Making Your Client the Hero

Understanding Why the “About You” Section 

is Really About Them

Image courtesy of Sira Anamwong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I assume you're reading this because you want to find an effective way to help people.  You’ve already done the hard part. You developed a great solution to your prospect’s problem.  Yet convincing people probably feels like your hardest challenge.  It doesn’t have to be that way.   

One personal productivity maven teaches entrepreneurs how to build their platform.  Michael Hyatt helps people define it in a powerful way.  I highly recommend you check out his work - especially Platform.   

Part of what makes it powerful is his understanding of how to attract your ideal client.

Who’s the Hero?

What changes the game is the concept of making your client the hero of their story.  YOU aren’t supposed to be the hero that saves the day.  Not even if you do most of the work for them.  However, you CAN play the part of the trusty side-kick who shows them how THEY can save the day - using your product or service.

It’s YOUR product that will allow their vision to come to fruition.  But to attract them, it must always be about THEM.

The “About Me” that’s About Them

So using that perspective to create content for your website, how do you do an “About Me” section … that’s actually about THEM?

Step back and review your market analysis.  You should have an idea of the age group of these people, whether they are primarily men or women, and what their lifestyle is like.  

Four Questions to Answer To Attract Your Ideal Prospect

1. What is the pain in their life that you offer to resolve?  (Get their attention.)
2. How did you experience that pain in your life? (Establish that you understand their struggle, start to develop a sense of commonality and trust.)
3. Why did you develop that solution?  (What have you gone through that may be similar to the trial and error they have been going through, without a satisfying resolution of the problem? This is further proof that you really DO understand the frustration of their pain.)
4. How did you develop that solution? (How you found the solution and what your life is like now that you have this solution.)

Proving There’s Hope

The purpose of your "About Me" story is to give them hope.  You are like them.  You discovered the solution to your problem.  Reading about your story lets them know their lives CAN be better.

Whatever you write, ask yourself how it relates to their story.  If it doesn’t relate, ruthlessly cut it out.  Your results will thank you!

No, I haven't affiliated with anyone yet, including Michael Hyatt. However, I'd be honored to do so.  I can't recommend him highly enough. I hope you'll check out his page.

Weekly Challenge

I was supposed to be working on my website this week, but I’m still working on the written portion.  Some life stuff got in the way … but that’s a post for next week!   

What are you working on?  Are you wondering if your story is about them enough?  The first ten people who comment with their website will receive a free evaluation of your "about me" section.

When Distinguishing Your Business is Tough

What I’m Doing to Promote My Freelance Service

I think it’s easier to market other people than myself.  It’s easier for me to believe what others have to say.  Looking at myself, I tend to magnify my flaws and forget I have something to offer - something that may be a huge benefit to someone else.  

It’s even worse if I haven’t done a thorough market analysis.  Last weekend I was thinking it would be easier to work in real estate because of another venture I’m involved in.  Maybe I could do newsletters so that it’s a consistent type of writing each month.  

I could search the local websites for the community my realtor is in to provide that hometown feel.  Throw in  relevant stats like current mortgage interest rates. Write to reflect their personality.

Competition is Fierce

Digging a little deeper, I realized two things.  First, there are already services out there like that … for cheap.  See the snippet below.  $13?!?  Yeesh!  It lacks the personal touch because it’s a plug and play service.  And what if someone else in the same area is using the same service.  How embarrassing to have the customer get the same thing from two realtors with no connection to one another! 

A Snippet of the Search I Did

 The real estate professional would need to alter some material for the individual touch.  Some services allow that for a higher rate, yet still cheaper than I could offer.  Since I don’t have “cheap” to offer, how would I market myself to provide value to match the rate I would need to charge?  Would they see the value?  Would their customers appreciate the difference?

Those are details that could be overcome except for this:  my heart isn’t in financial.  A well-done newsletter in that field must include financial.  The thought of writing financial on a regular basis dries up my virtual pen.  

Back to the Drawing Board

My passion is in personal development. Where there is deep interest, where I believe in something, I make pixels come alive.    I know how much I have benefited from people who have developed books and websites.  I've lost count of the many webinars and YouTube videos I’ve watched, hungry to learn that nugget that takes me to the next level in whatever I’m learning about. 

I want to share that satisfaction with others by writing for those who have conferences and other instructive materials.  I want to help newer, less established people who have something to contribute to the greater conversation.  I want to do that by writing their sales material and whatever they need to get noticed.

What Makes You Special?

To do that, I must be able to answer the question, “What makes you different than any other copywriter?”  I can talk about how passionate I am about this field.  I can talk about where I trained - though I’m hardly the only one. I can talk about how passionate I am about this field, yet there are other passionate writers, too.

Crafting my unique selling proposition (USP for short) needs to be more about what I can do for them.  How well do I understand their pain points?  How does what I do help them solve their problem?  What is in my background that is uniquely suited to doing an excellent job for them?

I am digging into the research this week so that I can answer those questions in a powerful way.

How have you distinguished yourself in your market niche?  Was it easy or hard for you?