In this episode we're chatting about those red flags that pop up in our clients and potential clients from time to time. Take it from me, someone with a lot of experience, I still can get caught out with red flags. Sometimes you need to look back and reflect and learn from these mistakes - luckily for you, I've compiled them all up to help you out! RED FLAGS: Asking for a discount Can't make time for a discovery call Starts to ghost you when it comes time to contract/invoice Someone who grills y...
Apr 20, 2025•35 min
What do you do when your social media strategy is no longer working for you? Firstly - you're not alone! This happens to so many business owners and this is exactly what I'm gonna be unpacking in today's episode of the Dishing Up Digital podcast. Some Takeaways: You are going to have to pivot your social media strategy. Your bio is hot real estate. You need to be so repetitive in your messaging. Sometimes you can't have it all with every single post. Don't let self-doubt take control during laun...
Apr 13, 2025•24 min
"This episode is your permission slip to not have it all figured out" In this episode I'm chatting about jumping in to your new venture without having all your t's crossed and i's dotted. Sometimes it's something that you just need to do! I'll speak from personal experience, and we'll also do a mini case study on Meghan Markle's latest business ventures. A few takeaways from this episode: Building a business requires taking small steps. Mistakes are part of the learning process. You can refine a...
Apr 06, 2025•17 min
Guys! I'm so sorry for the lack of podcast last week, but things have been hectic! If you're not aware of what's been going on, well, I've been a busy girl launching my second studio space for MacKenzie Studios. It's been crazy, but I am super proud of everything and would love you to go and have a look at it on Instagram. On top of launching the new studio space, I've still been trucking along with my Dishing up Digital students, Social Media clients and getting my own marketing out into the wo...
Mar 30, 2025•21 min
If you're thinking about becoming a UGC creator in 2025, this episode might ruin your day. But I could help you avoid a very big mistake. We're going to unpack the rise of the UGC industry as well as what I predict could be it's downfall in 2025. I'm also going to share what you can do to build a more sustainable business as a creator and prepare for the changes coming. What I love about UGC: content for social media MUST be different to your other advertising content it's been a game changer fo...
Mar 16, 2025•16 min
This episode is one of my most valuable yet and is actually a replay from my last webinar at the end of February. In this free training, you'll learn the 3 key steps to successfully set up your freelance business as a social media manager. How to find high-ticket clients: freedom does NOT mean working for $200 a month Systems and workflows: Get a BTS look at how I manage multiple clients while working less hours Outsourcing and hiring your mini dream team: this is my secret weapon to providing h...
Mar 09, 2025•1 hr 6 min
In this episode, I share my personal journey of quitting my corporate job to pursue entrepreneurship, detailing the emotional challenges and practical steps involved. I provide you with five essential tips for those considering leaving their 9-to-5 jobs, emphasising the importance of preparation, financial stability, and strategic planning. My 5 Essential Tips: Don't just quite straight away - build your side hustle, validate your idea, starting building your client list Build a financial runway...
Mar 02, 2025•32 min
In this episode my two worlds collide as we chat Social Media Management and Podcast Production with the wonderful Abbey Graves. From radio DJ to Government Social Media Manager to taking her own side hustle full time we discuss her journey and how she was able to apply what she learnt from the Dishing up Digital School to her podcast production company. Some Key Takeaways: The turning point in going full time with Social Media Management and Podcast Production How the Dishing up Digital School ...
Feb 23, 2025•39 min
My pricing episodes always bring out some interesting comments and responses. Yes I’m going to be revealing every deliverable the details as part of this package, but I first need to reiterate that pricing is personal and everyone is different. There are so many different factors to consider from your level of experience, to where you’re based in the world. Other than a chat about pricing strategy, I’m mainly delving into the deliverables in this package today. I’m covering: Number of posts and ...
Feb 16, 2025•17 min
Pricing is such a big conversation around social media Management. I always get DMs on this topic and whenever I do a podcast around pricing it quickly becomes one of the most downloaded. I even have 4 videos on pricing in the Dishing up Digital school alone! Topics I cover in this episode: When hourly rates are useful The downside of hourly rates How packages benefit your clients How to make your packages work best for you and your clients What to do when you're first starting out and trying to...
Feb 09, 2025•13 min
How are all my fellow Social Media Managers and Business Owners? What a crazy start to the year this has been. I mean, I don't usually rush to post an update when TikTok gets banned in the US, or there's ANOTHER algorithm change on instagram, or when TikTok gets reinstated, but it's hard to ignore what's been happening over the month of January in our industry alone! Usually I can just roll with the punches and take them in my stride, but this was even a lot for me guys. Listen as I briefly un p...
Feb 02, 2025•20 min
Spicy Ellen makes a bit of a return in this episode as I discuss the realities of launching and selling digital products. Online "Gurus" love to tell you that all you need to is to create and sell this one digital product and you'll be set financially! Well, lets debunk that myth and have a bit of a reality check. Some takeaways from this episode: Many online coaches oversimplify the process of selling digital products A discussion around Audience Privilege Viral moments can boost sales but are ...
Jan 26, 2025•23 min
Sign up to my FREE webinar on how to be a Social Media Manager. Price, package & pitch your way to booking out your services with an easy "yes" from clients! ~~~ This episode came about after 2 of my students asked me if they should create a lower priced package for potential clients. The short answer? No! The long answer, listen and find out! Some takeaways from the episode: Lowering prices often stems from insecurity rather than market demand. It's essential to evaluate the true reasons be...
Jan 19, 2025•17 min
Sign up for my FREE webinar on becoming a Social Media Manager: https://www.ellenmackenzie.com/freewebinar Apologies if you thought you would be getting an episode on Social Media Strategy! Instead this episode is on the strategy that helped me book my first clients as a Social media Manager with no experience. My 2 rules for this strategy are: You don’t need an Instagram following to “prove that you can do it” or “prove your worth” You can hustle in silence In this episode I focus on the follow...
Jan 12, 2025•14 min
TBH, if I titled this episode "10 Steps to Your First 10,000 Followers" I would probably get way more downloads and listens. The reason I've chosen to focus on your first 500 followers is because I believe this milestone is incredibly life-changing and powerful and I really want everybody listening to this episode to focus on building a small but mighty audience. The 5 Steps I'll be covering are: Study your competition Post more frequently to get more data and refine your skills Focus on your st...
Jan 06, 2025•22 min
As a freelance social media manager and online coach/creator, I LOVE having multiple revenue streams. Here's a breakdown of how much each revenue stream made me in 2024. This video also covers my expenses and profit (how much it costs to run my business) as well as a quarter by quarter breakdown with what went right and what went wrong this year. November and December was a pretty tough month in business with me, so I got a touch emotional reflecting in this video. But overall I'm feeling super ...
Jan 04, 2025•42 min
It’s that magical time of year again when we are about to enter a new year. And I don't know about you guys, but I get excited this time of year. I love the buzz, the energy, the excitement, and I love how there's something about entering the new year that can give you the motivation that perhaps you've been lacking for the rest of all the previous year. I wanted to take a little moment for those listening who have already started working with their own clients and are wanting to use the energy ...
Dec 29, 2024•28 min
What does the future of Instagram, TikTok, Youtube and all social media platforms in 2025 look like? Today I'm sharing my predictions and the trends I think are going to have an impact on the industry. As a social media manager, I LOVE using the New Year as a time to reassess my strategy and I hope this podcast episode leaves you feeling inspired. 00:41 - How AI is going to evolve in 2025 04:23 - The quality of your content matters more than ever 07:08 - Social media is more important than your ...
Dec 23, 2024•22 min
Guys, my confidence has taken a bit of a knock lately and I’ve been struggling behind the scenes. From what to post, to should I record this podcast episode - in fact, this wasn’t even the podcast episode I was originally going to post! It happens to all of us and has been especially prevalent in our industry of late. I do hope this helps someone and you can gain your own confidence back! It’s a little bit of a kick up the butt! A little bit of a wake up call, and a little bit of BTS of Ellen! I...
Dec 15, 2024•24 min
Today is all about the lessons I’ve learnt after being self employed for 5 years. Social Media Management was something I could get started in with no experience (I basically “winged” it), and now I help other Social Media Managers to not “wing it”, do things successfully by learning from my mistakes and scale faster to be working for themselves from anywhere in the world. This episode is broken into 5 categories: Money Boundaries Clients Failures Marketing These, for me, have been the crucial c...
Dec 08, 2024•18 min
If you’ve been sitting there telling yourself that it’s too late to get started as a Social Media Manager, or that you don’t have enough experience, or any of the other text book excuses newbies like to use, this episode is the one for you! I chat to the fabulous Stenya, who is one of my Dishing Up Digital School students. She enrolled in the programme earlier in the year and has had some amazing leaps and bounds with her business whilst also juggling 3 kids and travelling the world. In this int...
Dec 01, 2024•44 min
The Dishing Up Digital School is now OPEN! Join Now: https://www.ellenmackenzie.com/Dishing-up-Digital-School ~~~ In today’s episode I chat to the wonderful Liv, from Lila Studios, about her journey to becoming a full time Social Media Manger, how she booked her first clients and how she is now growing & scaling her business. Liv has a pretty cool story in that she managed to quit her job within just a few months of signing up for my programme - the Dishing Up Digital School. This all happen...
Nov 24, 2024•32 min
Dishing Up Digital School is re-launching this week: https://www.ellenmackenzie.com/Dishing-up-Digital-School#signup ~~~ Guys, this episode is a bit spicy! In fact, it was meant to be something completely different, but I woke up this morning and had to get these words out! Today I'm talking about: What does a social media manager actually do? Spoiler alert, you get to decide! A SMM can be defined as many things, they're all correct Systems are just as important as strategy You don't need an Ins...
Nov 17, 2024•33 min
This week is a Q&A brought to you by my Instagram question box. I had some great questions come through and have had to whittle it down to 6, so I don’t turn this on to a loooong podcast. Also, with the approaching busy season of Black Friday, the Holiday Season and my business birthday, I wanted to keep this episode light & breezy and just have a chat with you all. Questions covered today: How to create an email marketing funnel from social media? How would you deliver bad analytics to ...
Nov 10, 2024•31 min
Guys, I am so lucky to have been able to buy a house with my partner, Ali, this year, and this episode is all about how I got there, along with my very practical savings tips. From being advised not to quit my salaried job by a mortgage broker to being in a position to withdraw money from my investment stocks for the house deposit, I go through the journey with you. A few takeaways: The struggle to change my mindset of owning a house being a measure of your worth, and letting go of the pressure ...
Nov 03, 2024•31 min
Who says cold emails are dead? If done the right way, your cold pitch emails will have potential clients responding back and becoming a part of your roster! Today we’re discussing tips to have successful cold pitches from personalization to perfecting the follow up. I’m even sharing an example of a successful cold pitch that worked on me and led to me hiring someone this year, 2024. TABLE OF CONTENTS 00:00 Cold Pitching is Dead 00:48 Why Cold Pitching has a Bad Rep 01:36 Why you Should Cold Pitc...
Oct 29, 2024•11 min
In this episode I chat with the amazing Natalie Barbu as she reflects on her journey from a bored teenager making makeup tutorials on YouTube to launching her project management tool, Rella. She addresses the difficulties of shifting from influencer to entrepreneur and highlights the role of community engagement in marketing. It was so great to chat to Natalie and hear about how she still has a client for Social Media Management, as well as how she applies her skills in this area to the marketin...
Oct 20, 2024•28 min
This week is a fresh new episode! Thank you so much for your patience these last couple of weeks while I've been busy with business things, and buying my first house things!! It's all been a very exciting and full on couple of weeks! This week I am chatting about Lulu Lemon and their social media strategy, and there's is an interesting one to dive into! Some Key Takeaways: Their focus on community over products Effective use of ambassadors The contrast in organic content vs. paid advertising Can...
Oct 14, 2024•21 min
NOTE: This episode was originally uploaded in August 2021. ~~~ Yes! Another Rewind episode, but this was so popular and also happens to be one I still send to people when they ask me anything about needing experience in my dms. It's had a bit of editing done to the episode, but I still think you'll get a lot out of it today! When I decided that I'd like to become a social media manager, I didn't think I would start my own agency or become a freelancer. I felt I needed to find a corporate job whe...
Oct 06, 2024•30 min
NOTE: This episode was originally uploaded in January 2022. It is one of my most downloaded episodes, so I though this was a good time to re-release it to you. Everything is still relevant today! ~~~ Social Media Strategy: This was something that used to highly intimated me! Imposter syndrome is flaring as a new entrepreneur finding your way in a new industry, and this word strategy honestly felt so daunting. Over two years later, I can see now that strategy is just a fancy term (for people who ...
Sep 29, 2024•30 min
