Making social media fun using Instagram To Grow Your Audience

In Episode 17 I interview Allison Scholes, who is putting the sassy in sweatpants! She is an entrepreneur who is helping other mompreneurs build personal brands through her stock photo membership.

About Allison – The Boss Lady in Sweatpants

Allison is a Stock Photographer and Podcaster. She provides fun and creative stock photos busy mompreneurs can’t live without. Allison also hosts her Podcast, Social Media for Mompreneurs. Each week, the show helps busy moms build their brand online in just minutes a day–even when those minutes are hard to come by. Allison believes social media should be fun and easy, not daunting! With her sassy and fun personality, mixed with her creativity and love for sweatpants and jewelry, she’s able to deliver simple and creative tools to help mompreneurs boost their business with confidence and ease.

First Phase

Allison worked in corporate as a creative. When she had her boys, she decided to stay at home. She didn’t want to miss out on her boys’ lives. But…

Being a stay-at-home mom can be isolating. It was all given and something was missing. She needed something for herself and then there was the guilt associated with not contributing to the family finances. Instead of working, she was taking the boys to Target and spending money!

For Allison, the solution to the internal battle was to find something where she could be present but also have something for herself and also contribute to the household funds.

Second Phase – before making social media fun

She spent time observing behaviors on Instagram and realized she could help other entrepreneurs. Many fellow entrepreneurs were asking her about her flat lays and her photos in her Instagram feed.

After so many requests, she decided to start a stock photo membership. However, it took her almost a year to fight off imposter syndrome and market the membership program.

Imposter Syndrome is Real

The biggest mistake she made on her entrepreneurial journey was allowing imposter syndrome to hold her back from her dreams. She finally realized that she had to find her inner strength and realize her uniqueness and publish the membership opportunity.

What really helped her move forward was meeting her “social sisters”, a group of women who support each other on their entrepreneurial journeys. Finding a tribe and support system was key to success as an entrepreneur. It was imperative for growing a successful business.

What a Personal Brand is to Allison

I asked Allison what personal branding means to her. Her response: “It is what you want to be known for. It’s how you make people feel. Your personal brand is beyond the picture, the caption, or the website. It’s what they are thinking about you when they are walking out of the room.”

Allison went on to say that as entrepreneurs we must generate content based on what we want other people to know us for. You want to be unique.