Relax, It’s Not About You (It’s About Them)

I see new marketers all the time freeze up with fear. They often have an excellent idea for their business and start to act on it, all excited. Then something happens that plants the seed of doubt, and they immediately ask, Who am I to be doing this?

Maybe they have something great to teach that would help others, or they have a different way of doing things that would solve people’s problems. Whatever their idea or their business, that seed of doubt takes root. They get scared. They become self-conscious. And they doubt themselves and their abilities.

It’s when I tell them, “It’s not about you; it’s about your customers. It’s about the people you’re going to help.”

Imagine you’re about to go on stage to present information that will change the lives of your audience. But you’re nervous. You think you’re not a good presenter. You focused on how you’ll look and sound and what the audience will think about you.

It’s the wrong focus.

If you focus instead on helping those people and on THEM and not YOU, you will find it easy to give your message.

I’ll give you an example: Just as you’re going on stage to make your presentation, someone whispers in your ear, “The building is on fire; we’ve got to evacuate these people NOW!”

Do you hesitate? Do you wonder what you’ll say in the microphone? Do you worry about how you’ll look and sound? NO! You rush onto the stage and immediately start directing people to find the nearest exit and go to it now. You tell them to stay calm, move swiftly, and leave no one behind. You direct people to the front if you see smoke coming from the back. You say and do whatever it takes to get those people out.

And lo and behold, not ONCE did you think about YOURSELF during that process.

Magic indeed.

If you have doubt – If you’re worried – If you’re scared – Then you’re thinking about yourself and not your customer.

Remember, it’s not about you – it’s about them.