Why now is the time to keep building your Leadership and Connection (COVID-19)

I know that there are a lot of  people holding back  right now during COVID-1 9 when it comes to showing up, selling, marketing, sharing content and I’m here to tell you that NOW is the time to be building your brand.

People are looking for leadership

Right now I think that people are looking for how other’s are managing in this time, what they’re doing, how they are navigating the market and managing all the other things that we have to do as well.

So if you’re someone who has a community, if you’re someone who has an opinion and can help then why not show up? Why not be a leader to your current community and share what you have and what you know and what you’re experiencing right now with them?

You know that being a leader can come naturally to some people and others find themselves  becoming leaders even when they hadn’t planned on it.  You can choose to be a leader  as well.  Don’t sit there, listening to this and think – but Suz I’m not a leader. I’m not someone who others will listen to and follow.  The question is – do you have people following you? Do you have people asking you questions on how you do things? Do you find people engaging with your content and saying thanks that really helped?  Are you someone who checks in on others?

These are just a few things that may mean that you’re a leader even if you don’t know it yet.  So if you want to be useful, if you want to stand out right now then choosing to step up and be a leader is a something you can definitely do.

It’s when you’re not selling that you need to be building trust and connection

Building your brand is done most of the time when you’re not selling. So if you’re thinking well I’m not really selling anything right now then that’s okay – building your brand is about building trust and creating that pull factor that I talk about all the time.  It’s about being that leader, it’s about sharing the knowledge and experience that you have, it’s about developing your content and what you want to be known for.  If I’m honest whilst you might already know what you want to be known for, I think that it’s always evolving.

Something I always ask myself is who do I want to be in this situation.  I just posted on Instagram this week that I’m holding fast to my brand values right now and thinking about how I can be bold, how I can share my knowledge, how I can continue to have fun with my community, how I can create connection and how I can still be honest about where I am and what’s working and what’s  not.

If you can still show up then do it.  I know that if you’ve got young kids it can be hard but remember that sometimes showing up only takes a few minutes a day – it doesn’t have to be  a big thing.   It’s in the mico moments that connection is built. It’s in the  quick reply  or  the thoughtful. The voice or typed DM.

People are online more than ever right now and they are looking for your expertise

What can you share?  When I started to get lots of questions about how to get online and build online courses, content or workshops, I thought  well I have Content strategy sorted and video marketing made easy and then because I’ve had online courses and content for over 5 years now, putting something together on how to do that quickly and easily shouldn’t be too hard.  That’s how Digital Content Creator’s Club came together and now I’m helping small business owners to find confidence is how they are showing up on video, creating online content, thinking about their content strategy.

What do you know or can you be sharing that could help your audience.  I think sometimes we don’t value what we know and so we don’t think to share it with others.   I know that I’ve been talking a fair bit about the fact that I started my first business with two babies under the age of 2. Why do I talk about it? Because a fair few of my community are in that position now where they have really young kids and they are struggling to get their business off the ground or grow it, it helps to know that yes, others have been there and yes it was struggle then just like it is now, but that this is a point in time and there will be another point in time when their kids are off to school and they will have 6 more hours in the day.

Or maybe you were teacher and so you understand what home schooling could look like.

Or maybe you’re a photographer and so you’re sharing how people can take this time to sort out their memories and create beautiful photo books

Or you’re a copywriter and you’re sharing how we can ensure our message is really landing where we want it to with what we’re doing.

Think about the immediate skills you have and use and think about the dormant skills you have that could also be of use right not.

Engagement and connection are an ongoing thing.

You’re audience still want to see you and connect with you.  We want the familiar, we want to see people who we’re used to seeing and connecting with and so try not to fall off the face of the planet when things get hard.

I was listening to an expert on the news the other day and I loved that she said we should replace the phrase “social distancing” with physical distancing because right now we need social connect more than anything else.

Now you might feel different but for me social isn’t work 80% of the time. It’s where I meet new people, it’s where I have conversations and build relationships and friendships that under normal circumstances translate into real life.  So if you’re feel isolated at all, then I would start to have conversations with people that you’re connect with or look at joining groups that you can social with and get virtual support.  Hopefully there is no reason for you feel totally alone right now.

Being honest and transparent and sharing is the journey is something that people want to see and be part of.

No one wants you to pretend like everything is okay but being human as well as being strong are two things that people want to connect with and see, so I think right now when it comes to generally being you but also thinking about your content strategy – think about how you weave the story telling, connection, honesty along with the professional advice, tips and information.  I find that the content I share that is a mix of personal and professional  gets the most engagement and traction – so start to think of things a little differently.

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