The Art of Relevance The Art of Relevance How to Have Your Ideal Clients Saying, “That’s Me!” vs. “So What.” marketingforhippies.com !1 The Art of Relevance Table of Contents Introduction 4 Five Reasons to Figure Out Islands A and B 8 Island A: The Painful Symptom 12 Their Symptoms vs. Your Diagnosis 19 Coaching Session: Infidelity and Truth 27 Why Your Clients Can’t Have What They Want 32 Difficult Teachers: A Marketing Lesson 33 The Four Core Symptoms 36 Relevance: Shallow and Wide vs. Narrow and Deep 38 Examples of Island A 40 Example #1: Island A for an Executive Director of an NGO 42 Example #2: Non Violent Communication Workshop 43 Example #3: Sexual Enrichment Counsellor 45 Example #4: How to Write a Lovable Homepage 46 Example #5: Rebellious Entrepreneur Tele-Summit 47 Example #6: The Uncaged Life 48 Example #7: Pink Elephant 49 Example #8: Verge Permaculture 50 Example #9: Heart of Business 51 Example #10: Jane the Practitioner 52 Example #11: A Story for Men about Women 60 Example #12: Lite Beer 63 Island A Quiz Examples 64 Quiz #1: Are You a FaceBook Addict? 66 Quiz #2: Are You Addicted to the Internet? 67 Quiz #3: Are You Highly Sensitive? 68 Quiz #4: Eco-Friendly Lawn Care 69 Quiz #5: Practice Building 70 marketingforhippies.com !2 The Art of Relevance Quiz #6: Progressive Newspaper 71 More Examples of Island A 72 A Collection of 48 More Examples of Island A 76 Island A Examples: Concluding Thoughts 82 Under What Circumstances? 83 Nine Qualities of a Well-Articulated Problem 89 Seven Ways to Identify and Clarify the Symptoms You Help Your Clients With 91 What Do You Do if There Are No Symptoms? 93 The Hidden Blessings of Island A 94 Island A Conclusion 96 Island Z: The Unspoken Fears 97 Fifteen Ideas for How to Deal With the Fear of Island Z: 100 Island B: The Results They Crave 103 Should You Focus on Island A or Island B? 107 Examples of Businesses With a Clear Island B 108 Thoughts on Cravings 116 15 Core Results People Might Want From Your Product or Service 117 Nine Qualities of a Well-Articulated Result 123 What if I Can’t Guarantee a Result? 125 Seven Things to Look at When You’re Struggling With “But I Can’t Guarantee my Offers!” 131 Thoughts on Connecting Island A and B 134 Case Study: Lisa Anne Morrison — Professional Organizer 137 Case Study: Trade Shows 138 Island C: The Unimagined Possibility 139 More Real Life Examples 141 Considerations and Caveats 144 Where to Use This All in Your Marketing 145 To Summarize 146 Conclusion 148 Gratitude 150 marketingforhippies.com !3 The Art of Relevance Introduction Your clients are on a journey. Your ideal clients are on Island A where they are struggling with a particular problem and all the symptoms that come with particular problem. They don't want to be there on Island A. I often ask holistic practitioners or permaculture providers what problems they solve for their clients. They’ll laugh and say, “That’s the thing! This modality or approach can work on any problem. What can’t it do?” They’re so in love with their boat (which represents what they do and how they do it) that they talk about their it all the time. But people only care about your boat if it can help them with their problem, if the provider’s or practitioner’s boat can carry them to Island B. This seems like it would be a liberating approach or perspective. You’re not limiting your options, you can fix anything! But it’s actually the most limiting thing you can do. Because now there’s no relevance for the boat. Why bother getting on a boat if you don’t want to leave the Island? Your clients want to be on Island B. They want, more than anything, to be on Island B where they will find the results they are craving. Your business is the boat that can take your clients from one island to another. Island A is the painful set of symptoms your clients experience in their lives. It represents the problem they face. Island A why they’re looking for a boat in the first place. It’s what makes your boat relevant to them. If they have no problem, they have, in their mind, no need for a solution. It’s really as simple as that. Some examples: • Scattered and disorganized on Island A? Want to get to focused and organized Island B • Conflicted, addicted, and constantly at the mercy of strong emotions like fear and anger on Island A? Want to get to strong, harmonious and equanimous Island B? • Lonely on Island A and want to find a relationship on Island B? • Broke on Island A and want to make some money on Island B? marketingforhippies.com !4 The Art of Relevance That’s the basic idea. Your business is a boat that can help clients make that journey. This simple island metaphor, which I have deepened and expanded over time, has formed the basis of the marketing approach that I teach. So, one of the first implications of this metaphor is that we might want to stop talking about our boat so much. People don’t care about your boat. They care about their journey. Even if they want to buy your boat from you . why? Where are they hoping to go with it? What are they hoping to do with it? They’re buying the boat for something. What is that something? The purpose of this eBook is very simple: to help you understand and become very good at articulating the reasons why people would want to buy what you have to sell. Stated another way: we need to actually become experts on the journey more than geeking out about about the mode of transportation. I’ve seen many of my clients struggle, particularly holistic health practitioners. They tend to talk endlessly about their boat, “Oh yes. This boat is made from a combination of Reiki, shiatsu, and traeger therapies, and the work that reconnects. It’s powerful.” Most of them are offering “general help” that doesn’t do much to address immediate and pressing symptoms. A lot of holistic practitioners focus on what they think people need instead of what they’re struggling with and they’re only reaching clients who are already into holistic things. Sure the details and stories behind the wood you chose for your boat’s deck, the way you’ve rigged your sails, the way you’ve designed and painted your hull, are fascinating. But they aren’t compelling reasons for a prospective client to book passage and climb on board unless you are going where they want to go. This is one of the simplest notions in business and yet equally the most difficult to grasp. Many entrepreneurs never really crack the code on this one. Many entrepreneurs don't understand the need to identify the real pain that their clients feel, and the real results their clients want. Over the years, I expanded this metaphor to add two more islands. The first was Island C. Island C represents the reality that some businesses are offering something wonderful and necessary that no one even knows exists and therefore cannot possibly crave. It’s an Island that you can’t see from Island A, and is barely visible from Island B. marketingforhippies.com !5 The Art of Relevance Island C is what might be possible in the life of ONE person that they hadn’t previously considered. This is different than the bigger cause we imagine, which is what we envision for our whole community, or for the world (though they are likely connected). Island C is the place you got to in your life that you never dreamed possible before. But now you’re here! Amazing. Island B is a promise. Island C is a possibility. Island B is the result a prospective client imagines. It’s what they’re craving to the extent that they can articulate. Island C goes beyond this into articulating a client’s most deeply felt yearnings. It offers up the hope and the possibility that things could be even better than they imagined possible. My colleague W. T. S. Tarver, a meditation teacher from Toronto, once articulated it like this: Island C is where the potential clients would really want to go if they knew about it and could understand what you were saying, but from where they are presently standing (indeed, living) they truly, honestly can't see it. If told about it, Island C might sound so fantastic that it actually can compromise the credibility of the story-telling captain. As far as they are concerned, everything in the prospective client's actual experience inclines them to believe and understand that all they are shopping for, all they want, all they need is passage to Island B. Stories about Island C are dismissed as myths, hyperboles, “marketing buzz,” or even deception or outright lies. For the entrepreneurs who I coach the “ships' captains” in the metaphor and mindfulness facilitators in this instance, many of their boats are in fact actually registered and berthed at Island C. That's where they stop routinely, do their maintenance, get their supplies, hang out with their friends and the other captains, etc. For them it's part of the regular run. Sure Island B is way better than Island A, but it's just a stop-over on the way to Island C.