How To Leverage The Instagram Marketing Opportunity | Instagram Influencer | Avi Arya

My name is Kim Barst. I've been an online entrepreneur for almost 30 years, and I'm extremely passionate about helping others shorten their learning curves when it comes to increasing their bottom line using digital and social media. I am a wife. I've been married 35 years, so a little bit a long there. We just had our 35th wedding anniversary yesterday. We have two puppies, two sons. My boys are grown. Yeah, I'm a big hockey fan. I actually love to play. My boys grew up playing well. I have been around a long time, so I started in the early days of social media, and back then it was easier, frankly, than it is today. It would be a slightly different approach, I think, in fact, when I coach people on how they get started today, it is probably way different than when I started because I honestly started with no plan. I just threw stuff out there and hope something stuck. So my strategies have evolved and I learned through the process. So how I teach people now is different than how I started. I guess that's what I'm trying to say.

My name is Avi Arya. Father of two girls, six dogs, husband to a superwoman, a streetcar racer turned hotelier, now social media marketer and founder of the Internet Moguls of the World. A family digital marketing school where kids, their parents and grandparents can all come together every week and learn an art of digital marketing. Somebody can become a YouTuber. Somebody can do something to be able to stay at home, spend that time with their families, and never have to leave and still make an income. That's me.

Wow. Okay. I don't have one prepared quite as well as that one, but let me try. Give it a go. My name is Kim Garst. I've been an online entrepreneur for almost 30 years and extremely passionate about helping others shorten their learning curves when it comes to increasing their bottom line using digital and social media. I am a wife. I've been married 35 years, so a little bit long time there. We just had our 35th wedding anniversary yesterday. We have two puppies, two dog, two puppies, two sons. My boys are grown. They're not your age. Your kids age at this point. They're young men and I love them dearly and love God and hockey. I'm a big hockey fan. So you guys living in Canada are probably hockey fans maybe, but yeah, I'm a big hockey fan. I actually love to play. My boys grew up playing and so they were great. I was the favorite mom because I go stick and puck with them. All the kids thought I was super Cool, mom.

Awesome. The one thing that stuck out in your hero introduction was that I love God. We love God, too.

So.

Yes. So like I said, Kim, this interview is going to be part of the 52 interviews which will open the school to at least a thousand of the first few people who get in. Now, this is a special time in the human race where people are going through, you know, challenges.

Yes.

Idea is to say, I don't want people to do what I did to build a business. They had to read, you know, let go of the time with the family. So. But if you learn the art of. Somebody becomes a YouTuber, somebody becomes an.

Oh, there wasn't a lot of blog content at that point. So this the biggest struggle I faced on the front side, and I think a lot of people still struggle with this, but for different reasons, is knowledge. You know, what knowledge? For me then it was lack of knowledge and lack of access to knowledge. Today, it's too much knowledge. Who do you pay attention to? You know, because there's so many people out there saying they have the answer to what you want to know. So trying to just, you know, weed through all the knowledge is kind of a challenge. But I think when it comes to embracing the struggle is, you know, pay attention to one or two people that have. That are. That are doing what you want to do, you know what you want to know, and key in on that. Learn from them. Invest in your knowledge is probably my biggest piece of advice to someone who has that same struggle. Because like I say, when we're approaching our businesses, that's usually the barrier to entry. Right. You have to know something or you want to learn something or you want to do something. So invest in learning and embracing that, whether you can get it for free or whether you have to pay for it.

Awesome. Okay, so my next question is for my grandmother, who is an ace entrepreneur. How should she start her Instagram journey? What would be the first few things that I can tell her?

I think the first thing you have to decide is why you're on Instagram. You know, what is your end goal? And if it is, you know, just to, like. I'll just use my husband as an example. My husband signed up for an Instagram account, and his goal was just to check out what the kids were doing right now. You know, from. From a grandmother's perspective, that might be the same. She might want to find out what's going on with her grandkids or her, you know, her kids or. And. And kind of connect with, you know, who they know, kind of thing. But if your goal is more of a, you know, showing up in and providing value of any sort. Because I feel like that our older generation are so value based and they know so many things, they're just chock full of wisdom and yet they don't sometimes value what they know, you know, so if you can get them to embrace that, their wisdom that they have throughout the course of their life, that they've accumulated during the course of their life and be okay with sharing that on Instagram, it would be a great platform for them. You know, I see a lot of grandparents or, you know, the, maybe grandmas, more grandmas, I think, than grandpas, but grandmas that are really stepping into the Instagram scene and, you know, sharing a variety of different things. Sometimes it's just wisdom, sometimes they have their, they've developed a platform for, you know, teaching older women how to do their makeup or teaching fitness. There's just, what, what is it? What are they passionate about that they can, you know, really pour their knowledge and passion into something that they can share on Instagram.

Awesome. Awesome. Okay, so my second question is how personally, how do I or someone my age start my business, like with a blog or with like, how should I start my business?

Such a great question. So it's fascinating too, because my, there's so many answers to that question and it's one point in time I would have had a different answer. So let me explain that real quick. When I first started in social media, I really thought it was the end all, be all. You know, I thought this was, this is so great. This is such a great way for me to like, build community and, you know, talk with people and have connection. And I still believe that, by the way. I still believe that to be true. But the, but the difference when it comes to driving revenue versus just building community is a bit of a different animal. And so the majority of my sales come from, they don't come from social media. They come from my list. So, you know, moving people from social media to my list has been a big part of my business model. But if you, if I was just starting today, I would definitely start with one thing, which is content. Now content can come in a, in a variety of different ways. You, in my recommendation, the easiest way to do this would to be to approach it from a video perspective. So sit down and record a video that is, you know, whatever you want to share and then repurpose that video for all of your socials. That's the easiest way to start to Attract the right people to you and your business and not get lost in the overwhelm of trying to do it all. So if you are trying to write a blog or you know, do all the social stuff, a video is a great place to, to start because you can transcribe the video and turn it into a blog post or do a vlog. Not necessarily have to do the transcript, but yet it's a piece of content that's searchable. Focusing in on that opportunity to have that searchability, whether it's on the Google, I call it the Google Machine or YouTube Pinterest are great places for what I call. What is the term I'm trying to searching for here? It's. It has more longevity that type of content on those platforms versus a tweet that lasts 30 seconds, you know, so really gearing your content to places where you can be found for longer periods of time, people are searching for you and can find you there is smart versus, you know, some of the social platforms have very small windows of opportunity.

Wow, okay. Yeah, that definitely made sense. Okay, so my next question is, do you use Instagram reels? I knew they're a new update, but do you use them? And if yes, how would you suggest teenagers like myself and like Aviana, how would you suggest we can use it?

Oh, you know, I have not started using reels yet and I haven't. I know it's a fairly new feature, so I haven't really done a lot of research on it yet to see what, how people are using it. But I think, you know, from the perspective of how teenagers can be really leveraging Instagram, it goes back to content, pure and simple. You know, how you what the format is, whether it's igtv or whether it's stories or whatever it is. In fact, I would embrace all of it, you know, if you can. Because people consume different types of content in different ways. One of the things I'm finding on Instagram is how powerful the stories are. And I'm curious. Feel free to. I'd love your URLs take on this too, but I know for me, most of my, my usage of Instagram now, I start with the stories almost always, you know, rather than see scrolling through the feed. I'd love to hear whether that's true for you guys. Do you find yourself doing the same thing using going for the stories? Okay, good. So, you know, the stories are very impactful. I'm finding the IGTV content is working very well for me. But as for the reels I haven't been using them, so I can't give you a whole lot of data points or how you could potentially use them yourself. Sorry about that.

Not at all. Okay, so my next question is, we use micro videos. So when we reach out to you and other influencers in this book, we either send emails or we send videos and invite them to be a part of this journey. So we find that that is very personalized and it really connects with the person. How did you reach out to people? How do you still reach out to people to be on your show? And like we see on the clips, how do you get people to come on?

Yeah, well, most. Well, not most. All of my guests so far have been previous relationships. So I know them personally, so I just reach out and ask them to be on my show. And even if. And that, of course, that goes back to the fact that I have a personal brand and I have so many connections and relationships that I've worked to build over the years. Right. And that will happen to anybody who does the same, who invests in the time and the connections that they build in the social space. So for me, so far, it has been just a personal outreach. You know, sometimes I'll reach depending on how I communicate with them. Normally if I have their phone number, you know, I'll text them. Or that is one thing I try to do. I try to reach out in a congruent way. Meaning how I would normally communicate with them is how I reach out and invite them to be a guest on the show. So if I normally communicate via Facebook messenger, then I'll send them a Facebook messenger request. Or if I normally communicate with them through Instagram dms, I'll send them a DM on Instagram or an email or a text. So I try to, you know, keep it in the. In the lane of how I would normally communicate with them because everybody has a different style of communication. But that said, the micro videos are incredible. And I will say this for as an influencer myself, when I get a micro video that I feel like somebody has made just for me, I am way more apt to pay attention to it and actually say, yeah, this might be something I want to do versus just a standard copy and paste message. So I would definitely start with one thing which is content. Now, content can come in a variety of different ways. In my recommendation, the easiest way to do this would to be to approach it from a video perspective. So sit down and record a video that is, you know, whatever you want to share and then repurpose that video for all of your socials, that's the easiest way to start to attract the right people to you and your business and not get lost in the overwhelm of trying to do it all. So if you are trying to write a blog or, you know, do all the social stuff, a video is a great place to start because you can transcribe the video and turn it into a blog post or do a vlog. Not necessarily have to do the transcript, but yet it's a piece of content that's searchable. Focusing in on that opportunity to have that searchability, whether it's on the Google, I call it the Google Machine or YouTube Pinterest are great places for what I call. What is the term I'm trying to serve searching for here? It's. It has more longevity, that type of content on those platforms versus a tweet that lasts 30 seconds, you know, so really gearing your content to places where you can be found for longer periods of time, people are searching for you and can find you there is smart versus, you know, some of the social platforms have very small windows of opportunity.

Wow, okay. Yeah, that definitely made sense. Okay, my next question is, do you use Instagram reels? I knew they're a new update, but do you use them? And if yes, how would you suggest teenagers like myself and like Aviana, how would you suggest we can use it?

Oh, you know, I have not started using reels yet and I haven't. I know it's a fairly new feature, so I haven't really done a lot of research on it yet to see what, how people are using it. But I think, you know, from the perspective of how teenagers can be really leveraging Instagram, it goes back to content, pure and simple. You know, how you. What the format is, whether it's igtv or whether it's stories or whatever it is. In fact, I would embrace all of it, you know, if you can, because people consume different types of content in different ways. One of the things I'm finding on Instagram is how powerful the stories are. And I'm curious. Feel free to. I'd love your URLs take on this too. But I know for me, most of my, my usage of Instagram now, I start with the stories almost always, you know, rather than scrolling through the feed. I'd love to hear whether that's true for you guys. Do you find yourself doing the same thing using. Going for the stories? Okay, good. So, you know, the stories are very impactful. I'm finding the IGTV content is working very well for me. But as for the reels, I haven't been using them, so I can't give you a whole lot of data points or how you could potentially use them yourself. Sorry about that.

Okay, so my next question is we use micro videos. So when we, you know, reach out to you and other influencers in this book, we either send emails or we send videos and invite them to be a part of this journey. So we find that that is very personalized and it really connects with the person. How did you reach out to people? How still reach out to people to be on your show? And like we see on the Instagram clips, how do you get people to come on?

Yeah, well, most. Well, not most. All of my guests so far have been previous relationships. So I know them personally, so I just reach out and ask them to be on my show. And even if. And of course, that goes back to the fact that I have a personal brand and I have so many connections and relationships that I've worked to build over the years. Right. And that will happen to anybody who does the same, who invests in the time and the connections that they build in the social space. So for me, so far it has been just a personal outreach. You know, sometimes I'll reach depending on how I communicate with them. Normally if I have their phone number, you know, I'll text them or that is one thing I try to do. I try to reach out in a congruent way, meaning how I would normally communicate with them is how I reach out and invite them to be a guest on the show. So if I normally communicate via Facebook messenger, then I'll send them a Facebook messenger request. Or if I normally communicate with them through Instagram DMs, I'll send them a DM on Instagram or an email or a text. So I try to, you know, keep it in the, in the lane of how I would normally communicate with them because everybody has a different style of communication. But that said, the micro videos are incredible. And I will say this, as an influencer myself, when I get a micro video that I feel like somebody has made just for me, I am way more apt to pay attention to it and actually say, yeah, this might be something I want to do versus just a standard copy and paste message. So I think the micro videos are incredible. And if somebody is interested in, you know, you know, doing a guest show where you're reaching out to people, absolutely do the personal outreach with a video, I think would be your best bet.

Awesome. Yes. For sure. We believe in that as well. Yeah, your question. So my last question is we use the term Internet moguls a lot. And for us in Internet moguls means our definition is someone who spends quality time with their family, but also works hard on growing their business and improving their business. So what would your definition of an Internet moguls be?

Well, based off of your definition, I think that a lot of people who own online businesses struggle with what I call life work balance, where they are struggling to connect, they're hustling, you know, to grow their businesses. And I think a lot of times their family time struggle, their family time is a problem. You know, they're not devoting as much time to their family as they potentially should be. Just like your dad talked about on the front side, you know, he's building this massive business and he was, you know, it was awesome. But his family time was curtailed. And I think a lot of people fall into that. That space. So for me, the way I approach the. What I call life work balance is that there is no such thing. There is seasons, I think, in our businesses and our. In our personal lives, you know, if we are, you know, if we have a place in our business where, you know, need to go all out, you know, we have to work the long hours, maybe we're doing a product launch or something like that where, you know, there's a lot of time and energy that needs to go into that. So we, you know, we do the work, you know, we get it done. And then there's other times when we can take a week off or two weeks and our business doesn't fall apart and we can go hang out with our families. So I think there's. There's a balance, but unfortunately, still, I think there's a lot of people that don't have that balance yet. And that is a big message, and I love that you guys are embracing it. I think a lot of people need to understand how to step back, put some boundaries around their businesses so that they have family time. Awesome. Great question.

Thank you so much. Okay, so next, how does one use hashtags? Is there a format or a formula to use? I can say, speaking on my behalf, or maybe other teenagers, to grow my personal brand? Right now, what I do is just use hashtags where. And I find maybe this is a mistake. You might say no. But what I do is, you know, I'll search up hashtags which are in the community that I want to attract, so where the audience is that I want to attract. Do you agree with this or what would your formula be?

Well, I have a three phased formula for hashtag use. So let me explain that real quick. I have what I call the large hashtag hub which is, you know, just the major ones where there's millions of people using that particular hashtag and maybe you picked, you know, a couple of hashtags out of that pile, if you will, and you can use that. And then the middle of the pile, which I just call a mid range hashtag hub is those hashtags that are still trying to attract the right people, but they don't get as much traffic. So maybe like social media would be one of the large hub ones. Right. But maybe social media marketing would be in the mid range hub pile. So I choose a few of those and then I would choose, in the small hub I would choose some either branded hashtags so I can start branding my business specifically. Or what I call the low hanging fruit, the small hashtags, like you know, social media marketing for realtors or you know, you know, those smaller like low hanging fruit types of hashtags. So I usually break it down into those, you know, big hub, medium hub and small hub hashtags. And at the hash, the small hashtag, making sure that you come up, start coming up with a few, at least one of your own branded hashtags.

Awesome. Okay, that makes sense for sure. Okay, how can we sell products Low Ticket vs High Ticket? What would be the strategy for that?

It has been my experience that most of the time when you have something that is high ticket and I classify anything that's high ticket above US$2,000, you have to get on the phone. I mean most people today will not spend money, that much money without, you know, talking, physically talking to someone. When it comes to low ticket items, it has kind of been an interesting dynamic I've seen in the, in probably the last six months, specifically with, with Facebook ads in particular, there is a big push and it is working beautifully to sell low T items, you know, directly. In the past there's been a lot of people who will lead with something free and then they'll ask for a low dollar sale, you know, but there is, I call them mini offers where you know, you're, you're packaging together something that's again low ticket but solves a one problem and you sell it for something that's low, low dollar meaning anything that's less than $50 US. And so those are working very well and people are actually purchasing those right off the bat. Without any lead in with something that's free. Because there's not that much, it's not that much of an ask. You know, they're willing to risk a little bit of money. They're willing to risk a little bit of money. But when it comes to those higher ticket items, most people, you have to talk to them and then there's things in between. Obviously, you know, if you're selling something that's, you know, thousand dollars, maybe you give them the opportunity to make payments. That usually helps solve that problem.

Right? Okay, perfect. Okay, so my next question is, how do you find a niche on Instagram? You know, like for me personally, I. For any teenagers watching this, even maybe adults, I really like dancing. I really like vlogging. I really like animals. So how do I find one particular niche or do I need to find a particular niche to grow on Instagram successfully?

Such a great, great question. And I think it needs to start with what you're passionate about. Like you just talked about, you know, you really love dance and you know, what does that look like for you? So is that ballet? Is that tap? Is that whatever. That's where the niching really comes into play. And there's an old saying that the riches are in the niches, you know, or niches, whichever way you want to say it. And there is a lot to be said for that. When you really start to niche down. Because let's say, for example, let's use the dance example that you were just sharing, you love dance. But if we start to niche it down and like it's just tap, right, or it's, it's whatever, then you really, that if somebody is interested in tap, they may not be interested in some other form of dancing, ballroom dancing, like that's totally different, right? So you can really start to build a community of people around something that is niched down and you're speaking directly to them. There's the old, also another old saying, when you try to speak to everyone, you speak to no one. So the value of niching down is, in my opinion, very, very important. Sometimes that happens by evolution, not by intention. So sometimes you start at a, you know, on a bigger platform and then you, you work down as you evolve and grow in your business and your, your influence.

Awesome. Okay, great. So now a little bit of a personal question. I started a YouTube channel around self love because I personally have been through bullying and I know that a lot of other people can relate. I know that in high school, right now, a lot of times myself as well, we Always compare ourselves, we're always judging ourselves. So I started a YouTube channel on self love. What exactly do you think I should do with that? And what are your views on self love?

Mmm, such a great question. So I'm a protector by nature. So like it just makes me like just want to punch somebody when I hear somebody say they've been bullied because it just makes me upset. So I. Yeah, that would. But anyway, that's a whole other thing. But I love that you are embracing this concept because even the concept, something you said that I really in on was sometimes we are our own worst critics, right? Where we don't have, we don't love ourselves so therefore we don't project that. Right. And there's, I often say this as it relates to business, but it's true from a personal perspective too. If we don't value us, neither will anyone else. So it starts with us. You know, if we don't love ourselves, then how are we going to get other people to respect and love us too? Right? So you know that self love and learning to have that and project it because it's, it's important we give off vibes whether or not we know it. So if we don't value ourselves, don't love ourselves, then we give that vibe off. And therefore people don't treat us the way they should because we don't value ourselves. So really helping people embrace and love themselves, regardless of their size, their shape, their color, their background, whatever it is, I give you kudos for that and I wish you much success. And really stepping into that and sharing that from a passion, a heart centered place, which I feel like you have, is I think going to attract exactly who you need to help.

Thank you so much. Do you think reproducing content is important? Like if I post something on YouTube, do you think it can still be I can still post it on Instagram? Yes.

And. Or another suggestion. One of the things that we do, we don't do the entire video on igtv, we just take snippets of the video and use it on other platforms. So repurposing that content, you can take one piece of content, like your YouTube video for example, and turn that into a hundred pieces of content. You could turn it into an Instagram story, you could turn it into an igtv, you could turn it into a Facebook story, you could pull quote tiles out and make visual images for it. All of those are great opportunities to share that content in another format. You could pull the audio off of it and Create a podcast.

Awesome. Yes, that's very true. Okay, so what are. You know, we look at success. People see success as, oh, this great thing. Oh, wasn't hard at all. But success comes from loss of, I would like to say, like nails in the foot. Right? So lots of blood and sweat. What are some failures that you went through to build to where you are today?

I laugh and tell people I fail every day, honestly. And I embrace failure now because I feel like it just. It tells me that that's not my path, or if it. If that is still my path and I still want to pursue it, then obviously that particular way of doing it didn't work. Right? So for me, failure is now a good thing because I fail faster. The, you know, the sooner I figure things out, the failure helps me get to a successful place. Most, I think a lot of people get wrapped up in the failure so that they don't, you know, they don't proceed beyond it. Like, what was the lesson in the failure? And that was me at a certain point in time where, you know, I was failing. This isn't working. I'm ready to throw in the towel. And there's that old saying that, you know, people throw in the towel before, right? Before they achieve success. Right? And I think that's true. It's like, it's not how you fall down, it's how you get up. So it's all about embracing the failures and understanding that there are just teaching moments. They're not. Technically, you only fail if you quit. So just getting back on the horse and, you know, what's the next step? I, you know, usually, I mean, I've had massive failure. So I'll give you a couple of examples of. Well, I'll just give you one in particular, which was a financial loss, you know, where I made a major mistake when it came to bidding on a job. So I bid on this job, and I just didn't think it through, and it ended up costing me literally thousands of dollars. And you could have said, well, that was a major mistake. It was a major mistake. Don't get me wrong. But I learned a lot through it, and I learned how to do better quotes, do better proposals. You know, so it. In the end, it was just a lesson I needed. And that's the way I look at all failure now. It's. It's like, okay, what was the lesson? And, you know, and even when you learn the lessons, I will say this too. Sometimes you repeat the mistake. So sometimes you, you know, you. You don't learn the lesson well enough, the mistake comes back again. But, but again, just look at it like from the perspective of, okay, what's the lesson? And hope that you remember it the next time around.

Right, Yes. I always think of, what's the bigger picture? What is this going to teach me in a few years from now? Or what's going to teach me when it's over?

Yeah, absolutely.

Yes. So what is your. So I know that you're all for Instagram. I am also all for Instagram. I started vlogging on Instagram. Actually, I went to YouTube. So what is your biggest hack to grow your Instagram platform?

It's a great question. Normally, what I do, in fact, we do this daily where we take a look at some of the biggest influencers that serve my person, you know, serve the same type of person that I'm interested in helping. And not only do we, like, just take a look at their, their content and that kind of stuff, but we really go and take a peek at who is engaging with their content. And so we, we engage with their content and then we engage with the people that are engaging with their content. And almost always that creates additional followers. So it's about giving value back first. Not just like following people to follow people, but it's about engaging in the conversations in a. In a way that makes, makes people feel like you are there to help them, but doing it in somebody else's community so that you start to attract the right people to you. So that's just one of my core strategies. And it's been the most effective way of attracting the right people to my Instagram account. And then there's also hashtags. I'm a huge, huge fan of leveraging the power of hashtags to attract the right people too.

Right? Yes, for sure. Okay, so Daddy tells us that Daddy tells his micro video students to go live every day and to answer questions on Instagram Live. Can you give us some tips on going live on Instagram and how to make the most of it, especially if someone is camera shy or not confident on going on Instagram?

Well, I think a lot of times people don't get that they don't necessarily have to show themselves. You know, technically they could go live and, you know, take people on a walk with them or, you know, if they're going to Disney, you know, they want to share that, you know, they can do. They can share life, not necessarily showcasing themselves. But I will say this, for those that are afraid to go live, I was that person. I was a person who was a perfectionist, who didn't feel like the environment when you go live was controllable. So therefore, well, it can't be perfect. Right? But that's one of the things that I embraced very quickly when I realized people didn't care what I look like. They didn't care if my hair was standing up or my nose was shiny or my teeth are crooked or any of that stuff. Nobody cared about those things. They just cared about somebody that was authentic, that was showing up, that was giving them value in that moment. And so it's not about us, is the point. It's not about us at all. It's about knowing that something we have knowledge or connection or stories somebody else needs to hear, and if we can get over ourselves and put ourselves out there with that intent, then everything else will fall into place. It is live. Video is something I'm probably most passionate about because it is, whether it's on Instagram or Facebook or Periscope or wherever it has been. One of the most impactful things I've ever done for my business is showing up and understanding that I'm here to serve somebody else. It's not about me.

Awesome. Okay, great. So, Kim, tell us a little bit about your company, your course, and how you help people.

I have a small boutique marketing agency, and outside of that, I do a lot of training, small courses that solve a specific problem through my business Builders Academy. And I have a large social media community on pretty much every social platform. I'm very engaged there. So I do connect and talk with people every day. And then, of course, every Monday, I do my marketing that grows your business show, where, again, I'm trying to show up and give value in a meaningful way to people who are, you know, trying to increase their. Their business, grow their business, or, you know, something I'm super passionate about is helping people increase their profits. And so that's essentially my business. And again, my focus is how do I. Because it's something that was such a struggle for me was the learning curve. You know, how do I help people learn faster, implement faster, and get to the money faster?

Awesome.

Great.

Okay, I think we have a few more questions here. So we talk a lot about rituals, and rituals are very important to us, especially as, you know, as we write our books in our. In our book, like dad showed earlier, we talk a lot about rituals in the. Because we feel in the younger generations, you know, it's not really there anymore or it's kind of following what everyone else thinks in society. So what are Some of your rituals that have helped you to become successful today and that you continue to practice.

I think there's two things that I do every morning, and that is read my Bible and journal and journaling. I think one thing in particular when it comes to journaling that I think has been very impactful for me has been the gratitude piece of it. So one of the things I do frequently is, or every day actually, is write down three things I'm grateful for today. And some of those things are some days they carry over or they're repetitious because, you know, there's certain things that you are more grateful for some days than others. But just really keying in on that sense of gratitude has been really impactful for me. Out from a mindset of gratitude each and every day. So instead of just jumping up and getting ready to go and not really spending time to work on your mindset. So that's something that's been very, very helpful for me personally.

Right. Okay, awesome. And lastly, just before we finish up, so you talked about how grandmothers, they can find their. They can. As long as they know what they want to do on Instagram, as long as they know their goal, then they can definitely start at any time. So what advice would you give to them? Any mothers who want to start, what is your advice to them watching this, wanting to start Instagram?

Just do it. I mean, seriously, just do it. Just get started. Set up your account. I think the next thing it's really important is to play with it. You know, I think that's the other thing is, you know, getting used to a, an app and understanding the pieces and parts of it. How do you upload a video? How do you upload an image? You know, how do you create a story? How do you go live? I mean, just play with it. You can always delete it if you don't want it to be there, you know, but note going through the processes of doing it yourself. And even if you have to Google it, you know, find a video. Well, how do I upload an image to Instagram? But play with it, don't let it intimidate you because there's nothing there that you can't learn. Absolutely everything can be learned. And it's not, it's not difficult. It's just because of lack of knowledge that you are fearful of it. But don't let the fear hold you back from doing something amazing.

Awesome. All right.

Hello, I'm here for the closing the wrap up. Okay, thank you very much. I had one last question. For a more, for an audience that's already been working on LinkedIn. Some people sell trinkets, you know, 5, 10, 15, 20, $30 items. And then some people also use Instagram to sell $10,000 courses. So what would be your suggestion to people who are watching right now and are setting a high ticket item versus the low ticket item? How should they build their funnels? And whatever your advice you can give.

Us, if you have a high ticket item, you normally have to go through a sales funnel. Meaning, and I would argue that you technically need a sales funnel for most everything. But let's talk about, let's break down a high ticket item and then we'll, we'll talk about a low ticket item. But a high ticket sale usually needs to go through a process where they get to the higher ticket price point versus just saying, hey, here's $10,000 offer. Most people aren't going to do that unless they get on the phone with you, like I mentioned that before. But if you take people through a process where, you know, maybe they get something that's value based for free and then they get something that's low cost, that isn't going to, that just gets them to buy, spend the first dollar, the first dollar is the toughest to get people to spend with you. Once you get them to spend that first dollar, then maybe you get them to buy something that's more expensive. Right? Because they're gonna, they're going to see the value at every stage of the sales funnel and then, you know, you eventually get to, they've gotten so much value from you at the intermediate, from, from beginner to intermediate levels of spend and of course knowledge or whatever it is that they're purchasing from you that they're, they're ready, you know, you basically warm them up for a bigger sale. And I think that's essentially true. Even at a low cost price point where you know, even if you're offering something that's free and then something that's low cost, especially if that person doesn't know you, they're cold traffic, you know, they have no frame of reference for who you are. The chances of getting somebody to spend a lot of money with you is Neil, I mean, they're just not going to do it it versus you know, having something that's free that, oh yeah, I need that, that's going to solve this problem for me. And then maybe giving them an offer that is a low ticket offer, you know, something that's less than $50, that gives them an opportunity to spend the first dollar with you without them having a large financial commitment to you at that point. And that can all be done through an automated process, by the way. It can all be done through a sales funnel. So that's why I think sales funnels are so, so important. Regardless of whether or not you're selling something low priced or something a higher ticket priced item is having it set up to where you are, nurturing them along the sales journey to get to whatever it is that you're selling. And that could be something that's low ticket price to something that is very high ticket price, but giving them the opportunity to take the customer journey based on where they are in the moment.

So just to, just to recap that, we give them something almost for free to get their email address and the permission to market and speak to them, tell stories to them and then nurture them along the way. Sell them maybe a low ticket item. And then as confidence builds with feedback, because as their confidence builds, you will also get customers who give you feedback. This is not what I like. And then you reiterate and then go towards a bigger item. So business, like everybody says, it's a long term game, nurture your customers. And a low ticket item, somebody who buys a low ticket item is not necessarily a low ticket customer like you. This is what I learned in the last two minutes of what you just said. So that customer, if nurtured, can be your high ticket customer. But a lot of youngsters today are saying all I want to do is start with the $10,000 product. So your last, this, this answer really helps put that into perspective. You will get there, but have patience and don't try to go for the kill.

The reality is that marketing is hard. It's, and it's getting harder because you know, in the, in the past it has been, you know, seven to eight touch points. Traditional marketing, you know, where you know, people need seven to eight touch points. It's now about 20 to 22 touch points online. So it's because they're inundated with so much information today. And in having, you know, your nurture sequences set up and you know, being committed to giving value and knowing that it's not about. At the end of the day, if you don't lead with a servant based heart, then don't bother because people have a lot of choices today and if you don't come at it from a place of authenticity and servant, then you are going to struggle to sell. And that is not something I want for anybody. Because the end Goal for, you know, for anybody starts a business is to make money. But if you again, don't come at it from a place of, you know, care and understanding and relatability and then sometimes it's all the pieces too. The pieces can be, can be hard. So start with something small and you know, take some baby steps. Maybe you get something that's low cost set up because unless you have a massive community that already has a know like and trust factor with you, they're not going to spend a lot of money. And, and the other issue you can be up against is if you train your community not to spend money with you even when you put an offer out. In other words, if you give everything for free, always then, and you all of a sudden say, oh, here's something for sale. They're gonna be like, why are you not giving that to me?

So you can, you don't sell. Okay, yeah.

So you can condition your community to not buy from you or you can condition your community to, to buy low cost things from you. I've been very guilty of that. Where you know, I'm always wanting to, you know, give people an opportunity to get started. And until I've been up against that, that battle myself where, you know, if I put something out that's you know, $2,000 or 5,000 or $30,000, it's not as easy for me because people are more used to spending a little bit of money with me versus a lot of money, you know, so you just have to be careful.

Thank you so much. I've not heard anybody ever say that. And every digital marketer with a list who's been selling for a few years has this problem, but I don't think anybody's voiced it the way you have. And thank you for reap for telling me that. Because we have built a community of almost about 200,000 people in our list and everything and we are conditioning them. And I never thought of this in that much clarity. With that much clarity. Thank you so much.

Yeah, absolutely. So, so you just, it's again, there's so many things to consider these days. It can be overwhelming. But again, just take the baby steps and you know, eventually you'll be running perfect.

So we've, we've taken the one hour, it's exactly one hour on the dot that we asked for. My last question is, Raya, do you think my glasses are cooler or hers?

I like both.

Alright, good answer, good answer.

Thank you so much, Kim. Like I said last time, I built a business because I wanted to prove to my dad that I worked well with you and I can do something on my own this time. It's proving to myself and my family. So every time that life is a new challenge, a new fire, and. But this time, I'm starting up at 44 with a lot of baggage plus a lot of information. I'm trying to let go of the baggage, but keep the. Keep the experiences of life alive. And also sometimes my co founders are not very easy to work with, but we're going to make it work.

Well, they may think that their founder. Co founder is not easy to work with sometimes either. Right.

And that. Go ahead.

But it was lovely to meet you guys and I'm super excited that you are. You are fostering two amazing young ladies into entrepreneurship. So you go. I wished, you know, again, hindsight, I didn't really train my boys up to be entrepreneurs and I wish that I had. So it's exciting to see it. I'm extremely passionate about young people becoming their own their, you know, owning their future versus letting somebody else own it for them.

Sam.