Intuitive posting on social media

How to post what you want, when you want - rather than getting caught up in the outcome of what you're putting out into the world...

I had a message from one of my coaching clients a while back. She said: how do you decide what to post on social media, and when?

She said that she enjoyed my posts and wanted to share stories in the same way that I do but she wasn’t sure how to find the ideas, what to write or when to post them.

She said that sometimes, she’d have an idea but then as she started writing it, she’d wonder whether it was interesting and lose the motivation to post.

I think this is a common experience.

It can feel exposing to share our thoughts and ideas on social media.

We never know exactly who’s reading them and there might be a fear that we’re being judged unfavourably.

I have been on Instagram, writing about my work, since 2015 - so nine years deep, I’ve lost my inhibitions. I’ve also found my flow. And I’m completely guided by intuition.

So I told my client that I never schedule social media content in advance, as it just doesn’t work for me. It feels robotic and boring.

Also, when I’ve used scheduling apps in the past, I then forget there’s a post going out so I’m not there in Instagram to respond when people engage.

So now, I will have an idea drop - usually off the back of a conversation, a book, or something I witness - and I’ll start to construct it into a social media post, in my head.

I like to share a story that also serves as a ‘lesson’ of some sort, or that has a moral at the end.

I write the post quite quickly, edit for errors, adjust any awkward words or phrases and then share it.

The further into your work you are, the easier this becomes.

You start to see what people respond to on social media, and instinctively feel drawn to create more content like this.

For instance, I have written about being a working mother in social media posts as well as in articles for the Guardian, Red Magazine and many other publications.

One morning, I was walking home after dropping my kids off at school, thinking about all that I am and do and want to be.

I pulled out my phone and started dictating my thoughts into the Notes section.

Once I’d finished, I scanned back through, changed a few words, screen-shotted this piece of writing that was like a prose-poem and shared it on Instagram.

It said:

I want to have kids and to be with the kids all the time and I want to be alone so that I can write and I want silence and peace and noise and chaps and I want to stop and rest and to see moving and having adventures and I want to have more kids and to never be pregnant again and I want my family to grow and my family to stay the same size and I want to grow my business and to be a full-time poet and a. Career woman and to prioritise my children and I want to earn loads of money and I want to live on less and I want routines and an unpredictable life and I want to be calm and fierce and vulnerable and empowered and kind and firm and I want nothing and I want it all

I put my phone away and got on with my work. When I opened the Instagram app an hour or so later, I had more notifications than usual.

I checked the post and it had been ‘liked’ thousands of times.

Not just that, it had been shared hundreds of times too.

Soon, people were messaging me saying: ‘Paloma Faith has shared your poem!’, ‘Have you seen that Busy Philipps has put your poem on her profile!’.

It felt quite surreal.

I’ve had poems go viral before but none that I’d written so quickly and shared without any real thought.

That was an example of an entirely intuitive post, shared intuitively, that sky-rocketed.

It captured people’s attention because they could relate, and because I’d shared from the heart.

If you’re feeling blocked, when it comes to Instagram or Substack, here are some tips for intuitive posting…

Intuitive posting on social media

•  Let go of all expectation - there is no ‘should’ with intuitive posting. Post what you want, when you want.

•  Remember that posts with ‘soul’ capture people’s intention. A moving story, something surprising or shocking, a new and exciting insight.

•  Get really clear on who you are and who your audience are. Make note of the types of posts they respond well to. Keep that in mind.

•  Don’t sit at your desk, desperately searching for content ideas - go out. Walk, talk, look, watch, listen. Empty your mind; fill your mind. And just see what lands.

•  If nothing appears, talk to a friend. Tell them you’re feeling stuck. Ask them how they’d describe your work, in a line. See if it sparks any ideas.

•  Take it to your community. Tell them you’d love to help them and wonder if there’s anything they’d like to know?

•  When you have your idea ready, and feel excited to start the conversation, remember: nothing is perfect. And hit publish.

•  If you are a ‘doer’ you will move forward - imperfectly. If you allow fear to stop you, you remain stagnant. Be a doer.

•  Once you’ve shared it, and people have started responding, note how it feels in your body. Log that sensation of sharing something that resonates.

•  Over time, see if ideas drop more quickly or naturally. I expect they will.

•  When they do, and you keep sharing them, your process will speed up.

•  The more you share, the more people respond and the more confident you become.

•  Now, intuitive posting will be happening without you even realising.

Tell me:

• How do you feel about coming up with new ideas for content?

• What stops you from sharing?

• How often would you like to post?

• What really matters to you, right now?

• Can you write/make art about that?

Annie x

The above is an excerpt from my latest book, Raise your SQ: How the power of spiritual intelligence can change your life in seven days. You can buy a copy here.