It's NOT for you (the most useful phrase I've found to develop online resiliency)

It's NOT for you (the most useful phrase I've found to develop online resiliency)

One of the biggest challenges I find amongst artists (beginning, established, really at any stage of their career) is the resistance to posting/sharing things. For some people posting about gigs is OK, but posting personal things is off limits. For some, they don't want to post videos of what they are working on, because the facade of perfection is getting in the way... 

But the compelling case to be present on various social media platforms? Attention. Where do people find time to spend when they are looking for entertainment? Their various devices. If you want to be seen/heard, you have got to be found on these platforms - whether we like it or not!

Whatever the case might be for why YOU aren't posting... I have a feeling it might be because you are afraid of what someone will think about what you are posting. It could be fear of what your peers think, or your mentors, or some other person in the anonymous cloud of social media... you're afraid of someone leaving a negative comment, or thinking you are "selling out"

It's not for them.

With every piece of content or song or video or written post, it has to have an intended audience. You made it FOR the audience. FOR a particular PART of the audience. Nothing is for everyone. If you try and please everyone, you're going to end up pleasing no one - including YOURSELF!

It's not for them.

So, you have to determine exactly WHO it is for...

Which means you have to have a strategy around WHO your audience is, WHERE they are, and WHAT types of content can bring them value. All of these micro-audiences build up to create a sustainable career, where your audience is eager to hear from you, and support you in your journey!

Social Media for any artist is just ONE tactic for marketing. It is part of your profession. We might not like it, but if you don't exist on the platforms that people's attention... it's almost as if you do not exist. Does that mean you have to be obsessed with creating content or obsessed with social media? Of course not. It just means you should develop a strategy that helps create a situation where you can sustainably provide value to your audience, on the platforms that matter to them.

Make everything FOR someone in the audience. And if someone says something to you about it? Just tell them: "It's not for you!"