Cherie Clonan: People before Profit

The Digital Picnic is a rainbow unicorn dipped in glitter in a sea of social management companies. Founder and cover-woman Cherie Clonan ensures they stay that way by putting people first, always.

Who are you and what’s The Digital Picnic all about?

I’m a 37-year-old mother of two and a digital marketer. Always passionately digital from when I was a teenager, and dial-up internet arrived in Australia. I remember I thought that’s me done. The Digital Picnic (TDP) began in October 2014. We’re professional gap fillers with many different workshops. We teach people and run team training too. We also manage social media and specialise in performance marketing. So, that’s me and us.

What’s the importance of an authentic and real social media presence?

People finally understand this, and it took them too long. I remember craving to humanise the presences I worked with when I was an in-house marketer for many places. Because that’s what people crave, people. So that’s what we show. You’ve got to share the real. Even the biggest brands need to create a connection between themselves and their followers. It’s marketing 101, so that’s what we teach.

How important has being yourself been to TDP’s success, not just you, but your team as well?

I couldn’t imagine our business being anything but this. It’s a huge deal to have 14 human beings by me always, humanising at every touchpoint. There have been beautiful moments in this space that people wouldn’t see online because they’re not my stories to share. I’ll never forget when one of our team members stood up one day, encouraged by private conversations with me, and talked about her battle with mental health. It was a lovely day, not her battling depression. That’s not something I would wish on anyone, but she was supported and continues to be. I still get goosebumps thinking about how courageous she was. I still get goosebumps thinking about how courageous she was.

What tips do you have for people to step into themselves within their business? What can they start doing?

I set myself reminders, simple ones that don’t serve to overwhelm me. I have them on post-it notes. They are memorability, relatability and endearment. So I want to be memorable. I want to be relatable.

So, having things simplified down to three words?

I feel like I make an impact with the content we share. It’s because of those three things written on post-it notes. And for small and medium enterprises (SME), that’s something you’re lucky you get to tuck into without needing seven different approval processes like I had when I was in corporate land. So be happy, you get to show up and be yourself. And there are no restrictions other than you restricting yourself. So that would be my top-line advice to remove the barriers people put on themselves. It’s leaning into those three things that help me every single day. Everything I do needs to go back to those words.

One of your driving values is you aim to put people before profit. What ways do you do that?

My dreams for having a profitable business are when you have money, and it’s in the right hands, good hands do good things with money. So what my hands do with the profit that TDP makes is I take it, and I make sure my family are looked after because that is important, but I also give a lot back. And that means I have happy people who stick around long-term and do incredible things for my business and what I’ve learnt is that makes your business profitable.

Lastly, why do you think it is so important to brand you into your business?

Because people are craving your stories, you only need to look at your top-line social media analytics at the end of each month. And every month without fail I see we can’t be without that founder content. It has to be there because it lifts everything else. So be true to you. If you’re funny, be funny. If you’re authentic, be real. If you’re more serious, go for the educational type content. Show up and be yourself, whatever that is. To the SMEs, especially the solopreneurs go out and be you online, don’t be afraid to be you because whatever you is, is unique and people want that.

Want to hear more?

Click to listen to Cherie’s podcast >>>