You do it all. You plan the content, design the images (all hail, Canva), write the captions, schedule the content, engage with the audience … the list goes on.

It’s not easy work, this Instagram.

I speak from experience when I say sometimes I just feel like giving up on Instagram and hoping the forces of the Universe send me some clients by sheer good fortune.

Of course, I know that’s highly unlikely so I persevere. I may take short breaks from Instagram, but I ultimately come back with some posts and the occasional story show-up.

Instagram ain’t easy — here’s what I struggled with

Here’s where my struggle is with Instagram: designing posts.

I’m not a designer. I used to tinker around with Photoshop but my Adobe Creative Suite days are long gone.

When I use Canva I get distracted by the 112,348 templates and waste time making adjustments only to realise neither of them is consistent with my brand colours, fonts or overall look.

How did I solve this problem? I got some Canva templates.

Recommended templates: Social Media Canva Templates by Lookeesan Creatives

Naturally, there’s still work to be done. But I save so much time! I get these templates, change up the colours and fonts and voila. I just have to add my own text and decide which layout to use instead of spending hours scrolling through templates to decide.

Once the design was done, I would open up my Facebook (now Meta) Business Manager and schedule them in.

All that was left to do before hitting schedule / publish was to right out the captions.

Here are three questions I ask when writing Instagram captions:

1. Which content pillar is this post for?

For my Instagram account, I have three types of posts: educational, motivational and promotional. Knowing which post this is for helps me skew the message I have. For example, for motivational posts (usually a quote), I write a personal story and make it short. For carousels — usually educational — I get a little in-depth and share more knowledge in the caption.

2. What’s the call to action for this Instagram caption?

Answering the first question makes it SO MUCH easier to get this question right. Motivational post? Just get people to follow me. Educational post? Maybe a relevant resource to download or buy. Promotional post? Duh. Link in bio, usually.

3. Is this caption consistent with my brand message?

Ah, this one is more of a “check in” question just before I hit schedule / publish. I read through the caption one more time and try to put myself in the shoes of the reader. Am I rambling? Is this what I usually say or am I offering too much of a personal perspective (happens when I write in a bad mood!)? Is this caption truly beneficial to the reader? If not, I edit it before posting.

Pro-tip: run your caption through Grammarly before posting it, just to ensure you have no silly typos or long-winded sentences.

An opportunity to help others

Captions, naturally, come easier to me than design does.

Using the templates for design really helped me to batch create my content for Instagram and get the ball rolling by sharing my expertise and engaging with the audience.

This made me realise something.

If I struggle with design and there are templates to help me make my life easier, could I possibly make my followers’/clients’ lives easier with caption templates?

Introducing: my Instagram Caption Template Bank

This bank of 100+ caption templates has helped many of my clients and social media followers come up with captions much, much easier!

The Instagram captions are perfect for personal brands who want to motivate their followers, make announcements and launch products/services. There are even greeting-related posts and posts that help you share your expertise and resources with your followers.

The best part? These captions, although written with Instagram as the main medium, can be redistributed or repurposed for your other social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

Talk about value for money!

Hope these tips and resources have helped you. Feel free to DM me on Instagram if you have any other questions on this topic.

Get your caption template bank and other helpful resources via my website @ https://manishadhalani.com/shop/

Some context:

His local small business is located in Brunei.

The boomer I speak of is my dad.

Okay, fine, so I had full control of what to post, when to post, how to post. I know my dad’s business and I thought, hah, this should be a breeze.

It was not.

Not at the beginning at least.

It was daunting. I kept asking around if TikTok even worked in Brunei.

My friends and even some of the younger audience said yes.

My dad’s target has always been people above 30. People with family. Not Gen Zs who are looking for minimalistic or Instagrammable stores.

But I pointed out to my dad that one day his customers — who are from the Gen Z category — will have their own families. And we need to start reaching out to them.

Enter: TikTok.

A Quick Breakdown About Why A Small Business Needs To Be On TikTok

While people around me kept saying that TikTok is the place to be, like a good content marketer, I first did some additional snooping around.

As mentioned above, my immediate association with TikTok was that it was a platform for the young ones. Not people in their 30s like me.

Right?

Nope.

First things first. TikTok has some 600 million people on it. Now all of these people cannot be Gen Zs, right?

Right. Because according to Statista (2000), only 62% of TikTok users — in this case in the U.S. — are between the ages of 10 to 29.

So yes, the majority of TikTok users are NOT in my dad’s target group.

But that didn’t stop me.

Because the number of adults using TikTok (again, in the U.S.) has been growing year on year.

Okay, a good sign, right?

I’m sure the same can be said of Brunei.

But … still … should I?

Is the TikTok audience looking for soft furnishing or home interior videos?

Apparently, yes. It’s the fourth most sought-after category.

Plus, it’s a fast-growing brand. It is predominantly used by females (most of my dad’s target decision-makers are females). And is an extremely interactive platform that is gaining a lot of engagement.

Now with all that research done, it was clear.

We had to kickstart our brand’s TikTok account.

And we did.

If you’re on the fence about starting a TikTok account for your product- or service-based brand, ask yourself these questions:

1. Are your existing customers on TikTok? (A good way to find out if your current pool of customers is even interested in TikTok content. If they all say no, then TikTok is not for you)
   
   
2. Is your target audience on TikTok? (As mentioned above, TikTok is more popular with the younger crowd BUT there are also small pools of people who are actively looking for quality content regardless of demographics)
   
   
3. Is there a demand for content from your niche? (Check the popular categories on TikTok but also bear in mind that just because your product/service isn’t in demand, it doesn’t mean it won’t grow — it could be your unique selling point or you may just need to put a new spin on it)
   
   
4. Do you have the resources to create TikTok videos? (If you work solo or are part of a small team, please be aware that it takes time to plan and create TikTok videos. If you already have a huge following elsewhere, reassess if you even have the time or resource to be on TikTok)

Clearly, all the above checked well for me (and my dad’s business).

The first thing I did to start? Download TikTok.

My Journey on TikTok & Stuff I Learned

So here’s the deal.

I jumped on TikTok with a bit of research on whether it’ll even be worth it or not, but I had ZERO clue as to how to work the app.

Seriously, I had not even “played” with on another person’s phone or anything before this.

I spent a good hour or so tinkering around the app when I downloaded it.

I created the profile, then browsed through other accounts.

I tried to figure out how to start a video but I got so overwhelmed that I just SHUT IT OFF.

Man, this is really not for people in their 30s, is it?

Fortunately for me, I have a group of amazing ladies – my business besties. I’ve spoken about them before in the article I wrote about my LinkedIn challenge.

One of them, Renee from PeachyPixx, was already on TikTok — and she was actively trying to find ways to get others to jump on it, too. After all, she’s a videographer by profession and TikTok is all about videos.

It made sense for her.

I shared my plight with them and Renee stepped up.

She decided to run a quick challenge for us — just like how I did one for them for LinkedIn.

Gotta love business buddies, no?

5 days later, I felt like a professional TikToker.

Sure, my content wasn’t the best. Neither did it go viral. But for a small business that just started on TikTok, we were already getting 200+ videos per video.

I was over the moon.

I wrote down more content ideas, researched sound, listed down what other accounts in our niche were doing.

Then Renee approached me privately and asked if I wanted to share this cheat sheet I had created for myself (and future clients) in her TikTok course.

ERM, YES PLEASE.

How You Can Get Started On TikTok, Too

So after about a week of polishing up my cheat sheet, I passed it to Renee, and together, we launched the Kickstart Your Brand’s TikTok course.

What do you get in it?

Renee has recorded a lot of videos on how you can succeed on TikTok.

She has step-by-step instructional videos to guide you with creating different types of TikTok content. She even has a 5-day PDF (the same one I used to start) that spells out exactly what you need to do in the first 5 days of registering your brand’s TikTok account.

After that, you can download my cheat sheet which has a list of sounds and content ideas that are suitable for both product-based and service-based brands.

This means if you’re a home-based business selling cookies, stationery, apparel or food — this is for you. (Note: I started TikTok for a retail business that sells products)

Or if you’re a content creator, graphic designer, virtual assistant, social media guru, coach — this is for you, too. (Note: Renee started her TikTok for her own business — she’s a solopreneur — teaching people about videography)

Best of both worlds.

Get the Kickstart Your Brand’s TikTok course here.

My LinkedIn Journey: The Turning Point

I signed up for LinkedIn somewhere in 2010.

I know, talk about being an early adopter.

Unfortunately, I didn’t do much with it. I suppose the force just wasn’t very strong with LinkedIn back then.

It was more about being seen on Facebook (and then we all know what happened there).

Sometime during the whole COVID-19 lockdown situation, I decided to finally suck it up and get myself a mentor for my writing career.

My business was slow, and if I’ve learned anything, it’s that when there aren’t many clients, it’s a great excuse to use the downtime to upgrade yourself.

Long story short, my mentor, Pete Boyle suggested that we get on LinkedIn. To start posting more regularly. To share what we do, what we learn, and the whole deal.

So I tried.

I wasn’t one of those who could post every day because *insert some lack-of-motivation reason here*.

So I started with two posts per week.

Within one month, I had 15 new followers.

Not bad, I thought.

Two months later, another 15 followers joined.

PLUS, two old acquaintances (one ex-coursemate from college and one ex-colleague) reached out and asked if I was looking for writing stints.

OF COURSE, I SAID YES.

I couldn’t believe it. Was that all it took to make LinkedIn work for you?

I’ll be lying if I said yes. It’s more than that.

There’s a lot of things that could make your LinkedIn profile great. But I found a formula for myself after about 6 months.

3 Ways To Make Your LinkedIn Shine

1. Stay consistent. Find a frequency that works for you and keep posting (mine’s two posts a week, minimum).
   
2. Share your story. Share what you’ve learned, even a personal story (positive or negative), and when you’re tired, curate and add your comments and thoughts.
   
3. Engage when you have the time. Like another person’s post, start following thought leaders in your niche and comment on their posts, connect with old classmates, colleagues, people you bumped into, and I don’t know, past Tinder dates, maybe? (Ok, maybe not, hah!)

I’ll be very honest. I have moments where I just don’t feel like doing any of the above.

But that’s just because I’m human.

You’ll feel it, too.

My suggestion? If you don’t feel like a post is authentic/genuine, skip. Consider it a cheat day. Go read a book, eat some cake, do something else. Don’t post.

After more than 6 months of giving LinkedIn some much due attention, I must say it works.

I even got some of my friends to try it. I came up with a bunch of topics and threw together a quick “7 day LinkedIn challenge” for them and their posts got some good engagement, plus their followers and connections soared.

Keep reading if you want the prompts that I shared with them.

What You Should Know About Posting On LinkedIn

Before you go jumping on to LinkedIn, spamming your account with “buy this” or “hire me” messages, there are some things you need to know.

45% of decision makers say thought leadership compelled them to invite an organization to bid on a project when not previously considering them, and 57% of say thought leadership directly led to awarding business. — LinkedIn

So yes, you don’t want to miss out on what LinkedIn has to offer.

Whether you’re a solopreneur, freelancer, entrepreneur, consultant, creative, independent business owner, C-level manager, etc, with LinkedIn, you can:

• Build thought leadership for yourself or your brand
• Share your views, corporate culture to get more followers
• Gain a competitive advantage amongst peers
• With more followers, you build more career opportunities (companies can recruit better, employees can hope for promotions)
• With more content, you also improve customer acquisition and retention as people start to know, like and trust you better (for businesses)

Whether your end goal is to improve recruitment or retention, build thought leadership or generate leads or traffic, start by sharing more content on your LinkedIn.

Forget the algorithm and the analytical mess, talk about issues that are relevant and timely. Add your take on what’s trending.

Develop your personal brand.

What You Should Do Before Starting To Post On LinkedIn

Review your profile

Have you updated your profile recently?

Check your employment history, add more details in your bio. Put up a new and professional looking profile picture.

Clean your account so when you start posting, and people check your profile out, they’re reading your most updated profile and can connect with you if they want.

Ensure your posts are public

I wasn’t aware of this earlier but someone DM-ed me on LinkedIn after reading my posts and told me to do this (thank you, Hanafi!).

Go to your LinkedIn Settings, and go under Visibility to ensure your profile and posts are public. Do also allow Everyone to follow you.

Record your statistics

I’m so glad I did this from the start.

I didn’t want to make it a formal affair since I was the only one monitoring this, so I just opened up a notepad document and recorded my follower count whenever I remembered.

On 18th September 2019, I had 460 followers.

As of publishing this article, I have 598 followers.

No, that’s not a huge jump. But it’s a pretty significant increase for someone who posts two times a day and does it all organically.

But how do I maintain these consistent postings?

The Content Strategy I Use for LinkedIn Posts

Always have a content strategy! So important.

I mentioned this earlier. Pick a frequency and stick to it. Share your story, and engage.

My strategy was simple.

Have a few content buckets.

• Write and share personal business/content marketing lessons
• When in doubt, repurpose Instagram/newsletter content into LinkedIn
• When in a rush, curate an article from the internet and add my words

That’s it. With these three buckets in mind, I would post whatever I felt like for the week. I typically wrote something on the weekend and scheduled it on Hootsuite, but sometimes I just wrote when I felt like it and hit publish on LinkedIn.

Keep it real, yo.

I was sharing this strategy with my business buddies group and they said they wanted to start/restart their LinkedIn progress, too.

They were struggling to think of what to post, even with the strategy above (it doesn’t have topics), so I came up with a list of topics for them.

Here it is for you to use.

Like my content so far? Buy me a cuppa, maybe?

BONUS: The 7-Day LinkedIn Post Challenge (with Prompts)

1️⃣ Post 1: Introduce/reintroduce yourself

New to LinkedIn? Tell everyone who you are, what you do, your personal or professional goals.

Been on LinkedIn for a while but been quiet? Reintroduce yourself with the same structure as above.

Renee tackled this post idea with a short, sweet and straight to the point post:

2️⃣ Post 2: Share why you’re on LinkedIn

Tell people why you’re on LinkedIn. Are you looking to connect with certain types of people? Do you want to learn? Are there people whose progress you want to follow (tag them!)?

I love how Feetri made her post so relatable:

3️⃣ Post 3: Share experience/lessons

Talk about how your working experience has been so far. Share some lessons you took from past experiences that you utilise in your current role/business.

4️⃣ Post 4: Share your first work experience

I found this super fun. It tells people how your first experience was and how far you’ve come along. Some tips to share:

• When did you get your first client/job?
• How did you feel?
• What do you do differently today when onboarding?
• Ask: “Tell me your story!” (Tag people whose story you want to read)

Liyana was so authentic when she shared her story:

5️⃣ Post 5: “I wish I knew sooner”

Talk about things you wish you knew sooner. A lesson or a process.

Tag the person who shared/taught you the lesson.

Optional: talk about your service/product and how it helps people who help people who have this same problem and how you help to solve it.

Much love to Azurah who used this topic to share her experience when working with me:

6️⃣ Post 6: Share a statistic from your niche

This is a curated post. Find an article from the internet about your niche and some latest statistics.

In the post, share:

• Why is the statistic is so important?
• Ask: agree or disagree?

Here’s what I wrote for this topic:

7️⃣ Post 7: Your goal to continue posting on LinkedIn

Tell people how fun it has been to share, and how you want to keep sharing.

Tips about this post idea:

• Tag people whose posts you always look forward to reading.
• Ask: what topics from your niche would others like to read about?

Adilah kept it simple when she wrote this post:

Easy, isn’t it?

Drop a comment below and let me know if this challenge worked for you.

Done with your 7 days challenge? Need more help to write out your LinkedIn posts? Let’s chat!