As someone who has been blessed to have 15+ successful years in business, I felt compelled to write this article to help other sellers. 

First; everyone has problems in life, but one main difference between successful people and others is that successful people keep their private life problems…. private. You won’t see Marcus Lemonis from The Profit crying about a rough patch in life. You’re not going to read Shark Tanks Mr. Wonderful's twitter feed and learn that he is having marital disagreements. And there won’t be a single day when you view Elon Musks Instagram and see “I’m having the worst day ever! Sales are super slow and I doubt I can keep funding this company. I don’t know what I am going to do anymore!” - - - I mean, if you saw Elon Musk post this, would YOU buy a Tesla?  Hells no! And, if you think for a single second that Marcus, Mr. Wonderful or Elon Musk don’t have days when they are depressed or sales are down you are dead wrong. Every business owner goes through highs and lows. We ALL face scary times, blissful times and confusing times... and the more money you make, the more money you can lose in one day if something goes sideways. Regardless, the worst thing you can do, as a business owner, is constantly air your problems to the world.  Heck, think of how celebrities try to BURY personal drama that leaks to the press... so why would you freely air your issues?  

THINK ABOUT IT LIKE THIS:

As a buyer, would you rather purchase from the company who says “We are rockin’ this year, thanks to all of our amazing buyers support!  Looking forward to another amazing year in business!” 

or would you rather buy from the person who says:

 “I don’t think I can do this anymore. There’s no money. I have tried and tried but nothing’s working. I’m so depressed. I just feel like giving up!” 

- the clear answer is that everyone likes winners (and underdogs, but in order to be an underdog you have to give it your all every day and people will LOVE you for your hustle!  People have mad respect for the underdog!).

I find very little to be more annoying than the person on social media who wants to make sure that everyone around them always knows how awful things are for them, every day, all day, without ever ending… but after doing some research I discovered that I’m not alone. Here’s some super fascinating things I learned while researching:

This incredible chart is based on data obtained by WaitButWhy.com and it explains what types of social media posts FOLLOWERS find to be annoying vs interesting:

So let’s take a look at this for a moment:

Region A (the pink colored circle) are the types of posts that, essentially, are “attention-seeking” and annoy the hell out of people. These types of posts include:

• Personal Drama: anger, outrage or sympathy-seeking.
• Showing off / Bragging
• “Opinion Jamming”: the authors opinion is the only correct opinion and anyone who doesn’t agree is stupid or worthless. “Anyone who doesn’t have solar panels on their house is a loser douche! If you don’t have eco-friendly utilities, tell me so I can block you NOW because you’re pathetic!!”

Region C (the blue colored circle) is posts that people mostly enjoy reading. The reason people like these is because it ADDS VALUE in some way. Of course, what is considered “value” is super subjective; I like reading motivational stuff, I love documentaries and of course I am really into business. But what someone else may find of value could be working out, recipes, newly released vehicle info, cute animals, tiny homes or even woodcrafting. Regardless of what specifically people find to be “interesting”, everyone can almost universally agree that it IS NOT the stuff in Region A.

Region B THE GREY AREA…Well, it’s purple in the chart

These are the types of posts that “swing both ways”; you CAN have a post that is self-indulgent but also adds value to the reader. Just throwing this out there as an example, something like:

“I am throwing a HUGE party on Friday (braggy) and YOU are invited!” (adds value to the reader)

Or

“I have had a lot of problems finding a good recipe for a nice party dip to go with crackers. Suggestions?”

Or

“I just discovered that I am pregnant!” - although self-indulgent, this is actually interesting information for your followers

I am in no way implying that your posts need to be "vanilla", nor shallow, nor filler-content, nor anything-in-specific, but what I am saying is that if you are going through rough times related to your business, you are making your life even more difficult by broadcasting "I SUCK and I can't figure this out and I am miserable!  Pllllease buy this sweater I just listed for $19.99!"

TRYING TO DECIDE IF YOU SHOULD POST IT?

I was reading Greg Gutfelds new book called “The Plus” (grab a used copy on Amazon for as low as $12!) and it has a great concept in it that I, personally, started implementing in my daily life. The concept is; “Is what I am about to post a Plus or a Minus?” - the way you determine which category it falls into is by typing the content then quickly reflecting on if it ADDS BENEFIT to your life / followers. If it doesn’t add value, then you can safely label it a MINUS. If it’s a minus, don’t post the content but instead save it and review it the next day. The Plus is a book worth reading with this really good, simple idea on how you can not annoy your followers and lessen the stress in your life. 

But, if you don't want to read Gregs book, instead bookmark this page and refer to this graph, provided by MarketingCompanyAustinTexas.com: