Time and time again you hear that you need to do a, b and c to make things successful. It doesn’t matter if you’re a large business, small business, entrepreneur, or trying to be an influencer. It’s so hard, but the main thing you need is to be noticed. People have to see you, hear about you, and know what they’re getting into. The biggest way for people to be noticed is through social media. What lots of people do not understand is that it is a lot of work. With my blog and podcast, I need people to notice me, to pop up in people’s feeds. This is my social media battle.
Social Media Battle – Picking Platforms
This is probably the most challenging one. You need to get your brand out there, let people know that you’re doing things, but as is with everything, social media is always changing. So, how do you know which ones are the correct ones to be on? For myself, I pick what I know. Facebook and Instagram. Now, I will admit that my podcast is only a Facebook page. You might be wondering why. Simply because it’s so much work to be posting regularly and I already have trouble staying consistent with my blog, never mind adding the podcast socials. Some people have said the best way to get noticed is on TikTok. I don’t know if I’m ready for that.
Staying Consistent
Posting a few times a week is considered consistent on Facebook and Instagram. I’ve heard that you need to post a lot more on TikTok if you want to get noticed there and I simply don’t have the time. My daily challenge of posting a gratitude story every day in September is already proving to be tricky. And it’s the 4th of September. It’s not because I don’t have things to be thankful for. It’s simply that I have to find time to post. And may I remind you I’m essentially working 4 jobs; the hotel, my blog, my podcast, and on my book. Now, throw in social media and it’s basically a 5th job.
I Know There are Tools
Now, I know there are tools to help with scheduling posts and stories and reels and such. And these are great. I do use Meta Business Suite for my blog socials but you can’t schedule things you don’t have prepped. And with things changing at the hotel, I really need to find a way to make things work in my schedule so that I don’t burn out more than I already feel I am. And I know that right now this is just a season. If I can get through this season of what feels like utter chaos, I can get into a nice routine that allows me to breathe.
Social Media Battle – Planning Content
This is hard sometimes. Now, with my blog social media accounts, I know that I will be posting when I put up a new blog. Amazing. And I post on my podcast page when a new podcast episode airs. Again, this is awesome. However, for my blog this is two times a week and my podcast is just once a week. So, what do I do the rest of the week? What will get engagement, which helps my reach? Regular posting posts and stories only does so much. Reels – those get a lot of reach. And they also take the longest to make. You need to figure out what you’re going to do, film it, edit it, maybe film it more than once because you mess up, or don’t like a shot, or whatever the reason. Then edit, and schedule or post. And I have to do this all from my phone and by myself. It’s a lot.
Remember – Researching Trends is Work
Now, as much as reels give you the best chance at reaching others, we need to remember that some reels do better than others. What reels are grabbing attention? Which reels are people just scrolling through and not caring about? Is there a trending audio that is being used to gain attention? And most importantly, is there a style that’s been over used and people are just tired of it coming up on their feed after it’s been there ten different times? I’ve heard from a lot of people in different fields that their boss does not consider this to be work. Guess what bosses – it is! And if you want your business noticed, you need to let your social media person log those hours. What they put on social media could be what makes or breaks your business getting chosen.
Social Media Battle – Having Fun
I don’t know about you, but the accounts that I enjoy following are the ones where it looks like people are having fun. Are they being silly and goofy? I’m watching those reels. This is something I considered a lot when I looked after the social media accounts for the hotel. The hard part – no one wanted to be in a reel. And there’s only so much you can do on your own. Now, with my own accounts, obviously I won’t have a bunch of people in a reel because these are work from home jobs. And I do these things on my own. Having a bunch of other people in those reels makes no sense. So, how do I have fun with that?
It Is Possible
I’m not saying that I’ve never had fun with reels. Sure, maybe researching reels and looking for ideas is more fun than actually making the reel myself. But I have had fun watching which reels do the best and which ones not so much. I think my most popular reel, to date, is the happy birthday video I did for my cats. Nothing to do with my blog, but it was the most popular. Hilarious. I do want to make more reels, and if I’m being honest, I want to make reels that I wasn’t able to when I did the socials for the hotel. Obviously not the ones that involved other staff, but ones that looked fun and silly. Okay, it wasn’t like I was not allowed to, but when your boss wants specific things, you put up what the boss wants. Now, I’m the boss. And I want fun!
Social Media Battle – Not Giving Up
This is the most important thing. Now, I’ve literally carved out time for myself every week to work on social media for my blog and podcast. Have I been using it? Not effectively. That needs to change. The other day I was talking about not gaining a larger audience. Well, that won’t happen if I don’t give people a reason to look me up. So, it’s time to get to work, buckle down, lock in, and all the other things that literally just mean do the dang thing! Will I expand into other avenues of social media? Meh, maybe. Never say never, am I right? Right now I have no plans to go beyond Facebook and Instagram. Especially while I am working full time at the hotel. I just do not have the time to manage 3 accounts. So, I’ll keep going with where I’m at.
Let’s Do The Dang Thing
I’m trusting you all to hold me accountable to this. And you can even help my audience grow. Engage with my content on social media. The more engagement I get, the better. You don’t have to do a lot. Even just liking something helps because it tells the algorithm that people are looking at my content. I’m not just shouting out to the void, as I’ve heard people warn against. Hopefully, as I grow, I can lean more on my blog and podcast to bring in money and slowly back out of the hotel. But, I have a long way to go before that happens. And I can’t do it alone. I need your help, my friends. Let’s do the dang thing and win this social media battle. Anything can happen if I try.
