3 Ways to Overcome Your Fear of Outreach

There's a lot of people on the internet that have really strong feelings about cold outreach, cold DMS, outbound DMs - whatever you want to call it. As humans, we naturally fear rejection and judgement - and it’s keeping us stuck. I'm going to give you some really tangible ideas as to how to move through this fear so that you can actually implement an outbound strategy in you business that will help you make more money!

Background: Meet Ryann Dowdy

I want to just tell you why I'm so passionate about outbound as a tool before giving you some really tangible ideas as to how do I move through the fear of it. I started my career selling radio advertising in Orlando, Florida in 2005. Those were the days where they handed you a phone book and told you to go sell something.

From the very beginning of my career, I was cold calling - and I had to figure out how to cold call all by myself. There was no training, no blueprints, no templates, no CRMs - nothing.

And fortunately, I'm a very strong, very focused, very committed person, and I just showed up and did it. I did the job because that was the job. I loved the people I worked with and for, I loved the work I was doing - so I went all in and figured out how to cold call.

And I got over the fear of rejection and judgement.

#1 - Shift Your Intention

Instead of going into a conversation with the intention to sell... go into the conversation with the intention to connect. Most people are so distraught over outbound because we have inboxes full of people whose intentions don't feel good. They're not connection focused, or relationship focused in any way.

These people reaching out to us don't know anything about us, and they don't give us an opportunity to opt in or opt out of a conversation.

I don't want to be that person. You don't have to be that person. Your intention of hopping into somebody's inbox can literally be just to build a relationship with them. I've said it a million times. We don't sell anything to anybody if we don't have permission to do so, which means when we get into people's inboxes, we're not selling anything. We're starting a conversation. It's very important that you hear me in this. We are not selling anything in that first outreach. We are starting a conversation.

Outbound marketing is intended to start a conversation, not to cold pitch, not to sell in the dms. It is to start a conversation - because conversations equals relationships and relationships equals clients.

And when you come in with that intention, you whole energy just shifts.

#2 - Getting Attention

Attention is currency. Getting people to pay attention is harder than ever before. It's about BOTH Content and Conversations. We can't do one without the other.

We can't just be content machines and not talk to our people. And unfortunately these days, we can't just be conversations machines and not post content because we need that content to get their attention.

If I'm going to send somebody a direct message to start a conversation, the first thing they're going to do is they're going to go to my profile and they're going to look at it. What does my profile tell them about me? What does it tell them about my business? What does it tell them about how I help people?

We also can't just send ONE message. we can't just send one message and expect to get a response. It doesn't work that way.

That's hard for a lot of people because if we have to message someone two or three or four times to get attention, it can be really uncomfortable because you feel like you're being annoying.

You have to be a little annoying. I'm going to give you a little example. Your kid has something going on at school. You get a voicemail, a text, an email, a reminder in their backpack... it's a lot.

And sometimes we STILL forget. Because people are busy - we have a lot of things going on, and if you send just one message, chances are, it's going to get overlooked.

#3 - Mange Your Energy

Our energy matters. Your energy will come through in your DMs. If you're taking the steps, but you hate it the whole time, and you don't want to do it - the person on the other end is going to feel that energy and you may as well just not do it.

I need you in the energy of I am connecting someone. I wan to learn about this person. I want to see if I can help this person solve a problem and get them amazing results. Your energy has to feel good.

I love connecting with new people. I love helping people. I'm so on fire for what I do for the results that we get people for the power that my transformation provides. Whatever your transformation is, be passionate enough about it to get a little uncomfortable to do the outreach - and do it in a positive energy. When you really can get into that energy- imagine how easy it is going to be to grow your business.

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The fear of outreach is a barrier that many entrepreneurs face but one that can be overcome with the right mindset and strategies. By shifting your intention from selling to connecting, persistently seeking attention, and maintaining positive energy, you can navigate through the fears of rejection and judgement. Remember, the essence of outbound marketing lies in cultivating relationships, and these relationships can be the stepping stones to thriving clients and a successful business. Embrace the fear, step out of your comfort zone, and let your passion for your work guide you on this path.