by Cara Lumen
At a recent face-to-face Linchpin meeting, one of the participants had just sold his business of ten years and wasn’t sure what he was going to do next. His company created specialized software for other companies. He said the problem was that his potential clients did not even know they needed what he had to offer or how to find companies like his that specialized in creating it. Educating our community is an ongoing process.I can talk till I’m blue in the face about what can be accomplished by working with an experienced coach, but if my community is content to spend a lot of time searching out new information for themselves they won’t understand that I could save them time and money. I have already spent years exploring and learning many of the choices available and I could get them off to a really fast start by helping them choose the right ones for their strengths and passion.
If someone came up to you and said “What do you do?” what would you say?
Your who and do what statement
The who and do what statement goes like this: “I help (your target community) do (what they achieve with your help) so that (the emotional reward)
“I help entrepreneurs who love to write create meaningful signature products so they can increase their expert status and make passive income. “
“I help beginning bloggers create a well optimized blog site and the cornerstone content that attracts the community they are meant to serve.”
“I am the Idea Optimizer, I help visionaries capture their ideas and organize them into a profitable product or service. I help them believe they can.”
Your turn. What is your “who and do what statement.”
Express your passion
At this same Linchpin meeting I turned to the woman beside me and asked, “What are you taking away from this meeting?” She said, “That not everyone knows their passion.” If you don’t know, others won’t get it and your passion is the most attractive thing you have to offer – your passion and your enthusiasm for following it.
Get clear about you want to offer. Don’t look at what others are doing or even that long list of what you could be doing. Follow your heart.
Another person at the meeting is a real estate person who specializes in people who are downsizing. She is doing well because people are referring others in their same situation to her. Downsizing is an emotional process and people will gravitate to someone who understands their emotional needs. She has some coaching background and it all seems to flow together. She said she didn’t want to shut out other potential clients, but as we all know, the more focused your niche; the more focused your success.
Explain it to a child
It’s way too easy to fall into jargon when trying to explain your business. Keep it simple. Keep your words basic so the meaning is clear. I used to use a phrase “I help you uncover your passion, define your purpose, identify your path, make money from what you already know and attract the people you are meant to serve. But most of all I help you believe you can!!!” That’s way too much and that’s how I do it, not what I do. “I help you turn your ideas into profit.” That ultimately sounds too commercial for me; my business is more spiritually based; my emphasis is on building your business from your inside out but that phrase is a bit airy-fairy.”I keep you passionately on purpose as you work to make a difference in the world.” I like all those phrases, but they are not emotional enough or results oriented enough.
My blog is rather philosophical and the less concrete your business is the trickier it is to explain it. What is “serenity,” what is “inner peace?” Identify your benefits in concrete terms, “Sleep better at night.” “Feel the relief of being safe.”
“I’m your Idea Optimizer” won’t do for a child but it might open a conversation. To a child I might say, “I help you take your best ideas and make something special from them that others will love.”
When you get really fundamental about how you explain your business, you will get clear and then others will get it too.
Write good cornerstone content
Someplace on your web site or blog, you need to do some educating. You have to address the emotional need of your target community and the problems that keep them awake at night and let them know what you can do for them. For a blog it’s your Cornerstone Content, that series of posts that lay a foundation for your reader to understand what they need and how you will provide it.
For the phrase “I help you take your best ideas and make something special from them that others will love.”
I might write a series like:
•How to choose your best ideas
•How to leverage your ideas into a profitable signature product.
•Who needs what you have to offer?
I have written:
Write a series of articles that address the concerns of your community as it relates to what you have to offer. Show them how you can help, how their lives will be different after they use your product and service and how to recognize others that might need you too. Educate your community so they know they need you.
©2010 Cara Lumen
