Do you know how to connect with potential customers?
Do you know how to make them lean in, listen, and respond?
Well, on this week’s Podcast, I’m going to share my secrets on how you can capture attention, build a following, and market your company by telling your story!
If you have a small business, you probably spend a lot of time obsessing over marketing.
Maybe it’s running ads, or building relationships and referrals, maybe it’s Social Media, maybe it’s speaking at a church, or maybe you plan to sponsor a local cookout.
But no matter which strategy you choose, the most important part of your message is YOU! That’s why today I’m going to explain how you can capture attention, build a following, and market your company all by telling your story!
Okay, let’s get into this…
There are so many cheap and free ways to market small businesses: posting on social media, writing an E-Book, or even making a podcast.
But it’s never been harder to get people's attention.
The Channels are flooded with content.
Now, different forms of media have different attention spans and different styles, but no matter which type you choose, you ALWAYS need to find a way to stand out from the crowd.
So, how do you do that?
Well, the best way to get a customer’s attention is to appeal to their emotions.
If you appeal to their emotions, you can trigger an emotional response.
That emotional response can develop into a strong emotional connection.
And there’s one amazing way for a small business to create these types of connections…
The entrepreneur has to TELL THEIR STORY!
Here’s how this relates to you…
When it comes to Credit Repair customers, if you want to trigger an emotional response, there are plenty of emotions to choose from.
You can make them excited about achieving their financial dreams or angry about being screwed by the big banks.
You can make them curious about a money-saving opportunity or grateful for warning them about a financial scam.
All of these messages will get your customer's attention.
But what do you do once you have it?
You have to give them something that NO ONE ELSE CAN OFFER.
And the main advantage of a small business is the personal touch.
So when the opportunity arrives, BE PERSONAL!
YOU’VE GOT TO TELL YOUR STORY.
The thing to remember is…
If you’re a Credit Repair Expert, you’re unique because you’ve probably experienced the same financial hardships that your customers are facing.
And I don’t know about you, but when someone offers me help, I find it comforting to know they’ve been in my shoes.
Now, it’s up to you to decide how much you want to reveal about yourself...
But in my experience, the more open and authentic you can be…the more raw and real…the better.
Here’s why this is important…
As the founder of Credit Repair Cloud, I’ve shaped every part of our company. But for a long time, I wasn’t comfortable telling my story.
Back when I sold my original download, I didn’t know what to say or how to say it.
So I pretended that I was a financial expert. I pitched myself almost like a corporate mascot, a character I called “The Credit Doctor.” I even wore a lab coat.
I laugh about it now because I didn’t know any better.
But the truth is, my business kept failing because I wasn’t comfortable being myself!
Then at the start of Credit Repair Cloud, I tried again to be someone else. I acted like a boring Wall St. suit guy, and it sucked!
I wasn’t authentic, people could smell it, and despite having a good product, they refused to buy anything from me.
And I don’t blame them. Would you buy a product from someone you could tell was fake? No, of course not. We buy from people we like and people we trust.
But I needed to go through that because I needed to learn that lesson.
And during this time, I got so frustrated because I wasn’t good at being someone else. And I was so afraid that they were going to find out who I really was…a guy from show business whose credit got messed up, and he turned that into a business.
But then something amazing happened. I was forced to stop being fake!
I was told by a customer that another software company was telling customers about my background, that I was from show business. He said I was a magician. Think about that. Their sales pitch was an attempt to humiliate me. How sad is that? I was so mad. I felt like those bastards outed me!
But I realized if you aren't honest, if you don't tell your story, someone else might tell it for you, and they might not be very nice about it.
So, I started being myself.
It was scary at first, but it was also a relief!
And when people learned my backstory, they believed me when I told them, “anyone can bootstrap a business from nothing!”
So I opened up.
Not just about who I was but WHY I wanted to sell credit repair software, WHY I wanted to provide financial literacy training, and WHY I wanted to empower people with guided entrepreneurship.
I talked about running away from home as a kid, being homeless in Los Angeles, and juggling on street corners to make money to eat.
I talked about becoming a successful comedian, touring all over the world, and performing on The Tonight Show and The Price is Right.
I talked about how it looked like I was successful, but I was actually living on credit cards and getting further and further into debt.
But what really connected with people was how I opened up about nearly losing everything.
I explained how a bank error destroyed my credit, how it almost caused me to go bankrupt, and how it made me really depressed.
I let people know who I was, who I am, and what I wanted my company to be.
I revealed as much about myself as I could.
And again, something amazing happened.
Customers started to trust me, and Credit Repair Cloud began to grow into what it is today.
“Here’s what you need to know…
You can build this same type of trust with YOUR customers…
You just need to decide how much of your story you want to tell and how you want to tell it. BUT YOU NEED TO TELL IT.
Just remember this…
There are no rules for telling your story. Just do your best to be open and authentic.
If you’re a family-oriented business owner, GREAT, make your family part of your story. If you’re super outdoorsy or you’re into comic books, maybe you juggle. Whatever it is, just be open and don’t hide who you are!
People want to do business with people!
Share aspects of your life that are important to you and that you’re passionate about. These are the things that give you a unique voice, and they’ll help you tell your story.
I know it sounds scary, but it gets easier with practice, and I practiced a lot.
I got good enough at telling my story that I just got invited to speak at the upcoming INC 5000 conference. I’ll be speaking onstage to thousands of entrepreneurs.
And yes, despite all of my experience in show business, I still get terrified with stage fright at these events. I’m terrified about it right now! But I’m also very excited about it.
Maybe I’ll post some videoes and thoughts about it while I’m there.
This brings me to my next point…
Telling your story doesn’t just mean “explain your background.” It means communicating authentically and with intention.
In other words, you are always telling your story, so choose your words carefully!
If crafting messages and telling your story don’t come easy to you, brainstorm and rehearse.
Pay attention to the stories being told to you. If someone inspires you or there’s an advertisement that hooks you with emotion, think about how it was effective and why it appealed to you.
I'm going to give you an easy-to-follow framework for telling your story.
Grab a pen, and write down these 3 things…
#1. What was your life like before Credit Repair?
#2. How did you learn about Credit Repair?
#3. What was your life like after Credit Repair?
Remember to really dig deep into these. Take your time!
If you sell a product or service, the more people can relate to you, and your story of how you discovered this amazing thing, the more your business will grow.
And if you want to get better at telling your story…TELL YOUR STORY!
Practice with friends or family. Record yourself and listen to it. Have a ten-minute version of your story, a five-minute version, and a one-minute.
Each version is useful, and you will get better each time you tell it. So tell it as often as you can.
Eventually, you’ll be more comfortable, your customers will start to see that you’re authentic, and your business will become more successful!
And then, once you start to get more customers and have success stories and testimonials, now you can start to use this very same framework to tell THEIR stories, and that’s even MORE powerful!
Storytelling is everything, and if you learn this skill, your business will grow like wildfire.
Cool, right?
I’ll end by saying…
If you don’t already have a Credit Repair Cloud account, check it out. It’s the software that most Credit Repair businesses in America run on. Just sign up for a 30-Day Free Trial at CreditRepairCloud.com/freetrial
And If you’d like me to hold you by the hand as you launch your own credit repair business, check out our Credit Hero Challenge!
It’s an amazing program where you’ll learn the processes that have made millionaires, and it costs less than you'll spend taking your family to McDonald’s for dinner.
We’ve got another challenge starting in a few days, so grab your spot right now at CreditHeroChallenge.com!
Until then, remember, keep the facts on your side…
And keep changing lives!