This Contractor Gained 100,000+ Followers in One Year—Here's How

Stephanie Dailey of Steven Dailey Construction has more than 110,000 followers @stephaniebuildsit on Instagram—and most of that happened within the past year.

She's now a contributor to The Build Show with Matt Risinger, a co-founder of a jobsite tech company, and a Pro Remodeler Forty Under 40 winner. Dailey says social media is entirely a second job.

On this bonus track for Women at WIRC, Dailey shares her Instagram growth story and actionable tips for contractors looking to up their social media game.

Podcast Timestamps:

00:00 Opening Question on Social Media Presence
00:28 The Journey of Instagram Growth
01:47 The Power of Authenticity and Consistency
03:39 Turning the Camera Around: A Game Changer
04:38 The Real Value of Social Media for Business
05:39 Personal Connections Through Social Media
06:19 The Commitment to Social Media Success
07:14 Closing Thoughts: The Impact Beyond Followers

Transcript:

Caroline Broderick: And Stephanie, I want to ask you one last question. And I feel like I have to ask you kind of about your social media presence. 

So in this idea of storytelling and kind of being authentic and getting more personal I feel like that plays into your kind of organic success on Instagram and, you know, several contractors, this is something really interesting to them. So what kind of insights can you provide into your growth that other folks can kind of take back to their business?  

Stephanie Dailey: Yeah. So I a little back history about my Instagram and it'll be quick, but I started it in 2020. Well, I had the Instagram page long, long ago. But I really started posting on it about construction and what I was doing in 2020 when we started that house that she built project and I just saw all these incredible women around me doing these amazing things.

And I thought this is something that really need to like capture. So I started posting at that point. I had maybe a thousand followers, friends and family at that time, and by the time that project was done, I was somewhere around like 6,000 followers, which was a huge deal. Like, that had changed my life, and that project was absolutely amazing.

And then after that, I kind of, pivoted and said, okay, well, if I'm not going to post pictures of these females on construction sites all day, what am I going to post? So I just started posting about my everyday and my life and telling a story about what a general contractor does. Then I started telling a story about what sets Steven Dailey Construction apart and, you know, just showing some kind of neat, unique features on our job.

That. I felt like we're worth seeing and a lot of it came from what I liked seeing on Instagram myself. So a lot of the builders and contractors that I followed on Instagram, I just loved what they did. So I found some inspiration from them. But the biggest thing I learned is just to post like it.

It sounds silly, but I, I really transitioned from posting, you know, once or twice a week to posting something every single day and speaking to my stories every single day, because it's not without fail that this thing is not in my pocket or in my hand all time. So it's like so easy to be on the job site and just hit record and, you know, take five minutes out of my day to film something really quick or take, Take a few great pictures that I can post  and just putting them up.

So as soon as I learned that the key piece to social media is just to post, I just started doing that. So I started posting every single day about something. And in the beginning of 2022, I really saw that make a huge difference. So I started posting every single day. I hit 10,000 followers, the beginning of 2022.

And I'm at 105,000 now. So in less than a year, I hit I hit 10,000 to 105,000. So I've almost gained a hundred thousand followers in a year. And I purely believe it is from just posting consistently being authentic, because that's the key. I think that even myself, I've been very disappointed by some of the trades people I follow on Instagram.

And then I get the opportunity to meet them in person and they're totally different than who they are on Instagram. People know that, and that it, it doesn't help you grow. If you're just authentic, and tell the story of who you are, and post stuff that you would like to see, people will follow you. And it just takes a handful of viral videos to, to get in 100,000 followers, I think I've learned.

But you just post cool stuff, post stuff that you would want to see yourself and be authentic, which is key. And your social media presence will grow. I do think also one of the biggest changes that made a huge impact on my social media was I posted a lot of pictures of really cool projects that we do um, before that. And I gained a few thousand followers here and there, which was wonderful because people liked looking at the pretty, pretty houses.  As soon as I learned to turn that camera around and speak to the camera and explain to whoever was watching on the other line, what I was doing or what I was looking at or why I wanted them to see something my, my, my My social media following just blew up because people felt like they had someone they could connect with.

It wasn't necessarily you know, a construction company that you see on the, on the internet that just has really beautiful pictures of their houses. It was a person that they could actually, like, connect to. And so I think those are the things that made the biggest difference is not being afraid to get in front of the camera, being authentic, and just consistency.

Posting consistently is going to make a big difference, but I would say up until about six months ago, I couldn't couldn't direct any, Of our work to Instagram like that. It came from Instagram. So there's really that's a hard part with social media is there's really no way to justify the time and effort that you're putting into it.

And follower count is not that important. If I'm being honest with you There are creators that have a lower number of followers that have a really great impact on their following. So this is a group of people who are just very dedicated, very active, and very  interactive with the content that the creator is posting. 

Having a lot of followers is wonderful, but it's more about the  The impact that you're having on your followers and the interaction that they're giving you back and forth. So if you have a hundred thousand followers, but you're not getting, you know, a bunch of people liking or commenting on your posts, there's something off.

So I, about six months ago, I started seeing a significant difference of people who would come into the office to meet with us, to talk about building their new home and, you know, Without Phil, someone would say something about, Oh, I follow you on Instagram, or, Oh, I've seen you on Instagram. So I think it's cool.

I think it's unique, and it just adds to that little, like, personal touch of the fact that they now know who I am before they meet me. And they get the opportunity to kind of, like, watch me on social media. And I do a lot of stories, too. So it's real time. And People get to watch me and, like, listen to me and really learn to connect with me before they've even really met me in person.

And I think that makes a big difference, too. So, don't be afraid to get on the camera.  Jump in, you have to jump all in. You can't just dip your toe in the social media water. You, you really have to like make that leap and make the effort in order for it to be worth it for you in the end. But I can tell you now it is like a whole second job for me, but it's fantastic and I think it's done wonderful things for our company and for our brand that are, are good for us, but it's also made a huge difference on Other people who are looking to join careers and trades or women who want to be a contractor or, you know, like it's, it's really cool to run into people at the builder show or  different places and have them say like, Oh, your content made me want to become a carpenter or made me want to do this.

Like those are things that are invaluable to me. So don't be afraid to do it, but you got to jump all in. It's the only way to make it work.