Gosh, that’s a HARSH opening statement isn’t it and I felt horrible writing it!
I don’t blame you for thinking, “urghh, what’s got into Heloise today?”
But no, I’m not in a bad mood.
And I’m not having a go at you either.
I don’t mean that nobody cares about you in your real life – for instance, your friends, family, colleagues.
But when it comes to social media users, subscribers and customers…
Well, they don’t really care about you.
Not at first anyway.
When they’re online, hanging out on social media, or browsing on Google, they are looking for ways to fulfil themselves.
They want to be happier, healthier, richer, smarter, more popular, more entertained.
What they care about most is themselves and the welfare of THEIR families, friends and colleagues.
So when you suddenly pop up with a post, an advert, lead magnet or a webinar, you should always remember this important thing…
If you want to draw people into your product or service, you need to focus on what THEY care about.
Don’t make this common mistake!
The reason I tell you this is that it’s one of the biggest mistakes I see made by new course creators.
They spend too much time and online space talking about themselves… their likes, dislikes, triumphs, challenges and breakthroughs.
They become the star of their own story.
I think they do this because they see all the influencers on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram doing the “me-me-me” thing and assume that’s the way it should be.
But there’s a difference between a social media influencer and a course creator, or an entrepreneur who has a product to sell.
The whole reason someone comes to your service is because they need your help to solve their problems and achieve their goals.
They care about that, not what your cat looks like or what you made for dinner.
Which means that everything you say and do in the crucial early stages must somehow convince a stranger that you are someone who is genuinely looking out for their interests above their own.
But here’s the paradox…
To do all this, you need to show the following:
- You are trustworthy (you are who you say you are, and will deliver what you promise)
- You are credible (you know what you’re doing)
- You are a real human (not an AI bot or a faceless organisation)
- You understand, or have experience, of the challenges they face.
- You have information, skills or insights that they can benefit from.
How can you do this?
Well, by telling a story about yourself.
Which might make you throw your hands up and shout…
“BUT YOU JUST TOLD ME NOT TO DO THAT!”
Aha… yes!
But here’s the thing…
The stories you tell about yourself MUST have a purpose – and that is to build your reader’s (or listener’s/viewer’s) trust and confidence in you.
Can you see the difference?
So let’s imagine that you have a course about making cat accessories to sell on Etsy…
In this case, revealing a photo of your cat becomes important…
It shows that you own a cat, so you understand the product… and you care about the animals that they care about… and you have experience of cats and cat accessories.
But then let’s imagine instead that you have created a course on small business book-keeping…
Now the cat photos become irrelevant.
The same goes for what you made for dinner…
If you’re a gluten free family cook who is going to share your recipes with other people, it’s clearly a story that will engage the customer, enhance your credibility and show that you ‘walk the walk’.
It would be less interesting to someone who has come to you for advice on upholstery.
So when you tell stories, they must be for a reason, not because you want to talk randomly about your life.
Always ask yourself…
How will sharing this piece of information enhance my credibility, relatability and trustworthiness?
This does allow for a lot of scope…
For example, if you were selling a home business course that would help people give up the 9-5 job, then sharing the crazy cool things you’ve been up to in your free time would only boost your credibility.
If you were selling a vintage dress-making course, then it would only enhance your persona if you talked about your love or Marilyn Monroe, or 50s rock and roll records, or showed off your retro interior décor.
If you were selling a course about getting romantic fiction published then you could share books you’ve read, films you love, authors you read, notebooks and stationary you use, even stories about your own relationships.
It’s always about what will chime with your customer.
Same goes for sharing your opinions.
For instance, an impassioned rant about the bad summer weather wouldn’t help you connect with a person who wants you to help them use Photoshop…
But it might connect with a subscriber to your course about growing vegetables, who has also suffered the effects of bad weather on their crops.
Your love of Beyonce won’t really enhance your credibility and likeability for someone who has come for advice on puppy training…
But it might show your passion for music to someone who has come to you for a synthesiser tutorial or an online dance class.
Of course, once you’ve established a relationship with a subscriber or customer, it is possible to share little snapshots of your life that aren’t necessarily relevant, but which simply make you more human and relatable.
But in the early stages, try to focus what you say about yourself on what your ideal future customer needs to hear.
And if you don’t know who your ideal customer is yet let me help you with that 😊
Access my free video training on getting in sync with your future customer so you always know what to say.
You can see it by clicking here.