George Kao's Blog, page 33

I hope I get pigeonholed....

A client said: “I don’t want to be labeled as [specific type of service] because I do so much more than that!”

The problem is, if people don’t pigeonhole you, they probably don’t remember you at all.

You’d rather be pigeonholed as something useful or interesting to them, and then as they consume your content or work, they will be delighted to discover that you do even more.

Let me explain.Just like anyone in the modern world, your potential client is inundated with information. To simply survive...

Create content for just 1 person at a time.

If you're not yet creating content consistently -- but you would like to -- perhaps you’re dealing with one of these thoughts:

"Who am I to write, or make videos?" 
"I don't have that much to say." 
"I'm not a good writer / I'm not good on videos." 

All three problems can be solved by one mindset shift:

Make your content for 1 person at a time.Don’t write for “the world” ... don’t make videos for “your audience.” That is just causing some performance anxiety which blocks you from showing up consis...

Don’t try to get attention. Be yourself and see who shows up.

In marketing, we usually learn about the importance of getting people’s attention. To try to stand out, be better looking, be more charming and/or more aggressive.

Yet, I’m not trying to stand out. If anything, I’m trying to blend in. I know that my ideal audience will spot me, even in a sea of social media posts. 

Being flashy tends to get unwanted attention, which makes it harder over time to be authentic, and to wade through the many people to find and connect with our true fans.

A client of...

Don’t TRY to get attention. Be yourself and see who shows up.

In marketing, we usually learn about the importance of getting people’s attention. To try to stand out, be better looking, be more charming and/or more aggressive.

Yet, I’m not trying to stand out. If anything, I’m trying to blend in. I know that my ideal audience will spot me, even in a sea of social media posts. 

Being flashy tends to get unwanted attention, which makes it harder over time to be authentic, and to wade through the many people to find and connect with our true fans.

A client of...

Video: The Story of My Transformation (Business & Spiritual) from 2009 - 2019

My new book -- The Principles of Authentic Business: Create a Sustainable Livelihood from the Heart -- describes the philosophy of how I do business differently than I used to... and differently from the mainstream.

Some people have asked me about the spiritual influences behind my work. In this video I reveal the books that have made the biggest difference for me. More importantly, it's the values resulting from those books and spiritual beliefs that inform my business today.

Here's the video:...

A Simple Practice to Describe What Work You Do

If you are a service provider struggling with describing what kind of work you do with clients, this post is for you.

Try the following exercise and if you’d like, comment below with what you come up with. (You may also get inspired by reading others’ comments too.)

If you think by writing, then write down your answers. If instead you’re better at coming up with ideas by talking, then start a recording (e.g. on your phone’s voice memo app) and just allow yourself to imagine and intuit whatever...

How I Easily Create Social Media Images

When it comes to social media, I recommend text and video (rather than images) whenever possible -- because with text (example) and video (example), you’re reaching people who will resonate with your message, rather than just followers who like your pretty pictures and might not even be reading your messages.

However, this is different on Instagram and Twitter, where you can’t communicate a long message or video (except for IGTV), and therefore, images with a short message are the next best th...

Authentic Content Creation: Document, don’t create. Presence vs. Perfection.

This is one of the biggest concerns I hear about using social media for building an authentic business:

“I’m not sure I can sustain a presence on social media, even if it’s good for business… it feels exhausting to have to keep up an image of who I am. Or maybe I will run out of things to say.”

I get it.      

If I were pretending to be someone I’m not, it is not sustainable. 

If I were thinking of all the future posts I have to make, it’s not sustainable either.

But I’m not doing either of those...

How to be authentic on social media, and sustain your presence there?

How to be authentic on social media, and sustain your presence there?

“Not sure I can sustain a presence on social media, even if it’s good for business… feels exhausting to have to keep up an image of who I am. Or maybe I will run out of things to say… ” --a reader

Posted by George Kao, Authentic Business Coach on Friday, February 2, 2024

“I’m not sure I can sustain a presence on social media, even if it’s good for business… it feels exhausting to have to keep up an image of who I ...

Getting Started with Content Creation -- Aim for Consistency and Authenticity before Relevance

A reader asked about my process of writing blog posts and making videos:

"When you do your content planning for the week, do you pick a theme or category for that week's content? Is your content planned within certain guidelines? Or do you just go by what you are inspired to share that week and whatever is up for you in the moment? I've heard a lot about having themes for each week, so I'm wondering if there needs to be any organizational way to plan our content. Thanks for any tips!"

I'm going...