Welcome to Famous in Your Field! Here’s your free weekly tip to boost your fame factor. (Be sure to sign up in the box on the right to get on the VIP list for free tips and training, delivered straight to your inbox.) 

Famous in your field tip: to attract fans, talk about the outcome or results of what you do, not the "what" or "how"

To attract fans, talk about the outcome or results of what you do, not the “what” or “how”

Even the leaders and experts at the top of their game can commit a certain marketing sin. One that repels prospects.

Talking too much about what they do. Squandering valuable website real estate on the process. Correcting prospects when they use the wrong terminology for what you do (ack, the worst!)

The result? That potential client RUNS from you.

Hey, it’s not your fault!

You are passionate about your area of expertise.  You love what you do!  You wonder how in the heck could someone NOT want a sprinkle of the magic that you’ve got?

Here’s the truth: the buzzkill happens when you focus too much on the “what” and the “how” of what you do. You spend too much time or online real estate talking about the process.

Let’s nip that client-killer in the bud right now.

What to do instead

Talk about the result or the outcome, not what you do or the process you follow. Ak yourself, what do people get from working with you, hiring you? (Hint: it’s not the service that you offer.)

Here’s a simple formula to dig down to the results or outcome.

I work with _____________ [your ideal client profile]

to ___________________ [outcome they crave]

so that ____________________ [your client’s ideal situation.]

The formula in action!

A VIP List member,  Jacqueline, wrote in with a challenges she’s facing. She’s writing a book about logic. She wants to do this because she took a logic training that helped her transform her career from self-taught secretary to high level professional executive assistant. All kinds of awesome, right?

She experienced the power that learning logic has to transform someone’s performance. And she wants to share that with the world by writing a book and creating a logic course.

But Jacqueline is a smart cookie – she already realized that talking about “logic” could turn her audience off.

Face it, most people don’t want to learn logic.

It sounds boring.

It sounds hard.

They aren’t sure what “logic” is, and don’t want to appear stupid or uneducated.

Or, it sounds too simple. “Logic? Well, duh…I’m logical.”

Jacqueline knows people don’t want logic for itself. They want the outcome or the result. Here’s the idea in action:

Learning logic gives you a repeatable system to make better decisions, more quickly, so that you are more confident and don’t miss out on opportunities.

And now let’s put it into action:

[What] Learn logic

[Outcome or result] you have a repeatable system to make better decisions so that

[Benefit] you have more confidence and no missed opportunities.

Now it’s your turn.

Your Fame Boosting Assignment:

This week, take seven minutes to practice how you talk about what you do. Are you focusing too much on the what and the how?

Use the formula to get to the good stuff more quickly! You’re a miracle maker – let your future fans know it.

8 Comments

  1. Lilia Lee on March 18, 2014 at 11:15 am

    This is a great post, Lori. Thanks for posting the formula for divining what benefits you offer.

  2. Kathleen Watson on March 18, 2014 at 12:17 pm

    Lori, this is exactly what I mean when I tell my clients that nobody cares **what you do**; all that matters to prospects is **how you make their life better**. And one of these days, maybe I’ll get to the point where I don’t EVER backslide and talk about the how’s and what’s! 🙂

    • Lori on April 4, 2014 at 12:50 pm

      I read your blog pretty regularly, Kathleen – I think you’ve got this down, sister!

  3. Adam Dukes on April 4, 2014 at 12:26 pm

    I am publishing a blog post on this very topic later this morning. I see so many businesses owners talking about the why/how and never the result. I was guilty of it for a long time, too. Great exercise Lori and I will be linking to this post from my post 🙂

    Hope it’s finally starting to warm up there in Ann Arbor, sounds like it was a brutal winter.

    • Lori on April 4, 2014 at 12:50 pm

      I’m delighted that you stopped by to comment, Adam. And congrats on making the shift to talk about results, not process!

      This winter was the WORST. Umm, it’s not quite springlike yet, but it’s getting soooo much better. Bet you don’t miss it at all:).

  4. […] If you need help with this, Lori over at Famous in Your Field recently posted on this very topic. She has a very simple formula you can use to help with this. You can find the formula here. […]

  5. Tricia on April 10, 2014 at 11:49 pm

    Ohh, my goodness, I love you! Thank you for this reminder! I get soooo stuck in the how and the what… duh! Of course, the results are the key. Golden 🙂

  6. BizSugar.com on May 29, 2014 at 5:53 pm

    How to get more leads for your service: do this, not that

    Don’t give your potential clients a reason to run from you. Instead, follow this simple formula to get more leads for your service.

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