How to get more podcast listeners with Instagram Stories

This transcript was created using Headliner. It has been copied and pasted but not proofread or edited, so it may contain errors or inaccuracies.

Laura: Welcome to Podcasting for Business Owners. I’m Your host, Laura McCrae, a podcast consultant, educator, and self confessed podcast nerd. If you’re thinking of launching a podcast.

Laura: Or want to grow the one you have, you’re in the right place.

Laura: Hold on to your headphones and let’s go. Hello and um, welcome back to Podcasting for Business Owners, the podcast that helps you share your story and lead your industry and grow your network through podcasting. Today, I’m thrilled to introduce you to someone who’s been a significant influence in my own business journey, Sheila Anderson. Sheila is a brilliant business and marketing coach who has supported me over the last two years, helping me grow my business and master the art of selling my services, especially through Instagram Stories. In this episode, we’re focusing on how you can use your Instagram stories to sell your business and promote your podcast. Sheila shares practical strategies on how to connect authentically with your audience, build genuine relationships, and, uh, make selling feel natural and not pushy. If you’ve ever felt awkward about promoting your offers or unsure how to turn casual followers into loyal clients, this episode is packed with practical tips that will change how you approach sales both on your podcast and on Instagram. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this.

Laura: Hello, Sheila. Um, and welcome to the show.

Sheila: Hello, Laura. Thank you so much for having me.

Laura: So can you give us a quick.

Laura: Overview of what you do as a.

Laura: Business and marketing coach and how you help clients sell through Instagram stories?

Sheila: I help online service businesses like Sell, not just through stories, through content, through their messaging, in a non sleazy way, because so many people have this fear of selling, of coming across too pushy. So I help them show up as themselves and to really, truly own who they are so that selling doesn’t feel like a gross, you know, dirty car salesman pitch. And they’re actually learning to become really confident in what they do. You know, we create offers they love, so selling actually becomes very natural. It almost becomes like a second nature to them by the time we finish working together, because they’re so passionate about what they do that it comes across in their content. Whether it’s through stories in their content on their website, like messaging, you apply that across everywhere in your business. So that’s what I help in a nutshell, I guess.

Laura: And how can podcasters effectively use Instagram stories to sell their own products and services?

Sheila: Well, so, uh, Instagram Stories. And I say this to, like, every single person who comes to work with me and even those who don’t work with me if you are not using your stories to sell, you are, uh, without a doubt leaving money on the table because all your warmest leads are watching your stories. So whether or not it’s podcast or not, your offers everything you should be talking about on stories. So stories are really great because that’s where we build connections with our audience. It’s almost like people get a behind the scenes look into your business because we can share more in our stories than we do in our content. When people come to your profile on Instagram, you kind of guide them through this buying journey, which your content does that, but your stories takes it a level deeper. Uh, because people get to know you, they get to see who you are. That’s how you build that know like, and trust so much faster. So if you’re sharing your podcast on stories, people are really going to get a better insight into what is it you do, you know, what kind of person are you? Because at the end of the day, sales is all about relationships and in order to sell to someone, they need to have that know like trust factor, right? So that’s why I say use stories, because you build that know like trust factor so much faster than if someone was just going through your content. So when you’re talking about your podcasts on stories, people almost get to know you, right? They get to see you, they see your face. So you get a glimpse into what these episodes are about. You, uh, know, when you have a podcast, it’s probably related to your business in some way because you share a lot of tips, tricks, insights into what you do. So your podcast is just an extension of your stories because a podcast is going to be like a long form conversation, whereas the stories could just share snippets of that, right? So you use your story as like the segue to get people to listen to your podcast. You could probably touch on the things that you’re going to be talking about in the episode, which would generally be something that your audience is probably struggling with or they probably want more help with or they want to learn more about. So you use your stories to get them to, you know, listen to an episode by giving them value, tips, advice, whatever is that they need and get more of this good stuff. Come and tune into our, uh, latest episode, wherever that

00:05:00

Sheila: topic is.

Laura: And I guess it’s a good way to get connection as well, because with a podcast you can’t really answer a question on the podcast platform, but you could maybe go in your stories and ask them what subjects they’d like you to cover in Episodes and you can leave that question there and they’re able to answer it.

Sheila: Yeah, exactly. And once again, it’s all relationship building stuff, right? It’s never one sided for me. It’s not like I’m putting up a poll and then you’re just going to vote in it and then I’m just going to go off and do something with it. Like that is an invitation for someone to come into your DMs and, you know, maybe you want to expand further on that topic and, you know, start building that relationship. So yes, absolutely. You can get your audience involved, you know, whatever you want to talk about, but take it a step further and start building relationships in the DMs with these people who do vote, who do engage with you, because that’s ultimately what is going to sell your services, your offers, whatever it is, by building those relationships. I don’t mean to create these relationships thinking this person is going to turn into a client. That is not the vibe of what I do or what I say to clients, but build genuine relationships. I think for me personally, all my clients turn into friends without fail because I built relationships with them before. We’ve even worked together in saying that. I have had clients who I’ve never spoken to before because my content has done all that relationship building already. They feel that they already know me, even though I don’t know them. So it is something that when I say, you know, building relationships, I mean like, generally get to know someone because they are human beings. They’re not just a dollar sign. And you’re not just going in there just trying to make a sale. So don’t go in with that approach and you’ll see how much easier selling becomes because it’s actually genuine and authentic and because you genuinely want to help people when you have these relationships, this is how you learn about your audience. You see what they need help with and you can implement that into, you know, whatever topics you want to talk about in your podcast or whatever office that you do. You can. All this is gold, basically, when you have these conversations in your DMs.

Laura: Yeah. And it was you that taught me. I remember before we started working together, I used to just share all my posts and stories and you were like, no, you need to do more than that.

Sheila: Yes.

Laura: Because the great thing with Instagram stories, you can make it two way. You can put those polls in, you can ask those questions, you can even put links in, which you can’t do in the post. And also, as Sheila said to me before, once you start having those conversations that you started in your Instagram stories. Once you’re in each other’s DMs, then they start seeing your posts at the top because you’ve built that relationship. So that’s how you’re working the algorithm from using your Instagram stories.

Sheila: Yeah, absolutely. Obviously, just sharing your post, your stories is really not going to do anything for you unless you were given some context around your post, for example, and then say, you know, if you want to go dive deeper, cheque out that post.

Laura: So what are some common pitfalls to avoid when trying to sell through Instagram stories?

Sheila: Sharing your post stories is not selling at all. I wouldn’t even consider that selling. That’s just, hey, I have a new post and people used to do this. Do you remember back when people used to share a reel or whatever and then they would hide it so you’d have to go click on it to go view it. That does not work. I’m not going to bother reading that if you’re going to cover it up. I’m not interested. People also are time poor. Get to the point. If this is not going to value me, I’m not going to waste my time reading it. Let me know why do I need to read it. But the biggest mistake, but people who think they’re selling, they put the same canvas slides up every day, selling their offer. I promise you, no one’s reading. If you put the same canvas slides up, people will swipe faster than, you know this dating app where you go swipe right or left. It’s just if they run it once, they’re just going to assume you’re saying the same thing and they’re going to keep swiping. People do that a lot. You know, I commend you for even trying to sell. At least you’re trying to sell. You’re trying to actually move the needle in your business, which is amazing. But this is obviously far more effective ways to do it. If you think about how you scroll Instagram personally. As for a business, like, what makes you stop and read something? If you were to see the same canvas lines, what would you do? You would immediately go, next, you’re not reading it. It gets to the point where we’re just like, oh, yeah, I’ve seen this before. Our brains work really quickly. Like, you know, once we’ve seen something like, oh, yeah, I know what this is. I’m just going to keep swiping to the next story because you just automatically go, yeah, I know this is trying to sell Something to me. So there’s definitely an art to it where it’s not going to feel gross and, no, it’s lazy. But if you have to put the same canvas light, at least just change the graphics or something. All my stories are created in Instagram. I don’t use any fancy apps. I don’t even make Canva graphics because

00:10:00

Sheila: it’s boring. And I know, uh, people want to be entertained or they want to make sure that they are, uh, getting value really quickly. Like, people’s attention spans are like next to nothing. So you need to give people a reason to watch. You need to break their thought patterns. So you need to have a little bit of strategy behind selling in your stories. So if you are putting up the same canvas size, please stop and try something else. Also, do not put a screen full of text. If there’s a screen full of small text, people aren’t going to read that either. You know, unless you’re Kim Kardashian, people are going to actually hang on to every single thing you say. Don’t fill the screen with text. And also, when you are, um, talking face to camera, don’t just put captions. Because first of all, like, half people aren’t going to listen to the whole spiel. And if they’re not going to listen to you, they’re not going to sit and just read the captions. At least summarise what it is you’re saying in each slide so they can get to the point and move on to the next part. So at least they’re going to get the point that you are trying to make rather than sitting there going, well, this is a complete waste of my time and I see all the time. I just don’t understand why people do it. They think just putting captions is also not the solution. Like spend an extra one minute writing a few lines of what you’re trying to say.

Laura: Yeah, that’s something only I’ve started doing since working with you, too.

Sheila: Yeah. And you notice it when you see other people’s stories. Especially there’s not even captions. Next.

Laura: And another thing, and it’s when you were saying earlier about get to the point, you always say that you can’t stand it when people say Happy Monday or, uh, Happy hump day. And every time I hear that now, I’m like, sheila wouldn’t like this. Get to the point. We know what day of the week it is.

Sheila: If I see Happy Monday, I’m like, next. Look, if some people do enjoy that, that little, you know, nice conversational side of things. So I guess it depends on who your audience is. What do they like? You need to know who you’re speaking to. Who are the kind of clients that you are wanting to attract to your offers, your services? What kind of people do you want listening to your podcast? Are they the kind of people who want to be listening to Fluffy? You know, he’s making my coffee and then just generally talking about the day. Like, for me personally, I’m like, I don’t have time for that. And, um, I think majority of business owners don’t have time for that. They’re like, if you got something good to save, you got some value to bring, tell me, what is it? You know, there’s no need to fluff around because a lot of the times I can see people who have these long stories and they don’t get to the point to the very end. But the problem with that is people have already left. So before you even get a chance to pitch your offer, uh, people have already stopped listening to you because you’ve just fluffed around for so long that they felt like it’s irrelevant for them. So they’ve moved on. Not saying, you can’t say, happy Monday, you know, whatever, that’s fine, it’s not the end of the world. But do get to your point quickly because, yeah, people are time poor and they just want to be like, if it’s not worth my time, they will move on.

Laura: I guess people feel like they want to warm people up before they go into the sale, but they’re actually doing themselves a disservice then in stories.

Sheila: Okay, this is interesting that you say that. First of all, we are a business. People expect you to sell. They know you are going to sell. So. So get that out and go, okay, people expecting me to sell. But that’s why people feel pushy or salesy, because they feel like, oh, no, I need to warm them up before I say, oh, come work with me, or book a call or whatever it is that they’re so terrified to say. So that’s why they do all this fluffy stuff. But that’s not actually doing anything. That’s not warming people up at all. If you want people to feel like they are warming up to sell, you need to give them value. Why do they need to come work with you? Why should they listen to you? So by just fluffing around is not building any kind of trust, any kind of authority, nothing. It’s not going to entice someone to come and spend their hard earned money with you, because you know, you gave me all this small talk that is not going to help with your sale. Like if you want to pitch, then give people a reason to like listen to your pitch, you know, so make sure you come in with the value. Like why do they need to be paying attention? And if you do that then it makes sense. People are like, well, okay, that was really good. Like I want to know more of that. So it’s only natural for them to want to come in and have a look how it is to work with you. But by saying, you know, happy Monday, you know, today I took the kids to the park and I did the washing and I’m just like, that’s building zero buying desire for your audience. So cut that out or just make it very quickly. And then, you know, just go into talking about what is you want to talk about what is it you’re helping your audience with and just get straight to it. Every day I show up and sell my stories every single day without fail. And I just get straight into it because I know my audience have things to do and I’m just going to show, right, this is how I’m going to help you today. And I’m going to talk about

00:15:00

Sheila: X, Y, Z. And if you want to know more, then you know, you know where to find me kind of thing. So that is not helping you at all. If you’re feeling like you need to warm your audience up, that is not how you warm your audience up to buy.

Laura: Noted.

Sheila: Yeah.

Laura: And I must admit, since we stopped working together, I haven’t been in my stories as much at ah all.

Sheila: I’m not going to say I didn’t notice. Look, selling is something that takes time for people to get comfortable doing. And people ask me like, how do you sell so effortlessly? And it’s because I do it every day. The more you do something, the easier it gets. It’s just removing that pressure, thinking people are going to think you’re salesy. And I said this to you, Laura, I said to every single one of my clients, if you’re worried about coming across a salesy, you could never come across a salesy because everything your body would actually stop that from happening. So you don’t ever need to worry about that. But like, as long as you’re bringing value and giving reason for, you know, you’re helping people, there’s nothing salesy about that. You know, I’m just, I genuinely want to help you and if you want my help, this is how we can work together. You’re not holding anyone to like gunpoint, saying, you come work with me, you’re just giving them that option, you’re inviting them to come work with you. And I think if you view sales like that, you know, as relationships and you’re just wanting to help, nothing about actually feels sleazy at all.

Laura: I guess it’s down to practise as well. If you just start doing it, it is absolutely.

Sheila: I sent my clients videos of me when I first started selling and it was cringe. And all my clients, I said to them, you are all already 20 steps ahead of where I was. So. So you can see where I was and where I am now. This is not something that I just woke up one day and I could just sell so effortlessly. Like this is taking time because I made it my priority to learn how to sell and I just kept doing it every day until it now I just don’t even think about it. So it is totally possible to learn. You just gotta start, just, just try. And I think more people worry about what others think of them when in the realities, no one’s thinking about you, everyone is worried about themselves.

Laura: And what you used to tell me to do is, um, like when you’ve done something for a client in the background, so you’re working on something.

Sheila: Mhm.

Laura: And something stood out, that you’ve helped them just get on stories and tell them what you’ve done because you’re inadvertently selling because you’re telling them about your services.

Sheila: Exactly. You know, so yeah, there’s absolutely so many different ways to shop and sell. And not every sell has to be a direct pitch. As long as you bring awareness around what you do every day, you are selling. So when the time comes, for example, like with you, Laura, you know, when you’re talking about podcast management, when you’re working with clients and then someone will be like, one day they’re like, oh, actually I need a podcast manager. You’ll be top of mind because you’ve shown up every day, you’ve brought awareness around what it is that you do. That is how you become top of mind for people. And this is why when we talk about consistency once again, you know, consistency is different for everybody. Consistency does not mean posting every day. Because if you cannot manage to post consistently every day, then you’re going to get a burnout and it’s not going to help anybody, but something that has to be sustainable to you and so your audience get to know. Okay, Laura’s talking about podcasting. It gets to a point where they just like, yeah, Obviously, she’s talking about that because she’s a podcast manager. Like, obviously, she’ll listen to. She’s a sales coach. You know, it’s. It makes sense. And they don’t think, oh, uh, she was selling again, they don’t. And if they do, they are not my ideal client because I walk the walk and that’s something I teach my clients. It is so important to show your audience that what you believe in and what you do is something that you practise as well. So I’m, um, not going to tell my clients, shop and sell every day, but I’m not showing up and selling every day. But once again, it has to be sustainable because we’re not here to, you know, burn ourselves to the ground. It’s just about being consistent so that your audience remembers you enough to think, okay, when I need a podcast manager, obviously Laura does it, so I’m going to cheque her out. That’s generally how we would work. And that’s how I’ve, um, reached out to businesses in the past. When something’s come up and I’ve needed, like, a website or a logo, I just like, oh, I remember so and so, you know, talking about this and I’ll go cheque her out.

Laura: Yeah, absolutely. I’ve done the same myself.

Sheila: Yeah, exactly.

Laura: So how can we use Instagram stories to make our podcast episodes feel like a must listen? What are some tricks for creating interest?

Sheila: Whether it’s your podcast, whether you’re launching a new offer, you can have fun with it, but, you know, you can tease, like, snippets of the offer of the podcast, but make it relevant to your audience. Don’t just say, I’ve got a new podcast episode coming out. Because once again, it’s like people saying, oh, I’ve got something. Something’s coming, something’s coming. They don’t care. Something’s coming. I’m like, or whatever, I’ll wait till it comes. I guess, you know, with your podcast, it’d be similar. You would have to tap into what. What is the

00:20:00

Sheila: episode about? How is it going to help your audience? And that’s what you would tease them with. I know this is what my audience struggles with, so this is what’s coming that’s going to help you with that. So you’d be tapping into those things that your audience is struggling with, painting that picture of, like, what is it that their life looks like today? And then the answer is inside this podcast. Come and have a listen to that. So it’s like, same thing when you’re launching a new offer. Uh, you wouldn’t say, something’s coming, something’s coming. Awesome.

Laura: Bam.

Sheila: Here’s my new offer. Uh, we all had go and knock a buying journey, right? We need to go through awareness, through the consideration stage before we end up buying something. So if you just say we’ve got, you know, exciting new podcast episode coming and you want people to listen to it when it comes out, they go to that consideration stage. Once you bring it out, they’re like, oh, that’s what it’s about. I’m thinking about, do I really need to listen to this? You know, and they’ll think about it and then, you know, in the end they might end up forgetting about it and they’ll move on. So if you want people to listen to it, as soon as it drops, you need to warm them up to the episode and that’s when you bring awareness around the things that they’re going to be struggling with. Or once again, what is it talking about in this episode? If this is something that they need help with, talk about the things they are, uh, struggling with right now and give them, you know, a heads up that, you know what this new podcast episode is coming out that’s going to help tackle just this. You know, be teasing that on your stories for, you know, the week in the lead up to your episode. And then when the episode drops, they’ll be like, all right, I’m ready to listen to it now. Because you’ve brought so much awareness around the things that they need help with. Once again, not everybody knows that they need help with certain things. So when you bring that awareness around it, they’d be like, obviously, then I need to listen to this because I struggle with all these things. So Laura obviously gets it. She understands this is what I need help with. So I’m going to cheque out this podcast and get more information on it.

Laura: You might be able to help me with this then. So we’re recording this episode now. So what I normally do. So I will take a photo of us recording this episode.

Sheila: Yep.

Laura: And then I’ll put it in my stories and say, oh, interview with Sheila about selling your podcast on Instagram.

Sheila: Mhm.

Laura: I can’t wait for this to launch or whatever.

Sheila: Yep.

Laura: Just so they have a little teaser. Ah, this episode won’t come out for another couple of weeks. But they would have seen that. Well, they might not have seen it, but they might have seen that. And then on the actual run up to the episode launch, I’ll do posts related to the episode. Then when it launches, I’ll, I’ll put a snippet of our interview as well as that photo, uh, reminding them and just talk about the episode a lot on that day. So that’s how I would do it. Could you think up any other ways or.

Sheila: And that’s great, but what are you doing in your stories? You’re doing your content, but you do it in your stories.

Laura: That’s it.

Laura: Yeah. So the only thing I was thinking was just like that photo of you now that I would take and put my stories. But there’s probably more I could do.

Sheila: A hundred percent. Yes. So probably, you know, I’m assuming a lot of your listeners need to know how to sell on stories. They want people to listen to their podcast. So you’d be talking about, you know, all the things that they probably are doing so that they can see that you go, all right, yeah, uh, I’m doing that. But you’d be like, but that’s what you shouldn’t be doing after our conversation, like, you know, so we’ve said, uh, you should be doing this so you can start teasing about the things that you probably should be doing. You may be you’re doing, you know, you’re just sharing your podcast on the day launches and you’re like wondering why no one’s listening. This is why, you know, and then you get into that, your stories, and you just probably talk about the struggles that they have getting people to listen to their podcast. So I’d be tapping into that for the week in the lead up to the podcast launching and you just like, uh, it doesn’t need to be long winded either. You could just touch on. If you’re just sharing your post, your stories and you’re wondering why no one’s clicking on the link to listen to your podcast. I’ve got a podcast episode coming with Sheila that’s going to get into xyz, you know, something like that. Educate your audience on your stories and, um, why they need to listen to this episode. Once again, you need to make it worth their while. Why should they listen? Why is it relevant to them? How is it going to help them? Because that’s when they’ll pay attention. Human beings are selfish. At the end of the day, we only care about us and our well being by nature. This is how we are. So you need to make sure that when what you are sharing is relevant and it’s going to help your audience because that’s what’s going to make them want to listen.

Laura: So I’ve got posts scheduled on the run up to the launch of the actual episode, giving tips and advice and then before the actual launch of the episode. So would you recommend then from what you’re saying that go face to camera in your stories and do it there as well. So you’ve got your posts and you’ve got your story. So is that build up for like a week till the episode?

Sheila: 100%. Also you don’t have to go face to camera because I know some people have this fear of going face to camera that if, um, you’re not saying you have to, it’s definitely, obviously a lot more powerful when you go face to camera. But you know, if you don’t want to do that straight away, just repurpose

00:25:00

Sheila: your content. And when I say repurpose, I mean break it up into some slides on your stories. If you’ve got on your grid, repurpose few stories. And because if you are not repurposing content, by the way, you are working way too hard. Like way too hard. Because as, ah, you know, only a very small amount of our audience actually sees our content. So if you are not repurposing, you’re honestly working far too hard. Repurpose your content to your stories. People absorb information differently. Some people prefer to just read a static post. Some people register better when it’s face to camera or it was broken up in, you know, little bite sized pieces. And stories play around with that for sure. So if you’ve already got your content created on your grid, I would just be repurposing for your stories. You know, literally read one of the slides. Even I do this all the time. It lands differently for people. When you speak it, when you read it, when you hear it, it’s always going to come across different for people. So play around with the different ways that you can talk about, you know, what it is that you do, whether it’s, you know, on your grid or on your stories. But you absolutely should be doing it. Reuse it multiple times.

Laura: You’ve inspired me. I’m going to start doing it. What I was thinking of doing is with the transcript. So what I’ve done with my uh, episodes coming up, I’ve put it through ChatGPT and asked it to pull out the best quotes and a lot of them are rubbish. But I can always get at least three quotes that are good. So what I was thinking of doing is based on those quotes that it’s pulled. I’ll uh, do a little face to camera about that particular point that it’s talked about. And so that would be the run up.

Sheila: Yeah, that’s awesome. Yes. Perfect. Like, once again, we’re just taking a small snippet. We don’t need to overwhelm your audience with like the entire episode. Pull out something that’s going to be interesting to your audience. Tease that a little bit and like, if they want to know more, they’ll tune into the episode. Yeah, yeah. That’s a great way to do it.

Laura: Right, I’m going to start.

Sheila: Yes. And I’m going to, you know, I’m going to be watching.

Laura: I’ve said it now, haven’t I?

Sheila: That’s right.

Laura: And another thing, I. Someone recommended a teleprompter to me. So again, for speaking to camera. Yeah. If that makes it easier. What do you reckon on teleprompting? Because I. I must admit, I did use it and I felt. I felt like I was reading.

Sheila: Exactly.

Laura: Yeah. So it’s maybe just better to go with the flow if you can.

Sheila: Yes. Because that’s the beauty of stories. It’s that unfiltered version of you. And for me, that is basically what changed my business. For me, the more I showed up as myself, the more I attracted the right kind of clients. At first, I was so terrified of swearing or coming across unprofessional, it was exhausting trying to pretend to be somebody I wasn’t. And then I just got too tired doing it and I just started to loosen up a bit and it’s honestly changed my business. So you don’t need to have a perfectly scripted story. You just literally talking to your audience, pretending to talking to someone else on the other side, a friend. Pretend you’re talking to a friend and then that’s all you really need to do. It doesn’t need to be perfectly curated at all. In fact, I recommend it. It’s not, because like you said, when it sounds like you’re just reading, people would pop m a tune out. Because it sounds a bit monotonous, you know, it’s not really great to watch.

Laura: And I did do an Instagram reel the other day and I did a big stumble. And normally I would have started all over again, but I kept going with it. And I thought, you know what? It’s not that bad.

Sheila: It’s not. And it makes you relatable. Okay. And it really makes you human. And that’s what people love to see in your stories. Like, they’re like, oh, she’s just like me. Stories really helps people connect with the human behind the business, which is what we ultimately want to do. If you want to be selling at the end of the day because people want to have a relationship with you before they buy, you know, if you’re finding a bit difficult at first, I would say just write out the notes you want to say and just, you know, practise it a few times, record it. If you don’t like it, just maybe record it a couple of times. But I, uh, honestly, and I remember having this conversation with you when we first started. Please do not spend hours recording a story. There’s no point. Because once again, their attention spans very short. So you could spend all this time creating this what you think is perfect Instagram story, and then nobody watches it. I just shop as yourself. And if you make a few mistakes, who cares? No one is going to be judging you.

Laura: It is disheartening when you spend ages on something and then you look at your stories and about 25 people have looked at it.

Sheila: Well, exactly.

Laura: Not worth it.

Sheila: It’s not. And especially when it’s something that you do need to get the habit of doing daily, it’s just not sustainable. But also, look, it’s, uh, the whole vanity metrics, right? People were like, oh, only X amount of people watch my stories. Yes, but, well, what if one person bought? It just takes one person. And once again, we’re building relationships and that’s still 25

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Sheila: people. Would you stand in front of a room of 25 people? I say to my clients all the time. So you’re like, oh, it’s only 25 people. I’m like, all right, get 25 people out in front of you and pitch your offer. All of a sudden you’d be like, oh, shit, okay. Actually, maybe that’s not so bad.

Laura: Yeah, it’s a lot of people, isn’t it?

Sheila: It is. And it’s not even about the number. I say, you know, that’s 25 people who are probably watching your stories all the time. I would much rather have a loyal community over like 20,000 people watching my stories and never buying. So honestly, don’t use the number of followers, number of likes, number of people who watch your stories as a measure of success, because are they translating to dollars into the bank account? Probably not. I’ve said this all the time. Majority of my high ticket clients come through my stories, have never even engaged with me. Sometimes I’ve never even spoken to them before. So if I base that off, you know, people liking or replying to my stories, thinking, oh, nobody’s watching or buying, well, then I Stopped showing up because I don’t have X number of people watching. If I did that, then I definitely wouldn’t have any clients, you know. So that’s why you need to be showing up in your stories.

Laura: I know you’ve, you’ve got me all excited. I’m going to get on my stories as soon as we’re off recording this episode. So how can features like polls, questions or stickers make our stories more engaging when promoting our episodes?

Sheila: One, uh, hundred percent, like, use them, the engagement stickers. I use them like throughout my stories because once again, we want people to stay engaged. So this is actual tool that does help with the algorithm. Right. So when more people engage with stories, the more it gets pushed up, um, for your audience. Right. So your, that little circle kind of goes up to the front a bit more. Um, so when people engage with that. But also don’t just use it to get people to tap a sticker. Like I always use it in a way where it opens up a conversation I can have in the dms. So if you’re asking questions, you’re asking people to tap, whatever, give them a reason to tap. And then, you know, if that’s to where they come into your DMS and have a conversation further to develop that relationship, do it that way. So sometimes I will use engagement stickers just, you know, just purely for engagement. But, uh, it is a really good opportunity to get people to open up and invite yourself into their DMs. So whenever I use them, for example, if you want to know more information about this episode, you know, click on this and like, I’ll send you a dm. I’m not selling to them, you know, I’m just telling you, if you want to know a bit more about the episode, just tap on this sticker and, uh, I’ll give you some more information. And that’s not selling to them, but once you’re in the DMs, then you can start building a relationship with this person. Right. You can start having a conversation. So that’s how I would recommend using your stickers and polls. Like, don’t just have them for the sake of tapping.

Laura: So that’s a good idea. So when I’ve been promoting an episode, I’ll put a link to the episode, but maybe I should do other ones as well, where it’s the sticker, uh, tap this sticker and I’ll send you the link.

Sheila: Yep.

Laura: So at least then, um, we’re getting in, I’m getting in their DMs.

Sheila: Um, yes, exactly.

Laura: So use both.

Sheila: Yes, absolutely. I try to use both as well. Because if you do have links in your stories, Instagram does almost like penalise you for using links because you’re taking people off the platform. Right. So they don’t push that as much. But, you know, we still need to put links in. But that’s why a good way. Sometimes I alternate between, you know, links and then another day I’ll just use. If you want. If you want more information, if you want a link, tap on the sticker and I’ll send it to you. Mainly because I like to have conversations with people. Um, and especially if you are selling, people generally would like to have a conversation with someone before they buy. So rather than just sticking up links and go, yeah, here you go, go figure out yourself. Start conversation.

Laura: Yeah. Someone did say to me the other day when, when I sent my link to. I think it was a lead magnet or something. And instead of just sending a copy and paste, or use manychat, because I don’t use manychat. Yeah, I used a customised message to them.

Sheila: Yeah.

Laura: She seemed really thankful and happy that I’d sent her a personal message because she was expecting just a, um, robot response back.

Sheila: Yes.

Laura: So it makes a difference to your connection there with your audience.

Sheila: It does, you know, and it’s also, like I said, it’s opportunity to have, like, obviously they asking for the link for something. There’s clearly a need there for them that they need fulfilled, which obviously you’re either your lead magnet or your offer or whatever it is does. So having that conversation is also, like, just to, you know, make sure you understand, like, is this what you really need? You know, like, let’s have a conversation about. That’s all I’m saying is I’m just gonna have a conversation. I’m not gonna pressure you into buying anything. But unfortunately, that is what the landscape has turned into that people are so terrified of

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Sheila: voting in polls or tapping on stickers, because I think, oh, you’re gonna come to my DMs and sell to me. Um, and unfortunately, a lot of people do do that, which is why a lot of people hate sales. I just drill into my audience over and over again, like, you know, if you vote in my poll, I’ll even say, you know, I’m not coming to sell to you, I genuinely want to help. So if you want more information, just tap in. I’m just going to come in. We have a zero pressure chat and sucks that I have to say that sometimes, but if it helps Someone bring their guard down a little bit just so I can come and help them and give them some advice, then I’ll do it.

Laura: Yeah, that’s a great idea.

Sheila: Yeah.

Laura: How often do you think we should mention our podcast in our ah, stories to keep it top of mind without.

Sheila: Overdoing it, depending what the topic is. Right. So during the week you don’t always have to be like said, pitching, but bringing awareness around. You know, maybe this podcast episode is coming. You could be talking about something. You go, oh, by the way, my latest episode is going to be all on this. It’s coming out in the week or whatever. Uh, right. And then carry on, talk about other things. You can just mention it or, you know, you could even be like showing behind the scenes of what you’re working on. Literally just like a one line. Mention this podcast because it’s coming out. And then when the podcast does come out, that’s when you go, right, here’s the link for episode. You go into what you go into in detail who the episode is going to help. But it’s like when people, uh, say, oh, so how often do I talk about my offer? I’m just like, well, you could do it every day. To be honest. It doesn’t need to have full pitch. You could talk about an offer that you’ve got and if you want more information, you know, I’ve got a really good episodes coming out into the week. Literally like a one line. It’s. Once again, we’re bringing that awareness around what we do so people think of you when the time comes. And also saying something one time will not cut it. You need to drill it into people’s head like they do, because we do generally need to hear things multiple times before it actually registers for us. Oh, uh, that could actually help me. I do need this. As long as you’re, you know, mixing it up, there’s different ways to talk about your podcast. Like, you can come up from a different angle. Then you could literally talk about it every day. If you just talk about it from one topic you’ve covered in this podcast and there’ll be another question that come up that you could relate to the podcast, you know, so you could talk about it every day and it won’t sound like you’re being stale or boring. Messaging is all about saying the same thing in different ways. So you could actually, uh, talk about podcasts every day and people wouldn’t be bored of it if you just come at it from different ways.

Laura: Now I was just thinking that as long as you’re giving your audience a message or they’re taking something away each time and it’s different.

Sheila: Exactly.

Laura: And you can always talk about past episodes too. It could be ones you released six months ago that you want to boost again.

Sheila: Exactly.

Laura: Can always be different every day.

Sheila: Exactly.

Laura: You’ve got me excited to get my stories again.

Sheila: Exactly. And you’d have so much content, especially with podcasts, because, like, they are long form. There’d be so much that you could really help nurture your audience with. Like, if you want them to, you know, learn more from you, like, send them to these podcasts. And like, exactly. You could always talk about past episodes. It’s all authority building, Right? It’s all building that authority, positioning you as that go to person in your industry. So you’re top of mind for your audience.

Laura: Amazing. Thank you so much, Sheila. You’ve got me all excited about getting back in my Instagram stories.

Sheila: I’m so excited, Laura.

Laura: Yes, it’s so good. I’ve had a, uh, uh, my own little coaching call here today, so thanks very much.

Sheila: Well, hopefully it will inspire everybody else too.

Laura: Yes, definitely. And so thank you, Sheila. And lastly, where can we find and connect with you?

Sheila: You can find me m on Instagram. That’s where I like to hang out the most. And like, obviously I’ve got a website where you can view, you know, all my different offers and ways we can work together. But definitely Instagram is the best place to find me. It’s two underscores. Sheila Anderson for Instagram.

Laura: Perfect. Okay. And I’ll put all the links to that in the show notes too.

Sheila: Beautiful. Thank you so much.

Laura: Thank you, Sheila. Uh, bye.

Laura: I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Sheila as much as I did. She has a real knack for breaking down the sales process in a way that feels authentic and doable, doesn’t she? If you’re ready to start applying these tips, why not begin with your podcast? Selling doesn’t have to feel complicated or uncomfortable. It’s all about connection. And if you’re looking for more tips on, uh, marketing your podcast through Instagram, be sure to cheque out episode seven where I chat with Jenna Warriner. The episode’s called how to create Engaging Instagram Content. I’ll put a link to that in the show notes. Thanks for tuning in to Podcasting for business owners. Until next time, keep sharing your story, leading your industry and growing your network through podcasting. If you found value in this podcast, please leave a five star rating and.

Laura: A review will be even better.

Laura: Better your support shows that this is a good show which will

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Laura: attract high profile guests and in turn deliver greater value to you. This podcast is produced and edited by me.

Laura: Don’t waste your time on editing. Let me help you with your podcast.

Laura: Cheque out the links in the show notes to get in touch.

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