Social Media dependency

A few weeks ago, we all experienced a little taste of what would happen if social media just went away. Facebook and Instagram were down for a day which left some people unsure of what to do without it. Even though it wasn’t working, we all still reached for our phones, thinking we could check in or post something. During that day, some of us took the time to read a book or get other work done, embracing a “social-media free” day. But it got us thinking, have we become too dependent on social media? In today’s episode, we dive into this topic and share our honest opinions.

Social Media is a Tool

Don’t get us wrong, we ADORE social media. It’s a great way to stay connected with others and to share what is going on in your life. It’s also an AMAZING resource for your business. But social media is a tool, it should not consume your entire life. It’s easy to become distracted by it but it can start being dangerous if you think you should live your life a certain way based on what you see online. If you see the people you follow online and think they have the “perfect life” and you don’t, it’s normal to get discouraged. It’s important to not use social media as a mirror for your own life. You need to do what’s best for yourself and not feel like you have to do what everyone else is doing. You are special and unique and your story deserves to be told.

Learning to be Present Again

There is a time and place for everything, including social media. Have you ever gone out to dinner with your friends to share great conversations and catch up with each other and instead you both spend more time on your phones? Don’t get me wrong, we all love documenting the moments, our experiences, and our travels, but then it’s time to put the phone away and actually be present with the people we’re with. It’s okay to share with your friends that you want a photo of your night out together but you don’t have to post it right away. No one cares if it’s posted right at that very second. Just be honest and open with your friends and set aside time for your social media so it’s not taking up the entire evening. When you’re actually in the moment, you’ll have way more fun.

Your Business Should Survive Without Social Media

Would your business survive if social media went away? The answer is probably no and it’s a good thing that you know that now. Of course, social media isn’t going anywhere but it’s important to find other ways to promote your business. Try starting an email newsletter or a blog. Both those types of platforms you can control and you are not sharing on someone else’s platform. Find ways that your business can thrive, even if social media disappears.

Podcast Transcription:

Shaune Teske 0:00
And yeah, you’ll find it doesn’t even come easily to you. You’re fighting it, you’re trying to fight the picture that you’re trying to get or trying to fight the caption because this isn’t who you are what you post, you know, if you’re like, I mean, the biggest thing I always see is like, I don’t have like a white house with a white kitchen and marble. It’s like, well, neither do I. Do I show that? No, but if you want that light area aesthetic, you can make that happen. It’s just then about lightning, whatever. But just because you don’t have a white kitchen or a white house doesn’t mean you can’t have an awesome life and have a really cool place and stuff.

Welcome to the Creative Legacy Podcast, a podcast to help creative entrepreneurs build their business, while leading a life of intention, joy and adventure. I’m Shaune.

Sarah Schrader 0:55
And I’m Sarah. Perhaps a few weeks ago, you remember, there was a day when Facebook and Instagram or both completely just unusable. Down. So many glitches and problems are going on and what happens when that happens, what do you do when that happens? Like what are you doing in your life? And that’s kind of what we’re gonna talk about today. Of just how can you live and enjoy life and also still run a business when you don’t have a platform like Facebook or Instagram around? I know Shaune you did an Instagram story the day after and I loved talking about this topic as well.

Shaune Teske 1:39
Yeah, it’s something that really struck me because people were freaking out. There’s a lot of groups on Facebook. I personally couldn’t even post, I was trying to post, share a blog post that I created and I was like what’s going on? And so I was looking at groups and everyone’s having this problem and then it’s slowly turning into this like blackout situation of we can’t we can’t do anything. Nothing’s working. What do we do? We had content planned and people were kind of losing your mind and I was like okay, whatever I’ll just post it tomorrow but you know, it was people were legit freaking out they’re like how do I not get this oh here? If this person gets it up before me like they’re gonna beat me to it. It was crazy. They were losing their minds because they couldn’t post on Facebook or Instagram because the company owns both, and I also I think the WhatsApp was having issues too which is also owned by Facebook as well. And that’s going to keep happening the more people keep like buying up all the social media chains. People were going to Twitter like this is my only thing my last chance. I’m like, are you guys crazy? You can’t take a hot second away from this? But if it’s all controlled by the same thing, you know what happens? And it was really interesting to see people’s reaction to it being down. It was for a day, so wasn’t an hour, it was kind of inconvenient. People were really freaking out and thinking, not we’re getting hacked, but they just couldn’t do anything with it. And that was really crazy to me of okay, yes, I understand, this may be how you connect with friends or whatever. And if that goes away, that’s one thing but if you’re a business owner and your main thing is social media, what happens when that’s gone? And lots of different aspects from that but I just want to hear Sarah, how did did it affect you? Did the blackout affect you in any certain way, positively or negatively?

Sarah Schrader 3:38
Honestly, no. And that’s because I’m not super active on social media to begin with. I did go on, I actually tried to sign in that day and do a post as well but I couldn’t even sign in. Facebook told me that they were doing maintenance which, yeah, it was just weird. I couldn’t find it all but I know on my phone and the app I could kind of like scroll through but things weren’t loading, so I knew something was going on but. I didn’t get to do the posts that I wanted to on that day. But I mean otherwise, for me, like I said I don’t post a ton on social media. Yeah, I guess kind of business as usual for me but, it was an interesting day to see.

Shaune Teske 4:24
It was to witness. And then the next day when it was back up, you know everyone was sharing these like funny memes like I survived the shutdown of whatever and then this thread that started going in one of the groups, and then also on a few like different Instagram posts I saw, was like what did you do? Because you couldn’t check your social media. So now we’re not even into the your business world but just your endless scrolling like when we have nothing to do oh well open Instagram. I’ll scroll for a little bit, whatever. What did you do? Because you couldn’t just be on social media, you couldn’t even just check in with what people were doing, who were like, I read a book, I reorganized my closet I did, you know, I did all these things. And that was kind of my day, I worked on other things that I, you know, didn’t involve social media things like like the, I don’t know, like the down and dirty of your business, like the stuff that people you’re not going to post and share, but it’s work that you have to get done. Right, I did a lot of that I read a book without distractions. You kind of like, I left my phone in a different room, you just don’t even need it. You know what I mean? It’s like, you don’t feel it. So that was that’s the whole.

Sarah Schrader 5:41
How freeing is that? Because it’s so true that we, like even our attention spans, for watching TV, if there’s a commercial, we pick up our phone, and we open an app and look at it. Like, how free is that to think of other things.

Shaune Teske 5:56
Right? And that was the whole point was, okay, I’m feeling like we’re a little getting a little bit obsessed. And I think everyone is gonna say they’re guilty of it. But when you like, really look at the research of it, it’s something crazy, like you pick up your phone, you check your social media, like 150 times a day or something. It’s nuts. It’s like an insane number. I think it was like 50, no, 75, like a few years ago and now we’re up to 150 times a day. A day! And I mean that even could be less. It could have gone up by now. But we just can’t help it. And our generation is really interesting, because we grew up without it, and then it was introduced to us, like it came up while we were growing up. So we still remember a time and our parents remember a time without it. And sometimes I just wish we could go back to that place because I felt like, not like it was more pure, but like it just was. Things felt more like you could experiment. And you can make a fool of yourself. You could try new things because you’re not worried someone’s gonna record it and put it on Facebook or you know, you don’t care about like what your life looks like, you’re just living it. Like when you’re on Instagram, you’re just seeing everyone else’s life and thinking, why is my life not this perfect thing? You know, you start feeling bad about this life you have. So I really wanted to kind of go into that, like, how, how do you treat social media? Is it this thing? is a tool that you use? And I’ve heard about that a lot. Or slowly has it become this obsessive thing that you can’t live without?

Sarah Schrader 7:46
Yeah, that’s an interesting question. I don’t think it’s something that I couldn’t live without, but I do let it become a distraction for sure. It’s really like a tool to avoid what I should be doing if I’m just like having that moment of I don’t really want to do this. So I’ll be Oh, take a minute and check social media. And then five minutes later, you’re like, oh, wait, this is taking a lot longer.

Shaune Teske 8:14
Right. And I find that I don’t even care. Like, I’m so tired. Um I’m not I know, like, I love all my friends, but I don’t care if you ate what you ate for lunch, or this cool new place, whatever. Like, and that’s probably awful to say, but my real friends, we’ll text each other. Well, we’ll send each other messages. Like, I already know what you’re up to. I don’t want to find out through your social media, what you’re doing. And then you just have a bunch of these connections that you don’t really know this person, but Well, we’re Facebook friends, I kind of like what they’re doing, or I want to see what they’re up to. So it’s this weird, like, do we really care? We’re all just so focused on our own things, that when we see other people’s posts or sharing of their lives, like, are you genuinely interested? Are using it for that? And if you are, that’s great. But then are we doing that in our real life? Like, you can’t just be liking someone saying on Facebook or hardening on Instagram and then not talking to this person ever. You need to be showing up in their life if you really are truly friends. You know, I think that’s a really interesting way to look at it, of, are we are we coming to their birthday parties? Are we sending them cards when they get engaged? Are we whatever, or oh, I’ll just like this post on Facebook, you know? Are we showing up for the people we really care about or do we let social media be that crutch for us?

Sarah Schrader 9:47
Yeah, it’s interesting, the connection aspect of it is very….social media allows it to be passive versus active. And I can say now, as I’m taking this trip for four months, I’m gonna enjoy being able to use it to connect with people because I can’t see them face to face, but I’m definitely going to be missing my friends and seeing them from time to time in person. That’s been probably the hardest part of these last couple of weeks is having those moments of like, I’m gonna see you for four months.

Shaune Teske 10:29
Right? And, that’s why it’s like, okay, I don’t want to get down on social media. And the whole time we talked about it was like it is a tool. And it is a really awesome tool because I do have so many friends that don’t live here. And it is a way to reach out and talk to them. And just like you mentioned, you’re going on this new adventure, and it’s a way to check back in with people that aren’t going on with you. So you don’t feel, you’re still alone on a journey, but you don’t have to be 100% alone. So in that way, it’s really, really awesome. It’s just the, you know, there’s a lot of times of like, I’ll just like this, or I’ll commented or I’ll give you a heart and you’re trying to do something big or something meaningful, and then people don’t show up. Or well, I liked it on Facebook. Well, that doesn’t mean anything. And it can get a little weird, you know, too, when people will come up to you and just be like, Oh, well, I saw you did this thing. I posted that, but I didn’t talk to you about it. I mean, it just becomes like it’s a part of your life. So just checking in? Are you connecting with your friends outside of social media? Are you making time to meet? Not when you’re just on your phones or on your computers? Are you actually having face to face conversations? Even phone calls? I mean, we get so mad when people actually call us on our phones. And it’s like, Are you kidding me? And I mean, I’m guilty of it. I don’t have time to talk, just send me an email. But that’s just a funny way, even with our friends, you know, call to catch up or to schedule a time to get together. So I think that’s one of the points I wanted to make was that. Yeah, it’s great to check in and see what your friends that don’t live here are doing or to share love or prayers or whatever it may be. But making sure you’re still going that, I don’t even want to call it the extra mile, because I think it’s just the minimum, is to actually see your friends and want to talk to them and set time to celebrate their successes with you, or whatever it may be. Just leaving it online, leaving it on social media, will not fill us as a human. You know, race, we need connection. We need to be with people. And if we leave it all online, we’re gonna lose that. And then it turns into that, well, I’m doing things to get like so. And I’m doing things to get followers and I’m doing these things because I don’t, I feel like I’m lacking that connection over here. So now I’m doing all this stuff to get it online. And it just becomes this like warped way to get approvals and get connections and get friends. But are they real friends?

Sarah Schrader 13:16
Yeah, hat’s a rabbit hole, for sure.

Shaune Teske 13:18
Oh my gosh, isn’t it? I’m getting dizzy just thinking about it.

Sarah Schrader 13:24
Even to think of that, like, oh, well, I want likes and attention and comments on a post. Like, really? Is that a good why or reason to be doing it in the first place?

Shaune Teske 13:38
Right. And I don’t think, I think it’s a very, interesting person that, feels like they’re doing that like, they know I’m literally just posting this to get likes. I don’t think a lot of people realize they’re doing it. So it’s become this subconscious thing. Like I only got this many likes on it, or I only got this many whatever’s on it, or the opposite of, I got so many likes, I’m so cool. You know, making sure that when you are posting something, does it make sense? Why are you posting it? Thinking about the why behind why you’re sharing this is so important, because if you don’t know why they’re like, maybe don’t share it. It comes to my other point of, I only use social media for my business. If you think I’m posting something personal. It has a business thing related to it. It’s because I want you to get to know me behind my business. But if it wasn’t for being a business owner, being an entrepreneur, I would not have social media at all. I would be completely old school cut out, you know, none of that because there’s no there’s no place for it. You know what I mean? I just think that’s a really interesting, place to go of, okay, like, why do you have it as a personal side? And it’s fun to check in with people. But, why are you posting as a personal side? Like, why? Why do you need to share certain things?

Sarah Schrader 15:11
Yeah, I…sorry, I’m just thinking of so many of the things the reasons I’ve unfollowed people, because, and not necessarily unfriend them. Because if they are a friend, I want to, support them. But if I’m seeing stuff that I just don’t care about all the time, I don’t want to put that in my mental capacity.

Shaune Teske 15:32
Right. Because it just becomes clutter. You know, I want everything that is being put out there to be very intentional and very thought out. And anytime I post something, I’m thinking about, why, why am I sharing that? And in my, like I said, my things always come back to how is this serving my business and myself as a business owner, so even if I’m sharing personal things, I’m not just like posting it in the moment, I might post it that night, or the next day, or whatever. I’m never taking myself away from what I’m doing right now, my present situation. So that’s another part of this is, are you so focused on giving the shot or getting, you know, do it for the gram, that you’re missing in your life, that you’re not being present in your life right now, because this is only when you get and if you are spending your whole time trying to do things for social media, you’re gonna miss the blessings you have.

Sarah Schrader 16:38
Yeah, I, I once, I don’t know if I read it, or heard it, or like on a radio or video, but there was something about, if you’re constantly just like taking pictures, you’re really not living and experiencing the moment. And then like, even when you look back at the pictures that isn’t as impactful because you didn’t experience it, you’re just trying to document that essentially. And I think a lot even now, people going out to dinner and you’re on your phone and not having that face to face interaction constantly. Because you’re either looking things up, or you’re scrolling social media and texting other people, it’s so many things, so they just kind of take you away from being present.

Shaune Teske 17:26
Right. And I think there’s a balance because, social media is a tool and it’s not going anywhere. And I’m happy about that. There’s lots of really cool things it does. And I mean, I’m so thankful for what it’s done for my business. And it’s been a beautiful, beautiful gift. But I think it’s a balance. So if you’re traveling, if you’re with friends, okay, maybe you set up limits or timeframes of, Okay, we’re gonna take pictures or pictures now. And then our phones go away, or I I’m guilty. I love taking pictures of my food I because I love food. And I want to look back at this and go, Yeah, that was really good. Um, but I’ll take a picture and then put my phone away, you know, like, you can totally, there can be a balance to it.

Sarah Schrader 18:12
Yeah, but I think, like you said, you take the picture and then put your phone down. You’re not posting it right away, correct?

Shaune Teske 18:19
No. Right. I don’t. Instagram stories I might. But then again, that’s it, take a picture post put it away. But for Instagram or Facebook, I usually don’t post whatever I just took a picture of until the events over or until whatever the next day, or I’m using for a blog post because I really want to stay in the moment and feel the things out. Instead of having a post now. I never post a picture like in that moment.

Sarah Schrader 18:48
Saying that yeah, being intentional about when you’re posting that and like really I guess just kind of like setting that time aside like you say, you know, you’re going to be on social media, you’re going to create that post and put it out there is definitely a way to really step away from it instead of letting it over-run your life and constantly being on it.

Shaune Teske 19:10
Totally, because, I mean, you see the the people in the the jokes of like the Instagram husbands and whatever and man. Like if he’s listening, he’s like, Yep, I know, I’ve had to take those pictures. And sometimes we’ve, you know, when we travel, I’ve had sponsored posts for different travel things and it’s like, okay, so I know, we’re on vacation or whatever. But this timeframe, this small window, we need to do this post or whatever. So we are going to take more pictures we are going to make it look effortless, but it really is like a working thing but setting up those timelines or like we’ve talked about having that intention of during this time, we’re gonna have the small window where I need to take a picture to post on social media to do the thing, but then we’ll be done, you know. So we’ve had to do that. Then, and the whole time, yeah, it’s a really cool shot, or it’s a really neat video, but I’m thinking about, Oh my gosh, Matt had to take like 20 takes of this and he wasn’t feeling it. And I didn’t feel good about myself and you know, whatever. So it starts becoming, that’s the thing. So being really intentional with if you’re doing a vacation type thing, or, yeah, you’re mixing like, this really fun thing with Oh, my gosh, this could be really cool to share. Really thinking about what’s the main thing you want to get out of this? Is it the moment? Or is it that you want to share it on social media, and sometimes it is, I just want to share this on social media. That’s the whole reason I came here. I don’t really care about their food, but it’s really cute here. I want to show this picture, whatever, then, like do it and be done with it. Don’t keep sitting there don’t keep. That’s the other thing. Like why don’t post it right away. Who cares? You posted right now versus if you posted a few hours, the people that will care if you posted right now are the people that you’re with. And now you’ve taken like 20 minutes, because you don’t have a good caption for it. And you’re just you know, people are ready for you to be done. And,

Sarah Schrader 21:02
You’re right there. Yeah, well, you just said that is like perfection.

Shaune Teske 21:08
And I get it, I’m guilty. I’m totally guilty of, Oh, I just want to like get this out. But I think over the years I’ve gotten better of I’m going to take this picture, I want to frame it up, right. I’m you know, going to get it right the first time. So I’m going to ask me or move my stuff or ask people though, can I get in there so I can get a shot. And then I’m done. And then when I usually do too, especially when I’m traveling, when I’m in my hotel room or Airbnb that night, and I kind of go through, pick my best part of the day. And then if I want to share like a whole bunch of stuff on my stories, then. ‘Cause noone cares if it’s in the moment. I mean, especially with like algorithms and stuff, some things aren’t even popping up in, you know, chronological order, so it doesn’t matter. So it just depends and it’s talking with you people. I mean, sometimes I’m with, you know, different girls, and we’re like, we’re just literally here just to do social media stuff. Like we’re gonna take a bunch of pictures of us looking cute and drinking the stuff or doing the whatever, because that’s what our goal is. But if I came here to have like a deep conversation with you. I want to catch up with my friend. Oh, my gosh, but like, look how cool this avocado says take the picture, put my phone away. So it’s just figuring out what that is and figuring out like the people you’re with? What what matters more in that moment.

Sarah Schrader 22:20
I think that’s well said there. I don’t have anything to add to that.

Shaune Teske 22:26
I’d never want to I don’t want you to feel like or anyone to feel like I’m bashing social media, because I love it. And I’m guilty of all the trends and doing all the, you know, Rose, and avocado toast and whatever and all the things I love. But it’s when are you posting it? When are you sharing it? Who are you with? Like, what’s all the intention behind it? And that makes a difference?

Sarah Schrader 22:53
Yeah, I mean, there’s a lot of fun to be had with social media, there’s is a lot of benefit and a lot of just a practicality behind it. But just making sure that we’re using it in the right way.

Shaune Teske 23:07
Right. And I love all the features of boomerangs. And I love you know, it’s so fun. It’s totally.

Sarah Schrader 23:13
They’re always coming out with new features.

Shaune Teske 23:17
For us to do, yeah.

Sarah Schrader 23:18
I saw that, so they have Instagram Live on Instagram. And there’s now a like q&a feature where you can like those q&a questions you can put into your stories, you can do a live answering those questions, and the question goes up on the screen. So they’re always adding new things. And it’s super fun.

Shaune Teske 23:36
Yeah, it’s awesome. You never like, it’s never gonna go away. And I don’t want it to, it’s great as a tool. But again, this is more about like when it becomes an obsession. And when you’re trying to get your worth off of social media, that’s when you have to take a step back. I felt way better about it within the last few years of my life than when Instagram first came out. And people were really starting to get really good at it and post these really awesome pictures of their life. And I think everyone kind of took a hit of oh my goodness, like, is my life not awesome? Is it not cool enough? You start feeling bad about what you have. And I was talking to a few girls last week about this. And they’re like, I just started feeling bad about myself and I didn’t do anything wrong. I just was seeing life through someone else’s eyes of what their life was looking at like and mine didn’t look like that. So I thought, oh my goodness, my life can’t be okay. And it’s just not true. I mean, there’s beauty in all of our lives and that’s what makes it so interesting. And I think if we can, we can still share wherever we are instead of trying to be like someone else or trying to look like someone else’s Instagram or Facebook or whatever. You’ll feel so much better because there is a space for you and for your voice and for your life and your mission and all that stuff. We need to just start sharing us and what we know and what we love versus trying to make our life look like someone else, because it’s not going to feel genuine.

Sarah Schrader 25:12
Yeah. Oh, I feel icky when I ever feel myself doing that. I just feel icky.

Shaune Teske 25:20
And yeah, you’ll find it doesn’t even come easily to you. You’re fighting it, you’re trying to fight the picture that you’re trying to get or trying to fight the caption because this isn’t who you are what you post, you know? I mean, the biggest thing I always see is like, I don’t have like a white house with a white kitchen and marble. And it’s like, Well, neither do I. Do I show that? no, you know, but if you want that light area aesthetic. Like you can make that happen. It’s just then about lightning, whatever. But just because you don’t have a white kitchen or white house doesn’t mean you can’t have an awesome life and have a really cool place and stuff. I had one lady too tell me about how well her she raises all these kids. My house is always messy. You know, I can’t share it on social media. And I’m like, share that. Share the mess. You are going to connect way more with people, if you share who you are. And you relate to other people that also have the they’re raising awesome kids, and they have the messy house and they can’t do the laundry or whatever. Like, share it. People think it has to be perfect before they can share it and like share exactly where you at because you’re going to start connecting with people that you didn’t even know were out there, they’re going to feel like their message, the message you put out was directed exactly for them, because they’re going through the exact same thing. So share exactly where you are, share exactly what you’re going through. Don’t try to make someone else’s story, your own story, like just start sharing where you’re at. And you’ll be surprised by how many people resonate with your message.

Sarah Schrader 26:56
Yes, I think we’ve said that before, too. Like, there’s always going to be somebody who can relate to what you’re going through. And that’s just gonna help create a connection between you.

Shaune Teske 27:07
And there’s always room for you. There’s never Oh, but there’s a million other people doing the same thing. We have the same story. Yeah, but there’s only one you and their audience is not your audience. So that’s kind of getting into, again, more social media for business, like we’ve been talking about for the last few minutes of your posting and sharing and stuff. Like you’re doing it for your personal reasons, do whatever you want, but just don’t let it become an obsession. Literally is my only advice for that. But for business, it’s you need to share what’s true to you what you’re trying to the story you’re trying to tell. That is unique to what you’re doing.

Sarah Schrader 27:50
Like just saying, I hear your voice matters.

Shaune Teske 27:56
Yeah, I think does. Yeah.

Sarah Schrader 27:58
Let that be heard. Let that be known and take that in. Yeah. I don’t think I could say that enough. Because I don’t think any. I know I sometimes struggle with that myself. So other people too need to hear that sometimes.

Shaune Teske 28:15
I think everyone thinks that, Okay, that’s fine. But it’s not, that’s not true for me, and it is true. I cannot tell you enough, how I’m like, whatever. It’s amazing the things that you think are unique, and you’re the only one going through this. It’s so not true. And that is the beauty of social media is that this one thing you think you’re so alone in, you share that you’ll be surrounded by people that are going through the same thing. So that’s why I think it’s so beautiful too when people do share some kind of tough times, like a lot of my friends have gone through like infertility, or just in darker times like that. And it’s it’s so painful. And I know it’s so hard to share. And I just really respect that they do share it and share their story because now you’ve connected with a bunch of other people that don’t feel so alone because they’re going through the same thing. So I think it is a really, really great and beautiful thing to do.

Sarah Schrader 29:17
It’s interesting how that happens. I’ve seen a lot more people that I know in my life that have, like you said, suffer from infertility or have another thing going on their life and just seeing it come up multiple times because people are starting to share it.

Shaune Teske 29:32
Right? And that’s all a balance. You don’t have to share that at all either. Like all of this is like there’s no like how to what or what not to share because it’s just what works for you in your life. But I always go off of like I try to share something that’s positive or inspiring or motivating and if it is a darker time in my life then I use that message to learn something and then share what I learned. I’ve never been just like this is what hat what’s happening it sucks like Boo, you know, it’s always like this thing happened. This is what I learned from it, this time moving forward. Or even if I’m not moving forward right now, I’m still in this process. Just know that I’m learning through it, or whatever it may be. And everyone’s different with that. But that’s a good rule of thumb, if you don’t know, if you’re trying to, share personal things, but you don’t know what to share or like, what’s right or what’s not, right. That’s always like the advice I give.

Sarah Schrader 30:27
Yeah. So we talked a lot about like, in your personal life, like not letting it become just obsessive. And but I mean, we do know it is a tool for our business. But we also don’t want to let that become the only thing that we use for our business as well. So you’re talking about some of the other things that we can do?

Shaune Teske 30:46
Yeah, I really love this topic, I just touched on a little when I’d mentioned this, in my earlier, Facebook, not Facebook, in my Instagram stories, that if your business lives on social media, and it does crash, and what if it crashes for good, or people have talked about, their Instagram accounts getting hacked, or whatever, what happens then? So a good rule of thumb to get started on now it to making sure your stuff, your posts, your content, whatever it may be, is somewhere else as well. So different marketing techniques that aren’t just living on social media. Social media is a great way to share some of that, but making sure you also have other places where your content lives. Two of the biggest things for me, are email marketing, because you control your email list, you own your email list. It’s a hard and scary thing, I think, too, to get into. But once you get it going, and you get it moving, then it is awesome. And you can literally reach people. They check their inbox every day, you know, you can connect with them that way. And then another way I really like to do it is through blogging. And we’ve talked about blogging before about how powerful it is to create consistent content on there to be sharing to be educated and to be inspiring your guests and your clients and your followers. So those are two ways that no matter what happens if something crashes, if something goes down, I still have content, I can still reach people. I have helped and nurtured those followings over the years. So you just have to start somewhere. And that’s two great places I would say to start.

Sarah Schrader 32:37
Yeah, I think one that I would add to that is a big thing for my business. And what I use is using the clients I’ve worked with, and having referrals. Referrals is one of the biggest things for me in terms of reaching new people and getting new clients.

Shaune Teske 32:52
Yeah, that’s a great point of that, word of mouth is still super powerful and someone’s testimonial to you is going to outweigh I think anything that you post on Facebook. If a trusted person can say to their friend, I really love Sarah and she does amazing work, they’re gonna go with you based off that. And then yeah, your social media can kind of back that up. But that first initial thing was that referral.

Sarah Schrader 33:21
So those are some of the ways that you can still be present and showing up in front of people without having to only post on your different social media platforms. But we’ve said a few times in this episode, we don’t want to bash this social media at all, it is a great tool to use and definitely use it to your advantage while it’s here. Just know that things like Facebook and Instagram going down for that day can happen and it could be on a more permanent basis, you never know.

Shaune Teske 33:53
And I just like to think too, the social media is going to be constantly changing and evolving. And if you get so stuck on this one way of doing it, you’re gonna be left in the dust. Just keep changing with it, keep evolving. Use it for your business, and try to make it more about that, using it as that tool or if you’re trying to connect with like friends or whatever, just be really intentional about what you’re posting what you’re sharing. You know, moving along with the trends and having fun with it, but yeah, I was just saying that like, it is a trendy thing. Like it’s okay to have fun and do new things but making sure it doesn’t consume you and if you don’t post today, you’re gonna die like it’s okay. It’s just social media. Like, whatever. We’re not changing the world here. Maybe we are a little bit but it’s ok to put it away it’s okay to put your phone in the other room and take a break and go for a walk, read a book, spend time with your friends and family. It will still be there or some form of it will be So, and it’s okay to have social media breaks and detoxes. A lot of people have have done that. One of our past guest speakers Shana Skidmore did that. And she was off it for like a year. And it was just because she was working on stuff and building stuff. And that’s totally okay, too. I just talked about this with a group of women today about, if you have to go do life, like disappear off social media for a while, whether you’re starting a family or it’s just kind of tough right now and you just can’t even think of what to post. It’s okay to take a step back. No one’s gonna forget you. You don’t have to be like, if I don’t post I’m not relevant anymore. No one’s gonna forget you. You can come back and be like, hey, here, I am sorry to go do this thing, whatever and not make a big deal of it. And people are like, okay, great. Awesome. You know? It’s okay. It’s okay. If you need breaks, many breaks sometimes. So just give yourself grace with it. I don’t know. That’s my biggest thing with it. Just give yourself grace and be intentional with when you are posting I think those are my two big takeaways.