Getting Beyond Yourself: Taking Your Ego Out of Marketing KDS: 123

The Kim Doyal Show

This episode is brought to you by Cloudways.Now through December 1st, get 40% OFF for 4 months on ALL hosting plans PLUS up to 40 FREE Migrations!Use Promo code BFCM4040 .stk-23e49b9 hr.stk-block-divider__hr{background:#d53371 !important} Removing your ego from marketing is the fastest way to more fun, more data, and, yes, better results. But first, a story on this realization. My friends and I recently revived something we used to do years ago. But first, a little backstory about these friends... These are my high school friends, and still, to this day, are near and dear to me. I've known one of them since kindergarten, another since 6th grade, and the rest are all from my freshman year in high school. So these are lifelong friends. By this stage in life, we've been through a lot together. Graduations, careers, marriages, children, loss, heartache, joy, moving... you name it. There have been times when we've been super close and incredibly active in one another's lives and times when life was so busy that it felt like a challenge to have dinner together. This is just life. I get that, but I always miss them when I haven't seen them in a while. So... the thing we recently revived was our "ornament exchange." My Mom used to do this when I was a child, so in my early 20s, I started an ornament exchange with my girlfriends. The original ornament exchange was handmade ornaments; we made one for each person. This way, you'd leave with 6-10 ornaments, which was great when we were all starting our homes and didn't have kids. As life got busier, we changed things up and would bring one nice ornament (and we started buying the ornaments). I don't remember when we stopped doing this, but after finally getting together for dinner in October, we decided to revive it and make it happen. Even though not everyone could make it, it was soul-filling for me. However, I was struck by something. We did the normal catching up that you do when you haven't seen each other in a while (although this was less catching up since we saw each other a couple of months ago), and then, as the night progressed, the conversations got deeper. I felt deep sadness for some of the things my friends shared. Partly because of what they had to go through (or are going through) but also because they hadn't shared what they were experiencing during the most challenging part. And I know I've done the same thing. This is what being busy can do to us. And while I can't speak for my friends, I'm sure there's a piece of truth to this for them as well. And that is that you don't want to 'bother' people when you're in the middle of something challenging, especially if you haven't talked to or seen them in a while. The crazy thing is that I know I could pick up the phone and call any of these women if I were in a crisis, and they'd all be there for me. No questions asked. And the same is true on my end. There is SO much power in sharing, being vulnerable, and telling our truths. The only way to do this is to get beyond ourselves... and remove the ego. This brings me to how this plays a significant role in our business and marketing. I talked with another friend I hadn't talked to in over a year. This is a woman I connected with years ago online. She's on my email list, worked with me, and bought some of my courses. Over the years, we became friends (this happens with many of my coaching clients). She's in Europe; I'm in the States... It never ceases to amaze me that I have people I consider dear friends worldwide. Anyway, we've been friends for years, and she's seen my transition from the WordPress Chick into my personal brand. She said something when we were talking that I realized was kind of a superpower of mine. She also said she uses me as inspiration on her own journey, which I know is part of my purpose in this lifetime (to inspire).