100+ posts later: how content creation became a mirror for my inner work
🌹 Someone is where you were a year ago, wishing they knew what you know now. Give and share freely.
My first job was at a small design agency, where I was tasked with running the instagram and influencer outreach for our client, a health food startup called “BodyOM.” In 2015, social media marketing and community building were still somewhat new concepts. I didn’t have any experience, but I was good at making friends and editing photos on VSCOcam – so my work was cut out for me.
Along this journey, I started building my own personal following (@agraceabbott) in concert with my work for BodyOM. I posted pictures of smoothies, coffee, and beauty products, and ran my way up to 10,000 followers in just a few months. I was featured by Into The Gloss, in The Huffington Post, was one of the first 10 Glossier reps, and many marketing trend reporters even called me a “top micro-influencer to watch.”
The internet was fun back then. The words “algorithm” and “hook” never came up. As long as I kept hustling, my account kept growing. But soon after my budding internet fame, I got completely burnt out and took a six-ish year social media hiatus… until I emerged again last year with my new project, “How To Go Freelance.”
What I’ve learned this time around has way less to do with curating an aesthetic feed, and way more to do with navigating my inner world. When you’re putting yourself out there, there is endless self-judgment, ego, and resistance to deal with… so here’s what I’ve learned so far, after posting 100+ videos of myself on the internet.
Breaking the Silence & Meeting My Inner Opponent
I coached my friend,
, out of her advertising job and into a full-time freelance career. She was so thrilled with the results that she made me put my step-by-step “how to go freelance” process into an e-course so she could send it to all of her friends. It was the first time I realized that “freelance life” was actually a zone of genius for me. I’d been doing it for 10+ years – but it had become so second-nature, I didn’t even clock that I could teach it.
After pouring my heart, soul, 1,000 hours of work, and $10,000 on business/website setup costs into building my course, it was time to come up with a marketing strategy… and that meant revisiting my old friend, social media.
After falling off the map for so long, deciding that I was going to come back full force, “talking to the camera” felt daunting and potentially very “cringe.”
My inner opponent had a few things to say:
Will you be able to stick to this? It will be embarrassing if you start and abandon the project.
What will people from high school, your exes, and anyone you think hates you, think about this?
You have to go viral to prove that this was a good idea.
Do you really have anything of value to share that other people don’t already know?
Maybe your clients will find this off-putting.
Below are my 5 key lessons to antidote these fears. If you’re on your content journey, I hope they help and make you feel less alone in your head. Drop your handles below, I’d love to support you! 🤗
Lesson #1: You can follow through if you want to.
The tough love on follow-through is that “if you wanted to, you would.” But when something new and scary asks us to show up with bravery, consistently, it can be easy to make excuses.
Here’s how to overcome these moments:
Batch create content. Always have something in your drafts, and when you’re making excuses—just post it. When I launched my TikTok and Instagram accounts, I had 15 videos in my backlog, so I could start out with a bang.
Find your running buddies. Find a community of people, or even just ONE person, who is in the same stage as you are. Motivate each other, cowork together, discuss your fears, and walk through them together. Grace McCarrick is definitely my #1 for this!
If you fall off the wagon, just get back on! If you don’t post for a week—or even a month—instead of deciding you’re done for, just start posting again! You didn’t fail, you just took a break. Come back full steam and post a few days in a row to get your momentum going again.
Lesson #2: If you want to stop caring what other people think, start posting content.
After you jump off the cliff and post 10 times, you will start to care less. After the first few weeks, everyone you’re afraid will see will have surely seen—and judged you if they’re going to (they probably don’t care)… and then, you are free!
After that, when tinges of self-doubt or embarrassment come up, sit with your feelings. This is less about the content and more about you being able to feel something that’s been dormant inside you, that’s asking for some self-love.
Lesson #3: Sustainable success comes from real supporters, not fleeting viral hits.
A few months ago, I got really discouraged. I had posted SO many times on TikTok and nothing had gone “viral.” But something I was doing was working because I was steadily growing, consistently making e-course sales, and booking coaching sessions.
This was my ego :) That annoying, constant chatter that talks in circles and has another excuse for literally everything! It wanted to go viral, but it also felt shallow for wanting to go viral. Ultimately, what set me free was realizing that even if I never ever went viral, this is still a worthy pursuit because it’s helping other people, and I enjoy doing it! So I laid my ego down and pressed on.
Lesson #4: You only need to be 10% ahead of someone else to provide huge value to them.
Full stop. Someone is where you were a year ago, wishing they knew what you know now. Give and share freely.
Lesson #5: Put your expertise into action.
If you sell social media and marketing services, you should be testing, learning, and growing your own accounts. This will make you more credible and up to date with your strategies.
Post your own content first thing—before diving into any client work. I always feel way lighter when I’ve prioritized myself first, and honestly, I end up enjoying my client work so much more afterward.
And don’t forget to have fun!!
It’s not that serious. Make friends, make a living, and share whatever you want. How amazing that we live in a time when we can share our gifts with others and build community all over the world from our beds. Wow!
★ Thanks for reading :) I’m here to help you on your self-employed journey. To start making money, grab my e-course How to Go Freelance or book a 1:1 Office Hours session where we can dig into your dreams and goals. Follow me on TikTok, Instagram, and shop my WFH Essentials here.
this is one i will return to again and again!
grace is the #1 person who told me to just start the fucking substack i’d been talking about for a literal year.
this medium has been SUCH an outlet for me. and a constant reminder in PRACTICE and releasing the pressure of perfection.
it’s not that serious! we must have fun! the world is burning and we are cringe, but we are freeeeeeeeeeeeee
This majorly hit home for me. I started full steam ahead, then dropped off for two weeks, now I’m back at it. It’s a roller coaster, but trying to find that level of consistency and to keep showing up for me!💕💕