Episode 12: How to Use Social Media as an Entrepreneur Without Comparing Yourself to Others

Tiffany Barry (00:00):
Welcome to the passion to profit show, where we talk about how to scale your passionate business into a profitable empire. I’m Tiffany Barry, a marketing expert and relationship marketing enthusiast. Join me for 20 minutes or less every week to talk about business, scaling up CEO, mindset, freedom and flexibility for entrepreneurs level up to six and seven figures let’s get started

Tiffany Barry (00:26):
Simply existing as a business owner who uses social media in a social world without comparing yourself to others can be a struggle. So if you’re using social media to connect with your clients, chances are pretty high that you’re also seeing tons of other content from entrepreneurs, similar to you. They may be in a different place in their journey. They may be in the same place. They may be a mentor, someone you look up to no matter what they are, it’s difficult, not of compare ourselves to the perceived successes of others, and it’s even harder not to find ourselves lacking. So how do you go about using social media as an entrepreneur without constantly comparing yourself to others? I have a few tricks and I’m gonna share them in this episode. This week’s episode of passion to profit marketing is really about how do you market in a space that is really hard to, to put the blinders on it.

Tiffany Barry (01:41):
You know, you, it’s really hard to network in Facebook groups or, or be on Instagram or, or connect with people on LinkedIn when, without, you know, seeing all of the things that all these other people are doing and not compare ourselves. So to ease that habit I’ve developed some tips centrics, but that helped me. The first one, I think, is pretty widely shared. You know, just reminding ourselves that social media is curated. You know, what we see online is not always an accurate portrayal of someone’s life or business, rarely does anyone post about their struggles and their failures. So don’t compare. And I’ll say this again later, too. I’m sure. So don’t compare your behind the scenes to someone’s highlight reel. And actually, you know, I, I talk about that on my Instagram. If you go to my Instagram I’m at Tiffany E. Barry, if you go there, you’ll see, right in my bio, it says a behind the scenes look at, I think marketing and motherhood or something like that.

Tiffany Barry (02:52):
So like, you know, that, like this is gonna be the, the, the filtered version, but like, it’s, it’s the raw version of like the behind the scenes of my life. And some days that’s like my kids grinding slime into my couch and some days that’s something inspirational. Like, you know, these six women just joined my coaching program and I’m super excited. Right? So remind yourself that social media is curated. Even, even from people who are admittedly sharing behind the scenes, it’s a select version of behind the scenes. And there’s, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I think what’s wrong with that is, is saying that that’s, that’s the perfection that that’s the every day, I think it’s fine to, you know, not wanna air your dirty laundry and not always wanna share vulnerable posts. I think you should do it, but, but just remind yourself that like social media is curated.

Tiffany Barry (03:49):
All right. And, you know, focus on your own journey. So that’s kind of like my second tip, right? Focus on your journey where you are at and your business, not what everybody else is doing. Okay. Somebody told me once, you know, you can’t compare your, you know, first chapter to somebody else’s middle, you can’t compare your middle to somebody else’s end the best way to grow and improve is by paying it to, to what works for you and what doesn’t all right, trying to replicate what other entrepreneurs are doing and the path they’re walking and the decisions they’re making and the branding that they’re doing. And, and all these things it’s, it’s likely just to lead to more frustration and more dissatisfaction, we, your own progress. So you’ll get the best results by focusing on what works for you. Okay. Now the third kind of little trick I have for kind of stopping that comparison habit, monster thing is to approach it from a place of learning.

Tiffany Barry (04:56):
You know, like when I am doing competitor research, when I’m doing an, any kind of social listening I’m always trying to approach it with the mindset of what can I learn from this interaction? What can I learn from this person? I really look up to this marketer, what can I learn from her? What can I do differently? What, what makes me stand out in comparison? So sometimes reframe the act of comparison can be really beneficial. Now my fourth kind of trick to, to remember is that you know, be, be mindful of the be mindful of the comparisons that you are making, be mindful of how they’re serving you, right? Are they making you feel good or bad? Are you, are you doing this? You know, competitor research, social listening, those are all things that are, that are really kind of important to do.

Tiffany Barry (05:59):
You know, being aware of what’s happening in your industry, in your space is, is important and really valuable, but are you approaching it with a mindset that is strong enough to handle that? You know, how is it making you feel is, is, is is it adding productivity to your business? Is it adding value to your business? Is it strengthening you in some way? Or is it damaging? Is it, is it making you feel less than is it making you feel like you’re not where you should be or worth the, those negative thoughts are not serving you? They’re not gonna help motivate you. There have been countless studies on how negative reinforcement is harmful. So if, if it’s, if these aren’t serving you, if, if the comparisons that you’re making, when you’re marketing, aren’t serving you, you know, whether that’s, like I said, through competitor research or social listening, or even like trend watching, it might be time to ditch them, you know, either ditch the activity completely or ditch it in that moment and come back to it when you’re feeling like you’re in a better space.

Tiffany Barry (07:14):
You know, I have a client recently, you know, I don’t do whole lot of one on work. One-On-One work with clients. I’m only, I mostly, I can’t talk, Jay I’m Mo mostly still can’t talk. I’m only, I’m mostly focused on, you know, some high level consulting that I do for businesses and entrepreneurs. And then I have my, I, my passion to pro profit marketing academy, where I’m doing my group marketing coaching, and I’m coaching women through the growth of their business, but the, the one kind of one-on-one space that I have because I still absolutely love it. And it is still in more of that consulting strategy work. It’s one of the few one on one spaces that I have to work with my clients in that way. And that’s my V I P days. And so I had a client recently that that came on to do a V I P day.

Tiffany Barry (08:10):
She wanted some marketing strategy, but for her, one of the biggest takeaways and one of the reasons that she signed on for me is because I’m gonna do the competitor research for her. I’m gonna be doing the social listing for her, me and my team are gonna be crafting all of that. And she doesn’t have to dive into spaces that make her feel inept and uncomfortable. And so, so I would offer that to you. You don’t necessarily have to come hire me, but if these comparison thoughts aren’t serving, you may, maybe that’s you know, something you can outsource to somebody you know, developing those strategies, listening, what’s going on, figuring out what’s going on in your industry, that you can use figuring your unique selling proposition based on what else is going on in your market, all that kind of jargon. Maybe it’s time to outsource that if it’s not serving you either pick it up later when you’re feeling better about it, or just hand it to somebody else, put it on somebody else’s plate.

Tiffany Barry (09:07):
Okay. and kind of along that line of thinking, when it comes to being mindful of how the comparisons were making or serving us, I, this, and this is I’ll, I’ll end this podcast episode with this little trick this is my little imagination exercise. So you know, how we are either taught to, or you, you hear just, you know, in pop culture references, how, you know, when you get up to do public speaking, imagine the room naked and that’s how you can help your anxiety. Right. So I like to do something similar with social media posts you know, reminding myself that it’s to highlight real. And I like to imagine something off the wall wild chaotic, or, or funny happening behind the scenes. And that, that helps me just to remind like, ground the post in reality.

Tiffany Barry (10:06):
Right? So I think about this time that this photographer that I fallen, I have not kept up with her admittedly, cause I am just not interested in photography as, as a whole, but I very much remember this post. I just don’t remember who it’s attributed to. But she was either an influencer or photographer. And and in, in real life, she shared the way her entryway looked before she took the shot that was posted on Instagram, you know, and then she also did the similar one with what was happening behind the tripod in her living room. I’ll give you two guesses on what it was, and you’ll only need one because it was absolute chaos, like, like, and just, I mean, stuff everywhere and seeing those behind the scene shots just reminded me of just how curated social media is.

Tiffany Barry (11:07):
You know, and, and I remember feeling really inept as a mom at that point. Like there was no kid stuff anywhere the laundry was picked up. There was, you know, and when she showed the behind this scenes, it was a wreck. But it was like a lived in wreck. Like we live in this house and that really like, I, I remember, you know, thinking, okay, it’s, it is okay if my kids come in and throw their shoes at the whole tree and drop their backpacks where they stand. And there’s like a pair of underwear randomly in the kitchen floor because my toddler decided to be naked. Like it just puts it into perspective. So anytime I’m scrolling through social media, I like to do that little imagination, exercise inspired by a post that I saw years and years ago because it kind of helps keep it light and humorous.

Tiffany Barry (11:56):
And so, you know, redirecting your mindset and those comparative thoughts, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be some serious meditative thing. Like, you know, Woosah take a breath kind of moment. It can be light and humorous and fun to kind of help avoid the, bring it to that negative space, but refocus your mind you know, in a really intentional way. And, and so, so those are kind of my, my, my top tips for being able to engage in social media and use it as a tool to grow your business, without it being like super detri and mental to your mindset, your business, your income, all that, it all ties together, right? Just remember, and this is how I’ll I’ll. This is the thought I will leave you with, remember to compare your today to your yesterday and aim, to make incremental progress every day, no matter how small it seems, celebrate your wins, big or small, learn from the losses. And that’s how you’ll grow into the entrepreneur that you aspire to be. That’s it for this episode of passion to profit, if you found it helpful, insightful, or just entertaining subscribe, wherever you list into your favorite podcast. And if you’re ready to scale your business from passion to six figure profits, don’t forget to watch the free masterclass tiffanyebarry.Com/Masterclass.