Productivity isn’t about doing things faster. It’s doing them in the best order.
Most of us want to be productive in our business. We see a lot of guidance on how to do things faster…how to write an email in ten minutes, for instance.
Frankly, those fast-writing approaches don’t work for everyone. Professional writers have different styles. Some dash off a first draft that becomes the final product with just a few tweaks. Others (like me) have to write to figure out what we want to say, with lots of drafts.
What does work is figuring out what order to do things. If you do X before Y, you might get the whole project done faster than if you did Y before X. The challenge, of course, is what’s X and what’s Y. It’s a wee bit more complicated than an algebra problem.
The rule of thumb is to plan your marketing *before you create the product or program.”
Here are 2 examples.
Example 1 came in an answer to my survey (which is still open if you want to click here):
“I’m just starting out and I can’t figure out what to do first! Create a website? Start building my list? Create a lead magnet?”
Your first 4 “to-do” list items are:
(1) Identify your target client’s backstory. If you’re so new you’re not sure, you may have to start with your best guess and then refine your goals later.
(2) Based on the response to #1, come up with a topic for your lead magnet. You’ll be addressing a problem that’s important – even critical – to your target audience. If you’re still working on #1, you might do better to try several versions of your lead magnet rather than wait for the perfect answer.
(3) Write the opt-in page for your lead magnet. What will motivate visitors to sign up for it? What topics do you cover? What questions do you answer?
(4) Create the lead magnet based on your opt-in page. It’ll be pretty easy because you already know what questions you will answer.
Example 2 comes from questions I get from more experienced business owners: “Everyone says I have to build a relationship with my followers, so they’ll remember me when they need help. That means getting to know me as a person. But I also want them to recognize me as a valuable, unique resource.”
All too often the advice to “Be yourself and share your flaws” comes from a very successful marketer who’s been around a long time. We all have short memories. We forget what we did when we started out.
The truth is, you can bet those marketers didn’t start their marketing by sharing their flaws and their “I’m a human” stories. They focused on how they could help clients. They wait till they’re solidly established before they share stories of going broke, going bankrupt, getting divorced, and more.
One day I opened my mail to find a story from a marketer I’d known for years. “Just 3 years ago,” she said, “I wasn’t selling anything. I didn’t know if I could keep my business going.”
I remember that marketer from 3 years ago because I admired her success. Back then, she told me, she was selling two or three of her high-priced products every single week, with very little marketing. And she wasn’t saying a word about being discouraged.
Whether you’re starting out or pivoting in a new direction, your first priority is to get established as an authority. You need to answer the question, “Why do you deserve to be paid?” After all, you won’t hire a handyman to wire your house (at least I hope you won’t); you’ll pay whatever it takes for a en electrician.
Therefore, your first step is to position yourself as an expert before you share those “I messed up” stories.
You can still share personal stories, especially if you’re a Role Model archetype.
For more background on Example #2, sign up for my free training here.
