036: How to use Instagram DMs to Grow Your Business with Molly Cahill

Kate Kordsmeier 0:00

Welcome back to the Success with Soul podcast. I'm your host, Kate Kordsmeier. And today, my good friend Molly Cahill is on the show. Molly is an Instagram Expert. And in case you don't know, or you're new here, I hate Instagram. In fact, at the time of this recording, I have deleted Instagram off of my phone. And it's been two weeks since I've posted anything on my account. Even in my course the six figure blog Academy, I teach people how to create successful online businesses without Instagram. I hate Instagram, hate social media. I teach mindful business. I teach business with intention and soul and alignment. And it's always felt a little out of alignment, to spend a lot of time on a platform that has a tendency to create a lot of toxic habits and emotions and comparison traps and just fakeness. Right, I hate Instagram. So it's a little weird that I'm bringing an Instagram Expert on to the show. But here's the crazy thing that happened after this episode. After we recorded this episode, I actually went and downloaded the app again and put Instagram back on my phone. And I did it with this renewed sense of excitement for the community and genuine connection that I could create using DNS. It's not about posting, it's not about followers. It's not about likes or comments. Molly K. Hill has figured out she has built her business in her DMS and she's going to show you how. So we have a lot of mindset stuff to get through. We've got some really practical tangible tips, because, you know, that's what I'm all about. And at the end of the day, I hope that you will have healed your relationship with Instagram the way that I did after talking to Molly, so let's get into it. You're listening to the Success with Soul podcast with Kate Kordsmeier x journalists turned CEO of a multi six figure blog and online business. But it wasn't that long ago that Kate was a struggling entrepreneur who lacked confidence, clarity, and let's be honest money. But all those failures, experiments and lessons learned helped Kate create a thriving business that impacts 1000s and brings freedom, flexibility and fulfillment to her life. If you're ready to do the same and make something happen with holistic, soulful, step by step strategies from Kate and other experts, you're in the right place. here's your host, writer, educator, mom recovering perfectionist, bookworm and sushi connoisseur Kate Kordsmeier. k Hill in that house. Hello.

Molly Cahill 3:06

Hi.

Kate Kordsmeier 3:07

I was laughing because last night Molly and I were on voxer as we always are with our friend pay. Eva and Molly's like, Oh my gosh, Eve. I'm, I'm prepping for this big interview tomorrow. It's just up and coming podcast. Like oh my god, Molly. That's so exciting. What is it? Like? wars idiot?

Molly Cahill 3:32

Oh, yeah. She's had like some big names on there. So, so excited.

Kate Kordsmeier 3:37

You're one of them? Yes. So Molly and I have known each other for what feels like ever, but is actually like, two years.

Molly Cahill 3:45

Yeah. Yeah.

Kate Kordsmeier 3:48

Yes, Molly. We are one of those stories of client turned friend. And so Molly and I met about two years ago because I was hiring somebody to run my Instagram account. And Molly applied and her application stood out far and above the rest, which is really interesting, because you actually didn't have a ton of Instagram experience at the time. Nope. But you still apply it in such a way that I was like, Yeah, I need to hire this girl. She gets it. And so Molly ran my Instagram account at route and rebel for about a year or so and then helped me get kk off the ground. And now she's, you know, too big for me.

So.

Molly Cahill 4:39

Oh, that's funny.

Kate Kordsmeier 4:41

So anyway, Molly, tell everybody your story and how you became the Instagram guru to the chiropractor's and beyond.

Molly Cahill 4:49

I know it's so bizarre like nobody ever wakes up one day and you're like, you know what, I think I'm gonna run Instagram accounts for like holistic people. How this all happened. It all happens. But my background is in outside sales. So as an outside sales for nine years, and when I got pregnant with my daughter in 2016, my husband was going to be deployed for her birth. He's in the Marine Corps. So yes, we do know where babies come from, but we did not plan accordingly. And I was traveling all the time for work. I was actually a sales manager, I sold drug testing, to addiction and pain management clinics. And I was traveling all over Southern California, we were stationed in San Diego at the time, and Hawaii and living in hotels, and I was super sick pregnant with my daughter. And I was just like, one day literally driving down the streets in LA, and you hear from my accent, I'm not from LA, I'm from Alabama, Alabama. I'm driving down and just like puking. And I'm just like, God, You know what, I quit, just was done. I had saved up for that day. And I didn't know what was next. But I knew I was just going to be a mom for a while. And, you know, you don't have family out there. And so I had my daughter and my husband came home and she was five months pregnant. And when she was five, I hope she wasn't bad. Her husband came home when she was five months old. And when she was almost a year, I just got that itch of like, I am not meant to be a stay at home mom, shout out to anyone who's a stay at home mom, that is the hardest job of any artist,

Kate Kordsmeier 6:26

ever. That has taught us anything. Holy Word children.

Molly Cahill 6:32

So I was like, I want to do something. But again, my husband's about to deploy again. And I just wanted something where you know, I could be a little more flexible. So my chiropractor and I had become friends. And she really wanted me to work for her. But we just couldn't figure out something that made sense, financially, and you know, daycare and all that so expensive. And so she was like, hey, do you want to run my Instagram account? And I'm like, sure. At the time, I had a, I had an Instagram account, I think I posted like six photos on it. I had no idea what I was doing trial by fire. And I learned from her. And then word got out. She had an acupuncturist and a massage therapist in her office. And so I started doing theirs. And all of this was just for trade. So I felt great. I was getting free. And acupuncture and massages, I think free and now it's working. But and then eventually people started asking her outside of her office like, Hey, who's doing your account? And I was like, Well, I guess I better make this a business. So yeah. And then I really got interested in the whole holistic wellness world back when I hurt my back about 10 years ago. And I started going to a chiropractor, my family had never been like we weren't a chiropractic family and it you know, totally, totally got me out of pain. And then when you call on pain management and addiction facilities for six years, we just are like, not going down that road. So bad for these. You're just like God, there's a better way like this is just pitiful. And then I lost my dad a couple years ago to cancer, and it was lung cancer. And he'd never smoked. And he'd had this dry cough for six months. And his doctor never did a checks chest X ray. And they were like six months in after having a cough. They're like, Oh, we'll just take robot testing. And so it was just like all of this culminated into this. Just like there is a better way. And I just felt, I don't know, like compelled to get the word out that there's a better way to do things and like, do I want to go to school and like be a doctor? Like No. and Kate, that's actually when I found that route. And rebel. I don't remember what blog post initially led me to you. Thank you, Google. Thank you, Google. Thank you, Google. Um, but I was like a written rebel fan girl for years. I mean, I think there's probably very, not one blog posts stone left unturned that I have not read on written rebel. And that leads me to when I literally just was about to start my business when I got the email from you saying that you were hiring. And I was like, I have 700 followers. I don't even have a website yet. But I'm so passionate about what Kate does. And I am a good copywriter. And I know that I can like I can I can do this. I was like, This is my job. I was just like I knew it. I knew it from the start. So here we have it was you rocked it?

Kate Kordsmeier 9:32

And now I'm remembering what what made your application stand out was that I had some of my top candidates write a sample Instagram post, and I had this blog post that was about 23 in me and genetic testing. And I knew what I wanted to say in the Instagram caption at but I didn't tell anybody what I wanted to say I was just like, okay, here's the blog post, write an Instagram caption. For this, and I'll see if anybody gets like remotely close to what I'm looking for. and Molly literally took the words out of my mouth and wrote the exact Instagram post I wanted. So perfect. I don't even have to train this girl, she already knows everything about route and rebel, I can throw her into the deep end, she's got my voice down already, because we're so similar. And, yeah, that made it so easy. For me, it's very difficult to find people that can write in your voice, handing over social media to somebody else, I think can be hard, because there's so many times when I've had other people do it, and then you cringe. And you're just like, Oh, I never would have said that. Or, oh, that's just so not me. And it was never the case with you. And I feel like all of your clients say the same thing. You have a very good ability to figure out how to speak in somebody else's voice. And I think because you have so much experience in the wellness industry now and with your own experience, and then working with so many different practitioners in this space, you just get the vibe.

Molly Cahill 11:07

Yeah. And to be honest, I mean, I have run some accounts or created content for people in other spaces, like a hairstylist and, you know, just some other

Kate Kordsmeier 11:19

realtors,

Molly Cahill 11:20

realtor. And it just, it just wasn't the same. Like I just didn't feel. You know, to be totally honest, I felt kind of sheepish when people would say, what do you do? and Kate, you talk about this all the time on the one? What do you do, um, I left my quarter million dollar a year salary to run people's Instagram accounts. So saying that, but like, now that I have really found my niche and found my groove, I'm like, No, like, if I can help one person, you know, get care that's actually going to help them heal from the root cause than actually just like masking with a bunch of medications, then, you know, I'm doing my job. It's very fulfilling.

Kate Kordsmeier 12:05

Yeah, I feel like it's such a good example of having the bigger why and that, that more more of that connection to like the purpose behind it. Because Yeah, on the surface, it's Instagram. And that's can be whatever, you can say whatever you want about Instagram, but it's so much more than that. Beneath the surface. And I feel like if you don't have that, then it will be really easy to just give up and go, whatever. It's just Instagram.

Molly Cahill 12:31

Yes, exactly. Yeah, I just didn't want to be the one that was like it's national taco day, you know. I wanted to have more, more time.

Kate Kordsmeier 12:44

Yeah. All right.

So I got a couple hard hitting questions for you here. I'm putting on my reporter hat from my old days and coming out swinging. So ready. This is gotcha journalism wedding. All right. So at the time of this recording, I have deleted Instagram from my phone two weeks ago. And it has been glorious. Yeah. So my question for you, I'm not even quite sure exactly what my question is. But it's something along the lines of you need Instagram. But you don't need Instagram. You need to have a social presence. If you want really any kind of business, whether your brick and mortar or an online business or a blog. But you don't actually need it. There are many people who have successful businesses without Instagram course. So when we're talking about finding that deeper purpose, the Why? Why should I put it back on my phone? Why should I spend time on something that has a tendency to become quickly toxic?

Molly Cahill 13:57

So you thought this was going to be hard, but I'm sorry to say for you, I am a Success with Soul podcast junkie and I'm going to refer back to your episode with marketing personalities. Oh, my goodness. Attorney, right. Yeah. Yes. And I'm also going to give a shout out to Chelsea Haynes who is my health coach, and it's just all about intention. So if if you hate it, then it's not going to work for you anyway. Hmm. Yeah, so I can definitely elaborate on that. But can you have a business without having Instagram? Absolutely. Can you have a business without having let's say a blog or you know, a YouTube channel or whatever it you have to enjoy what you're doing, or it's not going to work anyway.

Kate Kordsmeier 14:46

Okay, so if I personally don't enjoy it, but I see the value in it. Then what? What's a good like, how do you kind of strike this balance because I've tried different things. Right, I've tried outsourcing it, which could still be the best option. In this case, I've tried. Well, I have a limit on my phone, and it kicks me off after 15 minutes. So I know can't go down the rabbit hole. And I've, and I've tried everything in between. I personally, I'm just, I think what I struggle with is that I preach and believe in running a mindful business and life and Instagram and social media doesn't feel mindful to me. But maybe that's just a mindset.

Molly Cahill 15:40

I thought we already worked on this, Kate last year.

Kate Kordsmeier 15:43

I know, I'm still struggling with it, you have to beat me over the head with most things before I get it.

Molly Cahill 15:49

We remember you that was like the highest praise you ever gave me. You're like, you've changed my relationship with Instagram.

Kate Kordsmeier 15:56

I go through phases, right? I'm just in a phase right now where I'm just so I'm reading this book. It's so good. I think it's called Big summer. It's a total chiclet book that I read, because I was like, I need something kind of mindless. And just like a good beach read, right? And turns out, it's like, amazing. But the book follows this Instagram influencer, who's this like, plus size model. And anyway, to make a long story short, that's what encouraged me to like delete it from my phone. Because I do struggle with the whole influencer thing and feeling like, everything is so fake. And like, I think being in the blogging space, I often get bloggers and influencers get lumped into the same category. And I spent a lot of time this year, you know, trying to untangle those two things and say, it's like a square as a rectangle. But a rectangle isn't always a square, whatever that expression is, where just because you're a blogger doesn't mean you're an influencer and and vice versa. And maybe one's not right

or wrong.

I'm kind of talking in circles here. So you need to step in and set me straight.

Molly Cahill 17:11

Okay, well, I'm probably going to be talking in circles too. So I'm sorry if I don't answer your original question. Exactly. But I just have a lot of thoughts on this. And this is actually exactly how when I was thinking how I wanted to what I wanted to talk about on this podcast, this is like, I want to start out with the mindset piece. It's not sad. And if you're listening, and you hate mindset stuff, don't do now because I promise I will get to some juicy, like actionable tips. But I think it's so interesting. I tell people to be on Instagram pretty much, you know, a lot of Monday because I have my own account, and then I still don't manage a couple people's accounts. I have zero comparison. Compare that? I don't know. And I think that comes from the fact that I have worked with now so many people behind the scenes. And Kate now Okay, sorry, I'm going to use you an example. I know you personally know like, I know your family. I've been to your home. We've talked every day we talk about our struggles. But when I first found written rebel, I thought Holy crap, this girl is like, has her shit together. She is so successful.

Kate Kordsmeier 18:22

Turns out hot mess Express.

Molly Cahill 18:25

Oh, you are but but now I get to see like the behind the scenes where you're like, Oh, we had this tech issue this happened or like, you know what I mean? Just like, their real life things are like you're struggling with childcare issues or,

Kate Kordsmeier 18:40

but that's exactly what I mean, where I'm like, Instagram makes it look like you have your shit together. But in reality nobody does. And I

Molly Cahill 18:51

think I just know that now from working with so many people behind the scenes that I see beyond the surface of what is on someone's account. And if you look at my feet is not pretty and I don't care, like where because I found that when I tried to make sure every photo was perfect and that my grid had a pattern and all that it just kept me from actually sharing good stuff. Yeah, so it's just I don't follow anybody who makes me feel less than I know there are some big big people that you follow Kate who don't say anything. But it's just like you have to think about your own life and just look beyond the surface and just know that it's it's so not what it appears there was a woman oh my gosh, I cannot remember her name but she's a big time. If somebody is listening to this and you know who it is DM me on Instagram, but it's She's like a big name mom. Not influencer like mom, blogger, trainer, and she was interviewed on Good Morning America. And she did a post on her Instagram. I'm showing her Good Morning America backdrop. So obviously y'all can't see but like here to just look right now and see what our video looks like, I've got the nice picture behind me, like I'm dressed from the waist up. But if you pan to the left a little bit, there's a happy banana and a pile of papers, he told me, she showed her zoom corner for her, you know, good morning america interview. And it was like this beautiful mid mud dresser and a plant. And, you know, it was so clean. And then she panned over to the rest of her room. And there was like, broken blinds and mismatched sheets and laundry all in the rest of the room. So I just think I only follow people who show that real side of themselves and so and if people don't, I still know that that's really what their life is like, their needs anyway. I know that's not an exact answer to your question. But I think I just I've worked with enough people now behind the scenes that if you're just telling you it is it is people, everybody's on the struggle bus. Yeah. Well, I

Kate Kordsmeier 21:02

think that helps for sure. For anybody who falls into the comparison trap thing on Instagram, which I think most of us probably have, at some point, even if it's not a daily struggle or something of looking at other people and either thinking, oh, they're, you know, there's so much more successful than me or they have so many more followers than I do or they're better and or their life so much better. Their family so perfect, whatever it is. I mean, certainly, there's a million things like that. And I think you that is definitely your superpower is not falling into the comparison itis trap. But what about some of the other? I don't want to use the word toxic again. But I'm thinking like, what about some of the other kind of pitfalls of social media? Like what do you see some common mistakes or just mindset things that people struggle with? When it comes to Instagram. I mean, like, even if I'm not comparing my follower account to somebody else's follower count, I still will be like, I only have X number of followers. Or then on the flip side, route and rebel grew really fast. And then I had like 50,000 followers. And that felt really cool. Because people would say, oh, what do you do? And when I said, Oh, I have a blog, and they kind of like rolled their eyes and was like, cool, stay at home mom, then I would look at my Instagram and they'd go, Oh, my gosh, you have 50,000 followers, you're legit. And it was like, that is not what legitimizes me, but it does in a lot of other people's eyes. How do you get over that part?

Molly Cahill 22:40

So I will not try to pretend that having more followers you know does not like you said legitimize you go look at my account. I can't even tell you how many I have usually at any given time. I know it's less than 4000. But I so I'm not going to try to pretend like it's not a thing. But I do you think that more and more people are realizing how easy it is to buy followers because you get these DMS all the time and you get these like, grow explode your Instagram and all this stuff. So I think and maybe I'm wrong, and maybe it's just like, I hope but I think that that phase of like, you know, whoever has the most followers wins is kind of like starting to wane. Um, so, yeah, so I don't really have a great answer for that other than I have an email that is in part of my welcome series. And it talks about like a follower being a person. And I compared to like, Can you imagine like, let's just say you're like in the 1950s and like, you're selling these custom potholders or something I don't know. And then all of a sudden you wake up, and there's 50 people out of nowhere, who were just like, Hey, I'm diggin what you're doing with these potholders? Like, let me let me check out how do you do it? Let me buy some. You'd be like, oh my gosh. 50 people like holy cow. Yeah. In 20 2050 followers, you're like 5050

Kate Kordsmeier 24:05

Yeah. Women I love that analogy. I've heard that but not the potholders. I've heard the the mindset reframe of saying, think of these people as the people that they actually are. These are human beings. And if you were speaking to a room of 4000 people, yes. shit your pants. And now you looking. I only have 4000 followers this okay, but this also reminds me you dealt with this a few months back maybe last year, who even knows what month it is now? Somebody was saying like, I don't even think it was about you. But you thought about it because it applied to you that Oh, these Instagram gurus out there teaching Instagram and they don't even have

Yeah, no, I know.

Molly Cahill 24:57

Yeah, what am I students I referred my course to one of her friends who's a health coach. And she's like, how is she calling herself an Instagram Expert? And she only has, I don't remember how many followers

Kate Kordsmeier 25:10

Yeah, 3000 followers, whatever it was. And I was like, oh.

Molly Cahill 25:18

And of course, I like, initially went into like defense mode because I truly am a cobblers child, I have got to get my shit together. And like, you know, what do I what I apply for other people. And for my students, I don't always do for myself, which I should start putting my own content first. But that's a whole nother the whole. So yeah, I went into defensive mode and like, well, I don't even spend that much time on my own account. And it was just like, wait a minute, I know how much money my business is making. Right?

Kate Kordsmeier 25:50

That's what I was thinking this whole time that we're talking about, how do we get over the thought that followers matter that followers are what makes us legitimate? And it's like, by focusing on the truth, and the truth is that you can have a multiple seven figure business without Instagram followers. And the truth is that followers don't always equate. It's not like each follower is worth X number of dollars. And so anybody if, no matter who you are, if you reach 10,000 followers, you're guaranteed to make X number of dollars. And what I want to get into with practical strategy and stuff is that what you figured out is how is what I figured out in the blogging space? And what you figured out in the Instagram space, which is how to monetize a relatively small audience. Yeah. And people can look at route and rebel. I mean, I just was posting in one of my community groups the other day about this is how much money Rutan rebel makes this is how many followers we are, how many page views we get a month. And I ended up getting emails, like private emails from several people who are in this is our ad networks Facebook group. So I know this wasn't the point of your post, but I just have to ask you, how are you doing this? Because I have way more pageviews in you. And I don't make half of what you make. And I think that the answer for both of us is in actual community and human connection and treating followers and pageviews. Like people. Yeah, but I won't speak for you know, yet. Well,

Molly Cahill 27:29

so you've never done the straight. You've got to do the string sign. Okay. That is not how I did it. I did it. Yeah, well, is it?

Kate Kordsmeier 27:36

Okay, yes, I have it on my computer of a let's see. So I did it like a week ago. That's so funny. Okay,

Molly Cahill 27:44

while you're pulling it up, I'll tell you, my number one strength is Woo. And if you don't know what that is winning others over. So I am the world's biggest extrovert, and I love people and I love making friends and they just genuinely fascinate me. So I don't want you to think well, I'm an introvert. And none of this is going to apply to me. And it will, I promise, but I just love like you said I love building community and making relationships. And what is that book? 1000 true fans? Is that?

Kate Kordsmeier 28:16

I don't know.

Molly Cahill 28:17

I've actually never read it. But I read the Cliff's notes version.

Kate Kordsmeier 28:21

Perfect. Sometimes. That's all you need.

Molly Cahill 28:23

Yeah, the blinkist up. We're Yeah, yeah. We're just talking about that one. Got me on blanket. So read the listen to the blinkist version. It's basically like, if you have 1000 true fans, like then you can kind of conquer the world. So that's kind of

Kate Kordsmeier 28:39

okay, no, I do remember talking about that book. Now. That's so true. You don't need a million people to do anything. 1000 people is so many people. This episode is brought to you by my free blogging quiz. If you love the idea of blogging, but have no idea what you even want to blog about, I got you take our free quiz to find out what kind of blog you should start at successwithsoul.co/quiz. Your results reveal which of the six types of profitable blogs best suits you plus step by step actions on what to do next to get started. That's successwithsoul.co/quiz. If you're ready to get direction and finally start the blog of your dreams.

Okay, so I want to get into some of the like actual engagement tactics because I have so many very specific questions about how you do this. But to answer your strengthsfinder question, okay, my top five are futuristic, which basically means I'm never satisfied with where I am and I'm always dreaming about what could be I'm very much like possibilities driven and thinking about oh my gosh, what if we could do this number two learner. I could be paid to learn all day. That's what I would do. And number three achiever.

Molly Cahill 30:10

Yeah, okay.

Kate Kordsmeier 30:12

Number four restorative and number five input. So

Molly Cahill 30:17

number four,

Kate Kordsmeier 30:18

whoo, I'm looking for is 25 for me. So this is a good just like you said, I'm also I'm an introvert, you're an extrovert, you're really good at this. I'm not as great at this. But you can still make it work for you, even if you're not this super extroverted person. And like, spoiler alert, Instagram communication is like anybody can do it doesn't matter your personality type, like, come speak on stage, right? It's like one on one conversations is what we're talking about here. So, okay, let's talk about engagement. Because I think that there's so many things people not do wrong, but there's so many better ways of doing it. Let's say it that way. So what is to start, what is one of the biggest mistakes you feel like people make when it comes to engagement?

Molly Cahill 31:14

So first of all, I want to define engagement. Because if you were to just go there's a lot of free websites you can go to you can input anyone's Instagram handle, and they'll tell you rebels engagement rate is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, that's not accurate, because it only takes the surface level stats, like comments and likes. What you don't see is the number of posts saves or post shares or profile visits or website clicks, all of those things to me are far more important than just who left you a heart emoji on your post or who? Or who was sitting on the toilet and doubletap to your posts like, No, I mean, like, like likes and comments, if you followed me for a while, you know that, like, I just don't care. That's just not a metric I worry about.

Kate Kordsmeier 32:04

But this is what's hard is because that's what externally, people see. So somebody goes to your profile, and they go, she has x number of followers, most of her posts get this many likes, or this many comments. And if those numbers aren't impressive, people can write you off. But if you know the truth of like, Yeah, but look how many people then click to my website and purchase my products or services. Or look how many people share my posts with others. And then those people are dming me and we start a relationship and they turn into clients or customers or whatever. Nobody else sees that. So it's like you have to do that internal work of I need to forget about the external validation stuff, and focus more on what's happening behind the scenes that nobody else besides me is seeing.

Molly Cahill 32:54

So I'll go back to the biggest mistake question. But I do just don't want to forget this because it's important. That's why I love the whole aspect of social proof. And like in your Instagram stories, or whatever, you know, that I love sharing screenshots of dm conversations I've had or texts. You know, I just had a student be like, I've gotten four new patients from Instagram, she has like 600 followers or 500 followers or something. So I love sharing screenshots. And you know, obviously, taking out people's names, I was looking in your Facebook group this morning, Kate and someone, one of your six FBA students was like, Hey, I bought six FBA last year, and I just want to show you my pageviews what they were and what they are now. So everybody keep at it, like I would screenshot the heck out of that and be I've had so many people come up to me, like in my, you know, know, me personally, like, you're just killing it and all this and like, you know, really, I'm not yet like, you know, I'm definitely not at my financial goals yet. But just hearing you know, that praise from people, I'm kind of like, okay, so I am doing something right, like, I do need to let myself off the hook that I don't have 10,000 followers, and you know, I only get 50 likes or whatever, because I do see the behind the scenes numbers. So that's kind of one way to still get that external validation is sharing that social proof, which is why I love stories. So you better bet I'm gonna Boomerang the crap out of this interview and be like, I'm on Success with Soul podcast. All that social proof stuff is great. But then going back to the biggest mistakes people make is they focus too much on comments and likes for one thing, and then they only engage in their little bubble. And if you think about the algorithm, one thing is people, you can hack the algorithm beat the algorithm run far, far away. It's way smarter than you, you cannot hack an algorithm. It's, you know, so when you have these comment pods that people are in, sometimes it's like, Alright, we got 20 people, and we're all going to comment on each other stuff. Well, yeah, you're guaranteed to have 20 comments, but what you're doing is creating a closed loop, where the algorithm then thinks and rightly so. Only these 20 people want to see your posts, and you only see you only want to see these 20 people's posts. So cool. Like it's just crazy, this little loop and you've shot yourself in the foot. And the other mistake is people only engaging with their peers. So I see this a lot, let's say like the food blogger space. If you ever go look at a prominent food bloggers, Instagram, and look at their comments, they're almost always from other food bloggers, huh? Yep, they're never from the mom actually make

the recipe tonight for her kids for dinner. So you really have to try to get outside of just your peer group. So I don't go engage with other social media people I go engage with chiropractors and indies and acupuncturist you know, and help coaches and hang out and engage with your target market with your ideal customer avatar not. So if not, if I'm trying to target aspiring bloggers, I don't need to go engage on Amy Porterfield, Instagram, I need to go engage on people who have very small blogs and are trying to get them off the ground. Right? Although you could, let's say, where the Amy Porterfield comes in, is, if people are interested in Amy Porterfield work, then they're also probably interested in your work. And then when there are larger accounts, you'll notice after about, I don't know, 50 comments, they stopped responding to people. So if you go to one of their posts that got a bunch of comments, and towards the end, people are asking questions, and no one is there to answer. You know, that is one place you can engage is go like somebody's like, Oh, I'm trying to decide between, you know, Active Campaign or MailChimp and it's like, you know, 100 comments down on one of Amy Porterfield posts, then yeah, that would be a good place for you to engage. Now, obviously, you know, if you use the brick and mortar example, if you're a dance studio and you go, you know, you're commenting on the dance studio across the streets, Instagram, that's, that's not good. But, you know, you like to tell people to go to like a complimentary person in Yeah, nice and kind of hang out in the comment section is a good place to find. And, you know, for you and me, it's a lot easier to do that because our ICA is going to be most likely a public account. Right? easy for us to go you know, for you okay, I remember when I used to run your account, I would go to like the thing was like hashtag newbie blogger, hashtag blogging, 101 or something like that. Just a super easy to go find your ICA that way. If you are, let's say a photographer or a doula and you're looking for your target your target market as a private Mom, you're not going to go like much trolling private pages. May I see your pregnant like, hey,

Kate Kordsmeier 38:01

yeah, this is great. Because Yeah, what happens when it is private? Or even if it's not private, but you feel like a stalker being like, Hey, I see you're pregnant and like, Who the hell are you?

Molly Cahill 38:13

This is my favorite thing to teach. So I do have an engagement checklist and I break it down by category so like if your business to business this is the best way to engage if your business to consumer, this is the best way to engage. And that's just at Mollycahill.com/engagement. But if you are business to consumer and your consumer is likely going to be a private account, then I like to go find a complimentary account to yours or a quote influencer in your space who you aren't directly competing with. So let's

Kate Kordsmeier 38:46

use this doula example. I like this one. Yeah.

Molly Cahill 38:48

Yeah. So example. When you are a doula like okay, where else would pregnant moms hang out? I don't know maybe taking care of babies account like she's like a newborn photographers page or you know, a mom bloggers page like our a mom influencers page, anywhere that you're going to see. I'm trying I'm trying to think like, what are some other things you would want to check out when you're pregnant?

Kate Kordsmeier 39:15

Like feeding littles?

Molly Cahill 39:16

You're?

Kate Kordsmeier 39:18

Yeah, I mean, I followed all the, like, baby led weaning accounts, but that was after I was not, I mean, after I gave birth, I guess so maybe not. The Gosh, I loved the Instagram account. And I took her course when I was pregnant. And, gosh, what was her name? It's like the empowered birth center or something like that. I'm totally butchering that. But it was like a she has a birthing course about how to like hypno birthing and well looking at people who, if I was a doula that would have been a great account for me to go look at is like people who are teaching empowered birthing and stuff like that.

Molly Cahill 39:58

Yeah. So you could like look up the history. Tag like any pregnancy hashtags, and probably, whoever shows up in the top accounts is going to be, you know, probably a good account for you to hang out and you want to try to find somebody who does get a lot of comments. And you can just engage in the comment section and just, you know, remember, what

are you saying, like,

Kate Kordsmeier 40:18

I think this is where people go, Okay, go engage in the comments. But I think a good example is if they're asking a question Where, oh, should I do hypno? babies? Or should I do? I don't know, some other strategy of birthing that I don't know the name of, then it can be nice to go in and say, Oh, I

Molly Cahill 40:37

really recommend hypno birthing, because XYZ but what if they're not asking a question that's like, you know, what, if they're just commenting on a post, like this is great. Didn't you just can reply back and be like, I took her course and loved it, or I love this too, or something like it does not have to be fancy. Think about what you would normally say to a human being. This is why I have so much trouble with, I have a lot of friends in network marketing, who do it right and a lot who do it wrong, who it's like, hey, I've partnered with this great company, I would talk to you since middle school. But it's like, you wouldn't walk into Starbucks, if you were a single girl and you see a guy and you're like, Hey, you want to get married? Like you would be like, Oh, that's my coffee order to like, you know, going back to your episode with Kelsey, the copywriter, you always want to try to find common ground with somebody and that's just like conversation, human social interaction, one on one. So, you know, even if they're just commenting, like I'm having so much trouble, or whatever, just be like, hang in there, Mama, I hear you like, you know, it's just you don't have to overthink it. And then if you are having trouble coming up with something to say, then move on. Because that means it obviously didn't resonate with you.

Kate Kordsmeier 41:51

So but what you're saying, I love that, like, speak like you're talking to an actual human being. And what you're saying is like you're just responding to them. You're not saying I also teach hypno birthing if you want to come check out my page.

Molly Cahill 42:06

Yeah, no, no. So yeah, I do this a lot. I have a functional medicine doctor who's a client. And you know, if you know Dr. Mark Hyman, he's like, huge in the functional medicine space. It's not like she's competing with him. And so her target market is going to be a private account, like somebody who's struggling with their hormones or whatever. And so a lot of times, I'll just go hang out and like the comments section and just either like, like comments, and then a way to take it a step further, if you don't know what to say, you know, in reply In response, is just start clicking on profiles in that comment section until you find one that's public. And then the chances are, if they liked, you know, Dr. Hyman, then they're going to like my client as well, because they post a lot of similar things. So I'll go and comment on some of their posts. You know, I'll click on them and I find the person and Dr. hymens comments section, click until I find a public profile, go to their profile, comment on a few posts, or if they have stories up, that is where the magic happens, because they go straight to their inbox, if you are commenting on one of their stories, like, Oh, I see you're skiing and wherever, like, I've always wanted to go there. Or how did I strike up a conversation? Yesterday? Oh, the girl's name was like, my favorite baby name. And I just was like, Oh my gosh, if we have another baby, I want to name her your name. And she was like, and then like, we started chatting in DMS, it was just like from a story I saw from her. So like I said, you just never know. We're so good at that just like organic conversation. And I think it's because like, you're not afraid to just be nice and strike up a conversation like you're

Kate Kordsmeier 43:49

the one at a party, who can just walk up to a stranger and be like, Hey, I'm Molly, I love your boots. And then that's how you start a conversation. And I'm the one at a party that stands in the corner until somebody comes and talks to me. And like, I think if you really want to find success on social media, you can't stand in the corner and wait for somebody to come and talk to you.

Molly Cahill 44:12

Okay, two points to that. First of all, Miss Kate Kordsmeier, you pitched Pat Flynn and had him on your podcast. So just,

Kate Kordsmeier 44:21

I take my own advice, but

Molly Cahill 44:24

the answer is always No, unless you ask, right. But second of all, it's so funny, you bring up the party analogy, because I always use the movie Field of Dreams. And I say Instagram is not the Field of Dreams. So if you build it, they won't come. So you know, people like craft this perfect post and then got the photo and the hashtags and they put it up and you're just like, Alright, like come to me, Mama. It's just like, it's not really no works. It's like if you were to stand at a networking event and just like hold up a sign in the quarter, like, you know, saying what your business was or something like nobody's gonna come talk to you. You have to go out and make the connection, and yeah, this sounds so time consuming. It was like, Oh my god, how much time does this take? But I would rather you spend less time posting and scrolling and more time. You know, go through my engagement checklist have gotten some awesome, awesome feedback saying like, Oh my gosh, like, I just focused on one part of it. And it all scales. So everybody's like, well, how much how much time she has been doing this? Well, how much time do you have? Do you have two minutes? Then do two minutes if you have 20? Do 20 sound like there's some perfect time amount?

Kate Kordsmeier 45:33

Right? No, that's so true. And I'm so glad you said that. Because my next question was, it sounds like it portant to post and to put out your own stuff, and more important to engage and just start conversations with people.

Molly Cahill 45:48

Yeah, I would say my challenge to you would be what can you cut back on? So are you spending a ton of time creating posts, and maybe you post five days a week, we'll cut that down to three and use the time that you would spend doing the other two hours engaging? or, even better? How long have you been posting or how much, you know, backlog of content Do you have and go back to something you posted a year ago and reuse it? Nobody will notice. I'm back to your episode with Milo tree. What's her name?

Kate Kordsmeier 46:23

Oh my gosh, Julian Leslie, I'm really Success with Soul super fan.

Molly Cahill 46:28

And, you know, talked about like, our ego likes to say, they notice if I reuse this? No. And even if they do notice, it takes people at least seven times to see something to take action. So cool if they do see it again.

Kate Kordsmeier 46:42

So it's like, what if you could batch This is what I'm hearing and the ideas that are circling in my head now. Okay, I'm going to go and I'm going to batch 30 posts. And then I'm going to sprinkle them out over the next like 90 days. And at the end of those 90 days, I'm just going to reuse every one of those posts and do them again. And maybe I'll change like a hashtag or two, or maybe I'll like update it for whatever. Or maybe I'll just literally repost the exact same thing again, as long as it's like, evergreen, and not something timeless. And then all of that time that I'm saving by not feeling like I have to constantly put out new content, I can use actually just having conversations with people. And that makes me feel like Instagram is not this toxic place where I'm worried about followers and swipe ups and likes and comments. It's actually a place where I'm just building connections with people and having conversations with people that I wouldn't be able to otherwise. Because how would I find these people? If not for Instagram?

Molly Cahill 47:49

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, I'm more of a fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal that ENFP over here. But yes, I mean, if you can go back and reuse things, especially if, you know, the the post did really well or, you know, great experiment, maybe the post didn't do well. But you know, it's a good quality piece of content tribe, changing the photo, changing the headline, changing the hashtags, see what happens. I mean, it's fascinating, actually did the same exact post for three clients. Obviously, they all had their own photos with the same exact post pretty much the same hashtags, with the exception of their local geographical hashtags. And all three had different results. So yeah, you just never know there's so many different factors to Yeah, and I love that you're like, you're not going to outsmart the algorithm. So stop making that your goal everybody who's like oh, I

Kate Kordsmeier 48:40

noticed that if I get five comments in the first 10 minutes then it all this always happens or like if I do this little trick if I do, I like that you're like enough with the tricks just show up as you and

find people to talk to

Molly Cahill 48:57

Yeah, just Yeah, exactly. And you know, I'm always showing up as me on my stories, I would say the most majority of my business has been built in my inbox in my dm inbox. And that's because I post a lot of stories that are probably like you know, I'm filtered because I haven't washed my hair and six days and my room My house is a mess. Or like I love sharing like funny mom memes and so I get more comments or DNS from like the funny mom names and a lot of people will say well what if that's not my target market like that doesn't have anything to do with my business if they were applying to my mom means well Yeah, but you need that algorithm juice I call it you know, still signal signaling to Instagram that people are finding your content interesting. So when you do have three that's about business, then it gets more traction. You know, I can send that if I look at my stats, my photos that have done the best and my posts have been the best all been personal. None of them were when I was pitching anything. And this is a question I get asked a lot. It's like, Well, you know, how much personal how much business, whatever. But you need that healthy balance of Yes. So what if your personal account your personal posts is what gives you a lot of traction, it's still signaling to the other than, like, hey, this girl has interesting content. So when you do post something that's pitching, like, go sign up for my email list or buy my thing, then it gets shown to more people.

Kate Kordsmeier 50:27

Right? Plus, people want to buy from people they like. And so if you've already established this thing of, Hey, I'm likeable. I'm like, you we have common ground, I'm a good person, blah, blah, blah, then people are more likely to be like, yeah, I want to support her business.

Molly Cahill 50:44

Yes. And that's why I love Instagram is kind of coming full circle back to your very beginning question is because it's finally humanizing business. It's no longer this faceless logo. of, you know, like, the first thing I always encourage my students to do is change your profile photo, I know that you probably spend all this money on your logo, and you're super excited about it. But it needs to be your face. 100% because that's the beauty of Instagram. And I saw someone else in my space a few weeks ago. And I was just like, No, no, no, I could not disagree with you more. She was like, You need to have two separate accounts, one for your personal business and one for your band. Like No, because, you know, that's the whole point of Instagram is bringing that human element into your business. I want to know you.

Kate Kordsmeier 51:37

Yeah. Okay. So this is such a good segue, because we got a question from somebody in six FBA. Amanda, when we told our group that you were coming on the podcast, so we asked if they had any questions they you could answer. And Amanda asks, I want to hear your thoughts. And the best way to go about transitioning from personal use to self promotion so as not to startle or alienate the community I've already built on my personal account. So I had like a very gut reaction when I heard this question, because I feel like there's so much mindset stuff in there. But I want to know what you think first, and then I'll, I'll share mine. So

Molly Cahill 52:13

there is no one right answer. It's totally based on your own comfort level. But what I did was, when I first started my business, I had like 700 followers on a personal Instagram account, I went through an archive, this is what I teach my students to do, if they're comfortable with it, I went through and archived any posts that had like someone else's kids, or, you know, just something you wouldn't want as a public account. Like, I don't think that's fair to take someone else's kid and make your account public without asking them or whatever. I went through and archived a bunch of posts, and then converted it to public. Well, the beautiful thing with that is the majority of those people were family and friends. And so when I started my business, guess who wants

Kate Kordsmeier 52:58

to support you, and you start your business.

Molly Cahill 53:00

So instead of launching this brand new Instagram account with zero followers and saying, here's my business, like getting crickets, like I was championed about all of these comments from friends and family, now, are they my ICA? Probably not, but what's the chances that a they know somebody who is or B, even if they don't, it goes back to what I said about it gives you that algorithm juice of like, now someone comes to your account, who is your ICA? And is actually gets to see your content because you are getting more action on it. And you're like, Oh, so yeah, I'm a big fan of converting accounts and not having to because unless you just have all the time in the world, and I don't really know who does, like whose two accounts I'm not. For me, my friends and family are mostly on Facebook anyway. So you know, if I ever want to do like a massive photo dump of my daughter, I can do that on Facebook, and that's where my friends and family are. But, um, yeah, I still post I don't censor what goes in my stories based on like, Oh, is this like, you know, good strategy for my business? Like, I'm just me like, that's the beauty of Instagram is I feel like you just kind of get to show up. No, I

Kate Kordsmeier 54:09

think that's exactly it. When I when I read her question. My first thought was, this is a mindset problem. This is not based in reality, because none of your friends and family if they're legitimate friends, and I mean, obviously, they're legitimate family, but none of them are going to be like, Oh my god, she started a business and now she's posting about her business. Right? Nobody's gonna think that I feel like sometimes what I want to say to students and myself, when I start having those doubts and fears and stuff is like, only you care about this. You're making this up. This isn't the thing. What is the worst case scenario and the worst case scenario, Amanda, if you're listening, that somebody is going to think if I'm a friend So if one of my friends starts a blog, and she starts posting, hey, check out this new recipe on my blog, hey, check out this new post I wrote about this, I'm not gonna be like,

what the fuck?

I was only following you because you were supposed to be sharing very specific content about your personal life. And like, no movie, I'm not even going to have this thought. I'm not going to feel. First of all, there's an unfollow button for a reason. There's a mute button for a reason. If you're like, Oh, I don't really want to hear about my friend's new blog. But I don't want her to know that I unfollowed her.

Molly Cahill 55:37

Mute her.

Kate Kordsmeier 55:39

Yeah, we're just keep scrolling. Like, that's the worst that could happen. But the best case scenario and the way more likely scenario is what you said, your friends and family are going to want to champion you. They're going to either become fans of your blog, or they're going to know somebody who's like, Oh, you should totally check out route and rebel because you have pcls. And my friend Kate just started a blog all about pcls go hang out their exact path. And so many times, like my aunts and uncles, my uncle's weren't having pcls. But my tell you, my uncle sent so many people. Why? Because they're like, Oh, my daughter deals with this, or Oh, I know somebody who like is trying to eat healthier or whatever. Ah, yes. And that's also to assuming that 100% of your followers see every post anyway. And they don't write. And they do not. I can't tell you how many people, friends and family. My own mother would be like, What do you mean, you post it? Like, I've never seen that? It's like I posted about it three times. It was on stories. It was on a static feed. Mom, I sent an email about it. Come on, mom. She's like, Oh, I don't know. didn't show up for me. Yeah.

Molly Cahill 56:52

Yeah. So yeah, that's totally a mindset thing. Yeah, that's my advice.

Kate Kordsmeier 57:02

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All right, at the time of this recording is December 1 2020. Thank god almost reals came out. I don't know a few months ago, I guess. I have not even I have attempted one time to do a real like last week, and I messaged you about it as soon as I did, and was like, I can't figure this shit out. How important is it to learn the new features and the new things, that Instagrams rolling out and be like, one of the early adopters, it's, again, goes back to if you hate it, then don't do it.

Molly Cahill 58:49

But at the same time, reels are being given so much priority right now that the people who you know have really just embraced it are just growing by leaps and bounds because they live on so much longer than other pieces of content on Instagram right now. So like your posts, really, once you've posted something new, your old post really isn't being shown it might look you've got something that's gone viral, you know, stories disappear after 24 hours. Of course, you could save it to your highlights, but then it's still not being pushed out to new people after 24 hours. And stories really are mostly only seen by your current followers anyway, reels are just being pushed out to so many new eyeballs. And I think the biggest mindset piece that people have around reels and this was actually in your your Facebook group to somebody who's like I feel like this performative factor and seeing where that comes from. I was never on Tick tock, tick tock. I doubt it.

Kate Kordsmeier 59:51

I doubt it.

Molly Cahill 59:53

tik tok was like this performative thing and it was like it made sense like that was the personality of that platform. You know what I mean? Like it was like funny and like quick little. And so Instagram got jealous and they're like, we have to make our own tic Tock. And it's just like that's not the same personality, it's not the same feel over on Instagram than it is on tik tok.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:00:12

But people tried on Instagram, it's just people pointing to words and awkwardly dancing

Molly Cahill 1:00:17

and gay again, handle it. Um, but it's just, if you just get out of your mind that this is a new feature. And this you have to dance or lip sync or point to a textbox is a 32nd. Video, a real is a 32nd video, nothing more. It is a 32nd video that will get you a hell of a lot more eyeballs than a story and igtv or a 32nd video on your feed. It is nothing more you don't have to make it you don't have to do the fancy features. You don't have to set it to music point and have text come up at fancy times, you could literally just record a 32nd video and then publish it as a real so my homework for everybody. And this is my favorite framework is like the three things framework. So pick your three favorite things of whatever space you're in. If you're a health coach, here are my three favorite healthy breakfast recipes. Or here are my three favorite protein powders. If you're not shy, being on camera, then do face to camera first and record yourself saying face to camera. Here are my three favorite protein powders, then flip around the camera and film three little clips of each protein powder. And then, you know, turn the camera back around and be like, follow me for more tips or whatever however you want to say it and make it super simple. If you're very shy, and you're like, Oh, I don't want to have my face on camera yet. Then just line up the three protein powders on your kitchen counter and have your voice in the background and say, Here are my three favorite protein powders. And here's why I like it did not have to be anything more than that. Uh huh.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:01:53

Okay, I like it. The three things framework,

Molly Cahill 1:01:56

that's easy.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:01:58

Okay, what else?

Molly Cahill 1:02:00

I was just with stories that I've really found works really well, if you don't have 10,000 followers and don't have swipe up. I love using polls and saying, Hey, who wants a free hashtag training? And then you put a poll? It's like yes or no. And while that story is still active, you can swipe up on it and see who ever answered yes. And whoever answers yes, I go dm them the link to my free hashtag training. And yes, that is time consuming. And but as Pat Flynn said, we have to do things that don't scale sometimes. And just a tip, if you don't catch it while the story is still up actively, you can go to your stories archive, which is that three horizontal line, hamburger menu and your profile, go to archive, find the story where you posted that poll, and you can swipe up on it, and you can still dm everybody who answered yes, they wanted to see that thing. So I love doing that and almost always results in good conversation.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:03:00

That's such a good idea. I mean, there's so many if you don't have the swipe up to use that to do it, but even just to use polls to start conversations. Also ask a question, hey, do you struggle with x? Anybody that says yes, dm them and say, let's talk like, you don't have to pitch them something, it doesn't have to immediately go to great, then you should buy my course. Great, then you should do this thing. It could just be like, hey, let's have a conversation. And you just are talking to them about what they're struggling with.

Molly Cahill 1:03:30

Yeah. And there is another new Instagram feature called Instagram guides. I haven't really completely like gone and done all of my person even heard about this.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:03:38

Oh my gosh, another.

Molly Cahill 1:03:39

It's good. This one I actually really like. It's like if Pinterest and Instagram had a baby. Oh, so you could like let's say you could go make a guide for all of your k k posts that talk about email marketing. And so if somebody has a question on email marketing, on your DMS, you can say, Oh, you sent him a link to your email marketing guide. And it's basically like a collection of all of your posts that just talk about that one topic. Oh, that's cool. It's really cool. So you could just be like, hey, um, you know, in a poll, do you want to learn how to spend less time on Instagram and get more results? And if they say yes, I could send them the guide that has grouped all of my posts together. That's like my time saving hacks. Genius.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:04:22

Okay, I like that. Speaking of posts, kind of going back to maybe not the beginning, but the middle of this conversation we're talking about, okay, engaging is actually more important than posting but you do still have to post something. People have to know what you're about. And everybody, myself included, likes to have a good rule. Just tell me what to do.

Molly Cahill 1:04:43

Is there a percentage of posts like these should just be personal these should be business or pitching, you know, asking something of your audience whether it's to like sign up for a freebie or masterclass or actually just like hey, my course is open for enrollment. Or my program is open. I love this question. Alright, so if you go to that MollyCahill.com/engagement and get my engagement checklist, you'll also get my content planner. And I have five content pillars that I like to rotate through. The first one is personal. So like you said, the second one is educational, so you know your tips and tricks and whatever. The third one I like to lump together viral, shareable, inspirational humor, like, to me, that's kind of all one category. And then something that needs you know, that's going to be share worthy, or, quote, or your your audience like, I'm not a big inspirational quote, person, like I'm more of a humor person, that's just my personality, but maybe you're more of an inspirational quote, person. Um, quick hack with that, though, you will get more shares. If your quote graphic is not heavily branded. So if it's just super simple, so if you look on my profile, it'll be a white background with black text. So

Kate Kordsmeier 1:06:06

it's so funny, because it's kind of like the feed thing that you said, I feel like we're taught that meaning need to make everything super branded, super beautiful. Everything needs to look perfect.

Molly Cahill 1:06:19

And now here we are being like, no, literally just black text on a white background. That'll get you more it will like the day after the election, even with hashtags, recent hashtags not being shown, posted the you know, when and or does it curious, be curious, not judgmental, and, yeah, it blew up, I got so many shares, so many saves, I didn't get that many likes that I don't care.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:06:43

My real

thing, I mean, I have to remind myself about this too, with likes and stuff is that think about how I use the platform. And I am a silent fan from for most of the people that I follow, and I buy everything they come out with I hang on their every word I take every recommendation they make. And I never like or comment

Molly Cahill 1:07:07

on this, I'd probably bought a joke when you first hired me I was like, I mean, am I even gonna make money because I just buy everything that you say to buy anyway. Then you didn't even know who I was. So anyway, so that's, that's the other content. So first is personal and then educational. And then like the viral category, which I said, You know, I love the inspirational, funny, whatever. The next category is reviews and social proof and testimonials. So reviews and testimonials. That's self explanatory. Everybody knows what that means. Social proof is going back to what I was talking about sharing screenshots of results from people I have gotten, again, going back to your feet not being pretty, I've gotten way more traction from screenshots on my grid, then copy and pasting the text into a pretty Canva. graphic.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:07:58

Interesting. Yeah. Because it isn't like think about how much time that says, I'd have to go make it pretty just post it. Right?

Molly Cahill 1:08:06

Yeah. Because it's, you know, it's real. And then the last category is that sales pitch. And I, I consider anything, anytime you're asking somebody to leave the app to do something, a sales pitch, even if it's check out the link in my bio, or whatever. And since your audience is, you know, heavy on the blogger side, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is every single post be like, new recipe link in my bio, new posts link in my bio, that just creates fatigue, people are just gonna stop interacting with you and stuff, all you have to give value in the post itself. Obviously, you know, you don't want to build your business around Instagram, you don't own it is you know, cable preached, you wouldn't get people off onto your website on your email list. So that's kind of how I strike that balance. And like then you can get that free content planner. If you do the MollyCahill.com/engagement, you can get the content planner as well.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:09:04

I love this conversation so much, because just as I suspected, you know, it's like, oh, I'm having somebody talk about Instagram on the podcast, and I hate Instagram. How is it? How is this gonna be beneficial and my mindset once again has already been changed. Like, because I need to stop thinking of Instagram in the traditional sense. I think that what you do, I love what you said my business has been built in the DM inbox. That is such a different approach to social media than I think anybody out there is teaching and it makes such a difference that makes me excited to like I can't wait to put the app back on my phone so I can start doing this because it's so it feels so much more in alignment and just better to me to like this is where I cultivate relationships. This is not where I try to make my life look perfect. This is not where I compare myself to what anybody else is doing. This is about relationships.

Molly Cahill 1:10:04

I just had somebody by my course who said they'd been following me for like 18 months. And then, but hadn't been shown my content for a while. And then they saw somebody recommend me in a Facebook group. So they started following and like not following me again, they were already following that they started, like, you know, went and sought out my content again, and then they ended up buying. So it's just like, you never know. And it said it was a conversation and in the inbox and the DMS wide it when people say dm strategy, because I'm like, there's no strategy, it's just human conversation. If you haven't listened to the episode with Kelsey find a common ground or with make a talking about the podcast, you know, yeah, I'm a fellow whatever, like, you know, I started a conversation with somebody today. I was like, Oh, you're in Florida, too. You know, it's like you just never know.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:10:54

Right? And it doesn't, it can be that simple. Oh, you're in Florida, too. Yeah. That's how you start a conversation. It doesn't have to be this, like, really thought out thing that has to be this perfect segue into something it's like and go into it with the goal. The goal isn't I'm going to turn this person into a buyer. The goal is, I'm just going to start a relationship with this person.

Molly Cahill 1:11:18

I'm just having a conversation. I got a DM from Mona, my very first client who actually found me through you, of course, ever ago, and she bought my course because she was like, I just want to hang out with you again, because like, we just we just, you know, establishes relationships. Like I feel like she's my friend. I've never met her. But I just, you know, we chat all the time in the DMS. So,

Kate Kordsmeier 1:11:37

yes, yeah, so true. Okay, one last question before we get into our lightning round. Um, when it comes to sharing personal stuff on Instagram, I feel like 2020 was especially trying in this regard. Because how do you feel about sharing political views or stuff about COVID? Or, you know, I, I found that if you followed me on Instagram, it was very clear who I voted for this election. And I only got one hater, which I was great shocked by and the hater have not even it's not even worth sharing what they said. But I know a lot of people get a lot of hate for talking about it. I know. A big name in our industry posted something about how great it was to have the first black female vice president and the comments below. And it was the worst of the trolls coming out. So should we avoid it? Should we not? Should we speak our truth? What do you think?

Molly Cahill 1:12:45

I don't want to have a fluffy answer because I hate fluffy answers. But the answer is it's totally based on your own personal preference. So I don't talk a ton about it. Because not because I'm scared, but because I'm such a middle ground kind of gal that like, I'm one of these people like, Oh, I don't know enough about this one. You know, if I feel like I really know enough about a topic, like and I'm well educated. And if somebody came back to me and said, that's, you know, that's wrong, like I would have, I would have a good argument of why. And that's why I'm talking about like the holistic, like natural health world a lot is because I feel super strongly and well educated. There. But so that's kind of my first litmus test, like, do you know enough? Like, are you just sharing, you know, random tweets from people without actually doing the backstory of like, looking at their profile and seeing what they stand for? Like that? No, I wouldn't do like I would actually, before you share something that's even remotely polarizing, I would at least click on that account and see what else have they shared on their account? And do you want to be associated with that? The next thing is, you know, to me a personal brand. Are you a personal brand? Or are you a business brand, like rebel to me is not necessarily a personal branding, kind of, but it's more of like, is the brand wearing bright K is your personal brand? And if that is something that is important to you, then absolutely, you should feel comfortable sharing even if you do alien, not alienate people, but even if you do, repel people, because one of the things I like to teach is to be mint chocolate chip ice cream. Like you like it, don't you?

Kate Kordsmeier 1:14:27

Yes, I love this example.

Molly Cahill 1:14:29

I think it is disgusting. And but nobody is like, You know what? I cannot wait to binge watch some Netflix with my vanilla ice cream. Like, nobody says that. Like everybody's like, Oh, I want my rocky road or my pistachio or my mint chocolate or whatever. And mint chocolate chip does not care that I hate it. Because there are people who would literally ask it for it for on their last meal on death row. Uh huh. And that's how you create those super fan says 1000 true fans. So I think this is so true.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:15:03

I'm so glad you said that. Because I agree that there's a time and a place. And I think it depends on who you are. And if it's important to you, like don't be polarizing just to be more Isaac.

However,

Stu McLaren says, Love me or hate me, there's no money in the middle. So and it's so true. And yes, you are going to repel people. I curse a lot. And some people are going to be like, Oh, I can't listen to that podcast, she curses. Oh, I don't like her emails, she curses or whatever it is. There's, you know, I, I have strong opinions. I've been opinion in my whole life. And I am not afraid to share them. That's going to repel people. But it's also going to make me magnetic to the right thing. Well, exactly. And you have to, I've had to learn like, it's okay to repel people. I'm not for everybody. But I think that I will be more successful. And that success will feel better to me when I'm being my true self, rather than trying to water myself down so that I'm for everybody.

Molly Cahill 1:16:08

Well, and everyone has, you know, a million choices of, like, if I'm looking to hire a health coach, I could, there's like a million of them. Right? None of what any of us do is unique. So right, you have to literally, there's a girl for my high school who reached out to me, she breeds a ganas. And she said, yeah, it's just a really competitive industry. You know, it's like, What? What, none of what anyone does is unique, and you have to find your way to stand out. But like you said, if it's not important to you, it's not going to be authentic. Right. If you if you

Kate Kordsmeier 1:16:47

I mean, we've talked a lot about the election. And you were undecided for a long time. I mean, I anyway, we don't need to get into it. But I just mean, like, so you sharing stuff about the election doesn't really make sense for you. I was very far from undecided. So me sharing about it, even though no, I'm not a political commentator. I'm not a political business or blog. It felt important to me because I felt like it was linked with my core beliefs. Exactly. And so some people might have seen that and unfollowed me, and that's fine to them. I say bye. Bye. I hope you find a different business coach who is aligned with your core beliefs? And,

Molly Cahill 1:17:33

yeah, okay.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:17:35

I think that's such a good place to end. Be mint chocolate chip ice cream be mint chocolate is so gross. All right, lightning round. What is your favorite way to make time for self care while running your own business?

Molly Cahill 1:17:51

I do not look at my phone in the mornings until I sit down to work.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:17:57

And what time is that? Are you because I could say that, but it's like, sometimes I wake up, and I sit right down to work.

Molly Cahill 1:18:04

Well, yeah, I mean, it depends. But I don't do that. Because I never wake up before my daughter. And whenever anyone's like, I wake up before the kids and I have a coffee and I do my journal and like, Oh, I wake up with an almost four year old kicking me like, wake up. And she always watches her iPad first thing when she gets up great parenting, and you know, has her breakfast and I just sit there with my cup of coffee and usually just stare off into space, or like make my to do list. So that's one thing. And the other thing is like I've just never felt guilty about, you know, I make sure I get adjusted every week. If I need a massage. I get a massage. I've really taken Kate Northrop's advice to heart of body, my first business second, because you can't run your business if your body's failing you. I've actually too invested heavily this year in I had a health coach up at the beginning of the year, and was not cheap, but it was worth every penny. And then I also have right now I'm working with a naturopathic doctor because I was just feeling so crummy for so long. And she's just it's like I said it's money out of pocket every month. But it was the reframe to me. It was never I can't afford it. It was this is a priority. I'm going to make it work and I already feel so much better. So shout out Dr. Carly.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:19:25

All right.

I love that so much. You know, what is one tool or strategy that you use to help you with time management?

Molly Cahill 1:19:33

outsourcing to Carolyn, my online business manager who is the Yin to my Yang, can I answer that? Yeah,

Kate Kordsmeier 1:19:40

I think Molly is the queen of outsourcing and delegating, recognizing her strengths and weaknesses and just being like, yeah, I pay somebody else to do the stuff that I'm not good at.

Molly Cahill 1:19:52

I yeah, I am the quintessential ENFP who I just if I could just make friends with people all day. But definitely Google calendar is for sure. And Asana, I mean, obviously, I do have to still get some things done. But I told Carol, but that's

Kate Kordsmeier 1:20:11

so not you. I love the I love the outsourcing is so that's perfect. I sold a hairdresser, can

Molly Cahill 1:20:18

you be my mother and just be like, Molly, she cooks?

Kate Kordsmeier 1:20:23

That's great. That's it. You know, I'm hiring a Director of Operations right now. And what in the interviews, it's come out in almost every one of them where they asked me, What do you really looking for? And my answer is like, I'm looking for somebody to be the boss of me. Yeah. I'm literally hiring you to boss me around. Yeah, okay. Ah, what is one of the most powerful business or mindset books you've ever read?

Molly Cahill 1:20:49

Uh, you know, I love to do lists. So, yeah, to me, and I'm still practicing, like cycling. I'm like, not great at it. But I'm getting better, which has been really cool. And then one that I read a long time ago, and it's called on the edge. It's by Alison Levine. Oh, yeah, she climbed Mount Everest and did all these other crazy things. And she's like, crazy good. Recently, I loved chil printer.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:21:19

Yes, I just read it too. And we never actually talked about it because you were like, you're gonna think it's old news. Since you've been doing all this Kate Northrup stuff and whatever. And I didn't at all I felt like it was she was such Denise is such a good reminder of things don't have to be so perfect. And like part of being a truly chill printer is just being okay with good enough. Like, I loved what she said we actually just talked about at a team meeting yesterday that she's like, yeah, my graphics and stuff are but ugly. I mean, nobody is like, you know, you can look at people like Jenna Kutcher and say, Oh, my God, everything is branded so beautifully. It's so cohesive, it looks gorgeous. And she's super successful. So that's what I have to do to also be super successful. And Denise is like, Oh, no, I don't spend time on that. Because I can make a million dollars without doing it. And like, yeah, maybe I can make more money, but I'd rather chill.

Molly Cahill 1:22:27

Yeah, that's what's important to you and do it, but like, feel like having a pretty feed and go back to answer him. Cool. Do it. But I mean, I personally just don't care enough to spend time on it.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:22:36

Yeah. Do you have mantras or quotes or anything? Like I have a million post it notes all over my computer right now.

Molly Cahill 1:22:45

Do you have I do have one, right, a couple a two that I've been saying a lot. Shout out to Kate. And you're the ultimate influencer because I now use your bookkeeper Kelly who was on the podcast. Love Kelly's. And, you know, it started out as the you know, money flows easily to me. But it has morphed into. I am good at making money. Hmm. So I love that Black Friday, I woke up in my bed and looked at my husband. I said today my Black Friday sale goes live. I am good at making money. And he he didn't he just looked at me and said, Yeah, Bayless, one reason I married you like, and then I had just nails in my inbox. Like, it was just like, it's like, it was crazy. You are good at making money. And the other one has been because just I've had some, like, low key health issues are talking about, you know, like, I've had a shoulder after shoulder surgery in January of just, you know, I'm like, you know, a granny 34 year old but, um, it's I've just been saying, My body is strong. I am healthy.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:23:51

Oh, that's good. That's a really good one. All right, last question. What does Success with Soul mean to you?

Molly Cahill 1:23:59

Just this, like, you know, like, the relationships that this business has brought to me are just beyond me just like start crying, like beyond valuable and to get messages from my students that say, Hey, you know, the one I was saying, you know, we got four new patients, like, that's four new people that she was able to help because she learned how to market her business effectively. So just really being in flow and loving what you do every day. Yeah, so good. Okay,

Kate Kordsmeier 1:24:32

I know you've given everybody Mollycahill.com/engagement for your engagement checklist. Thank you. Where else can people find you

Molly Cahill 1:24:40

hanging out in my DMS? I will totally voice memo you. So. But I'm just at Molly AK Hill, and that's c h. I ll

Kate Kordsmeier 1:24:53

how easy to have a great last name like that. No.

Molly Cahill 1:24:56

Okay. I'm okay with that.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:25:00

Try Kordsmeier a lot of vowels. All right, Molly,

Molly Cahill 1:25:05

I love you I need to go be mom now. Bye Bye.

Kate Kordsmeier 1:25:15

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