How your Email List will Earn you Money as an Entrepreneur

What would happen to your business if Facebook and Instagram shut down tomorrow and you lost all of your followers?

Would you panic? That 10k, 50k, 100k+ followers don't seem so important anymore, do they? The thing is, Mark Zuckerberg actually owns all of your followers. But guess what you own?

Your email list.

This is the most important piece of your business to focus on growing and nurturing. This list is going to get you sales. This list will earn you money. I’m going to teach you how to grow it and use it to build relationships, position you as an expert in your field, and generate sales.

1. Give Value Up Front

People don’t just give out their email freely anymore. Those days are long over. They’re tired of their inbox being cluttered with sales pitches vs. the content they truly want to consume. You have to give them a reason to want to be on your list from the get-go. To do this, you’ll need to give them something in exchange for their email address. This is called a “freebie.” What can you create and turn into PDF form, video, or a 5-day series that will solve a problem and get a quick result for your target audience? This will give people a reason to share their email address with you - think of it as an exchange. This will get them on your list to continue to give value to (and sell) down the line, but it creates a favorable first impression.

2. Nurture them along

You want your audience to feel nurtured and not forgotten about. You want to continue to help them, serve them, and let them get to know you. This is where automation comes into play. Set up a sequence so that once they sign up for the freebie you’re offering they’re not just delivered that freebie, but instead they’re delivered a series of emails over a couple of weeks that gives them a better idea as to who you are, what you do and how you can serve them. Pop into their inbox every couple days for those first couple weeks to stay top of mind.

3. Share a vulnerable story to relate

People relate to people. Share your story. Give people a peek behind the curtain as to who you are and how you can relate to them. Did you struggle with the same things? What led you here today? Emotion paints a beautiful picture for people and allows them to see a piece of themselves in you to form a true connection. Use this in your welcome/freebie series, as well as periodically in your campaign emails - and especially when selling a program, course, or new service offering. Guess what? Emotion sells. 

4. Make them feel like a VIP

Give them early access, discounts, and special bonuses just for being a part of your list. You want it to feel like they’re part of an exclusive community, and you want to give them a reason to stick around. The goal is for them to be excited to see your name in their inbox, not think “ugh another email from YOUR NAME HERE”. Again, tap into their emotions and make them feel so special. Plus they’re the ones showing up for you by giving you access to their inbox, and you want to take care of those on your list first and foremost.

5. Find your “hot” market

Analyze your list. Yes, this means looking at your analytics, and segment based on engagement. Who’s active in the last 7 days or 30 days? Who consistently opens your emails? Who clicks on all your links? These are the people that are on the verge of a sale if they haven’t purchased already. Segment them into their own list and market to them even more specifically.

Finally, I want to encourage you to be consistent with your emails. Show up in your audience’s inbox frequently. Deliver value, don’t just ask for the sale. Use all of the tips I mentioned above and watch your list grow and your income grow. You can apply these tips to almost any email platform, but if you want my recommendation, I love FloDesk. Use this link to get 50% off.

---

Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

2020 Marketing and Social Media Trends

It’s hard to believe that we are less than 2 weeks away from 2020! While I am sitting here wondering where 2019 went, I’m simultaneously preparing for 2020. I am sort of a data and analytics nerd and love to look at trends in the data, learn from it and better serve my audience. In addition to data analysis, I think it’s equally important to do some research to see what the latest trends are in general to help guide a growth strategy. These trend reports are heavily researched by experts and while every “tactic” so to speak may not apply to you, it’s really interesting to see what the industry as a whole is doing and possibly open your ideas to new ideas for your planning.

I’ve done some research on 2020 marketing trends and I’m condensing down the most important info to share with you!

Did you know…

• Millennials now compromise half of all B2B buyers

• There are currently 3.48 billion social media users, which is up 9% since last year

• There are more than 590 million active professionals on LinkedIn

• Research predicts that businesses will invest $400 million in chatbots in 2021

• 85% of people are more likely to buy your product after they watch a video about it

• Posts with images produce 180% more engagement

• Global ad spend will reach $605 billion in 2020. This is a 4.2% increase from 2019

• In 2019, US Facebook ad spend reached $25.56 billion. This represents a 107% increase from 2016.

• Only 61% of marketers believe their marketing strategy is effective.

Some of these statistics are CRAZY! So what does this mean for 2020? What should you be focused on in terms of your marketing planning? Here are 6 trends that you should consider when developing your 2020 marketing plan.

Personalization

No longer is it a one-size-fits-all approach to marketing. This should come as no surprise, but your target audience wants to feel like you’re speaking directly to them and their needs. This means segmenting your audience even more and responding with more direct, personal communication. Audiences no longer accept generic replies or messages. Customers expect convenience, friendly service, efficiency, and tailor options to fit their needs. 

80% of consumers said that they’d be more likely to do business with a brand that provides a personalized experience, according to a survey by Epsilon.

With the rise of advanced targeting on social media, you have the ability to customize marketing specifically to your audience and serve them ads at the right times.

Influencer Marketing

Product-based businesses, take note, influencer marketing is here to stay. Borrowing the trust of someone's audience that mirrors your target audience is invaluable. It’s also typically much cheaper than running paid ad campaigns. Influencers do more than just generate leads -- they help advocate brand trust and loyalty. They generate brand awareness and help to convert sales. They’re a salesperson in essence for your product. Niche or micro-influencers are gaining in popularity and working with multiple, smaller influencers tends to cost less and gain bigger and better results.

Chatbots

I wasn’t sure about these a couple of years ago. Their capabilities were a lot more limited and well, less personal. But chatbots have evolved and they are super-efficient for your business. With new opportunities for eCommerce and in-stream buying options emerging on social platforms, they are definitely something to keep your eye on and think about for 2020.

Video

Video continues to be an important part of your overall marketing strategy. According to a Cisco study, by 2022, 82% of all online content will be video content. It goes back to personalization. People can connect better with you on video than a static post. It shows authenticity. You have the freedom with Live video and Stories to show real-time demonstrations, your authentic self and better connect with your target audience. People spend 3x longer watching live video than they do watching pre-recorded video. If you’ve been putting off video, you no longer have the luxury of waiting if you want to grow. Videos are about to completely dominate social media. Start small, use IG stories, pre-record short clips then move into live streams. I promise it’s not as awkward and scary as you think it is.

Expansion of Social Commerce

Because who wants to leave Instagram to buy something when you could just buy it in the app? Social commerce is about to become a dominant retail channel as you’re already seeing it with shoppable posts on IG. Social networks will continue to evolve their social storefronts in 2020 and marketers will need to leverage these opportunities to incorporate social commerce into sales strategies.

AR/VR will go mainstream

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are gaining more and more traction among brands. Companies are trying to determine the HOW of bringing these devices/tools more mainstream. It definitely provides a more engaging experience for users. It’s no longer just used for gamers, nor does it require a heavy technological investment. Access to smartphones opens up the door for VR -- which is why it’s an important trend to pay attention to. 

These are just a few of the top marketing trends I’ve researched for 2020 and believe they will impact marketing strategies the most. These are the ones you want to pay attention to. Will you be using any of these strategies in your 2020 marketing? 

---

Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

Top Tips for Creating Efficiencies in your Business from OBMs and VAs Around the Country

One year ago, I was struggling to try to figure out what I wanted to do with my business and my life. I launched my corporate marketing agency, Fast Follow Co, and had some great clients, but it wasn’t 100% what I wanted to spend the rest of my career doing. Over the past 8 months or so, I had found “my people” in the online space. I loved connecting with and working with other entrepreneurs. I knew that those were the people I wanted to serve, but I wasn’t sure how my past experiences in marketing, account and project management, PR and media relations would translate to working with entrepreneurs. Until I discovered the role of an online business manager.

It was then that it all clicked. I started looking at other respected OBMs and realized there truly was a lack of OBMs in the market and my unique background and expertise in marketing would set me apart from other OBMs as well. So, I hired a brand and website designer, Oliver James, launched my business and hired my OBM mentor, Sara Wiles. These investments alone were worth every penny in getting my business up and running.

Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to serve so many amazing, successful clients and allow them to continue to grow their businesses. I also have learned so much about my business, just about reached the 6-figure mark, have become fully-booked out and hired a VA and SMM. It’s incredible to look back at all the changes and growth in the last year alone..

To celebrate a year in biz as an OBM, I wanted to share with you some tips for creating more efficiencies in your business from other OBM’s and VA’s around the world. 

“Time Block and plan content out in batches” 

• Noelle Campany, Social Media Manager and Virtual Assistant

“Use a task management platform like a bible!”

• Sara Wiles, Online Business Mentor

“Don’t discredit the power of content repurposing and how much time it can sae you on a weekly basis.”

• Claire Elizabeth, Executive Virtual Assistant

“Document every step that's taken to complete a task. This exercise is two-fold:

1. Seeing the entire process written out will often lend itself to being able to visualize where the inefficiencies are so you can make adjustments

2. Having your process documented lays the foundation for creating SOPs, which help you (and/or your team) perform the task consistently (and efficiently because you're not having to try and remember what the next step is - you just follow the steps without having to think through it)”

• Sarah Leigh Day, Workflow Strategist

“Repurpose your content. You can take one thing that you do and use it several different ways. For instance, Write a post, then make a video saying what you said in the post, send out an email to your list, post the info on your website, in your group, etc.”

• Bonnie Hardie, Rock Solid Social Media & Virtual Assistance

“Get really clear about those time suckers. I find a lot of people think they know where there time goes but when they spend a week tracking... it’s actually really eye opening for them!”

• Stephanie McIntyre

What piece of advice do you find most helpful?

---

Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a soon-to-be wife, stepmom, dog mama of two furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

4 Mistakes You’re Making when Building Relationships on Social Media

Building relationships whether it’s through social media or out in everyday life, is so important for not only our business success, but for our personal enjoyment as well. I genuinely enjoy meeting new people, connecting with others and building relationships in my life. As a “people person”, it comes naturally to me to engage with others and nurture those friendships, but I know that’s not true for everyone.

Building relationships in an office environment or with your clients in the corporate world is too easy. You have the environment and framework set up for you to nurture those relationships. In the online world, it’s a totally different beast. Even for someone who considers themself an outgoing, “people person”, I have found it to be a challenge to build trustworthy, long-standing friendships online at times. Building genuine relationships online can be hard. Everyone wants to sell you something and not everyone’s intentions are genuine. Now I’ve built some great virtual friendships with entrepreneurs online, but I’ve also gotten plenty of annoying spam-y messages in my inbox too.

So, here’s the deal, I am sharing with you the top 4 mistakes you’re making when trying to build a relationship online, and what to do instead to build a genuine connection.

What to stop: Cold messaging

Coming from a girl who used to work the MLM business hard, I’m pleading with you to stop the cold messages. This is an immediate turn off and not a way to build someone’s trust. It feels a bit intrusive to be honest to have someone pop up in your inbox that you don’t even know. I can’t tell you the amount of people that friend me from seeing my post in a Facebook group and then immediately messaging me when I accept. Y’all, this is NOT the way to do it.

What to do instead: I am all for meeting new friends in the online space, but why don’t you do it where you make that initial connection. So if it is a Facebook group, build your connection there. Comment on their posts/photos in the group. Start engaging with their comments on other’s posts. Follow their business page. But don’t immediately friend them without making a prior connection first. People will be more receptive to your friend request down the line when they feel like you’ve built some sort of relationship inside the group first. It feels safer. It is less intrusive. It just feels more genuine vs. thinking you have an agenda or want to simply sell them something.

What to stop: Immediately offering a freebie in your DMs

Do you really have success with this? Offering freebies is GREAT, and I have one of my own, but I don’t friend people and message them immediately and tell them they should download what I have to offer, because IT’S FREE! That is not relationship building, that is spam. Even if I was interested in what you have to offer, you have not built that know, like and trust factor yet, or even a personalized message as to why you think this would help me because you haven’t spent 5 seconds getting to know me.

What to do instead: Once you’ve engaged with someone in the “place” where you met them online, start a conversation. Get to know their business and what they do and potential pain points related to the area you serve. Have a dialogue. This goes for both Facebook or Instagram messages. Connect first before you offer. 

What to stop: Pitching your services up front

I totally understand the urge to reach out to someone and pitch your services if you see something they post that you feel like you can help with. But guess what? There’s probably 10 people that can also help that person. Don’t simply comment on a post pitching yourself (unless asked to). This just makes the person overwhelmed and really does not help them at all with their problem. Okay cool, you have the (potential) solution, but why should they hire you? 

What to do instead: Provide value. Simple as that. People are going to be interested in someone who truly HELPS them. Demonstrate your knowledge and expertise. Give a bit of helpful information that they can use and then they’ll likely come back to you as the expert.

What to stop: The like/follow/unfollow cycle

Why is this still a thing? I think we’re all moving beyond the idea of having more followers means you’re more powerful or influential. I am all for engaging on others posts, and liking and commenting and trying to increase your followers, but don’t do it with the intention of trying to get someone to follow you and then unfollowing them a week later. This does not serve you in the long run, nor is it building any sort of relationship.

What to do instead: Like, comment, follow people who you genuinely want to work with or learn from. Invest in people and they’ll invest in you. Learn what they do, what they’re offering, what they’re struggling with and provide value or encouragement on their posts.

Building genuine connections online takes work! You truly have to have an abundance mindset and want to invest in others. I love supporting other women in business whether or not they ever purchase from me. If you are struggling in this area and feel more like it’s a competition, I suggest you do some mindset work on this specifically because there are plenty of ideal clients out there for everyone!

In my opinion, building a genuine relationships should look something like this (specific to Facebook): engage in a group through comments and likes for a few weeks, add as a friend, comment and like posts for a few more weeks, THEN you can reach out via direct message to continue to cultivate that relationship, if/when the timing feels right THEN you can invite them to an upcoming challenge or send them a freebie or pitch them. But I can promise the conversation may naturally go that way vs. you giving a templated “sales pitch.

How do you build relationships online?

---

Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a soon-to-be wife, stepmom, dog mama of two furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

Not all marketing is the same

Probably the MOST COMMON mistakes I see people make in their business has to do with MARKETING. Marketing is such a blanket statement to so many different types of tactics. And here’s the thing, you don’t have to do them all.

I know it can be tempting when a new platform emerges to want to jump on board, but what if that approach is really not what’s best for your business? We get distracted by shiny objects or new things and don’t want to be late to the game, but what if that’s costing you valuable time and resources?

Here’s the deal. Not all marketing is the same. Marketing tactics should be very specifically tailored to your business objectives and target market. Here are some things to consider:

1. Where does your target audience live?

This without a doubt should be the FIRST question you ask yourself. If you don’t know who your target audience is, that step needs to be taken before you can even determine where they live. Then, figure out what platforms they spend their time on. Do a little market research. ASK people! Think about the type of business you run too. There are platforms better suited for B2B vs B2C. For instance, I rarely tell my B2B clients to post on Instagram. Instagram is a visual platform for consumers. You’re not likely to find facility managers looking for fire protection services on Instagram, right? So think about that for your business too.

2. Do you have the time, energy and resources to put into that platform?

What I mean is, don’t half ass it! Don’t just create a Snapchat and list it on your website if you’re not pushing out consistent content. There should be a strategic approach for every social channel you join.

For example, I have a corporate client in the B2B space who wants to be on Pinterest. Cool, great, lots of benefits to Pinterest. But when thinking about who they’re trying to reach, the majority of their target audience ISN’T on Pinterest. I CAN see the benefit for search, but you have to maintain that account regularly for that to even matter. I did see the need to create an account for ONE specific brand out of the six I manage for them because it’s more visual/design focused. Originally, they had Pinterest accounts for four of the brands, but realistically I finally was able to coax them into turning our focus around on just that ONE brand and doing it well. Because truly, showing up and pinning 1-2 times a week was NOT working in their favor. They did not have the resources for someone to be pinning 5-25 pins a day on four different accounts. Changing the focus to one account made it more manageable, and made a huge difference in the engagement, reach and growth of that one brand.

3. Do a couple things really well.

Instead of trying to be on every platform, and creating all this new content for each platform, simply focus on a couple platforms and do them well! Really ENGAGE with your target audience. Provide a ton of value. Connect with people.

Are you strategic in your marketing approach? Or kind of just throwing shit against the wall and seeing what sticks? I’d love to help you put together a thoughtful, tactical plan to help you achieve the best results possible for your biz!

---

Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a soon-to-be wife, stepmom, dog mama of two furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

The Secrets to “Selling” Yourself on Instagram

Everyone is so sensitive to the word SELL or selling or being “salesy”. We live in a world where products are pushed in our faces all day long. On social media, television, billboards, emails, at work, etc. And we’ve all had those really obnoxious and annoying sales people, or the generic MLM copy and paste messages (I can say that as I have been a part of an MLM),  or the people who just won’t leave you alone. But at the end of the day, if you are a company with a product or service you are selling something to someone no matter how you position it.

Social media can be one of your biggest advocates in terms of generating sales. I want you to stop thinking about sales as an icky term or feeling. At the end of the day, you want to build your know, like and trust factor to make selling seem more like sharing.

Right now, Instagram is one of the most popular platforms for with more than 1 billion users. So how do you get noticed? How do you build a successful Instagram platform that people want to follow? I am going to tell you the secrets to “selling” yourself on Instagram, but first things first, you have to make sure your profile is set to PUBLIC for these tips to work:

1. Write the Perfect Bio

   When you write your Instagram bio, you really just want it to be easy to read and quickly give people an overview of who you are, what you do and how you can help them. Under the Name section, you can customize however you like, but use a name that you want people to identify you as and use keywords for what you do. For example, my name is written as: Katelyn | Online Biz Manager. You do have a character count so you have to be strategic, but this is quick and digestible so that the first thing people see is my name and what I do.

   Under your bio section, use a hashtag relevant to your industry and then bullet out (and spice it up with Emoji’s) what you help people do, your mission statement, or what types of products you sell. My bio reads:

   #OBM & Get Your SH!T Together Strategist👊🏼

   I help successful entrepreneurs:

   ❗️Organize

   ❗️Prioritize

   ❗️Strategize

   Finally, make sure you include a link to your website, or multiple links through Linktr.ee.

2. Set up a Linktre.ee

   Unfortunately, Instagram only lets you list one link at a time in your bio. This is definitely less than ideal as most companies have many things they want to direct you to: website, blog, email list, shop, etc. and it can be a pain trying to change the link every day when you make a new post.

   Luckily there is a solution. Linktre.ee is a website that allows you to use one link to pull up a page where you have buttons that link to everything you want to share with your followers. The best part? It’s free. If you want to customize it a bit more, add animation to some links, remove the Linktr.ee logo and upgrade the analytics, there is a paid version. But if you’re just looking for something simple to give you the ability to share multiple links, the free version will work just fine. I love having the ability to see what links are most popular and engage my followers in many different ways.

3. Use Hashtags and Engage with Your Target Market Engagement

   Using hashtags in your posts are a #GAMECHANGER when it comes to  increasing your post engagement and exposure. You want to make sure your hashtags are targeted. Instagram allows you to have up to 30 hashtags on each post. Make a list of all the phrases and hashtags you think your ideal clients would be searching for. What do you do? What do you enjoy? What services do you offer? Then go search Instagram for the different hashtags and you’ll see all the variations and the number of times each hashtag has been used.

   Make a list of 25-30 hashtags to use consistently on your posts. But when making this list you don’t want to pick the MOST popular hashtags with hundreds of thousands or millions of posts. Because that likely means your post will be quickly lost on the explore page of Instagram and your potential clients won’t be as quick to find you. Do a mix of 5-10k + 20-100k hashtags on your posts. For example, #onlinebusinessmanager has 13.6k posts, but OBM has 43.5k. You want to mix these up, as well as including your own personal hashtag in there such as your biz name too.

   Part TWO of hashtag engagement includes then searching these hashtags and scrolling through them and liking and commenting on people who use these hashtags, as well as clicking on a photo, analyzing the profile of the person who posted it - are they reputable? Do they have a larger audience that you could benefit from? Because if they seem similar to you, you can always go and look at who likes and comments on their photos and then engage with their followers as they would likely be interested in your stuff too if they’re interested in theirs. Engagement is KEY. Try to do this a few times a day and you’ll slowly see your follower count grow ORGANICALLY without using a bot or service to grow your following. Which btw, just don’t do that. Put in the work and be targeted vs. trusting a bot or service to do the work for you.   

4. Using IG stories / Highlights

   Instagram stories is a gold mine. It allows you to give people a “real person” behind the pictures. You are humanizing yourself in a world where social media can seem so “fake” or “picturesque”. Share VALUE on Instagram Stories. Show examples of your products or services - in what you do for your clients day in and day out. THEN save these videos to your HIGHLIGHTS. This is where you can essentially save your stories for people to watch past the 24 hour mark.

   Think about the things you want to share most in your business. Probably tips of some kind, maybe product photos, or information on your latest course offering and then merge that into the results your clients are getting from your course, etc. Stories are a way to build that trust factor to show you are the real deal and not just some girl (or guy ;)) that is trying to sell someone something on the internet and not delivering value.

5. TAKE GOOD PICTURES GUYS.

   Who here loves to look at grainy, blurry, dark photos? No one? Didn’t think so. Y’all. Instagram is a PHOTO app. So make sure you are taking and sharing GOOD PHOTOS. Invest in some brand photography. You can likely find someone to do a brand/lifestyle shoot for $150-250 in your area. Maybe cheaper if you commit to doing them consistently (I recommend 4-6 times a year) and can negotiate a deal. These photos are SO worth it. You can use them on your website, blog, email marketing and over and over again on social. They make you look PROFESSIONAL and people stop the scroll for GOOD PHOTOS. They won’t even READ your content and will scroll right past a shitty photo. It’s WORTH IT.

   I am not saying to get rid of the selfies or at home photos forever. Hell, some of my top engaging posts are selfies.  BUT when you take photos on your iPhone, make sure you have good lighting. I invested in a Diva Ring light on amazon and it is SO worth it. The lighting is NIGHT AND DAY difference.

   Outside of having professional photos and good lighting, look into downloading an Instagram Preset. You can buy them from like $4-7 on Etsy. All you have to do is download Adobe Lightroom CC and load in your preset. What this is, is a custom “filter” that is pre-saved to this app. You connect your camera roll to the app and then select the photo you want, apply the preset and BOOM, a beautifully filtered photo in 5 seconds. This helps to streamline your feed and all of your photos have the same look and feed. Trust me when I say, PHOTOS ARE EVERYTHING.

6. BE CONSISTENT. TELL A STORY. OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

   Consistency, consistency, consistency. How many times do I have to say it? You need to be consistent on social media. I advise sharing every day at least once to Instagram Monday-Friday. If you don’t want to post on the weekends that is totally fine and up to you, but engage at times when your audience will be searching and watching. Test out different times in your posts and see what one seems to get the most traction. Over time you’ll be able to tell what times are best for you. But if you dont post consistently, you’ll never know.

   Along with consistency in posting, be consistent in sharing your story. What IS your story? Were you broke and then you manifested a 6-figure salary? Were you homeless and now you’re a millionaire? Are you a college dropout turned success? Did you leave the corporate world to create a thriving, passion-filled business? SHARE IT. Only about 5% of your newsfeed sees each of your posts. So tell your story and build the trust that YOU built your business and they can too, or you had XYZ problem and your product SOLVED IT. Sometimes you have to repeat yourself a few times for people to actually hear it.

7. Business Page

   If you are running a business on Instagram, make sure your page is set to business. To do this, go to your page and click the three lines on the top right, then click settings on the bottom. Then scroll down and make sure it says Business Settings (if so, then you have a biz account, but if not it will likely say something like switch to business account). You have to have a business Facebook page to link it to, but otherwise you’re good to go. This gives you the ability to look more in depth at how your posts are performing, audience insights and account growth, clicks and more.

   Do you feel like you’re in on the “secret” now? Or maybe you were hoping it was something magical that would grow your account to 100k quicker? Nope. That’s because there really is no secret or special sauce. It’s those small things that you have to do consistently to show up and stand out against everyone else in your industry. At the end of the day though, if you’re doing these things consistently, your audience will find you and your sales will grow. Now that doesn’t seem too salesy, does it?

I hope this was helpful for you! If you want even more great content delivered right to your inbox, sign up for my email list here.

---

Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a soon-to-be wife, stepmom, dog mama of two furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.