The Instagram Dip
It’s been about 5 weeks since I started my Instagram journey, and well, I’m not really sure about how it’s going…which reminds me of Seth Godin’s little book The Dip. It also reminds me that this is the perfect time to share some learnings with you, because the Dip is real and hopefully my learnings will help you move through your Instagram Dip. These learnings are about being gritty, getting through the slog and staying in the game. The other stuff you can Google.
Ready? Here we go…
1. Post regularly.
I know everyone says this and it’s true. It’s not for the algorithm, well, it’s a little bit for the algorithm, but mostly it’s for you. You need lots of practice, not just making stuff but publishing….writing captions, trusting yourself enough to tag people, and making room for the scope creep that might have you publishing in LinkedIn where you legit have connections (which seriously ups the fear factor).
Expect the scope creep, it’s a thing…a good thing really. Since starting my Instagram journey I’ve also levelled up my LinkedIn game (maybe you’ve noticed 😎) and my Instagram posts are showing up in Facebook (which has a bigger audience🙌).
So, create and post. Regularly. It will get easier, though not as quickly as you’d like. But it will, I promise.
2. Be patient.
This is a new language, not just the words, but the look, the way information flows and is transferred. You can read about it but that’s not the same as doing it…just like reading about French doesn’t make you a dynamic conversationalist in France.
According to the US Foreign Service Institute it takes 600-900 class hours to learn relatively easy language for native English speakers….like French! That translates to 24-30 weeks based on 25 class hrs/week.
OMG no wonder I’m still struggling. Even if we assume that I can re-use half of my English language skills, that still means I need 300 hrs to get proficient at ‘the language of social media’. I spend max10 hrs/ week practicing (with little to no feedback by the way, which is not ideal for learning) that’s 30 weeks! 😳 No wonder I’m still struggling after just 5. And just to be clear, that’s to be able to ‘speak’ social media…not figuring out what to say which is a whole other game. Just saying. Cut yourself a break and get real about what it really takes to speak Social.
3. Start small.
Social media land is very noisy. Of course I had read about this, but it’s different to experience it. I find the experience overwhelming. I get tons of things I don’t care about and the app has shiny objects everywhere (those stickers…whaaa?).
New to the space—I wasn’t really ‘on’ social prior to this adventure. I would read but rarely post. I certainly had not heard of a “Story”— it’s especially challenging. My solution is to I only focus on a few things. I started with Carousels for my ‘feed’ (aka posts). I know there are Stories, and Reels, and Highlights, and Pinned Posts, and Boosting…. But that’s too much for me to take on at once. So I’m starting with just 2, max 3 —for instance Stories, Feed Posts and Highlights to start…though even as I write that my head is asking for videos, see what I mean about the shiny objects. Point is, start small, practice and grow…called bootstrapping and it’s magic.
Want to know more about what I’ve learned? Considering an Instagram journey of your own? Join me Nov 16 1pm ET for Demystifying Instagram for Entrepreneurs 50+.
Not able to make the Nov 16 event? Follow me! I’ll be sharing more tips and tricks over the next few weeks.
Have a question? Write in the comments or email me.
And of course follow me on Instagram😎