I have to ask you… do you ever feel like you have no idea what to talk about in a live video?
You have no idea what to post about, and you can’t even find a good picture to post on Instagram.
You just feel like everybody else has this on lock. Everybody else in your niche and in your industry always has great things to say. But, you’re sitting there scratching your head, wanting to put your head through a wall, not knowing how to show up.
The advice you get is, “Oh, just post valuable content!”
But you’re thinking, “What does that even freaking mean?!”
Number one: It’s okay to be a beginner.
I heard an Ed Sheeran quote other day that was spot on for this:
“Writing songs and playing live is like turning on a tap in an old house; first you’ll get the mud and dirty water, but the more you get it out, the quicker the good water starts flowing.”
When you turn on an old faucet that hasn’t been used at first, you’re going to get shit water. But what happens over time as you will allow that faucet to run? All of a sudden, the water starts to clear up.
That’s exactly what happens when you start using your creativity.
If you don’t tap into it, it’s not like if you don’t use it you’ll lose it. You’ve just shut yourself off from it, so it can be really difficult to get things going again. Be okay with creating shit in the beginning, especially as an entrepreneur. As somebody who is a content creator online, you’ve got to realize that this is kind of its own little art form.
You are now a storyteller as well as an educator.
In order to make things captivating, entertaining, educational, and visually stimulating: there’s a lot that goes into play. If you’re feeling like you’re kind of lost in the wilderness with this, recognize that it’s okay to be a beginner.
It’s okay to not have all of this figured out… but you can’t stop.
You cannot stop putting things out there. You just gotta be okay with throwing something out there.
My strategy is to give abundantly. I did 17 live videos in the month of January. I remember, two days before a program launch, and I just did not want to get on live. I thought, “Wow, it doesn’t really matter. Is it really going to make that much of a difference if I go live today.
But, I did it anyway. I found something to talk about.
And, you know what? Those two videos ended up being two of my best recordings for the entire month. People still reference back to those, and I have since repurposed them since the content is so good.
I think it’s important to remember not only to be okay with being a beginner, but you have to realize as well that mastery takes practice. When you start doing something consistently, you’re going to build stamina, endurance, and (especially for something like live video) being entertaining. I understand that this is a craft; this is almost an art form in itself.
Being an entertainer, being captivating on camera, being educational and really knowing your stuff in your area of expertise.. It’s not an easy thing to do. But, there’s only one way you’re going to improve. To feel more comfortable on camera and learning to speak fluidly, coherently, and articulately… you actually have do it consistently.
Number Two: Immersion.
How many of you feel like you actually immerse yourself in your area of expertise? If you studied an instrument or you were some type of artist, you may have developed this kind of immersion to get to your 10,000 hours. That’s the level of mastery that you want to achieve, not just as a social media marketer but also in your area of expertise.
Are you continuing to learn in your field?
Are you continuing to establish yourself as an expert?
I challenged a former academy student to get on live video for five days straight. She’d never done it before. Not once.
I said, “You came here to grow, right? You joined this program to be pushed outside of your comfort zone? You’re ready to grow. You’ve got to do it.”
She said, “Oh, okay… so I guess that’s what I’m doing.”
She crushed that goal. She got on live. She got some new people on her e-mail list. She’s built a lot of momentum for her launch, her work, her one-on-one and for her program.
That wouldn’t have happened if she didn’t get on live video, because you can connect to people so much faster by seeing them on video. You can’t hide.
I was so stinking proud of her. So many people say they want to get in front of their audience. They want to make more money. They want to master live video. They want to be seen as the experts in their fields. Then they’ll do nothing about it, and then they make excuses.
What she did in a matter of five days by getting on live video for maybe 15-20 minutes a day for five days straight?
She did more immersive study in five days than some people do in a three month period.
There’s so much power behind showing up consistently. Not just because consistency is key, but because of immersion challenges you to develop a higher level of expertise. And when you look at the playing field of excellence, of people who are killing it in your niche, there’s the top people and there’s everybody else.
The reason that the top people are the top people is because they take their work seriously.
They don’t skip days. They don’t make excuses. They just freaking do it!
What is your commitment to excellence?
I have another great quote, this time by Will Smith:
“The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be out-worked, period. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be sexier than me, you might be all of those things you got it on me in nine categories. But if we get on the treadmill together, there’s two things: You’re getting off first, or I’m going to die. It’s really that simple, right?”
And that is why he’s freaking Will Smith.
And, if you ask successful people what they think about failure, they don’t beat themselves up. They don’t get sad and give up. They’re always trying to problem solve. They’re always trying to find the solution to whatever they’re presented with, and that doesn’t mean they’re going to get it right the first time. That’s not the point.
Number three: Don’t create in a vacuum.
There are too many of you who are sitting behind your computer, hands on the keyboard, just waiting for the divine knowledge to just come and hit you in the head. I wouldn’t recommend creating in a vacuum in that way. Nor would I recommend staring at other people’s content, scrolling at rapid speeds on your News Feed. That’s not going to make you feel more creative.
How are you honoring your own time to be an actual creator?
Many of you have told me that you find your best creative ideas when you’re running, doing yoga, meditating or when you’re in the shower. Recognize that’s probably the one time during the day where you’re actually away from your computer, your phone, your other devices and distraction. Your brain is finally able to give you those divine uploads or those lightbulb moments.
If you want to be more creative, just give yourself more openings for a relaxed body and an open mind. I think it’s important to recognize as well that being around other people at your level (or higher than your level!) is going to breed more creativity.
You’ve got to open up to allow other ideas to come in or out. If you’re not reading a book, or you’re not listening to a podcast, you’re missing some of the best ideas.
And of course: listening to your audience.
So many of my coaching clients need constant encouragement and reminders to poll their audiences. If you are not connected to your audience, you’re probably not creating for them. In order to be putting out content and solving problems for a specific avatar, you need to connect with those people on a regular basis.
For a previous Academy launch, my former business partner and I made 80 discovery calls between the two of us. Just to give you some context:
We would try to keep those calls to about 20 – 30 minutes, but some of those calls are 45 minutes to an hour. So, we individually spent probably 25 to 40 hours on the phone with our ideal clients asking them about their pain points. “What are you struggling with right now? Where you feeling stuck in your business?”
Most people would think, “OMG, that’s a lot of calls. That’s a lot of time to be spending with people.” Yeah, I don’t necessarily recommend constantly doing discover calls all day long, because they are tiring. But: do it. Oh my God. We launched our first class and we were like, “Holy crap… we’ve got so many freaking content ideas.”
We knew exactly what these women needed from us. We were able to look inside their brains a little bit to see exactly what they wanted.
Funny enough, when you are the expert in your own industry bubble, you’re not necessarily aware of the way that other people are viewing what you’re doing. They might not know the same terminology; you may be putting things out there that are confusing to them. So when you’re actually getting the opportunity to have real life conversations with potential clients, you are just freakin creativity on fire.
“Boom.
I can solve that problem.
I can answer that question.
That’s a video right here.
That’s the post right here.
I know exactly what to share with people.”
Really consider your audience.
Consider how to change your branding – does it relate and resonate with them? If not, get some feedback from them on how you can tweak things. Realize this too:
Connecting with other influencers can be really, really powerful.
Not just people who are at your level, but people who are beyond your level.
You never want to be the smartest person in the room.
How are you upleveling your mindset? How are you upleveling and educating yourself in your business realm? Are you listening to podcasts on a regular basis? Are you reading books in your area of expertise? Are you interviewing other top people? I have to tell you being a podcaster is one of the coolest freakin’ things, because it NEVER gets boring to bring on such amazing people and have these incredible discussions! Not even just on air for the podcast, but before and after we start recording. I’ve had some of the freaking best conversations with such wonderful, incredible, intellectual people.
Are you getting around those types of people?
Are you participating in some kind of group coaching program or mastermind; where you can get around other people who are in your energy? Are you surrounding yourself with others who are showing up as big as you are?
Don’t exist in this vacuum.
Don’t try to do it all alone.
Don’t be a hero.
It’s way less fun when you try to do it all alone.
And if you’re not having fun in your business, people can tell.
People WANT to work with you.
I think that business and life is, for some, serious enough. If you’re an entrepreneur, you’re creating your whole path. Why not have a little bit more fun?
Don’t try to be something else.
Here’s a quick recap on how to start feeling more creative.
1. Be okay with creating shit. Be okay with it! Run the water brown and nasty when you first turn on your creative faucet. Eventually, the more you create and the more you put out there, the more clarity, expertise, and mastery you’re going to get. Be a storyteller, be a teacher, and be okay with starting from scratch. Be okay with literally sucking! You have full on permission to be a beginner.
- Immersion; Show up consistently, every single day, throwing yourself into developing new skills. Show up as somebody who is on live video every single day, as a podcaster or interviewer, as a storyteller, as a blogger, as a writer, or whatever it is! Immerse yourself in that and develop your 10000 hours. You gotta start. The first hundred hours are going to be real ugly it’s probably NOT going to be super fun, but if you want to change, you’ll do it.
- Don’t create your coaching material in a vacuum. Get around other creative people. Creativity breeds more creativity, so every time you put something out there, it’s not that it’s done forever.
Creativity refills itself, and it comes back faster. It’s like a songwriter; perhaps they create one song and it’s a C minus. So they create six more because of their other ideas and how to twist them. So then there’s 1 out of those 6 that is at the top of the charts…so they create 5 more.
You’ve got to just keep creating, and if you’re trying to be a perfectionist, you’re going to be really friggin’ miserable. Your business is going to progress at a glacial pace. It’s going to be painfully slow, and I know you don’t want that.
So, surrender. Release the idea of what it means to be perfect, because that’s not what being a creative is all about. And, you are creative. So let it go. Allow things to come in and then show up for you.
Stop judging your content before you even put it out there.
Here’s a little special bonus for you. If you’re really like, “I want to get on live video. I want to start creating content. I don’t know where to begin!” Head to SocialMediatoSales.com.
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So come on over there and check it out: SocialMediatoSales.com.
You guys are amazing. I appreciate you.
