Kathleen here. When I first started blogging in 2008, I was mostly sharing personal stuff. I was writing about decorating my historic home, describing the vacations I was taking, posting photos daily of my outfits, and sharing my culinary adventures of eating as locally as possible. Then in 2010, when I decided to leave my day job as a senior art director in advertising to be my own boss, I naturally started blogging about the new journey of working for myself. Blogging about freelancing and entrepreneurship was a way to process the experience, find confidence in the face of uncertainty, and document what was working and what wasn’t. Soon I began getting questions from other working creatives who were seeking advice about everything from client management to work-life balance to time management. Even though I felt unqualified to give any sort of business advice, since I was new to this myself, I started publicly sharing my answers to those questions on my blog.
By so openly and transparently writing about working for myself, I unintentionally positioned myself as a trustworthy expert on the subject of being my own boss. I remember thinking, “If I share all my secrets, won’t I be teaching my competition how to do what I do? If I give away my knowledge for free, who will ever want to hire me?” But the funny thing is, the more I shared, the more I got hired. I was able to raise my rates and make more money than ever before.
When I started a branding company with my sister, most agencies weren’t openly sharing their knowledge or their “secret sauce,” but through experience I became confident that giving away everything we knew about branding in our content was the best way to position ourselves as experts right out of the gate. We were profitable and comfortable in our first year of business, and I credit the generous content we were sharing for that immediate success.
The number one question we get from creative entrepreneurs who are wanting to blend more of who they are into the content they create is “How do I find my voice?” You find your voice by using it. Trust us, everyone struggles with showing up—we all cringe at our early work. Reading some of our early blog posts reminds us of reading our diaries from middle school! Perfectionism and our own ego can tell us we’re not ready—that it’s not good enough. But you won’t become the writer and speaker you want to be without hitting publish and literally using your voice. It takes consistent practice to really get into the groove of articulating what you have to say and being who you are 100 percent of the time in the content you share. Here are a few tricks for getting started and keeping it real:
• “What I really want to tell you is… ” Anytime you’re feeling vague or unmotivated, simply open a blank document and write down, “What I really want to tell you is…” Start hammering away at the keyboard and don’t overthink it.
• Create content for just one person. Pretend as if the blog post you’re writing is actually a letter to just ONE client, follower, or friend. Think about that one person and his specific problem. Write as if you’re directly writing to him. You’d be surprised how getting specific for just one person will resonate with hundreds.
• Would I say this out loud? It’s easy to become disconnected from your content by trying to sound like the “professional” expert you want to be seen as. So try reading your content out loud and see how the words sound coming out of your mouth. You might find that your sentences are too long or that you’re using jargon or words you don’t usually say.
• How could I be more honest? The more you can pull from real experience, examples, and personal stories, the more honest your content will be—and truth always resonates the most.
Your brand gives you guidelines for how you share your business with the world and how you deliver what you sell to those who buy you. Your brand defines your color scheme, fonts, voice, and mission, but it also defines how you interact with customers and market your services. A consistent brand is what makes you look like a professional—even if you’re a professional with a half sleeve and a mohawk.
Reliably showing up and following these guidelines every damn time is the key to reassuring potential customers that you’re the most trustworthy pro in the pack. Because consistency breeds legitimacy. When someone hears you repeatedly using the same language to talk about what you do, they begin to trust what you’re saying. Consistently following your brand standards—using the same color schemes, fonts, and photo filters—will clue people into your ability to deliver like a pro. If you have an email newsletter landing in your customer’s inbox every Thursday morning at 9 a.m., they begin to anticipate you being there. With consistency you build trust—and when your customer trusts you, it’s easier for them to give you money.
Consistency isn’t just about branding, either—it branches out to all aspects of your business. Your business should have cohesive profiles on everything from your website to your social media platforms. You use the same voice in blog posts and social media that you use in conversations and customer service emails. Treat your potential customers the same way that you treat your paying customers. Publish your blog posts, newsletters, and podcasts consistently. It doesn’t have to be daily, but it should be on a regular schedule. Bringing consistency to your systems and processes—from scheduling planning meetings to checking in with your money—will make you feel more legit in your business.