How do you demonstrate your expertise as a consultant or coach? How do you show you’ve really got the goods?

You could state your credentials. You could talk about what you know.You could even talk about your own achievements and how you reached them.

But a lot of business owners come up against the “I hate to write about myself” block. They feel they’re boasting or showing off … and that doesn’t feel good.

Actually, the most effective way to communicate expertise is by crafting a success story.

For example:

Ken sent this story to his list (with edits to disguise the details):

Annette came to me because she was looking for more effective ways to demonstrate her value and increase her close rate beyond 40%.

Annette is a successful professional organizer with 10 years of experience. Her clients tend to be conscious, mission-driven business owners. Together, we analyzed Annette’s programs and offers. We also discussed her personal and revenue goals.

“After Ken’s’s 2-week marketing program,” Annette said, “I revised my offers and focus less on close rates. I began implementing the strategy and saw results right away.”

This story gives us some hints about the way Ken works with his clients, but it’s pretty vague. Ken could reposition the story to focus more clearly on his expertise.

Let’s rewrite:

“Annette is a professional organizer with a steady flow of clients. When prospects signed up for her free get-acquainted sessions, she was able to close over 40%. She wondered if she could get an even higher close rate and wondered if she could improve her sales pitch.

“Over the years, I’ve learned that many business owners put energy into activities that will rarely lead to the results they’re seeking. I’ve built a 7-step program to help them connect goals with actions. And I’ve developed a sixth sense for recognizing where they need to begin. That’s why I schedule a one-to-one session with each client at the beginning of the group program.

“After our one-to-one call, Annette realized she needed to focus on the big picture for her business. She enjoyed a high close rate because she was competing primarily on price. She needed to come up with higher-end offers and packages. She needed to stop trading hours for dollars and create some courses and group programs.

“We worked together to redesign Annette’s offers. She could keep a low price point with group program offers and video training, while raising her prices for the one-to-one programs. Her closing rate was less important than her total revenue.

“Six months later, Annette reported that she had reduced her working hours by 20% while raising her revenue by 30%. She expected to see even more growth as she could leverage the programs she was creating now.”

Of course, a real story would include even more details, but notice what Ken’s done. He’s identified his strengths as a business consultant. He’s shown that this success story isn’t unique to this client: it comes from his well-developed system.

Most important, he’s demonstrated his expertise in a professional, matter-of-fact way, without boasting or exaggerating. He’s also building a foundation for becoming the go-to brand in his industry, even in a competitive field.

And if you’d like to work one-to-one with me to uncover your own brand-building story, click here to learn more about the Strategic Intensive consultation.

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Back when I lived in Seattle, a speaker opened his talk with, “I’m sure you’d rather be outside on this beautiful day when we’re not having rain for a change.” Suddenly everyone’s focus shifted from the speaker (who was pretty good, by the way) to a rare view of Mount Rainier.

That speaker just lowered his own value in the eyes of 100+ people attending the event. Up to that moment, he was viewed as an authority, even a thought leader. After all, he’d been invited to speak to the crowd.

This one casual remark blew his cover. He admitted to us, “I’m the default option — the place you go when you don’t have a choice. You’re dining at a fast-food chain because you don’t have access to a 5-star restaurant.”

If you attend business events, you probably know this one-sentence opening isn’t unusual. Even established, high-profile business people are reluctant to promote their personal brand. They’ve been brought up with sayings like:

“The nail that stands out gets hammered down.”

“If you’re really good at what you do, the world will find you.”

“Humility is a virtue.”

These ideas make sense in a purely social or personal setting. If you’re joining your family for a holiday dinner, you probably won’t tell a story about how you helped your kid get into Harvard on Early Decision. You won’t share the story of how you created a 5-step program to help your rescue mutt stop chewing up the sofa after three obedience schools gave up and handed you a dog biscuit as a consolation prize.

You won’t talk about your successes; you’ll be modest and humble as you compliment Aunt Jane on her pumpkin pie.

In a professional setting, when you don’t share your success, your audience will feel awkward and even alienated. They will actually be insulted when you suggest they should be spending their time elsewhere. You’re suggesting that, by choosing to be here, they’re exercising very poor judgment. Or you remind them, “You didn’t have a choice. You’re stuck.”

The truth is, when you’re selling yourself, your marketing success depends on your ability to brag – without sounding like a used car salesman. The best way to do this is to find your unique stories and share them in all the right places.

If you’re a productivity pro, you probably have a story about helping a client find an extra five hours a week without sacrificing her goals. If you’re a dog trainer, you’ll have people on the edge of their seats when you share how you replaced your chewed-up couch with a beautiful new one — and it’s still looking good five years later.

A life coach? Share how you helped a client conquer fear of heights and go on to climb Mount Rainier. You could even share how you climbed a small hill, if you can make that story fit your purpose.

Exercise: Expand your opening into a purposeful story. When you try to make a story out of, “You’d probably rather be somewhere else,” you’ll most likely realize there’s no story here. And if you find one, why on earth would you want to share it?

One comment I hear often is, “It’s SO hard to talk about myself!” So I created this affordable short Bragging 101 program to get past the barriers to promoting yourself and enjoy attracting clients who will be eager to work with you.

Click here to claim yours now… and take the first step to claiming your bragging rights without giving in to hype, sleaze and unprofessional copywriting.

And if you’d like me to work with you on your own story, let’s set up a one-to-one consultation. We can use the time to review a copywriting project, find your story (and brainstorm the best way to tell it), strengthen your message, or deal just about any challenge you’re facing now. Click here to take your first steps to your marketing breakthrough.

And claim your FREE download – 7 Common Storytelling Mistakes Most Business Owners Make (And How To Fix Them). 

If you’ve been on the planet in the last few years, you probably why you need to use stories in business. Humans are hard-wired to create narratives. Stories engage your readers and keep them listening. You can’t be a business owner without telling stories.

You’ve probably also heard that the most powerful form of storytelling is the hero’s journey. In this journey, you show how you faced a problem you desperately needed to solve.

Maybe you …

… had been on a dozen diets that failed till you discovered this one.

… had lost jobs and dating opportunities until you learned how to dress for success.

… had hit bottom in your business till you discovered one strategy that brought you wealth (as well as more time to enjoy it).

These stories can be incredibly compelling, but they rarely make you sales.

For one thing, you may not have one of these stories to share.

… you just don’t have a great story or maybe a story at all. What if you’re a great cardiologist who never had a heart attack?

… you’re a coach, not a player. You coach teams to championships but you were a bench player with limited minutes.

… you can’t afford the risk of telling your story. The details might embarrass your family. Your lawyer and accountant advise you to keep quiet.

I’m in this category myself. I’m a coach rather than a player. I don’t always share the details of my life. And people rarely relate to my own life stories. Luckily, I’ve discovered they’re often the least useful type of story for your marketing strategy.

So what kinds of stories will bring you clients and sales?

Some people actually make up stories.

“Dorothy” claims she was going bankrupt three years ago–until she found the secret that turned her business around.

Alas, I remember Dorothy. I looked back in my emails and confirmed my memories: she was doing very well. She’d just sold a business for a sizeable sum. One of her big-ticket products was selling from a sales page, week after week. Dorothy loses credibility every time she shares her pseudo-journey.

There’s a better way. These 3 types of stories will build your brand, your business, and your base of clients.

Tell stories of success.

How did you help that client? How did you turn around that business? These stories focus on your client – not you. They actually help brand you by demonstrating how you work and what you deliver.

I encourage all my clients to come up with at least 3 success stories that will become the foundation of their marketing and their brand.

Show how your passion makes you uniquely qualified to help others.

You might have become extremely frustrated when you saw clients who were harmed by their experiences with more common cookie-cutter solutions.  You tossed the cookie cutter and carved out a new program.

For instance, I became frustrated with stories of solopreneurs who paid large sums for “branding programs” that took three months and gave them colors and fonts.

Or you realized many people were suffering needlessly because they didn’t realize solutions were available.  They lost money, time, or energy for no good reason.

For instance, a financial planner realized newly-divorced women were often clueless about money. They often signed up with sharks who were all too eager to devour every dime.

So this planner created a business specializing in meeting the needs of divorced women–a combination of sensitivity, deep knowledge of financial instruments, and ability to work with each individual’s risk tolerance and lifestyle.

Or you might have built a successful business.  You focused on helping people manage their lives, not their money or business.

Soon people began asking you, “How did you build a client base in a competitive industry?” You were so passionate about helping, you began delivering help for free. Now you’re a business coach who helps others build successful practices.

Tell stories to explain what you offer.

It’s not always easy to explain what you do, especially since many services we offer simply didn’t exist ten or twenty years ago.

A web developer might tell a story of a home decorator who found new ways to show off the owner’s personality, find places to hold all the important stuff after they downsized, and knew where to go to find one-of-a-kind furnishings at a reasonable price. “That’s what I do for your home on the web,” he might say.

Or suppose you’re helping clients build marketing funnels. You tell a story of a handyman who showed up asking for work. He first hung a few pictures for a very small sum. Then he painted a room. In just a few weeks, he was building a deck. That’s how a funnel might work, you say.

Choosing a story to support your strategy isn’t always easy.

If your inbox is anything like mine, I’m betting you find many stories truly cringe-worthy.

On the other hand,   every so often I hear a story that’s so spot-on, I 2\want to learn more. I want access to whatever that business owner’s clients are enjoying.

Most importantly, I remember that business owner. Their story has become their brand, in a way that colors and fonts can never accomplish.

Join me in a one-to-one consultation to discover the best story to simplify your marketing and get more results with less effort. Click here to learn more and sign up.

• “I’ve got three business interests,” Sally said. “For one, I hold leadership workshops with Fortune 500 companies. Some women in those workshops have started asking me if I’d work with them one-on-one for coaching.
• “And I’ve got a side hustle that’s related to personal growth and spirituality.”
• Sally’s got the potential for a strong story.
• Sally’s corporate workshops add credibility to her one-to-one coaching. In turn, her coaching experience establishes her deep understanding of the women who will attend her corporate workshop.  
• Her clients will most likely tell the story, “I heard Sally speak at an event with my company. I knew my company had already vetted her credentials: they’re very fussy about who they bring in. Sally seemed to read my mind when she talked about challenges facing women like me. She impressed me so much, I just had to hire her!”
• But she faces three challenges:  
• … building a website that will encompass both market segments without confusing either one;
• … developing a core story that communicates how these businesses relate to one another;
• … identifying one story archetype that will create a consistent foundation for her brand.
• Currently, she’s a Role Model archetype for her one-to-one clients and an Educator archetype for her corporate clients. Can she choose one or perhaps realize she’s an Innovator? 
• And she’ll find unexpected synergies.
• Sally assumes the corporate women will be skeptical when she talks about her archetypes and spirituality. But the executive women might be responsive, especially after Sally gets to know them. I know a successful corporate lawyer who regularly consults with psychics; another corporate lawyer told me her male colleague keeps crystals on his desk.
• I’ve experienced something similar. My first website was MidlifeCareerStrategy.com; I don’t market the career site but still get clients.
• The potential for conflict seems to be a non-event. Most clients don’t care. Many career changers consider starting a new business. Many business owners think of their progress as a career trajectory. 
• Today we’re more aware of people with diverse interests.
• Tim Ferriss writes about fitness, cooking, and of course working with ridiculous efficiency. 
• Arlie Hochschild writes about emotional labor, family dynamics, and most recently, the impact of rural America on the 2016 elections.
• Chris Guillebeau’s blog is targeted simply to “remarkable people.”
• The reality is, most people evolve in their businesses.
• Their stories tend to be non-linear and heavily influenced by serendipitous events. They start side hustles to get new energy for their main businesses.
• One business owner used to refuse affiliate opportunities that involved mindset or personal growth. “My audience won’t buy,” she insisted, as she promoted business and marketing products and services.
• But one day I noticed she was promoting a workshop on attitude … and then produced a lead magnet on the entrepreneurial mindset. She had broadened her scope, instinctively following her audience’s growth.
• This is where storytelling plays a crucial role.
• Stories help us make sense of our world. We can use stories to help prospective clients make sense of our businesses — which in turn helps melt resistance. Stories turn confusion to clarity.  I don’t have to remind you of the marketing aphorism, “A confused mind doesn’t buy.”
• So instead of fighting your diverse interests, think of gathering them into an authentic story …and prepare to be surprised when you realize your audience accepts and even cherishes your complexity.
• If you’d like my help to discover your story that sells, let’s meet with a Strategic Intensive. We will find the story that will become the foundation for your brand and simplify your marketing.  Click here to get started. 
• Questions? https://cathygoodwin.com/contact

If you hang around with other business owners, you’ll find we’re careful about what we say to each other. You have to know someone very well before you’ll venture a comment like, “Isn’t he really all smoke and mirrors – a big fancy guru act but he’s really broke?” Or, “She talks a good game but she’s really living off her trust fund.”

For one thing, most of us hate to write about ourselves. Copywriting for our own value is more painful than writing about a product for someone else – even if you are a copywriter.

For another, we’ve all been taught that humility is a virtue. So we’re hesitant to share how much value we actually deliver.

And frankly, some people just like their privacy. They’re concerned about over-disclosing.

The truth is –

— When you sound confident, people like you more. That’s what the research says, even though it goes against what most of us were brought up to believe.

— Prospects will turn to your About Page right after they visit your Home Page. They want to hire a three-dimensional person and they want to feel they know you.

— Your clients want you to brag. They want to feel they’re hiring someone really special. And they want to brag about their great consultant, coach or … other.

So here are 3 tips for your About Page.

(1) Don’t force yourself to go too deep and personal.

Some people share very personal stories on their websites. But if that’s not who you are, don’t force it. Many successful business owners write something about their years of experience and successes, without a single reference to family and dogs.

Your About page isn’t about you. It’s about your clients. You’re answering the question, “Why should I hire you?”

(2) Set your own privacy meter for photos and self-disclosure stories. 

You’ve got a headshot or cartoon avatar, but you want more images featuring you. Yet you don’t want photos of your home and family.

Get a friend to take a handful of photos of you in different places: in your office, sitting at a conference table with clients (you can get friends to pretend to be clients), or standing near an iconic image of your city. You take the focus off you and rightfully place your focus on where it should be: what you do for your clients.

Some business consultants like to talk about their families, vacations, hobbies, and dogs. But others are so private they might as well have been brought here from an alien planet.

(3) Relate your story, background, and credentials to your service delivery.

So you hiked in the Amazon jungle, took a year off, survived a bitter divorce, adopted three shelter cats, or got a slew of advanced degrees. Your client is asking, “What does that do for me?”

Sometimes you can relate things that seem really far away. One client thought her anthropology degree was so unrelated to her work that she wanted to leave it out altogether. After we talked, she realized she had learned to recognize cultural values and danger signals – very relevant to her field of helping women protect themselves from violence.

And if you’re too busy or too close to your own business, it’s worth paying for resources. This page is too important to leave blank or to be the stepchild of your website.

My podcast episode on About Pages: Click here.

Take advantage of special pricing on my new Write Your About Page With Stories. Click here. 

One question that comes up a lot is, “What are the power words in copywriting?”

That question makes me cringe. True copywriting isn’t about wordsmithing.  Experienced copywriters work with words so often, they can often put a phrase together. They’ll share some basics, such as:

Avoid repeating words and phrases

Use a conversational tone

Keep sentences short

Paint word pictures

Copywriters also use swipe files — examples of high-converting copy that can be used as inspiration and sometimes as templates. They use books like Words That Sell and headline generator software.

But none of these elements matter if you don’t have a good story — a deep understanding of the client’s story and backstory.

Suppose you’re a dog trainer. Your client calls about obedience training, specifically to stop chewing.

Their backstory might be, “We’ve been through three outrageously expensive training programs. This dog makes Marley look like a model of canine obedience. We don’t want to give him back to the shelter, but he’s destroying our home and our bank account.”

You may not get this information right away. But knowing your client has been through three programs that didn’t work, you also know she might be open to a totally different approach. She might be willing to pay extra to solve the problem once and for all.

The client’s backstory will often be the best resource for your headline — even when you don’t share the story anywhere in your copy. For instance, Connie Ragen Green recently shared a headline she wrote for a multi-million dollar home in California:  “The paparazzi will never find you here!”

Now there’s a back story. Connie would have identified her prospective buyers – people who were famous (or wanted to be famous) for the right or the wrong reasons. They probably wouldn’t have told their agents up front, “Find me a place to hide!” But most likely they’ve had experience with TV trucks parked in front of their homes.

True, the word “paparazzi” captures the essence of “unwanted media attention.” But that’s not what makes the headline successful. It’s the way the headline responds to the audience’s backstory.

Storytelling can be powerful — but it’s easy to make mistakes that actually work against you. If you’d like to learn more about storytelling, download 3 Storytelling Mistakes Most Business Owners Make.

For me, the best part of Thanksgiving is the leftovers. Home cooking made in someone else’s home: what could be better?

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that I do not have the temperament to be a good cook, let alone a great one. I felt I should get an award from Julia Child when I made my first smoothie.

So when a friend offered me a coupon to try Blue Apron – one of those home prep meal programs – she warned me, “There’s a lot of chopping involved.” I realized that it’s a terrific value but I’m better off with a few one-pot recipes and the GrubHub delivery number on speed dial.

Similarly, some Black Friday deals will be amazing but they don’t fit my business or my style. They’ll end up sitting on my hard drive, forgotten and forlorn.

Here are some questions to guide any business purchase. I need to ask them myself periodically. I’ve included an example of something I’m recommending as well.

1 – Can I verify the reputation of the seller?

2 – Does this purchase support my existing strategy?

Recently I talked to a client who wants to coach clients to reach a very specific lifestyle goal. It’s a potentially lucrative market and she’s exceptionally well qualified.

She’s got her target market. Now she needs to tighten her offer and choose a marketing method, which might be videos, webinars, podcasts or Facebook ads.

If she chooses webinars, she can safely ignore every single ad for videos, Facebook ads, and podcasting, until she’s become so good at webinars she could teach the technique (and might then launch a very profitable sideline). At the same time, she can be on the lookout for deals relating to webinars.

And she’d better be sure she enjoys webinars. Most of us can finish the sentence, “I’d rather have a root canal than use this [your choice] marketing method. 

For example, my Opt-In page course is available now at a. very good price. If you use lead magnets to build a subscription list, you’ll benefit from this course. You can use lead magnets for other things, too, but this course will contribute most to growing your email list. That’s almost everybody.

3 – Is this something on my wish list?

If you’ve got a wish list, you can confidently grab a deal. In particular, try to grab something that’s usually offered with a monthly fee for a one-time payment. But it’s not a bargain if you don’t need it.

Many business owners have been seeking ways to get better designs for their opt-in pages, sales pages and just about anything posted online. If you’ve got “high-converting designs” on your wish list, I can’t recommend anything better than LeadPages. I’ve been using them for years. Their designs aren’t just pretty – they test for high conversions.

Tip: Before locking in software, try it out. You may love the interface at first sight. Or you may find it awkward. You may need to integrate with other software. LeadPages offers a 14-day free trial and I’d take them up on it.

With that in mind…

I’m recommending Cindy Bidar’s Black Friday special for her membership group. It’s about $30/month on special and she has some seriously delicious items as bonuses for new members. I’ve been a member of Cindy’s program for years, but I wish I were new to try her programs!

Whether you’re a newcomer or a veteran, she’s got very straightforward step-by-step ways of delivering help. Members benefit from a community chat room as well as Q&A calls and 1:1 laser coaching throughout the year. This is one program I would not want to be without. Click here to learn more.

For my own services, I’m offering the following:

(a) Laser Coaching: Just $99 for a 45-minute one-to-one call. Click here. https://cathygoodwin.lpages.co/laserconsult/

(b) Video review of your story, website or sales letter – 50% off with coupon code TWEAK50
Click here.

Thomasina asks me, “Do any of your networking groups need a speaker? I just published a book and I need visibility!”

So I reply, “Where’s your speaker bio?”

She sends me a classified ad. Attended school at this Ivy League college. Worked with these Fortune 50 companies as a consultant. Big yawn.

“How did you help those companies?” I ask. I like Olivia and want her to succeed.

“Increased profits by 70% in one year for Company X. Doubled revenue for company Y.”

“Impressive numbers,” I say truthfully. “But what did you do to get those results?”

That’s the essential question to ask when you want to appear as the expert, authority go-to person. When I work with clients on bios and About Pages, I ask for 3 success stories.

Your success story begins in the middle of the muddle. Your client faces challenges. You provide a specific solution. Your clients enjoy a specific outcome.

Thomasina might write:

“When I started working with Company X, their salespeople were not incentivized to promote the most profitable products. I used my proprietary profit-magnet system to identify the heavy hitters. Salespeople now sell twice as many products in the high-profit category as they did before.”

Stories work for testimonials, too.

Unfortunately, most testimonials go like this:

“Cathy is an amazing copywriter. I’d recommend her to anyone.”

You believe that? I didn’t think so.

Here is an example of a “surprise story” testimonial someone could write about me:

“I wasn’t sure about hiring Cathy. She doesn’t fit the image I had of a copywriter and she talks about her dog all the time. But the copy she wrote for my website helped me get more clients and she was fun to work with.”

Another imaginary example, this time in the “saved from disaster” style:

“When I hired Cathy, I’d been trying to put a website together for 3 months. Cathy came in, wrote copy and found techie types who put it together for me. Now my site brings me clients and revenue, hassle-free.”

Stories add credibility to your bios and testimonials because…

… you can show exactly what you did, instead of encouraging your audience to believe in magic

… you can begin with doubts and objections, which make the story seem more real

… you can demonstrate why you’re unique without bragging, referring to your proprietary systems, your people skills and your personal style

Now it’s your turn: Write 3 success stories to demonstrate how you’re unique and what you can do for your clients. Not sure how to turn those stories into a compelling brand? Sign up for the Strategic Intensive. You won’t just get a brand with colors and a slogan. You’ll get a foundation to build the rest of y 

“I need to make changes in my marketing to be more profitable…but what’s my next step?” 

Get an outside perspective on a marketing question when you need someone to listen with an open mind, introduce fresh ideas, and point you to surprising new opportunities.

Want to explore the different ways we can work together? Click here to send me a message.