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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. I actually just shared a real. I wanted to share before I recorded this podcast to kind of just make sure that I'm on, you know, because while I have a lot of opinions about Instagram and social media in general, I want to make sure it's not just me. Right? Obviously I'm in this world heavily, so I don't want the content I'm seeing, the things I'm hearing to make me lose sight of like what other people are doing who have. This isn't your full time business creating content, right. And teaching social media. But judging from the comments I'm getting, we're all feeling the same way, so hallelu. So I talked about this a lot on the podcast before, but just to sum it up in a quick little cliff notes version, TLDR version is just that we lost sight of why people are on social media in the first place, which is to connect with people. We're here to follow people, follow each other's journeys, right? We love to see what's going on behind the scenes. We like to be invited into people's worlds, right? And we, we know this to be true especially because when you look at the big brands, they're all doing it too, right? They're bringing in the employees, they're. They're realizing that like, we don't want the perfectly curated this and that and the third. Now I will say that to say I know there's a lot of, I work with a lot of people. Well, I work with dozens of different industries, but one in particular that I've worked lot with in the past is interior designers, wedding photographers. Right? So I get Yalls grid. I don't mean like that. Right. Again, if you want your grid to be perfectly curated, that's fine. I just know for years we've seen everyone get away from the perfectly curated grid. And that is because we're not selling perfection. Right? But you guys, certain industries, I get it. So I don't mean that. What I mean by that is less curated content. As in like, you know, not everything has to look like it's cinematic and shot by a professional videographer. And while there is a time and a place for those types of content, obviously that's great. But what I mean is, is we've seen it for Over a year now. More of the storytelling type reels where it's like you're just talking to the camera off the cuff because something just happened and you got to share it with everybody. You're just like, oh my gosh, this just happened. Oh my gosh, I got to reveal this thing that I just saw. Da da da, right? We see reels going viral that are just like, oh my gosh, corporate girlies run to Target for this, blah, blah, blah. And it's like viral because it's just like showing this cute thing they found at the Target dollar spot. Or we'll see. People go, hey, need a new hobby? May I suggest this? And it's something that you just started. It's like your findings, things that you are seeing in the world that you want to share with others. That's what it's always been when I think of like when I shared stories just on my personal account back in the day, which I never go on that anymore because obviously I love my, you know, I had a personal and I switched to my business. And then eventually I just, you know, my business is pretty much my personal too, really. But that's what I would say. Like, let's say like I would check out at the grocery store and something funny happened. I get in my car and get on stories and tell the story, right? So when I started showing up on my business, when I created my business business profile, I still did the same thing. I was like, oh my gosh, just had this cool convo with someone. Oh my gosh, look what's opening down the street. Oh my gosh, look what I just found. And I literally would go to the Target dollar spot and show things I found and silly things like that. And that's how people connected with me on stories. And this is how I always approach social media. Then my feed got a little more value based, quote, unquote. Even though human connection is valuable, but it became a lot of tips, tricks, etc, But I always, once a week or once every two weeks would do some sort of like, here's what we did this weekend. Here's where I went. Here's a Friday intro. Do you guys remember the Friday intro post? I would post stuff like that. Like, my name's Shannon, my favorite karaoke song is Shoop. I, you know, used to live in Atlanta. I'm born in D.C. right? Like, I would do those types of posts. And then all of a sudden after 2020 when all these people became Instagram gurus because they had a real go viral and Decided they were gonna call themselves Instagram gurus. Do not get me started. I digress. But they were like, value only. Value, value. Tip, tip, tips. And the human went away from social media. The human, you. You as a human disappeared. I didn't know people's names. All everyone's accounts were a business name. And it was, I was like, what is going on? So with that said, we're going. We. I've been saying it for two years now, but especially in the past year, I'm like, we're going back to basics. And I've been saying that for 2025. I said all 2024. I was like, get ready, we're going back. We're going back. And we have to correct ourselves because we went too far the other way and we're seeing it. So with that said, what I wanted to talk about today was I shared a reel today about how yesterday I made my husband a little surprise, little happy home. Because I realized it was the day we met 15 years ago. And that I said, I was like, you know, I don't do a lot of stuff like this. We, you know, we were dating and pre kids, I used to do little fun little surprises for them all time, but we haven't. And, and I'm telling the story as the whole video is just me cutting cheese, who cut the cheese and you know, slicing grapes and stuff. And that's the video. It's just me. And I'm my voiceover just talking about this and how I'm like, oh my gosh, we met 15 years ago and I decided I want to do this little thing. And, and then I go on to say, and you know, after talking to you all so much in the DMs about how bored you feel of your own content, how you'd never know what to post because you were told 10 different things. I was like, here I am sharing a stupid video of me cutting cheese and grapes and, and putting crackers on a cheese board. But it's just telling a story about how my husband and I met and how I'm going to share his content because I should. This is a moment I want to remember. This is a moment I want to treat as like a little diary entry of like something in Ryan and I's marriage. You know, we've been together 15 years as boyfriend, girlfriend, and then we got our 13 year anniversaries coming up. We're allowed to share that stuff on social media. Do not let anyone tell you you cannot share this stuff. And that's where I get so frustrated because everyone feels like they have to be in a box. You have to niche down, man. I've never niched down. The only way I've niche down is I typically share mainly Instagram tips, but I. What? I work with everyone from the plumbers to the craft breweries to the stylists to the interior designers, to the educators, to the Chick Fil A. You know, I've worked with all sorts of different industries to hair salons, obviously business coaches, at nutritionists. I've done it all. I've never niched down with what I do. Now the problem I solve is that's my niche, right? Helping people create better content, attract people, get more sales, get more views, et cetera, right? But I've never felt in a box with my content. And I will post, you know, if I go to Vegas. I remember I did fun reels at Silly Reels in Vegas. Like me and my husband. If Chloe does something funny, I put it on a reel. I don't care, because I am in this world. And I know what you're hearing is garbage. And I'm like, you guys also just post what you want to post that day. Now, is that a great. Is it good idea not to have a strategy? No, but this is part of my strategy, and it's under the H category of happening. So if you, you know, if you've listened to any of these, you already know. You guys are, like, probably tired of me saying it. But the four H's, it's why I came up with them, because they're based on feelings. And when we open up the app, the content we react to is because it made us feel a certain way. Whether it made us laugh, made us feel smarter, made us feel, gave us a fun idea to share with people, or it made us feel connected and it resonated or made us laugh or made us feel heard, it makes us feel something. And that's why I always tell you, like, your content doesn't only have to make you grow or nurture or sell. I know a lot of people out there teach growth, content, nurture. No, no, no. We buy from feelings. We follow because of a feeling, and we damn you because of feeling. So if you can get us to feel something done, take my money, get my follow, chat it up with me. We're. We're besties now, right? So with that said, what causes feelings more than anything? Stories. And we know that Instagram is a storytelling app. Always has been, always will be. So what can you do? Number one, you need to make sure your story is pinned to your grid. And if you go to mine, you can see what that looks like. That's the only video I've actually ever like outsourced. A friend of mine owns a it's called Evolution Content and they put together these founder stories. If you want to look her up, her name is Flora. She's amazing. But you can just literally do a photo dump. If you're not ready to invest in that, you can do like 10 photos and on each photo be like, hi, here's I am and this is what I'm into. And again, my favorite karaoke song is Shoop. Mine was, you know, start with like, you know, I was a struggling whatever marketer, couldn't get anyone to hire me, how to take a bunch of crappy sales jobs and now here I am a seven figure right. Next slide. I'm also a mother too. I lived in a next slide. What would an about page? If you have to submit yourself for a bio for a speaking engagement. That's what that is, right? Or if you're a coffee shop or you're a corporation about your culture, your motto, et cetera. Right. Have that pinned. It could also look like this and everyone should have that pen. The other. I always talk about this. This is a side thing but for your pin post you're allowed to have three pin on your main grid and three on your real, real tab. But the main three think about a website about me product services blog. So the way I say it, the same thing about me for a pin second would be something that sells and moves the needle in your business. Whether it's you're talking about the product or service, maybe some testimonial, something like that. And then the third, something kind of community based. Right? So something kind of like that you have you would have on a blog. Okay, so with that said, another way to be personal and remind people that like it's a happening. Right? This is what I want you to do today. If you already have a founder story app and you've already done that or you don't want to introduce yourself, no worries. This is what I want you to do. I started my reel out by saying yesterday that was the first word. It was yesterday. It was 75 degrees. I decided to da da da da. Right. The reason I did that is because so many reels I see going crazy and I've helped so many of my reels lab students do it and go viral. You start with the time frame, the date, et cetera. So you start with the B roll. And I'll show you, if you're watching on YouTube, this is what I'm going to have you. It's just B roll of the person doing the action. She says. And it starts with today. And she has 200,000 likes. Now, hers is humorous. And I'll tell you in a second. So this could be humorous, it could be a tip, or it could just be a story. And you just say with today, yesterday or six months ago, eight years ago, one week ago, two hours ago, right? And you say today and you say what you did. I discovered this. Blah, blah, blah. Let's say you're a stylist or you're a fashion blogger or you're an author. Like today I found this book. Or blah, blah, blah. What is something that happened today? Yesterday, Something like that. Okay. Because we want to be in your world. We want to know what you're up to, where you're going. And it's just, even though it's not that deep because again, social media isn't that deep. It's just a little thing to know. Like, oh, let me. What, what's she talking about? What happened today? So her says, I'll tell you today. I've come to realize that the hardest part about having toddlers is knowing that the Play DOH colors will mix. Now, again, this is what I would call obviously humor. But it's also happening because it's like it's showing that she's playing with her kids and playing with Play doh. That's what she was doing with her life today. And everyone in the comments is laughing. Other ideas for this? Okay, just. Just to show you. I love this. Now, she didn't say today, but you know, she could have. But it says, my old soul boyfriend dropped me at Pilates and waited for me to finish. I found him here, headphones on, reading a book, eating a slice of banana bread. I hope we're still doing this when we're 70. These will be in the show notes, the examples. I'm going to give you one more example, but basically I want you to point something else because here's the thing. I will die on this hill. Nothing makes better content than real life moments. And it can be business related, obviously, right? Today a customer came in and da, da, da, da. So we made this for them. Maybe you're a restaurant and someone came in for like a 50th wedding anniversary. I don't know. Real life moments. Today, yesterday, a week ago. Okay, and here's another one. I love this she said, this isn't saying today, but it's saying, I just noticed. So that's another cool way to get started out. But what is something happening in your life right now? Something in the moment that we can take a look at and go, oh, my gosh, I love that for you. Oh, my gosh, that's so cool. To bond with you. And her says, I just noticed the name of one of my daughter's Spotify playlist. And then she turns the camera around, it says, car with mom with a heart. Just so it gives you that feeling of oh, my gosh. And you immediately relate to her if you're a mom. But we love getting a peek into you and your business's life. Now, another example of this, if you don't want to do the today, because I want to give you a few options. One is the founder story. The next is, like I said today, yesterday, six months ago, we did it. The other is just what's something you do within your niche that people would love? I love this one. This girl, she says, my mom and I eat the same lunch every day. And then she breaks down what it is and why and how it's helping them drop their cholesterol. And so it actually goes in with her business because she shares nourishing recipes. So, of course. Do you see what I mean? It's so much more personal. We have brought the people back into social media and I'm so freaking here for it. And I want you to know, if you wanted to show a photo dump of your family's spring break, do it. We love to see your spring break. We want to see where you stay. We want to see the cool, cute kitchen in the Airbnb. We want to see it. We connect over those basic mundane stuff again. Are you going to share that every single day? No, not unless you're a lifestyle brand or a personal blogger or whatever. But we want to see it. I want to see where my yoga teacher went. I want to see where my baristas go. I want to see. I want to know the story of why you opened your boutique. I want to know these things. Okay, so with that said, don't forget to be human. Don't forget it's okay to just post something you want to for the sake of posting it. It's your social media, and while it's for others, it's for your people. Sharing your life and inviting us into your world is what we will really appreciate in a way for us to connect with you. So I just wanted to remind you that. I hope this helps. This was kind of more of a Come to Jesus type of podcast episode. I just want to encourage you, like, especially with everything going on in the world and everything feeling so heavy, like one of the best things you can do is bring some more joy to it. So what brings you joy? Share that. I love you, friend.