Let’s talk about one of the biggest things that stops people from writing the kind of content that actually converts to clients:
The fear of doing “pain point marketing” (a.k.a. “poking people in their wounds”).
Over the years I’ve reviewed hundreds of folks’ content to see why it might not be converting to clients the way they’d like.
And one of the biggest, most obvious things I see is that the content simply never mentions the problems they solve or the results they help clients to achieve.
(!!! I know, right?)
What I mean is:
They’ll write content like “8 awesome things about green veggies” but never mention the fact that they’re a weight loss coach.
(and the only reason I know they are is because they told me privately – e.g., “I’m a weight loss coach having trouble attracting clients; can you review my content?”)
Nor will they actually connect the dots between the green veggie concept and weight loss in any meaningful way.
Or they’ll write vague content about “how to heal” or “this is what healing looks like” but never actually mention WHAT they’re helping folks to heal (like: the grief of losing a loved one; some kind of past trauma).
When I point these things out, I’ll say:
“I think there’s something super-basic going on here: the people reading your content might not even realize what you can actually help them with. It’s hard for them to recognize themselves in the content because you never mention a problem or a result.”
And they’ll usually respond:
“Oh, you’re totally right! I do know that – but the thing is, if I were going to mention a problem or a result, I would have to do ‘pain point marketing’ – and I just hate that. I hate poking people in their wounds, agitating the problem and making them feel worse about it.”
Well, I have great news:
It’s not either/or.
(as in: either you poke and agitate people, or you leave them in the dark about what you solve)
Nope: there’s a third way.
(In reality, there are probably fourth and fifth and sixth and millionth ways, too – I just happen to have my way that I’m fond of 😉 )
I know that a ton of marketing/copy people teach the same thing in the same way (probably because they all learned from each other or all learned from the same person), but that doesn’t mean you have to do what they say.
The great thing about business is that you get to do it however you want.
When you write posts in the style that I and my followers have become known for, we EXPLAIN why a pain point occurs and how to solve it – we don’t “poke” our readers about it.
In my content creation framework, one common way we write (though not the only way) is to quickly name the pain point and then go immediately into solving it.
For example:
“Let’s talk about why you still can’t get over that painful event from your childhood.
“[GIVE THE REASON VERY CONCISELY – IN A FEW SENTENCES, IF POSSIBLE]
“And now let’s talk about how to heal – for real.
“[TAKE THE REST OF POST – ABOUT 700-800 WORDS – EXPLAINING HOW]”
That’s not poking people in their wounds, is it?
That’s VERY positive and forward-focused, and the only thing that was about a pain point was that first sentence that simply named it.
When you think of “pain point marketing,” you probably think of something that sounds more like:
“Isn’t it awful that you still can’t get over that painful event from your childhood? It feels so bad, right? Your whole life is affected. You can’t focus. You can’t sleep. You can’t eat. You’re anxious all the time. [CONTINUES DESCRIBING AND AGITATING THE PROBLEM FOR 90% OF THE POST, THEN GIVES A VAGUE CTA TO CONTACT THEM FOR HELP SOLVING IT]”
Totally different, right?
When I share this framework with people (and the above is only a portion of it), they tend to be so excited and relieved, because they now actually have a way to say what they’ve always wanted to say (and in a way that potential clients will “get”!), but just weren’t sure how.
And now they have a way to actually get the people who need them to reach out.
Which is what this is all about, right?
If you haven’t tried this framework yourself yet, it could change your life too.
I used to do “pain point marketing” too because I didn’t know any other way, and I got very few clients and didn’t even enjoy most of the ones I had.
When I started figuring out how potential clients really needed to hear things from me, my income blew up and I started making the difference I was meant to make, with the exact people I was meant to work with.
And reports roll in every week from folks who are using my method and seeing their lives change too.
Want to learn it?
The FAST way to learn it is to work with me 1-on-1 in my 30-day program.
In just a handful of calls, plus targeted assignments and reviews (with NO videos or other content to watch), we’ll figure out how you can shift your content and the way you’re talking about what you do and for whom you do it (and if necessary, we’ll re-package your work and re-position you).
I’m really experienced at this, having worked with over 200 clients and helped hundreds more for free, and I’ll be able to see very quickly what’s already in place for you and what small shifts might need to be made.
We can begin these sessions just a few days from now if you like – that’s how fast we’ll get going.
You can DM me on Facebook if you’re interested in this program, and more information can be found here.
The SLOW(er) way to learn the method is to watch and read my free content.
The best content training I’ve ever done can be found here.
And you can find a ton of articles and case studies in the “client-attracting content” section of this website.
Questions or comments on what I shared in this post? I’d love to hear ’em!