Introduction
Welcome back to the Entrepreneur Mindset Podcast. Last week we started really digging into the StoryBrand framework, and we talked about the concept of wants versus needs. And when we’re thinking about our clients, we want to think about what it is they want, because that’s what they’re going to Google, to YouTube, to Reddit, and that’s what they’re putting into the search box.
They’re looking for their wants. Yes, we know what they need, but when they’re first beginning to look for a solution, they are not looking for what they need. They are looking for what they want. And I promised you that today we would take the next step in thinking about building a messaging playbook, a foundation for everything that you say in your business, but also how you create your offers, how you create everything that you’re really doing in your business, not just what you’re saying in your business. And we’re going to take that next step Today.
Today we are going to talk about the three levels of problems that you need to be including in your messaging throughout your business. And we are going to talk about them in terms of tiers.
We have the external problem, the internal problem, and the philosophical problem in a nutshell here it is really quickly. External problems are the ones that we know exactly what they are. External problems are the ones that people tell us about. The internal problems are the problems of how we are feeling, what are we thinking? And the philosophical problem is that big, overarching umbrella about what makes this just wrong.
So today we are going to break down each of these three levels in our podcast.
3 Problems
External Problem: What is the problem that they would highlight?
If we’re thinking about problems, we all have problems, right? And a lot of times when people start talking about their problems, when you say, okay, so how are you doing today? And they tell you a little bit about what’s going on. They’re sharing their problems with you, they’re sharing their external problems with you, and this is what they can easily put their finger on. It’s what is easy to see.
- I’m struggling with losing weight.
- I’m struggling with getting better sleep at night.
- I’m struggling with knowing what to write in my social media posts.
- I’m struggling with creating an offer that people will actually buy.
- I’m struggling with…
You get the idea, right? The idea here is that the external problem is what people automatically tell you about when you say, Hey, so what’s going on? Where are you struggling? That’s the external problem, and that’s usually the easiest for us to see and for us to talk about.
But if we only, if we only look at the external problem, we are doing our clients a disservice. We’re also kind of ignoring a big piece of what our business needs to do, and that is to address the internal challenges that our clients, our customers, are experiencing.
I’m not going to spend much more time on the external problem. This is really what they’re going to be telling you about.
Internal Problem: How is the person feeling? What are they thinking?
The internal problem, though, is where I want to spend some more time today, because this one’s trickier. We are living in a society where we don’t necessarily talk about our feelings very openly or with great facility. It is hard to put a word on what we’re feeling these days, right? Because we didn’t really learn, especially if you’re my age or older, we didn’t really learn a lot of emotion words. We learned happy, sad, angry, frustrated, overwhelmed, unhappy, that that’s kind of it right there. We just didn’t learn a lot of words simply because we grew up in an era when you didn’t talk a whole lot about your feelings.
And so when you start creating messaging for your business, you want to make sure that you are absolutely addressing those internal, internal problems. So how a person is feeling, that’s part of it, but also what they’re thinking. Let’s start with the feeling part. And what I would encourage you to do is go to Google and put in “a list of emotion words” or something similar into your Google search, because what you’re going to find out is that there are a lot of different words that you can use.
If you feel like when you’re starting to write posts or emails or website copy, even when you’re just talking to a potential client and you’re using the same words over and over, overwhelmed, frustrated, anxious, why don’t you go back to one of these emotion lists and see if there’s something that fits just a little bit better.
It might be that they’re feeling ambivalent about making a change. Maybe they’re feeling a little bit grouchy about everything that’s happening, or maybe everything that isn’t happening that they really want to happen, happens. Maybe they’re feeling a little bit embarrassed, maybe they’re feeling uncertain, maybe they’re feeling cautious, maybe they’re feeling thoughtful. Perhaps they’re feeling a little bit kind of empty right now, maybe we’re talking about empty nesters who are feeling like things just aren’t as full, life just isn’t as full as it was. And so there’s just this feeling of emptiness.
My point here is that there are so many different ways we can talk about feelings or emotions, and it’s really critical that when we’re choosing our emotion words that they align with your potential client, that when they see this, they’re going to say, oh my gosh, that’s me. I’m feeling so chaotic these days. Or, I am feeling foggy or frozen, or maybe a little bit incompetent because I don’t know what to do next, and I feel like I’ve tried everything, nothing’s working, and I’m feeling incompetent.
When you can connect, not just with the external problem, but with that internal problem, when you can help them see that you know how they’re feeling, and maybe you can even help them put a word to it that is going to build trust, it is going to help them see that you actually have a solution. Probably, if you understand what they’re going through, chances are you have the solution to help them move forward.
When you think about the external problem, don’t just stop there. I want you to take another level, go deeper, and I want you to look at that internal problem that they’re experiencing. And a lot of times it’s that feeling or that emotion, but I want you to take it to the next level, because I know you’re committed to really getting a foundation for your messaging that will resonate with your potential clients or customers.
And I want you to think about what they’re thinking. So a lot of times when I work on messaging with a client, we’ll actually pull up an Excel sheet and we’ll put thinking, doing, and feeling, and we’ll talk about what is your potential client doing before they even meet you? What are they doing, thinking and feeling?
I want you to focus on how they’re thinking. What are they thinking to themselves? It’s that internal dialogue they’re having. What are they saying inside their head that they’re not telling anyone, but it’s what they’re thinking about? And I would encourage you, you know, pull up an Excel spreadsheet of some kind, a spreadsheet, a Google Sheets, whatever it is you like to use, and make yourself a list of what your potential clients are thinking, doing, and feeling before they’ve ever met you. What they’re thinking and doing, and feeling as they start to work with you, or what it’s going to take. You know, what are they thinking right at that moment when they say, now’s the time I need this service, this product, this experience from this person. What are they thinking, doing,
and feeling? Then? And we’re going to take this a step further in a few weeks as we continue through the framework, but I’m going to put this in your mind right now. What are they thinking, doing, and feeling as a result of working with you? So go ahead and start thinking about that. But for today, we’re really focusing on that internal problem that they’re having.
What are they feeling and what are they thinking? And know that if this continues, here’s another way to think about it. If it continues, then nothing’s going to get better. Nothing’s going to change, okay? So if it’s just a momentary blip of something that’s probably not your internal problem. Now, if they consistently feel foggy or frozen, that’s probably a big piece of your internal problem.
Maybe they’re feeling distressed, maybe they’re feeling unsure. Maybe they’re feeling a little bit timid or uneasy. Maybe they’re feeling uncomfortable or neglected. Maybe they’re feeling a little bit dismayed that this is a lot harder than they ever thought, and they’re feeling in that dismay, kind of dismayed themselves, not just at the external world, but even at themselves.
This is really important when we talk about, when we take that step from what does the client want? And they want this because they’re having some problems, right? The external problem is the thing they’re telling you about. The internal problem is how they’re feeling, what they’re thinking.
Philosophical Problem: What makes this just plain wrong?
And then I love creating messaging that, and this is part of the StoryBrand framework that goes to the philosophical level. And I’ll give you an example before I describe it a little bit more.
When I was working with health coaches, I would frequently say, you know, it’s just plain wrong. If you’ve got a coach who is out there trying to help people with their health and wellbeing, it shouldn’t be this hard to build a business. You shouldn’t have to spend thousands of dollars to build a business. It’s just wrong. If you’ve got someone out there who’s trying to help people, it shouldn’t be cost prohibitive, okay? So what we’re talking about with the philosophical problem is what just makes it plain wrong? And the way I like to think about this, the way I kind of tend to hone in with my clients when we’re doing a messaging playbook together, is I say, okay, let’s look at this from a different perspective.
Why is this just wrong? Why is this problem wrong? And there’s so many levels to that, but tell me, why is it wrong? Why is it wrong that it’s difficult to get better sleep at night when you’re trying, why is it wrong that you are consistent on social media and still nothing happens as a result? Why is it wrong that “fill in the blank”?
These are obviously going to be very specific to your audience. And the result of that philosophical problem is when you say it, people go, yeah, it is wrong. And they just kind of all band together and agree it’s wrong, that there are people in this world who do not have drinkable water. It’s wrong that there are people in this world who do not have access to healthcare to prevent preventable disease. I bet every single one of you would say, yeah, it is wrong. Everyone should have water. Everyone should have access to healthcare for preventable diseases at a minimum, right? That’s the philosophical problem right there. You all agreed? It makes everyone kind of lean in and say, yes, that’s right. It bands everyone together. So there you have it.
Tying the Problem Tiers Together
We want to make sure that all of our messaging, especially as you’re building for your foundation, that you take time to create this foundation that addresses all three tiers of the problems that your potential clients and your clients and customers are experiencing as a coach, as a course creator, as a membership site owner, you know that you have to meet your clients where they’re at.
The only way to do that is if you can get really clear on the problems that they’re experiencing, because then your offer can come in and actually address those problems very clearly. You can tie each component of your offer back to the problem that it’s solving, and draw that crystal clear point A to point B map for your clients. They will be on board.
This week, what I really want you to do is to focus on figuring out the external, the internal, and the philosophical problems that your clients are experiencing. So we’re taking that want a little bit further, getting a little bit more in depth here, and understanding the problems that are creating that want. We’re understanding the problems that create the want.
As a quick recap before we head into our action item, I know I kind of gave you a precursor to the action item, but let’s do a quick recap.
When we’re thinking about a StoryBrand messaging playbook, when we’re thinking about a messaging foundation upon which you can build everything in your business from messaging to offers, to all of it, the whole nine yards, we have to make sure that not only do we have an understanding of what the client wants, we have to know what problems they’re experiencing, because our problems are that doorway into the conversation. They’re going to share with us that external problem. It is our job to understand the internal problem behind that. What are they thinking? What are they feeling? And the overarching umbrella of the philosophical problem. What makes all of this just plain wrong? What makes it wrong that everyone can say, yeah, you’re right, that is wrong.
External, internal, and philosophical problems.
Action Item
Now this week for your action item, what I’d like you to do is take time, pull up a spreadsheet to pull up a word, doc. I don’t care. Pull out your piece of paper that you’d like to write on in your favorite colored pen today.
Mine is pink. Usually it’s purple. But I do have my purple sticky notes here to take notes on. So I suppose that’s okay. Pull out your piece of paper, your iPad, your Word doc, whatever it is, and start with the external problem. What are they experiencing? What are they telling you their problem is? And if they’re not telling you directly, you might have to be a little bit of a detective. What are people searching for? What are they asking questions about in Facebook groups, on Reddit, on Quora, on YouTube, on Google. So do a little bit of research. Understand that problem.
If you’ve not talked with your potential client or customer in a while, I would encourage you to find a few people and say, Hey, could I sit down with you for 10 or 15 minutes? And we just chat about what’s going on. I am developing a coaching program, a course, a membership, fill in the blank here and want to make sure that I’m really meeting your needs. And of course, they’re going to say yes, because someone’s going to listen to them and they can talk a little bit about the problem they’re having.
As you do a few of these 3, 5, 7, you’ll see some consistent words being used. You’ll see and hear some consistent emotions being expressed. You will start to notice all of these things that are kind of aligning, and that gives you a great place to begin as you’re outlining your external problem, the internal problems. So internal, go to Google. If you do not have a massive emotions vocabulary, which most of us do not, go to Google, look up an emotions list. You will get an amazing number of options to look at and start to hone in on what your potential clients are feeling because of this problem. What are they thinking?
In that Excel spreadsheet, in that word doc, whatever you’re doing, start creating kind of a set of words and a set of thought patterns that they’re expressing so that you can turn around and use these in your messaging, in your emails to people in your website copy. Because you can say things like, you know, it’s easy to feel kind of dejected when these things aren’t working right? You might even be thinking to yourself, what’s the worry? What’s the bother? It’s not going to change anything. And you know, it’s just not right that you put in the effort, you put in the time you have the resources and nothing’s working out. You’ll notice I hit on feeling, I hit on thinking, and I also tied in that philosophical problem, you use this in everything that you’re doing because that is what’s going to let it’s, it’s a signal.
It’s kind of like a beacon light for your potential clients, and they say, whoa, that’s me. Wait, I’ve got to stop the scroll. I’ve got to open the email. I need to read that website further because they know who I am. And if they know who I am, they know how to fix it. They know how to help me make a change.
Your action item, let me quickly summarize. Be sure to outline your external, internal, and philosophical problems. If you do not have a massive emotions vocabulary, which most of us do not go to Google, pull up any one of the numerous emotions, PDFs, and see what words kind of pop out. And if you haven’t, talk to your potential clients in a while.
Set up some coffee chats and get to know them a little bit. Get to know what’s going on with them. Okay, so we took last week’s work in terms of wants versus needs. And we know that we’re going to focus on the wants first. We can serve the needs as that pops up, but we want to address the wants in our messaging.
And we’re taking a step further to really highlight the problems that the client is experiencing, external, internal, and philosophical, so that they can actually feel seen and heard and understood, and maybe even help them take a step toward change, because now they can put the words to what’s going on. You are kind of amplifying for them what’s happening so that people can hear them and start to help them make a change in reality.
Conclusion
There you have it! Next week, we are going to continue this process of thinking about your StoryBrand messaging and really building a messaging foundation so that everything that you’re putting out into the world is resonating so that it’s getting attention and so that you can actually help the people you want to help so that you are seen as the go-to resource for your potential clients.
I will see you back here next week for another episode of the Entrepreneur Mindset Podcast, where we always focus on mentoring on 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:
StoryBrand Messaging Framework: https://mystorybrand.com/
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