What is Working On Instagram RIGHT NOW | Authentic DMs, Reels Best Practices, Collaboration

CAITLIN DURNING [0:00]

And now I like to say to my clients, if you’re present on the application three days a week and you’re showing up and you really care, now that means by posting. Hopefully, you’re present as much as you can be to answer DMs and things like that, but it’s a lot about balance. So, what I work on with my clients is how to spend 20 minutes a day, 30 minutes a day on the application, make the connections, and then go back to being present in your own life. That’s something that is really, really important to me as a business owner as well as just having that balance.

[MUSIC]

CAMILLE WALKER [0:40]

So, you want to make an impact. You’re thinking about starting a business sharing your voice. How do women do it that handle motherhood, family, and still chase after those dreams? We’ll listen each week as we dive into the stories of women who know. This is Call Me CEO.

[MUSIC]

Welcome back everyone to another episode of Call Me CEO. This is a special episode. I don’t know if you heard, but last episode was episode 100. I can’t even believe that it’s been that long and it’s a huge accomplishment where, starting something new, you never know exactly how long you’ll last. They say somewhere in the first 6 months, a lot of podcasters drop out and I made it to 100.

So, to celebrate, we’re doing something special today talking about the changes in media and what you can do today to really grow and magnify your efforts online with my dear friend, Caitlin Durning, and she is the owner of Meraki Media. I almost said Derning. I said, okay, make sure I get your last name right. It’s Durning. And she is absolutely darling and an incredible story of how she was able to do things online that transformed many businesses. So, her story really inspired me. And Caitlin, I can’t wait for you to share everyone with who you are and what you do. So, thank you for coming to the show.

CAITLIN [2:03]

Thank you so much for having me. I’m honored to be here. This is going to be so fun.

CAMILLE [2:08]

Yeah. We’re here for a good time. I love your energy. I know many of you because we’ve chatted online before we’ve sent DMs and you know you just connect with someone immediately. That’s how I feel about Caitlin. She has just such a positive wonderful spirit and attitude. And so, I very rarely make exceptions to inviting people on who are not mothers, but I do make exceptions. So, Caitlin, thank you for being here and let’s dive into media.

CAITLIN [2:36]

Yay! I can’t wait. And like I said, thank you so much. I’m so honored. I know it’s like a special thing and I feel very special. And I just felt like when you and I met on DM-ing and social media was a perfect connection and I think that actually lends well into the direction we’re taking things too because people really just want that authentic relationship. They don’t want to be bought, sold or thrown into a funnel anymore to some extent. They really want that human interaction off of this platform and every platform.

CAMILLE [3:10]

Absolutely. And I think that a lot of us who have been online for a long time can get jaded to that because a lot of us have been told, “You need a funnel. You can be a step away from it completely. You can do this, this, this, and this.”

And while I think that there is so much strength to automation and utilizing a team and different tactics, it doesn’t always have to be you per se, but it does have to be authentic. And so, that’s where I love so much about what you do and your business is very much with that focus. And I think that makes all the difference in the world. So, introduce who you are, how you got started in your business, and a little bit about you.

CAITLIN [3:50]

Yeah, sure. So, going back a few years now, I’ve had Meraki Media for about three years. I got started after I was working for a local non-profit in the Greater Philly area and I was able to take Instagram following from 18,000 followers to 500,000 followers in a month. It was crazy. And honestly, it was definitely a little bit of luck. We work on social media. There was always a little bit of luck when you hit a viral campaign like that.

But a lot of what we did was also strategic to set it up to build in that direction. So, then I realized, okay, if I can work backwards and potentially help hundreds of business owners do this for themselves on a daily basis, imagine how big their companies could grow. So, that was where the seed was planted.

And I ended up taking off a month and a half from work, traveled across Europe with my boyfriend. It was just a nice getaway before coming back and I had clients waiting for me. And to give a little bit more insight into the business side of things why it didn’t work with influencers and things like that, when I was about 15 years old, I had inherited stock just out of an unfortunate family situation and I had to learn how to analyze businesses since I was 15. So, it made sense why I would go into business specifically for helping other business owners.

So, that was just a natural transition. And I realized if they didn’t have the marketing or they didn’t have a strategy overall that social media would never be able to fix those problems. Of course, there’s a lot of learning along the way when you develop a business, but that was one of the big key reasons of why I wanted to work with business owners specifically.

And now three years in, I’ve coached around 35 women on how to do this for themselves. We’ve over 25 business accounts over the past three years. And yeah, it’s just been such an amazing experience. I really do love what we do at Meraki because it has taken such this shift out of natural, unnatural marketing, we might say or ad man-esque lifestyle when I was first starting three years ago to now really authentic types of pieces of content. And it’s so much more fun that way too.

CAMILLE [6:15]

I love hearing that about your story and how that developed. I think that’s really interesting. And also, with making personal, I think that that’s something that a lot of us get overwhelmed with the cadence of having to show up all of the time and having to post all the time and if you’re on multiple social media.

So, let’s talk about tactics about what’s really working and what’s efficient with our time because we are all limited on what we have to give. So, if you could break that down and say starting from scratch, what are the most effective tools that you’re seeing in marketing right now?

CAITLIN [6:50]

Yeah. I would have to say obviously, one that we all are probably aware of short-term video. And now Instagram’s even bumped it to a minute like TikTok has allowed people to do for a few months now. And that’s really the way the world is headed.

So, not the easiest content to create, but I think also sometimes, we get in our heads about that content creation and it doesn’t have to be perfect like we said either. It’s not this polished video that’s one of a kind out there. It’s actually more about just showing up as your natural self and being you so that you can continue to build trust on and offline because really our ultimate goal especially for business owners or even if we’re influencers is to take that relationship off of the platform at some point, whether that’s buying a product or communicating about our services. It really has to head in that direction. So, ultimately, we’re looking for that trust with our consumer.

CAMILLE [7:50]

Do you think there’s a certain amount of posting that you need to be doing per day, per week? What have you seen be the most successful?

CAITLIN [8:02]

Yes. So, if you would have asked me three years ago, I would have told you five days a week, seven days if you can post to your Instagram account. And that will be static images, carousels, the whole nine. And now, I like to say my clients, if you’re present on the application three days a week and you’re showing up and you really care, now that means by posting.

Hopefully, you’re present as much as you can be to answer DMs and things like that, but it’s a lot about balance. So, what I work on with my clients is how to spend 20 minutes a day, 30 minutes a day on the application, make the connections, and then go back to being present in your own life. That’s something that I’m really, really important to me as a business owner as well as just having that balance.

So, I would say if you can show up and post three days a week, that’s great, but if you can only show up and you can only post one day a week, I don’t think that that should deter you from growing your account either. That’s all you have the time to do, do it and see how it works for you.

But a lot of social media is experimentation and I find a lot of social media managers want to give people this formula that will solve all of their issues. And I’m definitely not that person just because I know out of working with experimentation, sometimes it changes from business to business or industry to industry as well.

So, if you’re a small entrepreneur and you have time or a small solo business owner, you have time to post three days a week plus, do it. Work it into your time frame, but if you’re busy and you can only do one day a week and show up on your stories in between, that’s also been proven to be very successful.

So, there’s several different strategies that you can implement based around your routine and what actually fits into your lifestyle. So, yeah, I would say being present is the most important, and then working backwards from there based around your schedule is probably the best way to go if you’re looking to grow.

CAMILLE [10:05]

Yeah. I think that’s good advice. I think when I have counseled other people that are talking about this or they’re saying, “How much should I do this or how often should I show up?” Oftentimes, my answer is whatever you can be consistent with.

Because I think a lot of times, we start out and we’re like, “I’m going to do this content calendar. I’m going to show up every day for 30 days no matter what.” And week in and we’re burnt out or whatever the scenario is. Maybe for you, it is one day. Maybe for you, it’s three days, but I think it’s allowing yourself baby steps and being okay with that process of being comfortable showing up.

Another question I get a lot is how do I feel comfortable showing my face on stories? And I’m curious what your advice is on this because I have some opinions on what I think works and doesn’t. And stories, the way it’s being filtered has changed a lot even in this past year at least for me personally. What is your advice for stories on Instagram?

CAITLIN [11:06]

So, I like to say, ease in if you’re having some of those worries. I had so much concern around showing up on video three years ago. I retook my first video that I ever posted legitimately 25 times, what might not even have seen the light of day. So, just also to normalize that feeling, it’s very normal. Everybody feels like that in the beginning.

But if you can show up and sometimes, even talking to yourself in the mirror, amping yourself up will really help you articulate your words better, start to realize how you move your face. Unless we’re on Zoom all the time, we don’t always see how we look when we’re talking. So, that can also start to alleviate some of that worry.

Another tip that I have is it’s never going to be perfect. So, if you get a take and it’s under a minute and it works for that day, but maybe your hair is sticking up in the wrong place, sometimes I’ll repost that post to my story and I’ll say, “My hair looks wonky in this, but it’s a lot of great information.” Just using some humor to get around the stories that you have, just makes it more fun. It takes the pressure off.

So, I always just say, if you can get it out and you can post it and even if it’s not perfect, go for it. If somebody has something negative to say, they’re not your ideal client anyway. Don’t take it to heart. We can always eliminate them from our community, especially if they’re going to impact others in a negative way. Just focus on you and your clientele. And if you can show up in that way over time, it gets easier anyhow. So, yeah, go easy on yourself. Try the mirror practicing.

Natural light is also really helpful for me. When I’m not always feeling 100%, I’ll walk over to a window. I even let myself take in some of that sunlight before I start the video and it sometimes gives me more energy. And I’m not showing up with this crummy light from my kitchen anymore. It feels a little bit more real and clearer.

And stay away from the filters if you can because, of course, that’s just going to sometimes put negative thoughts in our head naturally, especially the ones that totally face-tune your face, those. If we need to throw on a filter to blur the pimple that we have, do you. But definitely not the face morphing because I think that that can also bring on more impostor syndrome for videos afterwards that you’re thinking about posting. So, just staying away from them altogether unless you’re using it for a silly humorous type of video.

CAMILLE [13:50]

Yeah. That’s a good point. I think that a lot of us want to show up with an idea of what we’ve seen or what we hope it to be like. And I know that it takes practice. And even after practice, it’s imperfect. And my motto has always been, “Done is fun.” Because if you get wrapped up in those small details, you won’t post and it will trip you up for the next time. I really love the idea of taking in natural sunlight, and then taking that time to show up as who you are authentically. So, the next time you don’t feel like, no, I don’t look like whatever. I hate those filters that change people’s faces. It’s so messed up.

CAITLIN [14:34]

It’s really messed up because we’re all so beautiful in our unique way. That’s another thing that I want to stress here is if you have to always be perfect and feel like you have to have your makeup done for your story and all of these things, what I work on with my clients is what would it feel like to just maybe not wear makeup one day or maybe show up without makeup on your stories and just see what happens?

The earth isn’t going to shatter. Hopefully, knock on wood. We’re not going break a mirror or something. We all have our own intuitive beauty. And if we allow ourselves to show up in that sense, the more confidence we gain as well. It’s like, okay, I showed up without makeup last week. Maybe I can show up without makeup this week and just share this really great experience that I had. And I think again, it just helps build that confidence over time, like what you were saying, the consistency and coming back to that as well and just staying out of those icky filters that doesn’t do good for anybody.

CAMILLE [15:31]

Yeah. I love that. Now, one thing that I’ve noticed with reels recently is they seem to be favoring original audio. Do you agree with that more than the trends?

CAITLIN [15:41]

So, I have seen that a little bit and I’ve also seen that playing out on TikTok. So, that’s probably why.

CAMILLE [15:50]

TikTok leads.

CAITLIN [15:50]

Exactly. TikTok is totally leading everything right now. I’ve found that if you can find a sweet spot within the reel audio where it hasn’t totally taken off yet, that can also be a great way to put yourself on the map. But, of course, you want to make sure, I was actually just talking with a client about this earlier before our call, that that audio is actually speaking to your audience.

So, sometimes we just want to put up music or something, but it doesn’t always lean back to our audience at all. It doesn’t really have a connection. There are certain audios that you can use that are used in your space or are going to land you on your potential client’s feed rather than an audio that wouldn’t. So, that’s something else that you can start to think about, especially as an influencer or somebody that’s trying to build a business on this platform, just to think about that before you use the audio or create an entire video around it.

But yeah, what’s interesting about the original audio is because you can also put audio over yourself as you’re talking, so there can be now two audios on your video. It’s so funny. It’s all moving very quickly, but that is also something that you can continue to play around with and see if that starts to have your video trend more versus you just talking, a lot of experimentation.

But yeah, I haven’t tested out the original audio just because I find that if I can find those really great sweet spots of where my ideal clients are already listening to a certain audio, that’s performed the best for me in the past. And I find if I get a lot of followers from that audio that wasn’t pertaining to my ideal client audience, almost all the time, they fall off a week or so after because they’re not interested in anything that we have to share. So, watch that as well when you’re leaning into reels. How much are those ideal clients actually hanging around versus them just finding you one time off of a reel and leaving a few weeks later?

CAMILLE [17:54]

Yeah. Where would you say to find that sweet spot with you said finding people who would resonate with that music or a trending sound that’s about to go big? Where do you find those tools or the access to those trends?

CAITLIN [18:12]

Yeah. So, one thing that I’ve been utilizing to play with this because again, it’s a lot of experimentation, but I’ll click on the audio on Instagram and they’ll actually have an arrow now that will tell you if it’s about to trend or not, if it’s projected to trend in the near future. So, most of the time, I try to stick to those audios.

And if the audio has been used over 10,000 times, it’s most likely that it’s all dried up and everybody’s already used it or people that have a blue check are potentially going to use that audio and they’re almost always going to get the views over myself that doesn’t have a blue check. So, that’s the way I think about it.

I will stick anything around 10,000 that has that trending audio, and when I go to that audio page, I’ll also look at who else has been using this? Is it inspiration speakers? In most of the athletic field, let’s say, a lot of them will use the same types of trending audios. And if I use an athletic field or a yoga master type of audio and my audience, even though they tend to be holistic business owners, really doesn’t reside in that audio. So, if I use an inspiration speaker audio, most of the time, that’s going to perform much better for my personal page out of my ideal clients.

So, that’s another thing that you can start to look at with the audio is, is this in my wheelhouse or in my industry-specific and are those videos at the top of the audio in that industry? Or is it in a different one that might not fit into my field specifically? And then, I might look for something else.

CAMILLE [19:52]

That’s a really interesting way of figuring that all out. I like that. So, under 10,000. And for any of you that are wondering about if it’s trending or not, what she’s talking about is there’s this little tiny arrow in the left-hand corner that’s pointing to the diagonal to the right. And so, that will come and go depending on if that audio is performing well. So, just keep tabs on that.

It doesn’t mean that you have to have that for it to be a good fit, but that’s a good way of knowing if it’s on the rise. Also, if you are doing TikTok, there’s a content creator studio group which you have to apply to that. But if you’re a part of that, they will send you an email, TikTok will, and say, these are the audios and the hashtags that are trending, which is a cheat sheet and it’s amazing. So, that’s another tip as well.

CAITLIN [20:46]

Yes. I just found out about that for our clients last week. It’s a great tool. And like you said, it comes to your email. I think you can even log in and it’s right there. It’s very blunt for you on the page. You can just click on it. So, yeah, great tools.

And obviously, an audio that’s trending on TikTok most likely will eventually trend on Instagram as well. So, that’s how you can start to read the trends. And what we will do if our client is using a TikTok audio that isn’t yet trending on Instagram, we will just search for that audio on Instagram and we will look for it until we find it.

And then, we will use it on our client’s reel because potentially, that will trend, and then that audio, what happens when an audio trends just for your listeners in case, they’re unaware of this, Instagram will continue to funnel that video out for weeks to come as the audio continues to trend. So, keeps your video alive longer than if you’re just regular posting and maybe you peaked at 5,000 views or something like that.

CAMILLE [21:48]

Yeah. That’s cool. All right. So, I think we’ve covered short video. What else is working for marketing right now for growth?

CAITLIN [21:57]

Yeah. So, I would say definitely being willing to communicate on this platform and any platform in a social network is always going to help you grow. So, I come across a lot of business owners that will say, “I don’t want to be in the DMs or I feel really comfortable reaching out to people cold.” And I think it’s more about how to find your community on this platform versus reaching out to cold audiences.

This isn’t like you scrolling on your friends’ following and you’re just DM-ing old people from high school. This is much more of a niche target. And when I say niche, it doesn’t mean that you only have one ideal client. That’s just maybe the specific ideal client that you’re reaching out to in this point in time which would, of course, always come back to your business goals.

So, let’s say, in the next year, you’re hoping to grow your clientele in a specific industry or with a specific type of person, maybe you’re partnering with a new brand on a specific product, you know that this is based off of moms or moms are a great example. Then you might start to integrate yourself into those mom communities if you’re not already currently in them.

And even if you are currently in them, you may continue to engage with them. And this always doesn’t have to be sliding into the DMs, this can be engaging with them on a post or replying back to their story or just having some type of content interaction with them so that they can decide to lean into the conversation or not.

And I think also going in with zero expectations, which is terrible, but just knowing that you’re showing up with your authentic being and you have so much to bring to the table. So, if they decide to not, that’s okay. It’s leaving space for somebody that’s ready to fill that space for you. And if they do decide to lean in, great.

Why can’t we just have conversations and engage and it’s less about selling to them in the DMs? Because as you continue to sell through your content or sell through your stories, they’re watching and they will reach out when they’re ready most likely or they’ll go and purchase it themselves using your code without it or they’ll ask you questions.

So, that’s another part of just creating this funnel for yourself that doesn’t have to feel super pushy instead of it’s like this funnel that allows people to come into your vicinity, and then you can continue to warm your audience rather than putting them in your funnel without them being aware they’re in the funnel.

CAMILLE [24:37]

That’s really interesting because I’ve actually heard almost the opposite from where it’s like share content on your feed and on stories, but then invite them to engage with you to actually make a relationship and to a sale on the DM. So, you’re saying the opposite of that to do more sales type things in your feed and your stories?

CAITLIN [25:01]

So, I guess I mean your offers. So, a lot of us, as business owners and influencers, don’t tend to have this issue because it’s like really based off of their job is sharing the information, but a lot of us won’t sell. We never sell ourselves. Yeah, so that’s what I mean is making sure that you’re just sharing your offers on your story.

So, they’re aware that you offer something. That way, it’s not a cold pitch to them in the DMs and it’s more like, “Hey, we’ve been talking for X amount of weeks, saw that you liked my story a few days ago, wanted to reach out to see if you had any questions.” Because if they’re liking your story or if they’re engaging with that sales or promotion type of story, then you know that they’re interested. They’re extending the conversation.

So, that’s how I prefer to sell, talk to them on the platform rather than like, “Here’s my code” or something. But, of course, if you work and you have a product-based business like one of my clients, we will then sometimes reach out to current followers, especially if they’re in that perfect influencer niche target market that we’re potentially trying to work with, and then we might offer them a code because they’ve already expressed how much they wanted to work with us.

So, there’s definitely a fine line in selling, but what I always say is what’s going to feel the best to you individually and go with that. And then, you can always expand or redirect or experiment down the line as well.

CAMILLE [26:32]

Yeah. I like that. I also like the sentiment of relationships matter and no matter what they are, you don’t have to get something from it. Because I feel like when you’ve met someone for the first time, let’s say on Instagram, and immediately they try to sell you on, “Are you open to making more money online?” I don’t know. I get them all the time.

I’m running a couple of different accounts and almost immediately, you know if people are showing up simply to sell or if they really want to make a connection with you and there’s a different energy. So, I really love the mentality of serve first. What can you give in this relationship to create a mutual respect? And then, see if there are things or ways that you can work together because that’s where you’re really going to find longevity and authenticity in the relationship.

CAITLIN [27:27]

Yeah. I love that point of view. That’s great. That’s exactly what it feels like and to go off from that energy as well if you’re new to this and you’re nervous about it, doing a clearing or going and standing in front of a window, sometimes that energy of nature, going out in the grass without your shoes on, ground yourself before you maybe engage.

This is something that I’ll tell my team members as well because as we’re doing this outreach for our clients, we’re not just DM-ing anyone either. It’s not just we look at a hashtag and we mass DM them. it’s much more niche. We’ll go to their page. We’ll look at are they posting regularly? What are they posting about? Do they seem to have an interest? Do they fall within this clientele? And then, we extend the conversation after engaging with their content, sometimes for days.

It all depends on the funnel and the structure. So, just making sure that you ground yourself, so you’re not showing up with that scarcity pushy moment, especially early on in business. We all have those emotions, so it’s not a bad thing, but just not allowing yourself to go down that hole when you’re showing up and engaging is important as well.

CAMILLE [28:40]

I love that advice. That is so important because I really do believe that you attract the energy that you’re extending out. And so, taking a moment to reflect on, okay, I’m going to use this time on purpose. What does that look like and I’m safe where I am and I have something I can give and share.

So, I love that, getting your feet in the grass. I’m going to be sad when it gets cold here in Utah because I love doing that in the mornings, getting out and feeling the sun, even when it is winter too. We spend so much time in front of computers and our phones and everything else that allowing that time to really replenish our insides and who we are and grounding and the natural sunlight is so empowering.

CAITLIN [29:25]

Yeah. I love that. I couldn’t agree more.

CAMILLE [29:29]

So, tell me, okay, we’ve talked about video. We’re talking about direct DMs. Is there a third tool?

CAITLIN [29:38]

Yeah. So, I would say for the third is really just being open to opportunity. When you happen to come to my podcast as well and you were sharing about the user-generated content, you never know what is going to come up for you on these platforms and as you’re making connections, being really open to whatever may come is really important.

Because right now, social media is moving so rapidly. We were talking about on that episode as well. There are so many jobs. There’s so much abundance and I find when I show up with that energy of anything can happen today on this platform, sometimes, I meet the most amazing women like yourself.

And I’ve had other people on my podcast. They’ll have me teach in their program and just being open to receiving of that, I guess. I find on social, a lot of us are very closed off just because we had horror stories or we’ve heard things from people and it’s not to say that you’re not aware what’s going on on the platform and if someone’s trying to be feisty with you, like I said, we’re not here for that. Most of the time, I just block them. I don’t even think twice about it.

But those people that are coming in and wanting to engage with you, be open to that, even if they’re not your client. And even if they’re not going to purchase from you, it could be an amazing partnership for you down the line. And I think that that’s really the way. This is how social media was intended for so long, but now that we’re really starting to utilize it in so many different ways, that’s where I think the breakthrough is coming on these platforms is more the opportunities that we all have with this.

CAMILLE [31:28]

Yeah. I agree 100%. One last question for you because I get this question a lot both on the influencer side and business owner side, what is the deal with giveaways? Are they dead? Are they only working on stories? What is happening? Because I’ll have people come to me and say, “Hey, let’s do a giveaway or a discount code or this or that.” And I’m jaded to giveaways. I’m like, to be honest, a lot of them aren’t working well for me. I don’t know. People are over it or sometimes more on stories than on the feed itself. I’m curious what your opinion is on that.

CAITLIN [32:08]

I’ll be very honest. The first takeoff that we had with the 500,000-account growth, that was through a giveaway. So, giveaways used to be the best thing since it spread. Everybody did them and I think that that’s what tends to happen on these platforms.

So, sometimes people will run giveaways and what’s really unfortunate is spamming accounts will run giveaways. And then, the giveaway prize never gets end up being sent out. It was fake. It’s like all of these things.

So, when something like this happens, a large trend like that where a bunch of social media managers or people in online space, influencers, big people will say, “This is how I grew my account,” it’s like everybody jumps on that bandwagon. This could also be debatable for direct messaging. That is another marketing scheme that they’re saying is now a negative.

But what happens is how you approach it. That’s how I believe it will be either way. So, I think if your audience isn’t receiving the giveaways, maybe they’re not ready for that right now. They’ve gone down the rabbit hole of giveaways. They’ve been burned. They’re like, “Whatever, we can just buy that ourselves now.” But some giveaways, I will even enter.

CAMILLE [33:29]

It’s a good one, yeah.

CAITLIN [33:31]

It’s like, oh my God. I need that. I want that for myself right now. That would be awesome to have that. So, I think that that’s also really about the prize, and then, of course, it’s about your target market. So, if you’re doing a giveaway for a book or something, it’s like everybody can basically buy a book for themselves off Amazon at this point or they have Audible, so they’ll just listen to it for free anyway.

So, that’s the other part is having these larger giveaway prizes is always going to make you more successful. But I have found since a lot of people have used it as a scheme, sometimes that will then push that trend out the window and people are just jaded by it.

For example, with my clientele or my following, they’re not really into giveaways either. They’re just not looking. So, they’re looking for community. So, I think that that’s another thing. If you as a business owner, as an influencer know what your community needs in that moment, don’t funnel them into giveaway just because we think that we should or that’s how we’re going to grow again.

It’s really about the energy. Are we giving this away because we want them to feel abundant and we want them to have this happiness? Are we giving this away because we want to grow our account? It’s like people are becoming too smart now with marketing, which is a good thing. I went to school for communications. So, we used to study persuasion. And what was really interesting about this is it opens up your mind. You understand the back-ends of the ads and things like that.

So, now when I’ll get an ad on Facebook, this is like how I think a lot of consumers feel, we’ll almost say, now, I don’t even want to buy those shoes because just because I looked them up on Amazon, and now, Facebook is putting them on my face, it’s like it feels forceful. It’s like that pushy buying that we were talking about in the DMs.

We, as humans, want to know that we are making our own decisions. We’re not being told what to do. So, it’s a shift in the market as well. They just want to know that we’re listening and that when we’re offering something, it’s not from this icky energy. It’s like this is going to make you guys feel amazing or I thought that this giveaway would be a great way for me to give back to you all. It’s like the rhetoric that we use and how we’re finding it. Because sometimes, it can take on that icky forcefulness, and then we’ll just shut down immediately.

CAMILLE [35:54]

Yeah. I love that. I think it’s all about intention and that energy that we bring. I really agree with that. Any last-minute tips for our audience before we end?

CAITLIN [36:03]

I would just say be yourself. A lot of people have a lot of things to say, a lot of ways that you can grow. And that’s the approach I like to take is just be yourself and you will fall into line or things will happen for you that are meant to happen. And show up and go after your dreams if that’s what you’re feeling called to do, but don’t feel like you have to do what someone is telling you to do online. Just do what’s going to feel good and be you. And, of course, push yourself, but don’t do anything that feels totally out of alignment because, like we were saying the whole episode, everyone will feel it.

CAMILLE [36:46]

Right. I love it. Thank you so much, Caitlin. This has been so helpful. Tell everyone where they can find you online.

CAITLIN [36:53]

Great. So, everybody can find me on Instagram @meraki_media_management. I also have a website if you guys want to check out my blog, a podcast, so it’s all over on there, www.merakimediamanagement.com. And feel free to reach out to me via DM too. I actually just love to communicate. So, we can chat, get to know each other, and thank you so much for having me on.

CAMILLE [37:17]

Of course. Thank you for being here.

[MUSIC]

Thank you for listening so much to this episode. We would love to hear from you. Please DM me @callmeceopodcast. And if you are looking for additional help with a virtual assistant, I am now lining up my virtual assistant students that graduate from 60 Days to VA and matching them up with you so that you have more time to develop your business and you’re not lost in the to-dos. I hope you have a great day and I’ll see you next week!

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