Is social media the right marketing engine for your business? In this episode of The Modern Editor Podcast, we’re wrapping up our series on social media, so make sure you catch up on the first two episodes where we dive into the pros and cons of social media and how to market your business without it. I’m sharing my favorite lessons and giving you a behind-the-scenes look into what’s happened with my business since I’ve been off social media for the past month.
Is social media the right marketing engine for your business? In this episode of The Modern Editor Podcast, we’re wrapping up our series on social media, so make sure you catch up on the first two episodes where we dive into the pros and cons of social media and how to market your business without it.
I’m sharing my favorite lessons and giving you a behind-the-scenes look into what’s happened with my business since I’ve been off social media for the past month.
Hello everyone. Welcome to today's episode. We are on the third and final episode in this social media series. We talked about deciding if social media was right for you to market your editing business, and then I had Amelia Hruby on the podcast and she talked about how she left social media back in 2021 and has not been on since. And she also just published a book and she shared receipts on how much her sales were at the time of the recording, which I thought was incredible.
So today I wanna wrap it all up. I want to reiterate that social media is totally a viable option for marketing, but there are also other strategies out there, and we have to do what's right for us and our businesses, right?
Because that's the beauty of being our own boss. We get to decide. So I'm gonna wrap up today. I'm going to share with you some lessons I've learned, and then I'm gonna share my own receipts inspired by Amelia that have happened over the past month that I've been off. So let's dig into it.
Welcome to The Modern Editor Podcast, where we talk about all things editing and what it's like to run an editorial business in today's world. I'm your host, Tara Whitaker. Let's get to it.
As a reminder, I mostly got off social media in early- to mid-September 2025. But here is what I did do. I had to go back and check because I don't remember what I did yesterday, let alone over the past, little over a month.
So I posted twice to social media about the three podcast episodes that have released in that timeframe. For me, posting on social media means LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Threads. I think that's it. I post the same thing, I just alter it for length, like, you know, Threads you can only do so many characters.
And then on Instagram Stories I posted 16 times, which was actually way more than I thought. Six of those instances were about the Freelance Editors club, what we were doing in October, and talking about the podcast episodes that launched. The other 10 were about Chicago and our current situation with ICE and other BS.
Facebook. I was on Facebook like I had mentioned because most of the community groups I'm in are in Facebook groups, but I did get sucked into the stinking feed a few times, full disclosure. While I was on Instagram posting my podcast stuff, I totally got rage-baited by Instagram to get onto Threads a few times, which I cannot figure out how to turn that off. If someone can help me, please let me know. I post on Threads. I don't get on Threads. I hate Threads. I can't delete it because it'll delete Instagram. So if anyone has a workaround, please let me know.
And I also watched a decent amount of YouTube Shorts. Now I know YouTube isn't really social media, but it was an interesting observation because I found because I wasn't watching Reels or TikToks, my brain was still to a point craving that short, snappy content, and so of course my brain worked around the social media thing and we're like, oh, let's do YouTube Shorts. So I definitely was doing that.
In that timeframe, I also sent three newsletters—so this is off social media—three newsletters. I also sent two extra emails to my email list because I spoke at the Escape the Plot Forest Summit on October 21, so that was a little extra boost.
That's all I've done in terms of marketing at all in the past, we're, it's about five weeks now. So lesson learned there, that is not sustainable at all. I need to do more. So whatever I decide to do moving forward, I know that I need to talk about my business more, whether that's on social media, whether that's more podcast episodes, whether it's different options I haven't tried yet, but that is not, not recommended to do only what I've done, at least for me and my business. That's not going to work.
So now let's get into the receipts again. I had to look these up. Some of them are actual numbers and then some of them are feelings, which, you know, we can't quantify or I'm not even gonna try to quantify. But in terms of social media, I paid no attention to Facebook and Threads, like if people friended me or whatever it's called.
On Instagram, I gained 26 followers, but lost 14 followers. So net 12 followers overall, and that's for the past 30 days, which isn't exactly lining up with when I got off social media. But Instagram doesn't let you choose the dates, so that's the closest I could get Instagram. I made 27 new LinkedIn connections with the podcast.
I launched three episodes in the time that I was off social media. They were very well received. I was very pleased. I was really worried that even though I was posting them on Instagram once, I didn't think that was gonna be enough, and I still don't quite know if it is moving forward. But the client red flags post was very popular, and the social media episode and the interview with Amelia Hruby were very popular.
Definitely more so than the episodes immediately prior to that. I don't pay for a ton of stats, so I can't like, go super in the weeds, but I was very pleasantly surprised and pleased with the number of downloads I got on the podcast in the past month-ish.
I had a speaking gig come up right before I left social media, and then I had another one come in in October from Editors Canada that was a referral, so that was a pleasant surprise and had nothing to do with social media, so that was exciting.
In terms of the Freelance Editors Club, I had three new members join and one member left, so that's normal. If you have a membership or anything that's a recurring revenue stream, there's always people joining and leaving. I sold $600-ish dollars worth of contract templates. I sold a coaching package that was a little over $200, and I sold about $400 worth of editing project trackers.
So I don't know where those sales came from, because they weren't on social media and I didn't talk about any of them anywhere. I can say for the Freelance Editors Club members, the three that joined, one came from a referral from another editor's website, and two found me on Google.
So another lesson I learned there was, I've been prioritizing SEO for the past couple of years and it's really paid off. I'm always surprised at how many people find me on Google. So I'm gonna keep doing that. I know, you know, with search engines and AI right now, like it's, everything is always in flux. But for me, the SEO seems to be working, so we're gonna keep working on that.
Okay. Now, the non-quantifiable things, how I have felt. First off, I have felt more current and up to date on the news than I did before, which is kind of weird to think about because before on social media, I was inundated with it constantly. Which, you know, that's who I was following, of course that's what I'm gonna see. And I was, you know, it was constant. It was a barrage of stupid things that are happening and it was a constant rage.
Now to be fair, I still have the constant rage, but I am deciding on my own when I am mentally good to go and seek out the news, I'm not getting hit with it when I'm not expecting it or when I'm trying to do something else. So that has been really good, and that is something that I'm going to continue to do. It's just working for me.
My brain has felt clearer and better able to focus across the board, which is also kind of weird to say, right? Because September and October, in my family, in my community, in my life, it's just been bananas. There's been so much going on, but I have felt better equipped to handle it, partly because I just have more time because I haven't been on social media.
I would've loved to have gotten off social media and in all of those hours just be able to sit on my butt, but that hasn't happened. I filled them up with other things, but other important things. And I've plugged into my community more than I ever have before. And you know, always find the helpers. It's been amazing to be a helper. And had I still been on social media, scrolling, doomscrolling, broadcasting, just doing the things that I wasn't feeling connected to, I wouldn't have been able to plug into the community like I have. So I've been very grateful for that.
And it's weird to say my mind just felt clear 'cause in some ways it definitely has. And in other ways I'm like, I can't use my brain at all. But going into that, I have had time for other things. Like I said, the community aspect of it. I've started doing some word searches again. Instead of reaching for my phone constantly, I have a word search book out that I just grab instead.
I'm like, okay, if I am sitting there and I'm just reaching for my phone, that means I'm looking for stimulation or dopamine or something. So instead of the phone, let's grab the word search and a book. I've kept a book out. I've been trying to read more physical books. Just trying to get rid of screens across the board. I read a lot on my phone, though, still. Ugh. Just because the phone is accessible. I have an iPad and I'm debating on getting a Kindle, which blah, I know, but I'm just trying to focus. Like if I'm reading, I don't wanna have access to Facebook and Instagram and YouTube and the internet and all of that other stuff
But I've had more brain space to do all those things. And I've actually watched TV, which, you know, I don't know if that's necessarily a great swap, but I haven't been able to watch TV 'cause I couldn't focus for that long. Or I would turn on the TV, I would spend 20 minutes trying to decide what to watch, give up, put it on something, and then sit on my phone while the TV was on.
That wasn't what I wanted, but I've watched whole movies and whole shows without looking at my phone, and it's been wonderful. So I'm just retraining my brain to be able to consume content that isn't 10 seconds long, which is what I was addicted to. So that's been really great.
I don't find myself subconsciously reaching for my phone as much. I still do for sure. That's where those word searches and books come in handy. This is a little embarrassing, but I already said it before, I'm not taking my phone to the bathroom. That's been a lovely change. Why I was doing that, I mean, it was an addiction, right? Like it was a hardcore addiction, but I'm not doing that anymore.
So all of those things, positive, loved it. Want more of it. On the flip side, there are definitely things that I have missed. I have missed the friendships and the connections that I have that are only on the apps right now. You know, mostly Instagram. There are a lot of people that I talk to on Instagram and only Instagram, and I haven't, which is a bummer and I miss it, and I have to figure out what that's gonna look like in the future, whether I get off social media or stay on it, just how that's gonna look.
I have missed the funny videos and the memes and the trends. You know, I mean, is my life less fulfilled because I haven't been up to date on the latest meme? No. But I enjoy them. I like them a lot. And I have missed those. And I have missed talking about my business and editing and books and all of that that I used to do on social media.
It's such a unique platform, right. I have the newsletter, I'm actually enjoying writing the newsletter, which is also bananas. And that's great. I'm enjoying doing my podcast episodes. Still like, lovely. But that ability to just hop on Instagram and do a Story or a Reel about something I caught in a book or, you know, something happened with a client or if I'm just really excited about something. I haven't found a way to share that yet that's meaningful and that's not on social media. Maybe there is no substitution. Maybe it is social media.
So I'm not sure how that's gonna look moving forward, but I do know that I need to make a plan. I love making plans and not having a plan is bugging me, but I'm also trying to embrace the unknown right now, because I really just don't know. There are days where I wanna get on Instagram and I wanna talk to everybody on Instagram and share something, and then there are other days where I'm like, I don't wanna touch Instagram with a 10-foot pole for no particular reason. Like, sometimes there's a reason, but other times I'm like, I just don't wanna be on there, and I can't allow my business to depend on those mood swings for me.
That's not good business. But I have some more data now. I feel better about making an informed decision. I have some numbers to back it up. I have some feelings, you know, that I can't quantify.
And so I think the biggest lesson I've learned is that I, for sure with the data, cannot solely rely on social media to market my business. Because it's so hot and cold for me, because I have such strong feelings both ways. I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket, and I really don't think any of us should. We all need to diversify our marketing strategies, whether it's social media, whether it's newsletters or podcasts, or postcards, or zines, or signs in a coffee shop. Whatever the case may be.
We have to be thinking about different ways of marketing our business, because again, we don't own social media, as beneficial and poopy as it can be. It can also go down in a second, or it can drastically change in a second, as we've seen, and we don't wanna be left scrambling.
We wanna have solid systems in place where we're like, oh, okay, social media is not an option anymore. Great. I'll pivot into doing more of XYZ, or trying this thing out, or whatever the case may be.
So I hope this series has helped you at least think about your relationship with social media. And like I said before, I'm not advocating one way or the other, like you do you. If you wanna be on social media, amazing. If you don't wanna be on social media, amazing. I think you can have a successful business either way. We just have to remember not to rely on one source, try different things, experiment. I'm gonna be doing the same 'cause like I said, I don't have a plan right now.
I'm going to share with you all what that is. If I find a certain tactic or a certain method works, I'm totally gonna share it with you. Or if I find a bunch of stuff that isn't working for me, I'm gonna share it with you too, because what might not work for me might work amazingly for you. It's just all trying and learning.
So until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and keep experimenting with what works for you and your business.
Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. If you enjoy The Modern Editor Podcast, I would be so grateful if you left a review over on Apple Podcasts or wherever you consume podcasts. And don't forget, you can head to TaraWhitaker.com to connect with me and stay in touch. We'll chat again soon.