139. How to Actually Grow on Instagram (and Turn It Into a Career) with Brienne Williams

This episode is sponsored by Brevo Collective and Shopify. Brevo is your all-in-one marketing and CRM platform that helps you turn attention into actual revenue. From email marketing to automation to CRM tools, Brevo keeps your audience warm without you manually following up 24/7. And Collective helps you handle the business side of being a creator or an entrepreneur. From bookkeeping to taxes to compliance, they make sure you're structured correctly and not leaving money on the table. And Shopify, your commerce engine, it's how you actually sell the thing. Whether that's digital products, physical products, or services, Shopify gives you the tools to build, market, and scale your store all in one place. And if you're serious about building a real business, not just posting the content, these are the tools behind the scenes. Get started today with Brevo at brevo.com/creator. Live with Collective at collective.com/chc and launch was Shopify. What is up, everybody? Welcome to call her creator. Today we're talking to someone who truly understands the art and the science of getting attention online on camera. Brienne Williams, she's a social media strategist. She's an agency owner. And she's become known for her viral real ideas. And super powerful hooks that help creators grow and get paid online. And what's cool about Brienne is she didn't just stumble into this. She actually started her career on live television as a reporter for ESPN and ABC sports, where she learned exactly how to hold an audience's attention in real time. And so today she gets to bring that same skill set into the content world, helping entrepreneurs create posts that actually stop the scroll. A friend, welcome back to call her creator, powered by your all in one creator store Stan. Stan is the easiest way for you to make money online. All of your courses, digital products and bookings are hosted within your link in bio. If you're ready to start your free trial, visit my show notes and click my affiliate link to get started today. So Brienne, welcome to call her creator. Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm so happy to hear. I think you go by Bree, right? Oh, yeah, most people call me Bri, Bri, Brienne. Okay. Oh, I'm sorry. So either like people with Caitlin and Kate, I go by either I tried, you know, what's so funny. I'm one of the, I'm very into self-help. And even when I was in fifth grade, I went into the new school. You're saying, I'm going to rebrand myself as Kate. And so I started getting people to call me Kate, my teacher called me Kate. And then I didn't like it anymore. I was just like, no, I miss Caitlin. And then the yearbook ends up coming out. And they freaking wrote Kate and Mara. And I was like, my life is for me. Oh my gosh, that's so funny. That's the scary part of all. People call you what they want to call you, right? That's true. This is true. Okay. I love your story so much. I went to school for journalism too. So I just feel like we're soul sisters. I need to know everything. So I want to know from the beginning, I like to ask, well, like, what was your first job? Like, were you scooping ice cream, pop and popcorn? Like, where, how did you get to where you are? Start from the beginning. Okay, okay. Okay, well, let's go way back. So I was actually thinking about this today because my mom is a dad are getting ready to move and I was cleaning out their house and I was looking for my very first business card. So when I was little, I was not the like play with dolls girl. I was the, let's play business girl. So I had my dad make me, they were bright blue with red letters. And it was called Brienne's beautiful boutique. And I literally would sell my toys in front of my house. Oh my gosh. And I got in like, made your trouble for selling all my barbies to my next door neighbor. Like, my mom was like, what are you doing? Those were gifts from like family in Germany. What did you know? I was like, I don't believe them. So it's always been in my blood. So like, played, I just love business. I love entrepreneurship and all of that. So you mentioned, do you went to school for journalism? The funny thing about that for me, I went to NYU as a theater major. I was a singer, a dancer and actor. So I was in their musical theater program. And I needed science credits for my to graduate. And I didn't want to take sociology or psychology or anything like that. And they were like, how about journalism? And I was like, oh, it counts as a science. And they were like, yep. And I was like, great, sign me up. So that's really the only reason I even took those classes was just to get my science credits. And I honestly had no intention of ever ending up in journalism or working, you know, in reporting in that way. But it just, you know, got open stores and I am the first to walk through them when that happens. And that's really how that came about. So in my 20s, I started working for the outdoor channel first. And I was doing like dirt track racing. Like stuff like that. And then that position opened up at ESPN. And I got the call. And so for three years, I worked for ESPN and ABC Sports. I was the girl like covering the Indy Car races, Indy 500, like in the pits with the pit suits, you know, telling you exactly what's happening on car four when, you know, like all the stuff. And my last Indy 500, I was about six months pregnant with my son. So that was my final season of Indy Car racing. But still like the connections and friends and family that I made in that world are, you know, people that I still talk to today and love and adore. It was the coolest thing ever. That is so cool. Okay. So did you quit that and then start doing online stuff or was there a hiatus? Yeah. I mean, I feel like I probably like any true entrepreneur I've had like a million different lifetimes and careers, right? So after that, I had my son. And I was, you know, a stay at home mom figuring out how to do mom things. My son just opened the door. If you're wondering, you guys can see online. I'm waving to him. It's like, perfect. I'm doing stuff. I don't care rules don't impress me. Yeah. I do something. Yep. Totally. So I was doing that. And then I actually went into, I got certified to teach Pilates and went to get my master certification. And so then I was like running teacher training programs. I had a Pilates studio for a while. I've done all the things. And then around 2018, 2019, I was getting a dors. And I needed a real person job. So I went to work in the automotive industry. I was doing sales and finance like all sorts of stuff. Because I needed that stability and I was, you know, single mom at this point. I had two kids and I kind of was preparing for a life on my own. And then the pandemic hit. And I was like, I don't want to be doing this forever. I want to be home with my kids. I want to be able to create life on my own terms. And so I started diving into like any online course I could take all the things and learning about entrepreneurship and online courses and digital things and all of that. But I still was really not using social media at all, like at all. But I managed to kind of start an online business and I was helping people with messaging and writing copy and doing those things. But in 2022, I believe I created my very first real. Because I had never even made a real before, right? And that kind of changed everything for me. Because I was like, this is actually so fun. I get to do all the things that I love, you know, that are related to theater and performing and being creative and, you know, call that my business. So I just kept playing around with it and failing and trying and failing and messing up and learning. And through that process, I figured out there's certain pieces of this that just come really naturally to me. And so then it was an obvious step. I was helping people anyway. So being able to kind of help them on a more official level and help them build their businesses and their brands with social media was like a dream come true. And I think being in that racing world, right? We're talking, like I don't know how much you know about racing. The car comes in for a pit stop. Let's say we're at the Indian Apple 500. I mean, it's a speed game. The faster you get out of that pit stop, the faster you get back onto the track, right? So my job would be to tell you everything that they're doing in that pit stop. What's going on? What the driver's communication was? What's happening with this car? Like what's what is what's their game plan moving forward for the rest of the race? What's their strategy? But I had to do that in like six seconds, right? Like instantly I had to like get you going. And at the end of the day, the goal with any live television is my job is to keep you from changing the channel, right? So I have to keep your attention. I have to make you want to watch what happens to this car. I have to make you think that this story about this driver who's on in the back of the field is compelling enough to stay tuned and see what happens. So my brain kind of naturally thinks in that like sound, body clip, like, way. So while so many people I work with struggle to come up with a hook that will get any kind of attention at all, I'm like, oh, say like this or try this, right? It's just like, yeah. Thank God for that, right? Because ultimately it pays the bills. But yeah, it's just a weird, it's, it's just neat to see how those gifts and talents and things all get worked and used together for your ultimate purpose, which is kind of. Yes, for anyone's out there who is honestly like maybe you are stuck in some kind of position now or you're on a happy were you're at. I promise you it all makes sense in the end like oh now I know why I had that stupid job in the group again. There's so many jobs that weren't for me but oh my god if I wouldn't have had them I probably wouldn't be the business owner I am today without them. So okay your our stories are so similar it's like really weird but it's so crazy like I got in couple two for selling things but I was selling freaking jewelry, Bree. Oh my gosh. Yeah it's not like I stole it from mom it was my jewelry but it had been gifted from family and like some of it was like real gold rings and I looked black and I'm like what a psycho I was but I just wanted to make that money honey. It's awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well I looked at it and I'm like why would someone take that jewelry from a child? You know? Because I was little. Where's your mark? I just I can't get over it. So okay so just like you I got to this point you get we get to these points and for anyone listening this is another thing it's like how do you know when to make the jump? So you get to the point where there's like the writings on the wall it's time for me to start doing my own thing. So you said you were working on automotive were you like selling cars by the way? Yeah. They all sent my name shut up. Well I grew up in that world so again it was kind of another like this comes naturally to me my dad owned party of ships and auto auctions and stuff like that so I grew up around cars and so it was an easy I was good at it. I love selling. I love talking to people and building those relationships but at the end of the day I learned that I really don't want to work for someone else. I want to help us and call the shots and ultimately be able to hire other people and bless them and be able to create opportunities you know for other people and their families but yeah. Are you working there and then were you like playing with reels on the side? Yeah okay. Yeah so the real thing was kind of on the later end of me working there but I was the girl if anyone from their fierce test they're going to be like hmm that makes sense. I would have like multiple screens like multiple you know computers up in my office and I would have like I'd be building something in Canva over here like trying to like figure out like map out my first digital course and over here I've got you know inventory and I'm searching for a you know an SUV for somebody but I was constantly doing both. Same. I heard. And then okay so where did you set your we're getting nitty-gritty here because there's people that's like you. Yeah so you're over here building you think a digital course or what was your first offer? Was it a digital course? My first offer I did a so crazy so I did a like faith-based manifestation workshop. So it was really you know God was really working in my life and kind of showing me as I went through my divorce and all of this kind of like what he wanted next for me or what path I was supposed to be following and things just really started happening when I started like using his promises and praying in a way that kind of a line with basically what was on my vision board and it was pretty wild and I was like I need to share this people. So that was my first course and it was fine it was great and I you know eventually started working with people one-on-one with that. But again you know following the nudges and listening as God was leading me I was like yeah this is not this is not it this is not what I was supposed to be doing but like there's something else so I kind of stepped away from that and went more into the content creation side of things. And then so you get into content creation. How do you like right now you've got a social media agency correct and then coaching what all what all what all do you offer now? So my husband and I have a media group that does like advertising and marketing or all sorts of businesses nationwide a lot of automotive stuff. So we do that and I work with some brands in local like you know actually brick and mortar businesses and then bigger brands which would be like influencers and people like that that need help writing content they either just don't have time or it's something that is not a skill set that they have they just want to outsource it helping them make more sales and you know get more attention growth and all of that. Okay. How do you go from making this course about your manifestations and doing that so where was that in the in between? Yeah so I was kind of I was working on the messaging stuff the entire time like that's the piece that I've always been wrong to and really fascinated by where I love words I love figuring out like which words work and why. So that was always the piece that I was really connected to and it came easily to me and so I would be in these like you know masterminds or you know coaching programs and you're in the group chats or in the Facebook group with people and everybody would have questions about I don't know what to call it or how do I say this and I would literally I'd be like typing away to say this this is your headline this is this type this and so then people started asking me hey can you just write my sales page hey can you write some emails for me can you help me with this and I was like yeah sure because again it was like that's just something that comes natural and it was fun and I realized real quick that I did not want to be a copywriter. I don't want else pages I don't want but I'm not that. But you all very I don't want to talk about it. It is very good at writing and hooks like that's something I love about your content is it's very like catchy like you get me to stop my scroll yeah that's good thank you. Starting something new can feel terrifying I remember when I first launched my podcast and my business constantly asking myself what if no one listens what if no one buys what if this just doesn't work but choosing to take that leap was one of the best decisions I've ever made and having the right tools makes all the difference that's why so many entrepreneurs trust Shopify Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses worldwide empowers 10% of all e-commerce in the US it helps you build a beautiful online store with ready to use templates create email and social media campaigns to reach customers and manage everything from inventory to analytics all in one place it's time to turn those what ifs into with Shopify today sign up for your one dollar per month trial at Shopify.com/chc go to Shopify.com/chc that's Shopify.com/ch are you ready to take your businesses marketing to the next level meet brevo the all in one marketing and CRM platform built to help you connect with customers boost engagement and grow your business smarter with brevo you can manage all of your customer interactions in one place nurture leads with their built in CRM reach your audience through email and SMS and keep them coming back with powerful automations but here's where it gets really exciting meet aura brevo's AI assistant aura helps you craft smarter campaigns by suggesting personalized content optimizing send times and even analyzing performance data to help you improve your strategy and real time it's like having a marketing expert on your team 24/7 and of course brevo offers advanced analytics seamless integrations and AI driven personalization everything you need to create multi-channel campaigns that hit the mark every time get started for free today or use code creator 50 to say 50% on starter and standard plans for the first three months of an annual subscription just head to brevo.com/creator and take your marketing further with brevo and aura yeah but I think there's a difference there right like there are some people that love the like the writing and the copywriting and that's like paying attention to grammar and commas and you know rupture that girl like I will have grammatical errors everywhere I get messages all the time that's you know technically there's not a whole big thing for me too and I'm like I'm a social agency owner over here and like they're seeing me and my stuff but then I'm like you know what it humanizes me like they'll see that I'm my own ones yeah I mean it is what it is right a plug then right grammatically correct content oh yeah well it's in its way more fun it's just way way way more fun I joke all the time with people when they ask me what I do I'm like I I'm just always laughing that I get to say this is even my job like I make silly videos and literally that's my career and how fun and how cool is that right that that's even something that exists. We're so blessed with to get to wake up and do what we do every day but also we also have to remember this to be like we did this we decided we made the decision I'm not gonna live this life that I feel stuck in what can I do whether that was learning new things you said you weren't masterminds and coaching what was like your first mastermind like did you sign it for anyone's yeah so well the very first digital course I took was um happy hellers made to do this I don't know I don't even know I don't think that's anymore okay essentially again this is like how God works things together always is blowing my mind so the job I was working selling cars was a it was a 45 million dollars and it dried two and from every single day. So I was in the car a lot, which meant hello podcasts. So I started listening and I'm, I always, I don't wanna listen to the radio. I like listening to stuff and learning. So I was like listening about entrepreneurship and business and how can I, what can I do? What could be the next thing? And that's where I stumbled on Kathy Heller. She was a guest on someone else's podcast. I think of Julie Solomon's podcast and she was talking about this course that she does. And then I went and listened to her podcast and just kept listening and listening. And I was like, I really wanna do this. I think this is, I think this is it. So I figured out a way to pay for that and got myself in that group and get through that whole program. And then just kept looking for things to go after and be a part of. And I'm always working with somebody and trying to learn from people who are ahead of me and who are better at this or that. Like everybody has a really strong specific skill set and maybe yours is funnels and software and systems and maybe mine is the content and the messaging but I wanna learn from you. Like I don't need to be an expert at software and systems. I can find some of and show me that stuff. - I'm learning to do that too. - I also am a big fan of podcasts. I do something called a money walk where I literally go walking every single day and I pop in a podcast. So I've learned a lot through that too. And I tell you the same weird collateral lives were living but I stumbled upon Borey Harder's podcast, earn your happy. - Love. - Yeah. - Love her. And then once I really started like becoming almost like a believer of I joined her mastermind for the first time last year. - Oh, so the first time I am paid for something. Like I'm one of those people that like I'll pay for a course but like mastermind heck now like I'm too scared to like put myself in rooms but I'm learning that's how these people are climbing the ladders in this business is by joining these rooms and getting around other people that are already paying. - Yeah. Well, it's not just like being in the room is powerful, right? Like it's showing you what's possible. You're seeing other women that maybe are a few steps ahead of you or 10 steps ahead of you and going, okay, I need to stay around these people, right? So that I can be inspired and start doing that but it's also the connections and then the friends you make that like there's nothing that I love more than having a friend who's in entrepreneurship or in online business that I can tap to be like, hey, okay, what are you thinking about this? Are we really doing this or can you look at this for me and like bouncing ideas off of each other is so invaluable? - So and really that's the only place you're gonna get that, right? And you need that. I met Lori for the first time last fall, a year and a half ago, two years ago, I was speaking at pitch club at Rebecca Capieros pitch club and she was a speaker. - Oh, that's, so, yeah. - It's really fun. - She's like the workiest person like ever. I'm so obsessed and now I get to work with her. I'm doing her social media in the background. It's a dream come true, but it's like, I feel like I'm manifested that, right? By listening to her podcast, I was listening to everything that she's built. I got into her mastermind and then, yeah. They say, what to commit to the bit? No, no, there's something about, that's not what I meant to say. Putting your, I'm for the cookie. Evan Ray, who is one of the founders of Mavley which just paired up with later. He says, ask for the cookie, that's his thing and that's like, put yourself out there and ask for the thing that you want or else you're never, you know, you won't just give things. - Well, and I think that's a really important thing that like people here and remember and latch on to because if I look at my business and growth in my business, a lot of like my clients and customers have come because I reached out to someone and said, hey, like, can I do this? - Ooh. - And in the beginning, sometimes that looked like, hey, I know you don't have this going on for your community. Could I offer that as support for them? And like maybe, and sometimes it was a trade, I was figuring stuff out like, I'll help your community with this if I can just be a part of it. Like, if you include me. But that's how I ended up getting to host a round table at pitch club. I had never even like, I didn't know about pitch club. I saw something on social media that Rebecca had posted about open invitation for speakers. And I was like, why not? Like, let's just put herself out there and talk about manifesting. I would, you know, send the invitation. I got, she was like, yes, we'd love to have you. We want you to talk about. My talk was all about helping people find their it factor and what, you know, how they stand out. That's another workshop that I used to teach. And she sent over some like a packet. Like, here's what it took to expect when you come to Scottsdale. Like, here's what it's going to look like. And she sent over pictures from the previous years at pitch club, like people hosting these round tables. And I looked at one of them and I literally got goosebumps because the picture she sent me was like, literally, a carbon copy of something that was on my picture. - Shut your mouth. - Literally. Yeah, so I told her that the day after I, or when I was speaking, and she was like, you gotta tell this story. It was, I mean, literally, it was like, almost the exact same picture. And that's so cool. I love it when that. - Oh my God. Okay, for someone who's listening right now, 'cause we keep talking about manifestations and you've done work in this. What are like the, what, how does someone manifest? What does that look like? Like, I know you can't teach us everything about manifestation. And I didn't need to talk about that with you, or really leading into for a moment. - Yeah. - She does someone manifest a better life if they're stuck right now with something that they don't wanna be doing. - Okay, at some point, your side hustle stops feeling a side hustle and it starts feeling real. Money's coming in, your tax bill is going up and suddenly you're wondering if your business is actually set up the right way. Collective is the first all in one financial solution built exclusively for solo pernivers, saving you time and money. They help you structure your business for success, whether that's forming a single member LLC or adding an S-Corp election. Collective's AI engine is backed by expert oversight, automatically categorizing every expense so you never miss a deduction. Beyond bookkeeping, they handle quarterly tax estimates and prepare both your business and personal tax returns so you never miss a deadline. You also get integrated customizable invoicing in a seamless payroll solution for S-Corp owners which can unlock the potential to save thousands in self-employment taxes. And with Collective's community in support, you can finally take that solo out of a solo perniver. Right now, Collective is giving all of my listeners 50% off of your first two months when you go to collective.com/chc. That's 50% off of your first two months at collective.com/chc. Collective.com/chc. - Okay, I'm gonna be real with you for a minute. Working in social media, my life basically looks like 47 tabs open, slackmets is just a Google Doc with captions, a no-sap with ideas, and I'm still like, wait, where did that post go again? If you can relate, then I want to tell you about Rella. Rella is not just another scheduling tool, it's a full project management platform built specifically for social media teams. Instead of jumping between five different tools, Rella is where you plan your content, collaborate with clients, get approvals, and actually get the work done all in one place. And this is my favorite part. Your clients can improve content through a public link, no-log and required, plus they have Ella, which is their AI creative assistant. It literally learns your brand, builds your content calendar, identifies trends, and even writes scripts and captions based on what will actually perform. It's used by thousands of social media managers, agencies, and teams, and once you start using it, you're gonna realize how much time you are wasting between everything else. So if you're ready to get your life together, go to getRella.com and use code CHC for 10% off your first three months or annual plan. That's g-e-t-r-e-l-l-a.com to start your free 14-day trial and use code CHC for 10% off and see why social media teams are ditching the tool chaos. - I think it starts with your mindset. I mean, I know that sounds cliche and silly, and everybody talks about having a good mindset, but it really is true because your subconscious mind is working whether you realize it or not. I don't know if you know, you've probably heard of the red car theory. - So there's this adiary. - Yeah, yeah, so your RAS, your articulating, particular activations system or activating system, right? We're getting really neuroscience geek, I love it. So there's this thing called the red car theory. So essentially, if you went shopping today and you wanted a red Mercedes or a red car, right? And you go and you look at them and you pick up the one you want, and you're like, okay, I'm gonna come back this weekend and maybe decide between these two models on your way home and for the rest of that week, all of a sudden on the road, you're like, oh, since when does everybody have a red car? There's red cars everywhere. Like why am I seeing everybody having red cars? The red cars were always there. You just hadn't told yourself it was important to you. So once you tell, tell yourself. something is important to your brain, all of it sudden, you notice it more. So, that's good news, but it's also bad news, right? The good news is that that means we can train our brain to see the good, and we can train our brain to find the good in any situation, but we can also train our brain to find the ugly and the awful and the bad, right? So it's really, honestly, a decision you just decide to make one day. And I personally, I refuse to look for the bad. I'm like a polyanna. Glasses always have full kind of girl, because in my opinion, the alternative is horrible. Like, why would you ever choose not to see the good, right? So that's really how it starts. You have to decide what it is you want, and then focus on all the good, all the ways that blessings are coming to you, all the ways that like God is actually working things out in your favor, whether you can see it or not, he is 100% that is happening. And I think I've been through enough in my life where I can testify to that. He promised you, I promise you, I cannot see it now, but he is. And I think once you're clear on what it is you want, you have to kind of, you have to start becoming that version of yourself today, right? So you can't still have the habits and attitudes and thoughts and beliefs of the person who is broke and frustrated and stuck in a dead end job. You have to start having the habits of the girl who runs the six and seven figure business or who has the, you know, X amount of followers or whatever it is that you're going after. You have to decide in advance that that's what you want. And then find stuff to support it for me. That was the Bible. That was finding scripture. That's what helped me to lock in to that because I could look in the Bible and go, oh, well, it says right here, like it's Mark 1124. This is like this was my verse and now I'm like, can't believe I forgot what you wanted to was. Okay. It says, therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours. And I was like, all right, I'm a roll. I think I might get a tattooed on my face. I had it everywhere. I was like, okay, I'm believing. I'm believing. Like I know, I know that there is good. And I know that it's going to work out if I just don't stop. And that's the part that most people miss, right? Most people quit before it gets good. And you, you just can't stop, right? I mean, and you know this how often do we post and we're like, well, that didn't go well for a lot of people are feeling that recently. But it's like you have to keep showing up, right? You have to keep showing up when no one's even watching. When nobody cares. When there's no views, when there's no comments, when there's no sales, you have to keep showing up. Yes. But the past 90 days, it's been pretty rough out there. I've noticed, are you seeing this? I'm noticing a shift with reels coming back up again versus carousels. What about you? Yeah. Yeah, I think definitely, although I feel like honestly, it's been in the last week that I'm seeing it come up like the lap reels in the last two weeks. I was like, right? What is? But here's what you, when you are in it and you just keep pushing through in these times of frustration, you know that it's coming back. All with your eyes. Keep reminding yourself, like we've been here before. Views have dropped before. It doesn't mean that you all of a sudden don't know what you're talking about and that nobody likes you and that your content's no good. That's how it will feel, by the way. You will. I've learned. I think I've said this the other day on the podcast, but I heard someone else say it to the best entrepreneurs are the entrepreneurs that can just stay neutral. Because they're going to be so many ebbs and flows the same way the Instagram because I, I am one of those girlies that find my worth and my work and I'm really working through that this year. I don't want to be like that anymore. God is really helping me. All the, all the books self help all that. But I'm working through it, but I do want people to know too. Like you are completely correct. Like it will be good and it will be bad and you can't stop. You didn't just all of a sudden people don't like you anymore because it will feel like that. Like that's not how it goes. Let's talk about Instagram for a minute. Just speak at the people want what the people want. The people want to know. So you're like really good with with reals with hooks. I love your stuff too, girl. Thank you though. That means a lot coming from you. I appreciate that. Thank you. It means a lot from you too. I'm going to say that someone wants to start posting on Instagram. They haven't really before. They're not scared too. They just don't know where to start. Like where do you people, where do you tell people to start at? The first thing is just be willing to show up, right? You have to get over yourself. You have to stop waiting for the perfect lighting, the perfect outfit, the perfect filter, you know, or the perfect idea even. You're not going to know your perfect idea yet. It will come as you start showing up. But I say that if you're looking to grow a business and actually really see significant growth on Instagram and actually make significant money from Instagram, I believe you really do need to know what your one thing is. But do you want to be known for? Like what is the thing that when somebody thinks of it, they immediately think of you, right? And when you know that creating content becomes really, really easy. Like I posted something last week, I think where I put people and I did this in my club a couple of weeks ago where I put people through, I called the Today Show Test, where like if they called you, if the Today Show call you and said, Caitlin, we had somebody cancel like last minute for eight o'clock hour tomorrow, we need a three minute segment. What can you, can you come and what can you talk about? Like what, how would you answer that question? What, what are you going to talk about? So that's a really good way to start thinking about what you even want to be known for or what is the thing that you know you're good at that you know you could show up and talk and not even have to think about it. You could talk for hours. And then the second part of that Today Show Test is how do they introduce you? Right. So Al Roker is like getting ready to bring you on set and he's like, okay, up next is Caitlin from Call Recreator. She's going to give us our best Instagram growth tips and stick around if you're looking to grow your social media. What is that in trail? Right? What is that? What is that? That's a really strong indicator of like how you help people. What is like your angle and your. Pun intended like your like into the park. Right? What sets you apart from your competition? But that's a really easy way to kind of play around that. I love that. And then just start posting because like I love how you said you're not going to know until you really post it out there. And that's one thing to you like when we start working with clients, I'm like, you've got to give me 90 days. And I go out a lot of time, but those first 30 days, I'm getting to know the client, their brand, how they talk. Then we're testing content. Sometimes the algorithm really loves reels about this specific piece of content, but sometimes it cares. So you know, do better. So we have to just throw as much as you can. I want you to post per day free. Honestly, on an average week, I'm like a Monday through Friday, skip Saturday, come back Sunday late afternoon. And that's initially once a day. And I don't, I am one of those, I don't believe you have to post more than once a day. I think you absolutely can, but I think it can work against you if you're doing that. And then all of a sudden you stop or if you're posting two, three times a day and then you go back to like three times a week, that's not good. They want consistency. The algorithm loves consistency. So I'm usually a once a day Monday through Friday. I skip Saturdays because I know my audience is usually busy with their kids on Saturdays. They're running all over the place. They're not sitting down and doing them. They're not. But I also know Sunday, usually it's that like after church, after brunch, gone to the grocery store, done all the things we had to do at the house. From my audience is a lot of women, 35 to 55 around four or five o'clock is when they finally get to like chill and sit down and pick their phone back up. So that's back up on Sundays. But that's, but do you spend a lot of time doing engagement? Yeah, I do on my, so I used to do a lot more like kind of like going out and finding other people to engage with. I don't do that necessarily so much anymore. I think they're still valued if it's done properly. But I think I mostly just engage with people like who are in my hands. You think that's as you've grown a big following at this point. Do you think if you had less followers, you would do more outreach? Okay. I do too. I feel like, yeah, I feel like if I had less followers, I think engaging and outraging is how you'll start making more connections. Oh, yeah. Now, if it came to like, okay, Caitlin, I only have like 30 minutes a day. Should I post for those 30 minutes or engage? What would you tell someone to do? I mean, I would say split it, right? Give yourself even five minutes of engaging is five minutes of conversations that you have never had before. So it's valuable and it's going to continue to pay off for you, right? So the way I used to coach people through that is, you know, find the heavy hitters in your industry or your niche. Like, you know who those people are generally. So you go to their accounts. You look through the people who are asking questions in the comments, the people who are already there commenting on their stuff. They're probably a good fit for your audience as well. So if you then go to their pages and kind of see what they're up to, leave a nice comment. Not absolutely never spam them. Like, hey, come follow me or hey, I have this thing you'd like. - No, no, no, no, no, that's not what we're doing. - It's, hey girl, I really love your hat. Where's you getting? - Or like, oh my gosh, we're going to Florida next week. Where should we, where do we have to go? Like, where's the best restaurant on this beach, right? Like, actually start conversations. But be genuine, be authentic. Like, no, hey girl, none of that, right? Like, we're being genuine and real. What that does is it then starts a conversation 'cause they don't know you. They're gonna look and be like, who is this person? Oh, well that was nice. Huh, interesting. What does she do? And now we've got this back and forth. I literally can, I think I got three one-on-one clients from doing that. And strangely enough, my very best friend, since age of seven is a red head. So red heads always like stand out to me. And these all three of these people were red heads who I just was like, oh my gosh, I love your hair. - I loved that. I like that too. I like seeing something specific. Like, I like the, I love your hat, where'd you get it? That's genuine. I'm a hat girl, so I'll be doing that. - I'm off. - What about you? Yeah, you are always in hats too. (laughs) Do you ever go live? - I do, I haven't gone live in a really long time. That's probably something I need to pick back up. - I think there's value. - When I was first growing my account, I got really serious with it in 2021. We went to live on a weekly basis. And I would go live with someone else that I could get in front of their needs too. And I still think that's valuable because honestly, I don't see anybody going live anymore. Like, it was a thing for a little bit. - Oh yeah. Yeah, it's definitely not the norm anymore. You see a little more, like, it used to be really big on Facebook too. - Yeah. - Facebook vibes and all of that. But yeah, I think it's great. I mean, if you can do it and you can, the problem is when people are starting out and especially when they have a smaller audience, they go live and nobody interacts and so they're like, that was horrible. - Yeah, that was horrible. - You got it again. - How about, well, why'd you make me do that? - Yeah. - So if you can get over that and just kind of go, I don't care if anyone's here, I'm just gonna keep talking and be okay with that. - And then it can just be great. - That's gonna freak you out. - You can just save it to your profile after you do that. And what I used to do too is I tell my mom, my aunt, my sister, my friend, hey, I'm going live, can you just hop on for like five minutes? So it looks like we're there. And that helps me get up. - Yeah, 100%. - 100, ask a question, say something else. - Yeah, right. So okay, to wrap us up, before we talk about how they can connect with you, one last thing I want to talk about is just monetizing. Like if someone were ready to start monetizing, what's the easiest way to start making money from social media? - Yeah, I mean, I think that's a thing. The answer to that is always evolving, right? But I think it goes back to that, what's your one thing, right? What is the thing that you're known for? So if you really lean in heavily and you've got to stay the course, this isn't a like, I did it for a weekend. I don't know if that's my wish. You've got to stay the course, become known for that one thing as the expert, the go-to person for whatever it is. And then figure out what small problem you can help people solve. And it doesn't have to be something big, it doesn't have to be massive. So one small problem for them with a digital product and start with a low ticket offer, right? I usually have people start with a freebie and then lead into a low ticket offer. The freebies in my business, I've had two that were like literal game changers for my business. And I think if you have the right freebie, it can do that. It can potentially blow your business up in a good way. Like your email list will blow up. You will have so many more really, really hot. Could you see the example of what the freebie was? You don't have to say what it was. Like was it a checklist? Was it a guide? So for me, both of my freebies are usually workshops because I love to teach, love that live interaction. Okay. The first one that was my bio boot camp, or I literally just walked you through what to do in your bio and had people that I made their bios over in real time. And then the second one is my hooking up the shop. Right. By the way, I'm really good with naming stuff. I was looking at your store before we got on here and I'm like, look at her hooking up. Oh, that's fun. It's funny though. So the hook, this is funny. I've been hooking up, I made that and it happened to be around Valentine's Day when that came out last year. I was like, oh, this is fun and playful and whatever. I'm hooking up. So, and then I created in the, originally, there was a Facebook group that went with it. And I filled it with all these people. But then I started getting all these requests for the Facebook group and I was like, what? No. Like you're first year in dude and no, you don't. Like you're not even, if I was like, oh, that was fun. It's not even dawn on me that like people thought it was like a group to like meet people to hook up with. Oh my God. That's why you got to be careful with your names, guys. Think I'm over. Yeah, but we're getting it still. It's still working. That's really funny. Yeah, but those have been game changers. I like the idea of a workshop. I think that's not too hard. As long as you like talking and teaching, get on there and do a freebie. And I've learned when I do a live workshop, it's much easier for me to sell something to them. So getting my guide and me selling it through that way. The conversation. Yeah. Well, it also, it helps them to understand how they, what you're like in real time. Like what's going to be like working with you? What's your vibe? Maybe we're not that fit. And that's okay too, right? But it's a good way for them to kind of get a sense of what it would be like to work with you, which is important. I love that. I really love you, Bri. Like I think. I love you, Bri. Tell everybody, how can they work with you? What's going on this year that's exciting for you? Yeah, me all the things. Oh gosh. I mean, lots of fun things. So we're businesses growing and growing. I have my cash content club, which is like growing like wildfire. And it's so fun. Like we do two group coaching calls a month. And they're just so fun. Like it's packed with so many awesome, awesome women. And there's a few guys in there. So if the guys are like, get us more guys. Okay. So there's guys from George's love. But so that is awesome. I love helping people actually write their content and like get helping them make those tweaks that they just can't see for themselves. So that's been cool. We've had people blowing up in there. One of my gals started with 86 followers. And now she's at 25k. Like people that are like growing like crazy. One of my favorite stories. She started with 200 followers. She's now at I think almost 15. And hasn't even started selling her digital products yet. But she's made $50,000 in new client business just from the fields that we posted together. Oh my gosh. I'm like, that's amazing. That's amazing. That's why. And but the coolest part about it, and this is why I love what I do. I was talking with her and she was sharing all this, you know, amazing wins. And she was beaming her smile on zoom. And she was like spring break is paid for. I'm paying off my car myself. Like I'm not having to even ask, you know, my husband to help me with that. And I was like, that's that why we did this. That's the question. I got to say off my student loans because of posting rails. I swear like it's that's insane. And what this what this platform can do for you. Yeah, right. If you just show up, you guys show up. So how can people find you? So on Instagram on Brienne underscore Williams, B R I E and N E. I know that's kind of weird. And yeah, I'm there pretty much everybody say just go to. I'm kind of getting to that point too. It's like, they'll be like, what's your website? Like go to my Instagram. Yeah. I'm actually rebuilding it. Yeah, it's just I for years, I've had it and I don't ever send people to it. And like, why would I go to my Instagram? That's where I get this all right there. It's easier. It's guys 100% yeah, but all that stuff is amazing. I love it. Let's get together soon and do an Instagram live. Let's do it. That'd be so fun. I would love that. I love this was so great. You're so well educated and insightful. I'm so excited. We got to connect and I'm so grateful that you came on call her. Thanks for the invite. This was really fun. So welcome. All right. I will see you next episode.