Vulnerability sucks...but it grabs your audience's attention
Vulnerability sucks...
...but it provides common ground between you and those you serve.
If you’re a speaker, author, consultant or other expert-based business owner who only shares the “best of times” moments in your business and life, this article is speaking directly to YOU.
Now, I’m not interested in using this article to stand on judgement mountain and cast aspersions at those who don’t share a well-balanced photographic look into their lives.
Rather, it’s about creating awareness for the types of stories that will resonate with those you serve beyond the work itself.
Take me, for example.
For years, I never shared anything negative about my life. It was all about the “awesome shoots,” “awesome clients,” and “awesome moments” in my life.
It was only when a colleague pointed out to me that when you share moments of frustration, loss, and failure that you will truly gain the attention and trust of your audience.
At the beginning, I wasn’t exactly jazzed about sharing these types of stories, but I trusted my colleagues judgement and went for it.
On one occasion, I shared a post about being overweight as a kid and how that affected my self-esteem and confidence level for decades.
A woman I didn’t know previously reached out through direct messenger to not only applaud me for my honesty and vulnerability in the post, but she asserted that this story is empowering to other men in similar positions. She works in the health and nutrition space and works with a lot of men.
That direct message exchange led her to engage more of my posts.
That further engagement led to her ending up on my calendar for an inquiry call.
And the next thing you know, she became a recurring portrait client :)
So why does sharing vulnerable stories capture your audience’s attention so powerfully?
It’s because they make you human.
When you spend the majority of the time posting content that illustrates your expertise and how you solve your client’s problems, you’re perceived as a superhero, which is essential when positioning yourself as an expert in your space.
But that doesn’t mean you can ignore the other side of the coin.
Sharing stories about the missteps, failures, and challenges you face brings you closer to those you serve. It places you squarely in their shoes, and provides your audience an entry point into your life.
Now, before you start to dig into the mental archives for these types of stories to share, keep one very important point in mind:
Be mindful of the photos you choose to visually punctuate the sentiments of these stories.
Complementing these personal stories with photos of you looking super happy, joyous and living the dream aren’t going to fly.
Save the shots where you’re wildly laughing and flinging glitter in the air for happy stories.
For these vulnerable-themed stories, choose lifestyle portraits where you look more solemn, pensive, and ruminating in order to match the sentiment of the words with a proper visual.
These types of photos work best when sharing vulnerable stories - no direct eye contact with the camera, no smiles - just a person who looks like they just went through something traumatic and is reflecting upon it.
During your next portrait session, make sure during the strategy call with your photographer to mention how you’d like to capture lifestyle portraits that span the emotional spectrum, including ones on the more reflective, pensive and vulnerable side of that spectrum.
They will come in handy when you share your more human side with those you need you most.
PS - If you found this post valuable, can you do me a favor and hit one of the social icons at the bottom of this post and hit the SHARE button...I’d greatly appreciate it if you did :)