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Fear Of Failure Can Paralyze A Business. Enter Dino Dogan, The Fear Monster Slayer.

By October 21, 2013June 29th, 2015Marketing Insights & Strategy

Fear is an incredibly powerful emotion. The fear of failure is cited over and over for why people and businesses don’t execute their powerful ideas to stimulate growth.

I’ve heard, “What happens if that idea fails?” more times that I can count. Fear can be paralyzing. No business can move forward once fear sets in.

My Fear Monster

I had to face my Fear Monster a few days ago. My Pal, Dino Dogan of Triberr, called me to participate in a podcast called Nuclear Chowder by Mike S. Brooks. We had had a conversation earlier about HARO that he felt was a catalyst for a good show. Specifically, I had no idea what HARO was, so Dino decided to invite HARO founder Peter Shankman onto the show to explain HARO and answer my newbie questions.

Dino also knows that for some time, I have wanted to get into podcasting.

What’s the problem, you ask?

This show represented my first time on a podcast. Fear kicked in. I gave Dino every excuse I could think of to punk out.

“I’ve never been on a podcast, ” I said.

“Don’t worry. Just do it,” Dino said.

“I don’t know if I have a good mic,” I said.

“Don’t worry. Just do it,” Dino said.

“I don’t know if Mike wants me on his show,” I said.

“Don’t worry. Just do it,” Dino said.

Over and over, my Fear Monster kept feeding me reasons why I shouldn’t do the very thing I’ve been dying to do all along.

“Dino,” I thought, “is being such a jerk. Why doesn’t he understand?”

The day of the podcast came and I said, “I don’t know what the agenda is. I don’t know what to say. Blah blah blah.”

Dino just sighed and said, “You’ll be fine.”

And there it was. Showtime.

Then something interesting happened. After the podcast started, the Fear Monster didn’t present itself. The show went well, wrapped up and the Fear Monster was nowhere to be seen.

Dino Dogan, Fear Monster Slayer

As it turns out, fear had made me obsessed with all of the wrong things. All that time, Dino wasn’t being a jerk. He was being my Fear Monster Slayer.

I learned (or re-learned) two things.

First, everyone needs to recognize their Fear Monster. Facing it is the first step in realizing that every excuse to avoid doing awesome things comes from it and not you. But silencing the Fear Monster can be difficult, which is why you need a Fear Monster Slayer by your side.

We all need someone or something to ground us and face our fears. That person can see through your Fear Monster’s deceptions. It can be a colleague, a coworker, a spouse or a friend. Anyone can slay a Fear Monster.

Ralph M. Rivera, Fear Monster Slayer

I want to be your Fear Monster Slayer, the way Dino was for me, and here’s how I want to help you realize your business potential and achieve great things:

First, I want you to make three columns on a piece of paper.

In the first column write down three ideas that can stimulate your business towards growth and greater revenue. In the second column write down all the reasons why the Fear Monster tells you that you can’t make those ideas happen. In the third column write down the benefits of each idea.

Once you’ve done that, know that I am doing battle with your Fear Monster and cross off everything in the “can’t” column.

Then, come back to this page and tell me your three awesome ideas and how they will help your business in the comments section below. All of us here at {Web.Search.Social} will continue to fight off your Fear Monster.

Don’t Know Where To Start?

If you don’t know where to start, here are a few ideas to get you going.

Update your website. When was the last time you took a really long comprehensive look at your website marketing to make sure it is servicing your client’s needs properly?

Improve your social marketing. Twitter. Facebook. Pinterest. Are you reaching your customers everywhere they are? Are you making it convenient for them to find and talk to you?

Update your LinkedIn profile. Two people sign up for LinkedIn every second. The overwhelming majority use LinkedIn solely for business. Are people able to find you on LinkedIn? Do you have keywords in a well written, completed profile?

Do you have kick ass business cards? Sure digital is great, but traditional marketing still matters. Do your business cards make it easy for people to know you and engage with you?

What do your metrics say about your digital marketing? Have you looked at the analytics for your website, email campaigns or social media properties? How can you know where you are going if you don’t know where you’ve been?

Can you disrupt your industry and become a game changer ahead of your competitors? Or are you refusing to think outside the box because of the Fear Monster?

Amazing things can happen if you take just one of my suggestions. But doing them all can be your fire starter moment.

You can do these things on your own, or you can hire a team like ours to help you get it all done professionally. Either way, do it. Beat your Fear Monster.

Aside from hiring us to provide elegant and beautiful ways for your business to have kick ass marketing, you can also read Dino Dogan’s blog and Mike S. Brooks’ blog. Sign up for the free Web.Search.Social newsletter. Follow all of us on Twitter ( Ralph, Dino, Mike ) or on Google+ ( Ralph, Dino, Mike ). Join {Web.Search.Social} on Facebook or Google+.

There are simply too many ways to slay that Fear Monster. One way is to follow the advice of Dino Dogan, Fear Monster Slayer:

“Don’t worry. Just do it.”

Join the discussion 12 Comments

  • Dino Dogan says:

    dude, it took me a second to notice that that’s me in that image #awesome 🙂

    I’m glad I was helpful, and you were great on the podcast. Cant wait to hear it.

    Also, this reminded me that I need to send you the super-duper secret podcasting promotion document. Sending it now 🙂

  • This is awesome. That is all.

  • Sylviane Nuccio says:

    Yes, fear is powerful and I’ve had a few personal stories to know this dead on.

    Fear is that little voice inside that tells you that you’re not good enough, and it goes on and on, until either you shut it up and go ahead anyway, or you listen to it and won’t ever achieve anything of value.

    Thanks for this topic.

  • Adrienne says:

    Hey Ralph,

    I got the biggest kick out of seeing Dino in that image. That’s so cool and it’s funny that it took him a minute to notice it was him! I love that and had to read this after seeing your title.

    Well first off, congratulations on the podcast. I went through the same thing with my first interview because when I get nervous I stumble over my own words a LOT. It’s so embarrassing and I think it’s that fear of the unknown in the back of my brain that sets that crap off. After I had my first one under my belt I just go with the flow now. Stumbling is just who I am I guess and it only seems to bother me! lol…

    The only fearful thing I have left to conquer is speaking in public but that’s not happening anytime in the near future so I guess I’m still safe from having to face that fear monster quite yet. Maybe when that time comes I’ll head back this way and see if you can give me a few pointers. Like how to not throw up in public! Yikes!

    Great share Ralph and enjoy your day.

    ~Adrienne

    • I am also struggling with the fear of speaking in public, which is a skill that I actually believe we should be taught in school when we are still young. Now that it’s too late, we are only left with the big task of proving that “you can teach old dogs new tricks.” Toastmasters is a good place to learn. That is if a Fear Slayer like Dino helps you to get there in the first place.

      As a teacher, I try to be my pupils’ Fear Slayer while I am waiting for my own to give me a push in the right direction. 🙂