We were lucky to catch up with Giuliana Vann recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Giuliana thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

There is a lot of noise in this industry (social media marketing) and many people who are illegitimate to practice and agencies who claim themselves “marketing experts” and overpromise and underdeliver. I’ve heard from many people who have been burned by marketing agencies and that alone makes me sad to hear how small businesses have lost their hard-earned money like that. When I founded my Social Media Agency, I did it from a consumer’s need in the digital space and not for the money. My mission is to actually help businesses make more money and have the best ROI with my services. Few things we do different from other agencies are that we put our client’s needs FIRST and based on those needs, we craft a customized strategy so they can see results. We take a lot of time in understanding a business and brand’s mission, values, and brand voice so we can then execute a plan of action based on our research and data and create stop-scrolling and cutting-edge content that cuts through the noise while making our clients’ brands recognizable and memorable. And the most important key thing we do different and set us apart is our UNPARALELL personalized attention. We hear our clients” needs and we strive to meet them.

Giuliana, 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?

Hello! I’m Giuliana Vann, founder and CEO of Living a Digital Dream, award-winning boutique social media marketing agency helping clients grow their Instagram and scale their social media brand presence worldwide based out of Sarasota, Florida. Our specialized services include social media management (Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok), content creation, one-to-one coaching, Google My Business set up and management, self-paced courses, and influencer marketing campaigns.

I’m an Instagram Expert, Social Media & Branding Strategist and Influencer marketing Coach helping entrepreneurs, business owners, and personal brands, including influencers, grow and monetize their IG, build a stand out online presence and grow their DREAM BUSINESS leveraging the power of social media with my same TESTED & PROVEN strategies I learned and implemented over the years and used to grow my IG to over 25k loyal fans in a year and half (before Reels existed).

I have a background in Nursing. I’ve worked as a Registered Nurse in the Oncology/Med-surg department at a local hospital for 5 years. As a critical care nurse, unit manager, and nurse preceptor, I have developed many skills to maintain patient safety and care in a busy critical care unit that I carry now as a business owner and in my company.

Due to fracturing my ankle which left me immobilized for almost a year and going through long months of post-op recovery and therapy, the long 14 hour-day shifts on my feet at the hospital were not approved by the surgeon (and by me). The pain was still there.
Is during that recovery time that I discover new passions – Instagram and Influencer Marketing! I became obsessed with the platform and learned the ins and outs of Instagram and how to use it for maximum organic growth and exposure. I also started learning about how to monetize my brand and work with companies that I love and already use. I started implementing my own methods after many trials and errors and grew my Instagram to over 25K genuine followers in about one year and half organically. Just after a few months of posting about my story, passions, and giving valuable content about things I’m passionate about such as health and wellness, fitness, fashion, and faith, brands started reaching out to work with me. I saw the potential and studied more on how to take my brand to the next level and that’s how I became a paid content creator/influencer.
I started getting several messages from fellow influencers and people with inquiries on how they can grow and monetize their own brand on social media after seeing my own success and how fast I grew. So, I started creating content to help those who wanted to grow and monetize their brand online and the response was amazing until I got the first inquiry from a paying client all from Ireland wanting me to coach her. That is when I noticed the need and people trust me because I built a strong brand and reputation.

After helping hundreds of clients grow and monetize their brand and scale their business around the globe with my one-to-one coaching services over the course of almost 2 years, the pandemic happened. Small businesses had to pivot things digitally and I just felt that was a sign and my calling to serve. So, I took the leap of faith, bet on myself and founded Living a Digital Dream, my own social media agency at the start of the pandemic.

Since then, I’ve helped and worked with hundreds of clients and thousands of students all over the world through my coaching and paid courses and social media management services getting them results, meaningful Instagram growth and social media success.

My proven methods WORK and are available to you too so you can fast track your learning curve, results and success to have the freedom and abundance you deserve. I know what works and what doesn’t in this digital space.

In less than 2 years in being in business, I’m proud that I’ve built a successful coaching business and agency tripling my nursing income and a 6-figure social media agency from the comfort of my home while raising 2 kids and creating the time freedom and lifestyle I’ve always envisioned. All that without having a website, no YT channel, without being active in all social media platforms, never launched a single webinar/workshop to sell my programs, no live launches, no complicated funnels, no paying ads, no dancing silly on reels, not sending daily emails, no sales calls, no cold dms..

All the success I’ve had and continue to have is because I built a strong brand for myself with an impactful and profitable blueprint that is replicable across most industries and applicable to ALL socials.

My passion to see people succeed and make major impact online is what drives my success.

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

Is during my recovery time post-op fracturing my ankle that I discover new passions – Instagram and Influencer Marketing! I became obsessed with the platform. I invested in courses and spent thousands of hours studying the ins and outs of how the algorithms work, branding, how to increase reach, engagement, how to create valuable content and all the things needed to grow a presence on social media. I started implementing my own methods after many trials and errors and grew my Instagram to over 25K genuine followers in about one year and half organically.

I did not only grow an audience online but a community which I value a lot. The main factor that led me to where I am today and how I grew an audience is because I built my personal brand. So, if you’re just starting out to build your social media presence, I highly recommend you invest time in building your own personal brand. No algorithm, no fancy website, no ads can come to your rescue if you don’t have a strong brand.
Most people focus on trying to beat the algorithm, gain followers, worry about likes and vanity metrics and do not put the effort into building their personal brand. People buy from people who they TRUST, like and know. By building a strong brand, you will be able to attract the right people, grow your business, build a community (not random followers), and position yourself as an authority in your market.
Show up as YOU. Don’t compare yourself to others online. Everyone started from zero at some point in life. Try out different types of content and assess what your audience resonates with. And always, create content that adds value to your audience. If you want to grow online, is no longer about what you think your audience may like to see, is about creating content that they WANT to see and solve their problems.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source in getting new clients has been Instagram of course! About 90% of new inquires and new clients find me on Instagram or came across one of my posts. I don’t need to jump on sales calls, I do not do sales calls. I don’t need to chase clients as they come to me. Potential clients are already pre-sold.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.livingadigitaldream.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giulianavann/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/instamomboss/

Image Credits
professional headshot by Joni Dusek photography.