Stop sounding smart!

Good evening. Welcome again. I'm Katie McManus, business strategist, Money mindset coach. I legitimately just went live and I did the music and I did the, the promo video, and I set up my Instagram and I forgot to do the live part on LinkedIn. And I thought it was weird that, like, there wasn't like any, any eyeballs and I wasn't getting any comments because around this time, I usually get people. So. Hello. And now I'm getting the notification on my phone that I'm going live. So. Hello? Just a slightly blonde moment. It's been a day, and we're all human. So anyway, so we're talking about how to not be smart on social media and still get clients. And for those of you on Instagram, hello again, welcome. I may not save this, although this is funny. Anyway, so how do you get clients online? Okay, this is one of the things that new business owners struggle with, and it's one of the scariest things to put yourself out there in that way, right? Because when you post online, you have no idea who is seeing it. You have no idea, like, what they're thinking when they read it. And let's acknowledge that we are connected with people whose opinions, like whether we like it or not, matter to us, right? Friends, family, mean girls from high school, former employers, former co workers, you know, people from all parts of our life who may not understand what it is that we're doing working for ourselves. And so when you start a business, it's really common for new business owners to think, okay, cool, I want to go out there and I want to get clients, so I have to think of something really good to say. And I want people to know how smart I am and how capable I am. And so I'm going to show up on social media and I'm just going to show off how smart I am. And this does a couple things. So number one, it scares away your clients because you're talking over their heads. They don't understand what you're saying. You know, if you're, if you're a lawyer and you're speaking legalese and you're going on and talking about step statutes and laws and, you know, different legalese things, they're not going to know what you're talking about. If they knew what you were talking about, they wouldn't need you to be to begin with. So you alienate them and you make them feel like they can't approach you because they're not smart enough. Okay? So that's one thing that's bad because you're a new business. You need clients, right? You can't be scaring people away like that, especially your ideal clients. The other thing that ends up happening is you don't get any engagement. Because how is anyone who doesn't understand anything you're saying going to comment on your post and appear smart? Okay, I want you to imagine that everyone who's on the interwebs on social media, they are looking at your posts and all the posts in the world thinking, how am I going to get brownie points here? Okay, how am I going to get brownie points? And so just having a moment where I remembered the part of this where I forgot to go live in one part. And then all things. Anyway, moment of embarrassment over. Okay, back. So everyone's out there in the world thinking about how they're going to get brownie points. So when they're reading posts, they're reading, like, to perceive what you're saying. But just like we do in conversation, what they're really reading for is, how can I comment and be part of this conversation and look cool or funny or smart or involved? Like, I get it now. If your post doesn't make sense to them or it even lightly references something that they don't know, like, there's no guarantee of brownie points for them. So why would they comment? Why would they jump in and add something to the conversation if it's just not going to jive with them? If it's not going to get them those brownie points, they're not going to do it. So you're not getting clients from it. You're not getting engagement from it, which means that you're also not growing your network from it. Okay, so basically, you're wasting your time, you're wasting your energy, and you, yeah, you're not getting anywhere with it. You're not going to get clients. So don't do that. Okay? We want you to get clients. We don't want you to not get clients. So here's what you need to remember. Whatever you post on social media is not there to make you look smart. It's not there to make you look smart. It's there to make your potential clients look smart, there to help your audience look smart. So you can absolutely talk about complicated problems. You can talk, you know, nuance and all that stuff, but you have to do it in layman's terms. You have to find metaphors that are going to make sense to your ideal clients. You have to break it down for them and I want to point to like, this is how specifically you have to break it down for them. Do not refer to an author that you think is well known. You know, if you call five friends and one of them does not know that authority. Nope, don't refer to them unless it's something that's really well known in your circle. So like, for instance, there may be people in the broader spectrum of humans who don't know who Brene Brown is. You know, she is like, that was her book, was the first personal development book I ever read that's started me on that track to become a coach in the first place. She's big in the coaching world, so I can talk about her. All I want is if I'm, if I'm talking to coaches. However, if I'm talking to people who work in, say, farming or in industrial mechanical engineering circles, they may not know who she is. She's pretty niche to personal development. So if you're trying to get in front of them, you don't want to bring her up. And of course, there could be an author who is an expert in your space, but they're not well known and you do not want to bring them up because once you bring up some, something or someone that your reader doesn't know, they're not going to want to comment. You know, it's like entering a conversation at a dinner party where you, you know how like you walk up to a group of people and they're talking and you have your, your glass and you maybe got there late and you're like standing there and you're like, huh, huh. Yeah. But you don't really know who they're talking about. You know, you don't really know the topic. You don't know the nuances or where it started from. You're just kind of there and. Hi, Raz, Welcome. So you're not going to jump in with bold opinion. You're not going to jump in with a joke, you know, because they may have moved past like some really sad thing that happened that started off this conversation and now they're talking generally about it. You jumping in with a joke, it's like you could step in it, right? Or you coming in with a bold opinion. Like someone in that group might already be an expert in this and you don't know what you're talking about. So whenever you're posting onto social media, you want to make sure that you are giving people the opportunity to show up and be smart in your comment page. Okay? This is going to make sure that you get engagement. And engagement is important. Getting engagement on social media is important because the algorithm of social media is going to see that there are people out there in the world who find you interesting. And if they find you interesting, guess what? Your content helps keep them on that platform. And so. And hello, welcome. And if your content helps keep people on that platform, guess what? They get to sell more advertising. They actually make money from you creating content. Content. What a concept. And so they're going to show your good stuff because it's keeping people on the platform, to people, okay? It is a business decision that social media platforms will prioritize showing good content that a lot of people engage on to lots and lots and lots of people, which means whatever it is that you say that people can understand is going to be shown to a lot more people, which means it can be potentially shown to a lot more of your ideal clients. Right? I want you to also remember that when you create content, yes, you're speaking to your ideal clients, but you're also speaking to their best friends, and you're also speaking to their cousins and you're speaking to their neighbors, and you're speaking to, like, their, their acquaintance from work who knows the problem they have, you know, at home because they're bitching about it that morning at the water cooler. Okay? So you want to get on. You want to talk about your ideal client's problems, the way they complain about it to the people that they know. All right? So let's make up that you are a coach for, like, busy primary care doctors who are starting their own practice, okay? And you help them get up and running. You help them make the right hires, you help them really establish themselves in the community, and you also help them make sure that they have some free time to themselves. Now you want to go onto social media and start talking about the problems that doctor is having, the way they're complaining about it at the neighborhood barbecue, the way they're talking to their, their neighbor Ted, you know, who's an auto mechanic. They're saying, you know, Ted, like, I just, I wish I had more time, blah, blah, blah. This is happening. That's happening. It's really. It sucks, man. You know, because Ted, who might be on Instagram or social media could see your post, be like, you know what? My friend who's a doctor was actually just complaining about this. I'm going to send this to them. That is how you get clients, okay? That's how you get in front of the right people. Okay? But you have to speak to them on their level. Now, this is what I call empathetic marketing. Okay? When you do empathetic marketing, well, you basically use your ideal client's own words to help them identify that you are someone who can help them. All right? This is one of the things that I train in the build your own business beginner group program, because it is so helpful to new business owners who don't have any testimonials yet. Right? If you don't have testimonials, if you are just starting out and you haven't worked with clients yet, how do you tell people that you're credible and that you get them and that you can help them? You don't have any proof. So one of the ways you can do this is by basically showing them, hey, I really understand you. I understand everything that's going on in your life right now. I understand, you know, the things that stress you out, your problems, your fears. I also understand where you want to go, okay? I know where you want to go with this better than you do. And in that they're going to start following you because you understand them and you speak to them and you normalize the experience that they're going through, whatever it is that they're struggling with. You're just that voice in their head that's like, oh, my God, I'm not a freak. I'm not the only one struggling with this. This person out there in the world. You know, maybe they've gone through this themselves, or maybe it's just that they work with a lot of people or they talk about this all the time. They know that this isn't scary. You know, there's like. If you've ever had, like, a scary mole, you know, like, I'm. I don't have a lot of melanin in my skin. So, like, you know, sometimes I get a freckle and I get a little nervous, and so I'll go to my doctor, and the last thing I want to hear from my doctor is, oh, my God, panic time. Like, this is bad. Like, hit the red button. Like, panic, panic alarm. You know, we have to bring in the whole team. Like, I've never seen this before. This is frightening. Blah, blah. No, that's terrifying. I would. I would have a panic attack. I would think I was dying. What I want to hear is, huh, yeah, that's a freckle. You know, could be something. We'll do a biopsy. I see these all the time. It's no big deal. You know, don't think it's anything. But if it is, then, you know, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. But let's get some more information first. You know, you want the person who's like, not impressed with your problems, who's not impressed with your freckle or your mole. It's the same when we're hiring coaches. It's the same when we're hiring lawyers and copywriters and social media marketers. We want them to be unimpressed with our problems because that means that they are intimately aware of what our problems are. And if they're intimately aware of what our problems are, then they're likely to know how to help us with those problems. Right? So. So when you are going and posting on social media, keep it simple. Keep it simple. Speak to the, at the level of the layperson who doesn't know any of the lingo in your industry, okay? It's going to make sure that your stuff is shareable. People understand what you're getting at. And it also helps, you know, you grow your network because people are going to be able to engage on it. You also want to speak to the pain points that your ideal clients have, okay? You actually don't have to impress them with how smart you are. You don't. That's not a thing. You get to impress them with how much you empathize with them and how deeply you understand them. All right? That is what people are looking for. You know, when someone has a problem, they don't go into the, the Google machine and try to find the most bland, mechanical, no personality, you know, solution to their problems. No, they go looking for connection. They go looking for a trusted advisor that they feel connected to, who they feel will listen to them and understand their problem and help them move through it. Okay? If you're showing up just trying to show off how smart you are and how much you've done and your whole resume and all the stuff, you're not showing them that they can connect to you. You're showing that you're showing up as that mechanical, like, you know, impersonal robot that might be able to solve their problem, but probably isn't going to listen. And I know because you're in my world, like, I don't attract that kind of person. So go and show that you are that compassionate person. Go empathize with them. And you'd be surprised how easy it is to get clients when you just show that you understand what they're going through. All right? If you are struggling to get clients, if you've started a business and you're having a hard time of it and you're wanting to get clients on social media and you're just not sure where to start. I have a program, build your own business. BYOB for short. Beginner. It's for beginner business owners who really need to understand the fundamentals of getting in touch with their niche. How to market for free on social media. No paid ads. We're not doing that. You need to figure out how to do this organically first. How to get people onto a sales call, how to do the sales call so you actually get the client after you've gotten their attention and all, you know, all the rest. So if you're curious about that, then shoot me a dm. I'm happy to talk about it with you. And if you want to get on the wait list to get be the first person to get the announcement when the doors open, then I think I have the link in the registration. If you're on Instagram, it is in my bio, but you can absolutely sign up for that and I would love to make sure that you have the first announcement as it comes out. Anyway, if you are on social media and you're posting and this has been at all useful and has inspired you to be a little more empathetic in your posting, I'd love to hear about it as well. And of course, any questions you have. Every Friday I host a free group coaching call. It's called Brave Biz Labs. It's at 11am Eastern Standard Time and I would love to see you there. You can ask any question under the sun. Anyway, thank you so much for joining Raz and Melanie and the Gazelle and Murat Gimmat. I'm sorry, I'm going to murder that. I'm not even sure if it's your real name. It could just be a username, so I'm not going to try to pronounce it. And for everyone who is on the rest of the social medias, thank you for joining. I'm Katie McManus, business strategist, Money mindset coach. Have a great night, everyone and I will see you tomorrow. All right, end here. And we're gonna end here. Good night.