Make Marketing Suck Less

Michelle Mazur [00:00:00]: You've grown your audience. You've nurtured and engaged with them by building a case for why they should work with you. You've helped them diagnose what problem they're actually having. And now it's time for the moment. You know the one where you have to transition from being helpful to actually inviting people to work with you, and that's when shit gets weird. So today, we are tackling the O in the GEO framework, the offer phase. Because let's face it, this is where most of us start squirming in our seats. But it doesn't have to be this way. So keep listening, and I'll tell you why.

Michelle Mazur [00:00:47]: Welcome to Make Marketing Suck Less. The podcast that knows marketing is freaking hard, especially when you're a solo business owner trying to juggle it all. I'm your host, Dr. Michelle Mazur, author of the 3 Word Rebellion and founder of the Expert Up Club. Forget the latest marketing fads and tactics promising social media stardom. I'm here with research-backed strategies to help you clarify your message and get twice as effective with your marketing. And while I can't promise you'll ever love marketing, I'm here. to make you hate it a tiny bit less.

Michelle Mazur [00:01:34]: Over the past few episodes, we've been breaking down the GEO framework as a way to beat the marketing blob. If you remember from Episode 383, and if you don't, I highly recommend going back and listening to that because that was the start of this series. The marketing blob is what is eating up your time, energy, and money, and even hope because marketing is so big and so overwhelming that it's hard to know what the right course of action is for you. Now the best way to defeat the marketing blob is structure. Yes, sexy, sexy structure. The blob slayer is the GEO framework that we've been talking about, and so far, we've talked about growing your audience, how to get in front of new people, and the different jobs the Grow phase does for you. We've talked about engaging with them because most people aren't ready to buy from you when they show up on your email list. And now we're at that crucial final piece, the Offer phase. We're gonna talk about this phase in terms of tactics and the messaging that makes for a smoother transition into this phase.

Michelle Mazur [00:03:02]: When it comes to marketing tactics for the Offer phase, you've got a ton to choose from. It's just like the Grow phase. There are so many ways to grow your audience. There are so many ways to invite people in to your offers. And if you wanna see all of your options for how to invite people in to your sales process, go get the Market Like An Expert crash course. You'll create a marketing strategy that helps you do less marketing while booking more clients. Seriously, like, if you haven't, check this out because it will give you so much clarity. You can grab that at drmichellemazur.com/mle, or just open your podcast app and click on the link for Market Like An Expert.

Michelle Mazur [00:03:51]: Okay. So to me, the tactics are straightforward because you can invite people in so many different ways, and the mechanics are easy. Right? We're talking about email, personal outreach. Like, I do private tours for the Expert Up Club, webinars, and more. So the tactics, the mechanics are easy. The tricky part is what to say to make those tactics work. And that's where things get weird and awkward, so let's talk about why. So if you're anything like me and my clients, which if you're listening to this, I know you are, you're a self aware human being.

Michelle Mazur [00:04:39]: You know how it feels in your body to be hopeful, to provide value, to make a difference to someone who is following you or reads your email, and that feels pretty good, that giving. It feels expansive. But then, you gotta ask. And asking, that's a whole different energy. But here's something that really helped me out when I was going through this experience and really noticing that energy shift from, like, nurturing my audience to asking them to work with me, and that is the Rule of Reciprocity. When you are providing value to people, you're helping them diagnose the problem they actually have, you're genuinely helping them with your work to have “aha’s”. They actually want to give back. I mean, in my time in business, I've gotten random gift cards from people because my free content was so useful to them.

Michelle Mazur [00:05:54]: And I think this is so helpful because if you've done the nurturing, then people want to know how to work with you. They want to hear about your offers. Because if you're doing your job right in the Engage phase, they are now ready for that offer. And even if they don't buy right away, it's building awareness of your offer as well and what you do for people. So when we skip this phase or we do a P.S. and a prayer, we are not inviting our people in and building the awareness of our offer. And I'm at a point where I'll get emails when I open up the Expert Up Club where people email me and say, hey, I'm not ready for this, but I know a friend who might be great. Do you mind if I share it? And I'm like, of course. But they can only share it if they know about it.

Michelle Mazur [00:06:55]: So if you never talk about how to work with you, your audience doesn't know how you can help, and they can't even budget to buy from you. They can't put it on their radar. So let's talk about the three pieces of messaging that make this transition way less awkward. The first one is the Why Buy statement. This is your most compelling reason why people should work with you. It's about promising something that you can actually deliver and blending it with the result they are seeking. So for example, the Expert Up Club, Why Buy, is do less marketing while creating more demand for your work and expertise, because I know I can deliver to people the ability to do less marketing. Right? And what they want from that is more demand for their offers, for their products, for their services, and to share their expertise.

Michelle Mazur [00:07:59]: And I know that that Why Buy statement just rolled off my tongue, but I went through so many iterations before I landed on that Why Buy. And I love Why Buy statements. It is the most versatile piece of messaging. It's really how I start doing any new project. If I'm gonna make a new offer, once I know what it is, I'm like, alright, I'm gonna create the Why Buy statement, because it helps me understand what I want to deliver and the result that you would seek. So first is the Why Buy statement. And finally, sorry, wanted to just point this out as well, that the Why Buy statement is an excellent elevator pitch or the beginnings of an elevator pitch. It is also a great way to transition in to your invitation, into your offer.

Michelle Mazur [00:08:52]: Number 2, frameworks and processes. Your potential clients want to know you have a structure that you will lead them through. They want to know what is gonna happen. What is the experience going to be like? And having structure breeds trust. But here's where experts often mess up. You don't need to give everyone all the steps. They just want a high level view of your experience. For instance, you've been experiencing my framework through the past three episodes, the GEO framework, because this underpins all the marketing and messaging work I do, whether it's one on one or in the Club.

Michelle Mazur [00:09:40]: And I want you to see it as a way to get out of your marketing overwhelm and a way to simplify things for your business. The third and final piece of messaging are Reason to Believe stories. And when I say reason to believe, you are giving them a reason to believe you can deliver a result. So these aren't just testimonials. They can partially be testimonials, but they're full scale case studies. As my friend Brittany Herzberg says, a testimonial is a trailer to the movie, whereas a case study is the entire film. She also says it gives you that try before you buy experience, because when someone reads a case study, they are seeing what it's like to work with you, what it's like to experience your offer, what results are typical, what is possible. And for me, I'm always adding case studies to my repertoire of messaging because they are so useful.

Michelle Mazur [00:10:51]: They are useful during Expert Up Club launches. They are useful to send people who are on the fence about working with you, and then you can show them what it's actually like. So those are the three pieces of messaging that makes the transition from engage to offer. Being helpful, and sales isn't just about getting something from someone, getting someone's money. You can provide value while inviting people into your sales process, because it's about building awareness and helping people make a well informed decision about working with you, even if that decision is not right now. The key is to have these pieces of messaging in your back pocket as a part of your minimum viable marketing message, which is what we do inside the Expert Up Club. Because when you do that, this transition becomes smoother. Now this wraps up our series about the marketing blob and how the GEO framework keeps the blob at bay by understanding what jobs marketing is supposed to do for your business. Next week, I'll be back with why this framework is perfect for experts like you.

Michelle Mazur [00:12:24]: If the Make Marketing Suck Less pod is making your marketing more effective 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 Make Marketing Suck Less podcast is a production of Communication Rebel. Our production coordinator is Jessica Gulley-Ward. The podcast is edited by Steven Mills, our executive producer is me, Dr. Michelle Mazur.

The make marketing suck less podcast is recorded on the unseated traditional lands of the coast salish peoples, specifically the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish people, original stewards of the land, past, and present.