Why today is a great day to risk looking stupid.
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Earlier this year I tried to stream to multiple platforms at once with a new app.
I like to make things challenging. So I advertised it and got a bit of a buzz.
On the day of the Livestream I freaked out at the pressure I’d put myself under, but I went live regardless. I did wonder why I saw no questions until I discovered I’d set the live to “private” so I was doing it completely alone. In hindsight, the mistake was a huge gift. An audience of none is great for a first go!.
When you begin to show up as you, for your business, it can be terrifying. Just remember it’s unlikely many people will see your first attempts. You might do a video and only three people watch it. You’ve got the time to become more confident while the audience builds over time.
Of course, I can’t promise a lack of audience.
Last year I got an email from a client with the subject line “You Lied!”
Panic? Why yes I did. And then I read the email…
“You said when I did my first story that no one would see it, that for the first few weeks it’s just good practice and it doesn’t matter how bad it is …..
Well, I did my first ‘showing my actual face’ story this afternoon.
YOU LIED!
Every man and his bloody dog has seen it and messaged me and commented on it, including people I haven’t heard from for years!
(I might add, it took me most of the afternoon to do, so it’s probably quite gratifying in a way that it did not go unnoticed)”
After my heart rate slowed down, I was so happy for her. After this she persevered and kept going. As the owner of four retail stores, it’s allowed her to show up to her customers across all the stores, along with building her online store sales.
I was watching her this morning, and she’s now so relaxed in front of the camera. She’s smiling, her dry humour is coming through and we’re seeing her personality shine. She knows she can attribute sales to her videos, and as she develops more confidence, that will continue.
Even a year later, I’m still SO proud that she took that first step. And I think she’s forgiven me now. (Paula, if you’re reading this, I hope you have!)
Start now, because your audience today is smaller than the audience you’ll have tomorrow. It feels like a good time to risk it all….
Rachel Klaver is a marketing strategist specialising in helping business owners with personal brand. She’s also the owner of Identify. Identify helps small business owners develop a marketing strategy and action plan for their business. This newsletter is based on ideas from her new book “Be a Spider, Build a Web” which is coming out in 2022. You can also check out her podcast here
