This is what you might have experienced: You started your business out with passion and fire. You attempted to do it justice by learning all about business and marketing to make it more successful, reach more people, make it a better business, etc. (Whatever the training program sales page tried convincing you… ) A few short months later, you’re stuck in a rut and chasing your tail on a hamster wheel, but you don’t know what the heck you are doing this for.
We are all passionate about what we do. It doesn’t matter what you deliver or how you do it. We created a business to do what we love and be able to do it in our own way.
We didn’t start our businesses (alongside the stress, uncertainty and forgoing health insurance) so that we could market our businesses.
Our passions are what drove us to start our businesses (e.g. A specific coaching process, expertise, tools and knowledge… the “geek stuff.” Our companies were created because we wanted to share our talents and express ourselves through something we could (theoretically at least). We have total control so that we don’t compromise our message, integrity, or truth.
We want to live a life that is based on something we believe in… We want our lives more than just completing the time clock.
But, slowly, and probably after a few programs and training later, with the intent of spreading our message and helping more people, we begin to see how our expressions, interaction, and decisions have become more driven by “marketing best practices” than our own vision and expertise.
We were forced to follow specific canned procedures that required us to remove our limbs in order to fit into a box. We get stifled and confused by “blueprints” and, if they don’t deliver the advertised results, we either conclude that something is wrong with us or we are not good enough. We bought more of this training to further suppress our originality and draw us into the comparison trap, making us feel even worse!
Training after training, program after the program was told to “Shut the Hell Up” about your process. Instead, talk about the “results” and “benefits.” It was said that no one cares about our process, our tools, or our passion for our craft – our superpower and our secret sauce. This is a fact that is repeated so often that it becomes “truth”.
Did you ever think that telling us to shut down about our process, tools, and “how we create outcomes” is sending our subconscious the message that passion for our “craft” is not essential is a thought? It’s not like anyone cares. We should just let it go so that we can create canned messages that “people understand”.
What is this like being told to put your dreams at the office and settle in the cubicle? You get health insurance and appear “gainfully employed”. This means you don’t have any awkward moments explaining your work at cocktail parties.
What if our PROCESS could be MADE OUR MESSAGE
Humour me! Just ask… What if?
How about we geek out on what we do and how we do it? And make it magnetizing to our best clients? What if we could have our cake AND eat it?
Let me tell you, it is easier to find your passion and then create marketing content around it than it is to find something marketable and become passionate about it. You’re not a used car salesman. You won’t be able to make a living by picking a niche because you hear it is popular.
Imagine if you could lead with your “craft” and then package and position all your passions and superpowers into profitable and marketable offerings that leave no part of you behind.
Imagine if you didn’t need to take off an arm or a leg in order to stuff yourself into the “marketing boxes”?
Your passion for your “craft”, the process, tools, and knowledge, is like a beach ball. A beach ball that is full of happy people will float by its nature. Marketing training will tell you to push the beachball down and keep it underwater because “most stuff sinks”. Let’s say the beach ball sinks so it “fits in.” You will need to push it down until it is happily inflated. It will pop up when you quit fighting it, and you feel like you are failing the task. You eventually get tired of fighting it 24/7. Then you decide to DEFLATE the beachball by letting go of your passion. The sad beach ball is now sinking and can be inserted.
Are you denying your passions or losing the fire? You look for more training and programs to get out of your rut. You keep trying to find the spark and hope that you will eventually get it. You feel like someone will give it to you on a silver platter for $297.
Yet, those trainings tell you to keep quiet about your passion for “craft “…” and slowly but surely you start to drink the Koolaid instead of questioning the truth and what’s happening.
A great spiritual mentor told me to put her anger and rage aside by a marketing guru because it wouldn’t sell. She struggled for years with some muted messages. She was fortunate to find another mentor who encouraged and supported her to let it all out. She created a program called Rage to Riches – she is actually SELLING her angry and raging part – and is now making 5-figures per year.
Instead of trying to suppress our unique mix of tools, processes, knowledge, and experience, how about we MAKE OUR PROCESS MESSAGE and “market” it to make it work for us?
We may be still “opening the doors” to some “results, benefits”, but what about the next level? If you sound like your competitors, are people going to pay you big bucks? What makes you different? What is it that makes you stand out from other potential clients who make the same promise of “losing 10 pounds and feeling energized”?
Everyone has a different “elevator speech”, a similar “talk about benefits, frustrations and hey don’t forget about your fears!” It is not enough to replace a few words with a new phrase every day that makes you unique.
Your process is what makes you different. It’s how you create results for clients. Your approach is unique and not an “x-month” program that you are given by your coach school or other training programs.
You can’t buy a handout or outline from the shelf and then squish yourself into it because you feel you don’t have the skills or knowledge to make your own process. These materials can be helpful in getting your business up and running quicker and easier. However, they should not be used as a foundation for your business.
Your process is a jewel that is the culmination of all your passions and knowledge, tools, life experience value, gifts, and superpower. You are the complete package.
I’ve read enough sales pages to know that I don’t care about the “benefits” anymore. They all say the same thing: “X clients in 30 days!” “6-figure business in 6 months !”… The person behind the copy is what I buy. Because that is where the magic happens, I want to know who she is, what she believes in, what tools she has, how she approaches the subject matter and how she delivers the materials. I want to be sure that the person I’m working with isn’t just repeating something I’ve heard of using a cookie-cutter method others use.
Sometimes I can tell within 10 seconds that I must join a coaching/training program page when I land on it. Why? Why?
Even if your communication is only written, potential clients will sense your enthusiasm and energy. You can’t expect your potential clients to feel inspired if you write about topics they aren’t passionate about.
Broad claims about only the benefits and results do not convey the truth and build the trust that is necessary to make meaningful connections.
This is the irony. There are many “certification” programs that allow coaches to provide business and marketing coaching. Guess what they’re selling? The PROCESS! They sell the process (which some later became a signature system). Tell us to stop talking about your process! The process is not essential to anyone… but thousands of people do care enough to pay thousands of dollars to become certified. Let’s think about this for a second, okay?
Many business coaches recommend that you create a signature system. It’s all about the process. A signature system is a powerful marketing communication tool. It tells people exactly what you do and how it’s done. This helps to tie the process to desired outcomes. WHAT YOU DO. Yes, it is possible.
Marketing is something I absolutely love. It’s an art form that I use to express myself. This is not the “Simon Says” canned version. Marketing communication is all about understanding your target clients and communicating that to them.
Who are you to argue that your process, which is the culmination of all your passions and knowledge, tools, life experiences, value, gifts, and superpowers, isn’t an essential part of your message? These are the things I want to know before I spend a lot of money on someone to hire.
If you don’t accept yourself fully and are unable to put your uniqueness out there if you hide behind “results” that you think people want to hear, how can you expect them to accept your genius?
Ling Wong, Business Artist and Chief Freedom Fighter at Slideberry ( [http://slideberry.com/] ), provides Business Soulwork + Marketing Activation for Coaches and Done-For-You Content for Health & Wellness Practitioners.
Ling assists her clients to supercharge their actions through marketing strategies and practical strategies. She also helps them through growth and development. This will allow them not only to grow their business but also let their business grow. Her “left brain meets right-brain” approach helps clients discover their truth, tap into their intuition, and then ground that light bulb moment with practical strategies, marketing tactics.
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