718 – YOU can get on TikTok: Tom interviews Helen Polise

Episode 718 – Helen Polise
[00:00:08] Welcome to Screw the Commute. The entrepreneurial podcast dedicated to getting you out of the car and into the money, with your host, lifelong entrepreneur and multimillionaire, Tom Antion.

[00:00:24] Hey everybody, it's Tom here with episode 718 of Screw the Commute Podcast. I'm here with Helen Polise. I think that's right. I would have never guessed that, but that's what she told me. And she's got over 100 million views on her contact with multiple viral videos. And as of this morning, I saw 765.2 thousand followers just on TikTok. So and you folks know, I've been fooling with TikTok for the last 90 days or so, and I'm a babe in the woods. And she's going to I told her, tear me up, tell me what I'm doing wrong. The schoolhouse door is always open. And so she's really proving that social media success is possible with the right guidance. And as far as I know, I've been watched a lot of her stuff. She's not done one video in a bikini. All right. So I Have not.

[00:01:21] Yeah, I mean, Helen, I tried that once, but I got flagged for community violation.

[00:01:27] You can wait for a long time for that one.

[00:01:29] Tom Coming. Now. She's also got a prestigious Clio Award for a mini documentary on a topic that's dear to my heart for persons with disabilities, because we have a a scholarship fund for persons with disabilities. So I'm really, really proud that she's involved in that. And if you're nice to her, maybe she'll tell you where you can get a good deal. On used Furbys that goes back.

[00:02:01] I still have some.

[00:02:02] All right folks, I'll bring her on in a minute. So episode. I hope you two miss episode 717. That was a primer on text marketing. And so check that out anytime you want to get to it back episode, you go to screwthecommute.com, forward slash and then the episode number. That was 717. Now follow me on tiktok.com/@digitalmultimillionaire and also make sure you pick up a copy of our automation E book at screwthecommute.com/automatefree. We estimated it and just one of the tips in this book folks, and this isn't a three page piece of crap this is a 6070 page book of how I've automated myself. Just one of the tips we estimated saved me over 8 million keystrokes. See, I want you to working with customers and prospects and creating products and services and making TikTok videos and Helen's going to tell us about and not fighting with your computer. So make sure you grab a copy of that book, screwthecommute.com/automatefree. While you're at it, pick up a copy of our podcast app. It's screwthecommute.com/app. And I want to thank everybody that's participated in our Go Fund Me account. We're about a quarter of a way to our 76,000 goal for persons with disabilities for scholarships for them. So thank you so much for participating.

[00:03:23] Let's get to the main event. Helen Polise, aka the TikTok Teacher, is a TV commercial director with 30 plus years of experience elevating global brands like Sensodyne, Blistex, Hasbro, NFL alumni, and more. And after a quick rise to TikTok fame during the pandemic, she recently founded Socialize, a Startup, where she demystifies the social media process and teaches people step by step how to start to create content. So my first two questions. With all this stuff you've done Helen, is how come you can't work a TV remote?

[00:04:07] Because I never get to hold it in my house. That's the answer.

[00:04:09] And did did you take the brand deal to promote adult diapers?

[00:04:14] I did not take that deal and I could tell you why, but we won't get into that topic.

[00:04:20] No, that's perfect for me because I'm full of it. So. So would have been perfect. I'll take it if you don't want it. Oh, my God, you're so funny. Now, the first thing I want to ask you, because there's been a lot of stuff in the news attacking TikTok for its connection to China and so forth. Now, my opinion is they're never going to take me into child slavery because I eat too much, you know? So. So what's what's going on with that? What's the you know, if we put all this time into developing TikTok, is it going to go away?

[00:04:53] Well, let's hope not, because I've certainly I certainly don't want it to and I've given that a lot of thought to that, because people always they think I'm I think they think I work for TikTok, maybe some people. So they ask me the question and I'm like, I'm sorry, I know as much as you do from what I read and what's on the news. And I'm like, Yeah, whatever I put out there, if they're coming after me for that, I mean, so be it. If you want to hear about how I shaved my head for cancer, feel free to take that on. So I'm really not concerned with it. I think a platform that's big, it's not going to go away that easily. And if it is, there's going to be some way for us to navigate and replace. So I'm not really concerned personally.

[00:05:27] All right. Good, good. I mean, me too. I'm going to use it for to my advantage. And and then, like I said, if they start coming for me, I'm going to eat him out of house and home. I mean, all the right now now we have a lot of people on here that are probably afraid and skeptical and they they think TikTok. And I did for a long time, which was probably true, that it was all teenyboppers dancing all the time. So tell them about Torchy.

[00:05:55] Oh, she's amazing. My gosh. So I've befriended an 82 year old tech talker on the platform who actually she lives in an assisted living somewhere in Texas. And she has started storytelling on her TikTok just because her grandkids put her on there. So I always say and I want I interviewed her on for my own platform because I wanted to highlight the fact that older people have a new opportunity to socialize with social media. And they don't think of it that way because they think social media is for young people. But if you look at her and listen to that interview, she has friends that she's befriended much younger than herself, that she's met on the platform. She has a social life that she would never have the opportunity to have. Being in that place with that limited number of people. I think it's an amazing opportunity for older people and it's something that no one's really paying attention to. It's starting to come on the rise and people have approached me because I don't look like the typical demographic that would be have such a big following on the platform. So I'm an example of how you can just put yourself out there and just see who you're going to connect with, see what you have a value to share with people. And that's what I did. I took my production experience and I basically teach how to do these tricks and transitions, and I make it look really I make it look doable for people that are new and learning.

[00:07:10] Well, I'm jealous of her. I mean, every post of hers has enormous numbers of views and she's amazing. She just sitting there and just talking away. It's it's great.

[00:07:20] Yeah, She's a storyteller. That's what she does. That's her. That's her thing. I'll have you find your community on the platform. That's what I've found. You find the people who are interested in what you have to share.

[00:07:30] Well, I got a great tip from you. I've got lots of tips from you. Not not just one, but one great one. And I don't believe you. I even heard you say it. I just saw you do it, which was great thing. Well, I bought a whole, like 12 different styluses from Amazon and have them all over the house. Tell them about that. Yes. I've never had fingers.

[00:07:54] You know, I'll tell you about editing videos and working on TikTok is like I always call it microsurgery. And so I just found the stylus to be a great tool for me to show people things without my fingers covering up what I was showing. And I think I'm the only tutorial person that teaches with a stylus because I think it's slimmer and it's clean, and I am all about like high value production because I thought, I come from the commercial world, remember?

[00:08:17] Tom Yeah.

[00:08:17] So I know how to really do close ups and how to really do that. Micro When toy commercials button pushes, you have to show how the product works. It's my, it's my background. So I brought all my expertise into my TikTok.

[00:08:29] Well, it's more than just teaching with it, Helen, I'm telling you. I mean, I could I think I spent 3 hours one time trying to move the cursor, three characters to the left with my finger.

[00:08:42] It's so true. Many people have told me they've bought styluses since they since they saw me use one, even though some some of the young people love to make fun of it. And I'm like, You go ahead and make fun of me and my 764,000 followers.

[00:08:52] Right, Exactly. Yeah. I don't know how those girls with the super long nails even even can do anything on it.

[00:08:58] Right? Right. My God.

[00:08:59] But I got the three for $10 ones. I got a $14 one, but it has like batteries in it and you can draw with it which is I don't need so so I've got three for ten doll. I got three packs of them all over the house so I get an urge I can do something. So so now it's sad today because my dog, my I have a protection dog company on the side. And so one of the German retired German Shepherds was bleeding all over the house this morning. But but he's been on a bunch of medicine and he's been constipated. And so I had to give him pumpkin. And I know that you are you are really in tune with pumpkin because you had something called pumpkin.

[00:09:43] Which I was that was in a toy. I was in toy advertising. That's my background. I worked for multiple companies. Who did? We did commercials for Hasbro. That's where the Furby thing came up to pass. As you mentioned, I helped launch Furby and as an advertising agency producer. So I have a whole background in toys, and that is continued through with my partnership. And then I went off on my own to form Mothership when my partner and I decided.

[00:10:08] That spell, that.

[00:10:09] Muthership, my production company actually started focusing on more testimonial work. That's how I got into doing the Sensodyne commercials, because it's interviews with dentists. And then I do a lot of interviews with doctors, I do storytelling. I did the thing for the people with disabilities, Runway of Dreams, as you so did your homework and noted and I do have a son with autism. So that was also dear to my heart.

[00:10:37] You were like you were dancing with them today.

[00:10:40] Always dancing rhythm.

[00:10:41] Yeah, he's a character.

[00:10:43] But so so I really went took a different turn after doing 20 plus years of toy advertising and I moved it into more real, authentic stories. And that seemed to be my sweet. Spot. So I started directing that type of content and which is really interesting because it was a natural evolution into something like TikTok, where you have to be your authentic self. I was always behind the camera helping other people be their authentic self, and now I'm in front of the camera doing it myself and then continuing to help people do it.

[00:11:11] Yeah. And do you do a just a massively great job at it then? All right. So what are some of the tips that you have for people that want to jump on TikTok? And you've got a chance to look at my I've only been on there 90 days and you can use me. Tear me up all you want. What are some of the mistakes people are making? Either what they think about TikTok, what it should be, or how to operate it.

[00:11:36] So there's so much I could say about that. So I'll focus. I'll focus a bit on your on your account, just since it'll give us a direction. But also I will say first, as an overall, the most difficult thing I think people find is getting on the platform and they think they're talking to this massive audience. And you can never think of it that way. I still to this day, when I have thousands and thousands of views on a video, I make that video with the thought of teaching one person how to do it. So it's always personal. It's not ever like, Hey, everybody, here's what we're doing today. That's your vibe. That's okay with me. But that's not my I think you've got to think you're not talking to a crowd of people. You're in that person's house, they're in their bathroom, usually because that's what they're looking at, their phone, laying on their couch or laying in their bed. They're not they're not a big audience listening to their one person. So when you're when you start speaking to them like they're in a crowd, you might lose them off the bat. So I always say personal is a little bit more of a better strategy for something like TikTok. And you do that though, even though you'll start some. Hi everybody. You do speak personally and did notice that. But here's something I want to share and this is going to help you a lot on your content.

[00:12:41] Great. All right.

[00:12:42] This is a music app. It started as a music app and it has obviously it pushes certain music out. You'll scroll your for you page and you'll see, you know, if it's the Miley Cyrus song this week, that's what we're listening to. Every flip, every flip and video has that. And then it's like a Beyonce song, whatever it is. Yeah, it was flowers for a while. Now it's there's a Rihanna one from the Super Bowl that was trending. So it is a music based app. And what I've noticed that you've done on your page, which is not wrong, like you're picking that you're picking a hot music track and you're putting it on your videos, but you're not lowering the volume. So you are that that sound. And one of them that you use is only like 10 seconds long and you have a minute long video. The sound stops after 10 seconds. Even though you've lowered it a little, you haven't removed it like lowered it all the way down. So a better strategy for you because I was flipping through your videos and I'm like ten videos in a row, had the same song. And it was like I was hearing that song over and over and it was like, not necessary because it didn't support your content. You could just have lowered it all the way and still been included in that bucket of content that gets pushed out.

[00:13:41] Now, when you excuse me, when you say lowered all the way to 0.

[00:13:45] To 0.

[00:13:46] That's still okay because I'm taking them to 10% or.

[00:13:49] Something. No, no. Well, unless it's something like if you listen to some of my videos where I put music on and it's like instrumental and it's like sort of supporting the.

[00:13:57] Vibe, nothing in mind supports anything.

[00:13:59] No, no, it doesn't. So you don't need know.

[00:14:02] I can take it. I didn't realize I could take it to zero. Okay, great.

[00:14:05] Make it to zero. And it still gives you it still counts and you're still pushed out in that bucket of content. However, it's not disrupting your video.

[00:14:12] Yeah, but however, the only reason I'm using the same one over is because I don't really know how to pick find ones that are trending.

[00:14:21] Great. Well, I'll tell you really quick how to do that. Three second. So when you're scrolling the thing and you hear a song and you go, Oh my God, this one's trending. Tap the little circle in the lower right, Add it to your favorites and you have like a bunch of favorite songs up there that you have saved so that when you're making a video, you just go to one of those ones that you know is hot right now because you've heard it over and over and you can add it to your video to find it in your favorites. It's right above the thumbnails. There's a little icon in the middle. You grab it and you add it to the video. So look for the ones. And I also send out my creative forecast, which is a weekly email, and every week I include three music, three hot music tracks, so that you could use that for my priorities.

[00:14:59] So even if it doesn't support me, if it's trending, use it and then put it to zero.

[00:15:05] But it's a zero because it helps you get in front of some people. So that's a good strategy.

[00:15:09] That's beautiful.

[00:15:10] All right. And that that's a good one. You know, and there's a couple of your videos I listened to that. It took a real long while for you to get to the point. And I will say you've already lost probably 95% of the people. So I'm going to give you an example. And I wrote down some notes here. All right. Let's get to the main event. Let's talk about how this virtual summit can help your business. That was like maybe 8 seconds before you even told me, before you even said virtual summit. And then it wasn't even about you didn't even give me the meat of the matter like these people are gone already, so you need to start and you do it on a lot of your videos. But on this particular one, it was like a really long road to get to that point. It would have been better for you to start off with. Like, Here's how a virtual summit can help your business. So that right away somebody knows what you're going to tell them.

[00:15:59] Is that what you say?

[00:16:01] Yeah, I hate to use that word because I know people like overuse. Hooks and hooks don't have to be traditional. It doesn't always have to be. Here's three things. Here's five things. Here's how It doesn't have to be like that. But it's something that's going to tell that person in the first 3 seconds what's coming so that they can decide to to stay or to go. But if you're, like, spending their first 3 seconds with Hey, everybody, Tom Anastasi on here and I'm going to beat you. By then, you've lost half your you've lost way more than half the people I know.

[00:16:27] Now, let me ask.

[00:16:28] About that kind of an app.

[00:16:29] Let me ask you about that, because when when somebody goes to story time, it seems like they go for 3 minutes and then give you a part two is that I hate it. All right. So you're not.

[00:16:40] In favor, but it's okay. It's popular. It's popular story. Times are popular people. Either buy into story times or they're not interested. So it's almost like that really depends on the creator. If you know you're going to get an interesting story from that person. There's a lot of people that will just stick around because they know, Oh boy, she's going to deliver a hot story or he's going to tell me, you know, it's going to be a good juicy one because I know the storyteller. If you're a new story time person, it's really hard to hook an audience that way by just saying storytime. I'm going to tell you, blah, blah, blah. And it takes forever to get to the point.

[00:17:12] Yeah, it's.

[00:17:12] Usually.

[00:17:13] Like success with was when I was changing my glasses to completely different look and it was freaking me out. Kind of like you said your hair hair was doing telling about that. But that one got a lot of response. But that's the only one.

[00:17:28] Yeah. I'm also going to say and it's funny that you mentioned the hair one, because.

[00:17:31] I tell them about tell them about what you've been through recently. I can't imagine how you're so super upbeat. That's how I was attracted to you.

[00:17:39] Oh, this is just how I am. I can't I can't do undo my wiring. But I was diagnosed with lymphoma and I started to go blind back in June. And to make a really long six months short, I started radiation, regained my eyesight, so I was so thrilled to have eyesight to go into chemo with eyesight. I felt like I was already cured.

[00:17:56] Yeah, it really sucks for TV.

[00:17:58] And really sucks for a TV director. You know what I mean? And it's stuck. Teacher I was like, How am I going to? So I was so miserable for two and a half weeks that when I got my eyesight back, I think I was on such a high that I didn't care that I was going through chemo and I was like, I'm going to share this. I'm going to talk about this. I'm going to you know, this is we're going to live this together. I shaved my head on camera. I did the whole thing. But then aftermath is a little more jarring than I expected because I beat cancer. My hair's growing back and now I have to wait for this long period of time to get back to what I used to look like in my I guess in my mind. So it's it was really a struggle. So one day I decided to just like, pour my soul out as I was walking on the beach. Never thought that video would get any views. And that's the other thing you could think about your stories like, Well, maybe this one's not even going to be interesting to someone and you just post it anyway because it's your own story that you want to tell. So you can do it for yourself. And you could say, Fuck the hook I don't care about.

[00:18:49] So there's no downside to having a pitiful.

[00:18:52] Absolutely no downside. Listen, I posted a get ready with me video this morning of me trying this like eyebrow thing and I'm like, Why am I even posting this thing? But I always call it this. I call it filler. I think that I do my tutorials, I give value, I do New York City tours, I give value. And then sometimes I just do one. It's like, Here, I'm going to tell you something and I don't even care if I start with a hook or anything. I just do it. And I think people have to realize that sometimes they just do it. Ones end up with the views by accident because somebody you've intrigued someone enough and then other times you just say, You know what, all that does is help push your other content out because you're a consistent player and you keep putting out content consistently, so it pushes your other videos out.

[00:19:34] So my biggest one, I had no idea why or whatever. It went super big. It's like 600 and I don't know, 70,000 views as of today. And it's on like if you have two different terms like residual income and recurring income, I'm like up in that top four all the time and it just keeps going. But I have no idea why. If I got lucky and then something came out on the news said that, oh, there's people that are just pushing buttons and they decide who they want to go viral and they just know.

[00:20:06] Yeah, that came out in the news too. This is my this is my personal theory and I'm going to put it out. This is the first time I'm recording this theory. I always talk about it on my TikTok lives, but I've never done a video on it. I think that there's a slot machine situation like you're you're going to the casino, you're pumping the coins in. How come those don't hit? How come those and then all of a sudden one hits and then you're like, Oh my God, it's going to be so great. And then you pump the coins in and you lose a bunch of times again. It's like putting you put out a bunch of videos and one hits and you think I'm a superstar and then the next one sucks again. Like bad, You know, it goes bad, bad, bad. And then maybe you're just down to your last. Like, I am so sick of making videos. I'm not doing this anymore. And you make that last video and of course it hits, you know what I mean? So I think there's something in this whole slot machine. The way they keep you coming back to the casino, they keep you coming back to TikTok.

[00:20:51] So people, the people that are pushing like, I'll teach you how to go viral every time.

[00:20:56] That's that. That's such be impossible. Yeah, Not possible.

[00:21:00] Right.

[00:21:01] Sorry. That's just not. Can you tell away the algorithm?

[00:21:03] Can you tell them the difference between the different social media's and your followers? Because a lot of people say that you can have zero followers and go viral because it's a different mechanism than it is if you have followers on Facebook and so forth.

[00:21:20] What do you mean?

[00:21:21] Well, in other words, the only chance your thing will be shown is to your followers on Facebook.

[00:21:28] Oh, I see what you're saying. Except if you're on reels.

[00:21:30] You can do exactly right.

[00:21:32] All right. Yeah, let's talk about that. I understand the question now. Sorry. So when you're posting on any of these platforms, TikTok, Instagram or Facebook, I'll use those three as your key. If you're posting video reels in the reels on Instagram and the reels on Facebook or a TikTok reels on those two other platforms are the same as posting a TikTok and you'll get in front of new people.

[00:21:53] How about stories?

[00:21:54] If you're posting stories and posts, mostly you're just going to get in front of your followers. Mostly you may find new people through hashtags, but it's a much more difficult journey to find new people. Through those two mechanisms. Those posts, regular posts and stories are really designed to keep your followers informed, keep them up to your day to day people who are already following you. So if you want to find new people and I've done a couple of posts about this, if you're looking for new audience, new viewers, new followers, you want to be posting reels on those two platforms.

[00:22:24] Now, is IGTV still a thing?

[00:22:27] I don't think so. I still have the app I was posting because now what happens is if you do a regular post, even if it's like 2 minutes or longer than a real two or 3 minutes. Instagram and Facebook now put it on into the Reels platform so even the longer videos have the opportunity to get more views, you have to make them in the regular post. But it puts it it puts it out as a real, which is really handy so that you can do longer content. So I've been able to use that really successfully on Instagram and Facebook. So yeah, it's so funny because people are like making all these static posts and putting it on there. I said, Don't even waste your time, just make reels, spend all of your time making reels. If you're looking to build a following, you don't need to worry about doing those traditional posts anymore. At least if you're not, unless you're looking to just talk to your own audience and keep them informed. That's a different story.

[00:23:15] Yeah. And then you can pay Facebook to do it. Yeah, right. Yeah.

[00:23:20] And then they have the bots do it, But that's another story. I don't know.

[00:23:23] All right, so what else should they know?

[00:23:26] All right, So I get to ask this question a lot, so I'll try. I don't know if you have this on your list to ask me, but people are always thinking like, if the minute you have like a certain amount of followers, you're immediately rich. You're making money on social media. So I'm here to tell you that is not the case. But I will talk about some of these funds that they have the Creator Fund. When you get to 10,000 followers on TikTok, you can join what's known as the Creator Fund and they pay you based on views and likes. And it's such a small amount of money that I decided when I first became eligible that I heard all these creators saying, Oh, as soon as I joined the Creator fund, my views tanked. And I'm thinking to myself, Think like a business. Now you have to pay these people. So I'm not going to give them so many views because I have to spread this money across a whole lot of creators. This was my theory. This is, by the way, this is only Helen's Muthership personal theory.

[00:24:13] I'm thinking they only have a certain amount of money they can pay, so they can't have everybody's videos being really successful, otherwise they're going to run out of money. Right? So that's my theory. So I was I was listening to these traders thinking, yeah, I don't think that would make sense for me and I don't need to make money. I'm working production, I'm directing commercials, I'm paying my rent just fine. I have a good living with production, TV, production, so I don't need to use money to make TikTok in that way. I'm going to grow. I'm going to focus more on letting my content there be free, growing an audience, growing a community of people who want to learn. And then I was funded by a VC that found me on TikTok to actually create a platform to teach people how to use social media. So I monetized very differently. I didn't I didn't use the audience to sell something to them. I used my audience to give me credibility as a teacher, Like there's a lot of people following me. There's a reason for that.

[00:25:04] Tom Right. No, there's no really good at it. I mean, people on here know me. I've been around since the beginning of the Internet and, and I don't get excited about too many people. So. So yeah, you're one of them. And it was almost instantaneous because I could see someone that clearly taught stuff that was totally passionate about what they're doing. I love it. Yeah.

[00:25:28] So I was listening to a podcast recently, was just it was really off topic, but it was like if you didn't have to work and you had all the money that you needed, would you would you continue doing what you're doing? Meaning like for work, I guess. And I was thinking about it too. I thought long and hard about this. I was like, I love doing the TV commercial directing, but what I want to get up at six in the morning to be at a shoot and be it and do the client thing and then have the back and forth and the clients don't like this and that, you know, there's always a back and forth. And I said, I probably would give that up if I didn't have to earn a living, but I would still teach TikTok. And that's when that's when the epiphany came to me that I was born for this.

[00:26:02] I was meant for this. It's like me. I mean, I could have quit this 20. I hit multimillionaires. That is 23 years ago. I could have quit a long time ago. Right? I just as small business.

[00:26:13] You love it, right?

[00:26:13] Fanatic you know. So. So And do I need to be on TikTok tonight? No, but it's again, it's just. It's another challenge. Okay.

[00:26:22] Figuring out and challenge and.

[00:26:23] Then to help other people that that are needing it. Okay. What other kind of tips to people need to know?

[00:26:30] Well, I think the bigger the biggest thing to know is if you are you're getting into this and you're getting discouraged. And a lot of people don't want to try different things, they're too nervous. When I first started, for example, I was doing baking videos in 2020. It was the pandemic and what were we all doing? We were home, so we were baking. So I was like, Oh, I'm going to show some of my favorite recipes. And I really thought my TikTok was going to be the bake dancing teacher because I was teaching people how to make recipes and I was like dancing in the kitchen. And I was, you know, it was like ridiculous to look back at those videos now. And that's one thing I will say, you know, when you look back at your content, let it go. Just move on. You don't have to delete it. You still could be you were that person and now you've evolved into this person. So I will never delete my baby TikToks from kindergarten when I first started. I'll leave them there because you know, who knows, somebody might go back.

[00:27:16] And so they were on baking.

[00:27:17] You said I was did I did baking? I had a whole baking.

[00:27:20] Let's see, that's something that wouldn't happen. I would dance before I would bake because.

[00:27:24] I was bake dancing. So dancing in the kitchen, baking the thing and I had about I grew to like 35,000 followers pretty quickly doing baking videos because again, I was teaching people something. I guess my theme is I'm always teaching something was teaching about cancer. I was teaching about chemo. I'm on a theme of like I share and I feel like that this is a platform that we all can get value from. And I've learned so much from TikTok. I learned how to cut a spaghetti squash. I learn a lot of things on TikTok. So I'm like, What can I teach people? And I think if you realize that we all have value in some way that you don't have to you don't have to beat yourself up and say, Oh, I want to do content like that person or copy that person. You know, you have your own value that you can bring. There's something I'm sure that everybody that's listening knows as better than someone else perhaps, and that might be what you're going to share about. So I think as especially as older creators, we have a lot of experience to look back on. We have a lot we've learned from over the years. I said I was going to do a TikTok once about like some of the mistakes I made when I was in production. That would be a funny one. Probably thinking back on some of the things where I accidentally circled the wrong name on a casting sheet in the wrong talent showed up for the shoot and I was in such trouble. I mean, this is the kind of stuff, but I think people would like that. But I do think we've learned so much as as older creators that we have value to provide to younger people and they can learn from us and they can also learn from, look, the confidence of me like I don't do Botox to my face or try. And sometimes I put the beauty filters on just for fun. But I always make sure it's like, look at this filter. Like I.

[00:28:56] Just did that cartoon when that, you.

[00:28:58] Know, fun. I saw it like you did that as a really good one. That was a fun one.

[00:29:02] Now, how do you keep up with stuff? Is it just because you're on there constantly, You you notice something new or do you are you on the inside?

[00:29:11] Tell you what, I'm not on the inside. I'm a sponge. So I've always been like this. When I was in edit rooms, I would, even though the editor was editing the commercial, I always would watch what he was doing and how he was pressing the buttons and how he made that happen. So I've always been a curious person and a knowledge is power type person. I think that the more you know, the more you can direct people because you can understand what's possible. So because of that, I think I picked up this TikTok thing pretty quickly and I was like, okay, I already know how to edit because I've watched editors do it. Well, I need to figure out is how to make it happen in this in my phone now. And so I pick it up pretty quickly and I think I just have a nature for the just learning. And so I will scroll this for you page, and I'll write away say, Oh boy, I've seen this one a couple of times. This must be trending and I know how to tap. Look, check, see how many videos were made with the sound over the past week. This one's hot. I can just. It's like an eight. Somehow. I've just learned it on the job, so to speak. The job that doesn't.

[00:30:06] Say.

[00:30:07] It. A job that doesn't pay me.

[00:30:09] So we got to take a responsive break. When we come back, we'll ask Helen to tell us all about hello, socialize and what what you would see if you went there. And I signed up there immediately as soon as I heard about it. So. So folks, about 25 years ago or so, I kind of turned the Internet guru marketing world on its head. And the people at my level were charging 50 or 100 grand up front to teach them what they knew. And I knew a lot of these people, you give them 50 grand up front, they'd be hiding out in Mexico, you'd never get anything. And so I said, No, I'm going to I'm going to fix that. I'm a small business advocate. So I said, I'm going to charge them an entry fee and then I'm going to tie my success to your success. So for me to get my 50 grand, you have to net 200 grand. Well, people kind of like this and 1800 students later is still going strong. It's the longest running, most unique, most successful ever in the field of Internet and digital marketing. You get an immersion weekend at the Great Internet Marketing Retreat Center.

[00:31:12] You get a scholarship to my school, which is the only one in the country that you can either use yourself or gift. It's all one on one. I don't do any group because I have to dumb it down. If you're a beginner, you know, I don't want to lump you in with people more advanced. And if you're advanced, I don't want to make you sit through simple stuff. So. So I triple dog dare people to put their programs up against mine. And nobody will do it because they'd be embarrassed. Because when you've got a fanatic on your team, that's a good thing sometimes I'll tell you so. So check it out folks at greatinternetmarketingtraining.com. Get in touch with me. I'm very accessible and there's no machine gun high pressure ness here forcing you to join. I just want to help you and your small business.

[00:32:01] All right, let's get back to the main event. We got Helen Polise here and she is a superstar on TikTok and a TV director, an award winning documentary producer, and just love her upbeat personality. So. So, Helen, tell everybody about Hello Socialize.

[00:32:22] All right, So, HelloSocialized.com is a platform where you can come and learn how to create content for social media. The point of the platform is to create a community of people who want to learn. I have provided free tutorials. Everything on the platform currently is free, so all you need to do is create a username password. You can access everything. Currently I have workshops up there. I think we've just posted the sixth workshop or the fifth workshop where I go for an hour with a small group on a zoom and I teach very specific classes like the last one, which is really fun. Have you ever seen these videos where people speak and then they have a commentary and there's like a little square of another video playing and then they look over and then they play a little bit of video and then they commentary and then they go back to the square. So I actually taught how to do that on a workshop. And it was a nice actually, the lesson itself for that took about 20 minutes of the session and everybody in the session was communicating like, This is amazing because I break it down slowly. I show you with the stylists step by step, I have a zoom one. Zoom frame is my face. The other zoom frame is my phone. So I'm tapping on my phone and showing it on another screen. So if you have if you know a Zoom one screen is me and one screen is my my phone and I show everything there very, very clearly.

[00:33:42] So the workshops are amazing. And what I'm doing next is I'm going to have beginner classes. So the next link that's coming up is going to be a beginner Instagram class, a beginner TikTok class, and then we're going to evolve from there. So I'm creating a platform where you can come. It's a one stop shop to learn. You can learn trends because you can search by keyword and you can look for, let's say you want the multi character, how to make a multi character video. You put in the word multi character and it comes up with the tutorial. So it's fantastic. And the last piece of it, Tom is my lovely weekly creative forecast, which is a weekly email that comes out and it gives you at least three trends, at least three content ideas, plus three music suggestions of what you can put onto your videos for the week to help you get a little bit more visibility on there. And then oftentimes I'll highlight a workshop that I'm doing or a podcast that's doing something cool that might be interesting. So it is huge value. Hello. Socialize. Com all for free. My my, my point is to build a community and to build an audience there so that I can eventually figure out where I want to go with it.

[00:34:44] No question about it. Every every one of them is just spectacular and, and not just the workshops. I mean, in, in 60 seconds she can teach you how to do stuff that you would search YouTube for hours to figure out how to do. So that.

[00:34:58] Is factual. I love when I have the followers doing the things that I teach. So oftentimes I get tagged in videos. One of them was very complicated with a lot of transitions. You probably know it where I was like changing clothes, you know, a Britney Spears song. I have the viral. The first video was viral. The tutorial was viral. I have people who are tagging me in their version, and they're doing it pretty well considering they're beginners. And it's so cool. I get so excited when I see it. I feel like they're my students.

[00:35:27] I like that one where you're it's like a stop action, where you're either you're running, tell them about that one. What is.

[00:35:34] When it's like the stop motion video where it's.

[00:35:37] Like you're walking or running somewhere and then it stops. Oh, that's going effect. What's that call?

[00:35:42] Oh, my God. That's the freeze frame.

[00:35:44] Freeze frame. Yeah.

[00:35:45] Yeah. Freeze frame. So that one, it's like you can walk and there can be multiple still frames of you in the scene and you kind of walk in each time you get to yourself, it that one becomes invisible and moves to the next. That's really a cool effect.

[00:35:58] And you see that on 200,000 commercials. Yes. And she's doing this for free.

[00:36:03] Okay, listen. Okay, Now, since we're from the same time frame time zone in life, it used to take so much money and so much time in edit rooms to create the effects that we can now do on our phones. In 30 seconds, I am mind blown when I learned the stop motion effect existed where you can like tap your screen and move an object, tap your screen, move an object, and then you hit the record button and it strings it all together. That used to take us hours in a stop motion studio. Oh, my God. It's an effect on TikTok. Are you kidding me? So I am always. I think that's why people are like, you get so excited about these things because I know what it used to take to do a green screen.

[00:36:41] You'd have to know that I asked them out of that for years because to do green screen right, you need to be far from the green screen. Green screen has to be perfectly smooth. You have to light it separately lit. I mean, and then the electronics of it, there was, you know. Yes. You know, I had my first training in Hollywood and. Yeah, and you go on this thing, hit a button in there, your green.

[00:37:07] It's insane. I know. I'm always amazed. And so when people say you get so excited about I'm like, you should only know, like, what it used.

[00:37:13] To be like, Yeah. These young people say, Oh, this is easy. Yeah, they don't really appreciate it. Yeah, they don't know.

[00:37:20] I know it's such a riot When. When you look at things and you have the knowledge of what it really takes to do that. So I did speak on the same workshop where I taught that that thing with the picture and picture of the commentary, I actually also talked about green screen and how to improve your green screen when you're trying to shoot on the the green screen on the apps. So having that knowledge of production is really helpful in teaching TikTok.

[00:37:42] Well, I got to tell you, folks, this is one of the best resources we've had in 700 and whatever. What is this, 17, 717 episodes? Wonderful person, extremely upbeat, extremely clear. The value she brings is just unprecedented. Other than me, of course.

[00:38:04] Thank you. I am so honored. I'm so glad you reached out. And I'm thrilled to be here. Yes. I appreciate you.

[00:38:11] So helloSocialize.com. What if they want to get ahold of you directly? Is there.

[00:38:17] Directly? Well, we have my tock on my Instagram, which is at the mothership. Tag my recipe. And on all of my accounts I have my email address so it's very easy to reach me via email and I respond to my emails. I'm really responsive.

[00:38:30] Almost. Don't bother, direct message, don't bother direct messaging her. You sit there chopping over your beard.

[00:38:39] It's tricky, but you should definitely what I do, I'm very responsive to emails and when the Instagram messages are a little more manageable than the TikTok messages, I'll tell you.

[00:38:48] That because.

[00:38:49] Having so many followers, it's hard to keep up. It's fantastic, though. I love.

[00:38:52] It. Thanks so much for coming on, Helen. I'm so pleased to meet you. You're such an inspiration, especially with all the things you've gone through and the fears of going blind as a person with your talents. Very inspirational and cool hairdo. Everybody check out. Everybody tell her how great her hairdo is. She's had some questions about it. And and there we go. So So thanks so much. Hope you come on again, Helen.

[00:39:20] All right. Thanks again, Tom.

[00:39:22] All right, everybody. We'll catch you on the next episode. Check out Hellosocialized.com. Helen Polise is the muthership. All right. We'll catch everybody on the next episode. See you later.