If you are a coach or entrepreneur, there’s no doubt in my mind that you will have heard this lie. You will have seen people posting about it religiously on Facebook and you may have nodded your head in agreement, while throwing them a love heart. If you did, I wouldn’t blame you. On the surface, it seems like very good advice but if you followed it, you would probably find yourself confused, frustrated, and broke.

Every day, I see this untruth being repeated time and time again in various formats, with an army of people waving their hands in the air and commenting with an enthusiastic ‘hell yes.’ It’s no wonder that this idea gets people pumped- if it was true, it would mean that the business world would be simple, easy to navigate and everyone following this tidbit of false wisdom would have an endless supply of clients. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.

So, what is this big lie?

“All you have to do is show up as your authentic self and people will buy from you!”

Before I carry on, I want to make it clear that I’m not implying that being authentic is not important and I’m certainly not encouraging you to be fake to convince people to part with their hard earned cash. What I do want to get across is that it’s not the most important thing and showing up as your authentic self is not enough to build and sustain a profitable business. 

The idea behind it is that if you post a zillion times a day, on every platform that ever existed, as your true authentic self, the right people will be attracted to you and want to work with you. However, what’s more likely to happen is that they see your post, they may engage, and may even shoot you a DM letting you know how much they love your content.

Why is that a bad thing?

You think Wow, this is amazing. I’m gaining traction and people are loving my posts. You are on a high, excited for the cash to hit your account, but… nothing. Nada. Zilch. You kick it up a notch. 

You post more regularly and reveal more of your true self. You may have posted something highly personal which took a lot of courage and you are proud of yourself for doing so. Once again, your followers are shouting from the rooftops “You are amazing!”, “You are so authentic” and “Wow, you are so inspirational.”

Dopamine levels on a high, you keep checking your account to see if your new found authenticity has translated into cash yet. It hasn’t, but you just know that it’s going to happen real soon. These things take time and only the ones willing to do what it takes will persevere. The engagement is proof that it’s working. The money will follow! Sorry to burst your bubble, but it won’t. 

Here’s why it doesn’t work. 

You posting regularly showing your true authentic self will attract people to you, who share common outlooks, experiences and beliefs but for them to actually hand over their cash to work with you requires so much more. The number one thing that your potential clients need to know about you is – can you get away from the pain they are in, or towards the result that they want? 

So, what do I do instead?

Show them that the answer to the above question is a resounding yes by sharing regular credibility posts. 

Prove it with client results and testimonials. Show them why they need the result that you can provide and above all, make sure you have an offer with a clearly defined result. This is extra effective if you can also specify a time frame. 

Make sure that anyone who clicks on your profile can see immediately who you are and what results you can get for them. Create an eye catching banner, write a captivating bio and post with strategy and a clear intent as opposed to throwing as much mediocre content as you possibly can out into the world. 

Get used to doing this consistently and that is when you’ll experience rapid growth in your business with your social media engagement converting into cash.

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