Social media has been a great way for us to connect and engage with fellow business owners. It has helped build our brand, land clients and develop meaningful partnerships. There has been a lot of good that has come out of our social media use, but being two shy introverts, we can’t deny that it sometimes feels a little…weird.
If you’re shy as well, you’ve probably felt the same way as us and maybe you’ve been reluctant to post anything. Today, we’re going to talk about what we’ve done to help get over our shyness about posting on social media.
Own Your Shyness
Nowadays, because of social media, it seems like people are posting their opinions, comments and photos about everything, all day long. If you’re comfortable doing that, awesome, but we prefer to keep some things private, and that’s okay, too.
Owning the fact that we are shy and might be reluctant to post certain things has actually helped us develop a solid strategy for posting. We set the rules about what, when or how often we should post. We focus on certain topics and stay away from others. By setting these rules, we are able to come up with content ideas that fit into those boundaries and we’re never uncomfortable about the things we post.
Tips
- Realize it’s ok to not share everything.
- Set boundaries and rules for what to post.
- Come up with content that fits into those boundaries.
Set Goals
Setting goals has helped us grow our networks and connect with like minded people. Instead of big lofty goals (like getting 1,000 new followers in a month) we focus on small, attainable ones that help us overcome our shyness and get out of our comfort zone. Examples are commenting on 10 Instagram posts before posting something of our own or engaging daily in a Facebook group. We set new goals on Monday and check in with them on Friday to see if we achieved them.
Tips
- Set small, attainable goals for your social media.
- Make sure those goals are something that take you out of your comfort zone.
- Check in regularly with your goal to see your progress.
Schedule Time For Social Media
There’s no doubt that social media can be overwhelming, especially if you’re a shy person. We found that scheduling time to dedicate to social media tasks definitely helps with that overwhelm. We’ll use that time to schedule posts, respond to comments and actively engage with people. Once that time is up, we move on to other tasks.
We won’t lie; at first it was hard to not constantly feel like we needed to check social media, but once we got into a pattern of doing this regularly, it became easier to forget about it and focus on other important things. Sticking to a schedule also helps us do more in less. If we know we only have 15 minutes to spend on Instagram, that’s the only thing we’ll focus on for 15 minutes and we try to get as much as we can done as we can in that time. It helps us stay focused on what we need to get done instead of getting distracted.
Tips
- Schedule time for social media into your workday.
- Focus only on social media during that time and nothing else.
Change It Up
There’s pressure from business gurus and bloggers that you need to be everywhere, but when you’re a shy person, this can make social media seem even more daunting. You’re constantly thinking of what to post, when to post and if people are even caring about what you have to say.
One very important thing to remember is social media is not a requirement. If you’re spending a ton of time posting on Twitter, but get nothing out of it, there’s no rule saying you have to keep it. Get rid of it! It’s okay to change things up and try new strategies. We tell our clients all the time, you don’t need every social media platform. We truly believe it’s better to find one platform that you’re really comfortable with and stick to that, versus trying to be everywhere.
Tips
- Evaluate the social platforms you are currently using.
- Determine the ones you like and give you the best results.
- Get rid of anything that isn’t working for you.
Wrap Up
There’s no doubt that social media is a great tool for growing brand awareness and developing strong connections with people, but if you’re a shy, introverted person, it can feel weird. We hope sharing the ways we overcame our own shyness will help you overcome any fears you may have about posting on social media.
