Join us this week on Who’s Driving, where we take a nostalgic trip back in time, reminiscing about the the time Steven was pulled over for speeding and trafficking.
and then let's talk about making that money! As a creator or influencer on social media, there are numerous ways to monetize your content. We’ll share our own experiences and provide tips on creating original, authentic posts, promoting products genuinely, and keeping up with the platform's latest features. Success doesn't come overnight, and we’ll discuss the value of patience and persistence. So, buckle up and get ready for a fun, enlightening ride on this week's episode of Who's Driving!
Hit us up on Instagram and give our hotline a call at 864-982-5029. Happy listening! And remember to leave us a rating and review.
We mentioned The Nested Fig App in this episode. You can Tap Here to get our app and join our live sales on Sundays and Thursdays at 8pm est. Use Code Fig10 for 10% Off.
Follow Steven on Instagram at @Keepinupwithsteven and follow Wesley on Instagram at @Farmshenanigans. Shop our online store at TheNestedFig.Com Use Coupon Code Fig10 for 10% Off Your Purchase. Find The Nested Fig on Instagram at @TheNestedFig
Join us this week on Who’s Driving, where we take a nostalgic trip back in time, reminiscing about the the time Steven was pulled over for speeding and trafficking.
and then let's talk about making that money! As a creator or influencer on social media, there are numerous ways to monetize your content. We’ll share our own experiences and provide tips on creating original, authentic posts, promoting products genuinely, and keeping up with the platform's latest features. Success doesn't come overnight, and we’ll discuss the value of patience and persistence. So, buckle up and get ready for a fun, enlightening ride on this week's episode of Who's Driving!
Hit us up on Instagram and give our hotline a call at 864-982-5029. Happy listening! And remember to leave us a rating and review.
We mentioned The Nested Fig App in this episode. You can Tap Here to get our app and join our live sales on Sundays and Thursdays at 8pm est. Use Code Fig10 for 10% Off.
Follow Steven on Instagram at @Keepinupwithsteven and follow Wesley on Instagram at @Farmshenanigans. Shop our online store at TheNestedFig.Com Use Coupon Code Fig10 for 10% Off Your Purchase. Find The Nested Fig on Instagram at @TheNestedFig
Hey, girl, hey, get in and tell me your secrets.
Speaker 2:Ain't got enough time for that. Where we going, where we driving California and back, it's just me and you Tell me all your secrets.
Speaker 1:It's time for another episode of who's Driving. Welcome to who's Driving. I'm Wesley Turner and I'm Stephen.
Speaker 2:Merck. We're two best friends and entrepreneurs.
Speaker 1:Who's Driving is an entertaining look into the behind the scenes of our lives, friendship and businesses.
Speaker 2:These are the stories we share and topics we discuss, as two best friends would on a long road trip.
Speaker 1:Along the way, we'll check in with friends and offer a wide range of informative topics centered around running small businesses, social media and all things home and garden.
Speaker 2:Buckle up and enjoy the ride. You never know who's driving or where we're headed.
Speaker 1:All we know is it's always a fun ride and on this week's episode we're picking up from the previous one, talking about social media and more tips and what you can do as a follower. So we're going to get into that, but before we do, I also want to go back to a previous topic, because our hotline blew up, which I love.
Speaker 2:I love reading all of them.
Speaker 1:So two things. So many people thought it was coming down the pipe instead of pike, so I wasn't that far off, so I was not the only one we got so many people and I'm really surprised at myself, being from the country that I didn't think it was coming down the pipe but I always said coming down the pike.
Speaker 1:So so many people agreed with me that they thought it was coming down the pipe P-I-P-E but it could work. Yeah, and Serval said I think it can literally be both interchangeably, interchangeably, whatever, oh that's a big word for you, sweetheart.
Speaker 2:It's interchangeably.
Speaker 1:My coffee hasn't fully kicked in yet, but that's okay. Okay, the it hasn't, but your dyslexia has Always. The other thing we got a lot of comments on and some voicemails was we talked about how we didn't realize it was commonplace or maybe more commonplace than we thought for husbands to pump the gas for their wives. Not just pump it, but like keep their car filled up. Not like you're both in the car and you pull up to the gas station, oh, I'll pump your gas, but they will intentionally get the car and go fill it up with gas so that their wife doesn't have to do that.
Speaker 2:I have several friends that they do that. Below's my mind. I'm jealous.
Speaker 1:Um, but in the text messages we got there were kind of two different views on it and I kind of feel like leaning more towards one and you kind of lean more towards the other.
Speaker 2:I think it's a love language, right, I think it's an act of love and and that some, some men, I think that's their love language, doting on their wives and and making just. I think it's just a sweet thing.
Speaker 1:Right, and that was one of the or. We kind of got that side of it in our text messages, saying oh, it's my husband's love language, he loves doing things for me, whatever, and I love it. And so you said that's how you feel and you're like Dylan, that's his love language, is doing things.
Speaker 1:I feel, like Daniel's love language is doing things. Now he doesn't really do that. I mean, he does like if he drives my car and it's anywhere near needing gas, he will stop and put gas in it, or whatever he does a lot of things for around the house.
Speaker 2:He does a lot of things.
Speaker 1:That's how Dylan is Not like his love language. He was actually going to bed last night and we were talking I didn't realize he had listened to the podcast about that, because he listened on his way to doing deliveries to Charleston and back and so he was like, are you going to go put gas in my car? And I was like that's what I bested out laughing. I was like nope, I said I can barely keep gas in my own car.
Speaker 2:You don't keep gas in your car.
Speaker 1:I mean I have to when it's. I let it get to zero on the mileage thing and then I'm like, okay, it's on zero, I can get to my next destination, and then I will put gas in my car. It's funny.
Speaker 2:I was driving here today and mine just went below three quarters of a tank and I thought, oh, I'll stop on my way home and get gas.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean mine's got to be on zero, and a lot of people do say that. I mean, first of all, if something happens, you probably should have gas in your car. I'll be the one stranded if there's a natural disaster or something. But my mom was a Wesley.
Speaker 2:My mom was like you it doesn't need gas until it's, until it says to do it right. And so I think I have emotional scars from posting in yes, because I can remember always saying do we have gas, do we have gas, do we have enough gas? Right, so I'm like no.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, and back in the day there wasn't the digital, like so many miles left you were on empty. And then you just, you know, pressed your luck. Is it pressed your luck or pushed your luck? Press your luck, press your luck, push your luck. Just push or press. Now we got to look that one up. Press your luck, press your luck.
Speaker 2:No, I say, push your luck. You're really pushing your luck.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's like coming down the pipe, I don't know. But anyway we'll get into that, but you didn't know when it was going to run out. But okay, back to our hotline. The other text message we got a couple of times were from women who said they felt like that that was a way. That was a way of a man being controlling, and it could be Is by doing all these things. You know it's their way of being controlling.
Speaker 2:And I've heard of crazy. I've had friends that were married to crazy people not any longer, yeah, and their husbands would write down their mileage.
Speaker 1:No, I'm not putting what? No, I'm not. No, that's definitely controlled. What did they write it down for?
Speaker 2:I've had employees. I have had employees in the past that their husbands wrote their mileage down and they would have to call them when they got to work and they would have to call them on their way home. No, but so that was just a complete control. Distrust, right I?
Speaker 1:wouldn't put up with that, and that, to me, is a sign that he's doing something or the other person is doing something. He's very insecure. They're so insecure because they've done something or something's going on that they have to control you, yeah, or verify that you're not doing, probably, what they've already done, right? And?
Speaker 2:who has that much energy?
Speaker 1:Right, what's the point? If it's got to be that complicated, it's not going to work in the long run anyway. Why are you wasting your time?
Speaker 2:You're like I don't even know when Dylan's coming or going, I have to ask him every day when do you work?
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I was leaving out today. I was going out of the gate, he was coming in the gate and I was like, hey, yeah, I mean, I trust him completely. Yeah, I don't need to control. But now, hey, but I can tell you this it does not matter what the circumstance, if I get in his car to drive it for anything, I don't know if it's just the way the stars line up, it's always going to be on empty.
Speaker 2:He's an empty kind of driver. Yeah, and I'm like I just feel like he does it on purpose, so I fill it up, pay for it, which is fine. Yeah, it's funny, it's almost a joke. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, mine's always on empty too.
Speaker 2:Always.
Speaker 1:Unless you get in on the right day that I just filled it up, but I thought that was interesting. Two different takes on the topic is is it a love language or is it a controlling thing? And it can depend on the situation.
Speaker 2:And it can depend on like for me and friends of mine, it depends on when they got married. If they got married at 20, their husbands may do that. They may think it's super sweet, right? If they got married at 35., when they've been on their own and independent, they may be like I don't need a man to pump my damn cat, right.
Speaker 2:You know, and I can. I can appreciate both perspectives. I get it. And if you're doing it to be controlling, shame on you. Right, You're doing it to be sweet. Good for you. Good for you.
Speaker 1:Right, okay, moving on from that, there is a tick talk trend that has been going around. It's very popular this week, so you know this air. In a couple of weeks it might have died down by then, but it's a very simple trend. It's just really a comment question, but I'm going to ask you this. So it's basically people just filming their. It could be whoever, but it's usually women filming their or videoing their man, boyfriend, whatever, and they're just going up to them and saying how often do you think about the Roman Empire Like it's a legitimate?
Speaker 2:question. So you're asking me yeah.
Speaker 1:Never, no Me either, but all of these people are like, oh, like once a week, oh, I thought about it.
Speaker 2:The Roman Empire, I mean, I may think about it like maybe once every 12 or 18 months, if I'm looking at something you know architectural and I don't know where the this trend or whatever came from.
Speaker 1:I don't know what sparked it, but it's all these videos and people will just say, like, how often do you think about the Roman Empire? And I guess is that a like straight man thing. Like, what are you thinking about? What is there to think about? I want to dissect this.
Speaker 2:Well, I I guess, when I may, and I'm just trying to think when I may have thought about the Roman Empire maybe it was from an engineering perspective, like how did they do some of the things they did? I have thought that, like how did they make things happen during that time, the architecture, the buildings, the structures?
Speaker 1:Right, but does that pop in your head like regularly?
Speaker 2:No, I'm just saying the few times, you know, every 12 or 18 months that it pops into my head it. I think that's what it would be about, I was baffled Cause Daniel showed it to me.
Speaker 1:He's like, and he was like I don't get this. And I was like I don't think I've ever thought about the Roman Empire, other than if someone says something about about it and then I have to think about it, but like it never, ever pops in my head Ever, like I don't just sit and think like oh, about the Roman Empire. And then one person I saw was like, oh, I thought about it today and I looked up like they had Googled something about it and I was like what the hell, I don't get it I don't know Anyway it's weird I just wanted to ask you how often you thought about maybe I was left out of the me either.
Speaker 2:No, I mean it's funny, you know cause there's all kinds of statistics. You know cause they say men think about sex every it's like 26 seconds. Now, I agree with that one, I do agree with that one. But the Roman Empire, yeah, now that I don't get. I mean I see the daily physical things. Oh I need to pee, or I don't think I poop today. You know, we think like those things, like I don't know.
Speaker 2:My brain is way too old, the only thing I ever think of is like on a regular basis in the summer is like I do not. I really do not know much about the person that invented air conditioning, but I love them. No, I think about that randomly, you do, I do. I think, whoever he or she was, they whatever, whoever it was, thank you, yeah, thank you, because air conditioning really is my yeah Is just a huge necessity for me in South Carolina.
Speaker 1:I know the.
Speaker 2:Roman Empire. No, I mean, how often do you think about the flea market?
Speaker 1:Never, I know. It's just like I don't, I don't think about, I don't know. My brain is way too scattered. How often do you?
Speaker 2:think about the royal family. So you know, I think about, I actually think about them fairly often because I follow the royal family on Instagram, because it fascinates me Just the whole structure and well, maybe that's how, maybe it's a straight guy thing, maybe that fascinates them.
Speaker 1:The Roman Empire of like, like you said, the engineering, and how did they do it? Yeah, or the or the. You lost me on the.
Speaker 2:I'm lost.
Speaker 1:I'm so lost on this.
Speaker 2:I don't know. So let us know. What do you guys think about the Roman Empire? Yeah, Ask your husband. Yeah, or boyfriend, or whoever, or whoever Ask your mother, we don't care, just ask somebody. And then let us know in our text.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we want to know how often. Yeah, that's just a weird one to me. Another thing I wanted to bring up. This is we are jumping all over, all over the land today, but how do you feel about? This was another social media thing and that, like this, wrecks me when I see other people doing it and how you feel about it. But how do you feel about, like, when you're getting married and cake in the face, you know how, instead of like you're cutting?
Speaker 2:the cake. I think it's the silliest damn thing in the world, and if Dylan did that to me, I would pull his hair right there in front of everybody, right? Yes, I don't think it's cute.
Speaker 1:I don't think it's funny it may be my sense of humor is not the same, but if you did that to me, whoever, if you did that to me, the way, okay, I don't even think it's cute to like put icing on your nose, like you're slicing the cake, which is also dumb as hell, but anyway, that's here and there. But and then you're going to like mash it in someone's face. But like I saw on social media, like someone you know, a gorgeous wedding or whatever, and then the husband just like mashes the piece of cake in the girl's face.
Speaker 2:I don't think it's. Yeah, it would make me mad.
Speaker 1:I would divorce your ass right there. It would be a no Like that right there, the fact that you do not respect me enough, especially in the hair, in the makeup Right, especially as a woman, from a woman's standpoint of you, where they have gotten their hair, done their makeup, they've picked out the perfect dress, it's their day, and then you're going to do that shit Now.
Speaker 2:I could see me and you here putting me and you as a friend, or or, or Dylan and I making a cake or something and like being fun and goofing and like dabbing some on your nose like as a funny little thing when you're making it, or on Instagram but for a event like a wedding Right, and then you mess my face up.
Speaker 2:I would be pissed. Yeah, I mean I'm not gonna lie Really, and I have, if anyone that knows I have a great sense of humor. I think, yeah, I mean I'm you, do I Much better than me. I can laugh and have fun with a lot of things, but I just think I've always thought it was so stupid. Yeah, but I also think it's stupid for one year olds when they do the birthday cake playing in the birthday cake.
Speaker 1:That's just a damn mess. That mess and a gong, I know.
Speaker 2:And then they get that die from the frosting and it stains, yeah, and I'm just like we're not gonna do that.
Speaker 1:So we need to know. You need to text or call our hotline. It's 864-982-5029. I'll put it in the show notes, as always. But here's what I want to know when you got married, did you smash cake in each other's face? And two if you did, are you still married? Because maybe that's a sign like because I feel like that's a respect thing, and it's probably not. And if you did and you are still married, do you regret being married?
Speaker 2:And you can make it anonymous. Yeah, we won't we're not gonna call you out.
Speaker 1:We won't call you out, but I just want to know because I feel like that's just setting the tone for lack of respect. I don't find it funny, I don't find it cute it does and it bugs me Especially. On social media they're posting this gorgeous wedding and then it got to that.
Speaker 2:I feel sorry for the bride Right Because like, and you know it cost, you know it's probably anywhere from $500 to $2,000 for hair and makeup.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:For a super formal Right Fancy wedding. I mean, I think that's stupid too, but that's just my opinion. But if I were a woman and I put all that into my in the dress-.
Speaker 1:Right, and then you're cutting the cake kind of early on in the reception and then you're walking around with icing and sugar and sticky. You know how we fill out all that, but mm-mm-mm-mm.
Speaker 2:No, and I would just. But see, I'm the type of person I would be. I would say before, I would say if you smear that cake on my face in front of everyone, I am ripping up the marriage license right there in front of everybody, right, and I'm leaving.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that would be enough. I mean, that would literally just-.
Speaker 2:Oh, I would make yeah, I would probably knock the whole cake in the floor. I mean, I would be Just Test Hearing it down.
Speaker 1:I don't get it.
Speaker 2:I mean, do something else cute, do the dance. I think the dances are cute. Yeah, do the dance or something, do the fun.
Speaker 1:But why are you smearing cake on someone's face? Speaking of weddings, this is a good lead-in. You know what I thought about the other day? What I don't think we've told this story. I think we've told it in a live sale, but I don't think we've told it on here. Do you remember when, way back in the day, early on in our friendship, I had to I was doing my cousin's wedding and we went to New York City?
Speaker 2:Yes, the book of reception. Yes, you were going to go by yourself, and then you had never been in New York City and the last minute-.
Speaker 1:Because I was driving to do my cousin's wedding. You were driving I was going to do the flowers. It was a small wedding and the day before I was like oh, will you go with me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then we drive and I drove the whole way 12 hours.
Speaker 1:Did you drive the whole way yet?
Speaker 2:Because you were controlling I drove the whole way, you're controlling and the driving I am.
Speaker 1:I like to drive.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I remember it very well and thank you for bringing up another embarrassing moment of my life we drove.
Speaker 1:So Stephen is a good friend. This is probably what solidified our friendship, because we Okay, first of all, you were such a good sport because you weren't getting paid or anything.
Speaker 2:So I was going to do my cousin's wedding, but it was fun.
Speaker 1:In New York City. I had never been and I was driving there. And I'd been many times in Hold on Before we get to the driving, though I'm the one that drove once we made it to the city.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll let you drive in New York City, because I was like I'm not-.
Speaker 1:In a white delivery van Well, no, no.
Speaker 2:The funny thing was, it was my old Ronald McDonald van the McDonald's van Literally the clown drove. It was a white, unmarked van with tinted windows. Yes, and Wesley bought the Ronald McDonald van For me For a delivery van. Then literally my clown van yeah, it was a clown van, and we drove it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that van had white makeup in it until the day it sold.
Speaker 2:You could never get Until that one went to the junkyard.
Speaker 1:Because the thing with getting off topic, but the thing with the clown is they would not get Like if they were going to a school or something like that. They would drive there and then get ready in the van Because Ronald couldn't be really seen.
Speaker 2:No, and here was the other thing, Because and Ronald worked for me and there was only so many Ronald McDonald's in the country and generally every co-op had one Ronald and they reported to one owner, and you were that owner in this area. So it was a very, very prominent position. I mean it went I hired the last Ronald out of Las Vegas. I mean, they're big time people.
Speaker 1:And these are I think we talked about that. It's the real deal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a big deal. So one of the big rules from McDonald's Corporation is a Ronald McDonald can never drive any vehicle in costume, because think about Heaven For Bid they were in a serious car accident.
Speaker 1:And there's Ronald, and you got Ronald McDonald laying out on the street bleeding out.
Speaker 2:It's just it would be a PR nightmare. So it just didn't happen. And but you know, it took him a long time to do makeup and everything. So when I would have him, like if I had him doing appearances, like at restaurants, and they were like my restaurants and they were close together I would say leave your van at this store, I'm going to put you in my car and I'm going to drive you to this place. So he didn't have to do that, right?
Speaker 1:So when you're in, so he's putting on makeup all the time, so he's touching the steering wheel in the dash, so everything has this white in the little grooves of the vinyl, because he would get ready in the van Like he might pull up to the parking lot and then and get ready in the van with his white makeup and everything. Got a stool with a mirror, and there must have been some kind of white powder, probably a setting powder or something. But that stuff was all over the van and it was there until the day Forever that van-.
Speaker 1:Nothing would take it all no, just everywhere and you think you've gotten rid of it and I guess it'd probably be in the seats or something, and then the next thing you know you'd look around, there's white. So anyway, back to New York City.
Speaker 1:That's what we were driving, unmarked, white, van tinted windows. So we drive the New York City. I had never been, so I was excited. But we were only there for like 48 hours, two days, two days. And, steven, besides doing this wedding that we were doing, which we had done all the arrangements because we didn't we knew we wouldn't have space to do that. We had done all of those in advance. We did potted orchids and like bird cages. It was beautiful.
Speaker 2:It was one of the prettiest receptions I think I've ever seen.
Speaker 1:And by bird cages I mean fancy calls Like five, six feet tall bird cages Beautiful.
Speaker 2:We had orchids hanging in there. It was just gorgeous. Yeah, and here's another funny add-on we had to unload all of those plants into our hotel room in New York. Why?
Speaker 1:did we do that Because it was the next day or something.
Speaker 2:It was next day.
Speaker 1:It was hot. I can't remember why we couldn't leave them in the sun.
Speaker 2:It was hot as blazes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was like in the summer, so we unloaded all of this into our New York hotel room On luggage racks.
Speaker 2:We were carrying it we were like it was in Brooklyn and it was a ton of you could hardly move in our room. It was all flowers, yeah.
Speaker 1:It was crazy, it was fun. So we get there, we do the wedding. That's fun and fun and all goes well, it's gorgeous. But then Steven is like you've never been to New York City. So we got to see the city, so we went on a marathon, I don't know. Like a 10 hour tour and we did Just the two of us.
Speaker 2:The whole-.
Speaker 1:We did the whole city In like 10 hours.
Speaker 2:But it was like Chevy Chase.
Speaker 1:We were like, okay, Like okay, we made it to the it was all drive-bys or walk-bys.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was like okay, there's the Statue of Liberty, let's go. Okay, we got to go Right. And I mean I drug you to every landmark, landmark In New York City. Even we went to the Upper East Side and ate at Barney Greengrass. I said you have to eat at a Jewish deli. You haven't been to New York if you haven't eaten in a deli. So I drug you to my favorite deli in the world and we ate there. And it was like we were everywhere.
Speaker 1:Yeah, from there to Tom Square To the Plaza Hotel.
Speaker 2:We went to.
Speaker 1:Empire State. We did it all the way down to yeah, it was crazy. So we have a fantastic time and then we are driving home. This is where the story comes in, with Steven.
Speaker 2:And one thing you need to know about me is an avid car person and I like performance cars and you like to drive and I drive fast. I drive safe, but I drive fast, and it's not a reckless thing. It's just like I want to get where I'm going. It's probably an ADD thing, it's probably just because I'm so.
Speaker 1:Well, we start out on our trip back to Greenville, south Carolina, from New York.
Speaker 2:City and I drove like 90 plus miles an hour there and going down the highway and we are going through Maryland. Or was it Delaware?
Speaker 1:It was Maryland.
Speaker 2:And it was an eight lane freeway, eight lanes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was big and we are going through there and all of a sudden here comes the blue lights and Steven is getting pulled over. Well, first of all, let me say I had already said you need to slow down, we need to slow down.
Speaker 2:Did you say that every time we go anywhere you need to slow?
Speaker 1:down. You need to slow down, so we go in through. Probably I think it was like 60 miles per hour speed limit and I was doing like 96 or something. Something crazy.
Speaker 2:No, it was set. The speed limit was 70 and I was doing 96.
Speaker 1:I was going 26 miles over the speed limit. And here we go. And here comes the blue light and Steven gets pulled over on this huge interstate in Maryland and officer comes.
Speaker 2:OK, but here's the thing the whole time. You know that horrible moment when the blue lights come on and you haven't gotten pulled over. Oh yeah, this asshole is over in the seat next to me.
Speaker 2:I'm not paying your ticket. I am not. I told you to slow down. I'm not paying it. I don't care if you got a jail, I'm not paying that. This is going to be a four hundred dollar ticket. I told you to slow it. That is all he's saying, and I'm like, please just tell me. You have registration and insurance card, which was a miracle that you had.
Speaker 1:Right, right, no, yeah, no and maybe that's never a miracle that I had it in place. That's never happened. I was like I'm not paying this, I'm not paying for this. You did this. I told you you need to slow down like the Mm, hmm. So then the officer comes up to the window and Steven rolls it down. And you know, steven has that personality.
Speaker 2:Hey, how's it going? You know, I was like we're going to get out of this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Sir, can you step out of the car?
Speaker 2:And I was like as I looked at what it sounds like I've only been pulled out of the car. What type of a life that, what it comes for, involved in that. So I was like this isn't good.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. So he pulls Steven I'm sitting in the passenger side and he pulls Steven out to the back of the van Again, white van, unmarked, tinted windows, and all I see is Steven up against the back door with his. Spread eagle hands and legs Spread and I'm trying not to turn around and be obvious, you know.
Speaker 2:So I'm looking in the rear view mirror had me spread eagle patting me down. Yes, it was. I mean, I felt like absolute, pure trash, but he was kind of hot he was, but I felt he had the personality of that doorknob. He had no, none, none. And then there's me, just full of personality. Hey, so no, I have long story.
Speaker 1:He's hiding me down. Yeah, hold on Long story short. What we find out is he thought we were trafficking drugs Marijuana. Yeah, but why would you traffic in a unmarked white vehicle with tinted windows Like? That doesn't like that, Padded me down. I mean yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, it gets, it gets good. He's hiding me down and I'm like. He's like, do you? I'm like, what are you looking for? And he was like do you have any guns or knobs? And I said no.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And he said what about your friend? Does he have any guns or knobs? And I said what? Yeah, I mean that's what I said, what he was like. I just want to make sure I'm not in harm's way. I was like he has nothing. I said the only thing he could do is whip you together or kid arrangement. Yeah, and I thought it was funny. He did not. He did not think it was funny.
Speaker 2:And so he looked in the back door and he was like so why are you, where have you been? I was like his cousin got married in New York City. We drove up and did the flowers and we're driving back to South Carolina. Yeah, and he said so you're telling me that you drove from South Carolina to New York City to do flowers for a wedding. I was like mm. Hmm, yeah, that's the truth. And he was like and what is this you have in the back of the van? I was like, well, that would be some orchids and we have some autumn ferns there. I think there's a few mother ferns. We have some moss. He was like mm. Yeah, okay, yes, moss. And I'm like, yeah, and he's like, and it's bound in balls, like that. I'm like, yeah, so kind of find out, we were trafficking.
Speaker 2:He thought we were trafficking marijuana.
Speaker 1:And this was like an hour or deal.
Speaker 2:It was horrible. So I was like, oh my God, we, I'm going to jail for moss, for moss. And I was like, and he just could not believe. And I was like I promise you bring the drug canines out, right, it is moss. And I was like we are just two fags that just did flowers. You can't say that I mean this is it. But I did. I was like this, this, this is it. Yeah, and after, and then he let me get back in the van Right, and then he sat back there, seemed like for eight days Right In the car, and I was like Wesley, what's going to happen?
Speaker 1:I'm like I don't know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it was like an hour long, and then he gave me a warning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he eventually I think you eventually got to him with your big personality and he felt bad for being a jerk, being a jerk and he let us go Long story short but seeing Steven spread eagle against the back of that van, I thought I'm really going to get this guy.
Speaker 2:I was like I'm going to win him over. When I said I was like the worst he can do is whip you together and orchid arrangement, I was like he's going to get it Right and he didn't it just took so much time.
Speaker 1:I feel like. Did we offer him some flowers to take home? I feel like we did something. I don't know at the end. We tried to play it off as being nice but.
Speaker 2:I think he honestly did feel bad, because I just think he was like why are you in an unmarked van with tenet windows carrying around Like it did sound?
Speaker 1:bogus. Yeah, yeah it did, but he did come around and you didn't even get a ticket.
Speaker 2:So he obviously felt bad and I had every right to give you a ticket.
Speaker 1:He could have at least still given you that speed.
Speaker 2:That would have been like reckless driving ticket. That would have been like bad. I would have had to go back to Maryland, to go to court. Bad, it would have been bad, that's crazy, but I still speed.
Speaker 1:But see, look, we wasted that whole hour being pulled over, if I just had just gone the speed limit or within a reasonable amount, we would have gotten home and he was going to get us anyway because of the van. Yeah, he would have pulled us over because of the van. It was, the van was a dead giveaway. Can you imagine if I was driving by myself and that had happened? I would have been a nerd. They. I would have been like you would have been. They would have had to take you to the hospital.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that time, because what you don't, you guys don't realize, I've changed Wesley's life in many ways Not all are good. But, when they came, friends Wesley was much more reserved, much more reserved, I mean way more reserved. Yeah, he just did not put it out there. And then he met me, which is, and you pulled it out of yeah, I'm just like it market.
Speaker 2:He was like oh my gosh, I can't believe. You just said that to him. Like what? Yeah, you know it just is. He would not. He would not go up and meet celebrities. He would make me go meet the celebrity and then introduce him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's how shy he was, and then it market even with like vendors and stuff. I would, and I still kind of do this today. It's different than when it started. Today it's more because I just love Steven like to rip into somebody to rip into someone or whatever. But before, back in the day, I would say, ok, we're pissed at this vendor and here's why, and I need you to handle it. And so he would go in the showroom and make I handle we're here, and we need to see someone.
Speaker 1:I handle it over there Now. It's so funny and I just laugh and Wesley's just truly not a comfort.
Speaker 2:You have to really push Wesley to be confrontational. You're just not. But once I go for that later in, wesley's the kind of person to if he goes to buy a car he's going to be like oh, I see your, your price is fifty eight thousand. Ok, I want this car. Well, that is nowhere in my in my DNA. Yeah, no, I say oh, I see, your price is fifty eight thousand, I'll take it for fifty two and you're going to add this, this and this on for it. So Wesley doesn't go by cars without me. No, he has to.
Speaker 1:Not going to do that. I know my mom is currently needing a new car and she called me. She's like why don't you go to the dealership and like here's kind of what I want, whatever, and negotiate? I was like I do not do that, you don't. I mean, I am good.
Speaker 2:Well, she took me the last time she bought a car.
Speaker 1:I'm good at many, many business things, but I'm not going to negotiate a car and really, because I don't like cars enough to do that, like I don't, I don't no, all the ins and outs and like I don't even care to know, I just want that car. So what do I got to do to get it, whereas Steven's like mm-mm.
Speaker 2:Well, it's number one, it's about the money, yeah, and number two it is about the win. And number three is I know the things that they can do and don't try to sell me your extended warranty bullshit, because I know how. That now, certain things I do because I know you know, like on my current cars, right, they have they came with very expensive rims and so I knew those rims cost like two thousand dollars a wheel.
Speaker 1:So you need the warranty when you got up on the curb, yes, and.
Speaker 2:But here's the thing when you sell the car, you fill the paperwork out and you get it prorated. You get your money back. Oh for what you haven't. You can do that with all your car warranty. So if you're listening, out there and you get. You get any extended warranties on your car unless it says in fine print you can't. Most of them you can, so it's a good question to ask. It is a good question to ask, but I usually always get it in like um I bought.
Speaker 1:So you're saying if you buy a warranty and say it covers it's a five year warranty, mm, hmm, and you sell your car in three years If it's a purchased warranty if that's what I'm saying like, if you've purchased an additional warranty and it's a got a time limit for five years, then you sell your car in three years. You can get the prorated amount for the remaining two years back.
Speaker 2:Well, or yes, like I, you remember that white Mercedes I bought that I hated because the seat wouldn't adjust correctly. It was a fine car but I have long legs. Anyway, it was a whole thing. Well, that car, I had bought the warranty on the wheels because it had the AMG expensive wheels, yeah. So, and when I realized I only had that car, it's like six months and I was like I don't want this car and I took it and I got the new car Right and I said to the guy well, I want the wheel coverage, can you just transfer it because I have it on this? He said no, so I had to buy it on the black Mercedes. But then, like in two weeks, I got a check in the mail for, like I don't remember, $1,200 or something. Yeah, for it was. Basically I got it, I just transferred it. So, like, if you ever get a warranty, like for paint, you need to do, a whole car set on here.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:Like, if you do like the paint protection or the interior protection, and then you you keep a car a year and you trade it, you can prorate it, get that money back. Mm-hmm, Unless you know they've changed. I've always done that, yeah.
Speaker 1:I think, okay, I want a new car eventually. We should do a whole segment and record you negotiating the car and let's put your skills to the test and see what we end up with. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:Well, I've kind of got my eye out on you a car, okay, and I think it's going to happen sooner than later, oh good, and. I really like it.
Speaker 1:Well, I like it. Mm-hmm, is it the model I want? Okay, good.
Speaker 2:Good. So we do need to do a little car segment. When we get yours, yeah, the next time. Or when I go get, because your mom did call me and mention helping her get a new car yeah, we'll have to do that.
Speaker 1:Give some more tips I feel like she would be very good at giving more tips.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and Dylan.
Speaker 1:we need to get Dylan on here he's a yeah, yeah, he researches everything, oh my.
Speaker 2:God, he knows everything about a car. That's crazy. Well, like when I wanted my car, I was like this is what I'm thinking I want. And I said but I want this engine, this and this. See, I don't like researching it Right, I just like no, driving it, yeah. And so he was like okay, found it here, it is Boom I was like okay. And then I just go beat him down, beat him down.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you just beat him down to the ground.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just get to me.
Speaker 1:Well, speaking of tips, let's talk about more social media tips. We talked about this last time and kind of ran out of time, so I think now's the perfect time to continue on the conversation about that. So, getting into the social media tips and that sort of thing, that's what we were talking about last time. So a quick recap we talked about if you're wanting to get into it the importance of your handle name, which I'm currently still in the process of trying to change mine.
Speaker 2:And when you do that, you need to get currently under the process of figuring out mine.
Speaker 1:Yes, I thought it would be done by now, but I just haven't landed on that one yet.
Speaker 2:You'll know, and it's not a disaster Like we need to get it right. It's not an emergency 911.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you know your handle name's important. You got to get on there and be yourself. You can't fake it because you will be worn out trying to keep up the act. And it shows.
Speaker 2:I think it does. It shows when you're faking it. I mean, can you imagine me getting on there and going hi? I love everybody and everything.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:No, you expect, you know it's just like I told my, I told my accountants when I heard on my set. You know they showed up in gray suits and I said I say shit, damn. And the F word. I won't say that on here and if you can't handle that you probably needed to go back to Atlanta and they laughed and they're like, oh my gosh, we're going to get along fine, but be true to who you are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because that's what you want to put out and that's what you want people to connect with and you want it to be easy.
Speaker 2:And if you're who you are, you know I'm truly a nice person and I try to make that come across. But I do have a wacky sense of humor and that's going to come across. You may get it, you may not.
Speaker 1:And no matter who you are, you're not going to be for everyone. You're going to find your people, so not everyone's going to get you Us, I mean, you know a lot of people don't understand it.
Speaker 2:Right, I don't, I don't get it.
Speaker 1:The other thing you have to do is be consistent, stephen. You need to post regularly and you need to be in stories regularly. Posting regularly means you need to post three to five times a week, and being consistent in stories means you need to be in stories every day. You might want to take one or two days off, but if you're really wanting to do this as a job, as an influencer, and grow your account, that's, you know, very important, stephen. He is not trying to do Instagram as a job or an influencer.
Speaker 2:No, no, but I do enjoy it.
Speaker 1:You're just doing it as a bonus thing. So keep that in mind. Where you want to go with your account, don't post personal things on your influencer or creator account. Meaning, if you're home decor, don't then post your family. You know photos every other thing. When someone clicks on your account, you want them to know what your account is about, what they're going to get from your account. That doesn't mean you can't you know, occasionally post your Christmas picture or something like that.
Speaker 1:Yes, but don't do it regularly and junk up your feed and you can save that thing more for stories, because if you're posting in stories, that's where you've made more connections. Stories are more casual and you've made your connection and those are the people who will want to see that as well. And then make sure you're telling your story to create that connection. So be your authentic self and tell your story, whether it's telling your story about you, your product, what you're offering and that sort of thing. So that's kind of where we left off there for those. So again, it's never too late to get started. So get started right away if you are wanting to do that.
Speaker 2:And don't get discouraged, that's a big thing with me, because it you know, some days, some days, some weeks, some months, it feels like what am I doing?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then I still feel like that. I feel like that a lot.
Speaker 1:Everyone does and I do feel like that a lot Like what am I doing, why am I doing this? Like, and it takes time. I feel like the viewers don't understand how much time and you've witnessed this with me Like, just in my normal day, things that would take me five minutes will take me 30 minutes because I'm storing about it and sharing it, which I love, I absolutely love it and you know, wouldn't really have it any other way. But then you have those days when you're like why am I doing this? You know everyone has those moods and those feelings. So that's, you know, 100% accurate.
Speaker 2:And that's one of my personal challenges, I think, with Instagram is I'm such a by nature and impatient person, right? I mean, you know how I am? Yeah, that is, that is one of my biggest flaws. You are very impatient. I'm like, come on, gotta go, gotta go, gotta keep it moving, keep it moving. And you can't do that if you're, you know, recording your life, right, and that's my biggest struggle. So I've got to figure out how to take a deep breath and just slow down a minute and do it.
Speaker 1:The other thing, if you're wanting to do this again as an influencer, creator, whatever you want to call it is, you got to stay up to date with Instagram or whatever social media platform you're owned, so you have got to constantly be learning what is current as far as what that program or platform wants from you. It's funny I see a lot of influencers and creators who have been on here for years with me and they're still doing things very old school that are hurting their accounts because they learned it one way and they haven't changed with the time and I've seen their growth like drastically slow down or they're complaining that they're not growing and that sort of thing, or they're not getting the engagement but you hear us talk about if you follow anyone, talk about the algorithm and what it's pushing and what it wants, and that is a true thing, and so you have to stay up to date with that, like right now on Instagram. That's where I put all of my effort. More than anything is on Instagram reels.
Speaker 1:Reels are what's going to get you noticed. Reels are what's going to get you pushed out there. Reels are what's going to get you new followers. So you have to, whether you like doing reels or not. If you want to do it as a job, then you have to research and figure that out and make it work for you. You can't just say well, I know reels are what's going to get me noticed, but I'm not going to do that. I mean, that's like saying we own a home decor store and I know that this is.
Speaker 2:you know, Pillows are hot, but we're not going to do pillows.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're not going to do pillows. Well, you may want to do pillows. If it's going to make you money, you know you got to change.
Speaker 2:And you can Google what's going on, right?
Speaker 1:And that's my point, just as and maybe you're already in Instagram and hadn't thought about it Google what is current Like used to. When you started out, you wanted to do up to 30 hashtags in a post, and I still see people doing that and listing them all out. Now Instagram doesn't want you to do more than three to five hashtags in a post, so you're doing all that work for nothing. That's getting you not noted. Any notifications, no, no variety whatever. Both Not getting you noticed. But then Instagram, because it only wants to see three to five, it will filter things like that as spam Like. Why are you doing 30? But you know that's what we learned. You know, two years ago you did 30 hashtags.
Speaker 2:Now, three to five, and also you know they used to like tagging a lot of people and now it's like one. You don't want to tag more than one and you don't want to do that every time, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so if you're posting a picture or whatever you don't want to tag, like different accounts. Like, if Steven post a picture, you don't want to tag the nested fig home, the nested fig farm shenanigans, because it sees that as spam. So you can post and tag like the nested fig. Yeah, and that has changed. It used to get you used to.
Speaker 2:I would do, I would do a post and like if it were my living room and I would tag everyone that has product row, currying company, right, yada, yada, yada. And now if I do that, I just tag either our home store or currying company or row.
Speaker 1:Right and then it doesn't.
Speaker 2:It does so much better yeah.
Speaker 1:And it's crazy to think about that part of being on social media as a job that you have to constantly stay on top of that, and it changes like every few months. You know anytime, obviously anytime Instagram rolls something out or any social media platform. If they roll something new out, you have immediately got to be on that because that's what they're going to push, because they want their new update to work and be the thing so like when it's going to put you at the top of the pile, right, so you have to stay on top of that.
Speaker 2:And there's little things, like even Wesley. From time to time I'll be doing something and he'll say oh, I just realized this. Let me show you this. Right, you know something that will increase more engagement, and it's such little bitty things that you wouldn't even think about. So I would say try to have a buddy in the Instagram world that can share with you those little ins and outs.
Speaker 1:And that was going to be my next tip If you are just starting out in social media and again wanting to do it as a job, find your little Instagram or social media friends who you can tag, or y'all can play off of each other or whatever and you want that to be someone that is around your same follower count. Like you don't want to try to team up with someone If you're just starting out at zero followers. You don't want to try to team up with someone who has 200,000 followers. In your mind you do because you're like I want to get followers from them, but again, the algorithm sees that as spamming. Like why are you two? You know teaming up and that sort of thing. So you want to have someone who is on your equal level within you know, within a range, so that you're both growing together. You can play off of each other and you can, you know, create a community together.
Speaker 2:And another thing that I've noticed, and I don't we haven't talked about this and you may disagree but some large accounts that are great accounts. I would, I would love to have those accounts, but I personally think they they share other people's content too much. I mean, I think it's okay to do that every now and then I love this, you know, when give them credit, but I think you have to do your own.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you definitely have to do your own and sharing other people's content isn't again. That used to be very popular form of you know, sharing and that sort of thing. That doesn't do as much anymore.
Speaker 2:Right, and I bet some people are still doing a lot and it's big.
Speaker 1:And it is good if you have, you know, a community and you're like, oh so, and so did this and I'm their friend and I love it and I want to share it every now and then. Yeah, and it's good as a follower. If you're not doing it as your creator account, as a follower, it's amazing for you to share things. That's two different things. The reason why, as a creator or influencer, is you want it to be your original content, your work as the viewer or the follower.
Speaker 1:It's amazing when you share things because then it's saying I like this person's work, it's letting Instagram know that and we can get into that, and it's letting your friends know that. So that's like two. It's two different sides of the algorithm. You know, if you're trying to be an influencer or creator, you want to share original. If you're a follower and a viewer, then you want to share those people's content and that's how the circle works there. But, yeah, find someone in your same kind of you know, in your same boat, in your genre, in your genre and in your niche and in your count.
Speaker 1:Niche, niche, niche In your niche we talked about that before In your niche and that buddy up with them and then work together on things. The other question that I get tons, especially if you haven't gotten into social media yet and also just as viewers or followers is how do you make money on social media? So a lot of people think that Instagram you make money from Instagram. You don't make money directly from Instagram. You can make a few dollars, like now there's things like they all put ads on your feed and you might make a few, like literally a few dollars, because they pay you a portion of that, like pennies of that but where people make money on social media if you don't know how it works and I'm not discounting the social media platform because we are making money from Instagram, because it is the driver of the traffic, it is the way we make money, but it's not from, it's the vehicle. It's the vehicle, yes, but it is not like Instagram is paying us money.
Speaker 1:So there's a few ways that you make money off of social media. So the way that we went, or I went, was to use it to promote my own company. So obviously I'm promoting the Nestive Fig, which is our online store. I'm decorating with those products. I share it. You get inspired as a follower, I put the link there and you buy products and, of course, that's just like you go in when you're shopping those product links that are from our business. It's no different than you walking into our retail store.
Speaker 2:Same. Thing.
Speaker 1:So that's how we make money. So you're buying from my link and it's my product and we're shipping it to you. We make money that way, obviously, the other way you can make money is you can have a sponsored post so you might work with a brand, say Home Depot.
Speaker 2:Home Depot. It could be any brand yeah.
Speaker 1:Lowe's Walmart, yeah, or it can be a small brand or whatever. For example, I do very few sponsored posts. I will do them occasionally if it's something that I really get excited about because I'm like, oh, this is going to be easy.
Speaker 2:Or that you use. It's true, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I did a sponsored post a couple of months ago for the Stuffed Marshmallows. So that's just a small company. They reached out to me because they saw, like one of my recipes, oh we like how you do things, would you be interested in our product? And I was like, oh my gosh, I've never heard of this. We've talked about this so many times. Love marshmallows.
Speaker 2:We've talked about this. It was genuine, so you don't do stuff weird.
Speaker 1:So then I was like, oh my gosh, yes. So they were like okay, we will pay you X amount of dollars to do a post for us. So I had to go to Walmart and physically buy the product myself, take the time out of my day, put the reel together and post about the product, and then they paid me to do that. So that's a sponsored post and so I will do those, like I said occasionally, if it doesn't interfere with what we do, as our brand is having our own line store.
Speaker 1:And if it's genuine, and if it's genuine in something that I like what I love and not blowing smoke up your skirt.
Speaker 2:But I not just you, but anyone I like it when it's very genuine, when you know it's a product that they're using. And I haven't done any sponsored posts, but I have. If I talk about a product, if I mention a product on my account, I use it and I'm just sharing it as a friend. And if they approached me and wanted to pay me for that, that's well and good, but I'm just not the person that's going to go use this product because they're paying. No.
Speaker 1:And I feel like most influencers, most of your influencer, it goes back to being genuine in yourself. Most influencers, I truly feel like, only promote things that they genuinely like and use, you might get one off bad Apple.
Speaker 2:Our friends, our friends that are on Instagram. I wholeheartedly believe that Right. They believe they are genuine. They're using their products because they talk to us Right About the product. Oh yeah, this is great, and we use some of those products now because of them, Right? So I'm not talking about them, but I mean, there are people out there that are not our friends and I may be wrong.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't think they're I do not know how as many products as they promote. I don't know how they could possibly be that passionate about that many products.
Speaker 1:About different products. Yeah, but then there's also. You can look at it two different ways. It's no different than an advertisement on TV, it's also a job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a job, they're active.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's you know they're getting paid, so it just depends on how you look at it and approach it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is. There's nothing wrong with either.
Speaker 1:Right, but I'm just saying for me, I don't do as many sponsored posts and I'm not against them and they're a great thing. I just don't do as many because I only do ones. That, genuinely, is something I'm excited about, because then I can just work it in. As you know, in my day, because we have our own business, we chose to have the online store One. It fits into what I do on the day to day, like that was so me, and so I'm always decorating and switching things out. That that was something that is so, and the direction of all retail and the direction of retail which we were already in. And then the other side for having our own is we're building our own business that we can either sell off one day or help close whatever we want to do.
Speaker 2:That's why we have an app, that's why we have brick and mortar stores, that's why we have trademarks in place, right, right, so that's just two different ways of looking at it.
Speaker 1:And then the third, easiest way to make money on social media if you're wanting to get into it is with commissionable links. So this is when you see people work with Amazon's very common so they'll promote their items and or show you items that they've gotten on Amazon. If you click on someone and like I have an Amazon store front. If you go to my page and you know I've shared random again things that I've genuinely gotten off Amazon and love, like and you should know when they're doing that they're buying those products and then they can link them through.
Speaker 2:Well, I can tell you I need to set that up. You need to help me set that up because I wear Amazon out.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And everything I buy. You go back to my reorder or repurchase, right, it's all the same damn thing, right, and I use it, all Right, like my tanning lotion.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:You know, I glow in the dark year round without tanning lotion. I have to wear bronzer every day of my life on every part of my body or I glow like a glow worm, right? So there are things and see, you know, I really believe in that Like the Amazon is the way to go, because you look at mine and I could tell you everything on there. Oh, this is why I use it. And I tell everybody, like I got leather conditioner. I was telling you, I was like, oh my God, I took these shoes. They were 15 years old. I put this leather conditioner on there. Look at them, right. And I've told everybody about that.
Speaker 1:And that's sort of what being a social media influencer is.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean you used to tell your friends word of mouth like, hey, I got this product and I love it. You need to get this on. Amazon. Well, you're doing the same thing, just on social media, but I think that's why the Amazon link is so awesome?
Speaker 2:Yeah, because it can show a lot on the daily and whatever.
Speaker 1:But so when you're working with a commissionable link and we're using Amazon, as you know. An example that person like if you go to my page and you click on my Amazon link and you buy something on Amazon, I get a commission off of that item. There it now. Amazon is very small commission. We're talking like 3% commission pennies on the dollar. Yeah, so if you spend $100 on there, I'm getting like $3. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:So a dollar is a dollar. And it only takes a dollar to make me holler.
Speaker 1:So I'm just I'm just saying there's this perception, though, that like and you can make really really good money off of all three of these ways having your own business, sponsored posts and commissionable links but it just that's the three different ways that you make money that some people don't understand, like, oh, I want to do this, but how do? How do I do it? Or how do I make money?
Speaker 2:The people making serious bank work seriously hard.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is, and I think that's also like a misconception from viewers or followers. They think it's so easy. It is a lot of work. It's a job. It is a. It is a job, and I'm not talking for me, I'm talking for other influencers. I mean, it's a job for me too. Mine, I feel like, is a little bit easier because it's like in yours, is a lifestyle.
Speaker 2:Yeah Right, I mean not downplaying it because we have our own company.
Speaker 1:But when you're having to seek out these vendors to get the and there's a lot of back and forth, like for that one, you know, marshmallow sponsored post, that probably was a good 10 hours of work, back and forth contracts can you do it? When can you do it? Gotta go get it, gotta film it, gotta send it to them for them to approve it. Gotta post, gotta then engage with it. It is a lot of work and that's just one product and one post, and so people who do that all the time, it literally is a job. And then there's other commissionable links for all kinds of products.
Speaker 1:Like we work as a company the nested fig we will work with influencers as well, and so they will. So we might reach out to someone and say, hey, we love your style you're decorating, we would love for you to use some of our products to style with in your home. And they'll say, oh my gosh, I love your company. You know we try to look at people who've ordered from us or follow, or you know, we like their look, we like their look. And then we'll message them and they'll say, oh my gosh, I love that.
Speaker 1:And then we might say Okay, select some products that you want to decorate with, then we'll send those to you. So they're getting some free product out of it. Not always. Now we have influencers who buy products on their own we have no idea that they're buying them and style and use them Now. They may already be signed up with our affiliate program, so they're still getting the commission, but they genuinely bought the product so it can work either way, Most of our people have genuine they're genuine customers, Right Then and then it can.
Speaker 1:So it can work either way, depending on whatever. And then so when they share our product for the nested fig, they'll say this isn't the nested fig and here's my coupon code, whatever it may be, and then you click that link and buy it. They're getting a commission from that as well. And so smaller companies, like I said, amazon, will be anywhere from like really like 2% all the way up to like seven or eight. They break theirs down by categories and I don't have that in front of me. I'm sure you can look it up, but each category is a little bit different as far as commission, but commissionable links usually range from about 3% to I think the highest I've seen is like 20%, and that's very high. That's very high, very, very uncommon, I would say the most common, especially if you're working with, like the brand directly, not Amazon, but you're working with I'm trying to think one that I've worked with Like five to 7%.
Speaker 1:I would say yeah, I would know I would say seven to like 12% is kind of the going right, going right right now to get commission. I'm trying to think of one that I've worked with other than Amazon. I just do Amazon because that's easy. I haven't worked with any commissionable.
Speaker 2:And I'm wanting a new mattress. So I keep telling Wesley because he's done stuff with mattress companies before and I'm like it's time.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I want a new mattress.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and usually something that large. So this is the other way that you don't really make money is something like I've done a mattress before and you're just getting the free product, but I got like a $5,000 mattress for free, so there is value in that, but then there was no. There was no payout and there was no commission.
Speaker 2:So there was no-. If no gives me the mattress I want free, I'll do a post me naked on it.
Speaker 1:So there is, those are called product exchange and you get hit up a ton for those.
Speaker 2:It's a lot of the stuff you just don't.
Speaker 1:But I will only do that if it's something that I really want, like I like. Oh, I really needed a mattress. This, I got to pick out the mattress that I wanted.
Speaker 2:And it was a great mattress, so this was a genuine you know.
Speaker 1:I would have gone, ended up going and purchasing this mattress, but it just so happened it got presented to me, so I got it for free and it was early on, yeah.
Speaker 2:This was when you didn't have a ton of followers. No you don't have to have a ton of followers. That was what opened my eyes, like going to the Achieve Conference that we're going to oh, it's coming up in a couple of weeks, yeah, so going to the Achieve Conference, what really opened my eyes is, like even my follower, my amount of followers. You don't have to have a ton.
Speaker 1:No, you do not have to.
Speaker 2:It's the engagement that matters, right.
Speaker 1:You do not have to have a ton of followers, and that's what you need to think about and get past if you're trying to start this as a job is. You do not have to have a ton of followers to get sponsored posts, to get those commissionable links, if they're engaged in buying. You can have 500 followers and make good money if they're clicking and buying, because there's accounts that have really high follower count and you're like oh, they got 200,000 followers, but their audience isn't engaged in buying, so it could be equivalent to them having a really engaged 10,000 following. You know what I'm saying. So there's that scale. There's not to get overwhelmed. If you don't have a lot of followers or getting started, you can still make money and in social media there's a lot of money to be made, and that's what I said in the last episode. Don't feel like, oh, there's already people doing this or I can't do it.
Speaker 2:You can do it. It's like saying that no one needs to do another television commercial because there's so many.
Speaker 1:Right or I don't need to open a retail store. There's too many. Yeah, everyone has their own following, their own engagement, their own niche.
Speaker 2:And this is marketing 2023. I was talking to a neighbor of mine and their daughter's graduating from Clemson in marketing and I didn't get into it, but it was so interesting hearing what she's doing and it's all digital. It's everything is digital and social media based. Yeah, it's marketing. I would love to go back, because I took two or three marketing classes when I was at Clemson.
Speaker 1:I would love to just go sit in a marketing class for a week and just hear what they're talking about, what I think is so funny about it being influencers and you hear these people like influencers aren't going to last and that's not a job and there's the negative side of it and it's going to go away. And I'm like influencers aren't doing anything that hasn't been done. It's just a different platform. Commercials on TV is the equivalent to a sponsored post, and having a commissionable link is no different than when you used to have your home, your, let's say, pampered chef parties or your home interior part. It's the same thing. It's just digital. You're showing off a product and you're making a little money off of when your friends buy it. And it's that exact same thing on a larger scale. So it's not going away and the industry all across is just going to be more and more involved in social media. So you can still get into it. And then, so that's the top three ways to make money on social media.
Speaker 1:You either have your own business and sell your own product. You get sponsored posts, which you know you. A sponsored post usually works. You just get paid a flat fee and there's no link. Sometimes they'll do maybe a lower paid flat fee and give you commission. If it's a smaller company, they'll be like well, we can't really pay that much, but we can give you commission off the product yourself. So it can be a combo or it can just be commissionable links where when you you know you sell a product, you get a little commission. It does take a lot of product to add up, but that doesn't mean it doesn't. I mean, a lot of people are making really really really good money on social media and then you can do products exchange where there's value in the product. It may be something you needed anyway, but you are not getting paid or commission for that.
Speaker 1:So before we wrap it up, I wanted to talk about a few tips as viewers or listeners or followers on social media that you can do. Because you hear us as creators and that sort of thing, Sam, will you do this, Will you do that? Or you hear your message us and say, oh, I'm not seeing your content anymore, I have to go search you out. So, as a follower or viewer, the top things that you can do that we always talk about is just make sure you're engaging with whoever you like. So it's no different than you know you go to a grocery store and you're in line and there's a magazine and you purchase that magazine. That is, you know, engaging with that magazine On social media. The good thing is, you can do it for free. There's no charge to it.
Speaker 1:So when you're scrolling through and you're seeing your friends or the people you like following specifically me and me, all you have to do is hit that little heart that's liking a photo. If you tap that, Instagram sees that as engagement. So one thing that they'll do that means oh, people like this post or this story or whatever it may be, and people are really liking this, so we're going to show this to other people. And then, once you have people, your own people, who are following you, engaging in that I don't know what the percentage is or how the algorithm works, but once it sees that your people, your followers, are liking something and engaging with it, then it's going to say, oh, all of these people are liking it, so let's show it to people who have similar interests but don't follow this person. So that's why, like when I post a reel, I'm like please go like, comment, share and say, yes, you're already seeing it, but just by liking or commenting or sharing it, or just sharing it to one friend helps or saving it.
Speaker 1:All of those things are engagement and by doing that it helps me get pushed out to other people, which then become new followers and hopefully they're purchasing things and it's part of, you know, getting new customers and that sort of thing. So just a friendly reminder as you are scrolling through Instagram.
Speaker 2:And anyone you like and you want to support.
Speaker 1:Right, it doesn't cost anything to just like it or comment or share it or save it. And even that goes in stories. I know we all watch stories. There's a little button there, a little heart you can tap. Or if you swipe up on the bottom of a story you may not know this it will come up with a new screen with like emojis. If you just tap one of those emojis, that's like kind of like a super like almost, because that counts as more, because it was another action that you had to do, that really helps.
Speaker 2:And you can even comment a heart. Yeah, that's a comment, yeah.
Speaker 1:Anything that you can do, especially on post. If you genuinely like it, just comment anything, like I love this so much. It does. It only takes a couple of seconds and it really, really, really helps your influencers and your creators that you want to keep supporting and following, and that's what keeps us popping up in your feed as well. So you know, if you're saying, oh, I haven't seen you in a while, that probably means you have been watching not that you don't enjoy watching us and following along, but you haven't been engaging enough, so that Instagram isn't saying like, oh, you want to see this person every time. So that's our little tips there for social media. But again, it's not too late for anybody to get in social media and make money for it. Just do it, it's fun, just do it.
Speaker 2:I'm ready to pull over. You're high and more slap out. No, but we are going to the Achieve conference.
Speaker 1:Yes, we're going to learn more social media things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we want to bring back some more. Yeah, some we can do, let us know if you want to hear more about social media or maybe you want to hear more about small business.
Speaker 1:Tell us anything you want to hear us talk about. Maybe you want to hear Steven talk about car buying tips. Let us know on our hotline. Give us a call at 864-982-5029 or send us a text Message. Either one and you can call or text anytime. This phone sits on our desk here in our podcast room in the office.
Speaker 1:So if it's 3 am, you can still call that number or text it. It is not a bother, and leave us your messages and comments. If there's a topic you'd like for us to discuss, we love it. I know I've gotten a lot of people request more Airbnb, yes, and some more on the small business, because we do this, but so we'll keep it going.
Speaker 1:That's going to wrap it up for this week and we'll see you next time. Remember to leave us a review, a star review or written review, wherever you're listening to us each week. Thanks guys, bye. See you next week. Bye.
Speaker 2:Thanks guys.