— Rocio Sorrell

Well, first I'm going to say do not buy followers, because you wanna have people who follow you, whose own values reflect yours, and who may be either a potential client or who might be somebody who would be, uh, somebody who you'd like to work with or whatever. So I've said this often. I finished, uh, my Rouxbe Studies in 2015, and, um, I sent out 10 letters to 10 people who I knew 10 years ago, they weren't eight years ago, they weren't called influencers, they were called people who I know. So I sent this brief letter out that just said, hi, Char, finished this program, here's what I can do. Um, remember when I worked at Whole Foods Market and I took people on grocery store tours? Well, now I can take them into their kitchen. And, um, people called me and were like, oh, my congratulations, this and that. Um, was I busy the next day? No. But am I busy now? Very. So you wanna start to plant some practical seeds that reflect who you are that, um, are a total reflection on what your platform is. So if you're someone who enjoys taking people on grocery store tours, uh, helping them clean out their, their, uh, cupboards to get rid of some of the unwanted foods, so to speak, uh, if you enjoy teaching, if you wanna do one-on-one cooking, one of the things that I really love to do is, um, do a group cooking class in someone's home. And, um, they take care of inviting who's going to come. And to make it very easy for the hostess, I always say, let me do the shopping because I go grocery shopping and I know exactly what I need. I know exactly where I can get it for the best price, and I tag on a fee for that grocery shop and then charge a per capita. And, uh, sometimes I have to turn people away because you can get really, really busy doing that. So think about what it is that you want to do. If you wanna, um, make food for individuals who might have a special diet, uh, maybe they can't leave their home or they've just had surgery. And one thing that I did most recently was, um, I sent a letter to a friend who's a physician, and they happen to be a plant-based cardiologist and said, this is what I've been doing. I'm teaching here. Um, it's at a, at a brick and mortar here in Philadelphia. And, uh, send your, send your patients to me and we can work together. So I made that physician's life much easier because now they have a name and a business card. Uh, I still use business cards. There's still a need for them. Not everything is electronic. And, um, this individual, uh, I have, I have three classes coming up, uh, at the mainline night school here in suburban Philadelphia. And two of the classes are filled. And it's because you network in the nicest and most sincere way. So, cia, the other thing is volunteer someplace. Donate your services to a 5 0 1 C three that's having their gala event. Uh, donate a cooking class, uh, donate that shopping tour. And you don't have to say, you cannot, um, overlook the importance of a good grocery shopping tour. Find out where that person shops, go to the grocery store beforehand so that you have a sense of familiarity and you know that where things are, so that when you meet your client at the front door of the grocery store, um, you are good to go. Maybe think about giving them a little gift card when they are done, uh, to say good luck to them.