Podcast Summary: Grow Your Local Business

Episode 132: Why Instagram Growth Advice Doesn’t Work for Local Business Owners

Host: Leslie Presnall
Date: September 2, 2025

Main Theme & Purpose

Leslie Presnall unpacks why generic Instagram growth advice often fails local business owners. She contrasts high-visibility, “sexy” online tactics with strategies optimized for connecting to potential clients in your geographic area. Leslie shares pitfalls of widely-recommended practices and offers a framework to grow a high-value, locally engaged audience on Instagram.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Disconnect Between Mainstream Instagram Advice and Local Business Needs ([00:21]–[07:30])

• Leslie recounts her personal realization, over 15 years ago, that online marketing “guru” strategies weren’t tailored for businesses seeking local customers:
  • “What I was learning from them wasn’t going to work for me as a local business owner who wanted to reach people down the street.” — Leslie [00:38]
• Many courses and social media challenges promise big follower or views numbers, but rarely mention how to ensure those followers are potential local clients.

Real-World Problem:

• Local business owners report following advice to the letter—posting frequently, engaging, using trending tactics—but end up with audiences primarily from outside their local area, or only peers in their industry.

  • “I do everything right, … but I just get more people in my industry following me or I get people all over the world following me. I don’t get people in my city who can actually hire me following me.” — Leslie, sharing feedback from business owners [02:10]
  • Example: A home organizer went “viral” and amassed 10,000+ followers, but none were local and therefore, “no one was even able to hire her or work with her.” [03:10]

2. Redefining Success: The Value of a Smaller, Local Audience ([07:30]–[10:30])

• Leslie introduces her “local follower system,” with a goal to gain 100 new local followers per month.

  • This number may seem modest compared to viral metrics, but 100 local followers are exponentially more valuable than thousands of random or non-local ones.

• Clarifies that each local follower has real financial and referral potential.

  • “A hundred local people are people who live in your city. They have the real potential to work with you, to pay you, or they have the potential to refer you.” — Leslie [08:50]

• Key Insight:
  “I would rather you have a smaller following that’s worth thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars than a huge audience worth $0.” [09:45]

3. Why “Grow by 1,000 Followers” Tactics Don’t Serve Locals ([10:30]–[16:30])

• Breaks down typical Instagram advice that promises 1,000 new followers in 30 days:

  • Example tasks: 5 reels/week, 1 story/day, 3 carousels/week, replying to comments, engaging in your niche, etc.
  • While this increases follower count, “will they be local people ready to buy your services? Probably not. And here’s why…” — Leslie [12:35]

• Reels & Carousels:
  Designed for maximum reach, but unless localized, they reach “people all over the world. Instagram is just going to show them to whoever or no one.” [13:30]

• Stories:
  Great for nurturing current audience, but “not going to help you just get more followers.” [14:20]

• Engagement Tactics:
  Replying to and engaging with your own or niche audience mainly nurtures industry peers, not local prospects.

  • “Unless you want a follower list full of other people in your niche, which this is just the number one thing people come to me saying that they have.” [15:30]

4. What to Do Instead: Localize Your Instagram Strategy ([16:30]–[22:00])

• Content Localization:
  Make it clear your posts are for people in your city and that you are the local solution for their needs.

• Networking on Instagram:
  Use the platform as your “local networking tool”—think of it as “a networking event, but you never have to get up off of your couch.” [18:30]

  • Engage with local accounts, businesses, organizations, influencers—anyone “who is part of your community.”

• Encourage Local Referrals:
  Collaborate for shared exposure, get clients/followers to share your content, and ensure you’re discoverable with local hashtags, keywords, and location tags.

  • “You need other people in your city talking about you on Instagram. That’s how you tap into audiences beyond your own.” [19:40]

• Optimize for Local Discoverability:
  Use location-specific hashtags, geotags, and keywords in posts and profile.

5. Systemizing Local Growth: The Repeatable Plan ([22:00]–[24:20])

• It’s not about doing more or chasing every Instagram trend—it’s “about doing the right things locally and doing them consistently.” [22:55]

• Key Quote:
  “You don’t need a thousand random followers or a thousand people in your niche. You need 100 local people who can actually buy from you.” [23:30]

• The method Leslie teaches in her LocalPreneur Academy is built for predictably and reliably adding 100 local followers a month, which can turn you into the “fully booked, go-to person in your city.” [24:00]

Notable Quotes & Takeaways

• “Every single person of those 100 local followers is highly valuable. Like, think about how much your service is or how much what you sell is. … Each local follower is worth potentially $350.” — Leslie [08:58]
• “If you end up growing your following with other people in your industry or with people all over the world, you may have more followers but those followers are worth $0 at that point.” — Leslie [09:42]
• “Instagram is just going to show [your reels] to whoever or no one. It's not going to just start showing them to people who live in your city automatically.” — Leslie [13:40]
• “You need other people in your city talking about you on Instagram. That’s how you tap into audiences beyond your own.” — Leslie [19:41]
• “It's not about doing just more, more, more on Instagram. It’s about doing the right things locally and doing them consistently.” — Leslie [22:55]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:21 — The problem: why most Instagram advice doesn’t apply to local business owners
• 02:10 — Real examples from local business owners frustrated by irrelevant growth
• 07:30 — The value of 100 local followers versus generic big numbers
• 10:30 — Breaking down “grow by a thousand followers” advice
• 13:30 — Why most Instagram growth actions don’t get you local clients
• 16:30 — The alternative: localizing your Instagram and treating it as a networking tool
• 19:40 — Leveraging collaborations and client referrals via Instagram
• 22:00 — Building a repeatable, monthly local follower system

Conclusion

Leslie Presnall spotlights the mismatch between widely-circulated Instagram tactics and the realities of local business marketing. She powerfully reframes success away from vanity metrics, emphasizing that a small, truly local audience is dramatically more valuable than irrelevant viral growth. Leslie’s approach centers on strategic localization and genuine community networking, providing a clear, actionable path for local entrepreneurs seeking real results.