This week’s podcast episode unlocks a key to being successful in business that you may not have heard before: cultivate human connection. How? Listen in to discover more!
Do you struggle with motivation as a small business owner?
Maybe you find it hard to sell your products with conviction?
Or perhaps you find yourself scrolling social media, because that’s the easiest way to get what feels like connection?
I want to offer one guiding principle to help with all those questions – and many more.
The answer? Cultivate human connection.
With the vast majority of businesses now doing most of their business online, and that tricksy little global pandemic, many of us are craving human connection.
Rather than going to an office, doing errands in small communities, and having close-knit friends and neighbours, we’re on t’internet pretty often. This is fairly tough for us primates, who like eye contact and scent and loads of other biological factors to feel trust.
It’s no surprise we turn to social media for a quick fix. It’s not the same, but it kind of meets the craving. It doesn’t fully satisfy it, though.
When you take the time to cultivate connection with humans (and sometimes pets), it recalibrates your brain. So spending quality time with family and friends outside your business will help your business, because you’ll feel more connected.
It will also help you to feel motivated and sell more, in the background.
But here are some specific ways to cultivate human connection for your business.
To build up motivation:
You need to have a business squad.
I’m a big believer in finding the right support for you in business. That’s not necessarily your closest family or friends – unless you’re really lucky!
Instead, boost your motivation by cultivating connection with business besties – people who get what you’re doing, can cheer you on, and support your success.
I created the Better Business Collective for this exact purpose.
To find confidence when selling:
Cultivating human connection in your marketing makes it easier to sell, no matter what you’re selling.
See your customers as real humans, with real aspirations and needs and wants and problems. Be human, invite in their humanity too.
Show your human self, or at least content with humans in.
Rather than getting stuck in “buy my thing”, step back and consider what it gives another human in their everyday experience.
This will give you language and confidence to step up and share, and I promise it will feel good, too!
So go and book a coffee date with a friend, hug your kids or pets, and start finding that business squad.