75: Ep1: Nobody Told Me How Long Building a Personal Brand Actually Takes

Do you ever wonder if the discomfort of putting yourself out there is ever going to go away? You post, you wait, you check the numbers, and some days it still feels like nobody's out there. In this episode of The Creative Bodega, I'm kicking off a new series called Nobody Told Me, six honest truths about what it actually takes to build a personal brand. We're starting with the one nobody warns you about: how long everything really takes. If you're deep in the reps and wondering when it starts feeling easier, this episode is for you.

Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE.

Things I cover inside this episode:

• Why I still cringe when someone tells me they watch my Instagram stories, even five years in
• What building an audience from zero at my CrossFit gym in 2017 actually taught me
• Why posting into a void with 12 story views is where everyone starts, no exceptions
• The 3 non-negotiables for showing up consistently without burning out or overcomplicating it
• Why sporadic brilliance always loses to small, sustainable systems repeated for 90 days
• Why I talked a close friend out of chasing $1,000 a month as an influencer
• What's changing with The Content Coven, and why now is the time to join

Connect with me:
🫶🏼 Follow me on Instagram for daily insights
🫶🏼 Join my 321 Create Newsletter for weekly content tips 
🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership

Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode! 

Transcript

Speaker 0:00

There's no finish line where it all feels easy and the results are guaranteed. No, no, no, no. There's just the work done consistently because you actually love the thing that you're doing. If you love it, the reps become so worth it, and if you don't, there's no amount of strategy that's gonna carry you through Welcome to the Creative Bottega Podcast. I'm M Connors, Instagram content strategist, one of 43 Canva verified experts worldwide, and a mom of two who is not on Instagram for fun. I'm there to market my business, grow my email list, and get the heck off my phone, and that's exactly what I teach. You can expect simple content strategy, visual systems, and Instagram to email tactics that actually work without taking over your life. Let's get into it. Welcome back to the Creative Bodega Podcast. This is the first episode of a brand new summer series I'm calling Nobody Told Me. So it's just six honest truths about building a successful, and by successful I mean I make money, personal brand, okay? And not just making money though. It's not just making money. It's literally having, you know, the freedom of time, making money, and loving what I do. You know, I have this all scripted. I script my podcast, and that just, like, didn't feel true. It's not just a personal brand that makes money. Anyways, I wanna be up front about why I'm doing this series. I've been at this for f- five and a half years, probably a little over at this point, and there are still things that catch me off guard, things I wish someone had, you know, sat me down and told me early on that would've saved me so much second-guessing and wasted energy. So that's what this series is. It's six things I know now that I wish I'd known then, and honestly, that I still have to remind myself of now, okay? The, the struggle is never truly over, and if anyone pretends like it is or acts like it is on, on the Gram or on any social media, th- they be, they be lying. They're lying. It's just a constant evolution. And anyways, nobody told me how long everything actually takes. So I have to tell you what happened to me recently, because it's actually the perfect illustration of this entire episode. I was at a kid's party yesterday, one of those Sunday evening things where you're standing around. My daughter doesn't let me leave the parties. It's fine. She's nine, and I feel like I should be able to leave, and most parents did, except for me. But she's not comfortable. I'm not gonna leave her if she's not comfortable, and I want her to have a good time, so I stay. I brought my laptop, and I was like, "I'll just be right here." And one of the moms who I know and I really enjoy speaking to also stayed, and she sat right next to me. And at some point she said to me... Well, because she saw me working on my laptop, and she saw me working on a graphic in Canva, a carousel, and she's like, "Oh, you making a post for tomorrow?" And I'm like... You know, I never know if people know what I do. I literally don't know. And she's like, "Oh, I, like, love watching you on Instagram. I watch all your stories." And I wanted to disappear. I wanted to be like, "No, no, Jennifer, like, they're not for you. Like, you're not a female entrepreneur. Please don't watch me. That's so embarrassing." But of course, I just smiled, probably got a little red, and said thank you. And on the inside, I was doing, like, a full, full, full, full body cringe, where you're like, "Wait, like, she watches my stories?" Like, and she even said, "You probably think I'm crazy, like, you know, when you see me watching your stories." And I was like, "Actually, I never look at who watches my stories. That's not part of my routine. I don't look at how many people watch it. I don't look at who's watching it. I don't really care. It's just not on my radar, right? So I'm like, I would never even notice if you were watching. This is why I didn't know you were watching, okay?" And it's just like, oh my God, like, what has she seen? What has she heard me say? Whatever. So five and a half years of owning and promoting the Creative Bodega, over 125,000 followers, a membership with over 150 women inside, and someone saying that they watch my stories still makes me want to hide, to be super, super honest. And I'm telling you that because I want you to understand that the discomfort does not fully go away. And if you're waiting for it to, you're gonna literally be waiting forever. I can tell you that for a fact. So I haven't only been on Instagram for five and a half years. That's just with the Creative Bodega, and before that, my Instagram journey started in 2017. That's when we opened our CrossFit gym, and that's where I really learned this lesson, and I learned it the hard way. So I was building the nutrition coaching side of our business. So my husband kind of did, you know, the CrossFit workout stuff, and that wasn't my jam, and I did not feel comfortable coaching people. But nutrition, I always took an interest in, and it, it, it excited me, right? And I wanted to be really clear with people, I was not a registered dietitian. I didn't have a ton of nutrition certifications. I had my own health journey. I had my own success story with losing weight after having kids, and I had a real genuine passion for helping people, and that was something that was always missing from my career, right? I worked in fashion, I worked in interior design, and I wasn't helping people. You know what I mean? Like, it always felt very frivolous and very empty to me. And so this was a new chapter in my life, actually helping people, and I freaking loved it, okay? And I was pushed to show up on social media, and by pushed, I mean literally forced. I w- I was forced to put myself out there publicly to act like I was somebody worth listening to, to act like someone who knew exactly What to do when it came to nutrition and being healthy. And I remember sitting there and thinking, "Who the F is gonna take me seriously?" Like, what do I have to offer that someone with actual credentials doesn't? And I felt so exposed. I felt like I was one Reel away from being found out, and in fact, they weren't even called Reel-- they weren't Reels back then. They were just videos. It was just like, "Oh, you can post a video." They were not Reels, it was just a video back in 2017. And, you know, of course, the people I was the most nervous about was family and friends that knew me really well, and them being like, "Who does she think she is? What is she doing?" You know what I mean? But I did it anyways because I had nothing to lose, and we had everything to gain, and actually, we had a lot to lose because this was our main income at this point, this gym. We had to p- give it everything, my husband and I. So every week, I'd get on video, and I would share a tip, something I was personally doing, working through, nothing fancy, just me talking to the camera about something that I cared about. And people started listening, not because of my credentials, but because I was there every single week consistently with a point of view and a real story behind it, and I felt real to them, and that mattered more than anything I could have hanging on the wall, right? That was the first time I understood what building a personal brand really meant, and it had nothing to do with logos or color palettes or having the perfect whatever bio. It was just showing up over and over and over again, and the reps started to compound to the point where my incredibly fit, incredibly active sister-in-law was reaching out to me for nutrition advice, and I was like, "What?" Like I feel like she could teach me something, you know? But here she was coming to me because I had even sold her on that I knew what I was doing, and I knew what I was talking about, and I had a passion for it, and I could possibly help her. So now here's where I wanna get a little real with you because I think there's a version of just be consistent advice floating around the internet that makes it sound really, really simple. Like, you just decide to show up, and then the results are gonna follow. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying the reps are uncomfortable. They are so unglamorous. Nobody is clapping for you in the beginning. In fact, you're posting into what probably feels like a void. You're recording stories that maybe 12 people are watching. You're sending hopefully a newsletter to a list of 40 people, one of whom is certainly your mother. Okay? I was... That, that was me. That... I, I did that, okay? I, we all started from nothing. At a certain point, I had 40-some people on my newsletter list. At a, at a certain point, I had only 12 people watching my stories, but I had to do it anyways, okay? 'Cause here's what actually happens. Slowly and then all at once, the data starts to tell you something. You notice which posts people are responding to. You get more inquiries and more people reaching out to you. You find out and you figure out what is resonating with people. You get so less precious about perfection because you've posted enough times to know that the perfect caption, the perfect hook, the perfect lighting is not what's gonna make or break you. The rep teaches you things that no course, no coaching, no strategy call, no challenge, and no amount of planning could ever do, okay? But, and this is the part that nobody told me, and probably no one's telling you, you have to actually want to be there, okay? I have a close friend, smart, funny, genuinely a freaking wonderful human being. She's one of my closest friends, and recently she told me she wants to make some extra money, like 1,000 bucks a month, right? And her plan was to basically become an influencer I, I l- and I love this woman, and I had to be honest with her. She doesn't show up on social media now, literally ever. She's a consumer, but she does not post. She does not show up in stories. And more than that, when I asked her what she would talk about and what she'd share, what she genuinely cares enough about to show up every week, she didn't have a great answer. The goal was money. The content was the vehicle to get there. And I get it, I do. The idea of building an audience that buys things sounds so great from the outside. So I had to tell her something that I think reframed it really quickly. I have over 12,000 people on my email list. I send a newsletter every single week. I have not missed one in over five and a half years. Those newsletters go out to a list where more than 6,000 people open them regularly. So I have over a 50% open rate, which is really fantastic, and I include an Amazon link in every single one of those newsletters because a lot of my favorite things, I do my two favorite things in my newsletter, come from Amazon. They just do. I, I'm kind of a lazy shopper, and if I can find it on Amazon, that's where I'm going. Commissionable links, products I actually use and love, and you know what I make from those links every month, my friends? Oh, 20 to $50. Like I literally... I don't even ask Amazon to send me a check. I say just... They just basically give me a gift card, and they apply it right to my account, and it goes back into my Amazon, and I buy more stuff with it for me, my kids, my house, my dog, whatever. That's just the reality of how this works. Even at the level I am at with the audience that I've built over the time that I've put in, there is no shortcut to this, my friends. There is no magic product. There is no magic platform. There is no magic formula. There's no magic challenge that makes it happen faster if your heart isn't genuinely into what you're doing. So my friend needed to hear that, and I think she's backed off on this idea. In fact, I was trying to convince her to become, like, a virtual assistant. I was like, "That's probably gonna be less work and guaranteed money." You know what I mean? So what does it actually take? A few things, and I'm gonna keep these really simple because I don't want this to become overcomplicated, right? First, you gotta love what you're talking about. That is a absolute non-negotiable. Not like it, not find it interesting, love it, because you are going to talk about it on days when nobody seems to care, on days when your engagement is low and follower count went down and you posted something you were proud of and it got friggin' 10 likes, and one was your sister. You need to still want to show up on that day. Someone asking you a question about this topic has to light you up, okay? And the only thing that gets you there is a genuine love for the topic. So that is a non-negotiable to me. Second, start before you feel ready And expect it to feel awkward AF for longer than feels fair. I recorded stories by myself for months before I even got remotely comfortable. I forced myself to do it. I still won't record in front of my husband. To this day, if he walks upstairs and I hear him, I stop recording. I can't do it. I just... I stop immediately, and I just wait for him to leave. That's just a reality. I am shy. I'm not the most outgoing person in the world. You don't get comfortable and then start. You literally start, and then slowly, after five billion reps, and probably still even after that if you're anything like me, you get less uncomfortable. But I will never be that person busting out a tripod in public. That's just not even remotely me at all. Third, pick a format that you can actually sustain, and commit to it for 90 days before you change anything. So one story a day, one post three times a week, one newsletter every single week without fail. Whatever it is, make it smaller than you think it needs to be, and then actually do it. I always tell people, "I'd rather you add on than overcommit, under-deliver, bash yourself, and quit altogether." Okay? Start small, start sustainable. That will always outperform sporadic brilliance, okay, across all the platforms. The disappearing and reappearing, or the posting and ghosting, where you post a lot, you burn out, you go quiet for three weeks, you come back apologizing, this does so much more damage to your personal brand than posting imperfectly every single day ever could. Okay? People need to be able to count on you showing up. Why would I ever give you my money if you disappear off the face of the earth consistently? Okay. Showing up consistently is what is going to build trust, and the trust is what eventually builds a very successful business I'll be honest, I didn't fully understand any of this back in 2017, okay, when we started our gym and I started showing up. I figured it out by doing it, by putting in the reps that felt absolutely pointless, that felt so cringe-worthy, by showing up on days when I had no idea if this was gonna work, if it was working, if it was gonna eventually work. I didn't know. But by staying consistent long enough, I actually got the data back that told me really useful information, and I'm still figuring it out, you guys, five and a half years in, but that's just the Creative Bodega. If you go back even further to owning our gym, I'm probably almost 10 years into doing this, and still dying a little bit at kids' parties when moms tell me that they watch my stories, okay? And I still show up the next day anyways. I think about Jennifer listening to my stories, but I just power through. I'm like, "Listen, she's not my ideal client. She's watching me for some reason. She said she loves it. Keep showing up as yourself, Em," okay? But that's the truth that nobody told me. There's no finish line where it all feels easy and the results are guaranteed. No, no, no, no. There's just the work done consistently because you actually love the thing that you're doing. If you love it, the reps become so worth it, and if you don't, there's no amount of strategy that's gonna carry you through So if you're in that early stage right now, putting in reps that feel like they're not going anywhere, you know, trying to be consistent, but it's not working out, I would love for you to come join us in the Content Coven. It is my membership for female service-based solopreneurs. It's honestly one of my favorite things I have ever built. We do monthly trainings. We do monthly build it with me calls where we all customize a template. There's so much community support. We have insanely talented guest speakers. We have monthly challenges to keep you motivated, and more than anything, it's just a place where you're not doing this alone, because doing it alone sucks. One more thing I want you to know, the coven has been open since we launched, meaning you could join any time. That is something I'm considering changing, okay? I am very heavily considering moving to an open/closed model, so the only way it will be open eventually is through a waitlist, and I'm not exactly sure when the doors will reopen, but it'll be sometime towards the end of the year. So if you're on the fence, now is genuinely the time to pull the trigger. So the link is in the show notes. All right, that's the first episode of Nobody Told Me. Next week we're gonna talk visuals, specifically what your feed is communicating before anyone reads any single word of your caption or the hook, okay? It's one of those things that seems small, but turns out to be everything. All right, I'll see you then. Thank you so much for hanging out with me on The Creative Buziga Podcast. Listen, if this episode resonated, I would love for you to share it in your stories or forward it on to a fellow solopreneur who needs to tune in. And don't forget, just check the show notes for anything and everything that I mentioned. All right, I'll see you on the next episode. Thanks so much for hanging out with me on The Creative Bodega Podcast. If you loved this episode, please be sure to share it with a fellow solopreneur who could use a little content creation inspiration. And hey, don't forget to check out the show notes for any resources I mentioned on the episode to help you create content that feels easy and actually gets you results. If you want even more Canva and content tips, head over to my website, thecreativebodega.com, or find me on Instagram under the same name. Until next time, keep creating, keep showing up, and most importantly, try and have a little fun with your content. I'll see you on the next episode