She Owns It

Celebrating, Connecting, and Supporting Women Entrepreneurs

3 Steps To Help Build Your Confidence

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by Bernadin Bridges

Step 1 – Know Yourself

Most importantly, you first need to build a strong sense of who you are. God has made all of us beautiful in a unique way. Find out what makes you unique. Take time to think about your strengths and passions. Write them down and remind yourself of the things you’re good at. We are usually the most critical of ourselves and our self-talk is sometimes so negative. Ask yourself, “Would I speak to a friend or loved one this way?” If not, then you shouldn’t speak to yourself that way either.

Schedule time to do the things that you love and allow yourself time to develop those skills. Maybe take a class to learn more about a subject you’re passionate about. Or learn something new that you’ve always wanted to do.

Make yourself a priority. Get to know yourself better. You need to love yourself first, so you can love others well.

Step 2 – Know Your People

Just as we are all unique, every relationship is unique. There are different levels of friendship. People you may trust more and people you may trust less in opening up about your dreams and goals. Identify which people encourage you, support you, and are completely truthful (not brutally honest) with you when needed.

For the most part, we get to choose the people who remain in our lives. We get to set boundaries in our relationships. People can only treat you the way you allow them to treat you. When you know your value (see step #1) you can better select your circle.

Step 3 – Know Your Purpose

What is it that you’re trying to accomplish? Are you an artist who enjoys your craft? Maybe you are business-minded and want to start your own company. Or you are a philanthropist and want to change the world. There is not a right or wrong answer here. It’s a question you ask yourself simply to get clarity on your goal. When you identify your purpose you can set realistic expectations.

If you are an artist for instance, then it doesn’t matter if you profit from your art. Because your objective is mainly your personal enjoyment. However, if you are business-minded, then you will take a more logical approach and study metrics to ensure you make a profit. Additionally, if you want to change the world, you may sacrifice your own time or comfort to get your message out to people and help as many as possible.

Each of these purposes have different expectations. When you identify what you want to accomplish you can be more purpose-driven, rather than results-driven.

Ultimately, when you build your confidence you empower yourself and those around you.

So go ahead…Be fabulous, beautiful, unique!

Let She Owns It Promote YOU! Bloggers Wanted. Open Call For Featured Contributors.

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by Melissa Stewart

We are looking for a few amazing women (and men) to share their inspiration and expertise with the She Owns It community. Featured contributors will be selected based on their level of expertise in their particular fields. Featured contributors must be able to commit to partnering with She Owns It starting in September and writing a minimum of 6 posts over the next 6 months.

-> APPLY HERE! <-

 

Here are some subjects we are interested in:

  • Entrepreneurship
  • Small Business
  • Marketing & Advertising
  • Public Relations
  • Social Media
  • Podcasting
  • Product Development
  • Success
  • Inspiration
  • Branding
  • Online Strategy
  • Legal
  • Accounting
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • Business Strategy
  • Startups
  • Entrepreneur Success Stories – Your Story
  • Creative Entrepreneurs
  • Blogging
  • Crowdfunding
  • Venture Capital
  • Web & Graphic Design
  • Dressing for Success

…or tell us your expertise & we

can create a category just for you!

 

Featured Contributors Bloggers Wanted

 

Here’s how it works:

Featured Contributors will commit to six months with She Owns It.  Each Featured Contributor will provide six unique posts during their six month commitment.  They can be written articles, infographics, or video posts.

Our Featured Contributors will receive:

  •     Listing under Featured Contributors on the She Owns It site
  •     Bios and pictures on every post submitted.
  •     Exposure through our social media networks on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Here’s what we’re looking for:

  •     A woman who is an expert in her industry or field.
  •     A woman who has excelled in a specific area of business.
  •     A woman who is committed to helping others.
  •     OPEN to men with the same qualifications!

If  this sounds like you, we encourage you to apply.

Have questions? Reach out to Melissa Stewart, at melissa (at) sheownsit (dot) com

 

-> APPLY HERE! <-

 

Application DEADLINE is Friday, September 11th.

 

Your Organization Needs A Website, And It’s Easier Than You Think

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by Michael Magnus

When our daughter was 4 years old, her response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey was “I want to give away my drawings to help the little babies whose houses got hurt.” We shared her story online, posted some pictures, and in two days she raised over $600 with her art to send diapers down to Houston. This sweet sentiment continued after her first fundraiser, and because of the foundation of her philanthropy, Pictures Helping People.

Now, three years in, we realize a fundamental mistake that we made in supporting her big heart; we only used social media to share the story. It took us three years to get around to putting together a website for her. And, why is that a problem? Lost potential.

  

Link Building 101

There is a marketing discipline called Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which consists of strategies and tactics to rank higher for certain phrases on Google. There are a lot of moving pieces to SEO, but one of the more simple things you can do to help potential donors or clients discover your services is to get more links back to your website.

Links from Facebook and other user content sites aren’t taken into account in Google’s algorithm; however, a link from a news story or another page can go a long way in helping rank higher for key search terms relevant to your organization.

In the case of Pictures Helping People, a cute kid with an uplifting story to share garnered more media attention than we were really prepared for. Our daughter was featured multiple times on local news stations, radio stations, newspapers, and also appeared on NBCLearn in partnership with Red Nose Day in 2018. These stories evolved into articles on Parent Toolkit and more. We were, and continue to be, extremely proud of our daughter and her servant heart.

Unfortunately, since we hadn’t created a website for her (after all, why would a kid need a website?), we missed the opportunity to have those links direct back to a source that would have gone on to help her support even more people as she continued to fundraise for those in need with her drawings, paintings, and crafts. Fortunately, by the time we did finally get around to it, she was old enough to be able to help design her own website.

 

 

But Aren’t Websites Expensive and Time-Consuming?

In theory, they can be. Hiring a designer to build a site, deciphering hosting options, creating content, and so on can be a costly and time-consuming endeavor. If you are managing an established organization, it may be worth that effort.

However, if you’re getting started and want something simple, inexpensive, and DIY, know that there are website builders out there that substantially lower the barrier for entry. For a fairly nominal investment of time and money, you can use some of these “drag and drop” designer templates to quickly pull together a starter site that you can be proud of. This also gives a place to link all of your mentions as people begin talking more about your organization and services so that you can start building “search equity” in Google and other search engines.

Think of your website as your online catalog that doesn’t require printing or storage, people can find it on their own, and you don’t need to have any fancy design programs to create something that looks good. The technology has been simplified to the point that we no longer have an excuse not to do a better job telling our story online.

 

 

Michael Magnus is a digital marketing lecturer and principal consultant at Magnus Opus, focused on championing measurable storytelling in both aspects of his professional life.

 

 

 

 

 

Passion and Profits: Consciously Creating a Blog by @lieshapetrovich

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“Do what you love, the money will follow”

That sounds amazing in theory, but how do we actually make that work? Marsha Sinetar discusses her book by the same name, Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow: Discovering Your Right Livelihood, and discusses living an authentic life. We all want to be happy and genuine, yet we aren’t on some magical journey where we get to live our best lives because we are passionate about something.

We have to consciously create a pathway to our own success.

Many of us blog because it’s a platform anyone can use to connect with the world. We get to design our tiny part of the universe any way we want. And with the right tools and strategy, we will never have to choose passion over profit.

We can have both.

Choose Good Works

It starts with choosing a topic that satisfies our soul and brings something positive to the planet. It’s choosing to be profitable but not at the expense of others. It’s the belief that money is the consequence of doing good works.

This concept isn’t new. It’s actually one of the steps on the Buddist’s Eightfold Path. Called the Right Livelihood, it means making a living through “ethical and non-harmful means”. What we put into the world has a direct impact on our overall well being and contentment. I know that’s a lot of spiritual huey for some, but it’s easy to see how choosing the right livelihood would promote a happy and harmonious life.

We can choose something we are passionate about and that we can profit from. Start with asking ourselves the following questions:

  • What excites us?
  • What topic could we talk about all day long?
  • What never feels like work even after putting in a 12 hour day?
  • What do we love that would bring good karma to the world?

Choose a Monetization Strategy (or two!)

Although we’re focused on doing good works and writing about what we’re passionate about, we always have to remember that this is a money-making operation. And there are a lot of ways we can monetize our sites. For example, here are 4 ways Jenny Lawson, from The Bloggess, makes money from her site:

  1. Link to her book and where we can buy it
  2. Link to her shop on Zazzle
  3. Promoting things in her blog (she doesn’t do this often but it’s a possibility)
  4. Selling advertising space

Affiliate marketing is another fantastic idea for bloggers. In 17 High Ticket Affiliate Programs to Dramatically Increase Your Profits, Spencer Mecham explains how being an affiliate for Hostgator works:

“The cool thing is that people who sign up for Hostgator only have to pay $20 to sign up, then you as an affiliate automatically get $200. So you don’t have to convince your audience to purchase high-dollar products to get a nice commission from Hostgator.”

We can choose from thousands of different affiliate programs and work with the ones that are both reputable and profitable. We can choose to sell in ways that are honest and upfront. I’ve turned my back on sleazy sales tactics but never lose sleep when I’m making money selling something I’d buy myself.

Create a Digital Product

This is one of the funnest things we get to do. We get to share our knowledge and expertise in eBooks, online courses, video tutorials, patterns, and guides. And we can DIY the entire product ourselves when this once would have cost us thousands of dollars to accomplish. Chris Dalziel, from Joybilee Farm, created a very cool DIY Herbal Apothecary course that she promotes on her homesteading blog:

What makes blogging the ideal platform for digital products is we are already writing for a niche that’s interested in what we have to say. As we’re building our audience, we’re also building our potential customer list. It’s the perfect business relationship!

And when we blog with good intent and write with a genuine desire to help people, it shows in our sales.

Rethinking What it Means to Be a Blogger

I’m surrounded by artists. A friend just made me a beautiful drawing of my daughter and I. My mother just painted me a lotus flower watercolor. I can’t draw a stick person.

But I can write.

I’ll never have the eloquence of Virginia Woolf. And I’ll never be able to spin a tale like J.K. Rowling. Yet, I can write about eCommerce for days. I love writing about new business ideas or how amazing a new productivity tool may be. I’m a total business nerd and that’s okay. Because there are millions of other business nerds out there that understand what I’m saying.

I’ve made a conscious choice to not sacrifice my soul just to make money. Of course, I need to make a living and pay my bills. Rather than choose profit over passion, I’ve built a business where I can have both. It’s not easy, but it is possible.

And it never truly feels like work.

7 Expert Blogging Tips for 2020 by @DONNAAMOS

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blogging tips

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

Blogging is on fire! In fact, social media and SEO expert Neal Schaffer claims that, “Blogging is as effective a marketing tool as ever. In fact, it’s supercharged.”

A recent study by Data Box, entitled “The Shift in Your Content Marketing Mix: 25 Marketers On What’s Changed in 2 Years” showed that 68% of marketers find blogging more effective than they did only 2 years ago. And I believe the other 32% are likely doing it wrong!

The nature of blogging has changed, and so must your focus if you want blogging to remain an effective tool in your marketing arsenal. Follow these 7 tips that expert bloggers will be leveraging in 2020.

READ

Expert bloggers are well-informed. They are voracious readers. They view reading as a part of blogging, a process of discovery through which they keep a steady finger on the pulse of their target audience. Here are some suggested reading materials:

  • Read what your audience is reading. This takes some research, but learning their interests helps you better answer their questions in your writing, another tip we will examine below.
  • Read what your competition is writing. If they are doing a good job of audience research, you can learn from them what others are reading. And, you can get some tips on how you can write better content than your competitors.
  • Read what major influencers are writing about your niche. Influencers lead large audiences, so keeping up with what concerns them helps prepare you for relevant writing.
  • Read the latest industry material concerning your business. Stay current with the latest news and developments in your field.
  • Read for fun. Reading for enjoyment is a great source for illustrations and stories to use in your own writing.

A variation on reading is listening to podcasts or audiobooks. Too busy to read much? Leverage your time and listen to helpful podcasts or audiobooks while commuting, gardening, mowing, doing other chores, or just relaxing.

Engage the World

Very often, our best writing comes from our experiences. Sitting at a desk all day in isolation, week after week, doesn’t breed many interesting experiences. And it’s unhealthy. Get outside and engage with people. Have interesting conversations. Meet friends for coffee and discover what is going on in the lives of other people.

Travel as often as possible. You don’t have to go to Spain or Australia to have great experiences. Explore your hometown as if you were a tourist. Take a tour and see what you have missed. Go for a drive and take roads you have yet to travel. Take along a notebook or recorder and a camera (or at least your smartphone) and make notes about what you see and hear. A life lived well is the best fodder for writing.

Emphasize Quality Over Quantity

Each new Google algorithm that is introduced puts more emphasis on quality content than the last. That’s because Internet users are demanding better quality material. The Internet is filled with innumerable pages of information on every conceivable topic. That means to attract users, your material must be not just better than average, but better than 90%.

Long-form posts, “definitive guides,” and skyscraper content that provides tons of value is what Internet searchers are clicking on the most. ContentFly puts long-form (between 1,000 and 7,000 words) content of high quality as the most important successful blog writing trend for 2020.

Specialize in Your Favorite Topic

If the best way to grow your business is to find a specific niche, the same should apply to your blogging. While you may write about related topics, 80% of your blogs should focus directly on your niche topic. You should become known as THE specialist on that topic in your business. Your website needs to become THE place to go to get up-to-date, accurate, relevant, and helpful information about your niche.

That kind of specialization doesn’t come overnight. You may need to take a class, study more, engage in extensive research, or more to become THE answer guy or girl for your niche. But if you choose to focus on a specific topic relating to your business, no one should know more about it than you.

Answer Questions People Are Asking

Much of the information on the Internet is irrelevant because it doesn’t scratch where Internet users have an itch. It doesn’t answer the questions that people are asking. And if you don’t answer their question relating to your business or topic, they will quickly go somewhere else that does and bookmark that site to return later.

This involves research, but expert bloggers do what it takes to learn what people are asking within their own business niche. Why waste your limited time writing something that no one cares about? If your goal in blogging is to drive traffic to your business, relevancy should be at the top of why you write blog posts at all.

Pay Attention to SEO

Search engine optimization is more important than ever before. Blogging is no longer just about writing. Expert bloggers also engage in keyword research, creative writing, linking and backlinking, and page design in order to give their work every chance of being ranked highly by Google and other search engines.

And in our current society, that also means paying attention to local and voice search SEO, especially if your business has a physical location. Local and voice SEO can be the key to getting found and making a sale almost 60% of the time when a growing number of Internet searches use smartphones and/or digital assistants.

Get the Word Out

The best content available on any subject means nothing to you or anyone else if no one can find it. I’m amazed at bloggers who write and publish but never spread the word. There is no worldwide alert system that automatically shares with every Internet user that you just published a post. You have to get the word out yourself. Here are some popular and effective ways to do that.

  • Social media – Post about new content on every social media channel you use. Post the link, but include relevant images, snippets of text, and even reader comments to entice users to click and read. Every piece of content you publish should enter a regular social media posting schedule for regular, recurring posting.
  • Video – Creating a video that coincides with your blog posts is dynamite, and so is sharing that video link across your social media channels. You can also create brief promo videos for Facebook and Instagram and even YouTube that promote your latest content in different ways to attract audiences.
  • Email – Your email newsletter should regularly contain a summary of your latest blog posts. You should also send a brief email to your mailing list to inform subscribers when you post new material.

Expert bloggers in 2020 will be going farther and working harder than ever before to ensure their material meets the needs of their target audience with high-value content. Will you be among them?

 

Stages of Success by @SBSLEducSoltns

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[ ‘S o S’ ] = Leveraging Stages to Earn Something More: Significance

 

Flying @ 35K ft

 

As entrepreneurs, we’ve often heard how important it is to be successful.

 

And, as so many of us also know, success is defined in so many different ways, through lots of different life experiences & lenses, that there could be a fairly large library filled with content on ..

 

What is success?

How to be successful?

Who is a success & Why?

Where can success be learned?

 

To be clear, the stages that will be discussed below all DO feed into this ‘black box’ known as success, however, in my reasoned view, if each is leveraged unto one another, you’ll earn something far more impactful in the long term:  Significance.

 

Success vs. Significance

It’s left to you, the reader, to decide what you seek to pursue. A quick web search returns oodles of success quotes & related content:

Click HERE , then HERE to dip a toe ever so slightly into the ocean: The video & infographic in the latter are wonderfully displayed, by the by!

 

“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”

―Peter F. Drucker

 

Turning the page to significance, one of the best sources to land on?  THIS one.

Our businesses can either drive us, as their owner/founders, to a significant life, or our lives can be the spark on the embers of the business, turning it from just surviving, to a modicum of success, and perhaps significance.

 

So, the road, visualized as two lanes, does have one going in one direction, and the other in its opposite.

 

“The difference between real life and a story is that life has significance, while a story must have meaning. The former is not always apparent, while the latter always has to be, before the end.”

― Vera Nazarian

 

Breaking down the stages  

 

I contend that each stage can be swapped for another, so the order below isn’t as important as the very high level explanation of the stage. And, if you happen to have multiple business ventures, you might even leverage the 5 stages differently, if & when you choose to pursue significance in either, or more.

 

Mental 

There are miles upon miles of created content online that talks up the vast importance of an entrepreneur’s mental mindset – the ‘inner game’ between the ears, so to say.

 

To be successful, you might’ve already noticed how you might ( or already have ) had to tune out cynics, critics, and unhealthy skeptics.

 

How it is often best to replace, 1:1, the mass media’s many arms with podcasts, webinars, audio books, and the like.

 

Yes, that quote about your mind being a garden, and having to pull the weeds?  It’s quite accurate.

 

Cultural  

Your workplace culture, or the culture ( coffee shop/cafe?  Coworking space? ) in which you invest time if not at a physical location of some sort, definitely is a puzzle needing solving.

 

Culture is an amorphous term, just like success; many thought leaders come to varying conclusions.

 

Yet, if you’re the founder or owner of a business with staff on payroll, you know how crucial culture is; your customer service; turnover; &/or engagement/satisfaction are each outward signs of how healthy it is.

 

In this post from a few years ago, I opined that culture feeds into vision, then strategy, & lastly, tactics.

 

Social [ Capital ] 

Your professional network/s are immensely valuable; while it’s best understood that clientele can come from any one of many concentric circles  ( perhaps a connector led to to a center of influence to this individual ), a very important concept is that of social capital.

 

While there are many phenomenal resources out there, one of the most impactful is found in the work of Mr. Robert Putnam — linked below is his ‘primer’ website, which by itself is chock full of goodness and explains well why this is a stage of success.

 

Financial

Whether or not you believe in retaining the services of a financial advisor/planner, or otherwise, you’re definitely encouraged to embrace the vast value in understanding the financial stage.

 

In my own professional journey, which began with one business venture as a side gig/hustle, one of the most impactful stages I ever engaged in?

 

= Moving from a consumerist/W-2 to a producer/entrepreneurial view of dollars & cents.

 

Since the vast majority of conventional classrooms in our nations don’t include much, usually any, content on money/literacy, let alone wisdom on how to invest, spend, and/or save money, it is left to us, as the owner/founder, to tap into the deep rivers of resources.

 

Leader[ship] -> Legacy

This stage alone could comprise a series of volumes, if not another separate library, alongside the success.

 

In this recent post, I unpacked variants of leadership. It wasn’t all encompassing, however, feel welcome to re(read) it and combine this stage with that post, to equal greater impact.

 

An informal mentor of mine teaches that one’s influence ( Excellent podcast HERE ) flows to impact ( which we’ll intentionally define as significance, as you leverage all 5 stages ) , then the entrepreneur reaches what she needs to be a viable business:  Income.

 

Intentionally moving from leading to legacy is a topic that deserves its own post; yet, it’s included above since both seem to be deeply intertwined:

 

leaving a legacy necessitates leading, just as much as the river of influence x impact feeds the ocean of legacy.  

 

Suggested Social Follows 

 

Robert D Putnam

 

Jim Collins

 

John C. Maxwell

 

Robert Kiyosaki

 

Mindset Works

 

As always, you’re encouraged to …

 

… use this monthly post as a jumping off point; take it as the sound of the starter’s pistol in track & field:

 

Ready ( reading this  ).  Set ( click on the links ).  & …  Go!  ( invest in content, set goals, et al. )

 

Social Capital Primer

Success Magazine

Servant Leadership Institute

Great By Choice

Rich Dad Radio Show

 

In short

 

  • A high level overview
  • Comparing 2 ‘S’ words
  • The 5 Stages – one by one
  • Recommended Twitter follows
  • Additional content

 

Thank YOU for reading!

____________________________________________

10 Qualities to Look For When Hiring a Marketing Manager by @lucyrk78

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by Lucy Render-Kaplan | Featured Contributor 

In an industry where the only constant is evolution, how do you know what to look for when hiring a Marketing Manager? If you were looking for an accountant, you would know to look for someone with accounting skills and who went to school specifically aiming to work in accounting, but very rare are marketing managers who possess an actual degree in marketing. And that’s ok! Because I believe that if people have these 10 traits, they will be just as good (and usually better) than someone that spent four years or more studying what I have been focused on learning for the past 16.

  1. Boundless Enthusiasm: Great marketers have passion for what they do oozing out of them. You never doubt they love this field, and you will never hear them say “God. Work is SO boring.”
  2. Creativity: Great marketers don’t do things “the way it’s always been done.” It isn’t that we’re trying to reinvent the wheel, but I’d argue that we’re always trying to look at that wheel in a way that no one else ever has before. And we can make you look at it that way, too. Great marketers are willing to take risks with what some may call a “crazy idea.” They aren’t afraid to fail because the WIN feels so good when those ideas connect. I’m willing to bet these people have notebooks full of ideas scribbled down, and at the ready wherever they are and ideas might come.
  3. Loyalty: I might not drink the beverage that I worked on when starting my marketing career, and in fact, I actually drink their main competitor daily, but I go on auto-pilot if I hear someone say something about that first brand that isn’t true. Great marketers don’t just work for a brand, they live that brand. That brand’s products or services are part of their daily lives.
  4. Know Their Audience: I always think of the line “I’ve made a living out of reading people’s faces…” when I think about what I do. You generally only have a couple of seconds to grab someone’s attention, and great marketers need to be able to tailor their message (I hate the word ‘pitch’) to differnet people so it makes sense to THEM. For example, I’m not going to try to sell someone in their 80s on the benefits of coconut water for strenuous workouts, nor am I going to talk about why a mental focus supplement is great for students, to a mom with 2 kids in her grocery cart and a very pregnant belly.
  5. Adaptable: No matter how much you plan, or how good you are, problems arise. Plans change. New legalities pop up. A great marketer can pivot and adapt and switch their entire focus at any point in any project. They don’t get too tied into one plan.
  6. They are Great Listeners: If you marketers are anything like me, you love to watch people. Find out what they like, where they go, what they do. What their habits are, what makes them NEED a product…We know what questions to ask to help draw people out and allow us to get to them, when we begin as total strangers.
  7. They’re Great Sales People: It might be a cliché, but it’s repeated so often for a reason. Great marketers CAN truly “sell ice to an Eskimo.” And they can get that sale before the Eskimo even realizes he needs ice. If you ever come across someone in marketing that hasn’t made sales, or thinks they don’t or won’t need to, move along! If sales puts items on a shelf, it’s the marketers that take it off, and that is because they know how to communicate clearly and show people WHY they need your product or service.
  8. See The Big Picture: It’s so easy to get bogged down in details, who needs to go where, looking at analytics, becoming overly focused on wanting to attach the brand to a specific event…it can be hard to take a step back, but we need to. The overall goals of the company must always be top of mind, and our first thought when deciding what to get involved with, what can wait, and what we can pass on.
  9. Storytellling: You definitely want someone that can tell great stories that not only draw people in, but are able to relate to. To get people excited about and choose your company over any others in the same category, you need someone that can get people to FEEL deeply and emotionally connect with the stories you are telling. You want someone that can get people to see themselves already using your brand in their lives, not just thinking it might be fun to try once. You want consumers, both potential and existing, to see themselves in the brand stories you’re marketing manager is telling.
  10. Team Player: Great marketers know they don’t work alone. Marketers best work is not born out of a boardroom or silo. Sales, Finance, Logistics…marketing is dependent and must work well with all of the employees in these various divisions. Teamwork is KEY to great marketing, and great marketers are humble enough to realize this.

I wish Top 10 Lists went to 11. There are so many other qualities that great marketers possess. What are some you don’t see on this list? Tweet me @lucyrk78 and let me know!

5 Ways Brands Can Make the Most Out of Instagram Stories by @lucyrk78

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by Lucy Render-Kaplan | Featured Contributor 

Instagram stories can be gold for marketers looking to reach a higher number of people on one of the fastest-growing social platforms. Stories keep viewers on the platform longer, meaning that brands have the opportunity to keep a captive audience on their page longer. Not only that, but Stories beat the dreaded Instagram algorithm! This is because they appear on feeds in chronological order. Engagement rates are higher and are seen by more people than photos and videos posted to your Instagram feed, so you’re missing out if you’re not already creating Stories.

Here are some of our tips on how to best take advantage of Instagram Stories:

  1. Polls

Users can add interactive polls to their Stories. This is a great way to get your audience more engaged and hear their thoughts on any topic. Do you want to launch a new product? Or are you looking at choosing between two possible flavors for an existing product? Throw up a poll and get your target audience to weigh in.

  1. Instagram Takeovers

These are great for growing your following quickly. You can either take over another Instagrammer’s account, or have an influencer take over your account for a short period of time. (we recommend under 24 hours). This is a great way to work with another influencer where you both can benefit and expand both of your audiences. Make sure to choose your influencer carefully – align with someone that works in your niche and will help contribute to your overall marketing goals. Done well, it will build authenticity and connect you to a whole new set of followers who then will engage with your brand.

  1. User Generated Content

Along the same lines of Instagram takeovers, you can increase engagement and followers by utilizing UGC (user generated content). When people mention your brand, you can hit “Add to your story” and post their content in your Stories. This way you can mention your followers and make them feel part of your brand story. People like to be acknowledged and a simple tag of their profile in your story can go a long way.

  1. Repurpose Your Blog

The best thing about blogs is that you can find ways to share the same content in a myriad of ways. Instagram Stories offer you a great opportunity to utilize blog posts and turn them into little mini articles. The most obvious examples here would be how-to articles and recipes. You can break them down into a few slides that you can visually display with voiceover or text layover in your stories.

This is easy to do.

First, choose your topic. Then use Canva or another graphic design app to create the images to accompany your Story. Then, upload the images in sequence and your story is created! Don’t forget to include a call to action at the end, to truly engage your audience. It’s always important to let people know what you would like them to do next. Perhaps it’s visiting your website – utilize the swipe up feature to take viewers there directly once they’ve watched your Story.

  1. Create Exclusive Offers

If you are looking for sales, Instagram Stories can move consumers through the purchasing funnel quickly. Here’s our secret tip: Create a story that has a special offer. Add photos or videos clearly showing what the offer is and let viewers know that in 24 hours, when this story disappears, so does the offer. When people feel that they have to act fast to get something, it intrinsically increases the value of the offer. Add a CTA (call-to-action) within the story letting people know to visit the link in your bio to claim the offer or you can have viewers swipe up to a landing page where they will claim the offer.

 

There are as many ways that brands and marketers can use Instagram Stories to their advantage as there are people using them. These are just the tip of the iceberg to get your creative juices flowing! How likely are YOU to interact with or be motivated by other’s Stories? Do you check for new Stories regularly? What brands have you seen making the most of Stories?