The Vicki Kotris Podcast

Episode 51: Dance As If No One's Watching...Because One Day They Will Be

Vicki Kotris

Feeling inadequate and afraid of failure when starting a new venture? You're not alone. Join me, Vicki Kotris, as I recount my personal journey of navigating the initial struggles of launching a business and a podcast. By sharing candid anecdotes, I encourage you to embrace a mindset of belief and vision—even if it feels like a leap into the unknown. Learn why it's critical to push past feelings of embarrassment and rejection, and how maintaining a vision for your audience can fuel your growth despite early setbacks.

Ready to revolutionize your sales and marketing strategies? It's time to dive headfirst into the exhilarating challenge of launching something new. I explore the transformative power of curiosity and how it can guide you to craft marketing strategies that truly resonate with your target audience. Whether you're an entrepreneur or a creative, seize the opportunity to present yourself in impactful ways and make the most of each week. Let my passion for guiding others inspire you to maintain momentum and continue evolving on your journey to success.

Thank you again for tuning into another episode of the Vicki Kotris Podcast! I want to support you, cheer you on a HYPE you up!! If you're celebrating anything (and I mean ANYTHING), send me a DM and let me highlight you on a recent episode.

If you're looking for support in building a social media content strategy, I'm your girl! Send me an email to vkkotris@gmail.com and we can set up a FREE account audit.

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Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome to the Vicki Kotris podcast. I am your host, none other than Vicki Kotris. I'm a retired corporate girly, two-time six-figure founder who's obsessed with brand building, sales generating and digital marketing. My mission with this podcast is to share the lessons I've learned, to help you make more magic and money with your own marketing efforts, and to feel inspired to continue on your own journey as a creator and entrepreneur. Here I'll share real life strategies, marketing tips and mindset shifts that have helped me go from cubicle to creator. This podcast is for business owners, creatives or those just looking for a little more sparkle in their day, so let's kick off this week's episode.

Speaker 2:

Hey guys, it's Vicki. I am trying something new here when it comes to recording this podcast, and so you might listen that the background noise sounds a little different than what you are used to. And I think the problem with producing a podcast and recording a podcast as an amateur meaning I don't have a production staff or studio to do all my filming in is taking the time and setting aside the time to really record. And I used to let that hold me back. And I was actually talking to a friend recently who was like I want to record a podcast. I have so much to say. I want to just talk about my mental health journey and I think that it will help so many more people. And I said well, why don't you? She said, well, I just need it to be done for me. Like I don't want to learn anything new, I don't know how to do anything related to a podcast, so I am just like I have no idea what I'm doing and I said, well, you know, you can record episodes on your phone and then just upload them. You know, like it's really as simple as that and it was kind of like a light bulb clicked, where you simplify things so much that it's like, oh yeah, well, I could do that. So, anyway, I am practicing what I am preaching, which is let's just record and let's get the value of the message out into the universe, of the message out into the universe shared with all of you, instead of waiting for that perfect time, that quiet time, recording in my closet so that no background noise or dog barking is heard by any of the listeners. So bear with me, we're trying this out. We're going to see how this works. This works.

Speaker 2:

Today's topic is something that feels like it needs to be said. You may have heard this in your life a time or two, but it sucks to suck. That is what we're talking about today. It sucks to suck. Okay, what does that mean? What it means is that it sucks to start something new. It sucks when you have a wonderful life altering idea that you know is so impactful and that it has the power to change so many lives, but you released it into the wild and share it and there isn't a line out your door Womp womp. When you look at your missed calls and your voicemail list, and there ain't none there Womp womp. When you produce a podcast and you get 10 downloads, when you sit all day at a farmer's market and you make $5. When you travel an hour to fulfill a client event and they're unhappy. These are all things that have happened to me in running a business and I'm going to tell you this it sucks to suck. It sucks to be the new guy, it sucks to have to learn new things and it is very hard and it will test you and it will make you question if you made the right decision, if you're really doing what feels good or if you're just trying way too hard.

Speaker 2:

And what I know to be true is that you have to pretend that the audience is out there and is listening to you, whether it is podcasting, whether it is starting a new business, whether you are selling widgets, whether you are selling cookies at a farmer's market selling cookies at a farmer's market. You have to envision this wonderful next step of customers lining up out the door to buy whatever you're selling. And if you don't have that and some refer to it as delusion I will also call it delusion, because you have to believe that something is there that no one else can see. That is the only way that you survive. That is the only way that you manifest into reality an idea that won't stop, that won't quit. If you don't, it'll just die because you won't be able to handle it just die because you won't be able to handle it. You won't be able to handle that, even when the people show up for you and you start making sales or you start growing your business, that they might not like it. There might be some other form of rejection that happens when you launch your business and I've had it happen to me time and time again. It doesn't suck any less the bigger that you get.

Speaker 2:

I will tell you that the losses that I have when I was making $15,000 a year still feel really shitty, as they did when we're making multiple six figures a year, when we're making multiple six figures a year. And I have to know and stay focused on the fact that I am doing my best and I will continue to get better and better and better. The more I continue to grow and that's what keeps me focused the more I continue to grow and that's what keeps me focused. And so I say that. And I say that because you have to perform for an audience that may not be there today and when they do show up. It's going to be different kinds of problems, it's going to be new kinds of challenges, but what I really wanted to get across in this episode today is don't let the fear of embarrassment, of people not showing up today, stop you from building the most wonderful venture business of your dreams, because it has to exist for you first before it can exist for anyone else, and so let that inspire you today to find a reason to just keep going or to get started. So this is what I talk about when I talk to people about building digital marketing strategies and social media content creation. It is not about the followers that you have today. It is not about the five customers who have bought your product today. It is not about just having your mom listen to an episode of your podcast and waiting for other people to listen, which has happened to me as well, hi, mom. What this is about is putting that energy and forethought into marketing practices to help launch your business or continue to evangelize your business when no one else is here yet.

Speaker 2:

So it's like that nervousness that you have in your stomach before you've hosted a party. Right, if you've ever hosted a party, you have like your whole bar set up. You have, like, all of your food laid out. You've been making snacks and food all day. You cleaned, you decorated, you just turned on the music. We're creating the ambiance. Then the clock strikes 7 pm, just when we told everyone to arrive, and no one's there and the doorbell hasn't rung yet. And that thought crosses your mind, because it crosses all of our minds Is anyone even going to show up? And you have this sheer panic like, wow, I guess I'm going to be eating a whole cheese sheet pizza by myself if nobody shows up. My gosh. But then it starts to happen. Then the first one comes, then the first one comes, and then your group of besties show up, and then their partners all show up and next thing we know we're moving and grooving and we're having a great time, the ambiance is good, the jokes are flowing, the pictures are being snapped, the experiences are being had and we are back, baby. And that is the same feeling and the same trust that you have to have in your business and in your marketing effort.

Speaker 2:

So when I talk about social media strategy, I talk to business owners who are in all kinds of industries that you can imagine beauty, fashion, real estate, online coaching, any industry you can imagine who provides a service, and I always ask what do you want to focus on? No-transcript. And I find it so ironic because the women that I talk to primarily women, but could be any business owner are all entrepreneurs, so they know what that feels like when you start your business. So why don't we give ourselves the same grace when we're trying something new, when we're leveling up, when we're going from a five-figure business to a six-figure business? And that's what we really have to realize is that something's got to give, the systems have got to change. The delusion has to be increased that much more, because if we don't start getting really delusional about the customers that will be there as we start to roll out these strategies, then we're just going to stay exactly the same. We're going to be in our same lane. We're never going to experience that level up moment.

Speaker 2:

So I hope today was something that you could take away, which is you have to start somewhere when it comes to making changes with your sales and marketing strategies. If you have launched a business or a new venture ever, you know that there comes that jumping off point. It feels scary, it feels like you have to show up in a new way. Lean into that, let that fuel you, let that curiosity change you, and that's really what I love experiencing and helping business owners do. So, if I can answer any questions, help talk about strategies that will work, that take advantage of where your customers already are, and help you show up in a new and beautiful way. That is what I am here to do, so make it an amazing week. Go out there, open yourself up, show up, and I'll catch you next time.