Is Instagram Helping You Make Sales—or Just Wasting Your Time?

If you’ve been posting consistently and still aren’t seeing clients come in, this one’s for you.

In this episode, I’m sharing the 3 questions I ask myself before I post—so I’m not just throwing content into the void. These are the same questions that helped me stop second-guessing everything I shared and finally start seeing results from the time I was already spending on Instagram.

I’ll walk you through:

• How I make sure my content actually leads to sales
• What I ask myself when I’m stuck rewriting the same caption 10 times
• And how I stopped spending every quiet hour in Canva while dinner got cold

If Instagram’s been feeling like a time suck with nothing to show for it, hit play.

🎧 And if you want to take this even further, make sure you’re on the waitlist for the Post With Purpose birthday sale: https://sociallyyours.biz/early-birthday-invite

Mentioned in this episode:

Join Plan it, Post It, Profit and plan a month of Instagram posts that lead to sales in just 5 days!

Join Plan it, Post It, Profit and plan a month of Instagram posts that lead to sales in just 5 days!

Plan 1 Month of Instagram Content That Leads to Sales in 5 Days! Join Plant It, Post It, Profit!

You're spending all this time creating content, but when is the last time it actually led to a client?

You're consistent.

You're filming the reels, you're writing the captions, you're showing up.

And somehow Instagram still feels like a time sucking black hole instead of a strategy that actually grows your business.

If you are tired of posting just a post and you're ready to get intentional with the time you're already spending, this is the episode for you because we're going to talk about exactly how to do that.

Welcome to mompreneur Mastery, where we build.

Businesses, raise families, and skip the hustle.

That doesn't actually help.

I'm Sydney o' Brien, Certified Instagram Strategist.

Mom of three and your no Fluff.

Guide to making more sales with content that's strategic, simple, and you can actually make in the small mom cracks of your day because Instagram shouldn't feel like a full time job you're not getting paid for.

If you're ready to stop posting just to stay visible and start sharing content that actually converts to sales and gets you clients, you're in the right place.

Hey and welcome back to mompreneur Mastery.

I am Sydney o' Brien, certified Instagram Strategist mom and creator of Post With Purpose, the membership that helps women like you stop spinning your wheels on content and start seeing results from the time you spend online.

If you are here listening, chances are you're running a business in the margins of mom life.

You are writing captions from the pickup line.

You are filming reels while your kids eat snacks from the floor.

You're posting and scheduling from the parking lot of Target.

You are doing the best you can with what you've got, which is great, but still, something just isn't clicking.

You're showing up, you're posting, you're trying, and yet no one's commenting.

Your DM's pretty quiet.

Your offer post got little to no interaction.

So you wonder, do I just need to be more consistent?

Do I need to post more?

Do I need to be better at this?

And before you go into that deep, dark thought spiral, listen because I've been there and so have most of the women that I've worked with.

Okay?

So I want to give you a just a different lens.

This isn't another hack or viral formula to follow.

It's just a real conversation about what you're actually trying to do on Instagram and how to do it in a way that doesn't eat up your entire day.

Because what I hear from women like you, smart, driven, creative business owners who are really good at what they do.

They're saying, I focused on growing my follower account, but my followers aren't buying.

I have been using trending reels for months, trying to get more visible, but no one is engaging and no one is hiring me.

They're saying they're posting every day, but no one is responding to their sales posts.

If any of these sound familiar, I want to first start by saying, you are not the problem.

Okay?

It's not that you're not doing enough.

It's not that you're lazy.

It's not that there's anything wrong with you.

The problem is that you have been taught to prioritize performance over purpose.

Okay?

To chase reach instead of building real results.

But likes don't pay your bill.

And visibility without strategy.

Like trying to go viral without a content plan that leads to sales behind it.

That's just content for content's sake.

Here's something I teach inside posts with purpose.

Before you hit publish on a post, ask yourself, does this one post have a job?

Not is it pretty?

Not is it go viral.

Will it go viral?

Not even will the algorithm like it.

But is this post doing something to move my audience closer to working with me?

Because when your content has a job, it's not just floating in the void of Instagram.

It's guiding people.

It's building trust.

It's creating momentum toward a sale.

And when your content has a purpose, you stop questioning it.

You stop rewriting it 10 times.

You stop wondering if any of this is even working.

That one question, what is the job of this post?

Changes everything.

You open your phone not because you need to post something, but because you know exactly what today's post is meant to do.

You can write the caption in 15 minutes because you're not scrambling.

You're clear.

You can hit publish and move on with your day.

You're folding laundry, serving a client, picking up your kid from school.

You're not refreshing every five minutes and spiraling over who liked it.

And the best part is, someone replies not with a series of emojis or oh, cute, but this made me think.

Or maybe you get a dm.

Hey, I've been meaning to reach out.

Can you tell me more about this?

Your posts, you didn't post just to stay visible.

You posted with a purpose and that post did its job.

And.

But when it doesn't have a job, you're back in Canva.

You're second guessing everything.

You're rewriting the caption three times.

You're hopping on random reel trends with no point to them, no way for it to actually help your business.

You're checking in an hour later wondering why no one's responded.

And you're exhausted.

And I know you're exhausted for a million other reasons.

Probably your kid keeping you up at night.

You don't need to add this to those reasons, okay?

That's the kind of stuff that leads to burnout.

Because when you're doing everything and still not seeing results, it's so easy to start believing that Instagram just doesn't work for you.

But the truth?

It's not that you need to do more, it's that your content needs a strategy.

Okay, so I'm going to walk you through a simple three step gut check here to help you shift from creating random content to creating strategic content.

This is the kind of thing I guide my members through inside post with purpose, all the time.

Step one, what stage of the strategy am I in right now?

Okay.

And the strategy I teach.

There's five steps to sales on Instagram.

The first is growth.

Second, engagement.

Third, connection.

Fourth, trust.

Five, conversion sales.

Okay, so if you don't know your content doesn't lead anywhere because you're trying to figure it out all at once, you're trying to do all the things instead of guide your followers, the right followers, down a path to buying from you.

So once you know when your goal is connection, a carousel with some random three ways to X, Y, Z isn't going to cut it.

If your goal is trust, your audience needs to see how you think, not just how you teach.

How are you going to get them results?

When you're in launch mode, your content needs to shift to selling.

But you have to have those other steps first to actually make the sales.

So when you lead with strategy, your content finally starts doing something and it all works together to get to that end result of more clients for you.

Okay, so step two here.

What do I want this post to do?

Do you want to start a conversation?

Do you want an answer to a question you always get asked?

Do you want to plant the seed for your offer?

If you are not sure what your post is supposed to do, it's probably just fill in a square.

And that is where so many mompreneurs waste time creating content that looks good or follows a trend, but doesn't actually lead anywhere.

But when your post has a job, you can stop carrying the whole business on your back and trust your content to do its job.

Step 3 what do I want someone to think, feel and do after seeing this post?

Okay, this is what turns a nice post into a profitable one.

What shift should they be making?

What belief should you be breaking?

What next step should they take?

You're not creating engagement for the sake of it.

You're creating content that creates forward motion.

This is how you build that connection, that trust.

Get those sales without being online every day.

You already know how to juggle.

You're out here replying to emails while reheating Mac and cheese.

You're writing launch emails while your kids watch Bluey and you're opening snacks for them.

You're showing up for your clients and your kids at the same time with the same brain and with zero breaks.

You already stretched time and brain space further than it should reasonably go.

What you don't need is to pour that energy into your content that gets you nowhere.

You don't need to waste your only quiet hour of the day trying to figure out what to post.

You don't need your evenings in Canva while your dinner gets cold.

You don't need to be visible just to be visible.

You need to be strategic.

That is what creates traction.

That is what moves the needle.

And that is what we do.

Inside Post with Purpose Inside Post with Purpose Every post prompt is tied to a stage of strategy.

Those five stages I mentioned earlier.

So you are never guessing what to post or why it matters.

But it's not just the prompts.

It's how they work together.

You're also learning how to structure those posts so that they stop the scroll and actually do the job you need it to do.

You're learning what to share in stories and how to have DM conversations that lead to sales without that icky cringe, hey babe.

Feeling.

You're learning how to use all the Instagram features that matter while ignoring the rest because you don't have time to waste.

You're learning how to read your insights so you can focus on content that is working and stop guessing.

You're learning how to use simple frameworks that feel like you notice some bro marketer.

It's not about having more time because I know you don't have that.

None of us do.

It is about making what time you do have count.

And if you have been waiting for the right time to join us.

Inside Pose With Purpose.

This is it.

We are celebrating Post With Purpose's very first birthday next week with huge bonuses and some very steep discounts that you will not see again.

It's giving goodie bags stuffed with everything you could ever want.

Kind of birthday energy.

I'm going to share the wait list in the link in the show notes so you can be the first one to get all the details before the sale goes live.

Trust me, this is a party you don't want to miss.

You don't want more likes.

You want content that brings clarity, connection and clients.

You want to spend less time wondering if it's working and more time seeing real results.

You want to post with purpose and then go live your life.

That is what we're building and I can't wait to show you what's next.

So head to the show notes, grab a waitlist spot before the big first birthday party sale so you can get closer to sales and stop wasting time even sooner.

Thanks so much for hanging out with me on Mompreneur Mastery.

If this episode gave you more clarity or a little boost of confidence, I would love for you to follow the show, leave a review or share it with a fellow mom building her business on her own terms.

And hey, if something really clicked, DM me on Instagram I am ocially yours strategist and tell me the one thing you're doing differently.

After listening, I love hearing what is landing for you.

Until next time, here is to less stress, more sales and a business that actually fits your life.