Now that you understand the big picture, it’s time to jump in and get to work, right?
Whoa…not so fast…
There’s still more prep work to do to make sure that you’re focused on the right things in the right order.
To do that, we’re going to ask a series of questions to help you orient to where you are in your journey.
Then we can point you in the right direction.
Before we do that, however, we need to take a step back and explain what we’re trying to accomplish.
Why?
Because we could turn you loose on all of the content in The System, wish you good luck, and hope for the best. And yes, you could go through all of that content before taking action.
However, to do that right would likely take months…
We don’t think that’s the best option for a simple reason: asking “what could I do?” is the wrong question because it assumes that time, energy, and dollars are infinite.
If that’s true, then you could do anything…
When time, energy, and dollars are finite (which is always), a better question to ask is “what should I do?”
In order to answer that question, we need a framework to guide our thinking.
That framework is based on what we’ve identified as three core needs our students want most:
- Lower risk.
- More control.
- Faster results.
Let’s look at each in enough detail so that you understand why they matter.
Risk.
Business is inherently risky, and that risk is measured in time, energy, and dollars. Every time we pursue something new we’re investing whatever time and energy it takes to see if that initiative will produce the desired results.
And, we’re often investing money directly (e.g., to build an audience), or indirectly (by not pursuing other money-making activities while we’re building a new business or testing a new offer).
As much as possible, we want to reduce these risks to acceptable levels — and acceptable is something only you can determine for yourself.
Less time, less energy, fewer dollars to get results we can act on is the guiding principle.
Control.
Increasing control is the second dimension we want to consider.
Control means that we have agency over the results that we’re getting. Simply put, we want to be in the driver’s seat.
Let’s consider two examples — one with less control and the other with more control.
Imagine you have a business where your results are entirely dependent on word of mouth. Some weeks the phone rings off the hook with prospective customers, and other weeks the only sound you hear is the chirp-chirp of crickets.
In that scenario, you have very little control over your business. There are no levers to pull to get more customers if you want (or need) more. The phone rings when it rings and you’re subject to whatever happens.
That is a recipe for disappointment and frustration.
Compare that to a business where you are paying for traffic that is ROI-positive (meaning you spend $1 and make more than $1 in return consistently).
Or you have a business with an audience you’ve treated well that is receptive to your offers.
Or you have affiliate relationships that are sending customers your way 24/7/365.
You get the idea.
More control is better. That’s basic human nature. We want to be able to affect the outcomes in our lives — and in our businesses.
We explained the idea this way in the original manifesto for The Traffic Engine:
“Let’s be very clear about what we all really want. As business owners, creative professionals, and marketers, we need to create awareness, generate leads, make sales, fulfill our obligations to our clients and customers, and make a profit that keeps us in business.
That’s what we need.
But, what we really want — more than anything — is a sense of control. We want to know that our business results (and our income) are stable, predictable, and scalable. That next month will be better than this month. That there’s opportunity to increase the value we contribute to the world, expand our horizons, our relationships, and our income.
Just for a moment I want you to imagine what it would feel like to experience that. What if you knew — really knew — that you could thrive month after month, year after year?”
The third part of this framework is speed…
Speed.
A general rule of thumb is that creating opportunities for faster feedback is better.
Let’s consider two scenarios that illustrate the point.
Imagine we have an idea for a digital course, but we don’t have an audience or the infrastructure to connect an audience to our course once it exists. We also don’t know if anyone is interested in our idea.
In scenario #1 — which is all too common — we might invest months recording and polishing our digital course content on the latest and greatest platform.
Then, we setup all of the communication and content delivery systems, analytics, and advertising platforms.
Once all of that is complete, we spend another couple of months creating a webinar to sell it.
Finally, we start advertising our webinar only to discover that no one is buying…
Then we spend months — maybe even years — trying to find the right audience, tweaking our webinar (endlessly), and chasing the latest traffic tactic.
“Maybe I should try TikTok…yeah, that’s it…”
“Or YouTube…”
“Or…”
And on and on it goes…
Now, compare that to scenario #2. We have the same idea for a digital course, no audience, and no infrastructure.
However, before we spend any time creating the course, we do the work in the Audience & Offer Masterclass to understand who might be interested in our as-yet-nonexist offer, and why they might be interested.
Then we start building and interacting with that audience, assessing their interest along the way.
How responsive are they to our questions?
Are they willing to connect with us directly by Skype or Zoom?
What specific language do they use to describe their problems, needs, and desires? What matters most to them?
If our initial audience is a match to our imagined course, we’ll know within weeks. If that audience isn’t a match, or our offer doesn’t resonate, we can course-correct immediately.
Fast feedback means that days go by — not months — between iterations.
Progress happens in real time because we’re constantly recalibrating closer to an interested audience and irresistible offer based on real interactions, not imagined hopes and dreams.
Eventually, when we feel like our audience and potential offer are a good match, and our audience is large enough (hundreds, not thousands of people), we try to sell an offer that does not yet exist.
Read that last sentence again.
We have not created the course yet because we don’t know if anyone will actually buy it.
We don’t hide that from our audience — we celebrate it. It’s an advantage to our audience because we’re co-creating our course with them so it’s a perfect match to their needs.
Everyone wins.
Then, once our co-created course is complete (and we were paid — in advance — by our first customers to create it), we can sell the finished product knowing there’s an audience for it.
And we’ll have social proof and results from our initial participants.
See the difference?
Scenario #2 is fast (while also reducing risk). We’re getting and reacting to signals every step of the way — before we’ve invested time, energy, and dollars to create something we don’t know if anyone wants!
If you’re interested in a deep dive on this topic, we recorded a 33-minute conversation, with accompanying transcript, explaining the Jim Collins-inspired ‘Bullets to Cannonballs‘ framework we use.
OK, now that you understand what we’re optimizing for — less risk, more control, and faster results — let’s move on to questions you need to answer to know what to do next.
Questions.
(If you are a digital marketing service provider, you can answer these questions from each client’s perspective or answer the questions for yourself if you’re focusing on building your own business.)
Question #1: do you already have access to an interested audience?
Examples include an email list, social media audience(s), or other opportunities (e.g., trade shows, speaking events, referrals, podcast, etc.).
The key word in that question is “already.” We’re not asking if you could build an audience. Rather, do you have the attention of one?
If your answer to question #1 is no, then move on to question #2.
If your answer is yes, then list your audiences, their size, and any other relevant information in a document or your note-taking system.
For example: email list, 5,500, Twitter following 1,100, etc.
Question #2: do you have a proven offer?
Proven means you have sold it already, preferably using the same medium you intend to sell it in the future.
For example, if you run an email marketing agency and sell entirely through word of mouth referrals, you have a proven offer.
However, if you intend to sell that same offer using paid search to generate customers, you have not proven the offer to that audience.
That’s an important nuance to understand. Offers that work in some contexts don’t always work in others.
(Word of mouth referrals, in particular, can be extremely effective because the recommendations are coming from a trusted source of information.)
If your answer to question #2 is no, move on to Core Training, Part III: Scenarios.
If your answer is yes, list your offers and the ways in which you’ve sold those offers in a document or your note-taking system.
For example: offer #1: digital course sold on Facebook, Google Display Network, and with affiliate referrals.
If you answered yes to question #2, there’s one more question to answer.
Question #2A: how have you sold your offer in the past?
Options include (but aren’t limited to) straight to sales page, webinar, lead generation to offer by email, low-cost customer acquiring offer to core offer, Product-Launch Formula (PLF) style launches, etc.
For example, low-cost ($95) recorded workshop with $297 upsell to 30-day email series to core offer ($1,997) sold to affiliate traffic with 100% commission on the workshop and 50% commission on the core offer.
List each offer, and the different ways those offers are sold, in a document or your note-taking application.
The point of answering these questions is to identify your current reality objectively. If you have an offer and/or an audience, great. If not, that’s fine too.
As your situation changes, you’ll want to continually re-orient to these questions. You might have an audience and no offer the first time you go through the MMS core training.
That’ll point you in one direction.
The next time through the core training you might have an audience and an offer. That’ll point you in a different direction.
NEXT: Core Training Part 3: Szenarios