Starting A Business At 60 - Social Media: So Much Work... For So Little Reward?

When I started Heart & Resin, I knew I'd have to learn a lot of new skills.

Making resin keepsakes was only one small part of running a business.

There was photography, website design, SEO, pricing, accounting... and then there was social media.

I Never Thought Social Media Would Be So Difficult.

Now, I didn't grow up with social media.

Thanks to my daughters, I knew it existed, but I never really understood it. I had a Facebook account, occasionally posted a photograph, and that was about the limit of my expertise.

So when people said, "You need social media to grow your business," I thought...

"How hard can it be?"

Take a photo.

Write a caption.

Press Post.

Voilà!

If only it were that simple.

A Whole New Language

The deeper I've ventured into social media, the more confusing it's become.

There are posts, reels, stories, threads, pins, carousels, shorts...

Some disappear after twenty-four hours.

Some stay forever.

Apparently they all have different purposes, and everyone else seems to know instinctively which one they should be using.

Just as I begin to understand one feature, someone announces that it's all about video now.

Or the algorithm has changed.

Or there's a brand-new platform everyone should be using.

A Social Media Post In The Making

It feels like trying to hit a moving target while I'm still learning to aim.

But if I'm honest...

That's not really my biggest problem.

My Biggest Challenge Is Confidence

I think the thing I struggle with most is confidence.

Every time I go to create a post, the same questions pop into my head.

What should I talk about?

Will anyone find it interesting?

Am I just repeating myself?

Will I make a fool of myself?

Then come the practical worries.

What if I upload my personal photos by mistake?

What if I accidentally publish something half finished?

What if I somehow embarrass my daughters, who understand social media far better than I ever will?

People who have grown up with social media probably don't even think about these things.

I do.

Every single time I post.

Why Does One Post Take So Long?

People often say social media only takes a few minutes a day.

I honestly don't know how.

For me, it can take an hour just deciding what to post.

Then I need to take photographs.

Edit them.

Write a caption.

Rewrite the caption because it doesn't sound right.

Decide which platform it's for.

Somehow I Need To Standardise My Content - But How ?

Should it be a Facebook post?

An Instagram Reel?

A Pinterest Pin?

A Story?

By the time I've finished, half the day has disappeared.

It Feels Relentless

Every article I read seems to suggest I should be doing more.

Five Pins a day.

One Reel.

A Facebook post.

Instagram Stories.

Engage with other people's content.

Reply to comments.

Keep up with trends.

Post consistently.

Some days it feels as though I could spend every waking hour creating content and still not be doing enough.

Surely I didn't start Heart & Resin so I could become a full-time content creator?

Am I Even Focusing on the Right Things?

Another question keeps nagging away at me.

Am I spending my limited time on the right platforms?

Should I be concentrating on Facebook because that's where many of my customers are?

Should I be learning Instagram properly?

Is Pinterest worth the effort?

Should I be making videos instead of writing blogs?

I don't yet know the answers.

At the moment, I'm trying to do a little of everything, which probably means I'm not doing any of it particularly well.

So What's My Plan?

If there's one thing this business has taught me, it's that hoping things will improve isn't enough.

I need a plan.

So these are my goals.

Firstly, social media has to become a non-negotiable part of my working week. Not something I squeeze in if I have time left over.

Secondly, I need a proper content strategy. Instead of staring at a blank screen wondering what to post, I need regular brainstorming sessions where I can generate ideas in advance.

Thirdly, I need to learn how to make videos. They're clearly becoming more important, and avoiding them won't make them disappear.

Fourthly, I want to create templates for my posts so they have a consistent look and don't take me quite so long to produce.

Fifthly, I need a publishing schedule and to make better use of batch creating content and scheduling posts in advance. If I can write several posts in one sitting, perhaps social media won't feel quite so relentless.

And Finally...

I need to understand the numbers.

At the moment, I post something and hope for the best.

Instead, I want to understand what people enjoy reading, which posts generate engagement and which ones simply disappear into the social media wilderness.

If I'm going to spend hours creating content, I'd like to know it's time well spent.

Maybe Next Year...

Every skill I've learnt since starting Heart & Resin has felt impossible at first.

Making resin.

Photography.

Building a website.

SEO.

Writing product descriptions.

Every one of those became a little easier with practice.

Perhaps social media will too.

Maybe this time next year I'll be one of those people who casually takes a photograph, writes a caption and presses Post without overthinking every word.

Right now, that feels a long way off.

But six months ago, building a website felt just as overwhelming.

And look how far I've come.

If you're reading this and you've got a tip that made social media finally click for you, I'd genuinely love to hear it.

After all, this business has been built on learning one new skill at a time.

Social media is simply the next one.

One lesson learnt. Countless more still to come. That's all part of Starting a Business at 60.