BUSINESS OWNER:  Jess Carrier
BUSINESS NAME:  Show Up Social
MAIN PRODUCTS/SERVICES:  Social Media Writing Prompts For Small Businesses
LOCATION:  Online
WEBSITE:  showup.social

Short description of your business:

Show Up Social is a monthly subscription to more than 16 social media caption prompts, national days to celebrate, and DIY marketing training. Our social media prompts are for entrepreneurs who manage their own social media accounts and want to have complete control over their brand’s voice online. Clients begin with our Getting Started Guide, where they fill in adjectives, verbs, and other relevant information to their business. They then receive the monthly issues where they fill in the blanks. It’s like Mad-Libs for their image captions. 

What motivated you to start your business? What drives you each day? 

What motivated this start-up was hearing other entrepreneurs say, “I know I need to be joining the conversation on social media to move my business forward, but I don’t know what to say most of the time” I knew I could help. I have spent a great deal of time learning about the psychology of marketing and using that to create a social media marketing formula. 

What drives me each day is knowing that this business will have a creative impact on each of its customers, and that could start a chain reaction of growth. 

What’s unique about your business?

Social media prompts aren’t anything new. I drew my inspiration from a marketing company in Orange County, California. What sets this business apart is that the prompts have been tailored to be relevant to any small business. Our prompts are formatted explicitly for small businesses such as florists, restaurants, coffee shops, breweries, travel agents, boutiques, antique shops, food trucks, insurance agents, accountants, garbage companies, plumbers, electricians, photographers, and much more!

We created the product with small business owners, who are DIY marketers, and each of our monthly issues with the latest information revolving around social media and online marketing. 

What has been your greatest reward? 

The greatest reward in this has been knowing that I have the formula to help small businesses stand out in a very crowded online world. I feel like it’s our purpose in this world to learn what we can, master it, and then use that knowledge to help someone else. 

How have you benefited from the startup community in Sioux City and the region? What resources did you use?

The greatest benefit from the Siouxland startup scene has been inspiration. It’s nice to be surrounded by people with an entrepreneurial mindset like me. Iowa’s West Coast Initiative’s networking programs have helped me connect with other people that aspire to grow as I do.

Why is it important for the community to support startups and small businesses? What more can be done to help them?

Entrepreneurship can be a very lonely world. We spend most days stuck in our own heads with an abundance of ideas flowing. It’s important for us to have a like-minded community to connect with and places to work that foster creativity and inspire ideas.  Some of the best business ideas come from attempting to solve other business owner’s problems. If we can all stay connected and have organizations that foster those entrepreneur relationships, we can essentially keep building and growing. 

What is one thing you know now that you wish you knew when starting your business?

I have now co-owned 4 very successful businesses. The biggest thing I have learned is to always have a very particular person in mind when developing a product or service. They can test your product for you and provide valuable feedback. Chances are there are around 7,000 people in the world just like that person (That is if they are one in a million). With this technique, you will know exactly who you are marketing to, then you show up where they are looking for your services (Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Etc.). This saves a lot of time and marketing dollars. 

What advice would you give to someone looking to start a business?

This isn’t my advice, but it’s the best advice I ever received: If someone wrinkles their nose at your idea, then you are probably on to something. 

What are some future goals for your company?

My plan this year is to continue to add value to the product without adjusting the price. I have pretty big ideas for where to take this program, but I’m still ironing out all of the details and fine-tuning the process.