Remaining Visible From Afar
Quarantines, curfews, and collective insanity have forced us to find a new normal, knowing it’s likely only temporary, and we’ll have to readjust several times before the world starts spinning in a somewhat forward direction again. When that will be is anyone’s guess, and the odds of getting it right are anything but a safe bet. The best you can do is hunker down for the long haul, take care of yourself and your family, and adapt to changing and adjusting each time the world takes another sharp left turn.
For entrepreneurs and the self-employed, it means new challenges for keeping businesses viable under difficult conditions. Brick and mortars are, in many cases, impossibly challenged, but their difficulties become the difficulties of many who can and do work from home. Less income for small businesses in any capacity mean less ability to hire people like tech support, web designers, copywriters, and more.
It would be easy to just hunker down and try to ride it out, but the worst thing you can do right now is become invisible. Although I’ve been spending less time on my business pages of late, I’m not giving up on Have Ledger Will Travel or A Passion for Writing. Instead, I’m finding different ways to promote my services via my personal Facebook Page.
Connecting With Your Audience Regularly
For more than two months, I’ve been doing almost daily videos from my personal Facebook page. At first, they were meant to uplift and inspire; not only other people, but myself. I didn’t think about mentioning the services I offer, as it wasn’t on my radar so much as coping with a world turned upside down and sideways. That alone was enough for awhile. Everyone I knew was suffering some kind of anxiety and stress, and my main point was no one was going through it alone, nor was anyone unaffected.
As time went on, I realized it didn’t hurt to mention I was available for hire in my chosen fields. As many business owners have already figured out, the people who were watching might not have need of those services, but who’s to say they aren’t going to have a conversation with someone who might? Putting a bug in their ear that I can satisfy those needs means adding a brief commercial to the end of each video in an informational rather than sales-y way.
One thing I’ve learned from various associations and classes is you need to not only speak to the audience you attract, but make them aware of what you do. At no point will I come out and try to sell anyone anything. It’s not my style. What I do is show them the plain, unvarnished person I am in order to form relationships. I’m not asking for anything in return.
Forming Relationships Satisfies a Need in All of Us
Some might find my approach naive as I’m not forming noticeable ties. I’ve learned there’s a lot 
of value in simply showing up with no agenda other than to help people feel less alone and disconnected. In truth, the relationships and the reassurance are my purpose. Any work I may or may not get out of it is gravy. I’m more concerned with making sure my friends, family, and connections don’t fall through the cracks or worse, fall into that void where they believe no one cares. To me, that’s far more valuable than anything else.
As a human, you need certain things beyond the basic food, shelter, and security. In many ways, I continue to refer back to my undergraduate studies in Psychology, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In doing what I do, I focus on the third level: Love and Belonging, assuming for the most part that level 1: Physiological, and Level 2: Safety are being met to a reasonable degree. It’s not that I don’t believe those levels are important. I’m simply not in a position to impact those things for others.
Given the nature of my own experiences, I’ve traveled a long, hard road to reach Level 3: Love and Belonging, myself, and have finally made inroads into Level 4: Self-esteem. In the process, I’ve learned neither of these levels is achievable by walling myself up or refusing to let people help me, nor can they be reached by refusing to give back.
People Need Connection
In a world where physical contact can be a health hazard, and social gatherings have to be severely limited, it’s a challenge to connect with friends and family, or develop relationships which might lead to business opportunities. It’s easy to pull a blanket over your head and wait it out until the threats are gone—if they will ever be gone completely. Reaching out, admitting you’re frightened, stressed, anxious, or depressed are much harder, especially if you’ve been taught to show only your strength, and never what we’ve mis-perceived for generations as weakness.
The truth is people want and need to be able to relate on a deeper level, especially if they’re going to part with their hard-earned money to purchase products and services from you. In short, they need to know, like, and trust you. That can’t be accomplished by showing only a hard veneer, nor if you only show up when you think you can sell them something.
Another benefit to showing up as your real, imperfect self is more opportunities to increase your social currency. In my opinion, you’re far more valuable to clients, to yourself, and to the world in general when you show up as someone who’s there to help without consideration for personal gain. That doesn’t mean giving away your product or service to anyone who asks. It means exercising a social conscience and being a part of the solution, even if your part is simply emotional support.
Showing Up for the Right Reasons
A word of caution. Don’t allow yourself to get stuck expecting results for your altruistic 
behavior. In the first place, doing so will come through, and people will no longer trust you’re helping because you’re a kind, supportive person.
In the second, you may never generate sales you can directly attribute to your efforts. Heaven knows I’ve taken advantage of offerings from a number of people over the years, and had people take advantage of mine without anyone becoming a client. But in most of those cases, neither of us had expectations beyond forming a mutually beneficial relationship.
“Mutually beneficial” doesn’t have to mean you support each others’ business. In many cases, neither of you offers what the other needs anyway, but the relationship is valuable for other reasons. In many cases, the relationships I’ve formed in the last couple of years are people I can turn to when I’m stuck in a corner and can’t find my way out, or who I use as sounding boards.
Often, I simply cheer their wins, and commiserate when they’re having a tough time, and they do the same for me. More often than not, that’s enough for both of us. I’ve learned as I emerged from my life of solitude you can’t have too many genuine supporters in your corner.
About the Author
Sheri Conaway is a Holistic Ghostwriter, and an advocate for cats and mental health. Sheri 
believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful and help entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income. If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author. And check out her new group, Putting Your Whole Heart Forward.
Be sure to watch this space for news of the upcoming releases of ” Rebuilding After Suicide” and “Sasha’s Journey”.
