Putting yourself forward

Like many other small business owners I find it challenging to step in front of the camera to promote my work. The anxiety of being on display, coupled with the pressure to convey a professional image, can be overwhelming. Concerns about how one will be perceived, the fear of making mistakes, and the desire to present oneself authentically often create significant barriers. Additionally, the technical aspects of video production, such as lighting, sound, and editing, can further complicate the process. It just takes so long to set a shot up, mainly to promote the work itself, for example the different steps in making a leather bag. With almost every new project I plan to document it better and then usually I am already a few steps in when I remember that I never started.

And that is just documenting the process. I noticed that in the past few month I only gained new followers from in person events or collaborating with others like supplier on reels. A business advisor put me in touch with a social media specialist who, as expected, confirmed that the most recent instagram trend shows that beautiful curated galleries now belong on your website, instagram is for short reels ony, preferably with captions over video and faces, faces, faces over objects and tools. Did I mention that that is so out of my comfort zone as a person with strong longing for privacy?

It is such an internal struggle to overcome this and I am aware that it can deter from leveraging video as a powerful marketing tool, despite its potential to connect with audiences on a more personal level. So what to do about it? I know, get your talented film maker friends to do a short film!

So I teamed up with Jess Milne and Nick Bolton from TenAlphas and we made a little movie about me and the business and you can find that on the homepage. It’s beautiful.

And social media? I am working on it…