My Favorite Tool for Lead Generation (and how every business model can use this unconventional strategy!) with Jessmyn Solana

Jaclyn Mellone

Welcome to Go-to Gal, episode number 198. As always, I’m your host, Jaclyn Mellone. And can you hear my thinking putty popping in the background? It probably should not be playing with it now. I can’t help myself. I’m addicted to this. It’s actually called thinking putty, for those of you curious. It’s crazy errands. And I basically play with it all day long while I sit at my desk. So okay, I’m putting my thinking putty down. I hope I can think without it. And let’s do a podcast intro.

So today, we were talking about quizzes. Now, you may have heard me mention that recently we have a new-ish quiz, which we affectionately call The Villain Quiz, but it’s, Which movie villain is sabotaging your success? If you haven’t taken it yet, go to jaclynmellone.com/quiz. Now, you’ve probably taken these quizzes before mine or someone else’s, and we see them a lot. I see them a lot as ads. And a lot of the times when I’ve listened to a podcast or heard people talk about it, or even just interpreted through the osmosis of this online world that quizzes are for list building. Quizzes are these lead generators. They are. That is not what they’re for the type of episode. Yes, they are great for that. 

But what I’ve realized from my past quiz, this is not my first quiz, I had one a few years ago. And from this quiz, I am using the quiz very differently. Now, yes, I’m still using it for lead generation. However, a lot of the people, especially since we haven’t started running traffic to it yet, a large majority of the people who have taken the quiz are people who are already on our email list. So it’s not necessarily lead generation where they’re already technically on your email list. So what is the purpose? What is the point? And what I have seen is that there’s been a few different ways that I’ve been using the quiz both on social media, with our existing email list, in a course, in our Best Month Ever program that I’m currently running live with my clients. I’ve been using it in all these different ways. And through conversations, I’ve been having, since that’s what’s going on in my world. So talking to clients, friends, masterminds, and then people who are like, oh, I haven’t thought of it like that. I haven’t used it like that. And I’m like, I should talk about this on the podcast. And who better to talk about it with than someone from Interact to get that inside scoop.

So today, we have Jessmyn joining us to really talk about how you can be using a quiz outside of just lead generation? Because if you are a service provider if you’re a coach, a consultant, if you’re not looking to grow your email list, if you don’t need to grow your email list by thousands to hit your goals, you may not think a quiz is the best opt-in for you. And listen, I’m not here to say that the quiz is definitely the best opt-in for you. But I really want you to pull back the curtain a little bit and tell you what I’m thinking about it because a lot of you have been asking me more about it since we have a quiz. But I want you to think about this in a different way to see if it is the right fit for your business because there’s so much more value to it than just having this lead generator.

It really can be a powerful conversion tool. So I’m going to give you one quick insight, one quick tip before the interview because I did not get a chance to share these. I could have talked to Jessmyn for another hour easily. Fun fact, I am going to be on the Interact podcast, on their Creator Stories Podcast. I think it’s going to come out in the New Year. And Jessmyn and I are also, we’ve recorded some videos to do case study content for Interact where she’s interviewing me about the quiz and different things. And so, we’ve chatted quite a bit. Oh, just talking to her, I’m like, there are a million more questions I could have asked her. And we definitely couldn’t tell all the stories I wanted to tell because I wanted to make sure she had time to share her stories.

So one of the things that I wanted to add was that in my quiz, and if you’ve taken this quiz, you might’ve even noticed this. Maybe not, maybe now that I’m pointing it out, you’re going to notice. There are two questions in my quiz that do not impact the results of the quiz. Now you’re like, well, this is the point of the quiz to have someone figure out which movie villain is sabotaging their success, and that’s really just my way of personifying the inner critic. What kind of inner critic do you have? Because not all inner critics are the same, believe it or not. Nobody talks about that. So let’s talk about that and figure out who your inner critic is, and how you can conquer them? Once we know who they are and how they’re trying to sabotage you, we can put that conquer plan together for you, and email it for free as part of the quiz. So, yes, that is the point of the quiz. However, when people are taking the quiz, I also want to get to know some things about our audience. And so I think when you’d have a quiz, whether you’re using it for lead generation or whether you’re using it for more of a conversion tool, or some of these other creative ways that we’re going to talk about in this conversation, putting some questions in, and Interact allows you to do it. So the way that someone answers does not impact the result that they get. 

However, you are still going to have that data on the backend. So let’s see if I can remember off the top of my head. In our quiz, one of the questions talks about what revenue level your business is at? Do I need to know that? If somebody’s making more or less, does that impact the result of who their inner villain voice is? No. It has no impact at all on that. So we just don’t have that question tied to an answer. But it helps us see, okay, this is where the people that are taking this quiz are in their business. How much money are they generating right now? This is what level of revenue they’re at, quite frankly. 

The other question is. Oh, if I remember correctly, I’m going off the top of my head here, is how they perceive their expertise or how you perceive your expertise? So are you an expert? Are you brand new? All the different, are you already the go-to gal? This is definitely not the language that’s on there, but it’s different levels of expertise.

Again, maybe there is some psychological thing compared to how someone views themselves. Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t. It’s self-selection there, but it does not impact that voice, that inner villain voice that we’re taking the quiz for. So again, that question does not impact it. And I can look at it as a whole and I can even drill down more than that. So it helps us to get some of that information that we want from our community as they’re taking this test or this quiz. So we’re not testing you on your inner critic. We are quizzing you so we can help you.

So I wanted to share that because it can also be a market research tool. Yes, you can email your list from market research but also, when you’re already having them do something or when people are joining for the first time, what is that information that you really wish you knew? Even if it doesn’t impact the result that you’re going to share with them, being able to put one or two of those questions in can help you get to know those people. 

All right. So there is the kickoff little plant the seed. Let me formally introduce you to Jessmyn, and we’ll dive right in. Jasmine Solana is the Digital Marketing Manager at Interact Quiz Builder, and host of Interact’s Creator Stories Podcast. Interact is the easiest way to convert curious people into loyal customers and happy clients by using a lead-generating quiz. Jessmyn is the strategic mind behind Interact’s flyover content which helps entrepreneurs build their quizzes and stay connected to their brand. She is dedicated to telling the entrepreneur’s journey through the Creator Stories Podcast and hopes to give others a sense of belonging and community. She is amazing. We’re also going to talk a little bit about her role from both sides. . I’m just w We’re just going to get into this conversation because it is so gosh, darn good. All right, here it is, my conversation with Jessmyn.

Jessmyn, I’m so excited to have you here today. 

Jessmyn Solana

Thank you, Jaclyn. I’m really excited to be here. 

Jaclyn Mellone

Yes. All right. Before we dive into all the exciting things we have to talk about today, take us back in time when you were growing up. What were you the go-to gal for back then?

Jessmyn Solana

Ooh, so I did have to think really hard about this. But I would say, back then when I was growing up, I was the go-to gal for positivity, laughs, and fun. So I always like to have a good time. I don’t like to be too sad, and that’s still something that I am like today. But growing up, people would always come to me for some good time.

Jaclyn Mellone

Well, I can absolutely see that now. Side note, which I guess does lead into the topic of quizzes. Although the people that created any grammar would probably cringe if I called it a quiz. Whereas, I guess, we can talk about that. What’s the difference between assessment and quiz? All right. I’m banking that question. Oh, but it is a quiz when you break it down. Do you know your Enneagram? 

Jessmyn Solana

Oh, God, I did take it. I don’t remember it because actually what was really interesting about it was I didn’t feel like it resonated with me that much. Is that weird? 

Jaclyn Mellone

So I wonder if you’re a seven like me. That’s why I was bringing that up.

Jessmyn Solana

That sounds very familiar. 

Jaclyn Mellone

Because I’m like, oh, positivity and avoiding negative emotion. Maybe your Enneagram seven.

Jessmyn Solana

I want to say that I was somewhere around there. If I remember correctly, it was somewhere around seven. But yes, I feel like I read that one, and I’ve taken so many. And that was one of the ones that I was like, is that me? I don’t know. A lot of the time they describe sevens as these people that are like, adventures, don’t settle down. I’ve been in my house for 14 years. I’ve been married for 13 years so a lot of those things on the surface don’t fit the mold. But when you break down the emotional side of it, I totally fit that profile. I think that’s why it took me so long to figure out what my type was. So I probably need to go back and revisit it then. 

Jaclyn Mellone

Definitely. All right. We’re totally off track which is a hundred percent my fault. But I couldn’t help myself. Okay, so fast forward to today, we’re going to talk about quizzes. But fast forward to today, tell us what do you do and who do you help?

Jessmyn Solana

Yes, definitely. So I work for Interact Quiz Builder, and I am the Digital Marketing Manager at Interact. I’ve been here for actually four years already. I’m coming up on five next July. So it’s been quite a long ride, but not a bad ride. I should specify that and clarify it. I love, love, love working here. And when I actually found Interact, they found me. But when I got here I was like, what is this? And I think that’s how a lot of people view quizzes when they first get to it because when I would first tell people I worked in quizzes they were for education. And then when I tell them personality quizzes, they think I’m making magazine, article, those flow charts that you see in Cosmopolitan.

Jaclyn Mellone

Which good character are you? I’ve taken them all. 

Jessmyn Solana

So funny but, really, when I got down into researching exactly what Interact does, it’s a lead-generating platform using a personality quiz. I was absolutely blown away. I was not fresh out of college. I did have a sales job before this, but I was so bad at it. But I did sales development, and so I had a great understanding of what lead generation is, what it’s used for in business? And so when I got into this space, I was just blown away by the amount of data that you can gather from it, what it’s actually doing, it’s like a fun way to market your own business. And then on top of that, you’re also able to, I’m going to use the word segment. I know a lot of people don’t like that word to start off with. But categorize, essentially, people into different buckets, so you’re talking to really specific people. I guess I got carried away because I got excited about Interactive. 

Jaclyn Mellone

Yes, and I don’t know. I’m like, do people have a negative connotation of the word segmentation? I didn’t know this. But essentially, not everyone’s the same. So if we’re able to take our full list and break it down into these people are interested in this, or these people are struggling with this. We’re able to create more customized content for them. 

Jessmyn Solana

Exactly, exactly. And the reason why I said they don’t like it is because it’s a fairly new concept. We know we want to do something of the sort but we don’t know what it’s called. And so it’s a big scary word, it’s like, oh God. I just started my business. Am I supposed to do that in a sense? But essentially, yes, you’re just breaking people down. So you’re able to have more of a specific profile, which in marketing people are already doing without a quiz without having to think about it too hard. 

Jaclyn Mellone

Yes, and I think it gives us, has businesses that well, okay, that’s your starting up if you’re medium-sized. Even if you’re a bigger business in this industry, we’re still not, likely not, the Target. Where like, I always think of that target story where do you know this? I don’t even know where I heard this story. Where Target started sending this 15-year-old girl information on buying baby stuff. Basically, Target knew she was pregnant before she told her parents. And so this dad was calling up Target and he’s like, why are you sending my 15-year-old daughter? 

Jessmyn Solana

Oh my gosh, you know, I never heard this. 

Jaclyn Mellone

So fun like baby blankets, or prenatal vitamins. He was like, this is so inappropriate. But they were able to track, oh, she stopped buying tampons, or I don’t know exactly what they are. But they had all these things that weren’t even directly related to buying pregnancy-related things, but basically looking at buying behavior and activity that was so, but we’ll figure this out. And it was like, this whole big thing. And then it came out but they were just really tracking her data hardcore. There wasn’t a person that was like, oh, let’s send this 15-year-old girl this stuff. But all of this data that they were tracking in their system led to these specific advertisements being shared, which is really interesting. 

Jessmyn Solana

Wow. That’s incredible. I’ve never heard that story. We did not know. 

Jaclyn Mellone

Oh, but okay. Before we dive into quizzes more, I just think your role in Interact is really interesting. Both from the perspective of someone listening who might be like, ooh, that’s an option? Maybe I can do that for a company. I didn’t realize I could do that. But also, people that are like, how do I have someone like you on my team someday? It opens up a really cool opportunity too. So I think from both sides of it, it’s really interesting. And you hinted that they found you. First of all, how did they find you?

Jessmyn Solana

Definitely. So we, actually, are a pretty small team. So back in 2017, I was unemployed. I was looking to make a move into the marketing space. I didn’t want to move jobs every year or so. I’m the type of person where, oh my God, I guess I am a seven. I wanted to stay put. And so, they had found me through Angelist. If anyone’s familiar with it, it’s like LinkedIn but it’s specifically for the startup space. And I had put my profile on there. Josh, our CEO, had reached out to me looking for a partner marketing manager. And essentially, it was similar to what I was doing as an SDR. I would just talk to people, ask them to use our product, and write a blog post about it. And I was like, okay, that sounds easy enough. And when I got here, Josh was very open about, hey, it’s a little scrappy. Here’s what I’ve done with it so far. But if you have ideas, totally go for it. And so for anyone who is looking, I guess, for a job where they have that creative freedom, and for me, that is being creative because I love creating structures. I love creating processes. And I was like, oh my God, this is amazing. So I had this whole process, and then as time went on as we started to grow, we started adding on more marketing campaigns and ideas and projects. And so eventually, I became the digital marketing manager which is what I am now.

And so I still dabble in partner and affiliate marketing for Interact. I also do this podcast, so interviews. I also interview for our podcast. Creative Stories, go check it out. That’s my plug. God, I do so much social media, which I do have a team for, which is great. Now, I just oversee and see those projects. I am also in charge of our blogs. So I’m starting to dabble more into it, I started out managing it and just scheduling it out. But now, I’m dabbling into, okay, what topics do we want to talk about? What do our customers want to learn about? If someone doesn’t know about quizzes, what are they searching for to get to this place? And yes, that’s a little bit of everything about what I do. 

Jaclyn Mellone

So fascinating. And yes, to see how your role has changed over time and you hosting the podcast, what a cool opportunity these didn’t exist 10 years ago. But I think about early on in my career, I worked for a few different entrepreneurs who had actually pretty big online businesses, or different types of businesses that had an online component. And they gave me that similar type of freedom, and I loved that. And now, being on the hiring side, I try to think of that as like, okay, what’s someone like me that likes that, take it and run with it type of mindset where you’re able to have that entrepreneurial mindset if you will. But in working in an employee role. So it’s interesting. I appreciate you taking us a little bit behind the scenes there because we don’t often get to talk about that side of things. 

Jessmyn Solana

It’s so funny because people think we have this huge team, this huge company, and I’m like, we each have our own department and we’re just going with it.

Jaclyn Mellone

This is also inspiring to see because as we grow in scale, I need a team. I do not do it alone. I try to be really transparent about that in my own business. But right now, I have a team of contractors. So growing with employees is something that’s definitely on my mind. But I also don’t picture myself with an office of 50 people and having to go into the office every day, and all of that. So seeing, and I don’t know how many small is relative. I have a friend that’s like, oh, I work for a company, a small company. There are only 150 of us. I’m like, that’s a lot of people. So small is relative, but you work virtual and yes, it’s interesting to see like, okay, yes. These bigger companies don’t necessarily need to have these huge teams behind the scenes. 

Jessmyn Solana

Actually, somebody had asked me this yesterday and I said five because that’s what it had been for so long. But we actually added people onto the team in the last couple of years, so eight full-time employees. I want to say eight or nine. And then, we also work with contractors. So we love this space because our customers are also the people we love working with. And so when we find someone who’s like, oh my God, this is amazing. We work with Shawntee Zack if anyone’s ever heard of her. And we work with a lot of people for branding. If we have specific projects for videos where like, okay, let’s find this person. We also want to be able to work with people that maybe don’t want to be full-time employees, but we just love their brains. 

Jaclyn Mellone

Okay. I have hired so many of my clients and students over the years for exactly the same reasons. So we definitely share that philosophy. So I wanted to bring you on here today because one, I recently launched my quiz, which is not my first quiz. And we first connected in a very, I don’t know, not climatic way years ago. I don’t even know if you remember, but we just threw an email, and I did. I did the blog post. I had my first quiz. We never got to get on video together or anything. I didn’t really get to know you back then, but I definitely recognized your name and all of that when reconnected this year. And it was like, wait a second. We connected many years ago. Oh, so you have been there for a while.

But with quizzes on my brain recently, I’ve been thinking about it in such a different way. And through our conversations, I’ve realized that you think about it in such a different way too. And there’s a lot of podcasts out there that are talking about quizzes and it’s like, grow your list. Maybe people are doing list funnels and putting a lot of ads spend behind it. And that’s all well and good, but I think there’s a missed opportunity with people that maybe you don’t feel like you’re there “yet.” So you’re putting off having a quiz for those reasons. And what I’ve realized recently is, that’s not even the biggest value of the quiz. And through talking to you, I really love your insight on this. So why don’t we just start off with, what is your philosophy here? Why a quiz? There are many different ways to get someone onto our email list. Why use a quiz? 

Jessmyn Solana

So everyone’s probably, if they have seen Interact Quizzes they’ve probably seen the grow your list, segment your leads, use this as though as a lead magnet. But what I really love about it is it’s so much more than that in the sense that you’re actually bringing back that one-on-one conversation, the personalization, and it’s a more human-centered approach than just growing your list. There is more to the story I like to say. And so, pretty much, when you do have a quiz, I like to relate it to that very first, hi, hello. This is who I am. And you invite someone with a question, what’s your brand voice style? It’s like an invitation to come to have a conversation with me rather than your normal lead magnet might be like, hey, I have this whole ebook. Give me your email and download it. But it might not speak to people, or maybe only some parts of it will speak to that specific person. And there’s no continuous action from that. It’s like, okay, cool. I have this free ebook. And now, I’m on your list. Getting emails that may or may not resonate.

Jaclyn Mellone

Exactly, exactly. And there are values sometimes to that ebook. But really, when you think about it, I could have taken with my quiz, which for those of you that haven’t heard me talk about it before, the quiz that we have out right now is, Which movie villain is sabotaging your success?, because I love all of those which Disney princess are you quizzes. And so I wanted to embody that fun-ness of a Buzzfeed quiz. But also making it something that’s really valuable. So what I share in the results could probably be an ebook. We can bring it into Canva and make it an ebook. But instead of just saying, here’s our ebook on overcoming your inner critic, we’re able to bring people into the quiz. I’ve identified that not all inner critics are the same. So when I rebranded the inner critic as an inner villain voice, which is a little bit more fun and mysterious-sounding, and took people down those three different paths. Because honestly, the advice that I give is different. And I didn’t always know that. I’ve realized that through the years of, okay, I’m talking to a lot of people about their inner critic. This is a very different inner critic than mine, or then this person and starting to see those patterns, but being able to take something that over time I felt that was very personalized per person like, oh, that’s part of my value as a coach has been able to figure this out, and then give them very personalized advice based on it. The quiz has allowed me to do that before even having that one-on-one conversation, which is really interesting. 

Jessmyn Solana

Exactly.

Jaclyn Mellone

Is that something you see? I’m putting you on the spot with this question. But I think when we think about quizzes, we think about, I think about course creators. That’s people that have courses, people that have digital products. And I’ve even seen physical products. I’ve been taking nootropics, which I don’t think I’ve talked about on the podcast before. And it’s called Formula. And I took a quiz that was like, what are all the things that I was struggling with? And they recommended these different nootropics, and they put a customized box. It has my name on the box, printed on the box. The formula for Jaclyn, which is really interesting. But it was all from a quiz, and that was a Facebook ad. So many different products and uses, I guess, with this. But what are some that you see that maybe are not the ones that are the loudest that people always hear about? Can you think of any of your… 

Jessmyn Solana

Yes. So I guess, I can say some of the big ones, exactly what you’re saying is what we would call a product recommendation quiz. You also have the service-based, like you said, course creators. And then, there also is, you can funnel them into webinars. You can also use them as your discovery calls. So I’ve seen people use it as, I guess, for a lack of a better term, an intake form of, okay, here’s the information that I need to know before I offer this strategy call. And then hop on there and actually talk to them. I’ve seen people just actually filter out their audience. So if they’re like, okay, I have a launch coming up. I only want to work with this specific persona on a one-on-one. Everyone else, I want to offer them low ticket offers or maybe send them to different resources. Or maybe they’re just not the right person for me, and I can recommend other people. You can use it to filter those people out. So essentially, you’re only looking for one result or one segment. You can also do it based off of, gosh. Wow, I’m trying to think of some other ones that I’ve seen. 

Jaclyn Mellone

I didn’t think of it like this. But my first quiz that I did was like that. So I was trying to pull out of my audience at the, who are the people who are not the Go-to Gal? And I called it Go-Go Gal instead, which I learned, always test first. When I sent it to a few people first, they’re so used to seeing the go-to gal that even though the results said, Go-Go Gal, people thought they got the result, Go-to Gal. So I had to change it to like, Go go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. Like 10 go’s to make it because that very similar language that people were missing that it was actually different. But with that, okay, who are the people? So, yes, if you are already established at this point, that’s great. I still want them on my list in my community, and maybe there’s another offer. But as I was getting ready to launch the Go-to Gal Course for the first time before there was a Go-to Gal Podcast of whether it’s any of that first a course for service providers. And the quiz was basically two results, are you the Go-to Gal or the Go, go, go, go, go Gal. And I really wanted to pull out who were those Go, go, go Gals that were really doing all of the things and working all the hours but not making them money, and that needed to raise their rates and shift their model and all that stuff. I want to pull them out. And so that was really the focus of the quiz. And so I could have just created content for that audience, but by having a quiz, allow someone to see, oh, that’s my result. I’m not the Go-to Gal yet because I don’t have that defined expertise. I’m doing too many things that are undercharging all of that stuff. It then opened them up to be more interested in the content that I was creating thereafter, versus just starting to talk to them at that point. 

So I’m so glad you brought that up because I don’t even know if I would, I would love to be like, I was so smart back in 2017 when I came up with us. And clearly, there was some intuitive sense of, okay, this would work for that. But I wasn’t thinking about it in the weight and the simplicity of how you described it. And I think that’s good, if someone’s like, well, I don’t care what personality my audience is. I just want to know, do they need help with this stuff? This two-result quiz is actually really much simpler because you only need to have two results, two email sequences that follow.

And if you know that you’re really only nurturing one of them, and kind of drop off with the one and really just go deeper with the one that you really want to support. 

Jessmyn Solana

Exactly. So recently, I’ve been getting really into hormonal health, a diet based on your hormonal health. And because I guess TMI, my hormones get crazy each month during that time of the month, and I’m tired of it. I had seen a few different people on Instagram. And I know social media is also the lead magnet for a lot of people, especially in the health and wellness space. And I had seen this particular influencer there, and she says she’s a doctor. I’m not a hundred percent sure. I think so. But anyway, I was curious because I had seen it through a reel. So I hopped onto her email list and I started getting some of her emails. And I was like, I definitely am somewhere in her target market. But say like, email one, I felt really good about it. I had all these resources, eBooks, and all of that. But a few emails down the line, I would get emails where I was like, oh, I don’t know if I have that condition. I’ve never been diagnosed. So probably not for me. 

And then I get another email where I’m like, Hmm, sounds like me but I don’t really know. And then I get another one where I’m like, oh shoot, this is exactly what I was looking for. The recipes are based off of what you’re feeling, what symptoms you have, things that I can just make up. Not really makeup, but things that I can decide versus having to go to a doctor and you have this condition, you need to eat this way or whatever. So this was a great example of why filtering out, or why figuring out who your target market is, what information needs to go to which person is a great way to do that because people will see your emails. And if they are interested in what you’re providing, they will read it. It’s just a matter of, are you getting their attention enough for them to actually buy or for them to become loyal, and loyal customers.

Jaclyn Mellone

Yes. Yes. All of the yes to that. And that’s such a great example of this from a different industry because not everything in our industry. So seeing in health and wellness, how that can be used is really fascinating. With my current quiz, what I like about it is that the same quiz can be used in a bunch of different formats. The format’s a wrong word, but purposes. So it could be used. It is used as a list builder. It’s also used with my existing warm audience that is already on my email list, but to bring them a little bit more in, and for me to understand them better. Now, with the current quiz, I will help all three different inner villain voice types, if you will. 

I’m not trying to weed people out like I was with the first one, but I’m able to understand them better. So that’s going to be really important in terms of giving advice and next steps and recommendations, and all of that stuff. And I could probably be geeking out on that way more than I already am. Which, well, when my podcast interview on your podcast comes out, that’ll be the other side of it like, the phases of the quiz. So we’re in phase one and a half right now. 

But another way that I’ve been using it, which is really interesting to me is, well, one, I had all my clients take it. It’s facilitating the onboarding process now with my clients and deepening the relationship with existing clients. And right now, at the time that we’re recording this, I’m running a course live right now called Best Month Ever. And mindset is a big part of the course. It’s a lot of sales activities, but it’s paired with mindset because it’s getting people into action. And we give prizes out and all of that. So on our bingo board that they fill out to get to be entered to win prizes, I made one of the bingo squares to take the quiz because I want them to take the quiz. And so, that incentivizes them to go take the quiz. And then it started all this conversation of, oh my inner villain voice is Miranda, and mind’s Ursula, and mine’s Virginia, and everyone’s sharing.

So it helped with community building, but it’s also now helped, especially in such a short run for two weeks. It’s been that shortcut for me on zoom calls to be like, okay, you’re struggling with this. What’s your inner villain voice. So then in my head, I can start narrowing down. I understand them better. I’m able to give them better advice, even though it’s the first time we’ve ever interacted live before. And even before that call, just hearing people say, oh, this is so me. And they’re starting to put pieces together of what they’re taking in from the course, but what they’re getting from the quiz. And I didn’t even plan, I plan to have them take the quiz but I wasn’t planning on having this all integrated so well. But it’s been cool to see in real-time. This is very much real-time that I’m sharing it with you, oh, having this quiz has really helped foster all of these different things within our course community. Where we’re inviting people into another program at the end of that. So it helps to speed up that process, and I think deepen their understanding of themselves which leads to a bigger transformation.  And they trust it like, yes, I know what I’m doing. So that’s been interesting to see this whole other use, which is not at all lead-generation but is a part of nurturing and transformation process with our students. 

Jessmyn Solana

I love that you brought that up and use it as an example because, at the root of it, I think why people want to take personality quizzes whether it’s  Buzzfeed in a magazine or through a lead magnet is because either A, they’re trying to discover something about themselves or B, they already know, but that validation is a confidence booster in a sense, even if it’s a more vulnerable topic. It’s like, yes, now I have this validation and I can do something about it. And so that’s where the entrepreneur or business owner of this quiz comes in. So in your example, this is where you come in and you’re like, here’s how I can help you. And it positions you as an authority. 

Jaclyn Mellone

Yes, exactly. I know, and most of the time with quizzes, I feel like people are saying your creator or you’re the rock star type where I’m like, I’m telling people what their inner critic is. And so it’s not maybe necessarily as empowering as some of the other quiz results that are out there, but even still, I feel like we’ve been able to present it in a way that keeps it fun and light and not, I am totally sabotaging my entire business and life. We’re able to give this positive because knowledge is power. And being able to take that knowledge and use it in a fun way to get out of your own way, if you will, to get that inner villain voice out of your way is empowering. That’s the goal. 

Jessmyn Solana

Yes. And I wanted to say situation, but example, I think is a better term. In your example, I think, what your quiz is doing from an outside perspective is, is them taking the first step to transform and transitioning into where they desire to be. And taking the quiz and understanding that is already powerful because they’re like, okay, I did it. All I needed to do is take that first step, and I already did. So now, it’s just continuing on from there. 

Jaclyn Mellone

Yes. Okay, so for someone who maybe has a done for you service provider, let’s use that because I think that someone that’s doing coaching, they could see, okay, that’s how Jaclyn’s using it. That could work for a course or a one-on-one program, or any of that. But if someone is a social media manager or a copywriter, how do you think they could be using this tool? I’m sure they want to build their list, but most importantly, they want clients. So how can this quiz help them with that? And we can brainstorm this together, but I’m curious from your perspective. How have you seen, or how would you recommend someone like that think about this? 

Jessmyn Solana

Definitely. So I think, first and foremost, you want to understand like, okay, what and outcome, or where do I want my audience to end up before they become an actual client? What does that look like? Whether it’s an offer, a strategy call, it doesn’t have to be that they actually buy. It could be a step where you’re still having that conversation with them, and then they buy. So I like to relate it to, what conversation do we want to have with people to where they end up in this spot so you can then start creating that loyalty and have that retention? In this space, I think it’s different because some people have products. They have digital products, they have courses and they do that one-on-one work. So if you are looking into it, did you say you wanted it for one-on-one work? Am I remembering that correctly?

Jaclyn Mellone

Yes, but we can give a couple of examples here if there are other examples coming to you. But yes, someone who’s a copywriter or a social media manager. 

Jessmyn Solana

So once you figure out what that end goal is, then actually, it’s a great, great, great idea to take the content that you already have and repurpose it into a quiz. So I love how you, earlier, were saying that you had an ebook that you actually put into your quiz. So in this situation, it’s really good because you have all this knowledge already especially if you’re like, okay, I want to get this out. This is something that I’m just trying out. Use the content that you already have. Repurpose it into your quiz. Take that content and use it as a freebie so that it’s like a keep giving you things. So here’s a strategy call that you could do with me. And then eventually, they can get to know who you are, understand you a little bit better, and use the quiz as a way to reinforce themselves as okay, I’m in the right place. And then eventually, you want to make that offer. You want to do that sale.

Jaclyn Mellone

Yes. Okay, so think about what you want them to realize or what place they want to be in for when you have the sales conversation, or when they’re ready to make that next step. 

Jessmyn Solana

Yes, and what that next step looks like. So it’s different for everybody. It could be, I want them to get on my email list and I want to give them more information so that I can position myself as an expert before saying, hey, you could get a call. Get on a call with me. There’s this example that I thought was hilarious. One of our consultants had used ones where she was like, you don’t marry someone on the first date. So if they immediately get their result and you automatically are like, schedule a call with me, they might be like, why? So some people might want to, depending on what your industry is, you might want to give them a little bit more information, more emails before you start that process of getting a call. Otherwise, if it’s an industry and maybe a social media manager, it’s cut and dry. It’s either a yes or a no. You need one or you don’t. I think introducing yourself and then just saying like, hey, if I sound like a good fit to you, let’s hop on a call. That might be a place where you do offer a call right then and there, versus giving them more resources, more PDFs, more checklists, and things like that before you’re like, hey, I know what I’m doing. Let’s hop on a call. 

Jaclyn Mellone

Yes. Now, for the results, I know you mentioned personality before. And I’m really taking my liberty with personality because I’m doing the personality, the personification of an inner critic. But it probably still falls under the personality component, if you will, especially the way the framework of which I provide the results is really personality-driven. Does it have to be that? Or when we think about the results, does it have to be like I’m this? Or I’m ready to hire a social media manager. What do we think about in terms of what those results look like? I never really get into the strategic piece, but sometimes I think people need to see how it can work for them to see that it would actually work for them if that makes sense. 

Jessmyn Solana

Right. So we do actually have three different styles of quizzes. The personality one, which is what we’ve been talking about. Assessment style, which is more of a multiple choice quiz, you could say like, how much do you know about this topic? And then we have the scored style, which is based on how you answer. It scores you up, and that’s the result that you get depending on what that range is for each result. So in terms of figuring out which one is best for you in that sense, I think it really depends. But most people go towards the personality style quiz, which is what we’ve been talking about. And it doesn’t have to be personalities per se, it could be the stage of the journey, it could be desired. And in terms of desires, hey, how do you see yourself ending up out of this experience? Try to keep it as general as possible, but where do you want to see yourself end up? It could be based on different products that you have. So say, if you are a skincare line or you have your own skincare business, it could be based on what type of skin you have. And it doesn’t have to be necessarily like personalities, but it could be just these, how do I describe my audience? And based off of the offers that I have whether it be products, services, one-on-one work, how do I want to group people in a sense that it makes sense for them to make this realization about themselves to where they’re like, okay, I’m in the right place? 

Jaclyn Mellone

Yes. Okay, that’s really helpful. And I’m thinking for the social media manager, it could be something really direct like, are you ready to hire a social media manager? But it could also be which social media platform should you focus on? Or, I don’t know, what is your brand, social media personality, or something? I think the further you get, so clearly, if someone’s taking the quiz, are you ready to hire a social media manager? They’re much further along in that customer journey. Where if someone’s taking the quiz of which platform should they use as the social media manager, you now have some insight to talk to them about that platform if that’s one of the ones that you do. But they may not actually be a good person to hire you to do it. So it’s finding that nuance… 

Jessmyn Solana

That’s a really good point though, your quiz could go to different places on the journey.

Jaclyn Mellone

Yes, exactly. Exactly. And depending on how you want to use it if you want to bring it out to the masses and then you’re going to nurture and funnel towards hiring you a little further from the sale but that’s where your audience is building and nurturing them. Yes, it makes sense to have those ones that are a little bit further. But if you’re literally just like, okay, someone’s thinking about it. Instead of hopping on a discovery call, they can take the quiz to be like, should I? Maybe it’s the question, should you hire a social media manager as an employee or an agency? Should it be in-house or should you work with an agency? Or should you have someone who does all of your social media or should you hire specialists? So it could also be like those questions that people are wrestling with when they’re really far along when they’re in that, okay, they’re problem aware, they’re solution aware, they’re like, yes, I need someone to help me with this, and they’re just figuring out the best approach then it’s that stage. So that’s where it’s more of a conversion tool and leading directly to that discovery exactly. I like that there’s just so much flexibility depending on your business goals, you can set this up in different ways. 

Jessmyn Solana

Right. I’ve even had people who actually create two quizzes where one is more for the masses. Once they get in, they have them take another quiz to do that discovery. So there’s definitely a lot of different ways that you can do this. I’ve also seen people use two quizzes but it’s the same exact quiz because they want a more general one for the masses. And then when they’re in there, they’re like, hey, actually, there’s different profiles that you could be, or there’s more to this story. Can you take my quiz again, and let’s see what you get? Yeah. So then it’s piggybacking off, I’ve seen people do the most amazing things with their quiz. And so it’s funny to be on this site where you work for interact and, we’re the expert on quizzes, but people are so creative that they think of things that I would have never thought about.

Jaclyn Mellone

Yes. Well, and then you can come on podcasts and share them so you plant seeds for us of how we can use it in a different way and take advantage of this kind of technology. Because I think you’re right with this personalization approach that we need to be leaning more and more into that. And personalization can feel overwhelming, but if there’s a way to automate it through something like a quiz, we’re able to provide that really intimate feeling experience without needing to put in the labor of that intimate experience from the get-go. We nurture people through a certain point through automation and then you can start giving more of that energy. 

Jessmyn Solana

Yes. And I think too, it sounds like there’s a lot of work that goes into it. It’s really difficult. You have to do all this stuff. But if you just keep it really simple and really just natural of what you already do, how you already work, what you already say to people then it’s actually a lot easier than you think. 

Jaclyn Mellone

That’s so true. Okay, I know we need to wrap up. Any last advice or just planting the seed for someone to think about this. Anything else you want to share? 

Jessmyn Solana

Yes. So if you are thinking about quizzes, if you’re interested in the idea and you’re not quite sure where to start, my advice is to brainstorm some ideas of what do you want this to look like? If I were to use a quiz, what does that journey look like for the customer? Before actually hopping in to see, okay, do I want to do this and sign up for an account? And even then what we always recommend is to sign up for a free account. You can play around with the software just to see if you even like it. Everyone’s different, and we’re not mad if it’s not for you. So check it out, see if you like it. Build that quiz. Send it to some people and say like, hey, do you feel like this resonates with you? When you’re ready to start using some of those lead generating features, maybe you want to get into some of the paid features that are offered, you want to look at analytics and all that stuff, then upgrade and you still get 14 days free trial to actually test out those features.

Jaclyn Mellone

Alright. This has been amazing. How can we stay in touch with you? 

Jessmyn Solana

Definitely. So we’re mostly on Instagram @tryinteract. You can also find us in our free Facebook Community Group. So if you go to Facebook and you search Interact Quiz Community, you’ll find us there and that’s where you can actually reach us directly. And then we do have a treat for you guys. Special link down below. If you are interested in learning more about Interact, if you’re not familiar with quizzes, there are some resources there. But if you are ready to try it out, a 25% off discount is just for you.

Jaclyn Mellone

So exciting. Yes, and you can go to jaclynmellone.com/interact to grab that. Alright, this has been incredible. Thank you so much for all the ideas and insight. I really appreciate you taking the time today. 

Jessmyn Solana

Thank you, and I can’t wait to see you guys soon.

Jaclyn Mellone

Can I just say, thank you so much for listening? I don’t think I’m saying it enough, but I love that you are here. If you enjoyed today’s episode, or if you’ve been getting value from this podcast, can you do me a quick favor? Head on over to iTunes and leave a rating and review. When you leave a rating and review, it basically tells iTunes that they need to spread the word and tell more people about this podcast, and I am on a mission to get the word out. I’m so grateful for your support. We want to make sure to shout you out too. So if you do leave a rating and review, keep your eyes and ears open. We will be either shouting out in the podcast or on Instagram Stories.