Trials and Errors of Instagram Marketing

When I started on this adventure of creating my own business, I had a single-pointed focus. Branding.

I had just completed a project for a client and friend who was overjoyed with what we co-created together. It was an incredible feeling, especially as my full-time job was doing marketing in a clinical setting. Though I enjoyed the challenge of creating within that framework, to be writing copy for a business I believed in on a spiritual level was a whole new experience entirely.

So that's what I went for; branding for businesses within the wellness space.

I created my website and Instagram, and started making content consistently for that business model...

Though as I went, my vision started to expand.

First of all: I realized that my ultimate vision was to support the emergence of a New Earth. While that certainly includes wellness at the forefront, it became apparent to me that any entrepreneur regardless of their field could contribute to this new paradigm. It isn't about the niche of a business, but the values and vision held by the leader.

No matter what the industry is, if a small business is interested in serving, this will contribute to raising the overall vibration of humanity. That is ultimately what I want to support.

I also began to expand upon the vision I had for my own services through conversations I was having with others.

I realized that while copywriting and branding are both huge components to starting a business, there are also some underlying elements related to mindset that have to be addressed before the authentic creation can really come through.

So I started to weave in coaching. Coincidentally, I am a certified health coach with a B.A. in Psychology. I love working with people one on one. At the time of this decision, I was also seeing my own coach and I really adored her Instagram presence. I had been following her for a year or two before I started her group program, and what drew me in was her authenticity and vulnerability. She shared so much about her journey and watching her move through it with grace really struck me.

It was something I wanted to emulate, but in my own way.

So here's where the trial and error part comes in...

I decided to merge my two Instagram accounts (my personal and professional). I moved everything over to my personal page with the intention of being super open about my journey and letting people see the real me; personal details and all.

This was a shift. Because of my new strategy of being completely open, the original copywriting model of my business fell to the wayside. My motivation shifted to helping entrepreneurs address the underlying beliefs that kept them from starting. Changing my Instagram strategy started to morph my entire business.

There was also the complex issue of maintaining my personal presence. I liked my personal Instagram as a tool to share my life events, but I also found that there are some things I want to keep separate from my business.

I learned a lot from this shift.

First of all, I found that with this particular model losing followers can be a good thing, because they just weren't aligned with my content. It's a sign that I am expressing authentically.

Secondly, I learned that there does, in fact, need to be some strategy when it comes to maintaining a business page. Yes, many coaches do show up in a very authentic and raw way, but that doesn't mean that there's no thought put behind it.

All brands require some sort of planning.

While I thought that uniting my business and personal page would create complete transparency, I ended up realizing that I lost some structure and focus in the process.

I'm currently trying something new and changing my scope once again so it more closely matches the original vision I had.

But I don't chalk this up to failure. Trial and error is so essential when creating anything. How can you possibly know how you want to show up if you haven't experimented with a few different ways first? It's part of the creative process and it should be honored.

Now that I'm back to my original plan, I am excited to try different things and see how things will grow when I work from within the structure I first envisioned. Sharing my process also allows me to address (and mirror) the nuances and challenges of building a business from the ground up.