Have you had this experience? You started doing something in your business with passion, with fire. You tried to do it justice by learning all the business and marketing stuff about how to make it work, improve it, make it reach more people, make a living … etc. (Whatever the sales page for the training program tried to convince him …) A few months later, he finds himself in a rut, chasing his tail on the hamster wheel but he no longer knows why the stunt is doing it.
Most of us get involved in what we do out of our passion for the “trade,” regardless of the results it delivers, who it serves, and how it does it. We start a business so we can do what we do best and do it the way we see it best without others telling us what to do and how to do it.
We don’t start our businesses (along with the stress, “uncertainty,” and the above from health insurance) just so we can market our businesses.
We start our businesses because we are passionate about what we do (for example, a specific coaching process, a subject of specialization, tools and knowledge … the “geeky” stuff). We start our businesses because we want to express ourselves and share our gifts through something that we can (theoretically at least!) Have complete control over so we don’t have to compromise our message, our integrity, our truth.
We want to turn our lives into something we stand for … We want our lives to be more than a clock.
However, after a while, probably some trainings and programs later, taken with the intention of promoting our business so that we can spread our message and help more people, we slowly but surely realize how our expression, interaction and decisions have become increasingly important. driven by what they “told us” were “best marketing practices” rather than our individual vision and expertise (as in our superpower, secret sauce, and unique process that really helps our clients achieve results).
We force ourselves to go through some canning processes that require us to cut off the limbs so that we can fit into a “tried and true” box. The “blueprints” suffocate us, and if we don’t get the “results as advertised,” we conclude that something is wrong with us, or we are simply not good enough. (So we continued to buy more of these workouts, further stifling our originality, leading us into the comparison trap, and somehow made us feel even more inadequate!)
We were told, training after training and program after program, to CLOSE HELL about your process and just talk about the “results”, the “benefits.” They told us that nobody cares about our “process”, our “tools”, essentially, our passion for our “crafts”, our superpower, our secret sauce. In fact, this is said over and over again with such frequency that it is accepted as “true.” Hey, when was the last time you questioned and challenged yourself?
Have we ever thought that being told over and over to shut up about our process, our tools and “how we create results” because “people will just be shocked” is sending a message to our subconscious that our passion for our ” office “is not important? That nobody cares? That we should leave it at the door so that we can create canned marketing messages that “people will understand”, because your goal is the lowest common denominator?
How is this different from being told to leave your dream at the office door and settle into the cubicle? (At least you get health insurance, you appear to be in “gainful employment”, and you don’t have to go awkwardly explaining what you’re doing at the cocktail party!)
What if we can MAKE OUR PROCESS OUR MESSAGE?
Help yourself, just ask … What if?
What if we can learn about what we do, how we do it, and make it attractive to our ideal clients? What if we could have our cake and eat it too?
Here’s what I know: It’s a lot easier to find your passion and then wrap some marketing content around it, than to find something hopefully marketable and then become passionate about it. He is not a used car dealer. Choosing a “niche” because others tell you it will work, it won’t work in the long run.
What if you could lead with your “craft”, then package and position your passions and superpowers to their fullest glory in profitable, marketable offerings without leaving any part of YOU behind?
What if you don’t have to cut off an arm and a leg in order to get into the “marketing box”?
Imagine that your passion for your “craft” – the process, the tools, the knowledge – is a beach ball. By nature, a fully inflated and happily filled beach ball floats. Many marketing trainings tell you to push the beach ball down and keep it underwater because “most things sink.” Hmm, let’s make the beach ball “sink” so it can “fit.” If it is happily inflated, you will have to keep pushing it and keep pushing it to keep it down. The moment you stop fighting, it pops up and you feel like you’ve failed at the task. Over time, you get tired of pushing it 24/7 so you DEFLATE the beach ball by letting go of your passion. The sadly deflated beach ball sinks and clicks.
Have you lost your fire by denying certain aspects of your passion? To get out of the rut, you seek out more programs and trainings, and get sucked into quick fixes with big promise. You keep hitting your head and you think that you can somehow find that spark from outside of yourself. Someone is going to give it to you on a silver platter for $ 297.
However, those workouts keep telling you to shut up about your passion for your “craft” … and slowly but surely you drink the kool-aid and instead of questioning what is going on and what is true for you, you follow the instructions , do your homework and soften your voice.
I know of an amazing spiritual mentor who was once told by a “marketing guru” to “put down your anger and rage” because it “won’t sell.” He struggled for a long time with some watered down messages. Fortunately, she found another mentor who encouraged her to expose it all. She launched a show called “Rage To Riches” – yes, she is SELLING her furious and angry part – and is now raising 5 figures per month.
Instead of stifling our unique combination of process, tools, knowledge and experience, what if we could MAKE OUR PROCESS OUR MESSAGE and use “marketing” to make it work for our business?
Yes, we may still be “opening the door” with some “results and benefits”, but what about the next layer? Will people really pay you a lot of money if you sound like your competition? What makes you special? What makes your potential customers choose you over someone who makes the same promise to “lose 10 pounds and feel energized”?
Everyone has a variation of the same “elevator pitch”, the same one “talks about the benefits, the frustration and, hey, don’t forget the fears!” What makes you different is not replacing a few words and calling it a day.
What sets YOU apart is your process, what you really do to create results for your clients, YOUR way. Your unique process is not a “x month program” that your coaching school or other training programs give you.
You can’t buy some sketches and brochures off the shelf and crawl into the box because you think you’re not good enough or don’t know enough to create your own process. (Those materials have a place to help you get up and running faster and easier, but the foundation of your business shouldn’t be based on mindlessly regurgitating these materials.)
Your process is a jewel that is the crystallization of all your passions, knowledge, tools, life experience, value, gifts and superpowers. It is YOU as the complete package.
I’ve read enough sales pages to tell you that I already don’t give a damn about “profits” because they say pretty much the same thing … “x customers in 30 days!” “6-figure business in x months!” … I buy thanks to the person behind the copy. I want to know what it represents, what tools you have at your disposal, how you approach the subject, how you deliver your materials, because it is during the process that the results and the magic happen. I want to know that this person I am working with is not regurgitating something that I have heard before, some cookie cutter system that others are also regurgitating.
When I get to the sales page of a training / coaching program, sometimes I know within 10 seconds that I have to join that program without finishing reading the first paragraph. Why? I can feel the energy of the author and instantly know if it’s something original, something with GUTS, something that fits me well.
Your potential clients can feel your energy, passion, and enthusiasm through your communication, even if it’s just written words. If you don’t write about something that you are totally passionate about, if you hand out canned and watered-down stuff, how can you expect your readers to “feel” it, to be inspired enough to work with you?
General promises about results and benefits do not communicate truth and establish the confidence you need to make meaningful connections.
Here’s the irony. I have seen quite a few “certificate programs” that train trainers to provide business and marketing training. Guess what they are selling, yes, the PROCESS! They are selling the process (which some later turned into a signature system) that turns around and tells us, stop talking about your process! Nobody cares about the process … but apparently many people care enough to shell out thousands of dollars to get certified. Hmmm … let’s think about that for a moment, shall we?
Many business coaches also advocate creating a signature system. So it’s about the process, right? In my opinion, the signature system is a great marketing communication tool because when done right it tells people succinctly what you do and how you do it, linking the process to the desired benefits / results. HOW DO YOU DO IT. Yes, the process.
Don’t get me wrong, I love marketing and approach it as an art form, a form of self-expression. It’s not the canned version that “Simon Says” plays. Marketing communication is about understanding who you want to serve and how you serve them, then communicate it so your ideal customers understand the value you offer (simple, right?)
Who can say that your process, which is the crystallization of all your passions, knowledge, tools, life experiences, values, gifts, and superpowers, is not an important part of your message? I would like to know these things before I decide to pay a large sum of money and hire someone!
If you can’t fully accept them all and expose all of your uniqueness; If you hide behind canned and diluted “results” that you * think * people want to hear, how can you expect others to fully accept and embrace your genius?
