The room falls silent because we all know that the truth bombs that are about to come are so important to hear right NOW. Given where you want to be, what you want to create and the sheer IMPACT you want to have on this world.
And so it starts…
With a loud CRACK several spotlights turn on and you find that you’re sitting in a large auditorium, looking up at the stage. You know this is going to be exactly what you need to hear.
The speaker starts and you sit up a bit taller in your seat, ready to take on every single word….
Your industry is both expanding and shrinking at the same time. More and more new people are coming into the scene. More people are searching for the solution that you provide whilst concurrently, the world is shrinking at an amazing pace BECAUSE of the ability to be able to build a global presence. Anyone, is suddenly reachable and researchable.
Everyone has the ability to become KNOWN.
To create a brand around themselves.
To be SEEN.
When you’re the face of your business, you know you ‘should’ be promoting yourself. You know you ‘should’ be putting yourself ‘out there’. You KNOW that you have to self promote….
BUUUUUUUT NOBODY REALLY WANTS TO DO IT.
[Spotlight flicks around to the audience] Hands up those of you who have held back on marketing yourself, promoting yourself or putting yourself ‘out there’ online?
[The spotlight lands on YOUR face and the speaker asks you] “If you were to ask those who know you best to describe you, they’d probably say that you’re smart, confident, strong, engaging, lovely, helpful, amazing, inspiring and caring…. And the other part of that, is that you probably believe them when they tell you these things, because they know and love you, right? RIGHT!!!”
With OPRAH at the Golden Globes intensity they say “SO WHY DO WE GET SO CAUGHT UP IN THE FEAR OF WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN WHEN YOU START SELF-PROMOTING AND BUILDING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND”?
If we’re so smart, why aren’t we out there spreading our knowledge to the world?
Why do we get caught up in worrying about what people “WE DON’T EVEN KNOW “think about us?
It’s a sticky one. However, if we were to think about it, you probably didn’t want or need to be friends with EVERY SINGLE PERSON you went to school with. There were people you liked, people you didn’t and then probably all sorts in between. So, why do we persist with this need to be liked by everyone ONLINE? It’s fascinating!
Over and over again, when people FINALLY start putting themselves out there and they start getting a GREAT response they say “Wow. I WISH I’d thrown myself out there much earlier”.
They say it wasn’t anywhere near as ‘bad’ as what they thought it would be. In fact, the response is 99.9% of the time POSITIVE and people are GRATEFUL that they’ve come across them.
IT’S MORE IMPORTANT TODAY THAN EVER BEFORE THAT YOU START PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE. TO START BUILDING YOUR AUTHORITY. YOUR PERSONAL BRAND. YOUR PRESENCE.
Why?
#1 Because your COMPETITORS are out there promoting the heck out of themselves. Unashamedly and with absolute certainty.
#2 Because being a LEADER (and being seen as one in your industry) requires you to LEAD FROM THE FRONT.
If you’re not willing to do things that are unfamiliar, how can you expect your clients to do that?
#3 Marketing is getting harder and harder these days because the market place is becoming more and more noisy and it’s only going to get WORSE!!!! The sooner you start, the sooner you start.
#4 YOU are your POINT OF DIFFERENCE! There isn’t one single human out there who is like YOU. There is not one other person out there that does things in the way that you do or who says things in the way that you say them.
It’s time for BRAND YOU to take the bull by the horns and make it happen!
The world of ONLINE isn’t going anywhere, and most people, before deciding to buy your stuff or enroll in your program or course are going to research you.
By creating a powerful personal brand that commands authority you’re actually able to control the conversation they’re having in their heads in a much more powerful and strategic way – because they get to hear from YOU rather than trying to determine in their own heads what to think of you.
IT’S TIME TO GET YOURSELF OUT THERE… and here are some simple steps that you can undertake RIGHT NOW that will help eliminate fear so you can be on brand, on message and start marketing yourself online.
STEP #1 – It’s not really about YOU…
- Focus on ‘them’, not on you. Sounds easy, right? Most people get so caught up in worrying about self promotion when REALLY when it comes to getting yourself out there it’s MUCH EASIER (and simple) if you focus on the people that you’re wanting to help and bring on as clients
- The way that we do this is to select ONE person that you want to reach online. Could be a real person or a fictional one. What are their problems that they need solved? What are their desires? Their dreams? Their challenges? Start thinking about THEM and what they’re going through RIGHT NOW at this exact time of day and work out how you can start to connect with them, add value to them and help them online
- When you determine what their biggest problem is (in relation to your service/offer/solution), come up with a few different ways that you could solve that problem for them BEFORE they buy from you. Use this as the foundation for your blogs, for your posts and even for your giveaways.
STEP #2 – HAVE AN OPINION
- There will be some who agree with it and there’ll be some who don’t, and that’s perfectly ok (as we established earlier).
- Share WHY your opinion is your opinion. Share the stories and the experiences that led to you forming that opinion
- This shows your people that you know your stuff and that you have substance to be able to back it up
- Humans buy from humans, and when you SHARE your opinions it let’s people get to know you
STEP #3 – ALWAYS BE VALUE STACKING
- Stop thinking of putting yourself out there as MARKETING and reframe it to be VALUE-STACKING
- Think of it like this: every single post you put up, every photo, every blog, every single thing that you put out there is adding value and building relationships with people (without needing to have a 1:1 conversation with each individual person).
- When you’re out there ‘stacking the value’ people SEE YOU as being generous, you’re more likely to create AUTHORITY and you’re seen as an EXPERT in your industry
STEP #4 – DO A SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE AUDIT/STOCKTAKE
- This is where you go back over the past few years and actually REVIEW everything you know, you’ve learned and what you’ve done to get to where you are RIGHT NOW!!!!!
- This is great to REMIND YOU that you have more experience than you’re probably giving yourself credit for
STEP #5 – WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOURSELF?
- What advice would you be giving to YOURSELF if you were in the situation the people you help are now in?
- Start sharing that!!
The final thought is to remind yourself that FEAR AND ACTION CAN’T CO-EXIST. When you just start doing it, the fear will dissipate! And FINALLY the people who have been waiting for you to show up online will start to see you.
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Nicola Moras
I work with leaders, business owners & professionals who want to build, create or expand their DIGITAL PRESENCE and use that to increase their REVENUE.
People who are READY to get themselves out there, they want the FRAMEWORK and the SUPPORT to make that happen.