Talk About Your Work
One of the challenges I give my clients who are trying to start or grow their businesses or freelance careers - is to TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DO.
This is often *so* uncomfortable.
We don’t want to talk about what we do, eww. That would be bragging. That would be cringe. That would be asking for attention. That would be icky.
Y’all.
If you don’t talk about what you do, the services you offer, what you sell, how you help your clients, how the hell are your people supposed to friggin’ find you?
You HAVE TO TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DO.
So I’m going to challenge all of you to the same thing.
7 days - yes, in a row - of posting something every single day about what it is that you do.
The copywriting you offer your clients. The stickers you create. The music you make. The products you sell. The photos you take.
Whatever it is that you want to make a bigger part of your life - and your income - you gotta talk about it.
Use the hashtag #TalkAboutYourWork so I can see the posts you create and re-share them and expand your reach!
Ok, now let’s get into some common resistances and excuses:
"But I don't know what to talk about!"
One of the most common responses to this challenge.
You think you don't have 7 days' worth of content in you? Think again.
There are some suggestions in this post and in this post - there's more than enough in between these collections and this is just a small smattering of what you can share on your social media pages.
You have plenty of time to brainstorm and write out content ahead of time if that resonates with you. If it doesn't, check the list daily and create what inspires you that day!
These can be used anytime for any freelancer, artist, entrepreneur, creator, or person who wants to share.
Use ‘em beyond this challenge.
Share the same prompt more than once with different nuance.
Don’t overthink it.
You got this.
I’m so proud of you.
You should be too.
“Ugh, I don’t want to annoy my friends/family/followers! That would be so annoying to post everyday about my work!”
My darling human, no.
The subsection of your audience that is stoked to hear from you, will be stoked to hear from you everyday.
The subsection of your audience that might unfollow you, good riddance. You don’t want them cluttering up your follower list with unsupportive, inactive, annoyed energy.
The shelf-life of a social media post is incredibly short.
If you want people to know what you do, you have to tell them over and over and over again. (Some research suggests that you have to tell them 7 times. Weird how that works out, ain’t it?)
The fact that a social media post’s shelf-life is so short should be encouraging. On the one hand, no one will see it! It doesn’t have to be perfect! It just has to exist! On the other hand, people will see it! They will go about their lives and forget immediately! You have to tell them again!
This gives you so much freedom to experiment with messaging and content and new stuff.
The #TalkAboutYourWork challenge is a great way to bust through this fear.
“But what if my post isn’t perfect? It’s not even worth doing if it isn’t perfect. I’ll be judged!”
Perfectionism is the enemy of growth.
As I mentioned above, the shelf-life of a social media post is so small. Being imperfect is the best way to be.
A single post is never going to make or break your growth.
But NOT posting out of fear of being imperfect will definitely break your growth.
80% now is better than 100% never.
Don’t let perfectionism prevent you from posting. You can’t game the algorithm. You can’t create reliably consistent viral content. You can’t predict what will and won’t perform well - at least, not until you start posting super consistently and seeing what your audience actually responds to.
So for now, while you’re just starting or trying to grow your freelancing, your small business, your art, your whatevs, just post. Hit publish. Put that work out into the world.
I can’t wait to see you embrace imperfection when you #TalkAboutYourWork.
“No one cares. Why should I even put forth the effort?”
My darling human, please share what lights you up.
If you have a skill or an idea or a business that you want to make a bigger part of your life and/or your income, you deserve to talk about it.
Even if you have nary a follower. Even if you think the people in your life currently don’t care. Even if you’re afraid of being judged.
You owe it to yourself to talk about your work.
Talking about your work NOT ONLY tells other people what you do, but it helps you gain confidence in talking about your work.
Talking about your work gives you clarity and vocabulary to be able to speak on what you do, what you’d like to do, where you see it going, and how someone else can support you.
Talking about your work helps rewire your brain so that talking about your work isn’t so scary.
It gets easier the more you practice. And the more you practice, the more you are showing your inner child and your inner critic that you are serious about this. That you can be trusted with this dream. That you are safe to pursue this new venture.
It’s about sharing with others, yes, of course, but it’s also about sharing with YOURSELF.
Proving to yourself that you can and will do what it takes.
You’re worth it.
You deserve to go after your dreams.
I can’t wait to watch you #TalkAboutYourWork.
Now What?
Now, my curious and brave growth-seeking being, you go experiment. Go have fun, don’t think too much about it, play with the process, see what works and what feels good!
