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You're ready to convert your community members into customers. You've created engaging content, given them a lovely call to action. Your job is done, right? Not really. So let's chat about the next step and your community members journey, your Lincoln bio. So teacher authors, go ahead and reheat that cup of coffee, because I'm your host, Cassandra Foster. And we're about to get schooled in socials. Welcome back to school and social. Today we're discussing how to set up an effective Lincoln bio, I find that this is actually an overlooked step. Since we spend so much time curating content, writing, engaging captions and getting that CTA just right, we often forget about where our community members go after that post, or are just too exhausted to care at that point. But your LinkedIn bio is important. I would actually argue one of the most important aspects of your Instagram account without an effective Lincoln bio, it becomes very difficult to convert your community members to customers. Before we jump into the nitty gritty of strategy, we can't discuss your Lincoln bio without chatting about the options you have for creating one. So if you use a scheduling app or program, like later, or tailwind, most of them offer a Lincoln bio with your service that uses your posts as links, so people can click on the visual when they navigate to your Lincoln bio. And they also offer the ability to add like generic link buttons to the top of the page, so you can put your overall website or your TPT store. Now, if you don't have a scheduler, there are also free services such as Link tree that allow you to create a list of links your community members can choose from. You can also create your own custom link pages, either on your website or even on Canva. And at the time of this recording, Instagram is actually rolling out the ability to include up to five links in your bio. So that's also becoming an option where wasn't in the past. So you can use the Lincoln bio that comes with your scheduler, seek out a free service, create a custom links page, or try out Instagrams new multiple links feature. But how do you decide which one is best for your business? Here's a few guidelines that can help you choose a type of link and bio for your account. The first thing you want to consider is what kinds of offers do I want to direct my community members to if you have one or two specific offers like a course or a lead magnet, you can probably use a free service that just sets up your Lincoln bio with buttons because people can click that link button and they'll be taken directly to that resource. No other navigation required. This might also be the case where you can try out Instagrams new multiple links feature. I do want to caution you about using too many links, though, which we'll chat about more in a minute. Now, if your main offers come from your TPT store or website store, and you have multiple different resources you're promoting on your Instagram page, you might consider using a scheduling app that allows your posts to be linked. This allows your community members to navigate to your Lincoln bio, click on the specific post and get right to the resource that you're promoting. The name of the game here is minimizing the amount of navigation our community members need to get to our offer or resource. And if you're promoting a specific resource from your TPT store, but then just have one link that brings them to your main store page, they need to remember the name of that resource, then search for it, then click on it. And that becomes a lot of work for them. We want to make it as easy as possible to get your community members to your resources. So that's why those visual links can come in handy. Now if you're really looking for the ultimate customization, and are working on a few offers at a time, you might consider going the DIY route and creating your own website page that houses your links, or creating a links page through Canva. This option is more about preference, but typically, typically it does lack the option to create visual links. Now something else that might influence your Lincoln bio decision is your budget. Some of those options are free, and allow for some customization up into a point and others are paid. So you just need to evaluate your budget and your goals and decide on the option that is most cost effective for you. For example, I have just a few offers that I share with my audience and a relatively small budget at this time. So I've decided to use a free Lincoln bio service where I just create link buttons. It fits with my budget, but also makes it easy for my community members to now Have a gate to my offers. So it makes the most sense for my current goals. So now you have an idea of the options out there for your Lincoln bio. But how do we make sure it's as effective as possible? How do we make sure that people are actually going to use our link, get to our offers and hopefully purchase? First, you need to make sure your links are clearly labeled. Use the same name of the offer or resource on the link that you use in post to promote that offer or resource. Remember, we want to make it as easy as possible to get our community members to our resources. And nothing will make someone click out of a Lincoln bio faster than opening it and not immediately seeing what they're looking for. So consistency is key here. Also, if you're using a scheduler that gives you the option to link your posts, make sure to label them. Most schedulers will use a default of something like tap to view link, we want to make that more specific, label it with the same name you use to promote that resource or offer in your post. This just makes it even easier for your community members to scan that page and click what they want. Next, you want to customize the page with your branding as much as possible. For lots of pages, you can add a photo, and I suggest using the same profile picture you use on your Instagram account. So that creates that consistency. And there isn't any confusion when your community members click through. And if your Lincoln bio gives you the option to write an intro at the top treat this link as a mini Instagram bio, remind people who you are and how you help them. If you remember from episode four, where we talked about your bio, people have very small attention spans, and you only have about three seconds to continue to hold their attention. So make sure they don't forget why they navigated to your Lincoln bio in the first place. Finally, be wary of giving people too many links to choose from. If people navigate to your Lincoln bio without being prompted by a post, having too many links to choose from can lead to analysis paralysis. And again, we risk them clicking out and moving on. So choose the links you include carefully. There's so much pressure this time of the year to buy more stuff from Black Friday sales to Christmas ads. But I don't want you to buy more stuff, I want you to get the right things you need to uplevel your business in this season. So that's why I've opened up my mini social media consults scheduled for the next three months. So that we can make resources that are going to get stuck in your downloads and courses that are going to go immediately to your desktop graveyard, a thing of the past. Instead, you're going to get my brain and your business for a focus 30 minutes so that you can make sure you have a solid plan moving forward. And you know your social media will help you reach your business goals. This is not a one size fits all solution. Instead, you're going to get targeted advice that is focused on you and your business. And for Black Friday. And until these spots sell out, you're going to be able to get it for $47 which is the lowest price point these mini consults have ever been. We're talking transformational advice that will make your social media work harder for you. For less than a night out. This isn't stuff. It's the thing you need to get clarity and move forward with your social media marketing. You can grab your discounted spot right now in the show notes. But hurry, because once these spots that I've opened up for the next few months are gone. This price point will be gone too. I can't wait to make 2020 for the year that your social media marketing helps you reach all of your big business goals. Okay, Cassandra, I have to choose my links carefully. But I have so much to share. How do I even narrow it down?

I kid it. You have done a lot of hard work and you probably have a bunch of resources and offers you want your community members to have access to but sometimes less can be more. So the first thing you want to consider are your current goals for this month, or for this quarter. What are you focusing on? Make sure the links that you feature align with those goals and thank the others for later when they become more of a focus for your business. This means that your Lincoln bio won't always be a set it and forget it kind of situation. Each month or quarter you'll need to reassess your goals and adjust your links accordingly. If you're having trouble, another thing you can do is look at any data you have on those links. Most schedule urs and free LinkedIn bioservices will allow you to see how many times a link has been clicked. So choose three or four top performing links and feature those, make sure they are clearly labeled and then use the same language when promoting them in your posts. Finally, if you feel like you really need several links, like five to seven, make sure you organize them in some way. Most Lincoln bio services now offer you a way to include headers, so you can organize your links by different topics. For example, you could have a header that said freebies or one that said classroom favorites. Again, don't go crazy with the links. But if you must have several get them organized. Now I know it's still might be tempting to just have all the links hanging out in your Lincoln bio, just in case someone clicks on it and makes a purchase. But if you overwhelm your community members, you might be losing out on more conversions than that one may be click could make up for. Okay, your first step in setting up your effective Lincoln bio is choosing a Lincoln bio option that matches your business and your goals. Then you need to make sure that page is primed to get people to click with consistency, branding, and offer names as well as a few targeted links to choose from. Doing this will help your community members easily gain access to your offers and resources and can lead to more conversion. Don't wait. Right after this episode. I want you to head to your Lincoln bio and get it in tip top shape. And if you have questions along the way, or want me to take a peek, send me a DM on Instagram. I'd be happy to help. Alright, cool coffee friends. Thanks so much for listening. If you're loving getting schooled in socials, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Also, I would love it if you left a review so that other teacher authors like you can start getting schooled in socials too. All right, I'll see you in the next episode.