Every good entrepreneur has a voice, and a message they want to share. But how do you find that voice?
Meet Rhythm Setter Yelena Kaganovsky. Yelena is a Certified High Performance Coach who helps coaches, trainers, and speakers share their powerful message and content with the world by rocking and owning video that positions them as the expert, and launches their online brand and business.
I first met Yelena at Brendon Burchard’s Experts Academy in 2013. What struck me was her vibrance and positive energy. She had a smile that lit up the room and put people at ease. It has been awesome to see the success and good work she has achieved since then.
During our conversation, Yelena shared some valuable insights. Unfortunately, Blab in its beta state lost the entire session, so no replay is available. Grrr!
Here are some takeaways about finding your voice and succeeding as an entrepreneur. These are not in Yelena’s words, but mine, so if you find some brilliance go ahead and attribute it to her and if you think “that’s stupid”, feel free to attribute it to me.
Prepare Yourself
You can’t just go out and hang up a business sign or put up a website and expect to be successful. You have to have a foundation. You need knowledge and skills. You need a plan. This means spending time getting training, doing research, doing some self-discovery, and deciding who you want to serve.
Be Yourself
You can’t succeed by trying to be someone else. It just doesn’t work. Your ideal client is going to want to work with you because of who you are, what you know, and what you can do for them. When you express your true self you’ll start to attract the types of people you want to work with.
Also, don’t compare yourself to someone who is on step ten of their entrepreneurial journey when you’re only on step one or two. Those people you see who are successful, they didn’t just wake up one morning as mega successes; there was a process, a journey, and a lot of bumps and bruises before they got there.
Start with One Niche
You can’t be all things to all people. It is also really hard to excel at any one thing if you are spreading your time, energy and focus on three dozen things. Focus on one to start – you can expand later. Get really good at that one and at reaching the people who need it. You’ll find opportunities will arise to grow in different directions when the time is right.
Use Your Voice to Find Your Voice
There is no one magical trick to finding and expressing your voice. Start with the steps outlined above, then start expressing your voice. It may be rough at first. You’ll make mistakes, but you can learn from them. The more you use your voice, the more you will understand it and the better you’ll be able to express it to others. You can do all the refining in your head you want, but it has no true life unless you let it out.
Don’t Try to Go It Alone
It is bloomin’ hard to do everything alone. Here’s a little secret: You don’t have to! The world’s most successful people didn’t get where they are on their own. Asking for help doesn’t mean you are stupid, weak or that you are a failure. On the contrary, it means you are smart and courageous, and are dedicated to succeeding. Learn from people who have done what you are trying to do. Accept support and encouragement from others. Surround yourself with people who lift you up.