Growing and running her business with intention with Jamie Jasperson | 30

This week’s inspiring teacherpreneur journey is with Jamie of Basic Girl Teaches. I loved chatting with her about how she’s grown her business with intention and her passion to help fellow teachers grow their businesses on IG!

Jamie is a teacher, Instagram strategist, and instructional designer with an obsession for all things branding and Instagram. Jamie coaches teacher business owners through her Teachergram Connection Academy and is the founder of the Teacher Instagram Club, a free community for teachers of Instagram. She's passionate about helping teachers use Instagram to build a powerful brand, connect with their audience, and establish themselves as an expert in their field by developing strategies that are simple, effective, and personal.

We chat all about...

• how Jamie's business started and the moment that her business shifted

• how she balances working full time and running a full-time business

• the importance of niching down and how she made that decision within her own business

• how her business has grown and how she's making intentional choices within her business at the current level and as it continues to grow

• the different systems and processes she's put in place in her business

Plus, she sprinkles some mind-blowing Instagram tips throughout the episode -- she is the Teacher IG Guru after all.

I hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did!

Connect with Jamie
Instagram: @basicgirlteaches
Website: www.basicgirlteaches.com
Facebook Group: The Teacher Instagram Club

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Thanks for listening to this week’s Inspiring Story! If you would like to share your story on the podcast head to www.marketscalegrow.com/journey to apply today. We would love for you to join us and can’t wait to hear about your journey as a teacher business owner.

Episode Transcript:

Jenzaia: Hey there, I'm Jenzaia, and this is Market, Scale, Grow! A podcast created for ambitious teacherpreneurs looking to have a bigger impact on the world, achieve freedom, flexibility, and ultimately, make more money. With weekly strategy sessions and inspiring stories from fellow teachers just like you, my goal here is to help you create a customized marketing strategy so you can grow your teacher business beyond your wildest dreams.

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Today, I have a special guest with me. Her name is Jamie and she is from Basic Girl Teaches. I've been following Jamie for such a long time. So when she said she was interested on sharing her story on the podcast, I was so excited. Jamie is a teacher, Instagram strategist, and instructional designer with an obsession for all things branding and Instagram. She coaches teacher business owners through her Teachergram Connection Academy, and is the founder of The Teacher Instagram Club, a free community for teachers of Instagram.

She's passionate about helping teachers use Instagram to build a powerful brand, connect with their audience, and establish themselves as experts in their field by developing strategies that are simple, effective, and personal. I really hope that you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. So without any further ado, let's jump in.

Jenzaia: Hi, Jamie, and welcome to Market, Scale, Grow! How are you doing today?

Jamie: Great.

Jenzaia: Awesome. Thank you so much for joining me. Do you want to start by just telling everyone where you're from and if you're still in the classroom teaching?

Jamie: Sure. My name is Jamie and my business is Basic Girl Teaches, and I live in Texas in the United States. I am currently a fourth-grade teacher, and I love teaching fourth-grade. Most years, I teach just math and science, but this past year, now the school year is over I guess, but this past year I taught all of the subjects. So, awesome. Anything else you want me to share about myself?

Jenzaia: Anything you want to share? I'm totally open.

Jamie: Oh, that's a good little summary.

Jenzaia: So how did you get started on your teacherpreneur journey?

Jamie: Yeah. Great question. So when I was in college, I studied graphic design and print journalism originally, and I loved creating and developing things. I often say like, I love the feeling of creating something from nothing. There's nothing there and you have an idea and you make it happen, that's a really exciting process for me. But in my coursework in the university, I discovered that I really didn't like creating things for other people because it took that fun out of it. Then I wasn't creating something from nothing on this idea that I had, I was trying to fit somebody else's idea and it wasn't as fun.

Jamie: And I decided maybe this is something I just want to do as a hobby and not as a career. And so I switched my major to math education and then ended up doing elementary education, and that's how I became a teacher. But I still always had this love for creating things and designing things, especially things that would be print resources. And once I started teaching, I found that I was missing that creativity in my life. I originally started on Teachers Pay Teachers because I wanted to create and I wanted to be able to share that with other people, and it was really fun for me.

Jamie: And then in my journey of my business, it's evolved over time. And I still have a Teachers Pay Teachers store, but most of my business now is helping teacher business owners use Instagram effectively for their business and also helping people develop well-organized courses or well-organized programs. And so it's been fun to see how the business has evolved, but the constant has been, I love this process of creation and of sharing that with other people, and I love teaching, and my business has allowed me to bring all these things together in a totally new way and get to connect with people all around the world, and it's really exciting and fun.

Jenzaia: I love hearing about like people's businesses evolve and you start with one thing and then it grows into something else. And I didn't actually know that you helped with course design. I definitely knew about the Instagram. You right one my go-tos for Instagram tips and tricks for sure, but I didn't know about that other piece, so that's cool.

Jamie: It's kind of small and I have a master's degree in learning design, and so I started doing some of that consulting thing as part of my master's degree. And so it is a smaller part of my business. And on my Instagram account, I really just talk about Instagram. So that part of my business is really highlighted on my Instagram account. But yeah, I do work with some clients to help them with organizing their course information. Yeah. So now that too.

Jenzaia: Most of who I work with in stuff is teachers, whether or not they actually have professional training in curriculum design are usually pretty good at it, but as I've started to expand my business and go outside of it, it's amazing to see... I guess it's one of those like zone of genius things. It's so natural as a teacher having to see other people's courses and you're like, "Oh, that's a hot mess," because they don't have that piece in that, they don't have the same idea or way of thinking about how to teach something. And you're just like, "Oh, this would be so much better in this order." So it is really important, I think.

Jenzaia: But do you want to speak more about the Instagram piece of your business? Because I think that is the biggest part.

Jamie: It is, definitely. Yeah, I'm happy to talk about that. Anything specific you want me to share about, or just talk about Instagram in general?

Jenzaia: How did you get into Instagram as part of your business? Did it start as a marketing piece for you and you're just like, "Oh, this is awesome"? Or was it more of an intentional shift?

Jamie: Yeah. I started on Instagram because I wanted to market my Teachers Pay Teachers store. And so I followed lots of other people on Instagram and I thought that would be something I could do, so I was like, "Okay, I will start putting stuff on Instagram." I tell this story a lot, I thought it would be super easy. I was like, "There's people who have like tens of thousands of followers and they talk about their resources and I'm sure people buy from them. This is going to be super easy." Not easy. I quickly started and I was like, "This is not as easy as I thought this was going to be."

Jamie: And I just started learning everything I could about Instagram, and I quickly discovered that lots of people had advice about Instagram, there was a lot of information out there, but it didn't all necessarily work for teachers. And maybe people in their businesses have noticed this, but when you are a teacher selling products to teachers, you get your audience because you're part of that audience, and teachers are not the same as everybody else, their buying habits, aren't the same as everybody else. It's a very specific kind of customer, and that's fine. Being part of this global community of teachers, you understand teachers.

Jamie: So I discovered there just really wasn't content out there about how to help teacher business owners use Instagram effectively to connect with teachers. And so I was like, I'm going to figure this out." I was just determined that I was going to make it work. So just start experimenting, and I really quickly discovered things that worked to connect with teachers. And as I did that, naturally people began asking me about Instagram, people saw the success I was having and asked me questions about it. And I just discovered there was this need, people wanted to know how to use Instagram effectively.

Jamie: And so just slowly over time, I started creating content about that. And I wrote a blog post that became really popular about how to start a teacher Instagram. And that was exciting for me. I was like, "This is something people want to learn about, and I have information I can share." It happened gradually. And about three years ago, I started my Facebook group called The Teacher Instagram Club. It's a free Facebook group for people to come and learn about using Instagram effectively. I go live once a month to talk about Instagram and they can ask questions and connect with each other.

Jamie: And at that point I made a conscious decision, "This is where I'm going in my business." I was feeling pulled two different directions between my Teachers Pay Teachers store that was mostly upper elementary math resources, and this bigger piece of my business, helping business owners use Instagram. And I made an intentional decision that I was going to make a shift. And I was really terrified that it was going to be scary and that I wasn't going to like it, but I have loved it, because getting to teach teachers is so much fun for me and getting to see them develop strategies that work for them and find success on Instagram.

Jamie: I still have my Teachers Pay Teachers store and I still put stuff there occasionally, but I've really shifted most of my business to supporting people on Instagram.

Jenzaia: What made that shift and that decision easier? Or was there anything like mindset work specifically that you had to do?

Jamie: Yeah. A big piece of it was, I started teaching at a new school, and as part of my teaching contract, they had some conversations about having a business on the side. And I think people have had these kinds of conversations, and it was really important to me to honor that teaching contract. And so I saw that creating new resources for Teachers Pay Teachers that were connected to what I was doing in my classroom might violate that contract and I didn't want there to be any room for doubt. So that really helps me with that decision because I wanted to continue teaching and I wanted to continue running my business, and I wanted to be able to do that in a way that was ethical to both sides.

Jamie: So that helped me make that decision. I was looking for a way to continue working on my business and supporting teachers that wouldn't cause anyone to question my teaching contract, if that makes sense.

Jenzaia: Absolutely. And that's a huge, huge conversation that happens so often of finding that balance, and I'm glad that you were able to find a way that made everything work and that you were not struggling of what the right choice was. So that's awesome.

Jamie: Yeah. It's a hard decision, but I think I made an important decision in just like committing and saying, "This is what I'm going to do." And it's worked out well over the years since then.

Jenzaia: Since you're still teaching full-time and you have this business, which from the outside appears to be a full-time business, how do you balance everything?

Jamie: Yeah. I'm glad it appears to be going well from the outside. The first thing I would say is, I do not do everything. And I'm very intentional about what things I do in my business and what things I don't do in my business because there's not time to do everything. And so I just decided, "You know what, I'm not going to be on every platform, I am not going to be a person at sending emails, I'm not going to have the best blog posts. I'm going to commit to the things that are working and I'm going to add things in intentionally." So that's a huge piece of it. The other thing is I'm really intentional about my time at school. And so when I'm at school, I'm at school, I'm committed to getting my schoolwork done.

Jamie: I use my planning period effectively. And when I leave school, I make sure I finish all the work I needed to finish. Now. Sometimes I stay a little bit later, sometimes I come a little bit earlier, but I've made the decision I don't want to bring my schoolwork home, and so I'm going to make sure I get it done at school so that when I'm home, I'm done.

Jenzaia: I think of that, whether or not you have a business on the side, it's such an important commitment to me. And I don't think enough of us, including myself, make it early enough in our careers to really dedicate our time at school so that we're not dragging books home and marking things every single day. Sure, maybe once in a while. I'm talking about myself, for sure, I'm like, "I bring too much home with me for sure."

Jamie: It's easier when you've done it for longer and when you've taught the same thing, that's easier to say because I've taught the same thing for a few years, and so I feel really comfortable with the lesson planning. If I were to suddenly teach a new subject, I might make a shift in that feeling because, as you probably remember from teaching new subjects or being a new teacher, it just is more work at that time.

Jenzaia: Absolutely. And I've been off on that leave on and off for the past couple of years. And I feel like when I go back in September that I'm going to go through that again, even though I've been teaching the same thing for an extended period of time, dipping my toe back in and figuring out my rhythm again is going to be an interesting experience.

Jamie: Yeah, I'm sure. I've never done that personally, but I can imagine just that transition being tricky at first because you remember how to be in that kind of routine>

Jenzaia: Like getting back on a bicycle, I've done it, I know how to do it, I have to do it. Anyway, what are some of the major milestones or major challenges that looking back you've overcome or would like to share?

Jamie: Yeah. Making that decision to make a shift to my niche was really hard. And I think that sometimes people feel pulled to different directions with their zone of genius and with their creativity, and that's okay. I like to tell the clients that I work with, I do some one-on-one coaching to help people with Instagram or with organizing their course or building their brand, and I like to tell the people that I work with there, "It's okay to do more than one thing, but not all of those things are going to be your niche." I would tell people, the niche of my business is supporting teacher business owners with Instagram.

Jamie: Now, I do lots of other things in my business, but that's my primary focus, that's what I'm talking about all the time, that's why my email list is about, that's what I'm actively going out and speaking to people about, and the other things are on the side of that. So I can still be creative in other ways, but I have this core focus so that you can attract an audience that's interested in that core focus. You don't want to be like the Walmart of your business, where people come and they can buy every single possible thing, and so you have to offer like hundreds of things and you reach all these people. And no one's like, "Oh, I just like really have to go to Walmart. It's my favorite place to be."

Jamie: Well, maybe there are. So if you're a Walmart lover, my apologies. But if you're this small specific business, that's really focused, people are like, "That's my go-to for this thing." That's what you want to be. So getting to that point in my business was definitely a challenge, but I'm really glad I made that decision when I did, because that's what really allowed me to grow in my business, was deciding what I was going to focus on and committing to being focused on that. Another big challenge is definitely deciding to be a business and not a hobby. And for a long time, this was just something I did for fun, and so it was fun.

Jamie: Now as a business owner, not everything is fun, like balancing your budget, not always fun, customer service, not always fun, but as a business owner, you still have to do those things. And so making that decision and a shift in mindset was also a really pivotal moment to be able to say, "This isn't just something I'm doing on the side, this is going to be a business. And so that means it has to be profitable, and that means there's some legal things I need to work out, and that means that I'm going to have to suck it up and do the hard thing sometimes and not just say, 'Well, it's just for fun. It's okay.'"

Jenzaia: I don't know if I would have thought of that, but that was definitely a huge milestone in my business as well. If I had been asked the same question, I'm not sure, but now thinking about it and as you talked about it, it was such a big step, when I went from, "Oh yeah, I have a TPT store," to like, "I'm trying to make money and I want to be profitable, and I want to work on my business and I want this to go somewhere." There's so much mindset that goes into that and such a huge, huge shift. So yeah, I agree. Terrifying a little bit.

Jamie: Yeah, definitely.

Jenzaia: Yeah. Because there's a lot more weighing on a business than just like, "Oh yeah, I do this for fun."

Jamie: Yeah. Well, and also not all of it's fun, and you still have to do it if you're going to do it as a business because there's people depending on you. But I think that not everyone has to be a business owner. Just because you're doing some of these things for fun, it doesn't have to become a business, and that's a choice that you make. And that is totally fine, you can still make infrequent casual money, you could still be successful according to your own definition and not have it be a business, but I think that making that choice intentionally influences your other choices. It influences your goals, how you interact with people. And so, don't let that decision happen to you, make that decision on purpose.

Jenzaia: Yes. I 100% fully agree with that. So at this point in your business, what stage would you say you're in?

Jamie: Oh, do you have specific categories to choose from?

Jenzaia: Generalizing, like starter, growing, or scaling?

Jamie: I would say I'm in a scaling stage in my business, and I would say that because... I know Alyssa MacDonald, we both know her. And one time, I don't know if it was a conversation I had with her or something, I listened to that she was saying, but she said, "When you get through the growing phase, you'll know, because you'll feel it. It will feel different." And I was like, "Oh, okay." And then I did get to that phase, and it really did feel different. All of a sudden, things started happening fast. I was having a lot more clients than I had ever had before, things were working, I felt like I knew how to run my systems, and I felt different about it.

Jamie: Suddenly, I wasn't just hustling all the time trying to figure it out, I had systems in place that were working for me. So I pass that advice on to other people too, it feels different when you get to the point where things are growing quickly and you know, "Okay, it's time for me to take this seriously." Now, it didn't just happen by magic, I made a lot of intentional choices to get to that point, I did a lot of hard work, and it was years of me building to that. But when I got to that point of growing where things were happening quickly and I was growing quickly and I was feeling like things were going in this direction and they suddenly needed systems that I didn't have before and I needed to get organized because when you have lots of clients, you need to have a process, you're not just like starting from scratch every time.

Jamie: And when you're making lots of sales, you need to have a process so you're not just like hoping and praying that someone discovers your products on the internet. So that would be kind of the guideposts, I would use to say, yeah, I think I'm in a scaling phase because of the choices I'm making now, and I'm choosing, "Okay, so this is working, so how can I make it work more? Okay. So this is converting, so how can I make it convert to more people? So this is reaching my audience, so how can I get more people in my audience to intentionally make that grow?"

Jenzaia: And it totally is like a snowball that suddenly almost feels out of control.

Jamie: Yeah, definitely.

Jenzaia: I feel like it's constantly like that of like, it's this tiny... And you're like, "Oh no, I'll always have this." And then it gets bigger, and then you get control of it again. And then all of a sudden, it's so big and you're like, "It's out of control again." And then you get control. And each level that you get to in your business, it just kind of starts to roll uncontrollably, but then you're like, "Oh no. Okay. New systems, new process. Let's get in on this and figure it out." But if you're doing it right, almost, that there's always that, "What's the next level?"

Jamie: Yeah. I like to tell people this, Instagram related, for example, because everybody wants 10,000 followers on Instagram. And I'll be the first to tell you, I don't have 10,000 followers on Instagram, but I have a successful business. So I am literally telling you do not need 10,000 followers. And I know everybody wants 10,000 followers. My goal is to get there someday, but I don't care when it happens because there's other things that are way more important when it comes to Instagram or when it comes to business. But I tell people, the more followers you get and the more connections you make, the more things you have to do.

Jamie: Like if you have 500 followers right now, you probably get maybe one or two messages like a month. If you suddenly woke up tomorrow and had 10,000 followers, you would be getting 20 or 30 messages a day. Are you ready to handle that? Because you want 10,000 followers, but you don't also know all those things that come with that. And so by intentionally choosing to be a business owner and letting these things happen in that snowball effect, then you have the processes when you get to that level. And no one got there on accident, nobody just magically got there, they all made intentional choices that allowed them to get there.

Jamie: Because if you have one piece of content that goes viral and you're not prepared to handle what that feels like, then it's just going to go right back to your same level once that viral period ends. So if you have one piece of content that goes viral and reaches a large audience, because you intentionally built that system and you're ready to meet that level of demand, that's because you're thinking like a business owner instead of just letting it happen. That's what I mean when I say, it doesn't happen on accident, you chose it on purpose and built those processes. And you don't want it to happen on accident, that would be terrifying.

Jamie: I woke up tomorrow and had 15,000 followers on Instagram, I am not ready to meet that level of demand on my Instagram account, but when I get to that point, I will be ready because I'm building it at a speed that works for me.

Jenzaia: And I think what you said about like having a post go viral that first time, I don't know, you could be ready the first time it happens, but then the next time, if you are intentional about what you're doing, then the next time you're more ready. And then the next time you are more ready, and because you're intentionally building on taking every piece that you learned and putting it into play for as it is getting bigger, if that makes sense.

Jamie: Yeah. Because people will say, "Oh, that person's account grew because they got lucky. They just had content that went viral." That's not what happened because content going viral if it happens by luck, it doesn't happen again. But content going viral on purpose happens again, and again, they didn't get lucky, they did a lot of work behind the scenes. It might look lucky on the outside, that might be the way they're portraying it. And that's okay for that to be part of their brand, but it wasn't lucky on the inside. There was a lot of work to get to that point, especially if it keeps happening, especially if that growth sticks.

Jenzaia: That's a really good point. You talked a bit about systems. What are some of the systems that you've put in place to help your business run smoothly?

Jamie: Great question.

Jenzaia: This is almost like I need this help question. So tell me the systems because I think I'm in between growth and scale at this point where I'm starting to feel like I really, really need more systems, more processes, but I have all the ones that I can think of. And so I don't know which other ones, but I know I need more, I'm still trying to figure it out. So give me some ideas. What are your thoughts?

Jamie: First, I would say, when you say systems, what do you mean? Like specific platforms or specific processes? What do you mean when you're talking about systems? Because people use different definitions there.

Jenzaia: I think more processes. What are some of those specific processes did you have in place?

Jamie: One huge process was I figured out how do I learn best in my business? And it sounds like a weird process, but it was really important to me to learn. I really don't learn very well from courses. Doing it by myself doesn't help me, I don't learn it. I learn much better when I work with a person. So learning that about myself was very important because that taught me when I'm going out to consume information, to learn a new skill, to get new training for my business, because we're always learning. I did not go to college to be a business owner, I went to college to learn how to create curriculum.

Jamie: Now, I know how to do that, but running my business, I do not know how to do that all the time. So I have to learn from other people. So since I know that courses really weren't helping me learn, that taught me to not consume courses anymore, which was an important decision. Now, if you learn really well from courses, that's great, that doesn't have to be everyone's path, but that system allowed me to really intentionally choose the learning opportunities that I pursued so that I was learning things on purpose. Like I shared before, I don't do everything, and that's important to me and my business.

Jamie: I don't have a YouTube channel, I don't use Pinterest, I pretty much never post on my Facebook page. I email as often as I can, but not super often. And that's okay. My business doesn't have to look like everybody else's business. I can add those things in as I get there. So I don't need to go out and take a course about Pinterest because that's not something I'm working on right now in my business. So that system of consuming information on purpose in a format that helps me was really an important process.

Jamie: Another system that I have is, let me think of a way to categorize this. Bringing in new clients in a way that's intentional. When I first started doing services, as a service-based business owner, and you might have been in the same situation, I was just like, take anyone I could possibly get. Anyone who wanted to work with me, I was like, "Yeah, I'm going to work with you. I'm going to have lots of clients." So then after I'd done that for a while, I learned I could help all of these people, but I'm not always the best person to help all of these people.

Jamie: And I don't have time on my schedule to work with 10 clients at a time. I just don't, it's too much work for me to remember all those different directions. So making a shift in that system and being really intentional to say no sometimes, and be able to say, "Okay, how am I going to start this relationship with my client? How am I going to end the relationship with the client, and taking charge of that was important, a good system. And I'm writing that down, saying like, "These are the steps I'm going to take my clients. These are the kinds of things that make someone a good fit. These are the kinds of things that don't make someone a good fit here. So what I'm going to say when it's not going to work," that thing.

Jamie: And then another system I would say is just building things into routines. When I sit down at my computer, what's the first thing that I'm going to do? What's the next thing that I'm going to do? And just making that a routine. I know some people like to write that down and they're like, "This is my start in the day routine, and this is what I'm going to do on these days of the week." Since I started this business for fun, that takes all the fun out of it for me, so I don't like to do that. I like to be more free spirit and do the things I want when I want. But there's business things that have to get done.

Jamie: So I make those like, "Okay, the very first thing when I sit down at my computer, I'm going to open up my email, I'm going to open up my Instagram inbox and I'm going to respond to all those messages." And then I can do the other fun tasks that I wanted to do so that those things are complete. I don't know if that was what you were looking for assistance. Those are the three I could think of that maybe aren't systems. Other people would say it's different, I'm like, "This is my onboarding or my email writing process." Those are systems that everybody needs, but maybe you don't recognize that you need.

Jenzaia: The second one you said about the clients is one that I just started, I now have a document that I'm working and every time I think of something I'm adding to it and it's nowhere near, I wouldn't call it a system at this point, but I've started to work on it. So you gave me some good ideas. Thank you.

Jamie: No problem. I think it's really good to write down after you work with a client, what works and what didn't, and would that person be someone you would work with again, why are we not? Not for that person, but so that next time you know, so you can say, "This was awesome because of these reasons, or this was hard because of these reasons." Because I really think you could work with anybody just like I think you could teach it anybody, but that doesn't always mean that it's the best fit for both of you. So it's not helpful for everybody.

Jenzaia: And what you were saying too about like the time that you have, you don't have time for 10 clients, so taking that into consideration, if you only have time for like three clients, do you want those three clients to be people you enjoy working with, and you legitimately feel like you're actually helping? Or do you want it to be people that it's like constantly grinding and maybe I'm helping them, maybe I'm not, I don't really know? Or are we getting anywhere? Really want your time, especially when it's so limited to be spent enjoying it and feeling like you're actually making a difference.

Jamie: Yeah.

Jenzaia: Okay. Next question. How do you market your business? And I think I know the main answer of this, but you share.

Jamie: Obviously Instagram. I also have an email list, and email is like the thing I'm working on right now in my business. That was my goal for this calendar year and last calendar year, is to be better at my email marketing. And I'm really proud of where I am, but I also recognize I can go with that. So I do have an email list and that's something I'm working on being better at. And I have some Facebook groups. And those are my main marketing platforms, I guess.

Jenzaia: And how do you feel about Facebook ads? Because that's my jam and I always like to know how people feel about them because there are some very strong opinions.

Jamie: I don't really have a lot of strong opinions. I've never experimented with Facebook ads. It's not on my to-do list at the moment, but it's also something that is on my to-do list in the future. Because I still teach full time and I want to make sure that I'm building a business that will last, so I don't want to burn myself out, I just do things in phases. And so it's on my list of phases but I'm not there right now. And I don't really have strong opinions, but I'm interested that there's people that have strong feelings about it because I didn't know that.

Jenzaia: Usually they're negative, "I hate Facebook ads. They are so frustrating. I'm overwhelmed by them," is usually what I get from people when I ask them.

Jamie: So really interesting.

Jenzaia: I think the way you're going about it, especially because of Instagram being where you're focusing, it's such a relationship platform. And so you're spending so much time now building that foundation and those strong relationships, and Facebook groups are another really good way to do that. And I do think that successful businesses really have that mentality built into them.

Jamie: Yeah. I think this is something that I talk about a lot, Instagram is really designed for connection and Facebook groups are really designed for community, and sometimes people get the two confused, and then they're not finding success in either place. So on Instagram, people want to connect with you. They're not coming to your Instagram content to connect with each other. That's a community when people are connecting with each other. Connection, they want to connect with you. So what I'm going to help you do on Instagram is I'm going to help you show up and connect with your people so they are connected to you because that's what they want.

Jamie: They want to talk to you, they want to hear from you, they want you to talk to them. They want to know they can trust you, they want to know how you can help them. They're invested in you. In a Facebook group, people want to connect with each other. They want a community. Well, sometimes people show up on Instagram and they want to build a community so they ask questions to get people talking to each other. And it doesn't work because people aren't talking to each other on Instagram, they're talking to you on your account.

Jamie: Now, they're talking to other people on their accounts, but you aren't creating the community, Instagram's building it. And then in your Facebook group, people aren't there to connect with you. And so when you're always showing up to connect with them, they feel oversold too, because they're there to find that community. And so your role in those places is totally different and they're both really essential parts of your business. But I think getting clear on the way they're designed and the way people are using them is super important.

Jamie: And I'm always guiding people as I'm working with them to help them build effective Instagram strategies for their business to help them understand people want to hear from you. So you got to show up and you got to talk to them and connect with them. And then let's build a process that's going to make that work for you and save your community building for your Facebook group, because that's where they want to talk to each other.

Jenzaia: My mind is blown by that, just that first sentence you said of Instagram is for connecting and Facebook groups are for community, made so much sense and just like light bulb click. So much that I can't even speak.

Jamie: I could talk about that forever. I have lots of courses on programs and resources about that, but I am so passionate about using Instagram for connection because people want to be connected. And if you can get clear about that... I work with people all the time to help them build an effective strategy and I watch that transform their business because they're connected to their people because that's what really makes your teacher business come to life when you are connecting with teachers, not just building this like void of people talking, they are personally invested with you and you have a relationship with them.

Jenzaia: And I think when you make that realization and you can do what the platform wants you to do or what it's designed to do, then you're working with the algorithm and things get easier and it's no longer fighting something. And it may not be intentional if you're just confusing the idea of connection with community, which I think is what I've always been doing, then it isn't an intentional struggle. But now I feel like so much clearer going forward.

Jamie: Good I'm glad. Happy to help.

Jenzaia: Hopefully I don't feel like I struggle going forward.

Jamie: Yeah.

Jenzaia: Awesome. I'm going to switch up my one question slightly. What's your second favorite social media platform, because I'm going to guess that Instagram is number one, so what's number two?

Jamie: For my business, I love using Facebook and Facebook groups. Personally, I love scrolling through TikTok and just being entertained. I don't really want to spend the time using TikTok for my business. People do it and you totally can. I'm not looking to learn a new platform right now, but just purely for entertainment, I enjoy watching other people on TikTok.

Jenzaia: I have never even opened TikTok. So I feel like I'm missing out on something because everyone raves about it. And especially now with Instagram Reels, I kind of had a taste of what TikTok is ish, I feel like maybe I need to.

Jamie: I'm going to do another like little regulatory moment here, but Instagram Reels is totally different from TikTok. People are like, "Oh, Reels are just like TikTok." And I think Instagram design them to be really similar, but the way people are using them is different, because people are using Instagram Reels as a supplement to that connection piece, connecting with your audience, connecting with new people. So I find there's a lot more of entertainment on TikTok than there is on Reels. And that's okay. Now, if you're an entertainer and you're using your Instagram to connect and entertain, then totally use Reels for that.

Jamie: But I find there's a difference in content and it's hard to explain unless you've seen it, but the types of content that people are creating on the two platforms isn't necessarily identical. And I think that's good because we don't need two platforms that are exactly the same. I will say TikTok is a total time suck. So don't download it unless you're prepared to spend time on there. Their algorithm is really good at finding stuff that you're interested in and then just keep showing it to you. But I think that it's important to have things in your life that are just for fun.

Jamie: And so that's one of my things that I'm like, "Here's something that I do for fun. I like seeing what other people are doing. I like getting ideas about how people are building their business in different ways." They're doing it totally differently here than they are in other platforms. And that's intriguing.

Jenzaia: Well, that's good to know. I'm not looking for a time slot, so I will not jump on TikTok bandwagon anytime soon. Second rapid-fire question. What's your favorite tool or software that you use in your business?

Jamie: Ooh, favorite software. Well, that is a hard choice. I really like Canva a lot because it's so versatile and easy to use. I also like this app called InShot, it's really handy for editing videos, especially if you took the video on your phone and you want to share it to Instagram. So those are two pieces of software I use very often.

Jenzaia: I've used insight InShot a few times and I liked it. It is very intuitive, I feel.

Jamie: Yeah, I agree.

Jenzaia: And then, what piece of advice would you give to someone who's just starting out on their teacher from their journey?

Jamie: I would say just try stuff. I often like to tell people, you'd be surprised how many people think this is controversial advice. I didn't think it was controversial, but I posted about it on Instagram twice and actually had a lot of people with negative DMs who were upset that I shared it, but I still believe it. I don't have regrets about any of the things that I did when I first started. I wouldn't tell someone, I wish I had done this differently because the only way I learned those things was by doing them. Yeah, there's things I would do differently now. I might not repeat those decisions, but I'm really glad I did them because that's how I learned.

Jamie: And I think if you're going to build a business that lasts, you have to be willing to try things and see how it happens. You're not going to start perfectly. And if you sit and you try to learn everything and figure out the best way to do it, you're never going to do it. So just start doing it, you're going to mess up, it's fine, and learn as you go. And the other thing I would say is, you don't have to invest money if you're not ready. It's really important to me to build a business where I don't go into debt. And so I've been very intentional about the purchases that I've made and the timing at which I've made them.

Jamie: I haven't made any purchases when I didn't have the money for them, even if that meant that I didn't have the next coolest thing. And it's okay if that's not how you build your business, but it seems like the more popular thing for people to say is you have to spend money to grow. I don't think that's true. It might take more time to grow, and that's okay, because you don't have to spend all that money right now. And there's no guarantee that spending the money will help you grow because it's the time, and the learning, and the experimenting, and the trying new things, and the failing, that's what really leads to you growing.

Jenzaia: Absolutely. Absolutely. I agree with that. There's a song, Beautiful Mistakes, I think it's called. And every time I hear it, I'm like, "Oh, I want to do a reel that's pointing out my mistakes." But then I can never come up with something that's a mistake because of almost the exact same thing as you were saying of like, it led me to where I am now and it helped me learn and help me grow. So I am totally on your side of events. I would not have sent you a DM saying you're wrong because it's true. You can't just sit there and wait for it to happen and wait for things to be perfect.

Jenzaia: And even if you do, you're still going to have those moments that teach you something and that you grow from.

Jamie: Right. And you've got to keep learning in order to keep growing. I think learning new things is directly tied to the growth that you're going to have because you don't know how to do everything. And that's okay. I know a ton about Instagram, I know nothing about YouTube. So if I ever wanted to be on YouTube, I would have a lot of learning to do. And I'm not embarrassed to admit that. I'm also not embarrassed to say that I'm terrible at Pinterest, and that's okay. And I don't have to know everything. And I think we're afraid to admit the places where we need to learn. And we're afraid to take action because we want to learn everything.

Jamie: And so don't use learning as an excuse to procrastinate, but also don't use your desire for perfection as an excuse to not learn.

Jenzaia: Yeah. It's so good. I think to you see bigger names like Amy Porterfield is gigantic, but she's doing everything. And I think that gets it in my mind like I shouldn't doing everything. And then when you really get comfortable in being into what you're good at and what you can do, and you let go of that pressure to be everywhere, it actually lets you be more successful in what you're doing instead of pulling yourself thin and trying to go in all those directions just because someone else will have you had to, or you see other people doing it or whatever your reasoning maybe.

Jamie: Yeah. And those people have employees, not just like two, they have hundreds of employees. So that's how they can do everything because they paid someone to do it. I always like, maybe this isn't the best mindset, but I always like to think, what are some of the downfalls that come with having something that big? So I can remind myself that I'm not ready for the downfalls, and then it's okay that I'm not there yet. They probably get a lot of angry emails. Every angry email I get, it's really hard for me to not cry.

Jamie: So maybe someday I can pay someone to take care of my angry emails for me, but I don't want 100,000 followers because that is a lot of angry emails. That's what I think about a lot, because that's a particular pain point for me is being able to let go of people being upset and being able to be okay with not being able to make everyone happy.

Jenzaia: Yeah. That is definitely hard. I've had a couple of experiences with clients when I guess, it's just not a right fit, and it's devastating, even though it's the best choice for both people, it's still like, "What did I do wrong?" Even though nothing is the answer. But it's just, we're not at the right points in our business or there's a personality thing or whatever it is. But there's no one made a mistake, it just isn't a good fit, and that's okay. But I agree that it can be very devastating too.

Jamie: Yeah. As a recovering people pleaser, I like to make everyone happy and I have to remind myself that I don't have to make everyone happy, and it's not possible for me to make everyone happy. And that's okay if people are unhappy, sometimes they're just going to be unhappy, I'm not always going to be able to fix it.

Jenzaia: Such a good point. Well, thank you so much for joining me on this episode. If people want to find you, I know you said at the beginning, but can you just repeat your Instagram, and if you have a website?

Jamie: Yeah. You can find me most places as Basic Girl Teaches on Instagram, and that's also my website. And if you want to chat more about anything I shared, feel free to send me a message and tell me you listen to the podcast. And I love chatting with people in Instagram DMs.

Jenzaia: Awesome. And what's your big Facebook group account?

Jamie: It's called The Teacher Instagram Club.

Jenzaia: Awesome. Well, thank you so much.

Jenzaia: Thank you for listening to this week's inspiring story. If you'd like to share your story with us, then head to marketscalegrow.com/journey, and complete the quick application form. Then head to our community at marketscalegrowth.com/community so you can join our group of inspiring teacherpreneurs who are working on growing and scaling their businesses too. See you soon.