[0:00] Music.
[0:13] The number one question that I've been asked, bar none, in the last three months sounds something like this. Hey, Kaylin, I noticed that you retired your old Instagram account and started a completely new one. And now I'm wondering if I should be doing the exact same thing. So I am going to dive into this today. I have a previous podcast episode where I told some of the details of relaunching my Instagram account, but I want to get really into the details today. And I also want to answer some of your questions that you guys submitted to me about whether or not you should make a change like this with your own Instagram account. Also, I have a little bonus at the very end of this episode because I like my podcast episodes to be super actionable. And so if I were to come up to you today and say, hey, Lauren, what's your content strategy?
[1:03] And you go completely blank, like deer in the headlights, like, I don't know. I don't know how how to answer that question. I don't even know what that means. I have just a tiny little micro masterclass for you at the end of this, where I share my content strategy that I'm currently using that turns out works really well. And I want to leave that with you so that you have something super actionable that you can take from this episode and start implementing tomorrow if you want to.
[1:29] So first, let's talk about the reason why I retired my old Instagram account and started started fresh. There's a few reasons why. The first one is for sure that I wanted to, that it felt fun. It felt exciting. It felt like a fun challenge. It didn't feel scary. It didn't feel intimidating. It didn't feel like it was a huge problem. It didn't even feel like I was leaving anything behind. Well, I take that back a little bit. What I did feel like I was leaving behind a little bit was some content that I'd like poured my heart and soul into. And it did feel odd to leave it and walk away from it. But I also knew that I'm in a season of making big shifts in my business. And so as a result, I'm also making big shifts in the type of content that I create and the way that I create content. And so even though it felt a little bit nostalgic or sad to leave that part of me behind, it felt so clear that all that I'm doing is paving a pathway to move forward from.
[2:29] So the second most major reason why I decided to retire my Instagram account is that I am talking to a completely different audience than the audience that I grew in large part on my past, my previous Instagram account. So those of you who know my story know that I started out as an Etsy coach. And so the bulk of that audience grew in the early couple months, years of being an Etsy coach. And so a lot of my followers were followers who I had gained when I was an Etsy coach. And as an interesting side note, a lot of those businesses have since moved on and their accounts are not active anymore. And so I can say this now, but the truth is that I realized that that following that I had was bloated, that there were people following me on that account that were not even active on their accounts. But that detail doesn't actually matter as much as the truth that I knew I had new clarity about who my dream clients are and I decided to take a big step in the direction of serving those dream clients very pointedly and specifically. So basically what I'm saying is that I wanted to pivot my audience.
[3:43] I have a lot to say about this but I'll share more of my thoughts about out what I mean by that in specificity in just a minute. But the next reason is that I realized that a huge part of the incentive or
[3:56] reason why I wanted to start a new account is that I wanted to help the algorithm help me. There were posts on my previous account that I posted years ago that were related to Etsy that people still, I can actually go back and still see notifications. People are still sharing and commenting on and saving and liking. And so I think that was confusing the algorithm because I had these posts from years ago that were specifically related to Etsy. And then I had the season where I shifted away from coaching Etsy business owners. And I even shifted away from coaching product business owners over to serving coaches and service And so I was creating content sort of half-hearted. I was trying to serve everyone. I was trying to serve product business owners. I was trying to serve coaches. I was trying to serve service providers. And I'm sure it was confusing the humans following me, but I know it was confusing the algorithm.
[4:55] I think it was making it really hard for the algorithm to figure out who is this girl, what is she doing, and who should I put her content in front of? And so I wanted my account to be so clear that someone could see my bio and know, like, can Kaylin help me? Yes or no. Follow or don't follow and move on. And I just wanted to be that clear and specific. This was also interesting, but a few weeks before I pivoted my Instagram account, I tested some fun reel strategies that got a bunch of views randomly on like a series of reels that I did just a few weeks before I pivoted my account and I was watching these reels get a ton of reach and they were bringing me some followers but when I scrolled through the followers they weren't actually bringing me the followers who I wanted to serve they were just a random hodgepodge again mostly Etsy business owners mostly product business owners which is totally fine, except for that I was moving into this space where I was trying to serve my dream clients very pointedly and very specifically, right? Like I said before. And so I was getting new followers, which is a great ego hit and definitely
[6:01] boosted my ego, but it wasn't really moving me closer to my goals. I actually remember so specifically the moment when I decided to pivot my account because I'd actually had a conversation with Rebecca Peterson a few weeks previously about the possibility.
[6:15] But I mentioned it to her. I was talking with her about this moment of conflict that I was feeling between serving product business owners and serving coaches and service providers and just feeling torn between the two.
[6:27] And I just casually mentioned to her, maybe I should just totally ditch my Instagram account and start over. And even when I said it to her, it was like, nah, I don't need to do that. But it wasn't until a few weeks later, it was a Sunday after church, I was reading my scriptures and sort of saying a prayer like, hey, Heavenly Father, I am trying to make big moves in my business. And I just want to check and see if there's something that I'm not doing that I should be doing to move me closer to my income goals. And it was like, clear as crystal, you need to start a new Instagram account. It's your Instagram account that's got you confused. It's your Instagram account that's got your dream clients confused. They're not reaching out to you because you're not talking to them. I literally, that moment, set my journal down, got my phone out, started a new account, didn't know what to call it, just called it my name again, just deleted the dot between the Kaylin and the priest and actually changed my bio on my old account that said, retired account, come follow me over here. And there were a few of you that noticed within like the 24 hours that I made this change. There were some of you that reached out to me like, what is happening before I'd announced anything?
[7:37] Some of you guys had seen my bio change, which was kind of fun and made me smile. But I just, you know, as soon as I got that inspiration from God, it was like, okay, let's do it and pulled the trigger on it.
[7:48] So let me also fill you in on the details of how things went and are going since then. The first, probably two weeks, I'll be honest, I had a little bit of a vulnerability hangover. It felt, I realized like no one is paying as much attention to me as I think they are, but it felt really vulnerable for me to be putting myself out there as a content strategist, a messaging strategist for six and seven figure your business owners. Meanwhile, I just moved from this account of 7,000 followers to this new account of 500.
[8:22] It felt very vulnerable to show the straight-up data of what percentage of my old audience was actually engaging and what percentage of them wanted to come over and see this new, not really new, this new, I guess, layer, this new season of Kaylynn's venture of business. It also showed me very clearly how much I had been looking to that follower count number as my own little ego boost because when that number went away, I started to question myself. I started to be like, dang, am I actually as good as I think that I am and that I say that I am? Because usually people who are really good at what they do have a bigger following than 500 people, right? It felt super vulnerable for a little bit. And then I got over it. And then I was like, you know what? I know this account, the number of followers on this account has no weight whatsoever in the type of income that I can make. And ultimately, that's what I'm here for. That's like my ultimate goal. I'm not here to try to gain followers just for the vanity metric, just to boost my own ego. I'm trying to put zeros in my bank account. And so if I have the choice between the two, I would rather have the follower count that has less zeros and the bank account that has more.
[9:39] And that has become come very true. In the last three months since I made that switch, my income has grown more than it ever has.
[9:49] Well, besides poppy seed play. But as far as my season in this coaching service provider role, my income is growing really quickly. And so it's been cool to watch how that bomb that I set off, for lack of a better word, created some big waves of momentum that I am now reaping the rewards of. Because now people know exactly what I do and how I can help them. I'm a launch and messaging coach. It says it right in my bio and I talk about it all the time. And when people who are in my audience have friends who have questions about their launches or their messaging, they say, hey, you should go talk to Kaylin. She's the launch and messaging queen. When they feel confused on their own messaging, they think, I'm going to reach out to Kaylin because she can help me. So I've seen a huge transformation in, first of all, the way that people interact with my content. Now it's like they're asking me questions because they know I know what I'm talking about. And they're reaching out to me asking for help. And they're like, hey, what does it look like to to work with you and asking me. So that's been very fun and satisfying. And that was happening before too, but this is like a new level that I haven't experienced before, which is really exciting and I'm super proud of. And yeah.
[11:10] Honestly, I've worked very hard for a long time for. And so I feel like I'm just watching this wave of momentum now hit my bank account. And it's way easier to sell my offers. People are reaching out to me and asking how they can work with me. And the types of people that I'm getting on calls with are the people who I'm like pinching myself because I feel so lucky that I get to work with them and serve with them. I feel lucky to work with and serve with anyone, but it's super exciting to watch the caliber of potential private clients coming into my Zoom room recently.
[11:39] So I want to answer some frequently asked questions that I got from you guys. I asked in my Instagram stories if you all had been thinking about pivoting your Instagram account. And I know you probably are because I get so many questions about it. And I hope to, after this episode, help you make a clear decision. Most likely, probably not to. With the only rare exceptions being if there's a dramatic shift that you want to make in your ideal customer or client or audience.
[12:09] So like I said, my example is an Etsy business owner to a seven-figure thought leader and coach or service provider. Those are two completely different people, right? And I do have people in my audience who have changed with me from being an Etsy business owner to being a coach and a thought leader. And they've come along the ride with me and we've all kind of like morphed together, which is fun. But largely, they're completely different people. So let me just say that first off. If you have any question and you feel at all unsure about it and you can't confidently say, yes, the person I want to talk to is dramatically different than the person I'm talking to, I would most likely say, don't make any big changes.
[12:51] But I do want to give you some really good content tips that I think can help. So the first question that I got was, my engagement is low. Should I switch accounts for that reason. So I would say if you have close to or more than 10,000 followers and your engagement is low, I might consider switching to a new account because it probably means that your following is bloated with inactive accounts like mine was. And I would do it with the intention of creating a new account and moving your most engaged followers over so that you can have a more closely knit community.
[13:26] If you have less than 10,000 followers and your engagement is low, that just tells me we need to play with your content and spice it up, get people's attention, give them a reason to engage with it again. But I don't think that unless you have like a really large following and your engagement is still low, I don't think having low engagement itself is a good reason to switch. The next question I got was, is it worth it? And do I just need to be more consistent? So I'm going to split this answer into two sections, but is it worth it? For me, I would do it again a million times over. And I think I already answered the question about, you know, how it did feel vulnerable for a little bit, but it has given me so much clarity. It's given my audience so much clarity and it's helped The people who I can really help see me as someone who can help them. So I'll talk more in just a minute about my thoughts about being more consistent and increasing your follower count because I do have some ideas for that.
[14:20] So next, if I haven't been active in a long time, is it better to start over? Again, I don't think I haven't been active in a long time is a good reason to start over.
[14:30] I think if you haven't been active in a long time, then it's time to get your content pumps churning and it's time for you to just practice putting out content and get your reps in. Just like if you were going to go to the gym and start lifting a 50 pound weight from day one, that's going to feel heavy. And so I wouldn't recommend doing that. I would recommend going to the gym and picking up a 5 or 10 or 15 pound weight and doing the reps because that's how you actually get the results that you want. If you went and I told you to pick up a 50 pound weight, you might get injured. You might get overwhelmed. You might get frustrated. And I don't want that to happen for you.
[15:04] And then one day, let's say a year in the future, you get new clarity about who your ideal dream client is. And it is dramatically different than the current audience that you have. Then I would switch and and move your engaged followers over to a new account. Why not just archive your old posts and keep going? So I think I've already answered this question too, but the main reason is that my following was bloated with accounts that started following me years ago when I was an Etsy coach, and I am not anymore. And so even if I just archived all my old posts and started over, the ultimate problem is that the people who were following me weren't my dream clients, and the algorithm was confused. And so it wasn't bringing me my dream clients, even though I was trying to create content for them. It just felt like there was too much content serving too many different types of people. And so that's the reason why instead of just starting over with different feed content, I wanted to start with a completely new account, a completely new following.
[16:02] Next question. I'm feeling the pull to start fresh because my niche has changed, but it hasn't changed dramatically. I wouldn't change anything unless your niche has changed dramatically. I get that sometimes it feels nice to think like, if I just start fresh, then things will be better. But I actually think if you sort of know your niche and your dream client, even if like the super specifics aren't laid out yet, then I think you also just need to practice getting in the reps, perhaps run experiments in your content, see what people, what resonates with people, see what they react to, see what they send you messages about, see what they ask you questions about. And that will start to give you more data about who your dream clients are and who you want to serve. And like I said, unless it's completely different, I would keep going on the path that you're going. This next question is a similar version, but it says, it sounds fun to start fresh, but I worry that I'll get caught up in perfectionism if I start a new one.
[17:00] So this perfectionism thing did trip me up a little bit too, like I said, being totally honest. But I wouldn't start a new account unless it at least sounds fun and expansive. I wouldn't do it if, you know, if it sounds like a unique, interesting challenge.
[17:17] I wouldn't want you to do it if it feels like pressure, like you have to or like your current account isn't going to work because that's not the case. And if you're not seeing results from your content yet, that's not because your account is broken. That's not because you're talking to the wrong person. It might just be because you're not activating them in a way where you're getting in front of them. You're showing them how you are the one who can help them. You might just want to play with or add in more layers of establishing your own authority and telling stories about the transformations that you've created in your own life, the transformations that you've created in others' lives for your clients. And that's the route that I would go down first.
[18:01] Okay, another question that I got was, how do I get new followers on a new account? So here's the thing that might be important to point out is that even though I was starting this new account fresh, I didn't start my community from zero. I still had a super closely knit, tightly, very actively engaged community on my old account. And so I was just moving them over to a new account. If you don't feel like you have a community yet, then let's play with that. Let's start there. Let's start creating one. So something that is kind of exciting about this new account is is that I have gotten a hundred new followers in the last three months, which I realize to other people sounds like nothing, but it feels amazing to me because as I peek at the people who have followed me in the last three months, they are the exact people who I want to serve. They are coaches and service providers. And so I don't really care at what rate my following grows or doesn't grow as long as the people who are coming are people who I want to help and that I really can help.
[19:07] So this is a theory that I have always felt, which is that getting followers on a new account requires the same stuff as getting new followers on your current account. So if you always have the question, like, how do I gain new followers? The answer is by serving the ones that you already have, by serving them so deeply and so fully, by answering their questions, by being their go-to girl, by inviting them into into conversations where you can help them and support them, where you start to position yourself as an expert and that you believe you're an expert and that you say you're an expert and you invite them to come learn from you, that's how you build a community that pays attention.
[19:49] So I skipped this question before, but I want to circle back to it because this is where I'm going to add in my, I don't know how long, 30 second content strategy training. So the question was, do I just need to be more consistent. My thought is if you have a question like, should I be more consistent? The answer is probably yes. If you feel like you're not posting enough, you're probably not. I would never coach someone to post multiple times per day. So if you've got, if you're basically posting every day or like five, six, seven times per week, then I think you've got the consistency box checked. But I don't want you to just check the consistency box because that's what everyone's doing. Everyone is just trying to post just for the sake of posting because it feels really good when we can tick that box on our to-do list and move on with our lives. But the problem is that you could do that for the next year or two and not make the sales that you want to make. And so we need to talk about creating content that talks straight to your dream clients. We need to talk about creating content that makes them stop in their tracks and go, dang, I've never thought of of it that way. Or content that shows them why they don't have what they want yet.
[21:05] And in order for you to be able to show them that, you need to know what that thing is, right? So that when you say, hey, here's why what you're doing isn't getting you what you want, they not only go, oh, I didn't know that. It instantly positions you as the person in their mind who can help them get what they want. Because it shows them that you're the person who can see their blind spots. It shows them that you're the person who has figured out something that they haven't figured out and so that's why they should strongly consider investing in you so if I had to give you my content strategy in three bullet points it would be this number one.
[21:44] This is my actual content strategy, so take this if it's useful. But number one part of my content strategy is telling my authority story.
[21:53] So you probably heard people talking about how important it is to tell stories in your content from your life. I think that's great, and I think that's an important skill to learn. But I think the stories that will actually move people closer to paying you are stories from, first, your own life where you show people how you created a transformation in your life. You created something different. You were at point A, now you're at point B and point B is amazing and things are so different, but you can clearly see looking back how you could help a girl also move from point A to point B. So obviously we have to figure out what that point A and point B is first so that you can speak to those. But I like to talk about telling my authority story. So those are stories from my own life where I talk about changes or results that I have created because of my own life experience, because of my own experiments, because of things that I've tested and tried. And I also like to tell stories from my clients' lives or from the results that my clients are getting or from the experiences that my clients are having that prove that my processes or systems work and that my beliefs are correct. So sometimes I like to think about Now, if you were going to help a girl get to where she wants, she's at point A, you're at point B.
[23:19] In order for her to get to you at point B, she has to get in the vehicle that takes her there.
[23:25] So what's the vehicle? The vehicle is your process or systems, and you may not even know what those are. And so that's where I would also play with, you know, if you have clearly figured out what result you have created that you also want to help your clients or students or customers create.
[23:45] What is the vehicle they have to get in in order to get there? What are the processes that they have to implement? What are the systems that they have to test? And what are the beliefs that they have to have that will get them to point B? And why are you the girl who can do that better than anyone else? And then once you have all those details, tell stories from your own life first and from your clients' lives and experiences that show that your systems and your processes work. I like to use testimonials sometimes. I like to use a lot of numbers in my results because it would be really easy to say, oh, my client said that she loved working with me and her life is so much better and she's so grateful for working with me. I want to push you to use a number in the result, especially if you are a business coach. If you can say, this result, her revenue grew 50%. She launched a group program and it sold out before the first day of the call. This girl was getting crickets from her Instagram content, but now she's getting sales on a weekly basis. She's getting clients who are reaching out to her on a weekly basis. So I want to push you to use numerical results to show that your processes work in the desired outcome, if at all possible.
[25:07] Number two would be to create problem awareness content. This is the thing I was just talking about a few minutes ago where I was saying that you need to show her what she is doing that's not working. This is an actual exercise that I do if I feel stuck with my content. I will get out a piece of paper and at the top of the paper I will write what is she doing that's not working and then I'll write names of actual women who I know personally who fit into whatever offer I'm working on selling. That's another side note. In order for you to know which problem we're solving, we have to know which offer we're moving people into, right? Because you might have a lot of different offers. You probably have an offer suite. So first, we have to pick one offer that you want to move people into. And then I want you to think about the girl who wants the transformation that you're selling in that offer. What is she doing that's not working? And I want you to write them out by name. And if you don't know anyone by name, that's where I would start playing because your messaging is going to land so much better. Your offer is going to be so much more clear and compelling to the people who are watching you talk about it. What is she doing that's not working?
[26:13] What untrue myths is she believing? Why doesn't she have what she wants yet? Start writing answers to some of those questions. that will pull through problem awareness content where you can start to call out specifically, I'll use some examples from my own content. For a girl who wants to make 10K months, but she's not there yet. And she's wondering why, because she feels like she's doing everything that she can do. Here is what she is doing that's not working for her yet. And I have posts about that. If you're intrigued by that, I should probably just pull it up and read it for you right now. But go to my Instagram feed. If that sounds interesting to you, you can read about that. So can you see how because I know so clearly who I'm talking to, I can really articulate very clearly what she's doing that's not working. The third thing that I really like to utilize in my content, I call it the dog whistle. This is something I really like to push, especially my private clients on because it can be so easy or tempting to want to broaden your message so that you can attract more people. that feels so natural and intuitive, right? That if you want to sell more people into an offer that you should broaden the message. But I like to talk about dog whistle content because you know how a dog whistle works, right? When you blow it, the dog hears it, but no one else hears it.
[27:31] And so dog whistle content is so specific that the one person who you want to talk to is going to hear you and everyone else who sees it is probably going to tune it out. So what would the dog whistle be for you? Who is that one person that you would love to turn her head and get her attention? You want to make her ears perk up. Who is it? Because I want you to call her out specifically in your content with so much love and kindness and grace, right? You don't need to trigger her and make her feel embarrassed. But if you had to call her out and show her what she's not doing or what she is doing that's not correct, what would you say? What would you show her? And if that feels unclear to you, that's okay. It just shows us that we need to do some more market research.
[28:21] So you can do that through story polls. You can do that through question boxes. You can do that with DM conversations. You can do that with quick phone calls or Zoom calls, you know, 5, 10, 15, 30 minute calls where you can ask questions that you can learn some of these things so that you can start to see common threads that
[28:41] your ideal clients are or are not doing that are holding them back. So there's my mini content masterclass for you. I hope you guys love this episode. Obviously, I have a lot more to say about content strategy, and I have a lot to say all the time. So you're gonna hear from me again next week in another episode. If you love this episode, I would love it if you would share it with a friend or leave me a review so that I can see who's listening to it and know that you're loving it because that means the world to me. So thank you for listening and I will see you guys next week.
[29:12] Hey, I hope you loved this week's episode. If you did, I know you would love to be a member of my community, The Greenhouse. It's where I teach you how to build an amazing, fruitful life while you build an amazing, fruitful business. It is a movement for women who want to unsubscribe from the traditional success path that says that life has to be a struggle and instead learn how good making more money can get, how fun marketing can be, and how much joy and presence you're capable of feeling as a woman and as a mother. Find out more and join at kaylenpriest.com slash greenhouse and I'll see you there.
[29:51] Music.
