Is It ME? Or Is It Facebook?

Contemplations of promoting a small business in the age of Social Media

I have been self-employed for many years. It’s not been lucrative work in the strictest sense of the word, but there’s something to be said for being one’s own boss. Not that working in a “traditional” job would have made my finances more stable—the work I am (unfortunately) drawn to (service work) is not well-paid either. It also tends to be stigmatized as jobs for the uneducated or those otherwise considered unqualified for “higher” callings.

I have always maintained that service work is the foundation on which civilized society rests, but put into the classic pyramid, visually, it’s not a good place to be. From a purely practical standpoint, without it, nothing else would function.

The next rung in my career ladder was to self-employment. It’s marginally better wage-wise—theoretically—but then there’s managing your own taxes and quite honestly, that stings a bit. The real perk—again theoretically—is setting your own hours. I will conclude this with a resounding “HA!”

My next step has been employing myself with what I want to do, which is doing creative stuff—adding my art into the world. Not sure it would be considered a legacy per se, but it has the potential to live beyond my actual lifetime. This is the “for me” stage of my life where I try to resign from others’ needs and desires and finally—<exhaling>—address my own.

All well and good, right? We applaud those who have made it to at least semi-retirement after decades of toil and strife. We pat them on the back and say, “Well done!” It carries the connotation that this person has achieved self-sufficiency, succeeded in the game of Capitalism, and can now go play.

I’m not quite there yet.

As I change lanes for income, I seem to keep hitting this one wall with Facebook.

If I share funny cat videos or inspirational quotes or even the cheesy regurgitations of years-old posts, I feel like there’s a fair bit of interaction. But share my new business venture and… CRICKETS.

This isn’t the first time either. During the “No Good, Terrible, Very Bad, Year” that was 2020, I, like many, took to trying to side-gig my way out of cabin-fever insanity. I built a nice-looking web page with a catchy brand, blogged a lot, and felt that there was some decent traffic and response.

But once things began to resume normal operations, all that fairly evaporated. Of course people went back to work and life blossomed again—I get that. But in 3 years’ time, after posting five days a week, I still had less than 100 followers. 53 to be exact.

I spent money I really couldn’t afford to spend on (saying this with a mocking face) Facebook Ads. And still nada. Zip. Zilch. So, I threw in the towel.

I chalked it up to the subject matter, non-toxic housecleaning tips, as being not a scintillating topic, though it fascinates the shit out of me. To each their own, right?

So, now I have embarked on two more “careers” if you will—more in the normal range for most folks, writing books and opening a little online shop. Multiple streams of income, right?

Now, I am willing to admit that during that “gap” year, as I also like to call it, politics was a common posting point for me on social media and I believe that I lost a fair few followers on Facebook. They were only there for the cat videos, right?

But as far as I can tell—I’ve not pissed anyone off recently having laid off current affairs (we are all weary) for the most part—I am running into the same situation.

Self-promotion is a deeply troubling undertaking for many and I am no exception. I also have a pretty big aversion to rejection. I have a whole process to deal with it. Like an itch on a phantom limb, it bugs me but over the years I have become accustomed to it. Some days it’s intense, other days I can ignore it.

My point in all of this is, in the time I have begun to pay attention to this phenomenon, I believe that the algorithms Social Media, Facebook in particular, uses seem to diminish small business marketing posts. The little guys don’t have the ad monies to buy our posts out of obscurity, so they remain largely unseen.

It also pushes my rejection buttons pretty soundly.

I was not born into this technology, rather I evolved with it as best as I could. Being what many would consider an “old person”, I don’t think I do too bad. I currently hold only two social media accounts and chafe at the thought of embarking on more. The innate distractions they are go against my productivity credo. But like everything else in life, I will learn to adapt.

In the meantime, please read little cozy mystery, https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0C2H4Z1VB and visit my little shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/BroadsAbroadShop?ref=shop_sugg_market so I can thumb my nose at social media algorithms.

Thank you for your support. 😉