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I’ve been on social media for over 10 years now. And while I love it, there have been times where I felt like I was missing out on something important. So I took a break from social media for a month and then for a year. Read on to see what happened!

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How did a 1 month break from Social Media affect my business?
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How did a 1 year break from Social Media affect my business?
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What to do if you are considering taking a break from social media
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The first time I took a break from social media was in February 2018

I get 100% of my clients online. My online presence is vital to my business success! In early 2018 I signed up for Quest Adventure Race to raise money for a local dog rescue. I realised 4 weeks before the race that I hadn’t done enough training as I “didn’t have time”. When I reflected, I realised that I wasted a lot of time scrolling on my phone! I needed a break from social media.

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I didn’t quit social media on every device

I only removed social media apps from my phone but left them on my laptop. I committed time every 2 hours to engaging with social media on my laptop while working. I took a complete break from social media every evening and all day Sunday. This gave me a chance to train for race day.

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On my bike for the first section of Quest Glendalough 2018

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What this one month break from social media did for me

I managed to gain enough time each day to train, sleep and eat right for the four weeks. My mental health also improved and I enjoyed my social media sessions on my laptop. After race day I reinstalled the social media apps on my phone and felt refreshed after my break.

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How did this 1 month break from social media affect my business?

To be completely honest it improved my business. By restricting my time scrolling I was more focussed on my business plans. Over the four weeks I managed to rethink my business. I decided to diversify my business the next financial year. I focused on local business needs rather than design for international clients. I decided to niche my offerings to offer website design services alone.

I completely rebranded my business with a new colourful logo. I styled it to attract website design clients. I started to work on my business plan to offer local businesses my website design services. The break from social media allowed me to focus on what I wanted. It also helped reduce my imposter syndrome and improved my confidence.

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In my time off social media I designed the new DesignBurst Logo

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In my break I managed to set up sales targets for 2019 and I wrote up a quick marketing plan. I also committed time every day to run or cycle for at least one hour. I felt more alert, confident and energised after exercise. I brought this energy to my social media channels when I reinstalled the apps. I was building the business of my dreams and honing my skills so that I could launch my new services the next year.

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In 2021 I took a long break from Social Media

2020 was a crazy year in everyone’s life. The world shut down but I stayed very active online to help local businesses stay afloat. I helped many businesses get website grants and vouchers for their business. I also built a massive amount of websites for local businesses. I was working through the night many times a week. Running and cycling stopped and I was 100% focussed on my business and family.

In 2021 things got very hard for me and I wanted to commit more time to my family. I decided that I couldn’t be on Social Media anymore and I needed a short break. This short break started in January but every time I reinstalled the apps I felt overwhelmed. So I did not reinstall the apps until January 2022!

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How much did this 1 year break from using social media affect my business?

I cannot begin to describe the negative effect this break had on my business. The only solace that I have is that I took essential time to spend with my family. That precious time was worth more than anything I could ever achieve in my business.

I lost many followers and I stopped getting enquiries though social media. Businesses forgot to tag me in their good news. I didn’t wish good friends Happy Birthdays. I missed many events and opportunities to network. Organisations stopped asking me to mentor and do talks. Businesses found it harder and harder to stumble upon my business online.

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I devoted 2021 to spending more time with my beloved mother who sadly passed away later that year.

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Sales reduced but my business survived

The break from social media meant that new people found it hard to discover my business. At least I had my website. It was there through what was the toughest year of my life. It continued to rank in Google as I had taken time to optimise my website for local SEO. People continued getting in touch with me via my website and via Google. My visitors went down because my social media feeds were stagnant but I was still ranking online via search engines. Sales reduced because enquiries reduced.

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So, do I recommend a break from Social Media?

No. I recommend you ensure you have a website for social media audiences. This will allow you engage with social media in a healthy way and avoid burnout! You will have time to exercise, nerd out and play Witcher and spend precious time with the people you love.

Website Automations would have helped me during my break

I don’t regret taking the time for my family in 2021 but I do wish I had more automations in place. My website depended on me to respond to general enquiries and quote requests. My messages on social media fell into hidden folders because I was so inactive and slow to respond.

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Taking a break from social media can affect your business sales if you dont have a good website in place

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In 2021 and 2022 I focussed on adding automations to my own website to improve my business

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I committed time in 2022 to add more automations to my business and my website.

• I designed my Instant Quote Calculator tool to allow people get an automatic website quote.
• I made hidden and public pages in my website to share with leads to answer their queries.
• I wrote content to help customers understand the Trading Online Voucher
• I created Tech Support documents and videos and automated signup forms for clients.

These website automations save me time and improve how I engage with businesses. Automations like these could save you money and time and are worth the time taken to build them. If you dont know where to start with adding automations to your website I am happy to chat to you.

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I recommend website automations to avoid you losing sales if you take a break from social media.

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Time is precious – make it work while you live

I learned some valuable lessons in the past two years of running a business. One of the most important lessons I learned is that time is too precious to waste on monotonous tasks! My best business is one that compliments me living my happiest life. If automating some menial business tasks or taking a break from social media gets me closer to that goal then happy days. 

I dedicate this blog to the memory of my beloved mother Anne who shaped me to be the person I am today. I always hid behind my business, afraid to be myself online. I felt it would be unprofessional to bring too much of my personality into my business.  Spending time with her taught me that there is more to life than giving a sh!t about what I am meant to do in business.

I really enjoy working with all my clients and I want every single one of them to succeed. I have worked with each one of them to improve how they do business. Many of my clients now have a healthier balance of work and life thanks to the work I have done. This brings me an incredible amount of joy!

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What are your thoughts on taking a break from social media?

Have you ever taken a break from social? Did it affect you the way it affected me? I would love to hear from you; comment below or let me know via social by tagging me in your post. I hope you enjoyed this post – feel free to share it if you wish.

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