Social Media Is Optional: Build a Business Without Constant Posting

Introduction: the social media trap

Hi. I talk to so many business owners who are spending hours constantly posting to social media and still not getting the results they want. They're stuck in overwhelm and frustration, and they tell me time and again that they hate doing it. They don't want that to be how they market their business, and on top of that they're not getting anything back from it either. So it isn't actually working, and it's making them miserable.

Today I want to talk about something I firmly believe in, which is that social media is optional. I'll cover what to focus on instead, why it's a problem, and why we should be thinking about content that we own first and foremost. There are a few reasons why social media causes a problem, and why we've been sold a bit of a lie about it.

The problem with building on borrowed ground

The main problem is that the content on social media isn't content we own. It can go away, the algorithms can change, and we can do something that angers the platform gods, or it can be nothing to do with us at all. Our account can get hacked, and then all of that content, traction and visibility you feel you've built up can disappear straight away. If you're relying on that to connect with your customers and to grow your business, that's obviously a real problem.

It's building on borrowed ground. That's a risk in itself, but for me the bigger risk is that people are building everything on borrowed ground and it's still not delivering what they want. We get told, again and again, by online coaches, business coaches and the platforms themselves, that we're failing or missing out if we're not on there. That makes it feel like it isn't optional. And it's just not true.

The truth about where clients come from

I have a lot of these conversations, and when we dig into it, most people will say they're using social media, doing this and that. Then I ask where their clients actually come from. Especially with service providers and local businesses, they'll say word of mouth, or Google. For local businesses in particular, they'll often see business coming through their Google profile.

That's been true for me too. Most of my clients have come through relationship building, networking, and the collaborations I've done, not from social media. I was trying to think whether I've ever had a client come from social media. Maybe a couple of people bought my workshops or online courses, but even that came from comments in Facebook groups and the relationships I'd built there, not from me posting. Especially early on, when I was building websites, most of those clients came from me being active in groups. So it was using the platforms to build my network, rather than posting.

Social media can be useful, but I don't feel posting is the right way to do it. The social part, the relationship building, is the part that helps. I feel the pull to post myself, and I have to remind myself that's not where the traction is, or the sales. My podcast is a good example. I haven't promoted it on social media at all, and I'm just about to hit 8,000 downloads, all through word of mouth and by making sure my episodes are SEO optimised and searchable. People find it through podcast players and through my YouTube channel when they search on Google. That's how I know from my own experience that you don't need to be posting all the time to have a successful business.

The hidden cost of content creation

One of my big bugbears with the social media myth is that we didn't start our businesses to become content creators. Feeling like you have to be there every day, or every week, creating new content and feeding the algorithm, keeping up with every platform and every change, and then getting no traction from it, is soul destroying. It contributes to feelings of failure and self-doubt.

The platforms are designed to keep us there, feeling inadequate, scrolling, so they can sell more advertising space. As a business owner, that just adds to the sense that I should be doing more, I should be on LinkedIn, I should be on Instagram. It's exhausting, and you absolutely don't have to do it to build a successful business.

If you're weighing up whether social media is working for you, think about how many hours you spend creating content, and the return on that, in terms of how many clients you actually get back. Marketing isn't always easy to measure, but when you factor in the time, and the mental and emotional energy, it's often a really terrible hourly rate. You might be better off getting a job.

Your website vs social media

One thing I see often when I start looking at someone's website is that they have beautiful social media feeds, full of content talking to their ideal clients, and then you go to their website and it's completely neglected. I think of that like placing an advert on a billboard or a bus stop, and then never tidying up the actual shop.

I think of your website as your shop in the real world. If you never improve it, if the user journey is confusing, if people can't understand what you sell, if it's cluttered, if you're hiding the price list in a drawer, that's what a lot of business owners do with their websites. They neglect it, and pour their time into advertising instead, rather than the thing they own. Your website is an asset. It gets better over time, and it's something you own that nobody, and no algorithm, can take away.

Social media is not free

The other lie is that posting on social media is free. It isn't. If we're not paying to use a platform, then we are the product. The platforms profit from us being there, scrolling, feeling we have to keep checking, getting that dopamine hit. They're not designed for your growth. They're designed to be divisive and addictive, to keep us there, and they thrive on outrage and drama.

If you're a purpose-led business trying to do good in the world, and so many of my audience are, then contributing to platforms that cause real mental and physical harm isn't where your best work should be. I'm not saying you can't use social media. I'm saying it's optional, and part of that choice is being aware that the platforms themselves aren't benevolent beings there to help everybody.

Gender bias in social media

There's also the bias women face. These platforms tend to silence women's voices more. The algorithms favour male content, women's voices are more likely to be flagged or silenced or attract more trolls, and building assets outside of them helps level the playing field and gives your voice more sustainability.

Thinking about how this has helped my own business, I'd point to my podcast episodes. They sit outside social media, they're content I own, and they're evergreen, so they stay there and keep bringing clients into my world long after I hit publish. I've got podcasts I guested on two years ago that are still bringing clients in. Compare that to a social media post, which tends to disappear within 24 hours, if people even see it at all. Social media can be helpful, but it shouldn't be the foundation of what you do.

Focus on what you own

Start with the things you own, make sure they're working for you, and then use social media as a place to share from and point back to. Before you post something, ask whether you've already got content on your website that talks about it. Your website should be the hub, so your blog, podcast and email list all come back to it, because that's where the sales and bookings happen.

Once you've got content on your website that Google can crawl, using the right words in the right places, that can help you show up in search for years to come. Not every business needs to blog, and if you do, I don't believe in creating content for the sake of it. I prefer a pinpoint strategy: create cornerstone articles that really help your business, then come back and update them, rather than reinventing the wheel. Guest blogs on other websites that link back to yours can be a great way to build links too.

A dedicated podcast page on your own website is really useful, so you're bringing traffic back to your site rather than only sending people to podcast players. And your email list is one of your most valuable assets after your website, because it's the way you can connect with people directly. They've opted in, and even if your social media went away tomorrow, you could still email them. We can neglect email because we feel we get too many ourselves, but people who joined your list want to hear from you, and if they don't, they'll unsubscribe, and that's fine.

The power of relationship building

Relationship building is one of the real keys to actively marketing your business, and it's something no algorithm can take away. Google's algorithm changes too, and you get peaks and troughs in traffic, but the business friendships, collaborators and connections you build are yours. All that's needed to sustain them is to keep in touch, be helpful and friendly, and be the kind of person people want to refer.

I always tell clients to focus there first: on their own network, on growing relationships, and on getting in front of other people's audiences, just being helpful. We can be scared of relying on referrals in case they dry up, but that's far less likely to happen than an algorithm change or a hacked account, as long as you're maintaining those relationships. Nobody can take that human connection away.

So, in the short term, focus on relationships and getting in front of other people's audiences, and in the long term, focus on your SEO. SEO can bring quick wins too, from things like your Google business profile and fixing a few foundations, but its real value is that it keeps bringing people into your world for years. The same is true of podcasting. It's a slower, more thoughtful kind of marketing, without the dopamine hit, where you're thinking about how you genuinely help people rather than churning out content for the sake of it. People come onto discovery calls saying they feel like they already know me, because they've listened, and they've realised I can help them.

Conclusion: making social media optional

This isn't anti-social media. It's about making it optional, not essential, and not your primary way of marketing. People have done business with each other for millennia, long before the internet or electricity, let alone social media, and it has always come back to relationships, and to people buying from businesses and people they like and trust. That's part of what you're trying to get across on your website too.

So take a look at your website this week. Is it ready to work for you, or are you still pouring your energy into feeds you don't control? If you'd like step-by-step guidance, come and join us in The Website Growth Club, or if you want a more focused shift into content you own, book a one-to-one intensive with me. Remember, social media is optional. You can grow a business without feeding the algorithm. You've already got everything you need: your voice, your expertise and your website. Start with the thing that you own and develop a calmer, more sustainable business beyond the scroll. I hope that's been helpful, and I'll see you soon.