Every Tom, Dick and Harriet has in the very least thought about it. For many, it is an ever-lurking presence in their day-to-day existence. It is a grave concern to side-hustlers, entrepreneurs and small business owners alike. It plagues the dreams of Creatives and artists; the monster-under-your-bed-come-to-life. It is……..
CONTENT CREATION!!!
The days of exclusively being a(n) ______________ (enter your profession) are long gone. We are now also expected to be Content Creators, Social Media Experts, Marketing Managers. Not to mention Film Crews, Editors and blow-you-away Writers!
And with the Social Media Monster (let’s call it ‘Smonster’) constantly growing and evolving (at an alarming rate, no less!), every time we think we understand the dreaded algorithm, it changes yet again and we end up feeling like the village idiot, yet again!
A few years ago, photos were King. And not just any type of photo: The Smonster preferred them perfectly styled with tasteful, pastel colours that magically matched previous posts. People’s feeds looked like snippets from a high-end fashion magazine (regardless of what their product or service was).
Then at some point, the Smonster suddenly developed a taste for videos. Long, informative, beautifully captured and edited, horizontal videos.
Just when the village idiot thought they were safe from the Smonster, the thing decided it prefers something a little easier to swallow: Short, vertical videos, nonchalantly captured and haphazardly tossed into its gaping mouth. Messy, careless little Smonster snacks! “That’s sounds doable”, thought the village idiot. But nay, the Smonster wanted its messy, mini nosh served in disgustingly overindulgent quantities! The Smonster requires a feeding multiple times a day, consisting of a variety of samplings served up on different plates!
So now, the village idiot pours their heart and soul into appeasing the Smonster, carving out more and more time in their day to create delectable tidbits to satisfy the beast. Never mind that it’s depleting the idiot’s energy and that there is less and less time to work the fields, producing crops. Crops that feed the idiot…! But that’s okay. Feeding the Smonster is surely the most important priority. The whole village is doing it, and I don’t want to get left behind. It’s life and death!
Or… is it?
Look — there is probably never going to be a time when having a social media presence
isn’t going to be important for a small business. But the truth is, when we have limited time and resources, we have to prioritise. Growing crops is always going to be more important than feeding the Smonster. If creating content has robbed you of all the time and energy that you need to create your _________ (enter your product/service), the scale has tipped too far. If creating content feels like a punishment and is doing damage to your mental health, the scale is all but broken.
At least this is what I keep repeating to myself as I try to balance creating art and feeding the Smonster…
Some days are easier than others. Some days, I spend hours crafting what I think is a spectacular reel or Tiktok, thinking, “Aren’t I friggen clever!”, and, “This will be the one that finally takes my business to new heights!”. Only to be deeply disappointed by its meagre performance… And other days I will willy-nilly slap a shitty little 13 second snack in front of the Smonster and to my great surprise, it gobbles it up and raves about it as if were a delectable, five course, gourmet meal! What the WHAT?!?!
The joke is that this frustrating turn of events happens to everyone! It’s kind of comforting to think that we’re part of a village of idiots. And whether you’re worshipping at the feet of the Smonster or just chucking some leftovers to it over your shoulder, it doesn’t really matter. After all, we’re just one of the many, many idiots feeding the Smonster, and it’s impossible to know if today it’ll prefer the chicken or the fish!
Now, please excuse me while I shoot another reel… ;)
Below left: My Instagram reel that I spent aaages creating that I thought was awesome and would perform really well.
Below right: The shitty reel that I expected nothing of, that ended up pleasing the Smonster...
Below: Kitty supervising me while I create some content!
Follow along my happy struggling journey on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Tiktok. Or even better:
