Jen Casey (JC): Today, we’re talking about how to grow and monetize your Instagram, featuring the amazing Shannan Monson. I am so excited that you’re here. We have so many questions on Instagram! Can you share a little of your backstory?
Shannan Monson (SM): Yes. So, I am a dietitian. A couple of years ago, I was just really struggling to take it to the next level with my coaching business. I had clients that I was working with that I had found basically just by word-of-mouth. I knew that there were a lot of people making a lot of money on Instagram, and I thought, “Sign me up. I want in on that.” I just started studying and learning everything that I could about Instagram. As I was focusing on growing my following, in the first couple weeks I went from 160 friends and family members to 370 followers (which is still not very much.) But, I was able to sign my first two coaching clients from that.
And that’s when I realized that Instagram was just going to be a complete game changer for me and my business.
Since then, I’ve collaborated with brands like Athleta and Quaker Oats. I’m so grateful to be able to have all these really cool opportunities for my business and get exposure because of Instagram. So I’m really excited to chat today and help you guys get a really strong strategy so that you can have more clients and more exposure and PR and all those things through everyone’s favorite platforms.
JC: I love it. I’m so excited. First things first, there are some people who are still not on Instagram or who are not fully utilizing the platform because they’re a little bit unsure of how to start it. I’d love to chat a little bit about just branding your account name; that seems to be something that comes up a lot. Should I have my personal name? Should I have a business name? Should I do a feature account?. Pros and cons to all of these?
SM: I think the biggest thing that keeps people from starting their Instagram and really focusing on growing it is little details like that. We get so caught up in what our color scheme should be and what my brand name should be… that we don’t just start. So my first advice would be to just start. It really doesn’t matter, as it’s always changing down the line. In fact, I have changed mine three times.
If you’re not sure of a brand or business name yet and that’s something that’s giving you a lot of anxiety, then use your name and just start posting content. That’s what’s going to help you get a feel for how people connect to you and relate to you on what they really want from you.
That will help you define your brand. I realized this when I was just sharing really simple recipes of how I ate at home (I’m a terrible cook!). I was just posting to Instagram as @ShannanMonson and people were asking me for more simple recipes and how to break down nutrition simply.
And that’s where my current name came from.
I’m a big proponent of taking action. Because, when you’re having a roadblock, action is going to help get that clarity.
JC: Absolutely. Now, for people who are getting stuck on the branding assets and picking a theme… You have a beautiful feed where you take gorgeous photos and you started with your iPhone, right?
SM: Yeah, I started with my iPhone! Still a large majority of my photos are iPhone. I’m getting started to try and learn a little bit about photography. But I think the power of iPhone photography is that you take out all of these complicated steps. You don’t need a photographer hovering with an expensive camera. I started out a lot like you guys. I wasn’t a photographer. I wasn’t a creative. I was a coach, and I just wanted to share my message. So, with iPhone photography, you can take a quick picture of what you’re eating, post a message around it and then really start to tell a story; tell a narrative with strong visuals.
But, I do think it’s important to have a clear brand visual. I think you need to understand, “What am I sharing and what is the way I’m sharing?” If you’re confused about what your Instagram should look like, I always recommend just make a Pinterest board and see what you’re attracted to. Take not of what styles you like: dark and moody or bright white light? Clearly, I like the bright lights and strong contrast. That’s more my personal style. But again, same as Instagram name, the way that you’re going to get good at consistently sharing that visual message with iPhone photos is by doing it.
If you scroll all the way back through my Instagram feed, they really were not great pictures.
But the reality is, it didn’t matter, because the message was strong.
I think there’s so much value in that, because again, I think we just get so held back by not having a perfect, beautiful photos next to each other… but that’s just honestly completely opposite.
JC: It’s so true. I purchased a Canon for recording high quality video footage, and it’s like, “Oh, well I’ve got this really nice camera… I should take pictures with it!” But it’s so heavy, it’s so clunky. It’s an AMAZING camera, but it’s time consuming to get all the settings perfect. And, especially with Instagram’s photos being so small, you really can’t tell that much of a difference in quality from the iPhone to a really nice camera.
SM: Right. The photo is not being blown up on a wall somewhere. And actually, most of the time I like iPhone photos better, because with the way the lens is, it’s easier to get more in your shot. But with iPhone photography, I am always reminding people, “Are you in the business to become a photographer?” I knew when I started out, I didn’t want to bother. I didn’t want to be a photographer. That wasn’t a skill I wanted to learn to get to where I want to go. So, why on earth would you be spending your time taking pictures for Instagram? It doesn’t make sense.
You’re a health coach, you’re a nutritionist, a dietician, a personal trainer, a wellness coach… whatever it is, you should be spending your time doing that.
iPhone photography lets you market yourself and your skills without spending all your time trying to figure out how to use a Canon 70 DB. Nobody’s got time for that.
JC: Exactly! So, for people who are trying to figure out what their branded color is, you said to check out Pinterest and create a brand board. That is great advice. I find that sometimes when I give that assignment to people, they come back and they jokingly say, “It looks like a Kindergartener made this. It’s sparkles, and pink, and purple, and gold shimmer, and like 800 different twisty fonts.” So, how do we put them together? Are there any basic ground rules to creating a powerful, professional looking brand board?
SM: Yes. So we’re not all designers, and we’re not all naturally visual people. I am a strongly visual person. Before I had a crummy Instagram feed, but I liked decorating my home and choosing my new outfits. That was something that was a strong point for me. So. if you don’t feel like that’s the case, then don’t worry about trying to capture this really beautiful aesthetic. Just keep it really simple. So, especially if you’re going to be posting food pictures or work out pictures, then buy three consistent backgrounds that you can use again and again. And I mean like, a white foam board. So, every time you take a picture of your food, you can plop that down on the board. That doesn’t have to be this overly artistic, beautiful thing. But that way it’s simple and it’s easy to understand. So, the focus is on the food. Same thing if you are sharing workouts. Stand in front of a white garage door and do your workouts.
I think you have to remember: people are scrolling so quickly through their feed, they’re not obsessing about how much your photos match next to each other once they are already following you. I do think that matters if they click over in the most recent nine photos. It should be really aesthetically pleasing.
But remember that: you just have a second to grab someone’s attention and they need to know right away, “What am I going to learn? What am I going to get or will I be inspired by this post?”
Remember, unlike you, the people following you have untrained eyes. They’re not designers and aren’t creative; they’re just moms who want to know what to make for dinner tonight. So I think the simpler the better.
If you find yourself drawn to all of these shiny, sparkly different things, just push it off to the side and just stick with white or black or hot pink. Keep it super, super consistent.
Consistency is the number one goal.
If you can’t tell if things are consistent, put them next to each other. You will immediately see if one doesn’t fit. It’s a process, but don’t aim to be the most beautiful photography account in the world. Instagram is just about connection with those people. Just keep it simple and focus on your message.
JC: That’s something that I’ve actually recently started doing. First of all, I finally feel like I stepped into a consistent visual aesthetic. It’s something that has evolved over time. So I love your advice from the beginning, because you figure it out over time. What I do now is, right before I post, I open up Instagram on my computer and I think, “OK, how is that going to fit into the tiles? Will it looked balanced?” That way, I’m not uploading and deleting things.
SM: Right, like not wasting your time. I really recommend batch creating your photos. There’s an app that I use that’s actually free. It’s amazing. It’s called Later, and you can upload all your photos and see how they look next to each other. That way, I can schedule it out. I know which posts are happening on which day, and we can visually see ahead of time as well. Another recommendation I have is Dropbox. Put the photos in Dropbox so you can drag them around.
It’s something you need to be aware of and paying attention to, but what I’ve found is that people obsess over it more than just sharing their message and getting something out there.
JC: Totally. I know one thing that a lot of the ladies were asking about their follower counts. They’re constantly fluctuating, and there’s a lot of weird stuff going on with the algorithm. There are new rules coming out in terms of using bots. What are some of the things that have changed majorly, even in the last 6 months, that you noticed on Instagram?
SM: Yeah. I think that a lot of times when changes happen, we all freak out.
As much as everybody says Instagram is trying to hide your followers from you, the algorithm is only here to help you.
Instagram loves underdogs and is always featuring and championing underdogs. They’re not here to make the popular more popular. Think about how the explore page way back when used to only be popular counts. Now, it’s just people that you might be interested in. I promise you. Instagram wants to help you get out there. So, if you’re struggling to really get traction with followers and you’re really gaining and losing quickly, then what’s happening is you aren’t building relationships with those people. It might be kind of follows for follows.
The first thing I would say is, are YOU giving THEM a good reason to follow you? More often than not, especially with health and fitness accounts, I see a lot of green juice or restaurants or workouts.
You think you’re being motivating, but what you don’t realize is that you’re really only motivating to yourself; you’re not actually adding value.
So flip it! Instead of a “doing my workout” post, now post with, “Here is what you can do.” and take them through a workout.
Give them a full recipe, and don’t bury it at the end of a daily journal diatribe. Just straight up: “Here’s a recipe that’s so easy for you.” “Here’s a workout that’s so easy for you.” “Here is a goal setting technique you can implement.” I think that when you make that swap to adding so much value, you’ll find you’re not going to be losing followers.
People hit “unfollow” when you are no longer value to them. You’re not making their life better, you’re not making it funnier, or you’re not making them smarter or more inspired. I promise you that’s the only reason people are hitting unfollow.
If you’re getting a lot of “follows for follows,” what’s happening is the value that you’re adding in their life is that you’re going to follow them back. So don’t follow people in order to get followed back. That doesn’t make any sense, and yet people are still doing it!
Instead of hitting “follow” to try to get more followers, spend time with the explore tab on hashtags that are relevant to you.
Really build true friendships and relationships.
Some of my best friends are built out of Instagram. Some of my favorite customers and clients started that way, where I was just leaving a genuine comment on their posts. I can’t express enough how much it’s about the relationship. If that part is going wrong for you, then as much as this is tough love, you’re not building relationships.
JC: 100 percent.The “follow for follow” this is just kind of rampant right now, and honestly – I don’t know about anyone listening to this, but I don’t really take note of follows/likes. If somebody takes the time to write something really thoughtful on my post, I take notice of that. It’s SO RARE on Instagram these days! I love what you’re saying too about the algorithm, and how it really is in favor of us. A lot of people don’t realize that there are so many people on Instagram and Facebook and all these social media platforms that, if we didn’t have some kind of algorithm in place, our feed would be so rapid that you’d never see a single post because that’s how fast things are populating.
So, the reason that the algorithm is in place is because it wants to use some kind of ability to actually deliver things that are your preferences.
SM: And it goes back to quality over quantity. I know, especially on Instagram, your numbers are just so prevalent. It can be enticing to just want that number to grow. What I’ve done personally:
as soon as the algorithm came out, my reach pretty much cut in half, but our sales went up.
So that tells me that people that weren’t interested in seeing our content aren’t any more, and I don’t have to really bug them. And, the people that are the most invested were able to be more engaged and take it to the next level.
I always revisit that; are we just growing for growth’s sake, or are we growing with quality leads?
People that are interested in our message, what we’re doing, our products and services?
Because that’s the whole point of the Instagram account is to help grow our business.
JC: Right. I know the other day we were chatting, and you said something so powerful. You said, “You don’t need 10,000 followers to make 10k in your business.” And I would love for you to expand on that, because you’re proof of that right now.
SM: My revenue model has always been based off of coaching services and informational products rather than sponsorships with brands. I’m not a blogger, so I don’t have a blogger’s business model. I do think that, if that’s your business model, you’re proving to companies how much of a reach you have and how much of an influence you have. I absolutely think, if you are running a blogger business model, the algorithm hurt a little bit. Because, what’s happening is just more transparency, whereas before to a company you’d say “I’ve got 20K followers, this is my reach” and then price your package based on that. Now they can see if only 11K of your 20K followers are seeing your message, and how many are clicking over to your links. There’s just so much more companies can measure it better. But, if you guys are watching this, you don’t have 50K followers and a blogger business model. So what has always been so encouraging for me with Instagram was that I got my first two clients who doubled my monthly revenue with only having 371 followers. They were such great proof that it’s NOT about the numbers, it’s about the people.
Having followers means that there are people walking into your business door and looking around; it’s your ability to then get them to pick up an item and give them your money.
In my opinion, I don’t think that there’s any point in trying to become a blogger or an influencer. If that is a long term goal and it happens, then awesome. But, why are you growing your following in the first place? Where are you sending people? What are you offering them?
If you have all of that in place, you’re good. I was already nutrition coach and I already knew how to get on the phone with somebody and turn them into a three or six month client. That changed everything for me. And that’s why, when the algorithm came out, I didn’t freak out… because I same business model.
I’m still reaching people that are interested in my message, and the ones that are most interested are signing on and getting services and helping to grow our business.
JC: How do you actively sell on Instagram? There’s a lot of different ways that you can sell your offerings, so I’m curious what you do.
SM: I’m a very big proponent that Instagram is about building relationships and it’s not a place for selling. So I have never, ever sold on Instagram. What I do and what I use Instagram for is to build these really strong relationships. Then, every three or six months or sometimes every six weeks, I invite those people into my sales funnel. I invite them to take a free class and learn more about our products and services. And that’s how we get someone from an Instagram follower to a customer. We do also run a lot of paid traffic through Facebook ads and Instagram ads. Those people that have been following me for months or weeks even are converting so much faster and higher than someone that I just paid for the traffic.
But, I do have lots of friends that sell directly through Instagram. Basically, every single post is about a product and they do that really well.
So I think it’s less about how I do it and more about creating your own specific proven method.
In whatever it is that you want to sell, I would find someone who is doing it really well and take a course or hire them to work with you one-on-one. If you want to be an Etsy shop owner or you want to sell online courses, find someone who does it, because that’s the business aspect. It’s not the Instagram aspect; believing that your Instagram following will increase your bank account. That is not only untrue, but it’s really disappointing when it doesn’t happen.
JC: It’s so true. So many people are just chasing followers and wondering why the money’s not coming in. But they either don’t have something to monetize, or the offer is set up in a complicated and confusing way. OR, they’re just blasting their followers with non-stop pitching. I see this a lot in the network marketing base, especially where there is such a need for a volume business. It’s not actually a personal brand account, and it just looks like somebody is a rep for a company. So why is that so ineffective?
SM: Before I tell you why it’s ineffective, let me tell you why it can be so effective. There’s a lifestyle blogger that I’ve been following for months. I just love her stuff, and I just feel like we’re best friends.
We’ve messaged back and forth a couple of times. Last week, for the first time in the three months I’ve been following her, she announced, “Hey, did you know that I really love essential oils? I have this oils account that you can learn more about how to join our team.” I was sold, as well as I’m sure hundreds of others who think that the volume game can only happen if you’re pitching every single day. I’m sure this is an announcement she makes every few months or so. But, she is able to get all of those new followers at the same time.
The biggest mistake I see being made by network marketers is playing the short game.
You want people to sign up on your live video today.
You want them to sign up from your Instagram post today.
It’s not about that.
It’s about relationships.
I can’t stress that enough.
So why it’s NOT effective… It’s like the salesman at a mall cart. The minute you walk past them, you know that they’re trying to sell to you. Instagram is not a selling platform. People don’t come to buy things. You go to see what your friends are doing and see what’s going on in their day. So when you try and make it like a pamphlet and flyers, then people are so turned off.
Your posts need to be organic to that platform. So rather than sharing posts that are “Click here!” and “Free specials!”, I think that you should be sharing about your life, and letting people come along your journey with you. And then you can really subtly bring in how you love this Beachbody program you’ve been doing and look at the results that you’ve had. But that’s like, one post of 10 or 20. The same with oils or any other products you’re selling, because these are lifestyle products. They know that you’re trying to tell people that these products will change your life. Rather than tell people in a direct message, show them a series of Instagram posts over the course of three months; not mentioning the product every time. Just let them come along for the ride. And you can say, “Remember how I had a really rough week last week? The kids are being crazy.. We tried *product* and it was SO life changing.” Then, you’re making a relationship with people rather than making sales transactions.
JC: Absolutely.
You’re creating that curiosity and, through sharing your story, allowing them to actually put themselves in that place and visualize themselves in that scenario.
That’s a good little sales tip right there. So, we have to chat a little bit about hashtags. This is especially difficult for a lot of the ladies in network marketing, because they’re using a lot of their company hashtags as opposed to using hashtags that their followers are using. They’re finding that the only people coming to like their stuff are other people in their company, which is clearly not going to generate sales.
SM: Well, the first thing I’d say is: is your content something that someone who’s not in your network marketing company would be interested in? Like, if it’s just you doing Beachbody videos, then the only people interested in that are other people doing the same thing. So that’s the first thing we always go back to: the content you’re sharing. But what I always come back to is that I used Instagram for a long time just personally; as a mom and a married woman.
I never ever once as a normal Instagram user commented on someone’s photo that I didn’t know. I never once looked up a hashtag and searched it for a chance to follow. That’s not the normal person’s method of using Instagram.
So I think when you really internalize that, why in the world would #Beachbody or #doterra help you find someone who’s never used those products before?
That doesn’t make any sense. So I do think the hashtags can be powerful when you’re using really strategic ones. What are those hashtags that a new mom who might be interested in oils might be using and has nothing to do with oils? It’s probably like #MomOfTwo. That can be really powerful, but even at that, I don’t think that posting it on your photo is as powerful as searching the hash tag and going out and looking for people using hashtags. I’ve never really seen a ton of growth from just posting hashtags, unless it’s with the intention of getting reposted by brands. Like, I’m using a company’s hashtag in order to get featured to their audience and grow my following.
So I think that hash tags are a really great tool, they’re just used in the wrong way.
I’ve found that my best, most engaged growth comes from collaborations; by reaching out to other people and companies and setting up strategic collaboration.
JC: Ok, so what’s an example of that? This might be new for some people.
SM: The first step is just establishing the relationship. Usually what I’ll do is start following someone on Instagram and just leave some genuine comments and likes. I’ll just be on their radar for a while and then I’ll send a direct message or send an email a couple of weeks later. I’ll say something like, “Hey, I really loved something recent that you did,” so that they can see that you are paying attention to what’s going on and not just looking for what’s in it for you. And then I’ll usually pitch some sort of idea, like, “Are you interested in doing an Instagram takeover swap?” Or if you share my page, I’ll share yours. Sometimes with bigger brands, it might be actually creating content for a blog post for them or doing an interview like this. I would consider what Jen and I are doing as a collaboration. It is an opportunity to tag their name in an Instagram caption.
So that’s why I’m always looking to set up collaborations. I’m actually going to be teaching a free class on this, so I’ll give you the information.
JC: This is such good advice, because so many of the women especially who are in the early stages of their businesses don’t realize that they can pitch other podcasters or just other influencers. You don’t have to necessarily run to the top podcasters and beg them to put you on their show.
Figure out what you can possibly offer for yourself, but also what you can offer to THEIR listeners.
I don’t know if you get this too, but I know people will pitch for the podcast and they say, “Hey, I love your show. I love listening to it. It’s amazing. Can I come on?” Ok… but what do you want to talk about?
SM: The thing is, people are so busy. We don’t have the time to wing it and make it work.
It’s not other people’s job to make your pitch or your content.
JC: Yeah, when people give me specific things like, “Here are some topics that I can cover.” it’s like, OH! GREAT! Actually, with you, I just found your Facebook ads and I loved the production quality, the message, your energy… so, I might not be your perfect, ideal client, but it worked on me!
SM: No, you’re absolutely my ideal client. The other thing that wanted mention is, especially when you’re starting out. I know this is something I struggled with a lot: that first collaboration.
You have a strong desire to prove yourself, because you need to prove to your family and your friends that what you’re doing is worthwhile. You’re trying to get an Oscar with your first performance. You’re upset, because you’re pitching massive companies that get pitches all day long, and you’re not getting responses.
The reason I got traction on Instagram so fast was because I only reached out to other health and wellness bloggers that had five or ten thousand followers on Instagram.
Gary V always says this: one is greater than zero.
There’s so much more value in getting in front of the right one person.
You don’t need to get in front of a hundred thousand people. Honestly, sometimes the best people have the strongest relationships with the people they’re already following. It’s a more intimate relationship in these smaller settings, so I still always try and set up collaborations with small people. I’ll get my message heard in front of small audiences. If somebody invited you to speak to a room of 10 people, you wouldn’t say no because it wasn’t going to be a sold out Taylor Swift concert.
And yet, we have the same attitude about pitching our content and getting featured. It needs to be a big deal… like, who cares. I’ve been featured so many places, but I’m not a celebrity brand.
I know that you want to prove yourself, but it’s not going to happen overnight.
I wish so desperately that someone would have told me that. This is all about the long game and you’re going to prove that in the long run, you’re the real deal. But, it’s going to take time to get there. It’s going to take time for your content to get good enough. You have to keep putting out content, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get collaboration and get features right now.
JC: I love this and I think it’s so powerful. Sometimes the smaller audiences are actually more connected to that influence or that person, because a smaller audience can be nurtured more individually and they’re more hungry to buy. So, you might be stepping in front of a million people, but the audience of 5000 might actually be closer to your original audience and you feel more connected to them, which may end up putting more money in your pocket.
I want to talk to you about Instagram stories. I don’t know about you, but I find that I’ve been able to connect with people on such a deeper level because of video. I find that when I respond to people’s Instagram stories, it’s so much more powerful and such an easier way to get inside somebody’s inbox in an authentic, non-creepy way as opposed to just commenting a million times on their posts. What experiences have you had with that so far?
SM: Live video is the next everything. I know it’s intimidating to learn a new thing. I still think your classic feed posts are very important.
To me, my Instagram posts are decorating my storefront. It’s letting people know that we’re a legit business and here’s a sampling of what you get. But the real interaction is in direct messages.
It absolutely is, because it’s just a really personal connection. So, if you’re not doing Instastories, start!
If you don’t know what to post, teach a mini lesson. I think a lot of us are educators, but you could never go wrong with that. So just find something you’re doing in your daily routine and turn it into a lesson. “Step one, step two, step three. And here’s the final product. If you have any questions just send me a DM.” It’s so personal. I think one of the biggest struggles is when you put the camera around, because it’s the unknown. Who’s listening, who’s watching, what have they been seeing?
I’ve been able to just completely get rid of all of that fear by just pretending my best friend is the only one watching.
That’s the only way that I can talk genuinely and not in a Barbie-robot way. It’s supposed to be a really intimate platform, and if you try and make it something that it’s not, people will immediately recognize that. Like, you’re just trying to tell them about your product so they’ll buy it, or just posting so that they’ll join your team.
Being on the camera is definitely something you need to practice and learn, but you also don’t always have to be on the screen in stories. We do a lot of stories that are photos only and they’re really efficient. You can tell a whole blog post in seven photos on stories. So, study people who are doing the stories you do well, and copy them.
Find what you think is going to be your style of Instastories. I think it’s just growing and evolving. The beauty of it is: it really disappears.
JC: I actually am loving that right now. Instagram took a little note from Periscope to have it disappear in 24 hours. I love it because it creates that urgency around watching it right away. Urgency in sales is a key piece.
So if you guys are just kind of obsessing over your feed, you’ve GOTTA get on Instagram stories.
There’s a lot of different styles that people have right now with Instagram stories. There are some people who do more fitness style / workouts, some people are giving a play by play of their whole day. I’ve actually tried to do something like that recently. “Hey, this is what I do as an entrepreneur.” I’m not on video all day long, but just hinting at what a day in the life is like.
I’m getting a lot of fun feedback from it!
You’ve just got to play with it, and see what your audience is going to resonate with.
SM: Yeah. If you’re just getting started on Instagram, I would actually focus on putting stories out more and more often than Instagram posts.
The algorithm is favoring people that are using stories more often and using live more often.
Again, that’s where people are moving to. For me, my biggest fear is that I have to master something and then it’s going to go away. The answer is yes, but also no… because Instastories is just what a blog post was ten years ago. It really is. It’s the evolution of content. You don’t have to relearn the wheel. You’re just presenting it in a different way.
You might have done a blog post in 2007 that was “10 Steps To Make Slow Cooker Chicken.” It would have shown all of these edited photos. Today, you have a video in your kitchen with you and you’re just showing people on Instastories as you’re doing it.
JC: This is such good advice. Taking the skills that you’ve already developed with you as the platform changes. The skills will never go away. Like you said, if you did Periscope, you learned how to be captivating on video. That translated into Instagram lives. The things you’ve already mastered can just be reframed in this new world.
SM: It’s SO much easier, especially if you get stressed about making things look pretty.
This is a great way to connect with people and share content without having to worry about any of the aesthetics.
JC: People are very connected to your personality. When you get on video, you can connect to somebody ten times faster than just through posts; especially if your posts are more of a storefront. I try to make my posts more polished, as it is a legitimate business. But stories… that’s where it gets a little weird!
SM: Absolutely. I 100 percent agree with that. I think video has hands down changed my business. A lot of people have found us through video. If you do feel overwhelmed with it, you can upload videos that you’ve already edited. If it makes you feel better to just put your phone on a tripod and teach a 10 minute lesson, do it. Then take it and clip it into 15 second clips and upload it to Instastories. I don’t think that should be your flow in the long run, but if you feel overwhelmed about how to get started, just do an edited video until you feel comfortable.
JC: I actually think there’s an app that does that for you. It’ll automatically clip it for you instead of trying to do it yourself. I don’t remember the name, but go check it out. I’m pretty sure there’s an app.
SM: I’m going to jump on this. I have a friend, without naming names, who works as a social media manager for a very, very big company that sells some form of female underwear. I’ve been watching the founders’ stories, and just like absolutely love them. I think they’re hilarious. I come to find out that, as an older woman, she literally has no idea how to do an Instastory. She basically just vlogs all day long and sends a bunch of videos to the social media team. They’re the ones cutting them down into stories.
If you’re wondering how to create a beginning-middle-end… Your life is a story. It’s actually already happening.
Start recording, and then just clip it down. That’s how you’ll figure out how to start.
JC: This reminds me a Gary V quote: “Document, don’t create.”
SM: Oh, Gary. He should’ve been on instead of me! But yeah, if you don’t have a team and you’re overwhelmed, just start doing it. Also, people care way less than you think they do. I love beautiful things, so I really try and keep my stories more professional and more pretty… and then, every once in awhile, I’ll just be running out the door and post something, and that’s 99% the best engagement. Don’t feel so overwhelmed about it. People can always swipe past or they can straight up unfollow you if they don’t like it.
Don’t allow the fact that someone might not like it keep you from posting it.
JC: So true. So, where can people come and hang out with you; learn more about you and all of your amazing free offerings?
SM: Obviously Instagram, right! I’m on Instagram @ShannanMonson. And my name is spelled with two A’s. S-h-a-n-n-A-n Monson. I’m also the founder of the nutrition business, NutritionSimp.ly. I don’t really have a place where all of our freebies are, but I announce when we’re doing them live. So come on Instagram and you’ll be the first to know about a class.
And then, if you’re interested in learning how to grow your instagram with iPhone photography, I’ve got an awesome free class at NutritionSimp.ly/Masterclass.
JC: Amazing. So guys, go check them out. Head over to Instagram. Go give Shannan some love!
