Hello, and welcome to episode number 142 of The Shine Show. Today on the show I'm going to share with you why Facebook and Instagram ads are hotter than ever, and why now is the best time to get started if you want to find more of your people on social media, on Facebook and Instagram, and you want to start making some sales to them. Giving up your time and freedom to make money is so 2009. Hi, I'm your host Salome Schillack, and I help online course creators launch, grow, and scale their businesses with Facebook and Instagram ads so that they can make more money and have an even bigger impact in the world. If you are ready to be inspired, to dream bigger, launch sooner and grow your online business faster, then tune in because you are ready to shine, and this is The Shine Show.

Hello, everyone. It is so nice for me to be here with you, the Schillack family, or currently recovering from Omicron. We are doing really well. Actually, we are doing very well. We have been stuck at home for a while, but I have found something to be grateful for, for COVID. So if you listen to the episode I did at the end of 2021, I said, nine and a half things I'm grateful for, and I'm not yet grateful for COVID. So that's why it's like a half a thing, but I can really say now that this last week that we've been at home and it's not different than any of the other weeks we've been stuck at home due to COVID, I'm sure, just like you have with your kids, but this week somehow feels different.

This week I felt a deep sense of gratitude for the sisterhood that I can see forming between my two girls, Mila and Elle, and for the bond that has been built between us as a family during this time where we spend so much time in each other's company. I am truly grateful for that. And I'm grateful that no one in my family got very sick. The kids were quite ill for about six hours and then they were over it. And husband and I have both been fine. He says he feels a bit tired, but I have literally had worse colds. So we're all good.

And today it was so hot and humid here in Brisbane, and I've opened the doors to my office. And just as I hit record on this episode, it started pouring with rain. So I don't know if yo can you hear that? But I decided a bit of rain in the background of the podcast audio is better than closing the door right now. So I'm sitting here cozy in my office, my husband is upstairs baking bread because he loves to cook and the kids are playing Nintendo Switch. They have got their Mario Brothers or Mario Court or something going on there.

And I thought, I am going to catch up on some podcast recordings. And it's really lovely for me just to be here with you. I wish you could sit here in my office with me watching the rain right now. Today on the episode, we're going to talk about Facebook and Instagram ads being absolutely hotter than ever, and why that is. And I know you might be saying, "Salome, are you're absolutely losing your mind. Have you heard about iOS and all the things everybody's saying, their ads are more expensive and it's just doom and gloom out there." And I want to challenge that.

I want to say it is not. It is, our little brains are designed to compare, because our brains are actually quite simple things, like it wants things to be really super simple. And so it's always looking for that black and white comparison. It's all always looking to compare what we have with what we used to have and then show us where our shortfalls are or where we are in lack. Monkey mind is programmed to see lack. But I want to challenge you on the show today or challenge or invite you on the show today with me to hear out and just come with me on a journey and let's explore what our other options are.

If we are online course creators wanting to build audiences, wanting to find lots and lots and lots of people online who love us, who wants to learn from us and who is willing to part with their hard earned cash so that they can invest in our lives and our businesses so that we can invest in their lives with our knowledge, then Facebook and Instagram ads is still the best and the easiest way to do that. And I'm sure that that's what you want to do. If you anything like me, you just want to reach more of your people every single day and get in front of them so you can build a relationship with them and so that you can help them down the track and so that they can become your paying students.

So I want to just tell you a little story. Back in the day when I lived in London, I lived in London for three years when I was in my early twenties. So after I did musical theater in South Africa, I packed my bags and I moved to London like so many Australians and New Zealanders and South Africans, we all in sort of, this is kind of like the early 2000s and the late 90s. I want to say the late 90s and the early 2000s, the UK had a thing called the working holiday visa.

And if you came from Australia, New Zealand or South Africa, but/or maybe any Commonwealth country, you would be able to get a working holiday visa. And we loved us some working holiday visas, because we could go to London where we can live on top of each other. At one point we were eight people in a four bedroom house, and we can make pounds. We can earn pounds and pounds at that stage compared to the South African Rand was about one to 10. So when you came back home after working in London for a few years, you could easily have a nice little maced egg built up. So I did the London thing for three years and I absolutely loved it.

It's one of the happiest periods of my life. And I remember one of my favorite things to do right on Piccadilly Circus in London was a giant Virgin record store. The biggest, like four stories of CDs. Remember what a CD is? Four stories of CDs, man, maybe aside from the bookstores, the CD store was my favorite and Virgin records on Piccadilly Circus. I spent many, many Saturdays there. So I would go there and they had these listening booths. And so you can sit there and listen to your CD. So you'll pick up a few CDs from the rack and then bring it over to the listening booth. And you can just sit there and listen to the music.

And I would listen to the one CD after the other one after the other one, and just exploring and finding new music that I loved. And then one of my friends who made a little bit more money than I did, he bought himself an MP3 player. And I was amazed by this thing. This MP3 player that he had, that he could put, I think he put a thousand songs on it. That was just revolutionary. And that completely changed his morning transit because when he was sitting on the tube, which is the London underground, the train station, he could listen to any of his thousand songs on there. And I envied him so much.

I remember looking at that MP3 player and thinking that is the best thing, so good. Fast forward a few years, and Emil and I are married and we are expecting Miller and we are living in Perth, in Australia. And one of the parting gifts I got given from my work as a pharmaceutical rep was an iPod touch. And that was my first, all my songs in my pocket thing. And I loved that thing. And that got me hooked. I think my iPod touch is the thing that made me cross over to the Mac, to the Mac world, made me very loyal to Apple products. And to through this day, I have Mac and everything I use is an Apple product.

So having almost every song at my fingertips right now, I mean, now I have, I can literally access just about any song imaginable, right now on my phone. I can do it from my computer. I can do it from my TV. I can do it from my iPad. I can also do it from my watch. There's a thought. So when I look at the power that I have right now and then I've got Bluetooth speakers everywhere in the house, so I can just blast it, any song at any time in any room of my house. And I compare that to my friend's MP3 player that I was jealous of, that he was able to listen to on the tube. And I compare that to my Saturday at Virgin records, man, we've come a long, long, long way.

So the last time I was in South Africa, I was telling my mom how incredible it is that I have all of these songs on my phone and I can access them anytime. And she said, she doesn't want to do that. She's tried that, but she feels so overwhelmed when she opens Apple Music that she just closes it down. So now she just still likes to listen to CDs because it doesn't overwhelm her. And she knows exactly what she's going to get. And she doesn't have to fiddle around with things or learn new technology or work her way through the algorithms that are playing songs that she doesn't like, where she has to train the algorithm for what she likes. And she just prefers the simplicity of the CD over having access to all this information.

Now, you might be wonder why on this earth am I telling you this story? But you see, feeling overwhelmed by technology and therefore not using it is not necessarily the solution to our problems when we're looking to build a online course businesses, when we are looking to build audiences using paid advertising or social media. It works for you if you're a 70 something lady who is retired and lives at home and just want to listen to your music, nothing wrong with that, but let's not all be 70 here old ladies who are overwhelmed by technology. No offense mom.

When we build our email lists. So why is Facebook and Instagram ads hotter than ever? It is hotter than ever for a few reasons. One of those reasons is, well, what else is there? We can explore what else is there? And we will. So, what else is there, really? That's one reason why it's hotter than ever. The second reason it's hotter than ever is it really is easy to learn. Hang in there. It really is easier to learn than the other platforms. And it's hotter than ever because if you do it right, you know exactly where your money is going.

So let's talk for a second about what else is out there. I remember when Snapchat came out, I was obsessed. I loved it. And when I heard people say, "Oh, Snapchat is going to be the end of Facebook." I was like, "Oh dear, can it really be?" And I downloaded an account, started an account, instantly, loved all those face filters, hours of entertainment. I still have so many pictures of me and my kids with those face filters on. I actually really love it. I want to create a scrapbook of all the face filters, pictures with me and my kids.

And then I got bored with it because Instagram brought out stories and they had face filters and I was on Instagram checking my newsfeed, anyway. So then I just started watching stories and I ended up deleting my Snapchat account. And then TikTok came out and everyone was raving about TikTok. And now I even have 40 something friends who have told me, they have completely abandoned Instagram in favor of TikTok, which is fine. It's great. So TikTok is not only for the under thirties, currently the over 40 mums at home love it just as much. And you know what? I downloaded an account and started following some comedians.

And it was hilarious. If you haven't yet seen Jason Derulo's TikTok feed, please do yourself a favor. He is so funny and so good. And he has obviously access to some video editors that are really, really fancy. And if you can find the one with him and Will Smith together, they just did this whole series. And it's just so entertaining. Anyway, now he's posting on Instagram. So now I find my Jason Derulo also on Instagram, which means no more TikTok for me. So I've come off of TikTok. The point I'm making is, organic content is good and well, and organic platforms are going to come and go just like Snapchat.

Well, TikTok is hot right now, but I mean, do you even remember Clubhouse? That was a thing five minutes ago. Periscope, that was a thing a few years ago. There's all these things that come and go, and there will be a hotter than ever organic platform every now and then. And that's great because we are evolving as we're developing our skills as creators on these platforms and our audiences are becoming more, it's more complex and they're finding little holes where they hang out more. And that's good because if we can hang out in those little holes where they hang out, then that's good because we stay in front of them.

And yes, as far as organic content goes, Facebook and Instagram are in trouble because they're not showing our organic stuff much to people. But if you hang out with me, then you know how to run engagement ads. And that means that you know how to hack the algorithm. You know how to get around the problem of having to spend a ridiculous amount of time and energy, creating organic content for your social media, by just taking your best social media posts and turning them into engagement ads. So when you use ads instead of social media, or ads as well as social media, you have more control over the algorithms and which ones are the hottest and which ones aren't, and you're in the driver's seat of your organic content because you can use ads to get in front of the people that you want to get in front of quite inexpensively.

And it speeds the process is up because building up following on an organic platform like TikTok or Snapchat or whatever the next latest greatest thing is, is fabulous, but it takes time. Whereas if you use ads, you are more in control of the speed at which you can grow that audience. Now, I know it costs money, takes money, but you can start from as little as $5 a day to at least speed up your organic growth. And then when you have $25 a day, you introduce less building ads and your list building starts to grow and grow and grow. And that helps you build your business.

So as far as what else is out there, organic is good and yes, do your organic, but also do ads because it's not a one or the other thing. If you're going to choose one over the other, no, don't choose one over the other, because you do need the organic engagement to help you. But you can also use ads to speed up that organic engagement. As far as paid platforms, what else is out there? There is really nothing that does what we call interruption marketing as well as Facebook and Instagram ads. Google and YouTube are search based platforms.

Google and YouTube ads work by people typing in keywords. So they already have to come to the platform and search for what you have as a solution. Now, that's great if you're a locksmith and you want people to see your ad when they search locksmith in my area. It's not so great if you are a photographer who teaches photography courses, or if you are a social media coach who teaches people how to build a business on Instagram. TikTok has an ads platform that's out there, but it does not even remotely have the capabilities that Facebook and Instagram has just yet.

Also the audience on TikTok is still a lot smaller than the audience on Facebook and Instagram. And when you think about the power of Meta as a company and all of the different brands they have between Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook messenger, you still can reach the most people on those platforms. Pinterest is good for search two Pinterest ads work, but not for conversion. So not for this building. Pinterest ads work if you're sending traffic to your site. So it helps you on that front end, that top of funnel where you are bringing people, making them more aware of the content on your site, but Pinterest ads are definitely a no go from this building. It doesn't work. I've tried.

So what else is out there organic? Facebook and Instagram still the winner. Paid, Facebook and Instagram still the winner. Here's the second reason why Facebook and Instagram is hot right now. It's easy to learn. And I know some of you'll say, "Hello, have you seen the ads manager lately?" Yes I have. And I will tell you the biggest, and you know what? You can come to my audience and ask any of them, ask any of my students and you will see that what most of them end up telling me is, the biggest hurdle to overcome when you're learning Facebook and Instagram ads is not the tech, it's the mindset.

It is letting go of having to have it be perfect. It is the mindset of being willing to play and explore and view it as a scientific experiment and have fun with it and be willing to get it wrong and be willing to be confused and figure it out, because even I get confused sometimes because Facebook does change things almost daily. And if you come to it expecting to know exactly what to do every single time, you are going to be frustrated. You have to have that. We have to just kind of loosen up a little bit about what we expect when we come to the platform to learn.

If you have me and my team helping you learn, I promise you I will help you strike that perfect balance between figuring out the tech and overcoming the mindset issues. Most online course creators use Facebook and Instagram to build their businesses. So you are already in good company because you're already surrounded by a whole host of other people doing exactly what to do. And I promise you, even though you may have tried your hand at Facebook ads and found it a little bit complicated, it is still far easier to learn than Google ads or Pinterest ads or any other ads out there.

I have tried learning Google ads and YouTube ads and Pinterest. And I tell you, Facebook is still, they all base their ad platforms on Facebook's platform anyway. So once you understand how Facebook's platform work, then everything else becomes easier as well. So that's the second reason why Facebook and Instagram ads are so hot right now, because it's easy to learn. And then the third reason why Facebook and Instagram ads are hot right now is, you know where your money is going, and you know if you are making your money back. Now, my personal mission in this life is to make sure that nobody ever wastes money on Facebook and Instagram ads.

If you're boosting posts, I'm talking to you right now, stop it. Put your boosting fingers away, because you're wasting money. It's like a cowboy who just grabs the gun and shoots, shoots, shoots. No, I'm going to teach you to be a sniper, not a cowboy with your money on Facebook ads. And you're going to thank me for it because it irks me when I see people lose money on ads because cause they weren't putting the money where they already know the return is going to come from. By using engagement ads to build warm audiences. When you start out, you don't have to give Zuckerberg all your money from day one, you can give Zuckerberg $5 a day.

And what is going to give you in return is more in day engagement on your social media, good quality, warm audiences that you can retarget later and a good quality ad account that's going to reward you by bringing down your conversion costs. And then when you follow your engagement ads with list building ads, you won't have to pay top dollar to find your people online and to get them onto your email list where you're going to deliver your best lead magnet. And then when you make them an offer on the thank you page or in a welcome sequence, make them a low dollar offer, $7, $17, $27 thing, then you start making some of that money back from day one. That is an entire strategy that I lay out to all of my students.

So now I want you to know in terms of iOS, it has complicated things a little bit, but remember that our brains want to compare where we are at now to where we were a year ago and convince us that things are harder. But I hope that from today's episode, you will see that if we really sit down and compare the power of the platform we still have with Facebook and Instagram, we will all see that it is still the most powerful platform. I think you have a choice. You can, like my mom, look at your CD collection and choose a CD and put it on your radio and play it in your living room.

And if that's what you want to do, that's okay. That's okay. Or like me, I have all the music I want in any room in my house at my fingertips, but I did have to overcome my overwhelm. I did have to train my iTunes account to stop playing me BTS, because I just don't want it. And just because my kids want to listen to it, doesn't mean I want to listen to it. No, sorry, sidetrack. I did have to train the algorithm a little bit. I did have to figure out where my genres lie because it is overwhelming when you have the whole worlds of music at your fingertips.

But I chose the better quality technology, the more powerful technology that comes with a little bit of a learning curve, and that comes with a little bit of overwhelm, so then I can have access to all these amazing music. And it's the same with Facebook and in Instagram ads. So the way that I see it is you get to choose if you want to be my 70 year old mom with her CD in her living room or you get to be her fabulous 40 something daughter who is building incredible audiences online, not just for me, but for my clients and for my students as well.

And if you are ready to start building your email list and fill it with people who are ready to buy your online course and your memberships, and you're looking for a supportive community to support you all the way and help you every step of the way as you learn to build your audiences on Facebook and Instagram, then I want to invite you to join me inside A-Lister when we open for enrollment at the end of March. A-Lister is the only program that shows you how to finally find your right people online and make your first sale using Facebook and Instagram ads.

There are also some juicy bonuses for those that are on the early bird wait list. So make sure you go to shineandsucceed.com/waitlist and sign up today. I hope you can hear the wonderful rain falling outside my window. I am going to pour myself a glass of wine and sit on the patio and watch the rain. Have a lovely week and I'll see you next week. Bye. Thank you so much for listening. If you had fun, please come back next week and remember to hit that subscribe button so you never miss a thing.