Today begins a series where we will talk about challenges to the entrepreneur or solopreneur and how to overcome them. In this blog, we will explore what to do when it’s been a minute since you’ve been involved or if you’re starting brand new. Surprisingly, these are very similar situations to be in. 

 

When you’ve been in business for a while it’s easy to succumb to burnout. You have posted until you have run out of ideas and you just step back and let it languish. Most of us have been there. It becomes a cycle. Let’s say you’ve been super busy so you haven’t posted for a month. Then you start to feel guilty about not posting so you are afraid to get back to it and you let it sit there. What do you do if that’s the case or if you are brand new trying to break into it?

 

Get Over Yourself

The first and most important step is to take a deep breath and get over yourself. Just do it. You are probably putting a lot more emphasis on it than your audience is. Don’t apologize. Don’t start your first post back with “I’m so sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted. I’ve just been so busy.” A lot of people won’t even notice the gap unless you point it out to them so don’t point it out to them. 

 

You’re a real person and real people have emergencies and crises and have to do things with their kids or their parents. Things happen in life and most people are very understanding. They get it that you have stuff going on. Just get back to it. It’s totally ok to just jump back in. 

 

Analyze Before

If you’re returning you will want to analyze what worked for you before. Build upon the success you had in the past. If you are brand new and just getting started you can skip this step. There will be time for analyzing in the future. Do it for 30, 60, or 90 days then analyze it and see what’s working for you.  

 

Pick a Platform

The next step is to pick a platform. You need to know where you’re going to spend your time. Most entrepreneurs don’t have time to be on all the platforms. It is overwhelming. It can be a chore for us and we do this for a living. It is very difficult for most people to come up with content for LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. It’s a lot. Pick the one your audience is on and focus on that one. When you get really comfortable with that and you’re posting on the regular, then you can add another platform. 

 

Posting will be different from platform to platform. If Facebook is where your people live, then you really need to post just once a day. However, if your audience is more on TikTok, you may need to post multiple times per day. You need to understand where your audience is so you can go where they are with the content they need and are looking for.

 

Verify Your Information

 

You need to verify that all of your online information is current and correct. If you’ve let it sit for a minute the information may be out of date. Verify that your address, hours, and contact information are correct. Make sure you don’t have old specials listed that are no longer available. Make sure it’s right. Also, make sure all of your URLs match for each platform. This is a quick and easy task that causes a huge problem if it’s not done. 

 

Create a Content Calendar

 

Next you need to create a content calendar. You need to create a weekly rotation or a theme-based rotation so you’re not always struggling for content. What does that mean? For us that might look like highlighting a team member, posting a testimonial, giving a tech tip, highlighting a local business, and a tip for a specific platform. We might focus our whole month on marketing information. Having a plan makes finding content so much easier. 

 

There is No I in Tweet

 

Get everyone on your team involved. Pull everyone in. If we were to have a lapse in our posting, when posting resumed we would get everyone to comment, share, like, and engage so that our momentum builds back up and our content is shown to a wider audience. It’s critical to involve your team. Comments on any platform work. It drives your traffic and allows more people to see your content. 

 

Talk to Your Audience

 

Who is your best client? If you’re brand new and just getting started, talk to your ideal target client. If you have a history to refer to then go back to your best client and find out what they want to know. That’s what will help you and serve you so you can move forward. It’s never about you. It is always about what the client wants.

 

Schedule Your Time

It is incredibly important to schedule time to be active online and then actually do it. If it’s not on your list, it won’t be on your radar. Make yourself a schedule and stick to it. It’s easy to tell yourself you’re just going to get on TikTok for 15 minutes to respond to comments on your videos then 3 hours later you’re learning to speak Spanish to a giraffe. A schedule can help make sure you devote time to your social media but can also help protect your time from going down those rabbit holes. Trying following the rule of 3 on social media. Comment on 3, follow 3, and engage with 3 on the regular. 

 

Get Started Today

 

You know you need to get started or get back at it, so take that step today. The hardest part is just jumping in.