Make Marketing Suck Less

Dr. Michelle Mazur [00:00:00]: Recently, I contradicted the advice of two big name creators. And these were the type of creators who had audiences of thousands of people. They have audiences bigger than I ever want to have an audience of.

[00:00:20]: And you know what?

[00:00:21]: It was a little bit awkward to contradict to be the rebel going up against these industry giants. But as I listened to them talk about what it takes to grow an audience, to grow a podcast, I realized that advice wouldn't work for you and it wouldn't work for me. So what was the advice? What did I say? What do you need to know about getting in front of the right people who love your work? Well, that's exactly what I'm going to talk about today on the podcast.

[00:01:03]: 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 Mazer, the author of The Three Word Rebellion and your Rebel Truth Telling guide to building a business that gets noticed.

[00:01:33]: As I was sitting in this roundtable listening to these two creators speak, a distinction rose up in my mind. And this distinction is where we're going to start today, because I need you to answer a very important question for me.

Do you see yourself as a business owner first or a creator first?

The answer to that question is the compass that guides your marketing journey. For me, I see myself as a business owner first and a creator maybe third. I think I'd put expert second. And the only reason I really see myself as a creator at all is because of my sister podcast, Duped the Dark Side of Online Business. We have a Patreon for it. And for Maggie and I, that is an expression of our creativity. It is work that we love to do, which sounds like a very odd hobby, but that is the absolute truth.

So I'm putting my creator energy into that podcast and into growing the Patreon. But the rest of the time, I'm thinking about my business. And I want to be clear that this podcast is for experts who are business owners first and creators second or third or fourth. And there lies this problem because most of the courses and programs and advice out there about how to market your business, about how to grow your audience, isn't actually for business owners, it's for creators.

It's like the industry has conflated the two, because I see business owners being lumped in with creators all the time as a catch all type of phrase. But really there is a huge, huge difference between how a creator creates and thinks about content versus how a business owner does that.

And that starts with the job of a business owner versus a creator. And so this was really the first big contradiction I made with these creators. Because as a business owner, I want you to think about how do you spend your day?

I spend my days working with my clients, one on one, also building the Sprint curriculum for the Expert Up Club and delivering it and giving feedback and answering questions within the club. I spend my time doing sales calls and marketing my business, which means podcast creation, emails, LinkedIn, all of that jazz.

And I want you to notice the order of those things.

My clients come first, then sales and then marketing. So as a business owner, especially if you're a solo business owner, you are juggling all of those different jobs. Whereas a creator, their number one job is to create content that grows their audience. That's their focus. They aren't juggling client delivery and sales because what they are doing is creating content, growing a large enough audience so that they can play the numbers game and that supports their business.

So let's talk about the numbers game because that's another big difference between creators and business owners. And last week on the podcast, we discussed how big your audience really needs to be. And I highly recommend you go back and listen to that episode. We'll hook it up in the show notes. But most advice on building an audience comes from these creators who basically are telling you you need this massive audience. But if you're a service provider, a coach, a consultant who is delivering one on one work, high touch experiences, you don't need a massive amount of people. You can only juggle a finite amount of clients per year.

And even if you have a group program, yes, you'll need a larger audience because after all, group programs, memberships communities, they convert at about 1% to 3%. So that means for every 100 people on your list, that equates to about one sale. So we need a smaller audience, and I think about it as an audience of future buyers. And to attract those, we have to create a different type of content.

So being a business owner versus a creator impacts the type of content you want to create. So for expert business owners like you, like me, the kind of content you want to create, whether you're creating it as a podcast, a blog post or a video, it should be strategic.

As a business owner, your content is really like breadcrumbs that lead your clients to your doorstep. So that means focusing on shifting mindsets, diagnosing dilemmas and the problems showcasing your one of a kind approach. Your message and your content that you're putting out in your marketing should position you as the expert, that person who can diagnose your right fixed client's problem and propose a solution because you want them to see your business as the one they need to hire.

Now, this is all the stuff that we do in the Expert Up Club, and I'll be opening up a very small ten person cohort in June. So if you're interested in doing this work, being more strategic with the content you put out, then go to Expertup Club and get on our waiting list.

So creators, unlike you as a business owner, care less about creating the strategic content that actually leads people to their work because they are playing a numbers game. They know that the bigger their audience gets, the more of their course or their membership that they will sell. Because it's a much different proposition when you have 25,000 people on your email list. Because even at 1%, that is still 250 courses or programs that you are selling. That can be a very tidy income if you're charging 1000 or 2000 for your programs or membership.

As an expert business owner, you need to create less content, but better and more strategic content. Content that's on message and moves people towards working with you. Because here's the rebel truth you don't have time to create loads and loads of content. You just don't. You don't have time to be on seven different social media channels trying to make it all work. You've got other things to do. That's why you have to create content that leads people to your work. And that means you need to have messaging that resonates, persuades and ultimately gets buy in from the people who are listening and hanging on your every word so that they want to work with you.

Think fast. Think right now. How much content are you creating that is actually that strategic content. I'll let you in on a little secret, not so secret, actually. Every piece of content I put out in my business exists to help you, the listener, get ready to work with me, either one on one, or as a member of the Expert Up Club. And while, yes, this content that I create is valuable and it will give you a transformation even if you never work with me, the goal is I would love to have you work with me, right? I'd love to have you a member in the Expert Up Club. So what I create needs to lead you there.

And not only that, I repurpose my content. Or as my friend Brittany Berger says, remix your content. Use it again and again. You can update content, take a fresh approach, tell a different story, but use the same content, the same idea, so you're not having to reinvent the wheel all the time. So, for example, today's podcast episode, it started as a LinkedIn post and that post got traction. So that's why I decided to create it as podcast episode.

So stop creating one off content. Content that you post once and you forget about and never go back to. I want you to think of your content as marketing assets. Assets that you can use again and again because it saves you time. You can finally double down on what works for your business, you'll be able to figure out what works because you're posting some of the same things and you know what is effective. And holy crap. This also helps you get known for your work because you're repeating yourself.

I can already hear you in my head saying, OOH, but won't people notice if I'm posting the same thing again and again? That is the spotlight effect in action. It is a psychological principle that we believe that people notice what we do more than they actually do, because people are actually wrapped up in their own business. So don't worry about repeating yourself, repeat yourself. It is the way that you can be known for your work. It's the way that your name becomes synonymous with what you do.

Remember, you are a business owner first and a creator second. It's time to prioritize that identity. Market as a business owner. And while, yeah, you can take some helpful advice from creators, leave the rest behind. You have to be discerning. Otherwise you're going to find yourself not having the time to create marketing that actually moves people one step closer to working with you. If you're ready to market like the expert, you are the expert. Up Club is going to be the best place for you to discover exactly how to do that. And it is coming up soon. So get your name on the waiting list so you can grow an audience of future buyers. And you can do that at Expertup Club. It's time that you save your time and your energy because you are juggling a lot in your business. Create less, but more strategic content that helps people see the value of the work you do.

[00:14:29]: 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.

Subscribe and start listening in their favorite podcast player. That's Pod link Rebel. The Rebel Uprising podcast is a production of Communication Rebel. Our production coordinator is Jessica Gully Ward of Juggling Logistics. Our sound engineer is Stephen Mills. Rebel Uprising podcast is recorded on the unseated traditional land of the coast Salish Peoples, specifically the first people of Seattle, the Duamish people original stewards of the land past and present.