In my last blog, I gave you three powerful strategies that you simply must employ to build and promote a high growth online business. The three strategies are:

    1. Narrow your focus down to an Ideal Client and
    2. Find a way to clearly differentiate your business, then
    3. Create a process strategically designed to sell.

We focused on strategy number one in the last blog post which was about learning how to serve the right audience and solve their most urgent problem by narrowing your focus using the Power of One to become an expert in your industry.

In Part 2 of this series, you’ll learn about how to differentiate your business from your competition. Simply put, you have to find a way to differentiate your business from the dozens of businesses that are similar to yours.

Let’s face it. Lot’s of businesses offer a similar product or service to yours, right? If you are a coach or a consultant all you have to do is Google ‘coaching” or ‘consulting’ into your browser and you will see thousand of articles and websites from coaches and consultants.

Whatever your niche is, you have to be able to differentiate your business. I found a great article for you about 8 ways to make your business stand out.

Here is a quick summary…

8 Ways to Make Your Business Stand Out

  1. Narrow your target market
  2. Focus on superior customer service and follow-up
  3. Solve a problem
  4. Be innovative
  5. Create offers that are hard to ignore
  6. Become known as the expert in your field
  7. Make it easy to do business
  8. Create a unique business model based on your values

Branding is the key to differentiating your business. Think about what makes Jimmy Johns (Freaky Fast Delivery) different from Subway?  What makes Domino’s different from Pizza Hut?

Your brand is what people think about when they need a product or service you provide.  Your brand is what people say about you. Your brand is ultimately your reputation. It’s what you are known best for.

Your brand is more than your logo and the type style and design you use in your marketing materials. To have a memorable brand you need a have and be able to deliver what I call a “Million Dollar Message”.

Create Your Million Dollar Message in 5 Easy Steps

I know that you may not see this now, but with the right Million Dollar Message you can literally 10X your business to your Ideal Client.

Once you have defined your Ideal Client Avatar and you are clear about what their pains, frustrations, dreams and goals are, it’s time to expand on that knowledge by crafting your million dollar message to them.

Your message is a key tool to reach your target audience. You will use some form of it in everything you do related to marketing your business whether it’s building your website, designing new products, presenting webinars, networking, or building online courses.

When you get it right, your million dollar message will help you stand out in a crowded marketplace and grow your business.

So what is a million dollar marketing message? Your million dollar marketing message comes down to a simple sentence that informs your client about what you do that is unlike your competitors and the main benefits you offer.

Think Domino’s Pizza—”Fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less—or it’s free.”

Or Fedex, “When your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight”

Or how about, BMW’s “The ultimate driving machine.”

And one of my favorites, NyQuil, “The nighttime, sniffing, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep with a cold medicine.”
Wow, is that clear? NyQuil’s message may not be fancy, but it is very clear and being very clear and deliverable is what makes for an outstanding marketing message to ideal customers.

If you are a coach, consultant or content creator, this crucial sentence is your Transformational Statement.  Some marketers refer to their central marketing message as  a USP—Unique Selling Proposition.  What you call it doesn’t matter.  What does matter is that it is clear and almost irresistible to your Ideal Avatar.

Speak to Their Pain, Pleasure and Make It Personal

An irresistible Marketing  Message is focused on stating the outcome or result that your Ideal Avatar wants while assuring them that you will also help them avoid the thing they fear or hate. That is why it is so important to have a complete understanding of who your Ideal Client is and what they want and don’t want.

Here is an example of a million dollar message for a health coach who targets stay-at-home moms:

 

I help stay-at-home moms lose up to 18 pounds in 30 days so they can look and feel their best without giving up foods they love or spending hours at the gym.

Do you see how focused and clear the message is? Do you know who the target customer is and what they can expect from working with this health coach?

Now it’s your turn.  Think about the pains, fears  and dreams your Ideal Client has. The goal of your message is to move your ideal client from pain to pleasure. Use the template below to craft your core Million Dollar Message.

 

Don’t complicate this important step.  Writing a million dollar marketing message is not difficult. While it can be stated in many different ways, it boils down to  these five easy steps:

  1. Clearly identify your target market. (Who do you serve?)
  2. What is the goal they want to achieve?
  3. Ask, “What is the one big problem my client has and how do I solve it in a way that is different from  my competitors?”
  4. Present your solution to their most urgent problem and identify the benefits they get.
  5. State the result they can expect. (What they really want to have without experiencing what they want to avoid)

My challenge for you from this post is to spend a little uninterrupted time and think about why someone would choose you over a competitor. Then write down your thoughts into a simple sentence. Take time to really think through who your ideal client is and what you can do to serve them better and craft that into your million dollar message to them.

It doesn’t have to be brilliant or clever. It just has to be something you can deliver consistently.  When you can do that, you will have a memorable brand.

Feel free to share this article with someone you know and please leave me a comment below.  I’d love to hear your ideas about what you found to be helpful or what else you think you might need. You can either post a question here or shoot me an email.  I’d love to help you if I can.

Bye for now…I’ll see you in my next blog.

And remember…I Believe In You!