Ep. 108: How to Shift or Refine Your Messaging Successfully
It's incredibly normal that over time you will get more and more specific about who you want to serve in your business. It comes from the fact that as you work with more and more people you'll realize who's a better fit for you work, or who you really enjoy working with.
However, when this happens there usually some concern around:
-will everything I've already created go to waste
-how will I find these new people
-what do I need to say to get them to notice me
Unless you are drastically changing your niche, you absolutely don't have to start back at Square One. YAY!
Usually you just need a much smaller adjustment in your messaging and a slightly new marketing strategy and you can be off to the races.
In this episode I'm sharing exactly how to do this so you don't have to waste too much time on trial and error and can simply start serving more of those perfect people.
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
Rad Clients on Repeat: radclients.com
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Welcome to this episode of the sell it sister podcast. Today, we are talking messaging and more accurately. What happens when you shift the focus of your ideal client? Like who you ideally want to work with and then have to. Change your messaging. So this is something that has been coming up a lot recently with my clients.
And usually when something is coming up a bunch, I take it as a sign that other people need to hear this message too. I know that this is a message that I frequently have to remind myself of because it can feel really scary when something. Feels like it's working and you've worked really hard to get it, how it is.
And then now you have an inkling of who I want to, you know, refine my niche or, um, just change things up a little bit on who I want to focus on attracting for my business, for my services. You're like, I got, I'm going to have to start. All the way back at square one and all that hard work is going to be lost.
And now it's going to take me forever to start attracting this new ideal client. I know that I have absolutely had that thought. Um, I will say more than more than once. I feel like I feel like it's a thing that happens every time. It's like the FOMO. It's the scarcity. It's the, uh, I don't want to have to.
Half like the hustle. It's like true. It's like the, truly for me, it's the fear of hustle of I'm going to have to work so hard now. Like, what am I doing to myself? Uh, this is just a total nightmare and you know what, it's not, it's at least when you keep what I am going to tell you in mind. Um, and again, I have to remind myself of this every time because my, my initial instinct is always to have like a mini meltdown.
I promise there, there do not need to be any, any mini meltdowns as you, as you will learn, uh, by the end of this episode. So, uh, first up, if you are, if you serve dog walkers, And now you're pivoting to surf ballerinas. Um, no promises. That's going to be a little bit that is going to be more of a lift, right?
If you're, if you're doing a very, very, very drastic change or you're completely changing, like your service model and everything you do, like literally, if you're like I teach dog trainers, uh, how to have. Successful businesses. And then you're like, I now am pivoting to life, coaching ballerinas like that, you know, it's like business coaching to life, coaching one audience, another audience.
So it's going to be a bit more, some, a bit more work, right? You're going to all those dog walkers that are following you on social media are now going to be like, what the hell is she talking about? She's talking about. Ballerinas and life coaching. Like, I don't know what's happening here. Right? That's different.
That's not, I don't know. Imagine I don't, I don't imagine if too many listeners who are drastically, uh, changing their, their businesses in this moment in, in such a severe manner. So we're going to talk about what is more common, which is that you've been doing something like, I, I would say. The most common way that this happens is business coaches who start out with serving earlier stage entrepreneurs, and then they want to serve more established entrepreneurs and maybe even higher level like six and seven figure entrepreneurs.
And they're still doing business coaching. But they now need to speak to a different type of business owner or it's like, I am, you know, a web designer and I will do web design for any type of business. And then you're like, well, now I want to do web design only for, um, you know, people in like energy medicine or something like that.
So you're still doing web design. You just are narrowing the focus of who you're going to be talking to. So one, the first thing I want you to remember, uh, as you're, as you're doing this again, I feel like it bears repeating. You are not, you are not needing to like throw the baby out with the bath water.
Right? You do not need to go back to. Uh, square one and toss out all your content and burn your whole website to the ground and start over. So you can like, you know, relax your shoulders. Pretty the sigh of relief. I promise this is, this is all going to be fine. Next. What I really advise, like what I advise my clients to do and what I always try to think of, um, for myself is.
There are commonalities between what you have already been doing and what you plan to keep doing. You're just shifting who you want to serve with that work. Right? So again, this is kind of like that more proof of like, again, we're not starting at, you know, square one. We're not throwing out everything and starting over there is a.
A portion of what you do and the way you do it, like your methodology, your truth, your framework, whatever it is that is like your, uh, your magic, your personal magic, that you are still going to be bringing to the table in your business. Right? So your values are probably still the same. And, um, your approach to.
The thing that you do is still going to be the same. You just want to serve a different type of client with your magic. So here is the part where the, the real brainstorming comes in before you can start take action so that you can tweak your messaging and tweak your content, and maybe even, you know, your, uh, strategic marketing plan.
So think about what is unique to that new audience that does not apply to your old audience. So when you are, we'll just go back. Like, since you're all entrepreneurs here, um, at all at various stages, we will envision the, uh, levels of entrepreneurship and what. Entrepreneurs need at different levels. So earlier stage entrepreneurs, if you're a business coach or you're somebody who is, uh, you know, trying to work with less than a year, like, like business owners, who've been in business for like less than a year, people who've been in business for less than a year, have unique challenges, have things that are, um, you know, really.
Unique to that point of the journey, right? So they are trying to get set up with, you know, figuring out who their ideal client is, figuring out what their offers should be, um, how to market those offers. Uh, figuring out some like really basic systems, figuring like getting like a very basic website, set up, setting up their social media accounts.
Like they are in that, that early, early stage of getting those things going. They may be struggling to get clients. They may be struggling to, uh, figure out, you know, like refine their, their brand since they're, again, just they're new and they're not. Uh, they're not really like serving a lot of people, perhaps, so it can be harder to figure out like, I don't, I don't know what my brand voice is.
I don't know what my brand strategy is. Right. I don't know how to, um, leverage social media to get clients. So they, they need a lot of beginner level help. Then as you go on. New challenges creep in. So then when you're making, you know, let's say 50,000 plus a year, you might start to have new challenges, like, oh my gosh, should I hire a VA?
And I've never managed someone before, how do I do that? What do I have them do? Uh, how much should I pay them? Like, What is the best use of my investment there? What new systems do I need? Because now I'm working with some clients, like what new systems do I need to help my business grow? What new marketing strategies do I need?
What, uh, You know, like new legal documents, do I need, do I need, uh, a bookkeeper now? Right? There's, there's all of these new things that probably that earlier stage entrepreneur isn't thinking about. Cause they're just thinking like how, how do I even make money? What 50,000 a year you're making money. Um, but maybe you still are like, yeah, but it's not, it's not enough.
Like, I feel like I'm working too much. And I feel like, I feel like I'm, you know, getting clients is still really hit or miss. Right. So there's those, uh, experiences. Then at a hundred thousand, there is a new level of frustrations, right. So might be, um, getting even more support. It might be refining offers, refining your brand.
Um, I don't know. There's all like all sorts of other things there and then so on and so forth. Right? So turn at 50,000 a year, uh, 500,000 a year. A million, right? Like somebody who makes a million dollars in revenue a year in their business versus somebody who makes 50,000 a year. That is a lot, those, those challenges are a lot different.
Right? Uh, it doesn't mean that, that the. Million dollar business that they are like, uh, a better person or, you know, anything like that. This is not about personal worthiness. It's just about the actual, uh, challenges. For them are going to be vastly vastly different because somebody who is making seven figures a year knows how to sell.
They clearly know how to sell. They clearly have a viable product of some sort, but they might be feeling like, well, gosh, now I need help with like, You know, how do I have my next huge, like quantum leap in revenue? Or I want to take some of this revenue. Like, I know, I know how to have a $3 million a year business.
I actually want to take some of my money now and invest it in other things. Right. And like, you know, maybe like invest like angel investing or investing in real estate or, or doing things like that. All sorts of different things. So. The key is to think about in terms of what you like, your, your magic area, your secret sauce, what it is that they are experiencing now that is unique to them and their current circumstance that you can also help them with.
And then. You can refine your messaging to speak exactly to what they are experiencing as it relates to what you help them with. Right. So if you are a social media manager and they like. You know, it could be the thing. If it's, if it's, uh, you know, a multiple six-figure business and they are wanting to like, leverage some of their, their income and, uh, start angel investing.
Right. You're not really, that's not your wheelhouse. Right. So you're not going to talk to angel investing. Right. Cause that's not your magic. That would be, you know, somebody else has a different kind of business. That would be a great thing that they could talk about in their content and in their, on their website and in their other marketing strategies.
But for you, what is it that you could potentially help them with that is unique to what they are experiencing now. So could it be that. You know, they are a multiple six-figure entrepreneur and they actually really like doing their own social media. Right. So they, they really enjoy it. Like that's, uh, That's where they feel energized.
They love to connect with people there. They love to do their own posts. They're in their stories. Like, it's just, they don't want to give that up. Maybe they have somebody who does like community engagement and stuff for them. That's on their team. But what if you love like teaching and training people?
What if they already have, like, what if they have somebody on their team who, uh, they could have help? Uh, with like co managing their account. Like let's say when they want to take time off or anything like that. And so maybe you have a service where you go in and you teach an assistant on their team, your special like methodology, you make their VA more valuable to them.
So they don't have to have an entirely separate social media person. Right. So you could have a service where you train. People's assistants to do that. Or you could have a service where maybe they just get really in the weeds. And when it comes time to launch something, they get all in their head about launch content.
So what if you came in and you help them do launch content specifically for their social media platforms, right? Like you just, that was what you did. You're like. Cool. You're going to be using, you know, Instagram, here we go. We're getting, you know, your, your launch runway. Like the whole thing is, you know, four weeks, six weeks, whatever.
All right, we're gonna do, I'm gonna do an intensive with you and we're going to create your custom plan and then you can hand it off to your team and then your designer can make. Uh, graphics and here are some reels you can make, and here are some things to talk about in your stories, right? And you just hand that off.
That's very different because they are. Busy. They're very, very busy serving their clients. And so they can leverage their revenue because they're, you know, multiple six figure business owner, they can leverage their revenue so that they don't have to spend time. Let's say going through a course or something like that, they can leverage their revenue to pay for an intensive that you have that will just get them that plan.
And then they can hand the plan off. To their team and they don't even have to worry about it. Right. So in that instance, you would want to be speaking specifically to their frustrations around what the heck do I post when I'm trying to launch something or I feel really, uh, I get a lot of decision fatigue and what to post during my launch or.
I've launched before with a lot of the same content and I want to refresh it, but I don't know what I should do. And I don't have time to sit around and like tinker with it. I just want an expert to tell me what to do, or, um, maybe they feel like they're always scrambling in the moment, uh, during a launch and they want to be more proactive and they want to have that plan.
Right. And you can, I mean, we could go on and on and on with all different examples, but the point is, is. Again, you want to think about what that new ideal client, what is unique to them that is not the same as your previous ideal client, as it relates to what you do, because again, your previous ideal client, if they're newer and you have courses that talk about, maybe you have a course that talks about.
How to create, you know, uh, Instagram content, when you're getting ready to sell something like how to use Instagram to drive sales to a new offer or a return offer, a beginner might have less. Money to invest so they could buy, you know, maybe it's a $500 course, and they, because they are investing less dollar, fewer dollars, they would be investing more of their time to go through the coursework.
But somebody who has more dollars, but less time. Could just could say, I don't want to go through a course. I don't I'm too. I feel too busy. Can I just pay you $2,500 instead? And we'll meet and you know, you'll, we'll talk about what I'm launching and then you create the plan and then you email it to me and my team, and then we get it done.
Right. So there's a difference there. You're still, you are still helping with Instagram. Launch content. You're just doing it in a different way for a different audience. And so this is where hopefully you can see now how it, you're not scrapping all of your content. Like if you've already been talking about, um, selling on Instagram, using Instagram to sell, launching on Instagram, all of that.
You get to still talk about that, but you can talk about it in a different way, because you instead are talking to people who are experiencing new and different frustrations in regard to using Instagram to lunch, same thing with, um, like sales and marketing strategy. Right? So. Something that I might tell somebody who is a beginner is going to be a lot more general, like when they don't have their other foundational things figured out yet, it's going to be a lot more general then.
If somebody hires me for, you know, a marketing intensive and they're like, yeah, I just, I just feel like I'm doing, I'm doing too much and I need to streamline, but I don't know. How I'm afraid of giving things up, because what if then my revenue starts to go down? Like, I just, I just need something that is more simple that doesn't feel like it's going to lead me to burnout.
And I, you know, it's really not in my wheelhouse or my desire to sit around and think really, really hard about it and create a plan. And then. Deal with the trial and error of that self-created plan. Like my people don't, they don't want to do that. They just want to hire me. They just want to hire me to come in and spend a little time with them and then give them that simple, streamline, sustainable marketing plan that they don't have to overthink and overanalyze to death.
They can just take it and implement it and run with it. Right. They won't get stuck in decision fatigue and all of that. So for those people, I am going to think of some actual, real world scenarios of what they are experiencing and weave that into what I'm talking about when I'm making sales pages, when I'm, you know, maybe, um, parts of my website in content I put out in what I'm talking about, my stories, any of that.
So the last tip I want to leave you with, because if you're like, God, I still, I don't, I don't know. I don't like, I need like another, I need another prompt Erica to like, get my brain going. So here's the other thing I always say to my clients. And again, I use this method for myself. Imagine your new ideal client.
Imagine there's like five of them, right? You're all out. You're edit. Cafe and you've got, you know, some, some great beverages. You've got snackies, it's just cash, super cash or hanging out, and they can ask you anything. They can pick your brain about anything that is in your wheelhouse of your special magic.
So you can do this any way you want pen and paper go old school. Get out, you know, Google doc or wherever on your computer, start to think it, just imagine your dreamiest most perfect ideal client that you want to be talking to. What would that person be asking you about? What would they be venting about as it relates to what you do?
What would they say that they're frustrated with? In relation to what you do, what would they want your help understanding any of those things? And then think about what you would say back, and you can just brain dump this literally in any way that makes sense for you and your brain, but just put it all out there, uh, so that you can see.
What are some things that are keeping them up at night or really annoying them, or they just feel super confused about, or they've tried it a bunch of different ways themselves and it's not working or they're just sick of overthinking it to death. Any of those things and how you would solve it for them, what you would say to them, what you would want them to know.
But what is something that you are like, oh my gosh, yes. Like, uh, I see all the time that people assume this solution is this, but actually the solution is this. And I want to tell you more about that. Right? And usually when you do that, you will have heaps, heaps of content. Ideas. Right? Cause there's all sorts of ways you can, uh, different angles.
You could approach topics in, um, different ways. You can repurpose things, tons of different stuff. But this is really the key is, think about. Actual conversations with real people, because then it's not, it's not hypothetical. And also you can like, if you're, uh, if you want to be teacher's pet and get a little extra credit, this is where voice of the customer research comes in.
I actually did this and January, this was my January project. You can actually find people in that new ideal client segment. And you can say, I would love like 30 minutes of your time. We hop on zoom. I just have a few questions I want to ask you. And it's really, really, really going to help me with a new offer I'm creating or this new thing I'm doing.
And in turn as a thank you, I will XYZ. Right? Give you some free advice, a free strategy. This, that the other, whatever, um, as a thank you for your time, because then you really, and truly get it in their own words. Exactly what they're struggling with. Again, as it pertains to what you do, what they've tried, what hasn't worked, what they thought about trying.
Um, you know, and, and all sorts of other things. Cause then you know exactly there's no guesswork and then you can use all of that for your messaging and your content and your general, uh, strategic marketing plan. So there you have it really not really nice, scary as it seems right. Again, didn't have, didn't have to start over.
Didn't have to throw everything out. I it's just refining. It's just. Meeting meeting your new ideal client where they are at and speaking more directly to them so that they recognize, oh, what this person does is exactly what I need. So I should pay attention. I should see, I should, you know, learn more, see what they got going on.
Right. Uh, if you have any questions about any of this, obviously reach out, um, if. You have any ahas or takeaways or anything like that? Uh, I hang out on Instagram, Eric Tobin's consulting. So I love it when people screenshot, uh, episodes as they're listening and share to their stories. And tag me just makes my heart happy, um, to connect with my listeners over there.
And if you have other friends, other entrepreneur, friends, and you think they would like this, then I'm always honored when, when people share it. As well, and I actually have, uh, at the time of recording this, I actually have a strategic marketing intensive. That is all based on my approach. My, uh, you know, authentic relationship-based.
Uh, ethical, no sleaze approach to marketing. So it's called rad clients on repeat, and you can find it@radclients.com. It's just a really quick intensive where we come up with your simple, sustainable, but successful 90 day marketing plan. So go ahead and check that out. Especially if you're listening to this in real time, it's the start of.
The summer, and you might want a better approach to your marketing over the summer so that you can keep getting clients without working yourself to death. And you can actually enjoy, uh, you know, summer 20, 21 on the, hopefully coming off of the, the end of this, this really, uh, Intense global pandemic time.
And if you're like me, you're probably like, I actually don't want to, um, work as hard as summer. I want to, I want to try to enjoy my life in whatever way that I can, uh, this summer, even if it's not, you know, in exactly the way summers, you know, pre COVID work, but that is, that's what I can help you with because I am all about getting better results with less.
Hustle and headaches. So yeah, again, rad clients.com. If you want to check that out or just slide up into my DMS at Eric Dobbins consulting on Instagram and as always happy selling.
