The Secret to Loving your Feed
What's your relationship with social media? Do you love it? Can you stand it? Do you have to take time off from being on it? Your feed deeply impacts how much time you desire to spend on social media apps. It's actually possible to love your feed. I know because I do. I'll teach you the key things you need to know in order to fall in love with your feed!
Curate Who You Follow, Not What You Post
So obviously, you don't want to follow just ONE kind of person in terms of expertise or passions, but you should only be following people who inspire you, can educate you to do something better in your life, make you laugh, or relax you. You should not be following people just because you've met them before or because they're popular or famous. This is why so many people tell me they don't use social media apps because "There's a lot of mess on there" or "There's drama on my feed." Here's a tip: Unfollow them. And if someone is disrespecting you, you can block them too. You can also turn off ads you don't like, tell social media apps you don't want to see certain videos, and more.
I've followed people just because I saw them on a weekly basis or because someone I followed liked them. Their content didn't resonate with me and in other cases made me feel horrible or discouraged to look at it. So I unfollowed them. Not one of them came into my inbox asking, "Why did you unfollow me? Come back!"
Now, when it comes to posting, don't be afraid to break up your feed from your standard branding colors (More on that in the next point). You SHOULD be consistent in what you're sharing online. That simply means to educate, inspire, or entertain someone about one or two of your passions. Sharing information that is valuable to someone. You can share eye-catching graphics, tips or secrets of your expertise, social issues you're passionate about, or remember people who have passed away. It shows that you're human and understanding of what's happening around you. So don't be afraid to do that.
Choosing your branding colors: This was hard for me at first. I was caught between wanting different colors, then I switched to black and white, and while it was beautiful, it didn't fit me. So I changed back to using color, but I wanted to use color with intention.
As much as I love blush, I didn't want to use it because it seemed like almost EVERYONE in my industry was already using it. I wanted to stand out. So I waited until I found colors I could stay consistent with. I ended up using blush for my finances Instagram page since most people in the industry don't use it.
I actually got my branding colors for my social media educator page while designing my podcast cover. Choose one to two colors so your followers can recognize that your posts are from you, without having to look at your handle. Play with colors and font until you find a couple that resonates with you. And make sure you're comfortable with using them every day. This isn't to say you can never use other colors, but having a few branded posts first can help people recognize you online.
Enjoy the Process
Never feel confined to what you're currently using. You can always tweak, change, and refine what you post online and who you follow online. You can even remove followers or block people who you don't want following you if they don't make you feel safe.