Are you sitting there wondering if you should take a break from social media this Christmas?

This got me thinking - how do we make this decision in a way that serves both us AND our business? Let's explore what you need to think about with the 3 things to consider before taking a social media break. 

Welcome aboard flight CQM222, I am your pilot, Mariah - you have your ticket to good content marketing in hand. 

While on this flight the flight attendants will be here to assist you to get off the content creation hamster wheel and onto a new way of marketing to help you live a more freedom based lifestyle. 

Each week you will be given a new stamp in your passport and by the end of the 90 days you will be on your way to explore the world of Content Marketing as a solo traveller.

This is week five - get ready, it is going to be a wild ride!

If you LOVED this part of your trip (the episode), make sure you share this on your Instagram stories and tag us @contentqueenmariah.

⁠⁠GET YOUR TICKET TO GOOD CONTENT MARKETING⁠⁠⁠

KEY EPISODE TAKEAWAYS 👇

✨The 3 things to review to help you decide if you take a break 

✨Why you could take a break 

✨Why you might not want to take a break 

SHOW RESOURCES 👇

• JOIN the campaign and get your passport - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sales.contentqueenmariah.com/90days⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• CHECK out Sally’s episode I mentioned - ⁠https://www.sallyprosser.com.au/thatvoicepodcast/221⁠

• Find out more about how to WORK WITH US -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ www.contentqueenmariah.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• Connect with us on INSTAGRAM -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.instagram.com/contentqueenmariah⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @contentqueenmariah⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

Other than that, enjoy - chat next week 💕

PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

This is your pilot speaking. My name is Mariah and welcome to this special series of the content queen podcast. You have boarded flight CQM 222 and you have in your hand your ticket to good content marketing. We hope you have a safe journey on this 90 day trip. Strap in and get ready to experience all the strategy and learning to help you enter 2025 with a direction on how to create content that is unique to you and your business.

While on board you will have complimentary access to all the learnings that will help you attract your new passengers to grow and expand your own trip. While on this flight the flight attendants will be here to assist you get off the content hamster wheel and on to a new way of marketing to help you live a more freedom based lifestyle.

Each week I'll be giving you a new stamp to your passport and by the end of the 19 days you'll be on your way to experience the world of content marketing as a solo traveler. Seatbelts on, we're ready to take off. Hello gang, welcome to Ep. 255? Should I take a break from social media? Hmm, interesting question as we head into December, and lots of people are thinking, Do I take time off?

What do I do? I'm not really sure.  I'm gonna open with a story, and this story is is from another podcast I listen to, which is a beautiful client of ours at Content Queen and just overall amazing human, Sally Prosser, public speaking and voice coach. I use her. So if you've noticed a change in the way I podcast, it's thanks to Sal.

But basically on her episode,  the last episode of her series, so she takes a break from her podcast, which I know I don't, I kind of only have two weeks off. Um,  I never really decided to go for the whole seasons thing, but I really liked what she said. around the key to sustainability is recognizing the rhythm of your own energy and not throwing yourself balls you know you'll drop.

I thought that was interesting and she goes on to talk about you know, doesn't matter if it's podcast, social media, whatever content, whatever in your business or life, it is being really clear on  what you want  and what you can manage and not comparing yourself to anyone else outside of you  because  You don't know what other people have.

You know, I'm lucky to have team support, all those things that help me get these things out there. And you don't know how long someone's  taken to get the experience they do. Creating content is my job. So I don't necessarily have a lot of time off it because I do find it quite easy to navigate. So  if you think that you don't deserve time off, that is definitely  Something that you need to address cause you definitely do.

And, um, yeah, sort of what Sally goes on to say is in her own experience of being in business for six years, she's really advocates for sustainable habits. And  you know,  she always says like, people ask me how I managed to do this, how I managed to do that, you know, all that she is really into managing her energy and knowing when she needs to rest and looking at her calendar and deciding, okay, okay.

Here's the time that I need to rest and take time off. And then she also added that if you don't often have breaks for things, when you're burnt out, then you'll stop enjoying it. You'll stop getting excited about  it and things will start to feel like a chore.  And she sort of said, you know, is it time for you to delegate things or to take a break?

So,  When I heard that episode, I was like, Oh, that's so powerful. The episode wasn't about that. The episode was about something else, but she wanted to share that she was having a break from the podcast. And that was kind of  what she shared in her own experience of why she takes a break. So in this episode, I want you to think about what's going to work best for you, not what everyone else is doing,  because when you ask yourself, where am I at and what do I need?

Then you'll know if you need time off social media content, content. over this Christmas period. So let's talk about it. I'm going to go into three different sort of areas that I guess are going to help you decide and not anyone is more valuable than the other. They all kind of work together. The first one is what is your business and what are your goals?

So are you product? Are you service? What does this time of year usually look like for you? You know, if you are a product based business, if you are running brick and mortar store, like What does that look like? What does your, you know, seasonality in your business look like? Maybe this time of year is the most important to be showing up.

But then also what of your business goals? What do you want five years from now, ten years from now? That will determine what you should do in the now. You know,  if you want to live a life where you have Christmas completely disconnected because you're going to have a team and you're going to have this and you're going to have that.

Well, why don't you decide to start doing that now and say, well, yeah, okay. There's certain things that I can't completely disconnect from, but something like social media or something like content,  maybe I can. So future me will be used to having that time off. So when I do grow and develop this bigger team, I'm used to disconnecting in some way, even if you can't fully disconnect.

So that could be something that will help you step into that future you, future CEO  is to go, well, future me would love to just disconnect for  the whole month, but now what can I do to start bringing in those habits? And I'm going to be doing a video on how to create those habits. Habits are massive. And if you start creating those habits now,  it's going to help you in the future.

So that could determine if you have time off. I'm a service based provider, so I, sort of go, I could say to clients, I'm going to have time off.  Um, and this is how we're going to do it. So I'm navigating with different clients and everyone to say, okay,  if we want to all have time off, if we want to still can post on some of your channels, because the second point is going to understand why some people still need to post during this time.

Um, what can we do? So we can batch things, we can schedule things out. There's things that we can do to ensure that everyone gets time off. If you are a product. It could be a really busy time of year, but you could also schedule and batch things so you can have space. So if you're saying to yourself, I need a break, what can you put in place now to help you like start?

You could have started two weeks ago, but start now just chipping away. Even if. you know, one day a week you spend an extra hour or two just getting future you content done so you can have some time off.  The second one is, when do my audience consume? Could they be making a really important purchasing choice over that Christmas period?

I don't mean maybe they're going to take that step now,  when a lot of, depending on your audience, and this is why it's very important to understand your audience, but when people have downtime, they go back over  emails they'd saved, they go back over and things. So that could work in your favor if you've consistently done content, but they also might be scrolling social media a lot more because they've got a little bit more downtime.

Maybe it's at night, maybe, and it doesn't mean that you have to sell to them. But if you are going to think about creating content over this Christmas period, even scheduling it, potentially think about what kind of frame of mind are they going to be in? and how can I nurture them to capture their attention when maybe they're not ready to make a purchasing decision because they're having time off, they've spent a lot of money on Christmas, but how can you build their trust now so when they are ready, which I find a lot of the times can be January for service based providers,  product I think is a little bit different because of that Christmas rush and people are sick of buying goods, um, but how can you still be there and be relevant so when they are scrolling and they do have downtime, Your face is appearing, but that might not mean ever you have to you might be going no Mariah.

That's fine  I don't need to be doing that over this period of time I'm purely gonna have a break, but I'm just thinking and what I've had conversations with a lot of my clients is okay But in downtime, is this when they're gonna have space to think about?  who you are, what you do and how you could help them with a certain problem.

So that's where a lot of us are going, okay, let's get smart. Let's get some content organized. So we do have stuff going up over that Christmas period. One of them being, um, in the wealth protection space and in January, they want to launch something new. So I said, don't go radio silence. We need to keep the momentum, especially because they had a very viral TikTok video this week reached, um,  Well, it's at 900, 000.

I think it's going to reach a million and it gained like 5, 000 followers or something. It's crazy.  So for them, We need to keep that momentum going. And especially cause business owners over the, the Christmas period, especially if they've seen themselves in a little bit of trouble financially, or they want to start protecting themselves and their business better.

That's when they have the space to think about it. I do a lot of planning and reviewing over that Christmas period. And I also do a lot of consuming cause I'm consuming what's out there, what's going on. And if something pops up on my page that makes sense to where I want to be next year, then I'm going to start.

potentially take some kind of action. It might not be a purchasing decision, but it might be that next step. So  that's why it could make sense for you to be showing up during that period of time. So  think about it that way. When am I audience consuming? Is this a good time for them? And then the third one is what is your mental capacity?

If you are just completely burnt out and you don't even have space to think about it, just don't worry. Just have some space.  It's totally okay.  But also think about how do I go with consistency and habits?  Because I did an interview with a guest. They will come on in the new year. But she talked about having a bit of a break from LinkedIn, which she said she needed.

But she did struggle to get back up on the horse and continue. So if you think, you know what? No, I really need a break and whatever happens happens. Great.  But if maybe you're like, Oh, well,  I do struggle with that kind of getting back into it, especially with social media. Cause it's something that I might avoid or it's something that I'm, I really need that momentum.

So then maybe you could just build in a little plan or again, batch some content to get it out there. So you've got that consistency, you're seeing that momentum. And then when you come back, you're kind of ready to go with it. It really does depend on how you do habits and how well you perform with consistency.

I have. Some time off over the Christmas period. So I'm not sitting here going well I'm gonna be on and Sally also said you can't compare yourself to others I am going to have some posts scheduled for Christmas, you know New Year,  but I am gonna take time off I might do some stories if I feel like it because we will well I'll probably post on my personal page and our TikTok of our travelers TikTok, because we will be traveling, we'll be in Southeast Asia, but I don't see myself posting on Content Queen at all.

I'm not going to do this podcast. I'm not going to do an email. I am going to have time off because I do think that reset is really healthy. And I have seen after the Christmas break, you know, with a refresh, um, a bit of a spike in engagement in January, a lot of the times, and I do put it down to having that break and then I can kind of build on that momentum and that.

obviously grows over the year. So, but because I do think that my habits and consistency and my processes and things allow me for that. So, I don't struggle to get back on and record the podcast because I kind of already know what the podcast episode is going to be about. I could potentially record the first episode before I have, um, go on break, but I kind of have things ready to go.

I've got systems so that come the day that I want to start creating content, the task is there. And that's taken me a long time to build and grow. So if maybe you think, Oh, I don't know, I'm worried that I won't continue, maybe scale it back or just think about how you could do that. Potentially help yourself with that sort of habits and consistency, but have a really genuine conversation with yourself about that.

And like Sally said, if you are really mentally drained, you don't have the capacity and you need a break, what could you delegate? You know, could there be things that you, over the Christmas period or in the future, be done so that you Don't feel so burnt out when you come to December  so that you can have time off because you want to, not because you feel like you really need it.

So maybe there's something next year that you might want to take off your to do list. I know delegating sounds scary, but once you do it, it's this magical thing where your business income just allows space for that person and you, of course, work towards that. So  if you are thinking about having a break and you're just not sure.

One, think about your business and your goals and how having a break can really help you towards your business goals and how you can service your clients better in the future or how you can sell your products or create new products better.  Number two, when do my audience consume?  Do I need to be there for them?

If yes, how can I do that in a way that works well for me? And three, what is my mental capacity? What is that like right now? And what is that going to look like when I finish my break? Am I going to struggle to come back? What is that going to look like? Just set yourself up for success. Think about it now.

If you think you might struggle to come back, have those processes in place to support you.  So, as I mentioned, what I'm doing is, yes, I'm going to have time off.  I've done this  every year basically since I started my business in terms of client work. Um, it does depend. And last year I didn't really have that much time off, but I've had  previous years where I have, cause we were in Columbia and we'd kind of had, you know, it, It felt like we were away and having space anyway.

But in the past, what I had done is yeah, just got everything scheduled for my clients. We worked as a team. It was very collaborative and we made sure everything was out. I have clients that were going to do that. Some that are going to have time off completely and some I might have to do, you know, Some scheduling here and there, but just depends, but we're really going to set ourselves up to have some time off because, you know, as Sally said, having that break, it allows you for that refresh.

And I think a lot of creativity comes. And when you give things space, I feel like that's where the magic happens. So don't be hard on yourself. If you're going to have a break, just do what's best for you. And this  is what the around the world in 90 days campaign is all about is finding that energy and that freedom within you and your business and how content marketing can support that.

Because content, yes, it is a 24 seven thing,  but we're seeing these channels go a little bit more evergreen. We're seeing things. you know, spike,  you know, after the time that they've been posted, things like that, we can repurpose content, you know, literally just on a side note of the repurposing the client's video that went viral this week had already gone viral a couple months ago, but it's now gone way more viral.

And I literally like repurposed  the video, but just snipped it a little bit and didn't use the whole thing. So.  repurposing is going to be your best friend as well if you ever need time off because you can just put stuff out and that client is also we've just seen navigating what types of videos we're going to do and everything so i've just been like taking clips that performed well and repurposing it and that's the power of having like a bank of stuff that you've done and having that online presence you can go back and reuse it so even though these channels are this 24 7 you can find freedom within them if you use the right energy and if you You know, be smart about it.

And that's what I'm here to teach you as a content marketer with a lot of experience, a lot of different clients that I've worked with. I want to help you do the same thing because we are really seeing those results and we're seeing these businesses grow, obviously for other reasons than just content marketing, but having that sort of stuff sorted allows for space for more growth in your business.

That's my little side tangent. We have one more episode before. The break, which is next week. I'm very excited for that. Be a content queen or King, and remember that developing your strategy and story develops your business. Thank you so much for joining me today on this flight, stamp your passport, and please don't forget to share this with all your business and entrepreneurial friends can do is by adding it to your Instagram stories and tag us at content queen Mariah, or just tell them about it.

Just, you know, the old traditional  text it tool. If you do rate and review on whatever platform you're listening to this on, it helps me get amazing guests on  because they see my podcast in the charts and they pitch me and I've got quite a few good pitches. So there'll be some great guests in 2025. So if you loved the guests that we had this year, please leave a rate and review because I will be getting more on in the future when they see me in the charts.

Follow me on Instagram or TikTok and let me know if there's any topics in the future for 2025 you would love to hear. I'd love to cover them for you. But I will this,  but I will speak to you next week for our last episode of 2024. Bye!