It’s Sunday morning.
I’m sitting at my dining room table with coffee, staring out the front door of my new condo here in Costa Rica, looking at this:
That’s right. Pineapple man hooked me up with one of the new condos they’re selling. I spent a good portion of yesterday out there by the pool, barbecuing chicken with friends, having a few micheladas. (Michelada: Beer mixed with lemonade, served in a glass with a salted rim.)
He’s made it incredibly easy for Americans to come and buy here, as he’s financed it all himself, and therefore buyers don’t have to go through Costa Rican banks, etc.–it’s the only opportunity in the whole country like this. On top of that, he’s running a special program where they’ll manage and rent out your property to tourists when you’re not here, if you want, which can be ultra profitable. For that reason, there are a few Americans living here. One in particular from Philadelphia, also. What are the fucking odds?
The point is that he’s doing something that no one else in Costa Rica is doing, and for that reason, he’s created a niche for himself. And things are going well, so I’m fascinated, as you can imagine.
(By the way, if you’re interested in making a pretty damn profitable business investment here, let me know. I will get you the hook up, too. Ocean front access included, baby. $185,000. Oh, life is tough here in Costa Rica!)
Anyway.
As I floated on my back in the water–getting way too much sun–I was thinking about a past client who was having trouble getting people on board with her message. (i.e. Zero subscribers, zero clients, zero income, zero business.)
And guess what?
Before she said anything, I already knew why.
At the end of the day, it was because she didn’t have a message for anyone to latch onto.
She was wishy washy.
Unconvincing.
Vanilla.
Her uncertainty about herself translated into an uncertainty about her business–and it oozed right off of her, and onto potential prospects, who ALSO felt uncertain about her as a result.
For example: She loved to present balanced arguments in blog posts. Why? Because she was afraid that if she presented just one side (her actual opinion), she’d receive too much lash back. Criticism. Unflattering comments. And she’d lose the last shred of confidence she was clinging onto.
But here’s the thing.
If you expect people to pay you, those same people need to feel like they have a reason to pay you. And the only reason they have to pay you, is because you know something they don’t. Therefore, they need to perceive you as knowing something they don’t. And the only way that’s going to happen, so help me vodka, is if you speak AUTHORITATIVELY WITH CONVICTION.
This is not a game.
You are the authority.
You know your shit.
You have the solution they need.
And it is NOT up for discussion.
You need a belief that you can really stand on.
It’s black and white–you or NO ONE.
Because you are THE authority on your thing.
And if you don’t feel like THE authority on your thing, then go out and MAKE YOURSELF the authority on your thing. (This isn’t about deceiving people–it’s about hustling to become the best in the game for what you specifically do, and letting people KNOW about it with no shame, or hesitation, or wishy washy, or “wellllll…I’m trying to become this…..” No. You either are or you aren’t. There is no room for gray when it comes to marketing yourself. Stand UP and stand OUT.)
Only once you start exuding the confidence of an authority, will you be perceived as an authority, and will people pay you to be that authority.
Until then, you’re more or less just the shadow of one.
And people don’t pay shadows.
Shadows are creepy.