This is Lesson Two in a series of six posts that preview just some of the content we’ll be working on in the Words on Fire Transformative Message Development training.
There’s no way around it. If you don’t know who you’re here to serve, who you’re talking to when you write your copy and craft your elevator speech, it’s hard to come up with any language that’s compelling.
And transformational types often suffer mightily with this question because their work can truly be of benefit to so many different types of people.
You see, one of the most powerful forces in marketing is what I call the “hey you” principle.
I like to explain the “hey, you” principle this way.
Sometimes, my husband Peter is in another room in the house and he starts talking to me. But I don’t usually listen and I don’t actually hear or take in what he’s saying.
Why? Because I don’t know if he’s talking to me.
He might be on the phone, he might be talking to himself, he might be talking to the dog.
He’s learned over our 15 years or more together that if he wants my attention, he has to start by saying “Hey, Isabel”.
That gets my attention, and then I can hear the rest of what he has to say.
If your marketing doesn’t in some fashion say “hey you” to your perfect people, the risk is high they simply won’t pause long enough to really listen to what you have to say.
And you can’t say “hey you” if you don’t know who you are talking to.
The good news is this: you don’t have to define your audience the way most marketers say you should. With demographics, an avatar. Knowing the problem you are solving. Or what keeps your people up at night.
The Thrilled Beyond Belief Client
I’ve always believed one of the best questions you can ask is who you would be most delighted to work with. This is who I call your Thrilled Beyond Belief Clients or TBBC. The ones you’d be overjoyed to have show up at your door.
(This concept was deepend for me when I worked with Fabeku Fatunmise who calls this concept your “Hell Yes” Audience.)
It doesn’t matter how you describe them, as long as you start to feel that you would know it in your bones when they show up.
An Action (Actually Three) You Can Take Now
Here’s three steps to help you do that:
Step One: Give Yourself Permission to Have the Clients You Want
For some of my clients, this is the hardest shift. To go from “who will work with me?” to “who do I want to work with?” If you don’t have all the clients you want, you may feel you are not entitled to be picky.
But you should be.
What I’ve noticed is that when clients truly allow themselves to focus on the clients they most desire, their energy changes. They become more focused, more magnetic. They start to make a beeline for those clients. Some of their doubt drops away.
They are more motivated to take action, because now they are reaching out to the people they love. To the people they understand, to the people they most want to make a difference for.
Step Two: Describe the Audience You Would Be Most Delirious and Delighted to Serve
The truth is that most of us have a sense, deep down, who we would love to work with.
It’s just that we decide in some part of our brain that it won’t work, that they won’t like us, or it’s not a typical audience, or that there’s some other obstacle, so we cross them off our list and then wonder why we can’t name an audience that we’d love to serve.
Ask yourself: “what kind of people do I love? what kind of people am I excited about spending time with? How would I know them? How would I recognize that they were my people?”
It doesn’t matter if they aren’t the same age, or don’t have the same profession, or dont’ have the same problems. Maybe you know their hearts, their dreams. Maybe you know the music they listen to. Or the kinds of challenges they get into. It doesn’t matter what comes up, as long as you start to see them and feel them.
Connect with your love and passion for these people. That’s who you want to talk to.
Ste Three: Consider Situations, Symptoms and Circumstances
Good marketing language has concreteness. Once you know WHO you want to speak to, you can ask the next question: what kinds of situations, symptoms, and circumstances do your people experience that might be a sign they could use your help?
So, for example, people who are new in business might have a heightened need to connect with their inner wisdom so that they can really make the many, many ,many decisions that are part of starting and growing a business.
Sometimes, spiritually oriented business owners want to talk about what they do and hope the right people will be drawn to them. What makes that easier is being able to answer the question, “How does someone end up in the place where they know that they need me?”
And Finally
Because we really are so much wiser than we give ourselves credit for, take a moment right now, throw your hands in the air, and say out loud “I call in clarity around who it is that I am here to serve!” If you’re really struggling, say it every day for the next five days.
You’ll be surprised at the signs that appear to point you in the right direction.
I offer the Words on Fire training once or twice a year. Read more here: http://isabelparlett.com/intimate-group.