Make Marketing Suck Less

Dr. Michelle Mazur (00:00): If I went to your website right now, what I understand what your work does for me is the result that I am looking for, that I would pay you money for, represented in your message, or are you falling into this overlooked expert trap leading with your solution? Experts in experts are obsessed with their solutions. It's natural. You love what you do and how you do it. And you see the results that it creates for other people. It's easy for you to get excited about your work and want to talk about the work all the time. Then we assume other people are just as excited about our expertise as we are, but here's the rebel truth. Your clients don't care how you do what you do. They want the results your work creates. But how do you communicate that? That's what we're talking about on this episode of The Pod, how to go from super solution focus to a result your audience actually wants. Let's do this.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (01:21): You're listening to The Rebel Uprising podcast. This podcast is dedicated to helping passionate business owners become recognized leaders who make more money and impact the world by turning their messy, complicated ideas into thriving thought leadership businesses. I'm your host, Dr. Michelle Mazur, and I'll be your no BS guide in the art of building a business that gets noticed. Each week, I share strategies, tools, and insights on how to turn your complicated ideas into great messaging and solid business structures. Are you ready to create an uprising in your industry? Let's do this.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (02:03): There's a famous quote from a Harvard business school professor named Theodore Levitt. "People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole." When I first started my business, this quote confused the fuck out of me. I couldn't understand how people could want a quarter-inch hole without also wanting the thing that creates the hole. To me, the two things went hand-in-hand. You couldn't separate the drill from the hole. Now, why did I think that? Why did I struggle with this concept? Well, I've drilled hole a time or two in my life, and I'm in no way an expert in how to fix anything. But because I've drilled holes in the past, I couldn't see that the drill was the how versus the hole being the result.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (03:00): Now, that's the curse of expertise. If you know what gets the result, it's hard to see the solution as separate from that result. Just like, you know what your client needs to get a result that they most desire, but you can't separate what your client wants or that result from your solution, your process, your offer, how you do what you do. So let's get concrete with a messaging makeover case study.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (03:42): My client, Camille [inaudible 00:03:44] is a business coach, and she helps solo business owners create business plans. Business plans. It sounds so boring, right? How many of you are just dying to create a business plan? Probably not many of you. Now, Camille knew she couldn't lead with a message about creating a business plan because she knew no one really wants that. She knows that they need it. She knows it's what helps them get results, but they don't want it. So she did what a lot of my clients do at first. And she stopped marketing. She knew her marketing wouldn't work because she didn't have the message down. She didn't know what to say in order to get people excited about her work in order to grab their attention. So she just stopped.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (04:46): And by the way, this is super common. So many of my clients just give up on marketing all together because it's not working for them because they don't know how to communicate the results the business is creating. Camille knew she couldn't lead with a message like, create a business plan that takes your business to the next level. Once again, no one wants a business plan, and next level is a super vague messaging cliche. And if you listen to the last episode, episode 283 on marketing message makeovers, we know that we need to be way more specific about where we want to take our clients because nobody knows what the next level actually looks like.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (05:37): So what we did instead, we did a bit of an audience deep dive, and I asked her a series of questions, and she got clear on the results her clients wanted. So we realized that her clients have tried a lot of things. They invested in a lot of quick fixes to solve a problem in their business. And for most of them, they took a huge risk of time, energy, and money, and put all of that into a program that didn't really help their business. And in some cases, actually set their business back.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (06:18): We also knew that her people are experts in what they do. So they're very good at the work that they do for clients, but they don't know what they don't know about business. They are not experts in running a business. And when you have that knowledge gap, this leads you to make some bad decisions that got their business off track. Honestly, it shook their confidence. They blamed themselves. They don't trust themselves anymore to make the right decision for their business.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (06:53): So now that you know a little bit about who Camille's people are, we can translate that into some key messages. Number one, they want to minimize risk. Number two, they want to grow their business. Number three, they made bad decisions and wasted time, money, and energy on quick fixes. Four, they don't know what they don't know. And number five, they don't trust themselves.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (07:22): Now, based on these key messages and some of my messaging magic, that's a cliche, if I ever heard one, but in our sessions together, what we came up with for Camille is take the risky out of business. I have to say, I love this three word rebellion because it is what the results her clients are seeking. They do really want to minimize their risk. They've wasted so much money, time, and energy. And what's great about take the risky out of business. It's also a nod to the familiar. It's a nod to risky business. So when I read it, it makes me smile. I'm like, "Oh, that's neat. Then, how do I take the risky out of business?" And this leads us to her why buy statement?

Dr. Michelle Mazur (08:15): Now, if you haven't heard me talk about why buy statements before, the short of it is this is what you can absolutely promise your customers. It's 100% in your control, and you know that you can promise your clients and your customers this result. So for Camille, her why by statement is gain confidence that your decisions are hitting the mark by taking a smarter approach to business growth. Now, there are two more results in here, gain confidence, because we know their confidence is shook, and business growth. Those are two other things that her clients absolutely want. But what I love is the smarter approach phrase. Smarter approach is really that hint and a nod to creating a business plan because when you create a business plan, you will have a smarter approach to confidently making decisions that grow your business.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (09:22): Her clients want to feel smart. They are smart, but they want to feel like they're smart in business, like they know what they're doing. And so smarter approach is a great phase to signify that, and it also creates a bit of curiosity. All of a sudden, they're like, "Ooh, there's a different way, there's a smarter way to make these decisions? Tell me more." So she's talking about the solution, but doing it in a way that's highlighting what her clients want.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (09:55): So you can see how a message like create a business plan that takes your business to the next level is very solution-focused. It's a bit meh, it's vague, and it's not exactly what your clients want. It's not what's going on in their head. While take the risky out of business hints at what her people most want, the result, the why buy statement talks more about that confidence piece, their desire to grow their business, and also make great business decisions.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (10:32): Hey, friend. This summer, I'm going to be doing a low-cost, three part virtual workshop called Finally Nail Your Message. Harness the power of your words to explain what the heck you do and why it matters to the people who need to hire you. This workshop will give you the messaging essentials so you can be specific enough to attract perspective clients, while also communicating what it is you do and how it helps them and why they need it. Interested? Get on the waiting list at drmichellemazur.com/nail. That's drmichellemazur.com/nail, and I'll let you know as soon as the workshop opens. Now, back to the show.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (11:24): So now that Camille actually has a message that leads with the results, what is she up to now? Well, she started marketing, huzzah, but she's not marketing for marketing sake. She had a vision for her business to create a mastermind program that she can easily fill up. And she knew. In order to have that group program. She had to market, which means she needed that message. So now she's on her way to doing just that, filling up that mastermind program at last. Yay. Huzzah. So happy for her.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (12:12): And if you are interested in checking out what Camille does, you can find her at camille[inaudible 00:12:18].com. The link is in the show notes to make it easy for you to check her out.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (12:24): All right. So what does all of this mean for you? Number one, go and do a quick assessment. Go to your homepage or your services or sales page. And are you leading with your solution? Do you talk about coaching, consulting, copywriting right off the bat? Or are you talking about what your client actually desires, the results they're looking for? Now, if you're leading with your solution, the next step, step two, is to figure out what your client actually wants. So look at the intake forms. If you're working with me, this is part of the process of what we do. And if you have no idea, always ask your clients.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (13:18): And then once you know what they want, you can create your key messages, which is step number three. And then finally, step four, develop a leading message that communicates the results you are creating. This might even be a three-word rebellion followed by your why by statement that captures what they most want while creating curiosity around the solution. Remember, while you're obsessed with your solution and how you do what you do, the client wants and will pay for the results. Create your message accordingly.

Dr. Michelle Mazur (13:59): Thank you for listening all the way to the end of the show. Your support means the world to me. Did you know The Rebel Uprising podcast has a quiz that can help you pinpoint the number one way to build an audience of super fans while staying true to your unique personality? We do, and it's called What's Your Rebel Roadmap to Exponential Impact and Influence, and you can take it at therebelquiz.com. If you're loving the podcast, do us a favor, rate and leave us a quick five star review wherever you listen to your podcasts. It helps more people like you find the show. Until next week. Remember, your ideas matter. And now, get back out there and cause an uprising in your industry. You've got this.