You can use this guide if you have always wanted to post something on social networks but kept putting it off.
I asked Buffer’s team of creators — because creating is important to us since our product is for creators — to share what actually helped them get past the fear, overthinking, and blank-page paralysis that accompanies early-stage content creation. Their advice was refreshingly practical.
Backstory: An initiative led by Sabreen Haziq, our Senior Brand & Community Manager, Buffer’s team has been transforming into a group of creators with real skin in the game. We’ve all worked together to:
- Over 11,000 Posts Published
- The campaign has generated 14 million impressions
- The video has received 21.5 million hits
📚 How We’re Empowering the Entire Buffer Team to Become Creators
Our growth phase was an “seedling” last year, many of us are becoming sprouts — hitting milestones, seeing real traction (hello, 1 million impressions), and learning a ton along the way.
We wish we had known this from the very beginning.
You can lower the bar much more than you imagine
What’s stopping you from posting your first blog post? It may not be strategy, timing or knowing what to write. The belief that you need to make your first post is what’s holding you back. You can also check out our Facebook page. — or that you need to post a lot Making it Count
It is not true. It is important to make a post You can also find out more about the following:You can go at any pace that you are comfortable with.
“Ease in with anything that feels natural to you,” The following is a list of words that begin with the word “you” Darcy PetersSenior Customer Advocate Management. “If that’s talking about a hobby, go for it! If it’s sharing an image with a one-word caption, please do! Get one post out, get another post out, get a third post out, and soon, the momentum will drive you.”
Arek Panek, Engineer on the Channels & Platform team, echoed this: “I decided it’s better to just start and see how it is. If I was waiting for my perfect moment, it’d probably never come.” How would a sustainable, low-effort approach look?
Discover your nearest “minimum viable post” Or MVP
The team was asked what their default format is when time and energy are limited. They were all almost monotonously simple. A single-thought text post or an image and caption. Boring is perfect for moving from 0 to 1.
Darcy is a special low-lift Darcy: “I have so many images in my camera roll that I’ve thought, ‘Let me just take this to post later.’ Each image has a story to tell, and although it can sometimes tell it on its own, the short caption helps ensure the viewer understands my take.”
Just one idea, and you’re out of the door.
You’ll post more often and get better faster once you stop viewing every blog post as an act.
Begin with a rhythm you are able to maintain
It’s not a magic number. It’s okay to post once per week. Once a month is also fine, as long as it fits with your current life.
The most important thing is to pick a speed you can maintain. Rathes SachchithananthanA Senior Engineer in our Core UX Team learned the hard way. “I would send out big messages but then not be able to keep up with them. Instead, start small and stay consistent.”
You will be more productive if you have a post that you can keep up with. It’s possible to ramp things up at a later date.
And speaking of lowering barriers — let’s talk about the biggest perceived one.
There are other options (and they don’t all have to be frightening)
Video is often seen as the end-all-be-all in social. With the advent of LinkedIn creators, and platforms that allow for text content like Threads or Bluesky the bar to producing great content may not be as high.
“The more I grow as a creator, the more I hear from people in my life that they would love to grow an audience as well,” The following is a list of words that begin with the word “you” Kirsti LangSenior Content Creator “And then they’ll say something like ‘but I can’t be on camera,’ or ‘I don’t know where to start with filming.'”
Here are two myths that need to be dispelled: Only video can make you successfulAnd that The ability to create great video content is unattainable.
The first thing to note is: Buffer’s creators are living proof that text- and imagebased content can be used to grow.
“Some of us dabble in video, but for the vast majority, text and carousels are our bread and butter,” Kirsti says
Even if you want to grow on TikTok or Instagram, you can lean on carousels — multi-photo or graphic posts — to do some heavy lifting. You can also adapt the format of your post to fit with each platform. Sabreen is a good example of someone who keeps things flexible. “I love a good text post on LinkedIn, and then a fast-paced reel on Instagram.”
For me, I actually treat video as a format to get ideas out quickly — I love an off-the-cuff ramble video (although I’ve had to get really good at cutting out my ‘um’s’ in CapCut).
Second point: No need for expensive equipment or formal editing training.
“When I first kicked off our Social 101 series on Buffer’s YouTube channel, all I had was an iPhone and some good natural light,” Kirsti says “I didn’t have any formal video editing training, so I played around with tools like Canva, CapCut, and Veed. There are some phenomenal video editing tools out there now. They’re super intuitive, and most of them are built to work on your phone.”
As for feeling comfortable on camera — that comes with time. “Plus, you don’t even really need to talk on camera if you don’t want to,” Kirsti Adds. “I love storytelling vlogs where I record the voiceover separately. It takes the pressure off.” The camera helps to calm the nerves when I am doing video.
Then you can You can find out more about this by clicking here. Looking to improve your video skills? Suzanne Kelly, The Operations Manager has an interesting take on the matter: “Anytime I’ve had a clear plan, I create much better video content. When I go with ‘I’ll just film some clips here and there,’ I end up not really having something usable.” Storyboard first, even loosely.
📚 Video Marketing 101: How to Build a Successful Strategy in 2026 (+ Examples & Pro Tips)
Do not wait for new ideas
The idea that posting something new is necessary can be paralyzing.
It’s not. And honestly, you probably can’t — most ideas have been expressed somewhere, by someone. What’s this? It is a good idea to use a bilingual translator Your original perspective
“Whatever you say, unless you’re a great philosopher, was already said by someone else, somewhere,” Arek: “That’s fine. Your perspective is unique and that’s what makes your content original.”
The creative mind will be transformed by this reframing. It’s not that you are a leader who is dispensed wisdom by a higher power. In a conversation you are a participant who shares what they’re learning or thinking about.
You may be wondering what to do. You can find out more about it here. version of yourself to bring to social media — the professional one? Which one is it?
Rathes provides some relief “It is ok to have different personalities on different social platforms. See it the same way you behave differently to your friends than your family or your work colleagues.”
It’s not necessary that your LinkedIn and Threads match. You contain multitudes. Post according to your needs.
There’s always another perspective, even if your own is the only one you hear. “But what if I’m not reaching the right people?” It’s possible that you are thinking backwards.
Find your audience by flipping the script
There’s common advice that says you should study your audience and create content that resonates with them — and that’s solid advice, especially as you grow. It can be a challenge to create content for an audience when you first start out.
Rathes provides an alternative route: “I don’t need to find content that resonates with my audience — instead, I’ll grow an audience that resonates with my content.”
You’re trapped in a rut. “but who am I even talking to?” This reframe is liberating. Post only what you find interesting. You’ll find the right people. As you get to know who is showing up, you can refine your approach.
You don’t know what to blog about? Here’s where to start:
- Document your progress or what you learn (many teammates do this automatically)
- Pay attention to the latest trends and news that affect your niche
- Answer questions you get asked repeatedly
- Comment on what you’ve just watched or heard.
To start, you don’t require a strategy for content pillars. All you need is a single thought, and the will to share that idea.
First, build your support system
It’s counter-intuitive, but you should start by commenting on the posts of others before posting anything yourself.
“Start by commenting on others’ posts on the platform of your choosing,” says Suzanne. “That’ll get you in the arena without it feeling so high stakes. And it’ll help you expand your network so that when you do feel ready to make your first post, you’ve got a community who is ready to interact with ya!”
It does two things. First, it gets you used to being visible — your name, your face, your thoughts — without the pressure of creating something from scratch. It also means that you won’t be posting to a black hole when you hit the publish button.
⚡[Plug Community feature]
Need people to stand by your side?
Community was cited by multiple teammates as the factor that made posts sustainable. It’s not about willpower and content calendars but community. People can be a part of the process by contacting us..
“Having a community cheering me on, liking my comments, engaging, hyping me up — that’s been the biggest mindset shift,” Suzanne says. “Like, they won’t let me flop!”
If you have coworkers who are willing to respond, or if there is a group of people with whom you share a mutual interest, it makes all the difference. This really helps to take the edge off.
💡 Do you have no crew built in? Buffer’s community is a good place to start — it’s free to join, and full of creators at every stage figuring this out together.
It’s not just you who feels this way
We asked our team to explain what kept them from initially posting. The answers we received were consistent and included perfectionism, the imposter’s syndrome, lack of knowledge, or fear of judgement.
If that sounds like you — welcome to the club. All the creators you admire began here.
It’s not that they learned how to overcome their fear. The people who cheered them on just kept posting.
Accept the “ugly” first draft
You have nothing on which to fall yet. There’s no way to know. “well, last week’s did great” If this project fails, you can cushion the damage.
“The first post is the hardest,” Suzanne, Operations Director. “It feels like so much is on the line for that first post to succeed or flop. Once you’ve been posting for a while, there’s less pressure for each one to be a banger — cause if it does flop, it doesn’t feel like a judgment on your success as a creator. Cause you know last week’s was a banger!”
The only way you can lower emotional stakes, is by posting more. Volume creates safety — not because every post is great, but because no single post carries the weight of your entire creator identity.
Sabreen, Senior Brand & Community Manager, frames it this way: “Every piece of content is a data point. It brings you closer to your audience by showing you what resonates and what doesn’t. No post is a bad post — just learnings along the way.”
It’s important to resist comparing your first efforts with those who have worked on it for years. You won’t be able to compare your first week with their second, but that’s okay.
Our mistakes so you do not have to make them
In retrospect, we asked them what they might have done differently. A few patterns emerged:
- Let a short break ruin your momentum. Life happens — vacations, hard seasons, busy stretches. Darcy found that getting back on track is easier than it seems: “It’s as easy as publishing a quick text-based, shower-thought post to get me back into it.”
- Not engaging back. Replies aren’t just polite — they’re part of the game. Darcy said: “Post, comment, reply to comments, repeat.” You’re losing out on connections (and reaching) if you leave after posting.
- Obsessing over follower count. Sabreen says she has fallen into this trap. “I used to be obsessed with my follower count. In hindsight, I should have focused on enjoying the process and letting my social media personality evolve alongside my audience. Over time, you find your groove, and things begin to fall into place.”
Systeme that help
Some point will come. “just post” Stops being enough. The idea of a lightweight, quick system is to get ideas out as soon as possible and before they become over-analyzed.
What’s the good news? The good news is that it doesn’t need to be difficult.
Catch ideas as they strike
Saving ideas as soon as possible is the team’s best practice.
Arek views Buffer’s ideas feature as a kanban: “One group is initial ideas — just a simple title and what I want to post about. Then another board is ‘in progress.’ I leave drafts there for a few days in case something new comes to mind. Then during the next session, I move them to actual scheduled posts.”
The location of the capture is not as important as what you are capturing. Many teammates suggested the Notes application, voice memos or just drafting in Buffer. This is about having somewhere to store your half-baked concepts until you are ready to refine them.
Lean into scheduling if hitting ‘post’ feels a bit much
It’s been mentioned repeatedly that scheduling a blog post can make it much easier to get the content published.
“Scheduling makes it less scary to click ‘Share,'” Arek. If you’re in a queue and it goes out by itself, there’s no chance for last-minute second thoughts.
Suzanne credited Buffer’s streak feature as well: “It gives me hella accountability.”
Rathes schedules his creative flow to eliminate the ebbs. “Buffer allows me to spread out ideas and thoughts, even if they come in bursts. That way, I’m covered even on weeks that I am not feeling that productive.”
Takeaway: Schedule when you feel like it and batch when you don’t.
Take one idea and turn it into many
Darcy suggests a reframe if you find yourself stuck, thinking that you have to keep coming up with new ideas. You can break a larger thought into multiples.
“The catalyst was my 10-year anniversary at Buffer. I had a decade of thoughts to share, and stuffing them all into one post would feel chaotic. Instead, I drafted five posts to highlight different parts of my journey. Instantly, I had one post scheduled per week for five weeks!”
Darcy’s bonus tip: Use voice-to text or AI tools to talk through your ideas, and then have it break them down into 3 to 5 post concepts. The creative burden is reduced.
📚 How I Create Social Media Content As a Verbal Processor: 3 Easy Steps
📚 How AI Dictation Tools Changed The Way I Work (And Which Ones Are Worth It)
Sabreen uses a similar strategy: “I get typing fatigue quite often in the age of AI, so it’s much easier to collaborate with ChatGPT on creative script ideas and ways to make things more engaging. It’s the fastest way to arrive at a concept that’s closest to my vision, and ultimately to a stronger piece of content.”
What lies on the Other Side
How has posting impacted your career or work in unexpected ways? These answers reminded us why all of this discomfort is well worth it.
Keep it Simple: Rathes “Posting on social media literally got me the job of my dreams.”
Suzanne saw tangible growth: “I’ve more than doubled my following on LinkedIn.”
Darcy was adamant about the importance of Darcy’s relationships. “Posting more often has allowed me to connect and create relationships with others in my industry. I often receive LinkedIn DMs from people who’ve seen one of my posts. It’s a great way to learn from one another.”
Sabreen’s income was also a result of this. “I’ve been able to monetize on LinkedIn through entirely organic inbound leads, netting around $7K so far. Along the way, I’ve had the opportunity to work with brands like beehiiv, Canva, Air, Teal, Gamma, Slate, and Tracksuit.”
Dream job. Followers doubled Brand deals. Brand relationships All of these results were possible without going viral. These results were achieved by showing up regularly, sharing your real perspective, and treating the social media space as a community.
You’re welcome to continue to hesitate. Posting feels vulnerable. Blank pages are intimidating. The fear that no one will care — or worse, that they’ll judge — is real.
Don’t forget: you do not need to be able to please everyone. You just need to be useful to someone — even if that someone is just one person scrolling by.
As Sabreen put it: “Your creator journey is a long-running storyline that evolves over time. You can’t become everything at once… Patience ends up being your greatest advantage.”
Now, go ahead and publish it. You’re ready to publish.
