When You Plan, You Can Save A Lot Of Time

One of the mompreneurs I work with schedules and time blocks using different colors. This is a fun way to get the creative side of her brain working. Planning fun activities with your clients, in your work, in your social media, and throughout your day and blocking them into your calendar clears your mind, allows you to focus on what’s important, and creates an opportunity to enhance your life and the lives of everyone you come in contact with. I am an Instagram strategist and I help mompreneurs build their business via Instagram so you can stop hunting for prospects and grow your business. My mission is to help you build a highly targeted audience. The one thing every mompreneur needs to know when she’s wanting more clients is that Instagram is a goldmine when you know what to do. The first thing you need to understand when creating an Instagram account for your business is that the account isn’t about you. It’s about your target customer. They showcase their products and all their fantastic services, but nobody cares, because they’re not providing any value. All they do is try to sell their stuff. What they don’t realize is that none of us spend time on Social Media because we want to be sold to! We are on social media to find value, have a good time, unwind and relax. So what exactly is ‘value’? Generally we break it down into three categories.

Sentimental Thoughts

Value is something that inspires, teaches, or entertains us. If you can accomplish all three in one post, you have nailed it. For example, you might have an inspiring photo with a caption telling an entertaining story that teaches us something. I’m not suggesting that it is necessary to do all three in every Instagram post, but I want you to try to incorporate at least one of the three categories in every post. In order to understand what real value is for your specific target customer, you will need to drill down to the very core of their life. You need to know them better than they know themselves. The biggest ‘secret’ on Instagram, and social media in general, is that your target audience isn’t interested in you. They are not interested in your products, your life, or your beautiful pictures. They are not interested in you at all. They are interested in themselves. What that means is that they don’t want to see your life. They want to see their life through your eyes.

Don't Force That Smile

Once you understand this very subtle but important difference, it will shape how you interact with Instagram. This is where your unique story comes in. Only you have your specific mix of skills, experiences, and life wisdom. Only you can inspire, teach, or entertain in your way. The pictures in your Instagram grid are what people use to decide if they will stop on your account or not. In fact, the ‘job’ of an Instagram picture is to make your target customers stop scrolling. It’s as easy as that. Your aim is to make it a ‘no brainer’ for people to follow you. When we land on your account, we should immediately see what your account is about and if it is of any interest to us. We should see what story you are telling. And that’s why your images should tell the story you want us to see whether we look at a single image or your collection of pictures. Or maybe the story about the mother of three that also runs an accounting business.

Attitude Adjustment

Your pictures and captions must align with that story. The aim on Instagram is to create connections and a ‘know, like, and trust factor.’ The easiest way for you to accomplish that is by telling personal stories in pictures and words that your target audience can relate to. Remember to include yourself in several of your Instagram pictures. We learn who you are, why you are running your business and what’s in it for us. We want real people, with real lives and authentic businesses. Your pictures should be of high quality, but not all of them need to be professionally taken by a photographer. Smartphones have excellent cameras, and, with small tripods, you can easily take them yourself. However, don’t go for the regular selfies. It’s more interesting to see someone in a moment in time. Think of what story the picture tells us. If you love getting your hands dirty while gardening, include a picture with you digging in the garden, maybe with some colorful flowers. This is much more authentic than just a picture of you smiling in front of a garden. You can then add a caption and talk about how working in the garden affects your life, your energy, your business and so on. What can you do to bring more of your life into your business? The biggest mistake I see businesses make when they start using Instagram is that they shoot the picture and write their captions as they are about to post. That will never bring you success. Instead, you should be strategic about your Instagram posts so that each one builds on the others so that you send a clear message to your target audience. Unexpected and authentic stories often come from mixing your passion with what the target customer wants and needs. Brainstorm all the things your target customers would want to know when looking to buy your products. What are their objections? How can you address that ahead of time? What are the benefits of your product? Why do we need what you’re offering? How can your products help? What are the stories behind your products? Why are you passionate about what you do? When running a business, a lot of activities are decided ahead of time. If you know what activities, promotions, or offers you will focus on each quarter, you can create Instagram posts that build upon each other and lead to a desired outcome for that quarter. Look for those sections of the year where it’s important to stand out and see what needs to be done now, and what can wait until later. When you plan, you can save a lot of time!