I spent over a year on social media feeling like an octopus on roller skates, expelling an ungodly amount of energy but producing little forward momentum.
It sucked.
And it was embarrassing. I was teaching courses about personal branding, feeling like I should know what I was doing, but instead, I was floundering.
I was doing everything that all the gurus and experts said to do.
- To create tactical how-to’s that proved my knowledge
- To write content that displayed my expertise
- To showcase my skills through my posts
I would follow the advice as best I could, but over and over again, my posts would flop. I’d spend hours writing them and mostly get crickets or some polite golf claps in response.
I felt like such an epic level failure.
I realize now that I was following advice that wasn’t meant for me.
Most social media course creators and gurus teach what works for them. Most of them build very specific audiences and talk about very specific skills.
Think about it.
→ Most of them are either digital writers teaching other writers how to write.
→ Or they are full-time creators building their audience, teaching other creators how to build their audience.
They all have incredible insight and teach extremely valuable lessons related to their work.
But if you are trying to do anything remotely more complex, their methods won’t work for you. Just like they didn’t work for me.
I look back on that year with such compassion for the version of me that was trying so freaking hard and feeling so frustrated by my limited results.
I often think of how that felt, primarily because I see so many of you going through the same thing. Trying to force yourself (and your content) to fit inside a neat little box and it’s making you miserable.
I want to urge you.
There’s another way. A better, more honest, and downright liberating way.
Last week, I hosted the Power Your Platform Accelerator’s weekly writing sprint. This call blends social writing accountability and coaching to support our members' efforts in honing their LinkedIn content writing skills.
We start the calls with a writing prompt—a theme, topic, or style for a post to write during the next 45 minutes.
Everyone keeps the microphone off, their video on, and I play music in the background while they write. At the end, they come off mute, share what came up, and we talk through it.
But yesterday was a little different.
Between the Easter holiday weekend and some scheduling adjustments since Erica's departure, only one group member attended the call, so we focused on her writing.
She said that she was struggling with consistency and feeling uninspired to write.
As we dug deeper, it became clear she was going through the same experience that I had. She felt like a digital marketer should write content about the tactical side of digital marketing.
But she didn’t really want to.
She wanted to talk about organizational culture, the rise in turnover at her company and those of their clients, and how these changes were impacting every aspect of the organization’s success and growth potential, not to mention the audiences they served.
These are not simple tactical concepts. They are big ideas with big implications.
As we talked, I remembered that months ago, she shared that her big career goal was to become either a CMO or the executive director of a non-profit.
So, creating content about low-level digital marketing tactics wouldn’t help her showcase her expertise, her strategic know-how, or her ability to build and scale a team or organization.
Her instinct to talk about big ideas with big implications was EXACTLY right for her and her goals.
As we talked, she got excited again about content creation.
- Writing about what interested her
- Sharing her thoughts about big ideas
- Telling stories from her expansive career
- Moving beyond restrictive tactical how-tos
It’s early yet, but I’m willing to bet that this shift reignites her energy for showing up online AND begins to show the world (and ideal employers) her zone of genius.
Here’s the deal…
You need to learn to trust your instincts.
If you think you “should” write about a topic but you find yourself resisting, get curious about why.
Maybe it's because this work is hard and you need to push through.
But maybe it's because the topic misaligns with your true message, the one that will unlock that level of transformational growth in your life.
In the age of AI, anyone can write helpful tactical how-tos.
If writing them lights you up and energizes you, do it! But if it doesn’t, you do not have to.
I still write some to show people the frameworks I’ve developed to grow on Linkedin, to create intro offers your ideal prospects can’t wait to buy or to improve sales calls to close more deals.
But my message is about more than tactics. It’s about transformation, evolution, and freedom—because that’s what my work is about.
The Power Your Platform accelerator members usually look at similar programs or courses because they want help with tactics—writing better social media content, scroll-stopping hooks, and CTAs that bring in the leads.
But they ultimately enroll because they need something more. Something that hits them at a deeper level and will ultimately lead to bigger, more fundamental, more transformative growth.
So, if I only talked about tactics, sure, I’d get some customers.
But I’d get far fewer and probably almost none of those dream fit, soul-mate-level customers.
If any of this resonates, I encourage you to make a change this week.
Write a post sharing a message that lights you up.
- Ignites your passion
- Sparks your curiosity
- Feels authentically YOU
Then, reflect on how it makes you feel. If writing it felt good, but its level of honesty was a little scary, then keep going. You're onto something.
I promise that Future You will be grateful you did.
In love and growth,
Kasey
P.S. This week, I'll share more about the future of PYP with Erica's departure. You've sent a lot of DMs and emails asking how I'm doing and what to expect in the coming months. I promise you'll get a big update soon. :)
Want to go deeper?
Apply to the Power Your Platform Accelerator: We will open a few spots for our newly revamped 6-month platform building coaching experience. Apply now to see if the Accelerator is a fit for you.
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