Unfollow. That word alone can infuse us with so many emotions and conflicting thoughts — usually on the negative side of things. When you make the choice to unfollow someone, for whatever reason, it probably wasn’t due to happy circumstances. And if you’ve noticed someone unfollowed your account, it’s most likely not going to feel great.
Unless, of course, you wanted them to.
While normally I write about how to gain followers or attract new people to Instagram (and social media, in general), I’d like to dedicate this blog today to losing followers intentionally. You read the right.
This is something I recommend doing because it’s going to embody, empower and strengthen. It’s going to embolden your brand and help you to feel so much more confident in your messaging and who you’re trying to reach.
Who, then, should you consciously try and get to unfollow you?
Those people who tend to disagree with things you post. They’re the people who are in your head when you’re creating content and thinking to yourself,
“Well, I’d like to say that but I really shouldn’t because I know who this is going to offend, so…”
Because of which, I want to encourage you to create content specifically designed to give those people permission to unfollow. Listen, it’s legit one of the most freeing things you can do!
It’s nearly impossible for us to be authentic, to truly be who we are, if we’re so concerned with how we’re going to come across to people we have no interest in serving.
Allow me to share with you a recent example where I did just this to illustrate how you might do the same.
A little backstory: For some period of time, I was catching all kinds of flack on Instagram from other Christians who were eager to let me know that my beliefs, the way that I live my life, and the things that I accept and love made me less of a Christian. I was reminded, often, to check the Bible for myself, and so on.
Well, I don’t care to serve that type of Christian individual.
Yes, I talk about my faith in my business because it’s important to me. Now, there are certain things that are relatively important to me, but not so important that I feel the need to address them on social media. My faith, however, reaches a different level. In addition, I do happen to love and support people who identify as LGBTQ+.
Here’s what I decided to do…
Create a post to just give them permission to go about their way. And, conversely, in doing so, invite those who were looking for someone like me.
Furthermore, the post was to let those very negative individuals (who were more than thrilled to send me horrible direct messages) know they could save time. See, if my post prompted them to DM me — and I could tell from their first sentence or two they were very angry over my beliefs — I was simply going to delete and block them. Why?
Well, I very adamantly protect my positivity. That’s all.
Anyway, lifers, that’s my call to action for you this week:
Don’t hold back on your opinion anymore. Stop being so freaking careful. If you’re trying hard to please followers who don’t agree with you on some fundamental issues (that are non-negotiable for you), I promise your voice is not coming through as authentically as it could.
The more authenticity you put into your content, the easier it is for people to find you.
Go for it! Come up with a post of your own that states who you are and what you stand for. This might actually be just the thing that allows you to find your unique voice.
And what exactly happened with that post on IG (i.e., did I lose or gain thousands of followers)? For the rest of the story and much more on the power of the unfollow, check out the Build Your Tribe episode below!
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