Ep 114: Get support showing up online to connect with readers

Does the tech side of showing up online freak you out? There’s a way you can get support. This week’s episode digs into what that can look like for you. I hope you’ll listen because there are some exciting offers coming available to you! 

Learn about how working in Canva can be simplified or maybe you're interested in having templates done for you? Learn about the apps recommended for scheduling your posts. 

 Welcome to the Inspired Writer Collective podcast. If you've ever felt the pull to write your truth, to shape the chaos of real life into something meaningful and to share your journey with the world, you're in the right place. We're your hosts, Elizabeth and Stephanie, writers, coaches, and entrepreneurs who believe in you and know how important it is to find a writing community to guide you on your path to self-publishing.

You’re invited to connect with us by joining our Embodied Writing Experience where you’ll get a writer’s retreat directly to your inbox on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays each week. Whether you’re working on a memoir, a novel, or journaling for yourself, this is an invitation to slow down, tune in, and write with embodied intention.   

Join our Embodied Writing Experience where you’ll get a writer’s retreat directly to your inbox on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays each week. This is an invitation to slow down, tune in, and write with embodied intention.   

Work 1:1 with Memoir Coach Elizabeth Wilson. Book a session here.

Feel Good Marketing with Stephanie. Book a session here.

If you prefer to watch our conversations, you can find all of them on our YouTube channel.

You can find us on Instagram and Threads

Transcript

Stephanie 1:14

welcome to the Inspired Writer Collective podcast. I am one of your co-hosts, Stephanie, and I'm here with Elizabeth. And we're continuing, the conversation related to marketing, but also calling it the unbound story system. This natural flow between what you're already creating and what you're putting out there. And today we're gonna dig into one of the areas that. We know is of great resistance for a lot of you listening, and that is figuring out the tech and having to figure out, well, I have these creative ideas and I know I wanna put it out there, but the piece that's stopping you now is that the thought of. Opening your phone in any way or opening your computer is like, ah, what do I do with this? So my hope is today that with our conversation you'll feel better about one, having this resistance. It's totally normal, but that you also start to get the idea that. You can do this or you can find somebody to do it for you.

Elizabeth 2:29

Yeah, writers, I think Stephanie and I are the right. Duo to have this conversation because we represent the opposite ends of the spectrum on this. Stephanie is, uh, so tech savvy. So anything you see from us for the podcast or business that's like heavy in the tech side, that's, that's Stephanie's doing. That's her vision. That's. can like build a template so fast and like create these images that we needed for different things. And I experienced a significant amount of resistance because for me, thinking about having to learn how to use a new program, even one that's meant to be intuitive, like Canva or some kind of like social media, media scheduling app. I just, I get so resistant because I'm like, no, that's inefficient. It would be faster for me to just hit record when I feel like it and immediately post it and just be done. But I absolutely under understand the value of having like. A go-to template for a post or for carousel or for, you know, some other form other than just a quick, you know, video reel or something. Um, but I represent the side of the aisle where it's like, oh, I'm so resistant to, to using this tech. Even if you tell me in the long run that like, it's gonna make my life easier. So Stephanie is here to enlighten all of us, including me.

Stephanie 3:47

Well, and I'm hoping that I accomplish that today. And, if I miss pieces, they'll definitely become part of my program that I'm going to be opening the doors to at the end of May to help you with this. With your identity, your writer identity about, well, I love showing up to the blank page and writing my story, but how do I show up online and my vision is to create this mindset around a more seamless connection between the two. And that really it relates so much to what I write about in a weekly email around the embodied writing experience and to start with what feels right in your body. Because if you're continually facing resistance, which I certainly face resistance with showing up online, like I can do all the tech pieces, but then I'm like, okay. I'm not even putting it out there, you know, I mean I have hundreds of templates designed that I can so easily plug and play, but I'm the one who's wanting to perfect the way it shows up. So that's the piece that I'm representing here Elizabeth is like, I'm just gonna hit record and I'm out there and she's done an incredible job with that. And I can create all these templates, but they're not going anywhere. And so it's, we're both laughing'cause it's kind of funny. It's these different pieces, but we know writer who's listening that you can relate to this and the piece for me that has started to break this down is changing my mindset around what it means to quote market myself. You know, marketing, you know, it feels like so much like, I don't know, the bro culture piece where you feel like this heavy weight has just landed on your shoulders,

Elizabeth 5:27

Yeah.

Stephanie 5:27

And that's not what. We feel you should be experiencing. It should feel light and it should feel good, and you should want to share your story and so when you think about the tech, um, I'll start with thinking about Canva. So, you know, getting into Canva at first can feel really overwhelming. And one of the things that I hope through my program is to give you tools and videos that simplify it, that make it so when you go in, these are the only places you need to go. Because when I am creating things. I'm doing things very much on repeat, and I only use a couple of features in Canva itself. There are so many features and there are so many things it's capable of doing, but I keep it simple. I go to one spot, I'll go to their templates. I search keywords, it pulls up a bunch of different designs. I pick one and then I change and tweak it with the colors that I like and. Use it in that way. And that's one of those simple steps that as a writer, you have a brand, an idea around how you want to show up. You have colors that you like. So thinking about, well, what are. Four colors that I like, that I could choose from. And I think within branding things, oftentimes there are five colors that kind of relate in some way, you know, ranging between warm and cool and when you narrow down to specific pieces. There's less cognitive load at that point, then you're not going, oh my gosh, now I have to decide what color. It's like, no. In Canva you can set the colors and they're there for you, for your brand. So that's one way to make that piece easy for when you're designing something and then

Elizabeth 7:27

Oh,

Stephanie 7:28

you.

Elizabeth 7:28

know that. I'm like trying to like find my color every time and not knowing that like I can save it somewhere, like in my user profile or whatever to. More quickly, you know, it consistent or whatever, across templates.

Stephanie 7:42

Yes, there is a way to do that. And then there's also every color has a code. So if you aren't able to save it for some reason, then you can have the code on a post-it note and you can easily type that in to find the exact same color too. So there are multiple ways,

Elizabeth 7:58

Hmm.

Stephanie 7:58

But these, this is just an idea of some of the things that I'll be showing you that. Eliminate the overwhelm when you go in and you see this giant selection point and where do I even go? And so having someone guide you through it can be so helpful. Or maybe you're somebody who's like. I'm not gonna do any of that and I'm just gonna hire someone. And that's great if, if you wanna make that investment for yourself, I'm not gonna stop you from doing that. I'm not gonna say that's a bad thing. You know, have someone create some templates for you and go, and that's one of the pieces I'm gonna be offering as an add-on to my program is like, Hey, if. Creating the templates so you can post something in a carousel on Instagram or posting something on threads, if that's gonna be a barrier for you, I'll create those for you and then you'll have them and you'll be able to go into Canva and it's a simple plug and play. You make a copy of what you already have, put in the new stuff, download it, boom. And yeah, there are multiple steps and it can feel overwhelming, but my hope is that as you start to find a flow with it, because. There are fewer steps that you're having to take that that breaks down that resistance for you

Elizabeth 9:16

speaking my language. Like with templates. If I had a template for say, you know, reviews and feedback that I get about the book. Uh, one for like behind the scenes of like my writing process. One for like the book where it's at, quotes from the book, things, you know, directly related to the specific book. And then, I don't know, like, uh, what I'm currently being inspired by. If I had like those four templates, I feel like. That I'd be way less resistant and I could just like, run with it, right? Because even just seeing those templates makes me think, oh, what have I been inspired by this week? Oh, a recent documentary I watched and I could, you know, put that on a thing or, or, oh, I need, oh, here's my review template, what someone told me about my book recently. And, you know, throw that in. Like, I, I have all that content. It's just a matter of like having a place to put it where I don't have to feel like. I have to sit and design something before I can put the creative piece on it. Like I, I like to already have, you know, that, that form. Um, yeah. And that's just, that's just the kind of creative I am. And I love that you excel in the opposite it, what's, it's what makes our business and podcast work. But, it is definitely where I find resistance in my individual promotion of my book and my writing.

Stephanie 10:33

Well, and I would imagine that you're not alone. I mean, I would imagine a lot of you listening right now are feeling the same way as Elizabeth, this feeling of like, oh my gosh, this is so overwhelming. It feels so cumbersome. But this idea of having a simplified pathway to, like you said, you know, if you're inspired by something, oh, I already have a template for that. I go into my Canva, I find that template. I put the new words up there and boom, it's done and it's ready to go out. And so that creates less of that feeling of oh my gosh, I have to come up with a whole new template idea just to fit this one piece of information. And you don't, if you spend time exploring on Instagram, you would notice that the people who are creating a lot. They repeat a lot because the reality is the lifespan of anything on those platforms, TikTok, Instagram, anything, it's not very long. People are not going back into your Instagram and searching you unless that's their personality that they really go into the deep dive. But let's be real, most people don't have time for that.

Elizabeth 11:37

Mm-hmm.

Stephanie 11:38

And they're probably not even noticing that it's the exact same template you used yesterday or an hour ago or five hours ago. It's like nobody's gonna remember what you wore yesterday and maybe you don't even remember that either, but like people are not paying attention to that level of detail.

Elizabeth 11:54

Am as an autistic person with pattern recognition, but it actually brings me so much peace to see like, I mean, I can, I can tell you some specific accounts right now like that I know like their thing is always gonna look like this, and so as soon as I see that template, I know it's them without ever having to look at like. The, the username, right, because I'm, and, and it brings me comfort because I know I like their content and I'm excited to see what they're saying. Now. I actually love that they just use like a, a finite set of templates. And the ones that I'm actually recalling the moment use specifically just one template for their content. Um, but then I know of a couple more, especially like book reviewers and stuff that have a couple of different styles to their reels where they're doing like a book review or a. Um, letters from writers and things like that, like they have a couple of formulas. And for me, someone who like, loves that consistency and, and feels really safe when it's predictable and everything, like I actually love. When people use templates. And so I'm not distracted by all the newness and crazy going on, and I just know what their formula is. Like you see, I follow a lot of like tarot readers and, you know, so I'll see them and they'll, they'll have some numbers, some key numbers, angel numbers on this side, and they'll have some themes on this side and they'll have the little disclaimer down here about they're not gonna DM you and stuff. And I, I love it because my eyes like, get to relax because it's the same template

Stephanie 13:25

Hmm.

Elizabeth 13:26

focus on what they're saying. So I. I, I think this is very still in line with what you're saying, even though I'm saying like the opposite side of the coin, that sure, most people may not notice that you're using the same template, but if they do notice, it's because they appreciate the fact that there is consistency and reliability there, and it feels safe and it feels less distracting because you already know what to expect.

Stephanie 13:48

Well, and I love that you bring that up because I think that's a really great to share because I do agree with you because I have some of that too, where I know the creators that I'm following and you almost absorb the information better because you're already comforted by the way they're showing up. And so that's such a great framework for. It's okay to repeat the same thing over and over and over again. Because what's changing is the information you're sharing and the ideas that you're sharing. And that's what people are engaging with. They're not necessarily engaging with everything else. They're engaging with what you're sharing. And when it does become predictable then people are like, oh, this person showed up today. Yay. And I think that's really, great to think about too, about another value for why it's okay to

Elizabeth 14:38

Mm-hmm.

Stephanie 14:39

do the same thing and just change one little piece.

Elizabeth 14:43

Yeah. So an analogy I'm just, that's coming to me is like, imagine you're reading someone's book and like. Part of the way through, they change their font and then part of the way through, they change their like margins. And then part of the way through, they change how they're formatting their chapters. Like it would be so visually distracting that you would lose grasp of where

Stephanie 15:03

Mm-hmm.

Elizabeth 15:03

story. And I think that's what, at least for me and the way my brain works, that's what templates do for me, is when I engage with someone's template, I can ignore so much of just what's, you know, formulaic and focus on the actual content story that they're trying to get across. Because I'm not being distracted by. You know, just the basic format of it.

Stephanie 15:26

Well, and I think it also speaks to my work with writers about putting themselves out into the world is not trying to fit everybody into a formula or a box. I'm giving suggestions for simplifying that, that you don't have to be doing the trends that are out there. You don't have to be using all the. Hooks that people are using, or the POV that everybody's using. You don't have to jump on all of these different trends in order to be known that you can create your own identity and show up how you want. And I think that, should hopefully make you feel more comforted because if you spend too much time online searching about marketing your book, there's so many people who are like, oh, well you have to fit into the current trends and really it comes down to everybody has their own path and the ones who are actually doing things unique and different and in their own way. Actually make more of an impact I feel like if you get lost in the trendy, you're just another person who's doing the same music, who's doing the same thing, and you're not connecting with your audience. You're just trying to be part of the crowd. And as you know, your voice is just gonna get lost in that crowd and, and that's why again creating simplified pieces around the tech and the other piece too, like Elizabeth said, you know, if you're not comfortable showing up like Elizabeth has with pushing record and recording right in the moment, there are other ways that you can create video that allow for it to be a creative process with. Software you can learn about that's really simple, where it transcribes it for you and you can edit it just like you're editing your book. And so there are different ways, and while it might feel like a lot and it might feel overwhelming as you're listening, really, when i'm able to sit down with you and show you the simplified steps to getting there, it will take so much weight off your shoulders because like I said, even when I'm doing our podcast editing. I keep it so simple. I am not using every AI feature that they're trying to market I use one piece studio sound just'cause it helps fix the sound all around for everything. I don't use the, however many there are now. I don't even know there's so many, you know, which of course raises the cost, but like we keep costs down around here. So. We're not using all those features and you don't have to either in order to make it the way you want it to be. So again, like my piece is, allowing for continuing that creative flow because I wanna keep it simple and so that's one of my goals for helping you.

Elizabeth 18:27

So through this conversation, I realized there is a fifth template I need because I have created a chapter list and assigned a song for each chapter that captures either the themes or the emotionality of that particular chapter. And I have 41 chapters and 41 songs. So I have so much content that I could be sharing about, like. What's in this chapter? What theme is this? You know, what's the title of the chapter as kind of a teaser? So I also need a template of, you know, the song and the chapter and the themes or, or how it relates. And that's one of those pieces that's like, not everyone's doing that for their books. You know, there are, and it's not the most unique thing. There are other people that have done something similar before putting songs with their stories. But it's definitely like a not as common approach. And so this, this conversation is helping me realize like, okay, I need a fifth template because that's also my like special sauce for how I am. Planning to market my memoir. It's one of those things that I plan to offer in the presale. So before the book's ready to, to be in your hands, you know, I want to be able to give people something and so I'm going to give them the chapter title list and then those that list that playlist, the Spotify playlist that goes with those chapter titles so that if they're interested, they can also. Kind of ride that emotional landscape of the book as they listen through the songs. And yeah, I just think that would be a, a fun thing and, and show a little bit of personality, show some of the eclectic music that I, I have, that I, that I obsessed over as I was living certain parts of the book or as if I heard them later on. Then it made me think of a particular moment in my life that's in the book. Um, so yeah, I'm gonna need a fifth template.

Stephanie 20:21

Well, and the one thing that just came to mind for me too is one of the other great things about having a template is if you are someone who decides that you wanna have someone help you, even if it's a family member, your teenage kid who's maybe more savvy at all of this, if you have templates. You don't have to worry about what they're gonna put out there because it's already designed for them and they're just having to add your words or whatever it is that, that you're writing. And so that's the other piece too, is, you know, thinking about keeping it simple. Even, even if you want to get a website designed. Keeping it simple. And if you have the means to hire out for that, that's definitely a piece that is recommended.'cause that can be a huge overwhelm part of your overall strategy for building your platform. Um, and, but it's also a piece where, you know, I use Squarespace. I designed our website. It's gotten so much more plug and play. Uh, but it does create a little bit more overwhelm, I think for, for writers when you wanna just be writing

Elizabeth 21:36

Mm-hmm. Because it's like I designed it one time and then it's kind of done, or I can change my mind about it and know that I now have the skills to like. Reconfigure it. Something about having to like, make a new Canva post every time I wanna post something in that repetition, you know, without a template, like just is what overwhelms me. Um, but I wonder too, if you could talk about some of the, like, scheduling apps too for, for social media after, as you wrap up this part, finish

Stephanie 22:04

Yes.

Elizabeth 22:05

say, but I'd love to talk about that too.

Stephanie 22:07

Yeah. We'll definitely get to that point. And I think just along with the website piece is just like Elizabeth said, the nice thing about the website is once you create it it can just live there and it can be a great home base and again, once you learn it. It's pretty easy when you keep it simple to go back in and make changes. Um, but yeah, the scheduling piece is another piece that I haven't fully mastered myself, but it is a goal of mine as I start to put myself back out there is that there are different apps of varying levels of tech savviness. Um, I think one of the best ones out there right now is one called later, which allows you to, schedule your posts ahead of time and of course if you want the full functionality of these, there is a fee of course for that, and it's definitely worth it to pay and invest in that if the idea of having to like show up every day, for example, is a lot, because what you can do is you can batch everything and pick a day of the week and say okay, this is the day I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna take pieces that I've already created that are coming right from the work that you're doing. And you have your templates. And so you just put it in, you can schedule it and it'll go out and so then that's another piece to take off your daily plate, per se or even three to. Four times a week, depending upon how often you wanna post, is just like if you pick one day, get it all done, and then you're done, and you can even do it for an entire month.

Elizabeth 23:46

Right. I remember Issa talking in our, um, memoir Summit for our session five on marketing. She talked about how she does all of, she sets aside a day at the beginning of the month. To set up all of her marketing for the month across all of her social media platforms for both her Indy Press and herself and everything. And she used, she uses metric. Cool. Um, and it is free up to a certain number of social media accounts and it does have analytics. So if you're looking for a free one to just start out, that might be a good place to start. Um. and you do have to pay if you have more than like, I don't know what the threshold is, three social media accounts or something like that, but there is a certain number that that for an author is probably sufficient, um, that is still considered free. And so I know the way she works is she schedules a, you know, a day or two to make all the content, to schedule it all. And, and then that's done for the entire month because then she uses that scheduling app for posting.

Stephanie 24:46

Well, and I'm glad you brought that one up. I had forgotten about that one.'cause that's also an interesting one. I remember after the summit, I went in and I was like, what's this about? And that one looks really great too, in terms of being really user-friendly and, you know, having great functionality. And that brings up for me too, this whole idea of how. It allows for that seamless connection between what you're creating and what you're putting out there, because you can. Have all of that content. It doesn't have to be right in the moment that everything is happening because you've been writing for however long, or you have stories that are already behind you and pieces about your creative life that you can share that don't have to be right in the moment. I think sometimes you feel as a writer, like, oh, I have to share right in the moment, or I have to share what's happening right now. You really don't, you can be sharing from work you've already done and have it trickling out so that it doesn't take away from your ability to show up for whatever current writing project you're working on because you know you've taken one block of time and when you're shown how to use the pieces, it can make it so much easier. Because I know, like even in our work together, when I've shown Elizabeth how to do something and then it's like, oh, and I mean like even using Squarespace and doing her website, I showed her the basics and then off she went and boom, it was done. Like, you know, so I think like.

Elizabeth 26:11

support.

Stephanie 26:12

Right, exactly. Like we all do with, and I think the hard part is you feel like you can go online and you can ask AI or you can Google it or what, however you're finding your information, but it's really different when you have someone sitting next to you who can say, okay, you can ignore those 500 roots and rabbit holes. You can go down on this particular app and all you need to do are like these three steps. And that's my goal in working with you in the unbound story system and helping you break down those barriers and break down those walls to discovering the tech and how it can work for you. I.

Elizabeth 26:51

How is the program gonna look as far as like, is it group programming, is it one-on-one? Is it, you know, you get a lesson to do, apply on your own and then have optional meetings or what is, what are you, how are you formatting the, the program?

Stephanie 27:06

It's gonna be a small group program because I think there's a lot that can be so beneficial when you're in a group, because there'll be weekly meetings where it'll be an opportunity for coaching where you can bring your questions, get coached in the moment, get feedback right. In the moment. And so that can be really helpful because sometimes a question you have, you don't even know you have it until you hear somebody else ask it. You're like. Oh, right. I was struggling with that and so that's why I love a small group. Um, and so, you know, having that opportunity for that interaction and also just seeing that other writers are in a similar space as you can be really encouraging and a good reminder that everybody's starting somewhere and everybody is gonna be in different places, but it doesn't mean you can't learn. I think one of the key points that I always try to remember is that having a beginner mindset about anything is always a good thing to have. Even regardless of how long you've been writing there are always things that you can take away and learn from interactions with others and new experiences. So there's gonna be weekly coaching call. There's going to be access to videos that I'm gonna make about the different tech components, to help you have resources for that. And if it hasn't been made yet, I'll make it for you so that it becomes part of the curriculum for the course. Some of this is building as I'm going and when you're in the first cohort coming up you had the opportunity to help shape it and be a part of that process, which can be really fun and super beneficial to you because you'll get it at a lower cost right now because it's gonna start at a lower price point, which I haven't landed on yet, but as time goes on, that price point goes up. So there's a huge advantage to getting in early. And then there's also going to be the opportunity where you can submit pieces for feedback for me to review and look at what you've put together if you're the type of person who wants to have that, extra reassurance before you put your templates or your ideas out there. Um, some people really like to have that and so I'll have opportunities for you to submit, you know, a total of four in a month's time. So that's, essentially one a week for me to review and look at and so there's gonna be lots of opportunities for you to get support as you jump into. Showing up online. And again, it's not structured that like, oh, you have to do it my way, or you have to do it in this particular way. My role is as your guide in this process and to really give you the encouragement and the mindset I've shifted my mindset if you listen to the previous episode where I talk about how I came up with the Unbound story system and it like completely has shifted my mindset to where this week is gonna look very different for me. So I'm super excited about it. If you're interested reach out. You can now send us text messages in the podcasting app. We're super excited and we can respond to you even more exciting. That wasn't a feature before. So, you know, we love to hear from you and happy writing.