57: 6 Bio Mistakes That Quietly Cost You Instagram Followers (And Sales)

Is your Instagram worth a follow? That's the question I want you to ask yourself today—and I know it might sting a little. But here's the thing: if a stranger clicks on your profile right now, do they immediately think "Oh, this is for me"? Or are they clicking away in three seconds flat? In this episode of The Creative Bodega, I'm walking you through the six bio mistakes that are quietly costing you followers, clicks, and sales—plus exactly how to fix them. Think of your Instagram profile like a storefront window on a busy street. People aren't stopping because they're nice—they stop because something made them feel seen. Let's make your profile an easy yes.

Check out the full show notes for this episode, CLICK HERE.

Things I cover inside this episode:

• The 5-second storefront test—what people are actually scanning when they land on your profile (and why highlights don't matter as much as you think)
• The six bio mistakes that make people scroll past—from vague language to missing CTAs to trying to sound too impressive
• How to write a bio that instantly says "this is for me" using the simple formula I teach inside The Content Coven
• Why your grid matters just as much as your bio—and how to make it scannable, trustworthy, and easy to consume in seconds
• The quick yes profile checklist you can use today to audit your own Instagram and stop leaking potential followers

Resources & Links mentioned in the episode:

• My 5-Day Social Refresh Challenge—the free resource I mention in my bio that helps you build repeatable posting systems without the overwhelm

Connect with me:
🫶🏼 Follow me on Instagram for daily insights
🫶🏼 Join my 321 Create Newsletter for weekly content tips 
🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership

Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode! 

Transcript

Emily Connors: 0:00

I want you to think of your Instagram, like a storefront on a really busy street. People are walking fast. They're not stopping because they're nice. They stop because the window made them feel something. Your profile on Instagram is the storefront window, and your job is to make it an easy yes, Alright, my friend, I have a question that might sting just a little, but in a helpful way, I hope. Is your Instagram worth a follow? That's a really legit question that I think a lot of people need to ask themselves and be really honest, not are you good at what you do not, you know, do you post sometimes? What I'm asking is, if a stranger clicks on your profile, your Instagram page today, do they immediately think. Oh, this is, this is for me. You know, like, I gotta follow this person, right? Because here's what's happening behind the scenes on Instagram. Someone sees a post of yours in some way. It shows up on their explore, it shows up in their feed, it shows up in stories because somebody shared it that they already follow and they get curious. They click on your profile and then you have about three to five seconds to convince them that your account is worth their time. And in those three to five seconds, they are scanning three things. Your bio, your highlights. And the first chunk of your grid, the first, you know, call it three to six lines of your grid. Now rumor has it highlights are going away, so I'm not gonna focus a ton on those. I'm personally not a highlight consumer. I personally don't keep mine updated. They're there just for the pretty colors I get to put in that little circle. So I'm not really sure what's going on with highlights, but I have heard the rumor that they are going to be phased out by Instagram, so we're not gonna worry about that. Today we are gonna do a full worth of follow audit, right? Is your account worth a follow? and I'm gonna show you the six bio mistakes that quietly cost you followers, clicks, sales, you name it, plus how you can connect that first impression storefront moment. Okay. By the end, you'll know exactly what to tweak so that your profile literally stops leaking people. Okay. so that five second storefront test, and again, storefront. This is, I say this all the time. Your bio, your profile, your grid is your storefront. It is your first impression. It is like someone is on the street walking past your store, looking in the windows and deciding if they want to come inside. I joke that when they come inside, they're a follower, and then if you get them to try something on. In the fitting room. That's them coming into your stories. That's even that next step in your relationship. But for now, I want you to think of your Instagram, like a storefront on a really busy street. People are walking fast. They're not stopping because they're nice. They stop because the window made them feel something. Clarity or curiosity or confidence or just that like, wait, this is exactly what I need kind of moment. Your profile on Instagram is the storefront window, and your job is to make it an easy yes, and it's. Easier than you think to do that, but oh my God, how many really bad Instagram bios I have seen in my five years of doing this? Like it's abundant and I get it. Words are hard and it's a very small space and you gotta, you know, you gotta be clear. So that's what, that's what we're gonna do today. Don't worry. Take a deep breath. So while you're listening, I want you to literally like pull up your Instagram profile. Yes, like literally now, and look at it like you've never seen it before. And this is what we do inside the coven. Actually, when people want me to audit their bios, I have a specific call where that's all we do. So they submit their profiles and I have them all up in a million tabs in on my window, on my screen, and we go one by one by one. And I actually will say to everyone, I'll pull it up and I'll say, do you guys know what she does? And people, you know, that's actually a very comfortable community. And people unmute and be like, Hmm, I don't, right? And so you really need to be able to look at it with that fresh perspective. And if you can't, if you're so close to it, you know, and you're in my membership, ask us to look at it. Or if you have a friend who also is in this world, ask them to look at it and tell you the God's honest truth. Right? Don't sugarcoat it. So going back to wanting you to act like you've never seen it before, I want you to ask yourself, do I instantly get who this is for? Do I instantly get what this person helps with? Do I feel pulled to follow or to click? And if not, it's usually because one of these mistakes, mistake number one. Your bio doesn't say who you help, and I'm telling you, I see this so often. If your bio could apply to literally anyone, it's not doing its job stuff. Like, just like those generic, like helping women glow up, you know, empowering you daily or lifestyle and business and mindset, like just these like generic words that. Don't really mean much to the average. It's just not clear. It's not clear. It's a vibe. It's it's a vibe. I get that. But it is not a decision maker because your dream client needs to land and go, oh, that's me. Like I'm in the right place. And none of those three that I just said are clear enough. That would make me say. Oh, that's me, right? Like helping women glow up. Oh, that's me. Like, no, that's not me empowering me daily. How, what? Like what empowering me to do. What about lifestyle and business and mindset, huh? Like, these are just like three things, but how is that making me feel that like I'm in the right place kind of vibe? Right? So if you help service-based solopreneurs. Say that if you help wedding photographers say that, if you help hairstylists say that, right, so fix it. With this, I help insert the specific person with, insert the specific thing. Example. I help service-based solopreneurs post with purpose. That is in my bio. That one sentence can change your follow rate literally overnight because you stop making people guess what the heck it is that you do. Mistake number two, you list what you do, not what they get from following you or working with you. So this is where I see bios turn into full on resumes. Right. Coach, strategist, designer, uh, you know, whatever. And I get it. You're trying to show that you do a lot, but your audience is thinking, okay, but what will change for me if I follow this person? People don't buy services, they buy outcomes. People don't buy monikers, I have a lot of women like listing these letters, you know, I don't know what that means. You know, if your ideal client knows what those letters mean after your name, great. But the average person, if that's not who your ideal client is, they have no clue. I'm, I'm so sorry. So you can put it in your name, name, like, you know, where you list out your name and your title after it, but it really shouldn't be in your bio. So instead of job titles, I want you to lead with the results, right? So examples, simple systems for consistent posting or content that's gonna turn your followers into paying clients, Or scroll, stopping Canva designs without the stress. So obviously those are all ones that I could use, but that fix is a simple swap of what I do to instead what you get because it's all about them. Everyone is reading your profile, your bio, wondering how is this gonna help me? It's not about you. It shouldn't be about you, you know? So a really clear formula, like I help you go from the pain to the result. Mistake number three, your bio is about you and I just said this. It's about you and not them. Like, I just wanna lovingly call this out. if the first line in your bio is something like, boy, mom, you know, lattes Jesus and travel, like, that's cute. But that should be on your personal bio for your personal Instagram page, where only your friends and family follow you. And you should absolutely share your personality. I'm not saying you shouldn't, but the bio is not where you lead with you. Okay. In that five second, three to five second scan, strangers are not looking for your fun facts, okay? They're looking for relevance, and your personality belongs in your content and your stories. So the quick fix, keep one personality line max if you want it, but make sure that first line is super ideal. Client focused and makes somebody feel. Seen mistake number four. There's no clear next step. And man, this is one I see all the time too. If your bio doesn't tell people what to do next, you're basically saying, thanks for visiting. You know, good luck figuring it out. Your bio needs a clear direction, right? And so at the very last line, I recommend you say. Grab my free this. Even if you have multiple free resources, name one name, your most popular one, something specific is gonna go so much further than just like, grab the freebies, right? Or grab my free training on what? What is the freebie? If you're not specific, it's really not gonna make me wanna click around. So instead, you know. Grab my free five day social refresh guide. That's what mine says. Or start here to do something again, very specific. It's even better when it matches your current goal. So that last line, that last call to action in your bio can be updated pretty frequently according to what the heck is going on in your business right there. So that quick fix one goal, what is your goal? And then make sure your call to action matches that goal. And that one link is incredibly easy to find. Don't even get me started on when I go to someone's link in bio and they're 75. Options to go to talk about overwhelming. I abort the mission as fast as possible. I need like five links max. And that one thing that you told me that you would give me in your bio in that last line, that call to action better be at the top. Don't make me go hunting'cause I will not. I will leave as fast as possible. Mistake number five. your link is a dead end. So if your link goes to a homepage with so many options or an outdated link that doesn't even work anymore or a coming soon, or a place where people have to hunt it down, you are losing people left and right who were fully ready now to hang out with you and take their relationship to the next level by hopefully getting on your email list, your link. Should feel like a ramp, not a full on maze. So the quick fix, your first button should be the most obvious next step, right? So mine says, start here, five day free refresh challenge, something like that. Right. And if you use a link hub, keep it tight. Three to five options, not 15. I know it's hard, but water that baby down. Mistake number six, trying to sound impressive instead of understood. inside of the visual edit, which is going on right now, we are working on just like a, you know, something like about the brand, right? Something as simple as that. Like give me a couple sentences about your brand. I just read one that was so complicated and the words were so big and and insider languagey that I actually still have no idea what this person does. And those words quietly create distance. Bios loaded with like buzzwords that sound fancy. They are not gonna land. If your client says to you, I don't know what to post, and by the way, your best sound bites, your best copy will come from your clients. You don't even have to work that hard, but your bio says cuing work, like, huh? Those are six big words, and they get jumbled in my mouth. And what your ideal client says to you is, I don't know what to post. It takes too long. I'm completely overwhelmed. Right. Okay. Then they will say, this is not for me. If you have all those big, crazy words and if you just have, don't know what to post, this is your first step, right? Or I can help with that. Or let me make posting fun and easy again, clarity's gonna build that trust so much faster than fancy language. I'm telling you. Drop it the quick fix. Use the words your clients already use. I need a simple posting system. I need to figure out post ideas that actually make sense or content that helps me sell is what I'm looking for. These are things my clients have said to me, and that is what I'm gonna use. I'm not gonna reinvent the wheel. So let's connect those six mistakes. To this, are you worth a follow concept? And that is on the bio side, right? Here's the other half of that five second test. The grid. The grid, those first six seven lines where people are quickly scrolling down because if you're bio strong, if your grid looks chaotic or hard to consume or the value is not clear, people are still gonna hesitate. And this is what I do. I go, I do a three second audit on the bio. I'm telling you I'm on the shorter side. I'm gonna say three seconds, not six. And then I scroll past the highlights'cause I don't really consume highlights. And I look at the first few lines of your grid. Is it easy to understand? Are they talking about something consistently? Do I trust that following them is gonna help me in some way? And this is why. I care about Canva and design so much because, well, not because we're trying to be perfect, but because design is communication you guys, and as much as you wanna say, oh, like the perfect grid doesn't matter anymore, you know? Yeah. There's some truth to that. And I'm not saying anybody needs a perfect grid at all. But if your covers are hard to read, if the headlines aren't clear, if your fonts are tiny, if your colors are all over the place, if there is no vibe or no feel. It's gonna create friction and it's gonna be really hard to gain that trust. It's just, that's just it. And friction's gonna kill. It's gonna kill the follows. So here's what I want instead. I want simple scannable text that's consistent. I want repeatable post types. So that your grid makes sense. I want clear headlines that make me say, oh, this is for me, and I want consistency in topics, right? Not just your colors, because the goal isn't to look like a magazine at all, but your goal is to look like the solution. Okay? The solution to someone's problem. So the quick and easy yes. Profile checklist. Alright, let's wrap this up with a quick checklist that you can use today. Open your profile and ask, do I say who I help? Do I say what results I help them get? Is there a clear next step? So I'm going to be the Guinea pig in this. I looked at my profile before recording this episode and really made sure that what I was teaching you is what I do, right? And how I'm, structuring my bio and I wanna, you know, walk the walk. So mine says, before you can sell, you need to be seen repeatable posting systems. For service-based solopreneurs free five day social refresh challenge with an arrow pointing down. And then when you click on my bio, or the link in my bio, the very first thing you see is five day social refresh challenge. No one is hunting for that. It is clear as day. So Let's see. Do I say who I help? I sure do. I say service-based solopreneurs. Do I say what results I'm gonna help them get? Yep. I say that repeatable posting systems are essentially what I'm gonna teach you to do. I show my personality a bit by saying, before you can sell, you need to be seen. Right. Like, ooh, that's like a little truth bomb there. Right? And then I've got that call to action at the end free in all capital's. Five day social refresh challenge. You guys. I have so many more freebies. I have so many freebies, but that's the one I'm pushing right now. The grid. Can someone tell what I'm talking about in three seconds? Mm, they can. I've got my three posts pinned across the top. This is also very underlooked by a lot of female solopreneurs I work with. I've got my five day social refresh challenge pinned post. I've got one of my highest comments on. Can the carousels I've ever made and it gets people on my email list and then I have a post with my picture saying You weren't meant to do it alone. And it's essentially promoting my services and my membership, the content coven, which is the main thing I want people to do is to join that. Is it easy to read and visually calm enough to sort of like scroll through quickly? It is. I've got headlines. They're in clear, bold fonts. Nothing is in like some weird scripty font or anything like that. So If you said no to any of these, you don't need a whole rebrand, I promise you. You just need a few strategic tweaks and this whole episode basically goes through all of those. Alright, my friend, so go make your Instagram an easy, yes, it is low hanging fruit. It is not super sexy, but oh my gosh, if you clear this up, you're gonna see a huge difference in your follows. I, I'm just not gonna lie. So I will see you on the next episode.