242 Saving Time on Social Media with Jennifer Johnson
Unlock the secret to harmonizing a bustling solopreneur lifestyle with the help of social media wizardry! In this episode, I welcome Jennifer Johnson, the mastermind behind CinchShare and we uncover the essentials of effortlessly managing your online presence. As we delve into Jennifer's inspiring journey of creating this innovative scheduling platform, you'll learn how to save time and boost your business with just a few clicks.
In this episode, we cover:
- The need for simplified social media scheduling tools for small business owners and solopreneurs.
- Overview of how CinchShare was created to address the time-consuming process of managing social media content.
- Features and benefits of CinchShare.
Connect with Jennifer:
https://cinchshare.com/
https://www.instagram.com/cinchshare
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FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Megan:
Hey everyone. I am thrilled to introduce you all to Jennifer Johnson today. She is the CEO and founder of Cinch Share, a software platform I discovered maybe about eight years ago, and I love the reason why I wanted to bring them all to you here today for you all to meet Jennifer. One, just to hear the story about how the software came to be. It's pretty impressive. But second, if you are someone that is running your own business, you are a true solopreneur. People are always asking me recommendations for tools and software that are easy to use, and ScentShare is one I personally used many years ago and I 100% stand behind, especially if you are someone that considers yourself non-techie. So I'm excited for you all to hear about it and to meet Jennifer. Let's go ahead and jump in.
Megan:
Welcome to the Work-Life Harmony podcast. I'm your host, Megan Sumrell. I'm the creator of the top program and top planner teaching all things time management, organization and productivity for women. I'm also a mom and wife and, just like you, I'm juggling hashtag all the things while running multiple businesses and a family. Guess what? You don't have to feel constantly overwhelmed, exhausted and stressed out. There is another way, when you have the right systems and tools to plan and manage your time, you can live a life of harmony. This is your show to learn from me and other amazing women how to master your time, planning an organization to skyrocket your productivity so you can have work-life harmony. If you're ready to stop feeling overwhelmed, this is the show for you, and if you're new here, I'd love to get you started with my work-life harmony assessment. All you have to do is DM me on Instagram, at Megan Sumrell, with the word harmony and my team will send it right over.
Megan:
All right, everyone. Welcome back to Work-Life Harmony. Our guest today is someone that I met several years ago when I was a co-founder of a software company and, being a woman in software, I always love it when I can find another woman involved in software. But not only did I love that part, but the software that they have built and maintain is exceptional. So, Jennifer, welcome to the show. I would love for you to tell everyone just a quick who you are, what you do, and then we're going to dive into how your software actually saves people time.
Jennifer:
Awesome. Thank you so much for having me here, Megan. Like you said, my name is Jennifer. I am the CEO and founder of Centshare, which is a simplified social media scheduler for small business owners. So it's for small business owners who are doing their own social scheduling, versus using an agency. That's what we were built for and that's the customers that we serve.
Megan:
I love that and I found since share many years back when I was running a fairly large network marketing business and I was a solopreneur, a true team of one, and I think one of the biggest things biggest time sucks that small business owners can get into is managing social media right, feeling like we need to be everywhere and how do I find the time to do that? And then when I started looking at scheduling tools, so many of them are geared to that next level business, they're priced for next level business, they're hard to figure out. And so when I found Cintshare the amazing price point and the fact that it comes with all of these graphics because my team today doesn't let me make graphics that's how great I am at that it was a complete game changer for me. So I would love for you to give the backstory on how did CintShare come to be for you. That's a really cool story.
Jennifer:
We're 10 years old, so it was about 10 years ago and I was working my own business and also had a network marketing business, and I found myself needing to schedule my content throughout the day and I was using some other schedulers. I was using the native scheduler on Facebook, but they were all bulky, they were just. They were really time consuming actually to even just do that process. And so when you're creating a lot of content over and posting consistently which is what you should be doing to help you need a tool to help. So I was using some of those other tools and that's when I was like okay, I need to simplify the steps that it's taking to create a post and schedule a post, because I'm doing it over and I need a place to have all of the posts that I'm creating stored in my history so I can easily access them and reuse them again and again, because all that great content that you're creating should be shared again, because only a few handful of people see your content, so it should be shared again so that people can see it and then share it in different ways and stuff. I needed something to be able to do that easily, so I created Centshare for myself actually just to use, and I was using it myself.
Jennifer:
And then what took me before two hours or more using Facebook scheduler or using any other tools, I was able to knock down to less than 20 minutes with Centshare. So we just reduced the amount of clicks it took to get the job done, and all of those things combined it just reduced my time. And so then, when I started using it, I shared with a couple of people how much time it was saving me. And then I was like I need something like that for me because I'm doing my own scheduling as well. And so that was Cents. Cher was born. I always love it.
Megan:
I think that it's so powerful when you and I share a similar story. We created what the business we ultimately have now for ourselves. There was a need we had. We built something and then all of a sudden everyone was like, oh my gosh, I need that too. I think it just speaks to the problems that you solve.
Megan:
Anytime someone asks me to recommend software, I always get a little nervous because I do have a background in software and so I recognize that sometimes tools that are easy for me to use are because I was in tech for so long and they're maybe not always easy to use for others, and so I think that's a real sweet spot. That Cinture has is not only the time saving in being able to get your content scheduled and all of that, but the learning curve of actually using it, because I know today I'm no longer a solopreneur. I have a social media manager who handles all of that and the tool she uses. I go in there. I'm like I don't even understand what's going on in here. It is really built for a professional marketer in mind and the technology is clunky. So what is it that you feel makes SenseShare a nice entry point for people who are maybe hesitant to learn tech?
Jennifer:
I think just the way it was designed very simple, and it very much mimics how you would go about creating a post on a regular platform, whether it be Facebook or Instagram. You do it much the same way, where you have a post message that you enter and you add your media and then you just select your date and time and so then there's all these other functionalities that can make it time saving. But ultimately, being able to get in and not have it be scary is really important for small business owners and I myself. I personally am not techie.
Jennifer:
I didn't go to school for tech. I have a music business background. I was a mom. I was doing all these things where I was posting on social and I needed a tool and it needed to be easy for me to use, and so it's easy for me to use. If you can post on Facebook, you can use SendShare. It is designed for that entry point, for that person to come on, and then, as you get in, you find there's obviously a lot more powerful tools that it can do to help you. So it's super powerful but at the same time, it's really easy to get in and get started Awesome.
Megan:
I think one of the extra benefits that I see is the community that you all have, because I know sometimes as a solopreneur it's very lonely, like we feel like we're all by ourselves out on this island, we're having problems, we don't know if other people are, and it can be hard to connect with others. How do you all serve your ScentShare users that way?
Jennifer:
So how we sort of show up. Best for our community is every week. We host weekly training events and we just guide our email list and anybody who's following us on social and we say, hey, come join us at this event at this time and we're going to cover this topic, and it's usually something that's going to help them figure out how to get more engagement when they're posting or how to post consistently without spending hours. And we shared the time saving tips and so people who show up, it's free, absolutely free. And then they come and comment and we're there because we've scheduled our content and so we're there in the comments and can engage with people, and so we just have built that community where we are always active and when we post on social, if somebody comments, we reply back, and if somebody sends us a DM, then we reply back, so we're just super active and reachable for our entire community, whether they're even a Cinthare user or not.
Megan:
That's invaluable. I know a lot of the software I use right now. The only way I can get help is submit the support ticket and then it's this random. I mean you're not really sure they're understanding your question or you're having to spend a lot of time trying to search how-to videos and all of that out there. Now I mentioned earlier on the real time saving and benefit I got out of Centshare was the fact that you provide actual graphics templates that are generic. They can be used by anybody. How often are you all refreshing that content? Great question.
Jennifer:
We refresh it monthly, so every single month on the 15th of the month, we share the content for the next month.
Jennifer:
So for people, for scheduling in advance, obviously, uh can get a head start for that next month.
Jennifer:
And so on the 15th of march, we drop april's content and so forth, and it's updated every month and and we have usually between 800 to 1000 pieces of content that we're adding monthly yes, monthly.
Jennifer:
So it's a lot and it varies depending on what people are requesting. So sometimes people just message us and say, hey, do you have more stuff for the tea industry, or do you have more things for the auto industry, or anything like that, and we just are like we'll just ask some questions and say what are you looking for? And then we just get to work and start creating and add more and connect with our designers and create content and put it out there so people can use it, so that they can ultimately get engagement. They are very low risk, easy to ask questions, easy to answer questions for people who are scrolling on social and maybe don't want to give a whole lot of commitment, but those types of posts do very well and boost engagement so that when then you do post and share about your business offer. It actually has more views and gets more reach as well. I love that.
Megan:
I'll say, the one that I love that you guys refresh every single month is I always love knowing like today is National Donut Day or whatever, and that's something that I always look for because on my just even in my own personal content sometimes I realize I've been good about connecting with personal people as well, and so I love always pulling through and looking for those fun national days or the fun this or that business as well that are out there. So I think it's important for folks to realize it's not just all business focused things. You guys offer the ability for so many ideas and really easy ways to get that out there. So I know you've made some changes pretty recently with different platforms that you all interact with. What is the current list going today of what people can schedule for?
Jennifer:
It's quite extensive. So for Facebook right now, currently today, you can schedule to Facebook groups automatically, you can schedule to business groups automatically, you can schedule to business pages automatically, you can schedule to page reels and page stories automatically, and then you can schedule to your personal timeline with a post notification. That's where you get. You schedule it like normal and then, when it's time for your post to get delivered, you get a notification on your phone and it's all wrapped up in a bundle. You just click post now and you push it through. So it's an extra step.
Jennifer:
There is a change coming in the future where in April, facebook says no more tools for Facebook groups and so in April Facebook groups will become a post notification posting as well. So you can schedule with groups for now with auto posting, and then after April, you can schedule with a post notification. And then, besides Facebook, we schedule to Instagram, to all the places, reels, stories, your feed, and we schedule to Pinterest, linkedin and the Platform X, and then we are soon to be releasing TikTok scheduling Basically everywhere that people are pretty much looking to be.
Megan:
It's there. So I just want to encourage listeners here today. If any of you are label yourself as a solopreneur, a small business owner, that does not have somebody managing your social media for you and it feels very heavy. I am someone I always say I only recommend tools, software, courses etc. That I have personally used, that I can speak to, and so this is why Cintshare really is, for a small business owner, the only social media scheduling platform that I honestly feel comfortable recommending, because I know there are some other ones out there that are likely going. The learning curve is just going to make it really challenging for folks to.
Jennifer:
They can go to Cintsharecom on their website and sign up and if you use promo code GameChanger, you can get 30 days free to try us out. Get access to the library and start scheduling content and give it a whirl.
Megan:
And guys, that's a real benefit because usually it's a 14-day free trial, right yeah? And I think we've also got a coupon harmony so you can use either coupon code and it will extend your trial for a full-on 30 days so that you can really get out there and do that. So I have to ask what is the future for SintShare, If you think ahead in the future, what is your passion for continuing to do this and where you hope to see this all go?
Jennifer:
Our future is very much rooted in our same roots, where we're trying to simplify the tools that allow our users to schedule and plan all of their social posts wherever that they are posting and planning, and however we can do that's what we want to do and offer them the best tools to do so in a simple and easy to do manner.
Jennifer:
Like I mentioned earlier, we're going to be having TikTok scheduling coming soon. We hope to add YouTube Shorts as well shortly after that, and then another big functionality that we're going to be adding is our own keyboard. That we're going to be adding is our own keyboard, so all of our content that's saved in Cineshare will be available on your keyboard so you can actually just push through in a message, you can push through in a text or in a comment somewhere wherever you are needing to, you can push any type of messages that you have saved or graphics that you have saved, and so that will really extend how our users will be able to use their content that they have saved in Centshare to not only for social scheduling but beyond, to anywhere where they need their content and you guys remember, this is 10 years old.
Megan:
This is proven software platform, which means you're not on the front end of something that may or may not work. Because I'm always hesitant, I'm like, well, it's still pretty new, but this is a tried and true platform. It's still pretty new, but this is a tried and true platform. I think I first played with it, I think eight years ago, when you all and I've never had issues with the platform. So to me, that speaks to my heart. Great to hear.
Megan:
Thank you for taking the time to be here today. I love everything that you all are doing. I love how you are empowering small business owners to save time and keep their content organized. It speaks to my heart. So thank you so much, jennifer. Getting on top of all things time management, organization and productivity doesn't have to stop just because this episode is over. If you want one tap access to all of my training and current top podcasts, go to the App Store or Google Play and download the pink B app. It's one word, the pink B. It is jam packed with simple yet powerful tips and strategies to get you out of overwhelm and into harmony. And if you have a question you want me to cover on a future episode? Go to iTunes and ask your question in the podcast review section and while you're there, don't forget to leave a five-star review.
