Whenever I’ve felt a bit scared of doing something in business, I always remind myself that SUCCESS HAPPENS OUTSIDE OF MY COMFORT ZONE. If success happened easily within our comfort zones, we’d all be experiencing high levels of success. Instead, we often have to take a leap of faith, or do something that makes our stomach flip, to experience success.
Social media is, of course, no different. We can play it safe and just post sales messages all the time. But that is unlikely to allow us the success we could be achieving on social media. Instead, we need to look at ways to do things that other businesses aren’t, to stand out, and to be different.
Whenever I mention creating video content for social media in my training or talks, it’s often met with mutterings of ‘yeah, right’ and ‘there’s no way I’m putting myself on camera’. I get it. Not many people have a deep desire to be on camera (and if they do, they usually find themselves on Big Brother or Love Island or such like!!). Yet, videos are so successful on social media. I still cringe every time I hear my husband watching my videos, and tell him to do it when I’m not there. I hate hearing my voice back! Yet, I still put videos on social media several times a week, because they lead to great results for my business.
From the reaction to video content, I’m sure you can imagine what reaction I get when I mention live streaming! Very few businesses embrace live video because it’s scary. Of course, being live is never going to feel easy. I’m sure newsreaders and presenters who are live on TV still have a few butterflies before every broadcast. But the more you do it, the easier it becomes. And it gets great reach for your content. It’s authentic. And, even better, most businesses aren’t doing it. So it’s a great way to stand out from the crowd!
There’s also a lot of value in being personable on social media. In showing your face or the faces of the people in your business. This helps to build trust and relationships and is far more ‘social’ than stock images. Again, this is something that some people struggle with, getting their face out there. But believe me, no one is scrutinising how you look! They just like seeing people on social media!
So, it’s time to put your hard hat on and take a big giant leap (or maybe even just a little tiny step) outside of your comfort zone. You’ll not only find your success is waiting there for you, but you may realise it wasn’t that scary after all.
