549. Get massive visibility on your brand and biz

About once a week, sometimes twice a week, I'll just send out something like, hey guys, think of one thing you were really proud of this week and give yourself a pat on the back for it. People want to engage with you on a more and more intimate basis and there's technology out there that will help you do that.

Welcome to the earn your happy podcast. I'm Lori Harder, founder of The Bliss Project, 3 Time Fitness World champion, fitness expert and cover model turned self love junkie, lifestyle entrepreneur and author. Each week I'll bring you a guest or a thought that will help you bust through your fears, connect to your soul and get focused and clear so you can elevate your life, business and relationships. We don't wait until we're ready for someone to tell us we're good enough. We take what we want and we anoint ourselves. Get ready to earn, own, and unapologetically rock your happiness every single day. Are you with me? Here we go. Foreign. Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of he said, she Said, where my husband, Chris Harder and I get on here and riff about topics that we think.

Are important for you and what's today's important?

Today's important topic is about visibility in your business and in your personal brand. And I watched a Mel Robbins video probably about two, three months ago now, and it just rocked my world because it was about visibility. And she said, if you are not visible daily, you are invisible. So if you are not visible daily, you are invisible. So for us that, like, it's completely true in everything that we do. And so often I think personal brands and business brands, we can often think like, oh God, are we just, are we posting in vain, especially with personal brands? And are people really seeing this? And maybe we're not getting the traction that we want right away, but social media and being visible is one giant experiment in the beginning. But we're gonna break it down for you. So, Chris, why is it valuable to be visible in your business brand? Personal brand?

Well, let me start with saying this. Visibility isn't just social media. Visibility is also podcasts like this one, YouTube channels, webinars, blogs, getting articles written about you being on other people's platforms. Visibility is an everywhere, all the time game. And who is this for? Who's this important for? More. More individuals have to consider this to be important than they actually realize. I think this is where a lot of people like, I try hard, I work hard, but things aren't happening for me. The obvious is this, if you own a business, especially an online business, of course visibility is paramount, but if you own a brick and mortar business, visibility is also paramount. Let's take it a step further. If you just have a regular job and you're trying to move up in the ranks of that job, visibility in many ways is absolutely paramount for you as well. So visibility is for dang near everyone and most people aren't taking it serious enough.

Okay, so for a lot of people right now, they just went, oh my God, I have to be everywhere. But that's not necessarily the case. So tell me where to focus first.

So you need to be. You need to consider two things as to where should I be. Number one, what fits your personality type? First and foremost, that's the most important thing. You can't be everywhere in all ways. It's impossible. It's an expectation you won't meet. So the first question is, in what ways do I love to show up? Is it on video or do I love just to Rift audio, or do I just love making tiles or do I just love photo shoots? So figure out how you like to show up the best. And then secondly is you need to figure out what platform your buyers. And when I say your buyers, I don't literally mean your buyers of course. I mean, you know, your buyers in the literal sense. But I also mean like, who is it that you're trying to be visible in front of? I'll go back to that example. A lot of people climbing the ranks of corporate America think they don't have to be visible, but they wonder why they're not getting the promotions. Guys, visibility is street cred in this day and age. So if you're climbing the ranks in corporate America, you need to be very visible and very significant on LinkedIn. Or maybe you need your own podcast about your genre that you are in. Even though you're not self employed, all of these things help you stand out from the crowd. Now let's go back to Captain Obvious. Captain Obvious is if you're building a business online, or even a brick and mortar one, of course you already know that visibility is paramount. Where should you be showing up? Well, I'll give you example. A lot of people that are selling to, let's say mom or dad in their 40s, 50s, 60s, Instagram is not your jam. You should be pointed towards Facebook in a lot of cases. But if you're trying to sell towards 20 somethings, 30 somethings, maybe some 40 somethings, Instagram or TikTok might be your jam. So really the two questions are, how do I show up best. And then where is my tribe? Who am I trying to get in front of?

Oh, so good. So we know where our audience is. We kind of have an idea about, you know, okay, we need to be visible every single day. It can be videos and all of the things, but do. Do we create a plan or what does that look like? How do I get focused? Because it can still feel like a lot. And how do I find my voice?

So make a plan. And this is why I say, choose one that you like showing up on, because it does have to be consistent. This is where everyone would love for me to say, well, there's an easy formula. It doesn't have to take a lot of time. Guys, this is a very serious part of your entire life, right? That your career, your earnings, whether you work for someone or for yourself, is going to depend on your visibility. And so you do have to make time for this. And the plan is going to be different for everybody. But at a minimum, you need to know what days, hopefully every day you're going to put some form of content out, what time of day you're able to reach your audience the best, and then put it in your calendar. For example, in my calendar in the morning is an hour blocked off that says content. This is where I create content and where I post content. Otherwise, there's too many other things that would get in the way of me posting and creating content. Whether it's a podcast episode, whether it's Instagram post, whether it's TikTok on a regular basis, what you schedule in will get done. What you wish would happen, but don't schedule in won't get done.

So we've got our posts, we've got our post plan. We have some sort of semblance to it. And just being visible is probably the, you know, 50% of it. Because the other 50% is. Now, how do we create engagement with our audience? Because a lot of times this is where people are like, oh, God, well, I'm creating content. But now on a business page, I don't know if you guys have ever commented, like, consistently on someone's business page, and you never hear back from them. You're kind of like, are they even looking? So, you know, engagement, engaging in your brand is so important. And I was just having this conversation with Ronnie Brown, who runs Girl CEO yesterday. And the thing is, is that sometimes engagement can feel really overwhelming. Like you've already come up with the content. You're already trying so authentic online to connect with your customer. You feel like you're connecting because you're starting to get engagement. But as you start to get engagement, if you want to keep it and grow it, like if you want to be one of these pages that you look at that you feel very connected to, that's the key. It's most likely because not only is their content hitting for you, but also somebody is engaging back with you and you are feeling seen. So this is interesting because I had asked her yesterday if you can have somebody else comment on your personal page and your business page. And she said, you know, absolutely on your business page because everyone will learn the voice. You'll find the voice of your business page and you'll treat it like an actual person. Like you'll have a personality who is your business.

And I want to clarify, you mean can you have someone else comment on your behalf?

Yes, on your behalf. Sorry about that. So on your personal page, totally different. And I completely understood this because I've gone back and forth because for some reason my personal page feels very overwhelming for me to engage along with all of the other pages and things that I'm helping with. So she did mention like, and it's the truth, like it's really hard to get your exact voice, know who your friends are, keep things all like in a lineup, create that engagement for your business page. Direct people, like really get the your heart and soul. It's hard for somebody else to duplicate that. So I'm not saying to someone because I actually know a couple of people who have other people engagement on their personal page and it works for them if you can find someone who just frickin knows you inside and out, like amazing scenario. But that's not always possible. So what I'm talking about here is trying to find, working really hard to find the voice of your business page, delegating that as much as possible so that you can focus on your personal brand. Because even with business brands nowadays, people want to know who the personal brand person is behind the business brand.

And Lori, this is where less is more. Way back to when I said ask yourself two things, how do you show up best? Like which couple platforms would that be? And then where is your audience? It's okay to just be really strong on two platforms. It's okay maybe Max to be really strong on three. Right. For me it would be the podcast is a platform. The my Instagram is a platform. And those are my two strongest platforms where I engage the most. Now, Am I on LinkedIn? Yes. I repurpose content over there. Am I on Facebook? Yes. But I Never log in. I just repurpose content over there. So there's a difference between being on the platforms but being engaged in just the couple. And that's where less is more is because your audience will learn where to find you. They'll learn where to engage with you. And when they love what you're putting out and the engagement, the conversation that you're having, then they'll keep showing up to those couple of platforms over and over again. And it only takes a couple of platforms to build a large enough audience to be able to do anything in the world that you want to accomplish. And there's more platforms than people are thinking. You know, social media seems to get talked about a lot. What about webinars? You know, I've been doing showing up strong on webinars two or three times a week for free every single week. And all I do is I teach for about 45 minutes on how to build and monetize your brand from home. And then I answer people's questions for 45 minutes to an hour about their business. One, like one on one, right. In order. And that's been a really cool way to show up and engage. That is outside of a lot of people's radar. And it's paying massive dividends. By the way, Shameless plug go to for the love of money.com forward/webinar if you guys want to jump on these free webinars.

It's so good. And you guys, if anything, if you're not interested in the exact content, go there to learn. That's been one of Chris and I's biggest strengths, is that even though we may not be interested in someone's content, we'll absolutely go to see how they're structuring things.

And here's another platform that people don't realize. And this is like, consider this breaking news. Text lists are the new engagement. Here's why people really want to feel seen as much as you want to feel seen as a brand. Right?

Right.

And so when you build a text message list and you've got your clients, your followers, your customers on that text list, it feels like a very intimate engagement. You know, you have one, I have one. But once a week, sometimes twice a week, I'll just send out something like, hey, guys, think of one thing you were really proud of this week and give yourself a pat on the back for it. Or sometimes it'll be something around. A money mindset mantra. Or sometimes it'll be something around. Here's a business tip. People want to engage with you on a more and more intimate basis. And there's technology out there that will help you do that.

Okay, so I want to dive just a little bit for one second into what to post, because I'm going through this right now, and with just making sure I'm really consistent, I actually put myself on a 30 days of posting challenge on my personal page. I already have it on Instagram. On Instagram, yes. And I have people who are helping me with my At Drink light pink page. So we plan that one month in advance. The content is changing right now consistently, because we're finding what works and what doesn't. So we're actually going and studying every single post, seeing what gets shared, what gets commented on, tweaking. We'll tweak the caption like three times in one day just to see what gets a hit. And we're understanding what gets a hit. So with that slide said, that's taking care of for me on the business side, as you can see, I'm putting a lot of energy there. But for my personal page, people want to know that you are alive and you're engaged and you're a real person. So for my personal page, my rule of thumb is be as authentic as possible. Like, I'm gonna tell you the truth of my day. That day, pretty much whatever is going on. And I had a moment of like, wait, I don't know if I want these people to see, like, that a founder can feel weak or scared or tired or whatever this is, especially while trying to raise money. Right. And get people invested in your company. And I just had a moment of, like, a smackdown for myself. And I was like, people want to engage with me more when I show what it actually feels like and it looks like and what the journey really is. Like, that's why I'm on this mission, is to show women what's possible. But I'm not going to make it rosy because the second they hit these walls and feel terrible or like, wait, I don't have willpower, they're going to feel like they can't do it. And that's simply not the case. So for my personal page, I'm not going to stress myself out about it right now anymore because I was like, okay, I need. I'm. I should have this, you know, have everything be these certain types of filters. So it all looks really uniform. I should make sure I have a pretty good picture every single day. Okay. I should have this super moving, touching post every single day. Guys, you're not going to Feel that way every single day. And it's really tough to plan out 30 days of emotional content for where you're at or teaching content. So what I have been doing is just saying share how you feel right now. Throw up an old picture. Throw up a picture with no makeup on. Throw up whatever picture, just get it up there. And if you're not feeling it that day, just be like, hey guys, you ever not feeling it? Here's. Here's one of my favorite quotes for you. Let me know. Let me know how you're feeling today. Like we are overthinking this when it's actually so important to keep engagement for where you are at now. I do want to say there are times in your life when you do need a break and it's fine to take a couple days off in your here and there, but if you're noticing that you're starting to become inconsistent, like very inconsistent as a pattern, that's not going to be okay for growing if we're talking about growing a business.

But listen here, let me add to that two things. One, done is better than perfect.

Yes.

Okay, let me take the pressure off. Done is better than perfect. Consistency is king. So done is better than perfect, helps you be more consistent. And then number three is this. Always be experimenting. If you just adopt those three rules, done is better than perfect, Consistency is king. And always be experimenting. Meaning did it work? Did it not work? Don't be attached to the results. Be attached to the experiment and the feedback. It'll start to steer you intuitively what to post and what people will like. But like you said, there's no replacement for just being real in the moment, guys. Highly curated, highly planned out. Those days are over. People want what's real in the moment. Especially when things are going on in the media, especially as we go through this Covid situation. Especially as we go through sensitive times. If you are sticking to what was so well curated and planned out, because you planned a month ago and you're not talking about what's real to people right now, you're not going to be seen. And there's a couple of metrics that I want you guys to get obsessed with and this will help for you up as well. Too many of you are worried about likes and comments. That one didn't get a lot of likes that one didn't get a lot of comments. Because sometimes I put stuff out there and it absolutely flops and I leave it out there for you to see. Other times I put it out there, I'm like, why did this go nuts? Here's the bottom line. Likes and comments don't matter. Those just help the algorithm expose you a little bit more if it's on fire. What really matters is this. Shares and mentions. If you're going to get obsessed with metrics, I want you to get obsessed with shares. How many shares you post got and mentions. How many mentions? When you open up your Instagram notifications, how many mentions does it say you're getting at the top? Those are the numbers you want to drive. Because when people share your content or when they mention you, that is driving their audience back to your page out of curiosity. And as long as your page isn't an absolute turd show, then hopefully it's going to earn them. You know they're going to click follow. So get obsessed with shares and mentions over everything else.

So the only time that you can be a turd show is if you sell toilets. Then you absolutely want your page to be a turd show. That's when it.

Listen, there's real validity, guys. Now here's one place where I will say quality matters. I know I said done is better than perfect, but don't have a page that looks like garbage or like you haven't taken the time to really try and improve and try and make it look decent. Yes, people aren't going to follow this weird, patchworky, horrible, dark, bad spelling dark, no lighting. Yeah, yeah. Like let's continue to get better on our pages because here's, here's the game. One of the name of the game, number one, drive eyes to it. Those eyes get to vote if they want to follow you or not. So number two, be follow worthy. And when you master that, driving eyes to it being follow worthy, that's when you're going to start to really take off.

Yeah. And I do want to clarify because I feel like we contradicted ourselves saying don't be perfect, but do this. But it is the truth. It doesn't take more than one minute to say this looks like crap in my camera. I could either throw a, like brighten this photo up or I can go to a room with more light or put this thing against a white wall or a nice bright surface. You guys, it's the difference between it's a one minute thing for you and it's the difference between somebody stopping and being interested or someone being like, what do they live in a cave? Like, this is so dark, like it's not inspiring. So brightness does help in such a huge way. And I just want to Say with the curated pages, sometimes we compare ourselves to people who are not selling what you're selling. So I know that when blogging was such a huge thing, in these clothing bloggers and travel bloggers, yeah, it's, it's important to stand out and show beautiful places, to make it tantalizing and show your beautiful outfits and make sure they look amazing. But are you selling clothes? Are you selling destinations? Are you selling food? Or are you selling you? So when you're selling you, you're not perfect. So you know, it's like showing yourself in the state that you actually are. Because a human wants to buy into another human. We want to be, we want to rally. Like, we want to help you, we want to know who you are, we want to know what you're going through. So that's why a perfectly curated page, it's almost like if you're not selling clothing, a destination food or something that really does need to look beautiful and tantalizing, then we're kind of not relating. It's almost like, well, you know, yes, I'm buying clothes from this woman, but do I know her as a human? It's almost like some of those blogger pages, they're so stunningly beautif, but I actually don't connect to the human at all. I see them more as like a model who's showing me an item, which is exactly what they're supposed to do. So don't get confused with needing to sell something that you are not selling.

You know, and, and let's start to put a bow on this thing by addressing one last sabotaging thought that might really help people take a step forward. And it's this.

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In saying it's shallow to want to be seen or if you are caught up in saying, well it's just vanity metrics to want to be seen or really building this reason why you don't want to put the Work in to do it. Listen, I'm going to offer you a different perspective. I'm going to say that you have an obligation to be discovered and seen. You have an obligation to be loud and proud. You have an obligation to be shouting your message from the mountaintops, not like whispering it from the end of a hallway. And here's why. If you have a product that helps relieve people's pain in any way, shape or form, how dare you let them suffer by not being seen? Right. If you're a good, loving, caring person with a good message, how dare you let people that need that message not get it because you think it's vanity being seen. No, I know everybody listening to this or they wouldn't listen to your show and they wouldn't listen to my show. I know you're good people with great intentions, great products, and great messages. And so this limiting belief of its vanity to want to be seen, or those are vanity metrics? Nope, Those are excuses that people make up before they're ready to do the work it takes to be seen. Because the real work is this. Be loud, be proud, get as much exposure as you possibly can because the end result is that helps more lives.

So good. So true. You know, I'm seeing it in my own stuff. Watching the engagement go way up, watching people start conversations way more on my page, on my DMs, just from showing up imperfectly, but showing up consistently and really thinking about, does this post add value to their lives? And that has been so insanely powerful. You guys put yourself on your own challenge then. Just to be seen and being seen and showing up every day, not vanity. It's self development and it's how you get your business out there.

Yes. I love it. Okay, let's let you and I be the examples for them. So Lori's the best example for them.

To go follow you right now at Drink Light Pink is a great spot to follow me.

Or on.

Yes, on Instagram.

Okay. And what about Lori Harder?

Right? Yeah. Great.

Okay, here's where you follow me at Chris W. Harder on Instagram, but also jump on these webinars to see what I mean by alternate platforms to be seen. And they're totally free. There's no agenda. I teach you and I answer your questions and that's it. That's the entire extent of the agenda. Your business gets better. But you'll see what I mean by alternative platforms to get seen. So you can check those out for free at for the love of money.com webinars or twice a Week. Every single week.

Yeah, guys, so just sit down right now, if you're not already sitting, or sit down later today and decide what platform you want to start showing up on and make a plan of how often, how many days and what that will look like. If every day to you is going to feel like a lot, then do Monday through Friday. Like, start your plan and just map it out, lay it out and commit to it. Like you got to commit to yourself. You have to decide. You have to tell people. Which is why I announced on my Instagram and on my podcast that I'm challenging myself. And I asked, who wants to come along for the ride? And let me tell you, I'm getting tagged in other people's 30 days of posting. And I also use the hashtag, hashtag, just post already. I'm getting tagged in people's tags. And when I haven't posted at 9 o' clock at night and I get tagged, I'm like, oh, like I started this challenge and they just posted and you know, a challenge that I started and I need to post. So do something that holds you accountable. You can join this one. It's. It's a made up challenge. I don't know, there might only be 20 people on it. No clue. But it helps. So you guys, Chris, any last thoughts?

Yeah, it really boils down to this. He or she with the most free, consistent, quality content wins. And when you have a large and engaged audience, you can write your ticket. You can pivot where you want to pivot. You can do whatever you want to do with ease.

Yes. Earning your right to do whatever you want later by being consistent.

Love it.

All right, you guys, make sure you tag Chris Harder at Chris W. Harder. Make sure that W is in there or someone else gets tagged at Chris W. Harder and at Lori Harder. On this podcast, let us know your biggest takeaways or let us know if you're going to commit to this as well. And until next time, you guys, we will see you soon.

Appreciate you guys. Bye.

Bye. Thank you guys so much for spending this time with me on the earn your happy podcast. I am so glad that you stopped by. If you could take one second to share this episode with someone you think would love it, that would be absolutely amazing and we would be forever grateful. Also, please leave us a review if you feel so moved by going to itunes and leaving us an honest thought, an honest comment, tell us what you think, tell us what you want to hear more of. It would really help us out on our journey to helping thousands and thousands of people. Until then, don't forget to earn your happy. Thanks again, guys. Bye bye, Sam.