28 | Big shifts now happening in Social Media: What I Learned When I Couldn’t Show Up Fully

Speaker A: So I made some notes about the shift with Meta and what's actually working right now. Now, this is important because Meta is changing things and it's quite a drastic shift. This was confirmed again in the challenge. So take a few notes and save yourself some research time. You ready? What's being prioritized now is not noise and not volume, but are you sitting in front of a pile full of tasks for your business, family, household and everything else to do and long for that to go away? The trick is creating passive income. Of course there's some work behind the passive part, but working 20% compared to 120 completely turned around how I enjoy life today. Great to have you here. Are you ready to move the needle? Work less and earn more. Grab your latest craft project and your favorite drink. Let's stitch together purpose, profit and peace to create the life we've long been wanting. Welcome back. Today's episode is, um, yeah, a little different. First of all, because it's been weeks since I could record last and it, it comes from a place that I didn't plan a time where I dealt with bronchitis and respiratory viruses and everything all at once. Um, not traumatic, not, uh, hospital level, but just enough to keep me, yeah, keep me down low a little bit for a few weeks. And what surprised me the most, it wasn't even the physical part of it all. It was the mental shift that came with it because I couldn't record. Every time I tried, I started coughing, my voice wasn't stable, and I couldn't really think clearly either. So podcasting, that just was off the table for a while. And normally that would have put on some pressure for me because you always think of deadlines and I promised myself consistency and I should be showing up. But with my life first priorities, things shift and I do them, um, differently now. I didn't push and I didn't force it. And interestingly, social media became a bit of a mirror in that because technically I could still post, no voice needed. But I also didn't push myself to post daily. And that's where something clicked for me again. Because at the same time, I was in a seven day simple social media challenge that took place in our business community. And we were learning about what Meta's actually doing with making some major changes to how content is shown, what they prioritize. And I realized that I've been thinking about social media a little bit differently than many because we were told to think in a certain way. That has become more of a hype than, uh, a Good practice. And maybe that's the angle today. It's not how to do more, but what actually matters now and maybe never mattered as much as we thought it did. So if you look at it, social media is not a performance tool. I think somewhere along the way, social media became this stage, performance stage. Post daily, be visible, stay relevant, don't disappear. And I understand any business needs visibility, obviously, and today that's the way businesses work on social media, getting visibility. And I, I post on meta, so Facebook and Instagram and that's Easy because it's two in one and on LinkedIn, because social proof and trust matter. But what I learned, especially these past weeks, is this. Social media isn't a performance tool, it's really a connection tool. And many forget how important connection is. In that challenge. One of the strongest reminders was this idea. Social media is meant to be, well, social, not just posting, but connecting. And they gave simple ways to do that. Reaching out to people or sending a message, for instance, noticing something about them and about someone and mentioning it, or just saying thank you to someone. No pitch or hidden agenda. And I thought this is actually the part most people skip because we're so focused on what do I post, Often focusing on self instead of who am I connecting with. And I've noticed even just a few meaningful interactions per day can do more than posting five times without connection ever could. So if we look at what I learned in the, this, uh, seven day challenge, it was about what to post, for instance. And let's, let's then look at and talk about the part that everyone wants to know, what do I actually post? Because that's where the stress comes from most of the time, right? And what I liked about this challenge, it removed that question completely. Instead of guessing every day or using, um, energy just to make a decision and come up with something, they used a simple rotation. Not complicated, just structured things like one day, ask a question, engagement is connecting. Another day share something you're grateful for, yet another share a lesson and then another could be create a short video or a list post or a reflection and you're no longer sitting there thinking, what should I post today? You just follow a direction. And I was quite relieved. Structure creates freedom because the stress isn't posting, the stress is deciding what to post. Once that's removed, everything just feels lighter. And I really was relieved. So I made some notes about the shift with meta and what's actually working right now. Now this is important because meta is changing things and it's quite a drastic Shift. This was confirmed again in the challenge. So take a few notes and save yourself some research time. You ready? What's being prioritized now is not noise and not volume. But number one is watch time. Number two is how many saves people save of the content that I post. Number three are shares. So how many shares and the number of shares of content that people share with their friends. Number four, meaningful comments on posts and reels. And number five, conversations. Now, reels are still strong. Yeah, especially for reaching new people. But not because they're flashy, because they hold attention. Same with carousels. They work because people stay on them longer. Carousels being a row of graphics or photos with a short text on it, telling a story. That works on Instagram and it works on LinkedIn. And that's the shift. It's not about being seen quickly, it's about being stayed with. And I think that's actually good news because it means you don't have to be loud, you don't have to be everywhere, you don't have to perform. You just have to be relevant and real. You can, of course, and it's fun to see some performance once in a while, but not every time. Now, one thing that hasn't changed is the first line matters. The hook. If your first line doesn't land, nothing else will. And yes, they shared examples like unpopular opinion says, or nobody tells you this, or I used to believe this too. And they do work. But here's my take of it. A hook doesn't have to be dramatic, it just has to be clear. It has to make someone feel, this is for me, that's it. Not louder, just clearer. So how can I use social media without burning out? This is very important to me because I don't want a business that depends on daily pressure or constant output or what's trending today. And I don't want to call myself a content creator. I just want to be able to create content to support my business. It's not sustainable and for me, it's also not enjoyable. So here's what I personally focus on. Not being everywhere and choosing those platforms that fit me. I also like to keep things simple and using repeatable formats. Also, what's important is replying to people, always showing up, consistency, and it doesn't need to be perfect. Those five things is something that I focus on. And something I've really learned lately is you can step back, obviously, without losing everything. That is very important to me because I haven't posted daily lately. Nothing collapsed, actually. It felt more grounded so if we move from content to conversations, which meta uh is now prioritizing, something else stood out for me. And that move from content to conversations sounds inviting to me. Instead of giving everything away in one post, you can simply say, I created something helpful, let me know if you liked it. And that opens a conversation, not a transaction. It feels human and natural. That's what real relationships are made out of. I'm going to focus on this more moving forward. So the strategy is a calm one. If I had to simplify everything. Social media works best when you keep it structured and you keep it simple. You focus on people, you build depth instead of noise, you stay consistent in a realistic way. And most importantly, you don't build your business on social media. You let social media support your business. I feel that's an important and a big difference. So maybe sometime when you've been not feeling well, a bit overwhelmed with social media maybe, or like you're not doing enough, or like you're falling behind. I mean, there's plenty of times when even feeling the imposter syndrome can bring these feelings about. Maybe what you need isn't more effort or pretending to know everything. It's just a different approach, a calmer one, a more structured one, and one that is all you. Because the goal isn't to win over the lovely algorithm, it's to build something that lasts for you and is sustainable. I use Meistertask app for my social media posting and podcast content planning. It's a system that I set up, um, to sit there nicely in columns and cards waiting for me just to fill out the blanks and not have to start from the beginning each time. It's easy to fill in weeks of content from a rotation plan for weeks ahead. I also use it for other processes, like working in a team. It makes things simple and clear for everybody. I realized something very clearly these past weeks when my energy dropped. I needed a business that didn't collapse with it. That is what I have been building from the beginning. Something where you don't trade every hour for money. Something that will work when I don't. Something that will last, a legacy after. I want to slow down. And I'm grateful that I built something like that, where social media supports it but doesn't carry all of the weight. And I keep sharing how I do that in this podcast. It's a way that actually fits real life in my life. And I'm sure it could fit yours too, because real life includes weeks like that, slower ones, ones where you need to heal and your business should be able to hold that, not to let it become a problem. Part of that healing journey for me is actually knitting and doing handicrafts. It also creates room for thinking and it sparks creativity. I just created new patterns after making a few versions of new items during that time. It's amazing what you can create when you're not caught in the social rabbit hole. I also had time to work on an app, ah, concept that is now on its way to becoming tangible. So it's really exciting and I can't wait to share it soon, so hang on for that one. So until next time, build something that works with your life and not against it. I cannot say that enough. Keep looking out for more episodes on how to set up a business that continues to work when you can't. And also that creates passive and legacy income for the future. Because at some stage we need to respect that we won't be able to carry on like we have endless energy or like we'll always be working because I don't think that is what most people want, but they do want the security that comes from passive income income. So see you next time. Stay healthy and have a great time till then. I hope this episode helped you move forward toward your goals and dreams and that inspired you in some way. If it did, please do share it with a friend and it would help me greatly. If you would like to leave a review on the show, have a look online@beekeedja.info where you can find out more about the online business system. I chose to run alongside my knitwear business and that changed everything for me. That's V E k I j a.info there's a link and more info in the show notes. I'd be happy to mentor you every step of the way. Keep your heads up and take consistent steps forward with your eyes on the prize. And remember, mindset is the largest factor for success. See you next time and be blessed.