Every journey has its twists and turns, and mine has been a roller coaster of real estate deals, Zumba beats, and now, the helm of Shelby and Company Incorporated. Grab your favorite drink and join me, Shelby McFarlane, as I peel back the curtain on the Marketing Happy Hour podcast, revamped for 2024. We'll toast to the entrepreneurial spirit and explore how my leap from podcasting purely for passion to steering a full-service digital marketing agency was fueled by authenticity and a knack for storytelling. Expect a treasure trove of insights as I recount the transformative role of social media in business, highlighting the seismic shift from its nascent stages to becoming an indispensable marketing powerhouse.
Ready to amplify your brand's voice and connect with your audience on a deeper level? Stay tuned as I stress the undeniable power of relatability in marketing. You'll learn why your brand's narrative and those candid, behind-the-scenes snapshots are not just fluff but strategic tools that forge genuine connections and loyalty. And there's plenty more wisdom where that came from. Through engaging conversations with industry leaders and colleagues, we'll unravel the strategies that are shaping the marketing world today. So, let's keep the dialogue buzzing—join me on my social media channels and at shelbyandcompanyinc.com, where we can continue to share and enlighten each other on the dynamism of digital marketing. Here's to the stories we'll share and the growth we'll witness together on the Marketing Happy Hour. Cheers!
Welcome to the Marketing Happy Hour podcast, where we stir up the perfect blends of insights, strategies and trends to quench your thirst for marketing and business success. Join us every week as we pull up a chair, pour out the latest business innovations and mix in some expert advice from industry leaders. I am your host, shelby McFarlane, ceo of Shelby Company Incorporated. It's time to shake things up, stir up some creativity and sip on success. Welcome to the Marketing Happy Hour podcast. Hey y'all, it's your favorite boss, babe Shelby, here. I am so excited about getting this podcast back and relaunching it in 2024. I use this space as a creative outlet for myself. I use this space as a creative outlet for myself and for my business. Originally, when I started doing podcasting about five years ago, I did more of a personal podcast. Then I created the Marketing Happy Hour podcast in 2022, I believe and I focused a lot of business on business and stuff like that. I did that with my TikTok as well, and this year, in 2024, I really just want to use this space as a creative outlet for myself and also introducing you guys to my business colleagues, to the people that I refer back and forth with, to people in the marketing industry as people that are entrepreneurs. So this year, you have a lot to look forward to. I have some great interviews lined up with people that I personally do business with and also people that are, you know, my friends and people that I look up to in business and personally as well. So today is all about just in business and personally as well. So today is all about just reintroducing who I am and who you will be listening to in 2024 on the Marketing Happy Hour podcast.
Speaker 1:
So I'm Shelby McFarlane. I am the CEO of Shelby and Company, incorporated. That is, a full service digital marketing agency as well as a full service sign shop. So most of my days look like me sitting behind a computer talking to clients, organizing stuff for my team to do. I do all the measuring of the jobs for signs, so a few of the services that we offer are social media management, website design, graphic design, seo. I also do speaking engagements and workshops, so I will go to an office and teach a sales team how to use social media for their benefit. I also partner with chambers across the nation to do workshops for social media or marketing in general, depending on what their members are wanting, and then on the sign business. I do anything from graphics on vehicles to signs on a building, to channel lettering, signs, banners, magnets. You get the gist.
Speaker 1:
So a little bit of behind my story. I started out as an entrepreneur at the age of 18. I decided not to go to college. I wanted to pursue like, making money. Ha ha, ha. Right. I was in the real estate industry Because that's what I did during high school, as that was like my job. I was a realtor's assistant and so I went to real estate as an actual realtor that was licensed and that was 2012.
Speaker 1:
Back then it wasn't cool to be a realtor like it is now. Also, social media was like almost non-existent for businesses, and when I say almost non-existent, it really truly wasn't existent for businesses. It was just trying to scramble and like putting your personal stuff out there, sharing with people. So it was a lot of cold calling, trying to get referrals, that kind of stuff. I soon realized that was not my, I guess, forte. But also I really wanted to make money. So I started teaching Zumba classes. If you know what Zumba is, it is a Latin-based, latin dance-based workout. I had like zero rhythm too, but I knew that I could make a lot of money at it. So while I was selling real estate, I also started teaching Zumba classes at local country clubs and I would make $100 a day. I did 10 classes a week and that was a lot on my body, but fortunately I was 18. So I was young and I had all the energy in the world. I did that for about two years to get on my feet, collect some money. At the same time I had a window tint shop with my ex and that's how I got into the sign business and that's also how I learned how to market a small business. And with that business we always made six figures from the very beginning. I've never went a year since 18, since I was 18, without making six figures in sales. I'm super happy about that, but I'm really ready for that seven figure business. So we I learned through that business how to market.
Speaker 1:
That was before social media. We did advertising on TV, we did newspaper advertising, yellow pages, ton of referral marketing. So I was in leads groups. I was involved in the chamber, involved in the community. So I was in leads groups. I was involved in the chamber, involved in the community, stuff like that.
Speaker 1:
And then in 2016, social media decided, or Facebook decided, to open business pages for like businesses, and so they were turning all of our profiles because they noticed like even I made a personal page profile for our business at the time, and so they converted it over to a business page within 24 hours and it was super nerve wracking but at the same time, I was excited to be on the forefront of what social media was going to entail for our business and also just the businesses in general. So at that same year we decided to split ways. I took the sign shop and then I also opened my marketing agency that I have now. It was originally called Exposed Marketing and Branding and then I rebranded it, probably like five or six years ago, to Shelby and Company Incorporated. It's kind of more encompassed, like everything that I do in my business. So I have been helping people with social media management since 2016.
Speaker 1:
It has been a whirlwind, to say the least, and to think that it's only been eight years that social media or Facebook has offered business pages for businesses blows my mind, because we have come so far in eight years in the digital space for marketing. There have been so many algorithm changes, there's been Facebook page updates, there's been Facebook page updates. There's all kinds of stuff every single day that me and my team have to learn and stay on top of for our clients, and if you're a business owner listening to this, you know how important social media is for your business. So when we talk about the beginning of social media, it was really easy to convert our followers to clients and customers. So easy because no one was using that space. They were afraid of it, kind of like people are with AI nowadays, but people were afraid of using social media. Now, eight years later, everybody's on social media, there's ads on social media, everyone's posting on social, and so your stuff gets a little lost, and so you have to use a strategy to make sure that your information that you're putting out there, the content that you are taking time to create, is actually engaging with your followers and turning them into customers and also clients of yours. So that's what I kind of do on a day-to-day basis. I keep up with everything I'm selling to people that are interested in social media. I'm making sure that I'm giving customer service to the clients that I have, and then on the sign business, I am national with that as well. So we will create the graphics. We'll design them and we'll also ship them across the nation when people are needing them. But we also install them locally here in Arkansas because I am based out of Little Rock, arkansas. So I am so excited for you guys to tune into Marketing Happy Hour podcast.
Speaker 1:
This was just a little intro for you guys to kind of know me and what I do every single day. And if you ever like wanted to ask me any questions, or if you had questions about marketing, you always can DM me on socials. You can find my personal Insta at boss babe underscore Shelby. I also have a TikTok that I post a lot of fun behind the scenes. I'll also do a little marketing stuff on there as well too. But I love sharing the funny stories of my life on TikTok because being a business owner is fun.
Speaker 1:
But also there's so much more than just me sitting here talking to you guys about marketing and how you can do your stuff better, because you need someone that's relatable, right, and if I tell you behind the scenes stuff, then you can be like oh wow, that happens to me too and that's how I choose to use my socials. Also. You can follow me on Facebook at Shelby and Company INC. And you can find me on Facebook at Shelby and Company INC. And you can find me on my website, shelbyandcompanyinccom. If you ever have any need for marketing questions or anything like that, please feel free to reach out to me and I look forward to serving you in 2024.