As a small business owner, it’s an easy bet that you want more of your prospects to become buyers; like the rest of us you want more online and in-person sales of your products and services, right? Can I get a “Hell Yes!”?
So you create great content like workshops, dvd home study courses and the like, promote the hell out of them by yourself and with affiliates..and you may still get a terrible return on investment if you forget this critical piece.
To solve your prospects problems, you must be speaking their language
so they know it.
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
Of course, I don’t mean literally speaking English to English-speaking people, German to Germans, etc., but, now that I say that, it’s a very good way to prove this point. If you didn’t speak English and yet I kept squawking at you in English, you wouldn’t understand me. Duh! We’d have a real disconnect between us and you’d probably ignore me at best, and run away screaming at worst. (Here you can translate ignoring and running away screaming into prospects not buying your stuff. 
)
This is how it is when marketing to your target audience as well. You must speak their language. Yes you have to solve their problems, but you’ve got to speak their language in doing so or you won’t get their attention. If you coach financial planners but don’t know their lingo or how they view and talk about their industry, then you’ll have a major disconnect with them. If you’re a solo-practitioner in a rather technical area or one that uses out-of-the-ordinary terms, such as Reiki or homeopathy, you know all the technical speak but your prospects probably don’t. They just know their back problem has kept them from working the last four months or they desperately want relief from allergies. Are you speaking their language on your website and blog? If not, you likely have a disconnect. Disconnect = no buyers. No buyers = no money.
So How Do You Remedy This?
Well for many of you, you already have a certain degree of knowledge of your target audience, it’s one of the reasons you chose them, but listen up because this applies to everyone. You remedy this disconnect by actually researching them.
Talk to them, survey them, read about them, hang out with them, join linkedin groups and masterminds with them. Notice the phrases they use, the issues they complain about, the problems they have, the inside jokes, everything.
One of the best possible things you can do for your coaching, consulting, or solo-professional business right now is to interview, in person or on the phone, 10-20 people in your target audience. Ask open-ended questions and not multiple-choice because you don’t want to put words or ideas in their mouths. If you’re not a fast writer, record the conversation so you get the exact language they use. Ask them what their biggest challenges are at work and at home, what do they want to change about their businesses and lives, where do the want to go in the future, etc. Get their answers in their own words.
Why, You Ask?
Because this is then the exact language you’re going to use on your blog, website, presentations and one-on-ones. And when they read your stuff or listen to you, they’ll know you “know them” and “get them” because you’re speaking their language and dealing with their specific issues!
And that, my friend, makes you the perfect professional to help them – and get paid! Wins all around with you quickly becoming known as the go-to guy for your target audience. Whether you’re a new coach or consultant or have been at it a while, take advantage of this strategy as soon as you can. It’s one more way to take real responsibility for building your business. Cheers.
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