← Call Her Creator with Katelyn Rhoades
Call Her Creator with Katelyn Rhoades
Ep. 67: The $2M Instagram Growth Timeline: A Raw Review of Wins, Mistakes, and Lessons Learned
00:44:29
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- [00:00]
Caitlin
What's up, everybody? Welcome to another episode of Call Her Creator, powered by Stan. I am super duper excited today because I have one of my good friends, Jenna Peterson with us. She is an amazing business coach, content queen, digital product pro, real estate guru. Like all the things that you want to be, Jenna is that person. She encompasses all of it. I watch her daily on stories, and she's made a lot of money online and through her real estate business. Like, we'll dive into all of that. But what I really want to nail down real quick before we even talk to her, is that no matter what Jenna achieves, she stays Jenna. And she's so real and raw and authentic and she'll share how to follow her and all that good stuff. But I promise you, we're just really lucky to get to talk to Jenna. I'm so lucky enough to learn from her work alongside her, witness her insane work ethic, and her heart for helping people succeed online. So super duper excited. We're getting behind the scenes the story that most people don't tell once they hit that seven figure milestones. We're going to get it all from Jenna today. So one thing I do want to note here is when I reached out to her about this podcast episode, you know, I talked about, like, celebrating how much money she's made and all the things that she's achieved and done, and she's like, yeah, Caitlin, I'll do that. But, like, I also want to talk about the hard times and, like, things that people don't really ask me about. So we're gonna get very raw and authentic and welcome. Jenna. Hello. Hello.
- [01:38]
Jenna Peterson
Thank you so much for having me. And thank you for the kind welcome. I feel so honored to be here today, Caitlin. So I'm excited to chat with you.
- [01:45]
Caitlin
Yay. Good, good. I mean, before we get into it, let's give the people a little tidbit. Who is Jenna Peterson? What do you do? Where are you at right now? Tell us all the things.
- [01:57]
Jenna Peterson
Yeah, absolutely. So I started this online journey very differently than maybe most people in the sense that it wasn't something I was seeking. I was using it really as a tool for my family to put food on the table, to be the engine behind my real estate business. So I was a real estate agent. I still am a real estate agent, but that was my main source of income for the last four to five years. I think it's almost five years now that I got licensed. And I really turned to social media for desperation. I had two under two. They were 18 months apart. And it was really a tool for me. And so we can get into the rest of my story later. But it was something that kind of was unexpected. And so the brand and who I am today really had to evolve as the growth came. And we'll talk about some of those things I learned along the way as well. But yeah, just down to earth here to serve people, love. There's no judgment here. We're faith based company here and we keep it really real. And yeah, I'm just, just like a normal girl, just like anyone listening to this. So really and, and have a lot of passion, that's for sure. I definitely got a lot of passion for helping people. And when you can figure out a way to channel that, I think that's where the magic starts to happen. When you can understand like, how, how are you going to channel that? Because at the end of the day, if that's where your heart's at, like, you're never gonna lose. So, yeah, I'm excited to get into it.
- [03:35]
Caitlin
I love that. That's what I'm. That's why I started the podcast. That's why I started my business. Like there is so much life that people are missing out on when they're like stuck in this job that they hate or like doing things that they're not passionate about. So you talk about passion, like I, I believe, I believe you all the way with that. What actually inspired you to start your business in the first place? Was it passion? Like, were you chasing your passions? Tell us. Start from the beginning.
- [04:02]
Jenna Peterson
Yeah, so like I said, I had to use social media as a tool to generate leads for my real estate business. No one told me to do this. I just figured if I'm stuck at home, I'm going to utilize that. And it turned into something so much bigger than I expected because I started leveraging reels in 2020 when they first came out, and it really took my page off more than I probably expected. Over the next, it didn't happen right away. Um, I think it was over the next like two to three years that I started to see that growth. But I was consistent with it. And at first I was posting for real estate clients and I was trying to get to sell more houses. And that worked very well to the point where I couldn't handle all the business that I was getting. And I had a lot of real estate agents asking me, hey, can you help me sell more houses too? I, I need more leads, I need business. And so I started teaching them one by one. And this is where the idea, this is where Stan came in. This is where the idea of having a course. I never even knew what a course was, but people were like, if you just keep doing these one on ones all day every day, like you're going to get burned out. And there's a, there's gotta be this one to many approach. And so in March of 2023, I launched my very first big course. I had sold some smaller digital products before that. Um, and that's where like everything changed for me and I started to see this huge amount of joy that came from me in teaching and coaching people and seeing them go from stuck to unstuck and flourishing. And so I slowly transitioned out of the day to day real estate sales and now my main full time income is business coaching.
- [05:32]
Caitlin
So my first product was the one on one coaching. But I was taking like, I don't even remember. I feel like I would get like eight calls a month and I was so overwhelmed and burnout and I was like, I can't do this anymore. Now I'm really kicking myself in the butt because I never created a course and I wish I would have. I created like, you know, these PDF guides that were kind of like low ticket offers and I feel like I could have made more money had I done a course. So was your course your first like digital offer or did you have a PDF guide first or what you have?
- [06:03]
Jenna Peterson
Yeah, I did a PDF guide. Very first. And what's so funny you guys is I always tell my students this. My first course was the fall of 2022 and I launched a $67 mini course guide on how to hit your goals using a whiteboard. Because I was very known for my whiteboard. I did everything on a whiteboard. Like I had all these systems on the whiteboard and so everyone, I own the donate the domain name like the whiteboard girl dot com. Like I was all about the whiteboard. And so that was my first course I did and I thought it would be this huge hit. I was like, I'm, I'm hit pretty pressing publish. I posted the link and I was just like the sales are going to come flooding in and in 30 days I had three people buy that. Three. So I made, you know, maybe $200 and I was like, this is crazy. Like I had so much like excitement for this and I thought this would be such a huge hit. Like literally three people, I'm not joking, bought the program. So I wrote it off for about a month or two. I was like this whole Digital product thing is not cracked up to what like I'm seeing people talk about, you know, it wasn't super popular yet, but you're still seeing it becoming more popular and you're like, I don't know, I make way more money selling houses. I'm just going to keep selling houses and like, maybe I'll dip my toe in this, like in the future again, but no way. And then it was interesting because over the next couple of months that fall, I did continue to get people asking me for help. And so what I learned through that was they weren't asking me at that time for necessarily how to use a whiteboard. They were asking me for how to get leads because my whiteboard was filled with leads on it. Right. And so I had to like change my offer essentially. And I changed my messaging and I did open up a like the one on one calls and those just that flooded like within the month of December and January, I had tons of one on one calls. And that's when I realized, okay, I need to have this one to many approach. And that's when I launched the course.
- [07:58]
Caitlin
Wow. There's been, there's been plenty of times when I've launched something and I'm like, oh my God, I'm gonna make thousands of dollars and then I'll get like, maybe one person will buy it. And I'm like, okay, but I like where you said you kind of looked at it and you're like, okay, wait, maybe, maybe you named it wrong. With the whiteboard thing you were thinking like that's what you needed to teach. But no, people wanted what was on that whiteboard, which was the lead. So what made you stop and think, like, how did you approach that? What was your strategy like when you looked at that and reassessed it and relaunched it a different way? What all did that take?
- [08:31]
Jenna Peterson
Yeah, so that's, I think the part that people miss is, and let me be transparent too, I had income coming in from selling real estate, so this allowed me to be patient because I think what happens is someone is sees that the launch fails and they have to make the money.
- [08:51]
Caitlin
So.
- [08:51]
Jenna Peterson
So one of the best things you can do when you're getting started is go get another job. And I know this is crazy advice, but this is what I've always had to do. Because if I'm so desperate to make a sale, if I'm so desperate that this whiteboard course has to make it, I probably could have burned out my entire audience trying to like sell this thing over and over. And over when in reality, I needed to take a step back, realign the messaging and potentially even rent address what kind of value I'm providing for people online to even get them, like, interested in me. And so when I. I've actually done this, I've gone back and looked at the stories that I posted. Cause I've had clients ask and look at, like, analyze. What was I doing in those interim months before I launched the Social Agent, which was a very wildly successful course that launched in March. When I look back at that messaging, I completely shifted. And I was completely talking about how this client came in from this lead source or how I was able to help this person on the one on one call go from here to here. Right. Everything was directed towards specifically lead generation on Instagram. And so I think if you can be patient, you guys, and I know we hear this and it's like, not the thing we want to hear, but when we can be patient with the messaging part. And like, if you are doing a realign right now, understand that it will happen. But it does take time. It could take 30, 60, 90 days for, like, the algorithm to even change. I'm sure you talk about this a lot, Caitlin, on your messaging and understanding. Like, okay, this is how Jenna can help someone.
- [10:22]
Caitlin
I have this freebie, and I had named it, like, the Female Entrepreneur launch Playbook. And it is so good. Like, I'm not just tooting my own horn, like, I should be charging for this because it's so good, but it, like, I passively give it away. It's a freebie, but I passively give it away. But last week, I go on walks and I listen to podcasts, and I was listening to Jasmine Starr, actually, and she talked about the way that you market things. And I was thinking in my head, like, you know what? Like, these people that this is for probably don't even think that they're an entrepreneur yet. So first off, I need to start by changing the name of what this is called. And then I need to redirect, like, what. How I'm actually marketing it and selling it. So I think it's so important to, like, Jenna says, patience, patience is your number one thing to do. And then your number two is to think about your audience. It's not about you, and it's not about what you think they want. It's about what do they need. And I think. I think that's a big thing. So what led you into your course was that from, you know, all the people giving you feedback and you realizing wow. This is actually what they're, they're wanting from me.
- [11:32]
Jenna Peterson
Yeah. Yeah. So you guys, people are afraid of one on one calls? Don't be afraid. The best thing I ever did in my business was take on tons of one on one clients. Because every single time I talked to a one on one person, I got to know them, I got to know their story and I actually got to know the root of the pain. And the root of the pain for all these people. 35 people that I talked to during those couple of months was the same problem they had. I was regurgitating the same information, telling them that their bios looked like crap, that they didn't have any hooks, that they weren't attracting the ideal clients. And I started slowly shifting the same thing and I realized, wait a second, if they all seem to have the same problem and maybe there's a couple of like one off questions that they have, I'm going to create a course where I'm saying all of these things and then I'll have a place where they can ask the questions. Right? Like they can ask me the one off questions. And it just made so much sense. But the thing that I'm going to go back to with the patience and also putting in the work, like it does require more work, it does require more time. But when you have those one on one conversations with people, and I tell students now too, maybe it's not a paid one on one. Maybe you're just doing like a, I call them clarity calls or like a discovery call. Maybe you're just doing these free 15 minute calls that you're offering for people and you can learn more about their story and their struggles and where they're feeling stuck. Now in order to get people on your calendar, like you still need to be positioning yourself as the expert so that they're booking those but still interacting with people one on one. I think there's such a bad rap for like it's not scalable. I'm like, okay, but you have to start somewhere.
- [13:13]
Caitlin
You're so right. And that's kind of, that's even why I ended up quitting my coaching. Because I kept hearing people, it's not scalable. It's not scalable. But you know how much money I made during those months when I was taking those on? Not that it's even about the money, but totally, yeah, that was a big money maker. And you're right, I learned they all had the same like, not mistakes. They all have the same problem. So you, you're onto Something there. You know what else you guys can do, too? This is just a pro tip. If you can't get those people on a call yet, if you feel like you're too small or you just feel like maybe you've put it out there and no one's booking ask, use your stories to connect with those people. So I would do little poll stickers and I'd be like, what are you struggling with right now? And put what I thought they were struggling with. But some of the answers I would get would actually really surprise me. So you could even start there if you're scared to get on a call. But I do agree with Jenna. Like, you have to start somewhere and maybe. And one other thing I'll add here. Someone asked me the other day, how's the fastest. What's the fastest way I could start making money online? And I said, sell your time. Book a coaching call or something like that. Like, you have that expertise that they need, and that's the easiest way to get started. And Stan makes it super, super easy for you to do that.
- [14:23]
Jenna Peterson
Exactly.
- [14:24]
Caitlin
What was your mindset like in those first few months you're building this business. You haven't, like, made the big bucks yet. You're just getting started. Like, what were. What was going through your head?
- [14:34]
Jenna Peterson
I was on a mission, and I think that's something too, that people will trust me. I made lots of mistakes along the way, and we can talk about those. But one of the things that I probably did right was I was clear on the goal. And I think one of the phrases I use all the time now, when the vision is clear, the decisions are easy. And what that basically means is when you have a clear vision of where you're going, the decision's easy. I need to post every single day. There's no ifs, ands, and buts. There's no one that's going to get in my way. I know exactly what I need to do every single day because it has been proven that when I do X, like, and Y, then, like, I get Z, right? I. When I do these things, this is what happens. And so I was so insanely dialed in with where I was going that I had blinders on. Like, I wasn't distracted by what other people were doing or not doing. That I think it really helped explode the growth because I wasn't distracted.
- [15:33]
Caitlin
Yeah, you're right there. When did you actually feel like start. Things started to take off for you.
- [15:37]
Jenna Peterson
After that first course launch we did probably. I mean, there's also something to be said about time and place. And so I have to share all this so transparently because there's so many more people that are offering similar courses now. And a lot of my students went and created the, you know, almost the exact same course and is selling it. And so, I mean, it's just so. It's so different in some ways. But I also share this. Like, all of this is still possible, especially when you're. You. Russell Brunson calls it like a blue ocean or red ocean. Like when you have this, like, blue ocean, like a newer segment in the market or a newer opportunity that isn't as saturated. It's a. It's considered a blue ocean. And I felt like I was honestly walking into a pretty blue ocean, not red, which would be saturated. So, I mean, we did like 60, 000 or something in the first launch. Like, it was. I. I mean, and I. This was me by myself, no help, nothing in a very short amount of time. And I remember, like, if I didn't have real estate, that would have blown me away, but I was selling multimillion dollar properties. And so my, like, logic was so skewed in the sense that we could make $60,000 selling one house. But the difference is you'd go two more months with making $0 and then you'd make another sale. Right. So, like, with digital products and coaching and courses, you're like, no, I can keep doing this on repeat every month. And it wasn't until, like, I would say that summer of 2023, where I really started to see, okay, there is a ton of momentum behind this and it's not slowing down. Like, it just continues to keep growing. And that was like the wildest feeling.
- [17:20]
Caitlin
I love that. And that was all on Instagram, right? Or were you doing other things?
- [17:24]
Jenna Peterson
No, just Instagram. I started a podcast in the end, at the end of the year, and I did not continue with it after seeing how much work it was. So I went back to doing, like, my lives. I do a lot of Instagram lives, but the podcast, I definitely think it helped bring in new audience types.
- [17:43]
Caitlin
I love that. Was there, like a specific launch or moment that you feel like, catapulted you forward with all this stuff?
- [17:51]
Jenna Peterson
Yeah, yeah. So, okay, so we talked about the course launch, which was in more towards the beginning of 2023, and then fast forward to, like, closer to the summertime. So this is a few months later, my very first time relaunching, so to speak, a digital product that did not require any of my time. Like Kind of like the whiteboard, if you guys are sticking with the story. That was the goal. And I know a lot of people's goal is to have something like that where they don't necessarily have to perform or add more time after they sell something. And it wasn't until that summer when I, early summer when I launched that and I saw my income in one month double because I, I, I launched that and it went from, you know, wherever I was at to like literally it doubled in one month from a digital product. And I was like, wait a second, but I don't have to spend more of my time. And I just doubled my income. Like that moment was just mind blowing to me. And that's when I realized like, okay, there is so much more to this world that I still need to learn. But I think the naiveness like actually was in my favor because I didn't understand everything. And so sometimes that actually is on your side too because you're not over analyzing everything.
- [19:04]
Caitlin
Wow. Doubled.
- [19:06]
Jenna Peterson
It was crazy.
- [19:07]
Caitlin
Doubled your income? That's insane, Jenna. Like I thought so I launched, my first digital product was a reels challenge. I launched, it made $10,000 and I thought that was amazing. So you making 68,000, that is someone's income for the entire year.
- [19:23]
Jenna Peterson
For a year. I know we had multiple months and guys, I'm not doing this anymore. Um, but there were multiple months where we were over 200,000.
- [19:33]
Caitlin
From what all, what all did you.
- [19:35]
Jenna Peterson
Sell to make that? We were doing a combination of a lot of things. I mean I, like I said my digital products were selling very well. My engagement was at an all time high. So I would post a reel and I'm not joking when the reel itself would make $5,000 because it would just be selling a reels class. And reels classes did very well back like over the last couple years. I mean, I still teach Instagram growth and we have a launch right now that is doing fine, but it's nothing like it was. And it, I mean we'll do maybe $10,000 in this entire launch. And last time, or not last time, but two years ago it could do 40 to $50,000 for the exact same reels class. Isn't that crazy?
- [20:25]
Caitlin
It's crazy. You think it's because it's all like, I feel like, I don't mean to be mean for like anyone that's listening, but I feel like MRR came in and just like it was the market so much that like now people like me and you who were before all of that and teaching all that, like it just kind of like washed us so not watch this away.
- [20:44]
Jenna Peterson
It's a hundred percent what happened. Yeah, it, I noticed a huge shift after it and in the beginning it was fine because a lot of those people, it brought awareness and so a lot of them were actually taking my classes. Like I had a lot of people signing up for the classes, but once it kind of went away, it seemed like there were so many more options for people.
- [21:03]
Caitlin
So, okay, from the outside it's looking like you're having this huge rapid success, which, I mean, you are. But on the inside side, what were some of the things you were feeling behind the scenes?
- [21:13]
Jenna Peterson
On the inside, I was feeling extreme levels of cortisol. I. High, high cortisol levels. I was sick and my hair was falling out. And so I was not aware of a lot of this because you're almost in fight or flight mode because there's so much pressure and there's so many people you're helping and you're doing amazing things. And the results were insane. Like, it's not just me having these success, all my students are seeing these, these success numbers and they're, they're absolutely crushing it. And so I'm honest with myself. I wasn't in the moment like sad or frustrated or anything. I was, I was on cloud nine. I mean I had never made that much money and I'm still selling houses in addition to this. So I mean we're just, we're making lots of money. But at the end of the day, there was no free time. There was no moment where you're just like able to do self care. I mean, my nails were never, ever, ever done. Now they're done, you know, every two to three weeks. Like I was never able to take time for myself, let alone for my family. And so while, yes, we were spending time together more because I wasn't out showing houses as much as we started that transition, it. I, I mentally could never stop. I. You can't mentally slow down. It's. Your mind is just constantly going because there's so many to do items. Right. If I had, you know, a high level program, a mastermind, let's say I'm running because I did a lot of high ticket coaching. By the way, guys, this wasn't all low ticket. It was, I would say, like a good mix between two low ticket and high ticket. There, there's people relying on you, like, hey, can you be on my webinar tonight and give me feedback? Can you send me some ad copy for this or can you review my social. So I'm doing all these people's like, you know, follow up items after our calls are over. And it's just, I mean, my time was, I had no free time.
- [23:09]
Caitlin
I'm over here looking at my nails because my nails aren't done, they're brittle. I'm. I feel like I'm in that season right now because I'm like trying to hustle so hard and like stuff is working. But then there's some stuff, like I said with the digital products and stuff. I don't see the numbers that I used to. So things have just shifted so much.
- [23:28]
Jenna Peterson
It's not just you. You're not alone.
- [23:30]
Caitlin
It's so good to hear that. I'm so glad we're talking. No, like, you really made me feel good and I can't turn my mind off things either. My husband will be like, get off your phone. And I'm like, well, I can't. I'm doing work. But what, what do you feel like? What were some of the biggest mistakes you made during all this time? Like, I know I want to talk about the happy, but I also want to show the lows.
- [23:52]
Jenna Peterson
Absolutely. Leverage, for sure. I mean, guys, I faced pretty big burnout. So for those that don't know my story, in December of 2024. So just a few months ago, I basically announced and literally went into the back office and pressed pause on all of my recurring clients that were paying me for my high level masterminds and everything. I paused everything. And so my income basically turned off overnight and, and didn't. I mean, we still brought in that next month about 22k or so passively through digital products and stuff, which was incredible. But, but I mean, going from making six figures a month to making, you know, 20, 30, 40K a month in the following months was a huge, huge, huge shift. And in the midst of that moving and so many other things, and I'm, I'm the sole provider for our family. And so I will tell you that I think if I would have been more open to having more leverage in the beginning and through that busy season, I don't know if I would have ever slowed down as much as I did. I can see I can almost go back to like year two and almost like pinpoint the timeframes when it started to shift. And it was really after me just having a lot of clients that signed up for some offers. That's amazing. But I was giving so much and had really nothing left. And, and then it ultimately affected my marketing and messaging and all the things because I'm, I'm burned out and so I can, I can tell that that would have helped. So one, if you do feel that and you're feeling like you're in hypergrowth phase, like, learn from my mistake and don't be afraid to bring someone in. Now I did bring people in multiple times, but the problem was that they were taking too much too quickly for me and I couldn't handle that. As someone who's a type, a high producer, very particular about the way she does things, I didn't want to have to like, let go of all these things at once. And so I'm just going to share one thing that's really helped me now today is I have someone now that I just brought on a month and a half ago. And it's been a super different experience because she got like this much and then she got this much and I still haven't even given her more than that yet. But it's like good right now. And so I'm slowly giving her more responsibility.
- [26:23]
Caitlin
So delegating.
- [26:24]
Jenna Peterson
Yes.
- [26:25]
Caitlin
So you did all this without a team?
- [26:27]
Jenna Peterson
In the beginning, I didn't have a single person.
- [26:29]
Caitlin
Oh my God, Jenna, how did you do that? That's why you burn out.
- [26:35]
Jenna Peterson
Yeah.
- [26:36]
Caitlin
Yeah. That's why you paused your business. Holy crap. Like, I've, I've got obviously like, I do the digital product thing, but I've got a social media agency so I have to have a team. But like, yeah, if I didn't have them, I would not be where I'm at. I can't believe it's taken you this long to pull in help. That's insane.
- [26:54]
Jenna Peterson
Well, I, like I said I knew I needed the help two different times. I hired like a personal assistant, you could say. But it was, it was a full time salary like a. And, and I mentally struggled with that too because I'm like, okay, this is, you know, eight, $10,000 a month. And then they want me to hire a copywriter, they want me to hire a graphic designer. Like I, I had multiple different people that now they're wanting me to pull. And it's like such a huge shift from going from I got this all on my own and I know my systems to like now everything's changing. And so I, again, I think it's just going slower, like maybe starting with a VA and then moving into like a personal assistant role and just taking it a little bit slower for those that are struggling with it.
- [27:36]
Caitlin
Okay then, so this all Makes sense then to ask you this question. How would you build your business differently today, knowing everything you know now? Like, are there things that you would do differently?
- [27:47]
Jenna Peterson
I do feel like I learned a lot through the process and I'm so grateful for everything that I went through. But the biggest thing that I do think I would have shifted is bringing on help sooner. And also one of the things that I did now is having students that were seeing really good results or having a really great experience finding ways to incorporate them into my world. And I'm just now doing that. And I wish I would have done that sooner. And I wish someone would have, like, given me that advice sooner.
- [28:18]
Caitlin
Me too. Me too. Because we hear, I mean, one of the biggest things that the social media agency that we put into everyone's content pillars is testimonials, reviews, but it's so hard to do that in a way that really works. So there's sometimes when we will not skip them, but, like, we'll end up putting like a review up when there probably could have been a more powerful way to do it. Yeah, but just sharing wins from your students, I think it's so powerful. Like putting it as a reel, putting it in your story, saving a story's highlights, sending out emails, celebrating that person. There's so many different ways to do that. And not only, like, it helps you sell more, but it also shows like, you are the expert, you know what you're doing. Here's proof to show it. So I agree with you on that too. Now that you know what you know, how has your approach changed? Like, if you were going to launch something right now, would you, would you launch it different than how you did before?
- [29:11]
Jenna Peterson
Not. Not necessarily. I think there's a lot that I can learn and improve. Yes. I think that now having, as you become more seasoned in your business too, you have more testimonials, you have more experience. And so what's cool about that is I know that there's certain things that I'm just not going to offer right now, having two young kids. And like, I know that that requires so much of my time. Like, I did take on a lot more one on one in the past where I don't anymore and that may change in the future. But again, like, there's just certain boundaries that I have now with my time that I didn't have before. And so setting boundaries is huge. Also going into a launch, like, I have a lot more prepped ahead of time, whereas in the past it was a lot of, like, I was reactive so to speak, more than proactive with my planning because I just again, didn't have as much time to plan. So while, yes, my income is significantly lower today than it was over the last couple of years, I am a completely different individual in the sense of I volunteer at my kids schools, I am able to have more self care. Like I go on dates with my husband ten times more than I did over the last several years. Like, we readjusted our values and I, I did, I wanted to make a lot of money and help a lot of people in the process and we wanted to be able to afford these nice things and we got those nice things and we realized, oh, they actually don't make you happier. And I don't think a lot of people talk about this, that yes, we have basic needs we need to meet and we need to put food on the table. And I forever will value, you know, organic foods for my kids. And like, there's certain things that are really important to us, but there comes a point where more money doesn't necessarily equate to more happiness and we were able to experience that. And so now I get to still do what I love every day. And I just got off a coaching call with a group that I love coaching and they're rocking and rolling, but like, I am significantly less stressed. I just have a lot more balance in my life. And yes, we had to make some tweaks to our budget, but that's okay. Like, you know, we feel really content with where we're at right now. And anyway, I just want to give permission to people who, who do feel like they're maybe spinning out of control right now or they feel like just awful with how much pressure they have. I felt that too. And you, you can take some of those things off your plate. I love that.
- [31:47]
Caitlin
Jenna, I kind of am in the same little season as you too. Also, like, I've cut off a few projects that I was working on because one, it was stealing my joy, it was sucking me dry of my energy and I'm just ready to just. I noticed I could make that extra, what, $3,000 for that client account, but that extra $3,000 did nothing for my happiness. I did too think that making a certain amount of money was going to bring me happiness because as a child my parents didn't have a ton of money. Like we had enough to get through. So I always, and I have this vision in my head, like, oh, well, the more money I make, the better things will be. But it's not, it's it's so not true. It's driving a nice car. Like, I love it, but it does not. That's not what brings me joy. What brings me joy is going to be able to. Going to my daughter's little graduation party that she had, which I couldn't do in a, you know, nine to five, but.
- [32:42]
Jenna Peterson
No, exactly, Exactly. And like, I think back of, like, the. Some of the biggest highlights, too, over the last couple years is these birthday parties that I love to throw for my kids. And here's the thing. Those cost money. Like, you know, buying organic food for my kids costs money. Like, putting them in a good school could potentially cost money for a lot of you if you're going private route. Like, it's not. It's not. Money is not evil and it's neutral, but it is a tool. It is a tool that we need, and we need to be able to make it. And that's why we have. That's why she has. Caitlin has her podcast, and that's why we teach people. I teach people how to make money every single day. It's. It's important to learn how. But I think what we both have learned now, being more seasoned in the business is like, there's a. There's a balance and there's a point where, okay, am I doing this just for the money now, or am I doing this because I actually want to help people? And, you know, this is within. This fits within my boundaries. So that's. That's something I've learned big time.
- [33:44]
Caitlin
So true. Before I get into the funny questions to wrap us up, I want to ask you if there's a girl that was listening to us right now, and they're just kind of like, okay, I want to be Jenna one day. I want to make a million dollars from Instagram. Like, what would be your top tips for. For her to do that?
- [34:01]
Jenna Peterson
Don't get shiny object syndrome. One of the best things that I'm doing for my business right now as I am rebuilding momentum, is I am staying consistent, doing the daily activities that I know work. And when you don't see the results, you still keep doing it. Because what happens is people are watching. It might take them a little bit longer to say yes to you, but when you literally, when you are. When you go to pivot because you didn't get a sign up, that was exactly when someone was about to reach out to you to sign up for your program, and then you pivoted. So now they're like, oh, my gosh. Well, now I Have nothing to join. I'm going to go join someone else. So if you can just stay consistent enough in your messaging for a long enough period of time, eventually you're going to see the traction with it. But I think we live in a world now where we. I mean, I. I could easily have pivoted by now because I go, oh, my income significantly dropped. I took a break. It's not back to where it was. I need to do something else instead. I'm going. I can rebuild it if. I don't even know if I want to get back to where it was. But if I do, I'm going to do it in a totally different way. Yeah. And it's going to feel authentic to who I am. So you like, please, if you're listening, don't give up. Keep. Go. Keep doing the daily activity that you know will work and it will pay off if you just keep doing it long enough.
- [35:23]
Caitlin
Love that. What about when you are getting ready to push that thing? Like, what is a marketing strategy look like for you? Say they have, like, okay, Jenna, I'm gonna give it up my all for the next 30 days. How would you tell them to market that offer?
- [35:37]
Jenna Peterson
Would tell them to be unapologetically yourself. And I would also say shameless belief in you. You need to have shameless belief in yourself because at the end of the day, no one is going to be as hyped up about whatever it is that you're talking about than you. Right. And so you set the tone, you set the example, and everything else flows from there. So no matter what's happening in your launch, you hold the energy. I have a sticky note that says hold the energy that I stare at every day because I want to immediately drop the energy when people don't buy. I want to get bummed about the Bootcamp launch because I thought 50 people would have signed up by now, but only 30 have. Right? Doesn't matter. Maybe zero people have signed up. Okay. But you got to hold the energy the entire launch. And on day 29 out of 30, maybe you see those. Those people come in, and maybe you don't. You learn through the process. So shameless belief in who you are and also in your offer. And I think that it will have a effect on your audience when they see you excited about what it is that you're talking about.
- [36:44]
Caitlin
I love all of those. Okay, let's do some fun stuff. If you were promoting a product right now, what would you do first? Would you email out a list that you already have or Would you create a reel?
- [36:57]
Jenna Peterson
I'm a real person, so I would do a reel. But I am a big fan of email too, so after I do the reel, I'd send the email. But first, first a real.
- [37:04]
Caitlin
Who do you use for email?
- [37:06]
Jenna Peterson
Flow Desk.
- [37:07]
Caitlin
Same. I like Flow Desk. I like flodesk has templates in there too, guys, and I feel like it's the easiest for beginners. I was with mailchimp for a long time, and it was just messy in there and hard to to maneuver. What are some of your favorite apps for running your business, Jenna?
- [37:22]
Jenna Peterson
My favorite apps, I mean, I use AI a lot more now than I used to, so something like a chatgpt or Perplexity is another one that my husband and I have been using. I also love using Canva. I use Canva for a lot of things. And actually you can use AI with Canva now too, which is even cooler. Instagram, I use a lot of my editing, either Cap Cut or I used to use Splice for the longest time, and so I still will sometimes go in there. A lot of people don't know what Splice is, but it's essentially like a Cap Cut Cut. So something for editing. I know Instagram is coming out with one as well. Yeah. And my Stan app, I mean, I'm a big believer in, like, you need to know your numbers and be aware of what's happening in your business. And so I look at Stan, which has my analytics on there.
- [38:15]
Caitlin
Often you use Stan analytics to see. Do you ever go in there? I just started doing this. I'll go in and look at the different things that are in my store, and I'll look at the conversion rate and then how much money I'm making that if you guys have a stand store, something I started doing is I'll look and see what has the best conversion rate.
- [38:34]
Jenna Peterson
Okay.
- [38:35]
Caitlin
What has the crappiest conversion rate? How can I redo that landing page? I'll also look and see what's making me the most money and figure out, okay, could I have a lower price offer to accentuate that? A lot of cool little things like that. Best time to post on Instagram for you. What's one piece of content you wish more creators would make? Like, let's say they're doing reels, but you wish they'd make this type of reel more often.
- [38:59]
Jenna Peterson
Take your reel and put it into a carousel. My carousels are converting at a better percentage than my reels now.
- [39:06]
Caitlin
Wow. Okay, I'm gonna have to go look at your carousels. That's awesome.
- [39:10]
Jenna Peterson
I don't post them enough, but I try, like, once a week. And honestly, I should be doing it more than once a week, but it is crazy how much better they're doing than my real.
- [39:19]
Caitlin
It's almost because I feel like people get more information out of them. I don't know if that's true or not, but I agree with you. Like, what about dream brand or creator that you would love to collab with? Say they were gonna pay you to work with them on Instagram and mention them. Oh, probably.
- [39:39]
Jenna Peterson
I immediately went to the home side because that is a passion of my husband and I as we do a lot in the home decor. Okay. Honestly, I'm just gonna say it because we go there every day. Home Depot. Like, that would be a dream if, like, Home Depot. Like, I'm gonna sponsor you to, like, I don't know. This is totally out of my niche, so it probably wouldn't even make sense for me to post about them. But we love home decor and remodeling and all those kinds of things. So.
- [40:07]
Caitlin
Actually, Jenna, that is not out of your niche because, one, you came from real estate. Two, she owns. She also didn't talk about this, guys, but she owns Airbnbs. She freaking built a amazing house and sold. Like, that would definitely make sense for you. You need to shoot your shot over there, sister.
- [40:23]
Jenna Peterson
Okay?
- [40:23]
Caitlin
You need it.
- [40:24]
Jenna Peterson
Okay?
- [40:24]
Caitlin
You need to go to them and be like, hey, here's my idea on how I want to approach this. Okay? Side note, I did this with Panera bread one day because I eat there all day. Yeah, they definitely didn't respond to me, but it's okay. I sent them an email because I basically built my business sitting at Panera. Like, I trademarked. Yeah, I trademark influence marketing Studio. I made my logo there. Like, I. Well, my friend Kyle made my logo while I was sitting there. So I wrote Panera, and I'm like, hey, you should sponsor me. I built my business while eating a Panera sandwich, and I, like, wrote the whole story, but they never respond.
- [41:01]
Jenna Peterson
I'm obsessed.
- [41:03]
Caitlin
There's just, you guys, how it starts.
- [41:06]
Jenna Peterson
Yeah, you never know. I'm not. I'm not afraid to. We were recently looking at cabinets, and I sent, like, three or four messages and got some good responses. But I will say that is one thing with. When it comes to brand partnerships, you do want to be careful, because I did get one at the height of what I was doing with digital products and courses. Last year, I got a partnership for a product that we put in the last house we built. And it was like a $15,000 item that they, they gave us. But we had to do like multiple videos on different. On TikTok and Instagram. And I was so good at making it not seem like it came out of left field. Like, I don't think anyone would even notice. But it was so hard. Like, we put it off forever because we're like, how are we going to talk about a shower system with. It was a whole, like steam sauna shower system. How are we. Yeah, I'm like, how am I going to incorporate this when, like, all of my videos are very specific to digital products right now? And we ended up turning it into like a relaxation, like rejuvenation, self care type of thing. So it worked. But anyway, it is. You want to be careful, like, who you reach out to for sure.
- [42:18]
Caitlin
From an outsider's point of view, I do want you to know, like, I saw that and thought it came in seamlessly for what you do and who you are. So you're good. One last thing, last question. What do you do to reset when you feel like you're burnt out?
- [42:32]
Jenna Peterson
Definitely self care. And I'll go into that a little bit more when I say the word self care. Like, I love going on drives for myself. I think there's different things everyone has for me. Like going in. I mean, getting your hair done isn't always necessarily relaxing, but the way that I feel after I go and get my hair done. Or for example, like having my nails done and just feeling like it's, you know, easier for me to show up or whatever. I think doing things just completely by myself. I love being with my family, but I do think that I actually, like, recharge the best when I'm totally alone.
- [43:06]
Caitlin
We're so much alike. Crazy. All right, Jenna, how can people work with you? Where can they find you? What are you working on right now?
- [43:13]
Jenna Peterson
Sell yourself Jenna Peterson on Instagram. Jenna Peterson.com is my website and you can look at my 10 episodes on the podcast. If you really want to binge those and listen to them, there's a lot of good value in there. One day I will bring that back. Not right now. As far as offers and ways to work, we have Instagram Bootcamp that runs a couple times a year, so you can hop into one of those when we have it. And then we have our well known Social academy, which is a much higher end program that you get to work with me intimately for a few months and launch your online business with me. So love it.
- [43:49]
Caitlin
I love it. I love you. You're amazing. I love your family. I got to meet Jenna's husband at the Stand Mastermind last summer, and they're just the most amazing human. Actually, our husbands became besties, and it was just so fun to see them grow out while we were together.
- [44:05]
Jenna Peterson
I hope we can get back together soon.
- [44:07]
Caitlin
Oh, we got to come to Cali or you got to come to Florida, but. Okay, I'm down. All right. We're building our house, so once it's built, you're coming over.
- [44:16]
Jenna Peterson
All right.
- [44:17]
Caitlin
I love you. Thank you guys for listening. I hope you'll download this podcast. Let me know you love it. Leave us a review, and if you do listen, share it on stories. Tag me and Jenna on your stories. And that's all I got for today. Thank you all so much.