How To Market Your Services & Get Noticed by The Right People
In this episode, I share a powerful analogy that will help you think about how you promote your offers. The key elements are accessibility, location, value, and social proof. Listen to get insight into how you can use this framework to get your work out into the world.
GIFT FOR YOU
If you’re a meditation teacher or coach who wants to create unique meditations people listen to over and over again, enroll in my free course Meditation Script Mastery
Music Credit: Nova by River Roots - https://www.youtube.com/riverroots
Podcast Transcript
Welcome to another episode of the Art and Business of Meditation podcast. I am your host, Lou Redman, and I am sharing this podcast as someone who quit a corporate job in 2015 to figure out what was my purpose, what was spirit calling through my life, how was I meant to serve, how was I meant to support myself in that process? And it took years to figure it out and find my way and be able to make a living doing this work that I deeply love and is meaningful to me. And I hope through this podcast to give you ideas, lessons, insights, inspiration and guidance so you can do the same. And today's episode is going to be some business lessons for you, some principles to think about when sharing your gifts. And it comes from a connection I made while I was on vacation this summer. I spent a week at the beach, or as we call it in Jersey, down the shore. And it was a beautiful and wholesome time spent with family. And it included all the great things that happen while on vacation. Waking up to a slow morning, having coffee, cinnamon buns, conversations, days spent at the beach, the boardwalk, arcades, rides, playing games, playing cards, watching movies. And it was a lot of fun. And a lot of fun when you're doing this with a bunch of preteens. And even teens can be fun sometimes. And so it was really special and something I really cherish, an opportunity to spend that time and another gift in getting to do this work and have that flexibility. And so something I might have already shared on this podcast is although we might be taking time off, we're never really not working in some level. I approach and I encourage you to see this work as a writer, as an artist. And so writers, creators are always receiving ideas in whatever they're doing. And so life's happenings can be a place where we continue to find new ideas for content, new ideas, new connections. And it's sometimes while on vacation that our mind can relax a little bit so we can make those novel connections. And that is why I want to share with you some business lessons that I learned around fruit. And so while at the shorehouse, sprinkled on tables and refrigerators, there were sorted bunches of fruit, so peaches, blueberries, oranges, bananas, and even a few kiwis. And for the most part, they stayed in their place, as you can imagine most kids and adults wanting to snack on chips, Twinkies, cereals, anything that's unhealthy. And so the fruit pretty much stayed on the table. And honestly, they might still be rotting there if it weren't for this Big intervention. There were a couple smart moms who have been around the block before, and they knew the magic hack with fruit. It was a simple, profound action that could turn a Twinkie eating teenager into a fruitarian. And so what could make a 13 year old interested in something that's good for them? It's very simple and powerful. They cut the fruit, they made it bite size, they put it on the table, and voila, those juicy little morsels were gone in no time. I was amazed at how this simple act completely changed how people engaged with the fruit. A minute before, no one was thinking about eating fruit, and then all of a sudden, everyone was eating it. How could this be? What these moms knew intuitively is what good marketers understand. Make your products presentable, accessible, and make it easy for people to say yes. By cutting the fruit, they removed the friction. And then after people try your product, they're going to want more. Once I tasted a peach, I kept piling on slice after slice. If you have an offer that you're selling, especially if it's a commitment, it might be too much for someone to say yes. Your people might not even realize that they want what you have. I wasn't going downstairs thinking I could really go for a peach, but once it was in front of me in a way that I could easily access it, and then I saw other people eating it, all of a sudden I wanted it. If you're struggling to sell a whole peach, ask how can you give people a taste instead? That might mean instead of trying to get people to work one on one with you, you start with something free, which, if you're listening to this podcast, I encourage you to start with a free meditation. You need ways people can connect and build trust. This can be on social media, but again, I encourage you to think of ways to get outside the box. Whether it's through meditation, whether it's through a newsletter, substack, etc. The elements of the fruit and potentially the the business success. It boils down to these four elements that was shown in what happened when these moms cut the fruit. That was number one, accessible, number two, location, number three, value, number four, social proof. So we already discussed how they made the fruit accessible by cutting it. So let's talk about location. It would have done no good if they cut the fruit and put it in the bathroom. That same exact plate of fruit. It might skeeve people out if they see it on the counter above the toilet paper. You don't really go into the bathroom and think, I'm going to eat this fruit that's here instead. They place the fruit where people gather, often hungry, at the kitchen table. So there's this muscle memory. What do we do at the kitchen table? We eat. Oh wow. There's easily presentable things to eat. Oh, I'm going to try it. I once tried selling my book at a Christmas expo and it was a place where people came to buy these cheap knickknacks and gifts and ornaments. It was not a place they were thinking about trying to find their truth, which is the title of my book. And what was the result? I sat there for six hours and I sold one book. I'm very thankful for that one book I sold. On the contrary, I once promoted my book at a Mind, Body, spirit expo where people claim for spiritual knowledge and nourishment. And you can imagine my book sold a lot better. You have to put yourself or your products around people who want what you have. This seems obvious, but it's often the killer of new business. Early in their creative journey, there's many get discouraged because they're trying to sell to family and friends. Your family and friends are not your ideal audience. Maybe you try starting there, that's okay. But it can be discouraging and you have to remember that to expand from there and that there's people out there. There are billions of people in the world. Trust me, there are people out there that want what you have. If you're not finding them, it's likely not because your product or service is inferior. You just haven't gotten in front of the right people. This is the beauty of Insight Timer and why I and so many like me have been able to find their people. People on the app are hungry for guided meditations. That's what you therefore by providing meditations, I'm simply bringing food to the kitchen, bringing food to the place where people are looking for it. So where are people already looking for what you have? Remember, getting in front of them isn't all there is. The fruit was all around at the shore. But you have to position yourself and make it accessible for people to try and taste what you have. You have to meet people where they are at. This is why it's helpful to have different lengths, different chunks of content that people can engage with you at. If you have a 90 minute podcast, maybe you also offer a 10 minute talk for someone who maybe is not ready to go the full length with you. So how can you give away something that gives people a taste of your work? Take some time and think about this, and this brings us to value. Your bite size offer actually has to taste good. You have to deliver value. If the peach I ate were spoiled, I wouldn't have went for more. So don't be afraid to give away your best stuff, like the peach. If it tastes good, people just want more of the same. If your free stuff tastes good, oh, I have to pay a little bit. Think about free samples. Why do we get free samples? Oh, this tastes good. Oh, I want more. I'll pay for a little bit more. And I know what I'm getting and I know it's valuable. And I want you to really believe in this adage as a creator, really drive this home. There's more where that came from. There's more content, there's more meditations, there's more ideas, there's more inspiration. Creative inspiration doesn't run dry. New ideas and insights are abound. We just have to align and continue to connect with them. This last piece is social proof. So someone has to go first. And when one person sees someone reaching for a piece of fruit, suddenly everyone was like, well, I want a piece, I want to try it. And so when people see others trying things, it helps them to feel safe. They're taking the risk and so they're going to follow along. And so the more people that try it and say, this thing is good, the more we want to get a taste. We don't want to be left out. And this is why word of mouth is still the most powerful form of marketing. And there's really nothing that compares to just having a good product, getting it into the right people, and having them share it for you. In his book, this Is Marketing, Seth Godin talks about the principle of finding your people as people like us do things like this. So when we identify with a group of people and we see what they're doing, we start wanting to try it. People like us do things like this. Beyond having to identify with a group and wanting to try what other people are trying is just the simple fact that we value social proof. If two YouTube videos have the same title, they make the same progress. We are probably going to watch the one with more views. And so a way to bake this into your offer is to tell people how many have tried what you have. For my newsletter, I encourage people to join 1100 other readers. It signals that they're not alone in joining. It's vulnerable to be alone, but there's a sense of safety if they know that others are also getting what I share to their inbox. And so you might ask, but Lou, what if I don't have anyone else that's joined? What if this is brand new? I hear you and recognize that there are people out there that are going to love to go first. Some people might not realize that they're going first. So that's one aspect. You don't have to tell people that they're their first one that signed up for it. That's okay too. But there's going to be people that love trying out something new, trying out a new teacher, trying out a new meditation. There's someone who bought the first car, there's someone who bought the first iPhone. And these are called early adopters. And what they do is they lead the trend for the rest to follow. Your early adopters are out there. You just have to find them. And so to recap our fruit analogy for business success, number one, make a taste of your offering that is easily accessible to others. This could be free or a low cost product. Number two, position your offer where people are hungry for what you have. What is your version of bringing food to the kitchen? Three, your bite size offer still has to bring value. Don't be afraid of giving away your best stuff. Find your early adopters and then let people know that others are getting value from what you have. This might be where you get testimonials or share people's reviews. These lessons can apply to any field that you are looking to find creative success. It can even apply to you wanting to get a raise at your job. You can do these things in a way that fits your current situation and I promise you, you are going to stand out from the rest. So I wish you so much support as you get out there, as you cut your fruit, as you share your pieces, as you share your gifts. This is a big piece of why I do this podcast is to help you and guide you in that process. I hope there's a nugget that you can take from this and to help. You in your artistry, I have created a free course called Meditation Script Mastery. It is going to help you create. Unique, powerful and evocative meditations that you can use to put online, that you can use in your classes, that you can share with clients, that you can learn how to find your unique voice, how to create meditations that no one else has created. I'm so excited about this course. I was originally going to charge for it. It's seven lessons, it's only an hour long. I was originally going to charge from. It for it because it's so valuable, but I really just want to give it away for free and I want to reach as much people as I can to help them in their art of meditation. So head to meditation creators.thinkific.com and go ahead and enroll for the course. Again, that's meditation creators.thinkific t h I n k I f I c dot com and you can enroll for free in this course. I should also have the link in the show notes for easy access and let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy it. There's so many good ideas in there, so many good topics in there to explore that it's going to really help you create your art and create your meditation. So it's a gift to you and I hope you enjoy it, share it with friends and sending you so much love and support. As always, we will talk again very soon.