Did you know you can get paid to post on Instagram!?
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Full transcription available at the bottom of this blog post.
Confused about what to do FIRST in your business? Overwhelmed with the endless to-do list?
Download my Mompreneur Biz Blueprint and find out the exact order of operations to build your online business.
What to do, when. Made simple.
bizblueprint.gr8.com
Download my Mompreneur Biz Blueprint and find out the exact order of operations to build your online business.
What to do, when. Made simple.
bizblueprint.gr8.com
Did you know I am a PODCAST COACH? Yep! I help women launch podcasts.
I am also a MOMPRENEUR SUCCESS COACH. I help women figure out their calling, niche, and focus. Then monetize using courses or coaching!
If you are interested in podcasting, keep reading!
A podcast is such an amazing way to grow your audience and build a brand. It helps you share your voice, pour into your niche, and build trust. Did you know audio consumption is growing by over 30% each year? People are craving audio like never before and this is YOUR opportunity to secure your spot in a massive emerging market... podcasting.
But... maybe you're thinking... what equipment do I need? Which software do I use? How do I record and edit? Where can I save money vs. outsourcing? Should I do interviews and how do I find guests? And, can my podcast make me money? (Insert a huge YES!!!!)
I'm here to help you answer all of those questions, and so much more.
I put together a page FULL OF FREE PODCAST TRAINING for you. Completely free. No registration nessessary. I mean, who else is tired of webinars?! Haha!
I have a full training video there on how to start a podcast in 10 steps and lots of LIVE podcast training and Q&A from my students. I even share EXACTLY HOW I hit #54 in the Entrepreneurship Category and over 60K downloads in the first 12 months without ONE DOLLAR of paid traffic.
I've also included 10 tactical steps to starting a podcast that will scale so you can walk away from this training with implementation.
(And, P.S. all of this is 100% FREEEEEE)!!!!!
I am also a MOMPRENEUR SUCCESS COACH. I help women figure out their calling, niche, and focus. Then monetize using courses or coaching!
If you are interested in podcasting, keep reading!
A podcast is such an amazing way to grow your audience and build a brand. It helps you share your voice, pour into your niche, and build trust. Did you know audio consumption is growing by over 30% each year? People are craving audio like never before and this is YOUR opportunity to secure your spot in a massive emerging market... podcasting.
But... maybe you're thinking... what equipment do I need? Which software do I use? How do I record and edit? Where can I save money vs. outsourcing? Should I do interviews and how do I find guests? And, can my podcast make me money? (Insert a huge YES!!!!)
I'm here to help you answer all of those questions, and so much more.
I put together a page FULL OF FREE PODCAST TRAINING for you. Completely free. No registration nessessary. I mean, who else is tired of webinars?! Haha!
I have a full training video there on how to start a podcast in 10 steps and lots of LIVE podcast training and Q&A from my students. I even share EXACTLY HOW I hit #54 in the Entrepreneurship Category and over 60K downloads in the first 12 months without ONE DOLLAR of paid traffic.
I've also included 10 tactical steps to starting a podcast that will scale so you can walk away from this training with implementation.
(And, P.S. all of this is 100% FREEEEEE)!!!!!
I launched my podcast in 2018 after searching for a way to scale my coaching business and grow my following in a faster, more authentic way. I decided on podcasting because I have kids (aka. video isn't my jam), and because audio is growing insanely fast and I saw an emerging trend. Last, because committing to a podcast was my way of showing up consistently and dedicating myself to my mission.
What has podcasting done for my business? Well, my podcast grew my revenue by over 98%! My community has grown by thousands and it has allowed me to touch more people than I ever could have imagined.
I have now helped MANY other women (just like YOU) launch top rated podcasts. Many of them have ranked in the top #30 because of my effective launch strategy! If you want to have a show that STANDS out and grows your business, brand, and mission here on Earth - come check out my proven program.
What has podcasting done for my business? Well, my podcast grew my revenue by over 98%! My community has grown by thousands and it has allowed me to touch more people than I ever could have imagined.
I have now helped MANY other women (just like YOU) launch top rated podcasts. Many of them have ranked in the top #30 because of my effective launch strategy! If you want to have a show that STANDS out and grows your business, brand, and mission here on Earth - come check out my proven program.
Show Notes:
Today's show is sponsored by GetResponse. My all-in-one email marketing system. From landing pages to webinars to email automation to CRM. This system literally has it all. To try GetResponse free for a month, click here.
Today's guest is Stephanie Asher, from Self Love with Stephanie. Connect with Stephanie on her website, here. Or on IG: selflovewithstephanie. For IG management services, please email us with "IG management" in the subject line: info@stefaniegass.com.
Instagram scheduling software that both Stephanie and I personally use is OnlyPult. Sign up here and try it free for a week!
Wanna do a coaching session with me?! From power-hour calls to monthly and annual packages, there's an option for you. Email us for the coaching menu at support@stefaniegass.com
Launch your podcast with ease. Follow the PROVEN system for scaling to success! Join the dozens of women who have launched TOP 30 RANKED shows using my exact system inside of Podcast Pro University. JOIN now and you'll get FREE, life-time access to the membership community, too! Hurry, this offer expires soon.
Thinking about podcasting? Learn EVERYTHING you need to know at my free Start a Podcast Training Page (https://startapodcast.gr8.com)! Or, Snag my launch strategy + checklist at podcastchecklist.gr8.com
Confused about what to do FIRST in your business? Download my Mompreneur Biz Blueprint and find out the exact order of operations to build your business. What to do, when: bizblueprint.gr8.com
All of my recommended programs & software can be found at stefaniegass.com/resources
FB Community: bit.ly/successsupportgroup
Instagram: @stefaniegass
Today's show is sponsored by GetResponse. My all-in-one email marketing system. From landing pages to webinars to email automation to CRM. This system literally has it all. To try GetResponse free for a month, click here.
Today's guest is Stephanie Asher, from Self Love with Stephanie. Connect with Stephanie on her website, here. Or on IG: selflovewithstephanie. For IG management services, please email us with "IG management" in the subject line: info@stefaniegass.com.
Instagram scheduling software that both Stephanie and I personally use is OnlyPult. Sign up here and try it free for a week!
Wanna do a coaching session with me?! From power-hour calls to monthly and annual packages, there's an option for you. Email us for the coaching menu at support@stefaniegass.com
Launch your podcast with ease. Follow the PROVEN system for scaling to success! Join the dozens of women who have launched TOP 30 RANKED shows using my exact system inside of Podcast Pro University. JOIN now and you'll get FREE, life-time access to the membership community, too! Hurry, this offer expires soon.
Thinking about podcasting? Learn EVERYTHING you need to know at my free Start a Podcast Training Page (https://startapodcast.gr8.com)! Or, Snag my launch strategy + checklist at podcastchecklist.gr8.com
Confused about what to do FIRST in your business? Download my Mompreneur Biz Blueprint and find out the exact order of operations to build your business. What to do, when: bizblueprint.gr8.com
All of my recommended programs & software can be found at stefaniegass.com/resources
FB Community: bit.ly/successsupportgroup
Instagram: @stefaniegass
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:
What's up. Mama boss. Welcome back to The Mompreneur Mastermind Show. I'm Stefanie Gass, success strategist, and passive income queen creator. If you're ready to step into your God led potential, create profit from your passions and capture the success that is already yours. This podcast was made for you as always. You can find out more and connect with me over at stefaniegass.com. So grab that cup of coffee or fill up that glass of wine and let's dig in to today's show.
Oh my gosh. I am so pumped. You guys. We are welcoming super special guests and also my BFF, Stephanie Asher from self-love with Stephanie today. Stack is first of all, an amazing free spirit. She's a new mama to eight week old AB Ptolemy and a bad Instagram influencer. She loves a rainbows dogs and one day y'all I know this firsthand and it was one of the funniest, most funky people. I know I'm so excited to have her share her knowledge with us today. And she's going to be talking with us about social media influencing and getting your Instagram, just rocking and rolling. Super, super pumped about this.
This episode is brought to you by my absolute favorite all-in-one email software platform. Get response. I use get responds not only for my landing pages, but also for my email systems, my automation software, my CRM customer management. It really has it all. It even has live webinar capabilities and it's under 50 bucks a month. And in the online space, that price is absolute crazy. I'm really happy with it. It has wonderful deliverability and it's just so cool because it's that all in one platform. If you want to check out, get response and get a 30 month trial completely free, no strings attached, head over to bitly.com/start your email list and fall in love.
Hey Sam, I'm so happy to have you here on the show. Thanks for being here. Hi, thank you so much for having me. And I'm loving that I'm sitting in your kitchen that is currently a hot mess. And if you know, Stephanie does not per normal, so it's excellent to see the side of her and just so excited to be here with you guys and share the information that I've learned. Awesome. Well, yes, my house is a hot mess, but because you're my BFF, you can handle it. Y'all know you've got three types of friends, right? You've got the friends, they want to hang out and you're like, hold up. I got to literally clean my entire house spotless. You've got the acquaintancy friends, like, you know, a nice pickup will do. And then you've got the real, like your hardcore soulmate friends. And you're like, Oh, boo, come on over. How do you step on the Lego? Literally, there's a poop shimmy around my son's toilet. Like that actually is happening right now. So loving
Every minute. All right. Well, first of all, staff, you know,
I want the audience to hear from you about how you became so passionate about your mission. Like truly your call on this earth, which is self love with Stephanie. Can you kind of walk us through that?
Yeah. So actually I have lived through quite a bit and I realized through my journey that everything's happened for me, not to me, and I'm going to use what has happened as a way to help other individuals. So just a little bit about me is I've lived through three decades of sexual abuse from multiple different people. I've had depression. All of my life. I have suffered from PTSD night terrors. I have slight body dysmorphia. I've had to walk away from my immediate family to protect myself and my future kids. And at this time I didn't have anybody kid wise. So it was kind of one of those moments where it was, I just had to survive. And one of the hardest things I did and that actually led to me being hospitalized for suicide. And now I'm on my newest, newest journey, which is being a single mother.
And I have to say that while everything has happened, and it does seem like a little bit of a dark cloud, I see a positive in every single thing that I've gone through. I realized I wanted to empower women to grow through their experiences and use it as a form of empowerment and not a place of staying down for whatever has happened to them. I am so passionate about spreading this message and helping others. So they also know that they're not alone in whatever has happened to them or they're going through or at the same time that they've done to others. Because I think it's so easy that we get stuck in, Oh, I'm a bad person because this happened to me or I'm a bad person because I did this to someone else. So I want people to realize that we're all in this together and we can use our experiences for empowerment and helping one another out. Right.
I mean, first of all, like girl, you've been through it. And I know, and I think how I take that is that there's so much growth that comes from these really the darkest seasons in our life. Right? Or what seemingly is this trauma? Yes. I mean literal decades of trauma, but for you to come out the other side and say, you know, I am not a victim and I choose the light. I choose to break the cycle. Like, how Frazy is that?
Yeah. And I'm so thankful that I was introduced to therapy. I have to say that it saved my life. Everybody should get to therapy and it is realizing that there's so much help out there and some people want to help and being able to push through and fight for yourself and fight for what you deserve.
Love and happiness. Yeah, exactly. Well, and y'all Stephanie. So she took all of these things that have happened throughout her life and all of these moments. And she's crafted this absolutely incredible brave brand of speaking out or women that have faced trauma that are dealing with depression. They're dealing with body dysmorphia that are single parenting. And she's really been this brave advocate for anybody going through all the things she's gone through. And I keep telling her, I'm like, girlfriend, you are the next Louise. Hey, like I tell you what, like, I want to that book, but I was dedicated to your BFF because I'm like, I'm going to claim it right now. Like she is going to make a massive impact on this world. So there's that. Okay. Now I'm so happy you made it through all that poop. We'll keep it G rated state. And let's start with, I think let's just really make it basic for people because they're on this episode to learn about becoming a social media influencer, you are able to work from home with your new baby and you're building this incredible influencer brand from your Instagram account. Can you, first of all, explain to us what it means to be a social media influencer.
Yes. So to me how this, I kind of even ran into this is I have this huge mission that I just want to share with everybody. And I was like, I see that Instagram is such a huge platform for being able to talk blogs. Aren't really my thing. If we're being really being honest. Right? So I really dug into Instagram to figure out how to make Instagram work for me, to be able to share my message. And through that, I have found social media influencers, a social media influencer is someone who is on social media, who has a targeted audience. And they have built a relationship with that audience and they interact with them and have built such a strong relationship that people love and trust them. And you run across someone's page and they're like, Oh my gosh, those workout pants are so cute.
How did her? But good. So good. Like that just makes her like, look amazing. Yeah. I want those pants. And then at the bottom it says tagged by whatever brand that right there is an influencer. Someone who makes you stop and think I want that, right? Whether it is any topic, their house, their clothes, their baby gear, the child themselves. Like there are some cute kids out there that I'm like, I want that kid give me that one. So an influencer is someone who has a lifestyle or activity level or interest or hobbies that you really relate to and brands want to hire them because they have the direct target audience that they're trying to reach. And it is a cheaper way than doing a large targeted marketing campaign to get those customers. So they are using influencers to hire them out, to represent their products.
I must see a bigger push towards this influencer movement recently than I see, because TV's almost obsolete, right? Yep. I mean, advertising, we can forward through it regardless, but when you are on someone's page that you like, no interest, love their stuff. You know, they relate with you, they resonate with you. Like they are your people and they are like, these pants will make your boobs look more firm.
Then you ever had the phone. I'm like,
Why buy it? Like, yes. So you guys, how many accounts are you following that mention something that they love personally use, even if it's their own course, even if it's their own product and you go, yes, I want that you have just been influenced. Okay. So that's an influencer mind blown mind blown. Okay. And who doesn't want to be paid to be Epic. Okay. So that brings me to my next question. Okay. You're an influencer. How many followers or what level of engagement did you have before you started getting sponsors and how do you get to this magic number? Because I think a lot of people think my account's too small. I can't be an influencer or, you know, I have a ton of followers, but I don't even know where to start here. So how many people did you have the level of engagement and what does that magic number? Is there one?
Yes. So I think the first sponsored post, I was really trying to like, think back about this when you asked this question was around 25,000 followers, but if I could have done anything over again, I probably would have started reaching out to companies when I had about 5,000, maybe even 3000 people, because the way I see it now is back then I was insecure. And I was like, okay, I have to have this big, large number and seems so cool air quotes on that one. Uthat I had to have this huge number in this huge audience that I would then be worthy of being hired. But the reality is that there is so much strength in small numbers because your engagement rate is so high because you're able to take the time to build those relationships with each of your followers. And also from a company's perspective, it is cheaper to hire someone who has 5,000 than it is to hire a hundred thousand. So anybody can really be an influencer. And I think that what you really want to look at is your engagement rate, which is you want at least a 2% or better, and that is taking your 2% or better. And that is determined by the number of total engagement, which is your likes, plus your comments, plus your shares divided by your total amount of followers. So a little bit of math.
Okay. I always thought it was purely, you know, you're following numbers. So you're saying that we can actually start getting sponsored and we'll talk about what does that mean? Like free products versus making money in a minute, guys, you can actually get sponsored with a low following if your engagement, if the number of people are really, really they're showing up for you, commenting for you sharing for you. Right. And does this include stories at all? Does engagement number?
Yes. Stories are great because they come and go in the beginning. I guess we can also say them in our highlights, but for the most part, they're not like a solid posts, right? So while number of followers previously, I think was important. I think the way the Instagram algorithm has kind of changed it up a little bit. It is definitely more of the engagement rate and how to grow your following on Instagram. There is a five, three, one rule, which is if you find the people that you love and resonate with, you find them on Instagram, go to their page, like five of their posts, comment on three of them and then follow them. And that really just blows up their feed. And it's like, Oh my gosh, who is this? I love them. Like, think so much for all the kinds of words.
And then they go over to your page and see if they resonate with you, obviously do this authentically and really truly mean it because at the end of the day, this is a platform where it is building relationships. And you want to make sure that you are real, the more people that are exposed to your page, the more people start engaging with you following you, that kind of stuff. Sure. The other thing you can do to grow your Instagram is you can hire an Instagram manager. And that is someone who kind of works in the background and does the five, three, one rule for you. And it is basically just to get people to know that you exist and get them to go to your page, to see yes. Just to see that you can resonate with you because half of the issue is how do you get that exposure?
Yeah. And who has time? Like it's personally, you know, I use your Instagram management services. You guys will share in a minute, in a little bit here, but I don't have three hours a day to like, and comment. And I, as much as I love every single of my followers, like I have to spend my most valuable time creating, right. It's either I'm going to go like stuff, or I'm going to record this podcast right now. So you guys, we're not saying you have to spend your entire life doing the five, three, one rule, but we're saying if your focus is growing engagement, whether you do that yourself or you outsource that it is something that will help grow the best engagement rate, which is key for becoming an influencer. Is that right? Stephanie?
Okay. I can't speak for other Instagram managers, but for me personally, I kind of want to set it up so that it is, we are targeting exactly who you want. And so that we are saying what you would say if you found them yourself, because at the end of the day, you did find them. You do love them and you do resonate with them. And so it's coming from such a genuine wholesome place versus like a bot system where it's just a cold.
Yeah, totally. No, I know exactly what you mean. And that's so tangible for so many. And so for those of you thinking, how will I ever become an influencer? Like this still seems really crazy for me, but whether it's the follower number or whether your engagement just simply isn't there, I want you to know it's literally all about consistency, adding value, having a feed that stands out. And for me, it was outsourcing that Instagram management, so stuff like, what do you want to say there? I mean, I'm sure that you can kind of expand on that for us.
Yes. So I personally believe the best thing you can do is add value on your all social media platforms. Doesn't even have to be Instagram. I think that the best thing that you can do is make world a better place, whether that is you're an interior designer and you want to help how to improve the flow of a bathroom, how to organize a small kitchen, how to make your place cute. If you're renting, how can you improve and help the world with whatever niche you are in? Yeah. To me personally, I think adding value is huge because it gives a reason for your followers to come back and engage with you, to talk with you, to learn from you. Yeah.
It's about pouring into them without an end game, which was, and you guys, this was so hard for me. Okay. And Stephanie knows this. Like I am a self-professed egomaniac control, freak weirdo. And I'm like, I have to just give, give, give with nothing, no expectation. And so it's a mental shift to go from. I sell something and that's my end goal. Or I want to make money from an Instagram account to, I'm actually just going to pour into people and know that at the end of this energy and love, and I'm pouring into the world, there is abundance that will flow from that. That's right. Isn't that like the mentality that they need to have
Going into this. Yes. And I think the more that you give, the more you give, the more you give your soul and your heart and your humor, the more the world and the universe gives back to you. And I think so many of the times watching the news, everything, everything was so negative. We personally, with our social media have an opportunity to do good and bring positivity in the world. And I just think everybody should take that opportunity. And I think that providing value on their social media does not have to mean kit to go out there and tell your heart crunching story to like, like me, like you, like you don't have to like do the crazy. I think that if you have humor, you can motivate. If you can inspire, help people feel not alone, you can solve some problems, give action steps.
You can just provoke a feeling, any type of feeling you are helping. As long as you are coming from a good positive place, new leave people uplifted, then you are doing so good. And that is what's adding value. And I think that is what will really grow and great consistency with your followers through your social media. So adding value is so huge. I think the other thing to really consider and really focus on is your consistency. And that is brand consistency and posting consistency brand consistency is so important because your audience will be able to recognize you as you fall into their feed. Right? It is that instant connection of, I know exactly who that is. And I'm going to want to read that because I love them so much. And have you ever seen those Instagram profiles where you look at their page and it looks beautiful, like a magazine that is the brand consistency, their colors are the same.
You can go to their website and it matches their Instagram. You want that brand consistency. And so that when a company hires you, they also know what they're going to get from you. They know the colors, they know where your photos are going to look like they know what the aesthetic is going to be and whether that's going to match their brand or not sure. So you definitely want that brand consistency and posting consistency. Oh my gosh. Post consistency, silly, silly people. I don't, I just don't understand it. So people are going crazy and they're like, I'm going to get once a day, the seven times a week, I'm going to hit that number. They get it for two weeks. They're so overwhelmed. They feel like they have no more content. And then you don't hear from them for two months. Sure. And so that little, like work that they did completely falls off because their audience is like, well, I don't know where they went. So
To me right now, I feel like I do this all the time.
And it's so easy because if you don't have it scheduled out or you don't know what you're exactly going to talk about, it's so easy to get overwhelmed. And social media is a lot if we're really truly being honest. So I think it's better to post maybe three or four times a week and just know that you're going to post versus overwhelm yourself and not have any consistency in your posting.
Hi, done too. That will help me is they actually have the days of the week that I'm already in there because I'm posting my podcast posts. Those are the days I take and I schedule the next three days. So it's almost like it's scheduled into my planner and I know what days am I doing social media creation? Because otherwise you guys it's an afterthought. I should just do a post right now. Like not going to happen. We are cleaning up poop smears. Like y'all, I am stepping on the Lego's up in here. Like I am not thinking about the amazing thing I want to post on Facebook today or on Instagram. Yes.
Yes. And it's so easy to be out of sight out of mind or the phone rings and it just never happens. So I think like you said, scheduling it out, whether that is on your day planner on your phone, have an alarm go off or using a company. There's a link at the bottom of this podcast. And I use only pulse. I believe you do, as well as Stephanie. So to me, that's a lifesaver. I spend two hours once a week and I have a week's worth of post done or two weeks worth. It is out of sight out of mind. And then all I can do is focus on engaging in answering questions and answering those messages and really engaging with my audience. Yeah.
And you guys can go over to my website and click on resources and grab the it's self-love is the code for only pull, if you guys want to try that free for a month, it's on my website. Just sidebar that automation software is just huge. Huge. Okay. So that is just pure gold value brand consistency, consistency within the posting, right? Consistency with your words, your message, your voice. Now let's go into this. How does it work when you decide I want to be sponsored. Do you reach out to companies? Did they reach out to you? Do you get products versus money? Like what does the process look like?
So I think it can work however you want it to work. So I personally reached out to companies that I am passionate about that I'm like, I know that my followers, my friends, my mom would love and really benefit from this product. So to me, I want to share that with the world. Yeah. And also if I sit around and kind of wait for people to come to me, I might get something that does not resonate with me. I had one that came through and it was supporting Walmart and I just don't support. And so I said, no. Whereas if I go out myself and find the companies that I really love and resonate with, then I know that I'm in a better spot and I'm coming from a pure being genuine versus anything that's forced. Okay. And then, so when you're approaching these kinds
Companies, what do you say? Or how do you start the process?
So I might not be doing it properly because like a properly yeah, I'm still kind of learning. So I think the great thing about Instagram right now, and companies is they're hiring micro influencers, which are people who have the lower end, like the 5,000 to 10,000 micro influencers, anywhere between 5,000 and a hundred thousand. And that is all of us, probably chances are high. And so they are looking for us, which is amazing. So when I reach out to companies, I send them a direct message and I just say, hi, my name is Stephanie and I am a micro influencer. I have this brand. My mission is XYZ. And I would love to see if there's anything I can help you with with your brand. And I just see what they have available. If anything fits with them, I typically get an email back saying, Hey, this is the PR person you should be emailing. So that's where I'm not too sure if that's how you're supposed to go about it. But so then I send the same email pretty much over to their PR person. Yeah. And then I asked the same thing. How can I help you? I think it's a service-based industry versus, Hey, give me free stuff. How can I serve you? How can I help you? Because them hiring me, helps my audience, make their life better. Okay. I like that mentality. Yeah.
Stay in the email. How can I help you? Yes, that's super cool.
Yeah. So I think, I think it, it helps them be like, Oh, well, we're looking for someone who just had a baby. Do you feel comfortable being out there in the world, in your product? I happen to be crazy enough. That is me. That's exactly the message I want to share. Yeah. So it's figuring out how to help them serve them. So I start with that and then I typically get an email back and we kind of just figure out what might be the right fit. They tend to ask for my media kit. Right. Which is just a quick little overview of what my audience is on each of my platforms, what my engagement rate is. And then from there we kind of discussed the terms. This is a lot of back and forth emails and the terms are either free or paid. You can either receive product so you can receive product in exchange for a post, or you can receive product and get paid for the posts.
There's a lot of companies that I work with that just have amazing, amazing missions. Cuddling kind is one of them. And they just make these immune beautiful, handmade dolls. And every Del Sol, they do 10 meals, night hungry children. So to me, I'm like, I want to work with them. That is something that I resonate with. And I just love, so for those, I obviously want to do this free, right. But you can definitely ask and say, Hey, they might ask you what, what, how much do you charge? And then you kind of just state your rate and what you're comfortable with, but you always want to remember that while being an influencer sounds super awesome and easy and fun. There's also the work part of it. Yeah. There's this photo shoot of how you're going to prove like show off this product. Do you, yourself, are you going to do it?
Are you going to hire a photographer? Are you going to use your iPhone? Is your husband gonna take a photo of you? How are you to schedule that? What's the background going to look like? So there's a whole process of planning the post and making sure that you are truly representing the best of your ability for that brand potentially coming from a place of love, I think is a huge part of that. And then from there then we discuss what social media is going to go on, how long it's going to go on. If it's not going to the stories, if there's like a swipe up, if you have more than 10,000 followers do the swipe up. And then I personally send them a photo before I publish it so that if they want to use it for any of their stuff, they totally can. And then after the post has gone up for that a week, I send them the stats. So you can go to like the insights on your Instagram and I show them how it did. And then I received payment if there's any payment.
So let's talk about that for a minute. What should a micro influencer, let's just say, I'm going to guesstimate that the listeners here on the show are probably under 10,000 followers, the majority, maybe under 20,000 followers. Okay. And they decide, all right, let's say I have a thousand at 1% ish engagement. I think I'm ready to start becoming a micro influencer. What would you recommend that they charge? And then what would be included in that? So, you know, for example, is it $25 a post? Is it $300 a post? Is it proposed? Is, do you charge separately for your stories? Kind of hadn't packaged that.
So that is such a loaded question. No pressure. I guess if I had to give a baseline sure. Which is so hard would be probably a penny per follower. So if you have 10,000 followers, that would be a hundred dollars a post, but that is not including their engagement rate, that kind of stuff. So I think the other thing to kind of,
So would you say like to interject if they had to gauge for them, like, okay, I have 10,000 followers, but I have a crappy engagement. They should definitely go down. Right. Or if they say, well, I have 2% engagement, which is really the, kind of the standard as an influencer, then go for the a hundred. Is that kind of what, like start there and play with it.
Yeah. And I think when I first started, I high balled myself and I'm like, Ooh, I can do this. And then it kept they would respond back with a very average number of eye multiple times or at the same request for the same amounts. So I was like, okay, obviously I'm too high. So I just kind of figured out in between there, how to price myself. So yes, I would say if you have a 2% or a 3% engagement rate, I would say that you could definitely do the start with and kind of play around with, if you can get hired for a penny per follower.
Now, does that include just the post or does that include a story with swipe up mentioned on Facebook? Like what's included in that let's say a hundred dollar example.
So I personally do not have much of a following on any other platform other than Instagram. So I personally do an Instagram post and a Instagram story swipe up so they can go to their link, make it easy and convenient for my followers. And I pay one or I charge one price per for that little package. Okay. But if I had a really good Facebook following, I'm really trying to work on my YouTube. Once that goes up, that's going to be complete different thing and I'm going to be able to diversify and post it multiple places. Yeah.
And so for me, for example, when I do an influencer posts, I include all my Facebook stats because my Facebook is where the majority of my followers with the highest engagement comes from you guys. So when you're crafting a media kit and you can Google that, you can go to my website and look at my media kit, you can go to Stephanie's website with hers, I'm including my whole social media package. So it doesn't have to be just Instagram.
Correct? Yeah. Whatever social media platform is your jam. Yes.
Or do them all. Okay. So that's super, super cool. I think becoming an influencer is just like such a dream job and it sounds amazing. And I think so many people can at least dabble in that because why not? You're already talking about the things we love. We may as well ask these companies we're passionate about. So what are the top three tips you have for those mamas listening who want to become a social media influencer and are ready to become sponsored?
So narrowing it down to three little hard, but if I have to do it, I think the first one is definitely be yourself. And just be real. If you are putting something out there that is not true to who you are, it's going to come off as spammy and weird and grungy, and your followers are going to see through that. And it's going to create that distance in your audience and you don't, you don't want that. So definitely be yourself and always create content that is helping the world no matter what, you're in a hundred percent. And then I guess second one would be ask and ask and ask and ask and then follow up and then ask some more. Yes. And that is just, you never know until you ask and at the end of the day, you don't know these people, just, just on the other side of that email, just send that email out, just ask her
Just talking about this. You guys, I had an account, I want to sponsor me. And I told Stephanie that, but they didn't answer me. And she's like, well, have you follow it up? And I'm like, Oh yeah, that is easy. I need to go ahead and do
That. You always forget because you're like, well, they don't like me. That, that insecurity with any business of not being good enough or someone doesn't respond. And it's obviously a direct hit to you personally when it's not that way at all. Because I got swine Stephanie, they could have loved her idea that she pitched them and they're just talking to upper management about it. And we have to wait til Friday at five for that meeting. So you never know. And just always ask email constantly different companies and follow up with them. Yep. And then the third one is, do not expect an overnight huge success or this whole house is going to be redecorated because it's going to be sponsored, like definitely be realistic with what you're kind of going after and making sure that you were seeing it as a service for helping them not, how can they help you, but how can you help them and better yourself and better your audience always come from a place of good. I love that so much. And so my last
Is, do you have any hacks for growing the social media engagement? Because we now know this is a huge key performance indicator for getting sponsorships and raising prices and all of those great things. So give us the juice.
Ooh, I'm so glad you asked this one. Okay. So my favorite hack is do a trade with a photographer. So everybody's looking for that more professional feed, the chances of you being a photographer or knowing someone who's just like, yeah, let me just give you some free photos slim to none. I get that. So you probably have a service that you were amazing at that you were trying to show the world that a photographer needs. Yes. I would research photographers in your area. See if any of them, once again, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask. If any of them would be willing to do a trade, you could do it every three months. If you're a business coach, you could give them great business coaching ideas of how to build their brand, build their photography. Let's say you're a misuse. I don't know any photographer who would not want to trade for massage therapy.
That's the real. So you have something that someone else wants. Chances are high. One of those photographers, won't let you have do a trade, build your Instagram, make it look more professional. And I think that's gonna help a lot of your engagement. The other thing that is stories, Instagram stories. I do not think that they are being utilized enough. Nope. I think that you can really build and show your personality with Instagram stories. You can be silly. You can do like short 15 minute videos. You can ask questions and build engagement that way. I think that they are so amazing and definitely not utilized enough. And the other great thing about stories is you're constantly popping up your little faces popping up at the top of everybody's Instagram. And you're constantly being a reminder. Oh, I should go look and see if there's new posts.
Oh, I wonder if there's a new this. Oh. And you're constantly on their mind. But I think Instagram stories is amazing in helping grow Instagram accounts. For sure. And you guys on Instagram stories, if you want to have an entire episode, I have an entire training on that it's episode, number 25 on my podcast. So go listen to that one on stories because a million percent, yes. And there's free. And I think it gets, it's the relatable side. It's like, I'm going to see who you really are behind the professional brand. And I mean, I get way more swipe ups replies back to me in the stories than I do on most of my posts. Yes. And it's like hot mess me. Cause they're like, Oh, she's a real person. Yeah. I can see in the background, her house is really a mess. And so this is the one day that she hasn't seen yet.
And people love it. I'm so glad to know I'm not alone. Yes. Right. Yep. Oh my gosh. So all of this was like totally mind blowing. I'm just so excited. I know so many people have been curious about becoming an influencer, how they can get sponsored, how it all works, how much they should charge. So thank you. You're amazing. You're incredible. And I think your mission of helping women be empowered, helping them love who they truly are inside and out and just kind of taking the life experiences and the seasons you had and crafting that into an empowerment brand is freaking awesome. Thank you. I'm so proud of you and thanks for being a guest on our show and I'm sure everybody wants to know where to find you. So can you tell us, tell us where to find staff? Yes. So my lovely rainbow account, I just love frame post so much, so I just had to include it.
So you can find me at self-love with Stephanie on Instagram. And if you're interested in Instagram management, you can reach out to me on my website, there's a contact button, just put Instagram management in the title and I will definitely get back to you. I also have a ton of self-love resources that are going to be coming out soon. So below is my email to sign up for that. And I'm just so blessed to be able to be on this podcast and to be able to help someone. And my dream was just to be able to work from home and raise my child and photograph him to be completely honest. And so if I can help someone else do that, then that is a great day for me. So I hope to connect with everybody. And I'm so excited and thank you so much for having me. You're welcome.
What's up. Mama boss. Welcome back to The Mompreneur Mastermind Show. I'm Stefanie Gass, success strategist, and passive income queen creator. If you're ready to step into your God led potential, create profit from your passions and capture the success that is already yours. This podcast was made for you as always. You can find out more and connect with me over at stefaniegass.com. So grab that cup of coffee or fill up that glass of wine and let's dig in to today's show.
Oh my gosh. I am so pumped. You guys. We are welcoming super special guests and also my BFF, Stephanie Asher from self-love with Stephanie today. Stack is first of all, an amazing free spirit. She's a new mama to eight week old AB Ptolemy and a bad Instagram influencer. She loves a rainbows dogs and one day y'all I know this firsthand and it was one of the funniest, most funky people. I know I'm so excited to have her share her knowledge with us today. And she's going to be talking with us about social media influencing and getting your Instagram, just rocking and rolling. Super, super pumped about this.
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Hey Sam, I'm so happy to have you here on the show. Thanks for being here. Hi, thank you so much for having me. And I'm loving that I'm sitting in your kitchen that is currently a hot mess. And if you know, Stephanie does not per normal, so it's excellent to see the side of her and just so excited to be here with you guys and share the information that I've learned. Awesome. Well, yes, my house is a hot mess, but because you're my BFF, you can handle it. Y'all know you've got three types of friends, right? You've got the friends, they want to hang out and you're like, hold up. I got to literally clean my entire house spotless. You've got the acquaintancy friends, like, you know, a nice pickup will do. And then you've got the real, like your hardcore soulmate friends. And you're like, Oh, boo, come on over. How do you step on the Lego? Literally, there's a poop shimmy around my son's toilet. Like that actually is happening right now. So loving
Every minute. All right. Well, first of all, staff, you know,
I want the audience to hear from you about how you became so passionate about your mission. Like truly your call on this earth, which is self love with Stephanie. Can you kind of walk us through that?
Yeah. So actually I have lived through quite a bit and I realized through my journey that everything's happened for me, not to me, and I'm going to use what has happened as a way to help other individuals. So just a little bit about me is I've lived through three decades of sexual abuse from multiple different people. I've had depression. All of my life. I have suffered from PTSD night terrors. I have slight body dysmorphia. I've had to walk away from my immediate family to protect myself and my future kids. And at this time I didn't have anybody kid wise. So it was kind of one of those moments where it was, I just had to survive. And one of the hardest things I did and that actually led to me being hospitalized for suicide. And now I'm on my newest, newest journey, which is being a single mother.
And I have to say that while everything has happened, and it does seem like a little bit of a dark cloud, I see a positive in every single thing that I've gone through. I realized I wanted to empower women to grow through their experiences and use it as a form of empowerment and not a place of staying down for whatever has happened to them. I am so passionate about spreading this message and helping others. So they also know that they're not alone in whatever has happened to them or they're going through or at the same time that they've done to others. Because I think it's so easy that we get stuck in, Oh, I'm a bad person because this happened to me or I'm a bad person because I did this to someone else. So I want people to realize that we're all in this together and we can use our experiences for empowerment and helping one another out. Right.
I mean, first of all, like girl, you've been through it. And I know, and I think how I take that is that there's so much growth that comes from these really the darkest seasons in our life. Right? Or what seemingly is this trauma? Yes. I mean literal decades of trauma, but for you to come out the other side and say, you know, I am not a victim and I choose the light. I choose to break the cycle. Like, how Frazy is that?
Yeah. And I'm so thankful that I was introduced to therapy. I have to say that it saved my life. Everybody should get to therapy and it is realizing that there's so much help out there and some people want to help and being able to push through and fight for yourself and fight for what you deserve.
Love and happiness. Yeah, exactly. Well, and y'all Stephanie. So she took all of these things that have happened throughout her life and all of these moments. And she's crafted this absolutely incredible brave brand of speaking out or women that have faced trauma that are dealing with depression. They're dealing with body dysmorphia that are single parenting. And she's really been this brave advocate for anybody going through all the things she's gone through. And I keep telling her, I'm like, girlfriend, you are the next Louise. Hey, like I tell you what, like, I want to that book, but I was dedicated to your BFF because I'm like, I'm going to claim it right now. Like she is going to make a massive impact on this world. So there's that. Okay. Now I'm so happy you made it through all that poop. We'll keep it G rated state. And let's start with, I think let's just really make it basic for people because they're on this episode to learn about becoming a social media influencer, you are able to work from home with your new baby and you're building this incredible influencer brand from your Instagram account. Can you, first of all, explain to us what it means to be a social media influencer.
Yes. So to me how this, I kind of even ran into this is I have this huge mission that I just want to share with everybody. And I was like, I see that Instagram is such a huge platform for being able to talk blogs. Aren't really my thing. If we're being really being honest. Right? So I really dug into Instagram to figure out how to make Instagram work for me, to be able to share my message. And through that, I have found social media influencers, a social media influencer is someone who is on social media, who has a targeted audience. And they have built a relationship with that audience and they interact with them and have built such a strong relationship that people love and trust them. And you run across someone's page and they're like, Oh my gosh, those workout pants are so cute.
How did her? But good. So good. Like that just makes her like, look amazing. Yeah. I want those pants. And then at the bottom it says tagged by whatever brand that right there is an influencer. Someone who makes you stop and think I want that, right? Whether it is any topic, their house, their clothes, their baby gear, the child themselves. Like there are some cute kids out there that I'm like, I want that kid give me that one. So an influencer is someone who has a lifestyle or activity level or interest or hobbies that you really relate to and brands want to hire them because they have the direct target audience that they're trying to reach. And it is a cheaper way than doing a large targeted marketing campaign to get those customers. So they are using influencers to hire them out, to represent their products.
I must see a bigger push towards this influencer movement recently than I see, because TV's almost obsolete, right? Yep. I mean, advertising, we can forward through it regardless, but when you are on someone's page that you like, no interest, love their stuff. You know, they relate with you, they resonate with you. Like they are your people and they are like, these pants will make your boobs look more firm.
Then you ever had the phone. I'm like,
Why buy it? Like, yes. So you guys, how many accounts are you following that mention something that they love personally use, even if it's their own course, even if it's their own product and you go, yes, I want that you have just been influenced. Okay. So that's an influencer mind blown mind blown. Okay. And who doesn't want to be paid to be Epic. Okay. So that brings me to my next question. Okay. You're an influencer. How many followers or what level of engagement did you have before you started getting sponsors and how do you get to this magic number? Because I think a lot of people think my account's too small. I can't be an influencer or, you know, I have a ton of followers, but I don't even know where to start here. So how many people did you have the level of engagement and what does that magic number? Is there one?
Yes. So I think the first sponsored post, I was really trying to like, think back about this when you asked this question was around 25,000 followers, but if I could have done anything over again, I probably would have started reaching out to companies when I had about 5,000, maybe even 3000 people, because the way I see it now is back then I was insecure. And I was like, okay, I have to have this big, large number and seems so cool air quotes on that one. Uthat I had to have this huge number in this huge audience that I would then be worthy of being hired. But the reality is that there is so much strength in small numbers because your engagement rate is so high because you're able to take the time to build those relationships with each of your followers. And also from a company's perspective, it is cheaper to hire someone who has 5,000 than it is to hire a hundred thousand. So anybody can really be an influencer. And I think that what you really want to look at is your engagement rate, which is you want at least a 2% or better, and that is taking your 2% or better. And that is determined by the number of total engagement, which is your likes, plus your comments, plus your shares divided by your total amount of followers. So a little bit of math.
Okay. I always thought it was purely, you know, you're following numbers. So you're saying that we can actually start getting sponsored and we'll talk about what does that mean? Like free products versus making money in a minute, guys, you can actually get sponsored with a low following if your engagement, if the number of people are really, really they're showing up for you, commenting for you sharing for you. Right. And does this include stories at all? Does engagement number?
Yes. Stories are great because they come and go in the beginning. I guess we can also say them in our highlights, but for the most part, they're not like a solid posts, right? So while number of followers previously, I think was important. I think the way the Instagram algorithm has kind of changed it up a little bit. It is definitely more of the engagement rate and how to grow your following on Instagram. There is a five, three, one rule, which is if you find the people that you love and resonate with, you find them on Instagram, go to their page, like five of their posts, comment on three of them and then follow them. And that really just blows up their feed. And it's like, Oh my gosh, who is this? I love them. Like, think so much for all the kinds of words.
And then they go over to your page and see if they resonate with you, obviously do this authentically and really truly mean it because at the end of the day, this is a platform where it is building relationships. And you want to make sure that you are real, the more people that are exposed to your page, the more people start engaging with you following you, that kind of stuff. Sure. The other thing you can do to grow your Instagram is you can hire an Instagram manager. And that is someone who kind of works in the background and does the five, three, one rule for you. And it is basically just to get people to know that you exist and get them to go to your page, to see yes. Just to see that you can resonate with you because half of the issue is how do you get that exposure?
Yeah. And who has time? Like it's personally, you know, I use your Instagram management services. You guys will share in a minute, in a little bit here, but I don't have three hours a day to like, and comment. And I, as much as I love every single of my followers, like I have to spend my most valuable time creating, right. It's either I'm going to go like stuff, or I'm going to record this podcast right now. So you guys, we're not saying you have to spend your entire life doing the five, three, one rule, but we're saying if your focus is growing engagement, whether you do that yourself or you outsource that it is something that will help grow the best engagement rate, which is key for becoming an influencer. Is that right? Stephanie?
Okay. I can't speak for other Instagram managers, but for me personally, I kind of want to set it up so that it is, we are targeting exactly who you want. And so that we are saying what you would say if you found them yourself, because at the end of the day, you did find them. You do love them and you do resonate with them. And so it's coming from such a genuine wholesome place versus like a bot system where it's just a cold.
Yeah, totally. No, I know exactly what you mean. And that's so tangible for so many. And so for those of you thinking, how will I ever become an influencer? Like this still seems really crazy for me, but whether it's the follower number or whether your engagement just simply isn't there, I want you to know it's literally all about consistency, adding value, having a feed that stands out. And for me, it was outsourcing that Instagram management, so stuff like, what do you want to say there? I mean, I'm sure that you can kind of expand on that for us.
Yes. So I personally believe the best thing you can do is add value on your all social media platforms. Doesn't even have to be Instagram. I think that the best thing that you can do is make world a better place, whether that is you're an interior designer and you want to help how to improve the flow of a bathroom, how to organize a small kitchen, how to make your place cute. If you're renting, how can you improve and help the world with whatever niche you are in? Yeah. To me personally, I think adding value is huge because it gives a reason for your followers to come back and engage with you, to talk with you, to learn from you. Yeah.
It's about pouring into them without an end game, which was, and you guys, this was so hard for me. Okay. And Stephanie knows this. Like I am a self-professed egomaniac control, freak weirdo. And I'm like, I have to just give, give, give with nothing, no expectation. And so it's a mental shift to go from. I sell something and that's my end goal. Or I want to make money from an Instagram account to, I'm actually just going to pour into people and know that at the end of this energy and love, and I'm pouring into the world, there is abundance that will flow from that. That's right. Isn't that like the mentality that they need to have
Going into this. Yes. And I think the more that you give, the more you give, the more you give your soul and your heart and your humor, the more the world and the universe gives back to you. And I think so many of the times watching the news, everything, everything was so negative. We personally, with our social media have an opportunity to do good and bring positivity in the world. And I just think everybody should take that opportunity. And I think that providing value on their social media does not have to mean kit to go out there and tell your heart crunching story to like, like me, like you, like you don't have to like do the crazy. I think that if you have humor, you can motivate. If you can inspire, help people feel not alone, you can solve some problems, give action steps.
You can just provoke a feeling, any type of feeling you are helping. As long as you are coming from a good positive place, new leave people uplifted, then you are doing so good. And that is what's adding value. And I think that is what will really grow and great consistency with your followers through your social media. So adding value is so huge. I think the other thing to really consider and really focus on is your consistency. And that is brand consistency and posting consistency brand consistency is so important because your audience will be able to recognize you as you fall into their feed. Right? It is that instant connection of, I know exactly who that is. And I'm going to want to read that because I love them so much. And have you ever seen those Instagram profiles where you look at their page and it looks beautiful, like a magazine that is the brand consistency, their colors are the same.
You can go to their website and it matches their Instagram. You want that brand consistency. And so that when a company hires you, they also know what they're going to get from you. They know the colors, they know where your photos are going to look like they know what the aesthetic is going to be and whether that's going to match their brand or not sure. So you definitely want that brand consistency and posting consistency. Oh my gosh. Post consistency, silly, silly people. I don't, I just don't understand it. So people are going crazy and they're like, I'm going to get once a day, the seven times a week, I'm going to hit that number. They get it for two weeks. They're so overwhelmed. They feel like they have no more content. And then you don't hear from them for two months. Sure. And so that little, like work that they did completely falls off because their audience is like, well, I don't know where they went. So
To me right now, I feel like I do this all the time.
And it's so easy because if you don't have it scheduled out or you don't know what you're exactly going to talk about, it's so easy to get overwhelmed. And social media is a lot if we're really truly being honest. So I think it's better to post maybe three or four times a week and just know that you're going to post versus overwhelm yourself and not have any consistency in your posting.
Hi, done too. That will help me is they actually have the days of the week that I'm already in there because I'm posting my podcast posts. Those are the days I take and I schedule the next three days. So it's almost like it's scheduled into my planner and I know what days am I doing social media creation? Because otherwise you guys it's an afterthought. I should just do a post right now. Like not going to happen. We are cleaning up poop smears. Like y'all, I am stepping on the Lego's up in here. Like I am not thinking about the amazing thing I want to post on Facebook today or on Instagram. Yes.
Yes. And it's so easy to be out of sight out of mind or the phone rings and it just never happens. So I think like you said, scheduling it out, whether that is on your day planner on your phone, have an alarm go off or using a company. There's a link at the bottom of this podcast. And I use only pulse. I believe you do, as well as Stephanie. So to me, that's a lifesaver. I spend two hours once a week and I have a week's worth of post done or two weeks worth. It is out of sight out of mind. And then all I can do is focus on engaging in answering questions and answering those messages and really engaging with my audience. Yeah.
And you guys can go over to my website and click on resources and grab the it's self-love is the code for only pull, if you guys want to try that free for a month, it's on my website. Just sidebar that automation software is just huge. Huge. Okay. So that is just pure gold value brand consistency, consistency within the posting, right? Consistency with your words, your message, your voice. Now let's go into this. How does it work when you decide I want to be sponsored. Do you reach out to companies? Did they reach out to you? Do you get products versus money? Like what does the process look like?
So I think it can work however you want it to work. So I personally reached out to companies that I am passionate about that I'm like, I know that my followers, my friends, my mom would love and really benefit from this product. So to me, I want to share that with the world. Yeah. And also if I sit around and kind of wait for people to come to me, I might get something that does not resonate with me. I had one that came through and it was supporting Walmart and I just don't support. And so I said, no. Whereas if I go out myself and find the companies that I really love and resonate with, then I know that I'm in a better spot and I'm coming from a pure being genuine versus anything that's forced. Okay. And then, so when you're approaching these kinds
Companies, what do you say? Or how do you start the process?
So I might not be doing it properly because like a properly yeah, I'm still kind of learning. So I think the great thing about Instagram right now, and companies is they're hiring micro influencers, which are people who have the lower end, like the 5,000 to 10,000 micro influencers, anywhere between 5,000 and a hundred thousand. And that is all of us, probably chances are high. And so they are looking for us, which is amazing. So when I reach out to companies, I send them a direct message and I just say, hi, my name is Stephanie and I am a micro influencer. I have this brand. My mission is XYZ. And I would love to see if there's anything I can help you with with your brand. And I just see what they have available. If anything fits with them, I typically get an email back saying, Hey, this is the PR person you should be emailing. So that's where I'm not too sure if that's how you're supposed to go about it. But so then I send the same email pretty much over to their PR person. Yeah. And then I asked the same thing. How can I help you? I think it's a service-based industry versus, Hey, give me free stuff. How can I serve you? How can I help you? Because them hiring me, helps my audience, make their life better. Okay. I like that mentality. Yeah.
Stay in the email. How can I help you? Yes, that's super cool.
Yeah. So I think, I think it, it helps them be like, Oh, well, we're looking for someone who just had a baby. Do you feel comfortable being out there in the world, in your product? I happen to be crazy enough. That is me. That's exactly the message I want to share. Yeah. So it's figuring out how to help them serve them. So I start with that and then I typically get an email back and we kind of just figure out what might be the right fit. They tend to ask for my media kit. Right. Which is just a quick little overview of what my audience is on each of my platforms, what my engagement rate is. And then from there we kind of discussed the terms. This is a lot of back and forth emails and the terms are either free or paid. You can either receive product so you can receive product in exchange for a post, or you can receive product and get paid for the posts.
There's a lot of companies that I work with that just have amazing, amazing missions. Cuddling kind is one of them. And they just make these immune beautiful, handmade dolls. And every Del Sol, they do 10 meals, night hungry children. So to me, I'm like, I want to work with them. That is something that I resonate with. And I just love, so for those, I obviously want to do this free, right. But you can definitely ask and say, Hey, they might ask you what, what, how much do you charge? And then you kind of just state your rate and what you're comfortable with, but you always want to remember that while being an influencer sounds super awesome and easy and fun. There's also the work part of it. Yeah. There's this photo shoot of how you're going to prove like show off this product. Do you, yourself, are you going to do it?
Are you going to hire a photographer? Are you going to use your iPhone? Is your husband gonna take a photo of you? How are you to schedule that? What's the background going to look like? So there's a whole process of planning the post and making sure that you are truly representing the best of your ability for that brand potentially coming from a place of love, I think is a huge part of that. And then from there then we discuss what social media is going to go on, how long it's going to go on. If it's not going to the stories, if there's like a swipe up, if you have more than 10,000 followers do the swipe up. And then I personally send them a photo before I publish it so that if they want to use it for any of their stuff, they totally can. And then after the post has gone up for that a week, I send them the stats. So you can go to like the insights on your Instagram and I show them how it did. And then I received payment if there's any payment.
So let's talk about that for a minute. What should a micro influencer, let's just say, I'm going to guesstimate that the listeners here on the show are probably under 10,000 followers, the majority, maybe under 20,000 followers. Okay. And they decide, all right, let's say I have a thousand at 1% ish engagement. I think I'm ready to start becoming a micro influencer. What would you recommend that they charge? And then what would be included in that? So, you know, for example, is it $25 a post? Is it $300 a post? Is it proposed? Is, do you charge separately for your stories? Kind of hadn't packaged that.
So that is such a loaded question. No pressure. I guess if I had to give a baseline sure. Which is so hard would be probably a penny per follower. So if you have 10,000 followers, that would be a hundred dollars a post, but that is not including their engagement rate, that kind of stuff. So I think the other thing to kind of,
So would you say like to interject if they had to gauge for them, like, okay, I have 10,000 followers, but I have a crappy engagement. They should definitely go down. Right. Or if they say, well, I have 2% engagement, which is really the, kind of the standard as an influencer, then go for the a hundred. Is that kind of what, like start there and play with it.
Yeah. And I think when I first started, I high balled myself and I'm like, Ooh, I can do this. And then it kept they would respond back with a very average number of eye multiple times or at the same request for the same amounts. So I was like, okay, obviously I'm too high. So I just kind of figured out in between there, how to price myself. So yes, I would say if you have a 2% or a 3% engagement rate, I would say that you could definitely do the start with and kind of play around with, if you can get hired for a penny per follower.
Now, does that include just the post or does that include a story with swipe up mentioned on Facebook? Like what's included in that let's say a hundred dollar example.
So I personally do not have much of a following on any other platform other than Instagram. So I personally do an Instagram post and a Instagram story swipe up so they can go to their link, make it easy and convenient for my followers. And I pay one or I charge one price per for that little package. Okay. But if I had a really good Facebook following, I'm really trying to work on my YouTube. Once that goes up, that's going to be complete different thing and I'm going to be able to diversify and post it multiple places. Yeah.
And so for me, for example, when I do an influencer posts, I include all my Facebook stats because my Facebook is where the majority of my followers with the highest engagement comes from you guys. So when you're crafting a media kit and you can Google that, you can go to my website and look at my media kit, you can go to Stephanie's website with hers, I'm including my whole social media package. So it doesn't have to be just Instagram.
Correct? Yeah. Whatever social media platform is your jam. Yes.
Or do them all. Okay. So that's super, super cool. I think becoming an influencer is just like such a dream job and it sounds amazing. And I think so many people can at least dabble in that because why not? You're already talking about the things we love. We may as well ask these companies we're passionate about. So what are the top three tips you have for those mamas listening who want to become a social media influencer and are ready to become sponsored?
So narrowing it down to three little hard, but if I have to do it, I think the first one is definitely be yourself. And just be real. If you are putting something out there that is not true to who you are, it's going to come off as spammy and weird and grungy, and your followers are going to see through that. And it's going to create that distance in your audience and you don't, you don't want that. So definitely be yourself and always create content that is helping the world no matter what, you're in a hundred percent. And then I guess second one would be ask and ask and ask and ask and then follow up and then ask some more. Yes. And that is just, you never know until you ask and at the end of the day, you don't know these people, just, just on the other side of that email, just send that email out, just ask her
Just talking about this. You guys, I had an account, I want to sponsor me. And I told Stephanie that, but they didn't answer me. And she's like, well, have you follow it up? And I'm like, Oh yeah, that is easy. I need to go ahead and do
That. You always forget because you're like, well, they don't like me. That, that insecurity with any business of not being good enough or someone doesn't respond. And it's obviously a direct hit to you personally when it's not that way at all. Because I got swine Stephanie, they could have loved her idea that she pitched them and they're just talking to upper management about it. And we have to wait til Friday at five for that meeting. So you never know. And just always ask email constantly different companies and follow up with them. Yep. And then the third one is, do not expect an overnight huge success or this whole house is going to be redecorated because it's going to be sponsored, like definitely be realistic with what you're kind of going after and making sure that you were seeing it as a service for helping them not, how can they help you, but how can you help them and better yourself and better your audience always come from a place of good. I love that so much. And so my last
Is, do you have any hacks for growing the social media engagement? Because we now know this is a huge key performance indicator for getting sponsorships and raising prices and all of those great things. So give us the juice.
Ooh, I'm so glad you asked this one. Okay. So my favorite hack is do a trade with a photographer. So everybody's looking for that more professional feed, the chances of you being a photographer or knowing someone who's just like, yeah, let me just give you some free photos slim to none. I get that. So you probably have a service that you were amazing at that you were trying to show the world that a photographer needs. Yes. I would research photographers in your area. See if any of them, once again, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask. If any of them would be willing to do a trade, you could do it every three months. If you're a business coach, you could give them great business coaching ideas of how to build their brand, build their photography. Let's say you're a misuse. I don't know any photographer who would not want to trade for massage therapy.
That's the real. So you have something that someone else wants. Chances are high. One of those photographers, won't let you have do a trade, build your Instagram, make it look more professional. And I think that's gonna help a lot of your engagement. The other thing that is stories, Instagram stories. I do not think that they are being utilized enough. Nope. I think that you can really build and show your personality with Instagram stories. You can be silly. You can do like short 15 minute videos. You can ask questions and build engagement that way. I think that they are so amazing and definitely not utilized enough. And the other great thing about stories is you're constantly popping up your little faces popping up at the top of everybody's Instagram. And you're constantly being a reminder. Oh, I should go look and see if there's new posts.
Oh, I wonder if there's a new this. Oh. And you're constantly on their mind. But I think Instagram stories is amazing in helping grow Instagram accounts. For sure. And you guys on Instagram stories, if you want to have an entire episode, I have an entire training on that it's episode, number 25 on my podcast. So go listen to that one on stories because a million percent, yes. And there's free. And I think it gets, it's the relatable side. It's like, I'm going to see who you really are behind the professional brand. And I mean, I get way more swipe ups replies back to me in the stories than I do on most of my posts. Yes. And it's like hot mess me. Cause they're like, Oh, she's a real person. Yeah. I can see in the background, her house is really a mess. And so this is the one day that she hasn't seen yet.
And people love it. I'm so glad to know I'm not alone. Yes. Right. Yep. Oh my gosh. So all of this was like totally mind blowing. I'm just so excited. I know so many people have been curious about becoming an influencer, how they can get sponsored, how it all works, how much they should charge. So thank you. You're amazing. You're incredible. And I think your mission of helping women be empowered, helping them love who they truly are inside and out and just kind of taking the life experiences and the seasons you had and crafting that into an empowerment brand is freaking awesome. Thank you. I'm so proud of you and thanks for being a guest on our show and I'm sure everybody wants to know where to find you. So can you tell us, tell us where to find staff? Yes. So my lovely rainbow account, I just love frame post so much, so I just had to include it.
So you can find me at self-love with Stephanie on Instagram. And if you're interested in Instagram management, you can reach out to me on my website, there's a contact button, just put Instagram management in the title and I will definitely get back to you. I also have a ton of self-love resources that are going to be coming out soon. So below is my email to sign up for that. And I'm just so blessed to be able to be on this podcast and to be able to help someone. And my dream was just to be able to work from home and raise my child and photograph him to be completely honest. And so if I can help someone else do that, then that is a great day for me. So I hope to connect with everybody. And I'm so excited and thank you so much for having me. You're welcome.
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Stefanie Gass
Lots of fancy unused education. Podcast Coach, Clarity Coach, & Top #25 Ranked Podcast Host for Christian Entrepreneurs.
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