Jenna Harding (00:00)
I got a text about a month ago and it is a text that I have gotten time and time again. An old friend has started a new business and they're reaching out to me asking what the heck they're supposed to do about this social media marketing thing for whatever their new endeavor is. I love this text. I'm happy to work for free for an old pal and I will tell any of my old friends who reach out.

Asking what to post on social media for their business. because I love a new business. I love a fresh start So friend I'm here to tell you the same thing that I tell all these people who reach out to me so actually a few weeks ago my friend Dave from theater school

reached out and he's so funny and he has this new passion. He's been taking all of this training for a coaching certification and he's so freaking passionate about it. And the more I actually spoke to him, the more I realized he knows what he's talking about. He's just like you. He has all the skills and all the drive and ability to help so many people. a leadership coach

So what's next? Get clients. He needs to get clients. He needs to find the people. And when he's sitting at home in his home office thinking, how am I supposed to find people to hire me for this coaching service, right? They're not in your living room next to you, but thanks to social media, it can feel like they are.

You can be making content in your kitchen that gets into the palm of your ideal client's hand in seconds. That might sound corny, but it is so, so true, especially for those of us who do work from home, right? Unless you wanna be out there paying to go to events and signing up for networking breakfasts and showing up on people's doorsteps to get clients, getting clients online is the fastest

most efficient and freest way to do it. So I do love when someone's like, I want to use social media. I'm like, great, let's do the thing.

And if you're new and you wanna use social media and you're excited or you know what, sometimes people aren't new to their business, but they are new to marketing it on social media. So this episode is for you. If your business is new or you're just new to the social media part of it, this is for you. Now, the first thing I want to nip in the bud is this idea that your first post needs to be anything special at all.

because people put so much pressure onto their very first post on any platform.

your first, let's say, Instagram post or TikTok post or Facebook business page post or whatever, that first post is going to be seen by so few people. You probably have zero followers, right? so it's so few people and you're now starting a mission to gain visibility, to get more followers, to be seen by more people. So really,

it's gonna be seen by the fewest people of any post ever, right? got the smallest audience. some reason, we crank the pressure dial up and we put so much pressure on the first post. I wanna take the pressure off the first post. The only thing where you should feel pressure is getting that post up ASAP. It can be a photo of you. It can be a Canva graphic that says, welcome to my new business. Like I don't care what it is.

rip the bandaid off, get that first post up, ASAP, get it up, start now, start yesterday.

Another thing going through a lot of new business owners' heads is an elaborate plan. And I hear you, I'm creative, I love a five-part series, you know? We have all of these elaborate plans and you might have an elaborate plan in your head for how you wanna roll out your first few pieces of content. I would encourage you to simplify. Ditch the plan, and whatever you can get up now, get that post online. If you can be posting once a day,

Get that up online. How about your cool, elaborate plan? Do that two months from now when you have more people watching your content, when you've actually built up your followers, right? We also need to remember that people don't consume your content in order. They don't see everything linearly. So if you are like crafting this...

series or this rollout of content, people aren't even going to watch the content in the order that you think that they're going to. So it's really just not worth it. But I know that that's where a lot of people's heads go. And you know why it goes there? Because you're trying to feel control. You're trying to control this very scary, vulnerable thing of putting yourself out there. So you're making these plans. And I know, like, if you're new to this show, I know I've only known you for two minutes already, like.

really digging in, but I feel like a lot of times we're trying to control this thing and you know, it's vulnerable to be seen. It's vulnerable to show your face. It's vulnerable to talk on camera. It's vulnerable to go and tell all the people from your old job and your old life and your cousins that you started a new business. And I think we often associate vulnerability also with like scary things or sadness. Like I got really vulnerable and told them all my fears, but joy is also scary.

It can be really intimidating. you have to be really brave to be able to say to friends and family, hey, I believe in myself and look at this cool new passion I've found. And I think this is really gonna be something and I'm excited about it and I'm happy about it. And I think I'm great. And that also is vulnerability. And that's also the energy that you're gonna be showing up on social media with like, hey, look at this thing that I can do. Look at this way that I can help you.

I learned this skill, on top of a lifetime of information and stories and experiences and I'm putting it all into this new business, come by from this new business or come hire me for my service.

So I want, okay, so I want you to just get posting.

Now you're asking, K Jenna, what do I post? Literally anything. You could pick up your phone and rant. You could pick up your phone and teach something. You could pick up your phone and film a 30 second clip that's like, this is what I'm doing now.

You're gonna learn all sorts of different things that will make your posts perform better. You're gonna learn tips about your captions and how to film If you keep listening to this podcast, you'll learn my growth nurture sales proven Instagram strategy. You're gonna learn all these things. But right now, with the knowledge that you currently have, you gotta just pop something up online. You gotta just get it up there.

no matter what it is, because the fastest way to improve is to start and learn as you go. And when you do it that way, and when you can handle the vulnerability of doing it that way and showing up imperfectly, you will grow fastest. If you wait until you think you have the perfect post or until you totally understand how this social media marketing thing works,

then you're gonna post less, you're gonna post slower, you're gonna wait longer and grow your business slower. Do you see what I'm saying? So it really does take this like rip off the band-aid, go get them, I'm gonna be imperfect kind of attitude and those are the people that are gonna thrive the fastest. And so bringing it back to Dave.

I sat with him for an hour, you I told him everything about social media marketing. I told him how to get started on Instagram, what it's going to take to get clients. Like I told him all my, my beginner speeches. And then I gave him access to magic marketing machine and I checked in with him a few days later and he said that the first thing I got from your program is, ⁓ I need to start. need to stop just thinking about this and actually do the thing. was like, okay, perfect.

then he starts posting, even though he doesn't know every single in and out of Instagram and how it all works, his passion is so charming. It's so charismatic, just like yours is. Have you ever been at a dinner party when someone starts talking about something that they're into? And it can be so nerdy. Like one time we had a dinner guest who was an expert roofer and he sat in our living room and told us about roofs.

And I was captivated. Like when you listen to someone tell a story with passion or speak about something they're into, just like you are into your new business, it's so captivating. You can really get away with a lot. You don't need to be this like expert Instagrammer to already have our attention just because of your passion.

So I need to read you these texts with Dave and he's like, admittedly, he's so funny. So he texts me out of nowhere. Okay, but I've gotten so many compliments on my social media. A friend texted me, said it was so good and asked who was doing it for me. And I was like, yes,

So then I asked him, can I screenshot this? And I offered to hide his name, but I thought that's a pretty good testimonial from someone doing my program, right? And he responded, pardon my language, bitch, use my name and handle. I want people to follow me, which I thought was hilarious. He goes, I've gone from nervous to shameless, and you can post that too. I'm like, the character arc, my god. He goes, I mean, it's been two weeks. He called me

not having posted for his business ever. He started a fresh account. He started posting passionately, just teaching is what he was doing. He was teaching and he was talking about the ins and outs psychologically of leadership coaching and conflict in the workplace, because that's what he's into.

Right now, he is at almost 600 followers. a lot of his reels are like 1,400, 1,000, 1,300, 1,900. He's getting discovered. New people are seeing him and he is sticking to it.

Another way that he got followers quickly, and I will give you the same advice, is once he had established his account, changed his profile picture, put his name in, and posted maybe three videos, it could have been one, for you it can be one or three, whatever you want, he reached out to his network. the hardest benchmark to hit in your account is like 200 followers.

then it's a little bit easier to get to five, it's a little bit easier to get to 1,000. Once you're at 1,000, you can grow more. Like I've run so many accounts in so many different industries and I always find those first few hundred followers are kind of the hardest ones to get and that's when we really need your energy to stay up. We really need you to keep believing that this is gonna work and just remember that it has worked for hundreds of thousands of businesses before you who were also new to Instagram and who also started at zero.

So he reached out to his network. posted on his personal page, hey, this is what I'm doing now. you can also go to your LinkedIn, go to your Facebook, go to your email list, put in your email signature to follow your account. Tell your mom, tell your friends, it's okay if that first group of followers is your preexisting network because those people can also be your biggest referral sources.

Right? If your step-sister knows that you started this new business, they might have five friends that they can send to you. We need to get the word out in whatever way possible. And if people follow you from your life, don't be bummed about that. Be excited. Sometimes people feel like they're not doing it right. If the people following them are people who already know them, you're doing it right.

it helps get the word out, it's still really important, and it helps you hit that 200 follower hurdle and go beyond.

So you've noticed right now I'm talking about Instagram a lot. That's my expertise. I help service-based business owners get clients from Instagram. that's my passion. That's my whole thing. and you don't need to start on Instagram, but let's talk about the best place for you to start. Firstly, in terms of all the social media platforms, you want to choose one only and make it one that you actually like and make it one

that helps with discoverability. So let's break that down. Firstly, you only wanna choose one because you wanna get really good at one and grow an audience on one before you start tripling the amount of time that you are contributing to your social media marketing by trying to be on every platform. And if you try and be on every platform at once, you're gonna be only okay on all of them instead of really freaking good at one platform. So choose one.

make it one you like. Every demographic and psychographic on this planet exists as the audience on every single social media platform. There are so many people out there, There are billions of users on all the main platforms. So if you're like, yeah, my clients are businessy, I have to be on LinkedIn. No, you don't, you don't. If you like Instagram, you hate LinkedIn, be on Instagram. Those businessy people,

are also on Instagram. I'll give you an example. I was just at this conference in Burlington, the High Vibe Women Conference, and

I sat next to this girl who worked at a startup in the marketing department for like six years and she had just left and gone out on her own into entrepreneurship. And I tested one of my theories on her. So I said, Hey, you know, Sometimes people come to me and their audience are people say at a startup, their audience are corporate people.

And so they think they need to be on LinkedIn because their audience is so corporate. And what I respond is that the individuals at that business are also on Instagram, are also on Pinterest, are also on Facebook,

say things like, yeah, but my ideal client is the CEO of a startup and I don't think they're wasting their time on Instagram. And to that I say, yeah, but all of the people with seats next to the throne, the other people in the office who have the CEO's ear are on Instagram. And I said, I've been saying this for years. Is it true? Like, do you agree? And she was like, ⁓ yes.

She's like, I would be on Instagram and I we would often find things that were relevant to the company or relevant to leadership and we would bring it to them. But we found it on Instagram. So I was like, oh, good. Yeah, because I've said that for a long time and it's I was due for a check in to make sure it's true. Logically, it's true. But I was glad that she validated me.

When you start a new business, there's a lot on your plate, right? There's you, you have every job in the businesses on your head. You are the administrator. You are the bookkeeper. You are the owner operator. You are the big brains. You are the delivery team. You're the marketing and sales. You are everything. So if you choose a platform that you don't enjoy being on, that is the first task of the week. That's going to fall off your plate accidentally because you don't actually like it. So

You don't need to be as obsessed with Instagram as I am, but choose a platform that you think that you might be able to enjoy. Maybe you'll enjoy a little bit of scrolling. We can build up to enjoying creating the actual content, Choose a platform that you don't hate.

posting every day. I'd love to get you to a place where you're posting every day, but in honor of starting imperfectly and just getting content freaking up, post however many times you can. If you can muster twice a week, try and do twice a week and stay consistent with it. If you can do three times a week and stay consistent with it, even better. After you've done that for a little while, then you can come to me.

We can talk about ways to speed that up, ways to speed you up, a content strategy, blah, blah, blah. We can go further. But you really need to just get the ball rolling.

So a few weeks went by, I heard from Dave a little, he had a few technical questions, I helped him out. And then it was time. It was time for me to reach out and say, hey, you're killing it. Now you're being consistent, you're getting views, you're figuring out the nuts and bolts and the editing of the posts. So now it's time to talk about messaging and what you need to say to get people to buy. I said, it's kind of like phase two.

Like you've been doing great at getting attention. And then our next step is to get the attention of the right people and say the thing that they need to hear to get them to buy. So that's what's in your future too. Start now, you don't hate. Choose one platform to focus on. Try and get up to posting three times a week. Do not make the first few posts precious. Just get literally anything up because the only way for you to get better is to

start and practice and learn as you go. If you wait until you're perfect, you're gonna slow yourself down and future you is gonna be like, man, I wish I would have gone for it.

and take advantage of your current network. Those are your tips for getting started on social media marketing as a new business owner. I want to tell you one more thing. I mentioned today that I was in theater school because I was in theater school with Dave, right? And when I was in theater school, we learn how to be very critical. You learn how to watch a play and be critical of the direction and be critical of the actors and note

places where there are shortcomings, note where there's missed opportunities. After learning so much about theater and they actually like kind of train this critical eye into you, it was hard for me to watch a show and not just tear it apart in my head. So I would watch a show, I'd like bring my mom to the theater to watch a play and I'd be walking out, quietly rolling my eyes

of all of the things in the play that I thought weren't good enough.

I was being way more critical than everyone else in the audience, I'm tearing apart the show in my head amongst 400 people who are just sitting there enjoying it, all right? I'm being mean and not focusing on the fun parts of the show and the good parts of the show because my.

my brain is just so focused on all the places where it didn't meet my expectations. in that moment, I actually thought in a lot of cases that the show was crap, right? But the lights would go up, the audience would applaud, and my mom would have the biggest smile on her face, and she'd be clapping and cheering and think that we just saw the best thing in the world. Me, I'm like, that was crap.

her, she's like, let's watch it again. How fantastic. She always had a good thing to say about it. She always thought everything we saw was fantastic. And I'm betting that you are also very well practiced at critiquing yourself and pointing out your own perceived flaws and all the places you could improve.

and all the ways that that video of yourself or the way you said something or the way you explained something just didn't meet your expectations. I want you to know that that's a lens. That's a lens you have right now. And you can absolutely toss that lens on the ground, jam the heel of your shoe into it and crush it and get rid of it. And it's gonna happen over time. It's not gonna happen overnight,

but the more it happens, the better you're going to feel. The better your videos are going to be, the faster you're going to grow and therefore the faster you're going to grow your business. My mom is watching your videos. She is smiling and cheering. She doesn't see anything wrong with them. She thinks they're great. Even though you could argue and argue with her about the reasons why you're not good enough, she's still watching it smiling.

She's clapping for you, all right?

You are your own biggest critic. So when you get those first few posts up there, please don't, you know what, actually here's another thing. Someone in my community, I should pull this up. Someone in magic marketing machine, she just posted in the Facebook group today. She goes, I don't know if this will help other people, but I've been finding when I put up a post, I'm super critical of it and I don't like how I look and I don't like the post. And then two weeks later I look back at it and I go, Hey, that's not so bad.

So I hope that helps somebody else out there. I thought that was so sweet because I think we all do that, right? In the moment when you have that lens of judgment on, you think the thing is so bad. But then when you feel a little better, when you're a little bit separated from it, maybe you just had an ice cream cone, you're feeling good, you look back at it two weeks later, you're like, hey, why was I being so mean to myself? This is actually great. All right, I hope that helps. Go out there and post. There are so many people out there waiting for your.

business to change their life. They just need to meet you and they're going to find you on social media because of your social media marketing. If you are new here, my name is Jenna Harding. You can get a free training about how to get clients from Instagram down below this episode. And I will see you on the shiny new clients podcast next week.