Making a Plan For Showing Up Confidently Online with Maddy Shine

Without a care in the world, Maddy Shine rocks blue hair, a name you can’t forget, and a bubbly personality - how can you show up online as confidently as she does?

 In this episode, she shares lots of tips that will take the stress away from showing your face online, being unapologetically yourself, and showing off your life (even if you think it’s uninteresting). She also shares how making content is easier without a content plan. 

Tune in and start crafting your own online visibility plan.   

(08:45) “I think that we get so caught up in what other people think of us, but actually, do you know what people are thinking about? They're worried about what other people think of them.”

3 tips to make online visibility easier (tune in for more tips):

1. Be chatty to make your content: mix in being chatty and with tips relevant to your space.  “allowing people a little bit into that self-discovery also helps them relate to you a lot more.” (13:42)

2. You don’t need a content plan: If creating and following a content plan feels too rigid or boring, you can create a library of content ideas instead that you can draw from whenever you need to create content. This allows you to be more flexible and spontaneous. 

3. Strategically sharing your life: sharing your life isn’t about revealing your every move and meal, it’s about being selective with what you share and relating it back to what you’re selling. 

Links

Connect with Maddy Shine: Instagram | Website | The High Vis Podcast

Tell Google you exist by taking these simple steps - https://maddyshine.co.uk/does-google-know-i-exist/ 

Connect with Rosie on socials!

LinkedIn
Instagram
And if you're a woman in business who loves colour find out more about personal branding shoots on Rosie's photography website! 💕

Transcript

Rosie Parsons  0:00  
Great, so it's lovely to have you with us. Maddy, thanks so much for joining me today be great if you wanted to introduce yourself and what you do.

Maddy Shine  0:06  
Brilliant. Thank you so much for having me, Rosie, I'm very excited to be here. I am Maddie, obviously, my name is Maddie shine that sadly not the surname I was born with. And it's so good that people people seem to know me by that name. So it's all good. So yes, you can find me anywhere online money shine. I have been running my own business now for 10 years. And I am a SEO and visibility expert. Excellent. And I, I love to help women get found online. My real passion is to help them take up space on the internet. Because there's a lot of nonsense out there. And there's a lot of clever women I know. And I really want the clever women to be taking up space, you know? Yeah, that's my vibe.

Rosie Parsons  0:53  
Absolutely. That's amazing. I'm just looking through your website and all the speaking engagements you do and stuff is amazing. And like, just seem so confident. Have you always been

Maddy Shine  1:02  
that way? Well, it's funny, because I thought you might ask me about my confidence. And I think that when when I think about confidence, I think about what makes me confident. It's the fact that I generally have quite an optimistic attitude. So granted, that helps a lot. But it's also the fact that I'm very clear about what I'm talking about. And really what is confidence, confidence is your clarity and enthusiasm, isn't it. So when you're clear, and when you know what you're talking about, and you're passionate about talking about it, it makes it so much easier to feel confident. So I guess that I have always been kind of bubbly, and all that kind of stuff. But of course, I've also done speaking gigs way back in the day where I'm just like, so I'm talking really fast and really hoping that you read this and people like Oh, Matthew chemicals are so confident that was like, really? I haven't thought I was pooping bricks. You know? It's a really funny question, but I am. I'm very optimistic. Obviously. I love the colours, and I love it. Yes, I think I think that's really it makes me look like I'm a very confident person, doesn't it?

Rosie Parsons  2:05  
Why do you think like having a personal brand and being visible is so important nowadays?

Maddy Shine  2:10  
Well, I'm a big fan of a personal brand. Because I think it's a fantastic way for us, you know, small businesses to stand out against these much bigger companies, these bigger companies with no faces to them, or a fake face to them. And they've got all this money that they're throwing up this, that and the other thing, and we're here like making our staff or offering this service or taking great photos, whatever we do. And we're like, actually, that we're the person they're dealing with. So why aren't we just going? It's me, hi. I'm not the problem, it's me a cultural reference. Like that, when you are thinking about how you really want to show up in the world. It's not because you want to replicate Amazon, nor name another faceless company that we all feel bad about using anyway. You know, it's actually like we want to smart support small business, we just don't know about them yet. And I think that building a personal brand is the easiest way to stand out and go, Hi, I do make these amazing earrings, or Hi, I do take these amazing photos. So that's why I'm so keen about it.

Rosie Parsons  3:24  
That's great. Why do you think people are so fearful about being visible?

Maddy Shine  3:30  
Oh, because of all the horror stories, obviously, you know, because the press exist? Because they're worried about going viral for the wrong reason. But actually didn't do you know how unusual it is to go viral? for the right reasons, let alone the wrong reasons. Do you know how it's just, it's just a bizarre concoction. And I think that because we only ever hear about the horrible stuff, then we don't hear about the all and all the amazing things that can happen. When you do put yourself out there online. And when you do go look, it is me, I do make these amazing earrings come and buy them. And I'm like, Yes, I want to go buy for that lady, she looks like someone I'd go to the pub with, I will go. And also I like her earrings. Combination. And I think that when we have these fears, it's because we don't know and we have a lot of uncertainty. And so you can only really find that certainty by testing the waters by dipping your toe in and, and by learning from experts, you know, like us basically where, where you're like, Okay, I know after the practical things now I just need to get that motivation that made me start my own business in the first place, and go and actually do it and go and try it out. And what's the worst that can happen? Oh, no, I might have made a bit of a mistake which I have done. I have. I have been trolled before many years ago touch wood but...

Rosie Parsons  4:48  
I was gonna ask you about this because like, You're brilliant. Like I've always wanted to dye my hair and I've never been brave enough for you. You've gone and done it. You've got amazing hair. You're bright and colourful and you're you know completely You, have you ever found that that has, like, invited any kind of negative comments at all? And if so, how have you coped with that? I

Maddy Shine  5:09  
have never had any negative comments to my face about my blue hair. And I've had my blue hair now for three years. Yeah, lord knows what people say behind my back. But that's nothing to do with me. And I have, I've had all sorts of different colour hair over the years, and I've, I've tried to fit in, and I've tried to wear the nice dresses and do the corporate thing I worked in corporate many years ago. And people were just like, but Maddie, I look, you know, I used to turn up in the office with my pencil skirt and my shirt, and then I'd have like a bright pink pashmina on, you know? And like, the bosses would be like, Oh, my God, I just, you just you, aren't you. And I was like, frankly, I don't I don't really want to be able to for girls like, and I think that, you know, don't get me wrong. I've had mental health. Ups and downs over the years, I've had a lot of therapy, a lot of support. But it's also like, by continuing on this kind of like, I'm going to be me. I don't need to be worried about oh, God was that person? Cuz a lot of people. We can't like everybody, and not, you know, and not everybody likes us. That's fine. That's just human beings. But I think that when we are too worried about what other people think, then we hold ourselves back for no good reason. And so it's why I'm so you know, very much. unapologetic. Yeah. In a good way about about Yeah, being this kind of friendly, colourful person.

Rosie Parsons  6:36  
Yeah. So how can you be like completely truly authentically yourself? But do you have to rein it back at all? If you are working with corporates, like say you're a corporate trainer or something like that? Is it still okay to be completely wild? Be completely you?

Maddy Shine  6:52  
To answer your question. I think that when you are thinking about, is it okay that I turned up looking like this? Well, what kind of effect do you want to have on people? If you want people to feel good and positive, then this is the way that I communicate that I want people to have an uplifting mood, because lord knows what other stuff people have going on in their lives. And I love the fact that whenever I leave the house, someone comes up to me in the street, it's like, I love your hair, or you look like a really great person. So I didn't do it like to do it like that. You know, I'm not like some kind of celebrity. I'm just that's what other celebs say. But no, I think that when you're when you're kind of worried about, again, what people might think, just think about, what is it that you're saying? What is it that you're not saying and and why are you afraid to hide who you are, because often the particularly us corporates, they go to sort of breath of fresh air? You know? Yeah, they won't go God. Or if they if you weren't right for them, you probably probably was something to do with what you were teaching or what you were sharing anyway, rather than how you look? Yeah. So I think I think we can just give ourselves a bit of a break on that one.

Rosie Parsons  8:07  
Yeah, I think I found certainly on LinkedIn. So the more that we are ourselves, the more we do stand out, and therefore people will they love it, you you kind of get more business, don't you? Because you're different from everybody else. 

Maddy Shine  8:19  
100% 100%. But you know what, before I had colourful hair, for example, I used to be so worried, I was like, oh, I'll just, I'll just dip the ends in pink, you know, I'll just the rest of it was I used to have like long brown hair. And I was just like, oh, you know, but then, and I was like, no one cares. No one. Like, it's absolutely fine. It's just so funny. I think that we get so caught up in what other people think of us, but actually to know what people are thinking about. They're worried about what other people think of them. So we don't need to panic about it, basically. 

Rosie Parsons  8:54  
Yeah, that's true. So how has been visible in your business helped you? What benefits is it brought to your life?

Maddy Shine  9:01  
Oh, I wouldn't have a business without it. I wouldn't have a business. So I started out 10 years ago, and I still had a day job at the time. So I overlap for about three. And essentially, I put myself out there I was networking in Facebook groups, I was being helpful with suggestions. I started an email list very early on, I only had 20 people when I started an email newsletter. I you know, I did all these kinds of different things, because I thought, what's the harm? You know, I'll just try this. I'll just try this. And, and so by being by by making myself known in that way, by Oh, asked Maddie or I would get DMS or Facebook messages or whatever it was, it was like, I became known as the go to person for this, that and the other thing and then as my business evolved, it was like, oh, man, he's doing a course in that or, you know, just got a download in that or whatever. And so as I slowly started To, you know, get a podcast of my own. And Instagram stories became a thing five years ago when suddenly I was like, Oh, great. I can start chatting. I hated the very idea of it, but I started doing it anyway. Yeah. And in fact, I even took the plunge and did an Instagram takeover. Do you remember those? No one does them anymore. But I did an Instagram takeover for an account with 120,000 followers. Oh, wow. And at the time, I think I maybe had 1000. And essentially, I was just like, right, yeah, I'll do this. And I'll just be the expert for the day. And absolutely nothing happened. Single inquiry. Nothing happened. Like it was fine, though. Because it just it was such a valuable lesson for me. Because I was like, all these worries, all these high expectations. Yeah, all everything that was going through my mind. It was like, absolutely nothing happened. Yeah, I just went to bed that night and thought, right. Well, that was that was I mean, it wasn't a waste of time. Because I learned so much. You know, it was just so funny. I just couldn't believe it. But yeah, so I think that whenever something new comes on the market, except for ticked off, because you know, I'm 40. Now, I'm not entirely sure that I want to be on tick tock. But maybe I'll be eating my words in 2023. Who knows, Rosie? To be honest, right now, I'm very happy with being on Facebook, so much emails and Instagram. And that's, and that's, you know, when I'm visible in those places where I enjoy it, and where I know, my audience enjoys it. Because obviously, that's kind of the point, then I know that I'm doing something right. And I know that that word of mouth effect has continued to grow, because I'm continuing to be visible in the way. And how do you how do you come up with content ideas to constantly be visible and share all this stuff, then? Oh, honestly, I think at the moment, I'm going through very much just a chatty phase, not actually sharing that many, because I don't I go through tips where I'm just like, Yeah, I'm sharing the carousels and I'm sharing the reels, and all that kind of stuff and having fun with it. But ultimately, I just kind of go, this is a bit of my life, I'm not showing them remotely the most, you know, most of it. I'm going here's my cat was just sick on the carpet twice. Does anyone know how I can get my cat that's not being studied on the carpet? Because he's like, looking at me, like, what would you look for? And I think that when we are when we when we kind of let people in just a little bit of a way like that, then it's much easier to find content, it is because the pressure is off, of course, that it also gives me the more of the motivation to actually start sharing tips and things like that in mixed in with that. So I just came back from a three week trip to Mexico, for example. And, yes, I just celebrated my big birthday. They're super fun. And I was sharing a lot of my trip. Because what I love about when I watch people on holiday, yes, well done. I'm having a nice time. But I want to know, some practical stuff. So I was sharing after I left the house because I was travelling around quite a bit. Whenever I left somewhere, I would say, here's what I did. Here's where I stayed. Here's how I got the deal. I want to know stuff like that. Yeah. And so I'm like, Come on, give me give me the give me the gritty. So So I wasn't sharing stuff like that I got fantastic engagement, I shared about why I was sharing so much. Because I think as a woman now who is child free by choice, single, you know, living her own life, we don't see so much of that, like where they're confident and happy and loving life. And so I was like, here I am. And turning 40 is not the end of the world and all this kind of thing. I think also because I had a bit of a meltdown when I turned 30. And obviously, but it was it's like it's I think allowing people a little bit into that self discovery also helps them relate to you a lot more. And it wasn't even that kind of calculators. It was just, this is how I come up with content ideas, because I see what people like the tips mixed with the chat mixed with the cat. Yeah. And then I sort of start sharing more of it. And I go through phases, because I'm not a robot. No one's a robot. And I think if I was just like, must put out this topic this day, and Mazepa it doesn't work for me. I've tried it before. So that's pretty much how I keep it quite natural. Yeah. And obviously I've got a launch going on that I have a little bit more focus leading up to that.

Rosie Parsons  14:18  
But I'm not too hard on myself about it, but you plan it out what you're going to do at all, or is it just like as as you feel like it?

Maddy Shine  14:24  
At the moment, for basically for the past 12 months or so, I have had a whole like library of ideas. That's always been the case. And then I look in Canberra and I go, Oh, yeah, let's just put that into a graphic and let's work that up on Instagram. All I wanted something, a conversation might have happened with a one to one client or in one of my courses. And I might say, You know what, I need to do an email about this because it's quite a relevant topic. I find that if I plan too much, my brain can't cope. I get bored. I get bored and I get bored and I get overwhelmed. And then I'm like, Oh no, I'm If the interest is lost now, you know, yeah, just like, even if I'm not interested, you know, going back to my original point, yes, I'm clear. But am I enthusiastic about this? Yeah, no. So in that case, I need to look at something like I am like, oh, yeah, this is relevant right now. So a blog post that I always write about this time of year is how to write your best off the year blog. And so and then what to do with that blog post. So, you know, it could be a roundup of your favourite projects, it could be a roundup of your best selling products. It could be all sorts of things, right. It could be your top most listened to downloads, or podcasts, whatever. Yeah. And I think that when we look at that, it's also an opportunity. I'm a big fan of reflection, big fan of kind of self evolution, self awareness. And so when you're looking at that, then actually, that really helps you also go, Okay, this is the best my year. And this is what I'm looking forward to next year. So soon. So a few things are planned. But I also do keep quite a lot of it quite spontaneous. Okay.

Rosie Parsons  16:00  
And how often are you kind of getting online and sharing stuff? Like, are you on multiple times a day? Like, how often? How much time are you spending on sort of marketing?

Maddy Shine  16:10  
I spend about? I wouldn't, I don't know what the percentage might be. But I go on Instagram Stories multiple times a day. That's probably where I'm most frequently active. Otherwise, I'm in my paid Facebook groups. I think that because I've got a membership and courses and stuff that I need to help people with. But to be honest, Instagram stories where I'm most active, and emails, not so much at the moment, usually when I've got a launch on a more active, yeah, but I think that when I think about where I want to be activists, I've got Instagram stories where I can have the direct contact with people, people like to dive into my DMs. Yeah, I'd have a chat. And so we do that. And that's great. Because even if they're not going to be a potential client, then they'll be telling me about that. They'll be telling other people about me. And they'll they'll come back to me for six months and be like, I've been following your content for ages, I'm finally ready to dive in, or whatever it might be. Yeah. So that's where I, I wouldn't say there's like a time limit I ever set on it. But certainly, it's always a much bigger percentage than you ever might think. Yeah. And when I do sit down and add it up, I go, Oh, that's quite a considerable time. And partake, but particularly I think, as a small business, no one ever knows just how much time they're actually going to spend promoting and actually running the business. Right. Yeah. And, and building that brand. And I think that when you are if actually, if you knew about it before you started the business, you probably it probably. Yeah, but that's the bit I don't mind. I don't mind having a chat and showing up. Because otherwise, what's the point? It's just me and my, at home on my own? Yeah, I like to I like the idea of building this community. And that's where my community has come from for the past 10 years now. So it's like it. That's also where I don't really mind it. I don't I don't resent it. I don't. And I think that a lot of people do come to me, and they're like Maddie, I really resent how much time I spend online. I want to outsource it. And like, that's absolutely fine. you outsource it. But until you have the budget to do that, and until you really know your own brand, you're gonna have problems. Yeah, because people can outsource their blog, they can outsource their social media management, but until they know who they are, and have that clarity and enthusiasm that they can then effectively outsource then it's going to be it's going to be tricky, right? 

Rosie Parsons  18:34  
Yeah, I was gonna ask you this just seems like I don't know. For me, it doesn't come naturally to share, like all my life. Like, I just think like I think a lot of people think I was a bit boring, isn't it? Like? What What would you say to people who think that like who wants to hear about what I had for breakfast like,

Maddy Shine  18:52  
Okay, I don't share what I had for breakfast - maybe because I have the same thing every day! Sometimes if I'm having a little moment because I like to have breakfast in bed because I've got a nice view from the window next to my bed. And it sometimes I put on my little cup of tea and play some nice gentle music, wish everyone good morning, but it's not like so now I'm spreading the butter on the toast doing this. You know, I think that you have to see what what you want to share. But also think about why you're sharing it so it comes back to your why so I like I said because I like to create the online community. And I really like to feel part of that. And also the people I follow you know, they share random tidbits i i like it when they share you know that they I'm not necessarily bothered about Christmas decorations like that. Obviously that's what's being shared at the moment. But I am I'm interested in like little snippets into their lives. Oh yeah. They had their that they're doing a deep dive freezer surprise dinner as well. Good. They feel more normal, right? We just don't we just want to normalise that. stuff. Yeah, or, you know, oh, yeah, I'm moving house great, that means they're doing well in life, that means they're happy. You know, I want to see, particularly like I said, Because I'm child free by choice, I'm single, I want to see people living their lives, not necessarily to do with children and all the stuff. And the I'm very happy for everyone with children. But what I'm saying is, I just want to see people living their lives enjoying it. And that's really what I want to communicate, if you don't, if you're interested in that, you share what you want to share. But make sure that you can tie in with what you're selling. And I think that either go right, here's my cup of tea. And by the way, I've got a download, you know, it's more of a slow burner than that. And I, I certainly don't share everything about my life, certainly don't. I share, you know, maybe an eighth of my life online, I'll maybe share a little bit more of my personal Facebook. But honestly, I think that because I've got quite a celebratory attitude to things that comes more naturally to me. Yeah, I certainly don't. And again, that comes from following people who I appreciate with that attitude. It's again, it goes back to what do you want to? What do you want to be seeing more of the end on the internet? And put it out there?

Rosie Parsons  21:16  
Yeah. And that takes really takes the pressure off. If you're not always having to think of your tips all the time, if you're just literally sharing your life? And would you say that those kinds of personal shares, are they really just for Instagram Stories? Or? Or is that okay to be posting is like a LinkedIn post as well?

Maddy Shine  21:33  
Where should we be sharing these more personal things? Oh, God, LinkedIn posts I've been How long do you have? LinkedIn posts? We've all seen them the bro marketers, right? Oh, my God, I had this really personal moment. And they had this really profound insight. And Aren't I amazing? And Isn't life just, we just take it for granted, don't we, by the way, come and if you want to know my secrets, it's 10,000 pounds for my life. I it's just horrendous. If you have something that is actually tangible. Like, I have a speech on Rosie Parsons podcast today. It was super fun. We had a right or giggle. We talked about Korea, we talked. If you want me to come and speak on your podcast reached out to me. That's a normal kind of no vivid insight. Yeah, I wouldn't go my cat's been sick twice on the carpet. That's not one from anyone have any? I'm not I'm not gonna put that on LinkedIn. You know, like, people are gonna be like, Alright, are you okay? But Instagram stories, people are diving into my DMs. Okay, buddy, these, you need to look at portion size. Okay, Maddie. And the thing is, it's like a subconscious thing. Because Instagram Stories, you feel like you're having a chat with that person. You feel like you two are the only one. Whereas LinkedIn. I mean, you know, yeah, millions of people there, right? They're like, okay, buddy.

Rosie Parsons  23:01  
And what would you say to people who are worried about feeling judged by others? And that kind of stuff? How can we kind of be a bit braver and step out of our comfort zone?

Maddy Shine  23:11  
Well, first of all, you have concerns about safe, for example, you aren't keen on you're seeing your face online, or you don't like your voice or whatever, it's something like this, then do have a look to see if you need more professional support. Okay, because some people, you know, go, Oh, you just haven't got the right coach. And those coaches very often aren't the right person. Okay, so I have had therapy, I have had many therapists, so but over the, over the years for various things often to do with putting myself out there, lots of people relying on me, things like that. Right. And that's, so that's on the serious note, on the slightly more lighthearted point, it goes back to, why are you doing it? If you let your y outshine your fear of being judged? Which is what I basically do when I show up. And I'm like, I can't think about the people who might not likely because of my hair, there are many other experts out there that, you know, that is much more suitable for them. Yeah, go forth. Go comes from a from a often comes from like a fear of scarcity or lack. And so they're like, Oh, I must get all the people who need SEO support. Otherwise, I'm a failure, or I must get all the people who need x y Zed, otherwise, I'm a failure. And we'll have that and we don't realise we have that. And so what I'm keen to sort of highlight is, but you don't want to work with everybody. You don't want to have everybody come and come into your shop. They're gonna be a bloody nightmare. They like red flag over there. You know, whatever you call it. You know, I've worked we've all had nightmare clients, and unfortunately only because sometimes you can't see the red flux. But you don't want to work with everybody. And so when you're thinking about worried about being judged, the people who are going to judge you aren't worth your breath. Okay? Like when you are, oh my god, there's a person who I know over there on Instagram, I know she watches my stories. And first of all, I don't see I don't look at who watches my stories. No, anyway, I don't care. Because like, if they haven't fun, great, if something happens, great. But it took me a long time to get there. And I think that when I was when I used to obsess over who likes my posts, and who engages with me, and oh, my God, they unsubscribe from my email. How dare they know? Absolutely. All of this kind of stuff. I mean, these are all thoughts that either I'm a terrible person, or I'm a queen, and why don't you know it?

And I think that that's where we have to look at. Okay, so we've got these fears. Have a look at why you're doing it, who you really want to work with. And something that really helps me as I think of one of my clients who absolutely like I've, you know, I've got a few of them. But I've got one, one client who absolutely loves everything I do. She supports me in everything I do. She will engage with everything. She'll always comment on my posts, she'll buy everything that I'm selling, she always want, you know, she's doing really well on their business. I think of her. Right? Yeah. And I think she's doing well, I want more of that kind of person, please. So I will not then think about the people who might be judging me. I will not then think about all, you know, the the old friend from 100 jobs ago, who might be going, God that Maddie, who does she think she is? You know, because we think that those people are looking if they are, like I said not worth not worth Abra?

Rosie Parsons  26:57  
Yeah, it was interesting. You were saying about having therapy to help you get more visible? Like, can you talk a little bit about that? How that's helped you? Yes, absolutely.

Maddy Shine  27:06  
So I'm a big fan of talk about mental health. And I think that when I was worried about sort of stepping into an expert role, there seems to be a lot of conversation all the time about when do you call yourself an expert? When do you call yourself a coach? When do you call yourself a consultant mental, all these titles? And really, it's just distracting from ultimately helping more people. But anyway, the what what we what we actually sometimes need to look at is where where is that? Where's that seated? What happened in our past, to make us think that we are not worth this? What's actually affecting our self esteem. And very often there are things that we need to work through. And that's why I suggest a professional setting in that way. Because otherwise, you're just going to keep carrying that with you. You're just going to keep going, Oh, crap, because I didn't pass my love and plus, and all these, you know, and then, or whatever it might be right? And so that's not what happened to me. What just happened to me was, these are these stories I like to repeat, we all repeat them. We don't realise we're repeating the we're like, oh, no, but that one time, a friend betrayed me betrayed my trust. And therefore I can't get to 10,000 followers. You don't see that as the connection. But it quite often is because you're like, oh, no, I can't get too big. Because that one person wants told me I'm a show off. Or that one person wants unfriended me, because I shared how much I made on a launch, or whatever it might be, right? And I think that then we hold ourselves to these imaginary limits. And that's why there's such a big thing. Now that mindset. Now I hate that word. I have a lot of strong feelings about that word, because everybody in their bloody mother is teaching about mindset now. Oh, you have to have the right mindset. Now, I've been looking at some of the summaries what people learn on these mindset, coaching days and stuff. And some of them are just a load of rubbish. Like, there's such a basic level stuff and I'm just like, just go just go like, I'm no I'm very privileged, I'm able to get a therapist, I paid for it. But I've also had NHS therapy. So go and see see what resources are available in your borough. See what see what you can get, and work through those much, probably much deeper issues. So then it's a much longer term effect, right? And you're not doing all this particular coach helped me work through my mindset issues. And I mean, you know, anyway, sorry, I've gone off a massive tangent now.

Rosie Parsons  29:37  
It's very interesting, because I was gonna say is, you said in the earlier that you sort of worked through a few different types of therapy like you tried a few different places that how, how do you find a good one?

Maddy Shine  29:48  
Good, good. Oh, Google. I, I went to see my GP the most recent one, I went to see my GP and he put me in touch with so I'm very lucky I live in a bar in London where they haven't Amazing online mental health resources. So I watched quite a few of the videos, and then was basically worked through a series, I think 12 sessions. With this particular therapist, it was all online. And he gave me brilliant tools from a, you know, professional qualification, or this kind of thing. He professionally qualified, gave me all these brilliant tools. And now I just feel a lot more stable, solid, all of those kinds of wonderful things. No, that's great. And if we don't feel like that, we're always going to feel wobbly about putting ourselves out there. I feel.

Rosie Parsons  30:31  
Yeah. So would you say if, if people are feeling that way, then the first stop is gonna see GP and ask sort of what therapy is available?

Maddy Shine  30:39  
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. But I've also found once all the paperwork through, you know, local directories had a phone call with a few a few people, you can usually get a good sense of whether you get on with them or not.

Rosie Parsons  30:50  
Yeah, because that's the thing. You don't want to spend a lot of money, and then they start pouring your heart out. And then like, I actually don't like this person. Awkward. And what about you? So obviously, like crushing it with online visibility? Do you go to in person networking things as well?

Maddy Shine  31:14  
Before? Before the pandemic? Yes, I did. I used to. I used to be either kind of a guest speaker at these current networking things. Or I used to attend them and see old friends. It was great. But I in the old in the really old days, obviously, I didn't know anyone. And that was always a bit terrifying. And so I sort of just kept on going. And then what I would do is I would make friends with them online before I went to them. I would have a friend when I met them there. Yeah, cuz I know. I know. It's it can feel really like oh, God, particularly your introvert. Yeah. Then you're like, oh, god, how am I going to start talking to people? I haven't been to many online in person events since COVID. Sin because it's been too busy. I'm not

Rosie Parsons  32:00  
good. Yeah. Great.

Maddy Shine  32:02  
And, and so I do depend on the online stuff more. However, I have started because there's a wonderful local community of freelancers near me. And so they do online stuff, but also offline now as well. So yeah, so it's nice to have start forging a nice community around me. 

Rosie Parsons  32:23  
Yeah, that's good. And when you have like speaking engagements and things to people, do you kind of mainly get that through you being visible? Or are you complementing it with doing outreach yourself as well? Or how does it work?

Maddy Shine  32:38  
I have done quite a lot of outreach in olden times before COVID. It didn't work so well as when they reached out to me. Yeah. I think there's a number of reasons for that. I think that, obviously, they reached out to me because I was visible. So they understood my brand. They knew what I was about. Whereas if I was doing outreach to them, they were like, oh, let's do her a favour kind of vibe. Yeah. Let's see what she's about. And it's almost like I, maybe I had more to prove to those people, right, it outreach. And actually the people that I was then speaking to in those communities, they weren't they, you know, they weren't particularly they were like, yeah, she's fine. And we liked her a lot. They might give me a follow on Instagram, or whatever. But really, when people kind of reach out to me and book me, then it's much more because of my, like, you found me through Instagram. And yeah, it's through my own visibility. And that's great. I much prefer that. Because also, that what I've seen, what I've noticed is this year, in particular, I have been focused so much on serving the people who pay me rather than I think in years gone by maybe I was just so focused on marketing, rather than, you know, getting new clients in. Yeah. And I still serve the clients I had, but you see what I mean? So I just switched the angle a little bit more. So that's also been really nice. So again, the when people do reach out to me and booked me for speaking gigs, it feels even nicer.

Rosie Parsons  34:01  
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. And as part of your visibility do you connect with? are you connecting with interesting people online? Or just do you just generally wait for people to connect with you? I have

Maddy Shine  34:12  
a lead magnet through Facebook ads and Instagram ads, where people download a freebie from me how to tell Google you exist. And then one of the emails that they get sent after that is to come and connect with me on Instagram. So then we start having good chats, and then also through just me simply putting my posts out there, and then maybe someone tagging them, or someone saying, hey, Maddie, seven soldiers told me about you. Here I am diving into your DMS. Can we have a chat? I go absolutely. Come to my website, blah, blah, and the chat starts from there. So I don't do as much outreach as I used to. Yeah, I go through phases. Sometimes if I'm speaking at an event that I might see, you know, if I have a list of the attendees, I'll come I'll try and connect with them before I go, but again, to be Notice that that that's more to do with my own. Like, I want to find out from them what they want to learn. Yeah, I want to also I want to have some smiling faces, you know? Yeah, that makes sense. Brilliant. You were talking about this lead magnet thing so it can get and I'll put a link to that and what is it? Yes. So basically, it's how to tell Google you exist. So it's how to get set up on a free tool that Google has called Google Search Console. And it's a absolutely foundation to getting your getting your website on Google. It's so you basically give Google a map of your website, essentially, you had to instal a little bit of code on your website as a result. And then basically, the two are tied together forever. And it's a really great way to because then Google will then go right will start putting you in the rankings. Now. As long as of course you're optimised. But basically, if you download my lead magnet, then you will start getting tips and things like that for me as well.

Rosie Parsons  35:58  
Great. Well, I'll put that in the show notes so people can have a look at that. That sounds great. Well, I think that's probably everything that I need to cover. That's been really interesting. So thank you so much for for joining us today. It's been really interesting. And, yeah, I'll make sure that everybody comes and follows you and like, find out more about what you're doing.

Maddy Shine  36:15  
Oh, thank you so much, Rosie. It's been a real pleasure. Really, really fun to chat with you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai