How to Be Prepared to Be Unprepared in your Social Media

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of being planned ahead in your social media. BUT…. there’s a balance to be found in scheduling your posts out, and then being spontaneous and posting about things that are a surprise. I call that balance – How to Be Prepared to be UNprepared in your Social Media.

Quick backstory for you…

I have spent years living life at the last minute. Historically, I operate more as a free-spirit, which can then morph into living life as a procrastinator.

For those who are fans of the Enneagram, I am a 4. Fours don’t naturally thrive on routine and being responsible. We thrive on creativity, emotions, going with the flow, and going against the grain.

THEN… I had kids.

We started our family through adoption, and learned quickly that we needed some rock-solid routine in our house. I started to come to peace with making a plan, having a schedule, and even posting a menu. (Seriously.)

I knew that if the plan was just MADE and KNOWN – then lots of my kids’ stress just melted away.

Then, I started to learn something about myself.

When I made a plan for some areas of my life ahead of time, it actually reduced MY stress too.

UGH! That was a hard pill to swallow.

But, it’s true.

When I know what I’m making for dinner and have actually planned ahead to have the groceries – I feel better.

When I have a plan for the day to make sure everything will get done – I feel better.

AND… when my social media is planned out – I feel better.

And here’s where things get really interesting.

When I have the things of life planned out, I am MORE free to be creative and spontaneous.

It’s almost like when I have my head down figuring out everything last minute, I simply don’t have the clarity to be spontaneous at all. I need the breathing room to get my head up, look around, and notice life around me.

Can you relate?

We can take this same idea and apply it to our business’s social media.

As I have said, I am a huge fan of getting your pages planned out.

This allows your pages to be putting up content consistently, without you having to stress about it each day. You can batch your posts as you have time. You can breathe a sigh of relief and know that you are ahead of schedule!

Would you like a shortcut to planning all of your social media? Join my Social Media Simplified Membership, and have all of your planning done for you!

BUT, one of the very fun aspects of social media is the chance to be spontaneous. You WANT your page to feel real. You WANT to be able to flex and put up some spur-of-the-moment things!

When the “meat” of your pages is planned out, you now can get your head UP and notice things that you should post spontaneously!

For example:

• Did you just feel inspired to share something with your audience? Go live.
• Did a celebrity just walk into your store? Snap a pic and post it!
• Did something funny just happen in your business that you would like to share? Post about it!

All of these things allow your audience to feel like you are there with them, in real time. Plus – it adds an element of FUN to your page!

Spontaneity is FUN! It’s the very best of social media, and it’s wise to incorporate it into your business page as well.

Another note – in these spontaneous moments, don’t worry about the “polish.”

Don’t have your makeup on? Oh well, go live anyway.

Is your desk a mess? Take a photo anyway!

All of these “less polished” moments are OKAY! And they will actually endear your audience to you all the more.

Want to take some baby steps toward more spontaneity?

Make use of Instagram Stories!

Stories inherently have a feel of less polish and more random spontaneity, so this is a great place to start casually putting yourself out there now and then.

PLUS, Instagram stories only last for 24 hours! So if you’re nervous about your more random posts being out there, you can know that it’s only for a day!

What steps can you take today to get your pages scheduled out, and then LOOK UP and add some spontaneity to your page?