Businesspeople: (Don’t) Shut the F**k Up
For Entrepreneurs, CEO’s, and everyone in between.
I got a phone call last night from a great friend of mine — Mark. Like always, we started talking about marketing, branding and thought leadership. At one point, I told him that he needs to start creating content based around his persona. To which he said:
“Yeah, Marti, I know what you mean…
But why would anyone want to hear what I have to say?”
Now, you are probably wondering who the hell is Mark?
Mark has grown a SAAS company from nothing to dozens of employees, thousands of clients, and millions of yearly recurring revenue. He has years of experience on his shoulders. Super talented dude.
But he still thinks no one would listen to him — so he doesn’t create. He doesn’t film himself talking. He doesn’t write articles He doesn’t record podcasts…nothing.
It’s hard to imagine that people want to listen to you.
This is actually the biggest objection I get when ghostwriting the thought leadership content for Entrepreneurs, CEO’s, and Investors.
I call it the Empty Stands Syndrome — the belief that you have no audience and that, basically, people do not care about what you have to say.
I was shocked at first. I’d think:
“These are people who already are leaders in their field — they just do not know it yet. They have had years of experience and learning that people would die (and pay) to hear about.
And they are being quieter than dinner with my in-laws.”
But the market is listening.
Millions of people around the world have read pieces I’ve written over the last years. And I haven’t built an incredible business like Mark (yet).
I then realized that some executives, Founders, and VC’s were already trying to build their personal brand, but they were saying all the wrong things:
What you should not be saying:
Here’s the problem:
Most leaders are not being authentic. They think that just because their name is attached to a business, they have to be extra-professional. They want to show this perfect image of themselves that, honestly, people do not give a flying f**k about.
Others are just not good at it. Look, just because you are great at something — building businesses, leading teams, investing… — doesn't mean you are also amazing at everything else. If you are not good at writing (or you are too busy), then just hire someone who can do that for you [like me].
The few that are creating content are not doing it well. This is how their readers look after hearing from then:
What you should be saying:
Personal brand content should be interesting, personable, and valuable.
You can talk about things like this:
- That time you had a panic attack before pitching the investor that saved your company.
- How you learned to manage people — and all the mistakes that came with it.
- Why you never gave up on your idea.
- How a CEO’s typical day looks like.
- What you think about before investing in a company.
You want to add value to your audience and teach them the insights that took you years to learn. They want to know who you are and why you do what you do. They want to know about your best and worst moments.
Now they look like this:
The benefits?
If you create consistent and relevant valuable, you’ll create a loyal audience of hardcore fans. That’s when book deals and keynote speaking opportunities start coming your way. That’s when your company stops being a faceless entity and becomes recognizable (think Tesla to Elon Musk or Apple to Steve Jobs).
The market is craving to hear from you. The question is whether you’ll talk back to them.
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