Are You Really the Right Person for That Job?
In January of 2023 I delegated our social media presence. What has transpired is more than I could have imagined. When we took over the studio oh so many years ago I took on the marketing role. I was an art student through school and between the three of us we decided that was one of my strengths. Back in those days it was printed brochures, bus shelter signs, mailing postcards etc. Then came the internet and we needed a website. We started with a very basic site that was updated by someone else. As things evolved the website needed an update so I took that over too adding to the “marketing role”. Enter the age of social media. Social media has become a job all on its own. It has snowballed into this beast that is constantly changing and it became too much for me to keep track of. I mean what algorithm is working one week seems to change the next, right?! Enter the new social media director. Whew. Not only could I not keep up with the ever evolving social media world with everything else I was responsible for, I became increasingly aware that I was not good at it. What I was designing and posting was OK at best. It was not servicing our business the way it should and was not elevating our business the way it could.
My Fall Registration Posts for 22/23:
Our studio logo got an update in our 22/23 season. Guess who helped with that? Multiple designs and proofs later. We are so happy with the new and improved look.
We were very fortunate to have a staff member who is in marketing for her day job. She would sometimes help me out with our social media posts and stories especially during Covid as there were so many things to deal with during that time. She was more than happy to help and this is when I realized the difference between doing the job myself and having a professional design and schedule our posts. At the start of our 22/23 season I really started thinking about handing the job off to someone who could do it better and faster and she was the logical first person. She had continued to assist with our social media since 2020 but I needed this to be a full takeover. She was on our teaching faculty for a number of years and was very familiar with our culture and what we offer. She moved away a couple of years ago but still does some choreography for us so she is still a part of our staff. It is also a huge help to have someone that knows dance and the cycle of a typical dance season. We discussed the director position in late 2022 and as of January 1, 2023 she became our social media director and she is doing a fantastic job. Afterall, she can do this work from anywhere in the world. She is so good at attention to detail and has great ideas. From September to November I spent a lot of time recording what I worked on and how much time it took me so I had a good idea of time and effort. We agreed that 5 hours a week would be a good starting point especially since she is so much faster than I was. There are also busy times and less busy times over the course of 12 months so it is an average of 5 paid hours a week. However, I did ask that she keep track of her hours so that we do not take advantage of her time. So far things are on track. We met initially to go over the rest of the season based on our Studio Google calendar that all admin have access to and created a schedule for marketing. It is so helpful to be able to schedule posts and stories to FB and IG. If you are not taking advantage of that tool you should be. It is a game changer even if you do your own social media posts. Once in a while there is a quick text from me to ask for a post or design for something we overlooked. Once in a while there is a question or idea from her about an event or program coming up. At this point it is a win win. Our social media has been stepped up from mediocre to wow and she can stop cringing every time she sees a poorly designed post from me.
Fall 22/23 Fall Music Registration post & 23/24 Fall Music Registration post
Here is a sample of what Fall Registration looks like now
I knew having Shawna take over was the right decision but to reaffirm this, it wasn't long before we had numerous comments on our social media. “Wow you guys have really stepped up your social media ''. “Why yes we have and I can take no credit for it other than getting it off my plate”!
I know you may be thinking “I can’t afford to pay someone to take this over”. I used to think the same thing. Now instead of spending countless hours designing (badly), scheduling, fixing my mistakes because attention to detail is not a strong suit of mine, I spend that time creating new programs that will bring in more income and therefore offset the expense of paying someone to do a job better and faster than me.
It can be done.
Happy designing or delegating.
