How brave are you willing to be to get visible?

If you’ve been following me for a while you must have heard that I recently did what I call my very first grown up speaking gig.

Now it isn’t that I haven’t talked to a room full of people before, because I have. I’ve done over a 1000 motivational talks over 5 years, been a trainer, done group coaching, webinars, corporate presentations and more. It’s just that this was the first speaking gig for my business. It was me stepping up my visibility.

It feels scary stepping up your visibility, but you have a big message to share, so can’t hide!

It felt a bit scary. Not the speaking bit because I love that, but me saying I’m the expert in what I do on visibility. I feel confident now that I’m good at what I do, I know my stuff and I’ve helped hundreds of people with their visibility and mindset over the past few years, but the thing is this – once you put a label on it, then it goes to a whole new level, right?

Well, no, only if you let it. That’s just your own stuff. It doesn’t need to be any more scary at all. It’s the stories we tell ourselves about it that make the difference between it being a little bit nerve-wracking to full on panic attacks. Luckily I managed to keep it at the first level, with a few excited nerves.

What are you missing out on?

What I learned about doing the speaking gig though was bigger than just an experience of stepping up my visibility. It was that I had been missing out on so much.

It’s no secret that I’m an introvert, and help mostly introverts who are scared of being visible, and some extroverts too. It’s easy for me to hide behind my computer, and sit with my little dog Lulu by my feet at my desk. It’s a bit harder for me to go out there and do FB lives and webinars and networking meetings and things, I kinda have to psyche myself up for it if I’m honest.

Over the years it’s got easier, but it wasn’t always that way. I had to keep expanding my comfort zone, with each new thing making the next time easier again. I still do, my mandala post last week told you that I still have a long way to go when it comes to pushing through fear, but fear shouldn’t stop us.

As I said in that blog post, your message needs to be bigger than your fear.

What’s your passion?

What I learned though is that speaking is really my passion. I kind of discovered it again when I did a local networking talk recently, and realised how excited it made me feel. I absolutely LOVE my business, but this was an area I just wasn’t tapping into. I came out of that meeting absolutely buzzing, to the point I phoned my bestie and she told me I should record how excited I was in that moment because as the time went on I might forget.

Timing is everything

I’m a great believer that timing is everything, and maybe I needed it to be now that this gets added to my business. I’ve built a tribe, I walk my talk, I’ve been consistently visible, all the things I teach.

What if I hadn’t found that passion though, what if I hadn’t put myself forward for that speaking opportunity? What then?

Let me roll it back a bit. Sometime last year, I saw a post in a Facebook group asking if anybody knew any speakers out there for an event in Brussels. I decided to bite the bullet and be brave, and send a message to say, ‘Hey, I don’t suppose you’d consider me, would you?’

I went through an application process and got the gig. How exciting! Now I had to actually do it. Fast forward to the event and it was fabulous, it inspired me to do even more.

Step up in your business, and the opportunities will come your way

Let me tell you what’s happened in my business, literally in this past week, all because I was brave and put my hand up asking to be considered.

First there’s the actual things that have happened:

• I’ve signed up new clients
• I’ve been added as a trainer to a paid group to share my expertise on visibility
• I’ve been asked to do a speaking gig in London
• I’ve been invited to be part of a mastermind weekend in Stockholm in the summer
• I’ve been invited to be part of a Telesummit
• I’ve had not one, but two PR opportunities
• I’ve been invited to do a tag-team type talk with a business friend

Get brave and take action

I’ve also mentally stepped up.

• I’ve written an article for Huffington Post, I just need to edit and send. You can hold me accountable on that one!
• I’ve reached out locally to do speaking gigs
• I’ve talked to people about how to get more speaking gigs in general
• I’ve invited people to do joint ventures with me
• I’ve set a goal to reach out to a minimum of 30 people in April to get speaking gigs, joint ventures, invitations to my podcast and to ask for guest spots on other podcasts, and also to magazines. I’m a girl on a mission.

Ooh, PS. If you’re looking for someone for speaking gigs, to do joint ventures, to be a guest on your podcast, I’m your girl!

I’m telling you this because you never know what one little act of courage can bring into your business, and how it can change how you do things. Yes, it can be scary but it’s oh so worth it!

So here’s two things I want to ask you today, your call to action if you like:

1. Are you following through on what you’re passionate about? Dig really deep, because there might be another element you could add to your business that really excites you. It could open you up to new possibilities.

2. How brave are you willing to be to get visible?

Try this mantra on for size.

My message is bigger than my fear!

PS. Pick up a copy of my 3k Case Study where I showcase a client who brought in an additional 3k into her business in 6 weeks, all while holding down a 4-day a week job and managing a family.