Being A Generalist Is A Strength with Nina Nelson

Dusti Arab: Welcome back to Referral Worthy. Today I am here with Nina Nelson, the owner and founder of Tiny Enterprises where she does small town local marketing. She does Spartan Races and tours in Italy. She makes gluten free cookies that are so delicious, I have a little bag of them by my bath. Nina, is there anything you don’t do?

Nina Nelson: I’m not sure. I don’t draw. That’s it. That’s my brother. 

Dusti: I mean, like the rest of the family had to get something right.

Nina: Yes, I had to share so they get that. 

Dusti: So I feel like it is important for me to preface this episode with the fact that first of all, you’re my best friend and, second, that the way we met was actually a result of you purchasing my very first product I ever created online. A book you can no longer find nor buy called “The Minimalist Mom”. And that and following up on that like after you had read it was how we became friends. So as far as generalist women who hang out on the internet and go there to make friends, I feel like you and I are like the poster children for this.

Nina: Oh my Gosh, seriously. Like it’s the best place to find people because locally, I had the hardest time at least then so yeah, the Internet was like, such a saving grace for me. It’s huge.

Dusti: Absolutely. So talk to me about when you first started working online. 

Nina: Oh my god. Dude, it’s been like 17 years. I’ve been doing the math and I’m like, Oh, so it’s been 17 years. And that’s when I found you. So we are both internet crones, which I think we look really wonderful for being internet crones. But it was in 2008. I had started a blog because I had three children at that time. My youngest was like or not my youngest was even born. But my baby at the time had just been born and I really desperately wanted to get out of debt so I could stay home with them. Because I hated my job. I don’t do well at jobs. I always work myself out of them. They’re always boring after a little while and I was like, I just want to stay home with my kids. So I was like, I’m gonna get out of debt, like all that. And so I started a blog. And then like, over time that blog grew and it kind of morphed into me doing web design. And yeah.

Dusti: But you didn’t just do web design when you got started. You actually had a really interesting model. So talk to me about what all you did to monetize that blog.

Nina: What did I do? What didn’t I do? Really? So I was always reluctant to do ads. I eventually got there and they still, like ads aren’t my favorite. I really would rather not have them. But they paid bills. I did some sponsored posts, I wrote some ebooks. I got those in some bundle sales that actually ended up doing really, really well for me. I got in front of a lot more people and really expanded my audience. I had made some products I know when at one point you and I had done like some like curated gift boxes, which was fun since

Dusti: Oh my god.

Nina: Remember? We got together and made them and shipped them out. That was fun. God what else? I did some VA work. I’ve done so many things. And mostly like it was partly trying to figure out how to make money and get this thing to work for me, but also partly like, I don’t know if you talk about human design on this podcast at all, but like that has really helped me understand myself as a manifesting generator, and as an Enneagram three, as a Leo, all the things that I’ve learned about myself. I am not good at doing just one thing , you know, I’ve had I don’t know how many times I’ve messaged you and been like, “Dude, I feel like my soul is dying.” And it’s always when I try to pigeonhole myself and say, “Well, I have to do this one thing or I have to do this one thing,” so I guess I’ve had the most success as a generalist just like saying, “Oh, that sounds fun. I’m gonna try it.” And either being like, “Nope hate it, not doing it ever again,” like teaching yoga. Turns out, I hated that. But like, so many things came up. I was like, “Yeah, I actually really enjoy this and it worked for me.” So yeah.

Dusti: Okay, so talk to me about all of the things you’re doing for money right now. What’s the list? 

Nina: Okay, I’m not selling pics of my feet on the internet. And I think that’s about it. Although I’ve talked about an Only Fans for my lips. So who knows? I might do it. But right now. How am I making money? I coach CrossFit locally. I do. I run CrossFit classes. I do nutrition coaching. And then I also am like, basically like her right hand woman like I help do admin stuff I help with, I’ve just gotten away from a lot of the marketing stuff just because there was so much. I do customer support. I’m operations manager at the gym. So that’s like my in person gig where I get to see people and not just be a total hermit because I would do that. And I have done that. So I had to do something with people. And it’s really fun because I get to yell at people every single day, which I love. I was made for that. oldest child right here. So that’s number, like that takes a lot of my time. Number two, I do marketing and web design, mostly locally now. So I work with quite a few small businesses here in town, small, small town where I live in Central Oregon, and I’ll start with web design, but a lot of them. I do extra maintenance on their websites, web support. I have a few of them who like, monthly, I just take care of the backend stuff for them if they need it. And then I also do…what else am I doing? So there’s that. I do their hosting too like I was like, Oh yeah, I’ll do that for you. 

Dusti: No, I actually want to stop there for a second because I feel like that is such a great model there. Like to first of all bloom where you’re planted because you really did make a transformation from not feeling integrated in your community, having small kids like there’s nothing more isolating than that. Particularly if you’re not a churchgoer or something like that and I know you’ve bounced in and out basically just for the community for a while. Before we’ve all recanted. But I love that. You have brought something to a small town that is so desperately needed, not just bringing them online and making them easier to find because your community is actively growing. The town where Nina lives is about 45 minutes from Bend, Oregon, which, like it’s become like a magnet for Californians among other things, and it really is a beautiful, beautiful place to live. So being able to be found when you’re that last real town, you know, before you get to at least Redmond, is so important. And to have somebody locally who you can actually go sit down and have a cup of coffee with and make some of this stuff not so scary for those folks, that is so critical and I feel like that is just a huge opportunity for so many folks in small towns.

Nina: Oh my gosh. Absolutely. So for the longest time, there was one place doing web design locally and they’re terrible. I was like okay, let me look at this. Let me see what they’re charging because they were charging easily five times what I was charging. So they must be really awesome. So I, you know, asked around. I got a few samples of their websites and I was like, “This is terrible. Like it’s not user friendly. There’s no marketing here, the copy is shit, like it’s not pretty.” I was just like “What the heck you guys? Why isn’t anybody, why is this okay?” So then I was like, “Okay, I’m doing stuff online. I like working with people around the world. That’s fun.” But I’m like, I really would like to, like you said, go down to a coffee shop and have coffee with my clients. Or what I really love now is if I go downtown, like I can just bounce in and out and say hi to my clients and get some shopping done and you know, see my brother like all that stuff. And I have the best time and like, Oh, that was all tax deductible. And it was really, really fun. And I love getting to chat with them because I love the people I work with. So that’s been really helpful but yeah, it was like this massive, just the massive hole to fill there. There was nothing here. I mean, we have some stuff over in Bend. But even that, I’ve looked at it and I’m like, it could be better. It could be a lot more helpful. So yeah, we need it. We needed it here.

Dusti: I love that you really have been so good in your community about finding openings that matched what you need and just creating that space for yourself and for others. I mean, I gotta say like, I mean, now your brother has the tattoo shop down in Madras, like that’s incredible to me. Like you really helped pave the way for that. And not just that but your mom just had her two year anniversary of her coffee shop.

Nina: I know I’m so excited. We’re basically, we’re taking over Madras. That’s our 10 year goal is a little Mexican American takeover. 

Dusti: I love it. Tiny Enterprises doing a tiny takeover. I love that. Okay, so when you think about all of the things you’ve done, what do you wish you knew way back when?

Nina: Oh my god, I love that question. So, I think had I known what I do now. So back then, like you met me. I was, I was timid. I was really shy, like, didn’t really connect with a lot of people. And what I wish I would have known was that it was all about connections. And it was all about confidence to just come out and be like, “Hey, I have this business. Can you check it out?” And that was, I think it was really good that I had the internet to get started with that. I did some networking. Oh yeah. I also did network marketing. I forgot about that. I built like a whole doTERRA team. 

Dusti: I made a lot of money doing that. It was great.

Nina: I still make money doing that, like my passive income like every month. I’m like oh yeah, that’s great, haven’t done this in years.

Dusti: That’s so cool people shit on network marketing man but man, if you’re a builder, like you really can kill it. 

Nina: Oh my god yeah. And I was able to do that. Like as a really shy introvert just writing on the internet. So you know, but like if I was doing that again now I would do so much more in person stuff. I would teach so many more classes. I’d do so much more video. I’d be more comfortable talking to people and, mostly when I started I just didn’t have much confidence. And now like fuck it, I talk all day about this stuff. I mean, I have a lot to offer. Why wouldn’t I? And I really want to help people. So I think that knowing, just being confident in what I offer and knowing that I can help people. Getting over that impostor syndrome of oh, you know, they’re doing it better. They know better than I do. And actually I do know quite a lot and I can really help you. Knowing that and then just connecting with people like everything I do. So I also started a food truck last year, I failed to mention that. That was another thing that was missing in our town. We had no good Italian food. So I was like, well, we need good Italian food. I’m gonna do that. That’s been really fun. I made more money than I thought I was going to in the last year, which was awesome. And I’ve really been able to turn that into something that works really well for me and hit a lot of my clients, like web design clients, gym clients, so everything I do is just from my connections. It’s from people knowing me. And you know, the ones that love me, they’re like, “yeah, absolutely. I’m gonna support any business you do. I tell my friends about you.” The ones that don’t like me stay far away, which I’m so happy about. Like, I don’t want to deal with those people at all. Like I’m very like, I’m very much like, “Stay away. I don’t want to serve you.” But yeah, confidence and connections, in my opinion, and like learning that most of the stuff you’re dealing with is imposter syndrome, and it’s absolute bullshit. 

Dusti: Preach. Okay, so I feel like we’ve answered this, but I’m mostly curious about the back end question on this. So where do you get your clients? And if you had to start from scratch today, how would you find your first 10 clients?

Nina: My first 10 clients? Um, those two things I just said. So thinking about my food truck and thinking about how I’ve picked up locally trying to do marketing stuff. I would just talk to my friends and be like, “Hey, I’m doing this thing. I know, I’ve helped you in the past. Like, would you please tell your friends?” And I should say to that, my friends, my connections that I have, like every single friend that I have is a successful business owner. And I think that that’s not by accident. Like I definitely believe that you become a lot like the people that you hang around. And I genuinely just want to hang out with people that I think are cool, especially ones who are doing what I want to be doing or who are doing what like, I don’t know what I am doing so that when we get together, it’s not just hanging out with a bunch of people complaining about their nine to five and how life sucks and blah, blah, blah. I mean, you’ve done that. You know how frustrating it can be. I mean, that’s why I had such a hard time connecting with people before because my mindset was so different than a lot of local moms even. So, all of my connections are well connected. Like they have the mindset that I’m looking for. They’re all about growth. They know they have resources that they can point me to, and so if I was starting again I think it would just be a matter of me being confident in what I have to offer and asking, “Hey, would you be willing to try it and would you be willing to spread the word?” 100% that’s, I’d get 10 clients easily and that’s what I’ve done in the last year with other stuff too. So it works for me.

Dusti: I’m so obsessed with that because it feels like, because you’ve started so many things, like you’ve almost had to start from scratch in so many ways because your businesses are in all of these different arenas. So like you’ve really almost refined that process like yes, there, you have some common people there. But I love the idea of other people as expanders for who you want to be. I’m like going through the To Be Magnetic program right now. And they talk about that a lot, like finding more of the people who are doing the things you want to be doing or have like some piece of that at least, and to be able to find that locally, even in a small town. Like what incredible proof that it’s possible no matter where you’re from, where you live, any of that. 

Nina: Yeah, and I’d have to say to that it starts with yourself and being willing to be that person because, Okay, you’ve met my dad. My dad is just this outgoing guy. Like he knows everyone.  So there’s like this big tire company, Les Schwab. And my husband went with my dad there like 17 years ago. 20 years. Went right after we got together. And my dad walks in and it was like you know, when Norm walks into Cheers. Everybody is excited to see him and he’s like, “Hey, where’s this guy?” And they’re like, “Oh, he’s in the back.” My dad just walks through the place like he owns it as my dad does. And my husband’s just like, Luis, I don’t think we’re supposed to be back here. My dad just looks at him. And he’s like, “Of course we can be back here. Sit down son. Sit down, son. Yes. Let me show you how it’s done.” But I remember like before, I used to want to be like that. I was like, I want to be magnetic. Like my dad and I had another friend around that time. I was like, I just noticed that about them. Like people love to hang out with them. They were so like, they were so outgoing. They made you feel seen, they were fun to be around and it was like, that’s who I want to be. I want to be someone where when I walk into a room, people are excited. And I think that like having to transform myself, having to like, you know, all the mindset work I had to do. It’s like now, like I go to karaoke in my local town and I walk in and the KJ is like this and like, runs over and hugs me. The bartender’s already poured my drink because she knows what I’m gonna have. And all the people there – like as a Leo, like, there was a lot of like, stuff I had to cultivate in myself to be that person. And so like, just taking that though, and like realizing, oh, I can turn this outward and ask people for help. And now they’re so willing. They’re so willing to help me because they know who I am. They know that I’m gonna give high quality, they know that I’m not going to shaft them. I’m going to deliver and I’m going to over deliver.So I think how you present yourself and how you are as a person that’s just really huge in that.

Dusti: Okay, so these last two questions are ones that I ask everyone who comes on the podcast and I’ve been debating how to ask this one because usually I ask how can your specialty make a small business a referral magnet. But for you I almost like instead I want to be like, how can diversifying and being a generalist make you a referral magnet?

Nina: Ooh, okay, so I was thinking about that. And I think a lot of it comes down to who you are as a person and being the one that people are like, “Yeah, well, of course, of course I can go to Nina for this. So if she opens this, I’m going to go to that.” So I think it really comes down to like if you consistently show people that so we’re going to give them a high quality service product, whatever, that you’re consistently going to be like giving them great customer service. That they know if something goes wrong, you’re going to do whatever you can to fix it, that you’re just generally someone that people want to hang out around. It just makes it in my opinion so much easier for people to listen when you’re telling them about something. And if you come out with something else, they’re like, “Oh, absolutely. I’m gonna try it.” So I think I think for me, it’s just been more like, as a generalist, my specialty has really been in defining myself and who I am and just making sure people know that and just getting in front of the right people.

Dusti: I love that. Okay, so last but not least, what makes a business referral worthy to you?

Nina: Oh, I’m gonna say quality for sure, like consistent quality. Not just one time I went there and it was great. And then after that, it sucked. And then the people like if I connect with whoever it is, that I you know, happen to interact with like, that’s it for me. It’s connections and quality for sure.

Dusti: Nina, I’m always happy to talk to you. But thank you so much for coming and sharing some of your genius on Referral Worthy. And for anyone who wants to connect further with you. Where can they find you? 

Nina: Oh, find me on Instagram. Nina H. Nelson. That’s going to be the easiest way. I’ve got links to everything on there.

Dusti: Very importantly, very, very important. And I’m going to make sure it’s in the shownotes there’s actually a secondary Instagram completely dedicated to none other than Nina’s tiny horse. She lives on a big ass piece of property and there’s a fucking tiny horse in the backyard running around named Simone like yeah, Nina and Simone and I just, I need everyone to enjoy that as much as I do.

Nina: Starting that page for her has just been the best because people are like, “Oh my god, I love seeing what Simone did today.” I’m like, “Me, too! I’m so glad you love it.” Yes definitely. You’d have to follow Simone. She’s the real star.

Dusti: Right. Follow me but also Simone, Simone, for sure. Perfect. Perfect. All right. Thank you so much, Nina.

Nina: Thank you.