WHY THE NEED FOR AN INSTANT GRATIFICATION IS KILLING YOUR SUCCESS

One of my mentees, let’s call him Jim, had a tough time recently managing his expectations when it came to his social media content strategies. He was disappointed that the range of posts that he was producing did not convert readers into customers as well as his free sessions did.

Having no clarity with what exactly online visibility does is a big issue with so many business owners. Most of them are waiting for instant results and overnight successes. Almost as if they forget how hard it is to get results offline with a brand new unknown business. They forget how they had to do so much networking and advertising to just get their first clients on board or in the door.

Visibility is not something you do online. It is an old concept for any business. If no one sees you or knows about you – no one will buy from you.

And it is surprising how when the same business owners decide to increase their online presence, they expect it to have some miraculous advantage over their offline efforts. Or they develop conditional amnesia and conveniently forget how hard it was to establish themselves in the first place.

And those who have not even try to fill their businesses with local clients before using online space to boost their visibility, don’t seem to want to hear that this is a long game, a marathon, not a sprint.

Growing your visibility online is even harder than doing it offline. It requires patience and consistency

To start with, there is so much more competition, and not just within your industry. Online we are competing for the commodity that does not come in abundance any more. It is the toughest competition you have ever faced.

Online we are all competing for one thing – attention.

With information being thrown at us from every direction, it is so difficult to focus on anything, so the only way to win is to be showing up with such consistency and perseverance that you get noticed eventually, only because your content comes up so often, it starts creating curiosity an people start checking out your content. There you get a chance to build relations through producing content your ideal client can resonate with and with continuing your consistent, high-value content you build the trust required to go deeper, for example, to buy from you, provided you are selling what your audience truly needs.

Building your social media presence and influence is a process that takes time. It takes patience and focusing on the big goal.

Like growing a tree.

When you plant the seed, it takes ages before you can even tell if it is going to survive. Then one day you see a small little green shoot. You watch it getting bigger and bigger every day, but it is not yet a tree. It takes years for it to start resembling a tree. It takes many years to gain the strength, centuries to create a powerful presence.

I am not saying it will take you centuries to create a solid social media presence. But it will not take you a few short months either, let’s be real.

(Well, it can, but you have to have solid systems in place and know your target audience. THAT takes time to figure out also.)

Plus let us make a distinct difference between our visibility activities and our sales activities.

Offering a free trial or a free session to convert someone into your paying customer is a sales strategy.

Producing consistent high-value content and creating relationships with your audience is a marketing strategy, that can lead to bringing people into your sales funnels, which can indeed be a free session.

So my advice to Jim and everyone who is reading it, still expecting instant results from their social media activities to stop getting upset that the seed you planted is not giving you fruit yet. Stop getting frustrated that your posts do not get raving comments thanking you for your brilliance and inspiration.

Give it time.

Nurture your visibility by being consistent with your posts and your message.

Respect the time it takes to grow your visibility.

You are making an investment here, a long-term one.

Another thing, just like you cannot see the nutrients work in the soil, you sometimes do not know that you ARE being watched.

In fact, you are being watched so much more than you can imagine.

And those silent viewers still experience the power of your content. They connect, resonate and build trust in you!

They are often the ones that invest in you. So your investment pays off.

Patience and trusting your journey is the key. Success IS the journey, not the outcome.