How did one man accidentally kill the oldest tree in history?
In 1964, Donal Rusk Currey got his tree corer stuck in a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine. A park ranger helped him get it out by cutting down the tree. Once the tree was felled, Currey went to work counting the rings. He found the tree had been nearly 5,000 years old. The oldest living thing ever discovered.
Currey’s mistake was assuming the tree was much younger. Like most trees of that species, it was only 20 feet tall. And no one realized such small trees could live so long. Similarly, as entrepreneurs, we can make a mistake based on a common misconception. That we should create projects based solely on what the customer wants or needs.
Why is focusing purely on customer needs a mistake?
Because we get into business to do what we want. We want to pick our projects. We want to pursue our interests and passions. We don’t want to feel we have to do the work. We want work we choose to do. But if you only create what clients or customers want without regard to your desires, it’s a bit like having a job again. Doing things just to fulfill someone else’s dream.
But don’t we have to give customers what they want?
Yes. But you satisfy your interests and curiosity first. We first find work we want to do so our business is fulfilling for us. Then we forge a connection between the work we love to do and our customer’s needs. This way you and the customer are both happy.
We do that with the need-connection method.
What is the need-connection method?
It’s a way to discover a need your project can fulfill. It assumes that the need to solve problems is a powerful motivator. If your car breaks down, you call a mechanic. If your house is infested with termites, you call an exterminator. If your tooth hurts, you call a dentist. If you show your clients that you can fix the toothache in their lives or businesses, they’ll give you the freedom to do the work you love.
How do you find your client’s toothache?
First, identify the thing you want to do.
Second, figure out who you want to help with what you do.
Third, find out from the client what problems they have.
Fourth, figure out how your project will solve one of those problems.
Here are some applications of these four steps
Author, Sean D’Souza wrote a book called The Secret Life of Testimonials. If you check Google Ads or Amazon you’ll find there isn’t much demand for such a book. Yet, he sells quite a few copies every year. How?
He’d already accomplished the first step of writing the book and he knew he wanted to help the people he already served which were small business owners. So he just needed to connect this book to one of their problems. These business owners often complained about getting “yucky” clients. Instead, they wanted clients who were a joy to work with. His approach to testimonials solves that problem. So that’s how he sold the book — As a way to get the testimonials that attract the clients you love.
One client, a belief coach who lives in the UK, needed to grow his business. He loved helping people to change their beliefs which allowed them to change their feelings and behavior. To market his services, I had to help him find a group he wanted to serve. He was once an aspiring actor and so he wanted to help actors. What problem did many of them have that he could help with? Many suffered from audition anxiety which kept them from performing at their best when it really counted.
Another coach from Australia, had a system to help people improve their mindset. In my experience, such a general service is hard to market. In our brief conversation, I discovered she’d written a book. Are you interested in helping would-be-authors? She wasn’t sure. I asked if she used her mindset tools to overcome difficulties in writing the book. She said yes.
Then I suggested she could help others like herself who want to write a book but haven’t overcome the challenges of doing so. If she decides to pursue would-be-authors, she’ll be doing the mindset work she loves but also fulfilling a need. We all know many people who say they have a book in them but never seem to get it written.
As you can see, the need-connection method, allows you to pursue your passion in a way that is profitable to you and beneficial to your clients
So decide what you want to do, figure out who you want to help, and connect your work to a problem they want solved. You’ll have success in getting clients or customers without feeling like you’ve given yourself a job you don’t love.
One way to show your clients that you can serve their needs is with live speeches and presentations
You teach them something of value. You do it in an engaging way. And they come to see you as an expert who can help them.
We won’t be giving live presentations for some time. But we can do the next best thing. We can give presentations online. But as you’ve probably noticed, many online presentations drone on and on and the audience clicks away as quickly as they can. Others may be more entertaining but are merely a sales pitch in disguise. Listeners don’t learn anything. And we often feel a bit yucky delivering something that gives no value.
What if you could give a presentation that empowers your audience but also leads to the sale?
Announcing: The Compelling Presentations Blueprint
In this course, you will learn my system for creating compelling presentations. You’ll discover how to get attention in seconds, how to create hooks that keep people hooked, and how to layer content so that your audience understands what you teach and is willing to buy what you sell.
I delivered this course live in 2018 and I will be editing the videos and creating new materials to make it even easier to apply. It will likely be available by July or August. To get the course when it’s ready, you do need to be on the waiting list. Here’s a link to join the list:
https://www.selfinfluence.net/presentations-list/
While you wait, you’ll get some goodies that teach you a bit about creating great presentations that you feel great about delivering.
