If I never hear these three words of advice again, it’s too soon. 

“Pick your niche” or “choose a niche” is some of the worst advice to befall women thought leaders — especially when we’re beginning to invest in and develop our body of thought leadership.

But if “choose a niche” is bad advice, then why is it pervasive?

Why does every marketer extol the virtues of niching?

Why do free PDFs, courses and workshops promise that they’ll help you pick the niche you “need” to get started? 

The problem with niching advice is that it’s nearly always incomplete, misleading and inappropriate. It causes overwhelm, mental freeze and confusion, and holds us back from trusting ourselves and voicing the strong opinions that will amplify our influence, build our exponential audience, and attract qualified leads. 

Why “Choose a Niche” Misleads (and Hurts) Women Thought Leaders

Once upon a time a coach helped me “pick my niche.” She asked me questions about my interests and what I cared about, and the difference I want to make in the world. 

Then, she “presented me” with my niche: social media marketer for sustainable clothing brands. 

Exciting, right?!

The only problem was that this niche made me profoundly uncomfortable. 

I knew nothing about selling products. Nothing about the fashion industry. While I cared about and was interested in sustainable fashion, I had zero experience. That wouldn’t necessarily disqualify me if I were excited to do that work…. 

But I wasn’t. I felt trapped. And then I felt bad, because my coach was a professional, and I’d answered her questions honestly. Why didn’t I feel the relief or excitement or clarity I’d been expecting?

Years later, I had a wholly different and deep satisfying experience when my niche came to ME.

Your niche is an evolution — not a divine intervention

It’s October, 2020. I’ve just spent ten months investing in and developing my thought leadership and experiencing its profound impacts. 

At first, I wrote about digital marketing. But I was more drawn to the creative process of thought leadership, the mindset and emotions of declaring bold opinions, and the way they build an exponential audience.

I’d been positioning myself as a “marketing lady for women entrepreneurs” for years. But in truth, marketing never felt like the right fit.

But it worked, for a while, as my proto-niche. It was an adequate starting place until a more heartfelt niche revealed itself: thought leadership consultant for women entrepreneurs.

This niche came to me slowly, unfolding over months. It made me nervous! Could I really abandon marketing? Could I really declare myself into something so specific?

I started SAYING my niche — trying it on. First, I told my coach. Then I told some colleagues. Next, I rewrote my bio and LinkedIn profile. And it felt really good, like a jacket that fits just right.  

Over the course of the following eighteen months (I want to underscore that “niching” is a long process, not something you check off your to-do list) I invested in a rebrand and in having my website completely rebuilt — which launched in February 2022. By that time, I’d refined my niche even further, to thought leadership trainer and advisor to women leaders.

(You can read more about this process in Case Study: Finding Your Niche with Eva Jannotta via my coach Eleanor Beaton of SAFI Media.)

The niche that was manufactured for me felt forced and wrong.

The niche that evolved organically over time felt exactly right. 

You Have What You Need to Create Thought Leadership – No Niche Required

It’s not that niching is bad. In fact, it’s a powerful communication tool to be explicit about what you do, and for whom. It’s not niching that’s bad, it’s niching advice — especially the three poison words, choose a niche. 

A niche is rarely something you whip out of a hat, or check off your to-do list, or that falls in your lap from divine inspiration. 

But the way niching advice is positioned, as though you can “pick” one like a flavor of ice cream, sets up a false and damaging expectation for women thought leaders: 

• It holds us back from getting started: I can’t create thought leadership until I pick my niche.
• It makes us feel broken: I can’t figure out what my niche is! What’s wrong with me?
• It keeps our thought leadership narrow and stifling: I can’t write about what piques my interest because it’s “outside my niche”

You do NOT need to “choose your niche” to create thought leadership.

Thought leadership is not the product of you having it all figured out. It’s the process by which you figure out what you believe and crucially, why. 

You already have what you need to be a thought leader, right now:

1. You already have a “proto-niche”

If you’re honest, you probably already have an idea of who you want to work with — even if it seems too broad to be a “real niche”: Women leaders. Solopreneurs. Introverts. Middle managers. Etc. 

It’s likely that you have something — or a lot of things — in common with this “proto-niche.” As the saying goes, “we teach what we need to learn,” and you want to work with people you can relate to because you’ve shared their experience. 

There’s nothing you need to “pick.” Rather, accept that what and who you’re drawn to is enough, and you don’t have to force yourself to be more specific. Then:

2. You can practice, starting now

With time and attention a refined, focused niche will emerge organically and make itself known to you — but not if you spend your time lollygagging. 

Thought leadership is a practice of discovering what you believe and communicating it. That means consistently identifying your opinions and sharing them with your audience. 

And you can’t do that while The Bachelorette is on. It takes focused action because it’s a commitment to yourself to trust and develop your thinking.

As you practice, notice the way it makes you feel: the parts that excite and entertain you; the feedback from your audience; the people who are attracted to your work and engage with it. 

THAT is the intelligence that gives rise to your unique niche.

3. Your niche will find you — again and again.

When you listen and pay attention — when you’re an avid student of yourself and your audience — your niche will make itself known. Like Ollivander says in Harry Potter, “the wand chooses the wizard” — or the niche chooses the woman thought leader and entrepreneur. 

Identifying your niche is not a one-and-done process. Your niche will evolve as you, your services, and the market change over time. That’s why “picking a niche” is forced and artificial. Niching is not an act of choosing but a revelation that will evolve as you do.

Your Niche WILL Come to You

When you commit with consistency to developing your magnetic thought leadership, a refined and focused niche will find you.

What you need to know today is this: You have everything you need to create magnetic thought leadership right now. You don’t have to wait for a niche.

You are enough. You’re qualified enough. Smart enough. Wise enough. Experienced enough. 

All you need is you: your trust and committed action and curiosity + a little time and patience = an unequivocally niched magnetic thought leader. 

Thought leadership Builds Your Exponential Audience 

Businesses thrive on relationships. And the most effective way to build highly engaged, eager-to-buy, and ready-to-refer relationships is through magnetic thought leadership.

In Exponential Audience, you’ll join an intimate group of women thought leaders (of all levels) to create thought leadership — that kind that attracts leads, clients and opportunities like a magnet. 

You’ll master the mental, emotional and practical skills you need to produce unignorable thought leadership for your business that makes you a woman of authority and influence.

No niche required. Just you and your formidable, creative, ready mind.

Join the priority notification list for Exponential Audience.

The post “Choose a Niche” is Terrible Advice for Women Thought Leaders appeared first on Medusa Media Group.

At least, it can feel dangerous. Publishing bold, provocative thought leadership invites the whole Internet to disagree with you. Dislike you. Disapprove of you! And this pushback triggers your stress response.

Coping with stress is a CRUCIAL skill for women thought leaders. And there is an undersung and hugely important coping mechanism available to women that we don’t use often enough: intentional microcommunities.

What’s an Intentional Microcommunity?

An microcommunity is an intimate group of peers with whom you can be safely open; who understand and relate to what you are going through; and who validate your experience.

What makes a microcommunity intentional is when it’s created and facilitated with the purpose of being open, supportive, and nurturing.

These communities are a powerful and underused coping mechanism for stress. They help us feel grounded, nourished and protected as we build our authority, push our comfort zones, and create our legacy.

I see an ENORMOUS lack of microcommunities available to women entrepreneurs and thought leaders. The Women Leaders’ Roundtable series I host is my solution to this dearth of microcommunities. I help women thought leaders connect in a special, intentional way.

What Research Says About Microcommunities for Women

Why are these communities so important for women thought leaders? Research shows that community is critical to regulating our stress response — particularly for how women cope with stress.

You’ve probably familiar with the three stress-response F-words — fight, flight, and freeze. You can Google your face off for how to manage the three F’s. Go ahead and do that! It will help you with your whole life.

But that’s not the whole story when it comes to how women cope with stress. Research by Shelley E. Taylor and colleagues shows that women have additional behavioral responses to stress, dubbed tend and befriend: engaging in protective, nurturing activities and relying on social networks that help to nurture and protect.

Tend and Befriend Communities are Hard to Find

Unfortunately, these nurturing and protective networks can be hard to find. Many adult women have a hard time making meaningful connections without the structure of school or hobbies. Furthermore, women entrepreneurs (and many people, post-global-pandemic) have the added challenge of working from home without coworkers.

It can be isolating. Lonely.

Sadly, many of the “solutions” available completely miss the mark of nourishing and protecting. They don’t offer the tend and befriend dynamic women most women desire. Networking events are often loud, crowded, or rushed. Zoom presentations with dozens of participants and a dizzying chat roll do not foster close connection. Some people have great experiences in online communities, but many (like me!) find Facebook/Slack/Mighty Networks groups busy, distracting, and challenging to navigate.

You’d think the Internet and social networks would make this easier, giving us geography-independent access to like-minded people. But the Internet can breed as much isolation, comparison-itis and separation as it can community.

Roundtables: a Microcommunity for Women Thought Leaders

To tend and befriend we must be able to talk safely and comfortably with others. Not shout, not recite our elevator pitch, not type, but talk.

When I think about networking, building community, and making new friends, I want quality, not quantity. I want intimacy and ease, not crowds, rushed agendas, or a pressure to impress.

I had never experienced this kind of microcommunity until I attended a Roundtable hosted by my colleague, Isha. The invitation was to a 90 minute video conversation with a few other entrepreneurs, to share our successes, struggles, and connect with one another.

Ninety minutes? I thought. That’s a lot of time to spend time with people I might not like. But I trust Isha so I took a chance.

It was one of the most intimate, grounding, validating experiences I’ve had professionally.

Our conversation was open and meaningful. I felt deeply connected to the women on the call. The conversation reassured and inspired me, with enough structure that it never felt aimless or long-winded. The questions we took turns answering invited open sharing and intimacy.

I enjoyed it so much I started hosting my own roundtables. After a year of doing them, they are among the most rewarding experiences of my life, personally and professionally.

Something important happens in microcommunities. There is a chemistry that comes alive in a small group that is impossible to facilitate in a larger one.

Why? I’ve discovered three elements that make microcommunities nourishing and protective for women thought leaders. This is what’s missing from 99% of online communities for women and makes microcommunities so powerful:

3 Unique Characteristics of Intentional Microcommunities

1. Gentle Structure

There’s predictability and guidance with structure that makes you comfortable. The facilitator invites you to take turns answering questions, which relieves you of deciding what to say and when to say it.

Whether you’re introverted or extroverted, shy or outgoing, a talker or a listener, the structure ensures that everyone has equal time to speak and be heard. This makes the conversation equitable and relaxing.

It also leaves room for spontaneity! What I love in every Roundtable are the interesting tangents, skill sharing, and brainstorming that arises. Inevitably, every Roundtable conversation takes an unexpected and delightful turn.

2. Intimacy

I’ve never hosted a Roundtable with more than 5 participants (including yours truly). Ninety minutes shared among five people means that no one is rushed. There’s time for everyone to speak and for spontaneous conversations to take off.

The small group format and open-ended questions make the conversation intimate, even though most women have never met before. The questions start broad and become more personal to help everyone feel comfortable.

It doesn’t take more than openness and the right container to facilitate intimacy. We want to connect with each other. As Brené Brown put it, “Connection is why we’re here. It’s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives. This is what it’s all about.”

3. Safety

Gentle structure and intimacy create safety. For tend-and-befriend to work, we must feel safe in each other’s presence to share what we’re going through and rely on each other for support and feedback. The glowing reviews from participants speak to how nourishing and enriching the microcommunity experience is:

• Thank you SO MUCH, Eva! I loved it so much. It was like a balm to my heart. – Angélique
• I’m the first to admit – especially as an INFJ – I don’t *love* any sort of networking. But you created such a safe space where we could all be open, and it led to amazing conversations and insights. – Tracie
• Thank you for creating such an authentic space for women. – Jasmine
• I want to appreciate this space and structure. I feel like I’ve received so much from listening and observing everyone, and observing the way you created this container. – Michelle
• I’ve never had this level of an intimate conversation about my business! I feel positive, energized, very grateful that I met the three of you today. – Suman
• OMGoodness Eva, it was amazing! I really enjoyed your process, your questions, the people you chose. I love making real connections with people and you’ve hit on something wonderful with this format! Thanks so much for including me. – Lena
• That…was…indescribable. THANK YOU! – Jaclyn

Microcommunities are a Powerful Resource for Women Thought Leaders (and they’re more accessible than you think)

Who would have thought that a microcommunity among strangers could have such a powerful effect? It turns out that to get the nourishing and protective benefits of tend-and-befriend, you don’t have to have a tight-knit group of best-girlfriend-fellow-thought-leaders at your fingertips.

While such a microcommunity is indeed meaningful, we can experience deep benefits from one-time conversations with new connections.

How incredible is that!?

By making such experiences part of our routine, we enrich our lives with reassurance and inspiration from our peers. We can regularly manage the stress of being a woman thought leader by making these conversations a priority.

And of course, measurable business impacts come out of growing our networks in an intentional, intimate way: speaking opportunities, email subscribers, client referrals, podcast speaking gigs, and more.

I urge you to seek out and commit to joining intentional microcommunities — or hosting your own. You can start by emailing me to join one of my Roundtables at hello @ medusamediagroup . com. It’s my favorite way to connect with other women thought leaders like you!

Special thanks to Amy Wright for edits. To learn more about my colleague Isha Cogborn’s work, visit her website. Image created by LinkedIn Sales Solutions via Unsplash.

The post THIS is What’s Missing from 99% of Online Communities for Women appeared first on Medusa Media Group.

I needed the pliers to unhook the p-trap so I could drain it and clean it out. I needed a specific tool for a specific reason.

It would be nonsensical if I started showing off the pliers by using them for cooking or yard work or cleaning. Yet that is exactly what happens with social media marketing.

We’re told we “need to be on social” to amplify our voice and influence and to build our businesses. Through a combo of FOMO (fear of missing out), shiny object syndrome, and downright confusion we obey. We open accounts on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Clubhouse, Facebook, and more.

But WHY? What’s the reason? What result do we hope to get out of maintaining all those social media accounts?

Women Thought Leaders Need a New Social Media Philosophy

The majority of women thought leaders are using too many social media channels. Worse, we’re using them half-assedly, grudgingly, and uncertainly.

Like channel lock pliers wrench, social media is most effective when used as a tool.

The problem I see is when women thought leaders start thinking of social media as the work. We fall prey to its addictive, competitive design. We see other people’s posts and stories and feel like we have to keep up. It gets treated like its own end, rather than a means to an end.

That’s why I evangelize “social media monogamy:” using one network supremely effectively for specific reasons.

My concept of “social media monogamy” isn’t a hard-and-fast rule. Social media monogamy is a philosophy — a set of guiding principles for social media use for women thought leaders.

The principles of Social Media Monogamy (SMM) are:

1. To need a tool thou must be creating something. That is thy thought leadership work, and it comes before social media.
2. Use the tools thou enjoy, let go of the rest.
3. Thou shan’t dance to the tune of these tools. Thou use them for specific reasons.

Let that sink in. Social media is a tool you can choose to use to amplify your voice and influence. You’re an ambitious woman, you don’t have time for energy vampires. Rather than pandering to ever-changing algorithms, you use this tool for a reason and be done.

How Women Thought Leaders Practice Social Media Monogamy

How does this work in practice? How do Real, Live, Women Thought Leaders practice the philosophy of social media monogamy? Let’s look at some examples:

Eva Jannotta, thought leadership strategist and advisor for women

When I started practicing social media monogamy it was clear to me which network would deliver the best results in terms of networking and reaching prospective clients. Thankfully, it’s also the one I most enjoy using: LinkedIn.

But LinkedIn isn’t the only account I have. Here’s how I use each social media network I’m a member of:

• LinkedIn: lead generation, networking, social selling, marketing
• Twitter: occasionally for news and tweeting podcasts/writers
• Instagram: very occasionally for personal reasons, like DMs and resharing weightlifting stuff
• Facebook: deactivated
• YouTube: private client welcome videos and team training videos
• TikTok, Clubhouse, Pinterest, etc: I don’t use these tools.

I only use LinkedIn for public-facing thought leadership work. The rest I use for mostly personal reasons or privately (like YouTube).

Eleanor Beaton, business and leadership coach for women

My coach Eleanor Beaton runs a multi-million dollar business and has a full time team. Though a bigger company often = more tools, Eleanor and her team are equally strategic about why they use each social media network.

Eleanor and her company SAFI Media exemplify the soc-med-monog philosophy via the 80/20 principle:

• LinkedIn: 80% of their marketing efforts focus on LinkedIn, where Eleanor has the largest following and where her right-fit clients are most likely to be. As she put it, “where we believe we have the strong competitive advantage.”

20% of their effort is in the places they “need” to be because their clients are there (Facebook, Insta, etc). You could make the case — and I probably would — that they don’t need to be there, but SAFI Media has made the strategic decision to maintain a presence in those places:

• Twitter: gently share thought leadership content and commentary/perspectives
• Instagram: stay connected with clients, gently share thought leadership content
• Facebook: paid ads strategy, gently share thought leadership content
• YouTube: where podcast recordings and educational videos can be accessed
• TikTok, Clubhouse, Pinterest, etc: don’t use

Psst! If you haven’t listened to my podcast interview on Eleanor’s show, click here to listen. We talk about booty-shaking for Mark Zuckerberg (#never), social media monogamy, and how I run my popular Women Leaders’ Roundtable series.

Ruchika Tulshyan, diversity and inclusion strategist and author

Many of my clients exemplify the SMM philosophy — thanks in part to yours truly’s benevolent influence! — but I want to highlight my client Ruchika of Candour Global because she uses two social media networks for two excellent reasons:

• LinkedIn: Since Ruchika works B2B with organizations, LinkedIn is a powerful platform for sharing her thought leadership and growing her network.
• Twitter: Ruchika likes Twitter! Remember SMM philosophy principle #2? “Use the tools you enjoy.” If you like a tool, even if it’s not directly tied to your thought leadership practice or business, use it. Do what you enjoy. And although Twitter doesn’t have the “professional” reputation of LinkedIn, you can absolutely find clients there (I have!) and make powerful and strategic connections.

Social Media is Not the Work. This IS:

Neither Ruchika, Eleanor or I are “monogamists” in a strict sense. Rather, we use each social media platform for a deliberate purpose.

Because social media is not the work.

Social media is a tool. And to use a tool you must be creating something.

Creating your thought leadership is the work. Supporting your clients is the work. Building your team is the work. Thinking, speaking, writing, learning, podcasting, that is the work.

Speaking of the work, that’s what stepping into your thought leadership practice and building your platform is.

Thought leadership platform-building happens to be my specialty, particularly for thought leaders in the Women Helping Women Economy. If that piques your interest, here’s the next step to take:

My free 5 Pillars of Magnetic Thought Leadership course teaches you how to make your thought leadership incandescent and irresistible.

It’s brimming with exercises, examples, and insights to make your thought leadership as magnetic as ice water after a marathon.

Click here to join the free email course, 5magneticpillars.com

I’ll see you on the inside.

Image by Good Faces via Unsplash. For more on social media monogamy, read How Social Media Monogamy Saves Time, Cuts Distractions, and Makes Women Thought Leaders Stand Out 

The post The Social Media Philosophy for Ambitious Women Thought Leaders appeared first on Medusa Media Group.

Yes. You can be too authentic for your audience… if ‘authenticity’ means no-filter sharing.

Let me explain:

What Authenticity is and When it Crosses the Line

Authenticity: WTF is it? Authenticity is being the best-est, right-est, you. It’s that energizing and effortless feeling that comes when you’re with people who excite you or when you’re in the flow state of doing your zone-of-joy work.

It comes in different flavors — you can feel that flow in a conversation with your spouse, your parents, or your neighbor. But you bring different facets of your self to those situations, right? You can be your best-est, right-est you in any relationship, but what parts of yourself you share depend on your context.

Authenticity takes openness and vulnerability and a grounded connection with yourself. Think about someone singing with so much meaning it brings you to tears. That singer is not phoning it in.

But what if that singer broke into sobs in the middle of her solo?

That would be too much for the situation — the wrong flavor for the context. It would be uncomfortable for everyone. And this happens in thought leadership marketing too — particularly among women leaders.

“Vulnerability-Matching” is Not Authenticity

Everyone’s heard that women are from Venus and and blah blah blah. Gender binary generalizations make me roll my eyes, but… studies have shown that women want personal connection, rapport and trust when making decisions for their businesses.

Women know this intuitively and we see it reflected all around us in online marketing. How many Instagram captions have you read that go like this, “I was in tears on my bathroom floor. This was it. Rock bottom. … And then I did XYZ and now I have a 7-figure business”?

The line between what feels authentic vs too much for this context comes down to your taste. Some women’s brands are more open than others, which helps them attract and impact their ideal customers.

The problem is, we see confessional marketing all around us and feel like we need to match it in order to be authentic. 

It happens in personal relationships too, like with my friend Jessie. Jessie is very open with me about her marriage to Shannon (whom I used to work with). She tells me what they fight about (sex, money and household roles, natch) and what annoys her the most about Shannon.

It’s curious to me how open Jessie is, because Shannon and I are close friends. (I flatter myself that it’s because I’m so easy and appealing to confide in, and Jessie can’t resist .)

But here’s what happens: when Jessie shares details about their marriage, I start sharing the same details about mine. I start vulnerability-matching! I want to match her level of openness by confiding the same way. But when I do I feel… exposed. Jessie doesn’t FORCE me to share, but humans are wired to fit in — and that makes me want to match her level of vulnerability.

Is your Mess an Authentic Message?

It would be no problem if I wanted to share that with Jessie or my audience. It’s not bad to share (sex, politics and religion are fair game if that’s what you want). Quite the opposite, you’ve probably heard the marketing advice to make your mess your message. It has a kernel of wisdom, a reminder that sharing your struggles is a powerful call to people who are experiencing the same thing and will feel validated and drawn by your openness.

But I’m reminded the iconic black quote tiles my client Ali Brown shared: sometimes your mess shouldn’t be your message. Especially if… you’re still a mess. 

Oversharing, transparency, and vulnerability-matching are not by default authenticity — but a lot of women think they are! Authenticity isn’t one thing, and if you’re not doing it right then you’re fake. No, authenticity is being your best-est, right-est YOU for your given audience, whether it’s your kids or your email subscribers.

Authenticity Needs Boundaries

You’re not competing for gold in the Confessional Olympics. You don’t have to share your struggles with money blocks or the abusive relationship you survived, just because she does.

• You get to decide where your line is. Where your boundaries are. What makes you feel like the best-est, right-est you.
• The difference between just enough sharing to make an impact and feel connected and oversharing is razor-thin. Listen carefully to yourself to find out where your line is. You may find it depends on the medium. Perhaps you’re much more open with your podcast audience than on social media.
• Share your scars, not your wounds. Most of us feel most safe sharing something we’ve struggled with — past tense. That’s not cheating. You’re not “fake” if you don’t divulge everything all the time (in fact having some mystery to you keeps people intrigued!). Privacy is important and you will serve your audience (and yourself) better when you can authentically share a struggle once you’ve earned wisdom from it.

You don’t have to be so vulnerable or truthful that you feel like you’re naked onstage in your most anxiety-driven nightmare. Being authentic in your marketing and thought leadership feels energizing and aligned, not forcefully exposed.

You’re not for everyone. Susie So-And-So’s Instagram is beautiful to look at, but that’s not your business. Your tone is different from hers. Your people are different from hers. And your people are waiting for you.

Now, if you’d like to take your authentic, not-overly-vulnerable thought leadership to the next level, may I introduce you to the 5 Magnetic Pillars of Thought Leadership?

The impact of thought leadership on lead generation and clients can’t be overstated: Over 80% of decision-makers say excellent thought leadership increases their respect, perception of capabilities, and trust in an organization. And 60% of those who are willing to pay a premium say it’s because the thought leadership of that organization demonstrates deep thinking and other virtues decision-makers value (source).

How can you make your thought leadership sing (without breaking into sobs)?

The 5 Pillars of Magnetic Thought Leadership.

It’s free, it’s just 5 lessons, and it’s got exercises, examples, and insights to make your thought leadership as magnetic as ice cold water after a marathon.

Click here to join the free email course, 5magneticpillars.com.

Image by Thought Catalogue. Thanks to my friend Julie Fogh for feedback on this article. Aren’t friends THE BEST? Check out The Authenticity Code (by Julie and her business partner) for more.

The post Can you be TOO Authentic in your Marketing and Thought Leadership? appeared first on Medusa Media Group.

Marketing advice drives me up the wall. There’s too much, it seldom offers context, and it paints with a brush the width of the Atlantic ocean.

Like this: be your authentic self.

But also this: say what your customers want to hear.

Which leaves women entrepreneurs confused and second-guessing themselves. Am I supposed to use my customers’ words or my own? How can I be authentic when I’m trying to sell? What do authentic marketing and thought leadership even feel like? 

These are great questions, and the answer is you don’t need to DO anything to be authentic — authentic is what you already are. Like taking off armor, it’s a matter of removing layers of marketing advice to let your true self come forth. When you do, your marketing effectiveness will skyrocket, and you’ll feel deeply connected and joyful at the same time.

Marketing Advice is Sabotaging Authenticity 

I belong to a coaching program for women entrepreneurs, and how the hell to authentically market comes up regularly. You know you’re supposed to be “authentic.” This is especially true if you work in the women helping women economy. Studies show that women prefer personal relationships, rapport and trust when making decisions for their businesses.

But you’re also supposed to speak to your customers’ pain points and use their words and phrases in your messaging so they feel as if you know them so well it’s like you read their journal.

Great. What?

Coach Eleanor put it this way:

“Know your customer not to say the right thing but to be the right you.“

At first blush, the word “right” begs questions about right-for-whom and perfectionism and fitting into the “right” mold. So think of authenticity as this: being the best-est, most right-est, you possible for you.

Authenticity is Being the Best-est, Right-est You

In your favorite relationships it’s easy, right? Like when you meet someone and feel as if you’ve known them your whole life. Or when you’re with people you really really enjoy, people who inspire you to laugh and think and wonder. They make you feel like your most vibrant, connected self.

Think about how effortless and energizing it is to just BE around them.

That is what authenticity feels like. You’re not trying to say what someone wants to hear. You’re not holding back or censoring yourself. Maybe you’re even opening up more than you do with family or other friends. There’s an additive energy to authentic relationships — they make you feel good.

They give you the space and safety to be your favorite you. 

A colleague in the coaching program is a trained journalist, and she used to get so nervous before reporting that she would want to vomit. And then she taught herself to imagine that she was reporting to her grandmother. That’s all — just explaining to her grandmother what was going on. And with the context of that relationship, she was able to bring her authentic self to television.

(Psst! Wondering if it’s possible to be TOO authentic?? I answer that question here.)

What Most Women Entrepreneurs Get Wrong about Authentic Marketing

Many women entrepreneurs hear the advice to know thy customer and interpret it as say what you think your customer wants to hear. You believe you have to use magic words to get their attention and make them understand that you solve their problems.

Then your thought leadership becomes mere mimicry because you’re not leading. Your marketing sounds like everyone else’s. And you feel shitty because you’re not connected with yourself and being you.

It’s like if, in another relationship, you acted like the person you think they want to know instead of your authentic self. People do this all the time — you and I probably have — and it can be a fine coping tool for awkward family dinners. But it’s a feeble marketing tool and a dismal thought leadership one. 

The One Thing You Must Do to Market Authentically

“But wait,” you’re thinking. “I have friends with whom I’m authentic. But that’s different than writing to my list or publishing a thought leadership article.” 

Actually, the only thing you need to do to market authentically is decide to be the best-est, right-est you. You can make the first move — you don’t need special permission. In fact by being authentic first you are granting permission to your audience to meet you where you are: in that effortless and energized space of authenticity.

Authenticity doesn’t spontaneously poof into existence. It grows as relationships evolve, but it starts with a decision. And when you are communicating with an audience, you must make that decision first. You get to choose yes, I’m going to tell them that. Or yes, I’m going to share that I love astrology or that I swear like a sailor. 

Tune in to how you feel when you’re communicating with your customers. Do you let yourself be silly? Do you use words and phrases you love? Do you disagree when you need to? Do you open up the way you would a beloved friend or grandmother?

Forget what you’re supposed to say. Let go of what you think your customers want to hear. What do you want to say? What do YOU want to hear? What makes you good? What would you say if you felt safe?

This is no listicle of Authentic Marketing Tactics. You’re up to your eyeballs in well-meant but confusing advice. Besides, you’re already authentic. 

I promise that choosing that effortless and energized place will catapult your return on marketing effort. Your thought leadership will attract adoring fans and repel haters (which are the only two signs you need to pay attention to).

Equally (or more) importantly, it will make you feel great. The good feels come when you’re connected to yourself, and when you’re connected with yourself you are magnetic to your audience.

Now, if you’d like to take your authentic, heartfelt thought leadership to the next level, may I introduce you to the 5 Magnetic Pillars of Thought Leadership?

The impact of thought leadership on lead generation and clients can’t be overstated: Over 80% of decision-makers say excellent thought leadership increases their respect, perception of capabilities, and trust in an organization. And 60% of those who are willing to pay a premium say it’s because the thought leadership of that organization demonstrates deep thinking and other virtues decision-makers value (source).

How can you make your thought leadership sing?

The 5 Pillars of Magnetic Thought Leadership.

It’s free, it’s just 5 lessons, and it’s got exercises, examples, and insights to make your thought leadership as magnetic as ice cold water after a marathon.

Click here to join the free email course, 5magneticpillars.com.

Image by CreateHER Stock. 

The post The Key to Authentic Marketing for Women Entrepreneurs (this is how authentic marketing actually FEELS) appeared first on Medusa Media Group.

How can I share my message from different angles? How can I connect with new clients and hook them through emotional connection and relevance?

It’s a question my colleague asked, and if you’re an entrepreneur or leader in the women helping women economy it’s a question you’ve had, too.

Not for the Coy of Heart

The question is actually two related questions: how do I share the same message from different angles? And how do I connect through emotion and relevance?

The answer lies in a five-step process I use in my own and my clients’ marketing. What you do is you:

1. make the first move (put aside any coy or wallflower tendencies),
2. show up repeatedly,
3. open up about yourself,
4. connect through stories, and
5. follow up.

This five-step process works flawlessly for sharing your message from different angles and connecting with new people, whether potential clients, collaboration partners, or even personal friends. Here’s what I mean:

Adulting 101: How to Make New Friends

I moved to Phoenix sight-unseen in 2017 after living in Maryland my entire life. When I got here I needed to make friends, ASAP.

So I went to events: an adult Girl Scout troop event, a green business event, a women’s networking event. And here’s what I did:

1. I made the first move: I introduced myself, asked for business cards, asked for phone numbers. Later, I made the first move by inviting my new acquaintances for coffee or happy hour.
2. I showed up repeatedly: I texted, emailed, connected on LinkedIn, attended gatherings they invited me to, and continued inviting them to hang out.
3. I opened up about myself: I shared that I was new to Phoenix, why I left Maryland, about my relationship with Steve, my family, my stage of business, what I was struggling with, what I was proud of, what I do for fun.
4. I told stories: this is part and parcel of opening up. You can’t connect without telling stories. Stories are the most basic form of human connection, going back through our ancestors to times when oral traditions and mythologies were what defined cultural groups and families. We are stories. Everything we experience is a story.
5. I followed up: if I liked my new friends (which I usually did!) I texted to ask for updates on what they’d shared, or to say how much I enjoyed spending time with them. Later, I would ask them to meet up again.

You’ve probably heard or thought this: “it’s hard to make friends as an adult!”

…No it’s not.

Making friends is easy. The problem is that most people are not comfortable making the first move (it’s too forward. No one will like me.), showing up repeatedly (I don’t want to nag anyone. Am I being too much?), opening up (we barely know each other — is this TMI?), telling stories (my life is boring), and following up (it’s too much. I don’t want to be too forward). 

Written out as a 5-step methodology makes it sound clinical, like a contrived or insincere to make friends. But if you zoom in on the way you do anything — play piano, cook, answer emails, write thought leadership, have sex — it all comes down to a series of steps. It was only when I analyzed how making friends came so easy to me that I realized I was following a process. It’s the same process I use to network and find new clients in my business.

Finding New Clients is Hard — Really?

The same skills I use to make friends are how you connect with prospective clients and hook them — or engage them in a relationship, if you like that better.

YOU must make the first move. YOU must be open emotionally and connect through sharing relevant stories that show people how much you have in common.

Many people are unwilling to make the first move. That’s why you hear complaints that it’s hard to make friends or find new clients. People want to show up on social media and have clients to fall into their laps like a deus ex machina. That’s not how it works. Do you want new clients? Go get them! It will set you apart from 90% of the rest of everyone who hopes and prays the clients will magically come to them.

Make the first move again, and again, and again.

You’re Not Looking for a Bridesmaid

After you make the first move again and again and again, be patient. Relationships take TIME to build. You wouldn’t meet someone and ask her to be your bridesmaid a week later.

You need to make the first move multiple times to gain the trust of someone new. Trust is built by showing up over and over again. By being emotionally open and sharing relevant stories again and again. Just like you don’t become best friends with someone the day you meet, a prospective client needs time to get to know you.

This isn’t true for businesses that sell products or super specific services. If I need a plumber, I don’t care how well I know them, I care that they can fix my toilet.

But for heart-centered entrepreneurs who offer personalized services — and many entrepreneurs in the women helping women economy have deeply personal brands — new people need to know YOU. They need to feel emotionally connected to YOU, and feel the relevance of what YOU do to their lives.

I’m already DOING THAT, you’re thinking. I’m beating a dead horse with the same message!

Three Practices to Ignite Connections with New Clients

You are a creative, dynamic, brilliant human who learns new things and has new experiences every day. There is no way you’ve wrung your message dry. No way that you’re done telling stories that hook people with emotion and relevancy.

But if it FEELS like you’re done, these practices are waiting for you:

1. Stories, stories, and more stories.

Every day challenge yourself to think of FIVE stories. They can be a line or a sentence, whatever it takes for you to remember. They can be personal, or the story of a friend or someone you read about.

For Level 2 of this exercise, find one of your core themes in each of your stories. Let’s say your core themes are leadership, resiliency, and reciprocity. Ask, where’s the leadership in this experience? There’s no right or wrong answer, there’s only your answer.

This exercise, and the story bank you will build by practicing it, will ensure you NEVER run out of angles to share your message, or powerful ways to connect with new people.

Theresa Robinson does this beautifully. She tells powerful, incisive stories on LinkedIn and she never wavers from her message.

2. Listen more deeply than you’ve listened in your life

You know that feeling when you read a piece of writing or listen to a podcast, of oh shit it’s like they read my journal!

To angle your message to be that relevant requires empathy, emotional openness, and… listening.

What are your people saying? What are they writing in their emails to you, in private groups, and on social media? What are their questions?

This is a bottomless well of relevant and emotionally resonant angles from which to tell stories and connect with people.

My coach Eleanor Beaton is great at this. Go to her website and you’ll start being retargeted in her with ads from her. It’s worth it: her copywriting is fantastic.

3. Revisit your contacts

In our lust for the new, we neglect the relationships that we have. When was the last time you combed through your LinkedIn contacts or email list and reached out personally to existing connections and former clients?

Do not underestimate the power of 1:1 reach outs. They make people feel cared for, remembered, and sought-after, and they’ll make YOU feel good, too.

Personal connections are our highest value currency in entrepreneurship and marketing. Not everyone agrees: in a world obsessed with unicorn startups and venture funding and mass appeal, being personally connected with an audience isn’t everyone’s focus.

For heart-centered service-providers, you’re missing a plethora of opportunities if you’re not revisiting existing relationships and keeping them current. (After all, the customer most likely to buy from you is the customer who’s already bought from you.)

Become Unignorable

This five step process will never go out of style. Connecting with resonance to new prospects will always aid your business. But there may come a point in your growth when you need to increase the volume of incoming clients. That’s when layering paid strategies on top of this process is important.

But no matter what paid strategy you add to your marketing, your ability to forge strong, fierce connections with new clients is commensurate with your willingness to make the first move, to show up, and open up, again and again. When you practice these five steps with diligence and honor, your people won’t be able to ignore you.

Now, what’s a reliable and powerful way to attract new clients so you can make the first move? Publishing magnetic thought leadership.

The business impact of thought leadership can’t be overstated: Over 80% of decision-makers say excellent thought leadership increases their respect, perception of capabilities, and trust in an organization. And 60% of those who are willing to pay a premium say it’s because the thought leadership of that organization demonstrates deep thinking and other virtues decision-makers value (source).

How can you make your thought leadership sing?

The 5 Pillars of Magnetic Thought Leadership.

It’s free, it won’t take 100 years to complete (it’s just 5 lessons!), and it’s got exercises, examples, and insights to make your thought leadership as magnetic as ice water after a marathon.

Click here to join the free email course, 5magneticpillars.com.

Image by Christina @ wocintechchat.com via Unsplash

The post A Fail-proof Process to Always Attract New Clients appeared first on Medusa Media Group.

You’re not broken if you avoid goal setting like COVID-19. Even if you’re a high-achieving business woman, and you know goals are how to make progress and increase your impact, and you tryyyy to set S.M.A.R.T. goals and blah blah blah, there’s nothing wrong with you.

But every entrepreneur and her grandmother seem to LOVE goal setting, so shunning it seems like a personal failing, right?

Goal Setting is Broken, Not You

The problem with goal setting for many high-achieving women is that conventional goal setting makes us feel trapped, overwhelmed, and even hopeless. This is especially true if you struggle with perfectionism and control (hi! Guilty!).

Listen, If you love goal setting and it motivates you, great. You can stop reading now. But if you don’t….

You’re not doomed and you’re not screwing yourself over. There’s a radical way to rethink and set goals so you always achieve them, without wanting to hide under your bed.

But first, WHY is goal setting repulsive?

When Goals Clobber You

When I was in 9th grade, my high school reopened for the first time in 30 years. It built up starting with freshmen, so my year never had upper classes.

As you can imagine, we had no chance against other schools in sports.

My field hockey team was routinely trounced by teams with older, stronger, more experienced players. Yet before every game my teammates would try to rally: we’re going to win this one! We have to win this!!!

I guess it was an attempt at positive psychology? But I always thought, this is asinine. Winning was an impossible goal, and no amount of psyching could change the reality that we were outmatched in every way. When we inevitably lost, everyone’s spirits plummeted. It was depressing.

Why Goal Setting is Broken

It took me years to realize that every time I thought about conventional goal setting, I felt like I was walking on to the hockey field.

Yet goal setting is put in a pedestal in business and entrepreneurship. Hashtag GoalDigger! So what’s my problem? Why did I avoid it?

I sat down to figure out why I hated conventional goal setting, and I discovered five issues:

1. Goals are arbitrary

From winning a high school hockey game to generating half a million in revenues, goals are made up. They don’t inherently matter. Plenty of the goals you “should” strive for, according to our culture — marriage, a white picket fence, 2.5 children, a 6-7 figure business, 10k Instagram followers, no wrinkles — might not be personally meaningful to you.

The tyranny of “shoulds” will make you feel like you’re supposed to care about these milestones. And when you don’t, or you don’t achieve them by the time you’re 30 or 40 or 50, there must be something wrong with you.

2. Goals create pressure

Everyone knows goals are supposed to be S.M.A.R.T.: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based. The problem with specific and time-based is they create false urgency, pressuring you to achieve an arbitrary thing by an arbitrary time. WHY? Do you even care?? Deadlines are useful only if they make you feel motivated, not pressured.

3. What if you change your freakin’ mind?

When you set a goal, it becomes A THING, and specific, time-based things are by definition inflexible. But what if your circumstances or priorities change? Well, now you’re trapped. Do you “break your word” to your goals… especially if you’ve made them public? Does that mean you’re GIVING UP!? Or do you keep at the goals for the sake of finishing them? AUGH!

4. Goal setting sans planning is an epic fail

You know what’s easy and fun? Creating a goal. It’s like having an idea: enjoyable to think of and a lot of work to execute and plan.

I’ve done this so many times: set a goal (which was probably arbitrary and made me feel pressured and trapped) without making a plan. The problem is, “goal setting” sounds like doing ONE THING: setting a goal. It should actually be called goal-setting-and-breaking-down-and-planning-and-executing-one-tiny-step-at-a-time.

5. You don’t have control

Deciding you’re going to achieve a specific thing by a certain time implies that you have control over outcomes. And you don’t. None of us do. We have control over our efforts, but we can’t guarantee that our efforts will lead to achieving the made-up goal.

The Goal Setting Problem that Rules Them All

If you’re wise to how fear and the mind work, this dawned on you already: goals are scary AF. The Biggest Problem with goals-setting is what you’re afraid of. What if you fail? What if you succeed? Are you worthy? Do you deserve it?

How to work with and love your fear (note: fearlessness is not a thing) is beyond the scope of this article, but I’d be remiss not to mention it. I recommend the work of my client Tracy Litt for more on this topic.

Goals not your Bag? You’re Not Doomed

Even as you learn to love your fear, conventional goal setting might not be your bag. There’s nothing wrong with you.

Our rigid obsession with goal setting is closely tied to our white, patriarchal, Christian culture — no wonder it doesn’t appeal to everyone. Think about our cultural heritage in the west: time is money and idle hands are the devil’s workshop and our false association of success with worthiness.

In fact, goal setting became an area of study and theory only within the last 100 years, pioneered by (you guessed it) two white men. It’s not the only way to get things done. What studies will Black, Indigenous, and queer women perform in the next century, that will offer new paradigms for how to progress and achieve and make impact?

In the meantime… goal setting CAN be a useful tool, and you can use it without feeling like garbage. They can help you focus, get clarity, and take action. The key is to reframe goals as emotional, detached, and flexible. Here’s how:

3 Radical Ways to Rethink and Set Goals You Love

Make them emotional

Let’s say your goal is to generate a million dollars in revenue this year. WHY is that goal important to you? Your reasons might be, to practice more philanthropist, hire an employee, be financially secure, bragging rights, or qualify to join a coaching program.

How do you think that WHY, that reason, will make you FEEL? It might be generous, supportive, like a mentor, safe, worthy, proud.

What you truly want is the emotion you think the goal will give you. But you don’t actually need $1M to feel generous, supportive, mentoring, safe, worthy, or proud. You can cultivate the emotion as you reach for higher revenues, ensuring that you feel good no matter the number on your P&L.

If you don’t break a million in revenues, you can have the feeling anyway, and then that specific (and ultimately arbitrary) goal isn’t holding you hostage. It becomes the icing on the cake of how you feel.

Effort over outcome

Earlier we talked about control: you can’t control what happens. You can put forth your best effort, but there’s no guarantee your efforts will lead to a specific outcome.

That’s why I now set goals around what I can do, not what I hope to get. It ensures that I always achieve something, whether or not it’s what I expected. And I can’t be disappointed in the results, because my focus was on effort. Whatever my outcome is icing on the cake of my efforts.

Set multiple or stacked goals

I’m a weightlifter, and for every strength-building period my coach and I select five goals. Normally that would make me break out in hives, but here’s the catch: we assume I will only achieve 2-3.

I like this because “failure” is built in. The goals are purposefully almost impossible, but the point is to make an effort and progress — not reach every goal. The goals I do reach end up being a fun surprise, and in the meantime I get stronger and more confident overall. The goal is to not reach all the goals. This is so soothing for a perfectionist!

It doesn’t trap me because it’s flexible. Plus, I know how I want to feel: strong, proud, capable (which I will feel no matter what, because even if I don’t reach the goals I will get closer to them).

I also like stacked goals, which work great for revenues. If your goal is to break a million, stacked goals are good, better best: good = $900,000; better = $1,00,000; best = $1,200,000. Good should be almost guaranteed achievable, which means that no matter where you fall between $900K and $1.2M, you’ve surpassed your first goal.

Yes You Can

As I’ve opened up about my goal setting allergies, I’ve heard many women say “me too!” I’m not the only entrepreneur with a conventional-goal-setting allergy and neither are you.

If you feel like You’re The Problem because you dislike goal setting, I promise that admitting goals’ shortcoming and rethinking how you set goals will ensure you achieve ones you care about.

Where many women entrepreneurs get stuck with goal setting is marketing. Marketing is a huge topic with a zillion shoulds everywhere you look online. It can feel like rubbing your forehead against a zester to figure out how to market strategically, sincerely, and effectively when all you really want to do is work on your actual business.

If that sounds familiar, let’s connect for a Discovery Session. We can talk marketing strategy that feels targeted, effective and authentic to you and your new, unconventional goals.

We’ll map out how to boost your engagement, build your network, and attract new opportunities like a magnet. It’s free and it’s fun. Click here now to complete a brief form, and my team will be in touch to set up your Discovery Session!

The post You’re not Broken if Goal Setting Makes Your Skin Crawl appeared first on Medusa Media Group.

“I want to develop my thought leadership,” my friend said, “but I work full time for a company. Isn’t that a conflict of interest?”

I’ve heard this question from numerous women. They do terrific work in corporate and independently, but they feel bottlenecked by two conflicting identities: corporate employee and independent thought leader.

Your Career is Comprehensive

The happy truth is, there’s no conflict, and thinking otherwise is holding you back. It also prevents you from adding a ton of value to your company! More on that in a minute.

There’s less conflict of interest than you imagine. Your career is comprehensive, and your corporate identity and independent work complement each other, making both strong, incisive, and relevant.

I want to have an individual voice in my field. How do I use my existing corporate platform to form my own identity? How can I build a presence that outlasts my company tenure, while respecting my current role?

Complement, Not Competition

My weightlifting coach is a three-time Iron(wo)man athlete. Last year she got a stress fracture in her foot, and had to take a break from running. “It’s okay,” she said. “It means I can focus on getting even better at biking and swimming.”

This struck me because, distance-athlete-ignoramus that I am, I thought that all cardio exercise was basically interchangeable (I know! You can laugh!). But it turns out you can’t just run to train for a triathlon. You must practice all three skills separately. They complement each other (they’re all endurance cardio) but they’re not interchangeable. Being a great runner doesn’t mean you’re a great swimmer.

Being an asset at your corporate job and being a thought leader are like running and swimming. The skills and outcomes complement each other, but they are not interchangeable and they each require their own investment of time and practice.

Don’t Be Monogamous with your Corporate Career

The problem is we tend to treat corporate jobs like a spouse, as if anything else we do for our career is cheating. It’s not.

In fact, developing your thought leadership is an asset to your company because it:

• Reflects well on your company. It looks damn good for your company if their employee is known for publishing about the latest news, research, and trends in the field
• Primes you to bring fresh insights and ideas to your company that can help them develop corporate assets and provide value to clients
• Attracts new clients to the company, who read your article or heard your podcast
• Singles you out as a candidate for leadership opportunities and promotions, saving management time and resources finding the right person for the role

While it may feel like a risk to publish independent thought leadership, fortune favors the bold. Even in a worst-case scenario in which your company is a jerk and fires you for publishing brilliant work (really???), you’ll be primed to launch yourself to a better position in a better company.

Fortune Favors the Privileged…?

It’s often safer to be bold if you’re white. The unfair reality is that white people are given the benefit of the doubt and assumed to have the best intentions. This is not always true of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC).

If you’re a woman of color, or nonbinary or trans or queer or first generation, positioning yourself as an independent thought leader might sound like a bad, bad, bad idea. If your career situation is dependent on not rocking the boat, that hesitation is understandable.

Regardless, you can develop your thought leadership without threatening your livelihood or workplace reputation. You can start by following these habits of effective thought leaders:

• Commenting on and sharing the latest news, research and trends in your field. It shows you are abreast of the latest updates without any assets you publish being viewable as a threat or conflict of interest by your company
• Publishing on what you’re doing at work. This raises your company’s profile — it’s free marketing for them — while building your reputation and audience
• Privately developing your thought leadership. Like running, magnetic thought leadership comes from practice. You can start a private blog or newsletter as a container to develop your thinking, and your company never has to know. You will greatly benefit from developing your thinking. And when you’re ready and create the opportunity to go public, you’ll be unignorable and you’ll have a rich archive of material.

These are best practices for all thought leaders of all intersecting identities when you’re balancing your work for corporate with building your own platform (or if you’re an entrepreneur). By starting with these practices you can build your confidence and test the water. Then you can debut your industry-related podcast, article series, or videos.

3 More Habits of Highly Effective Thought-Leaders

To start your thought leadership practice, remember these three keywords: commit, simplify, own.

• Commit by setting up a system. Like building any new habit (exercise, eating, crafting) systems are the solution. Think about a day of the week, morning or night, that you will devote to producing your thought leadership. Think about how long you’ll spend. Be realistic about your production schedule — how often will you publish? Think about the steps you need to take from creating to publishing, and write them down. Then commit. Show up with discipline and patience, and watch your thinking unfold. (Remember this is a marathon, not a sprint!)
• Simplify by choosing one medium. Pick ONE container for your thought leadership. Will it be a podcast, where you interview people in your field (including your coworkers)? Will it be articles? Will it be art or graphics? Will you publish them on Medium or LinkedIn or an industry publication?
• Own your media. Wherever you publish them, I recommend you build your own website where they can live too. You want to have a place online where people can learn about you as your reputation grows.

Your wild and precious career

If you commit yourself to developing your thought leadership, it will pay dividends to your career. Leadership opportunities, promotions, and premium priced services favor bold women who take risks and share our insights.

Whether you want to work in corporate until you retire, or you want to move to Colorado and grow an epic vegetable garden funded by your premium-priced consulting services, thought leadership is for you.

Can you hear that inner voice, eager to join the conversation? Releasing her through thought leadership will multiply your impact and your career options. If your inner voice is ready to make your next bold move, I’d love to connect with you for a Discovery Session.

We’ll map out areas for opportunity to develop your thought leadership, harness your existing corporate platform, and build you a voice that will draw opportunities like a magnet.

It’s free, and it’s a lot of fun. Click here now to complete a brief form, and we’ll be in touch to set up your Discovery Session!

No matter where you work in corporate, your thought leadership is waiting for your attention. Sheryl Sandberg did it, and so can you.

Image by Christina of WOC in Tech Chat via Unsplash.

The post How to Create Your Thought Leader Identity while Working in Corporate appeared first on Medusa Media Group.

Hey Eva, how do I maintain a public presence right now? I’m used to meetups and conferences and events and just posting on social media just feels like shouting into the ether.

I’m glad you asked.

We will probably never go back to “business as usual” after Covid-19 (I know. It’s a weird thought). Whether there’s a resurgence of the virus or simply higher awareness/wariness of large gatherings in public places, you’re wise to think strategically about how to build a public presence without… going out in public. 

Besides, there might be a day when you’re on bedrest during a pregnancy. Or taking care of someone whom you can’t leave alone. Maybe you live in a geographically isolated place. Whatever the situation, you want more tools in your marketing and networking toolbox than going to events. 

The key is to turn your public presence or events strategy into a convertible marketing strategy.

What do you Want to Happen?

A convertible marketing strategy requires getting super clear on what you want.

What do you want to happen because of going to events? Do you want to…

• meet new people?
• grow your email list?
• get invited to speaking engagements?
• build your LinkedIn connections?
• find new clients?

Once you know what outcomes you desire from going to events in public, you can chart a new course to those outcomes that doesn’t require going out.

A convertible marketing strategy — i.e. your plan for making what you do known, which until now may have been attend in-person events — is your newly charted course to achieving outcomes (growing your network) that is independent of any one medium (in-person networking events).

Say you’re a keynote speaker, for example. How can you take your desired outcomes for keynote speaking and convert them to other mediums like podcasting, writing, videos, or webinars?

Keynote Speaking to Video to Live Video

When I first started working with leadership speaker Selena Rezvani, she wanted to start publishing short videos on social media in which she’d share tips to help you improve your career leadership.

Selena is eminently qualified: she’s a TEDx-er, keynote speaker, and author. The mediums she was used to were writing and public speaking, but when it came to video… she got stuck.

“There’s something about having an intimate one-to-one conversation with a camera that is very intimidating,” she said. “I thought it was okay to approach video, and a keynote, and LinkedInLearning the same way. But when I sent my video to a friend, she said, ‘you’re grandstanding too much. You’re talking like you would in a keynote. You need to be warmer, like a friend in a coffee shop talking to her friend.'”

We worked together on translating what she offers in her public speaking appearances and books into a new medium: video. And it worked! Her Leadership Shorties videos earned 255% more engagement than all the rest of her content. They also led her to start Women + Work Culture, a weekly LinkedIn Live interview series, which is boosting her engagement further and growing her network.

Selena’s public presence is a critical part of her work. But when Covid-19 hit, she was ready to pivot and maintain her public presence by taking advantage of a different medium: social media, specifically video and Live video.

How to Convert your Public Presence into Marketing Strategy

How do you pull a Selena and convert your public presence into a convertible marketing strategy? There are three steps.

But first! A word to the wise: starting to market exclusively on social media can feel like donning an extremely itchy sweater and whispering your content to the dust bunnies under your bed. Be patient and give yourself a lot of grace. It will feel awkward at first. You might harbor some resentment. That’s okay, that’s normal. Here’s how you begin:

1. Figure out what you want

When public presence is a core part of your marketing strategy, you probably have a few intentions for the events you attend. Translate those goals to social media so you are effective and targeted in what you do and say online.

For example, if one in-person networking goal is to collect business cards of prospective clients, you can easily translate that to using LinkedIn to research ideal clients, and reaching out to them through a connection request.

2. The bolder you are, the better

The most targeted, effective and authentic approach to marketing is to have a clear, bold message — just like when you’re speaking in public. The more bold and uncompromising you are in your message, the more you will attract right-fit clients and opportunities like a magnet.

Think about the leaders you follow and the messages you remember. There’s nothing wishy-washy about them, right? Now is the time to challenge yourself to share what you really think, using the most direct language possible.

3. Do the next best thing

A lot of people are in your position: reeling because their speaking engagements and conferences and networking events vanished. Event organizers are in this position, too. If you can’t speak to a crowd of thousands, what’s the next best thing you CAN do? Can you…

• Reach out to event organizers and offer a webinar of your speaking topic, or a free resource?
• Pitch yourself as a podcast guest?
• Host a virtual networking event for a group that normally meets in person?
• Invite people you want to connect with to short acquaintance calls or small group conversations?
• Start an interview series and invite people you admire to be featured?

You CAN maintain a public presence using the powerful tools available on social media. Get clear on what you want, and dedicate yourself to harnessing social media just like you harness in-person events to reach your marketing goals.

And I’d like to help you craft a convertible marketing strategy that feels targeted, effective and authentic to you. So if you want to zoom out of this time period with a powerful strategy that will increase your impact and get you hired, I’d love to connect with you for a Discovery Session.

We’ll map out areas for opportunity to make your marketing crisis-proof, boost your engagement, build your network, and attract new opportunities like a magnet.

It’s free, and it’s fun. Click here now to complete a brief form, and we’ll be in touch to set up your Discovery Session!

Image by Christina of #WocInTechChat via Unsplash.

The post How to Maintain a Public Presence when you can’t Attend Events appeared first on Medusa Media Group.

Midway through earning my Gender and Women’s Studies degree, I read The Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler. A fascinating and hopeful book about human social systems, Eisler argues that the gender hierarchy is the original inequality, before racism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, and the like.

This made sense to me at the time. What more basic delineation can you draw between humans than biological sex? (Note: I had a lot to learn about the gender spectrum!)

Unfortunately, I drew an erroneous and flawed conclusion from Eisler’s point: that sexism is the most fundamental injustice to challenge.

Why Eradicating Sexism Isn’t Enough

That’s wrong. Sexism isn’t a vacuum. The vast majority of women on earth experience gender discrimination AND a host of other types of discrimination. The vast majority of women have intersecting identities — race, social class, sexual orientation, neurological differences, physical abilities — that impact them daily. Their experience of sexism is inextricable from their experience of other “isms.”

Injustices must be challenged in tandem, because they are not separate.

The protests and activism galvanized by the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and countless others make it abundantly clear: there is no justice unless there is racial justice.

Black women have known this for hundreds of years. But there’s an ugly history in the United States of white women dismissing the intersecting inequalities faced by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). There’s an ugly history of white women excluding women of color from feminist activism and ignoring injustice unless white women’s specific rights were at stake.

It is long past time for a reckoning on racism and white supremacy.

Anti-Racist Communications for Women Leaders

What does this have to do with communications and women helping women and social media?

Everything.

Gender justice cannot be compartmentalized. Our commitment ending gender discrimination is hollow if we’re not equally committed to ending racial discrimination and white supremacy.

That is why I’m making changes in my company to ensure that we make anti-racism a priority in everything we do. These changes will impact the work we do and deliver to our clients.

We are committed to the following in our business practices and relationships to ensure that anti-racism is forefront in our actions:

Practices

We are committed to the following practices in our business and the work we deliver to our clients:

• Always curating content for our clients that is produced by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)
• Featuring people of color in the imagery we source for our clients, encouraging our clients to choose that imagery
• Supporting our clients to ensure they are following, engaging with, and amplifying the voices of BIPOC in their industries
• Including a Diverse Voices section in all of our client meetings to brainstorm and workshop ways each client can include anti-racism in their communications
• Buying Black as much as possible, e.g. client gifts and professional services
• Donating 1% of profits every quarter to a nonprofit serving or lead by Black women

Relationships

We are committed to the following in our relationships with our clients, our audience, and our team:

• With People of Color: if we make mistakes as a company or do anything that makes you uncomfortable, you can tell us and we will listen. We won’t get defensive or gaslight you.
• With white people: you don’t have to understand more than you do. If you don’t understand a term, or how white supremacy works, or how to be a better ally, let’s talk about it. It’s important for us to be open about anti-racism and not hide in awkwardness.

We are all being called to act. To decide what kind of person, business owner, and leader we choose to be.

It is my hope to build a premier anti-racist communications consultancy for leaders in the women helping women economy. Thank you for being part of it.

Special thanks to Melia Jannotta and my assistant content manager Toya Coleman for edits. Featured image by Nathan Dumlao.

The post Anti-Racist Communications for the Women Helping Women Economy appeared first on Medusa Media Group.