Securing A Virtual Assistant And Embracing Instagram Reels With Corey Walker

Corey Walker:

Thank you for having me. I’m excited to be here.

Jennifer Bourn:

Now, you are an author, you are working on another book, you own a marketing agency, you’re a wife, a mom of a middle-schooler and a graduating senior, and you still find time to read, hit the gym, and go for walks.

Writing books is a lot of work. Writing, in general, is a lot of work for people, but you’re doing it on top of all of your regular responsibilities and running your business. How do you juggle all of that?

Corey Walker:

Well, when you put it like that, I don’t know.

You know, I do have systems and writing the book — we have two other authors, so that helps. So, I’m not writing it by myself. Luckily, the book that I’m writing right now is a second edition, so it’s more updating. I mean, everything changes all the time, so it’s almost like rewriting because there are so many new features.

• I also have a virtual assistant that helps me — and that’s a newer thing.
• I have a coach.
• And I’ve been using Click Up to put all my tasks in.

Jennifer Bourn:

We’re definitely gonna talk about those a little bit more, but before we do that, I wanna talk about, your journey. Social media is something that didn’t exist when I started my career. I’m pretty sure it was the same for you.

What did your career path look like and how did you get into social media and really decide to become an expert in that space, especially with Instagram?

Corey Walker:

I worked in corporate marketing for, I don’t know, maybe nine or 10 years and I was doing print work. I was doing email newsletters, things like that. Always in marketing. And then once I had my first daughter, I worked for another year or so and then decided I was ready to go out on my own and try different things.

I started my business and I thought I was going to be a virtual assistant. And then I thought, “Well, I have all this specialized marketing experience. Why don’t I be a marketing specialist?” Hence the name.

I had come from VSP, a vision healthcare agency, and I still worked with them a lot, and I said, “Well, what’s going on with the social media stuff?”

First, it started with Twitter.

Jennifer Bourn:

Yep. That was my first platform.

Corey Walker:

Yeah, so I got a Twitter account and started kind of messing around with that. And then I started getting more clients.

I was working for another, healthcare company who I still work with, and I said, “You know, we really need to start doing more on Facebook. I’m seeing this Facebook thing and I think it’s gonna be big.”

So I started doing their regular content and I’m sure if I looked back on it now, it totally sucked. But at the time it was like, “We’re doing big things” — and I think we were posting maybe, once a week or something.

We were dipping our toes in the water and then it just started growing as we spent more time on it. I started investing in advertising and then Instagram came along and people were like, “I thought that was just for photos and, you know, Nat Geo type stuff.”

Jennifer Bourn:

Yeah. I only signed up for Instagram to monitor my daughter because she wanted an account in sixth grade.

Corey Walker:

Oh, yeah.

Jennifer Bourn:

And I’m like, “I do not need another platform.” But she wanted an account. So I signed up and then I was like, “I use this more than you!”

Corey Walker:

Yeah. So, Instagram for me came about ironically.

I was already using it for my business and I was just posting maybe three times a week but I wasn’t all invested. Then my co-author Eric Butow had the opportunity to write this book but he didn’t use Instagram a lot — he knows how to write a Dummies book and all that — so he needed a marketing expert to be on it with him.

He asked me to do it and I’m like, “Yes, of course!”

Obviously, when you’re going to write a book about Instagram, you better know about Instagram. So then I was completely all-in and writing the book, you have to know everything. So you dive in. And we take all the screenshots ourselves, you know, we do it all. And then there’s a technical editor that goes through it.

So, once I wrote the first book, it was like, “I guess I’m the expert now.” And so I just started diving into it even further and seeing what I could do.

Jennifer Bourn:

What a great way to force you into discovering everything you need to know about a platform for your clients?!

Corey Walker:

Yeah. It’s a little backwards but it worked out.

Jennifer Bourn:

That’s fantastic.

Now, your social media marketing agency supports clients with their social media strategy and things like creating graphics, written content, scheduling content, video ads, tracking analytics…

But you’re a company of one, which means you wear all the hats.

You mentioned you have a VA (virtual assistant) and that you’re using Click Up to get systems and processes and things documented in your business. How are you juggling all of the different roles and responsibilities?

Corey Walker:

I’ve been in business for, gosh 16 years, and it’s just been in the last year that I got this VA. So, it’s still fairly new to me.

I was always partially a control freak. If I’m doing something for a client and it’s representing me, I want it to be as perfect as possible. So, I always held back because “Well, no one can do it like I can do it.” Of course, people can and probably better, but that’s your mindset.

Anyway, this last year I did get a VA and what I started with were some of the graphics. Because he’s a Canva wiz. And like I said, he is better than me when it comes to designing, so that was actually really nice once I discovered like, “Okay. A) I don’t have to do this anymore, and B) my graphics look better than when I was doing it.”

Jennifer Bourn:

A Canva-savvy, virtual assistant seems like a perfect fit

Corey Walker:

Yeah, that was great. It just takes a huge load off of my plate.

And the nice thing about Canva — so this is another systems thing — is if you have a pro account, you can have different folders set up and different color swatches — all of the branding guidelines — in there. That’s really helpful because you can plug someone in and have everything there and I can go and review things. I love that about Canva.

Going back to your question about what else I delegate, I’ve had him batching some things for me.

So, I will have him go into Metricool, my scheduler for social media, and put a bunch of things out there and then I’ll review it. And then before we hit send, I’ll make sure it’s approved and then send that out.

So in the beginning, I was very tightly controlled and I would only be like, “Show me the graphic in Canva.” So, it’s been a letting go process for sure. And I’m trying to get to the point where I can have him do things a little bit more on autopilot.

In Click Up — I don’t know if you use Click Up…

Jennifer Bourn:

It is amazing to me. How many people are switching to, already use, or are evaluating Click Up.

Corey Walker:

Yeah. I just kind of fell into it. I have a friend that’s a Click Up expert so I knew it was good. But what you can do in Click Up is set up a recurring task. So, that’s something I like to do for him now. It’s just like, “Okay, we’re going to set it and forget it.”

Now, instead of doing a bunch of emails back and forth for tasks, it’s in Click Up. I can set the task, say it’s urgent, set a due date… And then it will send me back, an email when the task is complete. So that’s been really great. We set that up pretty early on because I have a business coach and she said, “You know, you really need to have something set up that’s all in one.”

Jennifer Bourn:

Well, and having one source of truth across all of the operations in your business — one place where the files live, the conversations live, the tasks live… One place where someone can go in and say let me see the background on everything that’s happened for this particular task or this project — can be so powerful.

Not only to give you that bird’s eye view of what’s going on in your business but to really look at team members’ effectiveness and to figure out where systems are falling down.

Corey Walker:

Yes for sure. So sometimes I’ll be about to send an email to him. And then I think I could just add this as a comment to the task in Click Up, and like you said, he’s not checking like all these different places.

Jennifer Bourn:

Well, and let’s face it, trying to use your inbox like a to-do list is a recipe for disaster.

When you’re a solopreneur or freelancer — when you are a company of one — you think, “I don’t need the systems, or the software, software or the things it’s just in my inbox. I know I have to do it. I’ll leave it right there as a reminder.”

Have you noticed a big change since you’ve started moving things into a central project management system and out of email?

Corey Walker:

Yeah, it is a lot easier because it saves time.

I’m not going through my inbox like, “Where was that thing? Where was that thing?” It’s all right there so it makes things more efficient. We also use Google Docs and Google Drive to save a lot of files and just put the link to Google drive right in the Click Up task, so it is really like one hub.

Jennifer Bourn:

Systems make everything easier.

I love systems and I think it’s because I’m kind of like, “Bright shiny object and glitter and sparkles and all the things everywhere.” So when I have systems, I can look at that system and say, “I know exactly what that next step is going to be.”

And I know something that you’ve been working on, in your business is really getting those standard operating procedures documented and in place to support future growth.

How are you thinking about what systems you work on first?

Corey Walker:

Well, some of the first things that I worked on for my SOPs were recurring things that I thought would be really easy for me to communicate to the VA.

Things like weekly content for a certain, I would put in what is needed, the review process, who it’s going to when I get it back — all of those types of things. Those were the ones that I really wanted to focus on because I want my VA to have a little bit more control and empower him to get some of those things done and have a very structured, way of looking at it.

The other reason is… Say he decides to get another job tomorrow, well, I have it all right there so I can just plug, in another person, just, okay, well, this is how it all works. And it’s way easier than trying to do my brain dump, which I’ve already done and I don’t want to do it again.

Jennifer Bourn:

I think that’s something that we kind of forget about.

Most people start their business because they’re really good at the job that they’re doing. They’re really good at the task but not necessarily running the business, and we forget that if somebody quits a regular business, they’re just going to fill that spot with a different butt in the seat. And they’re able to do that because they have employee handbooks and manuals and documented training.

And when we step into our own business, it’s hard to document how everything should work, delegate, and set someone else up for success.

Corey Walker:

And, it’s been helping me with other areas of my life.

Like you said, my daughter is graduating high school. There are all these things that happen, you know, that last month. And now that we have procedures in place, it’s all written out, so I’m at graduation parties and college tours and all that fun stuff.

So it helps you in more ways than you would think.

Jennifer Bourn:

What did business look like before you started working on your systems and processes?

Corey Walker:

It was pretty much all over the place. I mean…

Jennifer Bourn:

I think everybody can relate.

Corey Walker:

I mean, I’ve always been someone that’s gotten things done on time — all of that — but it was very just here and there and everywhere. And my brain was constantly pinging all over the place.

Now that I have some systems in place, I do have a little more focus on the bigger picture and moving my business forward.

I’m now doing more podcasts like this because I have more time on my plate to do that. At some point, I might do a membership program. So, it’s taking me from chaos and not really having a structured path and just feeling like I’m just always in the mire of all of it to doing bigger things for my business.

Jennifer Bourn:

That muck of the daily doing, like the drudge of being stuck in the doing of all the daily obligations of your business, can be soul-sucking and time-sucking when you know you have big dreams. So I love that you pointed out that systems and making the time to work on those is creating the time to move things forward and pursue, the goals that you have.

Now, you have a new ebook on Instagram reels — and I want to talk about reels a little bit because reels are one of those things that I just kind of despise.

I don’t have a system for it. I don’t even know what to do. I just know my social feeds are now filled with people awkwardly dancing, or pointing at text that is often cut off that you can’t even read, or lip-syncing somebody else’s goofy words.

So, the idea of doing a reel makes me super uncomfortable because I think they’re ridiculous.

Corey Walker:

But tell me more about reels!

Jennifer Bourn:

Well, see, I felt the same way about video.

I avoided video in my business for years. I didn’t want to be on camera. I felt uncomfortable. I didn’t like the way I looked. I didn’t wanna look at myself. But I got over it and now I’m on video in my business every single day.

I know you help people get over their stuckness with social media and embrace reels. You’ve got the skinny on all things reels, and I need to know why I should be using these.

Corey Walker:

Okay. So the first thing you asked was why you should be doing them.

Jennifer Bourn:

Yeah.

Corey Walker:

Right now, if you want more awareness — more people just seeing your content — reels is the number one in the algorithm. So, I mean, you said it yourself, you see it over and over in your feed, and that’s because Instagram is trying so hard to beat TikTok. So they are just pumping those reels.

That’s gonna be your number one way to get noticed.

Jennifer Bourn:

I know I’ve got to do it. I know I’ve got to get over it.

Corey Walker:

But see, you’re already one step in because you’re comfortable on video. And here’s the trick, here’s the one golden nugget: if you take away nothing else from my reels talk, reels are just a three-second to 60-second video. That’s all it is.

You don’t have to dance. You don’t have to point. You don’t have to lip sync. You can just talk to your audience and treat it like a short video because that’s all it really is.

People have gone wild and, you know, dancing and all that. I don’t dance and I maybe have caught myself pointing once or twice. But I really avoid pointing at all costs because I’m with you on that.

I have lip-synced. I will say that it can be kind of fun. But you don’t have to do any of that.

Jennifer Bourn:

I feel like I might get there someday. But I don’t know.

Corey Walker:

Using trending audio does help. And by trending audio, it doesn’t have to be lip-syncing, it could just be, you know, a song that’s popular. So that’s one thing.

Keeping it short is helpful if you’re just trying to get into the kind of mass awareness. If you have an established audience that’s used to hearing you talk about systems or graphic design or, you know, anything that you would want to talk about in a longer format, you could go the full minute and talk about something in more detail.

It kind of depends on what your audience is used to.

My co-author, Jen Herman, she’s already has you know, a pretty good following. And so she’ll do videos — she’ll do reels that are 45 seconds and she’ll get people watching because they know that she’s going to give them really good information.

You also mentioned that text gets cut off, which is super annoying.

Jennifer Bourn:

It is. Do we just not do text?

Corey Walker:

No, that’s not what you do.

Jennifer Bourn:

Okay, tell me the right way.

Corey Walker:

As someone who has done graphic design for years, you will appreciate this.

There are little like snap-to guides so when you’re putting text in, and you kind of move it around, you’ll see a little guide that pops up. if it touches that guide, you’re fine because you’re within the window. If it goes above that, then it’s going to get cut off.

Jennifer Bourn:

Oh, so that’s just people doing a bad job with their design? That makes me feel better.

Corey Walker:

Yeah. I’m sure you could be all over that. And it is helpful to have some kind of text at the beginning that alerts people about what you’re going to be talking about. So, some kind of hook.

So one of my best videos lately: I talked about five of the top apps that I use — five apps I wish I knew sooner — and I put that on there. And then I just kind of say like five apps that I wish I knew sooner. And I show the different apps on my computer.

Anyway, having that text in the beginning just lets people know this is what I’m gonna talk about. And this is, you know, why you’ll want to tune into it. So, I do recommend you do some text in the beginning, in the correct window.

Jennifer Bourn:

Okay. So far, this doesn’t sound as scary or icky as I thought…

Corey Walker:

No. It really isn’t.

Jennifer Bourn:

So it can be a regular video — me talking to my audience and sharing something of value. I can make sure that whatever text I use doesn’t get cut off. by using the guides that they have available in the reels builder.

Corey Walker:

Yes.

Jennifer Bourn:

And, by including some text, at least at the beginning to tell people what this is about, you’re giving people who might be interested in that, a reason to watch.

Corey Walker:

Exactly. Yes. You summed it up perfectly.

Another big tip is reels are always going to perform better if your face is on the screen.

So there’s some people that are like, makers and they’ll do an overhead thing of, either baking something or making their craft. And those can do well but if you are somebody, you know, like us, that your brand is you, putting your face on camera is going to be number one.

Jennifer Bourn:

Well, it’s a good thing I’ve gotten over that fear. That was my biggest thing with video early on I’m like, “I don’t wanna see my face on camera,” and so, because I didn’t want to see it, I didn’t do it. And I had to get over the fact that I’m not the one watching my videos.

Corey Walker:

It’s funny because reels are the thing that got me over my video phobia because I didn’t like doing videos for the exact same reason. I just didn’t like looking at myself on camera. And I just kind of hopped on reels.

I thought, you know, this seems like something that’s gonna grow. I know Tik Tok’s growing so let me just see what it’s all about. And then I kind of fell in love with it and I really like it. Like, I get pumped up when I’m doing it. So there’s hope you might fall in love with reels.

Jennifer Bourn:

I may embrace it. I know it’s something that I should be doing for my business. So, because I know that I think I’ll get there eventually, maybe this year.

I really like the fact that I can lean into my strength and where I’m comfortable to get started — that anyone can step in and get started with reels without feeling like they have to be somebody that they’re not. Right? And that they can just share value.

Now I’ve got a question: Stories disappear. Reels have a longer life. Reels are better than stories? Do you still need stories? How do the two play together?

Corey Walker:

Okay, good question.

So, stories still expire in 24 hours and, there are still, 15-second segments, but you know, you can record something that’s a minute and it’ll flow through.

Reels go in the regular feed. So like you said before, you’re seeing them all in your feed. Stories stay in their little section — the bubbles at the top for you to watch stories — they’re not going to be in your feed yet.

Now, I’m hearing that they might try and do one big feed at some point…

Jennifer Bourn:

That would be a shift.

Corey Walker:

Yeah, that could be coming, but for now, they’re still in their little spot.

Interestingly enough, you create them in the same area. So if you’re making a story or a reel, it looks like you’re doing the same thing, but, they go different places.

Jennifer Bourn:

Right.

Corey Walker:

If you are trying to just get brand new eyeballs on all of your content, reels are going to be the way to go because they’re showing it to so many more people and people outside of your following.

Stories are going to be more to the people that are following you and it’s a better way to do a little bit more personal stuff.

Stories are a good way to nurture your audience more, so once they’ve seen you maybe on reels and are like, “Oh, I, kind of like this lady and what she’s doing,” and they follow you and they start watching your stories, they might get a little bit more about maybe what you’re doing that day. It’s, nurturing your audience to get them to know you a little bit better.

So that’s the way I use the two. And I think most people, for business, that’s the difference.

Jennifer Bourn:

Got it. So reels are more for expanding your reach and gaining visibility with new people whereas stories are more for your existing audience and helping build stronger connections with them.

Corey Walker:

Exactly. Yes.

Jennifer Bourn:

Now, stories — you have that swipe-up ability or the ability to link to something.

Corey Walker:

Yeah, the link stickers.

Jennifer Bourn:

Reels — you don’t have that. Do you?

Corey Walker:

No you don’t.

Jennifer Bourn:

So reels bring you in and help you discover that I exist. And then stories are the hey, you know me, you like me, you’re here, you followed me, we’ve connected. Now, here are other ways to engage…

Corey Walker:

Right, and if you look at the overall funnel of marketing, reels are at the top and you wouldn’t necessarily on your first interaction with someone be like link here and buy my stuff.

So, if you think of reels at the top of the funnel, stories are going a little bit further down and that’s probably why you don’t get the link until then. So, if people are like, “Oh, well, I like you enough to follow you,” in your stories, you could say, “Oh, well, if you like me even more, go to my website” or things like that.

Jennifer Bourn:

Nice. So, what would you say to someone who started using Instagram, not for business, has a beautiful feed of fantastic adventures and fun things, but now knows that they need to start using it for business?

We don’t wanna just all of a sudden start spamming your audience with business stuff because that’s not what people are used to.

We kind of ease into things, right? Do you have to get a new account? Is that what you recommend? A separate account for your business? Do you slowly start peppering in things and start to have a good mix? What is the best approach here?

Corey Walker:

That’s a good question.

So, if someone has solely had a personal account and it’s been completely personal stuff and you want to switch over to a business focus, then I think that you could ease in and start working that in.

But you have to remember that the people that enjoyed your travel photos or your pictures of your dog might not be the audience that you want for your business. So you have to keep that in mind first and foremost.

I only have a business account on Instagram, like, I don’t even have a personal account. I’m all business and I don’t really post a lot of personal stuff, unless my stories, I might put some stuff on there, but I have two teenage girls that have pretty much banned me from putting anything family-wise out there.

Jennifer Bourn:

Oh, that’s super funny. Natalie calls me her professional Instagram photographer. Everywhere she goes, she’s like, “I’m so glad I have somebody to take all of my great photos.”

Corey Walker:

Yeah, it’s the opposite in my house. They’re like, “Don’t you dare post that.”

Jennifer Bourn:

That’s how my son is. I promised him no posting without permission.

Corey Walker:

Exactly. Yes.

So, if your audience is not gonna be the same, I would start a new account and just go business. Start there and then start building that audience. But if you think that a lot of people that are already following the travels might be interested in some sort of travel ebook that you wanna sell or something like that, then it might be a really good segue.

You just have to be really aware of who your audience is and what they might want.

Jennifer Bourn:

I like that focus on understanding and respecting the people that have followed you to this point. And keeping things focused, I think on value, right? Making sure that the value you’re delivering is what you promised.

Corey Walker:

Yeah. You might say like, “Oh, I have 10,000 followers. It’s awesome.”

Well, if all the followers were following because they love the pictures of your dog and now you’re talking about your landscaping business, it’s not going to be good for you. They’re just going to get annoyed because they’re gonna be like, “Well, where’s Fido? I wanna see Fido but now I’m seeing your lawnmower.”

Jennifer Bourn:

Now, you have got an ebook all about reels. Tell us what people can find in that ebook.

Corey Walker:

First of all, they can see step by step how to create a reel — what each of the functions are, how to use them, how to do a green screen.

So, you see a lot of people, have someone else’s post behind them that they’re talking about or different video or whatever — I show you how to do that. And there’s 10 tips for a really good reel and how to find trending audio.

So it’s about 25 pages long. It’s got a lot of stuff in there. So, if you’re looking to get into reels, it’s kind of a one-stop shop to figure out how to do it and how to do it the right way to reach your audience.

Jennifer Bourn:

I love that because the last thing we want to do is step off that curb and do that uncomfortable thing and then not have it work out because we did it wrong. I love that you walk people through that step by step.

So I’ve got three questions to wrap this all up.

First, you’ve mentioned some interesting tools today. Remind us of the tool you use for your social media scheduling.

Corey Walker:

Oh, I use Metricool, and what I like about Metricool is that it has all the functionality I need and it’s a lot cheaper than some of the other ones that you know you’re going to spend hundreds on if you’ve got several clients.

This one is very affordable, especially if you’re, just starting out.

Jennifer Bourn:

Nice. So what other can’t live without tool do you have that you wish you had discovered earlier?

Corey Walker:

I mean, honestly, having a VA is my number one tool.

Jennifer Bourn:

A lot of people have said virtual assistants have changed their business.

Corey Walker:

Yeah. Just having that person to offload some of the admin tasks really bog you down and keep you from doing the big work to move your business forward. That is definitely my number one tool. I really wish that I had done that 10 years ago.

Jennifer Bourn:

Definitely. And what do you do to ensure that you have a great day or remain in a positive head space when things don’t go according to plan?

Corey Walker:

I am a great believer in moving your body to keep your mind healthy.

So, when I’m having just kind of a bad day and I’ve been sitting in my chair and I’m just getting completely stressed out, I’ll either go to the gym and run it out or I’ll just take a walk in my neighborhood, which is all hills so it’s a workout in itself.

For me, just getting up out of my chair, removing myself from the situation, and getting some physical activity is really important to my mental health.

Jennifer Bourn:

I love that you’re walking away.

So many times we try to just slog through it and keep going or keep pushing, and we stay right in that same environment that is causing us stress. Right?

By getting up and walking away, removing yourself from the situation, changing your environment, going outside, getting some fresh air, moving your body, that is not just changing your mental state, but it’s changing your entire physical existence temporarily that can really give you that good reset.

Corey Walker:

Yeah, for sure. It’s a natural stress reliever. So it, helps in so many ways.

Jennifer Bourn:

Now Corey, we’ve talked about your ebook. Where can people find more about your social media services and your ebook? Where should they go?

Corey Walker:

My website is TheMarketingSpecialist.com and the ebook is right there. And then if you want to follow me on Instagram, I’m @coreycwalker and I post there pretty much daily and answer DMs and all of that.

Jennifer Bourn:

Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for joining me and sharing your journey of seeking satisfaction in your business.

If you enjoyed this episode of Seeking Satisfaction, subscribe for new show updates at Jenniferbourn.com/seeking-satisfaction/ and please leave a review on your favorite podcasting platform.

If you would like to hear more from Corey and learn about her Super Toolkits and how she documents her SOPs — standard operating procedures — for ease of use and how you can do the same, check out the Seeking Satisfaction Extra Minutes Membership.

Members receive extra minutes from podcast guests like Corey that provide valuable training to help you do business better. You can find details about the Extra Minutes Membership and Corey’s bonus training in the show notes at Jenniferbourn.com/013.

Until next time, may you live inspired, embrace imperfection, seek satisfaction, and have a fabulous day.

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