Should You Post About Politics as a Business Owner?

Sydney: 00:00:00

Every time a big political or current event happens,

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the internet blows up, right?

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Comment sections, turn into fights.

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Hot takes are everywhere.

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People are yelling loudly, loudly

for whatever's happening loudly

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against whatever's happening.

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And because it's social media, there is.

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A distinct lack of nuance

or middle ground, right?

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And if you are a small business

owner, this question creeps in.

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Should I post about this?

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Should I comment on it?

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Should I stay quiet?

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What's the right move here?

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It's really stressful.

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You don't wanna say the wrong thing,

you don't wanna lose followers.

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But ignoring it doesn't feel right either.

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And it feels like no matter what you do,

someone is gonna have an opinion about it.

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In this week's episode

of Mompreneur Mastery,

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we are talking about whether you

should or shouldn't share political.

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Types of posts for your online business.

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First I wanna acknowledge that this

can feel extra heavier, extra hard.

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Especially most of us being raised told

like, oh, we don't talk about politics.

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They're just things we don't discuss.

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It's rude.

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It's not okay.

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Maybe you feel it's unprofessional.

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Maybe you feel it doesn't.

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Makes sense, you know, 'cause it's so

far off of your normal business content.

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Maybe you're scared of the

backlash, scared of losing

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followers, scared of getting angry

comments all types of things.

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So when you're sitting there and you're

watching the news, listening to it,

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, and thinking, do I post about this?

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Do I not post about this?

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I want you to remember it's really

not just about wine caption.

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It's about the pressure and the

assumptions that come with it.

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People are going to read into it

either way, and that's what makes

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the whole feel whole thing feel

a lot bigger than just one post.

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One of the most common things I

hear is businesses shouldn't be

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posting about politics, and I want

to stress here business is political.

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My audience is mostly

mom, business owners.

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Parenting is political.

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Everything in your life somehow

goes back to politics, right?

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That doesn't mean you have to hop on

every single headline and post about

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it or any but it does mean the way you

run your business is never neutral.

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If you think about the way you price

your services that can show what

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you believe about accessibility.

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I've been seeing more and more

people having like sliding

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scale pricing, and I love that.

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That's a great example of being accessible

in your pricing and showing your values

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through that part of your business.

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Think about how you address

your audience in your content.

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Is it inclusive?

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Is it not?

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Or the examples you use in your

content could send a signal about who

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you think belongs in your audience.

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The people you hire, the people you

collaborate with, the people you work

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with also can say a lot about your values.

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Even choosing to stay quiet is a choice.

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Neutrality communicates something as well.

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Before we get into whether you should

or should not make political posts,

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I want to share a very quick story.

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I have done this many times because

it felt right for me and my values.

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Even just yesterday,

I shared a post about.

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Charlie Kirk after he was

killed, and I said two things.

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I said, I condemn gun violence.

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Nobody deserves to die that way.

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And I also said I was not going to

mourn someone who built his platform

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and his wealth spreading so much hate

and bigotry within less than a day, 23

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people had unfollowed me on Instagram.

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And I know that is one of the things

people are concerned about if they

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make these kinds of posts, if they're

feeling like maybe they should do it.

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You know, losing followers

is a big concern.

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And if that is you, I want you to

definitely hear this next part, because

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instead of worrying or spiraling

out, I treated this as clarity.

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You will never catch me saying having a

big follower count is important, I always

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say having the right followers is much

more important, and that's all this is.

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I actually ended up donating $5 for every

unfollow split between several different

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nonprofits every town, the Trevor Project,

world Central Kitchen, and Planned Parent.

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Organizations that reflect

the values I want to stand on.

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And then something really, really cool

happened that I did not anticipate.

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And two other business owners, after

seeing me talk about this in my

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stories, reached out and said they were

also going to make donations because

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of my post because of my stories,

talking about what I was going to do.

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And then another friend today a business

friend, said she was going to earn a

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special promotion where proceeds from one

of her offers was going to all be donated.

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To a nonprofit organization.

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So this ripple effect really reminded

me of what community actually is.

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Because I am always very much about

creating community in the online

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space, and it's not about numbers.

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It's not about vanity metrics,

it's about shared values in action.

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It's about people seeing your

content and saying, I see you.

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I hear you.

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I'm with you.

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And that's what sharing your

values and your content does.

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It's really a filter, right?

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The right people stepping out.

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That is clarity.

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The right people leaning

in, that's connection.

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This isn't just about

politics either, like.

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This isn't just about the posts

you share when big events happen.

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This is in your everyday messaging, the

words you use, the stories you share,

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the way you talk about your offers.

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They all send signals.

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People decide whether they're in

or out based on that, and it's

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not a failure if they're not in.

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It's just filtering out the people

that are not in alignment with your

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work and your message and your values.

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We get so caught up in vanity metrics

and follower accounts and email

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list size and podcast downloads,

but those are just numbers.

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Real community.

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The thing that we're striving

for as we work towards having

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connection based marketing.

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Is the people who stay because they

believe in what you are about, the

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people who act with you, the people

that support you, the people that

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amplify your message, the people

that work with you, that refer you.

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All of those.

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And that's why I love when businesses

are so clear about their values as both

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a consumer and as a business owner.

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It helps me decide who I wanna buy

from, who I wanna collaborate with,

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even who I wanna follow on social media.

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So how do you actually do this?

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How do you make sure your

values show up without.

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Waiting for a major headline that

you may or may not wanna post about.

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It, it shows up in your language.

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Think about the words you use.

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Are they inclusive?

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Do they match the kind of

community you wanna build?

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It shows up in the stories

you share in your content.

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Even small ones can highlight

what matters to you.

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It can show up even in like

the random Instagram stories or

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like branding photos you have.

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As an example, I have stickers on my

laptop that very clearly show my values

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, it can even show up in your offers.

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The way you design them, the way

you price them, the way you make

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sure they're accessible or not that

often ties back to your values.

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And also your interactions.

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Think about how you show up in comments

if you are, you know, sharing threads,

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replying to threads, sending dms, showing

up in stories, replying to other people's

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stories that can often show your values

without you even thinking about it.

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And a key thing to remember here is

values don't have to be loud to be

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clear, but they should be visible.

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That way when you do post something

bigger, it doesn't feel random.

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Again, if you want to

post something bigger.

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Values kind of show up in your

business whether you plan for

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it or not, in a lot of ways.

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As an example, if you are not brand

stinking new here, you know, I primarily

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work with mom, business owners.

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That's my general audience.

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Lots of people find me who are, and

I am so happy to work with them.

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But my target audience is mom, business

owners, because when I started my

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business, I had three kids under four,

and I was a stay-at-home mom, and I was

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a stay-at-home mom because childcare

would've cost more than our mortgage,

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more than I would have made at my job.

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Staying home was the only

option that made sense.

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And that's political.

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Parenting is political because there

could be systems that are more supportive

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of parents and families in place.

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But there aren't , so many

moms are in the same spot.

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Some wanna be home and some don't.

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But either way.

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Childcare can be really out of

reach, especially if you have a

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lot of young kids that aren't old

enough for the school system yet.

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And that really shaped my

values and my business.

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I really wanted to help moms build

something flexible and profitable

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so they could support their families

financially, while still being able

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to be present for their families,

physically, mentally, and emotionally.

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Right.

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So.

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So that shows up in my everyday messaging

that shows up on my sales pages.

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That shows up in how I craft my offers

when I try to make it super accessible

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for moms who I know have very small

spurts of time to actually get work

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done, because I know what it feels like

to be in the thick of it and wanting to.

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Be able to support your family

financially, but also be with

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them during the day as well.

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So when I say everything

is political, I mean it.

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Even parenting so many aspects

of parenting, even the way I've

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structured my business, my values

aren't just something I post about.

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They're the foundation of how I run

my business, and I'm willing to bet,

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even if you haven't thought about it

or done it consciously, it's the same

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for you and your business, right?

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So.

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Given all of that, should you post

about politics or current events?

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Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

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There's no single right answer.

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It depends on the person and the business.

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What really matters is that your

values are consistent and clear in

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your messaging and in your business

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. because people don't really

buy just a product or a

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service, especially now where.

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Buyers are much, much more

informed and they need so much

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more connection and trust before

making any kind of investment.

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They're buying into you, into your

perspective, into the values you are

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portraying in your messaging, in your

business, in your offers, in the community

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you are creating in the online space.

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So instead of only asking should

I post about this headline.

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Try asking how do I want my

values to show up in my business?

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And if that means posting

about that headline, do it.

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Go for it.

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, But if this is not something you have

considered before, before you create

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your next piece of content, I want

you to pick one value that you have.

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And think about how you have presented it

in your business so far, and try and find

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a way to present it more clearly and more

intentionally so that you are attracting

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your absolute aligned followers.

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It doesn't have to be loud.

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We're just looking for intention here.

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Okay?

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That clarity is what builds connection

and trust and makes sure the people

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you are attracting to your audience

and your online space are super

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aligned with you and your work.

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Because clarity builds trust.

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Trust builds community, and community

is worth so much more than a follower

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count or a number of certain podcast

downloads or email subscribers.

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And if you are not sure how to do

this, I would love it if you would

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send me a DM on Instagram and we

can find a way to do it together.

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'cause as I have been saying the past

couple of episodes, messaging really is

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the foundation of all of your marketing.

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And it has to be so clear if you

want your marketing to work the way

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it's supposed to, and your values are

gonna end up being a big part of that.

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Whether they're small or big

political things it's gonna show

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up regardless, and I wanna make

sure we're doing it intentionally.

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And if you're really still feeling

kind of iffy about using your voice

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in your content, in your business,

how you're showing up there, I really

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encourage you to listen to last week's

episode of mompreneur Mastery, because

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I had a really great conversation

with Caroline Hull about just that she

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helped me a lot with it in my business.

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And so many other people.

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So head back to last week

and give it a listen.

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And if you need help finding a way

to weave that into your content

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send me a message on Instagram.

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I am at sydney O'Brien dot co.

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Should You Post About

Politics as a Business Owner?