Last week I hinted that I’d talk about showing up this week. So here we are and here’s the thing… My smart, savvy business friends have been telling me for a long time that I need to show myself in my business more, instead of just showing off my clients. But I like showing off my clients and their stories and their photos much better than I like showing myself. It’s uncomfortable to be like, “Hey, look at me…”
But that’s business… it’s the “social” part of social media. Truth is, I’m fascinated when other business owners put themselves in their marketing. I love it. So a couple weeks ago I posted some photos I took of myself in the studio. I had more likes, comments and messages (aka, engagement) than any other photos I’ve posted. Award winning photos? A chirp or two. My adorable cats? A few chirps. My face? Whole moly, a stampede of chirps! If you want leads to show up at your door and dollars to show up in your bank account, you need your face to show up in your marketing. It’s just science. Whether you come to me for the “Model for a day” Personal Branding experience, or you rope a nearby human – we need to see photos and videos of you doing you. (This applies to families too. We need Mom in the photos, not just behind the camera.)
That’s what I thought I was going to tell you last week. And in the meantime, I had a lovely client tell me she’s not photogenic. (which I’ve heard from just about every client) But this time, I thought about all my out takes. I told her that no one is photogenic all the time. Photos are this tiny, specific slice of time. We get twisted up trying to make sure they’re perfect but there are silly, sloppy, sometimes confused moments in between the perfect ones. So it’s best to just laugh at them. Here are some of mine.
And when you get the chance to laugh at yourself, take it.
How Can You Live Longer?
