I Just Want to Run My Business. Why Do I Have to Be an Influencer Too?

There was a time when running a business meant finding something people wanted, putting it up for sale and letting them know it was available.

Simple enough, right?

Apparently not anymore.

These days, it sometimes feels like you need to be a photographer, videographer, video editor, social media manager, entertainer and part-time internet personality just to convince Facebook or Instagram to show someone a photo of what you're selling.

And somewhere in between all of that, you're supposed to actually run your business.

I don't know about you, but I don't remember signing up for all these extra jobs.

I just wanted to sell vintage toys. 😂

When Did Posting Products Stop Being Enough?

When I started Previously Played With, the idea was pretty straightforward.

Find old toys, give them a clean, research what they are, photograph them, list them and hopefully find someone who remembers them just as fondly as I do.

And that's still what I spend most of my time doing.

But there's another side to running an online business that seems to demand more attention every year.

Social media.

Now, don't get me wrong. I actually enjoy sharing what I've found. Some of the toys that come through here are fascinating, and I love seeing people recognise something they haven't thought about in decades.

There's something quite entertaining about posting a toy and watching someone suddenly remember they had one when they were seven.

But getting those posts in front of people?

That's becoming a whole different story.

You can take a lovely photo of a toy, write something interesting about it, share it with your followers and get very little response.

So you try something else.

Maybe a question.

Maybe a nostalgic discussion.

Maybe something funny.

Maybe a post asking people to choose between two toys they remember.

And sometimes those work brilliantly!

But then you're back to figuring out what to post next.

It's this never-ending cycle of coming up with new ways to get people interacting, when sometimes all I really want to say is:

"Hey, look what I've just added to the website!"

Surely that should still be allowed? 😂

Apparently, We All Need to Make Reels Now

Here's where things get interesting.

Open Facebook or Instagram and you'll find no shortage of advice telling small businesses what they should be doing.

Make more Reels.

Show your face.

Film your packing process.

Use trending audio.

Show people a day in your life.

Create behind-the-scenes content.

Post consistently.

And don't forget to make it entertaining!

I understand why.

Videos can reach people who might never have discovered your business otherwise. Some business owners are fantastic at making them, and I've seen some genuinely clever ideas.

But what if you're not particularly good at making videos?

What if you don't know how to edit them?

What if your workspace isn't especially photogenic?

And what if you simply don't want to spend your working day filming yourself?

Not every small business operates from a beautifully arranged studio with matching storage containers, spotless benches and perfect natural lighting.

Some of us work from ordinary homes.

There are boxes to unpack, stock waiting to be cleaned, things that need photographing and orders that need packing.

It might not look particularly impressive on Instagram, but it's a perfectly functional business.

And I can assure you, the toys don't seem terribly concerned about whether the shelves behind them are aesthetically pleasing.

The Instagram-Worthy Business

I think this is one of the stranger expectations that has developed alongside social media.

Somewhere along the way, businesses started needing to look like content.

Not just have good products.

Not just provide good service.

But have an entire environment that looks attractive on camera.

Beautiful packing stations. Colour-coordinated stockrooms. Carefully arranged shelves. A desk with a plant in exactly the right place.

And don't forget the perfectly positioned cup of coffee.

Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with any of that. Some people genuinely enjoy creating beautiful spaces, and I can appreciate the effort that goes into them.

But it's not a requirement for running a good business.

My customers aren't buying my stockroom.

They're buying the toys.

And I would much rather spend an afternoon identifying an unusual vintage figure than rearranging my workspace so it looks better in a video.

Although, judging by social media these days, perhaps I've got my priorities backwards. 😂

When Did the Person Become More Important Than the Product?

This is another interesting change I've noticed.

It used to be fairly normal to know very little about the person running a shop.

You knew what they sold, where to find them and whether you liked dealing with them.

These days, we're encouraged to know the person behind absolutely everything.

Their morning routine.

Their favourite coffee.

What they had for lunch.

What their children are doing.

Their personal struggles.

Their daily victories.

And whatever else happens to make an interesting post.

Now, I actually think there's something lovely about knowing the story behind a small business.

It's one of the things that makes shopping small different from buying from a huge retailer.

Knowing why someone started their business, what they're passionate about and how much work goes into it can make you appreciate what they do.

That's genuine authenticity.

But I do wonder when the balance started shifting.

When does a business stop being about what it sells and start being about the person selling it?

And does every business owner really need to become a personality to succeed?

Some people are naturally comfortable in front of a camera. They love talking to an audience, sharing their lives and creating entertaining content.

Good on them!

But some of us are much happier behind the scenes.

I'd rather talk about a strange toy from 1987 than tell thousands of strangers what I ate for breakfast.

And surely there should still be room for that.

The Never-Ending Game of Keeping Up

The frustrating part isn't even the content itself.

It's trying to keep up with what you're apparently supposed to be doing this week.

Just when you think you've figured out what gets people interacting, something changes.

Photos aren't enough. Try videos.

Videos need to be shorter.

Now they need a better opening.

You should be posting Stories.

You should be asking questions.

You should be using trending sounds.

You should be showing more personality.

And somewhere in the middle of all that advice is a business owner wondering whether they can please just finish photographing the stock they've been meaning to list for three days.

It can become exhausting.

Because unlike someone whose actual job is creating content, a small-business owner has plenty of other things demanding their attention.

There's sourcing, buying, cleaning, researching, photographing, listing, answering messages, managing inventory, bookkeeping, packing orders and organising couriers.

And that's before anything unexpected happens.

Social media is supposed to help us promote all that work.

Sometimes it feels like the promotion has become another business entirely.

But We Can't Pretend Social Media Hasn't Been Good for Small Businesses

Now, before this turns into a full-blown rant, there's something important worth acknowledging.

Social media has given small businesses opportunities that would have been much harder to come by in the past.

Before online shopping became what it is today, a small shop was often limited by its location.

You relied on passing customers, local advertising, word of mouth and people knowing you existed.

Now, someone running a business from a small New Zealand town can reach customers all over the country, and even overseas.

That's pretty incredible when you think about it.

Previously Played With certainly benefits from that.

A toy that might sit unnoticed in a local second-hand shop can find exactly the right collector hundreds of kilometres away.

Someone who has been searching for a particular childhood toy for years might stumble across it because of something I've posted.

I wouldn't want to lose that.

And I understand that access to such a huge audience comes with competition.

Thousands of businesses are trying to get noticed, and social media platforms have to decide what people are most likely to want to see.

I get it.

But understanding why something happens doesn't necessarily make keeping up with it any less tiring.

Especially when you're a small business trying to compete for attention against people whose entire profession is getting attention.

Since When Did Likes Become the Measure of a Good Business?

Here's another thing I've been thinking about.

We've become so accustomed to seeing likes, comments, shares and follower counts that it's easy to start treating them as a measure of how well a business is doing.

But are they?

Someone might follow your page because they enjoy your videos, without ever having any intention of buying something.

Another person might never like a single post but regularly visit your website and place orders.

Which one is more valuable to the business?

Obviously, having a large audience can be wonderful.

But a business doesn't survive on likes.

It survives on customers.

And those aren't always the same people.

Some of my customers probably have no interest in what I'm posting on Facebook.

They know where the website is, they check what's new and they buy something when they see a toy they want.

No comment required.

No heart reaction.

No dancing involved.

Just a customer buying something they like.

It's almost as if that's what shops are supposed to do. 😂

Of course, engagement helps people discover a business, which is why we keep trying to encourage it.

But I think it's worth remembering that a quiet social media post doesn't automatically mean nobody is interested in what you're selling.

And a viral video doesn't automatically mean you've had a fantastic day in sales.

I Don't Want to Be an Influencer. And That's Okay.

I think this is where I've landed with the whole thing.

I have absolutely nothing against influencers.

The good ones are genuinely talented at what they do. Creating entertaining content, building an audience and keeping people interested takes skill.

It's a job in its own right.

And if a small-business owner enjoys doing that alongside running their shop, fantastic.

But I'd quite like the option not to.

I don't particularly want to learn complicated video-editing techniques.

I don't want to feel like I need a beautifully styled home or stockroom before I can show people what I'm working on.

And I definitely don't want to spend more time thinking about how to turn my work into content than actually doing the work.

I'll happily share interesting finds, have a laugh with customers, ask questions and talk about toys.

That's enjoyable.

But I don't want every ordinary part of my working day to become something I need to film.

Sometimes I just want to unpack a box without wondering whether I should have recorded myself opening it.

Sometimes I want to photograph a toy without planning a transition effect.

And sometimes I'd like to post a product photo and have people actually see it.

What a revolutionary concept.

Can We Just Let Businesses Be Businesses Again?

I don't think social media is going anywhere, and I certainly don't expect things to suddenly return to the way they were ten years ago.

I'll keep adapting where I can.

I'll keep coming up with posts, sharing interesting things and trying to reach the people who might enjoy what I sell.

That's part of running an online business, whether I particularly feel like doing it that day or not.

But I do hope there's still a place for the small businesses that aren't trying to become entertainment channels.

The people making things.

The people repairing things.

The people collecting, restoring, researching, creating and selling things.

The people who started businesses because they were passionate about what they do, not because they wanted an audience watching them do it.

Because behind every carefully edited Reel is a business owner who might be doing brilliantly.

And behind every ordinary product photo is another business owner who might be doing just as well.

They simply have different skills, different priorities and different ways of working.

As for me?

I love finding old toys.

I love researching them, figuring out what they are and occasionally discovering something I haven't seen before.

I love knowing that something which has been sitting forgotten in a box for decades might end up making someone ridiculously happy.

That's why I started Previously Played With.

Not because I wanted to become an internet personality.

So I'll keep sharing the toys, telling their stories and hopefully making a few people smile along the way.

But if you're waiting for me to dance in front of a camera to sell a 1990s Polly Pocket, you might be waiting a while. 😂

Let the influencers do their thing.

And let the rest of us get on with running our businesses.

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I'd love to hear what you think.

If you run a small business, do you feel the same pressure to constantly create content just to get noticed?

And if you're a customer, do you actually prefer seeing videos and behind-the-scenes content, or are you perfectly happy seeing ordinary product photos and new arrivals?

I'm genuinely curious, because perhaps we're all putting ourselves under more pressure than we need to.