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Make Money Through Direct Messages in 4 Steps


Sleep consulting is a personal business. Peeking into families' bedrooms and emotions is personal. In order to get a client to pay you, they need to trust you before they invite you into their bedrooms. One of the best ways to build trust is through conversations in the direct messages (DMs). It’s a convenient way to have a casual conversation. Casual equals comfort. When a tired mom feels comfortable with you, she’s going to start to trust you.


Sales happen in the DMs. It’s the groundwork for that transaction. But that doesn’t mean that you go into the DMs with a sales pitch. Nobody wants to be sold to one the first encounter and nobody wants to come across as salesy.


So how the heck do we make the money??


Step 1: Build Connections


Get to know your audience by getting curious about their lives. Ask them about their children - people love to talk about their little ones. Ask about their ages, what new milestones they are working on, and of course how sleep is going. Ask about where they're from, what they do for a living. These are all great conversation starters that allow for you to find a common ground and ultimately build that connection. Connections build trust; trust leads to sales.


Be genuine, you are trying to build connections that lead to clients. The only way you will attract your ideal client is by being genuinely you. The point of having building connections in the DMs is not to convince people to work with you or to morph your sleep philosophy to convert a sale. Be yourself and you will attract the right people - the right clients. It’s okay if you aren’t for everyone because not everyone is for you either.


Now, you may be wondering how you get started with these conversations. Here are a few ideas for how to slide into your followers' DMs.

  • Reply to their stories - comment on a cute photo or something that resonates with you.

  • Send a welcome message to new followers - say hi, thanks for following as ask what brought them to your account or ask about their kids.

  • Put up a poll or question box in your stories - ask a personal question to your followers about anything really (food, travel, parenthood, holiday traditions, etc.). When people respond to your poll/question box, send them a message about their answer and start up a conversation.

  • Use a call to action - have the call to action on a post or reel be for followers to comment “me” for more information on a topic, then send them a message with the information they are looking for and continue the conversation there.


Step 2: Get Permission to Sell


Through getting to know them, you are going to learn what their problem is. Once you know their problem, you can offer help. Ask them direct questions like “would you like help teaching your baby to sleep through the night?” “Is this something you are looking for support with?”

You aren’t selling to them (yet!), you are asking them if they want your help. By getting their permission to send them more information about working with you, it becomes their idea. When they have given you permission to sell to them, they are more likely to say yes to working with you.


You can also ask questions through polls in your stories. As a poll about “do you need support with this?” Send people who answer “yes” a message, acknowledging their problem and asking if they’d like your support through it. People who answer a poll like this want to hear from you. By tapping that “yes” option, they are asking you to sell to them; they want to know how you can support them.


You can also offer more indirect help to continue building trust by offering to send them a freebie that they may find helpful or an Instagram or blog post you have that is relevant to their problem.


Either way (direct or indirect), always asking permission before sending links or pitching services. Asking permission first gives your lead the opportunity to think about what they need and decide for themselves if they want help or not. Chances are, yes, they do want help and they are curious about how you can help solve their problem.


Step 3: Move Towards a Sales Call/Booking


When you ask your lead if they want support, there will be some who respond with: “no thank you”, “not right now”, “I need to think about it” or my personal favourite: no response 🤪. That’s okay! You can’t sell them all - don’t take it personally and keep building connections.


But there will be some who say: “yes, I need this”, “tell me more”, or “I’d like more information”. These are good! These are the responses you want. This is when you can invite them to a sales call or to book directly.


Again, always ask permission before sending a link. A link without permission feels spammy. “Of course, can I send you the link to my discovery call where we can chat more about what it’s like to work together?”


In some cases, this is where the DM strategy ends for this lead and the coaching begins. But sometimes people don’t book immediately and that calls for step four…


Step 4: Follow Up


Always remember that the people you are speaking with in the DMs are TIRED. DMs are casual and casual sometimes means that we aren’t giving our full attention to the conversation and can forget about it quickly. Give people the benefit of the doubt - they probably forgot about the link you sent them because they are in survival mode. Don’t assume that because they didn’t book, it means they are no longer interested.


Follow up!


Send a casual reminder following up on your previous message about the link or information you sent to them.


You’ll also want to follow up with people who you sent a freebie or Instagram or blog post to and ask if they have any questions about it. If they are still struggling, then this is when you would move the conversation to more of those direct questions from step 2.


Don’t count out the people who aren’t ready yet. When people tell you that it’s not the right time or that they need to think about it more, follow up! Give it a few weeks and then go back to them and ask how things are going with *insert problem*.



If you aren’t utilizing the DMs for making connections you are leaving money on the table. Instagram is full of free tools that you can use to grow your bottom line. If you have questions about this four step process, send us a DM over on Instagram. We can’t wait to chat with you!


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