How do you stand out when you blend in?
When you're fresh into the world of social media, you're bombarded with the idea that you have to stand out.
Post pics.
Make reels.
Get TikTok.
Do a trend.
Forget the haters.
Launch a business.
Create content for that business.
Go Live on Instagram and cry about how exhausted you are from taking on too much.
Read comments that say, "Why are you complaining on social media? Geez, we don't need all of your life details!"
Feel isolated.
Lather.
Rinse. Repeat.
Quite the cycle, right? But most people have gotten so desensitized to it. It's just, "normal".
Where does this leave someone like me. Someone who doesn't want people in their business.
Yes, I have a few business ideas, but I have to tell my business to get business? Why?
"Sell your story!"
I don't want to.
"Make people think that they have a problem, and then solve it, so they think they need you!"
What?
"You must not want the financial freedom that comes from 20 different streams of income."
Being anxious 24/7 about those 20 different streams of income doesn't seem very "free" to me.
So, again, where does that leave me?
Confused. That's where.
Smack dab in the middle of "What do I do now?" and "How do I stay true to myself in the process?"
I enjoy content creation.
I enjoy creating, period.
From simple mocktails to abstract desserts, I love it all. Creating allows you to express yourself as an individual.
You think to yourself, "How would I like this to taste, look, feel?"
It's not about creating something for others - you're creating for yourself, and allowing others to experience the result. There's magic in that.
But so much of what we do is skewed. We become overly concerned with how others would perceive our creation, to the point that we'll alter it just to get approval.
But then, did you really create something? Or did you just adapt it?
I remember when my pastry chef asked me to come up with dessert ideas for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.
I was excited and completely terrified all at the same time - but I did it!
I spent hours creating multiple desserts with my favorite flavors, various textures, and lots of extravagance. But when I finally presented the ideas to him, he shot them down.
And by "shot them down", I mean that he made them his own.
"We need to change this. I don't like that. We need to make it more like my style."
I was so confused. "But you asked me to come up with ideas."
"Yes, but this is my restaurant, so it needs to fit the overall style of desserts."
*insert side-eye*
So, we adapted my creation to mesh with his.
I was sad.
I mean, the flavors were still mine, but the design was his.
Others were proud of me, but I was disappointed.
Don't get me wrong, my pastry chef was and is amazing.
But the dessert wasn't mine, and I was no longer proud of it.
Now that I've given you an example of this overall dilemma, I want to tie it back to the social media aspect.
I have a business idea that I'm excited about and want to dive into deeper, but I want to do it my way.
My way doesn't involve reels. It doesn't involve self-marketing on LinkedIn. It doesn't involve TikTok trends, or pods, or "free masterclasses", or anything like that.
I've never been one to buy what anyone was selling unless I personally reached out to them to buy it. You can't convince me to want something that I don't, and quite honestly, you'll probably just piss me off if you try.
I'm more of an old school, word-of-mouth type of person. You know, the genuine style of marketing that comes from face-to-face relationship building and networking.
I would never recommend services from someone I don't know personally, but, that's basically where things are headed these days. And possibly already are.
We have moved into the realm of voting King and Queen of prom but in the form of business promotion.
Just because they sent you some cool shoes doesn't mean they actually know how to scale a multi-million dollar business. But guess what, you're going to sing their praises anyways because their marketing is you and your marketing is them.
But I digress.
I enjoy creating, and I want to stay true to who I am.
Not who the gurus or influencers say I should be.
Will it be more difficult to go against the grain? Possibly. But I can't let that hold me back.
Like Frank Sinatra said,
I'll do it, myyyyyyyyyy waaaaaaaaay.
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