Natalie Ellis is the co-founder and CEO of Boss Babe, a community of female entrepreneurs that started on Instagram. The community has grown to over 3.5 million followers today. What started as an inspiring Instagram account empowering female entrepreneurs has become a multi-million dollar business. Natalie and her business partner Danielle Canty have helped thousands of women start and scale online businesses through their close-knit community, proven strategies, and high-value development programs. Recently, Natalie was interviewed by Jay Clouse of Creative Elements to discuss how to build a $1M business on Instagram. This blog post will discuss all of the gems that were dropped. Here are seven powerful tips from the Instagram Boss Babe herself.

Your audience is your insurance

Natalie believes that your audience is your insurance, and as a creator, you can always monetize your audience as long as you’re providing value. Whether the Facebook algorithm changes, ad costs rise, or advertisers pull out of brand deals, you’ll be fine as long as you’ve built a community. Natalie says that this is something that she will carry with her no matter what business she starts. It’s not about the product itself but more about who you’ll sell it to.

Viral content will help you grow

In the interview, Natalie discusses how Instagram has changed throughout the years. Static posts used to do really well on Instagram, and years ago, you didn’t need to show your face on the platform to grow. That has all changed now that Instagram is heavily promoting video. However, Natalie says that one thing has remained the same on Instagram: the type of content that goes viral.

The creator says that the Boss Babe posts that always took off and went viral were the ones that were sassy. It was the things that women wanted to say but were too afraid to say themselves, so they would immediately share, repost, or tag their friends. That’s how the Boss Babe account grew so much in the beginning. Natalie says the same type of content still does well on Instagram, and more creators are becoming aware that the content that gets shared the most is more raw and unfiltered.

Writing is at the core of creativity

Starting out as a copywriter, Natalie has always loved to write. She says that while the future is video, there are scripts behind every video, and someone has to write those scripts. Whether it’s writing a good hook, taking a really long story and condensing it, or just trying to hit pain points, it all comes down to writing — a skill that will never go away.

E-mail is the engine of business

Social media is front and center and sends leads and subscribers to your e-mail list, but your e-mail list is hidden. The Boss Babe CEO believes that e-mail is the engine of any business. Social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., are all rented platforms, but you own your e-mail. You can’t put a price tag on that. Natalie says it’s a solid plan to focus on one platform and send your audience from that platform to your e-mail list.

Hashtags are no longer worth using

Natalie feels that with Instagram evolving, there’s no point in using hashtags anymore. At one point, using hashtags was super important on Instagram. Not only did others know what your account was about, but you could actually be found using specific hashtags. Now, it’s much harder to search via hashtags as Instagram is more focused on keywords. Natalie says that if you’re just starting from scratch on Instagram, it won’t hurt to use them, but it’s not a requirement anymore.

The best platform for starting from zero

The Queen of Instagram says that if she were just starting out from zero, she more than likely wouldn’t choose Instagram these days because of how saturated it is. She says that you didn’t need to have a specific niche or compete for attention years ago as you do now. She also says that she wouldn’t choose TikTok because she’s unsure how reliable the platform is. She believes she’d choose YouTube if she were just starting out because of the shelf life of videos on the platform and the ability to bring in an audience easier. She said she’d also consider creating a podcast for the same reason.

Building a personal brand can benefit your business

Natalie shares that because she was building a personal brand, she was also building Boss Babe. The creator says that her personal brand has always supported her business because people want to buy from people they know, like, and trust. She says it’s harder for people just starting out to build a business when no one knows them and for brands to do the same. Natalie says that if she’s having a launch or sale, she can post once to her personal followers and easily make a ton of sales because they’ve grown to love her and want to purchase from her.


What’s your favorite tip from the Boss Babe herself? Leave a comment below!