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To make sales in your business you need to show up, authentically with purpose, but this is hard to do right?!

How to be visible and show up is a topic I so often talk about with my membership group and clients.  It is the most prominent business activity that evokes fear from even the most seasoned business owner!

To make sales, you need an audience ready to buy from you but this doesn’t happen overnight! You need to warm up your audience, build trust and allow them into the world of your brand and your business! 

So what do I mean by showing up?

Showing up is creating content that shares your brand message, purpose, products and services to your audience. This may be in the form of social media which itself provides a variety of opportunities in photos, video, live and graphic content, it may be via your website via blogs, videos or it may be through podcasts, video interviews and PR methods but the key element is you, the business owner and forefront and centre.  No hiding behind a logo or thinking that your audience aren’t interested in what you have to say, because in the age of the online world, consumers are seeking real connections and a sense of belonging. 

However, showing up is one thing, but showing up authentically to build trust is a whole other ball game!

Authentic content

2022 is already seeing trends of authenticity amongst content creation.  Gone are the days of perfectly curated instagram grids and filters that augment your appearance, live video is encouraging business owners to show up as they are to genuinely connect with their audience, and short form story content is all about behind the scenes, even if that does mean dirty dishes and piles of washing can be seen in the background!

Consumers want to know the face behind the brand and they want to feel connected and part of a community, social media, and other content-driven platforms provide the opportunity to do just that!

But
..it is all well and good knowing why it is important to be visible and show up, but as I said at the beginning this is super scary and a big leap for most business owners.

So how do you do it?

Here are 4 of my top tips to help you show up and be visible in your content:

 

  1. Focus on the value of what you are offering 

 

One thing that often prevents most business owners from being visible, is overthinking about the act of showing themselves and being vulnerable rather than the purpose of what they are trying to achieve! 

Instead of focusing on the purpose, business owners focus on how they look, how they sound and what people will think! All very natural human thoughts by the way! 

However, by concentrating on the value of what you are offering to your audience, eg the problem solving, the transformation, the community building, it allows you to shift the focus away from potential insecurities and onto the reason you are showing up, you have a message that is going to help your audience and add something to their day so your reason for showing up is not about you it’s about them!

  1. Talk to one person

 

Regardless of the size of your audience both in your content and live, it can feel super intimidating to show up in front of them! By focusing on one person when you are talking (this works for all speaking and when you are writing too!). 

This method reduces the noise of insecurities business owners often have inside their heads and allows the focus to go onto the potential client or customer (linked to point 1!). This is where your ideal client avatar comes into play.  

Understanding the key person who will benefit from your product or service and personifying them makes it easier to just start talking in your content and the more you do it the more it becomes second nature and feels like you are talking to a friend!

 

  1. Plan when you are going to show up and how!

 

Have you ever heard of the five Ps when it comes to planning?

Planning Prevents P**s Poor Performance! It’s so accurate! And in my experience, if you don’t plan to show up in your content
.you won’t do it! 

By working out when you have time to show up whether that be an Instagram story, a reel, a live video, an audio recording, or writing a text-based piece of content you can work backwards to set a time to plan what you are going to say and do.  

If speaking on video or via audio always write yourself out a script to follow or bullet point your key phrases so you are prepped and ready to go.  

The added advantage of doing that is you have the text ready to repurpose that content into something else!

 

  1. Just do it!

 

Yep I said it! 

The only way to get better is to practice.  The more you show up, the more it will feel less awkward and you will find your own flow! But this won’t happen if you keep putting it off! 

And I hate to break it to you, even as a business owner with years and years of performance and public speaking experience I still get nervous when I show up in video content so that is just something that comes with being visible! 

However, by using points one, two and three, you will start to feel more confident and will be able to push aside the nerves as you know your purpose!

So make the commitment today to show up for your audience, build that trust and grow your business!

About the author

Hannah Roper, founder and director of The Female Creative, is a coach and mentor to female business owners, helping them reduce their overwhelm and turn their ideas into action through goal setting, accountability and increasing their confidence and self belief. With over 20 years in learning and development and 7 years as an entrepreneur, Hannah uses her experience and knowledge to provide solutions to business growth and organisation through 121 coaching, a group membership and as a podcast host for The Female Creative Talks Podcast. Hannah has recently been chosen to receive an award for Top 20 Female Business Coaches of 2022 by Coach Foundation and was nominated for the 2022 Pamodzi Inspirational Women Awards for the second year in a row in the business category.

To find out more please visit www.thefemalecreative.co.uk