Social media is f-ing exhausting (And what digital service businesses should do instead)

Image from: unsplash.com/@makitrenko

If you're a coach, consultant, VA, or any kind of service provider reading this, I need you to know something: you're not struggling with content because you're bad at marketing. You're struggling to create social media content as a digital service business because you're trying to use strategies designed for people selling products to strangers, not services to people who need to trust you completely.

You became a service provider because you're good at solving problems. You wanted to help people, make decent money, and have some control over your life. But somewhere along the way, someone told you that to get clients, you need to "build your personal brand" and "show up consistently on social media."

So now you're spending more time creating content than actually serving the clients you already have. You're posting daily, following trends you don't understand, using hashtags that feel ridiculous, and trying to figure out what the algorithm wants this week.

In this blog, I'm going to show you a client-first method that connects your content directly to the work you do.

Why is it hard for digital service businesses to create social media content?

After observing so many Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube accounts belonging to a small service business, I noticed three major reasons why social media is not working for them...or you.

You are playing the influencer game.

The main reason why social media is hard as a solo business owner is that you are playing someone else's game. You are playing the influencer game.

Influencers create content to entertain and build massive audiences they can monetize through sponsorships and product sales. Their job is literally to be interesting enough that thousands of people want to watch their daily life. Your job, on the other hand, is to solve specific problems for specific people.

These are completely different jobs, but everyone's telling you to use the same strategy. It's like trying to use a hammer when you need a screwdriver.

You're creating content for everyone (which means no one)

Generic business advice feels safe because it can't be wrong. But it also can't be helpful. When you write "5 productivity tips for entrepreneurs," you're competing with thousands of identical posts. When you write "How to batch client revisions so you're not interrupted 12 times a day," you're solving a problem only your people have.

You're measuring the wrong things

Social media platforms want you obsessed with vanity metrics - likes, follows, reach, impressions. These numbers feel good (when they're good) but they don't pay your bills.

I've seen service providers with 50,000 followers struggling to book clients, and others with 500 followers booked out for months. The difference? The second group created content that attracted the right people, not just any people. Followers don't equal clients. Engagement doesn't equal income.

My point is that you're not bad at content marketing or social media. Most content advice just wasn't made for people who do what you do. But, once you flip the script and start creating content like the service provider you are - instead of the influencer you're not - everything gets easier.

The Client-First method to create social media content

Forget everything you think you know about "content strategy." This isn't about posting schedules or viral hooks. This is about creating content that works as hard as you do to bring in the right clients.

The Client-First Content Method has three steps, and here's what makes it different: each step connects directly to how you already think about your business.

Step 1: Start with your client "Jobs" (not content ideas)

Your clients don't wake up thinking about your services. They wake up thinking about their problems. A business owner doesn't immediately think "I need a VA." They'll first think "I'm drowning in email and missing important stuff." or "I keep starting projects and never finishing them." These are the "jobs" they are trying to get done.

So, instead of asking "What should I post today?" ask

• What is my ideal client trying to get done right now?

• What problem are they trying to solve right now?

• What do they Google when they’re stuck?

• What questions are they secretly embarrassed to ask?

Your task: Pull out a sticky note (seriously, do this right now). Write down three specific thing your ideal client is trying to accomplish this week. Not what you can do for them.

Examples:

• A VA’s client job: “I want to stop wasting time on admin.”

• A web designer’s client job: “I want a website that doesn’t scare off leads.”

• A coach’s client job: “I need clarity on why I’m stuck.”

  
  

Once you know the job, you create content that removes friction around it, and that's step 2.

Step 2: Turn "jobs" into content assets that help them

Now you're going to create content the same way you deliver client work, i.e., with a clear process that gets results.

Start with the complete solution

Open a Google Doc and write out the full process you'd walk a paying client through to solve that sticky note problem. Not a blog post - a complete resource document.

Let's say you are a VA and your sticky note from Step 1 says "Get my inbox to zero so I can focus on client work," your complete solution document might be titled "The 2-Hour Email Cleanup System for [Ideal Client]." It will include certain sections, for example:

• Why most inbox strategies fail for people juggling client work (problem)

• The 15-minute email audit that shows where time actually goes (approach)

• How to set up folders that match your business workflow (solution)

  
  

Write this out like you're handing it to a client. Include the specific steps, the reasoning behind each step, and what they should expect to happen. This becomes your content asset - something genuinely helpful that demonstrates exactly how you solve problems.

If you're thinking, "Won't giving away my process hurt my business?", here is a quick reality check for you: the people who can and will implement your complete process without help weren't going to hire you anyway. The people who read your process and think "This makes perfect sense and I need someone to implement it with me" - those are your ideal clients.

Break your asset into social posts

Each section becomes content for different platforms, serving people who learn differently. Here is a sample breakdown using our doc example from earlier:

Document section	LinkedIn ideas	Instagram reel/carousel	Email series
Why most inbox strategies fail for people juggling client work	"The biggest email mistake I see [ideal client] make"	"Here's why you keep drowning in emails as a [ideal client]"	"The inbox advice that's actually making you busier"
The 15-minute email audit that shows where time actually goes	"I just did a 15-minute email audit and found something shocking..."	"POV: You discover where your email time actually goes" + screen recording	"Try this 15-minute audit (my results will surprise you)"
How to set up folders that match your business workflow	"Stop organizing emails like it's 2010. Here's what actually works..."	Before/after of folder setup + "This changed everything"	"The folder system that finally makes sense for [ideal client]"

One complete solution has now become 2-3 weeks of content across multiple platforms. The best part is that you don't have to think too hard, it's all coming from your expertise. Your complete solution document feeds months of posts while demonstrating your expertise across every platform.

The goal isn't to fill every platform every day. The goal is to be consistently helpful to the specific people you want to work with. When you're solving real problems instead of feeding algorithms, you need way less content to get way better results.

How to batch create content around your client work

Most content batching advice assumes you have predictable blocks of free time. But when a client emergency hits on Tuesday or a project runs long, your "content creation Wednesday" disappears.

Instead of blocking out four hours for "content creation," identify the 15-20 minute gaps that already exist in your schedule. The time between calls. The few minutes while a client reviews something. The gap before your next project phase starts.

Your micro-batch system:

• Keep your current solution document open in a Google Doc

• When you have 15 minutes: write one section

• When you have 10 minutes: create one social media post from existing content

• When you have 5 minutes: schedule posts you've already written

  
  

This way, content creation happens alongside client work instead of competing with it. On busy client weeks, you still make progress. On lighter weeks, you can batch more. It's also easier because you are not thinking too hard.

Pro tip: Use AI tools like Claude or ChatGPT for structure. If you are using AI to think, you will end up with generic posts. Feed your complete solution document into Claude or ChatGPT and ask it to:

• Turn section headers into social media post outlines

• Suggest different ways to explain complex concepts for different audiences

What to do when motivation tanks (because it will)

Some weeks, you're going to hate everything about creating content. This is normal, expected, and doesn't mean you're doing it wrong. When motivation tanks, you start second-guessing everything. "Does this sound too salesy?" "Am I being helpful or just promoting myself?" "Would I even want to read this?" It's important to remember that your job is to be helpful, not impressive.

Your ideal clients aren't looking for someone who has everything figured out. They're looking for someone who understands their problems and has practical solutions. Some weeks, your content will feel brilliant. Other weeks, it will feel adequate. Both are fine. The people who need your help don't need your content to be award-winning, they need it to be useful.

Don't let perfect be the enemy of helpful. Your audience needs what you know, even on the days you don't feel like knowing it.

Conclusion: Pre-qualify clients with your content

When you create content using the Client-First Content Method, you're attracting and pre-qualifying potential clients. The people who read your complete solution and implement it are showing you they take action on good advice. The ones who comment with specific questions about your process are revealing exactly what they struggle with.

By the time these people reach out about working with you, half the sales conversation is already done. They've seen how you think, experienced your problem-solving process, and gotten real results from following your guidance.

Your next step: Look at the last three client conversations you had this week. Pick the question that came up more than once. That repeated question is your first solution document waiting to be written.

• Open a Google Doc right now.

• Title it with the problem your clients were trying to solve.

• Write out the complete process you'd walk them through.

  
  

Everything else flows from that foundation. The difference between digital service providers who burn out on content and those who don't isn't creativity or consistency.