Audio Lesson One: WHO
THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP IS THE FIRST ONE.
Thank you for taking the first step: Lesson One of our six-part audio course designed to simplify your marketing strategy, so that you can do less and actually sell more. You’ve gotten this far, so you must believe it’s possible. And in this free audio course, I’m not only going to prove it to you, I’m going to give you all of the tools and resources you’ll need to actually execute on this strategy and put it into action.
Let’s begin…
NO, NOT YOU…THEM
I’ll get right to the point. Here’s where most marketing and advertising falls apart. Right at the beginning. Before you even get started. And here’s why:
There is a natural inclination, when we set out to market our products or services: We start to sell right away, when we should be listening.
Listening to whom? To your customers! Whether existing or potential customers, they don’t care about you. Or your product. Or your service.
What they care about is how your product or service can help them.
So, as marketers, we need to tell them their story back to them—not make claims of product performance or service promises that can’t be proven and won’t be believed until they are actually experienced by the end user.
So, first off. Stop thinking in terms of you telling your story to your customers.
Instead, let’s show the world that you understand their pains, problems, aspirations and end-goals.
In other words…
TURN THAT MIRROR INTO A WINDOW
Instead of looking at yourself in the mirror and describing what you see in your marketing copy, peer through the glass, like a window into the mind, heart and soul of your ideal customer. That’s where effective messaging lives: on the other side of that window. If articulated accurately and compellingly, a marketing system that genuinely demonstrates that you understand the audience will be the the first step in getting them to trust you. Ultimately, it is that level of trust that will close the sale.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Let’s first define who it is that we’re talking about. Your audience.
Remember, your audience isn’t just your customer base. Nor your sales pipeline. Your audience is literally anyone out there in the world that could benefit from hiring or buying from you.
But you can’t think of it that way, because you’ll be tempted to believe that your audience is, well…”It could be anyone,” is the most common miscalculation I hear from small business owners and professional service providers.
It’s not anyone. It’s someone. And the sooner you come to terms with that, the sooner you will start attracting the right kinds of prospects and clients, and disqualify poor fits and those looking to get free advice.
GO SMALL OR GO HOME
Contrary to popular belief, the goal in marketing professional services is not to attract the largest audience imaginable. It’s to identify and engage a ”Minimal Viable Audience,” as marketing guru Seth Godin puts it.
The smaller, more niche you can identify your target market, the deeper you can penetrate that market. The better you can serve them. And the more you can box out competitors who don’t share your niche specialization.
You want to go an inch wide and a mile deep; not a mile wide and an inch deep.
PLEASE SAY “UNCLE” NOW, SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO LATER
But you’ll resist this.
Even as your head is telling you this makes sense, that nagging fear coming from your heart is still trying to convince you to hedge. “Don’t eliminate opportunities,” that voice is urging you. “That would be crazy!”
What’s crazy is making claims that your product or service can benefit literally everyone. Then trying to demonstrate that to all walks of life, each with different demographics, buying motivators, purchasing capacities, pain points, etc. Then, even if you manage to map that out…investing what it will cost you to market to an audience that large.
That’s crazy.
But, please…don’t take my word for it. Consider these audio case studies, if you need the confidence it takes to tighten your target niche:
Scott Becker, who built a multimedia and events empire by limiting his practice to only serving a narrow slice of the medical market.
Jay Harrington, my partner at the Thought Leader Collaborative, who has created a whole career out of serving attorneys and law firms, and only attorneys and law firms. In fact, The Lab, as we call the Thought Leader Collaborative, was originally founded with only attorneys in mind. But by popular demand, it is now a buzzing community of like-minded service professionals from adjacent industries as well: accountants, consultants, architects, insurance professionals.
(So it is possible to “land and expand” once you get sufficient market share in one niche. But just don’t start out trying to boil the ocean.)
Jonathan Barber, who can track his firm’s big breakout to the precise moment in which he and his partner decided to go super narrow with their market positioning.
David C. Baker, who has built a one-person, seven-figure consulting business coaching clients how to operate in a market so small, they might only have two to five competitors!
When you finally commit to a niche, everything comes easier to you.
Prospects become easier to find.
Marketing and sales become easier (and more affordable).
Expertise becomes more believably demonstrable, as this niche becomes “all you do.”
People come looking for you, as the go-to expert in this definable space.
You get paid and retained the premium fees a specialist commands, rather than dismissed or overlooked as a generalist.
You can achieve what brought you here in the first place…
YOU CAN ELIMINATE EVERYTHING THAT’S NOT WORKING,
AND FOCUS ONLY ONE MARKETING TACTIC (PLUS EMAIL)
So let’s do this. Download this worksheet, and let’s start working on your one-page marketing plan.
Which starts with “WHO.”
Complete the first section of this worksheet, and do not move onto the “WHY” section until you complete the next Audio Lesson. (I’ll send you that course in a couple days.)
After you’ve given some thought to who your MVA might be—that’s your Minimum Viable Audience—let’s finally put down in writing who that person is. The fancypants in the marketing world will call this your buyer persona, but for now, let’s just call them your Audience. Because that’s what they are.
And let’s try to be as specific and as narrow as possible. It might even hurt a little bit to squeeze so hard. But you’ll thank me later.
HERE’S THE HOMEWORK
In the space provided, let’s define some things about your ideal customer. The one you’d like to attract more than any other type of client, to do the type of work that lights you up, fulfills your purpose, and gives you energy (as opposed to those poor-fit clients who sap your energy).
How old is this person, typically? Give me an age range, as narrowly as you can.
Are there any trend lines around whether they are male or female?
Can we make any conclusions as to their relative affluence?
Where do they live?
What is their job title?
Where do they work?
What industry are they in?
What products or services have they purchased from you in the past, that you truly enjoyed delivering, and at an acceptable profit margin?
Once you’ve completed this section of the worksheet, give it a day or two…maybe a week. Think on it. Reflect on it. Did we get it right? Or do we need to reconsider and revise?
If and when you think it’s ready for primetime, you’re ready for Audio Lesson Two: WHY. I’ll walk you through this in the next installment, but start thinking along these lines: Now that we know with confidence who we’re talking about when it comes to defining your audience, ask a few more questions about them:
What problems, pains, aspirations or desires is this audience looking to address, and how does my product or service address them?
See you next time.