131: What 16 Years in Business Taught Me About Instagram, Coaching & Growth
Today is a special episode. I am celebrating 16 years in business and I want to do something a little different. Instead of teaching you a strategy or walking you through a framework, I want to sit down with you the way I would sit down with a good friend over coffee and share the things I know now that I wish I had known sooner. The lessons that changed my business, my mindset, and honestly my life. We are talking about Instagram, we are talking about coaching, we are talking about what growth actually looks and feels like from the inside. And I am also sharing a very exciting announcement: Hot Reels is officially open for enrollment. This is the last time I will be offering it at this investment level.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
02:47 16 years of business in 16 minutes: the pivotal lessons Elizabeth has learned about growth, visibility, and staying in the game
08:14 Why your business can only grow as fast as you grow and the identity work that nobody talks about in marketing podcasts
13:22 The moment Elizabeth almost quit Instagram and what she did instead
17:55 Why investing in coaching has been the single biggest ROI decision in Elizabeth's business, every single time
22:08 The Hot Reels enrollment announcement: what is included, what has changed, and why this is the last enrollment at this investment level
28:36 What the next 16 years will look like and the vision Elizabeth has for her business and her clients
33:14 A love letter to the business owner who is still figuring it out
HOT REELS IS OPEN
Hot Reels is officially open for enrollment and this is the last time it will be offered at the current investment. Here is what is included:
Live coaching twice a month on Zoom
Weekly trending content idea with exact hook formulas and AI implementation workflows
Up to two pieces of content reviewed per week inside the private community
Active coaching support Monday through Thursday
A program capped at 20 business owners so Elizabeth knows your name, your business, and what you are working toward
A private bonus coaching session for everyone who enrolls during this launch
Current investment: $444 per month or $4,444 paid in full. This investment increases at the next enrollment.
LINKS MENTIONED:
Social Media Marketing Podcast Interview:
Read: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/new-ways-to-expand-reach-and-engagement-on-instagram
A Truth You Need to Hear:
"Your business can only grow as fast as you grow. The strategy is important. The mindset is everything."
Elizabeth Marberry
S3 Ep131 Transcript - What 16 Years in Business Taught Me About Instagram, Coaching & Growth
00:00
This week, I got an unexpected opportunity that turned into an even more unexpected coaching moment. And it reminded me of one of my biggest regrets over the last 16 years in business. So today, I'm bringing you behind the scenes. We're talking Instagram, investing in yourself, and why even experts still need coaches. Are you ready? Let's do it.
00:25
Welcome to Strut it, a podcast about creating bold visibility on social media with zero apologies. I'm Elizabeth Marberry, your host and Instagram marketing coach. I help small business owners get seen on Instagram and monetize their offers so they can make more money doing their sole lead work. If you're tired of spinning your wheels on Instagram and you're seeking simple, proven Instagram marketing strategies that actually work, you're in the right place.
00:54
Let's dive in.
01:04
Welcome back to the show. As always, thank you for taking your precious time to hang out with me and invest in yourself and your business. Every week, I am determined to really share with you what I'm learning as I continue to grow both of my brands on Instagram, as well as coach the hundreds of small business owners and creative entrepreneurs I've worked with. I want to share with you what's working, what's not, where I'm stuck.
01:34
any mistakes I've made in the past so that way I can help shortcut your learning curve. I believe Instagram is such a massive opportunity for all of us small business owners and I understand that it can get really complicated and confusing. And so my goal each week is to really simplify and ensure that the effort you are putting into Instagram or content creation is gonna pay it forward.
02:00
and really impact the bottom line of your business. Because at the end of the day, we're not here just for followers and likes. We want to make that money. We want to drive leads and sales to our business. That's why we are doing this work. And with that being said, it doesn't mean it has to be serious all the time. We can have some fun. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I have a lot of fun in my content. You don't have to be like me. You get to be you.
02:23
But my goal is to really help you live into your greatest expression of who you are. And if you're listening to this podcast, you might be like me where you're a bold visionary, a dreamer. You have a lot you wanna do on this planet. You have people you wanna serve and social media is such a phenomenal tool to get in front of those people. And if I can help you do your soul led work while you work here with me on this planet, I have one. So.
02:49
Thank you for hanging out with me and kind of starting the show off on that little woo energy moment. We just wrapped up a five part series and it was really all about how to grow your small business on Instagram. every week I tapped into a different strategy. If you missed it, definitely go back and check out the last five episodes. They were packed full of really actionable, tangible, know, takeaways, strategic recommendations, all of that.
03:17
Today's episode is gonna be a little bit different. I have a behind the scenes story for you because this week was absolutely wild and I wanted to share with you what came up for me. So just several days ago on Monday, I got a message from the team at Social Media Examiner asking if I could come back on the social media marketing podcast as a guest expert.
03:43
It wasn't like, hey, Elizabeth, are you available sometime next month? Here's what we're planning for. It was basically like, can you do this interview tomorrow? My answer, of course, was immediately, hell yes, I can. If you're not familiar with Social Media Examiner, it is one of the biggest, most respected brands in the social media marketing industry. Their podcast consistently ranks among the absolute
04:10
top marketing podcast and being invited onto that show last year was a really massive visibility opportunity for me and my business. And what was really interesting is the first time I was on the show, which was last year in 2025, I did a pre-interview with Michael Stelzner. So Michael Stelzner is the CEO of Social Media Examiner, a brilliant man. We had like a whole hour pre-interview. I had a whole week to prep.
04:39
I remember barely sleeping that week because I wanted to be so prepared. And of course, my former professional dancer, perfectionist, people pleasing tendencies were coming up. So I was definitely over preparing. I knew the size of the opportunity and I wanted to knock it out of the park. But this time, you guys, less than 24 hours to prepare. And it was a completely different kind of interview. So instead of coming on and teaching one of my frameworks or methodologies,
05:08
Michael Stelzner and Jerry Potter. So Jerry Potter is his co-host and Jerry Potter, if you don't know him, he's incredible. He's a YouTube expert. I got to meet him when I spoke at Social Media Marketing World this year, along with of course Michael Stelzner in person, which was such a dream come true. But the show was hosted by both of them and they wanted my take on some of the newest things happening with Instagram right now. So of course I said yes, I rearranged what I needed to rearrange.
05:37
I did my research, I prepared my butt off and I showed up the next day and I freaking rocked it. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm really hard on myself. I think most of us are the most hard on ourselves. Like there's no one else in the world that I'm as hard on as myself. I walked away from that interview feeling really proud of how I showed up, but.
06:04
Something happened after we finished recording that I want to talk about with you today because I think it illustrates one of the most valuable lessons I've learned in almost 16 years of being an entrepreneur and owning multiple businesses and brands. And weirdly enough, it also explains exactly why I built Hot Reels, my 12-month Instagram content lab, which is my high-touch group coaching program, the way that I did.
06:32
If you've been listening to the show for the last five weeks, you know that we have been building up to the launch of Hot Reels and Hot Reels doors are currently open. So I am gonna be talking about that opportunity for you. If you want me to be your Instagram marketing mentor for the next year, it's just an incredible program and opportunity. And I definitely wanna share with you about that.
06:56
But coming back to the story, after we finished the social media marketing podcast recording, Michael Stelzner and I ended up talking for another 30 minutes or so. Okay, remember, this is the CEO of Social Media Examiner, a very in-demand human, and I was so grateful that he just poured into me for 30 minutes. And we really started talking about our own social media strategies, what was working, where we were getting stuck.
07:25
and really giving each other feedback. You I was reflecting back to him when he was asking me questions and it was just a total pinch me moment of sitting there talking Instagram strategy with the founder and CEO of Social Media Examiner. Okay, so we're essentially coaching each other on our content. But then Michael challenged me on something and that's where the story gets interesting because here I am being invited onto his show as an Instagram expert and I still had a blind spot.
07:55
Within one conversation, someone else, Mike Stelzner, could see it, right? And that's what I wanna share with you today because you can be really freaking good at what you do and still need a coach and mentor. And I would argue that the more serious you become about growing your business, the more valuable it becomes to have smart people around you who can see things you're simply too close to see.
08:24
yourself. Truly, when I look back and reflect at the last 16 years of entrepreneurship, one of my biggest regrets is that I waited too long to really understand that, to understand the power of investing in the right coach or mentor. And so today I'm going to share what happened behind the scenes after my social media marketing podcast interview and the challenge that Michael gave me.
08:52
and a couple of the Instagram updates that we talked about in that interview, because these are Instagram updates that I definitely want you to have on your radar. I'm also gonna just quickly share like why I believe investing in coaching has generated some of the biggest returns I've ever had in my business. And we are gonna talk about hot reels because the doors are still open. And if you've been sitting on the fence wondering whether this is the right investment for you, today's episode I hope will help you to.
09:20
just make a clear decision. First, I wanna give you a couple of the Instagram takeaways from my social media marketing podcast interview, because I think there's some really good lessons here for us small business owners. My interview with them actually came out today as I'm recording this episode for you. I will make sure I link it in the show notes if you want to go much deeper into any of these topics. So update number one is Instagram is coming to your TV. One of the biggest updates is that
09:50
Instagram is continuing to expand its TV app. It's now available on Samsung TVs in addition to Amazon Fire TVs and Google TVs. And of course, I'm a giant Instagram nerd, so I immediately had to go test it. It was crazy. I have a smart TV and essentially what I did is I downloaded the Instagram app on my TV. And then when you do that, a QR code pops up. I took out my phone, I grabbed the QR code and
10:19
essentially allowed the apps to gain access to my Instagram account and within seconds my Instagram was on my television and it was actually really fascinating to see how Instagram organized my content because it almost looked like Netflix. There was a for you section at the top. Underneath that were different interest categories based on what I've been consuming lately. Some were kind of predictable. My kids went back to school last week and so
10:47
One of the categories it showed me was back to school content, which I thought was really funny. It said midlife humor because you've been listening, you know I'm over 40, I'm going through perimenopause. So that kind of humor just gets me. It knew me, right? It knew what kind of content I liked and I was consuming and it had it in those different categories. But then there was this really specific category that was labeled inclusive fitness. And I thought that was interesting because
11:14
It wasn't just fitness, it was a much more nuanced category within fitness, and it said inclusive fitness. And I think there's a good lesson in here for us business owners. Instagram is an interest-driven platform right now. So the algorithm is constantly trying to answer the question, what is this account about, and who would be interested in this content? So one of the questions I want you to ask yourself is, what do you want to become known for?
11:43
If somebody consumes three or four pieces of content, would they know what you are known for? And just as importantly, does Instagram know? Because if Monday you're talking about one thing and Wednesday you're talking about something completely unrelated and then Friday you're chasing some other random trend because another creator told you is going viral, you're making Instagram's job harder, right? And you're also making your dream client's job harder.
12:12
you don't need to force yourself into some tiny little content box, right? So one of the questions Jerry asked me in this interview was he's like, do we as marketers need to worry about fitting into these interest boxes that are gonna be on the TV screen essentially? And my answer to him was essentially no, right? Like don't worry about the box they're gonna put you in.
12:36
you should be really clear on what you talk about and what you want people to associate your name with. And I was even thinking about this a step further with them reaching out to me very last minute to be on the show this week, is they were looking for an Instagram expert. So if I had positioned myself as a social media marketing expert, would I have been on their short list of people to reach out to as an Instagram expert? Probably not, right?
13:05
Do I have more extensive knowledge than Instagram? You better believe it. I help my private clients with email marketing, sales pages, copy, lots of different aspects of marketing and sales within a business. I'm also a business coach with my private clients, right? Like I said, I've been in business 16 years. I have a lot of different skillsets that I bring to the table, y'all. With that being said, I decided to really become known as an Instagram expert and that paid off in the opportunity.
13:35
coming to me this week. Same thing with your Instagram content. It should tell a brand story, right? That's true whether you're building a personal brand or you have a team like Wedding Dance Coach is my brick and mortar dance studio service-based business. I am not the face of that company, but that company, that brand has a vibe, has a language, has a look, right? And we are known for one thing.
14:00
So my advice around Instagram TV is the same advice I would give my clients anytime Instagram releases some shiny new object. And it's this, watch, don't pivot. So I'm not changing my entire Instagram marketing strategy because people can suddenly watch my reel on a 65 inch TV, okay? The fundamentals still matter. Can you capture attention? Can you keep attention?
14:27
Is your messaging clear and magnetic to your ideal client or customer? Does your content make me feel something? Is there a clear next step for them to take? Is there a call to action so I know how to go further with your company? And a new Instagram feature cannot fix bad marketing or content, right? And I think that's a really important reminder because there's so much noise in this industry about what you need to be doing right now. And sometimes the best strategy is not doing more.
14:57
it's getting better at the fundamentals. The other update we talked about was Instagram's new AI powered stories effect. So now there are more than 30 of these effects and I tested one where Instagram basically cloned me. So I put a picture into my story. I tapped the little, they look like three little stars on the corner and I tapped it and then all these AI effects came up. When I clicked on clone, it cloned me into all these different like positions and it was really cool.
15:27
It can make you look like you're underwater. I mean, there's so many different fun effects. That's exactly it. They're fun, they're weird. They're definitely a pattern interrupt. And I can absolutely see myself using something like that during a launch where I want somebody to stop tapping through stories. It's like a visual hook. Like, wait, what is happening here? Why is there like 10 different Elizabeths on the screen doing all these different things? And then now I have the text on the screen that's giving.
15:53
further context as to why I'm doing this, right? But Jerry brought something up during the interview that I completely agree with. Stories have always been one of the rawest, most human places on Instagram. And I don't want AI to take that away. And it's not going to, okay? Like I know I can't predict the future, but I'm pretty solid in this opinion I hold.
16:13
One of the stories I shared recently that got a ton of replies is it was literally me like sitting in a library study room talking about how I was hiding from my children during summer break so I can get some work done. So nothing fancy, no lighting set up. I wasn't trying to sell anything. It was just like that human connection and people responded because they related to it, right? And that's the stuff that builds relationships.
16:37
So if I had to choose between you posting and spending all this time on curating these perfect stories with AI and facts and all these things, or you just doing an off the cuff story where I actually get to know you, I'm definitely choosing that second option all day. Take that and run with it and definitely play with those AI story effects if you want to, if it seems like a fun way for you to kind of interrupt people swiping through those stories, maybe you can capture some attention there and play with that. See how that works for your brand.
17:04
So here's where things got interesting. know, after the interview ended, as I mentioned, Michael and I kept talking. And if you have been following Michael Stelzner, he's been doing this on Facebook, on Instagram, he just started posting on TikTok. He's been doing a lot of these direct to camera videos where he's just, you know, now in 2026, the trending term is yapping videos. But essentially they've been around for a long time and they're just you speaking direct to the camera.
17:32
I flagged it for him that I was so proud of him because I remember when I was on his show last year, he said that wasn't his comfort zone. Like he interviewed the experts and there were certain platforms. Like I remember at that time he was very, you he had grown a huge audience on LinkedIn, but he wasn't comfortable getting himself on camera. And so I was telling him, you know, I'm so proud of you for showing up and being imperfect. And he's doing these direct-to-camera videos where he's talking from his porch.
18:01
every morning and it's just like, there's strategy behind it. It's very off the cuff, low editing, all of these things. So we were talking about his videos, his strategy, and I'm giving him some thoughts, of course, from my Instagram marketing strategy brain. And it was definitely a cool moment of like, wow, I have a colleague here. Like this is, again, like a pinch me moment. Obviously very humbled. And then the tables turned and I started telling him about something I've been struggling with with my own content, which is.
18:31
this, these yapping to rock to camera videos. I want to give you some context. You know, I teach people how to do this, right? I've built two six figure businesses using Instagram. I've grown a combined audience of now more than 160,000 people. Social media examiner literally just invited me to be on their podcast to talk about Instagram. And I still have places where I get in my own way.
18:58
And for me, one of those places has been perfectionism around this direct to camera content. And I'll have something I want to say, but then my brain starts going and how should I structure it and what's the hook? And I'm rambling and I'm going to re-record that or I'm going to say it better. Or honestly, where the perfectionism comes in for me is the post-production. Like I know how to edit. I'll ramble for five minutes, but then I can edit it down to like a cohesive.
19:25
killer 60 minute script. But the problem with that y'all is it takes me time, right? It takes me a lot of time. I use Descript by the way. I can link that tool, Descript, in the show notes. Lena, my podcast manager, I'll make sure she does that for you guys. Descript is a phenomenal tool. You can essentially edit your talking head videos in fraction of its time. It's like a Google doc and you can like delete lines like you would in a Google talk. It's my favorite way to edit my direct to camera videos. But even when I do it with these AI tools,
19:54
It still takes me time and here's why. I get into perfectionism. I spend way too much time on it and it's not scalable. Michael actually called me out. He said, Elizabeth, your background as a professional dancer, I'm curious how that's impacting you. And I said, oh my gosh, Mike, like as a professional dancer, I mean, there are so many times where I would rehearsing a number and the choreographer looked at me and said, Elizabeth.
20:22
If you fall out of that turn one more time, you're getting cut from this number. Or if you gain one pound and this costume doesn't fit you, you're getting fired. And that was my reality as a dancer. I mean, talk about cutthroat. You've got to have your S-H-I-T together, okay? I don't know why I spelled that, but I did. And so he challenged me. I was just sitting there thinking, gosh.
20:48
You are so right, because sometimes you can't see the thing that you're doing while you're inside of it. You need someone standing outside of your business. You can say, hey, I see what's happening here. And that is the part of this experience I haven't been able to stop thinking about, is that you can be an expert and you still need a coach. In fact, I think the more serious you become about your business, the more valuable it becomes to have those
21:15
leaders, those people who can really help you to see outside of the box you're in. know, Michael didn't need to teach me Instagram. That's my expertise, but he helped me to just see it differently. And in 30 minutes, I walked away with something really actionable. I could go immediately implement. He gave me a homework assignment of doing a much more raw direct-to-camera video and sharing this story. And I'm going to do it. I'm planning on posting it next week. So make sure you are following me on Instagram at Elizabeth Marberry, M-A-R.
21:45
B-E-R-R-Y so you can see it, but in 30 minutes I walked away with something really powerful and that is the power of proximity to people who are doing really big things, right? And if I have one regret from my 16 years of entrepreneurship, it's that I wish I had understood the value of coaching and mentorship earlier. When I first started my business in 2010, coaching existed, but it wasn't nearly as prevalent or accessible as it is today. And a lot of those early years, I just figured shit out.
22:14
I built the plane as I flew it. I learned a lot and I'm grateful for my journey and I learned things the slow way. I made mistakes that someone else could have helped me identify in 10 minutes. I spent months trying to solve problems somebody had already solved, you know? And I stayed too close to certain challenges because I didn't have somebody outside of my business helping me see them differently. And so,
22:43
Today, I invest in myself and my business very differently. In the last six years, I've invested over $60,000 in coaches and mentors. And please just know that like, you know, I've built two six-figure businesses. It's still not like a lot of margin for investing in mentorship. I have always figured it out and I've done what it takes to invest in the right mentor because every time I do, I get an ROI.
23:10
You don't have to have that level of money to invest, but I wanted to give you a really clear and honest picture about what that has looked like for me. I once invested $9,000 in a three-month group coaching program. That group coaching program completely changed my business. I once invested over $30,000 in a year-long mastermind. Again, essentially a group mastermind where I had one 30-minute call with the coach every month.
23:35
And that investment is still paying it forward in all the things I learned in that year. I've invested in speaking coaches, business mentors, and rooms that put me in proximity to people operating at the level I wanted to reach. Truly, that's where I get the biggest ROI. It's not because the coach handed me some magical secret, but they helped shorten the distance between where I was and where I wanted to go. So if you're listening to this and you're like, okay, I do want to mentor a coach, but like, how do I pick?
24:05
Find the person who's already done what you want to do, right? That is really my hack. Right now I'm investing in an AI mastermind because that is absolutely where I wanna be pouring into myself so I can help my clients, right? So this distinction matters more than ever right now. We have so much information available to us more than at any point in human history, right? You can Google, you can ask Chad GBT, you can watch YouTube, you can buy a $27 course.
24:34
Information is everywhere and information is incredibly valuable, but information can't always tell you why your content isn't converting. Information can't watch your reel you're about to post and say, hey, your idea is fantastic, but the hook is losing me. Information can't know that you've been hiding from talking about your offer for three weeks because you're afraid of being too salesy or sleazy. know, information, chat.gpd doesn't know that you have a launch coming up in six weeks that the content you're creating today needs to start laying the groundwork.
25:02
for that foundation of that launch and know exactly what's working on Instagram in the coming weeks that you need to focus on, right? Information doesn't notice when you've disappeared or when your dog passed away or you are struggling with your mindset, with your mentality because being an entrepreneur is so difficult, right? That's coaching. That's why you need a mentor. That's having...
25:28
someone who actually knows your name, knows your business and is in your corner. That is the difference between having a coach and mentor. And honestly, that philosophy is at the heart of why I built Hot Reels the way that I did. As I already mentioned, Hot Reels is my 12 month Instagram content lab. I intentionally cap it at 20 businesses and I could absolutely create, you know, a $97 a month membership.
25:56
put 500 people in there, sure. But that is not my jam. I don't want you to just be a username in a Zoom call of 500 people. I wanna know you, I wanna know your business, what you sell, your products and services, what you're launching. I wanna know your audience. I wanna know that you've been working on talking directly to the camera and when you finally post the damn reel, I wanna celebrate with you. I mean, it's that intimacy of...
26:23
support and proximity to the coach and mentor. That's been such a huge game changer in my business and helping me to grow. And that's very similar to how I like to serve and support my clients. If you disappear for a few weeks because, you know, something happened in your personal life, I notice, you know, and I'm building not just, you know, a marketing mentorship here, but it's a community. One of my Hot Reels clients sent me a message yesterday and she said, hey, have you seen Mary Ann? Like she is
26:53
I'm so proud of her. Marianne is also in Hot Reel. She owns a brick and mortar wine and liquor store in Broomfield, Colorado. And she has just been showing up so consistently on Instagram. this week she's celebrating a reel that's going viral at over 220,000 views. It's got her hundreds of followers. And the coolest part is I heard about it from someone else in our community in the Hot Reels messaging me and said,
27:17
Look at Mary Ann, she's doing great, she's blowing up and that is the vibe of this community. Like we support each other, we rise together. That's why I kind of describe it as more of a intimate mastermind than joining this giant content membership or course. I always say it's not a course, is there an on-demand element to it that you can access at any time? Of course, but the magic is in the live coaching. We meet twice a month for coaching.
27:45
Also, you can submit up to two pieces of content every single week and get my eyes and personalized feedback on your content. So that way you're making those, you know, 5 % upgrades every week. I'm also dropping in a fresh done for you like content idea and hook based on what's working right now on Instagram every single week. So your content always feels very fresh and I'm doing that research for you so you don't have to. So you're never in that place of like, what do I post this week? Right?
28:14
of course, I'm also teaching you how to use AI, artificial intelligence, cloud, chat, jbt, throughout your marketing from reverse engineering viral hooks to strengthening your captions, your carousel, audience research, messaging, all the things you can really create not only faster, but more effectively without outsourcing your brain to chat, jbt, right? How do you keep your most authentic self? How do you keep your brand voice? I just wrapped our second Q and a call of the month.
28:43
this morning for Hot Reels and I was teaching them my storytelling framework of how I take just a seemingly normal story in my life and translate that into my marketing strategy. So it drives connections with my ideal clients, right? When we talk about AI, Chaijibte, Claude, it's not about outsourcing your thinking. It's about you are the strategic thought leader and it is your strategic thought partner.
29:10
This coming year in particular, I am really doubling down on really building out my AI skills, frameworks, all those things, and they are all going to be baked into Hot Reels this year. When you're in Hot Reels, you get first access to all those tools. So it is just incredible. You also have access to a private community where I'm active in there Monday through Thursday. And of course, my entire Hot Reels resource library of templates and systems and all the things.
29:38
We get to spend an entire year hanging out and doing this together. You know, don't have to go it alone. And I don't want to help you just feel better on Instagram. I want you to become a better overall social media marketer and business owner and strategic thinker and leader in your own company. I want you to understand how to use Reels or carousels or Instagram stories to reach your ideal people, how to show up.
30:05
on Instagram stories and deeper relationships and also invite people into your paid offers and how all those pieces of strategy work together to drive actual leads and sales into your business. I just wanna quickly highlight who the program is really suited for and who it isn't for because it's not for everybody. If you're like a course junkie and you...
30:29
Love online courses and you just want to like watch a course on demand that you can buy and binge over a weekend and do entirely on your own. There's lots of great options for that, but that's not hot reels. Like I said, it's not a course. And also, I just want to say be mindful when you buy any sort of Instagram course. I'm not saying they're bad or anything, but Instagram is always evolving and changing. And so I would be really mindful that the person, the teacher is really ensuring that that course is staying up to date.
30:58
If you want someone else to create all your content for you, this isn't that either. What I do want to highlight though is that we have owners that come in that do have marketing assistants or virtual assistants or a social media manager and they are welcome to come to our calls. So it's not only I'm training you the owner, but if you do outsource it to someone on your team, they are absolutely welcome to come to the calls and ask me questions and.
31:26
I can mentor them to ensure that you're getting the best ROI out of that investment for you. I'm not a social media manager. I'm not gonna be creating the content for you. But if you are a business owner who knows Instagram is a marketing channel, you wanna get really freaking good at and you wanna understand why something is working instead of blindly copying trends or you want someone who knows your business looking at your content and helping you pivot in real time to really figure out what is gonna work for you.
31:54
And you know that you do well with accountability, you know, so you actually implement instead of listening to more podcast episodes and adding to your never ending to do list and then never getting around to doing it. When you invest in a program like this, you'll be amazed at how things will shift just right out of the gate because you've made a clear decision that you are committing to this. It's not like, oh, I'm dipping my toes. You're like, I want to show up and I want to do this now.
32:22
With that being said, I do wanna highlight one thing, because I get this question a lot is, oh my gosh, Elizabeth, I'm running a business. I have so many moving pieces. Like don't have a lot of time. The whole point of this program is to save you time and buy back your time. I also am a busy business owner. I have two businesses, I have two kids. I have a lot going on in my life. You don't need a ton of time. Do you need to commit? Absolutely. But I say, I would love for you to commit anywhere from five.
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to seven hours a month in this program. And when you do, you will absolutely get those results. So everything is really well designed. So that way, yes, if you miss a coaching call, you get access to the replay. You can listen in on your own time. Dani, who was on the show earlier, who added an additional $100,000 in revenue to her business, she said, Elizabeth, sometimes I couldn't make the calls because I'm homeschooling my three kids, but I would listen to the calls and I would.
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run with what you shared and I still had incredible results. do I want you there live? Yes, but if you can't, know, life happens sometimes, you have access to the replays. If you're listening to this and you're like, okay, say no more, I'm in. The doors are open to Hot Rails right now. You can go to Elizabethmarberry.com slash hot. That's Elizabethmarberry, M-A-R-B-E-R-R-Y.com slash hot.
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and you will see full program details and the link to sign up. We do a payment plan or a pay in full savings. You can also direct message me on Instagram. Make sure you're already following me at Elizabeth Marbury and you can DM me the keyword hot. My robot assistant will send you over that link and if you have any questions, you can send me a voice memo on Instagram. We can go back and forth in the DMs. I'm happy to answer any questions you have. I want to make sure it's a really great fit for you.
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As of the date I'm recording this episode, I'm always hesitant to share specific numbers because these things evolve. But as of the date I'm recording this episode in August of 2026, Hot Reels is only $444 a month for 12 months, or I have a pay in full savings. This is truly the final time I'm opening up the doors to Hot Reels at this price. The investment is going up because
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Honestly, when I look at the level of access coaching value inside of this program, I know what this kind of proximity costs in the coaching world. And like I mentioned, I personally paid $9,000 for a three month group coaching program. So I'm not telling you that because I think you should spend $30,000 on coaching or anything like that. But I'm telling you because I want you to understand how I think about investments in my own business.
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And I don't ask myself, like, is the cheapest way I can solve this problem? I say, what would happen in my life and business if solving this problem was possible? And I think that's an important distinction because if you're looking at Hot Rails and you're thinking, okay, $444 a month feels like a lot, I completely hear you. I don't want you to go into debt or anything like that. That's not what I'm saying. You know, $4,000 to $5,000 investment in your business is an investment, okay? I'm not going to pretend like it's not.
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And of course, I want you to take your investment seriously. But I also want to ask you, what is another year of guessing going to cost you? What is another year of inconsistent marketing costing you in the bottom line of your business? And what does one new client mean to your business? Or what would two new clients mean? Or if you are a product-based business, like...
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really looking at the highest producers of your product. If you sold a higher volume of that, what would happen to you if you became significantly better at attracting those ideal clients or customers over the next 12 months? And what could happen if instead of spending another year consuming Instagram tips and binging free YouTube videos and podcasts, you actually just put on your blinders and spend a year actually mastering this skill?
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that is social media marketing, right? That isn't just Instagram, but that these skills that you learn will pay it forward in dividends on all the platforms you show up. And that's the ROI I'm interested in. And so it's not that you're just investing, you know, $444 a month to make a prettier reel. You're investing in becoming a better marketer. And that skill goes with you long after our 12 months together are over.
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So if you're curious about the program, make sure you head over to elizabethmarberry.com slash hot for the most up-to-date program info. And if you're listening to this episode and it is when the doors are closed, don't worry on that page, we always keep it up to date. If the doors are closed, you can join my VIP wait list there. I hope you got something out of today's episode and I hope that you are walking away remembering that even when you're the expert, there's so much for us to learn.
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if we are open to really receiving that coaching and being challenged by our peers and our colleagues and our mentors. And that's the kind of entrepreneur I want to be. Those are the kind of entrepreneurs and small business owners I love working with. And you, my beloved listener, are special because if you've made it this far, you're my people. And so thank you so much for being here. If you got some value out of today's episode, do me a solid, share it with another business bestie or colleague who's trying to figure out the beast that is Instagram.
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and I can't wait to strut it with you next week. Thank you for listening to Strut It. If you're ready to start leveraging Instagram to grow your business, then you're gonna wanna grab my free Monetize Your IG Guide, where you'll learn seven simple and proven ways to finally make money on Instagram. You can grab your guide at elizabethmarberry.com slash freebies. That's elizabethmarberry.com.
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to get my monetize your IG guide. If you got some incredible value from today's episode, be sure to leave a review and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. And I cannot wait to start it with you again next week.
