Building Relationships on Instagram Not Only Increases the Possibility of Getting Clients, but Opens the Doors for Opportunities, and Collaboration.
Building relationships on Instagram is my favorite thing about being on social media as an entrepreneur. I’ve been able to build relationships and made really great friends.
These friendships have resulted in collaboration and referral opportunities. Recently, my dear friend who I met on Instagram a few years ago asked me to do a hot seat interview with her on her podcast. Of course, I said yes, how exciting and what fun! I’m grateful to have had this opportunity with Allison Scholes and hope that our messages resonate with all of you listening to the episode or reading the blog post.
Branding
Allison: In your own words, what does branding mean to you?
Robyn: Branding is communicating how you are different than everyone else in your space. Your personal brand is what everyone else thinks, says, and feels about you. So your branding is how you communicate your unique skills, abilities, your why, all of those things about you, so that you can create the perception, and begin to control what your brand is, what other people think, say, and feel about you.
Your color palette, typography, and logo are assets that help others identify you, but they are not your brand.
Control What Others Think About You
The key with branding is taking control of what others feel about you, and really differentiating how you can help them so that no one else will be able to help them in that same way. It is creating that perception that you want them to have of you.
Allison: When you talk about communicating, you are talking about the way you write, your mannerisms, and your videos. Communication is that overarching umbrella, correct?
Robyn: Yeah, it’s really telling your story. It’s coming from that authentic place within yourself to educate people on who you are, what you do, and how you do it. We do that in different ways. We do it through photography, brand assets, and color psychology, and being able to create copy and social media posts, either through audio or video, to create that perception you want them to have of you.
Robyn: I’ve watched you go from truly polished to being yourself and just enjoying Instagram and growing your following organically. What do you say to someone who says they hate social media and don’t want to be on Instagram, people who have excuses to not be on Instagram?
Allison: I’m really glad you said excuses because they really are excuses. The biggest thing about growing your brand and showing up on Instagram is that it’s not easy. And success on Instagram isn’t an overnight thing either. But I think the problem with people who are trying to put themselves out there on social media think that they have to follow a certain formula or show up as someone else. The problem is that we are watching way too many people.
Learn more about Instagram from Allison in Episode 83.
Action Builds Confidence
We get stuck in the state of inspiration, which is good in the beginning, but if you don’t move into a state of doing, you won’t figure out how to show up on social media. Another thing Allison hears is that people don’t have the confidence to do social media. You earn confidence through earning. It isn’t that you have confidence and then put yourself out in videos and show your face, you actually have to do that first, and then confidence will come.
If you don’t know where to start, start with one thing. What is that one thing that you know you are really good at? You won’t understand or clarify your authentic self until you do it. The more you do it, the more confident you will become and the more authentic you will be.
Robyn: The more action we take, the more confidence we have.
Allison: You have to realize that as an entrepreneur and putting yourself out there, it is going to feel messy. If you feel good all the time and things feel easy, you aren’t going to grow. It’s time to shake things up a bit.
Transitioning As An Entrepreneur
Allison: Was there a major pivotal moment in your business?
Robyn: I started this business as a professional photographer. Very quickly I found that I was doing a lot of things that weren’t inspiring me. I knew that I needed to be more strategic and transitioned my business to focus solely on headshots and branding photography. This helped, as I was able to interact more with professionals. But when I started working with professionals, I realized that many people don’t have the strategy piece to build a strong foundation for their business. Without the foundation, you can’t build a successful business.
It is such a blessing to watch women grow and blossom into an entrepreneur and gain confidence and security not only with their personal brands but as business people.
Fear
Allison: When you became a coach, did you have a lot of fears, asking if you were really qualified to teach other people?
Robyn: Every single day. But, before I started the 1:1 coaching program I had the Build a Brand program where I worked with contractors to build out brands and taught entrepreneurs what messaging to use and helped them find their keywords and key phrases. I knew that they had all reached a level of success, so that helped me feel more confident. To overcome that fear, I have to journal and create intentional thoughts around the success that I have helped other people create.
Imposter Syndrome
Robyn: We’ve had the conversation about imposter syndrome several times. You are in the throws of Instagram. It is really hard to keep yourself in a silo and not get distracted or intimidated by other people and what they are doing online. How do stay focused and not get lost in imposter syndrome? How do you balance it? I can’t consume before I post. How do you do it and what do you recommend to people who are struggling with imposter syndrome?
Allison: You are just seeing 10% of what is going on. Instagram is a highlights reel. The fears, doubts, etc. happen to everyone. I always reflect on two things. Number 1, my brand clarity. You have to understand your own brand clarity and what you want to be known for. I always go back to what I want to be known for and what my intentions are for being on the platform to stay in control. You have control over the app.
Don’t Let Instagram Control You
Don’t let Instagram control you or what you do. I stay very focused and go on for 10 minutes and then I go off. Then I go back on and comment on stories. That creates a one-on-one conversation in the DMs. Always go back to your intentions for being on the platform and what you want to be known for.
Robyn: This is a unique way of looking at Instagram from thinking I have to go on to get clients.
Allison: We also have to shift how we look at the platform. It isn’t about us, it’s about serving other people. Look at what posts are resonating with your audience and create more content based on those metrics.
Learn more about imposter syndrome in Episode 66.
Podcasting
Allison: If you could interview anyone on your podcast, who would it be, and they have to be living?
Robyn: Just last week I set a goal for myself to get Jen Sincerro on my show. She is number one, she is the author of “You Are a Badass”. The second one is Cathy Heller. I love her because she is so authentic and no-nonsense, and pours her heart and soul into serving others. Our values for life are so similar.
Now I want to ask you the same thing…
Allison: I actually have two. My first one is Ed Mylett. He is my favorite entrepreneur and has a great story and is so about making an impact for other people. The second one is Tom Hiddleston, the actor who plays Loki. Loki is such a part of my brand, and I would love to ask him about playing that role and how he has himself and in his life experienced being like Loki.
Getting Nervous
I still get nervous to interview people on my podcast. Do you?
Robyn: Yes, absolutely. It depends on who the person is and what their following is. If I didn’t get nervous, I wouldn’t do as well in a job.
Allison: For me, it was Pia Silva.
Robyn: Oh my gosh yes! That is exactly who it was. Things seem so much more intimidating than they are.
Reels
Robyn: You mentioned reels. I was one of those people who said they weren’t doing reels. People are so creative and it looks like they are putting an extreme amount of time into these fancy reels. What strategy can busy entrepreneurs put in place to create reels?
Allison: You don’t have to spend a ton of time. It is to get visibility and reach. Start with your voice and face. Take something you are really good at and share that and have a really great call to action. You do not need to be an actor or actress or be super techy. It’s really just showing up with your face.
It goes back to the confidence thing we talked about earlier. It takes putting in the action, starting with your face and voice, the more you do it, the more practice, and the better you’ll get. The key is to be authentic so that you attract the right people.
Definition of Success
Allison: What is your definition of success?
Robyn: Success for me is that at the end of the day, I can look back on the day and have served someone, have I blessed someone by sharing my knowledge, have I given something away for free, and yet felt fulfilled within my own journey.
Allison: Have you felt that on social media that there is a false definition of success, how to make six figures and beyond? I feel like people are putting the emphasis on making a lot of money as success. It doesn’t feel right to me.
Robyn: I don’t know if you follow Michelle Mazur, I had her on my podcast a month or so ago (episode 119) and I was on her podcast, and she speaks out a lot on bro marketing. It is a pet peeve of mine. I don’t think that making six or seven figures makes you successful. Money can make you happy, but money isn’t going to create relationships. God hasn’t called us to make a lot of money, he’s called us to serve. Every night I take time to write down three things that I am grateful for. And I think you are the same way.
Allison: Your bottom line doesn’t define your success.
Robyn: And it doesn’t define who you are.
To learn More About Your Host, Robyn Graham, Click HERE.
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