What you’ll learn from this episode
⬤ How Sheena adds more value to her social media accounts
⬤ Why it’s important to be relatable & share personal stories on social media
⬤ How TikTok can generate tons of messages, and how to turn that into sales
⬤ What Sheena considers the best social media platform to secure “real leads”
⬤ How TikTok can help your following on other social media platforms
Highlights from the interview
[02:54] – How Sheena adds more value to her social media accounts
[06:58] – Why it’s important to be relatable & share personal stories on social media
[10:03] – How TikTok can generate tons of messages, and how to turn that into sales
[13:23] – What Sheena considers the best social media platform to secure “real leads”
[16:56] – How Tiktok can help your following on other social media platforms
[25:14] – How telling a story is worth a thousand views
About our Guest
To know more about our guest, visit the first part of our interview.
Edited transcription of Fitness Business Secrets Podcast, Episode 44
How Sheena adds more value to her social media accounts
[02:54] Kristy: Okay, so you just mentioned the whole world of social media, it’s just tough to get to be there to actually have a real presence. So, we talked a little bit about Instagram. You’re doing really great on Instagram. Tell me, how do you use in one sentence each of those other platforms?
What do you do to make them valuable and worth putting stuff on there? Twitter, how often do you post there? What do you post there?
Sheena: It’s the same thing. I mean, make sure that Twitter I’m actually really just learning I’m new to Twitter and it’s a lot making sure it’s the constant content going out you have to be posting. I know it seems a daunting task to be in all of these places at once. But if you think about it, what I do is I plan out my posts for the day basically. And I’ll say, Hey, I’m going to post this and this is what time I’m going to put it up.
And when you do that, when you have that plan for yourself, it takes away a little bit of the work and the trouble of having to be overwhelmed or like, Oh, I can’t, I can’t be on Twitter and I can’t be on Instagram and I can’t be on Facebook all day, especially when you have kids and you have a, some a lot of us when we’re first starting out businesses also have other jobs.
So, it’s a lot to think about trying to juggle being present on social media constantly. So you need to have a plan for when you’re going to put your content out and what content you’re going to have. And if you have that game plan for yourself, it takes you a minute or two to post something.
So all you have to do is just jump on and be doom doom do that’s posted here, here, here, here, and here as I needed it to. And then you need to really schedule out time to respond to messages or interact with your followers and other content. It’s not something that you need to do all day long, but you do need to make sure that you’re scheduling that time out for yourself so that when it’s going to happen, you’re not going to miss out on anything.
You’re going to be able to get to your DMs and respond to people and see what’s in there. If there’s anything really that’s an actual, real lead and follow up with, but as long as you have constant content going out, constant material going out for people to see, you want to remain at top of mind for people at all times.
So when they think it might not be today, that they’re like, “Alright, I wanna hire a personal trainer.” You wanna be the first person that they think of because they’re seeing you all the time or they hear from you now and then. So always remaining present. And at top of mind on social media is really important when it comes to marketing yourself.
The social media platform to get the most number of leads
Kristy: And so which platform is the most do you find you get the most leads from? Besides Instagram, cause it sounds like it’s Instagram.
Sheena: Yeah. Instagram or Facebook.
How she utilizes her personal and business Facebook pages to effectively market her business
Kristy: Okay for Facebook, do you basically market things through your personal page versus your business page?
Sheena: My business page is actually linked to my Instagram. So everything that I post on my Instagram goes to my Facebook page automatically. So I don’t really have to touch it much. But I do market a lot through my personal page because my following there is actually the largest. TikTok is actually the largest.
But my following on my Facebook page, I’ve got just under 3000 people following me on Instagram, but I’m at my limit for people to actually be my friend on Facebook. So my reach there is a little bit further. So I do market a lot on Facebook as well.
So, second to Instagram request, it would be probably Facebook messages that turn into real prospects and real leads and clients.
Why it’s important to be relatable & share personal stories on social media
[06:58] Kristy: So, I’m really curious so it’s a personal Facebook page. So then, do you basically consider that as your real business profile and then maybe do you really do post personal things there? Or do you create a separate one? If you like to do that personal posts?
Sheena: I do a little bit of both. I think that it’s been beneficial. I mean, this isn’t a route that most people would probably take, but I feel that it’s been beneficial for me to share my personal stories and my personal journey, because it makes me relatable to people and they see a little bit of my personality and they get to know me.
I think when you’re going to facilitate a coaching relationship with someone, they need to be comfortable with who you are and like you. I think it’s a little bit easier to jump in and start directing someone’s life. If they’re at ease with you and they feel like they know you, they feel comfortable with you.
And so I do, I push a lot of my business stuff on my personal page, but I also will share, occasional personal stories and thoughts and feelings and just things that I like and stuff with my kids so that I am relatable and not just this, well, I was told once that I have a Barbie doll persona that could be intimidating.
So I was like, well, I should probably try to tone that down and make myself seem more like a person. So that’s why I like to push a little bit more of my personal side when I do things on Facebook.
What to do with your Facebook business pages if it doesn’t have reach
Kristy: Okay. Got it. It’s always the most curious because essentially we’re using our personal Facebook page to promote and connect with customers.
And so I’ve always, I personally just had to like, “Wait, is that the best thing?” Because the business page isn’t that great for reach?
Sheena: Right. I agree. My business page, I have maybe a little over a thousand people following it, but it’s all people that I asked to follow it from my personal page.
It’s not like we had this organic growth on its own. So for Facebook business pages, I think until you’re some huge big shot, I don’t think they’re really that big of a thing or something that you should spend a lot of time focusing on. If you want to do one cool. Link it to your Instagram and let it just do its thing.
I do get interaction there, but I’ll have 50 views on something there that I have a thousand views on Instagram or on my Facebook story on. So it doesn’t do much for me, but I think it is good to have, especially if you’re maybe more so if you do in-person training so that you can market to local people.
For an online business or something like what I’m doing, it doesn’t have the greatest reach so it’s not my favorite tool, but I wouldn’t count it out. It’s good to have. It’s just not doing much.
How tiktok can generate tons of messages, and how to turn that into sales
[10:03] Kristy: Right. And let me ask you about TikTok, so you mentioned you have a lot of followers on TikTok, do you get a lot of any good leads there? How’s TikTok working for you?
Sheena: TikTok is awesome. TikTok gets you in front of people. I use TikTok I’ll do, I’ll post fitness videos, but I’ll also do trending things in order to grow my following. You get a lot of interaction from TikTok and a lot of inquiries.
So I have people that will, I put a call to action, basically like, “Hey, I was 250 pounds,” but I’m dancing and I’ll do like, “Hey, I was 250 pounds. I’m a mom of four.” I did this, this, this, and then ask how, and that generates this pouring in of questions. “How did you do this? What do you do?” So then I start just answering those questions for people. And then they’ll reach out to me.
I’d like to try to direct people to my website because even though I have all of these different platforms. I don’t want to have to go to a million different places in order to really talk to people with genuine interest in working with me. So I will take all angles and just funnel it all in towards my website. And then I can have people submit, they’ll either schedule a consultation or they can send me an email there with their questions.
And then that way I can really generate a sale from them, but it gets the conversation going. It gets the interest. It gets people asking the question, “How did you do this?” So that I can tell them, “Hey, this is how I did it. I can do this for you too. I’m a nutrition coach. I’m a personal trainer. Go contact me on my website. Or even just look at my website and buy something.” So yeah, that’s where I go with my TikTok, just putting out there and just being in front of people so they can see me.
How to go viral on TikTok
Kristy: Yeah. And with TikTok things are new, but I’ve heard a lot of good results from it. What type of posts do you post there that you find do well? I know you mentioned you had a call to action story, but how often do you post there and what do you usually post?
Sheena: I will post three to four times a week and I’ll do, I’ll try to do one trending dance video or something, and then I’ll pick just something humorous to do. And then I’ll try to do two, basically just telling my story with a call to action.
And so that’s how I do that. You want to have people that are following you and a good way to get people to follow you is to do the things that are trending. So once you have, 8,000 people that are following you, that’s when you drop your story, like, “Hey, I used to be 250 pounds.” And then you tell your story, you have your call to action.
So even if you don’t get on the, I don’t know how familiar you are with TikTok, but even if you don’t get on the “for you page”, which is basically the main feed where everybody can see you and you can really go viral.
If you have to think you have 8,000 people following you, and they’re just going to be swiping through and chances are they’re going to see your story and have a question. They may not see it every day.
So as you’re gaining new followers, you need to constantly be telling your story over and over again. Basically, like I said, every time you open your mouth, you need to be talking to your niche market. So it’s how I had worked with TikTok.
What Sheena considers the best social media platform to secure “real leads”
[13:23] Kristy: Wow. That’s incredible. So, do you have 8,000 followers on TikTok?
Sheena: Yeah, just, just under 8,000. Yeah.
It’s not that great in comparison to a lot of people, but it’s growing and it’s a gradual growth. And I really just started pushing TikTok only a couple of months ago. So I was able to triple the amount of followers that I have on Instagram on TikTok within a matter of months.
My Instagram growth has been a little more gradual and definitely slower than just getting to 3000. And I’ve had my Instagram for a very long time. But as far as focusing it on the business side of things, I’ve been growing Instagram for about a year. And during that time, I probably went from under a thousand people up to 3000, which isn’t bad, but the growth on Instagram can be a little bit more difficult and it can be a little slower.
So that’s why I really decided to push these other platforms because I feel like I do well on other platforms as well. And I get a little bit more interest in them. A little bit more visibility. So, you have to, you can link your Instagram as well to your TikTok. So I also always link my Instagram to everything.
Always link your Instagram to your website, wherever you can, because the Instagram growth I feel is the best place to get real leads and real clients, as far as social media goes, it’s also, I don’t know, like the most professional of the platforms is Instagram.
The Tiktok ‘vibe’ which helped Sheena promote her business without being too uptight
Kristy: Versus Facebook also? Is it more professional?
Sheena: Yeah. I think Facebook is a little bit looser.
It’s not as, I don’t know what word to say. I was going to say uptight. Instagram is a little bit more. It’s different. The vibe there is different on Facebook. You can be a little bit more, yourself and not as professional, but I feel like when you, when you’re posting on Instagram, it has to be really straight narrow.
And this is how it is. And you can’t really stray much from the attitude and vibe of Instagram, which is why TikTok is definitely faster growth because you can just be silly and crazy and fun, and people will follow you that way. But if you do the same thing on Instagram, it’s like little bit different community and different vibe.
Community guidelines are a little different. So you just have to keep it super, super professional on Instagram, where you have a little bit more wiggle room on other platforms to be a little different and step outside the box.
The best social media platform which transforms leads into sales
Kristy: And so let’s say it is more professional, but do you find Instagram is better though in getting leads to then?
Sheena: I think so. I think it’s better in getting leads that are actually going to turn into sales. Now, I can generate all kinds of questions on Facebook, around TikTok, but if they don’t turn into anything real, then it doesn’t really matter when it comes to genuine leads that are actually going to turn into sales.
I feel like Instagram has been the best place to get that, closely second followed by Facebook.
Kristy: Okay. And when you mentioned you get a hundred messages, was that just Instagram or was that across all people? Sheena: That’s probably across all platforms.
How TikTok can help your following on other social media platforms
[16:56] Kristy: That makes sense. Okay. And I’m a little curious, still about TikTok because, I think with 8,000 people, people could be jumping over to Instagram to message you.
Sheena: Yeah, I do. I get that. I’ll have emails of people that’ll say, “Hey, I saw you on TikTok.” And then I don’t really have analytics at this point for people that have seen a TikTok and then clicked the button and followed me on Instagram. But I do feel that my Instagram following did grow significantly after I started on TikTok.
And I think that’s because when people jump on TikTok and they go to my bio or my profile. They’ve got that button right there in front of them. So I don’t know how many of my newest followers within the last few months have been generated by TikTok, but that’s also why it’s so important to have yourself out there across multiple platforms, but if they eventually end up on Instagram, then that’s awesome. I’m good with that.
How an educational post on TikTok can also go viral
Kristy: Yeah. For TikTok, do you only do music type of things or how do you introduce more direction or more talk or is it always based around a music dance?
Sheena: No, I usually I’ll do a lot of gym videos and fitness videos, fitness instructional videos because you can basically do clips of an entire workout. So, “Hey, here’s my glute workout for the day” or “Here, try this core workout.” So I like to put those out in addition to talking. There’s the thing that I’ll do. If I get some negativity about my physique or something, you can answer questions in the form of a video response. So I do talk a lot.
I’ve also done videos that have done really well. Just that are more on the educational side. There was one I did that went very, very well where I was basically talking about how salads can make you fat, which I was basically going through like,
“Hey. Salad is awesome. It’s great. It’s good for you. But then when you load it up with cheese and three pounds of ranch dressing, it’s no longer healthy for you. So you need to be cognizant of when you do make a salad, what are you putting on it? Is it making sense? Are you really sabotaging your diet? Because you can make salad that has more calories than a cheeseburger does.”
So that one did really well. So I like to do the fun things and the little dances and the music, but then I’ll throw in the educational and the instructional side of things that really show okay. Cool. You look like this, but then you do also know what you’re talking can you about, because I think it’s important, right?
For people to know that you do actually know what you’re doing and that you have something to provide to them outside of just saying, “Hey, you could look like this” because yeah, you can. But how? They want a little bit more from you so that they realize that, okay, well that makes sense. This is a knowledgeable person.
They know what they’re talking about and how to train and things like that, need that in there.
Sheena’s best tip to gain traction on TikTok
Kristy: And so this is me because I did like a few TikTok videos and then I didn’t really master it. So do you just post a video on TikTok and you just don’t choose a music or you play music in the background?
Sheena: For my workout videos, I’ll choose a trending song. And you just put words on the actual as you’re editing your video, you can basically explain the workout as you go with text bubbles, basically. But if I’m talking or just explaining something, I just grab my ring light. Throw my phone up and just record the video just me talking.
You can explain things. You don’t always have to use the music. And I find that, that it’s just as, just as popular, if you’re talking than it is when you’re dancing. But the thing is to have a good mix and a good balance because you need to constantly be growing your following and doing little trending stuff is what gets you, get you the attention and get you on the “for you page.”
Do hashtags matter on TikTok?
Kristy: Okay. And then this is going to sound silly. Do you have to try to utilize hashtags in TikTok?
Sheena: Yes, you do. Okay. hashtags are still something that I am really working with and learning. So I’m doing some research here currently about hashtags and they actually have someone that’s in helping me learn the right way to use hashtags because they are awesome.
And they’re super beneficial for what you’re doing. But if you’re using the wrong hashtags, then you’re basically going to get lost in a sea of, so I don’t know what, when you post an Instagram post, what I my initial thought was that okay, I’m gonna take the hashtags that have 2 million people following them, but you have to think about on a grand scale, you’re just one little post in a hashtag sea of 2 million.
So what you want to actually do is do put some of those large ones towards the end of your hashtag stream, but start with smaller two hashtags that only have a couple of thousands of people that are using them or that are following them, because that way you’re actually going to be seen in that pool. If there’s a hashtag that only has a thousand people following it, what are the chances that they’re going to see you versus the one that has 180 million people following it?
So that’s one little hashtag trick that I was just recently informed or schooled on.
Kristy: How about tech talk for hashtags? Do you feel like it’s the same strategy or do you use a different strategy than Instagram hashtags?
Sheena: I actually haven’t really had a chance to see if there’s been much of a difference made by it, because this is something I actually just learned recently that I’m kinda sharing with you.
So I’m not even sure that there’s a real importance in using hashtags on TikTok. There is with Instagram because I’ve seen just, this is just me making an observation. I don’t have actual analytics to share, but just I’ve seen posts that have millions of views on TikTok, but don’t have a hashtag at all.
So I don’t know quite yet if hashtags are really super beneficial or if they make that much of the difference when it comes to TikTok.
Sheena’s top social media posts which could also get you thousands of views!
Kristy: Okay. All right. So I want to do a social media rundown. What is the top post that you had on each of the platforms. So, where something you’re like, wow, this really brought in a lot of subscribers.
So Instagram, what posts did you have the best response for?
Sheena: It was a glute workout. I had a glute workout that I posted that had, I dunno, maybe 3000 views or so that generated a lot of interest probably on Instagram.
Followed secondly was a post of me just basically sharing a before and after picture, or it was a series of before and after pictures that just flowed through. And then I told my story attached to that. And that got a lot of interaction.
TikTok, the top thing that I got the most views on was it was actually just a video of me where you could see my abs. And I said, guess my age. And that one was really super popular, followed probably next to by the one, the video that I was just saying, the salad one, the house salads make you fat. That one did really, really well. Several hundred thousand views.
Kristy: How many views on TikTok?
Sheena: It was several hundred thousand. I can’t tell you right off the top of my head, but yeah.
Kristy: That’s a lot. Yeah.
Sheena: Yeah. My TikTok videos are definitely way more viral than what I see on Instagram, for sure. As far as getting in front of people. Definitely it’s really a good platform to utilize if you’re not already doing so.
How telling a story is worth a thousand views
[25:14] Kristy: And then how about Facebook?
Sheena: For Facebook, I usually just focus on stories and stories get anywhere from 800 to a couple thousand views. So that’s really where I put my focus on when I’m on Facebook is making sure that I’m putting things in stories.
Kristy: Hmm. Okay. And do you repurpose your content? So if you create a video in Instagram and then you reuse it on Facebook.
Sheena: I do. I use them over again? Absolutely. I’m in a time crunch, so I can’t always spend hours and hours making content.
So yes, I definitely will reuse the same thing or I’ll take one workout that I’ve recorded and I can put it into, I can make it into a 60-second video to share on TikTok, or I can make it into a two-minute video and put it up on Pinterest, or I can post to cut it into, a series of clips and post it on Facebook as they are on Instagram, as opposed that you can scroll through.
And then I can post little clips of it in my stories on Facebook and tell people, “Hey, full workout is available on Instagram. Go check it out!” And things like that.
Why you should consider turning a post into a story to get more views
Kristy: Okay. Okay. That’s awesome. So my closing question is, because I think this has been a lot of good information. What is your number one tip per platform?
Since they’re all a little bit different, we talked about personality wise. If we were to go through the different platforms, and maybe we can even include Pinterest. What would be your number one tip to people or that you see people maybe not doing to help them improve their reach? Let’s start with Instagram then.
Sheena: Stories. Definitely. Definitely stories. Always, always, always, always be posting stories. And that goes for Facebook as well. That’s where your reach is really with people. They’re going to go to your profile and they’ll look through your permanent posts. But what you want to in order to get in front of people is stories.
And just really realize that the more stories you have, the more in front of people you’re actually going to be. So the more, the better really try to get stories out every two hours, if you can. Post a story, because that’s where people are going to see you. They’re not really seeing your permanent posts, you might get a couple hundred views or 90 likes on a picture or something that you post.
But when you go up to your stories, you’re going to see, Oh, okay. You can even take the same exact picture or same exact post and post it permanently on your Instagram and get 90 views. And you throw it in your story and boom, you have 400. So that’s where people are actually seeing you make sure you’re posting stories.
Using stories to show a behind the scenes feeling
Kristy: And your stories. And just because you mentioned stories as your number one tip for Instagram and Facebook, do you generally do a call to action?
Sheena: Yeah, with stories it’s actually really cool because you can put links or you can tell people new posts and have them click on it, and then they go to your profile.
It personalizes you also a little bit more, so you can, it’s instead of them just seeing a picture of you where you look awesome and amazing, they’re seeing more of the behind the scenes and personal part of it, so they can relate to it a little bit more.
Always put some hashtags in there or click me link or a new post. You gotta get creative and play around with it, but there’s a lot that you can do with stories so learning it. That would be probably my top suggestion is definitely use your stories and do a little bit of research and learn the secrets to how to make stories more appealing for people.
Sheena’s no. 1 tip in using TikTok as a marketing tool for your biz
Kristy: And what about TikTok? What’s your number one tip to get more reach?
Sheena: Do trending stuff, even if you feel stupid when you’re doing a dance or you’re not a good dancer, don’t be afraid to, be a little bit more vulnerable and have fun and show, show your personality for sure.
So do trending things and that’s what’s gonna really get you to be visible is doing the stuff that’s trending on TikTok, because once you have that following, then you can start to really show what it is that you do as a personal trainer or as a nutrition coach or whatever it is that your career may be. Definitely. Definitely do trending things on TikTok.
How to capture more leads by repurposing your workout videos on pinterest
Kristy: Okay, great. I know you mentioned Pinterest, which I’m pretty interested in more. Do you have any tips with Pinterest?
Sheena: Just share everything on Pinterest. Pinterest is big with hashtags, but I’d like to share basically my workout videos, mostly on Pinterest above anything else, because I feel like when I think Pinterest is pretty popular when people are like, “Hmm, what should I do in my living room today?”
So I do like to post, since I am a remote coach and I’m not in the gym with people. I like to post more relevant content like at home workouts or like, “Hey, do this living room core workout or home glutes or whatever,” just things, things that you can do at home.
So that, when people go to search, especially busy moms or whoever you’re like, “Okay, I got 15 minutes. What can I do really quick? I need a core workout.” So that’s the stuff that I really post on Pinterest is the things that you would think that people are looking for right now to do. Since I am a personal trainer that’s the workout videos; if I was a chef, it would be quick recipes.
So just whatever is relevant to what you specifically do, or the service that you provide. Just throw videos out there and make sure that you title them well and link them to your website or to your Instagram every single time that you post.
How to reach Sheena
Kristy: Well, that’s fantastic. This has been very informational about TikTok and Instagram.
So Sheena, thanks so much for being on the show. If people want to reach out to you, I know this sounds like there’s a lot of ways, what’s the best way for them to find you and reach you?
Sheena: The best way to reach me with either to go to my Instagram, which is Sheena the Sculptor, or you can go to my website, which is sheenathesculptor.com.
Kristy: So yeah, I get it. I get it. Well, I like that name. When you say it out loud, it sounds like Sheena the warrior or something. I don’t know, but it kinda sounds like a superhero and everyone wants to be a superhero.
Sheena: Cool. I like that.
Kristy: So, yeah. So thanks so much for being on the show and all that great information. Well, I think a lot of the listeners, and I know I did learn a lot about social media today.
Sheena: Awesome. Hopefully I was helpful. Like I said, I’m no expert, but just sharing my experience and what I’ve learned and what’s worked for me. So I’m glad for the opportunity and thank you so much for having me.
Kristy: Thanks. Awesome. Well, make sure to reach out to Sheena, if you want more information about how she does things.
Sheena: Thank you. I appreciate it.
Stay connected with Sheena!
Sheena Jones
Facebook: Sheena Benson
Instagram: @sheena_thesculptor