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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. Hello. It is a very special episode. This is our 100th episode of Good Content and what a way to finally kick it off. I. I am in our new quote unquote podcast studio. Obviously still more to do, but we have a location. My couch is here. I still have to put that up. But isn't this cool? It's built ins so now I kind of have a space to like put all my content creation stuff and got this fun lights and we are going to do it right one step at a time. So soon we'll have it completely set up and I'm going to decorate the bookshelves and we're just going to make it so, so fun. But I just, I just think it's perfect because I've been talking about creating a space for this podcast for a hundred episodes and we finally did it. But again, as I always like to say, and as you can see from today's hair, last night was the super bowl. So it's giving. Shannon was up past her bedtime, but you know, start messy. I. Nothing I've ever created started with like the perfect lighting, the perfect sales page, the perfect onboarding process, whatever. Like I did everything really messy and I know that's really hard for a lot of people, but, but I think sometimes being type B can really have its advantages in the entrepreneur space. Because if I just have an idea, I'm like, well, I guess I'm gonna create this freebie today. I'm gonna put it on a Google Doc and throw it out there. Like it's. Trust me, guys, there are things probably sitting in your notes app, your Google Docs, obviously your brain that you could make money off of online. I'm telling you, we just love to learn from each other and we love to hear each other's stories and follow each other's journeys and that's all social media is, that's all it's at ever been. And we complicated it so much and it's really not that deep. So this is just for me telling you, like, and I did a real on this last week basically saying, you know, I think one of the reasons I've been successful and why so many of my clients are successful and students is that we just don't hesitate, right? Just know you're gonna have so many videos that fail, you're gonna have carousels that fail. You're gonna be like, oh, this is gonna crush. It's gonna go viral. You're gonna be like, it. It's part of the process. I'm not a quantity over quality person. Absolutely not. I always say messaging first, social second. Understand what your message is, understand who you're trying to reach. But sometimes just to get going, you need to just kind of create. Right? I love the freedom in that we you don't have to stick to a specific niche. I love that. If something just makes me laugh and I want to share it, I share it. I do not live by a content calendar. I do not put my content and myself into a box on social media. That would be really boring. So I just want to encourage you. Start messy, post the content, be cringe, embrace it. And one and at some point, one of your videos is going to take off. And with that said, I want to share something. One of my Rails lab students, she just had a trial reel. Go crazy. Because what I want to talk about again in this special episode is the power of identity. So with your hooks and I'm, I'm working on this new formula for you guys and I'll be sharing it next week. You know, I've talked about the Rep Hook formula, which is your hooks should mention one of these three things. Something relatable, something that establishes your expertise, like, why should we trust you? And then something personal. So meaning mine would be like 10Amazon content creation tools I swear by as a type B creator or something like that, or someone who's grown at 300,000 followers. The relatable thing is that Amazon piece I'm borrowing the familiarity and that of something they can relate to. They relate to shopping there, right? So that's the R, the E is me expert. Someone who's grown over 300,000 followers on Instagram that establishes my expertise. And then personal is just me saying I. These are the things I swear by. So hooks like that are really powerful. I've helped so many people go viral with the Rep Hook formula. I've podcasts on it. I'm sure my amazing podcast manager, Steph will put them in the show notes if you want to learn more about that. But I'm coming up with a new one just to really drive this home. Because we purchase based off identities, right? Who do we want to be? Or, you know, we're purchasing things for a better version of ourselves. We buy everything from alarm clocks to microphones to, you know, we Buy these wireless mics to be better content creators. We buy gym memberships to tone up for summer, right? There's all these things, we buy better versions of ourselves. And then the other piece of identity and hooks is your identity, your expertise. Like, right? Like I love the doctors that are like, I fix bones for a living, I da da da dentist, I save people from getting root canals for a living. That type of identity, right? So we're either going to grasp to the identity of you because you're an expert and you know what you're talking about. You've read all the books, you've done the thing, you went to grad school, you lost the weight, you transformed the house, whatever. That's your identity or the identity of who we see ourselves in or who we want to be, right? So I know, I love seeing content from type B people, from girl moms, from people in North Carolina. That's my identity. Look, I'm wearing a Virginia Tech football. If I see content about Virginia Tech, am I stopping? Yes. If I see content about North Carolina, am I stopping? Yes. If I see content about motherhood, real housewives, coffee, pasta, you guys know like my whole algorithm is pretty much food. I'm going to stop and look, right? So that's things that I relate to and I see myself in. But obviously if someone's like, you know, I've traveled to all the blah, blah, blah, I've not done that, I don't identify with that, but I want to learn from that person. Okay, so that's part of it, identity, right? But then you got to add in sometimes like buzzwords and terminology that we love because we are buying into an identity or we're learning from your identity. And a lot of that identity comes from following people's journeys. What you've learned, what you learned five minutes ago, what you're learning now, what you're doing, where you're going, the season of life. You're in empty nesting, right? So again, there's all these words that I want you to start writing down and keep em in a bank in like Google Docs, right? Let's say you're an introvert, okay? Write that down. Let's say you're single, in your 30s and you live in New York, like all these things about you need to write down. These are all interesting things you can work into your hooks that make people go, ooh, I wanna learn from that person. That sounds like me. Or that sounds like my friend. It's huge, guys, identity. Then you bring in the journey aspect of what have you accomplished? What have you done? What have you worked on? What have you learned? So let me show you some of these hooks and let me show you the trial rail that went bonkers for my client. And what's interesting about her, she's a dentist, but a lot of her content is lifestyle content. It's just about being a mom and systems in your home and all these things. And she has grown so much since she joined the Rails lab. Like, I want to say she was at like 10,000. She's over. She's almost at 70,000 now. I'll get her permission. Maybe we'll put her in the show notes. I don't like to take credit for, obviously everything, because there's so much magic in just you and my clients. And, you know, I can give you guys hooks all day, but it's for you to take and run with and put your spin on it. So I'm not trying to take credit for her virality, but she is killing it, and I'm so freaking proud. But she wrote me the other day, she goes, oh, my gosh, Shannon, you are a genius. This trial reel has converted over 3400 followers in 24 hours. Do you want to know why she called out the identity that they want to be? She not only called out an identity, she called their identity out in one of my favorite ways to call people out on Instagram, and that is with a specific scenario, a specific thing that they say or find themselves in. This is something you guys can all run with. If you run a restaurant, you sell digital products. You are a home organizer, home contractor, you are a news reporter. Whatever it is that you do, you can use this hook. You literally start with the hook of what your people say that they are pissed off about. Frustrated with. I can't find anyone who shares da da da. I can never. I never know what to make for dinner. I can't dress my body anymore. In my 40s, I did that. So what hers said mine would be, I can't get out of 200 View jail to save my life. I never have time to create content. My content sucks and no one cares. Right? It would say that in quotations two to three seconds after. This is an assignment I gave my real SLAB students two weeks ago. And she took it, ran with it, and she sent it to me on February 2, giving me the results. And I don't. I forget what the results were then, but fast forward to Now. It's over 14,000 likes, over a hundred reposts, over 1600 shares. This is a trial reel, and I've talked about trial reels a lot. Identity, identity, identity. Big time. In trial reels, it's basically introducing your account. Who are you? What do you share? So it says, my home stresses me out and nothing ever sticks. And then at the three second mark, she drops it. That's because you haven't met me yet. And she uses B roll clips showing her systems the calm in her home, the fact that there's still toys and snacks and whatever, but that there's calm in her home. You guys, on February 2nd, she was at 3400 new followers. And that was when she only had, like, I don't even know half the likes and engagement she wrote. She sent it to me again and goes, this is insane. Just yesterday. So she's grown even more and it's gone viral. Identity journeys, what we desire. We gotta know that about our audience, right? We gotta know why people buy, why they follow, why they. Whatever, right? So another example, let's just talk about the halftime show last night. Bad Bunny. Now, it'll always just drive me crazy, the fact that people get so worked up about who's at the super bowl and like, oh, like, it's like, what? We can't understand other people's identities and passions and joy, right? I remember when, like, Eminem and all them were on the Super Bowl. Was that like four years ago? And my mom and like, all her, you know, sibling. I mean, obviously they're. I don't know what generation, but they're like, oh, this is terrible. Blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, you guys, like, this is like, if we had to watch their band, right? Perform, but think about that. We. Not everyone likes Bad Bunny. Not everyone likes Eminem and 50 and all them. Not everyone likes Aerosmith. Not everyone likes Bruno Mars. That's what makes the world go round. Okay? So when we're engaging, we're going to typically want to see and engage with stuff that is in alignment with our taste. Our taste in music, clothes, lifestyle, right? So when I say these things like Gen X, millennials, introverts, extroverts, empty nesters, those type of identifiers are huge. So when I put it on my stories last night of how the amount of storytelling in the Bad Bunny performance, I was like, it's gonna take me like a day or two to dissect it all. I'm already getting DMs, like, ugh. Oof. Like, wrong take. And I'm like, you guys, like, it's just. It's I mean, it's just silly to me. I get it. Not everyone's gon. But, like, do you know how many DMs I got from people that were like, thank you for recognizing our culture. This was so special to us. And I'm like, that's why I loved it. It was so special to so many communities of people, right? They had the bartender from who has, like, one of the last Puerto Rican social clubs in Brooklyn. She, like, gave Bad Bunny a shot. There was so much worked into that performance. It was crazy. I love watching that stuff because of the art, right? I don't need to understand what he's saying to understand how powerful of a performance that was. With that said, that's identity too. So when you're thinking about your people, what do they consider themselves to be? Who do they want to be? What grabs their attention? What makes them proud? That's where it all starts. And when I say messaging, that's what I mean. Who are they? Who do they see themselves as? Who do they want to be? What do they celebrate? What do they get excited about? If you know your people are really pumped about Valentine's Day, you. You better have some content about Valentine's Day, right? Whether it's like a meal to make your girlfriend, a gift to bring your teacher that your teacher will appreciate, whether it's an idea to bring a bestie. What are your people excited about right now? Right now, there's a ton of people excited about the Bad Bunny show, and they want to talk about Bad Bunny. There's a bunch of people in Seattle that are so hyped because they're team one. There's people who are excited about Valentine's Day coming up, spring coming up. What is it? This is what I'm talking about. And take us along and give us some stuff that we actually care about. And you cannot go wrong on social media. Sorry, this is kind of a tangent. I didn't know where I was gonna go with this episode, but I just wanted to bring it on home to think of the person behind the screen. Stop thinking so much about these algorithms and content. It's. The content is your thoughts. The content is your perspectives, your journey or everything you're going through. Everything you. You are testing. What are you doing? Where are you going? What you doing? Did you like the show? Did you not like the show? Were you happy about the game turnout? Was it the most boring super bowl ever? Yes, it was. Join the conversation. That is social media. So it. It can literally be as simple as that with that said, I want to talk about identity driven hooks that you can take for yourself right now so you can get a quick win. Okay, here's a great one. Pov you find out there's a nook of Instagram where burnt out and busy professionals are learning how to actually enjoy their evenings again without doom scrolling. How much identity is in that? So much. So anyone who can identify with that, they're like, oh my gosh, this is my safe space. I belong here. What could you do? Pov you find out there's a nook on Instagram where. Or pov you find out there's a coffee shop, a boutique, a bodega in blah, blah, blah, that xyz. What makes your account different, what makes your content, your shop, your products lean into the identity of who we are. All right, I mean, here we go. Obviously, bad bunny content everywhere. So anyone who is there is sharing. You know, it says one of the most beautiful halftime shows ever. So everyone who agrees is going to chime in and then other people are, you know, oh, social media cracks me up. Okay, here we go. I have adhd, so I accidentally spent all morning perfecting the front of my to do list instead of actually doing anything on the list. Relatable and funny, right? So if anyone with adhd, you know, sees this, they're going to be like, oh, that's me. I get it now. Let me find one more so you guys can see what I mean by these little identifiers and situations and scenarios that people put into their content that makes it blow up. Oh, and this is it. I was wondering if I was going to talk about this. Okay, so Kevin James. This is perfect. Kevin James is coming out with a movie and if you haven't seen his promo, it's insane. What? He has started a brand new Instagram account and he's acting as the character in his movie. It's fascinating, but everyone sees and goes, that's Kevin James. And he's like, hi, I'm. I forget the name of whatever. Like Matt something. He was at the super bowl last night sitting by himself with roses. Okay? It is getting everyone talking and what happens that gets people joining a conversation and following along on a journey. Okay? There's so many ways to just make your content feel like you're inside on a joke. You're in on the conversation. This is what I mean. It says, why is Kevin James sitting alone behind me at the Super Bowl? And everyone in the comments is like, oh my gosh, it's the most genius marketing. I've ever seen for a promo. It's, you know, it's a promo. All right, hold on one second. Let me find one more. And here's another great account. Classic literature by black authors. Now, is that long winded crazy identity? No, but. So I just want to show you. Sometimes they can be like, I love me some long hooks that are just like tons of identity in them, but I love this classic literature by black authors. And it's just straight up. So anyone who wants to read more by black authors is going to stop on that account and follow and that's it. And I love this one too. How? Simple. The snack my family asks for on repeat. So anyone with kids. And you can tell from the video, it's like little snacks for children. And it's like, why am I seeing that? Because the algorithm knows I have kids and the algorithm knows I like food, but I identify with it because I have a family. Right? All right. And here's a perfect example of journeys. So this account, Budgeters Anonymous. I think a lot of people are like, oh, well, I talk mortgages or money. That's boring. Well, here's how you make it not boring. You bring us along on a journey. So he is talking about, he's holding his baby and he says, ready? I'm just gonna let it play. Turned three months today and already has a net worth of $2,607. So he's holding his baby, who was three months, and he's talking about how they're going to. How they are. It's. The caption says, it's easier to make your kid a middle class trust fund kid than you think. Holy identity right there. He's not saying billionaire millionaire. He's saying something that like most average families are like, oh, this sounds doable. And instead of just saying, here's how he's saying, my son just turned three months and he's already got blank end amount in the bank. So with the Kevin James promo, the Instagram is Matt Taylor. Life's messy art is beautiful. Let's turn this mess into a masterpiece. So what it is is him. He's like an art teacher. And I don't know what's unfolding, but as you go through his Instagram, as this story is unfolding, as they're filming this movie, he is taking it like you are getting a behind the scenes look. It's not giving the movie away. The last reel he shared is him crying on the street, basically saying his girlfriend either left him, you guys, it's absolutely brilliant. Even though we know that he is acting and this is part of a movie. They have studied what works on social media and they have turned it into an Instagram account. So by the time you go see that movie, you are invested, you're sharing it with your friends. You go, we gotta find out what's unfolding. We gotta find out what's going on. This is how he starts out almost all of his videos. Hey, guys, Mr. Taylor here. Hey, guys, Mr. Taylor here. And I know what you're gonna say, well, Shannon, he's famous. But they are doing what works on social media. When all else fails, look at what the big guys are doing. This is what we're doing for movies now. This is crazy. And I'm obsessed. So all I want to do with this episode is just really simplify social media in a way that feels so that you start thinking about how you use it as a Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, et cetera, user, but also how you think like a marketer. We are buying experiences, we're buying stuff through our own identity. And you're literally inviting them in to be a part of that identity. So what Kevin James and them are doing is they're like, let's invite you in. Come and meet Mr. Taylor. Get his story, get all the behind the scenes of who he is and replacing him at the super bowl by himself. There's a reason for this content, like my client did. Hey, your house is always a mess. You can never figure it out. That's because you haven't met me yet. You are inviting us in to be part of this identity and to be part of this journey and to be part of a story. That, my friend, is social media in a nutshell. What can you share today? What thought, perspective. That is your content. What cool thing did you discover? What are you looking forward to? What are you doing to prepare for summer, Valentine's Day, spring? Bring us in, Bring us in. And I know for my product, people, easy, taste driven. What is my taste? What do I like? Am I on a budget? Do I want the dupes? Do I want the expensive part? What is it? And own it. I love. There's. There's a really funny real. I'll have to try to find it and maybe I'll share it next week where I can find it. But, like, there's a bougie baby bottle cleaner and the whole joke is like, how do I convince my husband that we need this overpriced? Blah, blah, blah. They own it. A lot of parents are going to be like, that is so unnecessary. And then there's going to be parents who are like, I need this now, or like, this, I deserve this. I gave birth to a baby. Right? So identity, Identity. It really comes down to that. Okay, next week, I'm going to share the hook with you. So take all that in, absorb, start writing down your identifiers, and we're going to have some fun next week. I'll talk to you then.