Recently, my social media presence increased dramatically. Enough that some of my coworkers noticed.
“I’m seeing this new post on LinkedIN and I’m pretty sure we were in a meeting together at that time.”
Whoops.
It didn’t occur to me that people would notice as my writing picked up again and my social media presence increased. I forgot rule #1 as a leader. You will be watched.
Time is limited. Let technology help you.
Scheduling apps are a beautiful thing. They allow you to post what you want, when you want, regardless of what else you might have going on.
My personal favorite has been coscheduler and it was a life-saver to queue social media posts at the appropriate time for each channel. If you write, use social media to reach an audience, and have a day job? You can’t leave home without one.
For six years, I did all my own writing, social media posts, parented and had a full time job. I can do maybe three things at a time and manage to do them well. Let’s just say social media was not top of my list.
If tech can’t do work for me, it can certainly help me schedule out the things I have to do myself. After I’ve prioritized the things I have to do myself, it can also help me find people to do the things I can’t or won’t.
Something you need and don’t have time? There are people for that.
Since picking up writing again, while still trying to work, solo parent full time AND keep myself healthy, the LAST thing I wanted to worry about was social media.
I’d love to ignore it. However, the reason why I write is to help (and sometimes entertain) people. I don’t mind if it’s only one person. However, to find that one person, social media is about the only way outside word of mouth.
Did I mention working, parenting, etc? Yep…word of mouth isn’t going to be any more effective than social if I don’t make time.
Fortunately, my BFF runs her own social media consulting business. How many boxes does that check off?
- Support a woman-owned small business. Check.
- Empower my friend to help achieve her financial goals. Check.
- Outsource something I struggle with to someone who loves and excels at it. Check.
- Reduce my headaches considerably and allow myself to focus on the part I love and excel at. Check.
The one thing that held me back was cost. This is a passion, not (yet) a vocation. Can I justify paying money each month to have someone help me get the word (my words anyway) out?
The true cost of DIY.
Years ago, I was pondering whether to get someone to help with yard work. I hate doing it, am allergic to grass, and don’t want to prioritize allergy face over things I enjoy more.
A friend encouraged me to calculate my hourly rate. As a salaried employee, I never really thought about how much I make an hour. Then he asked “will it cost LESS to hire someone else to do the work than it will cost of your time?”
Turns out, it was way cheaper to outsource yard work than it was to do it myself. Adding in the equipment costs, it was a no-brainer to have them do the work.
Since then, I’ve done the same evaluation to determine whether I should outsource other work. Sometimes it is not cost effective, but the process also forces me to consider whether this is work that really needs to get done, how important it is to me, and whether I’m willing to invest in it.
We can and should invest in ourselves.
As I mentioned, I want to help people. I treat my writing as an investment. It pays dividends for long after I’ve posted the words. It is also a foundation for my future, which I know will eventually involve writing more heavily. The more I write, the better I will write. The more my writings help people, the more people I will help.
My physical self is not scalable. I can only speak at so many events. I can only coach so many people. Even if I was doing those things full-time. Words have an ability to travel that my body doesn’t.
From that perspective, paying for someone to schedule and push my posts to social media is a small price to pay to save me time, while still reaching as many people as I can.
Rather than see this as an expense, I see it as an investment in my future self. They are my words and my work. I’m getting help in the areas I struggle…no different than any other area of my profession. With every post she makes on my behalf, I’m learning and seeing my work in a different light.
A little investment is worth the time I get back and the unexpected growth.
It is not possible to do it all. Some things, like eat, sleep, and exercise, we cannot outsource and get the benefits. We cannot outsource time with friends and family and maintain strong ties. Whether leveraging technology or skilled outsourcing, we can get help with the rest.
Have you looked to tech or outsourcing to help manage your priorities? Please share your experience in the comments.
