5 Simple Steps to a Clearer Message

There’s a rampant problem out there, superstars. And it’s gutting your ability to win raving fans and high-caliber clients from your newsletter, website, and emails.

I call it the “mealy message.”

Have you ever bitten into an apple that’s mealy?

They may look all shiny and red, but when you bite into them, they make your mouth say “yuk”! The texture is all grainy and gross. The flavor is bland. And no amount of convincing can get you to take another bite.

Mealy messages are the same.

And if you can’t get your readers to keep reading… if you can’t get them excited and their reptilian brains saying “Hey! This feels good! I want more!”… and if you can’t persuade them that you can help them out of the hot + itchy problem they want so earnestly to solve…

…then you aren’t going to get clients with your online marketing.

Here’s 5 simple steps to avoid a mealy message:

Step 1. Know your audience. It’s Marketing 101, right? Except you’d be surprised how many of us don’t set boundaries around who we do—and do not—intend to serve. It’s a rookie mistake to say “I serve everyone who can pay me.” If that’s you, give your work a second look. Are you attracting widows? Recent divorcees? Women business owners? Corporate lifer types? Professional people who already know about kale and quinoa, but look to you for good ideas on how to stay healthy when they are busy?

Step 2. Know what problem you solve. As service professionals, it doesn’t matter what your training is. You are in the problem-solving business. You’ve got to know the problem you solve for your audience. Think of the “trigger” that caused your clients to come find you. And motivated them enough to invest in changing (or getting relief). Make a list of 10. Then narrow it down to the top 3. Then pick one. That’s the source of your blog, teleseminar, free report.

Step 3. Know what sets you apart from the Neighbors. In my production labs, I ask my students to tell their “powerful story.” What brought them to this work? And why are they positioned perfectly to do this work? Too often, business owners hide their true selves behind a mealy message. The stuff you want to hide is often the very thing your ideal clients need to hear so that they trust that you are human (and that they can change their lives, too.)

Step 4. Be ruthless about benefits. A common mistakes I see all the time: benefits no one is willing to pay for (think “transformation” – “living the life of your dreams” – “mind-body integration”). It’s not that these things aren’t valuable… it’s just that the words you are using are vague. Or so conceptual, it’s hard to understand what you are REALLY writing about. Try grounding into simple outcomes. You will feel confident. You will get a job. You will lose weight. You will make more money in your business without burning out.

Step 5. Be you. If I had a nickel for every wannabe Lisa, Suzanne, Kendall, and Ali out there, I’d have a lot of nickels. It’s great to admire such incredibly successful and powerful women. It’s smart to study how other successful people market their businesses, and how they are in the world. But at the end of the day, your audience will tune in because they want to hear what YOU have to say. Many of them can ONLY hear it from you. Don’t drink the “I want to be someone else” kool-aid. Strive to be more of yourself… and apply what you learn from others to your own business and life. A fun question here is: what would you LOVE to say or write, that you think would freak out some of your more conservative or traditional clients? I dare you to write about THAT.

We are at this really cool point where people don’t want more of the same. There’s a lot of distrust around online marketing. It’s just baked in. Which is your golden opportunity to really shine your light out into the world… and use technology to reach more people than ever before.

But ya gotta be clear.

Mighty thanks to flattop341 flickr photostream for the bitter apple