It started when I designed my “Plugging Your Money and Business Leaks” program last year.  Looking at where $ is either not making it in, or flying out lead me to figure out what gets in the way.

The question ended up in creating some tools and worksheets with questions designed for how to get to that answer.

One of those was, “What have you done in your past that if you told someone, they may say….”Hey, that’s pretty cool!”

Like most people Ely gave me some answers that were on the surface and didn’t ‘land’ on the ‘cool-factor’ meter.  But then he shared that in the past he had been a roadie for bands like Queensryche, Megadeath, Lillith Fair, Ozzy, Wayne Newton, Blues Travelers, and many more, I about came across the table because it all came really clear to me how he could use this in his branding!!!

Ya see, Ely teaches small business owners do-it-yourself marketing. And he’s really good at it.  But there is lots of competition in the market place for that service.  Here’s from his site –

But when I got my hands on this juicy little nugget from Ely, I felt like a dog with a new chew toy.  Initially he didn’t get how the fact of him hanging with Alice Cooper or any of the old rockers had anything to do with his business or marketing himself.  So what I told him was this (which goes back to the $64,000 question….)

‘Imagine you are a business owner and you need to learn marketing.  There are a ton of people out there offering that, so how do you pick?  But what if you had been a huge rock fan back in the day and you found out that one of the pack of marketing teacher’s use to hang out with your favorite rockers.” That could be the VERY THING that would make someone hire you!!!

The language I then gave Ely to use was, “If I can set the stage for Alice Cooper to rock, I can show you how to make your small business marketing rock as well.”

Let me ask you…what’s more memorable?  Ely’s banner above, or the pic with Alice Cooper and the ASSOCIATION you now have made in your head about how cool this guy must be because of who he used to hang out with.

And guess what – if you were not a rock fan, this may not land for you at all.  No worries! Good marketing serves to repel as well as attract.  Not everyone is our target client! It’s about making yourself so unique and bringing about the fun or cool or interesting parts to your personality so that your prospective buyers can make a decision about hiring you or not. This is what I call INNER MARKETING.

Why am I teaching this?  Because it relates to owning your gifts and seeing beyond what you do, who you are, and how you serve to find that ‘magic’ you bring.

These are a few of the questions I have in the toolkit – I’ll elaborate on them.

“What have you done in your past that if you told someone, they may say….”Hey, that’s pretty cool!”

“What do you take a stand for with your clients?”

“What pisses you off or makes you crazy about what your competition does?”

“What do you take for granted as being easy that you do?”

“What do other people tell you that you do really well?”

When I ask what you take a stand for, go deep and find the THING you want….beyond what they are buying from you.  Example, if you are a chiropractor, they may be buying an adjustment, but YOUR STAND is that no one has to suffer from debilitating back pain and miss out on having time with their kids.  My stand is that you can shift your mindset, get your gifts out in the world, make money, and have a great life and business doing it.

What pisses you off? This one comes from my friend Kristen Beireis who asked that of me during a coaching session.  It’s not designed to have you be a contrarian, but sometimes looking at what drives you nuts about what others do helps clarify what you do well, what you are a stand for, or where you are head and shoulders above the crowd.  It also helps let you know what you value in the work you do.

We ask what you take for granted, because what I know is that YOUR BRILLIANCE IS IN YOUR BLINDSPOT more than likely.  We don’t own or value things that come easily sometimes, and often believe that everyone can do it, should know it, or not really want it.

It’s also very common to dismiss what you do really well according to other people.  That whole devaluing equation.  So instead of just looking at the surface of what you sell, (i.e. coaching) look at the TRANSFORMATION you provide.  That will help to see the magic you bring, which means you can sell and market yourself much easier.

Now it’s your turn.

What would someone say, “Wow…that’s cool” from your life?

Taking the time to answer the questions can really make all the difference in the Inner Marketing you need to do to get your business on the map.

And feel free to send me a message with your answers…I’d love to hear from you.