Make Marketing Suck Less

Dr. Michelle Mazur (00:00): The online business industry is in the middle of a trust crisis. People have been duped. Your potential clients are skeptical. Heck, you're skeptical. And that makes people reluctant to trust again, which impacts your business, because you are kick ass at what you do. You consistently deliver great results. You show up and do what you'll say you do.

(00:27): And most of all, you give a damn about your clients. You want them to succeed. So what can you do to build trust with people who need your work but have been burned before? How can you show them you're not like the other business owners who didn't deliver before? That's exactly what we're going to talk about today on the podcast, how to build trust with your brand message.

(00:54): Let's do it. Get ready for the Rebel Uprising podcast, the only podcast dedicated to business owners who feel overlooked for their expertise, skills and experience. Let's claim your expertise and turn your complex ideas into unmistakable messaging that grows your business.

(01:22): I am your host, Dr. Michelle Mazur, the author of The 3 Word Rebellion and your Rebel Truth Telling Guide to Building a Business that Gets Noticed. Throughout this series on trust, I've been relying on the work of Charles Feltman's Thin Book of Trust to guide our discussion.

(01:43): And trust, according to Feltman is defined as choosing to risk making something you value vulnerable to another person's actions. When we are marketing and selling, we are asking people to put our trust in us, to make the choice to put something they value at risk to the services or programs we deliver. And if you pause and think about it, that's a big fricking deal.

(02:19): Whenever someone hires you or hires me, they are saying, "Here's something that's really valuable to me. Here's something that I care a lot about. I am putting it into your hands to steward and take care of." And damn, that's big. And it's not surprising when people get burned, they are reluctant to trust again.

(02:47): Because it's not just the money, time, and energy that they are out of, it's the realization that they put something they care deeply about in the hands of someone who didn't really care. Now let's talk about how do we build back trust with the people who need our work across Feltman's four factors of trust, care, sincerity, reliability, and competence. First, how do you show care with your messaging?

(03:23): How do you demonstrate to your audience with your marketing that you indeed have their best interests at heart? Now I have a few messaging ideas for exactly how to do this. The first thing that you can do with your message is be sure you're meeting them where they are. We spend too much time in our marketing talking about our solution. Because as I've said before, experts are really obsessed with their solution and how they do our work.

(03:57): But where we don't spend enough time is talking about the reality your potential client faces, what they're going through, what that struggle is, what are they hearing, seeing, doing, trying? What is it that they believe and maybe shouldn't believe? The way to meet clients where they are is building out that client empathy map. Because empathy is key here we really want to acknowledge and show that we understand what their reality is like.

(04:34): If you show that you care enough to speak their language and acknowledge their existence and not make them feel bad about the struggle they currently have, they're going to see themselves in your work. They're going to think, "Hey, this person actually gets me." And that's powerful, because when you care about your potential client, they'll start caring about the work you do.

(05:04): The second way we can build trust by showing caring, it's a little counterintuitive, maybe unexpected, but be clear how your work and your approach is different from other people in your industry. Don't shy away from the elephant in the room around what they've tried before, the fact that they've been burnt. You want to acknowledge that and talk about how your approach is different from everyone else in your industry.

(05:43): And the final way to show caring is your message is something I call client readiness. I've talked about this before on the podcast and we'll find that episode and link it up in the show notes. But how do you know someone is ready to work with you? What are the telltale signs that making the investment of time, money, and energy is the right thing for them to do?

(06:11): And once you know that, you can be crystal clear in your communication about who your work is for. And remember what Brene Brown says, "Clear is kind." For me, I know someone is ready to work with me because number one, they have a proven offer that sells through word of mouth. Number two, they feel like they suck at marketing because it has never been a very effective for them.

(06:38): And they also know they need to market because they want to have more impact or see more of a ripple effect with their work, they know that they could be serving more people. And the final is that they're ready to put their perfectionism aside, let go of getting it right and just make an effort in laying the foundation so they can build that message and the argument for their work.

(07:06): So that's how you show care in your brand message. Now, how do you demonstrate sincerity, that what you say is trustworthy, that you walk your talk and that people can believe what you say? Now in the past couple of episodes we've talked about the overblown promises of online business. And so the first step here is don't make promises you can't keep.

(07:36): I don't care if a copywriter tells you it's great marketing, it doesn't build trust. Instead, create your why buy statement. Now this is the most compelling reason people choose to hire you, and it's something you can 100% control. So for instance, my why buy statement of the three word rebellion messaging intensive is to powerfully communicate the value your business creates, whether you're talking to one person or a million.

(08:09): So it's clear what I'm going to deliver the messaging, and we know you're going to be able to apply it whether you're speaking to an audience of one or an audience of thousands, and I feel 100% confident that I can deliver that to you. So what are you confident in delivering to your clients? Create your why buy statement around that.

(08:36): And if you're going to need some help with that, go sign up for the Nail Your Message workshop. It'll be back in 2023. And that's at drmichellemazur.com/nail. Another way to demonstrate sincerity and not fall for the overblown promises of the online business industry is get clear on the long term results and the short term results your people get from your work.

(09:05): This sets an expectation. Now for me as I'm developing my new community based offer to help overlooked experts get known and hired for their work, my consultant, Sophie, is having me do client research. And one of the questions that I've been asking that has been so illuminating on parsing out long term versus short term results is, "When did you first see a glimmer of results from our work?

(09:36): What did that look like?" And you can borrow that question and ask it of your own clients. Most of my clients started seeing that first inkling while we're still working together. But what this question allowed me to do is get super clear on the short term results of my work and the longer term results so that when I'm communicating with my potential clients, I can say, "Hey, within six months of our work together, you're going to notice increased confidence.

(10:09): You're going to get your website updated with copy that actually works. You'll write the signature talk or build the lead magnet." You're going to start building out those assets that's going to make it easier to market your business. And speaking of that, you'll even save time creating content and doing the marketing because you know exactly what to say.

(10:29): And I know those results don't sound as sexy as my long term results like, "You'll land a TEDx talk or secure a book deal. You'll get a wait list of clients." But I know those longer term results take six months to two years or longer to achieve. So if I'm clear on what they can expect immediately or in the short term and what they can expect long term, I'm being sincere. I'm not making outrageous promises or outrageous claims.

(11:07): If you're listening to this podcast and realizing that, "Hey, you know what? I'm not having the sales that I want to have. My business isn't generating the revenue it should be generating," then it might be time for you to work on your message and figure out that comprehensive strategy for how to build that argument for your work and turn people who don't know you at all into people who are ready and willing to sign up to work with you.

(11:44): And this is exactly the work we do in The 3 Word Rebellion messaging intensive. So if you're digging this episode and you're thinking, "Yes, this is my next step, or it could be my next step," then I encourage you to go to drmichellemazur.com/3, the number three, wr. That's drmichellemazur.com/3wr and apply for a free consultation call.

(12:16): That way you and I can discuss if messaging is the right move for your business. Now back to the show. Now let's move to the third factor of trust, reliability. How do you demonstrate reliability with your message? The first way we do this is consistency. And consistency is not just frequency, but consistently being on message.

(12:51): Now I've talked about in this podcast before that frequency is just one type of consistency. And while it shows reliability, while it shows that we put out a podcast every week or we send an email newsletter to our list every single week, or we're showing up consistently on Instagram or LinkedIn or wherever it is, that's great, you're showing up, but you also need to show up with a consistent message.

(13:21): And this is how you get known for your work, showing up with a consistent message. This sets the expectation, people know what to expect from you, they know what to expect from your content, and that's a way to demonstrate reliability. A second way to demonstrate reliability is to create a framework for the work you deliver.

(13:48): I know some of you are like, "Oh, Michelle, but my work is custom to everyone and everyone's a little bit different." And I'm here to say, yes, that might be true. And you can still have a high level framework that outlines the process you guide people through.

(14:09): Now when someone works with me in The 3 Word Rebellion messaging intensive, I have my five phase messaging framework that I guide people through. And even though the execution looks different client to client, every client moves through the same five phases. We start with building out the client empathy map. We then do the work of finding their three word rebellion.

(14:36): We then do their client decision journey based on their three word rebellion. We create the stories they're going to use to create connection and build no like and trust. And then we do the marketing plan, the marketing strategy, and figure out what assets need to be built so this message can get out in the world. And those five phases happen every single time.

(14:59): And here's the deal, that type of structure breeds trust. It shows that you have created something that you can reliably deliver again and again and again. It also shows that your clients aren't going to be leading these calls with you, right? Or leading the work because you have a structure. And that all plays into reliability now.Now the final factor, competence. How do you demonstrate competence? And this is something we've talked about a lot. You own and communicate your expertise. Now one of the things we've heard way too many times in online business is that your about page isn't about you, it's about your client. That is simply not true.

(16:00): If someone is interested in your work, they want to go to your about page, not to read about themselves. They already know about themselves. They've read your homepage. They probably know who you're for. They've looked at your sales page. When they land on your about page, they want to know that you are competent.

(16:19): They don't want to hear some overcoming story or rags to riches BS, they want to know your expertise. So it's your job to communicate why you are qualified. And don't shy away from this. We will link to The 3 Word Rebellion book club episode about how to claim your expertise and create your I am the one who knocks statement so that you have that as a foundation and can use it on your about page or in your bio to show why you are credible.

(17:02): A second way to build competence is through the content you create, right? Whether it's your podcast, your blog, your videos, all of that content, you get to demonstrate your expertise, like this podcast is a way for me to demonstrate my expertise. Yes, I want to help you claim and communicate your own expertise.

(17:28): And I'm using this as a vehicle to show you that I indeed know what I'm talking about. So use your content to own your expertise. But be careful here, because people hire you to benefit from your expertise, not become an expert themselves. And that is a thin line you have to navigate. Because if you fall into the trap of speaking like the expert and thinking your people want to be the expert, then they're not going to see the value in your work and you might lose your potential clients.

(18:12): So show how your expertise helps them is how you demonstrate competence. The bottom line is, even though the online business world is going through a trust crisis, your clients have been duped or burned. That is the sign that your industry needs your expertise. Your potential clients and the whole freaking industry needs to know that you exist.

(18:42): And that means you need to show up with a message that matters, that stands out from the noise and builds trust. Creating that message is the first step to building trust, being known and hired for your work. And by the way, we will be off next week to celebrate Thanksgiving, but then I'll be rounding out the series on trust with a barn burner of a conversation about trust and online business with my friend and co-host of Duped Maggie Patterson.

(19:15): If you're in America, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. And for everyone else, work on messaging and building your trust. If the Rebel Uprising Podcast is helping you claim and communicate your expertise so that your clients can find and hire you, please share the show with a friend.

(19:37): The easiest way to do that is through PodLink. You can find the show at pod.link/rebel, and that page will allow anyone you share the show with to subscribe and start listening in their favorite podcast player. That's pod.link/rebel. The Rebel Uprising podcast is a production of Yellow House Media. Our production coordinator is Lou Blazer.

(20:03): Our production assistant is Emily Kilda. The podcast is edited by Steven Mills. Our executive producers are Sean and Tara McMullin. The Rebel Uprising podcast is recorded on the unseated traditional land of the coast Salish peoples, specifically the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish people, original stewards of the land past and present.