To Be Credible You First Need To Become Visible With Anna Parker-Naples

Andy Splichal 0:02

Welcome to the Make Each Click Count Podcast. This is your host Andy Splichal. And today we have a real treat with our next guest. It is our first guest on the show. And today's guest has coached hundreds of entrepreneurs to build successful online businesses and has guided many podcasters to launch chart topping podcasts. She is UK is leading podcast launch expert, a multi award winning audio producer that has been recognized for her work in Hollywood. In addition, she is the host of the Entrepreneurs Get Visible Podcast, and best selling author of Get Visible: How to Have More Impact, Influence and Income. Say hello to Anna Parker-Naples. Hello, Anna.

Anna Parker-Naples 1:30

Hey, great. So great to be here, Randy. Thank you for having me.

Andy Splichal 1:34

You're welcome. Well, thank you for joining us. Now before we dive into today's topic, to be credible, you first need to become visible. Let's first hear your backstory and what ultimately led you to do what you were doing now.

Anna Parker-Naples 1:48

My backstory is kind of crazy. So you alluded. You alluded in the introduction there, the fact that my audio works in recognized in Hollywood. That was about six years ago, sorry, four years ago, I was winning my seventh award in Hollywood for voice acting. So I used to do a lot of audio dramas, and audio books and games, all those kinds of things where voice acting is really important. But I'd always be recording it from my home in the UK. The reason I got started on that audio path was because six years prior to that, I'd been told to expect after my third pregnancy that I wouldn't ever walk again. And at the time, I'd been an actor, and I sort of intended that I pop out child number three, and I'd get back on stage. And all of a sudden, that way of that way of communicating and sharing my talents I felt was taken away from me because that wasn't going to be my reality. And what I actually discovered at the time was that I could, the whole audio world was really starting to change. And instead of having to go into super serious Studios in London, that many people were now starting to record from home. And I realized that as an actor, I could transfer my skills to that environment. And about the same time I discovered NLP: Neuro-Linguistic Programming and The Power of Mindset . And that mindset work not only allowed me to fully recover physically, and to then be able to go on and walk on the red carpets in a pair of great high high heeled shoes. But also it allowed me to have the confidence to go into that field in audio, a very male dominated field, and decided that I was going to be the best, my version of the best, not necessarily the best, but the best I could possibly be. And I realized as I was standing on those red carpets that I had something else to do. And that was about helping other talented, capable, amazing people to understand that they can create that level of success for themselves. And that's really where my podcasting background that where it started to arise. How can I help other people, other people who feel like they've got a big message get louder by using audio. And so I came into the online coaching space, if you like but always with that view to how do we use podcast and audio to reach more people to have a great impact. Well, that was a big story.

Andy Splichal 4:24

You're right. That is that is a crazy story. Are you completely recovered?

Anna Parker-Naples 4:28

I've recovered within three years of of, of discovering NLP and how I was thinking about myself. Yeah, it was a long journey. It's not like it was overnight, but I started to see that there was possibility. And I think that's a lot of when we talk about visibility. I think starting to see your own potential, above and beyond where you're at now is really important. Because if you don't see that there's possibility so for me and that's scenario, what if the doctors were wrong? And I could walk again? Or what if the doctors are right, but I can still be a well recognized talent for my skill and my for my skill set. So what if this moment of being in a wheelchair and feeling for once of a better word crippled by the event that was happening to me? What if there were actually tremendous opportunities as a result of what had happened? And that switch in my head just changed everything.

Andy Splichal 5:32

I gotta say that is a tremendous attitude, given that situation. Now, what I wanted to get started talking about was just your book get visible, how to have more impact, influence and income, the premise of this book, I think you you touched on it a bit, but it's how to become more visible in order to have more impact. But before you can work on those steps, the first you need to work on the mindset of self belief. Is that correct?

Anna Parker-Naples 5:58

Yes, absolutely. You've got to unravel a lot of the damage, if you like about the limiting beliefs, the things you've been saying to yourself and about yourself out loud, over and over and over again, since you were a child. Many of us start thinking and feeling particular ways and beef and are fearful of putting ourselves out there, because we're afraid of judgment coming our way. And very often, it's not actually present day judgment for promoting our business, it's actually very much connected with something that happened at school or at home or fear of what are siblings going to say. And that actually comes back to some quite deep subconscious work, that you with the right, with the right knowledge with the right tools, you can undo. And so for me, that was that was a pivotal moment. What happens if I stop saying that I'm annoying, because I like getting up on stage? What if I actually say, Well, this is my talent, and I don't have to be embarrassed by it anymore. Suddenly, if I'm successful in an area, I'm comfortable with it. And I think people worry about fear of failure, and they worry about a fear of success, because they may well be rejected by those around them. But when you become super comfortable with what you're good at, and what you want in your life, then the path becomes clearer.

Andy Splichal 7:26

And then the second part of the book, I guess, once you have the self belief squared away, the next step is to work on strategies for becoming visible.

Anna Parker-Naples 7:36

Yeah, I think

Andy Splichal 7:37

Can you walk us through some of those?

Anna Parker-Naples 7:38

Well, I think one of the one of the first parts of this is being clear about who needs to see you who needs to see and hear you, in order for you to get the result that you want. And how can you put yourself in their world? How can you make sure that your social media content speaks to them? How can you get on the podcast that they're going to be listening to? How can you make sure that you're developing lead magnets in order to attract them? How can you make sure your video content is speaking to them? You know, how can you how can you make sure you're attending the events as a speaker that they're going to be attending, in the old days, when we used to actually go outside, we're still in lockdown in the UK. And I'm making sure that everything you're doing for your business, you're being really, you're really clear to yourself about who it is that you need to be reaching. I see a lot of people early on in their business. And I know you you speak to a lot of people working in Ecommerce, particularly on this podcast, I see a lot of people starting out in business, you say, Well, I'm gonna go to the local networking meeting. Well, how many of your ideal clients are actually going to be there? Wouldn't your time be better spent getting in front of the right people wherever they are in the world? So it's about putting that almost common sense head on? How can you make sure the right people that you're in the right rooms?

Andy Splichal 9:04

I like it. So clarity with your target audience?

Anna Parker-Naples 9:09

Yes. And more than that, being really aware of the things they're saying the things that they're thinking, what's their language? What are their problems? How are they showing up for them? Now I now come from a very strong NLP black background, neuro linguistic programming for the for those of your listeners who don't necessarily know what that is, is looking very closely at the language we use. And everybody has their own their own set. Set words. Say for example, if I said to you, a warm fire for example, you might have a very different image pop into your head about what a warm fire means. You might be at a bonfire, whereas I might be thinking I'm sitting in front of a kind of Victorian We're in fireplace. And so for every single word or phrase that we have, we could be thinking about something completely different. And the more you can use, you can establish what your ideal customers or ideal clients, language means for them, and they kind of enter that world, you're not just interpreting what it means you're, you're throwing it back at them. So they feel very much that what you're doing is resonating with them on the same wavelength. We like to feel like we belong with people. And I think the more you can, the more you can show off yourself, and also replicate their language at the same time, the better results you're going to get.

Interesting. Now, you appear to be drinking your own tonic, so to speak, because you have the book, you have the podcast, becoming very visible. How has this benefited you? How has this changed your career since you've done all this?

Incredibly, because well, not only did I when I was working in the voice acting field did I manage to work amongst the best and win multiple awards in Hollywood. When I then decided that I was going to focus on podcasting, I went about it fearlessly and shamelessly, and that shamelessly is really important, because I knew that I had audio skills and talents that were unlike many of my competitors. So if I'm open about sharing those, it's easy for me to establish myself in the market. So what this has meant for me is that I now regularly get asked to speak at the top podcasting events, it means that when I launched my book, people are hungry to buy it because they follow me and they respect me. And that was particularly true get visible that we were mentioning was my first book, which was released about 18 months ago. I then released my second book podcast with impacts just six months ago, and as a result of everything me walking that walk about visibility, we have that that book when it was released, go to number one in 37 countries around the world in Amazon. Not to be sniffed out. Yeah, it was huge. It was amazing, biggest biggest kind of professional high I think I'll ever have it was amazing. But that only happens because like you say I drink my own tonic, I put myself out there. And I'm comfortable about reminding people about what I do and the results it brings them.

Now, a lot of this I mean, it's great for for professional services, or somebody wants to do a podcast or some. But how is this going to be? How can these strategies be effective for the listener out there who's an Ecommerce business owner?

So actually, there's a great example I want to share with you. I was thinking about this before I came on today. I've been watching I've been absorbed in some makeup tutorials all over Facebook, and they are one minute long, maybe even less than that. But you know what I felt like I knew her. She told me little bits about how she felt about her skin. She told me what it was about feeling bad that particular morning when she didn't look great as she would go from you know waking up and looking fairly terrible. But by the end of that one minute, you're with her she's she has shed a bit of herself and made herself up to be a very natural looking woman. I don't know how you get more natural than that just woke up moment. But you get my point. Now as a result of me connecting with what she was saying, because she was talking my language about how she feels when she's not made up. And I can't tell you how much money I've spent husband doesn't know. So I'll be quiet about that. But I can't tell you how much money I've spent this week because I I bought her. I bought into her and her visibility and have vulnerability. I think you can actually replicate that for any products.

Sure. And you saw that video where that was a Facebook ad or where did you see it?

I saw Just one Facebook ad and then I went down a rabbit hole and over the next few weeks they were sending me more and more videos as Facebook ads tend to do.

So she had like, did you go to a YouTube channel as well? Or was it all

That was all on Facebook. But then it would take me to her website.

Okay, so yeah, I mean, I could see there'd be a lot of ways to promote your own product line and and build that likeability and trust factor with your with your potential clients is a great idea.

But also another example is that there's a lady who sells a product to to help women with incontinence. Now she's selling it almost entirely by going on podcasts. Because she's making sure she gets in front of those podcasts where women are listening. Women of a particular age are listening, medical staff of who treat particular ailments are listening. And so she is able to having a great conversation talking about some quite funny stories about difficult, quite upsetting stories. She's bringing in that, that humor and the sadness, there's a whole kind of emotional journey there to get her her product in front of the right people.

Oh, no, that's another great idea. Now, are there any other hacks besides the ones you've mentioned, as far as how an Ecommerce company you feel could could successfully grow their business by using this, this new sort of influence?

I think it's about getting to the Getting to in when we can all go out going being at the events, and that the you know, the conferences, the networking places where your ideal client are going to be so that we're wherever, wherever they are, you are there, they expect you to be there, making sure you become a speaker or you become a panelist at those events. So you've not just got the you've not just got your exhibition stand with your product on. But you are actually someone who's telling that story story is so important for us to connect.

Great. Now let's switch gears for a minute. Let's talk about your own podcast what subjects and guests do you feature on there?

So my podcast is called Entrepreneurs Get Visible, which probably isn't much of a surprise, given the topic that we're talking about today. And I feature many high profile entrepreneurs who predominantly service based and coaches motivational speakers, who really are those changemakers. And our listenership tends to be people in the first few years of building a business in the online space, who go from utterly clueless and feel that they're supposed to be doing something more, making more money having more impact, but I don't understand the processes. And so that visibility piece, as we've talked about, for my book is about having that confidence in the first place. But then what are the tiny incremental steps that you can take from a strategic point of view in order to make that happen? So that's what we tend to cover.

Okay, great. And when How long has it been out? And how did you first decide to launch a podcast we talked about? Your condition was was that it? Or did it take a while how is that?

When I when I the last time I was in Hollywood, I decided I was done with the voice work as it were. And I hadn't initially, I wanted to be a motivational speaker in some guys not really knowing what that would look like. And it was a few months into running that business that someone said, Anna, you should start a podcast. So I did. But I've never listened to a podcast. And I knew nothing about podcasting as a, an audio sphere. I knew nothing about how to leverage it for my business. So my first podcast did okay, but didn't do brilliantly. And the more reading I did around why my podcasts hadn't worked, the more I realized that I wanted to start a second podcast, putting everything into action. And so when I launched, Entrepreneurs Get Visible, I did it to the nth degree, I made sure that we treated it, we did everything we possibly could to get it out there. And it's now among the top 1% of podcasts globally. We have 10s-1000s of listeners every single week, and it's just grown exponentially. And you know, it has really become the core of my business. And now I help people to launch their own podcasts through the podcast membership and the podcast agency that I run.

That's great. When When did you launch that second podcast?

The second podcast was launched in October 2019. So 18 months ago,

okay

18 two months ago.

Corresponded with your second book then as well?

Yeah, it was actually it was actually launched six weeks before my first book. And it was because that podcast was so successful that my first book then became a number one in various categories as well because I took the, the my listenership on that journey with me.

Okay, great. So I've been playing a game kind of halfway through my episodes with my guests. Are you up for it?

Yeah, absolutely.

Okay. might be interesting with your linguistics training, but how it goes is this it's a word association game. So I say a word and you respond immediately with what pops into your head. So we'll start with a couple just to get a baseline. Are you ready?

Yeah.

All right. Run

Walk

Stop

Go

Fun

Happy

Okay. Now we're going to shift to some business terms, which, you know, kind of give some interesting responses. Business.

Mindset

Success

Easy

Family

Important

Email

Useful

Promote

All the time

Gratitude

Essential

Wealth

Grounding

Clarity

Unmuddied

Growth

Constant

High performance

Adjusting

Thank you. Yeah, those were great. I'll give you an A.

I didn't know it was a test.

Everything's a test

It's a game. That's a whole different thing.

Hey, if somebody wanted to start to grow their influence, where would you what would be the first step? Where would you direct them? What would you say?

I heard, say, you've got to get a podcast. It's the fastest growing platform, that if you know how to do it to build your business, there's nothing like it. And you know, at the moment, we've just hit almost 2 million podcasts. And when you compare that to however many billion Facebook posts go out per day, however many million YouTube channels that are podcasting is just getting started. And it's a platform that done the right way with the right knowledge and the right support, you can have that impact for your business.

What if they were an Ecommerce business? Would you say the same thing?

I would say the same thing, because the more you can show up, the more people can hear your story, the more they can hear other people connected with what you're selling. I think it's tremendously important to get visible. People buy from people.

And what if somebody said, Well, that sounds great, I should do that. But I'm so busy. I just don't have the time. Maybe I'll do it.

I would say that if you if you understood the value of leveraging your audience, leveraging other people's audiences as a guest, that that would be a great way to start. And you can't afford not to be visible. You can't afford not to be if you're serious about growing your business.

Great. Now, if somebody wanted to learn more about you, your um, your books available on Amazon, of course. But where else would they go if they wanted to get some more information about about learning about you and yours? Would you,

I think probably the best place is to head over to my podcasts, Entrepreneurs Get Visible, and you can learn a whole lot about how to get yourself out there a bit more over there.

Okay, great. Should they do that or first or get the book first? What do you think?

I think go listen, go see. Go see if I'm your cup of tea. See if you get what I'm saying first.

Okay, well, I can see you have a lovely voice. And I wonder you got so many awards for voiceover. Was there anything else I forgot before we wrap it up today?

No, I don't really but I just would say, you know, I really believe my kind of catchphrase if you like, my tagline is anything's possible when you get visible. When you get visible and people know you. You get referrals, you get recommendations, you get sales, you get invited to be a speaker, you get invited to collaborate, you get invited to the table. And that's really important for your business, but also for your own personal growth.

Okay, great. What's the tagline again?

Anything's possible when you get visible.

Anything's possible when you get visible. I love it. Okay, well, that is it for today. Remember, if you liked this episode, please go to Apple podcasts and leave an honest review. And if you're looking for more information regarding Anna, or growing your influence in order to increase impact influence an income, I'll put a link in the show notes to her podcast as well as to her book on Amazon. In addition, if you're looking for more information on growing your business using paid ads, requests to join the Make Each Click Count Facebook group, I'll have some all new free live trainings that will happen next week. In the meantime, remember to stay safe, keep healthy and happy marketing and I will talk to you in the next episode.