ALL of us will soon be hit with an onslaught of affiliate marketing messages for ONE digital course aimed at online business owners. Everyone selling it to you will get between 40% and 50% of what you pay for the course. And there are MULTIPLE people pimping this course out.
So, the creator of this course is doing her podcasting and interview rounds just prior to “doors opening” on her launch… and I listened in to one of them because I was running from chiropractor to yoga to sauna to reflexology. (And also, to be completely honest, the TITLE of the podcast episode really grabbed me…)
This big name expert is going to reveal some simple strategies that will help us get incredible results in 2018.
First thing she says is how in 2018… people want REAL & RAW. She goes on to talk about how people want AUTHENTICITY “nowadays.” How things are shifting…
REALLY? In FEBRUARY of 2018….
you’re speaking as if AUTHENTICITY is somehow — in any way — NEW?
How it’s okay to cuss in a blog post or on your instagram feed?
How it’s okay to create a video without massive production behind it?
Alas, she was DEADLY serious.
And I was mildly annoyed.
I’ve written about how “authentic was the new famous”
since 2008.
Over 40 articles in about ten years.
Articles WARNING entrepreneurs that the trend was going against anything “perfect” and “glossy,” alerting them that RAW and REAL was more trustworthy in a market of people who’d had their fingers “burned and bruised” by slick, glossy facades. (That specific article, circa 2011.)
So, while it’s still true today,
of course,
and getting MORE true to some degree…
RAW and REAL isn’t a way to get ahead any more.
RAW & REAL is the price of admission.
It simply gets you to the party.
But the ACTUAL trend in 2018 is doing RAW & REAL with courage, wisdom, and strategy.
So, let’s piggy back on this guru’s “ground breaking” 2018 call to be authentic, shall we?
FIRST, It’s BEEN about being RAW & REAL. But now, we’re expected to be RAWer and REALer. =)
If you’re in a personality driven business, your relationship with your market — through your public or paid content — should take a BIT of courage to post. (Note: I’m taking my own medicine here.. with a post that I have been SITTING on for weeks because it’s about SEX and DRIVE and also boundaries. It’s a bit rawer and realer than I’d like… Still, I will post it.) My point: If it doesn’t take a BIT of courage to post, it’s too bland… too vanilla.
EVEN THIS POST caused me a bit of pause. I have respect for the guru I’m talking about here. I am sometimes compared to her. (Which I ALWAYS take as a compliment.) AND a lot of people LOVE her… and will recognize immediately who I am speaking of. So, it takes courage to post it.
Still, RAWer and REALer means your people KNOW you. They know what you stand for, what you stand against, what you are passionate about, which laws you break, which rules you follow.
For instance, if my market heard I was arrested TOMORROW, 98% of them would know WHY. lol… They KNOW me, because I have always been real and raw with them.
And with a heaping spoonful of courage,
I take these relationships deeper, each and every day.
Through showing up.
Yes, real and raw,
but more than that.
Realer and rawer.
SECOND, Real and Raw is NEVER an Excuse to act infantile online. Real and Raw requires SO MUCH MORE wisdom than glossy and perfect.
I am sorry to say it, but every little thought or fear that goes through these pretty little heads of ours are NOT meant for public consumption. Real and Raw —without WISDOM — will not bode well for you as a professional. Period.
So, use wisdom.
Your market needs to know you, yes.
They do NOT need to bear witness to all of your little breakdowns, your temper tantrums, or your private moments of pain. We ALL have them.
For me, I often write about them.
BUT, not in the moment… not before I myself have processed it all.
At LEAST a bit.
I am proud to say that I don’t see ONE of our Women Who WOW members who is doing this without wisdom. Honestly, not one comes to mind. But I see it EVERY WHERE ELSE.
And in every single situation,
real & raw SANS wisdom…
DIMINISHES your position in the market.
Moving on..
Real and Raw in 2018 requires STRATEGY.
Let me be really honest here… I’ve always been the girl in jeans… the girl who was real and raw. This is TRULY who I am. I haven’t worn hose in 18 years. I don’t put on traditional “business attire,” ever. No, I won’t put on a suit to speak at your event.
I have always been the girl with grit.
THIS served me well in the early years of my business… because I was one of the few who TRULY didn’t desire to IMPRESS anyone. I was one of the few who showed up EVERYWHERE in jeans or a sundress. I was one of the few who would WRITE the way I SPOKE.
And so, it helped me immensely.
Today, however, the real and raw thing has taken over. (Much to this guru’s surprise???) With the invent of LIVE video and pictures on our phones and all of that … the self-publishing movement… the NEED for such polished perfection went away.
Before I knew it, I looked around and there were TONS of people like me: unpolished. They were excited to just show up and be “real and raw” and the market rewarded them for it.
So, I have begun to be more strategic in my “real and raw.” I have begun to be more deliberate, to use strategy around what I share, where, and to whom. I’ve become strategic about my fashion, even.
I’m STILL real and raw, of course. But I’m aware of how to WIELD my real and rawness most effectively, ESPECIALLY when I’m in front of a new audience.
So, how can you be more courageous, more wise, and more strategic with your OWN “raw and real” commitment this year?
P.S. Have you heard about my Birthing An Empire program? It’s a 37 -week INTENSIVE and includes weekly check ins and check outs… a LIVE 2-day “fireside chat” for gritty and gorgeous masterminding, another FULL DAY of masterminding towards the end of the program, a public celebration of your success and SO MUCH MORE besides.
This is for YOU if you’re an author,
a messenger,
an expert.
This is for YOU if you’ve got something that the world NEEDS.
This is for YOU if you’ve felt “infertile” in your business… doing all you know to do but not creating the REACH or the IMPACT or the INCOME you know your message deserves.
If this calls out to you,
email me for details.
