Imagine not dreading to post on Instagram!

How is it that being authentic to your brand (and you) on social media can be so dang confusing?

It’s easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing. So some of us grab templates and stock photos and Mad Libs type templates or hire someone to “speak” for us.

I get it.

Posting on Instagram — or any social media– can be intimidating, time consuming, annoying, a whole lot of hype or something you would just rather farm out.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. It shouldn’t be that way.

People connect with real people, not the souped up image that someone fabricates.

Watch my Live video about Instagram Posts Tips…

If you follow me, you know that I believe in the power of being authentic to build your tribe and connect with an audience who gets you.

Seems like I’m not alone.

I attended a New York Fashion Week panel on social media brand building, authenticity and Instagram posting tips before I left for my vacation place in Jackson Hole, WY. The panel consisted of fashion industry honchos so what is the most interesting beyond what they said is that if you look at real “fashion people” feeds you’re not seeing some staged fakeness but slices of life from who they really are.

Again, let me emphasize that Instagram experts who do social media for MAJOR brands do not use fabricated photos and “done for you” copy prompts to create some weird allure. They are who they are.

And being you is so much more attractive.

If you want to beat the overwhelm of social media consider these three Instagram posting tips:

Show a slice of your everyday life

Psychology reports state that people relate to real people and they’ve done so much research on it. So to be the business of you, you need to be the best at being you and not someone else.

For instance, in the live video above, I’m walking in the trendy Meat Packing area of NYC. You can see what’s going on behind me, it’s a slice of my life. I’m sharing what I heard at the lecture so it’s timely.

The video also substantiates what I’ve been professing in posts, to students, and to clients about being authentic to stay true to your brand. Here’s the best part, when you are real, it’s less stressful.

Staged photos do not mean success

People don’t connect to the Hallmark card concocted version of you.

You could argue that professionally branded photos represent someone who is success and can afford those constant big photo shoots. But if they were really “that” successful they wouldn’t be staging their life but living the life that others dream about– that would be reflected in their slice of life because they’re being authentic.

If you want fancy, try my 80/20 rule of being authentic:

80% of the time be a slightly aspirational yet totally authentic version of you. You can easily do this when you master the art of taking your own photos. Grab my free guide, here.

Then if you still want to get your yaya’s out with fancy branding, do so 20% of the time.

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Here’s a two-part riff on the 80/20 principle to help you nail your ideal tribe. . First, The Pareto principle in marketing demonstrates that roughly 80% of the EFFECTS come from 20% of the CAUSES. . So, merely 20% of your your ideal OPPORTUNITIES and clients come from the entire audience you serve. . That’s actually a pretty good number if you niche out EXACTLY who you provide VALUE and who you best serve. . Now, let’s take that a step further… . When it comes to making that 20% connection of the right people, they will BOND with the real, most AUTHENTIC you. . Not some concocted, staged persona of a big, otherwise impressive branding shoot. . 🔥💯🔥So 80% of your CONNECTION needs to be REAL… that means an (elevated, slightly aspirational version) of who you REALLY are. . Your photos, headshots, videos need to be the BEST REAL version of who you are… . Like you’re talking to an OLD FRIEND who is visiting your home for the first time… . You know, you CLEANED THE HOUSE but didn’t redecorate 😉 . The other 20% of your branding images can be the tzujed up, fancy stuff if you like. . So 80% of the time you are the best version of your most authentic self serving 20% of the entire audience that follows you. . Got it? . ⭐️💯⭐️You are serving your NICHE as the REAL YOU. . What’s your niche? . . . . #buildyourbrand #buildyourempire #dreambig #onlinebusiness #makeithappen #knowyourworth #brandbuilders #womeninbusiness #growyourbusiness #beyourownboss #creativeentrepeneur #girlboss #ladyboss #bossbabe #goaldigger #girlceo #thinkbigger #womenwhohustle #femaleentrepreneurs #businessgoals #mindsetshift #focusonstyle #femaleentrepreneurs #womenentrepreneurs

A post shared by Sharon Haver -FocusOnStyle.com (@focusonstyle) on Aug 18, 2018 at 10:35am PDT

How often you should post on Social Media?

Truth be told, I ignored Instagram for a very long time. But I’m back!

The panel was suggesting that if you really wanna start up on Instagram you should post about three times a day. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Instagram posts. It could be Instagram stories which are really cool and disposable just like Facebook stories, they go away the next day and you can save them too.

You just need to be consistent.

I try to post about 3-5 days a week and be relevant to what’s happening in my life and the world. I use Stories, Live Video, and IGTV when it seems relevant or fun to share. Follow me on Instagram to watch.

I’m not going to lie, but it was once a whole lot easier to build a brand on Instagram before it was crazy popular. But if you build organically, you will attract the right audience.

And, there’s always advertising to speed up the process if you desire.

PERSONALITY BRAND KICKSTART: Become An Authentic Superstar...