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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. Okay, I want to start off real quick by saying I have a reel going crazy viral right now on Instagram and the trolls are out. And let's talk about it real quick because it's, it's a new trend where it's six syllables of a beat of a song and you're basically coming up with a saying. A lot of people are doing like, let's just go to Chili's or let's go get iced coffee or like really funny relatable ones. That's why it goes so crazy, because they're really, really relatable. So I was trying to think of a relatable one for people in my world, right? Or content creators, business owners. So I said, don't steal people's content. Don't steal people's content, right? And you do it four times. That's how the trend goes. Everyone's doing it the same way. Most people are like, oh my gosh, thank you for saying it, blah, blah, blah, right? Because we've all had our content stolen. And this person just wrote me and goes, there's no such thing. Once it's posted to Instagram, Instagram owns it. And I'm like, okay, first I just want to say, and if you want to go to my Instagram on my Reels tab, a friend of mine who's also a she, you know, copyright infringement, all this stuff is like her jam. So she talked about it, about how, you know, yes, it's, it's. And other people are commenting all, you know, the trolls are like, well, you're stealing someone's content because of. This isn't your trend. Here's the thing about social media. You have the right. If someone copies your content word for word. And I don't mean a trend. A trend is different. An idea is different. A fun, clever idea for a trend is not. Like if someone were to even take mine, that's not really stolen, right? It's annoying. Cause it's like, oh, I, you could have given me credit. But it's, it's not stolen. When I say copied, I mean, you know, about six, seven months ago, someone copied my method and claimed it as their own, my 4H method, right? And said it was hers when it in fact is not. You can say, let me teach you the 4H method, but you can't say it's yours if it's not. And it said, like, my 4H method. I was like, well, and things like that. Or someone's entire caption or their carousel. Like the hook is the same exact. Obviously something like pasta salad, Memorial Day pasta salad recipe. Like that's probably been used a million times. What I'm talking. When I say steal someone's content, it is literally their entire caption. Someone even said someone stole their caption and it was a heartfelt story about her daughter. This is the stuff that's happening online and it is out of control. And yes, you can file a copyright infringement just, again, just Google it. You can file this stuff. I've had Instagram take stuff down before. One girl, one time did my reel that also went viral about subliminal hooks. I mean, she took the hook in the whole list verbatim and copied it. Could she have changed a few words and it would. Yeah, but she didn't. And this is what I'm talking about in the, in the. This world of social media is so frustrating sometimes. Cause it's like, we spend so much time coming up with these hooks, and I'm giving you hooks all the time on this podcast and on Instagram. Put your little spin on it. Put your little magic on it for trends. Put your own spin on it. That's not stealing. Being inspired, coming up with ideas, taking someone's idea and kind of running with it. That's not stealing verbatim words. Copy. You cannot do methods, things like that. So I just wanted to say that, because if you listen to this podcast and you saw my reel, it's just. It's hilarious. I mean, people are loving it and we're all having so much fun with this trend. But then there's people that are like, we, everyone. That's what social media is. It's copying. I'm like, it's. It's not. Yes, trends, we copy. And a lot of times. But my thing, what I teach my people is like, what's your take on it? What's your perspective? How can we take that really good hook and make it yours? That's all it is anyway. But yeah, I just want to say that because I got a lot of questions too, saying, well, what's the difference between being inspired and copy? I'm like, look, if someone's Entire cap, like 2000 character caption is your caption, that's a problem, right? And if you do get inspired by someone's, and it was like, Their idea. Maybe it's their exact editing style or whatever it is. Give them a shout out in the caption or reach out to them and say, hey, do you mind? I've had so many people over the years say, hey, Shannon, do you mind if I steal that? Like, go for it. Just ask. Okay, that's kind of. I just want to say that as like a general rule of thumb. Okay. That's not what we're here to talk about today. But it is frustrating because you're just. Trust me, I know it happens a lot. I even got a DM a couple weeks ago from someone who. And of course, these people have more followers than her. And they stole her exact hook and exact outfits that she was showing. Like, not even just the hook, it was like the exact screenshots that she had. Like, that's crazy to me. I'm like, what is going on, people? Come on. And in this world of AI, you can easily change it a bit. But I just want to say, you know, just be careful, be mindful, and, you know, ask yourself, does this look exactly like so and so's. Maybe switch it up. That's already out there so the world doesn't need it Again, not from, you know, you can do it your own way. Okay, so what we're seeing is bringing humans back into social media, right? And all social media really being personalized again. Hallelujah. Right? Less generic, more personalized. And what's interesting to me and what I want to talk about on this podcast today is how if you look at the big brands, they're all doing it too. So you guys have heard me talk about the rep hook, right? Something relatable, something expert, and something personal in the hooks. And the reason those do so well, even if just like, if you can look at every time you do a hook, make sure at least one of those is in there. An R and E or a P, something. And again, when I say relatable, I mean a word, a phrase, something that they go, ooh, I know that. I recognize that I'm familiar. Or like, I relate to that phrase, that location, et cetera. I have a whole podcast on it, right? E is expertise. So maybe it's like a busy mom. It's just a title. Busy mom, realtor, karate inserter, plumber, 10 year veteran of blah, blah, blah, right? And then P is personal. It just feels like something personal. It doesn't feel like it's coming from a big brand. So here we go with Oreo. It says, and if you're watching on YouTube. You can see it right there. It says, upgrading my store bought cake with Oreo mini bars. Okay, this is so genius. And it is from the brand itself. The word my makes it feel personal, right? Upgrading is a great word because we know it's going to signal transformation. So we're going to watch from beginning to end. So upgraded my store bought cake with Oreo mini bars. Oreo is recognizable. Store bought is relatable. This looks like something I would see from a friend or a creator I love. That's what big brands are doing. They have caught onto the fact that we want to follow creators. And I actually got my score back from Social Media Marketing World. I got a 4.74 out of 5, which I'm like freaking out about. And of course they give you the negative reviews too, right? They're like, here's what everyone said. And they warmed my heart. And there were a couple, you know, feedback that I got that, that, you know, I want to make sure I was like, what did I not hit on? And it was interesting. One person's feedback said that the only wish they had was that the reels I showed were a little less about personal brands and more about businesses. And for me, it confused me only because. Which I appreciate the feedback because again, that's on me. Something didn't get communicated to this attendee. Every reel I showed in my presentation was from a business, a brand. It was from a dentist office, it was from a travel agency. They were from marketer. Right? There were a couple personal brands that were like a graphic designer, but most were teams, businesses, brick and mortars that I was showing them. But I think what's crazy is they thought they were from personal brands. And I made, I thought I made very sure. But you know, things. It's a 30 minute presentation, but again, it just made me realize more and more that this is the new norm and people aren't used to it. They. It just shows almost how uncomfortable us business owners are with making content that looks like it's from a personal brand. Sorry, we are now creators. Even Instagram, the creator account, when I did that collab with them, when I sent my script to them that I was going to do, they're like, oh, can you add the word creator? So instead of saying travel advisor, they wanted me to say travel creator. These platforms, we're creators now, whether you like it or not. So we need to be creating based on what a creator would create. Does that make sense? Was that. That was a lot of words. So let me keep going because Again, I want to drive this home. This is from Oreo. The word my is in it. Store bought cake. And they literally go. And if you're watching on YouTube, you can see it. They take the little minis and they put them on the side of the cake and people love it. Okay, here's another example. Canada Dry, I don't like drama. Me watching reality, my reality show and the girls eating popcorn drinker. Canada Dry, it looks like it's. I mean that actually you can tell is like more of an ad. But interestingly enough, I me my. When I say personal, that's what I mean. Your hooks should not be how to what to they can be. I'm not. Again, these are just suggestions. There's no absolutes. But I like to. Even with my reels, I'll say how I edit a talk to camera reel and then. Or if it says how to edit a talk to camera reel, my caption will say, this is my favorite hack in one of my hooks. Whether it's on screen or in the caption, the word I, my et cetera is there. It makes it feel personal. And what it does is it literally establishes expertise. Even if you don't say the title of what you are because you're saying, this is mine. If I say blah, blah, blah from a therapist, that makes me go, oh yeah, they're an expert, they're an authority. But if I say a therapist with anxiety, I'm like, okay, that's personal. And also this person knows from experience, not just from studying books and going to college and going up getting a PhD. Do you get what I'm putting down? I just want to make sure this really makes sense. Another example. Imagine talking bad about me, but I'm just eating Taco Bell nuggets in my room. Again from Taco Bell. This is not a collab with a creator. No, this is them. What's currently in our shopping cart? Dsw. So retailer. What's currently in our shopping cart. Now, obviously that means dsw, but it looks like it was filmed in a store, not like a studio. So with all that said, I just want to drive home the last several podcasts to really help you understand I'm not just talking out of my butt. Okay? I've been seeing the big brands do this and it's why people are having this huge shift and going less from how to what to when it comes to educational content, AKA helpful content, to how I what I. It's why we say this is your sign to make my blah, blah, blah. This is Your sign to X, Y, Z. Right? It's why we love My toxic trait is it's raw, real humans talking to each other on social media. It's no longer ad, ad, ad, feeling like ads. Right? Because that's what it started to feel like. That's literally what it started to feel like. We were marketed to all day long. And the best marketing does not feel like marketing. Say it again. The best marketing does not feel like marketing. You do not even know you're being sold to until you're handing your credit card and like, what just happened. Right? I mean, it's persuasion. I'm not talking about ripping people off here. I'm just talking about making sure your content feels like it's from a human and it's relatable and it's personal, but it also has your expertise and authority in it. R, E, P, hook. Okay, so with that said, I, I, I want to make sure next week we talk more about. I feel like I've been talking a lot about the helpful educational content. A lot. So next week we'll go through and I'll give you examples of maybe we'll do herd. I think we kind of fun to really double down on a few of the H's that I teach because HERD is another one of those that people just go nuts and follow for. So we'll talk about that next week because at the end of the day, we're on social media to feel seen, heard, and have a safe place. I want to look at your account if I feel like I would feel safe to ask a question or safe to tell my story in your comments. I'm following you, right? Even if you are Canada Dry, even if you are dsw. Right. I would feel safe because your core values match mine. Your prices align with what I can afford. It could be as simple as that. I don't want you to. You know, again, it's not that deep. You know, marketing is a lot. It's not easy to create all this content, but it is simple and that's why you're listening to this podcast. And I hope that help. I just want to drive home again. If you start noticing, you will notice the biggest brands are doing this, so why aren't you? And you need to be too. So again, even though it's like, oh, that looks so personal. It should, right? Anyway, with that said, I just thought it'd be fun to show a few of those examples. I have a ton, but I just want to give you guys those. I'm heading to Miami tomorrow. For a bachelorette party with cousins. It's just gonna be so much fun. Do not worry. The summer is going to be amazing for your content. Because we got it. You and me together. Love you, friend. Bye.