Power of first impressions
Why are the first impression so important? How and why it’s hard to change it?
Let’s start with imagining: You meet a person at the party or event and you feel you have a lot in common, you have a good conversation, you think you could become good friends. But later, you don’t even exchange information. Or you go to a job interview feeling confident and leaving with the vibe that you totally got it. But then again – no call, no answer. Or you get tagged in a social media post that someone is looking for an expert just like you, they get excited, you get excited, you exchange some comments, but then they don’t reach out or don’t even answer your messages.
Have situations like these ever happened to you?
From your side, it seems that interactions went great, but in the end, you are not getting the gig, position or that new friend, it doesn’t seem that the other person felt the same connection. It can be confusing and frustrating. I have been on both sides. I have felt over the moon after speaking with someone and then nothing happens, really nothing…. And I also have felt that conversation with someone went totally bad and we didn’t click, but after getting feedback, that other one felt pretty much as if we were soul mates.
People on the street or shops, someone you say hello at the gym or at a networking event – every day you are making contact with people for the first time. It happens so naturally, that you might even not notice it. Also on social media, you get those first impressions all the time. You judge and you get judged. And yes, we all do it. Each interaction comes with an opportunity and a possibility — every person you meet is a potential new friend or client.
You may not have ever thought too much about your first impression. You might think changing first impressions of you would mean acting fake or not being actual you. Or that judging someone at a glance is superficial and not accurate. Yet none of those things is true.
Did you know it takes your ideal clients one-tenth of a second to decide if they can trust you or not?
First impressions matter more than you think!
On your website, on your social media profiles. Even when you are just interacting with others in comments. It all matters.
What do you think? How many people have checked out your profile today? Did they find what they were searching for? Did they clearly understand what you do and for who? Everything was clear just from first sight? Power of first impressions means that people have already decided on what you’re like before you even have said anything or talked with them.
Not only first impressions have lightning speed, but they also last a very long time. Because of what’s called the “primacy effect”, people tend to remember the things they learnt initially about someone, rather than the information they find out later. Research has in fact found that it can take up to six months of regular contact with someone to change their initial impression and alter the lens through which they see you.. Huh crazy!
It pretty much says that you have only one chance. In technology time where everything is scrolled away, the fact that you never get a second chance to make a first impression has never been more true. Sorry, not sorry. It might seem unfair. Yet a big amount of studies have shown that first impressions are actually highly accurate in working out a person’s true personality and abilities. It turns out you can actually judge a book by its cover after all.
People like other people who are warm, confident, trustworthy, credible, kind, and attractive, and who make them feel comfortable, interesting, and valued. Basically, people will like you for two reasons – they either want to benefit from you or they want to become you.
OK, so what does it mean for you? Well, anything! Seriously – anything you put out there online should leave a great impression you want to be identified with.
When somebody visits your website, they need to feel that connection.
They immediately need to know who you are, what you do and why they should care about it. This is the point where it is very important to work on your ideal client profile. As you want to make sure, you create a mood and vibe within your brand that leads the best first impression possible for them.
Same about your social media profiles. You want to make sure that your visuals reflect you, your brand and most importantly it works for your ideal client. That your vibe is compelling and attractive for them (it’s not about you, it’s about your ideal client!). Not only your visuals but also information about you, your bio, it is very important to have a clear statement and call to action. Do you have you in your profile image? Or is it your pet? Is your profile cleaned up from very old and not relevant party snaps?
If you struggle with coming up with your bio, here is a simple way how to make it on point:
First of all, you want to call out your niche and result with more clarity. Make them say: OMG – I need this person in my life!
Pretty much there are 2 templates, that you can use and they work:
- “I help (person) achieve (result) without (the thing they hate).”
Including without part is compelling to potential clients since you not only give what they need, but also eliminate what they dislike.
My example would sound like this: “I help digital businesses stand out and sell offers they are proud of without overwhelm”. - “I help (person) to (result, desire) with (method).”
By adding a method you are showing your expertise.
Example: “I help digital businesses stand out and sell offers they are proud of with the Disrupt method.”
Using this system can help you massively.
You need to get inside your clients head and demonstrate you understand their fears, pains and goals by talking about it all the time. You also want to use the language they use. This is why research of your ideal client is so important.
Go deep. Sell clients what they want, give them what they need.
It sounds complicated, and not very compelling for you as let’s be honest out egos are always in our way, we want to brag about ourselves, and make our statement super unique using complicated terms, but all we gotta do is to show the way how to achieve desired outcome for our ideal client, and ideally, if we do it using language they would. Remember: First impressions matter more than you think!
