💡 Business Tip - Authenticity is Coming Back (Issue #60)
Don't worry about being polished
It looks like the social media pendulum is swinging back. People are growing weary of overproduced videos, perfect photos, and super-polished content. Influencers have turned us all off from people broadcasting their fake lives every day.
I see this as good news!
As a solopreneur, creating content and sharing it on social media can be a time-sink. We need to market our businesses, of course. But if we spend all of our time producing perfect content, when do we have time to run our businesses and live our lives?
I’m a fan of being more raw and authentic. For example, I record and produce my own podcasts with minimal editing. I usually record an episode in one take. You’ll notice that I sometimes make mistakes and correct myself in the audio. I don’t edit it out!
You know I’m human. Why should I be afraid of being a human being who makes mistakes? Why would I pretend to be perfect? Life is messy, and that’s okay.
One of the most popular YouTube channels lately belongs to a young guy who shares his videos in a pretty raw format. His name is Sam Sulek, and he has 2.9M subscribers!
He doesn’t use fancy lighting or equipment. He doesn’t have actors in his videos. He just talks to the camera as he goes about his day—eating, driving to the gym, working out, etc. It apparently works.
So, don’t be afraid to just capture your journey and share your thoughts as you are building and running your business. Let people see the real you! As a solopreneur, you are the brand of your business. People want to connect with you before they feel comfortable buying from you.
I don’t use YouTube much for my business. But I have shared a few videos on my channel there, and you can see how raw they are. Here’s one.
I’m Larry Cornett, a business coach who can work with you 1-on-1 to design, launch, and optimize your business. You might also be interested in my “Employee to Solopreneur” workshop. I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and Great Dane while running my businesses 100% remotely.