What a financial expert did to build her business on eight figures
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Dominique Broadway, owner of Finances Decoded and Hero, has known that from the start. She's always thought about herself as an entrepreneur, and that is why the email list that she began building on the booth some time ago has grown into one of her biggest assets in her role as a creator. "Because I think of my business as one that I must run it as such. I never want to feel like I'm dependent upon Facebook as well as Instagram as well as TikTok. I'd like to send out an email or send out a text directly and constantly talk to my audience."
Keep reading to find out the strategies and mindset Dominique utilized to establish an efficient and sustainable knowledge-based business of eight figures independent of social media.
For a quick version of the interview, take a look at Dominique's responses to our Rapid-Fire Questions & A series below!
Note: Responses were lightly edited to improve clarity.
Tell us a little bit about the story behind you and how you started your journey in the financial industry.
At the age of my youth I began to understand how wealthy people made money and building wealth. The answer was either the stock market or real estate. I decided I would teach myself how to invest in the stock market because I was not able to afford the funds to go out and begin purchasing homes. That's really where I got to where I began teaching myself to invest. I graduated from school and studied in the fields of financial and banking. Fast forward and I had worked in a variety of firms, such as United Capital, which was acquired in the merger with Goldman Sachs. The last company that I worked for I went to my boss and asked, "Hey, I think I'd like to leave to do something different." Then he said, "What are you going to do?" Then I'm like "I don't have any idea. I want to teach people about finance." I needed to find out what I could do to achieve that. I had no clue. The booth I was looking at was For Sisters Only. I called my dear acquaintance and asked, "Hey, I got the booth during the next event and I'm looking for you to create the landing page I need so that I can gather emails. I need some business cards and a banner. Can you do it?" He's saying "Yeah." That's why I'm running the booth, and there were around 90 people who joined my list of email addresses - this was my first list-building activity. It turned out that I had around a third clients, and that's when things began to take off.
I go back to one year about a year later and I'm broken. Broken and dead. I was offered a position at the nonprofit organization for financial literacy, in the early days, and I realized I had to find a way to keep my earnings steady. This is when I made the decision to develop my first class that was called the Finances Demystified Boot Camp. Then, I learned about . We had our first million-dollar month only six months later. It was $8.5 million in that first year and now we've generated around $13 million over the past two years.
What drives you to do what you do now?
The interesting part is that it is something that people don't talk about all the time which drives you, and the reasons for doing it can be changed. When I started my company, I had no kids. It was just me. I just wanted to make money and help people, so I could go on trips and consume food. My current passion is to help others build wealth generationally and changing their financial trajectories as well as, with my kids, I want to teach them. But for me, it's really about building financial confidence.
Why is it so hard for people to make money in the field of creation?
I think it's hard for anyone to earn income due to a variety of reasons. First, I never consider myself to be a creative person, but I believe that the creator syndrome to me can be very similar to artist syndrome. What I am referring to is when you're growing up, you are told, "Oh, so and such wants to become the next artist." "Oh the man, they're going to be broke for ever." It's just an idea but that's not an actual fact. Sometimes, I believe that people get that mentality and think, "Oh, I'm a creator. It's going to be slightly more challenging for me. It's not a real commercial venture. This is just something that I'm doing." I never thought about it that way. I've always thought about my company as a company. I feel like I am a chief executive first, then a creator and a talent second. And because of that, the creators (and other artists) don't have a focus on making money; they're not putting any energy and effort into the development of the product. or, in the research of what goods people actually prefer, and they're not marketing.
So I think if you considered your company as more of a business and you could be able to begin to monetize your business more effectively. It is a matter of having an effective marketing plan. This means knowing who your target audience is. As of right now, for majority of artists, all they're doing is just joining TikTok or other platforms, joining social networks and doing some dance or shaking while pointing out some items but no one is buying anything. Well, there's no true call to action, so the people aren't sure what to do. They don't even know the products you offer.
How crucial is it to build community as part of your company?
What can you do to get your social media followers to sign up to your social media community? What will that bridge appear like?
It's an area that I'd certainly not claim to have mastered, getting those people from Instagram into your email list. The most important thing is that I remind my team all the time, "I don't care how my followers are on my social media but my email list needs to be higher than that." As of right now, on my social media, I'm thinking I might have 125,000 or more followers. That's quite a bit. There are millions of followers now, but our email list is over one quarter of a million. That's more important to me.
So how do you reach them? You use various calls to actions. You have various intentional activities that bring them over. For instance, I'm thinking, "Hey, we need to post at least one IG story a day that tells people to come to our masterclass." Also, bring them into the text community. Sometimes, we'll even offer events where I'll place some thousand dollars onto the Starbucks card. Like, "Hey guys, there's no cost coffee. Just text in and you get the discount code." The little hyperlink in your bio, which leads people directly to the landing page or directs them to my phone number is the way to bridge the gap. Most people do not offer their audiences a way to access another house. They're inside this [social media] home, but I need for you to join me in this house, come to this event also. And that to me has been the easiest way to do it. Although it sounds easy, it is important to provide people with the opportunity to make a decision but the majority of people do not make that happen.
Why is having your list of email addresses be larger than your following so important?
My reason for aiming is always to build a bigger email list than my following is that I'd like to have control over all the data. It is my goal to make certain that I control all of my clients and information. I would like to have all of the information, such as demographics, as well as phone numbers. In the event that any of these platforms go down, or decide to go out of business or something else, I'll keep the contacts. I always think about MySpace. Some people created their entire business through MySpace only to find that all of a sudden MySpace was gone and their company is also lost. As I see my business as one and I have to run it as such. I never want to feel like I'm dependent upon Facebook and Instagram as well as TikTok. I'd like to mail an email or send out a text direct and speak to my followers. That's why I'm working on creating my email lists but now my main focus is text.
How would you advise the smaller-scale artists using social media to connect with their fans?
What I'd say to those who are solely using social media platforms is to quit. Social media is fantastic however it shouldn't be your only lead stream or lead generator. When you think about your company, think about it in terms of an individual heart. The one I often refer to is the heart - it's where I'm trying my best to draw everyone into. When I think of all the blood flowing. Where does it come from? There's no way it could be coming from the same place. If it's coming from one place, you're dying. If leads are only coming from one source It's unlikely to be effective. Make sure you are bringing them to join your world. There is no ownership of the individuals on social media platforms. You have to get the individuals into your [businessworld so that you can monetize them because it's very, difficult to make money on these [social] platforms. You're a creator But you're not only a creator. You are an entrepreneur.
A lot of creators believe that brand and affiliate deals are the only way to earn money. What would you suggest to them to start in terms of the monetization vehicle?
Brand deals and affiliates can be part-time income for me and what I enjoy about my company is that it's not just a once-off hit. It's still a good thing, particularly as we've moved to a membership-based community our new focus now is MRR or monthly reoccurring revenue. It's my goal to have money come into my account even when I decide that I want to wake up early and go to the beach. Through affiliates and brand deals, most of the time they're only going to last for a little bit. Then, every month, you'll have to work it out and again. So put more energy and effort into developing something that's going to pay your consistently and provide regular revenues for your company.
What role does play in aiding you in retaining control of your destiny as a creator?
is really the heart of the business. Everything kind is flowing through it. And as far as being at the helm of my own destiny, I think it becomes the central hub. I'm able have a good idea of how the business is performing through analysis. I can see that my email lists are growing. And for me, when I think about my future, we all want to feel at the helm. It's not like we're in charge, but we want to feel as though we've got some control. This is this is what I'm feeling. I'm able log on to the platform and I can check exactly what's happening. I'm able see how my business is doing in the current month or even the previous month. So for me, this gives me a little bit of control in an uncontrollable world, to be confident that I'm in control of my destiny.
The message Be aware of who you are speaking to
Social media platforms are the ones calling the shots. However, you are still in control of your destiny as an entrepreneur by taking steps to ensure you have your own audience, outside of social media.
If you're feeling that the conventional creation economy isn't working for you, join the Creator Challenge, and launch your venture with the assistance of the entrepreneurs and creators who have made today's creator economy function for them.
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