We were lucky to catch up with Nicole Ialeggio recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicole, thanks for joining us today. One of the toughest things about entrepreneurship is that there is almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

Oh my gosh yes, starting a business was totally one of the best decisions I have made, but it takes perseverance to get through those unexpected twists and turns! I had started my business a few months prior to this. I was 4 weeks postpartum, and had just told my 9-5 that I wouldn’t be returning after my maternity leave.

I was only making $1500 a month at the time in my new business and was not only a new mom, but was totally overworked (because I took on clients for super cheap). I remember sitting on my kitchen floor, holding my newborn and crying because I was unsure if I had made the right decision to go all-in on my business. The worry of putting financial stress on my growing family was unbearable!

I also had mentors and coaches telling me I needed to do all the things (be on all social media apps, applying for jobs on upwork & indeed, guesting on podcasts, etc) in order to make my business work. This stressed me out even more and I couldn’t fathom how to be everywhere, be a new mom AND handle my current client work.

I am grateful for that moment, however, because it wasn’t until then that I decided to go all-in on marketing myself on ONE platform – Instagram and was able to get completely booked up with the BEST clients!

Nicole, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Prior to starting this business I actually was a healthcare professional and worked at a local high school. During that time I became a nano-influencer on Instagram and got paid a little bit to promote brands. Then, a friend reached out to me and told me that my IG was so good and she was wondering if I could help her with her business account. I said of course, and it ended up going really well for her! This is when I had a lightbulb moment and thought that I could charge to do this for people.

So, that’s when I invested in marketing classes and really took this new career path seriously. Once I started marketing myself on Instagram, I got fully booked up with done-for-you clients (all in the health/wellness niche) and LOVED helping these amazing business owners build and scale their companies.

After doing this for awhile I realized that I wanted to help even more people, and more than that I wanted to help people that were in the “stuck” place that I was in – never knowing if this business could really work. So now I have a program – Profitable Instagram – where I help other service-based business owners get completely booked up, all using Instagram!

it’s been a wild ride but I absolutely LOVE being able to help people that were stuck in that same place as me a few years ago.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

A pet peeve of mine is when coaches and marketing gurus try to tell new business owners that they have to be in ALL of the places in order to have a successful business. This was a recipe for burnout for me personally so I decided to do things differently.

I put focused effort into ONE platform (Instagram).
I niched down and picked my DREAM client to “talk” to in my posts and stories. You really have to call these individuals out and talk about the transformation you can provide for them.
ANDDD my top tip is that you actually have to tell people about what you are offering! No one is going to know that you offer virtual assistant or social media management services if you never talk about it!

Be consistent, talk to someone specifically, and be yourself! (I know, easier said than done).

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

INSTAGRAM!!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nicollaborations.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/nicoleialeggio

Image Credits
The Branding Babe