Everyone receiving this newsletter is an expert, but from the messages I get I'm hearing that your market doesn't know it.
98% of professionals face these problems:
Years of specialized knowledge locked in your head and hard drive
Unique insights that thousands of people want to know
No idea how to structure and package the expertise for different buyer segments
Seeing "gurus" who just started making far more than you
Sound familiar?
I'm always going on about developing intellectual property (IP) and it's amazing how resistant experts are to this idea. They just say to me, "Just tell me how to get more clients."
But I am telling them.
No one wants to give you money if you can't show them you have a system for paying back their investment in you.
Your IP does two things: showcases your expertise (you actually know what you're talking about) and indoctrinates your prospects to believe you are the go-to authority who is right for them.
Here's just a sampling of my IP...
I've got my AgencyOps system I deliver to my high-end coaching clients.
The Accelerator mastermind for solo and experts with small teams that incorporates a specific curriculum to create Consistent Clients using Systemized Sales for a Strategic Service.
And now I'm building out The Monetize Method using the same IP as a base for The Monetize brand. Here's a snapshot...
Getting the most out of your expertise requires you to deliver it in a format designed for your buyer segments.
There's three segments in your market/audience: Clients, Members and Customers. <-- watch to learn more
You don't have to sell to all three, but you will have a stronger authority ecosystem if you provide IP that is attractive to all of them even if you only choose to work with Clients or Members or Customers.
Recently I wrote about Maria Wendt who switched from Clients to only serving Customers. She spent years selling products to her audience. She's only recently added Member services. She chose this path because it fit the Good Life she wanted.
I enjoy working with Clients and Members. And I'm slowing getting back to selling to Customers again in order to expand my authority to a wider audience.
How to get started with IP
You know a lot... and that can be paralyzing. You have so much you could document as a system that you become overwhelmed by the paradox of choice. You've got so many good options it's hard to pick one.
So start with your main service.
Have you created standard operating procedures for you and your team?
Then you already have the framework for your IP. Let's call it your Signature System.
Have you already given a name to the service you sell? If not, give it a unique name.
I do coaching that fixes the operations of expert service businesses, mostly agencies. So I named it AgencyOps.
You don't have to be clever. Just different.
Turn the steps you take to implement your service into an outline. You can block them into modules or phases.
Then treat each block as if you were going to do a presentation on it. What are the necessary things people must know? What are the steps they must take to complete this block and move on to the next?
The best advice given to me about documenting IP was "say 3 things about 3 things."
My accelerator was built around 3 things: attracting clients, closing clients and delivering on your promises. Each block contained 3 core trainings. Later, I added smaller sections to each block as questions came in from my members.
You don't have to spend months crafting your signature system. And you shouldn't.
In one of my agencies, I turned our Facebook ads process into a system for us to sell. I wrote an outline with each training video that needed to go into it. Then I created a simple bullet points for each video. This took me about a day to do.
My business partner, who was the face of the company, spent one very long day doing screen recording videos of each step.
The next day, we had our video editor lightly edit them. The day after we uploaded the videos into Kajabi, and our first email to our list promoting it went out that day. While the email went out, we got on the phone and started calling our clients and prospects to pitch it to them.
In 4 days, we were selling our signature system.
We converted over a dozen people into Members at $5800 each within a couple of weeks.
Closing Facebook ads clients became easier because we could show them our proprietary system that our competitors didn't have.
We then turned our signature system into a workshop and a presentation.
We did one-day workshops around the country where 10 to 12 people paid $150 to get taught our system. We would close 1 to 2 as clients or members from those workshops.
We went on industry tours with our presentation, which generated several clients from each city we presented in.
All from a single signature system.
You know how GaryVee always talked about making one pillar content and turning it into a bunch of smaller content?
That's what you do with your signature system.
The one big system becomes dozens or even hundreds of smaller products and marketing messages.
The trick is for you to not get bored saying one thing a thousand ways.
Your market will consume your content and buy your products and services if you stay on message.
Repeating your message over and over builds your authority and showcases the depth of your expertise.
Too many experts, and I've been guilty of this too, love to chase novelty. But if everything you say to your market is new, they won't know what you're an expert in.
Right now. This very second. I want you to open up a google doc or grab a pen and paper and start outlining your first signature system.
Once you've done your outline, take a pic of it and reply to this email with it attached.
I'll roast your system to help you improve it.
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