I get it! Social media can leave you feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. We’ve all been there at some point. Once-upon-a-time, even I disliked social! Well, don’t worry. There’s hope! Change how you think about your social and it can be a fun way to express yourself and move your career forward.
Here are the five biggest reasons you’re not finding success on social media and how to fix them!
Reason #1: You constantly compare yourself to other actors on social media.
I know this one is hard, especially if you’re also comparing yourself to other actors in the waiting room. But the bottom line is that you NEED to stop comparing yourself to others both offline and online.
Remember: You can’t compare your Chapter 1 with someone else’s Chapter 10. The accounts you’re comparing yourself with may have been on Twitter since 2009 (and you just joined). Or you’re comparing your one-like-per-post (from your 100 followers) to someone’s 180 likes (from 100,000 followers). What’s important is that you’re constantly trying to improve your social media for your career, not that you have more followers or likes than the accounts you see in your feed.
Reason #2: You’re trying to be perfect in every post or video.
You think the whole world is watching (and judging), so you stare at the screen for 15 minutes before hitting tweet or you edit your YouTube video for three days until you think it’s perfect. I can tell you right now that if you read all of my 70 plus articles, take all of my online courses, and take every class about social media ever created, you will not achieve perfection on social media!
The best tip I can give you for your social media (and your acting) is to stop trying to be perfect. Your videos will never be perfect and your tweets may sometimes have a typo (thanks, auto-correct). Do the work but don’t obsess about them being perfect—just post them!
The best way to learn how to use social media for your career is to keep posting. See what works and what doesn’t work. The more you practice, the better your posts will be.
What Social Media Does an Actor Need? Reason #3: You think social media is a waste of time.
Ooooooh, this is a biggie. Social media CAN be a big waste of time if you’re using the wrong platforms for your goals or if you spend hours watching videos of cats, cute babies, and small birds. However, when it’s used correctly, social media can accelerate your acting career by helping you build relationships. You create your future one post at a time by showing the world how to cast you.
Reason #4: You’ve fooled yourself into thinking you’re not good with social media because you’re not good with technology.
Sound familiar? So many people think you have to be a tech geek to be a social media rockstar but that’s just not true.
Yes, you need a phone or computer 101 (so you know what buttons to push). But once you have that, social media isn’t about tech, it’s about connecting with friends and fans, and building relationships.
Trust me, just because you can design a website, it doesn’t mean you’re automatically great at social media. I’ve had clients who are web designers who are terrible with their social media because they forget it’s about making connections. So it doesn’t matter if you grew up with a rotary phone and a typewriter (which was me, BTW) or in a futuristic house that would put the Jetsons to shame, you can do this! Just know that to be successful on social, you must be at peace with the fact that technology will not always be on your side and let it go.
Reason #5: You think social media is a “necessary evil.”
“I won’t like it, but I’ll do it because I have to.” This is what so many clients tell me when I first meet them. They’re frustrated because, in addition to new headshots, acting classes, and a website, they now have to learn social media, too. They think of it as a burden and because of that negative mindset, they resent their social media every time they sign in.
Remember: You will never get good at something you don’t like to do.
Social media is becoming part of your job as an actor so until you can afford to hire someone to do it for you, find a way to start liking it. The good news is that social media is completely learnable. Every social media rockstar started somewhere. All it takes is a good teacher, the will to learn, and a little time.
So remind yourself of the following every day: I can rock my social media. I will rock my social media.
What is it that’s holding you back? Adopt a new way of thinking and stick to it.
Looking for remote work? Backstage has got you covered! Click here for auditions you can do from home!
The views expressed in this article are solely that of the individual(s) providing them,
and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Backstage or its staff.
