The advice to "just be yourself on camera" assumes you want to be. Plenty of South African business owners don't: the plumber who'd rather fix the geyser than explain it, the baker who'll happily film the cake but not herself. That's fine. Most of what sells a small business on social media isn't a face anyway. It's the work, the price, the place and the proof.

Part two of our Ideas bank series. Thirty posts you can make without appearing in them, grouped by what you've got to hand, and at the end, the three where a face genuinely helps and how to make that easier.

The work itself

  1. Hands only. Icing, wiring, cutting, stitching, typing. Film from above or over your shoulder. Your hands are the star.
  2. Start to finish in 20 seconds. The timelapse of one job. The dirtier the start, the better the finish looks.
  3. The moment it's done. The last brushstroke, the first slice, the test flush. One shot, sound on.
  4. The hardest part of the job, filmed close, with a caption explaining why it's hard. People respect difficulty.
  5. What it looks like when it's done wrong. Someone else's work you were called to fix. No names, no address.
  6. The tool nobody's seen. Every trade has one. Show it, explain what it does in the caption.
  7. One job, three angles. Film the same thing wide, close and from underneath. Edit to a beat.

Price and value

  1. "This costs R…" A product, a service, a package. South Africans share price posts, and it saves you a hundred DMs.
  2. What goes into the price. Lay out the materials, the time, the travel, the tax. People argue less with a number they understand.
  3. Three price points. Small, medium, large. A cupcake, a cake, a wedding cake. A callout, a repair, an installation.
  4. The cheaper way. What a customer could do themselves, and when they shouldn't. Honesty here brings the bigger job later.
  5. This week's specials, as a flat lay with handwritten prices. Film it, don't design it.
  6. What a deposit covers. Boring, but the post people screenshot before they book.

Proof

  1. The review, read out by text. Screenshot the WhatsApp, blur the number, put it on screen with the job behind it.
  2. The before, then the after, with the customer's one-line reaction in the caption.
  3. Count something. Cakes made this month, geysers fixed this year, students who passed. Put the number big on the screen.
  4. A repeat customer. "Third time this family has booked us." Say what you did each time.
  5. The job you turned down and why. Integrity posts earn trust faster than testimonials.
  6. A mistake you fixed on your own work. The fix matters more than the mistake.

Place

  1. The shop at opening time. Lights on, blinds up, first customer. People like seeing a business wake up.
  2. The van, the kitchen, the chair. Your workspace, tidy, one slow pan.
  3. Where to find you. Film the drive in, the turn-off, the parking. Put the suburb in the caption. This is the post Google wants.
  4. Load shedding at the shop. What you do when it hits. Every customer has the same problem.
  5. The neighbours. The coffee shop next door, the hardware store across the road. Tag them. They'll tag back.
  6. Your delivery radius, shown on a map with a finger tracing it.

Behind the counter

  1. The supplier run. Market, wholesaler, hardware store. What you buy, what it costs.
  2. Packing an order. The box, the note, the tape. Twenty seconds, satisfying.
  3. The quiet hour. What you do when nobody's in. Stock take, admin, prep.
  4. A staff member's hands doing their thing, with their name in the caption. They'll share it with everyone they know.
  5. The end of day. Till closed, floor swept, light off. People love a closing shot.

The three posts that do need a face

Some things only a person can carry: an apology, a thank-you, and the answer to "who are you?". You don't need to be polished for any of them. You need to be visible for about twenty seconds.

  • The "who's behind this" post. Once. Pinned. Say your name, how long you've been doing it, and what you're proud of. Film it in the workshop or kitchen so the place does the talking.
  • The thank-you. When you hit a number, a year, a milestone. Nobody looks at the lighting on a thank-you.
  • The answer. When the same question has come up five times in your DMs, answer it once on camera. You can look at the thing you're explaining instead of the lens. That counts.

The trick that works for most camera-shy owners: film with the phone on a tripod while you do the job, and talk about the job. You're not performing. You're working, with the phone on.

What to do this week

  • Film your hands doing the most routine task in your business. Post it with the price in the caption.
  • Screenshot one WhatsApp review, blur the number, post it over a shot of the work.
  • Film the drive in and put the suburb in the caption.
  • Write your "who's behind this" post in your notes app. Film it when you're ready. Pin it.
  • Set up a free links page with your WhatsApp number, your location and your prices, and put it in the bio.

Sources: these are our editorial suggestions. No statistics are claimed. Part one of the Ideas bank, 50 post ideas for the week you've run out, covers any niche.