How can you make an impact in your corner of the world?
By building your authority!
A glossy, curated Instagram-worthy project is not what you will get out of Patti Haus and The Authority Project. It’s an honest, real account of building a business. Including the good, the bad, and the really, embarrassingly awful.
Instead, you’ll hear about mindset issues, struggle with imposter syndrome, and how she almost threw up the first time she spoke on stage. And every subsequent time. She mentions this every time because that’s how scary it was. And is.
Building your authority in your business is a key piece to your business success. After all, if nobody knows you, you’ll stay the best-known secret forever.
You have to be willing to get out there. To be the face of your brand. To share your knowledge, give your audience a piece of your mind (from time-to-time) blaze your trail with your personality (because no one on the planet is like you and knows what you know the way you know it.)
Patti and I met in a mastermind a few years ago and is not only my copywriting partner in crime and business-building BFF she’s the person I turn to when I need a kick in the ass when it comes to “saying yes” to building my authority. (hey we all need that friend that’ll give us the boot in the butt we need.)
The Authority Project turned into more of a movement than just this experiment. In this episode, Patti shares what it takes to say YES to pretty much whatever comes along to build your authority, getting over the mindset issues that WILL show up, and feel good about being the expert in your field that you are.
Join us at the kitchen table and enjoy the show.
Authority Building Ideas
- Teach a class (in person or on Zoom)
- Speak at an event or convention
- Write blog content
- Guest blog (write content fro someone else’s blog)
- Write articles for publications (online and magazines, papers etc)
- Be a guest on podcasts
- Create Youtube, IGTV or FB Live videos
- Go on a local news program
- Write for a local magazine or newspaper
Resources:
The Authority Project – Instagram
Patti’s authority building content
Saas Marketing Insights – Episode 38 with Patti Haus
Key To Conversion – The Women’s Lead Summit
CXL – Email Copywriting 101: Five Steps to Better Converting Emails
Transcript (This is an unedited transcript)
Welcome to two hands made this Patty, grab your kitchen, grab your kit, grab your chair, and come on over to the kitchen table and let’s talk authority project.
Hey, Christine, thanks for having me on. This is so much fun.
It’s fun. And I’m so excited to have you on because, you know, a lot of the episodes are, we’re talking directly to makers, like what they’ve done, you know what their kitchen table epiphany was. But a lot of what I want to do in this podcast as well is give resources and lessons and teachings and education on how makers can really grow with with not only better marketing, but you know how lessons that they can use to change or pivot or do something that will help them create better marketing campaigns. So I’m excited to have you here, because the authority project has been one of your not only one of your newest things, but a thing that has really started to catch on, which I’m excited about. So I want to start by I mean, I was there. So I remember that kitchen table epiphany. But can you talk about this kitchen table epiphany that you had for the authority project?
Sure. So it really started as kind of this one year experiment, that was what it was supposed to be, I was coming off of the really high price mastermind. And I knew that I was supposed to do all this stuff to increase my authority and increase my visibility. And I wasn’t doing it. So I thought, you know, I’m a person who loves data who loves metrics. So I thought, well, what if I just said yes to every authority building thing that came my way for a year? And what if I track the results? And you know, see what, what is actually gonna gonna move the needle and what isn’t? And so it turned into more of a movement for me than than just this experiment, because I discovered along the way, all these things about myself, you know, that I had, like, a really ridiculous amount of mindset issues, for one thing, that that really fear was driving a lot of my, a lot of the reasons why I was, you know, kind of acting like a wallflower. You know, I was hiding on the sidelines, I wasn’t doing all of the things I should be doing. So yeah, so it kind of has become a movement where I basically, I say yes to everything that comes my way. But I also search out opportunities. And, you know, I’m just trying to make my name known, you know, in my little world that I live in, you know, I’m not trying to become like, you know, internet famous or anything, I’m just trying to give valuable information to help people. And I’m seeing how that results in, you know, moving, moving my income up.
Well, that’s awesome. And I love the way that you’re doing this. And I love that how you’re doing this, what this is about, and that you’re looking at not just all the you know, oh, hey, this is so great. It works for me, but you’re really, you’re really digging deep. And you’re really looking at what are the things that are stopping me why, you know, the mindset issues, which I want to get into in just a second. But can you just quickly explain also to our audience, our listeners, what you mean by authority building? Because I know most people have an idea, but you’ve really defined it
well.
Yeah, so it’s, it’s really authority building is becoming an authority within your niche. So for me, that’s copywriting, and also authority building, which is kind of, you know, meta, as the kids would say. But I think that it’s, it’s the thing you’re known for, you know, you know, if you’re a product maker, it might be this, you know, your one big product, your, your thing that everybody knows you for, you know, like, think about lush, they’re known for their bath bombs, you know, that’s kind of their thing. They have lots of other products, but they’re known as the bath bomb makers. You know, you can think of a zillion different companies, and they’re, you know, they’re known for doing a lot of things, but usually they have like one or two things that are kind of their thing.
Right, right. Definitely. Definitely. And, and, believe me, we’ve known makers, and I was one of them that had like 35 products, and, you know, trying to really build authority on that. I really did have to think back when I had my product business, like what did that really look like? And it really had to like back away and really look at it wasn’t really as much about the products even though they were awesome. But you know, what my mission was around those products. So and trying to build authority on that. And so, what I did and so I want you to, in a second go through like what are some of these authority building things like for me Because I was a content creator, I always just created a bunch of content. My option was a guide to buff and beautiful skin. And it wasn’t just about skincare, it was about eating right, and exercising and getting out, like all those other things. So I mean, I started with that, my newsletter went out, literally went out every religiously every week. And then I did produce content, but I produced like, the How to content and educational content. So that is what helped me. And then once that was out there for a while, I remember getting invited to a couple of podcasts. And then I as part of this group, I was asked to become one of the coaches, teachers within the group. So that helped me. So when it comes to makers, like what are some of the suggestions? I know, you’ve tried some interesting suggestions? So what are some of the things that you’ve done for building your authority? And then we’ll get into what makers can take a look at that. I mean, there’s a ton of things.
Yeah, so for me, like you content, written content has, has always been my, it’s my comfort zone. So that’s, for me was always the easiest barrier, you know, to to kind of vault over, because I was comfortable writing. So written content, speaking is fantastic speaking, even just like a little bit of speaking has been really helpful for me, you know, going on podcast, having your own podcast, sorry. You know, guest blogging, like anything that can get your name in front of your ideal audience is really, you know, what authority building is all about, I mean, you know, makers could run workshops, you know, locally, once we can, you know, leave our house.
So, I’m actually do it through zoom, I’ll give all i in the show notes, I will give links to those people that are doing on zoom classes. So that’s a great idea.
Yeah, it’s really anything, anything you can do that makes your name more known. Because, you know, when it comes to, you know, say your say your up, you know, again, when we go to live events, say you’re, you’re at a farmers market or something, and there’s somebody else’s selling something very similar to your product. If you have any name recognition at all, with the buyer, they’re going to go with your product versus the other person, because they’ve heard of it, and they know it, and it’s, it’s a known entity for them. So that is what you’re trying to do. It’s not that you’re trying to, you know, take over, you know, if you’re in beauty, you’re not trying to take over for the big brands of the world were like, you know, how can you make an impact in your little corner of the world, and make it easier for people to make the decision to buy from you?
Right? Like really capitalizing on your unique difference? What is that unique difference that you offer in your product lines? And that’s really great. And I, I’m thinking you’re, as you’re talking about these things, and as you’re talking about getting out there, and whether it’s a farmers market, being the face of your brand and really getting seen, can we go into mindset a little bit because I know makers have a hard time with this, you know, they’d rather sit sit in their studio and their production room and make rather than be the face of of their brand, or, you know, come up with having to write content. But I mean, there’s a lot of different ways to do that. But let’s talk about mindset first, and then we’ll talk about some of the other ways that you know, you don’t have to sit there and write blog posts, you can do other things. So let’s talk mindset first.
Yeah, I mean, mindset for me has been, you know, as of right now, we’re filming this at the end of 2020. And I have spent the last two years investing my time and my money and my stress into you know, kind of, I don’t want to say fixing my mindset, but really trying to change, you know, the the story that I’m telling myself in my brain. And so, you know, I thought I found that, that it manifested itself, you know, this mindset issue, I had manifested itself in a number of ways. One of the big ones was not doing authority building. So procrastinating I had lists and lists and lists and lists and lists of, you know, different kind of blog content I could write and places like a guest post podcast, I could go on and I did nothing with them. So that was really, you know, causing a lot of problems for me this intense amount of procrastination. I did. You know, it was also really happy to just stay where I was very comfortable. You know, so so for me working on mindset and understanding what was holding me back like for me, it was fear. Fear of judgment, it was fear of, you know, fear of growth, I think, you know, fear of the unknown, all those caused me to do nothing. When I was supposed to be doing things,
you know, that is very interesting, I want to talk about the fear of growth, because it’s really easy to be comfortable. And especially, you know, as makers, you know, they’re coming, they’ve started their products, they’re coming off the kitchen table, and they’re really ready for growth. But what does that look like? I mean, it can be scary. And we hear all kinds of things out on the internet world, you know, internet marketing world about these big grandiose things that you should be doing? Which, I mean, when we hear about some of them, I mean, they feel really daunting. And it doesn’t have to be that way. So can you like talk a little bit to that, and that that fear of growth? Because I think that’s a big one for everybody.
It is, it is, you know, I think I think it, we were comfortable where we are, I think that is, you know, across the board, you know, we’re, we’re happy when we’re when we are, we’re somewhere where we feel valued, and we know we’re making a difference. And so scaling is, is terrifying. And, you know, I think that a lot of times, you know, it might be as simple as you know, you know, you can’t go to live events for a while. So you should have, you know, a Shopify store or some kind of online store, and you just aren’t doing it, you know, you just are like, this is too much work. My business is a person to person business, it’s not this is to faceless, like, it’s all about, like, understanding, like, where your excuses coming from. And maybe you don’t need a, you know, an online store. But I think that you, the whole point of growing is making the decisions that are best for your business. And for the years to come not just for today, and where you feel comfortable. You know, I I know most people who have struggled, and who’ve really resisted doing things like putting their business online. Actually, you know, when they do it, they, you know, five years later, they say, you know, gee, I really wish I had taken that step a lot sooner, because it made such a big impact on my business. So I think it’s, you know, for me, growth really means like, you know, figuring out what it is that you’re afraid of, because it’s mostly, I think, mostly it comes from fear. And and how can you How can you scale your business and still have it be the business you want it to be? Because I think also we’re we kind of are afraid sometimes that, you know, growth means hiring more people who might not have the same quality standards, or they might not have the same values as you do. So, you know, it’s that we don’t, we don’t, can’t hold on to everything
ourselves anymore. Oh, that’s a really good point. And I know a lot of makers do that thinking, I can’t teach anybody to do that. But I mean, and that’s certainly a whole other other episode about letting go of that. But, you know, authority building also as a way to, I mean, letting go in some ways as well like letting go of that fear. really stepping into that, that space of you being the owner of your business, that you’re very unique, doing what you’re doing. It really once you kind of work through that fear, and realize that you don’t have to make big grandiose steps, yet. It’s one step at a time, getting to those six and seven figure businesses happens one step at a time, one campaign at a time. Whether it’s failed or sweet. Um, so Patti, can you talk about I know, you’ve tried campaigns, you’ve tried a lot of some different things. So. But before we get to those sweet moments, let’s talk about some of those ugly cries of failed campaigns.
There are so many.
And that’s cool, because those failures are what helps us see what we need to do differently and what actually will work.
Yeah, and I think, you know, I think the thing is that we don’t we like for me, I would say that most of my failures have come from, from either creating something that I don’t know people want, or I half assed the marketing, so I don’t really commit to the marketing. You know, I think we think, you know, if you build it, they will come that is only for Field of Dreams, it does not apply to marketing. And I think sometimes we forget that. But but I do think that that I learned from all of those, which is, I think, really important to you know, because it’s not really a failure. If you learn something from it, you know, it might not be the rousing success and the, you know, the Instagram highlight reel that we keep seeing over and over again of these people have these fantastic launches that make you know, a million dollars in five days and stuff. It’s totally okay to not have a launch like that. But I think that the only failure is when you don’t learn from it, or, or you decide that you’re going to keep playing small because, you know, putting yourself out there didn’t work.
Oh, that’s such a good point that that one time that one thing that you put yourself out there may have felt so crappy that you’re like, Oh, it’s not worth it. But again, it could be just presenting to the wrong audience. It could be maybe that wasn’t your event to go to, you know, for example, you know, if you don’t want to do a huge trade show, maybe that’s not your thing, because it’s just too much time, too much effort or whatever. You know, making sure that you’re doing online campaigns and making sure that your newsletters really, in your, in your growing your list and building out your online store is different. So totally get that, that it’s always always about the lesson. It’s not Yeah,
and you know, and I would say that, while you know, one failure does not make a success, you know, a your business of, you know, burning Inferno in hell or anything. The same goes with one authority building thing you do, isn’t going to make your business like you have to be consistent with everything you do, you know, so if you are blogging, you can’t write one blog and expect that people are going to rush to buy your products right away. Right, you have to write a whole bunch of blog post very consistently. And then you’ll start seeing some momentum gaining, but it’s, it’s really the consistency, and, you know, continuously trying to, you know, move that move that needle just a little bit forward. Because it’s when you’re standing still that you’re really going backwards, right?
Yes, totally, totally. So what would you say? So, can you talk to talk about some of the things that you’ve done for your authority building, and then we’re gonna get into some of your sweet moments of success for those because you have some sweet moments? Sure.
So when I first started off in year one, I did a couple of guest blogs, literally two, I spoke at a few events. And I wrote a handful of blog posts for my own website. I also did some guest blogging, or guests, podcasting, those were kind of the essential stuff. And then I also actively worked on building my email list and sending out consistent emails, which I feel is a big part of authority building. Absolutely,
absolutely. Yeah. And for, for makers, like, you know, you we, we all know, at this point, you have an email list. So just using that as a as a sales tool, also as a way to build your authority is really huge. What would you say, Patty, was the thing that you found most successful in your authority building for you, because everybody’s is going to be different?
Right? Yeah, for sure. So, um, when I first started, I said, I worked on mindset, and I did a mindset group coaching program. And in the very first one, this was in, you know, early February, I think, 2019. We had to, you know, we had to do this, you know, guided meditation, and we were supposed to see what came up what was what, what we’re going to be doing in a year. And the first thing that popped into my mind that I was standing on stage speaking confidently, which honestly surprised the heck out of me, because I would not have said that I was a public speaker at all, still would not say I’m a public speaker. And then interestingly enough, within a couple of days of having this vision, I got an invitation to do at an attendee talk at a conference I was already going to, so I decided that was a sign that the universe was telling me I needed to apply, I applied and I got accepted. And I did this 12 minute talk, and loved it. I mean, I was terrified beforehand. Like you know, there’s a few 100 people in the audience and I was pretty nervous, like to the point of almost throwing up and getting no sleep the night before I did it, I I was I felt really confident on stage. Like once I got on stage, all those butterflies kind of left me and I ended up I have so far signed like three really good clients from that. I’ve gotten probably at least half a dozen more discovery calls. Just from this one thing like 12 minutes, you know. I remember doing the doing the math and I think for every minute I spoke on stage I made like two or $3,000 like it’s crazy. That’s awesome. Yeah. Um, and it was all because I, you know, I just went for it, I that opportunity crossed my path and I decided to go for it. So, you know, that was that was pretty, that was a pretty fun moment for me to, to face my fears and to go up on that stage. And, you know, just do it that was I think when the the authority project really kind of cemented itself in my mind. Because I realized that, you know, this is, this is a movement that’s bigger than me, this is all about, you know, other people who are like me who you know, self identify as an introvert who, you know, who don’t, who are not the person who would, you know, wave their hand in the air when they were, you know, in grade school? And the teacher asked a question, no, no, I was hiding in my desk, even though I totally knew the answer. But there is that former me does not have to be my future. Me. So,
oh, that’s a good point. Yeah, the thing to point out is the future, the past, you is not your future, you. And I completely believe in visualization is helping you help in guiding you into those moments, because I’ve done that before. I’ve told this story before, I won’t tell it on this podcast, but I’ll tell another story about how, through visualization, my son learn to ride his bike, you know, so it’s very, very powerful. And the fact that you saw yourself confidently doing that, I mean, your brain doesn’t know the difference between what your, what you’re imagining, you know, what you’re visualizing, and what really happens in front of you. So that’s a really cool story. I love that story. So much. So let’s jump into like, Well, some of the other marketing activities you’ve done, but let’s kind of do a list for makers of some of the things that they can do. Like, I actually, while we’re talking, writing a list down of some of the things that like will feel good. And of course, like you, like you’ve mentioned, you’ve got to do what feels right for you. Not gonna work, you won’t feel confident.
Yeah, and but remember that what you’re doing today doesn’t have to necessarily guide you into what you’re doing tomorrow, you know, you can do the things that you feel confident with, until you have that confidence, and then you you know, you can expand it. So if you hate speaking in public, you know, start off with written content, do blog posts, do, you know, really good social media posts, because I think for product makers, especially, you know, Instagram and stuff are so visual that you’d be crazy not to take advantage of some of the benefits of those. But don’t just use social media you know, guide people back to your own website where you maybe have you know, a store setup. But you know, write write written content about how people are using your products or the benefits of them you know, obviously making sure you follow all the guidelines if you have a you know, a beauty product or a food product. But yeah, shit, you know, do case studies where people are using them, you know, guide guide people, to your to your products in a way that’s not aggressive, which is, you know, I think the really big benefit of writing or creating any kind of authority building content, and then once you’re confident with that, maybe started guest posting our guesting on podcasts or something like that, where you get more comfortable speaking. And then maybe, you know, maybe you host live workshops or you speak on a stage at a convention that’s filled with your ideal audience.
Awesome. That is such good stuff because I wrote a couple more down here because those are like the biggies. And then I wrote yes video. Whether you do YouTube or you know you’re doing a Facebook Live or an Instagram, you know, I GTV I know so many times people like I can’t do video, but you work into it. Like I know like you and I have worked into doing videos and then you get over the fact that Oh, I hate my boys. My hair looks terrible today.
I do hate my voice I always say my voice whenever I hear it sounds like a cartoon character. So whatever though I’m embracing it is my voice I have you know I’ve been given it so I feel fortunate to have a voice
Yes. And to use it it’s really important to use it. So you know videos one like I said Facebook Live Instagram TV igtv. YouTube, Patty mentioned blogs and guest posting those are awesome. herro help a reporter out is another good way to maybe you’re not ready to do a full blown guest post. But using you know, finding some topics on Herald that you could speak to that you could be a guest for the for For the reporter, and answer a couple of questions to kind of get used to being out more in public. So that’s another good one. I’ve had friends also do local news. Oh, yeah, local news programs.
Or,
you know, again, I think Peggy and I have talked about this, too, is, maybe there’s some groups or local associations that you can do, whether it’s a luncheon, learn, or you know, a DIY, you know, do it yourself, make something, you know, in one of those classes, or maybe you have some business tips that you’ve learned in your business? So you can always do stuff like that? And then yes, and I put down teach a class. So those are some other ways, I’ll put all these in the show notes, because I know people are like, oh, what was that again. So I’ll put that list in the show notes. So as we’re talking about marketing, and again, this is all about marketing, and really looking deep into what works for you how you can shift and change and pin it. What are some of your top three marketing tips for our rising stars?
So, I mean, obviously, I think people should build their authority, and, you know, do it in a non aggressive non salesy way, you know, where they’re just really trying to help people, because that is really good, top of the funnel stuff that, you know, stays around forever, and makes people see that you’re really helpful. I would say also, if you can attend live events, those have been really, really helpful for myself, there’s something about meeting someone in person that makes a difference. So, you know, I know things are, are definitely not live event friendly right now. But once we can, you know, we can, once life goes back to normal, definitely consider attending live events. And then I would say work on your mindset around around your, your marketing challenges around your authority building challenges, you know, see if you have something that’s standing in your way, you know, there’s some really good books out there to read. That might help I really like a book called The big leap by gay Hendricks awesome book for understanding, you know, what are your limiting beliefs? And what’s really what’s really at play here? Because it’s, it’s rarely what we think it is. And I know mindset seems like a weird thing to talk about with marketing tips. But you know, I think it’s one of those things that will make the biggest difference. I I truly believe that people who are, have successfully managed to scale their business are not the ones that necessarily have the best products, but they are the ones who have kind of worked through the garbage in their mind. And they have just done the things they need to scale their business. So. So yeah, those are my tips,
awesome points. And again, I will put the big leap by gay Hendricks, I’ll put that book in the show notes as well, that is a really good one. And I have a whole bookshelf of things. So I will look at the my shelf and put those in the shownotes as well. Because, you know, a lot of times, I’m so glad you brought that up about mindset too, because a lot of times people don’t think it’s mindset that has anything to do with marketing. But it has a lot to do with marketing. It has a lot to do with you being the face of your business and getting out there and doing those social media posts or you know, any of those things that promote your product. And as Patty said, you know, really, really learning to help. None of us are aggressive. I know that most of you out there, you know, the the hardest thing, the biggest thing that you don’t want to be a salesy that you want to help your people. And that’s one of the best ways to get out in front of people and just help and, you know, help help them realize what’s going on for them, what your solution looks like, to them step by step, you know, q&a, like any of those things you can use to start building your authority and just talking about it. And again, whether it’s a blog post or Instagram, you know, on Instagram, or HGTV or whatever, you’re doing that so so pay this is awesome. I love I love talking with you about the authority project because it’s, it’s ever evolving as well.
It is Yeah, it’s it’s definitely different now at the end of year two than it was at the beginning of year one. And, you know, I mean, I have my own mindset, I didn’t even go I didn’t even go live with the authority project other than with trusted friends like yourself until probably September of this year. You know, I owned the domain name for probably 15 months before I actually created a website. So you know Get it? It’s it’s difficult, and I don’t I I don’t think anybody should feel like they have to make, you know, these giant 180 degree turns in, in how they’re running their business overnight. But, you know, I think I think it’s important to do the things that do move you forward.
Yep, a little bit uncomfortable, but steps, you know, steps that you can take to move forward. I love that. I had another thought which of course, it escaped me. So, you know, but you know, again, those those those little steps, those those baby steps, you’re not gonna transform overnight. And that’s a good thing. Because a lot of times when people do also do grow too fast, that kind of growth is also hard to sustain. So I think the way you’re talking about it, and building and doing what’s comfortable, up until you ready to do something that’s uncomfortable will help you grow your business. So this has been awesome. Patti, thank you for sharing this. So happy on. Oh, my God, it’s so my pleasure. How can people get ahold of you? Join your list because people absolutely need to subscribe so they can get your newsletter, read your blog posts, head has got some awesome, awesome tips in her newsletter. So how can people reach you?
So they can go to my website, which is just the authority project.com. I do have some blog posts on there. With you know, I dig deep into mindset and all of that kind of thing. I have some a free ebook that people can download. And they can also find me on Instagram, just the authority project. And I share a few tips on there as well.
In Pinterest. We can’t Oh, yes, I’m also on
Pinterest. Yes, you can find my stuff. I don’t think I have an authority project page though.
But it’s still but Patty’s got a lot. I’ll put that in the show notes to her her Pinterest because she’s got a ton of good marketing tips on Pinterest as well. So I will link all that in the show notes. Patti, thank you so much for being here today with me. You know, again, really talking about the authority project. You and I have been friends for a while we’ve talked about this and actually just hearing your words makes me feel a little bit more at ease and more comfortable about building authority. So thank you for that.
Thanks for having me on, Christine. This is so much fun.
Pleasure. Pleasure.
