Kaitlyn Rhodes (0:00)

One of the biggest problems that creators face is they allow things to clutter up until they're so bad they break. I'm talking burnout, lack of creativity, staying relevant. My goal today is to help you declutter all of that crap that's weighing you down so we can create space for growth. Welcome to Call Her Creator Powered by Stan. I'm Kaitlyn Rhodes, your host, and this is the podcast that empowers women just like you to turn your passion into profit, profit and build the online business of your dreams. Every week, I'm here to give you actionable tips, inspiring stories, proven strategies to grow your Instagram and monetize that creativity. But don't just take my word for it. I've got a really good review to share with you guys today. Busy bossy mama just left me the sweetest. The sweetest testimonial over on Apple, and it says, this podcast and Caitlin's Instagram are what has inspired me to become a creator. The value I've gotten from listening to Caitlin for over a year has changed the way I make money and inspired so many crazy, wild ideas on how to create digitally. The resources she offers, the experience she has are unmatched. I can't wait to dive deeper and really put the pedal to the metal with my own digital business this year. Love that. Thank you. So what are you guys waiting for? Hit that download button right now. I want you to subscribe to this podcast so you never miss an episode. I post one every Wednesday, every week for you. Listen to it on your drive to work. Listen to it while you're in the shower. Let's make this year the year that you crush your goals and create the life you've always wanted. Okay, so let's just jump into today's episode. We're gonna talk about signs that you need to declutter your brand. I'm going to give you guys real life tips to not only declutter it, but just things that you need to leave behind. This year. Get over it, let them go. And then by the end of all of this, we're going to have helped you identify things that need decluttering, like inconsistent messaging. Maybe you're offering too much. Maybe you're just feeling overwhelmed and you're about to burn out. I'm going to give you guys actionable steps to really take charge of this new year and to make yourself feel better so that you can really come out guns a blazing for January 2025. So first, let's start with signs that your brand needs decluttering and I'm going to give you an explanation for each of these. So as I'm going through these, you're going to close your eyes, unless you're driving, and you're really going to envision your brand and understand, is this you or not? And how you can fix that. So first and foremost, and the. Probably the biggest mistake I see that is causing you to be all cluttered up is inconsistent messaging or visuals. The number one thing that we do whenever we get a new client here at Influence Marketing Studio is we are revising their visuals and their messagings to all be branded. Your Instagram post, your captions, all of that branding, it needs to be cohesive, like a cohesive tone or style so that when people see your post pop up in the feed, they know, like, oh, that's Caitlin's post. Like, I. I recognize that branding, or I recognize the way that she talks. And another example here is, like, one post feels like the way to know if yours is inconsistent is maybe you have one post that feels professional, but then the next post feels casual. And so your audience is just left feeling confused about who you are. Are you classy lady or are you casual and laid back and unmatched? Like, you have to decide which one you're gonna be. And I know as women, especially myself, you probably feel like, well, Caitlin, sometimes I am messy and sometimes I am professional, and that's okay. But when it comes to, like, your branding and your messaging, are you confusing people with who you are? Are you one thing one day and then not the same thing? The are you helping people build beautiful websites, but then the next day, like, you're over here talking about this coffee that you want to sell as a product. Like, that's where I'm talking about. Like, you need to be known for one thing and one thing only. And yes, you can supplement that with things that make sense. Like, maybe you build websites and you also talk about branding that all goes together. But if you build websites and then you're also trying to push this MLM product or this coffee product that I was talking about, that's where it just. It gets confusing. So, which leads me into the next sign. Are you offering too many services or products? You're just trying to be everything to everyone, which makes your offerings feel scattered and overwhelming to your audience. Instead of being known for one thing, you really risk blending in. The next sign that you need to declutter is engaging in trends that don't even align with your brand. And I am a big trend girl. I feel like almost all of trending audio can pretty much, like, be wrapped into your brand, but there are times when it really can't. So you don't need to hop on every single trend that you see, even if it, like, doesn't resonate with your niche or your audience. Like, that's what can dilute your brand in the first place. So you don't want to seem inauthentic. So don't feel like you have to hop on every single trend. Find the trends that make sense to you, make sense to your audience. And I'll give y'all an example here. Last summer, I was playing around with remixes a lot because they were working and performing really well. And I remixed some videos that I thought were really funny, but some of my audience was kind of getting off put by that. And I. I had a few messages, and it was just like, this doesn't sound like you. I thought I was, like, subscribed to somebody else's Instagram until I saw your name, blah, blah, blah. Basically, they were just kind of telling me, like, hey, this isn't your style. I don't like it. Please get back to what you were doing. So I definitely took that into account because at the end of the day, my content is for my audience. I'm there to share information and hopefully sell to them. So I listened and I was like, you know what? Okay, I'm not going to keep engaging in this trend when my audience is sitting there telling me that this doesn't sound like you. So if that sounds like something that you're experiencing, put your audience first at the end of the day. Like, they're the ones that you're selling to now. If you're feeling overwhelmed or stuck when creating content, you don't know what to post next or it feels like a chore. This is often a sign that your content strategy lacks either clarity or. Or alignment with your goals. So that is a sign, too, that you need to declutter. And I'll give you guys some tricks on how to do that later on in this episode. Low engagement on your post. That is a telltale sign that you need to declutter. Your audience isn't responding to your content. It could maybe mean that your messaging is off or you're just not addressing their needs and interest. Another sign, your audience doesn't know what you offer. And this is a huge red flag to me if they don't know what you're there for or what you're. What you offer. Like, maybe you're getting questions in the DMs like what do you do? Or how can I work with you? Even from loyal people that, that you see commenting on your content before, if they're asking you questions like that, that is a very clear sign that your brand needs more focus. Outdated content or branding, maybe your visual identity, your logos, your colors, your fonts, maybe your messaging no longer reflects your current business direction. You, you doing that is going to make your brand feel out of sync. So this is really where you need to like step back and say, okay, have I pivoted in a way? Is my content changing? Does my branding need to change to reflect that? Super duper important to pay attention to that. Maybe you're spending too much time on non essential tasks. If you are bogged down by outdated processes that you had in place or tools or platforms that just aren't delivering the results that you want, that is a sign to declutter as well. And we actually took that into account last fall. We had gotten a little busy with client work, so I had to kind of tone down my own marketing for the time just so we could service our clients. And so me and Darby, who's like my right hand here at the agency, we went in and we pulled some reports on our socials to figure out like, okay, what social media platform is performing really well for us right now? And then we looked at the platforms that weren't performing very well for us. I ended up getting rid of a couple different things that we were doing, like extra work that we were doing that was bogging us down. So we scaled down on our LinkedIn. It wasn't really doing too much for me at the time. LinkedIn is actually really great resource for new clients and stuff like that. But honestly, it was better for me when I was freelancing. As soon as I switched my job title to CEO. I swear all I get on there now is spam. So we kind of pulled back from LinkedIn. We also had a Facebook group that we were posting in religiously and it just started dying on us. So we kind of pulled back from that too. And then we scaled down as far as our posting frequency went. I was posting twice a day on my Instagram, but I've kind of started posting like maybe once or twice a day. I was like, very much. I don't want to say Hitler, cuz I hate Hitler and all of that holocaust stuff. I don't even know. I, I'm bringing that up because I'm actually, I just watched. We were the lucky ones. If you Guys are into the history with the Holocaust. It's really, really good. And it gave me a newfound hatred for Hitler. But anyways, what, I'm not Hitler when it comes to my content. But I knew that we just had to scale down a little bit to figure out what was working and put more energy into that. So that is something that you all should do too, is look at where your productivity is going and make sure that it is giving back to you. And that's how we decided like, okay, let's pull back from this and this and this and let's go more into this and this and this comparison. Comparing yourself to competitors is also a really telltale sign that you need to declutter. If you're constantly just mimicking others instead of focusing on your own unique value, you really risk losing your own authenticity and originality. So if you find yourself just like comparing yourself to them all the time, stealing their ideas, that is another sign that you need to declutter and, and start fresh. And then the last sign I have here is that you might just be attracting the wrong audience. And that is another thing that I went through last summer. I had a reel go viral and I don't feel like it really attracted the right audience for me. And then guess what, the last few months of the year, last year I started losing a bunch of followers and I really do think it was from that one big reel going viral and then those people realizing, oh, she doesn't post about this all the time. And so they all like kind of fell off. So if you find yourself engaging with followers who just aren't converting into customers or clients, that could indicate that there is a misalignment in your content or your messaging. So you want to fix that if you're attracting the wrong audience. Alright, so now that we've identified the signs your brand might need a refresh, let's talk about how do we do that? How do we fix that? How do we do that? Refresh. The good news is, decluttering your brand does not mean that you have to start from scratch. It's truly just about getting rid of what's not working so that you can focus on what is working in 2025. It's time to leave behind the things that are holding us back. Let's dive into habits and strategies and mindsets that actually feel productive and create more results than they do noise. So here's six things that you can leave behind this year. And trust me, letting go of these will give your brand the clarity it needs, especially if you said Y to a bunch of the signs that I just talked about, then this is for you. So first, let's talk about the. The excessive trend problem that we talked about earlier, where maybe you're just jumping on all of the trends and they're not actually aligning with everything that you do. Let's be real. Trends can be fun, but chasing every single one of them can honestly dilute your brand. Instead, ask yourself, does this trend align with my brand values? Does it really serve my audience? Is it going to serve them? If the answer is no, then skip it. Trends should ampl your messaging, not distract from it. Let me read that again. Trends should amplify your message, not distract from it. So if trends are feeling like a distraction and they don't feel like they're serving you, it's time to let them go. Or at least maybe minimize how many you're doing a week. Overloaded services or products. Remember where I said you're probably offering too much? If you're offering too much, that's a sign. Yeah, that's a huge sign. When you offer too much, it's easy to confuse your audience in yourself. So the best thing you can do is simplify, focus on your top one or two services or products that deliver the most value, and get the best results for your clients. Choose quality over quantity. It will always win. So this is another thing I did. I actually did this this morning. There's a few offers that I feel like are super amazing, but at the same time, I think to myself, okay, you've got a lot here. How are they supposed to know which one to choose when you're giving them so many options? So I decided to go through my stand store and kind of see, all right, in 2024, what were my top selling products? Okay, which one had the best testimonials and reviews? Which one gave the best results to my people? And then I looked at offers that I thought were going to be great, but really no one bought them. Now, it's tricky here because you need to make sure, like, just because someone didn't buy a product or service, it doesn't mean that it's not for you to offer. It could just mean that you, your messaging is off there. So before you, like, exit a product or service, make sure, like, that your messaging was correct and that you were actually marketing it the right way before you decide that it was a terrible idea or that you want to get rid of it. Some of the stuff I got rid of, honestly, my messaging was perfect on it. And I promoted it and it just wasn't the right fit. So, yeah, I'm getting rid of it. But there was one product where I'm like, okay, this is not a top seller, but it should be. So what I'm gonna do today is when I'm get done recording this episode, I'm actually gonna go into Chat GPT and get some help revising the messaging there. I'm basically gonna tell him how, here's my current messaging, here's how it's performing as far as a top product or a low product. How can I make this sound better? Here's where my product pain points are, or here's where my pain points are for my client. Here's what my product offers, and I'll just kind of get some feedback there and reevaluate that sales page and then continue to promote it for the next maybe six months. And if I still am not seeing the results I want by the summer, I'm gonna get rid of it. But I'm really bad at, like, if I think something in my heart is really good, I'm really bad at being like, okay, I gotta give up on this. Like, I try everything before, I just give up on it now. If inconsistent content was one of the signs for you, random posting that doesn't align with your goals, it's basically like you shouting into the void. Instead, you need to establish clear content pillars, maybe three to five topics that really define your brand, that complement your product or service, and let those guide everything that you post. And if you're struggling with how to come up with those content pillars, ChatGPT obviously is a really great starting point there. I also have an Instagram growth blueprint over on my website, influencestudio.com and it's basically like an hour, like masterclass and I will walk you through Monday through Friday. Content ideas based on your business and like, how to establish those content ideas, what kind of post format it should look like, and when to post it. I've got all of that inside of the Instagram blueprint, so that's something for you to check out if you need help. I'll link it in the show notes. And hey, side note, that is actually a. It's not one of my top offers, but I do feel like it's very valuable. So maybe this is how I get that product back up as a top seller. Is, I don't know, talking about it more. I'll figure that out. All right, tangent time. Because I made. Okay, if one of your signs was that you're maybe using unnecessary platforms or tools. I told you guys I was using LinkedIn and it wasn't really providing the results that I wanted. So the best way for you to go about this is think about are you paying for tools or juggling platforms that just aren't moving the needle? This is when you take the time to audit your toolbox and your presence and keep what works and ditch the rest. For example, if your audience is on not on threads, why are you wasting energy there? If they're not on LinkedIn, why are you posting there? We do get clients a lot that come into Influence Marketing Studio and we mainly manage Facebook and Instagram. It's real where I really see the top results for people. But sometimes we'll have some someone come in and they're like, well why aren't you posting for me on X? And I'm like, listen, X isn't even big anymore. Like don't. First off, you don't want to to waste your money. Second of all, we don't want to waste our time and effort over there. So I do have to talk with people and really just be like, is that platform for your age range and your demographic? And you can find that information with a quick Google search. They'll tell you like what the audience age ranges and you can make sure that it makes sense for your business. Toxic comparisons. Scrolling this is my number one. Scrolling through your competitors feeds and feeling behind. Yep, me all the time. Stop. Comparison drains creativity. Comparison drains creativity. I read that today before. I was, when I was prepping for this episode and I was like holy crap, that's so true. Like I'm the one that struggles sometimes with coming up with content because my mind is racing a million bajillion miles per hour. And I'll, I'm, I'm like squirrel. I'll think of every different idea that I can do. But if I'm sitting there looking at my competitors all the time, I'm more than likely just going to be posting similar stuff to them. So something I'm challenging myself with this quarter is to stop doing that. Stop comparing. I've muted people in my industry that I tend to look at a lot just so that I can focus on myself. Because at the end of the day your audience is following you for your voice, not someone else's. So double down on what makes you unique. Stay in your lane and trust the journey that you are on. That is the biggest takeaway from today's episode. Stop those toxic comparisons. And then the last tip here is you're overthinking perfection. Nobody connects with perfection, though, guys. Yes, we like to see what the Kardashians are doing. Not saying they're perfect, but they're like they've got their life on Instagram is perfection. Right? But we need to let go of that because not every post that you post needs to be polished like a Kardashian. No video needs to be perfect. Authenticity is what's going to resonate far more than perfection ever could. A typo actually is what makes people go viral. Like there's so many trends, reels, trends out there where you purposely misspell a word because it gets people talking on your reel. It makes it go viral. So stop worrying about less than perfect lighting. That's not going to stop your audience from loving on your content. As long as you're talking about something that resonates with them, that's what they want to want to hear. I'm going to talk about this in a future episode when I what I want to help you all do is show up boldly and confidently on Instagram. So I'm going to really, like, dive into some things that were really hard for me in my life. But I shared about it on Instagram and it actually ended up helping me and my content because I was being vulnerable and real with my audience and I actually learned that so many other people were struggling with the thing that I end up opening up about with you guys. So that will be in a future episode. We'll talk about it. But at the end of the day, people want vulnerable. They want authentic. They want unpolished. They don't want perfect. At the end of the day, decluttering your brand is about focusing on what's meaningful and aligned. What's one thing that you can think about letting go of today? Think about it. If you're ready to share it, feel free to DM me or tag me in your stories with your decluttering moment. Let's cheer each other on as we make space for growth this year. So just to quickly recap what we've covered today, we talked about how to identify signs that your brand needs decluttering. Things like inconsistent messaging, offering too much, feeling overwhelmed with content creation. And then we dove in to why we need to leave those things behind. Excessive trends, overloaded services, toxic comparisons. The goal here really is to strip away the things that are holding you back so that your brand can shine brighter and connect more deeply with your audience and help you grow authentically. So here's some action steps these are the things I want you to do at the end of this episode. I've got one, two, three things that you guys can do. One, audit your brand. Take the next 10 minutes when you turn this off and look at your Instagram feed, your offerings, the tools you're using, and then ask yourself what feels misaligned or unnecessary. Write it down. Write it down on a piece of paper or in your notes. Apply that will help you execute on it. When you write it down, then you're going to start small. You're going to pick one thing to declutter. Declutter. Maybe it's letting go of an outdated product or skipping a trend that doesn't feel right to you, or dropping a platform that doesn't serve your audience. You're just going to start with one little thing this week. Start small. Let it go. And then your last thing is you're going to set your goals for this year. Pull out that paper or that Notebook app again. Write down one clear, measurable goal for your brand this year. Maybe it's growing your following. Maybe it's increasing your engagement, or maybe it's just simplifying your processes. Whatever it is, that is your goal for 2025. Now remember, progress isn't about doing everything at once. It's about taking one intentional little step at a time. And I want to close out with this. You. You guys, you have the power to create a brand that feels authentic, clear, and exciting, not just for your audience, but for you. So let this year be the year that you stop doing what feels like busy work and start focusing on what truly moves the needle for your business and for you. So what's your first step Here? Take a screenshot of this episode. Share your decluttering goal and tag me on your stories. I want to cheer you on. I want to help you. When you tag me, I'll get alerted so I can give you some feedback. And don't forget, if this episode resonated with you, please hit that download button so you'll be notified of new episodes each week. And together, we're going to make this year your most focused, impactful year yet. All right, guys, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next week.