How a Social Media Hiatus Boosted My Business Growth

Leanne (: 00:01

Hello my darling, welcome to this week's podcast. What I wanna do is give you an update because for the past six weeks, I've not been on social media. I've had a social media hiatus. It was completely unplanned and it is one of the best things that I have ever done. Stay tuned and I'm gonna fill you in on why that was the case. So back on the 12th of July, I had a whole

morning with my human design coach, the amazing Emily Armitage. And we were chatting about my business and I've been fully booked pretty much all year with one -to -one clients. I ran Supercharged!, which is my first group program in June. It was amazing. But I was still coming to that session with Emily feeling a bit kind of overwhelmed with my business and just

knew that the summer holidays were coming up, my daughters are 12 and 14. And if you've got kids or demanding pets, you'll know that the juggle during the summer when you're a business owner, it can be really hard because my girls just want me to be free and available for them the whole time. And I totally get that. And I want to be, I wanted to do the same. And I flippantly said to Emily,

I would love to just take the summer off Instagram. And that comment was off the back of seeing someone else do that on Instagram. I knew that I just got this pull in my heart thinking, wow, I'd wish that I could do that. And with Emily's permission, she was just like, just do it, Leanne. And I was like, no, I can't do that because like everyone else, I was fully on the Instagram hamster wheel and...

I would, I'm not fully ingrained in it, actually, when I think about what I've just said, I'm not fully ingrained in it in that I don't post every day, I don't even batch create content in advance, even though that's something I would actually really like to do at some point. I'm kind of just, I do everything on the fly. Like I write content on the fly, I send emails on the fly, and that's clearly been working for me, because I've been fully booked. However, I would like to get some.

Leanne (: 02:26

processes in place. Anyway, I was, I've always found Instagram to be a bit of a ball ache, to be honest, in my business. It's always one of those things that is kind of like hovering over you. knowing you've got to put the bins out or whatever. It's always there in the back of your mind thinking, my God, I should post a story or I should post on Instagram. And I've known that from the very beginning stages of my business, that not

the majority of my clients don't even come from Instagram, like especially not at the beginning when I was a coach for mums. I've said this in other podcast episodes that when I looked at the stats, my clients were coming from referrals and collabs. So I didn't rely heavily on Instagram. However, I did appreciate that you have to have a presence on there, kind of like a shop front. Nevertheless, I was prevalent on there. I've been growing my following over the years.

And I would say that Instagram kind of had me by the short and curlies. I felt guilty if I wasn't going on Instagram. And like I said before, was always at the back of my mind thinking I should be posting, I should be doing something. And when I spoke to Emily that day and I said, I would really love to have the summer off. I just wanted a break from it all to like give some head space to my house renovation that we're pretty much finished.

and I will be sharing some pics with you about that. And just have time with the girls without having that little niggle about needing to do something on Instagram. I really wanted that freedom and freedom is one of the key values of my business. I built my business for freedom. And I feel like when you are on the Instagram hamster wheel,

it takes away that freedom because you are always tied or you feel like you're always tied to doing something every day. So I had this convo with Emily and she was like, Leanne, just do it. Just trust yourself. Just do it. And I was like, my God. And it was almost like she challenged me to do it. And I've been human design curious for a while now. And having this session with Emily was the first time where I had someone in front of me saying.

Leanne (: 04:45

go on then just do it, like give it a try. So I thought, is there a more bolder way of leaning into my human design? And I'm a projector by the way, if anyone's into human design as well, is it, but is there any other way of really trusting my human design and trust in Emily's expertise and doing that one thing? So on the 12th of July, we had that call. And I think a couple of days later, I went on holiday from Instagram for the summer.

and I'm still on holiday. created a gorgeous banner to go to the top of my Instagram grid and pointed people towards this podcast and to my email list. And I had no idea what was going to happen over the summer. Cause I'd had like a really good year anyway. Like there wasn't massive amounts of financial pressure. I could have afforded to have the summer off and not need to bring any clients in at all. However,

what has actually happened might blow your mind. And it was kind of unexpected in the way that over the summer, despite not posting anything on Instagram, other than something a couple of days ago I posted on stories, I met up with some clients in London. I haven't posted a thing. Some days I haven't, maybe I've gone on there once to check DMs to see if anyone's...

been in the DMs or whatever. But I haven't actually been on Instagram and I have still managed to have two amazing months in my business. So these are the stats, okay? Despite not being on Instagram for the past six weeks, I'm still not back on it, I'm gonna get back on it in September, I have signed, I'm just counting them up, six new one -to -one clients.

four of which are brand new to me, two of which are client resigns, which is amazing. So not only have I signed one -to -one clients, which are my higher ticket offers, I've also pre -sold seven spots into my amazing six month group program called Amplified.

Leanne (: 07:06

that is without even a sales page and that is just selling to my email list. And my email list is much smaller than you probably think it's gonna be. My email list is pretty small because I haven't been grown up. I've just been so busy with clients. I haven't been doing anything particularly strategic. However, over the summer, I brought seven people into Amplified without a sales page. And I also...

added 217 people to my email list in the past six weeks. So despite all of the noise on Instagram, you can continue to grow your business without posting and pointing and lip syncing on Instagram every day. If you needed to hear that, please drop your shoulders because Instagram...

and posting on it every day can feel like such a drag. And I've kind of noticed with my clients and coaches that I've seen over the years is that particularly in the beginning stages of their business, if you're giving your all to Instagram and you're not getting anything back, you are far more likely to give up and quit. And it's far more likely to really damage your confidence than if you're looking at other ways of marketing your business. So what I would love for you to know,

is that there are other ways to grow your business other than on Instagram. Yeah, I've basically over the summer, I've just been sending one or two emails a week to my email list. Like I said before, my email list isn't massive. I think at the moment it's got 600 people on there.

Leanne (: 08:51

Be like, you don't need to be chasing followers and likes and engagement. What you should be chasing is this feeling that you really fucking believe in yourself and what you have to offer and the result that you can get for your clients. Like believe in that and you will be magnetic. And again, I speak to a lot of coaches.

and you can be posting every day on Instagram, but if you haven't got this rock solid belief in yourself, it's just not gonna land. How can people trust in you if you don't trust in yourself to even sell the goddamn thing? It's gonna be really hard, okay? So if you are feeling like you would love to take some time off Instagram, take it off. Take time off from your business. If things aren't...

If things aren't feeling, if you don't feel like you've got that momentum at the moment, take a month off Instagram and really work, instead of spending and use that time that you would take on Instagram and use the time that you would spend on Instagram to work on your mindset and really build that confidence of yours. Know who you are.

Step into your big deal energy. Step into that 2 .0 version of you that isn't just an Instagram page that actually has a business. There are other ways to grow your business that aren't related to posting every day on the gram.

Leanne (: 10:58

I would love for you to think about, like, what do you really need right now? If you love Instagram and you're bringing clients in from it, I am so honestly pleased for you. I wish that I loved Instagram. I really wish that I did, but I would rather write an email. I would rather be on a group call with people rather than posting Instagram, knowing that only 10 % of the people that are following me actually see any of my content.

I think for the amount of effort that we're all putting into Instagram, it doesn't give the same proportion back, okay? So if you're giving 90 % of your time, if you're giving 90 % of your marketing efforts to Instagram, are you seeing that same return? And if you're not, check in with where you are seeing the return.

I would definitely advise you to look at the stats of where your clients, where your leads are coming from. Is it Instagram or is it somewhere else? And if you don't know where else to look, please check out my amazing free mini course, which is launching today. It's called 10 ways to sign clients without posting on Instagram every day. And it will give you 10 ways that you can actually sign clients that aren't related to posting on Instagram.

It is not only eye -opening, but it is just frigging a relief to see that there are other ways that you can build your confidence and credibility and sign clients that isn't just about being glued to your phone and scrolling. Because I don't think that's good for us. Even now, like when I think about going back on Instagram, I get a little bit of like, that pull, you can feel that pull to go on. It's like...

It's addictive, isn't it? And I know that I'm not in my best energy for my business and my clients.

Leanne (: 12:57

when I'm

when I'm on Instagram more, I know that like even now when I'm thinking about going back on Instagram.

and or when I have been on over the summer, I'm so wanting to like, I can feel already the need for validation coming through that, coming through Instagram. And I really do want to fall into that trap again. So I'm going to set in place some boundaries myself where maybe I only go on Instagram like twice a day or three times a day for like short periods so that it doesn't take over my business because it doesn't need to like this summer has just proved to me that I

can really put Instagram on the back burner. Yes, I'm gonna be on there, but I'm certainly not gonna be staying up till midnight writing captions or poring over every single post. I clearly don't need to do that. And I don't think you need to do that either. Like give yourself permission to put Instagram on the back burner and instead look at other ways that you can grow your business that are far more enjoyable and will give you far more bang for your buck.

I'm so pleased that you've listened to this episode. If you want to talk to me at all about what I've been doing over the past six weeks, if you want to talk at all about Instagram or anything that I've spoke about in this episode, get in touch. You know where I am, babes. And if you want to know more about what I've got going on, I've got Supercharged, which is an eight week mini mind for... I've got Supercharged, which is an eight week mini mind for...

Leanne (: 14:33

new -ish coaches that want to get their branding nailed, their niche nailed once and for all, they want to build out a flagship offer and they want to build out a lead magnet that complements that offer, come into Supercharged and you will get that all done in eight weeks with me, even less if you want to. You could watch the videos, come into the Facebook group, come on a couple of calls and we can get that all finalized within a couple of weeks. However, I've given you an eight week timeframe.

to have that access to me for, it is amazing. If you're at the level where you've got all that nailed and you wanna build that confidence and credibility and have accountability and feedback from me, come into Amplified. That is where we're gonna be, that is where I'm gonna be sharing with you all of the things that I've been doing to grow my business that isn't relying on Instagram. We're talking about collaborations, we're talking about a podcast tour, we're talking about...

bundles, we're talking about newsletters, all of the stuff. I'm giving you everything, everything that I've done to get my business to fully booked. I'm gonna be giving you within an amazing six month, yes, six months by the way, six month program slash party called Amplified. We already have seven people in there. I've got more coming in. It's gonna be the place to be for coaches that are ready to.

be seen as that expert. That is something that I am really good at now. That is something that I am proud, really proud, something that I'm really proud to see is that I help my clients be seen as the expert in their niche, like Emily Nutley, Emily Armitage, and Amber J. They're smashing it in their niche. They're seen as the expert. And that's what I want for you. Because when you are seen as the expert, it's gonna be, it's far more.

When you're seen as an expert, it's far easier to attract clients and sign clients and maintain clients. And I know that that's what you came here for. You didn't come here just to have a page on Instagram that only 10 % of your followers see. You came here to have a business that...

Leanne (: 16:48

gives you freedom, that gives you the money to be able to have amazing holidays with your family, that gives you the opportunity to treat your mom, to take your sister to a show in London or New York, that affords you the opportunity to write a book, to be on stage at your coach school's alumni event. They are all things that my clients have done when they've signed to work.

when they've came under my wing. If you're ready to do that, get in touch babes. I love you. Have an awesome week.