We were lucky to catch up with Paula aka PracticallyPerfectFamily recently and have shared our conversation below.
Paula, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
When I started my social media page, my biggest fear was putting myself out there! I didn’t know if I was interesting, or funny, or able to put out a product that people found informative.
Eventually I decided to just be me. In doing so, everything I do feels extremely natural and I can honestly say I am portraying myself in my natural element.
One of the things I did not anticipate was the growth in my following. I am naturally introverted (when in person) but am able to relax in front of the camera. I wasn’t prepared for the amount of people that would be writing me, asking me for advice, and recognizing me in public (whether it be in a Disney park, a concert, or my local grocery store). Once I decided to just be me, life became much easier and I am proud of the work I have been able to do and the people I have positively influenced along the way.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I make silly Instagram reels – mostly about Disney, travel, or being a mom – with the goal of making people smile. I try to be relatable and base my content mainly off of events in my own life.
I am constantly thinking of new concepts and even surprise myself with some of the ideas I have been able to come up with.
As my page has grown, it has become a formidable advertising tool. I reach approximately 2 million accounts a month and am proud of the authentic, real engagement that I have built in the community. Inside of my primary niche, my results are even better! My last Disney vacation, which was comprised of 11 videos I created, garnered over 1.6 million views with over 42 thousand likes!
This engagement within my community has allowed me to work with different brands to promote their products or services while providing my followers with discount codes and/or honest reviews of the products I am trying.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
For me, what has worked is being consistent and focusing on what I was good at with the content that I was comfortable with. Once I found the combination that worked for me I stuck with a plan. When I first got started, my goal was to post every single day, I learned a lot during this process. Different ways to film, different ways to edit, and different ways to deliver the message I was trying to deliver. It was not only a growth period for me, but I also feel the consistency was beneficial to my page.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I get asked this question a lot. I always try to remind people that when I started doing this, it was an outlet for me. I was not trying to create a business, and I certainly did not envision growing my social media page to what it has become. Too often I think people approach creative work instantly trying to monetize it. I think the goal is to create what makes you happy and hopefully people will enjoy consuming it! It has been my experience that you can tell when people aren’t all in on the content they are creating.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/practicallyperfectfamily?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
- Other: Info@practicallyperfectfamily.com