You don't need a corporation or a marketing company to brand you now: you can do it yourself. You can establish who you are with a social media following.

— Ray Allen

Creating content online is just as much a calculated, research‐based endeavor as it is a creative one. You don't have to be the most “creative” person to ever hit planet earth to make content on social media. I find the most successful content creators of all are the ones who perfectly blend the art of research with artistic expression.

The online world is equally receptive to extroverts and introverts. In fact, I find that most of my favorite TikTok creators self‐identify as introverts in real life. At the end of the day, making content is a lonely pursuit: it's just you, your phone, and maybe some lights or a mic. You don't need to perform in front of real people. You can find the settings, spaces, and times that make you feel the most comfortable. It can be something that anyone can do, I promise.

Before you automate the content development process, let's first go over how to create it. As I mentioned in Chapter 17, making content on social media is going to be something that you'll change over time. The type of content you make today may not be the content your audience wants from you one year from now. Many trends on TikTok can come and go in just a few weeks. Being timely with what people want and adjusting your posting style can really help you grow a following that makes your personal brand highly sought‐after. People can tell when you are personally present on your social media; they want to follow someone who they believe is passionate about their virtual community.

So, where do you start? How do people make their first social media post? What should it look like? These are the questions that stop people in their tracks. Don't worry, I have you covered. Let's look at some of easiest ways to start churning out social media content.

Six Social Media Post Ideas You Can Use Today

As you embark on your social media content‐curating journey, here are some ideas to inspire you and get you on track:

1. Reposting the news: We can't look away from news headlines, whether we want to admit it or not. Sharing news articles and statistics from your industry can be a great conversation starter. You can repost them to your Instagram Stories, or make entire videos commenting on them. You can agree or disagree with the news. Since news commentary is often based on emotion, this can be a great way to get natural engagement and comments on your posts.
2. Repost user‐generated content: When your followers start to tag you, your business, or your products, always repost it. Share it to your different social media profiles. This provides social media to your other followers and shows that you are trustworthy.
3. Create an inside joke with your followers: Come up with something clever that only the “true members” of your community will get. Maybe you can document a time when you completely failed at the business that day. Invent a made‐up word you use to refer to that day. Document the whole day on Instagram and really allow your followers to feel like they have an inside joke with you. Carry it over for months after.
4. Offer giveaways: Giving away things for free in the beginning can be a great way to get your posts moving. Require followers to follow your other accounts and sign up for your newsletter, etc. to receive the freebie. Encourage them to post and tag you when they do, so that you can use this user‐generated content on your accounts.
5. Engage with polls and questions: Post polls and questions to your followers daily. This will get them to engage your profile and give you responses that you can then use to make additional content. If you, for example, ask your followers what they are most looking forward to at the holidays, you can do a response video/photo with their answer. It's a great way to keep the flow of content going while also being an effective way for you to conduct your own research.
6. Go Live: Going Live is one of the best ways to boost your profiles in the algorithm. It may be uncomfortable at first, but it will be worth it when your accounts start to grow and you develop public speaking skills along the way. I go Live on TikTok three to four times per week, as well as Instagram three to four times per month.

Which Kinds of Social Media Posts Do the Best?

Right now, social media is in the era of video. Videos perform infinitely better over plain text and photo posts. People want an authentic experience from you. They feel that video is something that exposes creators, so they can't hide behind lies and Photoshop. Any kind of video will perform decently well from Pinterest to YouTube.

That's why you want to build a social media strategy around making video content. Here is how I do mine:

• I spend two to three hours one day per week recording 10 to 20 TikToks. I then edit them and save them as drafts.
• When I post the TikTok, I download the video through TikSave (removes the watermark).
• I post that same video to Pinterest Story Pins, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, following each app's unique posting requirements.
• If I feel the video is exceptional, I elect to post the Instagram Reel to my grid, otherwise known as your profile. I spend time writing a compelling caption of 150–200 words in the notes pad on my phone.

This requires about five to six hours of my time every week. The payoff far exceeds the time that went into it. As you spend more time making content, you will come to like it. It will become a creative outlet that allows you to feel expressive and connected to people who love what you are doing.

Posting and Algorithmic Hacks

No single person has the algorithms of these sites figured out. They purposely do not tell you how to hack their algorithms. But as someone who has been very aggressively posting to social media for years now, I have noticed some trends:

• Going Live consistently for four to five days in a row kick‐starts new followers to your account. These sites reward you for going Live and making their app worth other users’ time. The longer they can keep people on these apps, the more money they make.
• Responding to comments from your followers is important, no matter how big you are. Giving them hope that you may personally engage them will keep them intrigued and coming back for more.
• Worrying about what time you post is not as important as the content itself. If the content is authentic and alluring, it will hit the algorithmic airwaves. Don't get caught up in the details.
• Account warnings will drop you out of the algorithm. If you think a topic is going to get you an account warning, consider the risk if you are making good money through that social media app.

Automating Your Content

You already know I am looking at ways to automate content creation and posting. I do want to reiterate that there is no way to completely automate creating content and engaging your audience. You do have to trade some time being present during a social media Live video and in the comment section. Your followers will know if you are not.

Still, here are some of my favorite automation tools I use when posting both social media and regular online content:

• Buffer (Buffer.com): Create content, schedule it, and automatically post it through the Buffer dashboard. Track analytics on your posts to tailor your future content creation.
• Hootsuite (Hootsuite.com): Hootsuite was my best friend when I managed social media accounts. It has a simple interface where you can manage multiple social media accounts at once, schedule content, and post it.
• Hopperhq (Hopperhq.com): Visualize your Instagram grid before you post to it. Move around different pieces of content to arrive at the visual brand your desire.
• Otter.ai (Otter.ai): This is one of my favorite AI tools to use today. It takes audio recordings, like my podcasts, and transcribes them into blogs. I then have my VAs edit the blogs and post them to my website.
• Pallyy (Pallyy.com): This social media platform helps people manage visual content campaigns with an aesthetic interface.
• SocialPilot (SocialPilot.co): This social media automation and analytics tool helps with calendar and client management, making it a great solution for freelancers who create content as part of their service offering.

These are the automation tools I have personally used to date. All of them have been helpful and worth their subscription fees. There are countless other social media automation platforms I have not personally tried that may be worth your time. As always, proceed with caution and take time to read the software reviews.

At this point, your social media is present, your online personal brand is growing, and people are interested. You have your supporters, which means that you also have your internet “haters.” There is no way to make content online and not have them. In the next chapter, we are going to look at hater expectations, how to handle them, and how to rewire your brain to withstand any amount of internet anger.

Chapter 18 Key Points

• Start with simple social media content posts so you do not overwhelm yourself.
• Reposting user‐generated content, news articles, and poll responses is a great way to engage your audience.
• Although you can't automate every element of social media posting, it's worth onboarding a few different automation tools to make your life easier.
• Have fun with the process and embrace your newfound online communities.