Nicole: Hiya, and welcome to the Lead Better Podcast. I'm your host, Nicole Harlow. My guest today is Molly Cahill. Molly is an Instagram marketing coach and strategist for health and wellness professionals, like chiropractors, acupuncturists, functional medicine practitioners, and local practice owners too. She runs Done For You Instagram Management for Clinics. She teaches her own course, Holistic Marketing Hub, and hosts the podcast Holistic Marketing Simplified. I'm really excited about this conversation today because I think myself, a lot of us have a bunch of questions about Instagram, how things are changing, how AI is affected, the changes, and also how can we be effective on this platform while still keeping our sanity and our boundaries intact. So we go into all of that. Without further ado, let's welcome Molly to the show. Guys, I'm here with Molly today, and I'm super excited to have this conversation. We're gonna talk all about Instagram today. So what everybody wants to know about.
Molly: I know I get — I get the sexy niche, but I literally just — what's so funny is just last week, Nicole, I had someone get on a discovery call with me who was like interested in my agency, and I was like, Oh, you need a business coach. Like, yeah, like I was like, well, I can't — actually I didn't, I should have sent her to you because she had some like leaky — I'm like, let's not amplify what's not worth — like amplify your message once it's working. You're back.
Nicole: Oh my god. I love that you started off with that because that's literally my message. I think we can — let's start there. So something that like I hear a lot from clients is especially people who are just starting out, they feel like, okay, social media is like the first thing I need to do and I need to set up an Instagram. What do you say to somebody who's like just getting started around like what kind of systems do you think you would need to have in place in order to like start utilizing social media effectively?
Molly: I don't think there's like a hard and fast rule of like what — well, are you asking like kind of what comes first, like the back end systems or the social system?
Nicole: Yeah, what — okay, but what's your kind of light order, right? We don't have to go super in depth, but I think a lot of people think like you start social media, like if you build it, they will come kind of thing.
Molly: You know, so I used to have a mentor who would say look for proof of the thing you want. And so I've definitely seen that happen, right? Like, I don't know if you follow the Peachy Spoon, she's like an actual like friend of mine because we happen to both be from Birmingham, but she's got this huge following now. And she literally started just by like sharing some smoothie recipes and like blood sugar. She was selling nothing, she had no — nothing. She just like started posting on Instagram because to her that felt like the easiest. She didn't have a website, right? Like she was just like, I don't know. I just want to start talking about blood sugar and I'm just gonna start posting about it. And for her, it worked out, right? She was able to build this massive following. Then she started doing one-on-one, and then she created a course, and now she has her own line of protein powder and she has cookbooks. So she did do it in that order, right? But I think the problem is I have a lot of people who — I don't say a lot, but I've had people come to me as a Hail Mary and they're like, marketing, it must be marketing, it must be Instagram better. That's what I need. And I'm like, listen, like I can help you amplify your message. But if the patient journey, the back end, like all of this, if all of that's broken, like, will we get you more people in the door? Sure. But like, is it actually gonna solve your business problems? No. Like, I am not a business coach. I am not a — and Instagram is just one piece of the puzzle, right? Like, does your — is your website good? Does it load quickly? Does it actually have photos of you? Does it have SEO? Like, do you know, do you have a Google business profile? Like, you know, because it's like Instagram is definitely important. But if you don't have any clear — like I do think there is something to be said. I guess it's kind of like a both and it's not gonna be a clear answer I'm giving you, because there is something to be said for the whole proverbial throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. I think that gets a bad reputation. And I'm like, I'm not, I'm not against that. Like sometimes you need to just kind of flex that muscle and just get used to posting with no clear goal in mind, just to build the reps, like build the habit. Then you can always say, Okay, what is my actual strategy? Where am I trying to funnel these patients to? Like, what's the patient journey, like whatever? But you have to actually still get to that step. You can't just just rely on Instagram and then like I remember working with a guy who did functional medicine. He's like, I don't know, I just assumed people would know to DM me. I'm like, no one, no one is assuming that. Like no one is assuming that you just randomly post about hormones and they just DM you to book. Like, no one is assuming that. Like, you know what I mean? So you have to — like I said, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with like testing out the waters, building out your kind of muscle and your consistency, but you also need to have that back end, like eventually. Like, where are they going and what are we trying to do with this person?
Nicole: I couldn't agree more. So I love hearing you come from the opposite side of the table, like doing the marketing side because we do the automation side. And so I see this again with like a kind of Hail Mary of just like, okay, well, we have to start marketing, marketing, marketing. So this is like feeling like this intensity of like, we have to make the marketing work. And usually from my vantage point, I'm like, okay, well, we need to build some systems first because, like, you know, this is where people come and they hire out, you know, a Facebook ads company, for example. Like, someone is a — promised that they're gonna bring me a lot of leads, and then those leads go through the system and there's no system there, right? Or there's no capacity, or there's this hasn't — part hasn't been thought out. So I love that you're coming from the Instagram angle and still we're kind of meeting in the middle and saying, like, you know, Instagram is awesome and can be such a key to success in your business, but it's important to also have some systems built out in the back end and know where people are gonna go next, right? And so I love that. That's — you know, that's a huge part of my philosophy as well.
Molly: And I don't want people to get stuck in their head, right? Like right now, I'm thinking of one of my students in my membership who is like moving literally to Hawaii. Like, so she has no practice right now. And she's like, I don't even know what to post. I'm like, well, you — to me, this is the most fun place to be posting, right? Because yeah, really, this is where you just get to talk about your lifestyle as a — car practice. Like, you get to kind of just do fun stuff.
Nicole: Yeah.
Molly: So that once you do open a new practice and you do get the new systems, like you've already kind of built a reputation. So like I said, I don't think there's one right answer, but I do know that marketing is not the Hail Mary cure all of things in your practice are broken. Like amplifying something that's broken is not gonna do you any favors.
Nicole: I couldn't agree more. So you go ahead.
Molly: Oh, I was just gonna ask, do you get a lot of people who are trying to go the online route too, or do you mostly just get the brick and mortar?
Nicole: We get a lot of online. So people who are either, you know, stepping online for the first time or people who've been online for a while and they're like rebranding, or a lot of our like current clients are like — they started this system with no system in place, and so they have a lot of like sticky notes and no SOPs, and they try to hire and — and also they try to hire like someone like yourself, like so they try to hire like content creation or marketing. Some — we do some content creation for our clients as well, and there are no like systems or processes in place. They try to hire like a front desk person or a VA, and it's like, oh, we're three weeks later, like the person's getting fired because there's a lot, there's that expectation of like this is the person that's gonna save me. This is the person that's gonna save the business, right?
Molly: Well, I — yeah, I brought up the online thing because I see that a lot too, where people are like we're sold this dream of like passive income, and it's like, oh god, yeah.
Nicole: Oh my god, yeah, guess what?
Molly: Congratulations now. You're a full-time marketer. You think you're having passive income? That's cute. Like um, I'm not saying it can't be done if it — the support system you need in place. Like, if you're still seeing like multiple patients a day, a week, like you know, and then also trying to build out an online course with no — like the course part is just like, oh, that's the easy part. Yeah, like it's like now you gotta build out the funnel and the marketing and the tagging and the landing page, like all this kind of stuff. And I'm like to have support for that.
Nicole: What was your background before you got into Instagram and how long have you been doing the Instagram? Just — yeah, like, so you've been in the online — no, it's like, have you been in the online marketing world for a while before pivoting to Instagram? Or did you have a nine to five doing something completely different?
Molly: Totally different. I was — my background is in sales and my degree is in PR and marketing, but I went straight into sales. So I sold advertising in a newspaper, was my first job. So, like you can imagine that was real fun. I mean, I'm 40, but still, like this was 2008, so like not great. Then I pivoted, I was in medical sales for six years. That was really what — so I had some terrible sciatica when I was like 22, 23, and was not a — chiropractic, was not raised in a chiropractic family. I mean, I — I'd never even heard the term naturopathic doctor. Like that just like — you know what I mean? Like, who even knew what that was? Acupuncture, like, are you kidding me? Like that was just like a foreign language. Like we would have never — my family was not that family, right? Yeah. So I know it's so funny because I literally do all those things like every week. I had sold an ad, thankfully, to a chiropractor when my sciatica was really bad. And I was like, I mean, quite literally, like dragging my leg behind me. And I'd gone to my doctor, and they're like, here's some muscle relaxers. And well, I mean, obviously that was honest. Like, then I was just like drooling, like sleeping every — you know what I mean? Like I couldn't work, just taking so much ibuprofen. And this chiropractor client of mine was like, you know, I can help you. And I was kind of like so skeptical. And I literally just made an appointment because he had bought an ad with me, and I was just like, All right, whatever. And I got two adjustments, and I was like, oh my god, I'm not in pain anymore. And I was just kind of like, wait, do people not know about that? Like, how didn't — how is this not more popular, right? And so then fast forward, I — it's not like this was some major aha moment or anything, but it was just, you know, I never considered it as part of like my career, right? So then I was in medical sales for six years, and my call point was pain and addiction clinics for six years.
Nicole: Wow.
Molly: Yeah. So when you're inside a pain management or addiction clinic all day, every day for six years, you're like, oh shoot, like no one's coming to save us. Like this healthcare system is so broken. Like not the path that anybody wants to go down or their loved one to go down. So my husband actually was a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps, and we timed — my daughter's pregnancy just like real bad. Like he deployed when I was 38 weeks pregnant for six. So yes, so he didn't come home until she was five months old. Yes, it was terrible. I'm like still like, don't even get me started. And so I had quit my corporate job. I'd say I hadn't saved a nest egg because I knew I didn't want to do it forever. And you know, we were military, so we had our health care and housing. And so I like cold turkey quit my job at like 14 weeks pregnant, like my very lucrative corporate career. I was like, I'm done, I quit. I was like a manager, I had a team of 17. I had like — my husband was like, What? I'm like, nope, I quit. I can't do this anymore. And so I was a stay-at-home mom for about a year, and I just could not. Do you have kids?
Nicole: My stepkids, yeah. Great, yeah. I — they're teenagers, so no, no babies, no little ones.
Molly: Well, stay-at-home mom was great for a while, and then I was like, Wow, this is the hardest job ever. So when my daughter was about a year old, my chiropractor and I became friends, and she was my age, and she's like, Hey, would you want to like help me with my practice's Instagram page? And I was like, I mean, I guess I could figure that out, and kind of the proverbial rest is history. Like then her friend asked — her one of her friends who's still my client to this day, and this was in 2018, 2019. She was like one of my first clients, you know, and ever since then, like I had a functional medicine MD who was like a client for like five years. So yeah, so my business was like officially started in 2019, but we've really niched down, like in the beginning, I had like a realtor and a hairstylist, and you know, I've really niched down to — to the healthcare, like holistic health, just in the last, I don't know, four years or so. Yeah. So because, like I said, I do have — so I have an agency. So we actually run right now around, we have 28 chiropractors and one lone acupuncturist. And — and then I have a membership. So that's what I always kind of tell people. Like, I'm not someone who like is extrapolating data from my account and what works on my account and trying to teach it to you. Like, right, we're actually running the brick and mortar accounts, which is just a little bit different.
Nicole: Yeah. I love that. A, thank you for telling me that story because it's super awesome to hear like how you got into Instagram in the first place. And that's — happens to a lot of us, right? It's like somebody's like, hey, I think you could do this, or hey, like — that's how I got started, like over almost over 15 years now in the online marketing space was like one person that I had worked with in another capacity who was like, Hey, could you build me a website? And I was like, No. And she's like, But haven't you built websites for like your own projects? And I was like, Yes. It's like, oh, I'll pay you for that. And that was like the start of like — it wasn't a grand thing. It wasn't like I sat down with like this huge business plan. It was like someone was just like, Hey, can I pay you to do this? And then it turned into this, right? I'm three agencies later and like so many years of business. So it's like, it's cool to hear like you have a similar story too. It's just like I had no — I can't do that. And you're like, actually, yeah, okay, let's try it.
Molly: And then here, yeah, I had no, like, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna run Instagram accounts for chiropractors. That's what I'm gonna — like. No, it just happened.
Nicole: So take it from us, it's okay. You can build a successful business that you love without like a 10-page business plan and like knowing every single step, right? Oh, are you — do you know anything about human design? Are you a manifested generator?
Molly: I'm a generator.
Nicole: A generator, yes.
Molly: You're just like, work, I'll do it, I'll figure it out. My bookkeeper, I love her dearly. She's been my bookkeeper for like five years. And she's like, What I love about you is you just always make the next right decision. Like it's never like I don't know what I'm doing a year from now, but like I can tell you what I'm gonna do next month.
Nicole: Yeah, yeah. And that's cool because that's like — I always like a little human design aside aside when we're talking about this like stuff. But what is cool about like being a generator is like your design is to respond to what comes in front of you. And so, like, not being a manifestor, like your job isn't to just like make something out of thin air or be like, oh, this is what I'm gonna do. Like, you're responding to like what comes. So, like you're like getting started in your business was like a response to a question from someone. Can you do this? And then when you're like your bookkeeper's like, you always know the right next step, like you're responding to what the universe is putting out to you, and you like feel it in your gut, like, oh yeah, I know that this is the right next move for me. You're like not making it out of thin air, like we're kind of designed to respond. And that to other people that can look really weird because like you might not have a five or 10 year plan. I almost never have, I hardly ever have a year plan because I'm like, I'm gonna respond as I go along. And I know that's not — that's scary for a lot of people, and it's scary for me sometimes too. Like, I can kind of have a light plan, but I want to keep it open to like what cool questions come down the path, right?
Molly: Yes.
Nicole: If I didn't live like that, like I would never be in the business that I'm in right now because that — it was like if you looked back, it's like pivots and we're gonna go in this way. And does it feel good? Oh, we need to like move it a little bit because it doesn't feel great over here. So, like, you know what I mean? Like, you probably run a similar type of — hundred business, I can imagine.
Molly: Well, and why — this is why I love my business coach, is because I made myself wrong for that for so many years. Me too. I'm not a real business owner, yeah.
Nicole: Me too, because I didn't have the 10-year plan. I didn't know exactly how much money I want to be earning in five years, like, but I will say that you know it — for me, like that feels like the perfect way to run a business. Yeah, and here we are not talking about Instagram at all. So I will go back to — here. I will — I know for everybody listening, I think everybody listening loves a little bit of human design. So I like to pepper it into these interviews because they're all so different. And I think what comes out — you had something in your social media that I saw when I was looking at your website around permission slips. And I am huge on the permission slips, like any time that we can give ourselves an opportunity to be like, hey, that's just me. That's like, so how does that like in the world of Instagram? Like when you talk about permission slips, like what does that mean for you?
Molly: Oh, I love this question. I'm like getting — for clients. Yeah, for clients. Yeah, yes, yes, just as you said. So just yesterday I was on someone else's podcast and they were like, What's like one of the number one mistakes you see? And it's like literally my same answer to this permission slip. It's like the number one mistake I see is people thinking, Oh, I have to show that I'm so different from all of these health influencers. Like, let me be so buttoned up and so professional that my quote clinic page or practice page or whatever, my business page, there's no shred of humanity left because I need to show how professional I am. You know what I mean? Where it's like, okay, I'm gonna be like talking to you about my poop and my — like, you know what I mean? Like, I would like to see your face and know that you like to crochet and watch Great British Baking Show. Like, yeah, I really want to know that about you. As also — it's a different ballgame than it was 10 years ago when you maybe knew like one naturopathic doctor or like one fun functional med, and now you've got all these people you can choose from more readily available to work with. Do you know what I'm saying? Yeah. I don't know if you would agree with that. So it's like I do agree, definitely. So, how do I choose who I'm working with? It's like, oh, well, I'm gonna choose the person who feels more aligned with just even like my personal interests. Like, yes, I want your credibility and your authority and your credentials and all of that, but I also want to like you. Yeah. If we're gonna be working through this health stuff together, and so the permission slips is like just permission to stop being Jekyll and Hyde. Like you aren't two different — there is no such thing as like, I'm not saying to be like completely — you know, blatant disregard for professionalism, but I just mean like you have to show your personality. I've had so many practitioners I've worked with who have been like, Well, I don't — just don't know how to translate like this to social media. I'm like, and what — for those of you obviously listening to the podcast, I'm like pointing to myself. Like, people — I've — I literally had a guy who was the most fabulous personality, and he was like, How do I translate like this to like Instagram? And I'm like, I don't understand what you're translating. I was like, I'm so sorry, I'm not trying to be dense. I don't understand your question. Yeah, what are you translating? You're just you, like, I don't get it. Like, my — my brain, I think it would feel so painful for me to not have my personality come through.
Molly: Because then you attract the people that you want to work with, right? Like, if you try to be some alternate version of yourself, you're not gonna get the clients you want anyway. I couldn't agree more, yeah. That's like the permission slip part for sure.
Nicole: So practically, okay, so I'm totally vibing with what you're saying. Is there a certain type of post or a place? Because we have a couple different places where we can like show ourselves, like be kind of a little bit more of ourselves. So are you more of a like, hey, save that for stories and then have your posts or your reels be a bit more buttoned up? Like that's an excellent question.
Molly: So I think you can. Like, I will say I definitely show more of my like personal stuff on stories. And I actually want to put a button in like the personal thing because I — I say that and hold on, don't let me forget that thought. I'm instead of my — I thought I'm gonna put it over here in my thought bubble, so I don't forget. But you would be shocked, like how much — like I did a reel just of my husband. I don't know if you remember that trend from like — it was like two years ago. It was like, I'm a strong independent woman, I don't need no man, and then it was like the no man, and it was like showed people's husbands like doing all this stuff for them in the background. So I did that. It was like I showed like my husband making my coffee. It was like, it was like, I'm a strong independent woman, I don't need no man. And it was like, here's the quote, no man, and he's like making my coffee, and it was like, She, I'm her barista, and then he was putting like raw chicken into the Instapot. He's like, She doesn't touch raw meat because it's yucky, and like, you know, and then it was like he gets in my car and I need an oil change and my gas tank's on empty, like and she's in — Cape, you know what I mean? And that reel went like bananas viral. And people were like, We want more Mat. That's like my husband's name. He's like, We want more. And so, but that like makes people feel like they're part of your world. So yeah, I do teach what I call a content ecosystem, which is how you rotate different types of content. So inside of my membership at Holistic Marketing Hub, I teach like a two-week content batching system. Have I ever batched content a day in my life? I have not. But I do have like a really good system for doing it. If I followed my own system, I would probably be like so good. But content creation is fast for me because this is what I do, right? Like, but if you're running a practice, I would highly recommend you try to have some semblance of a batching plan.
Nicole: I totally know. And I'm exactly the same as you, by the way. I have like — claws and notions of like the most awesome way to batch my content. Do I ever do that? No.
Molly: No.
Nicole: I'm like, what am I — but I recommend it. I recommend it.
Molly: So funny you said the thing about responding. Literally, the reel I posted yesterday was in response to like this checkout — poor checkout process. It was like, you know, it was someone selling a mini course that was gonna like help me with something for $27. But then like once I added it to my cart, they're like, Well, if you really want to solve your problem, you also need that — the 97 and the 297, and you're at this. I'm like, no, no, no, this is so baiting. I'm not against mini courses, like if the mini course actually solves the problem, but like don't pretend like it solves the problem if I actually need five more things to solve my problem, you know? Yeah. So like that was my reel yesterday. Like I was just like off the cuff. Like ranting, and I got all these comments from people being like, Oh my gosh, yes, blah blah blah.
Nicole: And that's how — that's why it's better for you to not batch because you're responding to the content that you see, right? Versus like — permission slip. Permission slip, right? Versus like someone who maybe is like, let's say, like a projector, and projectors are like they're meant to like wait for an invitation. So that invitation could come at any time. And the invitation could be like questions from your audience, right? Like doing a Q&A. Like I have a podcast production client. We do a lot of different things here, but we do podcast production as well. And we have a client, it's a husband and wife, and they're both projectors. And so that's great for them to like do stories and pull their audience. What do you want to learn about? So then the audience says, Hey, we want to learn about HRT for women. Great. They have — now they know what they want to create. I love it. And so they can do that ahead of time. Whereas like your generator-ness is like responding to like what's happening in real time. And it's not about trends, it's about like what are people — like what you have something you're excited about responding to. And so it only takes you 10 minutes because you're like, oh, I'm here. I'm responding in that flow. Yeah. I was like, listen.
Molly: And I even tied it to my membership. I was like, if you join my membership, there is no extra. Like everything you need to know is in there. Like, there's no, well, I'll also need this, and I'll also need that. Like it's all in one place. Which I know can also be overwhelming for some people, right? They just — we solve one micro problem at a time. So I'm not saying this is like — that was not an anti-mini course rant. It was just like the — all the — I literally five bumps. I'm like, who has five bumps? If he's ridiculous. And that was not the first time. This is — it was the third time in two weeks that it had happened. I'm like, who, who's the business coach responsible for this? Yes. Yeah. Everyone's following the same formula. But anyway, my back to my like batch creation system. I — the way I — every time I teach it live, I see all these light bulbs go off. And people will be like, oh my gosh, that is so much easier than I've been making it. And it's basically just like a puzzle piece. So it's like, okay, if you're thinking about 10 posts, and that doesn't have to be two weeks' worth, maybe that's your whole month's worth or whatever. Yeah. So let's say you have 10 posts. Okay, two of them are always for me going to be something time sensitive. Like you have a promotion, you're gonna be — office is gonna be closed, you're having a Halloween costume contest for the kids, like whatever. And if you don't have that, you just leave that out. Two are gonna be reel remakes of stuff you've done in the past that were like top performing. So there's four posts out of ten gone. Right. Uh, usually have just one that's like a collaboration type post with like another local business, or maybe if you do HRT, but somebody else really does like — but you don't do gut testing and someone else does that, you know, whatever, whoever you want to refer to. And if you're local, it doesn't even have to be a colleague. It can be like — we've had clients go viral, pediatric chiropractors go viral for talking about the new splash pad that got built in their town, like literally 7,000 shares. Wow, because right, their audience is moms, and so we're like, well, hey, this is — you know, moms, whatever. Like, so that's the — the fifth post is like some type of collab post. And then we typically sprinkle in one, another one that's like a personal type. Like, so this is my thought bubble that I was holding up here was when people hear personal, they freak out, and they're like, Well, I'm a private person. I'm like, cool. Did I say you had to tell people what underwear you were wearing or that you had to fight with your husband? Like, no, but like, you know, here's something. Like, I used the crochet example just because I could never have the patience for it. But like, oh, you go play pickleball, or like I went to a hit — I went to an adult hip hop class last week. It was so funny. It was so bad. Like, whatever the memes, like I was like a meme, it was so funny and so bad. So like just something that peeked behind your life, like your dog, your whatever. So what are we at? What is that? Six — six or seven. I don't know. Yeah. Okay. Then we do some type of like lifestyle thought leadership post. So what are they not gonna be getting from ChatGPT? Right, like I'm not talking about, I'm talking the difference in three tips for better sleep versus which is not work anymore, by the way. Yeah, versus what I wish I knew when I struggled with insomnia, and what I now tell my patients. You're like, oh, I want to tune into that. Or like, if I was building my friend's baby registry, like here's what would make the cut, or like, you know what I mean? Like something like very personal thought leadership. And then we usually have at least one. Now, sometimes the like remakes of top performers cover this, but we — I always tell my clients and students to look at their chief complaint of like a recent new patient or client and make a reel around a chief complaint. So it's like, okay, not you know, night sweats or whatever it is, like make a reel.
Nicole: Yeah, this is what patients are complaining about, right?
Molly: It's just — okay, got it. All right, yep. And then one of the last ones, oh, there's two more kinds. Then I have them layer in like a direct pitch of some sort where literally it is just like a reel that says, I have spots for four new, you know, constipation clients in October. Like so specific, right? Yeah, like I have like four — now accepting new, like four new clients for October.
Nicole: Like people are afraid to do that. People will go like three tips so you — stay hydrated today and not actually just post a post that's just like, hey, I'm looking for two new clients this month. Like every time I've done that, I've filled my — it's crazy.
Molly: Every single time. And then the last one is just like social proof of some sort, right? So, like, are you actually doing the thing you say you do? Like, is it a case study you want to highlight or testimonial or Google review that just came in?
Nicole: Anything like that.
Molly: Yeah, yeah. So that's kind of how I teach people to like build a plan. And I think like once they see that, they're like, Oh, I could plug and play that in. Like, that's not hard at all.
Nicole: It's super smart, and I — I've been — I, you know, I've been in the space for a while. Like, I've never heard somebody break it down like that.
Molly: I don't like content pillars, I don't like reach, nurture, convert. That confuses me. I have found — oh, there was one I forgot. So the last one, this is my golden — well, I've never given this away for free on a podcast, by the way. So I really — I've literally — I call them conversation starters or like can't help myself posts. So I just had someone, an acupuncturist, who does a lot with like periods. She was like, if you could like — which one would you pick? Like, no cramping, no mood swings, no whatever, whatever. And then you just — but we also because we have so many — sorry for them to give so many pregnancy and baby examples. It's just like so easy because it's what we have a lot of clients. Every time we do these, like, if you named your child after your pregnancy craving, what would their names be? Like, people can't help it, like they have to comment. Yeah, like, but it can't be. I've seen people try it before and they're like, Molly, it didn't work. And then I looked at what they wrote as their conversation starter. I'm like, you're trying to get someone to like write you a novel. Like, they're like, What is your biggest desire for — what — I'm like, No, no, no, no, no. This is like quick.
Nicole: It's gotta be, yeah, it's gotta be quick. If you could describe your morning poo in an emoji, what would it be? Right? It's just like it's gotta be like one, just like they don't even have to think about it really.
Molly: It's just like this, you know, you know, we have one that's like moms, you get one free thing for life, and it's like child care, house cleaner, grocery, you know what I mean? Like, we've done it with our — people who see more athletes. It's like, what's one exercise you'd love to never do again? Like burpees, deadlifts, like whatever. Like, you know, people can't help it. They're like, yeah, I have to play along. So I miss that one. So there's your whole show, Nicole, right there.
Nicole: I know, I — I so appreciate the framework. You've like already — like gave me some great ideas as well, just as a content creator, just because I really kind of resist — I — it's funny because I'm a systems person and I like resist systems. Like, I like systems because I resist them. It's like my love-hate relationship. And so the way that you just broke it down was like so intuitive and easy. It's just like I feel like we can all really understand that. So, what happens inside of the membership? Like, if that's the framework, like what do we get when we join it, right?
Molly: Is this like yeah, content ideas very last lesson? Because what I teach leading up to that is like, I mean, a lot of people come in there like not even knowing how to make a reel. Oh yeah, how to make — that's all my clients. Yeah. So we start, we start at the bare bones beginning. Now, obviously, you can skip this if you want, but literally it's like hire a photographer. Step one. You know, then it's like, here's your mindset. Like, why are you doing this? Like, this isn't because Molly said so or Nicole said so. It's because there's people in your community who need your help and don't know you exist, right?
Molly: Yeah.
Molly: We kind of set expectations. Then we — uh have some messaging homework because you can't skip to all that stuff I just said without really nailing your messaging, which I'm sure is something you like preach as well. Oh, yeah. I'm so stoked. Actually, whenever this airs, do you know — in this next week?
Nicole: We're — oh, it's September 10th, so this is gonna be next week. Oh, okay.
Molly: Well, we'll be ready yet, but — uh at the beginning of October, I'm doing like a relaunch and I'm introducing two new Claude skills that I've been working on that will interview you back and forth to pull out all those juicy details of your ideal patient or client. And then there's like a second skill that builds on the first skill to write your bio, your Instagram bio. Now, is it a hundred percent — no? Because it's AI. Like you need your human eyeballs and discernment, but it at least gets you away from a blinking cursor.
Nicole: I love that. You actually just — you started answering my last question, which is are we using AI or not? Uh yeah in content creation, like I'm a Claude girly, I use it every single day. Like, what's your philosophy around how to use AI with content creation?
Molly: Oh my gosh, I love this question so much. And it's so funny because I still feel like I'm like finding my footing of like what's my stance because I have to step out of my own. I am a good copywriter, just that's my background.
Nicole: Like, write my — degree's like PR, sales, marketing, you've like been like over years.
Molly: Yeah. So I — I don't use it for copy often. I'll tell you how I do use it for copy in just a second, but just because for me, I enjoy writing, right? Yeah. And then there are people who I know are like not strong copywriters, they don't enjoy writing. That's why I have you walk through this messaging process so that you can feed Claude. Like I even have you upload Google reviews, like, so it's so richly fed that it can — um like be more in your voice. But I — I'm still like, you still gotta look at it and like make it sound like a human. Like, you know what I mean? Like — so one of my favorite tips is I use Claude all the time. Like, if I'm just like, I swear it's when I'm like cleaning or like got out of the shower or something, I'm like, oh my god, I have an idea. So I'm sure you do this too. I'll — I'll just voice note Claude and be like, okay, I have an idea for an Instagram carousel. This is the prompt I always use. I have an idea for an Instagram carousel. Please do not change any of my words, but just help me clean it up.
Nicole: Yeah.
Molly: And I'll just like start word vomiting. So this would be something I would do for you as like a homework, the people listening, is like a homework assignment. Like if you're in between clients or patients, you're like, oh my gosh, I just saw this patient, fertility, and for years she'd had unexplained infertility and she did this test, this test, this test, and she tried this, this, and this. Her doctor told her she needed this, this, and this. Come to find out, they finally did a test on her husband's semen count, like whatever, like sperm count, whatever. And it's like, this is like — like, and you're just like word vomiting, and like it will help you organize all of your thoughts and see that you can make it into a post a lot easier.
Nicole: Yeah. That's — I love that. That's — that's how I'm using it. I also — I started, and not everybody's gonna be able to do this just for like HIPAA compliance and health, but I record like all my client calls, and every — after every like a client call, like a strategy call or a check-in, when we're in the mid-build and we're talking through everything, like that goes right into Claude. And then Claude — we build a skill so that it's mining that for content angles. Like, oh, you know, client A said she has like a sticky note that tells her to check her Google Voice, right? That's her process, is like a sticky note that just keeps getting moved around. So, like when we hear a client like say something, like that can then turn into like a notion bank where it's like here are ideas that are coming from the mouths of our clients that I'm not — I was never capturing before. And that's as simple as just like just recording with like — uh you know, click of note taker or an owl note taker, something like that. And then just like taking that transcript in and being like, okay, what can we pull out of here?
Molly: Exactly. And like from a HIPAA compliant lens, like what I was saying about like part of our content plan every month is like what was a recent chief complaint? Like, just go look at your intake forms.
Nicole: Yeah, right there, all there. Right there. Yeah, it's right at your — and what you're saying is like after that call, just voice note it and just say it doesn't have to be a particular patient or their name, just like I got off with patient. This is what she was talking about. This was a moment, this was a big aha for her. This was a big complaint for her, right?
Molly: Yeah, and it can even be secondary, like, oh, I just had a patient leave and she was asking me, like this wasn't her primary focus, right? But like she was asking me about high protein lunch ideas because that was like where she was having trouble. So this is like the idea, these were the ideas I gave her. It doesn't have to be exactly what they wrote down as their like problem and while they were there, but like what are the — you know, secondary conversations that you're having? Like that makes excellent content too, right?
Nicole: I love that. I wanted before we wrap up, just to — because you had your little private bubble over here in the side, and it's still sitting there for me because I wanted to comment on it. So I am a very private person. I'm an introvert. My astrology makes me kind of private in public. Luckily, I can kind of pull on some like fire and some Leo energy in my career house to be able to like be the face of the business, which I love. Something that I found personally helpful because I don't like — because I'm private, I don't really like to share on social media very much. I'm like not that person who's just like, I want people to know about my life, you know. And so that's really like limited me in the past. What I found really helpful, and you can take this or leave this, anybody who's listening, like I actually went through and I made a list of the places where I felt personally comfortable sharing that piece of my life. For example, I — because I work with health practitioners, like I'm — I'm comfortable sharing my health journey. So, like if I, you know, had a smoothie today, I can show that. If I — I love being outside, if I'm hiking, like I like to show — these are the places where like my business is supporting me to go out and live my life. But like I don't show my family. My husband's never been on my Instagram, not a single time. Like there are places where I'm like, I'm not comfortable sharing this. And also like I'm not a big hot take kind of person. So like I'm not gonna be on there with like hot takes or being controversial or like trying to get that little bit of like, you know, fire going in there. Like that's not me. And so for me to pick out like three or four places where like if I'm doing something for the plot, right? If I have a new hobby that I'm trying to learn, like I like to learn in public so people can see, like, oh, I'm trying a brand new thing, totally — you know, distinct from business, right? Like, like I'm learning how to crochet, like — I so like for anybody listening, if you're like, I don't want to show my life, you know, pick — even like places of my house. I picked places where I'm like, I'm comfortable showing this corner of my house. Yeah, so this is the place where I'm gonna sit and read a book and talk about, you know, my hobbies or whatever, like, or I'm like my deck, like people can see me outside, right? But like that made me feel comfortable because suddenly I have parameters where I'm like, I can show, but everything else is not for public view. So like I don't ever have to show a picture of me at the gym if I don't want to. You don't ever have to show a picture of your kid, you know. So I thought, I don't know. I think that's probably helped me to just be like, oh, these are the places — I wrote it down. This is where I'm comfortable letting my private life be public because — and here's how it relates back to my business.
Molly: I love that. And then you've got less decision fatigue too, right? Like, yeah, you know, or — so many micro decisions throughout the day. And I am not — I think people would be surprised about this with me. They're like, oh, you're the social media person. I'm like, when I'm on vacation with my family, like, or just on vacation period, like I'm not out like posting, here's what we did. Like, I'm just not. Yeah, that — that's a zero interest to me. I mean, sometimes when we get back from the trip, I'll do like a little — like recap, like dope on my stories or something. But I — I am not just like on my phone all the time. And what's funny is my best — two best friends here, their daughters are my daughter's age. And so, like, we often will like pick up their kids or whatever. They text my husband because they know that I am just like so unreliable with my phone. It's either dead or I don't know where it is. And so I think that would surprise a lot of people because me being like the social media part — I'm like, you don't have to live on your phone or like — you to your point show every — this is not saying you have to show your private life. Like I said, I just mean more like when I say personal content, I just mean like who is the human behind it. Like this weekend, my daughter and I went thrifting and I was like, oh my god, look at my thrift store finds, you know, and I got so many — response. I wasn't doing it for the engagement, it's just like I was genuinely excited about what I found. Yeah. And I was posting it on my stories, and I got so many people being like, oh my gosh, I love thrifting too. And like, you know, anywhere you can find a thread that like connects you to a human, it's always gonna be good.
Nicole: I love that. And I'm gonna share a secret because I've never shared this on the podcast. Oh, and because you just — you just made me think of it with — you know, you're an Instagram person, but you're not on your phone all the time. I literally — nobody knows this. I delete Instagram from my phone every single day. I put it on there. It takes me all 30 seconds. I log in. My phone has like saved my login information. I go in, I check it, and when I'm done, I delete it from my phone. And I'll add it back on that night because then I'm just like not — there's — I have just taken out like the ability to just click in there. Now that doesn't really help if you're saving drafts in your Instagram, right? So don't — like anybody listening, don't go and delete it if you're like — I just don't — I don't create that way where I'm like saving drafts inside of my Instagram. And I even have like a secondary automation where DMs go into my CRM. And so like I'm not — I'm never missing a DM. Like where I'm checking my messages, I'm also checking my DMs. So it's like there are my messages, but I'm not scrolling.
Molly: That's — yeah, smart. I need you to set that up for me. I just hired a new like fractional COO, and that's — unfortunate. She came into quite a mess. So yeah, it's on our list, but it's like I was like, I want like a messaging hub, right? Where I've got one.
Nicole: Yeah, that's where my emails are. It's my DM. So I treat my DMs like they're emails, like they're messages, right? So I'm like, I don't need to be on the app going through stories and scrolling in order to like get to my DM. So that's a little piece — uh secret about me, right? What's that? Have you ever heard of the brick?
Molly: Oh, I want to get one of those. Yes. So I have a brick and you can set it — too. So people who don't know what it is, it's literally like a square piece of plastic. We have ours on our refrigerator, and you tap your phone to it and it locks. We pick whatever apps, right? So for me, I do Instagram and Slack. And then it — you can't, you literally only get three emergency unlocks like ever. You have to like email customer service to get more. Ever? Yeah. You can email customer service, but — yeah, that's — give me more and they will, but you have to literally like tap — tap your phone physically to the brick to unlock it to get Instagram back, but you can also set it to automatically brick itself, like at a certain time every day. I love that. Yeah, I — I want to get one of those too. I've influenced so many people to buy the brick. I'm like, listen, this thing is amazing because it's — you don't realize like out of muscle memory how much you just pick it up and open it.
Nicole: A hundred percent. Yeah.
Molly: So I get why you do that.
Nicole: Yeah. Awesome. I love that we like wrapped up on just like a little bit of hygiene, like from the social media conversations. Like, I don't think you can have that conversation without like a little bit of hygiene in there because it can be like an addictive place, it can be an icky place, it can be an awesome place, it can bring you amazing clients. It's like — it's a little bit of everything, right? It's a little microcosm of like all the different energies wrapped into one. And for a lot of people, that can be problematic. And so, like, no, like being able to step forward and be — feel empowered with social media, powered with Instagram and your business, and also be like, and here are my boundaries. Here are, you know, some healthy things that I've put in place to make sure like I'm protecting my energy as well. Your clients are protecting their energy, right? And sometimes it's hiring somebody out to do it, where it's just like, I don't want to be in there at all. I — I would rather somebody else to do it, or if you're doing it yourself, like having good hygiene boundaries around it as well. So I love that we kind of are wrapping up on that.
Molly: My — well, I'll say my favorite other hygiene tip is — this is gonna sound mean, but like mute or unfollow all of your colleagues because I'm telling you it just — not. Yeah, I don't follow any social media people anymore because when I did, I was like, oh my god, I have no original ideas, I'm not creative, and like they're doing more than me, and they don't — and uh so now I'll just get like home decor videos and recipes and sadness videos, and you know, like the happy, like the — the I get human design videos, you know, all sorts of stuff.
Nicole: So I started a second one just for myself for that kind of stuff where it's just like all right, I'm just gonna have the — like here's a business business one over here. I don't follow anybody that does what I do, I just follow doctors. So I'm just kind of seeing like — I'm like I'm following like my ideal client avatar and seeing what they're doing, engaging, but then I have my own personal that's just like oh, it's like — yeah, yeah, cat videos and travel, and I just have one and I curate it to how I want it, and nothing. You know why — you know why I did it to be honest, and I actually did it very recently. I'm surprised I didn't do it earlier. I was — I felt like I was limiting the content that I wanted to create because it was — family and friends were mixed up in there as well. Like there was no separation between like, and — and generally there's not a lot of separation between like me and the business. Like they kind of blend together anyway. But I felt like I was just like, I felt like I was always like, I don't want to spam my sister or you know my cousin. Like I felt like there was too many people on there. So I like separated that out. I like made my own personal. I blocked everybody from family and friend. Like anybody who wasn't my like ideal client avatar or like a business person that I wanted to connect with, like yourself, right? It was just like somebody that I wouldn't have on the podcast or I wanted to follow. Like I kept that over there, and then I separated out personal and was just like, hey everybody, I'm moving over here. This is where you can send memes and — and this is where I'm gonna be, but I'm like blocking you from — I didn't tell everybody, but I was just like, and then that made me feel like I was so much more free in the business account because it was like I didn't have to worry about like my cousin when I was making content to like grow your — yeah practice, right? Or like I talk about systems, that's kind of boring. So like nobody — I want the people following to be like like my people and not family. So that was an intentional, but literally only did in the last like six months.
Molly: I never — done just because I wasn't posting a lot personally anyway. So I guess like, whatever, I don't care. Like people can find their way out. And when I first started my business, you better believe I was like messaging all my friends and family, like, can you go — call me? Oh, yeah, go follow me. Yes, yeah. I'm like, nobody — it's crickets over here, but — but no, I completely understood. Like, I think that would benefit a lot. I think it depends, like I said, on your personality type. Like, I think that would benefit a lot of people.
Nicole: I think so too. So awesome. Well, I feel like I could talk to you all day. Like, in some ways, I feel like we just got started. And I love it because I didn't really ask you any of my questions that I wanted to, but as I — I love when these like interviews go this way where we're just like — we're just like flowing around. So where can people find you? On Instagram and also like on your website.
Molly: Yes, Instagram. So Cahill trips up a lot of people. They think it's spelled with a K. C A H I L L. When I first met my husband, I was like, How do you say this name? Yeah, as I'd never heard — so C A H I L L, Molly A Cahill, that's what I am on. So just Molly Cahill — the — that handle was taken and she's like a — like a professional water polo player or something like this. Whoa. I don't know. I was like, well, that's not me. So yeah, so I'm at Molly A Cahill on Instagram. I'm very active in my DMs. Come say hi. My membership is Holistic Marketing Hub. It's super affordable. It's literally everything you need to know from start to finish on your Instagram. Amazing. I do give — for — the fan favorite is every Sunday. I give like four post ideas of like stuff either that's performed well for one of our clients or something I've seen in the wild. And I kind of like — this is how you can make it your own, like your own spin. I'll do like trends if you know, if that's something people are interested in, some people aren't, that's fine. So that has kind of been like consistently the fan favorite for most people joining the membership. But like I said, if you want the true roots and foundation of how to like actually have a full strategic Instagram marketing plan that's in there. And then yeah, I have a podcast also called Holistic Marketing Simplified that you can tune into wherever podcasts.
Nicole: Awesome. I can't wait to listen to that. Yeah, wherever they are. Podcast.
Molly: Wherever they are these days, they're always the way. Yeah, I just had to draw down to every other week. I'll probably go back to weekly soon, but I was just in this like chaotic season of business where you know how like it's like death by a thousand paper cuts, and I'm like, oh, that thing has to go. Yep. And I didn't want to let it go completely. So it was like every other week feels way more manageable.
Nicole: Oh, totally. I totally get it. Molly, thank you so much for being here with us. This is a great conversation. I feel like I learned a lot. Thank you for sharing your framework with us. Appreciate you sharing that live on the podcast with us. And uh yeah, guys, go check out the membership and follow Molly on Instagram.
Molly: Thanks for having me.
Nicole: Okay, that's it for this episode. If you're sitting there realizing that patients are coming in just fine, but things are slipping through the cracks behind the scenes — the follow-up, the systems, the back end that's all held together by you and some sticky notes and a prayer — I've got a few free resources that'll help you see exactly where those gaps are. They're all linked in the show notes, so just go grab whatever fits you where you're at right now. Also, come follow me on Instagram too and hang out over there. I share a lot of good resources at Nicole.leadbetter. And if you're past the figure it out myself stage and you just want a team to run the operational side of your practice for you, yay! That's exactly what we do at LeadBetter HQ. We run the operations and intelligence layer behind the practice so that patients you already have don't fall through the cracks, right? We — we like to make sure that we're working with what's actually coming in. So if that's a thing that you've been looking for, book a call with us. I'd love to chat with you. The link's in the show notes, and thank you so much for hanging out with me today. I'll see you in the next one. Bye now.