One of the most common places my coaching clients fear rejection is online posts for their business. I get it, this is their baby and they don’t want it hurt. We put a lot of blood sweat and tears into our work and the last thing we want is to be trolled or ignored or just hated on. But this is where it can get tricky.
You see, we need to see you promote your business and that means putting it (and yourself) out there.
Some of the things business owners say to me, but are really hiding this fear of rejection are:
- I’ve tried it before and it doesn’t work (when they posted infrequently and came up blank)
- I don’t want to seem pushy or slimey salesy
- I don’t know what to say
- No one will see it anyway
What they are often also saying, to themselves, is to:
- Play safe
- Stay small
- No one can reject me if I don’t put myself out there.
TIP: By not promoting your business you’re saying ‘No’ for us when we are just as likely to be saying ‘Yes’
So how do you promote your business online when you’re afraid of rejection?
There are two ways to approach this. The first is addressing how to promote your business online and the second is how to address your fear of rejection.
Simple ways to promote your business online when you have a fear of rejection
The things I recommend are very similar to businesses who are afraid of asking for the sale. They are:
- Outsource your social media or all of your marketing
- Automate your social media so you’re not online when the posts go live
- Take a systemised approach to social media so it’s not so personal and you’re in control
These tips are there to keep your business gathering the leads and sales it so dearly needs and deserves and also to put mental, emotional, and physical distance between you and the physical act of putting ‘yourself’ out there. Some people might even consider these recommended options acts of self-care, there’s nothing wrong with admitting you’re not the best person for a particular job and asking for help or handing it on.
How do you overcome that fear of rejection in your business?
If you’re like me and prefer to tackle the root cause of the issue, perhaps because you’re not a fan of fixing symptoms, perhaps because you see it creep into more areas of your business and/or personal like than you’d like; then you might look to how you handle the fear.
I have to admit, it’s one thing knowing that you’re holding yourself back in some way and it can be a whole other thing to work on it. So, kudos to you for making the decision not to be directed by fear.
TIP: Overcoming a fear takes time, persistence, courage, vulnerability, being ok with being uncomfortable, and being honest with yourself.
When I tackle my fears and help others with theirs, the first thing we do is uncover the thinking behind it. It’s the ‘how’ you got to this place. Then it’s the ‘why’ behind it. Then it’s looking at ‘when’ it happens. Then it’s ‘what’ is really meant to be there (love the mind and how it tricks us to believe stories that aren’t really real). Then it’s ‘how’ to address the fear if it comes up again, and yes they have a habit of doing that.
“Hang on”, you say? What do you mean “if” it comes up again, you say? Yup, some people are totally done with their fear after 2 sessions with me. Some however, need some tools in their back pocket for those days when we’re just not feeling it, not on top of our game, or we’re back in the situations that got us to that place in the beginning.
Want to hear the good part? I’ve got these tools here for you, right now. I took the best tools and popped them in a little checklist so that when fear is getting a grip, you have something to get you through. It’s not there to replace the 1:1 of actually addressing the fear, but it is an effective set of tools to help you through a rough patch.
If you’ve used my toolkit, I’d love to hear your feedback. If you have tried my tips to promoting your business when you have a fear of rejection, I’d love to hear your feedback on that too. Please email me or leave me a comment below. Thanks x