What Is a 3 Word Rebellion? (And Why Your Expert Business Needs One)

Michelle Mazur [00:00:00]: “Hey! Look at me!”

“Hey! Buy my program…Read my blog…Listen to my podcast!”

“Smash that subscribe button!

“Hey, I've got the only foolproof way to solve your problem!”

Let's face it. It's noisy out in the marketplace. On social media, it seems like everyone is hawking their wares, talking about how much money they make and how they can teach you to do it too. It's enough to make you want to give up on marketing. I get it. And you can't because there are people out there right now searching for you and your solution.

So how do you rise above the noisy marketplace?

How do you get the attention of your right fit client and then create connection and conversation with them?

You do it with your 3 Word Rebellion. And today on the pod, I'm going to talk about why expertise driven businesses need a 3 Word Rebellion now more than ever.

Let's dive in.

Michelle Mazur [00:01:00]: 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 [00:02:20]: In the last episode, I gave you a refresher or an introduction about what a 3 Word Rebellion is. It's a one-of-a-kind message that grabs attention, is associated with the work you do, and communicates the value of that work to your right fit client. But why is it important for expertise driven businesses to have a 3 Word Rebellion? How does it benefit you? Well, it comes down to 3 fundamental principles linking curiosity and the promise. So, let's talk about why the 3 Word Rebellion is so powerful for your business and what it can do for you. We're gonna talk about linking first, but I wanna play a little game. When I say, Just Do It, what do you think of? Nike. Right? When I say Start With Why, who do you think of? Simon Sinek. And when I say Make Marketing Suck Less, you might think of me. I link, therefore, I think, says Robert Cialdini in his book Persuasion. The way your brain functions is it likes to link things together.

Michelle Mazur [00:03:19]: And when your brain links your message with your business, those two things become memorable and even unmistakable. And we can do this in a number of ways, not just with words. For instance, if you see the golden arches, you probably would think of McDonald's. Or when I open my inbox and see a brain emoji, I know it's going to be the Why We Buy newsletter by Katelyn Bourgoin. Linking is a powerful way for you to be remembered. Right? Like, we need your right fit clients to remember you. And that's why a 3 Word Rebellion works to associate your business with a certain idea. Because when you have a short curiosity provoking phrase and you repeat it enough, your right fit clients will associate your business with that message.

Michelle Mazur [00:04:28]: And if you want to be known for your work and go from invisible to in demand, you need a 3 Word Rebellion that you can be known for, that can be linked in your right fit client's mind to your business. So linking is very powerful in helping you be known for your expertise. But a 3 Word Rebellion doesn't stop there. It also creates curiosity to capture attention. The other reason a 3 Word Rebellion helps you rise above all the marketing noise, all the shouting, and helps you get remembered is curiosity. Now, in the 3 Word Rebellion book, I talk about how your 3 WR actually opens a loop. And I call this the intrigue loop. And there are 2 types of short messages.

Michelle Mazur [00:05:30]: Right? There are the types of message that leads to a dead end that we just see, we skim over, we don't think much about. And there's the other type, which makes you curious to know more. So, let's talk about what a dead end message looks like. And we're gonna go for some typical marketing cliches, just like we talked about in the marketing message makeover episode. So something like find your purpose, live your best life, scale your business. Let's face it. You and I have heard those phrases a million times before. We read it, and we think, yeah. And our brain just skips by it. Because our brain is actually attracted to something that is a novel message, something that we have not seen before. And so when I hear something like, live your best life, I don't care. Like, I don't care to go any further and think about that message and what it can mean for me. But if you think of Make Marketing Suck Less, you might go like, Wow. This is the first time I've ever heard anyone say that marketing sucks and freely admit it.

Michelle Mazur [00:06:44]: Like, that stands out. That is a novel message. And once you see it and you start thinking about it and you're like, wait, how can like, I hate marketing. How can I make it suck less? Like, it's something I know I need to do. So now I've got you hooked because I've opened the loop, and now you'll listen to the podcast or join the newsletter. And Simon Sinek did the same thing with Start With Why, because the goal here is to be, like, yeah, start with your why. And you're, like, oh, yeah. Okay.

But what is my 'why'? Oh, I wonder what that is. And as soon as you start wondering, that's when you are sucked in, right? So if you open a loop, you're going to make your audience curious. You're gonna get their attention, and then their brain is gonna want to close the loop. They're not gonna be able to let your message go until they find the answer.

Michelle Mazur [00:07:41]: Now, before we go into the most powerful reason your expertise driven business needs a 3 Word Rebellion, I have an exciting announcement to make about the 3 Word Rebellion. So here it is. The 3 Word Rebellion is coming this summer inside the Expert Up Club. Now in the past, the only way to work with me on finding your 3 Word Rebellion was 1x1 in the Messaging Intensive, which for many people is cost prohibitive. But with the advent of AI and the power of community, I have figured out a way to walk a group of people through the 3 Word Rebellion process, so they can develop their own 3 Word Rebellions while still getting my feedback and my wordsmithing prowess on creating theirs. So if you try to create your 3 Word Rebellion, always wanted one, and are seeing the value of creating that curiosity, having a message that links what you do and your business together in your client's brain. It's time to become a member of the Expert Up Club, and you can do this work at a fraction of my 1x1 prices. So if you just go tp Expert Up dot Club, you can book a tour or just open your podcast app and click the link for the club and book your private tour from there. So let's go back and talk about the third reason why your business needs a 3 Word Rebellion.

Michelle Mazur [00:09:23]: And that is because 3 Word Rebellions focus on communicating the change or the result for your clients. And when you're communicating the change that your clients want, you're also communicating the value of your work. So why does this matter, especially for experts? As an expert, you love nuance. I know this because I love nuance. I love going in deep and explaining why something works and oh my god, I'm doing that right now. Right? But hopefully, I'm doing it from a high level, so it's interesting. So here's the deal. Your potential clients don't care about the nuance of your expertise. They don't wanna be the experts. They want to benefit.

Michelle Mazur [00:10:14]: So that's why when a 3 Word Rebellion communicates the change, the results that you're creating for your client, it's going to grab their attention more. It's going to make them want to know how you get that result. Because at the end of the day, your clients care about how you solve their problem and what happens when you do. So for instance, Make Marketing Suck Less. Like, that is my goal. My goal is to help you do less marketing, which makes marketing suck less. Do it better with better marketing messages so you don't have to spend as much time, and you can go back to doing the things you love, which is practically anything other than marketing. Right? So that's the promise of Making Marketing Suck Less.

Michelle Mazur [00:11:07]: And one of my favorite 3 Word Rebellions that I ever worked on, and it's been years now, was with a client named Michelle Evans and it was Profit Without Worry. Like, you say that to someone and they're like, yes, that is the thing that I want. How do I make my business profitable? So I don't have to worry so much about it. Right? Like such a powerful change and a way to communicate the result of what you do. So now more than ever, a 3 Word Rebellion is critical to help you rise above all the noise and competition. It's also how you position yourself as the only business who delivers what you do. We're gonna talk more about that on the next episode. But your 3 Word Rebellion is how you get the brain of your right fit client to link your message to your business.

Michelle Mazur [00:12:04]: It's how you drive them wild with curiosity and communicate the result you deliver, all in 3 words. Well, technically, it's 2 to 5 words, but the 2 to 5 word rebellion is a terrible, terrible book title. Now I know this is a tall order to condense your expertise and what you do into something that is a short and succinct memorable message. But when you crack the code on what your 3 Word Rebellion is, you're setting yourself up to be known for your work. And once you are associated with a message and you become the go-to, the only place to go for that result, it's going to make your marketing suck a whole lot less.

Michelle Mazur [00:12:59]: 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.