Strut It: Bold Visibility through Instagram Marketing

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Have you ever looked at your Instagram and thought — I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do. I'm posting consistently, I'm showing my face, I'm making reels. People even comment that my content is helpful. So why isn't anyone actually converting into a paying client or customer? If that's you, you're not crazy and you're not alone. Today I want to challenge one of the biggest misconceptions floating around the online business world: that if you just create enough content, the sales will eventually come. And today I'm sharing the story of one of my Hot Reels graduates who learned that lesson firsthand. She went from feeling completely defeated by Instagram to getting 7x more reel views and attracting clients directly from her content. 

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE

• 04:03 Why consistency alone isn't enough and the real reason content isn't converting into clients
• 05:26 The most important question to ask before you film anything: what is the job of this piece of content?
• 08:11 Meet Caroline Hull: podcast strategist, Hot Reels graduate, and someone who had the expertise but couldn't get Instagram to work for her business
• 12:43 Why attention without clarity rarely becomes revenue and the four things your profile must communicate instantly
• 18:43 Caroline's client story: thousands of podcast downloads, zero conversions and the content shift that changed everything
• 21:33 Caroline's Hot Reels results: 7x reel views, increased engagement, and her highest revenue month since her brand pivot
• 24:28 Why a million views on the wrong message produces less revenue than 5,000 views to the right person

LINKS MENTIONED

• Hot Reels VIP Wait List — enrollment opens Monday, August 17th. Join the wait list for first access and an exclusive private coaching bonus
• Free Monetize Your IG Guide

WORK WITH ELIZABETH MARBERRY

• Apply for your FREE Instagram Breakthrough Session with Elizabeth
• Free guide to Monetize Your IG: Seven Simple and Proven Ways to Finally Make Money on Instagram

Follow Elizabeth Marberry on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook

Please be sure to rate, review and follow the show on Apple podcasts (or wherever you find your podcasts) so we can get this free value to other people who need it.

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If you posted content consistently for five straight months and your follower count barely moved, would you keep going? Would you keep showing up every week if it felt like nobody was watching? Today I'm sharing the story of one of my Hot Reels clients who did exactly that. She joined my program with about 2,500 followers and a totally dormant account she hadn't posted on for years. She spent the first few months of Hot Reels wondering if any of it was working. By the end of our year together, she grew to more than 70,000 followers. If you've ever felt like you're posting, trying, learning, showing up, and still wondering if Instagram is even worth it anymore for your business, this episode is for you.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• 01:36 What this new 5-part series is all about (real client stories, real strategies, real data)
• 06:34 The yellow pages analogy: why Instagram is the greatest marketing opportunity small business owners have ever had
• 13:41 The mindset that allowed me to post every day for over a year with little to no growth and keep going anyway
• 17:21 Meet Asli Wade: seven-figure Etsy seller, handmade gift creator, and Hot Reels graduate
• 22:27 The truth about what Asli's growth actually looked like — five months of almost nothing
• 28:34 Why the viral reel revealed the foundation she spent months building, not the other way around
• 30:02 Why I cap Hot Reels at 20 business owners and what close-proximity coaching actually changes

LINKS MENTIONED

• SHOP for Heartfelt Personalized Gifts handcrafted by Asli Wade HERE
• Asli Wade's previous Strut It interview — Ep61
• Hot Reels VIP Wait List — enrollment opens Monday, August 17th. Join the wait list for first access and an exclusive private coaching bonus
• Free Monetize Your IG Guide

WORK WITH ELIZABETH MARBERRY

• Apply for your FREE Instagram Breakthrough Session with Elizabeth
• Free guide to Monetize Your IG: Seven Simple and Proven Ways to Finally Make Money on Instagram

Follow Elizabeth Marberry on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook

Please be sure to rate, review and follow the show on Apple podcasts (or wherever you find your podcasts) so we can get this free value to other people who need it.

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I am so excited to bring on one of the leading Instagram strategists for business owners — Michelle Gifford. She helps six and seven-figure brands grow their audience, sell out their offers, and generate real revenue through Instagram. She's also a coach, agency owner, podcast host of The Social Strategist, and a mother of five proving every day that it's possible to build a thriving business without sacrificing what matters most. 

When I invited Michelle onto the show, I knew we'd be talking Instagram strategy. What I didn't expect was how deep we'd go into the mindset behind building a successful business on Instagram. Grab your notebook.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE 

• 03:15 How Michelle went from teaching photography as a business to becoming one of the leading Instagram strategists for six and seven-figure brands
• 05:07 The moment Michelle realized she wasn't growing on Instagram even though she was teaching it, and exactly what she changed
• 07:30 Why sitting on the fence wastes more time and energy than just deciding to go all in
• 08:23 How to use Instagram results as information instead of validation
• 09:22 The two types of Instagram users every business owner needs to recognize and the decision point each of them faces
• 10:19 Why Instagram now rewards the best content creators and why that's actually a gift
• 11:17 The identity mindset shift required when you move from Instagram consumer to Instagram business owner
• 16:20 What's working for organic Instagram growth right now: carousels, reels, and the share rate metric you need to watch
• 18:44 The content test Michelle uses before posting anything: save it, share it, or watch all the way through
• 20:59 How to keep people watching reels all the way through: layered hooks, visual movement, and ruthless editing
• 22:21 How long your reels should actually be and why Michelle uses a "mini skirt" rule
• 23:20 Why not all content has to go viral and how to separate attract, nurture, and sell content
• 30:17 How Michelle runs a business and creates content with five kids, a dog, and two cats
• 35:36 How Michelle uses AI including Claude Co-Work for competitor analysis and Instagram content research
• 39:05 How Claude Co-Work opens a Chrome browser and analyzes Instagram accounts in real time
• 41:00 How Michelle uses AI to automate daily social media news briefings and podcast guest thank-you emails
• 41:52 Michelle's Descript workflow for podcast editing

LINKS MENTIONED 

• Hot Reels (my 12-month Instagram content lab): 
• Michelle Gifford's Website:
• Michelle on Instagram: 
• The Social Strategist Podcast: 
• Michelle AI (Michelle's custom GPT): 

WORK WITH ELIZABETH MARBERRY

• Apply for your FREE Instagram Breakthrough Session with Elizabeth
• Free guide to Monetize Your IG: Seven Simple and Proven Ways to Finally Make Money on Instagram

Follow Elizabeth Marberry on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook

Please be sure to rate, review and follow the show on Apple podcasts (or wherever you find your podcasts) so we can get this free value to other people who need it.

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Today I'm pulling back the curtain and sharing seven ways I've been using AI behind the scenes every single week to market my business, generate leads, increase sales, and save hours of work. Because when I'm learning a new tool or strategy, I don't just want the theory. I want to see how someone is actually using it inside a real business. This is the final episode of our four-part AI series, and it's the most practical one yet.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• 00:44 Series recap — the biggest AI mistakes, using AI without losing your voice, and the AI Thought Partner document from Part 3
• 05:18 Way #1: Creating speaker kits and media kits — how Claude designed a 3-page editorial PDF speaker kit in a fraction of the time
• 08:32 Way #2: Reviewing and improving sales pages — how AI acts as a fresh set of eyes to spot blind spots, redundancies, and missed opportunities
• 10:19 Why AI recommendations aren't always right — and why the thought leader seat always stays with you
• 11:15 Way #3: Competitor analysis and positioning — using AI to understand the landscape without copying anyone
• 13:59 Way #4: Repurposing the podcast into multiple marketing assets — how one transcript becomes a newsletter, LinkedIn post, Instagram stories, carousels, hooks, and more
• 16:25 Way #5: Capturing ideas before they disappear — how Elizabeth uses the voice memo function on walks, in the car, and in the shower
• 20:08 Way #6: Speaking proposals and pricing research — using AI to position pitches and research market rates
• 21:55 Way #7: Supporting coaching delivery, client onboarding, and organization
• 26:34 About the live workshop: Build Your AI Thought Partner

Links Mentioned:

• Build Your AI Thought Partner Workshop
• Part 1 (Ep121): Everyone Has AI. Here's How to Stand Out Anyway.
  The 3 biggest AI mistakes small business owners make — and the mindset shift that changes everything.
• Part 2 (Ep122): The 4 Things AI Needs From You
  Your stories, opinions, client stories, and perspective — the human elements AI can't manufacture.
• Part 3 (Ep123): The Marketing Asset That Saves Me 10 Hours a Week
  The 5 categories of the AI Thought Partner document and why it's more valuable than any funnel.

WORK WITH ELIZABETH MARBERRY

• Apply for your FREE Instagram Breakthrough Session with Elizabeth
• Free guide to Monetize Your IG: Seven Simple and Proven Ways to Finally Make Money on Instagram

Follow Elizabeth Marberry on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook

Please be sure to rate, review and follow the show on Apple podcasts (or wherever you find your podcasts) so we can get this free value to other people who need it.

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Today I'm sharing something that sounds a little boring on paper but has changed everything about how I use AI. It's not a funnel, it's not a sales page, and it's not a complex system. It's a single living document. And it has become one of the most valuable marketing assets I've built in the last two years. If you've ever felt like AI gives you generic, forgettable content, this episode is going to show you exactly why that's happening and what to fix in your strategy moving forward.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE

• 04:57 Why I built my AI Thought Partner document — and why it's more valuable than any funnel or sales page I've created
• 06:24 The exhausting mistake most business owners are making with AI: starting from zero every single time
• 07:49 What an AI Thought Partner document actually is — and why it's a living, breathing asset
• 10:00 Category 1: High-level business overview — who you are, what you do, what makes you different
• 11:51 Category 2: Your target audience — what keeps them up at 2am, what they desire, what they fear
• 14:14 Why being a paid user of both Claude and ChatGPT means this document goes everywhere with you
• 14:44 Category 3: Your offers — what you sell, who it's for, what objections people have before buying
• 18:27 Category 4: Your brand voice — why a list of adjectives isn't enough and what to do instead
• 19:24 Category 5: Your stories — your founder story, client wins, lessons learned, and the moments that shaped your perspective
• 21:14 About the live workshop: Build Your AI Thought Partner

Links Mentioned:

• Build Your AI Thought Partner Workshop
• Part 1 → Ep121: Everyone Has AI. Here's How to Stand Out Anyway.
• Hot Reels — my 12-month Instagram content lab. DM me the word HOT on @elizabethmarberry
• Free DM Automation Guide + 1 Month of ManyChat Free — DM me the word LEADS on @elizabethmarberry
• Free Monetize Your IG Guide

WORK WITH ELIZABETH MARBERRY

• Apply for your FREE Instagram Breakthrough Session with Elizabeth
• Free guide to Monetize Your IG: Seven Simple and Proven Ways to Finally Make Money on Instagram

Follow Elizabeth Marberry on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook

Please be sure to rate, review and follow the show on Apple podcasts (or wherever you find your podcasts) so we can get this free value to other people who need it.

Send us Fan Mail

Every reel, every caption, every time you show your face on camera — you're building something you can't fully see yet. You never know where all of this will lead until you get into action and start finding your voice.

This is part two of my four-part series on how to use AI to market and grow your business on social media without losing what makes you you. Last week I covered the three biggest AI mistakes small business owners make. Today I'm diving into the four things AI actually needs from you if you want your content to stand out instead of blend in.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE

• 01:19 Why Elizabeth is speaking to 150 people in Cincinnati — and what it proves about content compounding over time
• 02:44 Why most small business owners are under-leveraging AI even though everyone is using it
• 03:36 A quick recap of Part 1 — the three biggest AI mistakes (and how to avoid them)
• 04:32 The missing ingredient in most people's AI content strategy: the human element
• 05:00 Thing #1: Your stories — why your lived experience is the raw material of your brand
• 06:52 Thing #2: Your opinions — where thought leadership actually lives
• 09:34 Thing #3: Your client stories — what AI will never know unless you tell it
• 11:50 Thing #4: Your perspective — the differentiator AI can't replicate
• 13:44 Your homework this week: how to build your Story Vault in a Google Doc
• 15:34 What's coming in Part 3 — the exact document Elizabeth built to train AI on her brand
• 15:59 About the live workshop: Build Your AI Thought Partner

YOUR HOMEWORK: BUILD YOUR STORY VAULT

Open a Google Doc this week and create a document called My Story Vault. Add these four headings:

1. Stories from my life (mistakes, wins, pivotal moments, childhood memories that connect to your work)
2. Client success stories (transformations, results, things clients have said to you)
3. Things I believe (your hot takes, opinions, frameworks, things you'd push back on in your industry)
4. Questions my audience asks (the same questions you hear on sales calls, in DMs, in emails — every week)

Add five items under each heading. That's it. Once you start feeding this into your AI conversations, the quality of everything it creates for you will shift dramatically.

Links Mentioned:

• Build Your AI Thought Partner Workshop
• Part 1 → Ep121: Everyone Has AI. Here's How to Stand Out Anyway.
• Hot Reels — my 12-month Instagram content lab. DM me the word HOT on @elizabethmarberry
• Free DM Automation Guide + 1 Month of ManyChat Free — DM me the word LEADS on @elizabethmarberry
• Free Monetize Your IG Guide

WORK WITH ELIZABETH MARBERRY

• Apply for your FREE Instagram Breakthrough Session with Elizabeth
• Free guide to Monetize Your IG: Seven Simple and Proven Ways to Finally Make Money on Instagram

Follow Elizabeth Marberry on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook

Please be sure to rate, review and follow the show on Apple podcasts (or wherever you find your podcasts) so we can get this free value to other people who need it.

Send us Fan Mail

Instagram is filling up with AI-generated content. And as more small business owners and creators start using these tools, one thing is becoming really clear — everyone is starting to sound the same. So how do you use AI effectively without losing what makes you you? That's exactly what we're tackling today. This is part one of a four-part series on how to use AI in your marketing as a small business owner. We're going back to the basics, laying the right foundation, helping you avoid common mistakes, and making sure you have what you need to stand out instead of blend in.

*INSTAGRAM UPDATE WORTH KNOWING

Instagram just rolled out the ability to reorder your grid posts. To access it, go to your profile, long press on any post, and select Reorder Grid from the menu that appears. You can then drag and drop your posts to change the order they appear on your public profile.

This matters because those first nine posts on your profile often determine whether someone follows you or not. My advice: don't overthink it and don't spend three hours rearranging your feed like it's a living room makeover. But do think strategically about what someone sees within the first five to seven seconds of landing on your profile, and make sure it's positioned to attract your ideal client or customer.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE

02:17 Instagram update: how to reorder your grid posts and why it matters

05:24 Why we're in the "Summer of AI" and the perspective I'm bringing to this series

07:16 The real conversation happening around AI in 2026 (it's not "should I use it" anymore)

07:45 Why using AI is quickly becoming the baseline and what the actual competitive advantage is now

08:39 What AI-generated "slop" looks like and why it's hurting the people posting it

09:36 Why AI is making thought leadership more valuable, not less

10:33 Mistake #1: Waiting until you figure it out (the fear and avoidance trap)

13:50 Mistake #2: Using AI to replace your thinking instead of amplify it

15:37 Mistake #3: Giving AI zero context and why this is the biggest reason outputs feel generic

18:49 The mindset shift that changed everything: treating AI like a strategic thought partner

19:17 One action step to take this week: ask AI to interview you before it creates anything

20:39 About the live workshop: Build Your AI Thought Partner

Links Mentioned:

• Build Your AI Thought Partner Workshop
• Think Bigger: Using AI to Expand What’s Possible in Your Business with Geoff Woods
• Hot Reels — my 12-month Instagram content lab. DM me the word HOT on @elizabethmarberry
• Free DM Automation Guide + 1 Month of ManyChat Free — DM me the word LEADS on @elizabethmarberry
• Free Monetize Your IG Guide

WORK WITH ELIZABETH MARBERRY

• Apply for your FREE Instagram Breakthrough Session with Elizabeth
• Free guide to Monetize Your IG: Seven Simple and Proven Ways to Finally Make Money on Instagram

Follow Elizabeth Marberry on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook

Please be sure to rate, review and follow the show on Apple podcasts (or wherever you find your podcasts) so we can get this free value to other people who need it.

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I am sitting down with Austin Armstrong, author of Virality, keynote speaker, founder of Syllaby AI, and someone who has generated billions of views across social media through short-form video strategy. 

We talked about what's actually working on Instagram in 2026  including how Austin uses trial reels to test content, his strategy for repurposing videos across platforms, and why collaborations are still one of the fastest ways to grow your audience organically. But we also went deep into AI. 

Austin shared how he's using ChatGPT's newest image generation update to create Instagram carousel posts in a fraction of the time, how Claude Co-Work is changing the way creators and business owners work with AI beyond just prompting, and how entrepreneurs can use these tools to simplify content creation without losing authenticity or personality. 

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE

02:11 How Austin went from MySpace at 14 years old to becoming one of the leading voices in AI marketing

07:31 Why every CEO and founder should be building a personal brand and how it lets you pivot

11:24 Why consumers increasingly buy from people who share their belief systems

13:20 What's actually working on Instagram right now: Austin's top strategies for 2026

13:48 How Austin reposts top-performing content and why one repost just hit 600,000 views

15:13 The tool Austin uses to download Instagram videos without a watermark

16:13 Why collaborations are still one of the most underrated growth tools on Instagram (and how to add up to 5 collaborators per post)

19:24 How Austin uses trial reels to A/B test hooks before posting to his main feed

25:32 How Austin is posting 3 times a day on Instagram — and how AI makes that possible

25:59 The exact process for using ChatGPT Image 2.0 to create Instagram carousel posts in minutes

31:11 What Claude Co-Work actually is — a plain-English breakdown for beginners

39:46 All about Syllaby — the AI video creation and scheduling tool Austin founded

Links Mentioned:

• Hot Reels — my 12-month Instagram content lab. DM me the word HOT on @elizabethmarberry
• Free DM Automation Guide + 1 Month of ManyChat Free — DM me the word LEADS on @elizabethmarberry
• Free Monetize Your IG Guide
• Syllaby - Austin's AI video creation and scheduling platform
• Austin Armstrong's Website
• Follow Austin on Instagram
•  SnapInsta - free tool to download your Instagram videos without watermark
• Previous episode — Ep119: How I Use AI to Reverse Engineer Viral Hooks

WORK WITH ELIZABETH MARBERRY

• Apply for your FREE Instagram Breakthrough Session with Elizabeth
• Free guide to Monetize Your IG: Seven Simple and Proven Ways to Finally Make Money on Instagram

Follow Elizabeth Marberry on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook

Please be sure to rate, review and follow the show on Apple podcasts (or wherever you find your podcasts) so we can get this free value to other people who need it.

Send us Fan Mail

Today I'm pulling back the curtain on how I'm using AI in my business to reverse engineer viral hook formulas, generate stronger content ideas, and speed up my content creation process without losing personality or authenticity in my marketing. This is part three of our hooks and messaging mini series, and it might just be the most practical episode of the bunch.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

01:43 Why this hook series has been about so much more than just text on screen

02:07 How I run two businesses simultaneously — The Wedding Dance Coach in Denver and my Instagram marketing brand

04:20 The #1 mistake business owners make when using AI for content creation

05:16 What a Master AI Brand Book is and why building one changes everything about your AI outputs

06:43 The simple strategy I use to reverse engineer viral hook formulas with AI

07:40 How to study Instagram content like a marketer, not a consumer

08:34 Exactly what to say to ChatGPT or Claude when you upload a viral hook screenshot

09:55 How to prompt AI to generate 10 hook variations using your brand voice

11:16 Why AI is your strategic thought partner not your replacement

13:36 Hot Reels client results: from 2,000 to 70,000 followers, and six figures added in revenue

15:20 Next week: Austin Armstrong on AI, marketing, and growing to almost 1 million Instagram followers

Links Mentioned:

• Hot Reels — my 12-month Instagram content lab. DM me the word HOT on @elizabethmarberry
• Free DM Automation Guide + 1 Month of ManyChat Free — DM me the word LEADS on @elizabethmarberry
• Free Monetize Your IG Guide
• The Wedding Dance Coach
• Part 1 → Ep117: The Secret to Stronger Instagram Hooks
• Part 2 → Ep118: The 4-Part Hook Formula Behind Viral Reels

WORK WITH ELIZABETH MARBERRY

• Apply for your FREE Instagram Breakthrough Session with Elizabeth
• Free guide to Monetize Your IG: Seven Simple and Proven Ways to Finally Make Money on Instagram

Follow Elizabeth Marberry on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook

Please be sure to rate, review and follow the show on Apple podcasts (or wherever you find your podcasts) so we can get this free value to other people who need it.

Send us Fan Mail

You already know that strong hooks are one of the biggest things separating content that gets ignored from content that gets watched, shared, and remembered. But today I want to take this a step deeper because most business owners think a hook is only the text at the beginning of a reel. And honestly, that's just one piece of it. There are actually four different places you can hook someone inside of one piece of content. And once you understand this, you'll start seeing viral content completely differently.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE

01:56 The reel Elizabeth posted that hit 86,000+ views and the content strategy lesson inside it

03:18 Why timely, relatable content outperforms polished educational content (and how to use this in your business)

07:06 Hook #1: The text hook — why specificity beats everything

09:22 Hook #2: The visual hook — why most people process your visuals before they read a single word

10:43 Hook #3: The audio hook — your opening words, tone, pacing, and music choice all count

13:42 Hook #4: The caption top line — the most overlooked hook placement of all four

15:06 How to use all four hooks together to create content that stops the scroll AND drives business results

16:52 Next week: how Elizabeth uses AI to reverse engineer viral hooks

Links Mentioned:

- Free DM Automation Guide + 1 Month of ManyChat Free:DM me the word LEADS on Instagram @elizabethmarberry

- Free Monetize Your IG Guide

- Hot Reels (my 12-month Instagram content lab)

- Missed Part 1? Ep117: The Secret to Stronger Instagram Hooks

WORK WITH ELIZABETH MARBERRY

• Apply for your FREE Instagram Breakthrough Session with Elizabeth
• Free guide to Monetize Your IG: Seven Simple and Proven Ways to Finally Make Money on Instagram

Follow Elizabeth Marberry on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook

Please be sure to rate, review and follow the show on Apple podcasts (or wherever you find your podcasts) so we can get this free value to other people who need it.