Instagram Reels

But today we were talking about a brand new feature that has been hinting,

hinting, hinting, and is finally here! We are talking about Instagram Reels.

Now I know some of you, as I've been talking about Reels over the last

couple of weeks, since it came out, people are like, "Reels? What is that?

What is that thing anyway?" Well, I'm going to break it down for you, but not

just definition-wise because that's neither here nor there. I'm going to break

down for you all about Instagram Reels for network marketers, because that,

frankly, is what you care about. So let's go ahead and dive in!

 

If you are looking for a hands-on ability and way to really get going with your

Instagram Reels, and you don't want to be left in the dust, then I invite you

to join me for a brand new challenge. It's the Instagram Reels Challenge, and

it's kicking off later this week. So go ahead and just go to

socialstoriesmembership.com/challenge to get all the details and register for

this challenge. I know you're going to love it. And it's going to give you some

real world practicality on how you can grow and maneuver with it.

 

Alright, so let's go ahead and dive into all things that happen to be Instagram

Reels. Now I've been watching the trajectory of Reels coming; I knew it was

coming. It was just a matter of when were they going to, when was

Facebook/Instagram, same people, going to reveal it. And honestly, when it

came out, I'm like, "Now? You chose now? Come on, Zucks! Couldn't you

wait?", but he didn't. It is this month, and it's going to be great. Here is why

or what it is. Now, I want to remind you of something very important that

you've heard me say, you heard Molly Mahoney and I talk about on the

podcast when she was a guest last month, but here's an important thing I

want you to realize--whenever Facebook or Instagram or any social media

platform, or even the social media platform adjacent like LinkedIn and

Pinterest, when they come out with something new, it is your opportunity to

like wild, wild West it, baby, and get in there because when they come up

with some new feature, they are rewarding you for it. They're rewarding you

for using it. It's going to put you in front of people that you normally would

not have an opportunity to display your wares, your brand, all those things

with. So the first thing I want you to do before you think about feeling

overwhelmed about this new thing is realize this is an opportunity for you

and your business to get out there and to dive in. So yay for that! Okay, now

the second thing, if you are wondering, "What the heck is Reels?" Well, it

really is Instagram's answer to TikTok. If you remember the history of,

trajectory of, of Facebook, you've got Mark Zuckerberg, he's doing a social

media, Facebook thing, but other social media platforms that have interest

and value come along, things like Snapchat and Instagram. Well, Mark

Zuckerberg is very dogged about wanting to be the juggernaut on

everything, so he will either buy it, and if he can't figure a way to buy it, if

money doesn't buy everything, then he will copy it. And that's why, and how,

Instagram became something that now is owned by Facebook. That's also

why Instagram and Facebook now actually have stories. Stories are really an

answer to Snapchat. So now he couldn't buy TikTok, so he copied TikTok.

And that's what Reels is. Now Reels has really been in the making for a while.

In fact, it was first launched in Brazil as something called Scenes, and that

was the name I thought it was going to have all the time. And it's been out

since I want to say last fall, definitely 2019, although it's hard to see past or

behind 2020, but you got me. He rolled it out. It's now been rolled out in 50

countries. So odds are, if you're listening to this, you're in one of the 50

countries. So kudos! Congrats to you! And what does this all mean for you?

Well, obviously TikTok had value. TikTok has been growing exponentially in

different ways, and if you're thinking, "This doesn't mean I have to do the

Savage dance, Roxanne?", it does not. Now you could, it means you could

dance around if you want to do that, but what it really means is it's an

opportunity for you to become that expert in your field when it comes to this

new platform. So let's dive into some ways you can do this. 

 

And I should mention that if you want some real practicality on not only how

to use it, but strategy and how to use it, you should really join us for the

Instagram Reels Challenge. It is coming up. It starts in a couple of days. It is

going to be transformational. If you've done the Instagram Stories Challenge,

which is obviously transformational, over a thousand people and counting

have now done it, and they've gotten great success from it, you're going to

love the Instagram Reels Challenge. 

 

Okay, enough about that. Let's go into practicality. Now, I don't believe that

even with TikTok and definitely not with Reels, do you have to be someone

you are not. Okay? So whenever something new comes out, you need to sit

and ask yourself, "How can I apply this to who I am? Not how do I change my

brand to be it, but how can this fit with my brand?" That is, once you

embrace the fact that you're going to be taking on something new, the

second thing is to sit back and go, "Aha, I can do this. How does this apply to

me? What can I do now?" One of the things, if you're familiar with TikTok,

TikTok allows you to have 15 seconds, 45 seconds, and of course minute

reels, 30 seconds as well, too. With Reels, as it is right now, it's 15 seconds.

So you get 15 seconds to put something out there. I'll tell you right now, 15

seconds is longer than you think it is. It just means you have to be smart

about it, which is fine, which you totally can do. What I want you to do when

diving into this is realize that the best thing you can do is think about ways

that you can showcase who you are, what you represent, and what you do.

So who are you now, please? Don't say, "Well, I'm a rep for such and such

company. I sell this." No, that's not who you are. You were someone before

that, before you started your networking company, and you'll be someone

after, and you're someone currently as well, too. So who is that person? Use

it as an opportunity to share a little bit about you. Again, if you're a dancer,

then dance. If you're a singer, then sing. If you don't dance or sing, don't feel

like you have to take that on. What's so great about Instagram, and you

know this, is there so many people on the platform. So yes, there will be

people who will learn the newest thing, the newest version of Savage and do

that dance. But they're also people who'd really love the opportunity to learn

a little about you without much stress or obligation or commitment. Fifteen

seconds is not a lot of commitment. When I did Pilates, back in my day when

I took a Pilates class, I remember one of my instructors would always say,

"You can do anything for 15 seconds." And as I was going back and forth on

that reformer, I was like, "Okay, I hope you're right, but man, this hurts! I can

do anything for 15 seconds!" But I always remember that. You can do

anything for 15 seconds, so someone can watch you, that attention span

works, right? 

 

So the first thing, like I said, you want to do is think about how you can

introduce yourself. What can you put out there that introduces who you are,

not your company, that you can put out there? Okay, that's the first type of

post that's going to be great. The next thing is, how can you tell your brand

story? Now the brand story is who you are. So what, you're like, "Wait a

moment." What I'm saying is take time, alright? I actually think you may take

more than one actual Reel to tell who you are. So tell the basics of who you

are, and then tell a little bit more about who you are as a professional, who

you are, and consider that your brand story. So again, you're not saying, "I

am with such as company that does blah, blah, blah," but who are you? What

is it that you do? What do you like about your company? Are you a fashion

stylist? So you love showing fashion, you have a heart for fashion? Do you

love helping people with getting better skin or losing weight? Talk about that

and specifically what your passion is with that. Okay? 

 

Another thing that is a great value add when it comes to, and there's some

specific strategy, but I'm giving you the higher brow. When you do the

challenge, you're going to get like, "Oh my gosh, she's got specific strategy

for me!" Yes, I do. But you also want to think about specifically, what is your

expertise? Oh, we're going back to superpower. What is your expertise?

What is something you can give me some education about? So for example,

a great example is when I was doing the live shows that I do each week, we

were talking about engaging content today, and my listener, Rochelle, she's

also a member of Social Stories, she said that her goal today was to

encourage people to hydrate because she's been forgetting to hydrate, and

I'm like, "That is magical. That's awesome." She could do a Reel where she's

giving the importance of hydration, not in a boring stuffy way, but in a Ro

way--Rochelle is her name--in a Ro way that really gets people like, "Oh yeah,

I need to hydrate. I totally need to do that. I'm going to do that today. And I

see the value in it." So you can give value as the expert. Now she doesn't

necessarily have to say, "I'm a skincare expert and you need it hydrate," but

she can share that. And as she tells her story more and more, and if

someone sees her Reel and then goes to her page, and it says she's skin

passionate about skin, or however she's worded that, they're going to

realize, "Okay, she's she knows her salt." So doing more posts that are about

what you have great knowledge about, what your superpower, or multiple

superpowers are about is a fantastic way to give people tidbits of things that

they can take and apply. In 15 seconds? Got it. Okay, I can do that. So I

watched a Reel that she's done about hydrating. I'm like, "I can go put on

some lotion today. Okay, but what else? I can drink a little more water." It's

that type of thing that you can do with the Reel. So be strategic and think,

"What is my overarching message?" Because think about this, the more that

you make yourself an expert, and you put it out there with Reels or whatever

it may be, the more apt someone is to come to you when they either need

help in that area or are looking to dive into that area themselves and

perhaps go into that business. You're their person. So use Reels as a way to

give that information--information is a powerful thing. And being able to do

it in 15 seconds increments? Awesome.

 

Now, does that mean that you don't add music to it or you don't add words?

You can absolutely add those things, and I'll be teaching you how to do that

in the Reels Challenge. So that'd be one part of it. In fact, with the challenge,

you'll have opportunity to get the practicality of how to do the things, but

then also the strategy and how to make it count. It's fantastic. Now there

definitely is an opportunity for you to try out the latest trends, and I do think

that's good. Now, what I mean by that is if something is trending, it might be

one of those cute little videos where you have the powder puff or the wax

on wax off on the mirror. Do I think you should try those? Absolutely, if it fits

with what you do. Again, if you are someone who is like anti-makeup, then

don't do the one where you hit the screen with the powder puff. You may

even know what I'm talking about, if you follow TikTok, because that

wouldn't seem right for you. But if there was a trend that fits within your

brand, and the other thing is, won't take you forever to complete, then

definitely take a look at trends and implement them in there. 

 

So you've got different types of Reels you're going to have. So you're going

to have Reels that are gonna talk about your brand story and who you are,

your personal brand. You're going to have Reels about your expertise and

what you know, great things about that you can share. And then you'll also

do some Reels that have to do with the trend that's out there, which also

means that if you love to dance, maybe you sell something that has nothing

to do with dancing, but part of your brand is dancing. You love music, then

absolutely get out there and do the dance, if that works for you and you

have the time to do it, okay? But if you don't, don't worry about it. So those

three things that you can add to Reels is a powerful way that you can use

this new tool and really rock it. 

 

Now I have more, many more, but I'm going to stop right there because I've

given you enough where you can start implementing and diving into Reels.

Now, the other thing I want you to remember is this--one of the great things

about something that's new is that everybody is doing it fresh. Even those

who were doing TikTok forever and a day have to adapt to what's going on

with Reels and how to maneuver Reels. So don't feel like you are a failure,

because you're not, if you do something, and it doesn't post right or it feels

awkward or it's not exact. That is totally fine. That is normal. We're all

learning together, unless you are in Brazil, and you've been using the artist-

formerly-known-as-Scenes, now Reels, for nearly a year. Everyone is at that

fresh spot where less than 30 days of using Reels is a reality. So this is a

perfect time for you to dive in there, to rock it out, and to really just fumble.

If you fumble, it's okay. We're all going to get to the end zone, we are, if you

like that football reference. So just have that freedom when you dive into it. 

 

I really encourage you to go ahead and join us for the Instagram Reels

Challenge because I know the greatness that is planned for you. And I know

it's going to be a really great way for you to dive into Reels with a community

of people who are all diving into it together. Everybody's new to it. But also

do it with strategy, so you're not wasting your time just flying around. Let's

get you to where you want to go. Let's get you to that end zone. Fumbles are

fine, but let's see the end zone faster. How does that sound?  

 

And I want to remind you, you're not ahead. You're not behind. You're

exactly where you need to be. And I'm so glad you're here with me. Take

care!