Episode Overview

Podcast: Shiny New Clients!
Host: Jenna Harding
Episode Title: The Mental Rollercoaster of Content Creation (and How to Make Low Views Hurt Less)
Date: February 2, 2026

This episode delves into the emotional and mental challenges entrepreneurs and creators face when their online content doesn’t gain traction. Jenna Harding discusses both the strategic and psychological sides of dealing with low-performing posts, sharing actionable advice and relatable experiences to help business owners maintain confidence and keep progressing in their marketing efforts.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Vulnerability of Sharing Content

• Jenna recounts a conversation with a comedian about the emotional challenge of sharing personal, creative work online, comparing it to “a smack in the heart” when performance falls flat. (00:30)
• She notes: “In order to take advantage of [social media], we need to expose ourselves and our vulnerability to the masses, which, let's be clear, is not something that is normal.” (03:20)
• Emphasizes that for many entrepreneurs, showcasing yourself online is an unfamiliar and uncomfortable leap, but a necessary one for business growth.

2. You Control the Narrative of Low-Performing Content

• Jenna stresses the importance of not personalizing low views:
  “You get to decide what it means... I wouldn’t tell you that it means the post was no good, or that your point was moot or that you looked silly.” (07:25)
• She advocates for adjusting content strategically—changing the hook, format, or adding “engagement attractors”—rather than questioning your value or message.

3. Building Resilience in the Face of Feedback

• Drawing on her performing arts background, Jenna shares insights about standing firm in your message regardless of audience reaction—whether online or in-person.
• Memorable quote: “We need to be so sure in who we are... and not make a post not performing or a negative comment mean anything about us.” (10:48)
• She gives a personal example from a recent expo where she respectfully disagreed with an attendee, proving that it’s possible (and necessary) to trust your own expertise—even when it feels uncomfortable. (15:00)

4. Strategic Content: The Growth-Nurture-Sales Method

• Not every post needs to “go viral”; posts have different roles:
  • Growth Content: Designed to reach new people—these are more likely to perform well in terms of views.
  • Nurture Content: Builds authority, trust, and a connection with your audience. These tend to have lower views but are crucial for business growth.
  • Sales Content: Directly invites people to buy.
• Jenna emphasizes: “It's unrealistic to hope that everything you put up on Instagram gets the most views of the week. It doesn't make sense math wise. And also it's just not how the platform works.” (17:20)
• Suggested framework: Assess each post by its intended job, not by overall performance.

5. Silencing the Imaginary Critic

• Dispels the idea that others are closely scrutinizing and judging underperforming posts: “No one is looking at your posts and judging the ones that didn’t perform well. Actually, the ones that didn’t perform well are the least likely to get in front of someone for them to even judge them.” (19:00)
• Urges listeners to stop deleting or archiving posts due to insecurity.

6. Authentic Connections through Instagram Stories

• Jenna recommends Instagram Stories as the best avenue for building trust:
  • They’re expected to be “real,” casual, and imperfect—this authenticity builds rapport.
  • Most Story viewers are warm leads, already familiar and interested in your business. “Stories are the perfect place to build trust with your hottest leads... the ones you watch, it's someone who just picked up their phone because they had something important in that moment to say.” (20:15)

7. Practical Challenge: 'Strategic Stories'

• Jenna pitches a five-day Instagram Stories challenge (“Strategic Stories”)—designed to help remove the stress of what to post, boost engagement, and encourage consistent sales.
• “The goal of Strategic Stories was to take away all of the strife of having to think of what to post and give you a nice balanced week of stories where you're like, nurturing and getting more engagement and interacting with people and then selling.” (22:05)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On emotional risk:
  “It's almost like a smack in the heart. If that's you and that's how you've been feeling, I want to offer a few different ways that we can look at this—some strategic, some emotional.” (02:25)

• On controlling narrative:
  “You get to decide what it means. You can make that post not performing well mean that you stink and your hair looked stupid so nobody watched it, which is not true.” (07:10)
  “Let’s fix the format, not assume you are broken.” (08:25)

• On authenticity and self-belief:
  “We need to be so sure in who we are, so sure in our message and not make a post not performing or a negative comment mean anything about us.” (10:48)

• On comparison anxiety:
  “Why is it that you are telling yourself that when you post something and it doesn't get a ton of views, some anonymous jerk face is going to your page and looking at all the views you got... No one is looking at your posts and judging the ones that didn’t perform well.” (19:00)

• On stories as trust-builders:
  “If you see graphics in your Instagram stories, I can almost promise you, you skip by them. It’s someone who just picked up their phone because they had something important in that moment to say to you.” (21:00)

Key Timestamps

• 00:30 – The emotional vulnerability of sharing content online.
• 03:20 – The necessity of exposure on social media for business growth.
• 07:10 – Choosing what low-performing content means.
• 10:48 – Building emotional resilience; standing by your message.
• 15:00 – Handling disagreement and trusting your expertise at a live event.
• 17:20 – Understanding the roles of different types of content.
• 19:00 – Busting the myth of the “imaginary critic.”
• 20:15 – Why Instagram Stories are ideal for authentic connection.
• 22:05 – Introduction to the “Strategic Stories” challenge.

Actionable Takeaways

• Reframe the narrative. Low performance doesn't mean you lack value; it’s often about tweaking content strategy.
• Judge posts by their job. Growth, nurture, and sales content all have unique roles and definitions of success.
• Build authenticity and trust, especially via Stories. Embrace imperfection and vulnerability to foster deeper connections with your core audience.
• Ignore the non-existent critics. Focus on real engagement and self-improvement, not imagined judgment.

Listeners left with practical strategies for handling the emotional ups and downs of content creation, concrete exercises to strengthen their confidence, and a challenge to help them build better habits for connecting through Instagram Stories. Jenna balances vulnerability, humor, and expert insight—making this episode resonate with anyone who's ever worried about their content not measuring up.