Social Selling by Showing Up as Your Authentic Self Online

Buying and selling have always been social activities.

Except nowadays, most of that socializing happens digitally and in virtual networking spaces.

One major lesson we’ve gleaned from the rise of social media platforms: There’s a right way to approach your social media presence to help you form real connections and have meaningful conversations with buyers. And this week’s guest on the Winning The Challenger Sale podcast gives us the foundational elements of the “right way” to enable you to be successful at social selling.

In this episode, Suzanne Muchin, Co-Founder of Bonfire Women, drops some knowledge about selling yourself and your ideas on social media in ways that are authentic and relatable to help you cut through the noise and reach your desired audience.

Join as we discuss: 

• How to spice up the “About” section of your social media profiles
• Owning your unique voice and getting over the discomfort of promoting yourself on social
• Using social media to test new ideas and messages, then learning from the response

Listen to “#65: Social Selling by Showing Up as Your Authentic Self Online” on Spreaker.

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Adding spice to your ‘About’ section

As the professional world charges head-first into the digital age, networking has become increasingly reliant on the web. We connect, share stories and even hire directly through social media channels — one powerful example is LinkedIn.

In many cases, recruiters and hiring managers directly connect with others on LinkedIn, meaning your profile is your brand. What you post, how your shape your ‘About’ section and the age and quality of your profile picture genuinely make a difference to the trajectory of your career. Your profile is what sells you and your expertise. 

According to Suzanne, of the best things you can do to sell yourself on social media is to spice up your ‘About’ section.

“Say something that makes me know who you are as a human being,” she says. “We hire humans. We hire people. Don’t make yourself a noun; make yourself a verb.”

Your ‘About’ section should give whoever reads it a solid idea of who you are and what sets you apart from the rest. Don’t simply post your education and work experience — share pieces of yourself and your accomplishments that reveal who you are as a person and a professional.

“Make your ‘About’ section interesting,” Suzanne says. “Create five or six lines that make me stop in my tracks and say: ‘Now, that’s interesting.’”

Owning your unique voice with confidence

Building an attention-grabbing social media presence that embodies who you are and what you’ve done can initially feel like bragging. Self-promotion in any shape or form can be a little uncomfortable.

But according to Suzanne, it’s really important. Luckily, Suzanne also knows tips and tricks to help you own your unique voice — most of which boil down to mindset.

When you’re selling on social, you have to understand exactly what you know, what you want to share and how it can be of value to others. Once you’ve figured out how you want to help others, it’s much easier to share your knowledge and expertise with the world without feeling like you’re bragging. 

“We have to give people enough information about ourselves,” Suzanne says. “And the more comfortable we get with that, the less it sounds like bragging and the more it sounds like claiming it.”

Being authentic, sharing what you know and doing so with confidence and honesty not only creates a better social media presence and boosts sales, but also trailblazes the way for future generations.

Get comfortable with who you are and learn to tell stories, good and bad, to create an authentic foundation for your social media presence.

Testing new ideas and theories on social (and learning from them)

Social media is a unique playground for rogue ideas. Unlike many sales and networking avenues, social media lets you connect with a global audience in a matter of seconds. It’s the perfect place to test theories and adapt as you receive feedback.

“Life is made up of a million test-and-learns. Do a little, learn a lot,” Suzanne says. “Put your theories and ideas out there, see what people think, tweak, then come back the next day — this is what we have to do to become great at sales.”

Suzanne highlights a few ways you can test ideas and theories on social media:

• Share your unique point of view
• Ask pointed questions
• Encourage debate or ask for opinions
• Share stories — successes and failures

Sales is a conversation. According to Suzanne, if you’re not having a conversation, you’re not selling. Social media is the perfect place to kick-start those conversations, build relationships and get feedback and engagement in real time.

Want to learn more about social selling? Listen to the full episode of Winning the Challenger Sale where Suzanne reveals more about building the foundation of an authentic social media presence, empowering the next generation with permission by showing up confidently and establishing sales relationships utilizing social media.

To hear this episode, and many more like it, you can subscribe to the Winning The Challenger Sale podcast on our website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or just search for it in your favorite podcast player.