5 Reasons to Leave Instagram

If you know me personally, you know that I don’t like social media of any kind. But I do see it’s potential as a tool in promoting your business, especially a small one like mine. So I tried it out and it was exhausting. EXHAUSTING!! I just couldn’t keep up with the demands of constantly posting content and it just didn’t fit with how I wanted to run my business. Something had to change. I needed a change. So I did it. I made a change and it was glorious. Here are my top 5 reasons for leaving Instagram.

1) It’s Time Consuming

Instagram and other social media platforms have a magical way of getting you to endlessly scroll and roam through their content. Before you know it, what should have taken you 15-30 minutes to do, has now taken an hour, and you still haven’t done what you intended to!
With so little time in the day to run my business and take care of my Little Ones, I really would rather use my time efficiently to better serve my clients and be the best Mom and Wife I can be.

2) It’s an Energy Suck

I know so many people that feel bad after spending time on social media. It’s hard not to compare your life to those you see perfectly polished online. But no life is perfect and comparing ourselves to others really doesn’t serve us.
The same goes with trying to nurture a business. Doing what you think you’re supposed to do instead of what feels right doesn’t help you or your business stand out.

3) Not an Important Part of My Business

More and more people are moving away from social media for numerous reasons. I have never been a fan of it and was very reluctant to join when I started my sleep consulting business. Everyone told me I needed to be on at least 1 social platform, posting 3-5 times a week. Say what???? Why???? Wasn’t my website enough?
I’m sad to say, but I did buy into that at first. I tried to be consistent with posting. I tried having a cohesive online brand.
But it didn’t stick. It just wasn’t me and it wasn’t how I wanted my business to go. So I changed the rules and made it my own.

4) It’s Superficial

Did you know that you can pay someone to manage your social platforms? Yup that’s right.
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t trust any big company’s social platforms that are perfectly polished, and constantly updated. They just seem so impersonal.
But I also don’t follow the more personable accounts either. In fact, I don’t have a personal account so I don’t follow anyone and it’s wonderful! I was actually just talking about this with my hair stylist the other day. I don’t follow her account. I found her through Google (of course), liked her website, enjoyed our consultation and just kept going back for more. Evidently I did end up looking up her Instagram account and guess what? I probably wouldn’t even have blinked an eye at her if I went by Instagram alone. In fact, she told me that the majority of her clients don’t follow her social platforms. And either do mine!
I strive to serve clients who have shared values with me as that is in my approach to sleep and it’s an integral part of how I run my business. Nothing superficial to see here!

5) It’s Repetitive

If you look at different sleep consultants profiles, they are basically the same. Content is recycled and information is the same (although can vary slightly depending on their approach). Now that isn’t necessary a bad thing, but I get more out of talking to someone or checking out their website/blog than I do from their social media. Which is why I always encourage making use of that free consultation to find someone that is a good fit, regardless of their social platforms.

So there you have it. My top 5 reasons for leaving, rather limiting, Instagram and other social media platforms.

To be honest, I should say limiting as I haven’t completely left it. I changed the rules and made it work for me. I won’t be running on that hamster wheel anymore!

I’ll still have a presence on social, however I’m very excited about my new strategy which involves:

an amazing 9-grid (instead of constantly posting)
providing all important content and information in my highlights where it’s easy to find
exciting updates in stories and reels

Essentially for me, it’s about quality over quantity. I prefer to provide accuracy of information over the growth of my audience. I strive for that in all areas of my life, not just my business, and I encourage you to do the same.