Nothing makes me happier than just creating a really funny or interesting or educational piece of content. If you’re waiting for it to look perfect, You’re going to be waiting forever.
Be not an impostor
When I look back and I think of regrets, it’s always me not being as cheesy as it sounds as authentic as I could be. And for a lot of my career having a personal brand, I was pretending to be somebody I wasn’t and I was being more serious and not expressing my energy and my weirdness and I was trying to look like everybody else in my industry. And a lot of the other women in my industry are very polished and serious. And it wasn’t until I realize that inauthenticity is exhausting and I didn’t want to act fake anymore. Then I started to get food jokes and talk about my love of crack and just weird glitchy things that I was embarrassed to share about. So when I look back, I would say that I wish I would’ve done that sooner. I wish I would have just been fully me from the get-go versus spending the first few years pretending I was somebody that I wasn’t.
Empathy is Underrated
You can have many different business models, but not all at once and that’s the mistake people make. They tried to do it all overnight and then it is confusing. I don’t like following a lot of the marketing rules because I believe that a lot of them marketing is a science and an art, and I focus a lot more on the art of marketing than the science of it. A lot of people focus on the backend, the analytics, the ROI, they focus on their numbers versus focusing on how I actually impacted my customer. A lot of marketers don’t really care about their customers. And because I actually care and because I actually respond and because I put humans before metrics, I’m able to connect deeper with my audience and that potential customer. And so then I’m able to have word of mouth marketing, which costs me $0. Everything I’ve done is been organic. I don’t spend a dollar on ads to create that content that actually spreads. I have to focus on shareable content. I have to put the customer first and I have to focus on human psychology more than I do. I move forward and I create content that I know is going to help her because if you get so stuck in the analytics and marketing. Empathy is just so underrated right now. And I think that is the reason why I stand out is because I actually give a shit. I actually give a shit about who I’m speaking to and they can feel that.
Consistency breeds, legitimacy. And so many people are in this paralysis of what should I share? What should I post? First of all, they don’t know who they’re talking to. So that’s why they have this paralysis, but then they post once a month or once a week. And they’re expecting people to buy their shit. And let’s be honest. Top of mind, awareness is everything. I’m just trading and buying attention. That’s all I want. Just your attention in your eyeballs. And so if I’m not relevant, then they’re going to go find someone else who is. And so for me, I’m always putting done is better than perfect. I’m always putting consistency before the perfection, because if I only posted when it looked perfect or when I felt like it, I probably post once every eight weeks. Your consumers in front of you and if you’re not speaking to them on a consistent basis, they’re going to go find someone who is.
My favorite thing in the world is to create. Nothing makes me happier than just creating a really funny or interesting or educational piece of content. I love being creative. And so that helps me to be consistent because I actually enjoy what I’m doing. And when you love what you do, you can actually show up and be consistent. So I think the big issue is a lot of people don’t actually enjoy creating content. The reason you’re good at marketing is because you’re good at humans and that’s it. People want it real value, real connection. They want empathy. it doesn’t need to look perfect. Your feed doesn’t need to look perfect. You in videos, doesn’t need to look perfect. You just need to show up and be you because gone are the days. 2014, 2015, where people wanted to see everything. So aesthetically perfect. I think we got exhausted from that.
So when I am selling unapologetically, it’s easier then. And they respond to it really well because it’s coming from an authentic place. But then I’ll go into a season again because businesses like everything else in life, it’s seasonal, it’s cyclical. I’ll go into seasons where I’m not selling people at all. And the mistake that I think a lot of influencers and coaches and leaders online make is they are always selling. There’s always a CTA, buy this, now, buy it now. And then when I am in a season of selling or a push or a launch season, I am going to sell unapologetically. And that is what makes me feel confident when I sell, because. I know that what I have is great and they do need it. And I’m very particular about what I am selling them. So I have to trust these other products and share it with people. And I’ll say no to so many things. I say no to 98% of the pitches or the products or the programs that I’m supposed to be, or that people want me to promote. Because if I was doing all of them all the time, it would dilute. My page and it would make me look too salesy. So it really comes down to having seasons to your business and when you sell, but when you’re not don’t and the problem is people aren’t willing to play the long game. They just want to make a quick buck. And I actually could pro I could be making a lot more, a lot faster, but I’d rather play the long game and know that I have a brand that in 10, 20 years, It’s still going to be strong and that’s, what’s more important to me than selling them on some program every single day.
What we do is to really help them to see a little clearer and see the world in a different. Perspective, but with soul. Putting the consumer first, having that empathy and adding some humour. I’m a huge fan of quirkiness. I’m a huge fan of, like you said, using the language of the customer, singing their lyrics. So I don’t use the language that I would always use. I step into her shoes and into her brain. And I say, how does she explain this pain? How does she explain what she wants? But for many years I would take every single response. When I would ask a question how does this make you feel? How to how would you explain this pain point? And I would take all of the responses and we would put it into a word doc and it would be in the word, doc was called words of my customer. Now with the polls feature on Instagram and all these other social platforms, I’m creating dialogue every day. And I think a lot of marketers. Don’t have this symbiotic relationship with their audience. They just speak to them, not with them. And I speak with my community, which creates this really strong connection and crises, lifers believers. They this intimacy and this strong connective tissue, because I actually do listen and I do care again, going back to empathy. I listen more than I talk as a marketer, which then creates more epic and shareable and hopefully viral content.
Teacher thought leader content
There was always intentionality behind the piece of content and sometimes it is for share-ability. Sometimes it is for them to save it. Sometimes it’s for them to take action, the CTA, the call to action. And sometimes it’s I have three different types of content that I create teacher thought leader in front, and I rotate those three. And so the intention is just pure connection. And then I have ones that are purely educational. Let me show you that I’m a teacher. Let me educate you. And so when I cycle those, there’s this. Organic trust that starts to happen because I’m not just doing one of them. And that’s where I think a lot of people on social get pigeonholed is when they’re trying to be just one of them versus showing that I’m all of those things. A lot of this was intentional and then it’s organic and intuitive. Everything’s really cyclical and intuitive in my business, and maybe that’s a very feminine way to run. And this is where women do really well in marketing. That’s awesome because this is where the feminine energy just works so well in marketing, because you are so intuitive with the customer and you’re dancing with them versus a lot of men in marketing who focus on ROI and numbers. This is why women are great sales women. This is why women do great network marketing. I think this is why women are dominating in social media right now is because they’re able to do that. And men who do stand out like you, who can tap into that heart-based heart-based marketing.
If you’re constantly riding the ups and downs and you’re not staying even keel emotionally, you’re going to be a wreck as a marketer. So it is really smart to actually not look at it every single day. get passionate and know who you’re speaking to and just go and be a machine and looked out and don’t look up for another year or two, and then start looking at maybe your performance or assessing things. I realized the way that I was going to win is by showing up more and being more authentic than any other woman in my space. And this isn’t to say it’s competition, but that’s how I knew. I at least was going to be. Successful in this space because I was going to show up more and I was going to show up more of myself than anyone that I know. Entrepreneurship really is just a game of self-awareness.
Money brings freedom, abundance, all these great things optionality, but nothing is cooler than when somebody tells me I watch your content and it makes me smile or it makes me laugh or. I’m in, I’m dealing with depression right now. And you brought me joy. Really think my greatest gift is bringing people joy. And so that makes me so happy, happier than anything.
How You Can Change Your Customers’ Lives