by Uchechi | Mar 21, 2021 | Business Tips, coaching, Mindset
I receive the same question all the time. How do I become more comfortable sharing my life’s work as I grow my digital presence? As a conscious business coach, I want to help you identify any narratives that block you. Women know this familiar story.
Women of color also know this history. Any woman who holds multiple identities knows this history.
The Fear Of Sharing Ourselves Begins With Young Women
It starts in adolescence, and social media enlarges the pressure, especially on young women. That pressure follows us into adulthood and behind the doors of our life’s work. But I want to help you get there by shifting the conversation and asking a different question. You can turn your fear of showing up online into a powerful purpose.
How To Move Past The Fear Of Sharing Your Work on Social Media
- Let go of the idea that you will feel more comfortable. Shift the narrative by introducing a better question. You do not become more comfortable sharing yourself online. It will feel triggering and challenging every single time.
- Move from comfort to purpose and ask this question instead: how can I become more purposeful?
- Your purpose helps you live a more meaningful life. I’ve read so many self-help books and blogs and podcasts and this seems to be what everyone is looking for. Happiness and fulfillment through meaning.
When I dare to be powerful, to use my voice in the service of my vision. Then it matters less if I am afraid.
-Audre Lorde
When you lack clarity and feel discomfort, shift your attention to your purpose.
Why do you want to grow an audience? Why do you want more followers? What is important for you to share with them? Focusing on comfort will confuse you and delay the next action. It knows how to convince you that your goals are insignificant, It will tell you don’t look great today. It needs a contender.
That contender is your purpose.
Why are you doing what you are doing? What is the greater impact you want to have? For instance, my goal is to help conscious women master the mindset + messaging + strategy they need to transform their digital business. I write that on post-it notes and put it everywhere. I have one on my desk. I have another one on my bathroom mirror. I have another one on the kitchen wall next to the stove. This is where I make coffee every morning and this reminder is essential.
Here are a few ways your purpose can serve you when self-doubt and fear set in:
- You remember that your greater mission is bigger than this moment of fear.
- You learn to use your face, voice, words towards your purpose. They are not there to look great.
- You can let go of your insecurities for a few minutes, knowing that your face is there to stand for something.
- You stop focusing on what you look like and start focusing on your greater message.
In conclusion, sharing your work online can help you grow your impact and income, but it can also bring up a lot of fears and self-doubt. This can increase as women. We live in a society that encourages us to choose perfection over our purpose. Instead of thinking about how to get more comfortable being yourself and sharing, it helps to think about how you can become more purposeful.
This purpose can support you when you feel afraid. Your purpose supports you during those bad hair days during the quarantine. When you focus on purpose, you take the attention away from self-doubt and direct it towards your mission. It allows you to remember that one day of content is one moment towards a bigger vision. This is your invitation to reimagine sharing your work on social media in the face of fear. Can you allow the discomfort and move closer to a purpose” Can you ask yourself how you can become more purposeful as you share your work online?
Your purpose follows your intention.
Hello! I’m Uchechi, holistic life, and business design coach for intentional women entrepreneurs. I help you integrate the mindset, messaging, and methodology to elevate your income and impact with intention and ease. My life’s calling is to give you the language to architect and design your desires.
by Uchechi | Mar 15, 2016 | Social Media
Let me first start by saying that if you are an entrepreneur, it is important for you to have a Twitter presence. It’s not necessarily just a way for people to tell you about what they had for breakfast. As startup founders, people often want to know about the people behind the companies they met or saw pitch during NOEW. They also want you to make it easy for them to find you, engage with you and spread the word about what you’re doing (at least, what’s relevant).
New Orleans Entrepreneur Week is an opportunity to capture insights and thoughts from thought leaders in this emerging tech startup city.
Benefits of using Twitter during #NOEW2016
- Leverage an existing (and popular event)
NOEW is the premier entrepreneur event in New Orleans, and including the hashtag in your tweets will help you gain more exposure and reach a wider audience on twitter.
#NOEW2016 helps you gain new followers (and colleagues, who are also attending the event)
Usually when someone finds you on Twitter, they’re interested in something about you that connects to their industry, interest, social group, etc. Twitter can be a low-commitment way to exchange contact info with people you meet or want to meet, both virtually and in person.
When you attend an event like #NOEW2016, the shared interest is #NOEW2016.
Take that extra step to find out if there’s something in common that drew you both there. Who knows what could come from it?
- Talk to your users via Twitter.
Are you a new photo sharing app, wedding planning app or in the health or #medtech space? Sharing posts on twitter during a major event allows you to find potential users who might be attending. Twitter itself blew up at SxSW by being the right thing at the right time in the right place.
- Establish yourself as a thought leader.
Do you have a unique perspective within your industry? Start tweeting about it and see how many people connect. People are hungry for real info and experience (not just rehashed stuff and platitudes). Give them what they want!
- Establish yourself as a follower of prominent thought leaders.
You can actually help other people with your own special expertise and taste as a curator. Would you rather follow 10 people who post something you want to read once a month, or who seem like they’re constantly bringing great things to your attention?
- You get a lot when you give a lot. Connect with others at #NOEW2016, attend events and quote thought leaders. They’ll thank you for tweeting about them, and you’ll find new friends and colleagues.
Here’s are some great sample tweets for #NOEW2016:
Here’s a great way to promote what you’re doing at NOEW:
Here’s a great way to support your fellow entrepreneurs during NOEW:
Want to promote your product during NOEW, do this:
The How: Now, here’s the play by play on how to do it.
For those who already have an account:
- Update your personal and company twitter ( if you’re a company founder, it’s important to have both) profiles to clarify who you are, what you do, how you benefit your users and why anyone should care. I think Matt Candler, founder of 4.0 Schools, does a great job of integrating his personal/founder profile and his company profile.
- Jot down 2-4 hashtags that you want to use during #NOEW2016 (And yes, this hashtag should be on your list). Tip: Make sure you’re using hashtags that are specific to your industry.
- Share to your personal Twitter profile and your business profile. If you don’t already have a twitter account for your business, create one! I like to post to my founder account, and then RT to my business account and vice versa.
- When attending events, quote the presenters and use their event hashtags and Twitter handles if you know them. Tip: Before the event starts, look up the presenters on Twitter and follow them.
- For presenters, throw up a slide with your company, twitter handle and the #NOEW2016 hashtag. If you’re also using your own event hashtag, let your audience know which hashtags you’ll be using and how to find you on social media before you start speaking.
- Spread the word about your product, event, company, offer, but do it in a way that targets attendees who might be your target customers.
- Network with Twitter in mind: When you meet a new person, follow them on Twitter to see their latest posts and find out what they’re talking about. Remember, twitter is all about the conversation.
- Whenever possible, use a photo. We all love an inside view into the what’s going on. Photos capture the magic of events, and the more you add photos, the more twitter users will retweet you. Think of images at social media bling. Everyone wants it!
- Follow people on Twitter instead of taking their business cards. This is a trick I learned a few years ago while at SXSW. After I had run out of cards, I realized that I could just follow interesting people I met on Twitter. Instead of worrying that you’re out of cards, You can say something like this: I’m out of cards, but I’d love to connect on Twitter. What’s great about this is that you will remember them because you see their photo and their Twitter bio right there. You no longer have to wait to get home and wonder whoae cards you have in your hands.
NOEW is a major entrepreneur and tech event in New Orleans. It’s not unlike events like SXSW. The thing to remember is that you want to network with a purpose, and not just collect business cards that will end up in a pile.
If you haven’t joined Twitter yet, now is the time to do it. Why? It’s real time conversation about events happening now. Did you see a great presentation? Share it! Did you connect with an innovative entrepreneur? Tweet about it. The goal is to engage with your audience, and the best way to do that is by sharing useful information.
For those of you who don’t have an account:
- Set one up, stat.
- Follow the instructions above.
- Add the #NOEW2016 hashtag to every tweet during the event.
- When attending events, quote the presenters and use their hashtags if you know them.
- For presenters, throw up a slide with your company, twitter handle and the #NOEW2016 hashtag. .
- Spread the word about your product, company, offer, but do it in a way that targets attendees. Here’s a great sample tweet:
Don’t have a twitter account while attending #NOEW2016? Now is the time to sign up!
What interesting content will you be sharing on Twitter during #NOEW2015? Hit me up @uchechi_writes and follow my web development company @LinkingArts.
