Hustleburg Q&As | Beyond Your Side Hustle

Hustleburg Episode 30 – Answering Your Questions About Ideal Engagement

In this Q&A episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett answers listener questions in a “how-to” to have ideal engagement on any social media platform. This three-week learning series is available to you here.

Week 1 – Fixing Your Feed to Serve You

Stop posting content on this platform. On the first day of Week 1, go through your connections, friends, pages, accounts, groups, and hashtags to UNFOLLOW/UNFRIEND/DISCONNECT all the users of the platform that don’t add value for you. Explore the connections from those that do add value to you.

Indicate an interest in the creators that show up in the “new” content you see by simply tapping or clicking “like” on the posts that give you even the slightest bit of value.

Simply “like” them.

Week 2 – React with Context and Comment with Gratitude

Instead of simply “liking” posts from the creators you receive value from, choose to react with context, where applicable, or comment with gratitude. Add the practice of reacting with context on the platforms that offer the option. For the social media outlets that simply have a “like” or “favorite” option (Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube), continue to like or favorite the post. Then, take a moment to offer a brief comment or reply that offers the creator context around WHY you appreciated it.

Week 3 – Adding Valuable Comments

This is the time to actively participate in the conversation that is social media. Their valuable content starts a conversation, and you are responsible to offer relevant, contextual, and valuable comments in response. Also, re-share that valuable content with your community, using what you would have commented as your commentary for the re-share.

We wanted to completely overhaul how you interact on social media.

In Week 1, we focused on overhauling your feed to serve you valuable content that you can engage with. This set up the platform to work for you, instead of continuing to serve the same stuff that wasn’t helpful.
In Week 2, we continued training that algorithm and added the contextual reactions and gratitude. By focusing on context, you not only prepare for better interactions, but you also consider how it fits into your content strategy and which platform would be best to showcase it.
Finally, in Week 3, we started sharing others’ valuable content that fit into “The Five,” so that you include it in your content creation and engagement going forward.

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Hustleburg Episode 28 – Answering Your Business Website Questions With A Fearless Venture’s Brian & Teresa Ott

In this Q&A episode, Brett discusses your website questions with Brian and Teresa Ott, owners of A Fearless Venture.

Rather than risk missing something important Brett enlisted the help of friends who know the business website world inside and out to discuss the first steps and major considerations as you begin building your business website.

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Hustleburg Episode 26 – Answering your Twitter Questions 2nd of 2

In this Q&A episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett answers listener questions about Twitter in the second of two parts. This is the eighth episode of a platform-specific series on the Q&A episodes about the varying social media platforms. Episode 12 and Episode 14 made up a two-part series on Facebook, Episode 16 and Episode 18 served as the two-part series on Instagram, Episode 20 and Episode 22 answered your questions about LinkedIn, and Episode 24 was the first episode focused on Twitter.

Is Twitter Considered a More “Casual” Platform?

Because of the demo and psychographics of Twitter and the formerly exceptionally short 140 character limit, the language and tone on Twitter tend to be more casual than other platforms. The character limitation led to many innovations in the brevity game, like URL shorteners, graphic memes, and the best of them all, “Hemingwayism,” which made us better writers by forcing the exile of unnecessary words. These efforts to condense thoughts through abbreviation, image sharing, and omitting the unnecessary come across as more casual conversation on the surface. That’s a feature, not a bug.

How Do I Best Use Twitter Within the Character Limit?

The casualness of the platform, some of the lingo, and how the character limit, which changed to 280 characters in 2017, have shaped the conversations on Twitter. Adding value to the communities you create and participate in is the best way to use Twitter. For new listeners, visit The Five for an in-depth look at the five focus areas of content. You should also be looking to add value in those five areas in the content OTHERS create.

What is the Best Way To Grow Organically on Twitter?

Find and follow relevant players in your industry and the five areas of focus and build relationships. The accounts you follow should be those who will add value to YOUR experience on the platform. Hashtags have value for their ability to direct conversations about a particular topic. Your use of them should be to add your voice to the conversation.

How Do I Best Utilize Hashtags on Twitter?

Yes. You should absolutely use hashtags, though the reason and methods for using them probably aren’t what you think. The best and highest use of hashtags is to locate where you are able to add value for other users. You’re collaborating with others in your five focus areas to strengthen their communities as a member as well.

What Are Your Thoughts on an “Auto DM”?

Don’t do it.

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Hustleburg Episode 24 – Answering Your Twitter Questions 1st of 2

In this Q&A episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett answers listener questions about Twitter in the first of two parts. This is the seventh episode of a platform-specific series on the Q&A episodes about the varying social media platforms. Episode 12 and Episode 14 made up a two-part series on Facebook, Episode 16 and Episode 18 served as the two-part series on Instagram, Episode 20 and Episode 22 answered your questions about LinkedIn.

What Can Twitter do for My Business?

You have an opportunity to reach people where they are. As of the first quarter of this year, they shared a user base of 166 million daily active users. Twitter has different demo and psychographics for its users, generally skewing younger than both Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as the average American. Twitter is also unique in that it offers a direct connection to a person or a brand, creates a huge opportunity for your business to create deep connections on the platform. Twitter is also uniquely more viral than other platforms for non-private accounts due to the ability of users to have their thoughts echoed via other users, promoting that content beyond the initial user’s audience on the platform.

What Are Some Tips for Staying Above the Fray on Twitter?

Twitter is a pretty politically active medium, so there can be an assumption that users of the platform will be somewhat active or vocal on political and social issues. It is actually pretty easy for brands to stay above the fray. Have a listen for these tips.

How Do I Get Something “Trending”?

Often, “trending topics” are filled with hot takes about breaking news. Only talking about what you see trending isn’t a recipe for sustained success on Twitter, but when the content you create does intersect with what’s trending however, you should capitalize on it. That means the conversation has come to you and what you’re an expert in. It’s your time to shine.

Where Would You Rank Twitter in Terms of Importance for a Business to Have?

As with so many things, it depends. If you find that your ideal customer is there already, it’s something your content will add value to many on, or you already have a feel for the platform from your personal use, it might be more important than Instagram or LinkedIn.

I Don’t Get the Lingo. Please Help.

Don’t worry… It’s not that confusing. Learn about tweets, @, #, mentions, DMs, FF, RT, retweets, and more.

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Hustleburg Episode 22 – Answering Your LinkedIn Questions 2nd of 2

In this Q&A episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett answers listener questions about LinkedIn in the second of two parts. This is the sixth episode of a platform-specific series on the Q&A episodes about the varying social media platforms. Episode 12 and Episode 14 made up a two-part series on Facebook, Episode 16 and Episode 18 served as the two-part series on Instagram, and two weeks ago, Episode 20 began the series on LinkedIn.

What’s Up With the “Auto DM” After Connecting?

There is a disease where individuals send a direct message immediately after connecting to ask the recipient to buy something, sign up for something, or click something. Often, you have no prior relationship with this person, and they have begun all interactions with you with an ask. This is NOT marketing.

Can You Highlight a Product or Service Independent of a Company Page?

LinkedIn actually has a feature for Company pages to create a “Showcase” page for just this purpose. Companies can create up to 10 of these Showcase pages to highlight a particular product or service and only focus on it.

How Do You Best Showcase Your Written Content?

LinkedIn is desperate for a variety of content. Part of that content mix that they value is longer-form written content for the professional audience they serve, and they built a blog-like option for professionals to share that longer-form written content.

What is the Value of LinkedIn Learning?

LinkedIn Learning is a tool for users to build visible skills on the platform to add to their profiles, as well as their skill sets. Teachers within this tool come from LinkedIn itself, sharing valuable knowledge from their industry. It’s literally the ultimate way to establish yourself as an expert in what it is that you do.

Is LinkedIn Premium Worth It?

LinkedIn Premium segments into 4 tiers, Career, Business, Sales, and Hiring, and the pricing and features adjust accordingly. It includes LinkedIn Learning, and if you’ve not used the free trial yet, I suggest that you save it until you’re ready to experience Premium’s full functionality.

What’s the Best Way to Connect with People Outside Your Network?

LinkedIn has made connecting with people outside your network easier than it was in the past. If you’re interested in connecting with someone on the platform, I suggest “Following” their personal profile and the Company page if they use one and engaging with the content they create. Add value to the conversations they start.

How Do I Best Utilize Hashtags on LinkedIn?

Hashtags help direct users to find the right conversations. The BEST way to utilize hashtags on LinkedIn or any platform is just what we’ve talked about before. Following relevant ones to participate in the conversation that is social media by tailoring your feed to what you want to see.

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Hustleburg Episode 20 – Answering Your LinkedIn Questions 1st of 2

In this Q&A episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett answers listener questions about LinkedIn in the first of two parts. This is the fifth episode of a platform-specific series on the Q&A episodes about the varying social media platforms. Episode 12 and Episode 14 made up a two-part series on Facebook, Episode 16 and Episode 18 served as the two-part series on Instagram, and in two weeks, Episode 22 will finalize the series on LinkedIn.

What Is the Value in LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a way to connect professionally within your industry and to your community, and those in a B2B environment may find greater value than others due to the more professional nature of the platform’s users. Remember the organic reach of your posts on Facebook in 2011-2012? That’s the landscape of LinkedIn right now.

What Are the Keys to Successful Growth on LinkedIn?

The best way to grow is to ADD VALUE to the conversation that is social media. Before we make our first post on LinkedIn, we need to take advantage of the feature that LinkedIn does better than any other social platform… Search through the robustness of your profile. Your posts need to be within your five focus areas. They need to add value to your connections on LinkedIn. Use the top five professional news stories and conversations happening on the platform, placed every so conveniently near the top of your feed on the desktop version. These conversations, as well as your existing personal network of past and present colleagues, vendors, and partners will provide a plethora of opportunities to continue to grow organically, building YOUR community.

Should I Create a Company Page on LinkedIn?

For small business owners, I suggest using the platform’s features fully. When you have a company page, even if it’s just a placeholder until you’re ready to post from it, having a company page also gives your profile a bit more clout. When it comes to growing your company page, LinkedIn makes building a following easier than other platforms by limiting the invites to your existing connections. When it comes to advertising on the LinkedIn platform, doing so from your company page gives it more gravitas than an individual. Finally, you can use the platform to post jobs for your business on a social media platform that is frequently viewed as a souped-up jobs board.

What Types of Content Should I Post on LinkedIn?

The content you share should come from your five areas of focus. Because the connections you have on LinkedIn are a different demographic than the friends and likes you have on Facebook, you’ll need to share different things in a different context. You have a different community on LinkedIn, and you converse with them differently than you do elsewhere. More important than what you post, the conversation that is social media is more relevant on LinkedIn.

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Hustleburg Episode 18 – Answering Your Instagram Questions 2nd of 2

In this Q&A episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett answers listener questions about Instagram in the second of two parts. This is the fourth episode of a platform-specific series on the Q&A episodes about the varying social media platforms. Episode 12 and Episode 14 made up a two-part series on Facebook, Episode 16 served as the first in this two-part series on Instagram, and in two weeks, Episode 20 will answer your questions about LinkedIn.

How Can I Organically Grow My Instagram Following?

When it comes to growing a community, no matter the platform, organic growth is always best. Instagram is no different. Regardless of the type of follower, or community member, you need to attract them, and to attract them organically, you’ll need to approach them with something of value, because initially, they don’t know that you exist, right? Or else, they’d be a part of what you’re building already. Your base of content centers on the five focus areas we’ve outlined in-depth previously, giving you so much content to create that your first 10 or so posts.

How Do You Reach People Outside Your Network?

Engage with your existing community to form a baseline of recommended content on the “Explore” tab. With your new tool directly serving you content that it calculates you wish to view and interact with on the Explore tab, you can grow by commenting and following those who add value to you. Use hashtags and local popular posts to find more content and follow accounts that add value to yours. Interact with those new accounts, using the $1.80 strategy outlined in this episode.

What Advantage is There to Using Instagram Stories Over Facebook Stories?

They may ignore you in one place, but consume what you create without a second thought in another. It’s all about the user. It’s rarely about you. There are differing demographics and psychographics of each platform. The community you have on Instagram is younger than Facebook’s, so the context and content of what you share on Instagram Stories will HAVE to be different than what you share on Facebook Stories, because the audiences differ. You also don’t have the same linking capability that Facebook offers its Stories on the Instagram platform, until you’re a MUCH larger account or an advertiser. That forces you to think about how to create and present content in your stories, driving you to be more creative with the content and the context, so you have even more to consider when sharing to Instagram Stories.

How Do I Best Link to Multiple Things With the Same Instagram Account?

When Instagram began, they chose to focus on the visual. They created a platform as an app-only option that also allowed you to “filter” what you shared within the app to take ordinary pictures to make them extraordinary. That makes things more difficult for brands to navigate to spam you with links to other content away from Instagram. There is one link per account, and it’s in your bio. They are forcing you to only send people off-platform for only the MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF CONTENT to you at a time. To offer something beyond that, the market has several options, all operating with a “freemium” model, free with limited features yet paying for a more robust version. There are a variety of options, such as Linktree, lnk.bio, and linkin.bio by Later. For musicians and podcasters, SmartURL might be an option worth looking into.

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Hustleburg Episode 16 – Answering Your Instagram Questions 1st of 2

In this Q&A episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett answers listener questions about Instagram in the first of two parts. This is the third episode of a platform-specific series on the Q&A episodes about the varying social media platforms. Episode 12 and Episode 14 made up a two-part series on Facebook, and in two weeks, Episode 18 will answer more of your questions about Instagram.

What are some tips for showcasing my business right now on Instagram?

The most important thing to remember about Instagram is that it’s an amazing opportunity to share with your audience stories that are interesting about what you do through a visual medium. When it comes to how you should be using Instagram for your brand, sharing photos and videos of how something in your business works, people, and other things that make up your brand should be the focus. While Instagram offers multitudes of filters for your images and videos, you shouldn’t over-process or overuse these filters. I certainly suggest you use the most important hashtags to your content and your brand to help others find your content that they may appreciate, your commentary on posts shouldn’t just be hashtag this, hashtag that. A more important use for hashtags on Instagram is for YOU to find content and accounts relevant to you and your business. Like many posts that show up in your feed.

Is Instagram a lower priority than Facebook? I am a photographer, so should I start with Facebook or Instagram?

As with many of my responses to questions posed here in the Q&A episodes, it depends. In 2020, the most important platform for you to have a presence is Facebook. As a photographer, I think that you should prioritize creating for a platform that best showcases what you do and the stories you tell with your business. Obviously, Instagram is a better place to create and share visual content like your photos. You offer something that is uniquely suited to an almost solely visual medium. Utilize that advantage to tell stories about what you do. Focus on telling the stories of the people you work with, and avoid being one-dimensional with your content.

What sort of content best highlights a business on Instagram?

The same kind of engaging content that adds value to others on all social media platforms. Your Instagram game needs to be a mix of your 5 main topics… The ones we’ve discussed before when developing your content strategy. The content you should share to highlight your brand, regardless of the main feed or Instagram stories, are the visually interesting things about it.

Believe it or not, something that seems so mundane to you that you use every day will be found fascinating by someone else. The people you encounter at work, whether your team or your customers, are pretty fascinating themselves. Share successes. It isn’t about broadcasting what you want out there to your followers. Engage with their posts more than you post yourself.

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Hustleburg Episode 14 – Answering Listener Questions About Facebook 4-2-20

In this Q&A episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett answers listener questions about Facebook in the second of two parts. This is the second episode of a platform-specific series on the Q&A episodes about the varying social media platforms. Episode 12 is the first part of this Facebook-specific Q&A series.

Should I be Using Facebook Stories, Live, or Watch Party? Why?

There is absolutely a benefit to each of these features for the small business owner.

Facebook Stories – Unlike Instagram, Facebook stories allow you to have all the same features, as well as swipe up capability without the need to pay for ad or be a large account. It’s also a great way to connect with younger users on the platform. The addition of stories to Facebook gives you a way of offering your community a glimpse “behind the scenes” of your life, business, or brand. It gives “insider access” to what you do, deepening the connection to your brand.
Facebook Live – If you have a good reason to stream live video content, this is a wonderful tool to do so. I like that you can create an event and hype around your business or brand that gives your community instant connection and interaction with you. It helps to deepen their connection, acting like a souped-up version of Reddit AMAs with real-time interaction.
Facebook Watch Party – I see the same value in offering the instant connection and interaction to your community that Facebook Live offers, in kind of the same way we used to call one another to watch a TV show or movie together, but separately.

What’s the Best Way to Grow My Facebook Likes? Should I Use Ads?

The key is to add value to the ongoing conversation that is social media. Your page should have plenty of content before you publish and even invite your mom or spouse to like it. Create 10 or so posts before you launch, so that visitors will have something to look at when they visit. This gives them an opportunity to decide if they want to give you the “like.” Tactically, invite those on your friends list to like the page slowly, making sure you utilize the tools Facebook has available to you. I’ve found better results when inviting people both through a notification as well as a well-crafted message in messenger from your personal profile. Both of these invitations methods are only possible on the desktop version. I answered a similar question in greater detail on Episode 4 of Hustleburg, where I discussed getting greater reach organically.

When it comes to ads, I’m not a big fan of paying for “likes,” because they are generally superficial, and I’d prefer that they come for something of value that you’ve offered. Using targeted ads based on demographic and psychographic information to drive them to something you offer that will add value to them is a great way to grow your audience. They’re more engaged than someone who just likes your page in a “drive by”

Page Messaging is Mystifying Me. Is This an Important Metric for Customers?

My answer about the importance of this public-facing metric is going to be different for different businesses. If you’re in a fast-paced environment and customers expect that you’ll respond quickly, this is something to make sure you prioritize with your page. For example, if you’re operating an auto repair shop and a potential customer wants to know if they can bring their car in today to have it repaired this afternoon, you’re going to want to make sure you can reply to that person nearly immediately, like fielding incoming phone calls. Facebook calculates this metric by measuring your response rate to private messages… ALL private messages to your page. They measure two things, the percentage of messages you respond to and the speed with which you reply. For the first, you’ll need to reply to 90% or more to have a “Very Responsive” label on your page. For the latter, you’ll need to respond in a very timely manner. An explanation of calculation for both is included in the episode.

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Hustleburg Episode 12 – Answering Listener Questions About Facebook 3-19-20

In this Q&A episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett answers listener questions about Facebook in the first of two parts. This is the beginning of a platform-specific series on the Q&A episodes about the varying social media platforms. Episode 14 will be the second part of the Facebook Q&A.

How Should I Maximize My Downtime During the COVID-19 Crisis to Brand My Business on Facebook?

During the self-isolation, restricted business operations, and a lack of sporting events, we likely find ourselves with newfound downtime. That downtime can be the catalyst necessary to lay the groundwork for your brand or business online. You can use this opportunity to create your Facebook page, engage with your existing community, and create content for it as well. Don’t let the temptation to just binge Netflix stop your dream and use this time to your advantage.

My Feed Is Filled With Draining News. How Can I Fix It?

First, take a break. Unplug and regroup. Take a walk. Read for fun. When you’re ready to fix things, follow and engage with people, pages, groups, and topics that aren’t bringing you down. The algorithms show you what they think you want to see, so you have to re-engineer what it’s showing you by changing how you use the platform. The good news is that you can change what you see by changing your behavior. The better news is that recent activity and changes have more influence than past activity, so get started now by focusing on what you want to see. You find what you seek, both online and in the world.

What Are the Benefits of Creating a Group in Support of my Facebook Page?

Your page is a communication tool for those outside your community. It’s your virtual storefront. It contains basic information about your business, like your hours, your location, or your special deals. It’s a great tool for people already looking for you. It’s social media’s version of your website with a touch of your personality.

Facebook Groups present you with a unique way to build deeper relationships with your community. It’s where you have in-depth discussions, interactions, and engagement. While your page is your opportunity to build many, shallow connections, your group gives you the chance to build ocean-deep connections with fewer people. Those are the people who are committed to your business. They are or become your raving fans.

How Can I Get More 5-Star Reviews on my Facebook Page?

Giving 5-star service is the best way to receive 5-star reviews. You can also offer on a receipt, signage in store, or a follow-up communication a small token of appreciation for all reviews. With these reviews, you should directly engage with your customers, while you have their attention, asking them for their feedback. Address any issues on the spot, and no matter what they share with you, ask them to share it online, and if your Facebook page is where you want to drive them, send them there. This also applies to Yelp or Google Reviews.

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