For years my sole focus was Instagram and Facebook, while these are incredible platforms for creating and growing a business, there are so many other incredible outlets to create for. Although I've been able to use Instagram and Facebook to my advantage and monetize both platforms... for years I was so narrow- visioned that I slept on so many other incredible social media platforms. In this blog, I'll go over which platforms I am diversifying to and beginning to create for.
A short note on each platform for those that may be new to social media:
Facebook: end all be all, Facebook does a little bit of everything and is a giant in the market, great place for networking
Instagram: photo sharing platform with videos, but emphasis on photos
TikTok: short form fun and creative videos
YouTube: long form videos on any topic or niche
Twitter: communicate with a limited number of characters, and stay up to date with what's going on real time
Pinterest: photo sharing platform popular with online creators and bloggers
Wix: The website platform I use to host my blog
Amazon Influencer Shop: essentially a one- stop shop for all of my affiliate links
Patreon: a place for fans or your audience to support you monetarily and in exchange get perks, exclusive content, behind the scenes, etc.
Reflecting on why I was so adamantly set on Instagram and Facebook, when I set my mind on something, I am ALL IN, it’s just how my mind works. This is beneficial to be all in because that’s normally the mentality you need to have to grow, but it’s also not always the best because it typically means I am super stubborn when people tell me I should try other things, because I normally shut out the idea immediately
So for a little timeline.
Today is June 1, 2020. As of mid July 2019, I decided to add Youtube to my platforms that I use and create content for, and have since gone all in.
Since July 2019 I have created long form content consistently for Youtube, with the minimum being 1x a week, but different months since I have played with 2 uploads a week, 3 uploads a week, every other day, and even 1 month I posted a video every single day. It’s been madness, but I've seen clear growth and my hard work is slowly paying off.
Looking back, I regret sleeping on Youtube for SO MANY YEARS, because at the end of the day the app does more FOR creators than any other social media platform out there. If I had even posted 1 or 2 videos per month over the last 4-5 years of traveling full- time, I feel like I’d be massive on Youtube. However, I don’t like to live with regret or even give it the time of day, just speaking hypothetically. Youtube is interesting because there’s almost never any instant gratification, unlike Instagram and Facebook, which is probably why I avoided it for years. It takes years of consistent videos to grow on Youtube. But if you do, it’s probably the most powerful platform out there.
Also, I have been on Tik Tok for around 8 months, I started it around August 2019. I didn’t take it seriously in the beginning, but after one video went viral and hit over 2 million views, I was hooked and all-in. Plus Tik Tok was and is growing at an insane rate, the app has exploded and has become a big player in the social media platforms to keep an eye on. Now I post 2-5 times per day, and rarely miss a day.
Now it is June 2020, and I am years into traveling and creating full- time, and yet I see myself diversifying again. I have always thought.. “I could be doing more” … I could be maximizing my content, travels, and everything I do deeper and more full circle.
Last month, May 2020, I completely re-did my website. I started completely from scratch and switched over to Wix for the first time. I’ve never gotten any work from my website, but as a professional landscape photographer and filmmaker, a website and portfolio is non negotiable.
I added a blog to my website, where I plan to start going all- in on blogs now, in addition to everything else
At the same time of making my new website and blog, I also created a Pinterest account, Amazon Influencer shop, and Patreon account, I guess technically I made a Twitter too but we’ll see how much I use that.
So now, going forward, I will be creating full time for Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, my online Blog, Tiktok, Pinterest, and my Patreon (My amazon shop is a one-time set up).
Every single platform and outlet is a chance to reach a new audience, further my brand, and get my business to new heights. No, it’s not easy, but to succeed in an ever growing and saturating content creating field, you need to outperform others to succeed.
Long are the days gone where you could create art in your room, show your friends, do a few showings, and build a massive audience and thriving business.
Times have changed, and continue to change every single day, and the ones that succeed are the ones that are able to adapt to the times and create content where the attention is trending.
A huge influence as to why I wanted to diversify was the audio book “Crushing It” by Gary Vaynerchuk. I have been following Gary for years, since the start of my journey. I’ve even been lucky enough to meet him in person. But for some reason, it wasn’t until about a month ago where I read his book, even though it came out years ago. Most of it was things I already knew, or things I have heard Gary say on other platforms like Youtube, Instagram, and Facebook. But he really dove deep in this book and broke down every single platform, and the entire time I was just thinking “Damn, I really am just not doing enough, and there are sooo many ways to monetize a business like mine that I’ve been sleeping on.
I always knew I could be doing more, and that is why I am diversifying and as time goes on why I continue to create for new and more social media platforms.
Kind of a side note, but the world is definitely gravitating towards audio- Google Home, Alexa, Amazon Echo, Siri, etc. That and VR will be taking over the world, they already are. A way to maximize on this opportunity is by doing a podcast. But in recent years the podcast space has become extremelyyyy competitive, and right now I just don’t have the time to do a formal podcast, escpecially with how much I travel. Not to mention if it wasn't for quarantine I would be traveling non-stop at the moment, and wouldn't have access to my home studio. However, I think if/ once I have a bigger audience I will eventually create a podcast.
If I already have thousands of photos and videos, and am creating for FB and IG and Youtube, why shouldn’t I take just a few extra small steps and post those photos on Pinterest, or post exclusives to patreon for avid followers, or interpret my youtube videos and vlogs into written blogs. It's not that much more work, just a few extra steps and re-purposing, but the upside is MASSIVE. The time investment is definitely worth the potential upside, growth, and business. It’s the same content, just with an extra few steps of re-purposing the content for more platforms and different audiences.
I think to succeed in this business you need to be all in on everything, with enough hard work, passion, and persistence, you can create anything.