I'm here helping service-based professionals (I see you creatives, service providers, agency owners...) build stable, sustainable businesses that profit in all the right ways, including energy and time. I talk a lot about sequence over strategy - that doing things in the right order is more important than nailing any particular strategy. I also talk about the difference between relationship and traffic marketing - and how to exit the relying on referral rollercoaster.
reframing value exchange (aka yes you have something to offer)
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Question: Ever walked into a deli and offered the sandwich person a sandwich in exchange for the sandwich they make you? Offered to plow the driveway of the person you pay to clear yours after a blizzard? Collected some dirt from your garden to trade for new top soil at the garden center? Yea I didn’t think so. So then WHY IN THE WORLD are you constantly - and I mean constantly - telling me that you have no business and no hope to get booked to speak to your ideal clients via podcast interview, talk, workshop, guest teaching, whatever - because you don’t have a large enough audience to trade? Stop. Think about it. When you say this you are assuming that wherever you are hoping to show up (I call it borrowing an audience) only cares about trading audience for audience. That my friends is the same as trading sandwich for sandwich, clear drive for clear drive, or top soil for top soil. IT MAKES NO SENSE. Let’s flip the narrative and focus on what you can bring that’s valuable. I feel so strongly about this I recorded a podcast episode about it so I have something to send to every person who brings this up to me again (and this is a lot of people). This one’s short and sweet because I want to get to the point quickly, and because once and for all I want you to believe it. When I started borrowing valuable audiences I had about 50 people (or maybe less) on my email list because it wasn’t something I was focused on at the time. Exactly 0 people I approached asked or cared. Size. Doesn’t. Matter. Value Does. Do yourself a favor and listen now right here. |
Hi! I'm Michelle Warner
I'm here helping service-based professionals (I see you creatives, service providers, agency owners...) build stable, sustainable businesses that profit in all the right ways, including energy and time. I talk a lot about sequence over strategy - that doing things in the right order is more important than nailing any particular strategy. I also talk about the difference between relationship and traffic marketing - and how to exit the relying on referral rollercoaster.
A few weeks ago I wrote asking you to tell me what was going on out there - I wanted to know what was working, what wasn’t, what you were celebrating and what was keeping you up at night. I wish I could say I was surprised by what I heard but I really wasn’t. Two big trends stood out: Conversion. Conversion is hard right now, especially for new leads. Previous leads and customers are continuing to show up, but it’s harder than ever to find - and close - new business. A lot of you were...
When I lived in Denver I took full advantage of living 15 minutes from Red Rocks Amphitheatre. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s one of the most famous concert venues in the US and is nestled between a few giant… red rocks. It’s an honor and a privilege to play Red Rocks, and the bands that show up there know it. As a spectator you’re regularly treated to special set lists, pop up appearances by legends, and all kinds of magic moments that wouldn’t happen anywhere else. And Red Rocks is...
Please tell me you have a phrase or 2 that sends a shiver down your spine every time you hear it. For example, “Wait what does your dog have in his mouth” will send me shuddering every single time (especially if it’s on the beach, and I know the inevitable answer will be ‘dead fish.’ TMI? Sorry, welcome to my life). A less graphic but equally traumatic example of mine would be “I noticed you’re doing [insert thing I’m doing] with your business”. That one’s usually coming from a well-meaning...