Finding your your voice can be like putting lipstick on a pig
That expression about putting lipstick on a pig always gives me a good laugh.
For those of you who haven’t heard this before, the dictionary definition is “a rhetorical expression, used to convey the message that making superficial or cosmetic changes is a futile attempt to disguise the true nature of a product.”
I met with a new client last month and this whole pig lipstick thing came up in our conversation. After an hour of questions, we got down to the real reason that he’s not spending any effort to grow his company’s social media.
He couldn’t find his company’s voice. He didn’t even know what his voice was and he was the owner of the company!
I thanked him for his honesty. Then I told him about the process I went through to find mine.
It wasn’t something easy like filling out some worksheet with questions and then BOOM – oh, hello, there’s my voice.
Finding your voice is more than just me telling you ‘be real’ or write your blog like one of your customer service scripts.
Seriously, trying to fake your voice is like putting lipstick on a pig. It doesn’t make the pig look better and in the end, it just pisses him off.
What I thought I knew about marketing but was wrong
After over 20 years of working as a marketing consultant, I decided to start blogging. I’m a decent writer, I’ve been in business since 1999 so I figured, why not try to blog. I’m sure I have something to share with other small business owners.
After almost a year of blogging, my blog was as quiet as the first month I started. I tried to slap a little lipstick on the thing and invested in some new graphics.
But that really didn’t help. I was living in the true meaning of trying to put lipstick on a pig.
During that time I was blogging, I learned a valuable lesson about myself and finding my true voice. I thought I was giving my readers { all of five of them } helpful marketing information, but it really wasn’t. I was just adding to all that online noise.
At the time, I figured I’ve been in business for over 15 years so that must make me a pretty good marketing person, right? But I found that my years of experience weren’t a magic wand that meant I was instantly connected to other small business owners looking for my help with social media marketing.
I thought if I just showed everyone the surface and a few facts about what I knew than someone would want to hire me. I kept all my marketing ninja tricks closely guarded. I thought my readers would see how smart I was and instantly offer me a campaign to work on.
I mean, I wasn’t some kid out of college.
I’ve worked with large corporations and placed hundreds of thousands of dollars in media airtime. My marketing campaigns worked for my clients.
They saw traffic in their stores, clicks on their websites and many received phone calls and emails looking for more details on their products and services.
I knew this stuff like the back of my hand but I didn’t want to share it.
I’m here to tell you from personal experience, finding your voice doesn’t work that way. And it wasn’t until I opened up and shared all the little nooks and crannies of my marketing and time management brain that it started to click with small business owners.
I’m proud of the fact that I’m not like other business owners out there talking about social media. I’m the exception to the rule.
I’m an organizational nerd who believes that by finding your own rhythm, you can learn how to create a social media routine that will help you get more done in less time.
Once I accepted the authenticity of who I was, I knew I could do something with this information and create a real option for small business owners who needed help understanding how to fit social media into their crazy busy day.
Authentic Voice
Spend just a few minutes searching the words “authentic voice.” There’s a 101 articles out there trying to teach you how to find your voice for your company.
In your search, you’ll read the same questions over and over:
What type of work are you passionate about?
Who are you talking to?
How do you let your personality come through?
How many times and how many different ways have we heard these questions? And how many of us have taken the time to come up with an answer that we can translate into our company’s voice?
I tried to answer those questions too and it didn’t work. So I ditched that old blog and moved to my new home at innersocialmedianess.com and tried it again.
This time, I figured it out. So l’et me give you my version of how I worked through my own discovery process.
Make sure it’s the right questions
I’m a big fan of asking questions until you figure things out. The trick is to make sure they’re right ones to get you the answers you need.
When I walked through the process of finding my true voice, I started from this simple idea: Think about where you are now and how you got here.
I believe our true voice comes from our own personal journey. It’s a combination of where you’ve been to where you are right now in your life.
It’s more than just using the catch-phrase of ‘discovering your authentic voice.’ It’s about finding out who you’ve become since you cashed your first check.
Take some time to think about these questions:
- What job were you in when you first discovered your love for the work that you’re doing?
- What words would you use to describe about why you started your business or took the job that you’re in?
- Why do you get up every day and turn on that laptop?
- What experiences have affected you and the way you look at your business?
I challenge you to answer these questions truthfully. Write down your answers or type them up in a word document.
Imagine yourself telling your answers to one of your favorite customers. How would you talk to this person?
Say your answers out loud. Hear the words come out of your mouth.
You’ll notice that you don’t sound like a marketing copy script because these are your words. This is your life experience. The more you talk, the more you’ll start to hear the real you come out.
Because this, this is where your true voice will come from.
PS What if you could find a way to grow your presence in your social sites? And what if it didn’t add hours to your already crazy day? What if it took just 30 minutes a few times a week?
Click here to download the UPDATED 30 Minute Social Sessions workbook!
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