074 How to Get Clients From Instagram in Just 4 Hours a Week

What if Instagram didn't have to feel like a full-time job… or a full-time failure?

In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on my own 4-Hour Visibility Plan — the exact system I use (and teach my clients) to show up consistently, strategically, and most importantly, to get actual client enquiries from Instagram… without burning out, going viral, or spending your Sunday buried in Canva.

If you're tired of winging it on social media, second-guessing what to post, or wondering why it's not leading to paying clients — this one’s for you.

I’ll walk you through my weekly 4-hour workflow, break down what most health professionals get wrong about content strategy, and share real stories from clients who’ve made the switch — including the subtle mindset shifts that changed everything.

No more algorithm stress. No more post-and-pray.

Let’s make Instagram work for your health business — without it taking over your life.

What We Cover:

• Why social media feels like a time suck (and how to fix that)
• The real difference between influencer marketing and expert-led businesses
• My simple 4-hour-per-week system: Plan, Create, Connect, Convert
• How to align your content with your business goals
• What to post when you want clients — not just likes
• Mistakes to avoid that waste time and tank results
• The mindset shift that helped me fall back in love with marketing

🔗 Links & Resources:

• 💻 Join the waitlist for Social Media Made Simple
  https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/social-media-made-simple-waitlist

Lets keep in touch!

Website: https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dietitiansinbusiness/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dietitiansinbusiness
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeyondTheClinicPodcast

FREE Workbook - The Master Plan

Discover the 22 steps you need to take (in the right order) to build a successful business so you can earn enough to live the freedom lifestyle you dream of. https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/master-plan

Work with me:

• Business Coaching: https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/mastermind
• Sarah AI: https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/offers/AYjozgYc/
• Book a discovery call: https://thechildrensnutritionist.as.me/discovery

Transcript

Welcome back to episode number 74. And must start with an apology because yes, I did miss a week, the week before last. And the only excuse I've got is that I've just been so busy. I've been busy creating something new, which I'll talk to you about in a moment, but I apologize. Thank you so much for noticing. Thank you for all the kind words, for getting in You know, when you podcast, you often don't get very much direct feedback from people. It's not a two way thing, is it? You don't know how many people are along with your advice, absorbing what you're saying. So it's just been really lovely to hear from you. So thank you so much for that.

Anyway, today, I want to talk to you about Instagram. You probably know by now that I have a bit of a love hate relationship with social media. I actually don't really enjoy it at all. I don't have any personal accounts, but I do love what it does for my business. So what if I told you that showing up on Instagram could be simple, strategic, and actually only take you about four hours a week. And it could lead into paying clients.

I know that sounds like it might be a bit too good to be true if you've been spending, you know, your evenings tinkering with Canva, chasing trends that you don't really even enjoy or avoiding social media altogether because it just feels like such a drain. But today, I want to walk you through how I manage my social media in just four hours a week. And of course, from someone who hates social media.

It's really just a very simple but strategic way of using social so that you get seen by the right people without actually feeling like it's a massive chore.

So stick with me till the end of this episode because first I'm going to give you a breakdown of each part of this plan. And then secondly, I want to share with you something that's brand new that I've been working on that's been keeping me busy. That's coming very, very soon. It's called social media made simple because once you see how it all works, I know that you'll never look at social media the same way again. Ready? Let's go.

Okay, let's start with a bit of a reality check here, where you might be right now. So maybe you are super busy and you're posting on the fly, you're throwing things up and you're hoping that something sticks. Maybe you have time, but actually you're overthinking every caption because you want to sound credible, but you end up sounding a little bit stiff maybe.

Or maybe you spend half of Sunday afternoon fiddling with Canva graphics that look pretty but don't really seem to get much interest. Or maybe, well, this is the worst one actually, you put in all that effort, you hit publish and your posts get ghosted. Just a handful of likes, maybe your mum, your best friend, maybe it's another dietitian, but you don't get any comments and certainly no new inquiries. Now that's draining.

You're left wondering whether Instagram even works for professionals like us. And what you want isn't really influencer status. You don't want to be glued to your phone, posting 15 times a day, documenting your entire life. What you want is for Instagram to function as part of your business with purpose. You want it to be efficient and actually, you know what you want it to lead to paying clients. You'd love some clarity knowing what to post.

how often and actually why, so that the time you invest in this work actually pays off. And that's exactly where I was and why I created my four hour visibility plan. And I know it will help you too. So if you're anything like some of my clients, your day might go a bit like this. You've finished your NHS work or a long day in your private practice.

You've sorted dinner, you've supervised homework, you put the washing on, it's about half nine at night and you know what? You're shattered. And you finally sit down with your laptop to do some social media. And the glow of the screen feels more like a burden than an opportunity here. You might open Canva and stare at a blank template and think, okay, what am going to post tomorrow? So you'll grab your phone and you start to scroll to get a bit of inspiration.

But instead of feeling inspired, you end up feeling worse because what you see is other dietitians or healthcare professionals who look like they are smashing it. Their reels look professionally filmed. They have thousands of views. Their grids are slick and their followers are just piling in. And you feel that sinking thud in your stomach that you know what, maybe I'm just not cut out for this.

and the thoughts, they can keep spiralling. Maybe you remember that you promised yourself that you were going to grow your business this year and now you feel guilty for not having figured it out yet and it's September. Maybe you catch yourself thinking about how other colleagues seem to juggle it all with ease. You know, their clinic, their websites, their family, their social media and have a thriving business and you might feel behind. And when we're tired, that's

Guilt, I suppose, tips a bit into shame, doesn't it? It's a bit of, well, who do I think I am? Trying to make all of this work when I can't even manage a simple Instagram routine. But the part that you can't see is that many of those accounts that you compare yourself against are businesses built on an influencer model. Those people are great at building large audiences and they are brilliant at relating to people in their niche.

but there actually isn't much of a demand for what they could offer. Often because there's so much free stuff online about their niche already. So their income comes from things like brand deals and books and sponsored posts and not from clients. Now that is a completely different business engine, but from the outside, it looks like success, doesn't it? So you end up comparing yourself and your business to a business model that you don't even want and you're not aspiring to have.

So no wonder it feels discouraging. And this is where I think the burnout can begin because we feel this enormous pressure to grow huge accounts.

So you're giving a small amount of leftover energy to social media and then you're resenting it the whole time. But also you're kind of too scared to stop just in case your visibility disappears completely and you end up hating it. You may even feel anxious, definitely invisible and wondering if you know what, you should just give this whole thing up. So if that sounds familiar, I want you to hear me clearly here. You are not the problem here.

the routine that you might be trying to follow is likely to be the problem. So I want to share a little bit of honesty really from my own experiences. So, you know, I do not like social media. I don't like the busyness of it all. I don't like the endless trends. I don't like the pressure to always be on. None of that really excites me. But what I do love is what Instagram has done for my business. Now, when I

first started back in 2017, I would set my alarm for 5am before an NHS day and I would try and squeeze in a post or two before work. I'd write my captions before it got light outside, hoping that they'd sound clever enough. And I poured a bit time into Canva, fiddling with fonts and colours and graphics. And that felt like I was doing some work. And then I'd hit publish and I'd get the kids ready for school and off to my paediatric diabetes clinic.

Now the problem wasn't the lack of engagement. I didn't know it at the time, but I had built one of those influencer style businesses, posting, you know, generic pediatric nutrition content. had loads of followers and lots of offers of brand work. The issue for me was actually it was confusion. I couldn't tell which posts were worth it, which ones led to paying clients. And I didn't know how any of it actually connected to my business goals.

So the turning point for me came when I realized that it wasn't about doing more and more and more on Instagram. It was about changing what I did to do the right things. So until then, I was kind of posting at random, lots of effort, but no real clear direction. I wasn't aligning my content with my business goals. I wasn't guiding people through a journey from post through to inquiry. And I wasn't confident about selling in a way that felt professional.

So once I stripped back all the chaos and I built simple weekly rhythm, which started with planning, then creation, and then connecting with my audience and ultimately converting them, I had a container for my time. But the real results came because inside of that rhythm, I was finally focusing on the right things. The goal-driven content, the storytelling that built trust

and clear invitations into my offers. Now that shift changed absolutely everything. Suddenly I could close the app without worrying because I knew essentials were handled. A different type of follower started to find me. New conversations were triggered, clients booked. Not because I went viral, not because I was following the latest trend, but because I was being really consistent

and really intentional with my posts.

Now, what surprised me the most was that the relief felt just as valuable as the results that I was getting. For the first time, I could keep my business visible without sacrificing evenings with my family or piling on more pressure into what was already a really, really full week for me. And that was a game changer. It gave me back my headspace. It gave me confidence because it was working and it gave me proof that Instagram

could be sustainable and not just stressful.

Now this is not just me, I see this sort of transformation with my clients as well. I want to share with you Cristian's story. Now Cristian, you might already know him, he's really big on Instagram. He is the coeliac dietitian. He is a true expert in his field. So from the outside, it looks like he's flying, nearly 20,000 followers on Instagram.

But he actually came to me at the end of last year because despite that big following, he didn't actually have a business. He was actually still working for somebody else. He felt like he was doing all of this hard work with his Instagram account, but getting very little in return. So we worked together on setting up his business, on really sharpening his niche and refining his message to make it super specific and relatable.

so that his dream clients noticed. And instead of the broader posts about coeliac disease, about the gluten-free diet and showcasing his amazing work, he created a single carousel that named a very specific pain points or a few of them actually, that this newly sharpened niche 100 % resonated with. Now that one post that generated 271 comments. Now,

It would be disingenuous of me to say that that one post led instantly to loads and loads of new clients, but it did something really quite important. It took him from the influencer style business model to the expert business model by positioning him as someone who knows, someone who gets it. And it opened up a new door. So Cristian now had DMs to answer. He had conversations to nurture with prospective clients.

He had trust to build. So he moved from broadcasting to engaging. And that bridge is what ultimately leads to paying clients. Then there was another client I worked with called Kate. Now she was showing up regularly, but she did feel invisible. She put in lots of effort, but she was getting zero traction. Hardly any likes, no comments on her posts. And when she did look at her followers, they were

also other dietitians. So we refined her content so that with every post it tied back to her offers. And within weeks she had people going through her funnels and selling low cost offers right from Instagram. She said to me, it's working for the first time ever. Now, when you realize that your time spent on social media can turn into paying clients, it's just brilliant. And this is what happens.

when you stop winging it and when you start using a system designed for experts who want clients and not just more followers.

So I have alluded to a couple of things here.

Using social media strategically, so aligns with your business goals, and also my four hour a week system. So let's talk about that system first, four hours a week. But before we get to what actually happens during those four hours, there's one vital step that we need to do. And I would say nearly everyone skips. So step zero in effect is to reconnect with your business goals.

Social media is a tool. It's not a strategy. It feeds into your marketing strategy that relates to achieving your business goals. And any tool only works if you know what you're actually trying to build. So the place to begin is by asking yourself, what is my main business goal this year or this quarter or this month? And how do I want social media to help me achieve it?

When you don't start with this in mind, you are honestly winging it. The biggest mistake I see is taking inspiration from somebody else's content because it works for them, but without asking whether it will work for you. And by work, I mean whether it will support you reaching your goals. So please just spend 10 minutes or so every week before you start creating the next week's content just to check in with your goals.

And honestly, it will save you so much wasted effort.

Okay, now the four hours begin. So the first hour is planning time. And arguably I say that this is probably the most important of the four hours. Planning your social media content is a bit like clinic prep. You hopefully wouldn't walk into a client's appointment without reviewing their notes and gathering your thoughts on how you might help them. And actually social media is no different. So in this hour, you're gonna decide on your posts.

You'll want some to attract new people to you. You'll want some to nurture your existing audience. And you'll want some conversion posts to invite people to take action. Now it's always good to have all three types covered across a week. And the actual number of each will depend on your business objectives. So if your focus is growing your follower numbers at the moment, you're going to need more of the attraction posts.

If you're warming people up ahead of making an offer that you might have coming soon, you'll want more of those nurture posts. And if you're in the midst of a sales campaign, then you'll want to lean heavily on those conversion posts. So why do most people get this wrong? Well, because they skip the strategic planning and they scramble instead. And that's when you end up posting things like random recipes and motivational quotes or just checking in with you type of posts that

don't really tie back to your goals. Okay, so once you've mapped out how many attraction, nurture and conversion posts that you need for the week, the next step is to decide on the messaging that goes behind those posts. So messaging is the emotional layer of your content. It's about showing your audience that you understand what it feels like to live with their problem so that they feel seen and heard by you.

and then positioning yourself as the guide who can help them. So reflect upon how you want the reader to feel and how you want them to see you. Then once your messaging is clear, you're going to choose the content topic. So this is your subject matter expertise, the nutrition science, the methods, the clinical knowledge that you use to help people. And then finally, you decide on the best format to bring that idea to life.

So it could be a reel, a carousel, could be a simple static post with a caption. When you plan like this, you will feel calmer. You'll know exactly what you're posting and the impact that it will have on your audience and ultimately why you're posting it. So there'll be no more of that 10 PM Canva panic.

Now the next two hours are for creation. So this is your biggest chunk of time really. And this is where I think time can just disappear if you're not careful. The temptation is to make things perfect. But you know what? Done is better than perfect every single time. In these two hours, you want to create your assets. So this could be your reels for next week. Just filmed on your phone, you know, keep them short as of...

September 2025, where we are now, Instagram favours those reels that are between 7 and 25 seconds long. So they could be you talking directly to the camera, or they could be B-roll style, where you've got video playing in the background and a text overlay. You might also be creating your carousel posts. Now, these are really versatile and they perform really well, whether they're for attraction or nurture or conversion.

So a top tip here is to stick with three or four different templates or designs that you've used before and just switch out the text and the images. And this is so that you have a cohesive visual brand. It's also to help make it quicker for you so you're not starting from scratch every single time.

And actually a two slide carousel post works just as well as one with seven or eight tiles. But don't be tempted to add in more and more slides.

will let you add up to 20, but because the algorithm measures the success of carousels based on the swipe through and the drop-offs, the more slides you have, the greater the drop-off rate is going to be, particularly if you have time-poor people in your audience. And then of course, you're going to want to create your captions. My top tip for you here is write them in the way you speak and speak to a friend.

So it needs to be warm, needs to be conversational, but it also needs to be focused on the point that you're making and what you want your reader to do next. Now there are writing formulas that help you with this because copywriting, you know what, it is a skill and it's a skill that we're not taught at university. And it's something, first of all, we need to learn it, but you know what, we really need to master it in order to be good at marketing. So here's what usually goes wrong

You might spend too long polishing carousels in Canva, looking for the perfect graphic, the perfect colorway, the best font. Or you might spend ages editing your reels, for example. You might want to try out fancy transitions and visual hooks and trending audios. Now, don't get me wrong. These can be important in some business, especially those who have influencer business models and need to go viral in order to secure their next brand deal.

But for you with an expert led business, your clients don't care about any of this. They just need you to be visible to them and they need to be able to know you like you and trust that you can help them with their problem.

So if you can put all of that other stuff to one side and just focus on what you actually need to do in those two hours, you'll finish your session feeling lighter and so prepared for the week ahead. Okay, so now you have your posts ready. What do you need to do in that last hour? Well, this is for connection and conversion. So I actually split this last hour up into sort of 10 to 12 minutes across five or six days of the week.

Sometimes I don't do this at all at the weekends. Like I said, I'm not a huge fan of social media, so I'm happy to not use it at the weekends. Okay, connection and conversion. What is this? So you know that posting alone doesn't build a business.

People do. And Instagram rewards interaction with people. Now, interaction doesn't mean scrolling. It doesn't mean passively consuming content. It means actively engaging with other accounts. So connect by replying to comments that come in to you, but do it with thought and curiosity, not just thank you so much or a handful of emojis, but tell me more. How does that affect your day-to-day life?

You also want to be answering your DMs really quickly so that people who have put their hand up and chosen to make contact aren't left hanging. And you want to have a back and forth conversation with them, ask questions, find out more, treat them as if they're a friend picking your brain about their health condition. So connection, it should feel warm. It should feel like bumping into a friend on the high street and having a quick chat with them. And you know what, if you don't get many comments or DMs just yet,

spend that time engaging with other accounts in the same niche as you, where your ideal clients are likely already hanging out. So this is a great way to get noticed by those other accounts, which could lead to a collaboration opportunity in the future, and also get noticed by those ideal clients. But actually, more importantly, it signals to the algorithm what your account is actually about. And as for the conversion part,

It's very similar in terms of having conversations with people. Now, I know that many of you hate having sales conversations. It doesn't come naturally to us, especially without any formal sales training, but conversion conversations are just conversations. They're chats with another human being about how you can help them and what the next steps are. So I like to think of this as a bit like an act of service or in fact, you know, not telling people how you can help them.

being a bit of a disservice, it leaves them wallowing in their suffering. So what I do is I follow up when someone comments to a post where I might've spoken about their problems. And I ask them to tell me a bit more how it feels for them, what the impact is living with that problem and what they've tried before that hasn't worked.

You also want to be checking in with people who've downloaded your freebie, ask them how they got on with implementing whatever was that was inside. Did they have any questions about it? Did they get stuck? Do they need any further explanations? And then you can invite them to take the next step when someone is clearly engaged. So I've got a bit of a mindset reframe here. Selling is helping someone, but with structure.

So in clinic, if you think about it, if someone hinted that they needed even more support from you, you would never ignore it. You'd tell them what the next step is. And you know what? It's no different on social media. So when connection and conversion conversations work really, really well, it does feel professional. You're guiding people towards the help that they've already told you that they want. OK, we've covered a lot. So here's the whole thing put together.

So 10 minutes or so to reconnect with your business goals. One hour of planning time, two hours of creation time, and then one hour split across the week for connection and conversion conversations. So that's four hours in total. That is it. Social media doesn't sound so bad when you structure your workflow like this, Does it? I do my planning and creation on a Friday morning.

And I'd love for you to open your diary and block some time once a week so you can do this kind of work too. Now protect this time, just like you would a client call. Expect some resistance because your brain will tell you that you're too busy with other things that are more important and that you'll catch up on this later. So anticipate it and commit anyway, because social media can be so powerful when you use it strategically and correctly. Otherwise, it really is just a total waste of your time.

And if you're listening and you're thinking, my gosh, I need to learn how to use social media strategically, then I'd love to invite you to join the wait list for Social Media Made Simple. This is my brand new program starting on the 20th of October, and it's designed specifically for dietitians, nutritionists, and registered healthcare professionals who want to stop winging it and start using social media properly.

so that you can attract clients online without wasting hours glued to your phone. Now inside, you learn how to plan your content with a clear purpose. You'll create posts that bring in actual client inquiries and you'll grow a following that converts. And the best part, you'll have access to my AI tools to generate ideas, to plan your content calendar and draft posts in minutes. You do not need to chase trends.

You do not need to go viral or become an influencer. This is all about growing your business in a clear, straightforward way. So the doors are going to be open soon. And as this is the beta round, spots are very, very limited. So join the waitlist today. So you'll be the first to know when enrollment begins. Just head to sarahalmondbushall.com/social-media-made-simple-waitlist and add your name.

Don't worry, I'll put the link in the show notes too. If you've been worrying about whether you'll have the time, I want you to remember this. The whole point of this is to save you time. If you've been afraid that you'll feel salesy, I want you to know this as well. I'm going to show you exactly how to sell so it feels like it's helping. And if you've been wondering whether Instagram can really work for you, let me remind you of Cristian, of Kate, and also of my story.

all real proof that it can. You do not need to be online all of the time. You do not need to copy what the influencers are doing. You don't even need to post daily or spend your weekends in Canva. Just four focused hours aligned with your goals is enough to build visibility, engagement, and clients week after week after week. Bye for now.