Finding Your Platform: How to Create a Targeted Marketing Strategy That Works
When it comes to marketing, many entrepreneurs and small business owners struggle with the expectation that they need to do it all. But by having a presence on every single platform, they’re likely spreading themselves too thin and casting their nets too wide to engage meaningfully with the clients they can serve best.
The most successful marketing strategies target a clear audience with a specific need by leveraging the platforms they’re already using. Isha Cogborn of Platform for Purpose joined Dr. Nadia Brown to discuss how small business owners can narrow in on their ideal audience, most compelling platforms, and unique value add in the marketplace to build a targeted marketing strategy that will get them in front of the right people more often and with less effort.
Introducing Isha Cogborn
00:03 – Nadia
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Straight Talk About Sales. I am so excited for today's guest. She's not only a guest; she's also a really good friend of mine. Welcome Isha Cogborn, who is founder of Epiphany Institute and Startup Life Support. Welcome, Isha.
00:22 – Isha
Thank you so much for having me, Dr. Nadia.
00:26 – Nadia
Excited you’re here. So, let's start with you just kind of giving us a picture of what brought you to where you are today in terms of the work that you do with your clients.
00:42 – Isha
In terms of the work that I do with my clients, let me tell folks what that work is so then they'll understand how I got here. But I work with experts and thought leaders, consultants, folks whose product is really their knowledge, and I help them to build their platforms – key word here, key phrase here – without burning out. And that's so important to me, because there are so many people out there that are getting the advice that “Oh, you need to be on every platform out there. You need to be on TikTok, you need to be on LinkedIn, you need to be live streaming 25 times a day, you need to have a podcast, you need to be speaking, you need to write a book.” And it's like, okay, how in the world are you all doing all of this stuff and still serving your clients at a high level? And I don't know, maybe some folks just have a much greater capacity than I do. And if you do and you can be on all those platforms and do all that stuff and still do the work, more power to you. Do it.
That's not my story, and it's not the story for the people that I work with. They are overwhelmed and trying to figure out, “Okay, yes, I want to reach more people. I want to help more people. But at the same time, I am not trying to kill myself in the process.” So, in the work that I do with them, it's really important that we get your message tight so that it's cutting through the noise, that you know clearly who your audience is, and then figuring out now, where are those platforms where you need to show up – and it's not all of them – where you are actually going to be able to reach your audience? And hopefully, it's a platform that either you already enjoy using or you can learn to enjoy using. Because if it's something that you don't like doing, you're probably not going to be consistent with it.
So that's the work that I do. And you know, again, it's just really focused on how are we cutting through that burnout? Because a lot of people are running away from putting themselves out there, period, because it just all feels too overwhelming.
Tightening Up Your Message and Targeting Your Ideal Audience
02:56 – Nadia
So good. So, somebody may be wondering, like, “Okay, Dr. Nadia, this is all about sales, right?” But I know all too well that when your message is off, or you're too tired doing all the things, or you’ve done all the things but you're attracting just anybody, like, it ultimately impacts your sales.
So, one thing that you mentioned, Isha, was getting your message tight. Like, who you're talking to doesn't just boil down to when you're in a sales conversation; like, it starts long before you get to that point. So, tell us more about why is it so important to have a tight message? And how do we tighten it up?
03:39 – Isha
Well, the reason it's important is because people have so many messages coming at them already. I forgot what the status, but it's something like 20,000 messages or impressions a day we're bombarded with. And so, why do you think that they should listen to you? And as important as what you do may be to you – and if they listened, it may be just as important to them – but the task is how do you get them to listen? And so, you've got to be able to really make them feel like, “Okay, she gets me. She's walking around in my head. She understands my problems.” Like, you're speaking to the needs that I have, you know, all of those things. Because if not, then I don't have time to listen to you, lady. You're great at what you do, but I don't have it.
And so, when we look at how do we get that message tight, it really comes down to, first of all, really understanding who it is that you want to serve and the problem that you solve. And when I ask people that question who come to me initially – if you're struggling to answer that, if you're struggling to answer the problem, what problem do you solve – you're probably going to be struggling with your sales. Because you're probably approaching that sales conversation or your copy – if they go to your website, and it's, “Okay, what does your program offer?” It may be, oh, you get five sessions, or we spend the day together and you get a 50-page workbook and this and this and this and a bunch of stuff. Well, I don't care about the stuff. What is the outcome of me giving you my money? And so, I want to know how I am going to be different.
And the way that we often describe the problem is different than the way our audience describes it. Especially if you're not a person who's ever had the problem. So, imagine this, if you're a personal trainer, and you used to be at a weight that was not ideal for you, and you lost weight, now you understand what that process feels like, to perhaps go through those challenges that it took you to achieve that goal if you struggled with it. If you're someone who is just naturally thin, and you know, weight has never been a challenge for you, you may be just as good at helping me achieve that goal. But you've got to speak to me from the point of my challenges, the place in my chest. And if you don't understand that language, if you don't understand what that feels like, then you're going to have a more challenging time cutting through and being able to, you know, really make people feel like, “Okay, you get me.”
Identifying Your Unique Value Add in The Marketplace
06:40 – Nadia
Yeah, so good. You're right. Like, if you don't know the problem you solve, because that's usually one of the first questions I ask, you know, like, when it comes to sales piece, then the rest of it is just a hot mess.
But one thing that I know personally that you do really well, is really, well, two things. Because one, the other part of what you share was also, like, who's your ideal client. Like, who are you talking to? And some people have…it's so broad. They're like, “Well, I can help everybody.” You could, but you probably don't want to work with everybody, right? So, two-part question. One is, what's the process? Or how do people home in on who they're trying to reach? Because just as much there's a lot of messages coming at us, there's also a lot of people on the planet.
The second piece to that is really around how to share how I'm different, right? Because there a lot of personal trainers out there. But how do I as a personal trainer, if I were one, do I stand out from the others as I'm trying to talk to my ideal person. And I know you have some gems around this. I've benefited personally.
07:54 – Isha
When it comes to figuring out who you want to work with, one of the most wonderful things that you can do for yourself and for your clients is to figure out who you're uniquely gifted to serve.
Like you said, you can work with a whole lot of people. You're good at what you do, and they could all benefit. But if there is something about who you are that uniquely positions you with a certain audience, then again, it's going to help you to cut through that noise. It’s going to help them to create a deeper bond and deeper trust with you, and likely you're going to help them to be able to get even greater results. So, how do you figure that out?
I have a framework that I created that I use with my clients in a number of different areas. I use it with corporate people when they're trying to position themselves for promotion. I use it with business owners. But it's called the tail of the TAPE. And I won't get into the whole setup of that. But essentially, “TAPE” is an acronym that stands for your talents, abilities, passions, and experiences. Your talents, what are those things that you're just naturally gifted at are your gifts, your abilities, and the things that you've learned to be really good at.
But here are two things that may really help you to identify the audience you're uniquely gifted to serve. What are your passions, those things that get you really, really excited or make you really angry? And that could look like…you know, we think passion and we’re like, ‘Oh I love to read,’ but your passion could be something like, “You know what? I hate to see it when people are living beneath their potential.” And that may drive you so crazy that in the work that you do, that's a big piece of what you're trying to help people to overcome. That's a passion. It may not really have anything to do with the work you do; that could apply to any industry and any service that you're providing. But if that is an underlying passion of yours, then it may it help you to say, “Alright, if I'm really passionate about helping people who are struggling to live their full potential, let me find those people. What do they have in common?” Are they you know, people who lack self-confidence, who maybe have gone through trauma? You know, any number of things. You know, so what is it, when you look at your passions, that there may be some way to connect that to your work, something that's inherently inside of you.
Another thing is your experiences. And this is by far, like, my favorite thing to help people to look at. And when we talk about your experiences, we're not talking about your resume; we're not talking about your education. But what are the things that have happened in your life, good or bad, that have shaped who you are, the way you see the world, and the way you relate to people? I'm gonna say that again because you might be driving; you couldn't write it down. What are the things that have happened in your life, good or bad, that have shaped who you are, the way you see the world, and the way you relate to people?
And when we think about an experience like that, you know, look at your life. Look at each stage of your life. When you were growing up, were you a good student, or did you struggle in school? Based on that, that may have shaped the way you see the world. Think about your adult life. You know, in your career, were you always feeling like you were an overachiever or somebody that was, you know, on that track for high performance, or were you always the underdog? Other life experiences: did you grow up in a home where things were shaky? Did you grow up where there wasn't a lot of money? Or maybe there was, and you felt like, you know, things should just come to you easy and so that gives you a different perspective. So, no matter who you are, there are things that have shaped who we are, the way we see the world, and the way we relate to people. I run into women, in particular, a lot who will say things like, “Oh, well, I just don't like women.” or “I don't get along with women.” Why? That comes from something that has happened in your life. There was an experience that shaped the way you relate to other women.
So, mine your life for those things. And as you look at the work that you do, is there some element of your passions, is there some element of your life experiences that will allow you to look at that and say, “You know what, that will be a good audience for me”? You might sell life insurance, but perhaps you have a special needs child. And so that gives you a very unique perspective. And so, you may say, “I'm going to really focus on families that have special needs children, because I can help them to think through some things that a regular person doing this work” – ‘a regular person.’ Though, you know, I mean that someone who doesn't get it because they haven't lived that experience – they wouldn't think about those needs that you have. So, dig into that stuff. And it may be stuff that you want to run from, that you may even be ashamed of, you don't want to talk about, you don't want to acknowledge. But it just may be the thing that puts you in a position to be able to really differentiate yourself in a marketplace and serve people in a way that you never thought you could.
To Share or Not to Share?
14:13 – Nadia
That was a mouthful. I'm like, where are the notes, right? But I already knew, so I had inside scoop that was coming.
But one question I want to ask, Isha, because I feel like, especially coming from corporate, right, having a corporate background where you are encouraged a lot of times to separate who I am at home from who I am at work and now you're an entrepreneur and people like yourself are inviting me to start sharing these stories, how do people reconcile the stories or what to talk about, right? Like, I’d rather just sweep that under the rug and pretend it didn't happen. What are some of the benefits of not doing that?
14:53 – Isha
Well, I will say one thing: I tell people all the time…and this comes up a lot when I'm training speakers. And, you know, we're looking for those stories that are going to connect to the heart of your audience, right. And sometimes those stories that people may want to tell could have some details in them that are still raw for you. And if you're not healed, leave it alone. Don't talk about those things, because you don't want to, you know, basically treat your audience as your therapist. That's not what we want to do here. But if you're in a place where you can talk about those experiences with perspective that your audience can benefit from, and if they find themselves in similar situations or that they been in those situations before, there is an opportunity for you to edify them and give them something valuable, then you just have to ask yourself, ‘Is that worth talking about?’
Now, if it is highly uncomfortable for you, if you feel like ‘Oh, if I share this is gonna tear my family apart and blah, blah,’ now, we're not doing that for the sake of a sale. But if you feel that, you know what, talking about this side of myself or talking about this particular experience that I went through, while it's uncomfortable…and maybe you consider yourself a very private person. It's funny because people that don't know me think that I'm, you know, very outgoing in terms of sharing things about my life. People who really know me know that I'm a pretty private person, because there are things that, you know, people in my inner circle know about me and know about my life that the public doesn't know until there is a point that I feel like I want to talk about it. And even in that I do so very thoughtfully. It isn't like, ‘Oh, I had a fight with my husband today’ – I'm not married, but… and you know – ‘I'm gonna get online. And I'm gonna talk about this because there could be other people out there who are struggling with it.’ No, you're still in the middle of it. No, we're not doing that. We're not doing that. So it is, are you at a point that you're healed and there are valuable lessons that others could benefit from in what you're going to share? And that is the key.
Keeping Up with Content: Repurposing for Multiple Platforms
17:26 – Nadia
That is so good. So, so good. I want to circle back to something you mentioned earlier, Isha. So, one of the things that I hear a lot from clients, especially when it comes to the marketing and messaging side, is how do I get in front of more of my ideal client? Like, I feel like, you know, all of us kind of have that question sometimes. And you mentioned, like, not being on all the things. I can't even keep up. I feel like the old lady now, where I’m like ‘What? What is this thing?’ Right? So, what do we do? Like, how do we how do we narrow it down? How do we not try to keep up with all of this stuff and still feel like we're doing what we need to do in order to build a thriving business?
18:10 – Isha
Yeah. So, it comes back to – and all this really stacks on top of each other. So, once you figure out this is the problem that I solve and this is the audience that I want to serve, then we're looking at, okay, where are those people at. And then also, based on what you do, what platforms are going to be ideal for you to share with them?
If you're a stylist, Instagram is probably your favorite platform, because it's very visual, and the work that you do is very visual. So, you're probably going to choose Instagram and YouTube, because then you can demonstrate what you're doing. But let's say this, too. Let's say you decide, “I really want to reach professional women.” Then you may take those same videos that you're creating on YouTube and share them on LinkedIn, you know, those that you find are appropriate. Because LinkedIn is wonderful. Like, if you haven't been on LinkedIn in years, it is not the LinkedIn of the days of old. It is truly a content sharing platform now. Most people have capabilities for LinkedIn Live. You can share videos; you can share files. There's so much more that you can do now that you couldn't do before. And there aren't a whole lot of people creating content on LinkedIn. It still may be only about 5% of the users. And so, it isn't going to be as noisy as Instagram or Facebook or YouTube. And because there isn't as much original content, your content is going to have a longer shelf life.
And so, consider it that way. So, always looking at ways to leverage that if you are creating content for one platform, how can you leverage it for others? And being able to slice it and dice it. If you do a video, then how can you take that video…and now I'm taking a 32nd sound bite and the 62nd sound bite, and I'm posting that on other platforms, or I'm pulling that powerful quote that someone said and I'm creating a graphic out of that. So, it isn't about having to create, you know, 50 million different types of content. It's how do you, you know, have what is really your cornerstone content – and it could be a podcast, it could be a live stream, it could be your book – but how do you fully leverage that across different mediums and whichever platforms that you choose to use?
20:50 – Nadia
I love that. Yeah, there are a lot of choices, but we need to be focused.
20:56 – Isha
Yeah. I mean, think about it, too. If you're creating content, and it's on 50 gazillion different platforms, are you going back and engaging with people on those platforms? So, if somebody comments on it, does that comment sit there unanswered for three months? So, that's not a good thing. You know, so really pick. You know, where are those platforms that you're going to show up, where your people most likely are and want to engage?
And then you can say…like, for me, Instagram is really not my thing. I have a presence on Instagram. And I probably post to Instagram twice a month because I know people are there, but I am decidedly not an Instagram power user. But I exist there. I don't exist on TikTok. I have no plans to exist on TikTok. I know it's a great tool. It's just not my thing, and I have no FOMO about needing to be there.
22:00 – Nadia
I have a TikTok account.
Isha
I have one. I have an account. Ask me if I've ever posted any anything.
Nadia
I haven’t posted anything!
22:12 – Isha
My 10-year-old…well, she's 12 now…cousin, my little cousin, I was home for Christmas one year, and she had me dancing on TikTok with her, so then she made me create an account so that she could use my account to go and like her videos.
Leveraging Speaking Engagements
22:32 – Nadia
That's how I got an Instagram account. It had absolutely nothing to do with me. It was a young person in my life.
So, you talk about stories. And I know stories…you know, you hear it a lot in sales, but also in marketing and messaging, and one of your many talents is also helping your clients with not only stories but leveraging speaking. But I think sometimes when it comes to speaking, we put that in a box, right? Just this speaking looks like this, whatever “this” is, and you put it in a box. So, one thing I would love for you to expound on is not only just leveraging different stories, which I think you did a great job of talking about why we should do that, but how do you leverage speaking and what speaking really could potentially look like for those of us who may be interested in leveraging that in terms of our messaging and our marketing?
23:27 – Isha
It's funny. I met with a client; we had a full day strategy retreat last month. And one of the things that she told me… like, she does a lot of trainings. She had a training company, so she's very comfortable doing that at very high levels. But she says, “Well, I don't do keynotes.” And as we dug into it, the reason that she felt ‘I don't do keynotes’ is because in her mind, keynote look like Les Brown. So, she saw someone very high energy moving across the stage, being very dynamic, you know, all of that. But keynote can also look like, “I have slides, and I'm teaching.” It can also still be interactive. If I'm doing a keynote, I'm still typically giving the audience some type of work to do, because I want there to be a strong takeaway.
And so beyond thinking about…for talking about speaking, a good thing to know is what your style is. I call it your platform personality, and I actually created a quiz to help people figure this out. You know, if you're a motivator, then your speaking style may be very much, “I'm telling stories, you know, I'm encouraging people, you know, I'm gonna make people feel like they can go and conquer the world.” If you're a teacher, or if you're an expert, it is really going to be about sharing information to get someone to be able to do a thing, to accomplish something. So, if you're an influencer, you are probably not an expert, but you may have the ability to be able just to reach people, to connect with people. You may know a little bit about a lot of different things. And so, you may be bringing other people in to, you know, share and talk about things. So, knowing your style can take some of the angst out of speaking, and once you know your style, looking at those opportunities.
You know, is it keynotes? Is it trainings? Is it being on panels? There's free speaking versus paid speaking. If the goal for you is, “I want to be in a room full of my ideal clients and get them to purchase my product or services,” then you may be willing to go somewhere and speak for free, because you know, it's about building my list or getting in the back of the room and being able to sell my products or services. If you're somebody like me, who a big chunk of my revenue and what I do and the value, the service that I provide is actually speaking and training, I expect to check. So, it's knowing how to leverage it, when it makes sense for you. If you're just getting started and just need to really cut your teeth and build your confidence, then you may say, “Okay, I'm gonna speak to some random audiences that may not always be my ideal client, because I just want to get some experience.” Or “I want to just be able to post pictures or video of me speaking.” So, you're there just to create content, perhaps, and not necessarily to sell product or to sell services. It isn't so much about the audience; it's kind of more about you in that case. And that's okay if you go into it knowing that.
But once you evolve beyond that, if you're saying, “I'm gonna take this speaking engagement,” you really want to think about is it worth your while? You want to be strategic, because speaking still takes time, still takes energy, still takes preparation– at least it should. Because you don't want to go and stand in front of an audience and wing it. Because that is a poor use of their time to have to listen to you wing it. No matter how good you think you are, you still need to respect your audience and prepare. So, in accepting those speaking engagements or determining that you're going to get out there and do it – same thing for podcasts, same thing for, you know, all of that, too – you want to look at is this going to get me in front of my ideal client? And it may be a smaller stage or a podcast with a smaller following. Like, you may get really excited to get that 5,000-person audience or that podcast that was, you know, highly ranked. But if they're your people…you know, it's good to stroke your ego, it feels great, but it may not lead to new sales. And so, don't get so caught up in the size of the crowd of the platform. Focus on if these are your people are not.
28:21 – Nadia
So good. I see that especially on my side, because, you know, by the time we get to do our part, that part has been done. And I can always tell, you know, when we're talking to people. I'm like, ‘What did you do? What did you do the get these people to this point?’ Because you can tell when it's done well and when it's not.
28:40 – Isha
Yeah. And so, you know, when you think about it…just want to camp out there for a second. If you're using speaking as a part of your marketing strategy, so you're saying, “Alright, I want three speaking engagements a month. That ought to give me this many leads.” If you're not in the right rooms, if it's not the right audience, it’s not going to lead to the sales results that you want. So then again, you are wasting your time. Unless, again, you're just there to get that experience or for those photo ops.
Gaining Confidence as a Speaker
29:15 – Nadia
Yes, and that's a very good distinction. So, I want you to expound a little bit more on the speaking thing. I noticed it’s something that you do a lot of in your work, especially in the Platform for Purpose Incubator. I just, I hesitate, because I'm like, I don't know which is worse, but I think speaking is probably the one that people hate the most or are most fearful of versus sales and speaking in sales. Like, I don’t want to do either one of those. I think speaking takes the cake because most people don't have to really think about sales, per se.
So, what are just some tips or strategies to build my confidence up? Because I remember the first time somebody looked at me and said I needed to be able to get on the stage, and I was like, ‘Girl, you lost your mind. That is so not my calling.’ Um, because I was like, ‘I don't want to do that.’ Obviously, I got over it. But, you know, when someone in your audience is like, “Wait a second, you want me to do what?” like I was, how do they build up their confidence and build up their voice in order to get out there in front of their ideal clients to build their business?
30:17 – Isha
I think the first thing is to disown yourself from the notion that this is about you. So many people struggle when it comes to speaking because our energy is invested in, ‘I want them to think I'm smart. I want them to think I'm dynamic. I want a standing ovation when I'm done.’ We make it all about us. But it's not about us; it's about your audience. It's about the people that you're there to serve, no different than when you're doing the thing that you do to serve your customers. It's about them. It's not about you. Same thing when you get on that stage.
And so, in your preparation time, you're thinking about: what do they need from you? What problems are they walking into that room with that you want to rid them of by the time they walk out or at least get them on that journey? And so, when you focus on your audience and their needs, you're going to think less about, ‘How do I make them feel I'm special?’ So, that's number one.
And number two: don't compare yourself to other people. There are people who are naturally gifted speakers. There are people that have been doing it for decades and have learned to be good speakers. And then you're wherever you are in that spectrum. And that's okay. And so, focus on your own journey and getting good at this just like anything else. But if you get up and you speak and then the person comes after, and you're like, “Oh, wow, the audience was so much more engaged. And they were laughing. And they clapped louder,” and then you go home, and you think you're a failure, then you never want to do it again.
But here's the thing. Ask yourself, “Did I give the audience what I came there to give them?” If I came there to give them information that was going to help them solve a problem or to inspire them to make some type of change, did I do that? And if you did that, you were successful. It's not about, you know, how loud the applause was or how engaged they were. Yes, we want them to be connected, but that can look different based on the style of speaker you are. If you're a teacher by nature, you're probably not going to have people, you know, screaming and yelling and cheering and on their feet and doing all that stuff like a motivator might. And that's okay. Did the needs of your audience get met? If the answer is yes, then you were successful.
And then the third thing I would say is just to remember, again, it is a skill to be developed like anything else. When you did anything for the first time or the second time, you probably were not great at it, and you probably didn't feel very confident. And speaking is no different. And so, if you go into it the first few times, and you're extremely nervous or don't feel like you've done well, that isn't an indicator of what your future is gonna look like as a speaker. It just means you need more experience.
And so, allow yourself to develop, get those reps, get training, if this is something that you want to do on a regular basis, to speed up that learning process. Go to Toastmasters. You know, Toastmasters is a very low-investment way to build those speaking skills. Look, I was in Toastmasters at, I think I was 15 years old. We weren't even legally old enough to join. And one of my high school business class teachers, he made us join Toastmasters because we were doing competitions where we had to speak, and so he wanted to make sure that we developed that skillset. So, there are ways that you can get that need met in any variety of sources. But if it's important to you to be good at speaking and it's something that you want to do on a regular basis, then, you know, put in effort to develop that skill.
34:51 – Nadia
I love it. You said a mouthful. There are just so many… you know, because it's very tempting, I will say this, it's very tempting to compare yourself to other people. And I remember when I was on my beginning journey, you know, even thinking about putting my toe in the ring one day. I was like, ‘Why do they need another speaker?’ You know, like, there's so many speakers out there speaking on the topics that I spoke to speak on. And I remember, Kathy sat me down, and she was, “Nadia, there are people out there that need to hear your voice. I can say the same exact thing; they won't receive it from me, but they'll receive it from you.” And that was a big thing for me to be like, ‘Girl,’ – like you said – ‘Get over yourself. This is not about me. It's about the people that I'm called to serve.’ And so, that was such a huge thing I have to continue to remind myself of sometimes.
35:39 – Isha
Yeah, that is so true. I mean, we think about books. You just wrote a book on sales. If we go to Amazon, and we say, “How many books are there on sales?” There are thousands of them. But not yours, with your voice, and your stories, and your experiences.
Learning from Others’ Mistakes
35:55 – Nadia
Exactly. It's true. It's true. Yep. So, as we prepare to wrap…so, I'm gonna ask my question, but you may think there's something more important that we need to share in this episode. What are some of the biggest mistakes you see clients or even other people making as they are working to, you know, build their platform, cut through the noise, and really get their message out in the marketplace?
36:24 – Isha
One of the biggest problems that I see people making is thinking that you can stay in front of the exact same people and expecting platform growth. So, if your focus is, you know, social media marketing – or anything that you're looking to do, if you have a podcast, whatever it is, book sales, anything – if you're saying, “Oh, I want to see my audience grow, I want to see more of my ideal client, but you're just talking to the same people over and over, you can’t expect anything to really look different. Because whoever is following you or is connected to you that's your ideal client, they've probably, you know, already made their decisions about whether they're going to work with you now, whether they're going to work with you later, whatever that looks like. But you've got to continuously get in front of new people. And so, what does that outreach look like?
And so, you know, that’s what makes speaking and podcasting, and you know, all these other things so powerful, because it does allow you to expand your reach and especially if you're looking at, “How do I get on other people's platforms?” So, it's great to say, “Okay, I'm gonna start my own podcast.” But if I look at you, Nadia, one of the things you did for years before you started your own, you were on other people's podcasts. You're still on other people's podcasts. And so then, by the time you launched your own, you had an audience of people who wanted to hear what you had to say. And so, if you're launching with whatever you do with no audience, look at what are those things that you are doing that are getting you in front of new people? Not new things to get in front of your same people, but how are you getting in front of new people? Because that is going to be what is going to strongly impact your success when it comes to sales.
And the other thing that I would say is, in all of this, you know, all of the effort that you may be putting in around speaking and media and all this other stuff, you got to make sure that you have the sales side of it, right? Unless your goal is just, “I'm just trying to get a message out there.” And if so, then this is just about what does that audience growth look like for your platforms or your reach. But if it is, “I want to get in front of more people and help more people so that ultimately then I'm able to work with them through my products and services,” then you've got to make sure that you are making that connection for them. So, if you're speaking, there needs to be some type of call-to-action to get them back to your platform. If you're at an event and they can set up a table for you, making sure you're getting people signed up for your email list so that then you can continue that conversation, making sure, if you're on social media, then they're connecting with you on your platform of choice. But you can't just show up on that stage or on that podcast interview, and then you're done. You've got to extend that invitation to continue the relationship.
And then once you've done that, what is that next step? So, if you don't have the conversation guide ready, you're in doubt, and don't have that process in place to convert that person who was the audience member into your client, then why are you doing it? Why are you doing it? You're just doing stuff, you're burning yourself out, and then you look, and you say, “Well, I did all that, but I didn't make any more money this year.” And it's because while you were sharing the information and helping all the people, you were never extending that invitation to continue the conversation or to continue to build the relationship, which means now you still have no clients. You gave them all those goodies, taught them all that stuff, and they said, “You know what, I need to do more with that. Let me see who can help me.” Because you didn't tell them that you could, so now they just went to go work with somebody else.
40:50 – Nadia
And we think they'll get it subliminally. No, no, no, you have to say it out loud, like kindergarten-style.
40:58 – Isha
It goes back to what we talked about in the beginning. People have been bombarded with tens of thousands of messages a day. And so, if you do not spell out for them exactly what you want them to do, they are not going to do it.
41:14 – Nadia
Yep, so true. So good. So, Isha, you know I could talk to you all day. But we got to wrap it up. So, you mentioned continuing the relationship. How can people continue their relationship with you now that they're in love with you? I know you mentioned your quiz; I definitely want you to share that so people can take that. But you know, how do they connect with you on social, on your website? Like, give us all the deets.
41:37 – Isha
Yep, so I encourage you to connect with me. LinkedIn and Facebook are my primary social media platforms. But I would love for you to take that quiz. It is on the Platform for Purpose website, but let me give you the direct link to get right to the quiz.
Nadia
And we will make sure it is in the show notes.
Isha
But I encourage you to take that platform personality quiz. That is going to let you know what your most dominant style is. You may have, you know, more than one style in you, but that dominant style is going to let you know what are those platforms that are probably going to feel most comfortable to you, what is that style of showing up that is probably going to be most authentic to you and keep you from comparing yourself to other people. And so, I encourage you to take that, and then you can connect with me: Facebook, LinkedIn, and you can visit us online at platformforpurpose.com.
43:00 – Nadia
Yay. Thank you so much, Isha, for being here with us today.
43:04 – Isha
My pleasure. My pleasure.
43:07 – Nadia
And stay tuned. We'll be back for another episode of Straight Talk About Sales.
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