The Commission Code for Success

What You Share Matters Less Than What They Hear: Turn content into trust, and trust into revenue, Sharee Ann Chen

• The Commission Code For Success from Sims Training and Consulting, LLC • Season 1 • Episode 36

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We unpack how visibility builds trust and why virality alone won’t drive high‑ticket sales. Sheree shares a practical playbook for hooks, relatable stories, proof, and follow‑up, plus how niche visibility beats broad reach for specialized products.

• how trust forms before high‑ticket purchases
• visibility across podcasts, social, reviews, and stages
• leader content vs chasing trends
• problem–solution messaging in simple words
• hooks that stop the scroll in 10 seconds
• proof of results and showing receipts
• funnels, CTAs, and follow‑up systems
• repetition and timing across long sales cycles
• balancing personal story with customer outcomes
• niche strategies for restaurant tech and AI
• conferences, referrals, and authority positioning

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Speaker:

Trust is different for everybody, but when it comes to social media and when it comes to, you know, PR even, you know, and just podcasting, a lot of times when people are making large decisions on what to purchase, like let's say it's a high-ticket offer, they're going to see like what the person is all about, whether it's through podcast or through, you know, reviews or or from um, you know, just different ways of finding you and checking you out before they actually purchase. So I think it's really important to get yourself visible regardless of your business model, because when you do, then more people can find you, more people can see that you've built trust in the industry.

Speaker 1:

We're here to help you overcome the children lost the face of our best. Let's get on with today's episode of the commission code for yourself. Today on the commission code, Sherein is our guest. And Sheree has done all sorts of things and recently built a new business. And uh, she's just got all kinds of great experience and things that she's going to share with us today. So, Sheree, thank you so much for being on the commission code.

Speaker:

Thank you so much for having me, Morris. I'm really excited to be here.

Speaker 1:

Well, tell me a little bit about how you got into this world of digital marketing and now running a technology business. How did that all start?

Speaker:

Yeah, so it started actually when I was about 16 years old. I was super interested in all things creative. So I was basically starting blogs at that age. I was, you know, taking photos of everything. I was actually, you know, working to be a photographer as like a side hustle while I was working at different jobs. And then, you know, back then we didn't really have a lot of design tools, but I learned Photoshop on YouTube. I learned, you know, InDesign, all of those little things that you could basically learn just online. And I started learning all of those things. And then I found out that there was a big need for social media managers because that was kind of around the time Instagram and all of those things started kind of coming out. So once that came out, it was kind of an open door for me to start working in the social media industry. I was pretty much one of the first people to start being a social manager, social media manager, I would say, because it had really just kind of kicked off around that time. So it was really exciting because I got to use my creativity. I got to take a lot of photos, videos, you know, kind of do a lot of different design things there. And, you know, at that time period, Instagram was pretty much just like pictures, captions, and then just people posting everything that they wanted. Uh, but now it's so much more advanced. And as things started to grow social, so did my actual knowledge. And, you know, I started learning so much more about the industry. And I kind of just fell into marketing from social media, funny enough. So, you know, I went to school for communications. We didn't learn any marketing really. It was more so like journalism, which is funny because I don't do that at all now. But um, you know, uh, I learned, you know, basically what I needed from just internships and different things like that. And then I ended up just working in the marketing field. So mainly as a social media manager. And then I started having freelance clients. After college, I ended up working for different restaurants as the marketing manager and started learning all types of marketing. And again, it was one of those things where I kind of was in charge of everything. So I just had to learn everything on YouTube and Google and kind of do trial and error for every little thing. But it was really rewarding because, you know, years later, I was able to basically do all of these different roles without having to hire help. And then I was able to finally get to the stage where I had an agency and was able to hire employees and run the marketing agency and get my clients from referrals only. So, you know, it was a kind of long-winded ride, but very um fun. And I really enjoyed it the whole time.

Speaker 1:

And you started when you were 16. So you've done all this in in what three years, four years or something?

Speaker:

Yeah. So I would say that I I mean I know, right?

Speaker 1:

For the for the folks on the podcast, I'm doing this on Zoom, so I can see Sharade, and I can tell you it 16 wasn't that many years ago.

Speaker:

Yeah, I'm 28 now. So I started doing freelance and everything about like two to three years later, after, you know, working as an intern and learning so much from them. So I was able to finally kick off the agency, hire my first employee by the age of 20 or 21, I believe. So, you know, it was really awesome how fast things grew. And I feel like, you know, when I started my social media career, it was literally in the middle of blowing up. So it was just perfect timing. You know, not as easy as it is now with AI and all of the different things that, you know, you have to kind of just make your marketing so much better, but still it was just so exciting to be able to create and, you know, come up with so many ideas for businesses that would help them to have freedom in their own lives.

Speaker 1:

Well, you know, one of the things in your bio was the word visibility. And I had a friend on on the podcast not too long ago, and he taught me, he said, Morris, in in in our day, you know, we were told it's all about who you know. But in reality, it's all about who knows you. And I've always I I've repeated that over and over and over again because it it just landed so strongly in my mind. Talk to me a little bit about how you help people create more visibility.

Speaker:

Right, that is such a great point. So, you know, I've worked with both restaurants and personal brands. So, you know, it's different for both of them. When it comes to restaurants, they have to get seen by a lot of people. And like you said, it's all about like who knows them. And so, with personal branding, at least with the high-ticket sales and the types of clients that I had where it was more of a coaching experience, they would really rely on making really good connections. And the more connections that they personally had, and the more visibility they got from podcasting, from blogging, from, you know, just social media, even, from conferences and speaking arrangements, they would be able to attract so many more customers. And it's funny because I did have a lot of clients who had zero social media presence, but their way of doing visibility was with what we're doing right now podcasting and blogging for different outlets, which is really interesting to see how it can go both ways. But visibility is huge because if you can't get visible, then no one's gonna know that you're available to buy from, you know? And I always like to say that so many people are looking for your services or your offer and they just can't find you. So if they can't find you, then they can't buy from you, you know? So visibility is really, really important. And I think when it comes to visibility, it's important to show off yourself as a leader in the space. A lot of people think that visibility just means that they need to post a bunch of reels or TikToks that make them look funny or, you know, that go viral. And going viral is a good thing, but it's also better to show up as a leader in your space and knowledgeable about what you do, making sure that people feel like they can trust you when you put yourself out there. And you can only do that so much from just like viral videos. You have to also put a lot of content out there that is going to be seen by the person that you want to buy from you. So um, I would always think of visibility as an active service versus like a self-promotion because you always want to show people that you want to serve them, even for free at the beginning, whether it's through content or speaking or something like that. That way they feel comfortable enough to buy from you in the future.

Speaker 1:

You know, I that that brings up something that I think is so very important. And so many people as I get caught flipping through LinkedIn and and Facebook from time to time. So many folks don't understand. It's about adding value to the people that are reading this thing. It's not about uh a digital billboard, right?

Speaker:

Yes. Yes, a hundred percent. I I really think it's about compounding trust because you know, somebody could see like a big billboard, right? And if I don't see anything else on the company or the person, or if I haven't had any interaction with them, then I'm much more likely to go with someone who I feel like I can trust. And trust is different for everybody, but when it comes to social media and when it comes to, you know, PR even, you know, and just podcasting, a lot of times when people are making large decisions on what to purchase, like let's say it's a high-ticket offer, they're going to see like what the person is all about, whether it's through podcast or through, you know, reviews or from um, you know, just different ways of finding you and checking you out before they actually purchase. So um I think it's really important to get yourself visible regardless of your business model, because when you do, then more people can find you, more people can see that you've built trust in the industry if you are building trust. Um, and your priority for visibility should always be to share value and to just resonate with the people that you want to attract, and also just show your results and proof of concept online as much as you can.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so I show up and I post something about in my case, something about sales, and I do that. And then uh what? I sit back and wait for the phone to ring.

Speaker:

No, not quite. Um, there's also so many different systems that go into that. So, you know, just like you said, there's a lot of people who actually have fantastic content and they have just great ways of reaching people, but they don't have any follow-up methods. So um, you know, I know if you being in sales, you definitely know how the whole funnel works and why it's so important. But, you know, in marketing, it's important to have a place for those leads to go. So a lot of people will attract all of these people. And then after that, there's no call to action, there's no way for them to get in contact with you. There's no offer, you know, ready and available for them to buy. And so that is a huge thing I see where people are like, wait, nobody's like messaging me. And it's like you didn't make it easy for them to like, you know, book a call or buy something, or even just, you know, watch any more of your content. So, you know, that's a huge thing that people need to focus on is just making sure that they build funnels for themselves. That way they're not leaving leads on the table.

Speaker 1:

You know, that's something that uh I have trouble with, I guess personally, is getting engagement. I I post stuff and try and do, you know, teach something, add some value, give something that that my audience can can utilize. But I seem to have trouble getting engagement, getting anybody to comment or or do anything, you know, for them to actually take any action. Sherein, what am I doing wrong? What do I need to do? I'm not doing.

Speaker:

Yeah, I mean, I would say it depends on the platform, definitely, because some platforms react differently than others with, you know, there's so many different factors. And now the algorithm has been a topic for a very long time. And honestly, there's been so many tests where people post the same things different times, they post the same things with different hashtags, they post the same thing with different captions. But I think it's just a matter of consistency, making sure that the topics are, you know, like, you know, they're stopping the scroll, which is really important because a lot of times people will post something that is very long-winded. When I worked in the business coaching industry, we would have to look at people's content and kind of analyze them and tell everybody what they were doing wrong with it. And the number one thing that most people messed up was the fact that their intros were far too long or they just weren't getting to the point fast enough. And you have to remember that the person who's watching the video, even if they're an ideal customer for you and you have a solution to their problem, if you don't mention the problem in the first like 10 seconds, they probably won't listen all the way through to actually see what you're saying. You know, so um that's a big rule of thumb for videos is that you want to make sure that you are getting to the point really quickly, making sure that there's text on the video if that's not something that you can do just verbally and say what it is. So um I think kind of dumbing it down on social media is actually really important because a lot of people don't realize that there's so many people who we're scrolling past every single day, right? And if we want to stop on someone's post, it has to be one that's pretty good. So you know what I mean? So out of all the things that you can stop on, you have to like, you know, pick something that is gonna really grab your attention. And one of the ways to do that is to really go back through all of your posts and say, if I was someone who needed what I offer, would I look at this post and immediately say, Hey, I'm gonna text this guy or I'm gonna call this person? You know, and if the answer is no, then you probably need to kind of rework it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that makes sense. And it as you mentioned, it's it's kind of a timing thing too. You gotta hit them on the day that that that's important to them. But how many times d do you think it takes before you you actually can have a real life connection with somebody? Uh do I post, you know, twice and I I get something, or do I need to have 10 or 20 or 50 touches before somebody's actually gonna decide that now's the right time to engage?

Speaker:

Yeah, so I can't remember the exact statistic, but I know it's over 10 times. But they say that someone would need to see the same advertisement or the same call to action 10 times or more in order to actually make a move. And the reason why is because a lot of people need something, right? But it's not like something that's a priority to them, like where they're just like, I have to do this like right now, you know. So they might look at your ads and they might see your posts and they're gonna be like, I'm gonna circle back to this. And so that actually happens a lot where people keep circling back, but you have to stay relevant enough for them to circle back to you versus going to someone else. Because there's been a lot of times where people have told me, like, you know, I was actually gonna go with this person, but then you know, when I actually needed the service a few months later, I found someone else. You know what I mean? Yeah, so and that's it.

Speaker 1:

I'm gonna circle back, but I never do.

Speaker:

Exactly.

Speaker 1:

Gee, I'm not sure.

Speaker:

Yeah, and that doesn't mean they don't want it.

Speaker 1:

Never happens. Yeah, yeah. It just it's it's an incrazy in it's human nature last time. I checked. It's it's who we are. We want immediate gratification, we want it right now when we need it, and not uh five minutes from now. I ordered some some office supplies from my my favorite vendor in the entire world, Amazon. And you know, it says on there same day, you're gonna get it today. Great. That's wonderful. Two days later it showed up on my front door. And I'm getting really frustrated with Amazon because that seems to be happening more often than not. And it's like, hey, Jeff, if you tell me you're gonna do something, damn it, do it. That's that seems to be, you know, integrity and and sincerity and and good stuff. I I that's why I I look at the the stuff that's gonna talk about stopping the scroll. I look at the stuff online and I see these these crazy videos where people are trying to be funny or or it's like, dude, don't waste my time. That's ridiculous.

Speaker:

Exactly. Yeah, and that's the thing, you know, people kind of confuse that with getting visible. They're like, if I can just post a million TikToks where I'm doing this one trending sound and I'm doing all of these dances, then they can get customers. And you know, like I said, I I can't knock it completely because it has worked for some people where they've just blown up because of their funny videos, but not it's not gonna work for everybody, you know, and it's also not just uh a long-term way to actually get leads because at the end of the day, if your services are high ticket, you know, you're probably gonna want to go a different route if, you know, with someone who looks more knowledgeable versus someone who's just dancing and you know, doing all the trends. You know, and it again, it depends on the actual price point of the product or service for sure. But um, you know, I think that people need to also make sure that they are saying really relatable things in their content. So sometimes they're talking like they're the expert, and the people who they actually need to market to aren't experts. So, because of that, there's like a gap that needs to be filled and there's a disconnect because the customer is like, I don't understand what this person's saying. Um, and the experts like, you know, I thought I explained this really clearly. So I think that the expert needs to kind of dumb it down so that it's like, this is your problem, and I have the solution, like very simply, because if they talk in expert language, you're gonna lose a lot of people when it comes to getting, you know, different people to buy your services or products.

Speaker 1:

You just described every professor I had in college. Yes, look at look at me, I'm so damn smart. Aren't I wonderful? Oh, by the way, you need to learn this stuff too, by you know, just for the heck of it. But anyway, yeah, the the the funny, crappy videos that that I see, I I have to wonder well, the reason I don't connect with that personally is because that's not the and I guess the right word's brand, but that's not the brand of individual or company that I want to do business with. Uh, you know, I'm I'm a I'm a funny kind of a guy, but not when it comes to choosing a business partner or somebody I want to I want to buy from or do business with, I'm not looking for somebody that can make me laugh before I go buy their service or product. It it just it seems to me there's a total disconnect in doing that and actually adding value and doing something that somebody's gonna want to uh to show somebody that they might want to engage with you at least and have a conversation.

Speaker:

Yes, exactly. And I think that, you know, nowadays on social media, a lot of people who are really successful with it are really sharing their personal experiences. So, for example, you know, let's say a wealth manager is sharing about how he was broke and how he didn't know anything about investments, he didn't know anything about, you know, how to use his money wisely, all of those different things. And he literally shows proof of him being broke. Funny enough, people love seeing like how you were in the past so that they can feel like you're on their level. And so people are attracting so many clients and um, you know, customers from their own personal stories. Even, you know, there was a girl I met the other day, and she's selling socks that help with blisters. She's been posting her story about how she used to have so many blisters every single day and you know, even show how she did and how she doesn't have it now. And her socks are selling because of her personal story, you know. And I think when you can tie your story to your product, a lot of people really enjoy buying from people who are able to do that.

Speaker 1:

That's interesting. Tie your story to the product. Ooh, that you know, I I I I I guess unlike a lot of people, I worry about spending too much time talking about me when it's all about them. You know, and it's it's like who really wants to know that I've lived in seven different locations around the country and and you know, was a chemical engineer before I was a salesperson. And well, you're always a salesperson, but that's neither here nor there. The the the fact is I I get concerned about that, Therane. And I uh you know, I don't want to I don't want to make it like I it I'm I'm blittering here. It's not all about me though, right? I mean, how do you where's the line?

Speaker:

Yeah, and you know, a lot of my personal brand clients struggled with this because it is their personal brand that they're basically selling, but at the same time, their customers are looking for a result from their purchase, right? So it's not just, oh, I like this person, I'm gonna buy from them. They actually make sure to really just focus on the problem and solution over and over again, even if it's tied to their own personal brand. So, you know, there's this thing where you can be likable and you can share parts of yourself and, you know, people kind of trust you. That kind of builds the trust factor. But then at the end of the day, I would focus more so on problem, solution, and resonating with the actual customer. Because without that, even if they really like you, they would follow you as an influencer, not as an actual, you know, business that they want to buy from. You know what I mean? Uh so I think that keeping their attention by always stating problem solution and how you're the solution and what you've done for other people to help with that, that really just brings people in because they trust you because they like you and they see that you're knowledgeable. And then also you share parts of yourself, but also you're sharing so much about their actual problem. They're like, wait, this guy gets it. Like he knows that I need help with this. And from all the things that he said, it sounds like he can help me. So that's kind of what's going on in their heads. And when it comes to just making sure that they go to you versus someone else, it's just repetition. So make sure that you're constantly posting a lot of people like to give up. But, you know, the more they see it, the better, as long as it's a good video. And then on top of that, if you see engagement on your posts, you should always reach out to them if you're able to. Some people just can't apply to because they get so many comments that it's impossible. But, you know, there's ways to still reach out to everyone who's liked your posts, everyone who's commenting, people who are watching your stories, and just stay engaged with them because you never know. There's been a lot of cycles when I was in sales where I would reach out to someone and they would close over two years later. I actually have people to this day still wanting to work with me from like years ago of a conversation. So, you know, it it takes people some time because they have different circumstances, but they don't forget you as long as you resonate, they know that you can do the job and they feel like you're the best fit from you know your visibility efforts.

Speaker 1:

So tell me this. Now you've just started a new company for restaurant tours with you utilizing AI. How are you? Oh, I've got so many questions. How are you making yourself visible to your target audience? Because I I love going to restaurants, but I really don't care how they run. So, you know, your post might not interest me at all, but how do you how do you how are you using how are you reaching out to that target audience and getting their attention?

Speaker:

Right. So right now we're actually in the pilot stage. So we will be fully launching probably early, you know, 2026. Okay. But you know, in the pilot stage, the and I can talk about what my plans are for the stage after that too, so that we can have that discussion. But right now in the pilot stage, for me, visibility means getting in contact with the right people. So when it comes to this type of software, I have a very niche target audience. So, you know, more is not always better when it comes to social media because I need to connect to people who probably won't be looking at my videos. You know what I mean? Um, so it depends on your industry, definitely. But visibility for me is making sure that I am going to different restaurant conferences, making sure that I'm going to different trade shows that restaurant owners and you know, consultants and different people like that will be at, and making sure that I am putting out my own personal content that showcases that I am a restaurant expert and that even though I don't own a restaurant myself, I've worked with several restaurants and I've been able to create trainings, create HR. I have a wide variety of experience in AI and marketing. So just showing them that I have all of the experiences that they need in order to make this a really great product for them is how I get visibility. And then, of course, through referrals, which is, you know, like I said, one of my biggest drivers of leaks.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah, absolutely. There's no doubt about that. Well, that's interesting. Well, we wish you the very best of luck with your new business. That's going to be a real blast to get that out there and get it going. I know it's uh it's a thrill when you run your own business to see some results start coming in and all that hard work that goes into it begin to bring forth profit and and good stuff. So hey, we wish you the very best on that. But Sheree, thank you so very much. You've given us some really great ideas and some good direction. And uh just appreciate you taking the time to be with us today.

Speaker:

Thank you so much for having me. This is a great conversation.

Speaker 1:

Well, that does it for this episode of the Commission Code Podcast. This is the place where we want to help you find the Commission Code to success in your business. Remember, go to MorrisTims.com for more information. And in the meantime, hey, have a great week. Get out there and meet somebody new, and we'll see you again next time right here on the Commission Code. Best wishes, I'm Morris Thames.