5 Ways To Grow An Online Audience In 2022 Starting From Nothing

You're listening to the PT Profit podcast, episode number 157. Today we're talking about the five ways to grow an online audience in 2022, starting from nothing. Are you ready? Let's get started. Hi, I'm Beverly Simpson, former fitness manager turned online personal training business owner. And this podcast is where smart fitness professionals, including trainers and clinicians, discover how to increase client performance in movement, package and position their products and services, and get out of their own way so that they can increase their revenue to live a life that they love without sleazy sales. Welcome to the PT Profit Podcast. What's up, coach? Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the PT Profit Podcast. I'm your host, Beverly Simpson. And if this is your first time pushing play today, welcome. I'm super pumped that you're here. This is probably going to turn into a series. I've got some incredible guests coming up to talk about specific things like TikTok, Instagram, very specific types of platforms because these are really big. This is a big topic that I'm diving into and honestly it stems from my Instagram experiment where I'm literally, when I tell you that I am starting this account for nothing, I am literally starting this account for nothing. And I'm three weeks in. And so I'll probably give you another update in a couple, couple of months in my 90 day experiment because I have a couple of things that I'm going to share with you why and I'm going to talk to you what I'm learning and just give you some food for thought as you tune as you listen to this podcast now, it's probably going to be short because I'm currently recording this on a Sunday, so on Sunday evening and my team's like, hello, we've got to put a podcast out. And honestly, it's my daughter's birthday and so it's just been a little bit cookie here in the bees Simpson household and. Or the be Simpson fitness household, personally. So it's been both fun in terms of work and play as we kick off the summer here. And so I wanted to, I wanted to do this episode for a couple of reasons because number one, you may or may not have noticed that right as the summer starting, Memorial Day weekend tends to be this kickoff, this summer kickoff, right, where people start to feel, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, people start to feel this sense of summer. And so you might notice, aside from the Instagram glitches that we're dealing with in 2022, you might notice that things are starting to drastically change. Right. And maybe you're noticing some dips in your engagement. And I think mostly because people are settling into the new season change and this happens every season, honestly. But in the summer, people are just on their phones a little differently than they are in the fall and in the colder months and, and, and whatnot. And so I don't want this to be a, just that to be discouraging to you. It's a good thing because it also gives you the opportunity to really continue to build your audience and get them excited about whatever is going to be next. Okay. The next thing not to get discouraged by is that just because engagement is dropping, this is also a good thing because it gives you an opportunity to practice, share your message. We're going to, we're going to talk about this a little bit more. So that's two good things. The third good thing is that there are still people on the platform. And so even though Instagram or Engagement may be dipping, as long as you are showing up consistently and whatever that consistently means to you, then you're going to be able to connect with the people that are still on the platform that are there for you. So it's just really interesting to me as I listen and watch and see people start to freak out about engagement dropping and, and, and listen, this goes back to the episodes that I have been saying just over and over, especially in the recent ones, is that we have to live on the razor's edge where we care about everything and nothing at the same time. Which literally means that I'm watching people care about or you know, panic about their engagement down, which I get because we can't be the Internet's best kept secret. And we want to be able to look at our numbers clinically and be able to evaluate what's resonating, what's not resonating and make some decisions on what to test next. Right. So I get that, but not at the cost of panic and being concerned that the business is ending. This recession is coming. Listen, I'm going to tell you right now that you building a business with a leveraged offer, your business is a recession proof asset. People care about their health year round. And if you're a coach who's also teaching other coaches to learn and you're working on mentorships, that also is recession proof. Because your coaches need to get smarter. Because the truth is if it's not you, it will be someone else. Whether that someone else is getting smarter or someone else is staying consistent, putting themselves out there. So why not you? So, just a little side tangent there as we dive into this episode, Talking about the five ways to grow an online audience in 2022. Starting from nothing. So I got inspired, as I was saying earlier, because I'm literally starting my account from nothing. So now my previous account, BE Simpson Fitness, which I still have, it's still there. It's really been plateaued at 16,000 followers for about two years now. And I'm having so many thoughts about it. And, and I'm even at a point in my $16,000 account, and I just want to, I'm. I'm going to share my heart. I'm going to share everything that's been going on because, listen, I'm going to pull the curtain back. There's nothing but transparency here at BE since Fitness. And so I, you know, I'm even at a point now if you haven't checked, but you can go to Settings, you can go to Creator. And I'm at, I'm at a point where I actually get bonuses for my reels. So I'm actually getting paid for my reels. And right as I got that bonus, I switched out and I started to build this new account called Team Bees and Fitness. Now, the account was I'm building is twofold for twofold reasons. Number one, I actually started the account back in the day when my Beeson's in Fitness was just constantly getting shut down. And I just did not know why. I was like, I do not know why my account keeps getting flagged. I'm not breaking any policies, and for some reason I am getting cut out or shut down. So I just created this backup account. That was one reason. The second reason that I wanted to start the first account was because I or the second account, in addition to that, the next reason was because I did not want to break policy terms and conditions for an account that was already fragile. So I didn't want to give anybody else the password to the account. But I also had someone at the time working on connecting with people to, to, to be on the podcast and to be podcast guests. And so one of the things which we're going to talk about in this episode is that Instagram is great for conversations. I've just noticed in my years. And I'm just going to give you my opinion on. In my experience, and this is completely my opinion based on my experience, which is, you know, the platforms that I just see do really well for specific things. Like, in my opinion, Facebook has nailed the groups. I don't know any other platform including the paid ones which I've been testing out right now that is quite as robust as Facebook and Facebook is free. So you know Facebook has really nailed that community component. Instagram has also nailed in my opinion the conversation component. The DM conversation connection is easy, accessible and I have connected with some pretty high level people and. High level, you know compared to what high level in terms of actual business owners that are well known in the industry and brought people to my my community through the Instagram DM. DMs are the place for conversations and the truth is that connection happens through conversations and conversations and connection is what ultimately turns into conversions. Ultimately it doesn't matter whether that conversation or connection is through one to many in the DM. Honestly in, in 2022 we were just so fast we're so accessible. The ways that you can add connection different way than other people honestly is going to be what separates you. My opinion again my opinion so Instagram at the time or and now right this go also also it goes back to what I was saying in terms of of you know, you getting clear on your message and you practicing your message and you feeling really solid in it. And I don't think I would have been able to come to this conclusion if I hadn't gone through the years of sharing my than as I have that I have. Right. And what I mean by that is I've spent a lot of time and I shared this in you know, four lessons. I think it was a couple episodes back that I wish I learned faster is that go all in on me. And so as I've been really practicing and honing in on my message I'm just so, so confident and I guess confidence the wrong word. Convicted is better. I'm so convicted that the process is proven and works and ultimately will help anyone who is will to commit to themselves willing to to say yes until it works that, that, that the message works that I know it, I see it every single day. I look at hundreds and I'm not exaggerating hundreds of posts and profiles and content of my ideal clients and I just consistently see people pouring their hearts in and just areas of opportunity that literally if they just got in this one lived on this one Princip change the game. Right. So I'm convicted on the message and I'm convicted in the content. Do I think that there's areas of opportunity to improve production? Yeah. In fact I break that all down in my free Facebook group. So if you're not there, come hang out with me at on the online. Online Fitness marketing for Online marketing for fitness professionals, I believe is what I called it. And it's free. So come hang on in there because I show you some behind the scenes, I give you some insight is to like, literally, it's like a sneak peek into our team meeting and what we're looking at when we're assessing my content. And so I just, you know, so if you wanted to see some of that, come over there and hang out. This podcast is a little bit of that as I'm, I'm sharing all of that as well. But so I'm convicted in the message. And so what's interesting is that I, I teach my clients that if you feel this solid about your message and you know that it is like, this is it, and you post that a piece of content and you're like, actually, you know what, I could have said this a better way in a different way I could have. Or I did the best that I can and it just didn't lift. Right? There's only so much that you can control and other people can't control. So, and, and, and what's in your art, there's only so much that's in your control versus what's in, outside of your control. Right? And so I teach my clients to do at least the 3, 2, 1 method, meaning 1 message. So one piece of content, and you are going to try three different versions on two different platforms. So, for example, you're going to take that message that you are certain on and you're going to do an SEO platform. So maybe you're going to do a podcast, maybe you're going to do a YouTube, maybe you're going to do, maybe you're going to do a TikTok. It's interesting, right? We're going to be diving deeper later in later episodes, in later, upcoming episodes on Tik Tok in the TikTok platform. Very like, very specific episodes. And you know, people will argue, is it a social media, is it an SEO? Because people right now, they're not experiencing TikTok, at least right now, as in June 2022. You know, all of this is subject to change. Who here remembers Periscope? Am I right? But you know, the way people experience 20 TikTok right now is that it's not necessarily a, a search engine for how do I, you know, how do I do my household stuff? How do I work out? How do I cook a meal? It's not really what they're looking at, but it is. They're still getting educated as there are enjoying the entertainment on the platform. It's also not right now. It is not a platform where you are really connecting with people and having conversations. Right? I mean, I think only now there are some accounts like I know my account still can't do this, where I cannot DM people, whether I'm friends with them or not. Like I can't or let me rephrase, I can only DM them if I am friends with them. And people aren't really in. People aren't really DMing or PMing or having private conversations really in the TikTok platform. Aside from, hey, did you see this? TikTok talk. Look at this. Tick tock. Right? People are experiencing TikTok in a very short three to five, three to seven second swipe, swipe, swipe, swipe, double tap, swipe, comment, swipe, comment. Right? It's a very fast paced platform. It is fun. It's made, in my opinion, it is made video recording and editing accessible and fast. And anyway, this is not a TikTok platform. But that's what I mean when I'm talking about the three, two, one method is that two different platforms and I'm saying SEO, I'm putting TikTok in that as in that experience in that category because it is content that does live on. It's not like Instagram or social media content that lives for 90 minutes and then no one really scrolls back unless they're like a super fan. I mean, think about it. When was the last time that you got like a, like from a post that you posted three months ago and you probably thought, well that's weird. Or you're like, wait, what did I post? Right? So it's a very. But, but TikTok, they, they continue to push out content that's weeks old. So that's why I'm putting it in the SEO category. And then the second platform, you want it to be a social connection platform. So Facebook groups can really close that gap for you. Or, or Facebook PMs or Instagram PMs where you're, where you're having more intimate conversations. This is where you can really close that gap and really build a community. People are talking about TikTok community and I'm sure, and YouTube communities, I'm sure that they exist. I'm not saying that they don't. But the primary experience for the Facebook and Instagram really has just been entertainment and social connections. So that's what I mean when I'm talking about the two, one method the three components is I want you to say it at least three different ways. So if you're on Instagram and you try to carousel carousels, you know, they were hot in April and then they were dead in May. So I said this to a client as a joke, but it's also kind of true. I said what worked on social media 10 minutes ago no longer works. At least sometimes it feels that way. And so I get that. But what I'm saying is that you can say the same thing three different ways. So maybe, maybe people really love your carousels. Cool. So say it in a carousel, and then that carousel doesn't lift. Try it in a real. If the reel doesn't lift, then, okay, let's try it in a, A, a trending sound. Let's like, just say it at least. So I say three, two, one, at least. But it doesn't have to be that. You can keep trying it, say it in a different way, get clear, and then keep saying it and say it in a different way. So ultimately, I guess this leads to the first thing 5. The first ways to grow an online audience in 2022 is just really pick your platforms that you're going to stay on. Now, I typically recommend at least one SEO, one that your content lives on, where people can look and Google and search. I say podcast and, and YouTube and, and I put TikTok in there. But really, ultimately, it's about the content that you're going to consistently create. And consistently only means consistent to you. You're going to teach any algorithm, whether it's the podcast, whether it's YouTube, whether it's, I don't know, Instagram, Facebook, any. Anything that you are showing and putting your content on, you're teaching the algorithm how you show up. So if you decide that you want to be Monday, Wednesday, Friday, cool. Not only are you teaching the algorithm, you're also teaching your clients and your audience. This is when I show up, and nothing is necessarily wrong. It's just about what you can stay consistent on doing. Does it have to be perfect? No, of course not. But if you are trying to grow, then I'm definitely going to tell you and recommend to show up more. And I'm going to say. I'm going to say show up more in two ways, right? Show up more in terms of the quantity so that you can test out the message. Keep testing the message. You know, no one learns persuasive content and persuasive sharing, and no one gets super clear on their messaging in the first ongoing and Even though, by the way, that I'm telling you right now that I'm convicted, I it's still growing. I'm still open to changing it, to learning new things, because this online world is always changing, which is a good thing. So pick your platforms. Now people are going to tell you to pick one or two and just go all in on one or two and then there's nothing else until those one or two are done. And so that advice I have never agreed with. It's never sat well with me and for two reasons. Because it really. And ultimately this is going to lead to the second piece, right? And I just need you to get clear on where you are in your business. This is going to require you to be super clear because whether you're at the beginning or not, we're going to talk about growing an audience and growing traffic. Okay? So anyway, we'll stick to. Stick with number one. Okay, I've never totally agreed with that because here's the thing. Let's. All of these platforms are borrowed space. So let's say you go all in on Instagram and then Instagram shuts down. Then what happens to your business if Your business is 100% reliant on one platform and you've got problems? So I like to be diverse in platforms for two reasons. One, for the, for the safety of my business. And two, because I like, to me, it's more important to do what you like, do what you're called to, of course, Razor's Edge, right? There's going to be moments where you just don't feel like showing up, but then you do it and you feel good about it. That is different than. I just really don't want to do this. This. Okay, that is a different, different thing, number one. Or, you know, number, you know, that is a different, different thing. And you just need to get clear on where you stand in that and be honest with yourself. And if you need help, this is why coaching is really important. Like get support on this so that you can really see and just, you know, sit with yourself. Get sit with yourself and just really ask yourself, am I resisting? Because I just don't feel like it's because this is new and this is uncomfortable and this is not necessarily fun. Or are you resisting because it's just not in alignment and you just don't want to be on this platform and so maybe I'll do something else. Okay, now if you're here and you're listening to this, so I've got some clients in accelerator program that Just they don't really want to grow an online business, but they want an online presence because it's. The online presence is what's going to help fuel their online or their in person brick and mortar business. That's true. So this conversation about growing an online audience when you're also trying to grow your in person business, this is going to lead to the other ways to grow an online audience, which we will get to. So I was going to start with this as number two, but it's actually we have to get, we have to go further down before we can start talking about audience building. I have to, I have to give this caveat before we start talking about audience growth. I also, I'm speaking specifically about growing an audience people. Right. So this means that I'm already assuming you have your back end set up, meaning I already am assuming that you have a really high converting offer, you have a really high converting, high converting experience that people want to work with you and you have offer confirmation and your business is set up. You're just really trying to focus on the visibility and really growing the audience. Okay, so as long as that, and if you're sitting here and you're listening, what is an offer? Okay, don't sweat. I'm going to create another podcast on that so that you're really clear. Because as I'm having so many conversations in my dm, I'm realizing not everyone knows what an offer is because it's not your service, it is not your membership, it is not your dollar for hours. So we're going to talk about this in a separate podcast. So stay tuned on that. But I'm assuming that all of your, all of your deliverables are set up, your back end of your business is set up, and if it's not, then we can have another conversation about that as well. So come join me inside of the free Facebook group because I have hours upon hours on setting up your lead generating machine. So right now we're literally just focusing on how we can get the visibility inside of our business so that we can generate those leads and then eventually turn them into customers. Customers. Okay, so number two, this is going to lead to optimizing those platforms. So now once you have figured out, okay, these are the platforms I'm going to focus on, I want you to optimize that. And so I'm going to talk a little bit about, you know, what I'm doing on Instagram. And so now I, by no means. And I'm going to also share like what's been happening behind the scenes, but I, right now I'm focusing. Oh, I was telling you that I, you know, don't just pick. Don't just pick one. And I get that. Okay, so this is going to lead to number two, which is optimize your profiles, whatever you decided to pick. So, yeah, I could talk about all the things when we're talking about, you know, optimize your profile, make sure it's really clear who you serve and, and that's all well and good, it's really important, but then we're going to sit here for 12 hours on this podcast for me sharing with you all the ways to optimize your profiles. And so, yeah, we're going to get into some nitty gritty. You know, we'll do this in a series and we can talk about some nitty gritty strategy. But when I'm talking about optimizing your profile, here's what I mean. And it's more than just your profile and optimize your platforms. I guess what I should really say is optimize your message. Optimize your message and get it on the platform in the way that is agreeable to the platform. Okay. So people will say to me, I hate creating content for the, for. For the algorithm because I want the algorithm, you know, because the algorithm's pushing all my stuff down. And listen, I hear that. I really do hear that there is this dance that we have to play in terms of, or I guess I shouldn't say have to get to play. There's a dance that we get to play in terms of what is. What we are in control of and what the algorithm and what the platforms are in control of. And so for me, and what for my clients, us to focus on the things that we can control. And so I had spent so much of my career focusing on. Well, I need to post it this time and I need to do it this way because the algorithm and no, that's not what I mean. When it comes to optimize your, your, your socials, optimize your message. Optimize your message in a way that connects with your people that is agreeable to the platform. So I'll give you some tangible examples, like right now, reels, short video, it's all the rage. But what people don't seem to understand is that it's not all the rage because the algorithm said so. The algorithm is created for. Because of the way that people are consuming content. Reels and tiktoks and reels and short videos are all the rage because people aren't enjoying reels and TikToks. It's not, it's a synergistic relationship. It's not like the algorithm is invented because they like this person over this person right now I'm sure, I know there are some arguments against that, but ultimately it's about the reels pushing out the content or the message getting shared because the algorithm is saying, oh, your stuff is being liked, people are enjoying it, people are enjoying this type of content in this way. So we're going to make a strong effort to push out content like this. So the algorithm is not out to get you. The algorithm is there to help you. Actually, the algorithm is there to share the content that is going to be enjoyed by your people. So really optimize and focus in on your message and making sure that message is crystal clear for the app, for the audience so that the algorithm can see these type of people enjoy this type of content and then they're going to help you. So optimize your message and optimize the profile in the message in the way that the platform wants the content to be consumed so that more people stay on and more people see your stuff. And honestly, it's a win win. If you're growing an online business, you cannot fight the algorithm. So then again, it goes Back to the 3, 2, 1 method. Take a look. Do you need to refine the message? Do you need to change up the content, say the content in a different way? So ultimately, you know, as I'm sharing you, sharing with you these ways, I'm also pulling back the curtain behind what's been happening inside of my business. So one of the things with bees and fitness, when I first started it, this account was around for ages. Like when I first built my mom business on there, it was there. And so that account was a drastic niche change from when I changed in 2020. And so people were leaving and people still consistently leave, actually, to be fair. So it's looked like I've plateaued for two years, but the truth is I haven't. It's just been a very slow burn, in my opinion, to what I'm looking forward to and looking to forward for what I am wanting. It's been a very slow burn in terms of the transitioning. Like my mom's leaving droves and then as they leave, so do my, my trainers and my coaches start to come to my platform. And so it's been a very, it's been a very drastic change. And so now some people will say well, this account, they do fitness and they also do, you know, they also do business coaching. So it's not that drastic if it change or they'll say so and their account's doing fine. And so here's what I really want you to look at though is that I want you to look at the types of people that are purchasing that type of fitness program and, or business coaching. Like, you'll notice that like, hey, coaches need coaches. I buy fitness programs all the time and I'm a coach. So it's not necessarily two drastic, different audiences. It's just a different offer for a different experience but for a similar, same audience. Okay. And so I'm not saying that that's bad. It's not, it's not at all. What I am saying is that for me, my accounts were so drastic, so different. My clients were not trainers at all. They were not listening and wanting to learn how to build business. All of a sudden it was just a very different audience. And so the people are leaving in droves and people are coming, coming as well. But because the audience is so big compared to the engagement, the algorithm says, oh, this isn't relevant. So here's the thing, this is why do not get swept up in those vanity metrics of oh, they have a big following, they have a, you know, they must be known for something because they've got a big following or, or, you know, whatever though. That's all, we don't, that's all smoke and mirrors. We don't know who's there, we don't know who's real, we don't know who's paying attention. Even if they seem like they have highly engaged accounts, it's, it's all smoke and mirrors. Highly engaged compared to what? People get so tripped up with these audience building metrics. But I'm going to tell you right now, even at my new brand new small account, I'm getting DMS every day that are like, hey, what are the ways that I could work with you? And my, my, sometimes my most quiet posts, like the quietest posts will be the ones that are the ones that lead to the conversations and conversions. And why do I say this? Oh, because they'll say, oh, I saw this post and it really resonated with me. And so I'm curious, what are the ways that I could work with you? Okay, so that was one of the big main reasons. The second main reason was when I first started, this was like back in the day where the game was like follow for follow. Like remember there were all these things back in the day that are just not considered best practices now that I had gotten fault that I had gotten into like. And also things like, you know, do the engagement loops and the engagement pods and those are terrible ideas by the way. Please do not do any of that. No follow for follow, no engagement pod. Ultimately, go back to number two. Maybe I'm still in number two, which is optimize your message. Seriously, just dive into your message. Because all those other gimmicky, hacky things, all those things that are a shortcut, those are shortcuts that would be like, oh, can I take this diet pill? Can I take this excess amount of fiber and stop working out? No. If you want results, you have to put in the work. But remember, it's a rager's edge. It's not like all the work, any work at all costs, grind to the ground. I don't like to say that usually because the truth is the people that work with me, they're at this point where I don't have to motivate them to get to take action. You guys already are taking action. You are in the culture of work, working in the gym for 12 to 16 hours. Your game is about pulling back. Your game is about optimizing your time. Your game is about doing things effectively. So I don't usually like to talk about this, but when it comes to social media, when it comes to the stuff that's uncomfortable and not fun to do and feels like a chore, this is the stuff that we have to really encourage and ask ourselves, are we doing the work? If, if, by the way, big if there is nothing that says you have to have like a big massive following, you have to a million dollars. Are you doing the work that is, that is warranting the return on the effort. One caveat to say on that, right? Because remember, you're going to have some skills that you're learning, right? We have some skill acquisition on the upfront. So maybe at first it's not going to feel like there is a ton of return on your effort, but it will, it'll have the compounding effect. Okay, so quick caveat on that. But. So you would just want to be honest with yourself. Are you doing that work that is going to, to you know, show up for your, for, you know, showing up for your socials in a way that is congruent with you. Okay, maybe a little bit uncomfortable because you're working on something different, but you. It's congruent it. Okay, number three, hopefully this is short because I've talked about this a lot, so I'll say I'm just going to make it short. But show up, show up consistently. Show up and show up consistently in a way that is going to be true to you. Get clear on the message. Share it, share it over and over in the ways that it needs to be shared with as many people as possible. Okay? And so the fourth thing that we're going to talk about now, this is what I was talking about earlier when I was going to put this in number two. But I really moved it down because we needed to get some of the fundamentals kind of really nailed down. And now we can start talking about ROI on your effort and time. Okay? And so one of the things that I have said recently, and I will continue to say, is that you really need to buckle down on to your, you know, getting clear on your resources, time and money. And the truth is that when you prioritize your time over your money, you're going to end up having plenty of both. But the truth is, is that you need. Again, this also goes back to the caveat. So if you're skipped through and you haven't, you've skipped this part. This is important. I'm just going to reiterate it. I'm assuming that you already have your back end set up. Okay? So we have your back and set up. We know that it's good. Now we get to talk about the visibility component. You cannot buy from the Internet's best kept secret. You just cannot. Okay. And no. And. And if you're trying to build an online business and no one knows about you, then no one's going to buy from you. And I don't know who I heard this from. I think it might have been Rachel Peterson. But one of the things that she said and it really knifed me because it just made me think of you because I'm just so passionate and myself as well. Like, it made me think of us, I'll say us, that she said some of the best talent she's ever worked with have always been the people that are struggling the most or they're just not well known. And it just really like, cut me deep because chances are there are people out there right now who are less qualified than you that are making more than you. And I know that at the end of the day, this is not all about money. Okay? And I don't. Maybe you don't think I think this because I'm always talking about money and that you're like, oh, all you care about is money. So I get it. It's easy to think that. But here, the ultimate, at the ultimate root of it is that money is a tool. It is a neutral tool. And the more. And we need it right now in the way that our world is right now, it is a neutral tool. Even if you were to donate and give and really help everybody, you would need the tool. And so for me, it just kills me that there are qualified people like you that are struggling to get by or struggling to get to the life that they want to live, that you want to live well. You want to give more, you want to help more. I know that you're good, and I know that good people do really awesome things with money that they can. And I know that the reverse is true where really terrible things happen and people do really bad things with money. But the same thing is true in, in the reverse. People who are so good, who have no money do great things, and people who have no money that are, that are not right is, is, or that are. You know, there are people out there that don't have money and that do great things, and people who out there who don't have money and do not so great things. So it's not money. It, money itself is the tool. So ultimately, at the end of the day, it's not about getting as much money as possible. It's about you fulfilling on your. What you are meant to do, you are wanting to do and live the lifestyle in the way that you want to live. Period. Okay? That's ultimately what. What this is about. It's ultimately what I'm about. So when I heard Rachel say this, it just really cut me because I thought kills me that there are so many people that just don't have that type of visibility. And this is why I challenged and why I said on my Instagram the other day, I thought I said, what is the one thing that you know that you are not doing right now? And I'm going to just say it again on my podcast. I might have already said it again, but I'm going to before on an earlier episode, but I'm going to say it again. What is one thing that you know in your heart of hearts that you could be doing that is going to get your message out, help you be more visible, that you are not doing and doesn't even have to require money? It could be literally you putting in the work, putting in the effort. Okay, so just something for you to think about, because the other component, which is number four, the visibility component, there are two ways that you are going to get this visibility that I'm talking about, which is paid and organic. And they both work synergistically together. And so if you, you know, you hear people walking around all the time touting on that they are growing their Instagram organically and they're just doing all these reels and they're doing, you know, I growing my account X amount organically. And so I just need you to really think about all day this for a second. Okay, So I did a podcast episode and I probably should do a whole separate episode on this, but I really, just really quickly, okay, I did an episode on the math behind six and seven figures. And so now I want you to think about and I really help people see what it was that their dollar that their hour was worth and how much people do in an hour that they could outsource and get it done much faster for a lot less than your, what your hour is worth. And so I want to just bring that to your attention because the same thing is true when it comes to the organic efforts of growing because you are going to. And you'll hear people say, you need to comment on 50 people's things. You need. Or you need to comment on 100 comments. You need to like, you need to show up on the platform. Platform. And that is true. You still want that to happen. You still want to do that. But just let me just give this food for thought for you for a second. Okay? So if you are trying to get to 100 grand this year, okay, so 100 grand is, is. I'm just going to do some math here, and I'm going to give you two weeks vacation. So I'm going to take 100 grand and I'm going to divide that by 2000 because that's, that's, you know, 40 hours a week for 50 weeks. And that's, you know, $50 an hour essentially for a hundred grand. Okay? So just caveat, if you're charging less than that, that's something to look at. You're not going to get it for you make the math work. But what I'm saying is that for, if you spent an hour on Instagram doing that, you just invested $50 of your time that you cannot get back. And so it's both. I still do this, okay. I still go, still want to connect with my people. I still want to have conversations with people. But you're going to have, you're, you're going to want to, you know, so you're going to want to start adding in paid options, paid and, and organic. They work synergistically together. So for me, when I'm looking at my time, I'm like, wait a second. So I could spend 50 a day on my Facebook ads. And when I say Facebook ads, I don't mean like conversion ads, if that's new to you. Like, I don't mean like acquiring leads. I mean like taking a piece of content that I've done and putting it on a video view ad or an engagement ad so that, or a reach ad so that more people can see it. And even If I spent $50 on it, now I'm going to get a thousand eyeballs, which is a heck of a lot more effort or a heck a lot more return then, then, you know, a. Than the fifth. Then the, you know, hundred people that I'm connecting with. And people are like, yeah, but it's not real connection and you can't see. And I'm thinking to myself, yeah, well, maybe you're assuming that those people that I'm liking that I'm commenting on are going to respond. Right? So remember, when it comes to marketing and when it comes to your messaging, people are going to make it an argument and make a case for, for what they're saying and for what they think and for what. And. And for what they, what they believe. Okay? So I'm not saying go ahead and spend $50 a day on engagement ads, and that's not what I'm saying, but you could spend a dollar a day testing at your message. And if you spent $31 a month and you just never saw that money again, but you got, I don't know, a thousand eyeballs looking at your stuff like that to me, and in a very highly targeted way where you literally saying, facebook, find me my clients that behave in this way, and then you don't. You just spent $31. That is less than half an hour versus the hour a day that you're doing on Instagram looking for your people. Okay, so just some food for thought. When it comes to your paid advertising, people are out there. And I get it, I totally get it where they're like, you people are wasting and spending thousands of dollars on paid advertising. And that is true. So you get to ask yourself, are you throwing money at the problem to try and solve it, or are you strategic in the way that you are thinking about pushing out your message, especially if you're new? Because remember, the algorithm is reading your audience and reading its engagement. So I have literally so on my account right now, I've literally taken the same content that I've put on my 16,000 followers and literally identical, and put it on my smaller account. And I've got. Just seen how the audience and how the reach is different. The algorithm is just testing. They're like, oh, new account. This isn't season. This is not a season account. So they're dipping the water. And so this is why I was saying, come back and see in 60 days what it's going to look like. Because I'm watching my reach. Just. I'm just showing up. All I'm doing is the exact same work that I would do if I was at 100k a month, if I had 300,000 followers. I'm doing the exact same, exact same work. And so it. The. And the algorithm is now responding. And so it's going, oh, okay, so she's consistent. Oh, she's showing up. People are engaging. And now they're pushing out my sub. As I'm growing, they're pushing out weird stuff. Some weird stuff is going viral. And then I start to panic because I'm like, oh, my gosh. Wait, that's not. Oops. Anyway, that's not my ideal client, but that's okay. Again, stuff I cannot control. I just got to keep putting up my message for my ideal client. Now my head got a little twisted. If I'm not. I'm not going to lie to you, my head got twisted about this because I was like, I started to have my. My ego, my pride, my. My, you know, fear, my insecurities start to rear up where I was like, how can I be a Messaging master with 100 followers followers? Who is going to believe me that I am capable of doing this when I don't have the authority? So what I'm really saying, what I. What it was really coming up for me was that I felt like. Because I had these arbitrary vanity metrics on a platform that, A, I teach, or A, I know inside out, or B, I know inside out. I was like, well, no one's gonna believe me because I don't have that authority. This is why I posted and I did that live. All about, you know, how you can increase your authority even if you're brand new to the game. Because here's the deal. You are an authority because you decided that you were one and that you know that you are one. Of course there are more things to learn. Do I think there are better gurus out there on Instagram right now? Heck, yeah. Of course I do. Of course I do. And I don't even pretend to be an Instagram expert, but I know how to make connections. I am a human expert. I can help people human better connect and serve better. That I can do 1000% without a shadow of a doubt. And so am I a big shiny helicopter that's going to get someone out of a ditch? No. But do I have a ladder? I do. Do I have a rope? I sure do. And besides, I might be someone's helicopter and you might be someone's. Someone's helicopter. You might. You are walking around thinking, I'm not enough yet. But that's just you. You are your client. I have a massive visions of growing and standing on stages and really just speaking to hundreds of people. It's, you know, my dream essentially. Since I was a kid, I've always wanted to be a performer. I mean, I was chasing Broadway for, for so long, for goodness sakes, right? And so my assistant keeps me on the ground or my podcast, my content manager, I should say, keeps me on the ground because he's telling me like, oh, but I just really love the small, intimate connection components. Right, so there is someone out there for you at every level. So side note, I'm going on a million tangents. Welcome to Sunday. This is like it's late night here on Sunday, Sunday recording. But it's important. It's important episode and it's an important thing to share when it comes to growing an audience. Is that is that authority piece which ultimately comes for you. The rest will follow. It does not matter to my clients that, that, that have a hundred. You know, it doesn't matter that what my stuff looks like because at the end of the day, this is just. Let me just tell you this right now. Results don't matter in terms of, of it does not pertain to you. Whether they're really good results, they do not pertain to you. And neither do like the negative. Like it doesn't matter. My metabolism, my business, my experience, my level, my starting point A, even with the same experience or the same level of, of access to the knowledge or to the. The information is the same. It's not going to be executed the same. So we can't compare our results, period. It. But what people really are seeking when they're looking at results is is this a proven process? Is there authority here? Is this authority that I buy into and can be trusted? And the truth is yes, yes, yes, yes. And nine times out of 10, I mean, I'm going to tell you this right now, every single One of my clients, I have put on tick tock. I mean, literally every single one of them has had some type of virality. And either they are just growing by thousands or they're already at 10,000 or they're 4,000 and they're just consistently growing using the content principles that we're teaching. And so frankly, I'm not going to lie to you, it does kind of make me go, why is mine's not doing that yet. But that's okay. Again, this is, is A, like coaches of coaches and B, that we get so close to our own stuff. We need to have a different perspective. Okay. So I know that the process is proven. I know that it's bomb. I know that my principles work. I can see when I'm breaking down my content the areas of opportunity that I think maybe could have improved the performance. But ultimately it's come down to what is the action, what is the outcome, result, and then how can we increase the performance? That's what we're looking at at the end of the day, whether it's paid traffic, where it doesn't matter, where we are in the customer journey. So that fourth component is the increasing visibility and it is paid and organic. So you're going to be putting into those, those efforts. So now when I say it works synergistically together is that I'm not saying put an ad on your and push out your content and then just ignore your people and then just assume everyone's going to come buy from you and that now you're going to put a buy button. No, no. You're doing step number three and you're pushing out your message and you're doing the content and you're, you're optimizing your profile and you're doing all those things and then you are connecting with the people that are liking your stuff. So now anytime someone likes my stuff or comments on my stuff or response to my poll, now I'm going to open up the conversation. Hey, thanks so much for liking my post. How can I help you? What did you like most about it? I'm going to start engaging. So I'm not saying don't spend an hour and an hour on the platform a waste. Of course it's not always connecting with my community. Building a community, having conversations. This is what creates the content. This is the questions that I get that I know that I can create on. This is like how I can build momentum. I am someone who gets energized by listening to people and, and having conversations with people. And so I would rather have those conversations be inbound, meaning people have already started to be interested in my stuff before I have to go out there and find them either. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how you do it. Whether you're going to go and like, no, I'm not spending any money. Cool. Then you're going to go spend your time and you're going to spend. Because money and time have a synergistic relationship, which is what I started this with. So now you're going to go spend your time connecting with those people and finding them. Okay. Either way, the connection component of a conversion does not go away, even if you don't directly talk to them. So what do I mean by that? I have hundreds of people that listen to my podcast every single day. I don't know who they are. When I'm looking at the numbers in terms of like, oh, I'm sure my mom is one of them. I'm looking at her right now. But actually she might not be. I don't think she listens to my podcast, but she's my number one fan and has been. My husband is my number. My. You know, they fight for this. My mom and my husband, my number one fans. Right. I don't think my husband's listening to my podcast a day in his life, except for when I'm recording, supporting them. So again, my point is that I don't know who those people are, but I know that they are people. And I don't care if it's one, I don't care if it's 100, I don't care if it's a thousand. There are people out there. You are listening to this right now. We are connecting. Whether we're having a conversation right now on your walk, while you exercise, while you're driving your kids, while you're just chillaxing and doing chores and listening to some education in the background, it does not matter. Or we're having a, you know, face to face in person DM conversation. We are still connecting. So it's not, it's. It's. It's a. It doesn't have to be just one on one all the time. It can be that one to many. It can be content that resonates and connects with people on it on a different level. It's just, it's that connection component does not go away or it doesn't disappear. And so if we're trying to distance ourselves from our people, then we can, you know, we need to really ask ourselves what's that about? Why is that? And then the other thing too. And the reason why I'm even bringing up paid advertising is because I do not want you to waste your money and spend thousands of dollars and throwing money at a problem and just hoping you're going to get leads. What I'm talking about especially, and this is ultimately going to circle back to how I started this podcast. I'm talking the people that I'm working with who are so slammed with their one on one clients, or maybe they have a brick and mortar. Like, how can they use the online presence to build people and bring people into their world in person, Right. Without having to go knocking on everybody's doors? Well, now you can test out your messaging, push it out, bring people that are local into your ecosystem, and this is going to do some of that heavy lifting work. And especially if you are so slammed and you only have an hour to use on your platform, I would rather you use that hour connecting with people who are already showing interest in your stuff. So that's one thing. The other thing too is that it gives you the opportunity, especially if you're new. So if you aren't seasoned and maybe you are brand new and you're like, well, I'm just starting, this gives you the opportunity to test out your messaging. Because I can't tell you how many times I thought something was going to be just so brilliant and then everyone was like, like, no, this is boring, or no, this isn't for me, this doesn't even make sense. Or times where I thought this is amazing. And then I learn and I listen back and I'm like, I could have said that differently or oh, I wish I had done this a little bit differently. That's happened a million times, right? Messaging is always changing. As you evolve, as you grow, so is your messaging. So I'm always wanting to test that. Yeah, you could do it the slow way, test it with your friends and family. And that's the other thing. Are your friends and family hanging out with you because they're not your ideal clients. So people are always is measuring their performance on these content pieces and it's just not getting served in front of the right audience. And yes, you could do that organically, but why, when you can spend $2, $1 a day pushing it out. And then people. The thing too is that people will, they will give up too soon and they'll be like, oh, this is a waste. I'm just wasting it. This is why I'm like, no, no, I want you to just pick a budget. I don't care if it's 30 bucks, just something that is like, like something you could just get you, you can start seasoning your audience on. Because when you do that, you are building an audience. You're pushing out your content, you're testing messaging and you're teaching. You are, you're showing up as a business owner. Can you point to $1 million business owner? Heck, can you point to a $200,000 business owner, $500,000 business owner that doesn't use any type of advertising? And, and the ones that you're going to tell me, yes, I can, we're going to talk about that. And we're going to talk about that because it leads to number five. Because ultimately it comes down to your network and the people that you are, you are that are giving you the authority, sharing their platform, their borrowed audiences. So for example, and I'm also not convinced that that is, I'm also definitely not convinced that that's all organic. So what do I mean by that? Like, people will spend thousands of dollars to get into these high level masterminds. And frankly, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. That is an amazing thing. It is a great thing because you get to borrow each other's audience sus, you get to network. It's a powerful thing. But people will say, oh, I did it all organic. And I'm like, yeah, but you just spent $35,000 to be in a mastermind and then get tagged in that person's story who's had years and seasons of years and then you get a thousand followers or you got to be in, you know, you guys were both at the same podcast or the same mastermind, so now you're on a podcast, right? It's just always remember, marketing and messaging can sometimes be smoke and mirrors. So just get clear, look underneath the lines. Or they're like, oh, I did it all organically. And I'm like, okay. But then you spent eight hours of your time doing all this having have a compound effect, right? And then I always am like, ah, kills me too. Because people will say, oh, I did it all organically. And I'm like, I can see your ads library. Your ads come up on my feed all the time. And it doesn't matter that your ads are not like, like, follow me, like me. Your ads and your content is good. It's getting pushed out in front of people that might be ideal clients. So then that's why I said it's all synergistic because then they come to your platform and they're like, oh, I love this. Or maybe a real goes viral. I mean, it's just, it's both. It's a nuanced conversation and it's always both. So for me, ultimately, and I'm just laughing because I'm just, I always get, you know, I listen to these. Marketing is my business, messaging is my business. I'm always listening for power, powerful messaging. And then I'm always pulling it apart and I'm thinking, well, okay, I get what you're saying, but at the same time, let's not get it twisted, right? So it's. People tend to get dogmatic and get put into camps, but ultimately. And then sometimes they'll say things like, oh, well, I did it all organic. Yeah, well, how many years did that take you? You've been posting content since 2010. Okay, so like let's, you know, other. Or they're like, oh, this one is my favorite favorite. They're like, I'm starting this new platform and I did it all from scratch. And I'm like, yeah, but you just brought over your audience, right? And so it's just, it can be. And then, you know, there'll be people that will say, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't bring over my audience. And that's true. Like, TikTok had a huge first to market component, so now we're talking about, well, you know, people weren't using that platform in that way, so you got to be first to, to market, which was great. And now you went viral. And that's amazing. And viral in terms of like, virality, in terms of being at the right time, at the right place to get your message out in front of the right people. Right? So now I am not saying this to discredit any of their messaging because it is true, it is valid. It is 100%. These tips that I'm seeing from these gurus are amazing. I do. And I learn new things all the time. Not saying that. So to discourage you, I'm just, I'm actually sharing that with you because I want you to trust you more than you probably already do. Because I know that you have, that you are working on your message, that you are crafting it and that you are, you are practicing it. And so I just want you to go all in on you. Is that's the only reason why I'm bringing that to your attention? Because. Because it's easy to fall into that trap of thinking, oh, well, I Should be there by now. I'm doing the same things. I'm doing this and I'm not. It must be me. It must be me. But I want you to just. Sure. Razor's Edge. Razor's Edge. But chances are if you're here, I know that you're constantly looking at yourself and thinking, oh, I could do better, I could be better. I can, you know, keep practicing. How can I be better? There's no doubt that you are. Aren't looking at your performance. No doubt. So. So I just, I'm only sharing the opposite side so that you can be easier on yourself, that you could not be so hard on yourself, especially if you're like me. Because it can get easy to feel like, is it me? Am I the problem? Isn't the TikTok right? Isn't that what the one of the training sounds are? Right? Am I the drama? No, maybe. I mean maybe in some components, like are you showing up? Are you doing the work? Right, but chances are if you're here, I know that you are. But what I'm saying is that just, you know, not everything is, is what it seems like really, you know, look behind the lines so it gets to number five. So yeah, maybe they all, they are doing it all organic. And that is amazing and that is so cool. And I want you to do organic. I don't want you to rely paid and rely on organic. No, I want you to build a machine that consistently generates leads others through paid and organic and put them through to be purchasers. Right? Because then these people are like, well, I didn't, I paid no advertising and, and I have, you know, blah, blah, blah. But just know that there's a lot, there could be things under, beneath the surface. And now for me, because of my mind is just way my mind works. I'm always poking holes through things I'm saying and things I'm hearing. So I'm looking, I'm looking for the counter example. I'm like, I'm sure there's someone out there that has done it, gone viral and completely debunks what I'm saying. And I'm sure that that's true, but I'm not here to be right. I'm here to get you results. And so in order to do that is. I'm talking about majority. This is the majority of what happens to people and the traps that they fall. You could be an outlier, you could be in that top 1.00 chance, sure, that's fine, but. Right, isn't it what Isn't it? Aren't we looking at averages and batting averages in baseball? Husband's not here to listen to me record this episode. But we're looking at the average. So I'm just giving you. And an average consistency is. Are you going to hit a grand slam? Yes. Maybe. Right? Once. Once the season. Once, you know, every three seasons or whatever it is. Okay. So that's just, you know, one caveat when it comes to when, when it comes to these tips. Okay. And so the other thing too, that I wanted to say, when it comes to the, you know, when you have audience, people out there that are like, well, I'm making a million dollars and I have 200 people in my audience. Like, you don't have. Like, that is possible, by the way. You do not have to have this big, massive visibility. I'm not even saying let's meet millions and millions of dollars and, and, or get millions and millions of eyeballs and I'm not going to make any money until that happens. That's not true. It ultimately always comes back down to the offer, which is why I'm going to create another podcast episode on this. It ultimately comes down to the offer because these people who are like, oh, I have a hundred followers and I made 50 grand. Okay, they probably got five clients at 10k a pop. What they can do, you can do. Right. Again, makes the math work. It ultimately comes down to the, the offer and then you need to. And then the visibility needs to match to the offer. Okay, so I've given you a lot in this episode. This was a really dense episode on Accident. This is like Sunday night. My birth. My daughter's birthday party was tonight and today and we got a full day of birthday tomorrow. But it was just a lot of stuff that was coming through me, stuff that I've been seeing on the Internet. Internet. So yeah, sure, I didn't give you any like, do this platform, do this stuff, but I did give you some strategy in here. But ultimately right now, I just give you some food for thought. Some things to really think about. So a quick recap. The the five ways to grow an online audience. Assuming you already have your offer nailed, dialed in and now you're just wanting to increase your. Your, your visibility, which is what I meant when I'm talking about growing audience. Because you can't be. The Internet's best kept secret is number one, pick three, two, one method in terms of content and your messaging and dial in your messaging and pick the platforms you want to share it. Well, actually that was kind of too. But just pick your platforms. 3, 2, 1. Number two is you want to optimize your message and your profiles for those platform, optimize your those platforms and optimize the messaging. And then number three is optimizing your time and your and your revenue and getting clear on how you are spending your strategic, organic time on the platform and connecting with your audience. Which leads to number four. So three and four there, they kind of blended together. The Ford was the paid advertising components to test your messaging and number five was to really maximize your network of people and put it and sharing your message across audiences that are already seasoned with authority. You get to borrow authority in that way. Thanks so much for hanging out with me today and I'll catch you on the next episode. Thank you for listening to the PT Profit podcast. If you like this episode, chances are your friends will too. So it would be a huge service to us if you would please leave us a review and share with your friends on your social media channels. When you leave us a review, be sure to take a screenshot of it and email that screenshot to my team atinfo simpson fitness.com and we'll send you a very special Instagram podcast that will show you how to create compelling content so that your ideal clients come to you and you go from wanting clients to a wait list of clients ready for your services. Thank you so much for listening and we'll see you on the next episode.