In Heathers, in order to get out of the snobby clique that is destroying her good-girl reputation, an intelligent teen teams up with a dark sociopath in a plot to kill the cool kids.
I’m going to share some personal experiences with you, about what’s going on in my career. If you are open minded, to them, perhaps you’ll be able to try some new ways of marketing yourself, despite the naysayers.
No one likes to hear NO, myself included. Rejection is not something we seek out. However, your resilience to rejection can make or break your success.
I’m going to share a list of what I do and just some of the negative reactions I’ve received. Why? Because you are either: someone who works in the entertainment industry, an entrepreneur/business owner, or looking to grow personally in your development and dreams. When you follow your passion, your dreams, your heart, people don’t always “get it.” You hear everyone’s opinion on why it can’t be done or why YOU shouldn’t do it. People are much quicker to reach out and criticize, than to offer support when they don’t understand your choices. Here are my choices from the last 20 years and the negative reactions and rejection I’ve had to push through:
- To pursue a career as an actress
- To produce my own television sitcom pilot (in 1997)
- To start my own business as a career coach for the entertainment industry
- To partner with the Doctors who created Proactiv to sell their anti-aging skin products
Number 1: was met with an overall lack of support, including bribery to keep me from pursuing my dream. It hurt to lose friends and have family members who thought I could do better with a safer choice. But I persevered, and I’ve never regretted my choice. I’ve loved every minute I’ve spent (and continue to spend) in front of the camera. I also realize that by making that bold choice to move to California to pursue my dream, it lead to every remarkable accomplishment I’ve had to date.
Number 2: I was told by network executives it couldn’t be done. Well it was… by me!
Number 3: this one was scary! I was leaving the stability of a paycheck, benefits, and a well padded comfort zone… in 2008! But my desire to expand my reach of who I could help was greater than the noise of the warnings I received at every turn. They say small businesses fail in the first 5 years… 8 years later, I’m still here, I’m still helping!
Number 4: the receiver of the most criticism, by far! Perhaps even you have judged me for my decision. But instead of judging, how can you model what I’m doing in your own business? It’s been 16 months since I started marketing my skincare business on Facebook. I’ve received a LOT of negative feedback (most that I hear from friends who tell me what’s being said behind my back). But here’s the thing… if my marketing wasn’t working, I would stop. It is working. I’ve posted daily (many days twice) and my results have been:
- New customers
- New business partners
- I have more FB friend requests than I can accept because of FB regulations
- I make money EVERY month from this supplemental business
To those people who send me private messages criticizing my posts and to those who are talking behind my back, I say, “You’re not paying my bills, but those posts are!”
To those people who say I have lost my credibility as a career coach because of the other businesses I have, I say, “All of my clients would beg to disagree, because they are getting great results in their businesses/careers.”
What does my personal story have to do with your success? This article is titled: Is Unconscious Envy Killing Your Career? If you are looking at others’ successes or methods to success and comparing yourself either way (that you wish you could do what they are doing, or you would never do what they are doing), you are missing an opportunity to learn and/or model.
You don’t have to sell skincare like me, but for every 100 private messages I send out each week, I get at least 5 YESes. I also get about 5 NOs. Which means the other 90 are “NOT RIGHT NOWs.” For every status I post on skincare, I get some likes, some comments, and at least once a month I get a person who contacts me who never liked or commented, but has been watching!
This is a marketing method that works! If you are an entertainment professional or entrepreneur, 5 YESes can make all the difference in your career, but you must reach out to a large number of people to get a yes, and it takes time. People are watching. So post something industry related about yourself or what you do EVERY DAY!
Marketing at this level of 400 reachouts/month and posting on social media daily, WILL grow your business, visibility, and bank account.
This is already a very long article, so I’m going to end it here and ask you to take the following action:
AND ACTION!
- If you have concerns about how marketing yourself at this level can poorly affect you, either contact me personally or comment on the blog, so everyone can benefit from our discussion.
- Evaluate your reachouts online and offline. Are you marketing yourself like a successful business owner or a dabbler?
In Heathers, students were being killed, but in real life, rejection doesn’t kill you, it informs you.
Today’s article also touches on important points for growing your business: expertise, a tough skin, and good marketing. If you want help in these areas, my Celebrity Status Formula Home Study Program, can help you tackle 9 areas to reach celebrity status in your niche.
ps And again, congratulations and THANK YOU to those of you who signed up to be my referral partners! I’m excited to be of service to your friends, colleagues, and organizations. For those of you who are curious about how to partner with me for free and earn checks for sharing what I do, go to www.ReferJessica.com