I had an interesting experience on Threads a few days ago.
Something I do to stay organized with my social media management is scheduling my content.
It seems like I'm online a lot (even though I am), but I use these magical scheduling tools in each social media platform I'm on to make it seem like I'm online a lot more than I actually am (my home base is Threads and my supportive platform is Instagram).
Batch creating and scheduling my social media content ahead of time gives me room to breathe and focus on other things that need to be taken care of without feeling guilty about not showing up as much as I could be.
When I schedule content, I'm able to do things like work on this newsletter, intentionally engage with other people and their content, play with my kitties, and do the dishes and laundry.
Scheduling my social media content FREES my time and EXPANDS my energy to other things that require my attention.
ANYWAYS. One of the posts I scheduled on Threads read like this, "Unpopular opinion: passive income still needs structure." (which is very true, btw.)
This gentleman commented on that post saying, "Please stop calling very basic commonplace statements 'unpopular opinions.'
I looked at his comment and laughed. One of the things about my personal brand is that I'm a little snarky and sarcastic sometimes, so I commented back to him saying, "Don't tell me what to do Michael."
Obviously, he didn't like that. He commented back to me saying, "I said please. I could base an entire decision not to work with you based on how you just responded to that."
I am in the business of making fuck-you money, but I'm not in the business of bullshitting people. I don't want to work with just anybody.
I responded back to him, "And that's okay because I wouldn't wanna work with you anyways. You came on to my profile to try and cause a problem and you did."
This guy clearly wanted to have the last word and he commented back," Rejecting after already rejected kinda doesn't hold water but OK."
I realized what I was doing on my end. Why was I entertaining somebody like this? I stopped engaging and just blocked him and hid his comments.
But this interaction got me thinking a lot: about his positioning, what mine looked like, how I could've handled this better, and why people like him are annoying as fuck.
I took this engagement as an opportunity to learn how to engage with people.
This gentleman clearly was trying to start a problem by choosing to be a contrarian. This was not actually about having an opinion about "unpopular opinions" and the technical terms for them.
This was actually about tone policing, control, and having an ego.
He confused “disagreement” with “authority.” He escalated unnecessarily and manipulatively by positioning himself as a hypothetical customer whose approval you should value. And he made this whole debacle about my character, not my content.
Lovingly, I definitely could've approached this interaction better on my end. Yes, how I said don't tell me what to do is a part of my brand but not everybody is familiar with my brand yet. So, it came across as reactive and defensive.
That line shifted the interaction from a content creator holding boundaries to a content creator in a personal pissing contest.
I can be warm and direct without being so sharp, regardless of if it is part of my personal brand.
I could have done better in communicating. I hold myself responsible and accountable for that.
But it DID validate one of my main boundaries not just as a creative business owner but as a human being.
You don’t have to work with everybody or just anybody. Work with people you mutually align with.
Sometimes I wonder if I’m a terrible business owner because I’m not deemed “professional” but I still get the job done.
Other times, I think I’m actually doing OK because I have a lot of discernment when it comes to customer service, I have powerful boundaries, and I don’t allow a customer or a potential customer be a bully and just be an asshole for no reason.
As a small business owner and solopreneur, I don’t want every single person’s money. I just want to be compensated fairly from a product that is genuinely going to help them or inspire them in some way.
I don’t know how wealthy that’s going to make me, but I'm not going to fuck around with people I'm not mutually aligned with.
I am not for everybody and not everybody is for me.
But if what I have to offer helps you get organized and structured so you can make more money in your ventures or gives you something beautiful in your home, then I am here for YOU.
For any kind of business owner: don’t be afraid to fire potential clients and customers, especially if they’re going to go out of their way to cause a problem with you (like leaving contrarian comments on your social media content).
That tells you everything you need to know about how they’re going to be if you work with them or vice versa.
A key to a peaceful life is to realize that sometimes, you just have to let people say and think whatever about you and move on with your day.
You can't control your circumstances, but you can control how you respond to them.
🧠 Brain-Picks
- How can you convince people to care and trust you when you’re just getting started? The answer is this: You don’t convince them. That’s the secret most people miss. When you’re just starting, nobody cares about you yet. They care about their problem. So you lead with that. Talk about the exact frustration they’re already feeling. Say the thing they’re thinking but haven’t put into words. Share what you’re learning while you’re learning it.
- "You don’t sell the product first. You sell the belief that change is possible." - Chase Dimond
- AVOID cheap clients and customers. They are never satisfied with anything, even when you underpromise and overdeliver.
🫀 Tips for creating and living creatively
- People lose power over you when you have and make your own money.
- Remember: you're not bad at something, you're new at something. Give yourself some grace.
- "Not all money is good money." - Natasha Chomko
I'm curious to hear from you: if you were in my position with that guy who was a contrarian on my Threads post, how would you have personally handled that?
Send me an email and let me know. Or don't. ☺️
Thank you for reading! I'll see you next Thursday. 🖤
With gratitude,
Katrina
PS: Reminder that the Social Media Cash Flow Systems™ blueprint is now LIVE. 🎉
This blueprint contains 150 pages of 50 evergreen social media management systems that support your income efforts and save you time, branding information, content pillar creation, and more.
Get the systems here.
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