Episode Transcript:

It's your host Lindsay Maloney here and before we get started with this episode, I want to share something with you real quick. Have you been to my freebie vault lately? Because I have tons of free workbooks and masterclasses to help you get to the next level in your coaching business. And again, they are all free. All you have to do is go to Lindsaymaloney.com, click on free stuff and grab anything you'd like. Enjoy!

Thanks for tuning in to today's episode. I'm excited to share with you 10 ways to get more clients from social media. I know that you're putting some serious intention behind what you're doing, but I want to make sure that that intention is actually reaping results for you. So sit back, relax and enjoy.

If you don't have something to write with, I would definitely go grab something because I'm going to give you 10 things and I hope that there are some light bulb moments for you. I know there will be. I think that social media is such a powerful tool to grow our coaching business and to get clients. But I always say don't put all your eggs in one basket. Don't just put everything you do into Instagram or Facebook or Pinterest. I think it's important to master those three one step at a time. So I would say first push yourself to master one that you love the most. If you are all about Instagram, master it into something that you enjoy doing, you don't have to do all the things inside Instagram. I think you just need to be really good at what you enjoy.

And then once you feel comfortable, you can do so in Facebook. And then Pinterest, Pinterest is a little bit different. I think the tips that I have today are more geared towards Facebook or Instagram, but I do think that I, well, I know that Pinterest is a huge catalyst in growing my business. So I think that's for another episode though. So I want to share with you these things here, and you might be doing some of them, but you might not be, or maybe you could brush up on them too. So let's just go ahead and dig in. Right? 

Number one- show up consistently. And showing up consistently can feel overwhelming because I have to post every single day. I have to think of something new to say every day. Not only that, but I need to find an image and I need to take photos, or I need to, you know, buy the images or scroll through all of the images on Canva and design all the images. And I'm probably overwhelming you just saying that, but I don't want it to feel overwhelming for you. I think that when you decide that this is easy for you, that's the first step. And then I think the hard work is working ahead at the beginning, and then it's easier to stay consistent. 

For example, let's say pick your ideal amount of time that you were working ahead, whether that's a week ahead, two weeks a month, whatever it is, what is like your dream amount of time, where you know that if you didn't post anything physically, you would be good. You would be taken care of. My thing is a month ahead. That makes me feel good. Or you usually always try to do a month ahead. So what's yours? Start with a week. So you don't feel overwhelmed and then take some time, set aside some time in your calendar to get things ready.

So you can be a week ahead, then start planning consistently. Then once you're a week ahead with your posts, then pick a day of the week, maybe like a Wednesday and make that your social day where you're planning seven Instagram posts, but you're still working a week ahead. Does that make sense? So I think that the hardest part to wrap your brain around is having to do all that work right upfront, because you need to get ahead, but then it's just maintaining and it's staying consistent with that maintaining. So I think that that is absolutely the key in order to make Instagram or Facebook, not a chore for you. I am the master at simplifying and working ahead. So if you have any direct questions about what I just said, please send me a DM on Instagram and let me know. I'd be happy to share with you what I do, but showing up consistently is important.

And if you have to tell yourself every single day to go post, so you can be consistent, it's going to be a little bit harder for you. Maybe, maybe it's not. But for me, if I woke up this morning and I knew I had to come up with something to write on Instagram, and I have 4,000 other things on my plate, I'm probably not going to do it. And it's going to be like a rushed thing and it's going to be at the end of the day. And then all of a sudden eight hours later, I'm going to have to do it again. That feels really stressful to me. So I want you to pick what feels the least stressful for you. Something that you can, you can say to yourself, I totally can do this. I just need to do a little bit of work upfront to make it happen. And then, you'll be working a week ahead, two weeks ahead. And then a month ahead, like me. Okay! 

Number two, create posts that inspire, educate and entertain. That's like my three-part formula. I think Instagram has changed a lot. I mean, if we think about how it was a few years ago, when I taught Instagram in my course, the concept of, you know, putting the beautiful photos on there and I'm having such a polished feed was so important at the time. And I found that it wasn't working that well for my business anymore. So I had to pivot and do something else. I still have that training inside my program because I think it can work for a lot of people, especially when they're just getting started. I think it's a great strategy, but then I decided that I wanted to mix it up a little bit.

So if you go to my Instagram, it's all, all the things, right. I have random memes, quotes, photos, you know, mock-ups of things that I have going. And I think it's important to show that I kinda like the mess. For me, maybe it's not your thing, but it is mine. I like to have that, that trio, that inspire, educate and entertain. Cause I want people to laugh. I want people to share my content. I want people to feel like they learned something and save it onto their profiles. And I want to inspire them, which will also lead them to sharing out as a story or saving. One of the biggest goals of my posts is to go to my insights and see that people are saving it. I love when I see that, because I know that it's, somebody's way of saying I am interested in that, but not at the moment or this made me feel good.

And that's my goal. That's my goal for social media. So create posts that inspire, educate and entertain. If you are constantly entertaining, then you're missing out on showing people that you are the authority in your business. If you're missing out on inspiring, then you're missing out on people, sharing all your content and telling you that they needed to hear this. They feel like you're always, you always show up for them. And if you're missing out on the education, then you're missing out on showing people that you know what you're talking about. You can help them and you are the authority. They want to work with you and so forth. And entertaining- I think it's fun to sprinkle those funny memes in there because it makes people laugh. It makes me laugh. So if I find something that makes me laugh, I want to share with everybody.

And then I can see my insights go up because people are sharing it. Does it have anything to do with my business? No, but it shows that I am a real person, I have a sense of humor. And again, it pushes me out a little bit because people are doing mass shares to their stories. So I love that aspect. 

Number three, you’ve got to use the hashtags. There's some important well use a hashtag on a meme. No, cause I'm like, that's not my strategy. I don't want this to get spread all over the world. Cause it's going to change my life. I am going to use a hashtag when I am sharing something that will educate people and inspire somebody. And sometimes I see people that I work with or students and I look at their posts and I'm wondering why is there such a low reach on here?

And I look, and they're not using hashtags or they're using like three, don't be afraid to use 30. I always use 30. And I won't, I don't think I've ever swayed from that. I have a bank of hashtags that I use. I have them saved to my tailwind planner and I always use them. So think about your people and create a few different hashtag banks that relate to the posts that you normally share. So for example, I have a coaching business, hashtag bank. I have an Enneagram via the hashtag bank and introvert hashtag bank. Self-Development self care and maybe like five or six of them. So I know that I usually have the hashtags saved when I create a post and I don't have to go back and go think of 30 different things and I use tailwind.

So it's really helpful. And coming up with new hashtags. So if you put in something like hashtag entrepreneur, it'll start pulling up other things that relate to entrepreneur, and then you can start adding it. If you're not using tailwind, you can go and find hashtags by playing on Instagram too, but don't shortchange the hashtags. I still, I know they're so, so much more powerful than we think. And I really believe that it takes a switch of the mindset when using them. For example, one of the biggest mistakes when we write copy is using our language, our language is five to 10 steps ahead of what the people who are reading our work that we want to work with. Right? And when we're so beyond where they are and that's okay, we're not speaking to them at the level that they are, it goes right over their heads and it doesn't make sense to them and they don't feel like they can connect with you.

That's just how that is. So using that same mentality with hashtags is the same thing. So I'm not going to put a post, let's say, I'm going to post about the confident coach club. I'm not going to use a post like, you know, hashtag confident coach club, hashtag confident coach hashtag 20, 21. Something like those are not going to bring awareness to where my people are hanging out. I'm going to use hashtag business coach, hashtag life coach, hashtag health coach, hashtag work from home, things like that. Those are the things that my people are sitting in and looking at. So yeah, it means that those, this post is going to go out to all 30 of those hashtags on Instagram. So you can go and search those in your search bar and then you'll be able to find your posts inside of each one of those.

So it's taking your reach with your audience and broadening it out to 30 different other let's say channels, right? So you can see how valuable that is. And if I would use a generic hashtag like 20, 21 or something that no one else is probably searching for the confident coach club that is going to do me. No good. So I need to always use their words with copy and hashtags. 

The next one, number four is to have calls to action inside. Not every post has to have a CTA like your entertainment or even the inspire post, but your educate posts definitely needs to have a call to action. And I know that we can have links inside a post. I don't think Instagram will probably ever do that. But what you can do is say click the link in my profile or simply visit Lindsay maloney.com/podcast.

I will put the link in the post because I do push my Instagram posts out to my Facebook page. So I think it's nice to have that link there. So I always put that there, and maybe somebody feels extra, extra frisky, and they're going to type in the link on their browser. You never know? Right. So I always put things there just in case. So if you're talking about your podcast episode, your blog posts, or maybe a freebie working with you, you have so many assets, make sure you plug them into your educate plan. So you can always take them off of Instagram and onto your website or wherever you want them to go. 

Okay. Number five, work ahead of time. So that kind of ties in with the first one showing up consistently. I think that we kind of covered it a lot already, but I think it's a good reinforcer to work ahead of time. So you don't feel stressed out every single morning. You wake up and you know, you have to come up with something, something to post. I do have coaches where their Instagram feed is very live. So for example, we have a coach who talks about living a holistic life. So she does share photos of what she is making for dinner as an Instagram post. And I know that might feel a little bit stressful for her at times. So how can you make this easier on you? Well, number one, nobody really knows or cares that this post was from today. What about if you took all of the photos that you've already taken and put them in? And so it's okay to say, here's what we're having for dinner tonight when you're really not, nobody's going to come knocking at your door and say, “Hey, you didn't have steak tonight for supper. You said that you had a pizza.” No, no one's going to do that. So I think that making your life easier is a choice. I would love to see people who have to think they have those active feeds make it easier for them. So go and look at all the photos that you already have and save them on your computer and start making some posts for those and putting them into your scheduled feed. I mean, think of how much easier your life could be if you did that. And there's no shame and it's actually a good CEO decision. All right. 

Number six, create a click page on for your site. Now, when people say, go to my link in profile, that people are either directing them to a linktree or whatever, all those other third-party services. Those are fine and dandy, but why not just make a page on your site to get an example, go to mine. You can go to Lindsaymaloney.com/click, or just go to my Instagram profile and click on it. And then you're taken right over to my site and that has buttons right there of all the main highlights of my business, of where I would like people to go once they land on that page. So it's probably towards the freebie. My podcast work with me, an article that I've written, different things like that. Not only do they see those buttons, they're also seeing my navigation bar on my website and my footer. And then they'll stay on my website and go explore rather than just, Oh, it's a linktree back. And they're gone. Bring traffic to your website. Don't use somebody else to store your information, bring it, always bring it home. And that's as easy as creating a hidden page on your site. And then adding it to your Instagram profile. It's super easy and highly recommended.

Number seven, don't follow the crowd if you don't want to. I am the biggest, I am a huge proponent of saying, if it doesn't feel right, if it doesn't fit in with what you want to do, don't do it. I've done this since I was little- don't follow the crowd. Even if it means that you feel like you're like a loner or you're the only one who's not doing it. You're not for example, the Instagram reels. I haven't, I haven't done an Instagram reel. I love that other people are doing it. I love that other people are teaching other people how to do it, but I just don't want to get into it right now. Maybe I will in the future. It just feels like another thing that I have to do. And I don't want to, I kind of want to just keep my story game going. And my post feed posts, my Instagram feed going. That's kind of where I want to stay focused. I know there are a lot of shiny objects out there, but it's really overwhelming when you think I have to post, I have to create stories. I have to do IGTV. I have to do Instagram live. I have to do reels. And then, Oh, look over here. Now there's clubhouse. 

Seriously. How many things can you add to your list? And I'm telling you this, just because you're an online entrepreneur, you are a coach. It does not mean you need to show up in all of those places. I don't, you do not need to create a gigantic to-do list of showing up in all of these different things that you feel like it's a chore that you feel like I'm gonna put myself out there.

I'm stressing out about it. I don't know what to say, but everyone else is doing it so I'm going to do it. You don't have to do that. If it doesn't feel like something that is aligned with where you want to be right now, you can always go later. My biggest recommendation would be, for example, clubhouse, go and claim your name, set up your profile. And if you don't want to participate in anything, you don't have to go, go play where you're really good. And if you feel that you're not good anywhere, pick something and get good at it. Instagram reels. If you want to learn how to do it, then go do it. I know there's some amazing people, Ella Central, she's amazing at teaching people how to go on Instagram reels. I just can't bring myself to do it. And I'm okay with that.

And I want you to be okay that I'm okay with it. And I think that when you realize that you don't need to be everywhere, doing all the things it's going to make you feel liberated, and it's going to make you feel like you have time to master something that you really care about. Okay? So you have my permission to not follow the crowd. You don't have to do it. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. I have a successful business. I've never done a reel, I don't even know the last time I've ever done an Instagram live. I just keep showing up where I know my people are and I feel like I'm good at it. And I think that that's all you need. Okay. Don't have a bunch of half-filled glasses everywhere. And having to tend to all of those, just pick a few things that you want to focus on and master and just stay there.

Cause you know what? The crowd is going to disperse. And pretty soon you're going to be there. And all the other people who prefer learning from someone like you are going to be like, Oh, there she is. I'm so glad she's here. Cause I don't like watching reels. I don't like going over to clubhouse. I don't like this. And I'm so glad she's still here. And she didn't abandon us. That's my theory. And it's always worked for me. 

Number eight, posts stories consistently with calls to action in posts. Posting stories is kind of a no-brainer. If you think about your habits on Instagram, usually, I mean, here's mine. I never scroll through the feed. I rarely do. What I do is I will check on those, you know, probably five or six people that are always at the top of my stories and then I'm out.

I don't spend too much time there, but I know that I have people who will watch my stories once I post them. So I want to make sure I'm staying consistent with them because I always want to be in those top circles. And so what I do when I feel like, you know, maybe on weekends, you don't post as much or on a Monday when things are crazy, having a set, maybe seven stories that you can grab that you can quick post is a great idea. So here's what you mean by that. Go to canva, go to the Instagram story templates and find seven different templates that you like and then decide what could you post on each of those templates? So for me, I would do SOCA, the confident coach club, the podcast work with me, a freebie, my Facebook group and masterclass- there's seven.

And then I'm going to make seven Instagram stories as the main focus. And even if you don't have the swipe up feature, still do this, download all of those images, put it in your project management system, put it in asana as your daily Instagram story planner. And then everyday you can go and grab that photo and then post it to your Instagram stories. If you're using tailwind, you can plan out your stories there too. But you certainly can just put it in your project management system or just send them to your phone and then post them every day. Then you have some beautiful curated templates that you spent, you know, a decent amount of time creating that are a  little commercial for your business. They might see that standout coaching academy story every week.

But I think it's important to be on top of mind and to be repetitive, to feel like a broken record and then keep doing it because you want to remind people that I have something that can help you. And if I post about stand coaching academy every Wednesday and you don't like it, then don't watch my stories. But I think having that consistent commercial every single week, like, Oh, on Thursday, she always posts about the confident coach club or whatever it is. And I think it's important to know that because you don't have to create seven new stories every single week, you can recycle that seven and push it out to the next week and just have this consistent story plan. And so that way, if you have nothing to post you're busy, you're like, Oh, I can just go into my little bank here, grab something and push it out there.

I mean, you can create as many as you want, but I think it's important to do that so you can stay consistent. And again, that goal should be for you to be at the top of someone's Instagram account in that circle with a new story for them to watch. 

Okay, number nine, write down your assets and plug them into your plan, whether it is your post plan or your story plan, you have so many assets in your business that you might not even be aware of. You might have a blog, podcast, your Facebook page, your Pinterest. There are so many things that you put your time into that you might be forgetting to ask people to go and leave Instagram and come over to your website, look at your navigation bar, look at all your folders, write down everything that you have and start plugging them into your plan. So you can bring people out of Instagram and over to your home. 

And the last one, have a solid plan in place for them once they go to your site. So if somebody leaves Instagram, what is one of the biggest goals when they go to your website, does it make sense? Does it fit in with your, with your, with your whole Instagram theme? Are they going to feel like this is the direct connection? Are they going to know where to go next? Is it simple? Does it load easily? Does it make them feel like they want to go everywhere and have all the things? Go visit your website as a brand new person. You've never been there. Pretend as hard as you can and go explore. Does this make sense? Does this make sense? Wow. I could really fix this. Go comb through it. Because when people start to notice you, because you've been showing up consistently and entertaining and inspiring and doing all of those things, educating, they're going to want more from you.

So we have to be prepared. It's like inviting people outside. We're outside of our, your yard, telling people to come on in. We have awesome stuff for them. We have, you know, snacks, beverages, games, and then they come in and there's nothing. You were saying that you have all this amazing stuff outside and now we come in and there's nothing there. So make sure you're holding up to that inside your website. And if you're not that's okay, because you can always fix it. You can always make it better. You can always improve. You can always make things more aligned with what you want to actually happen. What do you want to happen when people get to your website? Do you want them to apply to work with you? Do you want them to get on your list or on your program? Make sure that's very clear when they get there.

I hope you found those 10 tips helpful and let's just quick flash through them really fast. So you can make sure that you have all your things written down. Number one, show up consistently. Number two, create posts that inspire, educate and entertain. Number three, use the hashtags. Number four, have calls to action inside your education posts. Number five, work ahead of time. Number six, create a click page on your site. Seven, don't follow the crowd. If you don't want to, post stories consistently with calls to action. Number nine, write down your assets and plug them into your plan. And number 10, have a solid plan in place for them once they go to your site. I hope those were helpful. And if you have any questions, please let me know. I'm always here to help and thank you again for listening. I am so grateful you chose to spend time with me and I will see you on the next episode.

Before you go. I want to invite you to join my free Facebook group, simply type dreamclientcommunity.com in your browser request, access and go happily. We have amazing coaches in there just like you, who are starting and scaling their business. And we would love to see you there!