150: Demystifying Instagram: Expert Insights and Practical Tips from Heather Caldera

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Welcome to the Course Creators MBA podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Destiny Kopp, and I help business owners increase the revenue with digital products and evergreen sales funnels. In this podcast, we go deep into product and marketing strategies for digital product creators. We cover everything from digital product creation, how to market and sell your digital products, and just as important, how to find your ideal customer. Let's jump right into our show.

And my special guest today is Heather Caldera. Heather is an Instagram coach and social media manager, and she has been in the industry for 11 years, managing over 30 accounts for a variety of businesses and teaching over 60 plus women how to use Instagram for their business. And Heather, I am super excited to chat with you today. And we're going to be talking about Instagram, and I know the audience members who are listening here today. I would say, I would go out a limb and say probably 99% of them use Instagram in their business. So they're going to be so super interested in all the great tips that you have for us. But before we jump into the discussion, can you tell the audience a little bit more about you and how you help people?

Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me too. First of all, a little bit about me. I mean, like you mentioned, I've been doing social media marketing for 11 years. I started my business in she is Social five years ago in 2018, and then once 2020 hit, I lost all of my social media clients. But it was actually perfect for me because I was wanting to pivot out of that section of my business. And that is when I began to start coaching women on how to use Instagram realistically for their businesses. So I've been doing that for the past three years. I've also brought back social media management. And then when I'm not working on my business, I'm a mom of four. And so I get like the struggle of finding balance between being a mom, being a business owner, being on Instagram, all of those things. So what I really help women with is trying to, you know, I don't think there's really ever such a thing as balance, but figuring out how to find that time to run your business, be present and consistent on Instagram realistically, but also be able to put your phone down and spend time with your kids and your family.

So, Heather, I have to ask you, how old are your kids and are they boys or girls?

Yes. So I have two girls. Two boys. My girls are nine and six, and then my boys are four and two.

Well, so between Two years old and nine years old. You have your hands full. I have to say yes. Now, Heather, we were talking a little bit before we started recording and I know that one of the things that you like to emphasize and what you work with your clients on is building a community on Instagram. So tell us a little bit about what do you, what exactly do you mean by that? Because Instagram's a social media platform. But how, how do we go about building a community and what struggles do you see that business owners like us have with, with, you know, with a social media account like Instagram and making sure that it doesn't overwhelm us in our business?

Yeah, I think that for a lot of business owners when it comes to Instagram, I think that their first issue, and maybe it's not something that they really recognize, but they see it as this platform that is, well one, they see it as like a necessary evil. They think that they absolutely have to be on it in order for their business to thrive. And so that provides a lot of problems when it comes to them being present on there and when it comes to like them selling their products or their services and when they first just approach it with this negative mindset and it's not something that they enjoy. And when I speak about building your community, I don't like for my focus or my clients focus to be on just growing your followers because you can have an Instagram platform that has like let's say 1000 followers and you have spent this time building relationships and growing this community of a thousand people who are your die hard supporters. They're going to buy everything that you sell, they're going to engage with everything that you post, they're going to watch all of the stories that you post. And that's more important than growing your following to over 20k and still only having like this small group of people who follow you. So when it really, what it comes down to is seeing that bigger picture of does having 10k followers, 20k followers really matter? If they're not engaging with you, they're not watching the content that you post, they're not liking any of the content and if they're not doing any of those things, then they're definitely not going to be buying from you or supporting you.

So when people are, you know, going out to build what you call a community on Instagram, what are some things that they need to be doing and what, what are we doing wrong? Because I think a lot of people, you know, I'll put myself in this category may be struggling with this.

Yeah, there's, I mean, there's a lot, there's a lot of things that I see these ladies are doing wrong. But one of the things is, one of the main themes is engagement. And that is not only you working on getting that engagement from your audience, but, but also giving that engagement. So in order to have that kind of a relationship, you need to give that engagement first. So when I'm, when I say engagement, I mean like responding to comments that you get on your post, responding to DMS that you get from your stories, but also going out into Instagram and engaging with the people who are following you, who are your potential followers, your ideal clients, and interacting with them on their content and their post as well. Because really what, what Instagram has become is this platform where we kind of, we're all kind of in a sense like influencers for like, you know, I don't want to put us all in a box, but when people are following you, they're looking to you for your expertise and they're kind of in a way like a fan of yours. And so you spend that time to engage with them and interact with them in their content, that you're making them feel special, you're validating them. And those are things that feel really good to people and feel really good to your ideal clients. And people absolutely love that. I mean, I love when people respond back to me. So, yeah, I think engagement is one of those huge things. And then when you're building your community, also focusing on growing relationships, so, you know, it is over social media, so it's a little bit weird. But I think ever since 2020 and the pandemic, we've, we've kind of had to pivot to being more present online and learning how to grow relationships online. And really what everybody is looking for online is to grow those relationships and be all up in your business and see what you're doing on a day to day basis. And so when you are again engaging with those people, you're responding to their messages and their comments, that right, there are just like little things that you are doing to grow and build a relationship with them.

And I think those are some great tips. So not only making sure that we're responding back to DMs and responding back to people who've posted on our posts, which I think most of us should be doing that or are doing that today, but also going out and responding on other people's accounts and really kind of, you know, showing them that, yes, we care, we Care about you also. Now let's switch gears just a little bit here and talking about what type of content do you recommend that we post out on Instagram? Is it all business? Is it mix of business versus personal? Let's, let's, you know, I'm gonna throw a lot of things at you, so bear with me. Is it just in the feed or is it reels or stories? Kind of walk us through what you recommend as a strategy.

Yeah, one, I recommend creating a strategy, right? Because especially with how Instagram is today. Well, one, there's 500 million daily users, so. And then with like the, the launching of reels a couple of years ago, like, there is just so much content being pushed at us that you feel like you have to keep up with it, but you don't. You don't really. So when I'm working with my ladies, I always begin with, hey, do you have a content strategy? One, this is going to help you organize your thoughts and figure out what can you post and what should you posting. And that can be business related, it can be personal related, it can be, you know, mom stuff, it can be whatever you want. It is your Instagram. And remember that you know, the including, like the personal and the mom stuff that helps to make you real to your audience. Especially if your clients all come from Instagram or if you're not just local based, making sure that you have some kind of a connection that seems real to your audience. So including that personal aspect and then that content strategy, strategy is also not only going to help you organize your thoughts, but it's going to grow your audience organically. It's going to help keep you consistent and keep you on track for how you create for Instagram. So I know that there are, so there's like so many other Instagram experts or gurus or whatever you want to call them out there on Instagram. And I do see a lot of them posting. Like, yeah, you should be posting every day and you need to be creating five reels a week and posting to stories. This time, this time, this time, and for my audience, my community, my ideal client, that is just not realistic. And I think that's not realistic for a lot of women who own their own businesses and our moms. And so my approach for my Instagram and my clients is to be very realistic. So I tell them, like, hey, if you can only post three times a week, that is perfect. That is a great place to start. If you are like thinking right now to yourself, like, I can only be consistent with one Post a week, then start there and just make sure that you are always consistent with it. And then as far as like what to post and where, it kind of depends. So reels are great if you are wanting to increase your reach and increase your following as well. Reels reach out to like almost always there the reach is going to be to people who do not follow you. It's also a great place where you can showcase like your personality more about your business and your brand. And when, when I do teach about reels, I just like to remind my clients like hey, you don't need to do any of those trendy dances. You don't need to be scen or acting like you can literally just record like a b roll footage of yourself of yourself. Like I've been recording myself getting my Starbucks coffee and just drinking it my car and I've been using that for creating reels so. So just making it super easy for yourself. Feed content is great for you know, increasing that engagement, increasing those likes if that is something that you want. And I always recomm including a photo of yourself at least a couple of times a month. So then people know who you are, what you look like, who, who they are working with. Carousels are great, great post for engagement on Instagram. They do receive, I believe it's 4% more engagement than any other post on Instagram. And then stories are your place where I actually don teach about a story strategy because I don't think that you need one. Think stories are this place where you don't need to be all perfect and curated. You can show up with makeup, no makeup in your PJs, whatever you want. It's a place where you, you really get to show your audience who you are and how you work on a day to day basis and, and how it's a, it's a place where they can really get to know you. And it's where you build that like know and trust with your audience. And your stories are really going to be the place that kind of convinces your audience like hey yes, I want to work with this person or no, I don't really care for this person. You know, maybe I don't want to work with them. And in stories I always like to say like this is where you need a post like yes, of course about your business. But don't be afraid to get personal too because it could be the, it could be you sharing that you just binge watched all 10 seasons of Vanderpump Rules and like it sounds so silly but that can be the one thing that somebody can connect with you on that is going to convince them to work with you on as well. So it's just creating like those connections where you can, you know, build those relationships with your audience and where they feel comfortable enough with you on, like a personal level to where they feel like they can work with you as well.

So what I'm hearing, and correct me if I'm wrong on any of this, what I'm hearing is Instagram reels are a great place to kind of build out brand awareness. You know, it'll reach people who don't know you. The feed is a great place, like for Carousel posts. It gets a ton of engagements there. You can build your followers, build your likes there. But Stories is where it at, where it is to kind of share some of that personal aspect and really kind of showcase your personality. And that will be. That will help people determine, yes, I want to work with that person or no, they're just not for me.

Yeah. Yep.

So can you. When we're about to wrap it up here, but before we do, can you give the audience any last minute tips? Tips about Instagram and how they can use it in their business?

Yeah, my. I guess my number one tip would be not to let it overwhelm you. And I know that's like so much easier said than done, but definitely don't feel like you have to constantly be present and constantly be creating content on Instagram. You can successfully show up Monday through Friday and create the content that you need to and build those relationships, but also still be able to put your phone down and. Or like I always like to say, like I put my phone on do not disturb around 8:30 and then I don't take it off of do not disturb until like maybe 8:30 in the morning or 9. So I'm very. I have very specific boundaries when it comes to social media. One, because it's my job and like I could be on there 247 if. If I really wanted to, but it's exhausting too. So I get it. So I really like to set those boundaries and let people know, like, you do not also have to be on Instagram 24 7. Like you can create the content and then you can put your phone down, you can go play with your kids, you can go on vacation, you can pick up this book and read it. You can go binge, watch that Netflix show, whatever it is. So definitely not to let it overwhelm you, stress you out. And remember to be present in real life as well, and those are some.

Great suggestions and tips. And Heather, thank you so much for joining us today. Before we hang up here, can you let folks folks know where they can find you? And I believe you have a free gift for them also.

Yeah. So you can find me on Instagram, it's sheis social and you'll know who I am because my whole feed is very pink and bright and just girly. So you, you'll know you've come to the right place. And then my free gift is access to my 2023 Instagram content calendar. So it's a 12 month content calendar of content prompts or ideas for you to use for your Instagram. Some of them are very specific like, hey, create this real or do this on your stories the weekends. I don't put anything on the weekends unless it's like a holiday. But I incur like I said, I encourage my audience, my clients to take the weekends off of Instagram and enjoy their lives. And it's the calendar prompts are also very general so they can be used for any business in any industry.

And Heather, thank you so much for joining us today and giving us all of these great tips about Instagram.

Yes, thank you for having me.

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