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I just got off the phone with one of my lovely private clients and we had such a powerful conversation about shifting marketing strategies when our current one doesn’t align.
I have personally been experiencing this in my own business, and so today I want to dedicate this episode to talking about My Intentional Step Away From Social Media.
Some of you may have noticed others, maybe not so much, but I just went on my Instagram, and in the past six months, actually no, in 2024, so starting from January 1st, 2024, I’ve posted 13 times total on my Instagram feed.
This is obviously very, very different from 2019, 2020 when I was on Instagram posting every single day.
However, despite this drastic decrease from the amount of times I post, my business has still consistently brought in multiple five figures every single month in 2024.
In this episode, I’m going to be sharing the reasons why I have gone through such a shift, what I am doing behind the scenes and what I have learned about this whole process so far.
So that if you are thinking about doing the same, or if a part of your marketing strategy just feels very unaligned with you right now, know that you have options and know that you can make a change.
Preface
Let me just preface what I’m going to be sharing by saying that if you love social media and if you are in a chapter of your business where you’re giving off main character creation, super inspirational, empowering energy, shine away, like don’t stop doing you.
What I am currently experiencing now in my business does not have to impact you in any way if it doesn’t resonate with you.
What I’m about to be sharing also doesn’t mean that this is what is working in the online business space or what is not.
This is a very personal decision and you don’t have to be doing what I’m doing, but maybe in the future you’ll be going through a phase similar to what I’m going through right now or in this year, and that’s when you can recall or re-listen to this episode and be like, “I understand what Danielle was saying!”
And that’s going to be the time to implement.
Why I Changed Marketing Strategies
The reason I really had to lean in to adjust my business systems, my business strategies, my different marketing strategies was because mainly after my miscarriage in January, it was a huge, huge sign for me to slow down in my business.
I gave myself permission to take time off. I didn’t do anything that I didn’t want to, and I gave myself a lot of space to heal.
During that time, I also did not feel the most creative and if you go back to my miscarriage episode, you’ll know that I was really setting hard boundaries where if I didn’t feel like doing something, if I didn’t feel like creating, if I didn’t feel like showing up, I would not show up.
But what this translated to over time, was that I didn’t want my business to rely on constant creation. Because I proved to myself that when shit hits the fan and when life gets tough, I’m not in a position to power through that.
I know other creators, they might, they might have the discipline or the motivation to, but personally, I completely shut off.
And that made me think if this were to happen in the future, if one day I have a family, do I want to continue on this content creation hamster wheel? I started viewing content creation as more of a burden rather than a blessing in my business.
Of course, that was not always the case, and that isn’t the case right now either. But at that moment and in those few months, it really made me rethink my strategy.
Do I want to rely on consistent content creation?
Planning For The Future
The other thing that impacted my decision was that I saw burnout with a lot of my other creator friends and a lot of my creator friends who were navigating first time motherhood.
I’ve had a lot of conversations and inside looks to other content creator businesses, and I can understand and empathize that when you have a family and when you become a parent, your business does not operate the same way because you’re not sharing only about your life.
Are you going to be transitioning into sharing about motherhood or parenthood? Are you going to be sharing stories day to day of your family life or of your child?
And a lot of questions come up as in, do I wanna share my child’s face? Do I want to be very, very open about everything I’m doing with them and have them be a part of my content?
And that’s where it gets tricky because when your baby is first born, they don’t have a choice, right? And it’s really up to you where to set that boundary. Is it going to be something you want to integrate into your business or is it not?
I’ve also seen burnout with a lot of creators because once you have a family, content creation is only scalable to an extent. It’s not fully hands off.
Very rarely are any business models fully hands off, but especially content creation and especially if you are the center of your content, it’s going to be harder to take yourself away from the equation.
Because of all these things, because Rags and I are planning to have a family, to start a family, we’ve gotten a glimpse into starting a family earlier this year before a miscarriage.
I just did not feel aligned to continue content creation in the way that it looked back in 2023, 2022 up until this year.
What I had to ask myself was, when I have a family, when I enter into this new era of my life, what do I envision for myself? What do I see myself doing on a day-to-day basis?
And how can I shift my energy and my focus into other systems and business models that will support me better and help me become a better parent?
Because I don’t have to put my children online, or I don’t have to be creating content all the time if I don’t feel up for it all the time.
And what I’ve concluded is that I don’t want content to be the center of my business. Thankfully, over the past few years, I’ve gravitated and navigated away from full content creation.
So I already had an out in terms of increasing my income streams to be sustainable outside of just social media or Instagram by growing my email list, by growing my podcast listeners.
I wasn’t only focused on one platform, but I really love sharing when I feel like it.
Content and storytelling has always been an outlet for my creativity. And I fully admit that I would not be where I am today had I not gone through a serious content creation only phase.
I don’t want to completely disappear because the other option was to completely get rid of my social media platforms. But I want to only share when I want to, and I want to share from a place where it’s going to help other people going through something similar.
Social media and the internet is just so powerful because it’s free information. So if you are looking for a community, or if you’re looking for a mentor or someone who has gone through what you’re going through, you’ll find them online, right?
And I want to constantly be that resource for others online as well.
Set Up Systems In Advance
Next, I’m going to be sharing what I’ve learned in 2024 as I’ve navigated this new business model where I’m stepping away from content creation and social media.
Just a reminder, all of this is within the context that once I do start a family, I do not want to be sharing all the time. I don’t want my future children to be a part of my content strategy.
So that is where I’m coming from and what I’ve learned from designing and shifting my business strategy.
The first is that you must give yourself time to set up systems and have them in place before you pivot.
It’s probably not going to work if you are a new creator and you haven’t given yourself enough time to build your audience yet, and you decide you don’t want to be on Instagram, and you are looking to sustain your monthly recurring revenue; it’s going to be harder if you are shifting in the beginning.
What I mean by having systems in place before pivoting – I had built up my offers. I had built up my followers, my email list, my website visitors, and my ads, so that I could sustain and increase my investment into all of those other avenues before stepping away.
It’s not like all of a sudden I stepped away and nothing else changed. I had everything else already in place that I could scale.
You must have all of those systems, or at least an idea of what new strategy you’re going to use before you pivot. You can set the intention, give yourself six months, and after six months, that’s when you will start reaping the rewards. So give yourself time.
Treat Social Media Like a Portfolio
The other thing I learned is that if you are stepping away from Instagram, make sure the last at least nine posts of your feed are relevant to your business, as in they fit in your content buckets.
People can look at your Instagram page if they are new, and they get a sense of who you are and everything you offer without the need to be constantly active.
You’re treating your Instagram feed as a portfolio rather than like a series of life updates. Just make sure the last nine to 12 posts, because those are what new followers will see, make them relevant.
In my case, all of my last posts are about the digital nomad lifestyle, travel and making money online.
And of course, I have weekly episodes going live on the podcast at the Wanderlover Podcast.
So in terms of feeding this content machine, I am leaning into what is sustainable for me, and that is the podcast and the podcast Instagram rather than my main one as a whole, which I am treating as a portfolio for the time being.
Retain Customer Satisfaction
The third thing, or the third takeaway is that you must still always be selling and supporting in your business.
Even if you’re not on social media, you still need to check in with your DMs. You still need to check in with your clients and customers when they message you on the platform so that you maintain customer satisfaction, right?
It’s not like you can give yourself a get outta social media for free card. At least give your clients and customers the support that they are entitled to, and you must always still be selling.
If you’re not selling on social media anymore, are you selling on your other platforms? Are you selling through ads? You need to have a consistent way to get new leads into your business.
In the Business Academy, I teach you how to do this using Facebook ads. Those are what works for the Wonderlover and what has consistently worked over the years to grow our revenue and grow our email list.
Find a way to continue selling and scale that upwards when you take a step back.
Take Different Actions
Next, if something doesn’t align with you and your business, it is up to you to change it and find a new way to make it work.
There is always a way, sometimes as business owners, you’re so enwrapped in the routine that you have built for yourself. It’s hard to see outside of that.
You really need to take a step back, look within and think bigger, think outside the box because if you continue doing what you have been doing, you’re going to get the same results.
If it doesn’t align, it’s up to you to find a way. You can hire a coach or talk to a mentor if you want to talk out ideas, but it’s all on you, right?
Nothing’s gonna change if you don’t change, and no one’s gonna hand the answer to you on like a silver platter because everyone’s business needs are different, and your business needs are different, and your life is different.
Instead of complaining or blaming a system for not working, go out of your way to find a way.
You are the entrepreneur, you are the business owner. So you have to be constantly thinking of new ideas and new ways to innovate in a way that feels aligned to you.
You Can Always Adjust As Needed
Lastly, what I’ve learned through stepping away from social media and just pivoting this whole business in preparation for the next chapter of my life is that Instagram and social media will always be there.
What you’ve built will never go away. I don’t have to be scared of it ever disappearing, or I don’t have to be scared to take a step back because you know, maybe one day in the future I’ll go back to Instagram and be posting every day and be super excited about it.
That is still an option, right? I’m not getting rid of this option forever.
Maybe in the future I’m gonna completely stop ads when I feel more aligned with content creation. Or maybe I will go back to doing both.
But ultimately, your business is flexible and you don’t always have to follow one strategy forever.
Feel free to pivot and expand and change and test out new strategies when you feel the need to. Feel free to foresee what your future’s going to look like and give yourself time to prepare for that future.
It is all within your control. And if you need any help navigating a new business strategy, I am always one Instagram message away. I hope this episode was helpful and I will see you guys next week. Love you all!
If you’ve enjoyed this episode, it would mean so much if you could leave a review on Apple Podcasts. This helps us spread The Wanderlover mission to those who need a dose of inspiration today.
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