Supercharge Your Instagram Success
Laurie Wright is an accomplished children’s author, writing coach, and Instagram expert. Here she shares how she built her business, gets attention for her work, and connects with her audience. If you’re a writer who wants to make a living from your work, these tips will help you build a loyal and loving tribe!
1) Tell me a little about yourself. How did you get into writing and teaching others about writing?
I was a kindergarten teacher for ten years, and was inspired to write my first book because of a trend I noticed, that the kids seemed to be suffering from learned helplessness, and wouldn’t even attempt to solve their own problems! I wrote the book to encourage students to realize that they can handle their problems. I didn’t grow up wanting to be a writer, it was that I had an idea I couldn’t shake, and that I knew would be useful to children.
I love to share with others how to write and publish books for two main reasons. There are SO many people who want to write a book, but don’t know where to begin! They quit at some point along the way and their stories don’t get told. I try to make things easier for those people. The second reason is because I am a teacher at heart. Everything new that I learn, I have a desire to teach to others.
2) Your graphics on Instagram are always engaging! What are some keys to making your pictures stand out on Instagram?
Thank you for the nice compliment! I use Canva.com, a free program, and I use their basic templates most of the time. I think about what looks good to me, and what I would like to see and try to create that.
3) Hashtags. They’re everywhere on social media today. How can writers find the best ones to use?
The best hashtags aren’t used too often or too little, in order to maintain maximum visibility. You want your post to be seen by as many people as possible so you should research your hashtags and use ones that have already been used around 100K – 800K times. This will make sure your posts stay at the top of that feed for longer than if you used a more common one. I like to use ‘websta.me‘ to look up hashtags that will fit that criteria.
4) Let’s talk about post content. What should you write about? How long should it be? What’s the key to getting people to respond?
I don’t think there are any set rules for how to approach your feed. Some people just put quotes up with no comment, some do just a picture with a long comment. I think the best plan is to be authentically you. Be clear on your purpose and use that as a guide for what to post. People respond when they are moved by what you’ve posted, or when their interest is piqued. This will happen with they feel a connection with what you’ve posted, and with you. I try to always ask a question that will engage my followers.
5) You do a great job describing yourself on your profile. What should a writer include on his? What calls to action work best?
In your profile you want to stand out from the crowd. Make it short, snappy, and INTERESTING! People have limited attention spans, you have to capture them right away, or you’ve lost them. If you’re a writer you want to share your genre and where to find your books!
6) I love the way your website starts off. You appeal to a need. You meet it with ready made coaching packages. How can a writer who wants to coach structure his offerings to make it easy for prospects to say yes?
It’s important to drill down and have a firm idea of the niche you are targeting. There are no new coaching ideas, no new ideas period! So it’s how you present yourself and whether you speak to your target in a way they’ll respond to.
7) What’s the best way to price your coaching?
There are different schools of thought here. I try to treat people as I was lucky enough to be treated. I would never have bought coaching for thousands of dollars, but for $99 I would! So I decided to target people just like me, with a desperate need to figure this publishing thing out, but who didn’t have thousands to spend.
8) How can a writer use books to sell other products or services?
A book can be a gateway to other programs or services. You can offer it for free to create a connection and build a relationship, and then moving forward you have a warm audience to target for future books or products.
9) How can you show expertise without looking like you’re bragging or being salesy?
This is always a fine line! I think it’s about connecting with your target. Share with them where you’ve come from and how you dealt with your struggles, for better or for worse. Share it all, the good and the bad. No one is perfect, and people love to hear from someone who shares their imperfections.
10) This is for fun – what’s the best book you’ve read this year?
I’ve been lucky enough to be a beta tester on Brian Meeks’ new book – ‘Mastering Amazon Ads‘. Brian is a dataholic, and he shares his techniques for running and profiting from Amazon ads with his usual snarky writing style. His advice has changed my sales from pitiful to prosperous within a month! I’m still amazed, and am averaging selling 50 books a day this month. It’s a read-at-the-beach book, it’s a change your life book, so by far the best I’ve read in awhile!
Laurie Wright is a speaker, author, and teacher who is passionate about helping children increase their positive self-talk and improve their mental health. She also teaches people how to write their books and up their Instagram game. You can find her online at www.lauriewrighter.com.
Laurie’s Instagram address is https://www.instagram.com/lauriewrighter/
You can purchase Laurie’s books on Amazon.
Do This Now
Follow Laurie on Instagram and see how she does it.
If you’re not already doing this, have conversations with the people who connect with you on social media. You never know what doors will open!
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