in tandem with a bi
weekly newsletter. Right? She’s got a production work it’s skyrocketed thanks to the social
media expertise. Busier than ever shooting for big brands, but she still finds time to host live
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editing workshops, sharing resources for content creators of all ages to improve their skills. And
all of that can be found at Hello, socialize.com, which will put all that in the show notes. But
Helen, welcome to Good girls. Get Rich. I am excited to have you here.
01:45
How fun is this? Yeah, I’m trying to think about where
Karen Yankovich 01:48
I first came across you, but I remember when I first so, so I live in New Jersey. I was originally
living in Ocean County when I first met you, when I first introduced you, and I’m like, okay,
she’s an LBI. That’s really interesting. And then I’m in Bergen County now, but I also have a
beach house, so I’m like, we have a lot of, you know, a lot of parallels in our lives. I think our
families are similar in ages. As you know, you share a lot about your family on your social
media. My family’s not quite as up for that, right up for me, having the camera on them all the
time. But, you know, occasionally I manage that to happen, but I just I, I’ve been really
watching your work with just in awe of what you do and what I love the most about what you
do, and then I want you to tell talk more than me, what I love the most about what you do is
you took what you are good at, and you just said, I’m gonna show more people how to do that
like you didn’t. You didn’t, like, turn 40 or 50 and say, Okay, now I have to learn something
new. You’re like, I am good at this. Here’s another way that I can leverage that. And to me,
that’s at the heart of this show, good girls get rich. To me, means when you do what you’re
good at, and when you stay in that place, that of where you what you love to be doing, that’s
where the abundance comes into your life. So I feel like you epitomize that
03:01
this is crazy. You I should just leave now, because you said it all, because it’s so crazy. It has
been a crazy ride, and I will. I want to circle back to the Jersey thing, because I am a Jersey girl,
born and bred. I was born and raised in Bergen County, raised my kids in Morris County. Do
have a house in LBI, but when our kids grew up and left, we moved into the city. So I am now,
and I feel like this is when my real life started in some weird way, because the energy of the
city has been working here my whole life. But now to live here is just, I don’t know, it just
embodies who I am now. So that’s the first thing I’ll just say about art. Well, I
Karen Yankovich 03:33
grew up in Bergen County also, so spent so you feel like, when you grew up in Bergen County,
you feel like you kind of are a New Yorker, even though we are totally not New Yorkers, right?
But, but we feel like we are, because we’ve just so easy to go there, like my child. My earliest
memories are taking the bus with my grandmother to go to Macy’s, you know, and go shopping
for school clothes and stuff in the city. You know, I was in the city all the time.
03:55
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03:55
We’re city we’re city people, we’re city folk from Bergen County. I love it, but so that we do
have in common. And then, yes, I just decided to, and I will, I always advise people now on
finding what your expertise is and talking about that, because that’s the easiest way to be
authentic. If you’re trying to, like, retrofit something or sell something, or figure out it’s very
difficult to be real, but if you are sharing what you know really well, it is so easy to be real. And
that is what I think the sweet spot of social media is, and when people find that, that’s when it
all clicks. So I’ve done it, yeah,
Karen Yankovich 04:29
I agree. I agree. And, you know, I’m more relationship LinkedIn focused, you know, creating.
But it all comes back down to that authenticity, right? It comes down to relationships. I’m not
the person you come to. If you want to build a funnel and you need to figure out how to create
18 sales pages with all this messaging on the person you come to, where you’re like, Okay, I
can do this. I can do it. Well, let’s put a custom design package together, and let’s get you, let’s
get you, you know, let’s skyrocket what you’re doing, right? And that’s what I teach my clients
how to do. Too, right? Like, exactly do what you’re good at, and people will pay you for that. We
want, yes, we want, you know, to learn like I you all need to be following Helen on Tiktok, the
mothership on Tiktok, because I have learned more about video editing from you. By the way, my partner is a video editor, like I have learned way more from you than I ever have or ever
would learn from him, you know, because he’s not really interested in teaching it number one
or you know, but you have such a knack of helping people really understand how to make it
look good. And it’s just something that I’m I’m lucky I throw a filter on things. I mean, I you
know, you know
05:42
what it is. I think that when I first I realized I had the skills from being in Edit rooms all my life
for production, that’s just my my history. So when I got on social media, I had to figure out how
how the app worked, and I had to go, Oh, I know how to edit. I know in my head how things
would go together. Where are the buttons to push on this thing to make this happen? Because I
was not, I wasn’t an editor. I didn’t sit at the machines. I sat as a producer behind the editors,
watching them, so I knew conceptually what I’d want, and then I would tell them, and they
would move things around, and I could vaguely see how they were doing it. And over the years,
I learned, you know, basics on some of the editing programs so I could do things myself. But
when I had to make that leap into social media, I had to learn. So I started with zero followers. I
started with no knowledge of how to do a Tiktok. And I figured out, oh, I see this does that. Oh,
that’s like that button, that button. But once I figured it out, I knew I had the skills that I could
show someone. Because when you have to learn it, you can teach it when you know it
intrinsically, like the kids that come up and they can they’ve lived with phones they don’t even
know to tell you press the plus to start a video, because they think, you know. They know that,
right? You know. And so I don’t skip the steps because I had to learn the steps. And I do think
that gives us an advantage being older, because we had to live through no technology than
learn technology, and so we’re much better at explaining it. So I think that that’s where my
sweet spot came in, when I decided one day, because I started on social media making baking
videos, I was bored in my in my house, like everyone else during the pandemic. So I’m like, Oh,
I’ll teach how to make my my Crumb Cake recipe. And that video did go viral, like teaching my
recipes did go viral because I have a good knack for editing and so I can make engaging
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content. But one of my followers asked me how I did a certain effect, and I said, jokingly, I’ll
make you a tutorial. And that was that joke. Was no joke, because after I made one tutorial and
I showed it with a stylus and showed it on my phone how to do it, I had millions of followers
after, like, that’s when it all came so it was my expertise of being able to show someone how to
do the thing that came naturally to me, and that’s awesome. It’s so much fun. And
Karen Yankovich 07:45
it I could you can see you having fun. You can see you having fun, and you have grown this. I
mean, listen, you aren’t shy about sharing your life and your family and and the ups and the
downs in your life. I you know, when would you say your tick tock rise started? Was it like two
three years ago? Maybe. So
08:00
I started in 2020 in March. 2020 I had my first viral video that July. So that was when at first,
but that was like a random viral video of me doing something silly with my son on the beach.
So I didn’t really find a niche until that fall. So it was like six months in when I said, Oh, I’ll do
some baking videos. And then I found that little sweet spot, and I was making baking content.
But really it was after that. So it was almost a full year later that when I said, I’ll make a
tutorial, and the next thing, you know, I exploded as the Tiktok teacher. So it was really 2021,
and I was like rising, and things were happening, and things were so exciting. And then the
thing happened, you know, the thing, right?
Karen Yankovich 08:36
The thing. Well, tell us about the thing, because the thing, the thing, you know your
08:40
point for what? Yeah, the thing was, my I started to lose my eyesight, and I literally thought I
was going to, going to going blind, and I was seeing eye doctors, they couldn’t figure out what
was happening. And over a three week period, as I was going blind, I was still on my phone,
documenting it, not posting, because I thought it was too weird. People are going to be
wondering, like, that’s scary. And I was afraid, afraid of what kind of can of worms I would open
up. But every day, picked up my phone and documented, well, what the eye doctor? Oh, now
I’m in the emergency room, which they can’t figure it out. And so for three weeks, my site
progressively left, until I was absolutely blind and could not see. And then I had stomach
problems, and that’s how I was diagnosed with lymphoma, because they did scans of my
stomach, so the lymphoma had manifested behind my eyes, and that’s what was causing my
blindness. But they weren’t looking for things in my stomach when they were looking at my
eyes, so nobody could figure out. So it was a very rare case. And my doctor even said, of 35
years of him doing doing cancer, you know, lymphoma research, he never had seen anyone go
blind from it. So I was an enigma. You know, I was special, special. But at that point, once I got
the diagnosis, I decided I was going to take all my videos, and my daughter and I sat I couldn’t
see yet. I had to go through radiation to get my eyesight back. But before the radiation
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happened, we sat down, we knew the diagnosis, and I went into a quick. Mode to settle
everything down. And at that point, we edited a video and released it. So I went viral with the
story of my blindness, and then a whole slew of other followers came on board, and their
comments were, you know, I followed you to learn about Tiktok, and now we’re going to learn
about
Karen Yankovich 10:15
life, right, right. But, and mind you, this is, you know, you listen. I am sure you had your dark
days. But from, yeah, from, and you shared a lot of that, what I remember is like you pulling
nurses when you’re in chemo into your tick tock videos to dance with you while you were, you
know, doing things right, like you involve everybody in this and, and it’s, it was
10:38
so good, I’m going to tell you that my thing, first of all, two, two things it did for me is one, it
gave me purpose, and it gave me focus. So it gave me something else to do. Because I was
like, not just going to go from, go from to being a victim of cancer. I was like, Well, I guess I’m
still going to remain a content creator, and now I’m going to be talking about some different
things in some of my videos, until I can get back to tutorials. So I and then, but also it made me
be it launched me into being an educator about that, that when you have a diagnosis like that,
it doesn’t have to stop your life. You can carry on with your life. I still went to shoot. So I did
work, I put my wigs on, and I went and some of my clients didn’t even know they I had a wig
that looked just like this for a while there, you know. So I just wanted to show that you don’t
have to stop your life. You can keep going and go through this too at the same time. It’s not like
one or the other doesn’t have to be true. You could have both. And I was willing to do that
because I had such a great response to it. And I’m so
Karen Yankovich 11:30
glad you I’m so glad you did. I’m not so I’m sorry that you had to go through that, but I’m so
glad that you did, because I honestly think that’s one of the beauties about being an
entrepreneur, is that we can choose Yes, how we’re going to show up. Yes, and that’s not
always the case if we have a job, right? We have We it’s never, almost never, the case if we
have a job where we’re told how we’re going to show up, but, but as an entrepreneur, we get to
choose. And you know, we haven’t talked about this, and I don’t actually know a lot about this
in in your world, but did you when did you start monetizing this, and did you monetize it
through that period? Oh,
12:03
I’m gonna tell you, this is so funny. So I always say people will always say, Well, why don’t you
do you do brand deals? Actually, no, I haven’t really had the desire to do brand deals, mainly
because what I always tell people is, when you put your expertise out, the work will find you. So
what happened to me, that, to me, is monetizing it. I don’t think it is monetizing, and that’s so
that’s what I’m saying. Even though I’m not monetizing, like, tick tock, I’m getting view money,
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but it’s like, not that’s not gonna, you know, make a living for someone the view money, you
have to be with 15 million followers to be having money from views. I think to be able to really
monetize that. But I think most of the big creators are monetizing through brand deals, and
mine came through. My expertise came through. So I was being my day job suddenly lit up,
whereas before I thought, you know, when you’re I’m 63 I’m happy to say my age. I don’t mind,
but
Karen Yankovich 12:52
oh my, yeah, right, so you must have been so we grew up in Bergen County at the exact same
time we met each other. That’s so crazy. Where did what town did you grow up in? Esper
heights. Okay, I grew up in Bergenfield. Oh, wow. All right, so we were probably at a football
game. Okay,
13:06
we’re going to talk about somebody in Bergenfield that I know very well. I can’t wait, but I won’t
put it on here, but,
Karen Yankovich 13:11
oh, my god, yeah,
13:12
I’m so excited. Um, yes, but I literally my day job lit up. I started getting invited for speaking
engagements, for workshops, which I’ve never even spoken in public before. And this was the
most natural thing for me. I got up on stage like no problem, and I could go through and teach
and do workshops. So I started getting calls for that. And then I started getting instead of, when
I say, my work lit up. I’m now hired to do social media shoots. I have retainer clients that I film
content for every month. So I got so much work from Tiktok, but it’s not from the physical
tiktok.com sending me a check, but it’s that’s how I monetize. And so people think you there’s
only one path to monetization is when I get a lot of followers, I’ll get a lot of views, I’ll make a
lot of money. No, it’s that’s more rare. That’s like a point, 011, make me point 0001, or
something, right, right? Small amount of people doing it that way, but if you find a way to share
your expertise, the money comes to you a different way. And that’s what I’ve done, and I’m
really, really proud of it, because
Karen Yankovich 14:13
it’s lit up. You know what? Helen, I love that. You know my my position is, I have this really
crazy like left brain, right brain thing going. I love a good spreadsheet, and I love when one plus
one equals two. But I tell my clients, if you just show up to the right people with the right
message consistently and build relationships. To me, it’s not just about showing up and like
going to sit on the beach and waiting for the business to follow, right? Like building actual
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relationships, and from a LinkedIn standpoint, right? Like, who are the people I should be
having conversation? Conversations with the business will follow. And as much as I don’t have
an, you know, a one plus one equals two for that, it is. It happens every time, if you had to say
a couple things that you did that you think led to that, is there anything like, I think. Yeah, well,
I’m not going to put ideas in your head. Is there anything that you think made that more more
likely in your case? Is there any times that maybe it’s swayed and you’re like, oh, wait, what do
I need to do to get it back? Like, a little bit about that. I’ll
15:12
tell you what there, and I’ll be perfectly transparent here, because I do think there’s not even
an end to things. Like, I can’t say, oh, now I’m there. I’ve arrived. No, yeah, every single time I
do a production. When I was just on a shoot last a couple weeks ago, and I was like, I wish that I
could do more of these type of things. How can I do that? And then just with thinking that I met,
I spoke to somebody on the shoot who said, Hey, do you happen to do this for other
companies? I was like, as a matter of fact, yes, I do word of mouth, you know, and so it’s always
evolving. So I’m going to say that for starters, but I will say that there were points at which I
also had more of a closed minded view, and I thought, I have to get a brand deal. That’s how
I’m going to make it, you know, I have to, I want an ideal brand to recognize me, and I’m going
to tag brands, and they’re going to come after me. You know, that is, unfortunately, not the
reality, and it’s and partly I was blaming, oh, ageism. Like, if I had this following and I was 25 I’d
have Arisia knocking on my door, or Athleta, one of those big clothing brands, because I do
great clothing transitions. And I have, I had to get over that hump myself, and I still struggle
with that hump. I’m going to be honest with you, like, sometimes, like, god damn it, you know,
how come I can’t get a good sponsorship like that, and it’s just like that is not my path. I have
to let that go and say, when that time is right, that will come to me and right now, that’s not
what I’m I’m here for, and I truly believe in really following the path. And it’s hard because you
kind of, we always want to will things to go in a certain way, rather than let things come to us in
the way that they should. It’s such a difficult thing. It really is. I’m guilty of it, and I think we all
struggle towards from trying to do that for ourselves. Yeah, I
Karen Yankovich 16:50
agree. I agree. And I and, and, you know, it’s I feel like too there’s one thing about being I think
being visible is important if you’re gonna I think for pretty much everyone, and I know that’s
such a crazy statement to say, but if you are looking to, you know, create more influence and
and income and impact, you need to be more visible, but you also need to be visible in a world
that is so noisy. So how do you stand out? Right? How do you stand out? It’s not just it’s not just
about visible. And to me, that’s where it really comes down to leaning into your expertise, and
you absolutely show up like an expert. Up when you show up like an expert. Well, that’s the
word I was. That’s the word I almost was that I almost put in your head. Because I feel like the
consistency piece is so important. It
17:33
is more important than any other piece. It is absolutely more important than if I had to pick one
thing, it would be consistency, because you can have waves like right now, the views kind of
suck. And somebody just asked me recently, what do you Oh, what do you do when the views?
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suck. And somebody just asked me recently, what do you Oh, what do you do when the views?
I said, the views are not what drive me. Every day I show up. Views are no views. And I just love
to show up, and I also like to make it fun for myself. So here’s the thing that a lot of people do.
They lean so hard into their niche, and all of their videos are about that, that that, that that,
and that becomes like a job. And I try to think, What can I do today that’s fun? I literally posted
a video last night where I just was walking in the street, and the weather was so crispy and
beautiful, and I was like, hello. That’s all just Hello. And I posted that as a video because it was
a fun moment, and I wanted to share it with people, and that’s how I show up. So whether it’s
with my kids or something I’m experiencing, or I’m at work and I’m getting people at my in the
production, at the shoot, to dance along with me, which is always so much fun, because they’re
like, Who is this crazy lady?
Karen Yankovich 18:33
You should cause people on the street, I do.
18:38
I asked a woman to film me the other day, and then we chatted for a minute after and I said,
you want to be in one with me? And she said, Sure. And the next thing, you know, the one that I
filmed, I, like, threw to the ground, and then I ended up just posting the one that I did with her.
So, yeah, awesome. I
Karen Yankovich 18:52
just So, okay, so I’m getting a little, I’m feeling a little overwhelmed from this. How do you do
you? Do you batch? Do you just have a simple like, what’s the process of being consistent in a
way that feels fun and not like work? It’s so funny because
19:06
I can speak from two sides of this, because I have to be consistent for a client and for myself
and right because right now I have a client I’m working with monthly that is I’m cranking out
content that I’m not in it. So this is me as a more like user generate, generated content, but it’s
brand generated. So how do I do it? There’s different strategies for different folks, and you have
to figure out what drives you. So if I tell you, you should do it this way, it’s probably not right for
you. You should think about the different ways that could work for you. So for example, for
myself, I don’t necessarily plan my content. I’m being honest. I think week to week, and what
am I doing today, and what am I and sometimes I film things during the day, and I don’t even
know if I’m ever going to post anything. So I do my own content more in a documenting style,
and they reactive style. So someone asked me a question and a comment, that’d be a great
video. So I put it in my notes, and I make a tutorial. So I do that more. I. From the hip now,
sidebar, from a client standpoint, I plan better. I’m like, All right, let me think I need to execute
X many videos per month, and how am I going to make sure that that happens? So I break it
down, and I think as long as I’m doing X many per week, then I’m getting staying on track. So
I’ll, I literally will schedule in the day. Today’s the day that I’m going to shoot for the client, and
I plan a few pieces of content. And what I do to do that, this is not like that minute I start
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looking for things as I’m scrolling when I spend an hour at night, you know, before I go to bed,
or in the morning, whenever I do my scroll and I see something like, oh, I should make a video
using that, I make a folder. Immediately, make a folder. So I have make a folder. Where for I
can I actually do it in Tiktok. So I make mine I find in Tiktok. But if I was looking Tiktok and
Instagram, I would just do it in notes. I do, copy, paste, copy, paste the link into my notes.
Copy, paste it into a document, depending on how you want to work, a spreadsheet, whatever
you copy, paste the things that you know you think would work for the client that would try,
that you could try a trend or inspiration for an idea or something. And it’s not all trends. A lot of
times it’s just, oh, that audio would be so good. So I copy and paste the audio, and then I think
of the idea later, copy and paste. Sometimes it’s like a photo, a cap cut template. Oh, that
would be such a good one. So I, as I’m scrolling, I have a loose thought in my mind for my own
content, and for a client content. So if you’re a brand, you’re managing for a brand, have that
brand in the back of your mind when you’re doing your fun scroll, and then when you see
something, oh, let me just pop that into the folder. So then when you’re ready to create and
you say, Tuesday’s my day, you can go to your your resource, and you’re not starting from
scratch. That is key. Okay, never even done a podcast about that yet, but I’m going to now
that’s going to be a topic for me. Yeah,
Karen Yankovich 21:44
I think that’s a good topic because, I mean, I, because I even when you’re saying it, I’m like, All
right, I don’t, because my brain doesn’t think that way, right? I’m not scrolling thinking, wow,
that’s a great trend. I want to use that, and I don’t, and I don’t necessarily know how to turn
that switch on, but So may I get it which that
22:00
you can activate, though, yeah, now that you’re aware there is a switch. And so you go, Alright,
so I’m going to scroll for 30 minutes just for Dumb, dumb time, like, for my own fun time, like I
like, but then I’m like, Oh, now let me turn on the switch and do the my 15 minutes of research
time. And as you scroll, purposely, think about that client or that or yourself, like what you want
to do, that you want, you have to think in terms of someone’s creating content for you, like
you’re creating you’re your own client, right? I do it. So when I’m doing it for the client,
sometimes like, Oh, I’ll do that one too. When I put up my own folder, you know what? I mean? I
Karen Yankovich 22:35
get it because, you know, LinkedIn is prioritizing video. Now they have a new tab. Well, they
have a new tab. I have the
22:41
greatest story for you on LinkedIn, about LinkedIn. Karen, oh, well, I want to hear it, but
Karen Yankovich 22:45
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Karen Yankovich 22:45
I they have a new tab. Let me see if I can see it. They just came out with a new tab recently. So
if I show you, I don’t know if you guys can see this, but if I show you this down here, right here,
is a video tab. Oh, okay, so, so now if you click on that video tab, it’s just going to show you all
kinds of like, oh, all kinds of videos. So it’s where I’m concerned is, I always want to be there,
right? Like, I always want to be in that scroll, because there’s not a lot of people putting video
like that on LinkedIn, right? So you so I would imagine some of the content on tick tock will
work on LinkedIn. I think more than people think. First of all, more than people think. I
remember, I had a client one time who’s doing these beautiful, amazing videos for YouTube,
and I’m like, why are you not putting them on LinkedIn? She’s like, Oh, this isn’t really for
LinkedIn. I was like, Are you kidding me, they’re great for LinkedIn. So I think that, you know,
while I don’t think I’d be putting a video every day, I think if you put like, one or two videos a
week, you’re going to be in that tab. And again, like I said earlier, we want to, we want to stand
out from the noise, right? So this is one way you can stand out from the noise. You can start
using video.
23:50
Is that if any video you post as a post, does that show up in there, you have to do it on that tab.
Karen Yankovich 23:55
No, it’s, it’s videos. I’m not I don’t know if I know that for you don’t have to put it on the tab.
100% I don’t know if every video you put on there it will, but I believe it does. I believe it just
pulls videos from our follow videos. Okay, in that tab. Now, not everybody might have that link
yet, but I haven’t recording this. It’s in October. I would say August, September is when that
started. So I
24:17
have it. I never even noticed it. But here’s what I’m going to tell you. That’s two things now,
because my my dear friend who I launched her into creating, and she will tell you that I was her
inspiration for starting to post video content. And she started on Tiktok, and she was like, kind
of intimidated, kind of shy, did a video, sent it to me, I edited it, and she was like, That editing
was game changing of how I’m going to proceed. And now she has almost 30,000 followers on
Tiktok and she is lit up on LinkedIn because she first was posting separate videos, but then she
started posting her tiktoks to LinkedIn. So that’s one thing that’s really doing well for her, but
I’m going to tell you this funny thing. So in January of 2024 I said I’m going to start posting on.
LinkedIn. I don’t really, I’ve never been very active. I just scroll LinkedIn, but I’m not big, you
know, I was busy on Tiktok, busy on Instagram. I don’t have time for LinkedIn. Okay, so I made
it my point, my business, that for two days a week I was going to post video content on
LinkedIn, very few followers. I don’t really, you know, I don’t go crazy there. I just did some
expertise. I thought about it, though, and I said, Let me post more strategic stuff on LinkedIn.
So not just every silly Tiktok but more like, Let me think about something that was more I don’t
know, mindful about what a business person might be looking for, which is also in my tiktoks.
So it’s not like I have fun tiktoks And I have, like, more strategy tiktoks. So I started posting
some of that content, and I got some views on some of them, and it was kind of fun. And I
thought, Oh, this is cool. I’ll just keep doing it. I had a client say to me, which I never had this
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happen on a zoom call before, but the boss of the head of the agency came, the ad agency
came onto the call just to say hi. I just wanted to say hi and meet you in person. Thank you for
the work that you’re doing for us. I just feel that I had to meet you, even though I feel like I
know you already. And I thought she was going to say from tick tock, and she said from
LinkedIn. And I, I was like, I still get goosebumps when I say that story, because I don’t have a
following on LinkedIn that would that wouldn’t even make sense to me. I figured she was going
to say tick tock, yeah. So the point is, no matter how many people are watching, it matters
who’s watching. Yes,
Karen Yankovich 26:19
yes, yes, yes, high fiving you across the river. Yes. 100% 100% it’s, it is. I don’t ever care about
the numbers. I mean, I shouldn’t say never, but I rarely care about the numbers. I care about,
how do we get the right, how do we go deeper, right, the right kinds of people. But again, it is
too about standing out. And you know, I definitely am coming to this interview with some video
shame, like, I don’t do enough editing. In my mind, I am not like, sometimes I’m like, my 30
year old clients are like, Oh, what do you don’t need to do that? I’m like, oh, no, you’re telling
me, when you’re 60, if you need to how much editing you need to do. It is a little different, you
know? It’s different. Is a little different. And I and I just, sometimes I’m just like, oh, effort. I’m
just putting it out there. I don’t care what I you know, and I do a lot of that, but I also do
recognize the value, the brand value of because I want people to be authentic. I don’t want you
to get hung up in the but I didn’t edit it, so I didn’t do it right? But at the same time, if I can find
a way that I could do a little bit of editing or or batch the editing, or do something where my
videos are showing up a little bit more professional. I’m down for that. Yeah, I’m down for that.
And
27:24
it’s not that hard. It’s just it literally is. People think, oh, it’s hours to edit a video. It’s like 10
minutes to edit a video. I’m telling you, I record something, I blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah, and then I take 10 minutes and I just cut I go, Oh, I didn’t need that line. Might I even say
that? Cut it out. Cut it out. Cut it out. And then I have a video, and it’s not time consuming. I
actually have a workshop where I taught people how to take a speaking, a litany of speaking,
and turn it into a nice, concise, 32nd video. And that’s what I did for my friend grace, who was
literally blowing up on Tiktok and killing it on Instagram, on LinkedIn. Awesome content that’s
awesome. And it’s like she even found her little signature. Like a lot of people do a certain
thing, and that becomes their signature, or whatever, and I found hers, and I’m like, it’s so
subtle, but every I see it on every one of her videos, she doesn’t even know she does it. I can’t
wait to tell her, but it’s just this, just when she she always edits, just as she’s reaching for the
stop button, because she’s she does it in clips, and so she’ll and she doesn’t give the whole
stop, because I would tell her, cut the whole edit out, right? The only she just doesn’t make it
that tight where. So I see the reach, but it’s like a little bit of a reach. And I’m like, that’s now
become her move to me, and I like that, and I think she should not edit that out. So I
Karen Yankovich 28:35
get that everybody’s style
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28:36
is is so special, and we all have a style, even though a lot of people haven’t found it yet.
Karen Yankovich 28:42
Well, tell us about Hello, socialize. So where did that come into play? Okay,
28:46
so, oh, this is a very crazy story that you’re not going to believe. But I was seed funded from a
company that found me on Tiktok, and they invested in me. They brought me into it’s amazing.
They brought me in for an eight week entrepreneur in residence program, and they worked
with me to develop what could be a business out of what I’m doing, and then they loved it so
much that their parent company funded it. So now I was able to bring my daughter on and
create this business and turn it into something that’s bigger than just what I could do myself.
And as of now, and as we’re recording this mid November, I am launching the studio, the
socialized studio, within the socialized website. So it’s going to be a place where people can
come and learn. And it’s going to be me showing up weekly for live meet and greets, ask me
anythings. I’m going to do live sessions every week, and then we are going to have a bank of
content, constant idea ideation coming through every day. There will be updates about so you’ll
have your motivation, your tips, your challenges, what we’re focusing on this week, so that
every and it’s going to be for all levels. So we’re going to be addressing, like, if you’re a real
beginner, this is the track you’re on. If you’re more of an advanced learner, this is where you
need to lean. And I’m so. Ready for it. I was not ready for creating something until now. I had to
really wait till the time was right. And it all came clear to me when I realized what I need to
create is a studio, because I have so much of the skills that can make someone’s content
creation better. And when I find out, when I find all the people I’ve done it for, I’m like, Yes, I
need to. I need to create something where more people can access it. So that’s what I’m
launching in November. That’s
Karen Yankovich 30:24
amazing. And so, so I would imagine then that’s what you’re if we’re looking at what’s ahead for
for Helen, this is what you’re really going to be spending some time on in the next six to 12
months. Is, hello, socialize. That’s worse.
30:36
Yeah, I love it, because I love doing the podcast, and it power podcast. So it’s like nuggets. It’s
me, like giving you the info every week, like this, our thing, but condensed to a topic, and then I
do that in a newsletter form, and then I decided to take it to podcast form for people who’d
rather listen. And then the podcast evolved into me giving more bonus info on the podcast
because I have more time to really dig into a topic. So I love doing those two things. And that’s
when I realized, let me do some live workshops, and I was doing the webinar ones where you’re
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you’re on and then people are in the chat. But a lot of people want to meet. They email me,
why can’t you be my neighbor and help me come over and come over to my house and help
me make videos? Or
Karen Yankovich 31:14
why, when you say you’re gonna have a studio, is it a physical studio? So
31:17
this is turning into a physical studio, but I’m going to make it a virtual studio. So the socialized
studio is going to be virtual, and then this just, it seems like weird sync that I’m doing at the
same time, but I’m changing this into right now. It’s just a guest bedroom, and I’m like Murphy
bed. Now it’s my studio. So now that’s what’s happening. So I’m I’m doing it physically, just to
support the virtual part of it for my own head, but it’s going to be virtual for anybody to be in
and learn and then have access, because people want, they want access, and access to me, is
what I was trying to figure out. How do I offer that without doing like private one on ones, which
I realistically that’s not going to be feasible for me, because then I have a shoot and I’m gone
for a week in Croatia, how am I going to do private one on ones. So, right, right? And, you
know, and so
Karen Yankovich 32:04
many people don’t realize how accessible this studio stuff is to them, how affordable. I mean,
yeah, you can spend a lot of money on lights, but you can also spend 20 bucks on a on a light.
It’s going to do well,
32:16
my light is this big, I don’t know, you
Karen Yankovich 32:20
know. So there’s so many, yeah, there’s so many, you know, and microphones, and, I mean, I
just have so much crap, but, but I don’t, I don’t know how to use half of it, but it’s, it’s, it is a
little bit of a game changer. It is a little bit of a game changer when just those couple little
pieces of equipment, or, or even just, I remember, during the pandemic, I was, I just decided,
like, what’s going to keep what’s going to make me get up and get showered and dressed
every day when you can’t leave the house, right? So I said I’m going to go live on LinkedIn
every day, every day, at eight o’clock or nine o’clock or whatever. And I did for like, months and
but in the but I was also was when I was living in Toms River, my house was completely under
construction, so I bought a green screen because I’m like, Okay, I have to hide stuff. Wow, you
bought a green, massive so I’m like, What am I gonna do with this giant thing, you know, like,
so it just got crazy. So when I So, as I was doing the construction, I’m like, I need to set my
office up that I can turn on my camera and talk. Because having to set everything up every
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single time I want to turn my camera on is making me not turn my camera on. Yes, you know,
like, so what’s behind me? Now, this is all, you know. I mean, it’s a mess, but it’s book, it’s real,
but it’s me, it’s me, and I happen to be like my office right now has a lot of light, so I don’t even
actually have a light on right now. What’s that? Where’s your window? Do you have a window
33:37
right in front? Windows over here? I have my window here, two
Karen Yankovich 33:41
giant windows here, and then I have lights above me. And so I don’t I have a ring light, but
honestly, then it shines on the pictures behind me, and it shines in my eyeglasses, and so, but
I’m actually moving, and I feel like I’m a little worried, because my office is dark, so I’m gonna
have to figure lights out, but, but I will, because when you figure it out once, yeah, then you
can just turn, turn your camera on and talk, you know, and not get hung up. And I can’t do
videos because, you know, yes,
34:07
it’s so funny what I’m getting, I I ordered a light for here, but it’s not like a production light, the
kind that it’s just like a lamp that’s actually a cool looking light. And that is what it’s going to be
my lighting, because it almost gives a vibe of production without being an actual umbrella light.
So I will be sharing content about that. And then, yeah, well,
Karen Yankovich 34:25
I, I guess, I guess, I don’t know when you started talking about Hello, socialized, but I remember
when I saw it wasn’t that long ago, and I was like, Oh, that’s interesting. He’s pivoting to
something interesting. Maybe that’s what that maybe that’s when I reached out about doing
this. Because I was like, I need to hear what she’s got, what she’s up. Yes, this is so cool. I I am
definitely going to share this with everyone. I might have to up my tick tocking.
34:46
You’re going to up your tick tock game. But whatever game it is that you love is what you
should
Karen Yankovich 34:50
focus well, here’s the deal. At the end of the day, it’s all repurposable, right? So if I’m doing
videos anywhere, you know, if I’m doing videos for my, for my, you know, for Instagram or for
the podcast. Cash or for LinkedIn or whatever. Why am I not using it? And I think what’s
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intimidates me a little bit about Tiktok are the trends and the guys, like, I don’t even know
where to go with that, but it doesn’t mean I can’t figure that out,
35:11
because, oh my god, the trends make life so easy. That’s why I think the trends are the fun
part. And that’s like, that’s the easy part. I almost want to say I struggle more with like, let me
make sure I’m, let’s see what, what would be a good tutorial for this week? Like, I have to be
put more thought into that. When I see a trend, I immediately know what to do. It’s so funny.
But I want to, I want to just say one thing about this whole idea of you saying I want to go and
do Tiktok is you can anything that you’re creating for LinkedIn. Just like, throw it on Tiktok. You
don’t have to have Okay, and what I started doing strategy wise, that I want to that I want to
tell you, because I think that’s how come you know about Hello, socialize, and it’s a little thing I
started doing that has really changed things. At the end of every single video that I do, except
a trend when it’s like not doesn’t make sense. I always put my website now, and I do that in, I
don’t do it in tick tock. I do it in cap cut so that tick tock doesn’t recognize that I’m putting a
website on my videos all the time. And now, so even if it’s a tutorial that’s like, doesn’t get a lot
of views or whatever, even when, when someone gets to the end of it, as soon as I get to the
right, before I sign off, I go. And if you if this was helpful, you should find all my stuff here. And
then another one I might say. And you know what else I Bucha go here. And so at the end of
every video, the odds are people don’t stay for the whole video. The odds are so you’re not
annoying people. And that’s what I had to get out of my head that oh, people are going to think
I’m so repetitive that every single time, and I really get more annoyed by the people that start
a video with one line and then they say, by the way, I’m so and so, and I do so and so and on
every video, because then and then they continue the video. I that annoys me because I’m like,
save it for the end. You know, let’s hear your information. So I decided that the thing that
annoys me about other people is not what I’m going to do, but I’m going to change it so that it
doesn’t annoy people. And so when people watch my whole tutorial, if they made it through
and they listen to the whole thing, they are my customer. They are my potential value. Okay?
So those people are the ones that are going to stick around enough to hear, Oh, this is my
website. This is where you can find my podcast, my newsletter, my free workshops, and
everything right now is free. The only thing in the studio is going to have a charge for it, but
that’s because I’m going to be very available to people. So that will be, that will be a monetized
thing, but it’s been very game changing for my analytics. I see people going to the website
more. I see random signups of to the for the newsletter now. I see people more Bibles on the
podcast now, because at the end of every video, depending on which one they saw, they’re
getting that call to action. And I’ve never been about that until now, so boom, I learned
something. All right. Well,
Karen Yankovich 37:40
that’s awesome. That’s awesome. I have one more question for you, and I’m almost afraid to
open this can of worms, because I don’t want to go too much longer. But do you have one
Tiktok account, or do you have a personal one and a business one? I have
37:50
one Tiktok account for myself that has 1.1 million. Then my daughter, since we started the
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one Tiktok account for myself that has 1.1 million. Then my daughter, since we started the
business together, we did a make a hello, socialized Tiktok, which is pretty decent. It has like
22,000 followers, believe it or not, and I barely pay attention to it. She posts, she posts mostly
podcast stuff on there, so that I have different content on that account. And then, believe it or
not, during the pandemic, I had made the kitchen Tiktok, so I made a special account for just
the food videos, and I never deleted it because I thought, Ah, let it live. Let it live. Let it be. Let
it float. I don’t make baking videos anymore, but once in a while, will those videos get views
and I laugh
Karen Yankovich 38:24
because, well, the reason I asked is that I was given advice one time that because I’m like, Well, wait a minute, I want to, I want to like but I want to watch recipe videos sometimes, and
sometimes I want to watch videos about toddlers, and sometimes I want to watch videos about
dogs and and they’re like, no, no. Then you need a separate tick tock account. You need to, you
need your business tick tock account. You need to be, you need to train the Tiktok algorithm.
Blah, blah, blah, who you are, business, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, Well, I’m not having two
Tiktok accounts, and I spend more time on Tiktok. I do like to follow a lot of my colleagues and
a lot of people that are in business, so I definitely do that. But I also love the fun of Tiktok,
38:58
right? And all the fun I would not, I would not recommend getting a second Tiktok. Okay, that’s
so good to hear. No, no, no. If anything, at any point in time, you can teach your algorithm to
go a different direction. So then, if that time comes, you’ll, you’ll stop. You won’t stop on so
many, you know, cute kid videos, and you I still watch all the fun stuff, but I my algorithm for
myself. People that see my stuff are the ones looking for it doesn’t really matter what you
watch as to what you’re offering. Okay, so
Karen Yankovich 39:25
that’s good to hear. That’s good to hear because, like I said, I was, I was given that advice, but
one not that long ago, by somebody that was is pretty big on Tiktok. And I was like, Oh, I mean,
it immediately shut me down. I was like, Well, I’m not doing I’m not gonna do that.
39:38
I don’t agree so, and I’m not gonna call a person out, but I wouldn’t No no,
Karen Yankovich 39:41
because doesn’t affect
39:43
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your your what you’re there for. Okay, perfect. Yeah, fun stuff. I’m always sending my
daughter, like, funny, cute puppy videos, baby videos, that’s what I watch. And then when I
have to find things for specific things, I’ll lean in and I’ll stay more on it, or I do a search, and
then it starts to. She algorithm, oh yeah, she’s looking for some she’s looking for some Trent,
some transition videos. So we’re going to send her some outfit changes. And so it just, it just
knows. It learns very fast. Awesome. Yay. All right, well,
Karen Yankovich 40:10
this was so good, good. So we’ll share everywhere, your pot, your podcast, your the information
on Hello, socialize, your Tiktok, your YouTube, and all the good stuff. Thank you, um, thank you
so much for I enjoyed this so fun. I definitely Jersey girls, you know, yeah, right. Jersey girls the
best conversations. We’ve had a few Jersey girls on the show, and they’re always the best
conversations because there’s nobody, there’s no filter, there’s no
40:36
photo. I know, I try to filter my F words, you know, let’s you never know where it’s going. I’m
like, All right. Well, thank Well,
Karen Yankovich 40:42
thank you so much. I’m going to keep watching you, and you know, we’re going to, we’re going
to keep an eye on what’s happening with video on LinkedIn. I think that for those of you that
are watching this show right now and or listening and you you’re interested in that you know
you definitely can be repurposing your your video content on LinkedIn. You should be sharing
some video content on LinkedIn. You want to be standing out and be in that video tab, why
not? It gives you a chance to do that. Yeah, I agree completely with what Helen saying about
having a call to action at the end. Right to go to your website, I use cap cut because of you.
Yes, because, yeah, I use it because I’m sure I learned that from you. And you can do it. You
can do it in those
41:21
you should also keep your you should have no watermarks on your videos if you put on
LinkedIn. Because I’m you know supposedly, and it’s also people are going to know it’s
repurposed that way, where it looks more it will look more like you intended it if you don’t have
the watermark. So make sure you edit and cap cut and save it before you post it, so that you
can post it to all the places, perfect, perfect logo, and delete it at the end so you don’t have it
ending cap cut. You know how to delete that, right?
Karen Yankovich 41:44
Yeah, yeah, yes, yes, I do. All right, and if I don’t, I’ll go find one of your videos. Okay, all right.
So if you are interested in learning more about Helen, all the information is going to be in the
show notes. If you want to learn more about getting some more LinkedIn tips or getting some
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show notes. If you want to learn more about getting some more LinkedIn tips or getting some
more help around building relationships, standing out as you move into 2025 I would love to
chat with you. You can go to my website or go to my LinkedIn. Connect with me on LinkedIn.
There’s always a place there to learn more about what we’re up to. We’ve got some interesting
things coming up for you in 2025 so I can amazing.
42:15
Yeah, I already learned from you today, so thank you for that. I’m going to the LinkedIn to the
Video tab now, yeah,
Karen Yankovich 42:20
yeah, awesome, awesome. All right, Ellen, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for
having
42:24
me. It was so much fun. Bye, bye.
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