THE INSPIRATION PLACE PODCAST
Miriam Schulman:
Well, hello passion maker. This is Miriam Schulman, and you’re listening to episode 158 of the Inspiration Place podcast. I am so grateful that you’re here. Today, we’re talking all about authentic networking with social media. In this episode, you’ll discover how you can use social media to attract rather than chase your ideal audience. You’ll also learn how not to sound like a social media robot and how to effectively use LinkedIn as well as the other platforms to amplify your online presence. So, today we’re talking all things, social media and especially, Instagram. I hope that you can find me over on Instagram on @schulmanart, that’s S-C-H-U-L-M-A-N-R-T. I can’t believe I have over 19,900 followers as of this recording, and I’m hoping by the time you’re listening to it, we’ve passed the 20,000 mark. That doesn’t mean I don’t have time to talk to you though.
My favorite thing is to get into the direct messages and talk to people in there. If you’re looking for a daily dose of inspiration, that’s what you’ll find over on Instagram. Not only am I sharing the same kinds of thoughts that I share here on the podcast, but you also get to see the kind of art that I create. But more importantly, I get to see the kind of art that you are creating, because that’s what I like to do when people message me. The first thing that I’ll do is I’ll check out your profile to see what you do. And if you’re not an artist, a visual artist like I am, even more entertaining for me, I can’t wait to see what you’re up to. Instagram @schulmanart. Can’t wait to see you over there.
As an online presence expert and speaker, today’s guest helps you upgrade your presence online through LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, and gain more visibility online, driving a steady stream of clients, customers, and collectors to your business. Trained as an attorney, she left that behind to follow her passion for online branding and marketing. Since 2012, her business has been the vehicle for personal and spiritual growth while she creates value for each of her clients. Please welcome to the Inspiration Place, Italina Kirknis. Welcome to the show.
Italina Kirknis:
Hello, Miriam. I’m so glad I could be here.
Miriam Schulman:
Well, I’m so excited to have you. So, here’s what I want to ask you first. I understand that you probably paint as well as I play tennis?
Italina Kirknis:
Terribly. Like I enjoy it so much. I enjoy it so much, but I’m awful. Just awful. But I did read in a book that it’s important to also do the things that you’re not good at. It’s important to do that for your brain and things that you enjoy.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. Italina is also an amazing tennis player, the championship level tennis player that you represented the US in a tournament in Europe. You played with Serena Williams. Did I get that right?
Italina Kirknis:
That right.
Miriam Schulman:
Holy cow! Okay. And I am terrible at it. I play every week and yesterday, so I’m playing and I play with… I’m in my fifties, the two women I play with are in their early sixties, and there’s a gentleman who I’m guessing he’s in his late sixties, I’m not really sure, but the guy we’ve playing with, he loves to correct me. And he’ll say to me, “No, you should do it this way.” And yesterday, I turned to him, I said, “My knowledge is much more than my talent. So you can tell me this, but it’s kind of like saying don’t hit the ball out.”
Italina Kirknis:
Right. Right.
Miriam Schulman:
I can’t.
Italina Kirknis:
I hear you.
Miriam Schulman:
So, what kind of painting did you do? We won’t stay on this topic that long, but I’m super curious.
Italina Kirknis:
Very abstract.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay.
Italina Kirknis:
And the thing is when I show people that, “Oh, my God, it’s beautiful. It’s bright, colorful. It’s that.” But it’s not, but my friends are nice.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. All right. So, let’s move ahead to social media. So, we have a lot to talk about today. So, first of all, I love what you say about attracting your audience rather than chasing them. I have a feeling this has to do a little bit with your spirituality. So, would you like to use that as our first jumping-off point?
Italina Kirknis:
Absolutely. Just energetically attracting feels so much better and it’s not exhausting, and draining as chasing. Also when you attract rather than chase, you attract what’s essentially right for you or made for you, like attracting your tribe, attracting the people that you’re meant to work with. It all works out. You’re going to be more in alignment that way.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. What I like to tell the clients that I work with… So, I don’t do what you do about like helping them with social media, just helping them in general with their marketing, and how they reach people is that “You need hot girl energy and hot girls are doing the chasing. They’re just being hot and attracting.”
Italina Kirknis:
They’re just being, exactly.
Miriam Schulman:
They’re just being, right. They just show up, they put on their makeup, they get dressed up for themselves, not because they’re chasing after anybody. I know that my listeners are probably thinking, “Okay. Yeah, Miriam, but how do you do that exactly?” What do you think is the best place to start? Should we start talking about the bios?
Italina Kirknis:
Absolutely. The bio is like your online storefront. So, that’s a great place to start. Yes.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay.
Italina Kirknis:
And then with that, we want to get clear with who your audience is or target market is? I think the first instinct is to say, “Oh, I can work with anyone, or anyone could use this.” Right? What I have found though is over time, especially… So, like I’ve had my social media company for going on a decade now. That’s been a long enough time for me to see, “Oh wow. I tend to be attracting this particular demographic. Like all of my clients and customers tend to have this in common.” And then with that, with all that time having passed and seeing that the pattern, I’ve been able to do, what’s called form a niche, basically. So, all that means is it doesn’t mean, “Oh, I can’t help you if you’re in this category or demographic.”
All that means is now my marketing no longer has to be schizophrenic in general trying to attract everyone. Now, more in my marketing, can my language that I’m using, my verbiage can be specific to this particular group. And then everyone else is going to get, “Oh, of course, she does that for them. She can do it for me.”
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. I’m going to make it very specific now for my audience. So, my audience are creatives. I know you all aren’t all painters like I am, but I will use that as kind of an example. So, what I see people do who are creative is first of all, they get schizophrenic with their products. And that is such a race to the bottom of their income stream. You think that by offering more, you’re going to please more people, but really the opposite is true because you then… Target and Tiffany’s both offer jewelry, but who are you going to pay more money for jewelry? Not Target, whether you’re going to get everything. You got the shirts. You can even get bananas. You can get makeup, Tiffany’s is just jewelry.
So, with artists, that’s the one thing they think that, “Okay, well, I’m going to do the painting, the art on products, the doilies.” But then what I also see, Italina is okay, once the artists dial down, “No, no, no, no, no, no. I’m only going to do abstract painting.” But then what I see some artists do is that they still get a little schizophrenic in their offerings because they’re like, “Okay, I’m going to sell my art. And I’m going to teach online art classes and then I’m going to coach, and then I’m going to do this other thing.” And what happens is when they go to social media, they don’t know who they’re talking to anymore because they don’t know if they’re talking to collectors, if they’re talking to students or if they’re talking to professional artists who need coaching. So, that completely dilutes their messaging.
Italina Kirknis:
You are absolutely right. And just to give kind of hone this down is to give a specific example. 10 years ago, when I first started my company, we offer all kinds of services and business was very, very, very slow. Once I got clear on my target market, so meaning the people who I’m serving, business group. And then once I shrunk down the services, we only offer four services, that’s it. Only for services. Business grew astronomically. And one thing that you said Miriam, before we started talking was saying, “Oh my God, I can’t believe you’d grown this company all with no zero advertising, no paid advertising.” And it’s in large part because of the niche as far as demographic, as well as offerings.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. And that’s super impressive. I don’t know anybody who offers what you do, social media branding, who’s grown their business all organically. That is so impressive.
Italina Kirknis:
Thank you. And I think part of it, what happens is the word of mouth. You become known for this particular area. People can verbalize that. It’s hard to share 10 different services, but if you’ve got just a few, people can talk about that, “Oh, she does this. Oh, he does that.” And then now you’ve got the word of mouth working for you, you become just like Tiffany’s is known for that higher end. You can become known for your area because people can remember what it is you do because they don’t have this huge laundry list of things to remember.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. That’s super important. So, let’s talk specifically about what to put in your bio, and my listener, you should totally go check out Italina’s social media feed, which it’s italina.k… Wait, help me out with it.
Italina Kirknis:
Okay. My Instagram specifically, it’s italinak, that’s it, Italinak, I-T-A-L-I-N-A-K.
Miriam Schulman:
It’s gorgeous, like the way it’s beautifully curated, but it’s not just that it looks good, when you scroll through it, she’s actually dropping a lot of knowledge bombs and value within it. So, go check that out. Talk to us about what we need to put into our bios?
Italina Kirknis:
Sure. So, first things first you’ll notice on the bio, there’s that bold line. And again, so that you can kind of follow along with me is go to italinak. You see that first line, that line is bold and it’s searchable. Meaning if someone conducts a search on Instagram, meaning they go to the search box and type something in because they’re looking for whatever it is you do. As long as those keywords are in that bold section, you can come up in the search. So, for example, on mine, you can see, I did not waste space by putting my name in there. That’s the number one mistake I see people put. They put their name in there, whereas my name is on my handle, I don’t need to put my name there again. What I want to put in there are keywords that individuals are searching when looking for your product, your service, your industry. So, for example, mine, if someone’s searching social media manager, social media management, anything social, that’s going to come up because I have the keyword social in there.
Miriam Schulman:
And this is true also for LinkedIn, right?
Italina Kirknis:
Absolutely. You’ll see on LinkedIn, that first line is bold and you’ll see also on mine. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. Let me know you saw me here with Miriam. I didn’t just put my name. I put my name and my job title. And it’s consistent with what you see on Instagram.
Miriam Schulman:
When I went to search Italina online, LinkedIn is what popped up first. I think that actually, that would be true for most people. Is that right?
Italina Kirknis:
Yes. Yes. You bring up an excellent, excellent point. So, it’s not just about being on LinkedIn. It’s about the fact that people are Googling you. And when you’re a Googled, one of the first thing that pops up is LinkedIn because LinkedIn has what I call Google juice, it did shows up first and it’s the most credible… That’s what people would see… That’s what people rely on… When they’re doing their research, they look at LinkedIn, they see it as a credible source because it’s the number one professional site. So, you want to be putting your best virtual foot forward.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. You brought up a really good point. We had a guest on some weeks ago and he said he saw an artist and he said, he’s Linkedin as his number one social media platform, because he knew that’s where the people who have money hang out.
Italina Kirknis:
Yes. Yes.
Miriam Schulman:
But he also was benefiting from what you’re talking about is that he has Google juice there, which you don’t really have so much with Facebook and Instagram. So, when I Google my own name, I think that’s last on the page. Like there’s my website… I forget what order it is. There’s my website is mostly what comes up first, the podcast, LinkedIn, not Instagram and Facebook.
Italina Kirknis:
Exactly. Yep. That’s right. Yeah. That’s what comes up and that’s for everyone.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. So, tell me about making your bio skimmable.
Italina Kirknis:
Okay. Sure. So, are we talking about LinkedIn right now?
Miriam Schulman:
There’s a difference between the-
Italina Kirknis:
Yes.
Miriam Schulman:
… way you’re going to craft the two. Okay. So, let’s dig into that. How would you treat those two profiles differently?
Italina Kirknis:
Sure. So, first of all, Instagram obviously is shorter, but then [inaudible 00:14:34], when you talk about having your bio optimized, it depends on the different platforms what they prefer. So, for example, Instagram, we know that Instagram is all about the emojis. Believe it or not, having emojis in your bio on Instagram is one of the things that optimizes your bio which just means it helps your search ability. It helps you get in front of more people. The other piece is you don’t want your Instagram bio to be a paragraph while your LinkedIn bio may very well be paragraphs.
Miriam Schulman:
So, it’s okay on LinkedIn to have a paragraph?
Italina Kirknis:
Yes.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay.
Italina Kirknis:
Yes. On Instagram, and you can see this with mine, again, it’s italinak, I have bullet points, bullet points. And I use emojis as the bullet points. So, the emojis play a dual role. One, they serve as a bullet point, two, they show or kind of represent what it is you do. One of the things I do is I write, I’m also a contributor to this blog. So, I have as the bullet point, a hand with a pen in it, right? So, that shows and demonstrates what it is the person is about to read.
Miriam Schulman:
That’s awesome. Okay. So, I feel good right now about my Instagram bio, because I do have everything you say, I have. So, I’m writing a book, so I have the book emoji.
Italina Kirknis:
Yes.
Miriam Schulman:
And I have a podcast microphone emoji for the podcast. And I have a little artist emoji for that part. So, let me ask you, I’m tagging HarperCollins Leadership because that’s my publisher. Do you think that’s good to tag another account in the bio or no?
Italina Kirknis:
Oh, yes.
Miriam Schulman:
It is, okay.
Italina Kirknis:
Yes. That’s what I’ve done, yes.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay.
Italina Kirknis:
You can see that on mine where the blog that I contribute to, there on in my bio.
Miriam Schulman:
Oh, perfect. Okay. So, now what I want to dig into, so you know this is all for me, but our listeners will benefit too. So, I knew my LinkedIn bio was out of date because it didn’t have the authorship in it. And I just copied my Instagram bio and plopped it into LinkedIn, but that’s an “Oh my God, she’s making a face. It’s no bueno.” So, I should get rid of the emojis over on LinkedIn. It makes me look not serious.
Italina Kirknis:
Yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
Oh, that is the reason. Okay.
Italina Kirknis:
It’s just a different culture over there. On LinkedIn, I just want to give one caveat, while bios are acceptable on LinkedIn, we also do want plenty of white space. So, for example, on my LinkedIn, it’s just my name here that you see on the screen. It’s actually quite long. However, there is plenty of white space, so my paragraphs are no longer than two or three lines so that I can easily just skim through and jump to where it wants to jump. I have things separating the paragraphs, like the sections. I think I might even have titles for the different paragraphs, so people can jump to what they’re interested in. So, we still want plenty of white space.
Miriam Schulman:
So, it’s almost like a blog post or bio?
Italina Kirknis:
Maybe, maybe that’s an interesting analogy. It’s just a way for the eye to move quickly to where it’s interesting going.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. So, have those subheads to like create speed bumps to… Oh, wow. I’m so motivated right now. I am rewriting my LinkedIn bio the minute we hang up.
Italina Kirknis:
And if I may say, we’re talking about these bios and redoing them, it’s a lot of work and it takes time. And there are people who haven’t touched them in like years. This actually is our number one most popular service. We call it the profile revamp where clients either want us to redo their LinkedIn, their Facebook Business page bio, and you’d be surprised, Facebook is really user-friendly. 100% of the Facebook Business pages I see are not set up correctly. So, we redo those for them, even their Instagram bio. So, I mentioned how we only have four services, that one is our number one most popular.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. And Italina, if I were to go to your website, could I just buy it, or is that the one that I need a consultation for?
Italina Kirknis:
You’ll definitely want a consultation because we want to get clear and make sure that that’s actually the service that’s going to fit you best. What’s nice is all my website is my email, my phone number. So, you can just shoot me an email, shoot me a message. Let me know. “Hey, I saw you with Miriam. I love to find out more about your services.”
Miriam Schulman:
So, we will include all of that in the show notes. I’m going to just tell you now in case you’re driving, onlinebranding-marketing.now.site, but you can also find it in the show notes, schulmanart.com/158. We’re not wrapping up yet. What mistakes do you see people making with their social media? I know you’d like to talk about how you don’t want to sound like a robot.
Italina Kirknis:
Yeah. Yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
Give me an example.
Italina Kirknis:
Sure. I think it comes from maybe our school days of writing like we’re in school like we’re writing a paper or something. I noticed that when people get behind the computer and they start typing, they sound like totally different from if we were to engage in a conversation with them. So, my advice is, “Hey, actually picture a person and maybe even picture your favorite client, your favorite customer, picture your favorite person that you’ve worked with, write like you’re talking to them.” And that’s actually going to be another way to, again, attract more people like them. So, that’s the perfect example, tying it all back in, attracting rather than chasing.
Miriam Schulman:
So, I found the most effective way for me to use Instagram is really as a networking tool rather than a sales tool. So, having direct message conversations with people who are following me and finding out how they found out about me, why they’re there and what they’re looking for.
Italina Kirknis:
Each social media site is a different event. Facebook is an event. LinkedIn is another event. Instagram was another event. And at all of those events, of course, just like if you go to a backyard barbecue or something, you’re going to talk to people. So, absolutely.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. One thing that I found with Instagram is that you need to treat the conversation like a conversation. Like nobody likes… So, again, I don’t know what your feeling is on this, like totally throwing it out there. I don’t really like when I talk to somebody and I’m keep getting that automated response back from.
Italina Kirknis:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Mm-hmm (affirmative). In fact, I wouldn’t even suggest… Given the culture of Instagram, I wouldn’t even have that. It’s not-
Miriam Schulman:
Thank you. Thank you.
Italina Kirknis:
… that’s not the proper place to have it. In fact, I have my notifications on for… Actually, I get a little dot on my icon, my app, on my phone, and lets me know, oh, I’ve got a message ringing because that’s serious. Someone wants to talk to you. And just the other day, for example, I got a message on Facebook, I actually get a ding. So, I have different alerts based on the site. Facebook, I take serious because a lot of people use Facebook messenger. LinkedIn, I take very, very seriously. When I get a message, I get an alert on my phone so I can promptly respond because that’s business. Those are people wanting to work with me.
Miriam Schulman:
What I also find is that you don’t want to be like the perfume lady in the department store, like pushing the perfume on everybody who walks through the door. So, but I always like to make sure, each step of the way, it’s very permission-based, I’m not shoving my perfume in everybody who follows me on Facebook.
Italina Kirknis:
Oh, of course, actually. And I think that’s, again, the importance of having a conversation first, seeing where they are, and being able to meet them where they are.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. So, we talked about not having the automated response. The other thing that I find very irritating is when… For lack of a better word, let’s just call it an influencer person will have their VA send me like a two-paragraph canned message. Oh, you’re responding exactly the way I feel about it.
Italina Kirknis:
Yeah. Yeah. So, while I have a team and in fact, as you said, my page is very curated. So, we know that I did not make all of these posts on my Instagram page, but what I do personally do is respond to my messages. No one’s responding for my messages for me. Obviously, in my stories, or it’s me and I’m clearly doing a selfie and doing a self video, of course, that’s me. Anytime, it comes to talking one-on-one with someone, it should be personal direct and real.
Miriam Schulman:
Thank you. Yes, because please, I wish people would stop doing that. Especially on Facebook, that’s where I’ll be part of a Facebook group. The admins will be sending me… And it’s not a conversation, it’s a three paragraphs of what they want to shove in your face.
Italina Kirknis:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). And this is what I will suggest as an alternative because yes, I guess obviously, ultimately, we’re here on social to build a relationship and ultimately have people work with us. I get it. So, instead of sending the huge long message, I like to use the messaging systems on social as a way to make the initial connection, Hey, whatever the conversation is around, how do we meet, great seeing you, great to meet you. And then when I want to go further, I ask them, I say, “Hey, you want to hop on a quick call? See how we may be able to be a resource for each other. See how we may be able to network.” However you want to say it.
If they’re willing to hop on a call, a video call, and I’ll be honest with you, especially in these days of Zoom calls and people not being able to go out and network as the way that they did before, people are like, “Yeah.” They’re happy to jump on a quick 10, 15-minute video call, phone call with you, and network and see how you may be able to be a resource to each other. That’s going to be more effective, verbally talking than just sending a message. I see those huge messages as like an email, people aren’t really reading. I don’t feel a bond to an email, right? I don’t feel closer to someone because they sent me an email. However, after a video call, after a phone call, I may very well feel more of a bond with them and felt like, “Oh, this is a relationship that I’d like to build.”
Miriam Schulman:
That’s really a great advice. And then what about referrals on LinkedIn? How important are they? How do you get them?
Italina Kirknis:
LinkedIn is the number one professional site, meaning there are over 600 million users on LinkedIn. Studies have been done that shows earning income is higher there than on other sites. We’ve got professionals, we’ve got business owners, we’ve got executives, et cetera. That means it’s going to be very easy. Just like we talked about that search box. Sure, we can type in people’s names to find them. Again, I welcome you to type in my name and connect with me on LinkedIn. Let me know [inaudible 00:25:39] with Miriam. Well, you could also type in professions. So, let’s say you want to target a certain demographic, tech, veterans, teachers, retirees. You can type those keywords in the search box, all of those profiles will pop up. I’m talking like over a million people would probably pop up. I kind of like see that list and you can even filter it down by location, like geographic location.
I see that list as like, “Okay, these are my leads. I have all these leads that I can go and connect with.” If we’re not already first level connections, I can go shoot them a message. “Hey, I came across your profile. Love what you’re up to. Let’s connect.” Something super sweet, what you would say in person and that’s a great way to make that initial connection with other professionals. I like to take it once they accept to a phone call. I’m a fan of the phone call. I find that relationships, people feel more connected when there’s a face-to-face, virtually or a phone call. And we can establish that referral relationship, see if we want to network, be of resource to each other and pass referrals.
Miriam Schulman:
That’s such great advice. Okay. So, now I’m going to show a little bit of my own vulnerability about what I’m confused about with Instagram and social media. So, we have so many options with Instagram. There is Insta Stories, IGTV and Reels, and IGTV Live and Instagram Live. So, I’m little bit confused. I’ve kind of just avoided Reel, because it’s like, “I don’t know what to do with this.” I only recently figured out what to do for IGTV. So, do you have any advice on that?
Italina Kirknis:
Sure. So, I like to say that LinkedIn is a stepchild of social media. It’s the last one people don’t remember to use it. Instagram is the demanding mistress. She wants all this time. Instagram offers all these different avenues to basically share content. What all the social media sites have in common is they want you to share content so that people will use their spend more time on their sites. So, Instagram has created these different forms. IGTV, Real, Stories so that people can share. There’s so many options so that people can be more likely to share. This is good because everyone has their preferred form of consuming content.
So, if you want a longer form content, then IGTV is for you. If you want a shorter form, then Reels is for you. What happens is as well is Instagram rewards you for using all of the various forms, IGTV, Stories, Reels, and they reward you via the algorithm. So, meaning you’re going to be pushed out, so your page is going to be more visible to more people. You’re going to be found on the discovery page because as a reward for using the different farms. So, that’s why you as a content creator, Miriam, that’s why you want to use the different ones. And then it also allows your audience to consume the content in whichever way they want.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. So, as of this recording, I know it’s always changing, but as of this recording, what is your recommended recipe for the amount of times we should be posting on the various platforms?
Italina Kirknis:
Okay. So, this is huge. This is good stuff here.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. This is gold that she’s about to drop. So, I hope you can write this down or listen to this twice.
Italina Kirknis:
Yes, yes, yes. I’m going to give you a formula. So, stories, stories is the quickest thing we can do. A story can just be a snap, a picture, or it could be a quick video of you walking around because you look really cute. Okay. So, that could be that’s super fast as you basically document your day, okay? So, you want to do at least eight stories per week. That’s super easy. Today, I’ve already shared like three, so the rest of the week, it’s going to be easy. I’ll probably go to the pool or something later, do a snap of that. I could, even if I want to show us doing this podcast together, okay? Yeah. That’s easy. You can do that in one day, depending on how interesting your day is, if you’re going from task to task or event. And when I say interesting, it doesn’t have to be interesting. Trust me, as bad as the reality television is right now, people are interested, your people are interested in what you’re doing. Just share what you’re doing.
Miriam Schulman:
For my Instagram, I started sharing stories on my book writing process. If you go to my tabs, the highlight reel, there is a book tab now, you can actually go there and follow along on my journey because I’ll be sharing regular… Well, according to Italina, I’ll be sharing eight stories a week about the book. What’s next?
Italina Kirknis:
Next is your posts. You absolutely want to be posting on Instagram. Talking about your regular posts, you only need three minimum a week. Four is even better, but only three.
Miriam Schulman:
Thank God, you only have to do three or four a week. Yeah, I remember when they used to tell us, you had to do twice a day.
Italina Kirknis:
Yeah. Yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
Its such a relief. Okay.
Italina Kirknis:
[crosstalk 00:31:09].
Miriam Schulman:
So, three or four a week.
Italina Kirknis:
Yep. IGTV, you only need one a week, but you want it to be at least three minutes long. IGTV, one a week, three minutes long.
Miriam Schulman:
Oh, I’ve been doing that wrong.
Italina Kirknis:
What have you been doing?
Miriam Schulman:
I’ve been doing like 90 seconds.
Italina Kirknis:
Oh, okay.
Miriam Schulman:
All right. All right. I’m making a note for my team.
Italina Kirknis:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Miriam Schulman:
Three minutes.
Italina Kirknis:
Yes. And then Reels. What we’re doing with Reels, we’re doing two a week. So, we know we want one IGTV, we want two Reels. And the reason why Reel is horrible is because, again, that’s shorter form content as compared to IGTV. IGTV is a minute or more. What’s happening right now at least, Instagram is rewarding people who are doing Reels. So, they’re rewarding you by pushing your Reels out to more people. So, if you’ve never had a thousand plus views on any of your content, Reels is your opportunity to get that.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. So, the things I’ve been posting on IGTV, I should be posting on Reels, probably, these 90-second things.
Italina Kirknis:
Well, this is what we do. You can absolutely repurpose. If you want to take what you had on IGTV, you make it look a little different as a Reel. I’m a big fan of repurposing.
Miriam Schulman:
With IGTV, we have it so it shows up in the feed as well. Is the Reel’s the same way where it shows up in the feed?
Italina Kirknis:
No. I love that IGTV, and I think there’s even an option. Actually, with the Reel, you have the option to have it show up on the feed. Yes, you do.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. So, it is the same way. Okay. [crosstalk 00:32:47].
Italina Kirknis:
You have the option. On my pages, because I have a pattern and things I want to maintain, we don’t do that, but no, you have the option to do that, yes.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay, This is so good. Okay. Recap.
Italina Kirknis:
Recap.
Miriam Schulman:
Eight stories a week.
Italina Kirknis:
Super easy.
Miriam Schulman:
Three to four regular old-fashioned feed posts a week.
Italina Kirknis:
Yes.
Miriam Schulman:
One IGTV post a week which has to be three minutes or more.
Italina Kirknis:
Yes.
Miriam Schulman:
Reels, twice a week. How long do you recommend the reels to be?
Italina Kirknis:
A Reel can just be one… It doesn’t have to be a certain length. It could just be like 30 seconds. I think 30 seconds or less.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay.
Italina Kirknis:
Reels again are the shorter form content.
Miriam Schulman:
Gotcha.
Italina Kirknis:
Yes.
Miriam Schulman:
All right. I know exactly what we’re going to do. This has been such a fantastic interview, Italina. Thank you so much.
Italina Kirknis:
Yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
All right. And is there anything else you need to add to that list?
Italina Kirknis:
Instagram rewards you also for using the direct messages for DMS, for being in the DMs, you get rewarded for that. What I like to do is when certain people like certain things, or if I get a new follower, I’ll say, “Hey Roxy, awesome to see you, you’re on Instagram.” Just reaching out. Instagram is the demanding mistress. She wants you to spend all this time with her. So, use the different features that Instagram has to offer.
Miriam Schulman:
That’s good. I didn’t know that. I did know that the people you are damning with, you will see their content and they will see yours come up faster. So, I did know that, but I didn’t know that in general, that improves your overall. That’s what you’re saying, right?
Italina Kirknis:
Yes.
Miriam Schulman:
It improves your overall algorithm that you’re actually using that feature.
Italina Kirknis:
Yes.
Miriam Schulman:
That’s fantastic. And just to my listeners know, I do welcome people who follow me on Instagram, which I don’t think I’ve given my handle. It’s @schulmanart. So, if you don’t already follow me, I would love to welcome you and have a little conversation with you over on Instagram. And then LinkedIn, is there a recommended posting schedule there? What would you recommend over there?
Italina Kirknis:
So, LinkedIn has the most favorable algorithm of all of the social media sites. So, meaning if you post only once or twice a week there, your posts can still be visible like for the whole week because you’re staying up there. Yeah. So, while there are over 600 million users on LinkedIn, they’re not all posting. So, what LinkedIn is doing is rewarding the people who are posting, they’re giving you a ton of visibility.
Miriam Schulman:
Perfect. Italina, it has been amazing having you. I’m so grateful for all the information that you shared. Make sure you go to her website so you can check out the free online presence consultation. So, I’m going to give you the URL again, but don’t forget, it is in the show notes, onlinebranding-marketing.now.site. You can find that link as well as the link to her Instagram. You want to check it out, it is beautiful. She’s doing so many interesting things there, @italinak. You can find everything that we’ve talked about at schulmanart.com/158. Alrighty, Italina, do you have any last words for my listeners before we call this podcast complete?
Italina Kirknis:
You have these free social media sites. You might as well use them for your business.
Miriam Schulman:
Mic drop. All right. Thank you so much for being with me here today. You do not want to miss any episodes. So, if you are listening on iTunes, make sure you hit the plus sign. I used to call it follow, you have to go click on that plus sign to make sure you don’t miss anything. If you’re on a different app, no judgment, Spotify, I think it’s follow over there. If you’re feeling extra generous and you are on iTunes, I would love a review on Apple Podcasts. I give all my reviewers shout-outs over on my IG stories. I show people your art as well as the review. So, just drop your Instagram handle at the end of the review and I will be so grateful and take care of you. All right, my friend, thank you so much for being with me here today. I’ll see you the same time, same place next week. Stay inspired.
Thank you for listening to the Inspiration Place podcast. Connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com/schulmanart, on Instagram, @schulmanart, and of course on schulmanart.com.
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