The Real Deal Digest Issue No. 33

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Side note: I wrote 80% of this newsletter a few weeks ago. Then I set it aside because I wanted to write about something else… then Mr. Zuck-F*ck announced his newest enshittification of Instagram this past week, so what I wrote has become relevant again.

And yes. There will be a bit more cursing than normal in this edition of The Real Deal Digest. If that makes you uncomfortable, you are always welcome to unsubscribe. 😉

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Yesterday, with great hesitation, I opened Instagram, and...

I didn't see ANYone I follow or am familiar with until about 8 scrolls down. 🙄

Instead, the app was feeding me all this content about speaking gigs, how to "make millions" from my podcast, and the occasional coach yelling at me about why I’m not making sales (the audacity! 😂).

Even my personal account — which I've tried to keep separate from my business one and have intentionally tried to curate into millennial nostalgia and highland cow videos — is giving me business ads in every other story that I swipe through... that I DON'T WANT TO SEE because I'm just trying to relax and see what people who I ACTUALLY KNOW are up to.

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And then there's the buttloads of conversations I’m having with coaches, creatives, and small business owners... who feel like they "have to" post on Instagram. The question I want to ask sincerely is…
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Why?

Like.. why are we feeling like we have to post on Instagram?

In this week's edition of The Real Deal Digest:

✉️ Why Instagram is pissing everyone off lately

✉️ What smart business owners are doing instead of doomscrolling & posting for visibility

✉️ My podcast relaunch + community rebrand — and what "Do What You Want" actually means for your business

Real talk: I have a love-hate relationship with social media…

See, I think I love it because I love what it used to be, circa ummm 2012…

…which was a place to connect with others, see what your friends are up to, and share your latest photo of coffee on the porch with the Valencia filter to mimic that 80s film vibe.

I also genuinely like to express my creativity on IG. I’ve always used my business account to push the boundaries of “professionalism” (whatever that means!) and observe how people interact with my posts. And on my personal account, I was posting videos in my stories as soon as stories existed. I just liked connecting with people that way. 🤷‍♀️

But I what I despise about IG is the recent “Enshittification” of it, which all social media has slowly turned into. 😭

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And, erm... yes. Enshittification. A word that exists now. If you read Substack articles or are clued into the online marketing world, you’re going to start to see this word everywhere (if you haven’t already).

Coined by journalist Cory Doctorow, it describes the slow degrading of how tech companies become “too big to care” about its users.

You’re smart so I don’t need to explain this any further to you — you know what I’m talking about. (Insert your fellow eye roll here ➡️ 🙄)

But in case you'd like a quick review of all the tech companies that have enshittified themselves, here are a few more examples of platforms that prioritize profits over people:

• Google (why must I click on page 3 to find a search result that isn’t AI or a sponsored ad?)
• Meta (Facebook, Instagram - I don’t need to say more)
• Reddit (Everyone is so angry over there! Why??!)
• Amazon (I barely buy anything from bazillionaire Jeff B. anymore. It’s too hard to find anything that isn’t crap from China)
• Spotify (so I hear… I’m an Apple Music girlie 🤷🏼‍♀️)

So, yeah. The way you roll your eyes at the Internet these days?

You’re not alone in that. We are all tired.

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The big question for you and me, though, is this 👇

What does all of this mean for those of us who market ourselves online?

I’m not sure I have an answer, to be honest. But I like exploring this question. It’s a question that a lot of online marketers are trying to figure out. Cue Exhibit B:
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• My former client (and mentor, I must add!), Chanti Zak, has an entire membership dedicated to becoming KNOWN without being glued to your phone aka creating more revenue pathways that stick around and compound instead of fizzle. (👆That’s an affiliate link, btw... and I only share affiliate links to communities and products I believe in!)​
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• Self-proclaimed introvert & marketer Tara Reid regularly does events like this one to help people grow their business without socials.
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• A popular email marketer, Kylie Kelly, has recently switched up her messaging & positioning to talk more about growing online without using social media, too.
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That’s just off the top of my head!

Last year, Gary V. predicted that social media usage was going to go down and that more IRL events are going to become the thing that people use to connect with each other.

And I don’t think he’s wrong. Nor do I believe he is talking about those big, multi-day events, either.

He’s talking about pre-Covid, pre-smart phone events where people would build real human connection — the kind you create when you by look each other in the eyes and have deep conversations beyond the comment section.

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I’m exploring this and many other topics inside of my podcast, Do What You Want!, which I re-launched in May. If you’re new to my world, this podcast used to explore the journeys of how entrepreneurs and business owners left their 9-5 to follow their inner voice that was telling them to switch it up.

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But with this relaunch, I’m leaning into shorter solo episodes, where I’m sharing my marketing & business insights and exploring topics like:

• The current state of marketing — what’s working, what isn’t, and how small business owners fit into all of it
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• Resisting the urge to do what we think we “should” do and finding what feels good and aligned with ourselves instead
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• An honest look at how businesses are experimenting and very few people have cracked the code on what grows your business in 2026 (and what works for those people might not work for you)
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• The power of vulnerability, how authenticity is now your edge, and where (and how) to find the courage to show up as yourself in a world filled with people who love to judge, cancel, and nitpick others (quick reminder: those people have no lives and their own insecurities to deal with and aren’t any better than you 😉)

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I’m learning to be comfortable sitting in the messy middle of not having everything figured out right now, and using the podcast to explore that side of keeping a business afloat in 2026.

If any of this email resonated with you today, please subscribe to my podcast and share your favorite episode with friends. That small action helps me out a LOT (and I thank you for your support).

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So, yeah. That’s all I’ve got for this month. This is getting long and I know you have things to do so I'll let ya go.

As always, thanks for reading and most importantly, taking the time to read something that came from a human heart. 😋

[TL;DR? 👉 Social media should be whatever you want it to be for yourself, creating with intention is cool, IRL events are making a strong comeback, and I hope you do what you want because you’ve only got one life to do it.]

Until next time!

-Rachael

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P.S. I’m currently working on a local IRL event right now for women who want to get more comfortable on the stage and network with kind humans. If you’re in the Rochester/WNY region and want to stay in the loop about it, be sure to get on the waitlist and be the first to know about the upcoming details for The Speak Easy Society.

P.P.S. While I'm still taking on clients who need new website copy, I'm shifting my focus on what lights me up a bit more these days, and have a new offer to reflect that. More details can be found on my slightly revamped website.

Books That Have Helped Me, Personally & Professionally:

📖 Hate the title, love the content. ​It helped me with my money mindset →​

📕 Rich Relationships ​Create a million-dollar network for your business →​

📘 New favorite business book: ​Book Yourself Solid →​

The links right above this paragraph contain affiliate links, which means that this small business owner *points to self* gets a little itty bitty commission if you decide to buy the thing you see after you click on the link. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and it helps me out a smidge. Thanks for your support!

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