Don’t Market Yourself. Market Your Message.
a 90-minute teleseminar exploring a stress reducing approach to marketing.
WHEN:
Option 1: May 25th @ 1pm MT
Option 2: May 26th @ 1pm MT
COST: $25 USD
*
If you have a business, you are going to be known for something.
It’s inevitable.
The question is this: will you be known for the right things and will your reputation bring you the kinds of clients you want?
Not always.
But what if you could be known not just for what you do but for the message that underwrites it?
Your message to the world can actually be one of the most powerful things you can be known for.
And so here is the message of this teleseminar: Don’t market yourself. Market your message.
That was a phrase I heard from my colleague Morgana Rae (who’s message is: “make money by putting love first”). Something in it made sense to me.
And then I was looking at my colleague Mark Silver’s website where it stated his core message so clearly: “every act of business can be an act of love.” So clear. So evocative. So meaningful.
For the past year, I’ve been beginning to talk about the message that “marketing can feel good” and noticing the resonance that has with people far beyond talking about marketing tactics and tools.
I’ve noticed that when I share the message that “marketing is a vital part of doing good in the world” it resonates with people. When people understand that marketing can actually feel wonderful, warm and be a force for building community and expression of our values that people light up.
I’ve noticed that the businesses I’m most drawn to tend to have some sort of a message they’re spreading.
Expression without a message is just noise.
So, what is a message?
Well let’s start off with what a message is not.
A message is not a promise of a result. It’s not empathy for their struggles. And it’s not just a statement of values. It’s not a slogan like Movember’s “Changing the face of men’s health.” Your message isn’t about you. It’s about something bigger than you.
It’s not a full-blown point of view either. Your message is like the title of a book about your point of view.
Your message isn’t the deeper cause or “why” of your business, though it’s related to it. The deeper cause of my business is “right livelihood” but the message is “marketing can feel good.”
Your message is like the words on a coat of arms, a motto or tagline. It takes your whole platform and point of view and distills it down to the essence.
It’s the thing you can’t help but talk about and, inevitably, steer every conversation towards.
One client wrote me years ago and said,
“Tad, thank you for these amazing posts – as someone who recently accidentally launched the wrong business 🙂 your ideas are so helpful to me in narrowing down the right one. I can see it now in a simple way, I wasn’t ‘on message’ – my business wasn’t having the conversation I really want to have! I chose something easier, less personal and not half interesting enough to me. ‘Message’ just feels like the conversation you want to have for the next fifty years . . . yay! too excited to sleep now.”
A message is an idea that you are so passionate about and find yourself reading about, listening to TED Talks about it but . . . you feel like there’s still something missing that you want to see brought out into the world.
It’s the drum you beat. It’s your core thesis you want to prove. It’s an idea you know that, if it were embraced on a mass level, would change the world. If this message were really “gotten” there’d be so much less suffering. It’s the way things oughta be.
It’s often the words you wish you’d really understood when you were younger and struggling. It’s the words you really want a particular group of people to hear.
Your message is likely the answer to this question: “What would your TED Talk be about?” Every TED Talk is about an idea. Some might feature projects – but they all have a crystal clear message in them. Something simple, direct, easy to understand and up lifting.
There’s a point to it.
Standing up at the front of a room and pitching people is just saying, “buy from me!” But sharing a message is saying, “Whether or not you buy from me, I want you to know _______ because it will make your life and the world a better place.” And that’s attractive. It’s coming from a place of giving, not trying to get anything.
Your message is your medicine.
It might take you a while to find it. And, in the process, you’ll likely come to find that, even though your business may be guided by one particular overall message, that it contains many messages nested within it like eggs in a bird’s nest, or treasure in a treasure chest. Or maybe it’s more that your core message is a tapestry seen from a distance but, as you get closer you can see the individual threads.
Ten Reasons to Identify Your Core Message:
REASON #1: Speaking about your message is more comfortable and inspiring for everyone than being pitched to.
REASON #2: Your message is more relevant to people than your best pitch.
REASONS #3: People are more likely to share (and discuss) a message than a product or a service.
REASON #4: It builds trust.
REASON #5: It gives you more attractive things to share (by being a thread that weaves all of your content together).
REASON #6: Your message is a good “client filter.”
REASON #7: A message will get you invited to speak whereas a compellingly laid out ‘pitch’ for your high end services won’t.
REASON #8: A message is something you can become known for.
REASON #9: A clear message makes you more flexible. It gives you a center of gravity.
REASON #10: A clear message helps you get found. As Seth Godin put it, “Al Gore started leading his tribe when he didn’t know who they were. He stated his message and people found him.”
This 90-minute teleseminar is there to help you make progress on identifying your own message.
In this teleseminar you will:
- hear many examples of real-world messages from businesses
- learn about the six kinds of messages
- be guided in exercises to identify your own message
- get direct feedback from myself and others on your message
- learn five ways you can apply your message that will build trust and credibility between you and your clients
You can sign up here:
There are no “Don’t Market Yourself. Market Your Message” teleseminars booked at the moment. You can check out the book HERE, or email us if you have any questions: admin@marketingforhippies.com.