Recently, looking out the window, I caught a flash of light gingery brown canine bouncing towards the back yard. “Georgia!” I thought, the sweet little rescue dog that lives up the street. Knowing her family would be worried, I grabbed a few doggie treats then raced to the back door.
And stopped.
Ack! That wasn’t Georgia! It was a young coyote. Imagine the trauma if it came in and tried gobbling up my 8 pound tasty-treat Havanese, Oliver. Yikes!
I almost lured the wrong “dog” into my home.
You can lure the wrong folks to your website, too.
If your written message isn’t dialed into your ideal audience’s exact problems, needs and desires, you could be attracting the wrong folks―people unwilling to commit to you, and your transformation, process and prices. And where does that lead? Well, probably not to anything quite as chaotic as a wild predator in your kitchen, but maybe almost as distressing in terms of wasted time and energy.
For example
Though I no longer cringe to think about it (well, maybe a little), I learned this lesson the hard way late last summer. A friend referred a colleague who wanted help editing her book. She loved my website (yay!) and arranged to talk Friday night (Red Flag #1). We had such an energetic conversation it seemed great! “But,” she said, “I lost my other copywriter (RF #2) and still need to wrap it up early next week. (RF #3) There’s not too much to do! (RF #4) Can you help me this weekend?” (RF #5) Gulp. (RF #6) “Sure thing,” I said.
At first? Heaven. She called me her “Elizabeth Gilbert”―music to my ears! But it didn’t last. With no proper time to reflect (RF #7) and fact that the gap between what she had and her vision was wider than she realized (RF #8), I had doomed myself to failure. I shut down. She became abusive. Eww. We did patch things up afterwards; resetting the Karma back to positive was important to both of us.
Huuuge lessons for me though, which led to an immediate website message refinement. Now when prospects read my services page they know exactly what to expect:
Energize your confidence, brand and success
Ready to win over your ideal audience with language you love? Let's dive into your world and ponder your vision and goals, examine your strengths and offerings, and explore your ideal clients’ characteristics, needs, concerns and desires.
Then let me reflect. Compose. Refine. Create. And when every word is just right, provide you with a completed piece that electrifies your brand and compels your ideal audience to connect.
My process even has a name―Deep Dive Branding Discussion. It provides the framework I need to excel on behalf of my clients, and it’s fused into all my written premium packages and proposals. If people aren’t into it, or haven’t the time, no worries, they’re not my dream clients!
I learned waaay more than formalizing my Deep Dive Branding Discussion process (see all those red flags?!?!), but let’s save those lessons for another blog or two…or three:)
Time to Act
Take a look at your website. Does your copy:
- Address the most pressing problem, need or desire of your ideal audience?
- Explain the exact transformation you offer?
- Set clear expectations for how you work on your clients’ behalf?
Infusing these three elements into your website language will do wonders for attracting your ideal clients!
Now tell me―Have you ever attracted the wrong prospect or client? What happened? Tell me about it and whether a language fix could help you avoid that problem in the future.
Have a lovely day, it’s a beauty!
P.S. Does your website language lure your dream clients? Grab a 45 minute website review―FREE―if you’re one of the first 3 folks to sign up here by June 1.