Listen up for the juiciest insight I’ve ever shared about why you’ve become the so-called “likeable expert.”
(You know, the one who gets all the likes and comments on your content, all the gratitude for all the value you share, but rarely gets people reaching out with interest in BUYING your transformational offer – or when they do, they’re aghast that it costs more than $10 or $100.)
People really over-think why the likeable expert thing occurs – thinking it must be something about their “brand” or their “vibe” or the “energy” with which they’re coming across.
Now, I’m not totally discounting things like brand and vibe and energy. They may play a part (and I’m not an expert in those things, so I probably have some blind spots about them).
But 99 times out of 100, in my experience, when a “likeable expert” comes to me wanting to know why they don’t have a steady stream of BUYERS, I look at the content they’re putting out there – and I can see that what they’re missing is much less about vibe or energy and much more about specific things they’re saying or not saying.
Let me make this as simple as possible:
The “likeable expert” thing happens because people can only tell what TOPIC(S) you’re an expert in. They can’t tell what OUTCOME(S) you’re an expert in.
That’s so important that I’ll say it again:
Your audience can tell what TOPIC(S) you’re an expert in but they can’t tell what OUTCOME(S) you’re an expert in.
And OUTCOMES, of course, are generally what high-ticket buyers buy.
The same isn’t true for low-ticket buyers or freebie-seekers, of course. They’re happy to pay a low amount (or zero) to get information about some TOPIC.
(I don’t say that with any judgement, btw – I have been a low-ticket buyer in the past and still am sometimes, depending on what the item is. There’s value in low-ticket things, but this post is specifically about how to get your high-ticket thing selling more if you want to do that.)
So what is the difference between a TOPIC and an OUTCOME?
Why, I’m glad you asked! 🙂
I’m going to give a few examples.
A lot of health experts know how to get a certain OUTCOME – like lose 30 pounds or reverse symptoms of a certain condition (like autoimmune or diabetes).
But then their content is all about little micro-TOPICS such as “let’s talk about why you should eat more greens in your diet.”
And they never link that topic to the OUTCOME.
If you just prattle on about eating more greens, it’s easy to see why someone would just give that a thumbs up or a “Right on!!!” in the comments and then move on with their day.
But what if you started that post with, “Here’s a major reason why your diabetes symptoms might persist. You’re simply not getting enough greens in your diet”?
And then the post could be largely the same, but now you’re calling out to BUYERS because they have that actual condition and really really really want to be rid of it. And that’s the OUTCOME they want and you’re now leading your post off with that.
Ideally you’d also tailor the content about greens to really show what people are doing right now INSTEAD of eating greens that’s causing the diabetes condition, and how/why those problems will shift when they eat more greens.
And then let your readers know that when your clients implement your diet protocol properly, many of them start to see the diabetes symptoms actually reverse in a matter of weeks.
This is what shifts your content to make it un-ignore-able: tying your TOPIC to your OUTCOME.
Can you envision how differently that tweaked post would be received vs. “here’s today’s fun fact about greens”?
Let’s do another example.
I’ve had clients who are dating/love coaches who help women to find “the one.” (OUTCOME ALERT)
Yet, somehow that very important fact goes unmentioned in most of their “tips” and “how-to” and “fun facts” content.
I had one love coach who was doing post after post about “how to heal old wounds and trauma.”
It was interesting stuff. The kind of stuff I wanted to give a thumbs-up to and move on with my day. 😉 (LIKEABLE EXPERT ALERT)
But I never understood how those things related to finding “the one” until she explained it to me in a private session. She said that if a certain trauma occurred in your past, you may be more inclined to subconsciously seek out men who only want short-term flings vs. find “the one.”
AHHH! Now it made sense to me.
So the tweak to this content would be to re-title it or lead off with, “Here’s why you’re always attracting men who only want short-term flings when you would rather find ‘the one.'”
Ding ding ding! High-ticket buyer alert. That’s gonna prick the brain of someone scrolling their feed who actually wants to find “the one.”
Again, the actual content could remain very similar (talking about healing old wounds and trauma), but with the tweak, it would now mention how this “tip” or “interesting” TOPIC relates to the OUTCOME of finding “the one.”
In both of these cases, I absolutely believed that the people publishing this content were experts. The question was expert in WHAT. I believed they were experts in why eating greens is good, and in early childhood traumas, but I’m not a mind-reader to know what kinds of OUTCOMES I could get if they helped me with those things.
Is this making sense?
Let me know in the comments here.
When I have people correct these things, in a matter of days (or even hours in some cases) things shift for them and they start getting people reaching out interesting in BUYING their high-ticket transformational offer – you know, the one that’ll get the actual OUTCOME.
It is so incredibly cool. It’s a subtle shift but makes allllllll the difference.
(Important note: This is not the whole story. In order for this way of doing content to work, you actually do need to know how your work connects to an outcome. It can take some time and experience in business to figure that out, which is normal and something we all have to go through. Also, for maximum effectiveness with the content strategy I just described, you’ll also want to include a mention of what your actual container is for getting the outcome – a.k.a. roughly what it looks like to work with you.)
I know the “likeable expert” struggle well because I used to experience it myself. In my case, it was post after post about TOPICS like “good messaging is really important” and “you need to say things the way your ideal customer would say them.”
And I’d get the “likes” and the “right ons” and all the rest of it… but crickets in my inbox and my discovery call bookings.
And now it’s so obvious… I didn’t link those TOPICS up to specific OUTCOMES (like “here’s one reason why you’re not getting consistent leads: [OUTCOME] You’re not saying things the way your ideal customer would say them. [TOPIC]”)
And speaking of outcomes: When you start tweaking your content to include OUTCOMES the way I describe in this post, you should start seeing actual inquiries about PAYING TO WORK with you (it can happen as soon as the very first time you post one of these tweaked pieces of content!).
Because, yes: outcomes are what the high-ticket-ers buy.
(Unless you’re Tony Robbins or something.)
I know we’ve all heard that idea, but actually successfully implementing it into the way we market can be another thing entirely.
And that’s exactly what I help experienced coaches and experts to do in my 30-day 1-on-1 intensive.
We’ll get your content tweaked and working for you to only call in the serious buyers.
In order to be a good fit, you must have enough experience in your business to know what types of outcomes you can consistently help the right clients to create.
Just DM me on Facebook if interested in working together in the 30-day program and we will have a chat to see if it’s a match on both sides. 🙂
If you’re not sure what your outcome even is – or how to word it – I help people to figure that out in my group workshops that I offer a couple of times per month. You can always click this link to find out when the next one will be happening.
(To be clear, I also work on outcome wording in the 30-day 1-on-1 intensive, but the workshop chops off that piece and addresses it on its own. In the workshop we also often talk briefly about how your outcome wording can be appropriately woven into your content like I talk about in this post, so readers of your content will understand how you can help them.)
DM me on Facebook if you’re interested in joining one of the workshops.
And finally – if you’re interested in becoming certified to teach my methods to your own clients, click here to learn more about my certification program!