Smash Actor Self-Doubt on Social Media with These 3 Tips
Whether they have under 1,000 social media followers or nearly 1 million followers, there is ONE thing that ALL of my clients have struggled with in 1-1 sessions.
Self-doubt.
I regularly hear things like this...
✖️"No one cares what I have to say or share about...won't they think that's weird?"
✖️"I'm scared I won't be able to do XYZ well enough to stand out"
✖️"There are SO many popular accounts on Instagram...there's no way I'll stand out from the crowd."
The truth is, that JUST LIKE in our acting careers, often the biggest obstacle in our way of success with social media and marketing is actually ourselves. I say this lovingly, but you might just need to get out of your own way. We have this one life to pursue our dreams. How many hours of that precious life have you been wasting doubting yourself? Worrying so much that you don’t even try? I don’t want that for you. I want you to be filling those hours with excitement, creativity, passion, and action that helps you get closer to your goals and dreams.
And don’t get me wrong, it’s hard to put our lives and talents on display in front of the world. The fear of criticism is strong. But if we want a life without other people’s opinions or criticism…then we would do nothing and be nothing. And your light and talents are WAY too amazing to be kept in the shadows.
⚡️It takes courage to put our creativity out there online.
⚡️It takes knowing and trusting ourselves to show up online authentically.
⚡️And it takes the professionalism of running our acting careers like a business to use social media with strategy to help us reach our goals.
By no means is it easy...but what part of this career is? We do the hard things because we believe in our dreams.
And that is why I am SO passionate about helping actors learn how to use social media the right way to support those dreams and goals in their careers. I’ve worked with actors who have landed meetings with agents and managers (and later signed with them!), been contacted by casting directors for auditions (that some later booked!), connected with filmmakers to collaborate on short films, and built genuine relationships with other actors to expand their community.
3 ways to overcome self-doubt on social media
Write opposite statements for your limiting beliefs
If you let those limiting beliefs run wild…they will. Write down the thoughts and beliefs you have about social media and your acting career that are holding you back. Then, next to them write the opposite of that belief and provide 1-3 reasons to support it. This can help retrain your brain to look for the good instead of the bad, and ground you with facts instead of rampant fears. Here’s an example:
Limiting Belief: No one cares what I have to say on social media
Opposite Statement: What I have to say is perfect for my audience on social media
Support Facts: Katy messaged me the other day saying how much she appreciated my recent post, Mark always mentions how insightful my opinions are, I take great care with crafting messages that have meaning.
Focus on what you can give
Sometimes we can spiral when we feel like our social media is all about us, comes across as bragging, or puts our faults too much on display. Anytime you feel those thoughts creeping in and threatening to paralyze you, refocus your efforts on what you can give to your audience. What value can you provide them? Encouragement, advice, a laugh? When we are serving others, we are thinking less about ourselves, which helps reduce that overthinking and nitpicking.
Identify personal issues versus social media issues
Sometimes we get our personal identity a little too wrapped up in social media. I challenge you to label the thoughts that pop up as either “personal” or “social media”. Personal thoughts are emotionally-driven, relevant to our personal growth both on and offline, and can not be solved by data and research. Social media thoughts are those that are actually able to be researched, identified, and analyzed. They are facts and figures, strategies and plans, and not inherently attached to who we are (it’s the business!). So when you have a thought like, “Am I stupid and less cool than so-and-so?”, you’d identify that as a “personal” thought and address it by stepping away from social media, maybe journaling about it, talking with a friend or therapist, and then coming back later. On the flip side, when you have a thought like, “I wonder which type of post performed best this month?”, you’d identify it as a “social media” post, pop over to your analytics and actually grab that data, then make adjustments to your plan moving forward.
At the end of the day, all actors absolutely have the right to choose to not use these types of opportunities for their careers, but if you choose that…I hope it’s not due to self-doubt.
If you're ready to use social media as a tool for your acting career, I’d love to support you! There are three tiers to choose from:
Join the A-List Monthly Membership Club to dip your toes in (only $25/month!)
Go all in with The Social Media Script online course
Get a customized social media strategy with 1-1 coaching with me!
