The Fear of Showing Up ‘Too Much’: How to overcome your fear of annoying your audience and start selling your services with confidence

As a female entrepreneur, creative coach, and personal brand photographer, one challenge I often hear from my clients is the fear of showing up too much or ‘annoying’ potential clients online with their content.

I understand how this worry, about coming across as overly sales-focused or as an over-sharer, can be paralyzing and frustrating. I have been there too.

You can start to doubt your own skills, talents, voice and abilities because, you become overly focused on not turning people off.

You can start to overthink or go into perfectionist mode, nit picking every sentence and graphic you put together in Canva; while wasting precious hours of your time and life, which could be better spent elsewhere.

If you can relate, know that you’re not alone, and this fear is entirely normal.

Here is what I tell my coaching clients and branding clients when they share this fear with me:

It's Your Inner Critic Talking

First and foremost, understand that this fear stems from your inner critic, not your authentic self.

As I mentioned, many of my branding and coaching clients have experienced this, and I have too.

We need to normalize the idea that selling is a form of high service. When you show up online and share your expertise, you’re providing a valuable service.

Be compassionate with yourself when you start to have these thoughts, take a few deep breaths and calmly, tell your inner critic - while its okay to have these thoughts - it’s time to let your confident and authentic self shine. It’s okay to let this fear go. Remember, you cannot say the wrong thing to the right person.

The Marketing Rule of 7

Always keep in mind the Marketing Rule of 7. This age-old marketing principle states that people will often engage with your content seven times before making a purchasing decision.

By engaging with a customer multiple times, you build familiarity, trust, and credibility. This principle emphasizes the importance of repeated interactions to build relationships over time.

So yes, it’s in your best interest to create that blog post, LinkedIn update, email, and Instagram Reel on the same topic. Just remember to match your voice and content length to the medium you are sharing the content on.

Understanding Your Reach

Here’s a reality check: less than 10% of your followers actually see the content you post.

So let’s do some basic math, if you have 1,000 followers, typically fewer than 100 will see any given post! I challenge you to check your metrics on the last few posts you have made, to get even more personalized data.

This is due to algorithms, content shelf life (which varies by platform), and the timing of your posts - factors that are largely out of your control.

So, don’t worry about being too repetitive—repeating your message is necessary to reach a broader segment of your audience and reach the people who need to hear your message.

We all need to navigate the noise

Consider this: we’re bombarded with messages daily. In 2024 the average email inbox receives roughly 121 emails per day, not to mention social media DMs, texts, calls, and general mail. This saturation means your audience is constantly filtering through a lot of noise.

Whether you are a health coach who is sharing an important bed time routine hack to help people get the rest they crave or a CPA that is reminding her clients of creative ways to write off their more precarious business expenses; your people need to know what you have to say.

Your consistent, valuable messages help break through that noise and reach those who need to hear your voice and message.

Remember -

The next time your inner critic tells you that you’re annoying your audience by showing up too much, remind yourself that your message matters. Your people need you and want to hear what you have to say. By showing up confidently, consistently and authentically, your voice can start meaningful conversations and build relationships with you future dream clients.

No one is like you! Your expertise is a gift—share it with pride!