Michelle Mazur [00:00:00]: Have you ever felt that punch in the gut moment where you see some bro-y marketer or a coach who just discovered their zone of genius and they're landing clients, you know without a doubt that you could help. Yeah. That freaking sucks, man. And meanwhile, here you are with over a decade of experience, actual client results, maybe a degree or three under your belt, and still wondering why your inbox is quieter than a library on a Friday night. Well, grab a drink and cozy up because today we're breaking down why the flashy fakes, the pseudo experts keep getting booked solid, and what you as the actual qualified expert can do about it. Let's dive in.

Michelle Mazur [00:00:57]: 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 [00:01:23]: Let me be clear. Flashy fakes, the pseudo experts, do something right when it comes to marketing. Not ethically right, not necessarily right for their clients or deeply right for anyone, but marketably right. They lead with a crystal clear message, something sticky, punchy, emotionally compelling that speaks to what their clients really want, whether they can deliver it or not. And damn, does it work.

Michelle Mazur [00:02:25]: It's worked on me. I bet it's probably worked on you too. And these flashy fakes, they don't second guess. They don't explain. They sell the outcome with confidence even if they barely understand how to get you there because they learned it from their coach a week ago. And the market, their audience, it responds because the human brain is wired for clarity, confidence, and simplicity. The human brain doesn't have the energy to process a complex and nuanced message. And here's the deal.

Michelle Mazur [00:03:10]: It's not that these people are remotely qualified. It's that they're more direct. They are more plain spoken. And here's the problem for experts, and this happens to all of us. We over explain things. We over think. We lead with the process. We lead with the solution instead of an outcome, instead of talking about our clients' problems.

Michelle Mazur [00:03:47]: And we bury our brilliance in nuance because that's how we think. It depends is our default, and there's nothing wrong with that when it comes to working with your clients. But when it comes to marketing, especially marketing on the Internet, the Internet is where nuance goes to die. We assume that people will just get it if they see our work, if they can just have a conversation with us, if they just read about our credentials and qualification, hear us on a podcast, or visit our website, they'll get it, and they'll want to hire us because we are so well qualified. And spoiler alert, they won't. Not because they don't want to understand the work you do, because they're busy and they're distracted and overwhelmed. And can you blame them? There is so much going on in our world right now. And if we can't cut out all that noise, all that complexity, we get ignored, not because we're not good enough, but because we're not clear enough, because they don't have the time to understand us.

Michelle Mazur [00:05:16]: So what the hell do you do if you're actually a qualified expert? And if you're listening to the show, I know you are. The first is a mindset shift. And I feel like, please, write this on a post it note, put it somewhere you can see it. People don't want to be the expert. They want to benefit from your expertise. So your job is translating your expertise into a message that shows how you solve their problem, calls out their problem, and how they can ultimately benefit from what is inside your brain. So this is about building a message that matches your depth without drowning your audience in it. And you create what I call a Minimum Viable Marketing Message, your MVMM.

Michelle Mazur [00:06:24]: This is the foundation of your marketing strategy, and it is what we do inside the Expert Up Club. And it's not about dumbing it down. It's about showing the right amount of depth and showing that we understand our person. So here's some of what it can look like. #1, it looks like leading with not what you want them to want, not the unexpected benefit of your work that's not even on their radar, but lead with how you're solving their problem, not with your method or your solution. I can't tell you how many websites I visit where it's so solution oriented. It's like, “we're a consulting company and we help with culture and change”, or, “Hey, I'm so and so and I will be your next coach.” Like, that's not helpful.

Michelle Mazur [00:07:29]: That's not audience centered. The second way we do that is we name the problem they want to solve. That is another missing piece on, I would say, 80% of websites I see. I land on the page, and I don't know what problem you solve because I think you're talking around it or couching it in your solution. So here is an example. Like, “We help you stand out.”Standing out is a solution. And what is the problem that that solution solves? Right? No one's up at night going, “Oh, how do I stand out?” No.

Michelle Mazur [00:08:14]: Standing out is part of a solution. So name the problem that they directly experience. And we help you in the club to figure this out with voice of customer research. Because if you listen loudly to your clients, you're going to be able to use their words to name their problem, name their experience. Finally, this is speaking like a human, not a research paper, even if you wrote the damn research paper. I spent years in academia. I was an editorial assistant for the Journal of Applied Communication Research, and nothing will put you asleep faster than reading academic work. Like seriously, Ambien has nothing on academic work.

Michelle Mazur [00:09:07]: So don't talk like that. Be human. Remember, you are communicating with people who don't understand your expertise and not your colleagues. Because messaging isn't about flexing your knowledge. It's about translating that knowledge into something that says, “Yes, this person gets me.” So if this episode lit a fire under you, and I sure hope it did, here's where you go next. I built a seven day email course called Market Like an Expert. It's designed specifically for experts who are tired of marketing that feels like a second job.

Michelle Mazur [00:09:50]: In ten minutes a day or less, I'll help you start building your own strategy, one that honors your brains, your boundaries, and your time. So head to drmichellemazur.com/mle or open up your podcast app and hit the link for Market Like An Expert. And if you're ready to get serious about your message, your marketing strategy, and creating a system that allows you to do less marketing, which means you're saving time and still making the money that you want to make. I will be hosting private tours for the Expert Up Club towards the end of June. So you can go right now and book a tour if you want, because it's the space where you can finally stop spinning your wheels and start owning your expertise out loud with people who freaking get you. And remember this, you don't need to be louder. You don't need to market more. You don't need to be the most charismatic person in the room. You need to be clearer. Let the flashy fakes keep performing. You're here to persuade, to connect, and to serve, and be the expert they can't ignore.

Michelle Mazur [00:11:17]: 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.