CONNECTED & CONFIDENT with Melissa J Scott Melissa J Scott

What is the number one reason stopping most business owners from pressing record on a video camera?! Worrying too much what other people are going to say about them! Especially their peers.
So here are my 5 top tips (+1 bonus tip) on how to be far more confident on camera, and create the kind of content that people really do care about and engage with. 
 
TIP 1: TUNE INTO YOUR PURPOSE
·      Reverse engineer what you are trying to say in your video.
·      What is the outcome that you want?
·      Who is your audience?
·      What is their pain?
·      How do you solve it?
TIP 2: STOP MAKING IT ABOUT YOU
When you fear making video… you are far too much in your head and not in your heart. It’s your ego worrying stuff that isn’t even real. When you’re thinking about the people that you actually help, and you change the focus to them and not yourself… your confidence grows dramatically! Think about the results you can get people, and how you have helped so many people in the past, and it will instantly change your focus from “what are people saying about me?” to “I have some valuable information tha will really help people, that they deserve to know”. BIG DIFFERENCE in your mindset! 
TIP 3: BE PREPARED
This is almost a no-brainer but you’d be shocked how many business owners don’t do this!
Have a game plan with a clear starting point addressing a client’s pain point, and then share how you can solve their problems - be the solution and connect to this feeling of being an industry leaderSpeak to keypoints only, do not script it out – and speak about topics you are really familiar with initially while you are growing your confidenceSpeak to the stories giving evidence of how you help our audiencePractice!!!!! No memorising. Just practice the keypoints.TIP 4: BE COMFORTABLE
Breathe!!! Quieten the mind. Find an environment that you’re comfortable in and create video in that space.Look the part, be natural, and really connect to your messageVisualise yourself being great and that speaking on camera is a breeze – trick your brain into believing you’ve done it all before and it’s easy for youIf you are still really struggling, you might have some blocked self limiting beliefs, and there are some awesome NLP and kinesiology unblocking exercises I can share with you that will really help. TIP 5: ACCEPT THAT YOUR FIRST VIDEOS WILL SUCK, SO YOU MIGHT AS WELL JUST DO THEM AND GET PAST THE BEGINNER STAGE!!
Most people think they have to present their video perfectly, and it’s just not like that at all. We are humans, we do mess up words, we do get muddled, we do laugh at ourselves, and it’s great to sometimes show this human side on camera!
So use the editing tool to your advantage, but keep the natural conversational part in the video. It can work to your advantage because it makes you more relatable.
BONUS TIP… SMILE!
It sounds so basic but do you know how many clients of mine look like a deer in headlights when they first start out making video! They get so serious and it’s because they’re worried what people are going to say… especially their peers!
Well please, no more. 
It’s not about you. Or your peers.
It’s about the people that you are helping. Your clients and your potential clients.
Listen in to the video or podcast episode, and let me know what you think!
I’d love to hear if any of these tips helped you out.

To get in touch with Melissa:
https://www.melissajscott.com
https://divinecreative.com.au

It’s probably not two topics that you would put together, but there are so many correlations between all the lessons I learned preparing and competing at my recent body building bikini competition vs what it takes to run, market and brand your business! It was one of the best experiences of my life and while many people think they couldn’t do it, you’d be surprised what you are truly capable of when you just do it one day at a time.

The biggest take home for me from my recent bodybuilding competition, is that I want to apply all that I have learned over the past 2 years about myself through that experience, across all aspects of my life.

So when it comes to marketing and building your business, or your personal brand… we expect it to happen in a matter of weeks or a month, when realistically it might take a couple of years. But is 1 or 2 years a long time really in the grand scale of things? Not really. Not when it’s life changing and permanent.

So here goes:

1. Your desired outcome and action plan - We need to have a plan. If you just start with a goal but no idea of how you’re going to get there, you won’t get there.

2. When you don’t have the knowledge… get a coach to mentor you! If this is an area that you don’t know what you’re doing, then work with somebody that does. And the more qualified they are, the better

3. The Universe will test you along the way! You better believe it! Nothing is a coincidence and each challenge is a step to see just how bad do you want it. 

4. Stick to a routine with your Action Plan

5. And make sure it’s customised for YOU.

6. Set yourself up for success. 

7. Set goals and make them achievable so each month you feel like you are having a win. Share your goals with people, so you’re more accountable and more likely to achieve what you set out to do.

8. Your coach needs to be personal and constantly working with you on your mindset, because they go hand in hand.

9. Work towards a clear outcome at the end. It has to look like success in your eyes.

10. Be aligned with your coach’s motto! My coach lives by Dedication. Determination. Discipline. And that worked for me! 

11. Repetition is what will get you there. There are no shortcuts. It’s not glamour - but it looks glamorous! It’s 5% appearance and 95% grit… just like building your brand!

12. Make sure your goal… is your goal! Don’t compare yourself to others. This is your journey, and your outcome. You get to measure your own success on how it makes you feel, not what other people think.

13. Be surrounded by people that share your vision, or at least support it. Accept that some people will just not understand or respect what you are trying to do, and will be happy to vocalize that to you!

14. Understand that you will feel uncomfortable, And you will need to challenge your comfort zone. Don’t be half assed, if you want true success, you need to go all in.

15. Get excited about learning new stuff, and never think that you know better. You have to be ‘coachable’, so don’t be trapped in your ego.

16. Understand what the numbers mean. The numbers on the scale, the numbers of your calories… the numbers in your business and the numbers in your marketing analytics… they all tell a story and shouldn’t be ignored because they tell the truth. 

17. Visualize you in the success as you imagine it. Self-belief is crucial that you believe you can achieve this goal. Do not listen to the knockers. You may need to change your tribe.

18. Be + Do + Have Model. Who do you need to be right now, and what actions do you need to do, to have what you really want to have?

19. It’s your unique challenge and your goal.

20. Be prepared to be challenged. It’s never smooth sailing. Nothing ever runs smoothly.

21. What can you do that is that 1 or 2% more?

Here is a slightly different kind of video/podcast today for Connected and Confident!
If you have ever doubted yourself, or wanted to deeply challenge yourself, and you wanted to get to know yourself better and understand what you are made of… then you might really enjoy this! As some of you might know if you follow my social channels, in October 2022 I competed in the ICN Body Building Competition in the Over 50’s Bikini Competition! What you won’t know is that I kept a video diary for the last 3 weeks of preparation, taking you through all the trials and tribulations of getting stage ready while living a normal life and trying to keep it all together both mentally, physically, spiritually and professionally!!
Believe me, there were many challenges, and I documented them all in a bid to remind myself what it might be like when I go through it all again for competition next year, but also to hopefully inspire, motivate, educate and even entertain anybody that is interested in what the journey was like for a very normal, middle-aged woman to get ready for a competition like this.
PART 1 – 3 WEEKS TO GO! MY FIRST ICN BIKINI PREP OVER 50’S
PART 2 – PEAK WEEK! ONLY 1 WEEK OUT FROM SHOW DAY
PART 3 -  ICN BIKINI OVER 50’S – SHOW DAY!
Please note… I am not a world class athlete! I am very normal and decided to do this competition on a whim back when I was 49. Initially I thought I was going to run a marathon in Europe to commemorate my 50th birthday in May. I actually started training for that and quickly realised I would do more harm to my body than good running that distance (I had done a half marathon at 45, but a full marathon at 50 was just pushing it too much!)
I watched a girlfriend transform her body in a body building competition and I was hooked! That would be my personal challenge. Little did I know the world was heading into Covid lockdown, that it was a whole lot more commitment and work than I could imagine, and it would challenge me in every way, from my self confidence, to self worth, setting boundaries with people so I could get to training regularly, and learning to dismiss criticism from the people closest to me, and just get on with the job and know that what I was doing was for me, and nobody else. Probably the first time in my life I had ever taken such a self-focused direction on anything!
So please enjoy the series. Some of it is hard for me to watch back as I remember how difficult some days were. I was hungry, fatigued, effected by mood swings, dealing with frayed relationships, and feeling very alone at times. But it was all worth it and I can honestly say that the show day was one of the best experiences of my life.
If you are thinking about doing one of these competitions, I highly recommend it. It will not be easy, but it will be an amazing journey. I highly recommend my coach, Emma Bowman from Adelaide, South Australia. And I also invite you to watch the next podcast Episode 31 – WHAT I LEARNED FROM BODY BUILDING VS BUILDING & MARKETING A BUSINESS. The similarities between the two are incredibly similar.
Hope you enjoy the series, and if you do, please share with a friend or colleague that might really benefit from this information. And don’t forget to like and subscribe to the YouTube channel. 


CHECK OUT MELISSA'S WEBSITE & ONLINE COURSES
https://www.melissajscott.com

CHECK OUT MELISSA'S PODCAST CONNECTED & CONFIDENT
https://open.spotify.com/show/3qjDy

‘REINVENTION AND RELAUNCHING – FINDING YOURSELF WHEN YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE LOST!’
I’ve been MIA for the past little while, (my last podcast was almost 18 months ago!) and I mainly think that was because I have gone on a really deep personal development journey in myself, and I really needed to step back for a while.
I have been very committed to my personal growth over the years, but it really escalated 5 and a half years ago when my husband suddenly died, and in particular when I got into some very unproductive relationships after that! There’s nothing like losing friends, going through emotional hardship and being challenged by unhealthy relationships to teach you a few things about yourself!
And then add in I was turning 50, and that every aspect of my life was coming to a crossroads... I was really challenged for quite some time there! My three sons had grown up and needed me less and less, and I was feeling a little stale in my business. I had been working hard in it for 25 years and moving into doing more marketing coaching and strategy work, (which I really enjoy), but I knew something was really missing for me when speaking to my audience.
For a few years now, I have developed a process that I call Connection Marketing, where you tell your story, share your knowledge, and create a great audience around you who relate to you and literally ‘fall in love’ with what you have to say and how you can help them. It’s all about building a truly magnetic personal brand. But it’s easy to say and much harder to execute!
Most business owners agree this is good for their business, but they don’t want to do it. They don’t want to get that personal and they certainly don’t want to put themselves out there to be criticised by their peers. And I realised that I too didn’t want that kind of deep exposure either! I felt like a fraud because my personal life was not good, I was telling people not to worry about what people thought of them when they marketing, and yet when I’d dip a toe in the water and get some negative response, I’d pull back too and smooth things over so I was far more ‘likeable’! The problem is, this makes you really generic, and that doesn’t create a compelling personal brand!
So I took a bit of a break from marketing my business and I went really deep into what was holding me back, because I figured when I got to know who I truly am, how I can honestly help my audience, and how I can sincerely transform lives – that it would be much easier for me to show up and market myself without giving a flying fuck about what others thought of me! 
 So I joined a covers band and started singing again! Something I’m wildly passionate about and loved doing when I first came to Sydney as a late teenager. I got back into my health and fitness. I started body building and taking great care of my physique and gut health. I learned how to meditate from the monks at the Buddhist Temple in Wollongong. And I journaled, practised mindfulness, walked in nature daily, visualised, worked on my self-talk and became a qualified Tantra practitioner!!
I also learned the Spiral technique of Kinesiology, and NLP (Neuro Linguistics Programming). I now feel I am more than equipped to help my clients unblock their energetic, unconscious programming on many levels with these skills. And I used them on myself to build up my own self-awareness and knowledge.
I really committed to my growth in every aspect of my life, so I could help me and help my family, my friends and my clients. And I learned a lot of incredible things about what holds us back and what it takes to reacquaint yourself with you! 
So in no particular order, here is what I learned about growing individually and breaking through the personal barriers to fearing connecting with an audience through personal branding and standing out from the crowed:
1.     Never, ever think that wha

Today I had the pleasure of chatting with the wonderful Greg Smith from Admins The Answer. He runs an incredible company that offers Admin services specifically to the trade industry in all aspects such as quoting, invoicing and booking appointments.
It’s one thing to have a business that you know does good work… it’s another completely different story when you are able to share with your audience how your business actually changes the lives of your customers…. For the better! And you market around this really important distinction.
HOW DID GREG COME INTO THIS BUSINESS?
As a tradie himself, he realised that good admin is what will make your business successful. When he was a tradie, it was typical to be working 16 hours a day, working his butt off on the tools, coming home late only to have to face the paperwork and never enough time for the family. Admins The Answer was born from living and understanding the pain points of a small tradie business – personally!
 
WHAT DID GREG LEARN FROM RUNNING A NICHE BUSINESS?
Working with only trade businesses, Greg quickly developed an innate understanding of how it should work and what is required to make it work. In terms of marketing, it has actually made it so much clearer to hone in on their ideal client by getting really targeted with the demographics, rather than a general, scatter-gun approach. He then reaches out to this audience with a far more specific message that they can make their lives easier, and this really resonates with his audience.
 It also enables him to collaborate and create win/win partnership with other sectors such as Accountants and Bookkeepers, to not only attract customers, but to work together to introduce better programs and procedures.
 
WHAT IS IT LIKE TO HAVE AN EMOTIONAL CONVERSATION WITH YOUR CLIENTS THROUGH YOUR SALES AND MARKETING?
 Being able to really drill down to your ideal client’s pain and having the procedures in place has opened up so many doors to be able to have real, open and honest conversations with trades people and their partners. It doesn’t even feel like selling, because it isn’t. Greg talks about a problem that a typical client faces, they identify that he can help them with their problem, and a conversation begins.
 It’s through these conversations with their clients and researching their audience that led Greg and his team to partner with Beyond Blue to donate $100 of profit for every new client in support of Men’s mental health.

WHAT HAS THE RESPONSE BEEN LIKE IN THE INDUSTRY?
Greg recently had a phone call from the wife of a tradie about a month ago. She rang out of the blue, and just wanted to let him know that she hadn’t had an argument with my husband for 2 weeks. They used to argue about the business, the bills, money coming in etc, but ever since they had hired Greg’s business to take over the admin, all the stress has gone. Family life was better. The husband is home at regular times and the arguments at the dining room table have stopped.
 Greg feels so empowered to know that when they say “we are changing people’s lives!” that it really is true.  “In some respect we’re saving relationships!” says Greg.
If you want to have more success in your business and sales, you need to become an expert at creating trust and connection online through your personal brand, and creating quality content. Book a free half hour strategy session with Melissa today to find out how you can be the Rockstar in your industry. If you want it, it is possible.
https://melissajscott.com/
https://www.connectionmarketing.online
https://divinecreative.com.au
 Melissa J Scott

Well this episode is certainly me letting my guard down and getting super honest and personal about this next stage of my life as I turn 50! I’m not sure where the time all went, because I sure don’t feel 50, but… on the event of the big milestone birthday it was great to reflect and share some of my feelings around it, and in particular about rediscovering my connection with myself.

I think most of us can relate if we’ve spent the past few decades as a partner, a business owner, a high achiever, a parent, a carer. It’s really, really easy to get lost in the story of your life and lose touch with who you really are, and even moreso… what you really want!!!

If you’ve been following my journey this year, you will know that I’ve ended a serious relationship and am committed to being single for a while, I’ve taken up body building, have reconnected with singing again and actively starting a band, am planning a trip to the outback later this year and most recently, put the wheels in motion to get my motorcycle licence! My youngest has also wrapped up school and turned 18, so I feel like I’m sitting at the pinnacle of my new life and not sure what I actually want!!

“We are all just thinking, feeling, emotional creatures. We are so busy living for the people that we love, that we forget to create a relationship with the most important person of all… ourselves”
Melissa J Scott

The first challenge I faced in the lead up to my 50th birthday seems so easy, but I can’t tell you how hard it was. Just figuring out exactly how I wanted to celebrate my birthday took months to figure out. At the core of it was the sad act, I just didn’t know how to celebrate myself. And I find a lot of women, and men too, simply don’t know how to do this as it isn’t something that comes naturally. Planning a party that was purely around me, was incredibly difficult, because all my life the focus had been on a partner, or my children, or a dear friend, or a client. When it was about somebody else, decision making was infinitely easier!

And this indecision is also something that has carried over into my business career all my life. I have achieved major milestones in my career, superseded fantastic goals, won major projects and new clients and very rarely would I ever actually take the time to be in the moment and celebrate the success or truly acknowledge what an excellent thing I had just done.

Being single and going into my 50th birthday is somewhere I never saw myself as being. We are socially conditioned to believe that we are kind of only a half person if we aren’t completed by a partner. So it took a bit of soul searching to recognise that this period of time is actually a blessing and a wonderful opportunity, for the first time in many years, to truly put some time into my own growth and rediscover the things that interest me, and how I really want to live my life.

“It is a wonderful thing to be connected, not just to our friends and family, but really and truly connected to ourselves.” Melissa J Scott

If any of this is resonating with you or a loved one, please listen in and share if you think it can inspire somebody else to live their best life too.

If you want to have more success in your business and sales, you need to become an expert at creating trust and connection online through your personal brand, and creating quality content. Book a free half hour strategy session with Melissa today.

And if you would like to check out Melissa, follow these links:

https://melissajscott.com/
https://www.connectionmarketing.online
https://divinecreative.com.au

Melissa J Scott
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