What shapes your reputation?

If you’ve been in business a while, you’ll already have a reputation – both for you personally and for your business.  But as your reputation is subjective, there can be a gap between what you’d like people to think/say about you and what they actually do.  The good news is that you can fix this – but it will take time.

The first step is to know how people currently see you.  There are a couple of ways to do this.

1.     Read your recommendations and testimonials.  What do people say about you in these?  Are they the things you want at the top of your reputational list?

2.     Ask your existing clients and regular networking contacts to give you feedback.  The secret to this is to ask the right questions, as most people never know what to say when they’re put on the spot!  So, ask 3-4 specific questions to help get focused answers.  For example:

a.    What do you see as my top skills?

b.    How would you describe me to a potential customer/client when recommending me?

c.     How do you see me as a communicator?

d.    What do you think my highest values are?  Do these show up in the way I come across?

Pick people who you trust and you know will be honest with you.  The aim is not to get lots of compliments, but to ensure that their perception matches what you want people to see.

What happens if the result isn’t what you want?

In a perfect world you are totally authentic, but we all have our idiosyncrasies and, sometimes, the way we show up doesn’t completely match what you believe.  This might be due to shyness, lack of confidence, imposter syndrome, or a communication style that needs a little adjustment.

Firstly, you need to be clear about what your values are.  Not just for show, but in reality.  What is important to you?  Do a brainstorming exercise and list everything that you think is important.  [TIP: put each one on a sticky note, it will make the ranking process easier].  Sort them into a ranked order and just focus on the top three.

Your top three personal values may not be identical to those for your business, so you’ll need to do the exercise for both – BUT they can’t be completely different, or you really will have a problem being authentic with your customers, staff and suppliers.

Compare the values you want to stand behind with what people have fed back to you and identify where the gaps are.  What can you do that will help you to demonstrate your top three values, for you and your business? 

If the actions feel uncomfortable, do a reality check – your values should be reflected in the things you do naturally, not anything that grates.  If people aren’t seeing you as you would like, think about the things you could do – that feel right to you – to help your values be more visible.

Quality v. Frequency

I’m a life-long learner and that means I’ll always grab the opportunity to expand my knowledge – particularly in areas that are subject to rapid change.

When it comes to social media, my audience are mostly on LinkedIn, so that’s the platform I’m most active on.  As a member of the HoLT community, I have access to lots and lots of masterclasses on all kinds of subjects – and I’ve attended two LinkedIn Masterclass courses.  In November, we looked at content generation and in January we explored how to expand reach and engagement.

These are subjects that are top of the agenda when it comes to generating potential business leads.  And, let’s be honest, most of us are not on LinkedIn to make new friends or watch cat videos – we’re there to build our businesses.

The algorithms on LinkedIn have changed dramatically with the advent of AI and today the content of your profile is the influencing factor in who sees your posts.  That means that hashtags on LinkedIn are no longer useful and the AI prioritises long form, high value content.

It’s been interesting hearing different experts share their knowledge – and one question that keeps coming up is ‘How often should I post?’

The key points that have come up in response to that are:

• Good value content is more important than frequency.
• Daily posts are a good target to aim at.
• More than one post a day can mean each post gets less reach, as LinkedIn only focuses on the latest post, until there is response on existing posts.
• Reaching the right audience is more important than going viral.

Lots of people are complaining that their reach has tanked, but reaching thousands of people who are random isn’t necessarily a good thing.  It’s better to reach the people who fit your ideal audience profile, and LinkedIn’s AI uses your profile to determine that, so ensuring that is accurate, focused and up-to-date is important.

The other aspect of getting seen is all about comments.  Not getting them on your posts, but adding good quality content on other people’s posts.  That means investing time each day to read the feed and try to add value.

So, not ‘Great post’, but an intelligent comment that adds to what has been says or adds your opinion on the subject the original post is about.  Some people get a greater reach on their comments on other people’s posts than they do from their own original posts!

The answer to quality v. frequency is always quality.  However, if you only post once a month, don’t expect to make much headway! 

Be authentic, be human, add value and you’ll start to make a difference.

I hate video!

 

Unfortunately, video is unavoidable if you want to promote your business and your expertise effectively.  But talking to camera? I can do it, but I’ll always find something ‘easier’.

I’m not a video camera afficionado – so any video I take is likely to be a bit wobbly, scans too fast and makes the viewer dizzy.  And I see plenty of people with similar camera ‘skills’ online on Instagram, LinkedIn and, of course, on YouTube.  However, fewer make it to YouTube – maybe because, like me, they don’t think they’re good enough to be a YouTuber.

Yes, I have a couple of channels on YouTube – but after the initial push to get them started, I don’t post much.  All my original videos used a slide presentation with my voice narrating.

What are the road blocks?

Am I shy?  No, I’ve spoken on platforms in front of hundreds of people and run dozens of webinars. 

Am I vain?  Not more than the average person.  I look OK on camera, but I still don’t like it.

Am I nervous?  Not really.

So what’s holding me back?

My acronym is R.A.V.E., which stands for Reputation, Authority, Visibility, Expertise.  As a business owner these are all critical to me.

• I don’t want to dull or damage my Reputation.
• I want to be an Authority, not an amateur.
• If I’m going to be Visible, I want to be 100% professional.
• When I’m showing off my Expertise, I don’t want the subheading to be ‘but doesn’t make good videos’.

So, I don’t make ANY videos.

Well, hardly any – and most of them don’t feature me, just my knowledge.

This is all very negative!

And I’m not a negative person.  So, where do we go from here?

I know some of you are thinking ‘get over yourself and just get on with it’, but I’m sure that a few of my readers are also feeling the same reluctance to get with the video.

So, I got some training and this is what I learned:

• Batch produce – it makes it easier (but put a different top/shirt on for each one).
• Book time into your diary every month/week to create video.
• Plan what each video will cover, but don’t read a script or you’ll send people to sleep!  Bullet points are good to keep you from losing track.
• Pay attention to your background (we’ve all seen the ones that got it wrong and seriously embarrassed themselves).
• Make sure your face is well-lit either with natural light or a well-placed lamp (I use a ring light above my computer screen that’s high enough so it doesn’t reflect in my specs).
• Ensure you’ve locked the door or everyone is out, so you don’t get unexpected disturbances and have to start over.

If you still feel uncomfortable talking to camera, get a colleague or friend to interview you either face-to-face or online.  If you choose face-to-face, you’ll need lights, cameras and mics, but a virtual interview will work just as well.

I think it’s a case of ‘fake it until you make it’, and the more you do it, the more comfortable it will become.

And don’t forget that a video editing service with tons of YouTube experience will make your videos shine out and transform ordinary into extraordinary!