One thing I always suggest to my clients is to go live more. Now I’m taking my own advice. If you all follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed I’m going live more.
I have always had a love/hate relationship with going live. All the time leading up to it, I am nervous, and even once I am on, I am still a little nervous. Those are the parts I hate, including wondering if someone is going to tune in or not. I always say it’s like throwing a birthday party and not knowing if anyone will show up or not, but like anything, the more you do it, the better you get at it, or in this case, the more the fear weakens.
However, it’s not always so bad. There’s a sweet spot when someone comments, “You are speaking the truth, sis,” or something like that. That’s like a sign to keep going. They are finding value in what you are saying and cheering you, so that helps you continue.
I’ve already begun to receive more feedback and insight from my followers since I started two weeks ago. When they ask questions, I take notes and am often inspired. Their questions give me more content ideas. I’ve only done about three or four, maybe, but I have more planned.
You may be asking what’s changed, but if you read my Goodbye to the Good Girl blog, you know my story about Ms. Marva and finally being ready. If not, then you may want to read it, but Ms. Marva has inspired me! I’m putting myself out there more!
It’s not like this is new advice or anything. I’ve heard it hundreds of times before, but the difference between now and before is that I was not ready. I could not drown out my fears and move forward. Only I could make a conscious decision to do those things. When they say change starts with us, it does. I first had to choose to get over myself.
Yes, it’s a tricky subject, but one thing we cannot ignore is that going live helps build trust and credibility with our followers and helps foster community. In this overly saturated climate that we are in, we must find ways to stand out. Using our voices has always been a weapon to combat the noise. What sets us apart from the others is that we are each uniquely made, and going live is one tool that allows us to get that point across.
If you desire to go live but are too afraid, I suggest joining a challenge to do so. Lots of influencers are running them. Sometimes they are 30 days; some are 90 days. Do what works for you. Don’t try to over-commit because you may disappoint yourself and grow discouraged.
However, I do encourage you to get started because we are already tardy to the party!
In the meantime, if you would like to catch one of my lives, I usually broadcast about 7:45 AM CST time on my @fancyswagher Instagram.
