Conquer Self-Promotion by Mastering Your Mindset

You must promote yourself, or you are robbing the people of the opportunity to benefit from what you do. Let that sink in for a minute. If you don't share about your products or services, then the people who need them don't get to have stuff. So it is your actual job to promote yourself. And if you could think about marketing differently, as it really is about serving people, the people that you want to serve, and I know that you're not just here to make sales. I know that you're a heart centered business owner who has something that you're really passionate about and care about, and you know the impact of what you can do. Then when you make that shift, it makes it easier to step into the spotlight.

This is the Entrepreneur School Podcast where we believe you can run a thriving business and still make your family a priority. This show is all about supporting you the emerging or early stage Entrepreneur on your journey from solopreneur. To CEO, while wearing all of the other hats in your life. My name is Kelly Sinclair and I'm a brand and marketing strategist who started a business with two kids under 3am, a corporate PR girl turned entrepreneur after I learned the hard way that life is too short to waste doing things that burn you out. On this show, you'll hear inspiring stories from other business owners on their journey, and learn strategies to help you grow a profitable business, while making it all fit into the life that you want. Welcome to Entrepreneur School.

Welcome back, we are in this second episode in our series all about maximizing your visibility. And if you haven't listened to the first one, please go back and do that. This is going to be a four part series that you're going to see dropping every Tuesday through to the middle of September. And whether you're listening to this live in time, or whether you're listening to this in the archives later on, it's still applicable to you no matter what time of year you're listening. And today, I want to talk about something that I think is probably one of the most important pieces around getting visibility. And that is your mindset. This is the idea of how do I get over the fears of putting myself out there. I hear this a lot from clients and in networks. And it's like, how do I actually get myself to do the thing to show up on camera to start posting regularly on social media to take myself to a networking event and introduce myself to a stranger. These are all challenging things I will acknowledge it's hard. And so we need to actually unpack what's going on inside of your mind. And I'd love to provide you today with three mindset shifts that you can make to help you push through it.

And let's just start before we even dive into that with an acknowledgement that like, anything worth doing is going to put some stumbling blocks in your way, it's going to be challenging, running your own business, the whole idea of being able to be successful at the thing that you're passionate about. So that you can create and build this amazing life of financial freedom of time, freedom of flexibility that you get to have for yourself and your family is amazing that the opportunity at the end of this tunnel is the best. Like, I have to say that I've been an entrepreneur now for six years. And it is a marathon. And it is one that I am literally never going to stop running. Because I see what not only the journey itself can do for me. But like the ultimate end goal that I have for myself and for my family looks like. So I hold on to that as the light at the end of the tunnel is that there is something amazing that's coming out of this and what an opportunity to be able to explore how to do this. So just starting there. The first reframe that I would love to give you is this is your actual job to promote yourself. Okay, so sometimes when we start a business and depending on the type of business you have, there's a lot of things to consider. There's the legal stuff, what do I name myself? Do I need to trademark things? How do I register my business? Should I get a website like you're thinking about all these things? Maybe you have a physical store, you needed a lease agreement you needed to figure out how to manage inventory and bring all that stuff in. Maybe you have team VP of Products. How do you schedule like all these questions and then like later, later later, I'm moving down the list is marketing, right? It's something that we all I know that we need to do, but it can sometimes just get pushed aside. Because especially if you're started your business to do the thing that your business does, not because you're a marketing specialist, I get it, right. It's not your first natural instinct. And it's not necessarily the thing you want to do the most, it might not be the thing you love the most about your business. And that's okay. But I want to reframe this for you, when your job is to support people is to help people is to make people's lives better, which it is, you can figure out the way that that is like, I don't want you to undersell yourself with the value of what like being a photographer is for somebody, when you take pictures, and you capture an amazing family moment. Like that is so important to your clients, it is so meaningful. It is life changing to a certain degree like I has, I was thinking of that I was just thinking of the last photo shoot that I had, that my mom was in, that's so special and important. So I'm thinking about what you do and how you help people, maybe you're a fitness coach, and you help people feel really good about themselves physically and have energy to be able to play with their kids, like these things are important. And I don't want you to undervalue that for yourself. Because here's the clincher in this mindset shift, it's that you must promote yourself, or you are robbing the people of the opportunity to benefit from what you do. Let that sink in for a minute. If you don't share about your products or services, then the people who need them don't get to have them. So it is your actual job to promote yourself. And if you can think about marketing differently, as in it really is about serving people, the people that you want to serve. And I know that you're not just here to make sales, I know that you're a heart centered business owner who has something that you're really passionate about and care about, and you know the impact of what you can do, then when you make that shift, it makes it easier to step into the spotlight quote unquote, or put yourself on camera or send the email or just be vulnerable. Because that is the impact that you get to have. And if you don't do it, you don't get to have that impact. And not only does that negatively affect the person who would have been your client, it negatively affects you, because then nobody's buying from you when your business goes away. There was that saying that audio on Instagram a little while ago, that went, if you don't talk about your business, you don't have a business. It's true. It really is you need to talk about it, you need to be the one who's standing at the top of the mountain, who's banging the drums, who's making all the noise, you have to be your biggest cheerleader, you're going to collect cheerleaders who will help you along the way. But as it starts out, when you're just you when you're the solopreneur you know, you got you and you got your grandparents in Scotland, like me, sharing your posts, to people who doesn't matter to you. But they're your cheerleaders, and you've got somebody and hey, if you need a cheerleader, I am your girl. Okay, so just send me a message whenever you do something that feels scary if you need somebody in your back pocket to cheer you on, because I'm all about that. I absolutely love watching you all taking these actions, and seeing results happening so quickly from them.

And so let's move into number two, which is, here's the question to actually ask yourself, and that is, what's the worst that could happen? Okay, so I don't know if you ever watched this as us but Randall and Beth had this game like, worst case scenario. It's kind of like that. But what is the worst case scenario of when you make a video, when you create a podcast episode, when you pitch yourself to a potential client or to somebody who you'd like to collaborate with? What's the worst that could happen? Let's list them out. No response, rejection, Amin, email back maybe if somebody is actually a jerk, they might send tell you that you wasted your time. But that's unlikely to happen. Let's be honest. Or you don't make a sale? Or like you, like what else could it really be? What is the worst that could happen? This is one way that I have pushed myself through fear of doing things that felt very outside of my comfort zone. And I've told stories before and I continue to do this. Like, I want you to know that I practice what I preach here. And recently, one thing that I did in this realm was that I had my eye on somebody who I wanted to be on my podcast. She's got a big audience. She's local celebrity kind of like, She's somebody who I could actually go and meet in person by attending an event that she was speaking at. So what I had to do was buy a ticket to the event, and then hope that there was some way where I could get myself in front of her physically at the event. So I did that. And what were the risks there? Well, but $120 event ticket, but then I thought, oh, at least I'm gonna, you know, connect with some people who are there. It's a Women's Business Conference, this is a relevant group of people to be forming relationships with. So that's a win already. And then after she did her talk, she went to the back of the room, and she was selling her books, and I was the first one in line. And I bought a book. And I said, I'd love to have you on my podcast. Is that something that you'd be open to? And she said, Yes.

And so Jessica Jansen will be on the podcast coming up. In the fall, we've recorded the episode. And it was amazing. So that would not have happened if I didn't do the scary thing. And the worst thing that would have happened is that she could have said no, right. But I also could have gone about it in a different way, I could have just tried to find her email address, or send her a message on Instagram. And who knows if that would have had the same result. So sometimes, you just have to evaluate the actual reality of the worst case scenario, because your mind is really good at making up things that are like how bad this could be. And what if I die? And I'm saying that lightheartedly, but like will you? Will you die, I hope that you're not considering visibility strategies that could put you at physical harm. Like, that's not a thing that we're talking about here. We're talking about, like, being uncomfortable, and being vulnerable. And these are all things that we can conquer, as human beings, and I believe in you. And I know that it's possible. So the next time that you have a big goal, and you don't think you can do it, and you're afraid to take this step, then you don't want to put yourself out there. Ask yourself, What is the worst that could happen? And I bet you that the answer will make you laugh. If you want to hear them, please send me them in my DMs, I want to hear it.

Okay, so number three, this is a big one, a lot of the time, we feel unprepared and under qualified. And like when we're just getting started, we're like, we're not the person that we want to be yet we don't have the results that we want to see yet. And so we think, you know, when I get to x, when this happens when I've had more success, or I made some sales, or I've got the clients, or I've been on six podcasts, or I lose 10 pounds, or get my hair cut, or whatever excuse it is that you're giving to yourself, about this version of yourself in the future that you think is actually going to take the action that you're preventing yourself from doing now, let's figure out how to get to her now be her now embody her now be that person who is more confident, who is brave, who does scary things, who puts herself out of her comfort zone, who tries who is willing to fail, be that person now, because that is going to serve you so much on this entrepreneurship journey, not only when it comes to your visibility, but just in general and the way that we need to approach this. Like I said, marathon that is running a business, you have to be willing to treat everything like an experiment. It's all an experiment, which means when the experiment is over, you're going to get a result. And then you're going to be able to evaluate that result in terms of did it work or did not work? Did I pitched myself for a podcast I didn't get. I didn't get on it. I wanted to be nominated for an award. I didn't win it. I applied for a grant. I didn't get it like, but I did all those things. And you know what happened if I didn't do any of those things? Nothing. Also nothing. Right? So there's that whole concept of if I never X that I would have never why. And I love drawing those connections together, especially when it comes to visibility actions. And if you've downloaded my toolkit, you'll see that in there, there's a lot of things that are like, just reach out to somebody and have a conversation. Because you never know where that's gonna go. I just had a conversation with somebody in a collaborative way where we came up with some things that were not even on my radar before that conversation happened. I thought maybe you know, we were gonna talk about being on each other's podcasts or whatnot and no, like, we have like a potential whole like affiliate agreement and collaborative like collaborative curriculum Bill doing and just like a really great connection that came out of that conversation. And I would have never, if I didn't have that chat, like if I didn't make space in my calendar for that 30 minute conversation. So I love that in entrepreneurship, we can have these little moments that are like, if this was the one thing, and you didn't know, what was the one thing until it was, like I currently I'm putting this out there just because for the universe to hear it. I have somebody I was sharing about this on my stories recently, as a podcast host, I get pitched guests quite regularly from different agencies that manage speakers. And a lot of the time I just ignore them. I'm like, No, irrelevant, irrelevant, irrelevant, because I want to make sure that this podcast is full of people who are really going to add value to your life who are going to resonate with you. And so then I get this podcast pitch for a speaker. And it's a guy, and I'm not judging, but I haven't had any men on the show. Yet. It's a podcast for moms. So I want to make sure this still makes sense. So I look into him a little bit, because I got second pitch like his, his agent pitched me a second time. And when I looked into him, he's caught like 1.5 million followers. He's friends with people like Ed, my lead, and Gary Vander Chuck. I don't even know if that's his name, Gary Vee. And these are like big names with big influence. And so I'm like, Okay, I'm going to look into this person. Also, how they think that my I'm getting pitched for somebody like that to be on my show. And why did it happen? I don't know, I have a feeling it's because I got some media coverage, which boosted my, my podcast ranking and stuff like that. But again, it's all connected. That's the point that I'm trying to make. Mm, maybe who knows what's going to happen once that interview gets set up? And I have that conversation? And where is that going to lead? So the excitement, there's got to be some excitement that you have in the mystery of is this the right thing? So instead of mean, like, is this the right thing to do? I don't know if this is the right thing to do. Like who what if this is the right thing to do, and can we approach it with that kind of an attitude. So I want to say here is in summary, when it comes to creating a mindset for visibility, the way that you get to do what you love, and get paid for it, and make a living at it and have a business about it is that you step into the power that you need to get visible, to share about what you do, and to bring attention to it. That's how you get to make your passion a success. And that's how the world gets to benefit from the amazing skills, and services, and your brain, and all of the things that you bring to the table. And the wonderful, amazing thing about this is that you are the only one in the way of unlocking all of that. And I love that for you. I love that for you. You know, I don't often like to use the phrase like life changing. But sometimes we really have to lean into that we need to lean into how life changing we what our role is, in changing someone's lives. That's what we need to lean into. And for me, sometimes I'm like, Oh, I'm just teaching people like how to market themselves and how to promote themselves. And I'm like, No, listen, here's my reframe for myself on this. If I don't help you shine and show up and get visible, then the world does not get to benefit from the amazing thing that you do. And I also am such a firm believer and true to my core, that when you get to do the thing you love that you're passionate about that your heart is in, and that gets to be your job every day, then you're going to be happier, you're going to lift up the vibration in the world, and you're gonna help the world be a happier place. And that is my big vision for my brand for my business, and just one person at a time getting to do that. So I'd love for you to think about what your version of that is. And it would so love to hear from you over on Instagram, about what you thought about this episode. So as you know, I always like to give you a call to action so that you can start taking action. And maybe you know me, and maybe I'm just a voice in your earbuds while you do the dishes or go and pick your kids up from yet another camp or after school activity or whatever it is that you're doing right now. But I am a human being. And I would love to invite you into my DMs to have a conversation to tell me What's going on with you? And if that can be your first step into practicing putting yourself out there than I am here for that, huh, man?

Okay, I like it. I like it. I'm ready. I'm like, I love this. Oh, thank you so much for listening. I'm excited to share another episode all about maximizing your visibility coming up next week, make sure that you're subscribed, make sure that you're following along here and on social media, and that you're in our email list because I'm announcing quite a few amazing fun opportunities are all related to how you can grow your visibility, especially in the last quarter of the year. That's coming up here. So stay tuned. No spoilers yet. I'm just going to tease you and let you know that something exciting is coming and I can't wait for you to find out.