How to enjoy being present on social media.
I often see people posting in other groups every time there is a question: what is bothering you?
It’s either booking clients, how do I book clients? How do I get more customers? How do I get more eyeballs on my content? How do I get people to notice me?
And the next thing is social media management. How can I market myself without being on social media? Here’s what I want to say.
First of all, please understand there are other ways of marketing other than social media.
There’s PR – public relations management. Please contact a PR strategist and get on a strategy session with them.
Stop having preconceived notions in your head about getting on strategy sessions with people. It’s the easiest way to waste time. Then after a month or 2 months, feel like you did nothing. So, reach out to a PR strategist. Just have a conversation with them.
Get on their free strategy session. Or a breakthrough session. They will bring our feelings about PR but they will talk to you. They will also talk to you about the benefits of PR and ways that will work for you and your personality. So, get on a call with them.
Then there are podcasts as a marketing strategy.
There’s also going to other Facebook groups and speaking there as a guest.
There’s writing, guest blogging, etc.
Leverage interviews. They’re also faster than social media.
I’m not saying that ditch social media and do only this. If you can, leverage both. In my opinion, PR is a faster way of building know-like trust.
That’s a great strategy.
If you are a socially anxious person, then every single strategy is going to be hard for you. In that case, you don’t need a strategist. You need someone to help you get out of the constructs of your mind and be able to take action at a pace that works for you. You need a coach.
It’s a conscious decision. I had to hire a coach. I couldn’t support myself. It was too, too heavy for me. Too heavy of a burden to be lifting myself up.
I could figure out where I need to be present, how I need to be present, content strategy, promotional strategy et cetera.
Like I have the knowledge but it was still too heavy. Having a coach helped me. So if you are in that phase, please, please, do reach out to me. I provide support for that. It is a conscious choice. Make a conscious decision.
Coming back to social media. Social media is not a bane, it’s a boon. The ability to enjoy social media comes either subconsciously. Those people who always want to be on social media. It’s subconsciously for them.
Or by making a conscious decision. And that’s what I do.
Booking clients doesn’t happen instantly. The feeling that your booking clients easily doesn’t come instantly. The feeling that creating content is easy doesn’t come instantly. It comes with daily practice.
That’s why consistency matters. Being consistent also doesn’t come easily. It comes with practice.
Just like my daughter would run through the living room. Back and forth for an entire hour when she was like 18 months old. I thought she was done
learning to walk. So it didn’t make sense to me why she was running that much. Why run back and forth in the living room? She used to do that consistently.
It’s a matter of giving it some time and practicing it consistently. I say this for everything that they are doing. Their math. I am a homeschooling mom. So, I remind them about practicing when I teach them. When you find things hard, you practice.
You practice every single day for a little bit of time. Until it stops feeling hard.
They see it six months later. After joining vocals, vocals still bring up, “oh, mommy, I don’t want to be in the class, can we skip the class today?” It still comes up from time to time.
Social media may be that thing for you. Like vocal lessons are for my children. They don’t want to quit the lessons because I tell them it’s good for their development. So they sing the songs. They sing songs in a language that they didn’t know eight months ago. That’s the magic of consistency.
My kids don’t see it that way but my mom can’t stop listening to them sing.
So, your audience will be like my mom.
Give me more, give me more of what you got. Give me your amazingness.
Do not underestimate the effect of consistent practice.
So, make a conscious decision. For me, it was after fighting for three years to not be on social media. I made a decision and I started working on it.
Here’s how to get to a place where you enjoy it as I do right now. I now love personal outreach. But I used to dread it.
You can get there with a little bit of work.
The very first thing that I want you to do when it comes to social media platforms is to take back your power.
All of us struggling with social media, we are giving away our power to social media. That is why it feels so hard. We are in control of how we will use this tool called social media, whether it’s Instagram, whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, or Pinterest.
The algorithm has expectations. I am not denying it. I know and understand how the algorithm, especially Instagram, expects things from us. But like any healthy relationship when you set boundaries, the relationship flourishes.
So set boundaries with social media. You will enjoy it more. It will
enjoy your presence more because it will get used to the way you use it.
Trust me. It’s an algorithm. It’s artificial intelligence. It’s not judging you. It’s never punishing you unless you really do something that’s against the algorithm. Then it’s not going to be forgiving.
Otherwise, it is going to support you in every way because you are providing the thing that’s helping people stay on it longer. Your content is keeping people from scrolling off from that platform to the other. So, it will reward you. It will always reward you. Change your perspective.
You don’t need massive visibility. No need for 10K followers on IG tonight. You will work on it gradually, improving your tolerance for visibility.
And my people-pleasers. This is a great opportunity to practice setting boundaries because social media has no feelings. It will not feel
disappointed that you are not doing everything it wants you to.
Set boundaries and practice setting boundaries.
The second way you can start enjoying social media now is to understand the purpose of the platform and a little bit of strategy to leverage the platform.
So How is Instagram being used by people? What’s its creator’s idea for it? Try to understand it.
For example, lives are great on Instagram. But are they really?
Honestly, people scroll Instagram when they are standing in grocery lines or when they are standing in other kinds of queues. I do that too.
When we’re waiting for something. When we are among friends or family sitting and then there is a moment of lul and you don’t know what to do and your brain says, “Okay, I don’t know what to do, I am bored.” You open Instagram. Those are the instances when people open Instagram.
So, if you’re trying to teach an entire masterclass on Instagram, good for you. Do it. With a proper promo plan.
But don’t make that a consistent way of creating content. That’s what Facebook groups are for. That’s what YouTube is for. Use the right platform for the right kind of content.
Instagram on the other hand is for those tidbits that you have. It gives you only 2000 characters for captions. So don’t write novels in captions.
So master a platform before you decide to leverage a new platform. Simply be on the platform for 30 days. Use it as you best see it rather than trying to get it right from the get-go.
It’s not easy, I get it. I am not that creative. I need to see someone using a feature or tool to be able to understand it. Then I get inspiration and I can adapt it to myself.
That’s how my brain works. So things take me longer to learn and adapt to. But creating graphic captions is simple. I just kept doing it.
After 30 days, assess what you liked about the platform, what the the platform liked of yours, as in what type of content was shown more, and continue to do more of that, sustainably.
That’s the priority – a sustainable way.
So, understand the purpose of the platform and leverage the platform. Don’t be on a social media platform because someone is saying they are gaining clients from that platform.
That’s the easiest way to feel burnt out because it’s stressful.
Social media is stressful. Especially at the beginning. I will not lie to you. It is stressful.
Understand the purpose and leverage the platform. Let the focus be to leverage what works on the platform. And adapt it to yourself in a sustainable way.
The third thing is to have a semi-clear but committed strategy that you follow for 90 days.
Do something for 90 days. It takes 90 days to see results and I will not deny it. That holds true for most things in life as well.
But if 90 days feels too much then aim for 30 days. And keep stretching your goal. Take a break. Come back. Then do 45 days. Take a break, come back. Build the muscle up. Don’t begin with an “all or nothing” mentality as I did. It’s something that I’m trying to get over. Stretch as much as possible.
I don’t do weekends. I cannot make it seven days a week. I’ve tried multiple times. It doesn’t work for me. And that is great.
That’s how the algorithm knows me. So work with an expert to find a strategy if there is a need. Do not hesitate to take people up on their free strategy sessions. You will find a lot of good support.
See how you can support them in return if you are not yet in the place of receiving. But get support.
Implement the strategy consistently for 90 days. Assess analytics every 30 days only because it can kind of drive you crazy.
The follows, unfollows, the likes, no likes, all of that can kind of affect Your morale for continuing.
So assess analytics every 30 days and make notes even if the analytics don’t make sense to you yet. If you are on a new platform it will take some time to understand. Later you can get someone to help you understand your analytics or you can probably see trends and use that information.
Have a semi-clear content strategy. I don’t want you to have a perfect strategy. That’s never going to happen. You’re going to stay stuck searching for a perfect strategy.
I don’t want to stay stuck. I want you to take action. I want you to work on your thoughts that come up every time you have to take action.
When they come up, journal, and use affirmations to shift your thoughts. All of these mindset practices are essential. You cannot skip them until they become a habit.
Lastly, you have to have a content plan to implement because being on a social media platform means creating and publishing content.
If you don’t have a content strategy, coming up with content ideas on a day-to-day basis is a little harder. So have a plan to publish content multiple times a week.
You can either watch my free masterclass or sign up for my Leverage Content to Get Booked Out in 90 days course for additional support.
Let’s recap. Firstly, take back your power from social media. You are using it as a tool. That’s the first thing to do so you can start enjoying being present on social media.
Next is to understand the purpose of the platform that you want to leverage. Understand how it works and use it. Adapt it to yourself. Use it in a way that works for your personality.
Thirdly, have a 90-day strategy to be present on one platform. Five days a week or three days a week. Make it sustainable and do it for 90 days. Assess your analytics every 30 days rather than every week. If 30 days also isn’t working, fine. Every 45 days. You decide, it’s a tool. You decide how you use it.
Lastly, have a semi-clear content strategy and publishing schedule so that you have an idea of what you’re posting even if you’re creating content on the day of.
So these are the four ways to help yourself enjoy social media platforms. If you don’t enjoy it, it is going to be painful, especially as an introvert.
Let’s change your perception of social media.