4 Reasons You’re Not Making Money on Instagram

In this episode, we cover the importance of believing you can make money on Instagram (06:15), how to promote sales (10:45), and finding your audience (17:30).

Audio Transcript

Hello, my loves and welcome back to The Wanderlover Podcast . I am your host, Danielle Hu, and before we get started with this week’s episode, I want to extend a special discount to all of you guys listening.

(46s):
I truly appreciate each and every single one of you. If you guys haven’t downloaded Instagram for Business, the ultimate branding and client attraction guide my newest e-book. I want to extend a $10 off discount code. So if you go on my website to the wanderlover.com/instagram-for-business, or go into the notes of this episode, enter the code podcast in all caps at checkout for $10 off. And this is a token of my appreciation. I literally would not be here today, helping so many people around the world. If it weren’t for people like you guys sharing and supporting and tuning in and learning with me every step of the way.

(1m 33s):
So thank you so much. Grab your $10 off today, invest in yourself. And I cannot wait to hear what you learn about Instagram in the ebook. Now let’s get started with this week’s episode, four reasons. You’re not making money on Instagram, and this is going to be maybe kind of harsh, but also just from experience what I’ve gone through. What I see a lot of people in my community, a lot of my clients go through and it’s no fluff, right? I’m just going to call it out as it is. And this reminds me of the first time that I ever felt called out by a teacher. This happened my sophomore year of high school when I was in AP history with Mrs.

(2m 14s):
Smith. So back then she was known as a super strict teacher. She wasn’t like one of my favorite teachers, a because I didn’t really like history. It was one of my least favorite classes and B, she always just assigned so much homework. And in high school in college, I just hated studying. I always tried to find shortcuts to everything, try to study for the least amount of time to somehow get like the highest grades in the classes. Just, yeah, try to find shortcuts. And in her class, it was really hard to find shortcuts because a lot of the homework required, lots of writing, lots of essays, DBQs.

(2m 54s):
I don’t know if you guys remember or had them in school, but in New York we had document based questions. So it was a lot of analysis and historical analysis, just things I weren’t interested in. So the first time I felt called out was when we wrote our first essay. So after like our first major essay of the quarter, I think I received a failing grade. It was like a 64 and 65 and above was passing. And that was the first failing grade I’ve ever received in any class. And as soon as I got it back, I just remember I started crying. I was in such disbelief and such shock. I was a straight, a students did not understand how I could possibly get a grade, but me being me, I was like, how can someone even assign me?

(3m 40s):
Or like, give me a failing grade. Right? Like what? And so I went up to Mrs. Smith after office hours and I told her, I was like, I don’t understand how I failed. Like, I can’t believe I got this failing grade. And the first question she asked me was, well, did you study, did you try? And I was like tearing up at that point. Cause I just felt so called out. And I was like, no, I mean, like I skimmed through it or I read it. But honestly, like I didn’t read the chapters. Maybe I sparked noted some things, read some summaries and just thought I could ACE the essay. But honestly didn’t like read thoroughly, read the textbook at all.

(4m 22s):
And so I told her, I was like, not really. And then, so she became super compassionate and she was like, well, see, that’s a good thing because that just means if you do read it and you do try and you do put time and effort into it, you won’t fail. Right. It’s almost like a good thing, because imagine if you had tried and you had studied and you put your heart and soul in it and you failed and there was nothing left to do, that would be unfortunate. But in this case I didn’t study at all and I failed, which would mean that if I studied, I would get a better grade. Right. And it’s kind of funny because I was young.

(5m 2s):
I, that was the first time I was like, Oh my God, this actually makes sense. And it was a life lesson that I took with me many years to come. And just for the rest of my life, I always reflect back on that. When something isn’t working, I ask myself, have I tried everything. So that’s kind of a mentality. I want to go into this episode with, because when people come up to me and they’re like, my Instagram isn’t working, I’m not making money from it. I’m not growing. And I see so many other people growing. You see so many influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers. You see people with tens of thousands of followers making millions of dollars. And you’re just looking at your account being like, why am I not making money?

(5m 46s):
Let’s start trying to troubleshoot ourselves. So before I give you four reasons, why ask yourself, am I trying? Am I doing the things that everyone else is doing? Because if you’re not, then that’s a good sign. It’s a good sign that if you do try and you do put yourself out there and you do put in your time and effort, you will grow and you will make money. So let’s start with troubleshooting and I’m going to list these four reasons in no particular order. Number one reason why you’re not making money on Instagram is you don’t believe deep down that you can make money on Instagram.

(6m 28s):
So in this world you have thoughts, right? And this is why I value mindset so much because your thoughts affect your feelings, which affect your actions, which affect your results. And if you’re not seeing the results and the income that you desire, maybe we can shift your thought process. Are you, you clear about what you offer and how you can help your audience think about what impact you have in this world and how you’re positioning yourself to be able to be that person, to help your specific, ideal client in whatever it is they’re going through. And if you don’t believe that you have the capability to go through with that transformation to offer the transformation, then you’re going to show up on social media differently than a successful profitable online business.

(7m 21s):
Would some examples of these debilitating self-beliefs are thoughts. Like I don’t have what it takes to make money on Instagram. Instagram is not a legitimate form of income. I need an actual job, an actual salary to be able to have a steady, consistent income. And just all of these subconscious beliefs that really make it hard for us to show up in the way we are meant to, to make the biggest impact on social media. If these thoughts show up and how they manifest into our results, our every time, like let’s say you launch something and you don’t get a sale within the first week, then your subconscious belief that it’s impossible to make money on Instagram will kick in and you end up either ending the launch early or not going through with it, or maybe not even launching at all.

(8m 14s):
Maybe you don’t even get to that stage. Right? So really assess what your thoughts around selling on social media are and take time to reflect and correct those ASAP because your thoughts are your most powerful assets. Reason. Number two, you’re not making money on Instagram is maybe quite obvious. If you hear me say out loud, but maybe it’s because you have nothing to sell. Are you treating your Instagram account as a personal account or a business account? Do you have products or services that people can buy? Because if you don’t have any vehicle or income come into your business, how do people pay you?

(8m 59s):
How are you going to make it profitable? So this might be glaringly obvious. And if it is again, it’s a good thing because it means that once you have these vehicles, you will see income coming in. And I totally understand because online there’s so many blurred lines, right? Like influencers are basically like a personal page and they make money. And now you’re wondering how do I do that? But the thing is, even with influencers running a business, they have rate cards, they have packages, they have products and services and payment plans and payment processing for people to come through and pay them for. So their packaging, whatever it is that they’re offering, their influence, their reach promotions, content creation for a set price and ask yourself to you have those systems in place for someone who’s interested in your work to come through and pay you.

(9m 55s):
Because if you don’t then instead of asking, why am I not making money with Instagram? Start asking better questions, such as how can I package everything that I can offer into this one service that I can sell to this person for X amount of dollars. And once you start thinking critically like that, instead of just looking at your current situation to being like, I see zero money coming in to my bank account. That’s when the magic happens. That’s when all the pieces start aligning and you’re using what it is that you’re passionate about. All of these vehicles in order to connect you to your ideal audience.

(10m 36s):
And now, But Danielle, I truly believe that I can Make money on Instagram. I really looked at my thoughts and I know that I can do it. I have something to sell, but it’s just not working. And I’m not seeing the sales. The third reason why you’re not making money on Instagram is maybe because you’re not selling selling enough or energetically aligned with your sales strategy. So sales and itself, there’s so many components to it. And especially in this day and age where people see thousands of posts every day, hundreds of advertisements, and there’s just so much going on online, across all platforms, they really need to see your message 20 times until they decide to take action, decide to reach out.

(11m 25s):
Some people might take even longer, like months for them to convert into a customer or a client, but you need to be selling every single day. And I actually really want to kind of find a new word for selling. I feel like so many entrepreneurs, they associate selling with a used car salesman. And it’s just so icky to the point where it’s detrimental to their business. And if you are not selling every single day, if you’re not your product and service out there, if you’re not shouting it from rooftops, like this is what I have, then maybe that is where you could be improving. So maybe that’s where you’re not spending enough time and energy.

(12m 7s):
And that’s where it’s an energetic mismatch, because let’s say there’s $10,000, right in front of you in the energies around your life, through your laptop, through your phone, through your business, there’s $10,000 just waiting to enter your business. I’m going to ask you right now, where are the vehicles to carry those $10,000 into your business right now? Do you have those vehicles in place? Do you have the programs, the products, the services for the $10,000 to even enter your business? Does it have to come in through your business, through affiliate sales, where you’re only making a dollar per sale, right? Because that would take a lot of energy for that $10,000 to come in.

(12m 51s):
It would take 10,000 affiliate sales. However, if you are showing up online every day with a $1,000 product and you show up consistently for one month, for two months, for three months, you only need 10 sales and you will get those transactions done and dusted another question to ask yourself, how easy is it for someone to buy from you? Do you have even a buy now button on our last mastermind call? One of my clients was like, Oh my gosh, I just realized I literally don’t even have a buy now button. I have nowhere on my website, on my Instagram, on any of my socials where it says, pay me right now.

(13m 34s):
Right? Like buy my services. I had another client who wrote such an amazing ebook and set up a whole welcome series. I think it was like a seven day welcome series. And after the seventh day is when she finally announced that she had an ebook for purchase. And you also don’t want everyone to jump through hoops in order to reach whatever it is that you’re offering. Start out small, start out with a small offer on the first day, give people a heads up like, Hey, if you’re interested on say one, you can take a look here and nurture them into the idea and give them awareness of what it is that you’re offering, because you need to be proud of it.

(14m 15s):
You can’t be like, Oh, I really don’t want to be selling this. It feels icky and shameful. So I’m just gonna throw it in, like throw it in there and my business and hope that there’s eyes, I catch onto it and maybe buy. Because if that is the energy around your sales, you’re not going to be making that much of it. Right. I wouldn’t want to be in that position where I’m like, I don’t know if she wants me here. I don’t know if she wants people to see me. I don’t think she even wants people to read me to sign up for me. So why am I being put in this position, really assess what your story is and how you are showing up and selling online.

(14m 57s):
Sometimes it’s as easy as just telling people and selling more. This comes in the form of posting on Instagram stories, adding Instagram highlights, having an Instagram post recording, a podcast episode, sending out an email. There are so many different strategies to basically announce again and again, you have vehicles in place for money to flow into your business for the next two weeks. I’m opening up spots in my calendar for custom Instagram audit and social media strategy. Deep dives. You guys know how powerful of a tool Instagram can be for your business.

(15m 37s):
If used right? The Wanderlover Instagram has been my main channel the past few years to help me land five-star hotel collaborations, five figure clients and connect with thousands of creatives and companies around the world. This is a 60 minute session that includes a, an Instagram audit. So a personalized one where we align your branding and messaging with your content. I look through every detail, be a 30 day content action plan to increase your impressions and income. See marketing ads, launch and scaling strategies to get you visible on social media, D a revamped, Instagram, bio, and profile that makes it crystal clear what you offer and why someone should follow you.

(16m 24s):
And last but not least the exact content calendar that I personally use to make posting on all my socials, fun and sustainable. This is going to be such a powerful hour. It’s going to really level up your Instagram game. You can book using the link in the pod cast episode description, or go to the wander lover.com/instagram-audit. It’s available only for the next two weeks and spots are going fast. So don’t wait and I cannot wait to help you. Okay. So if you are at the point where you’re like, I know that I can make money with Instagram.

(17m 4s):
I have many things to sell. I have the vehicles in place. I am selling every single day. I’ve tried everything. I’ve tried going live. I’ve tried recording episodes. I’ve tried recording videos. I’ve literally tried every strategy. I didn’t care if I failed, but I just put myself out there and I really don’t know what it is, but I’m not converting. Then reason number four, you’re not making money on Instagram is probably, you don’t have a marketing and sales strategy to get new leads. I saw this really hyper-targeted ad on Facebook the other day. And I was like, I really liked this. So this one guy, he was like, you can have an amazing sales and marketing strategy for dog haulers.

(17m 49s):
But if you are advertising to people who don’t own dogs, and you’re not going to see sales, and we can bring that over to our online business, to our Instagram, if your audience isn’t interested in what you have to offer, that is probably the reason why you’re not seeing the sales. So if you want those people who are going to buy from you, then you have to go advertise to them and find them and have them join your community. So this doesn’t have to be complicated. I’m not going to use marketing jargon to kind of confuse you all, but it can literally be DM-ing people on Instagram or going into Facebook groups.

(18m 29s):
If you have a creative agency, there are Facebook groups, online, people who are looking for graphic designers for web designers, creative agencies, unite, or like people looking for help on their branding, be creative here. And just think if I, if I was someone who needed your service, where would I go to find it? How can I optimize my content and my marketing so that I’m consistently bringing in new people who are interested in my content day after day after day, because what you also don’t want happening is beating a dead horse. Is that the expression I’m so bad with expressions, but basically selling and selling and selling to the same audience who either have bought from you and don’t need your help anymore.

(19m 16s):
Or they just have moved on and they’re no longer interested in what it is that you offer, or maybe it’s just not the right time, some kind of misalignment. So if that’s the case, think to yourself, how can I change my marketing strategy? How can I change my sales strategy? Ask yourself these questions as a business owner, think critically. And all of these four reasons should be able to give you the outside perspective for you to analyze your own business and be like, Hmm, what is not working? What can I change? What can I do right now differently to get me to where I want to be, where you are right now is the result of all the actions, all the thoughts, all the feelings that you’ve chosen to take, to feel, to think.

(20m 5s):
So what can you do differently? Right? If you want to reach 5k 10 K a hundred K months, what do you have to be doing differently? How do you have to be acting differently? How do you have to be thinking differently? Because if you just keep doing what you’re currently doing, and you’re not seeing the results you want, you need to be constantly tweaking. You need to shift something. So I hope that this episode gives you a bunch of new ideas into what you could possibly be trying differently. If you still don’t know, I would love to help you. I am offering Instagram audits, social media strategy sessions, customized to you. These are super helpful.

(20m 45s):
I go through all of my strategies, all of my calendars. And I know that you would definitely benefit with it. If you’re looking to make Instagram more fun and profitable, I hope you guys have an amazing week DME with any questions. And of course I am supporting you always

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