Speaker 1 (00:11):
My name is Keely Morrison. I'm located in Missoula, Montana, and I am the owner of Planina Social, which is a social media management agency that helps Montana nonprofits. So what inspired me to start my business was getting into social media for nonprofits back in 2019, right before Covid hit, and really just seeing how nonprofits could make an impact. Because before that, I was definitely on the side of, I love social media, was probably a little bit addicted to it, but social media had a lot of negative connotations to it. And working for a nonprofit really showed me that social media has such a power for good and that it could do amazing things if you know how to use it correctly. And that's really what inspired me to start my business is that mind shift from something that everyone sees as so negative to completely turning that on its head and trying to use it to do good in the world.
(01:15):
Well, first I'll go with what skills make me a good social media manager, and one of those is that I'm really creative. I took art classes since as long as I could remember outside of school, within school. I paint and draw on my free time now. It's just a really big part of my being. If I'm going through any hard times or stuff like drawing and art and creativity is what really lifts me up. And so I love bringing that into my business and having that joy be something that I work on every single day. As for being an entrepreneur and what skills I bring to that realm of my business, definitely organization, which can be a pro and a con because I am very, very organized, which you can get on my partner's nerves, but my clients really like it. So keeping everything super organized and accessible to my clients, making sure that I'm on top of everything because one of the biggest roles of being a social media manager is saving your clients' time.
(02:21):
Especially with nonprofits, they do not have the time or the people to get a consistent social media presence out there, and that's not their mission. Their mission is something so much bigger than social media. So being able to save them that organization in that time is something that I really value. So typically my clients reach out to me. I have reached out to clients before, but they typically reach out to me on social media or on my website. And first we set up a discovery call where they talk about what they need, what their mission is, what their goals are, why they want to be more present on social media. And then I just kind of explain the process of working with me to them. So basically I have three different package options. I explain the packages to them and then I explain kind of my system and why I work with nonprofits, really trying to show that social media for good and helping them promote their mission and saving them time in doing so.
(03:24):
We go through that and then I talk about how if they start working with me, I set up a whole Google folder for them and a whole content calendar and design work. And once we're kind of going on that each month I create however much content we've decided on. I've got some clients that write up the content and only need me to design it. I've got some that are completely hands off and want me to do every single thing. So it really depends on how much control the client wants over their social media. And then I create it all from scratch and let the client approve it in the Google Drive and then schedule it out and it repeats every single month. I would say the biggest obstacle I faced in running my business was actually before I started my business, I got interested in developing an online service-based business in 2020, but always got scared by the hurdles and always let them stop me.
(04:28):
So whether that was picking a business name or brand colors or once I had that established, it was how to make it legal and be able to conduct business and get clients in a legal manner with the government and all of that. So that was a big hurdle for me and just fighting that imposter syndrome of thinking, this is too big, I can't do it. That took me four years to overcome, where Planina Social was, I got over the brand and getting over that fear, but it just sat on my computer for four years until I signed up for a entrepreneurship launch camp and they helped me set up everything that I needed to do. They looked into the legal requirements, they looked into what government offices I needed to work with, and they laid it out in a really simple way that made it a lot less scary.
(05:25):
And I had the accountability there, which is really important for me. You can't just put it off and keep putting it off, someone's there waiting for you to say you did that. So that was my biggest hurdle and it's been not so much smooth sailing, but it's been all uphill from there. Yeah, they've [the Rocky Mountain Women's Business Center] been super great, especially just opening the meetings up and introducing everyone, which is really scary at first because I get into a Zoom meeting and I'm immediately like, I do not want to talk. Don't call on me. But they do in such a kind way ask you to introduce yourself and your business and share how people can connect with you. So it really helps to develop a community of female entrepreneurs in Montana especially that you can work with and that can support you. And then after that, you get some amazing information to help you through so many different hurdles of your business.
(06:20):
I've done one on social media, one on finances, like some on operations. They just not only build community, but offer you so many tips and resources from experienced business owners. Community plays a huge role in my business, primarily because I'm working with nonprofits, so it can be really hard developing that community online for nonprofits, and that's so vital to get people that support a cause and donate to a cause and want to offer their time and their support and just really back a nonprofit, which is the backbone of getting them to achieve their mission. So that is the center of why I create all of my content, is to try and build that community for my clients. As for myself, having a community of other female business owners, it's just really nice to have people cheering you on from the sidelines, commenting on your posts or liking them because it can be really hard getting started and having just that one comment that's like, that was a great transition in your reel even though it was terrible transition can just be so helpful and so encouraging.
(07:31):
And you just know if you have questions about something, there's someone in your community that's done it before, that's in your shoes and that you can go to. Yeah, my journey towards financial stability was relatively quick, and I don't think that is the norm for most very new entrepreneurs, but in social media you have to have a social media presence. So I really have pushed that for my business and continuously put out quality content every single day. And clients have found me from that by either mostly me following them or sharing their content, trying to build that community between planning the social and the nonprofit community. And then people that have needed help with that have reached out to me. And my journey to financial freedom. I launched my business in March and was able to supplement my nine to five salary by July. So it was really cool.
(08:44):
It was so cool to see that progress. And even if I hadn't have gone that quickly, I was still making a good portion of money from my business relatively quickly to give me that financial freedom to maybe spend more on rent or go on, have a little extra money for vacations, which is something that's really awesome. Yeah, I think it is important to share. I would not be starting my business without taking that launch camp that was offered by the Bucket List Bombshells. And they are a female owned business that launched solely for the purpose of helping other female entrepreneurs develop the skills to create service-based online businesses so that they could work online and travel the world. And that was my goal during Covid, as I think it was everybody's. But now that's changed, and I've realized that having my own business will give me the freedom to take flexibility from work if I have kids in the future, or get that nicer apartment if I so choose and just have the freedom that sometimes your nine to five doesn't provide.
(09:58):
So I wouldn't be where I was without them. And it's okay to need that extra support to start your business. You don't have to do it alone. One of my newest clients is a nutritionist group out of Bozeman. They're not a nonprofit, but I really value the mission that they have of promoting an anti-diet, body positivity environment for all montanans, no matter what shape, size, race, ethnicity, gender, or anything. So I did take them on as a client, and one thing that's been really just impactful for me working with them is being a part of that mission because, like so many other teenage girls, when I was in high school, I really struggled with body image and body positivity and social media played a huge role in that. And being able to be on the other side of it and really working to make sure that other people, other girls especially, don't have the same experience I did, is something that's really meaningful to me.
