June
24, 2021
6 min read
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
We’ve all heard the sayings. “People do business with those that they know, like, and trust.” “People buy you before they buy the product.” Right? But how do you actually apply those sayings? What are the principles to follow? Where do you start?
Here are four things to keep in mind if you want to get your message across.
1. Who are you talking to?
First things first, you need to determine “who” you’re talking to. Some people call this your “avatar,” “niche,” “demographic,” “target audience” or as Dean Graziosi calls it, your “dot.” But what do all those different words symbolize? They symbolize the person you are helping. If you’re teaching something that you personally overcame yourself, you’re teaching yourself from not too long ago. So, what are some of the things related to the topic of interest that you struggled with? Write them out.
Now, which of those areas do you want to teach about? You don’t have to try to cover everything. Chalene Johnson suggests picking which parts of the process you are good at — and feel comfortable with — teaching.
What are the steps one has to go through to reach the ultimate goal?
How would you have needed this information to be told to you in order for you to be able to obtain it?
Okay, so you’ve taken some time to remember what the beginning of the problem-solving journey looked like, and you’ve laid out the plan from start to finish. You have an idea of how to talk to your potential audience now because they are you when you had the issue. So now, let’s fine tune a little bit.
Related: 7 Tips to Take Your Personal Brand to Celebrity Status
2. Methods: Tony Robbins’s BEND WIMP tool
Tony Robbins teaches an acronym called BEND WIMP, which has helped him meet his audience’s needs.
B: What does your audience believe about the problem or solution you are offering?
E: How do they evaluate things? What are they going to compare you to?
N: What do they really need?
D: What do they really desire?
W: What are their biggest wounds, or pain points?
I: What are their interests?
M: Who do they look up to? Who are their role models?
P: What are they most proud of?
You could adapt Robbins’s approach to suit your audience’s needs or come up with your own acronym-based method.
3. Question the root of your passion
It’s also worth mentioning Dean Graziosi. First off, you’ll never meet a guy as passionate or as good at selling as Graziosi. He does it in a way that is replicable and comes from the heart. How? It’s called going “7 Levels Deep.”
So, here’s how this works: You take an answer that you have and keep asking yourself “why” or “how” questions for each answer. You’ve probably heard of this. If someone asks, “Why do you want to be a coach?,” you’d then be asked “why” for your next answer, and your next answer until you’ve answered it seven times. The purpose of this is to help you get to the real reason or outcome you are looking for.
It works for any situation and can really help you get clear on some things. For example, ask “Why would my client feel this way about this product or service?” “What is the outcome my clients will get?” “How do I help my clients?” When we were younger, this was just a way to annoy someone, but now it’s one of the most effective tools to help really get to the root of something.
Related: Passion, People, Process
4. Be yourself
People know when they are “getting got,” and they don’t like the feeling of being “sold” when they know the person has made no efforts to understand or get to know them. Be yourself. Chalene Johnson says, “Talk to them like they are your friend and you’ll never feel like you’re selling.” She said this while showcasing the necklace she was wearing: “Yeah so I got this at such and such and it wears really well, but it’s not real gold though so watch out for that….” She made the conversation feel very natural. She even shared the potential cons of the necklace and gave one piece of advice I’ll never forget: Don’t be afraid to tell people who your services are not for.
Sometimes, we get so caught up in wanting to be “successful” that we feel like we need everybody so that we increase our chances of “making it.” It’s why we’re afraid to narrow down our audience and our niche, why we’re afraid to turn people away at first or why we want to be able to help everyone. But at a talk I attended, Trent Shelton said, “I’m not here trying to reach everyone, I’m trying to reach you.” He looked in the camera and pointed directly into it, and it resonated with every person in the room.
Related: ‘Just Be Yourself.’ Okay, But What Does That Mean Exactly?
We need a lot of messengers to be able to share the same message. So don’t be afraid to share it authentically, not the way you see someone else doing it.