For a long time, I believed that it was because that’s all I was good for. I was the holder of things that were close to death or dead indeed. It took me till a ripe old age of 45 to understand that things don’t come to me to die.
This happens when you launch a new business, a service, a program, a whatever that needs your constant energy output and being seen and heard. It’s like planning a wedding for however long one does that, having the wedding and then all of a sudden nothing to plan. This might sound like heaven, after a kerfuffle and visibility frenzy but the vacuum of silence you get when you no longer put all your energy into being seen and hear can be deafening.
I grew up with the notion that when a person of authority told you to do something, you did it, you didn’t question it. Not because you were a mindless sheep but because questioning the “authority” wasn’t safe. Hungary was a communist country during most of my time there. And you didn’t rise against the “authority” if you knew what was good for you.
When you have a circle of women who have your back, you feel powerful. You feel heard and you feel seen. It took me years to find these women and we have had our fare share of impostors who wanted a piece of what we had as a circle. At the end of the day, what remained are the ones who, to the untrained eye are regular people, but to me, are incredible and powerful women.
Why would someone resist gratitude? Because as long as I could blame other “stuff” for not being able to get out of the hole I was in, I didn’t have to lift a finger. I was comfortable in that hole because I knew every single micro inch of it.
When the time comes you find every excuse under the sun why you can’t do that video, publish that blog or write that post. The cleaning the toilet is more attractive than communicating with the people who are supposed to book your services, time to get real about visibility issues. Not having freak out about being seen and heard is not about learning how to be more visible. It’s about learning to deal with the emotions when you want to be everything and anything but seen and heard.
Being called a Woman of Power used to create all sorts of feelings in me. I’d push it back with indignation, thinking that I had to be humble as a woman and not bragging. That was the old me.
There is no road sign that will show you that you have finally arrived to a point where you deserve to be seen and heard. Don’t hold your breath for some great epiphany either. If you’ve been trying to decide whether or not you’re experienced enough, thin enough, articulate enough, educated enough, or just enough in general to grab some visibility space for yourself in the big bad online world, you’ve been asking the wrong questions.
Sandbox or broom closet? Whether it’s one or the other, you are depriving yourself of unfolding you and owning your power if you are staying in the space too small for you. When the container is too small, the solution is not to loose some of your mass. It’s to get a new, bigger container. Or go BIG and have not container at all. You can kid yourself into accepting the tiny space you’re occupying physically and spiritually, by re-shuffling your life. Or by convincing yourself that you don’t need a bigger space. Or worse, convincing yourself that you don’t deserve a bigger space.
Not everyone will be into the whole, let’s do spells and chanting and burn stuff and stir the cauldron. That doesn’t mean however that they shouldn’t be learning about it or make the most of the wisdom that’s out there. As much as the Craft is considered sacred knowledge that is earned by the hard core witches, the undeniable fact is that the stuff is “out there” already. Online, in books, in workshops, in circles. Purists will tell you that you need to be initiated into a coven or a tradition or whatever.
Knowing what makes me tick and what turns me on about my business was one of the best things to discover. Because you’re not in love with your biz 24/7. I get that. There are parts of it that aren’t all that sexy and alluring. And sometimes those things can overwhelm all that makes you feel warm and fuzzy about it. The last thing you want to do is show up and be visible.
This could be any woman’s visibility story. It’s not about courage. It’s about the overwhelming and driving desire to transform lives in her unique way, with her unique set of skill, wisdom and experience.
We all have something we are brilliant at. However when we are being told this story that we need to hold it in, we learn that it’s bad, something to be ashamed of and it’s boastful behaviour to let it shine and eclipes others’. So we never learn how to appreciate those gifts and talents in ourselves. What sadder even is that we learn to judge others who are in those very same shoes.
For women, in particular, this is an especially potent invisibility story to explore. We are given messages from the very beginnings of our lives, that we need to take up as little space as possible, be as quiet as possible, be accommodating as possible. Because when we don’t do those things, we are a burden. So we start applying that to our life pretty early on.
If you’re doing better than others around you, you might feel like you’re being disloyal to them. That your success in whatever it is you’re doing is an act of betrayal towards the people who aren’t doing as well as you. This puts a huge stopping block in front of you. You don’t want to betray the people you love, you don’t want to make them feel like you’re not in their sandbox anymore.
This was my story for a long time. Like 4 decades. I grew up with parents who had a poverty mindset. It’s not that they haven’t tried to create abundance. It’s just that while they worked themselves stupid trying to create abundance for themselves and their two children, they never believed they deserved it.
Boundaries form through trial and error. They are one of those things you learn more about when you don’t have them. We’ve all had the one client that just keeps emailing with those, “can I just ask you this quickly” messages they send a hundred of daily. Or the person who follows your Facebook page that thinks that you’re their personal advisor for free. It happens and sooner or later, in business, you have people and situations that will push and challenge your boundaries. Some will make you wish you had any.
Tracking your video content will have a great contribution to content production ROI from a very early stage of your business. It’s not a business activity you should put off until your business gets big enough. If you put in place a system at the beginning, it can grow with you as your business and your content portfolio grows.
Some of the biggest and most powerful stories to tell people are the ones where you are the hero. A hero that is not afraid to reveal her weaknesses and vulnerabilities. A hero that sees power and connection in sharing her challenges, her fails, her falls and everything that comes along with business and life.
People will remember how you make them feel. If they’re getting a great vibe from you, they will come back to watch more of your content. Of course, you can’t always show up peppy and high vibe but the least you can do is be authentic with your audience. If you’re not feeling it, neither will they. One of the things I do before all of my Facebook lives is checking in with myself to see how I feel. Do I have the right vibe for the topic I want to deliver?
The most powerful content you can create for your online platforms is the type that generates a conversation.The more conversation there is about your content and on your content online, the more favourable the algorithm. The more favourable the algorithm the bigger your reach. That is exactly what you want.
Dreams often unpack information from our subconscious minds that we are shoving to the back and put into the too hard basket. They are also road signs that help us sift through options, crossroads and navigate life and even business.
During my travels, I’ve observed 5 main content creator archetypes. Once you are aware of what archetype you are, your content creation process will reflect it too. It will also mean that you will create content in your unique flow with ease.
When it’s time and you have proven yourself, there will be people in your audience who will be happy to point their finger at you and say that you are the expert in XYZ. This is probably the only time when fingerpointing is a beneficial thing.
People might be under the impression that doing live videos on your Facebook page is only worth it if you have a lot of followers. A lot. It is, in fact, a great tool to grow your business, regardless of the number of people you have on your page or in your group. Don’t wait until you have amassed a greater number of likes on your page. Give your audience great video content now. Here are my very good reasons why.
Content is great! I love content! I love planning it, creating it, publishing it. I just love it. That is why I am doing what I’m doing in my business. It’s my ZOG – Zone of Genius and my ZOJ – Zone of Joy. I know that not everyone feels that way.
I now have a process that stores my ideas and a workflow that helps me develop the content. It did take me a while but hey, this is what business as a solo entrepreneur is like. You figure shit out on your own. Might take a few goes but at least you have the power to decide what vibes with you and what doesn’t.
There are things you can do to claim your turf and maintain it that don’t require peeing in a corner. Gentile ways that will let everyone know what your area is and what you’re all about.
Eeeeeek! is often what I hear from people when I tell them that I want them to start doing live videos on their social media. Like it or not, they have many benefits over the recorded type. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, even LinkedIn all have live video features. I bet you didn’t know!
One of the main elements of what I do is discovering where and why the women I work with play small. It’s a confronting part of my work but the most rewarding. It’s one thing to work with someone to produce some content. It’s another to see them open and unravel their amazing wisdom with courage. And with the complete conviction that their voice is worthy of being heard.
Before we throw away completely, any lingering idea of doing video to grow your following let’s bust some of the excuses people use.
Spiritual practitioners often shy away from the word “expert” so I learnt to find new words for it to replace it. I use go-to person a lot because it has a less academic feel to it and therefore it’s much less intimidating
I was sitting at my desk on Monday afternoon last week, trying to come up with a copy for my services offer for the week. I wanted to put out in Facebook groups. Just like I do every week. The resentment I felt about posts on social media was palpable but didn’t know exactly where…
My experience, as both giving and receiving feedback is, the longer one spends on creating a piece of content, the stronger they feel about the feedback received. Especially negative feedback. They identify with the piece of content they created because they have poured their heart and soul into it. Any negative feedback will go down in history about as well as your cat pooping in your shoes.
You spend a lot of time creating content for a 6-month plan you have come up with. You put your heart and soul into it. Even worked out what platforms you are going to use to post your content. You scheduled it all out, collected the images, edited those videos. You’re feeling accomplished AF and…
You know your growth could be higher, more robust. Chances are, there are some numbers that you’re not paying attention to.
Your video channel is not an online space where you just dump some videos or collect content that loosely relates to you or your business. Or at least it shouldn’t be but, sadly, for a lot of businesses, it is.
The first time I took out an ABN (Australian Business Number) in 2001. I gave birth to my son the same year. It was also the same year I got my drivers license, days before he was born. We were living on my husband’s wage in a garden suburb of Sydney, Australia. Paying the mortgage was a struggle but we coped, like many other young families.
When making decisions on what to buy, consumers are increasingly looking for more information about products than just size, colour, make etc. Conscious consuming is growing and content produced by businesses fuel and influence those tendencies. In simple terms, even if you are a manufacturer or a seller of physical products, the content you have available will influence your customer’s buying decisions.
Shopping centres have started selling Christmas decorations weeks ago. It’s only a matter of days before they start playing carols in supermarkets. Love it or hate it (I’m in the latter category), the end of the year is upon us and small businesses around the world are preparing for their end of year shut down…
Creating digital content is like trying to squeeze blood out of stone for some people. It’s not for everyone. Just like consuming digital content is not for everyone. Believe it or not, there are people who do not have internet by choice or even if they do, they do not take part in the tribal rituals of social media.
Repurposing content should be a routine exercise for all businesses with a robust content marketing plan. Content drives traffic to your website for years after it’s created. You spend considerable time creating content and then market it. Why not utilise it to its absolute full potential by cleverly repurposing and giving it new life. You might forget about some real gems over the years. You can dust off posts, videos and all types of content to breathe new life into it and put it to good use.
Pumping out content for your audience is hard and keeping it regular to market your business is even harder. It takes time and effort. You can do it for yourself or outsource it, but either way, you want to make the most of it for all your investment. You want to be content smart.
In truth, choosing the right tools for you doesn’t have to be hard. I tested quite a few before I settled on the combination of tools I use now. I wanted to share them with you because they are simple to use and have free versions that are not time-limited. And that, for a new, growing business, I know is very important.
You don’t have to be a fantastic sales copywriter to provide your audience with content that gives them value. Great value content will help them identify your brand and make them a raving fan. Because that is what you want. You want your audience to help you grow your visibility by sharing, recommending, engaging with and talking about your content.
I draw inspiration for a lot of my content from my very own life experience, once I managed to shift the boulder that’s been sitting in the way of my progress for a while. I enjoy sharing those little gems because it means that someone out there will read and go, “me too!” and may use it as way of shifting their own boulder that has been sitting in the way of their progress for a while.
Online content managers often find themselves with clients who need support on several of their online platforms, however those clients don’t always know how to add another admin person to their account. Another scenario is when businesses offering VA type work and set up platforms on their client’s behalf and need to hand over the handling of those platforms to the clients.
Most of us don’t have the luxury of an on-call film crew to help create great videos for our online courses & programs. However, there are plenty of things you can do, that are easy and will make people watch your course videos all the way through. Here are my top tips on making videos that engage the viewers and make them go back and keep watching.
It is widely thought that the cost of video production can be a prohibitive factor for small businesses when it comes to including video in their content marketing strategy. With the demise of Windows Live Movie Maker early this year and the editing suite in YouTube now redundant, it may seem like there are no free or low-cost video production options for small business. I’m here to tell you that there are!
Creating a welcome video sequence for your online course will start an instant rapport building process with your new students. You can introduce them to the course. Take them through the outline. Any advice on how to tackle the material and an encouraging message will go a long way.
You’ve just had a content strategy session with someone like me, perhaps even me, and you feel pumped about your content. You have a spring in your step and you feel like a boss! Fast forward five minutes and you’re already questioning if you are capable of carrying out the content plan you helped create.
Online courses are still the top way to deliver information to the masses on an accessible platform. Everyone has something to share and for every person that puts out an online course of some sort, there are many more who never do because they don’t have the know-how on how to create the content for it.
I write about content strategy a lot. One of the reasons I do that is because I want to bust some myths around it. Just the term itself can be pretty intimidating to someone who might have just started out in business or to someone who is trying to make it on their own and are a one woman/man band. Heck, even many seasoned entrepreneurs get chills at the mention of it.
Content – the new “C” word small business owner like to avoid. It invokes blank stares and a small, barely audible exhalation of what might be considered as signs of exasperation across the world. Unless you have the revenue to keep a killer copywriter on retainer, chances are you are either sitting at your desk…
Content is king! For many businesses, however, content is either something that languishes on the bottom of to-do lists or the source of giant headaches. They don’t know what content to produce, how to publish it and where to maximise their business reach. Or worse, they don’t even know or think that content is one…
When I introduce myself and my business to people and mention that I am a content strategist, I either get blank looks or a change of topic in the conversation. If visions of enormous whiteboards, projectors and war games on long boardroom tables come to your mind when you hear the term “content strategist”, you’re not alone!
Algorithms can only be blamed for some of the decrease in engagement. The other culprit in this natural attrition is content fatigue. This is when your audience literally just gets tired of your stuff.
Whatever platform you use to publish videos online, statistics show that captioned video content does way better than non-captioned. I will now share with you the three main reasons I recommend that you caption your video content for better visibility and audience reach.
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