Whether your business is a startup or a long-standing business, you’ll sometimes suffer from the social media doldrums. The doldrums can be defined as a period of stagnation or inactivity. It might occur in the middle of the summer or during a holiday. There is nothing happening, there are no boats on the horizon, and there is no wind at all. Naturally, you’d like to escape the doldrums as quickly as possible!
Share Posts from Like-Minded Companies
Share Posts from Like-Minded Companies
Sharing might seem like a non-intuitive way to escape the doldrums, but there are others creating ideas and content who would love the boost. Meantime, you get a little time to reflect and create a long-term escape plan. Some personal favorites are:
- Tess Wittler, who writes about blogging for construction companies,
- Blue Steele Solutions, who write about marketing strategies and solutions,
- Bridget Willard (You Too Can Be a Guru), who writes about social media, and
- Robert Nissenbaum (Tactical Social Media), who covers brand awareness and recognition.
Comment on Blogs to Escape the Doldrums
Comment on Blogs
Commenting on others’ writing is a fabulous way to spark new ideas for your own social media or blog posts. A good place to start is with people who are sharing your content or commenting on your posts. Starting a conversation on a blog beyond “great post!” can help the creative juices flow again. Ask a question or say something that will move the conversation beyond the entry level. For instance, “what made you think of writing about this topic?”
Read Articles
Read Articles
Articles within your own niche can help to stimulate new ideas and help you create an action plan to escape. For instance, Copyblogger is a terrific one. Take note of which articles attract you. What headlines brought you there? Could you use a similar headline?
Power out? No problem. pic.twitter.com/dnQ7pOgC
— OREO Cookie (@Oreo) February 4, 2013
Think Back
Go back to memorable moments. These moments might be times when ads caught your attention from your childhood, events that are important to the country as a whole, or to a game that you played. It could be anything, really. For instance, do you remember Life cereal “Give it to Mikey! He hates everything!” ad? People quote that ad all the time. Or the more recent Oreo cookie tweet during the Superbowl of 2013? There are moments that people enjoy revisiting.
Go Into the Stillness
Go Into the Stillness
Like a stale meme, you want an easy answer. Sometimes running straight into the fire, or lack thereof, is the right thing to do. This is perhaps the most difficult cure, and also the most “zen.” Every business has its ups and downs. Sometimes a period of absolute quiet is necessary for the next period of growth. Being still and calm might drive you insane as a business owner. Unless you’re an introvert, that is. Here’s my article on Six Facts About Introverts and Social Media That Will Impress Your Friends, by the way.
Feel the Pain
Explore the Pain
If you’re having a period of the doldrums, perhaps your clients are, too. How about writing about the pain that life in the doldrums creates for you? After all, you’re not going to be reaching the top of Mount Kilimanjaro every day. And, to use the sailing metaphor, you won’t sail your boat under the Golden Gate Bridge every day, either.
Ever Been in the Doldrums?
What did you do to get out? Leave me a comment!
This is for me! I’m stuck in apathy.
Sorry to hear it, Bridget! From what I know about you, you’re a passionate person, and the apathy won’t last forever.
If you need brainstorming, I’d love to do that with you!
Carol
You offer some great advice Carol. Sharing and commenting are 2 of the best ways I know to help shift a mindset, especially if you’re struggling with doldrums or even a complete ‘writer’s block’. Much of what I write is based on an experience. whether it be mine, a client’s or someone else’s found from reading THEIR content.
Robert
Thank you, Robert! I like the stories that you share. And I like that we all influence each other by what we write, how we share, and the stories that we create. And we all experience the doldrums at times.
Thanks for stopping by!
Carol
Thanks for the mention! I think your suggestion of looking at what others are posting is my favorite idea. So much of my inspiration comes from media I consume—if I’m not taking in media, it can be very hard to put out media.
Hi Adam,
All the articles we read, videos we watch, and words we hear accumulate. Sometimes the juxtaposition of strange ideas can create something new and fresh.
Thanks for commenting.
Carol
You are very welcome!
Moods ebb and flow so I guess we shouldn’t expect to be enthused about social media all the time. Sometimes it does become a bit of a grind. Love your tactics for getting over the slump.
I also like to take myself right out of my usual routine during quiet times in order refresh that creative energy and joy. Can be something as simple as people watching at a coffee shop, taking a stroll by the river or going to an exhibition. That type of thing gets me energised, inspired and back on track.
Hi Kittie,
Being outside in the woods or at a park, taking a long walk on the beach (corny, but it works), or people watching are all simple solutions to changing moods.
Thanks for dropping in!
Carol
Hello Carol,
Your suggestions are excellent :-)
Sharing other people’s content is a great way to boost your social media and some companies definitely do return the favor, so that’s a nice by-product of that too.
Yep, i otally agree that blog commenting is a great way to spark new ideas. For me, it also helps to soak in the information of the article more effectively. Just doing this helps your brain come up with new connections so i totally agree.
Reading a LOT has been massively important to my growth. I’ve grown to love reading and i’m always eager to learn something new. Copyblogger is definitely an excellent blog!
Personally i am an introvert so i can find stillness pretty easily and it does help me a lot. In essence, every single creation has come out of that nothingness. Nothing is unstable. So great suggestion :-) A hypnotherapy relaxation recording can also help a lot though.
I totally love this, thanks for sharing Carol.
– Jasper
Hello Jasper,
Nice to see a fellow introvert who doesn’t have any problem finding stillness. Quiet has become something of a rare commodity in today’s noisy world. Yoga is also great to still the mind, but not everyone finds that calmness while doing Downward Facing Dog. :D
Thank you for commenting, Jasper. I appreciate that.
Carol
Thank you Carol. I am there right now. I feel like I am so going backwards. Thank you so much for these encouraging words! To a fabulous 4th quarter!
Thanks for the comment, Beth. Sorry about being in the doldrums. It happens to us all. Maybe writing about a “quiet adventure,” since we’re heading into the holidays soon? I like combining unlikely topics for a new twist.
Carol
Good article, Carol. I think I might create a mock Twitter chat to get myself going on articles. For whatever reason I can be profound for 140 characters at a time. Maybe if I interview myself I can come up with decent stuff I could string together into something meaningful. We’ll see if I can pull that off.
Thanks.
Jim
I like the idea of interviewing yourself to come up with some ideas, Jim. I’d like to hear how that goes!
Carol