[Transcript starts at 1:16]
Hello, hello, hello, my podcast people and thank you for joining me for yet another episode of My favorite Podcast. If you're listening to this when it drops, it is Monday, January 8th. Welcome. Today, we are talking about how to use Instagram for online business, and I want to do it the CliffsNotes edition, aka I want to get the most important stuff out in, within the context, the parameters, the confines of a single shorter podcast episode. But first let's do a little life recap and then we'll hop on in. So the recap that I want to do is simply about the New Year's Eve party that we had, uh, it went well, but it was however, a little stressful. I'm not gonna lie. I don't necessarily love hosting things. Lex does, which means that we'll probably continue to host it.
Um, but it was a little stressful because the power went out like an hour before, and at least it wasn't the power in the whole entire house, just the power in the gym. And it was my own fault. I was using the leaf blower outside to just clear the area cause the, the apartment, the house is set up kind of strange and the doors in the back, and so you have to go through the driveway and it's a whole thing.
So I was like, let me just clear this out. It's actually been raining. It tends to happen this time of year in, in SoCal. And I was like, let me just dry this out. I was mainly thinking about my, my, my Stephen he is my Stephen, but my neighbor, Stephen, he's 73. I've talked about him before. Love that guy. He came to the party and I was like, I don't want this man to fall.
Let me get rid of the leaves. Let me get rid of the anything wet. And also I just didn't want that in the house. Um, so I went to use the leaf blower. Apparently it shorted something even though I plugged it in outside. But we've had some electrical issues and such within this, within this place. Um, but Forrest came, and I did an episode with Forrest.
He's my guy. If you're familiar with, you know, me on social media, there's a good chance you've seen me talk about him or, you know, just from cross over there. Um, if you could link that episode, thank you, Courtney. Um, but Forrest came. He wasn't able to fix the electricity, which made me feel better. Cause like, I know how to reset the circuit breakers and things like that..
I'm not an idiot. Um, but he wasn't able to figure it out either, and so I was like, okay, well, good. But he did bring in a light for outside. So that was just peace of mind with that. He brought a pizza oven cause Forrest brings a party. And he brought like a party light inside. He kept asking about the party light.
I was like, fine, bring your party light. It's like one of those like kind of disco ball looking things. Either way, it was great. Um, volleyball people came, Jill came, you know, I saw my online people and it was just great, right? That, that was nice. Mostly I was just really great. Yonnie came, I'm gonna say that.
Really grateful to have a space. I was talking to Beth, I saw her in the parking lot. Beth Dreyer, she came as well. Saw her in the parking lot like a week before and I was like, Are you coming? And she was talking about? But, Lex handled that. Um, just cause she hadn't invited her yet. Um, but, She said that last year and the year before she just like stayed home.
And she was like, I'm annoyed. I don't want to stay home. So, I'm really grateful that we have a space. It's a space that can accommodate a lot of people and that we also have the means to be able to feed all the people and provide drinks. Like we definitely had way too much stuff and I'm grateful for that.
Like we didn't have anyone bring anything. I was like, this is our party. You just come and bring yourself. So it reminds me of the quote I share at kind of every Canadian Thanksgiving, um, when you have more than you need. Build a bigger table, not a higher fence. And it was really cool to be able to do that.
And Lex, you know, shared the same sentiment. The fridge was full. Lex made an amazing charcuterie board cheese spread thing on our table. It was just, it was very nice to be able to have that and provide that space for people. And we had a full bar and it was just That was really cool. So would I do it again?
Probably because Lex wants to. Next year, I'm turning 40 though. So I kind of want to do something different. Like I kind of want to be somewhere like really warm, like in Mexico or something. Alyson surprised me on my 35th. We were there for a rock tape event and we were in Mexico anyway. So kind of something like that.
I don't know. Um, but I could see in the future doing it and having it like 70s theme. Like how fun would that be? I also just need an excuse to wear my 70s, like costume that I have. Like I love the shoes. I love the pants. Like 70s are back. We know this, but I was like, Oh, I'd like to wear that again. So we'll see.
Um, but let's hop into today's episode, which is how to use Instagram for online business, the CliffsNotes edition. We are back into the full swing of things, right? It's the beginning of the year, by the way. That two weeks that I took off at the end of the year, it's magic. If you haven't done it, do it.
Even if you just take one year, one week off at the end of the year, it just resets you and you're like, okay, I'm ready to go. So we're back in the full swing, into the full swing of things. And I only have a few spots open for Maestro meetings this month. And so far they've all been largely very similar, um, with folks wanting to build their online presence, really, you know, start using Instagram for online business.
And they're not sure of how to do it. So I was like, you know what, obviously let me answer these questions within the context of the Maestro meetings and specifically for those people, but let me make an episode. So if you're listening to this or like, yeah, this year I want to up my Instagram presence. I want to start doing things.
Where do I start? How do I start? This episode is for you. So my number one tip, if you are looking to use Instagram for online business is get prolific with content creation. If you take nothing away from this episode, it's simply that. Get prolific with content creation. The biggest mistake and the biggest distraction that I see is folks trying to optimize a habit that they haven't built, right?
They're worrying about the best time to post, the best post format. What hashtags to use? How often to post? What is the posting strategy? Forget all of that. Just create, create as much as you can, as often as you can, and post all of it. All right. It's important that I say this to post all of it because I see people creating things and not posting it.
They have like eleventy billion drafts and I'm like, what are you doing? Get it out. Get it out of your head. Post and move. Shout out to Jill Fit for that quote. Instagram is a long play game that favors luck. Any game that favors luck, your best chance at winning is to simply be playing, stay playing, and play as often as possible, right?
Instagram is Las Vegas. It is the slot machines, period. All right, you, you just keep pulling that lever. That's it. Maybe you win this time. Maybe you don't. The way that you win when you go to Vegas is literally to just do the max bet every time and to pull as many times as you can, and eventually, maybe you win one of them, that is Instagram.
You're not going to crack the code. You're not going to figure out the algorithm. So simply figure out a way to create and share content that you enjoy and that keeps you in the game.
I've done episodes about this. I've done posts about this. And the long and the short is that even if you do kind of quote unquote think you've figured it out, and you're like, oh yeah, it's like this, I just gotta keep doing this kind of post, and maybe it works for a little bit, that shit changes.
We're watching it happen right now. I did an episode not too long ago, um, where people are just like, you know, their engagement is down and things like that. If you could link that, Courtney, that'd be great, because it's still relevant. Um Because what they did and what was working in 2022 is not working anymore because it changes.
So your best bet is always to figure out a way to stay playing.
All right, so gonna break down like five or six things tactically though that you can do and then we'll summarize it and then we'll be done with the episode because this is supposed to be shorter because it's the Cliff's Notes version, right?
So overall with Instagram, look to tie your account together with two things. That's going to be the color scheme and the font. That's it. Every post doesn't have to be super beautiful or anything like that. You're just going to tie it together and make it look cohesive via your color scheme and your font, right?
This isn't Pinterest. As it relates to the color scheme and the font overall, rein it in. Do less, right? I have three colors, maestro green, black, and white. If you want to have more than that, you can, but you don't need to like go have a millIon. Three is fine. One, you know, pop of color and then two supporting colors.
That's totally fine. You don't have to have like fucking hues and all this other stuff. Keep it simple. I want you to get prolific and we have, when we have all these decisions to make and all these options, that tends to slow people down. Second part here is tied in together with the font. I always use a sans serif font, right?
That means it has no tails on it, no dangly parts. And just the font always looks the same. That's how you make the page look cohesive. If you are like not sure about this stuff, you don't, you don't have color schemes or anything like that yet. My girl cams has a course. It's like build your brand, something like that.
Um, we will link it in the show notes, but overall just get started your color scheme, your fonts, they can change. I don't want that to be what stops you get prolific with content creation. All right.
Next part is of Instagram is the bio. Very simply, very simply here, pick an Instagram name or Instagram handle.
If you don't have one already, that just allows you to get started. If you have a business name, then that should be your Instagram handle. If you don't have a business name, then just let it be your name and get moving. You can change it later. Make sure that your name is in the actual name field and also after that, whatever it is that you do, right?
If you're an Instagram coach, if you are a personal trainer for women over 50, whatever it is, say that in that name field because it is searchable. The actual bio, you're allowed 150 characters. Use those 150 characters to state the problem you solve and who you solve it for. That's it. This isn't about you.
It's about your people. When people come to the page, they're saying, What can this person do for me? Tell them. You don't need to say all your fucking accolades and your, like, degrees. No one cares. What's the problem you solve, and who do you solve it? After that, one link in the bio. You can have more now, but I would prefer that you have one, and ideally that link is to a page on your website, and then you have all of your links on there.
If that's too advanced for right now, then just use Linktree. Just get started. Right? The most important thing, if you're just starting out is creating content. The other stuff does not matter nearly as much.
Onto the posts, go for volume and use that volume to figure out what type of post you like the most.
Right? Anything can work. I've seen people build accounts behind purely text only. I'm thinking of James Olivia. I see people build accounts behind purely Reels only. Thinking about Forrest. They both work. You got to figure out how you like creating content. From an efficiency perspective, use Canva. Get the pro account, sign up for it.
Just do it. Don't argue with me, just fucking do it. Sign up for Canva and use it to create two types of templates. One's going to be for your carousel posts. Carousel meaning you can have multiple slides for one post. You can have up to 10 slides for one post. So that's usually going to be text based. So create a template from that.
Use your colors and then a one template for your cover images for your Reels. All right. Very simple. I know this is a little bit more complex, but this is the CliffsNotes version. If you want to go to the deep dive, I have an announcement for you at the end of this episode. As it relates to cover images, I recommend that all videos, whether they're going to be a carousel of videos, or it's going to be, um, a single Reel.
I'm going to recommend that they all have cover images. Why? Because this allows your content to serve as a resource, and then people can immediately or will immediately know what they're going to get when they go to the page, right? They go to the page, they see these cover images like, Oh cool, I see what this video is about, and how this person can help me, or if this person can help me.
The title that goes on those cover images, State the problem that's being solved, not the solution. So the solution that I always give is don't put the title as something like clamshells. You want to put the title as the problem being solved. So it would be like, one exercise to do for hip pain, right? And then the video is a demonstration of you doing clamshells.
Don't come at me if you don't fucking like clamshells. I know there's like a big ant there's a backlash against clamshells. I got no problem with it. There's a time and a place. Okay. I digress. So a big thing there, title should state the problem being solved. Yes, if you're going to go viral, it'll probably be via a reel.
So use that information as you wish. Right? I still want you to be prolific with content creation. If you're like, I don't want to make Reels, then don't make Reels. Right? because if you're like, I'm going to force myself and you're going to stop. So, lean into whatever type of content allows you to be prolific, but understand that as it relates to playing the Instagram game, what tends to go viral are Reels.
I've yet to go viral, but the people I coach, some of them have gone viral, and it is because of Reels. Speaking of Reels, any video that you do, make sure that it has subtitles on it. The majority of people watch Instagram. With the sound off, right? Beautiful thing is that if you're making a Reel, you can put subtitles onto that Reel natively within the Reels editor.
It's actually very good. So you don't have to like go and worry about, you know, using outside editing tools or anything like that. You can literally do all of this inside of Reels. So just start.
What goes into these posts, whether it's a carousel of text or it's a Reel, teach everything you know. All right.
One solution per post. Understand that once is never, and that it's always new to someone. Shout out to Julie Angel for that first quote and shout out to my guy Perry Nicholson for that second quote. Nothing is too basic. And typically more basic is actually more better. So one solution per post. Don't worry about repeating yourself, meaning don't worry if you repeat yourself because you need to repeat yourself.
People need to hear things 11 billion times. As for captions, not subtitles, like the actual caption part, see what you like. Maybe it's longer, maybe it's shorter. You get 2, 200 characters. Don't exceed that. Vary the length. Yes, people will read, but I want you to make sure that you put the actual win, the actual solution in the post.
Don't put the solution in the caption. It's actually just fucking annoying. All right. So get the actual point across in the actual post and then use the caption to either repeat or just to support that main point. Hashtags. They will not save you. I don't even use them. Uh, I suggest just making your, your caption relevant to the post.
The way the Instagram works is largely kind of like based on SEO, right? Search engine optimization, meaning whatever words are in the caption, that's how it's going to look to organize your posts and show it to other people. So just lean into having content that is relevant to your niche.
As for frequency, again, I like one post per day, but figure out what is sustainable for you and post at whatever time allows you to stay consistent.
I am all about posting for yourself. Meaning I want one post per day, not cause it's going to break the algorithm or anything like that, but because it's the fastest way to learn what you want to be saying, how you want to be saying it, who you want to be saying it to, what your message is, what your voice is, the style you like writing and the style you like posting it.
Stories. I do believe that this is the most important part of the platform. Why? It allows you to humanize yourself and there's a good chance you've listened to this, you're building a personal brand and we want you to put the person in personal brand. If you know that you can't post but so much, okay, at least get in your stories.
They're quick, they're easy to do. What goes in your stories? Literally everything and anything.
All right, we said the feed, use that to teach everything, you know, everything else, including whatever you want to teach, put that inside of stories, use it to humanize your account and also get over your fears, right?
If you have a fear of talking to the camera, things like that, posting stories every day for 30 days, usually within two weeks, you'll be over that, okay? I'd love to see like 10 stories a day. Uh, when I say 10, this is kind of thinking about when they used to cut it into the 15 second increments. Um, but just suffice to say, I would like more than less.
Um, I'm thinking about two accounts right now that have really leaned into stories. And that's one of the best parts of their, of their account, which is going to be my girl, Danielle Pascente. Uh, and also my girl, Sharon, right? Sharon says so. She is my girl. We do talk in the DM. She's my girl. I was on her podcast.
That was a great moment for me. Um, but we see that as it relates to using social media, like, yes, you can use stories to really grow your account. Stories will not get shown to people who aren't following you, but people who are following you, they fall in love with you via your stories and they will share that story and they'll share your account with other people, right? That's how you grow. Good segue here, which is next part. And second a lot. This is basically the last part, which is being social. This is one of the ways that your account is going to grow. Number, not the numbers, the number one way. Actually, I will say the number one way that your account is going to grow is by your content being shared by somebody else who has an audience or a larger audience and they like what you have to say. And those people start following you. All right, second way that you might grow is you just happen to hit the algorithm, AKA you win at Vegas and you kind of go, you go viral. And then people come to your page and they like what you're saying and they follow you. This is why it's important that the post that goes viral, it has to be relevant to your niche and what you do.
Because if it's a post just about your dog, it's not going to grow your following it all. Okay. But as it relates to being social, because this is social media, I strongly encourage you to interact with other accounts the way that you want people to interact with you. All right. If you want comments, go comment.
If you want likes, go like things. If you want DMs, go DM people. And this isn't about like a tit for tat kind of situation. This is about understanding what it feels like for your audience to do those actions, to take those actions, and that will allow you to create content that lends itself to that kind of interaction from your audience.
Right. People will be upset about not getting comments. And I'm like, do you comment on people's Posts? And they're like, no. And I'm like, well, go see how it feels. It can be intimidating to do, and that's probably why your audience isn't commenting. And after you feel that, you may change your content. You might start having a different call to action that's like, Hey, actually DM me.
Or you may make content that is literally more so lends itself to comments because it's not so intimidating. It's not like asking these big questions. It's just something that's funny. Who knows? But that is why I want you to go and have those interactions. And not just with, you know, your it's not for people that you want to, to buy from you.
It's just have that in general. Go look to build relationships with people.
All right. So to summarize, cause we had this, remember this is a cliff notes, folks, to summarize, if you're just starting out and you're looking to use Instagram for online business, I need you to get prolific. I need you to get consistent.
I need you to get over yourself. I need you to get clearer on your message. I need you to build a habit. All of that comes from simply posting. That's it. Go and post. Give yourself a minimum of 18 months of consistent, concerted effort before you're like, it's time to change directions or this isn't working for me.
A minimum of consistent, concerted effort. And then you can make the decision. If you're like, okay, I hear you. I listened to the episode. I got the cliff notes, but I want more help. MOAR, bigger, better, badder way to spell more. I want more accountability. I want to know the rest of the shit that you didn't say in this episode, then join the wait list, my friends, for round 15 of my Instagram intensive, which will start this February, mid to late February. The Instagram intensive is my signature six week. Online, wow, gooch, that's not right. We're leaving it in. The Instagram Intensive is my signature six week online group coaching program that teaches health and fitness professionals exactly how to use Instagram for online business.
We go through the tech, we go through the strategy, we talk about monetizing, and we talk about how to future proof your business in case Instagram dies. Knock on wood. This isn't Instagram coaching, this is online business coaching for Instagram. All right. The price 597, but the waitlist gets it for 497.
That's 100 monies off and they get early registration. And yes, the spaces are limited because I run it live and I want to make sure that I can ensure quality to the best of my ability. So I don't have like a zillion people in it. So if all of that sounds good, head to themovementmaestro.com/intensive-waitlist, um, or head to the show notes and you can check out the information page and add yourself to the waitlist there. All right. Look at the time doing well here. That's all I got for you. Like I said, this was intended to be the CliffsNotes version. The long and the short is get prolific with content creation.
I watch as people with anything that they're trying to do, any habit they're trying to build, they mentally masturbate themselves out of doing the thing. Like, I gotta learn this thing. I gotta learn and then I gotta read this thing and read this thing. Go do the thing. Go post. I would still love to have you in the intensive even if you just start posting now and you will have such a head start if you start posting now and then you still sign up for the intensive you will have such a head start because you'll be like okay I tried this type of content I need some help refining this or I have a question about this specific thing and you'll get even more out of the intensive so just get started. Posting on social media, using Instagram for online business is not nearly as fragile or as precious of a process as you think, or as maybe some coaches out there would have you think.
Okay. I think that's it. Pumped about this episode. Hopefully it helps you on your online business journey. Again, would love to have you in the intensive. If it makes sense for you and you want M O A R, use the show notes, tappy tap that link, add your name and. I'll catch you on the next episode. Until next time friends, Maestro out.
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