Tips & Talk 70 – This Drives Me Crazy and Isn’t Good for You Either!

Hi there.

It's Sue.

And thanks for joining me for tips and talk day.

These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions and

things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small business.

If you'd like to submit a topic,

DME over on Instagram at gift biz unwrapped,

before we get into the show today,

I want to make sure that you know about the newest

thing happening over here.

It's called the gift biz bash a zoom party that turns

into a podcast episode.

Several weeks later,

the party consists of a short training with Q and a

from yours truly.

And then an opportunity for you to give a shout out

about your business.

You can tell us about a promotion you currently have going

on or share a collaboration that you're considering so that you

can find a perfect partner for the event.

A little bit of learning and visibility for your business.

What could be better?

There is a catch though spots are limited to keep the

party to about 45 minutes or so.

That means you should grab your spot right away.

It's totally free to make sure you're included.

Why not do that right now?

Pause this episode,

go to gift biz,

unwrapped.com forward slash bash to sign up and then come back

and listen to the show.

I'll see you at the bash.

I just have to say it.

I have to get it off my chest because it makes

me crazy every time I encounter it.

And it's a lot.

The reason this frustrates me so much is for two reasons.

First I'm stopped in my tracks from being able to move

forward at all.

And second,

so are you all attempts at making connections in progress with

this strategy in your business are halted hard.

Stop. What am I talking about?

Instagram accounts that are set on private.

If this is you and you want to keep an account

private by all means do so,

but not if you're interacting with people in any business capacity,

I'll give you the resolution to this in a minute,

but first,

why does this bother me so much?

And what's the harm.

I'll tell you.

As I already said,

there are two sides of this from my side.

If I organically discover your account,

I may want to follow you to see more.

I could be interested in your products from a business or

personal standpoint.

Perhaps I want to see your upcoming line of dog collars,

or I want to remember you when fall comes,

because at that time I'm going to want to refresh my

supply of autumn scented candles.

If I can't follow you,

I'm going to forget about you,

sorry. And my choice of having to ask permission to connect

with you just doesn't feel good.

It doesn't feel welcoming,

or like you're at all interested in my business.

I'm certainly not going to take the time to write down

the name of your account somewhere so that I can come

back to it later.

It's just not going to happen when I can follow.

You. You'll have the chance of showing up in my feed

from time to time.

And then I'll be reminded about your beautiful products comment,

or maybe even share your products with others.

Here's something even worse.

If you do the honor of following me,

I want to check out what you're up to and possibly

follow you back.

And this is what really led to my rant here.

I'm going to say that upwards of 40% of the time

when I circle back to look at accounts that are following

me, they're marked as private.

What, why now?

I understand that some of these are bots,

of course,

but it makes me so sad because I want to know

about you.

If you are marked as private,

I have to drop it right there.

No way are you going to get a follow back from

me because what am I following?

And it's a rejection of sorts.

You've slammed the door on us,

continuing a conversation.

And here's the thing.

Isn't why you're on Instagram in the first place to be

social. I hope so because if all you're doing is posting

to your account and not interacting with people,

you may as well not bother.

It's a waste of time up to this point.

It's been all about me in my experience when I run

into your private account,

but maybe I'm a potential new customer.

Don't you want me checking out your items and getting in

touch with you?

If I have a question so much business happens through conversations

in direct messages and by being private,

you completely shut off that channel of communication.

It's like in the olden days,

trying to call someone on the phone and hearing we,

sorry, this number is no longer available.

Yes. Maybe I can go back to your website if you've

put a link in there,

but you've given me the indication already that you're not very

receptive or appreciative of my attention and that doesn't make me

very motivated to give you my business.

I'm really,

really sorry if this sounds harsh,

but I'm here to give you tough love.

Even if I don't know you because it's affecting your ability

to grow your business.

So now I'm thinking maybe you don't realize that your account

is on private or you don't know how to switch it

over, or you honestly do want a private Instagram account for

a reason.

That's very important to you.

That's fine.

But did you know that you can have multiple accounts?

It's easy.

Each account does have its own separate email.

And if you don't already have more than one,

currently create a free Google account for that purpose.

That way your personal account can be private and a second

business account can be public for all to see here's how

you do this to get your account off the private setting,

right on your phone,

go to your Instagram account.

And in the upper right-hand corner,

you'll see three lines.

Some people call this the hamburger,

click on that and go to settings,

click on privacy.

And right at the top,

you'll see private account.

Just toggle that to off.

There are other account management options under privacy that you can

review and adjust.

Also, if you wish to change your account from personal to

business, also go to your Instagram account and click on those

three lines,

go to settings,

click on account,

and then scroll down to the bottom and select switch account

type. Then choose business voila.

Having a business account allows you to track and view insights.

Oh my gosh,

there are so many valuable pieces of information here and they

help you understand who you're attracting to your account,

where they live age ranges and what's most seen.

So whether people are attracted to your reels,

posts, stories,

or videos,

what I really like about this last one is it also

shows you if people who are watching are currently followers of

yours or not good stuff to direct your activity on Instagram

for the future.

You can't see me over here,

but I am down on my knees begging you to take

yourself off private.

If you're using Instagram to sell your products,

I want to know you and connect with you.

My invitation is right here.

All you need to do is accept.

That's a wrap.

I'm a get to the point kind of girl.

And this is what you can expect from these quick midweek

sessions. Now it's your turn.

Go out and fulfill that dream of yours.

Share your handmade products with us.