Have you ever felt so passionate about something, but you’re too scared to post your thoughts online out of fear of being judged?
Or fear of having people call you out and tell you you’re wrong…
Many of us succumb to the fear around sharing our true thoughts and feelings online.
Because deep down we all want to be liked and hate to ‘make a scene.’
We’d rather keep the peace.
And after all, if you share what you really believe, you’ll be bombarded with hate mail and no-one will buy from you, right?
But that’s just not true.
And here’s why…
Why controversy sells
If you’ve ever written a blog post or a post for social media and paused before hitting publish, you may have felt those waves of doubt.
That’s the fear.
It’s your fear trying to keep you in your safe space and out of the spotlight.
Because controversial topics can spark lots of attention.
It triggers an emotional response in people. And when you poke and prod at people’s emotions and passions, they feel drawn to take action.
The ‘lurkers’ you’ve never seen before feel compelled to comment.
They find their voice.
The conversation starts to flow and the followers that matter start to connect with the real you.
And when you engage and form deeper connections with people, that’s when selling your products or services becomes easy.
Sure, your opinions may divide the crowd, and you may even get a nasty comment or two. But the people that agree with you will be more drawn to your brand.
They’re the people that follow you intently and engage with your content.
These people are your ideal clients.
And the people that don’t agree with you… Well, they were never right for your business to begin with.
Being controversial allows you to separate the wheat from the chaff. The ‘nay sayers’ can go elsewhere, and you can carry on attracting the people you’d love to work with.
And that’s just a small part of what I help my clients achieve inside the Pet Biz Thrive Online Club.
Where we help pet business owners find their voice and share their truth online. So they can increase their engagement and draw in their perfect customers.
Not a member yet?
But what does being controversial really mean?
Let me give you an example…
As well as being a pet industry content and social media consultant, I also run a dog blog called GoneDogMad.
Inside one of my blog posts, I touched upon the topic of dressing dogs up in clothes. It was a blog post around ‘10 things your dog wishes you wouldn’t do.’
Now, this is a topic that polarises people around the globe.
I don’t believe any dog wants to be dressed up in a tutu, a sparkly jumpsuit, or a Halloween costume for that matter.
I don’t care how cute you think it is. It forces the dog into a stressful situation, unnecessarily.
But many people disagreed with me. And that’s ok.
They’re not the right audience for my blog.
Thankfully more than half of the comments were from people that totally agreed with me and felt just as passionate about the topic as I did.
But it got the conversation flowing, and a big boost of traffic to my blog.
If you want to stand out in an overcrowded market, you have to stop playing safe.
You need to say and do things that will pique people’s curiosity and bridge the gap between you and your audience.
Because when you talk about the things that really matter to people, you create a sense of community. A community people love being a part of.
So never be afraid to share your opinions. If you have something to say, get it out into the world, unapologetically. You’re entitled to your opinions.
So what will you post this week that will help you form stronger bonds with those that matter to your business?