1 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:17,040 Oh, Instagram Reels, I feel like I don't really have a love-hate relationship with them, but I feel like a lot of people do. 2 00:00:17,050 --> 00:00:22,990 It's so funny, I've been thinking a lot lately about how things feel so black and white in business sometimes. 3 00:00:22,990 --> 00:00:32,980 I think about this all the time with ads where it's funny to me that I'll log on to Instagram and I see simultaneously two different people being like, "Ads are the devil" and the other person being like, "Let me 4 00:00:32,980 --> 00:00:36,130 show you how to use ads." And I'm just like, "How can these two things be true?" 5 00:00:37,030 --> 00:00:41,410 And it's so often because there is no one right way to run a business. 6 00:00:41,410 --> 00:00:43,670 Ads are fine. It's also fine to not run them. 7 00:00:43,690 --> 00:00:44,890 I didn't run them for years. 8 00:00:44,890 --> 00:00:46,390 I did great. Now, I run them. 9 00:00:46,390 --> 00:00:47,830 I do great. Like, it's fine. 10 00:00:47,830 --> 00:00:49,420 It's fine. I swear. 11 00:00:49,420 --> 00:00:50,830 I kind of feel the same way about Reels. 12 00:00:50,830 --> 00:00:52,870 So, many people get so fired up about them. 13 00:00:52,870 --> 00:00:54,360 They're like, "Reels are amazing. 14 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:55,920 Reels are terrible. They're a waste of time. 15 00:00:55,930 --> 00:00:59,790 They're the only thing you should be doing to grow your Instagram." And I'm like, "Duh. 16 00:00:59,790 --> 00:01:09,190 Let's cut the noise." I think most of the time, I'm looking to figure out how to cut the noise and trying not to consume so much content. 17 00:01:09,190 --> 00:01:14,390 So, I was really hoping that today's episode would just be a one stop shop for you if you're interested in Reels. 18 00:01:14,410 --> 00:01:17,080 Maybe you've already started with Reels, but you're not really seeing any traction. 19 00:01:17,500 --> 00:01:20,750 You're not sure how you're supposed to be making them for your business. 20 00:01:20,750 --> 00:01:24,240 Because more than anything, today, yes, I'm going to give you ten Reels tips. 21 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:29,260 But I am really focusing on this episode on Reels tips for business owners. 22 00:01:29,260 --> 00:01:38,950 So, you can find lots of great videos on YouTube and elsewhere that will teach you how to get more views from Reels, and how to get followers and comments or whatever, how to get 23 00:01:38,950 --> 00:01:39,960 viral reels. 24 00:01:39,970 --> 00:01:41,320 That's not this episode. 25 00:01:41,320 --> 00:01:47,890 This episode is about making sure that you're creating Reels for your business that actually support and grow your business. 26 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:52,780 I think that by implementing these tips, you will get a lot of views, and followers, and all of the things. 27 00:01:52,780 --> 00:02:02,710 But the purpose of my tips and of my business in general is just to make sure that I'm helping you to actually grow a sustainable business and trying to give you ideas of how 28 00:02:02,710 --> 00:02:06,790 to create content that works for you, even when you're not working. 29 00:02:06,790 --> 00:02:10,150 So, that's really what I'm going to teach you in today's episode. 30 00:02:10,150 --> 00:02:13,210 I can't wait because I actually really enjoy talking about Reels. 31 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:22,350 I posted on Instagram the other day asking if anybody had any questions about making Reels and easy Reels tips, and so many people responded. 32 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:32,260 So, at the end of today's episode, I'm actually going to share some of the top Qs and I'll give my A to those questions that I got on Instagram because I thought that they were really 33 00:02:32,260 --> 00:02:42,040 good ones. And throughout this episode, I'm going to sprinkle in a couple little legal tips here and there, mostly pertaining to music, because I do get questions from people asking me how you can use 34 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,550 music legally on Reels. 35 00:02:45,550 --> 00:02:55,510 So, the only other news that I've got for you is that I've got something new and free coming for you in about ten days from when you're listening to this episode, so you'll have to keep your eyes peeled for that. 36 00:02:55,510 --> 00:02:59,470 It is a free legal template that I'm going to have for you that was highly requested. 37 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,610 I'm really excited about it, so make sure you keep your eyes peeled for that. 38 00:03:03,610 --> 00:03:08,710 And if you're listening to this episode before Thanksgiving, I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving. 39 00:03:09,010 --> 00:03:14,340 I hope that you take some time off and that you make something delicious. 40 00:03:14,340 --> 00:03:17,890 And that you get some time to just rest and unplug. 41 00:03:17,890 --> 00:03:23,080 I shared at the beginning of last week's episode my thoughts on Black Friday sales or just my approach on them. 42 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:24,450 I just don't do them. 43 00:03:24,460 --> 00:03:25,960 I choose not to participate in it. 44 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:31,300 This week is, like, my favorite week of the year, and I just want to chill and be offline. 45 00:03:31,300 --> 00:03:33,790 And my business is running in the background, like, I'm doing fine. 46 00:03:35,470 --> 00:03:40,900 So, I just want to pass that on to you in case you're feeling all of the pressure. 47 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:45,790 I remember when I started my business, I was like, "Everybody else is running Black Friday sales. 48 00:03:45,790 --> 00:03:50,410 My whole business is going to tank because I'm not doing it." And it's totally fine, you can do it too. 49 00:03:51,040 --> 00:04:00,880 So, with that, let's get into how to create Reels on your terms, of course. 50 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:02,810 So, let's talk Reels. 51 00:04:02,830 --> 00:04:10,470 I am so excited to talk Reels because I feel like there's so much misinformation and misunderstanding and hot topic stuff. 52 00:04:10,470 --> 00:04:14,440 Like, people are either so for them, so against them, everybody thinks they've got the answer. 53 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:21,460 But in today's episode, I kind of just want to give you a fresh take on Reels of a way to do these to actually make sense. 54 00:04:21,460 --> 00:04:31,240 If you own your own business and you're somebody who either doesn't have a lot of time or doesn't want to spend a lot of time on social media, and you want to get the most bang for your buck, I'm all 55 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:41,080 about trying to get the most out of your time there and making sure that things that you do on social media actually support your business and make sense for your business. 56 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:45,460 Because at the end of the day, I think we're here because we want to grow our online businesses. 57 00:04:45,850 --> 00:04:50,500 Obviously, there's a time and a place if you want to just grow a social platform or something like that, that's cool. 58 00:04:50,500 --> 00:04:51,750 But that's not what I'm here to do. 59 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:52,870 I'm here to grow a business. 60 00:04:52,870 --> 00:04:54,310 I think you probably are, too. 61 00:04:54,340 --> 00:04:58,330 And so, therefore, we want to make sure our Reels actually fit into that. 62 00:04:58,330 --> 00:05:05,560 And then, today I'm going to share ten Reels tips with you. 63 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:15,160 I'm so excited. But some of the issues that come up with Reels that people tend to have a lot of angst around creating them because 64 00:05:16,180 --> 00:05:18,420 I think people really build them up in their minds. 65 00:05:18,420 --> 00:05:24,190 So, there's already this issue with video where a lot of people are like, "I have to be perfect on video." Hello? 66 00:05:24,580 --> 00:05:34,480 Or it has to be highly stylized, and produced, and really complicated, and all this kind of 67 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:37,780 stuff. So, there's a lot of that going on. 68 00:05:37,780 --> 00:05:47,620 On the flip side, we then have people who are doing Reels that are only trendy or for fun, or sometimes a little bit pointless that I see and have really 69 00:05:47,620 --> 00:05:52,510 no purpose for your business, which is totally fine if that's what you want to do. 70 00:05:53,410 --> 00:06:03,280 But my concern for those of you who are like, "I'm trying these Reels but they're not doing anything for my business." If you're only doing them in the fun, trendy, no purpose category, 71 00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:04,460 that might be why. 72 00:06:04,460 --> 00:06:08,200 If you're just trying to do them to grow a following, then great, hats off to you. 73 00:06:08,350 --> 00:06:12,340 But if you're trying to grow your business, we have to do them differently. 74 00:06:12,340 --> 00:06:15,580 I see so many Reels, too, that are just not helpful at all. 75 00:06:15,580 --> 00:06:24,850 Like, either they're about the person who's making the Reel, or just about something completely unrelated to what they do, or I don't really learn anything . 76 00:06:25,260 --> 00:06:31,180 If I don't learn anything on screen for the Reel itself, sometimes I go to check out the caption, there's not even anything there. 77 00:06:31,210 --> 00:06:37,810 So, having helpful Reels is really important, and it's something we're going to talk about a lot today. 78 00:06:37,810 --> 00:06:47,440 I also see issues with the way people kind of set them up, the calls to action, not asking people to engage, not asking people to take the next step, not asking people to read, and really having 79 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:51,760 Reels that don't have any point or service in your business. 80 00:06:51,760 --> 00:07:01,090 So, we're going to spend a lot of time talking today about making Reels that make sense for your online business to actually help you grow your online business, and not just a bunch of random 81 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:03,400 comments or followers or whatever. 82 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:05,470 We want you to get targeted followers. 83 00:07:05,860 --> 00:07:15,490 We want you to get people in your community who make sense, and who you enjoy being around, who really need you and want to consume your content, and who you start training to 84 00:07:15,490 --> 00:07:19,920 engage, because that's what's really important in the social media landscape. 85 00:07:19,930 --> 00:07:25,870 So, I wanted to just share some quick background with you before I hop into the ten Reels tips today. 86 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:32,620 I had a really funny attitude about Reels up until - I don't know when - a while back. 87 00:07:32,740 --> 00:07:40,560 And so, when Reels first started, I held off on them because I thought that it was stupid to stand there and point to stuff on screen. 88 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:50,500 Because the first kinds of Reels that I ever saw were the Reels that would have really fast music and then would have this bam, bam, bam, bam, and then people would just be pointing to the 89 00:07:50,500 --> 00:07:52,360 screen and giving tips. 90 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:55,900 And I was just like, "I don't understand it." I didn't really get it. 91 00:07:55,900 --> 00:07:58,060 Like, I guess I'm an old lady at heart. 92 00:07:58,270 --> 00:08:00,700 But like any new technology, I was just like, "What? 93 00:08:00,700 --> 00:08:04,120 What is this?" It seems so silly and seems so trendy. 94 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:13,270 But a couple of things happened. One, I think Reels themselves evolved, but also just, frankly, Instagram has made it very clear that this is what they're prioritizing. 95 00:08:14,380 --> 00:08:18,600 And like I always say, it's a choice to participate in Instagram. 96 00:08:18,610 --> 00:08:20,050 Nobody has to be on Instagram. 97 00:08:20,050 --> 00:08:22,600 It's a free tool that we can use to market our businesses. 98 00:08:22,810 --> 00:08:29,230 But as long as I'm choosing to be there, I want to be there in a way that makes sense for my business. 99 00:08:29,230 --> 00:08:35,520 And if that's the game, if Instagram is the game, then these are the rules that they give us. 100 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:40,300 Because we don't dictate any of it, but they are clearly prioritizing this in the rulebook. 101 00:08:40,300 --> 00:08:41,440 And so, I'm like, "Okay. 102 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:50,250 Well, if I'm going to be here, I am strategic AF, I'm going to make my time worth it for my business. 103 00:08:50,600 --> 00:09:00,520 I'm not here to mess around." So, you can keep throwing time into posts and throwing time into stories which disappear in 24 hours, and Instagram is not going to prioritized that, it's not 104 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:02,530 going to get it out to people. 105 00:09:02,530 --> 00:09:12,520 So, if I'm really there to try to reach new audiences, to nurture the one that I already have, to connect with people, and just kind of have fun, show different parts of my personality, and this is 106 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:16,390 what Instagram's prioritizing, fine, I'll try it. 107 00:09:16,390 --> 00:09:22,690 So, I tried it. Maybe over the summer, I hopped in and I just started playing with it and seeing how it went. 108 00:09:22,870 --> 00:09:25,660 I didn't really think it was going to be very helpful to my business. 109 00:09:25,660 --> 00:09:33,370 But when I started experimenting with it, I started by experimenting and have continued to experiment with what I call evergreen Reels. 110 00:09:33,370 --> 00:09:42,460 So, those are Reels that are educational or that are familiarizing to my brand or my product or my freebie, like my legal workshop. 111 00:09:42,700 --> 00:09:49,000 And it's something that would work for me, whether somebody watched my Reel today or six months from now. 112 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:53,170 So, I wanted to see, like, if I put those kinds of Reels out there, does it work? 113 00:09:53,410 --> 00:09:58,240 Or is this just for people who are doing dance moves and pointing at the screen and all that kind of stuff? 114 00:09:58,330 --> 00:10:07,130 And what I ended up seeing was that I got not only a ton of new followers because Instagram was prioritizing this - again, I don't really care so much about that. 115 00:10:07,130 --> 00:10:12,870 One thing that was interesting to me, though, was that the followers, as I was checking and just seeing like, "Wow. 116 00:10:12,870 --> 00:10:21,100 Lots of new people are pouring in." They were definitely people who fit more of the kind of person I'm looking to connect with on Instagram. 117 00:10:21,490 --> 00:10:23,950 So, I thought that was really interesting. 118 00:10:23,950 --> 00:10:31,330 But what was even more interesting to me as a businesswoman was that I was starting to get emails from people who are purchasing my products. 119 00:10:31,330 --> 00:10:39,580 And when I asked them and give them a little survey asking how you found me and all this kind of stuff, they said, "Actually, I found your Reel. 120 00:10:39,580 --> 00:10:42,420 In your Reel you said, "Watch this workshop." I watched your workshop. 121 00:10:42,420 --> 00:10:43,980 I bought your bundle." I was like, "Wow. 122 00:10:43,980 --> 00:10:46,840 That's actually starting to work." So, people were doing it. 123 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:52,810 And what's most important to me is that these people are really cool and they definitely fit my ideal customer profile. 124 00:10:52,810 --> 00:10:55,530 And they are people I want to work with and have in my community. 125 00:10:55,530 --> 00:10:56,650 And I want to help them. 126 00:10:56,650 --> 00:10:57,880 I'm here to help. 127 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:01,210 And so, yeah, it just seemed like it was working, and I thought that was really cool. 128 00:11:01,690 --> 00:11:09,430 So, it definitely leads to consistent new follower growth, I would say, on Instagram when you're consistent with them. 129 00:11:09,430 --> 00:11:15,790 Although, I find that people find the Reels kind of ongoing, like they kind of keep rolling, sometimes they pick up steam later. 130 00:11:15,790 --> 00:11:21,940 If audio starts to trend or something, somebody picks up on it, sometimes somebody will share it, and then all of a sudden it will kind of take off. 131 00:11:21,970 --> 00:11:23,530 So, they're interesting. 132 00:11:23,530 --> 00:11:26,140 They're new. It's an experiment. 133 00:11:26,140 --> 00:11:31,730 If you've listened to On Your Terms before, you know that I talk a lot about being a scientist and experimenting in your business. 134 00:11:31,730 --> 00:11:37,540 And I believe in just trying things out, tracking the data, seeing if you like it, is it fun for you. 135 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:40,090 If you feel like you're forcing it, you know it's not so fun. 136 00:11:40,090 --> 00:11:42,230 I didn't feel so much like I was forcing it. 137 00:11:42,230 --> 00:11:48,430 It was kind of like, "Well, I wouldn't do this if Instagram wasn't prioritizing it, but let me try it." And then, once I've tried it, I liked it, so it was fine. 138 00:11:49,450 --> 00:11:51,190 I don't mind making a fool of myself. 139 00:11:51,190 --> 00:11:54,100 I don't take it too seriously, so it's fine. 140 00:11:54,100 --> 00:12:04,090 The other thing that I learned in the process before I get into these tips is that, if you run Facebook Ads, having things like Reels or video in general on Instagram can help 141 00:12:04,090 --> 00:12:13,960 you because it, not only pulls into people and grows your audience, which is super helpful if you run ads to warm audiences or lookalike audiences, but it also helps 142 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:20,890 because once people watch your video for a certain number of seconds, you can actually target audiences that have watched your videos. 143 00:12:20,890 --> 00:12:25,020 So, even if they don't follow you, they might start to get targeted with your Facebook Ads. 144 00:12:25,030 --> 00:12:27,550 So, I'm always trying to think about that as well. 145 00:12:27,550 --> 00:12:31,510 So, I found that part really interesting. 146 00:12:31,510 --> 00:12:39,460 Okay. So, what are ten ways that you can make reels that are fun, that are actually helpful to your business, that don't drive you crazy, that don't take hours to make? 147 00:12:39,460 --> 00:12:41,530 Seriously, I spend a couple of minutes on each one. 148 00:12:41,530 --> 00:12:44,710 It's no joke. I don't take them very seriously. 149 00:12:44,890 --> 00:12:46,210 Just have fun. 150 00:12:46,210 --> 00:12:56,140 I would really highly encourage you to spend the bulk of your time putting your energy in terms of content into things that are more evergreen and that could be potentially 151 00:12:56,650 --> 00:13:06,580 SEO driven. So, something that people can find online, like by Googling something, or by being on YouTube, or listening to podcasts, I would really encourage you to spend your 152 00:13:06,580 --> 00:13:10,570 time. So, we're just talking extra bonus time, bonus content creation time here. 153 00:13:11,140 --> 00:13:17,560 But it's important that if you want to make Reels that you, I think, integrate these ten tips. 154 00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:21,460 So, tip number one, of course, I have to start out with a legal tip. 155 00:13:21,460 --> 00:13:23,110 But don't worry, none of the rest are legal. 156 00:13:23,620 --> 00:13:27,580 I have to tell you that a lot of people ask me about music for Reel. 157 00:13:27,580 --> 00:13:30,980 Like, How am I allowed to use music for different kinds of reels? 158 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:32,710 Is it okay to grab clips? 159 00:13:32,710 --> 00:13:34,090 Am I allowed to use this song? 160 00:13:34,090 --> 00:13:35,200 Can I do this? Whatever. 161 00:13:35,230 --> 00:13:39,180 So, remember that music falls under copyright. 162 00:13:39,180 --> 00:13:46,600 So, music is subject to copyright law, and it has copyright protection built in to whoever is the owner of that work. 163 00:13:46,990 --> 00:13:52,780 And you can only use music that you have the permission or a license to use. 164 00:13:52,780 --> 00:13:55,120 So, since we're talking about Reels, we're talking about Instagram. 165 00:13:55,120 --> 00:14:04,670 And so, since you're using Instagram, you're looking to what Instagram provides you by their audio feature - like the little audio tab inside of 166 00:14:04,670 --> 00:14:08,150 Reels - all the audio that's provided by Instagram. 167 00:14:08,450 --> 00:14:17,180 They have audio in there that either they have the permission or license to use from the artist themselves, or the record label, or whoever owns the music. 168 00:14:17,660 --> 00:14:24,870 However, some people add in their own audio, and they could be uploading unlicensed music. 169 00:14:24,890 --> 00:14:34,760 And then, when you go to somebody else's Reel and you save their audio and you reuse it, you could be inadvertently reusing music that you're not allowed to use. 170 00:14:35,570 --> 00:14:38,960 So, what kind of music then is legal to add to a Reel? 171 00:14:38,990 --> 00:14:40,790 Well, this is what Instagram tells us. 172 00:14:40,940 --> 00:14:50,600 Instagram says you can record a Reel with your own original audio, with original audio by another Reels creator, or with music from the Instagram music library 173 00:14:51,260 --> 00:14:52,960 using the audio tool in Reels. 174 00:14:52,970 --> 00:15:00,020 So, the last one was what I was just talking about, which is when you go to the audio tab, you're just looking in the audio that's provided directly from Instagram. 175 00:15:00,710 --> 00:15:03,750 So, I'm not talking about audio that's from another creator. 176 00:15:03,750 --> 00:15:10,610 But music that's provided directly from Instagram from the artists, like it's a whole song, and you're just picking a section of that song. 177 00:15:10,610 --> 00:15:12,950 That kind of thing is okay. 178 00:15:12,950 --> 00:15:18,970 When another Reels creator uploads their own original audio, that's also okay. 179 00:15:18,980 --> 00:15:25,700 But, remember, it has to be original to them and something that they own copyright, and not just something that they're recording from TV or a show or something. 180 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:28,400 They don't own that just because they uploaded it to Instagram. 181 00:15:28,410 --> 00:15:33,680 So, with original audio band, another Reels creator, that's a second way that Instagram said it's okay. 182 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:39,890 The third way that Instagram says it's okay, of course, is for you to record a Reel with your own original audio. 183 00:15:39,890 --> 00:15:47,330 So, that would look like, maybe, a voiceover or a video that you record just on your own, you know, walking around the house giving tips or something like that. 184 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:57,620 Instagram Reels now has the voiceover feature, so you can actually upload a video where, maybe, you're not even in the video, but then you can actually just do the voiceover work in that video. 185 00:15:57,620 --> 00:16:02,740 So, that would be an example where, obviously, it's okay to use your own original audio. 186 00:16:02,740 --> 00:16:07,730 Tip number two is all about making sure that we think evergreen. 187 00:16:07,730 --> 00:16:16,540 I want you to think evergreen whenever you're creating Reels or at least, I would say, the bulk of the Reels that you create should be done so from an evergreen perspective. 188 00:16:16,550 --> 00:16:26,270 So, that means creating Reels that will continue to work for you in days, weeks, months, years, or however long Reels are around, I don't know. 189 00:16:26,270 --> 00:16:35,960 But this is kind of how I approach when I create videos, and blog posts, and everything else, and in podcasts is that these are things that are going to have a long shelf life. 190 00:16:36,170 --> 00:16:45,680 So, unlike Instagram Stories, which often feel like you're kind of dumping content on the Instagram toilet because they disappear in 24 hours, we have this opportunity 191 00:16:46,250 --> 00:16:51,500 with Reels to allow something to stick around and have a little bit more staying power. 192 00:16:51,500 --> 00:17:01,240 So, we can create Reels that have a call to action at the end of them that are either to join a freebie, to join a Facebook Group, to listen to your podcast, watch 193 00:17:01,460 --> 00:17:10,010 your YouTube episode, to DM you to buy your product if you're selling evergreen products, whatever it is. 194 00:17:10,010 --> 00:17:16,250 But just think about it from the perspective of, Is this piece of content going to work for me for a while? 195 00:17:16,250 --> 00:17:22,190 Or am I putting all of this effort into something that's not going to help me in the long run? 196 00:17:22,190 --> 00:17:26,930 My third tip is to use Reels to allow people to get to know you, to get to see your personality. 197 00:17:26,930 --> 00:17:36,800 I mean, Reels are on video so it's kind of a no-brainer here that we can get to know you better through video than we can through any sort of written posts, or hiding behind a picture, or something like that. 198 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:40,490 So, it doesn't technically mean that you always have to show your face. 199 00:17:40,490 --> 00:17:50,300 I think there are many different ways to get to know you and your personality, maybe some of your hobbies, some behind the scenes work, some of the implementation, or walk-the-walk 200 00:17:50,300 --> 00:17:51,380 type of stuff. 201 00:17:51,380 --> 00:17:59,830 So, I like to see Reels when people show what their doing with their clients or client work, or how they integrate some of the things that they teach other people. 202 00:17:59,830 --> 00:18:09,770 I love these things that people have started doing with Reels, where they're kind of like mini-vlogs and they're teaching people throughout the day to take cozy moments, or how to practice self-care, and how 203 00:18:09,770 --> 00:18:11,750 to integrate these tips into their business. 204 00:18:11,750 --> 00:18:17,680 And they're showing how they do it through Reels because it's a way to just tell a beautiful visual story. 205 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:20,930 And I think it's just a cool way to get a peek into people's day. 206 00:18:20,930 --> 00:18:24,320 And they're so short, you know, the little bite size ways to get to know people. 207 00:18:25,130 --> 00:18:33,080 But I also have liked seeing different parts of people's personality, people being playful, people being calming and reassuring in Reels. 208 00:18:33,230 --> 00:18:36,950 Not all Reels need to be super hyper and jumping around. 209 00:18:37,190 --> 00:18:47,060 You see a lot of people who have gotten really popular with Reels because they're like, "Oh," like, really romantic, and they're jumping around, and they're singing, and dancing, and clapping, and doing 210 00:18:47,060 --> 00:18:48,190 tons of transitions. 211 00:18:48,190 --> 00:18:58,100 And it's super cool and it gets a lot of attention, but just know that it's also okay if that's not either your style, or that wouldn't make sense for your business, or you don't feel comfortable yet, or whatever 212 00:18:58,100 --> 00:19:02,370 . But there are ways to show your personality through Reels. 213 00:19:02,370 --> 00:19:06,400 But just remember that part of the purpose of creating Reels is to show your personality. 214 00:19:06,940 --> 00:19:16,480 So, as you're planning them and making them evergreen and making them make sense for your business, you want to make sure that you're showing little bits and pieces of your personality here and 215 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:18,250 there. 216 00:19:18,250 --> 00:19:25,360 Tip number four is to have a call to action on the screen to read the caption, which is especially important for short Reels. 217 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:35,230 So, I think when Reels started, people were really trying to put all of the content, all of the information on the screen itself, and it could get really cluttered and things could go really fast. 218 00:19:35,230 --> 00:19:41,500 And people didn't know yet that you can just press and hold your finger on the screen and it'll pause it. 219 00:19:41,500 --> 00:19:51,130 That's why I think whenever you're doing short Reels where the point of the Reel is probably more just to get someone's attention, we want to put a call to action on the screen itself that 220 00:19:51,130 --> 00:19:56,290 says, "Read the caption," and maybe has a finger pointing down or an arrow or use whatever you want. 221 00:19:56,320 --> 00:20:03,460 So, I think that you could also do this in a way that says, "Read the caption for tip number four." 222 00:20:03,460 --> 00:20:13,420 Or if you were doing four tips to whatever four myths or something like this, you could also share the first three on the screen and then say, "Read the caption for the fourth one" or "Read the caption for the most important one you 223 00:20:13,420 --> 00:20:20,020 don't want to miss," or something like this where you could kind of almost entice the person to want to click on the caption to read more. 224 00:20:20,170 --> 00:20:30,160 And then, in the caption itself you're going to have a call to action to the next step, whether it's to engage with you, to contact you, to sign up for something, to download something, whatever it 225 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:38,590 is. So, it's really important that we get used to practicing having these calls to action really consistently. 226 00:20:38,590 --> 00:20:45,120 The other thing that you can have on the screen is a follow for X, whatever kind of tips that you give. 227 00:20:45,130 --> 00:20:52,840 So, remember, with anything related to Reels, you want to keep the text really, really short because it's just a small screen and things are moving really quickly. 228 00:20:53,530 --> 00:20:57,000 So, you don't want to use long sentences and stuff like this. 229 00:20:57,010 --> 00:21:06,730 It might not be your English teacher's favorite grammar of all time, but you want to use short little quips on the screen that say like, "Follow for legal tips," or 230 00:21:06,730 --> 00:21:09,220 "Follow for online legal tips," or something like this. 231 00:21:09,460 --> 00:21:10,960 Like, that's what I would do. 232 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:16,090 And that way, you let the person know, like, "Hey, I share other kinds of content like this." 233 00:21:16,090 --> 00:21:25,810 I also think that that's really helpful if you're talking about something that's maybe a little bit tangentially related to what you do and you want to let people know what you do, do, so that they go and 234 00:21:25,810 --> 00:21:27,400 follow you and learn more. 235 00:21:27,430 --> 00:21:35,590 So, I think I've seen the most follower growth from Reels whenever I share something that says, "Follow me for 236 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:43,180 legal tips for online businesses." So, I'll say something like that. 237 00:21:43,300 --> 00:21:44,790 Trust me, I've done it. 238 00:21:44,790 --> 00:21:53,720 But I say that at the end of a Reel and then I see that a lot of people will tend to follow who are, again, in my ideal client profile. 239 00:21:53,720 --> 00:22:00,100 So, that can be really, really helpful. 240 00:22:00,100 --> 00:22:04,550 Have you ever felt lost about where to begin with the legal side of protecting your online business? 241 00:22:04,570 --> 00:22:08,110 Some people say you can just wing it at the beginning and get officially set up later. 242 00:22:08,740 --> 00:22:10,450 Not a good idea, by the way. 243 00:22:10,450 --> 00:22:20,440 Whether you're afraid to even start working with clients because you don't want to do something wrong legally and then get in trouble or your business is growing and you sort of forgot to take care of the legal 244 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:22,510 pieces, I've got you. 245 00:22:22,510 --> 00:22:32,050 I don't want you to live in fear of the internet police coming after you and your business, but you do have to do certain things and get certain things in place in order to legally and safely run your business 246 00:22:32,050 --> 00:22:39,160 online. As much as it just feels like an unregulated Wild Wild West online, that is very much not the case. 247 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:48,970 As an attorney turned entrepreneur and former corporate litigator, I can assure you that there are rules, there are real steps that everybody who runs or starts an online business needs to 248 00:22:48,970 --> 00:22:51,550 take. And you're not behind at all. 249 00:22:51,550 --> 00:22:53,970 We can get you set up and following the rules right away. 250 00:22:53,980 --> 00:22:56,010 In fact, we can even do it today. 251 00:22:56,010 --> 00:23:01,060 I want to teach you the five very simple steps to take to legally protect and grow your online business. 252 00:23:01,090 --> 00:23:10,690 You don't need an MBA to be a successful entrepreneur and stay out of legal hot water, but you do need to dot your legal I's and cross your T's in a few key areas that can't be skipped. 253 00:23:10,690 --> 00:23:16,780 That's exactly what I'll teach you in my free one hour legal workshop called Five Steps to Legally Protect and Grow your Online Business. 254 00:23:16,810 --> 00:23:25,660 Just head to mylegalworkshop.com, drop in your email address, pick the time, and I'll send you a link to watch the workshop video whenever you have time. 255 00:23:25,660 --> 00:23:35,410 This is the best place to begin if you're just getting started legally legitimizing your business, so head on over to mylegalworkshop.com and sign up to watch Five Steps to Legally Protect and Grow your Online 256 00:23:35,410 --> 00:23:40,220 Business now. 257 00:23:40,220 --> 00:23:48,620 Tip number five is to withhold a tip or the point that you're trying to do in the video to put it in the caption. 258 00:23:48,780 --> 00:23:58,730 So, again, kind of enticing people to go and read the caption because the captions where we're going to have the opportunity to really spell out things enough that we're going to be able to get 259 00:23:58,730 --> 00:24:00,860 people to take the next step. 260 00:24:00,860 --> 00:24:10,580 Because in a Reel, unless you have access to the 60 second Reel and unless you also are making completely your own Reels where you're talking people through things in a 261 00:24:10,580 --> 00:24:20,450 methodical way, like telling them who you are, touching on a pain point, touching on a desire, teaching them a little something and then telling them about the next step, which is hard to do in a 262 00:24:20,450 --> 00:24:30,410 Reel because of how fast they are and those Reels just don't tend to get nearly as much attention, so if you're not doing that, then the caption is kind of your only place to be able 263 00:24:30,410 --> 00:24:35,450 to nurture somebody enough in order to get them to take the next step. 264 00:24:35,450 --> 00:24:44,840 So, for example, I might have a short Reel that's just a kitschy funny Reel about a mistake I see people making when legally protecting their online businesses or not 265 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:46,910 legally protecting their online businesses. 266 00:24:46,910 --> 00:24:49,820 And I'm just pointing out this mistake in the Reel. 267 00:24:49,820 --> 00:24:53,540 And then, I say read the caption and I talk about why that mistake is so big. 268 00:24:53,870 --> 00:24:56,200 I talk about the way that you're supposed to do it. 269 00:24:56,210 --> 00:25:05,990 And then, I would tell people I have a free legal workshop called Five Steps to Legally Protect and Grow your Online Business that you can watch to make sure you, not only don't make this mistake, but avoid these other ones as 270 00:25:05,990 --> 00:25:09,950 well. And then, have my call to action to come watch the legal workshop. 271 00:25:09,950 --> 00:25:17,740 So, it just needs a bit more time and development than the amount, I think, that you can do in the Reel itself. 272 00:25:17,740 --> 00:25:21,460 It would really have to be like a no-brainer thing, I think. 273 00:25:21,460 --> 00:25:29,870 Especially, because you have to remember that new people might be finding you through Reels, too, so they might take a little bit more time, which is totally normal and natural. 274 00:25:29,870 --> 00:25:39,620 So, yeah, I would make sure that we're doing whatever we can do creatively to get people to read the caption and then really using that as a targeted copywriting 275 00:25:40,730 --> 00:25:49,010 space. Like, this is not the place to just pull it a couple words and call it a day or some flowery thing to drop an emoji or whatever, unless it's really your goal. 276 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:53,300 I think it's the place to really walk these through. 277 00:25:53,300 --> 00:26:02,780 I would rather see you post fewer Reels that are more targeted and evergreens that actually walk people through certain things and get them to watch your free webinar, 278 00:26:03,290 --> 00:26:07,810 or download your free thing, or get in your free group, or whatever. 279 00:26:07,810 --> 00:26:10,280 The kind of the next nurturing step, get on your email list. 280 00:26:10,370 --> 00:26:13,790 I would rather see you do that less often and really take the time to develop these. 281 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:21,560 Tip number six is to have fun with them while also making them educational and familiarizing. 282 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:26,300 Meaning, getting to know either your brand or your product or both. 283 00:26:26,330 --> 00:26:34,650 So, you don't have to do lip sync or voiceover Reels or the kind of more kitschy Reels that you see if you don't want to. 284 00:26:34,820 --> 00:26:37,370 You can do original ones, too. 285 00:26:37,370 --> 00:26:43,520 Like, I was just saying, I think they can be a little bit more work where if I was to do a Reel that was like, Six Ways that you Should Do This. 286 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:49,550 And then, I had to go do six video clips teaching you and then have at the end a call to action to my workshop. 287 00:26:49,550 --> 00:26:51,420 I think that could be a really impactful Reel. 288 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:53,660 It would also take more time. 289 00:26:53,660 --> 00:27:01,250 I know that in the Instagram algorithm or whatever it is, we don't get as many views for that or whatever. 290 00:27:01,820 --> 00:27:07,150 I haven't really played with this myself too much yet in the sense that I don't care how many views something we get. 291 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:12,260 I'm more interested in whether it gets to the right people, whether it's helpful, whether it converts, all of that. 292 00:27:12,260 --> 00:27:18,500 So, I would be curious how that would go, but just know there's no one way to do these. 293 00:27:18,500 --> 00:27:21,710 I think the point is just to have them be helpful. 294 00:27:21,710 --> 00:27:30,110 So, if you do the lip sync, or voiceover ones, or a trendy one, or something like this, then, again, we want to go to that caption. 295 00:27:30,110 --> 00:27:33,050 The caption can still be educational and helpful. 296 00:27:33,410 --> 00:27:37,100 The caption can still be the place where they get familiar with your product. 297 00:27:37,190 --> 00:27:38,510 You can also do both. 298 00:27:38,510 --> 00:27:46,640 So, sometimes I will teach something in the caption and then introduce myself because I'm kind of doing it under the idea that a lot of new people might be finding me this way. 299 00:27:46,670 --> 00:27:48,160 So, I'm saying, "Hey, I'm Sam. 300 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:49,250 I'm an attorney turned entrepreneur. 301 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:55,250 This is what I do. This is how I help people." And then, I'm letting them know about my freebie and the call to action. 302 00:27:55,250 --> 00:28:01,190 So, you can have fun with them while also making them educational and familiarizing people to your brand. 303 00:28:01,190 --> 00:28:10,370 But most often when I hear people saying like, "I don't see anything from them" or "I don't get anything out of it," "I don't think it's helping my business," I go over and I look and 304 00:28:10,370 --> 00:28:13,760 they're cute Reels but they just have nothing to do with your business. 305 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,240 So, it's like, yeah, because it doesn't make sense that somebody would want to follow you. 306 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:25,910 Or you don't have these calls to action or you're not telling people to read the caption, or I go, "Look at your caption," and it's one sentence, or there's no call to action in your caption. 307 00:28:25,910 --> 00:28:30,950 There are just so many of these little puzzle pieces that can really, really help. 308 00:28:31,550 --> 00:28:40,260 Tip number seven is that you want to not take it too seriously or put too much effort into them, unless you want to. 309 00:28:40,260 --> 00:28:49,920 If you're the kind of person or you have the kind of brand that requires you to be really made up, and dressed up, and makeup, and hair, and all of the things, or 310 00:28:50,070 --> 00:28:53,270 whatever it is that you do, then that's totally cool. 311 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:57,480 But I just don't want you to think that that's required. 312 00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:01,980 I think I'm probably a pretty good example of somebody who doesn't care. 313 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:04,410 I just don't care that much about it. 314 00:29:04,710 --> 00:29:08,240 I would rather just be comfortable and be myself. 315 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:17,700 And, frankly, with the amount of content that I choose to create and to put out, and also with the size of the business I have now, it is not 316 00:29:17,700 --> 00:29:22,050 realistic for me to only film content when I'm in perfect condition. 317 00:29:22,230 --> 00:29:24,840 It doesn't make sense. I would never get it done. 318 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:25,950 So, I always have my hair up. 319 00:29:25,950 --> 00:29:27,510 I'm okay not getting dressed up. 320 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,560 This is also consistent with my brand. 321 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:31,950 I don't take myself too seriously. 322 00:29:31,950 --> 00:29:33,090 I'm not super stuffy. 323 00:29:33,090 --> 00:29:34,830 I'm not standoffish, I hope. 324 00:29:34,830 --> 00:29:36,710 But that is me. 325 00:29:36,710 --> 00:29:38,130 That is me as a person. 326 00:29:38,130 --> 00:29:39,840 So, it makes sense that that would be my brand. 327 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:41,760 And so, it's okay to do Reels like that. 328 00:29:42,180 --> 00:29:49,320 I just wanted to share this with you because I don't want people to think that you can only make Reels if you do, do them highly stylized or made up. 329 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:54,390 And there's a lot of room for people who are just being themselves. 330 00:29:54,390 --> 00:30:00,950 I actually think that having really good lighting is more important than the way you look. 331 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,550 Remember, most people are just thinking about how they look. 332 00:30:03,570 --> 00:30:13,410 But having clear bright lighting, a clear background, like not too cluttered or dark of a background, I think that those kinds of things actually go a longer way just because it attracts 333 00:30:13,410 --> 00:30:15,690 people's attention and it looks bright and inviting. 334 00:30:16,050 --> 00:30:19,800 But I think that that is really helpful. 335 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:28,630 So, personally, I'd rather just look like myself, be myself, also be consistent with what your experience is going to be if you come into my company. 336 00:30:28,630 --> 00:30:32,910 If you purchase something from me, you're not going to get a super stylized made up person anyway. 337 00:30:32,910 --> 00:30:34,140 So, this is me. 338 00:30:34,140 --> 00:30:38,280 This is what you get. So, I kind of want to be consistent in that way. 339 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:41,610 So, there's definitely room to do that. 340 00:30:41,610 --> 00:30:47,820 Tip number eight is that you have to look for trending music or audio clips on the Reels tab of Instagram. 341 00:30:47,820 --> 00:30:53,870 There's a little arrow when you go to the Reels tab on the bottom of your phone on Instagram. 342 00:30:53,870 --> 00:31:00,840 When you start looking at Reels and you start scrolling up and scrolling through those Reels, you'll see where the name of the audio appears. 343 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:07,290 There sometimes is an arrow that's, like, pointing straight up, and that will mean that that audio is trending. 344 00:31:07,290 --> 00:31:15,540 So, I don't necessarily only pick things that are trending, but I definitely look and I see whether that's something that I could kind of translate to what I do. 345 00:31:16,650 --> 00:31:23,580 What I always do is I watch those trending Reels and my mind, instantly - I think this just becomes a habit. 346 00:31:23,670 --> 00:31:29,830 So, this is something you have to start practicing doing and then it becomes very natural - I think like, "Oh. 347 00:31:29,830 --> 00:31:32,420 Okay. She was talking about it from this angle. 348 00:31:32,430 --> 00:31:36,750 I can totally see how I can flip this around." 349 00:31:36,750 --> 00:31:45,810 And at the end of today's episode, after I'm done going through the ten tips, I'm actually going to show you from start to finish exactly how I go from concept 350 00:31:46,650 --> 00:31:50,070 of Reel to the Reel that you see on Instagram. 351 00:31:50,580 --> 00:31:55,630 Like, all the steps, the tools that I use, the methods, how I get it all done, and quickly too. 352 00:31:55,650 --> 00:32:00,300 So, I'm going to share that with you at the end so watch all the way through. 353 00:32:00,300 --> 00:32:05,700 Tip number nine is that you want to get inspiration from related entrepreneurs or businesses. 354 00:32:05,700 --> 00:32:08,580 So, that doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be people in your field. 355 00:32:08,580 --> 00:32:13,860 Like, I don't look at anybody who does what I do, because that just really helps me to keep my eye on the prize. 356 00:32:13,890 --> 00:32:18,360 Go back to episode one of On Your Terms, community over competition is BS. 357 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:24,810 But I like to look at what people in my space do who serve a similar audience. 358 00:32:24,810 --> 00:32:28,590 So, for example, my friend, Christina Galbato, she's amazing with Reels. 359 00:32:28,620 --> 00:32:30,350 She teaches people how to do Reels. 360 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:38,000 And the other day I saw her do a Reel with Beyonce music, where she was joking about entrepreneurs wanting to drink. 361 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:44,330 Like, being so excited to drink coffee in the morning and getting pumped up and pumping themselves up for the day with coffee. 362 00:32:44,340 --> 00:32:54,180 And then, the music scratches and slows down only to show the entrepreneur super jacked up and frazzled when she actually does go to start working 363 00:32:54,180 --> 00:32:56,250 because she's had so much coffee. 364 00:32:56,250 --> 00:33:06,150 And I instantly thought I could totally switch this up to somebody being excited, like the beginning of the video was somebody being excited to start their own business, super pumped to get online, to 365 00:33:06,150 --> 00:33:08,250 open up their computer, and all this kind of stuff. 366 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:14,240 And then, when the music changes, it's like, them losing their shit because they realized that they don't have any legal protection. 367 00:33:14,250 --> 00:33:17,190 So, I made a Reel out of it and it was pretty good. 368 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:21,280 It went pretty well. And I got a lot of people who ended up signing up for my stuff from it. 369 00:33:21,300 --> 00:33:25,440 So, that's just an example where you can kind of see how like, "Oh. 370 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:28,560 I see that she's using it in this way to make this analogy. 371 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:35,100 But this is the analogy that would apply in my industry or on my topic." And so, I think that that can be really helpful. 372 00:33:35,100 --> 00:33:42,060 So, that was kind of a double tip because that audio was trending. 373 00:33:42,060 --> 00:33:49,110 And then, I also was able to use the inspiration of the analogy that she made and how she made the flip. 374 00:33:49,110 --> 00:33:51,080 But mine was, obviously, totally different. 375 00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:52,330 It's a totally different industry. 376 00:33:52,340 --> 00:33:53,510 It had nothing to do with it. 377 00:33:53,510 --> 00:33:55,090 But yeah, that's what Reels are for. 378 00:33:55,100 --> 00:33:58,310 So, that's tip number nine. 379 00:33:58,310 --> 00:34:07,790 Tip number ten is a COIA tip that you will thank me for later, but make sure that you save all of your Reels drafts to your phone. 380 00:34:07,820 --> 00:34:11,180 I actually have a two step process for this because I've lost them at both points. 381 00:34:11,970 --> 00:34:21,680 But a little unknown fact until they recently added a small little note inside of the app, if you delete the Instagram app off of your phone or lose it for some 382 00:34:21,860 --> 00:34:27,290 reason or log out of it, you actually lose your Reels as drafts. 383 00:34:27,290 --> 00:34:35,660 So, I had one time made a whole bunch of Reels, saved them as drafts, deleted the app off of my phone for the weekend, and then lost all of the Reels that I made. 384 00:34:35,930 --> 00:34:39,140 It was so upsetting because at that time I was spending way more time. 385 00:34:39,140 --> 00:34:41,900 I was new and I didn't know how to make the Reels. 386 00:34:42,170 --> 00:34:46,100 So, spending so much time doing it, it was really, really frustrating. 387 00:34:46,100 --> 00:34:48,410 So, now, I have a two step system in place. 388 00:34:48,410 --> 00:34:58,400 So, when I make the Reel directly on the platform, I save it as a draft before I even put any captions on it or anything so that I always have the 389 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:01,640 video. Because you can always redo the captions, but the video is the hardest part. 390 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:12,080 So then, when I go through and I put on the videos or the stickers and the captions and all that kind of stuff, then I save it again so that then I have a version of it on my phone that 391 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:13,970 has all of that stuff on it as well. 392 00:35:13,970 --> 00:35:20,570 So, now, I'll have two versions, the original video with nothing on the screen and then the one with all the captions. 393 00:35:20,570 --> 00:35:22,860 So, I save both of those on my phone. 394 00:35:22,890 --> 00:35:28,970 I highly recommend so that you don't lose it because - oh, my gosh - I couldn't imagine putting in that much work and then losing it. 395 00:35:28,970 --> 00:35:35,030 I know so many people who have done that, and it's super upsetting. 396 00:35:35,030 --> 00:35:44,240 So, with those ten tips, I want to get into both sharing my process of how I go from start to finish creating a Reel and also getting into the audience questions 397 00:35:44,790 --> 00:35:51,350 because I posted on Instagram that I was creating this episode and so many people submitted really good questions. 398 00:35:51,350 --> 00:35:54,440 So, the first question was actually exactly what I'm talking about, sharing my process. 399 00:35:55,100 --> 00:36:04,070 Stephanie on Instagram asked, "What's your process for finding trending Reels and music on Instagram and then turning them into Reels of your own?" 400 00:36:04,070 --> 00:36:05,960 So, here's my step-by-step process. 401 00:36:06,380 --> 00:36:11,720 First things first, I scroll through the Reels, like I was saying, that are already on Instagram. 402 00:36:12,020 --> 00:36:16,880 I look to see what's trending with the arrow, but I also just watch other Reels as well. 403 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:26,330 And I try to see if there are any of those that stand out to me that either look like fun, like I would look forward to actually creating them because that's key in 404 00:36:26,630 --> 00:36:29,020 making sure that you get them done. 405 00:36:29,020 --> 00:36:32,440 Or that are just like, "Oh, that is perfect for what I do. 406 00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:39,860 I can totally see how I could translate that or make that into a story." So, I look through those and then I save them. 407 00:36:39,860 --> 00:36:46,040 So, in order to save the audio, you click on the audio itself and then hit Save Audio at the top. 408 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:55,070 I am somebody on Instagram who once I hit 10,000 followers earlier this year, for some reason, I all of a sudden then lost my Instagram music. 409 00:36:55,070 --> 00:36:59,360 So, I only have terrible, unlicensed music on Instagram. 410 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:02,200 I can't get any access to anything that's any fun. 411 00:37:02,210 --> 00:37:08,240 So, this is really crucial for somebody like me because I have no other way to get audio. 412 00:37:08,240 --> 00:37:14,780 So, I hit Save Audio and then I go into Asana, which is like my lifeblood. 413 00:37:14,780 --> 00:37:21,000 And so, in Asana, I have a Reels Ideas section and a planning section. 414 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:22,730 A Project, it's called in Asana. 415 00:37:23,210 --> 00:37:27,740 And so, in that Project, I then put the name of the audio. 416 00:37:27,740 --> 00:37:35,570 Because on Instagram Reels, audios will sometimes have a weird name or they'll have the person's name, the creator's name on Instagram. 417 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:39,100 And so, I put that in the task name. 418 00:37:39,100 --> 00:37:45,350 And then, in the description of that task, I actually go through and I type out whatever the lyrics. 419 00:37:45,350 --> 00:37:55,130 Let's say it's a voiceover one, like there was the one I did from Schitt's Creek that's like, "I have never seen somebody say so many wrong things one after 420 00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:58,820 another again and again in a row," or something like that, it was from David Rose. 421 00:37:59,300 --> 00:38:02,440 And so, I go and I type out the words that he says. 422 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:06,620 So, first of all, I can practice saying it a couple of times and/or look at it on the screen. 423 00:38:06,890 --> 00:38:16,070 But then, also, I kind of then use that little script that I write out in the description box to put underneath of it what I want to say on the 424 00:38:16,070 --> 00:38:25,490 screen. So, I will put in brackets or in all caps or something like this, like on caption on screen, and then I will write out just start to draft it out. 425 00:38:25,490 --> 00:38:34,440 So, I see and make sure that it makes sense so that it make sense with what I'm actually going to be saying or what the audio is saying in the background. 426 00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:37,160 Also, so that it makes sense for my business so that it captures somebody's attention. 427 00:38:38,420 --> 00:38:39,880 And then, making sure that I'm like, "Okay. 428 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:41,330 Then, what's the call to action going to be? 429 00:38:41,330 --> 00:38:50,330 Is the call to action going to be to follow me, to engage, to watch my workshop, to read the caption, whatever." So, I write that all out in the section 430 00:38:51,380 --> 00:38:53,060 of the Asana task. 431 00:38:53,090 --> 00:39:02,870 It's at that time, too, that I go over probably one of the most important, if not the most important part, of creating a Reel in terms of making sure that other people actually want to click on 432 00:39:02,870 --> 00:39:12,830 it, watch it, find it on the Explore page, which is what is the little caption, the sentence, or phrase going to be that I'm going to choose for the cover photo ? 433 00:39:13,010 --> 00:39:14,420 That is huge. 434 00:39:14,420 --> 00:39:23,320 If you're going to spend the bulk of your time on anything when creating Reels, I honestly think it's that because nobody's going to watch your Reel if you don't have anything. 435 00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:30,230 So, I'm talking like the thing that you see on screen, the bubble you see on the screen before our Reel starts playing, that part is crucial. 436 00:39:30,500 --> 00:39:35,560 Any time that you can use language like you, your, or something like that, that's super helpful. 437 00:39:35,570 --> 00:39:43,190 I think anything that's just going to kind of quickly describe, like, four myths when it comes to working out or - I don't know - something like that, or I'll do 438 00:39:43,430 --> 00:39:53,090 four red flags I see when legally protecting your business, something like that is really just attention grabbing, but it also tells the person what they're going to see in this video. 439 00:39:53,090 --> 00:40:01,820 So, a lot of times when I'm scrolling through and I see people on Instagram, it's like really flat cover photo, whatever, recalling that cover photo captions. 440 00:40:02,810 --> 00:40:12,440 And it's just not something that if I didn't know them, sometimes they are people that I know and I'm like, "If I didn't know you, I would have no clue what this was actually about or why I should watch this 441 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:20,930 Reel." You want to think about if somebody saw this, somebody was my ideal client was scrolling through it and they're getting inundated with so much content, 442 00:40:22,130 --> 00:40:27,640 what about this would grab their attention and make them want to stop to scroll and look at this? 443 00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:36,380 If you just spend a couple of minutes on that, just that tip alone, you will see your real views, engagement, followers, whatever skyrocket. 444 00:40:36,380 --> 00:40:38,600 And that's really what we want. 445 00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:42,710 So, that's my answer to what's my process. 446 00:40:42,710 --> 00:40:50,620 Let me know definitely in the comments or send me a DM on Instagram @samvanderwielen if you want to know more about my process or if you have any questions, of course. 447 00:40:50,620 --> 00:40:54,710 But I have a couple of other audience questions that I want to answer before we go today. 448 00:40:54,710 --> 00:40:57,640 So, Rachel said, "Are they really worth your time and energy? 449 00:40:57,650 --> 00:41:03,040 It seems like my casual Reels do better than my business one." So, that's a really good question, Rachel. 450 00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:09,530 And I would say, hopefully, after you've listened to this episode, you would see that they're worth your time and energy if you're going to do them with a purpose. 451 00:41:10,250 --> 00:41:20,120 I don't think like doing them without a purpose, like you're just doing them and you don't really have any sort of plan or any clear defined goal as to why you want to do them, then 452 00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:23,210 it's not worth your time and energy. 453 00:41:23,210 --> 00:41:26,360 Also, it's kind of like our health, right? 454 00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:35,930 Like, if you're not sleeping, and drinking water, and moving your body, or getting some sunlight, or practicing some self-care, or something like this, we're not really in a position to 455 00:41:35,930 --> 00:41:37,420 add on other stuff. 456 00:41:37,420 --> 00:41:39,770 That's kind of how I see it when it comes to content. 457 00:41:39,770 --> 00:41:49,730 So, if you're not nurturing the SEO content of your business's house then you're not really in a position yet to add on fun 458 00:41:49,730 --> 00:41:51,500 stuff, experimental stuff. 459 00:41:51,500 --> 00:41:54,810 So, I would be more concerned of, What's your content hub? 460 00:41:54,830 --> 00:42:04,730 What's the main piece of content that you're creating that's SEO driven, that's optimized, that people can find you, all that kind of stuff, whether it's a podcast episode, a 461 00:42:04,730 --> 00:42:09,770 YouTube episode, a blog post, and then maybe even like meshed together. 462 00:42:10,190 --> 00:42:17,390 But if you're not doing that already or you feel like you don't even have that process down, then maybe you can wait to add this on. 463 00:42:17,390 --> 00:42:22,300 Or you can take an experimental fun approach to it and follow some of the tips in today's episode. 464 00:42:22,310 --> 00:42:28,220 And then, I would say that they would be worth your time and energy in terms of doing this for your business. 465 00:42:28,220 --> 00:42:37,970 If you're here to run a business, you want to grow an online business, then I would say the Reels should be in support of that. 466 00:42:37,970 --> 00:42:42,350 I would also be curious, though, Rachel, when you said it seems like my casual Reels do better than my business ones. 467 00:42:42,350 --> 00:42:49,160 Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with casual ones, because I know Rachel and I know her personality and I know what she does. 468 00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:52,610 And they're not that different. 469 00:42:52,610 --> 00:43:02,510 So, in terms of casual, like making people slow down and take care of themselves, nurture themselves, be sweet and kind to themselves, practicing meditation, those are things 470 00:43:02,510 --> 00:43:06,330 that I would say are more casual that you do. 471 00:43:06,350 --> 00:43:15,830 But then, first of all, you could use those for engagement Reels, but there's also just a nice way that you can translate those into a call to 472 00:43:15,830 --> 00:43:21,640 action to what you do to a freebie, to a workshop, to something. 473 00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:28,670 So, I don't think that just because something that's casual doesn't mean it still can't be in support of your business. 474 00:43:28,670 --> 00:43:35,480 Another person, Anonymous, she submitted a question saying, "I have a fear of being seen versus just my brand or my business. 475 00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:45,030 Do you have any advice for me?" So, I really struggle with this question when it comes to online business, and people want to know if they can have an online business 476 00:43:45,390 --> 00:43:52,200 without being visibly present, like without showing their face, without talking on camera. 477 00:43:52,200 --> 00:44:02,160 You know, I have a hard time giving any answer other than my honest opinion, in general, which is, just that I would find it very 478 00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:07,680 hard to believe that someone could build a business these days without doing this stuff. 479 00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:10,620 Does it mean that you have to share every last detail about yourself or your life? 480 00:44:10,980 --> 00:44:12,240 No, definitely not. 481 00:44:12,390 --> 00:44:17,790 People are here to be educated, to learn from you, to have fun with you, to get to know you in a way. 482 00:44:17,790 --> 00:44:20,340 But you don't need to share all of yourself. 483 00:44:20,340 --> 00:44:24,450 There can be little parts and pieces of yourself that you can share. 484 00:44:24,450 --> 00:44:34,380 But even if you don't talk about yourself, or your personal life, or your hobbies, or your interests - which I still think would hurt your business - I don't know how you would build a successful online 485 00:44:34,380 --> 00:44:40,180 business these days on social media without talking to camera, doing video. 486 00:44:40,200 --> 00:44:50,040 I mean, not only is the whole world moving in a direction of video, and now it's like not just video, but fast video, like quick clips of video, 487 00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:55,380 but we also are on these platforms that are all visually driven. 488 00:44:55,380 --> 00:44:57,740 Instagram is a visual platform. It started as a photograph platform. 489 00:44:57,750 --> 00:44:59,130 Now, it's moving into video. 490 00:44:59,130 --> 00:45:00,470 TikTok is all video. 491 00:45:00,470 --> 00:45:09,210 Facebook is, like, it's whatever to post some things, but it's still posting pictures and they push things like Lives, and Rooms, and Groups, and I don't know whatever else. 492 00:45:09,240 --> 00:45:18,990 So, these platforms are all visual platforms, and what I believe is that in online business, we get the 493 00:45:18,990 --> 00:45:23,370 benefit of being able to work from anywhere, do anything kind of stuff. 494 00:45:23,370 --> 00:45:33,000 But in order to shortcut the trust and the connection that would be required that you might form in a different way, maybe even faster with 495 00:45:33,000 --> 00:45:35,880 somebody in person, you have to show your face. 496 00:45:36,030 --> 00:45:45,750 So, if it was a service-based business or if it's a business where I'm going to sign up where you're going to be my 497 00:45:45,750 --> 00:45:55,080 coach or you're going to be my mentor, I'm going to take a course from you, I, personally - this is just me - would not buy from somebody who I probably didn't get to know first. 498 00:45:55,080 --> 00:46:04,590 You know, I think back to anything I've purchased, anybody I've worked with, I've been attracted to their personality, to their way of doing business, to how they run their 499 00:46:04,590 --> 00:46:09,900 life, what their life looks like, that it emulates my values and that that's something that I want to do. 500 00:46:09,930 --> 00:46:19,920 So, that's just my two cents on it, in general, is that I would encourage you to work on this, if you want to, if you want to have 501 00:46:19,920 --> 00:46:25,800 this kind of business. And if you want to have an online business, I would encourage you to dive into this fear of being seen. 502 00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:31,860 I think that actually creating a business has been a beautiful opportunity for me to work through that. 503 00:46:31,860 --> 00:46:33,630 I wouldn't say I'm over it by any means. 504 00:46:33,660 --> 00:46:37,400 I think everyone has a degree of a fear of being seen. 505 00:46:37,410 --> 00:46:39,090 I certainly have that as well. 506 00:46:39,210 --> 00:46:45,220 And I think that this opportunity has just given me a really good opportunity to try to work through it. 507 00:46:45,240 --> 00:46:48,030 And I know a lot of my friends have as well. 508 00:46:48,030 --> 00:46:51,170 And then, I would just encourage you to think about whether or not this kind of business is for you. 509 00:46:51,170 --> 00:46:54,210 Because it's not like this is the perfect or only way to run a business. 510 00:46:54,210 --> 00:46:55,410 There are many, many ways. 511 00:46:55,440 --> 00:46:57,320 There are also other kinds of businesses. 512 00:46:57,320 --> 00:47:05,840 So, service-based businesses, I think, in particular rely on a personality and more of a personal brand, but many other kinds of businesses don't. 513 00:47:05,840 --> 00:47:12,780 So, there are many, many options out there, I think, for somebody who wants to have a business where there's not so much personal involvement. 514 00:47:12,780 --> 00:47:16,450 It's not reliant on the face of a founder or something like that. 515 00:47:16,480 --> 00:47:20,990 And so, I would encourage you to dive into that. 516 00:47:20,990 --> 00:47:28,830 Okay. So, I hope that you enjoyed all ten of these tips about how to create Reels that actually support and grow your business. 517 00:47:29,130 --> 00:47:32,280 I hope you enjoyed some of the legal ones, too, in case you've had any of those questions. 518 00:47:33,390 --> 00:47:40,010 Overall, I would just encourage you to keep Reels fun, experiment them like you do with any other kind of content in your business. 519 00:47:40,010 --> 00:47:42,470 But have them make sense for your business. 520 00:47:42,470 --> 00:47:43,640 Have them have a purpose. 521 00:47:43,650 --> 00:47:52,230 Otherwise, this is just kind of like an energy leak in your business, where you're pouring in all this time, money, and effort into something that there's not really any return for. 522 00:47:52,260 --> 00:47:58,320 So, I would give it some thought about how you can create evergreen Reels that actually support your business. 523 00:47:58,320 --> 00:48:00,660 Play with it. Don't wait until things are perfect. 524 00:48:00,660 --> 00:48:02,820 They don't need to look like everybody else's. 525 00:48:03,300 --> 00:48:05,400 You can just have fun with them. 526 00:48:05,400 --> 00:48:07,560 So, if you enjoyed this, let me know. 527 00:48:07,560 --> 00:48:09,610 DM me on Instagram @samvanderwielen. 528 00:48:09,610 --> 00:48:14,850 Of course, it's helpful for you to subscribe, like, follow, do all the things, I really appreciate it. 529 00:48:14,850 --> 00:48:17,790 Let me know what your number one takeaway was from this episode. 530 00:48:17,970 --> 00:48:24,530 I can't wait to see what you implement with Reels. 531 00:48:24,530 --> 00:48:26,970 Thanks so much for listening to the On Your Terms podcast. 532 00:48:26,970 --> 00:48:31,640 Make sure to follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. 533 00:48:31,670 --> 00:48:38,670 You can also check out all of our podcast episodes, show notes, links, and more at samvanderwielen.com/podcast. 534 00:48:38,690 --> 00:48:45,680 You can learn more about legally protecting your business and take my free legal workshop, Five Steps to Legally Protect and Grow your Online Business at samvanderwielen.com. 535 00:48:47,550 --> 00:48:52,850 And to stay connected and follow along, follow me on Instagram @samvanderwielen, and send me a DM to say 536 00:48:52,850 --> 00:49:03,350 hi. 537 00:49:03,350 --> 00:49:09,870 Just remember that although I am a attorney, I am not your attorney and I am not offering you legal advice in today's episode. 538 00:49:09,890 --> 00:49:14,690 This episode and all of my episodes are informational and educational only. 539 00:49:14,690 --> 00:49:18,940 It is not a substitute for seeking out your own advice from your own lawyer. 540 00:49:18,950 --> 00:49:21,770 And please keep in mind that I can't offer you legal advice. 541 00:49:21,770 --> 00:49:23,790 I don't ever offer any legal services. 542 00:49:23,790 --> 00:49:25,930 But I think I offer some pretty good information. © 543 00:49:25,930 --> 00:49:26,560 2022 Sam Vander Wielen LLC | All Rights Reserved | Any use of this intellectual property owned by Sam Vander Wielen LLC may not be used in connection with the sale or distribution of any content (free or paid, written or verbal), product, 544 00:49:26,560 --> 00:49:26,780 and/or service by you without prior written consent from Sam Vander Wielen LLC.