Let’s jump just into some common nightmares coaches face, like… “I can’t seem to attract people to follow me! There’s no engagement on my business page. I’m not seeing a following increase.”
Or… “The same 6 people are liking my posts over and over again. Or they’re just other businesses, or coaches. How do I get ideal customers out of the woodwork and following me?”
If you’re getting objections like “I’m not supported by my spouse,” “I can’t commit,” “I don’t have time”… then you’re also attracting the wrong people over and over again. Let’s talk about that, and how Ashlie Molstad got hella famous!
Ashlie Molstad has Foodie Girl Fitness on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and Snapchat. (She doesn’t have a website when this episode was recorded, so obviously she doesn’t need one!)
She had an Instagram post that went extremely viral, got picked up by Cosmopolitan and many other big channels. The post was a picture of her in 2 different positions, with a caption that said: “Same Body, Different Angles.” She addressed the fact that we can manipulate how we look in a single moment on Instagram. At the time of this recording, she has over 306,000 likes on Facebook, 94,000 followers on Instagram, and her new YouTube channel already has 900 followers so far.
She must be doing something right beyond that one post, so let’s get into the good stuff!
Become Besties with Your Ideal Customer.
When I think of that rule, I think of someone I talk about everything with. Shopping, my husband, outfits I just got… Ashlie does a fantastic job of talking about everything she’d talk to a best friend about. Lipstick, lashes, microblading, wine, etc! What do you talk to YOUR best friends about? Even the things that feel vulnerable or a little uncomfortable. Ashlie’s not afraid to put herself out there. She even created a channel called You Can Sip With Us, where she chats with a friend. It makes you feel like you’re part of her inner circle. This is so important because it narrows down her ideal customer! You shouldn’t be seeking everyone… your job is to find the IDEAL customer that’s seeking YOU. There’s a specific way you’ll need to narrow down who this ideal customer is, because if you talk to EVERYONE, you won’t stand out through the noise on social media:
Consider this: Who loves you? Who cannot get enough of you and your energy, and who do you love back? THAT’S the energy Ashlie shows in her social media, and it can only be there if you’re truly in tune with who loves you, and who you love.
Tell Your Uncensored Story.
Everything you share tells your audience why they should trust you. (There’s already a fakeness about what people put out on social media.) Ashlie’s post that went viral was uncensored and vulnerable. She told People Magazine that she’d been struggling after a miscarriage and not feeling her best before she posted it. She realized if she’s struggling with this, there are absolutely other people struggling with it too.
It’s SO crazy simple! But we rarely hone in on that fact: that if we’re struggling with something, others are too.
She also said she promises to always be honest with her customers. Honesty is the heartbeat of her online presence.
What keeps you up at night? What plays in your mind over and over again? And what’s the UN-airbrushed version of your story?
Stand for something… and not everything.
Stand behind what you truly value, and preach it from the rooftop. Being a mom is a huge component of Ashlie’s business. She shares a message that says loving herself is just as important as loving her kids, and she’s not shy about loving to have a few drinks, and having fun. She’s not on the fence: she picks a clear side and is very vocal about it! Her posts and pictures ALL speak to her message, and it’s how she’s building her brand.
When it comes to building your presence on social media, you have to figure out the things you’re not afraid to ruffle feathers on. You have to do that in order to take people PAST limiting beliefs that might be holding them back. If you truly believe those things, you’ll have courage in saying them. What are you really willing to fight for? What pisses you off? (That will give you clues!) Have an opinion on it and share it, and your ideal customer will love you for it.
Color within the lines of what you really care about… and forget the rest.
If you look at Ashlie’s Facebook banner, the words seem generic… but what’s amazing is on her Instagram feed, she colors within those lines and never gets distracted with anything else. There’s the fitness component, food, family, coffee and cocktails, some fun, and lots of F-bombs.
Sometimes it’s hard to know what to post. Coming up with content can be hard, but once you decide what you stand for, just color within those lines. Ashlie doesn’t complicate it, and she sticks within those themes.
What makes you who you are?
Think about what you’d be comfortable ruffling feathers for.
How is it relatable to others?
She’s careful with what she posts. It needs to be relatable. Be conscious of how you’re putting your content out there- consider how both the caption and the picture truly relates to your ideal customer.
Use magazine quality images with colors that pop!
Natural light is the BEST for photographing yourself. Stand in front of a window. If you can’t use that, Ashlie recommends getting an under-the-cabinet LED light and it truly works! (I tried it!) For colors, Ashlie goes on Amazon every once in a while and buys cheap workout clothes… but the colors pop and they make her feed look more magazine-quality. Stick with the same filter, nothing crazy… just make it look good and consistent. Keeping a similar color scheme helps, too! Ashlie has a gorgeous rug with lots of colors, and it’s in a ton of her pictures. It makes her feed flow really well and look very visually appealing! The point is: If you don’t have good quality, visually appealing pictures, people just won’t click on it. The point of social media is bright, high-quality images that stand out.
Share the controversial shit that others aren’t willing to.
Ashlie’s message is often about stopping being at war with her “imperfect” body. She learned to embrace it in all forms, and she started wanting to treat it better. She wanted to work out, give it good food, and tell it nice things. That’s when everything changed.
She’s willing to share the back-and-forth self-hatred that happens that women think about, but rarely talk about.
What makes you nervous to talk about, but you KNOW people think about? You might want to use Reddit… it’ll help you figure out topics that are trending. Search within your niche! Recipes, being vegetarian, goal weight, abs, whatever you’re passionate about. Go on Reddit and look at the trending content in that area. Share those articles on your social media, and see if your ideal customer reacts to it. My friend Brea tried it and had 60+ shares at the time of this recording and they were still growing, which was the most she’d ever experienced!
What content speaks to you that’s being shared a lot? It’ll take the guesswork out of what to put out there. Once something gets a lot of attention, you can re-create your own content on that topic. Incorporate the themes from whatever you shared, and share your own opinion on that content or create your own version of it!
THAT’S how you position yourself to go viral. Figure out what’s trending, share it, see if your audience latches on… and if they do ,you can create your own content on that topic!
Keep 2 things in mind:
1
YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine after Google.
If you like making videos, make sure your content is on there and that you’re putting keywords in your content so people can find you!
2
If you’re at the point where you’re trying to decide your next step:
Make sure you’re putting out something original with your name on it in some way. If you want strangers to find you, you have to be searchable. It comes from putting something out there that has your name and your spin on it. Re-create other content, and post consistently. (Experts say “consistency” is once a week.)
Ashlie went viral because she was throwing out good content consistently.
Last: Insta stories and direct messaging are like Tinder for customers.
Putting a post out there is a casual dating site, but Insta Stories and DM’s are like Tinder… you’re getting down to business and wanting “action.” Stories are way more intimate, up close and personal.
For Insta Stories, I have a formula I recommend. There’s a beginning, a middle, and an end. People can obviously tap out, so you’ve gotta grab them at the beginning. Get right to the point with what the story’s about. Jump right into what you’re talking about or doing. Then throw in a testimonial! It’ll tell them why they need to keep paying attention. The last part of the story can be “DM me and I’ll send you ___ right away!”
When you ask someone to DM you, it’s SO different from asking for engagement on a post. It’s like jumping right to Tinder: You’re getting down to it and asking them to come into your inbox.
When I did a Pumpkin Spice launch, I used this method and had 47 people direct message me for it. It was an experiment that blew past experiments out of the water!
What is it you really fear from putting yourself out there? We can get caught up in the vulnerability… But what’s the worst that can happen? No matter how big or small it is, there’s a chance someone will love or hate you. At the end of the day, it’s more about the ones who will love you and you can help, than the haters you wouldn't be friends with anyway. You’ll attract people you’d naturally be friends with- so what’s waiting on the other side of fear is you getting everything you want. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.
Key Takeaways From This Episode:
WHERE WE CAN CONNECT:
Don’t forget….. If you loved this episode, screenshot it and share it to your IG stories and tag me @theashleyshaw. I would love to connect with you!
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