Um, I think You're On Mute
Written by: Claire Mason, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
If there's one statement that captures the zeitgeist of the last two years for all of us, “um, I think you're on mute” is probably it.
Though I’m a Zoomer through and through by now, I still get caught up with my own mute key being on when it should be… off.
Far from this being a problem confined exclusively to the world of online calls, many of us are also unfortunately on mute when it comes to our thought leadership and personal branding activities.
Do your clients know how to find you?
I work with great clients on their visibility strategies.
However, before we get into the work of creating content and building a media footprint for them, we have to address the fear in their minds. And though I work with clients across many different industries, the fear is always the same “ what will people think if I promote myself?”
Here’s the spoiler alert.
People will think one of two things:
You’re someone they must get in touch with to help them solve their problems.
Nothing.
Your audience is not the people who will have zero thoughts and feelings about your content.
So don’t worry about them and focus on the people in the first group.
Who, incidentally, you are serving by making yourself visible, and illustrating how you can partner with them and bring them value.
My article on Why Blowing Your Own Trumpet Is An Essential UX Strategy explains more.
Are you finding your clients?
Another aspect of unmuting yourself when it comes to how easy you make it for clients to work with you is outreach.
This means you identify individuals and businesses who would be a great fit for your offering. And then make contact with them.
Celina Guerrero is a Founder, B2B Sales Coach and Social Selling Coach to entrepreneurs and CEOs.
Her particular focus is on helping B2B service-based CEOs and consultants implement sales systems that leverage LinkedIn to consistently generate more clients.
Celina is a great advocate of referrals, but brings a common-sense approach to the sales strategies she advises clients to implement.
“We all like referrals, but we cannot rely on them to grow our businesses consistently. You might get five referrals this month, and none next month. Also, not all referrals convert into clients. If you’re relying on referrals to keep your pipeline stocked, you’re putting your scaling strategy into the hands of others and not yourself,” says Celina.
“But,” Celina continues, “when we create a system to actively go out and make contact with potential clients to stock our leads pipeline, we are more empowered to reach our growth targets. Now we are not relying on someone referring to us, but on a strategy we can rinse and repeat.”
This is great news for us as business-owners.
It is also great news for your potential clients.
Of course, there are right and wrong ways of approaching potential clients over LinkedIn. (These are the strategies Celina trains entrepreneurs to use. The results her clients earn confirm that they work.)
And think about it. A potential client also has a great user experience when you approach them in a thoughtful way sharing a lot of value.
Think of the time and money you have saved them by identifying their challenge – and making contact to highlight how you can solve it.
Unmuting yourself requires you to commit to making yourself more visible.
“Visibility requires us putting ourselves out there. Part of a thorough content strategy is informed outreach. After all, how else are you amplifying your message?” asks Celina.
Claire Mason, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Claire Mason is a Content Strategist who works with solo entrepreneurs and founders. She helps them earn the publicity they deserve to grow their sphere of influence and sales pipelines.
Claire has earned bylines from numerous publishers, including The Guardian, Marie-Claire, and The Sunday Times. And she has placed her clients’ stories in publications like Forbes, CNBC, and WSJ among others.
Her clients regularly see increases of 40% or more to their pipelines after implementing her content strategies. Her work has been showcased as an example of best practices by HubSpot. Claire is also a regular contributor to Business2Community, Brainz Magazine, Tealfeed, and Digital Doughnut, and she writes regularly on how content marketing can move the needle for B2B brands.
