The Creative Bodega | Content Marketing and Instagram Growth for Solopreneurs

40: The 4-Post Strategy That Grows Your Audience AND Converts (For Solopreneurs)

• Emily Connors • Episode 40

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Posting and wondering "Is this even doing anything? Is anyone even seeing this? Am I getting any results?" If you've been feeling like your content is just... existing without actually working for your business, this episode is exactly what you need.

I'm sharing the simple 4-bucket system I use to make sure every single post I create has a job to do. No more posting just for the hell of it! You'll learn the exact rhythm I rotate through every week so your content grows your audience, builds your email list, deepens trust, and actually converts - instead of just training one arm at the content gym and wondering why nothing else is working.

Check out the full show notes for this episode.

Things I cover inside this episode:

  • The 4 buckets of post types that every successful content strategy needs (and why most creators only use one)
  • My exact weekly rhythm using real examples from my strategy pillar - so you can copy and paste this approach
  • Why 6,825 people have downloaded my freebie (hint: it's not because I mentioned it once in my bio)
  • The gym analogy that will change how you think about balanced content forever
  • A sample 5-day posting schedule you can implement immediately
  • Why educational posts alone won't convert, and sales posts alone won't reach new people

Resources & Links mentioned in the episode:

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You need posts that reach people. You need posts that bring those people onto your list. You need posts that build trust and move them emotionally and posts that directly invite them to take that next step. It's like training just your right arm at the gym and wondering why your back hurts. We need a full plan. Okay? We need a full content plan that is purposeful and meaningful, and there's a lot of strategy behind it. Welcome to the Creative Bodega, a podcast about content marketing, Instagram growth, and personal branding for female service-based solopreneurs who wanna grow their business without letting it take over their lives. I'm your host, EM Connors, and each week I'll share actionable tips, expert advice, and unfiltered truths to help you create engaging content, connect authentically with your audience, and turn followers into loyal customers, all without the burnout. If you're ready to simplify your content creation, navigate the ever changing trends and build a business that works for you while staying sane in this crazy season of life, then you're in the right place. Today I am sharing a simple rhythm that keeps my content varied, strategic, and most importantly, effective. If you've been posting and feeling like. Is this even doing anything? Is anyone even seeing this? Am I getting any results from this? This episode is for you. It's gonna be a little bit of a short episode, but it's very meaty. Okay? We're talking about the four buckets of post types. I rotate through every single week so that every post I make has a job to do. No more posting just for the hell of it. And yes, we're gonna run through one pillar strategy, so it's super tangible, and then you can copy and paste the rhythm across any of your other pillars. Okay, so let's get into it. I see this all the time. Creators who only make one type of post. It's either they're constantly educating, educating, teaching, teaching, teaching. Here are the five tips. Here's. You know, this roundup is on repeat or it's sell, sell, sell, sell. The doors are open, buy this, buy that, and roll now on a loop, or it's, hi, I'm, I'm inspiring you, I'm inspiring you. I'm, I'm sharing in inspirational quotes over and over. Okay. And then they're confused on why their growth stalls or they're not getting any results, or their email list isn't growing, or their dms are super quiet and their posts are just underperforming left and right. Something's off and my friend, it is not the algorithm, it is that the content goals that you have. Are either just not showing up at all or they're not balanced. Okay. Meaning you don't have a goal when you're posting. You're just like, let me get a post out. But like, what is the job that post is doing? Because I'm not here just for fun. My posts, every single one of them does a job for me. I have a goal. I'm inviting you into my world further beyond that post in some way. But when you do just one type of post, you're missing everything else. Your business. Needs your content to do. You need posts that reach people. You need posts that bring those people onto your list. You need posts that build trust and move them emotionally and posts that directly invite them to take that next step. It's like training just your right arm at the gym and wondering why your back hurts. We need a full plan, okay? We need a full content plan that is purposeful and meaningful, and there's a lot of strategy behind it. Okay? So here's the fix that I use and teach inside the messaging. Edit four buckets, four posting goals. You're gonna rotate through them with your pillars. So every post. Is doing its job, the four buckets. Let's do a quick tour before we do a little bit of a deep dive into each. Think of these as jobs that your content needs to do regularly. Audience growth. Get in front of new eyeballs, get in front of new people, audience growth list growth, capture the warm people by offering a value packed freebie or a low friction opt-in that gets them on that email list. I say it all the time. My number one goal is to get people off of Instagram and onto my email list. That's all I wanna do. The third type. Awareness and trust. So these are the human sticky, credibility, building stories and opinions that make people feel something. Okay. And then there's conversion. There's conversion, clean, direct invitations with proof that move the right people into the next step. So your offer, your dms, your checkout, your podcast episode, whatever makes sense. For that day, that week, that month. Okay. You can absolutely add on a fifth option of authority. Okay, so again, we had audience growth, list growth, trust, and awareness and conversion. You can add on authority, especially if you have a podcast or a YouTube channel, a media feature or an advanced tutorial that's gonna sharpen your expertise around the subject that you're talking about. But for today, think of authority as optional. Okay? If you're promoting a specific podcast episode, that can easily sit under conversion because you're converting them to podcast listeners, but I just wanted to throw that in there. Cool. Cool. Okay. Pillars are themes that you talk about on repeat. Every pillar that you talk about, which you should have, three, four Maxs. Is a subject matter that you wanna be known for that relates back to your offers. Okay? So for me, that includes strategy, Canva, design systems. Content creation. Okay. And for today, I could actually add in there like anti perfectionism. Okay. Like that's one I could, and I do talk about a decent amount. So for today, I'm gonna pick strategy, content, strategy as the single pillar. I'm gonna run it through each of those four buckets so you can see exactly how this works. Next week. You can rotate the same four buckets through each pillar, say design systems. Keep that rhythm going. That way you're never posting the same kind of posts back to back, and you're covering all the bases your business needs. Or you could rotate through your pillars, right? Day one, you're talking about pillar one, day two, pillar two, day three, pillar three, day four, maybe a mix of pillar two and three. Day five back. The pillar one. You can rotate through your pillars according to what your offer is at the moment, or what you're trying to do, or what you're trying to grow, or what you're trying to get people into, but. It's up to you. You could stick with one pillar per week of the month and just dive into those four types of pieces of content. Or you can rotate through your pillars. I'm gonna rotate through my pillars kind of girl, because I just don't like talking about the same thing all week long. I get a little bored. So the strategy pillar four ways. So the with examples, okay, so. Audience growth. Remember that first one? The first post goal audience growth through strategy. Strategy is my content pillar. The job is to reach new people who haven't met me yet. Okay. The vibe, fast, fun, frictionless. Okay, so the value that's stackable, snackable, and easy to share examples. Trend or a myth busting reel. So three strategy myths. Keeping you stuck at zero sales with quick cuts and onscreen text and me maybe talking to the screen or it's a trending reel type thing with text on the screen. That's gonna work really well to grow your audience.'cause any trend is gonna get in front of more people versus. Something you're doing that's not a trend, A shareable carousel. So a five sentence content strategy, right? Slide one is the hook. Slides two through five are the five sentence content strategies. Slide six is the wrap up with the call to action. Okay. Comment this word to download this comment, this word to listen to this podcast episode. That's gonna do a much deeper dive into this. Something like that, or it's a graphic checklist, so maybe it's a weekly content planning checklist that takes 10 minutes. And it's a graphic and it's very saveable, and anything that's like a list like that for me blows it out of the water, gets so many saves and really helps to get me in front of new people. The key tip here is to not over teach. Okay? You're not trying to teach us everything you know, in a carousel or everything, you know, it's. It's bite sized. It's, it's not overwhelming at all. You're opening that front door, you're making it light and very grabby. So think, scroll, stopping visuals, bold hooks and very clear takeaways. Very clear value if they stick around and consume what you've created. Uh, number two, goal, post goal type of post list growth. Okay, again. The job is to move curious followers onto your email list with something valuable and specific. The vibe is very clear, repeatable, and obvious, and it should feel painfully clear what to do next. Okay, so examples. Uh, promoting your freebie through a real or a carousel or even just a static graphic comment strategy. And I'll send you my 10 minute blah, blah, blah, right? Or a story sequence in your stories. This works really well for me. Uh, maybe it's a poll. Do you want my new weekly content planner? Then it's a link sticker, and then there's a reminder story like, did you miss this? You know, go grab it. Okay. A static post, which is just like a graphic or whatever, with a very bold call to action, what to post this week. Free planner, if you comment. Planner. Right? So the proof that the repetition works, my freebie called 60 Post Real Caption Starter ideas has 6,825 opt-ins. Okay? Not just from posting about it regularly. People do not know what's hiding in your Lincoln bio unless you're making it painfully obvious. And repeating it over and over and over. You are a broken record, but I still get downloads from people when I post about this on my feed who have followed me for years and when I see their name or their handle pop up and they're commenting the keyword 60 posts. I am like, how in the world does this woman not have this freebie yet? It's been around forever. She's been following me forever. How does she not have it? But hey, repetition's not annoying when there's a value included in it. Okay. Again, this is one of the biggest mistakes I people see, oh, my email list is not growing, and I go to your feed and I'm like, where do you talk about your freebie? Like where's that included? Oh, it's at the bottom of this caption. The caption's, 7,000 words long and yeah, like they didn't, and it's in a real, it's a real caption, which makes it even worse. Like I think people read captions more so on, like static graphics or carousels reels, eh, it's not a big reading area for most people, and if you're burying it at the bottom of a long ass caption, they're likely not getting to it. Okay. All right, let's move on. Type number three, awareness and trust. Okay, so the job of an awareness and trust post is to deepen the relationship and deepen your credibility. Okay? The vibe is honest. Specific and sticky. Okay, so you're gonna share a belief, you're gonna share a stance that you take on something that's called thought leadership or you're gonna share behind the scenes that makes them say, ah. Interesting. I, I like her. I trust her. I do that too. I'm interested in that. Right. Examples a sticky story, right? I would talk about how when I first started my business, my first business with my husband, our CrossFit gym, I didn't know what the hell I was doing on Instagram. I would lay up at nights crying in bed, hormonal.'cause I had a three month old and a 17 month old. I didn't know what the hell to post. Frustrated. I didn't wanna be, it all felt too hard and overwhelming. Okay. So I would talk about that, and then I'd say then that's how I got here. I did a lot of research. I figured it out myself. I developed a system that works and hey, here's how I can help you grab this. Okay? And here's the link. Maybe it's just a personal stance post you share a simple photo of yourself. Doesn't have to be professionally. Brand photos. Actually, the more authentic these days, the better. And maybe it's why post daily is lazy advice. And here's what I would do instead. Like something like that. Here's why posting daily is lazy. People are gonna be like. Huh? Like, what is she talking about? What does she do instead? You know what I mean? And they're gonna scroll, or they're gonna listen and they're gonna keep watching. If it's a real, or maybe it's a mini case study, like we stopped posting tips for seven days and did this instead. Here's what happened. Okay? It's so intriguing, and people are gonna wanna know what you're talking about. So you're gonna name the tension, you're gonna show your process, and you're gonna drop one metric or proof or testimonial if you have it. And the goal is not virality here, it's not gonna do as well as any type of viral real does. But it's warmth, right? And it's get to know me, get to know where I stand in this and revere me as an expert in my category. The last one's conversion. Okay? The job is to invite the right people into the next step right now. So the vibe is clean, specific. It's easy. It's a proof. Post and an invitation. So examples, a wait list invitation. If you're done guessing your content plan, get on the messaging, edit, wait list for the next round in 2026. Here's why. It helps. Clear messaging, goal aligned content, and simple weekly execution. Okay, I'm just like, join this wait list. I'm being very clear, very specific. Maybe it's a carousel. Right. And the wait list is the goal, is the messaging edit, right? For beginners? What if I'm short on time? What changes between each cohort? Here's how it works and why you wanna get on the wait list for the next round. Okay. Or maybe it's just a straight up testimonial style post about. A screenshot with a one liner, like, join the 2026 wait list. Link in the stories, or it's a story, a whole series where you're going through some of the results and some of the words that your people that already went through it said, and then you're like, you've gotta get on this wait list for next year. Be excited about it. Don't be dry, be excited, smile, be energized. People are gonna pick up on that. But the conversion one is so important. And I feel like a lot of people miss this, where you're just straight up asking, you're, you're asking for something, you're inviting us to take that next step. So where does the podcast promotion go? If you have a podcast or if you have a YouTube channel, if you're promoting a specific episode, you're just gonna say, new episode. How to build a weekly strategy in 10 minutes. That's a conversion post. You're inviting them to go and listen. And if it's more of an educational authority type clip, you're gonna slide that under that awareness authority category. You just use whatever label helps you plan the week without overthinking it. Okay? You know, I'm all about simplifying things. So a sample five day rhythm. Again, I'm using my strategy pillar over and over here, but a simple five day rhythm using those post goals Monday growth. Okay, I want to grow my audience. The real three strategy myths. Keeping you stuck. Okay? It's a bold hook. There's text on the screen, and I'm gonna end with save this for when you plan your next week of content. Okay. That's growth. I'm, I'm gonna use a trending sound or a trending reel that I'm seeing to use that to grow my audience. Tuesday, maybe we're just focusing on our list growth. Okay. It's a carousel, my 10 minute weekly content planner. Free slide one, steal my 10 minute plan. Slide two through four. It's an overview of the plan. Last slide, comment strategy, or check my link in my stories to grab this. Wednesday Awareness and trust. Okay, we are gonna post a picture of ourselves. Very simple. We're gonna tell a story with some sticky details that relate back to your business, whether it's your transformation story, your how you got started story, something like that. Okay? And then you can share that to your stories or do the same darn thing in your stories. It's just gonna get people to know, like, and trust you so much faster. Okay? Sticky details. Humanize yourself, make yourself relatable. Awareness, trust with your current audience. These are not gonna blow it outta the water, but they're gonna nurture the audience you already have there. Thursday conversion, I'm straight up asking you to convert. I want you to join my wait list. I want you to download my freebie. I want you to purchase a low priced. Product of mine. Okay, I'm gonna say something like, comment, edit. To get on this wait list, comment 60 posts to download this freebie. Here's what's gonna happen when you do that. Okay? And it's, I'm just converting, I'm being very clear because when somebody lands on your feed and they see a graphic that says free. 60 post prompt and real ideas. Like they're gonna go right to it and they're gonna be like, Ooh, like I want this. You know what I mean? And then Friday could be your optional authority post, right? Maybe it's a podcast promo. Maybe it's a educational heavy post where you're really sharing like a lot of information in a carousel. Um, maybe again, you're promoting your podcast. Through a carousel type situation, but it's you're building your authority and your expertise and you're gonna swap in those educational tips that are gonna sharpen your authority. That's a full week where every post has a job to do. You're not just posting for the heck of it with no call to action or with no goal in mind. That is the biggest mistake I'm seeing female entrepreneurs do. Their posts are full of pluff. Fluff. Their posts are full of fluff, okay? And they're not doing a job. So the next week you repeat those same four buckets, conversion awareness and trust list growth, and. Audience growth with an optional authority one if you want and you use a new pillar, or you're just running through all of your pillars all throughout one week, that's totally up to you. Why does this rhythm work? Okay? You stop gambling with your energy. Each post serves a distinct. Business goal. Okay. I'm not showing up on Instagram for the hell of it. And just for fun. I have a job to do. I have a family to support. I need these posts to do their jobs. You are balancing your content. Right. Growth fills the top. The list captures the warm interest. The awareness is going to warm them up further, and conversion is gonna invite that action. That is gold. You guys. It's so good. And then you're gonna break the tip. Account ceiling. Okay. Educational posts alone are not gonna convert. Sale posts alone are not gonna reach new audiences. Awareness and trust type content, but without an invitation, people are gonna remain passive fans forever. You need all four, and if you don't have all four, you need to sit down and rework your content. Write this second. Okay, and I'll repeat the proof because it matters. 6,825 humans have opted into a single freebie of mine because I promoted it clearly and consistently in my feed. Not once a quarter, not in a PS buried at the bottom of a billion word long caption, and not whenever I remember. This is part of my strategy. It's regularly showing up, and if you only do. Growth posts, you'll be popular with no list. Okay? And if you're only doing awareness posts, you'll be respected but unknown to the larger audience. And if you only do conversion posts, you're gonna be tuned out. Okay. And that's why a balance of all four of these are just gonna work so beautifully. So if you've heard of my program, I've mentioned it a whole bunch of the last few weeks, the messaging edit. We go through a magnet method in five weeks inside of that program, and here is how it snaps it all into place Quickly. M week number one is all about message clarity. It's one job per post. You can literally write it. At the top of your post draft job equals growth. Okay? Uh, week number two is a attract through specificity. So hooks like three strategy myths are gonna beat some thoughts on strategy, right? So we're getting really specific with our words. G is goal aligned content, the bucket is the goal, and we don't drift away from it. The content bucket. Okay. N is nailing your offer language. This is for conversion. We're using precise outcomes and benefits and getting really clear with our words behind it to keep it really actionable, but also keep it really human and like we don't allow people to tune us out. Basically, e and t are combined into the last week. That's engagement energy, that's using natural calls to action. To get people to take action and test and tweak t and that is figuring out what's moving the needle, figuring out which bucket is working really well in your content and which you need to focus on. Same with your goals. We're keeping what's working and we're getting rid of what's not so. You write the ugly drafts first. That anti perfectionism is not just a vibe, it's how you actually show up consistently. Okay, so the last thing I wanna talk about is what if you're launching right? A lot of people say, well, how does this posting schedule? Or, you know, the, how do these buckets work if I'm launching something? So you still have four bucket. I'm just gonna turn them towards my launch. Okay. So I'm still trying to grow my audience. I'm still doing list growth, awareness and trust is showing up. Conversions definitely showing up, but maybe I'm leaning a little heavier on the conversion, or I'm making sure there's some type of conversion verbiage in captions or at the end of the real. Or at the end of a carousel, something like that. Okay. So again, I'm doing all four still. I'm just leaning more on conversion. Or maybe I'm adding an extra post per day that's just straight up converting and they're not gonna perform well. I'm not gonna lie, but that's okay. All right. So your five minute action plan, and I want you to do this right after this episode. I want you to pick, uh, one pillar for the week. Let's just keep it simple. Pick one of your pillars. Okay. You're gonna schedule the week. Monday's gonna be your audience growth type. Post Tuesday's gonna be your list building. Post Wednesday, you're gonna come up with something. Awareness Thursday's gonna be conversion. Okay? And then you're gonna have that optional Friday for authority, and then you're gonna repeat. Okay. And if you wanna go a little extra, set a tiny metric goal for the week. Like I want 25 comments. Okay. Or I want 30 new email subscribers, or I want 15 new people on my wait list. All right? Numbers are gonna keep you honest and it's also gonna keep you a little fun, right? So this is where I'm gonna give you permission to be delightfully average in your execution when you're starting this. Okay. You don't need some like special editing tools or anything. You just need a clear job for each post to get things done. You need a repeatable, weekly rhythm that's gonna make things feel light and easy, and you need the willingness to say the same valuable things over and over and over in fresh ways. Okay, so done is always going to be. Perfect. That is your content rhythm, the four buckets, audience growth, list growth, awareness, and trust and conversion. You're gonna run through these pillars each week. Each week, and you're gonna rotate. Okay? If this episode helps you, I would love for you to share it with a solo open or friend who's maybe stuck on the content hamster wheel. And if you want clarity plus a plan that's actually gonna convert. I would join the wait list for the messaging edit. The next round will be in 2026. It'll be epic. I am so freaking thrilled with the results that 20 women are getting on the inside. Ooh, gives me chills. Okay, go put your post to work. I will see you next week. Thanks so much for hanging out with me on the Creative Bodega Podcast. If you love this episode, please be sure to share it with a fellow solopreneur. Who could use a little content creation inspiration. And hey, don't forget to check out the show notes for any resources I mentioned on the episode to help you create content that feels easy and actually gets you results. If you want even more Canva and content tips, head over to my website, the creative bodega.com, or find me on Instagram under the same name. Until next time, keep creating, keep showing up, and most importantly, try and have a little fun with your content. I'll see you on the next episode.