COVID 19, BLACKLIVESMATTER, Working a 9-5 and Influencing… How to still show up when you’re falling apart on the inside.
First… EXHALE… because 2020 is going down as one of the top historical years for black people. We lost a legend in January (Kobe Bryant), COVID 19 has been wiping us out with just a handshake, and now we have 3 unarmed Black people (George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor) murdered over just a few months. WE are rightfully TIRED and yet, I’m still expected to show up as my normal positive upbeat self for work on Monday. It’s been so tough for me and to be honest, last week I felt like the world was coming down on me. I took a break on Thursday, I went out for a long ride and took some photos on Sunday, and Monday morning before work I also took a 90 minute drive.
Today, I feel better. While I understand we are only a few steps into a long list of action items and the work is not even half-way done; I feel better.
SO… if you don’t know about me, I work a slightly demanding 9-5 as an HR Generalist with an airline. While I have a desk, I’m mobile for the most part because I cover several stations over NY, NJ and PA. Pre-COVID things were still a little hectic for me, but I had a pretty decent schedule to balance it all. I currently work from home, but I don’t want to just talk about that part because I’m sure a lot of you wondered how I did it all before too.
First, accept that this is not a competition and you should not compare yourself to anyone, especially those that are full-time Influencers. This was a struggle for me because I wanted to “sit at the big tables”. I had to accept that (1) I’ve only been at this for a little over two years and (2) I just don’t have the time that other folks have. That said, I might not grow as fast, pitch as much, get as many campaigns, etc because 100% of my day isn’t available to influencing.
Pre-COVID here is how I managed my schedule with the goal of posting to my Instagram feed at least once per day:
(1) I shot with a photographer for 2 hours at least once per month. In those two hours, I could get at least 6 looks and I maximized those looks. Those looks I can spread out over the entire month (maybe more). Remember: your Instagram should be a mixture of content and not all professional content. These 6 looks would be spread out in between cell phone pictures, quotes, throwbackthursday photos, older content, etc. You don’t need a new outfit everyday - ALL influencers reuse content. Don’t pay a photographer just to utilize the picture one time. Stay tuned for an eBook dropping within the next few weeks showing how to maximize your photo sessions with photographers and up your selfie game.
(2) All my content planning (Instagram caption creating and editing photos happened before/after work or on the weekends). I honestly had no time to write a caption when I’m at work. Preparation is key! On Saturday/Sunday, carve out time to do your blog and Instagram posts.
(3) Learn your peak times to post through Instagram insights and set up your posts in advance. I don’t just mean know what picture you’re going to post - I mean have everything (caption, hashtags, etc) done and all you have to do is post. There are times when I planned on posting at 10:30am, get to work and next thing you know it’s 2:30pm and I missed my window.
(4) Don’t post unless you have at least 30 minutes to engage with immediate comments. When people comment right away on a new post, you should engage with them.
(5) Nearly everyone at my day job know about my social media. I don’t hide it (it would be hard to when I’m public), but I’m a professional and about my business at work. If I have 30 minutes to myself and can get a post up during lunch, I do that. I cannot afford to be on social media all day. If I’m on my phone for more than a few minutes, it will just give the impression I’m not focused on work - so I limit my time as much as I can.
(6) I also post in the evening too (because that’s my peak time as well). I don’t only post in the evening, because of course the goal is to reach as many accounts as possible. So I rotate my posting times. I might post Monday morning, Tuesday midday + blog post, Wednesday morning and evening, Thursday midday, Friday morning + blog post, Saturday morning and evening, Sunday morning and evening. This way, I reach my morning, afternoon and evening audience a few times a week. Also keeping in mind, your content will still appear in your hashtag searches and Instagram rotates the timelines so on Wednesday you’re still getting likes and comments on your Monday post.
(7) Let’s touch on Instagram stories because they’re important too. I would set my alarm 30 minutes early and use that time to respond to DMs from the evening before and post to my IG stories. What I also found great was propping my phone up in the bathroom and recording my morning skincare/makeup routine. You do not have to share it the day you record it, you can wait until later to edit, add your words and post to your stories the following morning - this was something that my audience loved and it was super easy for me because I just propped the phone up against the mirror and hit record. I also post again (to my stories) while I’m in the car headed to work. I try to post a few posts while at work too, this could be sharing my outfit of the day in a mirror, what I’m eating for lunch, sharing posts from my audience, or a great quote. I’m usually in an airport so even sharing my walk around the airport is interesting! If you’re sharing to IG, find time to answer just a few DMs as well.
(8) A lot of influencers work a day job and influence part-time. For some reason, they don’t share as much. And it could be for the very same reason I mentioned earlier, a lot of brands want you to be fully committed to the campaign and my schedule could be a conflict. Either way, when you know you can produce great content and meet your deadlines - if they still choose not to work with you, it’s their loss.
OKAY… I hope I’ve done a good job of outlining how I made things happen then, let’s move on to how I make things happen now.
Since early April, I’ve been working from home. In the beginning, I had no schedule and zero structure. I would rollover at 840am, wash my face and then grab my laptop. By 11am, I’d realize I didn’t eat breakfast (once the hangry came out). I would either work from my bed or in front of the television - both not productive spaces. I had meetings left and right, my work cell phone rung like crazy and sometimes at 6:30pm I’d still be on the computer answering emails. I’d eat dinner, shower, watch some Netflix and go to bed. I shared on Instagram when I felt like it, but had nothing scheduled. Sometimes I’d grab my phone in the middle of the day and lose an hour just scrolling. I didn’t post anything because I had no new content. My photographers weren’t available, my hair wasn’t done and my apartment isn’t really Instagram ready so… I just did nothing… posting funny things here and there, recycling old content with no thought to my caption, and that was about it. My account suffered. My Instagram insights for the past month are horrible. I gained more followers over a good 7 days when I was working, than I did in the past 30 days. It may be just numbers to you, but as influencers, it’s important that we show up and while I’m sure my community understands, a peek at my insights motivated me to get myself together.
SO… fast forward to TODAY 06/04/2020. The last 90 days will forever stay with me. Like others, the death of George Floyd was a breaking point for me too. Between this and COVID 19, I’m like… what do you want from US. It was difficult to focus on work and drown out the noise (things that didn’t focus on the BLM movement). It’s important that YOU do what YOU feel comfortable doing and not allow anyone to pressure you to post something you don’t believe in. Working in corporate America, I have learned that politics and religion don’t belong at the job. At a company of over 20K employees, I am aware there are plenty of trump (intentionally lowercase) supporters. While I’m not, I cannot impose my views on others at work and I carry this same energy with me outside of work. I’ve accepted that we will never all agree. I have no problem distancing myself from those that differ from my viewpoints outside of work, and I have also learned to work alongside others with different viewpoints at work. However, this time it was a bit different. While I’ve never hid my opinion and passion for Black lives, I also didn’t parade it either. Yet at this time, most influencers with platforms were being called out for not posting or not posting enough. Honestly, posting is not the only way to show support, but people have a right to know your viewpoints so that they can determine whether or not to engage with you or do business with you from a customer standpoint. I had no problem sharing, what affected me more was the aggressive shaming and the racists comments against the BLM movement. But that was a week ago… So much has happened in the past 7+ days and yet I feel good today. I feel positive, I feel optimistic and I feel productive. Here’s what I’ve been doing over the past 7 days to bring me to this point.
(1) I’ve had to mute some accounts. I love the information that they provide, but in light of the recent killings, they have been in overdrive posting multiple times per day. Because I normally engage with these accounts, they are popping up at the top of my timeline every time I open the app. For that reason, I had to mute their posts. Instead, I check their page when I’m mentally prepared to see the graphic images that are currently being shared. If you wake up in the morning, check social media and the first picture that pops up is a video of someone being hit/restrained by the police - that will set the tone for your day. Muting these types of accounts have helped me tremendously. Nearly all of the accounts I follow are periodically posting content related to the current news, but some pages I follow are specifically dedicated to the BlackLivesMatter movement and seeing those images put me in a dark and angry space.
(2) I shower and change my clothes as if I’m going outside to work. This was also a game changer for me. I go to bed early enough, to get up, shower, put on a little makeup and even take a walk before 9am on most days. Getting some sort of fresh air during the day has helped me so much. I’ve walked to Starbucks or just walked around the block. I love my apartment, but being in the house all day and night, can make anyone restless. If I’m not able to get outside in the morning, I take the walk after 5pm.
(3) Also - open all of my blinds in the house. Even though I’m in the same place, it feels a little different when it’s all lit up. Similar to a turn up and turn down service. It’s important to set different moods for the day and evening in your home.
(4) Prioritize & manage my work from home schedule. This means; eat breakfast, take a lunch, block time on my calendar to catch up to emails, and put on a away message if I’m busy. I ignore personal calls from friends and family when I need to. Everyone at my company has skype as our office communicator and sometimes I can have 10+ conversations going at the same time. I’ve learned to periodically use do not disturb in order to finish open ended items, especially towards the end of our day. If they need to get in touch with me, they can email me.
(5) Similar to pre-COVID, I limit my time on social media during the day. Working from home doesn’t mean hang out and stay on social media all day. In order to be productive and keep my social media content engaging, I need to limit the amount of time I’m online.
(6) Regardless of what’s going on, I disconnect and get started on dinner at 5pm (either start cooking or decide who I’m going to order from). If I check emails later great, but I have to disconnect at 5pm like I typically do in the office.
OK - let’s get into the merging of influencing and work my 9-5 while still under quarantine.
After the laziness escaped my body, I realized it’s time to show up. It was a struggle, but I learned to find my light. That means, find the spot (or spots) in your house with good lighting. For me, it’s my bedroom window. I’ve taken quite a few pictures in front of my window (see below) and they did great, in terms of engagement. I also have a ring light, two cameras and a tripod. It was time to start making things happen at home. I started to look at accounts that created great content at home for inspiration (like @monroesteele and @karenbritchick).
