Ep. 7: How to build follower trust with Sophie Hudson

Authentic Online Marketing with Ruthie Gray

Welcome to Episode 7 of Authentic Online Marketing Season 2, discussing how you can build follower trust! Boy, are you in for a treat today. We have Christian author, speaker, and podcaster Sophie Hudson here. At the end of this episode, you'll have learned some simple yet powerful tips on connecting to your audience organically. Click below for show notes! https://ruthiegray.mom/ep-7-how-to-build-follower-trust/ Click below for links to Sophie's social pages! Sophie Hudson's Website https://www.boomama.net/ Sophie's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boomama205/?hl=en Sophie's Twitter https://twitter.com/boomama?lang=en How Sophie got her start Ruthie: Sophie, you've been blogging since 2005, right? S: Right. I really haven't blogged much in the last four or five years, though! I think when I started to write books, it was kind of like, well, I can use the words in a blog post, or I can use the words and say part of a chapter and just write naturally. Sort of saving stories for books. So ever since I started to write books, I haven't blogged quite as much the last four or five years, but I still use the blog even if I don't write blog posts. I podcast with my friend, Melanie, who has a blog called “Boo Mama!” When we started the podcast, we didn't know what to do with it unless we put it on our blogs. Just out of habit, many people go to my blog to get the podcast. But, it's a good place for me to have show notes or something, just a good sort of home base for both of us. So, we still post those episodes. R: That's kind of what I did with mine is when I transitioned to do podcasting. S: We've talked about if we wanted a podcast website, but you know, Melanie and I are pretty breezy. We were just like, why are we going to build something new? We both already have something. It works. R: When building follower trust, when you're doing a pivot or you need to do something new, why not use what you already have? Build on your experience R: As we dive into how to build follower trust, let's talk a little bit about some of the things that you've transitioned into. You blogged and then you transitioned into writing and transitioned into podcasting. Did you foresee yourself doing this? S: I would say when I started the blog, I had this deep sense of knowing it was something that I was supposed to do because I loved it so much. I loved the daily writing and then eventually I loved the community that kind of came with that. Then I met my friend Melanie through the blog. So many relationships that I've had now for the last 10 or 15 years have come out of that blog. But, that was it for me. I didn't know what a podcast was when I started it! I certainly never thought that I would write books. Everything that has come out of that has been a surprise to me, honestly. The podcast we started because my husband would hear Melanie and me talk on the phone and said, one day when I hung up, he was like, you should record a podcast. Cause he was a real early adopter of podcast. He was Saying, “People might want to listen to what y'all just talk about every day.” So we did it, and it took us a long time to really get momentum with that because neither one of us could accept that it was something that was really a legitimate thing for us today. Then, the first book was just because I had an idea for one that hit me out of nowhere that I could shake, but I only did something with it because Melanie convinced me to try to be open to whatever possibility is in front of me. So, the reason why I speak is just because at some point somebody asked me if I'd come speak, because apparently that's something that happens when you write books! People decide that you can speak. So, I had been an English teacher for so long at that point that I was really comfortable in front of people.