Kat Millar

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Are you an introvert or extrovert? What this says about how fast you’ll succeed in business

Have you ever wondered what effect your personality style is having on how fast you’re growing your business?

A lot of people share with me that they struggle to do the things that successful business owners do, like holding an event, doing a Facebook live video, or running a webinar, and put it down to being an introvert.

Other times, extroverts tell me that normally they can talk to anyone – but when it comes to talking to that little lens on their laptop, they get anxious.

Too often, we use our personality type – such as being an introvert to STOP us from doing the very things we KNOW we need to do, so we can see the results we want.

The KEY to getting results quickly in your business is to be able to clearly see what is acting as a handbrake and stopping you from moving forward in your business…

It is always the story we’re telling ourselves. And it all begins with our thoughts.

Being able to identify the thoughts that hinder our actions, and ultimately our results, helps you BREAKTHROUGH your limitations…

…and into the business success you dream of.

The challenge is, most of us have no awareness of the thoughts that are causing the issues because they are happening at the unconscious level.

In this training, I share how being an introvert or extrovert affects how fast you’ll succeed in business…

so you can…

* Use your personality traits to your advantage

* Identify the thoughts and beliefs hindering you from getting results

* Step out of the slow lane and into the results fast lane TODAY

I share my TEAR Model – a success creation formula that enables you to quickly identify what you need to focus on to create success in your business.

Introvert or Extrovert?

Let’s start by thinking about whether you identify as an introvert or an extrovert. I have a lot of people talk to me about this, and they use one or the other, as a way of explaining their results or their actions.

Introverts and extroverts both have traits that can serve them, and traits that can hinder them. There are pros and cons for each. You may identify as an extrovert or an introvert, or you may not identify as either.

Perhaps you identify as an ambivert, which is someone who has qualities of growth. All of us identify with each area in some ways. Sometimes we love hanging out with people because we’re human and we’re social creatures.

An ambivert is not someone who sometimes likes being with people and sometimes doesn’t. How ambiverts are typically described, is that they can slip into either depending on their mood, their context and their goals.

Ambiverts have also been called outgoing introverts. I naturally identify as an introvert because I love spending lots of time by myself, compared to a lot of people.

A lot of people don’t realise that I’m an introvert. They assume because I’m a speaker and I’m constantly showing up on video and running events, that I’m an extrovert. I have high energy when I’m with a group, so people often assume that I’m an extrovert every day.

I’ve also heard it described sometimes as an anti-social extrovert.  Naturally, these people are extroverted,  but they need a lot of time to recharge, before and after socialising.

And then, they really need a lot of time by themselves to draw energy, but they still love connection and being social. It kind of comes down to the amount of time that you really want to be with other people and where you get your energy from.

Beliefs About Introverts And Extroverts

A lot of people tell me that they are introverts and therefore they struggle to put themselves out there on video or running webinars or doing Facebook Lives.

It was Carl Jung who advanced the theory on introverted and extroverted personality types. He defined introversion as inwardly directed psychic energy. We may assume that introverts are shyer and find it harder. We may assume that extroverts are more willing to put themselves out there and present themselves more boldly and confidently.

It used to be that extraversion was a strong predictor of who would become a leader. But this thought has been debunked somewhat.

In my experience, all personality types struggle if they don’t have the right thinking, regardless of whether they identify as an introvert or extrovert.

According to an article on Inc.com, psychologists had discovered that introverts do just as well in leadership roles. A lot of these stereotypes have been challenged in recent times. I’ve read a number of articles on introverts who are really successful leaders and entrepreneurs.

In the past, in Western society extraversion was really celebrated. The outgoing enthusiastic person often is thought to get more things done and may be known as a greater communicator. This is seen as an asset.

However, other articles show that the introvert / extrovert scale only represents about 20% of what they called the Big Five personality traits. And that is a lot more to a person than how much social stimulation they need.

And this is really what I’m wanting to drive through as a point here,  is that your success rate in business has very little to do with whether you identify as an introvert or extrovert.

In my experience, over the last 17 years in business, I’ve met a lot of successful extroverts and a lot of successful introverts.

What is it that is actually determining our rate of success then?

I have created a formula for success. I call it the TEAR Model.

T – Thoughts

E – Emotions

A – Actions

R – Results

The TEAR model explains that our thoughts lead to our emotions. Our emotions lead to our actions. And our actions lead to our results.

This is basic psychology. I didn’t make that up. I just gave it a label.

I just named a concept from everything that I’ve looked at in psychology from NLP to fixed mindsets and growth mindsets and cognitive behaviour therapy.

Our results are based on our actions, our actions are based on our feelings and all of it is coming from our thinking and the stories that we tell ourselves. These stories include how we think about ourselves.

Our self-image is made up of the stories that we tell ourselves. It’s made up of the beliefs, thoughts, and data or proof that we’ve collected over time. This all contributes to our story that we rehearse. But these stories are just thoughts.

So if we want to change our results, we need to look at what thoughts are driving those results. Most people are stuck at the results level, and asking themselves why they can’t get more results.

Everything that has been created has started with a thought.  For example, a bookshelf. Someone had the thought to build a bookshelf. They got a feeling from that thought, whether it was a feeling of motivation creation, innovation, whatever it was. They took action and they created a result, which is the finished bookshelf.

Our thoughts are habits and you can create new thought habits. Instead of saying, “I’m an introvert, so I find it hard.” Choose a more empowering thought.

There are so many successful introverts. If you look at the Top 10 richest people in the world, who are multi-billionaires, like Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, and Bill Gates – about half the lists are introverts and the other half are extroverts.

These introverts are still putting themselves out there and not letting their introverted natures stop them from succeeding.  Richard Branson is an introvert that sits on a couch and is kind of shy. He looks a little bit awkward. I’ve seen him live. He may be an introvert, but he’s presenting all the time.

Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Wozniak the co-founder of Apple, and Barack Obama, are all people who identify as introverts, and these people still present. A lot of them present regularly, and they don’t let being an introvert stop them.

If you want to succeed in business, your rate of growth is measured by how willing you are to take the right action,  regardless of how you were born and what natural personality type you are.

Reverse Engineering the TEAR Model

When you look at the TEAR Model, and you say you want to get your business going fast, and you want to make money, help people and be creative. Perhaps you want to create an online course or a webinar or a coaching group program.

Grab a piece of paper and write down your page T.E.A.R. Start at the bottom with R.

R – Results

In the R line – put the result you want. Maybe the result is to make $10,000 a month or run a webinar, whatever your result is you are aiming for.

 A – Actions

Then in the A line, you need to write all the different actions you need to take, to get to the result. It could be you need to create a free downloadable recourse or create a landing page and funnel. There are so many different lead generation strategies, and you just need to pick them and go for it for the next 30 days.

E – Emotion

In the E line, you need to write what emotions you need to have to take those actions. So you don’t want to be depressed, anxious, fearful, or stressed. What you want is to be determined and motivated.

You want to have the feeling of energy, that you’re unstoppable. Think about the emotion that’s going to make you want to take those actions and just write all those emotions out.

The emotion could be feeling unstoppable, or feeling passionate or grateful. These are the emotions that will drive you to take action.

T – Thoughts

Finally, what thoughts do you need to think? Thoughts are a little bit sneaky, as it’s harder to catch thoughts. What thoughts do you need to be thinking to get those feelings, take those actions and get that result?

With the thoughts, often you need to write them out or you need to go through them with a coach.  Because for us to change,  we have to change the meaning we put on things.

If we’ve been looking at something the same way the whole time,  it’s really hard for us to see and have a different perspective on that thing. We often need someone else to give us a different perspective.

For example, if I hold up my phone. I’m looking at the Apple logo and you’re looking at the face of my screen. We’re both looking at the same object. But I’m looking at it from a completely different angle to you. I can only see this side of it, and you can only see the other side of it.

It’s the same with a result. We look at it one way. And there could be hundreds, if not thousands of ways to look at it. It’s very hard for us to try and do it in our mind.

We need to externalize it,  and get it down on paper and do some self-coaching on it. This will help us get a little bit further than keeping it in our head.  But ultimately, if you want to see a transformation, you need someone else’s perspective.

You need someone else to see things or draw things out of you, that were previously unconscious. About 90% of our thoughts we think every day are unconscious thoughts, and we are not even aware we are having those thoughts.

Your Thoughts Drive Your Results

It’s those unconscious thoughts that are driving our results. So, we can also sit down and think about the results we want, and what you might need to be thinking to get that.

One thought is: “Whatever it takes, I have everything I need to succeed.” How often are you repeating a thought like that in your mind, if you really want that desired result?

How often are you having these commands that are going to get you that result? “I absolutely can create 10k a month as a business owner, and I will keep going until I find a way.”

If we thought that empowering thought dozens and dozens and dozens of times every day, and we felt the emotion of it, eventually we would start taking the actions and start getting the results.

Most people are focusing on the problems and all the reasons why things won’t work. They are focusing on the things that are going to give them a completely different result.

Using The TEAR Model On Current Results

So let’s look at the other side of it, and look at what your current results are. On the other side of the paper to your TEAR,  write down your current situation. And this is where you can start reverse-engineering the thoughts that are driving your current results. It sounds simple but it is actually not.

It takes thinking and intention to really get to know what those subconscious thoughts are. To do this, look at your results. Let’s say you are only making $1,000 a month. That’s your current result.

Then ask yourself what actions you are taking that are leading you to the $1000 a month.  It could be that you are contacting five people a month. Or you are doing Facebook Live once every three weeks. You may be reaching out to your email list once a month. These are all the actions you are taking to cause your current result.

Then write what feelings are driving these actions. Are you feeling negative about yourself? What do you say to yourself?

Are you saying to yourself, “I don’t really think I know what I’m doing? I’m kind of a bit vague. I don’t really trust myself. I don’t have a specific niche, so I’m coming from a place of doubt. I don’t want to turn up on camera so I’m avoiding running a webinar.”

There are so much fear and negativity attached to these feelings and all of these thoughts are negative, so these are leading to your wishy-washy results. You’re not putting yourself out there and showing yourself boldly.

Footpath Activities Versus Fast Lane Activities

I give an analogy of footpath activities, steady lane activities, medium lane, and fast lane activities.

Negative, pessimistic thoughts zap your energy. There is a flatness that comes with resignation. Instead of working on what you need to work on, you watch Netflix and don’t do what I call ‘fast lane’ activities. Fast Lane activities are what get you in the fast lane and get results fast.

Fast lane activities are: directly contacting people, sales calls, and private messages.

Medium lane activities include: following up leads, creating a webinar, creating a client attraction funnel, creating consistent content.

Steady lane activities include sending a weekly or twice weekly email to your list and updating your Facebook group regularly or posting really valuable content.

Footpath activities include: mucking around on Canva and trying to make things look pretty. Creating things that you don’t really need to create. Consuming a whole heap of content that is not needed but it’s fun.

If you look at your results, and your actions, you will probably find that you’re not getting the results you want, like the 10k a month, then you’re probably doing a lot of these footpath activities.

Think about the feelings, the doubt, the fear, and what thoughts are causing this result? “I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t really know what I’m doing. Nothing works for me. Facebook’s too hard to figure out. I suck at technology.”

These thoughts are keeping you on the footpath and out of the fast lane. The TEAR Model is super easy, but it’s powerful to work out what you need to think, feel and take action on, to create the result you want. I encourage you to do this activity.

Do you need an external perspective on issues you are struggling with in your business? Are you finding it hard to unpack them and need to see your business blind spots?

Please get in touch with me. I give free strategy sessions for people who have not had one before with me.

You can book a strategy session with me here.

See you soon,

Kat

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What’s Most Important To Me In Business And Why

 

A few people have been asking me recently about what’s important to me in business.

Understanding your business values is one of the most powerful ways to prioritise and make great choices, and reduce decision-fatigue.

If you’re trying to roll out something in your business and you’re wondering why it’s not working, it may be because what you’re doing is not aligned with your values and doesn’t have the right energy and passion behind it.

When you outwork your values in your day-to-day life, you feel aligned. You’re not going in different directions – where part of you is really happy and satisfied about what you’re doing, and another part is frustrated.

The way you know you’re not aligned, is that you get tension in your body.

When you really stop and think about what’s most important to you in business and you strip away all the external things, like the incessant need to impress other people or the need to look good… you tap into the true source of inspiration inside you.

This is the FUEL that’s going to motivate you to keep going when business gets tough.

Business gets tough. It can be a roller coaster. It’s hills and valleys – it’s rarely smooth sailing. This is why we need to make sure we’re clear on our business values, because they keep us going and focused on the right things.

When we really tap into our ‘why’, and understand and honour what drives us at the deepest level, we feel aligned, relaxed, calm, and in flow. We feel motivated, energised and inspired to KEEP GOING, no matter what.

So I decided to unpack my business values with you, to get you thinking about what’s most important to you in your business, so you can plan and prioritise your actions that are aligned with your values.

I will take you on a journey to help you reflect on your business values, who you’re becoming, how happy you are with where you’re at right now, and how fast you’re evolving.

I’ll share my top five values in business and how I outwork these business values in my day-to-day life. I’ll share how you can determine your business values, how they’re different from your personal values, and how you can outwork them.

Answering powerful check-in questions at the beginning of a day, week, month, or quarter is one of the best ways to get alignment.

The more you ask yourself and answer powerful questions, the more you get powerful answers.

I ask myself who, how, what, where, and why questions regularly. These are valuable questions that help keep you aligned.

Here are the questions…

1 – Who Do I Want To Become More Of?

The first question to ask yourself is “Who do I want to become more of?”

Who are you becoming? Take time to think of your future you – your future identity, and future vision. This activity is SO powerful.

I learned this in a coaching course and I now do it with my clients.

Future Vision Activity

Imagine you’re 75 years old and someone’s coming to your house and interviewing you. And they ask you what’s it like being such a successful…(You fill in the blank.)  When I did this, I said speaker, spiritual mother, philanthropist, author, and advisor.

When I’m 75, I don’t want to be retired. I still want to be writing, speaking, and taking more of an advisory role in my business. I want to be on the board of advisors for my company, and have a CEO looking after the day-to-day operations.

When I think about who I’m becoming, I’m thinking about that ultimate future. Who am I, becoming right now? Who do I want to become more of? If I keep taking the actions that I’m taking now, what trajectory is that leading me on?

If I want to become a successful speaker, I need to be doing things in my day-to-day life and putting things in my calendar, potentially every day, if not every week that grow me to become a successful speaker. These will eventually lead me to become that successful speaker and world-class coach.

You can also place characteristics around your ‘who’.  So think about the character of who you want to be. For example, I want to be more kick-ass. I don’t mean intimidating, but to me, kick-ass people, are relentlessly dedicated to creating results.

I want to be that person who is kicking goals, in order to inspire other people,  because inspiring people taps into my personal value of contribution.

Perhaps in your character, you want to be more patient. That’s one of my characteristics I want to develop this year, is being more patient. Maybe you want to become more kind, inclusive, or resilient.

If you want to be braver, you need to prove this to yourself by doing things that scare you. You prove it to yourself by doing things like Facebook Live videos or running a webinar even if you’re scared of tech and don’t feel like a good speaker.

2 – How Quickly Am I Evolving?

Ask yourself how. How quickly are you evolving? How are you evolving in business, or in your personal development? How quickly are you dedicated to catching what the issue is where you need to improve and working on it straight away instead of delaying it?

In order for me to grow quickly so I can help people who are struggling and suffering, I need to ask myself these ‘how’ questions, and so do you.  We need to stop being doormen and start taking the fast lane instead of the footpath.

I was sharing in my Inner Circle group today about putting the accelerator on and choosing to stop cruising. How much time are you spending in the fast lane really accelerating your growth by facing the stuff that scares you?

How long do you spend facing those things that are in the next level of your comfort zone? If you think about your comfort zone as a boundary that’s around you, that boundary is made up of your fear, because you don’t want to go over that boundary into your next level.

Your next level life outside of your comfort zone is your growth zone, so your fear is keeping you in that boundary. f you want to grow quickly, you need to step out and face your fears. It’s here that you quickly evolve for the sake of the people watching your life and for the sake of those who you will help in the future.

3 – What Can I Do Today To Live From My Values?

Ask yourself, what can you do today to live from your own values?  I really love asking myself this question. Sometimes I just go for a walk without my phone. And I just take one question with me. So just get the question in my mind and I walk until I get the answer for it.

What can I do today to live from my values? This question forces your mind to come up with your answer because you’re not asking ‘am I’, you are asking actually what can you do today to make living in your values a reality?

This is a powerful question because your mind is so resourceful and creative, and it will come up with the answers for you. And then you want to take action on them and actually do them.

4 – Where Do I Need To Improve?

Be honest with yourself, and ask yourself, Where do I need to improve? Where is it that I’m sucking or really failing at right now? Maybe you can fake it with other people,  but don’t fake it to yourself.

If you’re eating a bag of chips every night, yet trying to lose weight, or if you’re scrolling on your phone for an hour every morning when you wake up,  instead of doing something else that will progress your business or life, then you’re not being honest with yourself.

Really face yourself and don’t fake to yourself. Instead of thinking ‘one day’, take steps today to improve yourself.  Let’s face it, we don’t know if tomorrow will come, so taking steps today is what is important.

5 – Why Is It Important For Me To Go To The Next Level?

Why is it important for you to go the next level?  Why is it actually important for you to step out of that boundary where you’ve kept myself safe and small because of fear?

We’ve all got a next level to go to.

For some of us, it’s going to the next level in finances or to the next level in running events or writing a book.

Whatever it is, we’ve all got a next level and we’ve all probably been putting the next level off.

I feel like that’s the most common theme that I see with my clients. I see they want to do something and they procrastinate. We don’t procrastinate typically because we’re lazy, we procrastinate because we’re not clear on the benefits and the reasons why we should be doing something.

I often ask myself why it’s important for me and don’t just give a few answers. I will write at least 50 answers – usually 80-100.

I ask myself, for example, why is it important to do Facebook Lives each week, or why is it important to learn to do Insta stories or to write a blog each week?

My Personal Values

and

1- Freedom

My number one value in life and business is freedom. That’s why I left my full-time job in 2003 and I haven’t been a full-time employee since.

Freedom for me is about setting my own rules, being my own boss, and being free from the rat race I was in. Freedom is a higher value for me than security.  It’s more important to me than a safe income. 

2 – Growth

Look at how you spend your time and you will know your values. Look at your calendar. Is it filled with gym sessions, business events, etc. or is it filled with a whole lot of space where you sit and watch Netflix?

Look at what is on your walls and what kind of books you read. If you look at your audible account, what kind of books are in there?

You can see what your values are by looking at where you spend your time, energy, and resources. This will show you what you value.

3 –  Health

Health and energy are really important to me. Having enough energy and making sure that I’m exercising regularly and nourishing my body, soul, and spirit.

Looking after my health and energy is about eating well,  getting enough sleep, getting enough exercise, taking breaks, and going on holidays. These are all part of my health values.

4 – Connection

Spending time connecting with people and building relationships is one of my highest values. It’s part of the way I feed my soul. Connection is a value that I build into my business.

5 – Creation

It’s so important to me to create my own content, legacy items, and intellectual property and package it all up and share it.

My Business Values

With your personal values, you look at your life in every area.

With your business values, you want to think more specifically about what is most important to you in business. Think about how you’re serving people and what’s important to you in terms of your lifestyle. For example, to have integrity, to be honest, reliable, and give great customer service.

These are quite obvious, but there are some deeper things like what makes you unique and it becomes your manifesto. I like to set up business values that I’m aiming towards as guidelines and goals, rather than values I’ve necessarily arrived at.

1 – Radical Resilience

Radical resilience is doing what I know is the right thing to do, whether I feel like it or not. That encompasses discipline and encompasses consistency. It’s turning up with I feel like it or not – because I’ve made a commitment.

Radical resilience is also bouncing back. If I do an event and it doesn’t work as well as I wanted it to,  I don’t wallow with it, I just keep going. I keep going until it works. It’s having an ‘until’ mindset.

When  I look at my to-do list, I’ve got hundreds of action items on there. I’m going to just keep going through until they’re done, or I delegate them to someone. But I know that I’ll never give up. I just will not ever give up. Going back and giving up is just not an option for me. It never ever enters my mind.

2 – Authentic Expression

With authentic expression, I don’t always get it right. Sometimes I feel like I’m not fully expressing who I am. Sometimes I question who I am. I’m not really sure.  I’m such a by-product of all my mentors that I’ve studied.

Am I really using my own authentic voice? This is something I keep working on and evolving towards.  If you think of innovation,  it’s often the combination of different ideas, plus someone else’s creativity added to it. So that’s something that I’m evolving to become.

3 – Extreme Ownership

Extreme Ownership is another of my high values. There’s a great book called Extreme Ownership. I recommend you read it. Extreme ownership is taking ownership of everything in your business and being responsible for it.

I’m 100% responsible for my reaction to what happens. I can’t control coronavirus, the economy, or all these other external things,  but I can change my response to it and pivot to make my business better.

4 – Productive Organisation

Productive organisation and consistency are something I’m working towards. It doesn’t come naturally to me.

It’s something I have to train myself in as it’s not a natural gift or talent, despite people thinking that I’m very organised.

I strive to be organised. It’s like striving for excellence. Sometimes I have to launch things at 80% or 90% because the ROI of me getting that thing to perfection is just wasting time. And so I’ve got to just be consistent and be organised and just do my absolute best. But I have to let go of perfectionism.

5 –  People-Focused Growth And Contribution

It’s not enough for me to just amass money, or just to build an empire. For me, it’s about how can I serve others or support them? How can I give back? How can I invest money into charities and causes that I care about?

I invite you to come up with your top five values if you haven’t already. It’s about growing every day towards your values.

P.S. Would you like to know exactly how to define your business values and outwork them, so you can accelerate your business faster?

I offer a free discovery session (first-time sessions) for people who want help to take their business to the next level.

I’ll map out a clear business roadmap for you to follow straight away, so you can get more clients and hit your freedom figure asap!

Apply for your free session here

See you soon,

Kat

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5 Fun Ways To Create A Powerful USP & Stand Out Online

Are you clear on what makes you different?

Having a USP (unique selling proposition) helps you stand out online and differentiates you from your competitors.

People searching for a solution online are often overwhelmed with options. They want to quickly be able to identify why you’re different to your competitors, so they know why they should choose you, as opposed to another business.

Your USP is what makes your business stand out. At its core, it should quickly answer that question that your potential clients have in their mind, which is “What makes them different from other options I’m looking at?”

Understanding your USP is crucial to guide your marketing decisions.

I like to think of your USP being the sweet spot between what your client wants and what you are really good at.

A really compelling USP should be memorable. And it should be specific and tangible. It shouldn’t be, “We deliver fast service” or “We have a high-quality service.” That’s very vague and general.

You want it to be specific, so it’s your offer, your way of teaching, your methodology, framework, or formula that makes you different.

It should also be focused on what your ideal clients value because there’s no point in being unique just for uniqueness’s sake.

It needs to be something important to them so they truly care about it. And it’s more than just a slogan and a compelling tagline. It’s something that you incorporate into every area of your business. You show your uniqueness and craft your message around that.

So here are 5 fun ways to create a powerful USP and stand out online…

1 –  Unpack Your Uniqueness

To unpack your uniqueness, think about the things that you do that other people struggle to do, but you do it really naturally and really easily.

At the moment I’m working with a client and we are working on crafting their webinar and building a framework around it. She couldn’t believe how easily I could come up with a framework, because it comes effortlessly for me.

What are the things that you can do easily, that come effortlessly to you because you’ve done it for so long? This is part of your unique brilliance and your genius zone.

People pay really good money for people who work in their genius zone. People are born with talent and gifting’s, but  your USP also includes your mastery of an area, your skill acquisition,  time and effort  you’ve put in to learning.

There’s a difference between being gifted and talented, and actually being masterful at a skill because you’ve honed it and unpacked it. You’re not just brilliant at it, you’ve unpacked that gift and you’ve developed it.

What kind of things have you really developed that other people haven’t developed? Also think about what your friends, family, clients and people that you know would say you’re really great at?

Unpacking your uniqueness is finding what makes you who you are. Then think about your personality. Not everyone wants to work with certain personality types. Just your personality can be enough to differentiate you from other people.

Your USP doesn’t have to be some really crazy thing that no one else is doing. For me, I’m a combination of practical business skills and strategy, and also mindset and spiritual. So these are things I’ve combined in my business that made me a little bit different.

I only ever teach what I do. Some people are just learning, teaching, then learning and teaching, but they are not actually applying it and getting success before they teach other people.

I think about my background as a teacher and a trainer for 6 years. I was a teacher,  trainer and assessor. I was a lecturer in business and fitness, so my training background is part of my USP.

I have an ability to run full-day workshop online and this makes me a little bit different to some people that don’t have that background. So think about what work you’ve done in the past and think about different combinations of things that you’ve done that are different.

The very first person who taught me presenting had a copywriting background.  He used to be a copywriter and he pulled that skill set into his presenting skills and it was a really unique combination. It was actually why I signed up for his program.

So think about the work you’ve done in the past 10 or so years. My background is as a weight loss coach and personal trainer, so now a lot of my clients are in wellness and it’s part of my USP.

I understand the process of transformation. I can really help a lot of people who work in the health, fitness and wellness industry, because I’ve worked in it myself.

I have a client who runs a gym in Melbourne, and I’m helping them work through their whole sales process, because I’ve worked in a gym for so long. My skills used as a trainer in a gym apply to business.

I have an understanding of mindset and breaking through limiting beliefs, which come up in business all the time. I used to train world champion bodybuilders, so I understand resilience and the entrepreneurial mindset of having to push through when things are hard.

Think about your gifts, skills, your area of brilliance, your personality, and other unique traits you hold.  These are what make you a little bit different. These are part of what makes you unique and they form your USP.

2 – Dig For The Difference

Digging for your difference is really about defining how your program is different. Your USP defines your uniqueness, and then you have to dig for the difference, which is why people will be attracted to your program or offer.

What is it in your program, or in your offer, or your service that could be a little bit different? Maybe you include some finished components, so you’ve done work for them already.

I do that usually as a bonus, where I might do a “done for you landing page” for my clients or some “done for you copywriting”.  I also offer lifetime access to my modules for my online courses, and that’s something that not everybody offers.

When you think through the components of your offer or your program, what are some things that other people don’t offer? Maybe you’re really good at making things very clear and step-by-step. Or perhaps you’re very good at organising your knowledge and taking someone through step-by-step.

Maybe your program has one-on-one components, because you’re still a small business and small enough for it to be really personalised. This is something that makes me a little bit different. I’ve learned from multi-million dollar companies and I’ve invested lots of money in them. I’ve learned a lot of strategy from them.

But my business is still at a point where I can be personalised, so people don’t just become a number and get lost in the crowd.  I can have a really small, specific mastermind of a few people so that there’s lots of personalised support from me.

Another reason why my program is different, is that a lot of programs give monthly group coaching calls. And I decided to make my group coaching weekly, because I just really wanted to provide that level of ongoing support.

So you might think about what your program looks like in terms of the level of support you give. You may want to do daily texts for people.

When I was working as a weight loss coach, one of the motivational things I came up with, was that I would text my clients a motivational text every morning.

The very first course I did was in MailChimp, my online CRM. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, my clients would get an email. I had Monday Motivation, Winning Wednesday and Friday Feast. I would email my clients a YouTube link, or a recipe, a motivational quote, or image.

This was a 12-week program so I  created 36 emails for it. People just loved receiving these motivational, inspirational things in their inbox. So think about what you can do to make yourself a little bit different.

Something I do in my program, is I have a manifesto. When I used to do live events, I would laminate a manifesto and put a little chocolate and a few different things in a gift pack on the chairs, so when people came into the boardroom, there was something a little extra there.

When I was running a business speaking group, I created a card and superimposed the person’s face over a TED talk speaker. I did it on Canva. I put their face on that person’s body, and it was like them delivering a TED talk and I put a caption, “This is going to be you one day.”

These cute, fun, and quirky things are part of the culture you are building for your community. I run an inner circle community which is a small, private Facebook community and I’m in there answering questions every single day.

I know that’s different because a lot of programs don’t have the course creator actually answering the questions every day. They get admin people to do it. And I may not always do this, as my business grows, but right now I can do this, so this is another point of difference I offer.

3 –  Pinpoint Your Promise

Pinpointing a promise is like you’re making a pledge to your clients.  This can be implied, not just spelled out in your USP statement. You want to think about the result of what you are going to promise your client.

Give an outcome in your promise. An example is, “If you follow these steps, you will get this outcome.” Or it could be, “If you follow this formula, you will get this result.”

I did a challenge a few years ago and it was a $10K challenge that the guy promised. It was such a clear promise. He promised if I did his steps, I would make $10k.

It takes courage and boldness to have a strong promise like that, but it’s absolutely worth thinking about. If your promise has any type of number or dates within it, like, “Lose 5 kilos in five weeks.” People absolutely love these.

A friend of mine has a promise of, “Book 3 discovery calls in 48 hours.” This has got the number and the dates, so it’s super powerful.

4 –  Comb Your Competitors

Combing your competitors means looking at what your competitors do who are above you, and then implementing that. Look at 3 different businesses who are above you at the next level and model them.

Don’t copy. Look at the language they use because they’ve obviously done a lot of research. If they’re quite ahead of you, they’ve really done a lot of research, so look at what they’ve done differently.

Then look at what you can do to bring something different or better.  Ideally, do something better. If you’re just starting out now, look at how you can beat them. Use the fact that you’re smaller because you can use being small to your advantage.

Being a smaller business means you can provide personalised support and service that a lot of big companies can’t do because they’ve grown so much. They can’t do one-on-one anymore because they’re just too busy. Use what you’ve got and play to your strengths.

I’ve got a new client in Utah and she’s fabulous. She’s got 3 different target markets. She’s a real estate agent, and we were talking about how she will find the language that each 3 target audiences use.

My suggestion was to choose 3-5 Facebook groups to hang out in every single day for 7 days. Spend a good 10-20 minutes there each day, reading people’s comments and questions, and she will get a good feel for what people want and how to use their language.

5 – Start A Story Bank

Your stories are really what makes you unique. Your unique stories are valuable and they are yours, so start a story bank.

Open a Google document or spreadsheet, and think about your ideal clients. Think about their 3 biggest pain points and problems. Then think about a time in your life where you had these problems.

I decided to group it in decades. So from 0-10 years old. 10 to 20 years old etc. I know this sounds crazy and you probably are thinking why things from childhood can be relevant, but you can take learnings and wisdom from these experiences.

Say for example, when you were 9, your mum left or you moved overseas. Share the wisdom you have drawn from that experience. It doesn’t have to be directly related to your business. Then think of 3 instances from each decade from your life that relate to the pain points your target market experience.

Your combination of stories and experiences really makes up your USP. If you’re 45-years old, you’ve got 5 decades to draw from. That’s 15 stories you could have.

They could be turning points or an emotional experience where you had some kind of pain or problem that potentially is going to relate to your ideal client.

One of the things that led me to push to build a business is, I remember seeing my Dad be so diligent and going to work every single day at the same company for 40 years. But he left that job with no intellectual property.

I don’t want that to happen to me. I want to have a legacy that I build. I want to create something that’s mine. I don’t want to pour my heart into someone else’s business or company.

When I was a teacher for 6 years, I was teaching someone else’s curriculum and that really bothered me, because I wanted to be teaching my own content. These types of stories are going to help your unique selling proposition.

I have a client in Ukraine. I met him when I was living in London and he connected with me 10 years later. He is adopting a new daughter. He said he needed a coach and he wanted to work with me. He has a beautiful team of people who are growing his company with him.

We’ve just gone through this process of defining his USP. It started off as a community dedicated to impacting orphans, so it was all about orphan care. His heart is to help orphans because that’s where the sex trafficking trade thrives, when orphans are released and don’t have family support.

Then we were looking at another community that was wider and broader called, Journey For More. They are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. We were toying with the idea of going more specific or whether he should go broad to make his community broader.

We decided on something in the middle, “Live Your Fullest Calling By Contributing To The World’s Most Pressing Needs.” We found this in-between space, where it’s all about everyday people wanting to contribute to a cause that is one of the world’s most pressing needs.

It’s a beautiful example of how we need to craft and think about where we’re at in our journey, what types of clients we want to attract, and how we want to be specific and clear, but also open it up so that you can really grow and expand as well.

So that’s 5 fun ways you can create your USP and stand out online.

I recommend you share your USP on social media, in emails, and in other places you show up online, such as if you are interviewed on a podcast or Facebook Live video.

You don’t just want to create your USP and put it in a drawer or in a folder. You want to consistently be showing your uniqueness.

Take the time to think about your uniqueness and why someone would listen to you over someone else. And then keep repeating that same message.

You might feel like a broken record. I do sometimes, but repetition is the mother of skill and it’s one of the key ways that people get to know your brand, messaging, and what makes you unique.

Want help defining your USP and uniqueness to stand out?

I offer a free discovery session for first-time people who want to take their business to the next level, so if you need help, please don’t struggle alone. Reach out.

Apply for a free strategy session here

Chat soon,

Kat

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How To Share Your Value Online, Without Feeling Like You’re Bragging

When it comes to sharing your value online, do you worry that people will perceive you as big-noting yourself or bragging?

We’re aware that it’s not really acceptable to brag about ourselves!

But we’re also mindful that we need to be sharing our expertise and credibility to promote our business.

So how do we share our experiences and value, without coming across as though we are being boastful?

In this video, I share 3 ways:

1 – Show, Don’t Tell

As an entrepreneur your job is to express your worth by organising your knowledge and offering it to the world. This may be uncomfortable for you, because it involves showing people how you can help them and being confident in it.

It means not being afraid to be seen and heard, not being afraid of having a voice and having an opinion. You are  far more valuable than you realise. You’re probably earning way less than you deserve.

No one is going to come along and demand that you realise your worth. That’s up to you. And you won’t last in business long if you don’t! 

If you want to help more people you’ve got to be clear on your value and you’ve got to let people know about it.

I love what renowned marketing expert Frank Kern says: “The best way to show someone that you can help them is by actually helping them:.

If you want to share your value – ask yourself how much value you are ACTUALLY giving to your people?

Not just intermittent value, but consistent value where you are showing up regularly to help your followers.

Does your audience feel they can really trust you to keep showing up?

Can they rely on you not being here today and then gone tomorrow?

Are you just re-posting other people’s content, or are you deliberately crafting something from scratch that will genuinely be helpful for people?

A lot of people don’t want to give all their secrets away and you don’t have to either.

However, you can give away so much of your knowledge and valuable content and people can still want to pay you. They need more than just information.

Even though I give a lot of free knowledge away, people still need a personalised roadmap to help them through their business journey, and there is only so much you can get out of my free posts, blogs and videos.

Eventually you need to get eyes on your business and have someone help you create a clear roadmap that will guide your business into being all that you planned it to be.

Putting yourself out there requires courage, effort and consistency. It requires you to be loyal to your followers and to the people who are watching your life. It means sharing your opinions and sharing your unique feelings, even though your opinions might ruffle some feathers.

Marketing is about targeting the right people and being willing to not attract everyone. Leaders and influencers are not afraid to repel some people, when the right people are drawn to them.

You see this on YouTube all the time. As the likes go up, the dislikes also go up.

If you are going to attract some people, you are also going to repel others. It’s the nature of online business.

If you’re struggling to get clients right now, it’s probably because you haven’t shared enough value, or communicated your value well to your audience. You have a genius zone that other people need and don’t have.

The more you know your value, the more you’ll be able to communicate your value. So some of it actually comes down to valuing yourself and your self worth. It’s really about backing yourself.

You need to back your work ethic, back your ability to help people and back your program. Put your program on a pedestal, not yourself. And this is how you can share your expertise and your brilliance, by really talking about your program. Your program is not just something you’ve created, it’s a part of your core being that you’ve poured yourself into.

Most Mothers wouldn’t reject their child or put them down if someone complimented her child and called them pretty. She probably wouldn’t say, “No she’s not”. She created that child, so she would hopefully accept the compliment and respond with a thank you.

It’s the same for a program you’ve created.  You don’t have to say you personally are great, but you can say that your program is excellent because of how you have invested what you’ve learned, your experience and your soul into it.

You can share how you’ve spent a long time creating the program and within it you share your knowledge in an easy to follow, step-by-step process. Instead of elevating yourself, you elevate your signature system that you’ve created.

2 – Have A Balance Of Strength And Warmth

There’s an amazing book called ‘Compelling People’ by John Neffinger and Matthew Kohut.  They did some research on compelling people who have a very large audience.

What they found is that compelling people have two important traits – strength and warmth. Compelling people have a balance of strength and warmth, where they have found a sweet spot of balance between these two traits.

Showing Strength

Strength is that directness and confidence that holds conviction behind it.  When you are in the presence of someone who is very powerful and very strong, you feel an energy exuding from them. It makes you trust them.

Strength is such an important part of showing your value. You’ve got to be strong and confident in your conviction and certain of who you are and what you offer. Strength is also about competence.

When you are confident in your competencies, you know that you have expertise and can deliver results. Strength is shown in your certainty, confidence and competence in what you are offering.

Showing Warmth

If you have strength but you don’t have warmth, you come across as too direct and hard. It’s the opposite end of the spectrum. If you’re too far on the strength end of the spectrum and don’t have warmth mixed in, you come across as direct, hard, unlikable, not relatable and intimidating.

People will think you are powerful, but they won’t want to get in close proximity with you. You become scary to people. So your strength needs warmth to balance it out.

Warmth is having empathy, understanding and having the ability to listen. It’s all about the connection. It’s conveying your humanity, being relatable and vulnerable. People often think that vulnerability lowers your value, but it actually increases it.

If you want to have compelling copywriting, you want to have a good balance of strength and warmth. Take the time to assess yourself and ask yourself where you sit on the strength and warmth spectrum. Even ask some people close to you for how they experience you to be.

If you’re really strong, think about how you can turn up the warmth a little. It could be smiling more, telling stories or sharing your experiences and bringing vulnerability into your personal stories when you’re sharing your value.

If you’re more on the warmth side of things and you’re really good at relating with people, building connection and showing empathy, then maybe you need to push your strength side a little. You may need to be more assertive and tell people how you can help them, and share about the consequences of them not changing.

3 – Evoke Emotion

The language and words we use in our content can evoke either fear or desire and you want both of these within your content to create compelling content. Compelling content evokes the pain that people are in and it pushes on their pain points.

There are 7 pain points that people try to avoid, and I go deeper into these in my upcoming webinar.  Your clients are feeling pain in some of these areas and there are words and language that we can use to help them avoid their pain and remove them from the trajectory they are on.

There are also 7 main desires that humans have, that are solved by service-based businesses like coaching and consulting.

With both pain and desire, you’ve got to be thinking how you can express your value and also move people emotionally, because it’s not just about sharing content. There’s so much information out there, we can Google anything, anytime on our phones. It’s not just about sharing information.

It’s inspiring people to act. That is what valuable content is. Valuable content is not ‘3 tips’ or ‘3 secrets’ or ‘3 methods’.

It’s about using story and emotion to push on pain points that invoke emotion and desire that inspires someone to act.

When you are creating your content, really think through the language and the words that are going to bring the pain or desire feelings to your readers.

When you inspire someone to take an action, even a really small action, they attribute that to you, and they’re like, ‘Wow he moved me. He didn’t just entertain me, he educated me and helped my belief to shift so I see things differently now’.

And that is what valuable content does. Valuable content is about showing and not telling. It’s about having a balance of strength and warmth and it’s about showing value and evoking emotion.

If you would like to know how to do this, I’m unpacking it all in my upcoming, free webinar, on Thursday, 18th February.

I recently ran a 1-day event, where I delved deeply into the art of creating compelling copy.

I shared my ‘Compelling Copy Formula’, and unpacked the psychology of influence, which enables you to understand at a deep level how to inspire people to take action.

I received so much great feedback about it that I decided to run a FREE LIVE online ‘best-of’ evening event with the highlights that people loved MOST!

If you want to avoid being drowned out in the sea of noise with the masses online, and you want to understand how to create compelling content and get my actual step-by-step formulas, then this webinar is for you.

I’ll be unpacking how to write influential copy and how to utilise power words and phrases that move people towards you.

I’m sharing how to communicate your value in a way that people get to know, like and trust you, so you can attract new clients FAST!

Learning how to write influential content has the potential to change EVERYTHING for you.⠀

Want help to grow your business? 

Business is too hard to do alone.

Do you need help to get more right-fit clients, free up more time and create a profitable, lifestyle-friendly business that you LOVE?

I offer a free 45-minute business strategy session, where you’ll get personalised guidance, direction, clarity, and a clear action plan.

I’ll walk you through a proven business growth roadmap and personalise it to show you exactly what you need to do to hit your financial and freedom goals. 

This is only for people who are ready and committed to change.

Apply now for your free strategy session with Kat 

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3 Instant Tweaks To Make Your Content More Compelling

If you want your content to connect and resonate with your audience, there are some key elements it needs to have.⠀

The COOL thing is, creating compelling copy is a learnable skill. And it’s actually really simple when you know how to do it.

In fact when you learn the predictable patterns, it almost seems like magic!

But it’s not magic. It’s simply knowing the proven formula.

It’s knowing the right things that you can tweak and change, so that your copy becomes compelling, engaging and attracts the right people.

If you want to make your copy more ‘poppy’, it’s about taking bland, boring content and making it stand out.

It’s doing a copy makeover to make it influential – so that people take action, and are inspired to work with you.

Creating compelling copy closes the gap from where your ideal client currently are, to where they want to be.

So here are three hacks to instantly make your copy more compelling.

1 – Push On Pain

In order to move people to action, we want to push on people’s pain points. I know that sounds a little bit horrible and harsh  but pain motivation is twice as strong as pleasure motivation.

People are twice as motivated to avoid pain as they are to move towards pleasure.

We can’t ignore this truth.

To move people to action, remind them of their pain, and the painful consequences that will occur if they don’t change.

The trajectory that we are on in some areas of life is often leading to MORE pain, but we try to ignore it.

Think about someone who smokes a pack a day. In order to keep up that habit, they have to shut the door on the little voice that tells them they need to change or else suffer the consequences.

Reminding people of the trajectory that they’re currently on is not causing more pain; you’re revealing the truth.

7 painful triggers that motivate people to act include:

Avoidance of…

  • Danger
  • Fear – e.g. emotional fear like fear of rejection, loss, failure, fear of not being good enough.
  • Doubt
  • Complication
  • Uncertainty
  • Boredom
  • Loss

These 7 things are triggers that people will take action to avoid.

So if you think about your offer and your content, how can you start to use these things in your content?

How can you push on your ideal clients’ pain points in your content?

When it comes to buying products or services, people are constantly asking themselves is going to increase their status or decrease it.

How can you show someone that if they don’t take action, their status is going to be decreased?  It’s super powerful, but it takes a little bit of thinking through.

When you take the time to really craft your copy and content, make sure that your content is engaging and compelling.

Making your content engaging and compelling drives people to take action and move towards you faster, so you can close the gap quicker than you can think.

If you write a content post that has these pain elements in it, you will find people wanting to book into your calendar straight away, get on a discovery call with you, and potentially sign up to your signature program offer. So this stuff matters.

I know this sounds like hard work, and it does take time to craft your words so they will move people to take action, but it’s so worth it. It’s a skill that anyone can learn and it’s actually quite simple, when you know the tweaks and formula, but there is some work involved.

A really compelling post can make you a lot of money.

This is why copywriting is one of the highest paid professions.

Over the last 10+ years I’ve been crafting marketing wording to attract clients. I’ve tested and proven the copywriting formulas that work. And I know from experience, when you craft your words correctly, your income will increase!

2 – Develop The Desire

Here are 7 desires that motivate humans:

  • Desire for love
  • Desire for freedom
  • Desire for increase
  • Desire for speed
  • Desire for ease
  • Desire for status
  • Desire for pleasure

If you think about all the services and products in the world, most fall somewhere under these 7 desires. The desire for freedom is desiring freedom from pain, freedom from emotional turmoil.

People want things faster, better and easier.

We can incorporate these desires into our content to make it more enticing and more appealing.

And you don’t need to be a master copywriter to do this.

You just need to know these things so you can start thinking through how you can take a piece of content and make it pop. Here’s a piece of content for a fictional company that I’ve made up.

This will give you an example of adding different elements that focus on desire:

Original copy:

‘Functional Fitness is one of Australia’s leading gyms, with a wide range of fitness classes.. We are proud of our instructors and state of the art equipment. We’re passionate about our revolutionary approach, and take great pride in our classes that are second to none.’

This has some fancy language and it’s a typical features based piece of copywriting.

The problem with this basic copy is that it’s not talking about what’s in it for the reader and it doesn’t include all these desires.  So, I’ve added some desires of added status, speed increase and ease.

Tweaked copy:

‘When you join Functional Fitness, you’ll find the most cutting edge classes that you’ll love coming back to. The instructors you will meet are super supportive, they will be there for you every step of the way, to help you achieve your goals. You’ll find our spaces fresh, vibrant and fun, so you can start feeling fitter, faster.’

You’ll also notice in this tweaked piece of copy, I used the word you, your or you’ll 9 times. The first piece of copy had no usage of these words, which is common with people’s copywriting. People want to hear what’s in it for them, not what you are doing for them.

In the tweaked copy, I push on status, so I say the classes are ‘cutting edge’. I also push on speed, so I mention people can get ‘fit faster’. I want to focus on ease so I mention the spaces are ‘fresh, vibrant’ and ‘fun’.

3 – Elevate The Emotion

We all have triggers for our emotions. We buy based on emotion, we justify our emotional decision and back it up with logic. There are some power words you can use that trigger an emotional response.

In my workshop this Saturday, I’ll be going through a full list of power words, but today I’ll share a few to get you started.

The first example is a headline:

BEFORE – ‘3 Ideas For Healthy Lunches’. You might make some content like this is you are a health coach. It does the job, but is pretty boring and bland.

I’ve changed this copy to add a little bit more of the pop…

AFTER – ‘3 Nearly Instant Cures For Boring Healthy Lunches.’

In this one statement, I’ve made it less boring, because no one wants boring. I’ve added speed by saying ‘nearly instant’. I’ve changed the word ‘ideas’ to the word ‘cures’,  because everyone wants a cure to something.

This is a simple example that shows you just how easily you can take some words and just make a headline pop. Did you know your headline is 80% of the value of your content? If you get your headline right, you will get people clicking through.

The second example:

BEFORE – ‘How To Be More Effective At Copywriting.’  This is fine. It does the job. But just adding a fine tweak we can make it pop.

AFTER – ‘Surprising Ways To Be Uber Effective With Your Copywriting’.

People love surprise. They love novelty, actually the brain loves novelty. The brain also loves curiosity, so using the word ‘surprise’ hooks people in.

The third example:

BEFORE – ‘I’ll show you how to set goals, and make sure they happen.’

AFTER – ‘You’ll pick up my unique goal setting formula (and then you name your formula), so you can finally achieve the results that you want.’

When you name things and make them a formula, a roadmap, a blueprint, a method or pillars, you’re organising your knowledge and you’re putting a framework around it.

This adds curiosity and people want organised, structured knowledge.

When you structure and name your packages well, it’s no longer just tips, it’s an actual, tangible thing. The internet is full of tips, people don’t need more tips.

When you create a formula or a roadmap and name it, you tap into emotion.

Here’s an example for a baby sleep coach:

BEFORE –

‘I’ll show you how to create a successful bedtime routine’, you can use: ‘Learn my proven strategies for a successful bedtime routine, so you can finally enjoy a tear-free story time every night.’

AFTER –

Here we are evoking emotions, which is avoiding the tears every night.

Using the words ‘every night’ is pushing on the desire for increase.

So you can see, it’s just little tweaks, but when you understand the formula to writing compelling copy, it makes a huge difference. In this example, I’ve pushed on pain, developed the desire and elevated the emotions.

Another thing that I’ve done here, is add specificity. I’ve made it more tangible so you can visualise it.

3 Copywriting Traps People Fall Into…

1 – Not Having A Formula

A formula helps you put all the pieces together and joins the dots. When you have a formula, your business can change, really fast and people will start reaching out to you and wanting to work with you.

2 – Not Having A Strategy

You need a clear content strategy or you will waste hours labouring over words.

3 – Not Having Certainty

Not knowing certainty or understanding the best methods and layers that come into the psychology of influence and how to move people towards you, can leave you and your business behind.

As a business owner, the most useful but underrated skill that you can learn is the skill of writing compelling copy if you want to get more clients and grow your business. And the coolest thing is copywriting is a skill that can be learned.

For the last 10+ years I have been crafting copy and have developed a formula that has been proven to work. I use this formula with my clients, and they get fantastic results fast.

Want help to grow your business? 

Business is too hard to do alone.

Do you need help to get more right-fit clients, free up more time and create a profitable, lifestyle-friendly business that you LOVE?

I offer a free 45-minute business strategy session, where you’ll get personalised guidance, direction, clarity, and a clear action plan.

I’ll walk you through a proven business growth roadmap and personalise it to show you exactly what you need to do to hit your financial and freedom goals. 

This is only for people who are ready and committed to change.

Apply now for your free strategy session with Kat

 

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