Introduction
Welcome back to the Entrepreneur Mindset Podcast! As we continue to dig into messaging, there comes a point where it feels a bit overwhelming. You are making progress, making progress, and then there is this invisible wall that you hit. Inevitably there is this one piece that you just can’t seem to figure out no matter how many times you read and re-read a resource. You know what I’m talking about, right? The wall feels especially dense when you don’t have any more time to give to the issue. The key is to have a plan for when this happens.
And today we are going to talk about the importance of plans in your messaging and in your business.
The Plan
I was sitting on the stairs leading out to the garage one morning. I had my shoes in front of me and my purse already throw over my shoulder and I was frozen. My husband came out of his office to tell us goodbye, and he took one look at me and knew that I was frozen. I was stuck with my next steps. Not about putting on my shoes and walking out the door to go to a cello lesson, but what to do in my business.
I didn’t have a plan for the next steps, and it was like running into a wall. Everything stopped. Without a plan I couldn’t get anything done. When what I really wanted was to be serving my clients and continuing to grow my business.
Nate knew that if I was going to get unstuck, I needed a plan to follow. Not some elaborate plan, but a simple one that I could execute and see results. Three things that I could do.
We made a pact to sit down that evening and come up with a plan so that I could make progress.
That moment wasn’t unlike what your clients are going through. They are struggling with something, they have a desire to learn a new skill, they want to make a change in their life, and they don’t know the next step. They need a plan.
When you create the plan that you share with your potential clients and students, you want to keep it simple. That is the key. If you make it complex, then you are going to create even more stuckness and overwhelm. Instead, the goal is to help the person see the path forward. You and I both know that there are a lot of steps between here and where they want to be, but the plan isn’t about the intricate details, it is about broad strokes.
Imagine a Google Map. You put in your address and it zooms in so that you can see every detail of your home. Maybe it is the balcony on your apartment complete with the chairs you had on it at the time of the picture, or perhaps it is the tomato plants growing on your back deck, maybe there is even a squirrel in your yard. That is a very detailed and zoomed in picture of your home. Now imagine hitting the “-“ button and zooming out a little. You are seeing more, but it is less detailed. Maybe you can see your neighbors house, the shop next door, or the school outside your neighborhood entrance. Hit that zoom out button again until you are seeing your town or city. This is the view we want for the plan. We want the city plan. One that has the overarching details, you can see the main highway that runs through town and the overall layout of your town.
To get this view, we are going to create a 3 to 4 step plan that you can refer to in your messaging. I personally like 3, but I’ll share with you a time when I think 4 works well, but you’ll have to let me know what you prefer!
The first step is the entry into your world. It might be a discovery call, joining the course, choosing a payment plan that works best for them. If you are a coach, it will likely be something like, Book a Discovery Call. If you have a course, it might be something like, Choose the Add the course to your weekly schedule, which implies that they are purchasing what you have to offer, or you could say something like, choose the course option that best fits your Budget (if you have different pricing options) or Timeline (if you have different cohort start dates). You get the picture here.
The second step is where you get into the details a little more, but again with simplicity and clarity in mind. You might say Create a plan for achieving your goals, or Complete weekly course modules, or possibly attend weekly coaching calls and work toward your goals or vision.
Now if you have a course that recorded components and live components, this might be a great time to use a 4-step plan. Step 3 is to Watch the Weekly Modules and Step 4 is to attend Live Coaching Calls to get guidance and help implementing the material. So you can emphasize the progression. They do work alone and then get help together.
Finally, your last step is going to show the transformation that is happening because of the plan you put into place with them. The final step is something like, Sleep the night away and wake up feeling rested. Or master the art of meal prep so that you aren’t a slave to the local fast-food restaurant. It might be something like, Experience peace of mind each time you are faced with a new challenge.
What we are doing here is walking them down the path they will follow because of working with you. What you’ll notice is that there are no lengthy checklists or steps that require months. This is the birds eye view of your plan for them. It is the city view that we talked about a moment ago.
You can use this plan for your clients in posts, emails, on your website, during discovery calls, on sales pages, in your social media bios, and even in your elevator pitch as you share what you do. For example, I help course creators to get clear on their messaging by sitting down and having in depth conversations about their business. This uncovers not only what they already have working, but their vision for the future. These conversations give us the food for a robust and detailed messaging playbook that acts as the foundation to make confident marketing and business decisions.
I didn’t say step 1, 2, or 3 anywhere in there, but I did hint at the steps. More specifically, I said that we sit down for in-depth conversations, step 1. We create a robust playbook, step 2, and finally step 3 have a foundation that instills confidence and works for all aspects of their business decisions.
Action Item
Now that you have that example rattling around in your head, it is time to act. This week, I want you to create your own, zoomed out, simple 3 or 4 step plan that you can share in your messaging. Go back through the examples I talked about today and test out different combinations. Step 1 is them taking the very first step with you. Step 2, or 2 and 3, will be the meat of what you offer, and Step 3, or 4, will be the transformation your client experiences.
Conclusion
Over the past few weeks, we have been talking about using the StoryBrand framework in business from understanding wants vs. needs to the problems that you clients are facing. This week, we took that understanding a step further to talk about how to put together a plan that gives your client hope and helps them to see the possible future when they work with you.
If you are putting together your messaging and need a second set of eyes, or are ready to get help in creating a messaging playbook that acts as your foundation, check out the link in the show description. I’ll share a quick form with you and we can set up a time to chat.
I’d also like to invite you to subscribe to my weekly emails where I share more resources, videos, and trainings to help you build your business with confidence. Send me a DM with the word Subscribe to DigitalCourseCreatorGuide on Facebook or Instagram and I’ll get you setup!
As always, thank you so much for joining me today. I will see you back here next week for another episode of the Entrepreneur Mindset Podcast, where we focus on mentoring, community, and implementation so that we can remove that overwhelm of building a successful and profitable business and add in a little dose of momentum along the way.
Until next time, have a healthy, safe and happy week.
Show Resources
Apply to Work with Dr. Moira: https://www.digitalcoursecreatorguide.com/apply/
StoryBrand Messaging Framework: https://mystorybrand.com/
DM me on Facebook or Instagram:
