It’s been quiet on this blog for a few months. I know. I’m working on a few projects:

• I’m filling my Camtasia Made Simple course.
• I’m preparing my presentation for the only new media event that I MUST attend – New Media Expo.
• I’m getting ready to post a call for speakers for a video marketing summit to be held in Toronto in November.
• And, I’m in the final stretch of my Social Media Mastery coaching group.

DISCOVERING MY PATH

Aside from the projects above, I’m working on something behind the scenes that is consuming alot of my attention. You see, the reason I’ve been quiet is because I’m trying to define my path.

When you don’t know where you’re going, it can be so frustrating. But, as soon as you get clarity on the path you’re supposed to take, it’s the most freeing experience EVER.

It’s not to say that I’ve haven’t done good work, or that my clients haven’t achieved results working with me. Not at all. However, every business must go through a change and mine is no different.

CAN I PUNCH MY COACH?

Over the past 30 days, my coach has been challenging me to find my unique wisdom, to be a big fish in a small pond and to define my persona.

What a difficult thing to do. I’ve had to dig deep down and recall my flaws, triumphs, disappointments and successes from my entire life. Did you hear me? I said my ENTIRE life.

That means documenting:

• My first day at school and how I hung to my mom’s leg so she wouldn’t leave me.
• Or, the time I tore a ligament in my knee that resulted in me losing a basketball scholarship to a Division 1 school in the United States.
• Or, the joy I felt finally skiing down a Black Diamond without landing on my butt once.

ARE WE EMOTIONALLY THERE YET?

I’ve been rocked by so many emotions. Happiness, sadness, anger, you name it. I feel like giving my coach a couple of really hard punches for exhausting me with these exercises.

But, it has been worth it. Documenting these experiences has made me realize that I’ve ignored one important experience that has shaped me. That from the time I could run (not walk according to my parents), everything I’ve done and all the lessons I’ve learned is rooted in one constant in my life.

My brand is missing this unique experience. That no other podcaster or social media expert has what I have. The same for you. There’s no other relationship coach, realtor, blogger, writer, photographer, publicist, etc. that has gone through what you’ve gone through.

Even those who share an event, like those in the World Trade towers on September 11th will each take away something different from that shared event.

And to date, the missing ingredient in my business isn’t a cool, whiz bang product. What’s been missing from my business is myself. In other words, the personal experiences that I can incorporate into my brand to make me stand out.

THE STRANGER WHO ASKED WHY I’M HIDING

The other day, someone opened a ticket on my help desk. My virtual assistant reviewed it first and assigned it to me for review. It was rather long and my VAs initial reaction was “Uh oh. I don’t know if you’ll like this one.”

I read it and while it was long, I quite enjoyed the feedback the person gave me. She’s an actor and she shared with me that the personality she heard over the phone in my 2 day teleclass last week was absent from my online videos. She wondered why I would “hide” who I am on video, but “show up” over the phone during a teleclass.

It was an interesting observation and her note was timely. When I look at my videos, the one that people resonated the most with is this one. And I know why. Because my personality peeked through.

SHOWING UP TAKES TIME, BUT IT’S TIME TO SHOW UP

I still haven’t mentioned what my unique experience is. I’m being cryptic, I know, but all is not complete. I still have another month to go before I can unveil this revolution and evolution in my business.

Podcasting isn’t going away. It couldn’t. Podcasting has done more for me in the past 3 years, than any other business venture has in my entire life. Plus, I wrote a book on the topic. Plus, I met many great people because of podcasting.

What I’m doing is tightening things up so that my clients and prospects clearly understand what I have to offer. I’m also giving myself permission to “show up” in my branding. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about this and I can’t wait to share more with you.

Please share your tales of transition. How did you cope with it? Was it exciting, scary, frustrating? And what’s a good example of a brand that has personality? Do share.

Images: Fork in the Road (cyberastroforkie), Basketball coach (samherst) , Emotional Baggage (theatrefolk), Hiding Behind a Smile (futo*aim), Mary Tyler Moore (Kevin D. Hendricks)