The Engagement Spiral — A Love Story Between Me, My Camera,

The Engagement Spiral — A Love Story Between Me, My Camera, and the Algorithm That Hates Me Ah, engagement. Not the shiny ring kind — I’m talking about the maddening, obsessive, slightly toxic relationship that small business owners have with numbers. Followers. Likes. Reach. Saves. Shares. Impressions. You know, all those little metrics that make you feel like an absolute marketing genius one minute… and a crusty gremlin the next. “Someone Unfollowed Me. I Haven’t Even Posted Today. HOW?!” Welcome to the ride, friends. You post something you’re proud of. It gets a few likes. You check back in an hour — lost a follower. Cue the spiral. Was it the caption? The lighting? Did I say something wrong? Wait… I literally haven’t even posted today. What did I do?! Some days it feels like your content is a party everyone ghosted. Other days you’re Beyoncé, if Beyoncé had to beg people to like her post so it gets seen by more than 6 people and a robot account named Kevin. Trying to keep up with trends? You better be ready to serve content like your entire mortgage depends on it. (Because... it kind of does.) You study what works. You scroll for “inspo.” You spend 45 minutes choosing background music that won’t get flagged. You edit, crop, color-correct, subtitle, and hope that this is the one that finally lands you 3 bookings and not 3 Russian bot comments. And when it flops? You just spent 2 hours and $1,900 of your future child's college fund on a lens that captured every pore — but apparently not attention. $50,000 in Equipment to Sell a $40 Product Let me say that again for the folks in the back. $50,000 worth of gear. To maybe — maybe — sell a $40 facial serum, if the reel gets pushed and the stars align and Mercury isn’t in retrograde. Two cameras for dual angles. Tripods that could double as military equipment. A ring light. A softbox. A drone. Probably a backup battery that cost more than your first car. All because content is king and your iPhone camera just doesn’t cut it in this savage influencer economy. The Definition of Insanity? Doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results? Sounds like running a small business in 2025. But you know what? Despite the madness, despite the fact that you now experience actual joy when your story views crack triple digits, despite the tears shed over a lens you can't afford but desperately need — you're still in the game. Because you believe in what you’re doing. You believe that the right person will see your post and book. You believe your product will help someone feel good. You believe that one day, just maybe, all the camera angles, algorithms, and caffeinated editing binges will pay off. And that, my dear tired entrepreneur, makes you the kind of wild that changes the world.