Sheila Bella:
What's up you guys? Today, we are going to talk all about Instagram stories secrets for beauty bosses who mean bit-ness. Bit-ness. Bit-ness. On today's episode of Pretty Rich Podcast. Welcome to Pretty Rich Podcast, where you're totally the heroine of your own story. I'm your host, Sheila Bella, and I've built a seven figure PMU beauty biz, and a seven figure online biz without a degree, without a fancy website, or a sugar daddy. And if you and I hang out on here long enough, you're going to start to believe that you can do it too. How about that for a side effect of listening to this podcast? Because you really can.
I know you think, "I don't know you, I have no idea who you are," but I do. I really, really do, because I am you, I was you, and I believe we are all on the same journey together. My perfect job didn't exist so I created it. The job I wanted wasn't hunting me, wanted nothing to do with me, so I skipped the line and hired myself as CEO, just like you can. So consider me your secret beauty biz BFF in case you need to be reminded on a weekly basis that power is never just handed to you, you have to take it. Are you ready, beauty boss? Let's jump in.
What's up you guys? It's your girl, Sheila Bella. I'm excited to be podcasting with you guys again. Today is going to be strategy heavy, strategy heavy. We're going to talk all about Instagram stories. Instagram stories is the place to be, and at first I have to admit like years ago I wasn't into it because I was like, but it goes away. It goes away after 24 hours. I mean, how is that going to help me bring in more clients because it goes away? Well, well, honey, let me just tell you, I'm consistent on Instagram stories. For those of you guys who follow me on Instagram, you know this, and it has made me six figures a month. Even through COVID. Instagram stories sell, bitches. Oh my gosh, now I've got to mark this explicit.
Yeah. Instagram stories sell. I got two businesses that basically run themselves, one online and then one brick and mortar. I'm super grateful because I built a business basically through using Instagram a lot, not Instagram solely, but I have to say in the beginning it was mostly Instagram. And that's why I love jamming on Instagram, I love teaching you guys all about how to use Instagram to make all your dreams come true, because you can absolutely do it. You can absolutely have it. You can have multiple streams of income using this free online platform, but you've got to commit. A lot of people dabble in business, just dabble. If you're going to dabble in business, then your business is just going to give you trickles. Right? It's just getting little dabbles here and there, right? So you have to really commit, and I think what a lot of people do is they give up too soon, they quit trying new things because they judged the results too early.
So maybe you're like, "Sheila, I go on Instagram stories or I've been consistent," but I don't know, was that like for just a couple of weeks and then you stopped? If it was, that's not a commitment. I believe so much in face to camera, getting on video as much as possible because it speeds up the process. It speeds up the process. Why wait until someone's actually in your chair? Why not just show them who you are even before they pick up the phone to call you? Here's the thing, live videos, the quickest way to get somebody to know you, like you, and trust you, which is essential to get anywhere in this industry.
I'll give you an example. It just happened literally like 20 minutes ago. I was debating whether or not to invite this artist on my podcast, and I was just looking at her profile picture and it was just like, meh, I wasn't sure. It was a nice profile picture, looking at her work, the work kind of looks like a lot of other people's. It was great work, but I wasn't sure, and I was looking for a quick video to get a feel for her personality and I found one, and I decided within 60 seconds that I want this girl on my podcast. She seems genuine, she seems knowledgeable, and she seems generous with her knowledge. So if I do that, I'm sure there are people are also doing that to me, and they're doing that to you.
So I'm inviting you to take the Gram seriously. It's not just a squirrel hole. This is really how your business can grow. It's weird to think that you have to study social media because it's not like a major in schools or anything, but the only way to get good at anything is to practice it and to study it.
If social media makes you feel like a lost puppy, well, skill up. Knowledge is confidence, right? Study successful accounts, take my course, Grow Your Gram, or don't even take my course, Grow Your Gram, but do something, take some sort of course. Look up YouTube videos on this. By the way, if you do want to take my course, Grow Your Gram, just go to sheilabella.com/growyourgram. Link is in the show notes. But anyway, I'm going to give you tons of information for free right now. Three Instagram stories hacks for beauty bosses who mean business, so you can get that Jetta and look more professional.
Okay. So if you're a business owner and you're trying to grow, you need to be using Instagram stories like it's a part of your job, okay? It's just what you need to do in order to stay relevant in today's industry. And yep, that means Instagram stories. So here's tip number one, organize an IG takeover. So Instagram stories is key to getting seen by the clients that you want. But if you don't have a lot of followers right now, who's going to be there to see your story? You need to organize an Instagram takeover. Tons of brands and businesses are looking for people to take over their Instagram stories for a day. It helps these brands and businesses grow because you attract your audience to their account, and it helps you grow because then it attracts their audience to your account. If you post interesting and engaging content on Instagram in that Instagram takeover, curated just for that person's audience, people are going to want to check you out. They're going to want to stick around. They're going to want to follow you too.
I love IG takeovers. This is reminding me that I should set up more of these IG story takeovers because they're so good. They're so, so good. And all you really need to do is just record a video that's specific for the other person's audience and you just send it to them. Just send it to them. I know people who like actually exchange passwords, but I think that's a little overkill. But you can do that too if you trust the person. So yeah. Tip number one, organize an IG takeover.
All right. Tip number two. Tip number two, use third party apps, applications, to make your stories look more professional. So if you're trying to attract your ideal clients, your stories need to look more professional. You do not need to be an expert graphic designer if you want to do this, not at all. There's so many resources that you can find online that will help you craft gorgeous, engaging, and professional looking content just for stories.
There are two that I really like to use. The two that I really like to use are Mojo, M-O-J-O dot com. I don't know if it's a dot com. I don't know. The Mojo app. Go to your app store and type in Mojo. And I love Canva. Canva has changed my life. I used to use Photoshop all the time and I was actually really proud of myself that I actually acquired that skill, because a lot of people didn't know how to use Photoshop because it was so complicated. And I've been using Canva so much that I think I've forgotten a lot of my Photoshop skills. Oh my goodness. So yeah, Canva is amazing. It's amazing. Are they public yet? Are they publicly traded? Because I would love to be an investor because I believe in Canva so much. With Mojo, you can easily create super professional videos for your stories by customizing templates and adding texts and animations. It's so easy, my five-year-old can do it.
But if you're not interested in using video to promote your business, like I said, Canva is a free resource and it's mostly graphics, but now they have some video-ish elements to it. It's pretty awesome. It's really easy to create gorgeous graphics that you can use in your stories, even on your grid to create that seamless brand that's consistent like, oh, it's the same shade of teal, it's the same shade of purple or pink wherever you go so that your brand is recognizable. So that when you are omnipresent, when they see you on Facebook, when they see you on Instagram, when they see you on YouTube, everything is cohesive and they know, "Oh, okay. That's her, the girl with the silver and the teal. That's Melissa." Whatever it is. Yeah, you want to be recognizable, you want to create a cohesive and consistent brand and those two apps are definitely going to up your game when it comes to that stuff.
If you want examples, check me out on Instagram, check me out on Instagram. Everything's... I don't know. It looks like the pink monster vomited all over my feed, and I don't care. I don't care. I love pink. It's the best. So yeah, at Real Sheila Bella if you want some actual real life examples of the kind of graphics that you can create and videos that you can create using these two apps. And by the way, this isn't sponsored. But you know, I talk about them so much I feel like it should be. Hmm. You know what I'm saying? I might send them an email.
Okay. Tip number three, use hashtags and geotags. So a lot of people don't use hashtags and geotags for their stories. I think that's a mistake. You're losing out on a major opportunity to be discovered by a new set of human beings and potential prospects if you don't use hashtags and geotags on your stories. If you're constantly promoting to the followers that you already have, you're not going to grow. You want to use your stories. You want to use your stories to strengthen and nurture relationships that you already have, but you want that content to have some reach, reach beyond your current followers.
In order to get that reach, you should utilize hashtags and geotags even for your stories. And to do that, you have to get crafty and use your hashtags and geotags, because Instagram creates separate stories for hashtags and geotags and people follow specific hashtags or geotags in stories. It's actually really neat to see. You get to see everything that happened on that day within the last 24 hours that pertains to that hashtag or that geotag, that particular location.
So if you are using them, then your story will be seen on those stories, or the people subscribed to those stories. And here's the thing, a lot of people might be like, "Ugh. Gosh, if I use too many hashtags or geotags on my stories, it looks cluttered, it looks salesy." Listen, you can hide the tag or help it blend in with your content by either using the color dropper tool or dropping a sticker over it so even when the tags or stories are present, it can still look professional and clean because it'll be inconspicuous. Okay.
So with those three tips, let me go ahead and summarize everything. Three tips, organize an Instagram stories takeover. Number two, use third party apps like Canva and Mojo. And number three, use hashtags and geotags, even for your stories.
So those are my three tips. I am confident that your business will start to see massive growth on Instagram. But if you really want to get serious with it and commit to growing your business on Instagram, then you need to check out my online course called Grow Your Gram that I just mentioned earlier, where I give you all the tips and all the tricks for how I grew a seven figure business just on the Gram. Go to sheilabella.com/growyourgram. The link is in the show notes. I had a lot of fun doing it. I'm kind of a nerd that way when it comes to researching social media stuff, so I've really put my heart and soul into this thing because, and my brain too, I used a lot of my brain. I used a lot of my brain because I was able to grow my account to 60,000 followers, and I want to show you guys how to get to your first 10K.
I tell this story actually in a lot more detail in the course, because there was a time where I was plateauing. There was a time I was plateauing, I was at 30K for a long time because the algorithm changed and Instagram made it harder. And then after I got super nerdy and figured all this stuff out, I grew about a thousand followers every month, and it still continues to be that way by using these tactics.
So yeah. Check it out, sheilabella.com/growyourgram, and by the way you guys, if this episode helped you in any way, if it gave you some direction, some clarity, some inspiration, whatever it may be, let me know. Let me know on Instagram. Screenshot this, share it on your story so I can see, share it with your friends and yeah, send me a message and let me know what your favorite takeaways from this episode were. Until next time.
Hey, thanks so much for listening to today's episode of Pretty Rich Podcast. If you want to continue the conversation longer, check me out on Instagram. It's my favorite place to connect with you guys at Real Sheila Bella. I'm happy to answer any of your questions or simply to chat and get to know you better. If you end up doing something super awesome, like screenshotting this episode and reposting it on your stories, that would put the biggest smile on my face. Don't forget to tag me.
I appreciate every share and love feedback from my listeners. Also, do you have my number? Do you have my number, because if we're going to keep hanging out, you should probably have my number. So you can actually text me, that's right. You can text me at (310) 388-4588. And if you're sick and tired of doing business alone and you're interested in accelerating your success by hiring a business coach or joining our mentorship program called Pretty Rich Bosses, go ahead and just apply. Why not? Check it out. Go to sheilabella.com/apply and we'll schedule a free strategy session with either myself or one of my advisors. And of course, I've got to include my kids. So here to send us off are Beau and Gray. Gray, say, "Share with your friends."
Gray:
Share with your friends.
Sheila Bella:
Please review my mommy on iTunes.
Gray:
Mama iTunes.
Sheila Bella:
Thanks for listening.
Gray:
Thanks for listening.
Sheila Bella:
Hey Beau. Can you tell everybody what our family motto is?
Beau:
Yeah. I can do hard things.
Sheila Bella:
I can do hard things. Good job, buddy.
