The Key to Content that Converts

Hello, I'm Katie McManus, business strategist and money mindset coach, coming to you live on a few different places. Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter. Twitter. And over here on Instagram, on my cracked phone, which you can see the back of on my computer tonight, I want to talk about content that actually converts into paying clients. I want to name really quickly that wherever you are in your business, I know it's really easy. I'm going to plug in my phone because it just told me it's dying. I know it's really easy to feel like you're behind. It feels like it's not going fast enough, like clients are coming quick enough, like the money's not flowing. I want to remind you that the universe does not go to your timeline. I had to learn this. When I first started my business, I had a plan. I knew I had done the math. I knew exactly how money was going to come in. I knew I was going to sign exactly three new clients every single month as I got started. And I knew the incremental rate changes I'd be doing. Hi, Christopher. Welcome. I had it all figured out. Hi, Jason. Welcome. Happy Friday night. And none of it went to plan. None. I remember crying on the phone with my coach at the time and just saying, you know, it's just not going fast enough. I need money. I need this to happen. I need this to happen. And it really only started happening for me when I let go, when I realized that I had no control over the result. Okay. The only thing I had control over was the action I was taking. Right. When we get into this place of impatience. Okay. I mean, I've actually looked at the entomology of the word impatience. So patience comes from a word that in Latin used to mean suffering, right? So the inability to withstand suffering. All right? Which, when you think about it like that, is such a powerless way to be. Like, you're just, like, withstanding suffering or, like, unable to be with it. When people are, like, consumed with their impatience, they aren't acting from a powerful place. When you're consumed with impatience, you start taking shortcuts. You start trying to, like, like, game the system. Figure out any way to bypass the suffering that you're experiencing. And that is not how you build a business. That is how you, like, stay busy and stay busy and fool yourself into thinking that you're being productive. That is how you convince yourself that, like, what you're doing is making progress. Hi, Randy House. Welcome. And it doesn't work. It genuinely does not work. So if you cannot be with the patience, with the suffering of starting the business. It's probably not the thing for you getting an 800 number call. Okay. You know, the other thing to know is that, like, half the battle is genuinely thanks for doing it at a time, an event at a time when I can join. Oh, I'm happy you could join. Thanks, Randy. Hi, Leandro. Welcome. I actually didn't think anyone would join because it's Friday night. I thought you guys would have more important things to do, but I'm so delighted you're here. You know, it's important to remember that half the battle of starting a business is knowing what you want. Right. There are so many people walking around this world who have no idea what it is they want. They're just living life by default. Like, this is the next thing you do. You know, you get the job and then you apply for the promotion. You apply for the next promotion. You get the spouse and you get the house, and then you get the kids and the. Maybe the dog and whatever. And it's. They're not sure that it's even. Even something that they want, but it's just the next thing that they tend to do and. Hi. Rest and relax. Boston, the Gazelle. Hello. You know what you want? Okay. You are miles ahead of people who don't know what they want. And, yes, like, you're not at the finish line yet. Okay. But you are so close. You're so close. Have patience. And when you get into that mode of being. Being impatient, I want you to take a step back. Let me take a step back. And I want you to concentrate on the specific actions that will actually move the needle. Right. So, so oftentimes when I start with clients who've already kind of started their business, one of the things that I kind of have to have them pull back on is all the busy work that they've made up for themselves. Right? It's busy work. It's meant to alleviate that stress of, like, nothing's happening, nothing's happening. I have to do all the things. Not all work produces product. Not all work produces results. Right. So, Jason, it's like building a house on quicksand because you need shelter and then watching it disappear because you didn't research the land. A hundred percent. Ten thousand percent. Exactly. Yep. You know, you can absolutely start a business on quicksand. To that. To that metaphor. Perfect metaphor, by the way. But again, like, it's gonna disappear. It's not going to last. You have to be very specific about the steps and I just want to own. Like, no one's born knowing this, okay? And I don't know about you, but my high school, my college didn't teach this stuff at all. All right? It's okay that you don't know what you're doing. That's why people like me exist in the world. If you need help, there's nothing wrong with you. If you don't know how to do this, like you. Oh, you investing in help to figure this out, to speed things up so you can get out of pain, so you can get out of this suffering, that is okay. A lot of people make up the story in their head that if they have to reach out for help, it means that they're not capable or that they're not smart or that they can't do it on their own. And it doesn't mean any of that. It means that you're taking concentrated action to go and get the thing that you want most. Right. There's. There's actually, like, do that, do that. Get the help that you need. All right? It's going to make it a lot faster. It's your time to shine. It sure is, Randy. Just think what they don't teach in the schools now. Oh, my God. I know. It's. It's. It's frightening. Especially here in the U.S. anyway, tonight I want to talk about content that actually converts to clients. You know, I know there are a lot of social media gurus out there that are telling you, like, do a listicle and share helpful tips and prove how smart you are. And yes, like, sure. That that is all content that you can post. And also, I want to point out, like, here's how I interact with that kind of content. If it's something that's relevant to me, sure. Like, I'll see it and I will think, oh, this is really relevant to me, and I'll screenshot it and I'll save it. Will I remember the person's name? Of course not. Their name is irrelevant to me. Right. They gave me the information that I was curious about. I now have the information. I have no reason to remember this person. Right. Unless they tease. Like, there's something more that I need to get from them, which a lot of people kind of bad at. They don't really do that. It's a step you have to remember. At no point am I like, oh, cool. Like, yes, I like, they gave me this valuable piece of information. Now I should go and give them my money. Right? Why. Why should I? They just gave me the thing That I need. When you go out and just give value willy nilly all over the place. And yes, I just, just did use the term willy nilly. It's basically like you standing on a street corner just giving people helpful advice. Like, sure, it's helpful advice, but is it the right moment for it? Probably not. And like, people walking by are gonna be like, oh, oh, oh, thank you. Yeah, okay, thanks, bye. And they're gonna be on their merry way. On social media. It's the exact same thing. They may save it, they may screenshot it, but they're gonna, they're going to forget about it pretty much immediately after that, right? What you want to do instead is you want to connect with them. You want to show them, hey, you. I see you, like, not in a creepy way, but like, you know, in an empathetic way. I see you. And here's probably what you're going through. And I know this because a lot of my clients go through this and just so you know, like, having this fear about yourself and this frustration and being feeling really stuck in this area of whatever you're struggling in, totally normal. There's nothing to be ashamed about here. There's so many people who are in your exact same shoes, right? And also, when you're ready, I help people get out of here, right? That's what I do. I help people get out of this. So when you're ready, I'm here. But meanwhile, I just want you to know you're not crazy. You're not broken. There's nothing wrong with you. Lots of people struggle with this. You're not alone, right? I want you to think of when you come across a piece of content that makes you feel seen, that makes you feel like there's not something wrong with you, that makes you feel like you have like this invisible group of people around you who also struggle with this thing. I just got a message from someone. I just want to make sure everything's working okay. And when you come across that and you feel like this, this energy around you that's so supportive and understanding, how do you feel about that person? Like, because they've just made you feel something, they've just tapped into, like, you know, naming the frustration, the fears, the stress, the anxiety, all the things that are happening for you as you're reading that post, you're probably like feeling all that build up. And then there's this sigh of relief because here's someone who knows exactly where you are, right? Because they made you feel something. You're gonna remember that person, right? You might not remember their name the very first time you see their content, but, like, there's going to be something about them that you will remember either their face, maybe that their name starts with an M, like something like that. And the next time you see their things, you're far more likely to lean in and be like, yeah, I need to see that. I need to hear the next thing. What else have you got for me? Because. Because they've built a connection with you, right? They've, they've started the bridge for that relationship. When you're creating content for your ideal clients to attract them in and to get them to like, actually want to buy from you, you actually don't have to prove to them how smart you are. Like, sure, you can share testimonials and case studies and all that stuff to prove to give them some social proof that you do what you do. Like that you are actually good at what you do, but you don't have to prove to them that you know your stuff. Okay? The goal of social media, I think a lot of people get confused about this. They think that it's like to go out there and prove that you're smart, to show off how smart you are. If you're going on a social media to show off how smart you are, you're doing it wrong. Going on social media, like, your goal should be to make everyone who interacts with your stuff feel like they're smart to feel like they are a okay, just the way they are and they're not it up and they're going to be fine. And the way they're going to be fine is to lean further into people like you who see them and understand them and believe in them. Okay. That's the kind of content that really makes a difference. I remember profile picture, picture and emotion. Not so much words, just that this person is someone who I have good feelings about when I see their stuff. Yeah, 100% Maya Angelou. I always misquote this. But, you know, people remember, will rarely remember what you say, but they will always remember how you make them feel. Right knowing. And to do this, you have to know your clients. You have to understand what are the problems they wake up stressed out about in the morning and what are the things that they daydream about while they're in the middle of their day and like, they just don't want to deal with emails anymore and what are the arguments that they have with their partner or their spouse? You know, what do they wish they had time for that they don't have time for and what are the things that they're afraid of? What are their worst case scenarios that they're like, oh God, like, you know, that is, that is like if I. My life goes to hell in a hand basket, this is what it's going to look like. If you can understand all those things and create content around it, you know, they're going to assume you can help them if you know them that well. Right. But you can't know that all that stuff if you don't have a niche and if you haven't done proper market research, okay? So if you're starting a business and if you feel like you just, you can't break into that level of empathy, then one of the things that you're going to need to do is you're going to have to go and interview your ideal clients. Now if you don't know how to do this, this is something that I do in all of my programs with my clients. I train them on exactly the questions that they have to ask, how to ask them, how to ask people to be on those interviews. I don't leave anything to guesswork. Okay? You know exactly how to go and get this information. And oftentimes clients who start that interview process, they actually realize the ideal client they wanted to work with is not actually someone that they want to work with. Like, it's either the problems are boring or they actually find those people kind of annoying, or they find that the people that they think have a problem don't actually have the problem they thought they had. Right. They have something different. Right. So it all shifts for them. You know, one of the jokes that my clients make at me is that I'm constantly saying that's content, that's content, that's content in our calls. And if you're a former client of mine or a current client of mine and you're watching this, I'm sure you can attest to this. One of my clients once won $10 off of his 8 year old daughter because he made this bet that that's exactly how I'd react. You know, when, when you're working with someone, when you're working with a coach or business strategist or a social media marketer, you guys can brainstorm all the content ideas you possibly can on what you should be putting on social media to attract clients. But you know, it's educated guesswork at its best. Right. What will actually help you get clients is knowing exactly how your ideal clients describe their problems in their own words. And an exercise I actually like to have a lot of my clients do is think of, like, how do they describe their, their bad day to their best friend after they've had a couple glasses of wine? Right? You can guess about that. But the best way to hear how they describe that, how they bitch about it, is to go and interview them. Right. Wherever you are in your business, I want you to know, like, you're doing great. The fact that you figured out that you wanted to start a business, that you wanted to help people in this way, and that you are starting down this road, wherever you are in the process, you are so much further along than so many other people. Right? I know it doesn't feel that way. I know because I hear this every single day that you go online and you see these ads by these people who are years ahead of you and their branding styled in and their messaging is amazing and you kind of secretly want to copy them because it's so perfect. I want you to remember the Google machine is paying attention to every single thing that you're doing. Everything you're talking about, everything that you Google. Okay. Everything that you talk about on social media, all the hashtags that you use, it's paying attention and saying, oh, you know, Jason's really interested in Mount Kilimanjaro. He's really interested in hiking. He's really interested in backpacking. Backpacks, right? Yeah. Day packs. Like, you know, camping packs. I don't know the, the terminology for packs. Sorry, Jason, I don't mean to bastardize your work, but anyway, they're going to show people like Jason, all the people that lead tours up Mount Kilimanjaro because it seems like the thing that they're super interested in right now. Jason does that. Right. He doesn't need someone to do that. But that's what he's talking about online all the time. The Google machine doesn't know how to differentiate for you are the service provider and not the person interested in the thing. Right. I see ads for business coaches and business strategists all the time and it's really easy to get self conscious about, oh my God, like, their stuff is so much better than mine. You know what? Of course it is. Of course it is. They've been doing this for 10 years. I'm just closing in on year six. Okay. You know, and I've had to pivot a couple times. And of course, course they're going to be better than me. There's always going to be someone better than you. All right? But if there's always someone better than you, then that means that you're also better than a whole bunch of people, right? Because you've taken the time to get here. Meant to say world. Wait, hold on. If you're seeing this and have a doubt about Katie as a coach, don't. Katie is awesome. And we'll change your. Your world and rock it at the same time. Thank you. Jesus. I hope no one's having doubts about me as a coach. I've just drive. Driving. I'm just driving 11 hours from North Scotland to South Wales, which is a lot. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Well, it's funny because, like, you know, for the uk, that's almost the whole country, whereas, you know, that's the state of California. That's like. I mean, not even. Not even. That's not even Oregon to Mexico. Like, it would take, like, 13 hours to do that, so. But, yes, drive safe. I hope. I hope you're getting lots of sleep tonight, and I hope you're having a nice glass of wine, because I know. I know you enjoy that on a good Friday night. Anyway, wherever you are in the process, I just want you to know, like, you're fine. You're fine. I know. Like, I feel like this. I get impatient in my business. You know, I want it to go faster. Hello. Welcome. The Terminator. I, you know, want my programs to. To reach certain heights. I want to be able to launch this thing. You know, I have so many things that I want to be able to put together for my clients and to add to, you know, their value, to the value of my programs, to, like, help them go where they need to go. And I'm also just one person. Like, I have a team, but also I'm just one person. And there's only so much I can roll out at any given time. We all just have to have faith that it's gonna happen in good time. Final thought. And if you have any questions, please pop them in the chat and. Hi, welcome. Final thought. You know, if you're nervous about this next week, and I'm gonna say this every single live I do between now and Thanksgiving and probably a lot before Christmas as well, because I know something that's really stressful for new business owners when you're first starting the business is coming across your family members who do not get it, who don't understand why you're doing this thing, why you're putting yourself out there, why you're risking your livelihood trying to work on your own. Is there's always that Loved one, that relative, that extended family person, the friend of the family who will ask you. And it could be in a real condescending way or a perceived condescending way. Like, we. We don't. I'm not going to own what it is. But how's your little business going? You know, how's your little side hustle going? In that moment, it can feel really triggering when things aren't going great, when, you know, you're stressed out, you don't have enough clients, you're so worried that, like, this isn't going to work out, you know? But in that moment when you get this question, like, a, you don't want to lie to them. Right. But B, you don't want to, like, so more doubt in this family system that you're worried, like, they don't believe in you. Oh, at first I thought you'd cut your hair and shaved one side. I thought, how. Wow, very cool. Then I realized you just had it pushed to the back. Yes, I just have a side part like most millennials. But, yeah, you know, I've actually always kind of admired people who do that. But my hair is, like, so fine that I feel like I would have no volume. But, yeah. Fourth guest. How's your little side hustle going? I want you to remember that you don't owe anyone except for your accountant and any business partners a full report of how much money you're making. No one needs to know how many clients you have. No one needs to understand how many hours of work you're doing per week. Okay? That's. That's personal business. That is. That is absolutely your business. No one needs to know that. Okay? This family member who's asking about your business, let's just assume that they care. Let's assume that they are asking from a good place and they want to cheer you on, but they also just don't understand what they're. What you're doing. So they're asking, how's it going? Because they don't know any other questions to ask. Right? So here's what you're going to say instead of, oh, my God, yeah, it's great. It's really good. And then you're going to, like, lug the. The wine and then be like, shit, I have to go to the bathroom now. By. Here's what you're going to say instead, or say instead you're going to say, you know what? You know, we're just starting, but I'm so excited about this thing or this service that we're Building out, it's going to help these kinds of people. And, you know, if they have this kind of problem, it's going to solve it for them. It's going to take them to this kind of solution. It's going to be amazing. And we're in the middle of building it right now. You know, this is the kind of help we're looking for. You know, we're now currently reaching out for referrals. We're now currently building out our social media presence. We're now currently building out our email marketing campaign. Because here's the thing, you want to give them enough information that they can actually be helpful to you. Right. If they understand who your ideal client is. You know, if they, the next time they meet someone who is your ideal client, they can say, hey, you know what, like, my cousin, my cousin Jason actually does that thing. Absolutely. Let me, let me introduce you to them. You know, they're going to be able to have conversations with their friends and the extended family. Like, oh, did you hear what Katie's doing? Yeah. She's helping these kinds of people who have this kind of problem get to this kind of solution. Like, they're going to be the informed person. Right. And you're able to truthfully say, this is what I'm so excited for that we're building. Right. You don't have to actually give them any details as to how it's actually going. Right. Because you don't have any details yet. It's not a finished product. It's not a. I'm sorry, it's not a finished project. Right. It's never going to be finished. It's always going to be ongoing. Right now, if you do get a relative who wants to dig for that, that information, you can say, you know what, I'm keeping that private for right now. You do not have to share anything that you're not comfortable sharing. You know, you can also say, you know, we haven't, we haven't, you know, tallied up the numbers yet. We've been so busy building. It's going well. We're really excited for all this stuff that we're doing, but we haven't tallied up the numbers and really gotten the reports back yet. You know, it'll be really interesting to see what next year, like, looks like in comparison to this year. Right. Let me see. Yeah. In US Terms, that's one town. It kind of is. Especially if you're like, you're in New York City during rush hour. It can take you hours. Always a good live Stream. Thanks, Katie. Now, tomorrow, shall we put on some hip waders and go to the cranberry box? You know, Randy, it's so creepy. Flash. Funny that you're saying that because I actually am putting on my waiters tomorrow morning. And we're going. We're not going for the cranberry box. They've already been harvested. Okay. But we are going oystering at like 7 o' clock in the morning in the flats of Cape Cod Bay. I'm really excited. I haven't been yet. This year we go with our friend Sandy, who's like an incredible real estate agent here on Cape Cod. And, you know, she has this permit and so we all go together and then we divvy up all the oysters and clams that we get. I'm going to take Luna, her first time going oystering. I don't know how that's gonna go, but we will see her, her vet, because she licks her paws a lot. I think she has, like, allergies. Her vet said that it's really important for her to get salt water on her paws. So, you know, I figure let's kill two birds with one stone. But yeah, no, I'm really, really excited for it. But yeah, there will be pictures of me and waiters tomorrow. My, my powder blue waiters. Anyway, thank you so much for being here. It's Friday night. I'm. I've had a long week. I know you've had a long week. I'm gonna be signing out in a moment. Yeah, thank you, Randy. I know I will. I love it out there. But, you know, I hope this was useful. I hope that wherever you are in your business, you're keeping the faith that you know this is just a growing pain. If you're experiencing growing pains and know that no season lasts, right? And if you really focus in on that concentrated action, you know, if you make choices from that powerful place and not that like, impatient can't be with the suffering place, you know, the woe is me place, like, that's not the place you want to make decisions from. You want to make powerful decisions that are in your best interest, in your business's best interest, things will turn out great, right? And if you need any support, if you want any support, I'm here. You can hire me. You can get free coaching from me on the fourth Friday of every month, which is next Friday, by the way. There's a link to join Brave Biz Labs in the link in my bio if you want to join us at 11am Eastern Standard. And, yeah, you're doing great. Okay. Anyway, Randy, let me see. Yours are periwinkle. Oh, my God. I need a picture. We need to do side by side in our waiters. Thank you, Randy. Anyway, I'm Katie McManus, business strategist and money mindset coach. I want to do a big thank you to the Taminator to rest and relax, Boston, the Gazelle, Christopher Xavier, and then over here on LinkedIn to JC and Randy and Leandro and anyone else that I missed. Okay. Nope, that's everyone. And if you didn't comment, thank you so much for being here. I hope you got a lot of value from this, and I will be live with you again on Monday. All right, have a great weekend, everyone, and I will talk to you soon.