What Are You Known For? There is a question that you and I absolutely need to know the answer to. If we don’t, our business and everything that we’re doing is in serious trouble. More on that in a second… I recently met with a client to map out her membership site strategy. She is a doctor who serves women over 40 dealing with menopause. This is a market that I have never dealt with. It was fresh for me. It was all new. …boy, did I learn a lot (LOL). The key thing is that this particular client really wants to help women in this age bracket live a healthy and happy life. That is her ultimate goal. But… that’s a really big goal for a really big market! It’s really hard to crack through and separate yourself from everybody else when you aim so broad. I encouraged her, “Look, one of the things that we absolutely want to do is to get specific. Because if we’re trying to be everything to everyone, we’re not going to be anything to anyone. It’s going to be a lot harder to get people’s attention that way.” Here’s what I mean. Back when I was beginning to rebuild my personal brand, I knew I had to get specific. I asked myself, “What are you known for?” If you don’t know how to answer that question, chances are people have no idea how to share with others what it is you do. I asked this client the same thing. “What do you want to be known for? What could you become known for now that would help you build a ton of momentum down the road?” Building my brand, I realized that I want to help ALL entrepreneurs. I want to help them make a lot more money and I want to inspire them to give a ton of that money away to the causes and people they’re passionate about. …but I couldn’t start there. The thing that ended up bringing focus and clarity for me was deciding, “I want to be known for helping entrepreneurs produce recurring revenue.” That made sense because it was built on my expertise and experience. Having built a software company that powered tens of thousands of online membership communities, building multiple seven-figure membership sites, and working with some of the world’s top membership site owners, I know what works. Because of this, it’s easy for me to focus on membership sites. It makes sense for me to be known as the membership site guy. Even though I want to help all entrepreneurs in all kinds of different ways, to begin with I had to narrow my approach. Being specific about what I’m known for helped me create a lot more momentum a lot faster than if I started with the broad approach. The same goes for you. Imagine your friends or colleagues chatting with somebody else who has a problem that you can help solve. They’re talking to your ideal customer. Will they know that you are the person who solves that problem? If someone were to tell others about you, would they mention that very thing? Your area of expertise should come across in your messaging so that when people have a problem that’s related to the very thing that you are known for, you are the one they think about. That’s really where you’ve got to put your energy – especially in the beginning. Later, you can branch out and go more broad. But, in the beginning, you are going to create way more momentum if you are focused on one specific thing. Then, when people have those kinds of problems, boom … you are top of mind. If you’re not known for anything specific, it’s really hard for people to spread the message. You’re fighting an uphill battle trying to get attention in this world of nonstop noise, and you’re not standing out in any one particular way. People want problems solved. They’re seeking solutions. If you become known for a certain solution, you’re going to gain a lot more traction. Get specific. Ask yourself, “What do I want to be known for?” You’ve got to be known for something and that’s got to come across in all of your messaging. Focus on that and I guarantee you’ll gain a lot more momentum, and you’ll start to see better results from your marketing.
Why Email Unsubscribes are Actually a Good Thing Some people I spoke with recently were freaked out over the fact that they either got some unsubscribes from their email list or they received negative comments from people in their audience. Talking to them made me reflect on my early days when I was first building my business, and on one incident in particular that I remember vividly. I was at a conference. This was way back in 2004 and I was just starting to build my audience; I think I had maybe a few hundred people on my email list at the time. After emailing my list that morning, almost immediately a few people unsubscribed. Maybe you’ve been through this and responded differently, but this was my first unsubscribe and I was hypersensitive to it. It hit me right in the heart. I remember coming down from my hotel room down to the main lobby and where the event was and running into a friend of mine named Matt. Matt looked at me and instantly was like, “Dude, what’s wrong?” Because he could see it in my face. I looked like somebody had just like stabbed me in the heart. I responded, “Man, I just got an unsubscribe from my email list.” Matt gave me a strange look and said, “Wait a minute. You got an unsubscribe and this is why you’re so upset?” I replied, “Yeah, man. I don’t know why they would’ve unsubscribed. I just don’t get it.” So I was suprised when Matt responded with, “Dude, an unsubscribe is a really good thing.” “Dude, an unsubscribe is a really good thing.” I was like, “What are you talking about? No it’s not.” He’s like, “Yes, it is. Look, if you’ve got an unsubscribe, think of it as like a cleansing process. They’re just somebody who has said, ‘You know what, this stuff isn’t right for me,’ and that’s okay. Because now you’ve got a smaller, tidier list of people who are really into everything that you’re sharing.” It was an amazing lesson for me because it gave me permission to continue being myself and sharing my message. Now this is a lesson I try to pass on to others who are having similar experiences. As business owners, we need to have a thick skin. Not everybody is going to agree with our message or care for what we have to offer. And that’s okay. A saying of an early mentor of mine that stuck with me is, “Love me or hate me, there’s no money in the middle.” When you stay true to your message and create this kind of divide, it’s actually a really good thing because the people that hang around are going to be true supporters. I would much rather have a small list of people who love what I have to share than a huge list of people who are indifferent to my message. Because here’s the thing: When it comes to your marketing, you have to believe. If you’re sharing content, you have to believe in your message. If you’re selling, you have to believe in your product. Nobody wants to engage with somebody who isn’t confident in what they’re sharing. Nobody wants to buy from somebody who isn’t confident in what they’re selling. Would you want to go into surgery with a doctor who was hesitant like that? Heck no. Would you want get into a plane with a pilot who was hesitant about their ability to get to the destination? Heck no. You have to share your message and your products with confidence. If that sense of confidence turns some people off, that’s totally fine. What you’re doing is you are getting closer and closer to the people who will really benefit from what you have to share. If you get unsubscribes it’s a good thing. It just means you’re getting more and more dialed in to the few people who you can really help and serve. Share with confidence. Create that divide. Identify the people who are truly engaged with what you have to share. Focus on those people and how you can continue to serve them. You will grow a far bigger business focusing on the people who absolutely love you than you ever will trying to please the people who don’t.
