The Visibility Advantage with Lindsay Sullivan | Speakeasy Podcast

Cold Open and Welcoming the Queen of Visibility

Announcer: Welcome to Inside the Speakeasy podcast, the private room where today's sharpest founders, innovators, and renegade thinkers come to trade the ideas that move industries. This show is brought to you by HighLevel, the AI-driven business operating system trusted by over 2 million businesses to help automate, scale, and create real leverage. HighLevel isn't just a tool, it's the engine behind some of the most agile and high-performing teams on the planet. If you're ready to streamline everything, amplify your reach, and actually build a business that works for you, you're in the right place. Visit www.GoHighLevel.com/Speakeasy-Mastermind-Promo to get an exclusive 30-day trial for being a listener of the Inside the Speakeasy podcast. Enjoy the show.

Eric Berman: You just dropped a secret nugget in there, Lindsay. I don't think you caught that. It was, one tip could be just engaging in other people's stuff more. That helps with your reach. I didn't know that, so that's good to know. I need to get out there and interact more.

Lindsay Sullivan: Absolutely. And it applies to Instagram as well. I can't say for sure about TikTok and some of the other platforms, but for sure, for Instagram and for LinkedIn especially, the more you comment and engage with other people, the more your stuff's going to be seen.

Eric Berman: AI is everywhere, as we all know. And now more than ever, it's important to actually get visible and show your face and be out there, so people know it's not an AI avatar they're talking to. So I am so excited to bring on today's guest from our Calgary chapter in Speakeasy. We have Lindsay Sullivan, also known as the Queen of Visibility. She is the guru, the go-to when it comes to saying, how should I get visible? Why should I get visible? And how do I get confident on camera? What's the strategy for growing my social media? And she has got so many amazing answers and tips she's going to share. Welcome, Lindsay.

Lindsay Sullivan: Thanks so much, Eric. I'm really excited to be here.

From Camera-Shy Photographer to Brand Photography

Eric Berman: Awesome. Well, I'm so excited today, because I'm like, literally, as we were talking in the quote green room, I'm thinking, gee, I'm going to be like your test subject today as we talk about this. And I'm feeling it more than ever too. I'm seeing just AI slop out there on what's going on and what's real. And this is exciting times, probably, for the business you've been in for a while now, right? I imagine.

Lindsay Sullivan: Yeah, it's definitely interesting with AI and photography and social media, for sure.

Eric Berman: I love it. Okay. So you do a lot with your clients. You teach a lot with respect to how to get confident on the camera, how and why you should be visible, strategies. We're going to dig into a lot of stuff and get some nuggets to share with everybody. Before we go there, I always like to do just a little bit of a background, because you're playing a big game in the social media space. How did you get here?

Lindsay Sullivan: Yeah, I started as a photographer. I got into brand photography specifically because I love working with business owners. And the reason I got into that actually is because I had a photography business in general to start. So I was doing everything, families, you know, all sorts of different types. And I needed to get my own photos taken, but I really didn't want to, because I never liked getting my photos taken. I would cringe when I'd get asked for a photo, you know, podcast hosts asking for a headshot. And so I've been like, I'm a photographer, I need to have some good photos. So I forced myself to book a session with another photographer. And for me, I didn't realize that I actually was photogenic. So when I had this session with her, she was able to relax me and get me some really good photos and authentic smiles. And then once I had these photos that I loved, it was so much easier to be visible, to actually be able to show up on social media and put my photo everywhere. And I thought, you know what? I want to be able to do this for other business owners. So I ended up really niching down into the brand photography space and really helping people realize they're photogenic and give them that boost in confidence to show up and be visible. But then I also found that, you know, they'd have these great photos, but there was still something kind of holding them back at times from posting, or they were just really struggling to be consistent. So I ended up creating, you know, some workshops and courses to help teach that side of things, so they could actually be consistent with their social media.

Eric Berman: I love it. Okay. So I'm going to rewind a little bit there. I totally get it. You're saying it's like, until I have that perfect picture, I'm stalled. I don't want to go out there. I don't want people to see me yet. It's just not the best me. And it's funny, I've seen that actually with my wife. You know, she started her own little online business, and actually she's like, I needed the right picture to get on my website. But there are a lot of people, it sounds like, that are just frozen, not willing to go because they don't have that picture. Now, when you were doing brand photography, tell me a little bit more about that. What kind of brands? Where did that start?

Why Showing Your Face Builds Know, Like, and Trust

Lindsay Sullivan: I specialize in people. So for me, it's like the coaches, life coaches, business coaches, chiropractors, hairstylists, a lot of different genres, really. But the key thing with all of them is they wanted to be able to be visible on social media. They're the ones people were coming to work with. And so having that personal brand is really important, and also to be able to show people what it's like to work with them. Like even my chiropractor client, people would say, wow, we felt like we already knew you before we even walked in the door, you know, and they'd never even met them yet in person. So being able to create that know, like, trust factor before you even meet people, that's what the brand photography is all about.

Eric Berman: You just got ahead of my big question, which is the why. Like, okay, so let's dig into that more. So the why behind people should even do this, because I imagine you're running into a lot of people now. And I love this, because I talk about this a lot when I see clients. It's like, a lot of people are brand-name forward with face hidden, like doctor or lawyer. Like, it's just a company name with a bunch of stuff on it. You got to go search in the About Us section, and maybe you'll see like a group picture of somebody, or they'll just hear about the name and there's nothing there. It's flat. So is that what you started seeing? And is that really the why? Is that what you've noticed? And have you been able to see the differences as you've been working through that?

Lindsay Sullivan: Yeah, I've noticed, actually, one of my clients, for example, she ended up posting just some general, we call it B-roll, where there's no sound. It's just a video of someone typing on a laptop or walking or things like that, or meeting with clients. Nothing, like, crazy or exciting necessarily. But she got 10 times the engagement and comments because it was her in there. People could see her, and they liked seeing her way more than they liked seeing the generic stock images she was using. And so being able to see us, it really creates trust, and it also creates recognition. So when you're on social media, people will actually see your face and be like, oh yeah, I remember Eric from, you know, when we met. And maybe if you get on camera and you start doing a talking head, where you're speaking to camera, they can feel your personality and get a feel for you. If you've got brand photos that show your personality and your smile, they can get a feel for you that way too. And they can also imagine themselves working with you if you've got images behind the scenes, or you meeting with clients, or those kinds of things. So it's putting a picture into their head and helping them imagine what it's like to work with you, and the different services you offer, the experience, the vibe, that kind of stuff.

Eric Berman: So a lot of takeaways. People could be listening and saying, well, sure, I got an About Us page, and I have my picture on there, my arms folded, and, you know, hey, Eric, blah, blah, blah. But you just kind of added to that. So what are you finding? It sounds like that's not enough. It sounds like what you're saying is, okay, great, I have clients that have nothing. Now at least get a picture of you out there with the right smile and doing the things. But you just added a whole other layer I didn't think about too much. Because I think a lot of us probably say, well, wait a second, do people really care about, like, I don't want this to be an Eric Berman thing or a me thing. I don't want a bunch of pictures of me. Nobody cares about that. But you're saying, no, people actually do want the B-roll. Can you dig a little bit deeper? Like, have you noticed the different results when people are doing that? And what types of B-roll have you found are working really well?

Lindsay Sullivan: Yeah. So I'm going to dive a little bit into the psychology of things, but there's something called the mere exposure effect. And what it means is that when we see something often, it becomes familiar to us. And that familiarity actually leads to trust, and the trust leads to a subconscious preference of us over another brand. So if you've got one brand that's just got a website and that's it, they've got no visual presence. They're not reminding people that they exist, and they're not getting to know people. People aren't seeing their face, seeing what they look like. They're not getting used to seeing them. They're not getting that reminder either that that brand exists. Whereas when you show up on social media, maybe you also have a newsletter and you're networking and you have all those different touch points, you're reminding people that you exist. And then when you're on social media, it's just another opportunity to get in front of them and be seen a lot more. So it's one thing that you're getting seen more, so you're establishing that trust from the familiarity. But the second thing is people get to know you because they can see your personality. They can get a really good feeling of what you're all about. So you're also showing, you know, what you're like to work with. And then three, you can also show yourself as an expert. So you can talk about different topics, and they can go, oh yeah, she really gets me. Or he really gets me, he understands what my problem is, and he has a solution. She has a solution. So it's more than just having those images on social media. It's also showing yourself as that expert as well.

Getting Confident on Camera by Focusing on Who You Help

Eric Berman: I love it. I couldn't agree with you more. If you're choosing between A or B, who are you going to go with? A flat brand, or somebody who's got that personality that you vibe with? And, honestly, it could repel people too. Like, I've seen people, meeting them, okay, that's just not your customer type. It's like, oh my God, this guy or gal looks, or the way they say things, I just, not for me. But that's okay. Like, you're going to attract the right people. You talk a lot about confidence on camera. I mean, it's just a nice bold statement. I know you do a really good job with helping people get confident on camera. What do you find?

Lindsay Sullivan: Yeah, it's kind of, there's a bunch of different things that go into it. When I'm taking photos, part of it is relaxing people and connecting with them and getting that authentic smile, the laughter coming through. But if you're taking your own photos, it's harder. So then you have to make yourself laugh, and it's harder to get that authentic look. But if you have a friend or family member, you can maybe take photos of each other, then you can create that fun and that laughter and get some really good smiles that way. So part of it is maybe having a wingman or a wingwoman to help you. Maybe you trade, you get together and take photos of each other, but you're getting that relaxed kind of vibe. Another thing to think about too that I find really helps my people is they think about who they're helping. Because if you're thinking about yourself, it's all about you. You're thinking, oh, I don't like how my weight is, I don't like my hair, my teeth, whatever it is. I've had a number of people recently tell me that they're not ready for brand photos because they need to lose weight. So, you know, they're really focused on themselves, which I understand. But the people that want to hire them, that need their help, they don't care about the weight. What they care about is that authentic smile. They care about whether that person is an expert, whether they can actually solve their problem. And they're not going to know that if you're not visible, if you're not putting yourself out there and being visible and just telling people what you do and helping them and those kinds of things. If you are avoiding the camera and posting, you just don't exist. And then they're not going to get the help they need. So I find that helps a lot of people, myself and my students, just be like, okay, I'm going to put this out here. And even if I'm not looking perfect on camera, that's okay, because as long as somebody liked that video and found it useful, then that's the key, right?

Matching Poses, Styles, and B-Roll to Your Brand

Eric Berman: Yeah. Okay. I like that. What types of poses and styles should we be in, for the most part? And then you also mentioned, like, B-roll and other things. Is there a certain kind of default that you have for everybody?

Lindsay Sullivan: Yeah, let's start with your first question, which was basically the smiles, whether they should be smiling and laughing. I would say it really depends on the brand. So that's one of the things I love about brand photography, is there's a lot of creative direction. There's a lot of strategy that goes into the photos. It's not just show up and take them. We want to look at the brand itself. So for example, one of my clients, she's a mortgage broker. She previously had photos that were very stuffy and boring, and those are her words. She came to me, her brand is very vibrant, her personality is fun. So for her, laughter and smiles and brilliant colors. We have backgrounds, like we used some cool graffiti backgrounds in Calgary, in one of the spaces she loves, you know, those kinds of things. So for her, that brand was perfect. Those images were great. I have another client, though, who's more of a holistic healer. She's very peaceful and quiet and wise. And so those kind of poses would be different than Jen's photos, which were the mortgage broker, right? So it kind of depends on the client, on what kind of expressions, even the poses that you have, that really will influence how people are feeling. So if you do a power pose, that might work for an executive coach, but it might not work for a therapist who wants people to feel really invited in and, like, really comfortable with them. So you might have a more relaxed pose, and you might go for more candid looks, or lifestyle, we call it, where the photos are taken in a home with a beautiful window and, you know, that kind of thing, versus, you know, a classic studio shoot. So it really is client dependent, on the brand. You want to think about your clients and what kind of vibe you want to give off when you're meeting with them, and with the branding and that sort of thing. So yeah, it really depends on the client. And then for the B-roll, again, it depends on the client, but a lot of people, something simple like typing on the laptop or walking is a good one, or, you know, those kinds of things. Just movement, because things like Instagram, they prioritize video. So if you can have some movement and then you put some words on it, you know, maybe using a program like Canva. Like for me, for example, I might be walking holding my camera. It'd be three tips for taking better photos, you know, or getting better photos in your brand shoot. So you can add on a few things in there like that, or you could have some fun stuff. Like some people have really fun things where they're dancing, or they're doing all sorts of different things. So again, it's very brand-dependent, because I don't like to do the dancing ones, you know. It depends on the brand, and it won't fit all brands. So then again, for me, as a photographer, behind the scenes of working with clients helps people understand what it's like to work with me. They'll see the laughter. They'll see the fun. You know, a chiropractor might have, you know, video of them working on a client. It doesn't necessarily have to be an actual client. It could be someone who looks like their client. Bring in a friend or family member, and then show what it's like to have that service. Or maybe for you, maybe it's someone meeting with you, or events, Speakeasy events, for example. You may be talking in front of the group or something like that, and people laughing in the group and having some serious conversations, you know, they're deep into conversation and masterminding and those kinds of things. So you could do B-roll of that sort of thing and talk about what it's like in the Speakeasy groups.

Showing the Founder and the Experience Behind a Community

Eric Berman: I love it. Those kinds of things. I'm hearing movement, almost performing the act you're performing, whatever it is you're doing. Show that movement in there. Like even for me, the two-part question, you know, I'm not going to have me all serious, because that's not my look. You know, it's more, you know, I'm sort of there to, like, facilitate or be more spirited and energy and that kind of pose. And in my case, it's interesting, because I think it's Speakeasy, not to make it about me, but I'm just sort of thinking through it as you're going through it. I like this idea. We're actually going to try to fix some stuff on the website now, but you gave me this idea. We're thinking of putting a lot of static images, and I have some testimonials. Of course, I have B-roll of the entire annual event, which we try to get out there. I like this concept of even, like, little mini images of, like, movement at a localized chapter, where you see people kind of interacting, questions, and almost this concept of not, you know, I don't want it to be me on stage all the time, because that would almost lean towards, hey, this is a facilitator-led group, which it's not. You know, it's very much peer-led. I've created this video and imagery that shows that.

Lindsay Sullivan: Yeah.

Eric Berman: And I don't know if I'd want me to be in that many pictures. I guess that'd be my question for you. It was like, somebody like me, I'm a facilitator of all these groups. Like, I don't know how much face I'd want to put in my own site.

Lindsay Sullivan: That's a great point. I think it's still important to show you, because people want to know the founder. They want to know the person behind the brand. Why did you start this? Why is it different from other groups? You know, more about you, and let me connect with you and go, okay, well, I feel like I really like Eric, so I probably am going to like his group. And then you look more into what the group's all about. So I'd say, like, even on social media, there could be some posts with you in it and you talking about why you started it, the origin story, those kinds of things, as well as, like, these kinds of interviews where you're in it, but it's not necessarily about you. It's about the topic, you know, that sort of thing. But then you could also have images and video of the experience, because the experience is really key. And if you can capture, you know, our group has a lot of laughter in our chapter. Just like, capture, I take some pictures when I'm there. And so we can capture, like, the fun of the event, but then also some of the serious looks too, as we're having serious discussions about things. So you can capture those experiences and the emotions people are feeling and those kinds of things. And that can really attract people and be like, oh wow, that group looks like a lot of fun. So, you know, it might be a fun one to try.

Eric Berman: Love it. All right, I got to get some of those pictures from you too. We can post them and get them out there. We'll talk about that on the side. You're giving me all sorts of ideas. So I got the content, now what do I do with it? But just to kind of recap, I think, for anybody listening here, the moral of the story is stop hiding. You know, get out there. We need to see real, more now than ever. We need to see a real person. We need to see authenticity. We need to get familiar. I like that: the more I see your face, I'm going to start to build a relationship with this person before I even know them. So when I do see them, it feels sort of special, and I already have a sense of their energy and their personality. I feel sort of like them before I've been there, which will probably get me to, if a prospect is between you and somebody else, you're probably going to get that prospect.

Lindsay Sullivan: Exactly.

Building Content Around Five to Seven Social Media Themes

Eric Berman: And you've seen that. Okay. So let's talk about, I got my site up, I have an Instagram account, I got my B-roll down. Now I'm like, okay, Lindsay, it's time for me to grow my social following. What do I do? I'm stuck. Like, how do I get visible there? Everything you hear on this show comes back to one idea: proximity. I wrote the book on it, literally. Proximity Pays, my bestselling book, available now at proximitypays.com.

Lindsay Sullivan: Yeah, I usually say start with creating some social media themes. So generally what this is, is kind of like five to seven themes that people can pick, and they talk about that consistently throughout the year. So one thing might be education. So for me, for the brand photography brand, The Small Business Photographer, I might talk about why you need brand photography. I might talk about what to wear. I might talk about how to choose locations and what kind of poses you might want to do. So that's the education piece. And then I talk about that throughout the year. Then I might also have testimonials in there. That'd be another theme. So I want to make sure I'm posting those. The personal brand, I think, is really important, as we talked about, that familiarity, but also because of AI, one way to actually stand out is to show your face, because there's so much AI stuff out there that if you can stand out, you know, by showing your face and helping people get to know you, that can really help you with the marketing. So personal brand, I highly recommend having that as one of the themes. So maybe you could have another one, like behind-the-scenes stuff of what it's like to work with you, and then your offers. That's another good theme to have. So what kind of things are you offering? I just ran a one-day mini session day, where people could come for these short little sessions. And so I had a whole bunch of content around that for about six weeks. So you can have different themes around that as well, the offers that you have. And that way you're directing people towards something, like working with you, an event, or even just downloading your free resource, getting them onto your email list. You have a strategy behind the post. You're not just posting randomly. I think that's one of the biggest mistakes people make, is they just post randomly and kind of hope it's going to work.

Eric Berman: This is actually even helpful. It sounds so simple, but I'm sitting here saying, I just wrote these down. And to me, there's a sixth one, which I'm going to ask you about. I was wondering, because I hear a lot about it. It's really just behind-the-scenes business, but there's the behind-the-scenes personal, the personal side of the individual, family and lifestyle. Is that important as a theme you recommend?

Lindsay Sullivan: I think it really depends on the person. I think people do like to get to know you, but it's up to you as to what you want to share. So for me, I share things like my love of flowers. Like I'll post on my stories, for example, when I'm out in the gardens, just taking pictures and going for walks, and, you know, the nature stuff, or when I'm at a festival or so. Just, like, things to help people know what I like. And people will comment. They'll, like, reach out and be like, oh, I've been to that festival too, I loved it. And then, oh, I love those candlelit concerts. I post that kind of stuff on my social media, more on stories on Instagram. Those are the ones that are only lasting for 24 hours. You don't have to think of a caption or anything. You just, like, pop it on there. But other people will actually put, you know, images of their family and things like that. So it really depends on the person, how much you want to show from your personal life. I think stories are good too, though. I did one that actually is kind of a metaphor, or an analogy, for social media, and that was how I fell off my horse Ernie when I was a kid. And then the whole falling off the horse, the fear of getting back on, the need to get back up on right away. I have a whole story around it. And it basically is like falling off social media, and people are afraid to get back up on the social media horse. And so it's a weird little story, but people remember it. They'll be like, oh yeah, I remember that Ernie story. And I'll be like, oh yeah. So stories can really connect people too. So if you have some story posts and those things like that, you can bring that in, things from your childhood, and you can bring it in. And don't just randomly talk about it necessarily, but tie it to what you're doing. Like, is there a reason that you brought that up? Does it tie to what you're doing?

Eric Berman: Yeah. This is really helpful. I'll tell you what's resonating with me. I mean, I think, and again, it sounds so simple, and maybe I'm just the idiot out there, which is very possible. Most likely it's just the strategy and the themes. Like, I mean, I'm the exact example of what you just said. I'm literally like, I went to Claude, and it knows Speakeasy, knows me. I'm like, hey, can you just give me 90 topics, bullets only, of things that I could talk about? First, I had somebody doing scripts for me, and I'm just reading them. I'm like, anybody that's been following my reels, like, for a while, like, you could see me kind of reading, and I'm doing scripts, and I'm not even thinking, I'm just doing what they tell me to do. And it's okay. And I'm like, okay, this is all right, but I got to really get into this and do it right. So now I'm much better, just like, give me a topic: how to grow your social media following. What are you doing? Okay, so here's something that I can just, a lot easier. It just feels more natural to go that route. But what I'm not doing, which is what you just said, which I love, is like, literally, I think this week I told Claude to give me 90 bullets of topics I could just riff on, and I could just pick one a day, and I was just going to literally post a reel every day. Because I've been posting every day, which is another question I'm going to ask you in a minute. And I've been posting, but it's just, a lot of it's around networking and the power of community and masterminding. And I've started to talk about some of my experiences in life and business, but there's no structure. I'm not sitting here saying, okay, Monday is education, Tuesday is a testimonial, Wednesday is a personal branding thing, or behind the scenes. I'm just going riffraff. So thank you for that. I think this makes more sense, to go that route, to have more structure on that.

Managing Multiple Brands and Instagram Collaborations

Eric Berman: And I bet a lot of us are in a similar situation, where I have Speakeasy and I have Eric Berman, right? Speakeasy is posting often, like three, four times. It's like, this podcast that we're doing now, it's going to be posted on Speakeasy as a reel. And then it asks Eric to collaborate. So I guess now that's going on my reel too. And then I'm competing with that versus the other stuff I'm posting. And so Eric's posting, Speakeasy's posting. I don't know what's supposed to follow the script, what's not. It's a little bit confusing to me. And then there's the frequency question. I'm literally hitting LinkedIn, I think, five days a week, and Instagram reels almost five days a week. That was a mouthful. So what am I doing right, wrong? I'd love to get some guidance there. And I don't mean this to be an Eric session, but I think there's probably a lot in a similar situation.

Lindsay Sullivan: Yeah, both myself and other students have a lot of brands too. They have more than one brand. So it's always a question of, what do I do if I have more than one service? And I have more than one brand. So generally I recommend, if you have multiple services, for example, let's just take me, for example, with the brand photography and the social media. I found when it was all under one, it was a bit challenging, because I'd be posting about social media, but then I'm also trying to get brand photography clients. And then I wasn't putting enough time on either of those things, and so the workshops and the mini sessions. I ended up splitting the brands. I have two different accounts, and there is some cross-collaboration. So if I do a talking head one about confidence in front of the camera, that applies to both brands, so I will put it on both brands. But if I'm talking about social media strategies, I'm no longer putting that on The Small Business Photographer. And if I'm doing a whole bunch of photography, I won't put as much of that on Visible By Design. Now, both of my accounts are still similar. Like, Visible By Design is all about visibility, and photography is a component of that. But I don't want the entire account to be all about photography. You know, I want to still talk about systems and strategies and things like that too. So I would suggest kind of looking at both of them and having a strategy for both of them. Like, what is the purpose of each account? Like, is it more the personal brand, to help people get to know you? Or is it something else you're selling?

Eric Berman: Yeah, I was going to go back to ask you first. You have your Lindsay Sullivan personal Instagram. So that's more personal, like the flowers, your love for photography, that would go more in your personal.

Lindsay Sullivan: Actually, no. I've got two, both are business. One is The Small Business Photographer. It's all for the brand photography side of things. And then Visible By Design is the social media courses and the education. And I have other courses on how to take your own photos. So it's the education side of my business, essentially. And the flower photos, that's just personal brand, and I'm putting that on both, because people get to see who I am, the person behind the camera, and so, you know, the person behind the brand. So they'll know that Lindsay's obsessed with macro photography. You know, and then other people who love photography, I just was on a podcast with someone, we were chatting, she's like, I love macro photography. So we went and did macro photography together. You know, so it was like a connecting point, right? Because people are like, oh, I love that, or I love gardening, or I also went to that concert. So that personal brand stuff, that can be on the business brands too, because it helps people get to know the person behind the brand.

Eric Berman: This is helpful. So those are both your different companies you have, but what about your personal IG?

Lindsay Sullivan: I don't have one.

Eric Berman: Oh, you don't have? Okay, so that's helpful.

Lindsay Sullivan: I don't have one. I mean, maybe you could build one if you wanted to, but I just have, I mean, LinkedIn is the exception. I have LinkedIn as my, I don't have the business profiles for that one. I stick currently to, like, my main...

Eric Berman: Got it.

Lindsay Sullivan: ...LinkedIn, but I don't have a personal one for Instagram. I just have the two business ones.

Eric Berman: Got it, got it. Okay, so back to your question. And again, I'm saying this with the understanding, I know there's a lot of people in the same boat as me, because a lot of our members and a lot of our listeners are probably out there as potential experts, coaches, thought leaders, and they also have brands behind them, and they're struggling to figure out what do they post where.

Lindsay Sullivan: Yeah.

Eric Berman: You know, my [unclear] is that, you know, Eric Berman posting is, you know, meant to be more of a thought leader expert in the world of building masterminds and community, and trying to understand the pros and cons, and I have a book, like, all related to the concepts that I'm teaching. And then, oh, by the way, there happens to be a great mastermind that I believe in, if you're looking for a good mastermind, called Speakeasy. And I talk about others as well throughout my different posts. So that's the purpose behind that. And then I have some fun lifestyle things I'll show in there, and I'll bring that in. And then Speakeasy, of course, is being very much more specific about, hey, check out this great meeting that just happened, and thanks to Lindsay Sullivan's amazing picture she took. Or here's a podcast we did, or here's a recap of last month's virtual event we just did. Is that the right direction?

Lindsay Sullivan: So I don't think there's any wrong or right answer there. I think you can have your Eric account that has all of that stuff in the thought leadership, but I think for people who don't know that you have that account and they're just following Speakeasy, I think it'd be nice to know a bit about Eric. Why are masterminds important? Why is community important? Because when you start to talk about that kind of stuff, people are like, oh, that's why I should join Speakeasy, not just because it looks fun, but, like, there's reason behind the mastermind. Here's what a mastermind is. I've had people ask me what masterminds even are when I tell them I'm going to this mastermind group. So I think part of it is that education around that. So that stuff could also go on your Speakeasy account to help educate around that. But if you still want your separate account with more personal stuff that you're sharing, you can definitely do that. But it's totally up to you. I don't think there's one right or wrong answer there. Like, you could have one account, or you could have two.

Eric Berman: If I do a reel on Eric Berman and I add Speakeasy as a collaborator, which accepts it, is that achieving the same objective that you just said?

Lindsay Sullivan: It is, yeah.

Eric Berman: Okay, so that is one way of sort of hitting that.

Lindsay Sullivan: Yeah. For anybody who doesn't know, who's listening, Instagram does have a really cool feature now where you can actually collaborate. And if I do a post for The Small Business Photographer and I put Visible By Design as the collaborator, it then gets sent to Visible By Design, and I have the option to accept it. If I accept it, it goes onto my feed. And so you can actually get double the reach, because if you have followers on Visible By Design, they're seeing it. Followers on The Small Business Photographer are seeing it too. So yes, that's the easiest thing to do, is to just do the collaborator feature for Instagram, so that you've got it going to both accounts.

How Often to Post on Each Platform

Eric Berman: Okay. So I'm doing some things, and probably accidentally somewhat right, or I do have a team that's [unclear]. You're great. But I think you've given me some really good guidance on really the structure. I think it needs to be a lot better. I think that's really helpful. Back to frequency, you know, for those listening. You got a new client. You got them to believe in the importance of visibility, even though they feel like maybe they're not ready yet, maybe they don't like the way they look yet. And you're saying, nope, I don't care, you got to get started. Okay, I'm in now. I got my website up. How often should I be posting? Is there a formula that you recommend?

Lindsay Sullivan: So I'm a little bit different from some of the social media gurus out there. I tend to say it depends on you, because there's a couple different things that come into it. The platform: if you're on X, lately they say it's about three to four times a day you need to be posting on X, whereas Instagram's around two to five days a week. So part of it is, what is your bandwidth? Do you have the bandwidth to do three or four posts a day? Then okay, X might work for you. But if you don't, don't pick X. It also depends on your goals. You know, if you want to be a massive influencer, then you're probably going to have to post twice a day on Instagram. But if you want to just be top of mind, like I like to be top of mind with my business. And so what I've found is I meet people at networking events, we follow each other on social media, and then three years later, they'll reach out and be like, I'm ready for a photo shoot. But I don't remember them, because they haven't liked my posts. They haven't engaged, but they've been following. So I think that's part of it, is just knowing that me even just posting twice a week for the business photographer side is enough to achieve the goal of staying top of mind, as well as to educate on what I do and show myself as an expert and show my portfolio. So my goals for that one potentially are not as big as maybe a different brand that really wants to be that influencer and make money from being a brand that has affiliates and all of those kinds of things in social media. It's going to be a different marketing strategy depending on what you're doing. So I would say it depends on you, and also what you can do that's consistent. Because if you are like, yeah, I need to post daily, and you post daily for two weeks and then you drop off for another three weeks, that's not going to be great. Whereas if you were posting twice a week consistently, that would be better. And then I often tell my students, too, to have two posting frequencies. So there's the minimum that you're agreeing to do regardless, even if you're on vacation. Maybe that's twice a week. But then maybe, ideally, you post five days a week, and that's what you're aiming for, and that's what you're building your systems for. But when things get busy, you're still meeting your minimum, and you're not feeling guilty about not having done every day.

Eric Berman: Okay, I got two follow-ups to that. Well, first of all, you mentioned platforms, and IG obviously covers Facebook, because I could just go on both. LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube. I mean, what's your sense over there?

Lindsay Sullivan: Yeah, so the most recent, from what I've been reading, is posting about two to five times a week on LinkedIn is really good. If you can post a little bit more, then that's great, but two to five times is good. The benefit to LinkedIn is you don't always have to do the posting. So with LinkedIn, you can find someone's post that would resonate with your audience. So maybe for me, it might be a stylist that I work with who's talking about confidence in the clothing, and how wearing something can make you feel more confident. That's going to be something my audience finds useful. So I'm going to share that post with a little comment at the top. I'll put my thoughts on it, but it's really her post. And so she's getting more exposure, but then I'm also not having to create a post about that. I'm just sharing it. So you can also do that as well, and that counts with LinkedIn. That's one of the reasons I like LinkedIn. TikTok, I don't know as much about TikTok, so I can't really speak to that one. I just post on that one automatically, because I'm doing Instagrams. It just automatically goes there.

Patience, Metrics, and the Power of Engaging With Others

Eric Berman: Nice. And then the magic question of patience. I know you get your clients all the time: okay, Coach Lindsay, I've done the thing. I'm ready. I look good. I've done what you said. I'm posting five days a week, Lindsay. Aren't you proud of me? I'm doing things you say. My followers, though, I'm getting like 50 views. Is that good? Like, what are the metrics? Like, what is the time frame? And I know it's a different answer from everybody, but how do you keep your clients and students patient and not giving up? What's the expectations you give them?

Lindsay Sullivan: Yeah, it can take some time to grow, but also a lot of the effect they're not seeing. It's kind of like the iceberg, where you see a little bit on top, but then you don't see the big part of the iceberg underneath. It's that consistency, showing up and reminding people that you exist, that familiarity, so that when they are ready three years later, you're the one they think of, and they don't even bother price shopping, because they're like, no, I know Lindsay's the photographer. I've been wanting to work with her for a couple years. I'm finally ready. I'm going to reach out because I just saw that post. So part of it is, like, knowing it's not necessarily going to lead to an immediate sale. It can. I've had posts that people sign up for my masterclass and then they sign up for the workshop based on one post. But a lot of times it's putting in the work and having that consistency and knowing that people are still seeing things. And even if they don't comment on it, doesn't mean they're not seeing it. People will still come up to me all the time at events and be like, oh, I saw this post about this. Like, you didn't like it, though. Like, oh no, I loved it. And you're like, okay.

Eric Berman: Is there a metric to see, like, hey, is it looking at, let's say, in Instagram? Is it just the views? Like, hey, you should check back, and maybe every three months you'll notice that the views are growing. That's progress, and be patient. It's a three, four, five-year plan if you want to keep doing it. Is that realistic?

Lindsay Sullivan: I do, like, tend to look at the patterns. So yeah, look at the reach. And because you also want to look at a couple of different things. So you're not just looking at, is your reach and your comments and those kinds of things, is that growing? Because that's good to see a pattern of that growing. But then you can also experiment a bit. One of my friends is a marketing person, and she did an experiment where she posted one month doing more posts on LinkedIn. And the second month, she posted less, but she engaged more in other people's posts. Can you guess which month did better with engagement on her posts and reach?

Eric Berman: When she engaged in everybody else's stuff.

Lindsay Sullivan: Exactly. So you can do some experiments and see, and you're only going to know the results if you're tracking. So usually tracking things like the reach, for sure, and engagement. So are people commenting? Are they reaching out in DMs? And sometimes you don't see them actually purchasing. So, like, the person who signed up for my masterclass, she commented that she signed up, and then so I knew she was coming to it. Or you might recognize them in the workshops. You can look to see if you're getting clients from it. But I often find it's a combination of things. So it's not just social media. It's the fact you met them at an event, and then you're staying top of mind now with the social media, so that when they're ready, they reach out. So you look at a combination of things. Sorry, it's not, like, an exact black-and-white answer.

Eric Berman: You just dropped a secret nugget in there, Lindsay. I don't think you caught that. It was, you know, one tip could be just engaging in other people's stuff more. That helps with your reach. I didn't know that, so that's good to know. I need to get out there and interact more.

Lindsay Sullivan: Absolutely. And it applies to Instagram as well. I can't say for sure about TikTok and some of the other platforms, but for sure, for Instagram and for LinkedIn especially, the more you comment and engage with other people, the more your stuff's going to be seen. And your stuff's going to be seen by the people you engage on, too. So if there's people you want to see your stuff in particular, that you want to stay top of mind with, then make sure you're engaging with their content. Not just to support them, because that's really important, but also you're going to stay top of mind as well.

Inside Lindsay's Three-Day Implementation Workshop

Eric Berman: You're right. Okay. You talked a little bit about your masterclass and a couple of other things. So, you know, if I'm a listener here, I'd be pretty interested in maybe wanting to work with you. Tell me a little bit about your program. What do you offer? How do you help people?

Lindsay Sullivan: Yeah, I have a three-day workshop, and it's an implementation workshop. So it's one of those ones where you don't just learn the info, but you're actually going to implement. So you're going to create your 30-day content calendar, your social media pillars, and you're going to actually start learning the AI tools and other tools you can use to speed things up, because that's also part of what keeps people from being consistent, is they don't have time. It takes up too much time. So how do we streamline it? How do we put a system in place so you can keep going? So they actually implement that. And then I also cover some stuff about confidence in front of the camera and stuff like that, so that they can feel more confident with that. Because sometimes I'll notice that they're getting a little bit nervous, you know, because I'm like, yeah, you got to be visible, blah, blah, blah. And then they're like, okay. Now that you need to be visible, let's talk about what holds you back from being visible, the things that keep you from hitting post and things like that. Even if it's not you in the picture, even if it's just the post itself, you know, what's stopping you from hitting post, or what's causing some of the procrastination. It might not actually be that you don't have time. It might be something else holding you back. So that's what we cover in the three-day workshop.

Favorite AI Tools and Letting Go of Perfection

Eric Berman: Three-day workshop, love it. What are some of your favorite go-to AI tools these days, as they continue to evolve?

Lindsay Sullivan: Yeah, I mean, I have other courses I was teaching before this on AI image generation, so I have a soft spot for Midjourney AI, because I created some really cool images with that. And you can also refresh some of your existing brand photos too. So I like that one. ChatGPT, I really like that one too. I know a lot of people use that one, or they prefer Claude, but ChatGPT I find really good for the social media ideas and the captions and the hooks and all of those kinds of things. And it's actually getting better with image generation as well.

Eric Berman: Yeah, it is.

Lindsay Sullivan: So those are two that I really like as well.

Eric Berman: Wonderful. Wonderful. Was there any questions that I didn't ask that you wish I had, or what topic we should have covered that we missed?

Lindsay Sullivan: That's a good question. Maybe just around some of the mindset stuff. People will sometimes hold back because they think they have to be perfect. And so I just want to let everybody know you don't have to be perfect. Just think of whether your content's going to improve someone's life or help them in some way, or lead to them working with you so you can help them, and then realize it doesn't have to be perfect. You know, they can still get a lot of value out of it. I know when I first started doing videos, I was terrible with Instagram. Like, you could see me shaking. You know, it was so bad. People still reached out and said they were inspired. So just remember that, you know, your content, even if it's not perfect, it's better to be out there and, you know, be inspiring people and leading them to work with you than it is for it to be perfect and sitting in your drafts. Be real.

Eric Berman: No, I love it. It's funny. You just, again, said something that resonated with me and my wife, and her not necessarily being a typical entrepreneur mindset. And it's just, like, the delay. And I keep saying, look, do you realize, the longer you wait, the longer you're taking to make people's lives better in what you do? Because every person you interact with, you're improving their life, you're giving them more confidence. It's your [unclear]. So it's kind of like every time you talk to somebody, I'm like, you're not serving all these people with the gifts that you have to help others. Because, yeah, like, it always gets her going when I said that. Shoot, you're right. All right, let's go. Thank you so much for coming in today and really sharing amazing nuggets and words of wisdom and all the gems you have, and continued success in everything you're doing. It's fantastic.

Lindsay Sullivan: Awesome. Thank you so much for having me.

Announcer: And that's a wrap from the Speakeasy Podcast. If something sparked for you, don't keep it to yourself. Share it, review it, and pass it to the one person who needs to hear this right now. Want in on the real mastermind? Tap the link in the show notes to apply. Until next time, keep scaling, stay sharp, and don't be the smartest one in the room.

Eric Berman: Hello, I've been noticing you've been following along to Inside the Speakeasy podcast. And if the conversations I'm having out there resonate with you, then I'd like to invite you to apply to learn more about becoming a member of Speakeasy.