[Transcript starts at 1:13]
Hello, hello, hello, my podcast people and thank you for joining me for yet another episode of my favorite podcast. Today we're talking about the summer slump. If you're listening to this on the day that it drops, it is Thursday, July 27th, which means that in North America, in the contiguous in the United States, in SoCal, summer is summering.
What does that mean? People are outside, they're traveling, they're vacationing, they're taking their kids to camp or sending them to camp, they're going to the beach, they're going to the lake, they're going to the creek, and just generally spending more time away from their phone. Enter the summer slump.
More specifically, perhaps, the social media summer slump. This is a time when metrics, if you follow them, which I encourage you, do not, throw them away, don't look at them. But if you do, looking at the numbers, they go down. Why? Because people are doing other things. It happens every single year. And every single year people freak out and they're like, what's going on?
This year, I'm not going to lie. Um, people seem to be freaking out less. I don't know if it's that I'm listening to less. I don't know if it's maybe because Threads came out and so that kind of gave an uptick in social media people like, Oh, I want to do something new. Maybe it's because it's raining a lot in the East Coast.
I see a lot of complaining about that. But if people, if it's raining, people are inside, maybe they're online more. I don't know. But either way, it does happen every year. And I think that it's something that you can use to your advantage. So I think there's kind of three different tiers here, depending on what type of creator you are.
If you're a sea, seasoned, wow, I read that crazy. If you're a seasoned creator, then this episode in general probably doesn't apply to you as much. Um, just keep on keeping on. If you're truly a seasoned creator, then you know that things ebb and flow, you know, the summer kind of can be slower. And maybe you lean into that and you actually do less in the summer and you're fine with that because your business is established, you know, it's not fragile, like things are good.
You're, you're fine. Um, so maybe this doesn't apply to you necessarily as much. If you're an intermediate creator, then consider this episode your heads up that the summer slump is a real thing and it's not a bad thing. All right. If you have, if you're this intermediate creator and you haven't yet established yourself and your brand, you haven't built the habits yet, then push forward.
Don't lean into the summer. Don't lean into, I know I talk about seasonality and the urge here is going to be like, I just want to go to the beach. Cool, then get your work done first and then go to the beach because You have a goal and that needs to be top priority. Get that thing done. It's very, very tempting to just want to go and do something, want to go and take a break and do summer things.
But again, if you're really serious about building this thing, you're building this brand, you're building this business, you're building, establishing yourself as a creator, then use this time to build the habit. Yes, I will say I took a podcast break maybe my second year of podcasting, but I didn't stop the podcast.
I just went down from episodes a week to one, right? So I realized I'm like, I'm still building this thing. I'm still, you know, attracting the audience. I'm still figuring out my voice. I'm still really getting in the habit of this and really making it just something that's like super routine. And so I was like, I can't just stop doing it.
You know, to me, it is important to stay consistent with things. And so if that's where you're at, you're in the middle or you're just starting out with, maybe you're a more advanced business owner, advanced creator, but you're starting something new, then I'm going to encourage you lean into the summer slump and, excuse me, lean into the fact that the summer slump is here, that, um, there's less eyes, but that's okay, right?
Just lean in and just show up and build and create.
What I more specifically mean by leaning, truly leaning into the summer slump, and I kind of just alluded to it, is more specifically for the beginner creator, the beginner online business owner, who maybe is just starting, or those that are thinking of starting, they haven't even really started yet.
I'm going to encourage you, use this summer slump to get over yourself. Yes, I said it. Use it to get over yourself. Use the fact that there are less eyes in the space, that there are less eyes online, to take some low, to get some low stakes reps. Choose whatever platform it is that you want to be on and get prolific.
I think it's really a great time to learn that you won't die if you make a post, learn that you won't die if you make a post and it isn't perfect, there's a mistake in it, heaven forbid, you're gonna be fine. Learn how to lean into that post and move mentality. If you check out episode 493, I talked about Threads.
I do think that Threads is a phenomenal platform to really learn. Um, and understand and internalize the fact that posts don't need to like carry so much weight and you can really just post and move, post and move. It's a little bit easier on Threads because it's faster to create Threads, right? It can be, it takes time to create an Instagram post and so when you put all this effort into it and then no one claps, no one's there, you're just like, man, this sucks.
So, if you have to pick one maybe you start off with Threads but the flip side of that is that it is very valuable to learn what it feels like to create and show up and no one claps because people aren't always gonna be clapping. If you've ever done sports we know this we know that's kind of like the pep talk of like you know you, trophies are earned when no one's looking and when no one's clapping for you and you're you're off and practicing on your own.
Same, same for online business, especially in the beginning, no one's watching. And so now's a great time to realize that, internalize that, and move through that and be like, you know what, I'm showing up because I want to be doing this thing. It's a phenomenal time to really internalize that each post is just a drop in the bucket.
It feels, each post feels so big when your bucket is empty. You're like, yeah, I know it's a drop, but I ain't got no other drops in there. So this is an important drop. When your bucket's full, when your bucket's a quarter of the way full, halfway full, whatever, suddenly that drop, you're like, it's just another drop.
Right? Super valuable lesson to learn. Get those reps, get prolific with your content. I know that I said I don't like metrics, but if you're going to pay attention to any metric, you're going to go look at anybody's page and look at their metrics, look at how many posts they've created. That to me is the most important metric and I kind of wish they had that on Threads.
They have it on Twitter. They don't have it on Threads. It just, for me, it just shows like people have skin in the game. I was at, looking at Perry's page the other day, uh, Stop Chasing Pain. Dude's got like 9000 posts. Like that's skin in the game. That's reps. That's proficiency. That's efficiency. That's just, that's a skill.
That just, it's, it's admirable. Get skin in the game and you bet like, yes, he cares about what he posts, but it's much easier to post. You know, it's not, every post is not as precious. All right, it kind of rolls off your back. Yeah, mean comments still sting, I'm sure. But the actual creative part, which I see a lot of people when they're just starting out with online business, they get in their own way.
Because they're like, it has to be perfect. It has to be like this. Because they just haven't gotten the reps yet. They haven't gotten over themselves. They haven't gotten out of their own way yet. So. Lean into that fact that we were in the summer slump and that maybe people aren't on and not as many people are watching.
That's awesome. And get those low stake reps and learn what it feels like to show up and no one claps.
I'm currently working through another one of Ramit's courses. Side note tangent here, repeat customers are going to be the lifeblood of your business. 80% of the, um, results come from 20% of the people, things like that, 20% of the inputs, things like that.
Just suffice to say that repeat customers are the lifeblood of a business. Yes, it's important to have new customers coming in and we want to really though focus on that retention because people will continue to buy, they've already got broken through the trust barrier with them. They're like, yeah, this person gave me results.
I like them. I'm going to buy more stuff. So I've bought yet another one of, uh, Ramit's courses, And while it's phenomenal, the only way that someone who is following what he said is going to succeed, and he does say this to his credit, he does say this on the sales page in terms of who this course is for, the only way someone's going to succeed with this course is if they already have a business that's doing well.
And it says in the course, like this, this, excuse me, on the sales page, like this course is for people who have a business that is like making X amount of dollars, a. k. a. it's doing well, a. k. a. it's generating revenue. And if you take it a step farther, these businesses, or applying it to kind of our, our genre means that these people have an audience that trusts them and wants to buy their stuff, right?
So the techniques, the tactics, the strategy that he's talking about only work if the foundation is there. And the foundation in this case is that you have the audience, you have the eyes, you have the trust, they're already buying stuff, they like you, and now we're looking to just refine things. That part right there, the attracting the audience, the building the trust, breaking through the trust barrier, that is the most important step when it comes to creating a successful business, a successful online business. And it takes a long fucking time. I'm, I'm working on a new group coaching offer and it's probably going to be a year long because I want to help people with this. I alluded to it in the last episode and I'm still fleshing it out. I was on the flight home yesterday and I got really excited about it.
I was really writing a lot more about it. But as I was looking into the timeframes, how long I wanted it to be, this shit takes a long time. And while realistically a year is nothing, if I'm going to create a program that makes the most sense as a starting point. Um, cause it can't be like, Oh, it's gonna be five years long, but like, that's how long it takes, right?
Two, three, four, five years. You got to build that foundation. You got to build that trust. You got to attract that audience, build that brand. That starts, if you're in the online space and you're going with the organic approach that starts with putting out content. Start now. Use the summer slump to your advantage.
Annie Miller had a great post. I think it was a post. I don't know. I saw it on something she did. Maybe it was a Story. I don't really remember. Maybe it was a Thread. I don't remember. Um, but the other day and it referenced the folks, excuse me, it referenced the fact that folks who right now, really successful business owners and things like that, that are screaming about being anti hustle culture, they got to a place where they can now feel safe enough to rest or slow down and talk about being anti hustle culture, and talk about being anti hustle culture, they got there by hustling. You gotta work if you want the output, plain and simple. Check out episodes 485 and 486 I did with Laura Jean. Thank you, Courtney. It's a, I don't want to say it's a softer message because that sounds kind of like, but it is. It's a softer message in terms of the way that she talks about yields and, you know, crops and things like that.
And it's still, the point remains the same, that if you want something to grow, it takes work. Right, things don't just happen. These big things, especially, you want a bigger yield, this doesn't just happen by chance, by randomness. It takes work. So I am strongly encouraging you to lean into the summer slump, right?
In my opinion, right now is a phenomenal time to lean into that work. You don't have to lean in full steam, because I get it, it's summertime, you want to like be enjoying, I get it. I can kind of try to, you know, I can meet you in the middle there, but something is always gonna be more than nothing. And I really think that you have the ability to take advantage of this low stakes time, right?
In reality, it's always low stakes. Like, people put such, like, an emphasis on their posts and things like that. It's always low stakes. But people tend to really believe that it's low stakes when they see the low numbers. And they're like, okay, well, I guess, like, people aren't seeing it, whatever. Which is interesting, because then people also get upset, and they're like, no one's seeing it.
So on the one hand, they're like, I'm scared to do it, because everyone's going to see it. And then… They post it and they're like, no one's seeing it. I'm sad. And I'm like, which one is it? Which one is it? But my advice, pick a platform, pick a medium, whatever it is, whether you're like, I want to write, I want to blog, it's kind of the same thing though, right. I want to, um, do podcasts. I want to do social media posts, whatever. I want to be on Threads. I want to be on Twitter. I want to be on Tik TOK. I want to be on Instagram, whatever it is, pick it. And lean in. Use the summer slump to your advantage.
All right, we're going to do one review and it's probably going to be the last review.
I'm going to read one review. It's probably going to be the last review for a while because I ain't got no more. So if you want to send them in, thank you. Would love it. Would love it. Last episode, I went over briefly how to submit a review. Again, I only know how to do it on, on Apple podcasts. You go to my podcast.
So search Maestro on the Mic and my podcast comes up, click on it. It'll take you to the page where all of the episodes are. This is on your phone, right, on the app. Scroll all the way down. You'll see, like, big stars, and you can leave a rating, preferably five stars. And then underneath, uh, the reviews, underneath the written reviews, there is a, um, hyperlinked text that says, leave a review.
You click on that, it'll take you to a new screen, and you can leave a review there. So, I would love a review, or if you're like, I can't figure it out, you can DM it to me, and I'll read it. Last week's was a DM. And I read it. I just like hearing from you. So I will keep asking and I'll resume with reading when I got more.
But this current one is from Joy 438 submitted on June 8th, 2023. So pretty recently. Joy said, Never heard of Move It Maestro until recently. Thanks, JillFit. That's my girl, right? Like posts and started listening to podcasts. Enlightening and great ideas and mindset takeaways. Definitely entertaining and animated personality.
Joy, if you're still listening, hopefully you are because you just started listening, thank you. These reviews, they really do mean a lot. Like, it helps me know that you're, it's landing with you folks. It's again, it's like I say all the time, it's very unidirectional form of content. It makes it a little bit less unidirectional.
So thank you, Joy. Thank you, all of you. I know you could be doing anything. Wow. I know you could be doing anything and you choose to listen to me. And for real folks, I am just super, super appreciative. So go out, enjoy the summer, but also, use that summer slump to your advantage. Start creating, start attracting those eyes, start building that brand, start building that audience right now.
It's the most important part of running an online business. It's the number one thing that's going to dictate and determine your success in having that online business. All right, officially wrapping it up. Until next time friends, Maestro out.
Watch this episode on YouTube!
MOTM #493: WTF is Threads?
MOTM #485: Being Seen, Heard, and Known with Laura Jean (Part I)
MOTM #486: Cultivating Communities of Care with Laura Jean (Part II)
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