A Creative Hobby We've Mistaken For Infrastructure
Three conversations on this already today and it's only lunchtime...
Social media is not a business strategy. It's a creative hobby we've mistaken for infrastructure.
And the reason you're exhausted isn't because you're not posting enough, or your content isn't good enough, or you haven't cracked the algorithm.
It's because you're running a grown-up business on a teenager's platform. [Ouch]
It's creative indulgence dressed up as strategy.
Here's what social media actually is: a brilliant playground for creativity, connection, and expression.
It's where you can test ideas, share moments, engage with your community, experiment with messaging. It's fun. It's immediate. It gives you that dopamine hit when someone likes your post or pops into your DMs.
But here's what it isn't: reliable business infrastructure.
You know what else is creative and fun? Painting. Writing poetry. Learning to make sourdough. We don't confuse those things with business models because we can see them clearly for what they are - enjoyable pursuits that may or may not generate revenue.
But somewhere along the way, we were sold the idea that Instagram reels and LinkedIn carousels were "marketing." That showing up every day with value bombs and behind-the-scenes content was "client attraction."
They absolutely can be. I made my first million from my Facebook group. But this cannot be at the expense of everything else.
And so we've spent years indulging in the creative satisfaction of content creation while our businesses remained structurally fragile - when the amount of effort in doesn't equal results out..
If you love creating content, absolutely do it. Indulge that creative urge. Post because it brings you joy, because you have something to say, because it's an outlet for your ideas, because you connect with others.
Just don't confuse that indulgence with the serious, unsexy, grown-up work of building a business that actually functions.
A grown-up business model doesn't collapse when you take a holiday.
It doesn't require you to "show up" every single day to stay relevant.
It doesn't make you feel anxious on Sunday evenings because you haven't planned your content for the week.
A grown-up business model has infrastructure:
Lead generation that runs without you. Funnels that capture interest while you're sleeping, having dinner with friends, or lying by your pool in France. Systems that turn strangers into leads and leads into conversations without requiring you to post three times a day.
Nurture sequences that build trust automatically. Email systems that educate your audience, demonstrate your expertise, and move people toward working with you - whether you sent an Instagram story today or not.
Booking and conversion systems that close clients. Calendars that fill themselves. Sales processes that guide people from "interested" to "invested" without you needing to be online to capture the moment.
This is not sexy. This is not what gets celebrated in entrepreneurial circles. Nobody wins awards for having an elegant email funnel or a conversion rate that's optimised.
But you know what it does give you? Freedom. Predictability. The ability to scale without burning out. A business that supports your life instead of consuming it.
The difference between playing business and running one
I've worked with thousands of entrepreneurs over eight years. I can spot the difference between someone playing business and someone running one within about five minutes.
The ones playing business talk about:
- Viral content strategies
- Growing their following
- What the algorithm is doing this week
- How many stories they need to post
- Whether their audience prefers carousels or reels
The ones running actual businesses talk about:
- Conversion rates
- Client acquisition costs
- Lifetime customer value
- System optimisation
- Strategic partnerships
Notice the difference?
One is focused on activity. The other is focused on outcomes.
One is creative indulgence. The other is business infrastructure.
Both have their place. But only one builds the kind of business that gives you actual freedom.
This matters more than ever in 2026 because social media is getting harder, not better.
Organic reach is dying. The platforms are pay-to-play. The algorithms change faster than you can adapt. The content race has everyone exhausted and few winning. Followers doesn't equal sales or success, yet people buy followers so they appear more successful, when all the while they're flat broke...
You can have 20,000 followers and 2 clients. You can have a viral reel and zero sales. You can have incredible engagement and an empty calendar.
Because visibility was never the same as strategy. Likes were never the same as revenue. And being "seen" was never the same as being sought after.
Meanwhile, the experts who built actual business infrastructure years ago? They're thriving. Quietly. Predictably. Without having to perform online every day to stay in business.
AS SEEN iN
