Gill Moakes 0:00
Hello, hello, welcome back to the heads together podcast. I am very excited about this episode. But before we dive in, I have stern words for those of you who read the title of this week's episode, and had a very bad word pop into their head. And those stern words are your my kind of people, let's have cocktails. Welcome, welcome to the heads together Podcast. I'm Gill Moakes. And I am obsessed with cutting through the noise when it comes to growing your business each week via intimate coaching conversations and inspirational stories, I share what it really takes to get the results you want, in a way that feels right to you. I am all about attracting higher ticket opportunities, building authentic relationships, and creating the abundant full fat version of your dream business. I mean, how many of us have even away creating a light version of what we really want? The thing is, I honestly believe when you're outstanding at what you do, there is no limit to what you can achieve. So are you ready to put our heads together and make it happen? Let's go.
Gill Moakes 1:34
Anyway, back to this week's episode. Connection. Versus consistency. Now this always makes me think of those, you know those like would you rather questions? I was reading one the other day, which was really thought provoking. I thought it was would you rather go into the past and meet your ancestors, or go into the future and meet your great great grandchildren? I don't just love those. I love them. I think they're really thought provoking. So this is kind of one of those questions. But I think when I asked you it, it's kind of clear what I think. So it's probably a bit loaded. Would you rather post consistently on social media and see your follower numbers increasing daily? Or post when you have something impactful to share, and make a handful of real connections that become paying clients? I told you it was a bit loaded. But you get my drift. I mean, and here's the thing, I'm being a bit flippant about it, because when it comes to connection versus consistency, it isn't really that black and white, I think the sweet spots in the middle, right? Personally, I literally have no interest in the number of followers, I've got the number of comments a post gets or likes, all of that kind of thing is really of no interest to me whatsoever. It's not why I use social media, I get that I'm not the world's most prolific user of social media, if you love using Facebook, and Instagram and Twitter and Tiktok, and all those kinds of things and more power to you, you know, great. I'm personally not one of the world's hugest fans of it. That said,
Gill Moakes 3:36
I love when I post something on social media. And someone reaches out to me, because what I've posted has really resonated with them and made them think or given them an idea out or they just kind of want to carry on that conversation off of that platform. That's what I love about social media. It's real relationship building. You've probably heard me if you follow before you you would have heard me say this I feel like social media has turned into a complete and utter blooming frenzy of this like a dance with insanity. I call it because what happens is people are posting prolifically on social media. I think what happens is that people will be very, very obsessed with their posting schedule. So they've set themselves a target of how they're going to post. And what happens then is that the quality of their content gets a bit diluted, right? And it becomes this frenzy of posting posting, posting very little engagement on anyone else's content, just obsessed with posting your own content. And then eyes like a hawk on the comments. Yeah. So you're basically watching for those likes and comments to come in. And as soon as someone comments your liking back on that, but of course, the problem is, and this is where it's the dance with insanity is that other people are doing the same thing. So they are liking and commenting in the hope they will get a like and a comment back, the meaning of that engagement is so minimal. People are simply using social media to get attention, and then not using it, in my opinion, they're not using it as a genuine relationship building tool. I think a lot talked about using social media, for building relationships. I think it happens in real life very, very occasionally. So it's not that I have a downer on consistency at all. In fact, if you can consistently post, really quality content, more power to you, I simply would find it too time consuming, and too intense. To try and craft a really meaningful value based post every day. I just I don't think I could do that. And I know that the quality of my posts would suffer if I were to try and do that. So going back to that sweet spot between consistency and real connection. real connection for me is something that sometimes it happens right away. Yeah. So I'll post something. And someone will message me they'll DM me straightaway to find out more about the thing I've posted about or to carry on that conversation, like I say, but sometimes it happens. A year later, it happens after 12 months of investing in that online relationship together. Just as I'm saying this, I can picture certainly you know a few people who I now counters really kind of close friends, cheerleaders, supporters of what I do, I would like to think they would count me in the same bracket. And it's a relationship that has built up like that over time of supporting each other's content, but in a genuine way, genuinely being interested in what each other are posting, and therefore building relationship where we genuinely want to cheerlead each other. We want to share each other's content because we know it's good. We know that our audience are going to be interested in it. It's not done with that goal of the other person reciprocating, it's done it with a genuine appreciation for what that person is posting. So I hope that bit makes sense. There's a real difference between connection and consistency. And yes, you can have both and both is the absolute gold standard, right? But if one of them has to go by the wayside, if you can't ensure both in every single post, drop the consistency before you drop the connection. I used to talk to my clients all the time about the ABC of marketing. I used to be so proud of this, the fact that it was an ABC acronym. And it was always authenticity, bravery, consistency. I harped on about that all the time. The whole consistency thing, it was almost like this holy grail was consistency. You know, for goodness sake, if you've said you're going to do something, X number of times a week. Goodness, you must make sure you do that. So the ABC what were they so authenticity, number one,
Gill Moakes 9:23
every single post that you put out there, in fact, everything you put out into cyberspace, whether it is a social media post, whether it's a podcast episode like this, whether it's a blog post, whether it's an email, everything you're putting out there, run it through this ABC kind of filter. So the first one being authenticity. Is this authentic? Is this post podcast blog? Is it what I really think? Do I really believe what I'm Say it. Sounds obvious, right? But how many of us have been guilty? And I've got my hand up here? How many of us have been guilty every now and then? Or jumping on a bandwagon of opinion, and almost wanting that opinion to be our own, but deep down, it might not be. I really have. Yeah, I have mastered the art now of being radically authentic with what I share. It has to be what I believe to be true. It has to be using my own voice. It's got to be in line with my values. So that's the a of the ABC of marketing, ABC marketing my non negotiables. By the way, the second one, is this brave. So the B is bravery. Now, I think there's a difference. I'm hesitating here, because I really want to clarify this carefully. There is a difference between bravery and being controversial for controversial sake. Yeah. So and this, if you've run it through your authenticity filter should filter out anything where you are simply posting something controversial. For its controversy, value, but bravery. Run it through this filter. Am I holding back for fear of judgement? Or am I really being brave and saying what I think despite the chance, I might get judged for that? Am I compromising my integrity? Because I'm scared to say what I really think.
Gill Moakes 12:01
So really think about that one, authentic and brave. Those are two things, which when used in your, whether it's your marketing, copy your messaging, particularly on social media, those are the things that are going to make you captivating. Those are the things that are going to make people want to keep coming back for more. Right? And then the See, authenticity, bravery used to be consistency. Now I'm thinking it's more connection. Is this really going to connect with my audience? Okay, is the language conversational? Am I writing as I talk, because we all know that that is what people want to read. People don't want to read formal corporate copy speak. So is the language conversational? Is that going to connect with my audience? Have I included like the words that I know my audience uses? The words that I know my ideal clients relate to? Is that going to create a connection or the words I've used? Going to create a connection? Is there anyone I should be tagging here personally, you know, don't forget to be really generous here. Make sure you're tagging people who've inspired a post. If you've read something that has inspired it, make sure you're being authentic. Number one, you believe it agreement it using your own voice, you're not plagiarising what someone else has posted. You're being brave, and then you're building a connection. So how could you tag that person and say to them, be generous say to them, you know, you inspired me to post this. Because, number one, it's a genuinely nice, decent human thing to do, which sometimes in this frenzied dance with the insanity that social media has become, gets a little bit left behind that just the nice decent thing to do, right? But secondly, there is a little bit of self interest in it too, because if that person loves what you've posted, and they relate to it, the chances are they'll share it with their audience too. You know, don't do it for that reason. But if it naturally aligns, then you know, what a brilliant scenario that is, what a brilliant scenario, and a brilliant start to building another great relationship. That's how connection works. That's how relationships are built online. It's not that surface level collection of followers and likes and DMS, you know, it's really doing the decent thing and being generous being a generous marketer. Follow up with people who engage Ah, thank them, thank them, and then ask them about themselves, ask them what they're doing, you know, start looking at their content, be generous when you engage on their content. That's what real connection is. Right? It's genuine. So, again, you know, it's not one or the other, it's not connection or consistency. Like I always say, make a stand for the and if you can do both, that is brilliant. And that's the sweet spot. There's definitely an element of consistency in what I do. I put this podcast out every week. I love creating these podcast episodes. And I'm super consistent. Am I that consistent with creating interesting articles on LinkedIn? No, I'm really not. Because I find that a heavier lift. And the worst thing I could do would be to say, Okay, I'm also gonna, I'm going to have my podcasts come out every week, and I'm going to write an in depth engaging article on LinkedIn every week as well, that to me would feel like a really heavy lift. If I committed to the consistency of it, I know, without any shadow of doubt, the quality would suffer. Because I would be just like, Oh, my God, I've got to get it out, I've got to get it out. So I don't choose to be as consistent with articles on LinkedIn, as I am with this podcast. Yeah, it's about finding your sweet spot. And it's about focusing on quality, over consistency. It's about finding like a flow and a pattern that works for you, but one that you can sustain. And that doesn't affect the quality. Even some of the platforms that I don't use an awful lot. So for example, Instagram, I kind of post every now and then, organically. Certainly, Emily always shares the podcast episodes religiously, on Instagram every week, I don't do that myself, you know, that gets automated, the engagement is real. But I don't want my followers to think I dropped off the face of the earth. So I do make sure that there is something going on there, I want my platforms to look fresh. But honestly, Instagram is much more when I'm in the mood. And that way, I know that I'm not kind of forcing myself to produce this content that isn't great content. Great consistency, as well. Don't forget great consistency does not have to mean high frequency. So this is really important. Consistency can mean just showing up as your followers have come to expect you to show up, right? There's no prescribed number of times you have to post and almost kind of being a slave to an algorithm or a slave to what someone else has decided is best practice on a particular platform. That's always going to affect the quality of of what you're putting out there. It just will. So really focus on finding out what's sustainable for you what feels right for you. And then show up that way so that your followers come to expect you to show up a certain way. If it's ad hoc, then that's what they expect. They're not. That's okay. It doesn't have to be religiously consistent. I hope that makes sense. I kind of feel quite passionate about this, because I see this as really detrimentally affecting a lot of people's businesses because so much of their bandwidth and time gets wrapped up in creating content to feed this social media monster that is insatiable. And I'm not convinced it's the best use of your time. I think that what is the best use of your time is showing up on social media showing up anywhere online in a way that impacts the people that you want to serve. And build genuine relationships with the people who you can when the time's right invite to become a paying clients
Gill Moakes 19:57
because when Have a reality check here. That is why we market our businesses. Social media is marketing, we market our businesses, so we can make sales. Yeah. And I get that there is different types of marketing, there's visibility, there is lead generation, there is direct sales, marketing. But whichever it is, there's only one reason you market your business, it's because you want paying clients where you want to sell what you create. That's the only reason to market your business. So I think just bearing that in mind, and trying to keep it in proportion, when it comes to creating a crazy tonne of content, and then neglecting that connection side of it, that relationship building side of it, find the balance, find the sweet spot for you. Let's all be a little bit in praise of the end. You know, maybe marketing is as simple as ABC and see, you know, so authenticity, bravery, connection, to making your ideal clients feel like you're speaking directly to them about them very thing they need help with. And in the language they understand, that's connection. That's how you're going to build relationships, nurture relationships, nurture leads into clients, and consistency. So showing up for your clients in a way that's sustainable for you in the long term. But if they were in a fight together, I think connection would win. Like I say, if you had to drop one, definitely, for me, it would be consistency. It's the connection that will result in sales in clients. There is no doubt in my mind about that. So I hope that's been helpful. And I'm not saying consistency doesn't matter at all. But what I am saying is that, for me, consistency doesn't matter as much as connection does. Okay. I hope that makes sense. As always, if you would like to book a 60 minute breakthrough session with me, you know, I offer a free session it is by application only. So the link will be in the show notes. It's G=gill moakes.com, forward slash, apply. There is also a link to the show notes. There's a article I wrote a little while back about authenticity that you will find interesting. So I'll I'll pop that in the show notes as well. Okay. Have an amazing week. When you're creating content this week, I really want you to run everything through that ABC and see filter. Yeah, see how that feels. Am I being authentic? Am I being brave? am I building connection? And secondary? Am I being consistent? Okay. All right, everyone, have a fantastic week, and I will catch up with you again same time, same place next week. Bye for now. I hope you enjoyed this episode, and that getting our heads together this week has filled your mind with what's possible. If you love the show, would you do me a massive favour please? Would you leave a five star rating on Apple podcasts? It would really help you put more heads together, which will ears and expand more minds. Until next week. Bye for now.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
