Social Media, We Were on a Break!

I am annoyed when people over explain their relationship with social media and here I am doing the same. 

I think it’s arrogant to think anyone really cares, but it turns out they do.

And I do too.

I am a solopreneur building my coaching business and Instagram has been a wonderful resource for me. 

I inspire and support people in ditching the drink. 

The growing sober/alcohol free IG community has been a great tool in my own recovery.

It has also offered a cost effective place to market my offerings. 

I love it!

I started like any regular person with one unimpressive post and 1 follower (me).

I wondered what to post, how to add value, what to share, what not to share, and how to capture anyone’s attention. 

How could I be of service and understanding to the great wide open of anyone who might cross my path?

Would anyone care what I had to say? 

To my delight each day my following grew. 

I started to meet people that I really liked. 

They feel like real life friends to me, and we have plans to meet up when possible. 

I gained The Most Remarkable Clients. 

Instagram has been my #1 referral source. 

People get to know me and my coaching style.

They get comfortable enough to take the leap and schedule their first complimentary call. 

I am forever grateful.

I have met my strategic partners from Instagram too.

I have hand picked my favorite people and we have started collaborating together for the greater good.

This is like living a dream.

My following is still small by Instagram standards, approaching 7,000. 

I believe you need 10,000 for a swipe up feature, which means you are starting to become an influencer and could perhaps make money off selling something for someone else. 

For me, having a mere 7,000 people choosing to listen and see what I have to share is huge! 

For perspective, it’s twice the population of the small town I grew up in!

When even a fraction of my followers watch my stories, it’s like being on stage in front of hundreds and hundreds of people.

It’s inviting them into my home, introducing them to my dog, and sharing some really personal things.

It’s a big deal and I don’t take it lightly. 

I like the opportunity to reach so many people so easily. 

I like expressing myself. 

It comes pretty easy to me and I don't usually over overthink it. 

Once in a while I get a vulnerability hangover, but for the most part, I can blurt out what’s on my mind and move on feeling relieved not more anxious. 

I don’t even do it for the feedback (which of course, I really love, Love, LOVE).

I do it to say what’s on my mind.

It’s therapeutic at times.

I know it helps others too. 

That is ultimately why I share.

I am an Enneagram 2 after all = The HELPER. 

I am always a social worker, coach, speaker, and writer.

Instagram is a great platform for me for all these roles that I love. 

Here’s where it gets tricky. 

I get annoyed by seeing the same content flying around and the wrong people getting credit. 

My feed can feel really over-saturated.

I know to stay in my own lane, but it can be hard.

I might be guilty of seeing an idea and thinking it was my own original thought too.

It’s a grab bag of ideas and they spark your own and soon it’s hard to tell what is yours and what was borrowed or even stolen, intentionally or unintentionally. 

I am not the judge of Instagram ethics.

Why do I let myself get upset by this? 

I can get brainwashed and zoned out by my own scrolling.

All of a sudden too much time has passed and I am watching someone else work out instead of going to work out.

How in the hell did that happen? 

There are tricks to engagement and these are games that I don’t want to play. 

For greater engagement,”like” other people’s posts before you post, use certain hashtags, tag people, ask for a comment, get people to save or share. 

Host giveaways! Create share circles! Before and Afters always get a lot of hype! 

I am not actually even sure what the tricks are.

If I don’t at least care a little then my posts aren’t even seen.

I want my content to land in front of the eyes of people that want to see it. 

I am all for authentic sharing and also for smart business strategies. 

Instagram changes their rules and I can’t keep up. 

I didn’t set out to be a social media maven or anything like that.

I set out with the intention of helping people that want to ditch the drink.

I don’t pay for sponsored ads.

My posts are bumped below others that are paying to be seen. 

I don’t have a visually appealing feed.

I don’t use a color palette or the right pattern of words and pictures.

I love accounts that do that!

I want mine to look like that too, but I only have so much time and this is not my top priority, as fun as it is to create.

I am a coach but not a graphic designer or even a marketing guru. 

I don’t have someone to take my picture.

I am a coach.

I am selling myself.

That is my product. 

Me.

People want to see the person they are interested in investing in.

I do that when I am viewing someone else’s account.

I get it as a potential client, but it's hard to do as someone who is not a model. 

It feels ridiculous for me, a Polish girl with a big nose and chin from a small town in WI, who is now a middle aged Mom, to be taking selfies.

I am posing and taking pictures of myself and then editing a bit to make me look a bit more internet worthy than how I actually feel. 

It’s too much for me.

It feels so self obsessed. 

I like words more.

No one wants to just read my ramblings without a pretty picture first.

That’s the point of Instagram!

It's so visual! 

I’d rather do a Live or have you over for coffee than try to set up some photo shoot and put myself in an awkward pose on the one day of the  week I do my hair. 

It’s time consuming and it’s not at all how I want to be spending my time. 

I want to be creating content, coaching people 1x1, and building on ideas with my partners. 

I don’t want to be taking my picture and then seeing how many people like it, and then reposting and sharing things everyone else is too.

I don’t have a long list of people to rotate and tag them and then beg for comments so more people will view it and maybe reach out to me for coaching support.

There is nothing wrong with anyone who does any of these things.

These are great business strategies and the more people that see you, the more help you can give.

Kudos to everyone nailing it.

I know this is how to do Instagram and I want you on my marketing team!  

It’s not me.  

All this to say, after a week off of Instagram, my beloved IG community and social media of choice, I am still not ready to come back yet.

I will be ready at some point.

When I am I will be happy to share. 

That’s the whole point I guess, is that I want to keep Instagram something I enjoy doing and receiving, not something that feels like a fake hustle to nowhere.

I have beautiful pictures from vacation I want to show you.

I have so many new thoughts after taking a break.

I want to keep sharing.

I will keep posting.

I am creating some new ways to make Instagram work better for me. 

I see Instagram as the meeting place for us and not the place to stay. 

It’s like meeting in a bar (the irony).

A great place to meet people, but maybe a little fake-ish.

If you like the introduction, please get on my email list, where we can be penpals, get to know each other better, meet virtually for a cup of coffee, maybe even in person someday. 

I will be sharing more of myself with my email subscribers and offering more resources, content, and support there.

I am able to connect others on the same journey with each other through my email list. 

This is where I can do my greatest good.

I want to spend my time marketing myself less, and helping people more.

I am adding more clients to my coaching rooster.

Thanks to my growth, in part due to Instagram, I have a waitlist of people wanting to work with me. 

I want to help as many people as quickly as possible, because I know my coaching support works. 

I witness it everyday.  

I trust the interest in coaching support will continue, and I don’t have to be on Instagram all the time announcing it.

The time I have spent there has proven success in that YOU are here, reaching out for help, and it's time for me to stop spending so much time selling myself and more time supporting people. 

This has always been the end goal.

It was never to be the most popular person on Instagram.

It has taken me a moment to realize, I have arrived.

I can hustle less and help more.

I am creating specialized content for larger audiences.

I can do more good reaching people this way than through their scroll. 

I am focusing on growing and building Ditched the Drink in the corporate world, recruiting more coaches to get trained (let me know if you want details on this), and offering focused support to wider audiences. 

This is the best use of my time.

Not resharing and getting sucked into Instagram which alarmingly steals my time like nothing else. 

It's not you, Instagram, it's me.

I am not here to sell other people’s products.

I am here to show you how beautiful life is after ditching the drink.

I am here to invite you to join me if interested in this kind of life. 

I will still be posting, doing LIVES, stories, reels, and more on Instagram. 

I will be doing it less.

This doesn’t mean anything is wrong. 

It means my business has grown to the point where my priorities have shifted.

I am being called to put my nose down and do the work I asked for. 

Instagram, which started as a marketing tool and connector, is becoming an easy distraction and I have to change my ways. 

I love you, Followers! 

I wouldn't be having these opportunities without you.  

Please get on my email list by downloading my Sober Secrets Guide and stay tuned for exciting new updates and offerings.