Posted on September 11, 2019 by dragonspitapothecary
I never thought I would be a person who has a YouTube Channel. I also could not fanthom going on live videos for social media. Why would anyone want to do that? I barely like getting my picture taken and yet here I was pressing that record button like I knew what I was doing. Trust me, I didn’t and I’m still continuing to learn. That’s how it is though when you start your own business. You are constantly being put in situations where you need to figure things out, do things that are new and expand your limits. As I heard a friend of mine say, “New level, new devil.” There is always something that will be a challenge for you to learn, work through or overcome in your business as you grow.
The first time I pressed that little record button was to do a Facebook Live video. I recall thinking what in bloody hell was I doing! No one would see this and if they did what would they say? I was a nobody! Who would even be interested in this? Despite having a healthy Facebook following on my business page I was having these thoughts. Video was the new wave of how to connect with your followers, engage them in conversations and generate paying customers. I wanted that in my business so I hit the little Live button and went for it. From there I proceeded to stutter, say “um” way too much and tossed in something funny but probably inappropriate. Sigh, it was not great. I wanted to delete it as soon as I finished making it. It is still out there today and I cringe when I see it. Yet this morning, almost 2 years later I launched my YouTube Channel. My how far I have come indeed.
Who is Out There
Out there refers to the activities, posts, and recordings of the online world. It’s where anyone at any point in time and any place in the world could see what you have created, what you have said and what you have to offer. This is why direct sales has so drastically changed. We are no longer bound to our local neighborhoods, communities and places we physically see people in order to sell our products, promote our services or have customers.
What is out there are people just like you and me. They are out there looking for information, products and services that you have to offer. They are sitting in their homes, barefooted, in comfy clothes with messy hair just like you! They like to do the things you like to do including browsing online for cool information, products to make their lives better and service that is personal. This is where knowing who your ideal customer is and all you can possibly think about to describe them is critical. (refer to my Customer Avatar Worksheet to define your Unicorn Customer)
Putting Yourself Out There
In today’s direct sales businesses you can be wildly successful and never directly talk to another human. You don’t have to host parties, teach classes, meet with anyone in person or even physically talk to strangers. Technology has created a forum for us to establish that personal connection without actually ever leaving our homes or verbally talking to someone if we don’t want to. Pure bliss from the days of lugging huge boxes of items, setting up tables, and presenting to classes where most of the time people didn’t even show up.
However, the online space can be just like a no-show in person class. It doesn’t matter how beautiful your website is or how much you to offer in content, if no one is seeing it, reading it or clicking to get to it, you have nothing more than a beautiful website that isn’t generating sales. Just like an in person class too you probably spent hours getting ready for it, organizing information just so and practicing for the drove of customers you thought you were going to get. There is nothing more de-motivating in your business than putting yourself outside your comfort level and getting rejected, passed by and ignored.
You though have to put yourself out there. You have to be where people can see you, click to your website, blog, podcast or YouTube video and see more. You have to create the doorway for them to enter. For me that was the advent of creating my YouTube Channel and continuing to do social media videos to personalize my business and make a connection with people. It was also this blog to help people learn from me and share ideas demonstrating to them that I know what I’m talking about. You too can get out there and there are many ways you can achieve that and still be comfortable.
These are my best tips to putting yourself out there so it feels good to you and while it may be a little challenging at first it can be something you grow from and do better with each try.
Experiment with different tools. Perhaps you are really good at graphics and content creation or doing selfies and videos. Find the method that provides you a way to clearly get your message out there in a way that is comfortable to you. It’s good to be a little uncomfortable but it should not be so uncomfortable that it takes away from who you are.
Use your own content. Word things like you speak, describe things like you see them, give flavor, color, texture and smell all descriptions that come from you. There are some phenomenal content pieces on the Internet that are easy to copy and paste but those won’t work if they are not your words. You will lose the ability to truly connect with someone and get them to trust you if you’re just copying words from someone else.
Learn how. Even if you have a lot of experience making social media videos you still need to consider how to do them in your business. The same with blogs, podcasts, and other “out there” channels. There should be some continuity in your messaging and tools used so it looks, feels and comes across in a way that best represents your business. Using the right lighting, sound quality and more also deeply matter when setting up how to present content for your business.
Practice. It’s ok to be an amateur but it is not ok to be unprepared. Practice and review everything before you put it out there. Putting the effort in not only makes it better but it gives you a confidence that comes across in your message.
Pressing Record to Get Out There
Whether your preferred channel is a podcast, blog, video or something else you ultimately need to press the button and do it. That was hard for me to do the first time I hit record. Trust me though it’s worth just hitting the button.
You will never like your voice, you will always see the stray hair, you won’t have realized the color of your shirt wasn’t perfect but its all ok. I’m not saying go out on YouTube and look a hot mess but your video or podcast will actually come out much nicer than what you are thinking. People are interested in learning from you. They saw your pretty graphic, catchy headline and were curious.
Do what you do best – teach, describe, share, promote!
When I published my first blog post I had a sad thought about no one reading it. Did I just waste a bunch of time writing my heart out for no one to see it. Yes, in the beginning. However, over time my blog traffic has increased consistently month over month and I have kept writing month after month to give them a piece of my heart, share what’s on my mind and guide them to living better naturally.
Press record.
Open you laptop and type.
Draw something beautiful.
Go for it and maybe it will get a thousand hits in a couple hours or maybe it will just be your husband liking your first blog post like in my case. Either way you took the first step and you can only progress form there. You will learn so much from that first experience. You will probably also be critical of yourself but don’t be. You already surpassed the majority of people who will never even try.
Interested in more?
Starting your own direct sales business can be the best decision you ever made in your life. You can achieve a high level of success of all you own making. It starts with having the tools, templates and support you need to navigate the modern day direct sales landscape and a beautiful set of natural health products to offer your customers. Then you hit record and get out there!
Get started today by clicking here: dragonspitapothecary.com
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