Hello and welcome to Marketing Your Truth, the podcast that transmutes the noise of typical generic marketing DS into a method that mirrors the depth of your passion and honors who you truly are. I'm Eleanor Trolley, and if you've been searching for a way for your message to be felt and not just heard, you found the right place. This is your sanctuary where we value and amplify the unique wisdom that only you possess. I'm glad you're here. Let's get started. I want to tell you about something that happened to me this week. It's likely happened to you as well. And if it hasn't yet, it probably will at some point. Especially if you're someone who's showing up online, building a platform, sharing your voice. It just comes with a territory. Now I'm sure you know where I'm going with this. Yep, having my work copied. So I was on LinkedIn and came across a post, and for the split second, my brain did this weird double take, like, oh, this person sounds really like me. And then for a moment I was like, wait a minute, is he sharing my post? And finally I realized nope, he wasn't sharing it. He doesn't just sound like me. He had copied pasted my post verbatim from a post that I had made a week before. And I'm not talking about being inspired by something I said and then putting their own spin on it. I'm talking verbatim copying my post. Like when I compared the two side by side, only two words were different. The rest completely identical. And this came on the heels of something else that had happened a week prior, which I ran into a post on Facebook from someone that sadly I actually know. Someone who's been in my circle for a while. She had done the same thing, taken two of my recent posts and published it as her own. So I'm sure you can imagine the cocktail of emotions that was going through my mind, right? I'm angry, I'm panicking, I'm worried that like left and right, people are gonna steal my stuff and post it as their own. So I ended up talking to a few people and the advice was mostly the same. They told me to message these people, tell them to take it down, and then tell them that if this happens again, you're gonna take legal action. Fair enough. But what I want to share with you today is actually something a lot deeper than that. Because as I sat with all that frustration, the discomfort, the anger, the panic, something else came through. Several things actually. These are reflections that I think might help you if this has ever happened to you, or even if it hasn't yet, because I know for a fact that this is one of the biggest fears a lot of experts carry. Here's the first thing that came up for me. The stuff that I share online, whether it's my posts and this podcast and my lead magnets, my events, it's not coming from some content calendar that I made just to stay visible. It's not something that I put together because it's trending right now or put it together just to get attention. It's stuff that I believe, like really, really believe. It's rooted in how I see the space, in the values that I hold, in the things that I've seen work and not work for the people that I serve. It's the perspective that I've earned, not just through learning, but through doing, through watching what happens when people try to grow a business without creating connection and trust first. Or try to sell something without understanding their buyers from a deeper and a more empathetic place. Or when they forget that there is an actual human being at the other end of that transaction. So when I share these ideas, I'm not doing them for the sole purpose of just getting visibility. I'm not adopting this persona to sound clever or entertaining or engaging. I'm speaking from lived experience, from patterns that I've seen again and again. And because of that, the way it lands for my audience is really different. So sure, someone can copy my words, but they can't mimic the depth behind it. They can't replicate the intention and a deeper place that it's coming from. They can't fake the weight, the energy, and the conviction. Because it's not just about what you say, it's about where it's coming from. And that's what people, your audience feels. That's what creates connection. Which is also why I'm not overly concerned when someone steals some of my posts. Because what they're taking is the surface level stuff. And the surface level stuff isn't what drives results. The power of your message isn't just in your content, it's in the embodiment. The real power of your message doesn't just come from the words you use, it comes from where those words are coming from. So someone can take your content, they can even copy it word by word, but they can't copy the clarity that you've earned. They can't copy the conviction behind why you're doing this work in the first place. And most of all, they can't copy the connection that you've built with the people who trust you. Because that trust wasn't built from a couple of catchy or clever posts. It's been built over time. From showing up and sharing the things that actually reflect what you believe. From staying consistent, not just in how often you show up, but in who you are when you do show up. That's what your audience feels. And that feeling, it matters more than the words. That's what I mean when I talk about embodiment. It's when your message isn't just about what you say, it's something that you live. It comes from a deep place, and your audience picks up on that on a way deeper level, too, which is the consistency between your values and your visibility. And that's what creates a much deeper connection and trust for them. And no one can steal that. They can't steal the person that you've become. And they sure as hell can't fake the resonance that you've built by living your message. Which brings me to the second thing that I realized. People who copy content like this, they're not focused on you. They're not focused on me. They're not really thinking about us. They're not sitting there obsessed with your work or my work per se. They're just trying to post something, anything, to grab attention. They're chasing visibility. But here's what they're missing. Visibility, for the sake of visibility, isn't the game anymore. Not in this market. We're in a time where people, your audience, they're skeptical, they're discerning, they've been burned so many times by big promises that followed with a big letdown. They're overloaded by so much every single day. And they are definitely trust-starved. And if all you're doing is showing up with content that sounds smart, but doesn't come from something that's real, you're creating a disjointed presence. Let me explain. Like I said at the beginning, the people who scour the internet looking for stuff to post, they're not just doing it to you or to me. They're looking for content every single day. So if they see you post something that is clever or deep, they're gonna take that. And if they see someone else two weeks from today posting something deep or clever, they're gonna take that too. And since it's not coming from their own lived belief or perspective, their walk doesn't match their talk. And from the outside to their perspectives, it'll look like engaging content, but not the type of content that builds trust. Follow me for a second, I'm gonna explain what I mean by that. There was a study done several years ago by Google, and what it showed was it takes 11 hours, seven touch points, and four different places for your audience to have those interactions so they can trust you enough to buy from you. So when you show up using whatever vehicle that you've chosen to create those touch points, whether it's email or social media or podcast guesting or on this stage or on your website, whatever the method, if every time what gets communicated is coming from the same belief and same perspective, then no matter what that method is or how that touch point happens, they're all going to leave your prospect with the same experience. Because your message is cohesive and always communicating the same thing. And also the opposite is true. When you steal other people's content, then without realizing it, you're creating a disjointed experience through these different touch points. In other words, you're not creating the intended experience that effortlessly leads to enrollment. Which brings me to the third and last reflection that I had. In this market, in this tired, tired of hype, tired of people saying the right things but not following through, people aren't just ignoring content. It's not that email open rights are down or social media engagement is down or show up right to webinars are down. They are ignoring people because they don't know who to trust anymore. So being good at content or being good at getting attention is not good enough anymore, not in this market. What your audience is looking for and it's searching for is congruency. They're asking, can I trust this person? Do they actually walk their talk? Are they who they say they are? Now, from a psychological perspective, our brains are so smart. Our brain is designed to pick up on things that we might not consciously be picking up. So when someone says something and then they do something else, our brain picks up on those subtle differences. And this is such an easy slip-up when your message doesn't come from a personal belief or from a personal perspective or lived experience. I've seen this so many times. Have you ever come across someone who says webinars are dead, they're a waste of time. Let me show you my method of using DMs that's more effective and gets you more clients. And then at the end of that, they say, Go join my free webinar to tell you how to do that. Now, this type of slip-ups happen so often. And sometimes, just like the example I gave you, in that same context, in that same post or in that same message, and sometimes over a period of several weeks or several months. Again, your audience, even if they're not conscious about it, their brain picks up on those subtle mismatches. And that results in your prospects thinking to themselves, I don't know what it is about this person, I just don't trust them. Now, this might not have been an issue a decade ago when everything moved at a much faster pace, but now that people have slowed down, they're taking their time making buying decisions, the lack of consistency in your message will break that trust. And right now, trust is your biggest differentiator. So again, I'm personally not worried about the copycats because I've seen it for years. They come and go, they get a few likes, maybe a few clients, but they don't build something that lasts because what they're building isn't real. And in the meantime, I'm still here. I'm still showing up, still saying what I've been saying for over a decade, and my message has only gotten more clear, sharper, and stronger because it's rooted in my truth. And truth compounds. That's the difference between someone who's built their message from the inside out and someone who's borrowing what sounds good. So those were my three reflections. But there is one more thing that I want to share, I want to add to this. Something that might sound a little surprising or maybe even counterintuitive, which is this. It's not always a bad thing when someone copies your content. I know that might sound wild, but stay with me. Because from a marketing perspective, the more your audience hears an idea from different people in different ways, the easier it becomes for them to understand it, to accept it, to believe it. It's like opening a restaurant. Most people don't set up shop in the middle of nowhere. They open near other restaurants because people are already there. They're already thinking about food. The demand already exists. And so it works the same way with your message. Back in 2012, when I first started talking about leading with service, about serving before selling, about leading with empathy and building trust first, most people didn't get it. Now, to me, it felt obvious. It was a foundation of how I had built my own business. But to the market, it was a foreign concept. It didn't fit the dominant narrative back then, which was all about sales hacking or urgency tactics and push to sell at all costs. I would get invited on podcasts just so the host could challenge the idea. I've had people outright laugh at the concept of serving first. Yeah, it's sadly true. It happened to me more than once. And when the market took a turn and this push marketing wasn't working anymore, those same people started changing their tune and started talking about you have to show up to serve before asking for a sell. Now you can imagine how frustrating that must have been for me, but not anymore. Because they're actually doing the heavy lifting for me. They're priming my audience for me. They're repeating truths that deep down my audience needs to hear and understand, anyways. They're building the awareness and softening the ground. So when someone does come across me and hears that same message again, but this time it is coming from someone who's actually living it, it lands deeper. It sticks for them. Because when your message is congruent with who you are, when it's built on your lived experience, on your values, your perspectives, that's what makes it memorable. That's what makes it attractive and unforgettable. And you're gonna be the one that they're gonna trust. You're the one they enroll with. So let the copycats come and go. You just keep showing up with your voice, with your clarity and your message, knowing that it's rooted in your truth. You're the one who's going to be remembered. You will be trusted, and you will be the one that they're gonna choose. Now, before I wrap up, I want to leave you with one more thing. If you're listening to this and you know that you have an impactful solution, if you know that you're here to serve at your highest level, but your message still doesn't quite reflect the depth of your work, then I want to invite you to download Build to Reflect You. It's my free messaging guide designed to help you uncover your own positioning, your own message, your own truth, so your content and your offers and your business are fully aligned with who you are. You can grab it using the link in the show notes or go to elinatoly.com slash BTFY. Elinatoly.com slash BTFY. So do yourself a favor, grab this guide, go through the exercises to make sure that what's getting shared, how you're showing up, is coming from your lived experiences, from your deeper truth, and from your beliefs and values. Because the most powerful message that you'll ever share is the one that's already inside you. If this episode resonated with you, would you do me two quick favors? First, hit subscribe so you don't miss future episodes. I have a lot planned for our future conversations and I don't want you to miss any of it. And second, could you please take a moment to leave a quick rating or review? I'd be so grateful. It would help this show reach more people, especially those who are struggling and looking for this level of clarity and support. Thank you for listening. It really means a lot to me.