Making Our Small Businesses Independent of Social Media

Making Our Small Businesses Independent of Social Media

On the weekend, I was walking my dog, when I was hit with a lightning bolt idea: what would it look like if my business was marketed independent of social media?

If you're like me - a small business owner, a parent - you may have a growing sense of unease about where the social media landscape is headed. I wanted to share my thoughts with you, as well as my big bold idea that I'm going to start working on.

Because I need another idea, she says as she looks at her to-do list that's growing at the rate of a feral rabbit colony...

This might seem like a dumb thing to do for someone who helps small business owners with their social media. But here's why I'm doing it anyway - I don't want social media to have the power to cripple your business.

As I mentioned, I have a growing unease with social media, mainly because it's not what I would call a democratised space. Unlike the web, which is.

"To democratize is to make an organization more democratic, supporting a system in which all citizens have a voice or a vote."

Facebook owns a number of key social platforms, including Instagram & WhatsApp. It pretty much has a monopoly of the market. (check out this link for more information 👉 5 Companies Owned By Facebook)

The broader web is made up of dozens of platforms and browsers, where everyone is motivated by constantly improving service. Not amassing control.

The News shutdown that happened in Australia earlier this year was a clear sign that Facebook will exercise its control of its users if necessary.

Not only that, I have clients whose business models relied on key features of Facebook that were removed overnight, mainly in relation to what can be sold on Marketplace (this has had a big impact on my farming clients being able to sell livestock and animal produce).

Secondly, I'm starting to question my own user habits, as well as the habits and expectations of the broader community.

If you haven’t already, I highly recommend viewing "The Social Dilemma" on Netflix. (The Social Dilemma | Netflix Official Site). It walks you through how the algorithms are designed to monopolise your time and attention, explained by the very people that built them and then subsequently left the companies.

After watching this, I became very aware of how much time I was spending doing that mindless scroll thing to pass the time, and I'm pretty strict on this sort of stuff anyway. But this is something that I have no desire to do more of.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE connecting with small business people. But I have ZERO interest in hanging about in Facebook Groups for hours trying to create something that looks like an honest engagement. Or scrolling through Instagram looking for potential clients.

Social media does some very destructive blurring of our boundaries. If I'm working, I am all in. If I'm with my family, all in. Me time? All in. I don't want to be sitting with my kids on the coach feeling obliged to respond to every ping, DM, comment or like IN THAT MOMENT.

Which leads me to my final point: healthy boundaries in life and business.

through a lot of work I've been doing through businesses and volunteer groups, I've noticed that we on a social and cultural level have awful boundaries.

pre-internet, if you didn't get in touch with a business during their operating hours, and you couldn't find the info you needed on their website, you simply had to wait to call the next day.

Now, customers feel that's it's ok to send a business (or a community group) a DM on Facebook at all hours of the night and expect an answer! And flipside, because as business owners we hate the idea of missing any opportunities, WE BLOODY ANSWER THEM!

For me, the ideal scenario is having strong marketing on diverse channels, set up largely on autopilot. This works hand-in-hand with the great face-to-face (even Zoom) relationships I already enjoy. If I can see customers finding me via means other than social, then I know I'm not dependent on what's essentially borrowed ground.

For those who have worked with me on getting their social media set up, this is for you - everything we learned together is 100% valid.

Why? Because what we worked on is telling your story. It's about finding your voice, sharing your expertise and inviting people to enjoy your business. The stuff we created together? It could easily live in a blog, a newsletter, a podcast, and simply be replicated on social media as more of a box-checking exercise.

That's the big takeaway, and my next project I want to share with you. I want to find out how to successfully market my small business independent of social media. My content will still show up here, but this won't be the end game. So if Like & Share land came crashing down tomorrow, I'd be totes ok.

And then once I figure that out, I can't wait to share it with you. So YOU can enjoy complete ownership, better habits and healthier boundaries both inside your business and outside of it.

Now, a lot of this is going to count on you having access to, and control of, your website. So if you don't have either of these things - or a website at all - head over to my website and check out my 5-Day Website Challenge. It's a free challenge where you receive an email each day for 5 days, that walks you through the easy steps for getting your website set up on Squarespace. It's a fantastic platform for even the most un-tech savvy, so I highly encourage you to check it out.