Have you had this experience… did you start doing something in your business with passion, with fire? You tried to do it justice by learning all the business and marketing stuff on how to make it work, make it better, reach more people, make it a living…etc. (Whatever the training program’s sales page has been trying to convince you…) A few months later, you find yourself in a rut, chasing your tail on the hamster wheel, but you don’t know why the hell you are anymore. making.
Most of us go into what we do because of our passion for the “art,” regardless of what results it delivers, who it serves, and how it is done. We start a business so we can do what we do best and do it the way we see fit without others telling us what to do and how to do it.
We don’t start our businesses (along with stress, “uncertainty,” and giving up health insurance) just so we can market our businesses.
We start our businesses because we are passionate about what we do (eg a specific training process, a topic of expertise, the tools and knowledge… the “geek” stuff). We start our businesses because we want to express ourselves and share our gifts through something that we can (theoretically, at least!) have complete control over so that we don’t have to compromise our message, our integrity, our truth.
We want to make our lives something we stand for… We want our lives to be more than ticking the clock.
However, after a while, probably after some training and programs, taken with the intention of promoting our business so that we can spread our message and help more people, we slowly but surely realize how our expression, interaction and decisions have become more and more. driven by what we were “told” were “best marketing practices” rather than our individual vision and experience (as in our superpower, secret sauce, and unique process that truly help our clients achieve results).
We force ourselves to follow some canned processes that require us to cut off our limbs so that we can fit into a “tried and true” box. We suffocate ourselves with “models”, and if we don’t get the “advertised results”, we conclude that there is something wrong with us, or that we are simply not good enough. (So we buy more of these workouts, further stifling our originality, luring us into the comparison trap, and somehow making us feel even more inadequate!)
We were told, workout after workout and program after program, to SHUT UP the entire process and only talk about the “results”, the “benefits”. We were told that no one cares about our “process”, our “tools”, essentially, our passion for our “crafts”, our superpower, our secret sauce. In fact, this is said over and over again so often that it is accepted as “true.” Hey, when was the last time you questioned and challenged yourself?
Have we ever thought that if we are told over and over again to shut up about our process, tools and “how we create results” because “people will just gasp” that it is sending our subconscious the message that our passion for our “art” is not important? That nobody cares? That we should leave it at the door so we can create canned marketing messages that “people understand” – because you’re targeting the lowest common denominator?
How is this different from being told to leave your dream at the office door and settle in the cubicle? (At least you get health insurance, appear to be “gaily employed,” and don’t have to fumble around explaining what you do at the cocktail party!)
WHAT IF WE CAN MAKE OUR PROCESS OUR MESSAGE?
Indulge me, just ask… What if?
What if we can take an interest in what we do, how we do it, AND make it attractive to our ideal clients? What if we can have our cake and eat it too?
Here’s what I know: It’s much easier to find your passion and then wrap it in marketing content than it is to find something hopefully marketable and then become passionate about it. You are not a used car salesman. Choosing a “niche” because others tell you it will work won’t work in the long run.
What if you could lead with your “art,” then package and position your passions and superpowers in full glory into profitable, marketable offerings without leaving any part of YOU behind?
What if you don’t have to cut off an arm and a leg to get into the “marketing box”?
Imagine your passion for your “art” – the process, the tools, the knowledge – it’s a beach ball. By nature, a fully inflated and happily filled beach ball floats. Many marketing trainings tell you to push the beach ball down and keep it underwater because “most things sink”! Hmm, let’s make the beach ball “sink” so it can “fit in”. If it’s happily inflated, you’ll have to keep pushing it and keep pushing it to get it to stay down. The moment you stop fighting, it appears and you feel like you’ve failed the task. Eventually, you get tired of pushing it down 24/7, so you DEFLATE the beach ball by letting go of your passion. The sadly deflated beach ball sinks in and fits.
Have you lost your fire by denying certain aspects of your passion? To break out of a rut, they seek out more programs and training, getting sucked into quick fixes with big promises. You keep banging your head and thinking that somehow you can find that spark outside of yourself. Someone is going to hand it to you on a silver platter for $297.
Yet those workouts keep telling you to shut up about your passion for your “art”… and slowly but surely, you drink the kool-aid and instead of questioning what’s going on and what’s true for you, follow the instructions. instructions, do your homework, and soften your voice.
I know an amazing spiritual mentor who was once told by a “marketing guru” to “leave her anger and rage” because she “wouldn’t sell.” She struggled for a long time with some diluted messages. Fortunately, she found another mentor who encouraged her to expose it all. She launched a show called “Rage To Riches” (yes, she’s SELLING the furious and angry part of her) and is now making five figures a month.
Instead of stifling our unique combination of process, tools, knowledge and experience, what if we can MAKE OUR PROCESS OUR MESSAGE and use “marketing” to make it work for our business?
Yes, we may still be “opening the door” with some “results and benefits”, but what about the next layer? Are people really going to pay you a lot of money if you sound like your competition? What makes you special? What makes your potential customers choose you over someone who makes the same promise to “lose 10 pounds and feel energized”?
They all have a variation of the same “elevator pitch”: the same “talk about the benefits, the frustration, and don’t forget the fears!” What makes you different is not to replace some words and call it a day.
What sets you apart is your process, what you actually do to create results for your clients, YOUR way. Your unique process is not an “x month program” handed out to you by your coaching school or other training programs.
You can’t buy some schematics and brochures off the shelf and jump into the box because you think you’re not good enough or don’t know enough to create your own process. (Those materials have a place to help you get up and running faster and easier, but the foundation of your business shouldn’t be built on mindless regurgitation of these materials.)
Your process is a jewel that is a crystallization of all your passions, knowledge, tools, life experience, courage, gifts, and superpowers. It is YOU as the whole package.
I’ve read enough sales pages to tell you that I don’t give a damn about “profits” anymore because they say pretty much the same thing… “x customers in 30 days!” “6-figure business in x months!”… I buy from the person behind the copy. I want to know what you represent, what tools you have at your disposal, how you approach the subject, how you deliver your materials, because it is during the process that the results and the magic happen. I want to know that this person that I’m working with isn’t regurgitating something that I’ve heard before, some cookie cutter systems, others are also regurgitating.
When I get to the sales page of a training/training program, I sometimes know within 10 seconds that I have to join that program without finishing reading the first paragraph. Why? I can feel the energy of the author and know instantly if it’s something original, something GUTS, something that fits me well.
Your potential customers can feel your energy, passion, and enthusiasm through your communication, even if it’s just written words. If you don’t write about something you’re totally passionate about, if you hand out something canned and watered down, how can you expect your readers to “feel” you, to be inspired enough to work with you?
Blanket promises of just results and benefits don’t communicate truthfulness or establish the trust you need to make meaningful connections.
Here is the irony. I’ve seen quite a few “certification programs” that train trainers to deliver business and marketing training. Guess what they are selling – yes, the PROCESS! They are selling the process (which some later turned into a signature system) that turns around and tells us, hey, stop talking about your process! Nobody cares about the process… but apparently there are plenty of people who care enough to shell out thousands of dollars to get certified. Hmmm… let’s think about that for a moment, okay?
Many business coaches also advocate creating a signature system. So it’s about the process, right? In my opinion, the signature system is a great marketing communication tool because, when done correctly, it succinctly tells people what you do and how you do it, linking the process to the desired benefits/results. HOW DO YOU DO IT. Yes, the process.
Don’t get me wrong, I love marketing and I approach it as an art form, a form of self-expression. Not the canned version that plays “Simon Says.” Marketing communication is about understanding who you want to serve and how you do it and then communicating it so your ideal customers understand the value you offer (simple, right?)
Who can say that his process, which is a crystallization of all his passions, knowledge, tools, life experiences, values, gifts and superpowers, is not an important part of his message? I would like to know these things before I decide to pay a lot of money and hire someone!
If you can’t fully accept yourself and show all your uniqueness; If you hide behind watered-down, canned “results” that you *think* people want to hear, how can you expect others to fully accept your genius?
