Ep 8. The one person you should be talking to (but probably aren’t)

Ep 8. The one person you should be talking to (but probably aren’t)

 [00:00:00] 

In this episode, we’re talking about the quiet cost of keeping your content wide open and what changes when you finally write to that one person who’s been waiting to see themselves in your words.

If you’re creating content but it feels like no one’s watching, we’re going to explore exactly why that might be happening and how we can transform your message from something that sounds good, to something that creates real connection.

Hello and a very warm welcome to Quiet Confidence if you’re new here. Hi, I am Anita Popat. I am a marketing strategist for introverts, and today’s episode is one I’ve been wanting to talk about for a long time because honestly, it’s the piece that I spend the most amount of time with when it comes to my clients, and that’s because it’s so, so important because literally everything hangs off it.

And I know you’ve probably heard the whole “know your audience” so many times that it’s probably become like background noise, but I promise you this isn’t gonna be another conversation about demographics or avatars.

We’re not gonna be talking about the age where someone shops, what color hair they’ve got and blah, blah, blah.

What we’re gonna talk about today is something much deeper than that.

Something that gets to the heart of why your content might not be landing even when you spent, loads of time on it.

What I’m gonna share today, might be the things that have been missing.

As I mentioned before, I always spend the most time on getting really crystal clear on this bit because literally all of your marketing hangs off it.

And every time we start the process, I always get the same answer back from everyone, so I’m gonna start there.

If you’ve ever said, I don’t want to box myself in, or I can help so many different types of people, why should I narrow it down?

Honestly, I hear you and you probably can help loads of people, but the thing is that when you try and stay open and speak to everyone, you’re never really gonna go deep enough into the thoughts the dreams and desires of your sweet spot client.

And that’s when your message starts to feel wishy-washy and lands with no one, because it’s gonna be really hard to create that emotional connection that turns someone from a passive scroller into someone who feels like your content was really written, specifically for them.

[00:02:00] That’s the place we want to get to because that’s when they’ll start reaching out to you and want to come and work with you.

So if you listen to last week’s episode, we talked about the trust bridge, which is that quite internal journey that your potential client goes through before they’re ready to say yes to working with you. And this week we’re gonna step onto that bridge with them and we’re gonna understand what’s really happening in their mind as they walk across it.

Because if you want to move her closer to making a decision to working with you, you need to understand what she’s thinking about when she’s in that in-between space.

So we’re not just gonna talk about the big transformation that she’s hoping for after she’s worked with you, but all of those little quiet doubts that she’s thinking about that she’s not gonna post on social media, but she’s up in the middle of the night.

Maybe she’s seeing your stuff and is like, I really wanna work with that person bracket, it’s you.

But she might be having thoughts like, what if what she’s offering doesn’t work for someone like me? Or, I’ve tried this before and nothing changed, so why will it be different now?

Or something deeper that she doesn’t even have the right words for yet.

And this is where your content can start to carry real weight because rather than staying surface level, when you really reflect those private thoughts to her before she’s even fully formed them in her head, she’s gonna be thinking, oh my God.

Like, how do they know that?

And I’m willing to bet money on the fact that if you’ve been in business for a while, you’ve probably filled out loads of those ideal client worksheets, and you’ve probably created a version of a woman called Sophie who drinks macha lattes and shops at John Lewis, right?

But then when you actually sit down to write your content and you freeze, and that’s probably because Sophie isn’t real, not in the way that helps you write like real resonant words.

When it comes to my world, we’re not gonna make up a fake persona. Yes, you need a felt sense of who you’re speaking to, but let’s talk to someone real, like someone really specific.

Think about a previous client you’ve had, or maybe even where you were a couple of years ago, because the previous version of you is probably your best client.

So think about a real person who’s really sitting through that fog right now and they’re searching for something that only you can say.

And that’s the difference between writing for [00:04:00] an audience, when you say you can appeal to everyone, and writing to one person who is your sweet spot client.

And remember, we’re introverts, our natural ability is to think deep and have those really nuanced conversations so why would we not bring that into our content?

When your content starts to feel a bit wishy-washy or a bit too general, just bring it back and hold a mirror up to the person that you really want to talk to.

I call this the mirror exercise, and imagine your sweet spot client is sitting in front of you.

Forget about the skills or the perspective or the tools that you have today. But just think about where you were like two years ago or think about where a client was when they came to you and write a letter to them.

Don’t think about your peers who are at the same level as you now, or maybe a particular mentor who’s like further ahead.

Write to the version of you who was struggling before you had your breakthrough, before you made that shift to get you where you are now or before it all started to click.

What were you or your sweet spot client Googling at two in the morning when you couldn’t sleep because your mind was all over the place?

What advice were you completely sick of hearing from people who are well-meaning, but they didn’t really understand what you were going through?

and what were you pretending that you didn’t care about in public, but secretly worrying about all the time?

So, do you get what I mean by like going really deep with the thoughts?

We wanna say stuff even she’s scared to share with anyone.

We’re not gonna shame them for having those thoughts or make them feel like there’s something wrong with them.

We’re going to acknowledge them and show them that you understand what they’re going through, and there’s a way out of it.

We’re always gonna go from a place of good vibes only, not shaming people or putting them down or making them feel like they’re doing something wrong.

We’re going with a positive vibes like, yep, I see you. I get where you are.

I feel what you’re feeling and I understand what you’re going through and I’m gonna take you to where you want to go.

And I am not gonna lie to you, once you really know who you’re talking to, you’re not gonna go back to writing safe and generic content that could apply to anyone because you’re gonna have so many juicy thoughts that you could talk to.

Just remember one message equals one piece of content.

And this is where your [00:06:00] content starts to have some purpose and it feels like you’re saying things that actually matter.

You’re not just saying things that fill up a social media feed or that make you sound smart or like, look at me.

You’re posting things that make someone stop what they’re doing and really pay attention because they feel seen and that counts.

And yep you might repel some people, you might stop being the go-to person for everyone in their neighbor.

But what you gain in return is so much more valuable.

You’ll gain that person who really resonates with your stuff. Who really recognizes themselves in what you’re saying.

And honestly, you’ll feel a relief from trying to please everyone because your content will feel much easier ’cause you’ve got that one person in mind and you really get them.

You know that moment when someone finds your content and comments something like, I feel like you wrote this directly for me. Or when they send you a DM saying, how did you know that’s what I was thinking. Like, that’s what we’re going for here and trust me, when someone says that to you in person, it’s even better.

You won’t get those comments by playing it safe or keeping everything really broad and relatable. They happen when you really, really know who you’re talking to and go micro on all of their thoughts.

So let’s make this practical…

Here’s what I want you to try this week if you feel like you’re being a bit too broad at the moment.

Instead of feeling like you have to niche down, I just want you to name your sweet spot client.

Forget about the worksheets and the demographics for a minute.

Think about one specific person, whether she’s someone that you’ve already worked with, someone real, or someone that you can really imagine in your head who’s really in the weeds right now.

Someone who’s dealing with the thing that you help them with but hasn’t figured it out yet.

And I want you to describe her honestly and specifically, like what’s keeping her stuck in her head instead of taking action?

What’s the problem that she thinks she shouldn’t still be having?

What would she absolutely love to hear from someone who actually gets what she’s going through instead of just giving her more generic advice?

Hint, you are gonna be the person to do that.

And then start your next post or email that you’re writing a letter to that version of her. Not your whole audience, not for the algorithm, just that one person.

Because when you write your message to someone real and specific, you [00:08:00] write differently.

When I’m writing my content, I always have a specific person in mind and the way I write changes because it doesn’t feel like I’m writing a formal email.

It feels like I’m writing a letter to my best friend or client who normally turns into besties anyway.

And when your content is infused with that energy that’s the kind of content that people are gonna remember and share and come back to because they felt understood.

It might feel a bit weird to go that micro, and your audience might need a bit of time to adjust, but trust me, the people that need to hear it are watching and they’ll get in touch when the time is right for them.

The amount of times I go to networking events or get DMs from people who are like, oh my God, I’ve read your content, or I’ve listened to your podcast, and they’ve never engaged, but they felt every word and got in touch when it was right for them.

They’re the moments that you need to keep in mind and help you keep going.

So if you feel like you’re being a bit too surface level and this episode shifted something in you, I’d love to invite you to explore Message Lab.

It’s my 10 day audio experience and you have 10 days of prompts and a space to reflect and think about your sweet spot client’s journey. Before she starts at the bridge, what she’s thinking over the bridge and what she wants at the end of it,

Not only will you have loads of content ideas, but it’ll also help you get to a really clear message of what you stand for and what you wanna be known for.

Until then, the next time you go to create a piece of content, remember to have that one person in mind – that real person who really needs to hear what you’ve got to say, rather than feeling you’ve gotta speak to your whole audience.

Because when your message is built for that one person, you’ll naturally start attracting the people who are always meant to find you.

And that’s how you can use your quiet confidence to make a loud impact one post at a time. See you next week.