Viewing entries tagged
dangerous voice
My Facebook page is part class reunion, part family get-together. Some days it’s a therapy couch, others it’s a podium. I’ve found friends I thought would forget me and befriended strangers. My clients mix it with my mum and mum mixes it with everyone.”
Facebook just sent me a private post. You’ve made 900 friends on Facebook! Thank you for bringing the world closer together. We think that is something to celebrate.”
There is a problem with women living and speaking from outside the box.
Growing up in Brisbane in the 1970′s, very few roles were modeled for girls. Our river-bound suburb filled with brand new blonde brick homes, and the homes filled with babies. Apart from school teachers, check-out ladies and the woman next door who ran a ballet school, women didn’t work.
The Dangerous Blogger Workshop for Business Owners
Are you afraid of staying invisible forever?
You’ve poured your blood, sweat and tears into your business, but your competitors are better known than you are.
You can build the reputation you deserve. How? By discovering your “Dangerous Voice”.
What is your ‘Dangerous Voice’?
I often accompany clients through a terrifying moment. No, it’s not life or death, but I know it feels as serious in that moment. I know the symptoms, I get them too. I start rubbing my face and arms when I feel this fear. I perspire too much. Some clients report they are literally shaking.
When I started my business in 1998, I arranged to have myself listed in the local telephone books, Sydney White Pages and the Yellow Pages. Wherever you live, there will be a local version of the same. There was KatieMac Publicity, proudly in bold (purchased at an extra cost) on the greying ‘white’ page.
Fear is a powerful guidance system isn’t it?
When we feel it, we use it to guide ourselves away from danger.
In our business and personal lives, fear keeps us inside the lines. It keeps us on the paths we perceive as safe and we aim to not upset anyone along our way.
I took four weeks holiday over Christmas and New Year. After four weeks of disallowing anything business-related, it took time to get out of first gear. And sometimes I felt like I was in reverse.
Whilst getting back into it, my mind frequently led me astray. I’m usually a disciplined at-home worker, but not in January. Instead of working I was clicking through on websites, checking Facebook, daydreaming or just picking a book up, opening any page and reading.
The other day an old friend messaged me on Facebook. They were looking for 150 presentation boxes (bear with me). The boxes had to be this wide, this deep and this high. And white. And preferably glossy.
Um…I thought. Why is this old friend asking me about presentation boxes?
I just replied, “Nice to hear from you, I have no idea. Won’t Google tell you everything you need to know about presentation box suppliers?”
Yes, Google will
I spent a hell of a lot of time on the phone. I was publicising major events, calling journalists all day and pitching stories about my clients. I could make 30 calls in a day if I was working on a large scale publicity campaign.
But I began to lose my voice and was worried I’d lose my livelihood with it.
I’m always looking for the break-through commentary my clients can use to become voices of authority. I was talking to a client I am mentoring this week, who made a surprising comment about their market.
Surprising opinions require further investigation!
Limelight Moments are exceptional events or activities that can be leveraged to help you stand out from the crowd.
As a publicist, I’m always looking for the Limelight Moments in a business. Not sure what a Limelight Moment is?
Yesterday I met a small business owner in the health industry who spoke about her father’s business style. Then today an executive talked to me over coffee about their dad, who owned businesses in the UK. I started thinking about the limitations or standards we give ourselves because of how we saw dad or mum doing business.
This message is for anyone who’s under the radar but knows they deserve more attention. There are so many new channels for sharing our business messages and telling our stories.
Yesterday I received a generic email from someone I know. I’ve used his services but am not needing them anymore. I was about to unsubscribe to his emails. Then I thought to myself, this guy knows my business quite well and I know his. We’ll probably both be in business for many years to come. He sends me a friendly update, what’s my problem with that? I get to hear what his business is doing and this is a chance to say hi and wish him all the best.
I’m not unsubscribing.
Are you AWOL in your own business?
The first time I watched the new Tourism Australia ad, three words immediately came to mind; ‘the gentle wow.’ Gentle and wow aren’t usually playmates but together they described the feelings I had right then. What a treat, to receive a gentle wow.
