How To Show Up For Your Audience - Even If You’re Scared

Discover how to authentically connect with your audience, even if you're scared. Learn tips and strategies to show up confidently and build a thriving subscription box business.

Audience building matters. At every stage of a subscription box business, audience building matters. And when we talk about starting a subscription box? Well, then audience building is crucial. 

Without an engaged audience, it doesn’t matter how amazing your box is, how cute your packaging or how clever your messaging is. If you don’t have an engaged audience, you cannot have a successful subscription box launch. 

Without an engaged audience, you’ll be launching to no one. 

A successful subscription box launch - and a successful subscription box business - require you to have an audience filled with the right people. People you engage and connect with. People you show up for. 

Have you heard episode 29 of the Launch Your Box podcast, where I talk about maximizing the value of a small audience? When you finish reading this post, definitely take a listen. The episode is full of tips and strategies you can put into place to make the most of your small audience.

I’ll give you a bit of a spoiler, though. The most important thing you can do is to show up for your audience.

That is my not-so-secret sauce. 

I show up for my audience.

I know how scary that can sound. I know how many subscription box owners hold themselves back because they are afraid to show up. I also know nothing is more important to the success of your subscription box business than showing up. 

So let’s talk about how you can show up for your audience - even if it feels scary.

How I Got Over Being Afraid Of Showing Up.

Y’all, when I say I understand being afraid to show up, I mean it. I devoted an entire chapter in my book, One Box at a Time, to how I struggled to show up in my business.

When I started my subscription box business, I didn’t want to be the face of my brand.

I let all my insecurities get in the way. I told myself all the reasons I was sure I wasn’t “enough.” 

I wasn’t:

• Young enough
• Pretty enough
• Skinny enough
• Tan enough
• Professional enough (I said y’all a lot… and still do)
• Good enough

Why would anyone want to listen to me?

I listened to those voices in my head. The ones that said I wasn’t worthy. And I tried to find an influencer I could hire to be the face of my brand. 

But as I looked, I realized something. Most of these influencers looked the same. 

They were all:

• 20-something
• Beautiful
• Skinny
• Blonde
• Tan

In other words, they weren’t me. And I thought that was what I wanted. Until the day I had a huge lightbulb moment.

I realized my customers weren’t going to relate to these influencers for one very simple reason.

My customers were like me!

• My customers looked like me. My most popular sizes were large, extra large, and double extra large.
• My customers were Southern, so they sounded like me. They y’all-ed all day long, too!
• And my customers weren’t 20-something. They were in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. I’m 46.

My customers wanted to see me.

They wanted to talk to me. They wanted to see how cute my products looked on me - someone who looked a lot like them!

That huge mindset shift changed everything about my business. It allowed me to drop the fears I had and just show up as me.

When you show up for your audience - and you need to - show up as you. You are who your customer is buying from. You know what your customer wants and needs. You can build those relationships that turn customers into raving fans.

How I started showing up for my audience and how you can, too.

I started with Facebook LIVEs.

Was I scared? Absolutely.

Did I do it anyway? Yes, because I needed to do it for my business - and for my customers.

To make things easier for me, I put a few things in place. They helped me and I know they’ll help you, too.

1.  Set a schedule to go LIVE.

Get your calendar out and pick days and times for your LIVEs. But don’t just write it down - let your audience know you’re going to be LIVE. Tell them what you’ll be talking about and get them excited about joining you!

2.  Invite some friends.

When we talk about going LIVE inside Launch Your Box, one of the first things that comes up is, “What if no one comes?”

I had the same fear. So I invited some of my friends. I made sure a few friends would always be there - that way I could say hello and have people to interact with right from the start.

I also gave my friends questions to ask me so I wouldn’t sound salesy. Like if I was wearing a pair of earrings I wanted to talk about, I’d have one of my friends ask me about them. That made it all easier and more natural.

3.  Do something that makes you feel good about yourself.

The biggest hurdle I had to overcome when it came to doing LIVEs was my confidence. I decided I needed to do something that made me feel good - something that gave me confidence - before going on camera.

For me, that means getting my hair done. When I have my hair done, it makes me feel more confident. I find myself sitting up straighter, presenting myself with more authority, and just plain feeling better about myself.

Figure out what your version of “getting your hair done” looks like. 

Maybe it’s wearing a favorite outfit that you feel good in. If you work from home and don’t usually bother with makeup, maybe putting on makeup before going LIVE gives you that boost. Strike a power pose, dance to a favorite song, choose a pretty background to sit in front of. Whatever makes you feel good - that’s what you need to do before you go LIVE.

If you’re not currently going LIVE with your audience, get out your calendar and pick a date and time. Make a commitment to yourself and to your audience. They want to see you. They want to get to know you.

Beyond Facebook LIVE: other ways to show up for your audience.

Showing up for your audience is more than just hopping on Facebook LIVEs. Look for ways you can show up and provide value to them. Remember the importance of serving before you sell. 

Ways you can show up and provide value to your audience:

• Engage in the comments - Facebook and Instagram.
• Send regular emails written in your voice.
• Use 2-way text/SMS communication.
• Create short videos throughout your day with IG stories or reels.
• Start a YouTube Channel and share videos. (I did! Check it out.) 
• Start a podcast.
• Serve inside other groups.

Showing up for your audience isn’t about being the loudest or the trendiest or the most outrageous. It’s about sharing yourself and your business with your audience. It’s about building authentic connections and serving your audience in a way that makes them feel valued and understood. It’s about being you.

It’s time for you to show up!