Off The Grid: Leaving Social Media Without Losing All Your Clients

Today we're putting the cherry on top of your 2025 marketing toolkit with a long-form episode on 2025 Marketing Trends!To do that, I'm joined by communications strategist Amanda Laird to chat about four things she's forecasting for the year ahead, including:AI operations & optimization — plus the need to disclose how we're using AI in our work 🤖Big shifts in the social media landscape — including the fall of X, the rise of Bluesky, "free speech" on Facebook & more 🪨Substack's slow & steady descent from newsletter service to social media platform... 🫠& The return to IRL events — plus more intimacy in our online spaces 🫂   Tune in for a gently-guided look into the murky crystal ball of online biz in 2025. Then join us in the Clubhouse for our members-only biz forecast episodes throughout the year!MORE FROM AMANDA🐌 Visit the Slow & Steady website📩 Sign up for Amanda's newsletter🎧 Listen to Amanda's previous appearance on Off the Grid (Apple Podcasts, Spotify)  RESOURCES + LINKS👋 Download the FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit🌐 Join the Interweb for courses + community🌸 Peep the Clubhouse for bonus episodes + emails💌 Try Flodesk for easy email marketing, forms + e-commerce & use this link for 50% off your first year (affiliate link)

Today we're revealing the third tool in your 2025 marketing toolkit, and I'm resharing our BEST OF episode where Michelle Warner teaches us all about relationship marketing!With an MBA from one of the world’s top business schools and 15+ years experience growing small businesses, Michelle designs tiny companies that are built to last. She’s also the creator of Networking That Pays, the introvert-friendly connection system that brings in reliable leads, consistent referrals and meaningful connections for your business — in just 5 minutes a day. Together, Michelle and I talk about:What relationship marketing isThe difference between relationship marketing & traffic marketingHow a network can support your businessWho needs to be in your network (& who doesn’t)How to “borrow an audience” & why it’s so effectiveThe one type of content you need to have for relationship marketing to work  MORE FROM MICHELLE⏱️ Get Michelle’s free workshop 5 Minutes A Day to a Network That Pays🎧 Listen to Michelle's podcast Sequence Over Strategy RESOURCES + LINKS👋 Download the FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit🌐 Join the Interweb for courses + community🌸 Peep the Clubhouse for bonus episodes + emails💌 Try Flodesk for easy email marketing, forms + e-commerce & use this link for 50% off your first year (affiliate link)

Today at long last, we’ve got an episode exploring all things podcast guesting! And to do that I’m joined by return guest, portfolio career expert, and founder of Inner Workout, Taylor Elyse Morrison. Together we get into:What podcast guesting is (and what it isn’t)How to know if you should start a podcast or focus on podcast guestingA pep talk for boosting your confidence on the mic3 things to do before you focus on podcast guestingExamples of how to develop pitch topics for a few different types of businesses + creators And if you’re ready to put all this into action, please let me recommend Taylor’s new course, Grow Your Brand by Podcast Guesting! I’m a guest expert on one of the sections, and you can use the code OFFTHEGRID FOR $50 off if you sign up by the end of January.MORE FROM TAYLOR👀 Read Taylor’s blog posts on how podcast guesting fits into your marketing strategy + how to make the most of being a podcast guest📈 Use the code OFFTHEGRID for $50 off Grow Your Brand By Podcast Guesting (code expires 1/31/25) RESOURCES + LINKS👋 Download the FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit🌐 Join the Interweb for courses + community🌸 Peep the Clubhouse for bonus episodes + emails💌 Try Flodesk for easy email marketing, forms + e-commerce & use this link for 50% off your first year (affiliate link)

Welcome to our 2025 Marketing Toolkit! Today on the pod, we’re talking all things email marketing with Allea Grummert of Duett.Tune in to learn:5 reasons email might be the best marketing channel for your businessWhat a welcome sequence is + why it’s different than a nurture sequenceHow to find the right email platform for youWhy email segments + tags help you be your best, most multi-passionate selfHow Allea solves Amelia’s biggest email problem in 2 minutesIntermediate + advanced email strategies like link triggers, nested sequences and automated sales funnels Whether you're an email beginner just starting your list or a seasoned pro hoping to bump up those click rates, this episode has supportive, implementable advice for you! I hope you'll tune in and share it with a friend xo MORE FROM ALLEA📩 Get all the email goods from Allea + Duett right here🎧 Listen to Allea's podcast Happy SubscribersRESOURCES + LINKS👋 Download the FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit🌐 Join the Interweb for courses + community🌸 Peep the Clubhouse for bonus episodes + emails💌 Try Flodesk for easy email marketing, forms + e-commerce & use this link for 50% off your first year (affiliate link)

Happy New Year & welcome to season five of Off the Grid! Today we're kicking off this year-in-biz with a fun new format — five episodes in five days!Press play to hear all about it, and tune in this week to learn:Our top 3 marketing strategies for 2025Need-to-know advice for email marketing beginners & prosHow to be a better guest on better podcastsWhy relationships always matter& What trends will grab extra attention in the year ahead!You'll hear from amazing guests like Allea Grummert, Taylor Elyse Morrison, Michelle Warner, and Amanda Laird. It's basically a mini-of-the-moment-marketing-masterclass all for free on the pod feed this week! So please subscribe and share it with a friend xo RESOURCES + LINKS👋 Get the FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit🌐 Join the Interweb for courses + community🌸 Peep the Clubhouse for bonus episodes + emails💌 Try Flodesk for easy email marketing, forms + e-commerce & use this link for 50% off your first year (affiliate link)

In this BEST OF episode, we dive deep what it means to feel seen and how social media is messing with our sense of self-worth and community connection.Tune in to hear me break down:What it means to "feel seen" online & offlineWhy visibility ≠ connection (or $ales)Ways to find connection in your work & life without being on the appsAnd if you're thinking of stepping back from social media, go ahead & download our FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit today! 🩵

Today we’re diving into the emotional depths of what happens after you break up with social media. Because it turns out that logging off the apps is only the first step...Tune in to this BEST OF episode to hear more about:The stages of grieving that come before the stages of leavingEverything that comes up after you leave social media AKA burn out, creation, return to human pace, loving it + relationship renewalThe magic that can happen when the space currently filled with social media is free againMy personal experience of loneliness setting in two years after leaving social media Know someone who’s thinking of getting off social media? Share this episode with them! 👋 And if you're thinking of leaving yourself, make sure to download our free Leaving Social Media Toolkit!

Welcome new friends from We Can Do Hard Things! In this BEST OF episode, I'm sharing the story of why I spent a decade investing my time, money & energy into Instagram...and how I eventually decided to leave all social media in April 2021. Tune in to hear about—Why I spent ten years investing in social mediaHow Instagram makes us anxiously-attached & codependentMy #1 rule for leaving social media& where to get your 5-step plan for exiting any social platformI'll be sharing two more BEST OF episodes this week to help us reflect on our relationship to social media as the year draws to a close. If you enjoy them, please download our FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit today! 🩵 And if you're looking for our Flodesk link, here you go! 💌

Welcome to the season four finale of Off the Grid! Today I'm joined by acupuncturist, herbalist, breathwork facilitator, + clinic co-owner Amy Kuretsky to talk about everything creative small business. In this conversation, Amy walks us through how she built a successful brick and mortar business AND a successful online business over the past decade. Then she explains what led her to wind down + close her online business a little over a year ago — including how endings can be messy, no matter how much permission you give yourself to change. So the first 55 minutes is a deep dive into Amy's business journey and the many, many lessons she's learned. Then in the last 40 minutes, Amy offers us her best advice for brick and mortar businesses, including how to grow your space, lead a team, and market to IRL communities. You absolutely do not want to miss this episode, and at 95 minutes it's a nice snack to chew on while the show goes on break until January. 🩵 See you in 2025, friends! xo, Amelia   🪩 Explore our resources + offerings:Thinking of leaving social media?  Download our FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit 👋  Want more Off the Grid episodes + emails? Join us in the Clubhouse on Substack 🤸Ready to build a successful, sustainable business without relying on social? Join The Interweb — our affordable, annual membership full of courses + community support 🌈 Want to share your work with hundreds of amazing artists and small business owners? Place an ad on Off the Grid next season!  🧲  

If Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook or X are giving you the ick... please let me offer this 5-step plan for leaving social media — without impacting your income!Tune in to learn all five steps in under ten minutes. Then grab our FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit to make your plan for what comes next in your work, biz + life.XOXO, Amelia

"These were very colonized institutions that I feel brainwashed me. And they brainwash a lot of people. So now as a business owner, creative & Notion consultant, what I get to do is decolonize my business and help my clients look at their own businesses through a decolonization lens."Today I’m joined by Podge Thomas for a reflective conversation about why being self-employed invites (and requires) decolonizing how we learn, how we communicate, how we operate, and how we relate to others. Podge is a queer, POC, neurodivergent Notion consultant. Her clients are progressive and radical self-identifying women and non-binary business leaders. When she’s not Notion-izing, she is renovating her 1780’s home in New England with her partner. Together we explore:The coercive effects of traditional education ⛓️‍💥Why Amelia did School like Ken did Beach 🏖️How to de-condition & decolonize our businesses 🧲The importance of situating self-knowledge amidst community values 🎗️Why Notion is a liberatory tool 👾Task management for non-linear thinkers 😵‍💫& so much more!  👋  Thinking of leaving social media? You don't have to go it alone! Download our free Leaving Social Media Toolkit today  🤸 THE CLUBHOUSE IS OPEN! Join us on Substack for members-only episodes + secret, curated emails. Only $5/mo or $50/year.

Dropping in off-schedule with a reflection/reminder/rallying-cry that we have power as small business owners, and we can stand against everything Trump is + represents — especially if we do it together. Tune in for gentle provocations and a special invitation to join me at a free event Wednesday, November 20 @ 12pm CT. I hope to see you there. 🩵

I’ve admired Jenny Blake’s work from afar for years.First for her seemingly endless success with book deals, big-name podcast guests, and six-figure corporate contracts.And now for her incredibly honest accounting of how her business dissolved during the pandemic and hasn’t rebounded since.So in today’s episode, Jenny joins us to share the highs and lows of her 13 years of self-employment. And together we go deep into all the practical, intuitive, and creative things she’s tried to keep her business going… even though nothing’s really working (except maybe Substack).This conversation is a must-listen for anyone who has struggled or is struggling in business. ❤️‍🩹 Big hugs to all of us! 👋  Thinking of leaving social media? You don't have to go it alone! Download our free Leaving Social Media Toolkit today  🤸 THE CLUBHOUSE IS OPEN! Join us on Substack for members-only episodes + secret, curated emails. Only $5/mo or $50/year. 

Happy Halloween, business witches! 🧙  While I typically keep things pretty practical here at Off the Grid, this week I wanted to lean into the mystical, magical and alchemical aspects of creative business. To do that, I invited three brilliant practitioners to each share a unique and powerful biz magic ritual with us! ✨ Brigitte starts us off with some practical magic as she shares her opening + closing rituals for each workday and workweek. [9:00]✨ Then Cecily Sailer offers a tarot spread and community reading for connecting with our business spirits. [17:00]✨ And finally, Ash Canty gifts us a meditative practice that serves anyone asking — “what do I do when everything goes quiet? or when things feel slow? or when I put something out there and nothing happens in response to it?” [31:45] I hope you’ll press play then keep reading to learn more about our magical contributors and find all the links to their work! 🪄 Contributors:Brigitte (she/her) is a systems and self-care witch who builds intentional systems for neurodivergent creatives who want to feel proud, successful, and get shit done. She makes Notion templates and custom workspaces that are a launchpad to helping you cross the finish line on your projects and goals.Cecily Sailer (she/her) is a creativity coach, writer and tarot reader. She runs a business called Typewriter Tarot, which is a sanctuary and learning community for creative mystics.Ash Canty (he/him) is an Afro-Indigenous, queer, trans-masculine, psychic medium, mentor, and death guide. Ash is also the co-creator of his business, The Sovereign Spirit Medium, and all the millions of umbrellas that are underneath that, that he manages and runs and also lets go of all the time. Additional Resources & Links:From Brigitte: notion daily dashboard template, custom notion workspace consult, website, youtubeFrom Cecily: typewriter tarot website, fifth spirit tarot deck, podcastFrom Ash: the sovereign spirit medium website, substack, portland grief house   👋  Thinking of leaving social media? You don't have to go it alone! Download our free Leaving Social Media Toolkit today  🤸 THE CLUBHOUSE IS OPEN! Join us on Substack for members-only episodes + secret, curated emails. Only $5/mo or $50/year. 

Often when business isn’t going well, we think that we can fix it with a new marketing strategy or growth tactic.We look to new courses, fancy platforms, or expensive mentors to “save” us … but in my experience, what we actually need in these times is to tend to our inner reserves in deeper and more nuanced ways.So today I’m joined by Pascale Coté of Dear Creative Mind to teach us how to cultivate creative resilience in our artistic, marketing and business practices.If you’ve ever had an unexpected pivot, a disappointing launch, or a period of deep burnout in your business, this episode is for you. Tune in to learn about:What creative resilience isHow to expand your window of tolerance in businessCommon creative blocks to work with — like perfectionism, procrastination, self-sabotage & moreHow social media causes creative blocksWays to redefine success & measure it differentlyNavigating positive & negative feedbackThe importance of pacing ourselves & our expectationsAdditional resources from Pascale ♡ 📲 Wish you could leave social media, but not quite ready yet? You need to read ➡ The Art of Thriving Online: Creative Exercises to Help You Stay Grounded and Feel Joy in the World of Social Media by Amelia Knott. Out now with Sounds True. (sponsored) 👋  Thinking of leaving social media? You don't have to go it alone! Download our free Leaving Social Media Toolkit today  🤸 THE CLUBHOUSE IS OPEN! Join us on Substack for members-only episodes + secret, curated emails. Only $5/mo or $50/year.

This one goes out to all our listeners who are still trying to make it work on social media!Today I’m joined by Dacy Gillespie, a weight inclusive, anti-diet personal stylist who has grown her business online over the past decade and is now navigating a major shift from Instagram to Substack.Together, we talk about:The high-stress worlds of music, teaching, arts admin & academiaWhy Dacy started working in fashion — even though she felt like a total outsiderThe role that Instagram plays in Dacy’s businessHow Dacy has right-sized her business for her capacityWays to navigate the highs & lows of a fluctuating client loadWhy Dacy started her Substack newsletter & how it’s grown to over 10,000 subscribersHow to market your work when you hate the feeling of selling yourself“is it possible to be an ethical influencer?” 📲 Wish you could leave social media, but not quite ready yet? You need to read ➡ The Art of Thriving Online: Creative Exercises to Help You Stay Grounded and Feel Joy in the World of Social Media by Amelia Knott. Out now with Sounds True. (sponsored)  👋  Thinking of leaving social media? You don't have to go it alone! Download our free Leaving Social Media Toolkit today  🤸 THE CLUBHOUSE IS OPEN! Join us on Substack for members-only episodes + secret, curated emails. Only $5/mo or $50/year. 

This week on the show we're getting into it with everyone’s least favorite internet friend — THE ALGORITHM 🙈To do that I'm joined by Kate Smalley, a small business advisor, educator, and facilitator, who recently wrote a great piece about getting out of your algorithm that had me thinking more about what algorithms actually do and how we can work with them rather than against them. Today Kate's here to help me explore:What an algorithm even isHow algorithms function on social mediaWhy it feels like "The Algorithm" is working against usCollaborating with algorithms for expanded possibilitiesHow it feels to be stuck in your algorithm & ways to get unstuckOur fave non-algorithmically-mediated spacesMentioned in the episode: Algorithms by Panos Louridas, The Social Dilemma, Are.na, Sublime, Readwise 👋  Thinking of leaving social media? You don't have to go it alone! Download our free Leaving Social Media Toolkit today  🤸 THE CLUBHOUSE IS OPEN! Join us on Substack for members-only episodes + secret, curated emails. Only $5/mo or $50/year. 

Happy October! This week we're kicking off Spooky Season with one of my favorite business witches — Michelle Pellizzon-Lipsitz of Holisticism!Michelle has taught me so much about online business, magical meaning-making systems, and spiritual practices. She's one of my favorite people to pay attention to on the internet, and I invited her on the show so I could ask her every question I've ever had about how she runs her company. In this episode, we get real-real about:How Michelle started Holisticism with a BFA in danceEvolving from newsletter to booking platform to online courses & communityThe 4 Pillars of Intuitive BusinessThe realities of Radical GenerosityWhy some ideas aren't meant to be businessesExactly how Michelle markets her paid membership, The North NodeWhy Holisticism moved their newsletter + podcast to SubstackThe magic of the low-cost class as lead magnetHow Michelle has grown (& shrunk) her team over the past 5 yearsPlanning a self-employed maternity leaveThe meeting creep & how to correct itNavigating chronic illness & family emergencies as a business ownerHow Michelle organizes her offeringsRunning multiple businesses at once& so much more!   👋  Thinking of leaving social media? You don't have to go it alone! Download our free Leaving Social Media Toolkit today  🤸 THE CLUBHOUSE IS OPEN! Join us on Substack for members-only episodes + secret, curated emails. Only $5/mo or $50/year. 

Today on the pod, I'm breaking down binary thinking and talking about why self-employment is a spectrum. Because your only options aren't 'have a full-time job' or 'have a full-time business'. In fact, there are about a million other ways you can support yourself!So if you've ever felt like an imposter or a failure or just been confused about how to tell people what you do, tune in for a special pep talk exploring:The many, many forms self-employment can takeWhy black-and-white thinking about work is never supportiveHow to expand your sense of how you can make moneyOne of my regrets from my first year in business& way more — all in less than 30 minutes!   👋  Thinking of leaving social media? You don't have to go it alone! Download our free Leaving Social Media Toolkit today  🤸 THE CLUBHOUSE IS OPEN! Join us on Substack for members-only episodes + secret, curated emails. Only $5/mo or $50/year.

“I don’t want to perform my job. I want to be rooted in my work.” Liz Migliorelli is an herbalist, educator and storyteller who has crafted an herbal product line under the name Sister Spinster for over a decade. In this episode, Liz joins me to talk about how her business flourished on Instagram — growing to over 30k followers! — and the ways that growth impacted her life, eventually leading her to walk away from social media entirely. (Spoiler: the plants made her do it) Together, we talk about:The benefits of being in the right place at the right timeHow Liz shifts her business model between products & classesWhat our approach to marketing has in common with herbalismThe clarifying gifts of nettleWhy we need to get out of our online echo chambersCreating clear, kind systems that support your work as you growHow Liz prepared her business/self to make less money this year   👋  Thinking of leaving social media? You don't have to go it alone! Download our free Leaving Social Media Toolkit today  🤸 THE CLUBHOUSE IS OPEN! Join us on Substack for members-only episodes + secret, curated emails. Only $5/mo or $50/year.