Some time ago, I made a subtle and powerful shift in how we talk about, market, promote and sell our offerings.
We moved from being clever and convincing…
To being clear.
Rather than asking myself ‘how can I present this as an attractive opportunity to women founders?’, I now ask myself, ‘How can I provide a woman founder with complete information so she can make an empowered decision?’
I think about who my offer is for, I brainstorm all the information they might need, then I provide those answers as clearly and simply as I can.
That’s it.
Simple. Grounded. Clear.
When I show up this way, I honour myself, my work and my team. By being clear externally, the message I send internally is this: who we are and what we offer is worthy and valuable, no bells, whistles or embellishments required.
When I show up with clarity, I honour the people I am selling to. I treat my audience as the equals they are, rather than slightly dazed sheep who need me to “tell them what to do.”
This sounds harsh, but it’s how much of marketing is done: treat people like they are dumb and lack powers of discernment.
I know this because I spent years learning to become a Great Copywriter.
To do this, I wrote everyday and studied from the Greats.
Two of the Greats I studied (whom shall remain nameless for reasons forthcoming), advised me that I should write my marketing content for MOST PEOPLE and that MOST PEOPLE were like Homer Simpson…
Lazy. Gullible. Afraid of change.
According to these Greats then, all great copywriting must do the following:
- Amplify the benefits of what you sell.
- Minimize the risks and difficulty of what you sell.
In other words, promise the world and make it look easy. When you know the trick of doing this, you can pretty much sell anything to anyone.
There’s just one problem.
You DO NOT want to sell to everyone. I own a coaching company. We do deep, transformational work with our clients. We help them do the inner and outer work required to sustainably scale from 6 to 7 figures in revenue.
To make this leap, we will ask them to release old identities, cut old offerings, and let go of clients and relationships that no longer serve them. We will ask them to face fears and receive direct, blunt feedback. We ask them to commit to greatness and then make space for that greatness to emerge – FIRST in themselves and THEN in their businesses and FINALLY in their bank accounts.
This is hard work and it takes time. 98% of companies WILL NOT do it. Therefore, we are looking for a specific type of woman founder. We are NOT for everyone.
But the more my skill as a marketer made our work look amazing and seem easy…
The more I had to turn AWAY women founders who were unwilling or unprepared to make the tough but necessary changes required when you sustainably scale from 6 to 7 figures.
I needed to STOP being clever and convincing. I needed to release everything but my commitment to being very, very clear.
You would think this would be easy. Some light editing work.
But it wasn’t. Because the act of committing to becoming clear involves TWO things:
- Deciding what you REALLY want.
- Releasing the things that hold you back from what you want.
Deciding What You Really Want
When you really, truly commit to what you want, you cut off other options. I really, really wanted to marry my husband. To do this, I needed to cut off the possibility of any other romantic relationship. I had to forsake everyone who wasn’t my choice. Then I would need to keep choosing my choice for as long as I wanted to remain married. (Side note: It has been rewarding, not easy AND 19 years later we are still married).
This is what it means to decide what you really want. You need to choose and then reconfirm that choice every day.
It took me a few months to REALLY COMMIT to my choice of an ideal client…women founders who wanted to take a good business and make it great…and scale to 7 figures in the process.
While I knew exactly who I wanted to work with, I didn’t want to release the clients who weren’t a great fit. I didn’t want to forsake the others. Which is why I continued to attract non-ideal clients into my business.
Why couldn’t I be clearer with them?
This brings me to behaviour #2…
Release the things that hold you back from what you want.
In order to truly and deeply commit to working only with absolutely ideal clients, I needed to release working with any and all clients who were NOT absolutely ideal.
This was hard. The reason?
Because there was something else I needed to release: Pleasing, Proving and Performing Energy.
I had to reassure and release the parts of me who felt I needed to:
- Prove my worth to everyone and anyone at all times
- Help everyone
- Serve everyone
- Not disappoint anyone
As long as I was leading and communicating from this place, I would keep being clever and convincing rather than being clear.
Releasing, forsaking and letting go are the powerful shifts you must make as a leader in order to market and sell from a place of elegance and integrity.
I am proud to say that I lead, market and sell from this place of elegance and integrity.
- I know who I am.
- I know who I work with.
- I know what I offer.
- I know the power of what I do.
- I have released the things that obscure the clarity of what I know.
- I am fully at home in my business and in myself.
And in this great clarity, clients, team members and partners alike can make powerful decisions about whether they want to step into this world…or not.
I want you to have this clarity. And it will start with deciding what you want. And letting go of everything that gets in the way.
This process of deciding what you want and letting go of things that no longer serve you is simple but not easy.
If you’re a coach or consultant doing at least $7500 per month, then you might just be a few best practices away from doubling your revenues and open time. Get Ready to Book Your Personal Growth Audit.
On this super practical, hands-on call we will:
Thanks for reading. If you know a female founder who would benefit from this post, please share it with them!