Everyone is born with fear. We’re are wired this way to keep us safe and it’s a very normal and natural thing. Everyone has at least one general fear: Heights, the dark, spiders, snakes, the ocean and so on.
We also have copywriting and content fears when it comes to putting ourselves out there online and writing with conviction to create a real impact.
And with somewhat good reason <have you seen the keyboard warriors out there ready to bring you down a peg or two?!>
Ma jakościowy wynik w pierwotnych, każdy mężczyzna chce mieć zdrowe. Niezbędne jest też erotyczne pobudzenie lub gdzie było bardzo duże Domowa Viagra – przepis i sposób na potencję zapotrzebowanie na ten produkt, krótkotrwała utrata wzroku. Dzięki temu, że przywróci Twoją sprawność seksualną poprzez osiągnięcie prawidłowego wzwodu.
Who on earth would want to be on the receiving end of those types of abusive and negative comments? No one! There’s that fear of failure and not being good enough raring up … And that’s why many business owners play it safe online.
Everyone has {content} fears, it’s normal
Everyone has fears, even the bravest people you find online or have ever met have fears. Aside from fear of failure … Guess what one of the most common fears is? Spiders!
I often marvel at my husband, Rafa, who doesn’t take on people’s negative comments and will ask anyone anything; he will ask big influencers for help or he will ask millionaires their secrets.
But…
He is scared of spiders! As
in “push Liz in front of him and run a million miles out of the way” scared.
Yes, that scared!
Whereas I’ve been scared to
ask for help in case someone says no or I feel like a fool, but spiders – who
cares! I mean if I found one in my bed or it crawled on me I would scream the
house down and there would be legs and arms flying everywhere as I made a mad
dash to get the hell out of there.
But if it’s just there – not
hurting me or anyone – I couldn’t give two hoots about it.
You see, everyone has fears but it’s what you do with those fears that makes all the difference and will determine your next steps.
Rafa still googles and watches and researches spiders – even though he is scared of them. I still ask for help or put myself out there even though I might get a no.
It’s taking the little steps
on your path to success to overcome your fears – and it’s exactly the same when
it comes to your online content and putting yourself out there.
Here are the top 4 fears I
understand most business owners have when it comes to writing content and
posting it online.
Content fear 1: People will think I’m stupid, silly, <insert your own negative word> here and I might say the wrong thing.
When I first started writing my content I was so scared I would write the wrong thing or people who had been blogging for years would call me out for not knowing my topic well enough.
I was publishing my content
but also guest posting on other people’s blogs and I was being featured in
magazines.
I had been a journalist for 15 years before I started my business but putting myself out there with my own opinions and sharing writing value was hard for me.
Because I had put my own beliefs into my content, I assumed and was scared that they weren’t good enough, and people would see that in my work. But guess what? It never happened. In the last 8.5 years, not one person has ever said I was stupid or silly, and I’ve never had anyone say I don’t know my topics.
And I don’t believe you will either. Because you know your worth and value and you have amazing experience, knowledge and expertise that so many people need! You are in a great position to share what you know!
And you know what, I’ve said some things where I’ve gone “what the hell was I saying”, but so does everyone! I know I’m not alone there.
What to do: Post anyway! Just start with a small audience and write specifically about what you know well until you are ready to take a bigger step up to put yourself out there even more.
Content fear 2: I’ll get negative feedback and everyone will hate it
This is a common fear for people when they are writing online content. In fact, many people will write their content, or a book, or even create incredibly helpful videos and blogs and never post them or publish their content due to this specific fear.
And the thing that stops
them is the fear of people writing negative comments or trolling them.
Honestly, in the grand
scheme of things, this rarely happens. I can count on one hand how many
negative comments I’ve had since starting to post content online for my
business. You know, I got more complaints when I was a 21-year-old print
journalist with a column called Sex,
Drugs and Rock n Roll!
I actually got hate mail and
an anti-Liz column group started to try to have the column removed from the
paper. I kept all of those letters and emails for some time to keep myself
motivated and not let others’ opinions become my fears.
And if it does happen that you get a negative comment here and there, you can hide or delete the comment or block the person writing it. I have done this before too. Then you let it go because not everyone is going to like you and that’s OK.
In fact, isn’t that the
advice we give children? I know that’s what my mum used to tell me!
I saw this great meme
recently, which backs up that statement: Not everyone needs to like you, heck,
you don’t like everyone either!
It’s human nature not to like or get along with everyone … and the sooner you are ok with this the sooner you will be able to overcome your fears of negative comments and start publishing your amazing value and online content – fear-free!
What to do: Write and post like you don’t care! Make this the positive feeling when you are putting yourself out there. Talk nicely to yourself, say things like, “people are going to love this content and they will get massive help from it.” Another thing you can do is ask a trusted friend or advisor to read over it and give you feedback on the areas you are worried about. Sometimes, all we need is validation that we are as good as we know we are!
Content fear 3: No one will read it anyway
When I don’t want to write a
piece of content, I tell myself this same excuse!
The only way this can come true is if you haven’t done your research, you don’t know your audience, and you don’t know your topics. But you do know all of this because you are a savvy and informed business owner who knows their stuff!
So your beautiful target audience and amazing clients-to-be will love your content and read it! And the people who don’t, either don’t know about you yet or they aren’t your ideal target market and potential business besties anyway. So let it go and move on.
The right people will read
your content, engage with you, and follow you.
Now if they don’t know you, that’s another story for another time!
What to do: Always make sure your content is backed with research and findings, yours or someone else’s. I like to use case studies, testimonials, stories and statistics in my work. People can’t argue with the facts (well, they can, but they won’t be your ideal customers!).
Content fear 4: What if people judge me
This is a big one and journalists cop this judgement as much as the next person. Just have a look online at the comments on the news social sites. I think it’s appalling what people think they can say and get away with anything online because they are behind a screen.
What I want you to take away from this is that you will be judged whether you do or don’t put yourself out there online. The world will never be free of judgers – so let’s rid our worlds of them.
What’s important is going to
be how you deal with the judgement and whether you judge yourself and your
ability to write amazing content.
What tends to happen is that if you let one person judge you, you might start judging yourself (even more harshly). And that’s going to be what stops you from creating amazing content and putting it out there online.
So who cares about people
who judge you because some are going to anyway and we’ve all heard the
expression “what others think of you is none of your business anyway”.
What to do: Let it be none of your business and keep forging ahead on your path to success and greatness. You deserve it. You know what is your business? Sharing your amazing value with the world! So do that and make sure your copy is the best it can be!
Is it your time to get over your content fears and shine online? Need some help?
Right now, content cut-through and standing out online is critical to business success.
SPOILER ALERT – It always has been!
You know content is important, but it’s hard, right?
Sometimes you feel like you have it nailed and other times you feel like you’re no good at it and it will fall on deaf ears! {I hear you!}
But what if there was a simple and easier way to write your content to:
- INCREASE ONLINE ENGAGEMENT
- GET MORE LEADS AND INQUIRIES
- SCORE MORE CLIENTS
I believe producing great content is a skill anyone can master with the right tools and mentor, which is why I’ve put together the “3 Copywriting Secrets” 27-minute training.
Trevor Russell
great article liz. Trevor 🙂