Create Content So Good it Works on Your Days Off

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:05]:
I am your host, Shannon McKinstrie. Welcome to Good Content, the podcast where I remove the never ending content creation, guesswork and overwhelm so that you can actually enjoy being on social media again and growing your business with what has always worked. Good content. Well, hello, friend. We are going to call this one the summer episode. I'm going to try and keep this five minutes or less because really, we've gone over a lot of this already, but I really want to make sure that I really drive this home because I know for a lot of you, you don't want to post every day this summer. And by the way, you don't have to post every day. Literally every single one of my one on one clients post about four to five times a week.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:44]:
In fact, fun story. One of my clients had a reel that went so viral that she didn't even post for like five or six days because, like me, she likes to be sure to get to the comments. So if a reel is going bananas, that's almost like a signal to you that, like, that doesn't mean you have to step up. That just means good. Let that thing ride out. Like, I see reels right now going viral, and I look at the comments to see when it was posted, and it's like seven weeks ago, eight weeks ago. So what happens is I mentioned this last week in last week's podcast is this week. I really want to talk about how to get your content so good that it works for you for months.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:15]:
Now, of course, when people go to your account, do they want to see someone who hasn't posted in two, three weeks? Probably not. We might be like, oh, like, like, where'd they go? But you're allowed to take a week off for vacation. Okay. And I do want to say that, like, again, but your good content, your good quality content, which is always working, it's what's going to allow you to take time off and not feel guilty. So here's what I want you to do. If you're going away on vacation, you're like, Shannon, I'm going to start feeling guilty. I'm the same way. I can never go more than like four days.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:41]:
I think the longest I've ever gone is maybe three or four days. And by then I'm like, I start getting the itch. Like I, because I just love it. I love creating content and I love showing up for you guys. But for some of you, it's like you just need a week off. Or maybe you're just, you're really just trying to just go to vacation and like take a minute if you're really concerned, especially if you're someone who you really rely on the DM's, like people dming you for orders and working with you. Simply put in your bio on vacation until whatever day.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:05]:
And like when they go to your account, they're gonna be like, oh, okay, they'll get back to me and have an auto message that's like, we're on vacation, whatever. And put a reel up, you know, do a fun one. It's okay to share personal content that has nothing to do with your business every once in a while, put a reel up that you're at the beach or put a message up that you're at the beach or, or that you're on a cruise or that you're doing whatever, that you're just on a little sabbatical. As long as you keep them aware and they're like, I'm not going anywhere. I'm coming back. No one's going to leave you. Your people are not going to leave you.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:29]:
And if they do leave, that's on them. Okay, first thing I would do is if you are not going to post for a while and you want to make sure you don't... people, new visitors, old visitors, oh geez... Don't think like you've disappeared and you know you're going to be gone for like a few weeks or a month. Just like again, put a post up, put it in your bio. It's going to be okay. I had, someone write me on thread. She was like, what do I post? I haven't posted in two weeks? Do I make a big comeback? I'm like, honestly, and this is not to offend anyone, if I disappear for two weeks, I mean, maybe some people would notice, but most people are not even going to notice.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:57]:
Just post. If you've been gone for six months, then maybe be like, hey, back, like I never left. Or look what the cat dragged in and kind of have fun with it. It's okay. It's not a big to do. You'll be okay. So what I normally do when I'm on vacation, if I am going to post less, I do stay active on stories. So if anyone new comes to my page, a new visitor, they see there is a person again, you don't have to do that.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:15]:
Those are those options. Make sure it's in your bio or you have a posting. We'll be back on such and such date. Now if you're like me and you still want to post, I am going to fall back on posting when I'm on my beach trip next week or in two weeks. Actually, by the time you listen to this, I'll be leaving in a few days for the beach. I will fall back. That's why this past week I've actually been stepping up how much I post just so that there's a bunch of reels out there for me to circulate. Because what happens is the reels I'm creating this week might not gain traction until next week, and that's just the case.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:43]:
So what am I doing to make sure this content lasts for me and works for me? On my days off, I went to my insights to see what content I've done in the past that has brought the most followers. And I'm creating that content just remixing a little bit and a few things. I'm trying new kinds of formulas. One I did the other day, it didn't really work that well. But again, I love to test this stuff also so I can report back to you. So by the time I do the next week's podcast, I will hopefully have some fun new tips for you for like new recipes I've kind of come up with, if you will. So what I did again, I always know that my trending audios with prompts my series what the heck do I post on Instagram series that always does well and brings in new followers. Another reel of mine that I realized while doing this because I was like, I want to make sure I have at least two pinned reels on my homepage, on my main grid that bring in followers.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:31]:
Because what happens when you do that is when people go to your account, let's say they're scrolling, they see a reel for me, they go to my account, they go to my profile, check out my bio, check out story, see if I'm a real person or if they align, if they want to follow me. And typically they go right to my pin posts. Highlights too. But mainly pin posts these days. And I mean every few days I'll go to my pin post to go to most recent and I have like a handful of comments and a lot of those comments are many chat bringing people into the Reels Lab, bringing people to this podcast. So make sure you have at least two reels pinned. Obviously one should be about you and then two that really, right now you've noticed in your insights, bring in the most followers. You could do that just by going to a certain reels, tapping the three buttons, going to profile activity and seeing which one's got the most follows so I've pinned two right now on my pin that bring in followers.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:16]:
Because if I'm going to post less, I want to make sure there is content in there that I know for sure brings in my ideal people. On top of that, I'm going to other content in general that brings most followers. And that's what I'm working on right now. So that's one thing to do. Another thing you can do is just create content that people want to see right now. The content going viral right now and going bananas is summer content. Let's be real. Most of us right now are in summer mode, unless you're in different parts of the world, obviously.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:41]:
But anything that you can think of within your industry that you can then tailor to summer. So for me, I would do like summer content ideas, summer emojis to use on your reels, things like that. Quick wins. Okay? If you're in hair beauty things you're packing in your pool bag for a quick hairstyle, your go to hairstyle for short hair at the beach, things like that. If you're in real estate, my favorite place to go the summer. What summer looks like in blank. Basically anything you can do in your niche. Take those tips that you've shared that have done well, and add the word summer, summery beach vacation.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:14]:
So if you struggle with that, one of my favorite hacks to do is go to TikTok, type in your niche, and then type in summer or beach or vacation or whatever it is and see what comes up. That content is going to do really well for you because it's relevant to right now. And right now, people want to just kind of have fun. They're on vacations, they're traveling, their kids are home. It's camp, it's craziness. And a lot of the reels I see going crazy. Fun fact for the bloggers and the people who sell products out there, the Amazon finds, right, the inflatable pool, the, the grill tools and things like that. Like those things are going absolutely bonkers.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:47]:
I know. I find myself commenting on all those right now. I'm like, give me the link. I want to buy it for our beach trip. So with that said, if you want your content to keep working for you so you can post a little bit less this summer, make sure you have the right stuff pinned so that when people visit your account, they hit follow. Let your good content do the work for you, and then focus on creating content of your content. That typically does it. Bring in people and start sharing that like a week or two before you go on your vacation so that really good content just keeps going.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:15]:
And then while you're on vacation, have some fun. Put up a reel about your vacation. Put up a photo dump about your vacation. That way people know you're still there. It's just you might not be posting as much and that's okay. When you have good content, you do not have to post every day. And that's why I am obsessed with it. And now I see this person in my field who has always talked about quantity and really other toxic advice and has kind of bullied me on my posts for a few years, is now seeing the whole focus on quality content, all this stuff.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:45]:
So it's just funny. I think people are starting to realize, like, the gimmicks and the tactics are just, they're not even a band aid. They, they just don't work in the long term. If you want a short term growth, sure. But I know people that are now like, please. I can't believe I fell for that. So just trust me on this. Good content always.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:02]:
What is resonating? Look at your insights. The best thing you can do right now is look at your insights, see what's done well. How can you make some summery content out of the post? I've done well. Pin a couple of the posts that have brought in the most followers and aligned with your goals. And just again, observe and listen to my past podcast. Look at my reels. Every week I'm sharing actual real time hooks that are helping people so that you can create that good content. That's how you get your content to last longer, so that you can take a break and know that your stuff is out there circulating and bringing in new followers even when you put your phone down.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:33]:
Have an amazing summer. I'll talk to you next week.