June 27, 2024 • 48 mins
What if taking a break from Instagram could actually transform your business strategy? Join me as I share my personal journey of stepping away from Instagram for two years, only to return with a strategic vision and a clear purpose.
SUMMARY
In this episode, I discuss my experiences with Instagram as a marketing tool for my business. I emphasize the importance of cultivating genuine connections over garnering thousands of followers and share my plans to limit my screen time on Instagram and explore other platforms, like Pinterest.
Listen to part 1. HERE.
FULL SHOW-NOTES WITH TAKEAWAYS
GET MAILS HERE!
BEST QUOTE FROM THE EPISODE
"Instagram will always have to be just a small part of how I reach my potential customers."
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You know me as a guide, mentor and teacher, but I've also set off on a new adventure, coaching. Coaching gets a bad rep sometimes, but when it's done right, it can be really transformational. As part of my coaching education, I'll soon need to do real coaching sessions. And it could be a really great opportunity for you to experience it at no or low cost. If you've ever been curious about working with me in this way, now's the time. Just send me an email: info@ja-wol.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi, welcome.
We are at episode 86, and it'sactually the second one in a
series of two, so if you haven'theard the first one, you can go
back and listen to it, or youcan just listen to this one.
Today I'm talking about fromfull Instagram breakup to
reconnection, or is it Part two,the execution?
(00:26):
So part one was the experiment.
I'm talking about why I decidedto go back to Instagram, and
today I, after actually whatlike a long hiatus two years and
now I am back, and I have beenback for about six months.
I thought it was a good time todo this episode.
(00:48):
I was planning to do a threemonth experiment, like I had
done with TwitterX, but it turnsout that I only came to do this
episode right now.
And even now it's like it'ssuch a huge one Because what I
did is I took voice notes alongthe way.
I had my on the road recorder inthe drawer of my desk, and
(01:13):
every time that I wanted toshare something, I recorded it
on my phone, and I also recordedit on my phone without the mic,
and so I ended up with lots andlots of great notes but
horrible sound quality, becausethey are so different from each
other and I'm not a sound editor, and although AI is amazing
(01:36):
when it comes to these things, Ijust don't have the time to
make it all amazing, and I knowthat it doesn't have to be, and
I'm the kind of creator that isokay with things not being
perfect.
At the same time, I do not wantyou to be annoyed with sound
(01:57):
that goes in all the directions.
I'd rather that you just getsomething from this.
I did work with AI and I hadall the little bits transcribed,
and now I'm going to share withyou what I gained from this
experience so far, how I haveset up myself for quote unquote
(02:19):
success.
So I'm ready to share all ofthis with you.
It's an ongoing process.
Honestly, it's been a ride andit still is, and I'm not sure
about a lot of things, but evenif I had no conclusions
whatsoever, just sharing myexperience so far with you, I am
(02:41):
sure you'll get something outof it.
I know for a fact that lots ofpeople like you in a small
business small business ownersare struggling with social media
and Instagram specificallybecause they are so aware that
(03:02):
it takes away so much of theirtime, are so aware that it takes
away so much of their time.
But it's just like it's thisfight that we cannot seem to win
, and I happen to believethere's ways that we can make
that fight a little bit easier.
So I'm here to give you someswords, some gusto, some
motivation, some muscle power todeal with it.
(03:25):
Hopefully you'll let me know ifthere was something that spoke
to you, and I can't wait to hearabout your thoughts.
So let's just jump into it.
This is very unscripted, exceptfor my notes.
I'm going to be myself, like Iusually am, and I'm just going
(03:51):
to go get my notes, but beforethat, hello and welcome.
My name is Saskia and this isPattern Shift.
Are you running a textile craftor business or dreaming of
starting one?
Whether you are trying to makea living or something extra on
the side, turning from crafterto business owner can be a steep
(04:13):
learning curve.
It doesn't have to be With 16years of experience in running
small businesses in textilecrafts and the drive to build a
solid alternative to fastfashion.
My mission is to provide youwith no BS, actionable exercises
and strategies in a languagethat makes sense to you, that
you can implement right away, soyou can organize, build and
(04:37):
grow your business holistically.
Don't burn out before you getstarted.
Build a solid base with thehelp of Pattern Shift Podcast
and the Yavo community and itsprograms.
All right, let's get going.
So I'm going through the stepsthat I took and the things that
I did to get where I am today.
(04:57):
We'll see what I haveexperienced so far.
So when I decided to sign up forInstagram, it didn't really go
well.
I think I'm blacklisted orsomething.
It took days to figure out howto actually open an account.
(05:17):
I had to use a completely newemail address and find some
workarounds, because they werenot letting me in.
It took also a little bit oftime before I found a name that
worked and that was easy to find, and I ended up with using my
(05:39):
own name and using underscorepattern shift, so people would
be able to find me through mybrand name and the podcast name
and, of course, my own full name, which I've always been
wondering.
Should I just switch to likewhat they call a personal brand?
But, yeah, no, probably not,not.
(06:12):
And once I got in, it was alittle bit complicated because I
really needed to figure outwhat was my goal there, what
would be my strategy, one waythat I figure things out like
that is I make myself worksheets.
I just love a worksheet.
A worksheet gives me thepromise of making things more
clear, less cluttered, lesschaotic.
(06:34):
So I went on to Notion mysecond love after Bullet Journal
, and I crafted a page where Ianswered some questions to
myself that were reallysignificant in deciding how I
was going to do this.
At some point I might sharethis page.
(06:56):
It's a little bit too hefty tobe like a free download.
So at one point I might put itup for sale for a couple of quid
, like not a lot, but I have toput in some hours to make it
usable for everyone.
And, yeah, it makes sense thatwe do a little bit of a trade
(07:17):
there.
So if you're interested inlearning about the worksheet
that helps you to build astrategy a minimal strategy on
Instagram, let me know, and ifthere's a lot of people that are
interested, I will put it outthere.
So I decided on a static grid,which basically is, as a first
(07:41):
step, the view you get on yourphone the amount of squares on
your grids.
Those are the amount of squaresthat you actually make and put
up, nothing more.
So it's static, it doesn't grow, and what is best about that is
(08:03):
that you don't have that pushof always having to make content
at multiple levels, becauseInstagram is about stories, it's
about your posts, it's aboutyour reels and that's three
elements where you feel like youhave to constantly be producing
.
I came into this with aminimalist approach.
(08:26):
I at first didn't want to fullyimmerse myself into Instagram
the way I had been in the past,because that was not healthy, it
was toxic, it was such a timeconsuming monster I went away
for a reason.
(08:47):
So, with this minimal mindset,my thinking was when people are
hearing about the podcast orabout my brand or about my offer
, lots of people go to Instagrambefore they even go to Google
(09:08):
and find the website.
So I thought I wanted to atleast cover that and have a
presence like a brand presenceon Instagram.
That was my first idea.
So to have a good brand presence, like a minimal presence, you
(09:28):
have to have a bio that talksabout what you do, how you do it
and how people can get to you.
Basically, it's also what we doin the business circle.
We craft a sentence that reallygets all of that in there and
that sentence you can usewherever and it's just a great
(09:52):
quick way of letting people knowwho you are, what you do and
how they can get your stuff.
So there's that your bio, thenyour and then your avatar.
Is it going to be your logo?
Is it going to be your face?
I always say use your face,because we are people and people
(10:13):
like to work with people andnot with corporations.
So if you use a logo, thenyou're not connecting on a
people level.
Use a logo, then you're notconnecting on a people level,
but show your face.
Yeah, I mean, it's a whole newepisode, so I'll just leave it
(10:36):
at that.
And then the static grid isbasically what I did is use my
landing page and a homepage ofmy website to craft a website
like grid.
So each tile represents theabout page, my mission, my
vision, all of the differentelements that we build in the
(10:57):
business circle, in the chapteraround your website, and it's
basically then just a copy pastething where all you need to do
is figure out how do you wantthe tiles to represent you, and
for me that was easy because Ihave done a photo shoot.
I need to book a new one, it'sbeen a few years Pictures of,
(11:22):
and I have amazing illustrationsand I could just use both of
them in a grid that made it lookconsistent with my brand, also
showing who I am, what kind ofperson I am, what kind of
aesthetic matches my brand, andhave immediately an idea of what
(11:47):
Yavol is like and what it isthat I offer.
And that was quickly done.
I would say.
I mean I named the worksheetInsta in a day.
Have to be honest, it took aweek, but I mean a week with all
the other things that are goingon in a life with a family.
(12:09):
So I think it's pretty good tohave like a thought through
conscious branding presence onInstagram within a week, and
then including all the struggleof even landing on Instagram and
getting my account going.
(12:31):
So that was the first big step.
So when I got my account, I wasgetting ready to set it up.
So I had all the information, Ihad my photos and my text and
everything was ready to go.
It was just going to be amatter of copy pasting and my
(12:53):
thinking was I'm going to let itdrip and I'm going to use a
scheduling app so that I don'thave to be there, I don't have
to have it on my phone.
It'll just like drip a new tileevery day for the next 15 days.
I think I have 15 tiles, so 15,I guess if you have a smaller
(13:15):
phone it's nine or something, Idon't know.
That's worth figuring out, bythe way, I just went with 15.
So just clarifying that, sothat you don't have to scroll,
like it's like a static grid andwithout scrolling, you see
everything.
That's the idea, yeah.
(13:36):
So I got ready to set it up witha scheduler app or website and
it didn't work.
I had to sign up for Facebookin order to get the Instagram
scheduler.
It was all very sucky and Ihated it, fighting my own urge
(13:58):
to just give it all up.
But then again, this is myexperiment and I really needed
to know if I was missing out, ifmy idea of Instagram has
changed over the years andespecially if I work with people
that use Instagram basically astheir whole marketing plan.
(14:19):
I had to be closer to it.
So I pushed through and Iactually signed up for bloody
Facebook.
Pushed through and I actuallysigned up for bloody Facebook,
and then I ran into the troubleof not being able to schedule it
.
What I ended up doing is gettingthe app on my phone.
(14:40):
I didn't want it on my phone, Iwanted to keep it strictly for
business, so doing Instagram onmy desktop alone when I am
working, not on my phone,because I didn't want Instagram
to be entertainment for me.
It needed to be connected to mywork, and that wasn't how that
(15:07):
wasn't.
It wasn't working the way Iplanned it to.
So I put the app on my phoneand I manually dripped a post
every day until it was the newyear, if I remember correctly, I
think in the new year, when itwas January 1st, I was fully
(15:29):
present on Instagram the way Ihad planned, and that was that.
But then the actual being onInstagram started.
So I had all these ideas ofwhat could be the minimal way of
doing things.
I'm not going to follow people,because then there's going to
(15:49):
be lots of interaction, and I'mnot sure if I want that, because
then I mean, I know this soundsso, so even unprofessional to
some, but I want interactionwith people for work.
I want interaction with peoplefor work.
I just want the social a littlebit disconnected from the work,
(16:13):
and I wasn't completely surehow I was going to deal with
daily messages in the DM withpeople that are actually also in
my contact list on my phone,right, but it's just, it's
different feeling.
So I decided to move slowly,not follow a lot of people, and
(16:37):
I started to feel guilty aboutthat because they were starting
to follow me.
The algorithm was very curious,by the way, because I put on my
bio.
I think my bio was on there forperhaps two days before I
uploaded the tiles, the grids,and I had two friends who I told
(17:02):
that I was going to be back onInstagram just so I could have
two people watching what washappening and giving me some
feedback from the other side.
And I was just going to waitand see if people would find me
just based on my bio.
And they didn't.
So it was two friends and mytwo kids for quite a while, and
(17:27):
then the algorithm sent fourpeople in my direction.
Interestingly, these were allalready my clients.
So I asked them how did youknow that I was going to come
back?
And they say well, they offeredyou as an option.
We just saw Instagram told usthat we might like to follow you
(17:50):
.
How interesting is that?
Right Does make me feel alittle bit conspicuous.
Then there were my clients andthen slowly from thereed.
Now, six months later, let mecheck.
This is another thing.
(18:17):
I will tell you about thatlater.
I cannot check at the momentbecause and this is maybe the
biggest result of all of it Ijust uploaded a screen time app
on my phone so I wouldn't gointo Instagram.
So there's your conclusionpeeking through.
(18:39):
But going back to that firstmonth actually is where I didn't
post anything.
I just meant for my account tobe static and just there for
those that needed information orwanted to go a little bit
deeper into knowing what I'mdoing.
Bit by bit, I got new followers, but it was very slow, very,
(19:06):
very slow.
And what's also quitefrustrating is that the
information I shared under oralong with the tiles, with the
pictures and illustrations onthe grid, didn't get.
I think I got one comment orsomething.
Almost no likes.
(19:28):
There wasn't any interaction.
Only months later, when newpeople are starting to find me,
some people will comment on.
They will say, oh, that's areally nice picture of you.
But it's been verydisappointing in terms of
(19:49):
reactions that I got from thestatic grid, but that's okay,
because I don't get reactions tomy homepage either.
After a while I started to stepback into using stories and I
started with sharing whenever Ihad a new episode out, and I did
(20:13):
it very sparingly and realizedthat I was looking at stories
more than making them.
At one point, a big part of mystrategy was making conscious
decisions Am I here to follow?
(20:33):
Am I here to be found?
Am I here to communicate andconnect to people?
In the beginning, I wasn'tthinking about connection as
much, but then what startedhappening is that people would
react to my stories and I wouldget people in my DMs, and
(20:55):
there's no way you will everignore that as a small business
owner, unless you get so manyDMs that it's not doable.
And then you redirect people toyour email or whatever.
It could be a choice, but atthat point I felt really guilty
for not engaging and it didn'tfeel right.
(21:17):
So I started engaging.
I don't think I got a lot morefollowers from engaging or
because they were alreadyfollowing me.
I think one of the mostimportant things to say here,
without really falling into toomuch detail about this, is I
(21:38):
don't need heaps and heaps offollowers.
I just need a couple of clientseach year and I need people to
sign up for the community, notjust for the money, but because
that connects to my mission ofconnecting business owners and
(21:58):
people that want to becomebusiness owners in the textile
and craft community.
I want to connect them and worktogether so that we don't have
to reinvent the wheel everysingle time.
So that is why I'm there tryingto talk to people that might
want to come into my community,so they don't have to be
(22:23):
thousands and thousands ofpeople.
I don't need thousands andthousands of followers, I just
need a few, and then, hopefully,people are happy with what I
offer them and they talk toother people and then, slowly
and steadily, my community, myplatform and my business can
grow.
And I don't need this to befast, because it's just me and I
(22:49):
need to be able to provide goodstuff to people.
So that's really important toknow.
It's not about collectingthousands and thousands of likes
and people and followers.
It's about finding those fewpeople that really connect to
what you're doing, and I canhave a hundred followers.
That that would be enough, justdepending on how many people
(23:12):
would actually sign up for anewsletter and then, from my
newsletter, go into thecommunity and so on and so forth
.
Slowly but steadily, instagramgrabbed hold on my life again,
because the twitch in my thumbwas still there, like the muscle
(23:37):
memory of my thumb.
Going back to the app is stillthere.
If I don't have the app on myphone, I won't post anything,
and I'm already now starting tobelieve that I have to post more
, so it's creeping back again.
(23:58):
I still fully believe the falsebelief that you constantly have
to share things, and the reallyinteresting and also kind of
weird thing is that I kind oflike producing this small short
(24:24):
form video content.
I can do a really good job if Ireally spend time doing it, but
I don't want to spend that muchtime and I do an okay job
making stuff and sharing thingsif I just do it quickly.
Now I'm working from home, so Idon't do a full head of makeup
(24:46):
every day, and making shortvideos is something that I used
to just do whenever and wherever, and that's the way I can do it
.
Well, whenever I get an idea, Iwant to share that I don't have
it planned and organized, like alot of the other things in my
(25:08):
business, Because when I doorganize it, my brain tells me
to go somewhere else and dosomething else.
So the best way that I can showup on social media is
spontaneously, in the moment,when I have an idea and when
(25:31):
it's a good time for me to justdo that.
But then again, I don't want tobe the puppet.
I want to be the puppeteer.
I want to decide when and howand if the app's on my phone,
I'm just following like a zombie, following the rest of people
(25:51):
online and doing the same thing.
I need to remember that it'sall about.
What does it actually bring you?
And can I say after six monthsthat I've had a whole bunch of
new followers.
(26:13):
It took me six months and not awhole lot of effort and a static
profile to get 272 followers.
Now, how many people signed upfor my newsletter?
Because that was my main goal,right?
No, my second goal.
(26:34):
So main goal was people will beable to find me, and the second
goal was getting people to signup for my newsletter or listen
to the podcast.
So I'm using Flowdesk, which isgreat, and I made a form and I
(26:54):
can see how many people signedup through Instagram in the last
six months, and that is 10people.
I know, shocking, right?
Just 10 people signed up.
And what I did was I shared alink to what essentially is the
(27:19):
first part of this two-partepisode and why I'm back on
Instagram and I didn't share iton a podcast and I thought that
would be interesting for peopleto hear.
Right, why did I return aftertwo years away and really
doubting if it was two years ornot and people weren't that
(27:42):
interested?
Because Instagram is all aboutscrolling and clicking and I
think we need to remindourselves that we trust it to be
more than it actually is and weare not so conscious about what
it does for us.
We are used to using it, aboutwhat it does for us.
(28:08):
We are used to using it.
We are used to doing what otherbusinesses like us are doing
and we just follow the vibe ofwhat the people in our bubble
are doing.
And it makes sense.
But it also is really good tosit down and really think it
through.
Sit down and really think itthrough.
(28:30):
Like I had those questions formyself in my Instagram a day
worksheets, I needed to reallywork out what I wanted from it
and test it out and actually dosomething with the numbers.
So six months just basically.
In the end, I spent, I think,about four months doing stories
(28:51):
I have.
I think you can count the reelsthat I made on one hand.
Oh, it's a little bit more,that's not bad.
Let me see Eight, 10, 22.
I made 22 reels.
None of them got comments.
No, not a single comment on myreels, and I'm sure a lot of you
(29:17):
have much more successfulnumbers than this.
But I wanted to show you a zerocount, like from nothing,
coming from nowhere, startingwith nothing and being realistic
about what you can achieve.
But things did change after awhile and I want to share you
(29:41):
what my biggest takeaway wasfrom want to share you what my
biggest takeaway was from beingon Instagram and what helped me
more than anything Actuallygoing outside and meeting people
on a festival, on an event, ina shop, in a shop, talking to
(30:08):
actual people that are myclients, that could be my
clients, and when I went to theWedding Wool Weekend in Berlin,
that's when I got my mostfollowers.
Because what I did then was Irecorded an episode with
multiple interviews withbusiness owners.
(30:28):
I sent them an email.
In that email, I shared imagesthat they could share on
Instagram.
I shared a link to the episodeand then I talked about it on my
stories and I made a littlevideo about it, which I shared
(30:48):
on YouTube and on Instagram, andthen all of that together
started to move things along.
But what's happening is thatI'm talking to new people in the
DMs, but also in email, andit's about the actual
(31:11):
connections that I've made inreal life.
Of course, making connectionscan happen online and it has
happened to me.
I've made so many friends in myfirst Instagram periods and
still am friends with a lot ofthem.
But that is more of a socialkind of situation and that could
(31:37):
be business as well, obviously.
But what I'm saying is thatInstagram alone doesn't offer as
much as you might think.
Basically, what we've knownabout marketing forever, it's a
combination of things, it's themarketing mix.
It's not just one thing, it isrepetition, it is connection
(32:04):
over different channels, overdifferent moments, using
different ways of communicatingand then bringing that all
together.
And obviously this can be yourstrategy having Instagram as one
of the elements in what you do,to make yourself seen and to
(32:24):
connect to your future clients.
That is a great idea.
Actually, it is a great idea tomake it part of what you do,
but don't rely on Instagram asyour sole marketing tool.
It seems easy.
It looks like people.
It seems easy.
(33:08):
It looks like other people aredoing it too.
A lot of them are, but also alot of other brands are using it
as just one part of what theydo your whole marketing plan
then you immediately know thatyou cannot spend hours and hours
on Instagram, because the otherparts need attention and time
as well.
So, finding out a way that youcan be there, be present,
without eating you alive andwithout seeping into your
personal life too much if thatis not what you want then you
have to really take some stepsand make some decisions and have
(33:32):
some protocols in place.
I mean, it sounds serious, butlet's get into what I am now
deciding to do.
So I've seen what works.
I see that I get more from thereels.
I get with the reels, peopleoutside of my bubble get to see
(33:57):
me just a little bit, and what Ican do is repurpose short form
videos on more channels.
So my plan for the future is tomake smart use of short form
videos and spread them onYouTube and on Instagram and on
(34:19):
other places where it makessense, even in my newsletter,
but make sure that you can useit on multiple platforms.
And then the biggest thing Iguess is having a screen time
app.
I have already caught myself acouple of times.
I uploaded it yesterday andthere is just a lot of twitching
(34:44):
thumb behavior during the dayfrom me to go to Instagram and
see what's going on andbasically I'm just looking at
llamas and alpacas and littledogs more than anything else.
So it needs to become part ofmy workday and focused around my
work.
(35:05):
I can do so many other thingsin the time that I waste there
and this is not news.
We all already know that.
What is hopefully news to youis that you actually have to do
some work and make somedecisions and ask yourself some
questions around consciousbehavior of Instagram and
(35:29):
realize that it's not justInstagram you can rely on.
You have to spread yourcommunication and marketing and
branding attempts over multipleplatforms inside your computer
and outside, and what that meansfor you is different.
(35:50):
Everyone has differentcustomers, different clients.
Everyone has different needspersonally.
So it is your journey to findout what works for you, but for
crying out loud, think itthrough.
Don't just follow the rest ofthe herd.
Be the black sheep and be theone that's different and be the
(36:15):
one that thinks things through,because we don't know if
something is successful if wedon't measure the results.
I have 10 people in six monthsthat ended up on my email list
and of course, you can argue andyou can say this.
I'm saying it to myself Maybethey're not all that into you,
(36:38):
could be, definitely could be,as everybody is all about.
You should be on Instagrambecause that's where your people
are and that is true.
Instagram is where the textilecraft people hang out.
So I needed to be there, Ineeded to check it out, but I
have found that if I really wantto build a list of people that
(37:05):
are actually interested in whatI have, I have to connect to
them in real life in differentways, on different accounts, and
just on Instagram is not enough.
I am not happy with peoplescrolling by.
I'm not even happy with theheart.
(37:25):
I am happy with theconversations that are starting
to happen in the DMs that aremore about the actual work than
my conclusion is.
I have to have it on my phoneto be able to do the short form
videos in the most easy way.
(37:47):
That works for me, but I needto limit it.
So for me, a screen time appwill hopefully do the trick and
it's just the first day, but itwill hopefully do the trick and
then Instagram will always haveto be just a small part of how I
(38:08):
reach my potential customersand I don't want it to interfere
in everything that I do.
I see it happen to my kids andit's so frustrating.
I need to show them.
I need to show them that we cando it a little bit more wisely
(38:30):
and not have breakfast onInstagram, because that's what's
happening right.
So I hope you got somethingfrom this.
Okay, so basic things.
I need to set boundaries tokeep it a healthy, healthy,
consistent thing.
(38:52):
I've realized that just a staticgrid is the basics and I could
go.
Now that I have my account, thestatic grid not doing any
videos, not doing any stories iswhat I can go back to whenever
I want.
I just stop posting.
(39:12):
I love the static grid.
I would say to anyone andeveryone that is not using
Instagram but is feeling pushedto do something, but is feeling
pushed to do something if youfeel like you should be on
Instagram but you kind of don'twant to, if you are a very
private person, if you do notwant to show your face in short
(39:41):
form, videos or anything likethat, try that static grid.
If you feel like not being onInstagram is not smart, I don't
really believe that.
I think you don't need it atall.
The minimalist approach got me10 new email subscribers and I'm
(40:08):
not ashamed to say thesenumbers.
I have 200 something.
I don't even know it by heart.
How many followers do I have?
227.
And it's been like that fordays I think weeks even.
And it's not a big deal becauseit's realistic and it's
something that we forget about.
If you have built a followerlist over the years, I used to
have like the top was 7,000 andthen I threw it all away.
(40:30):
And that's fine, because lotsof those people didn't see what
I was doing anyway.
They weren't interesting.
It's just vanity numbers, asthey call it.
And at least now, with thislink set up to my flow desk, I
can really see what's happeningand it's not a whole lot.
And it's great to have chattyconversations in the DMs, but
(40:55):
it's better if they're aboutwhat you're doing and mix it
with chattiness and friendliness, because we don't have to be
super businessy all the time.
That's not my point.
But why am I on Instagram?
Not to hang out with my friends.
That's not why I'm there andthat's the result of my
(41:16):
conscious thought around.
This could be different for you, but the thing is, the end
thing is think about it, don'tjust follow everyone.
So what's next for me?
On Instagram?
I already told you I think I'mfiguring out the short video way
short form video and seeing ifI can multipurpose that on
(41:37):
different platforms.
But for the summer period, Iwill retreat from Instagram for
a while and probably have alittle bit of a promo for
something I'm working on Summerschool and I'll retreat from
(41:57):
Instagram and then I'll probablycome back after summer.
But I think it's important tohave breaks.
So summer break and winterbreak around Christmas those are
kind of my moments every sixmonths to get away from it all.
And I'll do the same with thepodcast.
(42:19):
I'll have a break over summerand I'll be back.
So don't worry, I'll be back.
I love podcasting.
My next experiment is going tobe all about Pinterest.
I'm going to focus on Pinterestmore than the other platforms
so that I can see what that doesto my subscribers, because
(42:42):
subscribers are people that areactually interested.
Followers are scrollers untilthey subscribe.
Somebody that subscribes toyour email is closer to you, is
interested and has morepotential for becoming your
customer.
So it's important to know.
(43:03):
How long have I been chattingAges?
Oh God, I have to edit thisPinterest next thing that I will
figure out and I'll let youknow how that goes.
There is not a lot ofcommunicating on Pinterest, so
that should be healthy.
Healthy, let's see.
(43:29):
Let's see.
So again, if you want to, if youwant me to share that Instagram
in a day slash week worksheetthat can help you set up your
basic minimalist Instagramstrategy, then let me know, and
you can do that by clicking thevoicemail button on
patternshiftcom and at theepisode page, or you can send me
(43:51):
an email info at ja-volcom, oryou can come by and hang out
with me.
I'm in Rotterdam, just let meknow.
Yep, that's it.
Okay, have fun, have a greatsummer and I'll be back at some
point.
I didn't have the day in frontof me.
This is it for now.
(44:11):
Bye.
Ps.
I've just used flow desks, as Iwas talking about before.
Love the flow desk.
Ps.
You can get 50% discount on theshow note page and there is
actually what I'm talking about.
You can click to show yourinterest in the.
I've renamed it now it iscalled the Instant Minimalist
(44:36):
Insta Worksheet.
So if you have interest in this, then you can click there and
flowdesk will let me know, andyou will get an email as soon as
I've made it.
And as soon as I see that lotsof people have interest, there
you go.
You can do the same.
You can use flowdesk for youremails.
(44:58):
You can use it like I just did.
They even have a landing page.
So if you are a designer andyou need a page for yourself and
you also want to build youraudience because Instagram and
Ravelry will only take you sofar you have to take care of
(45:22):
yourself.
I mean, this is an episode inthe making.
I will talk about this a lot,but not now.
I just want to let you knowthat with Flowdesk, you have
this all-in-one solution.
I'll give you 50% off with mycode.
I will get something for thattoo.
It is no extra cost to you andjust check it out, see if it's
(45:45):
something that might work foryou and, I think, especially for
designers.
It's great.
You can just sell your designson that landing page and, at the
same time, have an all-in-onesolution for your emails as well
.
So just wanted to add this havea great summer.
Bye.
Hi, welcome.
We are at episode 86, and it'sactually the second one in a
series of two, so if you haven'theard the first one, you can go
back and listen to it, or youcan just listen to this one.
Today I'm talking about fromfull Instagram breakup to
reconnection, or is it Part two,the execution?
(00:26):
So part one was the experiment.
I'm talking about why I decidedto go back to Instagram, and
today I, after actually whatlike a long hiatus two years and
now I am back, and I have beenback for about six months.
I thought it was a good time todo this episode.
(00:48):
I was planning to do a threemonth experiment, like I had
done with TwitterX, but it turnsout that I only came to do this
episode right now.
And even now it's like it'ssuch a huge one Because what I
did is I took voice notes alongthe way.
I had my on the road recorder inthe drawer of my desk, and
(01:13):
every time that I wanted toshare something, I recorded it
on my phone, and I also recordedit on my phone without the mic,
and so I ended up with lots andlots of great notes but
horrible sound quality, becausethey are so different from each
other and I'm not a sound editor, and although AI is amazing
(01:36):
when it comes to these things, Ijust don't have the time to
make it all amazing, and I knowthat it doesn't have to be, and
I'm the kind of creator that isokay with things not being
perfect.
At the same time, I do not wantyou to be annoyed with sound
(01:57):
that goes in all the directions.
I'd rather that you just getsomething from this.
I did work with AI and I hadall the little bits transcribed,
and now I'm going to share withyou what I gained from this
experience so far, how I haveset up myself for quote unquote
(02:19):
success.
So I'm ready to share all ofthis with you.
It's an ongoing process.
Honestly, it's been a ride andit still is, and I'm not sure
about a lot of things, but evenif I had no conclusions
whatsoever, just sharing myexperience so far with you, I am
(02:41):
sure you'll get something outof it.
I know for a fact that lots ofpeople like you in a small
business small business ownersare struggling with social media
and Instagram specificallybecause they are so aware that
(03:02):
it takes away so much of theirtime, are so aware that it takes
away so much of their time.
But it's just like it's thisfight that we cannot seem to win
, and I happen to believethere's ways that we can make
that fight a little bit easier.
So I'm here to give you someswords, some gusto, some
motivation, some muscle power todeal with it.
(03:25):
Hopefully you'll let me know ifthere was something that spoke
to you, and I can't wait to hearabout your thoughts.
So let's just jump into it.
This is very unscripted, exceptfor my notes.
I'm going to be myself, like Iusually am, and I'm just going
(03:51):
to go get my notes, but beforethat, hello and welcome.
My name is Saskia and this isPattern Shift.
Are you running a textile craftor business or dreaming of
starting one?
Whether you are trying to makea living or something extra on
the side, turning from crafterto business owner can be a steep
(04:13):
learning curve.
It doesn't have to be With 16years of experience in running
small businesses in textilecrafts and the drive to build a
solid alternative to fastfashion.
My mission is to provide youwith no BS, actionable exercises
and strategies in a languagethat makes sense to you, that
you can implement right away, soyou can organize, build and
(04:37):
grow your business holistically.
Don't burn out before you getstarted.
Build a solid base with thehelp of Pattern Shift Podcast
and the Yavo community and itsprograms.
All right, let's get going.
So I'm going through the stepsthat I took and the things that
I did to get where I am today.
(04:57):
We'll see what I haveexperienced so far.
So when I decided to sign up forInstagram, it didn't really go
well.
I think I'm blacklisted orsomething.
It took days to figure out howto actually open an account.
(05:17):
I had to use a completely newemail address and find some
workarounds, because they werenot letting me in.
It took also a little bit oftime before I found a name that
worked and that was easy to find, and I ended up with using my
(05:39):
own name and using underscorepattern shift, so people would
be able to find me through mybrand name and the podcast name
and, of course, my own full name, which I've always been
wondering.
Should I just switch to likewhat they call a personal brand?
But, yeah, no, probably not,not.
(06:12):
And once I got in, it was alittle bit complicated because I
really needed to figure outwhat was my goal there, what
would be my strategy, one waythat I figure things out like
that is I make myself worksheets.
I just love a worksheet.
A worksheet gives me thepromise of making things more
clear, less cluttered, lesschaotic.
(06:34):
So I went on to Notion mysecond love after Bullet Journal
, and I crafted a page where Ianswered some questions to
myself that were reallysignificant in deciding how I
was going to do this.
At some point I might sharethis page.
(06:56):
It's a little bit too hefty tobe like a free download.
So at one point I might put itup for sale for a couple of quid
, like not a lot, but I have toput in some hours to make it
usable for everyone.
And, yeah, it makes sense thatwe do a little bit of a trade
(07:17):
there.
So if you're interested inlearning about the worksheet
that helps you to build astrategy a minimal strategy on
Instagram, let me know, and ifthere's a lot of people that are
interested, I will put it outthere.
So I decided on a static grid,which basically is, as a first
(07:41):
step, the view you get on yourphone the amount of squares on
your grids.
Those are the amount of squaresthat you actually make and put
up, nothing more.
So it's static, it doesn't grow, and what is best about that is
(08:03):
that you don't have that pushof always having to make content
at multiple levels, becauseInstagram is about stories, it's
about your posts, it's aboutyour reels and that's three
elements where you feel like youhave to constantly be producing
.
I came into this with aminimalist approach.
(08:26):
I at first didn't want to fullyimmerse myself into Instagram
the way I had been in the past,because that was not healthy, it
was toxic, it was such a timeconsuming monster I went away
for a reason.
(08:47):
So, with this minimal mindset,my thinking was when people are
hearing about the podcast orabout my brand or about my offer
, lots of people go to Instagrambefore they even go to Google
(09:08):
and find the website.
So I thought I wanted to atleast cover that and have a
presence like a brand presenceon Instagram.
That was my first idea.
So to have a good brand presence, like a minimal presence, you
(09:28):
have to have a bio that talksabout what you do, how you do it
and how people can get to you.
Basically, it's also what we doin the business circle.
We craft a sentence that reallygets all of that in there and
that sentence you can usewherever and it's just a great
(09:52):
quick way of letting people knowwho you are, what you do and
how they can get your stuff.
So there's that your bio, thenyour and then your avatar.
Is it going to be your logo?
Is it going to be your face?
I always say use your face,because we are people and people
(10:13):
like to work with people andnot with corporations.
So if you use a logo, thenyou're not connecting on a
people level.
Use a logo, then you're notconnecting on a people level,
but show your face.
Yeah, I mean, it's a whole newepisode, so I'll just leave it
(10:36):
at that.
And then the static grid isbasically what I did is use my
landing page and a homepage ofmy website to craft a website
like grid.
So each tile represents theabout page, my mission, my
vision, all of the differentelements that we build in the
(10:57):
business circle, in the chapteraround your website, and it's
basically then just a copy pastething where all you need to do
is figure out how do you wantthe tiles to represent you, and
for me that was easy because Ihave done a photo shoot.
I need to book a new one, it'sbeen a few years Pictures of,
(11:22):
and I have amazing illustrationsand I could just use both of
them in a grid that made it lookconsistent with my brand, also
showing who I am, what kind ofperson I am, what kind of
aesthetic matches my brand, andhave immediately an idea of what
(11:47):
Yavol is like and what it isthat I offer.
And that was quickly done.
I would say.
I mean I named the worksheetInsta in a day.
Have to be honest, it took aweek, but I mean a week with all
the other things that are goingon in a life with a family.
(12:09):
So I think it's pretty good tohave like a thought through
conscious branding presence onInstagram within a week, and
then including all the struggleof even landing on Instagram and
getting my account going.
(12:31):
So that was the first big step.
So when I got my account, I wasgetting ready to set it up.
So I had all the information, Ihad my photos and my text and
everything was ready to go.
It was just going to be amatter of copy pasting and my
(12:53):
thinking was I'm going to let itdrip and I'm going to use a
scheduling app so that I don'thave to be there, I don't have
to have it on my phone.
It'll just like drip a new tileevery day for the next 15 days.
I think I have 15 tiles, so 15,I guess if you have a smaller
(13:15):
phone it's nine or something, Idon't know.
That's worth figuring out, bythe way, I just went with 15.
So just clarifying that, sothat you don't have to scroll,
like it's like a static grid andwithout scrolling, you see
everything.
That's the idea, yeah.
(13:36):
So I got ready to set it up witha scheduler app or website and
it didn't work.
I had to sign up for Facebookin order to get the Instagram
scheduler.
It was all very sucky and Ihated it, fighting my own urge
(13:58):
to just give it all up.
But then again, this is myexperiment and I really needed
to know if I was missing out, ifmy idea of Instagram has
changed over the years andespecially if I work with people
that use Instagram basically astheir whole marketing plan.
(14:19):
I had to be closer to it.
So I pushed through and Iactually signed up for bloody
Facebook.
Pushed through and I actuallysigned up for bloody Facebook,
and then I ran into the troubleof not being able to schedule it
.
What I ended up doing is gettingthe app on my phone.
(14:40):
I didn't want it on my phone, Iwanted to keep it strictly for
business, so doing Instagram onmy desktop alone when I am
working, not on my phone,because I didn't want Instagram
to be entertainment for me.
It needed to be connected to mywork, and that wasn't how that
(15:07):
wasn't.
It wasn't working the way Iplanned it to.
So I put the app on my phoneand I manually dripped a post
every day until it was the newyear, if I remember correctly, I
think in the new year, when itwas January 1st, I was fully
(15:29):
present on Instagram the way Ihad planned, and that was that.
But then the actual being onInstagram started.
So I had all these ideas ofwhat could be the minimal way of
doing things.
I'm not going to follow people,because then there's going to
(15:49):
be lots of interaction, and I'mnot sure if I want that, because
then I mean, I know this soundsso, so even unprofessional to
some, but I want interactionwith people for work.
I want interaction with peoplefor work.
I just want the social a littlebit disconnected from the work,
(16:13):
and I wasn't completely surehow I was going to deal with
daily messages in the DM withpeople that are actually also in
my contact list on my phone,right, but it's just, it's
different feeling.
So I decided to move slowly,not follow a lot of people, and
(16:37):
I started to feel guilty aboutthat because they were starting
to follow me.
The algorithm was very curious,by the way, because I put on my
bio.
I think my bio was on there forperhaps two days before I
uploaded the tiles, the grids,and I had two friends who I told
(17:02):
that I was going to be back onInstagram just so I could have
two people watching what washappening and giving me some
feedback from the other side.
And I was just going to waitand see if people would find me
just based on my bio.
And they didn't.
So it was two friends and mytwo kids for quite a while, and
(17:27):
then the algorithm sent fourpeople in my direction.
Interestingly, these were allalready my clients.
So I asked them how did youknow that I was going to come
back?
And they say well, they offeredyou as an option.
We just saw Instagram told usthat we might like to follow you
(17:50):
.
How interesting is that?
Right Does make me feel alittle bit conspicuous.
Then there were my clients andthen slowly from thereed.
Now, six months later, let mecheck.
This is another thing.
(18:17):
I will tell you about thatlater.
I cannot check at the momentbecause and this is maybe the
biggest result of all of it Ijust uploaded a screen time app
on my phone so I wouldn't gointo Instagram.
So there's your conclusionpeeking through.
(18:39):
But going back to that firstmonth actually is where I didn't
post anything.
I just meant for my account tobe static and just there for
those that needed information orwanted to go a little bit
deeper into knowing what I'mdoing.
Bit by bit, I got new followers, but it was very slow, very,
(19:06):
very slow.
And what's also quitefrustrating is that the
information I shared under oralong with the tiles, with the
pictures and illustrations onthe grid, didn't get.
I think I got one comment orsomething.
Almost no likes.
(19:28):
There wasn't any interaction.
Only months later, when newpeople are starting to find me,
some people will comment on.
They will say, oh, that's areally nice picture of you.
But it's been verydisappointing in terms of
(19:49):
reactions that I got from thestatic grid, but that's okay,
because I don't get reactions tomy homepage either.
After a while I started to stepback into using stories and I
started with sharing whenever Ihad a new episode out, and I did
(20:13):
it very sparingly and realizedthat I was looking at stories
more than making them.
At one point, a big part of mystrategy was making conscious
decisions Am I here to follow?
(20:33):
Am I here to be found?
Am I here to communicate andconnect to people?
In the beginning, I wasn'tthinking about connection as
much, but then what startedhappening is that people would
react to my stories and I wouldget people in my DMs, and
(20:55):
there's no way you will everignore that as a small business
owner, unless you get so manyDMs that it's not doable.
And then you redirect people toyour email or whatever.
It could be a choice, but atthat point I felt really guilty
for not engaging and it didn'tfeel right.
(21:17):
So I started engaging.
I don't think I got a lot morefollowers from engaging or
because they were alreadyfollowing me.
I think one of the mostimportant things to say here,
without really falling into toomuch detail about this, is I
(21:38):
don't need heaps and heaps offollowers.
I just need a couple of clientseach year and I need people to
sign up for the community, notjust for the money, but because
that connects to my mission ofconnecting business owners and
(21:58):
people that want to becomebusiness owners in the textile
and craft community.
I want to connect them and worktogether so that we don't have
to reinvent the wheel everysingle time.
So that is why I'm there tryingto talk to people that might
want to come into my community,so they don't have to be
(22:23):
thousands and thousands ofpeople.
I don't need thousands andthousands of followers, I just
need a few, and then, hopefully,people are happy with what I
offer them and they talk toother people and then, slowly
and steadily, my community, myplatform and my business can
grow.
And I don't need this to befast, because it's just me and I
(22:49):
need to be able to provide goodstuff to people.
So that's really important toknow.
It's not about collectingthousands and thousands of likes
and people and followers.
It's about finding those fewpeople that really connect to
what you're doing, and I canhave a hundred followers.
That that would be enough, justdepending on how many people
(23:12):
would actually sign up for anewsletter and then, from my
newsletter, go into thecommunity and so on and so forth
.
Slowly but steadily, instagramgrabbed hold on my life again,
because the twitch in my thumbwas still there, like the muscle
(23:37):
memory of my thumb.
Going back to the app is stillthere.
If I don't have the app on myphone, I won't post anything,
and I'm already now starting tobelieve that I have to post more
, so it's creeping back again.
(23:58):
I still fully believe the falsebelief that you constantly have
to share things, and the reallyinteresting and also kind of
weird thing is that I kind oflike producing this small short
(24:24):
form video content.
I can do a really good job if Ireally spend time doing it, but
I don't want to spend that muchtime and I do an okay job
making stuff and sharing thingsif I just do it quickly.
Now I'm working from home, so Idon't do a full head of makeup
(24:46):
every day, and making shortvideos is something that I used
to just do whenever and wherever, and that's the way I can do it
.
Well, whenever I get an idea, Iwant to share that I don't have
it planned and organized, like alot of the other things in my
(25:08):
business, Because when I doorganize it, my brain tells me
to go somewhere else and dosomething else.
So the best way that I can showup on social media is
spontaneously, in the moment,when I have an idea and when
(25:31):
it's a good time for me to justdo that.
But then again, I don't want tobe the puppet.
I want to be the puppeteer.
I want to decide when and howand if the app's on my phone,
I'm just following like a zombie, following the rest of people
(25:51):
online and doing the same thing.
I need to remember that it'sall about.
What does it actually bring you?
And can I say after six monthsthat I've had a whole bunch of
new followers.
(26:13):
It took me six months and not awhole lot of effort and a static
profile to get 272 followers.
Now, how many people signed upfor my newsletter?
Because that was my main goal,right?
No, my second goal.
(26:34):
So main goal was people will beable to find me, and the second
goal was getting people to signup for my newsletter or listen
to the podcast.
So I'm using Flowdesk, which isgreat, and I made a form and I
(26:54):
can see how many people signedup through Instagram in the last
six months, and that is 10people.
I know, shocking, right?
Just 10 people signed up.
And what I did was I shared alink to what essentially is the
(27:19):
first part of this two-partepisode and why I'm back on
Instagram and I didn't share iton a podcast and I thought that
would be interesting for peopleto hear.
Right, why did I return aftertwo years away and really
doubting if it was two years ornot and people weren't that
(27:42):
interested?
Because Instagram is all aboutscrolling and clicking and I
think we need to remindourselves that we trust it to be
more than it actually is and weare not so conscious about what
it does for us.
We are used to using it, aboutwhat it does for us.
(28:08):
We are used to using it.
We are used to doing what otherbusinesses like us are doing
and we just follow the vibe ofwhat the people in our bubble
are doing.
And it makes sense.
But it also is really good tosit down and really think it
through.
Sit down and really think itthrough.
(28:30):
Like I had those questions formyself in my Instagram a day
worksheets, I needed to reallywork out what I wanted from it
and test it out and actually dosomething with the numbers.
So six months just basically.
In the end, I spent, I think,about four months doing stories
(28:51):
I have.
I think you can count the reelsthat I made on one hand.
Oh, it's a little bit more,that's not bad.
Let me see Eight, 10, 22.
I made 22 reels.
None of them got comments.
No, not a single comment on myreels, and I'm sure a lot of you
(29:17):
have much more successfulnumbers than this.
But I wanted to show you a zerocount, like from nothing,
coming from nowhere, startingwith nothing and being realistic
about what you can achieve.
But things did change after awhile and I want to share you
(29:41):
what my biggest takeaway wasfrom want to share you what my
biggest takeaway was from beingon Instagram and what helped me
more than anything Actuallygoing outside and meeting people
on a festival, on an event, ina shop, in a shop, talking to
(30:08):
actual people that are myclients, that could be my
clients, and when I went to theWedding Wool Weekend in Berlin,
that's when I got my mostfollowers.
Because what I did then was Irecorded an episode with
multiple interviews withbusiness owners.
(30:28):
I sent them an email.
In that email, I shared imagesthat they could share on
Instagram.
I shared a link to the episodeand then I talked about it on my
stories and I made a littlevideo about it, which I shared
(30:48):
on YouTube and on Instagram, andthen all of that together
started to move things along.
But what's happening is thatI'm talking to new people in the
DMs, but also in email, andit's about the actual
(31:11):
connections that I've made inreal life.
Of course, making connectionscan happen online and it has
happened to me.
I've made so many friends in myfirst Instagram periods and
still am friends with a lot ofthem.
But that is more of a socialkind of situation and that could
(31:37):
be business as well, obviously.
But what I'm saying is thatInstagram alone doesn't offer as
much as you might think.
Basically, what we've knownabout marketing forever, it's a
combination of things, it's themarketing mix.
It's not just one thing, it isrepetition, it is connection
(32:04):
over different channels, overdifferent moments, using
different ways of communicatingand then bringing that all
together.
And obviously this can be yourstrategy having Instagram as one
of the elements in what you do,to make yourself seen and to
(32:24):
connect to your future clients.
That is a great idea.
Actually, it is a great idea tomake it part of what you do,
but don't rely on Instagram asyour sole marketing tool.
It seems easy.
It looks like people.
It seems easy.
(33:08):
It looks like other people aredoing it too.
A lot of them are, but also alot of other brands are using it
as just one part of what theydo your whole marketing plan
then you immediately know thatyou cannot spend hours and hours
on Instagram, because the otherparts need attention and time
as well.
So, finding out a way that youcan be there, be present,
without eating you alive andwithout seeping into your
personal life too much if thatis not what you want then you
have to really take some stepsand make some decisions and have
(33:32):
some protocols in place.
I mean, it sounds serious, butlet's get into what I am now
deciding to do.
So I've seen what works.
I see that I get more from thereels.
I get with the reels, peopleoutside of my bubble get to see
(33:57):
me just a little bit, and what Ican do is repurpose short form
videos on more channels.
So my plan for the future is tomake smart use of short form
videos and spread them onYouTube and on Instagram and on
(34:19):
other places where it makessense, even in my newsletter,
but make sure that you can useit on multiple platforms.
And then the biggest thing Iguess is having a screen time
app.
I have already caught myself acouple of times.
I uploaded it yesterday andthere is just a lot of twitching
(34:44):
thumb behavior during the dayfrom me to go to Instagram and
see what's going on andbasically I'm just looking at
llamas and alpacas and littledogs more than anything else.
So it needs to become part ofmy workday and focused around my
work.
(35:05):
I can do so many other thingsin the time that I waste there
and this is not news.
We all already know that.
What is hopefully news to youis that you actually have to do
some work and make somedecisions and ask yourself some
questions around consciousbehavior of Instagram and
(35:29):
realize that it's not justInstagram you can rely on.
You have to spread yourcommunication and marketing and
branding attempts over multipleplatforms inside your computer
and outside, and what that meansfor you is different.
(35:50):
Everyone has differentcustomers, different clients.
Everyone has different needspersonally.
So it is your journey to findout what works for you, but for
crying out loud, think itthrough.
Don't just follow the rest ofthe herd.
Be the black sheep and be theone that's different and be the
(36:15):
one that thinks things through,because we don't know if
something is successful if wedon't measure the results.
I have 10 people in six monthsthat ended up on my email list
and of course, you can argue andyou can say this.
I'm saying it to myself Maybethey're not all that into you,
(36:38):
could be, definitely could be,as everybody is all about.
You should be on Instagrambecause that's where your people
are and that is true.
Instagram is where the textilecraft people hang out.
So I needed to be there, Ineeded to check it out, but I
have found that if I really wantto build a list of people that
(37:05):
are actually interested in whatI have, I have to connect to
them in real life in differentways, on different accounts, and
just on Instagram is not enough.
I am not happy with peoplescrolling by.
I'm not even happy with theheart.
(37:25):
I am happy with theconversations that are starting
to happen in the DMs that aremore about the actual work than
my conclusion is.
I have to have it on my phoneto be able to do the short form
videos in the most easy way.
(37:47):
That works for me, but I needto limit it.
So for me, a screen time appwill hopefully do the trick and
it's just the first day, but itwill hopefully do the trick and
then Instagram will always haveto be just a small part of how I
(38:08):
reach my potential customersand I don't want it to interfere
in everything that I do.
I see it happen to my kids andit's so frustrating.
I need to show them.
I need to show them that we cando it a little bit more wisely
(38:30):
and not have breakfast onInstagram, because that's what's
happening right.
So I hope you got somethingfrom this.
Okay, so basic things.
I need to set boundaries tokeep it a healthy, healthy,
consistent thing.
(38:52):
I've realized that just a staticgrid is the basics and I could
go.
Now that I have my account, thestatic grid not doing any
videos, not doing any stories iswhat I can go back to whenever
I want.
I just stop posting.
(39:12):
I love the static grid.
I would say to anyone andeveryone that is not using
Instagram but is feeling pushedto do something, but is feeling
pushed to do something if youfeel like you should be on
Instagram but you kind of don'twant to, if you are a very
private person, if you do notwant to show your face in short
(39:41):
form, videos or anything likethat, try that static grid.
If you feel like not being onInstagram is not smart, I don't
really believe that.
I think you don't need it atall.
The minimalist approach got me10 new email subscribers and I'm
(40:08):
not ashamed to say thesenumbers.
I have 200 something.
I don't even know it by heart.
How many followers do I have?
227.
And it's been like that fordays I think weeks even.
And it's not a big deal becauseit's realistic and it's
something that we forget about.
If you have built a followerlist over the years, I used to
have like the top was 7,000 andthen I threw it all away.
(40:30):
And that's fine, because lotsof those people didn't see what
I was doing anyway.
They weren't interesting.
It's just vanity numbers, asthey call it.
And at least now, with thislink set up to my flow desk, I
can really see what's happeningand it's not a whole lot.
And it's great to have chattyconversations in the DMs, but
(40:55):
it's better if they're aboutwhat you're doing and mix it
with chattiness and friendliness, because we don't have to be
super businessy all the time.
That's not my point.
But why am I on Instagram?
Not to hang out with my friends.
That's not why I'm there andthat's the result of my
(41:16):
conscious thought around.
This could be different for you, but the thing is, the end
thing is think about it, don'tjust follow everyone.
So what's next for me?
On Instagram?
I already told you I think I'mfiguring out the short video way
short form video and seeing ifI can multipurpose that on
(41:37):
different platforms.
But for the summer period, Iwill retreat from Instagram for
a while and probably have alittle bit of a promo for
something I'm working on Summerschool and I'll retreat from
(41:57):
Instagram and then I'll probablycome back after summer.
But I think it's important tohave breaks.
So summer break and winterbreak around Christmas those are
kind of my moments every sixmonths to get away from it all.
And I'll do the same with thepodcast.
(42:19):
I'll have a break over summerand I'll be back.
So don't worry, I'll be back.
I love podcasting.
My next experiment is going tobe all about Pinterest.
I'm going to focus on Pinterestmore than the other platforms
so that I can see what that doesto my subscribers, because
(42:42):
subscribers are people that areactually interested.
Followers are scrollers untilthey subscribe.
Somebody that subscribes toyour email is closer to you, is
interested and has morepotential for becoming your
customer.
So it's important to know.
(43:03):
How long have I been chattingAges?
Oh God, I have to edit thisPinterest next thing that I will
figure out and I'll let youknow how that goes.
There is not a lot ofcommunicating on Pinterest, so
that should be healthy.
Healthy, let's see.
(43:29):
Let's see.
So again, if you want to, if youwant me to share that Instagram
in a day slash week worksheetthat can help you set up your
basic minimalist Instagramstrategy, then let me know, and
you can do that by clicking thevoicemail button on
patternshiftcom and at theepisode page, or you can send me
(43:51):
an email info at ja-volcom, oryou can come by and hang out
with me.
I'm in Rotterdam, just let meknow.
Yep, that's it.
Okay, have fun, have a greatsummer and I'll be back at some
point.
I didn't have the day in frontof me.
This is it for now.
(44:11):
Bye.
Ps.
I've just used flow desks, as Iwas talking about before.
Love the flow desk.
Ps.
You can get 50% discount on theshow note page and there is
actually what I'm talking about.
You can click to show yourinterest in the.
I've renamed it now it iscalled the Instant Minimalist
(44:36):
Insta Worksheet.
So if you have interest in this, then you can click there and
flowdesk will let me know, andyou will get an email as soon as
I've made it.
And as soon as I see that lotsof people have interest, there
you go.
You can do the same.
You can use flowdesk for youremails.
(44:58):
You can use it like I just did.
They even have a landing page.
So if you are a designer andyou need a page for yourself and
you also want to build youraudience because Instagram and
Ravelry will only take you sofar you have to take care of
(45:22):
yourself.
I mean, this is an episode inthe making.
I will talk about this a lot,but not now.
I just want to let you knowthat with Flowdesk, you have
this all-in-one solution.
I'll give you 50% off with mycode.
I will get something for thattoo.
It is no extra cost to you andjust check it out, see if it's
(45:45):
something that might work foryou and, I think, especially for
designers.
It's great.
You can just sell your designson that landing page and, at the
same time, have an all-in-onesolution for your emails as well
.
So just wanted to add this havea great summer.
Bye.
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