How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business: “Tell your story” With Sahara Rose and Candice Georgiadis
Tell your story. People want to know YOUR why behind the work they do. They want to connect to a human, not a company. The posts I share on how my health had totally deteriorated, body had gone into perimenopause, digestion stopped working, hormones shut off and hair had fallen out and THAT is the reason why I practice and teach about Ayurveda, by far do the best.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Sahara Rose. Sahara Rose is the best-selling author of Eat Feel Fresh: A Plant-Based Ayurvedic Cookbook and Idiot’s Guide to Ayurveda. She has been called “a leading voice for the millennial generation into the new paradigm shift” by Deepak Chopra, who wrote the foreword of both her titles.
Sahara hosts the Highest Self Podcast, ranked as the #1 top podcast in the spirituality category on iTunes. She is an Abundance Mindset Expert and guides people to pave their path to freedom, joy and purpose.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Growing up I was extremely unhealthy and addicted to junk food. I decided to begin practicing yoga at 12 and fell in love with the practice. I began reading books all about the yogic lifestyle, from authors such as Deepak Chopra, and it deeply changed the course of my life. I began traveling and volunteering in over 30 countries, learning about ancient healing cultures across the globe. When I was teaching health in the slums of India, I got very sick and it was then I discovered Ayurveda, which radically changed the course of my life. It healed my mind, body and spirit and I decided I would write a book on the subject — though I had never met an author. I spent two years living in India studying Ayurveda and eventually completed my book, then was hired by Penguin to write the official Idiot’s Guide to Ayurveda, which became the #1 best-selling Ayurveda book nationally. Today I have educated thousands on Ayurveda, written a second best-selling book, Eat Feel Fresh, and speak around the world. My passion is modernizing this ancient healing science so it can help people the way it has me.
Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?
I use social media to bring ancient topics back to life in a way no one has before. I have created a movement around Ayurveda, the world’s oldest health system, and have educated hundreds of thousands of people on the topic. My podcast has over one million monthly downloads and is less than a year and a half old. My email list is 200k+ and Instagram is 126k, all grown organically on a topic that most had never heard of before me.
I’ve built my business and even gotten my book deals because of the social media community I have cultivated. I began blogging in 2011 and since then have put out thousands of articles and social media posts educating people on Ayurveda, wellness, spirituality, entrepreneurship and holistic health. I use social media as a tool to inspire people to look deeper within themselves. Because I’ve built long-standing trust with my following, I have a seven-figure online business with various online programs and brand sponsors related to Ayurveda, wellness and conscious entrepreneurship.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?
That would definitely be seeing Deepak Chopra at a conference, walking up to him, sending him the PDF of my not-yet-published book, him liking it and wanting to meet with me and soon after, him offering to write the foreword of my book and now both of my books. It’s moments like this you fully understand that there are greater forces at play in the universe. When you are in alignment with your purpose (dharma), things line up in ways you could have never planned or imagined. This is called living in kriya, flow, which is a topic I now speak a lot about on Highest Self Podcast.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When I first started health-coaching, I had on my website a menu tab that said “$20 Consultations.” I was willing to help anyone with any health problem, for just $20 an hour. If you wanted to lose weight, gain weight, get pregnant, run a marathon, balance your hormones, I was your girl. Clearly I didn’t get that many clients from what I believed was an unbeatable deal because most people would NOT trust someone who just valued their time at $20 with their health problems. I learned quickly that abundance is a result of worthiness and that if I was serious about becoming a wellness professional, I needed to dive deeper into my studies to set myself apart. I ended up studying Ayurveda in India for two years, becoming an Ayurvedic Practitioner and writing multiple books on Ayurveda. Now I don’t work with clients because my calling is to educate and uplift the masses.
Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?
My podcast had been my primary way of sharing my programs, books and brand sponsors with my audience. I believe in this day-and-age we’ve become so isolated and tired of meaningless, curated content that we are CRAVING more depth and interaction. That is why podcasts do so well.
In that hour, you really dive into the head of another human-being and understand their fundamental beliefs and values in a way no logo or caption could have shown you.
People want to know the why. They want to hear how that supplement helped you with that health problem, how that tea soothes your anxiety, how that program made you who you are.
Podcasts also have a longer shelf-life than social media posts because people often go back and listen to episodes from months or years ago, whereas few people scroll back to see what you posted on Instagram last year (unless they’re stalker status.)
Podcasts also attracted more educated listeners. A successful person does not have hours to spend scrolling through Youtube and watching your face talk for an hour a day, otherwise they would not be where they are. They’re busy. They need content that will be available for them in their in-between time; during their commute, on their walk, while running errands. I find far more high-end customers from podcasts than any other form of social. Podcast listeners tend to be educated, serious customers who are ready to invest in the products and programs that will improve their lives.
Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share 6 ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.
Yes!
- Use Instagram stories. I spend far more time on Instagram stories than I do on the feed because the feed has become so overly curated that it lacks depth. People want to know: How do you spend your day? What matters to you? What products do you use? Be authentic and honest.
- Tell your story. People want to know YOUR why behind the work they do. They want to connect to a human, not a company. The posts I share on how my health had totally deteriorated, body had gone into perimenopause, digestion stopped working, hormones shut off and hair had fallen out and THAT is the reason why I practice and teach about Ayurveda, by far do the best.
- Have a clear theme/ message. What is the essence of your page? What can I expect from you? I think of my Instagram like my altar. What represents who I truly am? Followers should be able to feel you just from looking at your feed. There needs to be heart.
- Have one call to action per post. Most people have no call to actions and then wonder why their business isn’t growing. Some people have multiple call to actions, leaving people confused on what to do next, thus just scrolling away. Have one clear action-step on the post/ story. For example, “My kids are never sick for more than a day because of this essential oil blend I use. Swipe up to learn more about it” or “Growing up, I had so much shame around sex and money but from rewiring my beliefs, I’ve never felt more confident and abundant. Head to the link in my bio to read about my journey.” Give value, then guide them in the right direction to continue gaining more.
- Be out-of-the-box. Do something that hasn’t been done before. Much of my success is because no one has ever modernized Ayurveda the way that I have before. This has made me the go-to expert on Ayurveda, though it took years to cultivate. Take a risk and pursue what sets your soul on fire. It will take off if you truly believe in it. Trust the timing of your life and social media.
- Show your face. Gone are the days where Instagram feeds were a place for pictures of your breakfast, dog and sunset. People now want to see the person behind the brand. People want to connect to a person, not a product. I used to have a fear that if I showed my face, people would unfollow me and the opposite ended up being true.
Because of the position that you are in, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Immigrant rights is something I am very passionate about and share on my Instagram regularly. Right now, we are living in such a jaded world where we see our neighbors as our enemies and have so much fear of those who we believe are different from us. If we can see that we are all humans before anything else, we will drop the illusion of separation and come together again.
Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
I would love to get in touch with anyone who wants to take Ayurveda to the mainstream, whether it’s conferences, products, apps or anything in-between! Feel free to reach out to me with ideas on how we can collaborate at [email protected] and connect with me on Instagram @iamsahararose. Let’s raise consciousness together!
Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!
How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business: “Tell your story” With Sahara Rose and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.