Unlocking Your Uniqueness Can Make You Stand Out In a Crowd with Azadeh Yaraghi

I know it's frustrating. In spite of taking all the time and effort to put up a website, market yourself, no one seems to be able to find you. The competition for what you do is huge. If only there was a way that people could see you and your business for how special it is. Boy, would that make a difference. And that's what we're talking about today on Experience Leadership.

Welcome to Experience Leadership, a podcast that challenges small business owners and entrepreneurs just like you to dare to be the exception. Join our host, customer experience expert Marc Haine, as he uncovers relevant and timely content to help you script and direct your business and teams to create jaw-dropping experiences your customers and staff deserve. Here is the host of Experience Leadership, author of Lights! Camera! Action!, customer experience expert Marc Haine.

Welcome to this episode. It is so great to have you here with me today. My guest for this very special episode is the extraordinary brand strategist Azadeh Yaraghi. And today, we will be talking about what you can do and how You can represent what you do, your passion, and your commitment in a way that makes you stand out as unique. No matter how much competition you have. My one ask for you today is to go ahead and share this episode with someone you know who could use this information. I can tell you how often I've come across a business whose purpose seems Blurred, or I should say maybe the same with no definable difference to other people providing the same products or services. I look at their websites and their marketing collateral, and there is no clarity as to why I should do business with them as opposed to doing business with their competition. It seems that they are lost in the sea of sameness. Which brings us to our question of the day. If you were to look at the websites of 5 of your competitors, can you pin down what makes them each unique? Can you pin down what makes you unique? I'd love for you to be part of this conversation. Go ahead and share this episode on your favorite social media platform. And and hashtag it #ExperienceLeadership and put down your comments. I'd love for you to be part of this conversation. I am super excited to have with me today the founder and CEO of Go! Go! Tolugo Creatives, Azadeh Yaraghi. Azadeh is an insightful brand strategist, marketing expert, speaker, and a number one bestselling author. With 15 years of international experience, she has built successful brands and earned several Azadeh is passionate about supporting purpose-driven clients who want to grow their businesses and ultimately leave behind a positive and a lasting legacy. Azadeh, welcome to the show. It has been way too long.

Yes, it has. Thank you so much for having me, Marc.

I figure episode number 126 is better now than never.

Definitely. Since I've seen your growth from inception, yes.

Yeah, it's been great. Hey, before we get into today's topic, could you tell us a little bit about what you do and how you serve your clients?

Yes, I'd be happy to. I run a branding agency. We really concentrate on branding as the essence of everything that you are and everything that you do. So everything starts from there. We dive into understanding the strategy of your brand and how does that then percolate into your marketing collaterals. So from your logo to your website, to the videos that you need, to ads that you need to produce, Videos, et cetera. But everything starts from the brand.

So why is this such an important topic, especially— I mean, today we're coming out post-pandemic. Lots of things are going on in the marketplace. Why is this so important?

You know, Marc, it's a great question. And it's always been important. The question of identity has been one that as humans, I think each one of us, we have struggled with, played with, sometimes have felt good with, and sometimes have not felt good with. Since our childhood into our teenagehood and then university, and then later on as entrepreneurs or employees in companies, I meet a lot of people who often have the question of, who am I really in this position? How can I stand out and really show what I can do that's unique to me? That's always been a question that's super important. And I love addressing it because it's so core to the foundation of who everybody is and what they're out to do. So, if they don't figure out that part later on, marketing becomes difficult. Sales becomes difficult. Growing in a career becomes difficult.

So, how do people know if they've got this wrong? I mean, because what you're talking about is very foundational. But yet, people have no qualms going out onto Fiverr and, you know, paying, you know, $50 to have somebody build them a website. What is this doing for them?

Well, generally they'll know if they have it wrong. Let's say if the symptoms are there in terms of they're not necessarily connecting as deeply with others, or their message doesn't get understood, they feel like they have to talk a long time before somebody gets what they do, or their marketing collateral, such as the website— the website comes up quite often, interestingly enough.

Sure.

It just doesn't connect with others. It may feel old. It may feel stagnant. I work with a lot of consultants and speakers. And so often what I hear is, when I show up in person, I bring a different kind of energy. And when people go to visit my website, it's totally not the same thing. So there's a bit of a disconnect with that online presence. Others will talk about their social media and content creation saying, I don't really know what else to say. I don't know. How else to say it? I feel like I've said the same thing over and over again. But when you really land on that brand that's unique to you and you clarify how you solve a problem in a unique way, there is no limit to creating content. So that's when you know that you've landed on a fundamental that's unique to you.

Right. And at the beginning of the segment, I talked about this thing about going onto other people's websites. And comparing and seeing, because it really is. If you're looking for a plumber, you're going to see the same verbiage from website to website to website. All the collateral looks exactly the same. It's almost like somebody starts up a plumbing company. It's like, well, let me see what my competition is saying. Yeah, I'm going to say that too. What is that doing for them?

So I love that question, and it comes up quite often, actually. So we all have this thing of me, myself, and I. We start talking about me, me, me, me, me, me, me. And it's not to say that people are wrong to do that. It's because we've been taught that that's what people want to hear. It's, hey, Azadeh, what do you do? And tell me more about you. And I start talking about my accolades and my awards and how I've done all these things. And you as the audience will probably get disconnected from me because it's like, okay, enough about you already. So this is where a lot of entrepreneurs Yeah. And I think where a lot of people get it wrong is to continually talk about themselves versus talk about their clients and customers, and not just anyone, but their favorite ones. So have you done the due diligence to find out that core ideal clients that you really, really love serving and you want to see more of those people? Well, what's the message to them? And your website should be talking to them directly. Less about you, more about them.

We were established in 1982. We've been serving this community. And that's when we talk about this idea of category language, right? This is kind of like everybody within your category speaking the same language. Some people would hear what you just said about this idea of targeting a specific target market and might think about how limiting that could be. a business and I'm targeting millennials. Well, if there's somebody who's Gen Z, I'm gonna lose them as customers. What do you think about that?

Yeah, that's the biggest myth that I'm gonna leave too much on the table and I'm missing out. So, I mean, this is not new to a lot of people and I'll say it again. You need to go deep instead of going long. You need to go deep because when you go deep into your expertise and your know-how, there's so much more opportunity. And there lies the myth that people think, if I only concentrate on one thing, I'm actually losing out on opportunities. It's actually the other way around.

Yeah.

When you start doing a whole bunch of things and you get to be known as the jack of all trades, you are not the expert. You're actually not the expert of anything. You know how to do a lot of different things. So if you want to be known as an expert in your industry, And sometimes, you know, it actually doesn't have to do with what you've studied in the past. You've got credentials and a whole bunch of letters after your name. If you don't love doing it anymore, I give you permission to let it go. I've been giving permission to my clients to let go of things that don't support them for a very long time. And so if you're listening to this, I give you permission to let go of all the things you don't love doing anymore, because guess what? As entrepreneurs, It is tough out there. And if you're going to get up every day and you're going to start doing things that don't fulfill you and give you positive energy, let it go. Only concentrate on the things that you know fulfill you and you know there's a market out there for it and go deep in that.

Love it. You just mentioned that that was one of the myths. Are there any other myths you think we need to be busting today?

Oh my goodness, there are so many myths. So that one is, is a great one for entrepreneurs because they think they're leaving money on the table. Second is when I'm creating my content, it's like, where do I do it? So I gotta do all the stuff. I gotta be visible on Instagram. I gotta be visible on Facebook, on LinkedIn, on TikTok, on you name it, the next thing that comes around. So that's another myth that, you know, Yeah. exhausts a lot of entrepreneurs. And my message to you is, again, go back to that ideal target audience. Who are they? Where are they hanging out? Really do your due diligence to understand their behaviors. So there are 3 ways of looking at that ideal client. First, people will start with what's called a demographic. So how old are they? you know, where do they live? How much money do they make, et cetera, et cetera. Through research, it's been shown that demographics actually don't work all that well. And I'll come back to that in a minute. The second one that a lot of business owners look at are psychographics. These are people's behaviors, what they like, what they dislike, where do they hang out, who influences them, et cetera, et cetera. So do you know these things about your clients? That's how you can get into their heads and figure out where they're going to be and how you're going to meet them. The third one that's become the most important, I'd say, in the last 5 to 10 years, it's this concept of value graphics. And a lot of people aren't familiar with value graphics yet. And so value graphics is all about what are the values of your clients? Because if you're looking just at demographics, you're going, I'm serving people between 30 and 40 or 30 and 50. That's a lot of people. But do they all love golfing? Do they all value family? Do they all go on X vacation? Well, no. But based on their values, if you find similar value system, then you can get to the heart of that, the behavior of your ideal client faster. And what's even more empowering if there's a value alignment with you. So again, this is not new to a lot of listeners. But have you done the due diligence to know your own non-negotiable values? And if you know what those values are, are you marketing and communicating through your values? And when you do, it's a direct correlation of finding your ideal clients.

I came across that by happenstance. I was the public relations manager for Toastmasters for my district, and we had created these posters and said, do you lack confidence? And the whole plug was if you lack confidence, Toastmasters was a great way for you to overcome any kind of challenges you had with confidence through public speaking, learning to become good leaders. And I remember I was going around the community putting up these posters and I went into a gym and I had my poster in my hand. It says, do you lack confidence? And in the mirror in front of me was a guy doing this. And I thought, this guy doesn't lack confidence. Right? And so then I went back home and I created a whole new poster and it says, you've worked on your body. How about working on your mind? And then I posted that instead. And that, for me, has always been kind of the kind of definition of taking a look at who you're trying to talk to and coming up with messages that resound with them.

Yes.

Yes.

No more. I serve people from 8 to 80.

Yes. Because what does that mean even? It's just an age. That's not the people. And you yourself, you're not your age. People aren't their age. It's just a number.

Yeah.

You want behavior.

Right.

And you want values. You want things that people deeply, deeply care about. That is what moves people. If you take a look at Nike, Nike's probably one of the best marketers of our time. And the reason why they're successful, 2 reasons. I'll narrow it down to 2 reasons why Nike is so good at marketing. One is they've been telling us the same message Forever. It's that consistency of messaging through different types of stories, but it's the same kind of story. It's just the same message at the end of the day. And they've been doing that continually. So from generation to generation to generation, we're buying into that brand because of the consistency of the message. The second is Nike is amazing at marketing because they market to our most intrinsic emotions. They don't market to our head. They don't market to functions. That's how they're known as a brand. They're not a commodity. They're a brand. And so when you look at your business, it doesn't matter that you have a logo or a website or videos, or you got content all over social media. Do you have a brand? Do you have a brand that stands out, that people can recognize, that people will love, that they only want you? Because it represents something deeper to them. That becomes a brand.

Yeah. Yeah. And to your point, everybody who might be tuning in would be thinking, you know, the minute you said the word Nike, right away they got that swish. And what's interesting about Nike is they very rarely ever sell you something in their marketing, right? It's always the dream. It's always the values. It's always the passion and so on.

Yes. Inspiration.

But they're never saying, here's our newest running shoe.

Yeah.

I mean, how many, how many companies do that? And are they still around? And do they have the same kind of following that Nike does? No.

Yeah. Yeah, they don't. It's really interesting because they've really set that pace for some, for what is done when it's done right. I think Apple also is very, very good in a lot of what they do as well, because they got away from this. I mean, when you look at the 1980s, when they had the first Macintosh computers, it was all about the computer and how different it was from everything else. And then they had the PC versus Mac, but then they really got into this new values kind of definition of what their products help people identify with.

Yes, definitely. I mean, Steve Jobs was a genius at marketing. If you're interested, go on YouTube and research his 1996 reveal, product reveal. That's where he talks about how marketing is values, and he goes deeply into how they look at values and how they do marketing from a place of values. And this is back in 1996. I mean, the guy was genius. The only critic that I'll say about Apple these days is ever since his passing, I think Apple has turned more towards product. His is this, this is what our product will do for you. Here's the new camera and the new iPhone. I mean, Apple, the reason why a lot of us are Apple followers mainly was because of the innovation. That really, like, they disrupted the industry with what they did.

Yeah. They set the tone for think differently.

Completely. I mean, that, that's their tagline. It was what drove them. Steve Jobs' mission is to put a dent in the universe. So every product that needed to go out there needed to put a dent in the universe. They didn't just go, oh, we'll just do this cuz it'll be fun and it'll make us maybe some money. But no, they wanted to be changemakers. You know, putting a dent in the universe is not a small task to accomplish. And I'll say that ever since his passing, it just hasn't been the same in the realm of innovation.

Yeah.

And so that is a huge gap that Apple will have to figure out how to fill because slowly throughout the generations, when we're not gonna remember the first iPod and what that did for us and the first MacBook and all of those great things that Certain people at a certain age will remember, but the next generations, why are they going to love that product? And it's the same thing for you. If you're listening, are you thinking about some sort of a legacy that you'll leave behind with your business? And so if you fast forward 40 years from now or 50 years from now, if you are no longer there, because you are the expert and you're the one who's bringing in the vision, but if you are no longer there, The brand still remains. And so what is that brand that's going to speak to people and connect to others?

Is it my imagination or does it feel like branding strategies are more of an afterthought in most people's marketing plans?

That's an interesting question because I get both. Usually entrepreneurs just hit the ground running, right? They've got an idea. They've got a thing they know how to do and they know how to do it well. And they want to put together a website quickly, slap on some social media, and they just want to get going because they need business to come through. So this is like a famous chicken or the egg type scenario. You know, do I get business to come through first and then I'll, I'll spend some time doing my stuff correctly, just get some stuff out of the door, or do I spend time at the beginning building the brand and figuring out what is it that makes me unique and getting all my messaging right and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then going out there and starting to market myself. So I've seen people do it both ways. Both ways can work. It's not like the first way doesn't work. You know, if you're a hustler, you're going to get out there and do it. Obviously don't let anybody stop you because that's the energy that you've got. And when I've seen people spend a lot of time diving into the brand, the clarity that comes from that makes sales easy for them, makes the sales cycle easy for them, because now they don't have to try so hard to sell themselves. Their website is already doing it for them because it's all strategic, right? Please don't choose to do your website with someone if it's just going to be pretty. You want your website to be a strategic alliance for your business. It needs to make you money. So the way that it's designed, every single thing on that homepage needs to be strategic. Then your menu and how people go through the cycle of visiting your different pages and what that experience is like is all very strategic. So again, going back to your question, both ways can work. I can tell you that those who spend more time at the beginning figuring it out do better later on. Those who just go and do it do quite well. And then later on can come back and say, you know what? Now I know what the brand is. Now I know what we're all about. Because we've been on the field. We know what works. We know what doesn't work. And now, we actually have a budget because maybe at the beginning, we didn't have a budget. And so, now, we want to do a better job. And so, let's dive in and do it. So, both ways work.

I love it.

And each way has its own challenges and rewards.

Great. But I think then it's about being intentional and understanding that things will change as you move forward, not just that you're going to establish it necessarily one day and just say, okay, well, I am what I am.

Oh, 100%. 100%. And, and we are who we are temporarily, believe it or not. We change too with the market that's always changing. It's one thing that changes all the time. Change is, is a forever thing. So, so yes.

One of the earliest things that you told me when we started working together, what, 3 years ago, I guess? 3? Was it 3 or 4 years ago? We start— we started working together, and one of the very first things you told me was that if I didn't define my brand. Other people would. And really, having other people talk about me and I have no control over what they're saying actually scared me. And how do I keep my business moving forward if people are— if I'm not in control of the messaging that I'm putting through?

Yes, I love using this quote by Jeff Bezos where he says, your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room. And so, what I love about this quote is that your brand begins when you're no longer there. So when you're not there explaining stuff about your business, what are people saying? What's left behind? What's that experience that they're going to share? That is your brand. Your logo and website are not your brand, but what people are going to go share about you, that is what's remained. So it is kind of scary what people are going to say about you.

It is.

And have you taken the time To put the right words in their mouth. You know, does that happen by accident or is it—

Right.

And this is where the challenging part begins, where people go, it sounds really conceptual, but like, how do I actually do it? And how you do it is the way that you talk about your business. When someone meets you and goes, hey Marc, what do you do? Do you go off in this long explanation? Like, is your elevator pitch 3 minutes long, and then you kind of see their eyes glaring. You know, they're just lost in what they heard. Or do you have quick, snappy, memorable things that people can remember? And then they go, oh, Mark. Yeah, he's a customer experience expert because I'll remember how to say that. So it's also our job as entrepreneurs to use short, snappy, memorable messages. to talk about ourselves so that— and again, in consistency, you just keep saying the same thing even though you think you already said it 10 times. Say it 50 times because people will not remember if they only heard it 3 times. You got to keep repeating, repeating, repeating. And after some time, somebody's beside you and they want to introduce you to someone, and you see the way they introduce you, and it's like, damn, that was really good. How did that happen? Well, you taught them.

I love it. I love it. I'd love to unpack and uncover your philosophy of the one idea. And we'll get to that right after this. When the spotlight shines on your business, are customers applauding or yawning? In other words, how is your business performing? Make your business a star with a new book, Lights!

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today at your favorite online retailer or directly at marchaine.com. Welcome back. I am speaking with one of the most amazing brand strategists in the world, Azadeh Yaraghi, and she's gonna go, no, not in the world. But yes, I think in the world because she is just so connected. to what our needs are. At the top of the show, I talked about the sea of sameness as a day. How can people start to shake that?

Yeah, so I have this concept that I call your one idea. And the concept of the one idea is that people don't buy products and services. They buy an idea and a brand promise. So I know when I usually say that, people go, sure, they buy my products and services. They buy my books, they buy my programs, they buy my coaching or consulting, etc., etc. But actually that's not what people are buying. People tap into the idea and the value, the highest value that they receive from your business. So one of the ways that I guide my clients through this is first you discover what your expertise is. So who are you known as? Like, what's that expertise? And then second is what is the biggest value that you deliver through that expertise? What's something unique that you do that provides value? And what is that value? So let's see, let's say, you know, you land on saying, the value that I provide through the work that I do is I provide confidence to people. Well, then my question to you is, and this is where we start to peel off the layers of the onion, is if you think it's confidence, then when your clients get to a place of confidence, what do they get from there? What's available to them from a place of confidence? Well, then you'd say, they do better. They perform better. Well, if they perform better, what do they get from there? They get better results. If they get better results, what do they get? Well, they feel proud. If they feel proud, what do they get from there? They're happy. If they're happy, what do they get? So, you keep going down this exercise of keep asking yourself, if they get this, what does that open up for them? And at the end, normally, you land on something Where usually when I land on that idea for my clients and it's the one, the hair on my arm stands out because it's deeper. It's not the first thing that's going to come to your head. It's not a logical thing. It's subliminal. It's in your unconsciousness that you probably don't even think about, but it's the highest value that your clients and customers or your patients will get from you. So there's a product or service that you sell or you provide, and the value, the deepest value is what? That becomes your one idea, and that becomes the heart and soul of your brand. So now let's say, you know, we go through that exercise and at the end you go, you know, the deepest idea is peace of mind, right? At the end of that, they just land on peace of mind because if they have peace of mind, if I can get them to a place of peace of mind, they will hire me. That is actually why they hire me to come in because at the end of the day, they reach that place of peace of mind. That becomes what I call your one idea. Now, you're not going to walk around and say, I'm selling peace of mind over here. Peace of mind. Because people will think you're weird. It's not going to work. So your one idea, that peace of mind idea, is your internal strategy. You and only you and maybe your team know that at the end of the day, the highest value that you provide Is peace of mind. So what you do from there is you go to a thesaurus or you do a brainstorming session and you come up with other ways of saying peace of mind. And that becomes the core of your messaging. Then you're going to take all those words and all those concepts, and you're going to trickle it through all your messaging on your website, in your emails, in your brochures, in your PowerPoint presentations, in your sales presentations. You're always wanting to go from a place Of the value that you bring to your clients. And that's called your one idea. I got to tell you, you hit this, you get to know what's at heart of your brand, and it will open up so many opportunities for you to know how to market yourself. It's amazing.

Yeah, it really is. Like when you're walking down the street and you see this beautiful house, you look at the house, you go, wow, that's absolutely gorgeous. But you're not thinking about the foundation.

Yes.

The one idea, to your point, the way that you make it sound is this one idea is actually foundational that you build all your other stuff on top of this idea. Would you say that that would act like the true north on a compass for the operation?

Yes, that's right. It keeps your focus. It simplifies everything because now you're not saying, we do this, we do that, we also do this. Well, you do all of those. But why? What is the highest value that you doing all of these different services What is the highest value of that? And that becomes the heart of your brand.

Yeah. And precious few people— it's funny when I talk to entrepreneurs and I say, why do you do what you do? Precious few of them ever say to make money.

Some do.

Somewhere along the way. Well, but actually when you talk to them and say, how did you get started in it? That's where you start seeing the passion points.

Yes.

Nobody started to do their welding shop because they wanted to make money. Yeah. They looked at it and go, well, because I saw that there was something missing in the marketplace. I know I'm really good at this.

That's right.

Right. And the money is a spinoff.

That's right. The money is a spinoff. So, and those who have their eye too stuck on the money have a harder time during the process because what happens there is they're looking for their buyout, for their gain versus the other way around.

Yeah.

In my journey, I've been humbled many, many times on this journey of entrepreneurship, and I've learned Through the hard examples that you need to provide value to others. You're here to serve. And as you say it really well, to be of service to others. And what comes from you being of service to others, how well you do that, will trickle into your results. So the better you serve others, the higher your income and results will be. And a lot of time it's not even income, but The opportunities that open up, the kinds of roles you'll be asked to maybe step into, or the kinds of people you're going to attract to work with you will all come because you're there to provide the service that you do really well. But that's where you—

Yeah, this is fascinating. This is so amazing. And I'm sure people are just taking all this in. I do encourage people to come back to this episode because I know that this is like a fire hose. There's so much great wisdom here. Azadeh, how can people get in contact with you if they want to reach out to you?

So best place is probably either LinkedIn or Facebook. My Instagram is more of a personal page. So yeah, most of my clients either hang out on Facebook or Instagram. So Azadeh Yaraghi, as you see it on there, if you find me on Instagram or Facebook. And if you're listening to all this and you're wondering, well, how does that— I don't know how that resonates with what I'm up to, or how do I do this whole one idea thing? Or can you take a look at my website and see if I'm on the right track? Anytime I get asked to do these podcast interviews or speak, I always have a gift for the listeners. So if you stuck around to watch this and you've shared it with someone and you're getting to this part of the conversation, then Marc, if you want to go ahead and share that link that I shared with you, if you go to my website, gogotelugo.com/discovery, I'm offering you a 30-minute discovery session where this is all for you. It's not about me. It's about you. So you get to bring your questions. And I'm giving you half an hour of my time to get through either your one idea concept or to take a look at your website, take a look at your social media. Or you might just have more of a fundamental question as to, hey, I've been doing this for a long time, but it's not working. People don't get it. I'm not seeing the results. I don't know how I can better connect with my ideal clients. Well, let's talk about it. Go to that link.

Perfect.

Let's schedule a call and we'll go through it together.

So a nice little segue to that is how do people know when they are on the right track?

Usually it's through your results. Are you getting the results that you really want to get? And those results are either money, you're seeing you're selling it and people are accepting it. So is that coming across? Or maybe that might not come across immediately, but are you connecting with the right people and you're seeing results in terms of opportunities and different things that you're stepping into? And that means people are getting what you're doing. How are people responding to you when you describe what you're up to? Is it an excited, like, oh, that's really cool, tell me more. Or, okay, yeah, that's nice. Hey, you know the Canucks? Like, that was a terrible game. And they changed the subject. So that just means it didn't resonate. They checked out. And so, yeah, I mean, there are so many different ways of knowing if it's working or not, but these are the main ones.

Would it be fair to say that sometimes when people will talk about you that they don't They might not know why you're so amazing. They just know that you're amazing. And so somebody deals with a company and they're like, oh my God, they're just so fantastic. But then when they say, why is it so fantastic? They actually go in, well, they took care of this, this, and this and this. But they really, they themselves haven't perceived the branding or perceived the promise statement or whatever. They just know that you're different than anybody else on the planet.

All right. Okay. Yes. So I've had this happen to some when clients come and say, hey, we know we're doing the right things because our Yeah. We know that our clients are happy, but we don't quite know why they're so happy. Like, what is a part of our business that's going really well where it produces really good results? And then sometimes it doesn't. So it's a bit of an enigma. I usually suggest conversations with the client. So we generally run a survey, and I always recommend that a third party runs the survey, not you yourself, because maybe your clients don't want to tell you directly. Certain things, nice or not so nice.

Really?

But they just, there's a bit of editing that happens when they're talking to you directly versus talking to a stranger they have no connection with. So, and going through those surveys, you, you get a lot of insights as to why they chose to work with you in the first place. A lot of times it's not what you think. It's so interesting. Uh, so why did they choose to work with you? What part of the process did they enjoy the most? What suggestions do they have for improvement? And do they actually talk about you outside the normal workdays? Do they go around in the conversations, they're talking about you? And then who are those people? So, there's usually about 12 questions and it's a 15-20 minute conversation. And that gives a lot of insights as to why are we so awesome or why do we suck so much.

It takes, takes a little bit of humility to come to the latter part of that one.

Yeah, and it's all insights, right? You want to know the truth. You can only—

Yeah, you do.

You know, put your head in the sand for so long. If you really care about your business to work, the best is to hear it from your clients. And a lot of times it's not always the clients who are happy, but those who are not happy. So if there was a project where things didn't go quite well, it's humbling to contact that person and say, hey, you know, I realize things could have gone better. with your project, and we're doing our due diligence to improve our services. And so, you know, we've hired this branding agency or whoever, and we're going through this process, and we would love to hear from you.

It's going to be really interesting with the airline industry because the airline industry seems to be having a— they're getting kicked a lot because of breakdowns. And as they were coming out of COVID they've let a lot of people down. So I'm going to be really interested in the next few years to really follow the airline industry and see how they're going to kind of build back some of that, again, the values-driven decision-making in order to really make sure that they're going to be serving their clients effectively. It's going to be interesting from a marketing standpoint, I think.

Oh, definitely. And then the question will always be, do they understand what people are going through right now? Because there are so many weird emotions right now around traveling, staying at hotels, Do I stay at an Airbnb? Do I just find, you know, some other place to stay? And so are airlines doing the due diligence to understand what's happening in the hearts and minds of people traveling? And so how are they going to accommodate and stand out from competition based on that research that they do?

Yeah, yeah. And it makes so much sense. Hey, we will come right back right after this break with more from Azadeh Yaraghi.

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Welcome back. I am speaking with the founder of Go! Go! Toluca Creatives, Azadeh Yaraghi. As you can tell, Azadeh and I are passionate about serving entrepreneurs and business managers Just like you. So, if you belong to an industry association or an organization that you feel that we could be of service to, feel free to drop us a line or do a connection request. Our details are going to be in the show notes. They're there right now. Feel free to reach out. Azadeh, how does one uncover what is actually unique about themselves? You mentioned this thing about going back into kind of the one idea. But some people might not be able to get That focus? A lot of people, because they're so, I guess, in the forest that they really can't ask the proper questions to get to that unique component.

Yes, great question. So I've got 3 steps for you to follow in order to get there. The number one question is, what is the million-dollar problem that you solve? It seems like an easy question, but you got to think about it. What is the million-dollar problem that you solve? So your clients, your ideal clients will come to you with an issue, with something they're struggling with, and it's a deep one. It's not just on the surface level, but it's a deep one. So what is it that that problem is that you are solving? You got to get super clear on what that is, because if you're not clear on that, and if there are 5 of them, Then you're not focused enough. You got to pick one, right? And we talked about this at the beginning of the show where you pick one versus 10, right? So you don't go this way, you go this way, you go deep. So you pick that one problem that you're solving and it means a lot to your audience. The second step is how is it that you are solving that problem in a unique way? So is it your methodology? Is it the experience that you're bringing to the table? Is it like, what is it about you is really unique to you? Is it your personality? Like the way that you do it with your energy, the kind of research that you have? Like there's something about you that you do really well. And that's the reason people pick you every single time. So you got to get uber clear about what that is. And then when you know that, then you nail your one idea, which is what we just talked about. And that is, What is the highest value that people come to you for? And that's what you're delivering. That's actually your promise statement. And once you know there, that's when you know your strength. That's actually when you're in your power as an entrepreneur. You know that that's what you do really well. And then comes the work of making sure all of your marketing collateral, your website, your videos, your social media, all of your messaging carry information about those 3 steps.

Yeah. And those 3 steps are then rooted in every aspect of the marketing collateral as well. The colors you choose, the fonts you choose, the tone of text and whatever that is. It carries through all that. How does one sort through that? How does one know that, okay, I've figured that out, but I'm a plumber. I know that the reason why we're so fantastic is because we take extra time to make sure that we train our technicians in every aspect of our business. And so, we are constantly getting high scores because people love our technicians. They care about the people whose houses they go into, and people just love us. But how do they figure out then that next step of how do we reflect this so that it is that subconscious kind of connection to those values through the imagery and everything that we produce?

Well, I got to tell you, if you're not in this industry, it'll be probably hard for you to do it on your own because your genius is probably somewhere else. So how you do it is, A, first discovering the answer to those 3 questions that I just went over. Second is hiring a really great marketing or branding person to take you through the process. So it's hard to do it on your own because you only know so much about messaging. You only know so much about websites. So you don't know what you don't know. And so here comes the part where you're not spending, you're investing in your business by hiring a professional who's going to do a really great job for you. And you always want to look at the ROI. So if you're going to spend X amount of money with them creating what that brand is creating, really identifying and expressing the uniqueness of you, how quickly are you going to get that back? So how many clients do you have to land in order to pay for that investment? That usually, if you look at that ROI and it's a no-brainer, my goodness, do it because you do it once, you do it well, and you will have it forever. Yes, you will do tweaks along the way, but when the foundation is super strong, you'll see business results right away from it.

Wonderful. For the people who are watching and listening to this, are there any cautionaries we should be aware of as people start kind of investigating their one idea and their brand?

Cautionary? I don't know if it's cautionary. I'd say don't think about it too much. You got to go with the first thing that comes to you as soon as you start going through the step-by-step process that I outlined before. And if you're just catching the show now, just go back in the recording when we talked about the one idea. Really approach it with an open mind and from a place of, I want to discover, versus, I already know, or, I have no idea. I've never been able to figure it out. You know, there's that despair sometimes that settles. You know, I got to tell you, with the experience that I've had working with all sorts of people from all walks of life, whether they're just new to their business or they've had their business for 20 years. And if that confusion settles in, the confusion is temporary. You actually know why you're awesome. You know, you just have to let it out or work with someone who's going to guide you through a process that will clarify it if you're not able to see it yourself.

You mean like somebody who can reach into your soul and pull it all out? Like Little Miss Azadeh. You know, having gone through your process, what you're talking about makes so much sense. And for people who haven't gone through the process, I wonder if they might not have clarity on what that would feel like. But trust me, when it happens, it's like, oh my goodness, this is it.

Yeah, this is it. It's been there all along and I just didn't see it because you're so, you're too close to what you do. And so usually it's best to bring a third party. And I have so many colleagues that I love and respect. So if anyone wants to jump on that discovery session together, I'd be more than happy to provide recommendations.

And to have that conversation. That's great. Azadeh, this has been really, really amazing. Could you just remind everybody one more time how they can get a hold of you?

Yes, of course. So I'm quite active on LinkedIn and Facebook. So you see my name, go find my name. There's not a lot of Azadeh Yaraghi's. Or you know what I look like now, so you can find me quite easily. Secondly, go to the link gogotelugo.com/discovery to schedule your 30-minute complimentary, as a gift to you by watching Marc Haine's fabulous show. You get that gift from me. So, 30 minutes of chitchat and whatever you want to talk about. It'd be my pleasure.

Fantastic! Before we sign off, do you have any last thoughts about what we're talking about today?

Yes, I want to Remind you that people don't buy products and services, they buy an idea and a brand promise. So what are you promising to them? At the end of the day, what is your ultimate promise to people? So own your you-ness. I talk about you stepping into that you-ness, that thing that makes you unique, the magic that you and only you create in this world, because the The world is waiting for you to shine. So, get out there and create your magic.

Love it! Azadeh, thank you so much for sharing your passion and your expertise today. It was brilliant.

Thank you for having me.

Why don't you let me know if this was of value to you? As always, my offer stands. If you would like 30 minutes of my time to brainstorm your business with you and your team, feel free to book yourself on my online calendar. The link is In the show notes. It's the one marked meetwith.marchaine.com. It would be my absolute honor for me to be of service to you. And while you're at it, why don't you go ahead and leave a review about this episode in the comment box? Was this good? Did you take away anything? Could we do anything better? I'd love to get your feedback. Was this ultimately of value to you? It's been so great hanging out with you. Thank you for Thank you for joining me today. My name is Marc Haine. I hope you stay safe. I hope you stay healthy. And I hope you dare to be the exception.

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