Content will always mirror the business model sitting underneath it.
Think about what smacks you in the face every time you tap through Instagram stories…
Screenshots of Stripe notifications along with messages like: "Just signed another client!!!" "Another enrollment came through!" "Just woke up to three more sales!"
And after seeing enough of those posts, your brain starts doing that annoying thing where it goes, “hmmm, I don’t think I’m doing enough…” or “why can’t I do this too!?!” or “I’m so behind…”
…even though those businesses operate nothing like yours.
Those businesses are usually built around volume. More clients, more transactions, more turnover, more selling.
Which is fine for THEM and their business model.
But then there are businesses like mine (and probably yours if you’re a service provider working with clients on retainer) that are built on the complete opposite premise.
Where depth matters more than volume, retention matters more than acquisition, and where one client might stay for years instead of weeks.
Our content will look different from theirs, because our business goals are different (and consequently, the trust signals we need to send in our content are different)
But somewhere along the way, social media convinced us that every business should communicate success in the exact same way.
And when you say that out loud, it's a lil ridiculous aiin’t it?
Using some of my clients as an example…
One brand I work with is an event venue. Now imagine if we posted on stories "someone bought a ticket!" or "another ticket sale today!"
People would be like ‘ok…weird flex??”
Because the audience doesn’t give two sh*ts about our ticket sales. They care about "is this thing worth giving up my Saturday night for??"
The trust signal isn't the ticket sale. It’s ‘this event sold out last time’ or ‘limited seats left!’
Now we're talking about something that actually helps a potential customer make a decision.
Same thing with another client of mine who monetizes a blog.
"One person clicked my website today" would be an absolutely ludicrous thing to celebrate on stories.
But saying "this recipe became my most-viewed post of the year" or “have you seen my viral recipe yet”?
Now we're communicating that thousands of people found something worth their time which is a meaningful trust signal.
Same thing goes for a product-based business.
Posting "Someone bought a candle today!!!" Okay…cool, I guess??? versus "we sold out of this product in 48 hours" or "this product keeps selling out every time we restock."
Now that's interesting.
See the difference?
One is just sharing business activity, while the other is driving demand.
And most founders spend way too much time comparing someone else's demand or trust signals to their own activity.
Then they wonder why they feel behind. So let's do some quick math, shall we?
Let’s say you’re a high-touch service provider feeling a lil sad you can’t share stripe notifications every day rn.
Well, if you signed one new client every single day for a year… You'd end up with 365 clients. 😅
So let me ask you… who tf is serving those people? You?? You’re clones?? When?? How??? 🙃
Lol see how the content expectation doesn't even match the business model??
And yet I constantly watch founders feel inadequate because they don't have daily sales screenshots to post.
Of course you don't!!!
You built your business specifically so you WOULDN'T need 365 new clients every year.
So instead of asking "how can I post more like them???" the better question is "what would actually indicate success inside my specific business."
Because for some businesses, it's a waitlist. For other it’s sold-out launches, or the fact that a client has stayed with you for three years, or that every new inquiry comes from a past client talking about you behind closed doors.
Those are trust signals too.
They're just not the ones Instagram taught you to look for.
Chances are you're not lacking proof that you’re f*cking crushing it right now.
You're overlooking it.
You're sitting on years of retention, or referrals, or repeat buyers, and because none of it looks like a Stripe notification, you've convinced yourself it doesn't count.
It counts. And honestly, it probably counts more.
You’re not lacking evidence that you’re great at what you do. But you might be lacking clarity on how to communicate it.
And that's a completely different problem, one that has a whole lot more to do with positioning.
Because the moment you understand what your audience actually finds meaningful, the content gets so much easier to make.
So plzzz stop chasing someone else's social proof and start highlighting your own.
Catch ya next week,
Marissa
