"You need a tagline for your business," they say. "It needs to be simple and catchy." But you hate small talk. You want to be creative and unique. You want your tagline to stand out from the rest of the online business world. The problem is, when our taglines and messaging isn't clean and simple, it's difficult for ideal clients to understand how we can help them. And if they don't understand how we can help them, they won't buy from us. I'm so excited to be diving into the topic of crazy simple messaging today because I've seen firsthand how it transformed my business and allowed my income to grow to six-figures and beyond. In this episode of She Grows, I share my personal story of how I shifted my messaging and made it crazy simple so that my tagline speaks directly to my ideal clients. We talk about why crazy simple messaging works and I offer a few suggestions for how you can begin creating your tagline or message. We also dive into how to funnel your potential clients into deeper, more complex content. I hope you enjoy this episode!
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Allyson Scammell: Good day to you. This is Allyson Scammell, and I'm really excited to unpack with you today the topic of creating crazy bull messages or taglines or content for your ideal audience. Right? I'm excited to be doing an episode on this topic because I, myself, I had a real hero's journey with it. When I used to really resist simple messaging.
[00:00:28] And I will explain further in the episode why I resisted it. We're going to explore why crazy simple taglines or messages work, how to funnel your potential clients into deeper, more complex content and how to create a simple message that speaks directly to your ideal audience. We'll end the episode on a challenge that we'll have you using just the right clear, simple words to call in your ideal clients.
[00:00:57] So stay with me until the end. Welcome to She Grows, a podcast for soul guided women entrepreneurs, ready to be seen and get fully booked using their unique genius, intuitive voice and spirit guides. Each week, we'll explore how to create offerings based on what you do best. So you can have a wait list of ideal clients and bring in continuous income.
[00:01:25] I'm your host Allyson Scammell, let's get growing.
[00:01:36] Hey, there She Grows Nation. That is the name of this sisterhood of soul guided entrepreneurs. I'm super pleased with myself, if you will, that I'm actually doing this episode because I, for so long resisted simple messages, simple content, simple taglines, because I, I really wanted to be clever. I'm someone who doesn't really like small talk.
[00:02:03] I like to get deep right away. Like let's skip the "how's the weather?" and go to "what's your purpose in life?" So for me, I always thought simple messaging was just simple. It was small talk. So I wanted to get creative. I wanted to go deep before I launched my closed Facebook group, She grows nation. I had the Uncorked cabal, and I love, I love the name, the Uncorked cabal.
[00:02:33] And what it meant was, uh, the uncorking was about you. Uncorking your core gifts or the unique abilities you were born to share a Cabal is a group of people who band together with likeminded interests. And I just exemplified why the Uncorked Cabal, although I think it sounds cool, wasn't the ideal name and the reason why is it took too long to explain what the heck I meant I had to go into several sentences of explanation.
[00:03:09] And When you're talking about a tagline or a program name, or a Facebook group name or a signature message, you want it to be so crystal clear to your people that it requires zero explanation. So the reason why crazy simple messaging or taglines work is really ultimately because we live in the Information Age and we're all getting bombarded with all sorts of advertising, and information, and newsfeed posts, and photos, and opportunities to consume information all day.
[00:03:45] And this is something I really learned from StoryBrand. I'm a huge fan of Donald Miller and his StoryBrand framework, which really talks about how; and Donald Miller describes this very well. If you've never listened to his stuff or consumed any of his content, I really highly recommend it - he does a great podcast, and I really recommend his book titled "Building a StoryBrand" and he talks about how our brain is wired to help us either survive or thrive. And it's constantly looking for information that is going to enable you to either survive or thrive. And if there is something that if your brain detects that information is too confusing, it's too complex; it's going to require too much energy to digest and understand it's going to immediately filter it out.
[00:04:41] Your brain will tell you this information is not going to enable you to survive or thrive, so don't consume it, scroll on. But if you happen upon a message that is crystal clear requires no further explanation, and it speaks directly to either a desire of yours or a pain point, you will get the message from your brain that says, click.
[00:05:07] Consume this content for you. So if you're the content creator, obviously you want to be creating that kind of content for your ideal audience to get them reading, clicking, consuming. And taking that next step closer to eventually becoming your customer or your client. I'm now to the point where I'm always looking for, or really great taglines, great signature messages, great program them names, titles, book, titles that exemplify this, that really call me in, in a crisp, clear way and get me interested in going further.
[00:05:49] I have a couple of great examples. The first is earlier this summer, my family went on a little day trip to Lake Constance in Southern Germany, and we took a ferry to get to a different part of the Lake we wanted to visit. Then on the ferry, they had an area where you could buy refreshments and snacks.
[00:06:09] And in that space, there was a super cute, nicely decorated freezer full of ice cream, a small little freezer that you could just grab your own ice cream. And the second, my three year old daughter saw the freezer, she went crazy because she knew there was ice cream inside and she wanted ice cream. And I put my foot down and I said, absolutely not because she had just consumed some sugary treat.
[00:06:33] And I just, I didn't want her to have too much sugar. Well, then the battle began and she said, yes, I want ice cream. And I was saying, no, but I started to study the ice cream a little bit. I noticed again how really cute the freezer was. And the freezer was specifically for this brand of ice cream. And it was all very well designed and packaged.
[00:06:56] It really invited you in. Then I noticed the name of the ice cream, the ice cream brand was titled fruit, ice cream on a stick. And I thought that is a pretty fantastic name. It's fruit ice cream. And I thought to myself, what is fruit ice cream? So I grabbed. One of the packages. I grabbed the strawberry and I read the ingredients.
[00:07:19] It was all fruit, it was frozen and fruit. There was nothing in it. It was like, uh, strawberries, blueberries, and lemon juice. There was nothing. In these ice cream bars, quote, unquote ice cream bars, except for fruit. And then I said to myself, Hmm, it's just fruit. Um, yeah, there's sugar and fruit, but it's not like a, you know, a Ben and Jerry's, and probably it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for Freya to have a little fruit.
[00:07:49] And all right, it's going to be, we've got 20 more minutes on this ferry and I am not going to argue with this child for the next 20 minutes. And I'm certainly not do not want to deal with a meltdown right here in this crowded ferry. So I said to Freya, which flavor do you want? And they had every fruit known to man.
[00:08:08] They had mango, they had orange tm apple, they had melon. And so she picked out mango and was happy as could be to have this. Fruit ice cream on a stick. And I thought, what a brilliant name for ice cream? And the thing about a clear crisp message. Is it tells you so much in its simple wording, without having to explain a thing, fruit ice cream that tells me a it's healthy.
[00:08:43] But it's sweet and delicious and will satisfy my sweet tooth on a stick. It's going to be easy to consume. I can take it on the go. I can easily eat this on the go without a bowl or spoon or anything else. Fruit ice cream on a stick. Brilliant. Although my daughter found it. I was an adamant, like, I want to be clear here.
[00:09:09] I was an adamant, no, that I was not going to let her buy an ice cream, but with each step, as I got closer and closer to the product, I realized like, Hey, this product is going to help me survive, survive my toddler in this moment. And I actually feel really good about buying it and it little by little, it.
[00:09:31] First it got me with its cute freezer case. Then it got me with its cute packaging. Then it totally reel me in with it's crazy simple, clear message. Fruit ice cream on a stick. I love it. So let's move into how to funnel your clients into deeper content, into more complex content. The crazy simple messaging really applies to all the marketing you do, but you really want your content to be as simple as possible at the outer levels of the funnel.
[00:10:08] So what I mean by that is those first touches you have with a new potential client. So it's their very first exposure to you and your business. So the perfect time to be as crazy, simple as possible is with your lead magnets. So a lead magnet is a marketing term for a free item or a service that you give away for the purpose of gathering contact details.
[00:10:35] So like emails, right. And for the purpose of getting people on your email list. So if you create a new guide or a checklist or a video series that you are using to get people on your mailing list, you want that opt in to be as simple as possible and speak directly cleat to the pain point or the desire that your Ideal client most struggles with.
[00:11:02] So for example, my signature message at the moment, and it's always changing and evolving and I'm always tweaking and refining it. But in this moment, my signature message for my ideal client, which is a soul guided woman, entrepreneur, is to help you be seen and get fully booked because I was noticing that my ideal client was really struggling.
[00:11:26] With their pain point was a struggle of feeling invisible and that they were spending all this time and effort creating all this content and blog posts and webinars, and really great signature offerings for their business that no one was consuming or signing up for. So there was this feeling inside of her, of invisibility, and I wanted to help her and I'm on a mission to help her be seen and just sell out her stuff in a way that feels right.
[00:11:54] Aligned and in service and really joyful for her. So to help her with this, my free optin is a free PDF guide to help you identify the top five visibility blockers preventing your ideal clients from, I really like this free opt in. I feel like the language could be even clearer. Cause visibility blockers.
[00:12:18] Again, might require a little bit of explanation. I define a visibility blocker as something that is blocking your ideal client from seeing you. And I haven't found a better or a simpler way to say it yet. And I'm giving you this example on purpose because I want to let you know that finding clear, simple language that speaks directly to your ideal client is a challenge.
[00:12:45] It doesn't always come easily, right? We're talking about simple messaging, but often finding those perfect simple words are really challenging and it is a journey. And it's a journey of you putting stuff out there, getting feedback, talking to your ideal people. Allowing the right words to come to you.
[00:13:07] Oftentimes you actually hear it from a client or potential client where they say something to you. They talk about a struggle or they talk about it dire and they use a word and you're like, yes, that's it. That's the word. So it is a journey. And if you feel like you want to put something out there and you're ready to put it out there, but the words aren't quite right yet, put it out there, put it out there, even if it's not as clear as you want it to be, or as clear as you know can be.
[00:13:36] So you can get that feedback. And in time, the right words are going to find you. I know that. Either my free opt in is going to morph into something else. That's clearer to my ideal people to be that lead magnet, or I'm going to find something that's even clearer than visibility blockers. It's gonna arrive.
[00:13:57] I'm not making the perfect, the enemy of the good here. So getting back to that idea of funneling your ideal client into more. Complex or more detailed content that maybe does require a little explanation. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Once you invite them in with a very simple lead magnet.
[00:14:19] For example, then it's a great idea to put them into an email automation that helps them to get to know you. And in that email automation, you could add more complex topics about your product. Or your service or about you, um, as the business owner, especially if you're in a service based industry and you're in many ways selling yourself, because if it's truly is an ideal client that is signed up your newsletter, they're going to want to go deeper with you.
[00:14:49] They're going to want to learn more about you. But the point is you need to make it as simple as possible for them to self select that they are indeed someone who needs to be in your world. On your list in your community, in your space, and you hooked thumb in with words, with messages, with taglines that are as crazy simple as fruit ice cream on a stick.
[00:15:21] All right. So let's get to how. To create a crazy, simple message that speaks directly to your ideal audience. As I mentioned, this is not a simple thing to do. Creating a simple message is not as simple thing to do. And the best simple message has an earnest Hemingway factor to it. What I mean by that is Ernest Hemingway is known for his simple, brilliant prose.
[00:15:48] He would write a very simple sentence without any, uh, you know, four syllable words. That just spoke to you on such a deep level. It brought the room to life. You could smell the crisp spring air in the scenes he described, but he never used big, long, complex words or sentences. And your simple message will ideally do the same.
[00:16:13] So the first question to ask yourself is. And this probably won't surprise you. What is my ideal client's biggest pain point and what is my ideal client's biggest desire. And so your messaging, your simple message should speak directly to either a pain point, a really, really hurtful pain point or a really, really strong desire or both.
[00:16:40] So if you get to my tagline and I will help you be seen and get fully booked, I know that my ideal client, at one point in her life journey to becoming a soul guided entrepreneur has felt invisible and she has felt like she has put out. So much content and she is writing blog posts and she is putting out podcasts and she is putting out social media and she's organizing webinars and she's not getting the engagement or the signups or the sales that she wants.
[00:17:10] And it's fricking frustrating and she's burned out. She's tired of it. And ultimately she's tired of being visible and she wants to be seen, she wants her business seen. She wants her content seen. She wants to feel seen, I think, feel it. Hey, I've been there. I really, really have been there and be. I've talked to so many women who have struggled with this and resonate with this.
[00:17:40] I just know it in my heart that this is the pain point, and this is the desire that I want to speak to at this point in my journey, as a person who is in service to soul guide and entrepreneurs, and wants to help them to be seen and get fully booked. And this really all came to me when I took a StoryBrand workshop.
[00:18:01] And that was really what the workshop was all about was helping us to come up with very crazy, simple, clear messages that speak to our you'll audience. And my. Coach was a man by the name of Dane Sanders, who I interviewed on this podcast. It's episode number 32, which I highly recommend you check out if you haven't listened to it yet.
[00:18:25] And I'll include a link in the show notes. And I was talking to him about my ideal client avatar and I was telling him, Oh, but she's spiritual. And I want to use all this really fancy, fancy, spiritual language. So she knows that I'm the right coach for her, and I want to get all deep and I want to really just like, like, wow, her and knock her socks off with my message.
[00:18:48] And he's like, yeah, but how do you know she's going to understand this spiritual language? What is it? She ultimately struggles with that's what's going to call her in, it's not esoteric spiritual language. It's her pain point. And I really started talking and started talking and I was running rambling on about something.
[00:19:08] And then he came back to me and said, does she feel invisible? And that word, when he said the word invisible, I knew that that was it. That was the clear, simple message. That was the pain point that I knew I could help her with. And that I wanted her to know. I'm the one, I'm the one that can help her be seen.
[00:19:36] And in that being seen, get fully booked and it was that one word invisible that Dane said to me that became the centerpiece of a whole new lead magnet. Email automation webinars series that I ran that really has helped me to grow my list to the next level and get a whole raft of new ideal clients working with me because that one word arrived to me from just the right person at just the right time.
[00:20:05] And you do not need to enroll in any sort of workshop or spend any sort of money to allow your message to arrive to you your best guests as of today. To what your ideal client's biggest pain point and biggest desires are, and start crafting messages that speak directly to that crisp, clear messages and start putting it out there to your people, to where you think your ideal client is hanging out.
[00:20:35] And once you do, you'll start to get feedback. You'll start to have conversations. You'll start to create. Marketing content around these pain points and these desires and in the process, the words are going to, they will likely never, they may never feel a hundred percent on point. This is where I feel like you go to the 80% solution, get at least to the 80% solution that you're 80% of the way.
[00:21:07] If you can get to a hundred percent. That's awesome. I know with my lead magnet at the moment about the visibility blockers. I feel like maybe I'm at 90%, maybe 92%, but I know it can be even closer to a hundred percent. And I'm a person who likes to change up my lead magnet a lot. So by the time you listen to this, I might have a whole different lead magnet.
[00:21:30] But the point is I haven't not put this free opt in out there because it wasn't a hundred percent. I got to the 80% now I'm at the 90% I'm moving inching my way closer and closer to 100% speaking, finding the exact right words for clear crisp messages to my ideal people. And you'll never get to even 80%.
[00:21:54] If you don't put stuff out there, you gotta test it, test it, test it. It also really helps to hire a coach. Or go to a workshop like a StoryBrand workshop because this stuff is challenging and it's really hard. I would say it's impossible to do all on your own. You definitely need the feedback from your ideal audience.
[00:22:16] And it really helps to have a coach or somebody else in the know who has a lot of experience with branding or marketing or sales to really bounce these ideas off and offer you. Some great ideas. I'm working with a coach now, Anna Tsui, and she gives me so many great ideas on what I want to call all manner of things for my business.
[00:22:38] And it's, it's really a coal creative process where co-creating it together. So you don't have the resources at the moment to hire a coach or attend a class, get with a peer. Say, Hey, I'll bounce my messages off you. If you bounce your messages off me, that is certainly what I did at the beginning of my journey.
[00:22:59] When I didn't have a lot of money to, to invest in workshops and coaches, I got with peers, we did exchanges and that, you know, I had some amazing peers that I was collaborating with at the time. That was just as rewarding as working with coaches and going to workshops on this. So please know that in this journey, you don't.
[00:23:18] Ever have to spend money if you don't want to. The point is it's really difficult to find that perfect message all on your own. This is a time where it really helps to collaborate with coaches, with peers, with clients, putting stuff out there, getting the feedback, tweaking and refining and tweaking and refining.
[00:23:35] And if that word arrives to you, You get a word that you just hear or a series of words. Yeah. That's it. And your intuition and your higher self is kicking in saying ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. This is it. This is your ideal clients is pain point or their desire or combination of both. Do not ignore that.
[00:23:58] Do not say, Oh, it must be just a coincidence or someday. Maybe I'll write a blog post on these words, take it immediately. Grab it. And say, Hmm, these words are resonating with me. What can I do with them today? How can I get them in front of my ideal audience today? Or craft something with them though, and start testing it?
[00:24:20] Because if your intuition is kicking in the way mine did, when I heard the word invisible, it is onto something you found it you're on the way you're on the path to getting that clear message. That will sing to your ideal people. And it's crazy rewarding when that happens. I promise you. And especially when you start to get feedback from your ideal audience, that your stuff is speaking to them, it's they feel like it's talking directly to them.
[00:24:52] When you have an ideal client say that. Or an ideal customer that is going to feel fricking awesome. And maybe you already have that. So the more you get super cool, clear on your message and get that message in front of your ideal people. The more you will get that feedback. That your stuff is speaking directly to them.
[00:25:14] So you won't be surprised by my challenge for this week, which is to take either your tagline, your lead magnet, or your signature message and ask yourself, is this as crazy clear as it can be? And does this speak as directly and clearly. As possible to my ideal clients, biggest pain point and or biggest desire.
[00:25:42] If you send them the answer is I'm sorry, sort of no, and that it could be closer, then do a tweak and refine and get it in front of someone, send it to a peer, send it to your coach, send it to your eye. Someone you think might be a potential ideal client. Post it, get it out there. Get the feedback. And every time you do that, you're going to inch closer and closer to that perfectly clarify message that speaks directly to your people.
[00:26:17] Thank you so much for tuning in. I'm always so grateful. If you love this episode, go ahead and hit subscribe wherever it is you listen, and I'd be. So grateful as always for a rating and review. So more people can find us. And if you'd like help calling in your ideal people, then download my PDF. The guide that reveals those five visibility blockers that are preventative your ideal clients from finding you our offerings are too important to remain invisible.
[00:26:49] So this guidance will help you be seen and get fully booked. You can find a link to download the guide on my website. AllysonScammell.com as well as in the show notes.