Make Marketing Suck Less

Dr. Michelle Mazur (00:00): Let's face it, the process of getting known and hired for your work is terrifying, sometimes completely frustrating, and other times defeating. And as much as the web slubs want us to believe it's a series of win after win after win and everything is unicorns and rainbows. The reality is there are ups and downs and sometimes more downs than ups before we start seeing the wins. So how do we keep going? How do you keep putting your work out into the world where your clients can find it, when it feels like nothing is working? That's exactly what we're going to discuss on today's pod. So let's do this.

(00:59): 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. 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. What does it actually take to play the long game so you can get known and hired for the work your business does? And let's face it, committing to messaging work for some people is very terrifying because once you create the message, then you have to ship it. You got to put it out there. Now, some people love the process of creating their message because it is a reflective and a somewhat inward experience, with a dash of talking to some people you already love like your past clients.

(02:10): Where it gets hard, and I know this from my years of one-on-one work in the 3-Word Rebellion, messaging intensive, is when it's time to launch and to start putting your message out in the world. And I remember I had that very same experience the night before I was going to launch the 3-Word Rebellion book. I almost pulled the launch. I felt like, "Ooh, the book isn't quite ready yet. There might be some typos, things might not be clear. What if people point out the typos? What if they hate the book?" You know what? I talked myself out of it. I'd been hyping the launch for months. I had people who were excited about the book and who were ready to help me. And I was like, "No, it's time to take this idea, this project that I've been working on for so many months with just me and a select group of safe people, and just put it out there for the masses."

(03:17): And you know what? There were issues with the launch. I had issues with distribution. Yes, there were typos. And yes, people pointed it out to me. But when people pointed out those typos, they were really gracious about it. They were like, "Ooh, I love the book and I just wanted you to know about this for whenever you update it." We've all been there. So one of the things I've been thinking a lot about is how the Expert Up Club can take care of you when you're doing this marketing work that feels hard or awkward, or when it feels like no one is responding, or when the marketing experiment you are doing isn't working the way you hoped. Because I've designed the Club to take care of you and your business in those moments. And to me, this care all starts within the shared values of the club.

(04:18): And before I talk about three of those values, I just wanted to give you a reminder that this is the last week, the week of March 27th, 2023, that I am accepting applications for founding membership in the Expert Up Club. So if you've been thinking about joining us, now is the time to apply. Just go to expertup.club and fill out an application. We can always have a chat to make sure that it's right for you. All right, let's go back to this idea around how does the Club take care of you when things get hard? And I think the biggest value that supports this is the courage to try. Most communities out there, and I'm sure you've seen this, they celebrate the wins, like, "What is going well in your business?" And yeah, I want people to celebrate wins. But what I think is more important is in the Club, we're going to celebrate trying and the courage that it takes to try something.

(05:34): And we're going to celebrate what you are learning. What did you fuck around and find out about? While I want you to share your wins, what I want you to celebrate is what you tried. Who did you become as you were pushing that edge? What did you learn? The Club is going to celebrate your courage and be there to support you when things don't go the way you planned. The second value that the Club has that will take care of you during this process of getting known and hired for your work is playing the long game. I created the Club to support you through this very specific journey. You don't get known and hired for your work overnight. It's a process. And sometimes that process gets hard and that's okay. The Club is there to help you cultivate that stamina to play the long game.

(06:40): We know that quick fixes, cookie cutter shortcuts and the latest hacks don't work. They don't work for us, they don't work for most people. And we didn't earn our expertise overnight, so we know business is not about that overnight success. It's about sticking with something for the long term so we can figure out what works. And this is exactly why The Club is a 12-month commitment and not just a 90-Day Group program to get your minimum viable message together. Because once you have that message, I know that the hardest part is putting it out there. And the final value that really supports your journey in the Expert Up Club is the value around your expertise being valuable and vital. We have a shared mission in the club. Yes, there are business reasons to join us. Fill up your pipeline with clients who are the right fit. Get asked on podcasts, get asked to teach or be on stages. Build your audience so you can launch the group program. Simplify your marketing.

(07:52): But there's a larger shared mission here that we can all tap into when things get hard. That's the core belief that your expertise is valuable and vital. People need to know about it so they can hire you, so that you are not playing for sloppy seconds to the freaking web celebs. And that you're not hearing, "Ooh, I wish I could hire you, but I hired some BS marketing firm who was all hype and no results." Frankly, fuck that noise. We are not settling for that. We are not settling for sloppy seconds, for people who can barely afford us because they blew their budget on someone who was extremely good at marketing and not delivering results. So let's change this industry together, by doing the work to make your business visible, known, and desirable to the people who need to hire you. That's our mission. And tap into that mission when things get hard, because the Expert Up Club is there to support you.

(09:05): And finally, I'm already thinking about what other resources I'll need to bring in to support you when it's time to start putting your message out into the world and running your marketing experiments. I've spent 11 years putting my work out, my message out there, I've built that muscle over time. And yes, at times it can still be a little bit awkward for mem, but I am doing it. Right now, I'm thinking about people, other experts who can support you in building that muscle because really that's one of the hardest parts of this work, is showing up when things aren't working the way you want. And I want the Expert Up Club not to be a community that gives you a lot of delightful and helpful information, but the community that lets you take action, imperfect as it may be, so you cultivate your courage, the courage to try, because that courage to try things is the only way to change the status quo in your business and in our industry.

(10:20): So I hope you join me in The Expert Up Club. I would love to have you as a founding member to help me shape the club. And as a reminder, this is the last week I'm accepting those applications. So go to expertup.club to apply and let's change business for the better, by getting your business to be the first one people think of when they need support or they want to collaborate.

(10:51): 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. The easiest way to do that is through Pod Link. 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 Blaser. Our production assistant is Emily Kilduff. The podcast is edited by Steven Mills. Our executive producers are Sean and Tara McMullin. The Rebel Uprising podcast is recorded on the unseeded traditional land of the Coast Salish Peoples, specifically the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish people, original stewards of the land past and present.