Welcome to Episode 16 of the Above The Fold Podcast show for bloggers, solopreneurs, and digital marketers! In this episode, I will share some of my thoughts and advice for conquering your fears as a blogger and content creator. Let’s dive straight in.

What is going on, everyone? Fabrizio Van Marciano here, and welcome to another podcast episode of the Above The Fold. If this is your first time tuning in, this podcast is all about me sharing with you practical tips, ideas, strategies for growing your blog, freelance business, personal brand business, content creation business, and more.

In this episode, we will talk about conquering your fears as a blogger and content creator online. I’ll share my strategy for finding the confidence to do things like videos and podcasts because there was a time that I wouldn’t dream of doing any of those things. So, we’ve got some exciting stuff to talk about, so let’s get to it!

Music Source – SoundStripe (Affiliate link)

So, here we are again with another show peeps. One thing about me that you probably already know is that I don’t consider myself to be just a blogger. Generally speaking, I’m a designer, developer, and content creator. When I say content creator, I produce and publish content on more than one platform.

I have several blogs, this podcast, and I also manage my growing YouTube channel, where I’m approaching 4,000 subscribers, which is incredible. And, I’m always looking at other possible avenues for distributing my content online.

I love being a content creator, and for me, it’s what keeps me inspired and motivated to keep progressing. Blogging is great, but it’s 2021, and blogs are not the only medium people use to consume content anymore. And I wish more bloggers would think outside of their blogs, explore new avenues, dive into YouTube, or even start a podcast.

But that said, I know that podcasting or doing videos is not something that everyone is comfortable doing. I used to be entirely against doing videos and recording podcasts once. I gave podcasting a try back in 2012 and felt completely out of my comfort zone with it, and so I quickly ditched the idea. And one of the biggest reasons, I believe, is down to fear.

I wasn’t always confident doing anything other than writing blog posts. My readers have established the kind of person I am through my tone and writing style with blogging. Through my podcast, they get to hear what I sound like, and through videos, they get to see the complete me.

And the thing is, I’ve always said this; I preach about it on my blog even. There isn’t a more intimate way to engage with your readers, followers, subscribers, etc., than to use video or podcasting. The relationship you can create with your audience through video is above all else. I wholeheartedly believe that.

Blogging doesn’t even come close. Sure, your readers get to see a little picture of you at the bottom of an article. Maybe with a brief bio, but that’s it. And these days, very few bloggers respond to things like comments, so interacting with the blog authors is becoming rare – At least it would seem that way, in my view. I know a few bloggers that still engage with their audience, and that’s a good thing.

So, let’s get back to what this episode is about – Conquering your fear as a content creator. I’m sure that if you’re a blogger listening to this, you’re perhaps thinking about exploring additional ways to grow your blog or personal brand business and distribute your content using other mediums.

How do you overcome that fear? How do you find the confidence to speak into a microphone? Or to stand in front of a camera and show the world who you are? How do you do that?

Well, there’s no special formula or unique tactic, I’m afraid. It just takes time, practice, and patience. If you could ask anyone who knows me well; What was I like at school and around my friends and family? They would say I was an overly shy individual with very little confidence. I couldn’t even hold a conversation to save my life. I would stutter, muddle up my words; I still do now when I’m under pressure. And, you know, speaking like this into a microphone doing a podcast show would be way out of my comfort zone, as I said.

So, blogging, podcasting, and creating videos have encouraged me to become more confident and overcome my fears more than anything else. They say school helps you improve your social skills and build confidence by engaging and interacting with others. Unfortunately, the school I went to did not do that for me. It did the complete opposite. I was always this shy kid, and I always felt that I didn’t fit in with the rest of the crowd.

Then I went from school and fell into the 9 to 5 rat race, where my confidence improved. However, I still felt held back until I started my own business and discovered the world of freelancing, building a personal brand business, becoming a content creator, serving my audience, etc.

And yes, I know we’re all different, and sometimes we think of the worst. I know, I’ve been there. At the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey, I would often put things off because I would fear –

What if I can’t do it?What if I say something wrong and make a complete fool of myself?What will others think?

The last one was the most prominent manifestation of my fear for me. What will others think? What will my family and friends think of me creating these videos that they’re potentially going to see on YouTube?

As I said, it takes time, practice, and patience. The more you do, the more your confidence will grow. And in the end, you’ll feel exactly how I feel now. Not only do I have the confidence, but I’ve also developed a thick skin. You have to. If you don’t, then you’re not going to last. I’ve learned not to give a ‘you know what’ about what everybody thinks or says.

The more you do, the more confident you will become! And there’s a feeling that you get when becoming more confident, which comes from the folks you are serving. Your audience, in other words.

If people recognize the good you are doing and you’re doing your best, they’ll let you know about it. They’ll also let you know if there’s something they don’t like, and sometimes it will have nothing to do with what you’re trying to do as a blogger, podcaster, video content creator, etc.

On YouTube, for instance, the comments people leave on my videos can sometimes be unmerciful but at the same time quite complimentary. And it’s the lovely comments that help to boost your confidence along the way. But whether it’s your blog or videos on YouTube, you’re always going to get some negative, irrelevant, bone-head comments; you have to look past them.

I get negative and brain-dead comments all the time on my YouTube channel. Often, it’s nothing to do with the topic of the video.

I’ve had people tell me I look stupid wearing a particular piece of clothing; I’ve had comments from people telling me to grow up because one day, I decided to wear my baseball cap back to front. I’m an 80’s kid; what can I say? I’ve been told to have a shave, get a haircut, all sorts.

Of course, none of these comments matter to me because I just don’t care about them. I have the confidence to look past them, and that’s what you have to do, as I said, grow a thick skin. But again, it takes time and practice.

I know we’re all diverse, and we all have different coping mechanisms. It’s up to our selves to deal with it, bite the bullet, move forward, and find the confidence to put content out there and be ready to take anything that gets thrown back at us. There is no other advice that I can give other than just to dive in. If you’re doing the best you can, that’s all that matters.

I want to end this episode with a quote from Jim Rohn, who was an American entrepreneur and motivational speaker –

“Don’t ask for security; ask for adventure. Better to live 30 years full of adventure than a 100 years safe in the corner.”

With that, conquer your fears, get out there, start creating those videos, and launch that podcast; it’ll be fine.

OK, so that’s it, that’s all I have for you in this episode. I hope it’s been insightful and given you a few things to think about. Whatever kind of content creator you are or you want to become. I hope you find the confidence and overcome your fears, and just do it. Get out there and do your thing. You may not get another chance after this life is over, I don’t know. OK, take care, see you in the next episode.

Don’t forget if you’re listening to this show on iTunes, Google Podcasts, or TuneIn. If you want to hear more episodes, or get the best tips and advice on building a profitable business through blogging, or grow your personal brand business, head over to my blog at Magnet4Blogging Dot Net or Dot Com.

Podcast tools used in this episode

Hardware

13″ Macbook Pro (Affiliate link)Focusrite 2i2 Audio Interface (Affiliate link)Rode NT-1 Microphone (Affiliate link)Neewer Mic Suspension Arm (Affiliate link)Neewer NW-3000 Monitoring Headphones (Affiliate link)

Software / Tools / Resources

Garageband (Tutorial for recording and editing podcasts)Auphonic (Audio leveling)Fusebox (Affiliate link – Podcast Player)Libsyn (Podcast hosting)Podcast ArtworkSoundStripe (Affiliate link – Podcast Music)

Affiliate Disclaimer: This post and podcast episode contains affiliate links. This means if you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase of a product or service mentioned, I will be paid a small commission, at not additional cost to you.

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