3 questions to ask if Instagram isn't bringing in clients

Is Instagram Helping You Make Sales—or Just Wasting Your Time?

If you’ve been posting consistently and still aren’t seeing clients come in, this one’s for you.

In this episode, I’m sharing the 3 questions I ask myself before I post—so I’m not just throwing content into the void. These are the same questions that helped me stop second-guessing everything I shared and finally start seeing results from the time I was already spending on Instagram.

I’ll walk you through:

• How I make sure my content actually leads to sales
• What I ask myself when I’m stuck rewriting the same caption 10 times
• And how I stopped spending every quiet hour in Canva while dinner got cold

If Instagram’s been feeling like a time suck with nothing to show for it, hit play.

🎧 And if you want to take this even further, make sure you’re on the waitlist for the Post With Purpose birthday sale: https://sociallyyours.biz/early-birthday-invite

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You're spending all this timecreating content, but when is the
last time it actually led to a client?
You're consistent.
You're filming the reels,you're writing the captions, you're
showing up.
And somehow Instagram stillfeels like a time sucking black hole
instead of a strategy thatactually grows your business.
If you are tired of postingjust a post and you're ready to get
intentional with the timeyou're already spending, this is

(00:22):
the episode for you becausewe're going to talk about exactly
how to do that.
Welcome to mompreneur Mastery,where we build.
Businesses, raise families,and skip the hustle.
That doesn't actually help.
I'm Sydney o' Brien, CertifiedInstagram Strategist.
Mom of three and your no Fluff.
Guide to making more saleswith content that's strategic, simple,
and you can actually make inthe small mom cracks of your day

(00:45):
because Instagram shouldn'tfeel like a full time job you're
not getting paid for.
If you're ready to stopposting just to stay visible and
start sharing content thatactually converts to sales and gets
you clients, you're in theright place.
Hey and welcome back tomompreneur Mastery.
I am Sydney o' Brien,certified Instagram Strategist mom
and creator of Post WithPurpose, the membership that helps

(01:07):
women like you stop spinningyour wheels on content and start
seeing results from the timeyou spend online.
If you are here listening,chances are you're running a business
in the margins of mom life.
You are writing captions fromthe pickup line.
You are filming reels whileyour kids eat snacks from the floor.
You're posting and schedulingfrom the parking lot of Target.

(01:27):
You are doing the best you canwith what you've got, which is great,
but still, something justisn't clicking.
You're showing up, you'reposting, you're trying, and yet no
one's commenting.
Your DM's pretty quiet.
Your offer post got little tono interaction.
So you wonder, do I just needto be more consistent?
Do I need to post more?

(01:49):
Do I need to be better at this?
And before you go into thatdeep, dark thought spiral, listen
because I've been there and sohave most of the women that I've
worked with.
Okay?
So I want to give you a just adifferent lens.
This isn't another hack orviral formula to follow.

(02:09):
It's just a real conversationabout what you're actually trying
to do on Instagram and how todo it in a way that doesn't eat up
your entire day.
Because what I hear from womenlike you, smart, driven, creative
business owners who are reallygood at what they do.
They're saying, I focused ongrowing my follower account, but
my followers aren't buying.

(02:30):
I have been using trendingreels for months, trying to get more
visible, but no one isengaging and no one is hiring me.
They're saying they're postingevery day, but no one is responding
to their sales posts.
If any of these soundfamiliar, I want to first start by
saying, you are not the problem.

(02:50):
Okay?
It's not that you're not doing enough.
It's not that you're lazy.
It's not that there's anythingwrong with you.
The problem is that you havebeen taught to prioritize performance
over purpose.
Okay?
To chase reach instead ofbuilding real results.
But likes don't pay your bill.
And visibility without strategy.
Like trying to go viralwithout a content plan that leads

(03:13):
to sales behind it.
That's just content forcontent's sake.
Here's something I teachinside posts with purpose.
Before you hit publish on apost, ask yourself, does this one
post have a job?
Not is it pretty?
Not is it go viral.
Will it go viral?
Not even will the algorithmlike it.
But is this post doingsomething to move my audience closer

(03:36):
to working with me?
Because when your content hasa job, it's not just floating in
the void of Instagram.
It's guiding people.
It's building trust.
It's creating momentum towarda sale.
And when your content has apurpose, you stop questioning it.
You stop rewriting it 10 times.
You stop wondering if any ofthis is even working.

(03:57):
That one question, what is thejob of this post?
Changes everything.
You open your phone notbecause you need to post something,
but because you know exactlywhat today's post is meant to do.
You can write the caption in15 minutes because you're not scrambling.
You're clear.
You can hit publish and moveon with your day.

(04:17):
You're folding laundry,serving a client, picking up your
kid from school.
You're not refreshing everyfive minutes and spiraling over who
liked it.
And the best part is, someonereplies not with a series of emojis
or oh, cute, but this made me think.
Or maybe you get a dm.
Hey, I've been meaning toreach out.

(04:37):
Can you tell me more about this?
Your posts, you didn't postjust to stay visible.
You posted with a purpose andthat post did its job.
And.
But when it doesn't have ajob, you're back in Canva.
You're second guessing everything.
You're rewriting the captionthree times.
You're hopping on random reeltrends with no point to them, no

(04:58):
way for it to actually helpyour business.
You're checking in an hourlater wondering why no one's responded.
And you're exhausted.
And I know you're exhaustedfor a million other reasons.
Probably your kid keeping youup at night.
You don't need to add this tothose reasons, okay?
That's the kind of stuff thatleads to burnout.

(05:22):
Because when you're doingeverything and still not seeing results,
it's so easy to startbelieving that Instagram just doesn't
work for you.
But the truth?
It's not that you need to domore, it's that your content needs
a strategy.
Okay, so I'm going to walk youthrough a simple three step gut check
here to help you shift fromcreating random content to creating

(05:43):
strategic content.
This is the kind of thing Iguide my members through inside post
with purpose, all the time.
Step one, what stage of thestrategy am I in right now?
Okay.
And the strategy I teach.
There's five steps to sales on Instagram.
The first is growth.
Second, engagement.

(06:03):
Third, connection.
Fourth, trust.
Five, conversion sales.
Okay, so if you don't knowyour content doesn't lead anywhere
because you're trying tofigure it out all at once, you're
trying to do all the thingsinstead of guide your followers,
the right followers, down apath to buying from you.
So once you know when yourgoal is connection, a carousel with

(06:27):
some random three ways to X,Y, Z isn't going to cut it.
If your goal is trust, youraudience needs to see how you think,
not just how you teach.
How are you going to get them results?
When you're in launch mode,your content needs to shift to selling.
But you have to have thoseother steps first to actually make
the sales.
So when you lead withstrategy, your content finally starts

(06:48):
doing something and it allworks together to get to that end
result of more clients for you.
Okay, so step two here.
What do I want this post to do?
Do you want to start a conversation?
Do you want an answer to aquestion you always get asked?
Do you want to plant the seedfor your offer?
If you are not sure what yourpost is supposed to do, it's probably

(07:09):
just fill in a square.
And that is where so manymompreneurs waste time creating content
that looks good or follows atrend, but doesn't actually lead
anywhere.
But when your post has a job,you can stop carrying the whole business
on your back and trust yourcontent to do its job.
Step 3 what do I want someoneto think, feel and do after seeing

(07:34):
this post?
Okay, this is what turns anice post into a profitable one.
What shift should they be making?
What belief should you be breaking?
What next step should they take?
You're not creating engagementfor the sake of it.
You're creating content thatcreates forward motion.
This is how you build thatconnection, that trust.
Get those sales without beingonline every day.

(07:57):
You already know how to juggle.
You're out here replying toemails while reheating Mac and cheese.
You're writing launch emailswhile your kids watch Bluey and you're
opening snacks for them.
You're showing up for yourclients and your kids at the same
time with the same brain andwith zero breaks.
You already stretched time andbrain space further than it should

(08:18):
reasonably go.
What you don't need is to pourthat energy into your content that
gets you nowhere.
You don't need to waste youronly quiet hour of the day trying
to figure out what to post.
You don't need your eveningsin Canva while your dinner gets cold.
You don't need to be visiblejust to be visible.
You need to be strategic.

(08:38):
That is what creates traction.
That is what moves the needle.
And that is what we do.
Inside Post with PurposeInside Post with Purpose Every post
prompt is tied to a stage of strategy.
Those five stages I mentioned earlier.
So you are never guessing whatto post or why it matters.
But it's not just the prompts.

(09:00):
It's how they work together.
You're also learning how tostructure those posts so that they
stop the scroll and actuallydo the job you need it to do.
You're learning what to sharein stories and how to have DM conversations
that lead to sales withoutthat icky cringe, hey babe.
Feeling.

(09:21):
You're learning how to use allthe Instagram features that matter
while ignoring the restbecause you don't have time to waste.
You're learning how to readyour insights so you can focus on
content that is working andstop guessing.
You're learning how to usesimple frameworks that feel like
you notice some bro marketer.
It's not about having moretime because I know you don't have

(09:43):
that.
None of us do.
It is about making what timeyou do have count.
And if you have been waitingfor the right time to join us.
Inside Pose With Purpose.
This is it.
We are celebrating Post WithPurpose's very first birthday next
week with huge bonuses andsome very steep discounts that you
will not see again.
It's giving goodie bagsstuffed with everything you could

(10:05):
ever want.
Kind of birthday energy.
I'm going to share the waitlist in the link in the show notes
so you can be the first one toget all the details before the sale
goes live.
Trust me, this is a party youdon't want to miss.
You don't want more likes.
You want content that bringsclarity, connection and clients.
You want to spend less timewondering if it's working and more

(10:26):
time seeing real results.
You want to post with purposeand then go live your life.
That is what we're buildingand I can't wait to show you what's
next.
So head to the show notes,grab a waitlist spot before the big
first birthday party sale soyou can get closer to sales and stop
wasting time even sooner.
Thanks so much for hanging outwith me on Mompreneur Mastery.

(10:47):
If this episode gave you moreclarity or a little boost of confidence,
I would love for you to followthe show, leave a review or share
it with a fellow mom buildingher business on her own terms.
And hey, if something reallyclicked, DM me on Instagram I am
ocially yours strategist andtell me the one thing you're doing
differently.
After listening, I lovehearing what is landing for you.

(11:09):
Until next time, here is toless stress, more sales and a business
that actually fits your life.