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Growing 100 followers in 15 days may seem like an unattainable feat, but today we’re going to talk about how to do just that. My guest is Wren Robbins, is a veteran podcaster of five years, a podcast coach, and she was given the honor of being on the top 50 Moms in Podcasting from Podcast Magazine in both 2020 and 2021. She has curated over 175 podcast episodes on her own podcast called “Friends of a Feather” where she encourages others to spur them on in the gifts and talents God has given them.
Click below for show notes
Wren: Thank you! I love that you sing. We should have done a duet you know, that would have been awesome.
Ruthie: As I’ve mentioned, you are my very own podcast coach and the reason I’ve stayed steady for over a year.
Now, we just celebrated one year, one of the Instagram Insider Hacks podcast. I believe I was your first coaching client, but since then, you’ve gone on to coach many more who have then launched their own podcast. So tell us, why did you decide to do that?
6 Steps to 100 followers in 15 days
W: I started my podcast five years ago. I was a part-time stay at home mom and a kindergarten teacher, both part-time. I remember where I was on the road when I was driving and God was like, you need to start a podcast. And I was like, Okay. I don’t know anything about that. I went home and searched Google many, many days and weeks trying to figure it out, but I knew God had called me to it.
So I was like, we’re going to figure this out. I spent many hours doing that and I finally started it. I did not have a launch and didn’t do anything right in the beginning. Also, I didn’t even use hashtags on Instagram because I was scared somebody was gonna find me. Like, what?
That’s why you have a podcast. So that people find you and hear your message. I was scared, I mean, that was five years ago. Then I just continued on, but I was in a Facebook group for business coaching because everybody needs a business coach.
I just put a question out there. “Hey, y’all do I need to do a podcasting course or do I need to do coaching?” And you (Ruthie) were like, you need to do coaching and I might be your first client. I was like, okay. And then I did not follow up. You Facebook messaged ME. So that’s how it all started. But then I remember as soon as I started podcasting, I would be listening to Business Podcast. I would be reading, like getting my hands on anything and everything about business.
Up til then, I never realized why until when I got your message and I was like, okay, I think maybe coaching might be something for me one-on-one especially because I enjoy that. I’m gifted in that. I know podcasting, I’ve been doing it for five years. Plus, I can tell others what not to do because I did what not to do and I figured it out.
So, that’s how it started. It started with you Ruthie!
Accountability leads to growth
R: You gotta do what you say you’re going to do! That’s what we need. Like you said, it’s good to have a coach because they kind of hold your feet to the fire and make sure you’re accountable and committed.
You’ve got to do it and if not, we’ll come hunt you down, in a sweet way. Right? So, then you went on to become a client of mine and joined my membership training. You grew your Friends of a Feather account on Instagram, and then you continued to hit your goals and explode your Instagram growth.
I mean, talk about a dream student. This girl here is the queen of Reels here. You just launched a brand new Instagram account after building the other one up so much. After working for the past five years on your original account, why don’t you share with us why you did that?
W: You know, it was totally a personal decision for me. I was posting on my Friends of a Feather account. I was thinking, okay, I know what to do, and I’m going to do it.
And then I kind of changed the rules and were like, oh, I’m going to be podcast coaching now. Well, these original people who follow me, followed me because of my podcast.
They’re moms who are not necessarily business women. My avatar for my coaching is business women, and Christian women in ministry or business. Those who want to start a podcast, I’ll walk them through the steps. So, I changed the rules.
When you change the rules, you need to kind of think about who is your avatar, who are you serving?
For me, it just made more sense to separate. I struggled with a mindset that is was crippling sometimes about imposter syndrome. You know, we’ve had many discussions about this over Voxer and Zoom and all the things.
I was like, I need to separate the accounts. It’s crazy. It’s crazy for somebody to say, Wren, you went from having no hashtags to figuring out hashtags, redoing everything. Now, you’re going to start from scratch. But then I thought, you know, what about Ruthie?
I’d had all those intensive trainings and I knew what to do. It just was because I changed the rules and I needed to be more free to post.
Now, I have so much freedom. I can’t tell you how much freedom I have with both accounts. I’m not on Instagram all the time. I like to be, let me tell you, I love Instagram, but I can’t, but I changed the rules and I know what to do.
R: That was gutsy! I remember the day that you sent me a boxer and said that, and I was like, oh girl, are you sure you want to lose that? But you did, and you did it well. So, let’s talk about this. We talked about the pivot.
Let’s talk about how it’s growing and how fast it’s growing. You went from Zero to 100 in 15 days, right? So, tell us what you did to explode that growth and grow 100 followers in 15 days. What were the exact steps you took?
Step 1 – how to grow 100 followers in 15 days
W: Okay. I have six steps to how I grew 100 followers in 15 days. So number one,
1. I posted every day.
I know that’s not cool to say that, but y’all, it wasn’t even like, it wasn’t like I posted a Reel a day. It was like a Reel, and then a quote. I just felt so free and I had so much content because I was free. Each day, I said, I’m going to post until I get to a hundred followers.
That’s the first thing I did. I posted every day for what ended up being 15 days.
2. I rewatched sessions from the Intensive training.
Because when I did your intensive, it was for the Friends of a Feather podcast. My eyes were with something else. Now my eyes are for podcast coaching. So I rewatched those. I’m still rewatching those, but I rewatched the ones that I’m like, I really need to hone in on. I think I did the Content lesson.
I think that was the one that was a huge help for content creation.
R: Talking about my 12 week intensive – it’s just a deep dive into Instagram! It was 12 lessons 15 to 20 minutes each, and then you have an action to take on that lesson each week.
We cover how to create a killer bio and how to have content categories. We cover hashtags, all of that sweet stuff, so I could see how, pivoting, you could take all of that information and put it in your new account.
W: I did. So that was the second thing I did to grow 100 followers in 15 days.
It was a huge tilt because of that.
3. I posted Reels
I posted some easy Reels. When I filmed my dog with one caption got way more like engagement than anything else, like seriously, you know? Remix is a great tool but I will say this, some people don’t have this option to do a remix.
The Remix tool is huge because new people come to you and they will start following. The first Reel that I remixed, some of her followers came to me. I have an engaging follower that came to me because I remixed her reel. So Remix is great, don’t discount those, but for some they’re only showing them in their stories.
It’s not like they can post them in the feed. They’re just putting in their stories but y’all, if they’re good, they’re going to come follow you.
Definitely create Reels and do the remix if you can. Okay. That’s number three.
4. I planned ahead
Number four, I planned Instagram. Imagine that, Ruthie! Planning it. Like you’ve been telling me ever since I became a client of yours ruin, you need to plan these. Hey everybody. It’s really great. It takes the pressure off and there it is sitting there.
W: In our Membership, when we do hot seats, I have questions that I need to ask you or notes that we take during all those sessions. And I have that with notebook paper in it, and then I have all the printables. Then I have a calendar and Most of May was filled out.
That’s awesome. That’s never happened. To me to get it out, I’m a pen and paper girl. I have it all there. I’m writing it down. I’m just, and I might even say Reels. I might say, Quote, I might not be so detailed on that. Then I go to plan.
I would go back to those content categories. So that’s the thing I did. I planned it out.
R: Great! I always say is this is how I do it. This is what I teach inside the Intensive, but actually in the intensive we also teach how to use Later.com.
As far as organization goes, we also teach a Trello course by Christa Hutchins, she does a guest spot for that. What we teach is what works for you. As far as scheduling and planning what you need to use based on the best fit for you.
W: Yes! It made a difference in this because I had so many ideas now that I was free.
I put pen to paper and started planning. So that’s number four.
Make sure to tune in next week for part 2 of how to grow 100 followers in 15 days! In the meantime, join my Authentic Instagram Engagement Facebook group here. We encourage one another, brainstorm strategies, help answer questions, and engage our community! Best of all, it’s totally free to join. Just click the link and you’ll be guided to the application page.
Wren Robbins is the host of the Friends of a Feather Podcast, a Podcast Coach, and was featured as #4 on the Top 50 Moms in Podcasting {Podcast Magazine, 2020}. She delights in encouraging women in their daily lives and in spurring them on to use their gifts and talents God has given them. You can find more information about Wren and her podcast at wrenrobbins.com.
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