Purpose & Pixie Dust Podcast: Ep 192 [INTERVIEW] with Kristen McShane, Social Media Manager: Simple Tips to Grow your Instagram Organically

Transcription from episode 192 of the Purpose and Pixie Dust Podcast, done with AI.

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Hey girl, welcome to the purpose and pixie dust podcast. The podcast where we dive deep into our passions, our purpose and really unlock our potential with some pixie dust thrown in. What is pixie dust you might ask, it's the fun and joy that gets unlocked when you're creating and owning your magic. I'm Lindsay Dollinger dog, mama, Disney lover and high school spanish teacher who has used my magic to grow my businesses while also working full time. I'm on a mission to help other women create and own your magic by building not only the business of your dreams but also the life of your dreams while still juggling life, your full time job and all the things. So if you want more than this provincial life, let's use our glass slippers to break those glass ceilings and Sprinkle lots of pixie dust into our lives and businesses, Let's do this. Alright, I think we are live. Hello, Hello, welcome to the podcast. Another interview with an amazing guest and I'm super excited for this interview to actually happen because we have planned this for a really long time. Um so I would like for you all to meet Kristen Mcshane and Kristen, I'm going to let you introduce yourself where you're from, what you do and how you got started doing what you're doing and then we're gonna dive right in. Alright well, hi everyone, I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me Lindsay. Um so I am Kristin, you can find me on instagram. It's simply social Kristin, I'm a social media manager and I help my clients show up on social media um when they don't want to, they have small businesses that they want to run and their passion and specialty is not social media. So that's where I step in and I helped them um shine, I actually got my start in direct sales and so that will always be near and dear to my heart. Um it taught me so many life lessons and business lessons. Um and really that's where my love of social media came from. Um I found that what I was really loving was the social media marketing aspect. And so I took this leap once uh covid hit and I got laid off from my corporate job, I decided to take this passion and turn it into something bigger and it's turned into something really, really amazing. So I get to do something that I love every day um from the comfort of my home, which is you know, also the appeal of of all my drug sales friends. So yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh, I love that. I had no idea until I was reading through um your questionnaire that you sent back about the podcast that you had been in direct sales first, which I think is a, is a big stepping stone for a lot of women doing their own thing is kind of getting their feet wet in network marketing direct sales where you have that little bit of like a safety net and you're, you're getting some free training, which I really love that aspect and then you find different things that you're really passionate about and you take it to the next level, which I really loved. So how long were you in direct sales? So I was in it for five years. I'm actually still currently, I don't recruit anymore and I don't do anything with my team, but I still in there for my existing customers. Um So yeah, five years into this current business. Oh wow, that's amazing. Yeah, that's a really long time. Yeah. Tell us a little bit about because I feel like that was probably a really stressful time for you and at the time, but about the transition into doing your, your own thing. Had you already been kind of doing it or was it just like a cold turkey? Like we're gonna start this business. I love doing it, let's see what happens. Tell us more about that. It was, it was totally um I always say it was kind of like a god thing that I was led into this because um I had been following another social media manager on instagram that had actually done a team training for my direct sales team um Probably for a couple of years before I actually took the plunge and she was taking, she was giving this course on how to turn your love of social media into um social media management and it was a perfect timing thing. I got laid off from my corporate job. I knew that I had to go and do something else but in this chaotic time of you know, needing some flexibility and meeting is something that I could do around my kids schedule, my husbands schedule. Um This seems like you know the perfect opportunity and I knew I loved social media um you know, people can say you know that it can be toxic and and and whatnot, but I really strive to find the good in social media. I think it's a great place to connect with people. Um And you know, social media is what took my direct sales business to the next level and I knew I wanted to do that for for other clients who that wasn't their passion, that wasn't their forte, they didn't feel comfortable doing it. So I took her course thinking oh I'm just gonna see how this goes and then it ended up being like oh no we're to sign on a business name, like you're doing this. And by the end of that course I had signed on with my first clients and it was really kind of crazy how it all. Um it happened, it was really just like I said the perfect timing the perfect storm and ended up turning into something that I'm so thankful for to this day.

I love that I love a good like happy ending story and it's not over yet, but you know what I mean, like a good mission ending. Um there was another guest on my show, I think her name was Magdalena uh and she had a really similar story with Covid, you know, things happen and she kind of thought it was the end of the world and then it led her down the path that she is on now and it ended up you know, working out way better than what she had originally intended and I think that's so cool. So no, I found you on instagram is instagram kind of your main platform or what social media are you on?

Yes, so instagram is my main main hub, I say instagram is my jam, that's where I hang out the most um I do offer like facebook and I've done linkedin for some of my clients, but I think instagram is kind of like, it just has all of the features, you know we can for those who love to read and consume content that way we can share those static posts for those who love video, there's video aspect, um instagram stories is one of my favorite places um to show up and so I love that that platform really gives us all of the things in one platform, so that's where you can usually find me hanging out and guys you need to check out christian's instagram, it's one of my favorites, like I'm just going to confess, I like stop profile like every day because I, she gives tips and just like the cohesiveness of it. I'm like dude this is like a plus plus social, thank you, you guys check her out and she literally just before this, this, this is airing later so you guys will probably already have figured out this picture. But I noticed last night in my instagram stories that I couldn't do a video of myself talking anymore. It was just like stuff that was in my camera roll and so I messaged that or no, I put it in my stories and Kristen just messaged me and was like you just need to swipe right? So how do you keep up on all of the changes because I feel like the changes so quickly sometimes.

Yeah and that's why I have like a job is because it is like a full time job sometimes you know depending on how much you want to be active on social media. Um so I keep up on all the news. I'm following all of the, you know social media news platforms and I'm in a group with other social media managers where we get together and we talked about the updates and how that affects our content. Our clients content. Um so really a lot of my job is staying educated and staying up to date on trends. Um I always tell my clients that I work with that, you know, don't feel like you are supposed to know everything when it comes to social media. If you understand just the basic principles of you know that these apps want us to be social and that's the whole point of it. That will take you a whole lot further than being worried about trends and keeping up with the news and things like that. Yeah, I love that and I love how you're like, okay, that's my job on me so that you can enjoy your social media experience a little more and let me take you know that part of the boulders, which is really nice. Yes, I always say whether I'm managing your social or not, social media should be the fun part of your business. Yes, it's a vital marketing tool and and great things can come of it, but it should still be fun. It should not be sucking the life out of you, that's when you know, it's time to outsource and talk about, you know, adding in other other entities. But this should be fun. This should be where you get to showcase who you are and what you offer and and the special things that you bring to the table.

Hey girl, I hope you are loving this episode as much as I am. I love recording these every week for you and so I just really, really hope you're getting a lot of value out of it today. I wanted to pop in here and break up this episode to let you know that the waitlist for the Castle Ceo Collective is now open. I'm super pumped about this so you can go right to the link in the show notes, https://www.lindsaydollinger.com/links and you will see there. I believe it's right on top and it says join the waitlist for the Castle Ceo collective. Now, what is the castle ceo connective and why should you get on the list? Well, first of all, you should get on the list because I'm only accepting up to 10 women in this exclusive group and I want to make sure that you are one of the first to hear about it because I do think spots will sell out number two. What exactly is the Castle Ceo collective? It is my high end elite mastermind for women who are either completely brand new and maybe just have an idea, but we want to go from your business basics to really running and growing and scaling the business of your dreams. And I don't want to say six figure business, seven figure business, five figure business, whatever that finance goal is because everyone is a little bit different. So that's why I said your dream business. So I'm going to give you way more of the details once the doors are officially open, which should be happening in about a week. But I do want to let you know about the wait list. You can go ahead and get on there so that you are the very first person to find out all the details so you can score early bird bonuses and take one of those spots when they do open up. I will give you a little hint. It does include a retreat at the most magical place on earth hint hint And um, I think that's probably the part I'm most excited about. No, really, I'm most excited about helping you build your dream business, but also our retreat at the end. So go ahead. Show notes. Link is at https://www.lindsaydollinger.com/links. Again, it is linked in the show notes and I hope I see you on the wait list. Thanks. Yeah.

And I see so many women in business getting so burnt out from the social media side and I'm like, okay then we're, we need to make some tweaks because you know, your business is supposed to be fun and something like Facebook Instagram, you know, whatever it is, it shouldn't be the thing that is burning you out. Yeah, I preach to to the end of the day my philosophy will be to keep social, keep social media simple so that you aren't wanting to chuck your phone at the wall, find a strategy that works really well for you. Um, and stay consistent with that. And the rewards they will come. You just have to be consistent and whatever that looks like to you for some people that is three times a week for some people that's daily, you have to do what feels really good to you. I don't like when, you know gurus will kind of push the, oh you need to show up every day and 30 reels and 30 days and that's great. But a lot of times, like you said that leads to burnout and that's when I get sad because this should be fun and this should be where we are excited to show up and and talk with our communities and really build those relationships and that's when sales happen and our businesses explode. So do you have a set amount of time? You recommend your clients to post? I think you kind of answered this already, but are you like a three times a week minimum? Like do you give them a minimum maximum or suggestions or what do you, what's your take on that? I firmly believe that you can grow with 3-4 posts a week. I don't think that you have to stress yourself out showing up every day. Um the only place I do encourage my clients to show up Daily or every day that you are on social media is in your stories. But static post, I think 3-4 times a week is great. Even if you switch one of those out for a reel, perfect. Um but I think that's enough to be consistent and not burn yourself out and then also not burn your audience out because sometimes your audience can get really tired of seeing you every single day Regurgitating the same information. So if you can create more quality pieces of content in 3-4 posts a week, I think that's that's what I recommend and that's what has worked for me, that's what has worked for my clients.

Yeah, and you're not burning out that way. Right, right, and you're not like stressing out about like what to say every morning when you wake up? Yes, so tell us like if I came to you and I was like, okay, Kristen I'm ready, I want to work with you, what does that process look like because I think there are a lot of people listening probably who have never worked with a social media manager and don't even really know what that means.

Exactly. Yeah, absolutely, so I have two sides of my business, one is management and that is for the business owner who is like, I'm tapped out, I don't have the time or brain power and I want absolutely nothing to do with it. And in that case I come in, I take over, I write captions, I make graphics, I do all of the hashtag research I schedule after approve it. Um I even offer engagement for some of my clients, I think engagement is such a a key piece of growth on instagram, especially as a small account. Um we kind of need that social aspect to to kind of make the algorithm happy and get our content out there so I take care of all of that. Um and then I have a consulting side so I work with clients who want to do it themselves but they just don't know where to start or they they're trying throwing spaghetti at the wall and it's just not working. They need a strategy. So I work with them and sit down and say okay let's make a strategy that a feels good to you and it's something that you can keep up with. Um And then let me give you the tools and resources so giving them content calendars, hashtag vaults um caption prompts, giving them all the things that they need to kind of take off and run. They just need to be the ones that implement. So it really comes down to what you know that business owner wants.

I love that, that's a good explanation. So do you find most people start with the consulting and jump into the you handling everything or is it kind of split?

It's it's split. I've had a good handful of clients that do start out with consulting and then they see like oh gosh this really is a lot more time that I'm willing to invest and so then they will, you know switch over to management um and it really kind of depends on the type of business to um if it's something that is a bit smaller um and they just don't have a marketing budget yet. They typically will start with consulting until you know, they can build themselves up and then you know we can always revisit management at a later date.

Um and then IG engagement so talk to us a little bit about engagement because I feel like that is probably where a lot of us sometimes are missing the point because we are in the habit of scrolling um but not necessarily the engagement or engaging on different accounts than the ones we see every day. So what are some tips that you have for us for engagement?

Yeah, so social media at the end of the day, they want us to be social, so throwing up a post and then just exiting out of the app doesn't really do us any favors, they want us to engage with other accounts. So I always say you know, set a set a timer For if you have 15 minutes in your day, do that if you have 30 minutes, that's typically what I recommend for my clients that way you don't feel like you have to be on these apps 24/7. Um but even if you have 30 minutes a day, set a timer and then I split it up into 10 minute segments, so I will spend 10 minutes in my feed. Um you know interacting, leaving thoughtful inauthentic comments with the people that I'm following or with, you know, different accounts that maybe instagram is suggesting um that I would connect with And then I spend 10 minutes in my stories. So those are all the people that I'm following, I'm going through all of their bubbles, respond to comments or respond to polls, leave comments on something that they are talking about in their stories um slide their little slider bar, answer their polls and questionnaires because that response that tells the algorithm that hey, these two people have a connection, I'm going to start sharing more of their content with each other. Um and then after that I spent 10 minutes in hashtags. So this can be a like a local hashtag if you're trying to build like a local community um if you're hyper local business or it could be in a hashtag that your ideal client might be following. So anywhere that you think your ideal client is hanging out, I recommend that you, you know, show up there Well as well any time that you leave your name and comments, it's almost like leaving a business card behind somewhere because they might see that comment click on it head to your bio, see if that's something that, you know, you're someone that they can connect with and that's how you can kind of build that community through there,

I love that um and then with hashtag I have been taught before in my network marketing teams. Um and I might be messing this up, but it was I think they called it 333 and I believe it was go to a person's profile Like like three different posts, comment on three different posts and respond to three different stories. And I always kind of thought there was a lot for someone you didn't know. But I'm kind of curious what you're taking. Like what do you do when you go to an account that you have never been on before?

Yeah. I so I try not to be spammy because I know that you know back in the day we used to be able to do that and I feel like people didn't think as much, but now our b estimators are like way, way up. So getting those, those, you know, kind of off putting feelings from someone who inundates you immediately with a bunch of likes and comments can sometimes come off a little a little harsh. Um So yeah, I will definitely, if I find a post from someone that I can really connect with, I will head to their profile, check out their bio. I'll give them to follow if it's someone that I think that I could either collaborate with or you know might make a client to work with in the future. Um Or just someone that I know that I'm gonna learn something from or be inspired by. Um And then yeah I'll go into maybe one or two of their poet most recent posts and leave a comment. Um I don't necessarily think you have to like start a friendship immediately. I think doing it in a more like authentic way. That feels really good to you. Um We'll get you a lot further. Just keep interacting with that account then. So if you see their bubble show up in stories, watch their stories interact with their polls when they give you something to comment on. Um Do it and then that's how you kind of build that relationship. I love that. That feels super organic to me and that's like how I'm all about growing my business. So I I really like that now. Do you keep like and this is another thing that I have learned in network marketing. Do you keep a list of like these are my ideal clients, so I need to make sure that I interact with them tomorrow or next week. Like do you have any sort of organization system or is it just really organic for me? It's typically really organic. Um I will add some to my favorites list on instagram now that we have that ability and that way I know that I can go back into that favorites list and not miss anything. Um But really I just keep a good like mental inventory of. Okay this is someone that I you know really see myself working with. Um I'm gonna keep following up with them, you know? I feel like a lot of the things that I was taught five years ago in network marketing worked back then. Like I said now things are changing, People are are more aware um and they're more cautious with the relationships that they're forming. So if you treat it like I really just wanna be your friend and and be social with you on here, that's when that know like trust factor that we hear about all the time goes way, way up. So I always think it's best to you know, certainly you can keep those lists if that works for you but don't feel like you have to like okay those are the only people that I can interact with today. You know feel feel that that freedom to kind of expand and and do what feels really good to you.

I love that. And you had mentioned collaborating with people that you kind of keep a mental note about collaborating with people. Can you give us some ideas of what collaborations could look like either for you or maybe some of your clients on instagram because I get this question a lot and it just seems to like blow people's mind sometimes they're like I don't know how to collaborate with people that is one of the best things I think you know that can come from social media is that it's not always just about the sales.

Yes, sales are great and finding those clients are amazing, but really building a community of, I like to call them cheerleaders is one of my favorite things about social media. So I have formed relationships with other business owners who don't offer the same thing that I do, but they are the first ones to shout my name out and say, hey, if you need help with social media, you need to go see my friend Kristen and vice versa, I will do the same thing for them. So to me that's the best kind of collaboration is a referral um Yes, collaborations as far as, you know, podcasts or um giveaways and things like that is really great too. But in my personal opinion, I think that that referral base collaboration is the best um every small business owner knows that the best, you know, thing that they can hear is a friend referring them out. Um so just because someone is in a different business from you, if they sell something different, don't automatically like X them out, because if they can't, you know, provide their customer with something that you can, you're gonna be the first one that they are going to refer, you know, their friend to. That's such a good point and that is something that I feel like I started doing pretty early in my business because I saw some other, I guess you'd call them influencers, but not like my podcast women that I was listening to podcast hosts, that we're kind of doing the same thing I was doing would tag different people or they would shout out a podcast they were listening to and then people would sometimes re share it or you know, but it was my way of like finding new people and new things and I'm like, I should really do that and provide that same sort of, it's almost like a service to the people who listen to me and in an inadvertent way, you know, I'm not making money off of it or whatever, but like, I'm gonna tag someone who has done something really awesome or shout them out um yeah, and I think that's a really nice organic way to build relationships too, and like you said, it might be people that you never ever buy from each other or whatever, but you never know when that referral is going to lead to someone in their friends list or followers list connecting with you down the road, which I think is really cool, Absolutely.

Um and then the last question I had, I'm trying to like, mentally I'm like, yes, okay, last question, you have mentioned the bio a few times and I feel like the bio is like a really hot topic  question and everyone has like their set way to do it. What are some bio tips you have for us?

Yeah, so your bio is like I always say your bio is your billboard, that is the first thing that people are going to look at and you have milliseconds to get them to decide if they want to follow you or not. So having these few things are gonna be super helpful um you want to make sure that your photo is super clear, a close up image of your face, not you with your kids, not you with your dog. People want to know who they're doing business with and who they are essentially sending money to when they purchase from you. So make sure it's a good clear close up image of your face. Um I also recommend that your name. Field should not only have your name but it should list what it is that you do your name Field and your bio is one of the few searchable pieces on instagram. So if you go to my bio you'll see Kristen social media manager and consultant. So if you are in direct sales and you sell skin care, you could list your name but also add on their skin care consultants or whatever it is that you are selling that way, if someone is going into the search bar on instagram and they type in skin care that heightens your chances of you being found in their search and then I yeah and then I always think that you should have some sort of call to action to the link that you have in your bio. Um you cannot put a link in captions on instagram. So, having your link in your bio and directing people, there is one of the best things that you can do if you people, if you want people to check out your link, um so use like a finger pointing, learn more here or talk, you know, talk to me about X, whatever it is that you sell here and tell them what you want them to do next. If someone comes to your bio and they don't know what to do, they're just gonna clip right off. But because of the amount of content that we consume nowadays, we have to tell our audience is what we want them to do all the time. So having that called action in your bio is super important. Love it, Love it. And um the people that I see, I feel like some people's bios are a lot longer than others, do you know what I mean? How are they doing that? Do you have anything? You know, I don't, there is a character limit, so however they're getting around it, I don't know if it's just the way that they have it like laid out. But yeah, we have a certain amount of, of characters to you. So I just always say if you are trying to decide what you want to put in your bio, make it about your followers, people don't, you know, if they come to your bio and they see accolades or you know, I'm I'm a I'm a cat lover, you know that's great if you have the room, but your primary part in that bio should be. What is your ideal client? What is your follower, your audience going to get when they come to your page? That's what they want to know they want to know what's in it for them. Um So always make sure that that is the top part in your bio and then if you have room for the fun stuff, adding the fun stuff underneath, I love that. That's smart.

Okay, very last question then, Lenoir, I feel like you do a really awesome job of balancing your work and your kiddos and all of the things. Do you have any set? I'm sure you do. Do you have, would you like to share your like work schedule or kind of like what that looks like? Do you batch content out? How do you get everything done so that you do have that free time where you get to spend with your family?

Yeah, so I definitely wouldn't say it's balanced, but what I've gotten really good at is boundaries. So I know when I have my work hours and I have availability to work on client things and take calls and things like that and then there are times that I don't um and that's what I've gotten, what you're really good with my clients know upfront what they can expect from me. Um I don't rush to answer D. M. S. Because I don't want to train my audience to think like I'm here 24 7, you know, I'm running a business, I have two babies, I mean they're not babies, they're five and 11, but you know, I have two kiddos at home and you know, I can't be available 24/7. So getting really good with boundaries um is what works for me. I always recommend to my clients, I do this to myself, I pick one day a week where I do not get on social media and that is family time or that is time for me to batch content. Um and think of ideas of what I'm going to share, that's you know, when I get life together around the house. Um but really I'm a huge proponent of showing up on social media and showing up well, but also taking breaks and knowing that you can't be there 24 7. and creating those boundaries is going to help you immensely. Yeah, and and and that goes for anything. And I've I've had to do that. That's what I tell, especially my women in network marketing who are getting like bigger teams or bigger customer loads and I'm like girlfriend, why are you responding to that message at midnight? And you're stressing out about it all night long, like there's no such thing as a fill in the blank emergency. A nail emergency care emergency. You know like you can't I tell my clients all the time. Like we are not brain surgeons. So there is literally no emergency that can wait until nine a.m. The next day. Yeah. 100%. And it saves your sanity so much. Like people are so shocked. I get no text notifications. Um No messenger anything. Like there are no notifications on my phone. I refuse to turn them back on, turn them off a few years ago. I'm like this is a good life. Like I have to intentionally go into social media and you know to see anything and that's that's really nice. Yeah, intentional being intentional when it's time to show up but then really sticking to your boundaries and saying like I draw the line here will save your sanity so much. Yes. 101st line. And also working by the pool because I've been seeing you working about working your pool that helps you.

Yes. That is one of the best work perks I have discovered thus far. Yes. Yes. I absolutely love it. Well I don't want to keep you too much from your pool times as it is a summer. Um But Kristen tell everyone where they can connect with you. And explain how they can work with you but if there's any other way please let us know that too so that everyone can can do that.

Yeah, yeah, you can find me on Instagram at simply social Kristen K R I S T E N um and if you want to talk about where I am always open, you can also click the link in my bio there and that will lead you to both a free discovery call with me um but yeah, really instagram is the best way to get a hold of me. I love, love, love making new friends on there and big on community. So come on over, send me your friend requests.

Yes, Love it. Alright guys and I will link all that in the show notes too. So you can just super quickly scroll down right now. If you're listening to this on the podcast and click and give Kristen to follow and screenshot this, share this in your stories and tag both of us and I'm sure we will give you some love on that as well um when we see that over on instagram um but Kristen, thank you so much. This was so fun and I learned so much. I know everyone else did too and we just really appreciate your time. Thank you so much for having me Lindsay. I appreciate it. You're welcome. Bye bye girl. Alright, bye.

And that's a wrap on today's episode. I hope you're leaving today inspired princess to create own and spread your magic to the world if you found by you in this episode or know a girlfriend who needs to hear it, would you screenshot it and send it to her and if you're feeling really generous, pop it up on your I. G. Stories and tag me at Lindsay Dollinger so I can see you loved it and tell you thank you. I appreciate you. Now let's go do some amazing things. Bye bye. 

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