I’m sitting here staring at the computer screen, wondering why I haven’t written anything here in so long. This is not the first time I’ve sat like this. There was a time when one of the most joyful moments of my day was settling in with a cup of hot coffee to write on my blog. But then it all changed. I felt as if I had nothing more to say, at least on the topics I’d been writing about. As time went on, and I didn’t write, other things came along to fill my time. And when I sat back down to write, nothing came to me. The very act of sitting down to compose for my blog started to give me anxiety. Those of you who know me well know that anxiety is something I’ve struggled with for most of my adult life. It manifests in very strange ways sometimes. That it had manifested into anxiety over writing was very strange indeed. After all, writing was my happy place! Why then, all of a sudden, was I afraid of it? I get butterflies when I sit down to write for myself. I’m afraid I’ll have nothing to say. I’m worried it won’t be good enough. That nobody will care. Now that I see these words on the page it all seems so silly. After all, I don’t write for others. I really do it for myself first, and if it happens to resonate with others along the way, that’s great. But for now, the thought of composing and publishing my thoughts and ideas fills me with dread. It makes my heart beat faster, and my mind spin. I don’t want it to be like this. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about my anxiety disorder, it’s that sometimes I have to push through the things that make me anxious, especially if my fear is preventing me from doing something I love. And this irrational fear I have of writing IS preventing me from pursuing that which I love. So I’m pushing through it. I’m ignoring the panicked feelings and just letting the words flow out onto the screen. I’m ignoring the voices that are telling me it’s a bunch of BS and that nobody will care. And here it is. The result of the push. I’ve got this.
The Entrepreneur’s Guide To Building A Brand Online
13 years. That’s how long I’ve been at this entrepreneurship thing. For 10 of those years, I’ve been using social networks (Happy Birthday, Twitter!) to connect, share and build my brand. Ugh. That sounds so pretentious. The truth is, there was a group of us doing that connection thing online well before the social media gurus came along and gave it fancy names. I didn’t know when I was one of the first 100,000 people on Twitter that I was using it to build anything, let alone a “brand”. I was just hanging out there because I had these new friends I’d met and I wanted a way to keep up with them. I joined Facebook because it seemed like a good way to reconnect with people I grew up with. I started blogging out of sheer love of writing, and out of a desire to get better at it. None of this was intentional. But here’s what I know now, that I didn’t know then. Figure out who you’re talking to. Granted, the online world is a much bigger place now than it was in the early days of 2006. But the same holds true. You have to know whose attention you want to get, if you’re going to get anyone’s attention at all. How do you do that? You listen. You hook up your HootSuite with a pile of searches around keywords and hashtags. You join groups and like pages on Facebook. You search on Instagram and Snapchat and whatever other tool you think your audience might be lurking around on. Then you walk in the room, and you listen. And then, after you’ve listened for a while, and you feel like you have something relevant to say, you start talking. But I’m shy to talk to strangers! What if nobody likes me? I don’t care if you’re shy. I’m shy. But if you’re going to succeed as an entrepreneur these days, you have to get over yourself, and learn to talk to people you don’t know. That holds true in person as well as online. The fact is, the online world is generally a friendly place. If you extend your virtual hand and say hello to people with common interests, you’ll probably be greeted warmly. So just do it and stop hiding behind your shyness. Create content. Then create some more. Here’s another hard truth. If you’re going to build trust in your community, if you’re going to get people to respect what you have to offer, you have to show them what you’re capable of. It’s the only way these days. So blog. And if you’re not a writer, start a podcast. Make YouTube videos. Draw pictures. Create something that speaks to your talents, and then just hit publish. And when people start to take notice, talk to them. This is the only way I know to really get people to know who you are and what you do. It’s the primary way to build credibility in today’s entrepreneurial world. I can’t wait to see what you come up with. Make the ask. My parents taught me from a young age that if I want something, I’m to ask for it. That lesson has served me well as an entrepreneur. The online world is not “if you build it, they will come”. You have to pursue the things you want. That means, if you come across an opportunity, you need to find the people making the decisions and talk to them. After you’ve been providing great content and talking to people for a while, you can feel more comfortable making the ask. But don’t forget to make it! Otherwise your bank account will be miserable. I’ve learned a lot these past 10 years. Above all, I’ve learned that being able to connect and share with people all over the world is the biggest opportunity we have as business owners. It’s an amazing thing, if you’re willing to embrace it. Now go forth and prosper!
A Springtime Social Media Reboot
It’s the first day of Spring here in the northern hemisphere, and with that comes the happy thoughts of renewal, rejuvenation and new growth. What better time to take a fresh look at your online presence, and see where there might be some opportunities to liven things up a bit. If you’re like me, you have a tendency to “go dark” in the winter. The call of Netflix and cozy blankets on a cold winter’s day is just too hard to resist, and your social life, both online and off, take a hit. Your blog sits dormant. You haven’t logged into Twitter in a week. Your Facebook friends are sending out smoke signals. If you’ve been hibernating, like me, now is the time to shed those winter blahs and emerge with a fresh new outlook on your social presence. Start with your blog. When was the last time you gave it a face lift? Is your theme feeling a little outdated? It’s easy enough to put a new face on your tired old blog site. Go for a browse in theme land, and find something new and exciting to play with. Next, get some new content up there! This is the first time I’ve really blogged in 2016, and I have no excuse, really. I could say I’ve been busy, or I could just admit I’ve been a little lazy. So, pop open your Evernote, or whatever you use to write, and start brainstorming some ideas. Then, just write, and hit that “publish” button. Sometimes taking just one step is all you need to get back on the train. How about those social networks? Feeling a little humdrum? Change up your profile pics and cover images to liven things up a bit. Then, get reacquainted with your friends and followers. It doesn’t take much, just a few minutes a day. Get back in the habit of checking in on social media regularly, posting your thoughts and ideas and before long your audience will remember you. Finally, try something new. Never really grasped Instagram before? Is Snapchat still baffling to you? Taking on a new social network is a great way to learn, and there’s no better way to learn about social media tools than to just buckle down and try them. So give something new a try, and see how you like it. You never know, you might just find a whole new world of opportunity out there! Rebooting your social media is as easy as that! Happy Spring!
My Three Words for 2016
For the past several years, I have followed the Chris Brogan method of new year vision-setting. Instead of resolutions, I choose three defining words for the coming year. I’ve found it really helps me to focus on what’s important. Three defining words can’t be “broken” like new year’s resolutions. They are more concrete. In 2015 my three words were Moment, Movement and Mindful. How did I do? Well, some days were better than others. I’ve definitely gotten better at taking each moment, each experience as it comes. Am I perfect at it? No, but I don’t think anyone is. I did move my body more, working out at the gym on a semi-regular basis. I didn’t meet my weight loss goals but I certainly learned the value of exercise, and how much better being active is for my mental and physical state. And finally, I worked hard on mindfulness. Being prone to suffering from anxiety and depression, I’ve had to work hard at keeping tabs on my mental state from day to day. Developing a mindfulness practice has definitely helped with that. Sometimes it means meditation, sometimes it means just sitting back and taking a few deep breaths, and getting centred in the moment. Overall, I think 2015 was a success from a 3 words standpoint. That brings us to 2016, and my three guiding words for this year. Planning. No more flying willy-nilly into my life. I’m going to work harder to keep my schedule from getting out of control (read: say “no” more), and I’m going to make an effort to plan the things that are important to keeping life flowing smoothly – planning mine and my husband’s meals every week, doing the grocery shopping once a week based on a list – those are seemingly small things but they add up to something big when you consider the impact on our health, our busy lives and our pocketbooks. Work-wise I’ll be spending more time looking at the big picture of what needs to get done, keeping my task lists in check and looking forward. Direct. This word means so many different things, and that’s precisely why I like it. This year I intend to be more direct about the things in my life. This means being more direct with friends and colleagues (i.e. don’t beat around the bush), but also it means directing my life more, instead of life directing me. That means making decisions about who and what I choose to spend my time on, eliminating distractions and dramatic things and people, and taking control of the things I can control. Discipline. This is a big one, because it’s something I’ve always struggled with. I’m 45 years old and terribly out of shape. I need to develop the discipline to fix this. That means every day, waking up and making the decision to do something towards that. I also need to develop the discipline to stick to my budget, work within the hours I designate, and nurture the relationships that are most important. It’s not going to be easy, this discipline thing. But I’m ready. There you have it – my guide to 2016. I’d love to hear your three words, or your one word, or your intention for the year. Happy New Year.
The Dark Days of Social Media
It’s 5am and I just had a conversation with a friend who, like me, can’t sleep. We talked briefly about how all of the things going on in the world these past days are worrisome…so worrisome that slumber escapes us. This is intensely troubling to me. Not only are we living in a world that is in turmoil, but it’s affecting us so much that we can’t seem to escape it, even in the quiet, early hours of the day. We live in a crazy, messed up world, made all the more crazy and messed up by our 24/7, always on channels of communication. My streams are filled with concern, bad news, and more often than not, hate and misunderstanding. I want to shut it off, close my eyes to it, and make it go away. I know I can, at any moment I choose. I can unfriend and unfollow at will. I can. And I do. But that only makes the negativity stop in MY world. The stream keeps flowing, whether I choose to dip my foot into it or not. People are outraged, up in arms, and unfortunately, many are now taking to these channels to spew misinformation, racism, and hate. People I once respected have said things and shared things that are, in a word, shocking. We are indeed, in dark days. But what’s still so incredible and amazing, is that I have the freedom to choose differently. I don’t need to get mired in the bullshit. I can choose to walk away from it. I can surround myself with goodness, and cat videos. I can turn away from the hate. I can choose to not be a part of the conversations that only proliferate the negative. I can choose to be helpful, funny, informative, and compassionate. That’s the real beauty of this world we are in. Social media doesn’t have to be dark, because I get to choose. And so do you. So, my challenge to you is this…today, share one thing in your social channels that isn’t all doom and gloom, that isn’t political or filled with war and hate. Share something good that’s happening in the world, or in your home, or in your soul. And please, tag me if we’re friends on Facebook, or on Twitter (@suzemuse), and I promise I’ll share it too. Because Lord knows we could all use a little more good news.
Taking a Break From the News
I have always been a self-professed news junkie. Just ask my husband, who I force on a daily basis to sit in front of the nightly newscast on TV. Or look at my Facebook or Twitter streams, chock full of the news feeds from newspapers, online publications and TV news. I’ve always thought that consuming the news was a good thing. After all, as my father says, “You gotta know what’s going on in the world.”. But recently, a friend of mine mentioned that he doesn’t look at the news. At first I was kind of shocked. How could one go about their day not knowing what’s “going on in the world”? What if something major happened that everyone MUST KNOW RIGHT NOW??? Later that day, I sat down to get my fill of the evening news, and to be quite honest, it was not a pleasant experience. People killed in car accidents. People getting arrested or on trial for heinous crimes. Political battles. People complaining about things. Animals being abused. There was maybe one positive story for every ten negative ones. I got up and turned off the TV. And I haven’t looked back. For the past couple of weeks I haven’t looked at the news once. I removed all of the mainstream news sources from my online streams too. I just gave it up, cold turkey. So how has life been since going on my crash news diet? I don’t miss it. Not once have I been in a situation where I thought, “gosh, I miss knowing what’s going on”. Not once. I’m choosing differently. I’m finding new and interesting things to read online. Things like Brain Pickings, and I $@#%ing Love Science. The stories on sites like these are newsworthy, but not sensationalized. They are inspirational and educational. I’m happier. I didn’t realize the impact looking at depressing news every day was having on my life. But it’s been significant. And as someone who suffers from depression, doing things that don’t depress me is, well, logical. Originally, I was just going to give up news for a few weeks, to see what happened. Now, I’ve decided to make it permanent. I no longer need the news. And it feels good.
What To Write About When You Don’t Know What To Write About
I have a confession to make. I don’t know what to write about today. I’ve been racking my brain trying to come up with ideas, things to tell you, insights to share, and I’ve got nothing. Nothing! It happens to the best of us. The ideas dry up and it seems the more you think about it the harder it gets for any inspiration to come your way. That’s the situation I’m in right now. It’s frustrating, especially when I WANT to write. I truly enjoy the process of writing, and publishing, and of learning from you based on how you react to what I’ve created. It’s the highlight of my week sometimes. But for now, I’m all out. Oh sure, I could just give up, turn on another episode of “Lillyhammer” and go about my day. But that’s not the practice. If I’m watching TV I’m not honing my skills. I’m not accessing that part of my brain that creates. I’m merely consuming. So to create, I must plant my butt in the chair and do SOMETHING. Anything. I could take a walk, do something different besides staring at a blank screen, waiting for my muse to arrive. That often helps, it really does. But I tried it yesterday and nothing came. The important thing is, I’ll try it again today. And maybe tomorrow, too. I’ll persevere. I could do that thing my friend Dave suggested, and go back through some of my more popular past posts, and see if there’s anything I can expand upon, take from a new angle, or give a fresh start. That’s some solid advice right there. Or maybe I could read for a while. Pick a favourite author or blogger and dig in for a while. That would certainly get my brain working, and it might just spark that idea I’ve been waiting for. I could ask you. What do you want me to write about? Anything in particular you want to hear, or learn? What insights might I be able to share to answer your questions? I’d love to hear it! What I won’t do is nothing. Taking no action isn’t going to get me anywhere, and it’s certainly not going to get more words on the page. But, the truth is, I still don’t know what to write about today. I’ll have to get back to you on that.
Give Up Excuses and Your Business Will Thrive
I am part of several online groups made up of people from all walks of life. Many of them are business owners, like me. I contribute to the groups when I have something to offer, but often I just listen in on the conversations. I’ve noticed a curious trend in these groups, and it’s gotten me thinking about some things. The truth is, I sense a real desperation from people. They are trying so hard to make their business work, but just aren’t able to get it to the next level. At first I was sympathetic, but then I dug a bit deeper, and saw what was really going on. The following are the main reasons I’ve observed as to why people say they can’t grow their business. I’m not techie enough to learn tools like MailChimp and WordPress. I don’t have the time to write daily. I have an idea for a new service offering but I don’t know how to communicate it to my prospects and clients. I want to build an online course but I don’t know how. I don’t understand Twitter/Facebook/Pinterest/Instagram well enough. I can’t afford to attend conferences. …and the list goes on. See any similarities in this list? I’ll give you a hint. I don’t. I’m not. I can’t. I hate to burst everyone’s respective bubbles, but these are not reasons. These are excuses. My parents are in their 70s. Mom has an iPad and and iPhone, Dad has an iPad and is an expert at digital photo manipulation. Your excuse is invalid. There are thousands of online tutorials out there that help you learn new technology. Or you can contact me and I’ll teach you. Not being techie enough doesn’t fly in this day and age if you want use online tools to grow your business. Don’t have time to write, or learn a new social network? That’s unfortunate, because I can tell you from experience that my ability to crank out 800 words in under 15 minutes and my 80,000 plus Twitter posts have helped to drive a lot of business to my company over the past 6 years or so. Saying you don’t have time is an excuse. There’s always time. I am writing this post at 6am on a Wednesday morning. I write most of my posts at 6am, when the house is quiet and before the rush of the day. How do I manage to get up so early? I don’t stay up half the night bingeing on House of Cards. I go to bed at 9:30pm at the latest. Every. Night. There’s always time. Find yours and reclaim it. Don’t know how to do something? I learned everything I know about digital marketing from the Internet. Back in 2006 when I first got interested in this stuff, there were no courses. There were very few books on the subject. Everything I learned I had to learn one of two ways…by observing others and by just buckling down and trying stuff. Look, I’m all for taking courses (I’m a teacher, after all) and I think they can provide a lot of value. But until you actually APPLY what you’ve learned, you haven’t really learned it. So if you don’t know how to do something, stop making excuses and figure out how you’re going to figure it out. Can’t afford those fancy conferences that all the cool kids seem to be going to? There’s still plenty of opportunity to learn. TEDTalks are free and accessible any time. There are lots of webinars by really smart people like Chris Penn and Scott Oldford and Owner Media Group that are free or almost free, that can teach you as much if not more than some fancy conference will. And those online groups I mentioned before? There’s no better place for networking, in my opinion. Check out Dave Delaney’s NBN group or The Secret Team. You won’t be disappointed. The bottom line is, your excuses need to be shown the door. If you want to, really want to make a go of your business, then you need to stop making excuses for all the things you don’t know or can’t do and figure out how you’re going to make it work. Deal?
Getting Tired of Social Media? Here’s What You Can Do About It
I hear it time and again these days…people are getting social media fatigue. Twitter has become a selling platform. Facebook is full of ads. We are drowning in content. More and more, people are starting to change their habits when it comes to social, and for some pretty good reasons. But it was inevitable. The platforms evolve, peoples’ behaviours change, and in general, humans lose interest in things that are no longer serving them. In spite of all this, I still firmly believe that social media still has tremendous value. When approached the right way, it can help you build lasting business and personal relationships. It can enlighten and inspire. It can even change the world. Some say social media needs to change. It needs to go back to how it was before the big brands got involved and turned social into a sales platform. I disagree. The truth is, we can’t go back. We’re too far down the rabbit hole now. But if social media still has value, then can we extract that value in spite of what it’s become? I say yes, and here’s how. If it’s broke, fix it. I don’t derive as much value from Twitter these days as I used to. In fact, I pretty much stopped using the platform altogether last year. I’ve slowly come back to it, but primarily as a way to keep up with news, a few friends and some celebrities that I like. It’s certainly not driving business the way it used to. So, rather than whine and complain about it, I just stopped using it for that. Twitter broke for me in terms of a business tool. So I fixed it by moving my business conversations elsewhere, like Facebook Groups and LinkedIn. If a platform is no longer working for you, it’s of no use to try to change the platform. There’s no going back. But you can find what DOES work for you and go there. Become a creator of things. Want to really flip your social media experience on its head? Start creating more. Contrary to what some might say, blogging is not dead, and podcasting is really coming back strong these days. When you stop simply consuming content online and start producing, things change a lot. Not only is it a great creative outlet, but the conversations you have change as well. Producing content is extremely rewarding. It may take some time to build an audience but I promise you the most rich interactions you’ll have online are the ones that spin out of the content you create. Breathe new life into your social experience by creating more. Try a new platform. This week I launched a new weekly newsletter, exclusively for people that subscribe to Suzemuse. It’s an opportunity for me to connect with you on a different level, and to bring the conversation into another social platform – email. I hope that by providing value to that community I can serve them better and get to know some new people too. It’s been another significant change to my social media experience, and so far I’m enjoying it a lot. (Want to subscribe? Click here!) I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Social media is a choose your own adventure experience. You get to decide where you’re going to spend your time. If you’re not getting a payoff, move on. Nobody gets hurt. And you? How has your social media activity changed lately? Let me know in the comments.
On Being Helpful
One of the first things I learned about social media I got from my friend Chris. He’s a smarty pants, as you know. He said it time and again in the early days, and still does. If you want to succeed online, be helpful. The words resonated with me in 2007, and they resonate today. It’s great and practical advice. But what does it really mean, to be genuinely helpful? Let’s break it down. Actions speak louder than words. Time and time again I see people online who don’t do what they say they’ll do. Sure, they’re good for a retweet here and there, but what about when you genuinely need something? Crickets. Being helpful is about taking action. It’s not the easy thing to do sometimes. It takes energy and time to be truly helpful. It could be responding to a question on Facebook or Twitter or Quora. It could be replying to an email in a timely fashion. Whatever it is, make sure that if you say you’re going to do something, you do it. That means more to people than just about anything and goes a long, long way to build trust. Helpful is as helpful does. My other friend Chris (I have a lot of friends named Chris) needs some advice. He was asking for it online the other day. I happen to have experience in the area he’s wondering about, so I offered to help. Why? Because Chris is always going out of his way to help others (and he’s a heck of a nice guy, and we used to live in the same town). We’re going for a coffee today, to talk about what he needs help with. It’s a half an hour of my day, to help a great guy who is always helping others. See how that works? Yeah. Expect nothing in return (and I mean nothing). You can’t be helpful with an agenda. People see right through that. You have to be helpful because you want to be helpful. I have a genuine desire to be as helpful as I can. It’s why I write this blog. It’s why I go for coffee with guys named Chris. And it’s why I’m working at providing even more helpful things to you. Starting this Sunday, I’ll be publishing a weekly newsletter. It’s a little something extra just for subscribers to Suzemuse.com, dropped into your inbox each week. We’re going to talk about storytelling, and content creation, and maybe some other cool stuff too. It’s a chance for us to have even deeper conversations (because you can just hit reply whenever you like and talk to me) and it’s an opportunity for me to be even more helpful to you. Ready to sign up? Click here. I look forward to helping you soon!