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Foreign. I am your host, Shannon McKinstry. Welcome to Good Content, the podcast where I remove the never ending content creation, guesswork and overwhelm so that you can actually enjoy being on social media again and growing your business with what has always worked. Good Content. All right, so I got a really great question, the DMs. And I was like, perfect. We'll talk about this in the podcast. I've been thinking about it and it's really just about how to make money on Instagram. Like the realistic, true way to make money on Instagram. I know a lot of people make it seem easy. They have a viral hit, sell a bunch of stuff and become millionaires. Billionaires, right? It's not that easy. If it was, we would all literally be millionaires. Right? I. And let me preface this before you guys listen. I am not a launch strategist. I am not a business coach. There's so many brilliant minds who understand launching and funnels. I. I'm not that girl. But I'm going to tell you how I did the dang thing without crazy fancy funnels and things like that. Now, my reels lab recently hit over 2 million in sales. That's bonkers. Okay? Because think about it. And I know I've talked to you guys about it. When I first started working at CNN, my salary was $23,500 a year. This was in 2004. And then I got a raise to like 28,000. Then I went left CNN, move back home to D.C. and bounce from sales job to marketing job, to whatever job I could get. And I never had a salary more than 50, 55,000 ish. So the fact that I am bringing in more more in a month of my yearly salary back then is absolutely crazy. And I remember my dad used to joke, oh, you're not gonna make a lot of money in communications. I'm like, I know, because back then you really didn't. You worked in news and you made, you know, unless you're like an anchor or like the head director, which I wanted to, to direct a news show, that was like my big dream is I wanted to sit in the director's chair. But, you know, being in the news world, I realized like, my heart couldn't take it. It was just too much for my nervous system and still is. Like, when I watch the news, I'm like, so it was, it was a very trying time for me. For your girl. I just like sat in cubicles and hoped that no one would call my name during meetings. And so first I'LL say this, I never thought I'd amount to anything, but not in that way. I was just like, oh, well, I know I want to be at least a mom. Maybe I can, you know, like, I'm not good at much, but I just knew I was like, I'm not really called on this earth to climb a corporate ladder. It's just, it wasn't in me. So when this happened and all of a sudden social media became monetizable, I was like, holy moly, I can actually make money in my life. And it's just been the best blessing ever. So because I'm able to bless you guys, donate to charities I'm passionate about, treat friends experiences that we never thought we could. You know what I mean? Like things like that obviously bought the beach house. So when I say it's not just that I've made a, a lot of money, yes, I've made a lot of money. I don't like talking about that because it's very uncomfortable for me. But yes, I've made a boatload of money and I'll tell you exactly how I've done it. So first few years didn't make much money. So you're probably in that space now or you've, you're where I am. But the first five years it was literally just building my community, getting into places, getting a seat at the table at networking events just to get my name out there. First few couple years in my business, I've really made nothing. So when people joke like about, oh, I really want to make money in social media, I'm like, dude, in 2013 it was like a joke. Like people would pay me maybe $50 to a hundred dollars. That's why I was charging 50, $100 ish a month for Facebook, for LinkedIn. Right? But then around 2016, that's when people started paying attention and they're like, oh, this isn't a fad. And then I started charging more and then it went up from there. Then I started doing live in person events. So while yes, online I was building a community slowly. The in person stuff was what really just blew up my business. I started doing free in person workshops. I would literally go into real estate brokerages, co working spaces and be like, hey, can I like come in and bring some food, whatever and I do a one hour talk and I would. So that was cool. That's when things started really going. So I always said you can find posts of mine from back in 2016, 17, et cetera, that say stuff like this Where I said, start local, grow outward, lean on the people in your community. Seriously. And then the first thing I also did when I started my business, it wasn't even the online stuff. It was like I sent an email out to all my friends, my old co workers, family, you know, aunts, uncles, everybody. Like, hey, I started this thing if you know anyone. And they would literally refer me. So before you are like, oh, my family doesn't support. They might not understand what you do, they might not get it, but at the end of the day, the real ones will help you out. So I got referrals and things like that. So that's. Step one got my name out there. Step two was doing the free things in person. And I'm sorry, I like to always say, like, as an entrepreneur, it's almost like you start as an intern, right? Like, I know there's a lot of people you see just like, just go crazy. And it seems like it's overnight. It's typically not. Most people I see go crazy have been doing this a long time or they're sharing a journey. Because if you're sharing a journey, you can grow fast on Instagram and TikTok. Because that's. That's what social media is. It's our journeys, our life experiences. We're going through our perspectives, things like that. Five years in my business, I hit six figures. And I know it probably sounds like, okay, yeah, right? No, I do not. Look at my numbers. I'm not. And I was. I was shocked one day I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm making six figures. This is before I had a business coach. This is before I had a fancy website. I had a very basic sales page, little website that was basically, hi, I'm Shannon, and I do this. Next thing I know, I'm making six figures. And it was crazy. And it was through social media management, which I was only working with local businesses. We're talking real estate agents, hair salons, boutiques. Okay? I was managing their socials. And from that I was making maybe like 3,000, 4,000amonth. And I was like, oh, my gosh. Then I couldn't do social media management anymore because I was so busy. I started offering consults for $300 for an hour. I couldn't freaking believe it. And I also had a hashtag vault. So people would tell me, like, the five categories they want, and I would come up with all these hashtags and send. It was $50. Every time I shared on stories, I got five more people going, I want it and we're talking. I had two, maybe 5,000 followers at the time. Okay? So with that said, I just want to say my husband, I did a reel about it. He is a real estate agent. He has 1800 followers. He did a reel the other day while we're at the pool. Just off the cuff, this is what I see working so freaking well right now. This is why it's so much easier to grow on Instagram now than it was, trust me. But listen now, take note. Get your notes out. He whipped out his phone in the moment and said what was on his mind in that moment. He goes, gosh, you guys, I'm looking around here. Look at this day. Look at this. We're sitting here at the cocktail bar, having a cocktail, palm trees flowing. No, this is not Las Vegas. We're in Cary, North Carolina. Why don't you live here? You should live here. I'll be your realtor. Do you know someone's already called him and you know, real estate, like one lead is a lot of money, right? It's a lot of commission for Ryan. So they liked his vibe, his personality. They were like, yep, influence. And they were already thinking of moving to Carrie. Number two. It hit 92,000 views and today it's probably even more because all the people in the comments are like, love it here. And some people are like, don't tell anyone about it. Right? So it made it low risk to comment. It is not an intimidating topic to comment on. Right? That's. I always joke about mine. I have to really get comments going because most people, when I'm sharing these tips, they're like, huh? What? Right? Because a lot of you are new to this. So when you can have a non intimidating topic you're talking about, you're automatically going to get more comments because we want to weigh in. Okay? So I'll just say that. So number one, number two, and number three. So number three, I'll say was the consults. I listened to my people. And this is why I love that I grew so slowly because I've really gotten time to understand what y' all need, where you've been burned, what has got you burnt out, why you want to throw your phone in the ocean and just give it all up. Right? I know that about you guys. So with that, I was looking at my DMs going. They were like, I don't really want management. I can't afford management, but can you just look at my content? And I was like, that's where I was like, here's Consults. I did not have a sales page for consults. I had a discovery. It was a calendly. I would have them book one on my calendar and then I would Invoice them on QuickBooks for 300. All my stuff was on a Google Doc. Reels Lab started on a Google Doc. The sales page of Reels Labs started on Google Doc. The actual membership started on a Google Doc. I do not put money into something until I know it's working. Because we don't need to do all that, right? I am a start messy queen. And I'm telling you, if you wait till the idea, someone else is going to beach to it. Someone's asking you in the DMs and you want to provide the thing they're asking, do it with those consults and those hashtag vaults. I started making six figures and it was actually insane. Then I did a mastermind and I charged, I think, gosh, maybe $2,000 for it. You know, six people joined. And then I did the membership with my business partner, Emily. We that membership went to six figures and then I'm like, oh my gosh, this is crazy. Then I had a program called Red Carpet Reels. When reels came out and I was growing with reels and I was helping people grow with reels, then people were asking me, can you just tell me every week what to post as reels? And I go, sure. I called it Red Carpet reels. I charged $5,000 for three months and I think I had like five people in that. This is when I got closer to the million mark, right? And I'm like, oh my gosh, this is crazy. But then the Red Carpet Reels was a lot of work. And then I was launching audits and I was charging fifteen hundred dollars for audits. And people love those. I couldn't keep up. I was like, this isn't scalable, especially with two children and a husband and wanting to just be able to put my phone down at night. So that's when I created the Rails Lab. I tested all these things that people love. They love the audits, they love the red carpet rails. And people were winning huge in red carpet rails. And I was like, I can scale this to a membership. And now I have over 350 people in the rails lab and it's 2. 97amonth. So if you do the math, it's pretty crazy. And again, I price it at 2. 97. When I. The second I launched it, I started it at 2. 97 because I knew I had the proof I knew knew that a social media manager these days is 2000 to $5000. And even if someone has a social media manager I'm like you can give them reels lab and give it to em, right? I knew I could charge way more for this membership but because I do offer support one on one. I see a lot of Instagram memberships out there, they're around $100 or less but they don't offer the one on one support. Basically quote unquote audit. I mean when people are join and they go in my community they go can you revamp my bio? Can you look at my content pillars? I provide full on support so it's more than just copy paste. So when you're pricing things out in your world, whether it's jewelry, candles, digital products, just look at what else is out there, what people are charging and if your offer is better then charge for it. Do not let a low price offer make you think people aren't willing to pay 2 97. It's the same as like oh yeah, there's really cheap hotels and then there's the Four Seasons. Certain people want Four Seasons support. They want room service, they want a concierge that's going to check on them, they want views, they want free snacks in the middle of the night, right? That's the real slab. So I wanted to be the Four Seasons, the Mercedes, whatever version of a membership and that's what I created. So there's a lot out there that's already done in your right. Everyone knows 20 realtors, everyone knows 18 places to go out to eat tonight, everyone, right? What makes you different? That's where you start. What do you want to be known for? What do you want to provide? What level of care? Again like I don't mind spending more on jewelry when there's a handwritten note and I know it's going to a mom or a person who's right, we know your story, we want to invest in you. That's where social media comes in first is the product and you make sure people want it. You make sure it's different. You make sure it's worth what you're charging. If you're charging something premium or budget and then you launch it, you don't have to have fancy stuff set up. I eventually got a coach, I eventually bought the website. I eventually did. I mean my first logo was 50 off fiverr. I had it for over like seven years. I didn't quote unquote do a brand with brand colors until 2020. I started my business in 2014, technically, and 2016 was when I started treating it like a business. So it has been 10 years, guys. And let me tell you something. I spend about on my team, quote, unquote, Like, I have a Pinterest manager. I do all my emails, I do all my content myself. So none of that is outsourced. But podcasting, like, I record it, I send it off to Steph, she edits it. Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn is me. Emails are me. But I do have a VA. I've got, you know, a CMO. I probably spend about 10,000amonth on. I would say I need to look exactly, but it's, it's around 10,000. Um, and then we've got our bookkeepers, our taxes, and that's a couple thousand a month. But still, I'm still bringing in all that. And it's, it's, it's life changing. It's crazy. But that's been the journey. Um, and now that I love the Reels Lab so much, it's all I plan on really having for a long time. And we'll do webinars here and there. We've got the podcast, I've got my how to Grow youw Gram guide. And until I'm ready to launch something new, I'm, I'm just gonna. This is it. This is my baby. I love what I have offered. It lights me truly up. And that's another thing. There were some things that I offered that I was like, I, I, this is not, I'm not enjoying this. So I stopped it. I now have a sales funnel, quote, unquote. I've got an email sequence. They download my freebie and they get five emails in a row. But mainly, guys, my funnel is Instagram stories. My funnel is my content. I lean on my good content in this podcast to just get people to know me. We are not following niches. We are following personalities. We are following authenticity. We are following friends, people that feel like friends. We are following core values. We are following what your beliefs are, what you do with the money you make. We are following people for that. We are following you for your journey. We are following for you. And again, if you're a legal team with 20 people, we want to know what you guys are like, join in on the friend trends or don't give us advice or whatever. Whatever it is you want to create, whatever it is, I'm here to help you do that. And I just want to let you know, you can make a lot of money on this app. You can make a difference in people's lives on Instagram, TikTok, et cetera. But you got to get posting. It's not going to happen until you get posting and collecting data and getting those DMs of wondering, what do people want from you? What do people want to buy from you? I mean, you could share a random tip and stories and someone's like, ooh, I would love to. And then there's your new offer. If someone wants it, more people want it. Listen to your people. That's how you make a ton of money and change your life, change other people's lives. And people say it a lot. They're like, you don't sell in your. In your content a lot. I'm like, no, I don't. I encourage people to listen to a podcast, to grab a freebie, and then I let the stories and my emails do the heavy lifting for the rest. And you know what? I'm also one of those people. If someone writes me and is like, I don't know if I'm ready, I'm like, then don't join. Do you know how many refunds I've given over the years? Someone gets it. It's like, ooh, I actually don't think I'm ready for this. Or one girl was like, I didn't use it at all this month. And I realized. And I was like, here's your money back. There's so much horrible practicing in online in the online world right now. Sorry, I'm going on a tangent. Be careful who you invest in. Go to Reddit before you do it. Ask around. I can't tell you how many people reach out to me. And I'm like, oh, here's three people in the Rails lab. Go talk to Em. Like, if you're nervous, go talk to em. I'll send videos of, like, a recording of inside. If people are like, ooh, we need to get more of that. I have never once believed in just, like, get on here to make a bunch of money again. Like I said, if that was true, I would not. I would not be here because I didn't make any money at all for the first few years. If people believe in what you sell and believe in you and like you and trust you, you will do just fine. So if you're feeling stuck and you're like, I need to make money right now, I'm going to scream. Get open and honest with your people on stories. Tell them why you're here. Tell them why you created what you created and Talk to them. They're real people behind those screens. Talk to them. It's the best sales hack you'll ever have. Love you, friend.