In today’s episode, we’ll cover basics from best-practices for naming your account and what to include in your profile, to details on creating a posting schedule, tips for improving the quality and appearance of your photos, and then we finish the show with a weekly actionable tip about the one thing you’re likely afraid to do on your IG, but need to!

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Welcome to Driven; a show about business, life, and wellness from two confident, curious women who are pulling back the curtain on what it’s like being an entrepreneur. Each week, join hosts Diane Sanfilippo and Cassy Joy Garcia talk about being your best, showing up for your dreams, and kicking self-doubt to the curb.

Diane is a business whisperer, best-selling author, and plant-hobbyist based in San Francisco. Cassy Joy is the founder of www.FedandFit.com, best-selling author, and casserole enthusiast. She calls San Antonio, Texas, home.

Cassy Joy: In today’s episode, we’re bringing you the first of our three-part miniseries on social media. Everybody get excited! We’re going to talk specifically about Instagram, of course, because it’s the one that Diane and I focus on the most. But you can definitely apply these concepts across any social media platform. We’ll perhaps cover other platforms over time, but since folks seem primarily focused on Instagram lately, that’s where we’re going to start.

In today’s episode, we’re covering basics. Best practices for naming your account; what to include in your profile; details on a posting schedule; tips for improving the quality and appearance of your photos. And then we’re going to finish out the show with a weekly actionable tip about one thing you’re likely afraid to do on your own Instagram, but you need to do it.

Topics:

1. What’s on my plate [3:05]
2. Shop Talk: [10:24]
3. Listener Question: Managing someone else’s social media [54:12]
4. Tip of The Week: Show your face [1:01:06]

Cassy Joy: Today’s show is brought to you by the Nutritional Therapy Association. The NTA trains and certifies nutritional therapy practitioners and consultants by focusing on bio-individuality and the range of dietary strategies that support wellness. The NTA emphasizes a whole-food, properly prepared, and nutrient dense diet as the key to restoring balance and enhancing the body’s innate ability to heal.

Throughout their programs, students learn a wide-range of educational tools and techniques to identify and correct nutritional imbalances and deficiencies in their clients, and to launch a successful career in holistic nutrition. The NTA produces like-minded practitioners and consultants that we endorse and consider colleagues in the health and wellness space. Registration for the February enrollment opens on September 17^th. You can learn more, and save your seat by going to www.NutritionalTherapy.com. Don’t forget to mention our name, The Driven Podcast, on your application.

1.  What’s on my plate [3:05]

Cassy Joy: This first segment is What’s on My Plate. Here, we’re going to talk about what’s happening in our businesses and in our lives for the week. Diane, what’s going on over there?

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} Well good morning.

Cassy Joy: Good morning.

Diane Sanfilippo: I have a space heater next to me, because it seems like fall has landed here in San Francisco. And the whole front half of our house does not listen to the back half when it comes to heat. Perhaps one day we’ll get this sorted out. But in a house built in 1924, you have to take the good with the less good.

So anyway, stuff going on in my business; recipe development is in full swing for some up coming new meals for Balanced Bites meals. For those of you who maybe are just chiming in, or tuning into this episode and haven’t heard, Balanced Bites meals is a frozen meal delivery service that I kicked off in January of this year. And; I mean, it is just so much fun. And it’s really, really challenging, honestly. It’s a very challenging business.

But, really fun and rewarding to see; especially. Some of the folks who are eating the meals the most are busy moms at home who are working. And it’s like; those are our listeners. It’s like; you’ve got the baby on your hip, and you’re like; I’ve got one hand. What can I do with this one hand? I’m kind of picturing you with Gray on your hip, even. Even though she toddles around now, of course.

Cassy Joy: I mean, I am a consumer of these meals. {laughs} It fits.

Diane Sanfilippo: I know. It’s like; even at the end of a busy day making recipes, I’m like; I don’t even want to eat what I just made. I want to eat this other thing; some other flavor entirely. Anyway, I love being able to see folks enjoying them. But as the seasons roll on, we’re introducing different meals, different options.

And I’m always torn on this, because growing up; and maybe you have experience with this too. But growing up; we ate a ton of frozen meals. We ate Stauffer’s, and maybe Marie Callender’s, and some of these really common meals. There were a set number of them at the grocery store. It was like 10 to 20 options; and we were ok with that.

But there’s something about having it as a service where I’m like; I feel like I need so many options. But ultimately, at the end of the day; how many options do we really need? Anyway. What I’m seeing happening is this progression of; over time, introducing new things. Coming to a place where we maybe decide what are the 10 best of, and then what are 5 to 10 others. Or just this wiggle room for putting newness in there, and injecting newness into the whole thing. Because I think that’s fun, too.

So anyway. That’s a challenge, and it’s fun. We’re working on recipes, and choosing recipes from some of my books, as well as tweaking them and just seeing what works really well for the format. That is another big challenge that I think folks don’t expect or understand that once you freeze something; I mean, many of us know. Once we freeze leftovers, or chilis and things like that that freeze well; but folks are asking about variety in the vegetables. I’m like; listen. I do not want to give you soggy broccoli. I just have a real thing for certain veggies that I’m ok with them being cooked through what I will call a wet heat application versus dry heat. And I’m just very particular about it. So I would rather give you more of one veggie that I know works well, than variety and just meh results.

Like Brussel sprouts. I would love to put Brussel sprouts in these meals, but I am not serving a steam Brussel sprout. That is what we all don’t want; right? So, anyway. It’s really challenging. But it’s fun, and I’m up for the changing.

So, I’m making plans for what’s to come as well with spices. Obviously we’re heading into the holiday season, so there will be some fun with that. And then, of course; as we were chatting about, because I have this lip gloss on today. I’ve got all this new Beautycounter holiday product on my desk, and I basically need to figure out what to do with that.

Cassy Joy: {laughs} It’s gorgeous. What color are you wearing again?

Diane Sanfilippo: What did I say it was? Cranberry shimmer. It’s quite pigmented. It smells like orange tic-tac’s, as I said on my Instagram this morning. So if you’re an Instagram follower, and you’re like; I know when they recorded this.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. Cranberry shimmer.

Cassy Joy: It is beautiful.

Diane Sanfilippo: It’s delightful.

Cassy Joy: It really is beautiful.

Diane Sanfilippo: Thank you. What’s going on in San Antonio?

Cassy Joy: Oh man. Well, first of all, I should thank Diane. Because I haven’t yet. Thank you for waking up early and recording. Diane and I have a two-hour difference in time zones, and she took one for the team so that we could record at a time that really worked for my family.

But speaking of my family; Gray, my daughter, who will be 2 in January. She woke up this morning with a little bit of a fever; on a win note, Diane, I feel like I’m entering into the next stage of motherhood. Which is very exciting. Because this is the first time she’s come down with something; not that it happens very often. That I didn’t downward spiral into this mom guilt; oh my gosh, what did I do wrong? What did I do? What can I do? And a little bit of that panic.

I’m pretty calm, cool, and collected. But there’s something about your baby not feeling well that just; I didn’t handle well at the beginning. And we’re getting there. You know; even though logically you understand it’s going to happen. Every once in a while, she’s going to get a bug, and it will all be ok.

Diane Sanfilippo: I think pretty often, right? Isn’t that what kids are supposed to do is basically keep getting sick until their immunity is there.

Cassy Joy: Yes. Supposedly. But {laughs} my heart wanted us to be the exception. My pride. My prideful, prideful heart. Anyway. She’s good. She’s fine. And I think also knowing that I’m not as feeling guilty about it; Gray is handling it much better.

But on the business front; we are reviewing the design for Cook Once, and it’s so, so exciting. And if she’s listening; the freelance designer that we’re working with is truly one of the most gifted and professional designers I’ve ever worked with. And Diane knows this; and so many of you who have worked with whether contractors or employees over the years of building your brand. Every once in a while, you come across just the right fit for your brand. And it’s like finding a unicorn in the wild. And it’s just so exciting.

And I feel; anyway. I’m grateful to be able to work with her. And I’ve told her this before, and I even told Diane after this call; but she’s on my dream team as a future key player in Fed and Fit. She has other things that she’s doing right now that she really loves; but as you start to build out a team, at least me, the way I look at it, is a puzzle. Right? There are pros and strengths and weaknesses of every team member.

For example, Amber Golden, who has been working with me for several years now; she’s highly strategic and she’s very good at executing things. I am this; I come up with wild ideas. That’s one of my strengths; and then we also have Lauren who is very organized and enjoys doing the tasks that Amber and I don’t necessarily enjoy doing. And we really need someone with a creative 50,000-foot view, but that can execute at a granular level. So, I don’t know. I’m just going to put it out there. One day, this lady might be part of the team. But it’s just so exciting. It was an encouraging day.

Diane Sanfilippo: I love that.

2.  Shop Talk: [10:24]

Diane Sanfilippo: Now it’s time for Shop Talk. In this segment, we talk about topics that are on both our minds and yours. We’ll cover all sides of the issue, and hopefully land somewhere concise, actionable, and helpful. Today we’re talking shop about social media 101. But don’t press the snooze button if you’re already experienced; we think there is something for everyone here.

What I’m going to get into first are some of the basics around things like naming your account, info that’s on your profile, pros and cons of having a business account versus a personal versus; what I have is actually a creator account. I don’t know if that’s what yours is, Cassy. Do you know?

Cassy Joy: I have no idea. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: She’s not sure. That sounds about right. {laughs} There are things that both of us fly by the seat of our pants on, and some things that we are super zeroed in on. And hopefully over time you all will realize that you don’t need to be the expert at every part of your own business. Because, we just aren’t.

I’m going to just get started with this whole idea of account naming. Basics on account naming; so here’s a question that comes up a lot. And, I say this often. And I do mean it. And I know it’s hard. Because I feel like we are in a parenting situation. But I can talk about this, because you and I have different account names right now. You’re @FedandFit. You’re building that brand. I’m @DianeSanfilippo, my name. I also have @BalancedBites; @21-DaySugarDetox, etc.

So, my first note for folks is; I actually don’t want you to use your name in your account if you are new and building a business. Even if you’re building a personal brand. The reason I say that is; I’m not saying it’s a never. I will qualify all of this. But I think when you’re interacting on social media, and you go comment somewhere; which is a way that people might find you. Oh, Jane Smith. No, nobody is tapping on Jane Smith. They’re tapping on Jane the Health Coach. Right? They’re going to see; oh, I’m interested in health coaching. Or, Organic Jane. Something that has something to do with what your business is.

If you just have a name; especially in a situation where it’s not verified, I think once you are verified, there’s just a bit of gravity to that. There’s pull of; oh, who’s that? Should I know that person? Right? When you actually have that kind of element going on. But, for the most part, your name should say something about what the business is. And along with that, your profile photo should be a very professional looking headshot or log or something that is not your cat. It’s not a poorly lit selfie.

I think mine might be a selfie right now that’s well-lit. And it’s pretty much just my face with no distraction as the background. But one thing I notice; and I want you guys to pay attention to this as well. When I see comments in a thread on someone’s photo. Or I see who is commenting on my photos, or liking them. When I see an account name that says something about what the business is, along with a photo that seems professional and intentional or striking in some way, I’m so much more inclined to tap on that than I am to tap on; again, Jane M with a poorly lit photo of your family. Does that make sense?

I’m looking at one right now. It doesn’t say Jane. But it is a poorly lit photo of this person’s family. And I don’t get the impression that she’s running a business, or wants people to come find her and follow her. That’s not the impression I get whatsoever. So if that is what you want to happen, I want to see; most likely I want to see your face. Unless you’re selling a product, and you have a logo or a great photo of the product, if it’s one thing, for example.

Cassy Joy: It’s such a great point. Not to interrupt you. But it’s such a great point. Because even just the other day, I remember sitting down; clicking through, and I think it was somebody commented. And it was a beautiful, very well-lit, lots of white space, profile photo. Mostly her face. And she was standing behind a kitchen counter. And I think that; I don’t remember what her name was, so I’m just going to make it up. But in essence, it was like; The Spoonfed Kitchen. Or something like that. And I clicked on her profile to say; what is this girl up to? This is great. She wrote something very engaging.

And y’all; she had 150 followers. And she had; I scrolled through her account, when she decided to turn this, change her social media strategy, which is kind of what we’re talking about right now. And you can tell she started posting different style things. Her photos improved. And I was like; get it, girl! She had her website linked right there. I was like; she is definitely going to go someplace. Because she’s building this presence before, necessarily, she has the reach maybe that she’s going for. Anyway, great point.

Diane Sanfilippo: I’m with you. And that’s the experience that I have. Now, whether or not we choose to follow is different than whether or not; because we are in a different situation. You know what I mean? We’re in this really driving position. We’re actually not the audience that she wants anyway. We’re not going to be her customer. So I think, as I was saying, sometimes what I’m speaking about is a little bit do as I say, not as I do. My handle is my name. But I’m now at a point where there is social proof of 118 or however many thousand followers. So that social proof, and the verified check, is a really different experience for someone than a business name.

But I will say this; I regretted the moment I switched from being just @BalancedBites to my name back when I did it. I did it purely out of ego. I was really not enjoying the fact that people were calling me Balanced Bites. This was kind of at the moment with social media and all of this where people could not always identify the person with the brand. It’s like; you’re behind a blog, and an @ handle. I think that’s different now. I think people are much faster to say; oh, that’s Cassy. Fed and Fit Cassy. We know who you are. Stories really helps with that.

But for me, people were calling me someone else’ name; like another author’s name, etc. And it just was really bothering me. I’m like; I would like for you to know my name. #Type8Vibes. So I regret having done that at the time, because I did it at a time when Instagram growth was really happening. And I do think it slowed down my growth. That being said, now we have separate brands, and it is what it is. I can’t change what it is.

Cassy Joy: The grass is always greener. Because when I look at what you did, I’m like; ugh, gosh, I wish I had started this sooner. Because what I’m trying to do with Fed and Fit is really create that as the online editorial. A well and good style feed. Backed by real people, which we’ll talk about in a second. And then I would like to have a little bit more freedom just to be my personal self on another account. So that keeps falling into the “one day” bucket for me.

Diane Sanfilippo: And I don’t think there’s any right time. I just think we have to do things when it’s right for us. Who knows; if the Fed and Fit account is now; what, somewhere around 150,000, one day if it’s 300 or 500 or a million, I think growing your personal account will be much easier and faster when the account that exists that might point to it is already larger. Chicken or egg.

Cassy Joy: Yeah, that makes sense. And then there’s all these other examples that I follow, where you have these editors; owners of business that break off. And what they do is they actually create a new brand profile, and start from scratch. Which is not something that I could do. Because web traffic and exposure is what I would want for Fed and Fit content. But it’s just so interesting to see how different the decisions are across different businesses. So maybe just to put a cherry on the top; this is one of those, find your trusted friends and mentors and talk it through if you’re going through some of these decisions.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. And I think for most of you listening, if you are starting something and growing something. It’s one account. I don’t want people worried about having multiple accounts. I only manage my own personal Instagram account at this point. And I answer everything; nobody else is there. So if you’re like; is that her? Yes, it’s me. But I do have help managing the other accounts. So I don’t think that’s a secret to the folks who are following.

Then the other question is; do I start a new account, or do I keep my old personal account? And to the point that you were just making about the one that you saw; I think it really depends on what’s going on. So I think it depends on; let’s say you have 1000 followers on your personal account. What are they there for? Have you always posted food, and now you’re a health coach, and you’re certified, and you feel like you want to do this in a more professional way? There’s no reason to start a separate account if that’s what people have been following along for.

But if it’s your personal friends and family, and you’ve mostly posted pictures of your kids, and it’s like 100 followers. Now you’re going to start only posting about nutrition, and maybe it’s even more narrow than that. Maybe you’re posting about digestive health very specifically. Eh; I don’t know that I would start with what you have there, but it’s totally up to you. I mean, so what if half the people unfollow; at least you started with 50. And maybe; you never know, your friends and family are more interested than you thought in learning about digestive health. Because we know; everyone poops. And most people have trouble with their poop.

So, I think it’s a personal decision. I don’t think everyone needs to immediately toss aside their personal account and not just convert it. You are a person; there was a moment when you decided, now I’m going to do this as a business. We can go back to a lot of accounts that we see that are super professional, to the point that you were just making. All their photos for the last year, or two years are super professional. Very staged. Very beautiful, whatever. And right before that, you can see a quick shift when they decided to be more intentional about it, and something with it.

So, either way is fine. Do what feels right for you. What my big recommendation here is; I don’t think you’re going to be happy if you are managing two accounts. And this is my advice to you, too, Cassy. I think the day someone else mainly starts managing the Fed and Fit account you’ll have the space and the mental freedom to have your account @CassyJoyGarcia. But it’s too much for us, because of how much love and attention goes into each account. It’s too much for us to manage those.

Niki on team Balanced Bites manages the @BalancedBites account. April manages the @21-DaySugarDetox account. And we also have Moriah on our team who does graphic design stuff like that who supports all of them, and both of them. So, it’s not just me when it comes to all of those accounts.

Ok, so anything else on naming your account that you want to throw out there?

Cassy Joy: No. I think; oh wait, what about the folks who are getting hung up and their name is not available? They could do; they change their name, their business name if the name is not available? Do they put an underscore or a period or a “the” or a TJ’s nutrition kitchen? What’s your advice for those folks?

Diane Sanfilippo: Well, I have a couple of thoughts based on behavior patterns that I notice in myself. Searching for things. First and foremost; I could say the name itself, whether there’s an underscore or a dot may or may not entirely matter if the way that you’re getting growth is through referrals, which is how most people get growth, right?

I’ve said this before about your URL; most people are not typing in your URL to get there. Your web address. Their either doing a web search, or they’re clicking a link they found somewhere else. And I think the same is true for Instagram. Most people are not; they don’t know how to spell Sanfilippo.

Cassy Joy: {laughs} I’ve been friends for Diane for years, and I couldn’t even pronounce it! {Laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: I’m not sure if it’s happening yet, either.

Cassy Joy: Oh, pickles! Dangit.

Diane Sanfilippo: But that’s fine, because we’re not mostly typing that in. Right? Someone else maybe puts a sticker in their picture, and you tap that sticker to go there. Or they mention you in the comments. Or you were commenting on someone’s post. And they just see it. So whether there’s a dot or an underscore; it’s not really that relevant.

I think what is important; I actually like the idea of, what is the element that people will remember? And I do think if you can put that first, I think it’s important to put that first. So, maybe. And this might be new information that I’m sharing with some people. Because if someone doesn’t follow you, I don’t think you’ll come up as quickly. But let’s just say, again, nutrition with Jane. Or Jane’s Nutrition. Or Jane’s Nutritious Kitchen. Whatever it’s going to be. I’m just making up these names.

I think if someone said; “oh, you should follow my friend, Jane, on Instagram. Here’s her account. Jane’s Nutritious Kitchen.” If someone were to type in Jane’s, like your name is hopefully going to start to come up if they start to type in Jane’s Kitchen or whatever it is. Because the name is at the beginning. I don’t know how else to explain this. But one of my friend’s recently changed her handle, and her actual name is kind of more in the center. And when I go to tag her, I type her name, and I think it only comes up because I follow her. I’m not sure it would come up.

So, watch what happens when you search different things. Again, this is maybe getting a little bit granular, but I do think that the way the search function works is possibly what you want to pay attention to when your naming. Because that’s the only time that it really matters. When someone types into accounts to search a name; does that make sense?

Cassy Joy: It makes perfect sense.

Diane Sanfilippo: Otherwise it doesn’t matter what the name is, right?

Cassy Joy: Yes. That is really helpful.

Diane Sanfilippo: As long as people can read it and understand what you’re about.

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Diane Sanfilippo: So I wouldn’t get too hung up on it. It has importance, and it has relevance. It’s not the most important thing about your account is the actual name.

Ok, so from there, the profile info. What I’m talking about here is when someone goes to your profile; it’s like your little landing page on Instagram. What are they seeing as the description of who you are, what you do, what kind of business it is, etc.? Are there tags to other things, other hashtags? What kind of information is there?

So let’s go look at Fed and Fit, shall we?

Cassy Joy: Oh, man. {laughs} I’m so excited. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: Listen. Oh, my Instagram is not loading. Ok, I’m going to go to my account. So, listen, I’m going to tell you what I think are some best practices. Again, what I want you all to pay attention to is your behavior when you tap on someone’s profile. I think this is the best insight into what should I do here. Are you with me?

So when I go to someone’s profile; I want to understand, who are you, where are you, what are you about? What’s the most important thing you want me to know about what you are sharing? Does that make sense?

Cassy Joy: Yes.

Diane Sanfilippo: So, on my account; and I’ve gone through this so many times. And it doesn’t mean that everyone even reads this. And I wish that there was a little more space to share a little bit more of a blurb, so that we could really introduce ourselves better when we have a lot to say. But I want it to be clear to people that I’m an entrepreneur, and I’m a two-time New York Times’ bestseller. I want to share that; because maybe someone will think to themselves; oh, what are the books? And maybe that will make them scroll, and be like; oh, what’s that book? And I’m not saying I do this perfectly. But this is my intention behind what’s there.

Not long ago, I decided; you know what? I need for the first thing for people to really understand is that I make yummy food that I think you’re going to love. And you can order things that I have to sell, and here’s the account at Balanced Bites and I have that tag in the profile.

Cassy Joy: Love it.

Diane Sanfilippo: I don’t know that this is the perfect bio. But this is my intention. I am sharing I’ve got a new podcast, and there’s a link to it. I go back and forth between whether or not I mention Beautycounter in my profile. It’s an important part of my life; it’s a big part of my life. And it’s also a big part of the folks who follow me. Which, that is important to me.

I want you guys to hear this very clearly. If you have a network marketing business; it is not important to your followers that you mention everything about Beautycounter in your profile. The reason I mention is actually because so many of the people who order meals actually work with Beautycounter. And I think that there’s an element of; oh, she works with our company too, and oh, she does this too. So, it ties things together. Because my intention and my focus is really more to talk about meals and spices and all that. But I do mix it all in.

So there’s a lot going on here, and I definitely have things I want to focus on over time. And then, just for fun, I did the little 8-wing-7. That’s the enneagram; I put the little brain icon. That’s my nod to the folks who understand enneagram. And it’s kind of a warning. {laughs} It’s kind of my warning. Like, if you know what that means, the you get a little piece of who I am. And there’s a little bit of inside joke with it, I guess. So I like that.

I do think it’s important to; should I try and load yours now?

Cassy Joy: Yeah, go for it.

Diane Sanfilippo: Are you feeling like it’s what you want it to be?

Cassy Joy: Oh yeah. I mean, I won’t change it. I don’t move that fast. {laughs} By the time this episode comes out, people can listen to it for a month and I probably still won’t have changed it. But, I actually used to have a very similar bulleted list. And it wasn’t as; I don’t know. I did more things like; mom. Author. You know; things like that. Managing director. I did put a lot of that stuff in there. I really like the enneagram.

And then I switched it up, because what I realized is in this season of my business; folks want to know. They need to connect. If they’re coming to me because of Cook Once, Eat All Week. So for example; mine is just a sentence. It says, “Creator of #CookOnceEatAllWeek.” Praise the day that Instagram allowed us to tag hashtags and accounts in our profile. “Creator of #CookOnceEatAllWeek.”  Which is actually not the hashtag I had chosen. The hashtag I had chosen was #CookOnceBook. But the readers decided that was the one they used the most, so that’s the one I put in there. “And #FedandFit. Lots of fun new irons in the fire; stay tuned, it’s going to be a wild ride.” Hopefully inviting folks into the story a little bit. And because in this season, folks are finding me because of Cook Once.

Diane Sanfilippo: Right. And I think that’s totally valid. And I think what we want to do with our profile is tell the story and paint the picture you want folks to get right now. And I could easily argue for; let’s do one sentence that’s much more simplified and focused. And I could easily argue for; give people the snapshot of who you are, what you’re about, and what they’re going to find. And I think the direction you’re taking with is great.

Cassy Joy: You do?

Diane Sanfilippo: I think that, yeah. I think when that’s your focus. So for folks listening; especially, again, I know we’re going to have a lot of people who do nutrition coaching. If you’ve got a business where you’re launching a new product; focus on the thing. Right? The one thing that you really want people to know about, and connect with right there.

I think if I were not looking to make that connection with more of our fellow Beautycounter consultants; that, yes, I’m a part of this business with you. Even just often, people have no idea that I’m part of the business or a senior level or any of that. I think it’s pretty common. But I think if you’re building a business, and you’re like; ok, I’m going to work with women with hormone imbalances, etc., keep it super, super focused.

Especially, again, when you don’t have a large follower count to provide a little bit of that social proof to say; maybe this is someone I should follow. I’m not sure I need to know your 4 kids’ names in your profile, as a professional who is a health coach, whatever. Do you know what I mean?

I would rather know I help women get their hormones on track so they can feel more energetic and at home in their bodies. Get my free resource, etc. Really simple. Very, very focused and clear. So that I know; are you for me? So I think that both are worthwhile. And I think we can test things and see how they go.

Cassy Joy: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: So, that’s that on some of those basics. And then pros and cons of a business account. Very, very quickly; if you have a business, you should have a business account. If you are a creative professional; if you do a bunch of different things. I believe that you should have a creator account; that’s the type of account that I have. You’ll just see it in the setting as an option. Whereas, for example, the Balanced Bites account is a business account. My personal account is called a “creator” account. And I think there are just some different features that can unlock with each.

But do not be afraid that your reach will decrease, etc. I think Instagram may be going to a mode at some point where it actually does not publicly show likes. And does not publicly show the type of engagement a post is getting. So don’t be worried about that. What I want you to have is the functionality that a business account affords. And maybe some of the backend insights. Because the insights are important for you to know; what does my audience like? And if you’re trying to grow your audience, you need to know what your current audience likes. And we’ll talk more about the type of content and all of that in our next episode.

What do you want to add to this Cassy? I think I spent a lot of time on some of those basics.

Cassy Joy: That was really helpful. I really liked it. The only thing I’m going to add in; they’re going to be really quick, but we’re going to talk about a posting schedule pros and cons, and we’re also going to briefly touch on some photo tips.

Ok, so for a posting schedule. There is more than one way to cut this cake, when it comes to going on Instagram. And some of the two sides of the fence that you’re probably going to hear are those who document, and those who plan their content. And, I think it boils down to what works for your business; your business type. What kind of content are you trying to put out? And then also, what works for your life. Right?

If you have just a crazy wild ride that you’re on right now, you’ve got several, maybe short, young people at home and you’re doing the hustle thing on the side. Maybe you have several side hustles. And in order to maintain a consistent presence online, you have to set up a schedule. I really don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

But, if you’re on the other side of the fence, and you’re like; that’s not my reality right now, and I can document. I have the luxury of documenting and planning my content doesn’t feel right; then don’t plan it. Document it. So I just want to lay the land really quickly.

Diane Sanfilippo: And to reinforce that; my personal account I document. But on Balanced Bites and 21-Day Sugar Detox, we plan.

Cassy Joy: Great. That’s a great example. And right now, Fed and Fit, I feel like I’m the worst example because I’m kind of a hybrid between wanting to get into this pure documentation phase. But nobody has any other way of finding me. Or planning phase. But nobody has any other way of connecting with me online right now, so I also do document occasionally.

Diane Sanfilippo: But I think a hybrid is ok, too. Where you have a plan and then there’s some flexibility. Because otherwise things can be too rigid and you lose the opportunity of the instant connection.

Cassy Joy: Totally.

Diane Sanfilippo: You know what I mean? So even on our planned accounts, there’s stuff where it’s like; this is a wild card. Let’s share somebody’s photo. Or what we do in our stories is a little more of the moment.

Cassy Joy: I like that. And if you’re somebody who’s brain really like a formula; my brain is one of those. I tend to think that on Instagram stories is where I fly by the seat of my pants. It’s where I document my life. And one in every 9 frames, which will be our tip of the day, is really where I document what’s going on in my life on a personal note. And then outside of that, the team will sit down, and we will plan a schedule.

So; posting schedules. Let’s talk about it. Because some of you might be thinking; “is there some strategy I can employ on the day that I post, or the hour that I post that’s going to have the most engagement that I should start following?” And while, yes, there is some data and there are definitely some trends that say, for example, Sundays and Wednesdays will be some of your better days to post, and Mondays and Saturdays might be your lowest.

If you think about the consumer; think about the reader. Mondays; beginning of the week. They’re in their work. They’re excited about the week ahead. They’re dedicated. Saturday is going to be low because they’re excited about their weekend. It’s usually the start of a phase of a week that folks are less likely to engage on social.

Sundays is when they’re looking for inspiration for their week to come, and they’re trying to see what’s going on in the world. And then Wednesday, it’s hump day! They’re ready for some sort of a distraction. Good grief, we’re only halfway through! Let me see what’s going on online! Right.

Now, that being said, I don’t want you to only post on Sundays and Wednesdays, and I don’t want you to not post on Mondays and Saturdays. because I will say that if it’s good content, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what day or what time of day that you post, because folks will find it.

And part of the Instagram algorithm is that if it is good content, they’ll keep it bubbling up to the top of the list anyways. So I wouldn’t worry about it. If it feels right for you to post it, then post it. And I wouldn’t get bogged down. But if you are trying to hack, then also know that most folks are on apps early morning and late in the afternoon. That being said, I usually only post at around 8 a.m. if I’m on a real schedule.

And another note about schedule; it’s something that Michelle Tam said. I hear her speak at the Everything Food Conference this past week, and Michelle is just such a lovely soul. And she gave such a great humble tip. She said that, although she tries to always have something on stories for folks to see, so that doesn’t go a 24-hour period that something is not live on Instagram stories, she says she will only post something on her feed if it is really great content.

And I sat there, and I listened to her, because my strategy before that was; I have to keep these wheels spinning. And there was a time in my business where I was posting two to three times a day. Because I thought that was the best thing to do to promote engagement, and to show as an active brand. But when I tried on that strategy for size. For my business, at least; and where I’m at in this stage of my business is different. And that has to be acknowledged. But it worked for me, and I really liked it. It freed me up to only post the best content; the stuff I was the most proud of. And it also gave folks an additional reason, when they did visit my profile to say; oh, this is all quality.

Anyway. About a posting schedule; I sound like I’m talking people out of creating one. But these are just things to consider. Now, if you do sit down to create a posting schedule, Planoly, it’s an app that I know we’ve mentioned in the past as one that we’ve used. I’ve used both Planoly and Asana for our Instagram posting schedule.

And what it looks like, is in Asana, we have a separate project called social media content calendar. And the way it currently works is the team gets together. Amber spearheads it. She will go in, because she’s studying all of the traffic; what are the trends and recipes. And she will pull out a mixed bag of new and old content that we really want to highlight, maybe that we’re trying to rank for in Google. And she’ll plug those into the Instagram content calendar, or social media content calendar.

And then what I do, because I’m still writing the copy. Because it is still; this is still my “personal” profile, I feel like I need to be the one writing the copy on Instagram. So I load the most crisp photo I can from my computer, and I actually sit down and plug it into Planoly, and if I’m flying by the seat of my pants, I plug it in and I schedule it to go live in 5 minutes. But in a perfect world, I’m probably scheduling them days, if not weeks out. I know that on this Wednesday, the first of October, we’re publishing this pumpkin recipe, for example. And that’s kind of how you can get into a grove, a posting schedule.

Again, if your brain really likes a formula, something else that’s really worked for our business in the past is that we will share something that is lifestyle related. Because Sundays are such big heavy hitting days for traffic. Most folks are on the app, especially in the evening. Late evening after the kids go to bed, or things are winding down. That’s a great time to share lifestyle content. That’s a great time to tell a story. So we’ll keep that in mind.

Wednesdays, I also know they’re on there, and probably likely to spend a little bit more time and not just click and scroll. So that’s when I will share something educational. That’s when I would do a, “Did you know?” Did you know, that, I don’t know. {laughs} 367 gallons of volume will fit into 1.5 Prius interiors. I just recently looked that up, because I’m really nerdy if I had to calculate the volume of something, and that’s what I settled on.

I think that’s a fun time to share things that might require a little brain work on someone’s end, would be the time they’re more likely to spend on the app. But that being said, you don’t have to strategize in order to be successful, because the majority of the time lately we’ve been flying by the seat of our pants online, and things are going just fine.

Did I do an ok lay of the land?

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. I think also, we will each see the ebb and flow. Especially for story views. And I think everyone has their own sweet spot of when your views will be the highest. To your point, I definitely see that content that I share around noon on Saturday or noon to 5 on Saturday that airs 24 hours, until noon to 5 on Sunday, definitely gets the most views. And I expect that people are looking on Sunday mornings.

But I also think a lot of our viewers, or followers, are not young people who are out partying on a Saturday night. I think they’re home, and the kids are in bed, or whatever is going on. Flipping through social media on a Saturday evening. So I definitely see that. So I think that you can watch the trends of your own engagement to see what happens. Whether that’s 10 people watching, or 100, or 1000, or 10,000. You know what I mean? Or more. Either way, you have the relative performance that you can go by.

Cassy Joy: Absolutely. And you’ll also know, once you do switch over to a business account, like Diane has advised you to; you will see trends. And maybe you see that already, on personal accounts. But you’ll see when your folks, your audience is on the app and more engaged, and it will give you an idea. Those are more industry; if you Google it, that’s what’s going to show up in a report online.

And the next thing to chat about briefly are photo tips. Ok; so trying to keep this as brief as possible, because we could jump down several rabbit holes. But it’s good to make a decision what aesthetic style do you want to go for. And then, not to say that you can’t change it. But try on something for size, and try to be consistent with it.

So, there are things, for example, called photo presets out there. And if you really like the look of a preset photo feed, think of; I don’t know why she came to mind. But Aspyn Ovard is, I think, a lifestyle fashion blogger. And her photos, she sells her presets. A lot of folks like that do. And it’s a very pink washed kind of photo. It’s very brightened. I think the contrast is slightly lowered. It’s beautiful; all consistent photos together. Hers is all fashion and lifestyle. So that’s the experience she wants folks to have.

Now, obviously, I don’t employ that strategy on my own account, because I photograph food. And I want you to see what the food actually looks like. So I have a different style strategy on my page. But I would say, choose a strategy and then move forward with it. Are you going for a preset look? A branded look in that regard? Or is your branded look something a little bit more different. Real life, slightly enhanced.

So the latter happens to be my strategy. So with that regard, photo tips; which I think you could employ across either category, would be try to use as much natural light as possible. Your phone, your cell phone, whichever version or whatever you have, probably is going to take a really great photo. You don’t have to stress about it being a DSLR photo, or camera, in order to get a beautiful, crisp image up online.

Make sure your lens is clean. Wipe it off. I do it obsessively. Every time I’m taking a photo that I know might show up on my feed, I quickly bring it down to a soft cloth and wipe off that lens. Because even if it looks clean, you never know what could be on there. That might make a smudgy photo. And then move next to a window.

Let’s say if it’s a picture of food, or a picture of some nail polish that you’re holding that you want to take from the top down; turn off all the lights in your house so you don’t have any yellow hues casting any yellowness on your image. Yellow is kind of the enemy of natural light photos. And you want to have as much blue inspired light as possible on there. Blue is what’s coming from outside.

So, try to stand next to a window. Avoid direct sunrays, if you can. So stand in a corner where maybe there isn’t direct light, or wait for a time of day where the direct light has passed that area. Use a light colored background, I think is really going to be the easiest for you to edit. Now, if you want to go for a moodier style, you can use a darker background. There’s nothing wrong with that. It just tends to be slightly trickier to edit, and get a really nice finished look at the end.

And then, when it comes to editing, I actually do a lot of; if I’m posting something that I took from my phone directly into Instagram, I do my editing on Instagram’s app. I think it’s a really powerful editing tool. The things that I go through that I mess with is I will up the exposure a bit, brighten it even more. I will up the contrast, and then I will lower; I will reduce the shadows. Because sometimes if you boost up the contrast too much, it will bring the shadows out a lot. And if you reduce the shadows a little bit; as in make them brighter. And then you dull out the highlights; you make the highlights go less, it will give you a really nice finished look. But all it does is make the colors come out a little bit more.

And then I will bump up; I think it’s clarity, the granularity on Instagram. I forget what it’s called. I’ll bump that up a little bit, just a teeny bit. I usually don’t ever touch saturation or vibrancy, because again, I don’t want you to get this false impression that my avocado is neon green. I just want you to see as true a color as it possibly can be. Because sometimes when you take a photo with your phone, you look at that photo in its raw format and then you look at your plate, and you think; it just doesn’t look exactly the same to my naked eye. And my goal, when I’m editing photos, is to make it look like it does to my eye as much as possible, the actual product.

So those are some of my photo tips. And I also think; when in doubt, I think top down is your friend. 100%. If you’re not taking a picture of your face, or of people, or of something else; just raise your phone about a foot and a half off of the subject and shoot straight down. And it’s going to make the easiest, most crisp image. Try not to get too close.

Back in the early, early food blogging days, I would experiment with all of these funky angles, and I would get really close to stuff where I could see that gray in the pepper. And what I’ve learned is that it’s good to pull back just a little bit. But you can also play with maybe zooming in a bit post-editing. You can always zoom in, but you can’t zoom out on a photo. So try to start a little bit higher up, and then see what you like.

What do you think, Diane?

Diane Sanfilippo: I’m nodding along on all of that.

Cassy Joy: {laughs} Sweet.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, for sure. I think also; I don’t know what the answer is when it comes to a filtered, planned execution versus not. And I think this is, again, kind of a do as we say not as we do, sometimes. Because who do we choose to follow? And are those people doing; do they have a very curated planned account with a filter? Or is it… like your account all has a look, which I think is; you know, calming and pleasing. It’s not just jarring all over the place and different vibes and all of that. But it’s like people can tell that I’m not just doing a quote today, a this tomorrow, blah, blah, blah. And I think that there is an element of that that feels more personal than when it is super curated.

Like what we’ll have on the Driven account will be not only planned content, but graphically planned. So there’s a totally different vibe to that. And I think that for most people, that approach is not the approach to take. I think for a brand, it’s ok. Whatever Beautycounter wants to do on their account, is not what we do on our personal accounts. What we do on the Balanced Bites account, about products and spices and all of that; is not what I’ll do on my personal account to share about Balanced Bites. Does that make sense?

I think that people too often, when they become a brand, they then think they should post a very clean, curated brand way. But people don’t connect with brands; they connect with people.

Cassy Joy: Yep.

Diane Sanfilippo: So even if they connect with a brand, they’re connecting with the people of the brand. Right? So I think that’s really important. And I think pay attention to which accounts you decide to follow. And are you behaving and posting in a way that is similar to that? Or are you trying to do something that is overly perfect and then it’s just kind of square peg, round hole.

Cassy Joy: I have another example for you; Krista.Horton. She’s one of my favorite lifestyle fashion bloggers that I follow. She’s just dang adorable. Her and her daughter constantly do these twinning things. And her photos are personal, to Diane’s point. They’re personal. It’s varied. It’s not like she’s alternating in these quote cards, to your point. It doesn’t feel like a brand. But she definitely uses a preset. And I can tell, because I know what those look like.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, it’s like this orange vibe that pretty much is the trend of Instagram right now.

Cassy Joy: Yes. It’s beautiful. And it works well. So still; I think there’s a way you can achieve both; this consistent but not curated. Does that make sense? Like a consistent feel.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. And I would say too that overall, that’s the intention that I have. I would say that one out of 9 or one out of 10 of my posts might not be as consistent to the look that I ideally would want, because of, you know, the way of the photo of my wedding was that happens to be my favorite. It’s not a high contrast, bright, saturated photo. Which is kind of my vibe. It’s like bright colors. I like for the food to fill the frame if I can. I hold one product in my hand, etc. These are the types of photos that I generally like to post.

And I try; if people scroll back in my feed. I tried a few different things, and it never felt authentic. And I think ultimately, that’s the other litmus test. Right? Does posting this way; maybe that’s just the litmus test for the type 8 Rebel. But, for me, I cannot be operating to only a strategy or a pattern, and then I just grow to resent it. And what I share is just not as authentic. And I don’t want to do that. It’s not enjoyable to me. And if I don’t enjoy it, what’s the point? So then the whole thing backfires.

So, I think there’s value to knowing all of that.

Cassy Joy: Yeah. Go with your gut. Go with what feels right for you. It doesn’t feel right for me to use a preset, for example, but my sister, Kimberly Dunn Music. I keep giving all these shout outs. They come into mind, these profiles. I don’t think she’s at 10,000 followers yet, but she feels better. She just built her own preset, and she is so happy with her account now. And I think because she’s happy with it, and how it looks and feels, she’s more inspired to write copy that she really enjoys. Which is then going to translate in better engagement. So, do what’s right by you and your brand, and your people; your flock will find you.

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3. Listener Question: Managing someone else’s social media [54:12]

Cassy Joy: Our next segment is Listener Question. In this segment, we pull questions, comments, and topic ideas from your interactions with us over @DrivenPodcast on Instagram. Kate Michelle Kay asks, “Any suggestions on best practices for running someone else’s social media? I volunteered for a nonprofit as their social media person, but I’m never sure how to best utilize this space when I’m not the face of the organization.”

This is such an interesting question. Diane, what do you think?

Diane Sanfilippo: Alright. So this question is such a good one. I actually sent a follow up to find out what the account was that she’s starting to run; because, you know, follow up is kind of the gold, right? So this is going to be true for any account that you’re managing that’s not just your own personal brand. And I think the most important thing is to initially connect with the company or organization, to know who they are, who their audience is, what they want from this account. What does the organization want, and what do the people following it want? And share content that is about the audience. Very specifically, what can you do with the account to motivate, inspire, educate, and engage those who are following?

I’m sure there are moments where you need to inform. You might need to use a post to tell someone an announcement. Maybe that goes to the feed, maybe it goes to stories, maybe both. And that’s pretty common with an organization or a company. If there’s a sale one day, or there’s an event coming up, you need to do some of that informative posting that might be a little bit less fun and engaging.

But it looks like the organization she’s working with is a ministry, so that really helps to see what type of information she wants to share. And just looking at it initially, the very first screenshot I get; it’s not even the first 9, it’s actually the first 12, images. Visually, there’s something happening that I’m liking here. Initially, there’s just a lot of people. And a lot of it are single person portraits. And I think that’s a really good idea. Especially for a ministry.

I think there’s something about telling the stories of the people in the congregation, perhaps, of; here’s what’s happening in this person’s life. Or, here’s how this person is a part of our community. Here’s what they’re doing. Here’s how to join them. Whatever the story is that you’re going to tell. So I think remembering who you’re talking to, and remembering that you are telling a story with each post, especially, again, when it is this type of organization when it’s a ministry.

I think one other thing that would be cool to do, to Cassy’s point earlier, is to have a visual theme on this type of account that makes people feel… we didn’t mention this earlier, but this is important. Again, on an organization or a business; make people feel like they know what to expect. So that when your pictures come across their feed, they actually know it’s yours before they even identify the account. And some of that can be done with either a filter, or a photo style, or for me it was my thumb in a photo and it’s a certain manicure, or nail shape, or whatever. And you know that that’s me. With Cassy’s, I always know, she has a particular lighting and style of her food photos, and I always know those are her photos.

Even though you might think; “they look similar to this person’s photos”; no, they really don’t when you get the vibe after a certain time. So if you’re going to do these portraits, I actually love the idea. Right now, the portraits I see; there are a couple that are black and white, a couple that are color, a couple that are more professional versus not. I would try and get into a vibe where they’re all a little more consistent. I feel like Humans of New York gets a photographer; but the vibe that account creates. You kind of all; you’re with it.

And then, there are a few infographics or quotes. I would keep the style of those consistent. So again, people know; this is coming from you. Get the handle of the account at the bottom of each of them, and make sure those are consistent. And especially for this type of organization; I think those are valuable and important, whether you are sharing verses, or things like that, and you’re sharing something that is relevant in the moment.

So, think about who it is that’s following. Think about what you want to tell the story of. Maybe, for the week leading up to a sermon on a Sunday, you’re sharing little insights or little tidbits. Like; here’s what we’re talking about this week. And get people excited. Or maybe you’re recapping what happened the previous weekend. Did you miss Sunday? Maybe this church; because I have more ideas than anybody ever needs. Cassy’s looking at me like; do we have time for this? But this is the reality. Maybe there’s a way they can get a recording of last weeks’ sermon. I don’t know if it’s called a sermon. I’m just kind of; I don’t know if it’s called the same thing.

Cassy Joy: I would say that’s probably accurate.

Diane Sanfilippo: The service; whatever it is. If there’s a way for people to get what they missed, or share tidbits that they missed. And we’re going to be doing this on the podcast account. And I think that you can follow that vibe. It’s what did I miss, and what’s coming. And I think those are the types of content that are helpful for this type of organization in particular. And I think whoever is doing it now is doing a great job of focusing on the people. There can be a more consistent way of doing that, as well.

Even if the photos are always inconsistent; if they’re outside, differently lit. Perhaps you can make them all black and white. Maybe you can give them each some kind of a border. Maybe you can learn how to start editing them so that they do look more consistent. Or, the one other tip I have for inconsistent photos, the way to manage an inconsistent photo is to put it in a consistent pattern. So, if the photos will be inconsistent, if those are happening every other or every third or whatever, then there’s kind of this moment where you plan for that inconsistency, and then it’s consistent by doing that. Does that make sense?

Cassy’s like, I like that.

Cassy Joy: I like that. That works for my twirly brain.

Diane Sanfilippo: Do you know what I mean? Like, you said one in 9 you’ll do a picture of yourself. And it still is consistent in the way that it’s lit, but it gives you that; ok, somewhere in here I do this. And I think we could see that in this account. So I get really excited. You can see how exciting that is for me. Here’s all the ideas, you guys.

Ok, so that is my answer to this question. And I’m curious to see how this follows through. If you transform this account, I would love to share it out and feature it. But I want to see what happens as the account moves forward based on the advice we gave today, and maybe we’ll share it out and let people see what happened.

4. Tip of The Week: Show your face [1:01:06]

Diane Sanfilippo: Our Tip of The Week. In this segment, we give one tip you can take action on this week to move your business or life or social media forward.

Cassy Joy: Our tip this week, all about basics. But it’s something everybody can gut check themselves on. Have you humanized your brand? If you have a lifestyle brand, and you’re pursuing fashion blogging, there’s a really good chance all of your content is very humanizing, because it’s probably about your story. But if you are building what you would consider to be an information driven business, then I want you to pause and make sure you are telling a little bit about yourself and your story every once in a while.

So, we’ve said it a few times, but at the very least, try to make sure that your face shows up in at least every one in 9 frames. This is especially true for those of you; I think we have a good group of, for example, Beautycounter consultants that listen to this podcast. And we’re really tempted to show beautiful product, and maybe a photo of; I don’t know, a scenery or a plate that we’re enjoying. But make sure that you are actually showing your real face every once in a while. Because there’s a story and a reason why you created this brand. And people want to connect with this.

And we’ll expand more on this in another series, or episode in this series. But make sure that you’re telling your story a little bit. Show your real face. Try not to overly edit it. Because you’re beautiful the way you are. And always remember; I know this is really scary. This is scary for a lot of folks to take a selfie and put your face out there. But people reward vulnerability on social media. So know that, though it is scary, they will applaud you for it.

When you take a picture of your face; even if your hair isn’t done up and your make up is not done, and you’re just like; wow, it is a hot mess day. But man, I love what I’m doing and I’m glad I’m doing it. Thanks for being here with me. If that’s your caption; I guarantee people will like it. I guarantee they’ll say, “You go girl!” Right? They’ve got your back. Social media is not like the scary days of school grounds, when folks picked on each other. We’re adults now, and we really have each other’s back. And we reward vulnerability because we see what you’re doing and we’re excited for you. So show yourself. Show your face. And if you haven’t done it in a long time, I challenge you to do it today.

Diane Sanfilippo: That’s it for Driven this week. If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe in Apple podcast, on Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And hey; leave us a rating and a review. We absolutely love to hear what you are loving from the show. Follow us on Instagram @DrivenPodcast. Cassy is @FedandFit and I’m @DianeSanfilippo.

Tune in next week for more on social media and specifically, how to get more followers. We’ll see you next week.