Meet Nika Kovacev

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nika Kovacev a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nika, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I had known that I wanted to be an English teacher since I first started learning the language. Some kids play with dolls, I played with English language textbooks and compiling grammar tests, haha! Everything in my life was leading to becoming a teacher. I didn’t get into the program at the university at first, but I worked even harder the following year, and I was finally on the path of becoming a teacher. I started my beauty blog in 2012, and in 2016 I enrolled in my first online marketing course offline. I fell in love. I still wanted to be a teacher, but I knew marketing was a passion of mine. So I played with it. I taught high school English for 4 years (including the horror that was COVID), and got so disappointed in the system and everything it represented, that I quit in March of this year. I decided to go all in on my passion project. I have since helped dozens of people grow their Instagram via profile audits, strategies, content ideas and my content on Instagram. I have found my purpose. And has it always been all sunshine and rainbows? Absolutely not! There are certainly times when I doubt myself and the choices I made. Nothing is certain in this field. You can lose your biggest client. You can lose your Instagram account. It can all go incredibly south. But I’m still here, still giving it my all.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m Nika. A quirky Instagram growth strategist. My Instagram is filled with funny, but educational content. I try to bust as many myths as possible, and trust me, there are many. I cringe when I see “hacks” and “tactics” and I’m deathly allergic to buying followers and engagement. I truly believe you can build a community with showing your true self and without relying on hacks. I also believe in giving A LOT for free. I don’t gatekeep. I have a weekly newsletter, where I share viral content breakdowns, tips, trending audio, freebies… all for free. I also give a lot of free advice on my IG profile.
I also love a good challenge, so I created 3 challenges: Update your Instagram profile in 3 days, Learn to analyze your Instagram Insights in 4 days and 10x your engagement in 10 days. I saw what most people need on Instagram and decided to create something SUPER affordable that’s going to help them on their journey of becoming a successful business owner on Instagram.
I also do Instagram profile audits, where I give tips and suggestions on how you can optimize your profile and start converting followers.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Since I am from Croatia, I am so glad I started learning English so early. It was the one thing that opened all the doors for me. Although my mom complains about me not using my Education degree, I would argue I use it more than I would teaching, haha! If you are trying to work in a market that’s foreign to you, learn the language. It’s so much easier, especially if you life in a small country and your audience is very limited.
Another thing everyone in this business needs is persistence. Especially when it gets hard (and it will get hard). Imposter syndrome is a real thing, and unless you are persistent, it’s so easy to give in. If you know what you want, just go for it! There were so many situations where I wasn’t sure if I should just “get a real job” (as others like to say), but I know this is the right way for me.
The third quality is willingness to learn and adapt. Especially in this field. Things are always changing. There are always new things, new tools, changes, algorithms (yes, that’s a joke)… You have to be willing to say to yourself “yes, what I’m doing was right a month or a year ago, but things have changed, so I have to learn about this new thing.” Unless you’re willing to learn and think you “know it all”, you’re the expert, you will not grow as a person or as a business.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

Overwhelm often comes in the form of burnout. And it can be crippling. Instagram can definitely be an overwhelming place. So, if you’re a business owner on Instagram, I do have a couple of tips for you, based on my own experience.
1. Don’t post 3 times a day. Will it speed up your growth? Probably. Will it lead to burnout? Most definitely! Posting 5 times a week is plenty. You want to stay on top of mind, but without burning yourself out. You might be able to sustain 3 posts a day for a week, a month. But what then? What happens when you “run out of things to post”? (I don’t think that can actually happen, by the way, but it’s what happens with a lot of people.) 3 times a week is the minimum I would recommend, and just take that weekend off.
2. Don’t consume content. I don’t doom scroll. I scroll for inspiration, for ideas, for trends… I don’t scroll for the sake of scrolling. You can easily get overwhelmed by that.
3. Don’t lose sleep over negative comments. Instagram can be such a negative place. Especially once you go viral. People are going to start posting hate comments. All you need to know is: their comment says more about them than you. If you don’t want to deal with negativity: block and delete the comment. If you want to be quirky, respond with something funny/sarcastic. I think every engagement is good engagement, so I would never delete a negative comment. However, if it does start to feel overwhelming, feel free to do whatever is going to feel right for you.

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