When I was growing up, I suffered from major low self-esteem.
That’s me when I was…five years old? Definitely a daydreamer.
My mom and I would meet up with my aunts, uncles and cousins every Sunday. The dinner table would be alive with conversations about sports, politics and religion.
I was the youngest by far. So no one really ever listened to what I had to say.
But the more I was ignored, the more I craved their attention.
So I started reciting poems for them. That’s when everything changed.
The entire room of opinionated adults would pause their conversations and pay attention.
I had finally succeeded in getting them to listen to me.
It was a gift I never forgot.
To influence or get noticed?
Now as an entrepreneur, I realize the true power of being able to command and retain attention. It’s the difference between struggling to get your clients to notice you and having clients lined up wanting to work with you.
But of course, just getting attention isn’t enough to run a successful business.
You need to be able to influence potential clients to want to work with you or buy your product or service.
I’ve been obsessed with figuring out exactly how to build that influence – and this is what I found:
So I looked at the different ways in which experts have studied influence – how to build influence as a leader, as an employee and even as a social media influencer.
But that’s not what we’re interested in.
Entrepreneurs don’t (necessarily) want to be “influencers”.
But we need influence to become thought leaders in our industry.
And the best way to build that influence? When we communicate with others.
This is what creating that influence looks like:
This shows you exactly how you can build influence with anyone who you interact with – whether it’s one-on-one or on a bigger scale.
As an entrepreneur, you’re communicating with people who matter all the time:
- Sales calls with potential clients
- Pitches to investors or companies
- Podcasts that your potential clients are listening to
So if you can get them to first listen, then understand you, connect with you through the feelings you invoke, remember your message and then act on it – that’s how you become influential any time you speak.
As you may have noticed, I’m now focusing this newsletter on how to build your influence as an entrepreneur.
I’ll show you exactly how you can get any audience to listen to you, understand you…and ascend the influence pyramid all the way to action.
These strategies will work whether you’re on a sales call, speaking on a stage or on Zoom.
