5 SHIFTS YOU NEED TO MAKE TO GROW IN 2019

The Old School Marketing Approach isn’t working anymore. The look-at-me-meeting-in-my-private jet ads, the sales pages with countdown timers, the massive affiliate campaigns…we have all wised up to the Good Ol’ Boys way of marketing. It doesn’t feel right. Frankly, it doesn’t work anymore.

This Old School Marketing Method is dying a slow death. And, at the same time, the online courses and coaching business is booming (at close to $300 billion and growing).

The experts who continue to use the Old School Model are going to struggle to grow and be profitable. The ones that pivot and focus on creating customized experiences for their audiences are going to win and win BIG.

I watch thousands of experts creating products every year in our community.

We launch products every single month–both our own and our clients.

We have run over a million dollars in successful Facebook ad campaigns for our clients’ program launches and our own.

I’m sitting on the front row of our industry and I want you to see what I am seeing unfolding.

Now is the time to shift and take advantage of what is happening to grow your business and impact.

5 Critical Shifts You Need to Make to Market Your Expertise in 2019

SHIFT #1: FROM GENERAL TO SPECIFIC

Bad News: Broad or generic courses are not going to sell.

Good News: Narrowly focused, results-based courses and programs will be the biggest winners in the $300 billion course industry. You can launch a highly successful online course (or any other offer) by getting narrowly focused on a specific transformation for a specific audience. (Bonus–you can create less content and get more clients)

The online course market is booming at close to $300 billion and it is continuing to grow massively. When there is this kind of crazy growth, everyone jumps in. To stand out and build highly successful offers, you have to work backwards from the results you will deliver for your audience. Less content is going to mean more results often.

A recent INC article shared how 8 of our clients used the Expert Experience Method? to zone in on the transformation their clients want to create. This is how you build products that are the foundation of 6- and 7-figure businesses: work backwards from results.

Defining your audience, problem, and focusing on transformational results is going to be critical to stand out in the online course market. Courses that are too broad or too generic in their promise will struggle to be seen in the market.

Example: Instead of creating a course that includes EVERYTHING you know about your topic, narrow down to *one* result your client really wants.

If you are a health health expert, this could mean narrowing down to one behavior change, like drinking fresh juices to alkalinize the body.

If you are a business coach, this could mean narrowing from helping all businesses to helping retail, brick and mortar businesses get more in-store traffic from Instagram.

If your focus is personal growth, it could mean focusing a behavior that leads to personal growth like having authentic conversations with family and co-workers.

The move: Get specific around the transformation you create for your clients in your products.

SHIFT #2: FROM MASS MARKETING TO SPECIFIC NICHES

Bad News: Mass marketing funnel strategies will be ignored as noise.

Good News: Marketing content that is clearly focused and delivered to the right audience with the right problem will grab instant attention and lower cost per lead.

Many experts come to us who have just launched a book, created a course or other program and wonder why they struggle to get the results they hoped for.

Here’s the thing: it’s never been easier to get your message out there. The problem is that all the online noise can easily drown out your message.

To stand out as the choice in a crowded market, you have to have a systematic way for getting the right content in front of the right audience at the right time. To do this, you have to map your client’s journey to get from where they are now to where they want to be. All of your free content and all of your offers should be mapped around the questions your clients have as they make this journey.

This requires a shift in thinking, from just putting out random content to strategically mapping your client’s experience from discovering your free lead magnet all the way to making the decision to work with you and then what comes after the purchase to affirm that they made the right choice.

The move: You have to clearly map your client’s journey from discovery to sale and beyond. Be clear on how each piece of content you create (both free and paid) serves the purpose of moving your client forward in their journey with you and towards the results they want.

SHIFT #3: FROM BROADCASTING CONTENT INTO THE UNIVERSE TO LASER DELIVERY TO THE RIGHT AUDIENCE

Bad News: Paid traffic will be more expensive for businesses who don’t understand it’s all about “Right Audience + Right Content + Right Timing”

Good News: You can win BIG by getting specific in your targeting of your audience with the right content (and invest far less to get many more clients than other experts in your niche).

Most online marketers I talk to are nervous about lower organic Facebook reach (your free traffic) and rising paid traffic costs. That’s because putting up ads that target the 2.5 billion people on Facebook can be expensive. These marketers don’t realize that there’s another way to market that goes beyond putting up a handful of ads that speaks to everyone at the same time.

Our cost per lead went down significantly from 2017 to 2018 AND we have been able to grow our reach exponentially by attracting a much bigger audience.

Facebook is still one of THE cheapest ways to reach a targeted audience. You have to target your specific audience with the right high-value content related to what they are specifically looking for.

The problem is that most online marketing funnels are more like leaky colanders than funnels.

There are holes everywhere and leads you are paying to find are falling through them before they ever get a chance to become your client. This is the main reason a launch doesn’t work, and there are ways you can fix this.

When you design your client’s experience to deliver exactly what each person needs to build trust, overcome objections, and take action, you can dramatically improve the number of leads that become clients.

Start by asking:

• Who are you talking to?
• What question brought them to you?
• What do they need to know before they commit? Do they need data? Social proof? Guarantees?
• How can you help them take small steps (micro-commitments) to help build trust and the action-taking muscle?

The move: Now is the time to get specific about who your audience is and target them with the right content that appears at the right time. This last timing part is tricky—it requires that you are showing up consistently in front of the audience that is interested in what you offer.

SHIFT #4: FROM “WINGING IT” TO CONSISTENCY

Bad News: Creating a blog post here and a video there… when you feel like it..or waiting on inspiration to show up… isn’t going to work as well as it once did.

Good News: Consistency in content creation is going to be essential…BUT perfection is not.

Earlier this year, I spent a day with Gary Vaynerchuk and his team to go behind-the-scenes and learn how Gary puts out over 100 pieces of content on social media a day. (A team of 20 posting his social media everywhere helps.)

When I left Gary’s offices, I thought to myself, “To get to the next level of impact, you are going to have to be consistent around something that you haven’t been consistent around before.” For me, this meant I have to get disciplined around a content creation schedule. This is why I launched and committed to the weekly format of The Expert Called YOU show.

You can click here to see the episodes already released.

2 Reasons Consistency is More Important Than Ever:

1. Your audience is seeing way more content that they ever have. Consistency creates a relationship with you which will make you the trusted choice when they are ready to move.
2. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram reward you for consistently posting content. The algorithmic factors that affect how your content is seen include how consistently you post.

The move: Create a plan for sharing value with your audience and stick to it.

SHIFT #5: FROM FOCUSING ON GETTING THEM IN TO GETTING THEM TO THE FINISH LINE

Bad News: Courses and coaching programs have declining success rates.

Good News: The experts that focus on engaging their clients to implement what they are teaching are going to win big.

The obvious reality is that for clients to get results they have to implement the method you share. Most businesses aren’t paying attention to this.

The biggest opportunity for growth in your business comes from focusing on the success of your existing clients. It amazes me that so many online course creators and business coaches miss this. Online course completion rates are often in the single digits.

You’ve got a big advantage as a small business– you know your clients and you care.

Pay attention to where they get stuck and put the systems in place to keep them moving along.

For example, if you see your clients getting overwhelmed with the content, break down the work into doable chunks and reward them when they complete those steps.

Paying attention to the experience your clients have after they buy is just as important as noticing them before they buy.

When building your plan, think about these shifts and how you can leverage them to go faster.

One power move can work to address several—for example, one well-crafted weekly video shot on your phone can address the shifts in focus to video, consistency, focusing on engagement, and getting specific.

The move: Focus on helping your clients be accountable to the results they want. Emphasize implementation in all the products and experiences you create.

SUMMARY

The market is changing. Now is the time to get focused on creating consistent value for your clients.

A small percentage of coaches, consultants and experts are going to do this. The ones that do are going to leap to the front of their niche.