Ep. 03 - Giving Yourself a Foundation to Iterate On & Evolve With
What stops people from committing to messaging (or branding)?
Messaging is lowkey a vortex. We’re now told that we need to nail it, but often the particulars feel so subjective that it’s easy to get lost in a vortex.
It’s deceptively easy to tell yourself, “If I can get the exact elevator pitch or positioning statement or tagline” that explains what I do, then this will be the key that brings in leads and clients.
I’ve fallen into this trap for myself, and let me tell you: the inevitable result is that your message will never feel ready and you won’t actually commit to any specific marketing direction without this in place.
In short, I was afraid to show up.
And it’s not just me, I see it in my community, on social, and with my clients. When we decide to show up, we’re committing to a way to represent ourselves and our business. And this rightfully feels scary.
What if we change our minds? What if people don’t understand how we can help them? What if I sound the same as other people in my industry?
The truth is that some of these things will inevitably happen, AND that’s okay. Preferred even. Because how else will you know that? When you work on messaging in a vacuum without outside input, the risk is actually a bit higher that you’re missing the mark when you launch it.
Reframing Your Messaging Work
That’s why I wanted to start talking about messaging in the context of reframing both the point of messaging work and the process itself. Next episode, I’ll get more systemized with it, because I absolutely believe that this is lacking online.
Two things I want to point out before we get there:
You are not married to your current messaging AND
Adjusting based on feedback is an integral part of the process.
I call it a foundation, but not like one that builds a house. Housing foundations are put in and you can’t change them. They’re rebar and concrete, unyielding.
Messaging is the soil of the tree that is your marketing. I have a graphic that explains my content ecosystem concept I’ll discuss in a later episode, but I find this a better way to look at it.
I’m recording this in spring and it’s the first time I’ve tried to grow anything. My partner is far better at that sort of thing. But one thing I know is that the plant tells you what it needs by how the leaves look, if they’re discolored, if there are holes, if it’s wilting, and all of these other clues.
If your content ecosystem is a plant or tree that you’re tending, then the response to your marketing and sales process is what tells you where to adjust.
Some plants need acidic soil, you can add coffee grounds. Some need vermiculite or coconut husks to soak up excess moisture. If messaging is your soil, and it turns out that folks are misunderstanding a part of it, or your are values evolve, that’s fine!
We can just tweak elements in the soil and the plants & your customers will respond better.
By the way, do not listen to me for gardening advice of any kind, I’m just using it as an example to illustrate.
ACTION STEP
So if you’re overthinking messaging right now, get out of your own head. Find a few trusted business besties (and if none come to mind, that’s what the Storyspark Lounge is for) and share your elevator pitch of 1-3 sentences about what you do.
Specifically, get feedback on what piqued their interest and what confused them. Start tweaking the language based on feedback, but in general I’d wait until you have 3-5 pieces of feedback and see where folks agree.
Don’t worry — in the next episode, we’re going to go more in depth with working on messaging and honing in on the language that reaches potential clients and stands out.
