Episode #123: Bright shiny object syndrome is a good thing
As someone who is building her business in the online space, you need to be everywhere all the time.
In an ever-changing social media world, new trends come and go constantly.
New platforms are developed, created, and rolled out daily. And the early adopters get MASSIVE traction and visibility, because they are paving the way for an entirely new demographic of people to enter into a platform.
Think about Facebook. First, when it first came out it was called The Face Book. And then it changed to what we know it is today, Facebook. At first it was only available to those with a .edu web address, meaning it was only available to college students. But what happened when those college students graduated and no longer had their .edu email addresses?
And some colleges, mine included, refused to allow Facebook at first. That’s right, your college had to APPROVE to be included in Facebook. I remember in my Junior year my college finally approved Facebook and it actually crashed our internet on campus because SO MANY students were logging on and creating accounts!
So think about those humble beginnings and look at where Facebook is now. 2.4 BILLION users later and it’s the world’s largest social media network and has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.
And as online marketers we may moan and groan about algorithm changes, or the newest social media network that we HAVE to be on, or the features that get added or taken away at a moment’s notice, these changes and new trends are actually a really good thing.
Because, it means that there is no one “right” way to do business, especially in the online space. You don’t HAVE to be on Facebook if you don’t want to. Do you HATE Instagram? Don’t be on it.
But do know, and this is the important thing here, that you have the potential to NOT find your ideal client by not hanging out in established or even new social media networks.
I think we can all get behind the idea that we need to put blinders on and stay in our lane, but I also think we can all get behind that early adaptors, win.
IGTV for example. When it first came out everyone was totally pumped about it. There was really no “wrong way” or “right way” to do it, it was just another platform to share content. And those who were early adopters to it, got crazy visibility. And then the dip happened. The movement seemed to slow down. People (myself included) abandoned it. Decided it wasn’t worth their time. Then, over the past month or so, Instagram has decided that it is worth it, and all of those people who have stayed consistent with IGTV are now reaping the rewards.
Chalene Johnson, who those of you who know me well know I LOVE, teaches others how to build their businesses online and is a MAJOR social media influencer, reported this month that by doing IGTV’s she gained 15,000 new followers since January of this year. Crazy right?! Let that sink in for a minute. That’s organic growth, no paid Ads.
Don’t write off new features, networks, outlets, and/or changes, as just another thing to do or learn. Embrace it. Become a student, watch influencers who are using it and using it effectively and see what they’re doing. Imagine if by using this brand new something, was the gateway to more leads, more clients, and more impact, would it be worth it then? Of course!
Now there is a practical side to this. How do you find the time? Besides having the desire to learn this new thing, how do you actually implement this new thing without burning out?
The reason why you may get so burnt out or frustrated with new platforms is because you’re implementing them in a way that simply doesn’t work for you. And usually this two-fold:
The first half of this is that you have absolutely no strategy behind your work. You’re not willing to take the time to learn, see what’s working, analyze numbers, and then adjust. You’re crossing your fingers, throwing spaghetti at the wall, and hoping it sticks. And then you get frustrated and deem the platform to be “now where your ideal client hangs out.” When the reality of it is that you don’t know your numbers and you’re not intentional with your time on the platform.
This is the biggest complaint I hear when it comes to Facebook Ads. I hear female entrepreneurs say all the time that their ideal client has no interest in responding to Facebook Ads. It’s not true. It’s your strategy that makes your ideal client not interested in your Facebook Ads.
Now the second half of this is that you’re not automating or reusing the content at all. You’re constantly in content creation mode. Now this is a slippery slope because I do have a philosophy that the content you create should be platform-specific. Which is why I cringe when I see Facebook Ads that are meant to be in the Facebook News Feed, pop up on Instagram Stories. It’s blatantly obvious that the content isn’t meant for that specific platform because it looks TERRIBLE! But at the end of the day, you can reuse amazing content in amazing ways.
Here is an example in how to reuse content:
You do a Facebook Live on your Facebook Page.
From there you send it to a cold audience through the Ads Manager to create a custom audience who is interested in your topic and who you can later send conversion Ads to.
Then you share it to your Facebook Group.
Download the video, upload it to Rev.com, get it transcribed and turn it into a blog post.
You extend the life of your blog post by uploading it to Pinterest and use Tailwind to loop it and then you send it to your Tribes within Tailwind.
You upload it to YouTube using your SEO.
You edit it to be vertical and shorten it to 3 minutes and send it to IGTV.
Once it’s live on IGTV you do an Instagram Story about it and post about it in your Feed.
Now back to my practical question, how do you find the time/bandwidth to introduce a new platform? How do you use bright shiny object syndrome to your advantage and be everywhere all the time?
You automate it. And this is where you need to get picky with your bright shiny object syndrome. You HAVE to be able to automate your platforms. If you can’t, if there’s not a work around for it, you hire someone to do the work for you.
And I know that you’re probably thinking, “Allison, I don’t have the money to hire someone to do that kind of stuff for me.” And I’d argue the opposite. You can’t NOT afford to hire someone to do that kind of stuff for me.
First, it’s probably not as expensive as you’re making it out to be in your mind.
Second, if you truly want to scale to 6-figures you can’t be doing all the things all the time. You, as the CEO of your company, need to be doing ONLY the things that YOU can do. And those things are get on live video, coach your clients, write the course, record the podcast episode. You need to let go of those things that keep you “busy” and aren’t directly revenue-producing.
Back to my original point, automation has to be implemented. There are tools and apps out there that can and will help you to automate your content, at least the publishing part of it. If you’re trying to figure out what platform to dive into first, pick the one that has a tool for automation, because the last thing you need or want to be is tied to your business at all hours of the day making sure certain things go out at certain times. That’s annoying and it’s not living your life.
When you can automate your content, when you can reuse, when you can seemingly be everywhere all the time, while not actually being everywhere all the time, that’s when you start to see some serious progress in your business. That’s when you can develop a clear lead generation strategy and that’s how you can maximize your results and scale your business, predictably. That’s when feast or famine months become a thing of the past, and that’s when that feeling of freedom and security can and will start to happen.
When you know month after month that when you do X, Y happens, the more you do X, the more of Y you get, your business can and will become so much easier. And isn’t that what we all want?
Consistent leads through an intentional social media marketing strategy is what every online entrepreneur wants and needs.
So my question to you is, is that what you have? Do you have that kind of guaranteed ROI? Do you know, without a doubt, where your next lead is coming from?
If not, I want to invite you to join me in the Clients on Autopilot Training Series that kicks off on May 16! And if you’re listening to this episode/reading this blog post after May 16, that’s totally ok! You can still get access to it!
This training series is going to walk you through lead generating strategies, some mindset blocks you might be unintentionally have that are blocking your from attracting leads, and a practical and implementable method for attracting more leads to you. To get signed up click here and I’ll see you inside the training series!
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