Can I get a redo?

Today, my colleague Stephanie Pollock — who I discovered, when I Skyped with her last year, is every bit as intelligent and kind as she seems in her writing — released the 3rd edition of her digital magazine, Going Pro. I’m one of 14 women entrepreneurs featured in the mag.

Steph’s objective for publishing the mag is this: “to demystify success.”

Because, she says, when we read the perfectly edited blog posts, view the dreamy-filtered Instagrams, and scan the wittily and compassionately curated Tweetstreams of our favorite-to-watch online business owners, “we know we’re only getting the highlight reel.”

Isn’t this the truth?

Each contributor to the magazine wrote an article and completed a Q&A. Reading back through my article today, “3 Things To Cross Off Your To Do List While Going Pro,” I was struck by how hollow and plastic the piece feels. This is no fault of Stephanie’s: I was asked to bring it and to be ‘no holds barred,’ by I didn’t quite get there in this piece.

I do love the Q&A I did, though, because I articulated some thoughts about doing business that I’ve never put in writing before. There’s the jewel box metaphor, a mini treatise on pluck, and what I still struggle madly with in my own business. I’d love for you to read that Q&A, and to check out the contributions of the other 13 women (including Steph herself).

You can download your own digital copy of Going Pro Magazine, Edition 3, right here.

I’ve been thinking lately about the way we present our success to the “public” — whomever that is (that’s YOU, reader). And while I love the art and science of branding and putting a conversational best foot forward, I also believe that we could show up with a little more empathy — not only for the people who are drawn to do business with us, but for ourselves, and for our peers and colleagues in business.

And so I’ve put together a few more thoughts. This is the piece I should’ve submitted to Going Pro.

Here’s why it’s good to demystify success in business (especially as women) and how this helps us all have a better experience as brand creators:

1. BS breeds more BS, and the world does not need more BS.

Transparency is neither my highest Voice Value (it’s right smack in the middle of the 16, for me), and neither is it something entirely comfortable for me in public. In private, in a small group or 1-to-1, when I can look into your eyes and see that you’re trustworthy, I’ll tell you just about anything. Online, my face-to-the-public is a fairly tight-lipped one. But in those moments when I let my hair down (like yesterday, in this Facebook post), I’m always surprised by the overwhelming YES and THANK YOUs that come chorusing in from all around me. What? Other people legit feel this way, too? YES.

Dropping the BS is good for business — especially if you’re a perfectionist.

When we insist on living inside a filmy photo filter where everything looks dreamy and bokeh’d and just right, we perpetuate the notion that business is “easy-peasy” (a phrase that makes my skin crawl) and should be no more complex than tipping back a Mimosa on a sun-dappled balcony somewhere — if you can just figure out how to do it right.

As women in business (I’m calling out women here because that’s the target readership for Going Pro), we owe a modicum of honesty to each other about what it really takes to design our own work in the world, market it to sell, and deliver it excellently and with great love and care.

It’s intense.

2. Making it look easy is a feat, not a character strength.

You know what they say about ducks, right? They float along smoothly, skimming the surface of the water while paddling like hell underneath?

Yeah, that’s a lot of women business owners I know, to a greater or lesser degree.

Those who make business look easy, in my view, are people who are wired to make things look easy. (I admit that I fall in to this camp, in some ways.) Chances are, “making it look easy” is actually a stress behavior or a compensatory behavior covering up something else. Not to get all pathological on you, and not to say that we should go on and on about how hard the work of building a business can be and feel (because let’s be honest, building your own business is a lot of effing fun, too!), but to NEVER let anyone break the crust of our self-imposed perfectionism — that’s just tyranny of the soul.

A little reality check for our readers and clients, every once in a while, makes the work we create and deliver all the more human. What a gift and privilege it is to BE someone who gets to create for a living. There’s no shame in showing your hand from time to time, even if that hand has nail-bitten fingers.

3. Your success makes me better, and mine makes you better.

This is one that’s a toughie for many women business owners to embrace, especially because a Competitive stance (in business) runs counter to the Good Girl Regime so many of us were raised, schooled, and indoctrinated under. What I mean is — we were TAUGHT not to compete but to collaborate, compliment/complement, and cooperate, and so learning to embrace our Competitive edges was renegade — a fierce choice for self-centeredness (the good kind).

But now in the highly collaborative world of doing business online, women have to learn new ways to come together as peers and colleagues — not in competition with, but in collaboration with one other, and to do so while holding our powerful center. To collaborate with others goes against my nature to a large degree, and yet, I’ve learned to love it. Growing my business over the last 9 months from Abby Kerr Ink (a one-woman freelance show) to The Voice Bureau (a boutique agency specializing in brand voice, copy and content-writing, and marketing) has been the BEST professional move I’ve yet made. And I know there will be more moves that are wise and rich like this one was. (In my Going Pro Q&A, I share a little bit about how hard letting go of control was for me. Maybe you’ll be able to relate.)

It’s not that as business owners, we’re “called” to help others get better, stronger, faster. Not at all. Not all are called to teach, though we’re each teachers in our own way, even by example or from a distance and especially when we’re most unaware we’re being watched. I don’t think it’s wise or desirable for every business owner to teach others to do as she’s done.

But we are called, I believe, to learn that others’ strengths and successes are not a threat to us. Instead, others’ victories can be assets and resources for us. My success really does make you better, as you learn from watching me and interacting with my brand. And your success makes me better, as I learn from watching and interacting with yours.

So this is the post I should’ve written for Going Pro.

And now I have. Thanks for listening. Here’s to more de-mystification of success.

In the comments, I’d love to hear:

Do you like going behind-the-scenes of other people’s businesses and brands? What do you wish business owners would talk MORE about? Anything you’re sick of hearing about?

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Voice Notes is an occasional special feature. We take you inside the online brand presence of a business owner we think you should know — through a dozen evocative sentence-starters.

Abby (Chief Voice Bureau Officer) says:

Megan Auman is one to watch. She’s an accomplished jewelry designer and business educator, but that’s just for starters. This multifaceted entrepreneur is also is a painter and quite a home/creative studio stylist, judging from this Design Sponge feature on her recent dramatic pool-to-studio transformation. I first met Megan a couple years ago when she and Tara Gentile interviewed me for a program they co-ran. Since then, I’ve continued to watch with admiration as Megan shapes and iterates her creative career with smartly full-hearted aplomb. Her get-down-to-it and get-it-done approach to doing business on her own terms is so, so fun and inspiring to me.

Friends, I’m happy to share this Q&A with Megan Auman with you —

Megan Auman, Jewelry Designer & Business Educator

Megan is the designer of her eponymous line of metalsmithed statement jewelry. She also runs Designing an MBA, which asks, what would business school look like if it were geared towards crafters, designers, and makers?
Find Megan on: Twitter; Facebook; Pinterest; Instagram

MY TOP 3-5 VOICE VALUES ARE:

Enthusiasm, Audacity, Power. (Note: Discover your own Voice Values when you subscribe to The Voice Bureau’s Insider Stuff e-letter. Look for the sign-up box in the upper righthand corner of the site.)

My brand is all about:

Confidence. Confidence is the secret sauce that keeps my creative juices flowing, but it’s also the reason I do what I do. I want to help women feel more confident, regardless of how they engage with my brand. Whether it’s wearing my jewelry or taking a course to grow their business, my mission is pretty much the same, to give women the confidence to take over the world.

The iPhone app I wouldn’t want to live without is:

Evernote. I have it installed on every device I own and I use it to sort all the ideas I have swirling in my brain. Blog posts, e-course ideas, new product designs, to do lists, you name it, it goes into my Evernote.

I FIND THE RICHEST SOCIAL MEDIA CONVERSATIONS TAKE PLACE ON:

Instagram, because you get to connect with people on a visual, visceral level. (Which makes it great for artists and designers.) Whenever I meet someone in real life that I follow on Instagram, I always feel like we know each other so well. I love that you can build these connections with people through the visual aspects of their lives and that I don’t have to try and express in words things that are best said in images.

Three other online voices who really inspire me are:

I have a serious girl crush right now on the painters Kal Barteski, Lisa Congdon, and Michelle Armas.   I started painting again last year, and they’ve each been a big inspiration to me, not only to keep painting, but to blog about and share what I’m up to in the studio.

The next big business challenge for me is:

Loosening up my brand, especially on the creative/studio=based side of my business. For the last few years, I feel like I’ve been super tight, focusing only on making jewelry and having a pretty narrow brand aesthetic. In 2009, I launched a home decor line that lost a lot of money, and I think that experience left me a little gun shy to try and sell anything that isn’t jewelry. But now that I’ve started painting again, I realize that I have so many other creative passions. Now I’m trying to figure out how to create a broader brand, one that incorporates my interests in jewelry, painting, and textiles, not to mention teaching and business.

If my clients only hold onto one piece of advice from me, I hope it’s:

Raise your prices.

If I couldn’t do the work I’m doing now, I’d be:

A talk show host. I’m pretty sure I’d make a great one. Or a reality TV star. (But not the trashy kind.) Or a surfer girl or action sports hero, which is about as fantasy as you can get, because I’m actually a big chicken and I’ve only ever been on a surf board once in my life. But truthfully, I can’t imagine being anything but an artist. That is, unless there’s a network executive reading this, in which case, I’ll be waiting for your call.

I can never get enough:

Books. My bookshelves are overflowing, but I keep buying more!

An unlikely source of creative inspiration for me is:

The city. Even though my work uses a lot of organic and natural forms, I don’t usually turn to nature for inspiration. (That might be because I already live in the country.) Instead, I head to New York. There’s something about the buildings and the people and the energy that calms me down and clears my head.

Three words to describe the way I feel about my visual brand identity today is:

contrast, in transition

The best moment in my work week so far has been:

Working from the beach (okay, not technically the beach, but a beach town). I took a long working weekend at my family’s beach house, and I got so much done. I launched an ecourse, announced the pre-launch of a second ecourse, and finished a few paintings, all while working on my tan!

In the comments, we’d love to hear:

What are you most inspired by that Megan has shared? Let us know in the comments. We’re listening!

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Like all rules in business, this one is neither hard nor fast.

Well, it is kind of fast.

It’s about your freebie opt-in gift — you know, the [buzzphrase alert!] “incredibly valuable content” you deliver to subscribers in exchange for their email address and permission to market to them in their Inboxes.

Lest I sound too jaded, let me explain why I put “incredibly valuable content” in quotes.

Your freebie opt-in gift should be something that feels valuable to your Right Person reader and potential client or buyer.

It should feel helpful, remarkable, and desirable. And yes — those are very subjective characteristics. All the more reason for you to get to know your business’s Right Person in a much deeper way. (And I’m not talking about whether she’d rather have tuna salad on nine grain or pastrami on rye for lunch).

One of the top questions on new Voice Bureau clients’ minds is: What should my opt-in gift be? What do people want from me? What would dazzle/delight/serve them so well that they want to keep coming back for more?

I’m all for you creating incredibly valuable freebie-in opt-in content. (In fact, we’d love to help you with it!)

But many values-based business owners take the advice to “give them something they can’t believe they’re getting for free” a little too far.

Yes, your opt-in content needs to be good. It should hook your Right People into the ongoing conversation you want to have with them through your brand, over time. Ideally, it should be attractively presented, with high production values (as high as you can swing right now — there’s always room for improvement later as your budget grows).

But please hear me: your freebie opt-in content does NOT need to be the definitive tome on your topic area (ceramics? dog sitting? graphic design?). It does NOT need to be a 20-part video series edited by someone fabulous, with amazing, originally commissioned background music and custom graphics.

And (especially as a first time brand creator) you do not have to spend 20 hours crafting your freebie opt-in content.

In fact, when it comes to free content, shorter is better.

Why? We’re busy. Your Right People feel busy. Chances are, they want to spend as little time in their Inbox as possible.

So you need a gauge — a way to know how long is too long for them to spend consuming your freebie opt-in content, and how long is too long for you to spend creating it.

Here’s the Voice Bureau’s 10-Minute Rule (non-hard, but fast) about opt-in content.

Your opt-in content should:

• take 10 minutes, tops, for someone to consume, if it’s delivered in one fell swoop (i.e. something they receive one time and that’s it — an e-book, a screencast, a quiz)
• take 10 minute, tops, for someone to consume in each sitting if it’s delivered in segments (i.e. a 5-piece e-course that’s delivered via email over the course of 3 weeks)
• take 10 minutes x 10 (that’s 100 minutes, or under two hours) for you to create — this window of time does NOT include things like graphic design, editing, etc., although it might

Remember, incredibly valuable content does NOT have to be long, exhaustive, definitive, or complex. People learn best in small slices, not in huge dollops.

In the comments, I’d love to know:

What’s the best, most helpful, or most memorable free opt-in content you’ve ever received? Did it fit the 10-Minute Rule?

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Voice Notes is an occasional special feature. We take you inside the online brand presence of a business owner we think you should know — through a dozen evocative sentence-starters.

Abby (Chief Voice Bureau Officer) says:

I really like Nathalie Lussier’s tagline: Digital Strategy To Match Your Ambition. In fact, there’s something about Nathalie Lussier I’ve always liked, from the first moment I encountered her online. Part tech geek, part online marketing teacher, part cheerleader (she’d be the bookish one), she’s someone whose site I search when I want a really practical “how-to” answer to a tech question that ties in with my overall content marketing strategy. And geez — the woman is just nice. She brings a fresh, clean, youthful, and yet stable energy to the digital marketplace of business owners — one I always appreciate.

I’m delighted to bring you this Q&A with Nathalie.

Nathalie Lussier, Digital Strategist

Nathalie Lussier is the digital strategist at Nathalie Lussier Media. She turned down a job offer from Wall Street to start her own business straight out of college. She helps driven, creative business owners understand the profit potential and exposure available for their business online. From her site: “Clients and customers rave about her ability to simplify the complex, and make technology and digital strategy easy to understand and implement.”
Find Nathalie on: Twitter; Facebook; Pinterest; YouTube; Google+

Personality typing? Why, yes!

I’m a Virgo, and my My Myers-Briggs type is INFJ / INTJ (borderline Feeling and Thinking).

I knew I’d ‘come into’ my writing voice when I:

Stopped sounding like my mentors, peers, and favorite authors. When my ideas came to me away from the computer, too.

I do the work I do because:

I believe that we’re living in a different world than we were even just a few years ago, and I want to inspire other women and men to create the work that lights them up, while serving others, too.

If I could invite 3 people to dinner to give me their take on my work in the world, I’d invite:

Steve Jobs. Cindy Gallop. Richard Branson.

An unlikely source of creative inspiration for me is:

Romance novels, walks in the park with my dog, and funny YouTube videos.

The best moment in my work week so far has been:

Announcing my free, no-pitch 30 Day List Building Challenge, and seeing the responses come in! [Abby’s note: I’ve signed up!]

Three words to describe the way I feel about my visual brand identity today is:

Growing trees. Spacious.

One thing I know for sure about my Right People is:

They’re smart, they get shit done, they love thinking differently, and they’re out to make a difference in the world.

If my business were a movie, the title would be:

Imagine That

The best compliment I’ve ever received from a client is:

“You’re not trying to fit me and my ideas into a cookie-cutter system; you’re looking for unique and creative ways to help me put my work out into the world.”

If my clients only hold onto one piece of advice from me, I hope it’s:

Ideas have a shelf life. Act on them before your ideas expire. That means taking action on your great ideas and not letting them get stale!

If I couldn’t do the work I’m doing now, I’d be:

A sexy librarian. [Abby’s note: See the photo she submitted for this post.]

In the comments, we’d love to hear:

I’m curious about what Nathalie’s Voice Values are. Now that you’ve read this Q&A and taken a look at her site, any guesses, fellow Voice Values junkies?

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