Marketing Archives - Page 7 of 12

Is your expertise hurting your marketing?

June 16, 2022 by Jason Van Orden

How effective is your messaging at gaining the attention of your intended market, earning their trust, and inspiring them to do business with you?

On a scale of one to ten, how effective is your messaging at gaining the attention of your intended market, earning their trust, and inspiring them to do business with you?

When you talk to an ideal prospect, do they quickly understand how your offer will fulfill their needs, or is there a disconnect that causes promising prospects to tune out?

Research shows that the more expertise you have in your field, the harder it is to create marketing that is resonant and effective.

Sounds backward, doesn’t it?

The explanation lies in something called The Curse of Knowledge.

Can you solve this puzzle in under 20 seconds?

March 29, 2022 by Jason Van Orden

Are you smarter than a first-grader?

Take a look at the puzzle in the image below. (You may need to click “Display Images” if you can’t see it.)

What is the number underneath the car?

The story goes that six-year-olds in Hong Kong solved the puzzle in under 20 seconds.

I admit I didn’t solve it so quickly when my girlfriend’s 10-year-old son shared it with me. Once I saw the answer, it seemed obvious.

As I analyzed my thought process, I realized I had jumped directly into math mode, using a detailed analysis of the sequence to unearth the relationship between the numbers.

16, 06, 68, 88, ??, 98

“Let’s see. They are all even. The answer is likely even. They are in ascending order except for the 06. So if I figure out why that 06 is in there, that will certainly point me to the answer.”

In the end, the solution was much more straightforward. Ready for the answer?

One of my biggest mistakes as an entrepreneur

February 11, 2022 by Jason Van Orden

2016 was a rough year for me, even more so than 2020, and dealing with the pandemic. It was the beginning of a couple of years of deep physical and emotional anxiety.

As my inner turmoil increased, my connection to the world diminished.

Go to that networking event? No way, too exhausted. Meet that friend for check-in and chat? I’d just feel inadequate. Put me out there on social media? No. Thank. You.

Unfortunately, this is common when someone deals with mental health challenges: they isolate themselves. Perhaps it’s due to shame. Perhaps it’s because of a lack of energy. Maybe it’s both and more.

As time went on, I isolated myself both personally and professionally more and more. Work opportunities started to dwindle (increasing my anxiety and continuing the cycle). Engagements and invitations stopped coming in. Fresh ideas and inspiration withered.

Bit by bit, my inner chatter told me I was getting less relevant than ever, which fed my sense of fatigue and self-doubt.

Know your revenue capacity to reach your income goal faster

March 11, 2022January 24, 2022 by Jason Van Orden

Knowing your revenue capacity reveals what’s needed to reach your income goal (or if it’s even possible to reach with your current business model).

“How much money do you want to make in 2022?”

I recently opened a client coaching session with this question.

She gave me an ambitious but doable revenue goal.

“Great! What ideas do you have so far for reaching that goal?” I asked in response.

She came back with the usual answers.

“Grow my email list.”

“Fill my classes with more people.”

“Maybe raise some of my prices.”

I nodded my head, then asked.

“Do you know your revenue capacity?”

She looked confused.

I looked back at her reassuringly. “Don’t worry; most people don’t know their revenue capacity. That’s why they’ll struggle to meet their income goals. But we’re not going to make that mistake. “

I continued.

“Let’s do a little thought experiment. If you woke up with twice as many people asking to work with you tomorrow, could you serve them all? What about 3x or 5x?”*

She replied, “I’d have to turn a lot of them away.”

This is the same answer many coaches and consultants give in response to this question.

10 Ways an Online Course Transforms Your Business

November 12, 2021 by Jason Van Orden

“Launching an online course has increased my income and transformed my business in ways I’d never imagined.” I’ve been sharing a peek into the transformational experience of my client Alexandra when she started creating online courses during the pandemic. You can read the first two parts of the case study at the links below. Pt … Read more