#15. Imposter Syndrome & Growth
Impostering Together
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Hey there!
Today I’m going to deviate from my usual because there’s something personal I’ve wanted to share. And what better place to discuss something intimate than here with you!
So January has been an incredible start to the year for me.
ICYMI (in case you missed it) I’ve started co-hosting a weekly Clubhouse chat with my compadre, social media marketing expert Syed West.
And last night’s topic was Imposter Syndrome. (A great recap here.)
Judging from the passionate discussion, it was the perfect topic. Mainly because we can all relate to feeling doubtful of ourselves and our credentials, skills or right to assert our authority.
I had an interview earlier this month where someone asked me my total monthly website traffic and total number of email subscribers. And I immediately got hit by a sense of embarrassment.
Especially when I saw the face she made after I responded!
“Oh OK, great. So let’s talk about…”
She was just completely not impressed. 😂
Full transparency, I’m not pulling an audience size that would make your eyes pop out.
Growth of my website, email subscriber list and personal brand has been steady and consistent, but probably wouldn’t be considered astronomical or viral by any means.
But just looking at my numbers on the face doesn’t tell the full story.
For example, when you compare my numbers from January 2020 versus January 2021, you see the magnitude of difference. And it's all really only the result of actively building and establishing presence since July 2020, when I shook off the pandemic funk and started getting out there.
Check out my Twitter growth for example:
And my website traffic (users). The blue line shows weekly traffic in Jan. 2021. The orange line is traffic in Jan. 2020 (yes, seriously).
January 2020: Only 9 people TOTAL visited my website. (One of them was probably me.)
This month, I’ve already had almost 2,000 people visit, and over 5,000 pages viewed.
And what’s cool is people from all over the world are stopping by. Beyond the US, visitors come from the UK, India, Canada, Italy, Australia, Nigeria, France and the Netherlands, to name a few.
That’s insane to me.
What I’m trying to say is, yes, that woman pooh-poohed at my numbers.
And I let it make me feel like a crumb.
But she wasn’t looking at my full picture. She didn’t see the full scope of how hard I’ve worked to get to where I’m at now, the sacrifices I make to consistently show up, or how much growth I’ve experienced from where I first started.
And I’ll bet it’s the same for you.
Only you know your full story and the magnitude of your accomplishments because you’re the one who puts in the work every day, who has experienced your full journey from start to present.
So even when others don’t celebrate that, take time to celebrate yourself! Or heck, shoot me a damn message. Let me help you celebrate!
That’s been one of the best parts of growing my network on LinkedIn and Twitter. People like you join in to help me do a little happy dance via gif whenever I want to share a win. And we all share encouragement when someone is feeling a little down because of a “pooh-pooh” moment.
Sorry for the motivational speaker stuff here, I usually try to focus on more analytical content. 😅❤️
But I really wanted to get this out, and today felt like as good a time as any after hearing so many inspiring stories from other professionals last night.
I’ll be back in 2 weeks with a few interesting interviews with some of my favorite marketers + entrepreneurs, and some BIG news about my own career!
Until next time, my friend!
Chantelle
Other Stuff I’ve Been Doing:
So I've still been putting out other content on my site by the way. I published a list of some fantastic books about marketing and copywriting you should add to your reading schedule. And then for those looking to expand beyond just a marketing mindset, I also published a list of the best business books in general. (You won’t just see Atomic Habits or The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People on this list!)
And brilliant content-marketer-turned-podcaster Akshaya Chandramouli was kind enough to invite me to talk on her podcast, The Newsletter Nerd Show. Swing by to have a listen and subscribe if you’re interested in hearing some behind the scenes chatter from a variety of newsletter creators.
Also tried something new with copywriter extraordinaire Terry Schilling by appearing with him on Whose Tagline Is It Anyway, the marketing game show where the companies and products are real, and the taglines are made up. Spoiler Alert: I won the match!
Wanna see all the new content and articles I've published in the last 2 weeks? Click the button below and #LFG!
Bonus: Stuff That Caught My Eye This Week
First off, it’s tax season!! And if you are at ALL in need of assistance, whether for your business or personal finances, you’ve got to consult with Adam Knihtila, aka #CFOAdam. Check out his website here. And if you aren’t following him on TikTok, he’s constantly dropping great info about how you can get ahead with your taxes or finances (he's even gone viral a few times).
Don’t know about you, but I’m getting a little burnt out on the Robinhood vs Reddit vs Wall Street storyline (especially because I didn’t get 3200% returns on Gamestop shares). But if you weren’t following it closely or just still don’t get it, this is a quick little synopsis.
Social media and creative content consultant Victoria Buylaert shared a great presentation on the best fonts for people with dyslexia. Another great reminder that learning about and implementing accessibility and inclusion should be a top priority for all of us.
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research (wow, *mouthful*) did research on how social media use changed among the Fortune 500 last year. Here’s a quick summary.
Twitter did a rebrand for 2021!! No, our favorite lil’ bird app icon isn’t going anywhere. But it’s interesting to see the process and thoughts behind some of the other changes they made. Here are the details.
If you haven’t heard of Clearbanc, it’s a really interesting young company that’s changing how founders fund their new businesses. (Gary Vee is one of the backers.) I came across their pitch deck, and if you’re like me and enjoy seeing what goes into a solid deck, you check it out here.
New feature rolling out from YouTube, following a similar path as Twitch. Read about it here. With corporate use of YouTube being down 13% last year, new developments like these could help create more appeal.
What if instead of just getting blue verified checks on your social media accounts, you could also get them on real estate to drive up the value? Because influencers deserve to have their social status elevated beyond just the digital world! Take a look at this website that makes the proposal. (Disclaimer: This is totally a joke, folks.)
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