The Fierce Business Babe Podcast Ep 198: How to Connect with Your Audience

Today, I am diving into everything you need to know about connecting with your audience. We are going to touch on reasons you should be connecting with your audience and ways that I connect with my audience. If you are looking to learn what you can do to connect with your audience today, this is the podcast for you.

How to Connect with Your Audience

By: Melissa Lin

Welcome back to another episode of The Fierce Business Babe Podcast! I hope you are having an amazing start to your month. I am so excited because today is episode 198. Yes, I'm going to say that again, 198. We are so close to episode 200. To celebrate our soon-to-be 200th episode here on The Fierce Business Babe Podcast I am hosting my biggest giveaway yet with $1,500 worth of prizes for you. So, here's how it's going to work; To enter the giveaway all you need to do are these next few things. First, leave us a fierce and raving review here on iTunes. If you're not sure how to do that, go ahead and head to your iTunes podcast library, it’s typically that purple iTunes app on your phone. Click on my podcast, The Fierce Business Babe Podcast, and then scroll to the bottom of where you see the episode list for this podcast. Leave your review and then take a screenshot of your review after it’s typed out, but before you press submit. Then send me that screenshot on Instagram. My new handle is @the_melissalin. This is so we can count your entry as soon as possible because sometimes it can take 24-48 hours for those reviews to go live. This is also because our usernames for Apple don't always match what we have on Instagram. If you’ve already given us a review, thank you so much for your love and support. Go find your review, take a screenshot, and then send it over to me on Instagram in a message so we can count that as part of your entry. The second thing is to simply share any of our recent podcast episodes or you listening to the podcast in your Instagram stories and be sure to tag me @the_melissalin. Once you tag me I'll be notified and that will be the second part of your entry.

So again, the two things you need to do are to leave us a review and send me a screenshot so we know that you did leave it; The second thing is to share us in your Instagram stories and make sure to tag me because that's the only way I'll be notified. On the day of our 200th episode we will be announcing the three winners. Each winner will receive a $100 gift card and choice of any of my $500 courses. These include Sell Like A Sales Queen, Hot Leads Machine, any of my bundles, mini courses, anything like that. You can also utilize that $500 towards any of my coaching programs. So again, the three winners will each receive a $100 gift card and choice of any of my $500 courses. To recap, to enter our biggest giveaway yet with over $1,500 in prizes, leave us a review on iTunes, send me a screenshot of your review, and then share the podcast in your Instagram stories, make sure to tag me. If you have any questions feel free to send me a message over on Instagram, I don’t bite. The winners will be announced on the 200th episode for you. Now that we’ve gotten that taken care of, let’s get into today’s episode.

Today’s episode is all about connection and building relationships. I really want to get into how to connect with your audience today. So we're going to dive into reasons to connect with your audience, some different ways that I like to connect with my audience, three things you can do today to connect with your audience, and so much more!

Why You Should Be Connecting With Your Audience

The first point I really want to dive into is, why should we connect with our audience? Why make that effort? We’re already doing so many other things in our businesses, we’re already doing so many other things on social media, so why connect? The biggest thing as a business owner is in order for anybody to actually buy something from you, they need to like, know, and trust you. I'm sure you've heard that before. It’s so, so, so true. They need to like, know, and trust you. If they're brand new to your audience, they most likely don’t know or trust you. They might like you initially from your first few posts that they’ve seen or some of your Instagram stories, however, they don't know or trust you yet. It's one of the biggest things that you need in order to actually move somebody from a lead to somebody that's a warmer lead to someone who's going to actually convert and buy from you. Again, we're spending so much of our time these days creating such valuable content for your audience, but they need to trust you first as a human, as a person, as a friend before they're ever going to even take that educational piece of content or that tip that you gave them. They need to trust you first before they even put your value to use. That's the goal, right? We want to add value, we want people to see the value you can add. Then eventually they’ll move through your sales process and buy from you if one of your programs is a fit.

Maybe this is already happening like in your current life. This is the first thing that jumps to my head, why is reality TV such a hit? I love reality TV. Not all of it, I have one or two shows in particular, like The Bachelor, more so the entire Bachelor franchise, and Temptation Island. I would say those are my two biggest reality TV shows that I love watching. So, why are these hits? I know there are so many other reality shows out there and I know some of you love other ones as well, which is amazing. The reason that so many of them are such big hits is because you're able to watch this television show almost like a fly on the wall. You get a sense of what's actually going on behind the scenes. It's because we’re able to find a way to connect with the folks on the show by seeing what they’re going through. The experiences that they share are sometimes things that we’ve gone through or we connect with.

How I Connect With My Audience

It's so important to make that connection. People want to be a fly on the wall. They want to know some of the stuff that's going on behind the scenes in your personal life. For example, I share so much of Pearl. If you're brand new to my podcast or my community, Pearl is my beautiful one-eyed cat. She is all over my Instagram. I share her almost everyday in my stories and on different platforms because, number one, I absolutely adore her and love her and who wouldn't want to see her? Number two, it really helps create a deeper connection with my audience by showing them parts of my personal life. It shows that I am more than just my business and that I am doing things outside of my business and that I am a human. It also kind of shows you that I am just like you, I’m just like everyone else, so if I can do this you can do it too. I have been showing so much of the house build. My boyfriend Ryan and I are building our first home together and it has been such a process. I’m actually going to do an entire podcast episode once it’s built and once we’re moved in, hopefully it’ll be here sooner rather than later. We bought our land in December 2019, so it's been quite a journey. There was more about it on my older account that, unfortunately, was hacked. I get so many from my audience reaching out to me asking for updates. They feel like they’re part of the journey with me because of some of the things that I share. Any time they see a house built, maybe they’re going to think about me, and that’s always going to help you and your brand. I'll get into more of the other things that I love sharing later, however, it's so important to be doing. Even if you feel like it is so boring and that nobody wants to watch it or see it, do it. It's going to help so many people connect with you on that human level.

Like I said, we're building a home and it’s not the prettiest right now. We just passed our insulation inspections. Even from the very beginning when we excavated and then started to get the framing up, every step of the way people have been so, so interested. There are so many people that are also building that have been reaching out to me saying, “thanks for sharing your experience, here’s where I'm at.” We’re able to connect because we’re all going through something similar, we’re all building a home. Some who are thinking about building a home ask me for tips or recommendations. It’s just a way to connect and a way for other people to see things that are going on behind the scenes of my life.

Other things I share include my hobbies outside of my business. Again, this helps you connect with your audience. Your audience needs to like, know, and trust you if they're going to stick around and if they're ever going to buy from you, and that's definitely a big goal. For you to help them create a transformation, they most likely need to buy one of your offers, one of your downloads, one of your courses, or coaching programs, or whatever it may be. It just shows that you're allowed to also have a life outside of your business. I believe I shared this a few episodes ago. What I shared was for my first few years of my business when it first started, my life was my business and it really affected my personal relationships in a way that I did not want it to. I really didn't have a life outside of my business. It almost became this unhealthy obsession with my business. I wouldn’t do anything if it meant I was being taken away from my business. All I wanted to do was business, business, business. I was so attached to it and that is not the goal.

I have grown so much since then. I started my business back in 2014 and it’s now 2022, how wild is that? There's just so much more to your life than just your business. Yes, we want to build your incredible business so that you can help more people and create this incredible impact, but also so you get to live your life and have fun as you grow your business. So I love sharing my hobbies that I've been learning over the years, such as my skiing. I finally hit a blue run this year. It was not the best, it was not always going the way I wanted to go, but I made it down. Another hobby of mine is sailing. I got certified a few years back and we're getting back into it this summer. With COVID, of course, we weren't able to do much of that, but we’re getting back into it this summer. I share all of these things that I love outside of my business to show you that there's so much more to you than just your business.

Some of this gives your audience the permission slip that maybe they've been waiting for as well. So, of course, there are so many different reasons to connect with your audience. I shared a few ways already that I like to connect with my audience, Pearl, my house build, my hobbies. Anytime I travel I'm always sharing that because traveling was not really a big thing for me growing up. We really stayed in the United States and we didn’t travel abroad much, so it's been such a big part of my life these past five or six years. I started to get out of my bubble and travel the world. The first place I went internationally was Japan with Ryan. I love showing my travels, my love for Prosecco, because that, again, can start so many different conversations. There are so many different things to connect with. My love for anything pink, I will get so many folks sending me things of cat items or pink items. I have these super cute little baby plants in my office and each of them are in a little cat pot. Ryan actually got them for me. For one of my little birthday gifts he was helping me kind of spruce up my office a little bit and they just bring so much to my content. I have so many people reach out to me anytime they see them asking where I got them from. I just starts conversation and adds another touchpoint. Any time you're having a conversation with somebody in your audience you are adding touch points. It takes anywhere from seven to ten touchpoints, if not more, for somebody to go from a lead to paying client. Create connections, add in those touch points.

Sharing My Big Brand Story

Another thing that I like to do to connect with my audiences is sharing my brand story. I do this a lot. Whether it's in my Instagram stories, in captions, or here my podcast. One of my big brand stories, one of the bigger things I'm known for, is that I left my chemical engineering job, my $86,000 chemical engineering job, my “safe” job. I left my engineering job to go full-time in my online business. I was working 15-hour days, weekends, I had one week of vacation and really didn't have too much more personal life. Work was my life and I left that. I chose to leave and pursue something better. That also shares one of my bigger brand statements, you can choose your own path. There's always another path out there and you can choose one that maybe wasn't taught to you growing up. Entrepreneurship was not a thing for me growing up. It was always you go to school, you go to college, you get a good-paying job. For me, it was either doctor, and doctor was actually the first route, I just couldn't handle the blood, so my parents settled for engineering. It was school, college, get an engineering job, and then you're set for life, you're good to go. I was never taught that entrepreneurship was a thing.

Anytime I share this story, so many others connect with it. There are so many others that are feeling the same way and I want them to know it's okay to choose your own path. There are so many other paths out there for you. You want to find the best one for you that's going to make you happy. Life is short and we get to go after what it is that we actually want. Staying stuck in my engineering job, over working, a week of vacation every year, never traveling, that is not the life I wanted. Sharing my brand stories is a huge way that I connect with my audience, and that's of course just one of them.

Another big one that I actually talked about a lot here in the podcast is boundaries. I went from literally zero boundaries in my business at the very beginning to pretty much the complete opposite a few years later, really strict boundaries and really holding true to my boundaries and how much that serves myself, my business, and also my clients. Sharing that is another way for me to connect with my audience, so share your brand stories too. We'll get into a few things you can do today to connect with your audience in just a minute. There are so many different ways you can create touch points. Me recording this podcast episode sharing all of this is a touch point from me to you and from you to me.

The last thing I want to leave you with in terms of the ways that I like to connect with the audience is to actually talk to them. Actually talk to your audience. Build connections, build relationships with them. Go and reach out to five people in your audience that you haven’t talked to in a few months and just let them know you’re thinking about them. With everything that’s been going on the past few years, connection is so important and it adds touchpoints too. Let them know you’re thinking about them. Go poke around in their Instagram stories. Go and be social on social media.

Connecting With Your Audience

Let’s get into some things that you can do today to connect with your audience. One way is by sharing your story. Sharing some of those brand stories that you have, sharing client stories. All of that creates connection. Storytelling creates connection. As an example, my story of leaving my engineering job to go full time creates such a big connection point for so many in my audience and me.

The second thing is to share your experiences over the years. Share what you have learned. I have shared so many of the highs and the lows of my business over the years on this podcast. This is where I have opened up the most and shared the most because I am not limited to a 60 second video or a 15 second story. I can really take my time and share as much as I want to here, and I love doing that here on the podcast with you. Share your experiences over the years. I have shared so many experiences of past sales calls that we’ve done, clients that we’ve worked with, where we got stuck on something in the business, where things really shined in the business. Again, share experiences over the years because there's going to be somebody in your audience that is where you were two years ago and they're going to relate to that. I share my stories of when I first started. I was charging $100 a month, really under charging, and gave all of my clients private access to me and started to burn out really, really fast. I was giving so much, but then not receiving nearly as much in exchange. Even though that’s the complete opposite of where I am today, a lot of people in my audience are at that stage. They are in the very beginning where they may feel they need to undercharge and give, give, give in their programs in order to make any sales. I know that so many are going to relate to that and also hear that it burned me out and that's not the way to go. Then they'll learn from some of the mistakes I made and know not to make those same mistakes, so share your experiences.

The last piece of advice, the third one, which I want you to have so much fun with, is to ask yourself if your audience can answer some of these things about you. I'm going to quickly share these things. Does your audience know how to make you laugh? Do they know what type of meme to send your way? Do they know what type of GIF you would love to see? My clients love sending me different GIFs about the Bachelor and different memes about the Bachelor or the Backstreet Boys because they know that I'm such a big fan. Do you know what to get you for your birthday? Do they know your favorite color? Do they know if you prefer coffee versus tea? Do they know these things about you? If the answer is no, start to share this stuff. These are the things that are going to connect them to you and you to them. They're going to start to like, know, and trust you more and more on that friendship and human level. Once they're there, they’re then going to really start to take into account, use, and implement all of these educational pieces that you’re adding in so they can get those quick wins from all of your value that you're adding on there as well.

A quick reminder before we wrap up, enter the giveaway for the 200th episode if you have not yet. It is right around the corner, the 200th episode, so make sure to get that in because time is ticking. Very, very, very soon is when we're going to be announcing the winners, two episodes from now. So today is Monday, we've got another episode on Thursday, so one week from today, next Monday, is when we will release and share that. You’ve got to get them in a well before then. Definitely get them in today if you can.

So we’ve touched on reasons to connect with your audience, ways I like to connect with my audience, some things you can do today to connect with your audience, and so much more. You know we’re already getting ready for the next episode. Again, we've got some bonus episodes this week. We have two episodes, one today, and then also another coming out Thursday, and then, of course, the longer episode next Monday as well. So enjoy these double features as they're here for the moment. We’re already getting next week's episode ready to go. I'll see you in the next episode of The Fierce Business Babe Podcast.

Topics we cover include:

The key to connecting with your audience
Being more than just your business
Sharing behind the scenes of your life

And so much more!

Times to check out:

(08:52) Why should we connect with our audience?

(10:41) The reason reality TV is such a hit

(15:20) Other ways I connect with my audience

(19:56) Sharing my big brand story

(25:36) How you can connect with your audience today

GIVEAWAY:

To celebrate our *soon to be* 200th Episode here on the Fierce Business Babe Podcast, I’m hosting my biggest giveaway yet, with $1,500 worth of prizes for you!

To learn how to enter this giveaway, take a listen to today’s podcast episode and follow the directions I give!

Questions? Send me a message over on Instagram (@the_melissalin) ! The winners will be announced on the 200th episode for you!

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