Reinventing Your Career with Casey Davis
In this episode, I talk with Casey Davis, an entrepreneur who has navigated multiple industries before establishing himself in the realm of email copywriting. Casey draws inspiration from his mother’s entrepreneurial spirit, which led him into the wedding and event planning business, a field he initially shared with her. Over time, Casey explored real estate and web development, each industry offering unique insights and challenges that shaped his entrepreneurial mindset.
Casey shares his experiences in real estate during the pandemic, where he faced stiff competition and market saturation. His foray into web development coincided with the rise of AI technologies, prompting a reevaluation of his career goals. These transitions were not without difficulties; Casey openly discusses the burnout and self-doubt he encountered, emphasizing the importance of perseverance and community support in overcoming such hurdles. His eventual move into email copywriting allowed him to blend creativity with communication, focusing on narrative-driven content that builds authentic connections with audiences.
Throughout the episode, Casey and RJ explore the emotional journey of entrepreneurship, highlighting how personal and professional growth often stem from overcoming adversity. Casey underscores the significance of networking and collaboration, moving beyond the misconception that entrepreneurs must navigate their path in isolation. His insights into the evolving landscape of digital marketing and the role of storytelling in email campaigns offer practical advice for business owners looking to enhance their engagement strategies. This episode encapsulates the essence of entrepreneurial resilience and the transformative impact of aligning business endeavors with personal values and creative expression.
Takeaways:
- Entrepreneurship is a journey filled with challenges, but having a strong support network can help you through difficult times.
- Exploring different industries can lead to discovering new passions and opportunities, as seen in Casey's journey from event planning to email copywriting.
- Building a business requires adaptability and willingness to learn, especially in fast-changing industries like real estate and tech.
- Networking and finding mentors are crucial for growth, as they provide guidance and resources to help overcome challenges.
- Email marketing is a powerful tool for small businesses, allowing for direct communication with customers and potential clients.
- Focusing on engagement and providing value in your communications can lead to more meaningful connections with your audience.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- CR Connects
- HubSpot
Connect with Casey:
Transcript
Welcome to the Entrepreneur Breakthrough Lounge podcast.
RJ Parrish:My name is RJ, and I am thrilled to have you here.
RJ Parrish:Our mission is to inspire and empower entrepreneurs, digital service providers, consultants, coaches, creatives, and small business owners who are building businesses that allow them to live their life on their own terms.
RJ Parrish:I'm your host, RJ Parrish.
RJ Parrish:My guest for today is Casey Davis.
RJ Parrish:Casey has started a few different businesses, ranging from real estate to wedding and event planning, wed development, and now email copywriting at his company, CR Connects.
RJ Parrish:I just recently met Casey, and hes one of the only people that I have met that has completely rearranged his home office after scheduling an interview with me.
RJ Parrish:So that should tell you something.
RJ Parrish:Casey is a legend of.
RJ Parrish:Thank you.
RJ Parrish:Thanks for being here, Casey.
Casey Davis:Yeah, glad to be here, RJ.
Casey Davis:Thanks for having me.
RJ Parrish:Absolutely.
RJ Parrish:So you just celebrated a birthday this past weekend, right?
Casey Davis:Yes, I did.
RJ Parrish:All right, so my first question for you, just to get this conversation started, if you could spend the day doing one thing that you did when you were a child, what would it be?
Casey Davis:Ooh, that's a really good question.
Casey Davis:Probably something that I'll already do, which is sing any type of music, have a concert in my living room.
Casey Davis:I.
Casey Davis:As you can see, I love lights.
Casey Davis:I have cool lights, and I've got, like, a karaoke machine just kind of off camera right now that I definitely bring out from time to time and kind of rock it out in the living room.
Casey Davis:So definitely probably something with just music and singing all day long, if I could.
RJ Parrish:That's fantastic.
RJ Parrish:There's something to be said of looking back and finding those little things that used to be just so common and easy to do that you just stop doing when you become a grown up.
RJ Parrish:And it's important to sometimes be a kid again.
Casey Davis:Right, right.
RJ Parrish:So before you get into kind of the nitty gritty of your journey, I'd love to just get a sense of where things started for you.
RJ Parrish:What led you to become an entrepreneur in the first place, and how has that evolved over time?
Casey Davis:Yeah, really great question.
Casey Davis:My mom is an entrepreneur at heart as well.
Casey Davis:She started a wedding and event planning business as well.
Casey Davis:And this year, in January, she hit her 30 year mark and decided to close down and kind of go back to a little bit more of the corporate world because she was doing both at the same time for most of that time.
Casey Davis:And so her drive, being able to help her out with some of those events and the weddings and the decor side, that's what originally started my journey on that with creating my own wedding and event planning industry or not industry, but career.
Casey Davis:And so I got licensed and certified as a wedding and event planner.
Casey Davis:We partnered together, and she taught me a whole bunch about what it means to be an entrepreneur.
Casey Davis:And just really, her work ethic, it's unlike anyone that I've ever met, and I'm so fortunate to have had that growing up because there are people that I know that haven't had any type of role model of what it means to be an entrepreneur.
Casey Davis:And as they're figuring it out now for themselves, there's so many things attached to it with, like how to write a contract, how to be personable, how to be engaging with people.
Casey Davis:There's so many soft skills that I've found discover through my mom and watching her and shadowing her and then kind of getting to work with her that I don't know if I would have found those without that example.
RJ Parrish:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:So starting out, so stepping into sort of a, did you start as a family business, or did you go separate to start?
RJ Parrish:And then just over time, you kind of collaborated and worked together.
RJ Parrish:How did that work?
Casey Davis:Yeah, so she had her own, and then I decided to go get certified on my side so that she could stick more with the weddings, and then I could take over the events.
Casey Davis:That was more of what I really enjoyed doing.
Casey Davis:And she liked the wedding side of things more.
Casey Davis:Definitely doing events.
Casey Davis:She's done all kinds of crazy stuff, but that was kind of the original thought, was to have two experts on one side and then team up together, but still two separate entities that we kind of just partnered with each other.
RJ Parrish:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:So that was your first sort of foray into becoming an entrepreneur, having watched your mom, you step in, follow her footsteps.
RJ Parrish:What.
RJ Parrish:What happened from there?
Casey Davis:How.
RJ Parrish:How long were you in that business?
RJ Parrish:How did it go?
Casey Davis:Ooh, yeah.
Casey Davis:So, um, officially, it was only, like, a couple years, but I definitely still am helping her out as she's, uh, finishing up this last year with some of her events.
Casey Davis:Um, I flew back.
Casey Davis:I'm in Vegas.
Casey Davis:Uh, is where I live now, but she's up in Idaho, and that's where I'm originally from.
Casey Davis:And in June, I flew up to surprise a friend for her birthday, and my mom had an event that she needed some help with.
Casey Davis:So really any kind of time that she needs help with something, I usually get roped in, which is fun because it's something that we both really enjoy doing together.
Casey Davis:For myself, I did it for a couple of years and just the schedule because I was working full time and starting running my own event planning business and taking some of her clients, it just ended up being a little too much with basically two full time jobs.
Casey Davis:So I decided to stick with my corporate career at the time and then sunset that and just help out wherever it was needed.
RJ Parrish:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:So the, it can.
RJ Parrish:Depending on the kind of business you're in, the rigors of schedules can really settle in.
RJ Parrish:Like, especially when there are seasons to it where if you do a lot of weddings, there's a chunk of the year where it is just ridiculous.
RJ Parrish:Is go time all the time and you are cranking for, I mean, depending on where you are in the country, twelve to 20 weeks of the year, you are slammed with no time to breathe.
Casey Davis:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:And then.
Casey Davis:Exactly.
RJ Parrish:It's all over.
Casey Davis:Yeah.
Casey Davis:Sometimes two, three in a weekend, and they're long days.
Casey Davis:Long days.
Casey Davis:Uh, so it's definitely a career choice for some people.
Casey Davis:And I give kudos to all the professionals who are still rocking it in that industry because it's tough.
Casey Davis:It's tough.
Casey Davis:The different personalities that you, you get to work with definitely helped push me forward to where I'm at now.
RJ Parrish:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:So looking at some of the other businesses that you've been involved in, I know you had a stint in real estate, in web development.
Casey Davis:Yes.
RJ Parrish:And then that is kind of transitioned now into specialization towards email copywriting.
Casey Davis:Right.
RJ Parrish:So looking at, like, events to, I believe, real estate next, and then web and email, like, what has been sort of the crux of that journey, like, from each step, what was sort of the, was it trying to just get a little bit more of the balance you were looking for?
RJ Parrish:Was it wanting to just try things out and see what made the most sense for you?
RJ Parrish:Like, what was your kind of guiding path through those businesses?
Casey Davis:So my full time job, when I was in the wedding and event planning industry, I was a part of the financial industry.
Casey Davis:I did over a decade in that industry.
Casey Davis:And so I always loved buying and selling houses.
Casey Davis:And I had taught mortgages as a trainer in the financial industry, and I had also done them as a loan officer.
Casey Davis:And so it, that first kind of transition into becoming a realtor was a pretty natural one, since I was already kind of in that world.
Casey Davis:I knew people.
Casey Davis:I had also bought and sold multiple times myself.
Casey Davis:And so I was like, this is something that I could do.
Casey Davis:It's still creative.
Casey Davis:I'm a super creative person.
Casey Davis:And that those are always the places that I'm looking to kind of get my fill or my fix.
Casey Davis:It's anything creative is what fills up my cups.
Casey Davis:Hence, kind of like the singing and the karaoke thing.
Casey Davis:And so the real estate was more of just kind of a natural progression of something else that I wanted to do as I was leaving the financial industry, but still using the different skills that I had gained from all of my knowledge of the mortgages and how financial industries kind of work.
Casey Davis: That all happened in: Casey Davis: er big event that happened in: Casey Davis:And so that lasted about a year.
Casey Davis:I had some great experience in Idaho and in Nevada, here in Vegas with a couple different brokerages, and it was just, it was just really challenging to get up and going.
Casey Davis:So that's what led me into doing a boot camp for web development.
Casey Davis:It was under kind of like the whole umbrella of software engineering, but it definitely heavily focused on web development, building websites, building servers and things like that.
Casey Davis:And that was just another kind of, here's something that I can do remotely.
Casey Davis:It's a skill of creativity, it's a challenge.
Casey Davis:And that's kind of the way that the world was going after I started that boot camp is when chat GPT came out.
Casey Davis:Like the same month that I enrolled in that bootcamp.
Casey Davis:It was chat GPT, and then everything was, oh, AI can do this.
Casey Davis:And that whole kind of industry changed overnight as well.
Casey Davis:And I had some experience with getting some clients.
Casey Davis:Nothing that fully ever came through since.
Casey Davis:It's just a really challenging industry.
Casey Davis:And I would definitely encourage anyone who is looking at doing some type of a boot camp to really uncover what exactly you're going to be learning, especially in the tech world, because tech is ever evolving.
Casey Davis:It's such a fast changing industry as well.
Casey Davis:And I felt just personally, after I had finished my boot camp, it was a twelve week program, that I was already kind of behind the curve of the industry.
Casey Davis:And so it's just a challenge of, I went in with very little knowledge of the tech industry and thinking I could just kind of like jump right in and go.
Casey Davis:I was kind of my work ethic.
Casey Davis:And I quickly found out that there is so much more to that industry than just being able to build a website if you're going to do things from like, the ground up.
Casey Davis:So it was just, I didn't feel like I had necessarily all the tools that I needed to be successful with that.
Casey Davis:And I really just fell into email copywriting.
Casey Davis:It wasn't something that I had fully, really considered.
Casey Davis:After doing the web development, I was kind of like, just taking a break back.
Casey Davis:I went through a little bit of a depressive state and just figuring out, like, well, where do I go from here?
Casey Davis:I felt like it was one thing after another that I wasn't succeeding at, and that's not something that I had been used to so far.
Casey Davis:And so I took a step back and just really figured out, like, what do I want to do?
Casey Davis:What are the important things to me?
Casey Davis:And it's always been communication, being something in the creative realm, helping other people and being a leader in that industry and whatever I do, those are kind of like my four core values that I defined for myself.
Casey Davis:I was looking at kind of affiliate marketing, and I got set up with a company that was like doing a training on affiliate marketing.
Casey Davis:I was like, this is neat.
Casey Davis:It's kind of creative.
Casey Davis:It's not fully, like, filling up my cup, though, on what I need.
Casey Davis:But one of the presenters in the training was one of the top copywriters in the company, and he was the one that came in and kind of educated on, here's the best way to write copy, and here's kind of the understanding of the methodology behind copy and engaging content.
Casey Davis:And that's what really spoke to me.
Casey Davis:So I kind of immediately switched gears.
Casey Davis:After a couple weeks of affiliate marketing, I bought his certification course, went through it, got certified on the first round, which I guess is pretty rare to do.
Casey Davis:It's normally like a 20 something percent success rate on your first time through the certification course.
Casey Davis:And my group, it was like 13.
Casey Davis:So there's only a couple of us that actually got certified for the first round, and that just kind of skyrocketed my confidence, kind of what I'd been looking for.
Casey Davis:Like, okay, this is something that I can do.
Casey Davis:I already write songs.
Casey Davis:I have lyrics and stories that, like, I've done in the past.
Casey Davis:So being able to kind of bring in that creative side to then help people grow their own business.
Casey Davis:Since I was really going through a transformative time in my life at that point, it all just really kind of fell in to each other and just.
Casey Davis:It was a nice harmony at that.
Casey Davis:So it's definitely something that came surprise to me, but it's been really, really fun to do.
RJ Parrish:Super cool.
RJ Parrish:I think there's a few pieces there, like the.
RJ Parrish:For the education piece.
RJ Parrish:Like, that is such a.
RJ Parrish:A huge element that everyone needs to consider right now, regardless of the scope that you're committing to, whether it's college, whether it's a trade school like trades are a little bit safer, but doing a course, a program, a coaching certification, anything like looking at what you need to get out of it for it to be worthwhile.
RJ Parrish:Because if you're in it just to build skills and kind of create links that you can now kind of pull on different skill sets and it's nothing.
RJ Parrish:The direct application that you need, fine, then it's a little bit more.
RJ Parrish:You can make that choice and not have to worry so much.
RJ Parrish:But if the plan is to be able to take what you learn and apply it and that be the thing that you do, you have to be really careful on how quickly will that information or means or method last before it's outdated.
Casey Davis:Right.
RJ Parrish:It's something that, I mean, it's been a thing for a while, but it's now so fast that educators can't keep up.
RJ Parrish:And it's something that.
RJ Parrish:It's something to be very aware of, especially when you're early and you're trying to find the thing to get started with.
RJ Parrish:Because ideally you find something that's going to be around for a long time that's not necessarily timeless, but the fundamentals will carry with you for a long period of time.
RJ Parrish:I think copy is one of those things.
RJ Parrish:You can bridge it into a lot of different things.
RJ Parrish:For example, the specialization in email.
RJ Parrish:Email will likely be a tool that we use for quite a while yet, but in a decade or two, if there's some other standard means of daily communication that becomes more popular or more accessible or whatever, then you can apply it to that new medium, but the skill remains.
Casey Davis:Exactly, exactly.
Casey Davis:Yeah.
Casey Davis:And email is definitely not going anywhere anytime soon.
RJ Parrish:Yeah, absolutely.
RJ Parrish:It's actually resurging in a lot of ways, but I don't know how long that will be the case.
RJ Parrish:So I don't want to date this.
RJ Parrish:Too bad.
RJ Parrish:We're in a few months.
RJ Parrish:That could all change again.
Casey Davis:Yeah, you never know.
RJ Parrish:You mentioned kind of having a depressive stretch where it's just like that feeling of not being able to get a win, not having any traction.
RJ Parrish:Can you just give a little bit more on that?
RJ Parrish:Because I feel like that's not an uncommon place for people to end up, especially over the last few years.
RJ Parrish:How did you kind of come out of that or how did you manage that?
Casey Davis:Definitely with my network of support.
Casey Davis:It took a few moments, I think, and situations for me to realize how burnout I had gotten and where I was in kind of like figuring out this new journey, moving to a new state all alone at the beginning.
Casey Davis:I've since, like, been married, but really just, it took my network of people that I know and trust and can confide in to help me get out of that state.
Casey Davis:It wasn't anything that I could do on my own, which was hard, especially as, like, an entrepreneur, I'm sure you could relate, or.
Casey Davis:We're so used to doing everything on our own with our small businesses, getting things set up.
Casey Davis:So asking for help was challenging.
Casey Davis:But I'm so glad that I did because who knows what could have come out of that.
Casey Davis:I may not have found this creative outlet with email copywriting and being able to help people if I hadn't had the tools and the resources and the support to take the time I needed to figure out what was important to me and what was I wanting to stand for and what was I wanting to give out to the world and being able to really have time to define that, I think, is all thanks to my support system.
RJ Parrish:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:If you could do or say anything to the version of you that was going through that, would there be anything that you want to be able to tell yourself?
Casey Davis:Hmm.
Casey Davis:I mean, as cliche as it can sound, but it's so true, is that it does get better, that it's.
Casey Davis:It's not that this moment in time that you're in isn't going to last forever.
Casey Davis:It's going to maybe last longer than we want it to, but it's not going to last forever.
Casey Davis:And there are resources and there are tools and there are people out there who want to help you, and it's just all about finding the courage to ask for help.
Casey Davis:And the sooner that you do it, the sooner you can get out of this moment in time.
RJ Parrish:Yeah, I think that's important for people to hear because more often than not, most of us choose to suffer in silence.
RJ Parrish:Right.
RJ Parrish:There's.
RJ Parrish:I mean, the statistics show it.
RJ Parrish:There's.
RJ Parrish:The more people I talk to, the more I hear it of people who seem to be doing well in some regard will often have a lot of internal strife going on where they're.
RJ Parrish:Either they don't know where they're going, or they feel the sense of hopelessness or loneliness, or just things are not as good as they seem, whatever that might be.
RJ Parrish:I think there's a lot of liberation, I guess, that can come from recognizing that things eventually will just return to baseline, like you're in a pit right now.
RJ Parrish:Eventually it'll just kind of go back to a mean, and then you'll have really good times, and then there's a lot of statistics that can be applied.
RJ Parrish:Like eventually it's just going to, it can't be like this forever.
RJ Parrish:Whether it's amazing or terrible, it will even out eventually.
RJ Parrish:And you need to just be able to weather that.
Casey Davis:Yep.
RJ Parrish:And realizing that while it might seem insurmountable at the time, like others have probably suffered through the same thing, and the more you can find at least a few people to open up to, you're probably not as alone as you thought.
Casey Davis:Exactly.
Casey Davis:And being able to embrace the ebbs and flows of life versus fighting and resisting the ebbs and flows was something also that I got to learn through my resources that I used in my time away kind of from corporate world and starting my own thing.
Casey Davis:Just embrace it, enjoy the ride.
Casey Davis:It's going to be hard, but it's also going to be really fun and really rewarding.
RJ Parrish:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:Thinking of like when you had a long, decent length career in corporate, now have had a few different experiences of entrepreneurship.
RJ Parrish:Is there anything that you used to believe to be true about being an owner that you don't believe to be true anymore?
Casey Davis:Mm hmm.
Casey Davis:Yeah.
Casey Davis:That you have to do everything by yourself on your own, no one else's idea.
Casey Davis:Yours is the only one that's going to work.
Casey Davis:Definitely a belief that I had that.
Casey Davis:I'm so glad, especially with how you and I met.
Casey Davis:Finding networks and groups of people who are on your level, or at least the level you want to get to so that you can continue to level up was something that I needed in order for my business to start growing.
Casey Davis:Surrounding by people who want to see you succeed and have resources or advice that can help you succeed.
Casey Davis:I think there is so much to learn from experience from other people who've paved the road before you.
Casey Davis:Being open to feedback and asking for collaborations or things that can help you do more without having to actually physically do more.
Casey Davis:And that's kind of like in your referrals and different resources or like, I'm not an expert in accounting, so.
Casey Davis:But getting connected to accountants and people I can throw ideas off of that are also invested in seeing me grow just because I'm a person who's driven and an entrepreneur just like them.
Casey Davis:There's so much that you can learn from the other generations.
RJ Parrish:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:And all it usually takes is just to ask.
Casey Davis:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:Yeah.
Casey Davis:People are willing and excited to help if you ask.
RJ Parrish:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:Which is very not corporate.
Casey Davis:No.
RJ Parrish:What I've gleamed.
Casey Davis:Mm hmm.
Casey Davis:Yeah.
Casey Davis:There definitely are areas, I'm sure, where that that kind of culture is there.
Casey Davis:I've experienced it in the corporate world where that culture is there, but I've definitely experienced it where you're just a number or you're just on an assembly line kind of doing your role and that's kind of all that you're going to focus on.
Casey Davis:So I've seen both.
RJ Parrish:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:What do you think over, as you've become an owner, what do you, what skill have you developed that you feel like has made the biggest difference?
Casey Davis:Ooh, that's a really good question.
Casey Davis:I don't know if I would say necessarily that I've developed, but I've come back to is networking being able to talk to people, feeling confident in who I am as a person?
Casey Davis:I have struggled in the past with networking, especially kind of like, during that real estate time web development where I didn't feel like I knew enough to, like, talk about it with people really hindered my confidence and like, well, if I'm going to go to a chamber event and, like, I don't necessarily know how to do a boolean or whatever kind of code, and someone asks me about them, like, oh, I'm not going to have the answer.
Casey Davis:Like, what are people going to think of, like, my knowledge?
Casey Davis:Am I really this professional that I am emanating out to be so really, I think networking and learning how to be confident and own my past experiences in the corporate world, in my other businesses, and how to tie it all together to what I'm doing now, there is so much value that I have that people want to hear and are excited to hear.
Casey Davis:Just being passionate about what I'm doing and listening to other people who are passionate about what they're doing, it just, it's infectious for me.
RJ Parrish:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:For anyone that relates to, like, going to a networking event and trying to explain what you do and then just having the internal fear of like, oh, God, please nobody ask me questions because I'm like, I'm still learning.
RJ Parrish:I'm trying to figure it out, but I have to tell people to gain some traction so I can get some clients, so I can get the experience.
RJ Parrish:Like, if you're caught in that, it's okay.
RJ Parrish:We all start there, and it's okay if you, I think there's a sort of preconceived notion that you have to come in and immediately be the expert.
RJ Parrish:Is it okay to be the person who's still kind of on a new journey?
RJ Parrish:Like, hey, I'm learning this thing.
RJ Parrish:I don't know everything, but this is what I do know, and this is how my past experiences have led me here, and here's why I'm doing this, and here's why it matters and what I can offer you.
Casey Davis:Right.
RJ Parrish:Once you can accept that, I don't have to know everything right now.
RJ Parrish:I can just.
RJ Parrish:I'm.
RJ Parrish:I don't have to try and deceive someone into thinking I know more than I do.
Casey Davis:Yes.
Casey Davis:I think that took the words right out of my mouth.
Casey Davis:It is so much better to admit where you are at than for people to find out where you're actually at.
Casey Davis:Just own it.
Casey Davis:And it's all about the delivery and the confidence.
Casey Davis:And I think coming from a place of curiosity has helped me.
Casey Davis:Being curious about other people gets them curious about me.
Casey Davis:Outside of just who are you?
Casey Davis:What do you do?
RJ Parrish:Absolutely.
RJ Parrish:I don't know who it's from, but I love quotes.
RJ Parrish:I love when things get distilled down into really concise statements that can kind of wrap a larger concept around.
RJ Parrish:But this changed how I approach a lot of networking and talking about what I do.
RJ Parrish:The quote is, if you're good at something, you'll tell lots of people.
RJ Parrish:If you're great at something, people will tell you.
Casey Davis:I love that.
RJ Parrish:Oh, man.
Casey Davis:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:Because there's so many people out there.
RJ Parrish:I mean, go to LinkedIn or Instagram or people that are just.
RJ Parrish:I can do this.
RJ Parrish:I'm great at this.
RJ Parrish:But until people start telling you that you're exceptional and you don't have to be upset about that, it's not a factor of disappointment.
RJ Parrish:It's just now, like, all right, focus on doing what you can and be interested in other people and hone the skill.
RJ Parrish:So then eventually you can just serve enough people and they'll speak for you.
RJ Parrish:It takes the pressure off of you, of feeling disingenuous because you aren't that good yet, but you can build the skill behind the scenes and eventually it all plays out.
Casey Davis:Yep.
Casey Davis:Yeah.
Casey Davis:Completely agree.
RJ Parrish:So, on the skill conversation, is there anything that you wish, like any skill that you wish you had or would like to develop you maybe envy in others?
Casey Davis:Hmm.
Casey Davis:I think it's just the things that I am not doing yet with my business that other people are like.
Casey Davis:Like this podcast.
Casey Davis:This is something newer that I'm coming into, but it's an avenue that I've really enjoyed as kind of like, an observer of the content and a listener of podcasts and, like, YouTube and things like that.
Casey Davis:So it's a skill that I don't have to the caliber of where I know, like, I would want it to be.
Casey Davis:So that is something that not necessarily envy, but want to make the connections with.
Casey Davis:So love that you and I are now connected now.
Casey Davis:And I've made some other really good friends who are in the podcast niche as well, to kind of just get the experience and learn how it goes.
Casey Davis:What's a good interview?
Casey Davis:What are some things you should avoid and things like that?
Casey Davis:So I think just the way and the.
Casey Davis:The vision that I see my company going in the future so that I can reach more people and help more people to elevate their own businesses, either by themselves or by using me, is where I'm kind of at.
Casey Davis:And I can see a little bit of like, I want to be you.
Casey Davis:I want to be you so that I can do it.
RJ Parrish:Interestingly, you say that of like, the external, like, wanting to, like aspiring to embody or that might not be the right word, but to kind of like, not mimic, but to conduct oneself similar to how someone else is.
RJ Parrish:Like to try and follow in someone else's steps a little bit.
RJ Parrish:I think just in kind of a meta conversation, like, it's really important to find people that you aspire to, but also to like, have a degree of separation, of not putting them on the pedestal in the world.
RJ Parrish:Like, the more I've personally learned and in these sort of settings, there can sometimes be the, like, well, someone has a lot of media attention or a lot of presence, and you just create this psychological celebrity effect.
RJ Parrish:Even if there's not, like, celebrity might not be the right word, but that sort of bias of like, they are somehow different from me because they do this thing that I haven't done.
RJ Parrish:And I think it's important in the world that we live in, where there's so much media from people that might not necessarily deserve it.
RJ Parrish:I say that without any, like, it's not meant to be judgmental, but right.
RJ Parrish:There's enough people out there that have a very large voice that they would not be my first choice to have the audience that they do.
RJ Parrish:That said, I think it's a fantastic opportunity for each of us to find our own way through it and the way that we can present our ideas and our philosophies to the world and connect with one another.
RJ Parrish:Whenever I meet people like you, it's like, I want to hear what you have to say, what perspectives you'll bring, because I think there needs to be positive influences, people who are not ashamed or unwilling to share when things are not perfect.
RJ Parrish:That's the whole point of this sort of conversation, of creating a dialogue that isn't just glitz and glam, and everything's gone fantastic and make a million dollars a month.
RJ Parrish:That's not most people's experience.
Casey Davis:It just isn't.
Casey Davis:Mm hmm.
Casey Davis:Yeah.
Casey Davis:That ties in a lot with kind of where I'm at now and why I am so passionate about email copywriting, because it is.
Casey Davis:My approach is slightly different than what you may have seen in an email or what you may understand email marketing or email copywriting to be a narrative based approaches, my niche and my expertise.
Casey Davis:So it's storytelling versus just throwing pictures and images and asking people to buy stuff from you.
Casey Davis:It's more about learning who you are as the business owner and being able to share that kind of giving, like, behind the scenes of what's going on in your business.
Casey Davis:Because we all know business 101 is people buy from those they know, like and trust.
Casey Davis:So what are you doing in your business, or even just in yourself personally, to build that trust, to build that likability?
Casey Davis:And that's where I've kind of honed in with the being real with your list, that they're more than just numbers in a database that you can market to there people with thoughts, feelings, emotions, opinions about you as a business owner and about your products.
Casey Davis:So inviting them in and making email more of like a walkie talkie, a two way conversation versus just a one way marketing tool is really what sets me apart from different marketers, and that just ties into who I am as a person and the type of community and content that I want out there.
Casey Davis:So I think what you just said kind of really ties into the whole realm of email copywriting for me, in my experience with it.
RJ Parrish:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:So, one, I agree.
RJ Parrish:I think the more that we can find points of human connection with one another, especially in the small business landscape, if you are a large, if you're a Fortune 500 company, you have to play by slightly different rules.
RJ Parrish:But for the vast majority of small businesses, and that's all defined as anything under 5 million, which is a decently sizable company across the averages, you can create much better connection when you treat your business as like a collection of human beings and not a logo and a font, when you can communicate beyond just the products and services and create some sort of dialogue.
RJ Parrish:That said, there is a hurdle you need to overcome, where if you lead with all about me, me and, like, this is what's about me.
RJ Parrish:And, like, my great grandfather started this company in 18 bc, well, nobody cares yet.
RJ Parrish:So how do you navigate that?
RJ Parrish:Like, how much, how personal do you go?
RJ Parrish:Like, what do you do to kind of build that initial bond before you can get into like sharing more about the human side of it.
Casey Davis:Like in a business stance or more.
Casey Davis:Okay, so like in a business stance for building that, there is a whole like type of welcome sequence that is really beneficial for building that know like and trust with a new member on your list or a new subscriber.
Casey Davis:And it's giving bits and pieces of information about you in story form or conversation form to slowly kind of build that relationship.
Casey Davis:Think of it like dating before marriage.
Casey Davis:When you're dating, it's you're getting to know each other, you're sharing bits and pieces about each other, but there also just general life that's happening.
Casey Davis:And so having a way and a method that I would provide.
Casey Davis:And for any of my clients who are wanting to do the welcome sequence of here's little bits of information about me so you can understand.
Casey Davis:But yeah, like you said, it's not all about you as the business owner.
Casey Davis:Most people on a new list don't really care to learn much about you.
Casey Davis:It's especially if they're opting in for like a one time offer or a free PDF, they kind of just want their thing and then move on.
Casey Davis:And it's all about the kind of the science and the methodology and the psychology of diving deeper in than just here's your free thing.
Casey Davis:And they're good, they'll do their own thing and maybe they'll get an email from you every once in a while.
RJ Parrish:Yeah, I think there's, I always liked, I love that you use the dating metaphor, because I use it very similarly of relationships or relationships, regardless of the context, whether it's transactional between a person and a business, or between friends or romantic interest, it all has to start somewhere.
RJ Parrish:The sooner you can provide context for what the conversation is going to be about, because if you have to guess what sort of relationship you're entering into, there's a lot of friction, which is where a lot of broadly, you'll say men run into the challenge.
RJ Parrish:They don't set that expectation early enough.
RJ Parrish:And it gets weird to because the receiving party doesn't know how to discern what they're after.
RJ Parrish:But in a business sense, it's like, okay, we need to set clearly, I need to speak to what you want to learn.
RJ Parrish:And if it's, you opted in to receive something, a template, a guide, a PDF, a report, whatever, my assumption would be the next communication would be kind of an extension of something along aligned with that problem.
Casey Davis:Mm hmm.
Casey Davis:Yeah.
Casey Davis:Or asking your list a question there's one thing that I learned that's a really good generator for especially called like a white listing.
Casey Davis:Making sure that your email address is verified and they can actually go to the inbox versus a promotion or spam thing is getting them to answer or reply back to one of your first couple emails because that'll show things like Google and Yahoo and other email service providers that you are a legit email address.
Casey Davis: ulings that came out in early: Casey Davis:So getting your new subscribers on your list to reply to you with a simple question of, hey, just want to make sure that you got this insert xYz thing so I can sleep at night.
Casey Davis:Go ahead and just reply to this email with yes, I got it.
Casey Davis:Or in a welcome email saying asking your list to email back with what's your number one?
Casey Davis:I don't know, confusion or struggle or roadblock with XYZ.
Casey Davis:Anything that ties to that one time offer or the opt in or something about your business that they can answer and then that's creating that two way conversation.
Casey Davis:Walkie talkie more thing in that dating relationship where you're both getting to know each other.
Casey Davis:And I love that what you said, sending those expectations of what this relationship is going to mean is so, so, so important in your welcome email.
Casey Davis:Clearly laying out this is what you can expect from me as I'll just use me.
Casey Davis:Casey with CR connects email service.
Casey Davis:I'll be emailing you this.
Casey Davis:I'll be sending you this.
Casey Davis:You'll be invited to these trainings.
Casey Davis:If that's not something you're into, go ahead and unsubscribe now.
Casey Davis:And I know that that might be a little clutch the pearls moment for some people, but unsubscribes are okay.
Casey Davis:You want people who are on your list that are actively opening your emails or clicking on your links.
Casey Davis:You want those people engaged.
Casey Davis:And those people who aren't engaged, let them go.
Casey Davis:It's okay.
Casey Davis:If it's not for them or it was for them at one point and it no longer is, that's fine.
Casey Davis:You want your numbers to show the engagement on your list.
RJ Parrish:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:Engagement is such an ignored metric across all of marketing.
RJ Parrish:It drives me bananas because the preference for a long time has been, well, I want more followers, more people on the list, more subscribers, whatever.
RJ Parrish:But then if your engagement is like 0.01%, what good is that?
RJ Parrish:I'd rather have 100 really engaged people instead of 10,000 people who don't care exactly, exactly.
RJ Parrish:And when you break it down like that, I'm like, well, duh, that makes sense.
RJ Parrish:But we chase the opposite so frequently because we just don't stop long enough to question it.
Casey Davis:Yeah, yeah, great point.
RJ Parrish:So what would be if you had to kind of distill down into one sort of like golden nugget that someone could take away about using email for their small business, what do you think?
RJ Parrish:What would you say for them?
Casey Davis:A nugget?
Casey Davis:I think it's more of a remembering that once you have an email and a name for your list, you quote unquote, own that contact with social media or ads, paid ads you're paying.
Casey Davis:It's kind of like, let's just throw this out there and see how many people that it can hit.
Casey Davis:And there's a cost for that.
Casey Davis:And ideally, as with paid ads, you start getting some traction.
Casey Davis:You'll start increasing what you're spending for your ad spending to get more people onto your list.
Casey Davis:But once they're on your list, you have that list.
Casey Davis:And depending on your email service provider, you may not have to pay to market to that list.
Casey Davis:And there are already people who know who you are that like your products, if they bought before, they've opted into a one time offer and they're consuming your content or material, you kind of got a gold mine sitting on you.
Casey Davis:And that's how email has been so underutilized with the increased popularity of social media over the last decade is people have forgotten.
Casey Davis:Like, this is something that I have that I can send at any time.
Casey Davis:That isn't necessarily going to cost me ad spending money.
Casey Davis:Like I said, depending on your email service provider and if there's fees with sending out to so many contacts at a time, it's going to be significantly lower, most likely, than what you would be spending on a beginning ab kind of testing ad on Google or Facebook or TikTok or things like that.
Casey Davis:I think just remembering you have so much power and usability by having an email list.
Casey Davis:And if you don't have one now, there's so many easy free ways to start building an email list.
Casey Davis:You don't always necessarily have to start with paid traffic.
Casey Davis:You can do the organic route, it might take a little bit longer, but it's definitely something that you can do.
RJ Parrish:That's such a great nugget.
RJ Parrish:There's.
RJ Parrish:I think there's a lot to unpack, but I, the reality is, I believe it might have been Russell Brunson, it might have been Dan Kennedy.
RJ Parrish:Someone said, whoever can pay the most to acquire a customer wins.
RJ Parrish:The problem is people keep paying to acquire the same customer and then without them actually buying anything.
RJ Parrish:Email is a high leverage action.
RJ Parrish:You get the email, you provide value upfront, you set the tone for the relationship, which, here's the big one.
RJ Parrish:If you set out a crappy lead generator that doesn't provide any value just to get the contact information, that lead is not going to.
RJ Parrish:It's unlikely that they'll move anywhere past that.
RJ Parrish:But if you give them something amazing that helps them, then you're starting that relationship off with a really good first date.
Casey Davis:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:And the odds are pretty good that they're going to at least engage at some point, in some way.
RJ Parrish:And if they don't, then that's okay.
Casey Davis:That's okay too.
Casey Davis:Yeah, that's okay.
Casey Davis:I love that.
Casey Davis:What you said, it reminded me of something.
Casey Davis:There was a survey through HubSpot about email deliverability, and it's roughly 20% of people who go to a landing page are qualified or ready to book or buy something from you.
Casey Davis:So they need some type of nurturing.
Casey Davis:Maybe they're not ready to buy now.
Casey Davis:Maybe they don't think that the product's right for them.
Casey Davis:So having their email collected by some type of an offer or getting them opted in some way, you can start doing that kind of nurturing to that lead to get them up to it.
Casey Davis:Because, I mean, if you're just coming to a video sales page, I think a lot of us have kind of this, like, heightened sense of being sold to because we're just constantly seeing ads and paying to avoid ads.
Casey Davis:And then more ads come and you can pay more.
Casey Davis:I think we're just kind of exhausted with being sold sometimes that when we get to some of those landing pages, it's like, no, it's not for me.
Casey Davis:I already know it's not for me.
Casey Davis:And that's where kind of email comes in and you can nurture and like, well, here's some frequently asked questions, here's some consumption sequences to get through.
RJ Parrish:Yeah, exactly.
RJ Parrish:Because here's the, I mean, bring it back to the relationship metaphor.
RJ Parrish:It's the difference between, if your intention is my only goal is to get someone who will go to my room with me or to go home with me, versus like, I don't care how long it takes, I'm here to just create a relationship that lasts.
RJ Parrish:And it's a world of difference because there's a lot of people that try and like, I want you to convert now, which is one to 3% of buyers on average.
RJ Parrish:Where there's the vast majority of people, they might convert decently soon within a matter of a few days, a few weeks if you give them the right offer, you educate them a little bit.
RJ Parrish: igh ticket stuff, it could be: RJ Parrish:If you're not just giving them something else to work towards, to nurture them over time and build up goodwill, then why would they go with you?
Casey Davis:Yeah, exactly.
Casey Davis:Exactly.
RJ Parrish:Okay, man, what about your entrepreneurial journey, your experience or your business?
RJ Parrish:Do I not know enough to ask you about?
Casey Davis:Oh, I think that's a tough question.
Casey Davis:I would say.
Casey Davis:I guess the methodology behind email of how often I know, like when I've been out networking, that's been something that I've heard a lot from people, is while I'm emailing once a week or maybe every other week, because I don't want to bother my listen or what I'm selling, I don't think I can email a lot about.
Casey Davis:And so I don't want to just kind of email the email.
Casey Davis:But if you don't email, you're kind of not going to get the opportunity to make a sale.
Casey Davis:And so, yes, I definitely agree that depending on your niche, depending on your, your market, like e commerce can be so different than like a service provider, something like that.
Casey Davis:But the more you email, the more you'll make.
Casey Davis:And it's, if you're concerned about bothering your list, it might just be the type of content or the expectations that we talked about earlier that haven't quite been met or we're afraid we're going to lose some subscribers if we're emailing too often.
Casey Davis:But subscribers are okay.
Casey Davis:They're good, they'll help your numbers for your open rates once the engagement is kind of there.
Casey Davis:So I think just for me, what I've heard is that's kind of the biggest hesitation for people when they're talking to me about email is I don't think I need to email more than once a week or every other week or my industry.
Casey Davis:We don't use email.
Casey Davis:It doesn't make sense.
Casey Davis:I think email can go for anything.
Casey Davis:It's just a way to communicate.
RJ Parrish:Yeah, yeah.
RJ Parrish:It seems like a couple of really prevalent false beliefs that you can absolutely adhere to and you can make those excuses, but you just have to treat people with respect.
RJ Parrish:I think regardless of what medium you have.
RJ Parrish:And I read pretty recently of we even just as human beings, when we connect with each other, we have people in our lives friends, family that we've probably thought about reaching out to, giving them a call, shooting them a text, a message, whatever.
RJ Parrish:And we don't because we have some sort of internal thing, like, I don't want to bother them or like, what am I going to talk about?
RJ Parrish:And I think it's selfish in some ways because there are people out there that would really like someone to reach out.
Casey Davis:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:And that's easy to say from a personal note, but even from a business note, if your business solves a problem for someone and you choose not to reach out and even just give some nugget of advice or a little bit of insight that might be able to help them, then why would you not do that?
Casey Davis:Mm hmm.
Casey Davis:Yeah.
Casey Davis:It's like, as we've grown up and the relationships we have with our family, as we all kind of grow and go our separate ways, they're still there as a resource, the people who know and understand you that you can rely on reaching out.
Casey Davis:Yeah, that was.
Casey Davis:That was good.
Casey Davis:That got me thinking.
Casey Davis:That was good.
Casey Davis:I don't know quite where I was going with that sentence.
Casey Davis:Kind of left me, but I was like, huh?
RJ Parrish:Yeah, it's something that.
RJ Parrish:It's something to chew on as we for landing.
Casey Davis:Yeah.
RJ Parrish:So, Casey, where can people find more about you?
Casey Davis:I've got my website, crconnects.com, and I'm on socials.
Casey Davis:All the socials with CR connects or Casey, you can find me there.
RJ Parrish:Fantastic.
RJ Parrish:Casey, I really appreciate it.
RJ Parrish:If you liked this episode, you should definitely let us know.
RJ Parrish:Subscribe if you haven't yet already.
RJ Parrish:Follow listen to anywhere that you find your podcasts.
RJ Parrish:Make sure to go check out Casey and his work at CR Connects.
RJ Parrish:Thank you.
RJ Parrish:We'll see you in the next one.
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