RuPaul’s Drag Race is exactly what it sounds like. Glamazons clawing and scratching to be named supreme queen by one of the world’s original queens herself. They put their personal issues aside and present their fiercest and most flamboyant selves in weekly challenges. And if they don’t bring it during that episode, they’ll be forced to lip sync for their lives.
Make no mistake: the contestants in this competition are men. But when they don their baddest dresses, biggest hair, and most over-the-top makeup, their job is to defy anatomy and defy the odds.
The show’s challenges remind me a lot of the hoops we jump through as entrepreneurs. Running a company is hard, dammit. Those clients we were counting on to come through decide not to commit at this time. A few of the clients we have act like they don’t want to pay. {Stealing from the corner retail store is a travesty, but clients somehow justify stealing services from a consultant.} Today just isn’t the day to mess with us, but somehow we muster up the energy to put on a smile—and decent slacks—to attend yet another networking event.
So why do we do this to ourselves? Because this business and the freedom it brings is our dream, we can’t think of any better way to spend our days, and cubicle life just ain’t our bag. Just like the queens running RuPaul’s Drag Race, we know that the perception we give the public is accepted as reality. We have to manage that perception as best we can.
If you’re a new business owner, or you’ve been playing the part for a while, here are a few tips to manage that perception and survive your own race to success:
Say what you do and don’t stutter.
At the end of an episode, RuPaul calls out two queens that haven’t been performing to the best of their abilities that week. As they stand on the stage facing her and her celebrity panel, she demands that they lip sync in a final duel to the finish. “And don’t f*ck it up!” she warns.
As a new entrepreneur, you may feel a bit weird when someone asks, “What do you do?” Probably for the first time, you don’t have a big corporate name to drop. But don’t be afraid. Don’t reference your old job. Don’t give out the business card to your current job when you need to be repping your side-hustle. Tell people who you really are and what you really do.
When I’m asked about my profession, I say: “I’m Angie Sanders, and I run a boutique copywriting firm. We write the words that make your audiences do what you want them to.”
Have the basics in place.
You don’t have a big corporate machine behind you. So what? No one knows that immediately but you. But looking corporate always helps. Pay a great designer for a nice looking website/blog and business cards. Get an email address with your domain name. {These things DO NOT come free. I repeat, these things DO NOT come free.} Make sure you identify your business/title in your email signature and voice mail. Owning a company is now your new job, so enjoy all the accoutrements you had at your last job in your new one.
Play with social media.
If you don’t use social media already, play around with it. And I’m talking about doing more than just setting up your profiles. Get some friends, likes, followers, circles—whatever. Just get them. Make a conscious effort to get in there, talk to these people, and learn as much as you can about social media platforms every day for the next three months. After that, is it should become somewhat clear to you how you can use these platforms to market yourself and your business. If it doesn’t, ask someone for help.
Attend networking events.
Whoever told you that networking events are dead is a liar. Social media engagement is great and you can successfully make connections that way. But you still need to get out there and meet people in your own city—people who you can engage even further in social media spaces, via email and over the phone.
Find quality events to attend and make the most out of your attendance. Take plenty of business cards. Set push goals for how many people you’d like to meet/how many business cards you’d like to hand out/receive. Be nice and engaging. Pretend you’re the most beautiful and interesting person in the room. Tweet about the event. And when you get home, reach out to your new connections on LinkedIn, Google+, or Twitter.
Ask for help.
If you have questions or need services, ask someone for help. That’s one of the beauties of social media. There’s a whole sea of people out there that are willing to have their brains picked for a bit of advice.