Hey Reader,
Last week, I talked about how the question of "who is this actually for" is continuing to pop up for me as I work on a new project.
While I"m still working through exactly who that project is for, I wanted to build on it a little...with another question that keeps popping up.
This is another one that can seem simple and easy to answer, but is often answered incorrectly by the majority of us.
Well, maybe "incorrectly" isn't the most accurate word. It's more like "not as accurate as we could/should answer it" if that makes sense.
The question is: "What problem does this actually solve?"
Now, if your gut reaction is "Jeff, I know my answer to this, and it's easy." that's awesome. However, I challenge you to review your answer and see if you can dig deeper.
See, the answer to this question is often different and less obvious than we think.
Here's an example...
Recently in our MBA Mastermind we've been focusing on our websites. Each week, one member has shared their site, or a specific page or piece of their site, and gotten feedback and ideas from the group.
During one of these sessions we got into a great conversation around what one of our members actually does.
Their site very clearly spoke about what they do, but it didn't clearly specify what pain point that work was going to solve for their audience.
It didn't clearly define what their offer truly was.
Now, it did do this in the sense that it explained that they can come to you school and rock out an awesome workshop for your teachers that would help improve the clarity around your meetings, making your meetings more efficient and effective.
But it didn't clearly tell you the real pain point this work helps solve.
The true pain point that their target buyer feels is actually the impact that ineffective, inefficient meetings have on the students at their school.
They were really clear on WHAT they do. But they were not clear on WHY you would buy from them. They weren't clear on what problem they actually help solve: Negative impacts on student learning.
To be clear: Improving meeting effectiveness is a strong selling point on its own, for sure.
However, the truly great potential clients for this person are the educational leaders who are aware of how ineffective meetings can impact students, and want to fix that.
The ineffective meetings are the cause of the pain point. But people don't typically buy because of the cause. They buy because of the pain, which is often a symptom of the cause.
So their target audience is not necessarily feeling like their meetings are ineffective. Instead, they're feeling like their students are not growing like they want, or not hitting the success they feel they should be.
At the heart and soul of this EDUpreneur, and at the heart and soul of their ideal clients...are the students.
Could it still sell well with the focus being just about the meetings? Absolutely. They have a very strong business, so clearly it was doing well enough.
But finding that clarity around what problem they are truly solving...that leads to clarity everywhere else.
Connecting this to our conversation last week.
Last week we talked about clarifying WHO your offer is actually for.
To find true clarity on that question, you need to first find true clarity on "What problem does this actually solve?"
Our EDUpreneur could have answered the WHO with:
Educational leaders who are tired of wasting time and energy on ineffective and inefficient team meetings.
That's a strong statement. It's a very common pain point. A clear statement of a pain point as well. But not the true pain point they solve for their ideal clients.
Now, they answer the WHO with:
Educational leaders who want to improve the clarity in their team meetings in order to positively impact students.
What's the takeaway here?
I know I said a lot in this email, so here's what I really want you to take away.
Do not settle for your first answer to either question (Who is this for? What problem does this solve?). Instead, dig deeper.
Sometimes (often times) what we do for our clients (in this case, meetings) is address a cause of their pain point. And that can work well in selling your offer.
But if we want to truly speak to our ideal clients, we need to speak to their pain points.
So, dig deeper every time you ask these questions. And don't be afraid to adjust or completely change your answers as you find more clarity.
I hope this helps.
Before you go...
I'd love to know where you're at right now.
Just hit reply with the letter that best describes you:
A. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I want to build.
B. I know what I want to build, but I'm struggling to find the time.
C. I'm creating consistently, but not really growing.
D. I have an audience, but I'm not sure how to turn it into income.
E. I'm making some money, but I want to build something bigger.
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~ Jeff
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I appreciate you.
Jeff Gargas
COO / Co-Founder, Teach Better Team
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P.S. When you're ready, here's how I can help:
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