Happy New Year! This article is all about being intentional. And I’m not one of those people who’s all like “New Year, New You,” “2022, go get ’em, tiger,” you know, that kind of stuff. It’s not really my style.
But I do feel like at the beginning of a new year, there is a lot of intentionality, and people are setting goals and trying to put systems in, and that I am here for. I do support that 100%. So with that in mind, this article is all about being intentional with your content. Because friends, your content isn’t a maybe. It is about you making money.
And I know all my heart-centered people are like, “I just want to help people!” And that’s good. That is actually my primary motivator as well. Turns out, I am not that money motivated. But you won’t be able to help that many people if you are not making a living. And if you burn out helping too many people without making that money, you’re not going to be able to help anyone at all. So let’s go into this with that mindset. Cool?
Alright, now that we’re on the same page, I am updating my old client landing formula. It used to be visibility plus strategy equals money. So this article could be considered an update to that original formula. I’ve got a few new 2022 twists to kind of freshen it up here, and I’m adding a piece to that formula as well.
But before we do that, I want to ask you two questions. One, are you currently creating content? And two, are you creating the right content?
Now, this isn’t going to be one of those “should should should” kind of things. This is just an honest reflection question to yourself. Are you regularly creating content right now? And I ask you that because it isn’t optional to skip content creation in today’s age — it’s about you having steady cash flow.
In fact, one of the questions I ask before I do a marketing intensive with a client (My Biz GPS), is “Would you prefer a steady flow of cash or big cash dump periods?” And I’m always very interested in that question’s answers. Sometimes people surprise me. Some people definitely only want steady cash flow, and others are like, “Yeah, whatever, I just want money.” I personally like having steady cash flow. If I have one month where I make less than a third of the previous month, I start freaking out just a little bit. Now sometimes there’s really good reasons for that. And, you know, once I know those reasons, it’s a kind of a grain of salt situation. But until then, I worry. It’s just my natural nature.
Now, let’s apply that to content. If you have big content creation periods, and you’re batching it and then planning it all out, that’s great. But if you create a bunch of content, and then kind of just trickle off, and you’re not consistently posting and showing up with that content, it’s going to do the same thing. And what that leads to is that ebb and flow or that spike and valley situation. I think we’ve all seen the meme graphic that has the three or four different camel humps like “you are here, your cash flow is down here.” It scares the crap out of me every time I see it, because I know how often that is a real reality for many, many entrepreneurs. I don’t like that, personally. If you’re cool with that, that’s fine. I just don’t know how you live with yourself, honestly. It’s just not something I understand.
So the next question is, are you creating the right content?
You know, the viral content is usually not the content that’s going to land you clients. And why I say that is because content that gets a ton of likes, a ton of comments, even a ton of shares, is typically not the kind of content that really makes people think deeply about their problems. The kind of content that makes people think deeply about their problems, their goals, their desires, it’s usually a little bit uncomfortable. And because it’s uncomfortable, people tend not to, oh, I don’t know, share it. People don’t want to be seen as being uncomfortable, they want to be seen as being confident and achieving their goals and successful, right?
And because they’re not going to share it or like or comment on it, it’s usually not going to have all those vanity metrics aside. But rest assured, that is the right content for landing clients. In fact, it’s almost always my content that looks very poor on my Instagram insights, that when I look back at it, it actually, like, got me clients, it’s would actually got people booking discovery calls, or messaging me and asking questions.
So let’s go on to the formula now. It is visibility plus consistency plus strategy equals money.
Now, my old formula didn’t have the word consistency in it, because I do consider consistency to be part of your strategy. But I feel like I need to like put some emphasis on consistency so people really understand that being consistent is part of the formula. You can be visible. And you can have a pretty good strategy on what kind of content you’re creating. But if you’re not showing up consistently it’s not going to work.
So with that said, the strategy aspect of this, it needs for you to know a few things. So let’s move into those three things here. There are three steps to signing a client. One, get them interested, two, build up that know, like, and trust factor, and then, three, is your offer right for them right now.
And two of those steps, the first two, are both very content dependent. That means that they will depend on what you are showing up with out there in the interwebs, they are going to depend with what you create, what you share, what you emphasize. The last one, not so much. But you can’t actually control that. So let’s focus on the two that you can control, getting people interested in, capturing their attention.
It starts with capturing their attention.
Are the graphics you use to promote yourself capturing their attention? Are they on brand? Are they appealing? Are you using really good hooks? You know, the first sentence of a post, the title of a live, the subject line of an email? And then it goes to the next part — are you addressing a problem your best client has and does not want to have? Or are you delivering a result that they do want and have not yet achieved? Those are the two things that once you’ve captured their attention will depend on those two things to keep their attention. Said another way, you can capture people’s attention in a variety of ways. But unless you are addressing a problem they have and don’t want or you’re delivering a result that they do want and haven’t yet achieved, you will not keep their attention. So that’s step one.
Step number two is building up that know, like, and trust.
I use the be seen method to do this with my clients. First we brainstorm ideas, then we expand upon those topics, make sure that we have some kind of like stories to go with them, some good calls to action, things like that. And then we make sure that they are truly seen. We check whether it fits with the best client’s state of mind, we make sure that we are attacking the enemies that they have in their life. We’re helping them feel like they’re part of the in crowd and we’re giving them good stories to kind of connect that know, like, and trust, right? All of that helps build up the know, like, and trust. And they all kind of deliver on the same thing. Are you the right person for that best client to accomplish one of those goals? Getting rid of a problem or achieving a goal. Are you the right person for them? Building up your know, like, and trust factor with the right intentional client content is what’s going to make that happen.
And then of course, the third thing that will land you a client: is your offer right for them right now?
I am not someone out there who’s going to say “Well, you know, if you build it, they will come. If you put an offer out, they’ll get a new credit card just to pay for it.” I personally will not go into debt to buy an offer. It’s just not what I’m going to do. I know that there are plenty of people out there who will tell you to do this. I don’t believe in it, it’s not a good situation for the vast majority of the people I work with. And the vast majority of the colleagues that I’m in programs with. Being in debt is incredibly stressful. And being so desperate to achieve a result from a program or an offer doesn’t set you up for the best method of success, at least not the majority of people. So is your offer right for them right now? Can they afford it? Is it good timing?
There’s pretty much no way you’re going to convince me that a woman who’s seven months pregnant is going to be the perfect person to sign up for a 12-month program. They’re going to go through a ton of life changes. They aren’t going to be 100% focused on the results of that program. It’s just not the right time for them. It doesn’t mean your offer is bad, it just means it’s not the right time. And you can’t control that. Whether something is the right timing for someone in your audience is 100% outside of your control. And all the persuasive copy, all of the strategic scheming in the world will not change that.
So I don’t focus on that part, I focus on the two areas that I can control, because, one, that decreases my stress load. And, two, it helps me create attainable goals in my own business. Because I can control those two things. I can control making sure that my hooks are going to capture attention, my subject lines are going to make them click open on the email. I can control building up the know, like, and trust factor by using the be seen method. I can control being consistent with my content.
So how are we going to do that? How are we going to capture their interest and build up the know, like, and trust factor?
We’re going to create content that is authentic. Don’t lie. Don’t be like one of those “rah rah” people. If you’re not a “rah rah” person. You need to be true to yourself. And you need to tell personal stories and help them connect to you. You want content that’s going to help your clients feel like they’re part of your in crowd.
Sometimes that means using cultural references that some people won’t know. That is okay. I’ve talked about that on this podcast before. I see so many cultural references to Lord of the Rings. I think I’ve seen half of one of the movies. It’s just not my world. But I don’t like completely tune out someone who uses the Lord of the Rings reference, if everything else that they’re saying still is attractive to me, I pay attention. Now, if they’re using Lord of the ring references, and Battlestar Galactica, and, I don’t know, a whole bunch of other things I haven’t seen, maybe we’re not going to connect very well. That’s okay. I’m not the person. It’s not the end of the world. There’s lots of people out there, right. That said, if someone’s using an Office or How I Met Your Mother reference, I’m probably in because I know how they think, I like the way they think, and it’s entertaining.
Alright, so next content that leads them into a new way of thinking about their current problem. And this a reference when we’re talking about vanity metrics. They’re probably not going to love your content and share it if it makes them feel uncomfortable. But if they start thinking differently about their current problem, and you are the person that helped them start to think differently, they are very likely to consider you as part of the solution. So maybe that means they’re gonna reach out via email or DM. Maybe it means they’re going to sign up for a discovery call. Maybe it just means that they’re going to click on your website, look through, and kind of table you because it’s only the second or third or fifth time that they’ve seen you and they really do need 15 or 20 touch points to be like, “Oh, yeah, this person knows what they’re talking about.”
Point being is you are now part of their thinking about the solution. And that is when we get into that kind of fourth thing we can do to be intentional with our content. Content that reinforces you are legit, and you have the solution they’ve been looking for. That might mean they have to get some of those touch points in. It might mean they have to see you on a podcast, not your own podcast, someone else’s podcast. It might mean that they have to see you you know guesting in someone else’s Facebook group. It might mean that they have to be on your email list for 12 solid weeks before they’ve decided, “Yeah, you really know what you’re talking about.”
And then finally, the fifth thing we can do be intentional about our content is content that fascinates them. I love Sally Hogshead. She talks about being fascinated. She has the fascinate profile. Her fascinate profile isn’t a personality test that describes who you are, it describes how the world sees you. And if you’re struggling in this area, I highly recommend go check that out because it gives you ways that you can be more fascinating to your intended audience.
Some people are going to respond in one way, some people are going to respond in another way. And, again, that doesn’t mean they’re wrong, it just means they’re different. We have a best client for a reason. And the reason is so we can gear all of our content, we can be intentional with all of our content to attract that best client.
This is your 2022 send off: be intentional with your client.
Be intentional with your content. Being intentional with your content means making sure you are being consistent. You are visible in a variety of ways and you’re being strategic about the kind of content you’re putting out there. This is how you’re going to be signing and landing clients in 2022. This is how you’re going to start achieving all those other goals you said a few days ago.
Are you ready to create a measurable content plan?
