80. How to Quit Social Media as a Coach + Make MORE Money (Your 3-Step Escape Plan)

[00:00:02] Welcome to the Blaze Podcast, where we’re all about tearing down barriers and building up community. My name is Meg, and I’m a former pre-med student turned online business owner. I started this show because entrepreneurship can be lonely as hell sometimes. And I want to remind you that no matter where you are on your journey, You are not in this alone. Our community is here to light the way, cheer you on and pour gasoline on your fire. Most importantly, we’re here to help you find your unique way of doing business because no advice is one size fits all. And the best strategy is the one that feels good to you. So whether you’re just getting started or you are already blazing your own trail, you’re in the right place, friend. Let’s get started. Welcome back to the show.

[00:00:48] Let’s start with the biggest myth, this lie that we have all been sold, that if you want to grow a business in this day and age, you have to be on social media. You have to have some sort of social media presence. That, my friends, is a lie. There are so many examples of successful online entrepreneurs who aren’t on Instagram or TikTok or Threads or whatever the hot new social platform is. I have personally found that the less time I spend on social media, the more revenue my business makes. The year I deleted Instagram became my first six-figure year, and not only was I working less, but I was also enjoying myself a hell of a lot more. So today I’m going to share how you can do the same in your business.

[00:01:35] I’m assuming if you clicked on this episode, then you want to cut back on social, or maybe you just want to rely less on it in your business. Maybe you found Instagram isn’t as effective for booking clients as it used to be. Or maybe you’re just curious. Like you were scrolling past and you saw this title and you’re like, running an online business without any social media. What would that even look like? Well, I’ll tell you what it looks like. It is peaceful as hell. It is freeing. You have so much more brain space and creativity. Your mental health improves. You have more free time. There’s less comparison and self-doubt and imposter syndrome. And I personally, I love seeing people’s faces, like the look on their face when I tell them this, that I’m not on social media.

[00:02:22] And it is one of the most requested topics and questions I get asked. I was chatting about it with a client recently. And before we started working together, she was primarily marketing her services through social media. But she said something that really stuck with me. She said, I realized I was just posting on social media because that’s what I had been sold. I didn’t know there was any other way. And I thought that was really interesting that she used that word sold rather than told, for instance. And it really is an accurate way to describe it, especially when you are on social media and you’re surrounded by this noise and this message that you have to be there. And of course, the people posting on social media are going to give you that message because they’re on there and they don’t see an alternative or they wouldn’t be there most likely.

[00:03:11] Or they’re selling you something, you know, how to do your social media marketing in the right way, quote unquote, to grow your business. But this client of mine, you know, we started working together and within just a few weeks, She could suddenly see all these other possibilities of ways she might connect with potential clients that were less time intensive, less draining, more fun. And for the first time… She was actually excited to market her services. So that is what I want for you today listening. And that’s exactly what we’re going to cover. And by the end of this episode, you will have a clear plan for how to replace social media with a strategy that you actually enjoy. Whether you want to cut back or jump ship entirely, either way, I have got you covered. You get to choose.

[00:03:58] There’s a choose-your-own-adventure. If you’re just curious, that’s totally fine. This is just an opportunity for you to explore some alternative marketing and sales strategies. Or you might already know, like, I am ready to just go off the grid and fail entirely. So you can tailor this to you. Before we dive in, I want to make sure you know about the free masterclass I’m hosting later this month on this exact topic. We’re going to take it even deeper and even further than here on the podcast. And so we’re going over exactly how to make 2026 your first six-figure year with zero social media. So if you’re tired of churning out content and not seeing results, you’re tired of feeling like you’re shouting into the void or being subject to the whims of Instagram and you want off of the hamster wheel, this training is for you.

[00:04:45] Together, we’ll map out a personalized sales system that protects your time and energy. And we’re also just going to have a lot of fun. It’s a really fun training. And we’re going to talk about how to make marketing and sales fun for you as well. I promise you it’s possible. So you can save your seat for that at megansmyth.com slash masterclass. That’s M-E-G-A-N-S-M-Y-T-H dot com slash masterclass. Or you can grab the link in the show notes as well. I am so excited to see you there. Now, without further ado, let’s get into today’s episode. This topic, how to ditch or limit social media, is actually inspired by a date that I was on recently. Yes, I am dating.

[00:05:26] I know. It’s very exciting. Let’s see. That’s really a whole other podcast. But we were talking, my date night, about how back in the day… people used to ask for phone numbers, right? Like a guy would come up to you at a bar or a party or whatever and ask for your phone number versus now, there seems to be this shift that’s happened that they ask for your Instagram page. handle? Like the first time this happened to me, I’ll never forget. I can see it so clearly in my mind. I was on this day trip outside of Mexico City and we were in these beautiful hot springs up in the mountains. This guy, I think he was from New York or somewhere in the States. And he was kind of like chatting me up all day. And it was really quite funny because I was actually with my mom.

[00:06:08] Like she was on the same day trip and I could tell that he was like waiting until my mom was not dude. I’m just trying to enjoy this time with my mother. But anyway, he was perfectly friendly and polite about it. So it was fine. Anyway, he’s talking to me. And at the end of the day, he’s like, you know, I’d really love to see you again. Can we get dinner while you’re in the city? Blah, blah, blah. And he asked me for my Instagram. And I was so taken aback by this. I was like, are we 13? Like, it just seemed so strange to me. And I was like, oh, I’m not really on Instagram. And so that was the end of that. I just kind of politely duck out of that, even though if you are following me, you know, that’s not entirely true. I don’t have a personal Instagram account, so I didn’t lie to this man.

[00:06:53] I just politely did not give him the whole truth, which is that I have a business Instagram account. I’m just not very active on there. And so flash forward, this was like a year or two ago at this point. And flash forward to now, I was on a date with someone else and we were talking about social media and this like conversation of how that’s what people ask you for now. And so when I said I’m not really active on social media, the guy was like, well, what’s that like? And it had been a while since I’d really thought about it. And so I did. I had a moment to think and I was like, it’s peaceful. Yeah. It is so peaceful. That’s the best way to describe it is that I get to be fully in my life. I’m not comparing to other people or scrolling mindlessly or trying to document things as they happen.

[00:07:44] And this is especially important to me when I’m traveling to fully soak up where I am. Like when I am sitting in the hot springs in Mexico or exploring ancient ruins in Greece or whatever it is, I want to be living fully in that moment. I don’t want to be documenting it for the approval of strangers on the Internet. And it always makes me laugh because… When I am traveling, I’m off traveling solo and I’ll take like a picture of my meal or a selfie somewhere with a beautiful view. And occasionally people around me will be like, oh, that’s going to look so good on Instagram. Or like they’ll offer kindly to take my photo and they’re going to be like, this is going to look so good on social. And I’m like, I’m just sending this to my mom. I’m sending it to my mom and my sister and my best friend.

[00:08:30] And they’re probably the only three people who are ever going to see this photo. And that’s totally fine with me. So here’s the summary. The long and short of it is, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my life and business are better off without social media. That is a personal choice that I’ve made. And the point of today’s conversation is not to shame anyone about their social media use or how they built their business or imply that I am somehow better than just because I’m not on social. Like, ooh, look at me. I’m so evolved. I only check my Instagram every few months. No, this is just my choice and you get to make the best choice for you. That said, If you did press plan this episode, I’m going to assume you’re at least curious about spending less time on social.

[00:09:16] And if that’s the case, you know, how is that decision going to impact your business? So today’s episode is going to give you clarity on what level of social media presence or activity is right for you and how to make that change. So let’s start at the beginning. And I’ll share a little bit about my social media journey in business, just because I think it’s helpful context and hopefully can give you some ideas as well. And then we’ll get into tactically, how do you make this shift? So when I started my business back in 2021, it was the heyday of Instagram stories. That was like the place to be for your business. And I was definitely sold that narrative of you have to be on social media. And I definitely bought into it because I didn’t know any better. Right.

[00:09:59] I was brand new. And for context as well, when I started my business, I actually hadn’t been on social media before. like personally for years. I deleted my personal Instagram account about midway through university right before I went on this big trip to Southeast Asia with my sister. We went away for about three months together. And this was right at the time that I had decided or was about to decide that I didn’t want to go to med school. And I was sort of in this in-between floundering state of, I know I don’t want to pursue this path that I’m on, but I don’t know what to do instead. And I honestly don’t even remember what led up to me deleting my Instagram account. It was just kind of a spur of the moment thing because I wanted to really be present on this once in a lifetime trip with my sister.

[00:10:45] So I deleted it. I went on that trip. And honestly, looking back, don’t know if I had kept social media and I had this little thing in my back pocket to scroll through when I was bored or just to keep me occupied rather than sit with my own thoughts. I don’t know if I would have reached the same conclusion that I did. on that trip, which was to start my own business. Because if I had been on social, I would have been plugged in to what all my friends back home were doing. They were writing the MCAT. They were going to med school. This was this image of what my life, quote unquote, should look like. And instead, I got to really disconnect from that and just tune into my own intuition. So I’ll forever be grateful that for whatever reason I made the decision, I did.

[00:11:32] And I discovered how awesome life was without social media. And in my mind, I was like, I’m never going back. There was no reason to. Until about a year after that trip, I happened upon the online business world. I started freelance copywriting and I knew I eventually wanted to go full time in that and start my own business. But everyone around me was telling me in order to do that, in order to land more clients, because I only had one at the time. I was still a full time student and working in medical research, as well as another job I had on the side in a restaurant as a server. So I had like all the balls in the air. I knew I wanted to go full time. And everyone was like, if you want to do that, you need to be on social media. And my very first client, she was a super successful business coach.

[00:12:18] And all of her clients, or the vast majority of them anyway, came from Instagram. She was very good at Instagram. And I still, to this day, respect and admire that about her. But all of my coaches and business mentors, they were preaching that same advice. And what’s so interesting to me is looking back, A lot of those people giving me that advice, they didn’t even enjoy social media themselves. Like they told me to be on social media, but they kind of said it in this way of like, oh, you got to do it. Like we all got to do it. It is what it is. It’s part of business. But they saw it as this kind of like necessary evil, if you will. And I don’t know, like there was some sort of red flag behind that that I didn’t put together at the time. Because back then I was brand new.

[00:13:01] These people were more established. They’re more successful than I was. So of course, I listened to them. I did the thing. I made an Instagram account, even though it felt so terrible in my gut. And I showed up on stories. I followed the content calendar. I did mini trainings. I dutifully posted that photo of my morning coffee with my to-do list. If you were on Instagram for business in 2021, you know what I’m talking about. But I did all these things I was supposed to do. And guess what? It didn’t work. A lot of people had success for their business on Instagram in that sort of time period, 2020 to 2022. I was not one of them. I just could not for the life of me book clients through Instagram.

[00:13:46] And in hindsight, that had less to do with Instagram itself as a platform and more to do with me and my level of enjoyment of it, which is an important factor we’ll get into. but I do remember my first full year in business when I was still trying to keep up with the algorithm. I went on this trip with my best friend to the UK for about six weeks. All these pivotal moments in my life I’m realizing start with a travel story, but I was supposed to be on vacation with her, another once in a lifetime trip, because said best friend now has a real job in the real world where she does not get three months vacation every year. And so this was my last chance as she was starting her master’s program. We’re like, let’s go away for six weeks. And I ended up working a lot at that time. She was on vacation, but I was trying to fit in client calls and client work and yes, content creation or Instagram.

[00:14:36] And this was before I got the hang of the whole digital nomad thing. And I basically had zero work-life boundaries. I thought that if I didn’t show up consistently on social media, my business would fail and everyone would hate me forever. So there I was in London. on that very first day of our trip and I was already exhausted. I was jet-lagged from the flight. I hadn’t slept in a day and a half and we couldn’t get into our Airbnb until 3 p.m. If you have ever been on a red-eye flight where you get in super early and the hotel or the Airbnb won’t let you in until the late afternoon, you know this pain, okay? So we decided to explore the city. My friend had never been to London before. I’m So we’re going around, we’re sightseeing, and I am trying to document our little adventure for Instagram and slip in these like call to actions to work with me or join my email list or whatever the hell I was promoting at the time. And it just makes me so sad to think about that I felt this pressure to keep up and I wasted so much time on that trip instead of just being present with my friend.

[00:15:40] And although I’m happy to report, I will say really briefly, my friend, same friend and I went on another UK trip together last year and it was a completely different experience. I did not open Instagram once the entire two months I was there. And ironically, the business is so much more profitable. But I digress. Actually, you know what? Let me share these numbers because I’m a make-believer in transparency and keeping it real. So I will literally tell you behind the scenes of my own business. When I was posting on Instagram, every day on Instagram stories, marketing, selling, mini trainings, engaging in the DMs, all of the things. The most money my business ever made in a month was $5,000. Not bad by any means.

[00:16:22] Definitely a place to start. But that $5,000 month was like an anomaly. It was usually more between $1,000 and $3,000 or $1,000 and $4,000 a month. Now, when I stopped posting on social media… Within a year, my monthly revenue increased to 10 to 15K per month and has grown from there. So do with that information what you will. But the reason why I share this story is because so many people will try to convince you that you have to be on social media. And it’s just not true. There are very few things you truly have to do in business. OK, you have to pay your taxes. You don’t have to be on Instagram or TikTok. Those are not true necessities.

[00:17:05] But don’t take my word for it. Think about this logically for a second. Businesses, commerce, entrepreneurship has all been around for millennia without social media or even the internet. And it may seem hard to believe, but even today, there are thousands of businesses in every niche and industry that are thriving in 2026 without a social media presence. Truly, I know because I work with some of these businesses. I hire those freelancers or creatives. I have coaching friends who are making close to a million dollars off of social media. I have clients who are having their best sales year ever with no social media. After quitting social media, their business grows.

[00:17:51] So no matter what your business is, if you are a coach, a designer, consultant, a copywriter, a healer, whatever it is you do, I guarantee you there are people out there running six or even seven figure businesses in your niche that, without social media. You might just not know about them because they’re not on social media. One example that comes to mind is a former client of mine, Shanna Skidmore. She is an incredible industry leader In the finance space, she teaches creative entrepreneurs how to really run the finance and bookkeeping side of their business. And she shared really openly about how she doubled her revenue and took her business to almost a million dollars after quitting Instagram. So for me, the entrepreneurs I most admire this space, many of them are running seven figure businesses without any social media or they’re on there, but it’s like a very limited presence and they don’t personally spend any time on it.

[00:18:37] The point is, it’s not their primary marketing strategy. And so I just want to start with that proof that it is possible to have a successful business without social media. And if that’s what you want, then I encourage you to go out and find people who can serve as an inspiration or an example for you of what is possible. Now, let’s get tactical. If you’re on social media right now and you maybe want to be on it a bit less, how do you go about making that shift? The first thing you want to do is identify the role that social media currently plays in your life and business.

[00:19:24] So what percentage of your traffic, leads, and sales currently come from Instagram or whatever platforms you’re on? And you might be surprised. A lot of people think Instagram is this major source of leads and clients for them. But when they actually look at the data, they realize most of their clients are coming from somewhere else. Maybe they’re coming from referrals, from speaking or SEO and Google. And you can find that out just going into website traffic in Google Analytics or for leads and sales. Depending on how many clients you have, you can just look back at your inquiries or your bookings from the last three to six months and make a note of how each person found you. Next question to look at is how reliant are you on social media for leads and sales? If most of your leads are currently coming from social, don’t panic.

[00:20:12] We’re going to talk about how to handle that transition and generate more leads elsewhere in a bit. For now, we’re just gathering the facts. Like what’s the current state of affairs in your business? Do you consider Instagram your primary platform? Or do you just post every so often so people know you’re alive? I hear people say this sometimes and always makes me laugh. They’re like, I have to post on social like every three to six months just to show signs of life. And I’m like, why? Like, what is that really doing for your business? Is that actually generating clients for you? Probably not. So if you’re doing that right now, you have full permission to stop doing the signs of life post. I promise you it’s not going to make a difference.

[00:20:57] Next questions. How often do you post and what type of content are you posting? How much time do you currently spend on the apps, both for work and personally as well? So you can find that just going into your screen time on your phone. That’s always a bit of a rude awakening for people. How many hours are you spending on Instagram and TikTok? Yeah. How much time are you spending on content creation versus how much time are you spending consuming other people’s content? Is social media giving you energy or does it drain your energy? How do you feel after spending time on the apps? And do you feel like the amount of time you’re spending, if you are, for example, creating content or engaging with people there, do you feel like that time is paying off in a meaningful way for your business?

[00:21:42] Is it actually moving the needle on your most important metrics? Is it furthering important relationships, generating leads and sales? Or if you’re honest with yourself, is it more of a distraction? I can’t tell you what the answer to that question is. Only you know. So just be honest with yourself. What is Instagram actually doing for your business when you’re really honest and when you look at the data? So that’s step one is to just kind of paint the picture of where you’re at and what role social media is currently playing in your life and business. And then step two is to identify the role you want it to play in your life and business. So what is the end goal here? Like 12 months from now, what’s the ideal scenario?

[00:22:26] Have you replaced your social media traffic with other strategies? Have you outsourced it to a team member or have you deleted it entirely? So for me personally, I still have an Instagram account as I shared. I just don’t use it very often and I never use it really to market my services or sell my programs. My VA will share this podcast there. That is mostly so that we can promote our wonderful guests and That’s about it. Like, I haven’t looked at, I don’t even want my bio says on Instagram because it’s probably so outdated from like literally years ago. And I’m just not on there. I don’t open the app more than once every few months. And what I do is just to answer messages in case anyone is trying to get in touch with me there.

[00:23:08] Sometimes my brother will get annoyed. He’s like, you didn’t reply to that meme I sent you on Instagram. And I’m like, I did not see it. You know, I’m not on there. But yeah, that’s kind of where I’m at. That was my choice is that I do still have access to the app. I’m just not using it. So some other questions to consider are, do you enjoy creating content for social media? Is that something you want to continue doing? Or is it draining your time and energy and you are ready to leave that behind? Do you want to post once a week, for example, like we do to share the podcast and repurpose content from other platforms as some sort of like secondary marketing strategy for you? Or do you want to forget about posting entirely? Maybe, for example, you don’t post anything, but you just use it purely to stay connected with your community through DMs or comments.

[00:23:59] Or you keep your profile, but you only post when you feel inspired to. So maybe you create one of those six post grids that some people have where like your profile exists, but you kind of let people know that you’re not active on there and you direct them back to your website or your email list or whatever it is for you. Last option, you delete it entirely. You just totally let it go. You’re like, I am ready to leave this behind. That is an option as well. But on a related note, you also want to look at the personal side of how often do you want to be on these apps. Do you want to stop using it during your workday and limit it to evenings and weekends, for example? Are you trying to break your habit of scrolling? I myself, I know how addictive the apps are designed to be. And I know myself and I know for that reason, it’s just easier to delete the app and avoid it entirely rather than trying to do something like set screen time limits or say I’m only going to use it at this time.

[00:24:53] That just never worked for me. So it’s important to define like what’s your ideal relationship with social media. What does that look like for you? Because it will be different for everyone. I know some people like to scroll when they’re bored or just to zone out after a long day. I personally feel better when I pass that time like reading a book or journaling or calling a friend or even just staring at the wall. I will feel better after having stared at the wall for a bit than I will after scrolling Instagram. I don’t know if it’s the comparison piece or the fact that a lot of content is advertising these days or it’s just negative overall, but I always felt worse after scrolling through social media. I have never once felt better after having done it.

[00:25:36] So in my mind, I was like, well, why do it in the first place? Why do it at all then? That’s again, that’s just me. I’m not trying to shame anyone. If you enjoy scrolling or you’re like, it relaxes you, it helps you zone out, whatever you do you. The point is just to get clear on what role social media plays in your current life and the role you would like it to play. And then the last step is to bridge the gap between those two. So the good news is, if you’re someone like me who struggled with social media and never found it very effective for lead generation, then you can just let that go. There’s nothing to be actually replaced here because it was never doing anything for you in the first place. If you are in a different scenario where a lot of your leads and clients are coming from social media, that’s okay too.

[00:26:21] What you’re going to want to do here is just take steps to replace that with another strategy. And the options are truly limitless here. I think sometimes people forget we have in our heads that social media is the only way to create clients when there are literally hundreds of alternatives. Like people ask me this question, where do you find clients without social media? And I don’t even know where to start. So I’m like, there are so many options available to you. What I would recommend is first, like I said, getting clear on, you know, what role social media plays in your business specifically, right? And then asking yourself how you could achieve that same goal in a different way. So for example, let’s say that Instagram is primarily a top of funnel traffic source for you. It’s how new people find you.

[00:27:06] Then the question you want to ask is how else could you bring new people into your world? How could you make it easy for new people to discover you? So you might try things like speaking, podcasting, blogging, YouTube, email newsletter swaps, referral partnerships. Guest teaching, again, so many possibilities. Or maybe you primarily use social media to stay connected with your community. That’s a different purpose, a different end goal. So instead, you want to ask yourself something like, how else can you stay in touch with your network and your clients? Well, you could write email newsletters. You could organize regular coffee chats with people. You could host community events or workshops. Yeah.

[00:27:48] Maybe you attend in-person events with your local community and connect more with them. Again, so many options. Go creative. Like, just have a brainstorming session. What are 10 different ways I could achieve the same purpose or the same function that social media is currently serving in your business? And then choose one or two of them to go and implement. Try it out as an experiment. Is this something I enjoy? Is this what I want to do instead? Yes. Okay, fantastic. Keep doing it. No, didn’t like that. Didn’t work for me. Okay, great. Go back to your list and choose something else. Lastly, if it’s helpful, you can also give yourself a deadline if that’s motivating to you. If that’s stressful for you, skip this step. That’s fine. But if you’re someone like me who occasionally likes the added incentive of a deadline, you can say something to yourself like, I will have replaced social media with speaking engagements by the end of this year. If having that sort of goal is helpful to you, then I would definitely recommend including that as well as including your why.

[00:28:48] Like, why is this important to you? I’ll share my own for context. It’ll be different for everyone. But the thought that I always come back to when I think about like, oh, maybe I should be on social more. I should make more of an effort or, you know, I should be connected with people. I feel like I almost owe people this part of my life. It’s a weird feeling. But the thought that I always come back to is here’s what I know for sure. there is a 0% chance I will get to the end of my life and say, wow, I really wish I had spent more time on Instagram, right? Or I wish I had spent more time scrolling TikTok and watching all these videos of people I don’t know and that aren’t important to me. Like that’s just and again, that is my personal view.

[00:29:33] You don’t have to share it. If you find social media entertaining, I love that for you. It is not aligned with my experience. personal values and what I want for my life. And I do think it’s important for you to define your why behind why you’re making this change because it can be intimidating to make a change like this in your business to go against the grain and try something different especially when everyone around you is preaching this message of social is the place to be. So if I could leave you with one final tip it would be to get clear on your why And come back to that whenever you feel yourself being swayed by that pull of social media because it’s such a huge part of our culture. So just knowing why does this matter to you?

[00:30:19] What are the benefits to your business, your health and your happiness if you make this change? And also, what will the consequences be if you don’t? make a change. So that’s what I’ll leave you with today to recap three steps for you here. Number one, identify the role social media currently plays in your life and business. Number two, identify the role you want it to play in an ideal world. And number three is to bridge the gap between the two Plot out your action steps and if it’s helpful, give yourself that deadline, but definitely make sure you give yourself the why, the purpose behind your goal as well. All right, my friends, thank you so much for listening. As always, I hope you found this helpful. If you did, I’d love to hear from you.

[00:31:01] Just shout out on social media. you can send me a message there. It’ll just take me one to two months to get back to you. So I always love to connect with you on our email list. If you’re not already signed up for that, you can find the link in the show notes and just reply to any of our emails. So many good conversations with you over there. And also make sure you’re signed up for the free masterclass. If you enjoyed today’s conversation, we’re going to take it even further. We’re going to make it even more tactical. and really design your personalized blueprint for how to make sales off of social media and create a six-figure sales system you actually enjoy. No cold DMs, no dancing on rails required. That is Your First 100k Masterclass happening on January 28th. And you can find the link for that in the show notes as well.

[00:31:45] All right. Thanks again for being here. Take care. And I’ll see you back here. Same time, same place next week. Hey, Trailblazer. Thank you so much for listening to the show today. If you found this episode helpful, please help us spread the word so we can get more valuable, free content in front of more people who need it. Share this episode with a friend, post it on social, and tag me at saleswithmeg on Instagram. I would love to hear your biggest takeaways. Until next time, remember that fortune favors the bold, but success favors the stubborn. Keep going, friend. You got this.