Using Instagram To Grow Your Business with Annie Miller – The Fed and Fearless Podcast Episode 105
Thinking about using Instagram to grow your business, but not sure where to start? While it isn’t necessary for every business, it’s still a powerful tool to showcase your service online. Today’s guest expert shares her strategies and insights to build an audience that’s not only engaged, but ready to buy.
LISTEN TO EPISODE 105 OF THE FED AND FEARLESS PODCAST
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About Annie Miller
Annie Miller is the CEO and founder of Annie Miller Concepts, previously fitdesignbyannie. After graduating with her degree in Exercise and Sport Science in 2013, becoming a certified strength and conditioning specialist, changing course from college strength and performance coach to personal training, she found her calling in the online world of health and fitness.
Education and authenticity are at the center of Annie Miller Concepts (two things she saw a shortage of in the online space). Annie rejects the idea that there is ONE WAY to success, ONE WAY to do fitness or ONE WAY to run a business. So, for the last five years, she’s sought to share the power of knowledge and taking action in the weight room, business and life. The ‘gram is her favorite platform for fitness and entrepreneurship, and it’s where you’ll find her most of the time.
Biggest Mistake Business Owners Make on Instagram
Annie shares that the biggest mistake business owners make when using Instagram is actually in their fundamental business understanding—not knowing who they’re speaking to. Understanding who you help, how you help them, and the problems you solve for them—both big and small—forms the essential foundation for simplifying your messaging, content creation, and audience connection. This makes your approach to using the platform easier.
She identifies this as the biggest mistake, as a lack of clarity here causes a cascade of other mistakes.
You don’t need to reach everyone that’s on Instagram; you just need to find the ones that resonate with your message.
Balance Between Personal and Professional Social Media Content
Business owners on Instagram often ask: ‘Should I post this?’ Finding the right mix of personal and professional content is a common challenge. However, Annie believes it’s a personal choice. Simply be clear about what you’re comfortable sharing from your personal life.
Grow Your Instagram Business Without Posting Daily
Many entrepreneurs feel overwhelmed by the idea to post on Instagram everyday so they could grow their business. That feeling is understandable especially with how much the platform has changed (and continues to change).
Annie suggests that if your target audience is definitely on Instagram, focus on creating content that you actually enjoy making. Choose formats that you can adhere to.
Whereas if your audience is not on Instagram, but you still want a presence there, you don’t have to post daily. Instead, you can manage expectations by committing to a minimal, consistent schedule, like twice a week, and stating it in your bio. This keeps your profile active for those who discover you elsewhere, without the pressure of constant content creation.
How to Never Run Out of Content Ideas
Speaking of content creation, sometimes it can feel like you already said everything and you have nothing new to share.
Annie’s advice? Start repurposing content. Instead of feeling pressured to come up with new ideas, embrace the fact that you will repeat yourself.
You can take a single piece of content, break it down into smaller parts so it’s digestible for your audience, and you can always adjust the graphics and caption to make it more engaging. It’s okay to recycle content, especially when you start talking about a topic from multiple angles, as this helps build your authority.
And if you’re frustrated by the algorithm and feel like barely anyone is seeing your content, don’t worry. Just focus on creating what you enjoy. There’s nothing wrong with creating for the sake of creating, and often, those kinds of posts perform better anyway. Have fun with it!
How to Deal with Haters and Handle Criticism on Social Media
What’s not so fun, though, is encountering haters on social media. You can’t control it, and it’s bound to happen, so focus on the things that you can control.
When it comes to dealing with negativity, knowing your values will help you a lot (not just in life, but even in business). When you know your core values, you can make decisions that align with them. For instance, you have choices and boundaries—you can block, delete, or filter as needed. These online tools are there for a reason, to help you manage your space and protect your peace.
And sometimes, it’s not always hate, but criticism online. One thing to keep in mind is that when you are putting out mass amounts of information, you’re going to make mistakes sometimes. While this is unavoidable, when responding to people online, how and where you respond to people online matters. It’s okay to learn and be corrected, but there’s a right and wrong way to do it.
While accountability for errors is important, and professional private conversations are ideal, engaging in condescending exchanges online only fuels egos and causes more harm. Always remember, you have the power to disengage, block, or use those online tools to protect yourself when respectful dialogue isn’t possible.
Plagiarism on Social Media
Annie shares her personal experience wherein there were instances where individuals have taken her content as inspiration for their own. Instead of publicly calling them out, she handled it by initiating a private, respectful conversation. Emulation is is a natural part of learning. It’s normal to be inspired by creators you admire, but don’t forget to add your personal touch and insight to make the content uniquely yours.
In cases of real plagiarism wherein someone outright copies your work, like taking your course materials, it’s smart to set up your legal protections beforehand, like terms and conditions, to make dealing with it easier.
Tips for Using Instagram to Sell Your Service
Here are simple tips from Annie on how to effectively use Instagram to sell your services so you can turn your expertise into paying clients:
- Post free content consistently and sandwich it with occasional sales posts. This builds trust, engagement, and allows you to provide value upfront, which makes your audience more receptive when you present your offer.
- Talk about your offers enough. If you have a signature offer, integrate its tactics, philosophies, and approaches into your free content. It’s not an ask for a sale; it is just to build awareness that you have an offer.
- Educate your audience. Avoid the mistake of launching an offer without first preparing and educating your audience on its value and relevance.
Ultimately, all these tips link back to understanding your ideal client and how you help them. This forms the foundation of your content, which helps you connect with them. And that connection is the key to effectively using Instagram to grow your business (and even turn your followers into paying customers).
Enjoyed this? Check out this other topic you might like: A Complete Guide to Engaging Instagram Reels for Your Health Business
Got a question you’d love to hear me answer on the show? Leave me a voice message here!
IN THIS EPISODE
- How Instagram can play a part in your business strategy [4:20]
- Common mistakes new business owners make with social media [8:40]
- Finding your balance between personal and business-related posts [12:50]
- Why you don’t need to constantly create to be successful on Instagram [20:30]
- Dealing with negativity on social media [26:40]
- What to do if someone steals your content [33:25]
- Tips for effectively selling your services over Instagram [43:30]
- What it really means when you lose followers [51:50]
QUOTES
“It’s important for me to teach things that work no matter what the algorithm does; the importance of building a business on Instagram versus trying to be popular or get attention.” [5:41]
“The more clarity you can gain on who it is that you’re helping – how you’re helping them, the problems that you solve – the easier that it’s going to be to find your people.” [11:52]
“Focus on creating content that is joyful for you to create.” [15:41]
“If you are just getting on Instagram and all you’re doing is selling, that is not ideal. But if you can be posting free content consistently and sandwich it with sales, that’s ideal.” [45:00]
“It doesn’t do anything for you to have a large following that’s not engaged. It’s literally better to have a smaller audience with higher engagement than the other way around.” [55:38]
LINKS
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Podcast production & marketing support by the team at Counterweight Creative
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I'm a strategic advisor and diagnostic thinker obsessed with helping established coaches and experts build businesses that actually fit who they are, so they can keep more of what they earn and stop swimming against the current in their own business.
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