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When we're talking about numbers, when it comes to creating social proof and social media, many people instantly think of followers. But no, far too often, as entrepreneurs, we fail to look at the numbers of what it costs to get that lead. Yep, that ROI of it all. ROI is just simply sometimes way too difficult to quantify. How much time did it take to get this one prospect? Especially when you're relationship-focused, it can be a challenge to get that ROI. How good are you at building relationships? I don't know, ask your last boyfriend. When it comes to understanding the numbers and what it takes to grow your social media influence or just your social proof overall. We have to take a step back and say, where are we investing our time and energy, and where are we just wasting time? Especially when it comes to social media and any kind of online engagement, far too often, we as entrepreneurs play more than we work. We're not focused on getting something created quickly; we're just focused on, "Oh, look, that's a shiny object. Oh, look, that's another really interesting thing. I wonder what this is all about." We get sidetracked way too easily, so therefore, our numbers don't give us an accurate description of what our ROI is. Take a pause. And for the next two weeks, be very diligent about doing your work efficiently. As if when you are turning your computer off for the day, if you had a 9-5 job and you could no longer get online or do anything after hours, you had to get your work done during a certain timeframe. It's amazing how you're going to be less sidetracked and more focused on making sure that your work gets done promptly, which will help not just your ROI from a logistical perspective. But it'll also help your ROI from a relationship perspective. You know, and I know that when you have a limited time with the one you love, you make the most out of it. You are about creating as many experiences and as many memories as you can in one timeframe. That's going to help grow your relationships faster, also giving you better ROI. When looking at the numbers, what's it taking to create the social proof, create the influence, and build that social media, don't just look at the time being spent. Look at what real-time is being spent. Focus your energies, and guess what? It's not just going to make your ROI better. It's going to make the relationships better, too.

No matter what industry you are in, it is easy to feel like your expertise, eye, or mindset will soon be replaced. Automation, AI, and robots - are seemingly looming. The fear of not being wanted has little to do with how we make our living and hits home to our deepest fear - not being needed. The fear of not being needed doesn’t just mean that we won’t have friends. This fear roots back 20,000 years to being kicked out of the “tribe” and, in turn, our death. And though we understand that logically this fear is ungrounded on many levels, it still raises stress and anxiety in us. The simplest way to rest our minds is to look at the proof. No matter what changes are happening in your industry, there is a perspective and insight that you - a human- uniquely has. This insight cannot be replicated and, in turn, is your golden ticket. Now, that is to say that jobs won’t lessen. Of course not, but it is to say that you need to take this time now to become the Olympic athlete of your industry. By owning your innate talent and strengthening your skill set, you will lessen the mental worries about being replaceable. The truth is that you must own your value inside and out so that no one can ever question your worth.

Sometimes have to let it go. If it is a relationship, a goal, or an idea that you had from childhood. Whatever it is, sometimes keeping it is not to your advantage. Yet, how do you know when you should let it go or when you should dig in deeper? Just because you're having opposition to it, to your goal, to your relationship, to what you're striving for, doesn't mean that that opposition is the road sign to stop. Sometimes it just means you're on the right road. How can you discern the difference between when you should let it go and when you should keep going? Are you still passionate about what you're going after? Are you committed to the “why” and open to the “how”? If the answer is yes, then don't let it go quite yet. When you're committed to the end goal, it doesn't matter how you get there as long as you get there. But many of us along the way are more committed to how we get there than when or if we get there. And that's when we should consider letting it go. Being attached to how you get to something, to the end goal, will be greatly disappointing. You have to be attached to the “why.” Because when you're attached to the “why,” you're going to be more open to being a creative problem solver, and you're going to be more flexible in finding what works. With society changing so quickly from technology to how we do relationships, being attached to the “how,” keeps us stuck in old-school thinking. It doesn't keep us proactively moving forward, which is what you need when it comes to achieving your goals. So, if you're attached to the “how” of it all, let it go. But if you're attached to the” why,” keep going. Should you let it go? It depends on when and where it's happening. Be attached to the why more than the how, and be focused on what is truly in your intention in your heart. When you do that, it's clear if you should let it go.

What are your relationship goals? Most people fail to even stop and think about their relationship goals on a personal level let alone they don't think about the relationship goals when it comes professionally. Especially when it comes to creating social proof. We think about our relationship goal as we want to make sales, but beyond that, nothing. That's simply saying you want to get laid, people. There's so much more before and after a relationship, or at least there should be. And then there is more before and after when it comes to creating social proof with your business and your brand. When you are unclear about your relationship goals, guess what? You don't end up finding the ones you want. Just like when you're unclear about your relationship goals, you end up finding the ones willing to do the booty calls, not the ones willing to be marrying you and willing to be your partner for life. How do you change all that? Just simply stop and ask yourself what are you looking for. Are you truly looking for long-term clients right now? Or are you just looking to create a community of people who actively engage and like your material? Your relationship goals, just like in life, can change throughout your brand's life cycle as well. You don't have to stick to one relationship goal forever. But you do need to be clear about what you're looking for and what you need at this moment. Yes, need. It's okay that you need your relationship goals because the other side of that equation is that that party needs you too. When you're clear about what you need, it is much easier for the right people to find you. And that creates relationship heaven.

Creating social proof is all about influence. The good thing is that influence is part of our DNA, we are born influencing the world around us. The bad thing is that most of us unlearn our innate skills and the ugly thing is that by the time we are adults our ability to influence is downright sad. But when you understand your NERI® (Neuro Emotional Relationship Intelligence®), how you innately influence the world comes rushing back to you. Plus, when you truly understand how you are fully perceived you can begin to consciously use your personality to your relationship advantage to create connections faster and gain trust quicker. Wondering what your NERI® profile is? Learn more here.

Being a startup can be a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because you have the most passion, the most energy, and the most enthusiasm for what you're doing, but it can be a curse when all that begins to wane. When the energy isn't as exciting anymore when the drudgery of the logistics of the business overtakes your passion for it. What is a girl to do? Stir yourself up. That's what you're supposed to do. No one out there is going to keep you excited. Yes, your clients and the audience you serve when they give you positive feedback, make you happy. It excites you, but it's your responsibility as a startup to stir yourself up and keep that passion and excitement going. The easiest way to do that? 1.Take care of yourself. Yes, so obvious, and yet so not. Especially during the startup phase, many of us think we're superwoman, and we don't listen to our bodies. We work longer hours than we should. We take on clients that maybe we shouldn't, which creates more stress. And stress will make you unhappy about your business and make it harder to stir your passions up. But yet when you're well-rested, when you work with people that you love and you're doing the things you love, it's easy to stir your passions up. 2. You have to stay grounded. Meaning that no matter what anyone says, good or bad, it has nothing to do with you. When you realize this, and you embody that, guess what? What people say doesn't matter. Allowing you to stay intent on what you're about and keep yourself grounded. Because you want to accept all the positive accolades, but with every positive accolade, trust me, a negative one is coming. By staying grounded, it doesn't matter what positive or negative shows up. You're still there. You're still focused, allowing you to control your emotions and your energy so that way you can stir yourself up and keep ongoing. 3. The company you keep does matter. Make sure that you're only around people that believe in you. Being simply just around positive people doesn't help you if you're about ready to step in a big pothole or a big pile of poop. It doesn't help that they're positively happy about it. You'd rather have someone say, "Hey, walk around the dog doo-doo." So make sure you're around positive people who truly love you and have your back. When you know that you can trust that what you have to say isn't ever to harm but always do good. You're able to take any potentially "negative criticism" as what it truly is, a potential warning that you should maybe pause and fully think your next step through. When you have all three aspects in place, you can always stir yourself up because you aren't running on empty, you understand that anything people say, good or bad, has nothing to do with you, and you know the company you keep truly has your back. And that's how you keep yourself stirred up and passionate for anything in life, especially your business.

We've all been there at a networking event, at a conference, and all of a sudden, someone walks in the room, and all the heads turn. It doesn't matter if they look the best. It's not that they necessarily look the best, but that their energy has, well, that it factor, that indescribable, undeniable attraction, magnetism to who they are. Everyone wants to know what they're about, who they are, and how they can work with that person. The idea of “it” factor isn't a new concept, but it's one that we all, well, desire, sometimes secretly and sometimes not. The truth is that having that “it” factor, that indescribable yet highly desirable attraction, is something we all want in life and can all have. Many times, “it” factor simply is understanding how we're truly coming across in the world intelligently using our influence and making sure that the impressions that we make matter. When you look at the field of impression management and intelligent influence, it's about understanding that we make over 50,000 impressions a day. Yes, most entrepreneurial women, personally and professionally, online and offline, are making over 50,000 impressions a day. In the 1970s, most professionals barely needed 50,000 impressions in a month. When we use these impressions to our advantage, our it factor does become indescribable when we're online or offline. So how do we do this? How do we create it factor for ourselves? Well, your “it” factor all starts with understanding your intentions. Yes, you don't want to influence just everybody. You want to influence the right people. You want to be desirable to the right people at the right moment. So you have to understand your intention. Of course, understanding your intentions at large is one thing. Still, we have to understand our intentions, specifically the posts that we're creating for social media, specifically the event that we're going to attend, and specifically the meeting we're about ready to have. When we understand our intentions in these specific moments, as well as overall, we're able to tailor how we show up in the types of messages we're sending, non-verbally as well as verbally. Then, the second thing to creating this “it” factor is, well, using your nonverbal communication to your advantage. Your nonverbal communication is how we communicate over 93% of the time. Yet, in today's society, ironically, we don't use our nonverbal communication to our advantage. Nonverbal communication is your body language, your tone of voice, your style, and overall how you show up in this world. Your nonverbal communication is the true message that you're sending. We've all experienced times where nonverbal communication has been completely off to the verbal message, which makes us doubt somebody, question what's going on, and leave us wondering what is the real intent at hand. No one wants to do that. And when you have your “it” factor on point, it does not happen because your intention, as well as your nonverbal communication, match up, which means stop wearing the outfits that you don't like. Stop wearing something that doesn't make you excited. Stop using languaging that someone else has told you to do. Stop poor nonverbal communication through body language with that firm handshake or make sure you're always standing grounded and strong. All these miscommunications in your nonverbal communication make your it factor be an ick factor instead, which is not what you're going after. So, be clear about your intention. Be true to your nonverbal communication. And lastly, be smart about it. When making impressions, you don't want to just make an impression on anybody. You want to make an intelligent, influential impression. And to do that, you have to understand what relationships you're looking to create. Because yes, in the end, no matter what you do, you're about creating relationships, so you need to know what relationships matter to you. How does this go passed just your intention of the moment? It goes past the intention at the moment because it goes passed the types of relationships you're having at the moment. It goes to the long term. It goes to the bigger game. It goes to beginning the foundational seeds. Like in dating, you don't meet somebody for the first time and marry them. Same thing when it comes to any relationship in business. You need to understand that there's a long-term game. So when you understand the types of relationships you're looking to create in the now, in the present, as well as long term, you're able to create a magnetism for the people who have what you're looking for. “It” is that factor. It is that dynamics. And you can have “it” if you're willing to understand what you're about, be clear in your intentions, use nonverbal communication to your advantage, and understand this is all about relationship building.

Writing the perfect copy shouldn’t be all that hard, but it is. Talking about yourself, making the copy witty, but not too witty, and copy that converts can be overwhelming. First off, stop viewing your website copy as “sales copy.” It is a story. You are writing the best story ever told. How people just like your audience, aka your former clients, though amazing, had a need. And then, suddenly, the white knight appeared, aka you, and together everything magical happened, and dreams were realized. It sounds a little over dramatic for website copy, but I would rather see your copy be playful than stick straight boring. Once you have your tone right. Let’s talk about the pages. The truth is many people just approach their website copy all wrong from the get-go. When you know the point to each web page, the “what to say” gets a hell of a lot easier. Here is what the top 3 pages to any site should be about. About page. Focus on the “why” in your story. Why them? Why you? Why this? Why now? Why does it matter? Why? Why? Why? Bio page. Your bio should talk about your history. Use parts of your Genesis story to make your bio read like a story and not a cold resume. Services/ products. Sell your former clients as the badass rockstars they are. Write about how your clients’ lives change in a big-picture way. Show them how you solve more than just the acute problem but solve their deeper needs. Everything we do, say, speak, and think is for a reason. The only way for your clients to know yours is through your stories, aka your website copy. And with all stories, these can grow, change and evolve. Website copy is seriously this easy.

Love them or hate them, Apple is a brand that understands their audience on a neuro human branding™ side. They understand biology, and they understand the psychology of their audience. All of Apple's products are designed with your biology in mind. They're designed for how it feels in the users’ hands. What are the sensations? Is it smooth? The corners are rounded because rounded corners mean that they can't “hurt” you- aka not triggering your primal brain. The box with its slow slide creates anticipation but then requires you to shake it just a little bit to get it to fully open up. Biologically inducing a deeper level of commitment from the user. But there's also a lot of psychology to these products as well because Apple understood something the marketplace was completely missing. This is where being the leader in your marketplace really works to your advantage. They understood the lifestyle that their audience wanted. People thought before Apple came into the powerful Apple that we know today, computers were dorky. They were for nerds. They were pocket-protecting, eyeglass-wearing people that weren't cool. They weren't the person you wanted to be when you grew up. Yeah, they were smart, and yeah, they'd probably be very financially successful as an adult. But they weren't the fun, snowboarding, skiing, driving the cool car with the hot chick in their arms kind of person. Apple tapped into the rest of that. Apple tapped into the other side of life, which was the person who wanted to have a life. The person who wanted to be the cool kid, but in adulthood. The person who wanted to be smart and creative but be on the road. They wanted to have a platform that was for them. That was unique. That wasn't stiff and rigid. It didn't have to fit the corporate box. It wasn't a suit and tie. It was blue jeans and flip-flops. Apple created that. Apple found the story of the rebel, all the societal straight-laced stories around computers and business, and consciously went after the black sheep in this audience. Want to be the “Apple” of your industry? Go for the anti-story. Go for the people who see the social story that's being taught to them and don't want it. They don't want to participate. They don't want to follow the trends. They don't want to be only doing one business or only doing it this way. They want to do it their way. They want to be unique, and they want to be original and find out how you can make your product or service serve them. As much as we love to think our brand is revolutionary, the truth is, that we tend to follow the leaders like everyone else. Humans naturally have a “sheep” mentality. Break your sheep mentality and start being a shepherd. Start looking for those people who have lost their way because they don't agree with the story and give them a new pasture to munch in - your brand. Give them a community that says, "We love your badass, crazy, out-of-the-box thinking self. We love that you don't want to be straight-laced. We love your unique perspective, and we celebrate it." Celebrate them and trust me, they'll celebrate you because for everybody who loves and believe in the social story, there is at least that same amount of people who don't love or believe in the social story that they're being told. Find the social story that most affects your industry and then do the opposite. There's an audience who's been wanting to be seen and heard right there, willing and able and waiting for you.

Who doesn't want content that converts? The entire reason why 99% of us are online anyway is strictly to get the conversion. To get someone who we didn't know, to become a real client, paying us money and loving our products and service. Most of us create what we know as content, yet most of us still struggle with creating content that converts. We spend lots of time, and money, making pretty Pinterest posts, creating Instagram quotes, and everything else. And yet we still get crickets. From a brand perspective, this is a great challenge because we need to get a conversion. Social media and social proof are our modern-day marketing which everyone does. What used to be a newspaper ad is now all about creating conversion content. But, unlike an ad, it's a challenge for many brands to understand exactly what in the world your audience wants. Thousands and thousands of dollars are spent on average every single year, let alone hundreds of hours, creating content that we think works. Yet we still end up with crickets. How can you tell what content your audience wants? Well, for most of us, our audience wants a lifestyle that we portray that we have. They want to know the skill, the business level, the body, whatever it is that supposedly we have. 1.Have what our audiences think we have. It isn't about being fake or phony on our side, but it's about walking the walk and doing the work. So yeah, if you're a health coach, and you cheat every so often, it's sharing that, admitting that, and admitting your struggles, but you still get back on the healthy wagon course. Now, for everyone else, we understand that we need to walk our walk, and for most of us, we do on some level. But yet, it still is a struggle to consistently do it. 2. Play all out. The idea that a shoemaker has no shoes is very relevant to most entrepreneurs. If you are a business coach, your business better is on point. If you do branding, you better have some freaking killer brand. This will not just allow your audience to understand who you are and to create more desirability. They will also make you feel like the real deal. Half the reason our content isn't converting is that we don't play it all out. The second thing to create content that converts is to play it all out. Stop editing yourself, so stop minimizing how you would say it, stop being PC, and stop being like everyone else. It's so easy to just tone down the message. Well, if you won't bring it, nor will your audience. And if you won't bring it, you end up like everyone else. And therefore, you are not discernible to your audience. 3. Be authentic. This is a word that is completely played out, but the truth is how you uniquely see the world. How you uniquely see your industry is exactly what people want to hear about. They want to hear it your way. They want to hear that raw truth. And yes, by being a brand persona, by having a brand, being a brand ambassador, whatever your role is in this world, it's requiring you to be a leader at that point, in that area, in that scope. And yes, all the great leaders that we quote, all the brands that we desire, like Steve Jobs and Apple, and all of that, they weren't conventional, and they surely were not PC. Yet, we feel we can have the same result by being PC. We cannot. We must be authentic to who we are and how we see the world. Until you are ready to play all in, truly be yourself, and do your work, no content you create will ever convert. That's why being a brand, having a brand is a deeply personal experience. You must personally develop yourself and, in turn, your business to be able to truly show up authentically and organically in the space. If you want to create content that converts: do your work, be authentic, and be willing to show up fully as you are all the time. And guess what? No matter what you say or do, no matter how pretty a Pinterest post you create or Instagram quote you make, it will convert when you do you.

Love them or hate them, Apple is a brand that understands its audience on a neuro human branding® side. They understand biology, and they understand the psychology of their audience. All of Apple's products are designed with your biology in mind. They're designed for how it feels in the users’ hands. What are the sensations? Is it smooth? The corners are rounded because rounded corners mean that they can't “hurt” you- aka not triggering your primal brain. The box with its slow slide creates anticipation but then requires you to shake it just a little bit to get it to fully open up. Biologically inducing a deeper level of commitment from the user. But there's also a lot of psychology to these products because Apple understood something the marketplace was completely missing. This is where being the leader in your marketplace works to your advantage. They understood the lifestyle that their audience wanted. People thought before Apple came into the powerful Apple that we know today, computers were dorky. They were for nerds. They were pocket-protecting, eyeglass-wearing people that weren't cool. They weren't the person you wanted to be when you grew up. Yeah, they were smart, and yeah, they'd probably be very financially successful as an adult. But they weren't the fun, snowboarding, skiing, driving the cool car with the hot chick in their arms kind of person. Apple tapped into the rest of that. Apple tapped into the other side of life, which was the person who wanted to have a life. The person who wanted to be the cool kid, but in adulthood. The person who wanted to be smart and creative but be on the road. They wanted to have a platform that was for them. That was unique. That wasn't stiff and rigid. It didn't have to fit the corporate box. It wasn't a suit and tie. It was blue jeans and flip-flops. Apple created that. Apple found the story of the rebel, all the societal straight-laced stories around computers and business, and consciously went after the black sheep in this audience. Want to be the “Apple” of your industry? Go for the anti-story. Go for the people who see the social story that's being taught to them and don't want it. They don't want to participate. They don't want to follow the trends. They don't want to be only doing one business or only doing it this way. They want to do it their way. They want to be unique, and they want to be original and find out how you can make your product or service serve them. As much as we love to think our brand is revolutionary, the truth is that we tend to follow the leaders like everyone else. Humans naturally have a “sheep” mentality. Break your sheep mentality and start being a shepherd. Start looking for those people who have lost their way because they don't agree with the story and give them a new pasture to munch in - your brand. Give them a community that says, "We love your badass, crazy, out-of-the-box thinking self. We love that you don't want to be straight-laced. We love your unique perspective, and we celebrate it." Celebrate them and trust me, they'll celebrate you because for everybody who loves and believe in the social story, there is at least that same amount of people who don't love or believe in the social story that they're being told. Find the social story that most affects your industry and then do the opposite. There's an audience who's been wanting to be seen and heard right there, willing and able and waiting for you. Don’t you just love it when a potential client confesses their love for your work to you and then puts that big “BUT” into the conversation? “I love you and your work, BUT I just don’t feel like your price should be this much.” Or maybe you heard something like, “Wow, that’s a lot.” Or one of my favorites is “I love your work, but I have already invested in another program. Could we work together for free?” The answer is “no,” but how can you say that constructively? Depending upon the situation, I usually say or write something like this. “Hey, Sarah! Thanks for the love. Know that it goes both ways. I can appreciate budget concerns. So if that's where this pushback comes from, then let’s talk about it. I am happy to entertain a conversation about payment plans or scaling back our work to best suit your budget. Let me know when we can connect.” Now the other most likely pushback to your price is your expertise level. This potential client is “shopping around” and comparing Walmart and Neiman Marcus. In that situation, this is my go-to script. “Hey, Sarah! Thanks for the love. Know that it goes both ways. Yes, you are right I am not the low-price leader of my industry. Because just like we talked about, my price is all-inclusive. Besides my 25 years of knowledge in the industry, I have already factored in all those “unforeseen” upcharges everyone else tacks on to their bill later. So if you are looking for a low-price leader, I am not your girl. If you want to accelerate your brand’s growth, have completely inclusive pricing, and have a professional experience that you can relax into because you know I got your back- then I AM your girl. It is really up to you: do you want the struggle or the success?”

It doesn't matter how often I or any other entrepreneurial expert says it. The truth is that being an entrepreneur and a successful entrepreneur requires you to know yourself. Know yourself inside out, grow yourself, evolve yourself and become a better human being. I know for many entrepreneurs, that's a positive thing because we all love to learn and have self-development. It's also the scariest thing for most entrepreneurs because they don't want to grow, and they don't want to get to that next level. How can you overcome this desire to grow, yet this fear of actually growing? Well, the truth is that you have to know that for you to be a success. It is all about you. And that scares so many people because we are taught to have a teamwork mentality. Yes, teamwork does make the dream work when it comes to certain aspects of your business. But, as an entrepreneur, as the face of your brand, as the leader that you are, you have to lead. No one else is going to create the vision. No one else is going to have the passion. This is all about you. For you to keep having this happen, for you to keep going day after day, month after month, and year after year, you have to personally develop who you are. That means sometimes business-wise, sometimes that means physical-wise, and sometimes that means emotional or spiritual-wise. It is a deeply personal experience to be an entrepreneur, to build a business, have a brand, and be successful at it. Add on top of that social proof and being influential, and it's a ridiculously personal experience. If you don't know who you are, you will always be moved by the latest trend, the latest guru, or what someone online says about you. Don't let trolls or anyone else influence who you are. You choose who you are. You know who you are, so rediscover what you're all about. Make sure that when you're clear about who you are, guess what, everyone else becomes clear about who you are, too. It's less challenging to be a leader. Your passion is there. People want to follow. And that's the number one thing when it comes to creating social proof and intelligent influence. You want people to want to follow you. Personally develop yourself, and that happens along the way, too.