Instagram Marketing Tips for Freelancers: Win Clients—Without Wasting Time

[00:00:00] Elle Money:

Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for coming. This is so exciting. I have launched workshops before, but never in person. And this looks completely different to looking at a zoom screen. So thank you all so much for coming. Um, so yes, I am L. Does anyone know me from Instagram or know me before tonight? A few.

[00:00:22] Elle Money:
Fans in the house. So for anyone who doesn’t know me, wait, do I need to be speaking closer to this? Does this sound better? Yes. Okay. Thank you. So I am Elle. I’m Elle behind Elle. social. And as it says here, I’m on a mission to make Instagram easy. So I was a social media manager for many years and basically realized that every business, large or small, can manage their Instagram accounts.

[00:00:49] Elle Money:
With ease, but you just need to know how to do it. Okay. And so, yes, I worked for the future as many of you know, that’s probably why a lot of you came here tonight. So thank [00:01:00] you. Uh, and basically in 2019, I launched my Instagram account and I’ll be completely honest. The reason I launched my Instagram account was because by creating content for the future.

[00:01:12] Elle Money:
A lot of people would comment and say, amazing post, Chris, love this. Chris, even his wife thought he was creating the Instagram content. And so I wanted to my name to be out there, right? There was the future, but there was Chris Doe, Ben Burns, Matthew and Sina. I really wanted to create a personal brand for myself.

[00:01:31] Elle Money:
And so I started L dot social. I started tagging myself in the content so people knew who I was and what I did. And within a year or two, actually started getting clients from Instagram. And I’ll be honest with you, at the time, it was a total fluke. I really started it just to build a community and see who wanted more Instagram knowledge.

[00:01:55] Elle Money:
Now, when I started getting clients through Instagram, I was like, okay, this is [00:02:00] going well. Maybe I can make a business out of this. And so. In 2022, I decided that would be the year I would go full time in my Instagram coaching business. So January 22, 2022, I launched my Instagram accelerators program. And the biggest thing that changed for me on Instagram was I started showing up with a purpose.

[00:02:21] Elle Money:
There was no more, let me just get this out and see who cares. Let me see how many likes I get. It was suddenly like, Okay, I need recurring revenue from this. I need this to be a good marketing stream for me and it needs to be reliable Okay, so there was no more just showing up and seeing how things worked by August 2022 I Told the future I was leaving They were in truck in control of doing the Instagram themselves from that point on and I was going to be an Instagram coach full time Thankfully, 2023, my first full year in business, just doing that, I made multiple [00:03:00] six figures on Instagram with just that platform.

[00:03:03] Elle Money:
Okay. It wasn’t until last year that I decided when everyone’s accounts were getting hacked, you know, that I was like, maybe I need to, uh, kind of like a backup, right? It can’t just be Instagram. So I launched a newsletter. I launched a website. My web designer is here, Katie in the back, if anyone needs a web designer.

[00:03:23] Elle Money:
And that’s kind of like things spiraled, but Instagram was always that priority for me. Now, the biggest difference, like I said, was I started showing up with intention. Okay. I needed that strategy to make sure I could actually grow my business on Instagram. It was no more, let me just post and get something out and see what happens.

[00:03:44] Elle Money:
So that’s why today I’m going to teach you that strategy, okay? It’s my GNC content strategy, and it is the only strategy you will ever need for Instagram. So before I get into it, the big question, hands up, who has a [00:04:00] strategy for Instagram at the moment? Okay, I know Katie does because she uses mine.

[00:04:06] Elle Money:
Anybody else? You kind of feel like not super confident? I didn’t. Okay.

[00:04:16] Elle Money:
Walk me through it. What does that strategy look like? Okay. Okay, thank you for sharing. And I’ll be honest, when I ask people this question, they usually come up with an answer like that. We’re trying this, we’re trying this, we’re experimenting with this. And I’ll be honest, that’s kind of the incorrect way a lot of people have taught you how to think about Instagram strategy.

[00:04:39] Elle Money:
And the reason it says on there, the only strategy you’ll ever need is because your strategy should be a lot more reliable. Right? Your strategy should be something foundational that you can rely on all the time. How you implement it and what you change and what you do on a daily, weekly, monthly basis is your marketing plan.

[00:04:59] Elle Money:
Okay? So [00:05:00] first, before we get into the strategy, I want to cover what a strategy is versus what a marketing plan is. Now, can you see, am I in the way of you guys? So your marketing strategy is what you want to achieve on Instagram. Okay? So it’s what you sell Who you’re targeting and where you fit within the space.

[00:05:20] Elle Money:
So where you fit within your niche, your industry. Now, of course, this can evolve. Like myself, when I first started Instagram, my goal was just to grow a community and see where that went. When I had products and services I needed to sell, that goal shifted to make revenue from Instagram. So it may shift as you get clear on who your target audience is, or you introduce new clients and customers.

[00:05:46] Elle Money:
To what you do, but your marketing plan, which is what most people are familiar with, that is where you decide, okay, am I going to post reels this week? Am I going to jump on these trends? How often am I going to post on Instagram? And what [00:06:00] does my messaging say? Which if you kind of forgive me, if that’s not true, but that sounds more like what you were saying just then.

[00:06:05] Elle Money:
Right. So your marketing plan can absolutely change and that should be more what’s happening on Instagram. How do I evolve it and keep up with the times? Your strategy needs to be way more foundational. So what I’m going to teach you today is not going to change, which is why it’s so amazing. It’s because it’s dependable.

[00:06:25] Elle Money:
So before I show you what GNC means, The reasons why you need an Instagram strategy are you’re not seeing the results that you want from Instagram. You feel overwhelmed because you tried to make every post do everything. So a lot of people I speak to say, okay, I’d get a post. I want this post to reach as many new people as possible.

[00:06:46] Elle Money:
I want to get all the engagements, likes, comments, shares, saves. And I want this to sell my offers, right? Hands up who has done that and tried to make one post do everything. Yeah, a few people, [00:07:00] right? So, that’s what we do with GNC, is we split up those efforts. So you’re still doing it accumulatively, because you’ll post each of those things each week, but we can’t do all of that in one post, because when you try to do it all in one post, you don’t do any of it very well.

[00:07:15] Elle Money:
Okay? You’re overthinking content creation. So you’re not sure what to post. You’re not motivating people to actually buy from you. So they’re kind of getting stuck in that. This is my community and this is, I want to build this relationship, but you’re not bringing new people in and you’re not actually making sales or you’re just posting for the sake of it.

[00:07:34] Elle Money:
Like, Oh shit, it’s Thursday. I need to get something out. Let me just post this now. So wave at me. Have you felt any of these on the board? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Most of the audience here. So this is why we need a marketing strategy. And with my marketing strategy, I want you to think about it in terms of a funnel or what we also call the buyer journey.

[00:07:56] Elle Money:
So when people first come to you on Instagram, it’s all about this [00:08:00] awareness stage. Imagine this person that your post has just popped up on their explore feed. They have no idea who you are, what you do, why they should care about your content. So it’s the awareness, right? A lot of people are going to see it, but the amount of people who actually engage with that content is going to be a lot less.

[00:08:18] Elle Money:
Then the people who actually think, Oh, I like this person. I might follow them. I might check out the rest of their content and actually discover how I can work with them or how I can be in their community. Again, is even smaller. Then you get to the purchase stage. And of course, when someone buys from you, that’s not the end of the journey.

[00:08:38] Elle Money:
We also want to keep these customers happy. We want to make sure that they retain themselves as a customer, ideally buy more from you, and stay in your bubble. So with the Grow, Nurture, Convert strategy, this is where this fits in. So the growth content is this first port of call with people. They have just discovered you there’s [00:09:00] building this awareness and they’re getting their first engagements in.

[00:09:03] Elle Money:
Once you actually start the nurture content, this is where we’re like, okay, let’s build that no like, and trust factor, actually get them to a point where they want to buy from you. And then you have the convert content, which of course is aimed at getting them to make that purchase. Now you can see they do overlap a little bit, especially the nurture content.

[00:09:22] Elle Money:
Because, I don’t know if you’ve noticed this now, but even businesses are focused on more kind of growing like a personal brand. People want to see more transparency behind the businesses. They want to know who works there, and what you do, why they should be involved in your business. Why they should share your values.

[00:09:39] Elle Money:
And so the nurture does stem across most of it. But there is a clear definition between the grow, nurture and convert. So that’s what we’re going to teach you today. What does this Grow, Nurture, Convert mean? And how can you implement it on Instagram? So I do know, from speaking from a few of you, that a lot of you are kind of in the [00:10:00] beginning stages of Instagram.

[00:10:01] Elle Money:
You’re either starting a new page or this is a new platform for you. So this is going to be a great way to start posting with intention right away. Okay? There’s not going to be any, let me just post some stuff on Instagram and see what works. We’re going to get straight into posting with an intention.

[00:10:18] Elle Money:
So hands up, who wants to grow a community on Instagram? Pretty much everyone, right? That’s probably why you’re on it. Uh, who wants to build an engaged audience on Instagram? So people who actually care about what you post and get excited when they see your content. Yeah, it should be the same amount of people.

[00:10:38] Elle Money:
If you’re growing, you should be trying to build this community as well. And then hands up who wants to convert and actually make sales from Instagram. So most of you, right, this is kind of the name of the game. I always say to people that if you are not making money from your business account, it’s a hobby, not a business.

[00:10:56] Elle Money:
So, you know, you kind of need to see that return on investment. [00:11:00] So this is the big shebang that we’re going to go through today. So feel free to take photos. We’re going to get into it. So you’ll see at the top, I’ve put cold, warm, and hot. That’s really how I want you to think about Instagram content with this strategy is that when we talk with this growth content, it is really about increasing the reach and the visibility.

[00:11:22] Elle Money:
These people are cold to you. It’s like when you meet someone for the first time, maybe you have a conversation with someone new tonight. You don’t really have any background with them. You might not see them again. They are completely cold to you. When you start hanging out with them, they warm up. And then when you go on a weekend trip, you become besties and that’s when they’re hot.

[00:11:41] Elle Money:
Okay. So with the growth content, remember these people have no idea who you are. Okay. So there’s very unlikely. You’re going to jump to convert and actually be able to sell to these people. That’s why we separate these efforts. So with the growth content. Okay. What works so well in this format are things like quick wins.[00:12:00] 

[00:12:00] Elle Money:
So what is something you can teach someone in 15 seconds or less? Uh, I have just started making sourdough this year and I don’t know if, does anyone else make sourdough? Yes. My people at the back, basically, when you clean up the sourdough starter makes an absolute mess in the sink. And I always thought just blast it with hot water and that’s fine.

[00:12:21] Elle Money:
I learned from a real the other day that it needs to be cold water and you’re supposed to let it dry first. Who knew you’re going to clog the pipes and it’s going to be a real mess. So now that I know that, I’m like, I need to follow this person because they know what they’re talking about. Okay. That is great growth content.

[00:12:37] Elle Money:
They’re teaching me something. They’re not expecting anything in return. They’re just getting in front of the right people. Other things that work well are like how to’s, how to achieve X by doing Y. You’ve seen that type of content on Instagram. All relatable thoughts. So has anyone seen the POV reels that are going crazy at the moment on Instagram?

[00:12:57] Elle Money:
No, no. [00:13:00] Yeah, they are everywhere. Even if it’s not a point of view. Have you got a question? Just agree. And yes, thank you. Yeah, they are everywhere at the moment. Something relatable, like a thought or a situation that someone can be like, Oh my God, I totally get that. It encourages the share the shares with other people.

[00:13:17] Elle Money:
Cause you’re like, we got this. So that type of content is amazing. You get to the point quickly and you’re really focused on entertaining these people. Now, the big thing to remember if you jump back to the marketing funnel was that we’re speaking to the masses. This is the biggest group of people you’re going to speak to.

[00:13:35] Elle Money:
So in order to do that, you need to kind of keep it broad, right? We’re not speaking directly to your target audience of people that are going to buy from you in this content. So an example of that is Instagram features. So I’m an Instagram coach and I primarily work with service based businesses.

[00:13:52] Elle Money:
Established businesses who want to make more money on Instagram, but for growth content, every time Instagram [00:14:00] releases a new feature, I know if I talk about that on Instagram, it’s going to go crazy, right? So many people can get value from this content. And so that’s why it works so well. Yes. My target audience is going to be within that group, but anyone who uses Instagram, especially for a business is going to find value in this.

[00:14:18] Elle Money:
That’s why it works so well as growth content. So let’s move to Nurture. So Nurture is all about building connections with your followers. These people are like, okay, they’ve hit that follow button. They’re like, give me more. Who are you and why should I hang around? So you need to make them excited about your content.

[00:14:36] Elle Money:
These people are now ready to start perhaps engaging with you. So you might ask a question. You might pop a question in the caption and get people to start responding to it. But what I really want you to focus on is starting to niche down. So now we’re like, okay, we’ve got some followers coming in. How do we get to kind of build this relationship with the right people that we’re eventually going to sell to?

[00:14:57] Elle Money:
So storytelling works so well here. [00:15:00] People say this all the time, like storytelling is the new biggest thing to do on Instagram. It’s always been the thing to do, but it’s kind of like the buzzword at the moment. But a big thing I want you to remember is how can you start to kind of narrow that audience down to really showcase what you’re about and what your values are.

[00:15:17] Elle Money:
So an example of a nurture post is this post that I posted. And I want to say 2022 when I bought my new Mac book. Okay, now you might be thinking, why the heck does she post this post? But people who follow me on Instagram are, I want to target business owners. And a big reason why people wanted to work with me is because I went from full time social media manager to starting my career and building my entire business on Instagram.

[00:15:46] Elle Money:
That’s the goal that people want to achieve when they follow me is making enough revenue on one platform. Easy peasy that they can do all the things they need to do. It’s easy. It’s streamlined. And so when I talk about my [00:16:00] journey, people can relate to it and they’re like, okay, she’s been through it. I trust her.

[00:16:04] Elle Money:
I then want to work with her. So this nurture content was basically a story about how I told myself I was going to buy a Mac book when I got my first client. Then I decided I got my first client and was like, oh no I should probably pay off my business coach first. Then I paid off my business coach and was like, oh actually Maybe I should wait until I do X Y Z and it was all these excuses And I was like, no, one day I just said, you deserve it.

[00:16:29] Elle Money:
You’ve, you’ve reached the goals that you wanted to achieve by yourself, the MacBook. And I literally cried when it arrived that day, unpacking it because my old MacBook was 10 years old, right? I had this from when I started uni and it saw me through so much. So it was just a really big moment for me as a business owner.

[00:16:47] Elle Money:
And you can see the call to action that is, what are you working towards? Don’t forget to celebrate the small wins. So it’s messages like that for nurture content where you’re showcasing more of yourself. You’re not expecting [00:17:00] anything in return. It’s not a sales post, but you are talking to people more directly to get them to be like, I like her.

[00:17:06] Elle Money:
I trust her. And I want to work with her in the future. Then we have the convert content. Now I know a lot of people, a lot of, especially my clients come to me and they say, I don’t want to sound salesy on Instagram. So they just don’t talk about the offers at all. There are absolutely ways to get that convert content out.

[00:17:25] Elle Money:
I really recommend if you want to sell on Instagram, you need to be talking about your offers in your feed content and in your stories every single week, at least once. And you are not bombarding people when you do it, okay? Especially if you sell something that you know will help people, right? You’re doing this for them.

[00:17:44] Elle Money:
It’s not just to make the money. Now, with this convert content, ideally you want to make sales, but it can be to encourage any kind of action. So it could be to get people to visit your website, sign up to your newsletter, listen to your podcast. Any kind of [00:18:00] action convert is the way to do that. So a few ways that work really well for this are identifying a problem.

[00:18:07] Elle Money:
So say, okay, you’re struggling with this. This is the solution and I happen to sell the solution. That’s always a nice way to do it. But on the flip side of that, you know, if you don’t want to make people feel bad about where they are or what situation they’re in, you can actually focus on the desires instead.

[00:18:24] Elle Money:
So, okay, you want to be achieving this in five years. You want this to be your reality, really showcasing where they want to go and what that cost of inaction is. You know, if you waste another year doing what you’re doing now, how much closer to your dreams are you actually going to be? So that desire aspect is a huge way of getting your sales on Instagram.

[00:18:46] Elle Money:
Now with this convert content. I want you to be so specific with your audience that they literally feel like, Whoa, she’s talking directly to me. So as you can see, we’re getting more targeted as we go through. And that’s why when you [00:19:00] try and do all three of these things in one post, it doesn’t work because you’re trying to talk to people in completely different situations.

[00:19:07] Elle Money:
So an example of the convert content, like I said, how I built my entire business on Instagram. This is a pinned post on my Instagram and it still brings me clients to this day. So it’s literally just a timeline post of what I did in that, in that year to kind of build up to that. Another great convert post is a client case study.

[00:19:28] Elle Money:
So why I’ve put case study and not testimonial is because I don’t know about you guys. It’s my pet peeve when someone literally posts a testimonial or block attacks on Instagram. I’m like, nobody cares about this. I’m not even going to read it. Right. Testimonials only really work on your website. So on Instagram, you need to be telling a story.

[00:19:48] Elle Money:
So with a client case study, I like to start with something that’s really relatable to my target audience. So what’s actually possible for you on Instagram? Then I might introduce the client. [00:20:00] Okay, Katie, she was struggling with this. We did this together to overcome it. Therefore, this is her reality. Now, if you want that to be your reality, this is what you need to do.

[00:20:10] Elle Money:
Work with me. So client case studies work really well for this convert content. And then the last one, proof of knowledge. So a lot of people I’ve heard this on the grapevine is like, don’t share valuable content on Instagram. You’re giving away all your tips for free. And it’s really not the case. So when people book a call with me to join my program, I have a question that says, why do you want to work with me?

[00:20:33] Elle Money:
And eight times out of 10, I would say people set, people actually write. You put so much value on Instagram. I can’t wait to see what’s in the paid program, right? So don’t be afraid to share what you know, share that you are established. You are an authority figure and you know what you’re talking about.

[00:20:53] Elle Money:
Now I want to give you a few examples that aren’t my work, because I know as an Instagram coach, you’re like, well, that works well and good for [00:21:00] you, but how does this work for other people? Let’s go through a few examples and hopefully this real plays. So this is the POV reel that I was talking about earlier for anyone who is not familiar.

[00:21:21] Elle Money:
So why this works so well is because it’s short and simple. Like think how easy this was for this guy to create, but it’s relatable for so many people that you don’t have to be a photographer. If you’re a professional photographer, if it’s just a hobby, it’s going to work really nicely for you. And he absolutely nailed it with just being funny.

[00:21:39] Elle Money:
And clearly you can see if just it’s like a lot of shares and saves. Another growth post is this copywriter account that I absolutely love on Instagram. And the reason this works so well is because it’s a very relatable topic. So if you’re interested in copywriting, power words are like the name of the [00:22:00] game right now.

[00:22:00] Elle Money:
And what really are power words is like, Oh, do I actually not know? Is this something that people are teaching me differently? And what they do is they go into it explaining exactly why you need to be paying attention to this post. So Power Words are there to grab attention, evoke emotion, and inspire action.

[00:22:19] Elle Money:
So like, okay, they’re explaining why you need to care about it. And then they’re giving you all these examples. And probably because they’re copywriters, you’re naturally like, I want to read this whole post. You’re like, it could be this, or it could be this. And they go through lots of amazing examples that you obviously want to save, so you’re like, I’m going to use these words soon.

[00:22:39] Elle Money:
And then the CTA, save this post and follow for more words that sell. And this is the key. We’re going to get into call to actions a little bit later on. But the key to a good call to action is making it benefit focused to your audience. If they literally just said, save this post, and they’re like, Oh, well, I want you to save it.

[00:22:59] Elle Money:
So I get lots of [00:23:00] engagement. Nobody wants that. You need to say what is in it for the person actually getting that content and absorbing that content. So great growth posts, because instantly you’re like, as soon as you get to this list, you’re like, I need to save this to come back to it. And then for nurture content, again, building these relationships, these connections with your followers.

[00:23:22] Elle Money:
I love this artist because she showcases her product kind of naturally in the background, but she tells a really funny story over the top.[00:24:00] 

[00:24:02] Elle Money:
So it’s, it’s relatable cause she’s, she’s painting a Fox at the time. So it’s not completely out of nowhere, but she’s giving you a little bit more about her as an artist, right? What her processes, what she enjoys and where she gets inspiration from. So it’s a perfect nurture post. And then this nurture post is actually from one of my clients who is an artist in the UK.

[00:24:23] Elle Money:
And what I really like about it is she is kind of reflecting on the collection. So a challenge that I gave to her was, showcase more about what you want people to feel when they experience your artwork. And she really focused on the quiet moments in her latest collection.

[00:24:57] Elle Money:
So she locally slipped in, By the [00:25:00] way, the first collection is available March 1st. So for anyone who was interested in making a purchase, they can kind of look forward to that. But it was just a nice way of building on that emotion and getting people to experience the artwork rather than just seeing it as a product.

[00:25:15] Elle Money:
And then for convert content, so a big one, because especially for anyone who’s a bit afraid of selling on Instagram, I love this convert post because you might not actually view it as a convert post first when you first see it, because it really showcases a story rather than the sales, but I’ll show you the real and then get into why it’s a convert post.

[00:25:54] Elle Money:
So do you see how it was like showing the process of what it’s like to have her as a photographer on your wedding [00:26:00] day and Being like she can she can work with a curveball if you want a random shot where you want to jump in the ocean Cool, she’s got it under control and then she shows the final pictures as well.

[00:26:09] Elle Money:
So you’re like wow It’s not just some random photos that look really bad when they come out. She’s actually really good at what she does So without even actually saying I’m available for hire, she’s showcasing what she’s capable of, which I really liked. And then a more obvious convert post might be something like this, where you showcase a problem and then you showcase the solution.[00:27:00] 

[00:27:29] Elle Money:
So really nice. It’s not actually her own product. She is a photographer. So it’s obviously a brand deal. But she’s really shown why she needed the product and therefore why everybody else does while showing a bit of her personality as well. Like she’s got, she injects a lot of humor in there, which is always a great selling point if that’s your kind of style.

[00:27:49] Elle Money:
So I’ve covered what grow, nurture, convert is and how to implement it. But you might walk away from today and be like, okay, I understand what GNC is. I’m ready to rock. Let’s get [00:28:00] some content out. But you might have a great post. But if your headlines and your hooks absolutely suck, so the first slide of your carousels, the first three seconds of a reel, the first line of your caption, if that isn’t up to par, your post isn’t going to perform, unfortunately.

[00:28:17] Elle Money:
Uh, if you’re repeating the post in the caption, this is another pet peeve of mine where people might write an amazing carousel and they’re like, okay, well, that was all my goods. So I’m just going to say the same thing in the caption. You’re missing out on a huge opportunity to actually give people more context and hook them in.

[00:28:35] Elle Money:
If you say something once and then never say it again, my rule of thumb is say one thing a hundred different ways, right? Don’t say a hundred different things. If you want to become known for something on Instagram, you need to understand how to evolve an idea and say it differently, right? People learn differently all the time, different formats.

[00:28:56] Elle Money:
They need to be told something seven times until they’re like, Oh, it’s just clicked. [00:29:00] So make sure you are not just saying something once and being like, well, that was a great post. Let me move on. If you’re not using any call to actions, we’re going to get into this a little bit later on. Uh, but if people don’t understand what you’re telling them or they can’t relate to what you’re saying again, it’s not going to perform as well.

[00:29:16] Elle Money:
So a few solutions I have for you to kind of keep in mind from today. Um, make sure you’re creating intrigue and excitement. Like with that copy post we saw earlier, what really power words do. Okay. Like what, Oh, I’m actually missing out on something. People want to then swipe through and actually read more.

[00:29:35] Elle Money:
If you’re repeating what you’re saying, saying in the post, just in the caption, you’re missing out on that opportunity, right? Your caption is another chance to be like, how can I get this person to care about what I’m telling them? As I said, Repetition equals reputation. I have probably talked about the same things.

[00:29:53] Elle Money:
57 times on Instagram, and there’ll still be people even if the post is literally a repost of an old post [00:30:00] that people like, Oh, I didn’t know this. I’ve never heard this before. And I’m like, Well, I’ve posted it three times. So it really does show people aren’t paying that much attention. They need to be told again and again.

[00:30:11] Elle Money:
If you are using call to actions, there’s basically two types of call to actions. So if you’re like, well, I’m not selling anything, so I don’t need a call to action. You still do. That’s where I would rely on an engagement call to action. So an engagement call to action is where you’re asking them to like, comment, share, save.

[00:30:28] Elle Money:
Uh, a conversion call to action is like, send me this DM or click the link in my bio, that kind of thing, actually going to buy. Remember that everybody learns differently. So if you’re like, you have a great post and you’re like, where do I go next? Switch the format, right? Turn a carousel into a real, turn it into stories and share lots of value there.

[00:30:49] Elle Money:
You can even take, I’ve taken a caption and turn that into a post before. So wherever you’re sharing value. You can make sure you’re repeating that value and then making sure that your audience is actually resonating with what [00:31:00] you’re saying. There’s so many people I’ve spoken to that say, I have really good content.

[00:31:04] Elle Money:
I feel like I present it really well. Everything’s really nice, but like no one’s engaging with my content. Well, they don’t care about what you’re saying. Okay. It’s either you’re not wording it right. So you need to work on your messaging or that topic just actually isn’t interested to the following that you have.

[00:31:21] Elle Money:
So call to actions. They are different for grow, nurture, and convert, which again is why we need to be separating these efforts, okay? So your call to actions for growth are going to be things like, follow me, Share and watch till the end. Now, what I mean by watch till the end is you may have seen a real, for instance, and they’re like, here’s three tips.

[00:31:42] Elle Money:
The last one is my favorite. They’re doing that on purpose so that you keep watching all the way to the end. And if you’re wondering what those stats are for your content, just on each individual reel, click on the insights and you’ll see what the watch time is. So if your average watch time is, let’s say two seconds, it means [00:32:00] someone literally went on it and they were like, Nope.

[00:32:01] Elle Money:
If your average watch time is, say, 10 seconds, you got their interest, and then you lost it. Okay? If your reel is a minute long, that really shows where they lose that attention, so make sure you’re actually tracking that to see how much of your video people are watching. Now, I have a few examples here, but the biggest thing I want you to know about call to actions is that they should be really unique to the post.

[00:32:26] Elle Money:
So it’s quite hard to give a examples, because I really believe that whatever your post is about, it should naturally flow from that. Okay. So there’s a few like hit follow if you believe X should be Y as well, or I saved the best till last that kind of thing. But when you are creating your call to action, it should naturally flow from the post, ask them questions about the post.

[00:32:49] Elle Money:
If which tip was your favorite, did you know this already? So it does differ depending on the post. With nurture, this is where you focus on those vanity metrics that we’ve all [00:33:00] been told are the most important, like comment and save. The reason saves really important is because it shows that people want to come back to that for more.

[00:33:08] Elle Money:
They’re engaging with the content. They’re loving it. And they’re like, I haven’t had enough of this. So a few examples might be double tap. If you love this video style or what’s your favorite design tool. Again, it’s very unique to the post. So it’s quite hard to give examples there. And then convert would be something like.

[00:33:25] Elle Money:
Click the link in my bio comment or DM me a CTA. My biggest thing with convert, especially as I sell high ticket is that I get people to have a conversation with me first, rather than just directing them to my website, being like, go check out on the website and then do what you want. I like to have a conversation and keep people talking to me directly until we book a call and take that further.

[00:33:49] Elle Money:
So having a unique CTA for each post is really important. Now, what I mean by that is, if I had a CTA on one post that was IAP, for my Instagram accelerator [00:34:00] program, and then the next post I had one that was Thrive, for instance, anytime someone sends me that CTA, I know what post brought them to me. So it’s really important to keep switching up your CTAs so you can actually track where these people are coming from.

[00:34:14] Elle Money:
And then just reach out. So it might be like, you know, send me a message if you want to get started. There’s no CTA, but you just want to have a conversation with them. And then just like with the call to actions, there’s going to be different insights to track. So with your growth content, it’s going to be tracking your reach and your follow account.

[00:34:32] Elle Money:
Both of these stats are readily available. Literally when you click on your insights on Instagram and as well as shares and average watch time. So the shares are really important because when people share stuff to other people, that’s a whole new person or a whole new audience that you’re in front of.

[00:34:47] Elle Money:
So really great for you. Growth metric to track. And then again, that average watch time for your reels, how long are people actually staying on your content? Because if you have something that’s really juicy 30 seconds in, [00:35:00] but the average watch time is 10 seconds, you know, no one actually got to that point.

[00:35:06] Elle Money:
For nurture. Again, we’re going to look at those kinds of normal ones, likes comments and saves. Now you’ll see next to comments. I put thoughtful, and this is because I’m sure we’ve all been there where you get a hell of a ton of bots. Commenting on your posts or they’re like great share, right? It’s like, thanks so much for that amazing comment.

[00:35:24] Elle Money:
That was so thoughtful. Thank you. So it’s really hard to actually reply to these kind of comments. And especially as someone who, you’ve probably heard the advice, engage with lots of people in your, your competitors, um, start making these relationships. If you’re just commenting great share on their posts, how is that building this relationship for you?

[00:35:44] Elle Money:
They’re not going to remember that comment. Okay? So I actually track the thoughtful comments, especially if let’s say you have 10 comments and eight of those are bots. Two of them were legit people. I’d be tracking, okay, can I increase that two rather than that 10? [00:36:00] And for convert, you’re going to be tracking your link in bio clicks.

[00:36:04] Elle Money:
So again, these are all trackable on Instagram. Your link in bio clicks, your story link clicks. So if you actually have a sticker on your stories, checking how many people actually clicked each one, your profile visits. And a great way to actually check your profile visits in comparison to other things is let’s say you have a thousand new people visit your profile in 30 days.

[00:36:27] Elle Money:
But your follower count only went up by 10. That’s showing that you’re getting a lot of traffic to the page, but they’re not wanting to stick around. So actually, something is not adding up there. And that’s a really great metric to consider, not just for your content, but is your bio actually serving its purpose as well?

[00:36:44] Elle Money:
And then there’s comments and DMs about working with you, or that specific CTA, like I mentioned before. So, now I’m going to do a challenge, put you all on the spot a little bit, and I’m going to give you five minutes to write down a growth, a nurture, and a [00:37:00] convert post for your own pages. And I would love for you to add a CTA to this as well.

[00:37:05] Elle Money:
So depending on what you want, what outcome you want from that post, have a different CTA. I’m going to give you a few minutes. And if you come up with them really fast. Feel free to share with the person next to you, have a little discussion, and then it’d be lovely to hear from you all of what you come up with.

[00:37:49] Elle Money:
Okay. I am excited to hear what people have come up with. So who would like to volunteer first? Yes, go for it. Hello. Okay, . [00:38:00] 

[00:38:00] Attendee:
So do I need to tell you what the business is about? Yeah. Give us a little context first. Um, okay. So the context is, it’s a, it’s an art school that focuses on long-term mentoring program.

[00:38:11] Attendee:
or more or less established artists. Yes? Okay. Everyone clear? Yes. Okay. So for the growth post, and we did this together, by the way. Okay. Do you work together? Um, no. Love that. No. We just met. No. So for the growth post, um, paint the nose in three steps. Like it’ll have a video with it somehow, but basically tips on how to paint the nose or the ear or like you can pick any I love it because it’s usually a

[00:38:40] Elle Money:
hard feature to paint, right?

[00:38:42] Elle Money:
I suppose, yeah. I mean maybe for me, but not for you.

[00:38:45] Attendee:
Yeah, and then the call to action would be follow, follow for tips on painting the other features of the face.

[00:38:53] Elle Money:
Okay, is that what you want to be known for?

[00:38:55] Attendee:
No.

[00:38:56] Elle Money:
What’s like one thing that you’d say the page would want to be known for? [00:39:00] 

[00:39:00] Attendee:
Well, the page Like the school would be known for basically getting deeply into your own art practice and like building up, uh, like a Like a painting practice that’s sustainable where you get excited about showing up to the studio regularly.

[00:39:14] Attendee:
Okay. Yeah

[00:39:15] Elle Money:
I love that So you could say maybe take it a step further and say follow us to be confident in your work It’s not I love what you’re doing making it specific about the post But it’s kind of more aspirational to be like I want to stick around for this because they see the outcome then You

[00:39:28] Attendee:
Okay,

[00:39:29] Elle Money:
yeah,

[00:39:29] Attendee:
okay, great.

[00:39:30] Attendee:
Yeah, and then what’s your

[00:39:31] Elle Money:
next post?

[00:39:32] Attendee:
Um, one second. Okay. Um, okay. So that idea of having the art like paintings in the background sort of like, you know, texture studio textures. So showcase art hanging out in the background and as the artist. who teaches in this mentoring program talks about their experience of struggling to get to the studio, but overcoming the struggle of getting to the studio.

[00:39:53] Attendee:
It’s like a personal win of some kind.

[00:39:54] Elle Money:
Yeah, I love that. Yeah, from their point of view, so they’re very personal about it.

[00:39:58] Attendee:
That’s right. Yeah, I love it. [00:40:00] Um, and the CTA is Comment on what keeps you from getting to the studio.

[00:40:06] Elle Money:
Oh, that’s a good one. Love that. Was that your idea? Love that. That’s a really good CTA.

[00:40:12] Attendee:
Yeah, and then what about your convert post? Um, so take the X, whatever the mentoring program name is, take the X mentoring program and give yourself, um, three months to a deep dive into building up your art practice. It’s clunky, but like, that’s the gist.

[00:40:28] Elle Money:
I like that you had a tangible aspect to it. So like within three months this is going to happen.

[00:40:33] Elle Money:
I find definitely when you’re very clear on the promise, people are much more likely to act on it. So I say, I agree it’s a little bit clunky. It’s not super like, Oh, I want to do this right now. But I love the kind of practicality of that CTA.

[00:40:46] Attendee:
Very cool.

[00:40:47] Elle Money:
Great job.

[00:40:47] Attendee:
Thank you. Do I give a round

[00:40:49] Elle Money:
of applause everybody?

[00:40:50] Elle Money:
Thank you for going first. Is anyone here in branding or selling a service that wants to give a solution? Yeah, do you want to go for it? [00:41:00] So I’m really glad you guys have both brought this up because working with creatives, I’ve definitely seen this as a common thread where you almost don’t consider yourself in that kind of business mindset in the same way as like an educational program, for instance, where it’s still a skill.

[00:41:16] Elle Money:
It is still something you’re solving a problem, or it might be more of the desire aspect rather than overcoming a problem. So the desire, why would people need you for branding? What issues are they overcoming? What are they experiencing of why they would need to hire you? It’s still the same kind of prospect, but I feel like it’s gets a little bit more difficult for you to understand it in that same way.

[00:41:38] Elle Money:
So does anybody here work in not, I mean, you’re an artist, right? No, marketing, yeah. Does anybody here sell something that’s not educational that wants to give their grown up to convert content as an example?

[00:41:55] Attendee:
Okay, so I’ll use a wilder example than actually what I do for my real job. [00:42:00] Um, so, I, uh, entered a drag competition, and Instagram is Janet Jacksoff.

[00:42:11] Attendee:
And so I just, I did a side ask to Elle, and I was like, How often, what’s the ratio of growth, nurture, convert? And then when you were talking about your artist thing, I asked, I was wondering, how often do we do a CTA? On every post? So what I had written here, um, is that for the growth, it could be either a fashion carousel, here are all the looks from like a recent show, Or, uh, Janet Jacksoff, she does nostalgic music, so 90s jams, right?

[00:42:40] Attendee:
So it could be a poll of like, do you like this song? Or, um, like a performance clip. So that would be the growth thing. And like, a CTA could be like, do you remember this song? Or how does it make you feel? A nurture could be a tip on like, how we got that look together. Or putting it together, a makeup tip or whatever.

[00:42:58] Attendee:
And then the convert [00:43:00] could be flat out going, Hey, let me perform at your next, like, show, or let me host something. And the CTA is, uh, either like, can you book me? Or do you have a recommendation of where, um, this performer could show up at? Um, that’s the approach I took with that. Great

[00:43:16] Elle Money:
ideas. I would say you’ve definitely gone more into the educational side of it.

[00:43:20] Elle Money:
Ah, okay. If you didn’t notice that, like, Let me give you three makeup tips or let me show you three looks of how we put these together So they’re great growth content and nurture content, but you don’t have to teach someone something right for growth Imagine just purely an entertaining reel that you’ve seen on instagram lately that you just loved watching it Like I watched a minute and a half video the other day of just pure dad jokes There’s no entertain.

[00:43:46] Elle Money:
There’s no education in that. It was just funny. So with your growth content, even just showing you on stage, doing what you’re doing in your element, people are going to love that. And it’s growth because it’s so attainable by so many people. People just want [00:44:00] to watch it. You still need a purpose behind it.

[00:44:02] Elle Money:
So why are you sharing that? But when it gets into the nurture side, you could tell your story. Why did you get into drag? How did you choose that name? You know, where did this come from? Cause you’ve said it’s not your full time job, right? So the story behind it, give people a reason to want to follow the page and follow along with you.

[00:44:20] Elle Money:
So great educational content, but it doesn’t always have to be educational content.

[00:44:26] Attendee:
What happens once you pass that, like what you just painted there, like that’s the kind of introduction to somebody. And even though you said. Say the same thing a hundred ways and you can keep like recycling that story for new people Um, if it is not an educational thing How what’s oh?

[00:44:43] Attendee:
It’s I appreciate the exercise because it’s like it’s one thing to hear like I get it and then you do and you’re like I don’t get this at all but the difference between growth and nurture because growth is like Because we were just talking about that. And she has a cake making, like, a simplified cake making service.

[00:44:59] Attendee:
And it’s [00:45:00] like, so you show beautiful pop culture things that people resonate with. And so, that’s the broad thing. But then the nurture, they’re kind of in your funnel. They’re aware of you. What’s the difference? If it’s not being educational, how is that different than just showing a performance thing or the thing in action, whatever the service we’re selling?

[00:45:19] Attendee:
How do you make that different then? Yeah, great

[00:45:22] Elle Money:
question. So with it, it’s basically saying, growth is like, let me just get something out and anyone can look at a beautiful cake and be like, love this. With the nurture, you want to tell more of your story behind it. Who was the client that you worked with?

[00:45:34] Elle Money:
Why did you design the cake that way? What, did you choose chocolate sponge versus Victoria sponge and why? You know, what’s the easiest way to create a cake? How long does it take you to do that? You know, there’s so many things that you can get into. So feel free. As a cake artist that aren’t just growth that aren’t just like look at the stunning cake because you could do a before and after in a real and people love seeing that kind of stuff.

[00:45:57] Elle Money:
So with drag, especially [00:46:00] drag queens and kings, you you are captured because of their personality. That’s what separates them. You want their backstory and why they’re different. And so that’s really what you need to be showcasing, not teaching people how to do it themselves. Because that’s more valuable to upcoming drag queens that want to do it as well, right?

[00:46:19] Elle Money:
Or people that are just interested in behind the scenes. But what most people want is why should they follow you? Why should they come to your show? And showcasing how you did your makeup might not be that, but showcasing how hilarious you are on stage and what songs you choose, that’s going to bring people to the show.

[00:46:35] Attendee:
And then therefore building on that, the convert in that example is Come to the show or book me. That’s what that is. So, to kind of like summarize it, to use her example, perhaps to make it more general for everybody. The growth is like, here’s the big picture. Like, Wizard of Oz, welcome to the Emerald City.

[00:46:52] Attendee:
The nurture post is like, we went in to meet the wizard, pull back the curtain a little bit. And then the convert would be like, [00:47:00] Come to Oz, come to the Emerald City.

[00:47:02] Elle Money:
I’m struggling to carry that narrative on, but yeah. I’m trusting you with it. Yes, you nailed it. I love that you’re like, this is an introduction.

[00:47:11] Elle Money:
Remember, it’s more broad. You’re speaking to as many people as possible. So like, even people who aren’t interested in drag can still be like, look at this hilarious, Like death drop on stage, right? They’re still like this is so good And then the nurture is like what makes you a really great drag queen and why would they want to follow you to?

[00:47:29] Elle Money:
Come to your shows what’s specific

[00:47:30] Attendee:
to us versus the general stuff and then the convert is the ask

[00:47:34] Elle Money:
Yes, like what do you want them to do? What action do you want them to take?

[00:47:38] Attendee:
But do we put a CTA on the growth and nurture as well? Since we have their inter

[00:47:41] Elle Money:
Yes. So covered that earlier, they’re engagement CTAs.

[00:47:44] Elle Money:
So with your growth, follow me for more, you know, share this with a friend who would love to see this video. That getting your reach out there. Your nurturer is like asking them a question. Have you ever done drag? Getting them to comment. Cool. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. [00:48:00] Thank you so much. That was awesome. And I love how you explained it.

[00:48:03] Elle Money:
Maybe you should send me the Wizard of Oz example so I can start using that as well.

[00:48:12] Elle Money:
Would you like to go next?

[00:48:13] Attendee:
Sure. Uh, I didn’t get to convert because I’m slow. Um, but I work for a marketing agency and that’s kind of funny, but we work mostly on the paid side and we don’t do anything organic. So I thought this would be a good exercise to do. Our client is B2B, so we’re selling services to other, um, well, work in the music industry, so labels and managers are our clients.

[00:48:40] Attendee:
So I was thinking for growth, um, news roundup in 30 seconds or less, so like, make it super short, don’t give too much, but like, hey, we know what we’re talking about, we’re following all these things, and then the CTA could be follow for more, or check her. Previous post for a more in depth [00:49:00] look.

[00:49:00] Elle Money:
Yeah.

[00:49:01] Attendee:
Um,

[00:49:01] Elle Money:
it’s a great, just a suggestion for everybody.

[00:49:03] Elle Money:
If you can keep people in your content, absolutely amazing. Like if you, you can start a series. So people are like, Oh, this is episode nine. I’m going to go back and watch the other eight reels. Or I love to do like part one and two. So part one, and then come back tomorrow for more of this information. Um, or I did recently, I kind of started doing more reels.

[00:49:24] Elle Money:
If you know me from Instagram, you know, I love a tax carousel. So like, thank you, Christo. So when you come to my content, I might say like, here’s nine B roll shots. And then be like, Oh, if you like this, there’s two other videos that you’re going to want as well. So love that you’re keeping people on your platform.

[00:49:40] Attendee:
Love that. Uh, and then for nurture, maybe that would be conversion conversion. I was thinking case study. Um, More like we took this song from X streams to Y streams in three weeks and then CTA could be comment What’s your biggest challenge? And [00:50:00] then I’m already thinking like a series of posts where the next post could be a reply to a comment from someone Love

[00:50:06] Elle Money:
that.

[00:50:06] Attendee:
Um, like helping them.

[00:50:08] Elle Money:
Walk me through why you thought it was nurture and then maybe why you think it’s convert now

[00:50:14] Attendee:
Because you’re trying to say you’re good and they should buy from you.

[00:50:17] Elle Money:
Yeah.

[00:50:18] Attendee:
But the nurture part is like, share your problem and I’ll help you out for free.

[00:50:22] Elle Money:
Okay. Yeah. I would say because you’re still talking about a client and trying to, yes, give them help for free, but it’s definitely more like still asking for that action.

[00:50:33] Elle Money:
I would say it’s definitely more convert. As I said before, there can absolutely be an overlap. And the biggest overlap you might see is nurture, like you were kind of struggling with. Nurture certainly flows into stuff, especially if you’re a personal brand, where everything is like, well, this is how I do things.

[00:50:49] Elle Money:
I don’t just want to share a random tip. I want people to know who I am. So nurture is naturally going to flow into the other ones. But Love that you’re kind of seeing that difference of do I want this to be, [00:51:00] I want people to comment and give them free value, or do I want them to encourage them to actually want to work with me?

[00:51:05] Elle Money:
And that’s the questions you should be asking before you post not let me get this out and then, Oh, it didn’t perform the way I wanted, but you didn’t actually know how you wanted it to perform. Yeah. so much. So great examples. Would GNC content? Yes. Go for it. Hi.

[00:51:25] Attendee:
Hi. Um, so we, uh, went to build a figure skating community for beginners.

[00:51:33] Attendee:
So basically, like, um, yeah, um, we don’t sell anything just yet. But, uh, I think the CTA should be the YouTube channel with, um, in depth tutorials for figure skaters. And, uh, the gross content I have to examples. The first one would be just a professional figure skater, just skating in the most beautiful skating [00:52:00] rings.

[00:52:00] Attendee:
Um, um, like not, not in the close skating rings, but somewhere, um, the lake and the mountains, which just look very beautiful. And the second growth post, I have, um, something like five moves that will make you shine on the skating ring for beginners and follow more for figure skating tips. Uh, the city. Can I ask what age range are you targeting?

[00:52:25] Attendee:
Um, adults. Yeah. It’s more like for the people who Want to stay active, but don’t like to go to the gym very much or a board from, from the same routine or cannot find the routine. And so we would like to introduce them to something different because it’s also a sport.

[00:52:46] Elle Money:
Yeah. I mean, you’ve kind of focused a lot on looking better on the eyes, which I’m sure is a big problem.

[00:52:51] Elle Money:
A lot of people have when they get started and I love your unique example of, it’s a different. way to exercise. Cause I would never consider [00:53:00] ice skating, but so I would kind of target that and be like, you’re an adult, you’re bored of the gym. You want to try something new. That’s going to be a great kind of USP, a new angle to go down of like, anyone can try it.

[00:53:12] Elle Money:
And these are some beginner moves that you can try to get into it.

[00:53:16] Attendee:
Yeah, that’s nice. Okay. The nurture, uh, would be struggles. I had like a, as a professional, as a figure skating coach. Uh, the struggles I had with backwards skating, uh, as a professional figure skater, and CTA would be comment if you have the same struggles, or comment with your struggles.

[00:53:36] Attendee:
Or do you have some tips for me or for anyone this way?

[00:53:40] Elle Money:
Yeah, I like that. And also, I know a lot of people are kind of like asking for a lot in the comments. If you don’t have many engagements yet, always make that question as easy as possible for people to respond to. So let’s say you just started the page, and you might be like, What other tips do you have for me?

[00:53:55] Elle Money:
And you hear crickets. Maybe next time try comment this emoji if you struggle [00:54:00] to go backwards. You’re making it as easy as possible to build up those engagements. And then you can start asking more kind of qualitative questions where you’re like, give me all your answers and go into as much depth as possible.

[00:54:13] Attendee:
Interesting. Okay. And the convert would be, um, the. Yeah, the story that of somebody who just, who started, uh, exercising in, let’s say, December, and, uh, this is how they got by following our tips, like, this is what they can in six months, um, like, to show the progress. And the CTM would be watch, like go to and watch our YouTube tutorials for in depth advice on figure skating practices.

[00:54:45] Elle Money:
Love that. Do you have a lot of videos saved already of people doing and making improvements?

[00:54:50] Attendee:
Um, like a couple of them, but, uh, there are a lot of tutorials on YouTube.

[00:54:56] Elle Money:
Yeah. Okay. And you, What does your YouTube channel do? Is [00:55:00] it really in depth videos for people to learn how to do?

[00:55:02] Attendee:
Yes, like it used to be because we want to relaunch a bit right now.

[00:55:07] Attendee:
And it used to be very in depth and very professional. And so from now on, we want to create it a little bit less professional, more for broader audience. Um, but yeah, there are a lot of in depth advice.

[00:55:20] Elle Money:
Yeah. So, I mean, you want to save the biggest thing I see when people direct someone elsewhere to get the value is you still want to make sure you’re giving people value on the platform you deliver it.

[00:55:30] Elle Money:
So natively Instagram still needs to be like, I’m getting stuff from this. You like, have you seen when people say, go listen to this podcast episode? And it’s literally an image of the host with the time and the date of the podcast. And you’re like, well, this has given me nothing. Um, it’s not inspiring me to go and listen to the podcast.

[00:55:48] Elle Money:
So maybe you could start a series of like beginner moves that you could do. And like every week you post a new one. So they get into the series, they start looking out for it. And then they might go to the video to get the breakdown of [00:56:00] how to actually do that.

[00:56:01] Attendee:
Oh, yeah, that sounds good. And I actually have a question.

[00:56:05] Attendee:
Um, so you say growth, nurture, convert, convert. Is it like, do you have when you build your plan? Do you have to include all these types of posts in your plan? Like not the same amount, but like focusing more of what you want to achieve more. Or is it possible to focus, let’s say, on one goal at a time? For example, if I would say, uh, in this three months I want to grow in the next, um, I would focus on converting, or is it that you should include a little bit of everything every time?

[00:56:38] Elle Money:
Great question. Cause I know this came up with somebody else earlier as well. I would say we’re going to get into the posting schedule next. So that’s definitely going to help. But I would say if you don’t have a service to sell yet, you don’t necessarily need to be getting the convert content out, but that’s not to say you can’t get maybe a newsletter subscriber, or if you can collect that information elsewhere, you can still be [00:57:00] asking people to DM you.

[00:57:01] Elle Money:
There’s just, you’re not selling anything yet. So let’s say you start and you’re just focused on that community. Maybe you have two grow and one nurture every week and then you bring in the convert as and when you’re ready to actually start selling. So yeah, it can add and flow. Thank you. Thank you. So, how can you implement this every week?

[00:57:21] Elle Money:
A question on everybody’s minds tonight. So, basically, let’s, let’s kind of go around the room first. Hands up if you’re posting three times a week on Instagram at the moment. Nice. Okay. A few more over here. Anybody posting five times a week on Instagram? Love it. Are you posting more than five times a week?

[00:57:42] Elle Money:
Oh my goodness. How’d you have time for that? Love it! Okay, love to hear it. I mean, for the majority of you, three posts a week is probably going to be like, that’s my pinnacle, that’s my maximum. So we’ll cover this first, and then we’ll go into five, and then if you’re posting more, feel [00:58:00] free to just sprinkle in whatever else you want in between that.

[00:58:03] Elle Money:
So a good kind of schedule for you guys to follow would be growth on a Monday, convert midweek and then end on a nurture. You can absolutely switch this up. I’m giving you a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule because my particular audience doesn’t really want Instagram tips on a Saturday morning, right?

[00:58:21] Elle Money:
They’re not really bothered. You know your niche more than I do. So absolutely mix up what days of the week. But what I found works really well is with a Monday, people are like, wow, me, entertain me. I’m ready. I’m here. I’m paying attention. Midweek, people are kind of like settling in. Maybe they’re more ready to want to reach out, book a call, books, buy something from you.

[00:58:43] Elle Money:
And then at the end of the week, people are like, I’m shutting down. You have 10 seconds. Tell me something interesting or I’m gone. So with that kind of structure, if that works well for you, I want you to think of the function as well as the purpose. So with your growth content, [00:59:00] your aim is to share value and entertain people with your convert content.

[00:59:05] Elle Money:
Your aim is to build that trust and ideally sell on Instagram or build that momentum to sell in your DMS or on a call on a Friday with that nurture content, you’re building that credibility and that authority. It’s that middle step. Between entertaining somebody and getting them to want to buy from you.

[00:59:23] Elle Money:
So with the purpose and the function, like I said, feel free to play around that with your niche and what works well for you, but the format especially is totally down to you. These are just my recommendations based on what I like to do. So with a growth post on a Monday. Things that work really well are things like those quick wins that we discussed earlier.

[00:59:44] Elle Money:
A process. So, like, how to coach yourself for free on Instagram. People are like, okay, this, oh my god, I can coach myself and save myself a ton of money. Give me that post a collaboration. So good for growth. Okay. The key is just making sure that your target audience [01:00:00] is part of that target audience as well.

[01:00:02] Elle Money:
You don’t have to have identical audiences. So as an Instagram coach, I don’t just do collaborations with Instagram coaches. I might do a collaboration with a copywriter. Or a graphic designer or, or, you know, all the parts that fit into making good content, I can kind of break that down and get more niche with that.

[01:00:22] Elle Money:
A perspective shift is probably my favorite growth post. How, especially on a Monday, how can you get someone to think differently about something and think, I hadn’t thought about it like that before, you know, wow. A value bomb is what I call posts where you give so much value. They’re like, I have to save this post.

[01:00:41] Elle Money:
Like 20, 29 ways to boot your reach today. So these are those posts where it’s like, I’m just going to throw everything in the kitchen sink and here I’m going to just give so much value. People like, I have to save this and come back for more or a nice diagram, right? You know, with the growth content, I think a lot of us are like, let me do a really in [01:01:00] depth carousel or a really long reel, but actually how can you visually present what you’re giving them?

[01:01:05] Elle Money:
That’s a really nice way of showcasing that a little bit differently. With the convert content, I personally go for a real or a carousel. I not sure I have tried to make a sale with a single image, but I’m sure it is absolutely possible depending on your niche. So what works well at, like we said before, client case studies.

[01:01:24] Elle Money:
So if you, another example I have for you here is, is organic growth dead. Now this is a client that came to me and he was basically like, Organic growth is dead. I’ve tried to grow on Instagram for years and it’s just not happened. Turns out he was just so specific in a niche that didn’t need his services that we had to step back and kind of rejig who he was and what his services were.

[01:01:48] Elle Money:
So he was basically, um, a, a videographer for DJs. That was his first niche. And he was like, number one, a lot of them do the videos themselves. And number two, DJs don’t really have the [01:02:00] money to spend on a videographer. So he was like, no one really wants my services, but he knew he was good at video videos.

[01:02:06] Elle Money:
So he was like, I’m going to set back and basically do video content as an Instagram coach. He was like, I want to be like you. I want to provide more value. I know that my videos help people grow on Instagram. So I’m going to get into reels. I’m going to show people how to create better videos in my style and kind of just recreated his new niche and he grew insane and now he gets clients on Instagram.

[01:02:29] Elle Money:
So it was that shift that he needed, but you can see, I didn’t say that in the cover image. I made it. So a lot of people would be like, Oh, is organic growth that let’s find out. And again, this is why you shouldn’t give up on your Instagram accounts. A client that was basically like, I’m not going to post for months on Instagram.

[01:02:45] Elle Money:
I’ve given up. And when she actually started posting again, started finding clients on Instagram and everything was rainbows again. So that’s why you shouldn’t give up. So client case studies, you know, I love that as a convert post, but it could [01:03:00] also be a testimonial. If you have something amazing that you really want to share, you can share that quote.

[01:03:05] Elle Money:
If you don’t have clients yet, or you don’t want to share their stories for whatever reason, Think about your own transformation. A lot of us do what we do because we’ve either seen a problem ourselves and we wanted to become that solution or we were just, we can see that problem in our market. So we’re like, we know that there’s a problem.

[01:03:23] Elle Money:
I do this for a reason. What is that reason? Obviously those, those results, big wins, or just learning moments. Remember that when people follow you on Instagram, they’re not expecting you to be perfect and know everything. You can actually show that you are in the process of learning stuff that you are evolving as a creator on Instagram.

[01:03:43] Elle Money:
So share these things as you learn them and take your, your followers on that journey with you. And then the nurture content down the right here is things like habits. So what do you love to do? What do you do every day in your niche that makes you so amazing at what you do? [01:04:00] The pain points and desires that we talked about earlier.

[01:04:02] Elle Money:
a series again, showing people, getting people to come back for more a day in the life. Everybody loves one of these. So it could be your morning routine, a day in the life of what you do, going to work, whatever works for you. Oh, it could be mistakes. A lot of people are scared to be like, Oh, I messed up.

[01:04:21] Elle Money:
And this is what I learned from it. But I actually follow, um, a fitness professional. And she shared how, when she first started as a fitness coach, she would weigh women. On every session that they came to. And she realizes now, ten or so years later, how damaging that was for women. Because, number one, not every woman wants to lose weight.

[01:04:42] Elle Money:
It’s not about the weight. And, number two, she’s like, people could have triggers, this is really bad for that client, I wasn’t listening to what they actually wanted. I was just so stuck in this process. that I just did it and I realized how bad that is now and admitting this mistake. I put this in my [01:05:00] group and said, does this make you want to work with her more or less?

[01:05:03] Elle Money:
Everybody said more because I like, I understand her. She’s shown her evolution. She admits her mistakes and I love what she does now instead. So don’t be afraid to share the kind of. Bad things that you’ve done as well, as long as you’ve learned from it. Uh, I’m busting myths. This is my favorite one. You might’ve seen like unpopular opinions on Instagram.

[01:05:23] Elle Money:
I like to ruffle a few feathers sometimes and maybe give an opinion that maybe not everyone agrees with, but why, why this works so well is because it’s like, okay, this is what she stands for. And if someone agrees with you, they’re going to stick with you. So don’t be afraid to kind of say an unpopular opinion as well.

[01:05:41] Elle Money:
Now, if you want to post five times a week. It looks a little bit different with growth. You’re still going to do it on a Monday, but I actually like to end the week with the growth post as well. So kind of end on that. Let me enter entertain you again, but then in the week you’re still doing the convert earlier on, but you’re just getting a nurture [01:06:00] post in on that Thursday.

[01:06:02] Elle Money:
So sharing value, selling, building trust, reposting. If you’re posting five times a week on Instagram, I highly recommend you just have a day where you’re like. I’m going to repost content because like I said before, I’ve shared content. I even shared a carousel one week, three days later, I shared the same thing.

[01:06:22] Elle Money:
I used the carousel as a script for a real posted it as a real. And people were like, this is amazing. I’ve never seen this before. And I was like, I literally posted it three days ago and you still didn’t notice. So don’t be afraid to repost content. And then what I call educational, it’s entertaining and is educational.

[01:06:42] Elle Money:
So, format wise, as we said before, you’re still doing the Carousel’s quick wins, collab, perspective shifts to start the week. But on a Tuesday, you’re gonna be sharing like a client story or a testimonial. Midweek, that’s where you focus on building that trust. So I like to do a longer reel, [01:07:00] right? Midweek, people are still like, I’m putting a lot of time and effort into uh, Instagram.

[01:07:05] Elle Money:
There might be more likely to sit there and watch you talk for 90 seconds. So really go deep dive on a problem that your clients are facing. Thursday, repost content. There’s lots of ways to repost content. You can literally repost it as it is. You can reformat it. So turn a carousel into a reel for instance.

[01:07:24] Elle Money:
or revamp it. So just give it a new headline, but the rest of the post is the same. And then on a Friday, that real educational, a value bomb series, day in the life of whatever kind of suits you in that style. So this is what that content posting schedule looks like. Grow, convert, nurture, and you’ll see I’ve got this for stories as well.

[01:07:46] Elle Money:
So yes, you can post this strategy on stories. You should still have a strategy for your stories. So as you can see here, things balance each other out. So if you’re posting a growth post, [01:08:00] selling your stories, if you’re selling it on your feed posts, share some value in your stories. So it all balances each other out.

[01:08:07] Elle Money:
And it means throughout the week, you’re constantly bringing in new people, building those relationships and making those sales. So how do you implement this on stories? So if you’re just posting three stories a week, I might say, start the week with something like your schedule or something you’re working on.

[01:08:25] Elle Money:
So if you have a new offer coming out, get people excited about it. It’s such a shame when people wait for something to be launched, to be like, it’s here, go buy it, show people what’s happening behind the scenes. Like even today for weeks, I’ve kind of been like, Ooh, I’ve got my first in person event coming up, getting people to follow along, not just bam, it’s here.

[01:08:45] Elle Money:
Go get interested. Make sure that if you are selling or you’re getting that convert content on stories, you always have a CTA, okay? I can’t tell you how many people talk about the offers, but then give no one, like, reply [01:09:00] with this word or a direction to actually go and take that action. So make sure you include in that CTA.

[01:09:05] Elle Money:
I saw a huge uptake in people taking action when I actually included a CTA on my stories. With the nurture content that you want to be relatable and a great way to do this is to show your face Is anybody here scared to show their face on Instagram? Yeah, a few people. I mean there are faceless real accounts now, right?

[01:09:25] Elle Money:
Where people never know who the person is behind the brand, but I personally love it You know personal brands are absolutely up and coming right now. So Challenge yourself. This is a great place to start on stories where you know, it expires in 24 hours And you can just kind of start experimenting, getting comfortable with your audience, and then you do it later on in your content.

[01:09:46] Elle Money:
Make sure you’re including stickers. So my favorites are the poll or the emoji reaction sticker. My most engaged with stories was literally me sharing a photo with a funny thought and that [01:10:00] engagement reaction sticker. And I think I shared one once about, um, That every time I’m about to jump on a client call, I have like 12 minutes to the call and I’ll start cleaning the house.

[01:10:10] Elle Money:
And I had just like the laughing face and I had hundreds of taps and so many messages from people saying like, this is hilarious. I do this too. Telling me what personality type I was telling me. I was obviously nervous to jump on these client calls and I was trying to distract myself and I was like, I just like working from home, but okay.

[01:10:30] Elle Money:
So make sure you’re including the stickers. Anytime you want someone to react to something, give them something easy to engage with. And then growth. And you might be thinking, but my stories don’t bring new followers. And you’d be right. Okay. If you ever look on your reach for your stories, 99. 9 percent of those people already follow you.

[01:10:51] Elle Money:
But that’s not to say that you can’t give growth content on your stories. So the only people that will see your stories that don’t already follow you [01:11:00] is say someone comes to your page and they’re like, Oh, let me see what stories I’ve got before I decide to hit follow. But the reason these work really well is because if you’re always selling or kind of like sharing random stuff on your stories, people get used to that quite quick and then maybe not come back.

[01:11:16] Elle Money:
So make sure you’re still giving value and still giving them a reason to want to view your stories. Then if you want to do five stories a week, I really recommend you do market research earlier on in the week. So hands up whoever does market research on Instagram and ask their audience questions. Well done.

[01:11:36] Elle Money:
I think you’re the only one who put your hand up. Yeah. Honestly, this is so underrated and honestly, most people don’t do it. So I’m really proud of you for doing this. Honestly, this is the, I’ll definitely start doing this every single week if possible. Ask your audience questions. What do you want to know about?

[01:11:55] Elle Money:
What are you struggling with? Like I’ve even said this when I launched a [01:12:00] product about, um, your content pillars and I came up with a phrase like become the go to in your niche. And I was like, well, it makes sense to me, but does this make sense to my audience? And so I posted it and said, which headline do you resonate with the most?

[01:12:13] Elle Money:
And actually most people, it’s like, I want to become the go to in my niche. So I was like, buzz in. I’m going to use this on my website. and it gave me that clarity. So make sure you’re asking your audience questions. What do they want to know more about? Giving them the stickers, having the poll, having the engaged emoji reaction sticker as well.

[01:12:33] Elle Money:
And then if you are doing five stories a week, make sure you’re talking about your services twice. So you’ll see that if I’m posting about my schedule and what I’m working on and getting people excited about that earlier on in the week, then I’m going to be sharing testimonials behind the scenes, Client case studies, I literally shared one yesterday, great things that happened in my program today and shared two things that, two achievements that clients had.

[01:12:57] Elle Money:
So make sure you’re doing this all the time. [01:13:00] And that’s it, that’s all I have for you today, so thank you so much, we’ll do some questions.

[01:13:10] Ami:
That was awesome. Alright guys, I know you guys are bursting with questions, does anybody want to kick it off?

[01:13:18] Attendee:
Hi, uh, I have a question about, um, the time you’re posting on Instagram. Yeah. So, for example, what time slot is the best time to posting every day?

[01:13:29] Elle Money:
This depends on a few factors, your niche, uh, where they’re located. So you might be in Canada, but you might be targeting people in America, maybe like Eastern time, for instance, even that’s like a three hour delay.

[01:13:42] Elle Money:
Um, Um, and kind of what works best for you. So I hate when people post like universal best posting times because there aren’t any, right? It really does depend on your niche. So what I would say is you go to your Instagram, look in your insights, and when you click on followers, it [01:14:00] tells you when those people are most likely online.

[01:14:02] Elle Money:
So for me, usually that would be between seven and 9 a. m. Pacific. Or 6 and 9 a. m. Pacific, sorry. So, I’m gonna be like, cool, 7. 30 works great for me. That’s when I wake up, so that’s when I post. So, I would look at that first, and then I would challenge you to start a different time. So, actually around 7 p. m.

[01:14:22] Elle Money:
Pacific works really well for me, but my insights do not tell me that. So, I would definitely test some out for yourself. I would say test that time out around three to five times before you say if it’s good or not. Trying it once isn’t enough data for that. So do your insights first. Find out what time that’s telling you and then experiment with a few others.

[01:14:43] Attendee:
Thank you.

[01:14:43] Elle Money:
Thank you.

[01:14:53] Attendee:
Um, when it comes to posting and, uh, stories and posts, is there a strategy around creating them? Do you have [01:15:00] to create them a month in advance? Or like three to five posts a week is a lot of content. How do you go about doing that?

[01:15:08] Elle Money:
It is. So, um, just to clarify, you’re asking how fun it is to create your feed content.

[01:15:13] Elle Money:
Yeah. Okay, so actually what I do is, I will plan a month in advance and I know that might be like, Oh my God, that’s ridiculous. But what I will do is I’ll say every outline every week. So we commencing one, two, three, four, I will then say, do the five posts. And most of the time those posts is just a headline.

[01:15:31] Elle Money:
It’s just like the rough idea of what I want to do. Now, the reason I always have those on hand is because anytime I have an idea that comes to me, I write it down on notion. So I have a content bank that I’m constantly. Yeah. accumulating new content for. And then like anytime there’s a big client case study, I’ll write that down.

[01:15:49] Elle Money:
So you want to always be looking out for content ideas. So once a month you outline those five ideas or three ideas, if that works best for you. And then actually on a weekly basis, I [01:16:00] will come to those ideas and write them out. So, okay, now I’m only going to tackle these five, or you can do one at a time if you want to, but I would really recommend you focus on each stage one at a time.

[01:16:11] Elle Money:
Okay. And what I mean by that is when you’re writing out the content, it’s much easier when you’re in that writing stage to be like, I’m going to write all these posts. Don’t think about design yet. Just focus on the writing. So then when it comes to design, you’re like, cool, now I’ve got my design hat on and I can just whack these posts out.

[01:16:28] Elle Money:
If you’re doing reels, try and do multiple reels in one go as well. So if you’re jumping from writing to designing to editing and getting it out, it’s going to take you a whole lot longer than if you try and actually segment that kind of mentality.

[01:16:42] Attendee:
Thank you. Thank you. Just one quick question. Um, yeah, regarding gaining followers and people on your account.

[01:16:50] Attendee:
Do you recommend following other people or tagging or how does that work?

[01:16:56] Elle Money:
Great question. I do get this one a lot. I would say when it comes to [01:17:00] who you follow. I’m not about the follow for follow any of that kind of robotic nonsense. I would say always follow people that inspire you and motivate you to create better content.

[01:17:10] Elle Money:
And what I mean by that is there might be someone who’s a direct competitor of yours that you’re like, they are absolutely nailing it. But every time you see their content, it just makes you feel bad about yours. And then you never post anything. They’re not the person to follow because then it’s just a comparison mindset.

[01:17:25] Elle Money:
So follow people that are doing really good things and it doesn’t have to be a direct competitor. So like I said before, I follow a lot of designers because I’m like, I want to see how you’re creating content and designing that visually. I will follow copywriters to see how I can improve my messaging.

[01:17:41] Elle Money:
So it doesn’t have to be directly to what you do, but it should be inspiring for you and motivating you to actually create better content. So that’s what I would do because then when you actually follow them and you need to engage with those people to build those relationships, it’s easy for you. Cause you actually love their content.

[01:17:58] Elle Money:
It’s not fake. And you’re like, well, I have [01:18:00] to comment and say great share on this person’s page. Yeah, thank you.

[01:18:06] Attendee:
Um, I know there’s been different things in terms of the algorithm and scheduling posts. It sounds like you’re posting live by the way you’re talking about when you choose to post. So what do you have to say about scheduling versus not in terms of, um, getting through the algorithm, but also managing your workload?

[01:18:23] Elle Money:
Yeah, great question. So like I said, 7. 30am is just a prime time for me to post, and I happen to wake up there, so I just love my routine of waking up, getting the content out, and then replying to comments from the post the day before, just to get engagement going, kind of tell the algorithm I’m here, I’m engaging, I’m ready.

[01:18:42] Elle Money:
I start to engage with a few of the first comments that start flowing in as well. And that’s just how it works for me. I know for some people, we might be thinking, Oh my God, you get up and you go on your phone and you post on Instagram straight away and that’s really bad for your mentality. It just suits me.

[01:18:56] Elle Money:
You know, it’s totally different for everybody. So I’ve heard, you [01:19:00] know, is it a bad thing? Is it, are you at a disadvantage by scheduling content? No. What I would say is you need to make sure you’re dedicating time though, to get back to those engagements. I wouldn’t say it’s not the be all and end all that you have to be live and replying to comments straight away.

[01:19:15] Elle Money:
I was actually in Revelstoke last weekend and posted a reel that barely went through because the signal was absolutely terrible. And I didn’t look at that reel until the next day. So it had been pretty much 24 hours without me even opening the Instagram app. And it was actually a really good performing reel for me.

[01:19:31] Elle Money:
So it’s definitely not that you have to be there, but dedicate time throughout the day. And I would definitely recommend you maybe have two or three increments that you’d say, okay, I’m going to go on in the morning, going to check in again, mid afternoon, and then again, maybe in the evening to reply to those comments.

[01:19:47] Elle Money:
So absolutely use the scheduler if you want. I would say the most important thing is try and post when most people are online and just get back to that at least once a day to make sure you’re engaging there.

[01:19:58] Ami:
We’re going to do one more [01:20:00] guys and then Elle’s going to be around if you’ve got other questions.

[01:20:02] Ami:
I’m sure she’s open to answering them. Um, what do you think

[01:20:06] Attendee:
of broadcast channels? I’m sick of being invited to them.

[01:20:10] Elle Money:
Yeah, me too. I actually haven’t started one myself, but I had a client ask me about this the other week, and she’s like, what would you share? And I’m like, well, I wouldn’t share anything different.

[01:20:22] Elle Money:
To me, it’s just another burden, so I personally haven’t done it. I mean, I think it’s good if that’s, if it feels natural for you. But personally, I haven’t seen anyone that’s like, this has been a game changer for me and everybody should do it. And I agree, every time I see an invite, I don’t even look at it.

[01:20:37] Elle Money:
I’m like, no, thank you. Does anyone have a broadcast channel? As I’m like completely slating them.

[01:20:48] Elle Money:
No, broadcast channel is like a private DM group. So I could be like L social invited you to Instagram marketing broadcast channel. Everyone who follows me gets an invite. You pick whether or not you [01:21:00] want to be in it. But I believe, and correct me if I’m wrong, cause I feel like maybe you’re more familiar, but only I could post in it, the creator posts in it.

[01:21:06] Elle Money:
Right. So it’s kind of like I’m broadcasting directly to you and you can like it and engage with it, but that’s about it. Yeah, yeah, good question. Sorry, I’ve realized it is kind of a new ish feature. Yeah. Thank you everybody. Give her a round

[01:21:22] of applause for Al.