I recently joined a couple of groups that required me to introduce myself. The first intro occurred over zoom. I didn’t want to hog too much time, so I focused on my high-level accomplishments, what I am doing currently, what I am planning for the future, and why I joined the group.
I briefly mentioned that in my 28 years of Orange Star, I have worked with everyone from entrepreneurs/small biz owners to Fortune 500 companies and even a few rockstars… as I always do. It is my standard line.
The rockstars thing caught their attention and they wanted to know who. So I shared more, and that I had been a voting member of NARAS (the Grammys) for about 10 years and they were really intrigued. Why? It makes me interesting to them.
I don’t usually go into it because a) it feels like bragging and b) it does not seem relevant. Yet apparently, it is something that makes me stand out.
In the other group, my intro was written. I included a bit about also being an artist working in mixed media and experimental photography. I shared links to all my ventures: Content Creators Planner, Orange Star, The Smartist Way™, Live Love Dogs®, and my art site JodiHersh.com. And I closed with “when not in my studio, I can usually be found being walked by my two giant dogs.“
Replies focused on a line from my art site about there being “extraordinary in the mundane (if you look closely enough),” something about my dogs, and a bit of intrigue about The Smartist Way™. (Which is why I joined the group).
What makes you interesting?
It’s interesting to see what is interesting to others. Like you, I am focused on what I am doing now and what I want to do moving forward. Those are the things I want to be writing and talking about. But clearly, there is value and interest in what I have done before to help build my audience.
People want to get to know YOU
Kim always says people want to get to know YOU. They want more personal stories… and she is right. But where do you draw the line when trying to establish yourself as an expert, to teach what you know to help others? Knowing these details about me does nothing to help the person, but it does make me interesting to them.
Todd Brison nailed it when he said “In a deluge of items that look identical, you pick the one that stands out.” There are a lot of designers and marketing consultants out there. What makes me stand out? What makes someone choose me?
People do business with people they know like and trust — which requires connection in this noisy world. Kim recently wrote about relationships — and that requires sharing a bit of ourselves… otherwise, we all sound the same. There are only so many marketing tactics and tools to share…LOL
So hmmm…
You may have tired of it but others are seeing/hearing it for the first time
I may have tired of these things, but they are still part of me and my journey and make me interesting to others.
This has got me thinking about how often my clients want to redesign things, freshen them up, change their messaging… because they have tired of them. But reality is, your audience has not tired of it. Most of them cannot repeat it back to you. Most of your audience of prospects have not even heard of you or seen or read your message.
I’m all for freshening things up from time time, iterating, improving, evolving; I’m not condemning that. Just ask yourself WHY before you go investing time, energy, money, or other resources to fix something that IS ALREADY WORKING and just needs more eyes on it.
WHICH LEADS ME TO CONTENT. Existing content…
What you already have can be used in new ways
Keep promoting your existing content.
Keep updating your best content. What could be removed? What could be improved?
A course I am going through includes links to some evergreen articles dating back as far as 2011. That is 10 yeas ago! And it is still valuable content.
Before you put time, energy, and focus into creating new content, take stock of what you already have and use it to your advantage. Promote the heck out of it. Repurpose it in other formats.
You did the work to create it, so now make it do some work for you by getting it in front of as many people as you can.
- Create less but better content.
- Focus on promotion of your best content and ideas.
- Repurpose content in other places and formats from the original.
- Focus on building connections.
And remember, just because you may be tired of it, the important thing is whether or not it is new or interesting to your audience.
You hit the nail on the head. We are often caught up in what we think we should do and forget to look at the obvious. Two years ago, I created a story I initially thought was dumb but I worked on it for so long I decided to publish it on my website. That how-to article and wrap-up story has had more views than any other post on my website.
Exactly. My most popular pieces of content surprise me as well!