Suz Chadwick [00:00:00]:

Welcome to the Brand Builders Lab Podcast. I'm your host, Suze Chadwick, certified business and mindset coach, author and speaker. Each week, we'll be talking about simple but powerful business and mindset strategies that will help you build a lean, clean and profitable business so you can learn to get out of your own way and pay yourself more. Forget average, it's time to level up. Hey, lovely. Welcome back to the podcast. Amazing to have you here. I am very excited. I have just launched a two day mini rise retreat, which is happening here in Melbourne where I live, and we've already got lots of people signing up for it. And it's at a beautiful hotel and, yeah, going to be so fun incorporating it with Supper Club, which is my kind of quarterly or every four months, I have a dinner for my community. So we've got the retreat happening and then Supper Club in the evening, and then the next day we've got another retreat day. So normally I run retreats that are kind of three or four days and I know a lot of people were sort of like, I really want to come to your retreats, but it's just hard to get there and have that much time off in a week and all the rest of it. So I thought, I'm going to test a mini retreat. I've never done a two day retreat before. And also having it in Melbourne, where I live, was another thing. I thought, well, people who live in Melbourne, they can either just come to the sessions in the day or they can stay at the hotel. Totally up to them. So I guess one of the things I want to say is that you should always be testing, testing different things, testing different ways of offering your service to your clients as well, if it feels good to you. So I am loving that at the moment and I'm testing lots of different things because, you know, I'm always saying, the market's changing, the market's changing, the market has changed. We got to be agile, we got to be making stuff happen. So, listen, today, speaking of things changing, I've got Amanda Cohol on the podcast today. She is a social media strategist and she's talking all about the Insta site, which I really, really like, and I'm thinking about potentially using it for my new business, which is Bold Vibes Consulting BVC, which is really about creating a mini website on your Instagram so that you don't have to be constantly creating new content, but that when somebody comes to your Instagram, it gives you all the information that they need. So we're going to be talking about that today. We're going to do a bit of a fireside chat with Amanda as well, just talking about how she got to where she is and how she sees all of the social platforms coming together to help you grow your audience, nurture them, convert them. So we're going to dive into a few different things today, but the Insta site was kind of the one thing that I kind of connected with her on and wanted to share with you. So I hope that this is going to be valuable to you. And if you're somebody who's like I don't want to be constantly creating content, but I do want my Instagram to be a place where people come and learn about me and learn how we can work together, then this is going to be the perfect episode for you. So listen, without further ado, let's dive into this week's episode. Amanda. Welcome to the Brand Builders Lab podcast.

Amanda Kohal [00:03:26]:

Thank you for having me.

Suz Chadwick [00:03:27]:

My pleasure. Now, I discovered you on the TikTok. I love saying the TikTok. It makes me feel so old. And I have to say that your content just really grabbed me. So I knew that there were a few things that I wanted to get you on to talk about today. But before we dive into all the juiciness that we're going to go through today, I would love you just to share a bit about you, like who are you, Amanda, and how did you get here, why social media? Give me a little bit of background on you.

Amanda Kohal [00:04:00]:

We're going to need a whole series for that story, but I'll try to pare it down as best as I can because it's been a wild roller coaster of a ride. But I'm Amanda, Cohal founder of the Wolf Co. We'll get the boring part out first, the business part out of the way, and I help businesses use social media to convert in their business. So we do more than just get you followers. It's more about how can you make money, how can you actually build a cult community? Not a cult, like an actual cult, but not so we really focus on that. And I've been doing this now full time for about three years. I worked in corporate for over ten years. I know the botox is good though, so keeps me looking young, apparently. But yeah, I worked in corporate for a really long time, always in the marketing space and I am a millennial, so I started using social media right from the jump. I remember the first days of seeing the Facebook, which it was called at the time, and I like to say the words in front of social as well. And also I call it the internet. It makes me feel old and mature too. I was really attracted to social from day one, but I mean, these were the days when there was no advertising, no one was really putting their business on there. They were putting their personal business on social media, not business. But I always had a fascination with it. And it wasn't until I worked actually in the education space that I had the opportunity to dabble a little bit in paid advertising website building and connecting the entire digital experience for a business. And not only a business, but a huge university in Toronto and Canada where I'm from. And on the fun side of stuff, I am pretty goofy. I'm sure I'll have a lot of laughs today. And I'm a big, big reader. Like the biggest bookworm ever. I went from party girl to I'm in bed at 08:00 P.m reading my books. My goal this year is 100 books, and I am, I think, at 58.

Suz Chadwick [00:06:32]:

Amazing. And I saw you reading some of your books, like live on TikTok as well. This is a whole thing.

Amanda Kohal [00:06:41]:

I don't know if that is a whole thing, but I'm already reading in the morning anyways. I'm trying not to scroll as much because it's a part of my job and I find that it distracts me from other things in life. So anytime I'm tempted to scroll or I'm taking a break, I'll pick up one of my books.

Suz Chadwick [00:07:05]:

How big? So it's wolf co. The Wolf Co. Why that name?

Amanda Kohal [00:07:10]:

Oh, okay. So this is another fun story. Really random. Last name not wolf, middle name not wolf. But when I was in one of my first jobs in marketing the marketing team because we don't really do much besides have fun, plan events and stuff like that, that was always the joke is we were doing, like a spirit animal test online, like one of those quizzes. And I kept getting the wolf, and I read more into it, and I was like, oh, I actually really resonate with wolves and being pack animals and super loyal and just kind of that ride or die mentality in me. And I just said, when I actually have my own business, I'm going to call it the Wolf Co, but I'm going to add an E for a little extra. And that was how it all came about.

Suz Chadwick [00:08:13]:

Oh my God. So for those listening, what would your company be called if you called it after your spirit animal? Now, I don't know what my spirit animal is, but my favorite animal is the otter. And so I would be like otter and co, which is slightly but I still love it.

Amanda Kohal [00:08:29]:

Yeah, I love elephants. Elephant and co could work too, maybe. They're so cute. Animals are the best.

Suz Chadwick [00:08:38]:

So good. And so how many people are in your business?

Amanda Kohal [00:08:41]:

There is me full time, and I work with contractors, my sister in law being one of them. And she's been there since day one. She's basically full time, but not technically full time as well. We've got a designer and another collaborator that we work with. And then I have two VAS.

Suz Chadwick [00:09:01]:

Amazing. I love it. So good. Awesome. Fantastic. So, Toronto, spirit animal reader, so good. Bit goofy. Love watching you on TikTok, very engaging, which we can talk about in a bit as well. But let's dive in because I think one of the things that I really loved is that you are very educational on there, and you were really talking about your social media strategy and how the different platforms how you use the different platforms kind of together and which one does what. So I kind of wanted to jump into that. And the first thing I just want to ask is when did you start thinking about the way that you're going to use them in a more deliberate way?

Amanda Kohal [00:09:43]:

It was kind of in protest to Instagram, actually.

Suz Chadwick [00:09:48]:

Just not surprised me at all.

Amanda Kohal [00:09:50]:

Yeah, no, I can't make it easy for myself. I got to make it hard. But Instagram, I feel like, has been making it tough for business owners for quite some time.

Suz Chadwick [00:10:02]:

Yes. Agree.

Amanda Kohal [00:10:05]:

Yes. And that was the general consensus. So that actually had a lot to do with how the Instasite, which is the strategy that Susan and I are talking about here, and we'll get into it. That's what my strategy is, is the Insta site, and it is deliberately using platforms for what they are good at doing. And it's not to say that they can't have other outcomes. It's just what are they best at doing? So in 2021, my husband and I had moved to Mexico because the pandemic was happening and we were living in the city. And I was like, there is no way we're going to be stuck in this tiny condo for another lockdown. And I think Canada got locked down like seven times in total or something like that. And I know Australia melbourne was tight. It was not great. So I said, I'm like, how would you feel about going to Mexico for a few months? Let's just get out of here. Three months and then we'll come back. Because it should be over by then. Like, how long can this last?

Suz Chadwick [00:11:13]:

I originally said six weeks. I give it six weeks top and we'll be out of this.

Amanda Kohal [00:11:18]:

Yeah. So it was October. We had made the decision. October of 2020. I had actually quit my corporate job at the end of September in 2020, which was amazing. My business started to take off then, and I just said, all right, that's it. I think I can do this. I know I can do this. I will make it happen no matter what. I just can't work in corporate anymore. This is, like, too crazy. And when we were locked down, it was even worse with the zoom stuff and just monitoring, and it was wild. So come October, we made the decision. We sold a bunch of our stuff. We also put some stuff in storage and got out of our lease for our condo. And we just booked literally only the first two weeks of our Mexico adventure. That's all. We booked the plane ticket, a one way ticket, and the first two weeks, although we were planning to stay for three months, that's just how we kind of like to roll and do things.

Suz Chadwick [00:12:30]:

Living on the edge.

Amanda Kohal [00:12:31]:

Yeah, but it worked out into our benefit because I had had my eye on this one airbnb in Mexico for a while, and it was only available for those two weeks when we had originally booked it. And so we are approaching we left on January 1, and there was talks of lockdowns, and I was like, Fingers crossed. Please do not lock down before we leave. We got to get out of here. We got to fly the coupe. So we got out, and it was like, five days later that our prime minister just shut it down. And so we were in Mexico, and then the airbnb owner was like, oh, well, actually, since Canada's on lockdown, the people who are going to stay here are from Montreal, so it's now available. So we ended up staying there for longer. I was like, okay, this is great. So I was there. Business started to really take off. And I don't know if it was because of the environment or whatever, it was hopefully the educational content, but things really started to take off, and I started noticing some patterns on Instagram. Specifically, I was not using TikTok really, in 2020. I was doing goofy stuff on there, but I wasn't leveraging it like I should have. Now, looking back, I think, damn, I wish I got my business on there from day one.

Suz Chadwick [00:13:52]:

Can I just tell you, I was talking to a girl about this? I'm just like, if I had known, I would have gone all in on so many things in 2020 because I was on Clubhouse. I think it was the beginning of 2021 or 2020. I can never remember, but I'm just like, I wish I had run more ads. I wish I had gone bigger with my launches. Like Hindsight. When I look back on 2020, 2021, I'm just like, God, I could have, like, ten X what I was doing.

Amanda Kohal [00:14:20]:

Really crazy. And I mean, I was on Clubhouse too, and I think this had a lot to do with the business growth as well. Clubhouse is amazing. It was I love that space. I don't really know what's going on there. Apparently, it's still kicking.

Suz Chadwick [00:14:39]:

Yeah, well, I think the thing is that LinkedIn's got, like, their audio app now, and I think that Twitter has theirs as well. So I think that they obviously were the first to have it at that. Just don't I don't know. They just didn't capitalize on it. I think that was the issue. But once again, they were like us. Like, what we're talking about. If they had known now, in Hindsight, like, looking back at that time where everybody was just online and wanting to grow and connect, I'm sure they're just like, kicking themselves as well.

Amanda Kohal [00:15:12]:

But anyway, one of the quotes that I live by is, there is no reward without risk. And here we are barely taking the risks. So less enough today, take more risks.

Suz Chadwick [00:15:23]:

Yes, agree.

Amanda Kohal [00:15:25]:

And you'll have the ten X reward that you're looking for. So, yeah, 2021, things start taking off. I start noticing patterns on Instagram, specifically in terms of reach. And then I was looking at Engagement and I was focusing on the feed as well as stories. I've always loved Instagram stories. I lived in my Instagram stories. I find it so easy to just pick up the phone and do what I'm doing. There's no editing there. I mean, the hardest part is adding the closed captions, which sometimes do not work.

Suz Chadwick [00:16:03]:

I love stories, too. If I ever feel like I don't want to be on Socials, it's so interesting because I just won't post for ages in the feed or anything. But stories, that's just like my love language. I'm like I'm just like saying hi and connecting. And that's where I get the most conversations and chats. Yeah, I love it too. I get it.

Amanda Kohal [00:16:27]:

So those are some of the metrics that I was looking at. What kind of percentage of replies am I getting from stories? Okay, which stories that I'm posting are getting the most response? Which stories are getting the most link clicks to then conversion? Somebody buying something or joining my email list or downloading the freebie, bringing them into the funnel in the community a little bit more. And I was looking over on the feed and just noticing a huge drop in reach, a huge drop in engagement, and I was like, Hang on a second. I don't really think Instagram is circulating posts that much. Why am I spending so much time creating a ten slide carousel which takes me two or 3 hours to make? You're basically building a full PowerPoint presentation. It's wild. If you're a perfectionist, you're tinkering around in there forever. And it's all this time for 0.1% of people who are already following you to see that content. So I was like, Wait, now I'm converting like crazy through my stories. I wonder what would happen if I just protest not posting to the feed for a month. Let's try it for a month. Also, I was getting busier and I was like, I don't really have time to create content right now, so I need to buy myself some time. So at first, because my followers and at this point, I was almost at 10,000.

Suz Chadwick [00:18:07]:

Instagram.

Amanda Kohal [00:18:09]:

Yes, we'll get to that. Because you probably notice my current Instagram does not have close to 10,000 or over 10,000. So we will get to that. It was getting there, and my followers were used to me posting every day. So at first I was getting DMs of Where are you? Is everything okay? And I was just like, yeah, I'm just hanging out in stories now. So I thought, Ding, I need to tell people on the feed, and they need to tell them in my bio to go and watch my stories because I ain't posting to my feed until I put, like, a date in there, like June, whatever kind of thing. And as I was going through this experiment, let's call it, I noticed there was that initial resistance to engaging with my stories. But I had cut off a source of educational content because my feed content had always been a lot of educational stuff. I rarely posted personal stuff unless it was in my stories. My stories are real personal, maybe a little too personal. Gets kind of crazy there. But I love it. And I cut off that source. So they almost had no choice but to go and watch my stories where I would still be delivering this educational content. It was now just broken up even smaller, right? And you've got a mix of media, of text, video image with text, just image. There's music, there's clickable links, there's engagement stickers. And I was like, this is the spot. There's something about these stories. And I developed a course called Stories That Sell. And I was doing master classes on this and really teaching people how to use their stories and creating story flows to convert as well as to build community and that cult that we were talking about earlier. So this kind of went on for a little while. I was really slowing down how much I was posting to the feed once I came back and I focused solely on my stories and built a membership that had, at the time, about 150 members in there and a VIP option for an upgrade, I was thinking about more digital courses all through my stories. I had all my eggs in the Instagram basket, okay? And it wasn't until I think it was November 2021. So we got back from Mexico, September 2021, november 2021. I had just finished launching a program, and my Instagram account got disabled. Why, we still don't know. Okay? So I got it back up temporarily. Next day, disabled again, and panic is filling my soul right now because I'm like, my entire business is on here, aside from the members and the clients that I have, I'm like, I'm really only showing up on Instagram on social media. Sure, I got an email list, but I've kind of been neglecting them. So what am I going to do? Like, this is crazy. So I started a new account, the one that you see now disabled, okay? Went on six times to find out, first of all, to get in touch with anybody at Instagram. It is wild. So one day while I was crying, while eating a burrito, my husband was like, Amanda, enough is enough. He's like, I'm going to go find somebody. I'm going on LinkedIn. I'm going to find somebody who works at Instagram. Like, this is insane. You shouldn't be going through this. You teach people how to use Instagram for their business, and you don't have an Instagram account? And I was like, yeah, it's like going to a dentist with no teeth. This makes no sense. Like, I need to be on Instagram. So we literally found his friend's cousin works for Meta. I never even got the guy's name. I never had direct contact with the cousin. Next thing I know, I get word that, yes, my account had been flagged. So this was somebody or somebody's flagging or reporting my account.

Suz Chadwick [00:22:50]:

Oh, yeah.

Amanda Kohal [00:22:52]:

So wanted to go down the whole Nancy Drew route and find out who it was, but I was like, I don't want to waste my time. Let's just focus on getting the account back up and running the new account. I said, I'm going to say goodbye to the original account and just start from scratch. It'll be fun, right?

Suz Chadwick [00:23:10]:

Also, just on that, how crazy is it that somebody flags your account? Obviously there's nothing on there that is dodgy and your account can be taken down. I just feel like there's a whole process issue there as well where yeah, it's crazy. I got flagged because I was standing up for a woman who had been abused by somebody else online, as in she'd been trolled. And I had basically just said, that's totally unacceptable, that this is not a safe space for you, blah, blah, blah. And Instagram sent me a warning, and I'm just like, obviously this is just algorithms and computers that are making these decisions because I wasn't attacking anybody. But I just think, yeah, they've got flagging issues to grab, for sure.

Amanda Kohal [00:24:01]:

Yeah, it's not a great process. Something really neat. They need a support team is what they need, because yeah, that was crazy. I was, like, holding up pictures of a code they had sent me. It looked like I was holding up a prison number standing against this blank wall. What world is this right now? So get my account back and things are all tickety boo and it's great, but I said, we are going to cover our bases here. We're going to take some of these eggs out of this basket and we're going to start exploring TikTok, which I was terrified to get on TikTok. I don't know about you.

Suz Chadwick [00:24:43]:

Yeah, I'm still figuring it out. Like, I'm totally honest. I literally said in my stories yesterday to my followers, I'm like, just so that I'm failing forward on TikTok, but I'm just going to work it out. Like, I posted some stories. I'm like, I don't even know if they posted. I don't get what I just did there. But anyway, I'm like, the only way you're going to learn is to do it, not take yourself too seriously and just figure out what works. So I'm in that process right now.

Amanda Kohal [00:25:10]:

Yeah, I'm still learning a lot about that app, too. I think I've nailed down doing so well.

Suz Chadwick [00:25:18]:

Yeah.

Amanda Kohal [00:25:20]:

But every time I post, I'm like, oh, Amanda, your camera is blurry. Your Pimple has popped on screen. What are you doing?

Suz Chadwick [00:25:31]:

It's fine. We don't notice those things.

Amanda Kohal [00:25:33]:

We don't notice get the content out, right? So, yeah, I started exploring with TikTok. I reengaged with my email list. But the funny thing is, when my account was disabled, it was between November and, like, February. I was going through this. So that's a nice chunk of time, that's holiday season, too, when things could have really been chaching. That wasn't happening, at least on the digital side of things. But the amount of referrals that my company was getting for one to one client work was wild. And I had no promotion going on. So this was now all word of mouth. So there was another kind of light bulb moment in my head that, holy smokes. If you really focus your energy on actually building relationships with people, they stand behind your brand and share it for you. And that's what I noticed was happening. My stories, when my Instagram account was up, was getting shared like crazy because I wasn't really posting to the feed. But the old stuff on my feed was also recirculating and getting reshared because, again, I cut off that source. So they were working with now a static library, although I did not even know that this is what I was doing at the time, the Instasite, right? So it was actually around this time last year when we were living at my parents house, my husband and I, because we did a renovation on our house, we overstayed our welcome like five months too long. So bless their heart. And I was going through a tough time in my business because of I had to cut ties with my business partner. And I was debating, do I just quit? Like, everything seems like it's falling apart. And I was looking again at platforms, and I kid you not, it was a full on Eureka moment. And I said out loud, we are using social media wrong. And that's when I went furiously on scrap paper like a mad woman and was just writing out this whole strategy. It was like, okay, if two is here, you got to carry it over to the three. It was like how I was mapping this out, and I was remembering conversations I was having with clients and my members and just people in the DMs. And every single day, I was getting something like, I'm so tired of this Instagram algorithm. I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm spending hours creating content. I need to be working on my business. I can't even have proper customer service. This is wild. So, again, all these light bulbs are going off. And I decided enough. I want to build, essentially an automated system for social and spaces where you are blinders on, hyper, focused on doing one thing in particular on each platform that you're choosing to use. So Instasite was born, which is essentially a website, but for your social media, because as well, there was lots of articles coming out at this time that more and more people were doing their initial search of a brand or a business through social media. And I thought, that is actually really true because whenever I'm traveling somewhere, going to a restaurant, hotel, wherever, I look to Instagram because it gives me a bird's eye view of the vibes. And do I actually want to go there? Can I envision myself here? And it's interactive, right? Like with the stories and the videos, and you just get a better picture of a company than what you see on a website.

Suz Chadwick [00:29:44]:

Yeah.

Amanda Kohal [00:29:45]:

So I was like, okay, we've got this part nailed down, the static grid. And I call it the legacy version of it. The original version of it is 15 posts static grid. And there's an extended version now which is really good for product based businesses and people who have a big portfolio. So think photographers, artists, musicians, and that's about 30 post static grid. And I was like, okay, we got this piece handled, the landing page, the website where people can go down a rabbit hole. Your links are there. This is great. How do we keep the growth, the reach and the engagement up now? What is that all looking like? So I started with Instagram and I was like, okay, the conversion and engagement platforms are stories. Stories. I've built my entire business through there. Sus, you've expressed like you love it in there, and your business runs a lot through stories, too. There's a lot of conversion and community and just so much connection. I love it in there. Feed is the Instasite piece and also good for conversion. And now the reach piece on Instagram specifically would be done through Reels as well as through what I call featured posts. These are essentially three pinned posts to the top of the static grid that you cycle through at least once a quarter. So now you're going from posting or trying to post and stressing about posting every single day on Instagram to now posting four times a year if you want. Like, that is wild. Four times a year. So on the feed, okay. And then I was like, but instagram isn't enough. Instagram is a bubble. And even the reach on Reels is still going to a really small percentage of people who are already following you. I was like, Where are these big platforms that could get you organic reach and are built for discovery? TikTok number one, I've never seen an algorithm like it before. So I was like, holy smokes. If you pair TikTok as your growth and your discovery platform with your Insta site, you are cooking with peanut oil. You've got all your bases covered. Grow, connect, and convert.

Suz Chadwick [00:32:29]:

Love it.

Amanda Kohal [00:32:30]:

So from there, I then started to explore the other social media platforms, and I then categorized them into two different areas. What are the platforms that are made and really good for growth? And discovery and what are the platforms that were built for connection and conversion? And that's my social media strategy. And for people who are getting started with this, I was like, you need two platforms. Two platforms to be successful in the online space to start. And I would say it'd be TikTok and get yourself an Insta site.

Suz Chadwick [00:33:05]:

I love it. What are the because I know that you do cover other platforms, so I know that you were sort of saying that from a growth perspective, you've got TikTok, but what were the other growth ones? I think LinkedIn was in there as well, wasn't it? Was it? Yeah.

Amanda Kohal [00:33:20]:

LinkedIn is a like it's such a hidden gem of a platform. Organic reach is really great on LinkedIn. And one of my favorite things about this space, if you've got a profile set up and somebody searches your name on the Googler, literally, LinkedIn shows up first out of all the social media. Sometimes it's even the first result that comes up. And I mean, I feel like it has to do with the fact that out of all the social platforms, this is the most credible. It really does leave a trail since you can't lie about a company that you worked at, whereas on Instagram you could say you do, you know, it doesn't make it true, but you could say it. Whereas LinkedIn, you can't really get away with that. So it ranks really high on search. And I use LinkedIn and Facebook more as a present play. So I've got my BIOS optimized. I'm not really creating much over there, but when I do create on LinkedIn, it's articles because these show up on search and you can repurpose blogs, you can transcribe a TikTok or a Live that you did and just optimize it for the article and optimize it for search. And I do engagement on LinkedIn because again, you don't even need to post on there. But the newsfeed of LinkedIn shows your engagements with other people's content I need to do, yeah, it's really great, especially if you want to be working with more corporations or B to B. I.

Suz Chadwick [00:35:08]:

Also feel like the entrepreneurial space on there is like booming as well now. I feel like maybe a while ago it wasn't so much, but I'm definitely seeing a lot more small businesses on there, for sure. And it was really interesting. One of my clients, Haley, she was just saying that she gets so much more engagement on LinkedIn. So she's a personal branding and messaging coach and she's like, I get so much more conversation and engagement on LinkedIn than I ever did on Instagram. Like, it's kind of like people commenting on her post and her responding, but then other people in the comments see then responding on other people's comments and she's like, the engagement and interaction is so much better than what LinkedIn is not sorry. Than what Instagram is, which I think is so interesting. So how much time and what's your strategy right now? Around how much time are you spending on content creation?

Amanda Kohal [00:36:09]:

Like 20 minutes in the mornings, and sometimes it's not even every morning because I only create for TikTok now and I essentially will funnel everything from TikTok. If I make a three minute long tutorial that gets transcribed and I'll then turn that into a blog, maybe it'll get turned into a LinkedIn article. I'll also put it into chat GPT. I really leverage Chat GPT and I say, hey, Chat, what's up?

Suz Chadwick [00:36:46]:

I'm obsessed with that. When you start your computer and all of your main websites come up, like your start menu, chat GPT is in there. It made it in there.

Amanda Kohal [00:36:56]:

I'm like, oh, yeah.

Suz Chadwick [00:36:57]:

Every day I'm just like, I wrote this. Make it better. Like, do this with it.

Amanda Kohal [00:37:03]:

And you use it for efficiency, right? It's really a fantastic productivity tool. So I'll ask it to take that chunky piece of text and I say, can you cut this into 20 different LinkedIn posts or give me 50 Pinterest headlines? Pinterest also in the growth category platform, by the way. So is YouTube.

Suz Chadwick [00:37:26]:

Are you using YouTube?

Amanda Kohal [00:37:29]:

I haven't really been using it yet, but we are getting there. My team is working on it because YouTube shorts, that's where I want to start, are a minute long in length. My team is like, Amanda, all your videos?

Suz Chadwick [00:37:46]:

Yeah.

Amanda Kohal [00:37:50]:

I was a series would work on there. Sorry, I don't know how, like, part one, part two, part three would work on YouTube shorts. It works on TikTok, but I don't think it does on YouTube.

Suz Chadwick [00:38:04]:

Yeah, I guess if somebody wanted to see part two, then they would go specifically to your platform to see what the next part is. But, yeah, it was interesting. I was listening to Gary Vee the other day and he was like, Shorts and Facebook reels, is that's where you can get traction now as well, that people are really undervaluing. So, yeah, it's so interesting. But I am very much of, like, create one thing and then just figure out your distribution process, which I think is like, if you can get a VA or somebody else that can just help you to chop that. Up and distribute it really well, I think that that's, like yeah, I probably give about a half an hour to 40 minutes to content creation every day. I've just put it in my diary and I'm just like I'm either repurposing or I'm recording or I'm doing something, but then it's done and I get on with my day and I get on with my business and clients and stuff like that. But I just think that content is just part and parcel of running a business these days. And so I think just working out how that works best for you and like you said, your strategy of where is growth and attention right now? And then where am I sending them to to really get to know me and gain some credibility and lead them from a lead generation perspective to where I want them to go. So from a lead gen perspective, what are you finding? Because are you still using majority Instagram stories and then TikTok for?

Amanda Kohal [00:39:37]:

Yeah, yeah, and I'm finding a lot of growth in terms of followers. I don't really talk about follower count that often, but I have been paying attention to it more because of TikTok, because the For You page is so specific. Their targeting system of that algorithm is insane. I don't know how many times you've been scrolling the For You page and you're like, how did you know I was thinking about that? Something's up here. But I swear, some of these things I've never even said out loud, they just appear on the For You page. So the targeting is great. That means to me that people who are following you or whoever me, that's a more qualified follower, they're more likely your ideal audience than how Instagram started out and how Instagram still kind of is. But I'm really paying attention now to who is following me on Instagram. Almost 99% of the new followers that I'm getting on Instagram are from TikTok.

Suz Chadwick [00:40:51]:

Yeah, I'm finding that a bit as well.

Amanda Kohal [00:40:54]:

Right. Again, a qualified follower, it's not a bot anymore, so I'm paying attention to that because I'm like, oh, this is great. And while the growth may seem slow compared to what a lot of social media gurus will tell you, I could go and do those hacky things, but then I'm not building a community. And what does a following number mean if I'm not even able to really create for people who care? Because it's just this mass number and a bunch of them are boss and you're not converting in your.

Suz Chadwick [00:41:34]:

Yeah, I think it's just really interesting because I think that people are reluctant. I know that my audience can be reluctant, I guess, to try things like TikTok out as well. But as I've said to them before, I think it's just about really being aware of what's happening in the market. And I said this on a podcast recently that Google went to number two as far as search engines go, which is the first time that that's happened in 15 years. And I think that just as business owners, it's important for us to know where the attention is where, like you said, the growth opportunities are as well. If you decide that LinkedIn is where you want to play instead of TikTok, that's fine, but it's just about making an informed decision based on what is happening in the market rather than where you think you'll feel comfortable. I think that that's an important thing because obviously the more we do it, the more comfortable we get.

Amanda Kohal [00:42:27]:

Oh, yeah, we're still trying to figure out TikTok, LinkedIn. I have not figured out my way on LinkedIn yet either. And all I do know is you can't just repost a TikTok or a reel over there. It does not get circulated at all. But, yeah, I mean, that's just kind of how I've been approaching things. Or TikTok really good for lead gen. So is LinkedIn. I noticed something on TikTok as well. Conversion happens really fast over on TikTok.

Suz Chadwick [00:43:07]:

What I was going to say about that is that I think because it's longer form video and I think it's almost like some of the people that I've seen, like they're teaching you something, they're sharing something that's just a bit more in depth than what you would get in a reel or something like that. That just builds trust so quickly. Because I feel like I found you and then I consumed some of your stuff. And then I looked at your strategy and your Insta site. I'm like, that is like, I love that. That's so good. And do you know Reitman?

Amanda Kohal [00:43:37]:

Yeah.

Suz Chadwick [00:43:38]:

Yeah. Okay. So Erica was on my podcast ages ago. We met on clubhouse. I know that she's kind of quite instasite ish with her feed that it's like a so I feel like there have been a couple of people where I just have really fallen down the rabbit hole of their more in depth, longer form content. And I just think it takes a lot less time to be like, let me go check you. Like, Let me go check out your website, let me go check out your products and services. Let me find out more about you.

Amanda Kohal [00:44:11]:

Yeah, Erica was one of my clients for a little while, which is wild. We did a lot of Clubhouses together. But I noticed that about her content, too. It was so bingey. And I feel like when you can create that because you're literally giving your IP away for, like you probably found the TikTok of mine on the Insta site that went viral. I gave the strategy away for free. But Sue, I woke up the next day after that went viral to over 100 emails, a lot of them sales for the Instasite guide, when I had literally just gone through it. Mind you, I mean, the templates aren't in there and whatever, and the inquiries to work with me one on one, amazing. It is insane, the power of that platform and how it can change your life. But back to the conversion, I think, as well, you're really onto something where even if it's a three minute video, people are packing so much value into that you get to that, like, no trust factor that much faster.

Suz Chadwick [00:45:26]:

But as well, I don't know if.

Amanda Kohal [00:45:27]:

You'Ve noticed this on the space, but it takes me a while to learn people's handles and their names because you're not really looking at that on TikTok. You're so focused on the content in front of you that, at least in terms of followers, I don't know if I'm going to come across your content again, so I'll hit that follow button and hopefully you'll show up in my feed again kind of thing. But if you go and you offer that high, high value content, you're at least going to be able to convert in terms of an email subscriber or a freebie download if you aren't making sales right away through TikTok, but it will come, the more consistent you are. And I know that's the most cliche social media thing to say, but the more consistent you are, the more growth you will see in terms of business growth as well as your platform growth.

Suz Chadwick [00:46:24]:

Too and so how much are you posting on TikTok at the moment?

Amanda Kohal [00:46:28]:

I have been trying to post once a day.

Suz Chadwick [00:46:30]:

Okay.

Amanda Kohal [00:46:31]:

Yeah. And I took a little bit of a break after that viral video. It rocked my world. I still feel like I'm trying to catch up from it. I got really burnt out and stressed when I couldn't respond to every single comment. I felt like I was letting people down and I needed to take a step back and regroup and just kind of do my own thing. And now that I went back, the momentum has started to pick up again. But it took about like three weeks of me being consistent and posting every day. Like I was posting on the weekends, too. Yeah, but I would batch I know we kind of touched on this, but in those 20 minutes in the morning, I'll have a Post it note with like three to five ideas on it. And in that 20 minutes, all I'm doing is recording. I'm not editing, I'm not adding captions. I'm not even thinking about what I'm going to write for text on screen. I am just getting the recording out. And then the next day I go and I tinker around and do my quick edits directly in the platform.

Suz Chadwick [00:47:41]:

Yeah, I'm really bad at that. I'm just like such a completer finisher type. I'm just like so I record, and then I do this and then I save it in drafts and then I record, and then I caption and then I save it in draft. Because then I'm just like, oh. Because I think because it's fresh in my minds as well, where I'm just like this is what I want to say. But I found that worked for me. Like, I kind of have done like five or six in a row, captioned them with auto captions and then written a small caption with my hashtags and then saved it in drafts. And then for the next five days, all I have to do is go to drafts and post. And that feels like quite good to me. So I'm just like, yeah, that's sort of the process that I'm using at the moment.

Amanda Kohal [00:48:23]:

Yeah, you really do have to find your groove over there. Even the style of video, it takes a bit, but you've got to do it. You've got to make the TikToks to find out, oh, this is what I can actually do really well. I enjoy this style. It complements the way I communicate and it's resonating with people. I'm going to double down on that now.

Suz Chadwick [00:48:49]:

Yeah. And I try and add every fourth one is just like for fun or something. So I've got a different kind of banner image or cover image for all of my businessy ones and then I've just got like a couple that are for fun because I'm like, let's just play as well. But I'm just totally figuring it out and just seeing what works as yeah.

Amanda Kohal [00:49:15]:

Yeah, I love it there.

Suz Chadwick [00:49:17]:

Amazing. So, so good. Awesome. Well, Amanda, I love that I love that you are kind know, looking at the data, understanding what's working, also thinking about not having to be on that content creation train all the time, which I think so many of my listeners and clients struggle with. It's just like you said, it's like spending so much time creating to get not a lot back. And so I think we've got to work smarter, not harder. And like I said before, really look at where the attention is, where you want to invest your time. But yeah, I think that one thing I'm taking away as well is go and just engage on LinkedIn rather than having to create all the time. So, so good. So we'll have all your links in the show notes as well. But for my listeners, where can they find you if they're like, walking the dog or driving in the car right now?

Amanda Kohal [00:50:10]:

Can find me on Instagram at TheWolf with an e co or my TikTok is my full name, amanda cohol. K-O-H-A-L cohol.

Suz Chadwick [00:50:20]:

Okay, fantastic. So, so good. Thank you so much for being on thank you so much for sharing your strategies as well. And yeah, if you go follow Amanda on TikTok and I think it's on your Instagram as well, you can see the Insta site, you can see all of that and you can go check out her links if you want to go deeper into that, but so appreciate you sharing it.

Amanda Kohal [00:50:39]:

Thank you. Thanks so much for having me.

Suz Chadwick [00:50:41]:

Pleasure. Well, I hope that you got a lot out of that episode. I hope it's given you some new ideas, new ways of thinking about Instagram and also, also the other platforms and how you're using them all together. Make sure you go say hi to Amanda and check out her socials. And if you got a lot out of this episode, I would love you to share it with your community as well. Leave a review, all the rest of it, you know, that that helps us grow the podcast as well. But until next time, have an amazing week and we'll see you soon.