This month, it’s been 3 years and 4 months months since I left social media. 3 years and 4 months without a single post, reel or story. 3 years and 4 months without thinking about the algorithms, the perfect image, the perfect light.
It’s also been 3 years and 4 months since marketing finally started to feel good to me. 3 years and 4 months of marketing my business in a way that is all me. 3 years and 4 months of doing what I want to do—and of booking amazing clients and customers along the way.
In this post, I’m sharing 4 reasons why I love marketing without social media—and invite you to check out my marketing programme Grow if you too want to feel confident and intentional in your marketing.
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#1 Less overwhelm
I am an introverted, easily overwhelmed person. I get sensory overload easily. I like quiet.
The constant scroll that Instagram encourages got to me really quickly. Being on the app meant fielding so many impressions that I often left feeling overwhelmed and simply icky.
But it wasn’t just being on the app that overwhelmed me. For years before I left in 2021, I tried to find the right way of showing up on the app. I tried content calendars; having set days for certain types of post (such as my Monday mantra posts); limiting the number of days I posted. None of it worked. I was playing a game where the rules, if they were clear to me at all, seemed to constantly be changing.
Whatever I did, it was never enough.
I have to focus on only 3 marketing channels and that feels amazing.
There is a slower, gentler and more profitable way of running your business.
Discover your way of doing your business with my 1:1 mentoring support.
No hacks, no hustle.
Instead: marketing and launching that is slow, gentle and gets results. Clear boundaries and priorities that encourage you to live a life next to your business. Accountability and support to help you create the live and business you crave.
#2 More focus
Just not having to come up with ideas for Instagram posts—which seemed to cost me considerably more energy than coming up with newsletters—has freed up so much brain space for me.
I feel so much more focused marketing on just the three channels I use now. I’m not scrambling to catch up with a particular channel. And, I’m not tempted to pick up my phone to ‘just quickly check Instagram’.
Have you received your free PDF with 3 easeful marketing strategies, tailored to your business, yet?
#3 Getting to do exactly what I want
One of the main reasons why I started my business was because I craved autonomy. Ironically, I immediately began to follow everybody else’s advice about marketing, trying to follow their rules. I didn’t regain the autonomy I craved until I left social media and restructured my marketing.
I often remind my clients that in their business, they get to set the rules. They get to decide what they do and don’t want to do—which is not something we’re used to. We grow up believing that we need to follow the rules, usually those of other people, and never really learn how to make our own. Your business is the perfect place to set your own rules, as is your marketing, as I show you in Grow.
It’s your business and your marketing. You get to set the rules.
#4 No need to take pictures of my tea cups
This last one sounds a bit frivolous, but not looking for the perfect shot, with the perfect, on-brand feel, has actually made a difference to me. Not everything has be content anymore, whether it’s a beautiful notebook, a cup of tea, or my office. While I still take the occasional picture of my tea, I’m really happy to feel less of a pressure to be creating ‘content’ all the time.
But doesn’t an online business need social media?
But wait, you might say, isn’t running an online business without social media impossible? How do new people find you? How do new clients and customers discover you?
The short answer is: clients and customers find me through search engines, through recommendations here on Substack, and through Pinterest. Some of them find me through a guest podcast, or a guest blog or newsletter post.
The even shorter answer is: you don’t need social media to run an online business.
If you want to market your business in a more intentional, confident way, in a gentler way, that allows you to use your strengths and follow your joy—then Grow is for you, whether social media is part of your marketing or not.
I’d love to know what resonates with you from this post.
Please feel free to share this post it with business friends, in your newsletter or elsewhere. 💛
I’d love to support you in all phases of your business. Providing clarity, focus and next steps is something that my clients tell me I’m really good at. If you’re curious about how we can work together through 1:1 mentoring, check out what I offer or send me an email–no strings attached. I have payment plans available, and flexible options for mentoring calls.
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