Attention is the equivalent of modern-day gold.
But mining for it is hard and laborious.
Unless you have the right tools.
I'm going to give you the tools.
But before I do, a quick story to hammer home the point.
There's a great book called Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
If you own a business and haven't read it, I pray for you.
Napoleon tells a story about a young gold miner in Colorado who spent months trying to strike gold before eventually quitting.
He sold the business to a junkman who hired an engineer to examine the mine. They discovered that the gold vein was only three feet from where the miner stopped drilling.
Three feet from that shiny gold goodness.
How many times in your own life have you quit too soon? Given up right before you were about to strike gold?
- Started writing blogs but ran out of ideas.
- Started a YouTube channel but lost interest.
- Started a podcast show but became overwhelmed.
- Started posting on social media but couldn't keep up.
- Or worst of all, started listening to The Health Hustle podcast but stopped before listening to every single episode.
Just kidding about the last one.
But if you want to learn how to market and grow your business from some brilliant minds.
Check it out.
I tell this story because marketing is literally like mining for gold. It will take some work to gather the right tools and learn how to use them.
But once you do, you'll be able to find gold again and again.
Alright, back to the attention thing.
Attention - How to make them curious
Getting people's attention is harder than it has ever been.
This is because we are drinking out of a firehose of information.
Everyone is fighting for your attention for obvious reasons. It's valuable.
The good news is that not everyone is digging for the same gold. And there are always hidden pockets of gold to be found.
Here's your first tool.
Talk about them and their problems.
When I first started creating content, it was all about me.
- Look how cool I look.
- Look at all these amazing places I've visited.
- Look at this life-changing widget I built.
- Me, me, me.
Guess what? Nobody cares.
Except for the people who already follow you, and it's mostly your friends and family. That's not bad, but if the goal is to attract new attention.
You have to take yourself out of the equation, for the most part.
Potential customers are not curious about you.
They are curious about how you can solve their problems.
Getting attention means you need to talk about their problems simply and clearly.
- "Struggling with weight loss? Let me help you lose 10 pounds."
- "Want to look good naked? Let me help you build those boulder shoulders."
- "Hate taking your shirt off in public? Let me help you build a killer 6-pack."
Start by answering this question.
What problem do you help people solve?
The answer to this question is what you'll use again and again to get people's attention.
Value - Deliver what you promised
Once you have their attention, you now have to deliver.
And when I say deliver. I'm talking about that pesky word "value."
I never understood what people meant when they said "add value."
What does that even mean, and how do I do it?
I started to figure it out after watching content creators I admired.
They had a beautiful way of combining the two E's. Education and Entertainment.
Most people get good at one but fail to hit the second.
They entertain you with cool dance videos or posing shirtless at the gym. But don't provide helpful information.
Or the opposite.
They are sharp as a whip and love talking about their knowledge. But the way they package it bores you to tears.
Value comes from being able to do both... with a splash of relatability.
Here's the second tool in your tool belt.
Solve a specific problem and do it in an interesting way.
Here's an example.
Let's say you want to help someone run their first marathon.
List all the problems they will face to complete the race.
- Poor cardio
- They get bored running
- Knee pain from overuse
- Hip tightness from not stretching
- They don't know what shoes to buy
- They aren't sure how many miles they should be running per week
Now, write out the solution to all of these problems.
- Periodized training for cardio
- 3 ways to make running fun
- Don't run too much too early in your training
- Stretches for tight hip flexors
- The best shoes for running a marathon
- Here's how many miles you should run a week
This becomes your educational material.
But what about the entertainment piece?
This is where you get to be an artist.
There are as many ways to deliver information as their are pebbles of sand on a beach.
Try being funny. Try being clever. Try being intense. Try being overbearing. Try being empathetic.
Try being a talking head, try doing audio only, try doing a day-in-the-life, try doing "this is what I eat in a day."
The options are endless which is what makes it both fun and challenging.
You will know what works when you notice an increase in engagement.
My best advice for learning how to be more engaging and entertaining is to ABT. Always Be Testing.
Keep in mind that this might take weeks, if not months. It's not easy to add value, which is why it's valuable (see what I did there?).
One final note on adding value. Make it relatable.
Remember that part I said earlier about nobody caring about you? That's only true for getting their attention. Once you have their attention, now they want to know you. It's the YOU that they will grow to trust by helping them solve their problems again and again.
This is where you do get personal. This is where you let your personality shine. This is what makes your content unique to YOU.
You can be as smart as Einstein and as entertaining as Taylor Swift, but if people can't relate to you, your message could still fall flat.
People connect with people. So, be sure to include your personality in everything you create.
The 3-piece formula to adding value.
Educational + Entertaining + Relatable = Valuable.
Conversion - Eventually, you have to ask them out
Let's assume you've mastered getting attention and adding value.
You are getting attention by being a world-class problem solver, and you are adding value by educating people in an entertaining way.
It's time for the third tool in your tool belt.
Eventually, you have to ask them out.
About a month ago, I interviewed one of my closest friends on my podcast show.
After we stopped recording and set down our headsets, he looked at me and said, "By the way, what do you even do for money?"
After I struck him with a right-hand punch to the jaw (ok, that's not true), I realized a massive flaw in my marketing system.
- I was adding value.
- I was doing my best to entertain.
- I was trying to be relatable.
But I wasn't talking about my offer.
I've never been great about promoting my services.
- I love creating content.
- I love building community.
- I love hosting a podcast show.
- I love learning and teaching about marketing.
But if you're wondering what I do for money. It's website design and development for health & fitness professionals.
My friend unintentionally taught me a very valuable lesson that day.
Nobody will know what you do if you don't tell them.
This doesn't mean spam your offers again and again. Although, if your offer is that damn good. Maybe you should.
Sort of like a Ninja air fryer. Take my money.
But for us sheer mortals, I take the Gary V approach of jab, jab, jab, right hook.
I spend the majority of my time jabbing (aka adding value) and, every once in a while throw a right hook (an offer).
This right hook isn't meant to knock somebody out. It's meant to show them that you have a right hand.
When showing people your offer. Treat it like dating.
Don't worry if you've been out of the game for a while.
You'll get exactly what I'm talking about when I explain it.
- Ask soon, but not too soon.
- Be direct, but respectful.
- Be specific, but not too specific.
- And most importantly, have confidence but be prepared for rejection.
If you ask too soon, you will appear needy and scare them off.
If you wait too long, they will be unsure of your intentions and put you in the friend zone forever.
Be direct about what you have to offer, but do it respectfully. Show them you are interested in them.
Be specific about what you offer. Have a plan in mind. But not so specific that it feels like a ball and chain.
And lastly, have confidence about what you bring to the table. Show that you believe in what you can offer. But accept that it might not be a good fit or the right time.
The real right-hand hook here is that you can't be afraid to tell people what you do because nobody will do it for you.
When presenting your offer, just remember this.
It's okay to lose the date, but don't lose the relationship.
Recap
- Attention is gained through helping people solve their problems.
- Adding value means being educational, entertaining, and relatable.
- You can't convert if you don't ask.
If you want more of this goody goodness, you should subscribe to my newsletter, where I drop 3 marketing tips every Tuesday for the health & fitness professional.
-CH
