{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Don't cheat, just market (like this!)","description":"If you were to ask me how to make more sales in your business I\u2019d say: stop trying to cheat the process and just market better. Marketing is the simple act of adding value to someone\u2019s life before you ask them for anything in return. Examples of marketing done well: You\u2019re a guest on a podcast of someone your future clients listen to. You\u2019re talking about your journey, you\u2019re sharing your wisdom, you\u2019re helping people believe they can do it to. You write a LinkedIn post sharing the 3 biggest mistakes people make when approaching [your industry\/topic], and you explain how to avoid them. You run a live networking working and walk through a key process you teach to your clients. You make a YouTube video explaining the best way to solve a problem your clients have, and break it down step by step. On your sales page, you explain why you\u2019ve set up your offer in that way, rather than just list the features. You write a blog post walking through the reasoning behind a trend or decision in your industry, helping your audience feel informed. You go live on social media and answer the top three questions you get asked most often, but you actually share useful insights.   The mistake most people make in marketing: The mistake most people make in marketing is that they focus on the hooks, gimmicks and \u2018promise\u2019 of the offer. It is important to know what the one big promise of your offer is, but you will find it so much easier to sell if you spend time explaining or showing how your approach will help you to deliver on that promise. For example, I could say: \u201cWhen you join Straight Line Through, you get access to weekly calls\u201d, or I could say: \u201cEach Wednesday in Straight Line Through I go live at 12pm. Often I lead with a live teach on a core topic around sales, marketing, and mindset, but there is always room for your questions. You could bring me your sales page for review. You could think out loud about a problem you\u2019re struggling with. You could get advice on how to market your new offer. The purpose of these calls is to give you somewhere practical and inspiring to go each month, to make sure you have somewhere to get your questions answered, and to introduce you to other entrepreneurs in our community.\u201d Which of those two is more compelling and more likely to lead to a sale? The same is true of marketing in general. You could talk about the big six figure year, or talk broadly about how you turned your luck around in business, or you could try to articulate the process you mastered, or the five biggest things you\u2019ve learn on your journey, or how you overcame the biggest obstacle in your sector. People are looking for mentors, coaches, guides, leaders all the time. The difference between the ones that sell and the ones that don\u2019t is that good leaders show people how they can get there too. That\u2019s all marketing is, done well, and compounded over time. Seth Godin\u2019s Approach to Marketing in \u2018This is Marketing\u2019 Seth Godin\u2019s book This is Marketing had a profound impact on me as a marketer because he put into words something I knew intrinsically to be true: marketing isn\u2019t about shouting the loudest or tricking people into a funnel. It\u2019s about earning trust over time through consistency, generosity, and empathy. That means: Consistency: showing up over and over again so people know they can rely on you. Generosity: giving away your best ideas and insights, not holding back until someone pays. Empathy: taking the time to really understand the fears, hopes, and struggles of the people you want to serve. This isn\u2019t fast. It isn\u2019t flashy. And it won\u2019t give you overnight results. But what it does give you is longevity in your market. It builds a loyal audience who actually want to hear from you, who share your work, who want to consume all your content, and who eventually buy with confidence \u2013 because you\u2019ve already proven, over and over again, that you can help them. That\u2019s the essence of good marketing. Not hooks. Not gimmicks. Not tricks. Service. That\u2019s what we explore in this week\u2019s episode. ","author_name":"The Lisa Bean Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/lisabean.libsyn.com\/website","html":"