Creator Interview: Laura Lewandowski
How Laura got Gary Vaynerchuk & Jay Shetty on her podcast by writing 300 post cards
Who are you and what is your mission?
I'm a Top 30 u 30 journalist, founder of Smart Chiefs and podcast-host of Meet Your Mentor with the mission to researching real-world skills for modern entrepreneurs.
Who is your audience / community?
My audience is basically like me: we are interested in entrepreneurship, personal development and storytelling. Most of them are between 25 - 35 years, both female and male, founders or employees with a leadership role.
What is your main platform?
Instagram and LinkedIn are definitely my go-to-platforms. With my Meet Your Mentor Podcast, YouTube definitely plays the major role. Recently I launched my newsletter smartchiefs.de which now enables me to own my audience instead of just engaging with them on "borrowed land."
What specific tactics have helped you in getting guests like Jay Shetty and Gary Vaynerchuk on your Meet your Mentor Podcast?
Make sure your mission is clear and always be straight to the point.
Second question "what's in it for them - and not only for you?".
Make the process as smooth and easy for them as possible to achieve your goals (big names never have time).
Be original in your ways of reaching out to them to stand out (300 Postcards to Gary Vee in my case ;) ) and show appreciation for their work.
And last but not least : be persistent, always, never stop.
You're currently launching Smart Chiefs, a cohort-class on Storytelling for founders. Can you share your top 3 best practices so far?
I decided to do a storytelling cohort-class for 3 reasons:
1. I was looking for a way to scale my knowledge since I realized that constantly working was not benefiting my own health and creativity.
2. I wanted to scale my impact. I was not happy with the status quo that my due to my limited time I was never able to consult as many start-ups I wanted.
3. I wanted to start my own brand that has the potential to a) reunite all my skills and passion b) grow in multiple ways. For me the cohort is just the beginning.
My 4 biggest learnings:
1. Defining your niche is crucial to make your offer appealing.
2. Always schedule pre-calls with potentials member and curate your cohort well since you want them to get along and benefit from their network.
3. Plan ahead: you need minimum 2 months between launch and start. Never underestimate the power of big communities and people of interest.
4. Find a good team. It's almost impossible to set up everything by yourself unless you want to work day and night.
What is your best productivity and creativity hack?
Best productivity hack: Ask yourself “What's the one SINGLE task that gives me energy and fulfilment when it's done?” Work until done. Enjoy! Best creativity hack: schedule "think time" in your calendar.
What's your favourite tool to run your creator business?
At the moment: Vsco, Slack, Google Drive, Asana
Do you have an ask for the creator community?
As a content creator, I lack focus and creativity when I spend too much time on social media - however, it's crucial for my business. Any ideas on how to grow channels without spending too much time on those channels myself?