Powerful Women Rising - A Business Podcast for Female Entrepreneurs

Creating Content That Connects and Converts w/Emily Aborn

• Melissa Snow - Powerful Women Rising, LLC • Episode 96

Share episode

Send us a text

Content Is Connection.  And Connection is Currency.

In this episode of Powerful Women Rising, I'm joined for the second time by my friend Emily Aborn.  She's a fantasic copywriter, funny meme enthusiast and the the voice you hear at the beginning of every episode of this podcast!

We discuss ways to make content creation simple AND fun.  Even if you think you hate content creation or that you suck at it, Emily has practical tips you can start using today to create more authentic, engaging content that resonates with your audience and gets results. 

What We’ll Cover:

  • How creating content in four specific categories makes the process easier and more streamlined.
  • The secret to understanding your audience and using specificity to stand out.
  • How to stay consistent with content creation without burning yourself out.
  • The art of repurposing content to maximize your reach.

If you've ever felt overwhelmed, stuck or unsure what to say when creating content, this episode will help you simplify the process and create content that truly connects and converts!

Links & References:


Loved the episode? Here are four ways you can show your support:
1. Buy me a coffee to show your appreciation!
2. Leave a five-star review
3. DM me on Instagram and let me know
4. Share it with a friend!

Connect with Me, Your Host Melissa Snow!

Melissa Snow is a Business Relationship Strategist dedicated to empowering women in entrepreneurship. She founded the Powerful Women Rising Community, which provides female business owners with essential support and resources for business growth. Melissa's other mission is to revolutionize networking, promoting authenticity and genuine connections over sleazy sales tactics. She lives in Colorado Springs with her two dogs, three cats, and any number of foster kittens. She loves iced coffee, true crime, Taylor Swift, and buying books she’ll never read.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/powerfulwomenrising
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@powerfulwomenrising
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@powerfulwomenrising

Melissa Snow:

Hello Emily, Welcome back to the podcast.

Emily Aborn:

Melissa, thanks for having me.

Melissa Snow:

Yeah, part two. I think you're only the second person who has come back for part two.

Emily Aborn:

This truly feels like an honor. I will be writing this in my diary tonight. Dear diary...

Melissa Snow:

I bet you will.

Melissa Snow:

So if people didn't listen to your first episode episode, or maybe somehow they forgot who you are, I don't know how they could possibly do that. But tell everybody a little bit about you and what you do before we jump into today's topic.

Emily Aborn:

Okay, a little bit about me and what I do. So, like you, I have a proclivity for animals and I have a dog, clyde. I live in New Hampshire, where we probably get a similar amount of snow to you, but it just goes on for longer. And I'm a copywriter by day, so I write. I always have to explain what a copywriter is, just in case people do not understand what it means. So it's basically the words that are on websites and also in blogs, and typically with the purpose of telling customers and clients who you are and what you do and what makes you so fantastic. So I get to have that job for other people.

Melissa Snow:

Love it and thank you for explaining what a copywriter does, because, real talk, when I became an entrepreneur, we get in these spaces when you start networking and stuff that everyone just assumes like everyone knows all the things. It was like two years into my entrepreneurial journey when someone said something to me about business insurance and I was like you, do you who what, do what? And I legit thought a copywriter like helped people copyright their, their materials.

Emily Aborn:

Like get the little C yeah.

Melissa Snow:

So good to know, okay, so today we're talking there's a lot to talk about when it comes to writing, copy and creating content, so we're just going to touch on a little bit of it today. But I really want to focus on content creation for people who don't love content creation, or content creation for people who think that they're not good at content creation. I was actually just having this conversation in a mastermind this morning and I was telling the women there I'm like, first of all, stop saying you're not good at stuff. Like no one is just like naturally good at these things, right, even if you're a really good writer. Content creation is a very different thing and so much of this is figuring out, like, what is the way that works for you and what is going to be best for you and your strengths and what you like and what you want to do. So before we jump into that part, let's be specific about when we're talking about content creation. Is that the same thing as copywriting? Is that something different? What is content creation?

Emily Aborn:

That is such a great question and it's a yes and it's a yes and no. So sometimes the copy on our websites will be more of that kind of like informational nurturing, just kind of like broad, helpful, helpful content for people. So it might answer somebody's problem with a blog or something like that. So they are one and the same, but I always think of content more like less of a sales approach. You're doing less to convert a person or guide them to take a next step, and it's just a little bit more of a building block, I guess, for your business. So yes, and they are kind of one in the same, but typically copywriting focuses more on the sales piece, so it does tend to be a little bit more promotional. And consider some of those psychological elements where you're trying to get somebody to do something for you. Does that make sense?

Melissa Snow:

It does. So. Content creation, would you say. Is that a little bit more about, like, showing people who you are as a person? It's more about sharing stories, nurturing your audience, connecting with them, things like that.

Emily Aborn:

Connection, I think, is the key, and I sort of put it into like four buckets. So you will still pull in that sales piece, right, you're still going to have promotional content. But I think of it as kind of like educational or helpful, personal and also like the behind the scenes of your business, or sorry, not the behind the scenes, but like the foundational stuff of your business. So that would be where your client stories come in, where you're like who, what, where, when, why, like that kind of just basic information, like at the at the top of this episode when we defined what a copywriter is. That's just like the foundation of my business. So foundational, personal, helpful and then promotional are kind of how I categorize them.

Melissa Snow:

Okay, I really love this topic too, and I think we talked about this the last time you were on the podcast, because a lot of times when I talk about networking, people think I'm talking about like going to networking events or being part of a networking group, and that is part of it. But I also always say that networking can be done anywhere that you are creating a connection with another human right. So even if you are writing a blog post or you're posting something on LinkedIn or something like that, content creation has a lot to do with connecting to other humans, right? Definitely.

Emily Aborn:

I think that's exact and that's a piece I think a lot of people miss. So I always like to think, I always say, like know thyself and know your business and know the person on the other side that you are looking to talk to. Like content to me is very conversational, it's very like engaging and it truly is that. It's creating a bridge between you and the person on the other side. So you do have to know yourself, you have to know your business and you have to know who that person is on the other side. Or else you're just kind of speaking to quote, unquote everyone Right, or I work with anyone who, like that doesn't actually work.

Melissa Snow:

Yeah, I agree, and it's interesting how often I ask people when I do these virtual speed networking events in the con, in the contact sheet that they fill out with the information of how people can get in touch with them and stuff, one of the things that I ask is, like who's your ideal power partner or referral partner? Who do you want to connect with industry wise? And it's so interesting how people don't know how to answer that question. Or when you ask them like what's your ideal client? They're like anybody, everybody, anybody who wants to buy or sell a house, like some I've had.

Melissa Snow:

I've heard people say anyone who has skin, because you sell skincare products, right and like it's clever and that part makes me laugh. But it's really important to be honed in on specific people that you're talking to, not necessarily like Jane down the street, but like the problems that that person has, but like the problems that that person has, the stage of business that that person is in, or their relationship or whatever it is when you're creating content. So can you talk a little bit about the importance of knowing who your audience is when you're creating content?

Emily Aborn:

Yeah, and I would venture to say you can talk to Jane down the street, because the more specific you can be, the more actually universal it ends up being. So let me I'll give you a little example of what I mean by that. That's not a phrase by me, that's like a famous writer that said that and I can't remember who said it. But like, if you imagine an apple, okay, I'm like Melissa, imagine an apple, I don't know what just popped into your head. It could have been a Cortland, a Granny Smith, like a Yellow Delicious, who knows. But if I tell you to close your eyes and imagine a slightly too tart Granny Smith apple, the inside of your cheeks start to pucker up, because most of us listening are familiar with a Granny Smith apple and it's so specific that it creates that feeling. So I think that when we do get specific, it's okay because it actually helps it to be a more universal experience. And I can't even tell you how many times I've been thinking of a person like I'll sit down, write my email. I'm like this is for Christy, right, and I'm sitting down and writing this email to Christy. Somebody else responds. Well, christy responds and says like oh, my God, that was me. Somebody else responds and says, like, are you in my head right now? So the the point is a lot of the, a lot of the specific things that we all encounter on a day to day, the specific pains and challenges, those are actually universal experiences. We may not want to think that they are, we may like to think we're special, but but we tend to have more in common than we do different. So I actually really like being specific with people and I will think of If it's hard for you.

Emily Aborn:

Defining your ideal client can be challenging and especially for business owners that haven't had their businesses for a long time. They're like well, I really want to start working with an elevated level of client or I'm not attracting the kind of clients that I want to be working with. So put yourself in the shoes of that next level person right, and go through their day. How are they waking up? What are they putting in their coffee? If they have to leave their house, what time are they leaving? Are they going to meet a client or a friend? What kind of coffee shop are they going to when they meet that person? So going through their actual life and seeing it through their eyes can be a helpful and also fun experiment. If you get stuck, your friend chat GPT or these other AI tools are actually really good at creating a scenario of an ideal client's day. Before Melissa and I started this conversation, we had chat GPT describe what my life looks like and it just went through like a very specific day in my life, basically, and it was very accurate. So you can also use some of these AI tools, I think, to get a good picture. But don't just stop with like what did they like to wear and where did they like to go for coffee. Think about what is really bothering them when it comes to what you offer and how that's holding them back from where they want to be.

Emily Aborn:

And I am pretty cognizant of pain points. We see them all over the internet. They drive me bananas. Honestly, I'm like we all know what pain we're in, okay. So I like to put it like take whatever pain point you think your client has and turn it right around and create a benefit out of it. So like, take a pain point and I'm just going to say, nope, here's the benefit that you're going to get. So if somebody is like, let's say, you have stomach aches every single day of your life. That's like one of your pain get. So if somebody is like, let's say, you have stomach aches every single day of your life, that's like one of your pain points. So how can I make that a benefit? My product will make sure that you go through your day with ease and a calm tummy. I'm like, oh great. So that's kind of I don't know if I actually answered your question.

Melissa Snow:

No, you totally did, cause I was asking you about the importance of knowing who your audience is and knowing who you're talking about, and that totally makes sense and I think it helps to. Sometimes I'll ask myself this is my old coaching days coming in, when you ask the client, like they answer a question, and then you're like but why, but why, but why. Right After the third why, it's like okay, now we've gotten to the real issue. And sometimes I think that's helpful in creating content too, because you look at, like what are they struggling with? What is their challenge? Whatever, and it's usually something very generic, right, like they're lonely, they want to lose weight, they need to make more money in their business, but why, you know. And then you get to those very specifics of like they've been at this for X number of years or months and their husband is asking them every day what's happening, what's going on. Their kid wants to do this afterschool activity, but they're not sure that they can afford it.

Melissa Snow:

Like those really specific things, I think that's what really speaks to somebody, as opposed to just like are you a business owner that wants to make more money? It's like I mean, that's all of us.

Emily Aborn:

Yeah, oh, you said that really really well and I I totally agree. Like keep asking the but why, or but why, yeah.

Melissa Snow:

And I think sometimes people are reluctant to get that specific because they feel like they're leaving other people out and like if I'm only talking about this one specific thing, then people are going to like it's going to exclude a lot of people. So I liked what you said about being more specific. Actually makes it more like universally recognizable.

Emily Aborn:

And to that point, another way to kind of like quell that fear. You can't speak to everybody in one post all the time, like if you even think about just trying to make everybody in your life happy all the time, good luck, but you can't speak to everybody in one post all at a time and you have a lot of time. Content creation is a long-term game Business ownership long-term game. You can talk to that person tomorrow in a post or in an email. So use that specificity to your advantage, rather than being like but I'm leaving this person off the table. Be specific with them tomorrow and then they'll feel seen, heard and understood. Or save that for an email.

Emily Aborn:

The other factor is not all forms of content are where your ideal client is showing up. So some of your clients might be reading your emails, some might be listening to your podcast, some might be looking at your social posts, some might be doing none of that and might just read your website once and then decide to hire you. So, thinking about where your client actually is and where they might be in different kind of stages of the decision-making process, that can also help you to speak a little bit more specifically on those various platforms.

Melissa Snow:

Yeah, that's such a good point. I want to go back to what you said about how you can speak to different people different times. So if you're not talking to them today, talk to them tomorrow. And I think one of the things, especially for our friends here who don't love creating content or who think that they're not good at it, one of the things I think that keeps them stuck is they think they're putting too much out there. They think they're creating too. They're afraid of creating too much content, of being like salesy or annoying, or people are going to see like, oh, she posts every day. It's so annoying. And so I think that's why sometimes we try to fit everything into one piece of content, because then we can just post our one piece of content, we don't have to bother people for the rest of the week and we're good. So can you talk a little bit about like, how often should we be creating content? How often should we be putting content out into the world?

Emily Aborn:

Okay, so there's no easy answer for that, unfortunately, but I do want to say that in today's day, let's just use social media content as an example. Most people are not seeing your posts the first time, and so I always encourage people. It's not repeating yourself, it's consistency, and it's also repurposing things in different ways. You could post every, you could post three times a day. I still don't think you'd be bothering people, because 30% of the people wouldn't even see it, and surely they wouldn't see it that first time, so I wouldn't too much worry about creating too much content.

Emily Aborn:

I am a very loquacious person. I produce a lot of content and I just had a moment, actually at the beginning of this week. I'm like I'm a lot, like I am a lot, and you know what, if somebody doesn't want to listen to every single episode that I create or read every single thing that I put out, they don't have to, and I actually that's something I have to do because it's inside me and like I don't really have, like I don't have a choice. I have to do because it's inside me and like I don't really have, like I don't have a choice. I have to generate things when I get ideas, and so I don't. I have to stop worrying about what the experience is on the other side. But basically, I really don't think if somebody is annoyed they can unsubscribe or unfollow you. You know what I mean. But I don't think that the likelihood of that is high, just simply because I don't think a lot of people are looking at every single piece of content that you create. You know which? I wish they were.

Melissa Snow:

And if they are, it's probably because they want to see it. They're never going to be.

Emily Aborn:

Exactly. I got to tell you. I had a recent experience where I was trying to make a decision and one of the people I was looking at to make my decision I was getting a tattoo and I would hang on every word. I'm like this chick needs to produce more stuff so I can read more about her and see more pictures. I wanted her to keep on creating things and, yes, that's a visual example, but still I wanted to know as much about her as I possibly could. She could not post often enough. She could post a picture of herself and tell about herself every single day and I'd be eating it up. So think about that too Somebody out there is trying to make a decision on you and you don't know if that's not their experience on the other side.

Melissa Snow:

Yeah, absolutely, and I love what you said about letting people be responsible for their own Like. I'm just putting the stuff out there. You don't have to listen to it, you don't have to read it, you don't have to like it even. But yeah, that's on you. I'm just putting it out there in case you're interested.

Emily Aborn:

So let's go back to the frequency piece for your own self, okay. So like we put everybody else aside, like I don't care what they want me to do, for frequency, I think the most important thing is to be consistent, and that's for two reasons that is for the person on the other side, and it's also for yourself. I think that consistency proves to yourself, first and foremost, that you are, you know, a person who follows through on what you say for yourself, and I think that's huge. Upholding a promise to yourself is one of the biggest acts of self-care or self-love. It's like I got my own back, so I would choose how frequent you want to produce things in knowing how consistent you can be.

Emily Aborn:

Your life is happening all around you. You're not just sitting there. You're probably working with clients, I hope, and you're not just sitting there creating content all day long. So how much do you actually have the capacity to keep up with on a regular basis? That's first and foremost where I think it needs to start, and then that can kind of determine your cadence from there. And there's also a lot showing that on Facebook, for example. When I post less, for some reason, my engagement with it goes way up. If I'm posting more, it goes down. Instagram it's like hit or miss. So you have to Again the frequency. Don't let something outside of that define what that is for you. Let it come from inside, based on what you actually have capacity for, and then can stick with time and time and time again, even when life throws you curveballs, because it's going to.

Melissa Snow:

Yeah, and consistency is not the same thing as constancy.

Emily Aborn:

Correct.

Melissa Snow:

Yeah, it does not mean we have to be posting all the time Right, it does not mean we have to put out a podcast episode every single day.

Emily Aborn:

It just means Not even every week. If that's not the right one for you, it could be every month. You know you have you get to define that, I think, for yourself.

Melissa Snow:

Yeah, I dragged my feet for so long on starting a podcast, my first podcast, like years and years ago, because I was like I don't, I can't come up with stuff to say. I remember I can't remember who I had this conversation with, but I was like I can't come up with like 25 to 30 minutes worth of stuff to say every single week and they were like who wants to listen to 25 to 30 minutes?

Emily Aborn:

And I was like I know, I'm sorry I broke your little heart, but yours are great, cause you talk real fast and you get it all in there. I do.

Melissa Snow:

You've got like a 50 minute podcast in 20 minutes but this is actually.

Emily Aborn:

That's another great point. I had someone recently she she heard I did a solo show and she was like, oh, it must be so short, then Right, like five, 10 minutes. I'm like, no, it's not, it's short ish. But it's like again, I don't. I will listen to a three hour podcast episode if the content is good, and I think that's also important to remember is like if what you're generating is good and it's helpful and it's coming from the right place, then people will will consume it from start to finish, whether it's 10 minutes or 40 minutes.

Melissa Snow:

Yes, absolutely, and I just remember that being like oh well, it's up to me, I can create a podcast where every episode is seven minutes long, if I want to. It's just the consistency, right? I don't want to put out a podcast where the first 30 episodes are seven minutes long and now all of a sudden, here's one that's 45 minutes long. People are like wait, what just happened? So I mean, making that change would be different, but just like the randomness would be not as consistent. So, okay, so we, I'm gonna.

Melissa Snow:

I'm going backwards here a little bit, but I think this is an important question, because sometimes I talk to people who are in specific industries, like I think there is a lot of confusion among content creation, where it's like I'm creating content because I want to be an influencer. I'm creating content because I want 15,000 followers on Instagram, because somewhere in my mind I think that means I'm going to like also have that many clients. And I think sometimes there are certain industries where they think, yeah, I got to create content. Right, you see coaches creating content all the time life coaches, business coaches, health coaches all the coaches Like they're one of the ones that you see creating a lot of content.

Melissa Snow:

Then there's others like bookkeepers, or I have a client in the Powerful Women Rising community who is like a financial strategist and she's like yeah, my people don't, I don't, I don't get clients from creating content. Like that's not, we don't do that, or like construction companies, so should, not, should. But do you recommend people in every industry create content? Or are there some people who it's like yeah, you can be a business owner and also not create content?

Emily Aborn:

I think that we should define content. So content could be anything. Honestly, it could be as simple as a wrap on your truck, like on your vehicle. So I think that's an important distinction. It does not need to be a blog, it doesn't need to be a podcast, it doesn't need to be social media. And I do think that there is an element where it's like find where your people are actually spending their time and make sure you've covered all your bases on that.

Emily Aborn:

So, for example, my husband is a painter and he doesn't need a ton of work.

Emily Aborn:

He doesn't need a ton of work, but every time he makes a Facebook post, he gets a client.

Emily Aborn:

So we've now realized this and he's like oh, I actually do need to have a little bit of there, there, some presence there, because I don't want to just be showing up randomly and making a post every 6 months or whatever. And I think the same and also thinking about like well, are my customers using any of those platforms or tools to like vet me or to check me out? And then just considering what that experience is like I'm not even saying, get that, you have to create anything, but just like knowing, are they using these tools to find me? Or, conversely, are people who refer you often using these tools and, if not, where are they spending their time? So I think that's a good place to start and then thinking of like well, if my clients are not on social media, for example, and they're not listening to podcasts, and content doesn't help me are they reading blogs on my website? And I think that there is probably some element of content that every single business owners clients are consuming and it's up to us to figure out what that is.

Melissa Snow:

Yeah, I love the idea that content is so many different things. It's like networking, right so many different ways to do it, and so find not only what you like. Like I was just having this conversation with somebody that was like I have this Facebook group and I've had it for years and I've gotten one client from the Facebook group and blah, blah, blah, blah. And finally I was like why do you still have this Facebook group?

Melissa Snow:

What are we doing here, and so being really clear on like, what is it that you like to do and want to do, but then also, where are your ideal clients consuming that content? I think is really important. So that kind of segues into the next question I was going to ask you, which is about how to simplify or avoid overcomplicating things when we do content creation, because we talked a little bit about like before we started recording the shiny object syndrome where we're like we need to create content on all the things. Right, I'm going to write a book and have a podcast and I'm going to post on all the social media things and we get really excited, especially people like you and I. We want to do all the things all the time. So what suggestions do you have for people who want to keep it simple or avoid overcomplicating their content creation?

Emily Aborn:

Awesome. So one you just kind of answered. You said, like choose where you actually want to spend time and be and that you can show up regularly. And I totally agree and I'd even say like if a platform is genuinely not for you, even if your ideal clients are on there, you still don't need to choose it. I'm sure some of my clients somewhere maybe I don't know are on TikTok threads. I don't do those things because they're not fun for me and I don't need to add that clutter to my life. So choosing what works for you is key.

Emily Aborn:

But then let's break out those four pieces I talked about at the beginning and I'll tell you actually how I like to think of them in my everyday content creation. And then I literally it's just that easy, it's just I pick one of these four things, this is how I do it and boom. So the four are I'll use a garden analogy okay, so we'll start with the soil and that's that foundational piece. That's like the who, what, why, where of your business and also of your clients. So it's just like all that real basic stuff, the information that you have to share about your business, like at its core. Then you have the water, which is like that educational content, helpful tips, resources, anything that would help them along their journey, or things that you can give them as like quick educational wins. Then sunshine, and this is totally the fun cat. It's just throw away fun pictures of your dog, pictures of your cat. You and I do this in our Instagram stories. We just have fun in our Instagram stories. It is the sunshine of our brand and I do it in other places too. But that is just like where you get to actually show your personality. And then there's that promotional piece and that's where you're actually selling.

Emily Aborn:

Now notice, if you have all four of those, you're not always sharing photos of your dog. You're not always sharing educational tips. You don't need to come up with a new educational tip for your client every day. You can break those out and let's say you're just doing four pieces a week. You just choose one of those in those categories per week and there you go. That's the easiest way I know to make it feasible for myself.

Emily Aborn:

I like to give myself more guardrails than that. So each month I'll create like a theme of what I'm going to share, so that way everything I'm creating falls into that theme, and then I also am not like then I'm not running around with shiny objects. Like just today in a call I got a really good idea for like a post because a client had said something and I jotted it down. I'm like, okay, I will put that into the right month that it fits in. It doesn't all need to be acted on right now just because I got the idea. So I kind of like to give my months a theme and then I sort of fit everything into that and then additionally, repurpose everything that you're using. This is my biggest tip Repurpose everything.

Emily Aborn:

Your website copy Fantastic. Take it and go through it and find how you can reuse it someplace else. Could you also use it on LinkedIn? Could you also turn it into a social media post? Could it be an email or the intro to your podcast. Repurpose everything that you're doing into other ways and you will save yourself so much time. So Melissa and I both have podcasts. I take my podcast and I just turn that into content for the rest of the week, like bada, bing, bada, boom. So I sit down once, get the transcript and then I'm like, oh good, now I have a week of things that I can talk about and I don't have to lift a finger again. It's lovely. So I can't tell you enough how beneficial it is to repurpose and it also brings, like this, cohesion to your content, like everything just ties together. People don't really know why, but it all just kind of goes, you know.

Melissa Snow:

Yeah, those are great ideas. I you just gave me ideas I hadn't even thought about before.

Emily Aborn:

Oh good, Jot those down and save them for next month's theme. Exactly.

Melissa Snow:

So you know that one of my big values in my business is about authenticity. It's about being yourself, showing up as yourself. That's not always easy. Authenticity it's about being yourself, showing up as yourself. That's not always easy. Sometimes it's very scary, but I talk a lot about the importance of showing up as yourself and saying what you want to say, even if it's not what's popular, and not feeling like you have to put on that mask of like look at me, I'm the super successful business owner and everything is perfect Like. The example that I use a lot of times is a mastermind call. I was running once in the powerful women rising community and we were like halfway through the mastermind and I reached up to like scratch and I felt the tag on my shirt and I was like my I just said out loud. I was like my sweater is on backwards and everybody just kind of stopped talking and I just like pulled my arms out and turned my sweater around we went back on with it, so you don't have to be quite that weird.

Melissa Snow:

But showing up as yourself, I think, is a big part of content creation and that piece that we were talking about in the beginning about using it as a way to connect with your audience. So what tips do you have for people to show up more authentically in their content, especially if they might be like nervous or uncomfortable doing that?

Emily Aborn:

Yes, I love this question. So one is just remembering that, like authentic and and sharing your personality doesn't mean you need to share everything. Like you are still allowed to have your private arguments with your spouse or your dog or your house plant and you don't need to post those online.

Melissa Snow:

So I think that you do not have to take a picture of yourself crying and post it for us all to see.

Emily Aborn:

Exactly so. That's not authenticity, that's not vulnerability. You don't need to show all parts of your life, and I think that that's important to say, because some people that's the part that they are like, oh I can't get personal, because they think personal is their most vulnerable moments. But I would choose five pieces of you that you are comfortable sharing. Maybe it's books that you like to read, maybe it is your dog, maybe it's what you like to do on the weekends or a hobby that's way too expensive and that's how your business, that's why you need to have a business. So sharing those kinds of things I also love. I personally think that bringing more of your personal stories in is fantastic, and anytime you can draw it back to a business lesson great. But sometimes stories are just fantastic to tell stories, so know. So don't shy away from personal stories. And then I also love bringing like just letting yourself dance to the beat of your own drum, so like if you see something and it is a shiny tactic that you should be doing, or a framework, if anything I said you're like that's stupid, don't do it. You don't have to do what anybody else is telling you to do. You don't have to batch your content and write it all at one time. You don't have to post on this platform or the other platform. Dance to the beat of your own drum. That's how you start, I think, unlocking a little bit more of that authenticity, just honoring what you actually want to do and don't want to do in this realm. And then lastly and this is like my, I would like die on this hill. I don't know how that phrase even oh, I'm terrible at phrases, by the way, I can't say any phrases. I think this is the hill I would die on.

Emily Aborn:

Be conversational. So remember, when you are reading something that somebody else wrote, you're one person reading what one other person wrote. Even if you're speaking to an audience, you're still only ever speaking to one person at a time. So just be conversational. And that's where I love to encourage people that are like I'm not a good writer, I'm like good, because good writers can get way up in their head and lose a lot of that conversational element. Good writers are really good at making a five-paragraph essay in school, but that is not what this is. I just want you to talk to me like a human, like in Melissa's words, not like a salesy weirdo, right? So talk, to use your content as a way to just be conversational, like that is what you want it to be. You want it to be a conversation, a two way street, so invite that in.

Melissa Snow:

I love that. That's really good. If you can talk to a human, you can create content.

Emily Aborn:

And if, yeah, and if, and that's a good. Actually, I love this because, if talking is better for you, a choose things that allow you to to use that voice of yours, but, b you can also record yourself saying things and then transcribe it and use the. You know, clean it up a little bit, obviously, because these AI tools are still not perfect, but you can just go ahead and speak what you want to speak and then transcribe it and use that. I think that is I've done that too, and I have to actually like play it back for myself, but I've done that to help me write out something that I'm still jumbled up about, and it's really, really helpful.

Melissa Snow:

I like to do it when I'm out taking a walk by myself, and then I walk by people and they're like who's she talking to?

Emily Aborn:

You're like I'm just having an epiphany over here, Don't mind me.

Melissa Snow:

But 90% of the time that I'm talking, I'm talking to my dog anyway, and so people are always just like are you talking to me? I'm like, no, the dog, because that makes so much more sense. All right, before we wrap up, what is the best way for people to connect with you? You have a podcast that is awesome. If you think that I'm funny, you should definitely connect with Emily on Instagram, because her stories are equally, if not more, funny than mine. What's the best way for people to reach out and connect with you?

Emily Aborn:

Well, thank, you and thanks for having me. Emilyaborncom is the easiest way to get ahold of me, and then you can find all of the places I do share content.

Melissa Snow:

Awesome, you are the best. Thank you so much for coming back and having this fabulous conversation with me. I always love chatting with you.

Emily Aborn:

Thank you, me too, melissa.

People on this episode

Contributor

Melissa Snow

Host