In today’s day and age having a presence online isn’t a maybe or a perhaps… it’s a necessity.

It sounds like a big, sweeping statement, however, we have so much more each and time to connect with our audience it’s something that cannot be ignored if you want to reach The People.

We are NOT going to do the wanky “influencer” thing, though! We are not going to do The Thing whereby we pretend we’re someone we’re not. No.

No faking experience.

No faking knowledge.

No faking numbers.

(Side note: I read a post the other day written by a friend of mine about faking it till you make it and how she did. Not her expertise though. Not her knowledge. Not pretending to be someone she was not. She did admit that there were times she didn’t feel GOOD ENOUGH. This is ok to fake. The feeling of being good enough. Fake that shit till the cows comes home, because the more you practice that, the more confident you’re going to feel. Pretend to feel comfortable in front of the camera. Own that shit. But don’t BULLSHIT because you think that this is what someone wants to hear).

You just need to be fully owning you with where you’re at where you’ve been.

I was on a podcast interview recording session last night and we were talking about how many people feel icky about being on and selling on social media. But that if we instead shift our focus from SELING and shift it to adding value, building relationships and helping people to learn to trust us, then it can shift things.

This requires YOU TO BE REAL.

Let me start with some things you may or may not know about me:

• I started running an online business with a jewellery store around 2005.
• I started a Facebook page for that business as soon as I could (my husband introduced me to Facebook. I thought it was a big fat waste of time and couldn’t believe that one of his mates was putting up photos of his family up on there. I reluctantly signed up about 6months after my husband!!!!)
• For this business, I started in 2010 with personal branding being the focus – from the angle of being a trained stylist and using your physical appearance to create a great first impression. I did numerous corporate presentations for organisations around this. I travelled around the country doing this.
• I’ve run 100’s of workshops and events offline over the years
• I’ve run 100’s of online events over the years. IN fact, it’s probably getting up close to 1000 if I was to actually sit down and do the numbers.
• I’ve had programs that would sell out and some that I sold none at all.
• I’ve run ‘group programs’ with 3 people in them!
• I’ve felt embarrassed at times about my appearance and when I first started I was embarrassed that everyone else seemed to have worlds more experience than I did
• I always show up!
• I cry. Ugly cry but often silent. I cry sometimes when I’m sad. Frustrated. Or excited. Or touched or moved. It’s not often. Sometimes even the crying happens on the inside, right deep in my heart.
• I’ve made millions online and I didn’t want to keep doing things in the way I did to make those millions, so I took a leap(s) of faith and chose to follow fun and my heart. To go against The Advice of well-meaning individuals about what I should sell moving forward and what my focus should be.
• I’ve tried to be ‘proper’ and market to those who I thought more likely to buy (it didn’t work)
• I’ve gone weeks with no sales, and I’ve made multiple 10’s of thousands in a week!
• I’ve bought courses I thought would help and they did
• I’ve bought courses I thought would help and they didn’t.
• I’ve had mentors who inspire me and have helped me immensely. I’ve also had mentors that I’ve fully trusted betray that trust and rip me off, lie and cheat and then ‘vanish in the wind’

Though all of that, no matter what, I still choose to be exactly where I am today and exactly where I’m going tomorrow.

Ultimately though, you know what? I asked two of my longest-running clients a question today: If you had $100M in the bank … what would you be doing and how would you be doing it?”

It prompted some discussion to say the least.

If YOU are not doing TODAY what you’d want to be doing with $100M to your name, maybe this is why things aren’t working….

Are you just ‘in this’ for the money being the only goal? There’s not much wrong with this if this is the case… but honestly… if the money we’re already there… what would you be doing? If money is the ONLY goal, what happens when you get that money? Or if you don’t? What does all of that mean to you?

Me? I would be doing the same as I am now…

Perhaps the vehicle may be slightly different – more books, stadiums and my own channel, of course!! The SCALE would defo be bigger… but at its core, what I do on a daily basis would be the same.

[As an aside, if you’re a network person who needs a new channel, hit me up!! I’m ready! If you’re a publisher who is ready to have someone pump out some amazing work that is going to help and inspire people, let me know!!]

For me, I will always be Inspiring. Motivating. Helping you see your potential and then kicking your ass to go do something with it!

Why? Why would I choose this day and day out?

Because NOT EVERYONE GETS A TOMORROW and if you have something that you want to do and it’s going to help other people, every day you put off is a day you get closer to your death.

Which means your legacy doesn’t get to live on for as long. And sometimes we need someone kicking our ass over playing it safe.

Yep. That’s the truth.

Not everyone feels like they have the choice to follow their dreams or their passion or build a business out of their genius… so if you do and if YOU have the capacity, how dare you play small and not do all that you can to unleash your purpose and your mission on this earth – whatever that looks like.

How dare you turn your back on God / Universe / Source / YOURSELF when you have something that you know that you have to do here. It’s like turning your back on oxygen.

But, it’s your gift, so I guess you get to choose what you do with that gift…

Meanwhile, though, I see my job is (and therefore yours, because of course, we’re similar to you and I) to show up and do this every day regardless of I feel…. In spite of how I may feel… or even because of however I feel.

I imagine that there are millions of people just waiting for their hit of Nicola for the day so they can get their day underway with a flash (and sometimes a kick) of positivity and momentum.

I believe, that if I’m standing here, like a lighthouse, calling out to YOU to STAND UP…

Shining the light letting you know it’s safe….

If I’m saying to you that YOUR audience needs to see you (not some glamorous-insta-wanna-be-model-who-hates-what-they-see-in-the-mirror-influencer-who-demands-everything-for-free-because-they-think-they’re-entitled) …..

If I say they need to see you in a way that is still on your terms…

Sharing your stories…

Your insight. Your wisdom. Your advice. Your anecdotes. Your wit. Your humour. Your strategies.

Then fuck. I’d better do it too, right?!!??!!?

In The World of Social Media, everyone is trying to stand out, but they’re all doing it in the same way, which means they’re blending in!! So the harder they try to stand out the same way that everyone else is, the more they look the same.

No. More.

You, my friend, are a powerhouse.

You are a POWERHOUSE of wisdom, knowledge and sass and wit.

A powerhouse of creativity and ideas and stories untold.

Stories you’ve probably forgotten even exist.

With 2.3Billion on Facebook, you cannot afford to even think the same as anyone else in your industry.

If you’re going to take on the world…

If you’re going to create IMPACT…

Drive influence…

Create a movement…

Then you need to do it differently.

You  need to do is:

1. Own it
2. Be prepared to be uncomfortable, afraid, awkward, challenged and confronted. This is the path.
3. Be prepared to fall in love with your brain. Your body. Your past. Your present. Your future.
4. Be prepared to be loved, supported, encouraged, exhilarated, thrilled and fucking ecstatic about what you’re creating.
5. Know this: The world is ready for your brand of awesomeness and honestly, so am I.

The thing that I’ve been focused on since I started this business is creating content because I KNOW that this is the best way to start a relationship online. To give away a ton of free advice, thinking, tips, hints, tricks, strategies, thoughts and suggestions so that YOU get results in advance. These results look different for everyone – what’s valuable to one person is not necessarily what’s value to someone else, right?

Content is the thing that drives everything online. From imagery to blogs to posts to live streams to vlogs to free things to tools to EVERY-FREAKING-THING online.

So it’s time.

Time for YOU to get yo’self out there, gf!!

Do it, now!

We’re waiting for you.

Nic x