How To Use Instagram To Grow Your Authority And Personal Brand With Instagram Expert Mike Poglese

Mike: (00:00)
The followers and stuff. It just creates that whole like real, like perception change of the brand. Um, it just essentially like establishes a company or a personal brand or whatever it is as like an authority in their industry. So, um, especially with like people my age, I feel like, um, as soon as we come to, uh, like Instagram as our, our, or to a business, like a new brand or something, I always go to Instagram and search it and, you know, see what they're about. So, uh, for me, it's really powerful when I see a company that has like a hundred thousand followers or something. I'm like, Whoa. Yeah. I'm like, Whoa, okay. Like I never heard of this company, but it looks like I should have, you know what I mean? And so, um, that goes for realistically, any type of company brand or personal brand, whatever. Um, it's like re like that perception change of like, the number is crazy and it's, it's like wild that it's like that, but that's the way it is, you know,

Stephanie: (00:56)
Hey guys, it's Stephanie and welcome to another episode of the glam life of real estate podcast. Okay. So it's going to run a little long today. I know if you looked at the time, you're like, what the heck that's like road trip, but we are talking to an Instagram guru today. Mike Polk lease. I am super excited about this. I know I say that every episode, and I probably also say that every episode, but social media, personal branding, all this is so much fun to me. And it's also really important when you're growing a business and you're growing your authority and your personal brand. So I just let the conversation roll. If you guys, you know, need to get this in and two or three different settings, make this your long run day, go on a couple mile run. Um, I didn't want to cut him off.

Stephanie: (01:38)
And to be honest, I also didn't want to break it into two episodes because I know sometimes that's a little annoying because you're like in it, and then they cut that interview off. I can't even talk, they cut that interview off and you got to get back into it a week or two later. So I know it's long apologies, but there is a lot of ton of great information. So I wanted to keep it all in versus trying to edit it down. And then if you need to jump around, feel free to do so. If you need to pause it and go tend to something and then come back to it, it's all here for you. So stay tuned and enjoy the show where we talk about all things, Instagram stories, feed, content, all of it. So stay tuned.

Speaker 3: (02:17)
You're listening to the glam life of real estate podcast, where we talk about everything from productivity tips, social media strategies, business hacks, and more to get ahead of the curve and crush it as a real estate sales professional, whether you office out of a model home or your car where leopard print and high heels never go out of style. Here's your host top producing real estate agent, social media strategist, and for baby mama, Stephanie Linda mood.

Stephanie: (02:51)
All right, guys. So we have a special guest in the house and I'm super excited because you guys know I am a social media junkie and Mike Puglia is here today. He is what I would call an Instagram expert. He is a multi six figure agency owner. He's an influencer, he's a podcast host, and he's an action sports junkie that resides on Tybee Island in Georgia. So if you don't know where that is, definitely check it out. But he's going to talk to us today about all things, Instagram, how to incorporate into our business, how to be successful and have a growth strategy around it. So welcome to the show, Mike, thanks for being here. Thanks for the intro. Absolutely. So real quick to kick it off. So everyone knows who you are just, will you give us a quick background so they know who you are and kind of where we're going today and then we'll dig into some of the details.

Mike: (03:42)
Yeah, for sure. So, um, short story long, um, so starts off in, uh, Michigan, the wonderful state of Michigan and, uh, quickly realized that the cold weather was not for me. So over the years, I've, I've moved further and further South. And hopefully I end up in the Caribbean somewhere, but

Stephanie: (04:01)
yeah, that's our goal too. Yeah.

Mike: (04:03)
Yeah. So, um, yeah, I went to college in Myrtle beach, South Carolina, um, after college, I, well, I studied Marine science in college, so kind of funny because, um, while I was in college, I that's kind of when I was introduced to like this whole digital marketing space, uh, from two of my buddies in high school. And so, um, you know, after, after, uh, college was through, Mmm. I moved back to Richmond, Virginia partnered up with those two guys, um, to start a digital agency there where we offered like pretty much anything in the, a social realm. And, um, from there, uh, I quickly realized that I wanted to give back to the beach. So, um, I went from city life to beach life back to city life. So, um, my girlfriend at the time was living in Savannah, Georgia, and, um, Tybee Island is right outside of Savannah for those of you that aren't familiar with the area. Um, but yeah, it's a tiny little Island and, uh, found myself down here, uh, chasing my wonderful girlfriend.

Stephanie: (05:03)
There you go. I got to go after the girl. I love it. Yeah. So how'd you get into social media cause we can, that's how we connected. And um, how'd you get into that world from especially Marine biology or Marine

Mike: (05:16)
Marine Marine science as a whole. Yeah, I was studying Marine geology specifically, but, but yeah, so, um, I mean Instagram as a whole, well, social media as a whole was really always interesting to me. Um, just like the, the overall concept that you could just literally connect with anybody and in any one, you know, no matter where they were in the world. So, uh, that whole, that overall concept was like really cool to me. And, um, when Instagram first came out, um, I had always kind of like been into like, uh, not like photography, but like photography, you know what I mean? Um, like using my smartphone as, as a professional camera, but, um, but yeah, so when Instagram came out, um, I quickly became really interested in that, uh, solely because it was almost like the new Twitter. Yeah. But like, uh, tied in with like, almost like a Facebook aspect, you know, where it was a lot of like photos and stuff like that. So, um, I really liked that whole concept. And, uh, at that time I was in high school. Um, I don't even know when that was like seven years or so when it came out six, six years ago.

Stephanie: (06:21)
Yeah. Well, when I was in high school, we didn't have Facebook, so yeah.

Mike: (06:28)
Yeah. So, um, when, when it came out, you know, like being at that kind of like age, that's kind of what it was, it was like, you know, when you met people in class, it was like, you know, it started to transition from what's your phone number to like, what's your Twitter, Twitter handle or Instagram handle, you know? Um, so that was kind of like interesting. And it was often like a topic of like, who are like, that guy has a lot of followers or who has the most followers, you know, things like that. So, yeah. Yeah. So from the get go, I was like really, um, kind of like interested in how do I obtain followers and how can I make connections on, on social media. Um, and, and at that point there was really no goal of it other than to just grow numbers and, you know, meet new people.

Mike: (07:14)
But, um, but yeah, so that's kind of like how I got into it as a whole, but, um, but yeah, like obviously Marine science and, and social media doesn't really correlate. So, um, kinda how I, I had the mixture with that is being at coastal Carolina, studying Marine science. Uh, we were always doing a lot of cool stuff, uh, whether it be off shore out in the ocean, uh, doing studies or just lab studies in the classroom. So, um, a lot of the, a lot of the early ages of social media just kind of came from that stuff. Uh, for me was, you know, just being from Michigan originally and then growing up in Richmond, Virginia, uh, the ocean, like lifestyle was like taboo to these people, you know what I mean? So, um, when they saw like me, you know, playing around with fish all the time and, you know, surfing and doing all this stuff, diving and stuff like that, um, I started to realize that they were really attracted to it. So, um, that was kind of like what got me into, like what type of content should I post, you know, like what does my audience like almost, and, um, and then kind of how I could connect with them and expanded to what people were interested in it in as far as what I was posting, you know?

Stephanie: (08:26)
Awesome. So it sounds like you started using social media initially, just like we all do just kind of playing around with it, personal use. Tell me how to, how you transition it from a personal standpoint to business, because I think that's where a lot of people are struggling because, you know, it's something they spend a lot of time on either to get right, or just time in general, looking at other people's profiles. And everyone's trying to figure out, especially in sales, how to grow an audience, how to sell online, how to make more money, some more, some more of whatever

Mike: (08:56)
they're doing. So how do you do that? Like talk to us about that today, for sure. Yeah. So, um, I guess it kind of like all started for me, you know, kind of like you said, just as like a hobby or like a, I don't know, just something to waste time honestly, but, um, there was no real goal to it, you know, just like most people, like you said, um, and it didn't really transition to anything crazy, um, until like, honestly like a few years into college, like I think like my sophomore year is when I started getting introduced into, um, you know, like actual digital marketing as a whole. And kind of what happened was, um, is kind of funny because like my roommate at the time he had some buddies up in Massachusetts that, um, started like a clothing company and the company was called saltwater cotton company.

Mike: (09:46)
They were super cool guys. Like the overall brand was really cool. Um, but they were just like your normal, like, uh, you know, white collar workers, you know, they were, you know, they had real PR real people jobs, like I like to say, but, um, you know, so they were, they were tied up most of the day and, um, had no idea how to run an Instagram account or anything like that. And so, yeah, my roommate basically told them like, Hey, my, my roommate has, you know, like, you know, several thousand followers on Instagram. Um, you know, like you should talk to him, you might be able to, you know, help you out as far as growing the account. And at that time I was just like, I don't know, even like baffled that, uh, he had even kind of said that stuff because I didn't really think anything about my account.

Mike: (10:27)
You know, I didn't think anything crazy about what I had done to it or anything like that. Um, but yeah, I mean, long story short, I was, um, I was talking with them and they were like, yeah, I mean, you know, I'd be down to a two to send you some free gear if you, uh, if you want to run our, our Instagram account for like a week and we'll just see what you can do and we'll go from there. So long story short, they ended up loving what I was doing and the accounts started to grow really quick. Um, and so they ended up giving me a part of the company and, um, that's kind of how I got into the whole like digital marketing space. Um, I essentially utilize like that as a testimonial. Like I took this brand from literally brand new Instagram account to 10,000 plus followers.

Mike: (11:11)
And, uh, I dunno, it was a couple months, um, at that time it was really, really easy to grow I'm on Instagram because it was such a new thing. Um, and so like, people really didn't know how to use the platform, you know, so, um, but yeah, so that's kind of like how I got into, uh, like the business side of it was just overall, um, you know, like as far as managing accounts and, uh, you know, like that type of stuff, uh, paid ads and things like that, um, that was all just kind of trial and error. I just kind of fell into it. Um, and then as college went on, I started to realize that was like more of a lucrative gig than a government work as far as Marine geology. So real quick question. Cause I know some people be thinking this,

Stephanie: (11:54)
especially my like VPs of marketing and stuff for corporations. When you got the more followers, did they see an increase in sales? Was there a correlation there or was it just like, okay, cool. Our number on Instagram went up, but could they correlate it back to actual sales or anything concrete?

Mike: (12:11)
Yeah, for sure. So one of the main ways that I was like getting those followers, well, there was two ways and one was like a more like organic, like really, um, like targeted, uh, lead generation, like process. Is that a strategy if you will. And, um, it's now what I call like the three, two, one method, but the other way that I was, I was doing it, I was doing like a lot of like influencer promos. So I would essentially reach out to people that have larger followings on Instagram and be like, Hey, you know, I'll send you my products if you can post and, um, you know, tag us in and utilize that for promo. Um, but yeah, so essentially how I got connected with those types of people, um, you know, to, to do those types of promos was essentially utilizing the three, two, one method.

Mike: (12:57)
Um, so it's kind of funny because this is something that I've been utilizing for years. Um, and I, I had transitioned it into like a software and did all kinds of things with it. So it's, it's kinda crazy. Like now that I think about it, like, wow, I've, I've actually been like utilizing the strategy across like, I mean, hundreds of brands now, um, for, I don't know, like five or six years, so it's kind of crazy to think about, but, um, but yeah, I mean the, the, the overall like, uh, the, the best side, as far as the business, you know, like the influencer promos and stuff like that were really good as far as generating numbers, but as far as converting actual sales, what really came down to it was me, um, behind the scenes, like actually manually engaging with these people and creating real connections.

Stephanie: (13:42)
Okay. So the numbers look good, but then, and I think we'll get into this in a little bit with profiles and what the profiles look like. It's kind of like sometimes it's chicken or the egg, because you got to have a good profile and those numbers higher to get people's attention. And so you can't always judge like, okay, it's, if we get this many followers, it doesn't always translate into this when he sells right off the bat, because it kind of has to work together and grow and evolve over time. Is that fair?

Mike: (14:08)
For sure. Yeah. No, that's, that's definitely a good way to break it down. Um, so yeah, I mean, that's, that's the thing is, you know, a lot of people think that, uh, you know, like followers is automatically going to lead to conversion and it very much, yeah, very much so, you know, depending on who you are, what your brand is, but, um, but yeah, I mean the overall, like engagement is the biggest thing and kind of like you were saying, um, you know, like the, the followers and stuff, it just creates that whole like real, like perception change of the brand. Um, it just essentially like establishes a company or a personal brand or whatever it is as like an authority in their industry. So, um, especially with like people my age, I feel like, um, as, as we come

Stephanie: (14:52)
to, uh, like Instagram as our, our, or to a business, like a new brand or something, I always go to Instagram and search it and, you know, see what they're about. So, uh, for me, it's really powerful when I see a company that has like a hundred thousand followers. Right. I mean, they're legit.

Mike: (15:08)
Yeah. I'm like, Whoa, okay. I never heard of this company, but it looks like I should have, you know what I mean? And so, um, that goes for realistically, any type of company brand or personal brand, whatever. Um, it's like, like that perception change of like, the number is crazy and it's, it's like wild that it's like that, but that's the way it is.

Stephanie: (15:29)
Well, I think like, okay, so it's 2020 right now. I think, I don't know how many years it would be back, let's say 15 years or 20 years, it would be like 20 years ago, if you were a company or 10 years ago, and someone tried to find you online and you didn't have a website Perceptionist yeah. Oh, this is mom and pop. This is not legit. So then everyone needs needed to go out and get a website, even if it was a one man shop to prove that they were a viable business. So I think this is just another step past that, because to your point, like, yeah, we go and it's like having an email address. Right. If you tell me your emails, um, Mike at one, two, three@gmail.com versus your company name, I feel like it's a totally different experience

Mike: (16:14)
for sure. Absolutely. Yeah. And it's, and it's exactly like that, you know, it's, it's the same thing. That's a, that's a very good analogy. As far as the email and the website context,

Stephanie: (16:25)
I think where people probably get tripped up and feel free to jump in and tell me your thoughts is, you know, I'm an entrepreneur, I'm a self employed. So it makes sense for me to have my own quote unquote, personal brand because,

Mike: (16:37)
Mmm.

Stephanie: (16:38)
I'm an entrepreneur, right. But let's say I'm a w two employee where I go to work every day. And I have a boss, I think a lot of times people are thinking, will I work at IBM or I work at McDonald's or Starbucks or wherever, like, why do I need to have a personal brand? Because I work for a company, they have their own page, they have their own Instagram. So isn't that good enough. So what are your thoughts on personal brands, regardless of if you're in business for yourself, regardless of if you're employed at all for that matter, it is just having a presence online.

Mike: (17:07)
Pretty sure. Yeah. I mean, so, uh, that's actually like a kind of funny that you brought that up because I was just talking about this, the same thing with someone the other day. And so depending on like, what your, your, your type of like your field is, or the industry that you're in. Um, I almost feel like a social media could be used as like a resume, you know what I mean? Like, so something that can just show you as a person and kind of like the type of person you are. Mmm. And like the work you've done, uh, say, for example, if you're a photographer, a real estate photographer or something like that, um, obviously having a personal brand on Instagram, especially is it was super because it gives you a place to showcase your work. You know, whether it be the drone footage you could capture or, you know, the, the in home tours or whatever it might be.

Mike: (17:58)
But, um, so I mean, I think like, uh, I, I think that it's almost like one of those things, like I said, that it's almost like a resume builder. And, um, so like when I was in college and I first started getting into social media, I managed a Nautica store. And that was actually one of the things that we did, uh, through our hiring process was we try to find these people on social media and see how they portrayed themselves. Um, so I mean, even in that aspect, I think it's huge because, um, you don't like people have their profiles on private and stuff like that. And I mean, we would still, we would still get to them, you know? So, um, so I, I mean, I think it, it could be good or bad for people, and I think that's something, uh, that should be addressed for people that don't really take it serious, uh, because you know, that's something that, that could be beneficial to them as far as even getting the job that they want or, you know, something along those lines.

Stephanie: (18:49)
Right. So when we're talking about, okay, let's take a stab a little deeper, if we're talking about personal versus business, what are your thoughts? And I'll give you my opinion here in a second on, okay. So let's say you're an entrepreneur, or you're in a sales career. If I'm a hairstylist, do I just post hair pictures, or am I posting hair pictures and posts with other things like where I'm traveling to, or if I like dogs, I'm posting those photos. Like, how do you know what to post, if you're trying to grow your business? Is it just business stuff, or are you trying to talk about your personality? So people get to know you as a person. How do you, I feel about that?

Mike: (19:32)
Yeah, no, that's a, that's a really good question. Um, and something that I think is very important and honestly, probably one of the most, uh, asked questions that I get, um, is like Mike was, what should I focus on promoting my, my business account or my personal account. And, um, I always tell them, you know, like focus on growing, uh, your personal account and making real connections through your personal account. Um, now that doesn't mean like neglect your business account, you know, like you should still be posting on there and, and have a business account, uh, just as like a reference, but something that you can push traffic to. But, um, as far as like something that's the best bang for buck as far as time, um, I say, focus on your, on growing your personal account. Um, it's the only thing that, that is like, uh, it's, it's almost one of those things where, um, you know, like your business, you can only really promote your business, whereas your personal account, you can promote anything and everything.

Mike: (20:28)
It doesn't have to be business related. It could be the book you're reading the food you eat. Right. It's one of those things where, to me, uh, that's where I think I've kind of like cracked the code the best as far as growing my personal brand, because I'm, I've, I've made myself very vulnerable on, on social media and almost like one of those people Mmm. That people can relate to, you know what I mean? Like I try and go after like the IMU theory, you know, like my life's not perfect, you know, I'm no one special, uh, I got things that I fight through every day, you know, like even when it comes to getting up in the morning, you know, but, um, but so it's, you know, like, and I think that's kind of been the big push, um, for my personal brand is just being open and about anything and everything. And to be completely honest, I don't really promote anything to business related. Uh, it's probably like a, you know, like 10% of the content that I post, uh, and the other 90% is just my day to day life, you know?

Stephanie: (21:23)
Yeah. And I'll give you guys an example. So for a while, about the last six months, I was running with a real estate Instagram account and a personal Instagram account and trying to post like the lifestyle stuff, you know, the stuff you kind of post on Facebook on the personal Instagram and then all of the real estate stuff. It was strictly real estate, you know, home sold homes, closed stories, all that kind of stuff. And I started thinking about it. I'm like, you know what, like, what if I just focused on one, because it's one, it was so hard to manage. And to, to your point, people got to know me better because they would see a picture with me and my dogs or me and my husband, or we'd be going and doing this. But then I could also talk about the Workday and a client that I met with. And so I think that's really key because even when we met online, I think we connected on LinkedIn first, but then like, I know you get up early and work out, or I know that you just got a tattoo and you go kite surfing, but I wouldn't normally know that about you if I only followed your business page, which is fine. But now I feel like I have a much better connection with you as a person.

Mike: (22:26)
Yeah. It's like, it's like we know each other and we never really met each other. You know what I mean?

Stephanie: (22:30)
Yeah. Yeah. So, no, I, so I think if anyone's out there is trying to figure out cause it's hard and it's okay to ask the question like, okay, if you are an entrepreneur or doing whatever you're doing and you want to promote it and have a presence, I think it's smart to start out with the one account and definitely talk about it, but also bring in other things about your life, whether you like cooking or travel or whatever it is working out. And those things are relevant depending on how you do it. And we'll talk about that more in a minute of how you wire to post when the post did that kind of thing. So that everyone gets a clear idea of who you are as a person, because then they're going to be able to relate to you more with your business.

Mike: (23:12)
For sure. For sure. Yeah. I mean, I think that's a that's 100%, like probably the best thing that you can do is, um, is as far as like posting content on Instagram, like the number one thing that I always tell people is one, if you don't have quality content, then don't worry about posting it. Like, just focus on your feed as far as like the highest quality content that you can post. Um, you do a great job at that, by the way. But, um, and then as far as like the Instagram story, um, that is where you can kind of post anything and everything. And that's kinda what I do, you know, like I try and I try and post to my Instagram story, like literally 20 times a day. Um, if not more, if I can. Um, and a lot of it is just like, if I don't do it, it's because I don't think about it, but, um, I try and post anything and everything.

Mike: (23:59)
Like from the time I take my pre-workout in the morning at 5:00 AM, when I'm going to the gym to, um, you know, like whatever I'm eating for lunch or dinner, or if my girlfriend and I are taking the dog for a walk, I mean, literally anything and everything. And the amount of connections that I've made through that is like insane. Whether it be like, Oh my God, your dog is so pretty. Or your girlfriend cooks the best food. Like, how'd you get so lucky, like, things like that, you know, like people message me about the most random things or

Stephanie: (24:28)
eating frickin ice cream sundaes with ice cream sandwich stuck in the top of it. And I was like, wait a second. You were just talking about working out the other day. Now you're having a day. Oh my God.

Mike: (24:39)
Yeah. Yeah. That was a, I didn't mean to have that achieved by the way. My mom talked me into that.

Stephanie: (24:45)
So let me talk to you about that real quick, because the feed versus the story, because this is what I hear a lot of, I'll see people post all the time. I don't have an Instagram live, so I'm just going to post these blurry grainy photos on my feed, because I don't want to be inauthentic. So talk to me about when you say quality content, what does that look like? Are you talking about the photos, the caption, all of it. Like, what does that mean? Break it down for someone that is really like you supposed to either on Facebook or used to just posting the snap and the dog picture and throwing that in their feed. What does that mean?

Mike: (25:20)
For sure? Yeah. No, I'm glad that you asked this because, uh, this is something that people don't usually ask about. It's more so like how can I get in front of people, but, um, obviously the content is like probably the main piece of the puzzle, to be honest with you. Um, so yeah, I mean, as far as the, the, the, the content that's posted on your actual Instagram feed, um, I really would say like, make sure it's like, seriously, your best quality content and something that's got you involved in it. Um, you know, like sure. The, the picture of, um, you know, like the bridge as you're coming on to Tybee Island is beautiful at sunset, but it doesn't really have anything to correlate with you. Not necessarily, you know what I mean? I'm sure you may live on Tybee Island, but, uh, what does, how does that tie into you?

Mike: (26:06)
You know what I mean? Um, so I always try and tell people, you know, even if it's just like you and the farro little corner of the picture, like the, the photos, the content on your feet, I really think that, um, it should have something about you in it. Um, as far as the actual, the posts, the, the video, the photo or whatever. And then, um, as far as the captions, um, it could really go a few different ways and I've kind of experimented with all different kinds of captions, you know, long like story captions, a shorter, like just straight to the point, kind of like, um, you know, like real quotes, you know, like, and kind of what I mean by that is, uh, like lyrics and stuff that I've, that I've pulled out of songs and stuff like that. And, um, I've, uh, I've also even used it to, to like, be super vulnerable.

Mike: (26:55)
Like, for example, I had like some traumatic experiences, uh, happened with my mom and, you know, some stuff that was going on. If you scroll through my Instagram, you'll find it. But, um, but it was just one of those things where I just kind of like, it was almost like a, almost like a Memorial, you know, like, I mean, my mom's still here with me and she's, you know, she's fine now, but it was just one of those things where I kind of showcased the, the events out that, uh, transpired there. And it, it made me really vulnerable to people, to my audience. And, um, it literally went viral. I mean, it's got thousands of comments and thousands of likes. I mean, it's insane, but it was all just because of how I worded that message and the fact that it even shared it, you know?

Mike: (27:36)
So, um, as far as like the content, like, I really don't think there's one way to go about it. Like whether it be business related or personal related, um, I think just it's, it's specific to a person, you know, the, the one thing I can say is just make it quality, you know? Um, but you'll, you'll start to figure out like how your audience reacts. Like, for example, like people in the entrepreneurship industry, um, you know, or like even business PR professional industry, something that's like more like a strung out texts. That's like a real easy to read, you know, where it's like a sentence, you know, press enter, you know, like go to the next line sentence, you know, break it down and it's, but it's like something that's a long story and it's, it starts out with, you know, something that might've happened or some sort of troubles.

Mike: (28:25)
And then it leads into like the end solution and how the world was made better or something. You know what I mean? So, um, so something like that is really effective as far as the entrepreneurship industry, but then when you come into something like, um, maybe like sports related, uh, the attention span might not be there long enough to read through a five paragraph caption. You know what I mean? So, um, I really think it just depends on how your audience reacts with the content itself. But, um, a lot of people, one thing I want to add in is a lot of people, uh, think that they need to be posting every day or multiple days, times a day. And to be honest, I think that's like one of the hugest misconceptions about Instagram as a whole. Is that like, I mean, if like my profile, I don't think I posted since like January, to be honest with you, and there's really stories you post.

Mike: (29:15)
Yeah. And I post on my stories all the time, but, but on my feed, you know, like I don't think I posted since January and there's really no reason to it other than the fact that one, I forget to do it and to, um, you know, like it's, it's like a quality of content thing. Like it's not that I don't have it, but, um, it's been like in the fifties here and the beach, isn't fun in the fifties. So, um, in the summertime I'll post more content, but, but as far as my Instagram is, I mean, I've never backed off of it. So that's where, like, I stay engaged with my audiences through the stories and a lot, I think a lot of people think that, um, that they get the, that they get the reach through the feed and it's actually SWAT, like, um, most people, they get more of a reach on their story than their feet.

Stephanie: (29:59)
That's a golden nugget for everybody. Um, and I've heard with your captions and just Instagram in general, you want to either do one of three things you want to educate, inspire or entertain as far as trying to figure out like, is this post even worth posting

Mike: (30:14)
for sure. Yeah. And, and that's actually the best way to put it. I'm glad that you broke it down into three words.

Stephanie: (30:21)
And the other thing to think about too, just logistically, like when you scroll the way Instagram cuts stuff off, I think you have, I don't know if it's like 150 characters, so if you're going really long winded, you may want to edit just what you write at the beginning to catch people's attention, almost like an email subject line, because they're not going to see it all. It's going to cut it off and you want to get their attention enough to stop scrolling, click on it. And then I think another really good thing to put in the captions in my opinion, is some kind of call to action because I think that's how Instagram measures, uh, I don't know what they want to mention the engagement, right? So they want see shares or comments or likes or something people are doing besides just reading it and some kind of call to action tells everybody what to do

Mike: (31:10)
for sure. Yeah. No, that's, that's definitely, uh, a good thing to add in there. Um, a call to action towards the end middle, whenever, somewhere in the, in the caption is, is definitely great. Uh, whether it be like drop three fire emojis, if you agree, or, you know, link in the bio, you know, like make sure you like comment and share, you know, just some sort of call to action. Um, and it's not like these people don't already know that they can do that, but, um, sometimes like just kind of reiterating the fact that, uh, you'd appreciate it if they did that. Yeah.

Stephanie: (31:40)
You have to ask for it just like you have to ask for the sale, you have to ask for them to take action on Instagram,

Mike: (31:46)
for sure. Yeah.

Stephanie: (31:48)
So let me as this real quick. So this might help everyone at their getting thinking, Oh man, I got to post every day and what do I do with photos and where do I get them and how do I do all this? So they wanted a post like two days a week on Instagram feed, but then commit to doing a few stories a day showing maybe behind the scenes at their office or behind the scenes showing houses or behind the scenes X, Y, Z to build the engagement. That would actually be, it's probably a little bit easier.

Mike: (32:19)
Yeah. Yeah, no, for sure. So, um, I mean, like I said, you know, I don't, I don't like maximum, I probably post once per week, even, even when like the contents flowing really good. Um, and it's almost one of those things where, um, you know, I don't think it helps or hurt you to be honest, to, to post a lot or a little, um, I do think it's not beneficial to post more than once per day on your feed, but, uh, yeah, like you said, you know, like the story is just a lot easier, a way to come up with content a one, because it doesn't have to have any sort of theme. It could literally be anything and everything I'm in too, it doesn't have to be built out with Photoshop or anything like that, you know? Um, you know, it can literally just be you like running down the road, holding your phone and shaking all over the place. You know what I mean? It doesn't have to be anything crazy as far as quality content, but it also does give you the option to go into it and create really quality content specifically for the stories, which I think is also beneficial to utilize for things like the highlights

Stephanie: (33:24)
I was going to. I was just about to ask you about that. Okay. So if someone doesn't know, what is the highlight and kind of, how do you utilize that?

Mike: (33:30)
Yeah. So Instagram highlights is, um, it's like, almost like I'm trying to say the definition without saying the word,

Stephanie: (33:38)
well, actually let's back up. Let's tell them what a story is and why the highlights necessary. Cause they may be going, why do I even need that? Because the story expires

Mike: (33:45)
for sure. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, so obviously, yeah, so the, the Instagram story is obviously only available for 24 hours. It'll only show up on your profile for 24 hours from the time that you posted it. So, um, and I think that, that's why like it's so beneficial as far as maximizing the use out of the stories. It is because it's no way that you can really like clog up your feed from utilizing it are people it's not going to hang around for very long. Yeah. It's one of the few things in the world that does that.

Stephanie: (34:16)
Yeah. You could delete it technically, but yeah, if you're like, Oh my gosh, I'm new to this. It only hangs out for 20 years.

Mike: (34:22)
Vaporizes. Yeah. Yeah. And so, um, like the, the cool thing about the store, the highlights is it's a section that, um, allows you to, uh, without using the word highlight,

Stephanie: (34:35)
it saves, it saves that story. So like, let's say I do a podcast episode and I have a little thing that says new posts. We're talking to Mike Puglia's today. Right. I have a podcast highlight button that I'll say that under, so that if someone visits my feed in a month and they want to go check out all my quote unquote podcast stories, they're all there saved for. So they're kind of like evergreen stuff.

Mike: (35:01)
Yeah, for sure. Yeah. It's almost a way that you can, um, essentially like advertise what you do without advertising what you do.

Stephanie: (35:09)
It's almost like a Pinterest board, four years stories. Is that fair?

Mike: (35:14)
Yeah, for sure. Yeah.

Stephanie: (35:18)
So that's cool because if you do have time, you're spending in your stories, creating quality content, not just, you know, and some of it's cool, like maybe running down the road and it's a shaky, but it's a cool stunt you're doing. That's cool too. But if it's something that you want to keep and you want someone to be able to refer back to, like, I know some people that will like, um, recipes in their highlights and then if someone asks them, Hey, you know, how did you make that? They're like, Hey, go back to my highlights. One, it forces people back to your profile and they kind of have to look through all of them and tap through them to see them all. But it just as a way to catalog everything and save it.

Mike: (35:55)
Yeah. Yeah. No, and I think it's just kind of a way too. Um, I don't know, to highlight like the top things that you do. So there's really like a few ways that they could be utilized. Um, one of the, one of the ways that I think is best is almost like utilize like what you're involved in. So like you said, if you have a podcast, you know, create a podcast highlights, so every time you post a new abs episode, you could save it into that. Um, you know, if you, if you have some sort of mentorship program or, um, some sort of coaching program, um, it could be like a little bit of information about what you exactly do. It could even show like, uh, some of the coaching sessions or like you and your team having fun as far as the mentorship or whatever it is.

Mike: (36:38)
Um, you know, you can, you can have one that's like your day to day life. Um, so for example, like I have one on mine called like Island life and it's just kind of like my day to day, like running around the Island, whether it's like riding my bike around or kite surfing or getting ice cream or coffee from the, from the local shop or whatever it is, um, it could be an area where you, uh, showcase like the proof of work that you do. And, um, it could even be like an intro exactly. To what exactly you do. You know? So, uh, for, for me, for example, you know, like branding as a whole, uh, could just cover like some basics as far as, uh, what it is that I do as far as branding and the benefits, you know? So

Stephanie: (37:19)
it's almost like the menu bar at the top of your website, but more personal.

Mike: (37:23)
Yeah. Yup.

Stephanie: (37:26)
Okay. So when you look at her profile, what are things when clients hire you and stuff, what are things that you look at? And you're like, okay, we need to improve upon this. We need to tweak that. Like, what are a couple of key things that if people want to go to their Instagram profile to see if they're making the most of it, that you can kind of give us?

Mike: (37:48)
Yeah, for sure. Um, I think like the, the overall structure of the profile is probably the main, like a thing that I, that I see that has like immediate issues. And, um, basically what I mean by that is like a really good quality profile picture. Um, something like if it's a personal brand, like a headshot, somewhat something that, that you can see the person like your face, like, you know, if you're, if you're standing like way away from the camera and, uh, you can barely see you, then it's not going to look in that tiny little circle on your profile. Uh, that's probably the first thing that I always see that, um, doesn't really like showcase who the person is and it's like the main way. Right. Um, and then from there, um, obviously, you know, like the username and the overall name of the are super important as well.

Mike: (38:37)
So, um, me personally, I like for personal brands, I really try and go after like, just utilizing like the first and last name, just to be like, uh, I don't know, like an easier way to get connected with people, but, um, some people will have like a name that they go by. Like, for example, Ryan Stewman, like he's known as the hardcore closer. So like his Instagram name is the hardcore closer, you know? So, um, you know, like if, if there's something like that, like that you're, you're kind of known by, I think it's, it's cool to utilize that as a username. Uh, because then it is like, Oh, like an overall brand for your personal brand. You know,

Stephanie: (39:13)
what, if you have a common name, like John Smith, how do you, what do you do?

Mike: (39:19)
Yeah. That's, that's a, that's where you want to come up with, uh, with the personal brand name or something like that. But, um, yeah. I mean, something like that, you could obviously do like John Smith, you know, like one or something like that. I've, I mean, uh, like adding digits isn't necessarily a bad thing. Uh, what I would stay away from is adding is adding more than like two digits. Um, that's kind of like something that, uh, like for example, when I, when I had like Instagram softwares and stuff like that, that was like one of the main things that we filtered out were usernames that had more than two digits in them because it, it just kind of like leads to, like, it's not a quality pro yeah. It's not a quality profile. Yeah.

Stephanie: (39:56)
And then I think too, to your point, when we're talking on the business accounts, be careful how committed you are to that business name. Because even if you're in, even if you're self employed, if you decide to change industry's one day, right? Like if I'm a realtor and let's say, I say, I'm realtor Stephanie, well in 10 years, if I'm not a realtor anymore, but I'm still me. How do you pivot off of that? So that's another good thing about it, I think is when you do name your profile, if you're not naming, like your name's not going to change. I mean, yeah. I guess if you're a female and you get divorced or get married, your last name would change, but your name is not going to change. So even if you're in business for yourself, that could change one day. So just be careful about how, how niche you get in the event that you want to keep that following and keep that profile. Right.

Mike: (40:48)
For sure. Yeah. And that kind of goes back into, uh, what we were talking about earlier, as far as the overall, like, um, type of profile that you're setting up as far as like business or personal. Um, and that's kind of why I, like, like I said, you know, I kind of, I tell people to just keep it basic first and last name, if it's available, take it. Um, it's almost like a website, you know, like if you have a personal brand and you have a website, you want it to be like, Puglia's dot com. You don't want it to be, you know, real it's or mike.com. You know, you want it to be something that, that can stay around forever, like you said. Um, but yeah, no, I think that's definitely a good point to bring up.

Stephanie: (41:26)
Okay. And then on the highlights, so we talked, or we talked about the structure of the profile, so what kind of information do they need to put in the profile is that they're from what they love, what they do for a living? Like what kind of stuff do you recommend they do in that area to make the most of it?

Mike: (41:40)
Yeah. So I, I always like recommend like a few bullet points as to will you're involved in, and this is kind of where you would utilize like, uh, your other brands, uh, profiles. So kind of what I mean by that is, you know, like you could be, you could do like cohost of whatever podcasts you could do, owner of whatever, you know, company and like actually tag that company and that podcast into it. So that way, not only are you driving traffic to your page, um, by growing that profile, it's also driving traffic to the other pages, uh, your other businesses, if those people are interested in it, and that's kind of a way that you can kind of drive traffic to all of your brands without spending hours a day on every single brand.

Stephanie: (42:24)
Got it. Okay. Perfect. Um, and then on the highlights, you have the option of just literally saving a photo or a story as the photo of the highlight cover, or you can go on other, you know, like canvas or other graphic design programs and download some highlights to make the brand, have the same colors and that kind of thing. Do you recommend anything there?

Mike: (42:47)
Yeah. Yeah. As far as like the overall appearance of the, of the brand, um, if you can keep it like kind of themed, then that's obviously going to be the best, a way to set up your profile. So mine, for example, um, is very like kind of action sports, like outdoorsy, a lifestyle. A lot of it's like beachy related with like one or two snowboarding pictures when I occasionally get out to the freezing cold weather. But, um, but yeah, I try and keep everything like, like I said, you know, really high quality and just kind of overall, like what I, what I'm about. And that's, you know, ultimately like living life to the fullest, you know, I, you know, with an action sports and, you know, running around the beach, whatever. So, um, as far as like the highlights, um, I definitely recommend, uh, utilizing something like Canva or Photoshop, if you're good with it and create just really nice highlight covers because it just ties everything in.

Mike: (43:42)
Uh, so for example, like what I've done with mine, all my highlights highlights are basically like travel based, um, like places that I've been. Um, but what I've done with it is I just, I made them all the same color. It just kind of, it's like a, it's like a tealish color. Um, that fits really well with my profile being that it's, you know, kind of outdoors-y beachy related. Um, and they're all just, you know, like they all look exactly the same, but you know, if it's, you know, if it's a highlight cover for the state of Colorado, then it's got a con at, you know, just to represent Colorado and for the podcast, you know, it's got like a, a podcast emblem in it, you know? So, um, yeah, I would really recommend utilizing something like that. Like canvas free, uh, it's super easy to use. Um, there's tons of YouTube videos on how you can use it. So, um, taking, you know, 30 minutes to, to create something like that is, will completely

Stephanie: (44:32)
change your brand. Okay, cool. So there's the second part of the conversation. So the first part is how do you set up your own profile and what do you post to where you can kind of build it. They will come get some traffic that way and get followers and establish your brand. The second piece of it is about engagement, which is what I would call say. The first part is kind of the inbound. Like your people are coming to you. This is more of the outbound, which is you are going out online and prospecting is essentially, that's what you call the three, two, one method. So let's talk about that a little bit.

Mike: (45:08)
Yeah, for sure. So, um, a lot of times when I talk to people, like, I feel like people think that, Oh, I should just be posting on Instagram, the likes, the comments, the followers, everything will just come with it.

Stephanie: (45:20)
That's me. Come on. I don't understand why that doesn't happen.

Mike: (45:24)
Yeah. So everyone always says that in. And um, I always say, you know, like, unless your kid rock or something like that, like, I'm sorry, but it's just not really gonna work out. Like,

Stephanie: (45:34)
can we talk about that real quick? So hang on, let's talk about celebrities. So here's, when we're talking about quality content, I think it's really important to distinguish Ken, somebody like a Rachel Hollis posts, a picture of her belly button or something. That's not totally just, you know, professionally grade and get a million likes. Yes. Because she's a rock star. Everyone knows her. She's an author. That's great for us that are normal business people that, you know, don't have a huge following right now. That's where I think it gets hard because we compare ourselves to like a Beyonce and go, well, she just posted their main and picture of her kid. And she, it was great. Why can't I do that?

Mike: (46:17)
Right? Yeah. No, that's, that's like one of the, one of the biggest things. I mean, like, unfortunately it just doesn't happen. You know, we're not, we're not like that, you know? So, um, you know, I mean, if, if we had the attraction, it would, it would be so much easier to run,

Stephanie: (46:34)
you know, an Instagram account.

Mike: (46:36)
Unfortunately, it's not like that we're not famous.

Stephanie: (46:39)
So I think the thought of, if I post something like, okay, I'll take my account. For example, like I go get professional photos taken. I have probably a photo shoot every six weeks with my photographer. I don't feel like I'm being inauthentic by posting a higher quality photo because we're capturing things that I do in my normal life, but they're just on a better scale. And so I feel like there's this argument of, well, I want to be authentic and that's not, that's not how my life really is. Well, if you have a dog and you're getting a professional photo taken, do you still have a dog? You're still a dog mom. So I don't feel like it's any less authentic, but I feel like people tell themselves that and kind of excuse, like why they don't want to go to the next level.

Mike: (47:24)
Yeah, yeah, no, that's a good point. And that's kinda what I do as well. Like, um, as somebody who's here on the Island that are photographers and I essentially just hit them up and I'm like, Hey man, can you follow me around for an hour? And you know, we just run around the Island or whatever and snap some shots. I mean, I think like the biggest issue is a lot of people think that it's a lot harder than it actually is. Um, it's really not that hard to get high quality photos. Um, to be honest with you, like most people's phones take better quality photos and most people's like $5,000 cameras. So for example, yeah. Like for example, if you have like the new iPhone, like the max pro 11, whatever it's called. Yeah, yeah. With the three cameras on the back. Yeah. It's a, I mean, the camera is literally insane. Like, I mean, the photos are, I mean, insane. I mean, blew my mind.

Stephanie: (48:14)
My husband's going to hate you cause I'm gonna go get one of those tomorrow.

Mike: (48:18)
But, um, but yeah. And so like, uh, it's really not that hard to do. And like, um, for example, uh, it's got like a self timer on it, so you really don't even need a photographer. I mean, it just goes somewhere and pop that thing up and press a button and run back and posing. You're good. Yeah.

Stephanie: (48:34)
Now here's where, okay. I'll give it to you if you're being inauthentic. If I'm posing in front of a $200,000 car that I don't own making it look like this is my ride, are I so cool? Sure. I'll give that to you. That's that? I would say that's being an authentic if that's what you're kind of like posing, but so anyway, I just wanted to talk about that because I think some people sell, frankly. I think they're selling themselves short on getting some good quality content because they just think that if this isn't how I wake up, then I don't think it's fair to showcase that. And I'm like, you're selling yourself short.

Mike: (49:07)
Yeah. Well, and that's kind of the thing, like if, if you're worrying about being inauthentic then than focus up poor, poor quality content, uh, you know, onto your stories, you know, like, I mean, that's essentially how I am, you know, like as soon as I wake up, like, I definitely don't look too good. Um, I look like I've been hit by a car usually. Um, but, but, but that's kind of where you can utilize that.

Stephanie: (49:31)
You can utilize the Instagram story filters. That's what I did.

Mike: (49:35)
Yeah. Well, and that's the beauty about Instagram is like, there's a place for everything really. You know, it's just about how to utilize it the best way

Stephanie: (49:43)
it will give me eyelashes at 5:00 AM or 6:00 AM when I'm heading to the gym. Okay, cool. So let's talk about, I sidetracked us. Let's talk about the three, two, one method, because that's what it sounds like is the proactive approach. Once you get your profile up and running, and I think this is gonna take a lot of pressure off people instead of spending all your time, trying to plan out your fee. Cause there's a ton of programs and trainings around the perfect Instagram feed and the perfect aesthetic and the perfect blah, blah, blah. And I think there's a place for that, but I wonder if people would spend half the time on that and half the time on what you're going to talk about next, if they wouldn't see higher growth faster and feel more confident and like this is actually going somewhere for them

Mike: (50:26)
for, yeah. And that kind of goes back to what we were just saying. You know, like a lot of people think that they should just be posting and everything will just kind of fall into place. And, um, obviously it's not like that, you know? So, um, one of the strategies that I've kind of like figured out to be the best bang for your buck as far as time is what I refer to as the three, two, one method. And to be honest, like you guys are probably going to laugh because it's really, really basic simple strategy, but, um, the key is, is consistency and that's where a lot of people fail with it. Um, and it's just like the gym, you know, like if you go for a week, you start to feel really good, you know, you start to use, do you think it look a little bit better, you know, a little bit toned up, but if you go for a year, like you're really gonna start to feel good.

Mike: (51:11)
You're going to be mentally and physically fit. Um, you know, like you're, you're going to be ready to take on the world. And that's kind of the thing with the three, two, one method is like, if you could do it for an hour today and never do it again, you sure you'll see some results, you'll get some engagement. Some people will connect with you, but it's obviously not going to lead to sales and things like that. You know, like it's going to take some time for you to figure out how to monetize your brand, if you are trying to monetize it, just because everybody community communicates differently depending on what platform you're communicating with them on. So, um, like I said, as far as, uh, getting in front of people, the three, two, one method is definitely the best. Um, basically how it works is like the first step is obviously finding out who your target audience is and where they are at on Instagram.

Mike: (52:00)
Um, so for example, like real estate agents, um, you know, like if, if you're trying to there's, I guess real estate agents, there's two ways that you could go about it. Um, you could go after like real estate agents themselves and you know, people in your industry and connect with people that way. And then you can also go go after people that are directly in your local market just to be available as a realtor. And I think that's where you that's where like the whole branding side of Instagram becomes very powerful for someone in the real estate industry as, uh, because of that whole like feature is as far as being able to connect with people in the local area. So say for example, if we're connecting with people in Jacksonville, Florida, I'm a realtor in Jacksonville. Um, what I would do is I would go onto Instagram and I would go into the search bar type in Jacksonville and then go into the locations.

Mike: (52:52)
So it pop up the actual location for Jacksonville, Florida. And basically what that's going to show you is everybody who has posted in the Jacksonville area and you can filter it by the top post, or you can filter it by the most recent photos. So what I, what I like to do is I'll start with the top post. Um, and I'll go through like the top, like, I don't know, like nine or 10 and see what the quality of those those profiles are. So if it's something like a high quality posts, like Jacksonville will probably yield like some higher level people because of the area I'm in, basically what I mean by that is like people that have a lot of followers that get good engagement, stuff like that.

Stephanie: (53:31)
So for someone that maybe not know be using this, what, what do you look at as a good profile is like 5,000 followers a lot? Is it a hundred thousand? Like what's kind of your gauge.

Mike: (53:41)
Yeah. So as far as this, so like a good profile to me is really determined on like the engagement rate and kind of like a good rule rule of thumb is like, if the profile has over 10,000 followers in like a five to 10% engagement rate is like pretty solid. That means, yeah. So basically you can look at, um, the overall like number of followers that the account has, and then look at the likes that the account receives. So, yeah. And so you can kind of base like the average engagement, like Instagram takes it off of the 12, most recent photos. Um, but what I kind of look at, I kind of look at like the three most recent photos and I'm like, okay, this person has 10,000 followers. It's, you know, they're getting a thousand likes per post. It has a pretty solid profile that the audience is definitely engaged. Um, and then from there, you know, like once, once I find out these, these quality profiles, um, that's when I actually go in and start to execute this three, two, one method. So, um, backtrack real quick on strategy, as far as targeting, uh, that covers kind of like the location based. And then if you're going to target profiles, it's very important to focus on the people actually engaging with the profiles that you're trying to target. And so what I mean by that is, um, name like a, like a big real, uh, real estate professional,

Stephanie: (55:03)
uh,

Mike: (55:04)
grant Cardone. Yeah. So grant Cardone, for example, um, if you were to go to his page, he's obviously millions and millions of followers, right? You have no absolute idea what the quality of those followers are with demographic they're from or anything like that. So the quickest and easiest way to figure out, uh, or to get straight to the people that are quality. Um, as far as his profile is to go into the people that are actually commenting on the post and his feet. Um, if those people are engaging with Grant's posts that he posted within the last three days, then it's a good chance that they're pretty active on Instagram. They, they engage on Instagram. So they'll likely do it to you if you're in that same industry. Um, so that kind of covers like step one, which would be like the targeting. And, um, from there it's like the overall strategy, which is, um, obviously the most important. So, um, well actually I kinda disagree on your phone or the computer. Yeah, I do everything on my phone. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, from there, once you find the target audience that you're trying to go after, that's where you start to implement the actual method, um, which, like I said is super, super, super basic.

Stephanie: (56:17)
It is, but I've done it and it's, it takes, I've gotten more engagement, but I will tell you it simple, but just because it's simple doesn't mean it's easy as far as

Mike: (56:26)
for sure.

Stephanie: (56:28)
Yeah,

Mike: (56:29)
for sure. So, so basically what, uh, would you would want to do from there once you find the target audience is go into each individual profile that that matches your audience. So if you're on grant Cardone's profile, you're looking at the people who are commenting on his, on his photos, go to each individual person that comments on his photos and execute this method. So you want to go in, you'll like three photos comment on two of the photos that you liked and then respond to one of their Instagram stories. And basically what this does is it's gonna show your profile to these people several different times, several different ways, give you a higher chance of it was being noticed. Do you follow them also or no? Um, I don't usually, unless they follow me, uh, then I'll kind of look at them, engage like, okay, this, you know, this is definitely someone I want to connect with now, if it is someone that I'm like, for sure, like I know from the get go, I will follow them. Um, just to kind of like give them that initiation, like, yeah, I really want to connect with this person.

Stephanie: (57:30)
Do you ever worry? I'm just curious. It was a thing that we heard a while back where like, if you've got 5,000 followers of your own, you don't want to be following more than 5,000 accounts. Is that real anymore? Or is that just kind of, do you just follow who you want to follow and not worry about that? Or is that still a real thing?

Mike: (57:48)
Yeah, no, that's a, and that's kind of why I said, you know, like I don't necessarily follow everyone, but if it's someone that I really want to connect with and I will. Um, but yeah, no, I would, uh, I would definitely try and keep it like a, I don't know, like cheetah wondering like,

Stephanie: (58:05)
like half of who follow you, maybe follow that many.

Mike: (58:09)
Yeah, yeah. Like maximum. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And it kind of goes with like numbers too. So like if you have 30,000 followers, obviously you don't want to be falling 15,000 people. Like you'll never see a post, you know what I mean? So, yeah. So, so like once, once I got over 10,000, I really tried to keep it less than 5,000 people that I was following. So once I got to see the posts of the ones you want to follow or that you want to see, cause otherwise, like you said, you're just, there's so much noise. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Yeah. Um, so yeah, that's, that's, that's kind of been like my rule of thumb for it is just, um, you know, I try and keep it under 5,000, just, just so it doesn't get too high. Um, cause I, I really don't even see posts as it is like the main way that I, that I see posts is the people that I want to see, I turn on their post notifications. And so that way, when they post it, you know, it alerts me. But, um, but yeah,

Stephanie: (59:04)
so you go into, so the first thing you gotta do is figure out your customer, your ideal customer. And that's what we always hear in business, which is

Mike: (59:16)
who are you looking to talk to? Who are you looking to sell to? What have you,

Stephanie: (59:22)
and then figuring out where they hang out. So I think I heard you say this on another podcast. If you're looking for, like, if you're looking, it was the golf example and you're like, you may not want to go here, but you may want to go to golfers digest if they follow that and talk to you about that because you like, for me, I don't make, I don't necessarily want to go get other realtors unless I have a course for realtors or a business that they're going to buy from me because then I'm just attracting my competition. Right. So talk to us about that. So if you're a sales counselor, if you're a realtor or anybody else in business, unless you have a course or something coaching program you're selling to them, that audience, how do you try to not attract your competition, but attract the people that want to buy from you?

Mike: (01:00:07)
Yeah, for sure. So, um, going back to that example that you were talking about, what I was referring to there, um, was, you know, like if, if I was like a new like golf apparel company, um, I wouldn't necessarily want to attract like my competitors, like Nike and Titlest and these bigger companies that I have no chance with. And, you know, like the people that are loyal to those companies are freaking loyal to those companies, you know, like pulling them away from a title. Is there a Nike is going to be really hard. So, um, basically what I was referring to there is, um, which is what I would recommend you do there is you would find out what your ideal audience or your ideal customer, uh, whoever is, is interested in. So what I mean by that is, you know, people who are golfers and, uh, you know, they, they tend to like things like golf digest and, um, you know, just the overall like PGA channel, you know, things like that.

Mike: (01:01:04)
Um, whereas, you know, like that stuff might not, uh, you know, it might not attract that, like that direct like competitor field, you know? So as a realtor, um, you know, like if you're not trying to attract like the direct competition, um, I would probably try and figure out like what your audience is interested in. So, um, a good example is like, um, if you're in the Jacksonville area, your realtor, you could target someone like the Jacksonville Jaguars, um, you know, like the local pro sports team. Like obviously that's going to bring a lot of, a lot of attraction to that local area. And, um, the cool thing about that is you might even be, you you'll get a lot of people that aren't in Jacksonville too, but they might be considering moving to Jacksonville. So that might be another opportunity for you. There is to find the ideal house for them to come into, you know what I mean?

Stephanie: (01:01:55)
Yep.

Mike: (01:01:56)
And the same goes for, you know, like the top restaurants in the area, um, you know, like the top places to shop, if there's any like boutiques or anything like that. Um, like believe it or not like a lot of those, those smaller like brick and mortar businesses. Right. I get a lot of local attractions. So I definitely think that that's a very useful spot too, to go as far as people that actually are interested in the area and just vacationing because, uh, you know, like people could obviously be the vacationing in Jacksonville and posting in that location, but may never come back, you know?

Stephanie: (01:02:28)
Right. So you go onto their profiles, you check out to make sure. And if they don't have 10,000 followers or more, do you still stay on and do the three to one, or do you just exit out to try to find somebody else?

Mike: (01:02:42)
Yeah. So, um, basically what I mean by that is not necessarily, um, the people that I'm trying to connect with. So the people that I'm trying to connect with, they could have an audience of all different shapes and sizes. I don't really care about what they have. Um, but if they have a good quality profile, you know, I'll try and connect with them. But as far as like sources from, you know, that I'm trying to, uh, get people to connect, uh, with, through, um, obviously it's, it's a lot easier to, uh, finding people, you know, with, with larger audiences. So basically what I mean by, by that is like, you know, grant Cardone, he gets like thousands of comments on his photos. So, um, those it's, it's giving you access and the thousands of engaged users on Instagram. Whereas like my profile, for example, sure. It gets, you know, 200 plus comments on a profile, but, um, it's only 200, you know, 200 engaged users. It's nowhere near 2000.

Stephanie: (01:03:38)
Right. And then you, so you do the three likes and then you comment on two of those posts that you liked and then you pop into their Instagram stories. Now I've noticed that Instagram stories, sometimes I can leave a little comment and sometimes I can't. Do you know what the difference is on that?

Mike: (01:03:55)
Yeah. So a lot of that is because of the settings that those people have on their stories. So you can actually change it to where people can reply to them. They can't share them or do whatever. So it's almost like a, it's almost like having a private account, but it's just like a private story.

Stephanie: (01:04:13)
Okay. So I asked you, go on a story and you can't comment, just move on. But otherwise you can do, like, you can type, or you can do the emojis or what have you, and then it'll send them a direct message that you responded to their story.

Mike: (01:04:25)
Yeah. And usually if they don't have a story posted, I'll just send them a message, something really simple, like, Hey, what's up good to connect. Um, you know, like love what you're doing, you know, like something like that is, you know, it'll go a long way. Um, it's like literally effortless, but those like, people don't do do things like that. If they send messages on Instagram, it's usually very spammy and it's like, there were a direct pitch to something or, you know, some sort of sale. It's never like a genuine, like, Hey, let's connect you.

Stephanie: (01:04:55)
Do you recommend typing the message or voice recording?

Mike: (01:05:00)
Yes. Recording is incredibly powerful. And if you even want to take it a step further, a do you like the, you know, like an actual, like, you know, record a little video, um, and you know, just have you holding your phone? I mean, that's like incredibly powerful.

Stephanie: (01:05:12)
Okay. And then 100% response rate. Okay. Okay. And then, um, on the comments that you're making on the posts, is there a limit on how many care, like some people say I definitely, I always do more than four words or does it matter or what kind of comments are you? Is it just like, Oh, that's so cool. Or is it you need to do something more meaningful?

Mike: (01:05:34)
Yeah. Um, that's something that I, I try and like base off of the, uh, the, the content that I come across. So, um, if it's something that I can really relate to and I can come up with a quick, you know, like sentence to comment, then I'll do it. Um, obviously the more, the better, um, as far as both sides, you know, like as far as the actual, um, the, the actual, like algorithm side of Instagram, like Instagram really looks, doesn't really look at comments that are less than five, uh, five words. Um, and, and it's almost like one of those, like spam detectors, um, you know, where people use to utilize like bots and things like that to just like spam comments on their profile and it would help with the algorithm. So obviously Instagram is blocked that, and now they really only focus on like five words or more. But, um, you know, if it's, if it's something that I can really, you know, like draw an instinct connection with or something like that, but I think it's quality content, you know, I'll put up a couple of mode GS or something like that. Um, and to be honest with you, I think anything is as powerful when it comes to the engagement, but obviously more is better. You know what I mean?

Stephanie: (01:06:42)
Because of that regard, I guess you're not trying to really beat the algorithm. You're trying to connect with that actual person and the emojis will do that. So you're competition your goal,

Mike: (01:06:50)
correct? Exactly.

Stephanie: (01:06:54)
All right. Cool. And then, um, where do you go from there? Like if you're doing that, you recommend doing that for an hour. How many accounts or how many posts do you usually do? What does that usually look like for you?

Mike: (01:07:09)
Yeah, so typically like an hour long of a really just like nose deep, like really into it, like focused into it. Uh, you could get through like 50, 60 accounts, um, pretty quick. But, um, the, the key, like in, in like a lot of people think like only 50 or 60, like, sure. That's not a lot, but if you can think about how authentic that engagement was and that those interactions were, um, as long as you're targeting the right people, it's going to convert insanely high. So, um, when I do this, like I usually send out like 50 to 60 messages and I usually get like 30 replies. So I'm like, that's an insane conversion rate. And then, and that's, that's just on like the first day, you know, that's not even saying for the people that respond the next day and the next day, you know what I mean?

Mike: (01:07:56)
So, cause there, there are people that, um, you know, that are on Instagram, but may only check it once a day or a may only respond to messages once a day, you know? So, Mmm. I think like the, the overall like really powerful thing here is like the, the, the ability to establish like true, authentic, like real connections, you know, I'm like, this is something where you, you, you utilize something like this. If you really want to connect with these people, you know, like take it to a phone call or a sale or something like that, you know?

Stephanie: (01:08:30)
Right. And before we I've got five questions, I ask each guest before we end the show real quick, let's go back to stories because I want to talk about, um, the swipe up feature and why getting to at least 10,000 followers is a goal, because it could help you with some of your marketing and your stories. And then I'd love for you to talk about how you grew your account and what was it like a year from, was it 10,000 to where you're at now or what?

Mike: (01:08:58)
Yeah, yeah. Was a little little over a year. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So first off, um, obviously the benefits of having a larger account are really endless, to be honest with you. Um, you obviously like unlock some features with Instagram as far as the swipe up feature. Um, actually I think that's like the main thing that the only thing that you really unlocked, but, um, the other like main benefits are obviously the overall like perception of the account, the like what we call like social credibility, you know, like, um, followers aren't necessarily easy to get these days. Right. Um, so it's one of those things where it's like, okay, this guy has got 40,000 followers, looks like a normal guy to me. Like, what does he do? You know, like it just kind of draws curiosity. And, um, so it's obviously like super beneficial as far as that, but then there's like this whole other like world of like influencer marketing where brands pay people like me and you, um, to essentially promote their products.

Mike: (01:09:57)
So, um, you know, that, like, that's kind of what I, what I mean is like, there's literally endless benefits. So, um, I used to be like a product tester for Amazon. And, um, one of the main reasons why I got that gig was because my following and I mean, I literally was receiving like 10 to 20 products per day. I mean, it was insane. So, and it was all free, you know? So, um, that's just something that I was able to do. Yeah. I mean, that was, that was essentially what it was and all they wanted was for me to check it out, post a review on my, on my, on my, on my Instagram. And that was it. They sent me the money, you know, so, um, so it was pretty crazy, but, um, you know, like things, as far as like that, uh, the connections that I've made, like, to be honest with you, it wouldn't even be a thing if it wasn't for the brand, the personality that I've, that I've created for myself on Instagram. Um, and, and like, my partner is the same way, you know, like, Mmm. You know, he was just sitting at the table with someone who is like a kingpin in the oil industry and, you know, you just met him through Instagram, like randomly, you know, so it's just kind of crazy, like, uh, you know, the connections that you can make through Instagram, but not only that, uh, taking those connections offline and turning them into something valuable

Stephanie: (01:11:10)
and the swipe up feature for people that don't maybe know what is, let's tell them what that is real quick.

Mike: (01:11:15)
Yeah. Yeah. So basically that, that's just a way that you can promote, um, you know, like a link or a product or something directly inside of your Instagram story. So I'm sure you guys have seen ads like this before, um, where it's like, Hey, this is, you know, check out my, my, you know, listing or whatever swipe up. Um, so it's just, you know, super basic, but like I said, it's just a way that you can promote things and directly link things inside of your story. And without that feature, there's really no way to directly promote things other than putting a link in your bio

Stephanie: (01:11:49)
cause Instagram and all the other platforms, they really want the audience to stay on those platforms and not like click outside to go to your website or, you know, go to a listing or what have you on a different site. So the swipe up feature allows you to essentially get that same effect, which then they can see more stuff from you without having to go to this link in bio, which

Mike: (01:12:11)
most people aren't in it

Stephanie: (01:12:12)
take the time to go do.

Mike: (01:12:13)
For sure. For sure.

Stephanie: (01:12:15)
Cool. And then real quick, tell us about your story about implementing the three, two, one, and what that looks like. Cause I feel like people need to hear like the testimonials to understand that this is real versus just another strategy and they're kind of like this is going to work.

Mike: (01:12:31)
Yeah, for sure. No. Um, yeah, so, I mean, it's definitely not something that, uh, that I thought about yesterday. Um, it's something that I, you know, I've utilized myself. Um, I don't know, like I said, now that I think about it for several years, but something that I really, really focused on, uh, within like the last like 14 months or so, so, um, around like actually around new year's last year. So new year's 2019, um, I had just crossed the 10,000 follower Mark and, uh, that's when I was like mentally like, okay, like, I'm going to make it a point to execute the three, two, one method every single day, this year for at least 60 minutes. And obviously some days I did less and some days I did more, but the overall concept was that I just wanted to stay consistent with this method for a year and see what happened.

Mike: (01:13:19)
And so fast forward to now, um, now I've gained over 30,000 followers utilizing it. I think it's like around like 32 or 33,000 followers, um, within the last 14 months or so. And, um, not only that, but, um, I think like over 300 plus new clients and, uh, did well over six figures in sales, just from this strategy on Instagram. So, um, but the, the key concept there was that not only was I creating these really authentic connections, I was taking those connections and pulling them off of Instagram and taking it a step further. So, um, I definitely think that that's one thing to know is like selling on Instagram is nearly impossible. Like you gotta be unique about it. You got to get on the phone, be authentic connect with these people on a real level.

Stephanie: (01:14:05)
Got it. No, love it. Awesome. All right. So there's five questions that I ask each and then we'll get your social info and how people can reach out if they want to talk to you offline about anything. What's one thing that most people don't know about you.

Mike: (01:14:21)
Um, that's a good one. So, uh, I don't know. That's a really good one actually. Um, I think like I was going to say that I wake up super early, but I think everybody knows. Um, Mmm Hmm. I might have to think on that one. So real quick, one thing that most people, well, probably don't know about me actually. I don't know. Here's one that I was expelled from college.

Stephanie: (01:14:48)
Okay. Now you have to tell us why.

Mike: (01:14:50)
Yeah. So it was just one of those things where it was like caught up with the wrong group of people, you know? And, um, it was, I actually got tied into everything like guilty by association. Like essentially that the stuff was going down in my, in my dorm, you know, like in my, where I was living and I basically didn't tell him, I am I ruminate. So, um, yeah, so it was like kind of crazy. I mean, it wasn't anything like crazy, like, like crazy as far as like crimes or anything like that. Um, to be completely honest with you and straight forward with you, um, they would just send us selling drugs and, you know, just doing the wrong thing and which is kinda crazy because like, that's what ultimately got me to this point. Um, so like to go back in on that a little bit at the time, I thought that was like, literally the end of my life, you know, like my mom was like freaking out and everything was gone straight down the road, you know? I mean, it was horrible. Um, but, but at the same time, uh, I would not be where I am today, if it wasn't for that incident, you know? Um, because it literally put my back up against the wall. It took everything that I had going for me out from underneath me. And it was like, okay, I can be a manager. I don't audit for the rest of my life and try and take this retail route, which obviously you guys know that as well.

Stephanie: (01:16:04)
I've worked retail before. I totally feel you.

Mike: (01:16:06)
Yeah. Or I can, you know, like put my, put my back up against the wall and I can make something happen with this digital marketing thing. And that's ultimately what happens. So, um, it's kind of crazy because like, if you asked me today, what I thought about the situation, I would say, I wouldn't change it for anything. Um, obviously it really sucked at the time, but yeah, I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. And um, every incident that I've been into, that's been negative. I've been able to bounce back from 10 X, you know? So I almost like look for him, you know, it's like, all right. I mean, I need something to happen now. You know,

Stephanie: (01:16:39)
love it. All right. Question two is two part, what's the best piece of advice you've ever received

Mike: (01:16:45)
of the, I think the, the first or the best thing that I've ever received is just execute, you know, like, uh, be persistent, delusional and have gratitude. Like that's, those are like the three best things that I've ever been told.

Stephanie: (01:16:59)
Love it. What's the best piece of advice you'd like to give the audience today,

Mike: (01:17:03)
right there be persistent, delusional and gratitude. And basically, I mean, by that is be persistent at whatever it is that you're trying to get, be delusional as to what you want in life and be like, literally like a shark, like to the bait, you know, like straight at it. And, um, and yeah, gratitude, you know, just be thankful for how good we have a year in the States.

Stephanie: (01:17:25)
So, true question three. What's one of your favorite books or the one that's had the greatest impact on you?

Mike: (01:17:30)
Uh, yeah, that's a good one too. So, um, my favorite book and I hope it's okay. Um, the subtle art of not giving a fuck is

Stephanie: (01:17:39)
love it. I love that book bark. Who's the other one? Um, Mark Manson. Yeah. Mark Manson. Love it. Love it. He has the second one that came out. That was, um, is that why we're all asked everything is asked. Yeah. Yup. Yup. He got really depressed after that first book, I think because he said he had such high success and he wasn't planning on it having such a high level of success.

Mike: (01:18:04)
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was really good though. It was, you know, it was really straightforward. It was easy to read. Um, one that I'm working on now that I also, uh, truly recommend for kind of people that are like, just getting started into like this entrepreneurship or self-development, uh, world is, uh, this one right here, which is it's all in your head, get out, get out of your way. And it's by the rapper Russ. So I'm not sure if you're heard of 'em, but he is like a newer rapper and he's, he's almost like a personal development, like a style rapper. Like he kind of talks about like manifestation and stuff like that. Um, but the way that he breaks down this book is really cool and he kind of breaks it down into persistence, uh, delusion and gratitude. And that's kind of why, why, like keep saying those three things.

Mike: (01:18:51)
And so he like really breaks down the basic level as far as like your mind and, you know, just being focused on you, you know, don't worry about the noise. Other people are saying about you and things like that. And it's all things that I can like directly relate to because it's all things that I experienced when I was going through those, those incidents in the past, you know, it was like, you know, like I knew deep down in myself that I had it under control, but, uh, my family was making me think otherwise, you know what I mean?

Stephanie: (01:19:19)
Right, right. Well, it's funny you say that because about the manifestation yesterday, I got to interview a guy his name's Mark way has that said it'll come out in a few weeks and he is, it was all about manifestation and he teaches people. He teaches meditation and how to manifest, and he's got some stuff on an, on a meditation app. So that's awesome.

Mike: (01:19:39)
Yeah. And I mean, I think, I think it's incredibly powerful, but the thing is, is like, what people don't really understand is that it can be incredibly powerful, positively and negatively. So you gotta be careful with it. Yeah.

Stephanie: (01:19:51)
You gotta be careful what you try to manifest, right? Yeah. What's your current morning routine. Ooh, I know.

Mike: (01:20:01)
Yeah. So my current morning routine, uh, up at 5:00 AM, you know, sometimes I gotta stare at myself the mirror and, you know, like tell myself, like, don't get back in bed, like do it. Um, but yeah, I get up at 5:00 AM. Um, you know, I hit the pre-workout and go get in the gym by five 30. Uh, usually finish up in the gym by seven head, straight to the beach, do half a mile of lunges. Uh, that usually takes like 30 minutes after that. I'm like,

Stephanie: (01:20:28)
okay, why don't you do that? Because I've seen that on your stories and I'm thinking, or the one time I saw it was like 15 minutes of lunch, is that I'm thinking you just worked out. So what sort of between that and doing lunches on the beach? Is it just a mindset thing or?

Mike: (01:20:40)
Yeah, so it's a, it's, it's a couple of things. So, um, I have like horrible knee problems, so I'm six, four, and I'm like 185 pounds. So I'm like really skinny and tall. So basically what happened is I just stretched, you know, like straight up and down. And so my knees are like really bad and I've had really bad knee problems, uh, since high school. And, um, I've actually, I was actually diagnosed with, um, it's called Oscar slaughter disease. And it's essentially where you, where you grow too quick and your, your tendon like stretches out and it chips away microscopic pieces of your bone. So there's, there's virtually nothing you can do about it other than, you know, like try and build up that muscle as strong as possible and just keep it to where it's tight. It's not stretching. So, um, that's kind of like one of the reasons why I do it, um, is not only just to build up my, my knees and, you know, keep them really strong because I squat every day, you know, I live pretty hard every day.

Mike: (01:21:39)
Um, but at the same time, it's a, it's a form of cardio that I can do that, that doesn't hurt my knees. Yeah. So like running and stuff like that is horrible for my knees. I do love to run. I've done a lot of half marathons and stuff like that, but it's just like, it's really painful. Yeah. So, um, so yeah, I mean, that's like kind of the physical benefit. And then, um, obviously the mental side, I mean, like, it sucks. I'm not gonna lie like a half a mile lunches is literally the hardest thing I do every single day. And, um, I read something like, I don't know who it was that that said it, but it's like, you know, like start the day out with like the hardest thing. And the rest of the day seems super easy. So, um, I've been following this guy, uh, Corey Gregory. He owns like a supplement company and stuff, and I've been following him for a while. And, um, he was, he is like, kind of preaching this, like this lung streak. Like he was lunging a half a mile per day, every day. And he did it for like over a year. And I just it's like, I was just thinking like, Holy cow, like that's freaking insane, you know? Like,

Stephanie: (01:22:41)
and it doesn't hurt your knees.

Mike: (01:22:43)
No, it actually doesn't at all. I mean, someone else asked me that not too long ago. And I was like, no, I mean, my knees feel great. And like, I actually really haven't even felt much pain from it. Like at all. Like, I haven't really had any knee problems since I've been really consistent with this. Um, but yeah, I mean, it's, it's obviously like a really physical thing, but, um, I think the biggest win on my side for me is the mental challenge for me because literally every day I try and talk myself out of it. Like, so then I was like looking for raindrops to be falling. So I didn't have to go out there and do it. And at the end of the day, I still went out there and did it, you know, so,

Stephanie: (01:23:20)
so I'm reading a book right now called the 5:00 AM club. I had interviewed a guy on the show, Jimmy Rex, and he was talking about it. And it's kind of like the same concept of the alchemists, where they give you the point of everything through a story, which it's a 10 hour audible book and I'm going, Oh my gosh, just give me the information, but it's endearing because the story, cause it it's helpful, but I just want the information, you know, but part of it's talking about getting up early and all the benefits, but he said, if you will, your willpower is a muscle. And if you will purposely do things that are difficult every single day, like the way the Navy seals do, where they go, you know, sit in ice, cold water, they do these crazy drills that are just miserable, but it, it trains your willpower muscle. Cause it is a muscle that can get tired or it kind of like a battery where it starts out full at the beginning of the day. And then as the day goes on, it gets slower. But if you can do things that are not what you want to do and kind of train yourself to do them, it impacts your brain and your willpower

Mike: (01:24:23)
for sure. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And I'm pretty sure, like he goes into, that's like kind of going into like the scientific side of everything. Right. And that book. Yeah. Yeah. I'm pretty sure my partner is reading that one. Now he was telling me about it.

Stephanie: (01:24:36)
It's a really good book. In fact, I was going to screenshot it the other day and send it to you when I saw your story about getting up early. Cause I'm like, I'm trying at 6:00 AM right now. I'm trying to back it up to 5:00 AM.

Mike: (01:24:46)
Yeah. I mean it sucks and it's tough for real, but um, I don't know. I like, I've had spurts of it where I've been really good with it and then I fall off. But um, for the last like month or two, I've been on it every day. And honestly like it's not even like a thing for me.

Stephanie: (01:25:02)
Yeah. He said it takes 66 days. And he's like in the, in the first 22, you're going to feel like this, which is like death. And then days 23 through 44, it's going to be even worse than death because that's where it gets messy because you really it's like, you know, you can do it, but you're like, why what's the point? He takes you to the psychology through this story. Cause I'm like, Oh. And then they're like, and if you could actually get through it by day 66 and not take days off thinking like, Oh I have two business or two days off and then five business days. She's like, no, no, no, every day a lifestyle. And I'm like, yeah. But so we'll see. Okay. Last question. How do you unplug and unwind?

Mike: (01:25:44)
Yeah. So, uh, I think like the, the best way for me to just unplug is literally unplug. Like I try and shut everything off at night. Um, as far as, you know, like, um, you know, like going to bed, you know, like kind of like the way that I unplugged that way, um, I try and shut everything off. Like at least two hours before I go to bed, obviously being entrepreneur, you know, like sometimes that doesn't happen, you know, but I really try and discipline myself for that. Not only like for, you know, like my mental, like, you know, like wellbeing, like, you know, shut everything off and get a walrus. But at the same time for my relationship to, you know, like spend time with my, with my old lady and, you know, do things with her and the dog. But, um, but yeah, I mean, I think the best way for me to do it is, you know, kickback watch some TV, um, hang out, use some ice games, you know, just, just like literally shut everything down. That's, that's kinda my way to do it.

Stephanie: (01:26:39)
I saw something the other day and I said this on a different show. It said you didn't trade in your nine to five for a 24 seven. And I was like, Oh, that's so true. Because I think especially, and the world we live in, whether it doesn't matter your industry, but we just feel the need to be on 24 seven because everything is assessable. And we think we're going to miss out or not get a sale. And I just think that the more boundaries we can set for ourselves, the healthier it is, and maybe you lose a sale, but is that, is that really the sell you wanted, if you had to be on 24 seven to get it

Mike: (01:27:09)
for sure at 2:00 AM? Yeah, no, I totally agree. That's that was actually like my new year's resolution this year was to not work on the weekends. And so far it's been pretty good, you know, like I've been able to kind of shut everything off for the weekends and um, you know, like I'll pick back up like Sunday morning and respond to some emails or something just so I don't get too far behind. But, um, but yeah, no, I mean, if, I mean, if you can do it, I highly recommend you notice separate that, that work business life. Like my biggest issue, my biggest issue is that my office is inside of my house. You know, if I have, if I have an email come through or, you know, a client has an issue that I need to address, like I just walk her around the hallway

Stephanie: (01:27:51)
or are the freaking phones right on me. And I've got the notification right there with me.

Mike: (01:27:55)
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Stephanie: (01:27:58)
Cool. So if people want to get in touch with you, so what, what do you do for people if they want to connect, do you coach them on their profiles? How do you help people change their presence on Instagram or,

Mike: (01:28:12)
yeah. Yeah. So, um, there's basically a few different, a few different things that, that we focus on. Um, the main, like overall thing that I really try and do is if someone wants to partner up with me is, uh, number one, like get their audience up over 10,000 followers just to kind of unlock the features and establish like social credibility. And then number two, um, you know, like make sure their engagement's really good. Um, you know, utilizing things like the three, two, one method drives traffic to the page to get more engagement, it keeps the profile relevant. And then obviously the last thing is, is implementing a strategy, a longterm strategy. That's not only going allow, uh, the, the, the generation of, you know, like authentic connections on Instagram, but, um, give them a way to pull off whether it be a, like a website funnel or, you know, like some sort of call to action that actually like monetizes the brand. Um, like w one thing that I always tell people is like, you know, the followers, all that stuff is cool, but if it's not making you money, is it really worth it?

Stephanie: (01:29:16)
What I love that you say that because, I mean, I love Instagram, don't get me wrong, but one reason I have my website and my podcast is because I own that content. Right. And so Instagram literally goes away tomorrow. Yeah. That's going to suck to have to build another follower audience, but a lot of those people I'm already going to have either on my website, email list, podcast listeners. And so I feel like if you only have Instagram or other types of social media, you're not in control of your audience, if they change something or if it goes away in something and replaces it

Mike: (01:29:48)
for sure. Yup. You're exactly right.

Stephanie: (01:29:50)
Cool. So how do people get in touch with you if they want to learn more about you or reach out to you for help?

Mike: (01:29:55)
Yeah, so I think the, uh, the best way is to connect with me on Instagram. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, my Instagram user is at Mike Puglia, so it's M I K E P as in Paul O G L E S E. So at Mike Puglia's, that would probably be the best way to connect with me. Um, my website brand Merriam unlimited.com. So that is brand Berry unlimited.com. And, um, yeah, I mean, that's, that's kinda where you can learn more about, um, what we can do as far as partnering up and stuff like that. But, but overall, I really like to connect with people on a personal level. So to be honest with you reach out to me through Instagram, even if you don't, you know, if you don't want to do anything, I would, I would just be happy to connect with you guys and, um, just see if there's any sort of benefit between the two.

Stephanie: (01:30:43)
And then the other thing we're going to put him on the spot a little bit. So Mike shared that he's working on launching a podcast soon. We, he doesn't know exactly when it's going to launch this episode will probably air towards the end of April, 2020. So his podcasts may or may not be out, he's thinking it will be, but what's it going to be called? So people can search for it. They hear this after that fact.

Mike: (01:31:03)
Yeah. So the podcast is going to be a hustle holics and, uh, we're kind of just like making it over like an overall like lifestyle brand, to be honest with you. So it's going to be a podcast, but we're also going to have like clothing, apparel and stuff like that. Uh, just to kind of like represent us as people, um, and just kind of share it, use it to share our story as well as, um, connect with, you know, clients that we have and stuff like that and share their stories.

Stephanie: (01:31:29)
Do you have anything with leopard print or bling? Cause I would be totally in parallel with leopard print. Let me know.

Mike: (01:31:35)
Yeah, no, we'll, uh, we plan on like, we plan on doing like quite a few different things as far as like shirts and hats and stuff like that. Sweatshirts, you know, um, even socks. I think socks are a funny thing, but, um, but yeah, no, we'll, uh, we'll make sure to keep you in mind for that.

Stephanie: (01:31:50)
Sweet. Cool. So find Mike on Instagram, let him know that you want to hear about the podcast when it comes out. Thank you so much for being here with us today. I think we went a lot. It was a little bit long podcasts then we try to do, but I think there's so much good information. You guys, it's something you could go back and listen to again, regardless of where you're at in the journey, there's a ton of good nuggets, whether you have an Instagram account, but you haven't been utilizing it for business, whether you don't have one at all, go back and check your profile, check your highlights, check how you're using your stories, breathe a sigh of relief that you don't have to post every day. So I think there was a lot of just good in information in here. And it frankly is algorithm agnostic. Like it doesn't matter that they change the algorithm. They're going to change it again. It's their technology. It just is what it is. So figuring out how to make it work for you is really key, right?

Mike: (01:32:41)
Yeah. I mean, to be honest, like use it to your advantage. Um, you know, people always ask me like, what do you think about the Instagram algorithm? Always changing? And to be honest, I love it. You know, it keeps people on their toes and I'm always ready for it. So, um, you know, figure out a way to get in front of people and, and implement it. So, um, like I said, use it to your advantage. It's a very unique way to get in front of an audience. And it's not something that people are doing. Um, like, uh, in, in, uh, like authentic connections on Instagram are very rare these days. So if you utilize it, I can like literally promise you that it'll work.

Stephanie: (01:33:15)
Cool. Well, thanks for joining us. We really appreciate it. And we'll talk soon. Yeah, absolutely. All right guys, I hope you enjoyed this episode with Mike and have some insight into how to use Instagram, to grow your personal brand, to grow your authority. What to post, when to post all the things don't forget to check Mike out. You can check out the show notes at the glam girl, boss.com forward slash podcast. Don't forget to check out our insiders Facebook group, the glam life of real estate, Facebook insiders group. You can check that out. Find me on Instagram. If you want to connect miss Stephanie Lindamood, go connect with Mike. And if you haven't already subscribed to the show, we'd love you to subscribe with, love you to send in a five star review, telling us what you are liking about the show. If you have any topic or ideas, let us know and we'll talk soon. Have a great day.