Microblogging (a.k.a. a short blog post) on Instagram or another social media platform is one of the best ways to get quick content out into the world and validate what people are interested in seeing from your content. Writing 100s of words for a blog post can be overwhelming and time-consuming especially when you’re “supposed” to post often and have relevant in-depth content. Sometimes, I just want to get a few words out there (mainly inspirational quotes) and a little note that people can read quickly to keep their week moving along.Although Instagram is the go-to place for photos, it’s also an easy place to start microblogging and get attention as you can tie in a captivating photo with your post AND if you have a business account, you can analyze the data to see which posts got the most impressions, engagement, etc… Using this data is a good “validation” test for your content. If one of my posts gets a lot of engagement (likes and comments) then I know that topic resonated with my audience and perhaps I should write a longer post on the blog about it.For example, here are some of my top business related Instagram posts in the last 3 months:

Topic: Self Care

“I can’t reiterate how important your HEALTH is as a business owner, mom, wife, friend, etc… I’ve been MIA the last week because after our crazy move (we just moved out of our house, but our new house isn’t ready yet so we’re “in transition” for a couple months), I fell extremely ill. A mixture of exhaustion, dehydration and then once my body hit rock bottom I got a stomach virus and fever.During the last week the number of e-mails piled up, phone calls, work to-dos, etc… more stress added to my exhaustion. So I just shut it all off and slept. I must have slept for more hours in the last 4 days than I have in the last 2 weeks. Although I couldn’t keep anything in, my body was telling me to STOP.It’s nearly impossible for me to do nothing… but I have to respond to this e-mail, I have to go to the store, I have to play with my son, I feel guilty missing this event, etc… but my body said NO WAY, JUST STOP.Stopping and resting is something every entrepreneur should put into their schedule. Your business most of the time relies on YOU, so without a healthy functioning you, there is no business. We always are go go go… more things to work on, more people to talk to, more sales to hit, but sometimes we need to just stop. So on this Thursday, make it a goal that this weekend you disconnect, stop, and rest. Your business will still be there on Monday (I promise).”

Topic: Productivity

“It’s truly amazing how much you can accomplish when you implement a high-performance structure to your day. I tested out the “block & tackle” and no “context switching” strategies by blocking out this morning (when I had childcare) to solely work on my upcoming weddings and other tasks, but one category at a time.I put on my headphones, turned on my Spotify “concentration” playlist, grabbed a large iced coffee and avoided reading other e-mails that didn’t pertain to my current tasks or checking social media.The result: I accomplished what would’ve taken me a couple days to do in only 4 hours.It’s crazy how much time is wasted when switching between different activities. Even answering the phone and having to think about something else for 5 minutes wastes time and brain power. When you’re “in the zone” everything just flows efficiently!”

Topic: Personal Growth and Development

“Investing in yourself is one of the most important things you can do to help boost your career, your health, and your life. ~ said me (because if you can’t invest in yourself, why should anyone invest in you!)⠀So I did something a little crazy today. I actually invested in myself. What does that mean? After the thousands of dollars spent on my education, you would think that I had all the necessary tools needed to launch my business, but I felt like there was still something missing. ⠀⠀After listening to @todd_herman’s free video series, I was sold. Before the first video was over, I knew the #90DayYear was exactly the “course”, the push, the whatever you want to call it fit for myself and my business.⠀⠀It might be mid-June, but it’s never too late to just begin. Here’s to the next 90 days of seeing what I can do to bring myself to the next level!”

Microblogging Outcome

Microblogging on Instagram not only boosts your social clout (especially if you use relevant hashtags to help boost the post) but also will validate the topics your audience is most interested in reading about. Now that I know my popular posts, I know that I should go more in-depth on certain categories and topics (like self care and productivity hacks for entrepreneurs). It’s a quick validation technique to help save time on writing long blog posts no one will listen to!