Social Proof, Huh?

 Social what? Oh, the terms. They come, they go, some I know, most I don't. I'm getting old, I suppose.

"You need social proof," they said. Wait, I'm on social media. Does that count? I like my bourbon at least one hundred proof, Is that the same thing? No, okay. Never mind, I'll Google it. 

Those of you who have been following my journey probably know my first book, written for the industry that built me, healthcare, launches on July 19, 2021. Fix This Next for Healthcare Providers is so niched that moving forward toward expanding into a broader space and writing a second book caused a troll to emerge. Not the cute kind from back in the eighty's, the kind that is the truest and darkest reflection of your inner critic. Mine's nasty. Like, real nasty. 

Writing a book is hard enough, a proposal, even harder, but when I heard I needed social thingys, it didn't take long for the troll to arise, suit, bowtie, the whole shebang. I beat myself up pretty hard over this. I gave myself every reason under the sun that a publisher would never be interested in my new book concept, despite having a system that worked for hundreds of businesses in the first six months of its launch. This book idea is one that I couldn't be more passionate about – it works, and I have tons of business owners to confirm that. Despite all of the data, numbers, and testimonials telling me I could, I still thought maybe I couldn't. 

Even now, as I prepare for "the moment," I struggle with the perfect strategy to present the book proposal. Go big or go home, that's kinda my style—no half assin' around this Poppy's girl. 

I hear, "Don't F this up, Compton," in my head over and over. Not sure who said that (ha, ha). I can't help but wonder what F'n it up actually looks like? Does that mean I freeze? Say something really dumb, which is entirely likely. Or does it mean I just do a terrible job at explaining my book idea? 

The troll says, "There's no way you can compare to Michalowicz's shenanigans and his rap sheet for pitching books. He's got twelve years on you. His proposals are incomparable to yours." 

I try to picture how this meeting will go. Will the publisher look like a leprechaun? Oh crap, is it a woman? Those NYC ladies are tough? She'll eat me alive. Maybe they'll be from the south. Ha! Nah, that'll never happen. Compton, how will you pull this off?

That was the million-dollar question. I knew I could do what I always do, go back to what I know best, and figure it out. 

I could hear Mike's voice say, "Twelve years ago, I was in the EXACT same place you are right now. Hang in there, build relationships, be patient," he assured me during my last phone semi-freak out. 

But the impatient Kasey didn't want to wait on time. She wants this book deal, and she wants it sooner rather than later. She has big plans, and she wants to act on them NOW! She's also writing this blog, so no idea why she continues to refer to herself in the third person. Maybe it's the Buffalo Trace. 

Okay, Kasey's back. I'm back. I sit down on my couch, stare at my fireplace that just so happens to have memorabilia on the mantle since I'm a closet hoarder. Coffee mugs supporters bought me when I first officially called myself an author, books that had meaning and served as inspiration for my writing, and of course, a damn good bottle of bourbon teasing me for another taste. I look over at my bulletin board and see at least twenty birthday cards from readers and former clients who think enough to send me a gift and a handwritten note to say, "Hope you have a great birthday." 

Do I really need their (publisher's) social proof, whatever that is, when I have my own kind? It all makes me think about who I am as a person and how I'm no stranger to adversity. It reminds me how I always find a way to press on, regardless of the outcome. The nameplate my billing manager made me proudly says "F*uker in Charge." I giggle when I see it. It is so inappropriately funny I can't help but raise my chin up in that instant. 

Yes, Jackie Jennings, AKA my bodyguard, I am in charge. Especially in charge of the trolls. I do have a fantastic and loyal readership, and I have eleven successful businesses. Eleven! I'm out here doing it, not just talking about it. This was me, giving myself a pep talk and putting that troll in its place.

I continue on talking to myself, hoping no one comes down the hallway. Usually, it's the Old Man, and he can't hear, so that doesn't really matter. 

Let's think this through and talk to ourselves like a rational human being. You want to write a book that changes lives, right? Right. 

And to do that, someone needs to publish it, right? Right. 

For someone to publish it, you need to prove that people care about your book and will buy it, right? Right. 

To prove that, you need to show that you're kind of a big deal by highlighting your access to influencers, your subscribers, and your network, right? Sorta right. Maybe. Dang it, I don't really even know, troll. 

I couldn't pull these stats out of my fanny because they didn't exist. I spent the last several years laser-focused, building my businesses, not building my social game. I tell myself I need a strategy, a plan for showing these publisher leprechauns that the systems I teach entrepreneurs really works. Although I may not (yet) have all the social proof they might be looking for, it doesn't matter. I just need to communicate this in a way they can understand and in a way they can see the passion I have for changing lives. I think long and hard, and this is what I come up with. 

I say aloud, "I am confident in myself as an entrepreneur because, in eighteen months, I was able to generate five million dollars with only five hundred Instagram followers." That was it. That was the best I had for them. They can either measure my relevance by numbers online or the ones that I believe matter more, the ones in my bank account. What I have accomplished as an entrepreneur has never felt remarkable to me; it's just what I do. I don't boast about it. I don't lead with it. It's just part of my day. It actually never sounded impressive until I said it aloud on a coaching call and my friend, Jeffrey Shaw, said, "Kasey, I think that's it." 

Hey troll, guess what? I am capable, and people's businesses will benefit significantly by reading my books; yes, I said "books" plural. I may not have one-hundred-thousand people on my email list, but ask those that do, how many people open their emails? Even more than that, how many actually buy what they sell? I may only have a few thousand on my list, I have a sixty-eight percent open rate and sell out of every program my team and I launch. We achieve massive conversions without an enormous following and without a lot of effort, and I consider that a win. 

I don't have twenty-thousand followers on Facebook, but the ones I do I have, engage with my posts, encourage me to keep doing what I'm doing, and share their own success stories, which fuel my fire. I haven't presented at international conferences, nor do I fly from city-to-city with an entourage (unless you count my husband, three kids, and three dogs), but the people I reach through my speaking events take action. I don't have a YouTube channel featuring daily videos, and none of them have gone viral, but do they need to, and how much does that matter anyway? 

Who cares what my social numbers say because the proof is in my peanut butter banana pudding. Here I am, banging out these words because my audience has asked for them. Literally, they want help scaling their business, but they are paralyzed by falsities and lies that the industry inadvertently creates; they believe they need to work more and build more social proof to scale. They think they need subscribers to be successful, and I'm here to tell you that's just not true. 

You don't need to do more to do better. You don't need to increase your busyness to grow your business. The key to being a successful entrepreneur is to spark an idea that will solve a relevant problem for people, which they will beg to buy. Once that's done, success is achieved by creating systems and processes to ensure efficiency so that people other than you can manage and sustain. This is how you achieve profitability and gain traction towards becoming the true entrepreneur you were meant to be. 

If you're reading this post right now, it's because my plan was to incorporate this piece of writing into the proposal for my second book. But after using this experience to process and tear down my own inner critic, I realize it's not necessary. I don't need to justify why I don't have 100K Instagram followers; I just need to keep helping people. I need to keep changing lives, helping people achieve entrepreneurial freedom because, in my eyes, that's what matters. If a publisher sees it and wants to sign me up, that's amazing, and I will celebrate it from the rooftops. 

But, if not, that's okay too. It doesn't change much; this book will be written either way.