Experience You
|
Good Morning, good morning!! How was YOUR week? Are we feeling the fall energy and excitement? I definitely am and loving every minute of it. ICYMI — I hosted an in-person event last week in Boston called The Middle, and it was absolutely AMAZING!! Truly, the day went perfectly. Everyone loved it, I loved it, and I'm already thinking about how I can bring this experience to life quarterly in 2027. We are CARRYING IT FORWARD. (Hint, hint — get on the waitlist for this year's business planning experience because that's exactly what we'll be planning!) I know you probably see it and hear it all the time, but there truly is nothing that compares to being in the room together. What I loved most about this event was how small and intimate it was. The room felt expansive, yet it was small enough that everyone had a chance to meet, connect, speak to one another and mastermind collectively. And maybe most importantly, they realized they aren't alone. So many business owners are going through the same struggles, the same ups and downs, asking the same questions and living in their own version of "the middle." I started the day with a segment called Experience You. Everyone had five minutes for the room to experience THEM, and there was one rule: they couldn't just stand up and give us their "I help..." statement. They had to let us actually experience who they were, what they did, how they worked or what it might be like to be in their world. Some people led us through activities. Some shared client stories and case studies. One person shared 37 fun facts about herself, which immediately had people laughing, relating and finding things they had in common with her. And when I asked people afterward about their favorite parts of the day, almost everyone mentioned Experience You. Why? Because they actually understood what these people DID. They connected with them as humans. They understood how they worked with clients. They got a little taste of their personality, their expertise and the way their brain worked. And for several people, it immediately triggered the desire to connect further. I've been saying all year that we are living in the experience economy, and I'm going to keep saying it. Whether you're selling B2B or B2C, people want an opportunity to experience YOU, your brand and your knowledge in some way before they give you their money. And I know what you might be thinking... "Sure Michelle, that's great when you're standing in a room with 15 people. How the hell do I do that online?" The good news is you're probably already doing a lot of the things I'm about to tell you. What's changing is how I want you to think about them. Instead of asking, "What content should I create this week?" start asking: "How can I give someone an experience of me, my work or my brand this week?" Share the random fun facts about yourself. Not because they somehow tie back to your offer, but because they give people an opportunity to connect with you as a HUMAN. Take a two-minute exercise you normally walk clients through and teach it in a Reel or video. Don't just tell people what you help them do — give them a tiny opportunity to actually experience what doing that work with you feels like. Create a private podcast or audio series and let people hear how you think. Share a client case study, but instead of only talking about the big shiny result, show them the decisions you made together and how you actually helped create that result. Take them behind the scenes. Show them how you prepare for a client call, how you make a decision, how you work through a problem or what happens inside your program. Let them see the things they wouldn't normally see from the outside. Even your regular social content can become more experiential. Instead of always telling people what you know, occasionally give them something to DO with you. Ask them a question, walk them through an exercise, give them a scenario to think about or show them how you would approach a real problem. Let them experience your brain instead of only reading about your expertise. And here's the part I think really matters. Don't turn every one of these experiences into a thinly disguised sales pitch. If you're sharing 37 fun facts about yourself and somehow fact #38 is "AND THAT'S WHY YOU SHOULD BUY MY PROGRAM..." this will backfire on you... This should be authentic. The intention is to let people connect with you, learn from you, understand you and get a feel for what it's like to be in your world. Will some of those experiences eventually lead to sales? Absolutely. But some will simply deepen the relationship, and that's valuable too. Because remember what we've been talking about lately: They found you. Now what?
They aren't necessarily ready to hand you their money just because they found you. Give them something to experience. Then give them another opportunity to go a little deeper. You're not trying to force someone from stranger to client in one giant leap. You're intentionally creating experiences along the way that allow them to keep moving closer when they're ready. So as a reminder... I'm hosting my FREE workshop They Found You...Now What? this Thursday, September 17th at 12 PM ET. (also on Sept 29th at 1 pm ET) And honestly, the workshop itself is a perfect example of everything I just talked about. I'm inviting you to spend an hour with me. Come experience how I teach, how I think about your pipeline and how I help business owners identify the gap between someone finding them and eventually becoming a paying client. We'll look at your actual client journey and figure out where people may be getting stuck, what their next step should be and how you can create a more intentional process for moving people toward a buying decision. No giant leap required. CEO Power Move of the Week: Create ONE opportunity for your audience to experience you this week. Give them an exercise. Share the case study. Take them behind the scenes. Tell them something that helps them connect with you as a human. Don't ask, "What should I post?" Ask, "How can they experience me?" AND - Take it a step further - hold yourself accountable and tag me or share it with me once you've done it! |