Kim Walsh-Phillips: How To Make Them Buy Now

I remember when the Tweeting attacks started.

An event we were holding for a client was cancelled due to a hurricane and in the midst of preparing for the safety of all guests and vendors, we made a mistake.

We forgot about pre-scheduled Tweets that were programmed to go out during the event.

Only one Tweet slipped through welcoming guests to an event that been canceled, but that was enough.  That was the one mistake they were looking for to begin the assault.

They retweeted that post over and over again with commentary that was meant to hurt. They wanted to tear me down. They wanted pain caused to me. And they were successful.

Dan Kennedy says, “The higher up the flag pole you go, the more your a@@ is exposed.” The more successful you are, the more people will attack you. I tried to focus my mind on this phrase and stay strong.

But I am afraid I was weak, and I crumbled a bit.  (For a moment), I let them win.

You see, after ten years in business, I had become an “overnight success.” I had purposefully repositioned myself away from being the head of a “full-service” marketing agency that does everything for everyone.  Instead, I focused messaging and marketing on a unique niche as a direct-response social media agency.  We use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to get our customers’ phones to ring.

And we do.

But, calling yourself the expert is S-C-A-R-Y.

What will people think? What will they say? Will they know I am a fraud? I probably knew more about direct response social media than anyone else in the world and yet, I felt like an imposter.

And the mean Tweets reinforced my head trash.

I questioned EVERYTHING.

I had become laser-focused on priorities…position as an expert, reach out beyond the five-mile radius of our town to get clients who would actually pay us what we were worth, and only work with those who came to us because we were the expert, not because we were chasing them down.

My plan had been working. I was finally able to breathe a bit when it came to cash flow; I could hire more staff, I could pay more to the team I had in place (raises!), and things were good.

But apparently, my head wasn’t.

One cyber-attack and I reverted.

I started to (a little obsessively) check a feed that was notorious for mean banter to see if I was mentioned.  I often was, and it was never pretty. These messages filled my head with trash that drove me to some pretty poor choices.

I diverted from my path that was bringing me success and started to do things to “prove” to my detractors that I knew what I was talking about.  And that I cared about my community. Both things they criticized.

My team and I were already really involved in the community with giving and volunteer work, but somehow I thought doing more would make them stop.

As a scaling company we were already stretched thin and more volunteer work meant more unpaid time. Not good.

And I started thinking of the critics when I wrote content for my subscribers and followers instead of my target market.

These were such silly distractions that took me away from the success we were having. I was operating out of fear and self-doubt, not out of strength and purpose.

Thankfully God had a way of reaching me and snapping me out of it.

I was listening to an audio-book, A Place of Yes, by Bethany Frankel.  Her struggle and story reminded me of what I was going through.

And it finally hit me! (Halleluiah!)

My detractors were NEVER going to be my customers.  They would never help my staff or me achieve our goals and dreams. They would never become part of the solution.

So spending time trying to please them would never accomplish anything.

I mean, I know you may be thinking, “Um duh, I could have told you that.” But, this was HUGE for me.

I felt so free when I had this realization.

I could go back to focusing on my purpose.

I am called to help as many people as possible share their value with the world through effectively communicating their message.  I allowed myself to detour from this for a bit, but I came back strong.

I never checked the negative Twitter feed again. I really didn’t care what they said or how they said it. These thorns in my side weren’t going to help me with my purpose so from that day forward, they were ignored.

It wasn’t long after this that I met Dan Kennedy and earned the company he started, GKIC Insider’s Circle, as our client. This game-changing account and the clients who followed because of our work would most likely never have happened if I had stayed mired in the muck of negativity from those who wanted me to fail.

This milestone only happened because I put blinders on and ignored the noise around me.  It was not easy, but it sure did pay off.

I don’t know if you can relate to any of this. But here’s what I know about you…

1. You have value and purpose and you deserve to be paid for it.
Share your value with the world confidently as a warrior for truth.

2. You can’t change the world if you stay under the radar.
Putting yourself out there is SCARY but necessary to share your value with the world.

3. People may criticize you. They are NOT your customers. Focus on those who are your
target market and celebrate the critics as a sign of success.

4. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. Talk to someone about your
journey and the doubts you will occasionally have.  Leaning on a mentor or
accountability partner can help you stay focused.

5. Celebrate your wins. Take a moment to relish in your success without guilt.
You have worked so hard and deserve to cherish each and every minute of it.

I’d love to hear more about your journey. Would you do me a favor and share your story in the comment section? Or even just your purpose in your battle to be a warrior for truth? I want to support you any way that I can.

You have value and are meant to do great things. And you know what?

You’ve got this.