A 90 Day Reels Challenge with Ansley Beutler

What happens when you commit to posting Instagram Reels every day for 90 straight days? Today I’m chatting with blogger Ansley Beutler, from The Fit Peach, who came up with the challenge to create and share daily recipe videos without batching content in advance. You’ll hear what she experienced instead of massive follower growth like you might expect! Whether you’re feeling disconnected from your audience or stuck in a content rut, you’ll learn practical strategies for how to break through those challenges without burning out.

Why she did it

Ansley told me she goes through a slump every year after the busy holiday season and tax season. She felt like she’d let her audience down by not showing up the way she wanted to, and she was tired of that nagging feeling.

She’d seen another blogger do a 100-day recipe challenge, and the idea stuck. She pitched it to her husband on a Friday and announced it to her audience that Sunday. No stockpile of content. No safety net. She picked 90 days because it felt like one quarter, long enough to matter but less daunting than 100.

What she expected vs. what actually happened

Ansley had three goals: give herself a creative push, give her audience the content she felt she owed them, and connect with her readers on a deeper level.

What she didn’t get was a massive jump in followers. Another blogger she’d watched had grown several times over during a similar challenge, but that wasn’t Ansley’s experience.

What she got instead was depth. Her DMs filled up with people sharing the recipes they’d made, asking about ingredient swaps, and wanting to know what was coming next. Her audience came to trust her more, and she felt like she was standing in the kitchen with them, helping.

I love this because so many of us assume that a quiet audience means nobody cares. Sometimes the real issue is that we haven’t given people enough reasons to talk to us, or enough ways to see us.

Letting go of perfectionism

Ansley described herself as a total perfectionist (the detail-oriented accountant in her is strong). But with a reel, photos, and a full blog post going up every day, perfection was off the table.

Her solution was simple and surprisingly freeing. She gave each shoot a set window of time, roughly 20 to 30 minutes. She decided on her shots ahead of time, got them, and moved on. If a recipe was about 80 to 90 percent of the way to perfect, it was good enough to publish.

Her takeaway: give yourself a chunk of time, and when the time is up, it’s good enough. You can always come back and improve it later.

How she showed up on Stories

Ansley shared something organic on Stories before each reel, like a messy kitchen, a recipe test in progress, or her kid heading to school in a princess dress and high heels. Then she’d share the reel with a quirky comment, a few behind-the-scenes photos, and a link to the blog post. Every recipe went up on her blog too, so each reel gave readers a way to land on her website.

If you feel disconnected from your audience

You don’t have to do a 90-day challenge to get some of these benefits. Ansley’s advice for getting started:

• Open a question box on Stories. Dig a little deeper than “What do you want to see?” People often don’t know. Instead, try something like “What’s a Thanksgiving side dish you wish was better?” That kind of question gets real answers, and plenty of them turned into DM conversations.
• Try a poll. People are far more likely to tap an option than type a reply. A simple “It’s a crazy night, what should I make for dinner?” can start a conversation.
• Let people see the real you. Ansley kicked off her series with a vulnerable video, and it resonated with more people than she expected. Instagram can feel like a highlight reel, and a little honesty opens the door.
• Answer your DMs on desktop. She said it felt like working through an email inbox, which made the volume much more manageable.

Not every win has a number attached

My favorite part of our conversation was about intangible ROI. Ansley didn’t gain a flood of new followers, but she gained clarity: how she wants to shoot, what her audience actually enjoys, and what to create next.

This is true in my world as a web designer, and it’s true in her world as an accountant. Not everything has a neat “1 + 1 = 2” result. Sometimes the most valuable step is the one that comes before the revenue, like knowing who your readers are and what they want.

Ansley put it best: she’d rather have 50 videos that do okay than one that goes viral, because a viral video doesn’t tell you who’s watching or why. Knowing your audience is the moneymaker, and it’s what makes a food blog steady instead of a one-hit wonder.

Call to Action

If this episode got you thinking about how your website supports the connection you’re building with your readers, I’d love to help. Book a call with me and let’s talk about what’s possible for your blog!